#so if a second version of this just fucking appears one day then there ya go lmfao

[optiwashere]

This amazing piece of art by @araneapeixes got its claws in my brain, so I had to write this. I might have veered a little bit from the tone of the art, but I love writing Asheera and Shadowheart a very specific way and I'm me, so sweet and fluffy emotions got in the mix.

Also, this is a two-parter! I'm not quite finished editing the second part, but that should be done by next week.

Rating: E for exuberant expressions of intimacy and trust

Category & Ship: F/F, Shadowheart/Trans Fem Tav

Warnings: No Archive Warnings, but there is (non-detailed) needle talk in this fic!

Tags and AO3 Summary under the break.

Tags: Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, Intimacy, Trust, Nipple Piercings, Nipple Play, Praise Kink, Gentle Dominance, Dom/sub, Subspace, Aftercare, Trans Female Character, Trans Tav (Baldur's Gate), Half-Orc Tav, Post-Canon, Inspired by Fanart

Summary:

Shadowheart suggests it one day, and she's not sure why. It's something between serious and a flirty joke, but the more she thinks about it, the more she loves the idea. Or: Asheera pierces Shadowheart's nipples.

[toomanythoughts2]

After thinking about fan artists drawing Murderface with curly hair, I've decided to also thank all of the fan artists that do the following (YOU ARE ALL RECIEVING KISSES IN THE MAIL, PLEASE BE PATIENT!):

People who draw Skwisgaar, Toki, or Nathan with their hair up in a claw clip or a ponytail. Especially Skwisgaar. You understand your power and you use it for love.

People who draw Toki and Nathan with fat, juicy tits pecs. You are doing the lords work and I love you.

People who draw Pickles with freckles. If the heavens saw the beauty that you bestowed onto our little midwestern Irish-American drummer, they would weep in joy.

People who draw the boys with detail eyelashes. I know what you are.

People who draw the boys with their HC-ed ethnics/races. (i.e. Nathan having Yaneemango features, Latino/Hispanic Murderface, Sámi Skwisgaar & Toki, very Irish Pickles.) The work that yall do is outstanding and I love to see it

SCARS! S.H. SCARS, TOP SURGERY SCARS, POSSESSION SCARS, POST-DSR & AOTD SCARS, TOKI'S CHILDHOOD SCARS! I'M FUCKING COMING FOR YOU! I LOVE YOU!

People who draw Murderface with distinctive clues that he is from the American South/Appalachians. I LOVE these HCs so much and I love the idea of him being from a very poor, southern town in America, it just fits him SO FUCKING WELL!

People who give Toki and Skwisgaar opposing eye shapes. I have seen them go both ways, and either one fits them so good. I am partial to downward turned eyes for Toki though, but either way, I eat it up every single time.

People who draw Murderface and Nathan as the fat men they are. Listen, it's a big girl winter every winter, but it's a big boy summer every summer. Ya gotta give the fat boys some love.

People who draw Skwisgaar in that damn speedo or in a bikini. He's got the confidence and you have the talent.

People who draw Toki in his roller skating outfit. Need I saw more?

People who draw one or more members of Dethklok as trans. I have yet to encounter a version of this HC/canon content that I do not love, adore, admire, respect, and obsess over.

People on tiktok that attempted to do a Metalocalypse version of the "Infected My Little Pony" trend. One of which where Nathan was the infected and the other where Toki was. Honestly, the artist that was doing the eldritch horror!Toki was fucking cooking. They had it where Murderface saw Toki in his true form and was terrorizing Murderface from keep him from revealing his secret.

People who draw Trindle. Listen, I understand Nathan. If I had a goth woman showing me her tits every second of every day, I too would look past the blatant psychopathic tendencies and mysterious disappearances.

People who are not afraid to make the boys look gross. You are all so fucking valid and your interpretations of the boys are so awesome to look at. Especially if it's a specific art style that is scratchy. LOVE!

People who draw Lady!Klok. Every single interpretation of what the boys would look like is so valid, whether they're cis or trans, their outfits and appearances are also so fucking spot on. And their HCs that are added on the side to explain how they're different from Dethklok is a fucking PLUS

People who draw Skwisgaar in lingerie. I want you to know, that I see you and I appreciate you in every single way.

People who draw Trans!Pickles content (NSFW & SFW) specifically. Yall were in the god damn trenches and you PREVAILED!

People who draw the boys with their interpretations of their nose shapes, ESPECIALLY MURDERFACE! HE'S GOT A BEAUTIFUL PUG NOSE, LET HIM HAVE IT! Double appreciate for Skwisgaar's beautifully crooked nose and Nathan's slanted nose. I love their faces so much and their noses and yall always know how to bring them to light.

People who draw Knubbler with no chin. Homeboy gave away his chin in order to accumulate all of the swagger he's got. He's a Mick Jagger type of guy.

