#she can tie her own sandals and everything

[rumeysawrites]

CHARACTER PROFILES #1: HUI XIE / UDELA THERMIN (from Team Space)

Hi everyone! I FINALLY finished Hui's profile! I know it took long but you'll see why it took this long, hopefully!

DISCLAIMER: I made the profile template myself, so if you like it and want to use for your OCs / characters as well, please either ask first or credit me. Thank you so much for understanding already!💙

TRIGGER WARNING: This character profile contains kidnapping, severe trauma due to it, implied child abuse, vaguely implied racism, and possibly more that I'm missing.

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BASICS:

Real Name: Udela Castemera Thermin

Preferred Name: Hui Xie (Xie Hui in Chinese tradition)

Alias(es) & Title(s): Legendary Spirit Of Space

Nicknames: Lightning Bolt, Little Grumpster, Scary Ghost Girl, Hu-Hu, Shortie, Box-O Thunder

Age (At First Appearance): 11

Age (When First Joined Team Space): 15-16

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Probably Pan

Species: Human-Based-Living-Spirit (one of Eleven Legendary Spirits)

Alignment: Chaotic-Good, a bit leaning towards Chaotic-Neutral

Date Of Birth: Biha 4th, 977 AL (equals to April 4th 2007 CE)

Homeland: Thamir (in Yugenri)

Lived In: Rinfalme (Yugenri), Ba City (Yugenri), Spirit Depths (Umbraer), Ningzhou (Tiria), Nihynia's Realm (Greater Cosmos)

Organizations: 

A member of BSA. Though she's not a fan of Miraculum or Mr. Winfield.

Hates Dark Crystal wholeheartedly. It's like a trigger for her.

Despises the Theorists for their actions and what she heard from Hiroki.

Occupations: Trainee in BSA, Team Space member

Appearances In The Books: Hui is first mentioned in Shan's thoughts during chapter 5 of book 1 "Search For The Legendaries", but she first appears on page as a minor side character in book 2 "Revival Of The Legend", as a prisoner, when Frank visits the Spirit Depths. From Year Three (Eternal Winter Arc) onwards, she becomes a constant member of the main cast even if she doesn't have POV chapters until the second half of the Solium Arc.

Living Status: Floating between alive and dead

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

General Description: With her small, light-footed frame and sharp yet child-like features; Hui gives off a distant and immature vibe from afar, though those who see her face or expression could often be intimidated.

Height: 4'10

Build: Scrawny but somehow still agile

Skin Tone: Pale, turns translucent when she reflects strong emotions

Hair: Messy, curly orange-brown hair that looks like it hasn't been combed in the past five years

Eyes: Golden-brown, similar to the Asian eyes

Distinguishing Features: 

Her wrists and ankles are extra-thin from having magic chains around them for years.

Has pierced ears.

Has a bite mark on her lower lip due to constantly biting it when she was alive.

Her hair has sort of a life of its own.

Clothing Style: Practical and light. Often likes to wear short, thin tunics (often with short sleeves) in bright colors like vibrant orange, yellow, or lime green, with a pair of comfortable shorts that are often shorter than knee-length; and likes to wear sandals even during rainy or snowy days, likely to completely ditch shoes on warm days without missions. She wears this kind of clothing even if she can materialize and change her style, in an attempt to "feel" everything that the outside world has to offer.

Accessories: Wears small, colorful earrings, a handmade pendant that's a gift from Shan, and if someone attempts to style her hair, they often tie it with bright colored ribbons.

Extra: 

Has a sharp nose and thick eyebrows.

Looks like she has no muscles but indeed she has been training.

When she has to dress in a specific way, she often doesn't go by the dress code / culture (either by accident or out of annoyance).

PERSONALITY:

General Description: Reserved, distant, watchful, distrustful, wary, and grumpy; Hui's exterior has a hard shell guarding the deeper aspects of her, which she tries too hard to keep private but secretly wants to be open about it.

First Layer: On surface level, Hui appears as a distant, blunt, disillusioned, irritable, stubborn, fiery, short tempered, snappy, somewhat brash and gruff, and very closed off, making sure every other person knows to keep their distance from her as well. She tries to be serious and threatening, but can appear as an angsty teenager or an irritable little girl instead. She also has a "weird" and strange way of interacting with people, realizing their annoyances and intentionally adapting them into her behavior just to test them.

Second Layer: Underneath her layer of dramatic-angsty-teenager-meets-grumpy-weird-old-lady-with-anger-issues attitude, Hui holds a deep-rooted sense of precaution, distrust, and fear of bring tricked or betrayed again. Hui tries to put up walls, in an attempt to hide these deeply fearful, uneasy, insecure, and vulnerable sides of her. She feels like letting her guard down for even the slightest moment, will cause her to be tricked, betrayed, or to fall back to the depths she had to endure for so long. These fears might surface in various ways, sometimes even acting paranoid.

Third Layer: Locked even behind these worries and fears, lies a girl with an unapologetically free-spirit. Hui thrives in action, in exploration, and all around new experiences. Having missed a significant portion of her childhood, she tries to compensate for it and experience freedom as much as possible. She loves the sensation of spontaneity, the feeling of the blowing winds on her face, the rush of water over her body, the taste of all types of food (even ones that might possibly kill her). Even running through an open field or climbing up sharp mountains, having picnics under a bright blue sky, or colorful, even (as much as she doesn't want to admit to herself) crowded places. Basically, anything vibrant, anything freeing, anything new: All of them fascinate her. She loves the thrill and the rush, but her fears and distrust in others make her put up walls to hide this side of her from other people. Her attempts of independence also are halted by her lack of life skills.

Fourth Layer: Along with her free-spirit and attempts of independence, Hui holds an even deeper side to her once you manage to get past her walls of distrust. Once she trusts a person (a very rare occasion), she becomes fiercely loyal and protective of them. She almost feels like she can find trust in them, determined to remain by their side and valuing them greatly. This can lead to Hui developing tendency of clinginess and worries of "what if they change?" though. She'll stick with her trustworthy people, acting as both a fiercely protective guardian, and a scared young girl newly learning to feel at ease thanks to them. She'll try to control herself, out of the worry that she'll eventually either scare them away or exhaust them to the point they wouldn't want her around. She expects them to return the loyalty she offers, but doesn't say it out loud. Though around these people, she also tends to be more talkative and expressive about things. She has a silent way to express how much she treasures them and is willing to go extra lengths to ensure they're well. This is a reason why (besides her striving for freedom), she wants to be strong and independent.

Fifth Layer: At her core, Hui longs for connection, safety, and self-expression, but has a heart full of doubts, worries, and fears. Due to having been left alone in a cell for five years, and only rescued by someone trying to save their friend, and helped her "as an afterthought", she deep down feels like she's been lost, forgotten and uncared for before, and she might be completely lost and forgotten again at any moment of weakness. She doesn't see how she might even matter besides her status as a "Legendary Spirit" (which she despises being by the way). She's in desperate need of reassurance: of the fact that she's worth being remembered and cared for. Not because she's "The Legendary Spirit of Space", but because she's herself, Hui. She most wants to feel safe and understood being herself.

Demeanor: Distant, wary, intimidating, ready for a fight, definitely has some issues

Refused Traits: Hui isn't exactly "refusing" her parts of personality, but she tries to hide her deeper sides of her, like her loyalty, protectiveness, free-spirited and loving of life, as well as many of her deeper fears. Hui knows who she is and wants to keep it to herself.

Seemingly Uncharacteristic Traits:  Hui has a boundless enthusiasm to experience life, and often gets excited and curious when trying something new or traveling to a new place. This might seem uncharacteristic for those who don't know her well enough. Also her emotional side, can surprise people who don't know her much. Finally, her friggin' aesthetic choices!

When Alone: It depends on whether she's outside, in her room, or an unfamiliar closed place. For the first one, she'll first check everywhere to make sure no one is watching her, then either run around like an excited puppy, or sit on a high spot and enjoy the scenery. If in her room, she'll open the window (doesn't really matter the weather), lay on her bed, and watch outside while getting lost in thought, uncharacteristically peaceful. If an enemy, especially in a closed space, uhhhhhh...

When Angry: Tends to launch herself directly at the person or thing, probably either her spear or something sharp in hand, filled with enough electricity to at least leave permanent injuries.

When Annoyed: Tends to throw the closest throwable object at the source / person.

When Receiving / Showing Affection: Hui is not good at showing affection. She's likely to stare awkwardly at the person and try to say something she assumes to be kind or soothing, still with a weirdly blunt attitude and clear lack of communication. It causes the person to give her a strange look, trying to understand what in Multiverse she meant. She often refuses to show physical affection, however with people she absolutely trusts, she'll cling to them as if glued (surprisingly okay with hugs in that case). Though she struggles even more with receiving affection as she'll most likely find the person suspicious and in a freak-out, will try to get out of the situation as quickly as possible.

What Keeps Her Up At Night: Where do I even start? Worries? Her need for constant noise to feel safe? Intruding thoughts telling her to do things like "throwing pies at your teammates' faces, particularly Ruxir and Wendolena, sounds good", or "what would it be like to leave the team and become a rogue space bandit?". 

Habits & Quirks:

Tends to bite her lower lip when uneasy or uncomfortable.

Lets out an uncharacteristically strong laughter and proceeds to stare straight into a person's soul, when nervous, trying to put on a confident demeanor.

Tends to drum on a table, window, or any available solid surface with her fingers if there's no noise around.

Tends to use glittered color pencils in her drawings instead of regular ones.

Likes: 

Open places 

Travelling

Bright & fiery colors

Trying new things

Training

Food

Thunderstorms & sunny days

Camping

Hiking 

Adventuring

Windy or snowy places

Fluffy and colorful trinkets

Snacking while watching chaos (if she isn't apart of it)

Also sometimes enjoys drawing with Shan or learning to cook from Hematia (even though she has little talent in either of them-).

Dislikes:

Dark Crystal (the organization)

Too quiet places

Dull food

Formal occasions

Being pranked or made fun of

Forced romance (looking at ya the Matchmaker stories-)

Shapeshifters

Uncomfortable clothes

Overprotective people who might try to limit her

Not being taken seriously

Liars & traitors

Darkness

Currency conversion (it confuses her in every world they visit-)

Fears:

Enclosed & tight spaces

Being betrayed

Being kidnapped again

Being forgotten

Being completely alone

Losing those she comes to trust & care for

Sound of a door being locked

Being seen as useless or unimportant

Pet Peeves:

Pranks directed at her

People trying to tie her hair

People telling her what to do

The "godly cryptic speech" that Nihynia and other gods use.

Having to do a bunch of calculations for currency conversions.

Do shapeshifters count?

Motivations: She originally didn't want to be in Team Space and instead continue her training in BSA, but later, she found reasons to stay after realizing these missions might be an easier way for her to get stronger while also granting her a chance to explore places she otherwise would never even have heard of. As she warms up to the team, protecting them becomes one of her motivations as well.

Weirdnesses: 

Sleeps hugging a fluffy bright orange travel pillow.

Lowkey finds it funny when the jokesters (Ruxir, Wendolena, Eurus, and Kassin) prank someone other than her.

Draws with the glittered color pencils and doesn't use a regular pen or pencil.

In the kitchen, uses the knife like she's using it in combat - scaring everyone else.

Can't tie her shoes or style her hair in any way (yeah not even a ponytail), but refuses to have someone else do it for her either.

Has the worst communication skills a person can have and often interprets words, sentences, & conversations differently than intended. Her interpretations are often too literal.

Beliefs & Superstitions:

Believes the world is best experienced head-on, with little protection, except from people.

Believes drawing bright circles on a surface nearby brings good, cheerful energy to that area.

Believes most people are inherently evil, but with a few exceptions like Shan, possibly Barin, and later down the line - her teammates.

Believes magic should be easier to learn instead of a bunch of studying and concentrating. It's supposed to be more whimsical and fantastical than anything in Tiria.

Believes weapons are a necessity for someone to carry with.

Has no concept of "levels of proximity" and thinks trust and willingness are the only criteria for how close you can act towards someone.

Believes Dark Crystal is inherently evil, while the other organizations are suspicious at best.

Almost Always Refuses To: 

Cry or otherwise act emotional in front of someone else.

Let someone she doesn't fully trust, touch her.

Stay in completely quiet places.

Mannerisms & Speech: Direct and blunt, with zero sugarcoating, often not even caring about whether she's being rude or not.

Sense Of Humor: Dry, with a mix of bluntness and sarcasm.

Collects / Always Keeps With Her: 

Always keeps: her spear; a small, soft and fluffy blanket from her childhood before the capture, a few snacks for just in case, a Corestone, a pair of small knives, and a bunch of rope-like ribbons.

Collects: Tiny drawings from her teammates and trinkets from worlds she visits

Guilty Pleasures:

Coloring books when drawing can be too hard.

Lowkey enjoys watching others get pranked.

Is actually a huge food lover.

Music Taste: Can differ depending on her mood, but often likes rock and alternative; as well as the folk songs from places they travel to which she's fascinated by. She likes the Radiance's songs but is kind of tired of listening to their preparings.

Voice: Higher-pitched than expected, oftentimes sounding like she's yelling or screaming when she isn't.

Languages:

Fluent in: Thamirian

Can Hold A Conversation In: Rinfalese, Mandarin Chinese, Ba-Ri

A Little: Elirish, English, Celestial

Thoughts & Interpretations on:

The World: Both a cruel place when you let your guard down, and a place full of things worth experiencing.

Life: Life means thrill and movement for her, full of senses and emotions.

Freedom: Basically doing whatever she wants, without worry or fear.

Friendship: Friendship is based on trust and loyalty, someone who has your back no matter what, even after your "business" is done, is the ideal friend for her.

Love: Love is both selfless and selfish in her opinion. To love someone is to let them feel free to be themselves around you, and provide unwavering trust and loyalty; while expecting the same in return.

Hate: The definition of "hate" to her, is basically Dark Crystal. Or anyone / anything along that line.

Peace: For Hui, peace = freedom, especially feeling unthreatened and unlimited with it. "Peace" as in "harmony" seems meaningless to her.

Distress: The feeling of entrapment equals distress for her. Being unable to move or choose anything as well.

Fun: For Hui, fun equals thrill, excitement, or even some more relaxing stuff. It's more like doing whatever she feels like doing.

Fear: Fear is the feeling of entrapment, and a weight of hopelessness dawning on her. She often starts to act frantic, trying her absolute hardest to find a way out.

Trust: It means basically the most crucial thing she expects from life and people. It's a sense of safety and certainty she thinks she can only feel around certain people or places, that has to, has to earn it for her.

Happiness: Happiness = freedom to do whatever she dreams. She has a deep feeling of lacking this.

Concept Of A Team: It's new to her. She's suspicious of every single one of her new teammates and feels like they only work with her because they have to, and is willing to test their patience to the max.

Magic: Hui loves using her lightning magic in particular, but she doesn't like the process of learning magic. It feels way too stifling.

Technology: Compared to most members of Team Space, Hui actually has a better handling of technology thanks to her childhood years in Tiria and current training in BSA. Probably wouldn't like super high-tech or complicated devices, but feels more comfortable with most modern tech, viewing them as necessary.

The Gods: Nihynia and Ruxir aside, she's suspicious of all of the gods. For Nihynia, she's spiteful for being chosen as a Legendary Spirit by her, while she's annoyed to pieces by Ruxir for often being the target of his pranks and clashing with him in missions.

Chaos Factor In The Team: Hui is one of the more chaotic members on the team. Although quiet, her bluntness and short temper often make her more irritable and "fun to mess with", while her reactions can range from humorous to terrifying. On the other hand, Hui's desire for freedom, independence, and thrilling experiences often cause her to either temporarily leave, get into trouble, or, most commonly - both.

Changes & Arc: Hui's arc deals with the concepts of trust and freedom. In the beginning, she's a very guarded and distant figure whose distrust in her teammates causes her to restrain and restrict herself around them. She's also more defensive and impulsive in this point in time. However, as time goes by, she changes drastically during her arc. The walls she put between herself and others start to come crashing down, and she starts to express herself more easily and form deeper connections. As she forms these bonds and experience life, she also learns the value of tolerance and patience as well.

Extra: Although she does it when she's annoyed or angry, throwing small objects makes her feel sort of relieved, making others even more wary around her. Also when she's in "fight or flight" mode, she'll fight, like crazy, until she spends every remaining ounce of her energy. Though she also becomes extra clingy when scared, she doesn't admit to acting that way once she has her courage back.

ABILITIES & COMBAT:

Power(s): Storm Conjuration

Magic (Trick) Elements: Lightning / Electricity, Wind, Space

Magic (Other): Like most Legendary Spirits, she has access to "Spirit Magic", which lets her draw magical energy from the spirit world for her use.

Specialty / Natural Talent: Lightfoot (very quick and light on her feet)

Other Talents:

Skilled with close and mid-range weapons

Has a tendency to not give up until her opponent is unconscious enough to stop fighting (high stamina).

Not easily (non-magically) charmed by people with higher charisma due to her increased trust issues.

Skills with the spear

When feeling a strong emotion, she can accidentally become a rapper of sorts.

Strengths:

Fierce determination

Always alert

Loyalty for those who earn it.

Doesn't beat around the bush.

Quick on her feet.

Quick-thinking

Physically strong for her appearance.

Weaknesses:

Short tempered

Trust issues bordering on paranoia

Intense fear of closed spaces

Too blunt

Lack of survival skills

Lack of life skills in general

Has no communication skills

Too judgmental of people

Has little patience

Focuses too much on the experiences for herself rather her actions' effects on others. 

Lack of physical growth

Has RECKLESS spending habit claiming "It helps her do what she wants, so it's a part of her freedom" (owes money to at least five other characters)

Weapons: Her spear and (mostly lightning) magic. Also uses whatever throwable object she finds but isn't great at it

Items:

A satchel bag

A sketchbook Shan gifted

A pencil set

Ribbons

Trinkets

A water bottle even though she technically doesn't need it

Some sort of small, hard, throwable objects

Disabilities / Mental Illnesses: PTSD, Anxiety, and physical undergrowth

Stat Percentages (This has been a habit since Middleverse):

Speed: 85%

Strength: 58%

Stamina: 80%

Stealth: 85%

Agility: 65%

Endurance: 80%

Recovery: 84%

Balance: 40%

Accuracy: 78%

Close Combat: 58%

Distanced Combat: 60%

Survival Skills: 3%

Intuition: 35%

Magic: 60%

Luck: 25%

Intelligence: 64%

Emotional Intelligence: 18%

Wisdom: 35%

Strategy: 70%

Leadership: 45%

Cooperation: 15%

Charisma: 55%

Communication: 1%

Empathy: 41%

Memory: 75%

Hidden Abilities: Spirit abilities (intangibility at will, immortality, etc), Space magic connection

Improvements: Learns to control her trust issues and anger issues, learns to improve her lightning magic and space magic more efficiently, learns to face challenges more calmly.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Family:

Cerisna Thermin (birth mother)

Zyran Thermin (birth father)

Catelle Grimwood / Shufei Liu (adoptive mother)

Guyon Grimwood / Yuze Xie (adopted father)

Wendolena Witxen (caretaker, acts like Hui's older sister which is both annoying and endearing for Hui)

Friends / Allies:

Shan Lin (Childhood best friend and the only person Hui actually trusts.)

Shuang Lin (Shan's older sister who acts as a friend for Hui and deals with her nonsense more easily, while also being a caretaker for her.)

Payden Laerirn (Hui's friend and fellow spirit who was also captured by Dark Crystal. She's a bit suspicious of him due to his past with Dark Crystal, but tolerates him more than most people.)

Hiroki Nishimura (Another fellow spirit who was captured by Dark Crystal like her. She's alright with him especially since he's her companion in suffering.)

Erebus Nasethar (Fellow spirit even if he's given under the service of the Legendaries. Hui doesn't trust Erebus expectantly, but she has sympathy for him in her own way and can connect with him.)

Eirlys Umerina (Another fellow spirit but one Hui likes the least, or second least, among them due to her past of being raised as a spy and hiding her identity. She's basically the things Hui hates most in people.)

Arwyn Iluthmil (Fellow Team Space member, Hui has some respect for Arwyn for saving Shan's life, but can't trust him knowing he's like a brother to Frank (the person who tricked her when she was kidnapped). These suspicions only increased when she realized about his past in diplomacy and politics.)

Meissa Mocilla (Fellow Team Space member; Hui finds Meissa's intelligence intriguing but also finds her unwillingness and quietness to be insufferable.)

Ruxir Polarstar (Fellow Team Space member and the one Hui likes to call "The Bane of My Existence". Their interactions are some of the most chaotic out there.)

Libet Lamarre (Probably Hui's least favorite member of Team Space. Their values and perspectives of life are the polar opposite in possibly the worst way possible. They're only working together because a near-omnipotent goddess wants it.)

Myrkut (Fellow spirit and Team Space member; Hui finds Myrkut pleasant to be around but seeing his strategic mind keeps her on edge, knowing everything he does could also be a plan. Yeah she's paranoid even about this immortal twelve year old who's too shy to even talk.)

Hematia Rohtin (Fellow Team Space member; Hui thinks Hematia's fiery attitude can be fun but her maternal behavior makes Hui feel stifled. She feels mixed about it, wishing Hematia could tone it down and let her be, but also lowkey appreciates that someone is looking out for her.)

Tipus Icicle (Fellow Team Space member; Hui appreciates his quietness and relates to his lack of trust in others, but is irritated by his attempts of "playing the leader," and if he tries to make a slightly offensive remark about hers or Shan's membership in BSA.)

Eurus Storm (Fellow Team Space member and the other bane of Hui's existence. He's possibly even worse than Ruxir since Hui sees Eurus' chaos as more deliberate, but also due to his past as a thief known for his trickery. Yeah, it'll be hard for her to trust him.)

Kassin Silverwave (Technically a member of Team Space, but Hui prefers to consider Kassin to be "Arwyn's personal annoyance" instead. She knows the fairies like him can't be trusted in general, especially considering this little dude convinced her team's "diplomat" member within a single conversation to let him tag along cross-universe. But she's gained some respect for him after Kassin started to annoy Frank most.)

Tyttia Trace (Fellow Team Space member and the weird mentor figure for both Hui and Shan. Hui's annoyed by her overly bright and cheerful attitude and style, but has a weird respect and fondness for her.)

Vesta Merula & Vlad Ziskind (Both fellow Team Space members and former leading figures of Dark Crystal. So she only works with them because she has to, while turning the two's time in the team to hell, or aiming to do so.)

Chromos Acritas (Also a Team Space member that's a former leading figure of Dark Crystal, so she doesn't trust him either. But is more tolerant of him after learning he helped Arwyn save Shan (her closest friend) and that he also despises Frank, like she does.)

Tom Nels (He's a friend of Shan so indirectly an ally of Hui. She isn't really fond of him but thinks he isn't annoying at least, and since they both have trust issues, they rarely talk anyways. But she teases him and Shuang's romance.)

Rosena Freze (She's a friend of Shan so an ally of her too. Hui doesn't really like neither her nor Tom, but she thinks Rosena specifically can be too emotional which makes her more annoying to her. Though she likes teasing Rosena about her relationship with Payden.)

Nihynia (Technically Nihynia is the one who chose her to be the Legendary Spirit of Space and invited her to Team Space as a core member. Hui acknowledges Nihynia for giving her a purpose and her attempts to keep the greater balance. But she also loathes her for choosing her to be a Legendary Spirit.)

Rivals:

Eirlys Umerina (As a fellow spirit, they have connections, but they're both equally bitter about things that hold them back from their own potential. Hui and Eirlys were in the Spirit Realm together, facing the same challenges.)

Libet Lamarre (Inside Team Space, she's her main rival. They both are quick fighters who often have to work together, combining their lightning and water magic for example. However, their completely opposite beliefs make them constantly at odds with each other, causing them to often compete in situations where they need to cooperate.)

Niketria Hogan (While Niketria and her team might've ended up rescuing her while rescuing Payden, Hui feels a strong sense of both repellence and respect towards Niketria's stubborn, but caring "unbreakable wall of steel for the team" attitude, and finds her unexpected strength interesting. Hui does want to challenge Niketria one day and show that she's just as strong (also to see who's the true small but tough nut to crack of the Eight Alters.))

Jake Springlet (Jake is one of the students of BSA who doesn't like students from Tiria in general, and as Hui considers herself more Tirian than Thamirian, she takes things personally and tries to do better than Jake at everything to prove her point.)

Enemies:

Frank Theodore Milford (As her kidnapper, Hui holds a big grudge against Frank and doesn't trust him at all. She is always cautious around him after he kept her imprisoned in Dark Crystal, remembering those horrible memories.)

Beislar / Lorkness (As the main villain of the series and the one who ordered Frank to kidnap Hui, she naturally holds a strong grudge against him, determined to defeat him not just for good, but also for herself.)

Botolfe Cornelius (He is a leader of Dark Crystal who always took pleasure in messing with his victims, including Hui. She resents him for it and is wary of him too.)

Vanora Ziskind (Hui knows Vanora to be one of Dark Crystal's leaders as well, and the most bloodthirsty one (in the literal sense). She remembers her first days in Dark Crystal when she still wasn't a spirit, and how Vanora came after her. Like Frank and Botolfe, she holds a massive grudge against her.)

Tristia (While she doesn't have any personal connections to Tristia, Hui knows that she became a cursed spirit willingly and betrayed her family's and friends' trust in her. This is enough for Hui to absolutely despise Tristia.)

Ignacius Fiamel (Another leader of Dark Crystal, so naturally she sees him as an enemy, but isn't as big of an enemy to him as some of the other Team Space members (Tipus-).

Pets: Three small creatures she keeps as hers from the Tirian tour she participated in after first escaping captivity (a ladybug called Cherry, a pet spider called Hunter, and a black beetle called Spirit. Of course she tries to make sure Hunter doesn't catch the other two.)

Love Interest / Love Life:

Barin Igarashi (He is a ninja she couldn't trust at first, who was just as closed off as her. However, the two connected and understood each other better than expected, her guard falling as time passed (she is sometimes bashful about expressing her feelings). (Barin is Hui's main partner / love interest in the series, having met in Team Space stories.)

Wei Zhang (Wei was a childhood friend of Shan and Hui, who had a crush on her when they were kids. Hui did have brief feelings for him as a child, before being captured, but after returning, she was disappointed in him. She no longer holds any romantic feelings for him.)

Other Relationships:

Alondra Busker-Nels (Well, she's technically the house leader of the house (the Busker Mansion) Hui lives in with them (and a whole bunch of others), even though Hui herself isn't related to any of the Busker or Nels families and neither pays room rent, nor does any chores in the house. Instead, she annoys Alondra a bit, especially with the fact that she calls Radiance's music (the band Alondra leads) just alright too. But well, they're still allies and Alondra is trying to be patient with her.)

The Flying Café Crew (Besides Payden, Hui's just alright with the Flying Café Crew, though she finds Elvis and Miyuki to be too annoying and flirty with each other, and thinks Mr. Venor's level of knowledge on everyone else is too eerie for her to trust.)

Legendary 10 (Already mentioned the first half (Rosena, Shan, Tom, Elvis, and Miyuki), and as for the other half (Kent, Faren, Nour-Jawhara, Mert, and Marcelino), she sees them as allies in a way, but she doesn't really trust them as much as expected from her.)

Miraculum Karril (of all the leaders in BSA, she's the one Hui can't stand the most. She realizes Miraculum does plenty for BSA and against Dark Crystal, which she supports. But how far Miraculum can go for these purposes irks Hui, if not scares her a bit.)

STORY:

Role:

In The Main Story: In the Interdimensional main series, Hui is an important secondary character. Besides her role as the Legendary Spirit of Space and a close friend of Shan, she also acts as a strong ally of the Legendary Carriers and an antagonistic figure for Frank all throughout the series.

In Team Space: Hui is one of the most main members of Team Space, being a crucial figure in Nihynia's eyes in the battle against Beislar and more. She's also the youngest member of the team until Shan and Myrkut become constant members too.

Backstory: Hui Xie, or, Udela Castemera Thermin, was born in the stormy kingdom of Thamir - in the world of Yugenri, as the only child of Lord Zyran and Lady Cerisna, a mid-scale noble family. However, soon after her birth, some oddities about her were noticed: she was too quiet as a baby, she was learning to move (and then moving) far too quickly, and was too light that it felt like she was intangible. All of this, combined with her random bursts of magic, made her parents worry. They took baby Hui to a healer, who noticed that she was a living spirit (which is extremely rare compared to other types of spirits, most likely being tied to the Legend of Karril).

This made her parents ask for advice from the higher-ups, and a BSA official suggested hiding her in Tiria (as Tiria is considered by Yugenrins to be the safest of the worlds in Eight Alters, due to not having direct connections to any other world besides Yugenri and having little to no magic). This idea was accepted, and little Udela was sent to Tiria, after being given to the guardianship of two BSA officials who're also partially Thamirian (Guyon and Catelle Grimwood). The pair already had three children, who they had to leave to Guyon's sister as they left for their mission in Tiria. As Guyon was good friends with Lin Kun / Kun Lin (Shan's father), and Catelle was still lecturing Shouren Sen / Sen Shouren (future Potionsion professor) on medicine making, they settled in Ningzhou. There, Udela was given the name Xie Hui - as the daughter of Xie Yuze and Liu Shufei.

In her childhood, Hui went to the same school as Shan and became close friends with him (along with Zhang Wei but she won't talk about him). However, when she was eight, close to nine, her powers of storm creation surfaced and were more clear and worrisome than Shan's, who had also newly discovered his teleportation. For this reason, BSA instructed Guyon and Catelle to bring Hui back to Yugenri for training. And a few weeks after she turned nine, they were going to set out. But when they were about to, Hui was distracted by some colorful hairpins and called by a woman who looked and sounded like Catelle / Shufei. Hui followed her until she felt dizzy and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, she was in a dark room, alone. Frank, Botolfe, and Vanora came and explained what happened, hearing her call for her parents. They tricked her and she was their prisoner now, and that her parents wouldn't come for her. After a check-up by Vanora and Itzal (for different reasons), Botolfe threw Hui into the Spirit Depths with help from Frank (who as a shapeshifter was the one who brought her there).

Hui stayed locked in a cell inside the Spirit Depths for almost five years, as she only escaped about a week before she turned fourteen. She was completely broken by that point, as she had been all alone for almost five years in complete darkness, people only coming once a month to check if she was there. However, they visited the Spirit Depths twice in total to lock Hiroki and Payden up too, who Hui tried to contact but was too scared to. She felt like she was nobody, nothing, something to be forgotten in this abyss.

In year three (during the Eternal Winter Arc); Ellenie, Zabar, and Niketria found the Spirit Depths as they were searching for Payden, but saved Hui and Hiroki along with him. Hui felt grateful but realized they didn't come for her either. They'd come for their friend, and she was an afterthought. She accepted it and as Payden and Ellenie left Dark Crystal, she ran away with them and learned the truths. She then joined the Legendaries (at that point only Rosena, Kent, Shan, and Faren were around) in their Tirian-Tour quest to prevent the Eternal Winter. She formed her friendship with Shan again there, but learned to not trust the others as she also faced Frank and Botolfe knowing who they truly were, and learn that the people who she knew as her parents were just guardians. She tried to react like how any teenager would react then, but BSA offered to start her training now. She accepted and in Year Four (when everyone else was suffering in the Solium War), Hui stayed in Yugenri and learned basic combat skills (which she was too enthusiastic about to be considered healthy). When Team Space was established in Year Five, Hui was one of the first people Nihynia picked to send on missions across the Multiverse for herself, as she was already chosen by Nihynia to be the "Legendary Spirit of Space." Hui didn't like the idea of being with all these "random weirdos" at first, not trusting a single one in the beginning.

Themes & Character Arc: Hui's arc mainly centers around the themes of trust, freedom, fear, self-worth and connections. The first time we see Hui, she's a scared child trapped in the Spirit Depths. When she first escapes, she's too afraid to trust even the people she's closest to and she acts extremely impulsive and unpredictable in her attempts to not feel like a captive or prisoner anymore. Over time, she slowly lowers her guard towards those she forms connections with, experiencing what the words "family", "friendship", "love", "trust", and "freedom" mean to her. As she begins to trust, she also begins to act more freely, slowly but surely letting her fears leave as she grows into a stronger person.

Extra / Fun Facts:

Among the Team Space members, Hui is seen as the "grumpy younger sister of the family" which she despises at first but starts to not mind it in time.

Hui is banned by Hematia from going shopping alone.

Hui sings in the shower or when alone, but will yell at any person trying to eavesdrop.

Hui loves ribbons but doesn't like tying them.

Hui won her "spirit yelling" contest against Eirlys simply by being more angry.

Hui is one of the few, rare characters who didn't participate in the Solium War. She would have participated but it ended on her first year of training.

Hui is a huge foodie and wants to try all sorts of food, as long as they won't be poisonous.

Hui tackles and wrestles people either playfully or angrily. It doesn't matter if the person is a 6'7 tall celestial (Ruxir), she won't give up until she wins.

Hui has a collection of small trinkets from places she visits, many of these being tiny plushies or keychains.

Hui's favorite place to visit was Eliri, with its open skies, peaceful atmosphere, and cloudmobiles to drive around.

Due to the people in Dark Crystal calling her "Udela", she hates being called by her birth name. It's like a trigger for her now.

Hui first met Barin in the "Matchmaker Event" short stories, specifically, the one with Valentine's Day "Triple Spins".

Due to the fact that Frank (a shapeshifter) had turned to the person she knew as her mother, to deceive and kidnap her, Hui has developed extra wariness and fear towards shapeshifters, that can come off as offensive to them.

Questions For YOU (readers):

Which one(s) of your characters / OCs do you think Hui would get along best with? Why?

What song(s) do you think would fit her best?

Would you have any headcanons for her?

What would you do if you met her irl?

In general, what do you think about the character?

