#shrunken!nathaniel

[the-firebird69]

Making Stormbreaker - Groot Lifts Thor's Axe | Avengers Infinity War (20...

Asun thinks that it's the dwarf who is actually Nathaniel Hawthorne and his body is shrunken down on purpose and his head is big on purpose and a lot of people think it might be true and he has said look to him and what he's saying makes sense and you don't need a blast furnace to heat up the hammer and you should know you're not forming it and he's doing that kind of thing. The masks don't really care and they say it doesn't work and you keep doing it and he says that's the point and they are trying to figure out what to do and they are doing stuff it's not massively revered but he does his dirty jobs and he's claiming to be other people and for some reason they don't know who he is no they know who he is they think they're going to malign him and St did everything they do it to each other but really the max are going to fall through with their plan and they have plans to exterminate the more lock and there's no little thing and it's permanent this time and this guy knows about it he's a mac proper and he doesn't believe they're going to do anything to him and they've been in fights like this other max and it's a war and he is the person who is blaming Tommy F for shooting at him he's been shooting at our son to try and kidnap him and he is going to go down.

Thor Freya

Olylmpus

bg Ran the Hawthorne Mall and just let it go because he knew who he was and it's a rotted out shell and it's symbolic of Nathaniel Hawthorne who they hate a lot of people know who he is and now they're saying this this guy is into our business and he had trump pay and he found out that the investments were code for later But he was made to release his and pull his back in yes and it was because he shot the guy and he didn't die no it's because the Max had him do it and he understands why and it was to use him rather than just eliminate him that's what they did during the Civil War to make an appearance that this is the last place for slavery it's supposed to be the land of the free and then slavery had finally left and it matched her in charge here that the mac proper were in charge when in fact it was completely overrun with Morlock but people started hitting the morlock all over the world thinking that they were the Max as well and that was what he did.

Thor Freya he is a big fish yes well ok whale

[i-like-cookiez]

Miraculous Gaydybug

Shrunken!Nathaniel x Marc

Miraculous Ladybug g/t...yes. Especially with my gay boys...🥰

Story takes place a day or two after the events of Reverser.

Marc practically threw his front door open. Resizer, the newest akumatized villain's attack had only just begun, and he was already shielding his shrunken classmate from the world in his red hoodie pocket.

Nathaniel had been hit by one of her blasters, shrinking him down. Marc remembered the way Nath had frozen up as he got smaller, eyes growing wider as he watched his classmates begin to loom over him. The way he seemed to look at everyone in a silent, desperate plea for help. After realizing Nathaniel was frozen in shock and fear, Marc has rushed out and scooped the boy up, depositing him into the relative safety of his hoodie pocket. Ladybug ordered Marc to keep him safe while her and Chat Noir dealt with the akuma, and he promised he would.

His fingerless gloved hands were loosely cocooned over the tiny scarlet redheaded boy's body. He could just barely feel the trembling against his hands. Nathaniel was terrified, and rightfully so. First, they'd all watched as Chat was grown to probably half the size of the Eiffel Tower, and then Nathaniel had to feel and see himself grow smaller and smaller. Marc could only imagine the fear he was feeling.

The two boys had been distant past few days, ever since a misunderstanding between them and Marinette has caused Marc to be akumatized, Marc had been confiding in Marinette after his akumatization, worrying that Nathaniel hated him, sure they did that comic book together, but who’s to say that the artist had really been sincere? Marinette had told him that he's probably reading it wrong, and maybe Nathaniel feels guilty, but Marc was sure of his former assumption.

He went up to his bedroom and surveyed his somewhat messy room, ripped and crumpled up pieces of paper from scrapped story ideas he'd written lying all over the floor and his desk. With one swipe of his free arm, he pushed the papers from the desk onto the floor, he could pick them up later. Then, ever so gently, he wrapped his other hand around Nathaniel in a firm but careful manner. He was met with small squeaks of protest, and a lot of struggling, but Marc's hand easily overpowered the shrunken teen. As soon as Nathaniel was removed from the pocket, he went still and silent, eyes screwed shut, refusing to look at the giant boy that had his life in his palm. Marc stared down at him, getting a clear look at him for the first time, in utter awe.

He's so small... Marc thought. So fragile and helpless. Mylène must feel like that because of Chloé, and now her akuma is making it so she can pass that feeling onto others... Nathaniel made a small noise, something between a whimper and a squeak, and Marc's heart almost burst with pity. He gingerly set Nathaniel down on the desk, and crouched down. He noticed that Nathaniel had his eyes squeezed closed, and sighed. Maybe if he gave the little guy some time alone, he'd feel a little better.

"Stay here, alright? I-I'll be right back." Marc said in a hushed voice, trying not to stutter. His pity for his classmate only grew when he saw him flinch at his words. Marc slowly stood up and exited the room quietly. The small boy's terrified form made eyes well up with tears. Nathaniel never truly meant any harm, he'd just been conflicted, always insecure about people humiliating him for his drawings - again, Chloé's fault... - He didn't deserve to feel so vulnerable and powerless. The raven haired boy ambled into the kitchen, getting an idea. He still had some apology macaroons left over from Marinette, he'd tried to refuse them because in the end, neither boy blamed her, but she insisted, and so Marc and Nathaniel had both taken home a box of macaroons.

Marc came back upstairs with a small plate of macaroons. He knocked softly on the doorframe to his room and walked in carefully.

"H-Hey, uh...I brought up some m-macaroons if you're, uh, hungry..." He set the plate down on the bed, and trailed off when he realized he couldn't see Nathaniel on his desk anywhere. "Oh no..." He whispered to himself.

"Um, Nath...? N-Nathaniel?" Marc called out softly, taking a few steps forward. He looked to the ground and froze in his tracks. He could be on the ground! I could've just... Marc shooed off those thoughts, and slipped off his boots, tossing them to the other side of the room, that way he wouldn't accidentally crush his classmate. Marc crouched at the desk again, and listened.

"Nath...please, come out. I-I don't want to hurt you." He said slowly and quietly. No reply. Marc was about to check the floor, when he heard some sniffling from behind his mug of pencils. Marc was about to move the mug away, when he froze.

"N-No! Stop!" A sudden voice cried out. It had been a yell, but it was barely even loud as Nathaniel was so small. Marc retracted his hand, but didn't move away.

"Okay! Okay! I-I'm not gonna move the cup!" Marc promised, "but I'll only keep that promise if you'll talk to me." He coaxed. There was silence for a second, until:

"F-Fine."

Marc managed a small smile. He looked at the cup where Nathaniel was hiding behind. He took a breath and started talking.

"So...How are you holding up, Nath?" He asked in a calm, low tone. Another few seconds of silence.

"E-Everything is huge a-and scary...T-The people, the places, the o-objects...You." Marc physically recoiled. He was scary?

"M-Me? Why...Why am I scary? It's me, Marc! The boy who literally couldn't hurt a fly!" He said in a hushed but raised voice, "you know me, Nathaniel. I'm not scary."

"Y-You're lying..." The tiny boy whimpered, "you j-just want me to feel safe so I'll c-come out, a-and then you'll take your r-r-revenge..." Marc was confused.

"Revenge? Nath, why on earth would I want 'revenge' against you?!" Marc has to stop himself from shouting in disbelief.

"B-Because I'm why you became R-Reverser..."

Oh... Marc thought, everything clicked in his brain and it all made sense. Nathaniel's awkwardness, why he's hiding now, why they haven't been speaking.

He blames himself.

"I-I insulted you...I ripped your notebook - you w-watched me do it! - and I didn't even g-give you a chance to explain yourself..."

"You must hate me."

"No...No Nath, wait-" Marc wanted to reassure his classmate that he didn't hate him. Without thinking, he moved the cup aside, revealing the wide eyed tiny staring back.

"N-No...please stay back...!" Nathaniel squeaked out quietly, scurrying backwards. Marc was slowly inching his hands closer.

"Nath, please...d-don't run. Just let me explain, you don't have to be afraid." Marc looked last Nathaniel and saw that he was running out of room to go back. "Nathaniel, wait!" He said suddenly.

"No! N-No!" Nath's body was in a trembling frenzy. Marc reached out suddenly and Nathaniel jumped back in terror.

"I-I won't let you t-take me-!" Nathaniel was cut off as he backed right off the desk. Marc was quick to act.

"Watch out!" He exclaimed, cupping his hands under his classmate. He felt the small weight of Nathaniel collide into his palms. Marc inhaled sharply as it happened. He watched as Nathaniel sat up slowly and became aware of where he was.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" Marc began to panic, he gingerly brushed a finger over Nathaniel's limbs to check for any injury.

"I'm...fine?" Nathaniel replied slowly and hesitantly, "are...are you n-not-?"

"Not mad? Of course not." Marc lifted Nathaniel up to eye level, "that wasn't your fault. It was just a misunderstanding. You'd been manipulated and bullied before for your art, and I get it, I have too. And you should know that even though we haven't been talking, I-I had been hoping we would be again, e-eventually. Anyway! I don't blame you for anything, and there's no 'revenge' I want on you. All I want for you is for you to feel safe with me, u-until Ladybug and Chat Noir fix...this." Marc said, using a single finger to move some hair out of Nathaniel's eyes. Nathaniel grabbed onto the finger softly and touched it, feeling the enlarged grooves of skin. Still clutching it, he nervously looked up, tiny turquoise eyes staring up at Marc's giant green ones.

"Th-Thank you." Nathaniel stuttered out. Then he gave his best attempt at a friendly smile while trying to push down his fear. Marc's cheeks went a light shade of pink and he smiled back. His brain was thinking just one thing.

Shoot, that was really cute...how is he so cute?

"U-Um...you're welcome." Marc stammered, cheeks shading into a deeper pink. He walked slowly over to his bed and sat down next to his plate of macaroons. He put his hands onto the bed and let Nathaniel stumble off onto the plushy surface.

"So...are you hungry, or..?" Marc trailed off awkwardly, breaking off a piece of the macaroons and extending it towards Nathaniel. The tiny boy eagerly grabbed it and took a bite. His eyes lit up.

"More of Mari's macaroons! I ran out the same day she gave them to us! They taste so good..." He said in a fake hypnotized voice. Marc smiles fondly at his small friend. Nathaniel looked up from his sweet treat, and saw Marc's face. Now Nathaniel was going his own shade of red.

Marc's kinda cute when you talk to him for a little bit...he's also a pretty good writer, we should make a comic together... Nathaniel thought, then realized what exactly he'd just thought. Both boys ate their macaroons in comfortable silence, each occasionally sneaking a glance at the other and smiling cheekily.

Both of them have it baaaaad...

Good lord I love them so much if you want more of these two in size antics let me knowwww!

[song-of-the-sunrise]

All of the listed characters/muses are open for various asks of a variety!! 💖

DnD Characters-

Cal - Changeling (Rougelock, eventual God of Cats and Fair Fighting War)

He/Him

Ekon - Halfling (Barbarian, Ekon "Doorkicker" Zara, she who has killed a dragon and lain with a bugbear)

She/Her

Wrath - Longtooth Shifter (Wizard, lighting go brrrrr!)

He/Him

Mirage - Longtooth Shifter (Ranger, she very tired and very anxious, please buy her wares and continue your day)

She/Her

Weanhel - Tiefling (Monk mama! She'll verbally kick your bullies ass but only as a demonstration for your later use, however anyone touches you or abuses you the gloves are off)

She/Her

Ecstasy - Tiefling (Cleric, a burlesque owner with a soothing touch and soothing words, get this poor boy a French to English he has lived in town for 16 years and he purely chalks it up to the voice being nice for guests to hear but words are hard guys 😔)

He/Him

Artemis - Tiefling (Cleric, knowledge is the greatest thing to reach and achieve! Please don't tell dad I set the curtains on fire again 😰 it's the 7th time)

He/Him

Morgan - Human (Bard, that beautiful head is so full of bird songs, weed and melodies that by the gods you'd love to visit)

He/Him

Calvin - Human (Rouge, eventual glorified messenger of the gods, he's a tired 32 year old mom who has to keep everyone tied to a leash so don't make him bring out the sandals)

He/Him

Novel - Tiefling (Paladin, best girl go brrrrrr 💖🌟💖 fun fact, she's in a polycule with a person on this list... can you guess who?)

