#she actually invented her personal quills

[stabbyapologist]

It's so Umbridge to put like 13 big spoons of sugar inside the cup the size of an espresso shot.

[lemonisntreal]

Do you have a Tone Deaf version of Clay Calloway?

(Perfectly fine if you don't. I was just curious, plus I love all your redesigns) 🦁🎸

SORRY THIS TOOK FUCKING FOREVER LMAO [been sitting in my inbox since FEBRUARY THIRTEENTH, HOLY SHIT :D]. YEAH, here he is :pppp a solid draft for you

Lowkey [highkey] gave up on the clothing wrinkles on the arms, but I still like how it turned out I think. I don't have much on him in terms of rewrite, but I do have some, so I'll dump it all here under the cut.

I swear I love asks, please feel free to say/ask whatever, I'm just horrible at answering in a reasonable time-frame because I always want to make it this beautiful masterpiece and end up turning all of them into full-on posts- or, at least I want to ~_~

Headcanonssss-

Ash gave him that button off her jacket [probably needs to be resized I'm realizing lol] [also I totally adopted this headcanon from someone elses post- might've been yours. Whoever came up with it I love it <3]

Born during the reformation that happened after the war- basically, nobody was really fighting anymore during this time, but some big people in power were still being stupid [aka: not letting their prisoners go]

So that would be somewhere around 1947? Which would put his age at 61 in my universe [which is in 2008- the times are pretty much random, nothing really lines up irl. Ignore how they use tech and other things that shouldn't have been invented yet lol]

He grew up when the Skunk Dolls were new and popular and stuff. And he loved them- so much that the band actually kinda inspired his music career

[Skunk Dolls also made loads of protest songs btw. War stuff]

Takes a ridiculous amount of care with his mane, and if he lets you touch it, that's a true sign of trust

So the Piglets always like to play with it, and Ash has given him braids a few times

He's had that scruffy red jacket since his early days

I should draw patches on it-

Ash probably'll give him a quill or two to put in it too with all the patches and repair stitches

He wears a lot of plaid, I just didn't wanna draw it <3

Rough and torn up clothes too

Everything he owns has some sort of smudge or tear in it from motorbiking and/or just being himself <3

His ears are pierced in almost every way imaginable, and when Ash found out, she went CRAZY

Cue her getting him to try on a bunch of stuff

He likes wrought iron jewelry and has never been a fan of anything with gemstones in it

Buster is terrified of him, but Clay is just kinda a blunt person and it doesn't mix well with Buster sometimes. They get along eventually tho. There was also some really bad timing with the circumstances of how they even met in the first place too lol-

Johnny is also. Super terrified.

Buster and him are like "Ahhh.... that guy scares the living daylights out of me." "Ohh, thank god it's not just me-"

He has a strange out-of-pocket interest in astrology.

And in herbology and plants in general, but he picked that up from Ruby. Astrology was all his, and it is the one thing he will "nerd out" over

Also the kind of guy to make fun of you for nerding out too

Making fun of people is his love language

So is giving people food

He's not great with his words and can find it hard to express love by just telling someone. Back to the bluntness thing, you can often find him accidentally offending someone and he doesn't even realize it

The troupe very quickly learned this and it's more of an endearing trait of his to them [and to most people who know him]

REALLY good cook. Fantastic, in fact. Probably one of the best chefs out of any of the characters.

Learned the hard way that enlisting Buster's help in the kitchen is a bad idea. Also Ash isn't great either, but he actually tries to teach her some of his recipes. And she's quickly improving

Buster was just being an idiot and forgot you shouldn't microwave tinfoil

Clay travels a lot, but spends most of his time in Calatonia [he technically still lives at his and Ruby's house, but he's super scared of accidentally closing himself off again, so he only visits to check up on the flowers and maintain the property pretty much]

He's like Ash's second [and very cool] dad. Which- also intimidates Buster quite a bit :D

I feel like their dynamic could be a sitcom. Clay is Ash's awesome dad and Buster is Ash's lame [endearing] and oddly unhinged and anxious dad who feels like he has to be as cool as Clay [and always fails heehee]

Clay is more entertained by Buster's ridiculous criminal record than horrified and I don't know if that's worrying or just a classic Calloway W

He's a very nonchalant person

Ruby's death is the only time I can really think he had a legitimate emotional break that wasn't just him being snappy [which is also pretty rare]

Clay's also like an uncle to the Piglets

He's kinda just taken up the role of "super awesome miscellaneous family member" for everyone at this point

He's back performing again after Sing 2- just not frequently or putting out any new songs [on his own at least- he might do a collaboration or two with Ash]

[shivunin]

Post-Trespasser Emmaera

I wanted to make a quick post about Emma's prosthetic since the topic (re: that poll) is going around at the moment.

I based her prosthetic on the ones Götz von Berlichingen wore in the early 1500s. Götz was a knight/mercenary who lost his right arm at the elbow in 1504 when "enemy cannon fire jolted von Berlichingen’s blade against himself" (Source). He commissioned his prosthesis from a local blacksmith, and the prosthesis in question had hinged fingers which were capable of locking in place in blocks of two. von Berlichingen used his iron hand to wield a sword (rather successfully) and eventually commissioned a second prosthesis which was capable of grasping smaller objects (including a quill; he wrote a whole autobiography which wasn't published until 1731, well after his death).

But more to the point here: Götz von Berlichingen's arm was an incredible example of engineering even at its time. The design of its second iteration (pictured below) was driven entirely by his experiences with the first. He wanted the second version to have leather straps to hold it more firmly in place and fingers that were capable of more exact articulation as well as wrist joints that could pivot.

When I decided to write Emma post-Trespasser, I did a lot of research on what it was like to live with one hand, but von Berlichingen's story was the one that stuck with me the most. I spent a lot of time looking at these schematics and trying to figure out how Dagna could make something like this in the Dragon Age universe.

Because the off-hand motion in the game's animation is usually one that's supporting the staff, not specifically twisting it, I thought it made the most sense to conceptualize something along the same lines as the second iteration above. A mage would need something capable of pivoting/angling with the movement of the staff, and that's pretty easily achieved with hinges, as seen above, and (though ball bearings weren't invented until 1794) ball bearings could allow the hand to pivot 360 degrees (something you, uh, maybe wouldn't want if your hand is locked onto the staff). The fingers, elbow, and wrist are lockable using pins in the joints and a buttons on the back of the hand release each respective set of joints.

I like the idea of them having to go through several iterations of prostheses to find out what actually works for the Inquisitor (Dagna is a genius, but this isn't necessarily the sort of project she's worked on before) with consistent input from the person using it, just as von Berlichingen was able to adjust the second iteration of his own prosthesis to better fit his needs as a fighter. It is something she has to actually train with to use effectively, of course, just like using any new tool in combat.

Now---she does have a more ostensibly fantasy version that has hinged fingers which grasp when she manipulates the lyrium in them with magic. She doesn't use this version often because, frankly, the lockable fingers of her regular prosthesis can do anything she would really need them for and having to expend constant concentration to use the other prosthesis isn't really worth it to her (though she appreciated the thought).

The first one is for combat and when she is in her workroom (it's easier to grind herbs if she's holding the mortar still) and she uses it almost exclusively if she's going to be wearing a prosthetic at all. Usually, due to damage her residual limb has taken from the combat prosthesis, she just hangs out without any prosthesis. In her home, the chairs are modified with a mouthpiece so her hound can pull the chairs away from the table for her, and there are a lot of other ways the house has been set up as she needs. She has various other tools she can use to, for example, hold paper steady while she writes. But when she needs it---and since she went through her vigilante period, she has used the prosthesis to fight---she does have the arm Dagna made her.

Anyways---I obviously think von Berlichingen is fascinating (I haven't even touched on him kidnapping nobles or that his hand is part of his hometown's crest), so I recommend reading more about him in general. Sources: NIH, Atlas Obscura (which is the easier read), image source 2, and the Wikipedia article if you want the summary.

[oceanic-recollection]

OH my GOD its a TAG DIRECTORY!!!

WIAG]

kinda long but uh!!! hopefully it's organized well. has every tag i frequently use, plus some info on the characters & their pronouns & stuff. yeah!!

blog tags!

self-explanatory tags

#ask game

#anon

#ask

#lore

#ooc

#art

less self-explanatory tags

#personal info - don't mention this in the rp unless your character is REALLY GOOD friends with mine or is intentionally being a creep

#idle chatter - anything where they are talking in-character, even if the chatter is not so idle

#porl or #pearl - porl is for light-hearted jokey stuff, pearl is for actually important stuff

#flirting saga - an ongoing saga where everyone keeps flirting with my ocs. don't worry everyone is above the age of 18;;;

#plamt - my friends send my ocs plants

#canon bitches - any appearance by a canon rw character

character tags!!

the group oceanic

#fdm - first dewdrop of morning, fifth sunrise. the group's mechanic, and the first one to begin engaging in global comms. he/him, xe/xem and any other neos. [TH LINK]

#tsf - three small feathers in a lake of quills, also known as the sun famished. the group's doctor and self-appointed older brother, a bit of an annoyance but always means well. he/they. [TH LINK]

#bvqt - booming voice quiet temper, keeper of ten trillion beads. the second iterator made in this group, and the temporary mechanic until dew was built. enjoys a great deal of hobbies, but never seems to consider herself busy enough. ey/em (she/her OK). [TH LINK]

#rfads -

#fronds -

#wm - winter's monsoon. one of the older members, self-appointed as head of archival and conservation efforts. converted a majority of his can into a safe place for the animals that lived on the surface before it became so harsh. he/him. [TH LINK]

#upsilon / #cock - large cylindrical object with two oblong orbs, AKA countless origins, clear kin. made along with winter and is in a romantic relationship with him, he frequently makes different paints for the members of his group to use on themselves. a bit hedonistic, sometimes fails to consider others' emotions, but beneath it all is a very kind person who cares deeply about his friends and family. he/him. [TH LINK]

#goldy / #grp - a golden rock within a pebble. head of zoology since quiet stepped down. easily excitable, and because of that has negative reputation with the aquanaughts. she/her. [TH LINK]

#tablets / #tabby / #apis - an unbroken treeline surrounding the monastery of twelve or more tablets. co-head of zoology, the one who does the most field work. made the official Which Problematic Iterator Would Date You Quotev Quiz and is heading creation for the second version she/her. [TH LINK]

#gamma - sound of certain winters. not appearing here but imporant nontheless. she/her. [TH LINK]

#bobbins - Invention of Billions and Holder of Few, Bobbin-holding Seamstress of the North-East, Witness Provoked, Walking Tile, Iota of Needless Keratin. a puppet without a superstructure, made to test more versatile puppets for what later became group oceanic. was let go and aimlessly wandered for a very long time before eventually coming across a city built on an iterator. he and the iterator became friends as he lived on her superstructure amongst the ancients, being gifted many titles due to how much he gave to his community. he escaped the great ascension, fearing what might happen if he tried to join the others, and began once more to roam the land. leeching off of the communications of iterators to continue speaking to his friend, he eventually came across the group oceanic - leeching off of their comms alerted quiet, who threatened him and then offered him a place to stay. any pronouns, prefers he/him. [TH LINK]

misc. others

#ts - thirty-seven silvers, my walking puppet / iterator sona. hes dating moonie & my partner's sona & that's kinda it for him tbh! check out my pronouny ! and here's a link to my sona list

#mc - models of clay. an old iterator whose can collapsed, sending half of it into the void sea. before that, he simply worked on the great problem, later taking care of two slugcats who stumbled across his can while trying to find a safe place to live. isn't sure how he can still access global comms. he/him. [TH LINK]

#counter - some weirdo who really, really likes garbage worms. he/they/it. [TH LINK]

#SL - from clay's group

#LIE - also from clay's group

[artistibatt-ocs]

Dunamis Region stuff part 2

During the journey in Dunamis, there would still be gym leaders of course! In no particular order, these are the Dunamis gym leaders!

Okay I’m writing this after writing a lot of stuff below, so my notes are actually not consistent due to me changing which characters were in each region. This makes things difficult for me. But I’ll let y’all know which characters have inconsistent position notes don’t worry!

Dark - Rook

An eccentric man who specializes in dark types. Many believe dark types are scary, but he admires their beauty and strength. He wears a scarf that was given to him by his wife, Aura. He acts like he’s a villain by making snarky comments, but he’s a kind (and sorta pathetic) dude.

Aura - Psychic

A soft-spoken woman who specializes in psychic types. She was born with psychic powers, like many other psychic type gym leaders, but hasn’t practiced much with it. She’s a kind person that likes to help people such as her husband Rook who always ends up in trouble.

Alloy - Steel/Electric

The youngest gym leader at around 15. She loves construction and inventing very much! A rotor resides in a special necklace they have and it can create holograms. She usually has rotom a sort of search engine that can be used with specialized gloves. She tends to keep to herself unless Phantom is around as that’s her current guardian as her parents died a long time ago. They see him as an uncle.

Draco - Dragon

Very loud and overly friendly to the point of annoyance to people in his town. He trains dragon type pokemon and preforms shows with them around town. He wears a costume similar to a wizard with a dragon tail and a hat with horns. He’s traveled to every region and even met his Salamence, Bagel, in Kalos. He doesn’t call him Bagel much in public though as he thinks people would make fun of him for that.

Quill - Flying

A shy and awkward young man. He loves flying types, especially ones that resemble birds. They have low self-esteem, but want to work on themself so they end up doing training with their Hawlucha. This training causes him to disappear for days at a time. He almost died at a mountain he was climbing trying to find Articuno until a shiny Delibird helped him. The delibird doesn’t fight, instead they travel around Dunamis delivering mail.

Adrian - Water/Ground

She used to live in Hoenn and Alola, but now she lives in Dunamis. She’s best friends with Draco and Florian. She is a very laidback and chill women who ends up into trouble sometimes due to her nature (getting trapped in galvantula webs in a cave being once instance). She has an interest in Kyogre and Groudon. She likes Kyogre more while her grandfather likes Groudon more. Swimming is also a hobby of hers.

Kelsey - Normal/Fighting

A woman who has a constant sense of justice and is actually the newest gym leader after her father stepped down. She always carries a sword and patrols town to make sure everyone is okay, similar to a knight. Some believe her to not be a good battler, but she doesn’t care as her father believes in her and her pokemon. She admires Keldeo and the Swords of Justice so much.

Phantom - Ghost

(This character is someone with inconsistent notes)

Phantom is a… mysterious one. They are always seen wearing a mask (it helps him see but most people don’t know he has poor vision). There are rumors about how he’s actually a ghost pokemon and other rumors about how he would steal your soul if you’re not careful. In reality, he is an awkward old man who hides from people. He has a theater (that doubles as a gym) where he encourages people to perform in. He wants to participate but he knows he isn’t loved by the people in his town. He can use ghost moves like shadow claw and shadow ball, which is how the rumors started. He is Alloy’s guardian!

Some notes say that Briar is a gym leader of Dunamis, but others say he’s a gym leader of Harmos. So I’ll talk about him when I get to Harmos!

[truckreincarnation]

Shutting the Book | Nao | 1.3 | Re: Bian, Germain, Luz, 19

The conclusion was correct, regardless of where specifics failed. It took a single "incorrect" testimony, and everything that followed showed a slow unraveling. 19 confessed, and this trial was over with. All that was left was to cast a vote - and accept whatever followed.

Even with that knowledge, nothing seemed to shake Nao's composure.

All it would take to end a life, to guarantee a death, was a name on a page. The fresh scent of ink - blood red - and a quill pressed to a page, and it was all over. Signed and done with.

What did it matter though?

What did Nao Smith actually know of 19? They'd not speak for others - it was clear people cared, clear they had gotten to know her better than they could - but Nao... didn't know anything. They were not close  to 19; they'd had a pleasant conversation about fashion, but that was it.

Wasn't it a disservice to 19 to act as though they personally would miss her, like they were losing a close friend?

Wouldn't it be a shameful farce, to shed tears where they probably weren't welcome?

One thing held true: Resistance towards superiors was pointless. Delaying the inevitable was pointless. Pretending you had power where you didn't was pointless.

So, even as Nao contributes to 19's doom, they don't say anything. There's no grand protest, no talk of injustice, no words of comfort, and no spite towards their hosts. No words directed to the person they helped corner, to the person they had pestered with pointed question after pointed question. Questions that would only serve to harm, Nao knowingly wielding them like a wildly swung baseball bat.

At the very least, they can respect 19 by not adding salt to the wound, and pretending they regretted acting as they did.

Silently, they agree with Luz. Why argue about somebody dead, who they didn't know? Why try to figure out the specifics when they all had the information they needed?

Silently, coward that they are and unwilling to raise a fuss, she agrees with Germain. Why invent motives for a dead women? To comfort themselves, to distract themselves from the blood that'd move from the ink to their hands? What the situation between Francis and 19 forced all of them to do? It didn't actually contribute to anything.

And silently, Nao keeps glancing at Bian. He could be comforting - kind, even - but all he can manage is a stare of concern at Bian's words. Even if 19 is the one dying - even if this whole affair should be all about 19 and Francis, Nao can't even manage to pretend for five seconds that they don't care for somebody else more.

