#she's usually short tempered and grouchy with the all

[putuponpercy]

Digging through my Google docs and found the fic I started of Edward and Lady Coppernob's last conversation before he left for Sodor and I am,, so soft for this part

[hooter-n-company]

💥Kron?

What emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Most of them, to be honest. Kron usually keeps his emotions bottled up to avoid appearing vulnerable in front of others (especially humans), so even when he’s in a good mood, he still tries to keep up his stoic n’ stern act. It’s rare to see a reaction beyond a quick chuckle and a smirk, but Izimba is always determined to get him to loosen up.

Despite his attempts to suppress his emotions, Kron has a short temper and is very prone to fits of rage. He knows he has to keep his cool after all the problems his anger caused in his youth, but the fear and prejudice directed at him by humans can easily set him off. Even by default he can be seriously grouchy and standoffish, but he won’t get seriously mad unless provoked.

It’s nigh impossible getting Kron to open up enough to shed a tear. Izimba is the only one to succeed at it. She may be a huge goofball, but she is a master of emotional support when it really counts.

[teklarn]

𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓶𝔂 𝓫𝓸𝔂𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭 - 𝓴. 𝓫𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓰𝓸𝓾

character(s): katuski bakugou x gn!reader 

a/n : y’all this was gonna be for kirishima bc i love possessive kiri but like it works so well with bakugou. first part will be from third pov, following parts will be from second pov (reblogs are greatly appreciated !! <3)

summary: bakugou x gn!reader. they have feelings for one another but have no idea how to express them, however y/n has someone pining for their attention. 

genre: uhh idk a lil bit teeny-weeny dash of angst i guess 

warnings: mild cursing, possessive bakugou, mutual pining, jealousy, aged-up to third year, possessive y/n, love triangle (square?), implied manga spoilers but not directly stated, tiny bitta tokage slander (sorry lol), slow burn romance (like SLOWWW SLOW BURN), lowkey enemies to lovers, like a lotta tension between bakugou and y/n 

word count: 3k

UNEDITED w/ minimal or no typos. i shoved it into grammarly’s ass and prayed for the best okay 

here’s pt 2 loves <3

- - - 

y/n was used to picking and their skin, irritated at the girls fawning over bakugou. they were always on the sidelines, watching from afar, jealousy warping their heart. could these stupid girls not see that bakugou didn’t even care for their attention? 

this time it was setsuna tokage who was begging for his eyes on her. y/n assumed it started in their first year when they’d been put against one another when the classes still had a clashing rivalry. (they still did, much more tame now, however.) 

she leaned forwards, tugging on his short sleeve. bakugou’s uniform jacket was slung over one shoulder. he’d lost a lot of his angry demeanor from when he was younger, however it was easy to tell when he was pissed. it was inevitable he wasn’t going to lose his temper entirely. 

it was easy to ignore the girls—most of the time, at least. what was ticking y/n off the most was the fact that bakugou didn’t seem pissed at all. his face was neutral, almost like the perfect mirror of todoroki on a daily basis. his eyes were not fired up in his usual ‘get the hell off of me’ manner. he was relaxed. 

it didn’t seem like he reciprocated tokage’s feelings, however he wasn’t doing anything to get her off him and it was pissing y/n off to no end. 

her sensuous lips were pushed into a slight pucker as she spoke, arching her back in a manner that made it appear much more provocative than she probably intended. 

bakugou stood there, eyes flicking from her grasp on his sleeve and back up to her eyes. he didn’t say anything, didn’t move, only kept looking her up and down. not in a romantic way, of course. right? 

y/n scoffed at themselves. they swallowed the lump in their throat, shoving down the pinging envy in their chest with it. why wasn’t he reacting? 

heat rushed to y/n’s cheeks. why do i care? 

tokage was nearing his face. she didn’t have any intent to press her lips to his, which y/n was more than glad for. 

y/n had come to the conclusion they had feelings for the explosive boy weeks ago. perhaps they always had, but now that they were fully conscious of them... gosh, it was frustrating. 

“you’re staring again.” 

y/n turned to see kirishima, the only other person who knew about their feelings for bakugou. he’d lost the twinkle in his eyes after first year. he’d picked up a dominating sneer and a withering glare reserved for anyone who desired to cross his friends. everyone at UA had after what went down. it was a shock most of them survived anything. 

“so?” y/n snapped, shoving their hands away and kicking a pebble before them. kirishima and y/n continued their walk through the courtyard. 

“so it makes you look creepy.” 

“no, it doesn’t. he didn’t even notice me.” 

kirishima snapped his fingers. “partially my point here. that’s bakugou katsuki, you really think he’s going to notice you?” 

“excuse me?” 

kirishima pursed his lips, twiddling his thumbs. “i didn’t mean it like that, y/n. it’s just...well, he has so much to work for.” 

y/n raised a brow, questioning his nervous antics. 

he continued. “bakugou works hard. probably the hardest worker in UA aside from midoriya. and it’s bakugou. he doesn’t really see a point in relationships. you know that.” 

“it’s not like i’m looking for anything with him, though. gosh, kirishima, you’re acting like this is some school girl crush.” 

he tilted his head, giving y/n a look that screamed, are you really sure it’s not though? 

y/n huffed out a breath, crossing their arms. they’d already vomited up their feelings, why all of a sudden call it a crush? sure, it was a tiny crush that was no larger than the brain of a dinosaur. 

“i can swear that it isn’t, kirishima. you’re looking too deep into things,” y/n defended once again. 

the red-head held his hands up in surrender, sucking his lips in to avoid another snarky comment slipping out. 

the two looked up at the towering building that had been home to them for the past three years: Heights Alliance. 

during their second year, the teachers had settled with having the dorms set up in a way that allowed the students’ rooms to be set up in a gender-neutral fashion. they’d been able to select new dorms beside whomever they wished. rooming next to kirishima was a blast, but the only person bakugou wanted to room next to was him. 

mina had moved in next to you, and kaminari to her right, and sero right across from y/n. 

y/n had no issue being squished between a group notorious for their goofiness and ability to never take anything seriously, however (especially on weekends) they were exceptionally loud to the point they were sure China could hear the blaring music. 

friday was finally going to be over in a few hours. y/n felt a giddiness well up inside them, anticipating the weekend. it’d been a rough few days, for everyone, not just them. 

class 1A had been bombarded with assignments and pop quizzes. y/n was lucky they finished it all in class. some of the homework was finished when they’d sacrificed their precious free time to get it done, but in the end, it was worth it all. 

y/n let their bag sag down their arms as they entered Heights Alliance. 

- 

bakugou had just been asked out on a date. for the third time. first time, he’d denied. second time, he had to shove tokage off him. third time, he’d calmly accepted her offer, and she’d skipped away with more than a smile. 

she’d squeezed his bicep, gave him a wink and an unnecessary peck on the cheek that bakugou had wiped off the moment she turned her back. he was now in his bathroom and, despite her not wearing any lipstick, he was scrubbing his cheek raw so that the skin was a blotchy red. 

the date was tonight, and he found himself wanting to go, and questioning why he accepted in the first place. 

bakugou forgot about tokage the second he won that match his first year and tossed her in the cage. he only noticed her when she and her group of friends giggled and passed by. (it was mostly her chortling, but whatever.) 

he continued rubbing his cheek aggressively with a scratchy towel. he was repulsed by how he had stood there without bothering to snap at her to leave him alone for the third time. 

instead, bakugou’s mind had buffered, and if he was in a video game, he had surely glitched. he should probably just tell tokage he didn’t want to go anymore. in fact, he never wanted to go in the first place and wants to jump out his window and escape. 

it was almost comedic. the thought of him going out on a date? goodness, he wanted to throw up. 

as he continued scrubbing the cloth along his cheek, bakugou found himself more than grateful for how much his quirk made him sweat. if it wasn’t for the nitroglycerin-like substance he produced, his skin would be scratched and dried up. 

a knock sounded at his door. silence came, until the knock found its way to his ears. a set of three knocks, then five, then it was a needy banging. 

whoever was on the other side heard his audible groan and shuffling feet dragging across the floor, because they knocked a lot harder. 

he swung the door open, hinges crying out. 

bakugou’s upper lip curled in disgust. tokage twirled her hair around a finger, eyelashes sticking together with mascara. “katsuki,’ she greeted. 

his eyes narrowed on her. “don’t call me that.” 

“what should I be calling you, then? baby? or honey?” 

oh yes, bakugou wanted to vomit. what even was her name again? whatever, it didn’t matter. “lizard teeth, listen. i-” 

“lizard teeth? why would you address me like that?” 

“because i don’t know your damn name, alright? i don’t-” 

“tokage. need me to spell it out for you?” 

“no. shut up. i need to-” 

“you should remember it, because i was one of the few who got in through recommendations, remember?” 

“and yet here you are in class 1B. can you shut the hell up now?” 

“well, you’re just being shitty.” 

“why are you here, tokage.” more of a demand than a question, as bakugou’s questions always came across if he ever bothered to ask them. 

“because, for our date tonight, I need to pick up some things and I really hope you’re up for coming with me.” 

“no.” 

“please?” 

“no. stop pushing. and I don’t want to-” 

“come on, grouchy.” tokage activated her quirk, one scale slipping into his dorm and pushing him towards her. she gripped the collar of his shirt and grinned. “come with me for a short bit, and I’ll count that as our date, m’kay?” 

bakugou opened his mouth once more to protest, but tokage silenced him by pressing one slender finger to his lips. 

“I’m fully aware you don’t want to go on this date with me.” 

he relaxed, shoulders slumping. if bakugou was younger, if he was even just a little bit more stubborn as he had been before, perhaps he’d be out of this mess already, or never in it in the first place. 

tokage let her hand fall back to her side—both of them. the scale returned to her lower calf; the jet-black leggings she wore now had a perfect hole in them.

“do you think i’m dense, bakugou?” 

“then why ask me out?” bakugou felt himself leaning back. 

“because if i can get under the skin of that stupid little...what do you like to call them? stupid little extras? yeah, that stupid extra who can’t stop fluttering googly-eyes at you every minute, then i’ll be perfectly content.” 

“who the hell are you talking about?” 

“alright, so you are oblivious.” tokage took a step back and crossed her arms. “are you both unaware of how you’ve both been pining for each other’s attention? y/n, that classmate of yours.” 

“...y/n?” 

“do you know their name or do i have to describe in excruciating detail what they look like?” 

“no, no i know who you’re talking about. but you’ve got to be shitting me, alright? there’s nothing there.” 

“i’m from 1B, and if there’s something going on in 1A, monoma is going to tell us.” 

“shithead, get out of my face.” 

“you still have to go out with me.” 

“why the f-” 

“because, bakugou. if you don’t, i’ll be sure to make sure y/n knows about your feelings, whether they’re real or not.” 

“why would they care? more importantly, why would you care?” 

- 

y/n kicked their feet up and down, a lollipop in their left hand, phone in their other. kirishima was in his bathroom while y/n was playing a game on their phone. they’d stashed away a bunch of candy back in their dorm and had snatched a handful for the two of them to share while hanging out in kirishima’s. 

he was currently combing a hand through his hair, and then proceeded to rummage through his cabinets. 

kirishima emerged with his lips puckered. “want to come to the  drug mart with me?” he stuck a thumb to his door. 

“what for?” y/n didn’t take a glance away from their phone. 

“this.” he chuckled softly. when y/n looked up, kirishima had two fingers parting his hair. the roots were a jet black, just growing long enough to become the slightest bit visible. 

“you’re going to fry your hair.” they were already shoving their phone away and tossing their sucker into the trash bin. 

“it’s a monthly tradition to do this, y/n. it would be fried by now if i was bad at it,” he joked, tapping his roots once more. 

y/n laughed alongside him as they exited the room. 

-

it was late, and the lights made everything feel like it was set in a world of backrooms. when the rest of the world is sleeping, it is more than quiet, and nothing feels real―possibly in the best ways. 

kirishima scratched at his chin, staring intensely at the hair-dye boxes lined neatly on the shelf before them. 

y/n tapped their foot, not out of impatience, but because of the creep staring at them through the aisle. yes, through. 

between the boxes of hair dye and scattered makeup products, the beady eyes of setsuna tokage could be seen. she smirked when she tugged her hostage closer. 

bakugou’s height had shot up to around six feet in the past two years, so all that was visible was his chest and the black sweatshirt loosely hanging off it, however his grumbling and stream of colorful language was unmistakable. it was him. 

“you okay?” 

y/n’s head snapped to their friend. “what?” 

“you seem on edge. is something wrong?” 

“nothing. nothing is wrong.” 

“you sure? if you need to talk, i’m here.” 

“yeah, yeah, i’m okay. don’t worry.” 

“alright.” kirishima held up a box, wiggling it in one hand. “got it.” he gave y/n a toothy grin. 

“good.” y/n snatched his arm up and dragged him along. 