She/Her

Vula - Goliath (Barbarian, very patient and very tall. She helps keep the halfling in check especially when they get married 💖💖💖)

She/Her

Loki - Half Elf (Bard, eventual God of Music, he's so fine guys, there's nothing wrong! (Wrong, it's depression!))

He/Him

Nyx - Changeling (Bard/Rouge, I play a mean saxophone and fix you up with a cool new outfit!!!)

They/Them

Nyxxus/Nyxx - Changeling/Doppelganger (Bloodhunter/Blood Cleric, I'm hot and I'm so cool and there is nothing wrong with me! (Screams of traumatic experiences in the background)

They/Them

Zandria - Aasimir (Cleric, sweetest person you'll ever meet, and she'll be open that she's had a little bit of trauma. Big Tiddy Goth Gf with a side of she looks like a Milf)

She/Her

Brennan - Weretiger/Tiefling(Half-devil) (Druid/Sorcerer, he's wonderful to bring to meet the family, loves his momma and wish she would dump his father’s ass! Likes architecture 🌟😌🌟)

He/Him

No Name - Swiftstride Shifter (Bloodhunter, doesn't speak and just broke out of science experiment jail, he's doing his best)

He/Him

Mistle - Tiefling (Druid, "hey have you ever been on a adventure before?" No!! How hard can it be!? 😁😁😁 *Thunderwaves the whole party*)

He/They

Bjorn - Human/Werebear (Fighter, we like to call him BBB- Bare Bear Bear(man), he's trying to find his husband who isn't taking things very well.)

He/Him

Malik - Half Elf/Werejackal (Rouge, hi, the one not taking the changes very well. Twink in comparison to his husband.)

He/Him

Lazgar - Orc (Fighter, she'll take your wallet... along with you. She has perpetual "Don't Fuck With Me" face.)

She/Her

Merostife - Rakshasa (Sorcerer, he's just a little guy when he wants to be, but otherwise he's a manipulative dickhead.)

He/Him

Nathaniel - Human (Warlock. Under no circumstances, if you want to stay alive, do you ever touch his stuff.... including his husband.)

He/Him

Kavanoth - Goliath (Barbarian, in the good timelines he's a great man and a wonderful father!!! In others.... 😒😒😒)

He/Him

Monolith - Lower Pact Deity (rat, little bastard, his shrunken form looks like a hairless Sphinx cat with an extra couple of legs, and three very tentacle-like tails.... oh and if that's not worse he's got the feet like an otter despite the fact that water is his enemy)

It/They

Other Characters From Other Things-

Homestuck:

Kemvis Frulaz (Homestuck OC/Fantroll)

They/Them & He/Him

https://www.tumblr.com/song-of-the-sunrise/736736702805229568/kemvis-frulaz-ask-and-answered

Shantz (Homestuck OC/Fantroll)

They/Them, He/Him, She/Her, It/It's

Hospaa Ezlive (Homestuck OC/Fantroll)

He/Him

Stri'ya Tatreu (Homestuck OC/Fantroll)

She/Her

Fun Writing/Comfort Characters/Fursonas:

Stormy Stargazer - Tiefling (Comfort OC/ OC Story)

They/Them

Belladonna Lapridosha - Tiefling (Comfort OC/ OC Story)

She/Her

Kai Cleary (Furry OC)

They/Them

Piper Rosemund (Furry OC)

They/Them & She/Her

Rayis Embryn - Changeling (Furry OC/ OC Story)

He/Him

Alexander (Xander) Debohdare - Human (OC Story)

He/Him

Harker Windrow - Tiefling (OC Story)

He/Him

Leslie Mirrorwood - Human (OC Story)

She/Her

[ladylynse]

Um, i can't click on the stories in the see more fics things

...I have no idea why, but you’re right, I can’t either when I go to that post. But when I click on the post to edit it, they all show up. I’ll copy and paste the post into this and see if it works:

A list of my three sentence fics by fandom(s) and characters/prompts so they’re easier to find! Alternatively, check out my tumblr fic masterpost, random WIP scenes and snippets, fic ideas, or find me on FFnet and the AO3! Also, take a peek at the fanart and fanfic I’ve been gifted. If you like my work, you can consider buying me a coffee.

Fandoms:American Dragon: Jake LongAo No Exorcist/Blue ExorcistDanny PhantomDaredevilFirefly/SerenityGravity FallsHarry PotterMerlinMiraculous LadybugRandy Cunningham: 9th Grade NinjaSupernaturalThe Adventure ZoneVoltron: Legendary Defender

Crossovers:Secret Quartet (DP/ML/AD:JL/RC9GN)ML/AD:JLML/DPSuperPhantom (DPxSPN)Phantom Falls (DPxGF)DP/RotGFirefly/TAZ (sorta)DP/OtGWDaredevil/SPNDP/Daredevil

American Dragon: Jake Long:Rotwood, 88, and 89 (”reveal”)Jake and Rose (”Huntsclan!Jake AU”) [FF | AO3]Haley (and Fu, Jake, and Rose) (”Huntsclan!Jake AU”)Susan and Lao Shi ( ”Huntsclan!Jake AU” //death (not really but still)) (expanded: FF | AO3) Rotwood and Jake (”Rotwood is pleased that Jake fits in a duffel bag”) / follow up / follow up / follow up Susan, Jake, Haley (Huntsclan!Jake AU “scales”)Jake, Fu (”Jake accidentally gets a kangaroo pouch in dragon form”) (1+5) Rose and Jake (Huntsclan!Jake AU “Why are you acting like this?”) (1+5) Blue Exorcist:Rin and Yukio (”capes”)

Danny Phantom: Jazz and Dani (stranger)Maddie and Plasmius (unexpected guest)Maddie and Dani (”escape”)Vlad (”have a heart” //blood, gore)Valerie and Danny (”What did you do with the body?”)Red Huntress and Phantom (”What did you do with the body?” //blood, death)Maddie and Plasmius (”impervious”)Vlad/Plasmius and Danny (”You can’t stop me”)Danny, Jack, and Maddie (”Uh...surprise?”)Danny, Sam, Tucker, OC ghost (”It is time to do the laundry”)Danny and Jazz (“lightning”)Valerie and Skulker (“horizontal”)Dani and Jazz (“family”)Maddie and Jack (“light switch”)Maddie and Jazz (“fool’s gold” //implied torture)Tucker (“folklore” //implied past torture/death)Danny (”college”/not angst)Danny and Sam (”purple” “DxS”)Danny (”badger in Vlad’s bag”) (follow up: 1+5) Vlad (”betrayal”)Dani, Jack, Maddie, Danny (”Jack and Maddie meet Dani”)Dani and Mr Lancer (”Lancer meets freshman Danielle Fenton”)Jazz, Danny, (Jack) (”Jack has a dad sneeze”)Danny and Maddie (”angst”) (x2, warnings for the second one: //blood, gore, vivisection, torture)Valerie (”cold”)Valerie and Mr. Lancer (”Mr. Lancer finds out about Valerie”)Danny and Dora (”sword”)Dash, Danny, (Kwan) (”Dash steals Lancer’s gradebook”) (follow up: 1+5) Dash, Desiree (”Dash steals Lancer’s gradebook” different version) (1+5) Danny and Valerie (”Danny, why do you have Mr. Lancer’s wallet?”)Vlad and Danny (”Vlad captures Danny in a thermos”)Vlad and Danny (”Vlad kidnaps Danny again” //drowning, torture)Maddie, Valerie, Dani (”blue”)Vlad, Maddie, Ghostwriter (”reveal”)Danny and Vlad (”Danny in a baby sling” à la this post) / follow upJazz and Danny (”tomorrow” //kicked out)Dani and Vlad (”forgive”)Danny and Lancer (”Per Tucker’s dare...”) (1+5) Danny and Vlad (”You’ll change your name...”) (1+5) Danny, Maddie, Jack (”impossible”)Tucker, Sam, Danny (”petrichor”) (1+5) Danny (”If I move fast enough....”) (1+5) Jazz, Danny, Maddie, Jack (”Can we go home now?”) (1+5)

Daredevil:Matt and Det. Mahoney (”discussing Daredevil”) (continued here)Various Hell’s Kitchen residents (”outsider POV” //death mention)OCs (”noticing Matt’s canes in the lost and found”)Matt and Foggy (retrieving Matt’s cane from the lost and found)Karen, Foggy, (Matt) (”she wasn’t expecting a 2 AM phone call”) (1+5)

Merlin:Merlin and Arthur (”If I could move...”) (1+5) Merlin and Arthur (”black eye”) (1+5)

Miraculous Ladybug: Chloé and Ladybug (reveal)Plagg and Gabriel (“I should have ripped off your head” //blood, death)Chat Noir and Marinette (”midnight coffee”)Plagg (”ephemeral” //dying)Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino (”double date”)Adrien/Chat Noir and Ladybug (”You can’t stop me”)Chat Noir, Ladybug/Marinette, and Pharaoh (prompt based off this post)Marinette and Chat Noir (”hot chocolate” “Marichat”)Marinette/Ladybug and Chat Noir (“listen”)Marinette/Ladybug and Chat Noir (“chilly”)Marinette/Ladybug and Chat Noir (“dog”)Marinette/Ladybug and Chloé (“exasperation”)Marinette and Adrien (”cat-like tendencies”)Marinette and Tom (”brunch”)Marinette, Adrien, kids, and kittens (”kittens”)Adrien/Chat Noir, Ladybug, OC akuma (”Children should eat their vegetables”)Tikki, Tom, Sabine (post reveal “Tom and Sabine let Tikki fly through the house”) Manon and Adrien (”Manon finds a Miraculous”)Alya (”Lila was in big trouble”) (1+5) Adrien, Duusu (Ladybug, Nathalie, Hawk Moth) (”Duusu started crying”) (1+5) Nino (”Nino felt he had no claim to fame”) (1+5) Alya/Rena Rouge and Ladybug (”My family can’t see me wearing this”) (1+5) Mendeleiev and Aurore (”Mendeleiev hadn’t expected Aurore’s rant”) (1+5) Tom and Sabine (”farting contest”) (1+5) Lila and Pollen (”stolen Bee Miraculous”) (1+5) Chloé and Caline Bustier (”birthday present”) (1+5) Emilie and Audrey (”friends”) (1+5) Ladybug, Adrien/Chat Noir, (Chloé) (”Chloé bans wasps”) (1+5) Carapace/Nino (”Carapace hated being called Shelly”) (1+5) Nino, Alya, Chloé, Ladybug (Mayura, Chat Noir) (”Mayura’s blue skin”) (1+5) Luka and Anarka (”smoking”) (1+5) (related)The Puppeteer and her (human) puppets (”What happens to us?”) (1+5) Chat Noir, Frightingale, (Ladybug) (”Harley Quinn”)Adrien and Gabriel (”Don’t blame me for this.”) (1+5)Caline Bustier and Ms. Mendeleiev (”Please stop hugging me”) (1+5) Gina, Sabine, Marinette (”motorcycle ride”) (1+5) Lila and her mom (”Madame Rossi’s face was alight with fury”) (1+5) Bustier, Mendeleiev, and Damocles (”This isn’t very healthy”) (1+5) Lila and her mom (”Lila’s mom learns the truth”) (1+5) (follow up)Emilie and Audrey (”Hawk Moth!Emilie”) (1+5) (follow up | related)Chloe/Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, Ladybug, (Carapace, Chat Noir) (”We can’t turn our backs on him!”) (1+5) Chloe and Adrien (”My mom left and yours disappeared”) (1+5) Gabriel and Nathalie (”My hair is grey again!”) (1+5) Chat Noir and Ladybug (”At least it isn’t raining”) (1+5) Marinette (”Like many fictional teenagers”) (1+5) Marinette and Tikki (”Like many teenagers”) (1+5) Nadja and Manon (”Manon’s drawings”) (1+5) Lila and Nooroo (”future Hawk Moth!Lila”) (1+5) Lila and Kagami (”I’m not scared of you”) (1+5) Nathaniel and Ms. Mendeleiev (”your science grade is up”) (1+5) Sabine and Gina (”Mom”) (1+5)

