#so i think ill still be able to finish. just a little detour first | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cafedanslanuit · 4 years ago

Text

chapter guide | prev. chapter | next chapter

✖ — chapter summary: Now that Zeke has explained what truly happened with Yelena, all your troubles have finally ended. Except that now you need to start avoiding Porco. However, things change once you overhear a conversation in the woman's bathroom.

✖ — pairing: porco/reader & zeke/reader

✖ — chapter tags/warnings: college au, descriptions of panic attacks, lots of self-doubt, gaslighting, hurt/comfort, fluff, referenced cheating.

✖ — a/n: i have posted the playlist that goes with this series! click here to check this post <3

chapter three: me and my husband

Porco looked at his cellphone, an ill sensation filling up his stomach as he read over and over your last messages. For the past few days, he had been trying to reach out to you but he had been rejected every time.

He knew something wrong was going on the moment you said you couldn’t make it to his lacrosse game. Ever since you became friends, you hadn’t missed a single game. He had once seen you finishing an essay on your phone and sending it while you were sitting on the bleachers, excited for the game to begin. He had seen you falling asleep on his shoulder during a party after a game, too tired from studying for a test that you took earlier.

Porco sighed. He wished he could find any other reason to explain your behaviour but the only one that came to his mind was his late night confession to you. He shouldn’t have told you he loved you. Now you were avoiding him and his feelings and he was scared he had lost your friendship completely.

He put the phone on his back pocket and grabbed his keys, heading to the parking lot. After getting into his car, he turned on the radio and drove out of the campus, entering the main highway of the city. He wasn’t sure where he was heading to, but all he knew is that he wanted to stop thinking about you, the moment he thought you had shared and the dry messages that followed.

He had really fucked it up.

…

Sitting on your faculty’s corridor floor, you looked over at the texts Porco had been sending you the past week. It physically pained you to be so curt with someone that meant so much to you. Porco had always been there for you, even in the times you had told him you really didn’t need him. He cared when you got sick, when you were sad and also when you wanted company to crash a party on campus. You two had been inseparable since the day you met and he was already acquaintances with Annie and Armin due to all the time he had spent at your place.

This was the right thing to do, you told yourself one more time, closing your Instagram. You were taking the right decision. Porco had fallen in love with you and then had tried to make you think your boyfriend had cheated on you. If Zeke hadn’t pointed that out for you, you probably wouldn’t have noticed until it was too late. Truly, you were lucky Zeke had been understanding about the whole situation and had forgiven you for not trusting in him.

Porco wasn’t a bad person. You knew in your heart he wasn’t. But you had been wrong to trust he had your best interest in his mind.

That’s what didn’t make sense. Why had Porco, sweet and caring Porco had suddenly decided to put you against Zeke only just because he had caught feelings for you? The Porco you knew wouldn’t have done that. If he truly only wanted to drive you away from Zeke, he would have let you kiss him the night he spent with you. He would have taken the opportunity, right? So, why didn’t he?

Your head started hurting.

Your thumb ghosted over Porco’s contact on your phone, wondering whether to call him or not. You missed him dearly and knew that if you asked him to be honest, he would. There were countless moments in the past where he had been honest with you, from the time he confessed to accidentally stepping on your foundation powder and the time he opened up about his father’s death.

He’ll say anything to make you doubt your relationship with me.

Zeke’s voice resonated in your ears and you bit your tongue. He was right. You needed to remember Porco was trying to put you against your boyfriend.

Before you could think of a counterargument, you shot a quick text to Zeke. Yes. A day with your boyfriend would help you keep your mind busy.

“wanna hang out later? <3”

You watched intently, a small smile on your face as the three dots twinkled on your screen. Zeke’s answer came a few seconds later.

“Can’t. Exam tomorrow :(“

He then sent you a picture of a couple of books over a table that you recognized as the university’s library. He also had the tumbler you had given him a couple of months ago, filled with straight black coffee if you had to take a guess.

“:(( okaaaay, good luck on your exam, love u!”

“<3”

You put your phone away and sighed. You missed Zeke too. The few days after you had confronted him about the time you thought you saw Yelena and him kissing, he had showered you with love. You had spent the weekend at his place wearing nothing but an old t-shirt of his and making love several times a day. You snuggled to him on the couch as he watched an old documentary and playfully took the cigar from his lips and took a puff yourself. ‘Ladies like you shouldn’t smoke,’ he had said playfully as he took it back from your lips and then pressed a kiss on your temple.

Nevertheless, the short honeymoon phase after you made up had come to an end. You knew it was going to happen, but now your body and heart were craving more of him and his classes were taking all his time. If it wasn’t an exam it was a group project or a study session and even if you knew seniors had it way harder than you, you missed him. Missed his beard scratching your neck, his strong cologne and his deep chuckle whenever you managed to make him smile.

Maybe you could walk around the mall. You still had some birthday money and you could treat yourself a little. Maybe a new body cream or a pair of cute underwear from Victoria Secret to surprise your boyfriend after he was done with his classes. Yes, a shopping trip was exactly what you needed to stop thinking so much. Smiling, you walked to the bathroom of your faculty, just a quick detour to freshen up before you got into your car.

You looked at yourself in the mirror and took out your lipstick, fixing it carefully.

“I fucking hate her.”

You turned around as you saw three girls entering the bathroom. They stood by your side, none of them seeming to notice your presence. One of them fixing her hair, another was looking down at her phone, eyebrows knitted together and mumbling more and more curses and the last one just leaned against the bathroom stalls, arms crossed against her chest as she watched the other two.

“We did tell you she wasn’t meant to be trusted,” she reminded the girl with the phone. When she raised her head, you recognized her as Pieck, one of Porco’s close friends, who you had seen around at a lot of parties and on many of his Instagram photos.

“How is that helping me?” Pieck asked icily.

“I’m just saying, Yelena is shady. Telling you all that crap about only being able to open up with you— and for what? For her to post photo after photo of her fuckboy?” the girl in front of the mirror said. “Like, nobody needs to know you’re getting it at the library, why post about it? Literally, nobody cares.”

“She’s not worth it,” the other girl interjected.

“She really isn’t, babe. And Zeke isn’t even that hot,” her friend continued with a mocking laugh. “The one that looks like a clown is her, not you. Just let it go.”

“He truly is a bad case of the monkey face,” Pieck agreed with a snort. “Men like that are what keep me a lesbian.”

“Hi Pieck,” you greeted her. For the first time, Pieck looked your way and widened her eyes, recognizing you in an instant.

“Hey,” she said in an apologetic voice. “I— I’m sorry. Shouldn’t have said that.”

You faked a chuckle. “It’s okay. I just wanted to say you shouldn’t worry about them, Yelena is—”

“Yeah, yeah, we both shouldn’t worry. You’re probably trying to move on and ignore them too,” Pieck sighed and then pursed her lips in discomfort. “But I know you were Zeke’s girlfriend for a while, it’s normal you don’t want to hear about who he’s fucking now—”

“Zeke and I are still together,” you interrupted her.

Pieck’s face fell at your words. She looked at her friends, who were also looking at each other with an indecipherable expression. Your furrowed your eyebrows, confused as to why they were sharing those glances. Why would they think you weren’t with Zeke? Sure, you hadn’t posted photos with him lately but that didn’t mean you weren’t together anymore.

“I’ll catch up with you in a bit,” Pieck said softly to her friends. They nodded and said they would be by the cafeteria before leaving. Once they went away, Pieck closed the bathroom door and walked to you again.

“Why— why would you think we’re not together?” you insisted, your voice trembling more than you would have wanted.

“Yelena and Zeke are fucking,” she sentenced in a soft voice. You shook your head.

“I know that’s what it looks like but Yelena likes women,” you said. “You— I mean you guys were dating or something, right? You know she’s a lesbian, she’s just pretending to have something with Zeke so her parents back off for a while.”

Pieck’s silence was deafening.

“Right?” you pushed. “It’s cool because she’s a lesbian and—”

“Yelena is bisexual.”

You paused, blinking as you tried to understand. After a few seconds, you shook your head.

“She’s not.”

“The reason we’re not dating anymore is because I saw her fucking Zeke at a party,” she explained.

“No,” you said, and shook your head once more. “No, because if it happened at a party then someone would have seen them. Someone would have noticed, there would have been rumours, I would have known . Pieck, someone would have told me, Reiner, Marcel, Porco—”

“They weren’t there. Almost everyone was a senior.”

“Then you! You would have told me,” you cried. “You’re telling me you saw my boyfriend fucking someone else and didn’t tell me!? Pieck—!”

“I thought you weren’t together anymore!” she defended herself. “What was I supposed to think when every single one of his friends at that shitty apartment knew he was fucking her in the bedroom and they all acted like it was a normal thing to do? I see all these photos of both of them and…” she continued, shaking her phone. “Of course I think he’s not with you anymore! Yelena is uploading pictures as she rests her legs on his lap, about their movie dates at his place and you want me to think she has a girlfriend!?”

Tears started falling from your eyes as she spoke. You sniffled, trying to compose yourself but you could feel every muscle of your body shaking.

“Does Porco know?” you asked in a whisper.

“Porco?”

“I know you two are best friends since high school. You— you had to tell him. If this was real, if this happened, you had to tell Porco,” you reasoned. “So tell me, Pieck, does Porco know?” you insisted, raising your voice, hating the way it cracked at the end.

Pieck shook her head. “I told him Yelena cheated on me, didn’t tell him with who.”

“Why?”

“Because he told me not to date Yelena, said she wasn’t a good person. I didn’t want to prove Porco right, you know him,” Pieck said with a small shrug.

You nodded idly, your eyes lost. No. It didn’t make sense, it didn’t— even if it did. It did make sense but it couldn’t make sense. Because if Pieck was right, if Yelena and Zeke were—

No.

“Give me a date,” you whispered.

“What?”

“When was this?”

“I don’t— Two weeks ago?”

“I need to know the exact date, Pieck.”

“Girl, I don’t remember exactly, I—”

“Give me a date, Pieck!” you sobbed, raising your voice. She sighed and nodded, taking out her phone.

You watched as Pieck went through her messages with Yelena, scrolling up as she tried to remember the date. Your breath was hitching, inhaling more than you were exhaling but you didn’t care. You wanted to know when it was. Pieck was going to tell you it happened on a date where he was with you. She was going to say it happened one of the nights you and Zeke stayed the weekend at his place and then you would know she’s lying. Yes, that was going to happen. She would tumble over her own lie and this nightmare would be over.

“March 31st,” Pieck murmured. “I kept texting her, asking where she was before I went to look for her,” she reminisced, before showing you her phone.

00:36

lena where are u

?????

why are my friends saying you’re with zeke rn

yelena answer me

fuck u i’m going there

01:19

FUCK YOU YELENA YOURE THE WORST

PIECE OF SHIT IVE EVER MET

REALLY???? ZEKE?????

HOPE YOU GET HERPES

I FUCKING HATE YOU

babe, i’m sorry

can we talk?

A bitter taste crept inside your mouth as you took out your phone and went through yours and Zeke’s messages, looking desperately for the date. It was the weekend you spent together. It had to be. The memories of Zeke’s kitchen calendar that said April were lying to you. It had to be March. Or maybe he changed the calendar because he was with you on March 31st.

You scrolled up until March and went to read the messages exchanged on that day.

07:23

Good morning! I know it’s really early

But I want to see you today <3

Meet me at the tennis court?

sure, i’ll take an uber :)

Silent sobs escaped your mouth as your phone started shaking in your trembling hands. Pieck whispered apologies and you wanted nothing more than to tell her to shut up, that it wasn’t her fault, that she wasn’t the one that swore she wanted to marry you and then went to fuck someone else at a party, not caring if he was seen or not.

But it wasn’t true. Zeke said it was just a ruse, that Yelena just wanted to hide her queerness, that they were just good friends. He said so. Pieck had to be lying, she had to be. She was just messing with you, lying to see how much you could believe her. Because Zeke wouldn’t do that, you were the one he trusted, you were the one he was going to marry, you—

Pieck was still holding her phone in front of you.

With the very same date.

And Yelena admitting her crime.

But it couldn't be right. There had to be a mistake because Zeke loved you. He loved you and he had told you about his family, he had taken you to meet his grandparents, he promised he hadn’t kissed Yelena that night, he—

Had he not kissed her?

Was it only a movie night?

…

No, it hadn’t.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Pieck’s voice sounded far, your lips parted as you tried to gasp for air. You lifted your head and saw her lips moving but you couldn’t hear any sound but your heart beating out of your chest. Tingles started creeping on your fingers and without you being able to do anything to prevent it, you dropped your phone on the bathroom floor.

Why didn’t it make a sound?

Why were your fingers numb?

You lifted your head and Pieck was gone. Dismissing her sudden disappearance, you crouched down and picked your phone. You winced at the huge crack on your screen and slid your finger several times over it until you could press on Zeke’s contact and call him.

As his phone rang, you pressed your back on the wall, slowly sinking until you were sitting on the floor.

“Baby, I told you I was studying for this test, I can’t—”

“I know about you and Yelena,” you said in a broken voice. You heard him let out an annoyed sigh on the other line.

“Didn’t we talk about this already? I told you she’s not—”

“I know about the party. The day we played baseball and— that same night you went to a party and fucked her,” you sobbed. You wiped the tears on your face with the back of your hand. “Zeke, tell me it’s a lie, tell me you didn’t do this, please, please tell me you didn’t really fuck Yelena,” you begged. “Please.”

“You know what? Get some help. Like, psychological help. This isn’t normal.”

The silence after Zeke hung up choked you. Your chest rose up and down as you sobbed uncontrollably. Your brain was screaming. Loudly. ‘Make it stop,’ you told yourself. ‘Get it together. Make it stop.’

Make it stop.

It’s a lie.

Make it stop.

He lied to you.

Stop.

He fucked her.

Please, stop.

He lied.

I can’t breathe.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

…

When you woke up, Porco was there.

Your head felt heavy as you tried to sit up, rubbing your eyes. A quick look around let you know you were in your apartment but you weren’t sure as to how , or why your friend was there, his phone on his lap and his eyes looking at you filled with worry.

He whispered your name as if his voice could hurt you. “How are you feeling?”

“What are you doing here?” you asked groggily. You noticed your throat was hurting as well. “What hour is it?” you mumbled as you palmed your jean pockets looking for your phone. You found it hidden between two pillows and pressed the power button, trying to see if you had any unread messages.

None.

“Pieck called me,” Porco explained. “And it’s eight and a half.”

Pieck. Pieck with her friends in the bathroom, Pieck with the text messages. Everything came back to you in a second and you couldn’t help but wince at the way your head hurt.

“How are you feeling?” he insisted. You took a deep breath. The small movement made you realize how much the muscles of your back were hurting along with your arms. You licked your lips, hating how dry they felt against your tongue.

“I broke my phone.”

Porco furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“I— I dropped it. There’s a crack on the screen.”

He nodded slowly and looked down at his shoes, his forearms resting on his knees. You could almost listen to his loud thoughts, one coming after another inside his head. Porco sighed and turned his head back to you.

“Want me to get it fixed? Marcel knows a guy, I’m sure he can get it done by tomorrow.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s working just fine,” you said, passing your thumb over the crack. “No need to change it.”

Porco watched your eyes get lost on the dark screen and tightened his lips. He had the urge to throw your phone out of your window, make you understand you had to leave it, that it wasn’t good for you, that you didn’t need it, that you didn’t need him —

Instead, he nodded.

“What happened?” you asked.

Porco paused, deliberating his words before speaking. “Pieck called and told me what you guys talked about and that… you didn’t take it well. She said you were crying and— that you had a panic attack, so she left the bathroom to look for help. She found Armin and he was the one that helped you regain your breath. Once you settle down, he called Annie to tell her what happened and she picked you up. When I got here you were already asleep on the couch, Annie said it was okay if I waited here.”

“I… don’t remember much,” you confessed with a grimace. “I don’t remember Armin helping me out. I— I do remember what Pieck and I talked about, though. Wish I could forget it instead,” you snorted.

“Wanna talk about it?”

You shook your head. Ouch . Why did every muscle of your body hurt so much?

“Wanna watch some shitty reality TV?” he offered. He didn’t miss the way a small smile appeared on your face.

In a matter of minutes, Porco had gone into your room and brought your laptop, and started looking for the show on Netflix. He put your laptop on his thighs and let you crawl by his side, your head resting against his shoulder.

“Wish they had Ink Master,” you sighed, as the intro of Netflix’s newest reality show played on your screen.

“We both know Netflix doesn’t have good shows.”

You snorted. “Black Mirror is good.”

“And yet we’re watching The Circle,” Porco teased you.

“Weren’t you the one that binged Season 1 on one night and then asked me to do the same so you could rant?” you reminded him with a playful tone.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied nonchalantly, making you chuckle.

What followed next was a comfortable silence. One episode went by and Porco made no attempts to stop it from automatically playing the second episode. You snuggled closer, the fabric of his green jacket feeling nice against your cheek. How long had it been since you felt so much peace with someone else by your side?

In any other situation, you would be commenting on it, pressing pause just to bitch and rant about the contestants or make quick runs to the kitchen. But Porco was sitting still, his eyes fixed on the screen and his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was trying to comfort you the best way he could, knowing any words would fail, he aimed to create a safe space for you and not force you to behave normally when you both knew better than to completely ignore what had happened earlier.

Right. Zeke.

You felt your eyes watering and bit the inside of your cheek to prevent them from falling down. Focusing on your breath, you inhaled and exhaled rhythmically until the knot in your throat seemed to loosen up. Your feelings towards Zeke were confusing, a part of you wanting to run, look for him and demand an explanation. Another part of you wanted to face with, punch his stupid little face until you got tired and leave him on the floor. And another, maybe a bigger part of you wanted him to cradle you in his strong arms, kiss your temple and scratch your skin with his beard as he whispered sweet nothings to you.

You swallowed. Maybe Zeke was right. Maybe you did need psychological help.

Could you trust his words if he were to provide another explanation? Could you ever trust in him again? Most of all, could you trust yourself? Many voices had different opinions inside your head, yet they all agreed on something.

You were miserable.

“Every time I’m not with him, I’m anxious,” you mumbled, the words leaving your mouth before you thought them over. Porco moved his hand to pause the show, but you gestured to him not to. “And when he’s with me…” you continued, “I feel like I’m drowning.”

Your voice cracked at the end. Porco’s hand twitched, not sure what to do next. Should he hold you, put an arm around your shoulder to comfort you? Should he not move a muscle until you were done? Should he offer a word of comfort? He turned his head to you and noticed tears were silently streaming down your face.

“If Zeke was in front of me right now and told me Pieck lied her ass off, even after all the proof she showed me today… I would believe him. I would,” you sobbed. “And I hate myself so much for it. I’m so tired of this, I’m so tired of loving him, Pock.”

Porco’s hand cupped your head, his fingers gently caressing your hair. You snuggled closer to him, his perfume soothing the pain inside your heart and his gentle gesture comforting you. That was the magic Porco had. You knew he wasn’t always good with his words and most of the time he preferred to show rather than tell and boy, did he do a spectacular good job at showing you how much he cared.

He was there. Even after you had been ignoring him for over two weeks, he was here with his green jacket and his earthy-scented perfume ready to hold you if you needed him. And you did. You could never think of a moment where you wouldn’t want him to be there with you.

You wiped your face with the back of your hand and reluctantly pulled away from his touch, turning on your seat so you were facing him. You paused your show and put a strand of your hair behind your ear.

“Thank you,” you said, biting down your bottom lip. “For being here and waiting until I woke up. I— I’ve been such a bad friend to you,” you sighed. “I’m so sorry, I just—”

Porco shook his head. “No. I’m sorry for what I said the night I stayed here.”

“No, you don’t need to— I mean— I wasn’t mad about it,” you fumbled with your words, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“I don’t know,” Porco shrugged. “Felt like I made you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t,” you assured him. “Thank you for staying with me that night. I really didn’t want to be alone.”

“I just— Can I say something else? Promise this is the last time I talk about it.” You nodded. “I didn’t love you the first time I met you,” he blurted, shrugging. “I mean, it’s not like I saw you and caught feelings— first time I saw you you were drunk off your ass at Reiner’s party. I was your friend first. Still am, nothing will change that. And honestly? I wouldn’t be surprised if my feelings went away,” he chuckled. “Who knows. Might finally meet someone else and fall for them.”

“Yeah, maybe you’ll meet someone,” you agreed with a strained smile.