“woah,” kirishima released a breathy chuckle, tugging his arm back. “what’s got you in a hurry?” 

“nothing,” y/n said, shrugging. “just wanna get home.” 

gosh, kirishima knew them too well. his eyes squinted just a bit, and there was that playful grin lingering on his lips, just ghosting over his face, barely visible to anyone who didn’t know him. instead of pointing out the obvious, which was standing just a few aisles behind, kirishima decided to play around. “goodness, honey, the kids are going to be fine back home.” 

heat raced to y/n’s face. “what?” 

kirishima winked. “it’s nice that you care about them, but care about me a little, would’ya? i miss you, too,” he said a tad louder. 

this caught bakugou’s attention. his eyes clashed with y/n’s, and he didn’t look away until y/n did. even a few seconds after, y/n still felt the blaring heat of his gaze upon them.

kirishima slung an arm around his friend, enjoying their flustered image. of course, he would never even think about pushing boundaries. the thought never crossed his mind, but he knew they’d let him know if they were uncomfortable. 

when y/n looked back as kirishima led them away, bakugou’s jaw was clenched, and his eyes were alight with jealousy. 

of course, y/n didn’t notice the emotion flaring. 

tokage smirked, clutching his loose sleeve. 

y/n looked back to their friend, and kirishima flashed them another knowing smile. bakugou was getting antsy with his best friends’ hands all over y/n. well, not all over, but a tap on the shoulder was enough. 

despite the way kirishima’s face dropped, y/n swiped his arm away and wandered over to tokage a bit more angrily than intended. they glanced up to bakugou, who was reaching up to retrieve something for tokage. 

“what brings you guys here? didn’t expect to see you.” inside, y/n was screaming. gosh, their heart was angry. 

“just running errands together.” 

bakugou? going for errands? with tokage? 

“cool, cool,” y/n said, nodding. “i was doing the same with kirishima.” they paused, awkward silence filling the space. 

impatient as ever, bakugou tossed the item into tokage’s basket and clicked his tongue. 

y/n didn’t know why. why were they being so stubborn? despite their protesting thoughts and their entire body screaming to hold back, y/n wrapped their fingers around bakugou’s wrist. 

“actually, bakugou, i have something to ask you. i need your opinion on it. you’re smart, right?” y/n’s voice lifted at the end. although they couldn’t see the, what the hell are you doing face kirishima was making behind them as subtly as possible, they could definitely feel the glare burning into their back. 

“tch, of course i’m smart, shithead.” 

“good.” 

“we’re actually kind of in a rush,” tokage spat out, snappier than usual. 

“do you think i fight okay? i need someone�� with a perspective like yours to know if i do.” 

“what kind of question is that, dumbass? i don’t care if you can fight well or not, just so long as i can beat the shit outta ya.” 

tokage let out a low growl. 

y/n smirked, hand still around bakugou’s wrist. “i’d like to know if i can beat you, then, so you can tell me if i’m good or not.” 

ohgoshohgoshohgosh where was this coming from? 

bakugou squinted. he leaned in closer, like he didn’t hear them. “speak up.” 

y/n knew he heard them correctly, but he got awfully close. 

feeling a little sneaky themselves, y/n ghosted their fingers over his strong jaw, tilting his head closer so they could speak clearly into his ear. “let’s train together,” y/n said, staring tokage dead in the eyes. 

it was a stupid rivalry, really. they’d both been accepted through recommendations. they’d been friends all throughout middle school, and yet when y/n made it into 1A, tokage felt it a necessity to excel at everything and rub it in their face. no way was y/n letting them get away with this. 

“i want to see how strong i am.” y/n let their voice drop just a bit. “you’re strong, right?” 

“are you taunting me?” bakugou said, voice nearly a whisper. he still hadn’t moved from leaning down and hadn’t bothered to move y/n’s fingertips from his jaw. 

“absolutely not.” y/n sent a small grin in the direction of their rival. “let’s just see who can beat who. we’ve never been against one another like this.” 

tokage huffed, tugging bakugou back. his eyes were softened when they met y/n’s, and there was simmering, small grin on his face. 

tokage, however, looked less intrigued. “he’s not your boyfriend.” 

y/n shrugged, already backing away. they spread their arms in a mockery of surrender. “he’s not yours, either.” 

[clownpi]

Okay so another new AU idea (hold off on throwing those tomatoes at me further distracting myself from current fics, haven’t written anything yet).

Lightcannon, but baseball. Inspired by the plethora of sports anime I’ve watched (special shout out to Big Windup) and the absolutely iconic “I Don’t Dance” musical number from HSM2

Hear me out.

Jinx is a pitcher with incredibly good aim, but an absolutely awful attitude that ends up pissing off both the opposing team and her own. Always joking and trying to start shit, the best at getting under someone’s skin, with a terrible temper if you managed to trigger it. No catcher has stuck with her very long due to basically never listening to their calls and sometimes straight up losing games because of it, whenever they try discussing it she’ll brush them off or snark at them. After starting a major fight in middle school she got banned from the baseball team (no one missed her) and enters highschool thinking of ditching the sport all together, not helped by there being no girls team there (her old school out in the country didn’t care and put all them together just so they’d have enough to play) and the actually baseball team wanting nothing to do with her after hearing the rumours + she’s a girl. Also short gremlin energy, but that’s just Jinx being Jinx.

Lux is a catcher known for her easy going attitude and nickname “Gentle Giant” that’s able to deal with almost any pitcher, yet never ends up forming long-term battery with any of the people she’s played with. She also never really formed any relations to her other teammates, keeping to herself in most cases and just kinda ‘being there’ blending into the background. Very passive even when things grew serious, making her teammates get upset at her not “taking things serious”. She is buff tall in this and will pick up Jinx like a temperamental kitten when she tries starting shit.

Relationship is still kinda rough, but they balance each other out where Jinx finds she can’t will herself to try starting things with Lux because she never gets a reaction (constantly muttering “buzzkill” about Lux). Lux is usually able to calm Jinx down before she explodes (or literally just carries her away) or act as a “Jinx translator” for the rest of the team. On Lux’s end, Jinx makes her be less passive of a person and learn to speak her mind better. Jinx is also able to forcefully drag her out of her shell and acts as the teams “Lux translator”.

Other tidbits:

Vi notices that while Jinx makes a big show about not caring that she can’t play anymore she actually does and is the one to instigate forming a team by dragging her girlfriend Caitlyn into being the teacher advisor for them (she knows nothing about baseball and is an English teacher) while convincing Sevika (former pro that lost her pitching arm in a car crash, was the one that initially got Jinx interested in baseball as a kid) to come in as their grouchy gruff couch.

Silco doting step-dad of Jinx that funded her interest in baseball (and also covering up her outbursts) that Vi begrudgingly lets fund the team itself where the school can’t. Helps design their uniforms, get the busing, etc. Goes to all games to record Jinx’s plays and just overall spoils her a lot (part of her attitude problem likely comes from him...).

Vander their adopted dad who is trying his best dealing with both them and the extraness of Silco, knows very little about baseball (he was a drama kid in school) but still makes sure to go to any games he can. Tries to help the team where he can, usually by providing them meals. One of the few people that Jinx will actually listen to, balancing out Silco’s actual inability to not spoil her rotten.

Caitlyn loves her girlfriend dearly and easily caves to her, becoming the advisor for the team and (in an attempt to not appear incompetent) begins doing intensive research into the subject of baseball, far more than is actually needed since Vi literally just needed her to rubber stamp things. Vi loves her though and says nothing. Knows how to deal with Jinx from years of having to do just that. Jinx is weak to her stern ‘Mom’ tone as she puts it.

I need at least 11-12 girls for the team so currently I got:

Seraphine (Of course): Newbie with lots of passion, team cheerleader that helps hold it together. She brings in her friend group onto the team because they worry about her.

This would lead into Akali, Evelynn, Ahri, and Kai’sa coming in (at least I think).

Kinda want Janna on the team just so Jinx will constantly joke about her being an old lady (”Holy shit, who let granny sign up? You sure she’s an actual student? Not some ghost that just haunts the school since its founding?”) because she looks mature for her age (or she actually is, who knows lol, just a running gag of her making weirdly dated references or them being unable to find much in the way of student records/her being evasive).

Unsure about who else to round out the team, might just throw in characters I like playing in game or ones I like the personalities for. Like you could have Kayle and Morgana, two twins that fight about everything. Or have Leona and Diana (even just have one of them join while the other is the supportive girlfriend). Lots of things.

[prof-peach]

Hey Prof, I need your advice.

My sister recently decided she didn't wanted her bulbasaur anymore (she got him on a whim about a month ago) and gave him to me, he is quite violent and tends to attack when I try to get close to him.

Now, that wouldn't be a huge problem, but my Purrloin has gotten hurt trying to befriend him, she's quite outgoing and never really liked fighting (we enjoy contests so she knows a few more flashy attacks), so she couldn't even defend herself properly.

I don't want to give up on him and my local rescue center is filled with Bunearies (you know, after Easter kids don't want their Bunny anymore) so they can't take him in right now, any advice in how I can go about this situation?

Sounds to me like you have a tricky little dude on your hands. So you're not battle orientated which will make this harder, Bulbasaur in the wild are actually quite combat minded to defend their families and territory, and a lot of their herds consist of strict hierarchy based on power and skill, often led by older, fully evolved members of their group. 

Before you take any actions to befriend them, its worth noting that any pokemon who comes into your care showing aggression is usually doing so for one or two reasons that are pretty universal for any species. Fear being the main issue with pokemon who have been ditched, if a pokemon is unwell, if it feels exposed, if it is unsure of you or your home, your partners, it may lash out because it is afraid. Even what looks like pure anger can stem from a fear. Of course some individuals are just full of rage, its not unheard of, but for the most part it comes from somewhere else. 

For a moment, take the time to put yourself in this pokemons shoes. It was chosen, with hopes and ambitions of its own, by your sister, a stranger to them, and for whatever reason they were cast aside. This reason may be unclear to the pokemon, it may be unfair, unkind, or even without malice just out of pure indifference. No matter the reason, this pokemon has been left behind by a trainer it at one point probably wanted to try to get along with. I don’t know what your sister may or may not have done, or provided for the bulbasaur, but it will help you understand how its feeling, if you were to ask her about their relationship prior to you receiving the pokemon. If it has always been aggressive and angry, i’d seriously consider talking to it about release, not rehome. 

We humans have a preconceived notion that pokemon are pets and things to keep with us. This may be true for some sure, but not every pokemon wishes to be a captive to a human, they may want more for themselves, and wish for a free life with their own kind. We cannot put our wants and desires above that of the pokemons, so you two need to have a talk, at a respectful distance for safeties sake, to see what the Bulbasaur feels they may want. These are herd pokemon, born and bred to be with their own kind, if not a larger group, if its lonely, if it wants to go home, to start a family, or simply to not be held in a ball as some creature to be owned, then you as its current carer must give it what you can. You can always find another pokemon who wants to be your partner, but you cannot give back lost years to a pokemon who has lived a life its unhappy with. Treat them with respect, and be open and honest. At the end of the day we have a chance to help pokemon, and forcing what we want onto them is a hinderance, and will lead to them feeling unsatisfied and bitter in the long run. 

Some pokemon lash out due to the process of being handed off to someone else, trust is earnt, not always just simply given to whoever holds the pokeball. Remember this as you move forward, and try to keep your other pokemon away from them, Bulbasaur are territorial species, and have to accept pokemon into their families before simply allowing them to come and go freely into their personal space. Despite their grouchy natures at times they usually do have a morally positive compass, and defend with ferocity when they love something. Perhaps in you showing genuine concern for their welfare and future, offering them not what you want, but instead what they want, they may give you a chance to get closer, but take baby steps, and try to be their friend above all else. I bet they're feeling pretty lonely right now. 

Its worth sharing interests with the pokemon, talk about contests, see if they're interested, some pokemon have a predisposition for this, others have no interest and prefer more battle based lives, or even peaceful non-competitive existences. no amount of pressure will change a pokemon’s nature, and some just aren't cut out for the fine art of showmanship that contests require. You can however use powerful attacks in showy ways, so theres always hope that they could enjoy it, if you can work with them to their strengths. 

If possible, work to getting them outdoors, cooping grass types up can lead to stroppy, testing personalities, many thrive in the outdoors, he may need some serious outside time to compensate for the lack of exercise and natural stimulation they may have not been getting prior to your ownership. There are plenty of areas in public that are much like tennis courts, areas of space you can book for a set amount of time too exercise difficult pokemon, these locations are often secure facilities, both outdoors and indoors, to suit a range of species. find one that has outdoor facilities and book a few hours per week to go there, increasing the time whenever possible. This exercise and time with you may help to find common ground, and topics that you and the bulbasaur can bond over. This can be anything from battles, to sun bathing, playing sports, games, swimming, running or digging, and everything in between. Bulbasaur naturally are great foragers and tend to like to snaffle about in long grass and shrubland, hiding treats like berry slices in a secure environment is good enrichment and can tire the pokemon out. a tired pokemon is usually a little less aggressive, having lower energy levels and less want to expend attacks. this process also associated you with something fun, and your scent will be on the treats too, so they'll know you were the one to provide this activity for them.   