Firefly/Serenity:Mal and River (”that’s gonna leave a mark”)River (“repeat”) (could be read as a TAZ crossover so I’m going to throw it there, too) (related scene)

Gravity Falls:Soos and Wendy (“grateful”)Soos and Wendy (“quiet”)Mabel and Dipper (“stomp”)Stan (”Stan as a pickpocket”)Ford (”Ford waking up from a nightmare”)Dipper and Ford (”baby sling” à la this post) Dipper, Mabel, Stan, Ford (”staying in Gravity Falls”) (1+5) Mabel and Dipper (”I got in so much trouble today.”) (1+5) Pacifica, Mabel, (Dipper) (”How did I get dragged into this?”) (1+5)

Harry Potter:Ron and Hermione (”stab him already”)Ron and Hermione (”technology/bafflement”)Ron and Lavender (”[Ron], what’s with your hair?”) (1+5)

Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja: Debbie (”competition”) (find an expansion of this idea by @sach216 here)Julian (”secrets”)Randy (”revealed”) (continued here)Randy (”captured”)Randy (“I wasn’t expecting that, but hey! It works!”)Debbie and Howard (“Why is it that when I’m with you, this always happens?”)Randy and Debbie (and Howard) (”protect”)Miss Wickwhacker (”cat herd”)

Supernatural:Human!Castiel, demon (”he was so cold” //near death) (1+5)

The Adventure Zone:Magnus, Taako, and Lup (”frosting”)

Voltron:Pidge and Allura (“wonder”)Shiro ("Shiro" :accidentally shrunken teammates”) (1+5)

Secret Quartet:Adrien and Plagg (”watching idols”)Randy, Jake, Danny, and Adrien (”watching idols”)Jake and Adrien (”painting” x2)Randy, Adrien, Jake, and Danny (”Can we get ice cream?”)Jake and Randy (“trapped”)Randy, Jake, (Danny, Adrien) (“rat”)Randy, (Jake, Danny, Adrien) (“hangry”)Randy, Jake, Adrien, Danny, McFist, Viceroy (”heart attack”)Randy, Adrien, Jake, Danny (”Nasty Burger”)Randy, Adrien (”Wait, you’re telling me that isn’t normal?”)Randy, Jake, Adrien, Danny (”Griffons do what with new hatchlings?”) (1+5)

Miraculous Ladybug/American Dragon:Jake LongMarinette and Jake (”Marinette, the French Dragon”)Adrien/Chat Noir, Chloé/Queen Bee, Ladybug, (Jake) (”riding a dragon”) (1+5) Jake and Tikki (”Ladybug!Jake”) (1+5)

Miraculous Ladybug/Danny Phantom:Mylène (”She was happy she lived in Paris”) (with a dash of Ratatouille) (1+5)

Superphantom:Dani and the Winchesters ( "And you think that's going to work?")Danny and Tucker ("No way! You see this too, right?" //torture mention...sorta)The GhostFacers (about Dani) (”grudge”)Dean (and Sam) (with ectoplasm) (“everywhere”)Dean, Sam, Vlad, Dani (”Too bad that didn’t kill me”) (1+5) Sam and Dean (”It’s too early for this”) (1+5)

Phantom Falls:Dani (”sunlit”)Danny Phantom/Rise of the Guardians:Danny and Jack (“ice”)

Firefly/The Adventure Zone:River (“repeat”) (related scene) Danny Phantom/Over the Garden Wall: (set in my fic Down the Rabbit Hole)Danny, Jazz, Wirt, (Wendy from GF, Toby from Trollhunters) (”part-time job”)

Daredevil/Supernatural:Matt/Daredevil and Castiel (”The Lord’s Angel teams up with The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen”) Matt/Daredevil and Castiel (”snark”)Matt (”fallen angel AU” x2)

Danny Phantom/Daredevil:Danny/Phantom and Matt/Daredevil (”Danny Phantom meets Daredevil”)

[tsuki-sennin]

Okay, I might as well tell you folks about a dream I had last night. (If this disgusts you, feel free to tell me how much of a weirdo I am in the notes.)

>In the cafeteria at my school and getting my usual spicy chicken tenders, fries, and ranch dressing. Decide to shake it up with some extra veggies.

>Decide to eat outside for a change.

>Suddenly my ex-girl calls me over to sit with her and her friends.

>8/10, same age, really nice, but we just sort of drifted apart.

>For fucks sake, not this again.

>Reluctantly, I go over. She’s always nice to talk to, but her girlfriends are the literal devil.

>Only two were there, thank God, but they also happened to be two of the most unbearable people I’ve ever met.

>We talk for a few minutes, nothing really that important.

>Ex gets up and goes to the bathroom.

>First girl was doing homework and complaining about her boyfriend. “He never arrives on time for anything, and he never ever calls me back after he goes to bed at 10!”

>Second girl was badmouthing the guy to oblivion, talking about how much of a scrub he was for.

>Pipe up and say “If he’s such a shithead, why don’t you just dump him?” I actually knew the guy. He was a bit of a douche, but he once let me borrow his pencil, so I’m fine with him.

>Both of them stare at me, with white hot anger in their eyes. They slap me in the face, twice each.

>Fourth slap hits so hard, I fall out of my chair and onto the floor.

>Silently scream in agony and frustration. Thankfully no one else really payed attention, though I had a few people ask “is he okay?” and “we should call the nurse”.

>Get up after a minute and stare the girls down, still dizzy from pain.

>Hear the gentle sounds of a “Yahoo!” in the distance, growing ever louder.

>The world around us grows silent.

>One final “Yahoo!” as a man appears with his hands on the stairs, crashing into the handrail.

>The man is SimpleFlips.

>wut

>Simple falls off the rail, with his dick in immense pain, and runs over to me.

>”Tsuki, my son!” he says (not using my real-name for obvious reasons). “We need to BLJ the Thwomp’s Cock!”

>Starting to wonder if this was a dream or not.

>Didn’t have time to think about that as a sweeping bit of music appeared.

>It was a remix of “Necrofantasia” from Touhou with 1, 2, Oatmeal, “Roxanne” by The Police, and 50 Cent’s Candy Shop (the shitty monkey remix), Bonnie Tyler’s “I Need A Hero” (this was the one I heard the most), and a shit ton of Bups.

>Yukari Yakumo enters from a great gap above the sky into my school’s courtyard. She’s fucking giant.

>Everyone was running away. SimpleFlips stared her down.

>SimpleFlips begins a triple jump, which he flawlessly transitions into a dive.

>With anticipation of death in my heart, I chase after him.

>”Do it!” he shouts at me.

>I understood what he meant. I triple jump onto the roof of the school.

>Yukari turns around and looks at me with a seductive gaze.

>Oh shit.

>She takes off her mob cap and pulls Ran out of it.

>She throws her at me.

>I dodge her, but then Ran throws Chen at me.

>I didn’t dodge that time.

>It hurt like a motherfucker, but I was still in good enough condition to search for the Thwomp.

>Look to the other side of the school.

>There it was!

>A Bob-Omb Buddy walked up to me and said “There’s no time to lose! Fly!”

>Suddenly my vision is replaced with a bird’s eye view of a nearby cannon opening up.

>”GO GO GO!” he shouts, and I’m obliged to listen to him.

>Jump into the cannon, and aim myself to the Thwomp.

>Ran and Chen have followed me, and are grabbing onto me.

>Our combined weight causes us to crash into the Thwomp, nearly shattering it.

>SimpleFlips, while he was dodging Mega-Yukari’s onslaught, jumped near the Thwomp. Chen had jumped off of me and onto him, while Ran got a tighter grip on my body.

>”You only have one chance! We must do this on the first try!”

>I understand.

>I steel myself.

>Idiot Sign “Father-Son Backwards Long Jump”

>We BLJ’d into the Thwomp’s Cock. The events of my life played out before me in a series of anime flashbacks.

>The build-up has finished.

>Fly or die.

>We rocketed through the sky, with the Shikigami on our backs..

>Mega-Yukari summoned gaps, and we fell through them. We zipped past every last bit of human history, mythology, religion and pop-culture you could think of. We even soared through a parallel universe called Gensokyo!

>At the end of the nightmare, we popped out of separate gaps, where we slammed into Yukari.

>SimpleFlips lets out a triumphant cry of “FIRST TRY, IDIOT!”

>Yukari spits out a bizarre creature that was hanging out in her mouth and shrinks down, holding me in her arms.

>I didn’t see that when I was in her gaps...

>We looked closer...

>It was him.

>Yes, him...

>Nathaniel Paragoomba Koopa the Quick Scuttlebug Incident-Causing Bandy

>Every goddamn fucking time.

>He looked lost... he was tiny at first, but then he got bigger... and bigger... he was freaking out... the world around me had started growing bigger too.

>Yukari had shrunken me down. She bent down and the Shikigami had followed suit. They looked at me in hunger.

>She picked me up, and called out to the rest of Minus World to come save me if they could.

>She put her mouth to my ear and whispered. “Welcome to Gay Baby Jail, human.” and stuck me in her bra.

>I passed out.

>I woke up in bed the next day.

>I say “What the fuck did I just dream about?”

>Looked outside. It was still dark as fuck.

>Look to my left. My phone has been playing Flower, Sun, and Rain’s soundtrack on repeat.

>Go back to bed.

>Wake up when it’s daylight.

>Eat breakfast.

>Contemplate my experiences as I type this up for all the world to see how much of a creep I am.

How the fuck did this dream even happen?

[elementsofemotion]

Chapter 2: The Eternal Forest

“Caelian, aren’t you done yet?” Nathaniel whined exasperatedly, as he hung limply in the air.

“Not yet,” Caelian said, as he ran his fingers down yet another individual feather.

“But you’ve been doing this for hours .”

Caelian glanced up at him before blinking up at the sun. It had certainly moved quite a bit in the sky, so the sprite probably wasn’t lying about the time.

“I have to preen all of them or it’s pointless, Nath. If I stop, I’ll lose track.”

“You’ve only done, like, three of your wings. It’s going to be another two hours before you’re done at this rate. Stop avoiding the town!” Nathaniel huffed.

“Fine, let me at least finish this wing.”

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll wait. Over there. Call me when you’re done.”

Caelian watched as Nathaniel zipped across the pond and to the other side of the meadow clearing. The sprite hovered above the flowers for a moment before settling down into one, using it as a makeshift bed.

The sun was high in the sky, leaning more towards the west now. There were probably only a few hours left before darkness fell. Nathaniel was right; he needed to hurry up and finish his task so that he could report back to Gaia. Preening wasn’t the best use of the remaining hours of daylight.

Caelian shifted on the rock that he sat on, and looked down into the sparkling water of the pond. He had mostly dried off from the water of Iaestia’s protective bubble, though his coat still felt slightly damp.

As he studied his reflection, he noticed a few leaves and twigs sticking out of his tangled hair. He brushed his hand through it, feeling his fingers getting caught in the tangles a few times. After a few more tries of running his fingers through, the stuck leaves eventually drifted out, and the twigs fell into the water, scaring away some of the nearby fish.