“Whatever happens, know that before anything else, I’m your friend,” Porco said, golden eyes setting on yours. “And that will never change. You’re stuck with me.”

“And you’re stuck with me.”

“See any other reason why I’m watching a shitty reality show on a Tuesday night?”

At this, you hit Porco with one of the pillows, square on his face. You couldn’t help but laugh at his stunned face.

“You’re so fucked,” he said, putting the laptop on the coffee table in front of him.

You took this as a sign to run, the ache in your muscles forgotten at the back of your head as you tried to dodge the pillows Porco was throwing at you. Your legs weren’t weak anymore, as you quickly jumped to avoid the furniture and picked up one of the pillows to throw it back at him. Your heart was no longer aching, but jumping as you cackled when Porco tripped and fell. Even if your eyes were watering again, this time was due to the excessive laughter. And yes, your breath was hitching but it was thanks to Porco chasing you around the living room.

You let yourself fall on the floor next to Porco, the coldness of the floor soothing your skin as he dramatically held his knee against his chest like an injured soccer player. You turned your head to him, smiling at his antics as he filled your heart with happiness once more.

Maybe that had been his power all along.

#porco x reader #snk x reader #aot x reader #porco galliard #porco galliard x reader #porco x you #porco galliard x you #porco galliard angst #porco galliard fluff #porco angst #porco fluff #zeke x reader #zeke jaeger x reade #zeke x you #zeke jaeger x you #zeke jaeger #zeke angst

285 notes · View notes

skekheck · 4 years ago

Text

Theory: UrVa’s Arrows Were Originally Meant To Incapacitate, Not Kill, skekMal

Maybe this is common consensus, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. On the surface, it seemed like urVa had wanted to put an end to skekMal at the Circle of the Suns and the Hunter escaped before he could finish the job. But then there was this line in episode 10 that always felt odd to me:

urVa: I had a dream that I was one that became two that became one again. I looked through my dark half’s eyes and knew Aughra was right. [...] ...The Hunt must end.

It’s just “but urVa, weren’t you doing just that a day or so prior?”. But then after rewatching their standoff again it hit me: maybe urVa’s intentions were not to kill skekMal but to incapacitate him.

Let’s look at the scene again

SkekMal was shot a total of three times: the first one through his upper arm, the second around the bottom right of his torso, and the last through his upper leg (possibly thigh?).

(Sorry couldn’t find a better pic of his leg shot)

Weird places to aim for if urVa had wanted to kill him, right? Wouldn’t he have gone for targets that would more likely result in death, like the throat or through the eye sockets? It’s not like he would miss: urVa’s a master marksman. Instead, all three shots prevented (or at least was an attempt to stop) skekMal without taking his life.

The first shot prevented skekMal from harming Rian. The second was retaliation for ignoring the Archer’s warning. UrVa flat out told him to not approach the Gelfling but you see the Hunter take a step forward anyway, prompting him to release the second arrow. The final one was an attempt to stop skekMal from escaping with Brea. Seeing as how urVa immediately collapsed after firing that arrow, it would have worked. However, he underestimated how committed skekMal was to the Hunt, considering he pushed through the pain to get what he needed done.

Those arm and leg wounds aren’t inherently life-threatening. The arrow in his torso, though, is more concerning. It’s possible it could have had or at least be at risk of damaging his organs. Now, the Skeksis have weird-as-fuck anatomy (that goes without saying) so we have no real way of knowing if it was endangering him or not. But considering the nature of his other two wounds, I don’t think it was a kill shot. A more serious wound, but not deadly if tended to. And that’s probably what urVa intended: he aimed for that spot in the hopes skekMal would stop to take care of his wounds.

But Weren’t Both skekMal and urVa In Critical Condition?

Oh yeah, they still were and skekMal’s partially to blame for it. It’s not a great idea to move around too much with arrows lodged in you. The arrow heads and shaft could move around and cause more internal damage. SkekMal moving made what would have been minor to moderate wounds way more serious. Not to mention, he never stopped to pull them out and heal himself: he kept those things in.

And let’s not forget how far of a distance between the Circle of the Suns and the Castle is. There are multiple versions of maps of Thra that have some siginifcant differences, but the main point is those two locations are pretty far from each other. Even if he used Bennu to fly all the way over to the Castle, skekMal would still have to deal with Brea thrashing around on his back. And it looks like he took a detour to grab a cage for her, which he then dragged through the Castle’s corridors. Baiting Rian and his friends just so he can fulfill his Hunt was apparently more important to him than his well-being (which is ironic if you believe skekMal’s philosophy surrounding the Hunt is his own way of self-preservation).

EDIT: Wanted to add that skekMal was in a difficult position in terms of what he wanted. He would know that if he’d pull those arrows out he would have to treat them right away otherwise he’d bleed to death. At the same time, he would also had to keep Brea from escaping. I think he weighed his options and found that he’d had more success just pushing through it and keeping them in then treat them later. SkekMal might had also thought the other Skeksis would be able to treat him if it was serious enough?

And SkekTek Made It Worse

SkekTek is no doctor. He can cut up and research on animals all he wants, but that doesn’t count as medical knowledge. It’s painfully obvious he has no idea what he’s doing: his diagnosis and treatment of skekMal’s condition is enough proof of that. And speaking of which, skekTek’s diagnosis is full of nonsense:

Skektek: Subject suffers severe exsanguination. Extreme distress to the humus. [...] Imbalance of intrinsic fluids. Manifold ruptures in corporeal morphology. [Checks for a heart beat] Ah. Ah... . Expiration... is... [dramatic pause] inevitable.

Literally he’s saying skekMal has multiple holes in his body and he’s bleeding out. You know, pointing out the obvious. Also, I tried finding out if “humus” related to anything biologically, but all I could find was it’s a term for... soil made of organic matter. I’m not sure what he was trying to refer to, I think he was just misusing it to make himself sound smart.

EDIT: I have been told by a few people that skekTek might be referring the humerus, which is a bone found in the upperarm that’s forms joints at the elbow and shoulder. This would make more sense and would mean skekTek made a proper diagnosis. However, at least to me, it still sounds like he’s saying humus. Another skeksis repeats him and they also say humus, not humerus. Turning on the captions also has it as humus. This could either be a typo or skekTek did mean humerus, but said humus instead.

And how he actually treats skekMal is atrocious.

He pulls the arrows out without making any attempts to stop the bleeding, clean the wounds, or apply stitches. He’s letting him bleed out and he should at least know they need blood to live. Do you know what happens when someone loses too much blood? Among other side effects, organ failure and falling into a coma. SkekTek did eventually made an effort to heal skekMal by giving him essence, but it was too little too late. SkekMal’s condition was so far gone at that point he really needed Aughra’s essence to survive.

UrVa’s Intentions

And now we’re going right back to urVa. While thinking over on urVa’s actions, I started wondering if he anticipated skekMal wouldn’t stay put and that the Hunter would do his own self in by moving around with the arrows lodged in him. I mean, urVa is a mystic, an indirect kill would make sense. But giving it more thought, I don’t think that’s the case. A lot of his actions during the series suggests otherwise.

UrVa was very contemplative, even saddened, about having to end the Hunt for skekMal. He is not like his other half: he respected and appreciated all life on Thra. He also sees the cycle of life as well as the wilderness as something untamable. This is implied while he was talking with Aughra in episode 4:

urVa: We do not get to decide when our part in the song is finished.

While urVa is one of the more proactive Mystics, he still is... a Mystic. He doesn’t believe he should manipulate or control what goes on around him and let things be. The Bestiary book points to the fact that while urVa did keep tabs on skekMal, he never interfered with his hunts. So it was a big deal when Aughra quested him with the task of stopping skekMal.

Also I’d like to point out urVa and Aughra’s final conversation because it’s also important for this discussion:

urVa; And where does my path lead? Aughra: Into the sands to face the Hunter. urVa: [sighing and looks away from Aughra for a moment] I cannot defeat my dark half. Aughra: You will find a way. But not without sacrifice. urVa: And if I fail? Aughra: The heroes of Thra will be lost. urVa: Mm... [pauses and takes a deep breath] I will end the hunt. Aughra: Good. Get a move on. You Mystics are not known for your swift speed. We have much to do. [...] urVa: [pauses and looks at Aughra] Will we meet again, Aughra? Aughra: [stops walking, saddened] Hm... [faces him] Some things... even Aughra cannot see, old friend. [urVa pauses and then groans, walks away from Aughra as they both parted ways for the final time]

He shows a lot of hesitance in completing this task. I’m sure he knew what Aughra was implying: that he may have to take skekMal’s life away but he still went and asked if they would meet each other again anyway. I think he was hoping for a positive answer, that it wouldn’t have to come to that, and seemed disheartened by her answer. But he still tried. He tried to stop skekMal in a way that, while not exactly peaceful, was not meant to be life-threatening. UrVa even pleads for him to stop... twice! The first time as skekMal was making his get-away and the second time while urVa helplessly watched him go after Rian again through the Hunter’s eyes.

These two only had one scene together so we don’t really know the extent of their relationship. But if there’s one thing that’s clear was the conflict between them. I mean, during their whole duel, the characters were purposely placed on opposite sides of the room while making sure to show that skekGra and urGoh, a pair who were able to find harmony, were always side by side. It’s also in the way they address each other: while urVa does refer to him as his dark half, he also called him by his name. SkekMal, meanwhile, only ever referred to urVa as his title and nothing more.

But I don’t think urVa had any ill-will towards his Skeksis. He seemed understanding of him and valued his life as much as he valued all living beings on Thra. I think if they both didn’t end up in a near-death situation, he’d try incapacitating skekMal again. However he understood and accepted his situation towards the end: with skekMal on an essence high, incapacitation method was no longer possible. If he allowed it to go on, all of Thra would be at risk. It was a desperate situation, but he knew Aughra was right. She gave up her life for the preservation of the world and urVa knew he had to do the same: for her and for Thra. The Hunt had to end and in order to protect the world he cherished he had to make the ultimate sacrifice.

#the dark crystal #skekmal #urva #I might go back into this and edit/add things but HERE YOU GO

88 notes · View notes

javajunkieao3 · 4 years ago

Text

Being Alive: Beth/Benny Fanfic

It’s six months after Russia and nearly that long since her last drink. All those months ago, sitting across Borgov with her face tilted up to the paneled ceiling, she learned that she didn't need alcohol to quiet her mind. The chess board still appeared, the pieces moving with a grace that Beth still hadn’t witnessed elsewhere. But, it didn't mean she didn’t want the drink, and Beth had bore witness to a casual alcoholic for enough years to understand that both the need and want weren’t pre-requisites to addiction. Because while she didn’t need a drink, she also knew that once she started she wouldn’t be able to stop.

She’s at the US Open Chess Championship in Chicago and she keeps walking past the bar, her pacing taking her steps closer to the wooden counter with each pass. It was all because of damn Gorsky. He was new. An up and comer out of Bloomington, Indiana and he almost beat her. She faced off against the giants in Russia, and yet somehow, this Midwest nobody threw her. Dimly, somewhere between her fourth and fifth pass in front of the bar, she reminds herself that she had once been that nobody, but she quickly dismisses the thought.

At her sixth pass, she almost gives in, her mouth already anticipating the heady combination of the gin and vermouth tempered by a refined pearl onion (Mrs. Wheatley had been right about that part), but then a young girl recognizes her and asks for her autograph. The girl holds out an old copy of Life magazine with Beth’s face on the cover. The magazine was about two years old, and Beth thinks about how this girl must have seen the Open was taking place in the city and made a special trip just for her to sign the magazine. Her face burns with shame as she recalls the one to three Gibsons she had been on her way to consume, and she makes a point to strike up a conversation with the young girl, trying to replace her guilt with a good deed.

When she's finished, she heads back up to her room, but she can already picture the room service menu and she can feel her finger moving the heavy dial of the rotary phone, and so she makes a detour, ending up at his room. She doesn't know if he’ll be there, but he answers after one knock. He’s shirtless, his striped pajama pants slung low on his hips, but it’s nothing she hasn't seen before.

“Hi Benny.”

“Beth Harmon, to what do I owe this honor?”

The tone of his voice reminds her of the distance between them. While he helped her in Russia, she was well aware there was still damage between them to be repaired, but all the calls she meant to make didn’t happen, and then her phone didn’t ring, either. She hasn’t seen him since before Russia.

“Can I come in?”

“If you’re here to take more of my money with speed chess, you’ll be disappointed.”

Attempting levity, she says, “Does that mean you got better, or we’re not playing?”

He smiles slightly and steps back to let her in. Behind her, he flips open a suitcase and she turns around just as he’s pulling a worn grey t-shirt over his head. “So, what are you doing here?”

She doesn’t answer, suddenly feeling foolish for going to him at all, and he says, “It’s Gorsky, isn’t it?”

“I still beat him,” she returns sharply.

“Yeah, well, you almost didn’t.”

She bites the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood and sits on the edge of the bed.

“Do you want something to drink?” Benny asks, and while she knows he doesn't mean alcohol, she says, “I want a Gibson. I might as well, right? You warned me that if I kept drinking like I was, I’d end up washed up by my twenties. But, it looks like that may be happening, anyway.”

“Beth, you’re not washed up.”

“I didn’t see the move, Benny.”

She had gone through various phases while analyzing the game previously. Anger. Blame. But now, she is just tired. She considers excusing herself to go back to her room, but if she were being honest with herself, she doesn’t trust herself alone.

“Sometimes you don’t, but then you’ll see it the next game. Just because you’re good doesn’t mean you’re infallible.”

"I shouldn’t be this thrown by it. I beat Luchenko, Borgov. I beat you.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” he returns drily.

She rubs at her eyes irritably and when she opens them again, he’s walked toward her and he sits on the bed next to her. There is still a sizable distance between them, but she takes comfort in the way the mattress dips. It makes her feel less alone.

“You are not washed up,” Benny says for the second time that night. “But, you’re going to have games you lose. It doesn’t make you any less of a player.” Beth scoffs at that and he continues with, “Did beating Borgov make you think any less of him?”

“No,” she admits. She looks over at him, “And it didn’t make me think any less of you. Although, you could improve your endgame.”

Benny smiles slightly. “I’m going to choose to ignore that last part.”

Beth looks down at her shoes. “I came here because I wanted a drink.”

Benny is quiet for a moment. “Do you still want one?”

“Yes,” she answers immediately. “But it’ll pass.” She looks over at him, her nerves pulled tight, and asks, “Can I-”

“Yes,” he says. “You can stay here. As long as you need.”

They order room service - burgers with extra pickles for him and cheese for her - and she tells him she’ll be going back to her room soon, but that doesn't happen. Instead, they play a few games of chess and then she stretches out on the bed, ignoring his offer for her to change into one of his oversized shirts to sleep in, and he settles in the bed next to her. He shuts off the light, and she turns onto her back. The darkness emboldens her to say what she had never been brave enough to tell him in the light.

“I didn't choose drinking over you.”

He doesn’t answer for a long moment, and when he does his voice is gravelly. “It sure seemed like you did.”

“I chose being numb.”

“Is that supposed to make it better?”

“No,” she says honestly. “But, it’s the truth.” Staring up at the blank ceiling she says, “When my mother killed herself, she told me to close my eyes. I think, in some way, I’ve been trying to do that ever since.”

She hears the rustle of his hair against the pillow as he turns his head to look at her. “Shit, Beth-”

“But, I don’t want to be numb anymore. I don’t want to close my eyes.” She turns her face toward him. In the pitch darkness of the room, she can just make out the outline of his face, but his eyes gleam bright.

“I’m sorry that I hurt you,” she says.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t go with you to Russia.”

“You were still there when I needed you,” Beth returns, recalling the immense sense of relief when she heard his voice on the phone.

“I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to beat the Russians.”

His voice is light and teasing, like it used to be, and she doesn’t know what to say next, but then he reaches forward and smooths her hair away from her face. Without hesitation, she reaches up and grabs his hand, keeping it pressed against her cheek. She doesn’t know if she leans in first, or him, but they meet in the middle, the kiss gentle and unhurried. Her body yearns for more, but then he pulls away, pressing a kiss on her forehead as he says, “We should get some sleep. We both have games at seven tomorrow.”

She knows that he’s right, because he’s an addiction in his own way, and if they started something she knew they would get little sleep. She turns on her side, her mind wonderfully blank as he blanketed her body with his. She falls asleep within minutes.

The next morning, the twins catch Beth leaving Benny’s room to change for the day, and one of them does a low whistle while Beth jauntily responds with her middle finger. She changes into one of her favorite dresses, a checkered number with a high neckline that dipped to a lower “v” in the back, and she proceeds to win all of her games, even achieving a new personal record for time. Benny does the same, and then it’s just the two of them, facing off at the top table. There’s a break before and he presses her against a wall in a back hallway, his mouth against hers.

“If you’re trying to distract me, it won’t work,” she says, fingers caught up in his hair.

“Don’t worry, I know better than that.”

Fifteen minutes later, they are seated opposite each other, attention finely tuned to the action on the board. Benny has improved since Beth last played him, but then again, so has she. Both of them nearly run out their clocks, but in the end, it is Benny who extends his hand across the board. She knows how much he hates to lose, but there is not a trace of ill will on his face when she shakes his hand. Instead, there is admiration, respect, and something else that she is hesitant to name.

Afterwards, they go directly to her room, and they don’t even make it to fully undressed before she takes him in, breathing a sigh of relief against his neck. When they are finished, his fingers languidly run along her side and he says, “You should come to New York.”

“I can’t,” she says, looking up at him. “I’m coaching at one of the high schools and they have a major tournament next week”

“Okay,” he says. “Then what if I come to Kentucky?”

While this isn’t exactly a surprise, it still thrills her to hear him say it. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Okay,” she says, trying to keep an impending wide grin at bay. She runs her hand along his chest and Innocently says, “I think I have an air mattress in the closet.”

#the queen's gambit #fanfiction #Benny Watts #Beth Harmon #Beth Harmon x Benny Watts

148 notes · View notes

seimeinotaka · 4 years ago

Text

A beautiful gift for a beautiful flower: the Legendary Sword (Vil X MC fic)

It is still the 9th, so I’m still on time to upload a fic to celebrate Vil’s birthday. I wanted to give something he would love, so here it is, given and made with him and Ann in mind. Maybe one day I’ll upload Ann giving him also his so-wanted list hehe. But for now, I hope this will do!

Thanks to polyphenols@AO3 for beta-reading this!

This is a story from a young prince who lived in a faraway land.

~ ° ~

Vil had just returned from his afternoon walk as he crossed the now empty lounge, devoid of any of the birthday tables and balloons for his own celebration, as expected for it was the day after. Well, it was empty except for the lone presence of Ramshackle dorm’s prefect, Ann Hawthorne, and Vil’s almost professional headache.

“Vil-senpai, here!” the young girl said as she handed Vil a thick-looking envelope, with a purple ribbon on top.

The unexpected gift made him raise an eyebrow. “Potato, my birthday was yesterday and you were here, with your usual birthday interviews for the School’s News Section. You even took a picture of me. Did you somehow not know it was my birthday yesterday and made a last-minute gift to excuse yourself?”

Ann rolled her eyes and made a mocking grin. “Haha, how funny, there is no way in hell I can make this in one night. I had actually brought it with me, but well, I wanted you to read it, and I didn’t want to take up your time at your birthday party. I mean, you didn’t read Rook-senpai’s poems either, so it was fair that I handed you this now.”

Vague curiosity in his eyes, because he wasn’t really interested, just a little, Vil opened the envelope and took out a large stack of papers bound together with a purple thread. The words “Legendary Sword” could be read on the first page, and with a quick glance, Vil realized it was a script with some pictures in between.

~ ° ~

Long ago in the hidden remains of the Araceae Kingdom lived a beautiful young man, with brilliant cold amethyst eyes and delicate flawless skin. His hair was silky golden and he blinded everyone with his appearance. Every day, he devoted himself to his studies, from arts to economics, languages and science. In the afternoon he would train his body, fencing, wrestling, running, horse riding. He worked harder than anyone, never complaining, as he pushed himself day after day.

However, he was feared and scorned, for he was the scion of the wretched Zantedeschia household, Schwartz Zantedeschia. His family had ruled the kingdom with an iron fist, and had seized control of every other kingdom under the sun.

Shedding blood, many fought the Zantedeschia until one day a brave hero, wielding a mythical sword, was able to dethrone the cursed family and their household vanished from history. The hero, coming from the Leiron family, the rulers of the Lilium Kingdom that everyone had dismissed as negligible, was of pure heart and as the chosen hero, he was able to vanquish the evil.