I’d also take plenty of time to observe the bulbasaur, as your sister got them on a whim, they probably had no prior knowledge of the species, or how to correctly care for them. In a month, a health complaint could have begun to show, so observe their colouration, feet, walking gait, sleeping patterns, feeding habits, and general behaviour. Excess scratching, heavy breathing, or unusual shaking or moving can suggest a health condition is starting to take form. Most can be helped if caught early, but some illnesses give the pokemon discomfort, and can lead to snappy tempers and irritability. It could be that this individual is in pain, or finding life difficult due to its health, which can cause a lot of hostility as i’m sure anyone would agree. It can suck to be sick!

This species can be won over if you can prove you have a skill of worth to them. This is the case with a lot of pokemon, having respect for something they cannot do, and learning that they need things from you can lead to them at least tolerating us humans. Its a foot in the door. A trick i like t use with particularly difficult bulbasaur is to give them their fav food, whatever it is, then put it in a clear container the pokemon cannot open. They have no thumbs, and their vines though dexterous, aren't able to open every kind of container. The pokemon will want whats inside, and be unable to access it. they will eventually give up out of frustration. this is where you come in. enter the space, don’t let your pokemon approach as this can be threatening, and open the container. leave it on the floor open, making sure they've watched you get the thing open. They can then approach and enjoy their fav food, all thanks to you and those wondrous thumbs you have. repeating this process yields good results, and starts a mutual relationship of tolerance and acceptance between you and a bulbasaur. Most will accept they want the food more than they want you gone, and you provide something they can’t get to. whatever you do, don’t let them see that you were the one to lock the food up in the container. Get a friend to do it, or do it in the room, and leave it in place on the floor, before allowing the bulbasaur to enter and investigate the item. If they see you're the one doing it, the trick is foiled, and your back to square one. Eventually this does tend to lead to the pokemon becoming less stressed with you around them, and eventually it leads to trust, and even friendship. This trick is good to use to get them use to you, once they're ok with you being around them because of your use to them, they may start to take food from you directly, engage in play, or even just sit and tolerate company for short periods of time. Do not expect this to be quick, but it does usually do the trick. 

Regardless, i do have concern that the pokemon may want to be with its own, should you discuss this and find they're not interested in being housebound and a pet, feel free to send them our way, we had exactly this situation in mind when setting up the islands facilities, and have extensive locations designed with grass pokemosn needs at the forefront. Theres a small herd of about 12 bulbasaur evolutions that live north of our labs, no people see them, they are happy as a unit, and are left alone to go about their lives, with the only interactions between humans being us giving them their yearly health check, or should we spot them with an issue, we may intervene. They live away from others and pretty much free, in a poacher safe environment. Its not ideal, we like to keep pokemon in areas they come from, with people who love them, and you show great concern for the pokemon so it would be a shame to have to let them go, BUT sometimes thats just life, and theres nothing to be done about it other than accepting that the pokemons wants come first. They may just be mistrusting so try everything else first, and see how you go. hopefully you’ll yield some results from this all. Good luck out there trainer. 

[never-surrender]

@venomfell​ || Kiyo & demon!Iguro

She loved her friend ... no matter if he bore his teeth at her at every meeting, no matter if they fought and he spewed hateful things at her, he was still her friend in her mind. It was delightful to be able to visit him, and on a whim? that was exactly what Kiyo had decided to do. What the daughter of Muzan wanted, she got, after all. Sure, she had noticed that the creature that lorded over her friend was ... rather cruel ... but she didnt’ think too much of it beyond that of a typical demon being grouchy and short tempered. 

What she didn’t expect ... was to come upon the sight of her friend bleeding and injured on the ground, his blood coating the serpent demon that lorded over him as she stood over top of him. With her presence muted out of habit, it made sense that neither of them had noticed her arrival ... 

They were about to. 

The sudden crushing weight of her power flooded the area as she stared at the serpent demon, her expression void of her usual smile ... and in its place? Stone. Golden irises surrounded by a sea of black was pinned on the demon that had injured her friend so badly, flashbacks of her childhood nearly blinding her for a brief moment before she was slammed back into the here and now. 

“...You’ll die for this...” the sentence was given ... and she would follow through with it. 

[bakugosbratx]

Hi! I saw your request open so I was wondering if you could do a college!football player!quarterback!bakugou x cheerleader!reader where he lost a game and was angry and insecure about it. Later that night reader goes to confront him , and tells him everything she loves about him. ( Sorry if this request is complicated) Basically fluff, tiny angst, comfort smut (at the end) ~ Mika

NSFW 18+ Winner - Quaterback! Bakugo x Cheerleader! Reader

WARNING: NSFW 18+ Content towards the end, smut, cursing, some angst, harsh language, etc.

Check out my other works here

A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this. Hopefully it met some of your expectations. My request are open if any of y’all want me to write your ideas ✨

Words: 1,236

The crowd cheered as your college quarterback boyfriend, Katsuki Bakugo, runs as fast he could to the goal. He has ten seconds to get the football to the goal in order to win the game. He has always been competitive his whole life which is why he has gotten to where he is now. Katsuki is on one of the most successful college football teams in the country and it's all because of his hard work and dedication.

The clock ticked down and you started to sweat. You are a cheerleader and you always did you best to cheer the team on. Especially your boyfriend. You've always loved the flirty winks, the soft gazes, the passionate kisses after he won yet another game. Of course, we can't forget the sex afterwards. Katsuki loved you in your cheerleading outfit and nothing like celebrating an excellent game with some magnificent sex.

Just when Katsuki was about to throw the ball, the opposite team trampled him and caused the football to go out of bounds. Costing the game and the other team won. You could hear gasp from the audience along with yours. You ran to the field to make sure your boyfriend was safe. Three big guys landed on top of him so of course you were worried.

"Katsuki!" You exclaim as you run to him. The guys have done got off of him while talking shit. You could hear Katsuki yelling into the ground in anger, banging his fist into the ground beside him.

"Baby, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

You examine his shaking body.

Katsuki looks up at you with a glare through his football helmet.

"Do I look like I'm fucking fine, dumbass?"

You were taken back by his tone. Usually, Katsuki has a rude nickname for you, but his tone was never mean with the exception when you guys fight. You understand he is upset, but you are his girlfriend. You just want to see if he was okay.

"I'm just checking on you!"

Katsuki stands up, taking off his helmet and throwing it across the field.

"Why? Are you looking down on me?! I DIDN'T NEED YOU CHECKING ON ME!!" Katsuki yells with tears brimming in his crimson eyes.

Before you could even argue, Katsuki stormed off mad as hell. You ran after him, grabbing his arm. He shoved you off.

"If you want to continue being my girlfriend, I suggest you don't fucking touch me." He growls.

Tears brim your eyes as you processed what he just said. You ran past him and to your dorm room. You knew he was just angry and didn't mean the things he said, but that doesn't give him the right to be an asshole to you. You are his number one supporter.

Katsuki would usually chase after you once he realized he was being a jerk, but his stubborn ego and anger will not let him. He is too upset about losing the game and his hurt pride will just make the situation worse. So, he decided to go have a self pity party in his dorm room. He will apologize once he is in a better headspace.

You laid in your room, fuming with anger and sadness. Not only was he being mean, but he embarrassed you in front of everyone. You already receive a lot of people's comments for you dating the asshole jock on campus. Your parents, friends, and professors are not a fan of Katsuki's arrogant ways but they don't see the great man he can be. He truly does love you. He is just very short tempered with a foul mouth.

Your anger got the best of you and you stormed to your boyfriend's dorm room. You pounded on the door just to hear a grouchy Katsuki scream to "GO AWAY!"

"It's me, Katsuki. Open up." You demanded, softer than you intended your tone to be.

You hear Katsuki shuffle to the door, unlocking the locks than walking away. You open the door to find Katsuki's room destroyed. Posters were ripped, his clothes covered the floor, the chair to his desk was awkwardly placed against the wall on the opposite direction of the room with a missing leg, and his usually made bed was gutted onto the floor as well.

Katsuki was sitting on the bed, breathing heavy while staring at the floor. You let out a deep sigh.

"Katsuki-"

"Shut up." He grumbles.

An awkward silence fell between you two. All the anger you felt before started to bubble up to the surface once again and you balled your hands into fist. You grabbed one of his shirts by your feet and throw it at him. He didn't even flinch.

"Is this how the number one quarterback acts?"

"Exactly how am I acting?"

"Like a sore loser!"

Katsuki scornfully chuckles.

"I am." He states with no expression in his raspy voice.

You glare at him.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're Katsuki Bakugo. You are intelligent, handsome, an asshole, but a very sexy one-"

"You're about to drool, princess." Katsuki teased.

"I'm not done," his sad crimson eyes meet yours. You can see he has been crying, "you're not a loser. In fact, you're far from it. You have worked so hard to get where you are today. Winners get to where you are, Katsuki, and winners learn from their mistakes so they can grow."

Katsuki softly smiles.

"You always know what to say, don't ya, dumbass?"

"Comes with the job." You shrug, referencing that being his girlfriend is a job.

Katsuki gets up and pulls you into a tight hug. He was never one to initiate cuddling or hugs unless he really needed it. So, even though you are still not very happy with him, you decided to be there for your boyfriend's vulnerable moment as you wrap your arms around his neck. You feel his hair against your jawline as he nuzzled into the crook of your neck.

"I love you. I'm sorry for being an asshole." He mumbled into your warm skin.

"I love you too."

"Let me show you how sorry I really am." Katsuki huffs before kissing on your neck.

You bite your bottom lip as Katsuki nibbles on your collarbone. His hands travel their way up your cheerleading skirt to grab a hand full of your ass. He gives them a nice hard squeeze so you yelp. He smirks.

“God, no matter how many times I see you in this outfit I just want to rip it off and devour you.”

You pull away to meet his lustful eyes.

“Then do it.”

You feel a hard slap on your ass.

“Don’t tell me what to do, princess.” Katsuki warns.

“Yes sir.” You whine submissively.

You feel Katsuki’s fingers slip into your wet folds through your cotton panties. Your cheeks are red as Katsuki feels the wet fabric.

“Tch. I didn’t even do anything to you yet and you’re soaked. You truly are a cock hungry slut, aren’t ya?”

You nod, bitting your bottom lip and hiding your face with your hands. Even though you and Katsuki had sex more than one occasion, you still get shy and embarrassed. Katsuki eats it up, though, as he loves being dominant and having this control over you.

“Don’t be shy, princess. You’re going to enjoy fucking a winner tonight.”

©bakugosbratx

All Rights Reserved

[milf-harrington]

okay bc i love tay @babydotcom and also bc i love talking about my original work im gonna talk about my books!!

so at the moment, im writing 2 of them! one of them is Nobodies Hero, a fantasy tale that is mostly narrated by a grouchy side-character and i have a sideblog that's basically a collection of my world building from the past 5 years and any posts i see that fit the characters or the world (@nobodieshero-lore)

the other is much newer (started maybe a month and a half ago) and is more of an urban fantasy called Arson: and other crimes which is basically going to follow the main cast through all the supernatural shenanigans and self growth they go through.

at the moment Arson is more of a concept? i have yet to figure out an actual plot, i've actually been trying a new approach to writing where i build all the characters first! most of my notes for Arson are just short scene snippets and dialogue, such as:

Time seemed to slow as the siren exploded from the flaming water, droplets of fire raining down around her as she reached out her webbed claws and exposed those horrifying needle-like teeth in a shrill scream of rage. It was awesome and terrifying, and Jai was forced to admit that maybe this time they wouldn’t be so lucky, maybe this time he was going down in a blaze of fish-scented glory. And then the scream was cut off as, with a sudden hollow sounding thwack, the siren’s head snapped to the side, the rest of her body thrown off course as she veered to the left and landed with a wet smack against the cement, a trail of slimy fire left in her wake. Kauri was standing in front of him with a thick metal pipe held tightly in their hands, hair a mess of thorns and ash as their shoulders heaved with each angry breath. Flickering orange light danced across their skin, the flames reflected in the dryads furious eyes as a new vine of thorns curled past their cheek. If someone had put a gun to his head, Jai may have been able to admit that he'd fallen in love right then, but there was no gun and no questioning so Jai shoved that shit deep down where he'd never find it.