_____________

(Tagging everyone: @seastarblue @illarian-rambling @dearunreliablenarrator @avalordream @the-ellia-west @leahnardo-da-veggie @azz-writes @satohqbanana @storyteller-kara @daishitheprofessionalfool @thecomfywriter @the-letterbox-archives @imsoveryveryconfusedatlife @writeblrfantasy @author-a-holmes @heycerulean @ominous-faechild @kaylinalexanderbooks @willtheweaver @paeliae-occasionally @elritze @vesanal @wheres-all-the-tea-gone @lb-archives-atlas-department @onixieisawriterrr @glassfrogforest @write-with-will @the-golden-comet @distantflickering @distortedsense @thebadphilosopher and everyone else who I couldn't add but would appreciate the views & reading of! Thank you for reading it all and stay tuned for chapter 2 of "Search For The Legendaries", and the character profile for Arwyn, as soon as I can finish them!)

[masonmontz]

heeeey everyone, how are you? :) i hope you like it, because it is one of my favorites

REMEMBER: english is not my first language

angst, fluff, smut (unprotected sex, praise, oral) word count: 11,4k

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“Go change your clothes, we’re going to see Uncle Mason, he’s in London.” You said to Olivia, your 7 years old daughter. 

“Can I use my new dress? The blue one.” She said, getting up and getting out of your bed. 

“Sure, call me if you need help.” You said and she agreed, leaving your room. You smiled to yourself, knowing she can handle everything on her own, but you offer help just the same. She is a girl with her own opinion and no one can change her mind.

Olivia is your greatest gift. 

You got pregnant early, you were only 18 when you found out and your life turned upside down. Your father wasn't very happy when he found out you were pregnant and that's why you decided to find a place for you and live on your own, giving up on going to college and focusing on having a full-time job to pay the bills and try to provide comfort for your baby. Your mother and your younger sister always helped you, as did your friends, who were the best in the world.

Mason and Ayla always helped you, they stayed with you in the good and bad moments, that's why they were both Olivia's godparents. Mason offered you his own house for a few months, Ayla bought Olivia lots of clothes and diapers, and always helped you when you were sad and felt ugly because of your big belly.

Living with your best friend for a few months was when you realized you were in love with him. Mason was funny, kind, and stood by you when it seemed like the worst time of your life. You weren't sure you'd stay with Olivia, but when you saw that beautiful face, you had no doubt that she was the greatest love of your life. 

You blamed it on hormones for a long time, but when Mason was the one who stayed with you when she was born, you knew it was love. But Mason had become a professional player, he was busy with Chelsea and that's why you never said anything, nor did you ever want to tie him to you.

Him being great with Olivia didn't help much, you drooled every time he held your daughter. Mason used to see her almost every day after training, sometimes Ayla was there too but she worked and couldn't always come to your house. Olivia is also in love with Uncle Mason, but she doesn't hide it from anyone, unlike you.

You never showed your feelings for Mason, so little by little you kept everything locked inside you. Mason had several girlfriends, several one-night stands, and you also met some interesting guys. Some were idiots and left you when they found out you had a daughter, others knew but didn't like her, and the one you liked the most, Matty, left to work in China with no plans to return to England.

Mason was Olivia's favorite adult, and even when he moved to Manchester, he called her almost every day, sent her some gifts and whenever possible came to see her in London. 

“Mum, can you tie my hair?” Olivia asked and entered your room while you were putting on some clothes. Summer was close and the days were getting hotter, so you wore a black skirt and a white blouse, sandals and tied your hair up like Olivia. Mason sent you a message inviting you and Olivia to dinner, he was only spending two days in London and would soon return to Manchester. 

“Do you want to do makeup?” You asked her but she denied. “Do you want help tying your shoelaces?”

“Yes, please, mum.” She said and you smiled at her, your polite girl. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome babe, give me a hug.” You bent down and Olivia hugged you, then you pulled her onto your lap. She was growing so fast, but she was still your baby. “You’re so pretty.” 

“Yes, ‘cause I’m just like you.” She said and rolled her eyes, you couldn't help but laugh at her. It was true, Olivia was a lot like you. Her father was a one-night stand and you never had contact with him again, but every day you try to be enough for her. 

And you never lied to her, every time she asked if she had a father, you explained that you didn't know where he lived or how to talk to him, you never left her waiting for someone who wouldn't show up, and little by little she focused only on you and the family and friends she has. 

Olivia was a happy girl. You always tried to teach her to be polite, you didn't yell at her, you always woke her up with a smile, and the same customs you taught her, she learned. 

“Are you ready?” You asked and she agreed, giving you her hand and you walked to the living room to get your bag. “Uncle Mason will buy you sushi.”

“That’s why he’s my favorite Uncle.” She said and you laughed again, Mason knows sushi is her favorite food and he always wants to take her to eat sushi with him, even if you don't like it. Mason found a companion for Japanese restaurants and it was Olivia, when at the age of five Ayla gave her sushi and she loved it, and you always chose yakisoba, because you didn't like sushi, but you always took her to dinner with her godfather.

“Just because he buys you sushi? I'll tell him.” You say before entering the elevator, still holding her hand. 

“He won't mind, he loves me very much.” She says and blows you a kiss, packing her own pink bag.

“You think you're too much, little girl.” You say while fixing her hair. The uber was already waiting for you and in fifteen minutes you arrived at the restaurant that Mason told you he was waiting for you two. Ayla was traveling with her fiancé and couldn't make it to the dinner, so it would just be the three of you. 

“Look, Mason is there.” You point to where Mason was on his phone sitting at a table alone, then Olivia ran over before you could catch her. She called out to him and several people in the restaurant looked at her, making you feel embarrassed at the attention. 

Mason smiled when he heard it and stood up, bending down to catch her as she threw herself into his arms. You approached smiling, noticing that Mason hugged her for a few seconds and they were both smiling.

“I missed you so much, look how big you are.” He said and set her down again, kneeling down to leave a kiss on her cheek. 

“I missed you too, Uncle Masey.” She said, sitting on the chair and looking at you.

“Hello.” You said and Mason got up, he hugged you tightly and you smelled his perfume, it had been the same for years and it never stopped being good. “You good?” 

“Hey, Y/N.” He whispered in your ear. “I missed you too.” 

“I bet Manchester is great, you haven't come to London anymore.” You teased and he smiled, then you sat down again while Olivia looked at the menu.

“I'm busy there after the injury, but I think next season I'll be able to play and things will get better.” He said and you gave him a confident smile, but soon he looked at Olivia again. “What about you, pumpkin? How is school?”

“Good, I'm learning how to do math and about plants.” She said, ignoring Mason and looking at you. “Mum, can I order a juice?”

“Sure.” She took out the tablet and you and Mason helped her place the order herself, then she placed an order for the two of you too. You spent dinner talking, Mason told him some news about the team, you listened to Olivia talk about some of her friends from school to him and you told him a little about your work. 

As always, she and Mason ate several pieces of sushi while you tried to ignore the fishy smell, which made you feel sick. You didn't know that food could make a child as happy as it made Olivia happy. 

“Do you want dessert, honey?” You asked her, but she denied. “For real? I want a brownie with ice cream, don't you want to share it with me?” 

“No, mum, I am satisfied.” She said and you and Mason laughed. 

“Okay, little lady. Do you want to share with me?” You asked Mason, but just like Olivia, he denied. 

“No sugar for me, sorry.” 

“Mum, can I go there to see the playground?” Olivia asked and pointed to the outside, sheltered area where some children were playing. 

“Yes, but be careful not to get hurt.” She barely heard you and was soon running outside, leaving you and Mason alone.

“So, how are things around here?” He asked, placing his hand on the table and offering it for you to hold. You rested your hand on his and squeezed. “I talk to Olivia more than I talk to you.”

“It's not my fault she takes the phone all to herself when you call.” He smiled, looking more beautiful than ever. Mason is wearing a black t-shirt and jeans and white sneakers. He is simple and beautiful and you try to ignore your attraction to him. “Everything is fine, I got promoted at work and Olivia started French class, now she says things that I don't know what they mean.” 

“Have you spoken to Ayla?” 

“Yes, she is in Portugal with Robert, the last trip before the wedding.” You took out your phone and showed some photos she sent you to Mason. “She is so happy, I can’t believe they’re getting married.” 

“I remember when she met him, I would never have said they would get married.” He said and took another sip of water, still looking at you. “How about you? Any guy in your life?” 

“Ah, of course I have, before coming here I sent one away. He was annoying me because he is in love with me.” You said ironically and Mason snorted. “Last week a man said hi to me at the grocery store and Olivia asked why I was panting in front of him.”

“She’s my favorite.” Mason was laughing at you, and you blushed as you remembered the scene. “But seriously, no one?” 

You shook your head and gave Mason a small smile.

“I don't think it's right to put someone in her life now and take them away if it doesn't work out, I need to think more about Olivia than myself.” 

“You can't forget yourself, Y/N. I know you love Olivia and want to do the best for her, but you still have a life and you are young.” You looked at the ground, blushing. “You still haven't found the right guy.” 

“Men don't like a single mother.” 

“You are looking for the wrong men.” Mason winked at you, but you didn't understand. Olivia went back to the table to drink water, but then quickly ran to the playground. 

“Why don't you go to a game in Manchester? We are at the end of the season and I would like Olivia to come see me. It's been a few months since she's watched a match.” 

“I need to see her school calendar, she can't miss many classes, but we can arrange it.” 

“And you need to watch a match too, it's been a while since I've had my lucky charm cheering me on.” 

“Stop it, I’m not your lucky charm.” Your face turned red. 

“Yes you are, you haven't watched the matches in almost a year and the season was shit.” He said and smiled at you. “Summer is coming, I think it would be a good idea if you and Olivia spent the vacations with me and my family, what do you think? Do you already have plans?” 

“She's been asking to go to the beach, so I think I'll take her for a few days. I hope it's sunny so she can enjoy it.” 

“We’re going to Greece, you wanna come? I would love to have you there.” 

“No, sorry. I don't want to ruin your family vacation, and Greece must be very expensive.” 

“You know I can pay for everything.” 

“I know but it's not fair, I don't want you to spend money on me or Olivia.” 

“But I’m her godfather.” Mason grumbled. “And you’re my best friend, I just want to give you both good presents.” 

“And I thank you for that, Mason, but that’s too much.” You said, and he snorted. “Maybe we can take her to the beach together when you get back.” 

“I'm going to Portugal after Greece for pre-season, I don't think I'll be back in London until July.” 

“Another time then.” 

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

Mason insisted on taking you and Olivia home. She played a lot and ended up sleeping in the car and you and Mason talked quietly to not wake her up. When he parked in front of the building, he insisted on carrying Olivia to your apartment, knowing that you wouldn't be able to do everything with her in your arms. 

Mason was so careful with her that your heart melted when you saw him leave a kiss on her forehead, murmuring a few words even though he knew she wasn't listening. 

“I always miss you two when I'm in Manchester.” Mason said as he closed Olivia's bedroom door. You were standing in the hallway waiting for him, so the two of you walked to the kitchen, speaking quietly so she wouldn't wake up. 

“C’mon, you have a lot of friends there.” 

“Yes, but I miss my favorite girl in the world.” He said, accepting the cup of tea you offered. “There's a party in Manchester next week, I invited Ayla and Robert and I'd like you to go too.” 

“A party?” You raised your eyebrows, not really liking the idea of ​​not taking your daughter with you. 

“It's a Man U party, I want you to go. My family is going away and they won't be able to go, and I don't want to be alone there.” 

“I don’t know, I don't want to leave Olivia alone.”

“Leave her with your mom and sister, you need to have some fun too.” 

“I will think about it.” You spoke quietly, but Mason agreed. He would probably spend the rest of the week urging you to go.

You and Mason hadn't gone out alone for years, you used to go to a lot of parties before you got pregnant, after that he continued going to a lot of parties and meeting a lot of people, but you had a baby to take care of. Now you usually go to some restaurants, birthday parties, school presentations, swimming lessons and to your parents' or Ayla's house.

“I need to go now, I have an early meeting tomorrow and then I'm going back to Manchester.” Mason said, taking the cup of tea to the kitchen sink. 

“Okay, I'll let you know if I decide to go to Manchester.”

“Please go, it will be fun.” He said smiling at you, and it made you melt like butter. “I’ll miss you until then.”

“Don’t be silly, you'll have a lot to do until next week.” You respond, leaving a light slap on his arm and making him mumble. 

“And I still miss my best friend.”

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“I live for you, I long for you, Olivia, I've been idolizing the light in your eyes, Olivia…” You sang softly as you packed your bags for the short trip to Manchester. “The summertime and butterflies, all belong to your creation, I love you, it's all I do, I love you…” 

“How many days will you stay there?” Olivia asked. She was lying in your bed quietly, she was watching a movie while you were packing your clothes and she was keeping you company.

“Three days, my love.” You replied, organizing your hygiene items. “Mommy is leaving tomorrow morning and I'll be back Sunday night. You won't even have time to miss me.”

“But I will, you've never left me alone for so long.” She spoke, and when you looked at her, you saw that her eyes were teary. She was wearing pink pajamas that she changed into after her shower, so she lay next to you in your bed in silence, now you understood why.

“Oh, my sweet girl, don’t cry or I’ll cry too.” You got up and laid down next to her, hugging your sentimental girl. “You will have fun with nanna and your aunt, they will take you to some fun places.”

“But what if I need to talk to you?”

“You can call me, I will always answer you, dear. And if I don't answer, you know you can call Mason.” She agreed, so you left a kiss on her forehead and got up to continue packing your things. Your heart was already hurting, you had never spent more than a day away from Olivia and you would be lying if you said you weren't scared.

But maybe Mason was right, it was time to have some fun and remember that you're only twenty-five.

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“The size of this house is shameful.” You spoke quietly to Ayla as the two of you opened all the doors to see the rooms and Mason and Robert were in the room after Mason picked the three of you up. “We can get lost here.”

“Look at that bathtub, I'm going to ask Mason if I can have this room.” You agreed, then you both went downstairs again.

Mason picked you up and not even he believed you traveled there, even though you told him you were going to Manchester. He probably thought you were joking, even more so because they all know that you never left Olivia for more than a day and took her everywhere with you, or you just didn't go.

You spent almost five minutes saying goodbye to her, hugging and kissing your little girl, who was also a little sad about being away from her mommy for a few days. You promised gifts and calls every day until you returned home. Olivia was your best company, you always had her in your arms and you always taught her that she could count on you for everything. You were best friends.

“Did you guys have fun snooping around my house?” Mason asked as he offered you both a soda. “Did you like the house?”

“Oh we like it.” She replied and gave Mason a mischievous smile. “I want to have the room with the bathtub.” 

“A bathtub? I'm enjoying this trip even more.” Robert said and you laughed, just like Mason. 

“You’re disgusting, this is my house.” Mason said, closing his eyes and trying to get the image out of his head. 

You sat on the couch next to Mason, and he wrapped his arm around your shoulders, pulling you close to him. You had a calm friendship, you loved Mason and he loved you, as a friend. But you always hugged each other, you were always together, and people got used to seeing you like that.

“Was Olivia okay?” He asked quietly, just for you. Ayla and Robert got up to look at the trophies and medals displayed in the room. 

“I think she was a little sad, I never left her alone for so long. She cried yesterday and was worried in case she needed me.”

“Aww, she loves her mommy so much.” Mason smiled and gave you a kiss on your forehead. “I thought we could go out to dinner today, what do you think? Or we can order something and have a game night, just like the old days.”

“Both options sound great to me.”

Ayla and Robert preferred to stay at home, so Mason ordered pizza and you spent several hours playing games he had. Close to bedtime Olivia called, and you spent almost fifteen minutes talking to your daughter before hanging up. She looked sad, and even if she didn't let it show, you knew your girl very well.

Your mother said they went for a walk in the afternoon, but Olivia said a few times that you would be gone for many days and that made your heart hurt. You walked back into the room and Mason and Ayla were arguing over the rules of the game. Years ago it was common, you were used to the two of them fighting and you felt happy to be able to remember those times, even though now everything was different.

“Y/N, tell him how the game works.” Ayla said, angry. 

“You don't know anything, Ayla. That's not how it works, read the manual.” Mason shot back.

“I don’t have to, because I know.” 

“Oh Lord.” Robert said, and you placed your hand on his shoulder.

“This is what I've been putting up with for many years.”

In the end, you decided to play Uno, which was the best option. You and Mason won almost every time because no one was as competitive as you. 

“I'm going to training early tomorrow, but I'll be back before lunch.” He said when you went upstairs to get ready to bed. 

“Alright, we'll wait for you.” You smiled and Mason stopped at the door to his bedroom. Ayla and Robert had already gone to sleep a few minutes ago. “Good night, Mase.”

“Good night, Y/N.” 

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“Hey, wake up.” Mason whispered in your ear, giving you goosebumps. He left kisses down your back, running his hands over your body as he brought his warm body closer to yours. You were sweating.

You moaned as Mason fitted his hips between your legs and pressed you against the mattress. His kisses were so good that you could barely open your eyes as you felt his body on top of yours.

“This is so good, Mason.” You moaned, and he continued whispering nonsense in your ear while his hands ran over your ass. 

And you woke up.

You sat up in bed, breathing heavily, wondering what had happened. The room was dark and only you were there. 

Oh. My. God.

Did you have an erotic dream about your best friend? You're crazy, that's all it can be. Was it just you or was the house too hot? 

You got up and left the room, going downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water. You didn't even notice, but Mason was lying on the couch and you walked past him quickly, so he followed you. You didn't even turn on the kitchen light, you just looked for a glass and opened the fridge to get the bottle of water.

“Are you okay?” You jumped in fright when you heard Mason's voice behind you, and your heart sped up even more. 

“Are you trying to kill me?” You asked, putting your hands in your chest. “Oh my God.”

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but I was lying on the couch and you walked past me and didn't even see me.” He spoke and walked over, then took the glass from your hand and filled it with water for you. “What’s wrong?”

You didn't say anything, in fact, you didn't know what to respond. Surely telling your best friend that you had a wet dream about him was not an option. Your body was still hot and with Mason staring at you you seemed to burn even more.

“Nightmares.” You spoke quietly and turned around, leaning on the counter behind you.

Mason tried to look away from your legs, but the short pajamas didn't help and drew your curves. Mason hadn't seen you this comfortable in a long time, and he cleared his throat when he saw your breasts showing as well. 

Surely the last thing Mason wanted to do was notice his best friend's body. But it was inevitable, and when you turned around, Mason couldn't hide the fact that he was looking at your legs and ass. He turned red and your breathing quickened again as you remembered your wet dream, but you didn't say anything.

“Can't sleep?” You asked and Mason agreed.

“Kind of, I'm tired from training and sometimes I get very anxious because of the season and the pressure.” Mason spoke and got him a bottle of water. You looked at the clock and it was already past 2 am, and the day would be long.

“I'm going back to the room, you coming?” 

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“What? I can hear you, the music is too loud.” You said to Ayla, while a Rihanna song played around the place. It was so loud that you couldn't hear anything anyone else was saying. You arrived an hour ago, Mason introduced you to the players and families and you were happy that he had so many friends in Manchester.

Mason is happy, kind and makes friends wherever he goes, unlike you who have few and almost no new friends. You and Ayla didn't leave the food table and Robert looked embarrassed when he looked at the two of you trying all the food there.

It was for free, no one could judge you.

After an hour, you and Ayla had already had several drinks and you were totally dizzy. You hadn’t had anything but a glass of wine in months and it was the first time in a long time that you had allowed yourself to drink like that. And that's why you're not thinking straight.

Mason was next to you and he had drunk as much as you, and soon the two of you were in the middle of the dance floor with lots of other people dancing, just like in the old days when you used to go out and dance the night away, having so much fun. 

“I was looking at you and that dress looks great on you, you look beautiful.” Mason spoke in your ear, and it made you smile. 

“Oh, you think? It was something old I had in my closet.” He smiled at you, placing his hand on your waist. You weren't thinking straight, either of you.

“Red looks so good on you, I love when you use this color. You look sexy.” You placed your hand on his chest, bracing yourself when someone bumped into you. Mason caught you and stopped you from falling, then he put his hand on your back and you put a hand on his arm, squeezing. You knew you were drunk, but Mason looked prettier than usual and when you realized that, you stared at him.

“Really?” You asked and he agreed, bringing his mouth closer to your ear once again and making you shiver. 

“In fact, since you were ready, all I could think about was how beautiful you look.” He left a light kiss on your shoulder and you sighed, not believing what was happening. Was this another dream? “The most beautiful woman in this place.”

You turned your face away and looked at Mason, a little scared by his words, but your heart was racing in your chest and you couldn't believe what he was saying.

“What?” 

“I'm serious, I've been dying to kiss you since you showed up wearing that dress.” You couldn’t respond because Mason kissed you, and it felt so good that your legs felt weak.

Even though you were scared, the drink didn't stop you from kissing him back, and that's why you kissed Mason among many strangers. You hoped Ayla wasn't seeing this. His lips were so soft that you felt like you wanted to kiss him forever. His tongue against yours gave you goosebumps and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, scratching the back of his neck with the tips of your nails.

When you needed to breathe, you pulled away a little and Mason moved his kisses down to your neck. It was exactly like your dream, but this time it was true. His mouth was as soft as you imagined, and everything felt warm, the music had disappeared and just the two of you were there. 

“Mason... there are a lot of people here.” You whispered and he held you tighter against him.

“Do you wanna go home with me?” 

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“Your skin is so soft.” Mason pressed you against the wall when you entered his house. You didn't even tell Ayla and Robert that you had left and called a taxi to get home as quickly as possible. Your body was burning for Mason, he hadn't let go of you for a minute since you got in the taxi. He left several kisses and marks all over your neck, but even drunk, you tried to have respect for the driver.

Mason almost dragged you out of the car when you arrived, and soon he was on you again, kissing you hard and so, so good. Mason almost dragged you out of the car when you arrived, and soon he was on top of you again, kissing you hard. You had already imagined it, but it never got that far.

“Oh, lord.” You sighed as Mason reached for the zipper of your dress and pulled it, not caring that you were in the middle of his living room, and when the dress fell to the floor, Mason's eyes lit up. 

“You are so beautiful, look at you.” He whispered, placing his hands on you and running his tongue along your neck once more. You were only in your underwear in front of Mason, and you were as comfortable as you had ever been just because of the way he was looking at you. Mason picked you up and while you were kissing he walked up the stairs to his room, tripping a few times as you laughed between kisses.

“I think I'm drunk.” You said and Mason laughed when he placed you on the mattress. 

“Me too, and I don't care.” He spoke slowly. Mason took off his shirt and you were able to admire his defined arms and chest, almost salivating at being able to touch him for the first time in the way you wanted. 

Mason climbed on top of you and you wrapped your legs around his hips as he kissed you again, this time with much more desire. You ran your nails down his back and Mason groaned, pressing his hips against yours and making you feel his bulge.

“I've wanted to do this for so many years.” He spoke before bringing his mouth to your breasts, licking your nipple and holding the other with his free hand. You whimpered and pulled on his hair, feeling Mason gasp. 

You pushed Mason and laid him down on the bed, climbing on top of him and fitting your groin against him, which made him sigh. You opened the button on his pants and pulled them off, leaving him only in his underwear, just like you. You sighed at the sight of his erection, just because of you.

“These tattoos make you look very sexy.” 

“Yeah?” he asked with a mischievous smile, then pulled you closer to him again to kiss you, but you brought your lips to his neck and kissed it, moving your kisses down to his chest, feeling Mason gasp. “You’re driving me crazy.”

You slid your hands down his abdomen, then reached down and pulled down his underwear, making his hard cock appear, it was already fully erect and you moaned at the sight you saw. He was dripping wet and you didn't think you would see something so beautiful. You couldn’t wait to have it totally inside your mouth, just like you dreamed for a long time.

“This is all for me?” You asked, grabbing his cock and moving it up and down with your hand, and you bit your lip when you saw Mason close his eyes. 

“Yeah, just like that, Y/n.” He moaned as you increased your movements. “I wanna feel your mouth all over my dick.” You got hornier when you saw him wanting to feel your mouth on his cock, and you wanted to feel it as much as he did.

You got up and got out of bed, then asked Mason to sit on the edge of the bed while you knelt on the floor. Thank goodness your hair was tied back in a ponytail.

Mason's mouth fell open as he watched you kneeling for him, so when you came closer and put his cock in your mouth, he moaned and lay back down on the mattress. You put everything in your mouth and started making back and forth movements, and what your mouth couldn't reach, you used your hands. You took your mouth off and left long licks along the length, Mason moaned low and hoarse and it was so sexy that you got completely wet.

“Oh..fuck… just like that.” 

Mason leaned back on the bed and propped himself up with his elbows as he made eye contact with you. You didn't look away for a second as you took his hard cock into your mouth and continued your movements. Mason brought a hand to your tied hair and held it, controlling the movements the way he wanted.

“Y/N, I’m so fucking close…” He moaned, and you held his thighs, and the other hand you took to his balls, gently caressing. Mason had lost control, he was moaning loudly now as you sucked his cock hard. You saw him shudder and throw his head back.

“I’m cuming” he warned you and you sped up your movements, wanting to make him cum in your mouth. “Ohh… fuck.. fuck.”

Mason came in your mouth, and as he moaned and sighed, his breathing quickened, you swallowed all of his cum. Mason was still spasming when you stood up and took off your panties, sitting on him right after that. Mason moaned as you ground your hips against his sensitive cock, and you leaned in to kiss him as you made him taste himself and you moved your hips to turn him on again.

“I wanna fuck you so bad” Mason murmured into the kiss, then brought a hand to your wet pussy, making you moan. “And I wanna lick this pussy that is dripping for me, I wanna make you scream for me.”

Mason brought his thumb to your clit and pressed, so you sighed and rolled your hips against his hand. 

“You can do that, but now I just wanna feel your cock inside me.” You groaned and pulled his hand away, rubbing your pussy in his hard and dripping cock. “I want to ride your dick, Mase.”

“Fuck- yes.” Mason almost begged, so you held his cock in your hand to direct it to your slick folds. You rode his cock and you both moaned loudly, Mason held your waist as you got used to his big, thick cock inside you. “You're so tight.”

“Oh, Mase, it feels so good.” You moaned and began to grind on him, back and forth, pressing your clit against his skin, and up and down. Mason was lying on the bed and you placed your hands on his chest to make it easier to move, then you closed your eyes when you felt Mason's hand on your ass, helping you move up and down. “Oh, fuck.”

“So fucking good, this pussy is so good for me.” 

You found that you loved having Mason talk nonsense to you. You found that you loved having Mason talk dirty to you, and he noticed when you moaned when he praised you and you sped up your movements. 

You spent a few minutes riding Mason, he was moaning and it was making you hornier, then he grabbed you and pulled you along in a second, making you lie on your side in bed. Mason lay behind you and pulled you against his chest, holding your leg up as he brought his cock down to your pussy. You moaned as he filled you again, laying your head back on the pillow and feeling his warm, sweaty body against your back.

“Oh, yeah, yeah…” Mason held your hair and fucked you from behind, he made quick movements and you looked ready to explode. You never imagined it would be this good.

The effect of the alcohol had worn off, but now you were drunk on Mason. All that was going through your head was him, Mason fucking you, Mason kissing you, Mason holding you against him, Mason whispering how hot you were, how tight you were and that he wanted to cum inside you.

All of this exploded inside you and you felt the orgasm hitting you, moaning his name over and over as he fucked you harder. Mason pressed you against him and he moaned in your ear, and you felt that he had reached his orgasm too. You could feel his cum inside you as you let your head fall back onto the pillow, eyes closed and breathing heavily. 

Mason was spreading kisses across your neck and you were still moaning softly, he made a few more movements and soon pulled out of you, leaving you empty. You haven't had sex with someone like that in a long time. You haven't had an orgasm like that in years. 

“It was so good.” You said, bringing a hand to Mason's hair, who was still behind you. He was gently caressing your belly, breathing as heavily as you.

“It really was, but I'm not done with you yet.” He said, biting the skin on your neck and probably leaving a mark. You turned to Mason, you were sensitive but wanted more, and he seemed to want the same. You kissed him again and Mason brought his hands to your thighs, squeezing.

Voices were heard on the first floor and you remembered Ayla and Robert, so you moved away from Mason, but he didn't let you get away.

“Shh, forget them.” Mason whispered, then kissed you again. “Sit on my face.”

“What?” You asked, not sure if you heard his request correctly. 

“Sit on my face, I wanna lick all over this beautiful pussy.” He spoke and brought his hand to his cock, moving it up and down as he pulled you close to his face. “Do that for me.”

You could get lost in his tongue licking you as you gripped the headboard and let Mason drive you crazy.

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

You woke up and slowly remembered what happened during the night, so you woke up scared when you realized that you had sex with Mason. Mason was sleeping next to you and with his back to you, you didn't even know where your clothes were and you had slept naked next to him, who was also naked.

It was a lot to process.

The house was quiet and you figured Ayla and Robert were still sleeping since they arrived after you, but you and Mason went to sleep when the sun was almost up after countless rounds of sex. In the end, you couldn't blame the alcohol anymore, you were having sex because you wanted to and you wondered if this wouldn't end your friendship.

You got up quietly so as not to wake Mason, then looked for your panties that were thrown on the floor. Where was your dress? You found Mason's shirt and put it on only to run to your room, then left slowly and without making any noise. 

You took a shower and put on your gym clothes, then while everyone was sleeping, you went for a walk and checked out the beautiful street where Mason lives. The houses were huge and beautiful, you would love to live in one of these mansions. 

But the whole way you wondered what would happen between the two of you from now. You liked Mason and things were sure to change now that you spent a night having sex with him, but how did he feel? He said something about wanting to do this for a while, but was he serious or was it because he was drunk?

Your feelings for Mason had been there for a while, especially because he was great with Olivia and loved her, loved her as much as you did. Olivia loved him too, she always talked about Uncle Mason with a lot of love, but what if that took him away from her? There were a lot of questions and you didn't have the answers, so after thirty minutes of walking, you decided to go back.

You entered the house and saw your dress thrown on the floor, so you ran and picked it up from the floor, going upstairs and putting the dress in your suitcase before anyone saw. 

Ayla was in the kitchen preparing breakfast, and you quickly went to help her. She looked at you and smiled mischievously, but you tried to ignore her smile as you helped her cut some fruit.

“Great night, uh?” She asked and tried to look innocent, but you knew she wanted to laugh at you. 

“Stop trying to embarrass me.”

“Tell me everything, please, I’m your best friend.” She practically begged, while stirring the pancake batter. 

“We had sex, that’s it, but I don’t have anything to tell you because I don’t know what will happen with me and Mason now.” 

“I always thought you guys liked each other, to be honest, but you never talked about it with me.” 

“What?” You were confused. How come she thought you liked each other?

“Just look at the way you look at each other, how you talk.”

“I don't know, it's complicated, I think all this happened when I stayed at his house after getting pregnant.”

“He was there for you, wasn't he?”

“Yeah, and I think I developed a crush on him, but I had some boyfriends, he has many women and we were never single at the same time.”

“But now you are.”

“I know, but that doesn't mean anything, he might think I'm the same as the women he sleeps with for one night. Maybe things will stay the same.”

“Things may change between you now.”

“I know, but I would never take him away from Olivia. She loves him.”

“And do you love him?” You were quiet for a few seconds.

“I know I love him, but I don't know in what way.”

Ayla didn't answer you and you arranged the table for you two to have breakfast. It was almost noon and you were starving. You were returning to London tomorrow, and it was a cloudy Saturday in Manchester, even though the day was a little warm because of the summer. 

“Morning” Mason spoke hoarsely as he entered the kitchen. Robert walked in soon after, and the two of them sat at the table with tired faces. 

“Good morning, ladies.” Ayla Ayla joked with them, smiling. You looked at Mason and you were embarrassed to see him staring at you too, and you felt your face red as you remembered everything you did the night before.

He just gave you an indifferent smile, grabbing some coffee and drinking it quietly. You put the fruit on the table and Ayla put the pancakes on, then the two of you sat down and drank coffee in silence, all of you too tired to talk. 

“I saw a dress thrown in the living room when we arrived, did you lose your clothes, Y/N?” Robert asked a while later, making you blush once more and almost choke on the piece of banana you were eating. “What happened between you two yesterday?”

“We-”

“Nothing.”

It was Mason who answered. You didn't answer Robert anymore and looked at Mason, questioning his answer. Did you imagine that Mason might act differently after having sex with you, but pretend nothing happened? What kind of guy is he? 

Him pretending nothing happened hurt more than you thought. Was he embarrassed to tell people you had sex? It would be easier if he told you he never wanted to do it again.

“Nothing, uh?” You asked and he gulped. “Asshole.”

You pushed the plate away and got up from the chair, leaving the kitchen towards your room as you heard Ayla calling you. You ignored her and went upstairs, wanting to be alone for a few minutes.

You closed the door and looked for your cell phone, maybe talking to Olivia for a bit would calm you down. But you got nervous when you saw several missed calls from your mum, so you called her, who answered on the first ring.

“Hey mum, everything’s okay?” 

“Honey, stay calm, but Olivia had an allergic reaction to a candy we bought at the park yesterday and I took her to the hospital-”

“What?” You panicked when you heard the word hospital. 

“She is in the emergency room and the doctors are with her there, I'm sorry honey, please forgive me.” Your mom started crying on the phone and you panicked, so you ran to your suitcase to start packing your things.

“Mom, I want to know if she's going to be okay.” You said as you threw your clothes inside, running to the bathroom and taking everything off.

“I don’t know, no one says anything to me. Please forgive me.” She sobbed and you started crying in fear. This trip was the worst idea you ever had, you wouldn't be mad at Mason if you hadn't come and everything would be normal, and most importantly, your daughter would be safe at home and well. 

“I'm heading back to London now, call me when you hear anything.” 

“I will. I love you.” You wiped away your tears but it was in vain, because you were so scared that you couldn't stop crying. You did all this quickly, wanting to catch the next train to London. You don't know what to do if something happens to Olivia. She's your whole world, you discovered life through her, and thinking that she's in the hospital without you makes you feel guilty.

“Y/N, listen, I don’t- where are you going?” Mason walked into the room, but stopped when he saw that your bags were packed and you were crying.

“I’m going back to London.” You said, grabbing your bag and suitcase, walking to leave the room and not wanting to talk to Mason.

“Are you serious? You're not going to let me say anything?” He held your arm and stopped you from leaving.

“Mason, I don’t fucking care about you and what you want to say, my daughter is in the hospital and I need to go back to London.” You pulled your arm and Mason let go of you, you ran downstairs and he followed you, calling you.

“What? Olivia is in the hospital? Why?” He looked worried, and when you arrived in the room, Ayla and Robert heard and were worried too. 