All it took was one name on a page to condemn 19 to her fate, and that was all....

...Perhaps it'd be over quickly. Wouldn't that, at least, grant 19 some semblance of peace?

It's a nice thought, Nao supposes.

[weasleyandweasley]

@earthssprout​​ 

Asked :  " I wish you would hug me. " // ( for Fred, obviously 😭 )

☆ﾟ. * ･ ｡ﾟ,  This evening he was down in the living room going over one of his sketches. The sugar quill twirled in his mouth as he tried to figure out why this possible future invention seemed off. When George was home he knew he would need a second opinion. The parchment was tucked away safely before he rose from his seat, but moments after turning on his heel to head to the stairs he saw his little sister. By her expression he could sense something was wrong. Was someone teasing her? Did one of their siblings earn themselves a free prank? Couldn’t have been their mum, cause if she was upset the entire house would know. No, their far off neighbors would know. Was a critter in danger, maybe? Or maybe seeking shelter at the door or one of the windows? He wasn’t sure their mum would be thrilled if they let something in, no matter how small or cute. 

❝ What’s wrong, Froggy? ❞

He asked as he ruffled her hair, but his hand went still when he perceived her words. She wished he would hug her... Was that why she was sad? Because of him? There was a pang of guilt in his chest. Didn’t he hug her, though? There was that one time, but that was days ago right? Or was it weeks? He bit his lip. George had given her a hug almost every day. Just this morning he had given her one before they left and he usually gave her one when they got home. He on the other hand, well, guess he didn’t do that. At least, not often. Compared to his twin he wasn’t as physically affectionate. And when he was it was mostly with a specific person. If she had seen the hugs with Cedric, did it hurt her feelings? He never really thought about it and it wasn’t like she had said anything. And chances were she probably wouldn’t. He recalled George and him taking her shopping with them once. They spotted her staring at this cute frog plush that could actually ribbit and expand it’s throat. She never asked for it, but they got it for her anyway under the assumption that she had liked it and was too nervous or whatever it was to ask.   

He knelt down to be a bit on her level once he removed his hand. The last thing he wanted to ever cross her mind was that he didn’t like to hug her, or worse, that he cared about her less. Maybe the latter was too extreme, but he had no idea how her mind worked, exactly.  ❝ Come here. ❞ He gently took her hand and pulled her forward into a platonic embrace. Shortly afterwards, he had picked her up. ❝ How about we go outside? Reckon we’ll find some frogs or snails. ❞ He suggested, hoping maybe this would make her feel better. 

[quillsanddaydreams]

⟶ character(s): Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley.

⟶ author’s note: I loved writing this so much! So I'm hoping you enjoy it as well. What would dates with these Golden Era Characters include?

⟶ warning(s): mentions of food and alcohol, some innuendos, gender neutral!reader (pronouns aren't used)

˗ˏˋ fred weasley ´ˎ˗

It’s a well known fact that Fred isn’t a cheesy guy but he will definitely be willing to try out things just to see you smile. Showing up at your door casually, in his all too comfortable jacket and a pair of jeans— his grin could make the strongest feel weak. Presenting you with some vibrant flowers picked up on the way from a shop that caught his eye, never quite forgetting to compliment your look… He would wrap an arm around your shoulders while walking down the street; he didn’t like holding hands after all.

The place the two of you would pick would usually be a small place you two found that sold great food. Your smile would be wide the whole evening, talking, laughing. Fred would tell you about his latest inventions, you about things you were up to. There is always something beautiful about time you spent with him.

˗ˏˋ george weasley ´ˎ˗

One of the major differences between Fred and George was that while Fred liked casual relationships, George was a bit of a romantic. He would be the kind of person who would look at you like you held his sky if he started to love you. Late night dates under the stars with a bottle of wine and some cheese would be far too common for they are ever dream-like and George would have an excuse to hold you close for hours on end.

Spending time together cooking, talking and laughing along as delicious smells eloped the kitchen, George loved to nuzzle his head into your shoulder as you would stir food on the stove. Movie nights would be frequent as well, you would watch old muggle films together eating greasy pizzas and marshmallows later. You both would be fast asleep by the time the movie ended and smile a little in the morning getting up from the tangled mess you two created.

˗ˏˋ hermione granger ´ˎ˗

Everyone thought Hermione Granger as someone with their nose far too deep into books to be any fun. While the former was true, the latter proved to be far far away from reality. Dates with Hermione regularly felt like a breath of fresh air. She loved traveling in general and visiting a new place each time seemed like the constant. Museums, palaces, aquariums, view points on mountains… you would lose count of places you went with her.

She would hold your hand throughout, liking how it fit in perfectly with hers— kissing your cheek out of the blue would be something she adored doing. Telling you the history of the place, random facts that caught her eye would never let you be bored. Dancing with her was one of the activities you loved doing the most. Afterall it was the time she would actually let loose, laughing wide with all her teeth showing as you would twirl her around; she looked nothing less than perfect then.

˗ˏˋ draco malfoy ´ˎ˗

For Draco, love had always been going to the fanciest of restaurants, bars and parties. So when he started dating you, he’d do the same— taking you to the most expensive places in town, treating and spoiling you to no end. You, on the other hand, found it stuffy. Never quite being able to let loose, talk appropriately the entire time. One day, you decided to plan a date yourself. It wasn’t much; just a beautiful lake you’d found to have a picnic near. Draco had been mildly surprised, but quickly understood why you chose such.

It was like he was free, he could laugh as stupidly as he might want, tell cringey jokes loudly— you never quite judged. Moreover the skinny dipping later seemed like the cherry on the top of it all. Draco didn’t stop smiling all evening, pulling you close and kissing you as much as he could. Your dates with him certainly transformed much after that.

˗ˏˋ ginny weasley ´ˎ˗

The youngest Weasley was in plain words, a jock. She never quite liked the term for it always reminded her of big burly men, but even she couldn’t refuse that she was fairly an adrenaline junky. Dates with her always seemed some form of adventure; carnivals, dirt bike riding, paintball fights, trampoline parks… you name it. You couldn’t ever refuse it was always a pleasure to test out your limits and furthermost, see a laugh on Ginny’s face.

It made you indecisive, choosing between what was better— the actual dates or what came after, when the two of you would just fall into the bed with a loud thump, holding each other and talking in a hush. You had collected thousands of memories with her that way, each one better than the last.

⟶ as for the taglist: I don’t make taglists, I have a blog @from-my-quill ​ which is updated whenever I post fanfiction. You could have the notifications on for it and it will work just like me tagging you.

⟨⟨REBLOGS AND FEEDBACK ARE APPRECIATED⟩⟩

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love and Medicine ~ 2

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 4,600ish

Summary: Your second day as an intern continues.....

You were trying not to make it obvious that you were hurrying down the hall. But you were pretty sure you were failing miserably. As you continued, without looking back, a hand suddenly grabbed your upper arm and pulled you into an on-call room.

“Hey!” You exclaimed, stumbling through the door. You looked to see that it was Steve—Dr. Rogers. “Dr. Rogers—“

“Dr. Rogers?” He repeated, sounding a little hurt. “This morning it was Steve. Now it’s Dr. Rogers.”

“Dr. Rogers, we should pretend it never happened.”

“What never happened, you sleeping with me last night? Or you throwing me out this morning? Because both are fond memories I’d like to hold onto.”

“No. There will be no memories. I'm not the girl in the bar anymore, and you're not the guy. This can't exist. You get that, right?”

“You took advantage of me and now you want to forget about it.”

“I did not take—“

“I was drunk, vulnerable and good-looking and you took advantage.”

You gave him a tight smile. “Okay, I was the one who was drunk, and you are not that good-looking.”

“Well, maybe not today. But last night, last night I was very good-looking. I had my blue shirt on, my good-looking shirt, you took advantage.”

“I did not take—“

“You want to take advantage again? Say Friday night?”

“Did you just— No! You're an attending. And I'm your intern. Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” 

“Like you’ve seen me naked.” 

Steve simply smirked. “Well, I have.” 

“Dr. Rogers. This is inappropriate. Has that ever occurred to you?”

You quickly left the room, leaving Steve staring at the shutting door with a sigh. He stepped out and over to the nearest nurses station.

“Oh, no,” another doctor came up, handing papers over to a nurse behind a desk. “I’ve seen that look before… I know that look, I think I invented it.”

“Oh shut it, Tony,” Steve said, coming up beside him.

“You know you—“

“I said shut it, didn’t I?”

“Okay, okay.” Tony held his hands up in defense. “I’ll shut it. Just don’t come whining to me when it all blows to hell.”

~~~

Deciding you needed to get your mind off Dr. Rogers, you went up to the OR gallery. You were sitting with other interns, watching Scott Lang prep for surgery.

“He’s going to faint,” one of the interns commented. “He’s a fainter.”

“Naaah, code brown,” another one added. “Right in his pants.”

“He’s all about the flops. He’s going to sweat himself unsterile.”

“Ten bucks says he messes up the McBird,” a third one said.

“Twenty says he cries,” Natasha, who you were seated by, said.

“I’ll put twenty on a total meltdown,” the second intern added.

“Fifty says he pulls the whole thing off,” you interrupted, fed up. Everyone looked at you, silent, while your eyes remained on Scott. “That’s one of us down there. The first one of us. Where’s your loyalty?” 

There was a brief pause before Natasha continued, “Seventy five says he can’t even ID the appendix.”

“I’ll take that action,” Val responded, others agreeing.

“Okay, Lang,” Maria Hill said in the OR, which you could hear in the gallery. “Let’s see what you can do.”

“Here it comes,” you whispered, trying to be hopeful.

“Scalpel,” Scott requested, hand out.

“Scalpel,” a nurse replied, putting the instrument in his hand.

As Scott took it, the interns cheered from in the gallery. Dr. Hill quickly motioned for them to shut up.

“That Hill, she’s trouble,” Val commented, causing some interns to laugh.

“More pressure,” Hill advised as Scott got ready to cut. “Human flesh is a tough shell, dig in.”

“Pick-ups,” Scott requested after cutting.

“Pick-ups,” the nurse responded.

“Clamp.”

“Clamp.”

“Met some bone. I’m there.”

“Damn, he got the peritoneum and he opened him up,” a male intern commented.

“I told you,” you gloated. “He’s going to pull it off.”

“Scalpel,” Scott requested.

“Scalpel,” the nurse responded.

All of the interns watched with bated breath as Scott preformed the procedure.

“Appendix is out,” Scott stated, tossing it into a tray while the interns cheered.

“Not bad,” Hill commented.

“Thank you.”

“Now all you have to do is invert the stump into the chum and simultaneously pull up on the purse-strings but be careful not to—“ a rip sound came through “—break them.” Hill groaned. “He ripped the cecum. Got a bleeder. You’re filling with stool, what do you do now?”

“Uh.. uh….”

“Think. You start the suction, and you start digging for those purse-strings before she bleeds to death. Coulson, give him a clamp.”

“BP’s dropping,” a nurse informed.

“He’s choking,” Natasha stated.

“Come on, Scott,” you whispered.

“Today,” Hill urged, getting irritated. “Pull your balls out of your back pocket, let's go. What are you waiting for, suction?” Beeping started.

“Getting too low folks,” the nurse said. “Dr. Hill…”

“Get out of the way,” Hill said, pushing Scott over to take his place. “Pansy-ass idiot. Get him out of here. Suction… Clamp.”

“007,” the male intern from before stated.

“007,” another intern repeated. “Yep, that’s a total 007.”

“What’s 007 mean?” Val asked.

“Licensed to kill,” you answered.

~~~

A few hours later, you and the rest of your intern group had found a basement hallway with empty beds along it. You all decided it was a nice place to lay low for a moment.

“007,” Scott muttered. “They're calling me 007, aren't they?”

“No one’s calling you 007,” you and Clint responded.

“I was on the elevator and Quill whispered 007.”

“Oh, how many times do we have go through this, Scott, five, ten?” Natasha was fed up. “Give me a number or else I'm going to hit you.”

“Quill whispered 007 and everyone laughed.”

“He wasn’t talking about you,” Val said.

“You sure?”

“Would we lie to you?” You asked.

“Yes.”

“007 is a state of mind,” Natasha said.

“So says the girl who finished top of her class as Stanford.”

All of their pagers went off, causing them to look down at them.

“Oh man,” you grumbled. “It’s 911 for Savannah Chase. I gotta go.” You ran off, leaving the rest of them there.

“Maybe I should've gone into geriatrics,” Scott continued. “No one minds when you kill an old person.”

“Surgery is hot, it's the Marines, it's the macho, it's hostile, it's hardcore,” Natasha said. “Geriatrics is for freaks who live with their mothers and never have sex.”

“I’ve got to get my own place.”

“Same,” Clint agreed.

~~~

Running into Savannah’s room, you immediately noticed that she was sitting up, reading a magazine.

“Took you long enough,” Savanah said.

“You’re okay?” You huffed, trying to catch your breath. “The nurse paged me 911.”

“I had to go all Exorcist to get her to even pick up the phone.”

“Wait. There’s—There’s nothing wrong with you?”

“I’m bored.” She shrugged. “I thought you could help me.”

“You little— I’m not your personal assistant.”

“You don't have to wig out. The pageant's supposed to be on cable, but this crappy hospital doesn't get the channel. If that cow Casey Childs is gonna walk off with my crown, I have to see it. Can you call someone?”

“Okay. This is an actual hospital. There are sick people here. Go to sleep, and stop wasting my time.”

“But I can't sleep. My head's all full.”

“That's called thinking. Go with it.” 

You stormed off. If this is how the patients were all the time, you didn’t know how much longer you could last. And it was only your first day, of your intern year.

~~~

Hours later, you were standing at a nurses station, working on paperwork for a patient, while you overheard another conversation.

“4B’s got post-op pneumonia,” it was a male intern from before. “Let’s start antibiotics.”

“Are you sure that’s the right diagnosis?” A male nurse questioned.

“Well I don't know, I'm only an intern. Here's an idea, why don't you go spend four years in med school and let me know if it's the right diagnosis. She's short of breath, she's got fever, she's post-op. Start the antibiotics.” The intern walked over to you, clearly checking you out. “I hate nurses. I’m Peter. I’m with Sam Wilson, you’re with Gamora, right?”

“She may not have pneumonia, you know. She could be splinting, or have a PE.”

“Like I said, I hate nurses.” Peter began to walk away.

“What did you just say? Did you just call me a nurse?”

“Well, if the white cap fits…”

You groaned as your pager beeped, turning away to not have to see Peter anymore. “Damn it, Savannah.” You left, not an any hurry to get to Savannah’s room.

“She seeing anybody?” Peter asked Clint.

“I don’t know,” Clint replied.

Peter whistled. “She’s hot.”

“I'm friends with her. I mean, kinda friends, I mean, not, you know, actually friends, not exactly, but we're tight. We hang out. I mean, really only just today—“

“Dude.”

“—but—“

“Dude. Stop talking.”

~~~

You took your time getting to Katie’s room. As you walked up the hallway towards her room, you noticed nurses rushing in. That’s when you finally picked up your pace.

“What took you so long?” A blonde female nurse yelled as you entered the room, overwhelmed by the sight before you.

“She's having multiple grand mal seizures, now how do you want to proceed?” A male nurse asked. You froze at the doorway, unable to move. “Dr. L/N? Are you listening to me? She's got Diazepam, 2mg Diazepam, I just gave her a second ago, Dr. L/N, you need to tell us what you want to do. Dr. L/N!”

Still panicking, you picked up Katie’s chart. “Okay, she’s full on prazepam?” You asked.

“She’s had 4mg,” the female nurse responded.

“Did you page Dr. Gamora and Dr. Rogers?”

“Yes!”

“The prazepam’s not working,” the male nurse stated.

“Phenobarbital, load her with Phenobarbital,” you ordered, still struggling to move from your spot. The scene before you, extremely overwhelming.

“Pheno’s in.”

“No change,” a third nurse said.

“You paged Dr. Rogers?” You repeated.

“I just told you—“

“Well page him again! Stat!”

“What do you want to do? Dr. L/N, you need to tell us what you want to do!” The monitors started beeping. “Heart’s stopped!”

“Code blue, code blue! Code blue, code blue!” The first nurse shouted.

The nurses pulled out the defibrillators as your brain finally began to work again. You quickly took the defibrillators away from the nurse.

“Charge pulse of two hundred,” you ordered.

“Charged,” the nurse responded. “Clear.” You used the defibrillators on Katie’s chest, only to get no response. “Still defib. Nothing. 19 seconds.”

“Charge to 300.”

“300.” You tried again, only to fail. “27 seconds.”

“Charge to 360.” You tried again, with still nothing. “Come on, Savannah.”

“49 seconds.”

“At 60 seconds you’re supposed to admit her—“

“Charge again!” You ordered, the nurse not following. “Charge again.” The nurse does and you try again. On the monitor you see Savannah’s blood pressure (BP) register. “Anything?”

“I see sinus rhythm,” the first nurse replied.

“Blood pressure’s coming up,” the second nurse added.

“Alright now. Pressure’s returning. Grid’s coming back—“

“What the hell happened?” Dr. Rogers asked, running into the room.

“She had a seizure,” you responded, “and—“

“A seizure?”

“Her heart stopped.”

“You were supposed to be monitoring her.”

“I checked on her and she—“

“I got it.” Dr. Rogers started checking Savannah. “Just—just go.” You turned away, heading out. “Someone give me her chart, please?”

As you walked out of the room, you weren’t feeling the greatest. You were still overwhelmed and disappointed in yourself. Gamora was waiting for you not far outside the room.

“You get a 911, you page me immediately,” Gamora stated, “not in the five minutes it takes you to get to the emergency, immediately, you are on my team and if somebody dies it's my ass.” You kept walking, needing some fresh air. “You hear me, L/N?”

“Y/N?” Natasha called out.

You kept walking, ignoring everyone. Natasha followed you as you exited the main doors. It was raining outside, but you didn’t care. You leaned over and threw up on the patch of grass outside the hospital. Natasha watched from the doorway. Taking a deep breath, you wiped your mouth and headed back for the doors.

“If you tell anyone, ever…” You threatened Natasha as you entered the hospital.