There are currently 8 characters official characters, but i intend to make more bc 2 out of the 8 are mostly side characters/helpers.

uh we've got:

Jai, who is the quiet but stern researcher teaching himself magic; he mostly communicates through facial expressions and single sentences but if you get him started on whatever he's researching he can go on for ages (trans + gay)

Kauri, who is a dryad with a short temper. they're loud and passionate and also end up naked a lot because the concept of clothing makes no sense to them. my favourite thing about kauri is honestly their hair bc they've got vines that also grow from their scalp, and they grow/bloom/wild/grow thorns depending on their mood (as shown in the above snippet) (nonbinary)

Orli, who's a member of a werewolf pack. not everyone gets the lycanthrope gene, but she's just as snarly and protective as the rest of them. she works as a barista in her families cafe and she's got killer first aid skills. (asexual + lesbian)

Vince, who is Orli's older brother and did get the lycanthrope gene. he's just neat, i love him. he's usually the get away driver, or he'll bring them snacks and shit when they're on big research binges because he cares about them. he's basically a big ol' puppy (trans + bi)

[UNNAMED], who is a telepath with a weird name. her parents gave her up when she was young due to her being a "difficult and creepy child" and she kinda floated through different foster homes before she was tracked down and adopted by her uncle. She's funny and calculating, and in most situations will watch other people to figure out the best outcome for herself. she's almost always wearing a pair of headphones her uncle gave her that are warded against outside sound, so she can listen to music and block out everyone's thoughts. (lesbian)

Seftan, who's unnamed's weird but cool uncle. he's slept his way through half a bestiary and so is generally unphased by most things. he has 2 dogs and lives in a cute little 2-storey apartment/flat thing. he's either magic or knows a magic user bc he's got a lot of interesting books and wards set up and he also squints at Jai a lot. he calls unnamed a series of nicknames which are: nosy-nancy, no-name nancy, miss no-name, or just 'nancy' (inspired by nancy drew) (an opportunist)

Beau, who is a ghost from a circus! he died in the 1890's after getting stabbed to death in an argument with a sword-swallower, and is now stuck on the mortal plane bc he never got to finish his contortionist act. he's tied to a music box and gets handed around to different antique and thrift shops which is how he ends up w the rest of them.

Milo, who is possessed by an Ancient Creature and is therefore unable to stay dead. he has pretty yellow eyes, a hankering for roadkill and a whole other form that he can shift into. he's loyal as hell and genuinely doesn't see what's wrong with dying for someone he cares about, he's also mentally ill bc i think anyone would be if they were possessed and also kept dying. (demi + bi)

i think my favourite thing about Arson is that it's gonna be kind-of-not-really written like a survival guide or a diary? i don't know how to explain it properly but, like, there's gonna be random pages with tips for 'those in danger of kidnapping' or first aid or an info page on the monster/threat they're facing etc

but there's also gonna be other stuff like unnamed's playlists or what Kauri's moods are depending on their vines, or a steadily updated list of weird places Jai has been found sleeping.

uhh that's all i've really got so far without just slapping all my notes into a post so yeah! if you have any questions (or ideas?) please feel free to ask/share bc it can help with my creative process.

[kyanitegemverse]

Infodump: Lusikka Nikula

The people have spoken and the people demand more information on the hot spoon lady! I’m happy to oblige since she’s one of my favourites. Seriously you look back at some of the art from when this was an RP log and MOST of it is Lusikka related - specifically swordspoon (I’ll explain)

Creation Origins

It's actually kinda funny cause Lusikka’s story started as a joke. The RP friends I had back on the iScribble days and I were joking around about a comic book where there was only one set of villains and just a BUNCH of incompetent heroes. So came the story of the Silverware Trio consisting of Lusikka, Forcella and Kiridashi who’s heists were usually interrupted by various food themed heroes, the most infamous being Taco Girl. Lusikka was the last of the ocs to be made on iScribble if I remember correctly as it was just before the transition to Tumblr was made.

OCVerse storywise gives her a lot of tragic backstory. Lusi was an orphan from just outside of Helsinki, living most of her life in an orphanage. She would act out with her short temper which caused her to be labeled as a problem child. By about fifteen she decided that if that's what they thought of her, then she’d be a problem alright. That's when the crime began. It started with petty things like shoplifting but quickly escalated. Soon enough she had enough cash to get the heck out of dodge. So at 18 she ran off into the world. Along the way she met Forcella and Kiridashi, and the three found they worked very well as a team. The three formed The Silverware Trio and set course for a path of thievery and great heists. Said course took the three across the Atlantic to North America. Here they set up shop,  creating their own secret hideout with all the latest tech to keep it hidden. 

You can’t keep it hidden from Shadows however one chilly January morning the hideout was under attack. The three were taken by surprise and hidden in the shadows once by one. The demon had come to visit and had an offer that Lusikka really couldn’t refuse. 

So Lusikka ends up working with Amaris and Wrath in whatever nefarious schemes the tiny demon has planned. The two don’t get along whatsoever and Lusikka only tolerates it if it means she has a chance of finding Forcella and Kiridashi again.

Personality

Lusikka as a whole has surrounded herself with layers and layers of walls that need to be demolished before she even begins to like you. She’s very slow to trust others, given just how much she feels the world has failed her. As a child she needed a home and she’s convinced there was some sort of outside force keeping that pipedream as far away from her as possible. Her upbringing and general thoughts of the world being against her has left Lusikka quite bitter. Quite frankly i really don’t blame her but she doesn't have to be a jerk about it you know? To just about anyone and everyone she’s a complete grouch, filled to the brim with sarcastic remarks and displeased looks. The more she begins to open up to those around, the slightly less grouchy she becomes. Those who have gotten past the many many walls she has up, will find that Lusikka is like the one person you can count on to be there. Need a ride home at like 3am? She’ll probably be annoyed for being woken up from sleep but she’ll be there in no time. Granted you can probably count the number of people she is this attached to on one hand but those special people are the ones she cares about most. (Those being: Forcella, Kiridashi, Aurora, and most importantly her wife Laura.)

Swordspoon

Ah yes one of my favourite pairings of OC’s . If you scroll back far enough on this blog you’ll find all sorts of art of Lusikka with @puptriarchy ‘s oc Laura Penley. If i remember correctly these two started as a crack pairing and then oh gee guess what they’re married and have been married for years now. Lusi loves Laura so much and would do anything for her. they’re absolutely perfect for each other and I cannot stress how much I love these two.

General Info

Birthday: March 24th

Sign: Aries

Age (Currently): 31

(At the start of the OcVerse): 25/26

Height: 6’00”

Eye Colour: Grey

Hair: Blonde

Gender/Sexuality: Cis Lesbian

Pronouns: She/her

Art Reference

Playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6GINtIyZDNoZBsxnxbxICf?si=043598278a0747da

[yandere-wishes]

MY MC/Yuu Q and A

So in the heat of stress, confusion, and wanting to jump off a cliff, I decided to make an MC (at like 2 am). Please say hello to Ophelia Porphyria Emeraldson. I'm going to open a Q and A for her, SO ask anything you'd like in the ask box!!

Now technically she's supposed to be my place in for Yuu or MC. But I tweaked her back story a bit. Instead of "accidentally" ending up in NRC, she was actually summoned on purpose by the magic mirror. Why, you ask? Well, it's simple really, despite growing up in the "normal" world,  Ophelia has a personality and mannerisms that the great seven would be proud of. She's downright dark and twisted, some of the people that use to know her would even say she was the embodiment of evil. 

When she first awoke in the coffin at Night raven, she thought that she was "dead". This didn't so much scare her as excite her, a curious rush traversed through her as she, lay smiling inside her "comfy" coffin. That was until a sharp leather-like object made contact with her skin, sending a harsh sting across her body. Needless to say that she wasn't happy and basically challenged the headmaster to a dual. 

Entering NCR

Ophelia was permitted to attend Night Raven College under the name "Lazarus" and keeping her identity of a girl a secret. However, this "secret" wasn't well kept because on her first day  "Lazarus" got into a very bloody fight with some first-year guys. While she was getting changed into a spare uniform, Ace and Deuce walked in on her. 

Kinda like how the host club found out Haruhi was a girl. 

After that Crolowly just sorta gave up and let her wear whatever she wanted so long as it was "appropriate". 

Personality 

She's a bitch, plain, and simple. She's sassy, sarcastic, intimidating, short-tempered, grouchy, always ready for a fight, creepy, semi depressed, and overall radiates a "dark, terrifying aura". However, she has proven herself to be clever, sneaky, and rather intelligent from time to time. This all being said she is very anti-social and hates pretty much everything and one. She considers Ace to be a happy go lucky idiot and Deuce to be a "wannabe" rebel. But for whatever reason she's quick to rush to their rescue when they get in trouble, all under the pretext that "she's the only one allowed to hurt/punish her two idiots" Her relationship with Grim is one of her better "friendships" she participates in Grim's shenanigans, like setting fire to professor Crewel's coats, spray painting the lockers, etc, etc. The two of them also frequently skip classes. She is also on good terms with Jack and prefers his company to the rest of the student body. Mainly cause Jack is one of the only guys who aren't scared of her and is willing to fight her (so far Ophelia hasn't been able to beat Jack, but the wolf boy has so far given her a black eye on two occasions and knocked broke her nose once). Most students are scared of her mainly cause they think that she'll kill them in their sleep if they tick her off. It doesn't help that she's constantly talking about torture methods and homicide. Her sense of humor is purely macabre, as she finds things such as pain and death comical. 

On several occasions, she has made Cater, Ace, and Ruggie cry. Azul desperately wants to hire her as a bodyguard and Leona holds a sort of "friendship" with her (it's based on them skipping class and threatening the other students for fun). Riddle hates her and would kill her if he could, she's thrown a tart at his face during his unbirthday party. Also since Ophelia will never follow any rules and goes to extremes to do exactly what the rules tell her not to. Maybe in the future, she'll become close to Chenya, idk we'll see. 

Trivia

Her diet is mostly coffee, ice coffee, and granola bars. 

She secretly has a crush on Idia, because he checks off all the boxes of her "perfect guy". Ortho knows this and disapproves. 

Creepy

Weird smile

Antisocial

Will stalker her

Submissive

she’s a possessive, sadistic yandere, with stalking tendencies 

She's also "friends" with Malleus. The two bonded over their dislike of people and constant loneliness.

There is a 99.9999% chance that she will either punch Mickey Mouse or make him cry once they meet.

She's sadomasochistic 

Her usual attire consists of black and grey lose tees and either a skirt with ripped socks or ripped jeans. 

She doesn't like dogs 

She wanted to be a Gothic novelist when she's older. As well as a director/screenwriter for horror movies. 

She has a total of seven piercings, two above her eyebrow, one on her nose, two on the side of her cheek, and two under her collar bone. 

Her favorite book from the "real world" Lenore by  Gottfried Bürger.

Her favorite movie is "The Purge"

her favorite music is metal/punk rock. 

[evajellion]

Why Suketoudara is (one of) the most well-developed characters in Puyo Puyo

You ever just look back at how far the Puyo Puyo and Madou Monogatari franchise has come, and think about how much the characters have changed over the years? 

Some have become main stay recurring cast members, while sadly some others have been completely left in the dust or remain in Quest or other spin-off titles. Others become more amazing in hindsight, such as Schezo and Rulue (even if most can argue SEGA dropped the ball on their character in recent times), starting off as slightly minor characters, getting their own arcs.

Witch is also pretty incredible to think about, what once was a mere mook enemy became one of the most popular characters, obtained her own spin-off title, and co-starred in a Madou game with Schezo.

Then you have the most interesting case imo, which is Suketoudara. What makes him so incredible? When you look at his actual personality and character, and how it’s changed across games… for the better!

Since I said I would talk about this after seeing @superbuffalo007​‘s post, I decided it’s time the unspoken truth is finally said-- which is Suketoudara’s character across the games.

So originally, Suketoudara started off no differently than Witch and Draco. The only huge key difference was his character design, in which rather than being a cute humanoid girl… Suketoudara was a funny fish with human arms and legs that liked to dance. His design was goofy albeit uncanny (especially in the PC98 Madou), which probably got some designers at Compile to chuckle, nothing more.

He was a blank slate enemy, nothing more, nothing less. And once we got the first two Puyo Puyo games, which had “Manzai” based dialogue for comedic purposes. We learn that this funky fish prides himself and his beautiful legs. I mean, to be completely fair… he does. Usually in these games (and Puyo Sun), Arle was the straight man while Suketoduara was the goof.

Out of nowhere, the guy skyrocketed in popularity. He, Nasu, and Carbuncle were easily marketable characters due to their distinct, funny appearance which I assume made them very popular with younger fans. In commercials, you would probably often see this character be frequently used-- that’s how iconic his design was. His personality though, was about as shallow as everyone else’s.

This changed of course, in 1996 and onward, where Compile decided “hey, maybe we should do more with this character besides just having him dance”.

In 1996, Madou Monogatari Hanamaru Daiyouchi Enji (Big Kindergarten Kids) would be released for the Super Famicom. Rather than the usual dungeon-crawler, this game took inspiration from the likes of A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy, and Earthbound in terms of its overworld design. More importantly though, it took what was once mere mooks, the most popular characters, and made some of them into full-on major bosses you had to fight.