However, the Zantedeschia weren’t completely destroyed and each heir was carefully trained in hopes of achieving their dream.

Before Schwartz, no one had been as successful nor had anyone worked as hard, and he was the only one to cast off from the shadows to fulfill his mission, leaving his homeland in shambles behind him.

To regain their former glory, and extract revenge, that was the reason for his journey.

~ ° ~

“A villain protagonist, really? This is your gift to me?” Vil took his eyes off the script for a moment to give Ann a dismissive and insulted glare.

Unamused, the girl rolled her eyes as she pushed the script closer to his face. “Keep reading, Vil-senpai.”

Vil kept his penetrating and heavy stare on her, though the young girl didn’t even flinch, probably used to his flair for the dramatic. However, the actor kept on reading.

~ ° ~

To fulfill his quest for revenge, he would need to seize the mythical sword Durendal, which had been the fall of his family. The next chosen holder would be Weiss Leiron, the heir of the Lilium Kingdom, adored by everyone for his purity. As soon as he turned of age, he would become the legitimate owner of Durendal.

Prince Schwartz had known of Weiss, meeting him long ago when he hid his identity to get to know the faces of his enemies. Even now, he was painfully aware, Weiss was beloved by every creature in the land, his affable nature charming everyone in spite of his failings. During that time, Schwartz came to learn that his own nature scared others, finding himself pushed away even if his true name hadn’t been revealed. His beauty alienated everyone he had met and his stoic personality was found distrustful by many, no matter what he did or said.

Thus for years, he couldn’t help but to grow deep resentment in his heart, jealousy taking root like a bloody, poisonous flower. So for Schwartz, this quest meant also his own reassurance of his worth to the world that had shunned him.

~ ° ~

“Do you enjoy making me upset?” Vil squinted as he kept on re-reading the last line, his frown growing deeper and deeper with every word.

“Do I look like I’m enjoying this?” Ann replied with a not so concealed smarmy smile.

“Your suspicious gaze makes me wonder if you are secretly a sadist. You’re not even trying to flatter me in the slightest, and of all people, you had to put him as the hero again. Really, you have a morbid sense of humor.”

“Who says Neige is the hero?”

“I am obviously Schwartz, as the narration clearly describes me. That would mean Neige can only be Weiss. Stop playing around, you aren’t fooling me.” Vil let out a long sigh. “At this rate, I’m going to have you list 200 beautiful things about me instead.”

“Please finish reading the thing, Vil-senpai? Do you judge books on the first page?”

Vil sighed again, gently shaking his head as his eyes went back to the papers in his hands.

~ ° ~

To aid him on his quest, Prince Schwartz had been sent with two trusted knights serving the Zantedeschia, the bow master Vert and the young knight Violett. Vert was a self-proclaimed defender of beauty and followed Schwartz wherever he would go. Violett had a tense relationship with Schwartz, feeling constricted by Schwartz’s rules and strictness, and with a promise of freedom after this journey. Whatever their goals were, they would protect him with their lives, as his travel would grow more dangerous the further he went. Prince Weiss had seven renowned knights and no matter Prince Schwartz’s prowess in combat and magic, it would be safer for him to be accompanied. The Araceae Kingdom was also on the northern end of the continent, hidden behind a harsh tundra and treacherous mountains, and Schwartz’s safety was to be prioritized.

As the prince and his knights traveled south, to reach the center of the continent where Durendal was enshrined, they met a group of four travelers in peril, surrounded by foul beasts. Even if it was dangerous, as it could blow his cover, Schwartz and his knights went to their rescue. In gratitude, the brawler Azure, the thief Vermillion, the young lost researcher Ai and her magical talking cat Hai joined Schwartz on his travels south.

~ ° ~

“Why do I get vague videogame allusions from this?” Vil arched an eyebrow at the recent development.

“Well,” Ann replied with a shrug. “They are classes you find in RPGs. It would make sense for Schwartz to gather several comrades that can cover any weakness he might have.”

“Then? What is your class, Ann?” Vil turned to the girl, a mocking smirk dawning on his beautiful face. “I don’t think you’d be able to be a Healer here.”

Ann pursed her lips before reluctantly answering, “I am the very important NPC tagging along. You all can fight to protect me.”

“Fufufu, bold of Ai to wander alone with her talking cat who can barely manage a spell. I wonder if they will be of help.” With a dark chuckle, Vil resumed reading.

~ ° ~

Vermillion and Azure hailed from the Rosaceae Kingdom, a land not far away from Lilium and the shrine for Durendal. Originally a couple of bandits, they had initially attempted to trick Ai and her cat, lost travelers who had just survived a shipwreck and were looking for a way back to their homeland, the Asteraceae Empire on the other side of the world. However, after being saved by the same girl they wanted to rob, they decided to reform and help them reach a port. Being told of their quest to reach Lilium, the group tagged along unaware of Schwartz’s true intentions. They all believed he was a young man kidnapped and sent to Araceae who was trying to go back to his own land, Vermillion and Hai hoping they could snag a reward for their efforts.

To reach Lilium and the shrine, the group would need to cross a perilous desert, where the rays of the sun would be so merciless that the unprepared would easily die. Unaccustomed to such warm weather, Schwartz and Violett struggled with the inclemency of the climate, growing weaker with every step. However, Schwartz was not willing to abandon his mission, even at his own health’s peril, and he continued his trip until he grew gravely ill.

~ ° ~

“You’re not writing this right now, but one could think you were expecting me to question your abilities and you kindly decided to get some petty revenge on Schwartz,” Vil said flatly, as his eyes dangerously narrowed, throwing daggers at Ann.

“Excuse me, I would be incapable of doing that, Vil-senpai.”

“Have you forgotten the time your hand slipped and your fist casually connected with Rook’s jaw? Or the time you-”

“That was a legit reason to punch him, okay?” Ann pouted as she folded her arms in front of her. “And we don’t need to talk about other things, go on and keep reading.”

~ ° ~

Taking a detour, the group reached the land of Oleaceae in hopes of finding a doctor to treat Schwartz and Violett. In their search, they found a pair of young men running away from a large group of pursuers. Ill and weakened, Schwartz still led the party to defend and protect the men in need of help, learning that the people running away, a dancer by the name of Asfar and his servant Burtiqali had been wrongly accused of murdering Asfar’s father. Even if Asfar had chosen to distance himself from his father’s business, one of the largest spice traders in Oleaceae and the land, he was the heir to the family and people within the clan wanted to get rid of the father and son to claim the business for themselves.

After a narrow escape from Oleaceae, the group learned that Burtiqali was a proficient chemist, and he provided relief to Schwartz and Violett, in gratitude for helping them escape. With no place to go, Asfar and Burtiqali decided to travel with Schwartz, hoping to find a way to clear Asfar’s name if they reached Lilium and found the hero Weiss.

Meanwhile in the Lilium Kingdom, word of Schwartz’s quest reached the ears of Weiss.

“Someone sullied is not fit to be a hero, only those pure can be one. Envy, jealousy, those emotions are unbecoming. A hero is a beacon of hope, a model to follow, a paragon of virtue. Someone who is envious of the natural course of things is not fit to be a hero.”

Those were the words of the beloved hero, the next in line to inherit Durendal. He looked at the eyes of his loyal knights, seven brave men who would follow Weiss wherever he went, taking his word almost as if it came from the heavens. Anyone wishing to follow the right path would look closely at the Prince of Lilium, with his bright and kind features and no darkness in his eyes. For his sake, they would even shut their hearts, to do what was right.

If Schwartz was willing to attack the hero, they would prevent him from even touching a single strand of the hero’s hair. A villain must never win, and good will always defeat, vanquish evil. In these times of crisis, with the kingdom’s growing unrest year after year caused by the Zantedeschia, the populace was suffering. Inequality, famine, disease, they had been slowly creeping in Lilium, and Schwartz’s arrival would be the key to opening the forbidden box.

Thus, they needed to bring swift judgement to the villain trying to usurp power once more.

~ ° ~

“A paragon of virtue, the meaning of a hero,” Vil uttered those words, almost wounded.

“In my world, the origin of the word ‘Hero’ was one meaning Defender.”

“It’s the same as this world. Color me surprised, though, I wouldn’t put you as a reader.”

“How rude, senpai, even after all this time you still think the worst of me.” Ann pretended to sigh dramatically, though Vil just rolled his eyes. “You probably think I spend my time thinking of how to annoy you and picking my nose.”

He let out a chuckle, his now trademark sardonic smile aimed at her. “Given how much you neglect your appearance, would you blame me for believing it?”

~ ° ~

As they traveled, the burden of his secret mission weighed heavily on Schwartz’s shoulders, as he found himself growing attached to his companions. Keeping an aloof distance and not hiding his critical tongue and stoic and strict nature, he had assumed they would be simply people he would be using to achieve his goals. Schwartz had always been alone and feared by everyone, so he hadn’t expected anything else. The kind interaction of these people made him at times believe they could be friends, something he had once thought impossible.

After all, no one knew better than him that he was sullied with jealousy and anger, stains perhaps too deep in his soul to be the hero recognized by Durendal. After all, the legendary sword would only choose someone who was a hero and the more Schwartz looked at himself in the mirror, the further he traveled in his journey, the more he believed himself to be the villain, just as his ancestors before him.

~ ° ~

This time, Vil had no snappy retort or effusive reaction. Instead, he solemnly stared at the words in front of him, his lips pressed together into a thin line. He wouldn’t admit aloud that Schwartz’s feelings were hitting too close to home, the traces of his Overblot still lingering in his thoughts. His own failings caused his heart to be tainted with ink and even to his day, he struggled with his wish to be cast once as a hero, to prove he wasn’t the villain everyone appointed and believed he was.

His eyes briefly met Ann’s, before he diverted his gaze. He recalled the times she had called him several things, such as kind, that he, to this day, did not believe he was, and he wondered if there were some of those feelings portrayed in the script in his hands.

She didn’t say anything, as she quietly looked at him with a warm soft smile, in hopes that he kept on reading to find the answer he was suddenly seeking for.

~ ° ~

Just as the travelers arrived at the shrine where Durendal rested, Schwartz came to face his sworn enemy, Prince Weiss, the paragon of goodness and the hero of the land. He almost laughed maniacally, as the seven holy knights came to protect him. It would truly be a fight of good and evil, and for once he decided to unveil his ugly mask to the oblivious people who wrongly decided to accompany him.

~ ° ~

“Did you honestly write ‘Fighting scene goes here’?” Vil arched an eyebrow, with a dismissive and almost stunned glare at Ann, who simply blinked in return.

“Do I look like I know how those kind of fighting scenes normally go in a script?”

“Shouldn’t you know it? You ARE writing this after all.”

“You can make it up as you want.” Ann waved her hand nonchalantly, and Vil let out a groan. The nerve of the girl to leave out the most important part of the scene, and he thought of thousand ways to express his utter shock and frustration. Ann huffed. “If you really want it, you can pretend I wrote you kick Neige in the balls…Ah, but be careful with your heels, you might break his baby-making machine and that might give you trouble.”

“Baby. Making. Machine.”

“His dick, senpai. You break his dick.”

Vil’s blank expression was on her for a couple of seconds, before his line of sight was interrupted by her gently shoving the script toward his face.

~ ° ~

The knights defeated and Weiss wounded, Schwartz would lift his sword, deep in anger to decapitate his nemesis, at the protest of his friends. The anger of knowing that his family had been shunned for years for crimes they never committed, Schwartz finding himself damned for the only reason of being born under the Zantedeschia name fueled his fatal blow. As the sword fell like a guillotine, an arrow threw it away from its trajectory, his friends deciding to oppose him in a battle they knew they might lose. But they would face him because they knew what kind of person Schwartz truly was, cold and aloof, but secretly caring, and they didn’t want him to commit a heinous crime.

Somehow, his words reached Schwartz, horrified at the monster he had become. Falling on his knees, he threw away his magic tome and his sword, realizing he was no hero, he was the villain awaiting his execution. He would no longer be capable of wielding Durendal, no, the idea of wielding it was ridiculous from the very beginning. And to wound him further, his close knight Vert had picked up the Legendary Sword, handing it to a wounded Weiss, as he protected him from any harm on their escape.

“I was hoping you would recognize your own worth without needing external validation. You do not need Durendal. The wielder of Durendal is the one who shines like the sun, the most beautiful at heart. One day, you will surely be recognized, farewell, Schwartz, but my heart truly lies with Weiss, who is unclouded by sin and is as radiant as any star.”

Vert’s betrayal caused everyone to fall back, taking everyone by surprise. While Asfar, Burtiqali and Ai had caught grasp of Schwartz’s true intentions, they never realized Vert had sent a warning to Lilium. Tending their wounds, Schwartz finally explained the truth he had concealed.

Long ago, as a great war emerged, the Zantedeschia were one of many houses caught in the strife. Fighting to protect their territory and lending a hand to nearby lands, they grew in power, and lords of other lands deemed them too dangerous. While they hadn’t invaded other kingdoms, they were plagued by fear, and decided to vanquish them before they could do anything. And thus, they imparted their judgement and executed most of the royal family except for one who managed to escape, keeping the bloodline alive and hiding at the ends of the world.

They gave the honor to a random lowborn house, the Lilium, as they would make the better heroes for a loving fairytale. A chivalrous story of the good and weak defeating the evil and strong. Pinning all of their internal problems on the Zantedeschia, they decided it was for the best to brand them as the evil of the world, and thus it would be allowed to destroy them. Because Durendal happened to choose the prince of Lilium, they could embellish their tale which was no more than political machinations to benefit just a small few, while giving crumbs of justice to the unknowing folk.

And thus, with the passage of time, the world would know of the story of the evil Zantedeschia and the good Lilium and it became the truth for everyone. Except for the surviving bloodline of the Zantedeschia who relayed their truth to their successors, hoping that one day, they would finally be acquitted of something they never committed. And if Durendal chose any of them, then it would finally be proof that they weren’t the evil they were always thought to be.

“Did you want to wield Durendal for yourself or for your bloodline and your people?” Ai had posed this question to Schwartz, who had tried everything and had failed.

“For them, but also for myself, though it no longer matters. Someone like me isn’t meant to be a hero. Which Legendary Sword would choose a murderer driven by jealousy? Which kind of people would follow a hero tainted by anger, envy, and resentment? Weiss is as radiant as the sun, I am the cold moon doomed to die at every dawn.”

“I don’t believe you are the villain you have convinced yourself to be, nor is that one born a hero. If you still wish to try, there is still time for you to see if Durendal has rejected you.”

“Even if it doesn’t choose me, I want my clan’s name to be cleared for sins pinned on us.”

Because of Schwartz coming to Lilium, the official ceremony for Weiss to become the next wielder was rushed and would be before he was of age. It was also to quell people’s anger, as their issues in their land had become unbearable to wear and a hero would bring peace to the people, as Weiss truly believed with all of his heart. To bring light to cast away the shadows, he would take his place as the hero.

Apologizing for what he had done, Schwartz asked his friends if they would accompany in a final quest. If he were to be fought and executed, so be it, and if he was never to become Durendal’s wielder, so be it, but at least, he would want to denounce the infamy his family had been accused of. He would accept his death if it at least meant the truth was finally known, and with it the Zantedeschia would be no more. He was surprised when everyone decided to go on with the journey, everyone knowing what kind of man he was, and wishing to support him one last time. Thus, Schwartz and his friends traveled to Lilium to set right what was wrong.

“I am Prince Schwartz Zantedeschia from the Araceae Kingdom and I have come to reclaim the innocence of my people, unjustly accused in the past of crimes they did not commit. If I have to fight the hero chosen by Durendal, so be it! But on this day, the truth shall be known!”

“I will not let you, Prince Schwartz,” Prince Weiss proclaimed. “The Zantedeschia have become the evil of this land, and will be purged once more. You even wanted to steal this holy blade, someone like you is unfit to be Durendal’s wielder.”

Prince Weiss fought Prince Schwartz, not letting him say anything else. And deeply wounded after so many battles, Prince Schwartz fell on his knee, the sign of his loss and imminent execution. With a heavy movement, Prince Weiss swung Durendal, only to find that it wouldn’t even touch one strand of Schwartz’s hair, falling to the ground and staying there unmoving no matter how hard Weiss tried to lift it.

For Durendal would never harm the wielder it had chosen.

Surprising everyone, Schwartz included, he found himself picking up the sword, glowing as beautifully as the sun, a sign it had picked his newfound hero. However, before anyone could rejoice, the flames of revolution stormed into place, as Schwartz and his friends had to flee Lilium.

~ ° ~

“And that’s when the first movie ends,” Ann chirped happily as Vil closed the script having finished reading it, “setting up the second one where Weiss goes batshit evil because he wasn’t the chosen hero as his land falls into shambles because of a revolution unfolding because the government was trash. Schwartz and his friends had to flee and embark on a journey to unfold a thousand year conspiracy and reveal the people behind the scenes of every tragedy. Burtiqali might or might not have to face the fact he kinda murdered Asfar’s dad and tried to set Asfar up but it blew up on him. Ai and Hai try to go back home, Violet has to reevaluate his relationship with Schwartz, tension between Vert and Scwhartz for the treason he committed, and Azure and Vermillion try to redeem themselves from their petty felonies while working as comic relief.”

Vil blinked for a moment before bursting out laughing for a couple of minutes. “A sequel, really? You even thought that far?”

“There are too many developments to fit in one movie. This isn’t a cash-grab sequel, it’s because the plot is too heavy to work in only one.”

“Pffft!” Vil couldn’t even stop himself from making that grin, between condescending and touched. “I didn’t know you had quite the imagination, I know you make a comic and you made your friends cry with it, but I didn’t expect a conspiracy for Legendary Sword. You truly never watched any of the films, the sword’s name is Excalibur by the way.”

“I knew the name, but Durendal fits better, duh. The meaning of Durendal’s name has been debated actually, but a common point is how it resists and endures. It was a sturdy sword, so of course it would endure, that is why it had to be the Legendary sword here.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow your obtuse logic, Ann.”

“If you’ve read as much as you claim to have, you will concede that former heroes weren’t good-natured people. It was a term given to those humans who defied all odds to achieve something impossible. In fact, many of them were terrible people struggling with vices. It was with time, especially modern times, that the word hero morphed into what we see, the pure-hearted paragon of goodness.”

“I almost poisoned Neige. How many heroes kill their rival in a fit of jealousy?”

“I like reading, and I realized the most valuable heroes weren’t the ones who never did wrong, but the ones who faced their own weaknesses and demons, and at their lowest, they could go on. You aren’t born a hero, you become one. Durendal chose Schwartz because he was willing to live on with his resentment and envy and help others. Durendal recognized Schwartz’s struggles and the time and effort he had spent all his life, trying to live up to his own morals. He saved people he encountered because it was the right thing to do, even if it was at odds with his goals. Would you call a villain someone who helps others out of the wishes of their heart?”

Vil opened his mouth to refute everything she had said, but Ann lifted a hand, a sign she wasn’t even done.

“You didn’t harm Neige in the end, and you overblotted because you regretted what you were going to do. You had a moment of weakness because you bottled it all in and because you are human. But your weakness doesn’t define your worth, it’s how you deal with your failures and faults what does. I told you, didn’t I? You are a hero, Vil. And I thought of making a story for the hero you deserved to represent.”

“…You depicted what happened during the VDC. That is no original story,” he mumbled, though he wasn’t mocking her. In fact, he was saying it to try to confront his own mixed feelings, at how she had turned his own struggles in a story of him being the hero. To be seen at his worst, yet being given this…

“It stops being based on that at the end, and there’s still the sequel, don’t forget. I haven’t finished it, but it can be a future birthday gift, right? I am a no-name person, but I’m giving it to you so you can give it to a director or a producer or a big shot and tell him ‘Hey, I got this great idea for a movie’. Obviously, you are Schwartz, the description was there so no one would get funny ideas of casting Neige.”

“You have no idea how these things work. No one will take me seriously if I hand them this.”

“Then arrange for someone to hand it to them then, duh.”

Vil chuckled. “Of course, I might follow your whims, if you behave well. Though I can’t say I hated this gift, you’d better improve your written action scenes next time.” There was no way he was giving this to Adella.

With a bright smile, not knowing that her gift would never reach the light of any studio, Ann excused herself, not before waving at him as she disappeared from the corridor. Vil himself reached his own room, carefully closed the door and threw himself on his bed. The script was carefully held between his arms, as he sighed.