Caelian sat back onto his heels as he looked over at the spread out wing beside him. His white wings always ended up looking more dusty and dirty than his black ones, so he always did them first.

Maybe it wouldn’t be too noticeable if he walked into town with only half of his wings preened. The white ones were done, at least.

He returned his wing to a folded position against his back before sliding off of the rock and hitting his feet to the ground. He’d finish the other half of his wings after he was done with his job.

He walked gingerly around the pond, being careful—as always—to not step on any of the wildflowers that covered the ground. As he made it to the other side, he knelt down around the area where he had last seen Nathaniel, and inspected the larger flowers.

“Nath?” he called. Upon getting no response, he crawled over to the next patch of flowers, looking intently for the sprite’s jade green body amongst the bright colors. After a few more moments, he spotted the sprite curled up in a pale orange flower, appearing to be sound asleep. Caelian gently cupped his hands around the small sprite, lifting him up out of the pollen filled core. Nathaniel gave a small sneeze as he woke up.

“I thought you said it was too late in the day to be sleeping?” Caelian asked.

Nathaniel rubbed at his large eyes, “Yeah, well, it gets pretty tiring flying around all day. Not that’d you’d know, or anything. Can’t fly and all. Super exhausting.”

“I see,” Caelian couldn’t help but crack a soft smile. “Want to sleep in my hood for a bit?”

In response, Nathaniel flitted up and out of Caelian’s hands and into his hood. His weight was barely noticeable as he snuggled into the soft fur.

“Wake me up when we get there.” Nathaniel sighed.

Caelian pushed himself back up, steadying himself on his feet as he glanced back across the pond. A small family of deer had emerged from the other side of the clearing, some of them eyeing Caelian curiously as the others had a drink.

He had a heavy urge to go visit and play with them, as they admittedly were his favorite animal that inhabited the forest. But instead, he managed to tear his eyes away from them and step back underneath the canopy of leaves.

It wasn’t a terribly long walk. Not to Caelian, at least. An hour of pushing through the underbrush was nothing compared to the long hours he’d spend checking every corner of the realm, making sure Gaia’s barrier was still up.

Pathways didn’t exist in the forest. The spirits got around by memory and landmarks alone. The younger ones learned from their elders how to navigate through the giant trees. Sprites had been the ones to show Caelian how to navigate. Each and every scar on the trees was like an arrow pointing to a destination. Landmarks such as the fallen trees and mushroom patches- They were all neatly integrated into his mind.

If it weren’t for the fact that spirits could live for a millennia, he would’ve said that he had traveled throughout the forest more than anyone else had. But his short years in the realm simply weren’t comparable to some of the elders, who had surely explored the forest far more than he ever could in his 100 or so years of existence.

At least, he was pretty sure it had been around 100 years. It felt right, but it was a bit hard to keep track without a calendar. Maybe one of the denizens would be willing to let him have one? As he pondered on it, he wondered what he’d really do with one; he wouldn’t have much to mark into it, would he? He didn’t even know his own birthday, after all. The day Gaia found him wandering the forest was the closest substitute they had for that day. They merely guessed he was somewhere around 5 year old at that point.

To this day, it was a bit of a mystery where Caelian had come from. No forest spirit claimed him as their child. It was almost as if he simply appeared one day in the forest; a small toddler staring up at the numerous sprites as they watched him curiously.

Coincidentally, it had been Nathaniel that had told Gaia an unknown child had appeared in the forest, and it was she who personally went to retrieve him.

It was probably the very first vivid memory he had: Gaia, shrunken down to a more normal height, one of the numerous things she could accomplish with her powers, approaching him and kneeling down with a smile.

He remembered… not really thinking much when he saw her. He felt no emotion back then. The world felt like it was going on around him, with him as a mere spectator to his own life. Like he didn’t really exist. Gaia had said she immediately sensed something off about him, but that it had taken her a few weeks to fully understand what was going on.

It had then taken years for her to formulate her plan: to gather powerful enough sprites of each element who were willing to help an abandoned child that nobody knew. It was an ability only she and one other god had the power to do. Taking four different sprites from each element, with each element embodying their own set of emotions. They would be reduced to their pure elemental energy and bonded to the person through a soul link. This would grant that person the ability not only to use the elemental abilities of the sprites, but to feel the emotions they encompassed.

They took the forms of lanterns, containing their essence inside the glass. They worked without Caelian even needing to do anything. While some emotions that embodied the sprites could overlap in similarity, while working together in tandem, they let Caelian feel a wide range of emotion.

He felt normal.

… At least, those were his feelings on the matter. Perhaps not entirely normal. The forest denizens seemed to disagree on his thoughts of what normal was.

When he stepped into the edge of the clearing that nested the town, as soon as anyone nearby noticed him, they promptly turned their back to him or hurried off somewhere. Caelian only silently watched their reactions as he walked onward.

This was normal.

“Hey, Nath…” He spoke quietly, reaching behind to gently tug at his hood. A moment later he heard the sprite stir. He heard a soft yawn, and a moment later Nathaniel had climbed up onto his shoulder.

“We there already?” He yawned again.

Caelian gently lifted Nathaniel off his shoulder, cradling the small sprite in front of him as if he were some sort of protective shield.

It’s fine, he told himself. I don’t feel upset with them, so it’s not a big deal. I just feel… empty? I guess, like I used to. I’d rather not feel like that... But it will pass.

It was admittedly a strange sensation for Caelian, as if he and his elementals didn’t know how he should feel, so his emotions simply... ceased. Like a punch to the gut, the switch from feeling happy, content, anything, going to pure nothingness, always hit him like a bag of bricks. If he could experience truly feeling upset, if he had to guess, he would be upset over having to endure that feeling every time he went to the town.

But he was Gaia’s disciple, and as such, he had to endure this.

As he walked, while most of the looks he got were full of disdain, there were a few expressions of pity scattered throughout. Sure, not all of the denizens hated him. There were a handful that at the very least didn’t mind him, and even a few that were genuinely kind. But they were heavily numbered by those that dislike him. He would always visit the kinder ones last, so that he could better hold onto those memories when he had finally left for the day.

Caelian sauntered over to the town square, near the well. He didn’t actually need to visit and talk to everyone in the town; if someone needed him for anything, he simply needed to be visible long enough for them to potentially ask. But there were always a few particular individuals he’d take the time to seek out, as Gaia specifically asked it of him.

Garson’s home was only a few yards north of the well. It was a small home built into a hill, using a nearby fallen tree as an expansion. Caelian stepped onto the old, dirty doormat that laid at the partially covered entryway. Shifting Nathaniel over to be held with only one hand, he knocked.

A few moments later, an older man swung the door open, the smile on his face quickly falling at the sight of Caelian.

“Oh, well if it ain’t the little forest prince ,” he sighed, a hint of a sneer in his voice as he said Caelian’s nickname, “What d’you want?”

Caelian paused a moment before speaking, “Um, is there… has everything been alright in the town?”

Garson gave him a hard look, before taking a step forward out of the doorway. This forced Caelian to take a step back, and Garson tightly closed the door behind him.

“Look, kid. We’ve been over this. There ain’t no point for you to even keep comin’ here- not that you ever do to begin with. Go back to playin’ with your little forest animals.”

Caelian was quiet for a moment. It was true; he rarely visited the town these days.

“I’d come more often if anyone actually-”

“Kid,” Garson interrupted, placing a fisted hand onto his hip, “Ain’t no one here gonna ask anythin’ from a halfie .”

“I’m not a halfie,” Caelian shot back quickly, “You all just assume that because of how I used to act.”

Garson furrowed his brows, frowning as he pointed a fat, calloused finger at Caelian, causing the boy to lean back, “You ain’t a normal one, kid. You can’t even feel no emotion without those little lanterns of yours. That’s a halfie disease, guaranteed. One of your parents went and had a kid with a human- that’s the only way a spirit would have a disease like that.”

“It’s not a disease,” Caelian said quietly, “I just… I don’t know why I was like that. It’s fine now, Gaia helped me, so why does it matter? I’m just a nature spirit.”

Sure, it was known that if a spirit and human were to ever successfully have a child, that child would have serious complications. The two simply were not meant to mix, and their offspring would pay the price for it. There had been numerous ‘halfies’, or hemicaes, as they were more officially called, documented throughout the ages, all with unusual health problems or traits, but they were a rare occurrence, and not much was known about them as they typically ended up living lives of solitude, away from the judgement of others.

Garson shook his head, his hands falling back down to his sides. “You’re just playin’ pretend, is what you are. You can’t feel anythin’. It’s all the sprites tellin’ you what to do. You can’t relate to nothin’ and no one. I’ll never understand Gaia’s decision, choosin’ some defective, lost little halfie as her disciple,” he sighed before adding, “Shame Ezekial passed on. Him bein’ the disciple during these times would’ve been ‘lot more comfortin’.”

Caelian remained quiet. He didn’t believe what Garson said about his elementals dictating how he felt. If they did, he didn’t think they’d leave him feeling nothing right now. At least Caelian finally got out of the void at the mention of Ezekial, sparking Riemos and his own curiosity. Ezekial was the name of Gaia’s previous disciple, though he knew very little of him. He just knew that he had been with Gaia for millennia before finally passing on due to unknown causes.

Garson turned away from Caelian, opening the door to his home again and stepping inside. “Just go home, kid. Sure, you’re Gaia’s disciple now. You can store her excess power and help her with whatever she needs, fine. But don’t be expectin’ anyone here to want anythin’ to do with you.” With that, the door closed, leaving Caelian to quietly think about Garson’s words.

He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt Nathaniel wriggle away from his grasp, flitting up into the air with a huff. “What an asshole,” Nathaniel grumbled. “Don’t listen to him, Cae.”

“It’s fine. It doesn't bother me.” It was true. Caelian felt literally nothing from the conversation. He knew the words for how he should have felt, but not how those emotions would actually affect him. He couldn’t help but be curious what those emotions he still lacked were like. Gaia always told him it was for the better, but was that really true? “Well, whatever. He was no help,” Nathaniel folded his arms, “Let’s go check on everyone else.” “Alright…” He had agreed to check on the others, but he ended up wandering rather aimlessly through the town, quietly watching as the other spirits went about their lives. He often felt curious of what it was like to constantly be around other people; he had been isolated from other spirits for most of his life. Sure, the animals and sprites always kept him company, but the spirits here seemed so different.

Maybe Garson was right, that he couldn’t really relate to them.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he noticed a familiar face pass by him, causing him to immediately perk up and do a double take. A younger boy, closer to Caelian’s age, was carrying a large water jug filled to the brim with well water.

Upon noticing Caelian staring at the boy, Nathaniel quickly flew down in front of his face, blocking his line of sight, “Oh no. We’re not talking to Mathias today.” “Why not?” Caelian asked, leaning over to peer around Nathaniel’s tiny frame, “Maybe he needs help carrying water.” “Nope. He’s fine. No need for me to experience second-hand embarrassment today,” Nathaniel said flatly, moving to block Caelian again. “What’s that?” Caelian asked, taking a step back to look at Nathaniel, “Just let me check on him really quick.” “Don’t worry about it,” Nathaniel sighed with exasperation, “He’s fine, Caelian, we have other things to do, okay?” “... Okay.” “Okay, great. So let’s- HEY!” Nathaniel let out a high pitched screech as Caelian ducked under him and bounced over towards Mathias. “Mathi!” Caelian called excitedly, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the boy, causing him to nearly lose balance and fall over in surprise. “Ah- Caelian,” he shook some of his shaggy blond hair out of his eyes and gave the boy an unsure smile. “Can I help you?” “I, um- I actually wanted to ask you that. Do you need any help carrying water back to your place?” Caelian asked, his tail wagging excitedly. “Huh? Oh, this? No, it’s fine, I got it,” Mathias said, adjusting his grip on the clay jug slightly, “Thanks, though.” “Oh, okay. Um, hey, Mathias-” He spoke quickly when he saw the boy start to walk away, “I was actually wondering if we could like- hang out or something sometime?”