“What happened?” Ayla asked and walked over to you, worried when she saw how much you were crying.

“I don’t know, my mother said that they bought some candy at the park yesterday and when she ate that today, she had an allergic reaction.” You sobbed, putting your hands over your eyes and feeling the fear, the guilt, the panic hit you all at once. “She’s in the emergency room and no one says anything to my mum, she doesn't know how she is. She couldn't breathe, my little girl.”

“It’s okay, she’ll be fine.” Ayla said, but you denied. 

“I shouldn't have come here, I'm going back to London now, you guys stay here, I'll call and let you know how she is.”

“We’ll go with you.” Ayla said. 

“No, I want to catch the next train.” You looked at Robert. “Can you take me to the station?”

“I'll take you.” Mason spoke, and he was pale, probably worried about Olivia too.

“No.” 

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“Hey, bunny.” You said when Olivia woke up, relieved to see your little girl back to normal. “Mum is here.”

You arrived in London an hour ago and went straight to the hospital. Your mother apologized to you several times when you arrived, crying, but you assured her that it wasn't her fault, because even you didn't know that Olivia could have an allergic reaction to a candy. 

The doctor explained that she was fine, and that the allergic reaction was caused by a type of nut she ate. You cried when you entered the room and saw her sleeping peacefully, and for an hour you admired Olivia sleeping, thanking God and the doctors that she was okay. 

Olivia seemed scared of the room, but when you sat down next to her and held her hand, she calmed down. Her lips began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears. You couldn't hold it in, and began to cry when you saw her sad.

“I couldn't breathe, mum.” She sobbed, and you bent down and hugged her, smelling the strawberry scent of her favorite perfume. “My throat hurt a lot.”

“I know, babe, I know. I promise I'll never leave you alone again, okay? Do you forgive your mummy?” You spoke softly to her, and she nodded, leaving a kiss on your cheek. “My sweet girl, I was so scared.” 

You couldn't stop crying for a while, but now it was from relief to see her okay, and you just wanted to take her home and hug her for hours. 

“Don’t cry, mommy.” She said, placing her small hands on your cheeks and pulling your lips into a fake smile. “Big girls don’t cry.”

“You're right, but it's okay to cry sometimes, especially when I know my little girl is fine.”

“I'll never eat candy again, mum. I was so scared.” She confessed and you smiled sadly at her, hugging her once more. “I wanna go home.” 

“We're going home soon, okay?”

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“And how are you feeling now?” You heard Mason ask Olivia while you were washing some dishes from dinner, Olivia was sitting at the counter and answered the phone when Mason called. 

It was already Sunday, Ayla and Robert had already returned to London and went to visit Olivia when they arrived. Mason had sent you a few messages, but you didn't reply to any of them and only answered the call because your daughter answered.

“I'm fine, uncle Masey, I just cried a little yesterday because my throat was sore.” You smiled at what she said, but Olivia looked better than ever. 

“I was worried about you, but I'm so glad you're okay.” He spoke and you sighed. You don't know how you're going to act with Mason after what he said to you, but it's the first time you've thought about it since yesterday, because your biggest concern was Olivia and not his lack of sense. “Can you pass the phone to your mum?”

“Yes, I'm going to watch the Moana movie now.” She spoke and walked over to you, still looking at Mason on the video call, who smiled at her. “Bye uncle Mase, I love you.” 

“Bye bye, pumpkin, I love you too.” He said goodbye and she blew him a kiss, handing you your cell phone and running back to the living room to watch.

“I'm listening.” You spoke and turned off the camera so Mason wouldn't see you, just hear you, so he turned off his camera too.

“Can we talk?” 

“I have nothing to talk to you Mason, you've already made it clear that nothing happened.”

“That’s not what-” You interrupted him.

“I really hope from the bottom of my heart that you don't act towards the other girls the same way you did towards me, because I'm going to feel so sorry for them for having to deal with this jerk that you are.”

“Can you hear me? You won't let me speak.” Mason retorted, irritated.

“Go fuck yourself, Mason.” 

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“I think you're being a bit harsh on Mason.” Ayla spoke one week later. “I mean, I spoke to him this week and he's feeling bad, you didn't let him explain himself.”

“Are you going to defend him?” You questioned, raising your eyebrows and looking at your friend. You could hear Olivia and Robert's laughter in the room as they played along with Olivia's word game. 

“I'm not defending him, but I've heard some things and I think you should listen to him too.”

“Well, I’m not. I don't want to talk about it anymore.” 

“Okay, but are you going to end a friendship of years because of one night?”

“Yeah, one night he fucked me until the sun came up and then acted like he didn't do anything. If I had done that, I'd be a slut, wouldn't I? He's just like everyone else, he would never date someone who is a single mother and puts her daughter first.”

“You know you're going down the wrong path, but I'm not going to pressure you, it's not my problem.”

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

Olivia was lying on the couch sleeping after you watched both Lion King movies. You valued the idea of making your daughter watch old Disney movies and discover the good side of life. 

Three days later and you were still thinking about what Ayla had said, but Mason didn't call, didn't text and didn't even want to know about Olivia. She asked for him twice, but you said he was busy and couldn't talk to her. 

You were still hurt by him, and the biggest disappointment was that he acted in front of your best friends like you meant nothing, when one night with him meant so much to you. And you were right, things changed after having sex with him. You thought about him and despite the disappointment, you remembered his touch and how good it felt to have him kissing you and whispering compliments to you.

And the passion returned even with the pain. You didn't think that one day you would have something with Mason and that's why your feelings were left aside, but now you don't know how to deal with what's inside you.

You were lost in thought as you caressed Olivia's legs and it took you a while to realize that you had a voicemail received on your phone. It was Mason's.

It was a long audio and your heart raced before you even heard what he was saying, but you got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to listen and not wake Olivia. 

“Hey… hum… I don’t know how to say this to you but… I’m drunk, if you haven't noticed… but I miss you. I miss you so fucking much. I know I haven't spoken to you in a few days, I know I fucked up, but I never meant to say that to humiliate you or make you sad. I just thought it would embarrass you if I said we had sex, because you don't like to talk about things like that in front of people, but I made the wrong decision.”

The audio was quiet for a while, but you could hear Mason breathing.

“It was the best sex of my life, just for you to know.” He chuckled to himself as he talked. “I've dreamed about this for years, since we were teenagers actually. I remember I wanted to tell you this because I thought you were in love with me too, but then you got pregnant and you were so sad that I thought I shouldn't put any more pressure on you. You lived with me for months and every night I dreamed of sleeping next to you, but you had another priority.”

A tear ran down your cheek and you wiped it away. 

“I love Olivia, God, I love her so much I could cry, and I know you love her more than anything, but I wish... I wish you had some of that love for me too.” 

You gasped.

“I know you think I date a lot of women, but that's because we've always had our disagreements. After Olivia was born, you started dating that idiot Peter, so I thought I should move on and I met Rory. When you broke up, I was dating, and then you met that Luke guy and I was single. Have you noticed that this is the first time in years that we've both been single at the same time?”

“I've been talking for a long time, sorry to bother you now, but that's it, I just wanted to vent to you. I hope you forgive me for what I said, and even, I don't know, if you don't want anything to do with me, I want to continue being your best friend. You are my best friend, Olivia is one of the best things I have and it's a gift that you gave me.”

“Forgive me, really. I love you, I will always love you. I'm sorry if I said something stupid, the last thing I wanted was to hurt you.”

You cried. You don't even remember when you started crying, but you cried so much and you don't know if it was seconds, minutes or an hour. Olivia appeared in the kitchen and hugged you, and you cried as you held her in your arms. She didn't understand anything, but she stroked your hair the same way you did every time she fell and hurt herself.

“Why are you crying, mummy?” She whispered as you held her against your chest. “I don't like to see you cry.”

“I heard something that made me emotional, that's all.” You smiled at her, but she still looked suspicious.

“Big girls don’t cry, mum.” She brought her hand to your cheek and pulled, forcing a smile onto your lips, the same way she did in the hospital.

“Big girls cry, pumpkin, everyone cries.” You murmured to her, leaving a kiss on her cheek. “Crying is good, no one can keep everything here.” You pointed at her heart, and she giggled at the tickle.

“Uncle Masey calls me pumpkin.” She laughed and you carried her to the bedroom with you, just wanting to sleep next to your daughter to feel safe for one night. She was your safe, loving place where you felt good.

“I know…” You spoke and laid her on the bed. “What do you think about the two of us going to visit uncle Mase?”

✦‎۟    ࣭   ⊹

“Can I buy this one too?” Olivia asked as you walked around the Manchester United store before the game. You had been walking around Manchester since arriving in the morning, and Olivia decided that she wanted a new team cap and shirt.

“You don't need a coat, it's hot.” You said and she pouted, but put the coat with the number 7 back on the shelf. “We have to go now, Lewis is waiting for us.” 

“Can I call uncle Mason and wish him good luck with the match? I don't want them to lose.” 

“Yesterday you told me that you are still a Chelsea fan.” You poked her nose as you both walked towards the cashier to pay for the things she picked out.

“I've changed my mind, I support uncle Mason and the team he plays for.” She said and crossed her arms as she waited for you to pay. Olivia smiled at the cashier. 

“Is Mason Mount your favorite player?” The lady asked Olivia.

“Yes, he is my godfather and my mother's best friend.” She replied and took the bag the woman handed her after you swiped your credit card. The woman looked at you and you nodded and smiled at her, holding Olivia's hand. “Thank you so much, have a nice day.” 

“Thank you, you are very polite and kind.” Olivia was embarrassed by the compliment, so you thanked the saleswoman again and said goodbye, then you and Olivia headed towards the entrance of Old Trafford. 

You soon entered, and there were already many people waiting for the match to start. Olivia was used to the games because of Chelsea, as you took her to a lot of games to support Mason. You met Lewis, who was the one who helped you with the tickets without telling Mason, because you and Olivia decided it would be a surprise, but you're scared because you don't know what his reaction will be.

You weren't in the family box, but a little above the reserve players' bench. Olivia was excited and you were excited to see her talking to Lewis about getting a dog, which she's been asking for for months. 

The players came onto the field for warm-ups and Olivia tried in vain to wave to Mason, but he hadn't seen her yet and she felt sad when she waved and he didn't wave back.

“Why doesn't he wave at me?” She asked sadly, and you and Lewis had to explain that he hadn't seen her because there were so many people there. 

Olivia gave up waving because Mason started warming up, but she didn't take her eyes off him for a moment. And neither did you. Mason was focused on what he had to do, and you tried to look away from his strong arms and legs that were on display, but everything about him caught your attention and you were almost drooling in the middle of everyone else.

Ten minutes later the players started to leave and Olivia stood up, shouting and waving at Mason and trying to get his attention. Just as he was about to go inside to change his uniform, she called out again and you could tell Mason was looking for the familiar voice. Lewis raised an arm to wave and Mason saw him, then he smiled when he noticed Olivia and finally you. 

Mason needed to go to the locker room, but his smile when he saw you there cheering for him made you excited and hopeful. Olivia celebrated when he saw her and he waved at her, then she blew a kiss to him, who pretended to catch it and blew another kiss to her.

“He saw me, mum.” She said happily and sat on your lap, Lewis smiled at the two of you and said something about her being Mason's favorite fan. 

The game started and you noticed that Mason looked at you every chance he got, and you smiled shyly when he looked at you, remembering the things he said in the audio he sent you, about ten days ago. 

After fifteen minutes, the opposing team scored a goal and Olivia was sad when she realized that few people in the stadium celebrated. 

“Olivia, there's still a lot of time left in the game, they're going to win.” Lewis murmured to her, trying to make her feel better. 

You weren't confident at Manchester United in the first half, but after the break the team improved and tried to score more goals than in the first half. You could see the moment the ball reached Mason's feet and he kicked it hard, it hit the goalkeeper's hand but went into the goal, making the entire stadium scream for his goal. You picked Olivia up so she could see the celebration and she was screaming Mason's name, happier than you had ever seen her.

Mason ran towards where you were and made the letter “O” with his hands, and Olivia smiled when she realized it was the initial of her name.

“Was it for me?” She asked, blushing.

“Yes, uncle Mason scored a goal for you.” You kissed her cheek and placed her on the chair next to you. 

Olivia confessed that she wished Garnacho had also made the letter O when he scored Manchester United's second goal, but you had to explain that he didn't because he didn't know her, which made her roll her eyes at him. After the game, Lewis told you that you would have to go with him to Mason's house because Mason needed to go back with the team and pick up his car in Carrington.

An hour later Olivia had already looked at every room in Mason's house, played with Ace for a long time and ate the cookies she found in the cupboard and Lewis allowed her to eat. It was already past her bedtime, so when she lay down on the couch, she fell asleep within minutes, unable to wait for Mason.

You and Lewis were talking in the kitchen, and Mason arrived a few minutes later, smiling when he realized you were still there. Lewis congratulated Mason on the game but said he was tired and would go to his room, leaving you alone with Mason in the kitchen. You were embarrassed and didn't know what to do, so you smiled at him, who smiled and came closer.

“So, what a great surprise to have you here.” He said and you nodded, hugging him and sighing when he held you close to him. 

“Sorry for coming unannounced, Olivia wanted to surprise you.” 

“She is snoring on the couch and her feet are dirty.”

“She had fun today.”

“And you? Did you like the game?” Mason asked, you felt his hand on your waist and you put your arms around his neck, making him smile even more.

“It was actually pretty cool, but I'm about to find out if the day can get any better.”

“Do you want to tell me something?” Mason pretended to be serious, so you moved closer and kissed his lips. It was a soft kiss, just a small touch, before you pulled away and faced him.

“I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you that day, and I didn't let you explain yourself, but Olivia was in the hospital, I was stressed and scared and I took it out on you.” Mason nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but you placed a finger over his lips. “I've thought a lot about that audio you sent me drunk, and I hope everything you said there is true because I feel the same way. I always kept these feelings inside me because I thought I was the only one who felt something, I never realized that you felt something for me too.”

You spoke and Mason lowered his head to kiss your neck, but you still had a lot to say.

“I know things can be complicated because I have Olivia and she's my priority, and you need to think about that Mason, because I'm a single mom, you can have any woman in the world who doesn't have kids and I don't want to let her down if things don't work out.”

“You know I don't care about that, I love that little girl as much as I love my nieces and nephews, I love her like a part of me.” He said. “I've never been as sure of anything as I am of the two of us.”

“We take it slow, because it involves a lot more than just the two of us.”

“Yeah, yeah… You two can move in next week, and we'll set our wedding date for next month. It's slow.”

“Stop being silly.” You laughed and Mason smiled too, then he kissed you.

It was a passionate kiss and for the first time you realized that all your feelings for Mason had never died, and you were more than willing to show him all of that. 

“We'll be fine, the three of us. I'll make you both happy.” Mason whispered, kissing your forehead.

“You promise?”

“Pinky promise, Olivia taught me.” You and he crossed your fingers, sealing the promise. 

“We need to think about how to tell her this, but I think she'll be happy.”

“Because she loves me very much, I am her favorite uncle.”

“I can't deny it, because I know she loves you.” You walked into the living room and stopped next to Olivia lying on the couch, with Ace sleeping next to her.

“My girls. I can't even believe this is all real.”

“I don't want to wake up if it's a dream.”

[ckret2]

On chapter 30 of The Writer Uses Misleading Graphics To Trick You Into Looking At This Fic About Human Bill Being The Shack's Prisoner: Summerween part 2! Bill wheedles Mabel into helping him make a costume. Mabel wheedles Bill into spilling some of his preciously-guarded secret backstory. Ford is kind of in awe.

Also there's like 4.5 drawings in this chapter. They're all very silly drawings.

####

Bill wouldn't tell Mabel what his costume was—"I want to see who can guess it"—but all it needed was a brown bedsheet, a long red wig, cardboard (to be drawn upon), and flip-flop sandals.

The bedsheet was the easiest to acquire. Dipper's barely-worn brown sandals were just slightly too big for Bill but Mabel helped tie them on with yarn. the shack's cardboard supplies were still depleted from making Bill's triangle mask, but they could make do with paper and popsicle sticks. Mabel didn't have a red wig but she did have a blonde wig and red markers. Since Bill was, by his own reporting, terrible at drawing, Mabel offered to do the fancy artwork if Bill did the tedious task of recoloring the wig. He claimed he'd feel like a mortician putting makeup on a car wreck victim, but nevertheless accepted the deal, and they settled in around the living room table to get to work.

"So just a bunch of houses, right?" Mabel asked, starting on the first drawing.

"Ancient Greek-looking houses," Bill said. "So, marble and columns. Don't think too hard about the details—this is a 21st century American costume holiday, not a historical reenactment. You can slap columns on anything and call it 'Greek' and every human in town will buy it."

"Do ancient Greek houses have chimneys?"

"No," Bill said. "But adding one would be funny."

Mabel considered that, weighed up the value of historical accuracy against entertainment value, and decided giving one house a chimney would be funny. She gave the whole house a thick black outline in marker, and pulled out crayons in black, white, and whale blue to quickly add some light shading to the marble. 

Mabel didn't think she'd ever seen Bill focus so hard or so quietly on anything the way he did on coloring that old wig red. He was giving it more attention than he did his own hair: while his golden locks were a tangled, uncombed, soggy mass shoved dismissively over his shoulders, he was dying the cheap wig (and his fingertips) strand by plastic strand with the bright-eyed morbid fascination of a third grader studying a pack of ants as they disassembled a bird's corpse.

This was the longest she'd been around Bill without conversation—usually, you couldn't even walk into a room without him immediately chattering at you like the motion-activated animatronics at the Summerween store. It was hard to think around him. Bill didn't give you room to think.

What did Mabel think about Bill?

He was right, she was still mad about the mall. No—mad wasn't the right word—mad was his word—she was scared. She'd never really stopped being scared of him, if she was honest with herself. But everything he'd done that day, from tricking her into trapping herself to reminding her of almost dying, had just reinforced why she should fear him.

But. She thought he felt bad about it. And she didn't think she'd ever seen him feel bad about anything before.

Maybe that meant her experiment was working. Maybe he was changing. Yeah, he was still scary—but he was Bill Cipher, he had a lot of scariness to work through. He was moving in the right direction, and she wanted to encourage that.

He hadn't apologized for the mall; but, since he'd tried to make up for it at the time, and that was a sort of apologetic action, Mabel decided she could tentatively forgive him for that day—provided he continued to improve. Put him on forgiveness probation. And that meant they were on friendly speaking terms again.

Which was good, because the quiet was starting to get uncomfortable. She surveyed her art for something they could talk about.

After a couple of as-historically-accurate-as-she-could-imagine houses, Mabel had started varying up the designs by redesigning houses she could remember off the top of her head with columns and white marble. She'd made a stately marble Mystery Shack, and a columned-covered doppelgänger of the house with the terraced yard across the street at home, and then she'd decided to make a Greek-ish version of her own home. "Hey Bill. Have you ever seen my house?"

"In person? No. But it came up from time to time in you kids' dreams, so whether I've seen it depends on how accurate you think your dreams are," he said. "It has less plants and more windows in your brother's dreams than in yours."

Mildly disturbing answer, but not disturbing in the direction she'd expected. "What! You mean you haven't haunted our neighborhood or anything? I don't believe it."

"Do you think I spend all my time stalking random humans? Don't flatter yourself."

"Well, seeing it in dreams isn't good enough!" Mabel pulled over a blank paper. It was hours until trick-or-treaters showed up, they had a little time to waste. "I'll draw it!"

"Wow, really?" Bill looked up from his wig. "You're not worried about letting the big bad triangle see your house?"

"Come on! You already know where I live, right?"

Bill immediately rattled off, "1337 Fairview Drive, Piedmont, California, on the northeast side of the street where it's less hilly."

"Exactly—you creep. So who cares if you know what it looks like, too?"

A square, sky blue house with two stories and a triangular roof; a big living room window on the left, a covered door on the right, three windows on the second floor, and a chimney. Mabel had drawn her home plenty of times—but doing it for a friend (?) was different from doing it for a teacher or a librarian, and she put extra effort into the rose bushes under the living room window. She added her and Dipper's smiling faces in the upstairs windows and Waddles's face downstairs in the living room.

"Waddles sleeps in the kitchen, but he basically owns half the yard to wallow in. This is my room, and here's Dipper's—I get three windows, but Dipper has the biggest window and a bigger room, so it's fair, no matter what he says—"

"Oh, you two have separate rooms now?" Bill was leaning halfway around the table and craning his neck to see the image right side up.

"Uh, yeah? Since we were ten?"

Loftily, Bill said, "I don't know how you'd expect me to know that. You both still dream about sharing a room."

Mabel paused and tried to remember how often she dreamed about Dipper in his new room. Sometimes she woke and was still disoriented to find her bed in the middle of the room instead of against one wall with Dipper's on the other side. "Huh."

She added a few more details—the front steps, the gate, the shingles. (Bill watched nervously as she pulled out the gray crayon to color the driveway—but she didn't notice how it had been tampered with.) She talked about her home, and in turn Bill told her weird things, like that Dipper often dreamed of monsters coming out of the fridge. When she finished, she autographed her name with a star on the "i" in Pines, offered it over grandly, and said, "Here, you can keep this!"

Bill accepted it without the customary effusive gratitude with which one ought to accept a generously-gifted original artwork from a 13-year-old prodigy. "What am I gonna do with it?"

"That's your problem!"

"Fair enough!" He checked his leggings for pockets and, when he didn't find any, set the page on the table by his elbow. 

Offering accepted. As Bill resumed coloring his wig, Mabel picked up another piece of paper and got to work on the next columned house. "What does your house look like?"

Bill stopped dead, looked straight at her, and said, "My what?"

What was weird about the question? "Your house! Or whatever you lived in before you came here. You came from somewhere before you tried to invade Earth, right? You didn't just pop out of somebody's dream."

Bill laughed. "Yeah I did!"

"Bill."

"4500 years ago the construction workers of Egypt had a shared nightmare about the immense tombs they'd spent the last century building—"

"Biiiill."

"—and when they awoke they found the combined psychic energy of their terror had spawned a sleep paralysis demon more powerful than Ra! So then I ate their souls—"

"Seriously, Bill."

"I'm being so serious right now."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine! I get it. You're embarrassed." She shook her head and returned to coloring.

She felt the combined spiritual energy of hundreds of imaginary Egyptian construction workers beating down on her face from Bill's eye. Like a laser. "'Embarrassed'?"

"Because you don't have a house," Mabel said. "I think it's okay, you don't need to be embarrassed! I don't think you're a loser or anything. It's just kind of sad—"

Bill snatched up a blank piece of paper. "You want a house? Fine! I'll show you a house." He grabbed up an orange crayon, muttering, "It'll put your stupid overpriced shed in California to shame— Where's the ruler—?" Mabel tried not to grin.

For several minutes, he was perfectly silent. Mabel glanced over to see him coloring with three crayons at once, only for him to shove a hand in her face and snap, "No peeking."

Mabel got through two more drawings before Bill slapped down his paper over Mabel's. "There! How about that?!"

She looked at the drawing, which Bill had helpfully labeled "Party Central!" in red crayon. A great stone pyramid so dark brown it was nearly black, with bricks outlined in brilliant gold and molten orange and fiery red, and a sharp multicolored X hovering above it—

Mabel gave Bill a flat look. "This isn't your house, this is your Torture Temple."

"The what? Hey, is that really what people are calling it?! It's not the Torture Temple, it's the Fearamid!"

Despite herself, Mabel burst out laughing. "You named it the 'Fearamid'?!"

"It's a pyramid and humans fear it! It's genius. Portmanteaus make great names."

"What's a portmanteau."

"It's a word made from the unholy Frankensteinian fusion of two other words. Like getting 'electrocute' from 'electricity' and 'execute'!"

"Or 'romcom'?"

"Yeah, or that."

Mabel considered the drawing. "If you want to scare less people, you could call this your Bill-ding."

"HA! Oh, I'm saving that."

"Anyway, this isn't where you live," Mabel said. "You were there for like a week tops!"

"Yeah, before your great-uncle killed me. I'd still be living there if it weren't for you jerks." He stuck out his tongue.

"Come on, Bill. I showed you my house. Draw where you grew up or something!"

"What's wrong with the Fearamid?"

Mabel crossed her arms. "Why don't you want me to see your real house?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

Bill opened his mouth to protest, but then stopped, a thoughtful look on his face. "Eh, you know what? Why not. If you're gonna be so ridiculous about such a silly thing." He pulled over another piece of paper. "But if I don't have enough time to finish coloring this wig, you have to help me."

"Fiiine." She returned to her own drawings as Bill got back to work.

After a long silence—longer than he'd taken to draw and color the Fearamid—he said, "Okay, done. Here." And he pushed over the paper with one dismissive finger.

She eagerly accepted the drawing—and frowned. There was nothing on the page except for a straight flat black line, interrupted by three line segments of bright blue and a cluster of red and green dashes. "What is this?"

"Where I grew up," Bill said, innocently, already back to coloring the wig. Mabel could see his mischievous smirk. "As seen from the front. Just like your drawing of your house. So we're even now."

Mabel's brows furrowed as she stared at the page in confusion. "What...?"

"You do know I'm from the second dimension, right? A universe that's flat like a piece of paper. I figured Sixer would've told you all about it by now." Bill picked up the drawing and held it between his and Mabel's faces, so that, viewed from the edge, all Mabel could see of the paper was a thin flat line. "What do you think the second dimension looks like to somebody in the second dimension?"

Mabel took the paper back, looked at the underwhelming flat line representing the front of Bill's house, and said, "I hate you." 

"We had the prettiest roses in the park," Bill said, pointing at the red dashes. "Crayon really doesn't do them justice."

"Shut uppp."

Bill laughed at her; but then, to her surprise, he said, "Okay, all right, I guess a big fancy 3D creature like you can't understand the nuances of two-dimensional sight. So, here." He flipped over the page. "Top down view."

The back of the page had what looked like a floorplan. A narrow room on the left, a large L-shaped room, a tiny room nestled into the L's top right corner, and a medium room on the right. Little shapes filled the rooms—furniture of some kind?—but she didn't see anything immediately recognizable like a top-down bed or table and chairs. Green and red spirals dangled off the bottom of the floorplan.

"I'm no Edward Bishop Bishop, but it gets the idea across," Bill said.

She studied all the strange little figures in fascination, looking for anything familiar. She pointed at a few shallow bowls filled with blue sticking out of the wall between the L-shaped room and the tiny room. "Are these sinks?"

"Hey, you're pretty sharp. Sinks and the tub." 

"So the little room's the bathroom."

"Right again." Bill pointed out the rooms on the floor plan. "Master bed's on the right, kitchen and living room in the middle—and you found the bathroom—and second bed's on the left. That was my room! The one with a million books," he pointed at a wall with countless tiny multicolored lines coming off of it. "I was a big reader as a kid. I've always been an intellectual."

"Who was in the other bedroom?"

"I never really went in there, who cares." Bill made a dismissive gesture. "I think there were some desks and stuff in there too, but I didn't bother to draw them since I never used them." He picked up a yellow and a black crayon and added on to the drawing, dexterously turning the crayons in his hand to switch between colors without setting either one down. "I spent most of my time in my room." He'd drawn a little yellow triangle with an eye. He picked up a red crayon to point an arrow at the triangle and label it "Me!" "I didn't even have to leave the room to see the TV. The perks of psychic powers!"

Mabel wondered which of the weird shapes was the TV; but before she could come to a decision, she was distracted by the scale of Bill drawn in his room. Maybe he'd just drawn himself big, but he seemed cramped in that narrow space. And he'd hardly have room to turn around in the bathroom without his corner smacking something. "It looks pretty small. Is that normal on your home world?"

"Ah, I rarely spent time at home—it was just a place to sleep between speaking engagements," Bill said. "I was always on tour. Living the life of the rich and famous! Hotels, jet planes, and tour buses!"

Mabel shot him an irritated look. "You said this is where you grew up."

"This is where I grew up! I got an early start making my fortune. I was already famous by the time I was, uh..." he pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Developmentally, I think I would've been about equivalent to your age. Maybe a bit younger."

How much of all this was true? It didn't feel like a lie—and she couldn't see how he'd benefit from lying about any of it, except maybe claiming to be famous. So it probably had to be true. He'd actually made her a drawing of his house. Even after he'd complained about being so bad at art. She beamed at him. "Thanks, Bill. Your weird alien house is neat! I like the squiggly spiral flowers! Are they actually roses?"

"They were the flower that everyone mentions in poetry and that you have to bring home when your wife is mad, so, same basic function as roses," Bill said. "Fun fact, they grow in spirals so that they're pretty on the outside, but—"

####

"—but have more surface area to absorb sunlight on the inside," Mabel said, pointing at the flowers. "Alien biology! And the orange things are couches and the colorful box in front of them is his TV, and Bill says he could watch TV through the wall but he never really liked TV, he preferred live performances—maybe we should take him to a musical! And the little sideways cushions on the walls are their beds because gravity goes to the left because their house faces east—I have no idea why!—so, I guess that's their 'floor'? But if that's the 'floor,' Bill didn't explain why all his books were on the 'ceiling' without them falling off, and..." Mabel trailed off, giving Ford a concerned look. "Grunkle Ford? Are you okay?"

He was gaping at the drawing. "Wh—? Yes. Sorry. I'm just..." He shook his head in amazement. "I never even got that slippery eel to admit he has a calendar system, and you got the blueprints to his childhood home?"

Dipper said, "Yeah, this is amazing. How did you get this out of him?"

"Oh, I didn't do anything special," Mabel said casually. "Just drew our house and then suggested he was too scared to let me see his."

Dipper grimaced. "You showed him our house?"

"Don't worry about it! He already knows where we live."

"Of course," Ford said, taking a quick note in his journal. "Exploiting his ego. He's very proud; undermine that pride and he'll feel compelled to defend his honor." Ford had started goading Bill into giving away more than he meant to the same way. He wished he'd started doing it far earlier; but he'd spent so many years foolishly assuming Bill's pride was objective and justified that he sometimes forgot what an egomaniac Bill really was.

As Mabel had spoken, Ford had filled several pages with bullet-pointed half thoughts: dodges questions about the master bed—his parents' room?; no bed or bedroom for a sibling, he seems like an only child; "speaking engagements" is probably a euphemism, what was he doing to become a child celebrity; were his books his only childhood possessions or just the only thing he valued enough to draw; did he gain his "psychic powers" while amassing the power he needed to "liberate"/destroy his dimension? "Can I borrow this drawing to make a photocopy?"

"Sure! Don't forget the line on the back," Mabel said. "And you can copy the Fearamid, too! Did you know he named it the 'Fearamid'?"

"Oh yeah, I heard him call it that," Dipper said. "I think I recorded it in Journal 3?"

"I should've read that before we threw out all of Grunkle Ford's Bill stuff," Mabel sighed. She slid over the Fearamid drawing to Ford. "Bwop! He drew it tilting all weird to the left? He wasn't kidding when he said he's bad at drawing."

Ford studied the drawing and frowned. He lay his pen on the drawing to use like a makeshift ruler. "It's not 'skewed'—he drew the front face as a perfect equilateral triangle, and then extended a side on the right to turn it into a pyramid. It's poor perspective—there's no point of view from which one side would look like a perfect equilateral triangle and you could see another side, but..." He trailed off again as he made a note to himself about what this might mean about Bill's ability to perceive the third dimension and his artistic sensibilities.

"So he draws like Picasso!" Mabel concluded. "Oh! Bill mentioned a name when he gave me his house, he said he wasn't like Edward Bishop Bishop—and I remembered it because it sounds funny. Bishop-Bishop. Maybe he's another artist Bill likes? Or somebody who makes blueprints?"

"I'm sure I've heard that name. I think he was a mathematician?" Ford frowned. "I can't recall, though." He wrote down another note: Edward Bishop Bishop – mathematician/artist? Something to look up later.

Dipper glanced back and forth between Ford and Mabel as they talked, feeling his stomach sink at how excited they were and how easily they got along. First the mysterious disappearing crystal shop in Portland, now Mabel made this huge discovery about the guy Ford had spent years trying to learn about... Dipper swallowed hard and tried to tell himself he shouldn't feel jealous after he'd gotten Ford to himself for basically the past year. "I can't believe you found out all this."

Mabel immediately looked at him. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Dipper winced. He'd realized a moment too late how he must have sounded. Quickly, he said, "I mean, it's great that you did! Finding out more information about him is great. But, like... investigating the paranormal is my thing. It's what I spent all last summer doing, and it's my dream job, and... and now, the biggest paranormal mystery in human history is in our house, and you're the one getting all the info out of him?"

"Well, yeah," Mabel said. "I'm our official Bill spy, remember? I'm the one who made friends with him."

"I know, I know." He shrugged jerkily. "I'm just... kind of disappointed that I'm not prying eons-old secrets out of an alien demon. You know?"

Ford had paused in his writing to listen to Dipper thoughtfully. "I understand. When you're exceptional at something, it can be... difficult to share the limelight," he said. "Not because you don't think anyone else deserves it. You just don't know if you'll ever get it back."

Dipper's face heated up—he didn't want Ford to think he was bad at sharing, of all things—but he mumbled, "Yeah, I guess." Ford patted his shoulder understandingly. 

"Aww," Mabel said. "Didn't you say that if we're running an experiment on being nice to Bill, you want to be in the control group?" She punched his arm. "Welcome to the control, bro!"

"Ow!" Dipper rubbed his arm and laughed weakly. "Yeah, okay, you're right. This is what I get."

Mabel said, "You should try talking to Bill! Maybe he'll tell you stuff too. He's really easy to talk to as long as you don't mind him sometimes saying creepy nightmare things."

"And as long as you're prepared for his mental tricks," Ford said.

"Yeah! Grunkle Ford's got a whole class for that," Mabel said. "He'll teach you about the BITE model! It's how cults sink their teeth into you!"

Dipper chuckled. "Sure. Maybe I will. We're gonna be at home handing out candy for a few hours, maybe I'll find an opportunity to interrogate him."

"You're not going trick-or-treating?" Ford asked.

"No," Mabel said, with an exaggerated sigh of disappointment.

Dipper elbowed her for her theatrics; they'd already agreed on what they'd do tonight. "We've got plans with friends. But we do get to wear matching costumes again."