“What a naïve girl, no one would make this film,” he said to no one, disappointed.

Vil knew how the industry worked. Such a story as the one depicted in this tale deviated too much from the norm to become a mainstream film and the budget needed was too large for an independent studio. Thus, only Vil would know of this story, the story of Schwartz Zantedeschia.

Even so, he held the script tightly against his heart, as he closed his eyelids to hide the tears forming in his eyes.

This has a lot of Author’s notes to make things more understandable.

Every character’s name is, as you might have guessed, based on a particular color. The color designation was depending on the origin of the fairy tale. Schwartz (Vil), Weiss (Neige) and Violett (Epel) got the German names for the colors black, white and violet, respectively. Vert (Rook) is the only exception, his name coming from French for green, this is to highlight that in the end he is a traitor of sorts to Schwartz.

Azure (Deuce) and Vermillion (Ace)’s original story hails from England, so they got variants of blue and red. Aladdin was written by a Syrian author, so Asfur (Kalim) and Burtiqali (Jamil) are the Arabic words for yellow and orange. I don’t know Arabic, so I am not sure if that’s the proper way you’d spell those words in the English alphabet, so if you find any mistakes, please let me know. Finally, while Ann comes originally from England, her character Ai and Hai (Grim) are in a way from Japan, so they are the Japanese words for indigo and gray.

Every character’s last name comes from a particular flower. Schwartz’s comes from Zantedeschia, or the calla lily. The calla lily can be found in a purple color so deep it might even look black. In spite of its name, it is not a true lily, hence it comes from the Zantedeschia genus and from the Araceae family. In the language of flowers, it represents beauty (hence ‘calla’, beautiful in Greek), purity, holiness, faithfulness, rebirth and resurrection. Funny though, the flower IS poisonous because of course Vil gets a poisonous flower. :^)

Meanwhile, Weiss’s Leiron is the Greek word people believe referred to the white Madonna lily, and his Kingdom’s name is Lilium, the Genus for the lily flowers. Lilies have different meanings, depending on the color. White ones represent virginity, purity and modesty, while yellow ones represent falsehood and gaiety and orange means hatred. It is used in funerals in the west and are actually poisonous as well.

The other kingdoms come from the family of the Roses (Heartslabyul people), Chrysanthemums (Ann and Grim), and Jasmine (Kalim and Jamil). Because the author of the story of Aladdin is from Syria, I picked the national flower from that country.

Also, it’s ok Vil, you can make it an anime, or you can blackmail Crowley for $$$ and make it your club’s pet project :^) Ehehehe

It was longer than expected, but I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading!

#twisted wonderland #vil schoenheit #twst oc #vil x mc #twst

13 notes · View notes

jddoesc25k · 5 years ago

Text

Grab a cuppa, it’s a loooong one! So, Saturday rolls around, week 1, run 3 and...

I woke up with ungodly ute’ cramps and really did not fancy moving my body much further than from bed to the sofa. After much curling up and refusing to acknowledge standing up was a possibility, I went downstairs, (it was morning! Just!). I had a big mug of tea, kindly prepared by Patrick, and a big slice of banana bread, kindly baked by me the day before. After a much needed sugar injection, I decided we should try to do our planned 3rd run of the week and we could turn back, or walk if we had to, and we got to it.

Well I don’t know if you know this but it was frigging frogging ROASTING on Saturday! The sun was blazing down as though it had forgotten what it was for right up until we stepped out the door. I was sweating before we got off the drive!

For some bizarre reason we decided to go the opposite way round our regular route than normal. The last time we did this was our first try at running...*cue flashback music and wobbly screen effects*

Two weeks last Wednesday, the 22nd April to the normal folk, I was speaking with my course tutor about how odd working in the lockdown is and he asked how often I was going out. I confessed I hadn’t really been out at all. Pat was doing the shopping, I’ve never been one for exercise, and we’d been lucky not to feel ill, so the relative safety of home was really the only place I’d been for weeks. He said that I should think about exercise to make sure I kept myself from going insane (a very real and present threat). He mentioned couch to 5k and that he used to run and I immediately dismissed it. Me? Run? Haha! I finished the call and went about the rest of my work day.

Anyway, the idea must have been percolating in my head, and I soon found myself on google maps looking for a 5k walk nearby. I fashioned a loop with a little detour in the middle to make it up to 5k and wondered what the first day of c25k would entail. “Ha!” I thought, ”I bet I couldn’t do it anyway.” So I had a little look at the website. I read some of the testimonials and the people there sounded just like me - couch potatoes! But these were potatoes turned runners claiming how simple they gradual build up was! Maybe I could do this? Nah! Surely not? I downloaded the app anyway and looked for my running shoes.

Well, they were nowhere to be found which was frustrating, (I’d just cleared the house top to bottom, and I hadn’t seen them, where were they????) and Pat wondered what all the fuss was about, it’s not like I go outside anyway! I told him about the app and asked him if he wanted to try it with me. He’d been thinking we should probably do some moving, that wasn’t directly between the kitchen and the tv so we got changed and set out (in converse, which was a poor idea!)

We chose Sarah Millican as our trainer and set off. After our 5min brisk warm up walk, she told us to start our 1min run, gentle she said, ease into it she said. So I went running off down the hill and even had the audacity to tell Pat to keep up. 🙈

I was okay with the first two, pushing myself and getting progressively more tired, and as I finished the third, puffing and panting and realised I was feeling sick! 🤢 We continued with our 90 second walk and as we started our 4th run, up an incline, I realised that I was not feeling any better. Actually, my vision was going blurry and I was getting dizzy. “Uh oh!” I thought, “Am I that unfit??”

I called a halt and got my breath back. Pat looked at me worried (and with a bit of laughter at the edges) and we agreed to just walk the rest of the way back home. We made it without further incident (other than shame). I was pretty shocked and upset about how unfit I was and my feet were killing me (note to self: you have weird feet, don’t run in converse!) I was super sweaty and felt dreadful and so I resolved to find a way forward. Any exercise is better than none right?

We took our underserved day’s rest, and with aching limbs set out for our next run after work on a FRIDAY! We had decided that we would try to get through 4 runs, make them more of a jog (as we were told!!) and space them out. We struggled through run 1, 3, 5 and 7 and even took a little bite out of 8. Feeling thoroughly accomplished (and thoroughly knackered!!) we planned the next run for Sunday - eugh!

We woke up on Sunday and wished we’d never heard of couch to 5k. Still, we didn’t want to have do it at the end of the day like Friday so we got up and out and had finished before 12. We did spend the rest of the day laying down haha! We managed 5 (and a bit) runs, and we were very proud of our progress. It was getting easier!

We had worked out that we could count this week as week -1 instead of week 1. We’d run 3, then 4, then 5 out of the 8 runs.

We could then count next week as week 0, we’d again be able to increase by 1 run each time. Running 6, then 7, then by the end of the week, the 8 runs!

The week after we could start afresh and be able to do the first “potato” run of couch to 5k! Only took a two week run up....

I’m not gonna explain week 0, I’ve already rambled enough, but your your viewing pleasure, here are our sweaty selfies!

Anyway, where was I? *wobbly screen and flashback music* Oh yes! We’re in the blazing sun, Saturday, with stomach cramps. We struggle in the heat and when we get to the 4th run, the one I failed on that first time, the one which starts us up a hill, we think we’re gonners. Our calves ache, our shins ache, we’re as sweaty as can be, but we push on to get to the glorious shade.

We keep going and beat the evil sun run and my tummy hurts less! A great day of laying down follows and my red face doesn’t subside, (sunburn in 40 mins?!?) but we are very proud of ourselves. Thank goodness we don’t have to run on Sunday again!! We attempted the first Monday morning run today for the start of week 2! Can’t believe we’re still doing this! Go us!!🏃‍♀️🏃

🦄💖JD 🏃‍♀️🤯

#couch25k #c25ktraining #c25k #ouchmylegs #sunshine #week1run3 #w1r3 #redface #sorrythere'snoTL;DR #runrunrun #longpost

2 notes · View notes

myheroaizawashota · 6 years ago

Text

[okay sorry these have taken me SO long to get into the grove of again, but have no fear! Why? Because I AM HERE! Also my tumblr draft box has taken a minor crap on its self and is for some reason coding things in HTML code when I go to write the request, so cute. We love that here! @gal-with-pastels Sorry it took so long but better late then never 😅😅]

Growing up with a quirk like yours was one of the most challenging things in the world. Aside from the fear you held for your own power, there was the constant torment and anguish that came along with your peers words as they taunted you for the villainous nature of you’re quirk. You never understood how a group of children could be so cruel, you never hurt anyone, nor did you plan to use this quirk for ill intent. You feared the power you held just as much as they did, and what people fear and don’t understand they tend to beat and exile. Growing up was hard, you learned a valuable lesson, it was easier to claim you were quirkless than to allow anyone else to ever know the power you held. While you always wanted to be a hero, you never accomplished the goal, who would want a hero like yourself anyway.

By the time you reached adulthood, the memories of your past seemed less familiar. Hardly anyone knew about the quirk you held, which played in your favor tremendously. While you never did become the hero you craved to be, you found other ways to help, and other ways to be close to that world. Taking a more behind the scenes route allowed you to mingle and meet all the hero’s you admired all through your younger years, and as chance had it, the love of your life. Never had you expected to meet such big league heros, though working at the top of the best hero agency in japan certainly helped with that. You could still remember the first time you were lucky enough to meet All Might. He was....everything the world pictured him to be and then some. He was charming and devilishly handsome with words that could make the muscles in your legs turn weak and gelatinous. That ever present smile of his could send your heart pounding a mile a minute whenever he casted it your way, blessing your day with it’s mere existence. It smacked you like a bag of bricks to the face when the number one pro hero admitted his feelings for you later down the road. Eventually the two of you dove head first in love, sharing little secrets and loving moments as your relationship progressed along. You’d even come to know the truth behind the muscles, the polar opposite of the well known symbol of peace. Though, through all the truths the two of you shared, you were never able to bring yourself to tell your lover about the curse that was your quirk. It was the only secret you kept from him, and it ate away at you.

As you walked along the dull lit streets of you’re neighborhood, arms threaded around one of Yagi’s, you couldn’t help but feel an ominous presence near by. Clinging yourself closer to your love, he couldn’t help but tilt his head, the proud smile he paraded around in fading to a look of confusion. “Abnormally clingy tonight darling?” He chuckled, the sound of his laughter spinning your fear into nothing but pleasant emotions.

You couldn’t help the smile that twitched across your lips, your eyes casted down as you tried to fight and ignore it. “I’m sorry Yagi, I’m just a little cold is all.” You couldn’t help the sigh that passed your lips. Truthfully, you were sighing at your own inability to be honest with the man. While he told you nothing but the truth throughout the years, all you ever did was with hold the truth from him and tell an endless series of white lies.

You were pulled from the self scolding lecture you’d been having with yourself in your head when you felt Toshinori’s thick muscular arm slither out from between both of yours. Confused, you watched as the overly inflated man you called you’re significant other began to unzip the jacket that hung tightly around his body, he draping the fabric around your shoulders. Leaning in he pressed a small kiss to the tip of your nose, his hallowesd eyes shining as they met with yours. “Well, were a few blocks from home, so hopefully this will help until we get there.”

You couldn’t help the guilt that riddled its way across your features as your hands tugged the jacket closer around your body. “A-actually it’s not just the chilly air bothering me Toshinori....I...can’t shake the feeling we’re being followed.” You whisper softly, moving closer to his side once more.

The edges of his lips twinged as he struggled to maintain his famous smile. He didn’t want to mention anything and freak you out, but he did as well sense the same dark presence that you did. Often nights he chose to walk the streets with you in his true form, but he was thankful when something inside his body told him to walk you home as All Might tonight. His massive palm moved to wrap around your hand, “everything will be fine, because I am her-“

Before he could finish the sentence however, a pair of unfamiliar arms wrapped tightly around your neck and head. You felt your chest tighten, as the dirt stained hands of the villain clasped over your mouth, his lips right at your ear as his eyes made contact with your lover. “Because what? You are here? Ha don’t make me laugh.” Forcefully, the villain tugged your body back, his eyes menacingly rolling your body over, tightening his hold on your neck as he grinned watching the smile began to fade off the pro hero’s face. “I almost didn’t recognize you walking around with such a pretty pet glued to your arm. I’ve got to admit All Might, i didn’t take you as the romantic type of guy.” The monster of a man laughed, he shaking you in his arms, causing your breathing to hitch for a moment. “Why don’t you and I play a little bit and maybe if you win I’ll let your little play thing go”

Toshinori was furious with how low this man would stoop just to get in some cheap shots as a way to boost his ego. Lips curling in disgust the pro hero agreed to the villains terms. “Let her go, and I will fight you.”

Your eyes shot with fear and panic watching as the horror before you unfolded. No, no! He couldn’t fight this villain, with your blood quirk you could feel the power the man restraining you held. Admittedly he was stronger than yagi was these days. Fighting with this man would certainly end his career if not his life! You frantically squirmed in the mans arms trying to warm the love of your life to disengage, but to your dismay all you got in return was a brave smile.

The man restraining your movements gave a low laugh, he uncovering your mouth to grab st your face, he squeezing your cheeks in on hand as he inspected you. “I think I’ll keep her for myself, nothing sounds better than kicking your ass and taking something away from you.” The villain purred moving to let his hands run over your body.

In defiance you let your leg extend out, meeting with your perpetrators shin, your snorting the snot from the back of your throat to lob into the others face. “Over my dead body!” You snapped back.

Growling the villain let his hands drop to your throat, constricting your air way furiously, his free hand moving to wipe your spit from his eyes. “I can arrange that!”

Struggling to breath you moved to pry his fingers off your throat, gasping as you failed. Your only relief was when Yagis fist collided with the mans face, causing him to drop your body to the pavement. You didn’t remember much else after that. The lack of oxygen to your brain was just enough to render you unconscious for the moment.

When you finally came to you, your brain felt hazy. You would have thought you were dreaming if it hadn’t been for the sight your eyes met with. You struggled to push yourself up on your elbows, eyes burning with tears when you saw your lovers body weakly struggling to hold himself upright. Clouds of smoke and steam began to rise from his shoulders, you knowing that he’d reached his limits. Horrified, you watched as the villain lunged to place the final blow onto yagi’s chin. You tried to scream out to stop the action, but your voice was to horse to scream. Doing the only thing you could do, for the first time in years you activated your quirk.

The pro hero had flinched in preparation to take the mans final blow, his heart pounding in his chest when the assailants body suddenly stopped in front of him. What was this about? The villain stood gasping as his body twisted in pain, he falling to his knees. With shaking hands, you clenched your first, causing the man under your hold to scream out in agony. “S-stop.....” you pushed out, earning the look of the bruised and bloodied hero.

You couldn’t tell if the look he was giving you was one of horror or one of disappointment, but regardless you couldn’t stand to make eye contact with him. Once the authorities arrived and the disaster was handled, you and toshinori continued your walk home in an awkward silence. You knew a lecture would be coming from the other, but you didn’t know when. Unable to hold his form any longer, the two of you made a detour into a nearby alley way. His muscles vanished and his body shriveled, a series of coughs ripples through his body. Those normally bright blue eyes that gazed at you with nothing but admiration suddenly staring back coldly. “I think you have some explaining to do Y/N....”

With a quivering lip, you looked down at the ground, moving to wrap an arm around your significant others torso, supporting his weight effortlessly. “I know....let’s get you home and cleaned up first. Then I promise I’ll tell you the truth. The whole truth....”

#aizawa shouta #aizawa x reader #my hero academia #toshinori x reader #toshinori yagi #hizashi x reader #yamada hizashi #bnha requests #eraserhead #bnha aizawa #all might x reader

110 notes · View notes

tidtrek2020 · 5 years ago

Text

My names Mary Tidbury, I’m 21 and I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Antiphospholipid Syndrome when I was 14 years old. I’ve written my story; I really hope you all read it. Thank you in advance.

On July 20th, 2012, my 14th birthday, I started to get bad pains when I breathed/ sneezed/ yawned/ laughed. I was away with my nan on one of her bowls holidays and I had a go at playing. On the final night of the holiday I started getting these pains when I breathed in and me being a young just turned 14 healthy child surrounded by all these older people who had aches and pains of their own, I bit my tongue and smiled my way through the night. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I’ve told my mum and dad about these pains at this point, so mums booked me a Drs appointment and dad has told me there’s nothing wrong I’ve just pulled a muscle from playing bowls. At this point the pain has increased I’m only taking short breathes, I learnt how to not sneeze, yawn and definitely not laugh. I went to the doctors and one of the first things they said to me was “it could be lupus, but then again you’re too young for that so we won’t test for it”. I would just like to point out in this moment that Lupus can affect anyone of any age. However, It mainly effects women of childbearing ages from 15+. I was one year younger than that age. Anyway carrying on, when I went to bed I had to find a comfy position so I could breathe normally and every night I would wake up and not be able to get comfy again so I’d wander the landing whimpering and crying about being in so much pain but not wanting to disturb anyone but also wanting everyone to wake up and take this pain seriously, I ended up having to sleep sitting up in a corner leaning against a pillow, it was the only way I could fall back asleep. Fast forward again a couple of months to end of October, I think I’d been tested for pretty much everything possible except for lupus. They finally after almost 4 months decided to scan my lungs. To which they found multiple blood clots on my lungs and it was extremely serious. It was then that they did the lupus test and found that I had SLE and APS. I would just like to say at this point I was only aware of the SLE. I was immediately referred to see a rheumatology Dr and the haematology Dr; I was but on Hydroxychloroquin by my rheumatology Dr and Warfarin and Fragmin injections by the haematology clinic. For a good few weeks I was making daily trips to the haematology clinic to check my INR it then turned to weekly when my INR was put in a range of 2-3 and I was taken off of the Fragmin injections. The clots had finally gone away and I was back to full health but left with an illness that no one knew about and so I felt very isolated and alone. I would play down the symptoms I was experiencing daily as no one around me knew what it was like to live with a chronic illness. So, it was a very lonely period of my life.

In between 2012 and 2015 I started to fully get symptoms of lupus. I started to get bad joint pain, the worst of this was when I woke up one morning before school and I couldn’t move cos my hip was in so much pain. This does still happen occasionally, but I just need to take pain killers and it can usually help.

Moving on to the end 2015, I’d left secondary school and I was working as a horticultural apprentice at a garden centre. I had been put onto Rivaoxyban in replacement of Warfarin. I started to get twitching movements in my right arm, I thought nothing of it at first I carried on with my life as usually over the next few months and into 2016 the movement I was getting in my right arm was worse than ever I had no control over it and my speech started slurring and my right leg had started moving involuntarily. I was signed off work and was undergoing tests left right and centre to try and figure out what was wrong with me, at first they thought it was a stroke so I was referred to a neurologist where I underwent numerous MRI scans and CAT scans but everything was coming back clear. I went back to my rheumatology Dr and was told that I had something called the Chorea movement. This is a flare up of lupus, I was put on Quetiapine which is an antipsychotic drug, and this suppressed the part of my brain that was telling my body parts to move and my speech to slur. By June 2016, I was back to full health and back working again and was taken off the Quetiapine.

In this time also I was having double vision with my eyes. We think it was part of the chorea and I went to plenty of eye Drs but nothing. I still occasionally feel the pressure of it on my eyes, but it did slowly fade away in the end. But I’m still not 100% sure what that was as it was never confirmed.

Moving on to 2017, now this next part I literally just don’t talk about because I find it very embarrassing but to be honest it was one of the scariest months of my life. In July I had been put on Sertraline, the Antidepressant. I was at a very low time in my life, and this was helping. Moving on to September of that year, being completely honest I also have PCOS (polycystic ovaries syndrome) so I never know when my periods are going to come, and I usually go 2 months between them. So basically, I started my first period since going onto Sertraline at the beginning of September. To cut a long story short, I bled for 4 weeks constantly and extremely heavily. I remember my mum and dad were away for the 1st 2 weeks and it was when my mum came back that I told her that I was worried because it just didn’t seem to be stopping, at this point I was very tired and had very little energy. A week later it was still going on but me and my mum had way before planned to go pick my brother Stanley up from Paris where he had spent a year as a cast member in Disneyland. 2 days before this trip I was sent home from work as I just wasn’t ok and my manager (who is luckily my bestie Lucy) saw this. However, this didn’t stop me from going on this trip with my mum.