People who draw Pickles dreads as independently floating tendrils like Medusas snakes. It is so perfect for him and it's so hard not to do it.

People who draw Pickles bald. Look...It's coming. He's just gonna have to own it.

People who draw Early!Klok ESPECIALLY TOKI! That fact that we don't have a lot of information about their past other than DSR is a SHAME! BUT ITS OK BECAUSE THE FANS KNOW WHAT TO DO AND THEY DO IT PREFECTLY EVERY TIME! Every time I see little DSR Toki with his short hair, I go fucking feral. I COULD BE A GOOD MOTHER!

People who draw the gore. The show would not exist without it, and some of yall are just cooking with the themes and context yall create. I am always so intrigued with what I will see next.

People who draw and make Dethklok lesbians. Of course Dethklok is lesbian. Why wouldn't they be?

People who draw the band in their "Dethfashion" clothes. WE NEEDED MORE TIME WITH THOSE OUTFITS! WE JUST DID!

People who have no clue how to draw a Fu Manchu. I had to look this up before I said anything but a Fu Manchu does not grow around the mouth, it's literally just hair from the top part of the mouth that continues to grow down. That's why in "Stare Down" Skwisgaar refers to Toki's mustache as an "extreme facial hairs". AND YET! I ADORE THE WAY SOME OF YALL DRAW IT, ITS VERY ATTRACTIVE AND CUTE!

People who draw the band members in their animal forms. YOU CAN TAKE THESE ANIMAL FORMS FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS! PICKLES THE OCTOPUS IS SO SPECIAL TO ME, ESPECIALLY AFTER "Dethmom"! AND THE BUNNY/RABBIT SYMOLISM FOR TOKI AND WITH HIM BEING THE ANGEL OF DEATH, ITS SO GOD DAMN IMPORTANT!

People who draw Agere!Toki. Canon age regression is so rare and to have Toki being a canon and explicit example of an age regressor throughout the entire show is so special to me. JUST LET THE BOY REST!

People who draw Abigail. She's a girl boss. She's the moment. I will NOT tolerate hate on my woman, she did not deserve the shit she got.

People who draw Deaddy Bear. I want one so badly, it's not a joke.

People who draw Toki in skirts/dresses. One particular art work with Toki is in a long bohemian skirt and a band tee with a scarf is my all time favorite example of it.

The person who created Lasagna, Pickle's daughter, and then made her a bassist. I eat your shit up every single time I see new stuff from that AU.

People who draw the boys with more piercings. Especially the angel bites on Toki, the middle of the lip piercing for Murderface, and the gauges on Nathan and Skwisgaar.

People who draw Pickles during his Snakes N' Barrels era. THE HIGHER THE HAIR THE CLOSER TO GOD YOU ARE! AND PICKLES WAS CLIMBING THAT LADDER EVERY NIGHT!

People who draw Pickles pubes in the shape of his goatee like in "Rehabklok". That's one of the funniest visual gags in the entire show, I won't hear another word about it.

People who draw Charles. Every single one of you are invited to my Charles Offdensen themed birthday party.

People who give Toki the longest hair length but give Skwisgaar the most definition. Also, when they remember Nathan's little hair wisp in his face. Skwisgaar has the waves and Toki is afraid to getting a hair cut.

PEOPLE WHO DRAW GODKLOK! GOATED AS FUCK! THE COOLEST FUCKING PEOPLE EVER! I AM FOREVER IN YOUR DEBT! EVERY SINGLE ITERATION IS SO FUCKING GOOD!

People who draw Top/Dom!Toki. LISTEN HE'S A SADIST, HE JUST GETS NERVOUS! IF YOU GIVE HIM TIME, HE CAN PROVE TO BE GREAT!

People who draw Nathan as the bottom. You understand what this man needs and it's to get railed.

People who draw the boys in jeans. Listen. This one is really niche but for whatever reason, this fandom puts these boys in a pair or jeans and they are looking as fine a fucking WINE!

People who draw the cowboy Dethklok fan art. What is it like wielding the power that you have?

That's all that I think of at the moment, but I really do appreciate all of the different kinds of fan artists this fandom has. There is some absolutely beautiful pieces in this fandom.

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Addams & Abbotts 😈 | Rhett Abbott x Addams!OC — crossover AU

Rhett Abbott masterlist

Characters & Pairings: Rhett Abbott x Persephone Addams!OC (romantic), Wednesday Addams (Wednesday version), Amy Abbott, Desdemona Addams, Maria Olivares.

Content Warnings: profanity, dark humor, mentions of torture | Female!OC (she/her) | wc: 2.2k

Premise: After months of being together, one would think the stares and flabbergasted expressions of the town folk would settle down whenever the Addams & Abbotts were out. But it still came as a surprise. And for one person in particular, she wasn’t expecting to come face to face with the person of her nightmares when trying to shoot her shot with her ex.