Amongst those characters are Nasu Grave, Skeleton-T, Mini-Zombie, and Suketoudara (called Jr. in this game).

You know who wasn’t? Uh… Witch and Draco, if you can believe that. Yeah, that’s right. Suketoudara was a major, if not the main antagonist for a good chunk of this game, while Witch and Draco remained mere mooks. That’s pretty incredible if you ask me!

He’s the typical schoolyard bully/delinquent, going around causing problems for several towns and even stooping as far as to steal eggs from dragons. Suketoudara constantly meddles in Arle’s quest, and it only comes to an end one day after sending Arle a letter, in which he challenges her directly at her school. Turns out he just happens to have the last Secret Stone.

And at the end of the game, after Arle defeats Devil, the true main antagonist? Suketoudara has a complete change of heart, asking for Arle’s forgiveness, realizing he focused too much on his training, even saying he wants to be Arle’s henchman instead.

He even calls her “sis”, in a relatively friendly way, after everything he had done.

Whether or not you consider this game canon, it added a lot to Suketoudara (if this is the same as the one in the Puyo Puyo titles, and not Jr. as in a child of his). Suketoudara was a foul-mouthed bully in his youth, a complete contrast to the innocent, playful Arle. But he changed for the better after Arle told him to reflect on himself. That is way more characterization than Draco has ever received.

Suketoudara got fleshed out further in a couple of DiscStation games, both a year before Hanamaru and two years after, we would get some really interesting development, which would of course come from his interactions with another character.

DiscStation Volume 9 is (presumably) when we would first see Suketoudara interacting with Serilly in the game “Madou Sugoroku”, a Mario Party-esque game that seems to have no real story, pairs of characters are just competing while Harpy serves as the game hostess. This would be one of the earliest instances of Suketoudara being shown to have a crush on Serilly.

DiscStation Volume 18 would give us Serilly’s Happy Birthday, a game where Serilly uses a magical stone to go up to the surface in the hopes that she’ll make a friend that will celebrate her birthday with her, rather than leaving Serilly to celebrate it alone.

While I am sadly uncertain about the full details of this visual novel, it seems that in Suketoudara’s route, he collapses due to a drug Witch had made, so Serilly nurses him back to health by making an antidote. This leads to Suketoudara, a normally brash and selfish character, to become warmer and open up to Serilly. Again though, this is a loose translation of what transpires.

Lastly for DiscStation, we have Madou RUN! 

A game featuring Arle, Schezo, Witch… and not Satan, not Rulue, not Draco, but Suketoudara! In this game, our four protagonists compete in a game of tag set up by Momomo, for an object known as the Dragon Ball, which can grant any wish.

Oddly enough, rather than it being about his dancing, the only wish on Suketoudara’s mind is that he wants to be closer to Serilly. Mind you that the other three characters are more interested in the power of the Dragon Ball to become stronger, while Suketoudara just wants to improve his relationship with a friend he has feelings for.

His attitude in this game is notably far less aggressive when compared to how overly competitive Witch and Schezo are, a far cry from how Suketoudara used to be in the earliest Puyo Puyo games.

In Puyo Puyo~n, we have yet another cheerful Suketoudara, as opposed to the grouchy, territorial one we saw in past mainline Puyo titles. Much like the previously mentioned DiscStation games, Suketoudara is primarily just interested in Serilly’s presence, stuttering in a shy manner around her, and feeling crestfallen when Serilly says that he’s only a friend.

He only starts to lash out against Arle once he thinks that Serilly only called him a friend because another person was embarrassing her. To be fair, pretty rude of Arle to make comments or butt in. Overall? It seems that Serilly has had a positive influence on Suketoudara, but he still had some of his temper.

In Puyo Puyo Box, nothing interesting happens, but Suketoudara definitely mellowed out in the Quest Mode. Similarly in Minna de Puyo Puyo, Suketoudara only wants Arle to watch him dance, which she ignores in a rude manner.

After a couple years of going missing, Suketoudara returns in Puyo Puyo! 15th, and is arguably, the most friendly of the returning Compile characters next to Zoh Daimaoh.

Unlike Satan, Rulue, and Schezo, who are rude and dismissive of the Fever characters, Suketoudara seems happy to meet new faces and actively encourages them through dialogue usually related to dance. No mention of Serilly is made, but that just proves that unlike Rulue, he can go without thinking or talking about his love interest for every two scenes.

And also unlike 90% of 15th’s roster, he doesn’t get screwed over by the fake wishing medal. He makes a simple, short wish where he says he wants to be first to do solo dances.

Puyo Puyo 7, in my opinion, is the peak, friendliest Suketoudara has been in any game. Ringo runs into him, and rather than being actively antagonistic, he explains that he was with Arle (possessed by Ecolo) and got lost, so he asks for her help. In exchange, Suketoudara assists for a short period of time. He tries to persuade Rulue out of attacking him, manages to hold a decent conversation with Satan and Carbuncle, even showing concern about Arle’s strange behavior! 

He, along with Satan, are the only Madou characters in 7 that were genuinely worried about Arle. Schezo, Skeleton-T, Draco, and Rulue did not care in the slightest. He has grown from not wanting Arle around at all to being a friend that does care about her!

Puyo Puyo 20th… sadly took a step back, with Suketoudara obsessively searching for his shoes. A lot of the characters were jerks in this game though, so it’s not a problem exclusive to him. If anything, I’d argue he’s the tamest example and just being plain comedic.

Thankfully, in Puyo Puyo Tetris and Puyo Puyo Chronicle, Suketoudara was back to being his cheery self, unlike in 20th. He just wants to show off his dance moves, has friendly enough conversations with Arle, Ringo, and Ally-- playing Puyo just for fun rather than an offense reason…

Ess on the other hand… yeah, she’s straight-up rude to him, and he rightfully defends himself. I should note that through all of these games, Serilly went completely unmentioned, which might mean that Suketoudara actually got over his infatuation for Serilly. Even with her grand return in Puyo Puyo Chronicle, the two never have a conversation.

That being said, I definitely do think that Serilly’s kind personality, and if taken as canon, Suketoudara’s rivalry with Arle in Hanamaru, definitely molded him into being one of the most grown characters in the entire series. He went from being the typical jerk with only thing on his mind, to being an upbeat, helpful character that is willing to put dancing aside when there are greater matters at hand. Puyo Puyo 7, Tetris, and Chronicle are the arguable proof of this.

That’s why I like this character so much. That’s why I feel the fan-base kinda takes him for granted-- they don’t know about his evolution throughout the games. He went from a funny jerk, to a guy with a crush, to someone with a confident and friendly personality.

Because of that… I am honestly completely fine with Suketoudara staying for future mainline games. Even if he doesn’t add much, at least he isn’t as actively unpleasant as he was in Compile’s early run.

[deviousomens]

Illogical Husbands Week Day 1: Enemies to Lovers.

Alec was relying on Bill’s testimony. He was going to be their expert witness but during cross examination Bill stated facts that helped the other side. It wasn’t intentional, but he swore to tell the truth.

Alec was furious with him even though he shouldn’t have been. They exchanged heated words and Bill threw up his hands in frustration, “What did you want me to say?”

Alec didn’t know how to answer him. He just looked him up and down then stormed off. He knew it wasn’t Bill’s fault, all he was asked to do was tell the truth and that’s what he had done.

They avoid each other the following weeks especially while the trial was going on. By some miracle, and good detective work they managed to get a conviction.

Alec usually wasn’t one for celebrating but Ellie had pointed out how it will help morale if he came out and had a drink with his team. So begrudgingly, he promised to meet them down at the local for a drink. One drink.

When he finally walked into the pub the chatter from the patrons was just a little too much for Alec but he pushed through the crowd. Of course, they had to pick a night that some sports game was on so fans crowded around the bar to watch the game on the multiple screens.

Ellie managed to find him and lead him to their table where 5 others were standing around drinking and glancing at the game. “We started without you.” She said with a smile then held up a beer for him.

“I need something stronger.” He said to her and she asked if he wanted her to go to the bar. He told her no and dodged people as he headed to the bar himself. Once there he tried catching the attention of one of the bartenders but they couldn’t hear him over the crowd.

“Good luck, I’ve been trying to get her attention for over 5 minutes now.”

Alec turned around and there sat Bill, slightly slumped on the bar stool, holding onto an empty glass, his ice half melted.

“Congratulations on winning your case.” He said as he held up his empty glass.

“Thank you.” Alec said then turned back to the bartender who finally managed to spot him. “Whiskey please.” He said then nodded toward Bill. “And whatever he’s having.”

The bartender poured their drinks, Alec paid then took glass and turned to leave but stopped. He should have apologized for losing his temper, for yelling at Bill for something that wasn’t his fault but instead all he said was, “Have a good night.” then walked back to his group.

He made a very short speech, thanking everyone for their hard work and dedication then threw his drink back. He gave Ellie enough money to buy them a few more rounds before making his way to the exit.

once outside the stuffy pub he breathed in the night air and started for his car only to pause when he heard the sound of someone throwing up. He cautiously made his way to the side of the bar to see Bill bracing himself with one arm as he hunched over and spilled his guts.

Once done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand then turned to see Alec staring at him.

“Not my finest moment.” He said as he walked towards him.

“Let me give you a ride.” Alec said to him and Bill just looked at him as if he was a stranger.

“Why?” He asked.

“I’m trying to me nice.”

“Why?” He asked again.

“Just get in the bloody car Bill.” Alec told him as he opened the passenger door.

They drove in silence and Alec helped a wobbly Bill to his door. He dropped his house keys three times before Alec got frustrated and took them from him and unlocked and opened the door for him.

When they went in Bill sat down on his couch and stared up and Alec.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly, “For almost costing you the trial.”

Alec waved him quiet, “It’s not your fault, Bill and I shouldn’t have blamed you. I was frustrated and I took that out on you and I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

Bill grinned, “Never thought I’d hear you said it.”

“Ah shut up.” Alec said to him, “Where’s your kitchen?”

Bill pointed and Alec went in that direction. 15 minutes later he came back with a cup of coffee for Bill.

“Sober up, Doctor.” He told him then placed Bill’s house keys on the coffee table, “I’ll check on you in the morning.”

Alec then left Bill slouched on his couch, a half grin on his face and in a daze.

That was the start of it, when it all changed. They started spending more time together, Bill was less stiff and closed off and Alec seemed less grouchy which benefited everyone around him.

One day at Bill’s, Alec could hear him singing in the bathroom as he got ready.

“Bill, why are you singing?” Alec called after him from the bedroom.

Bill stood in the doorway, his hair wild, a twinkle in his eye and a huge smile on his face, “I’m happy.” He simply said.

A small smile appeared on Alec’s face as he looked away shyly, “Me too.

[charlettebffxiv]

Prompt #8: Clamour

The greatest instinct any true Gridanian citizen can have, is the one that curls the hairs on the back of your neck the closer you come to the dark edge of the Shroud. The dark border cut by light that breaks through the canopy, but does not creep beyond the shadowed edge. Charlotte felt that curl, even without the dense forest in view, her back turned to the thick sprawl of trees that came to an end just shy of the pathway they had strayed from. Only a few steps, the duties of the botany guild having brought them further from the village than any of them truly wanted to be. An aged tree, long dead with it’s trunk hollowed out by the myriad of creatures that had used it as home, had finally lost the last of its strength and collapsed across the path. Willow’s Heart had the closest contingent of botanists that could be called to clear it away, and they had been hacking at the massive log for suns. This was the third, and if they were quick, would be the last.

“Quickly now, the suns is on its way down and we’re almost through.” everyone felt the strain of the work, but it was their proximity to the uncharted edge of the forest that had even Bobocufu’s usual jubilance tempered. “Stay with your partners! Dylan! The other way around!” the tree itself was massive, it had to have been an ancient oak to grow to this size, forcing them to cut their way through it to open up the path, there being little hope to move it with the numbers they had. Dylan had been walking around the eastern side of the trunk, toward the dark edge, forgetting Bobocufu’s very specific instructions to only walk around the western side and keep our distance from the ‘darkline’ as she called it. Dylan caught himself halfway, looking up at the looming trees, the forest no thicker that side of the border than it was on theirs, but the shade from the canopy gave it a looming blackness. Like it was an open maw waiting for one of them to walk in before it snapped shut. The red-headed midlander froze, then quickly turned and jogged back, knees to chest as if he was trying to keep his ankles away from grasping hands.                                                                “Sorry! I lost myself in the work there for a moment!” their lalafell leader shaking her head as he ran past, toward the correct side.                                                  “Pay attention! Or we’ll lose you at the edge!” there was no threat, the Head Botanist observing and fully believing all the tales and superstitions that kept Gridanian’s with any sense from crossing into the dark forest. All that could be heard was the constant thud of axes, several people having come from the village to help them cut through the wood. Charlette and Maxim worked at the opposite side of the tree, both grunting and cutting, neither speaking.