"Creepy ghost children!"

"Ah," Ford said. "That explains your..." He gestured at them. They were wearing a suit and a dress, old-fashioned and gray, with tattered hems and dusty black dress shoes.

"Barty helped us put the outfits together," Dipper said.

"We still need to do our makeup," Mabel said. "What about you, Grunkle Ford? What are you doing for Summerween?"

"Ah." He glanced toward the ceiling ruefully, as though he could see The Enemy in the shack through the many layers of dirt above. Summerween had been one of the things he'd missed most about Gravity Falls; even during his years as a reclusive scientist in the woods, he'd usually taken off Summerween and Halloween to hand out candy to the children bold enough to visit his house.

But Bill's eagerness to participate had sucked the fun out of the day. The thought of celebrating Summerween in the same house as Bill felt too much like celebrating with him. "Nothing, I suppose. I was planning to stay down here." He gestured at his desk. "Continue my research."

"What are you working on right now?" Dipper asked.

Ford quickly said, "Nothing. Just—the same research," and was immediately hit with a pang of guilt. Remember what happened last summer when you tried to keep secrets about Bill out of embarrassment? Reluctantly, he said, "I've... split some research duties with Fiddleford. While I'm waiting to hear back from him, I'm looking into—some magical knowledge Bill revealed. To determine how much of it's true."

Dipper looked puzzled. "Revealed when?"

Mabel slammed her hands on Ford's desk. "Grunkle Ford, you can take a break from gathering intel on the enemy for one day! It's Summerween! Promise me you'll do something to celebrate before the day's over."

Ford let out a huff, but smiled. He wanted to do something. Surely he could come up with something that would let him avoid Bill? "All right, I promise. I won't invoke the Trickster's wrath tonight. Could you leave your costume makeup in the bathroom when you're finished? I'll find something to do with it."

"Perfect!" Mabel hugged him; then grabbed Dipper's hand. "C'mon, let's finish getting dressed. The trick-or-treaters will be here any minute!"

"Okay, okay." Dipper waved at Ford as Mabel dragged him to the elevator.

When they were gone, Ford turned back to the papers Mabel had given him. Bill's childhood home... Assuming he wasn't lying, at least. But an entire blueprint seemed like a complicated spur-of-the-moment fabrication even for him. If Bill was lying, it was a lie close to the truth.

It was strange to imagine Bill as a child with a bedroom full of books. Strange to imagine Bill as a child at all. What did a young triangle look like? He couldn't imagine anything different from how Bill always looked.

The floorplan did look small. Smaller even than the apartment over the pawn shop had been. Ford tried to remember what the homes he'd seen in Exwhylia had looked like...

He raised his head as something the kids had said registered. "Barty? Who's Barty?"

####

While Mabel was downstairs, Bill inspected her box of crayons.

The wrapper around the gray crayon was coming loose.

He took the glue stick they'd been using to reinforce the paper houses with popsicle sticks and carefully stuck the wrapper back on.

The house was too quiet without anyone around to talk to. He hated the quiet.

From the corner of the living room behind the table, when Bill leaned on the wall, shut his eyes, and listened closely, he could faintly hear the hidden elevator. He headed upstairs to stow the drawing of Mabel's house somewhere safe, and then went to the downstairs bathroom to finish dressing for Summerween.

####

(Y'all I worked hard on those fake crayon drawings. Anyway I know we're all collectively going insane today over the book news but if you took time out of your day to read this, I'd love to hear what y'all think!)

[trancylovecraft]

(KNY) YANDERE PLATONIC! KOKUSHIBO x SISTER READER: You, Shibou. I, Kokoro (CHAPTER EIGHT)

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CHAPTER EIGHT: "You’re scaring us and all of us, some of us love you Achilles, it’s not much but there’s proof"

Trauma from growing up too fast is rather severe, Causes of this can include homelessness, Parental Abuse, ETC.

Symptoms can include the belief that you need to always be strong and are disconnected from your needs, Believing that you cannot ask for help being isolated and distrustful.

It is very hard for the person to express their needs to another person, Even sometimes having trouble recognising that they have needs.

Her feet brushed against the thin wood of her sandals. Pushing in her toes she fastened the tie over them. Tapping the heel once she deemed it was steady and stood up.

Rubbing her eyes, [F/N] yawned as she stretched. The sleep rolling off her muscles as she groggily dragged her feet over to the closet. Despite having a good few hours of rest, She still felt tired.

The darkness of the room was barely an afterthought as she lumbered over to the closet and stood in front of it. The old wood coupled with splinters wasn't a bother either, The entire room that felt so foreign faded into an unwillingly familiar terrain.

Opening up the old closet door with a creek she was greeted with the row of kimono's and other accessories organised neatly inside. She sighed, They were new and exactly her size. Her fingers itched, How he knew her measurements exceeded her.

It had been a good few days since her encounter with Akaza, Or at least she thinks so. There was no clock to tell the time or anything that could even signal day or night. Everything was dark constantly, Her best estimate on the time was that she had fallen asleep sixteen times. A number she tallied onto the wall beside her futon.

After her talk with him she recalled the very next 'morning' what he did. It was weird to say the least, Why were all the demon's she encountered thus far been so strange?

At first it was just the fact he didn't raise a hand against women, Sure that was a bit odd on its own but it was ignorable if not irritating. But then it was when he escorted her back to bed when she was in pain was when his irregularity was glaringly obvious.

Demons don't show kindness, They don't. That's what [F/N] had been telling herself all this time, For all her life. Though she never had any feelings towards demons as a whole she recognised their behaviour.

Everything was weird, And she needed to accept that.

[F/N] didn't know what it was, It was probably what Akaza said that day. She was pathetic, She tried to escape once then gave up. That's what he said, At the time she had felt insulted and exposed. Like she was dropped naked into freezing water, It was uncomfortable and it made her mad.

But with the time she had to mull over his words she had came to the conclusion that yes, He was right.

Even though she had only tried once within the two day timeframe it was the days afterwards that really proved him right. [F/N] had tried running again, Putting a single foot onto the old docks before getting cold feet and backing out.

All this time she had been rotting away in her hopelessness, A dull feeling of weakness and vulnerability. She had focused on her sorrow so much that she couldn't even fathom the idea of finding another escape route.

She had to press her hands up against the molding wood at one point, Pushing her forehead against it and ignoring the splinters.

[F/N] had to breathe in and out, Confirming the bark was corporeal to the touch.

[F/N] was here. She was here and she needed to accept that.

[F/N] had no time to focus on how she felt right now, Her feelings don't matter. Cry later when you're out of here, Your emotions won't help you survive. Will they?

She bit her tongue and the way she sifted through the various kimono's grew a bit more focused. Akaza had helped her on that front too, This was the first time in ages she had actually decided to change out of her jinbei and into actual day clothes.

Though she hadn't showered, Something she was in dire need of with her greasy hair and sweat pressed skin. [F/N] would need to see if there was still a communal bathing place here, Hoping it wasn't taken out of the modifications Kokushibo made.

Kokushibo, Right.

He had arrived back to the shrine after being called by that man. [F/N] had been waiting on the edge of her seat (Or in this case, Futon) for the news. Would she be killed? Would she be tortured for information? The possibilities for what could of happened went awry in her mind.

Though nothing ever came of it. The next time she saw him was when he dropped off another bowl of soba on her vanity, He had said a curt hello before leaving. It was cold, She figured he was sticking to his promise of 'No affection' and to her he was doing it perfectly.

[F/N] figured that she was safe, It was nothing to worry about. He was probably just called for some routine Uppermoon Business, Or whatever that could be. Muzan probably didn't know she was here, If he did he would of been here to get information out of her by now.

After that Kokushibo had been very hands off, [F/N] found out that he had a sort of schedule where he'd be present in the shrine for a few hours before leaving for another good few.

[F/N] had assumed that was her sign of night and day. Kokushibo would leave at night and return in the mornings just to escape the sun. While he was here he didn't speak to her much, Keeping to his promise.

The most interaction they had was the meals he delivered to her. Breakfasts tending to be bowls of rice and miso soup, Lunches often being steamed vegetables and dinner being some kind of fish that he had caught.

Most of the time they ended up not being touched. Little nibbles here or there before [F/N] started to become full, Proceeding to abandon the dish in favour of searching around the shrine.

Apart from that she only caught him in passing down the hallways, They made no move to speak but his eyes always shifted to her. Examining and scrutinizing her, Looking like a judge to a convict all before they finally passed by and went on their own paths.

[F/N] shivered afterwards, Every time he was out of sight she'd sigh and continue on trying to forget the burning gaze he held. She often wondered what his game-plan was.

Was he trying to deprive her of social interaction? If so then it wouldn't work, She didn't want to speak to him. [F/N] didn't need social interaction, Not at all, Not in the slightest.

That's what she would like to think. In truth she felt words choke up her throat, Words wanting to spill out whenever she passed him.

Humans by nature were social creatures, She was no exception. Even though [F/N] was particularly anti-social in personality she did require interaction which often came from the Kakushi or her colleagues back home.

Now it was just him and her, The only source of communication. Well, Him, Her and Akaza that is.

He often arrived in the shrine when Kokushibo left, It seems like they rotated in shifts. Whenever Kokushibo left Akaza would be keen on entering, She could tell by the sounds of the poor dummy being punched around again and again in the courtyard.

[F/N] and Akaza didn't talk much either, Mostly because [F/N] didn't see him at all. She didn't wander out into the courtyard, On the rare occasion she did he wasn't there. Bad timing to be accountable.

Though as she finally picked out a kimono. A beautiful white with blue flower patterns brushing against the bottom, Splotches of gold to break it up and a navy obi to tie it all together she was hit with an idea.

Akaza. His behaviour the first time they met, It struck a chord in her. The language, The way he talked and the energy he gave off finally connected together. If she wanted to get out, It wouldn't hurt to gain an ally or two would it?

[F/N] on her own was practically useless. She was feeble and weak which is why she relied on things like weapons and others to keep her raised high. Akaza, The Uppermoon three despite how much she disfavoured his personality was strong and capable.

As she carefully draped the kimono around her shoulders and wrapped the indigo obi around her waist she brewed the thought inside her mind. It was the first step, The one she couldn't take earlier on the dock.

Fixing her oily hair and throwing on her signature haori she walked out of the room, Ready to bargain.

☆♡☆

The sun was rose high, A blinding white within the crystallin blue sapphire surrounding it.

The cool near frosty breeze was an after affect of the leaving winter. Birds awoken from their long sleep sung rhapsodies in the air, The tree's and bushes they sat on were abundant in a healthy basil green.

The entire scene was reminiscent of a Monet painting, Flowers and foliage in bloom. It was beautiful, The Kakushi assigned to take care of it took great patience in trimming and tending to the garden.

Inside the house all the Hashira gathered, At least the one's that were left. The shoji doors opened to let the outside scenery in as they sat together in a rectangular position. The Ubuyashiki estate was rife with life today, Yet the conversation's were dead and the air felt suffocating to be in.

All of the events were a hot topic none of them wanted to talk on. From Rengoku's unfortunate death, Tengen's retirement and the demise of [F/N]. The last time they had met it was on a lighter note, This is the first time they'd all been together since.

Sanemi and Iguro kept their heads down low, Not speaking a word. Despite the wide smile on her face, Shinobu did not tease or try to communicate with Giyuu. Gyomei and Muichiro not talking and keeping to themselves.

Usually at meetings before there would be a higher tone in the air. Tengen would be himself, Talkative and as he would put it: Flashy. Rengoku was always social as well, Always looking out for his teammates.

[F/N] often didn't show up to meetings but when he did he tended to always be in a good mood. While he didn't try to talk and kept quiet he did have his moments with a sarcastic comment, A relaxed conversation and a rare argument with either Sanemi or Iguro.

While he wasn't generally liked or paid attention to, He was still a core member of the team. Not to mention the dynamic he had with Mitsuri, The two were often inseparable and when Mitsuri was around it was only her who could bring out a charismatic and laid-back side of him.

Mitsuri, She hadn't shown up yet. It was strange but it wasn't unexpected. All of the Hashira had heard about her state from both Iguro and Shinobu, The way she appeared the last time they met and the breakdown was all accounted for.

The story they had told back then was gut-wrenching. The state she was in, The rut she called a bed and one she couldn't get out of.

Though they had told it in such detail both Shinobu and Iguro had agreed afterwards to leave some particular details out. Example being the way in which he died as well as the note.

Mitsuri was also a prime member of the tone, Her bubbly nature was infectious and could reach the heart of basically anyone. Her prescence missing was like a lost limb to the attitude, She was often one of the first that arrived.

They hoped while the master was still absent that she would return, In what state however… They had decided to wait on her, It was only right. While the majority didn't expect much, Shinobu's intuition had been telling her otherwise. A gut feeling proven right once the unnaturally loud sound of sliding shoji door's fed into the room.

A sudden jolt of noise. Everyone's head snapped round in a single motion, All in tandem. It was a noise that broke them all out of their own thoughts and theories to drag their eyes up to Mitsuri standing straight in the doorframe.

"Good morning everyone!" Mitsuri greeted. Wide smile stretching ear to ear to show off her pearly whites. Her eyes contained a bright shine inside of them, Swirling around like fish in a pound with her cheeks flushed with a burning blush.

If the silence wasn't static before it certainly was now, Eyes widening and shock coursing throughout their systems at the sight of her.

Mitsuri by all means was looking better than ever. Her hair was well washed and perfectly tied into her tri-braids, Her skin was as clear as her glassy shamrock eyes. Her uniform tidy and neat with her haori like dove feathers completely spotless.

She looked amazing, Revitalized like the first snow in winter or the blossom of cherries in the spring. Her entire energy radiated like the sun and glowed so bright, And that was why it was so striking. So contrasting to the dowry mood in the room.

"Sorry I'm late! Ah, It's really embarrassing but I had to stop by to get a snack or two. The vendor made it sound so appetising and- Kyah~! I just couldn't resist!" Mitsuri squealed. Fanning her burning cheeks.

She pranced over to an empty seat on the tatami mat, Completely oblivious to the looks and the suffocating air in the room. Mitsuri quickly plopped down onto the seat and sat cross-legged while humming a tiny tune.

The rest of The Hashira sat in a stunned silence. They thought when she arrived, If at all, She would appear washed up. From the recount of Shinobu and Iguro they expected a deep frown, Messy hair and ragged uniform. Even without the tale they expected as such.

But seeing her so.. Upbeat was concerning. The only Hashira in the room not to appear as such was Shinobu, Already aware of the reason yet kept quiet, Believing that it wasn't her story to tell.

"Erm.. Kanroji-san?" Iguro decided to speak up first. His voice hesitant and slow as if she was a ticking explosive, Ready to detonate any moment as he eyed her up and down. Checking for any cracks.

"Yes, Obanai-san?" Mitsuri replied. Pep in her voice as she looked over to him with that same gleam. It was the one she use to wear regular, It was the one she had lost when he saw her last.

"Are you.. Are you okay?" Iguro asked. Kabamaru circled round his neck once and peaked out from behind his choppy mop of hair, Curious and concerned for the girl sitting only a few feet away from them.

Mitsuri's smile grew wider.

"I feel amazing, Oh-" Mitsuri paused, Smile dropping slightly "If this is about last time then I'm really sorry, I shouldn't of spoke to you like that and I am so so sorry!" Mitsuri bowed down low in a near comical motion, Genuine regret bouncing off her tone as she did.

Gyomei's beads rattled, The tears flowing down his cheeks shown his tone once he decided to speak up.

"Kanroji-san.. I do believe that is not what we are worried about here. I understand you and Fujimori-san were close, So your happy voice is a bit.. Jarring." Gyomei spoke in a lamenting tone, His voice was as big as him as he spoke.

"It's a tragedy.. Fujimori-san had planned on retiring and he was killed only a few days before. It makes my heart wretch.. A poor man he was, But strong and respectable.." Gyomei said.

His brows furrowed slightly. Him and [F/N], The tension that they carried felt so faraway now. They never got along, Had opposing views and philosophies. They never agreed on anything yet Gyomei had always held honour and care for his colleagues.

Gyomei regretted his words, The last conversation they had didn't end in a good note. He had tried calling him out on his behaviour towards being a Hashira, Gyomei admits he was rather harsh.

Back then he had gotten in a fight with his former child, Kaigaku. He felt weakness course through him, Gyomei couldn't bring himself to behead the boy even though he knew it was for the best. Choosing to only assist from the side-lines, The shock on knowing what he had become was too much.

His frown deepened. If he only took charge and gave him the merciful kill he would've been able to get back to the shrine and assist [F/N], Maybe then he wouldn't of been killed and that thought ravaged his mind everyday on.

Mitsuri raised her head, Reverting back to her original position. She looked over to Gyomei, She was unaverred along with her smile.

"I'm not sad, Himejima-san. Not anymore. I'm guessing from your reaction that Shinobu-san didn't tell you what really happened" Mitsuri inquired, Situation only catching on now.

"Correct, I didn't think it was my place to say." Shinobu answered for him. Nodding slightly with that ever-present smile only dimming slightly by the mention of the events. Mitsuri nodded back in confirmation.

Sanemi decided to speak, Raising a non-existent eyebrow.

"Events? The hell you talkin' bout." He chimed in, Gruff and semi-aggressive tone finally showing itself in response to the hint of information. The out of line tone he wore seemed to break the suffocation if only a little bit.

"Shinazugawa-san.. Please, This isn't a time to be informal.." Giyuu pipped up though was instantly shot a look at by Sanemi, One that made Giyuu look away. Stoic expression still on his face.

Even though he wanted to, Sanemi didn't speak again.

The silence set in once more and Mitsuri decided to take the chance. It needed to be said, They needed to know what happened.

"..Well, If I'm being honest with you all.. The events back at the shrine didn't go exactly as it did in the report." Mitsuri started. Even though her words were serious they were said with such a light-hearted tone that made them seem so small.

"Why would the report lie..?" Muichiro pondered softly, The first comment he contributed was with dull eyes and a cloudy expression.

"It didn't exactly lie, Most of what happened was true however there were some bits that are wrong due to.. Withheld information." Mitsuri explained, Turning her head over to the young boy.

"Withheld information?" Gyomei inquired, Rattling the beads once more.

"Yeah, The information that I failed to provide was the way [F-.. Right, Should probably clarify first.." Mitsuri cleared her throat, Turning to the rest of the room. Shinobu looked back at Mitsuri, Ready to jump in if needed.

"Before I say the important piece of information.. I need to say that [F/N], The head shrine maiden at the Kakushi base and Fujimori-san are the same person." Mitsuri announced.

Eyes widened, Heads tilted and frowns deepened. The new knowledge being a shock. They wanted to speak, Question the impossible new knowledge. The two looked and acted completely different.

One was jovial and relaxed, Tended to forget his duties as a slayer and was generally unserious. The other was a hard-working associate of the Ubuyashiki family, One that never seemed to crack a smile and kept quiet.

They wanted to question it, But Mitsuri wasn't finished.

"Before you say anything! Please let me finish before you ask questions." Mitsuri butted in. The questions dying at the tongue and kept back by the closing of the jaw. Sanemi and Gyomei were confused, Giyuu and Iguro were curious. Iguro especially since he thought them being the same was the only piece of information she had.

Mitsuri gripped the edge of her skirt.

"The information I wanted to give you was about the way [F/N]-san died. While your report was correct on the part that she was killed by a demon.. The truth is.." Mitsuri trailed off, Taking a deep breath in.

"[F/N] killed herself."

The rattling of beads stopped.

Heads snapped back around. Eyes expanded to that of like saucers and jaws dropped open. Shinobu looked back at Mitsuri and nodded in encouragement as the entire room fell to a dead silence.

The entire reaction was a mixed bag. Sanemi's expression for the first time turned blank, No sign of aggression or emotion.. Just.. Nothing. A rare visage he never wore but now was displayed entirely.

Giyuu's lips parted. Eyelids rising at the last word spoken.

Iguro's calm expression he had before winced slightly.

Gyomei didn't speak, Nor made any motion to move. Though he had been compared before, His likeness to that of a statue now was uncanny. None of his muscles moving an inch.

"Killed.. Herself?" Muichiro muttered. The only indifference he showed now was the slight lowering of his eyebrows and the misty sapphire in his eyes start to part. He spoke as if testing the words on his tongue, A foreign concept, One completely unheard of.

Before Mitsuri could answer, Another voice butted in.

"What are you tryin' to feed me here? First your saying Fujimori-san was [F/N], Then you're telling us that he killed himself?! Bull. Shit!" Sanemi snapped, The baring of his teeth and his slowly rising figure was enough to show that.

"Shinazugawa-san, Please sit down." Shinobu called out as she watched the man get to his feet, Not bothering to look back at her as his eyes were stabbing straight into Mitsuri who didn't falter once.

"Fujimori-san was a rat bastard, I'll give you that. But him killing himself? You've got to be joking. Even if he did for what reason would he even do it? For fucks sake the man did this job for the fun of it. He had no fucking worries at all so why?!" Sanemi snapped.

His anger was unprecedented, It was unexpected too. Of all people she expected him to shrug it off like he usually did, Toss his head to the side and huff as if the act [F/N] did was simply nothing.

Instead he stood as if he was about to throw a punch, A fighting stance bracing for impact at the same time. His teeth were gnarled and his usual eyes that held a crazy look in them seemed tenfold now.

"Shinazugawa-san, Sit down.." Gyomei's voice cut through the rapidly building tension in the room. His voice echoed and was authoritative, Not unlike that of a disappointed father.

Sanemi turned around to face Gyomei, His stance still wide and strong yet it dimmed under the older man's presence.

"Kanroji-san has not finished.. Sit down and we'll discuss this afterwards." Gyomei rumbled. Still in his position, Unwavering and strong.

Sanemi hesitated, Looking at the man once before taking a step back. He turned back once more to Mitsuri before stomping off back to his seat and promptly sitting down, Anger dissipated as his head hung low. Waiting for the next few words.

"Thank you, Himejima-san.." Mitsuri nodded towards him in gratitude. "So, I understand how this can be a bit unbelievable, I know.. I was like that too.."

Mitsuri's hand traced the edge of her thick vanilla haori before snaking inside. Fishing around before reeling back and presenting a folded piece of paper, Raising it up high to display to the entire room. Brows were raised at the piece of paper, Faces contorted into all sorts.

"Kanroji-san.. That's not what I think it is. Right?" Giyuu spoke up, Eyes locked on to the fibre caressed between the girl's fingers. Giyuu was the first to realise, The only one to point it out before she did.

"Yes. This right here is the proof you need, This is [F/N]'s suicide note. Her last words spoken.. Or.. Written down." Mitsuri announced. Determination burned within the clover ocean of her eyes, Shine on the sea's surface glistened like foam.

"A.. A suicide note? Fujimori-san wrote a note.." Muichiro repeated slowly, Seeming contemplating over the words now revealed to them.

He wasn't alone, The entire room's eyes were dead set on Mitsuri. No one made a move to speak. People like Sanemi or Iguro only looked at her like she had three heads. Muichiro, Giyuu and Gyomei's expressions were simply blank and focused while Shinobu just wore her usual smile.

Mitsuri unfolded the paper. The rustling of the flaps coming undone seemed so loud, Ringing like deafening church bells within the confines of the room.

She brought the final piece back down, Levelling it with her eyes. Taking a deep breath, Mitsuri inhaled.

All before her lips parted and she began to speak.

☆♡☆

SLAM!

The back of the patchwork dummy hit the courtyard walls with force that made the old structure shake.

It dropped down to the floor, Bits of stuffing surrounding it once more. Akaza stood only about a metre away, Panting, Out of breath from his non-stop attack. It had been going on for so long that even a demon such as him felt tired, An oddity.

He leaned back up from his hunched position. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and the rest of his body was basically drenched in the stuff, Staining patches into his sleeveless haori.

The warmth of the courtyard contributed to that, The only place with any semblance of heat within this cold hell of a shrine. Despite being a dull and dreary nightmare it was the only place that had any sort of privacy within the infinity castle.

Stalking over slowly to the defeated ragdoll he reached down, Picking it up by its left shoulder and setting it back in place. The ragdoll swivelled around a little before he stepped back to prepare once again, Raising his fists.

To perfect his form, That's why he did this. To crease over any little crack and imperfection in his technique. What position of his hand can make it fly back the furthest? How fast can he throw a punch?

The dummy sufficed to practice on his surface level form. It was an inanimate object in the shape of a person, One that stayed still and let him do as he pleased.

And that's why it was so annoying to him.

Akaza lowered his fists, The expression of fire burning bright and ready to fight died out on his face. It was useless. It didn't matter, This wasn't a human being or a strong Hashira to fight.

Akaza 'tched and turned around away from the thing. A Hashira was strong, Powerful. A Hashira could fight back and read his attacks, They could provide the right information to him, Ways to get stronger. To hone his technique and reach perfection.

He was at a point where he was weaker than both Uppermoon one and two, A fact that made him grit his teeth and clench his fists. But he was way stronger than any of the late moons below him.

He was in the middle, He was average. He was Uppermoon three out of six.

It was a limbo he couldn't escape. One he had tried several times and why he had tried to convince so many Hashira to turn and become a demon. They provided the information, When they fought Akaza could feel himself grow stronger. It was powerful, Invigorating even.

But they never accepted his offer, One to fight and spar forever. To grow stronger together, To climb the ranks and become the strongest of all. It irked him to no end, He didn't understand. Why wouldn't they want to accept?

He had no clue. To him it sounded like an offer of a lifetime, So tantalizingly wonderful and irresistible.

Whatever, He thought. Maybe they weren't so strong after all, He shouldn't waste his time on weaklings.

Akaza started to walk away, Plagiarised confidence from his usual stance as his steps echoed throughout the courtyard. Passing by the centrepiece tree and heading towards one of the exits.

He pushed the doors open and quickly walked through. The dummy was basically useless now, It was old and ruined after years of torture from him. It didn't bring him the same skill that it use to.

The coldness of the shrine halls started to fade in and the warmth from the core of the courtyard faded out. The chill running down his spine and seeping into the fibre of his muscle as he walked.

He huffed. Passing by tapestries depicting dragons of old, Yokai and Kitsune all dancing within the threads. Disgusting, He figured that he shouldn't be here anymore. Maybe if he went out again he could find another Hashira to fight.

One that this time was str-

"Hey."

A voice called out from behind him.

His eyes narrowed in annoyance. Despite the voice only being heard a couple of select times, It was one he recognised.

Akaza cocked his head round to the side, Golden irises and ink stained kanji glaring into the form of the girl. She was leaning up against the doorway he had just left, Only capable of going unnoticed due to her lack of fighting spirit.

"What do you want?" He answered back. His voice like the edge of a cutting blade and piercing into her like one too. Yet it drew no blood, Her expression was stone and it looked like it was enticed by him.

[F/N] pushed herself up from the rickety doorframe and stood in her stance. Arms folded over her chest and her legs planted onto the ground. She had a sort of sly smile playing on the corners of her mouth when she stared at him.

"I've came to speak to you. About the other day and a few more things." She replied casually as if discussing the weather, As if she wasn't in the midst of pandemonium. The place of all demons. Akaza blew air through his nose.

"There's nothing to speak about. You were injured, I only did it because you would've told Upper one about my presence here if I left you there." Akaza responded. Irritated as to why she was here.

"I mean, Maybe. But even so you didn't have to change my bandages, That was something you did on your own." [F/N] said, Taking a few steps towards him as if sizing him up. Akaza rolled his eyes.

"What are you trying to imply here?" He asked, Taking a few steps more in return to her. They were only a few feet apart now, Staring each other down like a western frontier stand-off.

"I'm implying nothing. I'm just saying what you did outright… And thanks, By the way.." [F/N] said, The last part of her sentence was mumbled but Akaza picked it up alright. He scoffed and tossed his head to the side.

"If you're just here to thank me then get lost. I'm busy and I don't have time to talk with the likes of you." Akaza scolded. Swiftly spinning around he began to march away, Quicker than a usual stride or stroll as he wanted to leave immediately.

Staying out of this is for the best. Akaza didn't want to get wrapped up in whatever kind of relationship she was involved in with Kokushibo, She meant bad news and she looked it too. He had better things to do, People to fight, Ways to get stronger.

"Wait, Wait, Wait!" Akaza heard her voice behind him, It seemed a little more desperate and surprised attempt to get him to stay compared to the cocky and tough exterior she sported. It was a crack in her porcelain, Something that made Akaza stop in his tracks.

"What? What do you want, I told you to get lost so beat it." Akaza responded more assertively, Eyebrows furrowing into a scowl as he turned back around to face her. Whose expression was that of a surprised kid.

"Seriously, I don-"

"You hate Kokushibo, Don't you?" [F/N] quickly butted in. Her agape jaw closed and curled up into a sly smile as she watched Akaza's broken glass eyes widen in shock. Bingo, She was correct. Her gut feeling was right.

"..Huh? How did you.." He mumbled half to himself.

"You hate Kokushibo, Right? I mean don't get me wrong, I do too." [F/N] confirmed, A soft chuckle lacing the end of her sentence. Her eyes glimmered under the aquamarine reflections, White sparkles that seemed to look right through Akaza.

[F/N] smiled. Her bet paid off. Before she wasn't quite sure, But she decided to take a risk and say it bluntly and lo and behold, Her bet paid off. For the past few days she had been thinking over her previous interaction with him, Every little moment, Picking up just the little details.

She was ticked off by the way he said his name, That's the catalyst. The way it dripped with venom and burned like a wildfire was something she could feel straight from the tap. Once she realised that she started to piece it together.

The next part that helped was the way he spoke about strength while being Upper three. He valued it more than anything and most of all he trained non-stop while he was here, He wanted to get stronger.

Not to mention the report at the Mugen Train incident. The conversation and description of him provided testament to that. Alone they meant nothing, But together they gave her a key to the lock. Akaza hated Kokushibo.

And that was something [F/N] was going to use to her full advantage.

"Yeah.. I do. He's a prick but so what if I hate the bastard?" Akaza spat out, Nose scrunching up at the mention of him. "What does it mean to you?"

[F/N] hummed a little, Pacing once or twice to the side while thinking over her words. Ones that she had been rehearsing in her head while searching for him, Making sure it was just right as she spoke.

"Well me and you. Let's be honest here, We are absolutely nothing alike for well.. Obvious reasons." [F/N] drawled, Nodding towards his general figure as she took a step towards him.

"But. We both here hate Kokushibo, That's what we have in common. I'm saying that we make a sort of.. Deal." [F/N] stumbled trying to find the right word to call what she was proposing. Akaza gawked at her, Whatever he had been expecting it was not that.

A disbelieving, Mean smile crept up on his face as he shook his head.

"No, Absolutely not. I don't know why you're here but if you were taken by Kokushibo then there must be a good reason for it, I'm not getting involved." Akaza said, Speaking his name with such acidity that she thought wisteria was in the air.

"I told you, I am not getting you out of here. Whatever relation you have to Kokushibo I want absolutely no part of and getting you out of here is off the table, Even being here with you right now is a risk. Besides.. What could you possibly offer me?" Akaza found it pitifully funny as he laughed through his frown.

[F/N]'s small smile dropped, A voice ringing in her head.

Do what you can to survive.

"What can I offer you? How about Kokushibo's head?"

Akaza stilled.

As soon as the words registered in his mind his body went rigid like a wooden board. His frown tightened and froze like water. What? What did she say? His eyes rose to meet hers, Unbelieving and shocked.

"What.. What do you mean?" Akaza asked slowly.

And just like that he had taken the bait. [F/N] felt slightly weighed down under his gaze, At any moment this could go wrong and her chance of escape would be lost. She needed to reel him in slowly, He suspected nothing.

[F/N] shrugs her shoulders.

"I'm his sister, He tells me everything you know. It just so happens that I also know his weakness and if you assist me then I'll gladly tell it to you. It's his Achilles heel, You find it out and he goes down." [F/N] trailed off, Holding back a gag once she referred to herself as his sister.

She was lying through her teeth. A practiced skill she had to learn quickly growing up, One that she never exceled at yet was good enough to get by. [F/N] never liked doing it, Especially when it meant calling herself his sister and the severe consequences that could happen if she was caught.

Akaza's lips parted, Eyes rising along with them as he heard her offer. It was unexpected, How could she have any idea what his so called 'Achilles heel' was? Could she be tricking him? Was this a lie? It was impossible to tell without a fighting spirit.

"How.. But.. You hate him, How could you know that?" Akaza rebutted. He seemed annoyed and unfocused before but now his attention was fully on her, Eyeing her up and down like a voracious hawk and ready to dig in with his claws.

[F/N] half-heartedly snorted.

"Well, Yeah. I hate him but that doesn't mean he hates me, Now does it? He may or may not let it slip during our conversations" She replied with a worn poker face, Staring him straight in the eye to meet the bird-of-prey gaze he returned with.

Akaza's eyes lowered.

"How do I know you're not lying to me.. What reason can you give?" Akaza queried. The question of the century. [F/N] had to calm her breathing like her training had always taught her to, She shallowly breathed in.

"I don't have any reason to give you, Only my word. But if you don't want to know then it's fine, Feel free to go back to the training dummy" [F/N] remarked, Shrugging her shoulders. Once it left her mouth she bit her tongue.

It felt nasty to lie, It was an old habit she had tried to get rid of but it reared its ugly head once more under the threat of eternal confinement. Whatever, She thought. It wasn't as if she could stoop any lower, Besides she needed it to survive.

Akaza scoffed. Half in disbelief and the other at the sheer audacity she had to offer this without any proof of reward to him. He would of insulted her, Told her off for doing such a ballsy move. But as he went to speak he couldn't find the words, None which he wanted to say anyways.

He turned around, A single palm hitting his forehead as he stared up towards the ceiling.

"Then why on earth would I agree to that?!" Akaza exasperated. [F/N] shrugged.

"Because you want to kill Kokushibo" She replied so casually that it caught him off guard. She said it with such disregard, It felt so wrong yet so enticing at the same time to Akaza.

It brought him back to their duel. Kokushibo knocking him down, The fight didn't even last five minutes. Akaza recalled how he had lain there while the executioner stalked up to him, Shadow casting over him as he stared down at his defeated form.

He stood like an emperor over him. Lectured him with a voice that silenced the entire room while his limbs could barely even regenerate. And to top it of he didn't even absorb him, Letting him rot another day.