Note: so sorry it has taken me this long to post this update! Thank you all for your patience if you’ve been waiting and I hope you enjoy it! I know it’s shorter compared to the others I’ve posted but the next one is going to follow episode 1 of Wednesday!

——————————

“Oh fuck,” were the first words out of Rhett’s mouth when he glanced out the window for a breif second, coffee mug in his hand nearly falling from his grip.

“What is it,” Amy asked with a mouthful of food, turning to see what he was looking at before her own groan sounded. “This is gonna be interesting.” The cowboy gave his niece a look causing her to shrug and continue to eat.

They were currently at the diner for a quick lunch after running errands all day. But it wasn’t just them together, in the bathroom was Persephone, Desdemona, and Wednesday. It was a nice Saturday afternoon with the group depositing the monthly profits from the stores, shopping for school supplies for Amy and Wednesday, and picking up things for their families.

At no point did they expect Maria to waltz into town.

She was with a friend and it appeared they were heading right for the entrance of the restaurant. “Don’t say anything,” Rhett pointed a finger, when he heard the bell above the door ring, “and don’t make eye contact.”

“You ain’t gotta tell me twice.”

They continued to eat their food, not paying attention to their surroundings as they waited for the others to return. Mona had been getting fussy so Percy went to change her diaper and freshen up, Wednesday tagging along to assist since sometimes tending to little Mona was a team effort. Rhett prayed they'd be getting back at any second because the last thing he needed was to deal with his ex.

Speaking of the devil….

“Rhett?” Fuckin’ great.

Gulping the coffee in his mouth with a light grimace, Rhett looked up to see Maria staring back at him. There was surprise in her gaze, obviously not expecting to see him. “It is you.”

“Hello, Maria,” he nodded, going back to his eggs. Amy made a face, turning away as to not let Maria see her amused expression.

“Wow, it’s good to see you,” she tried to smile. “You look good.”

“Thanks,” he didn’t compliment her back, and her reaction confirmed she expected he would. “Didn’t expect you to be back in town.”

“I’m just visiting for the week. I’ll be heading out Sunday.”

Was she trying to hint something? Probably. The way she was looking at him gave off the sense she was hoping he’d ask her out. Amy made a face, viewing Maria’s demeanor as a pathetic attempt.

Rhett just nodded, “Well best you get back to your friend. It looks like she’s waitin’ for ya,” he pointed the fork briefly to the direction her friend was seated at. He expected to hear her walk away, but when she remained standing Rhett tilted his head at her. “What is it, Maria?”

“Can…” she hesitates, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. “You wanna maybe grab a drink later? Or after the rodeo this weekend if you’re available.”

He couldn’t believe what she was asking. Was she really serious? She ended things with him after he left everything behind to be with her. Now she wants a second chance and is acting like nothing happened.

Amy cut him off before he could even say a word, “I don’t think his girlfriend would like that.” The look on Maria’s face would’ve sent Rhett laughing, but instead he just shrugs when she looks at him for confirmation.

“She’s right. My girl wouldn’t like that at all.”

“Your girl?” Maria repeated, stunned by the revelation. “You’ve got a girlfriend?”

A different voice answered her, one that sent chills along her arms. “You’re damn right he does.”

The voice was much older than in high school, but still possessed the haunting tone it was known for. It almost made Maria not want to turn. For she knew the onyx colored eyes would be staring back at her. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if it really was Persephone Addams.

Turns out she wasn’t alone. Beside her, with the same blank expression with subtle hits of fury, was Wednesday Addams. And in Persephone’s arms was a baby girl who was the spitting image of the woman. If Maria’s eyes were playing tricks on her, it looked like the baby was glaring too.

“Maria,” Percy’s voice was monotone. “What a surprise to see you….here of all places.”

It took a moment for Maria to find the words. Their stares were what you’d see in horror movies. Wednesday appeared as though she was lighting Maria on fire where she stood. It was unsettling.

“Persephone,” she finally said the name after so many years. “The same could be said for you I guess. I didn’t know you were back in town.” A sound emitted from Percy, likely a scoff.

“Oh I’ve been back for a while,” Mona was passed to Rhett, the cowboy placing her in his lap to distract her from the tension rising between the two women. Persephone could imagine what her nemesis was thinking, “Am I missing something?” “Is that their daughter?” “Why are they having lunch with her sister and his niece?”

“Have you?” Maria was genuinely curious to know. At no point did it come to her attention that Persephone was also in Wabang. While she noticed the new antique and book stores, she just assumed it was one of the many businesses the Addams family owned.

“Over a year. Going on two this coming spring,” placing a manicured hand on Rhett’s shoulder, feeling Maria’s eyes shoot to the gesture, Persephone lightly squeezed, “Right, darling? I believe it’s been that long.”