~~~

Just after hour 24, all the interns were paged to the conference room. Looking around, you could tell everyone was exhausted. Natasha was sitting next to you, you furrowed your brows in confusion as you watched her.

“What are you doing?” You asked.

“I’m suturing a banana,” Natasha answered, “with the vain hope that it wakes up my brain.” Scott laughed from beside them. “What’re you smiling at, 007?” Scott immediately stopped laughing. “I’m sorry, I get mean when I’m tired.”

“You know what? I don’t care,” Scott said. “I comforted a family, and I get to hang out in the OR today. All is well.”

“Does anybody know why we’re here?” Clint asked.

“We’re probably all getting fired,” Val suggested. “And we’ve only been here for 24 hours. They’re going to get rid of the whole class and start fresh.”

“Well good morning,” Dr. Rogers greeted as he entered the room with Gamora. “I'm going to do something pretty rare for a surgeon, I'm going to ask interns for help. I've got this kid, Savannah Chase. Right now, she's a mystery. She doesn't respond to her meds. Labs are clean, scans are pure, but she's having seizures. Grand mal seizures with no visible cause. She's a ticking clock. She's going to die, if I don't make a diagnosis. Which is where you come in. I can't do it alone. I need your extra minds, extra eyes, I need you to play detective, I need you to find out why Savannah is having seizures. I know you're tired, you're busy, you've got more work than you could possibly handle. I understand. So, I'm going to give you an incentive. Whoever finds the answer rides with me. Savannah needs surgery. You get to do what no interns get to do. Scrub in to assist on an advanced procedure. Dr Gamora's going to hand you Savannah's chart. The clock is ticking fast, people. If we're going to save Savannah's life, we have to do it soon.”

All the interns grabbed copies of her chart and went their separate ways. You stayed sitting at the conference room table, trying to avoid helping with Savannah’s case.

“Hey, I want in on Rogers’ surgery,” Natasha stated, turning to you. "You've been the intern on Savannah since the start. You want to work together? We find the answer, we have a fifty-fifty chance of scrubbing in.”

“I'll work with you, but I don't want in on the surgery,” you replied. “You can have it.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s the biggest opportunity any intern will ever get.”

“I don’t want to spend any more time with Rogers than I have to.”

“What do you have against Rogers?”

“If we find the answer, the surgery’s yours. Do you want to work together or not?”

Natasha grinned, nodding her head. “Oh yeah.”

~~~

“Well, she doesn't have anoxia, chronic renal failure or acidosis,” Natasha stated while you and her were seated at a table in the medical center’s library. “It's not a tumor because her CT's clean. Are you seriously not going to tell me why you won't work with Rogers?”

“Nope,” you replied. “What about infection?”

“No. There's no white count, she has no ceteal lesions, no fevers, nothing in her spinal tap, just tell me.”

“You can't comment, make a face, or react in any way.” Natasha gave a slight nod. “We had sex.”

Natasha’s mouth opened in surprise before she quickly closed it. “What about an aneurysm?” She continued, trying to do as you had asked.

“No blood on the CT, and no headaches.”

“Okay. There's no drug use, uh, no pregnancy, no trauma… was he good? I mean, he looks like he would be, was it any good?”

“What are the answers?” You ignored her questions. The truth was, he was good. REALLY good. The best sex you’ve had in, well, ever. “What if no one comes up with anything?”

“You mean if she dies?”

“Yeah.”

“This is gonna sound really bad, but I really wanted that surgery.”

“She's just never going to get the chance to turn into a person. The sum total of her existence will be almost winning Miss Teen whatever. You know what her pageant talent is?”

"They have talent?”

“Rhythmic gymnastics.” You both laughed.

“Oh, come on.”

“What is rhythmic gymnastics? I don't know - I can't even say it, I don't know what it is.”

“Isn’t it like something with a ball, and a—“ You suddenly went still, realizing what was going on with Savannah. “What? Y/N, what?”

“Get up!” You jumped up. “Come on!”

You explained to Natasha, as you both ran to find Dr. Rogers, that you believed she had an aneurysm.

“—the only thing she could possibly need is a—“ Natasha was saying as you found Dr. Rogers heading onto an elevator. “Oh, oh, Dr. Rogers! Just one moment, um, uh, Savannah competes in beauty pageants—“

“I know that,” Dr. Rogers responded. “But we have to save her life anyway.”

“Okay, she has no headaches, no neck pain, her CT's clean, there's no medical proof of an aneurysm—“

“Right.” Dr. Rogers stepped into the elevator.

“—but what if she has an aneurysm anyway?”

“There are no indicators.”

“Ah,” Natasha stopped the elevator, “but she twisted her ankle, a few weeks ago when she was practicing for the pageant—“

“Look, I appreciate you're trying to help, but—“

“This is not helping!” A doctor in the elevator shouted.

“She fell,” you tried. “When she twisted her ankle, she fell.”

“It was no big deal, not even a bump on the head,” Natasha explained, “you know she got right back up, iced her ankle and everything was fine, it was a fall so minor her doctor didn't even think to mention it when I was taking her history, but she did fall.”

“Well, you know the chances that a minor fall could burst an aneurysm, one in a million!” Dr. Rogers said. “Literally.”

The elevator door finally was allowed to close. You and Natasha looked at each other with a sigh before turning away. You’re caught by surprise when you hear the elevator ding. Turning back around, you see Dr. Rogers stepping out.

“Let’s go,” he ordered.

“Where?” Natasha asked.

“To find out if Savannah’s one in a million.”

~~~

Getting Savannah’s scans done and back seemed like an eternity for the three of you. When the scans were finally up, it turned out that you had been right.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Dr. Rogers commented.

“There is it,” the tech operating the scan pointed at the dark spots on the monitor.

“It's minor, but it's there. It's a cerebachnoid haemorrhage. She's bleeding into her brain. Let’s go.” Dr. Rogers led them out of the room and down the hall. “She could've gone her entire life without it ever being a problem. One tap in the right spot—“

“And explode,” Natasha said.

“Exactly. Now I have to fix it. You two did great work. Love to stay and kiss your asses, but I gotta tell Savannah s parents she's having surgery.” They reached the nurses station. “Savannah Chase's chart, please.”

“Here you go,” a nurse said, handing it over.

“Oh, and Dr. Rogers,” Natasha said, "you said that you’d pick someone to scrub in if we helped.”

“Oh, yes, right,” Dr. Rogers responded. “Um, I'm sorry I can't take you both, it's going to be a full house. Y/N, I'll see you in OR.” You looked at Dr. Rogers, who’s blue eyes felt like they could see right through you. Natasha was also looking at you, waiting for you to give her the surgery. “Good,” Dr. Rogers continued, “thank you.” Then he took his leave.

Natasha looked back at you, clearly pissed. “You’ve got to be kidding me! You said that you didn’t want to work with him anymore, that if we worked together and found the answer, you’d give me the surgery.”

“Natasha…”

“Oh, no.” She shook her head. “Don’t Natasha me. He looked at you with those gorgeous blue eyes and you couldn’t say no! You’re already wrapped around his finger and I’m not going to be a pawn in the game.” 

She stormed off. Leaving you standing there, knowing she was right.

~~~

Natasha and Val were sitting back in the empty corridor with the spare beds, again. 

“Val,” Natasha complained, trying to get Val to stop making excuses for you.

“Maybe Y/N couldn’t—“

“Val!”

“I’ll tell him I changed my mind,” you said, coming into the corridor. “You can—“

“No, no, don’t do me any favors. It’s fine.”

“Natasha—“

“You know what, you did a cutthroat thing, deal with it. Don't come to me for absolution, you want to be a shark, be a shark.”

“I’m not—“

“Oh yes you are. Only it makes you feel all bad in your warm gooey places. No, screw you. I don't get picked for surgeries because I slept with my boss. You know, some of us have to earn what we get.” Natasha stormed away, again.

“Wait…” Val said from behind. “You slept with someone… who did you sleep with?!” You groaned, resting your head in your hands. “Was it Stark? I’ve only met him once but he’s hot. But I’d only hit Banner and Hill too. Oh! Was it—“

“I’m not doing this.” You shook your head and walked away.

“I’ll find out soon enough!” Val laughed.

~~~

You went searching for Dr. Rogers, determined to give the surgery to Natasha. You found him shaving Savannah’s head.

“I promised I’d make her look cool,” he said upon noticing you. “Apparently being a bald beauty queen is the worst thing that happened in the history of the world.”

“Did you choose me for the surgery because I slept with you?” You quietly asked.

“Yes,” he quickly answered before a long pause. “I’m kidding.”

“I'm not going to scrub in for surgery. You should ask Natasha. She really wants it.”

“You're Savannah's doctor. And on your first day, with very little training, you helped save her life. You earned the right to follow her case to the finish. You… you shouldn't let the fact that we had sex get in the way of you taking your shot. Besides, it was very good sex. It should have given you a boost.”

“Dr. Rogers, I— ugh!” You quickly left, leaving him to chuckled to himself.

~~~

Clint and you were outside of the medical center, needing some fresh air. Clint sat on a bench as you paced in front of him.

“I wish I wanted to be a chef,” you said. “Or a ski instructor. Or a kindergarten teacher.”

“You know, I would've been a really good postal worker,” Clint said, dazed. “I'm dependable. You know, my parents tell everyone they meet that their son's a surgeon. As if it's a big accomplishment. A superhero or something. If they could see me now…”

“When I told my mother I wanted to go to medical school, she tried to talk me out of it. Said I didn't have what it takes to be a surgeon. That I'd never make it. So, the way I see it, superhero sounds pretty damn good.”

“We’re going to survive this, right?”

“We can only hope.”

~~~

You were standing at a nurses station, trying to fill in a patient chart, as Dr. Fury, the Chief of Surgery, was taking to Peter Quill, the intern.

“She’s still short of breath,” Fury stated. “Did you get an ABG or a chest film?”

“Oh, yes sir, I did,” Peter answered, a little bit too cockily.

“And what did you see?”

“Oh, well, I had a lot of patients last—“

“Name the common causes of post-op fever.”

“Uh… yes, sir.” Peter quickly pulled a notebook out of his pocket.

“From your head. Not from a book. don’t look it up, learn it. It should be in your head. Name the common causes of post-op fever.”

“Uh...the common causes of post-op…”

“Can anybody name the common causes of post-op fever?” Fury shouted to the whole floor. Everyone stopped, one girl pulling out her own notebook.

“Wind, water, wound, walking, wonder drugs,” you stated, causing everyone to look at you. “The five W’s. Most of the time it’s wind, splinting or pneumonia. Pneumonia’s easy to assume, especially if you’re too busy to do the tests.”

Fury gave Peter a pointed look before looking back at you. “What do you think’s wrong with 4B?”

“The fourth W, walking. I think she’s a promise candidate for a pulmonary ambulus.”

“How would you diagnose?”

“Spiral CT, VQ scan, provide O2, dose with Heparin, and consult for an IVC filter.”

Fury turned back to Peter. “Do exactly as she says, then tell Wilson that I want you off this case.” He turned back to you and Peter walked away. “Very impressive, Dr. L/N. Can’t wait to see more. Welcome to the gang.”