On Thursday 28th September me and mum travelled to Paris by car I pretty much slept the whole way, we got there late at night, so I basically just got out the car and then got into bed at the hotel and slept the whole night through. The next morning me and mum went off to spend the day at Disneyland Paris as Stanley could get us in for free, we went to Hollywood Studios where Stanley was and when he was on his break we went to queue to go on Crush’s Costa, we went through the backstage area and as we were 3rd in line I suddenly became really sick and dizzy. I turned to Stanley and I think I just looked at him ran back the way we came and threw up in the backstage area and went back outside to meet my mum. It was this moment I knew I seriously wasn’t ok. We carried on though and we stayed there for the entire day, I ended up in a wheelchair and I only went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride but all in all I still had a really great day being surrounded by the Disney magic. I can’t really remember the next day I had very little energy left and just know that we went shopping and I got the cosiest trackies and slippers.

On the Sunday we came back home. I have flashes of what happened in this journey and my mum has always told me it was the longest and scariest journey. We had to make a detour on our way home to drop Stanley off at Warwick where He was starting Uni, I remember just sleeping the entire way. I literally had no energy I was so tired and felt so ill. I remember having to get out of the car so that they could unpack all of Stanley’s stuff but then I carried on sleeping. I vaguely remember waking up when it was just me and mum in the car and saying, “don’t take me to A&E, just take me home I’ll just sleep it off”.

Next thing I know we’re at the JR, mums telling me to get out the car and go book myself in she’s just going to park. I didn’t make it to the reception, mum ended up finding me in the ladies bathroom. I can’t remember how long I was waiting in A&E for, but I remember just wanting to lay down and sleep. They kept on taking me into rooms and getting me to lie on the bed so they could review me and then send me back out to sit on the chairs back in the waiting room. The 3rd time they did this I remember just thinking fuck off and let me sleep, I closed my eyes and he was like ‘ok you can stay there’.

That night I was admitted to hospital and proceeded to have 2 blood transfusions, they immediately stopped my blood thinners and was taken off of Sertraline as they believed that this had interacted with the Rivaroxyban and caused this to happen. I was in there for around a weeks’ time until I started to feel a bit livelier. It took me around 3 weeks to fully recover. I was now completely off the Sertraline and they changed my blood thinners to Apixaban.

I’ve never said this to anyone, but this scarred me really badly and still does to this day. The fear I have whenever my period comes around and is really heavy. It stops me from doing anything, I panic constantly and for the week it goes on for my anxiety is sky high. I panic if it goes on for a little too long or if it doesn’t look to be slowing down. I remember the time I was literally knocking on deaths door and makes me really emotional every time I think about it.

On the 3rd January 2018, I was at work which at the time was in a restaurant so lots and lots of walking around and long hours. I was half way through a 12 hour shift just finished my lunch break and went back to work when I suddenly started to get cramp in my calf on my left leg, it would build up after I’d walked a while and I’d ignore it and it would eventually become unbearable and I had to stop what I was doing and wait for it to go.

This went on for 2 weeks before I was adamant that something was not right and I believed it was a blood clot, I’d had a previous clot, so I knew what it felt like. My mum took me to minor injuries in Abingdon and they refused to review me because I wasn’t injured. They booked me an emergency appointment with my GP, and we went straight there, I went in and I said to them I think I have a blood clot in my leg. They asked me several questions and did a Doppler test on my ankles to test if they could hear my pulse. They could. The Dr turned to me and said you haven’t got a blood clot we can hear your pulse fine; you’ve probably just got a sprain and should be fine in 8 weeks’ time. 8 weeks come and go and I’m still in absolute agony when I walk, I’ve been diagnosed with social anxiety anyway so social situations become non-existent because I became so terrified of having to tell people I needed to slow down or stop completely that I didn’t got out. I carried on working and bit my tongue and got on with it because that’s what you got to do! I went back to the Drs after 8 weeks as I was still getting cramp when I walked a short distance. I go through a Doppler test and they are now struggling to find my pulse in my left ankle. A week later I get a call from the Dr to say that they are referring me to the Vascular unit at the John Radcliffe. My appointment was booked for the 18th April but was cancelled and they had scheduled a new appointment in May. I couldn’t make this appointment as me and my eldest brother Will were going away for a month from the 10th May - 10th June to travel round Europe. I tried to get an earlier appointment so that I could be well for the trip, but this didn’t happen. The week before we went away, I went out for dinner with my parents and when I came home, I started to get a dead right leg and after about 20 minutes it finally went away. The next day at work I found that I was no longer getting cramp in my left leg, but I was getting it on my right. I carried on as I would as I was going to see a specialist after I got back. This trip was the best month of my life and despite being in agony I took plenty of codeine and powered through. I think this was the first time I didn’t let Lupus/APS flare up win (at the time I didn’t know it was a lupus thing but still) but usually I hole myself up and become very depressed (even more so than usual). But this time I was outside every single day and night and getting fresh air constantly. I got back on the 10th June and my appointment wasn’t scheduled until the 18th. Me and my sister Annie went to see Ed Sheeran at Wembley stadium on the 15th, coming out of that show I think it was the first time in the 6 months I’d been experiencing this pain that my sister actually realised how much agony I was in. We were walking back to the station I was powering through and pretending I was fine and speed walking; I just couldn’t do it I was on the verge of bursting into tears and sobbing and Annie looked over at me and she made us stop.

At my appointment with the consultant on the 18th he performed more Doppler tests and he came to the conclusion that I didn’t have a blood clot everything felt and sounded fine. He was going to set up a scan for me just so they could look at my veins and arteries, but he was 100% positive that the scan results would come back clear...

Fast forward to the 10th July, 3 days before I was due to have the scan me and my brother Stanley were going into Abingdon to do some shopping, we’d parked on the 3rd floor of the multi-storey car park. We got back to my car after walking up 3 flights of stairs and my right leg was fully cramped up, I sat in the car and said to my brother that we’re going to have to wait I need to let my leg to stop cramping. A couple of minutes turned to 5 and it still wasn’t going if anything it was getting worse. I’d gotten out the car tried walking it off, taken my shoe off but none of this worked, I was in complete agony I turned to Stanley and told him he would need to drive us home. I remember sitting in the passenger seat of the car with my eyes scrunched shut because I could feel tears coming but I just breathed through it, we finally got home and I hopped over to the sofa and as soon as I sat down I lead there and just remember letting out a huge wail of a cry and continued to cry my eyes out. I was in so much pain Stanley called my mum and dad and they came home from work. I remember thinking I can’t see an end to this pain, I was so scared, and I was even begging everyone to just make it stop. I was vomiting because of how much pain I was in.

The only way I can describe this pain is imagine getting cramp in your calf muscle, and imagine it not going and getting more and more painful, that’s what it was like.

My mum had rung 999 and an ambulance was on their way. They finally got there, and they ran some tests on me and took me away to the hospital. I can’t remember how long I was waiting in A&E before a Dr saw me but I know before they did I had a cat scan of my legs, I was wheeled into a room where the on call vascular Dr told me I had 3 clots in the arteries in my legs. One on my right groin, one behind my right knee and one on my left groin. I was being admitted to hospital and needed emergency surgery to take the one out of my right groin. The next morning, I was first on the table. My mum was stuck in traffic trying to get to the hospital and I was sat in my room with all these Drs and nurses coming in drawing on my leg about what they need to do. I remember being absolutely terrified that I wouldn’t wake up and that I’d die without telling my family how much I love them. This without a doubt was the most terrifying hour of my life. Not even 5 minutes before they take me down my mum walks through the door and although I was terrified of what was to come, I’ve never felt so much relief.

The surgery luckily went really well. Later, that day they do a few more scans on me so they can figure out where these clots have started. They did an echocardiogram on my heart and saw something there but couldn’t get a good look at it, so they decided to look at it with a camera. I was heavily sedated so I would fall asleep and they could stick a camera down my throat. Knowing my luck of course the meds wore off 5 minutes to quickly and I woke up whilst they still had the camera down my throat. I was a very panicked experience and I think my throat was cut up for about a week afterwards.

As a result of this scan they found a massive clot on my heart. At this point I was having infusions of heparin and was back on warfarin. Trying to get these clots gone.

I was in hospital for 16 days, one of which was my 20th Birthday. I spent 6 days in the vascular ward and 10 days in the heart centre before I was finally given the all clear to leave. This isn’t where this story ends though, I was still getting cramp in my right leg so In January 2019 I had minor surgery under local anaesthetic to sort out a narrowing in my artery behind my knee. I’ve also been left with scarring on my heart from the blood clot and will need to have my aortic valve replaced at some point in my life.

Once my right leg was sorted and the cramp was no more, I realised that my left leg still was cramping up. I went for more scans and it was confirmed I needed major surgery again to remove the last clot.

I went in on the 6th of November 2019 and was out by the 8th. Surgery went very well, I also can’t thank the nurse who was on every night I was there enough for how much she got me through, I was very distressed for the time I was there, and she was an absolute godsend to me!

I had a very tricky recovery from this op I was signed off for 2 months in total as my wound became infected.

I’m now happy to say that I’m fully recovered and in no pain.

I just want to say I know there are a lot of people who are worse off than me but this is my story and it’s fucking shit and has left me both mentally and physically scarred. The last 8 years have been incredibly hard but I’ve hopefully come out the other end of it now, but I still find the memories painful and writing this has left me in tears as for some stupid reason I feel like I’m attention seeking when I talk about all this stuff and I’m really panicking about putting this out there.

Anyway, thank you for reading...

Peace out ✌🏼

https://www.lupusuk.org.uk/

https://www.mind.org.uk/

https://www.aps-support.org.uk/

2 notes · View notes

vermilionskiinmorning · 6 years ago

Text

Man Crush May

Prompt: @geekandbooknerd ‘s Man Crush May #8 “I still remember the way you taste.”

Fandom: The Last Kingdom

Pairing: Finan/Reader

Words: 1340

||Masterlist||

Tag: @oddsnendsfanfics, @bobbibirdofafeather, @inforapound, @medievalfangirl, @bookworm925

A/N: let me know if you want to be removed from or added to my ‘Finan’ tag list. I just added a few of you I noticed liked my previous Finan stuff :) Also yes I know Steapa is a former slave, but for the purposes of this fic we’ll say that being such an important warrior in Alfred’s army gave the king cause to raise his immediate family high in station.

Avoiding someone you used to spend inordinate amounts of time thinking about or being with is a challenging feat to say the least. Well the thinking about them part is anyway. Because when they’re constantly travelling at the will of their Lord avoiding them is a doable task at least. Yet then there’s the issue of keeping them out of your head isn’t there? You’d been doing the best you could on that front which was no easy task after the evening you’d shared. However, blessedly the last two times Lord Uhtred had been in Wincaester you’d managed to avoid not only the object of your own torture but, the Lord himself. And without suspicion as to what you were doing which in itself was a victory considering your position at court. Your brother, Steapa, had of course dropped the hint that you’d been missed by a few of the other girls at court, but feigning illness had easily taken care of that.

Those times there had been warning to the arrival of Lord Uhtred and his men. This time there hadn’t been. You’d been doing so well too. Pity. Yet there you stood with King Alfred, the Lady Aleswith, Atheling Edward , and your brother to greet the visitors. Steapa hadn’t mentioned who would be arriving, but you’d assumed it must’ve been someone important so you’d dressed in one of your finest gowns that morning. However, the sight of three horses walking up to the palace with Lord Uhtred at point made your stomach sink.

Oh no...

Flanking him, as usual, was Sihtric the Dane and Finan the Agile. You swallowed drily at the sight of him. Agile was one word to describe him, but not the chief amongst the myriad you could think of. Suddenly your palms were sweating and you deeply wished to sink into the packed dirt beneath your feet.

The greetings exchanged between the new arrivals and your companions fell on deaf ears, as all you could focus on was the sound of your own heart beat and the warmth about your neck and ears. When it came your turn to offer greeting you managed a curtsy and a smile for the Lord, but could not speak. It did not seem anyone noticed and you were able to quietly follow inside. Everyone was invited to take the afternoon meal in the great hall. You managed to excuse yourself with a quiet request to pray. Despite the arched eyebrow of Steapa, the King was not one to begrudge such a request and granted you leave. Alfred was after all so very pious.

After a brief pause to steel yourself, you headed off, but not to the chapel. Instead you went to your room and flung yourself down upon your bed. What were they doing here? There’d been no warning of their visit and so you hadn’t been able to fabricate a distraction for yourself. Now the only thing you could see in your mind’s eye was the dark chocolate pools of Finan’s eyes. Your mouth felt dry. The feeling of his whiskers tickling your neck as he’d kissed it and the roughness of his hands. It was certainly for the best to have excused yourself from the meal. You didn’t think you could eat a thing with the thoughts currently on your mind -thoughts of that evening.

Meanwhile unknown to you, Finan had excused himself from the meal to ‘take a piss’. He took care of his business, but did not return to the great hall when he’d finished. Instead he went to take a detour at the chapel only to find you were not there. For a moment or two Finan stood there in the chapel looking up at the tall statue of Mary the virgin thoughtfully. He knelt down at one of the kneeler and clasped his hands together.

“Mother Mary, please forgive me for the sins I’ve committed and those I have yet to commit.”

He stayed there for a moment longer of silence before gathering himself up and leaving the chapel. It did not take Finan long to navigate himself to your chambers. When he arrived he quietly opened the door and slipped inside. You had fallen asleep fully dressed and on top of the blankets. Finan paused at the door to be sure the sound of it had not woken you. After he was sure you still slept soundly, Finan proceeded into the room and took a seat at the edge of your bed.

It was just a tickle, but it was enough to rouse you from you sleep as it travelled slowly up your calf. You didn’t wake fully. At first you tried shifting your leg in your half sleep to rid yourself of the sensation. It stopped, but only momentarily before it returned then at your lower back. You grumbled softly and tried turning onto your side. It seemed to do the trick. Though just as you were about to fall back to sleep, whiskers tickled your neck, a warm breath at your ear, and then a soft nip on your earlobe. You yelped in surprise, but a familiar calloused hand covered your mouth.

“Shhh shhhh, darlin’ ye wouldn’ wanna alert the guards would ye?”

The hand moved from your mouth, then he was right behind you, his body was pressed against your’s. He must’ve been propped up on his elbow to hover just over you like he did. Also he must’ve known you were struck by surprise hardly knowing what to say to him, because he began pressing soft kisses to your neck. You gasped, but it was a softer more pleasurable sound.

“What are you doing here?” you hissed.

No response -just more kisses, a soft purr of pleasure, and his hand gripping your hip. You bit the inside of your lip. He had to stop. What if you were found? The Lady Aleswith or any of her ladies could come to fetch you at anytime. Or worse yet, it could be your brother Steapa who came to fetch you. Finan was a good warrior though and he was undoubtedly much more clever than Steapa. And of course he hadn’t cared for being caught before though so why should he now? You exhaled a soft moan as he reached the spot just barely the back of your neck where it met with your shoulder.

“I can still remember...the way you taste. Your skin, your lips,” he whispered.

“Finan.” It was meant to sound reprimanding, but it was far too breathy -a gasp really.

“Love the way ya say me name.” His tongue danced teasingly over your burning skin. A balm to the fire he stoked with the same care he soothed it. Finan’s fingers dug into your hip. He pulled you more fully against him.

“Finan!” You said, this time with more conviction. The shockwave of desire that had run through your body at the feeling of him, all of him, pressing against you had spooked you. You managed to force yourself to scramble away only just. Sitting across from him, your face flush with an even mixture of desire and embarrassment you didn’t know what to do.

He arched his eyebrow at you a sly little grin playing at his lips. “Yes m’lady?”

“I- we- No. We can’t.”

“And why not?”

“You know why.”

His grin wavered only slightly. Finan’s hand moved across the bed to rest on your knee where he began to rub a soothing circle with his thumb. One brow went up questioningly.

“S’tha is why ye’ve been avoidin me? Because we can’t. Because ye fear I’d jus use ye and leave ye after?”

His tone was blunt but not accusatory.

“Finan the Philanderer.”

His grin was gone then, lips pressed together in a firm line.

“A nasty rumor. Started by a tavern wench.” He shifted himself into a seated position across from, but rather close to you. Finan cupped your cheek. “I’ve not lost my taste for ye despite yer avoiding me.”

#man crush may #tlk #the last kingdom #the last kingdom fic #tlk fic #finan #finan fic #fanfic #fic

34 notes · View notes

luke-got-me-feeling-hemmotional · 7 years ago

Text

Paps Catch A Cute Moment (Preference #6)

Luke

Your relationship with Luke has always been private, there’s like 3 pictures of you in total in 3 years. One is at a friend’s party and it’s a group picture with 20+ people and Luke’s arm is wrapped around your waist, the other is in the background of one of Luke’s friends picture and you’re holding hands, and the final is from one of Ashton’s snapchats before the show, where you’re both laying on a couch, and you’re half laying on him, with your cheek pressed against his chest, and his arm around you, but that was in the background when him and Calum were messing around.

They’ve all been low quality so people don’t really know who you are. Luke kinda shelters you from the public eye, and so far it’s worked pretty well, he doesn’t do it for any unkind reasons, he just couldn’t bare the thought of someone sending you hate because of him.

The fans kind of know that he’s off the market, but they always think that you broke up because there’s no pictures or any evidence at all of you both. It’s been nearly a year since the last picture of you together surfaced, although when fans do see the pictures of you guys, they say that you’re cute together. So with that being said, being private and all that, when a high quality picture of you and Luke surfaced, people went mad.

You and Luke were on your way home from having dinner with your family, you’d decided to walk home that night because it wasn’t too far away and it was in the middle of summer, but at some point you managed to take a detour and ended up near the beach in time for the sunset. You both took some pictures for memory sakes, and for his instagam, as Luke stopped taking pictures, you were looking through your camera roll, seeing how they turned out, and Luke leaned against the sort of bridge thing you were on, watching you tap at your phone a bit.

As he looked at you, he saw how pretty you looked in this light, he wondered to himself how on earth he managed to get someone like you, and he honestly thought you lookes like an angel at that point.

You felt his gaze on you, so you looked up and asked what he was looking at with a small chuckle, he just had a boyish grin on his face and mumbled something along the lines of just you. Luke took your hand and pulled you towards him so you stood in between in legs, and wrapped his arms around your waist, and buried his face into your collar bones. You brought your hand up to scratch the back of his head, giggling and asked why he’s being so weird. He placed a kiss on your chest, and then pulled away from you but keeping his arms around you, he replied with saying that you looked really pretty, which made you laugh, and that made him smile.

It was at this moment a sneaky pap took the picture, a picture full of laughter, love, and happiness. Neither of you noticed as you were too caught up in each other, nothing else existed besides you and him.

Then in the next couple days, it was everywhere. Luke was a little upset that that special moment wasn’t actually just the two of you, but when he saw the fans reactions he couldn’t help but smile at the amount of adoration people had for you two.

Michael

You’re the life of the party, always making people laugh and something has to be seriously wrong if someone is around you and they’re not laughing, so it’s not a surprise when Michael is laughing around you. Michael is a pretty playful person and I don’t doubt for a second that he wouldn’t transfer that into his relationship, and that’s why you two go so well together.

That being said, there’s never been any serious or cute relationships pictures, it’s always teasing and messing around. The closest thing to a serious picture between you was for your birthday and it was a selfie you both took when visiting your family with a fairly cute caption but of course he didn’t miss the opportunity to tease you. That was ages ago and that’s the one and only serious post. Sure behind closed doors you’re cute sometimes, but honestly he’s your best friend that you just so happen to kiss.

You and Michael were for your Uber, recently you’d been ill so Michael wanted to keep you as warm as possible, so he wrapped your arms around his waist inside his jacket so you’d be warm, and put his arms around you on top of that as you leaned against his chest. You’d told him something funny which made him laugh, and then he pressed a light kiss to your forehead with a smile.

It was at this moment that a sneaky pap took a picture, but you didn’t notice because a couple seconds later your Uber arrived and you held hands as you entered the warm vehicle, escaping the cold.

Days later when you were starting to recover, the picture was plastered everywhere, but you didn’t know that until Michael came into the kitchen, showing you his phone. You just laughed and through a piece of broccoli at him, making him catch it then fake gag when he sees what it is, and you roll your eyes with a laugh.