“You know I ain’t good at keeping track of time, baby,” Percy noticed Maria react to the pet name. A mix of defeat and envy. “But it sounds about right.”

Addams and Abbotts. Abbotts and Addams. There was a combination no one was expecting.

Cutting in, Maria asks, “how long have you two….been a thing?”

“I believe dating or in a relationship is the appropriate term,” Percy turns back to her. “And almost a year.”

“Wow,” Maria exhaled, lips tightening. “I didn’t expect you two would…..” Smirking, Persephone starts to nod her head.

“Go on. Say what you’re thinking.”

“I-I shouldn’t—.”

“Why not?” She tilts her head, encouraging Maria to free the words from her lips that she so desperately wants to say. “It’s never stopped you before.”

“That was a long time ago,” Maria’s eyes narrowed, “I’m not like that anymore.” She received a scoff.

“Oh, that’s so wonderful to hear. Don’t you think, Rhett? Maria is all grown up,” the condescending tone in Percy’s voice was making the anger rise in Maria. Bringing delight to the oldest Addams. “But….you obviously were thinking it, Maria. You can’t help but want to know how Rhett Abbott and Persephone Addams became what you call ‘a thing.’”

Rhett thought about stepping in. Only because people were starting to watch the scene unfold. But he learned a long time ago that when Persephone Addams needed to say something she was going to say it.

And this bout with Maria was ten years in the making.

Holding her chin high, as though it would really do anything, Maria paid a glance to the cowboy and baby girl in his lap. “Well if you want honesty, then I’ll give it to you. I think you two hooked up in drunkenly Rhett Abbott fashion and he knocked you up. So, it only makes sense he’s with you because you two have a child together.”

Silence followed, so thick it could cut through wood. Rhett placed his coffee mug down slowly, glancing to see what his girlfriend would do. One look between Wednesday and Persephone and, to Maria’s surprise, the two sisters burst into laughter—an unsettling sight since Wednesday Addams never laughed in public before. A sigh of relief left Rhett, rolling his eyes at his ex who just stood stunned.

“What the fuck is so funny?”

“Oh, Maria?” Persephone wiped her eyes, “It amazes me you actually got a job as a bank teller when you have no idea how to do math. It was always your weak spot in school considering you paid Jason Barker to do your homework.”

Seeing the confusion, Persephone broke it down for her. “Maria, my daughter is just shy of her second birthday. I told you I returned to Wabang just over a year ago and that Rhett and I have been together for almost a year. So, please explain to me how the math adds up?” She didn’t allow Maria to answer. “That’s right, it doesn’t. Rhett is not her biological father, but he treats her like she’s his own.”

“I can see you are already questioning what happened to the child’s father,” Wednesday voices. “I can assure you he’s occupied at the moment. Life in prison keeps his days busy.”

Maria was flabbergasted. “Wha—?”

“He didn’t do anything…but I made it sure it looked like he did.”

That made a choked sound leave Maria, waiting to see if Wednesday would admit she was fucking with her.

But Wednesday Addams never fucked around. It’s other people who do and they find out the consequences.

Persephone narrows her eyes slightly, “How disrespectful of you, Maria, to assume Rhett and I are only together because of a child conceived from a one night stand—and even if that were the case, who’s to say nothing real could’ve come from that? For some people, it does happen to them.” She takes a step closer, causing Maria to take one back. “Clearly don’t know the type of man he is now. And you sure as hell don’t know me. But you seem to have stayed the same—despite you believing the opposite.”

By now Maria was red as a tomato from the heat in her, “who the hell do you think you are to judge me? I highly doubt you’ve changed since high school, Persephone. The only thing that’s changed is you got a kid—who I wouldn’t be surprised if the father ran off because he realized what a psycho you are.” If the words were affecting Percy, she wasn’t showing it. Instead she just remained smirking, nodding as Maria continued to rant. “Still the same gothic freakshow who obviously manipulated Rhett into feeling sorry for you—.”

The slapping of Rhett’s hand on the table made Maria and Amy flinch, neither of the Addams girls reacting as Rhett passed Mona to his niece to stand by Persephone.

“That’s enough,” his voice was heard. “You’re ain’t gonna insult my girlfriend or insinuate shit about me to make yourself feel better. After everything you’ve done—high school to now, you’ve no right to come in here and act all high and mighty,” Rhett watched her flinch, face consorting into a frown. “You’ve got no place here. Best if you leave now while you can, Maria. Otherwise…” he trailed, bidding a glance to the Addams sisters, “you know what, I’ll let them warn you.”

“Warn me?” The way he said it sounded more like a threat than a warning.

“Well actually,” Percy hums, a menacing smile taking over. One Maria was already dreading to find out what it meant. “I already did what I wanted to do a long time ago. You remember, Maria?” The color drained from Maria, a paleness replacing.