Dylan arrived, panting and followed by two of the volunteers that had come with them, a burly highlander named Alfred and another Wildwood Elezen named Margot. “Break time, we’ll take over for the next few bells. Get some rest.” Maxim let his arms drop, axe resting as he groaned “Finally! My hands are numb.” Charlette flexed her own fingers, feeling blood rush back into the stiff digits. The constant impact of their axes took a toll in aches and pains that ran from the middle of her back to the tips of her fingers and she was as ready as Maxim sounded to give them a rest. Even so, when she turned to follow him toward the cart they had traveled on, the darkness that sat at the edge of her vision stoked the worry within her. A nagging desire to be away from the unknown shade and surrounded again by a green that’s familiar, one that didn’t threaten to harbour the horrors from her father’s stories. Maxim reached the cart long before her, dipping around to the back of it as he called out “You want something to eat? Dylan packed sandwiches.” The young hyur was no culinarian, but his sandwiches had a good reputation among the botanists and Dylan was always happy to make a fresh batch before they took to the forest. Cold, spiced meats with crisp lettuce between the soft, light bread from his mother’s bakery. “Yes, gods, please. I could eat a full-grown morbol, teeth and all. How much water is left? I need a refill.” but when she turned around the cart, Maxim was not listening to her nor searching for sandwiches. His head was turned to the forest, to a patch where several trees had grown up in a curve, their branches curling together like lover’s fingers in the canopy and forming a pitch-black hole between them. Like a portal. “Maxim?” Charlette asked walking up beside him. He raised a hand, palm-out, to silence her and stared for what felt like a full bell before he spoke. “You hear that?” Charlette heard nothing but the surprisingly spars sounds of the forest, a far away crow calling out, the rustle of leaves and the thump, thump, thump of axes working through the tree. “Hear what?” she watched where Maxim had pointed, hearing nothing and only seeing forest. “A flute, listen. There!” she turned her ear to the trees, trying to catch what he was claiming to hear. Nothing, still, and she had to wonder if this was just Maxim pulling a highly inappropriate joke. “I don’t hear anything Maxim. This isn’t funny.” her looked at her, not an ilm of his features giving away a single drop of mirth. “I’m not joking, just listen. It’s on the wind, like it’s being carried. I swear on my ax Charlette, it’s a flute. I can’t make-out the tune. Just listen.” and she did, stepping passed Maxim, eyes to the ground and she tried to focus. Elezen were known for their excellent sense of hearing, so it was not a strange situation for them to pick something up before the others, but she heard nothing. Rustle, thump, caw, perhaps the sound of flowing water far, far away from them and a breeze, cold against her sweat-damped skin and… “I hear something!” he was right, there as if carried by the soft wind was the unmistakable tone of a flute being played. It was almost imperceptible, but when she concentrated it grew stronger, the tune was, well “Whoever it is, they can’t be very good.” surprisingly Maxim didn’t even give her a supportive guffaw at her comment. “I’ve never heard anything like that. Not even when the bards are improvising. It sounds like a dying animal, but also like a song that I Just… don’t understand.” Charlette stepped a little closer, still keeping her distance from the edge. “Gods, Maxim, is it coming from the other side of the darkline?” whoever was playing had chosen a terrible place to do so. Unless it was something else. Charlotte’s wondering was cut short however, as a new instrument joined the wailing tones of the flute; a drum. It’s beat was ponderous, with wide gaps between each one as if whoever was playing it was doing so painfully slowly. Thump… thump… thump… Charlette counted each beat with the tap of a finger against her thigh. “Maxim! The drum, do you hear it!” her voice sounded strange, high-pitched and unlike her own. She sounded scared, but she didn’t feel fear. Only the dread she had carried the entire day, the dread that grew now as those branches reached toward her. Maxim said nothing, but the drums grew louder, the flute following its example. Were they marching towards them? She watched the dark passage between the branches, waiting for them come through, a brave band of bards that thought inspiration would be found beyond the known green. But the tune never changed, a melody never appeared, the drums never found their rhythm even as the beat grew faster and louder. It thrummed in her ears, but no one passed through the portal, the only thing that grew was the black shadows that caste longer and longer out toward her. THRUM, THUMP, THRUM, THUMP, thrum, THUMP, THUMP, thrum, thrum, THRUM. “Maxim?” Charlotte’s eyes watered, her ears felt as if they might bleed from the cutting cacophony that rung all around her. But she could feel someone approach from behind her, hear the crack of steps against dry leaves. “Maxim?!” she couldn’t close her eyes, her fingers tapping against her thighs to match the unmatchable clamour of the drums. She couldn’t cease the tapping, the shadows had taken her arms from her. Maxim’s voice followed as she felt a cold chin rest against her shoulder, an icy cheek pressed against hers all while her vision never strayed from the growing black hole that wailed the song that rattled her bones. “We live within you.” the cold hands reached around her waist, pulling her close like they were hugging a spouse, the touch tender and gentle but so cold. “You can burn the house. Kill the patriarch. Forsake the lineage. But you will always be down there with us.” her heart seized, the beat suddenly silent as the drums themselves replaced it. The flute blared like she had her ear to the end of the instrument. The cold binding grip of Maxim was inescapable. Her thoughts of panic, the desperate need to call for help, the screaming animal within howling for her to lash out and run all twisted, faded away. No matter how much she tried to hold onto them, to act on them, it was fruitless. The loud song, the cold touch, and those words repeating over and over in her mind replaced every bit of sense she had of herself, of her place, all of it beaten from existence. Only the song, only the cold, only… “We live within you.” She jerked forward, a blaze of light filling her eyes as the thumping noise of crates banging against the edges of a cart sounded around her. Charlette raised a hand to protect her eyes, Maxim’s voice yelling out next to her. “Hey! Welcome back sleepy head.” he poked his elbow into her side, chuckling as Charlette struggled to orient herself, the cart she sat on jostling her around as it was pulled down the cobbled pathway. “Where are we?” she asked, the relief she felt in hearing her own voice again was pure warmth within her belly. “Nearly back. You nodded off there for a bit and the others finished up before our turn so we just let you nap it out. Poor thing, you look much less grouchy when you’re snoring, dribbling all over yourself. Like this.” and he laid back, snorting loudly with his mouth wide and his tongue out. “I don’t sleep like that.” Maxim giggling and nodding his head in protest. “Yes you do. Like a fancy hog in a skirt!” she swatted at him, Dylan laughing along with Maxim as he watched from inside the cart. The small man clambered over equipment, resting his chin on the edge of the wood panel that she and Maxim leaned against and looked up at Charlette. “Have any good dreams?” she didn’t answer, waving his question away and looking out at the far more comforting and familiar forest around them. Trying to ignore the tuneless thumping ringing in her ears.  

[javistg]

Ethan’s Adventure

This lovely artwork is by @white-dandelion-seeds​ who requested a birthday drabble for her sister.

Hope you like what I came up with. 😊

For the birthday girl: I hope you have a wonderful day! ❤️

Prompt: Canon compliant story about a toast baby and Haymitch’s geese. 

Ethan’s Adventure

Ethan Mellark stood on the tips of his toes and peered over the fence into Haymitch’s backyard.

His gray eyes narrowed as soon as he found the gaggle of geese which had woken him up with their cranky honks in the middle of the night.

“Nuisance,” Ethan whispered, pouring all his anger into the word Haymitch usually used to talk about his geese.

At almost five years old, Ethan didn’t know exactly what the word nuisance meant but, judging by Haymitch’s tone, it wasn’t something good.

He had never understood why Haymitch complained so much about his birds. But, after hearing them last night, the boy was starting to believe that, maybe, it had something to do with the fact that they could keep the entire neighborhood up with their shenanigans.

Unaware of Ethan’s annoyed scowl, —or perhaps unconcerned— the fat birds waddled about, stretching their long necks in the warm sunshine as they grazed.

Their fluffy plumage gleamed —white as a spring cotton cloud— under the golden morning light.

Ethan sighed, already letting his irritation go. No matter how loud they were, the geese were the prettiest animals he had seen up close. For the longest time, he had longed to run his hands over their wings.

Touching the soft down Haymitch gave Momma to fill cushions and comforters when the birds molted was one of his favorite things. The small feathers were as warm and soft as a caress, and Ethan imagined that the long feathers on the geese’s wings would be as smooth as the beautiful silk dress Momma wore on New Years’.

But, as much as he wanted to reach out and touch them, he knew he wasn’t allowed.

Momma said the geese were dangerous. Her face always turned serious when she reminded Ethan to steer clear of them. “I know you think they’re pretty, but they’re just as big as you are, and they’ve got sharp teeth inside those bills. They’re not our pets, Ethan. Just leave them be, OK?”

Ethan always nodded –he could tell Momma wasn’t playing around-- but he wasn’t sure her words were true. Yes, he had seen the teeth —Haymitch had shown him once when his parents weren’t around to scold him— but he couldn’t believe the geese would ever hurt him.

How could they when they always seemed so happy to see him? They all waddled over to the fence to greet him with happy honks whenever he went by.

Which was more than he could say about Whiskers, the family cat Willow had found hiding behind the bakery once.

Come to think of it, Whiskers wasn’t very fond of the geese either.

Willow said it was because he had snuck into their garden once –back when he was a kitten—and one of the geese had stomped on his tail.

Ethan was sure it had been an accident. Haymitch’s geese were rowdy, but they weren’t mean. Still, Whiskers never went inside the fence, and if the geese ever came out –which they sometimes did—the cat kept his distance.

Unlike Momma, --and Whiskers, apparently-- Papa didn’t think the birds were dangerous, but he didn’t like them much either. He called them thieves.

Papa was always telling Haymitch to lock them up and was quick to blame them whenever a loaf of bread went missing.

Momma knew better, though. “They feed on grass, Peeta,” she’d say, her eyes twinkling with mirth. “They might peck here and there for breadcrumbs, but they don’t need to sneak into our kitchen to take a whole loaf.”

Momma’s teasing always made Papa huff and puff in response.

Ethan didn’t like it when his Papa was upset, but the thought of a fat bird waddling at full speed through Victors’ Village with a loaf in its bill always made him laugh. He would have loved to see one of the feathered thieves in action!

After some more grumbling on Papa’s side --and some more teasing on Momma’s-- the conversation invariably turned to Haymitch, who was the most likely culprit.

Papa’s forehead would crease the way it did when he was cross but, as soon as he mentioned stepping out to give Haymitch a piece of his mind, Momma put her hand on his cheek and whispered something in his ear.

Ethan didn’t know what secrets his parents shared when they acted like this, but Papa’s protests invariably turned into a soft hum when Momma whispered to him. Their hushed conversations always ended with laughter and a kiss.

Ethan didn’t care much for kissing, but he liked it when his parents laughed. It warmed his chest from the inside; made him feel safe.

If Ethan’s parents were happy, everything in the world was right.

Except, this morning, things were not right.

Ethan scrunched up his face in confusion. Something was definitely up. It was odd enough that Haymitch’s geese had kept him awake during the night, but now they were ignoring him!

Letting go of the fence, Ethan stomped toward Haymitch’s front door. He knew it was early, --his grouchy neighbor preferred to stay in bed until the sun was high in the sky-- but he didn’t care. There was a mystery here, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

With the fierce determination he had inherited from his parents, Ethan climbed the steps to the porch, closed his little hand in a fist, and knocked the way Papa did: loudly and without pause.

He was still pounding on the door when it swung open, and a bedraggled Haymitch appeared at the threshold.

Before Haymitch could say anything, Ethan spoke, “What’s the matter with your geese, old man?”

Haymitch’s eyes snapped open. Unlike his mother, the boy was mostly sweet-tempered. “Hey! What’s with the attitude, Kid?”

“They kept me awake all night!” Ethan crossed his arms over his chest, his gray eyes dropped to the floor, and he scowled. “And now they won’t even talk to me.”

Haymitch ran a hand through his hair. It was sticky with sweat and… Well, he hoped it was just sweat. Crouching down, he patted the boy’s shoulder. “Don’t take it personally, Kiddo. They’re just a bit tired, that’s all. Wanna see something neat?”

Intrigued, Ethan looked up. “Yes!”

“OK, follow me.” Haymitch stood up and closed the door, using the motion to stretch his back. The geese weren’t the only ones who were tired this morning. With Ethan at his heels, he walked to the kitchen.

Before going in, Haymitch stopped and turned to the boy once more. “OK, grab on to my legs, walk behind me, and don’t let go. Understood?”

“Yeah, but--,”

“No, no. No buts. If you want to see this, you have to do as you’re told. Stay behind me at all times.”

Ethan pouted. He wasn’t satisfied, but he was much too curious to challenge Haymitch at this point. “Understood.”