Later that night, after dinner, and you were changing into something more comfortable upstairs, Michael was reading through some of the comments with a smile, feeling his heart warm up from how much the fans love this side of your relationship. Michael screenshots the picture, and starts writing a tweet with the caption: sometimes we can be cute

Calum

It was finally the day you saw your boyfriend again after 5 months, you’ve been waiting for it the second he walked away 5 months ago. You’d been been so busy writing your new album that there’s not been any time to visit him or anything, so you’ve been stuck seeing him on Facetime instead of in the flesh.

Having a long distance relationship sucks sometimes, it causes tension between the two of you, you’re not able to just give him a hug after a long day at the studio, and there’s a hole in your heart everytime either of you leave; but, it does make the time you do have together a lot more special.

Like now, you’ve got this rush in your veins, and you’re so excited it’s a unique feeling you’ve grown accustomed to for a while now. It’s been a long 5 months but you find that it’s usually worth it in the end. You’ve just arrived at the airport, a little later than you said you would be because you slept through your first alarm but by the looks of it you haven’t missed anything. It’s something stupid like 3 AM, so you’re surrounded by zombie like people, but it’ll be worth it when you see him. Meeting up with the few people who are also waiting for the boys, you spark some conversation, trying to make the time go by quicker.

Soon enough a new bunch of people emerge and you manage to spot Luke, making your heart rate pick up. Suddenly Calum became visible and an even bigger smile makes it’s way onto your face. You manage to make eye contact, and you see a huge grin make an appearance which is rare for him at this time of day.

Once there’s a lot less distance between you, you don’t hesitate to rush over to him. He drops his bags, opening his arms wide, catching you in his grip, feeling you wrap your legs around his waist. Calum buries his face into your neck as he has his arms around your waist. “I’ve missed you so much.” He says.

“It’s been so hard without you.” You tell him honestly, wiping the few tears that have fallen.

“We’re together again now, baby.” He grins.

You smile back then connect your lips with him after 5 long months of withdrawals. This was the exact moment a paparazzi got a lucky shot, you having your first kiss after a long time, limbs wrapped around each other, and smiles through the kiss. It took quite a while for the picture to surface, but once it did people started going mad. Your relationship with Calum is kinda on the down low, it is public, but you’re not in everyone’s faces all the time, there’s this barrier of privacy that you both like.

Neither of you were mad about it, you deal with the paps quite often, so you’re nearly used to those surprised shots appearing every now and then, but it was little annoying that your special moment was plastered everywhere.

Ashton

You’d just gotten off set from a long day of shooting for your new film, and all you wanted to do for the rest of the night was chill with friends and eat.

A couple hours ago you texted your boyfriend of a year and a half Ashton, his band, and a couple of people from both of your friend group if they wanted to meet up for dinner. Since then you’ve not stopped thinking about dinner, as the food on set is more snack-y style food.

“Baby!” Ashton grins when you approach the group.

“Look who finally decided to show up.” Michael teased.

“I’m sorry, there were some technical issues and everyone got held up.” You explain, as Ashton pulls you onto his lap, giving you a quick kiss, making you smile.

“How’s it going so far?” Luke asks.

“Alright actually, nearly finished, just one month of filming before it’s finished.” You answer as Ashton wraps his arms around your waist, making you lean back into him. “How was the studio?” You ask, playing with Ashton’s fingers.

“Pretty good, we finally got the lyrics we’d been struggling with the past couple days, and Ashton came up with a really good drum solo that fits into the song perfectly.” Calum nods.

“Is that the one I heard you playing last night at you place?” You question Ashton.

“Yeah, did you like it?” He raises an eyebrow.

“It sounded really good, babe.” You smile making him smile as you hear everyone begin to argue about what’s best on the menu.

“Thanks.” He gives you a chaste kiss. “I missed you today.” He pouts.

“You did?” You ask, playing with the hair at the back of his head.

“Mhmm.” He hums. “Couldn’t wait to see you.” He says.

“You’re ridiculously sweet.” You grin, planting a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“Only for you.” He grins back.

This was the exact moment the picture was taken, both with smiles, lips touching as you spoke, and arms wrapped around each other. Although you’ve been together for over a year, you still haven’t gone public with your relationship, people think you’re just friends.

So naturally, fans freaked out. Mixed opinions, majority of them are positive but some are sceptical because you work in different worlds. Which was a worry when you first started dating, but as your relationship went on, you realized that your love for each other was too strong for something like that to split you apart.

As Ashton read people’s opinions and articles over the next few days, he couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto his face because of the kind words people had said about you.

274 notes · View notes

kosmicdream · 7 years ago

Text

Flight or Fight Drawing mode

for me, i think there’s always this restless feeling that comes when working on comics. That feeling that time is running out or not being utilized to its fullest degree. You are aware of how much more there is to go in your story and can calculate the progression of your journey, but only the present. As you keep going on your story, the circumstances change, and it is always this fluid process you cannot fully accommodate and plan for.

I know in the few years since I started drawing FFAK my expectation for myself and my work has changed tremendously. Its something i reflect on a lot, since i forget how not too long ago, I felt like i was somewhat incapable of producing a comic because of the way i enjoy to write and explore stories. I still think fundamentally, FFAK reflects that raw unedited version of my writing and creative skills in a unique way that I doubt will be replicated again (in the same manner) even as i explore and work on other stories. FFAK just carries this certain kind of momentum of forwards and backwards both at once. You stretch all over the place and peek through small doors to go in strange places. Growth is difficult to gauge because of the way time is handled in the story. Goal points seem endless and bleed together from my perspective. There’s always so much more to go and so much planned that when you make accomplishments they feel sort of like a bunch of tiny small steps in many different directions. And honestly, No one is more impatient than i when it comes to waiting to share this story than me. I am always biting my nails and wanting to get it out faster SOMEHOW even though I work on it constantly as it is. FFAK is no longer just.. a random comic idea i started on a whim that I felt i would only dip my toes in and never actually attempt making. and now it really has consumed my mind like a wildfire. it is also my fireplace and my home in my heart and my peace. I don’t even think I could ever fully be prepared for and handle such a thing but I am glad to have it in my life. But as the haze.. shock? of starting this project starts to fade i find myself fully committed and trying to evaluate the steps and process i take for this comic as a whole. I think its interesting how 2ish years of planning basically gives me enough time to know what sort of story I’m doing. But I am in no eager rush to finish it because my excitement for it only grows and feels more satisfying the more i write and plan. Part of me gets upset I don’t blast pages out the “same” way anymore, even though i appreciate the exploration of ‘putting more effort’ into my drawings. Instead of drawing thru 20 pages a night I’m polishing like, 2.. or 4 a work night. Its kind of annoying!! because I’m not really one for polish and editing (or maybe I just never believed myself capable of doing it in a way i liked? lol) but.. it just feels like the right thing to do right now. it feels almost impossible to ‘rewind’ myself or go back to like, thinking things in a different way than what i try to do now. by attempting more things visually it kind of makes some things easier too. im often pretty surprised like “hey alright that came out ok. i guess i can push myself a little bit more next time to make it look better!!” I think about my early eggshells pages a lot and how i labored over like.. 15 pages over an entire year and felt miserable and in the end, often over rendered + lost clarity and energy and now i just get what i was doing ‘wrong’ to make it not fun for myself. Like, even when i was offered advice at the time I wasnt so welcome to it nor did i understand it, its like I had to suffer a bit before I was able to understand what I needed to do with myself lol. The lesson feels much more impactful after discovering it for myself too on my own pace imo. SO i am thankful for how that turned out! Then i broke down my art to its most base level (earliest ffak pages) and i’ve just been rebuilding myself back up since then and now I’m attempting things I didn’t even think I’d be able to do -- or be interested in. (like color, for example, has never been something I was too interested including with my comics but like.. blammo here i am doing it anyway now.) anyway. its really cool, this art journey thing. i kinda wonder how long ill coast on this certain part of it before i like, end up doing an unexpected detour again. Maybe I won’t..? i dont know!! FFAK is so raw and alive it makes me happy i get to make it and do whatever i want in it. I always wanted to make a comic that I could contribute to on a day to day basis rather than something you just make so you can get it done asap and move onto the next thing. When ffak does eventually finish I wonder if it will be really hard on me. I look forward to its ending because its really neat but it is not a world I want to let go of so quickly. Even tho i have several other stories I’d like to do.. (and have started a couple already LMAO) I think about that expectation with ending stories a lot and completing projects. Most of my very favorite comics have yet to end despite going on for decades.. and when i think about that too, it almost feels very strange. Readers generally want closure to reflect on their experiences reading something so endings are that important ‘release’ from that fake world and time you participated in it. But when i ask myself what I want to do for endings to my story, i try to contemplate my favorite endings to stories ive read/watched/experienced to figure out what i want to do with my own. Since.. its my story and my satisfaction with it is really going to be reflective of what I like. Everyone interpretes ‘good’ endings differently and like, clings into diff parts of what makes a satisfying story so its important to isolate what elements you find are important to try to replicate that in your own work. But like.. its hard to see what kind of ending you’re going to make before you make it???? And making the story is a difficult thing to let go of vrs just being funneled all the stuff. Maybe my ‘ffak reader’ half of me will be satisfied but will my ‘ffak creator’ side be happy? Will i feel fufilled on both parts? I mean an experience is going to just be an experience.. i cannot manufacture or control it to be anything than what it will be so to think about it too much is probably only going to go in circles. It certainly has changed me a lot as a person and an artist. WHich is disorienting b/c im also introducing my work to everyone while not also knowing myself completely. (not that is ever fully achievable but, its been something i get forced to confront a lot.) When I work on this project I fight so many demons of my own life, chase ghosts of my heros that i feel are so beyond my ability, and stare down the illusion of my own reflection of what kind of artist i want to be every time i draw a new page.. I’m never going to really be that reflection, and my heros will always be my heros and they’ll always do things I cannot, but I wonder what kind of creator I look like from the outside?? from a person who isnt me. I cannot experience myself as a ‘reader’ but I try to pretend I am seeing myself as one. And the most exciting thing about myself, from that outside perspective, is that I am not sure what I will attempt next or what strange journey i will write about. I am happy that despite every difficult thing I have been through, I am still excited and having fun with my art like I have only just first attempted to draw. Soon FFAK will be three years old and (likely) 4000 pages by then.. I still havent gotten to write and draw out things I planned the very first day, but now I know roughly how the story will end (without actually getting to draw it yet, of course.) And i’m just anticipating the future while knowing that...i have no idea what it will bring!!! O_O (one thing is for certain i hope to fuck my house doesnt burn down again because, istg, that fucking SUCKED!!!!!!!!) Wooh.. well. i just felt like sharing some thoughts since i just got done re-reading some of ffak and feel a bit overwhelmed with emotion.. Thank you all for sticking around and experiencing this comic with me..! :’3 -kosmic

#personal #just some ART THOUGHTS #of ART THINGS #ffak misc #art stuff

26 notes · View notes

roraewrites · 8 years ago

Text

eight - damaged

Glass Heart Rating: M And he was in the darkness, so darkness he became.

previous | next

Sasuke remained to himself the entire way through the rocky lands and once they reached The Land of Wind, he felt his throat constrict when Sakura stopped suddenly.

Their group had been traveling for two days straight now, each person conversing among themselves except for Sakura. She had been quiet since they left the hideout, and now that Sasuke actually looked at her, he could see the bags underneath her eyes and the pale shade that enveloped her skin. Jade green eyes blinked slowly while her body began to slump over. Her rose quartz tresses looked dried out and tangled unlike every other day that they had traveled.

Juugo, Suigetsu and Karin didn't notice the slight changes in Sakura's every day look, but Sasuke's eyes noticed everything.

When the others kept moving, Sasuke took it upon himself to slow their pace and regroup. Sakura looked almost drained of all the energy that she could muster up, and just as the group stopped, she began to transcend towards the ground.

Sasuke already felt his body moving, but it wasn't his arms that she landed in. The swift movement and a flash of red beat him to the collapsing body, and it was Karin who held Sakura securely.

"When was the last time she ate or had a drink of water?" Karin's voice was in a serious tone, and the glare that she shot Sasuke told him enough about the situation.

"Uh, not sure," Suigetsu answered, and when Sasuke thought about it, he wasn't quite sure either.

Karin clicked her tongue before pulling Sakura's body up, the pinkette's head resting lightly on her shoulder. The look in Karin's ruby eyes looked serious enough to inform Sasuke that the start of their trip was already resulting with a rocky patch.

"We don't have time for this," Sasuke mumbled to himself, but before he could finish his thoughts, it was apparent that the red head had heard him.

"You know what?" Karin readjusted Sakura's body so that the pink haired female was resting firmly on top of Karin's back. "You look at her with eyes that are sincere, yet when it comes to her health, you're more concerned about yourself. She's ill, and you're acting selfish."

Sasuke felt his eyes narrow at the red head, but she had hit him with a mouth full of truth. He could kill her, right here, right now if it wasn't for Sakura perched on her back. He felt it was time to stop somewhere and get some actual food and sleep, but only for Sakura's case.

"There's a place right up ahead," Juugo offered, his arm extended towards Karin, but she refused.

"I've got her," Karin hissed, mainly towards Sasuke.

Sasuke restrained himself from snatching Sakura from the angered woman, but instead of returning her anger, he began to lead them towards the direction that Juugo had mentioned. He felt his heart rate increase the farther he went, and if it hadn't been for Karin's quick wits, he would've continued moving the group ahead but with more ambition.

The time ticked by as they arrived at the small town up ahead. Just like Juugo had mentioned, it was small and rather trashed. Juugo was tasked with booking a room for the five of them, while Suigetsu was assigned to go purchase food from the nearby stalls. If he really was like Naruto, he'd be back with bags of food and a grin on his face.

Once Juugo got a small room, that left Sasuke and Karin to care for Sakura. The last hour, Sakura had broken out into a fever, while her body shook uncontrollably. The dark, violet bags under her eyes had grown to a pale navy blue while a thin coat of sweat covered her body.

"She's got chakra, I can definitely sense it," Karin stated as she cast a thin blanket over Sakura's body.

The pinkette continued to tremble as she laid on the makeshift bed. Sasuke's dark eyes watched as Karin ran a damp cloth over the girl's forehead and cheeks. He felt his mind begin to wander, thinking about how far he'd be if they wouldn't have taken a detour. When Karin sighed, he found himself back in reality and his eyes narrowing in on the red head.

"Was she poisoned recently?" Karin pushed her glasses up her nose slightly and when Sasuke nodded, she only frowned.

"I watched her retract all the poison, though."

"But did she get all of it?"

Sasuke looked back to Sakura now, his mind boggled as to why she wouldn't have gotten all of the poison out of her system. He bit down on his lip, thinking of what could possibly be done at a time like this. Time began to slip through his fingers the longer he sat there with the two girls, and when he finally pushed up from his seat, Karin caught his wrist.

"Look, I'm not sure what she means to you, but she could die if we don't get it out."

The snarky remark made Sasuke's heart shutter. What would he be without Sakura?

The avenger that you are, the voice from within his head replied.

Sasuke did everything to fight the thought off, but when he tore his hand from Karin's grip, he exited their room and made way for the nearby forest. He'd work out all of his frustrations and when he had the answer as to what he could possibly do, he'd return to their room.

"Slowly... Sakura."

Sakura could feel her body trembling rather viciously and although she felt extremely cold, the sweat that coated her skin told her otherwise. When she opened her eyes, the last person she expected to see was Karin.

The red head had an arm around her back as the other kept the damp cloth to her forehead, wiping the sweat beads away.

"What's going on?" Sakura finally mustered up the strength to ask. She felt her own limbs ache as her stomach churned.

Although her body hurt like hell, she could also feel the muscles in her arm burning from within.

"You passed out. Sasuke said you had been poisoned, and I'm afraid that you might have some of that poison in your body still."

Sakura's eyes closed lightly over jade pools, and when she began to think back to the night that she retracted the poison, everything went blank. She couldn't remember, let alone think through all the shaking. Another thing that crossed her mind was why was Karin taking care of her, rather than Sasuke or Suigetsu? The memory of Karin's open palm flying across her cheek a couple days ago made her face tense up and her eyes open.

It was there that Sakura could see the Karin's sleeve was pulled up, revealing arm that had multiple scars that looked like bite marks. Not only were her arms coated in scars, but her chest, and neck, too. Sakura began to wonder what in the hell had actually happened to this woman to result in such things.

"It sounds weird, but I need you to bite me. We need to restore some of your strength in order to get the rest of that poison out."

The light headed and dizzy feeling came rushing back to Sakura as she looked to Karin's eyes. The fire that normally resided in her ruby eyes was gone, and replaced with a glazed over one instead. The red head didn't make eye contact with Sakura, though. She only offered her right arm to her.

Sakura didn't have the strength to hold herself upright, but with Karin's help, she was able to grasp the woman's arm firmly.

"You're sure about this?"

"Please don't ask questions," the red head responded, her dark, maroon eyes still on the floorboards of the room. Sakura only nodded softly before sinking her teeth gently into Karin's pale skin.

She didn't say anything, or even flinch, as Sakura felt the muscles in her body stop the throbbing trembling. Instead, she felt her heart began to beat a little faster, while her body perked up a bit. It didn't take much of Karin's jutsu until Sakura felt stable and well enough to finish pulling the poison from her own body.

When Sakura pulled away from Karin's arm, the red head was quick to pull her amethyst sleeve down over the newly added bite mark.

"Thank you," Sakura muttered before concentrating her chakra to her hand.

She needed to locate the poison, and while it had been a few days since she first got struck with the senbon, she knew it would be harder to locate than usual. Instead of scanning one area of her body, Sakura gave it her all and found that it was dispersed through her blood stream. She let out a sigh of defeat before taking the damp cloth from the bucket and wiping it across her hairline.

"I don't think I can get it all."

The amount of negativity in her sentence brought her hopes and spirits back down, and when Karin scoffed, she found fire in those red eyes of hers.

"Quit throwing a pity party for yourself. The longer you dwell on not getting it out, the more it'll spread through your body."

Sakura felt her ears perk up and her eyes widen at Karin's statement. While the two girls had hit it off wrong, she felt a bit of connection with this mysterious girl. Karin reminded Sakura of Ino; the temperament, the truth behind each statement, even their personalities matched all too well.

Instead of feeling sorry for herself, Sakura perked up and inhaled deeply. She took those words to heart, and when she began to concentrate the chakra back to her hands, she saw the grin on Karin's face.

With one huge sweep, Sakura could feel not only the remaining poison begin to move from within her muscles, but the energy that she had worked up, slowly ooze from each pore in her body. The sweat that coated her body earlier returned, but instead of a slight glaze, the beads of sweat ran down her body in copious amounts.

When the poison began to pull from her skin, she felt her teeth clench. The pain was surreal as it was torn from her own body, ripping from her muscles and detaching from her skin. When Sakura finally removed the remaining bit, she was falling back and into Karin's arms once more.

"Looks like that was the last bit of it," Karin assured her before placing the cloth back on Sakura's forehead.

Sakura couldn't even offer the fakest of her smiles as Karin placed her down softly. She felt her body aching once more as she closed her evergreen eyes.

She was exhausted, her muscles throbbed while her mind ran from one conclusion to the other, thinking of where in the hell Sasuke was at.

"Where is he?" She found herself asking. From one open eye, she saw Karin roll her shimmering, red orbs.

"Should be back soon."

The snarky tone that she took only made Sakura frown, but then again, this woman was much like Ino and even at that thought, Sakura felt her lips turn upwards.

"Thank you," Sakura finally spoke. It felt weird thanking a stranger that had slapped her not only a few days ago, but then again, Karin was there for her when nobody else was.

"Don't mention it."

The hesitation in the red head's voice told Sakura that she wasn't use to such words of kindness. The marks on her body also told Sakura that she had been through some shit, and even the temper and short fuse that she possessed told so much of Karin's story that Sakura found it ironic.

She would dig deeper into Karin's past, but for now, she felt Sasuke's presence entering the room.

His eyes looked much darker than they had the day before, and even his personality matched his eyes. He didn't say a word to Sakura as she laid on the bed, searching his face for answers.

His dark locks were coated in sweat - much like her own - and his arms and body were painted in bruises and marked with cuts.

"Oh, perfect."

It was Karin, except she sounded more pissed off than usual. Sakura didn't remove her eyes from Sasuke, though. Instead, she watched as his obsidian orbs narrowed and averted to Karin. Sakura picked up on the awkward tension almost immediately, and if it wasn't for Suigetsu and Juugo who just entered, she was afraid she probably would've witnessed Karin's death scene.

"We're back!" Suigetsu called, his arms full of food and other assortments of items. Juugo simply walked in behind him with a small smile on his face.