She was referring to the incident in high school. Where Percy dropped a black widow spider on her face and sent her to the ER…..and therapy. The shitshow that followed had Maria wish she could erase it from her memory. Only good thing that came out of it was Percy leaving Wabang, but not because she was forced to, but because she wanted to. They couldn’t press charges or expel her without issuing the same on Maria.

Seeing the memory replay in Maria’s head, Percy’s grin grew wider. “But Wednesday’s been planning her bit for years. And now that you’re back she can finally put it in motion! How exciting, sister! I know you’ve been waiting years for this.” A childlike clap makes Maria flinch once more, staring at Percy like she was crazy.

“I have been looking forward to using the new blow torch father got me for Christmas,” Wednesday confirmed, never straying her gaze from Maria.

Within seconds the woman was out the door, her friend that was waiting chasing after her, but not before shooting a glance at the group. Persephone gave a sigh of victory, “I knew that would work.” Turning to Rhett, she placed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, “Thank you for standing up for me, darling.”

“I know you can handle anything on your own, Percy. But I’ll be damned if I let her call you those names. No one will ever say that to you again—especially her.”

Wednesday appeared disappointed, “I didn’t even get the chance to mention about the rats I’m training to use as a torture method. Maybe I will get the chance next time.”

At the mentions of rats, Rhett and Percy turned to each other, both thinking the same thing. “Well if that ain’t fucking poetic.”

Leaving the tip, Rhett gathered Mona in his arms, taking Percy’s hand in his free one and followed Wednesday and Amy out the diner. People stared, especially the ones familiar with the stories between the couple and Maria.

It seems history was about to repeat itself. There was always something going on whenever the Abbotts and Addams hit the streets of town. First a drifter ends up in a hospital, and then buckle bunnies are coming down with food poisoning. Now throw in an old nemesis/ex and things were bound to get crazy soon enough.

After all, revenge was a dish best served cold.

…………..

Tag list for this series: @endofdays56, @avaleineandafryingpan, @tallrock35

[night-wilf]

New assistant duties

Appears @stealingyourbones found a job! Hope ya like it bud.

The large doors of the throne room creaks open slowly, a skeletal face peeking through the gap to look around before entering. Their awkward shuffling making Danny slightly amused and he catches the guest’s attention. “It’s fine to approach or whatever, just taking a break from paperwork right now.” His monotone reply brings the young ghost up to the steps quickly. Nervous at meeting the King for the first time.

They fumble with some paper and find the right one. “Uh I am here to request permission to travel to the DC universes to retrieve from books borrowed from the personal collection.” They seem proud to have not stumbled over any words and smile at Danny. He scans the younger ghost closely.

Their waistcoat midnight blue with black stripes down the panels, the adjustment straps on the side pulled tight to fit their ribcage properly. Their shirt underneath is a lighter blue with slight puff at the shoulder seams. The dark grey trousers are an odd choice with the mismatched and poorly tied converse they are wearing. An elbow length undershirt and gloves, both black, largely cover what still shows of their body.

He sits up at what they say and he knows the Ghost writer recently got an assistant and is very particular around his books being returned on time. “Ghost writer’s new assistant right?” ‘Celia Bones’ nods and tries to keep their cool. Danny only sighs a little and smiles back to calm their nerves. “Go ahead, just don’t disrupt critical timeline moments.” Celia walks out the castle skipping with pride and flies for the first portal going to their destination, hoping to make their new employer happy.

-

The swirling worm hole spots them out in the middle an office that goes quiet at their appearance, not too bothered by the silence and finding the nearly 7 foot tall humanoid alien in the break room. “Mr. Kent? You have some overdue books. They are from the personal collection so I have been sent to ask you return them.”

Clark stares at the walking skeleton for a second and sips his coffee. “They’re in my bag, I’ll grab them.” He smiles and guides the walking spirit to his desk where he pulls out a couple books on historical writing styles and a few random topics. He puts them inside a small wormhole as requested and signs a form that he’s returned the books as requested.

Celia smiles and it is all finished. “Thank you Mr. Kent. Have a good day.”

-

They step through a portal opened behind them and continue to the lavish party held in a manor. The host of the party being Bruce Wayne who they approach as he breaks away from some guests looks round at hearing them speak. “Excuse m-“

“Holy fuck!” Bruce jumps at seeing Celia and takes a moment to gather himself. “Sorry for swearing, you caught me off guard. How can I help you?” He hides his freak out internally and takes the 5 page list of books his sons have borrowed and neglected to return. Not even surprised most of them are all some of ‘ancient weapons and techniques for beginners’ and more advanced versions of the novels. He sighs and calls for them all to return the books because it is all from a personal collection with a very pissed owner. He doesn’t have to guess why the assistant was sent instead.