Akaza hated him. He despised him, Every fibre of his muscles begged to destroy him. Every inch wanted to utterly annihilate him by any means necessary. He was so helpless like an injured animal yet wanted to fight back like a cornered beast.

He wanted to be the strongest, Any means necessary. Which is why his lip shook and his eyes lost focus, Contemplating the words proposed to him.

His mouth opened.

"Still.. Even if I do agree.. If I let you escape there'll be a target on my head, Possibly not even from just Kokushibo anymore.." Akaza replied and he was right. Kokushibo as loyal as he is would not hide away information from that man. If she was here then it was very possible that he was aware and let it happen for some unknown reason.

Letting her escape would be a death sentence.

"I'm not asking you to get me out of here, I'm just asking for your assistance. Just a bit of information and maybe you sneak me in a few items here and there, That's all I ask for and once I escape on my own I'll provide the information." [F/N] explained.

Akaza went silent once her proposition finished. He stood there now looking down at the floor, Arms limp at his sides. Slowly enough however, His fingers started to curl into a fist. Veins popping out from the sheer force as his knuckles cracked.

The only thing he could see was his face appear as a spectre in his mind. He knew what he had to do.

"..That's all?" It came out as a small whisper yet held so much weight that the air around them both shifted.

[F/N] nodded.

"That's all." She confirmed. Her right arm stretched out, It raised from its side and positioned itself in a uncompleted handshake. Her eyes narrowed as the fishing line seemed to tug, A bite she needed to reel in.

Akaza chuckled, A quiet and cruel sound as he shook his head.

"I can't believe I'm doing this.." He muttered. His hand reached out to meet hers, His cold dead fingers grasping onto hers in a now completed handshake. They shook once, Then twice. A firm hold from both sides.

The ceremony had been complete, The deal had been made.

"Ditto. If you told me I was here right now a few months ago.. I'd tell you you're insane." She joked-half heartedly. The warmth of her hand slipping from his icy grip as soon as the deal was finished. Akaza huffed.

"Listen. I don't want to be friends with you nor do I want to spend more time then I need to. I don't want to get personal. We're only here on transactional means, Got it?" Akaza said with his returning composure.

"Oh trust me. I'm not betting on anything happening between us." [F/N] replied. A sort of understanding growing between them, One not built on trust nor was it on respect of any kind. Instead it was mutual gain.

Or mutual for him anyways, [F/N] still had no idea how she was gonna explain it to him.

"So? Did you want any knowledge right now or did you just make some weird pact for future reference?" Akaza asked. But as soon as he did the small smirk on [F/N]'s face stiffened then softened into a frown, One that strangely enough fit perfectly on her.

"..This is a deal. Not a pact." [F/N] stated, Her voice was frosty and colder than their surroundings. Her body growing irrationally rigid at the simple word, Eyes lowering as her shoulders raised. Guard getting back up.

"What? It's just word choice" Akaza responded, Tilting his head to the side only slightly as he eyed her new behaviour up and down.

"Yeah, Well.. It's a deal so I'd rather just use the right terminology. This isn't a pact, Promise, Oath or vow of any kind.." [F/N] trailed off, Eyes wandering to some obscure part of the room. Akaza hummed.

"What do you have against the word 'pact'?" He asked, An off-handed and disinterested question on the surface yet a tinge of curiosity lingered on the implications.

[F/N] huffed.

"I thought you said this wasn't meant to be personal?" She rebutted.

Akaza paused.

"..Touché" He said after a while.

"Well anyways.. I don't need anything right now, However I'll search you out once I do. So.. Keep coming here to train or whatever else you do here, I'll be in touch." [F/N] spoke, Turning around with a flip of her kimono and starting to pace off down the old hallway.

Akaza watched as she went, Listening to the clacks of her sandals and the way she moved like the undead. He didn't need her to have a fighting spirit to tell she was unsure of her actions as she trodden away.

He grimaced, Something she didn't notice as she finally spun round the corner disappearing on sight. He should of been happy, Excited even. A possible way of defeating the person standing in his way to become the strongest.

His elation should of been sky high yet the implications and the dangers of what he got himself into weighed him down. If he got caught then what would happen? Kokushibo from what Akaza heard was attached to her, Assumedly more.. Obsessive than most relations.

Though that was somewhat normal for a demon, Akaza couldn't help but wonder why. He shook his head, If he got caught while doing this then a gut feeling told him he didn't think Kokushibo would spare him this time.

He didn't want to be involved, He really didn't. But now that he was dragged in by the ankles and enticed by the heart he knew that he needed to get serious, Akaza needed a game plan. A way to keep this on the downlow, A way to reap the benefits.

Akaza snorted at the thought. How he was going to do that was up to him and him alone now, All he needed to do was gather items and provide information. That was all.

Akaza groaned and turned around now, Back showing to her empty space as he marched off down the hallway. Contemplating his new situation.

☆♡☆

"To Mitsuri, My dearest friend."

The high-pitched voice of the woman was now dim and serious. The room was completely silent around her as she spoke, The lilt in her voice wasn't sad nor was it anything that fit such a despondent and heart-wrenching situation. It was uncanny as the rest looked out to her.

No one dared to interrupt her announcement of the note. Mitsuri held it out in front of her as she read, All of their faces sombre and dowry under the soft morning light. A stark contrast to the dark and dreary feeling of the room.

"This probably isn't the letter you wanted from me, I know that and I've tried to make it better so it won't hurt as much."

The first verse in the letter. At the end of it the entire room's doubts were stomped down into the ground like an insect. They had questioned the validity of his suicide, Wondered why someone like him.. Or, Her now could do something like this.

Sanemi's lips pressed tight together, Eyes fixed onto the tatami mat below him as his head was hung low. Ears perked up and listening to every little word Mitsuri spoke. Fujimori.. To think he was [F/N] this entire time.

He remembered his actions, The shoves or the way he spoke.. He tried not to remember as he listened on.

"First off this isn't your fault, It's not at all. I've been feeling this way for as long as I can remember and I've tried and tried to find a way to feel something else other than monotony or subservience. Sake and such. but nothing has ever worked for me. Whether I found someone strong enough to kill me or that I finally found the gut's to do it myself. I want you to know I did it I did on my on volition. I chose this, You have nothing to feel bad over."

Nothing to feel bad over, A hope smoking up from a pipe dream. Mitsuri sat there so stoic and as stone faced as she could while the rest of the room was absolutely shocked to their core.

Iguro suddenly recalled back to the times he had insulted [F/N]. The times where he called him "A Sad Excuse of a Hashira" or other descripting words depicting him as lazy or cocky, One's he had said with such hate and ire as he spoke. Those memories bit into him like a viper and left him with a venomous guilt, Festering up like a poison as he remembered.

[F/N] always seemed to shake those words off at the time, Cocked his head and laughed but as they kept coming back to him Iguro wondered how many of his words stuck, How many left an impression.

He never had a good relationship with her. But Iguro wondered that if he hadn't said such things then maybe..

"Life just isn't worth living for me. I remember getting asked a short while ago what my purpose in life was, What my motivation was. It ate away at me for a while trying to find an answer. But In truth I have none except for protect those I hold dearest to me, Yet once I found out that my single motive became obsolete I now realise that what we call a reason to live is also an excellent reason to die."

Gyomei's eyes lowered. His face didn't make any movements but the tears in his eyes flowed down like fountains, The beads he rattled on at were dead still. He recognised what she meant in the letter, She was referencing what he had asked her.

Out in the snow, Gyomei had asked her what her motivation was. He had been harsh and brass only seeing him as lacking in her duties. He saw it as his way of questioning her decision to retire, A way to try and motivate her.

But he heard the words on the paper. The melancholy truth radiating inside him, [F/N] did her job for so long because she wanted to die. To try and find someone that could finally kill her, Her only motivation or point of existence was to end it.

It was heart-breaking, He shouldn't of been so harsh. Whatever motivation she spoke about became nothing but flakes in the blizzard as he listened on.

"I'm living a lie, Everyday I go to work as someone I'm not because of myself. It's pathetic. There isn't any meaning, I'm sorry for saying this but as these are my last words I feel like it's necessary."

Giyuu's lips curled into a deep frown, A bead of cold sweat rolling down the side of his forehead. The words on the note wasn't his but yet it resonated deep within him, He understood her words.

It was the hopeless feeling of impostor syndrome, One he had become so familiar with himself. It was the feeling of a large crowd cheering you on yet you did nothing to please them, A stolen joke told to their amusement.

He understood. The unworthy acclaim, The unjust attention. It was a sentiment he knew well so it only hit harder once she spoke again.

"The truth is its you. You were the only thing that made me feel like I had a family, Like I had my childhood, Like I was a normal person for once in my stupid little life. I adore you, Tsuri. I really do."

Mitsuri tried to hold her face as steady as possible. Her lip never quivered nor did her fingers shake while holding the paper. But even with knowing [F/N] was alive it felt hard to hold back the tears.

Her voice shook for only a second yet she settled it just as quick. She needed to get through the bad before she could speak the good. She decided to skip over a few parts however, Deciding that would be only for her to see.

Breathing in and out she continued.

"Please don't feel sad over me, I don't want that. I love you so so much and I know you probably don't feel the same. I'm sorry you had to put up with me, You deserved a better friend than me."

Muichiro's gaze was as cloudy as ever, Yet the mist that swirled around resembled more of a thunderstorm than it did an overcast day. He was never one to listen or focus at all yet the way his crystal blue focused in on the older woman made it clear he was very well interested.

[F/N], He never paid any attention to her at all. He never sought her out and usually ignored him however there were times they interacted, A head pat or a ruffle of his hair. A compliment on his sword skills or just a simple nod in the hallways.

It made him frown, He wouldn't get those small interactions again. He never felt much of anything but a small singe rose up in his chest. It.. It didn't make him feel good.

"If Shizuko ever finds out the truth, Tell him his big sister is sorry she couldn't be there for him and that I'm so proud of him for becoming a slayer."

Gyomei's eyelids rose, A sharp shock hitting him like a taser.

Shizuko, His Tsuguko.

It didn't make sense. His breath hitched in his lungs as he brought his head around to the focal point of the voice. Shizuko.. He was..?

"-[F/N] Fujimori"

Mitsuri stopped reading.

She took a deep breath in, The final stroke of ink had been spoken.

Mitsuri felt like she hadn't taken a breath in a long time as she lowered the piece of paper to gather the reactions from the room.

Everyone followed her head motion, All staring at her with unreadable expressions as everything that was read had been said. A melancholy and depressive fall, A sad and lonely final note. One that was unexpected entirely.

Shinobu looked over. The second time she had heard the letter's words as a small yet natural frown found its way on her face.

"Alright then.. That's [F/N]'s final note." Mitsuri said, Carefully folding up the paper of which rustles filled the silent void around her. She snaked it back into the pocket inside her haori, Settling her hands back onto her knee's.

"I.. I didn't know.. I.." Sanemi was the first to speak however his voice wasn't focused on anyone. It was a mindless mumble as his brain tried to process the information, Head shaking in disbelief as a small snarl curled up his lips.

"I can't believe it.. He seemed to be doing alright.. I.." Giyuu chimed in subconciously, Lips tightly pressed together as he scowled softly.

"Kanroji-san.. I'm so sorry." Iguro spoke, His mismatched eyes softening with the rush of guilt coming over him. He wasn't apologising to Mitsuri, He was apologising to [F/N]. His eyes shook and started to show bright specks under the daylight.

"I know, Iguro-san. But you don't need to apologise, Besides.. I'm not done with my news." Mitsuri comforted. Such a warm smile rising up on her face and shone like the sun looking at him.

The entire room raised an eyebrow or shaped a lip. Confusion manifesting onto their visage along with their sorrow.

Mitsuri turned back to the sombre room, Smile reappearing and adjusting back to normal as she spoke once more.

"Thankfully because of new information we've found out that while [F/N] meant to.. Die, The truth is that she didn't actually succeed.. The demon that was meant to kill her was infact Uppermoon one" Mitsuri said once more, Smile growing wider.

"[F/N] wasn't killed, Instead she was kidnapped by him. For what reason I have no idea why, I.. I'm still kinda figuring that part out so.." She finished trailing off as the words ran out.

Gyomei shook his head.

"So.. What your saying, Let me get this straight. Fujimori-san is [F/N].. She tried to kill herself.. Failed and then got kidnapped by Uppermoon one himself. Is that what your saying?" Gyomei asked.

"Basically.. yeah." Mitsuri answered with a nervous chuckle as she rubbed the back of her head.

"So.. What are you saying we should do..?" Muichiro inquired softly. Mitsuri bit her lip.

"Right now I'm in the middle of trying to find any leads. I'm.. I'm only having a little bit of trouble but for now I'm just asking for your awareness. If you find anything or if you have any idea of where she is or… Just if you know anything at all please come talk to me." Mitsuri asked.

Her voice grew pleading, A break in her peppy façade that she didn't even bother to conceal anymore. Mitsuri had went back to the shrine ruins, The oh-so familiar village she had grown up in.

The only thing she found was a massacred inn, While it was disturbing and revolting in of its own it didn't have any leads at all. There were no witnesses nor were there any survivors, So her only lead was dead in the water.

"Thank you very much for listening, I-"

Mitsuri was cut off by the sound of a sliding shoji door, Her jaw shut in place. Heads snapped around to the new arrival as they came face to face with Lady Amane and two of her children.

She bowed down, Her children followed suit.

"I apologise for my late arrival.. Master Kagaya will not be attending today's meeting due to his poor health, So I have decided to substitute for him instead.." Amane called out cordially, Raising from her bow to observe the sullen room.

"I am sorry.. But did anything happen while I was away?" Amane asked as she noticed the atmosphere and viewed the faces of the Hashira in front of her.

Gyomei bowed slightly.

"No, Lady Ubuyashiki.. We are fine, But I thank you for your concern.." He called out. Amane looked over, Curiosity bubbling up but decided not to question it. It seemed touchy by the way Gyomei's voice was pronounced more than normal.

"I see.. Well then I suppose its time we start the meeting then, Shall we?" Amane asked. Sitting down on her knees at the head of the room, Her children following in turn to sit beside her.

Mitsuri sighed under her breath as the meeting started. How would she be able to find [F/N]? Knowing demons she could be anywhere, She wasn't even sure if she was alive.

The thought made her want to vomit. No.. Mitsuri couldn't think about it now, She was alive and she needed to save her.. But..

She'd need a lead soon or it would be impossible to find her..

☆♡☆

Walking out of the shrine, Akaza took in a deep breath as he went. The weight of Akaza's footsteps made the dock below him depress with a creak, Almost as if it would break under him. However the rickety structure never gave in, Never shook nor did it sway. It just kept going, Unstable but standing.

The cool sea wind hit his face, His nose filled with the smell of salt and fresh lotus blooming from within the water below him. The rushing gusts of air came from somewhere deep within the black abyss surrounding him, Brushing past his skin with only a cold afterthought.

The sea below him rippled from his footsteps, The marine glowed a soft beryl with only lily pads and sea foliage to block it's light. It was an uncanny sight for the unadjusted, Which was someone Akaza was not as he walked along.

However he stopped. Paused in his tracks and frozen in place, But it wasn't from the cold air nor was it from fear. Instead it was a natural sense, Something he could near smell from a mile away.

Akaza turned around, Looking up towards the tall outside of the shrine.

"Come out, Whoever you are." He called out, Voice frostier than his surroundings as it echoed out into the abyss.

.

..

..

THUMP!

The sound of a body hitting the dock behind him reverberated, Akaza's eyes widened before he jerked his head around to meet the person standing there.

Only a metre away sat a boy in a crouched position, Akaza's lips turned into a snarl of that you'd see on a beast as he recognised the demon before him now.

From the black shaggy haircut and elven ears sticking out to the tigerish markings and slayer corps uniform. His sapphire obi and the hilt and flesh sword, All along with the snivelling little appearance he flaunted, Akaza knew who it was from the meeting.

"Hello, Akaza-dono!" Kaigaku called out. A snide little grin played at his grin and showed his small fangs pointing out, His eyebrows furrowed in a display of mockey. Akaza scoffed, This was a new attitude.

Respect the hierarchy, That's always what his master said. It was obvious he hadn't been listening to his superiors lessons and it made Akaza want to punch the arrogant smirk right off his face.

From what he had seen at the meeting he had always had his tail between his legs, Cowered at anyone superior. Was overall a boot-licker and suck up, It wasn't a respectable nature but it was far apart from the now cocky and egoistic tone he had in his voice.

"Upper six.. What the hell are you doing here?" Akaza spat out, Almost like a viper to a mongoose as he subtly puffed up his chest, Trying to look bigger.

"Bold of you to be asking that when you shouldn't be here at all!" Kaigaku rebutted with a trailing snicker. His weaselly smile growing as his gums were now bared to his superior, Yet he didn't treat him as such now.

Akaza shook his head and took another step forward, Continuing to walk away.

"Whatever.. If you want to keep your head I suggest you shut the hell up, I don't have any issue in severing it.." Akaza said as he walked by, His shoulder roughly brushing up against the younger boys as he went.

Kaigaku snickered as he went by him, Not shaking a single inch at his sentence.

"Take my head off? Not if you want my master to know what you've been up to." Kaigaku said, Head turning around with a predatory glint shining in the electric blue of his eyes.

Akaza froze in place.

"What..?" Akaza growled through gritted teeth. The sudden tension in his muscles creating veins across his body as he jerked his head over to meet Kaigaku's cat-like pupils.

"I've been here this entire time, I know about your conversation with that little human girl. I've known for weeks now and every interaction you've had with her." Kaigaku revealed. The glint in his eyes grew as he watched Akaza's jaw drop.

"You.. You've been here this entire time?!" Akaza yelled. His voice reverberating with his march as he turned back around to charge right over to Kaigaku.

In one swift movement Akaza had a hand around his throat, Kaigaku was extended into the air with his feet dangling a good foot off the ground. Akaza's teeth were bared like a rabid wolf as the grip on him tightened, Yet Kaigaku's grin never faltered a bit.

"Obviously.. My master had ordered me to stay when he wasn't around.. I've been watching your every move.. I don't know what you're doing with that girl but.. If you don't want me to tell number one himself right here.. Right now.. Then I suggest you back off.." Kaigaku choked out.

Akaza looked into his eyes, Searching for something. Some form of doubt or weakness bubbling up from within the pools of his irises. But he came up empty.

Akaza hissed and dropped Kaigaku to the ground in a single move.

The younger boy hit the ground with a thud and broke into a few short wheezes on the dock. Akaza looked down at him with a scrutinizing glare, Angry and alarmed.

Kaigaku knew. Akaza hadn't sensed him, He didn't know how. Was he too focused on his training or was he caught up with mystery of [F/N] to pick up on his spirit? How long had he been spying on him, Sneaking around from the rooftops and prowling about the dark corners to pick up information?

"Speak, How much does he know?" Akaza demanded, The shadow cast over Kaigaku meant nothing to the boy. Propping himself up with a single hand Kaigaku steadied himself on the floor.

"Nothing. But I don't know, How much are you willing to keep it that way?" Kaigaku asked, Mocking him with a cocking of his head to the side and a pout that made Akaza feel like a joke.

"What do you want?" Akaza asked through grinding teeth and a clenched fist, His nose scrunched up in disgust as he looked down at the boy.

Kaigaku used the hand he propped up to push himself up, On his knees he stood up to meet Akaza's eyes. He was only an inch away, Nose jabbing into his face.

"I want absolutely nothing.. I just like to see the look on your face when it's me looking down on you for once.." Kaigaku whispered. An small exhale that danced through the rushing winds around them and make Akaza want to scream.

"When have I ever looked down on you, I don't even care nor do I actually talk to you. But when I do I show you the respect when needed, So how the hell am I looking down on you?" Akaza hissed lowly as he peered into his eyes, Both locked in a staring contest together.

Kaigaku scoffed.

"Oh, Let me rephrase… I just like to see the look on you high and mighties when it's me looking down on you all for once. Just because you give me the 'basic respect' when 'needed' doesn't mean you actually mean it." Kaigaku started with a sneer.

"I know how it actually is.. Your type just loves to look down on the likes of me. People like you just don't know what it's like to get off your high horse and see the real world for once.. I just want to see my control over you, To make you feel how I feel.." Kaigaku whispered, Face only a few inches away from Akaza.

Akaza slowly shook his head to and fro. He was in complete disbelief at his audacity, His boldness to even attempt to pull a stunt like this. Akaza wanted to argue, He wanted to crush his skull between his palm and remind him of their differing strength levels.

But he couldn't. Akaza was well aware that him and Kokushibo shared a sort of telepathic link due to the way Kaigaku was initiated. Akaza knew that if Kaigaku so pleased he could tell Kokushibo what he had been up to right here and right now.

Akaza knew Kokushibo wouldn't be as merciful, Why he had such an interest and a complicated relationship with the girl he referred to as his sister. But he knew it wouldn't end well.

"If you feel that way then why do you still suck up to Upper one? Is it because you don't have sufficient blackmail or are you just afraid of getting killed?" Akaza jabbed. A passive aggressive taunt that leaned in on the latter as he took a step back.

Kaigaku shook his head.

"Don't you dare compare yourself to him. My master knows my worth, He sees potential in me and doesn't look down on me like the rest of you." Kaigaku replied. Akaza gawked at him.

"Then if you like him so much why aren't you telling him any of this? I don't see why you haven't.." Akaza questioned.

"Well I haven't told him yet, Doesn't mean I won't. I will eventually, I just want to enjoy it.." Kaigaku replied casually as he started to pace dramatically back and forth along the dock, Emphasising the moment and soaking it in.

Akaza 'tched. He kept up his strong exterior on the outside but inside he felt a cold chill run down him, A freezing panic that made questions rush through him. How was he going to deal with this?

First it was the deal with [F/N]. Second it was Kaigaku, The unknown countdown ticking away above his head loomed over him. Akaza didn't want to be involved, So how did he end up waist deep in this mess?

"You've always been such a weaselly boy, You know that right?" Akaza spat, Scowling at the boy in a well conceded defeat. Though, Akaza didn't quite expect the chill that rose up Kaigaku's spine at the words.

"..Really? Do you want me to tell him?" Kaigaku taunted to which Akaza instantly shut his mouth in response, Not wanting to urge him on.

Kaigaku grinned.

"That's what I thought! Not looking so mighty now are you?" Kaigaku taunted as he started to walk past Akaza, Back towards the shrine to where he came from. He had a swagger in his step as, A kick as he walked by that looked like he owned where he stood on.

"Hold on. I want to you to answer one thing before you go." Akaza ordered. A tone in his voice that made Kaigaku stop and leisurely toss his head to the side to meet his, An arrogant yet curious glint as he waited for his question.

"What the hell does Kokushibo even want with the girl? Does he seriously think a human woman is his sister?" Akaza inquired as if it was just a casual question but the curiosity below shined more than the spark in his eyes.

Kaigaku paused to contemplate then looked back at him.

"I don't know, I'm not allowed to speak to her or anything. Just said that she's his sister and to keep her tracked and reported on. Doesn't matter though, He must have a reason the likes of you just can't grasp." Kaigaku stabbed once more, Shrugging before turning back around and continuing to walk.

Akaza didn't question any more, Just watched as the boy leaped back up onto the roof of the shrine and start to scale up its towering walls, All the way to the top until he was only a small splotch in his vision.

Once he finally disappeared Akaza yelled, Raising his fist and punching a hole through an unlit lantern lining the dock.

It shattered as soon as it made contact with his fist, Bits of bark and splinter flew of and landed into the water below as he breathed in and out.

Akaza's breath was laboured as he watched the destroyed lantern's parts float away in the ever changing waves of the water, Teeth bared at it as he imagined Kaigaku in its place. That brat, How could he dare do something like that to his superior.

Akaza was never one for the Hierarchy, It's only use was a measure of strength. Only that and the recognition from his master. But Akaza couldn't deny it made his blood boil and burn at the sheer disrespect from the younger kid.

At least he could confirm that [F/N]'s 'sibling story' was the truth though, But the added threat of Kaigaku made the scales tip and the future ahead seem as murky as the void surrounding him.

He turned back around and marched off down the docks. He decided to go train to metaphorically sleep on it, Get his mind cleared and think this over carefully. It was tricky waters he was steering in and he needed to plan this out.

Akaza sighed, How the hell was he going to figure this out?

☆♡☆

The warmer afternoon sunlight flooded the outskirts of the Ubuyashiki estate's garden, Giving the abundance of plants and floral life just the right amount of nourishment to flourish as much as they were.

Birds sung from within their nests, It was a nice change from the screaming silence and the tense remarks spoke from within the house. As much as she loved her co-workers, Mitsuri was happy she had gotten out of there.

She pranced down the stone pathway, A skip in her step as she went.

The meeting had finally ended with the words of Lady Amane slipping away from her, Much more pressing thoughts prodding away at her.

The letter was tucked comfortably within her haori, Reading it out loud was more difficult than she had been expecting. Mitsuri thought she could deal with it, The weeks she had been mourning she had read it over and over non-stop. Committing it to memory.

Even so her breath shook the entire time, Even then she couldn't stop the inevitable turn in her stomach. It wasn't as bad as the first or the next few hundred that came after it though, That she was glad for.

Mitsuri knew once she finally found [F/N] and got her out of whatever hell she was suffering through that they would need to have a talk, Mitsuri knew that they'd need to figure it out and she was more than willing to do so.

Though how she would even get to her in the first place was a complete mystery. When she found the massacred inn and the bodies strewn about the place she had hoped that this would be the lead that set her on her trail.

But as dreaded it came up as a bust, Mitsuri had no more ideas or clues to set her down her path. A small frown appeared on her face, One that looked unfitting of a woman like her. Every second with [F/N] gone the chances increase of not finding her, And that ached hard.

Mitsuri was on the clock, She had no time to waste or spend doing what she loved. The hot springs, Late night feasts and cooking the food she loved so much. Mitsuri would need to set it aside for now.

Skipping along the trail the pep she had started to dim, But it was instantly brought back by with artificially made effort. Mitsuri held her head high with her smile widening more, She needed to look on the positive side, Stay optimistic and hopefully everything will be fine.

"Kanroji-san.."

A voice called out from behind her, A deep and sorrowful voice she recognised as she turned around to meet him.

"Himejima-san! Great to see you, I loved your input on the meeting today!" Mitsuri squealed. An over-the-top greeting she kept up along with her smile as she greeted the behemoth of a man standing only a metre away from her on the path.

"Thank you.. It is always nice to communicate with such enthusiasm.." Gyomei replied. Hands pressed together with tears streaming down his cheeks he nodded respectfully towards her general direction.

"Did you need anything? I was about to go back to the shrine ruins for another search around if you want to come with." Mitsuri offered, Tilting her head to the side as her signature blush formed on her cheeks.

Gyomei hummed.

"Unfortunately I cannot as I have been summoned on a mission.. However I have put that aside for now as I wish to have a word with you.." He said, Stepping forward only a single foot.

"Oh.. I'm guessing it's about the letter earlier then!" Mitsuri laughed nervously, Rubbing the back of her head with a sheepish smile plastered onto her face. "I'm sorry if it came off a little too harsh, I really need to know how to hold my tongue!"

"It's fine.. I believe you said it very well.. It shed a lot of light on unknown truths which if I am being honest baffle me to this very moment but.. I have came here about a few specific things actually.. Mostly about the contents of the letter.." Gyomei explained as he rattled his beads.

Mitsuri quirked her lips, Only for a second. She had a feeling this was going to happen, Maybe it was best if she hadn't said that last line, But there was no taking it back and she supposed Gyomei had a right to know.

"Alright then! Feel free to ask away, I don't mind." Mitsuri agreed.

"Thank you, Kanroji-san.." Gyomei nodded in appreciation. "First of all I would like to ask about the last part of the letter.. There was a certain line that involved one of my Tsuguko.. Shizuko Himejima.. I would like to inquire about that."

Mitsuri sighed, There it is. Even though she knew it was coming, Mitsuri had no proper idea on how to say it to him. But she tried anyway, He deserved to know.

"Right.. So, Yeah.. You heard right. [F/N] and Shizuko-san are both related, [F/N] is his older sister. I.. She wanted it to be kept a secret. Only me and her actually knew, Shizuko has no idea.." Mitsuri explained with a noticeable dip in her attitude, Frown becoming prominent again.

Gyomei's eyebrows knitted together. It didn't make sense. He had known Shizuko since he was a toddler, When he stumbled in his walk and babbled in-between sentences. The timeline was knotted and it puzzled him to no degree.

"I understand. If I may ask then why had it been kept from him as well as me, I have known the child since before I had became a slayer and I am a bit confused as to why he had been with me and not her.." Gyomei inquired.

Mitsuri inhaled, Humming a bit as she thought over her words.

"Well.. I don't want to say much, It's [F/N]'s story and I don't want to tell it for her but.. Shizuko means a lot to her. [F/N] made the choice to keep her and Shizuko apart and for her own reasons wanted to keep it that way." Mitsuri started.

"They didn't have the best living situation growing up, I don't know much about it because that was before I met her at all. I only know bits and pieces but what she told me is that she did it for his own good, What that means I don't know." Mitsuri finished.

Mitsuri sighed. She wished she knew more herself, Even though [F/N] and her had been friends for most of their lives she didn't know what happened before their friendship. Before [F/N] had a roof over her head and had her younger brother with her.

She never wanted to pressure her for more information though, It only came out in late night drinking sessions and off-handed comments. Mitsuri only had a half-finished puzzle of the events.

"I.. I see." Gyomei muttered under his breath. "I've known the boy since he came into my temple as an orphan.. I've raised him for years now. If I knew about the situation.." He trailed off, His voice turning into that of a whisper.

Gyomei remembered it well. The day the boy had been dropped off at the doorstep of the temple he resided in. Gyomei had taken him in and brought him up along with the other orphans he considered family, Remembered him being such a happy child.

It made sense now. Shizuko back then had always been a high-spirited child, Had always had something to say and had talked on about an older sister. Gyomei at the time had brushed it off, His younger self believing that she had abandoned him similar to some of the other kids.

However Gyomei had near-forgotten about it now. Probably because of what happened to him during the accident, Shizuko didn't speak much after that. His spirits lowering and the smile he wore cringing into a permanent frown, A shocked expression with a wide eyed scowl.

He never did speak about back then nowadays, Probably because he had forgotten entirely. It was a shame, Yet now that Gyomei remembered everything suddenly became much more clear yet so murky at the same time.

Mitsuri shook her head.

"Please.. Himejima-san. I'm begging you to not tell him, At least not until the time is right." Mitsuri pleaded, Her tone dripping with a sincerity and only the purest of intentions as she spoke to him. Gyomei paused, Pondering over her words and considering them with great care.

"Alright then.. But keeping lies is against my morals and good conscious, If he does ask about anything pertaining to this then I will not lie to him.. And I do hope you tell him in due time, Kanroji-san" Gyomei agreed, Nodding once.

Mitsuri sighed in relief. Her body relaxing with her shoulders as the smile reappeared on her face, A tiny relaxed grin.

"Thank you, Himejima-san! You don't know how much this means to me, To [F/N] too.." Mitsuri said full of gratitude as she thanked him. It went better than she thought and Gyomei would keep his mouth shut for the most part, That was good for her.

Gyomei nodded

"And yes.. To [F/N]. While I am unable to help out the majority of the time I am deeply remorseful for the way I have spoken to her.. Not just me but the rest of the Hashira too. In my spare time I will try to find leads of my own.. And if you at all come across anything then I ask that you inform me first to help, It is the least I can do.." Gyomei said.

His voice was full of apology, More so than usual. It was a deep reverberating sort of regret that was rare to find and it just made it all the more impactful to Mitsuri as she nodded, Trying to hold back the tears forming in her eyes.

"Thank you so much.. I.. If I find anything at all I'll let you know, It means a lot for you to say that and I hope that the rest of our friends truly do feel that way too." Mitsuri bowed in a deep respect, Low and cordial before him as she grinned ear to ear in a melancholy joy.

"It is of no issue.. I continue to pray for [F/N]'s good health and for your success in finding her. Good luck, Kanroji-san.." Gyomei bowed back, His senses telling him to do so as he lifted back up and turned away.

"Goodbye, Himejima-san!" Mitsuri called out to him as he walked off along the stone pathway.

And once he left entirely she was left alone to the sunlight shower in the garden, Alone with the insects and birds and the rustling of leaves. The warmth sinking into her skin and the soft breeze flowing through the watermelon drizzle in her hair.

It was almost enough to dry her tears, Though for once in weeks they weren't of sadness but instead of a ruminating joy. Her heart sung in happiness and her eyes filled with such a blossoming light that it could rival the sun itself.

There was hope, There was a unity and harmony between her and the rest of her colleagues. Both Shinobu and now Gyomei were both on her side, The rest were now aware of what happened.

It was difficult to say but she got over it. Throughout the heavy rainstorm it was hard to see but once the clouds cleared was nice at the end of the rainbow, There was hope and something she could hold onto like her mothers hand.

Turning around she began her skip down the rocky pathway once more. Mitsuri hummed a happy tune as she went and her blush bloomed brighter than the orchids and petunias that blossomed within the shrubbery.

Mitsuri made sure to hold on tight, To never let go and keep it close to her. She'd find [F/N], She knew she would.

It was only a matter of time until a lead would rear it's head.

It was only a matter of time until Mitsuri reunited with [F/N] once again.

Next Chapter

[silversiren1101]

👕 for cascade or jubilee? 🥺👉👈

For... Cascade! Minovae's eyes light with something between awe and nervousness. Cascade is so utterly gorgeous and her style... Mino presses her fingers together and begins to think. Maybe she'd like to go dancing together?? Mino is highly trained and experienced in Taldan Tango and other partner dances and there's a showcase coming up soon... would Cascade enjoy the honor of being her dance partner? She hasn't had anyone to seriously dance with her in... well decades! Aside from Woljif who she pretty much press-ganged into being her dance partner at the victory gala since she forced him to learn the moves as a training exercise.