Sasuke felt his stomach coil with anger as he finished his stare off with Karin, and when his eyes found Sakura once more, he noticed that she no longer had his shirt on, but the wrappings and whatever else she had on under the small sheet. He felt his anger bubble the longer he stayed in the confines of the room, and when Sakura began to stand up from her spot, Sasuke grasped her wrist and pulled her along behind him.

Once it was only the two of them, he noticed that Sakura still wasn't looking too well. Although the dark bags had lightened up quite a bit, her hairline was soaked in sweat, along with the rest of her body.

"What did Karin say?" He snapped.

Sakura's brows furrowed together before she pursed her lips and clicked her tongue. "She told me about the remaining poison in my body."

"Is it still there?" As much as Sasuke didn't want to know details, his heart had a mind of its own, while his mind did whatever it wanted.

"No," her response was short.

Sakura looked like her body was in pain as she wrapped her arms around her bare body and hugged herself. The sun was no longer perched high in the sky, but resting right on top of the mountains in the horizon. While the two of them stood on the stairs outside of their room, Sakura moved herself away from Sasuke's looming position and stood to watch the sunset.

He could see her body shaking slightly, probably from the amount of pain she had just endured, but when he moved closer to her, he could see that her body was tensing up. As much as he wanted to hold her and sooth her, he couldn't bring himself to do it. His mind wasn't in the right place, and neither was his heart. Before he could stop himself, he was pulling Sakura to his chest and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

It was there that he could rest his chin against the top of her head, and although she was covered in sweat, he wasn't any better. She felt good there, her body against his as he pulled her into his embrace and covered her exposed body from the world.

The thought brought back the memories of their first day together. She was coated in dirt, sweat, and ash and when he tried his hardest to refuse to give into his impulses, he was lead to viewing her flawless body.

"Why am I still here?" She asked softly before leaning deeper into his embrace.

Sasuke's heart rate quickened as he thought about the answer. He wanted her there with him for personal reasons, but he would never admit that aloud. Although he cared about her, he wouldn't give in to his feelings so easily, but Sakura was good at tearing his walls down and ripping his thoughts of revenge to pieces. He couldn't keep his composure when she was this close and inside of his mind.

Instead of telling her the truth, he didn't respond. Instead, he began to slowly move his chin from her head and position his lips to the shell of her ear. He wouldn't have noticed due to her already shaking form, but Sakura's arms and neck emerged thousands upon thousands of goosebumps when he placed a tender kiss to her ear.

She slightly moved her head towards his touch, allowing access to her neck and as the sun lowered behind the mountains in the distance, Sasuke's head lowered down Sakura's body until his lips landed on her clavicle.

Her small moans of relief was like music to his ears. The longer he kept his lips against her skin, the more she leaned into his touch. Sasuke could feel her taking another piece of his heart the closer he got. While his mind let off every alarm and signal, he refused to listen. Instead, he found his hands resting on her hips and pushing her to the side of the building.

Sakura was now turned towards him, their faces facing towards each other. This position was all too familiar to Sasuke, with Sakura between the wall and his own body. If he didn't stop now, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself later.

But his heart did the thinking for him at this moment in time.

He ran his fingers through pink tresses, his lips pressed firmly against her jawline while Sakura sunk deeper into his chest. Her small hands lined the small cuts and scabs that presented themselves on his chest, and just as he felt his lips trailing to the corner of her mouth, her slender fingers pushed through his raven locks.

He couldn't resist any longer.

Sasuke's body was on fire, his core in molten lava as he found Sakura's thin lips with is own. They were soft like her touch, demanding like her personality, but so right in every way possible. She was fire and he was ice, complete opposites, yet they became steam when molded together.

Her fingers entwined lightly in his hair as he pushed her harder against the wall, his lips matching the pressure as he pushed his face closer towards her. He felt deathly afraid, yet alive at the same time, and if he didn't stop soon, his emotions would consume him whole.

When Sakura began to snake her free arm around his back, Sasuke couldn't help but lift her from the floor. She did exactly what he wanted, and her back was now pressed to the wall as her legs wrapped around his back.

Both of her hands pushed through his thick, dark hair now as their lips began to part, his tongue entering her mouth.

Sakura was breathing heavily, but she wasn't the only one. Sasuke was losing himself in her arms, and just as his hand found the bare skin beneath her wrappings, he released her and regained his composure.

Sakura's feet found the floor in one swift movement and before she could shoot him a glare, Suigetsu's voice could be heard from just inside.

"I'm just going to check on them!" He continued to reassure his comrades.

And when he poked his head outside, the sly smile on his face was removed as he met the brooding eyes of Sasuke.

The Uchiha felt his mind racing while his heart soared inside of his chest. The faint feeling of Sakura's fingers gliding through his hair remained there as he imagined his hands against the bare skin of her rib cage.

"Food is almost done, if you're interested," the shark-like man offered.

Sasuke had noticed that both Suigetsu and Sakura had been indifferent since Sasuke's warning, and when Suigetsu left the two of them alone, Sasuke noticed that Sakura's gorgeous green eyes remained on the mountains in the horizon.

The sky was beautifully dark as it welcomed small, twinkling stars. The faint maroon that colored part of the sky began to vanish in the ocean of blacks and blues, and when Sasuke finally caught sight of Sakura's emerald eyes, he could've swore that he saw something other than curiosity there.

She looked victorious as she beamed, but she refused to show it. With a small wave, Sakura began to make her way through the door and towards the remainder of the group, but before she could vanish from the scene completely, Sasuke caught her arm once more and pulled her back.

He felt his heart bleeding while his mind was on fire. He didn't want to be this close to a girl that could bring his hopes and dreams down, much like she brought his walls and defense down.

Sasuke pressed his forehead to Sakura's before running his calloused fingers through her tangled hair.

"You can leave if you want. I won't stop you."

Sasuke felt weak as his words left his lips. He knew that he would see Sakura again if she were to up and leave in the middle of the night. It may not be on good terms, but he would see her again. The thought of her leaving scared him and the feeling felt unfamiliar, but it was something he hadn't experienced in multiple years. As he finally pulled his head back from hers, he watched as she entered the building, her eyes hardened over and her facial expression firm.

He left Sakura to her thoughts, while he left the building to face his own.

He was getting in too deep, and if it wasn't for Sakura, he would be one hundred percent unsure of his thoughts on killing Itachi.

The thing he wanted most at this point in time, though, was the girl that he left behind three years ago.

"You're a damn liar. She wouldn't do such a thing," the ferocious voice growled.

The spark of life and fire from within sapphire orbs set the blonde haired woman over the edge.

"I'll knock you right through that wall if you so as say such a thing like that again, Naruto," Tsunade threatened as she kicked up from her seat. The patience in the older woman had completely vanished earlier that day when she received a note.

"Sakura isn't like that! She wouldn't kill innocent shinobi from another land," Naruto regained his composure as his and Tsunade's conversation carried on.

"That's the thing, Naruto. She wasn't alone."

Naruto's eyes widened as his heart sunk in his stomach. He knew exactly where this conversation was heading, and before Tsunade could say anything else, his head dropped.

"I'll find them both," the blonde promised. When he looked back to Tsunade, the fire in his eyes raged on, along with the chakra from within. "I'll bring her back. And if Sasuke hurt her, I'll kill him."

#ronan rae #sasusaku #ss fanfiction #sasusaku fanfiction #sasuke uchiha #sakura haruno #writing #glass heart

33 notes · View notes

happysandwichparty-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Japan - Day 7 (Ikebukuro)

Starting out the day I didn’t honestly know a whole lot about Ikebukuro and how long we would be there. I just knew there were two places on my must to visit list there and that’s why we were going.

(Few pictures today!)

I woke up feeling like crap. The Gyoen Gardens adventure from the previous day was hitting my allergies hard. I wasn’t even sure how long I was going to make it before having to come back and sleep.

We got rolling a little bit later in the day, despite getting up at 4:30AM, we didn’t head out until about 9:30AM. It was the usual train rides - Ginza to Ueno, and the JR Yamanote over to Ikebukro. No rush hour today, we left too late - YAY!

Upon getting off the train our first stop was the Kit-Kat Chocolatory. We did take a little detour to get there. The store is in a department store attached to the train station but I seem to have a problem finding entrances from the train station so we exit and came back in through and outside entrance.

On our trek to find the store however we ended up in a grocery store in the station, the food there looked AMAZING! Wouldn’t it be great to be able to just get off the train, pick up your meal, and then walk home? One can dream. That will never be a reality in Arizona.

I digress, we eventually found the sweets area! More amazing cakes here, seriously ive never seen such beautiful little cakes. There were also many traditional Japanese sweet/dessert options to choose from.

Eventually we did find the Kit-Kat store! You aren’t going to find bags of Kit-Kats here, if you want those, hit up a convenience or grocery store! These are gourmet Kit-Kats in fancy boxes that you’d give as a gift. I picked up a box for my mom since they had special mothers day gift boxes. Mothers day is a little ways out, but it’s not like they will go bad in that time, plus we grabbed her a bag of matcha Kit-Kats to give her right away.

After the Chocolatory we wandered around to waste a bit of time in the station area. There was a restaurant I wanted to go to that opened at 11:00AM and was said to get busy very quickly so we were hitting it up right at opening time.

You may have see video’s of this place floating around on social media, it’s called Kura Zushi. Basically it’s a revolving sushi bar, which you can also order from, and you use your empty plates to play a gachapon game!

When we arrived (exactly at 11:00AM), there were already about 4 groups waiting. You walk up to the machine and get a ticket for your group. The machine is completely in Japanese, no English, as is the ticket. The staff is willing to help you get a ticket if needed, or you can just let someone go in front of your and watch. It was actually simple. Green button, party number, and then tap the final two buttons, done! - you now have a ticket!

They will call your number in Japanese so make sure you are paying attention. Basic understanding of numbers will probably do you good in Japan anyway.

On to the food! The sushi was very good for only being about $1 per plate.

They have some unique combinations - salmon with cheese? Surprisingly amazing.

We stuffed our faces, much more than we normally would. We have some revolving bars back home and it’s surprising if we eat more than 8 plates. Today we ate 16. Really I wanted a gatchapon and it took 5 plates to try your luck.

Spoilers. 3 tries. We did not win. The guy next to us won on his first try though, not fair! We do have a small vlog we filmed of this place so hopefully ill edit that and get it up pretty quick (i’ll link it here once finished).

One last thing about restaurants in general, many places have a pot of powdered matcha sitting on the table, cups, and a hot water dispenser so you can make your own tea! Surprisingly I actually like green tea, I don’t like many other teas.

This places is very convenient, when you are done you tap the check button on the tablet at your table, they come check your plate count, and you head off to pay up front!

After stuffing our faces we decided it was time to walk a bunch! Good plan. We were walking over to Sunshine City, which is a shopping mall. On the way we stopped at Round One and a few other game locations. There were a bunch. I found the Neko Atsume machine and again failed horribly. I also tried a Disney plush machine, had better luck but still didn't win anything.

We were once again off to Sunshine City. It’s a very traditional mall that we are all used to, and it was pretty nice! They had a fun water feature in the main atrium.

Our main goal here was to find the Pokemon Center! We did take a detour into the Disney Store though. Again, I wanted to buy so many things, but I will wait until we are at the Disney Resort. SOON!

After Disney we head up to the Pokemon Center. It was pretty busy, but all of the staff were super friendly and polite and did everything they could to make people feel welcome. We did end up buying quite a few things. I picked up 3 or 4 items for my Twitch giveaway, and also a few for myself! Included were a cute mug, a Ditto shirt tank top combo, and some socks.

Two side notes. Everyone in Japan has adorable phone wallet cases. They are everywhere and it’s making me really want one, the ones for sale at the Pokemon Center were super cute. Second, no one has face plates for the regular New 3DS, which is making me sad. Yodobashi is the only place and the selection was not great.

I digress, we went to purchase all of our items and it turns out there was some deal on socks! Who knew! I ended up getting a 3rd pair for free.

As mentioned the staff were great. They went out of their way to make customers feel welcome, they brought a basket of socks to the register for me to pick the 3rd pair instead of making me run through the store to find them. They make sure my items were double bagged so nothing would break, and they even offered me as many special decorative extra bags as I wanted in case I was getting gifts for people. I left very happy.

On the way out there were more Gachapon and penny presses. I did press a penny, which were provided in the machine, brand new and shiny! And of course another gachapon.

On our way out we stopped at Axes Femme. We visit their store in Shinjuku but it was small, this one was large! I did end up purchasing 3 items, mostly for work. This is a good store if you still like that lolita style, but want to be able to tone it down for real world situations.

After this we left Sunshine City and head across the street to the Animate. Which apparently had moved and was no longer an Animate. We still went inside because now there were 4 floors hat were cosplay stores.

This was a unique experience as a cosplayer. There were full costumes for sale, which wasn’t the awesome part to me actually, since I just make my own. It was the wide selection of wigs, contacts, props, shoes, glove, makeup and god knows what else that was all in one store easily accessible! Those small things are sometimes the hardest part of cosplay in the States because they are hard to get,you have to make them! Hell they had a prop violin you could buy!

Anyway! After having a moment we left to find the new Animate. Ikebukuro was bustling, it was a very fun area with a lot to do. There were a lot of teenagers and young adults around having a good time. It felt a lot like a less over the top Akihabara. I think I may actually like Ikebukuro a bit more.

We found the Animate! Which felt like it catered more to Women than the other one we went to. The whole area did really, a ton of women and girls around and a lot of people dressed up in alternative fashions. What I would have expected in Akihabara we actaully saw here.

We did not buy anything at the Animate but I did actually see things I liked in this ones. I think the thing holding us back from buying anything is that Idol anime and sports anime are super popular right now so it’s almost all you see. Neither of us are into those so we are left stranding. You wont find anything for older anime, if you do its in some corner and no one cares. It’s definitely what is popular now, which is understandable.

After leaving the Animate we head back to the station to head back to Asakusa. On the way in we ran into Ikefukuro, and owl statue, that like Hachiko is a place where a lot of locals wait when meeting up with someone.

We took the usual route home, JR to Ueno, Ginza to Asakusa. Upon getting off at Asakusa we found ourselves in a grocery and sweets store we hadn’t seen yet. We took this opporunity to get something sweet and yummy!

We spent much of the evening being lazy before going out to grab some food. We picked KFC because KFC is a suprisingly big deal in Japan (seriously they eat it as their Christmas meal), so I wanted to see what the differences were.

First major difference, no mashed potatoes. WHAT. Now I don’t really eat KFC at home, but mashed potatoes are a pretty big staple when it comes to fried chicken, at least in my opinion. Instead they have Coloneling Potatoes. Which are kind of just potato wedges in unique shape, they were actually pretty good.

The chicken itself was good quality, seemed better than home. The one difference with the chicken was the breading was lighter, it wasn’t as ticket and crunchy, which I honestly think was better, it wasn’t overbearing. The final difference on the food we tried was the biscuit, the honey was more like a maple syrup, still good though!

After dinner we ate our desserts and then I rolled off into bed at my allergies were starting to bother me again.

My sleeping area is starting to become a fortress of shopping bags from everything we’ve purchased. By the time we finish Disney I don’t think i’ll be able to get in my bed!

#Ikebukuro #PokemonCenter #Pokemon #PokemonCenterMegaTokyo #SunshineCity #KFC #Dessert #Japan #Tokyo #sushi #kurazushi #kurasushi #happysandwichpartyJapan

0 notes

rosethornewrites · 4 years ago

Text

Fic: a grain of millet drifting, ch. 2

Relationship: Niè Huáisāng & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Characters: Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Original Characters, Nie Huaisang

Additional Tags: Assassination Attempt(s), Introspection, Regret, Travel, Post-Canon, POV Third Person, POV Wei WuXian

Summary: On the road to the Unclean Realm.

Notes: 亨祥 is Hengxiang, meaning no trouble and good luck.

Chapters: 1

AO3 link

----------

It didn’t take long for Wei Wuxian to decide he quite liked Nie Hengxiang. The young man was intelligent and quick on his feet, and also truly interested in cultivation theory. Nie Huaisang had perhaps chosen him for more than just his skills. Had he expected Wei Wuxian to catch him? If so, he wondered if he’d disappointed his old friend in taking so long at it.

Nie Hengxiang was perhaps a little older than Sizhui, but not by much, and his earnest gruffness reminded Wei Wuxian a little of Jin Ling. In some ways he was like the ducklings he’d become so fond of, even if he’d been sent to babysit him.

As it turned out, none of the assassins had been quite stupid enough to have any identifying information on them, either about who they had been in life or who contracted them. Which meant a little more work, something he had the impression Nie Huaisang was handling on his end.

After their tea and chat, Wei Wuxian placed several arrays around their campsite, promising at the young man’s curious expression to explain them the next night.

In the morning they broke their fast with dried fruit from Wei WuXian’s qiankun pouch and dried spiced meat from Nie Hengxiang’s. After breaking camp and disabling the arrays, they searched the body again, took turns digging the grave, and heaved the corpse in with little fanfare.

After they filled in the grave, Wei Wuxian pulled out a stick of incense to light and a bit of joss paper to burn.

“Wei-gongzi, why do that for a man who tried to kill you?” Nie Hengxiang asked.

“It wasn’t personal, just his job, the poor fool. I’d rather he stay at rest, regardless. There’s enough resentment in the world already.”

About the fifth time Nie Hengxiang called him ‘Wei-gongzi’ as they made their way to a main road, he decided that had to stop.

“Aiya, I’m not a young master of anything. I’m not even part of a sect. If you have to call me something, maybe Wei-qianbei?”

The youth took to it readily, and as they walked and dealt with Little Apple having a tantrum over a rotten apple, he asked about the events at Yi City.

“I heard some of what happened, that you rescued the juniors of several sects and kept them safe through it all, but…”

But he was a curious young man, Wei Wuxian extrapolated when he trailed off. So he told the story of Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and poor little A-Qing, and how they’d eventually solved the mystery.

“Unfortunately, Xue Yang turned most of the townspeople into living and fierce corpses, so sects had to send cultivators to clean up that mess,” he said.

Then he explained the details about the old woman at the Zhizha shop who didn’t know she was dead, for whom he had threaded a needle so she could go about mending clothing she would never wear.

“I didn’t know how she would react to learning she was dead,” he said sadly. “I couldn’t risk her losing what was left of her spiritual consciousness and becoming a threat, and the juniors were already frightened enough. I hope she was laid to rest.”

Someday, perhaps, he would go back to Yi City to make sure it had been cleaned up properly, to lay offerings for the victims of Xue Yang’s indecency and help any lingering spirits pass on.

“I’ve never been on a night hunt like that,” Nie Hengxiang murmured, looking thoughtful.

“It wasn’t a normal night hunt at all,” Wei Wuxian said. “It was a man-made disaster. You’re unlikely to ever see anything like that.”

Though he hadn’t been the culprit, he still felt partly responsible for that mess, too. Had he not laid the groundwork Xue Yang had built upon at the behest of Jing Guangshan and Jin Guangyao… But that way lay madness, Wei Wuxian knew, and he shook off such thoughts.

He told some stories about the more normal night hunts he’d been on, back in the day, and some of the weird yao he’d encountered. In return, Nie Hengxiang shared some of his own encounters, discussing some of the yao found only in Qinghe.

It was different, having someone to talk to, someone who asked questions about the talismans he mentioned. Normally the road was long and quiet, missing a presence, but for the moment he could forget that absence.

Before long they came upon a larger town, one situated at the crossroads of smaller, more rural roads like the one they were on, and more-travelled ones like the one they would take to get to the Unclean Realm.

Lunch was at an inn, and when he checked his purse to be certain he had enough to cover it, Nie Hengxiang insisted the Nie sect would pick up the tab while they travelled to the Unclean Realm.

That was handy.

He ordered without regard for price, in that case, choosing a dish heavy in meat and spice, and some baozi. While they were waiting he jotted out a message for Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan,

Unexpected detour. Going to the Unclean Realm. Will write you later.

Wei Ying

Lan Zhan would know who it was from; Wei Wuxian had learned how to send the Jin butterfly and then had promptly altered it so it was a blue rabbit with wings, something that had made his zhiji smile.

After a moment of thought, he sent out a second one.

Jiang Cheng,

Nie Huaisang sent a babysitter. Caught him taking out an assassin. Guess people still want me dead. Going to the Unclean Realm. Not sure what’s going on, but will update if it involves you or Jin Ling.