The heavy novels are all begrudgingly brought downstairs and dumped into the portal that is opened, Bruce not even questioning how they managed to get the things in the first place. Celia has them all sign their separate lists and gets one of Bruce’s favourite books back seeing it in a list for someone else which was a mistake.

-

The next place is disaster site where Flash is talking to some officers, Celia patiently waiting and isn’t surprised when he jumps. “Hey little… never mind, you need something?” He smiles and looks at the list he’s handed.

“These books are overdue and are part of a private collection.” Barry realises and says he’ll be back, zipping back in a few seconds with all the books on the list and few others he’s also borrowed. Though not from the personal collection. “And if you sign here it will be all done.” Celia smiles when he’s done and checks their list.

“Thanks for the reminder bud, hope the rest go well.” Barry smiles and speeds off after making sure Celia gets through their portal okay. “What a nice kid, might just borrow a book again to see them.” He smiles.

-

The darker version of Diana Prince slams the poor soul’s head into the ground, looking round with the same anger to the skeleton who squeaks and covers their face with their arms. “Please don’t hurt me! I’m just here to get some books back.” The strange reaction makes her pause and remember she borrowed some ancient books on necromancy.

“Oh right. I’ll go get them.” She ‘smiles’ and disappears, one of the few people she will not try to kill is the assistant of the cosmic librarian. That just makes her situation worse and she already wants this thing to be over with.

Celia has to tape the sheet back together when she signs and places a bill for damage on Diana’s back when she turns around. How disrespectful : (

-

Celia becomes quite excited with the next one and hops back over to Gotham to find Patrick O’Brian, aka Plastic man. They love his humour in the comics and are incredibly excited to meet him in person. Their excitement almost exploding when they actually see him as he gets some kids down from a tree.

“Sir- Plastic man uh… Yo- You have some books overdue.” Their stutter amuses Patrick a little and he stretches up to where he was perching for a bit. He hands over the books and chuckles as Celia scramble to get the list for him to sign.

“You seem a fan, must a read about me.” He smiles and Celia smiles back, not mentioning he’s a comic book character to them. He finishes up and happily signs their notebook presented for an autograph. “New job?”

“First week actually. I’m hoping to impress the King with my work.” They get a head pat and assured they will do fine. Patrick leaves and hears the distant squeal of happiness from his little fan, chuckling a little at this reaction.

-

Celia gets back to the library to a happy Ghost Writer who just laughs a little at their happiness knowing they are a fan of Plastic man. “I made sure he was on the list for you.” He gets a hug for this and lets Celia go for the day to relax and work off the energy from their happiness.

Needless to say there were some noise complaints in the end.

[ghostykai]

Overlord!Kaire: Fortuna

In this version, Kaire arrived in the middle of Alastor's absence and did not know about the Hotel.

Check out other works about Kaire: Kaire info, Kaire pt. 2, oneshot 1

(My Ask Box is open! So if you want to ask anything, ask away!)

When Kaire arrives in Hell, they immediately know they are fucked if they don't find a way to get above the rest

Stealing a tarot deck from the old demon that runs the antique store was easier than they liked to admit, their giant hands coming in clutch

"Readings! Find out your Fortune for just Five bucks! Best tarot readings in all of pentagram city!"

Thus, Fortuna was born

A few months in they found that setting up near casinos was where real money was made, filled with people willing to give anything to know the winning numbers or when to bet

Soon they made a reputation and they started asking for more: "I take 5% of all your earnings" "One favour for a reading"

From a little stand to a proper store, from 5% of earning to 10%, 15%, 20%, they grew and grew until one day:

"Welcome, what can I do for you," Fortuna asked when their heard the bell at the door ring. The small room was dimly lit and filled with the smell of ash and something woody. Fortuna leaned back in their plush seat, yellow eyes seemingly glowing, rifling and shuffling through their cards.

The demon that had just walked in sat down opposite to them, eyeing Fortuna wearily, "Yer the demon that can tell the future are ya not? Ya can tell folks' secrets and shit, right?"

Fortuna smiled, leaning closer to the table, interested, "For the right price, yes," they chuckled, it weirdly echoed in the room, "I can tell you anything you want: past, present or future, known and unknown."

"Whatever ya say," the demon replied gruffly, "I got someone I gotta get rid of, competition ya might call it. Tell me how to get ahead, take em out of the game."

"Oooh I see, rivalry," Fortuna's smile spread wider, "And what are you willing to give up for this knowledge, sir?"

"Anthin ya want"

The room was now clearer, illuminated by the yellow glow of Fortuna's eyes, not only the ones on their face, other nine had appeared like a crown, floating around their head. The demon gulped at the sight, the eyes seemingly all laughing down at him.

"Anything?" Fortuna asked in a sing song voice.

"Yes, anythin, I want that fucker gone!"

"What about..." In the blink of an eye (or 9) Fortuna was gone. The demon all but shrieked when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "your soul"

He turned but Fortuna wasn't there, once again sitting at their usual place, playing around with their cards, smile as big as it had ever been.