“Thank you, sir.” 

~~~

You were scrubbed in and waiting in the OR with the rest of those who would be on Savannah’s surgery before Dr. Rogers was. The OR and gallery were full, wanting to watch the one in a million brain aneurysm.

“Alright everybody,” Dr. Rogers said, coming in with his red-white-and-blue scrub cap on. “It’s a beautiful night to save lives. Let’s have some fun.”

You watched in awe as Dr. Rogers performed the surgery. It was the greatest thing you had ever witnessed and you longed to be more apart of it than you were. After the surgery was over, you sat outside the OR in a happy daze. 

“It was a good surgery,” Natasha said as she stopped in front of you.

“Yeah,” you agreed.

Natasha sat beside you, sighing. “We don't have to do that thing where I say something, and then you say something, and then somebody cries, and there's like a moment—“

“Yuck.”

“Good. You should get some sleep. You look like crap.”

“I look better than you.”

“That’s not possible.” 

Natasha then took her leave. Dr. Rogers then came out of the OR. He stopped at the desk for some paperwork while you stared at him, still dazed.

“That was amazing,” you said with a shy smile.

“Mmm,” Dr. Rogers hummed in agreement, still working on the papers.

“You practice on cadavers, you observe, and you think you know what you're going to feel like standing over that table, but...that was such a high.” Dr. Rogers looked at you and nodded. “I don’t know why anybody does drugs.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah,” you smiled.

Dr. Rogers smiled back a bit. “I should go do this.”

“You should.”

He started walking backwards, unable to take his eyes off you just yet. “I’ll see you around.”

“See you around.” 

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2​​. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[mysdrymmumbles]

A, C, F, K and N for the ABC ask meme!~

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

Stradama x Marileth is one I like that I don't mention a lot. Marileth being friends with the Maw Walker makes me really happy, too. <3

I personally prefer Draven and Renathal as bros, and I think their friendship is pretty awesome.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Usagi x Mamoru. I hate them. He's a college douche dating a 14 year old, among other things. Ever since I was a little girl, first discovering Sailor Moon, I hated that they were a thing. From the very beginning.

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

I mean, like, actively? Consecutively? Probably WoW because I was fairly active with fanfic and stuff from Wrath-MoP, then it died down, then I came back to the fandom for Shadowlands. That and Dragon Age (probably put 4 or 5 years into that fandom).

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Pelagos. How he starts as someone struggling to fulfill his purpose and worrying that he will fail, to being the most compassionate God is pretty neat <3

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

I wish we saw the characters in more casual settings, more personal moments--like with the Quill of Correspondence from the Ember Court. I love seeing that Mikanikos is so focused on his inventions that he gets lost or misplaces letters. I love that Kevin eats Marileth's letter, and he knows it must have been a kind letter because Kevin is happy. I love how Sika tells you to get to The Point when you write her, and how Rendle asks why tf you're writing to him when he's right there in Sinfall. I love the Kleia wants to write to you, so she literally steals the quill and parchment from Pelagos and flies out of his reach so that she can write you, only to not be able to think of anything to say. It makes them so much more relatable rather than just being these stoic, static side characters. I also hate that you get so much of many of these characters' personalities through the Ember Court and not their actual covenant stories.

More LGBT+ rep in the actual game.

More shenanigans side quests.

Thank you for the ask :D This was fun <3

[sydneyshipsstuff]

so uh last night at like 4 am i couldnt sleep, decided to walk my dog, and came up with this bad boy. It’s a rough draft, though. um @professional-benaddict read it and told me to post it, so whatever rafni says goes. 

-Little! Peter with like everyone lmao (platonically), but main pairing is Tony x Peter. everyone is 18+ and Littles are known. but yeah, I call this “uncanonically Canon AU” because it follows canon character tropes (except Peter).

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

so i LOVE the doctor trope w stephen and tony to death, like probably a lil too much, but hear me out

--canon tony and the avengers with not canon (aka powerless) little peter

--im thinking how they met is before peter became classified as a little, he was smart smart. so, he still gets the internship, but a real one this time.

--hes hanging out with the other interns when he feels himself regress. he freaks and goes to hide in a bathroom or something

--he runs into (probably pepper??) someone and they help him get out of the tower because he's obviously very vulnerable

--they (pepper?) take him to the hospital to get tested and find out hes a high care little. once they find out peter freaks out because omg he cant work like this

--(pepper?) assures him that they will figure it our, but with no CG, and just for plot sake, he also is living alone at this point so they dont feel comfortable sending him home, so he stays overnight, at least, in the hospital

--(pepper?) goes to talk to tony himself about this since hes the one who chose and hired the interns. tony isnt quite sure what to do because peter is one of the best in their group

--(pepper?) suggests that he go have a one on one talk with peter and see what the boy wants to do with his future, and also meet with the doctors to see what they think is best for his future

--now, tony has met peter a few times, and the kid is pretty cool, but he never really cared about him (harsh, but canon tony is pretty reserved so yuh) so, when he goes into the hospital room to talk with him, hes mentally preparing to never see peter again

--but, when he walks in, he sees peter sat on a cot carefully coloring in an avengers coloring book, and his entire aura is different and /adorable/

--as if he wasnt already kinda done for, when peter notices he's there, he looks up, eyes blown wide and a kid-like face on full of awe

--he sits on the end of the bed and they simply stare at each other before peter finally gets the courage to ask why tony is there, stuttering through it like an adorable mess

--tony freaks out, because as good as peter is, he planned on letting peter down, but now that hes here, all he wants is to see the boy.

--instead he smooths his nervousness and easily asks about how the boy is doing. he asks if peter has a CG, and predicably, peter just sadly shakes his head

--anyways i dont really know how this part would be worded, and it probably wouldnt happen in just one day, but eventually tony asks peter if he wants tony to take care of him

--peter is a cutie and accepts, again dont really have this part planned out, im akward when it comes to writing about the adopting of a little

--he goes with tony and since he lives in the tower, he also gets the avengers as glorified CGs. now this is the part i LOVE

***added part by Rafni:

"I’d imagine that Peter would just be kept in the hospital, like he doesn’t need any meds nor saline so he doesn’t even have a drip nor is he hooked up to any monitors. He is just there in the hospital pyjamas colouring and waiting for someone to take care of him🥺👀"

And since there’s no medical concerns (anymore) the nurses would have more time to just chat with Peter and make sure he is like mentally taken care of 🌸🌸

---

tony stark- he's obviously the main man and does all the main caring. hes the one who sleeps with peter and makes sure he gets food, and plans the days. he also sometimes will hand make little gadgets (safe ofc) to occupy peter. he gets peter little engineering/inventing kits and will hold back any groans he has as peter hits his leg with a plastic hammer and screwdriver. he also is the one who is ALWAYS there, when he cries, when he's happy, when he's sad.

thor- he lets peter play with his hair, and even lets the boy snuggle, and sometimes even chew on, mjolnir (because of course peter would be worthy)

steve rogers- he lets peter look at and hold the shield. one day he finds the boy curled like a cat dosing on the inside of it

natasha- she speaks in russian to him, and when he goes outside to the park, shes there making sure no one disturbs him

wanda+sam (i had an idea for them when i originally thought of this, but i cant remember it now :/)

bucky- he lets peter also mess with his hair, although more rare than thor, but he does let peter suck on his metal fingers when hes really small, and will scratch peters scalp with it, the metal scratching much better than normal skin. also if he ever gets a fever, the cold of the arm feels amazing on his forehead

bruce- not strictly canon since hes more sciency than doctor, but i imagine bruce is the one who does checkups and takes care of the meds when peter is sick

stephen- he doesnt do it often, plus he's not at the tower much, but hell do little harmless "magic" tricks to excite Peter and when peter gets grumpy, stephen will give him a little stress spell thing to calm peter down

peter quill- i imagine hes the one who is down to do lots of fun stuff, but is also the most reckless towards the actions suited towards littles, getting a lot of scolding from tony. also, he has great taste in music, so when peter has bursts of energy, he'll bounce around the room dancing to old 80s music

rocket- hes the closest peters ever gonna get to a pet, and with lots of bribing from tony, rocket /occasionally/ lets peter pet him and feed him "treats", sometimes peter will ask rocket to do a trick like jump or spin, but rocket with always decline...at first. peters trademark pouts do the trick because either rocket will concede and hurt his pride, or tony will see and threaten rocket into making his little boy happy. its always worth it to see the happy little squirms and claps

gamora- she's the resident story teller. when its bedtime, she'll share her cool space stories, leaving out the gory/scarier aspects. it always does the trick as hes out in minutes. sometimes hell catch her and peter q engaging in loving activities (ie kissing, hugging, whatever), and he'll just giggle away, and as embarrassed as gamora gets, not being an openly affectionate person, she might just go to the extreme to hear the cute giggles out of the little boy

clint- hes pretty chill with peter. he also likes to play games with the boy, playing things like peek-a-boo when he's super small, or playing darts when he feels older. tony isnt /too/ happy about it, but its better than quill so he doesnt say anything.

pepper is there too because i love the idea of tony working away somewhere and pepper calling peter in, handing him a few sheets of paper, sometimes actual documents, sometimes just scratch paper to entertaim the boy, before asking peter to deliver them to tony. she always has a smile when peter eagerly nods with his whole body before running to the office to give tony the papers. it almost always ends with peter in his lap, but it /always/ ends in tony praising him, saying something along the lines of 'theres my little helper boy. look at you'

---

--on any particular day peter wakes up aged up, he doesn't even miss his old internship because this life is so much better, although on these days tony actually lets him help with some safer stuff in the lab with him

--also, they are still the avengers and still have to save the universe. tony leaves him in the care of Happy or Pepper, trusting them both to handle him. sometimes, it ends in disaster. sometimes, they are lucky enough to find happy laying on the couch, with a drooling little boy soaking his suit

--no matter how things end up, it never gets old being able to come home and cuddle up with the reason tony wants to save the universe.

--its no surprise peter is able to help the man just as much as tony helps him. tony stops locking himself up so late at night so he can put peter to bed and cuddle up. he stops drinking when he's stressed, instead finding his boy and reading a story to him. his hookups end, he wants to be there for peter all the time. he gets more work done, the added bonus of having a pretty little boy in his lap helping keep his mind on track.

--tony still has his canon issues, but having peter there makes everything a little more manageable. and when he eventually gets too old to be ironman, its okay, because his universe is lying in bed, a red pacifier in his mouth, and a family of superheroes softly arguing about who the boy loves most

--and despite tony being a narcissist, he knows this is not that, when he thinks that without a doubt he is peters favorite. after all, peter helped him see the good inside the bad

---

so uh yeah thats all i had to say. maybe in the future it will become an actual thing, idk. i still have so many projects im working on first. feel free to add whatever you want to it though !!

[scarletarosa]

Athena

Greek goddess of logic, truth, intelligence, knowledge, wit, wisdom, war, battle strategy, heroism, protection, law, justice, order, good counsel, skill, victory, and handicrafts

Athena (Roman: Minerva) is the magnificent goddess of Truth, she is a tremendous being of light who ensouls the cosmic consciousness of Truth and grants it to the world. She is the guardian over all knowledge and despises ignorance, facing it and destroying it like light ripping through darkness. She was one of the most important goddesses of Ancient Greece and is said to have led the Greeks to their homeland and supported their development by teaching them many things. She was also their greatest protectress and would valiantly defend them while defending their cities, even mentoring them in particular battle techniques. As a very complex goddess, Athena would watch over many areas of life, including all forms of education, crafts/inventions, and philosophical thinking. She also is one of the three Virgin goddesses (along with Artemis and Hestia) who are never swayed by romance or lust, since Athena values being solely devoted to the realm of the mind. 

Mythology: Many ages ago when Zeus was less moral than he is nowadays, he was very jealous of anyone who threatened his position of power. When he learnt that his wife, Metis, the goddess of wisdom, may birth his successor, he became desperate to end their lives. Zeus devoured Metis while she was pregnant, thinking this would secure him. But when the time came, Zeus began feeling tremendous headaches. As even he couldn’t bear them, Hephaestus struck Zeus with his axe and Athena leapt out of Zeus’ head, fully armed and with a furious cry. This frightened some of the deities, but Zeus, however, was delighted and full of pride. In this story of Athena’s birth, we see her as enraged wisdom that fights as a defender and upholder of justice.

A popular myth of Athena is the story of Arachne, a mortal craftswoman who boasted that she was more skillful than Athena herself. Athena offered her a chance to repent, but after Arachne refused, she challenged her to a weaving duel. The goddess fashioned a beautiful tapestry which illustrated the gruesome fate of the mortals who had the hubris of challenging the gods. Arachne, on the other hand, chose to depict stories of the mortals unjustly victimized by the gods. But she didn’t even have a chance to finish it for the enraged Athena tore Arachne’s fabric to pieces and turned her into a spider. As such, Arachne is doomed to weave ever since. This was a myth written by the Greeks as a warning against hubris, and does not portray an actual event, especially since Arachne is actually a goddess of spiders and wasn’t a cursed human.

Roles: Despite Athena’s connection to war, she moreso represents the strategy behind it and the ability to protect and bring about order (whereas Ares represents battle-lust, Athena fights out of necessity). She was also known to bestow victory in war, as she is at times seen accompanied by Nike, the goddess of victory. Through these connections, Athena is the patroness of heroes and is known to wisely advise them in their quests and grant divine weapons in times of need.

Other than the art of battle, Athena is known as a skillful inventor and even holds the title of ‘protectress of agriculture’. She is represented as the inventor of the plough and rake: she created the olive tree (the greatest blessing of Attica), taught the people to yoke oxen to the plough, took care of the breeding of horses, invented the bridle, instructed people how to tame horses, and much more. At the beginning of spring, offerings were given to Athena in advance for the protection she was to afford to crops and fields. Besides the tools of agriculture, Athena was said to be the inventor of numbers, science, hand-made crafts, chariots, and other such helpful things. 

Athena is a magnificently powerful goddess who can easily strike fear into her enemies. In times of battle, she is known to have lightning flashing from her eyes, and can even overpower Ares himself with her strategic mind during combat. She is peace gained through battle, courage gained through struggle, and clarity gained through wisdom. She has explained to me that the Aegis (the head of Medusa) on her breastplate represents her victory over her own shadow, the part of one’s psyche that creates negative emotions such as fear or cruelty. This is a true mark of wisdom and shows even further just how glorious Athena is. She can always be relied upon for sage advice in any matter, and knows how to directly tell someone what needs to be done or how they should change to become better. Athena says that she is also the goddess who inspires women to be more than their domestic roles that are pressured on them. She inspires rebellion in their hearts and teaches them how to fight and overcome oppression. Thus, Athena is the glorious warrior goddess of illuminating truth and courage; there is nothing that can break her down. 

Appearance: a tall woman in her 30′s with long brown hair, gray eyes, and wears either a white dress or silver armour

Personality: Overall, Athena is wise, intelligent, serious, diligent, straightforward, courageous, determined, perfectionistic, and a steadfast protector of peace. She has a very strong sense of morality and is able to keep calm and collected under a great deal of pressure. She loves to spread knowledge to others, but does not guide us through everything since she seeks to make her devotees independent. She greatly values strength of character, open-mindedness, and the desire to make oneself better no matter what. Athena can be a bit motherly at times with those she likes, but not too much in a “soft” way but more like a quiet and dedicated mother who wants the best for you. Although she does not have much patience for most people, especially if they are unwilling to take responsibility or overcome their ignorance. She also has no patience for people who disrespect her or disregard her nature as a virgin goddess. When Athena is angered, she becomes terrifying and cold. Lightening begins flashing out from her eyes and is relentless in bringing her fury upon whoever offended her. 

Athena is very empowering and knows exactly what to say when her devotees feel down or lost, for she can see past clouded emotions and into the clarity of truth. She also hates injustices of any kind and seeks to destroy all ignorance. She is a very protective warrior and an Illuminator, following the path that Lucifer teaches about wisdom through adversity. She is also a very close friend of the goddess Lilith, so they work well together for gaining Illumination. One of the most sacred animals of Athena is the serpent, which sheds its skin to be reborn, making it a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. This is one of the lesson that she often teaches to her followers, that their current self must die to be reborn in wisdom. In some of her statues, a giant snake can be seen beside her.

| Symbolism of Athena |

Owls

Eagles

Doves

Snakes

Helmets

Shields

Weapons

Olive Tree

Books

| Some of her epithets |

Alkis (The Strong)

Areia (The Warlike)

Ærgáni (Instructor of the Arts)

Axiopoinos (The Avenger)

Día (Heavenly)

Drákaina (She-Dragon)

Chalinitis (Tamer of Horses)

Erganê (The Worker)

Mêchaneus (Skillful Inventor)

Mítir Tǽkhni (Mother of the Arts)

Paiônia (The Healer)

Kóri (The Maiden)

Parthenos (The Virgin)

Pallas (The One who Brandishes Her Weapon)

Lýteira kakóhn (Deliverer from Evil)

Omvrimóthymos (Strong of Spirit)

Oplophóros (The Warrior)

Ormásteira (She Who Urges You Forward)

Polias (Protector of the City)

Polæmitókos (Bringer of Necessary War)

Polývoulos (Exceedingly Wise)

Nikephoros (Bringer of Victory)

Sóhteira (Saviour) 

Devotional Actions: Above all, Athena values offerings of action. She expects those devoted to her to constantly seek to improve themselves by gaining spiritual advancement, overcoming their Egos, and gaining as much knowledge as they can. Wisdom is embraced through battling hardships, analyzing yourself, and learning from trial and error. Dedication to what she teaches pleases her far more than physical offerings.

Offerings: Fine quality white wine (esp. if flower-scented), olives, olive oil, milk, bread, goat cheese, pomegranates, citrus, apples, cherries, figs, white lilies, myrrh incense, sandalwood, almonds, honey, cakes, cooked lamb or goat, beeswax candles, non-fiction books, fancy pens, quills, pottery, paintings, swords, daggers, silver armour, snakeskin, owl feathers, votive owls, clear crystals, silver jewelry, chess games, wool, knitting tools, pretty antiques, white marble, artworks, poetry, snake statuettes, and imagery of her sacred animals.