Mathias paused, looking back at Caelian with a concerned frown, “Ah… Well… I’m pretty busy, you know?” “I mean, whenever you’re not busy,” Caelian tilted his head slightly, leaving Mathias to let out a soft sigh. “Um, look- Everyone in the town that’s nice to you has everyone turn against them, too… You don’t seem that bad, but... I don’t really…” “... Yeah, I get it,” Caelian said softly. “Sorry,” Mathias said, giving him a genuine look of sympathy, “I need to go now.” He stood quietly as his tail slowly stopped wagging, lying limply in the dirt as he watched Mathias hurry off. A moment later, he felt the familiar plop of Nathaniel landing on his head. “Ya done?” he asked. “Yeah… I guess.” Nathaniel sighed, lightly patting the top of Caelian’s head, “Don’t worry, Cae. We’ll find you some nice friends someday.” “Huh? I have friends, though. I have the deer- and, well, you.” Nathaniel couldn’t help but snort, “Well, thanks for remembering me, I guess. Let’s just go visit Old Tamia and call it good, yeah?” Nathaniel said, jumping off Caelian’s head and back into the air. “Do you think Gaia will be upset?” Caelian asked as he turned and followed Nathaniel’s lead. Nathaniel paused for a moment, looking over his shoulder, “What makes you ask that?” “I still can’t really seem to get along with anyone.” “They won’t even give you the chance to get along, Cae.” Nathaniel sighed, “I don’t know what they expect- They get mad at you for not always knowing what to do, but if they never give you the chance to try you’re not going to improve.” “You mean back when they’d ask me questions and for help and stuff?” Caelian asked, tilting his head slightly. “Yeah- like when that one guy accused the other the other of stealing that- what was it? A pig? Goat?” Nathaniel shrugged, “I don’t remember, but they wanted you to do something about it? You’re still a baby and don’t know anyone here, of course you’re not gonna have any idea whose animal it was.”

“I didn’t think anyone would lie about getting their animals stolen…” Caelian said as he looked up at Nathaniel, who was hovering above his head. “Exactly! You haven’t had time to learn. I think everyone here is too used to Ezekiel- they expect you to be able to settle everything as quickly as he did. Hell, I doubt anyone would’ve even tried a stunt like that if he were still around.”

“Everyone always talks about how much they miss him- I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to measure up to that,” Caelian said as he stared ahead. “Someday they’ll respect you. They have to. Or else Gaia will smite all of them,” Nathaniel huffed. “Wait, she’d do that?” Caelian asked, quickly looking back up to Nathaniel. “Well, no,” Nathaniel said after a pause, “But we can threaten them with it.” “I don’t think she’d like it if we threatened them with that,” Caelian said with a small laugh as he stepped up onto a rickety old porch. Nathaniel landed on his head again as his footsteps creaked across the wood.

The house that they had arrived at belonged to someone known as Mrs. Tamia. Her home was more typical than that of most of the other nature spirits. It was a simple looking house, built out of wood and red bricks. From the outside, it had quite the rustic feel to it, with numerous hanging and potted plants on the porch and numerous flowers throughout the surrounding gardens. The house itself, however, was a bit decrepit. The flowers and plants clearly received the brunt of the care. Caelian stepped up to the door and gently took it’s metal knocker into his hand. He rapped the metal against the wood a few times, before releasing it and taking a step back. He stood waiting patiently for a few minutes, before the door slowly creaked open. An older, hunched over woman with curly gray hair and large, round spectacles peeked out at him. “Oh, why if it isn’t little Caelian!” she rasped, opening the door wider as she balanced with one hand on her cane, “I was just wondering when you’d come visit again, dear. Come in, come in.” “Thanks, Mrs. Tamia,” Caelian said as he followed the woman into her home. The inside of the home felt smaller than how it looked outside, mostly due to the vast amount of things the woman had collected throughout the years. However, it did have an organized clutter to it that gave the home charm. Numerous dim lights were spread throughout the room, giving just enough light to see the various collections of knick-knacks and old books neatly displayed on the many shelves. “How have you been, Dear?” Tamia asked as she hobbled over to the kitchen area. “I’ve been well,” Caelian said, slowly keeping pace behind her. “How has Gaia been? Everything going well in the forest?” “Gaia’s fine. Everything seems normal right now. Just the usual stuff.” “Good, good. I'm glad to hear,” She said as she opened a cupboard, “I’ve been worried about the Goddess as of late. Keeping that barrier up isn’t an easy feat, especially with most of her excess power being gone. Not being able to leave the Great Tree, poor dear. But you take care of yourself too, Caelian- You're so young, I’m sure it’s not easy for you to handle all of this responsibility, either. Here, sit down.” “I’ve been doing my best,” Caelian said as he sat down at the table, “But how have you been, Mrs. Tamia? Is there anything you need help with or for me to relay to Gaia.” “Oh, I’ve been fine,” she said, pulling a container out of the cupboard, “Don’t you worry about an old hag like me. Here, love. I just made these this morning. Help yourself.” Caelian couldn’t help but wag his tail and gently tap the table in excitement as Tamia set the container down in front of him, removing the lid and  revealing numerous different kinds of cookies, all of which were neatly sorted into compartments. “Thank you,” Caelian said, taking one of the cookies. He carefully broke it in half, trying to prevent any crumbs from falling onto the cream colored table cloth, before holding it up to his head for Nathaniel to grab onto and gnaw on. This was the one nice thing about visiting the town, at least; Tamia had always been kind to him. The first time she ushered him into her home, he had been amazed at all of her belongings and would spend hours inspecting them. His favorite was still the small, colorful bird that would tip back and forth, appearing to be drinking water.

It was also the first time he ever got to experience eating such delicious foods; things like sweets, pastries, and cooked meals weren’t things that he would ever have been able to find or make out in the forest, and Tamia was always delighted to share her baking and cooking with him. As an older spirit, her offspring didn’t come around to visit much anymore, so she was happy to treat Caelian. The first time he had ever tasted one of her cookies, he had squealed in delight. “Have you already visited everyone else in the town?” Tamia asked with a smile, as she slowly sat down in the chair across from him. “Most of them- Nobody really wanted to bother with me, though,” Caelian said, giving another piece of cookie to the small, greedy hand waving in his face. Tamia let out a sigh, “Yes, it's unfortunate how the others view you. They complain to me for always hosting you- halfie this, halfie that. Bah, as if it’d matter even if it were true. You’re a kind and gentle young man. I see why Gaia would have chosen you as her new disciple. You have much of the same qualities as Ezekiel.” “Do I?” He asked, gazing up at her, “People mention him all the time, but I’ve never actually heard much about him.” She nodded, “Granted, he was much older than you, but I remember when he was young and first appointed as Gaia’s disciple. He had the same childlike curiosity about the world as you have. He was a sweet boy, and a kind man, always going out of his way to help others.” “I guess we are a bit different, then.” Caelian mused, staring back down at the cookies, “I don’t really help others much.” “Your day will come,” she said as she slowly stood up from her chair. Caelian watched as she walked over to the window, gazing out at the pink sky. “It’s already getting late. Do you still sleep out in the forest, Caelian?” “Yeah…” Tamia frowned as she turned to look at him, “Will you still not consider moving into the disciple’s house? I worry for you, especially as the colder weather approaches.” Caelian’s eyes flicked over to the window. He had been shown the disciple’s house once, long ago. It was a lone cabin, isolated but not too far from the town, that was passed down and meant for each disciple to inhabit. He remembered the smooth wood floors, the blank, cream colored walls, and how strange it felt. Then there was the thought of being so close to the town at all times. Perhaps it was useful for the past disciples, but for him… Tamia sensed his hesitation. “I know you don’t enjoy coming here,” she said gently, “But perhaps familiarity will help the denizens become more used to you.” “That’s okay,” Caelian said with a smile. “I prefer the forest, honestly. It feels more natural to me. I like the roots and moss. Plus, I’m closer to Gaia there.” Tamia gave a soft smile. “I understand. But never forget I welcome you here with open arms, Caelian. Now, here,” she walked over to the table, placing the lid back on the cookie container and then extending it out towards Caelian, “Why don’t you take this with you as a treat?” “Oh, but I don’t want to take all of them-” Caelian started, but Tamia gently pushed the container into his hands. Nathaniel flew back up into the air, allowing Tamia to gently ruffle Caelian’s messy hair. “I can always make more- it’s a gift, dear. Whenever you run out, come back to visit a lonely old woman, won’t you?” “Ah- yeah, I’ll try,” Caelian smiled, “I guess I should go, now- Sorry I couldn’t visit for long, Mrs. Tamia.” “Don’t be sorry, my dear, I know you’ve got a lot to do. You’re always welcome here, even if it's just to grab a snack and leave. Never forget that.” “I’ll try to make sure I can visit for longer next time,” Caelian said, as he stood up and pushed in his chair. “Thank you, Mrs. Tamia.” “Of course,” the old woman smiled, walking with Caelian over to the door and gently opening it. “Stay safe out there, won’t you?” “I will,” Caelian said as he stepped out the door, Nathaniel following close behind him, “Bye, Mrs Tamia, see you next time!” The woman waved to him as he walked on until they were out of view. Nathaniel landed back down on Caelian’s head as the boy looked down at the cookie container. “Well, that wasn’t too bad, right?” “Mrs. Tamia is always nice, I’m glad,” Caelian smiled, “I’d like to do something for her next time we visit- I don’t know what, though…” “Maybe you can make her something?” “I don’t really know anything I could make, though… I can’t bake or cook like she does… or sew… or anything, really.” “Well… You’ll have time to figure it out,” Nathaniel said with a yawn. “Yeah, I guess.” The sun had nearly set by the time Caelian left the town, bumbling back into the forest. It was harder to navigate at night, so he wanted to get back as soon as possible. “I don’t think you’ll make it before dark,” Nathaniel commented, looking at the slowly disappearing blotches of light against the forest floor. “Want me to go on ahead and let Gaia know you’ll report back to her in the morning?” “But I want to make sure she knows I went,” Caelian looked up as Nathaniel flew up off his head. “I’ll tell her, don’t worry. Just go ahead and go back to hollow and I’ll meet you there- I don’t want you slipping and falling off the stairs or anything because you can’t see.” “But Iaestia will just-” Caelian paused as Nathaniel zipped off ahead of him, apparently having already decided what to do, regardless of Caelian’s input. “... Use her water shield.” Caelian trekked on alone, now at a less brisk pace. He really wanted to report to Gaia tonight, but he didn’t want to make Nathaniel mad, so he’d just do as the sprite said. Lost in his own thoughts, he continued on as he recalled his time spent at the town. Mrs. Tamia was probably right, and Gaia pushed for it often, too. He really should visit more, regardless of how empty it made him feel. Even if the denizens never fully accepted him, it was his duty as the Goddess’ disciple to take care of them. Maybe if he just focused on that, with Nyxidae’s help, it wouldn’t be so bad. He smiled to himself at the thought. It was then that he noticed that the forest seemed especially quiet. It was normal for the songbird’s chattering to have died down by this hour, but there was a distinct lack of the chirping crickets that he always fell asleep to at night. He couldn’t even hear the frog’s chorus, either, despite their calls always being loud enough to echo throughout the forest. He paused, standing quietly amongst the trees. The sun was gone at this point, the moonlight now taking over, doing its best to provide the forest with its soft light. It was a feeling he couldn’t quite place, like something familiar, but forgotten. Somehow, something felt off. The air he breathed in felt unusually cold, like an icy hand gripping his throat. It was then he heard the snap of a twig from somewhere behind him, causing him to turn and look. “Hello?” he asked, staring off into the empty forest. Predators weren’t a concern for him; none of the carnivorous animals in the forest ever hunted the mana beings. But there was still a weird feeling somewhere in the pit of his stomach. He stood there for a few moments, waiting. There was nothing but silence. He took a step back, before turning and running off into the direction of the hollow. He wasn’t sure why he ran.