That was the first soul. The demon did in fact beat his enemy, but at what cost

After that, striking deals for soul became much more usual as word spread of just how good Fortuna's divinations were

Fortuna didn't really know when they became an overlord, but one time as they were strolling around the city, they heard people whisper: "The Fortune demon" "the overlord of fate"

Obviously, due to their occupation Fortuna did know a lot about Hell, but not many details about the other Overlords, they really didn't care for that

Fortuna also didn't quite care about their status as an overlord, all they wanted was to be financially stable and not be bothered

Carmilla was obviously the one to reach out, calling Fortuna for a meeting that honestly was a waste of time. They discussed what Fortuna's territory is, mostly having carved out a place near the gambling houses and what they planned to do with it

The second overlord to approach them was Vox. Asking if Fortuna wished to ally with him and the other Vees. That created a tentative cooperation, mostly consisting of Fortuna saying what the next successful trends would be and the Vees offering enough money to not make Fortuna regret their decision

Fortuna doesn't really use the souls under their possession much. Here and there they may ask for a favour or some Intel one of them might have, but for the rest, they leave them be

When they find out about the Hazbin Hotel and the Radio demon Alastor, they are quick to check in with their cards

Fortuna is extremely opportunistic in this version so when they find out it's convenient for them to join the princess of Hell, it doesn't take long for them to be knocking at the Hotel door

But the rest is for another time since this is getting long. Hope ya liked it, more is coming!

[thetobiroppofan]

one piece rant #2: the best baroque works agent (and a derailing of topic)

ONE PIECE LIVE ACTION REMAKE SEASON 2 REVOLVING AROUND ARABASTA ARC!!!!! DROP MARIANNE/MISS GOLDENWEEK AND MY LIFE IS YOURSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs

so did you guys know that outside of the Tobiroppo I'm obsessed with Marianna aka miss goldenweek from the little garden arc and also her "miss goldenweek's operation: meet baroque works" cover story? probably not this is my third overall post.

so like miss goldenweek right??? shes absolutely goated solos ur faves served ate cunty mhm yahyah

he entire power is basically so unique cause how u finna tell me this teenager has the power to manipulate emotions using her paint?? like damn bitch yas queen

id also like to mention the fact Marianne had a way more grown appearance where btw canonicallyy during her first appearance she was age 16 and in manga she looks like a 16 yr old

a bit wonky yeah I'll admit but like she looks like a teenager tbh likee u can tell by her features yeah shes a teenager shes 16 (18 post timeskip)

this girl looks like shes in highschool

Get this fuckass baby off my lawn (/j) but fr like you can tell there are some more changes for example I feel like they made her face a bit more rounder, could just be perspective, they also made her braids larger which makes her look like a kid, her pallet also appears to have changed which idk if u guys agree if u even read this but like it makes her look more childish anyways this aint Abt how the anime made her look 10 at most she still ate in both versions

Basically I think Marianne should make an appearance in one piece cause if they gave us past Mr 7 coming after Zoro they can give us miss goldenweek

"but she didn't have that much of an impact!!!!" GO FUCK YOURSELF

I DONT GIVE A SHIT IF SHE GETS ALL THE SCENES SHE HAD IN THE ANIME/MANGA OR IF SHE FUCKING POPS UP IN THE BACKGROUND FOR A SECOND I WILL NOT STAND FOR COMPLETE MISS GOLDENWEEK ERASURE SHE WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER TO ME

ok so anyways

me core (not really but I like saying that)

we should normalize like making lists of your favorite characters here's mine but in baroque works agents

Marianne/Miss Golden Week

2. Miss All Sunday/Nico Robin

3. Mr 2/Bon Clay/Bentham

4. Crocodile

5. Miss Double Finger

6. Galdino

7. Miss Valentines Day

8. Miss Fathers Day (she sucked as a person but the outfit lowk ate)

9. the rest

10. miss merry Christmas

if my blog gets 10 likes on this post I drop a Tobiroppo ranking spoiler alert x drake is at the bottom I hate that ginger emo fuck so much how dare he betray the best villain group I may be biased but I love you Tobiroppo mwa mwa mwa

ok thanks for reading if u did I'm very normal don't sign me up for a mental asylum love u mwa

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts S07x19 Of Grave Importance

“What are we eating? Taco Nacho? Taco Macho?” “Is it Tacos Macho? There’s an S in there” “Open 24/7. Hot something” “Who’s Annie?” “Do we know her? I’m confused. I don’t mean to be frustrating. I’m sorry” “Why do you want to make out in an abandoned house?” “Definitely not cops” “You’re all fucked now” “I don’t remember this one” “like I think I do but I don’t” “well shit” “He’s digging for dick OR he’s digging dick” “I mean, there’s an excuse for ya” “I can’t remember for shit what he’s trying to say” “I just wonder if it’s been long enough that we’ve seen these seasons that I don’t know’ 🎶blue hat bobby🎶