[boxofbadaddiction]

Whoever Broke Your Heart

George Weasley x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of Cheating. Guy who doesn't understand the word "no". Teeny Tiny bit of Swearing.

Opening a Joke Shop was the best idea Fred and George ever had. It's what they were meant to do. What made them happier than one would think possible. At least that's what George had been trying to convince himself for the past few hours.

To tell the truth, this past week had been the most stressful so far, and they worked through the beginning of a war!

But now that that was over and Diagon Alley, like everywhere, was beginning to return to the new normal, the Twins had been flat out. Kids were preparing for the school year and in addition to their shop being near capacity every single day, mail orders were through the roof. It'd been like this for the past 3 weeks, but this week...This week could not possibly get any worse!

Between the eight new complaints from angry family members after falling victim to one of their products. To the three ruined displays after a customer 'accidentally' set off one of the boys 'Crazy Creatures' feature Fireworks which sparked a Lion to pounce throughout the store, until the Twins got it under control, it had managed to take out it's fair share of shelving and they had to close the store for a little over an hour to clean up. On the brightside they sold twelve of those that day after everyone saw it in action. Now, however, there weren't enough fireworks in the store to distract George from the mountain of paper work he'd been ignoring. Or from the fact he still couldn't get his latest invention to cooperate. He has completely HAD IT. In his opinion this week can well and truly go and get fuc-

"OI GEORGE! You're not still working in there are you!?" Fred called as he made his way to his brothers room.

Sure enough, there his Twin was. Slumped uncomfortably in his desk chair working reluctantly on the paperwork he'd neglected. With his head propped up by his palm he didn't even acknowledge his brothers entrance.

"For Merlin's sake, George. The stores closed mate, give yourself a break for a minute won't you?" Fred walked over to glance at the work spread haphazardly over the desk top.

"Later. I'm nearly done." George murmured.

"Bollocks you are." Fred replied lifting several order sheets from the pile to read through them. "You've been working non-stop lately, just let it slip for tonight, mate."

"I can't Fred!" He snapped in frustration. "We're so far behind it's ridiculous. I can't let it go because it needs to be done before open tomorrow!"

"We're not open tomorrow, George! It's Sunday!"

"What?" He looked up confusedly at his calender on the wall. "It's the 31st?"

"No." Fred dropped the papers in his hands and flipped the page of the calender, picking up a red marker which he used to circle the date. "It's the 5th, you numpty."

George threw his Quill onto the desk and pushed himself back into his chair, rubbing his eyes in frustration before running them through his hair with a groan. He had a whole day to get this done tomorrow. But here he was rushing through it like last minute revision before an exam because he can't keep track of what day it is. He relaxed at the thought of more time. Fred patted his shoulder with a slight chuckle, noticing much of the tension he'd been harbouring melt away.

"Worried for nothing" he joked. George looked up at him with a glare. Freds face dropped slightly, seeing the bloodshot whites of his Twins eyes and the dark circles beneath them. "Bloody hell...you really need a night out of here."

George stood to stretch his aching back and sighed satisfactorily as it cracked in several places. "Yeah. Maybe I do" he spoke honestly.

"Tell ya what, Georgie. I was gonna continue work on that Dragons Breath Candy of yours tonight anyway so" he dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out a bunch of coins counting quickly, "here's twenty galleons. Get out."

George tilted his head in question.

"Go eat, or drink, whatever. Just get out."

George wasn't feeling particularly energetic for a night out and opened his mouth to protest, but Fred was having none of it.

"UH! No. Take a shower, cause you reek. Then leave and I don't won't you back till you're truly hammered. Hear me?"

His brother smiled half-heartedly and sent up a mock salute with a playfully stern expression.

Feeling far more refreshed than he had 20 minutes ago thanks to a good hot shower, George readdied himself to leave, grabbing his keys then quickly apparating to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. True, it wasn't a particularly long walk but honestly...he just couldn't be bothered.

The Pub was decently full but given the fact it was barely past eight on a Saturday night, one would actually consider it quite empty.

Shuffling past the groups of people drinking and talking throughout the room he quickly made his way to the bar. He stood to the right of what appeared to be a couple, leaning his body against the counter as he ordered a Fire Whiskey. He pulled a vacant stool toward himself to sit down as he paid for his drink. He simply sat, contently sipping his beverage, listening to the music as he felt himself relax considerably finally having time away from the stress of work. A few minutes passed before something to his left caught his attention. The couple he'd sat next to, or rather what he now gathered was an uncomfortable woman and some insufferable git who clearly didn't understand the word 'no'.

He was relentless in trying to persuade the woman to join him for a dance...then a drink...then how bout a date...then a-OKAY! George had heard enough.

"Oi, mate." He shouted slightly to be heard over the noise of the room, he tapped the man's shoulder to make it clear he was the one he was talking to. He turned slowly with a sour look of disgust at the interruption. "Give it a rest won't you? She's clearly not interested."

The girl shifted slightly in her chair, distancing herself from the man who refused to leave her alone. She clutched her drink within her hands tightly, trying to appear invisible one would assume.

"You with her are you?" The man spoke as he turned his body to face George, eyeing him with a rude expression.

"No."

"Then sod off. You're not one to know what she wants."

"Given the 8 times she's told you 'no' in the past 5 minutes I'd say I know exactly what she wants. For you to leave her alone."

The girl couldn't help but smile slightly at the redheads boldness of words. The man on the other hand was quickly becoming agitated. He straightened himself and took a menacing step forward, nostrils flaring. George didn't budge. Unphased by the man's movements, he simply sipped his drink with a deadpan expression.

"You tryna spark a problem, buddy?"

"Merely attempting to resolve one." George spoke smoothly.

"I don't see one here needing your help." He hissed.

"That'd be because you're it. So unless you'd like me to conjure you a mirror I'm afraid you'll remain quite blind." He took another sip of his drink. "The girls not interested. Leave her alone."

"Oh she looks plenty interested to me" the angry man spoke "just playing hard to get" he smirked stepping back a pace and wrapping his arm around the woman's side. George noticed her cringe at the contact moving away from him in her seat.

George placed his drink on the counter and stood slowly. His movements making the man drop his arm and puff his chest to appear bigger than he was. Stares never leaving one another as the redhead turned his body to face the arrogant man, looking down on him as if he were something unpleasant stuck to his shoe. Towering in comparison, a good head taller than he was caused a flash of unease to spead across the face of the offender. Evidently he had not realised the full size of the man infront of him while he was seated.

"Leave." George spoke in a deep and threatening voice. Eyes like daggers peircing all confidence the man before him previously held.

In an attempt to gain some composure and try not appear to be fleeing the git scoffed. Throwing a lame insult at the two of them before grabbing his drink and sulking away into the small crowd. George stood in place like a statue until the man had disappeared from sight completely. Posture and expression immediately softening as he turned back to the woman by the bar "are you alright?".

"Fine. Thank you." She spoke swiftly. Not turning to face him clearly wanting to be left alone as her body was still stiff and rigid. George looked at her unsure of what to say. "Do you need anything?".

"No. I'm fine. And I'd appreciate being left alone." She snapped turning her head ever slightly toward him as she did so. He tried to not take it personally as he noted the emotion held in her eyes and the slight tremble in her lips. The way she sat as if trying to restrain herself from something. Her drink, obviously bought long ago as the ice had all melted and the condensation had formed a large ring around the base of her glass. She'd probably been here long before that tosser showed up.

George sat, facing back to his glass not wanting to disturb her any further. She was beautiful he thought, and had the circumstances been different he probably would have been tempted to buy her a drink. But he knew now definitely wasn't the time, even if he just couldn't shake the feeling he needed to say something.

He eyed her curiously and cautiously, not wanting to appear as another weirdo incapable of understanding boundaries. Watching her stare sorrowfully at a Golden Diamond ring she fiddled with in her hands, a tear slipping down her cheek. It all made sense now. He raised his drink slowly to his lips, looking forward.

"Whoever broke your heart, must have been crazy."

She turned to him instantly, a very confused expression on her face as she watched him toss his head back to finish his drink. He signalled to the bartender for another before turning his head to look at her.

Mouth agape slightly as she furrowed her brows at him. He couldn't help the smile that came at her reaction, he nodded toward the ring in her hands.

"Engagement ring, is it not?" He reached for his new drink without taking his eyes off her. She stared at it for a moment before answering solemnly. "It was."

She bit her lip while turning the ring over on her finger tips, as if unsure whether or not to continue. George reminded silent, not wanting to force anything from her she wasn't comfortable with. "I caught him cheating little over a week ago."

"He's a git." He said abruptly taking a mouthful of whiskey. The girl laughed at this turning to look at him.

"You sound so sure."

"I'm certain."

"You don't even know his name"

"No, but I've got a couple for him."

She laughed loudly this time, having to look away from him to compose herself. George could have listened to that laugh all night, he was suddenly very thankful for Fred all but pushing him out of the flat earlier.

When she turned back to face him her cheeks were burning pink and she'd bit her lip slightly. He was taken by her completely. Which is stupid, he thought, because he doesn't even know her name. Shit. He doesn't know her name!

"I'm George, by the way" he reached his arm out to her.

"[Y/N]" she smiled taking his hand.

"Can I buy you a fresh drink?" He nodded toward the warm, flat beverage sat infront of her.

Hesitating slightly she stared into his eyes before nodding with a sincere smile.

They spoke for ages about Everything. Nothing. Hell anything that came up. He couldn't work out how someone could possibly have said goodbye to a girl like her. Nobody in their right mind could. He was smitten, with all of her. The way she smiled. Her laugh. They way she bit her lip when she tried not to blush. The way she played with her hair. He was oblivious to everything in that pub except her. As she was with him.

That was until the distinct sound of her favourite song peirced her ears. She hadn't taken her eyes off him for more than a second since he bought her that first drink, and there'd been a lot since then. Suddenly she was looking over at the band in the corner, smiling.

"I love this song"

He didn't know why the idea came to him, probably from the overwhelming urge to touch her he's been resisting for so long. To hold her. Kiss her. Guess this works as well...

He stood, finishing his drink in a single gulp and held his hand out for her. "Come on."

"What?"

"We're going to dance" he grinned at her.

"Oh, no. I am a terrible dancer!"

"Same, love. No excuses." He winked at her taking her hand and pulled her up.

"One second" she pulled back a step but kept her hand in his. She turned to grab her mostly full drink, chugging it and placing the empty glass back against the rest, before turning her attention back to him.

George let out a haughty laugh at the action. Her grip on his tightened as she glared playfully at him, then taking the lead walked out onto the dance floor where he twirled her around and they danced next to one another not caring about how silly their moves must have looked as neither cared they couldn't dance.

They stayed out there the rest of the night, until the band announced their last songs were coming up. Slow songs. All couples on the floor began to move together. [Y/N] glanced around nervously before her eyes trailed back up to him, he was smiling down to her. Hand outstretched. She took it willingly and he pulled her into him where he began to sway.

"And you said you couldn't dance" she joked as she noticed he'd clearly done this before. He shrugged. "May have learned a move or two at school".

As the music went on the two of them only got closer, his arms wrapped around her as she lay against his chest. George let his chin gently rest on the top of her head, eyes closed enjoying the moment. It was perfect. Until, he felt a notable sigh leave her chest. Not at all content. It was sharp and she was obviously thinking about something she rather wouldn't be. He pulled back slightly to look down at her.

"Hey...what's up?"

"Sorry." She spoke to his chest "I didn't mean t-I just..." stumbling over her words she mentally kicked herself for ruining the moment. Taking a step back as she shook her head, she let go of him. George felt cold without her. "It's not you. I just-"

"You were thinking about him."

[Y/N] looked up at him with sad, apologetic eyes.

"It's okay, [Y/N/N]" he closed the space between them and ran his hand down her shoulders to her elbows. "I understand."

"It's just...all this...the slow dancing, the feelings I have right now..."she stopped herself, staring down at her shoes.

"Hey," he moved to cup her face in his hands. Bringing her face back up to look at him. His brows were furrowed and he had such a sincere look on his face [Y/N] could have melted right there. How could someone she only just met hold so much more love in his eyes toward her than her ex-fiancè ever did? "I like you." She spoke before he could. Georges eyes widened at the words, a smile began to creep on his face. Her hands came to rest on his arms as his hands fell to hold below her jaw. "I just...I don't know how you can be looking at me like that. When you barely know me, but then I was with-" "the git." She laughed at his interruption but still dropped her head to stare at the floor sadly "When I was with, the git, for 3 years and he never..."

"Listen to me." George ducked himself, as his finger tilted her chin up to look at him, "You deserve so much better than him. I don't have a clue how a prat like him managed to wrangle a winner like you but..." his eyes were flicking frantically between hers, desperate for the right words, "whoever couldn't see the girl that I see right now wasn't looking at you, love. If I know one thing is true...if you let me, if you give me the chance. I'll never be like whoever broke your heart."

Tears were forming in her eyes. Biting her lip as a smile began to form. She nodded slowly. Then quickly as she threw an arm over his shoulder and around his neck to pull him into a kiss, followed swiftly by the other. His hands fell to her waist. They felt perfect together. [Y/N] couldn't believe she'd nearly married some cheating git, when there was a man like this out there. A man so full of love, and compassion and pure joy he could light a dark room with nothing but his smile.

As the song that was playing slowly faded to an end the two finally parted lips, smiles so giddy they felt like Second Years again. She fell back into his chest as her arms came down to wrap around him, eyes closed listening to the sound of his heart beat and breathing as the bands last song began to play.

"I kinda wanna thank him." George spoke. She looked up at him, mouth slightly agape, brows furrowed, utterly confused. He couldnt help but chuckle at the look she was giving him. "Well, if he didn't do what he did, you'd never have ended up here in my arms." He smirked causing [Y/N] to roll her eyes before pulling herself back into him. "That's so cheesey" he felt her laughter quiver through his chest. He kissed the top of her head. "Get used to it"

[theflashdriver]

Secret Admirer (A Silvaze Oneshot)

Silver the hedgehog did not understand time travel, that was a truth he had long come to accept. While the books he’d read, often fictional in nature, gave their own takes or explanations with regard to changing history, he’d found that the truth was far less consistent. He’d often jump back a century or two to change things, to save his friends or the world from disaster, but those changes often resulted bizarre contradictions. Upon returning to the future he’d find it totally changed by his actions, so what happened to the prior, destroyed, world?

On one occasion the world might’ve been cracked into chunks by a giant monster only to be flooded by an entirely different one upon his next visit, but he seemed to be unaffected by the world’s changes. Well, that’d been the case nine out of ten times. The first time the future had been saved was the exception to the rule. Following the battle with Solaris, his life and all he was had been reset to zero. He’d been reborn and regrown to the point of being able to change the future again, an occurrence that he didn’t understand and that could hypothetically happen again at any point. That happening now would mean losing his memories again, forgetting not only himself and his friends but his closest partner all over again. Regaining those memories once had been so difficult, a second attempt might well prove impossible.

So, if he didn’t understand time travel and it could be so dangerous, why on earth was he daring to do this? Why had he hidden himself in the bushes of the royal gardens, from dusk till the rapidly approaching dawn, staring up at his best friend’s balcony? Why had he turned back the clock a single day to crouch in the hedgerows for what must have been over ten hours? Well, because the oncoming morning had been a rather bizarre day for him.

——

The day had started in a not so peculiar way. He’d awakened as his door was kicked in and a familiar voice bellowed through the entryway, “Rise and shine mate! Your Sheila’s here and I’m hungry!”

Though this happened every third or so day, her words had sent him tumbling from his hammock and he only just managed to catch himself before he could hit the ramshackle floor, “Good morning Marine,” He managed to groan, floating himself upright, “It’s morning already?”

“Morning, afternoon, evening? What does that matter, I’m telling you to get up, get your head on mate,” She beamed up at him, already dressed in her shipwright’s overalls, “I heard about your late night out, but that’s no excuse to leave your lady hanging, let alone leave me without breakfast!”

“Late night out? What are you...?” As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, the hedgehog’s brain kicked into gear. Marine only used terms like Sheila when she was talking about one person, “Wait, Blaze is here? I thought she was busy today; we were going to meet up tonight?”

“Well, for obvious reasons, she wants to see you now,” Marine’s grin went from excited to mischievous, “You’d better not keep her waiting.”

Marine had joked about the two of them being more than friends for some time now, so this was nothing new to the hedgehog. Whenever he left for the castle the raccoon would ask if he was going to see his girlfriend. Whenever they went on outings, professional or otherwise, Marine would insist on calling them dates. Blaze still seemed to struggle with it sometimes but, to be honest, he’d learned to let it fly over his head. The words Blaze and girlfriend had practically become synonymous in Silver’s head, even if he knew they weren’t actually the same.

Regardless of Marine’s chosen vernacular, Blaze’s mention was enough to send him into a hurry. Psychic light filled the room, his semi-private space in the bric-a-brac house that Marine had made, and immediately set about preparing him for the day. A set of boots pulled themselves onto his feet, his gloves slipped over his hands and his quills were straightened from frightful bedhead into their usual maple leaf style. There was a time when he wouldn’t have cared to do any of this, when he’d have simply stumbled put there to greet her, but the feline had trained him to be far neater in this second life.

“Alright, let’s go,” He grinned, knocking the door ajar with his powers before stepping around her.

“Hey, don’t get distracted by her, mate. I still want my breakfast!” The shipwright whined, trotting along behind him.

Their hut on the beach was a small place, mostly made of driftwood and iron, so it didn’t take Silver long to perform his usual stumbling dance over Marine’s half-finished inventions and into the kitchen. The combined cooking and eating station was at their home’s entrance, it was the first room any visitors ever saw. He’d made sure to clean the surfaces and put everything away the night before, in an effort to avoid an earful from his feline friend. The sight Silver encountered so heavily contrasted what he’d left last night.