Top: The first thing Mino notices is the color motif: the gold and black and white with red shawl. Hmmm... not Mino's typical color scheme but she can work with it! They'll have an opposite's attract kind of vibe for their paired entry. For this, she's going to go with a little bit of a swap on primary colors, bringing red to the forefront to counter her own paler and greener natural colors. For that, this deep crimson halter dress is absolutely gorgeous! The shimmer and shine on it will look great with all the jewelry she knows Cascade loves, and is what she would call 'tastefully' revealing. It calls to mind Cascade's usual red shawl but in primary, and the free-flowing hem will look great in the spins. There's a subtle floral motif that she'll carry into other parts of the look, too [and don't mind the silver, Mino will swap it for gold].

Bottoms: The dress is a bit short cut, though, so Mino also slides forth these shorts to wear beneath! They keep up Cascade's black and gold preference, and will create a fun peek-a-boo effect. They'll keep Cascade comfortable and should be plenty capable of keeping up during the dance :)

Shoes:  Right, the 'shoe' situation. Hrmm hrmm hrmm, Mino hasn't had to work with hooves before. She trusts Cascade to supply all the jewelry she has but doesn't want to go with just that... so how about these 'barefoot sandals' in gold color? They continue the floral motif and will look so fun between the hem of the shorts and Cascade's hooves! They're delicate looking yet sturdy enough that they won't need to worry about pieces flying off or getting damaged, too. Mino will make sure they're probably fitted to hooves!

Hair/Hat: What's that? A little bit of green in your wardrobe, Cascade? Well what a perfect color to round out the crimson and gold and also tie back into Mino's own outfit and colors she'll be wearing! It's tough to pick something that wont interfere with Cascade's pretty horns (why would we ever want to hide those!), so for her hair, Mino'll help tie up those pretty black tresses into this gold and emerald piece with vine and floral motifs! She'll leave some flyaways to to accentuate the spins, but not enough to get into Cascade's eyes, and this will pull everything back to really show off how pretty those horns are.

Other Accessories: So. Many. Accessories.... Rather than a free-flowing shawl (that could get lost in the dance!) Mino is supplying this golden lace shawl instead that fits more like a bolero top! The deep golden hue is so, SO pretty and will look gorgeous with Cascade's own natural tones. It won't be at risk of flying off and the front clasp can be adjusted with any piece of jewelry from Cascade's own (impressive) personal collection. NOW! That being said, Mino has picked out a few suggestions! She wants to continue the emerald compliment color with these various pieces: a chain circlet similar to what she's seen Cascade rock before but not as in her face and possibly a distraction; these thick cloth emerald and gold bangles and bands (love a solid block of color!); these bracelet and ring combo with chain across the hands (a classic look for her); and lastly these gold floral ear cuffs (modified for tiefling ears!) that'll pair well with the hair piece. Mino of course encourages Cascade to supplement whatever jewelry she wishes! She knows she is but an amateur in comparison >flushed<

[sketchingafairy]

She's a big girl, can tie her own sandals and everything.

[honored-by-my-lateness]

"I'm a big, tough girl. I can tie my own sandals and everything." Bonita joked, quoting Hercules (unfortunately, a rather apt comparison at the moment). "I do, however, need you to hold this." She said, handing him her Sundae before climbing up and sitting next to him, the side of her body brushing the side of his as she took her Sundae back. "Thank you." She scooped more of the ice cream, putting the spoonful in her mouth.

"Right right," Kendall nodded, holding Bonita's sundae as she climbed onto the hood of his car. "So you want to come on the stream on Saturday? It's the day that usually gets the most viewers."

[hiromimylove]

lol. ok but i was hoping you'd be talking about the pranking lmao but yes! I haven't found many but stories where the boys are acting over protective and scaring away her dates are some of my favorites. though i also like the idea of them not realizing how intimidating they are to her potential suitors. i say that the rumors of what they do get wilder and wilder (like a game of telephone)

The idea of Hilary complaining that no one wants to date her and the boys genuinely having no clue that they’re super intimidating and there’s so many rumors about the measures they’ll take to keep her safe even though most of them aren’t true and the ones that are true are greatly exaggerated? And that anyone who even looks twice in her direction is immediately terrified because her closest friends include two (2) martial arts experts, two (2) rich boys (max counts right, because of judy?), a tech genius, and a hyperactive child who has problems with authority?

Hilarious.

[murios]

@depthswept    said   :     ❝ don’t you know who i am? ❞   ( x )                      ------   hades  &  megara

THIS  IS  THE  KIND  OF  QUESTION   that’s  met  with  a  dramatic  roll  of  her  eyes,   a  quiet  scoff,   and  the  sort  of  bracing  one  would  need  to  prepare  for  what  comes  next.   it’s  the  kind  of  thing  that  often  spoken  with  a  self-importance  unbecoming  of  anyone,   and  she’s  not  super  thrilled  to  have  to  answer.   but   ------he’s   awaiting  an  answer  anyway,   so  meg  leans  back,  sighs  dramatically,   and  lets  her  shoulders  rise  and  fall  in  an  exaggerated  shrug.

          ❛  why  do  i  get  the  impression  that  you’re  about  to  tell  me   ---   ❜     brows  inch  higher  on  her  forehead,   and  she’s  still  avoiding  his  gaze,  taking  in  everything  else  around  them.     ❛  ---   whether  i  want  to  hear  it  or  not.  ❜

[scuttling]

I said I love you, that's forever

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Female Reader Word Count: 5,619 Tags: 18+, NSFW, Dad Bod Hotch, Unprotected sex, Oral sex, Fingering, Reader gets drunk, Brief mention of canon-typical violence Summary: This one is sexy, sweet, and fluffy and features Aaron getting used to his new, healthier body. Inspired by @sleepyreaderreads and this ask. Collection: Just The Way You Are Series, Part 1 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (Coming Soon!) Part 4 Link to A03 or read below! Being home when Aaron gets home is the best part of having a flexible work arrangement, you have to admit. You’ve been together for five years, but only living together for four months—for one reason or another, mainly his job, it took you a while to reach the cohabitation phase, but neither of you had minded much. You were always spending time together when he was free, and you enjoyed having your own space, so the arrangement worked out for the both of you.

Now, though, as he walks into your home office looking so handsome in a white shirt, black slacks, and burgundy tie, a soft smile on his face, you know without a doubt that you made the right choice by moving in with him. You wouldn’t give this up for anything.

“Hi. How was your day?” he asks, leaning over you for a kiss. He intends to make it quick, but you put your hands on his body, lengthen the kiss, hum against his lips.

“Hmm. It was good. Better now, though.” You hit the keys necessary to lock your desktop and stand, stretch to wrap your arms around his neck. “How was yours?”

“Not bad.” He says it casually, but you can see the stress in the lines around his eyes, his mouth, and you raise a brow in question. “The unit’s being audited. A percentage of our consultations need to be reviewed, updated psychological evaluations completed—on top of everything else, it’s a lot,” he admits with a sigh, and you nod your understanding, brush your fingers through his hair.

“I’ll call Elena and cancel dinner.” You’d planned weeks ago to go out with one of your friends for Indian food, to meet her new boyfriend, but Aaron is clearly having a rough week and it’s only Wednesday. A quiet night in may be just what he needs. “We’ll stay home, I’ll order takeout. We can relax.”

“No, no. I know you’ve been looking forward to this; it’s really alright.” You tilt your head, something of a frown, and he takes your face in his hands, kisses you twice on the mouth. “It’s alright. I want to go out. I want to take you out,” he says, voice low, pulling you in for a slower kiss, and you melt against him, slide your arms around his back instead, pull him closer.

“I want to keep you in,” you murmur when the kiss breaks, and he raises the corner of his mouth in a sexy smile, presses his lips to your nose.

“And miss meeting the one?” You both laugh lightly, because Elena finds the one every couple of months, but she’s a hopeless romantic, always means it at first. It’s endearing, especially when you and Aaron feel a little like an old married couple. “Let’s go out, have a good time. If we stay home, I’ll be tempted to work.” He takes a step back, lets you head out the door and down the hall to your bedroom, so you can get changed; he follows behind, sits down on the bed while you go through your closet.

“I’m sure I could find ways to tempt you not to work,” you say, pushing dresses down the rack until you find one you like: it’s an emerald green mid-length dress, with cap sleeves and a slit up the front, not too formal and not too sexy, perfect for the restaurant where you will be eating.

You pull your t-shirt over your head, bend to slide your leggings off, and Aaron makes a soft noise in the back of his throat.

“Consider me tempted.” You turn around, roll your eyes playfully, and put on the dress, sit down next to him to slip your feet into a pair of nude sandals; you lean in for a kiss, palm pressed to his chest, and it quickly becomes something deep, passionate. Aaron brings a hand to rest against your throat, and you have half a mind to take the dress back off and cancel those plans after all, but you know he wouldn’t let you do that anyway.

You pull back, bite your lip, and give him a very pointed once-over, then stand to finish getting ready. You can feel his eyes on you the entire time. “I’m just saying, he should be on the side of a tub of protein powder or something,” Aaron says later as he unlocks the front door, letting you step in before him. “His arms are bigger than his head.”

“He’s a personal trainer, baby. It’s his job to work out and look buff—he’s like a walking billboard for his business.” You slip your shoes off, hook the straps around your finger, and stroll toward the bedroom. “Elena really seemed to like him.”

“I give them three months.” He’s just a few feet behind you when you turn to shoot him a slightly admonishing look, even if he is probably right. “She seemed more focused on his twelve pack than anything else.”

You toss your phone onto the bed, remove your dress with a soft laugh. “Their relationship is still new; it’s all about the physical. You remember when we were like that, don’t you?” You aren’t exactly surprised when he comes up behind you and glides his hand across your bare stomach, when he brushes your hair away from your neck and kisses you there.

“We were never like that. It was never just physical for me,” he breathes into your ear, and you close your eyes, sink back against him, tilt your neck for more kisses. “I loved you before I loved you. I always just knew.”

“Fuck, Aaron,” you sigh, and you lay your arm along the one on your stomach, reach back with the other to press him closer to you. You lick your lips, turn your head so your face is near his, and he leans in to kiss you and slides his hand into your panties, rubs his fingers over your pussy.

You’re already a little wet from his hands on you, his mouth, but as always, he turns you on effortlessly; your face heats, your heart races, your breath quickens. Your pussy becomes almost unbearably slick, your moans against his lips gentle and pleading, and he removes his hand and slides your underwear down, guides you onto the bed.

You watch, panting, as he removes his tie, then takes off his belt, his pants; you can’t go without touching him for long, and you move to sit up so you can reach for him, pull him closer. You work at the buttons of his shirt from the bottom while he starts at the top, and you take it off together, then slip your hands into his boxers and push them down.

You immediately want to take him into your mouth, thick and hard as he is, and you slide your hands up his stomach, beneath his undershirt, in anticipation of that; you don’t get very far before he lays you back on the bed again, on your side this time. His forcefulness makes you ache to have him inside you, and he crowds in behind you, slides an arm beneath you and wraps his hand around you, over your breast, holding you tightly. You tip your head back, whimper, because he’s going to be so good to you as always and the waiting is almost too much to bear.

“You know I’ve got you,” he whispers, squeezing you, and you nod in response; he lifts your leg and hooks it back over his thigh, then pushes inside you, sinks fully into your wet heat. You exhale, a sigh of pleasure, and he mouths at your jaw, nibbles at your ear while he thrusts slowly but completely. “Hmm. This may not be new, but you’re always perfect for me. Doesn’t that feel so good?”

“So good, so good.” It’s difficult for you to really move in this position, though you rock your hips almost involuntarily into his thrusts, but he takes care of you, nips at the back of your neck, pounds inside you, brings you so close so quickly you almost forget to breathe. Your hands are on him anywhere you can reach, desperate for contact. “Aaron, mmm, god.”

“I know, baby.”

He puts his free hand behind your knee, bends your leg, folds it up by your chest so he can pump his cock faster, harder, and you feel surrounded by him—his hands on your body, his hot grunts of effort in your ear, the faint smell of cologne that lingers after a long day familiar to your nose. You're a little overwhelmed by it all, but pleasantly so, and when he comes you come, clenching tightly around him as he spills deep.

“Perfect,” he whispers tensely, nuzzling against your throat, and he slides out, brings your leg down, runs his hands tenderly over your body like you’re something delicate. “I love you.” You turn your head toward him, say it back, and he presses his palm to your cheek, treats you to a deep, wet kiss, then brushes his thumb over your lips. “Every time I kiss you, it feels like the first time.”

“For me too,” you say with a tired smile, running your fingers through his hair, and he kisses you again before patting your hip and telling you to go get cleaned up, that he’ll take care of the bedding. When you come back, he’s in his boxers and t-shirt, legs tucked under a fresh comforter, and you slide in next to him and curl up beneath his arm. It’s a couple weeks later when you decide to bring Aaron lunch at the office; things seem much calmer lately, but the team’s cases have been back to back, and he’s been out of town a lot. You have to take the opportunity when you can, and that means showing up with a bag of Mexican food and a smile and hoping he’s not too busy to eat with you.

You get checked into the building and head for the BAU bullpen, stopping to chat with the team for a few minutes. You loosely plan for dinner or drinks in the future, make a promise to pop in and see Penelope before you leave, and then head up to Aaron’s office, knock lightly on the doorframe.

“Hungry, handsome?” Aaron looks up from his stack of paperwork with a smile, then slowly runs his eyes over you—you’re wearing a sweater, jeans, boots, nothing revealing in the slightest, but he makes you feel very warm and very naked nonetheless.

“Yes. For lunch, too,” he says, and you roll your eyes, a little bashful, and enter his office, setting down the bag of food you brought after he clears space on the desk. He stands, pulls you close for a hug and kiss, and then you unpack lunch, spread containers out over the desk. “Burritos? Are you trying to beef me up?” he asks, and you look up at him, lift your brow.

“Were you expecting salads? I’m feeding a super special FBI agent here, you need your strength.”

“We’ve only been living together for five months and it’s already getting hard to button my pants,” he grumbles, but he peels back the foil on the one labeled pollo asado without further complaint, takes the hot sauce when you hand it to him.

“So we’ll go up a size. It’s a good thing you’re not living off of coffee and vending machine protein bars anymore. You’ve been needing someone to feed you up for a while—and besides, I don’t mind if your pants are unbuttoned,” you say, licking sauce off of your thumb. “Nothing hotter than a well-fed Fed.” He rolls his eyes, and you sit down to eat.

When the hour is up, you pack up the leftovers, give him a longer, slower kiss goodbye, and pat his stomach, which makes him groan. “Any harder and the button might pop,” he jokes, and you laugh, shake your head.

“Don’t be dramatic. I love this tummy. Might even grab onto it later, you know?” You slowly wet your lips, then smile, and take a step back, take the paper bag and head out the door. “See you tonight, love you.”

“Devil woman,” he calls after you, and you grin the whole way to Penelope’s office.

“Light in the darkness,” she says when she opens the door to find you on the other side. “How did god know I needed to see an angel today?”

“Oh, I don’t know about all that, but I have some extra chips and guac from lunch if you need a pick me up.” She eagerly accepts your offering, and you take a seat next to her, dip a couple of chips half-heartedly, still full from your burrito. “So how have you been? Busy supporting the cutest group of crime fighters since Scooby Doo?” She laughs, nods her head.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the extent of it. When it rains creepy crimes, it pours, apparently. I think we’re all in desperate need of a vacation at this point—and a puppy.” She hits a few keys, pulls up a screensaver that is just a compilation of fluffy puppy photos, and you both sigh.

“Aw, a puppy would be nice. I don’t even dream about vacations anymore; I’ve come to terms with the fact that Aaron will never be the vacationing type.”

“Not even the honeymoon type?” she asks, looking at you over her glasses, and you crunch on a chip, shake your head.

“I doubt it, and we’re not there yet, anyway. I’d consider myself lucky if he took more than two days off in a row.”

“He’s always been like that—working himself too hard,” she says sadly, as if to let you know it has nothing to do with you. You know that, but can’t deny it would be nice to have more than the weekend with him. “As long as I’ve known him, at least.”

“And I get it: what you guys do is important, and I wouldn’t want him to change himself for me. I guess we all just have our things.” You smile, and she does too, reaches out to pat you on the arm.

“Could be worse, honey. Could always be worse.” She hits a few keys on the keyboard again, and up pops a man’s mugshot. “This guy’s girlfriend had to find out he’s been killing women and chopping them up in an industrial food processor.”

You’re glad you already had lunch, because the imagery is enough to make you lose your appetite for several hours.

Your stomach eventually comes around, and you and Aaron have a quiet dinner—chicken, potatoes, and “a salad, since you’re watching your figure now” you tease—and then you ask if he’d be okay with calling it a night a little early. He agrees, and you take him to bed and undress, then slowly pull off all his clothes, running your hands over his body as you go.

“So big and strong,” you murmur as you brush your palms over his shoulders, press your lips to his bare chest. “Unbearably sexy.”

“Used to be stronger,” he sighs as you trail your mouth lower, sink to your knees, smooth your hands down his thighs.

“I used to be perkier; still want me, don’t you?” You look up at him, wink, and he reaches down to cup your cheek with a big hand; you nuzzle into it, happy, content, just like always.

“I’ll always want you.”

“Good. And I’ll always want you.” Just in case the words aren’t enough, you bring your hands to his stomach, massage it a little, run your tongue slowly over the length of his cock. “Mmm. Lay down for me?”

He does, and you climb on top of him, lean in to kiss him slowly, deeply, skimming neatly trimmed nails over his chest. You kiss along his throat, down to his stomach, and then wrap a hand around the base of his dick and put your mouth on him, the other hand pressed lightly against his stomach while you suck him off.

Your pace is easy, your hand moving in time with your tight lips and hollow cheeks, and you squeeze his tummy, moan your pleasure, and flick your eyes up to his face. His lips are soft around a sigh, but his brows are tensely knit, and he brings a hand to your chin, caresses you lightly when he floods your mouth, when you swallow for him and lick him clean.

“Fuck, baby,” he breathes, and you crawl up his body, kiss his cheeks and his lips and then whimper when he presses your back against the bed.

His fingers find you soft and wet and open, and he pushes two of them inside, leans over you to mouth wetly at your throat, your breasts. You weave your fingers into his hair, grip his shoulder, moan his name, and he makes you come quickly, expertly, in that practice makes perfect kind of way. He kisses your lips as you sigh, sink against the bed, then rubs his hand over your chest and hums.

“Perky,” he says in your ear, and then you both laugh, and you pull him down on top of you for a quick cuddle before going to the bathroom to get ready for bed. A couple of Fridays later, it’s your turn to host girls night, so you’re in the kitchen putting together a charcuterie board and mixing up cocktails when Aaron walks in, looking casual and cuddly in jeans and a quarter-zip fleece sweatshirt. You know he plans to set up camp in his office, but you kind of wish he wouldn’t just so you’d get to look at him some more.

“Gorgeous man,” you say, peering up at him as you wrap your arm around his waist. “Can I interest you in a paloma?” You lift up a pink cocktail and he laughs lightly, guides your hand back toward the counter.

“You can’t, but I will take a beer for the road.” You shrug your shoulders, let him go so he can walk over to the fridge; you take a sip of the drink you offered him, wince a little—it’s a bit strong for a girls night in, but it won’t kill anyone—and Aaron caches the expression, holds back a smile. “Are you going to end up drunk tonight? Should I prepare for the worst?”

“Ha ha. I don’t plan on it, but if I do, just throw me over your shoulder and put me to bed.”

“It’s cute that you think that works,” he says, bending to kiss you on the cheek, and then the doorbell rings. “I’ll get it, baby. Keep… rearranging your cheese.” He smiles, you smile back, a little exasperated, and he goes to answer the door.

A short time later, you and your friends are gathered in the living room, sprawled across the sectional sofa with drinks and snacks. You’re maybe a little tipsy, and when the topic turns to Elena’s now ex-boyfriend, the personal trainer, you’re just uninhibited enough to weigh in.

“I don’t know what you saw in him anyway. He spent so much time in front of the mirror, I would have been insecure that he was going to leave me for himself.” Your friend Jada laughs, and you preen, take another sip of your drink.

“She just misses his dick; the new guy isn’t working with much. What’s his name? Chester? Charlie?”

“Clifford,” Elena says, pulling out her phone, “and no, he’s not working with much, but he’s really cute. Look at him.” She shows you a photo from her camera roll, and Clifford looks just like the personal trainer, but with brown hair instead of blond.

“Not my type,” you dismiss with a wave of your hand, “but clearly he’s yours, so congrats, really. You can work around the small dick thing.”

“What is your type?” your other friend Michelle asks. “I’ve never been able to pin it down.” You open your mouth to answer but frown after a moment.

“I’ve never really had one, I guess. I know what I don’t find attractive, but what I do find attractive?” You think on it for a minute, and all you can imagine is what you already have. You can’t help smiling wide. “I mean, if I had to say, I guess just Aaron.” Your friends chime in with a chorus of aww, and you shush them. “I just think he’s perfect, you know? He’s smart and sweet and secretly funny; tall, and strong, but not in a ‘spends all day at the gym’ way—no offense. He’s a little softer, I can wrap myself up in his arms. It’s nice.”

“I’m with you,” Jada says. “A hard body might be nice to look at, but I need something to grab onto in the middle of the night.”

“Yes! Something to grab onto, and Aaron is perfect for that. He’s such a good cuddler, and he’s heavy, in a sexy way, like when he’s on top of me.” Okay, so you’re definitely a little drunk, never this loose-lipped about your sex life, but it’s all true regardless. “And he’s nice to look at—so nice to look at. The most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”

You could go on talking about Aaron for the rest of the night, but topics change and you have enough sense not to ramble any further; you don’t have the sense to stop drinking, though, so by the time your friends leave, you’re puttering around trying to clean up the kitchen, and not doing a very good job of it. Aaron finds you, makes a soft sound and puts his arms around you from behind, effectively stilling your motions.

“Let’s go to bed, baby,” he murmurs into your hair, and you sink back against his body, sigh happily.

“I want to go to bed—I want to go to bed with you. I always want to go to bed with you, because I love you.”

“I know, sweetheart, I love you, and we’re going to go to bed right now. We can clean up tomorrow.” You let him lead you down the hall, but you only make it halfway to the bedroom before you turn around in his arms, try to pull him down to your level. He’s so tall it can sometimes be annoying.

“I love you. I want you, always. You’re my type.” He laughs, bends to kiss you softly and tries to walk you backward toward the bedroom.

“Thank you. You’re my type, too, and I want you always.” You nod, because that’s good. You should be his type, since he loves you. That just makes sense.

“I want a puppy—a fluffy baby puppy with you. I’ll be the puppy mom and you’ll be the puppy dad.”

“A puppy,” he repeats, and you make it to the bedroom: you can tell because he sits you gently on the bed, helps get you out of your jeans. “We could get a puppy, if that’s something you want. I can walk it in the mornings before work, you can walk it on your lunch.”

You make a happy sound, because you hadn’t expected him to say that. You figure asking for one more thing can’t hurt, while you’re on a roll.

“I want a vacation, too, please. A beach vacation—I want to see you in swim trunks, your hair all wet, and I want to feel your skin warm from the sun.” He pulls your top over your head and walks away from you; when you make a sound of protest, he assures you he’ll be right back, and he returns with one of his t-shirts, helps you put it on.

“You want a beach vacation?” He turns down the bed, maneuvers you under the covers, then starts undressing himself. “What brought that on?”

“I don’t know. Just want to go away with you,” you say, and you can feel yourself drifting now that you’re cozy in bed, wearing Aaron’s clothes, soft pillows all around you. “A vacation, or a—a honeymoon.”

Aaron says something in response to that, but you can’t make it out, too busy falling asleep and imagining the scent of sunscreen and the feel of thick fingers rubbing it into your shoulders. You wake with a bit of a headache, and a dry mouth, and a warm body at your back, an arm loosely slung around your waist. You groan and press back against Aaron, and he leans forward to brush his lips over your ear and chuckle lightly against it.

“I think you went a little overboard,” he says, and he smooths your unruly bedhead back away from your face. “There’s water and ibuprofen on the nightstand. If you’re feeling up to it, I think a shower would do you some good. I’ll make breakfast.” He presses several soft kisses to your cheek and chin, and you close your eyes, hum your contentment.

“I love you, do you know that?”

“I do know that,” he breathes, and he runs his hand over your hip in a way that makes you wish you had more energy and less aching in your temples. “You said it a lot last night—I also couldn’t help overhearing you say I’m the most handsome man you’ve ever seen.”

“Well that’s true. Incredibly handsome,” you agree tiredly, and he presses his lips to your neck in the form of soft, smacking kisses.

“You also said you wanted a honeymoon,” he murmurs, and you open your eyes comically wide, slide up to a seat, look down at his face to try to read his expression.

“I did?” He nods, clearly trying not to smile at your surprise.

“Yes, you did. I’m not clear on the details, though—would that include a wedding, or were you planning on skipping over that part?” You lean over him, hide your face against his shoulder, and he laughs softly, rubs his hand up and down your back. “We’ve never talked about it, but it seems that’s something I should have at least brought up. We just took our time moving in together, and I didn’t want to rush that if you weren’t ready. Are you ready?” he asks quietly, and you pull back to look at him—his open expression, soft features, curious eyes.

“In theory, or in practice?” You have to ask, because this is Aaron, and he’s amazing, but he’s not a grand gestures type of man—if he’s asking you to marry him, you want to be very clearly on the same page to avoid miscommunication. He smiles, runs his hand down your arm.

“In theory.” You think of what it would mean, how it would feel, being married to the best man you’ve ever met, the kindest, most open-hearted (if occasionally grumpy) person, and the answer comes easily.

“Yes, I’m ready in theory.” His smile grows, and you match it, leaning down for a kiss. Then, he moves out from under you, reaches behind himself, into his nightstand, and rummages around for a moment before returning with a blue velvet box that he just holds, so casually, in his hand.

“How about in practice?” Your heart sinks to your stomach in the best way, and you can’t find the words even though you know exactly what you want to say. You bite your lip, and your eyes water a little; Aaron presses his palm to your cheek, and you meet in the middle for a slow, sweet kiss, exhaling softly when you pull apart.

You nod your head.

“Yes, I’m ready in practice.” You kiss again, a bit less sweet, weaving your fingers into his hair, and he pulls you down, makes you laugh, covers you with his body and kisses your face until you’re both out of breath.

“That’s good, because I want to make an honest woman out of you if we’re going to have a baby.” You freeze beneath him—did you talk about children last night, too, in your drunken haze?—and he chuckles, leans back so you can better see his face. “A fluffy baby puppy, remember? I’ll be the puppy dad and you’ll be the puppy mom.” You smack his chest, which he finds hilarious, and then you put your hands on his arms and sigh.

“Let me see that ring, please.” He props himself up on his elbows, opens the box for you: it’s sparkling, beautiful, exactly what you would have chosen for yourself, and you pluck it out, hold it up, and then hand it back so he can slide it onto your finger. “How long has this been in that drawer?”

“Since you moved in,” he says, and he takes your hand, kisses it, and admires your new accessory. “It was in my sock drawer before that, and I’m honestly not sure how long it was there. Two years, at least.” You frown just so you won’t cry, and he leans in to press his lips to the downturned curve of yours. “I told you, I always just knew.”

You deepen the kiss, run your hands over his sides beneath the soft t-shirt he slept in; his fingers move to the hem of the t-shirt you slept in as if to remove it, and you pause, pull back.

“No, wait, I’m gross. How are you even kissing me right now?” Aaron rolls his eyes, presses his mouth to yours repeatedly despite your half-hearted protests.

“Because I don’t care about morning breath, I’m marrying you.” He puts his hands in your hair, continues kissing, and you know resistance is futile; he wants you regardless, just as you are, and you would feel the same if roles were reversed—you do, every day.

“Mmh, okay but. At least let me. Shower first,” you mumble against his lips, and he rolls his eyes, leans back so he’s on his knees hovering over you, hands on his thighs.

“Would that make you feel better?” You nod happily, and he climbs off the bed, pulls you to your feet. “In that case, you go shower, and I’ll make breakfast as planned. And then, if your conditions are met, princess,” you wrinkle your nose, and then you both laugh, “I think I would like to make love to my fiancée, if that’s something that would interest you.”

“I’m very interested in that,” you agree, winding your arms around his neck, and you allow him one more kiss before you shuffle toward the shower, standing under the spray long enough to feel fully human again.

You drink the water, take the ibuprofen, and throw on his quarter-zip sweatshirt from the night before, and then meet him for eggs, toast, fruit, and kisses. He’s cleaned up the mess from last night, brewed a fresh pot of coffee, and you fall a little bit in love all over again.

After breakfast, you make it as far as the couch, flat on your back with the sweatshirt hiked up around your stomach and Aaron’s head between your thighs; you moan, tug on his hair as he drags his tongue repeatedly through the wetness that clings to your pussy, and when he makes you come you close your legs around his shoulders, squeezing tightly, back arching off of the couch.

“Mmm. Should have locked you down a lot sooner,” you pant, encouraging him to climb on top of you. He licks his lips and leans in for a warm, soft kiss.

“I’ve been locked down since our first date. You wore a blue dress and I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.” You pull his shirt over his head, and he pushes his boxers off, guides his cock inside you and plants his hands, noses along your cheek. “And now you’re mine.”

You can’t remember the last time you had sex in broad daylight—or the living room, for that matter—so each roll of his body, heavy and smooth against yours, is that much hotter as the sun shines in through the window, as birds chirp from the tree just outside. Your moans feel louder, more indecent, and you hold onto his ass, run a hand up his back, while he groans in your ear, whispers things like fuck and baby and mine.

“Aaron, please,” you sigh, digging your fingertips into his hips, and he kisses you, thrusts harder, knows what you need without having to hear it. He’s getting close too, huffs hot breath against your cheek, and you squeeze him tighter, press up against him. “Yes, hmm. I’ve got you, baby.” You move a hand to his hair, carding fingers through it, and he rests one gently over your throat, kisses you deep and wet, passionate, pounds against you until he comes.

He slides his hand down your body, rubs his fingertips over your clit, and this time your orgasm is softer, and you bite at his shoulder just to feel more connected, even though he is still inside you, heavy above you. You cling to him, catch your breath, and then you kiss a little before hurrying to get cleaned up and hoping you don’t make a mess of the couch.

When you reconvene in the living room, windows open, curtains blowing softly in the breeze, Aaron is on the couch with his laptop on his thighs. You plop down next to him, peer over his shoulder, and he raises his eyebrow and smiles.

“What do you think of Golden Retrievers?” You rest your head against him, look at the screen full of fuzzy yellow puppies, and sigh, content.

Taglist 🤍: @thaddeusly @arsonhotchner @mrsh0tchner @ssahotchie @sleepyreaderreads @mintphoenix @meghannnnnn @disgruntledchowchow @azenpal @g-l-pierce @my-rosegold-soul @ssamorganhotchner @heliotropehotch @angelhotchner @qtip-blog @gspenc @wishuhadstayed @averyhotchner @hotforhotchner11 @itsmytimetoodream @unicornprancing @uchihasteph @mugi-chwan95 @madamsnape921 @hxtchncr

[butwhyduh]

Hair Bows

Roy Harper x batsis!reader

Summary: a date turned into a play date turned into work. Basically Lian taking over Titans tower. And canon has no home here.

“I’m just about to head out the door,” you said over the phone, still doing your hair. Roy wasn’t the most punctual guy and this was your way of coping. If you were also always late, it didn’t bother you as much.

“Wait,” Roy said and you heard a muffled sound like him running his hand down his face. “I can’t go.”

“Why not?”

“My babysitter punked out at the last minute so I can’t leave Lian. I’m sorry,” he said.

“Oh, uhhh, bring her,” you suggested, hopefully sounding casual. You’d met her a few times but nothing big and your date was just a walk in the park. Nothing a kid couldn’t do. And you were hoping to be a little more seriously dating.

“Seriously?... on a date?” He asked.

“Not if you don’t want to. But I just thought we were going to the park and we can let her run around. You know what? Never mind, if you need to stay home it’s cool. I don’t know anything about kids-“

“Hey, it’s a good idea,” he said stopping your ramble. “I just wasn’t expecting it. Most people don’t want someone else’s kid on their date.”

“Most people shouldn’t date people with kids if they can’t be around them,” you answered, finishing up. “Now am I meeting you both at the park or..”

“Now I know why I’m dating you,” Roy said and you could hear the smile through the phone. “I’ll pick you up. Lian’s not a fan of riding in other people’s car so Uber is out.”

“Can’t blame her. See you soon,” you answered.

——————————

You had changed into a slightly less sexy and more family friendly top and sensible shoes by the time Roy picked you up. Can’t chase a kid in heels.

Roy looked nice in a button down and jeans with no holes in them. Not a trucker hat in sight. And of course, Lian was a doll in a spring themed dress and leather bottomed sandals. The first thing she showed you was an impressively high kick.

“And it’s okay because dad makes me wear shorts under it. For taking out punks,” she said knowingly. You nodded.

“For punks. Good idea.”

“In case they get fresh,” Roy said to you as she ran to a slide.

“Fresh? She’s 5. Maybe Lian should teach me that move. I know this guy that’s always trying to get fresh,” you said as he wrapped an arm around your waist from behind and rested his head on your shoulder.

“Hmmm, should I kick his ass,” Roy said playfully.

“I’d pay to see you kick your own ass,” you said with a laugh.

“Ouch, and I thought you liked me,” he said, sounding dramatically wounded. You laughed again.

“The entertainment value tho. Hard to beat.”

“So many ‘hard to beat’ jokes I would make right now,” he whispered in your ear and you pulled out of his arms. You were rolling your eyes but the grin ruined the disapproving air you were trying to have.

“Not that kinda date,” you reminded him and as if on cue, Lian ran over to Roy and grabbed his hand. She started dragging him to a food truck.

“Can we get a funnel cake? Or ice cream? Or a hotdog?” She asked excitedly.

“Hotdog and then ice cream on top of a funnel cake,” he said in a mock serious tone as he bent down beside her. She grinned widely. “We aren’t animals!” She squealed and dragged him to food truck.

You grinned as you watched them. Roy had fucked up a ton but this was not one of those times. Nope, he was a great dad. He looked back at you confused as why you hadn’t joined them and you jogged over to them.

“Sorry, just lost in thought,” you said as they made your food. Roy had a hand casually around your waist as Lian tried to swing on his other arm.

“Bout what?” He asked.

“How good a dad you are,” you admitted. He gave you a shy crooked smile before kissing your forehead.