[seasonofthegeek]

For the prompts list can you do "are you kidding me, we're not fine" for some adrienette angst. Thanks! Your writing is amazing!

Thanks so much, Nonny! This has been banging around the ole noggin for a while now so I decided to get it out. While it isn’t strictly Adrinette, it is angsty, so there is that. This drabble has a death warning.

“Are you kidding me?” Chloe hissed. “We’re not fine. Marinette won’t eat. Nino hasn’t said a single word since...” She glanced at Alya’s reflection in the mirror for a moment before checking her own. “Waterproof mascara, my ass,” she muttered, wiping at the smudges under her eyes.

“Well, we have to be fine today.” Alya swallowed thickly and tilted her chin up, glaring at her own reflection. “At least for a few hours. We need to be strong for them and then we can fall apart when we leave.”

“This is going to be such a shit show.” Chloe inhaled deeply and nodded. “Let’s get back there. I’m sure Nath is in need of reinforcements by now.”

______________________________

Relief washed over Nathaniel’s face as Alya and Chloe approached them. Nino was slumped on one side of him on the uncomfortable fainting couch, eyes downcast. Marinette sat stiffly on the other side, fingers twisted together but expression blank.

“Come on, Nino. Time to go inside.” Chloe took one of Nino’s hands and he let her guide him up to a standing position, Nathaniel standing with him and steadying him on one side. 

Marinette looked up at Alya. Dark circles had filled in under her eyes and her cheeks were hollow and drawn. “I can’t,” she whispered.

“We have to. He would for us.” Alya watched a tear well up in Marinette’s left eye and spill down her cheek. “We’ll do it together.” 

Marinette let Alya pull her up and the group made a slow trek into the sprawling sanctuary of the chapel.

Nathaniel swore and Chloe inhaled sharply. “I can’t believe that bastard made this open casket.”

Alya’s eyes flew up to the front of the room where the slick black casket sat, the top opened. She could just make out a tuft of blonde hair over the edge from their position. Marinette began to shake beside her, eyes trained on the casket. There were a line of people moving slowly by the casket, peering in, before moving on to mingle quietly at the edges of the room. 

“I need to see him.”

Alya and Chloe exchanged glances. “Marinette, maybe that isn’t the best idea,” Nathaniel said gently.

Marinette shook her head and squared her shoulders, a fierce light filling her eyes as her whole being seemed to strengthen. “I just thought of something. I’m going to see him. He needs me.” She reached for Nino’s hand and he numbly turned his head to look at her. “You’re coming with me.” She pulled him forward and led them to the end of the line, leaving the rest of their group to shakily follow.

“What’s going on?” Nathaniel asked softly. “It’s like she just flipped a switch and was Mari again.”

“Not the reaction I was expecting,” Alya agreed, voice quiet, “but hopefully a good one? Although I’m not sure it’s going to last...”

“I don’t know if I can do this.” Chloe pressed into Nathaniel’s side as they moved closer to the casket. “I don’t want to remember him like this.”

Alya nodded to the rows of seats. “I’ll stay with them. Go find us a place.”

Chloe tilted her head gratefully and they left the line. Alya’s eyes widened when she heard Tikki’s high voice ahead of her. She closed the small gap between herself and Marinette and Nino.

“But it could work?” Marinette asked. “I could do it right now and it could work?”

“Marinette, I can’t promise anything. Perhaps I shouldn’t have--”

“It has been days but I think she should try,” Wayzz argued. “He was hurt in battle. It’s feasible that the Cure could--”

“He wasn’t hurt, Wayzz. He was killed,” Tikki hissed. “And what happens if it doesn’t work?”

Alya pushed between Marinette and Nino. There were only five people ahead of them now until they reached the casket. “What is going on?”

Marinette looked up at her and her eyes were feverishly bright. “I’m going to  bring him back when we get up there.”

“M, you can’t--”

“She can.” Nino’s voice was low and hoarse from disuse. “Please let her try, Al. Please.”

“They took him away so fast. I didn’t think. I couldn’t...” Marinette trailed off, shaking her head. “I haven’t seen him, Alya. I didn’t realize it before. I was in shock, but I can do this.” She linked her fingers in Alya’s and squeezed. “I have to do this for him. I have to.”

Alya held her eyes before breaking contact as they moved forward again. She could see Gabriel, tall and stoic on the other side of the casket. Nathalie stood beside him, looking shrunken and worn. The sanctuary had filled even more since they had taken their place in line. “Everyone will know,” she said weakly.

Marinette shook her head. “I don’t care.”

“I’ll shield you,” Nino said, voice sounding stronger albeit still rough. “You’re not doing this alone.”

“You’re never alone,” Alya agreed. Only two people ahead of them now. She slipped her phone out of her clutch and sent a quick text to Chloe. She watched her reaction as she read it and then Chloe and Nathaniel were joining them again. 

“We’re doing this?” Nathaniel asked, eyes a little wide.

“Everyone has to decide on their own.”

“I’ve personally always thought the secret identities thing was stupid anyway,” Chloe smirked. “So what if people realize who we are? I want people to love me for how awesome I am.” Her expression grew serious. “Mari, you know there’s a possibility--”

“I’m still going to try.”

“Then we’re all going to be right here with you.”

The last person ahead of them stepped away and the small group moved forward, Marinette’s hands going up to grip the side of the casket as the others huddled around her. “He doesn’t look like him,” she said weakly. “That’s...that’s not him.” Her arms began to shake, fingertips digging into the satin lining. 

His hair wasn’t right, first of all. It was too stiff. Adrien’s hair was always soft and bouncy and this was...wrong. And his cheeks were too pink. Why were his cheeks so pink? It didn’t look right. The heavy dark metal Agreste ring Adrien had never been fond of was where the Black Cat Miraculous should have been and it turned Marinette’s stomach to see it. “His ring,” she whispered. “Someone took his ring.”

Gabriel was watching them now, worn eyes examining. Nathaniel glanced around nervously. “Marinette, are you going to try or...” Everyone turned their attention to her and a soft sob escaped as tears began to fall. 

“Delusional. I was--” Another sob tore out of her and her knees began to wobble. Tikki pressed a small comforting paw through Marinette’s purse into her side.

“Mari, please,” Nino begged. “Please, you can bring him back. Please. Please.”

She swallowed hard, shaking her head. She leaned forward pressing her lips against Adrien’s cool cheek. His skin wasn’t right either and she felt more tears fall, wetting his face. “Miraculous Ladybug,” she choked out.

There were murmurs behind them but Alya couldn’t bring herself to care. Her vision was too blurry with tears anyway. She wouldn’t be able to find a seat now even if she had wanted to. Moving away from the casket meant saying goodbye and she wasn’t sure she could do that right now, maybe ever. Nino held her hand in an almost bruising grip and she squeezed his fingers even still.

Chloe was making soft sobbing sounds, her face buried against Nathaniel’s neck. He held her, his own eyes glassy as he stared straight ahead at nothing.

Gabriel cleared his throat and moved in front of the group. “The viewing is over,” he declared, tone brooking no argument. “The funeral will now be private. Please leave.” Nathalie watched him silently for a moment before turning her attention back to the casket.

The murmurs grew louder as most of the sanctuary emptied out with the help of the funeral director and assistant. When the director came close to the huddle of heroes, Gabriel shook his head. “They’re the only ones staying.”

Once the room had emptied out, Gabriel stood beside them as they grieved. “You’re the rest, aren’t you?” He opened his palm and offered Marinette a black ring. “I believe this should go to you then,” he said, voice breaking.

She stared down at the ring numbly. After a moment, she took it from him and slid it onto Adrien’s finger to rest on top of the Agreste one. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you, Chat,” she whispered. “I’m so so...” She trailed off as Adrien’s chest rose slowly. She blinked. His cheeks were still too pink but his hair seemed to soften even as she watched. His skin grew warm under her touch and her breath caught in her lungs as one glittering ladybug moved out from his hair and settled between his closed eyes.

______________________________

Adrien blinked slowly, eyes focusing on Marinette. “Why are you crying, my Lady?” he croaked.

Prompt List

Buy me a coffee?

[camille-marshall-blog]

Challenge #5.75

Alternately Titled: The Ice Breaker

a/n: Hey hey heyyyyyyyyy! Fun fact: the writing of this fic has resulted to me listening to My Heart Will Go On 36 times on loop- you guys better listen to that song while reading this lol. (I also had Titanic playing in the background) Before we find out what happens to Marshall as she prepares to leave the palace, let’s do another rewind and find out what brought out certain feelings of Ms. Conceal Don’t Feel for Natalie. This was supposed to be published before challenge 6- unfortunately, I’had to prioritize Challenge 6 cause.. yeah... challenge... HAHAHAHAHA (and I was/am swamped with school work... cause you know.. I’m graduating highschool in two months time lol) Get ready for a weekend full of me posting fics everyday guys (I didn’t procrastinate my school projects just to clear my entire weekend to write- it’s a miracle). ANYWAYS. Thank you so much to @nathaniel-schreave for the RP, and YAY FOR TITANIC (guys, Titanic is actually one of my fav movies so YEEEEEEET). Hope you guys enjoy this little fic~ See you soon HAHAHAHAHAHA

A memory

I still couldn’t believe that I had kissed Nate.

A.) because I didn’t think that he’d possibly like me in that way

B.) because I knew that he was still way out of my league

C.) because I knew that he was going to break my heart anyway

D.) because I FUCKING KISSED NATHANIEL SCHREAVE

I mean sure, after the initial shock things kinda died down, I got to think of things in a more rational manner- and my most rational side reminded me that the kiss only did happen as a spur of the moment. Curiosity.

Yeah, we were just caught in a moment.

That thought comforted me a little better than the thought of Nate returning any of the sentiments I was feeling for him.

Of course the universe really had to send me him.

I try to keep myself on the downlow for the next week after we had kissed, and to my surprise- yeah. It wasn’t spur of the moment, because lo and behold: feelings were still there. Hair fixing, hand holding, butterfly stomaching feelings.

Oh the butterflies were definitely there when Nate had approached me after dinner one night.

“Hey Marshall,” he greets just as everyone was leaving the dining hall, and my stomach just kinda turns when I realize that he’s talking to me- but in a good way, I suppose.

“Oh hey.. uh, Hi Nate.” My face starts to feel like it’s heating up- good lord I needed to stop acting like such a nerd.

He curls his lips in, he seemed to do that a lot… before he proceeds to ask me, “Do you want to go see a movie... or something?”

“A movie?” A smile tugs on my lips, “Yeah, I'd like that…”

Nate smiles back, “Then lets go.”

The two of us start walking with each other, catching up on each other’s lives. I’m pretty sure Nate would be sick of me telling him about etiquette lessons with Lady Collette, so I ended up sharing one of my usual target practices with the guards in the shooting range below. Nate tells me a little about his day, and I try to poke a little fun on his paperwork, knowing how boring that stuff would be. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything on Area 51, but they did discuss the topic of how the Great Pyramids were built. Yes, definitely exciting top government secrets.

We laugh with each other until we reach the theater.

“What do you want to watch?” Nate asks as we walk in. It was an interesting little set up, like a shrunken version of the movie theaters- a little more luxurious since it was full of recliners.

“I'm not quite sure…” I say, turning back to Nate. “What would you want to watch?”

The two of us reach a case full of DVD cases, all labeled with their movie titles in Alphabetical order. My first choice would have been for the two of us to watch Top Gun, but previous experience has taught me that Top Gun was not everyone’s cup of tea.

Nate shrugs, “It's your date, you pick.”

Okay yeah, I wasn’t going to watch Top Gun for the nth time. I sigh as I search the titles, not really finding any of the movies interesting. So I decide to leave it to chance.