Not only had the raccoon evidently awoken early and started tinkering, laying out all manner of machine on the kitchen table, but his companion looked so very different. For once, the guardian of the Sol emeralds wasn’t wearing her royal robes. Blaze was instead garbed in something far lighter, a long white sundress with a ruffled style. Its straps were thin but made to look thicker by what, even from a distance, the hedgehog could identify as embroidered felt lilies. There she sat, absorbing all of his attention, a simple glass of water placed in front of her. Was she smiling? It looked like she was, but maybe not fully. Well, it wasn’t unlike her to smother such an emotion.

“Good morning, Silver,” The hedgehog felt something strange in his chest as her words distracted him from his staring. Suddenly, it felt hotter than usual. That phenomena had happened a few times, but Blaze had sworn that it wasn’t her power’s doing.

“Good morning, Blaze,” He beamed, ignoring that strange feeling. Marine barged past as he stood somewhat stunned in the doorway, “I thought you were busy today?”

“I am, I’m just,” She went from smiling to fidgeting very quickly, hands set upon get glass, “Stopping in. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Blaze was apparently good at hiding her emotions but, for as long as he could remember, Silver had been able to see through them. Right now though, there was something flickering across her brow that Silver couldn’t place. She looked uncomfortable but Silver had seen her uncomfortable, he’d seen her sleeping on tarmac when they couldn’t reach their beds, this was a very different kind of discomfort. As if to make things even stranger, he couldn’t help but notice the heat lines that were blurring the air around her frame. That was a sight he only ever saw when she was seriously angry or upset, it usually indicated an immanent burning outburst and gave him time to mediate.

Again though, he couldn’t help but notice, despite that hint and her apparent discomfort, was that happiness in her eyes? A strange smell seemed to hang around her. It wasn’t unlike the feline to use strong perfume to mask the scent of flames but beneath the smell of lavender there was something else. Something had undoubtedly caught fire, but he couldn’t place what.

“What, me? Yeah, I’m fine,” He said, stepping fully into the room as he pulled himself from another daydream, “That dress is so nice, it really suits you.”

“Thank you,” She quickly uttered, raising the glass to her lips and absentmindedly casting her gaze to the ramshackle room’s large window

“Geez, you two really aren’t good at this,” The younger girl sounded, jumping up to sit at the table, “The dress is nice, Silver? After everything, that’s the best you could manage?”

“I mean, Blaze always looks pretty so it’s difficult to compliment her,” He quickly and bluntly responded, honest as ever, “But that dress makes her look even more beautiful than normal; it really suits her,” Silver saw an opportunity to enquire and turned back the feline, “Is something happening today?”

“No, not particularly, I just...” As the feline was talking, seemingly without her even noticing, her left shoulder ignited, “Was curious what you thought of it. I bought it a while ago thought I should wear it out for once. I’m glad you like it.”

“M-Mate, you’re-

Before the raccoon could finish, Silver had gently stepped to Blaze’s side. Concern was welling in the hedgehog’s head, not because of the fire itself but what it represented in Blaze’s mind. Casually, as he had done so many times before, he reached out and pressed a psychically shielded hand upon her shoulder. In an instant, like a hood covering a candle, he dispelled the flames with a gentle hiss. In their wake though, Silver felt a tenseness in her body.

He leaned in, getting face to face with her, but the prokinetic’s eyes fled from his, “Blaze, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Silver. Sorry, I just lost focus for a moment,” He’d known her long enough to know when she was lying. Something was going on.

Silver leaned in even further, pushing his forehead against hers, “You feel hotter than usual,” He confirmed aloud, meeting her eyes as he pulled back, “Are you sure? You might be sick...”

“I’m fine, really,” She insisted, “I-I just wanted to see you as soon as I could.”

“See me?” Silver blinked, confused, “But aren’t we meeting tonigh-

Before he could question Blaze any further though, Marine started to yell, “That’s more like it! See Silver, when you try, you can do it. You should sweep her off her feet more often; who knows, she might wear more pretty dresses.”

“Marine,” The guardian frowned, her ears folding, “If you must make such comments could you please keep your voice down.”

“Well I’m sorry I’m getting in the way of you and your boyfriend’s private time,” The youth stuck her tongue out, “But he’s supposed to be making me breakfast!”

“Fine, Marine, I’ll start on breakfast. Just settle down,” The psychic sighed, casting his aura across the room. The cupboards popped open, jam and utensils floated their way down to the worktop as bread jumped up and into the toaster, “So why did you want to see me, Blaze?”

“I just thought I should...” She shook her head, seeming to return to a more stoic demeanour, “I wanted to make sure you two were okay and now I know you both are, I’m glad. That’s all. Thank you for the water, Marine. I should probably get going.”

Something was wrong, something was definitely wrong with his partner. Silver felt his heart beat faster as he called out to her, “Wait, um,” She froze at his exclamation having just left her chair. He had no idea what to say but he knew he didn’t want her to leave, not until he understood, “Do you want some breakfast?”

“I need to hurry back to the castle,” She bit her lip, “But yes, if it’s not too much bother I... suppose, yes.”

The feline slid back into her seat and, instantly, a smug look overcame Marine’s face. Should he have asked that? Did the raccoon know something he didn’t? They seemed to have talked before she woke him up.

“Alright, I can do some toast really quickly, that way you won’t start work on an empty stomach,” Silver suggested, throwing a small smile her way.

The little grin had returned to her face and she had stayed. That was a good sign, right? She really had been hotter than usual though; in fact, she’d gotten even hotter the longer his head pressed against hers. Something was wrong or, at the very least, he didn’t understand what was going on. Regardless, Silver reset the toaster and slid two more slices in.

“So,” Blaze broke the silence again, he tried to stop staring, “Do you two have much planned for today?”

“Oh, the usual, you know. Start work on a couple new ships, go a sail,” Mischief was reborn on the raccoon’s face as she threw her gaze towards him, “Silver?”

“Might do a little bit of gardening or tidy the house a bit. I was honestly just going to wait the day away till I could come see you,” He turned to Blaze and admitted but, still sensing the tension in the air, he felt he had to say more, “So it’s nice to see you now. How about you?”

Almost instantly, Blaze’s gaze broke from him and fell back to her now almost empty glass, “Well, in a manner of speaking, I planned to do the same, until this morning,” Again, that strange half smile had overtaken her face; it was as though she was happy but, simultaneously, grappling with something else. Those heat lines looked even clearer too, Silver swore that he could feel her warmth radiating, “Not to say today’s meetings aren’t important, but I’d be lying if I said they addressed was especially pressing. It’s mostly updates on projects already well under construction, deciding whether and where to assign more funding. I honestly already know which projects need an extra boost and what projects are on the right track.”

“Anything we could help with?” Silver piqued up.

“Oi, don’t speak for me mate,” Marine blustered across as Blaze took a moment to think.

“Well, there was a plan to build a new lighthouse on the island that has rather stalled. The shores aren’t especially dangerous but there has been some call for it,” Blaze responded, ignoring the youngster.

“Wait, a lighthouse? Strewth, that sounds great,” The shipwright claimed, doing a complete one-eighty, “That’ll be easy. With Silver’s help, I could get it done in a weekend.”

“If you want my help then I’m more than happy to give it,” Silver promised, “Will that make your meetings easier?”

“Significantly, thank you-

The popping of the toaster cut the feline off. The psychic cast his hand across the room, but he kept his eyes on his companion, “Jam?”

“Blackcurrant if you still have it,” Blaze ordered, “I think that’s still my favourite of the batch you made.”

The hedgehog felt a wiry smile bend its way over his lips. Silver wasn’t the easiest person to fluster, apparently he was oblivious to most embarrassing things, but that compliment cut to his core. It wasn’t the first time she’d said that, but it still sent heat to his cheeks.

“I want strawberry and peanut butter!” Marine insisted, seeming to struggle with not being the focus for a full second.

“I know Marine, I know,” He managed to mutter, turning his full attention to the task in an attempt to smother his glee.

Quick as a flash, cutlery flew and jars were unscrewed as the hedgehog kited the toast toward completion. One after another, two plates landed on Marine’s ramshackle table. Silver meanwhile simply kept his overly topped toast in his psychic grasp.

Marine immediately set about devouring her plateful but, as ever, Blaze was more courteous. With a quick, “Thank you,” she claimed her first mouthful. Silver took the middle road between the two of them, eating quickly in his own bizarre way, but also knowing how not to make a mess. All the while, he sent the cutlery to clean itself and began to psychically tidy.

The raccoon, her mouth still full, snorted, “Show off. I shouldn’t have to do any chores; you can do them all so easily.”

“It’s important to take responsibility, Marine. Silver won’t always be here to look after you,” Blaze tutted.

“Yeah, so while he is here, I should take advantage of him,” Was her whining response, “If I could do what he can then I’d have made so many more ships by now, you’d practically have a navy!”

“You take advantage of him enough as it is,” The feline insisted, gesturing to the half-formed metal masses on the table, “Look at this mess, it’s all yours but he was planning on cleaning it up. How many times has he done that?”

“Blaze, if you’re going to act like my Mum then can you at least hurry up and marry Dad?” Marine sneered.

Silver had expected another retort, the two could bounce back and forth like this for hours, but instead a silence hung in the air. The time traveller looked to Blaze only for her gaze to quickly flick away from him. She raised her glass to her lips only to find it empty, he hadn’t seen her take the last swig.

Silver felt compelled to break the silence, “Marine, you can’t keep saying these things…”

“Oh, what, now that you’ve actually made a move I can’t joke about you two? No way!” The youngster jeered.

He blinked, “What d-

“I-I need to get going anyway,” Blaze cut him off, “My first meeting is about to start.”

“What, already?” Silver could feel that strange vibe in the air, it was stronger than ever, “But you just got here.”

“It can’t be helped; work may wait for me but I don’t want to delay others. Besides, you’ll see me again tonight, won’t you?” She asked, perhaps rhetorically or perhaps not, “Just come in how you usually do, sneak in through my back window, I might be a little late now that I’ve...” Again, Blaze’s shoulder caught fire but this time the feline noticed and obsessively patted it out. Concern and regret overtook her face before she tore her gaze from him. She rose from her seat and stepped past him, heading toward the door, “I need to go, the meeting will start soon.”

“Blaze, are you sure you’re okay?” He called across, just missing as he reached for her hand but successfully halting her in her tracks, “You’re acting strange today. If you need help with something then I’ll do my best, you know that, right? Just like with the lighthouse.”

“Don’t be so naive,” She’d practically snapped at him but when she looked back at him that strange emotion had filled her eyes, “If you can do this then I can do this.”

He was so confused but he couldn’t get a word in before the door opened. Her smile grew and fused into whatever other emotion had been battling. Silver had seen Blaze set herself alight and charge into battle, he’d seen her conjure a million different flames, but that smile was more blinding than any she could produce. He wanted to etch it into his mind, hold it close and never let it go. He’d seen countless expressions on that pale muzzle of hers, but none of them could compare to this simple yet complete smile.

Her words almost failed to break him from a trance of her own creation, “I’m so glad I managed to see you this morning, but I’m already looking forward to tonight, Silver.”

“S-See you later, Blaze,” What was that? He’d stuttered? Why did his mouth feel dry all of a sudden, what was going on?

Once the door was closed, the grey hedgehog rushed to the window, wanting to watch the guardian depart, only to find she’d frozen a few paces from their porch. She raised a hand to her forehead, seeming to rub her brow, only for her entire upper back to burst into flames again. He watched as she pulled her hand down her face and balled her fists at her side. Though the flames grew brighter for a moment, they were soon snuffed by her own will. Silver watched as she quickly marched away, without another glance back or moment’s hesitation, but his eyes were drawn to her tail. Even while the rest of her had returned to a seemingly serious state, that appendage was flicking back and forth.

“Oh strewth, look mate, she’s left you something!” Silver’s thoughts were again interrupted as he turned to find the raccoon had left her seat.

Atop the chair she’d fled, Blaze had left a small package wrapped in white paper and bound with a cyan ribbon. He approached and Marine, having taken a gander at it herself, passed it his way with a smug grin. Attached to the ribbon was a tag which, in Blaze’s cursive and neat handwriting, read, “To my Secret Admirer. It was my first time making these and I had to rush, but I hope you manage to enjoy them. From your own Secret Admirer.”

“Secret admirer...?” He read aloud, still staring at the small package.

“I mean, come on Silver. You didn’t really think you could trick her, did you?” Marine said, on the verge of laughing, “Who else would leave Blaze flowers? Of course she knew it was you.”

Silver felt the gears in his skull clang and rattle as he struggled to parse through all this. What Marine had just said was clear but the parcel, Blaze’s dress and how uncomfortable she’d looked? It was all compounding, but there was a problem.

“Flowers? What flowers?” Silver asked, still staring at the little parcel.

“Aww come on, mate, don’t play dumb. You’ve been caught. She told me herself, she went out onto her balcony this morning and there was a whole bouquet out there. That’s the way you get into her room, right?” Marine snorted, jumping back onto her chair, “You just fly up there and go through the balcony door, that way no one else knows about you two havin’ your lil’ kissing sessions. Of course she knew it was you, who else could have put the flowers there?”

Did Blaze not receive flowers often? She was the guardian of this dimension after all, not to mention the best person he knew. He supposed them arriving on her balcony did make things different, did perhaps imply they were from him. But they weren’t. Someone else had put them there.

The gift in his hands wasn’t for him, it was for them.

“Who else could have put them there...” Silver parroted, eyes still fixed to the package.

“Mate? Mate, are you still there?” Marine snapped her fingers bur his attention barely wavered from the dozen thoughts fighting in his head. He only just managed to look up at her, “I always knew you had it in you, but I didn’t think it’d be so soon. I was sure you two would pussyfoot around your feelings for another couple of years at least.”

Who could this so-called secret admirer be? There was no way it could be someone from the other dimension, getting here was just too much trouble for them. Was it one of the palace staff? Had a maid or a butler cleaned Blaze’s room and left the flowers there, only for them to be discovered the day after?

The hedgehog’s nose twitched. Whatever he was holding, it was producing the scent that had undercut Blaze’s perfume. The cat had tried her hand at baking or cooking of some sort, by the weight and scent that much was clear, but he couldn’t bring himself to open the parcel. Even though she thought it was, this parcel wasn’t intended for him. This package was intended for her secret admirer, whoever had plucked up the nerve to set flowers on her doorstep. Though he had happily eaten her food before, Blaze always seemed embarrassed about her cooking. She’d never thought highly of what she made.

She must have rushed to make this gift, unwilling to let that show of affection go unreturned for even half a day.

He had to make things right, he had a duty to! And what choice did he have either way, he couldn’t claim responsibility for the bouquet at her back door. No matter how he felt, if it was concern or happiness or... something else. What was this feeling? There was a strange tightness in his chest and a bizarre concoction of emotions swirling in his head, all of which entirely confused him. He kept visualising her where she’d sat when he’d walked in the room, that little smile on her face and how it’d grown as she left.

“Well, go on mate, don’t keep me in suspense. Aren’t you going to open your prezie?” Marine asked, still entirely oblivious.

Thoughts were still streaming through his head, but they’d latched onto a single idea and new thoughts had begun to chorales around it. He had to find out who this admirer was and either tell Blaze or give them her present, he wasn’t sure which. But how could he do that? How could he mend this faux pas?

A sound began to blare in the room, very almost throwing Silver from his feet. The hedgehog’s eyes tracked it to its source, tracing up the wall, only to find the rickety cuckoo clock that Marine had made last month. A painted green bird had poked its head through a pair of doors and began to whistle. It was as he stared at that clock, its hands reading eight in the morning, that a thought fought its way through Silver’s jumbled emotions.

What if he went back in time to scope out Blaze’s actual secret admirer; what if he went back and identified them? Could he do that? Of course he could do it, but should he do it? Was that right? Was that wrong? He felt a headache growing behind his eyes, like an ice-pick wiggling its way into his brain, as all of his confusion returned.

He had to do something, but this was all he could think to do. Having seen that smile on her face, just telling Blaze it wasn’t him didn’t seem right. He’d find out who this secret admirer was and then explain the whole situation tonight, give her the choice whether or not to know who they are and then whether either of them should deliver the present. Something about that still didn’t sit right with him, something he couldn’t place, but he had to do something! He had to make things right; he had to help her!

“I need to go, Marine. I might not be back till tomorrow,” He said, hearing the faintness in his own voice.

“That’a boy! Chase after her, just like Amy does Sonic; bust down the door, interrupt that meeting! Now’s your shot so you’d better not waste it!” Marine yelled, but Silver barely heard her over the racket in his head as he raced out the door and began to channel temporal psychic energy.

—

His position in the bushes was growing more uncomfortable by the microsecond, he’d surely been squatting for hours now. There hadn’t even been a nice night sky to look up at, he’d been staring up at her balcony and its plain white curtains for what felt like days. Traveling back through time to arrive here had been the easy part, the wait was the real killer. He’d sent himself back to just after sunset, knowing that his arrival in the midst of the night might scare off the princess’ potential suitor. It was a far smaller jump through time than he regularly did, the shift backwards hadn’t tired him in the least, but now his eyelids were heavy and the balls of his feet ached. The sun was rising, the world was beginning to awaken, and Silver couldn’t help but feel a little tense. No bouquet had arrived on Blaze’s balcony nor had one been present upon his arrival. No one had so much as entered the royal gardens in the entire time he’d been here.

Silver heard his stomach grumble; it’d been calling out to him for the past three hours, just as time had switched from trickling like molasses to stumbling like a lost snail. Sequestered in the hedge beside him was Blaze’s gift, a parcel not set to exist for what was likely a handful more hours. It was food he wouldn’t dare claim for himself and that had convinced time to tick by even more slowly.

He’d already fantasised about the package’s potential contents, of course he had. Cookies seemed most likely to him, Blaze had made him cookies back when he’d first arrived in her dimension, but perhaps that disqualified them. He’d heard that people made each other chocolate on Valentine’s Day and, with that event being advertised as just a couple of weeks away, he had drawn an association between such a gift and romance. Come to think of it though, he wasn’t especially well educated on what romantic rituals were in this dimension. For all he knew, there could be bread or a croissant in there. He was fairly sure he could rule out fish or some other cooked meat and modestly certain he could limit his assumptions to baked goods, but not entirely.