“You bats are always in your head too damn much. But thanks,” Roy ended softly. He handed Lian a giant hotdog that she promptly started eating before giving you your food and he his. “Let’s find a spot to sit before you drop that giant hotdog.”

As Lian licked sticky sweet ice cream coated funnel cake pieces off of her arm, Roy’s phone went off. He smiled apologetically before getting up to answer it. A few minutes later he came back to the table looking even more apologetic.

“Titans business. I have to go but...” he started, running a hand through his red hair. “I don’t have a babysitter.”

“I could watch her,” you suggested and Lian looked up at him kinda sad. “I could watch her at the tower. You’d be right there but we’d stay out of the way.”

“You sure? That isn’t too much?” He said unsure, looking between you both.

“Yeah, I’ve watched kids before. And I know the tower really well. We’ll watch movies and fall asleep. Do you want a sleep over?”

“Yeah! Go on dad, I’m fine,” she said waving a hand at him. You both laughed. “Dads,” Lian said rolling her eyes playfully. Yep, she’s Roy’s alright. “Do you have popcorn?”

“Yep!”

“Candy?”

“Yep! And I know where my brother Tim keeps the good imported stuff,” you said and she grinned.

“Not too much. Or staying up too late. Or anything scary or too grown up,” Roy said on the way to the tower. “And if anything happens. Anything. Get to the panic room.”

“I know the procedures,” you said putting a hand on his shoulder. “And I can keep her safe. Don’t worry. We’ll have fun.”

“And I can kick punks!” Lian said proudly.

“And she’ll kick punks! I’m hoping she hits Gar first. Did you know he can turn into any animal? He just chooses to be a punk,” You said and she giggled.

“Wow!”

“Alright. No kicking punks unless it’s really important because-“

“My body is a weapon. I know, dad,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Roy repeated the same sort of things up in the living quarters of the tower before giving you both a kiss. “Stay safe,” he said before going downstairs.

Some of the younger Titan recruits didn’t leave on the mission and were hanging out or training. You walked Lian over to the couch and went to find a movie she might like. You dusted off the dvds they had. Probably hadn’t added any new ones in many years with the extensive funding of Batman giving them every streaming service ever.

“How about this movie,” you asked, holding up a sun bleached dvd case. “Space jam?”

Lian looked at it carefully before nodding. You put it in the player and came back. “What about popcorn? Dad says movies are crap without it.”

“Oh,” you said. “Right. I’ll make some.”

“Popcorn?” Came a voice around the corner before the next you saw was a wind of red. “Hey kiddo,” Bart aka impulse said to Lian before shaking her hand. “Let’s pick a movie. There are some pretty good ones I haven’t seen. I’ve seen 12 movies.”

“Only 12,” she frowned skeptically and you took the opportunity to go in the kitchen and make popcorn.

“Hey, did you let Lian have speedster piggy back rides,” Tim aka Robin said ducking his head in the kitchen.

“No,” you said quickly running in the living area quickly. “Okay, enough of that. I don’t think her dad would be cool with this,” you said pulling her off of him. She pouted a little.

“Why does it smell like fire,” Cassie asked from the hall and you hurried back in the kitchen to see a flaming bag turning in the microwave. Before you could do it say anything, Bart opened the microwave and tossed the bag into the sink where the sponge lit on fire. Lian shrieked and you jumped up turn on the water to put them both out.

“That popcorn smells ewwie,” Lian noted. You sighed and pinched your brow. This is fine.

“I’ll make more and you go pick out a movie. And nothing else,” you emphasized.

“Yes, ma’am,” Bart said with a salute. Tim winced.

“Sorry, he’s a lot.”

“One minor kitchen fire is not too bad. Have you heard from the mission?” You asked as you cooked the popcorn.

“Not yet. But no news is usually good news,” he reminded you and you nodded. That’s what Roy always said. You grabbed the bag and went in the living room to see an entire hot pink tackle box filled with every kind of hair tie and bows and baubles. Bart was sitting on the floor and Lian was currently tying a bright yellow bow in his huge mass of red hair.

“She wanted to do his hair so I got my stuff,” Cassie said.

“She’s a natural. She doesn’t rip out half as much hair as Cassie,” Bart said with a grin. You sat on the couch near them and started the movie as the popcorn passed around.

Halfway through the movie, Tim’s phone goes off. He looks at it and frowns. “Alright guys, we got to suit up.” They grumble but get up. Bart does a quick shake that reminds you of a dog and all the bows vibrated out of his hair. Lian laughed and tried to catch them as they fell out.

“Lian, give me just a minute to talk to Tim,” you told her and she nodded before putting a red barrette in Cassie’s hair. You walked in the kitchen with Tim.

“Is everything okay? Dick? Roy?” You asked quietly.

“I’m not sure. We’re just being called in. I’ll try and let you know more,” he said. You nodded and hugged your baby brother.

“Be safe out there.”

“Always.”

Lian was sitting on the couch as the cartoon played and she had moved on to putting bows on the fuzzy blanket on the couch. She yawned as she put bows in your hair and you looked at the time. It was probably close to bed time for her.

“Lian, do you want to lay down while watching your movie?”

She yawned again and nodded. “Yeah, dad will be home late again, hu? Work?” She was pretty used to his hero duty.

“Yeah, but I’m here.”

“Yeah, you’re here,” she said before laying on you. You froze for a second before feeling your heart warmed. She rubbed her popcorn greasy face into your shirt before getting comfortable. After a short while she was asleep and you pulled out your phone to take her photo.

You wanted to send Roy the photo but didn’t dare disturb him. You kept worrying about him and Dick and now even Tim as they fought. Why had they needed the back up? Were they hurt? In too deep? You had a hard time doing anything but worry.

Lian turned in her sleep and all but pinned you to the couch with her little fists gripping your shirt. You pulled the blanket over her. You tried to stay awake but once it hit 2 am and you were trapped on a couch with no lights on, you fell asleep.

Around 4 am, the team wandered in the tower slowly. They hushed one another as they saw you and Lian on the couch. Roy came in and stopped to look. He took out his phone and took a bunch of pictures of you both with a smile before he hobbled to the medical bay to be cleaned and patched up.

“Hey,” he whispered while gently tapping your shoulder a little while later. You woke up blinking in the light. “I’m going to carry her to the car. Are you coming?”

“Oh, yeah,” you whispered back. Roy carefully pulled the little girl off of you and she clung to his shirt in sleep. He grabbed his bag of gear as you got up with a stretch. You waved bye to everyone before leaving.

Halfway down the road, Roy turned to you. “She really seemed comfortable on you.”

“Yeah, she climbed up herself. I was a little surprised. I guess I didn’t mess up tonight,” you said with a little self deprecating laugh.

“Nah, you did great. I had to hear all about it from the kid heroes on the way back. The hair bows was genius,” he said. The car quietly pulled in his driveway.

“That was Cassie. And when Lian saw all of Bart’s hair her eyes went wide like a cat at a ball of yarn,” you laughed.

“Yeah, she’s a fan of long red hair. Ask me how I know,” he said shaking his hair and you laughed. Lian moved in her sleep.

“So she ripped out your hair so Bart’s could survive,” you said quietly.

“Something like that. Can you get the door,” he said before scooping Lian out of her car seat. You held the door as he carried her to her room and laid her in her toddler bed that currently had a Superboy blanket. She had just about any hero you could image in some product or another.

Roy met you in the kitchen. “Thanks, you know. For watching her today. I appreciate that,” he said. You tossed him a water bottle.

“Yeah, she’s awesome. We had fun,” you said, leaning on the counter with your elbows. Roy came up behind you and rubbed your shoulders.

“Not everyone is cool with dating a dad so thanks,” he said. You turned your head to look at him.

“Well, they are missing out. Got my own DILF,” you teased.

“Oh god, I’m a DILF,” Roy said with a hint of horror in his voice. “Speaking of ILF... I know someone I’d like to ILF,” he said kissing your neck and pressing himself against your back. His hands moved under your shirt and up to your chest. “Wanna take it to my room?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

[peloponnesianminutess]

❛ Friends call me MEG; at least they would if I had any friends. ❜

FULL NAME: megara thebes BASED ON: megara from hercules FACE CLAIM: victoria pedretti GENDER/PRONOUNS:  cis female ; she/her AGE: 27 SPECIES: human OCCUPATION: bartender at the ugly duckling LIVES IN: tsavo - lower class district SIDES WITH: villains (not by choice)

❝ I’m a big tough girl. I tie my own sandals and everything. ❞ ♫ currently playing ♫ : Buzzkill by MOTHICA

☀ Scorpio ☾ Libra  ↑ Taurus 

PERSONALITY TRAITS Positive: confident ◇ brave ◇ resilient ◇ witty Negative: sarcastic ◇ secretive ◇ cynical ◇ stubborn

INTEL Priorities: getting her freedom, not making unnecessary attachments Muse’s soft spot: hercules Greatest strength: selflessness Greatest vulnerability or weakness: letting her past get in the way of her future Muse’s secret: that she gave her soul for a man who betrayed her

PAST Megara grew up in a home as unhealthy as one can imagine. Her mother was out of the picture soon after she was born and being raised by a single father with a distaste for his daughter wasn’t a great start. All they ever did was fight but he certainly showed her how to be tough. She was constantly getting into trouble in school and he never really figured out how to parent her. Meg could do whatever she wanted which was why the day she turned eighteen she was out the door, never to look back. One thing she’d learned from him was how to take care of herself which was why it was so easy for her to find a job and convince a friend to crash on their couch until she got a more permanent place. That’s how she found her infamous ex, they worked together at a diner and started as friends. He was the first person she trusted with her heart, always being weary after watching her father whore around. They moved in together and for once Meg thought about the future. That was until it came to a halt when he got into a car accident and wasn’t expected to make it through the night. She had to figure out some way to save him which was when she found Hades. It was sketchy to say the least but Meg was desperate. Her soul to save his and she signed it away without a second thought. Within a matter of days after his miraculous recovery and release from the hospital she came home to find another woman in their bed. Meg had given away her soul for a man who couldn’t even keep it in his pants and thus became Hades’ errand girl.

PRESENT After leaving her ex and settling into her new life in Los Santos she’s looking for a way out. All she wants is her freedom but how? She does most of the dirty work that Hades’ doesn’t want to but when he doesn’t need her she can be found behind the counter of the Ugly Duckling. The guys that come through there can be a little rough but nothing she can’t handle, some even being people she’s had to deal with before for Hades. That’s where she first caught sight of her next mission, Hercules. His nephew seems to have something he wants and she’s tasked with getting it. There’s a kindness to him that makes her not want to betray him but after being tethered to Hades she’s ready to have her life belong to her again. She isn’t afraid to die but she doesn’t want to be stuck with him for eternity if she does it while he’s the owner of her soul. Right now Meg is doing her best to live her life, blend in, and doing what she needs to in order to get her freedom.

MUSE AESTHETICS ◇ bloody knuckles ◇ white lilies ◇ purple chiffon ◇ 

[ohheyitsokay]

Home

this all takes place in my poly frontier universe

pairing: triple frontier guys - Will “Ironhead” Miller, Santiago “Pope” Garcia, Francisco (Frankie) “Catfish” Morales, and Ben “Benny” Miller x (f) reader

wordcount: 3k

warnings: obviously a poly relationship, which includes kissing, domestic intimacy with all of them (not just with the reader, but not in-between Will and Ben because nope), mild sexual themes

summary: scenes at the beginning of making a house with five people feel like home

<<

The manicured grass is soft where it peaked around the edges of your sandals. Hands running over the grooves of they key in your pocket, you gaze around the little front yard, mind conjuring daydreams that fit on the weathered porch of the house.

Two bathrooms will be enough right? Your thoughts are running - creating and erasing images of the future, trying to squish them like magic into the home in front of you. The yard is big enough to extend the garage and for plenty of home projects…

Across the fence and a long stretch of field, a woman is hiking her skirts up, making a beeline for you. The neighbor’s house is a considerable distance away, being out in the countryside, but she must have been watching your tour from her garden with interest.

The others had left moments before, Santi promising to come back whenever you were done. After weeks of looking at houses, it became a little ritual of yours, to spend a few minutes looking around without the clutter of wonderful distractions.

“So which one of those strapping young men is your beau?” She asks conspiringly, eyes gleaming. It catches you off guard – the lack of introduction, but she seems harmless enough.

Your smile is equally mischievous, and your head tilts a hair.

“Well, which one do you think?”

The woman considers, boot tip tapping away at her grass. You replay the moments she could’ve seen, which were few, wondering if you’d leaned in any particular direction, and wait.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t got a clue,” her smile is wide, softer and more genuine than before - polite. “As long as you’re good neighbors,” she explains, “I guess I wouldn’t care if it was one or all of you next door.”

You smile, thanking her as salutations ring in your ears, watching with grateful eyes as she hikes back towards her home. Then you move, wandering through the empty rooms for long, quite minutes before you peak over the fence again. The woman had gone inside, and if you squint you can see who you think is her husband, sleeping with a dog on the porch.

In the other directions, there isn’t a house within a reasonable distance. A knot loosens in your chest, as an unexpected feeling of freedom from judging eyes blooms in its place.

When Santi comes back to pick you up, you take his hand across the console. His skin is warm, and his thumb automatically begins to gently move across your knuckles.

“I think it’s perfect, Pope.”

He looks at you curiously, minding his thoughts for a moment.

“Yeah, love?”

The sun was beginning to set, and you look at the peaceful little home in the rear view mirror, and smile.

“Yeah.”

-

“What?”

“We need to … break in every room.”

“I’m just saying -"

“Oh he’s talking about – wait are you really horny, right now?”

“There are boxes everywhere, idiot.”

You walk in carrying a single plant and a stack of pizzas and the conversation hushes.

“Ah – payment,” Frankie kisses your cheek, moving the plant by the window as Santi clears the table.

Someone makes a quip about it being Santi’s house and you wince, the utopia popping.

“We don’t get paid to move our own stuff, Catfish.” His dark hair is damp with sweat but he seems otherwise unaffected by the hours spent hauling. It was still surreal – that this is actually happening, that this unanimously became a long term desire.

He has the most money and Will has the best credit score, so they bought the house to save you all from questions. The movement isn’t lost on your Ironhead, and he rubs a soothing circle on your shoulder as he reaches for a plate. Of everyone, he was the one who most understood your anxiety – close proximity always led to arguments at first.

“You got lucky,” Benny takes the first slice, accepting a napkin for an additional piece. “You fell in love with a pretty good moving crew.”

“I think so,” you grin, trying to ignore your anxiety. He inhales the food, pulling you into his lap as he bickers with Will about whether or not more needed to get done today.

Eventually Frankie dictates that at the very least some cleaning should be started and the bedding should be unpacked for the evening. The agree with varying degrees of enthusiasm and after a handful of innuendos your loves begin to disperse, too dutiful to let work go unfinished. The bedframe practically builds itself, and a portable speaker makes Santi’s hips twitch as he floats through the half-barren rooms.

When Will rolls his eyes at Frankie’s choice of screw, you duck away, nerves thrumming.

And you wander around, fake cleaning, until you find your Benny clearing pizza plates. Even amongst boxes and bins and old blankets, he could be at a photo shoot. The evening light make his hair look like silk, and his eyes shine like he’s making you promises this very moment.

“I wouldn’t worry too much,” he says, drawing you into his arms as your head tilts. “We spent years in bunks and tents, and we were younger then.”

His chest was warm and you press your cheek to it, nodding. You hadn’t thought he had noticed, how anxious you’d been about the change, but you had been foolish. Even through his shirt, you can feel the thumping of his giant heart, steady as a drumbeat.

Replaying the evening in your mind, you let go of some of your worries, one by one, and he kisses the top of your head. It’s a thoughtful thing, and it never ceases to amaze you how easily he can wrap you around his finger.

“Ben?”

He makes a noise, somewhere between a hum and a grunt.

You pull his face down to yours, kissing him hard. It was a kiss that says you're grateful, and a kiss that says you love him for being… him.

He accepts it eagerly, and tiredness from the day long gone ad he presses hot, open-mouthed kisses to your lips. The world spins and you feel him shove something heavy off the couch before replacing it with you.

The cushions are dusty from everything but he makes space, and you stop caring as he moves on top of you.

The others would find you soon, their instincts kicking in, but you savor it. Benny, pressing into you, kissing you in the evening light.

The beginning of their conversation from earlier blooms in your mind and you grin as his lips trailed down your neck. It suddenly didn’t seem implausible that he planned this.

“Breaking in” aside, this was the first room you where you truly felt like this could be home.

-

You feel his hands gently replace yours on the zipper and you jump a little - he stands just outside the mirror reflection as you watch the skirts around your ankles. Behind you the big bed is made neatly, there’s a ridiculously large closet, and a tangle of phone chargers.

The bedroom: the place that set apart your home from others. The room that housed five individuals, a web of relationships, a miracle of mixed bodies and minds and hearts.

It looks big, behind you.

Warm, daft fingers tie the extra strings, a neat little bow hanging just between your shoulder blades. The silence is thick, weighted with adoration, but when he breaks it, it’s as if he can’t resist.

“You’re beautiful,” he moves closer, kissing your temple and drinking you in. Turning, your heart aches.

Will is in his dress uniform, crisscrossed with crisp lines and newly shined awards. His hair is lighter after the summer, and he tried to comb it neatly to one side. Compliments catch in your throat as you stare and he smiles, turning you gently so he can kiss you properly. His mouth tastes like mint and you can smell hints of his cologne lingering on his skin.

“Look at you,” you murmur, lips still brushing over his. Letting your hands wander over his face, smoothing his eyebrows, you feel almost in awe of him. Still, he flushes, pleased at your reaction.

“Thank you.”

His chuckle is warm, almost raspy as he tries to enjoy the quietness of your conversation, and he shakes his head. Really, you were sure he was thankful that he was been the only one free for your special evening.

“Thank you,” you correct him. “You didn’t have to do any of this.” The dinner, for your job.

In the mirror, he looked like diamonds and sapphires and gold. Will was like an action figure sometimes, solid and sculpted and stoic, but… he was looking at you like you’d hung the stars in the sky.

It made you blink, his eyes sliding over you, pupils just a little more blown than the lighting required - a gentle reset demanding your attention.

Looking back in the mirror for a moment, the room didn’t seem quite as big, or quite as revealing. It was comforting, how out of place the two of you looked, dressed to the nines because… this was your place. The softness surrounded by details perfectly woven into your life.

Turning, you slip your arms around his neck, gently musing his hair, and his eyebrows draw together, accepting, but confused.

And as you tuck your hand into his elbow and step into your heels, you resist the urge to thank him again.

“I like it better like this,” you admit, and he flushes again, beaming. Looking around, you realize you’re actually looking forward to coming home more than you’re excited to leave. It’s a new feeling, in this space with the four of them and it hits you, hard in your chest. Still, the man beside you is unwavering and you let the feeling consume you, knowing that you’re safe.

-

“Frankie, what is that?”

He flinches, nervousness cutting the excitement on his face.

“Rhetorical question,” Santi says, grinning at you. “He got it from a friend who was going to toss it out.”

It’s a hot tub, taking up a decent chunk of your back porch.

“If anyone can make it work like a dream, it’s Catfish.” Will’s tone is matter-of-fact, all honesty and pride.

Your sweet Francisco drops his tool and grabs your hand, his dark eyes big. “¿Cariño, por favor? From me, to you?” You can see his laptop up, replacement parts on saved tabs, and you tiptoe to kiss his cheek. He likes to have projects, needs to have somewhere to do things, fix things, create things. Maybe at one point it was because he liked the distraction, it was a … replacement coping mechanism, if you will, but it became his pride, to use his hands to improve your lives.

It doesn’t take long, two weeks at most, between his job and his loves, and his long list of honey-dos, but he does it.

“Please and thank you,” you say, and when he kisses you, slow and deep and happy, you hear cheers and high-five and you almost can’t kiss him because he’s smiling.

And it takes awhile to fill, (Will thanking the stars that the water bill is reasonable,) and even longer to heat, and then it’s ready. The boys yank on swim trunks, thanking Frankie with enthusiasm, and you watch them sink into the steaming tub with as they sigh.

You have a bathing suit, of course you do, but you pull on one of his work shirts, knowing he won’t mind the chemicals from the water making the stains blur. And you pair of shorts you caught him watching your butt in, thinking of acknowledging his hard work in your own way.

The volume of your bodies makes it overflow, hot water sloshing onto the ground, but it’s bliss. It’s big, and they shout over the bubbles, talking excitedly about the future, and your heart feels warm in your favorite way.

The others leave early, taking loud laughter with them, and it leaves you and your Catfish. You let yourself float, moving right on top of him, and his hands grab at your hips, slipping and sliding over your skin as he kisses you once, twice. Slow.

It’s late – the stars stretch, there’s a bit of a breeze, and there’s not a light on for miles.

“You like it?” his voice is raspy, quiet, intense, but almost shy. Like if you said no it would break him in two.

“Of course I do, Frankie.” He looks pleased, hand absentmindedly running under his shirt and over your side. Even with the heat of the water, his hand feels like socks warmed in the dryer some cold winter morning. Comforting, maybe a little electric.

You let out a long, happy sigh, and settle against him, content to stay with him until you’re pruny.

“I think…. This is exactly what this house needed.” He starts a little, surprised, but it’s not an exaggeration.

There was always work to do and things to change, but it was the first time you looked out, and didn’t feel a twinge of fear, that anyone was looking in. It would’ve felt vulnerable, intimate to be so exposed, but… it was perfect, because he created it for you. Confidence and pride bubble around you, and Frankie’s eyebrows dip as he smiles – understanding.

-

“Yeah.” Its simple, not too hot, not too cold. Just… right.

It feels like… tar and lava, hot and dark and thick, bubbling and sticky and you want to punch something. Or scream, or cry.

Your Pope finds you standing rigid, smudges of flour on your skin and clothes, pans and spatulas strewn.

“Are we out of sugar?” To your credit, you try to keep your voice even, but he knows you better than that.

Santi shakes his head, plucking it from the pantry and looking guilty. Your mind pauses it’s rampage, and you wince, because you should be the one making that apologetic face, not him. Hot tears bubble in your eyes and you hate it, hate that they’re coming for what feels like no reason.

“Baby,” he says, tone pleading, setting the sugar down and reaching for you. The afternoon sun makes his eyes like rich, deep pots of gold, his hair somehow both soft and statuesque.

When he pauses, the tears fall against your will, just two thick drops down your cheeks. His hand encompasses your whole jaw, thumb gentle as it rubs away the saltwater, and he looks a tad helpless.

And there’s understanding in his eyes and through the blur you think maybe it’s pity. He stands, and your heart clenches, knowing he’ll go get Will, or someone because you’re being ridiculous but… he doesn’t.

You’re saying something about how the kitchen is wrong, how it’s been building for days, you’ve been here almost a week and you can’t fucking find anything. Panic and frustration locked horns in your chest and you couldn’t breathe and all you wanted to do was make something nice –

Instead, he’s pulling out things and piling them onto the floor in categories around you. It’s almost comical the stacks he makes but he seems determined and in your confusion the tears slow to a stop.

“Santi –” he hushes you. The cupboard doors hang open, and he guides you, lifting you up and up and into his arms. It’s solid and grounding, and he’s not as tall as the others and you needed him desperately.

And slowly, you begin to put things away where it makes sense, to you, and he helps. Not once does he argue with you, not even a moment when his dark eyebrows knit together in judgement. Dutifully he cleans and places everything just where you tell him, and you can almost feel the steam rising off of you as you begin to cool.

The final pile is a mountain of cloth, aprons and oven mitts and… something you’ve never seen before. Or actually, something you had, just not in your house. A set of hand towels you’d wistfully looked at awhile ago, before talking yourself out of the purchase. You had dozens at this point and didn’t need more but…

The man seating on the floor, folding them into perfect squares, is the answer to the question your mind produces.

You feel like you’ve been hosed down from head to toe, almost cold from the absence of frustration in your blood.

Pushing the pile to the side you climb into his lap, as determined as he was, and he looks surprised. It’s silly: sitting in your lover’s lap on the kitchen floor, but it feels more real than a movie. It’s your kitchen, yours and his, in this moment.

You kiss him, slow and purposeful and –

He knows you like the back of his hand.

-

You’re sitting on the bathroom counter distracting Santi as he shaves when Benny bursts in to tell you a story.

Will trails behind him, patiently waiting for his brother to take a breathe so he can set the record straight. Absentmindedly he weaves between them to pick up a fallen hand towel, passing it to Pope to wipe the shaving cream from his jaw. They share a moment and Benny’s story stutters out. Looking up from your nails you see Frankie leaning against the doorframe, a toothbrush hanging from his mouth.

There’s hardly room to move – and you couldn’t have it any other way.

His eyebrows are bent as he takes in the four of you, crammed into the spare bathroom, and Ben laughs.

<<

taglist:

@fangirl-316 @scribbledghost @writeforfandoms @beautyagegoodnesssize @princess76179 @mrsbentallmadge @horton-hears-a-honk

for the poly frontier:

@grogusmum

[aeonchangeling]

Wayward Strays

Luz hadn’t trusted the trio of strangers when she and her mom found them at the abandoned house. It had been a muggy morning when the mother daughter duo had gone into the woods near their home, wandering the area had become a bonding ritual for the two of them… and gave them a chance to talk in private. Which is why when they saw a pair of older men and one teenage girl staring at the old house made them both stop and take notice. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves, unaware of the duo behind them.

“Ahem! ...can we help you?” Camilla asked, loud enough to get their attention.

Luz’s earlier assumption about the men being older was proven once she got a good look at their faces. The more firmly built of the two had to be in his 60’s, a pair of large glasses balanced on his nose and in his hands was some sort of odd machine. It looked like it had a screen on it and possibly some sort of radar but she couldn’t be sure at this distance. The other was tall and very lean, he seemed to be a bit younger, maybe in his mid-50’s, and everything about his appearance reminded her of a college professor. They both screamed intelligence but in different ways, the former being an adventurer, and discoverer, the ladder being an academic and scholar. The oddball of the trio was definitely a teenager, and Luz was suddenly nervous about being teased. The girl was around her own age, as well as very pretty, she had to have a lot of admirers. She also seemed to be made of pink, her dress, her tights, her high-heeled boots and the ribbon she used to tie her hair back were all in different shades of the color. The only exceptions were her red-orange hair, purple jacket and matching earrings, she stood out like a bright pink neon sign against the earthy tones around her. She had a phone in her hand and her sights zoned in immediately on Luz before placing a hand to her chin, clearly thinking. “Ah, hello!” the bespectacled stranger greeted, a wide smile on his face, “I’m sorry, do you happen to own this property by any chance?” “No, this house has been abandoned for years,” Camilla said, “What is this all about.” The defensiveness in her voice rang clear in Luz’s ears. She was being protective… and given the last few months, she couldn’t blame her. “Ah yes, well, we’re here to investigate some… interesting rumors about this location,” they both noticed the pause in that sentence. He was considering his words very carefully. “Nothing to worry about though, merely trying to get to the bottom of it all.” “What my colleague is trying to say,” the other man said, his voice considerably more dramatic sounding, almost theatrical, “Is that these rumors are of personal interest to us and we simply wish to find some information on them.” “...what kind of rumors?” Luz was nervous about their answer, Camilla had her hand on the purse, ready to reach for the sandal she kept inside. “Sightings of odd creatures and people, there’s quite a few in Gravefield in general but they seem to center around this house,” the first adult said, “As if it were… some sort of gateway.” “Well, I sure haven’t seen anything odd around here at all!” Luz proclaimed. Oh this was bad, this was so so bad! They had to get them out of here before they found something! Or saw someone! “Um… if you don’t mind me asking… where did you happen to get these rumors from, exactly?” “Some guy on youtube uploaded a bunch of videos about this place, saying it was where demons came from,” the pink girl spoke for the first time, her eyes never leaving her phone, “We investigate stuff like this all the time and he had some really impressive footage.” Luz felt her stomach drop. The guy from the museum, she and her mom had been so focused on their rescue of Vee that they hadn’t thought to destroy the videos, photos and who knows what all else he had! He must have uploaded it all online and now the entire internet could find it! “We posted a bunch of comments on his videos to discredit them,” the girl continued, “But we have reason to check them out… particularly this.” She turned her phone to the Nocedas, letting them see the video she had been looking at. It was a video of a girl… one they both knew, who looked way too close to Luz… exactly like Luz. She got her foot caught in a snare, pulled to the ground, and then… shapeshifting. Vee… “Wow… that uh… that kid girl kinda… looks like me… heh… m-maybe I-I could apply for her stunt double,” the poor latina tried to explain it away, in the most awkward way possible. “Okay, look, chill,” the pink girl continued, “If that is you or someone who looks like you, we’re not gonna hurt anyone. We’re just here to get answers and offer help.”

“Help?” Camilla was the one to speak up now. “Yes well, you see, my colleague and I are in a very unique field,” the first man started, he spoke in a way that was trying to carefully approach a topic. “Yes… unique is the best word for it,” the other man said, “And given these videos, we-” “Ugh, okay, no, not again!” They all looked at the girl who was glaring up at the two men. “We’ve been through this song and dance before and I don’t have the patience for you two beating around the bush again! Lemme just-” She sat down on the grass, crossing her legs as she did. She rested her hands on her knees, closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. …and a second version of herself appeared in front of Luz and her mom. A version that was floating, had a light blue glow around herself… and the two adult men could be seen through her, ever so slightly. The former gasped in awe, the latter screamed. “See? Faster and easier than the overly delicate approach,” she smirked, before floating to Luz, “So, is that shapeshifter you or what?” “Oh… my… GOSH! How are you doing that?! What kind of magic is this?! You didn’t use a spell circle or a glyph or anything I could see,” the pink girl’s question went unanswered as Luz circled around the transparent form, looking her over. “So you’re a magic user?” the girl asked, smirking. “I… well… uh…” She laughed and floated lower to the ground so they were more on eye level. “If it helps, I’m not using magic. This is astral projection.” “Astral… like psychic powers?!” “Yup! And these two fossils can do all sorts of crazy things,” she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the now indignant elders, “Including magic.” “WHAT?!” “Magic?” Camilla’s voice sounded almost withered in disbelief. “Ahem, yes, despite our student’s… tactless explanation,” the thin one started, “We are investigators on these things, to an extent. However, there is something else of more significance that I believe would be of actual interest to both of you.” “What could that… possibly be?” Camilla asked cautiously. “Well… along with paranormal investigations, I and a close colleague actually run a school for children involved in these unique situations,” the man with the glasses explained, “And Strickler,” he gestured to the thin man, “Is one of the teachers who works there.” “...unique situations? What do you mean by that exactly?” “The supernatural, paranormal, magic, time travel-” “TIME TRAVEL!?” Luz’s voice echoed through the trees. “Well… yes… amongst other things,” the man nodded, clearing his throat awkwardly, “You see… our world is far weirder and more strange than we can possibly believe. I began my own studies into anomalies thirty years ago and in that time, I’ve seen some truly amazing things… including other worlds.”

That got both of their attention. “You… can do that?” “...to an extent. The science behind it is far from perfect, and controlling where exactly the portal leads to still needs a lot of work, but it is possible.” “...Luz,” Camilla put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders, “Luz, I know what you’re thinking, but-” “Mom, I have to!” Luz pulled away from her mother and took a few steps towards the men, “Is it possible to go to another world right now? Please!” This got the trio of strangers concerned and they looked at each other and then her. “Well… no, not at this very moment. We’d have to find it first, which would be the actual hard part… but it wouldn’t be impossible in the future.” Her knees suddenly became weak under her. The chance to go back. Back to the Boiling Isles. Back to Bonesburrow. Back to the Owl House… “Look, what exactly do you people want?” Camilla’s voice pulled her back to reality. “...well… originally we wanted to find the creature in the video,” the thin one, Strickler, answered, “But it seems your daughter has quite the story to tell. If you’d like, we could continue this discussion somewhere more comfortable for the two of you.” “...mija, would you head home and… prepare some drinks for our guests please.” Luz knew what she really was saying. “Get ahead of us and tell our houseguests to hide.” Though her knees felt like jell-o, she got up and ran to the house. By the time her mom made it back to the house with the strangers, Luz had herded the other worldly visitors upstairs and had just barely finished pouring enough glasses of ice tea for all five of them. She set the pitcher down and held the tray as they walked inside, she noticed the girl was back in her own body and back to her phone. They ended up at the island in the middle of the kitchen, mother and daughter on one side, the trio on the other. And Luz told them her story. She told them about following the little owl into the old house, the world of magic, demons, witches, her glyphs… When she mentioned the titan however, the older man surprised her even further than he had today. “Wait, a hellscape on a rotting carcass? Do you mean the Boiling Isles?” She almost choked on her tea. “YOU WENT THERE?!” “...I’ll take that as a yes,” the man smiled, “And yes, I did stop there briefly, but haven’t been able to return in some time. Is Belos still in charge?” “In charge, and batshit insane!” “Luz! Language!” “Sorry Mamá.” “Ah, so things haven’t changed too much.” “...did you know the Old Lady?” “Only of her, and I only saw her from a distance, why?” “...she was my teacher.” “...I’m liking you more and more, Luz was it?” “Uh, yeah, Mr… uh…” “Stanford, Stanford Pines.” He reached his hand out and as she reached out to shake it, both she and her mother noticed his fingers. Or, more specifically, that he had one extra one. “Whoa… cool!” “Hehehehe, you can see how I got into researching anomalies,” he smiled, “And this is Teodora, one of our students.” He gestured to the girl, who looked up from her phone and smiled, “I’m also the one in charge of finding other kids like us.” “You are?” Luz looked at her with wide eyes. “Well I’m the most tech literate,” she explained, “And I know what kind of things to look for with this stuff. Odd posting patterns, videos with strange incidents and creatures, it’s really basic stuff but nobody else at school is half as good as I am.” “And that’s how you found the video… and eventually us?” Camilla questioned, a brow raised. “You got that right,” she nodded, “Now, Luz, I have to ask, was that you in the video or not?” “...no, that was before I came back. It was probably a demon that got trapped on this side… and it probably saw me and took a form similar to mine to blend in.” “...eh, certainly not the weirdest explanation we’ve ever had that turned out to be true,” she shrugged, “Either way, that’s not the real question we have to ask.” “Well… what is?” “To put it simply,” Strickler said, his attention focusing on Camilla, “Am I safe to assume that all this information about your daughter’s time in another world has you concerned, Mrs. Noceda?” “Well… yes… my daughter was gone for months and… I…” “You were worried… and when she came back, she was different… This is very common in these situations, and… you still worry even after they come back. The fact you’re as composed as you are right now makes it clear you’ve believed her on this matter for quite some time.” “...she managed to contact me before she came back… and… I saw things with my own eyes… I… I’ve never been so worried about her before but…” She trembled as she spoke, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Mamá…” Luz hugged her mom as tight as she could, “I missed you so much… I’m sorry… I really am.” “Oh mija…” “It’s a lot to go through I know,” Stanford said, “But… with everything you’ve told us, we’d like to make an offer to you and your daughter.” They looked at him, as he reached for something in his bag and pulled out some paperwork. “If you would be so willing, we’d be more than happy to have your daughter attend our school.” “...excuse me, what?” “I understand this is very out of the blue and you don’t know us, but I assure you, we merely wish to help. We came here to find the demon from that video and offer them a place at the school, so they would be safe and away from that moron who posted that video online,” he then muttered under his breath, “Martians, teeth, time machines, I swear the standards for paranormal investigations have truly gone down in the last twenty years.” “A school… for magic kids, and time travelers and stuff?” Luz asked, her eyes widening. “Well it’s more complicated and nuanced than that, but essentially, yes,” Stanford nodded, smiling warmly, “Aside from Teodora, we have plenty of other students who I’m sure you’ll be able to relate with. Most of them are around your age as well, which I’m sure you’ll find to be a bonus.” “...where… is this school exactly?” Camilla asked. “...it’s in Gravity Falls, Roadkill county, Oregon.” “OREGON?!”