“Good. Oh, and one more thing, don’t make a sound. Think you can do that?”

Holding on to the legs on Haymitch’s pants, Ethan nodded.

Haymitch went into the room, carefully adapting his strides to Ethan’s short legs. The pair moved past the kitchen table and kept walking until they reached the entrance to the laundry room. Instead of going in, Haymitch stopped.

Intrigued, Ethan peeked from behind the victor’s legs to see what was further ahead.

His eyes popped open, and he gasped. Remembering Haymitch’s instructions, he tightened his hold on the victor’s pants.

A goose and a gander sat on the floor just a few steps away, right in front of the washing machine. Between them, protected by the grown birds and a soft, worn blanket, two newborn goslings napped.

Ethan leaned forward, pressing his face to the side of Haymitch’s legs as he tried to get closer without alerting the geese. The babies were so small he was sure they could fit in Haymitch’s hands! They were nowhere near as beautiful as their parents --they had no feathers, and their bills were gray-- but the little family seemed peaceful and content.

Ethan knew he had promised to keep quiet, but he just couldn’t help himself. “Can I pet them, Haymitch?” he whispered.

“No!” Haymitch hissed. Before the geese could react to their intrusion, he turned around and carried Ethan out of the room and back to the entrance hall. “Not right now,” he said once they were out of earshot. “But I’ll tell you what, when they’re a little older, I’ll let you. And when you grow up a little bit more, I’ll let you pet the bigger ones too. How’s that, Kid?”

Ethan’s eyes lit up. “Promise?”

“Promise.” Crouching down, Haymitch placed Ethan back on the floor. “Now, scoot along! I haven’t slept all night, and it’s time for my nap.”

Ethan scrunched up his nose. “Are you going to sleep like that?”

Haymitch looked down at his clothes. He hated to admit it, but the kid made a good point. He looked like he had gotten into a bathtub without undressing first.

His wrinkled trousers were dripping at the cuffs, and there was a brownish stain on his shirt that looked suspiciously like bird droppings.

How did that get there, Haymitch wondered, stretching the fabric to inspect it. “I’ll take a shower first. How’s that?”

“Good. You…” Ethan twisted his lips the way his father did when he was looking for the right words to say. “You sort of stink.”

“Alright!” Haymitch opened the front door. “Now get out of here! And don’t come back until tomorrow, you hear? We all need some rest.”

Walking backward, Ethan stepped onto the porch and waved. “Goodnight, Haymitch!”

With a chuckle and a nod, Haymitch closed the door.

Ethan rushed into his house. In his eagerness to share the happy news, he let the front door slam shut behind him and kept running until he reached the kitchen.

His Papa was there, standing by the stove. The scent of melted butter and cinnamon filled the air, and Ethan’s stomach rumbled in response. Papa was making French toast!

“Morning, Papa!” Ethan pulled out his usual chair and sat down.

“Morning, E!” Papa looked up from the pan. “You wash your hands?”

“I did before I went out.” Ethan inspected his palms. Everything seemed to be in order. “I haven't touched anything,” he grumbled.

“Where were you, little one?” Papa placed two toasts on a plate next to a spoonful of fresh fruit and doused them with maple syrup.

“Over at Haymitch’s.”

Papa looked up; blue eyes worried as he carried the plate with toast up to his son. “This early?”

“I wanted to see what was wrong with the geese.”

Papa took a knife and fork and began cutting the toast into bite-sized pieces. “You heard them last night?”

Ethan nodded. That was old news, though. “But guess what, Papa?”

“What?”

“We’re gonna have to lock our doors from now on.”

Papa stilled his movements and gave his full attention to his son. “We are?”

“Yup!” Ethan stabbed a piece of toast with his fork and smiled. “Cause we got two new thieves in the neighborhood!”

[mariequitecontrarie]

Put Me In, Coach: Part 2

Summary:  The Golds run into "Coach David" Nolan in the grocery store and Rumplestiltskin is seized by a bout of jealousy. A/N: Because I love jealous Rumple + Belle showing him how unreasonable he’s being. ;) Written for the June @a-monthly-rumbelling:  "That's the least romantic thing you've ever said to me." Thanks to @galactic-pirates for listening to me drone on about baseball.

On AO3 | Part 1| Part 1 on Tumblr

“Well, Rumple, what do you think?”

Belle plopped two quarts of Maine blueberries down on the conveyor belt, sweet little purple globes that heralded the last weeks of summer. Tonight, Henry was having a sleepover with Gideon at their house and she wanted to attempt a homemade blueberry cobbler for dessert.

Blueberries, not apples, were Henry’s favorite fruit, a preference his mother Regina didn’t appreciate, but was a great source of amusement to the rest of the family.

Rumplestiltskin sighed heavily, pretending to be put out. “Sweetheart, if you want to bake, I’m here to coach you on to victory.” He grinned. “For better or worse, remember?”

She stuck out her tongue at him, making him chuckle.

On this go-round, he’d have to pitch in as more than just chief taste-tester if they wanted to avoid the oven fire they’d had the last time she baked.

His wife possessed many wonderful qualities, but kitchen skills were not among them. When they’d lived together in the Dark Castle, he used to hover in the kitchen doorway for the sheer pleasure of watching her burn everything from chicken to cakes to carrots. He’d developed a particular talent for rescuing her meals in the nick of time. 

Once, she’d singed her fingertips in the fire and he was so furious with himself for allowing her to be hurt, he’d locked himself in his tower for the rest of the night. Belle had stormed up the stone staircase holding a tray of tea and cakes and banged on the door until he relented. That evening, she’d spent hours reading to him from one of her favorites while he crowded next to her on the settee, dutifully eating burned scones and turning pages to protect her injured hand.

Who said dark magic never amounted to anything good?

He deposited sacks of flour and sugar on the conveyor belt, as well as vanilla ice cream. Whether the icy treat would be topping for the cobbler or their alternate dessert remained to be seen.

“Oh, goodie, you remembered the one with the vanilla beans.” Her face shone with pleasure when he showed her the black carton. It was so easy to make her happy.

“Where’re Gideon and Henry?”

“Still in the candy aisle.” He shrugged. “I gave them permission to choose one item.” The register dinged as the cashier rang out the customer in line ahead of them. 

“Hey, Belle, Gold.” David Nolan slid a bottle of milk and a carton of brown eggs into a shopping bag. We just got back from our week at the beach and I’m here for the necessities.”

Rumplestiltskin felt a stab of envy. The domestic errand did nothing to diminish Nolan’s masculinity. He was every inch the golden god, his tanned arm muscles straining against the confines of his short-sleeved polo shirt. He’d bet David Nolan never worried about how he looked in a pair of bathing trunks.

“Nolan.” Suddenly grouchy, he crossed his thin, pasty arms, safely encased beneath his many layers of Armani. He normally didn’t break a sweat, even in the deep August heat, but today perspiration prickled the back of his neck. He rested a warm hand on top of the ice cream to cool himself.

“Haven’t seen you since the Golden Nuggets team awards dinner at Tony’s,” David said. “How are you guys?”

“David, hi. Gideon’s around here somewhere.” Belle poked her head above the register endcap and scanned what she could see of the candy aisle. “He’s been working on his swing and I’m sure he’d like to show you.”

“His game has come a long way.” David flashed a proud smile. “But I’m in a hurry. Maybe I could stop by and give him some pointers next week?”

Rumplestiltskin scowled and drummed his fingers on top of the ice cream carton. He’d like to offer Nolan some pointers of his own. Like on how to take care of his own family and leave his alone.

“Mary Margaret’s waiting in the car, so I’ll get right to it,” David said. “Now that baseball season’s over, we’ve decided to charter a football program. Neal Junior is excited to play quarterback. Would Gideon be interested in joining the team?” David accepted his change from the cashier, and the conveyor belt whined as Belle and Gold’s small collection of groceries wobbled toward the register. “It’s tag, not tackle.”

Rumplestiltskin wondered if that was meant to be reassuring.

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Did the man need to coach every sport known to mankind? Perhaps Storybrooke needed tennis, golf, volleyball, and wrestling programs as well. And American football? It was a brute’s sport, and the Underworld would freeze over before he’d allow Gideon to play.

Belle hummed in consideration. “We were going to sign Gideon up for some indoor batting sessions, but we might introduce him to some other sports, depending. Rumple, what do you think?”

He couldn’t believe Belle was even entertaining the notion. “Why not take them down to Fortune’s Rocks for surfing lessons instead?” he suggested, clamping down on his back teeth.

Sarcasm hung in the air like fog and Nolan’s brow furrowed in confusion.  

Fortune’s Rocks was an inlet a few miles down Storybrooke’s coast, a place where rough sea walls crashed sharply against enormous, craggy boulders. The locals knew Fortune’s waves were only for the most experienced, danger-loving surfers. Every summer, some poor unfortunate soul was injured or worse on its punishing rocks.

His wife pressed her lips into a thin white line. “Thanks for the offer, David,” she said. “We’ll get back to you.”

“No problem. Don’t wait too long, though. Practice starts next week.” Unflappable as ever, David exited the store with his groceries balanced on one arm, he free hand raised in a little wave.

Once the princeling had disappeared, Belle sighed. “What was that all about? I thought you liked David.”

“He’s tolerable.” Rumple huffed. “Tag or not, American football is too dangerous. A sport designed for those whose brains are in their biceps.” And for those who are strong and brave.

He crossed his arms again. He really needed to get into the backyard and work on his own tan. Somewhere in the bowels of the basement there was an old set of dumbbells. Perhaps he should start sneaking into the basement to lift weights instead of spending the wee hours spinning.

“It was only an offer, love. We could have politely said ‘no, thank you,’” Belle said.

He hated how measured and reasonable she was acting, but he couldn’t very well confess it was David’s handsome masculinity that had put him in such a foul temper. “He was certainly looking well after a week at the beach,” Gold allowed grudgingly.

“Yeah, he’s a hot ticket.” The elderly cashier, who had a shock of bright red hair and wore a nametag proclaiming her as Dora, jawed on a wad of bright pink bubble gum.

Ignoring Dora’s comment, Belle turned away from the groceries to run her hands up and down his chest. “It’s not a competition, Rumple. Not a fair one, at any rate.”

“True.” He was nothing special to look at. Bland as white toast and just as dry. He cracked jokes about being irresistible to women, but he recognized the truth as well as anyone else. People were attracted to his power. Only Belle had ever cared to peel back his layers to understand the quiet, fragile man beneath.

“I suppose David’s nice looking enough if boyish charm interests you.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Not me. I prefer a man with a leaner physique.”

Heat toasted Gold’s cheeks, making the cool grocery store feel like a sauna. “Sweetheart, that is the least romantic thing you’ve ever said to me,” he drawled, covering his surprise.

As usual, his wife had read him like one of her well-loved, careworn books. Sometimes her innocent sweetness stupefied him. Who in their right mind would prefer Rumplestiltskin to Prince Charming? Then again, his Belle had always been an unusual creature.

“You know what I mean.” She moved her nails along his collarbones in teasing scrapes, her breath a lascivious whisper against his neck. “Wiry. Distinguished. And incredibly sexy in my favorite paisley tie.”

“Indeed,” he managed around a gulp.

“Anyway,” Belle turned to Dora, still making a show of fixing his tie. “I don’t think David Nolan is the cheating type.”

The cashier was gaping, the sticky mess of bubble gum half hanging out of her mouth. Whether she was shocked by the way Belle was touching him or her directness regarding David Nolan’s lack of availability, Rumplestiltskin couldn’t be sure.

Gideon poked his head around Rumple’s side and Belle stepped back. “What are you guys talking about?” Their son heaved an enormous package of Skittles on the conveyor. “Cheating?”

Uh oh. A change in subject was desperately in order.

“Did you two commandeer the largest bag of candy in the store?” Gold reached down to ruffle Gideon’s curly hair and then reached up to do the same to Henry.

“This and blueberry cobbler with ice cream.” Henry’s grin was triumphant. “Only the best when I sleep over, right Grandpa?”

He couldn’t resist smiling back. When it came to these boys, he was a complete marshmallow. They all knew the candy and the ice cream were insurance policies in case Belle’s latest baking experiment went awry. “That’s right, m’boy.”

Dora rang up the enormous bag of candy with the rest of their order. “Your total is $14.47,” she said, two red spots coloring the centers of her cheeks.

“They’re talking about cheating,” Gideon told Henry. “Like at a game.”

Rumplestilstkin felt his lips twitch. “Who said anything about cheating?” He handed the cashier money for the groceries. He turned to Belle, hoping for help with Henry and Gideon, but she shook her head and smothered a giggle. Very well; he’d torture her with tickling later.

“You did,” Gideon reminded him.

A dog with a bone, Rumplestiltskin thought darkly.

“We didn’t mean that kind of cheating,” he said, then instantly regretted it. Why in the name of all the realms was he still talking?

“What other kind of cheating is there?” Gideon frowned.