As his stomach made yet another demand, Silver couldn’t help but sigh. Whoever this supposed romantic was, they were certainly leaving it to the last second. Blaze had a busy day ahead of her, especially since she was set to cook this gift and visit him. There was no way she’d be up any later than seven. The hedgehog had slept over in her room enough times to know that, despite how it clearly annoyed her, the guardian always set an early alarm and insisted on leaving her bedroom by seven. Every day had to be productive in some shape or form. Well, almost every day.

Once or twice, when he’d stayed over, she’d ended up breaking that rule. He’d always blamed himself for those occasions, they’d stay up playing games or reading or simply talking. When they’d lived together in the destroyed future there had been no hard rule on when to wake up, so Blaze always blamed that for her tendency to sleep in around him. Would nights like that still happen after her misplaced assumption was revealed? Could they?

He shook those thoughts from his head, he couldn’t daydream; he had to stay alert! He was on a mission! There was no way she’d sleep in today if she’d found time to bake. By now the chirping of birdsong had begun to breach the airwaves, a sign of the ever-encroaching morning. This was a sound that Silver knew almost too well, on the more common occasions that they hadn’t slept in he’d spent the morning identifying them. Pretty songbirds weren’t uncommon on the island, their chirps and hums punctuated almost every outing, but, for once, Silver couldn’t bring himself to focus on their music. Their presence implied that the moment was approaching, Blaze would awaken soon.

This suitor was really leaving it to the very last moment. If they were leaving it this long then the delivery would surely be quick, but Silver wasn’t even sure how they’d reach her balcony. The overhang was a good ten metres off the ground, Silver could only get up there because he could fly. There were no vines or trellis to climb and the wall was practically smooth. Maybe they’d just throw the bundle of flowers up there? With the right arc it was certainly possible, but a slight miscalculation could ruin them. The longer he’d considered it, the more it made sense that Blaze had assumed he was the source.

By this point he’d, of course, considered this suitor’s nature a hundred times over. He’d gone through countless names and faces, dug his way through a bottomless well of theories and found none that could satisfy him. The closest he’d come was an assumption that only served to raise several additional queries; that this supposed suitor might have been someone that he, and perhaps even Blaze, didn’t know. Those flowers might have been sent her way by some daring admirer, perhaps having gained an admiration for the feline following one of her speeches. The cat seemed to loathe those even more than the meetings that preceded them, but there was no denying that Blaze could keep an audience on their toes.

He’d heard that the feline’s speeches scared some of the populous, the feline herself seemed to think they all did. Blaze could be stern, she could be gruff, but her every word carried a charisma that he couldn’t ignore. Whenever she was on a stage or even just in the room, he could barely take his eyes off of her. It was as if she was magnetic, capable of reeling him in without so much as trying. It wasn’t so unthinkable that someone else would see things as he did. Despite her disagreeing, he’d long assumed that was the norm.

The balcony was still empty. The rustling wind, the groan of his stomach and the chirping of the birds’ morning choir were making his ears ring. He’d be kept in the dark for some time, the sun rose from the castle’s front and set towards its back. This was intentional, so Blaze had told him. When the island had first been settled, this plot had specifically been designated for the palace and designed to grant a sunset view from the royal bedchambers. It was the very first thing decided upon, thought to aid in appeasing the Sol emeralds. Now though, it simply made for an astonishing view. Night was oh so long away, regardless of the path he took to it. He couldn’t dwell on that though, the mere thought made him even sleepier.

Silver dared to cast a quick glance skyward. He found that the clouds had begun to part above him, the deep navy he recalled had shifted more towards an indigo. He’d surely missed the sunrise for a second time by now but, as much as he loved to watch a good sunrise, this was more important. Time kept ticking on and on, its meandering waltz taunting him more and more with each passing second. Though he wholeheartedly believed his task was important and knew he wouldn’t regret this hungry isolation, the hedgehog couldn’t help but grow more aggravated at this secret admirer. What was taking them so long? If they wanted to hide from her then they should have delivered the flowers hours ago, around the one or two in the morning. Sure, they might not have known her schedule, but they had to assume she rose early, right? Thinking otherwise was-

In the blink of an eye, the white curtains were parted. For what couldn’t have been more than a second, Silver saw Blaze in her nightgown before she slipped back and into her room. Morning had arrived, morning had undeniably arrived, yet Blaze’s secret admirer was nowhere to be seen! Attempting to be subtle, trying his hardest to be stealthy, Silver fully poked his head from his bush and took in his greater surroundings. He was still flanked on either side by rose bushes, red lilies still bloomed in their plots before him and the grass looked entirely untrodden. No one had come, no one had even so much as passed though; outside of his presence and that of the flickies, the gardens had gone entirely untouched!

He dared to stretch to his full height, glancing over the hedgerows, only to find a similar scene lay behind him. Though his shift spooked some of the birds, it didn’t reveal any hidden person. No one was here, he was the only one here! If things were regular then Blaze was about to leave and take breakfast; she’d baked instead but that was beside the point, she was going to be out of that room in no more than twenty minutes.

Desperate, feeling sweat mount on his forehead, he half whispered yet half shouted, “Hey! Secret admirer, where are you?”

No reply, not even a movement, came.

As though it was some great feat of psychic might, a realisation made Silver almost faint. Blaze had already opened her curtains; she’d already looked out to the world below. Was she even going to look out her window again? But the events of today had happened, he’d already experienced everything first-hand! Her gift was still in the bush, her secret admirer couldn’t have missed their moment, why would that even happen?

He could feel sweat greasing his palms, he grabbed her gift and held it tight to remind himself that it was real. She had arrived at his home in that cute dress, though awkwardness had limited her, the feline had smiled at him in a way she never had before. It’d all happened, he could remember it clearly, but how many times had he changed the past? Was this his fault? By trying to observe the inciting incident, had he shifted the timeline in such a way that it never occurred? There were sayings about this, that changing the slightest thing could have drastic ramifications for the future. He’d never experienced that in all his travels, he’d always had to really try to change the world, work hard and fight. Little travels tended to make no difference, he’d go back to visit Amy or Sonic and find his future the same, why would that change now?

As his head rattled, Silver couldn’t help but cast his mind back. Blaze’s smile as she’d left the hut, had that just vanished from this reality? The effort she’d gone to this morning, was that gone too? She wouldn’t do it all without cause, she wouldn’t have lied to Marine about the gift; something had to have happened, flowers had to arrive. It was supposed to happen, it had happened! She’d worn that dress for a reason; those flowers must have meant a lot to her, but why?

In all his hours out here, in amongst the roses and the lilies, he’d not even consider it once. What was a bouquet to her when she had this garden filled with flowers?

That simple question spun into another; would she have done what she had for any stranger who delivered her flowers? Given her position, the guardian of the Sol emeralds surely received far more lavish gifts on a regular basis… didn’t she? She did. He knew she’d received flowers, flowers and so much more. Outfits from renown designers, jewellery from around the world, expensive foods and marvellous furnishings. What was a bundle of flowers on her windowsill compared to those gifts? He’d never seen her in that dress or any like it before, so it wasn’t as if her change in garb was tied to receiving just any gift. Was it because she thought it was from him? Had the gift’s form not mattered at all? Was the assumed intent behind it enough to change things or… did it mean more because it had come from him?

Giving gifts wasn’t unlike Silver, despite how difficult it was to pick gifts for Blaze. Usually he’d end up baking her a cake or cook her dinner, that way the effort behind his actions was clear even if it was a bit plain. His jam was a prime example of such a gift, something he’d made for her. Whenever she casually bought him things, utilising her great wealth, he’d end up jumping for joy and beaming. Blaze’s reaction to his gifts were usually more subdued but she always made her thankfulness clear. Though it was rarely as over the top as this morning, she always returned his gestures. Did she do that for anyone else? Surely, if she received so many gifts, being so personal would take up a ridiculous amount of time.

His heart was thumping against his ribcage, beating like their feet against the pavement as they’d fled from Iblis. What was he thinking, how dare he even think this? If was foolish, selfish, naïve! No matter how special their bond was, Blaze surely valued all the gifts she received.

But experience told him that she didn’t. Though Blaze took pride in her position as guardian, she didn’t care for baubles attached to it. She’d complain to him about public appearances and newspaper photos for hours on end, only wear her regular robes despite having a closet filled with different outfits. She didn’t even wear much jewellery, despite having boxes filled with the stuff. It seemed like those gifts, only conjured due to her position as princess, meant litle to the pyrokinetic. But did that mean, no matter how basic, a gift from him meant more? It was all so confusing, what had happened to her secret admirer? Why did they have to put him in such a difficult situation? What were all these feelings?

The clicking of a latch threw Silver from his thoughts and sent him tumbling back into the bush, the flickies immediately fled at one of those two sounds. From an even less comfortable hiding spot, awkwardly lying with her gift atop her chest and rose thorns in his back, the hedgehog watched as Blaze the cat appeared on her balcony. She was dressed, but not in the outfit he’d seen a few hours in the future. Despite her regular robes, the sight of her face as the cracked remnants of thoughts reconstituted in his mind was enough to set his cheeks alight. In a few hours from now, he’d say that Blaze always looked pretty. He’d always considered that to be the truth, but it’d be said out of impulse, as a way to quickly placate Marine. In this moment though, it was undeniable. Even in the shade of her castle, from such a difficult angle and obscured by countless branches, Blaze was beautiful. Her amber eyes could cut the dark so casually as to make the sun jealous.

But her coming out here now was practically a miracle, why had she done it? He wasn’t sure what time it was, but her bout of impromptu gift preparation would undoubtedly take an hour or more. For things to go as they had, she had to start now. Time had run out, the suitor had missed their chance, that smile and her joy was set to be erased from reality. For whatever reason, that person simply hadn’t shown up. Why? What could have happened? Where could they be? He’d been the only one here, it wasn’t as thought they’d got cold feet at the last second. There was no way, he’d stayed up all night, he’d have noticed if someone had come and gone.

It was then that Silver remembered one of the many thoughts he’d cycled through while waiting for the suitor. He didn’t know how time travel really worked, he’d read books and observed a handful of oddities, but he didn’t know the truth about all that. All he knew was that Blaze’s suitor was supposed to leave flowers on her balcony this morning, that Blaze would be leaving her room with no intent on returning any moment now, that he was the only one in range of her balcony and that he was surrounded by flowers. It seemed like the perfect set up for a very specific kind of time paradox that he had never experienced nor observed. A time loop of sorts.

Of course, he immediately dismissed that as a stupid thought born of his tired and hungry state. Having thoughts about their bond or how pretty she looked was entirely pointless now, the suitor was supposed to show up here and secretly drop off a bundle of flowers for the feline so that she’d come to him. That was how things were, that was how things were supposed to be. Besides, the flowers around him were her flowers; surely her supposed secret admirer would bring their own?

His thoughts were cut short as, without the birds chirping to obscure things, Silver was able to hear knocking at Blaze’s bedroom door. Marine had mentioned that the flowers were on her bedroom landing, but perhaps she had been mistaken? Maybe things were somewhere else then he’d have missed-

“It’s Gardon, your majesty! I’ve got news to share,” He managed to only just overhear.

Ah, it was Gardon, perhaps he was the one who delivered this apparent secret suitor’s flowers.

He watched as she turned to look into her bedchamber and spoke, “You may enter.”

“Your highness, I’m afraid a number of today’s meetings have been rescheduled. It’s going to be an earlier start than we anticipated,” Oh, that made things seem even more impossible. What time was it?

“Oh? Has something happened?” She questioned. If Gardon had brought flowers, then he’d have led with them, right? And surely she’d have mentioned them, Blaze was usually very blunt.

“Unfortunately, the manager of the island’s bridge projects has found himself double booked. Apparently, an environmental survey is set to occur for one of the construction sites. He is most apologetic, your highness,” No mention of flowers, nothing; Gardon clearly didn’t have them.

So, if this suitor was going to arrive then this was surely the moment. It had to be here, it had to be now, while she was distracted. They’d run up, throw the flowers, and run away… right?

Silver’s heart began to race once more. He cast his gaze to his surroundings but still no suitor had shown themselves, no individual had arrived to show their affection for Blaze. He was the only one here, he was surrounded by flowers and time was running out. That preposterous, ridiculous, and unfounded concept flagged within his mind again. He’d never known time travel to work as he was imagining. But then, he didn’t know how time travel worked in the first place.

“That’s fine, it can’t be helped, but, Gardon, how many times have I told you not to use that title,” With that complaint, the pieces all aligned, an opportunity had revealed itself.

Without another moment of hesitation, not so much as thinking as he moved, Silver stepped from the bushes and cast his hands to his surroundings. With power of psychokinesis, he clipped roses from the hedge and cut lilies to size. As flower after flower gathered in his psychic grasp he winced, regretting that he hadn’t foreseen this possibility in time enough to take flowers from literally anywhere else. He glanced to his surroundings, making a final check. There was no secret admirer, only him. Explaining himself this evening was going to be oh so awkward, perhaps even more awkward than if a suitor had appeared, but he didn’t have time to dwell on that.

“I-I’m sorry, Blaze,” The koala was stammering, it was almost like destiny! Rushing with his psychic powers, he threw himself into the air with her still to be made gift in one hand and his gift not yet given in the other, “It’s a failing of mine, I know. I must improve.”

He passed behind her and placed the flowers atop her balcony wall. Fortunately, Gardon had assumed a full bow as part of his apology and entirely missed the psychic’s appearance. The hedgehog passed entirely unnoticed.

“Regardless, I’m almost prepared. I’ll be down for breakfast, tell the manager not to worry,” Blaze sighed, turning just in time to miss the psychic as he flipped up and onto the castle’s roof. The very last thing he saw was her ears flickering as she noticed the bouquet.

“V-Very well, thank you,” Gardon’s voice, made almost inaudible by Silver’s new position, was punctuated by the closing of the bedroom door.

Silver didn’t dare look down from his roost, despite how desperately he longed to see the look on her face. Knowing what it led to, it must have been a smile just as beautiful as the one she’d worn before leaving his home. Still, this all didn’t quite sit right with Silver. There was still every chance that her suitor was supposed to show themselves, that he had just abused his power and interrupted someone else. Careful to remain outside Blaze’s potential view, the hedgehog dashed across the palace roof and scanned the grounds as best he could.

He kept to the rooftops, checking all directions in search of some hidden suitor whose plans he might have just ruined. None manifested, no matter how hard he searched, but it took the sight of Blaze leaving the castle, dressed as he’d seen and would go on to see her, for Silver to finally stop. No matter where he looked, no matter how he tried, he could find neither an individual fleeing the grounds nor anyone approaching with flowers. The hedgehog ended up near the front face of the castle, opposite to where he’d been, hiding behind a turret in an attempt to avoid any backward glances from Blaze. Dropping to his backside, his eyes fell upon clouds coloured scarlet and the sun drifting above the horizon. The day was just beginning in the kingdom of Sol; a slightly younger him was out there, still fast asleep.

There was a term for what he’d just created, for the time anomaly he’d just experienced. If everything had gone as he thought it had then Silver had just made a bootstrap paradox, but there was only one way to know for sure. He had to go back, he had to live in what he’d created. No matter how beautiful the sunrise was, it couldn’t compare to her smile, and he didn’t have time to rest.

---

His arrival at his own doorstep was a bumbling one. No less than five minutes after he left, but no more than ten, Silver the hedgehog manifested outside Marine’s shack. The hedgehog immediately did a full three-sixty, taking in his surroundings. As far as he could tell, there were no drastic changes from the morning he had lived through. Their beachside home was still untouched and Blaze was nowhere in sight.

Pressing himself against the building, the hedgehog dared to peer through the kitchen window. He immediately identified Marine, sat at the table and tinkering with a model boat. There was no sign of the feline inside or a time-displaced doppelganger of himself, everything seemed to be how he’d hoped it’d be. How it seemed and how it was weren’t necessarily the same though.

Feeling even more thoroughly exhausted after his jump back through time, he managed to barge his way into the house and locked eyes with the youngster, “Marine, what just happened? Is everything alright?” He practically snapped, stumbling over his feet as he slammed the door shut with his back.

“Silver? What’re you doing back already?” She asked, plainly surprised, but didn’t wait for his answer, “What do you mean what just happened, of course everything’s fine. You ran out there after Blaze… don’t tell me you got cold feet already,” Marine shook her head in disgust, turning back to work.

That was a good sign, but it wasn’t enough for him, “A-And what was she wearing? When she was here as in; was it her normal robes of something different?”

“You should know mate, you complimented her on that dress twice. What’s the matter with you? Why are you back here?” Marine questioned, “Honestly, she went to all that bother, dressing up and coming down here, early in the morning no less, just to see you and drop off a gift. Didn’t she teach you to say thank you for that kind of thing? Honestly mate, if you can’t act now, when will you?”

“Oh, so everything’s fine, just as I left it. Good, a-alright… I need to sit down,” The hedgehog said, going lightheaded with relief as he slid down the door.

He hardly heard Marine’s prattling in response. His eyes flickered to the cuckoo clock in the wall, barely eight minutes had passed since he’d left this building. It wasn’t even ten past eight in the morning, yet he’d endured at least a full day’s worth of stress. As strange as things were, they seemed to have settled down to embrace some kind of consistency.

The concept of a bootstrap paradox was one that didn’t come up in much literature, but there were a handful of tales about individuals traveling back in time to warn themselves of immanent events in bizarre and cyclical manners. He’d once read about a theatre enthusiast traveling back in time to meet a famous playwright only to end up writing all of their plays and living their life, thus inspiring that same fan’s own journey back to meet that same bard. Despite those fictional tales, Silver hadn’t considered that such a paradox was possible.