Camilla slammed her hands on the island, knocking over her tea. “That’s on the other side of the country! How can you expect me to send her so far away?! I’ve only had her back for two weeks!” “Ma’am, I know this is a lot to ask-” “This is beyond a lot! My baby was gone for months, you can’t expect me to just send her away so soon after getting her back!” “Mamá calm down! Please!” “Ma’am, I assure you, you’ll be able to speak with her whenever you want! We allow 24/7 access to video chat and phone calls, you can contact them at any time, I promise. The only exceptions would be during class or therapy and-” “Que… therapy?” “What…?” “Yes, we have therapy sessions for all of our students, both group and individual. Many of our students went through some very… traumatizing things in their time away, and our therapy sessions are to help them cope with that, as well as readjusting to our own world… and help the ones who can never go back.” “I-” “Wait!” Luz’s interruption had all eyes on her. “...before we continue… I’m not the only one who needs to hear this stuff.” Teodora smirked. “Knew it. The shapeshifter’s here, aren’t they?” Luz didn’t answer, instead, she hurried to the stairs and ran up as fast as she could. She stopped at her bedroom door, needing a moment to breathe… and opened it a crack. “Guys… I know you were probably listening in but… you’re gonna wanna hear this…” She led them to the kitchen, her stomach tying itself into knots… but if these people could actually help… She stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, fiddling with the hem of her hoodie as she spoke. “Okay, so… I’m… not the only one who came here from the Boiling Isles, and uh…” “Nyeh!” King ran ahead and climbed onto the island, grunting and squeaking as he went. “Alright, you better tell us how we can get home! As the king of demons, I command you!” They stared for a moment… before Teodora squealed. “OH LOOK HOW CUTE HE IS!” She began taking pictures immediately, much to the fluffy demon’s annoyance. “Okay, so,” Luz stepped forward, scooping him up into her arms, “This is King, he’s a demon, and my friend. Mr Grumpy here is Hunter, the bird on his shoulder is his palisman, I think, and… uh… you okay with me telling them?” Her lookalike nodded nervously. “That’s Vee… she’s the one from the video. She took my place while I was away, Mamá didn't know I was gone…” “Ooooohhhh, that’s a first,” Teodora approached the two new teenagers, “And this one’s a real cutie~” Hunter leaned back, apparently caught off guard by the comment. King laughed and pointed before hopping down to the floor. “I wouldn’t get too close, he’s Emperor Belos’s righthand man and doesn’t need magic to fight somebody,” Luz warned. As she spoke, Vee made her way over to the young latina, holding onto her arm for security. “Eh, I’ve helped fight kaiju before, Baba Yaga, Medusa and some other really nasty monsters, trust me, I can handle myself,” was Teodora’s answer as she inspected her nails. “...I… can’t tell if that was sarcasm or if you’re being serious… and I’m kinda scared to find out but I also really wanna find out.” “It’s all true! …okay I was astral projecting at the time so my body wasn’t in any danger but still!” Luz… grinned. Hard. “All that stuff’s real then?” “Well, they were, part of my astral projection involves time travel and I was sent back in time, sometime around the 1700’s to the 1800’s I think.” “That… is… so… cool!” “Hehehehehe, you should ask some of the others about their magic, they-” “MAGIC?!” Nobody was expecting all three of the Boiling Isle residents to exclaim simultaneously! “Human, you didn’t say anything about them mentioning magic!” Hunter snapped. “There wasn’t time! I had to hurry you upstairs as fast as I could!” “You guys have magic? Really?” Vee asked, speaking up for the first time. “Well, yeah, of course we do,” Teodora nodded before turning to the two elderly men, “Tell them!” “It is true,” Strickler nodded, “Stanford and myself have both been scholars of magic for quite some time, and quite a few different forms at that.” “Wait… you guys can do magic? Here on Earth?” Luz asked, her voice becoming smaller and smaller, “But… I-I’ve tried using my glyphs here… they didn’t work.” “Well, if these glyphs of yours didn’t work here, there are probably other kinds you could try,” Ford smiled, radiating a strange warmth. “...you mean like spell circles…?” Hunter asked, taking a gingerly step forward. “Ha, no no, there’s more to magic than just that. During my brief time on the Boiling Isles I was never able to get it’s magic to work as a human, but if you did young lady, then I commend your resourcefulness. I’d also love to take some notes on your discovery.” Luz found herself unable to stop grinning, and she could have sworn she saw a glimmer in Hunter’s eyes, and then surprised her by asking, “Can we… can we learn about those other forms of magic?” “Of course!” Stanford strangely reminded her of Santa Claus, and she started to like him, “We welcome all of our students to study magic, science, whatever their hearts desire!” Both of them smiled from ear to ear. “...your school teaches magic…?” In all the excitement, Camilla had almost been forgotten… almost. “Well, yes, as well as science and a class based on our understanding of the different worlds, their categorizations, patterns we’ve found, and the like. Better to let them have a proper understanding of the basics rather than let them try to plunge into it blindly and potentially get their faces blown off.” Camilla went pale. “...tactful, Stanford, very tactful,” Strickler groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, “But his point still stands, and these basic spellworks include healing spells, if it helps set your mind at ease.” “...they can learn such a thing?” “It’s the equivalent of a first aid course, my fiance is the school’s doctor, she used to work in an emergency room and started working there after she enrolled her son,” Strickler explained, and Luz noticed the engagement ring on his finger for the first time. “...a doctor? Not a nurse?” Camilla seemed a bit surprised, “And… your fiance?” “Yes, it’s a bit of a long story but I can assure you, the school is one of the safest places for our students, if you were to consider sending young Luz. She’d also be able to visit whenever you’d want.” “Que…? Whenever I’d want? But… in Oregon?” “Oh we have multiple methods of travel, many of which allow for very quick and easy ways to get wherever we want in the world… thought some are more practical than others.”

He then shuddered as he muttered about something called a “gyre.” “...I… I’m sorry, this is just… a lot to wrap my mind around.” “Believe me, I understand that feeling far too well…” “I… I need a moment…” Camilla placed a hand to her forehead and sat down at the kitchen table, exhaustion apparent on her face. “...Mom…” Luz looked at her, still holding King carefully, “This… this could be our own chance to go back to-” “Luz, I don’t want you to go back!” Her voice echoed throughout the house, startling those who heard it… “...you were gone for months, mija… and I only just got you back… I was worried sick and… Luz my heart can’t take that again.” “Mom… I-I’m sorry… b-but I have to-” “Why?! Why is that place so important, what does it give you that I didn’t, we are family, what-” “THEY’RE FAMILY NOW TOO AND I NEED TO KNOW THEY’RE SAFE!” Now Luz’s voice rang throughout the house. “Mom, I’m sorry about everything, I really am! But the people I left back there became like a family to me as much as you are… and… um…” She looked down, needing a moment to compose herself. “...in… including my… first… first… my first girlfriend!” Camilla stared at her daughter, her eyes growing wide “Wha… your… your first… mija… why didn’t you say anything?” “...I wanted to but… with ev-everything else… the-the others… and-and you being so worried… I kept putting it off…” “...oh Luz…” She hugged her daughter close, tears stinging both of their eyes.

“…this is really that important to you?”

“Mhm… y-you’d move mountains for me… I-I at least need t-to know they’re okay.”

“...if I let you go to this… school… you have to text every day… and video chat… no tricks… a-and to meet th-the friends you make…”

“Of-Of course! And I-I’ll tell you ab-about my lessons an-and ev-everything! An-And I’ll visit all-all the time!”

Camilla stared before hugging her daughter to her chest.

“...Mr. Pines…”

“Please, call me Ford,” he smiled.

“...you’re sure… this place is safe… and she can come home…”

“I promise, if anything should happen, the staff is more than capable to protect our students.”

“And we can’t sell the students themselves short,” Strickler smiled, “If the staff would not be able to assist, then the others would gladly protect one of their own.”

“...but… isn’t that dangerous for them?” Camilla’s grip tightened ever so slightly, but to her surprise, Strickler merely chuckled.

“Well, most threats tend to run at the mere sight of a few of them.”

“Yeah, not many folks tend to stick around when they’re at the wrong end of an energy beam, magic, fire breath, or whatever all else they might see,” Teodora was smiling warmly, “My own mom was worried but there’s nothing for her to worry about, lo prometo.”

“¿Tú hablas español?” Luz asked in quiet surprise, she could feel her mother’s grip loosen.

“Si, I’m actually from Mexico, I only came to the states because of the school.”

“Wait, seriously, Mexico?!”

“I know, right? A lot of people tend to think I’m from California for some reason.”

“As “interesting” as this conversation is,” Hunter interrupted, “Can we get back to the topic of getting us back to the Boiling Isles? Some of us have responsibilities to get back to!”

“Ah, yes, of course, I don’t suppose you’re also under the guardianship of Ms. Noceda, are you?” Strickler asked, noticeably looking at Hunter’s ears.

“No, I’m not, obviously,” he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Do you have a parent or guardian of any type in this world?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then it’s only a matter of if you want to attend the school or not.”

“...I have no interest in learning anything from you humans, I just want to go home.”

He hesitated, only for a second, but he had hesitated before answering.

“Well I’m afraid you will be required to attend classes, at least once you’ve settled in.”

Hunter scowled, “And if I refuse?”

“Then you will receive no assistance from us, and if you come and still refuse…”

His eyes glowed. That wasn’t a reflection from the kitchen lights, they glowed! The sclera became a bright yellow and his irises shined an unnatural shade of red!

“We will have to insist on your coming to class. Am I understood, young man?”

Hunter stared, his own purple eyes wide as he nodded.

“...how did you do that?” Luz asked quietly, a little intimidated, but… that wasn’t normal… that was magic!

“I’m afraid that is information you don’t need to know, young la-”

“He isn’t human.”

His eyes flashed again as he glared at Teodora, who merely rose a brow at the act of intimidation.

“A fellow demon!” King proclaimed in excitement, clambering in front of the teacher, “A clever disguise if I do say so myself!”

“Are… are you a shapeshifter too?” Vee asked quietly.

“...of a sorts, I suppose,” Strickler answered as he adjusted his jacket, “Though I can only take one of two forms. Though I am most certainly not a demon.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m.. a um… I don’t think you would have heard of-Teodora don’t you dare interrupt!”

“Just tell them man! They deserve to know, since they’re gonna be in the middle of all our… everything!”

Ford just sighed as the two began to bicker.

“...are they always like that?” Luz asked.

“Yes, I try to avoid bringing both of them with me when we’re looking for new students, but they were rather insistent,” he sighed.

Camilla watched the argument for a moment before asking, “What is he… exactly?”

“It’s not my place to say, but I can say he’s centuries old-”

“Que?! Centuries?!”

“Yes, and he’s hidden what he is from humanity until very recently. He is a good person, make no mistake about that, and very protective of our students.”

“...would he show us his other form?” Luz asked, a little excited.

“Oh no, not at this time of day!”

“What does that mean?”

“His other form can’t go in the sun, he’d turn to stone if he did.”

That… left both of them very quiet.

“Now…. about enrolling Luz and he friends into the school-”

“We are not friends,” Hunter stated,

“Right… Well, Luz has made her opinion clear, as well as Hunter, what about you other two?”

“Weh!” King hugged the former’s leg, “I go where Luz goes! Ya got that?”

“Hehehe, loud and clear,” Ford smiled, “And you Vee?”

…she paused.

She wasn’t answering.

Why wasn’t she answering?

“Um…ac-actually… would… would it be possible for me to um… stay here? With M-Camilla?”

That… was unexpected.

“I just… we had a close call not too long ago and… I-I don’t w-wanna leave a-and…”

“No need to explain further,” Ford smiled, “We won’t force you to join us, but perhaps you could join in the group therapy sessions? We can set up a webcam for you.”

That made her lift her head.

“It’s clear you’ve gone through something rather traumatic, and while you wouldn’t be living at the school, we still want to help. If you’ll let us.”

He offered out his hand to her, she stared for a moment before slowly taking it and shook.

“Alright then, now, we have some intake documents for you all to look over and sign,” he said, reaching into his coat, “And once that’s all settled, the children can attend the school in say… two weeks time?”

“Two weeks?” Camilla questioned as she took a packet of paper.

“We need time to get their rooms setup, see who’s open to having roommates and who isn’t, the basics. Now, answer the questions as accurately and as honestly as you can.”

The papers were passed out, along with pens, and the sound of writing could be heard. It took some time to get through all the questions, many of them were odd, strange and took more thought than they expected. Luz stopped every now and again to help King with some words and sentences his young mind couldn’t understand, while her mom quietly talked to Strickler and Ford.

By five that evening, the strangers were gone, and the children had signed up to be students at this strange school…

And hopefully, find a way back to the Boiling Isles.

[p-butter-jelly]

MAFIA AU TRIPLETS

Bruno:

-Much of his personality from the movie stayed the same; ie Introverted, Awkward, Loving, etc

-However, training as Daniela's ward and eventually becoming his counsel had done wonders for his self esteem. We see a lot more of his mischievous nature, and can hold up his own in a fight. 

-He has the most distaste for bloodshed, and neither Alma nor Daniela were tripping over themselves to get him in harms way, anyway. Hes still socially anxious, and his involuntary visions make him vulnerable to enemies. His powers are too invaluable to lose. 

-Daniela and Alma made him out to be wildly protective of his family and the people who works under them. 

-The reactions to him vary, but are largely similar to the people of Encanto in the movie. AKA they dont like him because hes creepy as fuck and some of them are superstitious, but hes kind and a good leader, also theyre all too scared shitless of Daniela

-He dresses in a lot of business casual. Comfortable but tailored slacks, button ups and the occasional vest. Leather shoes. 

-Daniela prefers him to tie his hair back, to better see his face (he tends to die behind them), and Alma prefers him to have it in low bun or loose, since he looks more like his sisters that way. 

Julieta:

-Her behavior is also very similar to that in the movie, less reserved tho, and more confident. 

-Still Alma's favourite. 

-Rumored to have been next in line for the throne when Daniela was alive 

-Ruthless and efficient when obeying orders, but she doeesnt do it blindly. Voted most likely to hide things behind Alma and Daniela's backs 

-Is generally disinterested in bloodshed (shes a doctor), so long as it got the job done. 

-Is very fascinated with poisons, becomes even more fascinated when Isa was given her gift and she had a whole phase. Daniela lets her have free reign of experimenting with some lackeys so long as she cures them afterwards. 

-Doesnt actually cook all the time. She makes tinctures or dried herbs that can be added into a dish, and can be sold as an everything medicine. Its most potent for dishes she actually cooks, ofc

-Prefers the most casual ware at home, tracks and sandals and long sleeved shirts, but business casual when shes at work or at Daniela's 

Pepa:

-Is secretly Daniela's favourite when she was alive. She was closer to Daniela compared to Alma, since she was the more understanding of her wild emotions and how to control them 

-She doesnt curb her emotions. Instead, she is almost always shielding herself with an umbrella or wide brimmed hat, both of which gifts from Daniela, and eventually Felíx. Almost because if she forgets herself and rains, its because someone pissed her tf off and is about to die. Or its Felíx. 

-Relished wealth and power the most. Loved jewellery and fancy clothes 

-Violence is not the answer. Violence is the question, and the answer is yes. 

-Prefers subtle weapons. Usually she just hits them with hail or lightning. 

[itsthemoofacewriting]

Just for a while

So I actually used this to get through my writer’s block and take a break from my other WIPs. Before I knew it, it was complete, so I figured I’d share it. It’s a bit drabble-ish and incredibly self-indulgent.

I tried to watch the film to get some of the scenes right, but then I kept getting swept away in the film, so there’s going to be to be differences. Then again, they weren’t a couple in the film, and I’ve added some scenes, so does it really matter?

Summary: Zoro was weak with children, Chopper was a prime example of that, and Nami was no exception. Film Z. Rating: T. Some suggestiveness. 

This can also be found on AO3 and FFN. 

Enjoy!

Zoro’s ears were ringing, screeching in protest at the loud noise from the blast, and his back hurt from being hurled across the ship. It was dull but it was there. But it reminded him that they weren’t in the clear yet and his reflexes were kicking in, grabbing for his swords, or at least trying to. His body was bound in thick green ropes that didn’t given an inch no matter how much he protested.

Smoke filled his nose, and he gave up on escaping for the time being to take in the view. It was hard to believe he’d managed to ignore it for this long. The ship was on fire, black smoke billowing from what seemed like every surface. The galley was gone, completely blown open and surrounded by flames licking their way further across the ship.

The scene was horrific. Sunny was in trouble.

It was hard to decide what to focus on first in all the chaos, but he quickly found something that made his stomach drop.

Luffy being crushed in a Z’s hand.

He looked weak and defeated, it was an awful look on him. Something that had Zoro wanting to grab for his swords to rectify the scene immediately.

Goddamn it. He needed out.

Like a dirty tissue, Luffy was thrown to the floor, apparently not worthy of being killed in a fight. Something Zoro knew would grate him, but at least there wasn’t an immediate threat of a dead Captain.

His gaze flitted quickly around to check everyone else was accounted for and somewhat okay. It stopped on what he presumed was Nami only a few feet in front of him. It looked like her, the orange hair a dead giveaway… but smaller. Much, much smaller. What the hell had been happening out here before? Frowning, he stored that thought away for later.

Shit. He needed to move. Now. He had to do something, they were in trouble and there he was just sitting around. Movement caught his eye and he saw the Cook also bound, struggling to be freed.

Shit, shit, shit.

Now it was really bad, all three of them were down.

Nami caught his struggling and ran over to him before he could call over to her. Her small hands were trying to pry the green vines away from him.

“Do I want to know why you’re a child?” His eyebrows were furrowed as he got a proper look at her. It was Nami alright.

“Not the time. Later,” she huffed, small hands gripping the vines and yanking on them, but they wouldn’t budge. She wasn’t strong enough right now.

And it wasn’t the time it seemed. Because the ship exploded around them as cannon balls relentlessly fired at them and it didn’t help Nami who was still attempting to free him. She was almost knocked off her feet when the ship was hit again and if she went overboard, no one would be there the dive after her. He was getting more and more frustrated by the second.

When he looked to his left, Chopper wasn’t getting much further with the cook.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Usopp, Franky and Brook were just as trapped as him.

And Luffy was furious. It was rare to see his Captain like that. He was back on his feet, quickly recovering, and hanging off the side of the ship, snarling at them to come back. Robin was doing her best to talk him down, but he wasn’t listening and Zoro could feel his already thin temper about to snap. At everything. It had all gone so wrong so quickly.

Him and the cook were useless.

Luffy couldn’t see past his own anger.

Nami was a child.

They’d lost.

But not everything.

Just as he was about to bark at Luffy to get his head on straight, Robin finally got through to him after another cannonball hit their ship and almost capsized them.

Luffy was in action then, freeing Franky, as Robin worked on securing herself and the others.

“Hold on,” Zoro commanded, now looking back down at Nami, who in all the chaos still hadn’t given up. Franky was just about to fire up a coupe de burst and the last thing he needed was her falling off the ship. Especially when he couldn’t go after her.

It didn’t take long for her to understand before she was nodding back and clinging to him as they sailed through the air away from the attack. He was too tied up to properly hold onto her, no matter how much he wanted to.

.

.

.

The mood was off when they landed on the first island available. Luffy’s face solemn as he stood with Franky assessing the damage to the ship. The rest of the crew left them, gathering instead across the water from the ship to discuss what had happened and what their next move was going to be.

He hadn’t been incredibly involved in the discussion; he’d been too focused on Nami. It was unsettling. She was still exactly the same, bold and bossy, but instead it was all packaged into a miniature body.

There was no way around it, she was cute, and it left him in a strange position. Normally he’d snark her, draw her into an argument, especially when she was somewhat upset, to take her mind off of it, but now he didn’t feel like he could. It was almost as bad as picking on Chopper.

Nami said something about being returned to normal, standing up outraged and he should have known that the moment the cook opened his mouth he would be annoyed.

Gritting his teeth, Zoro could feel his patience dangerously thinning. He was used to the idiot cook spouting off nonsense to Nami and that hadn’t changed when they had got together. Normally he’d just ignore it, it was hardly like he was a threat, and she could handle herself. But today already hadn’t been a good day and when the pervert started talking about her body, he was ready to fight.

Unable to resist, he uttered out an irritated, “Creep,” and that seemed to do it. The focus was on him then and Nami started to look comfortable again. As soon as the shoving starting, she was breaking them apart, just before a full-on brawl could start.

Disgruntled, Zoro looked across the waters to see Luffy peeling away from Franky with the old man and when they saw each other, Luffy nodded at him. That was his cue. Zoro stood and motioned with his head for them to start walking.

He slowed for a second, waiting for Nami to catch up before continuing forward. He was only a few strides in when he noticed she was struggling to keep up, stuck in a weird running walk pace. He laughed to himself, she was tiny now, her previously long legs were now replaced with stumps and she was too proud to say anything.  

He had the urge to take her hand and the sudden thought surprised him. They’d never held hands before this, unless it was crowded or she was guiding him somewhere, they were fairly low key with their relationship unless alone. Yet the urge to do it was strong, and really, he knew why.  

When she stumbled, he was bending down without a second thought to pick her up and her legs sitting around his waist on the side of his body. She weighed almost nothing, and, to his surprise, she didn’t resist. Which was fine, great even, because then he didn’t have to think about scrapped knees, but the cooing that started from behind them made the back of his neck feel hot. Zoro wasn’t sure if it was directed at him or Nami… or both of them. But that didn’t stop the red from spreading to his ears.

He had no idea what possessed him to do that, they weren’t very big on public displays of affection normally but Nami didn’t complain as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and determinedly looked everywhere but at his face.

Cute.

He was loath to admit it, lest he be compared to the pervert, but like this she was. He tried to shrug it off, ignoring the loud whispers from behind and act casual.

The next couple of days were going to be hard.

.

.

.

Zoro didn’t like it.

The older man that had been talking to Luffy and Franky had told them all about Z whilst giving them food and drinks. But that wasn’t the problem. They needed to gather more information about Z’s whereabouts, which again, wasn’t a problem but it had led to Nami announcing it would be down to her, Robin, Usopp and Chopper.

Apparently Zoro and the others were too obvious. Liabilities she’d called them. He wasn’t sure how that logic worked out, when they were going with a walking, talking reindeer that could changed forms at whim.

“I should go with you,” Zoro said, watching as Nami tied her sandal.

The group going out to get information already had their change of clothes and were getting changed in a secluded alleyway away from any nosey passers-by’s. She’d already changed into her dress and sandals, all that was left was her hair. They’d be going their separate ways after that.

Nami sighed, eyebrows furrowing as she looked up at him. “We’ve been over this, you’re too obvious.”

“And a talking reindeer and long nose isn’t?” It was a good point.

“Usopp’s great at sneaking and Chopper’s barely noticeable with how tiny he is now.”

“And if things go wrong?” He didn’t want to entertain that thought, but he still did. The island was swarming with marines.

“We have Robin and Usopp, it’s fine,” Nami assured. “Also, it won’t go wrong, I’m great at this.” She was trying to tie her hair into a ponytail but with how much hair she had and her little arms, she struggled.

He knew she was right; she was great at this. She did it long before he came around to back her up. Except she wasn’t herself right now, she was a miniature version of herself.

Zoro held his hand out, silently asking for the hair tie. “You’re not yourself right now.” He gathered her hair, his hands smoothed over her hair a few times to ensure no bumps, he didn’t need her nagging him, and looped the band around a few times.

She checked his work, hands roaming over her hair, searching for bumps that weren’t there before giving the ponytail a tug to tighten it. She didn’t praise him for his efforts, instead she dropped two golden bands in hands and turned to face him. That was his praise, he figured as he picked the bands to start working on the front.

Nami stood patiently in the gap between his legs as he worked. “And that’s exactly why we don’t need you and the others attracting attention.”

She had him there. Brook drew attention because, well, skeleton, that didn’t need to be explained. Zoro and Luffy were too well known, even without his swords and Luffy’s hat, but not so much Sanji…

“Take the cook then.” He was an idiot and had especially got on his nerves today, but he was strong and somewhat reliable.

“And at the first sight of a woman? We don’t have time to find him or reign him in.”

Screw that, he was good for nothing right now.

There was nothing more he could say. He didn’t mean to sound like he doubted his own crewmates, they were strong, and time and time again they’d proved that. But they weren’t their selves right now, they weren’t a whole. They had two much younger members than normal with an island full of marines.

Nami was a magnet for trouble at the best of times and the love cook was the least of his problems. It was common knowledge what could happen to children out in the new world. All it would take was one skilled person, or a moment of distraction and she’d be gone without a word.

The thought of that happening had a knot forming in his stomach and he was about to say that he was going whether they liked it or not, until Nami rested a small hand on his forearm and smiled up at him reassuringly. And like the sap that he was, he melted instantly, all the fight bleeding out of him.

He wasn’t sure if she knew of his weakness yet, but something told him she’d realise soon enough.

.

.

.

“Do you know how close we were to leaving you behind?” Nami berated, arms angrily crossed in front of her as she stood before him, not caring that the train was moving. Except her anger didn’t have the same effect as it usually did in her childlike form.

“You’ve said about five times already,” Zoro replied tiredly.  

Their day had not improved at all. From the information group coming back with a hoard of marines on their tail, to Z shooting Luffy and the four of them almost being engulfed by lava whilst Nami and the others waited anxiously at the train station. Despite her anger now, when she’d seen them running towards the train, lava steadily overtaking the island just behind them, she’d looked relived.

He suspected Luffy still being passed out was to blame for her particularly sour mood, all the crew were worried in the packed train.

“Because you still don’t look like you get it.”

Naturally an angry child telling off an adult attracted attention, although Zoro didn’t really care about that, he just shrugged off the looks and focused on Nami. But when a man opposite from them gave her an appraising look that lingered far longer than acceptable, it put his back up. Zoro sent the man a scathing look that had him shrinking away as he scooped Nami onto his lap.

“I do. We made you worry,” he said, matter-of-factly, not taking his eye off the man until he got up to find somewhere else to sit.

The anger dispersed then, her frame relaxing on his lap as she got comfortable. “I’m going to go grey early; I swear.” She shook her head, but her tone was fonder than anything else.

They lulled into silence, swaying with the movements of the train, and letting the murmur from other passengers fill the quiet. Nami’s gaze slowly took in everyone, from strangers to the crew, one by one until it landed back on Zoro.

“It’s a shame you don’t dress like this more often,” Nami sighed, small hands playing with the collar of his neckline.

“Tch, not worth it. Too many layers.” He was already itching to take off the shirt. “Besides, I had a jacket on this morning.”

“Which is ruined now, do you know how hard it is to find a nice jacket that you’ll wear?”

“Because you insist that I wear a top underneath, pick either a top or a jacket, I’ll only wear one,” he told her, but the likelihood was he’d end up removing that too.

Whilst she was fussing over his jacket, trying to wipe some dirt off the fabric, her arm caught his attention. There were faint marks starting to bloom on her upper arm. He gently caught her arm and turned it to get a better look.

It was finger marks, four clustered together and a single one opposite.

Someone had grabbed her.

He’d guessed something had gone wrong earlier, based on the hoard of marines that had chased them all the way back to the rest of the crew, but he’d just thought a marine had finally recognised one of them. Not that she’d been grabbed and almost hauled way. It was exactly what he’d been worried about.

He looked at her sharply and she looked back at him warily.

“Are you okay? Does it hurt?” He’d focus on her first, he couldn’t exactly do anything with his anger when the person that’d hurt her was long gone.

“Don’t worry about it, I made it worse by resisting.” And Nami must have sensed it was the wrong thing to say because she quickly added, “I’m here, aren’t I?”

That didn’t help his anger, but she was right. She told him Robin came after her as soon as she’d seen, and it soothed him at least. Another example of how dependable his crewmates were.

He rubbed gently along her arm, smoothing over the marks and he wasn’t sure if it was for her benefit or his.

“You’ve been very affectionate,” she said observationally.

And there it was. His hand stuttered on her arm for a second before he caught himself and continued, trying not to react to what she’d said. It’d taken far longer than he’d thought for someone to say something, but there was nothing he could say in his defence and the last thing he was going to do was agree, so he stayed silent instead. Not that that would help him.

Nami smirked up at him as he refused to make eye contact or speak, but that didn’t stop her from continuing, “Who’d have believed the fearsome pirate hunter was soft around all children. I thought it was just Chopper.”

“I’m not, we’re together, it makes sense.” That probably didn’t sound appropriate to anyone eavesdropping, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“You don’t normally hold my hand or pick me up… And you’ve been much more obliging.”

“It was convenient. You’ve got stumpy legs and I’ve got places to be,” he easily lied.

She didn’t look convinced. “And now?”

He had nothing to say to that. He was the one that had dragged her onto his lap, his arms still firmly wrapped around her to ensure she didn’t fall if there was a sudden movement… and to let people know she wouldn’t be an easy grab. He tried not to think about what a sap he’d looked like since she’d been turned into a child, but his mind still unhelpfully played it on a reel. How he’d caved whenever she so much as looked at him, offered to do things for her without her having to nag him, didn’t argue with her.

How embarrassing. His ears burned.

“It’s cute that you tried to hide it.”

It was the glint in her eye that gave her away that made him realise.

“You knew?” He asked, but he already knew the answer.

“I had a hunch, I knew from the moment you first picked me up,” she smiled up at him evilly, all innocence gone from her face.

She was the devil. Mislabelled into an adorable, tiny package.

“It’s almost worth staying like this, you’re as easy as Sanji-kun,” she looked downright smug and there was no doubt in his mind that she was imagining having the both of them wrapped around her finger.

That had him gritting his teeth in disgust, to be compared to him. He was about to say something caustic, just to wipe that smug grin off her face, until her eyes turned large, and she looked up at him remorsefully, lip quivering.

She wasn’t sorry at all, he knew that, but those glossy eyes stopped the foul words in their tracks. He huffed, annoyed, and looked the other way as Nami laughed at him. But he didn’t remove her from his lap.

Robin gave him an amused look.

.

.

.

She found him in the crow’s nest late in the day, head popping up through the entrance and pulling herself up when she saw him.

“How’s Luffy?” He asked, as she walked towards him.

“Quiet, but he’ll be alright.”

The mood on board had been weird since they’d left Piriodo, everyone subdued, and it was mainly due to Luffy’s lack of cheerful energy. Everyone had pretty much kept to themselves since they set off. It’d be back to normal tomorrow, after everyone had slept it off.

She stood in front of him from where he was sat on the bench and he braced himself when he caught the look on her face. He didn’t like it.

“Am I still allowed to sit in your lap? Or was that offer only there when I was a child?” She teased, eyes dancing in amusement.

Yup. He knew it. He rolled his eye; he’d be putting up with those jabs for a while.

She took his silence and sour expression as affirmation to her first question, but instead of sitting on his lap like she had back on the train, she straddled his lap, a leg going either side.

It was a fitting example really, of the difference between her as a child and being back to her usual age. The occasional glimpses of innocence on her face as a child were long gone, along with the soft rounded features of youth that had turned him into a fool. In its place were sharper angles and cunning eyes that displayed a coquettish expression that had a very different effect on him- one that made his blood heat for her.

As adorable as she was as a child, he’d missed her. He’d missed this version. No matter how infuriating she could be.

“Happy to have me back?” She questioned, but her tone suggested she already knew the answer.

His arms settled dangerously low on her hips and his smirk was challenging as he replied, “Now I can argue with you and not feel bad.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said and laid on her best doe-eyed look. Her eyes shifted in an instant, from seductive to innocent, all glossy and defenceless, something that didn’t fit the current position they were currently in.  

He’d never let her know that even as an adult, that look still had him. Perhaps in a different way now, but he’d keep it hidden through grimaces and sharp words, otherwise he’d never know peace again.  

“You’ll have to try harder than that,” he snorted, hands pulling her body tighter against his and the time for bickering had come to an end.

Their kiss was easy, almost leisurely, as they basked in the feeling of each other’s lips, of being back to normal. Although it wasn’t something that stayed that way for long. Gradual pecks started to linger, searching for something more as lips slid against the others and closed mouths parted as hands moved with intent, to places far from innocent.

There was no rush, they had all evening without disruptions, so that was why he pulled away to say:

“Besides, I prefer this angry, nagging version.”

What he hadn’t missed was how strong her punches were.

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

I mean, jokes on Zoro, he’s always been wrapped around her finger. He just put up less of a fight when she’s small.

In case I go quiet again, I’ll leave you with this- I’ve been writing something that I’m very excited about and can’t wait for you all to see, but until then, enjoy this ZoNami crumb.

As always, forgive any errors.

Thanks for reading.