Growing exasperated, Rumplestiltskin pinched the bridge of his nose. Their son’s dogged determination was a trait he’d inherited from both he and Belle. Today, it was not serving his father well. “There’s no cheating. No one is cheating.”

“Right, Grandpa.” Henry winked. “You mean this bit right here at the baseball games?” He wriggled his fingers and waggled his eyebrows.  

Both boys blinked at him with feigned innocence. Gold was nonplussed. Why hadn’t it occurred to him that Henry might put the pieces together?

“Well, I…” For once the silver-tongued Rumplestiltskin was at a loss for words.

Faced those trusting expressions, mocking or otherwise, he found he couldn’t gloss over the truth.

He was caught.

Together they bagged their groceries in silence and stepped out into the sunshine. The late August breeze was a welcome refreshment to his heat-prickled skin.

“Relax, Papa.” Gideon ambled through the parking lot at his side, his long-suffering sigh far beyond his eight years. “I know all about you helping our team sometimes at the games. Everyone does. Even Coach David.”

Henry nodded in agreement.

“What?” It seemed his secret help was no secret after all.

“Whenever we needed to score, somebody would get a super awesome hit,” Gideon said. “Like Roland and me did in our last game.”

“Roland and I,” Belle interjected.

Oh, now she wanted to be part of the conversation. Mrs. Grammar Police!

Speechless, Rumplestiltskin studied the pavement as they began the two-block walk home. It seemed Neal was right after all. He was not as clever as he’d believed.

Gideon slipping his small hand into Rumplestiltskin’s larger one and squeezed his fingers. The childish comfort touch soothed his bruised ego.

“No worries.” Gideon clucked his tongue the way Belle did whenever their son awoke from a bad dream. “When I grow up you won’t have to help me anymore. I’ll be awesome at magic. But not better than you, Papa.”

“No, of course not.” He managed a weak smile. His body had continued moving down the street but he felt like his mind was still back on the sidewalk outside the store, slack-jawed and confused because Gideon wasn’t upset with him.

Although he and Belle had agreed never to discuss his cheating with Gideon, the lie had still bothered him. But he’d convinced himself that should Gideon ever learn the truth, the consequences would be catastrophic. Instead, his beloved boy was brushing off his interference as if it were nothing.

“You won’t need magic for baseball,” Belle said with motherly authority. “You’ll be able to win without any outside assistance.”

“Absolutely!” Henry looped his arm around Gideon’s neck and gave him a noogie until the younger boy howled with laughter and twisted out of reach. “Magic is a tool, not a crutch, right Grandpa?”

A lump formed in Rumplestiltskin’s throat. There was far too much compassion in his grandson’s knowing look, but even as a precocious ten-year-old, Henry’s wisdom and empathy had always been extraordinary. Rumple supposed being the son of two magical mothers made him uniquely qualified to mentor his much younger uncle Gideon.

“That’s right.” Rumplestiltskin cleared his throat, eager to move on to a lighter topic. His lips quirked and he looked at his wife. “Unless we’re cooking with your grandmother. Then we need to call on every spell in the book.”

“Henry agreed to call me Belle years ago,” she said with emphasis. Her eyes were alight with indignation but her lips were pursed with repressed humor. “As for you, there will be no blueberry cobbler!”

Rumplestiltskin gave a mock gasp and as their laughing and teasing continued, tension fell from his shoulders like scales. Arm-in-arm with his wife, he shook off the unwelcome weight and strolled past the baseball field feeling lighter than air.

Up ahead at the intersection, David’s truck trundled by, but the jealousy that had boiled up so quickly in the grocery store had evaporated, at least for the moment. Some insecurities would never die, but as he carried their groceries down the sun-soaked street and basked in the love, compassion, and laughter of his family, Rumplestiltskin was nothing but content.

###

[christophe-delorne]

Gregstophe Week: Day 7

SADNESS // RAINSTORM // PROFESSION CHANGE AU

TITLE: Yellow Dahlias

WARNINGS: None. Just fluff.

AGE: Late 20s

NOTES: Later than usual posting this, decided to be lazy today. What kind of fanfiction writer would I be if I didn't write a Flowershop AU?

Every day for three years now, Christophe was always outside his flower shop at five am on the dot. From what Gregory could tell, the Frenchman kept to a schedule, while Gregory could respect that, it was almost a little concerning. It made him wonder if Christophe ever did something that strayed away from the usual daily task. Gregory was always one to be punctual, but he made time to do something fun and new every so often. When he watched his shop neighbor day to day, there was always a pattern. No one came to visit him other than customers, he never seemed to take social calls either. Gregory was lucky to even manage to snag Christophe's number and only because they needed it to look out for each other's shops in case of an emergency.

Gregory would be lying if he hadn't thought about texting Christophe just to be social, he wanted to know more about the mysterious flower shop owner who worked beside him. However, he never had the courage to make that first text, Christophe wasn't one to even hold conversations in person, would he be any different through technology? Gregory didn't want to ruin their cordial relationship by being too nosy or overbearing towards Christophe. What they had right now was decent enough, Gregory had seen Christophe with a temper and he didn't want it directed at him. He let out a sigh, the longer time went on, the more frustrated he got. He was going to drive himself mad at this rate, he should find some sort of hobby or a date to take his mind off the Frenchman.

He recalled his dinner with his friend Estella last night, they had tried dating a while back but it didn't really work out. Still though, they remained close friends and Gregory had hoped hanging out with her would take his mind off things. It hadn't and Estella had easily taken notice. She had always been perceptive about people close to her, which was why she had noticed Gregory didn't have his heart in their previous relationship and broke it off. She had tried her best to encourage Gregory to make a move, to reach out and test the waters. The idea made for a fairly sleepless night for Gregory. Usually he was good when it came to dealing with stress, it came with owning any sort of shop and his bakery was no exception from constantly stressing him out.

This morning, getting out of bed had been rough, little sleep and now facing down the day of seeing Christophe again after everything he'd talked about with Estella, he was and wasn't looking forward to the rest of the day.He'd just go through the routine again with Christophe. He'd say good morning to Christophe, who would be sweeping the sidewalk in front of their stores and then for the rest of the day Gregory would be staring out the front window, waiting for another glimpse of Christophe. Estella was right, he was just a lovesick puppy at this point. Why couldn't it have been with someone more approachable instead of someone who'd shut down any conversation before they even had a proper start.

Gregory toyed with the keys in his pants pocket, while it was summer, he still preferred to wear pants since he worked mainly indoors anyways, shorts just seemed unprofessional in this setting. Though at least he wore something different every day, not too uptight, but still looking like he cared about his appearance. Unlike Christophe, who's wardrobe seemed to consist of maybe a few shirts and a couple of pants, all in need of replacing. He was certain his neighbor wasn't poor, he'd seen customers come and go and Chris had cornered off that bit of the market by being the only flowershop in town. It fit Christophe though, he never seemed to care about appearances, certainly he was grouchy and closed off, but he did his work well.

His shop finally came into view as he rounded the block's corner, the sun was already up since it was summer, not glaringly but the sky had a soft glow to it. By now Christophe should've been out front as usual, so it was a bit of a surprise when he saw an empty sidewalk. It made him stop and look around as if Chris would be somewhere within sight, but nothing. It was concerning to see, Chris had never missed a day off work ever since they've known each other. Had something happened? As far as Gregory knew, Chris lived alone, so if something did happen, no one would know. Gregory pulled out his phone to check to see if he received any messages, but there were no notifications.

Tucking his phone away, he went up to the flower shop's door, the closed sign was still up. So Christophe hadn't come in yet, so he had to still be at home. Though it made him wonder if he was okay, if he had no one to care for him, Gregory had to step up and be that person. Before he could back down like a coward, he pulled his phone back out and pulled up the messenger. He paused though as his mind scrambled on what he should say. He didn't want to sound like a worrywart pestering the man, something casual and not too invasive. They were just acquaintances, nothing more despite Gregory's wishes. It wouldn't be too weird if he checked in though, right?

Hey, its Gregory, you weren't outside your shop, so I'm just checking in to see if you're okay and if you need me to keep an eye on the shop for the day.

There, simple as that. Though it still made his heart hammer in his chest, nervously standing there, waiting for a reply. He should go in his own store and get things ready for the morning crowd, but his feet were stuck in place. He wouldn't be able to concentrate anyways while waiting for a reply, making him look like an absolute fool for being so hung up on one simple reply. Then, his phone chimed and a text bubble popped up, making his heart feel like it was about to leap from his chest from excitement. He always knew he'd been one for the dramatics.

i'm not comin in today, sick.

Gregory should've expected this, the brief message, Christophe wasn't one for long winded conversations, even in text. The knowledge that Christophe was sick was worrying, Christophe usually didn't let even a cold keep him down. So being sick and not coming to work sounded like it was pretty severe despite Christophe not elaborating on how exactly he was sick, but Gregory knew enough about the stubborn Frenchman to know he wasn't the type to ask for help. He could be lying in his bed alone, too weak to get up and take care of himself. The thought alone made Gregory frown and his hand tighten on his phone.

I'm coming over to help you then, what's your address?

i'm fine

If you were fine, you'd be at work, now come on, tell me.

After a moment of no response, Gregory thought maybe pressing had been a bad idea and he'd chased Christophe off. Finally, a message came through, revealing where Christophe lived. It wasn't surprising that Chris lived nearby, it wouldn't be much of a walk to the small apartment complex. Though Gregory wanted to pick up a few things before heading over, so he sent a reply that he'd be there soon before tucking his phone away. Being up this early, the grocery store was fairly empty, just employees restocking the shelves. It made it easier for Gregory to pick up some typical care package things. Medicine, soup, tissues. He wasn't sure what Chris had, but he would come prepared for anything.

The apartment complex was nondescript, nice but nothing fancy, a old building that was kept lovingly so nothing was falling apart. Gregory had assumed the worse, with Christophe's lack of care, he might've lived in some sort of dump. It was a relief that he wasn't though, Gregory would've had a fit if it'd been true. Juggling the large paper bag of groceries, he pressed the button to the elevator, taking him up to the third floor where Christophe indicated he lived. While it wasn't the more sophisticated type of decor his own apartment complex had, it was more down to earth, a homey, well lived in sort of vibe.. Looking at the numbers on the doors, he made his way down the hall until he found the right one, raising a hand to press the doorbell. He hated the idea of forcing Christophe to get up and answer, but he didn't have a key.

Gregory could hear a bit of shuffling inside, waiting patiently for the door to unlock and crack open. Light from the hall spilled into the dark apartment, making Chris visible wince. He looked pale, even with his darker skin tone. The Frenchman squinted against the harsh light, letting his eyes adjust before he could properly identify that it was Gregory. The door opened wider, Christophe already shuffling back into the studio apartment to nearly collapse on the bed. It seemed he didn't even have the strength to pretend he was alright, another concerning point considering Christophe held tightly to his pride.

Gregory moved over to the little kitchen, setting the bag on the counter so he could get to work on making Chris something to eat, who knows if he ate anything last night as there was no evidence of dishes in the sink. He paused though when he took note of a vase of flowers, possible a half a dozen yellow ones. He wasn't an expert on flowers, so he wasn't certain what they meant, but they stood out in the otherwise Spartan apartment. He stared at them longer than he intended, had someone sent them to him? That'd be an odd thing to do considering Chris was a florist, so maybe Chris had brought them home for himself.

Curious, he reached out, there was a yellow ribbon tied around the vase, just beneath the lip, a decoration that held a little cardboard note. He squinted a little, having trouble reading when the only light was from the small light under the cabinets, but there was definite scribbling on there. He moved the vase a little, directing the cardboard note a little more into the light so he could read the cursive a little better.

To: Gregory From: Chris

"I meant to give them to you today." Christophe voice made Gregory jump a little, he hadn't even heard Christophe move. He'd been so wrapped up in his suddenly very chaotic thoughts, he hadn't been paying attention. Gregory whirled around faster than he intended so he could face Christophe, a bit of red staining his cheeks from the embarrassment of being caught snooping.

"Beg your pardon?" Had he heard Christophe right? Christophe didn't seem to look away, his expression schooled so Gregory could get a read on him. Even while ill, Christophe appeared to remain stubbornly closed off. Though his once gruff voice sounded weaker than usual, pulling a bit at Gregory's need to care for him.

"I said they're for you. They're Dahlia's. They remind me of you." Christophe explained a little more as if he figured Gregory was simply too dense to understand flowers. Gregory looked back to the flowers, they'd been carefully arranged. It was amazing how such a rough edged person could create something so beautiful, but as long as Gregory had known Christophe, that had always been the case. "Guess the surprise is ruined. They're still yours if you want them."

"I'd love to have them." Gregory quickly stated, but he knew in his heart he wanted more than just the flowers. They were a olive branch, reaching out for Gregory to take so that he could finally get what he wanted to truly love. Christophe.