“You know what? I'm going to pick a random one.” My hand skims over the cases as I close my eyes. I hope I pick a good one.

Once I feel my hand brush over the right title, I reach out and take out the DVD case.

I hear Nate chuckle beside me. “You want that one?”

My eyes open, and I see what Nate means.

Titanic. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the cover looking romantic as ever.

I let out a laugh, knowing already how cheesy this movie was.

“Sure,” I smirk at Nate. “I'm so in the mood to ugly cry over Leonardo DiCaprio.”

“I'm letting you know now, I will cry.” Nate shakes his head as he takes the case from my hand and starts setting up the movie.

“Don't worry, I won't judge you. Just give me a heads up so I'll have the box of tissues ready.” I flash him an amused smile. Nate? Crying over Titanic? Oh I’m so ready for that combination.

He finishes setting up the movie and stands, “Not like you won't.”

“I'm not saying that I wouldn't cry.” I shake my head. I got over emotional over books, how much more movies?

“How many times have you seen it?” Nate asks as he chooses one of the couch like recliners, good for two. Slick move, Schreave.

“I'm pretty sure I've seen it at least twice.” I take the seat next to him, giving us a comfortable distance between us- no matter how much I wanted to sit close to him. Personal space, Marshall. You may have been holding hands last time, that doesn’t mean that he still feels the same way.

Nate turns to look at me straight in the eye, “Five times.”

My jaw drops before I start laughing, “FIVE TIMES?”

“Everytime it was Mal's turn to pick a movie she'd always pick Titanic, every single time. Then we just stopped letting her pick.” Nate explains to me, and I try to control myself from laughing- but it was just too funny.

I cover my mouth in laughter, “Please tell me that you haven't memorized the dialogue by heart.”

“Oh yeah.” Nate nods.

“Oh my god... now I'm really excited to watch this movie.”

I try to imagine Nate quoting the most quotable lines from the movie, it’s probably going to be quite a sight to behold.

Nate simply replies by smirking and bumping my shoulder with his and I realize that we did end up moving closer to each other as we conversed.

“Come on, play the movie now.” I smirk back and Nate grabs the remote to press play.

For the next hour or so we watch the movie play out, the treasure hunters, Old Rose beginning her narration of the story, introductions for Rose and Jack. As shots of the Titanic pan out through the movie, a fact pops into my head and I end up saying out loud, breaking the silence between us.

I’ve never really had a movie date, but I could tell that it had its downsides: you had no idea if it was okay to talk with the person with you- and it was crazy, how I just wanted to talk to Nate. How easy it’s become for me to open up to him.

My eyes glance over to him, and I catch his eyes looking at me. Wait, was he staring?

Nate turns away quickly, and I laugh a little- a blush creeping up my face. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” he says as he looks straight towards the movie.

“Oh, okay..” I tilt my head and prop it on my arm on the top of my seat’s back.

We continue watching the movie, and I notice that Nate was holding out his hand, palm open to me- a hint.

I consider taking his hand, was he hinting for me to hold his hand? I look at his face, was he?

Another chance, I have to take it. I move a little closer to Nate, taking his hand in mine.

Nate gives out a small smile, looking at me. “You've changed a lot since I first met you.”

Have I really?

“Is it a bad thing?” I don’t think I have changed, maybe I just showed him parts of me I never really wanted people to see.

Nate flashes me a worried look.

“No, no, not at all. It's just I remember our first date you didn't want to even touch me,” he rubs the back of my hand with his thumb, “and now... you are more comfortable doing that kind of stuff.”

I furrow my brows, surprised by Nate’s concerned tone. “Nate... I have to be sorry about that for the most part…” I squeeze Nate’s hand back.

“It's not that I didn't want that... I was more scared…” I admit, the fear of actually having feelings for someone who wouldn’t reciprocate my own always lingered in me.

“You were scared of me?”

“More like getting scared of getting emotionally attached to someone... someone I can't exactly have.” I explain to him. This entire thing was masochistic in a way- being in a Selection… opening yourself to this kind of pain. Nate was someone I knew I liked, but I’ve always wondered… would I ever be good enough for him? He was a prince, I was just a soldier.The last time I checked, royals never ended up with their soldiers.

Nate nods and looks back to the movie, biting his lip. “I'm sorry about that... I get this isn't a normal situation.”

“You don't have to be sorry,” I shake my head and use my free hand to cup his cheek so he can look back at me. “You've been trying your hardest to make the best out of this situation.”

He gives me a small smile while he squeezes my hand again, “Thanks.”

I use my thumb to rub his cheek, smiling a little. He really was a good one, and a handsome one at that.

He was good looking, even more up close. I don’t want my hand to linger too long on his face, so I pull my hand away and let the two of us watch the movie.

We were already at the part when Jack and Rose were at the tip of the ship, Jack holding Rose up as she spread her arms. I’m flying, Jack. I’m flying.

Nate moves his hand away from holding mine, moving it to the back of my chair- smooth Nate, very smooth. I move a little closer to him, taking the hint.

He looks over at me, giving me a look. Just come here over already.

I let out a small laugh, what a dork he could be. This time, I move the closest I can be with him- leaning my head on him but feeling my heart beat wildly in my chest.

“I’m not that bad.” he says as he puts his arm around my shoulder, a joking tone in his voice.

“Of course you're not that bad. If you were, I would have split an hour ago.” I roll my eyes at him with a laugh. God, if it can be like this all the time….

I liked this, I liked having his arm around me, being this close with him- even with all the nervousness and uncertainty. It was finally nice to have someone to lean on, watch cheesy movies with- it was more than nice to have someone this close to me.

When Jack and Rose arrive at her sitting room, and Rose shows Jack the heart of the ocean. (Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your french girls- wearing this… wearing only this.) I realize how awkward this was going to get, and I was right when Rose drops her robe.

My first instinct gets me and I use my hands to cover my eyes and Nate’s- definitely one way to avoid an awkward situation.

Nate laughs as he moves my hand away from his eyes. “Come on. This is my favorite part.”

I lightly hit his arm, getting his joke. “Oh my god, you're so gross.”

“I was joking.” he smirks at me.

“Sure you were.” I return the smirk.

“I was. I promise.”

“Okay, I trust you.” I snort out a laugh.

Nate raises an eyebrow in a joking manner, “Do you?”

“You're way too decent to be that gross.” I reason out with him, snickering just a little

“Oh so I’m just decent?” he jokes.

“Okay, you're more than just decent. You're sweet... and thoughtful... and kind.. and…” I realize that I was getting away with describing him, then look away feeling myself blush.

Nate rubs my arm, asking in a curiously playful tone.“And what?”

And the most amazing person I’ve ever met.

“You're, in every way, charming.” I answer him with a smile.

“That’s better than decent.” he nods before turning to the screen again, this time to Jack and Rose running around the ship- away from Hockley’s croney, hiding out in an old car. Where to miss? To the stars.

I look away, feeling myself blush AGAIN as Jack and Rose proceed to make out in the car and well… do more. Hand print on the misty glass in all it’s glory.

Nate looks over at me, and chuckles- which makes me nudge his shoulder. How could he not find this awkward?

He pulls me closer with the arm wrapped around me and places a kiss on the top of my head, giving me tingles all over my body. Sometimes I don’t get it, how Nate was one of the few people who could do this to me… make me feel this way… all light and giddy… guard down… how…

“You know the first time I watched this movie... I was with my parents... Heavens to Betsy, it was awkward.” I share with him the uncomfortable situation of my first Titanic experience.

Nate shares his, telling me that the first time he watched the movie was when Max was around- which to Nate was both awkward and hilarious.

We talk a little bit more about Max, if he ever was like him, just having another hilarious conversation to diffuse the awkwardness of what was unfolding in front of us.

“Oh here's my favorite part,” I joke as ship hits the iceberg.

Nate chuckles. “ Your favorite part is all the people dying?”

I decide to play along, adding some sarcasm into my tone. “Oh yeah... definitely.. gives it a whole realistic feel.”

“Whatever makes you happy,” one side of his mouth quirks up.

“I'm kidding.” I laugh.

“Wooo, good.” Nate lets out a fake sigh of relief.

I snort out, “But yeah... after a couple of intense scenes... maybe Jack and Rose really needed... an ice breaker.”

Nate looks at me incredulously, “Did you really just make a pun?”

“I saw the opportunity, I took it.” I laugh under my breath, pride swelling in myself. Nate rolls his eyes at me and I laugh one last time before going back to leaning on him and watching the disaster of the Titanic unfold before our eyes.

The panic and confusion on the screen makes it a serious moment for the two of us, leaving us in silence as the rest of the story unfolds. When Jack and Rose are at the edge of the ship, about to hit the water- I take a deep breath, being my reminded of my irrational fear of sinking ships. That happens when you live on a naval ship with your dad for two months.

Jack helps Rose onto a piece of the wreckage, and Nate makes a comment- breaking the silence.

“She needs to shoot over. He can fit.”

I tap my chin, considering Jack and Rose’s situation.“That may not be the case- that piece of wood might lose its buoyancy if Jack gets on…”

Then Jack starts giving out his speech to Rose while he’s in the water and dying of the cold.

(Listen Rose, you’re gonna get out of here. You’re gonna go on…)

I feel tears starting to form in my eyes, and I try to fan my eyes- trying not to cry- Oh my God, why did Leo have to be so good at acting? I didn’t want to be the first one between Nate and I to cry because of this movie, but Nate reaches over to get me a kleenex, and that’s when I notice him looking like he was holding back tears.

(Promise me now, Rose, and never let go of that promise.

I promise.

Never let go.

I’ll never let go, Jack.)

But dang it, Leo was just that poignant. I feel a tear slip from my eye and the rest of the waterworks follow. I take the kleenex Nate offers.

“This part gets me everytime.” I wipe my eyes.

Nate nods his head, “Me too.”

“I told you that I was in the mood to ugly cry over Leonardo DiCaprio…” I comment as Rose tries to wake Jack up, to no response. Good lord, why did this have to be so sad? Jack and Rose could have been together, they should have been- they made each other happy… even if they came from two different worlds… okay… they just met each other three days before… BUT STILL- I was emotionally invested into these characters.

Jack, come back.

More tears come down from my eyes as Rose lets Jack go to float down in the water- and I felt pissed.

“YOU SAID YOU'D NEVER LET GO, GOOD LORD, ROSE!” I yell, frustrated that she literally did the opposite of what she promised Jack.

Nate pulls me closer and rubs my arm trying to comfort me, “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

“No, don't worry... I'm just frustrated…” I give out a small laugh in the absurdity of all this, wiping the tears from my eyes.

Nate continues to rub my arm in a comforting way, the two of us watching the screen as Rose gets saved and manages to wrap up what had happened to the ship with her narration. I know what’s going to happen next- the little twist of Old Grandma Rose still having the necklace- the Heart of the Ocean- but I’m still a little frustrated with her intentionally dropping the million dollar necklace into the water. That could have fed millions of people, should have been in a museum.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s only a necklace…” Nate says, which makes me turn to him and realize that he’s got tears in his eyes.

“It's not okay.” I say as I turn away from the screen, knowing this is the part where Rose dies in her sleep… and somehow reunite with Jack in a resurrected Titanic- and shiiiiit, I think I’m crying. Why did this have to be so sad?

I could see that a tear or two were falling from Nate’s eyes, and I couldn’t blame him. This part literally pulled on my heartstrings, it probably did on Nate’s too. I reach for the box of tissues and grab some for me and him, offering him some tissues for his tears.

He takes it and wipes his face, and I move the arm between us to his own shoulder, giving him a one armed hug. He look like he needed a hug. Nate pulls me a little closer as Jack and Rose share another kiss before the screen goes black and fades into the credits.

I take a few glances up at Nate, seeing if he was okay… or if he needed anymore tissues… and he catches my eyes, smirking at me.