But, as he now knew better than ever, he didn’t know how time travel worked. He jumped back in time and really just hoped for the best. Perhaps it was all a lot more fluid than he’d imagined, maybe the rules weren’t set in stone so much as written in the sand of some interdimensional beach.

“Mate? What happened in the last five minutes?” Marine was now staring at him quite quizzically, “You look an awful state, are those leaves in your quills? Why are you so muddy?”

“It’s a long and strange and… stupid story, I’m not sure I even understand it myself,” Was all the explanation he could stand to offer, manually pulling himself back to his feet before waddling across the room to slump in his seat.

Immediately, his head was back to buzzing and filled to burst with questions. Who had sent that initial bouquet, who had set all this in motion? Was it better to ask what had set this all into motion or when they’d done it? Silver had no idea, just like the fan turned playwright he’d read about this happening to. They were impossible questions with no answer, at least none he could wrap his head around or ever hope to experience. The universe had made him question his relationship with Blaze, had him deliver her flowers and effectively set up tonight’s rendezvous as a date without any concrete or observable reason.

It took sitting there, half asleep, for a solid few minutes for him to even begin constructing plausible origins for what had occurred. Had a future version of himself, having come to embrace and understand the emotions now bubbling in the present hedgehog’s chest, travelled back in time and set the first bouquet on her windowsill? But then, in doing so, had they overwritten their own timeline and been erased while the events remained, resulting in him going forward and delivering the flowers instead. Would a version of himself really delete themselves from reality just to make himself realise he felt some strange feelings for Blaze a bit earlier? Why would they do that? Perhaps to change the timeline itself, to undo some different calamity.

If there had been an attack and he had lost Blaze again, perhaps that would have prompted the kind of introspection he was still experiencing. He’d lost her once; he didn’t want to even consider losing her again. Maybe a future version of himself had rewritten the timeline through the bouquet, attempting to change things between them in a major way such that the future itself might shift. Maybe he’d given up his life in order to perhaps save Blaze or the world. That seemed like a more traditional reason for him to use time travel, but perhaps the hedgehog was just trying to justify all he’d done and what had happened to himself.

Despite the depth of Silver’s tired contemplation, the pained moaning of his stomach was enough to rupture his thought bubble. The hedgehog’s eyes fell to the white paper parcel in his hand, now a little rough around the edges but still sealed. Hearing his stomach growl again, he finally undid Blaze’s bow and peered inside. A puff of smoke bellowed from the wrapping, forcing him to briefly close his eyes. In the aftermath, Silver found himself staring at six black masses with paper bottoms. Muffins, she had taken the time out of her morning to try and bake him a gift, to return his affection as quickly as possible. Despite their charcoaled exterior, Silver couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the confectionary.

Warmth swelled in his chest as he drew the first one and took a full bite. While it was harder than he’d anticipated, and there was certainly a smoky flavour, he could taste all that she’d tried to do. Blaze had sewn chocolate chips throughout sugary dough of her own making, clearly trying her hardest to make something sweet. Trying his hardest to savour, though urged on by his empty stomach, he quickly made his way through the first and onto a second small cake.

“Are you sure you want to eat those, mate? I could shoot them out a canon instead,” The raccoon cringed, clearly not appreciating the time and effort Blaze had put into her baking.

“I’m sure,” Regardless of what anyone else would think of them; to him, they were perfect.

“Are you still going to see her tonight?” She asked, already refocused on her work, “Gonna be honest, you really do look a state.”

“Yes, I’m still going,” He managed to admit between mouthfuls, “I think I might just nap till then though.”

“And you’ll shower before going too. You’ve set yourself up well, regardless of whatever all this mess is about. I won’t have you spoiling it by showing up filthy,” She insisted before launching into another rant, “Honestly, I don’t know why you decided to roll around in the mud instead of chasing her. Are you that much of a scaredy cat? Come on, there’s still time, she’s probably not running towards the castle; you could just fly out after her, sweep her off her feet, all prince charming like and-

As Marine’s words gradually became white noise, he lost himself in the potent flavour of another muffin and managed to smile. Fate had separated them in the wake of a grandfather paradox only to stitch them back together. For it to still be weaving them together was strange but not ludicrous think. Perhaps that stitch was still tightening, even now. Regardless of how blatant and tailored this supposed intervention had been, no matter how it’d unnerved him, he’d had to act. Not only was such a change in history a threat to his own timeline but the idea that her happiness might be erased was just too much to bear.

Was he going to be able to do this though? Fate had set them down such a strange path and short path; in less than a day their whole relationship had been flipped on its head. In the blink of an eye he’d gone from her companion to her secret admirer, from her best friend to some sort of supposed romantic. That thought warmed his cheeks and made his chest tingle in ways that were becoming frightfully common.

For as crazy as this morning had been, this evening was set to be far more insane. Could he explain this to Blaze? He had to, there was no way he could hide this, she’d know something was bothering him the moment he arrived on her balcony. Still, regardless of time’s whims tossing them about, he’d try to make his care clear. Whether prompted by fate or not, no matter how he struggled to face it, he’d been the one to do it; he was her secret admirer.

New and strange emotions still buzzed in both his head and heart but, as reality itself seemed to have insisted, these feelings were undeniably real, and they weren’t going way. He just had to figure out what they meant. Surely that couldn’t be more difficult than understanding time travel… could it?

[bookspined]

❝ that’s all history is after all: scar tissue. ❞

{ cis-man, he/him }  huh, who’s FROY GUTIERREZ? no, you’re mistaken, that’s actually SCORPIUS MALFOY. he is a TWENTY-TWO year old PUREBLOOD wizard who is A HEALING APPRENTICE. he is known for being CAPTIOUS, RETICENT, FACETIOUS, DISMISSIVE, and DRAMATIC but also RESOURCEFUL, CONSCIENTIOUS, FERVENT, INNOVATIVE, and OBSERVANT, so that must be why he always reminds me of the song IN DREAMS BY BEN HOWARD. i hear he is aligned with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, so be sure to keep an eye on him. { merry, 24, gmt, she/they }

CHARACTER PARALLELS: Amy Santiago (B99), Claire Temple (Daredevil), Chidi Anagonye (The Good Place), Giles (Buffy TVS), Michelle Jones (MCU), Simon Tam (Firefly), Elizabeth Swan (PoTC), Spock (Star Trek), Clarke Griffin (The 100), Harley Keener (MCU), Gregory House (House) suggested honorable mention Gizmo (Gremlins) 

pinterest [blood, medical imagery tw]

wanted connection ideas

Full Name: Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy Gender/Pronouns: Cis man | he/him Age: Twenty-three Birthdate: January 20th Parents: Draco Lucius Malfoy & Astoria Céline Malfoy (née Greengrass) [Not biologically Astoria’s due to her health, if you ever point this out he’ll flay your eyeballs] Siblings: N/A. Birth place: St. Mungo’s Hospital, England Height: 5’11” Weight: 56 kg Sexual/Romantic Orientation: Demiromantic Bisexual Nationality: British Body Alterations/Marks: A ragged diamond shape scar at the base of his throat.

Blood Status: Pureblood Hogwarts House: Slytherin Wand Arm: Right Pet: His pet toad, Jarvis, recently passed away. Patronus: Arctic Fox Wand: 11 2/3 inches, Willow, Supple, Dragon Heartstring.

Willow is an uncommon wand wood with healing power, I have noted that the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (usually unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try and hide it. While many confident customers insist on trying a willow wand (attracted by their handsome appearance and well-founded reputation for enabling advanced, non-verbal magic) my willow wands have consistently selected those of greatest potential, rather than those who feel they have little to learn. It has always been a proverb in my family that he who has furthest to travel will go fastest with willow.

Personality Traits: Brilliance, innovative, empathetic, individuality, openness, social consciousness, inventive, logical, practical skills and self assertion; lack of attachment to people outside his circle and the “real world,” over-intellectualizing of the emotions, dismissive, anxious, crotchety tempered, facetious, rigid, prone to self-isolation, intellectual arrogance, and stubborn. Zodiac Sign: Aquarius/Capricorn Cusp Moral Alignment: Neutral Good Core values: Loyalty, Knowledge, Hope Four temperaments: Melancholic  

HOGWARTS HOUSE ANALYSIS

Slytherin Primary and a Burned Ravenclaw Secondary.

Slytherin Primaries prioritize their own selves and loved ones first. Slytherins don’t feel guilty or selfish about this– they feel righteous and moral. The most important thing is to look after your own. Abandoning or hurting one of your own is the worst thing you can do.

A Burned Ravenclaw Secondary might want to be skilled, curious, and prepared, but they feel like they are (or like people think they are) limited, clumsy, or inconstant. Gathering knowledge, hobbies, skills, or tools is the right way to achieve their goals, but Burned Ravenclaws know that’s not going to work within their capabilities. So they take other paths and use other tools– maybe a Gryffindor’s bluntness, a Slytherin’s flexibility, or a Hufflepuff’s slow and steady dedication.

You may have a Hufflepuff Secondary Model.

Hufflepuff is the House of grit, reliability, and determination, and Hufflepuffs use those values to help live, act, and succeed. If you model Hufflepuff Secondary, you also value these things and like to live by them. You like to be hardworking, dedicated, and consistent– but you wouldn’t feel guilty for abandoning those values in the service of other, higher priorities. If there’s another, easier way to get what you want– you’d take it. You think hard work provides valuable rewards– and those rewards are why you work. The work doesn’t have persuasive value in itself.

Despite his very best resistance he’s always been pretty empathetic in nature, he tries to rule his emotions as well as he can but fails more often than not. He was always one of those toddlers that if another kid started crying he’d be right along with them, not because he wanted attention but because he just couldn’t not. A bit of a crybaby, has researched how to magically seal up his tear ducts. Obviously managed to keep the family’s flair for the dramatic there as well. After a few years he leant into the sarcastic vague-snobbishness to hide the core of overwhelming anxiety.

Just managed to scrape through his schooling with nearly all top grades, this isn’t really due to him being a model student. He has always accrued information with a voracious appetite. Any knowledge he could find, even if most people would consider it entirely useless. His mind clicks into that place? You can’t keep him away. However, when there is not an immediate stir of interest on his approach to a topic he has to fight with himself tooth and nail to carry on. 

Predictably found exam season highly stressful, was never open about it but was quietly competitive and silently smug over his good grades. Could comprehend well above his reading level from an early age and would often look into experimental research and complicated magic but found himself lost in OWL level History of Magic when chapter upon chapter lay ahead of him about something that didn’t catch his interest. Some people he beat just to spite cause he hates them. It worked, whatever.

Tends toward introversion and finds himself tired sometimes quite easily by a large amount of social interaction. Witty and big-mouthed when he feels comfortable or is in the presence of those that embolden him and very likely to get flustered and snap at people when things are becoming a bit too much. Especially if he feels however unjustly that someone is blocking his escape. Has matured slightly in this since leaving school but it happens still, he’s just anxious. Quite fickle and can at the drop of a hat decide that he’s done with you for the day once his Give Me Attention Meter is maxed. Could be an absolute bloody brat when he felt like it but feels he has grown out of it, which he mostly has.

Always been very, very aware of many people’s distrust of him and his family, he used to sneer and play it up if anyone tried to bring up his dad and go on the offensive but was genuinely affected quite deeply by it all. In his early school years, despite his weakness to the cold, he constantly had his sleeves rolled up to the elbow so that his blank forearm was bared as a statement to just about everyone. I am not marked, I never will be. Now he’s older he has more of a handle on things and can be diplomatic in situations where people are clearly discomforted by his presence and his family history.

Even though the war culminated far earlier in this verse I imagine Scor would have had to have been relatively sheltered as a child if not for how emotionally sensitive and prone to periods of ill-health he was, it was definitely for his own safety. He is still the grandson of a known high-ranking Death Eater and that made him a media target and put one on his back for anyone else that might happen to be watching. 

Never produced much of a talent for offensive magic and wouldn’t resort to those methods unless he had literally no other choice, not a front line fighter by any means. His talents with strategy, potion-making, healing and his perseverance with defensive magic are what define him to the Order. While everyone kind of knows who he hung out with at school and who his friends are he is deliberately very mischievous with releasing rumours and misleading people. He deliberately keeps his cards very close to his chest so most people don’t know that he is aligned with anyone, he usually uses glamours or a scarf to conceal his identity if he has to. 

While he is knowledgeable about healing and anatomy, he is the WORST at taking care of himself. The literal embodiment of Healers make the worst patients, tends to forgo sleep and basic bodily needs if he’s locked into what he’s focusing on. Sometimes needs reminders to sleep and eat, like a child. 

Healing is the most satisfying part of his life and he would never give it up, he likes to experiment as he has a fascination with magic and muggle science and where they might intersect. A fucking nerd honestly. While he thinks he’s being fairly subtle about it a large part of his academic life has been doused in research into blood maledictions, for obvious reasons. He does his best not to flutter too obviously around his Mum. She is capable and ten times stronger than he is. 

Lives in a small studio flat in Diagon Alley that is mostly stacks of books and makeshift shelves.

the stillness of the world the moment you take the first step into fresh snow, cashmere and fine wool, the pearlescence of dreamless sleep draught, the scratch of a quill on parchment, faintly tremoring fingers, a shiver up your spine in a warm room, the exhilaration of a problem solved, a thunderous grey overcast sky, the bite of a stitching charm, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, petrichor, the burn in your eyes before a well of tears.

Always had somewhat fragile health tending toward sickly. Hands are never warm, his existence is an endless heat seeking mission. 

Went to one Slug Club meeting and used his time to verbally berate and or challenge most of the contacts in attendance, he was not asked to return. 

Potions Club, Charms Club, used to sometimes be willing to be dragged to Dueling Club but didn’t enjoy himself. 

Plays quite a bit of chess.

Bruises like a fucking peach and scars so easily.

Views quidditch as a good fly spoiled. 

Is a very skilled pianist almost entirely due to his Grandmother’s tutelage. 

Surprisingly great with children/toddlers/babies, no one including himself expected this, he mostly feared them beforehand. 

Bit of a mummy’s boy in that he practically GLOWS when people talk of Astoria’s achievements. 

When he has time off from healing he will have chipped black nail varnish on. 

Highly intelligent but rarely manages to match a pair of socks, chews his quills but no one else’s. 

While very eloquent and well spoken, he is markedly less posh than when he first arrived at Hogwarts.

When he isn’t prone to bouts of insomnia he can take a nap pretty much anywhere. He was once found in a tree after several frantic hours search.

[ CREDIT : CHARACTER PSD template by @karmahelper (defunct url) I tried to find a current social this week by messaging around but couldn’t find anything unfortunately. Forgot to copy this over from the google doc! ]

[trouvelle]

For DCMK Emogust 2020 — 19.08: “You’re too dangerous to be left alone.” @dcmkemogust20xx. Another bite-sized superhero AU. Heiji’s chaotic energy remains unmatched. (And in an ideal Marvel AU, he’d be Tony (or Quill ?), Shinichi would be Steve bc they are righteous and calculating (i can also picture him as Thor ig), and I actually see Makoto as the Hulk bc of their brute force ty.)

Fandom: Detective Conan Pairing: Heiji/Kazuha Rating: G Genre/Tags: Humor, Superhero AU Summary: The young prodigy of Hattori Enterprises is the dumbest genius Kazuha has ever met.

.

Kazuha is stressed. Having to act as the secretary of the famous Hattori Enterprises is starting to take its toll on her sanity. At that moment all she wants is to go home and get some well deserved rest and maybe watch a rom-com or two. But first, she needs to get the brilliant yet useless Hattori Heiji to sign for some documents. Of course, he is lurking in his basement like Gollum, tinkering away at his iron suits.

"I'VE DONE IT. I've modified the suit to perfection. Praise me, Jarvis."

Jarvis, Heiji's multilingual personalized computer system with the patience of a saint, plays an applause midi file and congratulates the childish genius in a bored voice.

"Aww c'mon, Jarvis. At least try to sound a little happy for me."

"When you've finished harassing your inventions," interrupts Kazuha, "could you sign these papers for me?"

"Definitely, throw them my way. But first," Heiji grins and steps into his Iron Man suit. "I'd like to show you my new suit."

"Can we please be quick? I have other things to take care of," she could already feel a headache starting. "And that suit looks exactly like all your other ones."

"Looks can be deceiving. For example, I'm incredibly handsome but also amazingly intelligent."

"I'm leaving."

"No! Please, I really want to show you what I changed." The childish owner of Hattori Enterprises looks hopefully at Kazuha, his lower lip jutted out into a pout.

Kazuha sighs. Damn those good looks. "Fine. What have you made?"

"Get this; not only does it act like all my other Iron Man suits, it can now make," Heiji pauses for dramatic effect. Kazuha tries to resist the urge to throw her clipboard at her boss who is actually also her childhood friend, "coffee."

Truthfully, Kazuha has been hoping for something a bit more, well, just… more. "Coffee? But you don't like coffee. You don’t even drink coffee."

"But you like coffee. And I like you, so I could like coffee." Heiji pulls the helmet of his suit down and relays a set of instructions that Kazuha doesn't quite catch. She is too busy processing Heiji's comment and trying so hard to not blush because he probably doesn’t even realize what he has just said.

"Now then," Heiji straightens up in his already stiff suit, "get your coffee on."

Kazuha hears the unmistakable sound of water boiling and she couldn't help feeling impressed; it's not everyday you see a young genius combine a state of the art coffee machine with a potentially hazardous weapon of mass destruction that coincidentally can also fly.

It's not everyday you hear said genius scream like a little child either.

Heiji shrieks and hops from one foot to another. "JARVIS TURN IT OFF!! IT'S BURNING ME. OH MY GOD NOT MY FACE, NOT MY FACE!"

Suddenly the rockets in the suit's palms and feet are switched on.

"Oh shit."

The suit is propelled upwards where it cracks the ceiling and showers chips of concrete like snowflakes onto Kazuha. Heiji is then shoved into the wall where he breaks a few machines and sets fire to the water dispenser before being flung against the opposite wall.

Kazuha steps back and closes the bulletproof glass door just as Heiji slams into it. Her boss proceeds to bounce through his basement, destroying most of his possessions along the way.

After scrolling through social media for her friends’ latest life updates for a while, Kazuha decides it is time to check on her probably wounded childhood friend. “You are too dangerous to be left alone,” She deadpans, stepping over a stray flamethrower and heading towards the crumpled metal mass that is Heiji. One iron hand is still sputtering sparks of coffee rebelliously.

"I may have miscalculated."

"You are the dumbest genius I have ever met."