Wei Wuxian

He didn’t think Jiang Cheng would particularly care, but the last several times things got sticky, it had impacted him and Jin Ling. At least this way he’d have warning.

Then, just to be an ass and because Nie Huaisang probably already knew he’d been caught, he sent out a third.

Nie-zongzhu,

Nie Hengxiang is great company. I look forward to imposing on your hospitality.

Yiling Patriarch

Nie Hengxiang didn’t comment as the messages went out, but patrons of the inn looked on in amazement at the little creatures that buzzed around over their heads briefly then floated through the inn window on their way to their destinations.

They were approached shortly into their meal, and Nie Hengxiang tensed as though the man was a threat until he started speaking about a haunting nearby—fortunately in the direction they were traveling, just off the main road.

Wei Wuxian glanced at his babysitter, who nodded without hesitation.

“We’ll head that way after we finish here,” he told the man, who fell over himself bowing and kowtowing and insisted on accompanying them.

The spirit was simply a lonely child who had died of illness, and it didn’t take much to call up her spirit and communicate. The child wanted to play, and didn’t quite realize she was dead. Once Wei Wuxian helped her understand and let her know she’d get to play in her next life, she was gone.

The man, as it turned out, was her father. He was heartbroken, but happy she’d been put to rest. He let the man babble about the girl for a bit, knowing it was a kindness to listen. She had been the only remnant he had of the wife who had died in childbirth, and had been sickly her whole short life, never able to play as the other children did—which explained why she had lingered.

As they left, he gave them a sack of fruit from his harvest. Peaches, as it turned out, juicy and sweet. He wouldn’t say no to free peaches.

First, though, Wei Wuxian took three out of the bag and handed them back to the man.

“For your daughter’s altar,” he told him.

He didn’t remember being dead, didn’t know if anyone had burned joss or incense for him, if there had been an altar where offerings of food had been left. Maybe it was because he’d left no ghost, for reasons he didn’t feel like considering; he liked to think he’d just gone without resentment, but there were darker possibilities. He didn’t want to know.

Wei Wuxian had no idea if the peaches would reach the child as her spirit found what came next, but it comforted him to think perhaps they would, and he was sure it would comfort her father.

Sometimes he wondered if that was the point of offerings for the dead.

Little Apple, as it turned out, should’ve been named Little Fruit, since she also turned out to be fond of the peaches. They were able to make good time on the road, the donkey assuaged.

The trip to the Unclean Realm passed with few incidents, though they stopped several times when asked for help with spirits and, once, a fox yao. The common folk were happy they were willing to stop, and Nie Hengxiang didn’t comment when Wei Wuxian used the name Wei Yuandao.

The last night, though, Wei Wuxian woke to the sound of someone dying, a familiar gurgling gasp, and found his companion had run through an assassin who had been trying to sneak in through the second-story window of their room at the inn. He should have expected another attempt, some last-ditch effort to get rid of him before he would be surrounded by Nie disciples and thus essentially untouchable.

Six assassins, though? Whoever wanted him dead was spending an awful lot of money on it.

“We probably could’ve questioned him,” he commented instead around a yawn.

“Not my job,” Nie Hengxiang grunted, already rifling through the poor idiot’s robes.

That told Wei Wuxian that Nie Huaisang had other disciples with that skill handling some even more unfortunate morons, which was oddly kind of him, Wei Wuxian thought. If he truly had sent his obviously assassination-trained disciple to keep him safe in secret, and had others working to find those trying to kill him, maybe this was Nie-xiong simply wanting him to be safe, not the Headshaker with his plan for vengeance.

The more he considered, the more he thought about how lonely his old friend must be—his dage dead, slain by someone he’d once regarded as a friend. Wei Wuxian knew vengeance was only just so satisfying, but it ultimately left you empty.

Killing Wen Chao hadn’t brought back Uncle Jiang or Madam Yu or the rest of the clan slaughtered at his behest. Looking back at it now, it sickened him a little to know how far gone he’d been after the Burial Mounds, taking pleasure in the torture even of someone like Wen Chao.

No wonder his behavior had worried Lan Zhan.

Nie Huaisang, who seemed innocent and indolent back when they were fifteen and the war was just a speck on the horizon, who would have happily spent his life reading spring books and painting fans…

How did he feel, now that his revenge had been achieved, after a decade of nothing but planning for it?

Wei Wuxian’s bet was on “empty,” but it was something to determine when they reached the Unclean Realm.

“You seem remarkably calm,” the young man said after tossing the looted body out the window to handle in the morning.

Hopefully some poor mediocre wouldn’t stumble upon it before then, but they’d hear them screaming if it happened.

“Honestly, it’s not the first time people have tried to kill me, or even the second,” Wei Wuxian said with a shrug. “It’s not really all that exciting after the first few times.”

Nie Hengxiang nodded as though that made sense to him, which was a little funny to Wei Wuxian—he lived it, and it still made no sense to him, true though it was.

Case in point, he blinked and it was morning, the attempted assassination not impacting his ability to get back to sleep in the least.

When he sat up, he found he was alone for the moment, so he popped his head out the window and found only dried bloodstains in the dirt. Nie Hengxiang was disposing of the body.

When he came back, his robes weren’t mussed or dirty, and Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Paid for a pauper’s burial,” Nie Hengxiang said when he noticed. “Seemed easier.”

Meaning a proper burial with the offering of incense, and offerings left for the anonymous dead would also go to assuage the assassin’s resentment. It was a kindness, and Wei Wuxian nodded his agreement with the decision.

Part of him wondered if this was what Nie Hengxiang did if he killed in or near a town, or if his own treatment of the first assassin’s grave, burning incense and joss over it, had influenced his decision. He was young yet, so perhaps it had.

Maybe it was just Wei Wuxian hoping he made a positive difference in the world this time around somehow.

Just thinking that made him feel old.

Truth be told, they were little more than a few hours outside of the Unclean Realm. They could have made it there the night before, but he hadn’t seen a need to rush and hadn’t wanted to deal with a potential ambush in the dark.

Plus Nie Huaisang wouldn’t get to pawn him off to a guest room and have eight hours to acclimate to his presence this way. He’d have to deal with Wei Wuxian for most of the day. Maybe mean, maybe petty, but they had things to talk about anyway.

Travel was uneventful, especially after he mentioned his concern about an ambush and Nie Hengxiang laughed at the idea.

“This close to the Unclean Realm? Maybe if they’re suicidally stupid.”

The way he glanced at the landscape around them, as barren as it was, made Wei Wuxian wonder if they had gained an additional escort.

And so instead Wei Wuxian rode Little Apple, kept moving forward by the enticement of a pear on a stick, bought from a stall on the way out of town, and played a few drinking songs he’d heard on his travels on Chenqing.

Time passed quickly, and soon they were approaching the gates of the Unclean Realm.

He felt a little like he’d been pulled back to the past when he saw Nie Huaisang waving from atop the battlement, just as he had when they’d set out with Chifeng-zun during the Sunshot Campaign.

This time he was headed toward, not away, and he had the tiny flicker of a golden core where there had been a gaping emptiness seething with resentment, but he felt shaken by the similarity all the same.

#the untamed #untamed fanfiction #mo dao zu shi #chen qing ling #cql #mdzs #wei ying #wei wuxian #nie huaisang #untamed fanfic #untamed fic #mdzs fanfic #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs fic #cql fanfic #cql fanfiction #cql fic #my fanfiction

5 notes · View notes

vnresolvedissves-blog · 7 years ago

Text

The Sweater || @snxwdrxke (closed)

Snowy was quick to leave his classroom when he got a text from Napsty. He couldn’t believe that asshole would go so far as making Napsty have to be in the bathroom like that. The male quickly stepped into the bathroom and frowned. “Napsty? Are you here?” __ Nasty worked up when they heard Snowy, sniffling and wiping their eyes with their arm. “Y-yeah… Is it just you in here?” they murmured from one of the stalls, wanting to make sure before they unlocked it. __ When Snowy heard his best friends voice, he frowned. They sounded terrible. “Yeah it’s just me. Is everything okay?” That was a stupid question. __ The teen slowly unlocked the stall and peeked out. “Uhm… C-can you come in here, please…?” They didn't want to risk someone else walking in and seeing them. __ Snowy just grew more concerned at Napsty’s words. He nodded though. “Yeah of course.” He spoke, moving to the stall and stepping in. What he saw made his eyes widen. “Oh my god Napsty, did that asshole do this?” __ Napsty quickly closed and locked the stall door behind Snowy, looking down. They were so embarrassed, but Snowy was the only one they could trust to help them with this. Their sweater was completely torn down the front, and not neatly. It looked as if someone had ripped it with their bare hands, because that was exactly what happened. “Y-yeah…” they mumbled, wiping at the steady stream of tears flowing down their cheeks. “I-I can't go to class like this…” __ “Oh Napsty, I’m so so sorry.” He spoke, trying to think. An idea quickly came to him and the male unzipped his jacket, holding it to the teen. “It’s not much but you’ll be able to get to class. I’m sorry. I swear i'm going to beat his ass again.” __ Napsty looked up when Snowy offered them his jacket, taking it gingerly. “Thanks…” They slipped their arms into the sleeves and zipped up the front, sniffling. They were silent for a moment, then glanced up at Snowy. “I-I can't even wear my favourite sweater to school…” __ Snowy waited for the whitenette to slip into the jacket before wrapping his arms around them. “I know, Napsty. I’m sorry, people here are such dicks.” __ They leaned against their best friend, clinging to him and resting their head in his shoulder. “I-I didn't think it'd draw attention… I wouldn't have worn it if I thought it would…” __ “I know.” He murmured, kissing their head and holding them closer. “It shouldn’t be a big deal. He is such an asshole.” Snowy moved one hand to softly comb through their hair. __ They nodded, sniffling again. They wished they could just stay here with Snowy instead of going to class. But they were just delaying the inevitable. “S-sorry, I'm keeping you from you class…” they murmured, lifting their head to look up at Snowy. __ Snowy quickly shook his head. “No, it’s okay. Seriously. I’d rather be here with you right now.” He nuzzled the teen. “You keep that hoodie nice and close to you. Even though I can't be in class with you, I’m still here.” __ Napsty nodded, the sudden urge to kiss Snowy hitting them. It was a bit embarrassing, but Snowy didn't have to know. He was just too sweet to them. “Th-thanks, Snowy… It really means a lot…” __ Snowy smiled and nodded. “Of course. I want you happy.” He hummed, nuzzling him once more before pulling open the stall. “C’mon. I don’t want you in trouble either.” __ They moved quickly to cling to Snowy’s hand, but nodded. “Uhm… W-would it be alright if… if you walked me to class…? You don't have to… I don't want to pressure you into it… I'm just nervous about walking there by myself…” __ Snowy gave a soft smile at Napsty’s words. He pressed a soft kiss to their cheek and nodded. “I’d love to walk you there.” He hummed, squeezing their hand. __ Napsty sighed in relief, a little grin pulling at their lips when Snowy kissed their cheek. “Okay… Thanks…” Only then did they step out of the stall, feeling a bit more confident knowing they wouldn't be walking through the halls alone. __ “Of course.” He spoke before leading the teen out the door. He knew all the classes Napsty had, so it was easy to know where he was going. “You gonna be okay?” __ Napsty followed close beside Snowy, nodding at his words. “I think so…” They didn't want Snowy to worry too much, so they didn't mention that the bully was in their class. But there would be a teacher there. Hopefully that meant he wouldn't try anything.” __ The male nodded. “Alright. Text me if you’'ll need me again, yeah?” He spoke, squeezing their hand. __ They nodded. “I will… Thanks, Snowy…” __ “Of course. I’d do anything for you.” He smiled. The male stopped once they reached the classroom. “This is your stop.” He chuckled, moving his hands to straighten out the jacket a bit. “You look beautiful. Don’t let anyone else's words mean anything.” __ Napsty stopped walking when Snowy did, looking up at him as he straightened out the jacket on them. Their eyebrows rose, a blush rising to their cheeks. They hardly knew what to say, and only ended up murmuring, “O-okay…” __ “Okay.” He nodded, looking around before pressing a quick kiss to their cheek. “I’ll see you later then?” __ Their heart sputtered when Snowy kissed their cheek, but they did their best to nod anyway, a little smile pulling at their lips. “Mmhmm… And thanks again, Snowy… You're really the best best friend ever…” __ “No worries, Napsty.” He hummed. “You’re the best best friend ever though.” He sighed then. “Alright. Let’s get to class. “I’ll text ya later!” He waved. __ They giggled, waving back. “Okay… Bye…” They turned to enter their classroom, steeling themselves for the natural state that came when walking into class late. Unfortunately, it didn't go as well as they had hoped. At the soonest possible moment he got, the bully pointed out Napsty’s inappropriate attire beneath Snowy’s sweater, nearly unzipping it all the way down just to humiliate them. They were already in tears as they rushed to zip it back up, sure they were in trouble when the teacher asked them to come to her desk to speak with them. Instead, she had the class mind their own business for a bit, and asked how their shirt had been ruined. They explained, quietly, what had happened, and in the end, she decided to send them home with the information she'd be going over for the day so they wouldn't miss out. As they shuffled out of the room, more than happy for the silence in the halls, they texted Snowy. [text]: its a long story, but im going home… ill tell you what happened later if you want… you can come over if you'd like… no pressure, though… whatever you want to do… __ The last thing Snowy expected was to get a text about Napsty going home. He thought everything would be okay. [Text] I’m sorry. Are you Okay? I’ll come over for sure! I can ditch the rest of school. __ [text] yeah, im alright… you don't have to ditch… i’d feel bad if you got in trouble because of me again… whatever you want to do, though… ill be home, so ill be safe… __ [TEXT] You sure? You know I’d drop everything just for you. The male frowned then sent another text. [TEXT] After this period is over, I’ll head over. I can't finish school know all that happened. __ Even just reading Snowy’s texts caused Napsty to blush. [text] if you really want to leave school early, ill be happy to see you… i think there's a pizza in the freezer i could put in the oven too… we could just hang out for a while… if you want to… __ Snowy smiled, glad Napsty didn’t mind. [TEXT] Pizza sounds awesome! I’ll be looking forward to It! I’ll see you in about an hour or so Then? __ [text] yeah… see you soon… They didn't want to disturb Snowy’s class anymore, but they were happy they'd get to see him again. They were really looking forward to eating pizza and snuggling with him. Maybe they could even take a nap together. __ Snowy was all to anxious for the class to end, and when it finally did, he practically ran out of the school, catching the first bus he could. When he got on, the male knew just where he was going. It was just going to be a little bit of a detour. He made his way to the mall, quickly finding the H&M. He knew the exact sweater for Napsty. He held the clothing close before purchasing the sweater and heading out once more. It still took him longer than he’d liked, and he was running the whole time. Snowy was still panting when the male knocked on the door, sending Napsty a final text. And holding the bag close. [Text] I’m here, finally. Sorry I took so long. ___ When Napsty got home, they immediately changed into their favourite sweater dress and leggings, and put Snowy’s jacket on a hanger. After that, they curled up under a blanket on their bed, sitting upright so they wouldn't fall asleep. They played games on their phone until they got the text from Snowy, and they quickly hopped out of bed, straightening out the fabric of their dress before hurrying out to answer the door. As they pulled it open, they looked up at Snowy. “You know you can just come in, right…? You don't have to wait for me to let you in…” __ Snowy smiled when Napsty opened the door. He gave a small laugh at their words. “I know but I still feel like I needa.” He shrugged before holding his bag to the teen. “For you~” He cooed. __ Napsty was already stepping back to allow Snowy room inside, but paused when he held a bag out to them. “For… me…?” they murmured, slowly taking the bag from him. The peeked inside it, and gave a tiny gasp, looking back up at Snowy with wide eyes. “You… You got me a new sweater…?” __ Snowy smiled at Napsty’s reaction. They always looked so cute. “Yup! I know how much you loved it. And you looked so cute in it. I wanted you to have it and I want you to be happy.” He hummed. __ They blinked, and all at once, their eyes welled up and tears spilled down their cheeks. “Oh, y-you really didn't have to… but thank you… D-do you want me to pay you back…?” __ When Snowy saw Napsty begin to cry, he quickly wrapped his arms around them and pulled the teen close. “Not at all. You don't owe me anything. It’s a gift I really just wanted to see you smile again.” __ Napsty willingly snuggled into Snowy’s embrace, resting their head against his shoulder. “Y-you're really the best best friend ever… Thank you, Snowy… I-I’ll take much better care of this sweater, I promise…” __ Snowy smiled as Napsty snuggled him and rested their head. “I’m glad you think so.” He spoke, kissing the top of their head. “I believe you, whatever you want to do. I'm here now.” __ Napsty nodded, sniffling a bit and lifting their head to look up at him. “Oh, well… are you hungry…? I didn't want to make the pizza before you got here so it'd be fresh, but I can put it in the oven now… Only if you're hungry, though…” __ Snowy gave a small nod. “Mmhmm, I am.” He smiled. “You can put it in now, that sounds really good.” __ “O-okay..." They pulled away to wipe their eyes, backing up and pulling the door further open so Snowy could come inside. “My mom's working right now, so she won't be home for another few hours...” __ Snowy still let his hand rest on Napsty for a moment until they pulled the door open further. The teen stepped inside and nodded. “Alright, and she won't mind me just being here?” Snowy had known Napsty for so long, he knew it wouldn't be a problem, but he still had to ask. __ Napsty nodded, closing and locking the door behind them. “Oh, of course… She never does… We've been friends so long… and she knows you're my only good friend… so she doesn't mind…” They tilted their head then. “Could you get the pizza out of the freezer for me...? I'm going to hang up the sweater first, then I'll put the pizza in... I got the oven preheated a while ago…” They had expected Snowy a little sooner, after all, but considering what he was doing, they didn't mind. __ Snowy chuckled. “I know. I always gotta ask to make sure though.” He hummed then gave a nod. “Of course!” The teen chirped, giving the male a wave and trotting to the kitchen to get the pizza out. He got it out and unwrapped, finding a pan to put it on as well. “Ready!” He called. __ Napsty hurried to their room to hang the sweater up. They made sure that it was nice and flat so it wouldn't wrinkle, then returned to the living room just as Snowy spoke. “Okay, thank you…” They joined him in the kitchen, blinked when they saw he'd even set it on a pan. “Oh, you didn't have to do all that… Thank you…” __ “I don't mind. It was fun.” He laughed, giving a grin. “You’re welcome~ I’ll let you do the honour of putting it in the oven though, then we wait!” __ They nodded, picking the pan up and moving to the oven, putting the pizza in before setting the timer. Then they turned to Snowy. “So… What do you want to do while we wait…?” __ Snowy thought for a moment but shrugged. “I dunno. I just wanted to hang out with you.” He smiled. “Maybe we can take a nap till the pizzas done?” __ Napsty’s eyes lit up. “Oh… If you're okay with that… A nap does sound really nice.” __ “Of course! I know It’s been a pretty crazy day.” He smiled. “Plus I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Spent too long playing video games.” __ They giggled. That sounded like Snowy, alright. “You definitely need a nap then…” They took Snowy’s hand and led them to their bedroom, picking their phone up from their bed. “Oh… I should set an alarm on my phone too… in case I don't hear the oven timer…” __ Snowy squeezed the teens hand as they led him toward the bedroom. The teen gave a nod. “Yeah, probably. I honestly think we’ll sleep forever if you don't.” He chuckled with a grin. __ They giggled. “Yeah…” They set the alarm for when the pizza was supposed to be done, then headed to their bed climbing in first and setting their phone in the window sill. Then, they released Snowy’s hand so they could shimmy under the blankets, scooting back toward the wall to give Snowy a lot of room. “Nap time…” __ Snowy watched the teen get comfortable in bed, then once Napsty was under the covers, Snowy joined them, taking to snuggling as close to them as he could, resting his head on their shoulder. “Mmhmm, sleep well Napsty.” He mumbled. __ As soon as Snowy was in bed with them, they were cozy enough to fall asleep right that moment. Instead, they stayed awake long enough to respond, “You too… Thanks for everything, Snowy…” __ Snowy smiled. “Of course, Napsty. I’d do anything for you.” He spoke softly, snuggling closer to the whitenette. __ They gave a contented sigh, one hand moving to rest against Snowy’s chest. The extra reassurance that he was close set their mind at ease, and they immediately fell asleep.

#snxwdrxke #threads #napsty rps #bv; human #brp: the sweater #closed #completed

0 notes