“What?”

“Oh.. hah... nothing.” I dimiss before curling my lips in. Just checking up on you.

Nate smirks a little more playfully as he repeats himself, “What?”

I laugh again, then realizing that his hair was a mess- how that happened, I have no idea. So I reach my hand up, starting to fix his hair- but I just end up playing with it. It was smooth for a head of curls.

“What are you doing?” he asks in the same playful tone, tilting his head.

“Just,” I smirk as I meet his eyes. “fixing your hair.”

Nate leans himself closer to me and my heart nearly jumps, “Did it look bad?”

“Please, you could never look bad…” I say as I move closer to him, our faces mere inches apart, and my eyes quickly flicker from focusing on his face to his lips then back to his face. Now would be a good time… maybe.. to kiss him..

“That’s a lie.” Nate says just above a whisper and for a split second I thought.. maybe he thought so too.. I mean… My Heart Will Go On was playing in the credits rolling on the screen… maybe he would be okay.. if I just…

“It’s not.” I whisper back before I lean in to kiss him and as if we could be any closer- Nate uses the arm wrapped around me to pull me closer to him as he kisses me back.

My hand moves to the back of Nate’s head, and I continue keeping my lips on his. We were slow with each other, letting our hands move as we press against each other on the recliner, adjusting ourselves to the space. I feel a bit of my confidence build as he again pulls me closer and well, he wasn’t pulling away. I hope I was doing this right… My hand instinctively drags itself down Nate’s back, tracing along his spine before I settle it on his lower back, drawing circles.

I press my lips against his a little harder when I feel his hands in my hair, feeling my face heat up before a chill shoots through my body. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way before… about a person.. and as much as I want to scream at myself, yell at myself, pull myself away from this situation- I only wanted more of this. I wanted more moments like this- moments with Nate, even if I knew they’d be limited, even if I knew that I could never have this permanently.

I’d take all of them if I felt like this whenever I was with him, no matter how little time I could be with him.  

No matter.

When I feel the kiss get a little more feverish, I move my hand to grip Nate’s arms and I could feel the muscles I first admired when I met him in the gym a long time ago.

“Holy hell, your arms…” I mumble in between kisses, slowing everything down until Nate pulls away with a raised eyebrow.

“What about them?” he asks looking at me.

“Oh.. I just..” I look away with a small smile, feeling embarrassed of what I had impulsively said. “I like them... a lot.”

Nate chuckles as he bites his lips with a blush, “Thanks.”

“Yeah sure.” I wish I could kiss him again, but maybe tonight.. maybe we’ve had more than enough of that… so I breathe out a laugh and run my hand through my own hair, hoping to fix it if Nate had messed up my hair- didn’t want to walk around looking like I had just made out with Nate… or did I..?

“It’s getting late, you should get back to your room.” Nate remarks and I check my watch.

I nod back at him, “Umm.. yeah.. I didn't realize how late it was getting…”

“Same.” he says as he stands and offers me his hand, and I take his hand and stand.

We leave the theater and walk hand in hand to my room, enjoying each other’s company. We reach my door and Nate turns to me. o

“I had fun, you got to see me cry, but I had fun.” he says.

A laugh escapes me, “I'll never forget your face when Rose dropped that necklace into the water... but..” I nod, feeling a smile creep up my lips,“Me too... I liked it…”

“Please don’t.” Nate shakes his head when I mention the necklace.

“Never gonna let you live it down, Natalie.”

I’d never let that memory go, never.

“Whatever.” Nate jokes as he leans to give me a small peck on my lips, making me blush. “Good night Michelle.”

“Good night, Nate.” I smile through my blush, opening my door from behind me, waving good bye.

I catch one last smile on Nate’s face before I see him walk away. I step into my room- closing my door behind me and pressing my back against the door still feeling the residual giddiness from being with Nate.

Moments. I was starting to live for moments like these.

I wipe a tear from my eye, pressing my back against the sitting room door.

If only memories like those could really convince me to stay in this palace.

To be continued

[queennicoleinboots]

Honey, I Shrunk The Turkey

Co-authored by Joebear

Joebear and Albear picked up another 20-pound turkey from a legitimate butcher named Mr. Bentley because Tug was super hungry. That bitch cost $120.

Tug tried to eat it raw, but the rest of us wanted it cooked, so Joebear and Albear brined the turkey. Tug howled all night until it was done brining.

Joebear and Albear growled and put the turkey in the oven. Joebear took a shit before he cooked the stuffing. Albear ate some of the other turkey and ate a piece of rum cake.

Joebear then petted and kissed Kissy. He even blew in her face. She followed him everywhere.

Joebear spoke, "The year 2019, a man on mission to unlock the mysteries of science, alternate realities, alternate dimensions, alternate universes, PMS, womanhood, resurrections, takes place in a city that is east of Atlanta, GA known as "Athens-Winder." Athens and Winder have joined forces to become a big rural city. Forced to jam a 21-pound-turkey into a five gallon bucket, a man known as "Colonel America for America" set out to accomplish this seemingly impossible task. Armed with only a screwdriver, circuit board, and a few strips of sheet metal, Colonel America for America decided that he could shrink the Thanksgiving turkey."

"You're goddamn right! I will shrink the turkey, shake it up, and make 21 21-pound cooked turkeys fit into a five-gallon bucket. I will then proceed to launch them for all basenjis, bears, cats, dogs, giraffes, and humans to eat!" Colonel America for America yelled.

"Impossible!" I yelled.

"Impossible!" Nathaniel Parmello, also known as Mr. Super Paintball Guy, yelled.

"Impossible!" George Parmello, also known as Mr. Curious George, yelled.

"Impossible!" Murphee the Ace of Munching yelled.

"Impossible!" Gabby yelled.

"I AM PERPLEXED BY THIS MAD SCIENCE!" Einstein yelled loudly.

Joebear continued to speak, "This task is one intriguing to most scientists, and in this regard, Colonel America for America is no different. Follow us on this journey of mythical ideas grounded only by his companion, Murphee the Ace of Munching."

Murphee The Ace of Munching barked three times to acknowledge Joebear's acknowledgement of his existence.

Joebear screamed, "So strap on and hold in because this is going to be a wild ride."

Colonel America for America began stuffing turkeys into the five-gallon bucket before beating it with metal strips until the metal strips were bent to hell and back. The bucket was compacting the turkeys. He put more turkeys in the bucket before beating the bucket again with Thor hammer. The turkeys were shrinking with each whack of the Thor hammer. He was adding the last of the turkeys before he beat the shit out of the bucket with the screwdriver.

Joebear, Albear, and I laughed our asses off and were amazed.

Murphee the Ace of Munching barked at the mythical bucket and attacked it while Colonel America continued to also beat the tar out of it. Colonel America even screwed a circuit board onto said bucket before continuing to beat on it. Gabby walked over to the bucket and pissed on it. The circuit board went ape shit.

The bucket then started bubbling over and jumping up and down. Gabby walked away slowly and meowed. Murphee the Ace of Munching stopped barking and watched the bucket. Colonel America whacked it with his Captain America Shield before the bucket stopped.

Tug howled. Murphee the Ace of Munching barked. Kissy meowed. Mr. Curious George, Mr. Super Paintball Guy, Joebear, Albear, Einstein, and I walked over to the bucket and looked inside. The turkeys were shrunk to the size of mice.

"Holy Shit! Honey, you shrunk the turkeys!" Kissy yelled before she somehow imitated Oreo's strong meow.

Tug knocked over the bucket and then sniffed the turkeys before asking, "What the fuck is this? Are you serious?" He then ate six of the turkeys before doing a dance.

Joebear, Albear, and Colonel America then took the remaining shrunken turkeys and launched them into orbit.

[ntrending]

Most male Emperor penguins fast for 115 days—but a few of them may sneak snacks

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/most-male-emperor-penguins-fast-for-115-days-but-a-few-of-them-may-sneak-snacks/

Most male Emperor penguins fast for 115 days—but a few of them may sneak snacks

May in Antarctica means winter, with frigid temperatures and nights that stretch out, shoving what scant daylight remains into a shrunken block of a few hours, if the sun manages to peek above the horizon at all.

Almost 20 years ago in May, scientists disembarked the icebreaker R.V. Nathaniel B. Palmer at Cape Washington, at the edge of the ice covering the Ross Sea. It was a short two-day detour in a cruise that lasted for over a month, a trip to one of the most remote and inaccessible populations of animals in the world.

The biologists made their way toward one of the largest existing Emperor penguin colonies, trekking along the unfamiliar terrain in what the researchers describe in a new paper as “moonless dark.”

Gerald Kooyman walked in front, his eyes adjusting to the dark night. He and his human companions weren’t alone. Even in the faint light reflecting off the snow, Kooyman, a biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, noticed fresh penguin tracks heading from the colony out to sea.

It wasn’t just tracks. Kooyman and his colleagues heard the birds calling to each other, and noticed groups of penguins on their way to or from the sea, and even swimming off the side of the boat. By all rights, the male birds should have been readying themselves for one of the most intense fasts on the planet, a 115-day marathon of not-eating during which the male incubates a single egg while the female heads out to sea to feed. But in some places, where the sea is close enough to the colony, some of the penguins apparently head out into the dark, wintry waters for a sustaining snack before they get down to the important business of keeping their egg warm.

The research, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology didn’t explicitly see the penguins feeding in the dark, but did attach satellite tags to four birds, monitoring them as they dove underwater from June to August.

“If they’re going in the water, why would they do anything other than feeding?” Kooyman says. “They’re usually visual predators, but penguins can feed at night. And this, I think, is an example of that.”

Kooyman thinks that the behavior might give penguins in these more Northern colonies, closer to the open water, a dietary advantage. Assuming that some of the penguins they saw going into the water were breeding males, Kooyman says, “Any feeding that they do before the egg laying, which occurs during the first couple of weeks of June, means they’ve broken the fast to some degree. They’ve gotten a boost in their diet. Instead of 115 days, it’s 70 or 90 days, and any little bit helps in this situation.”

The penguins that they tracked might have also been females that had just laid their eggs, or non-breeding penguins, and other observations have shown that there is some penguin traffic in and out of a colony during the pre-laying period. But figuring out how all of the information fits together is tricky, because of the remoteness of many Emperor penguin colonies.

“Most colonies are a long way away from research stations and rather difficult (if not impossible) to access. There are some colonies in East Antarctica where winter observations are not that unusual but in other areas (Ross and Weddell seas and West Antarctica) such observations are exceedingly rare. The data presented here are rare because Kooyman and his colleagues managed to get to a colony (in the Ross Sea no less!) before laying commenced. That is possible only at very few sites,” says Australian scientist Barbara Wienecke via e-mail. Wienecke also studies Emperor penguins but was not involved in this research.

Cape Washington, where Kooyman and his colleague Robert van Dam made the observations, is located to the north of some other colonies much further inland. Kooyman thinks that one reason the colonies at Cape Washington and other locations on the Ross Sea are so robust might be because they have easier access to food, and don’t have to fast for quite as long as their more southerly compatriots.

To confirm the findings, researchers will need more data from more Emperors, potentially using more advanced transmitters that are now available. That means securing precious grant money, and passage on an icebreaker—one whose captain is willing to drop them in a nearly inaccessible spot in the middle of an Antarctic winter, with little chance of rescue if something should go wrong. It’s a hard sell, and Kooyman has been trying to convince funding agencies to support a return trip for 20 years. “Hope springs eternal,” Kooyman says of future efforts. In spite of the difficulty, he does have proposals out for another project to go and study these penguins in winter, and perhaps get a better picture of their feeding and diving habits.

“Once you’ve worked with Emperors it’s hard to let go of them,” Kooyman says. “They’re wonderful animals, and they occur in strikingly beautiful places.”

Written By Mary Beth Griggs