“Those sheets are awful” “but you’re a ghost. You don’t have to sleep” “I have a sneaking suspicion that Bobby is going to save the day” “holy shit” “friendly dress” “beeping ringing vibrating buzzing away” “yeah figured as much. That’s no good” “So we just meet her the once and she’s dead. Damn” “takes a lot of juice apparently” “fancy” “well shit” “that was a cool effect” “does this dude fast track on ghost abilities?” “He’s really that incapable of calming his mind for 2 seconds?” laughter

“I wonder how long that took in makeup” “the fuck” “oh I figured it was something else” “Bobby didn’t like hanging with them every single day beforehand. He’s probably going crazy” “That’s not ominous at all” “Hello” “it was bobby” “dude I’d be losing my shit right then. I mean you hunt ghosts and shit but you could be thinking it’s a demon or whatever hunting you” “is that like some cardboard statue.” “Definitely not a cardboard statue” “well that’s kinda hilarious” “could have gotten away” “oh shit” “He can absorb ghosts or something” laughter

“Why does she wanna be…oh sure whatever. I feel like he’d notice” “OH yeah it’s the secret passageway” “need me a good secret passageway” “Mom’s old farmhouse had one between two of the bedrooms” “What happens if he doesn’t end up back in the car?” laughter

“Well I mean isn’t that just going them away anyway.” “I guess I missed how they got trapped there” “well now you’re going to wish you left the flask in Dean’s pocket. Fkn Idjit” “Why weren’t there more episodes with Annie? She’s a decent character” “he’s groping” “I mean he’s not there now because he’s with the boys, but when he gets back, you’re fucked” “that’s rather unfortunate” “that’s what she said” “They invited a character and killed her in the same episode. I’m sure I complained about it before but goddamn” They do that all the time

“I guess it makes it easier to watch as independent episodes later easier, but it makes it more frustrating in the future” “what the fuck” “oh yeah, he can choose when to appear or what” laughter

“You’ve got like 10 seconds” “why did bobby have to do the thing? Couldn’t he just walk through the wall as a ghost?” “That’s confusing” laughter

“So did half of Bobby’s essence get evaporated? I’m so confused” “a while? That’s the worst response ever. Tell me minutes, hours, days, weeks” laughter “apparently” “What’s that phrase mean? It sounds weird, because he’s attached to the thing and he’s telling them to suck it off” Patrick Swayze in ghost

“Wait. Oh yeah they burned the dude already” “This whole time I was waiting for that guy to come out and fuck one of them” “Maybe he just can’t cope with the fact that this is Bobby’s version of heaven” “if bobby can carry his own flask around, he can just go fuck off in the woods somewhere” “Helluva a lotta light for the side of a vehicle on a 2 lane road” “fucking ufos landing in the field in Nebraska as you’re driving through. What the fuck”

[captainaikus]

♱ 𝔅𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔡𝔦𝔞𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔡

♱ Pairings : Sanzu Haruchiyo x fem! reader (Haru are reader are 16 to 17 at the start of the fic, idway they’re 19, timeskip! Bonten! Haru x reader they are 27)

♱ Warnings : Violence, crude language and graphic depiction of blood (duh it's Sanzu), Sanzu being a sadistic shit in a way?, mentions of sexual abuse (but not quite elaborated just the threats of it), mentions of blood, mentions of suicide (on reader's end), mentions of killing people and drug abuse (cause duh it's Sanzu)

♱ Tags : SFW

If you don't like it, then don't read it.

Tone : Angst to fluff

Synopsis : After saving an unconscious boy from a gang scuffle, you learned his name was Akashi Haruchiyo. With your friendship coming to a turn and you leaving for the states, you made a final promise to him that you would always be by his side. Unanswered phone calls along with his disappearance for 3 years, yet you still continued to look for him. On a fateful day, you did run into him but not a way of what you had in mind. As you learnt more about Haru, you look back on your conversations and time with him. Was the really the Akashi Haruchiyo you knew or would you face the wrath of Sanzu that was secretly hidden?

♱ note : So I deleted the first part and had some time to kill... and I made it into a oneshot! And I do plan on working for a series, but that would probably be uploaded on ao3 or here, can't say... But anyway... Surprise cherubs! The parts came in early... I was gonna write some smut, but I just wanted to keep it wholesome. I hope you enjoy reading the new version of blood diamond! I will also be taking a break for a couple of days, but my next oneshot would probably be an idea I have for Fushiguro Megumi... maybe ଘ(˵╹-╹)

I know I will be back to edit this later.

Amount written : 6.9k words

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Do not copy, repost or edit my works. That includes the idea of it too.

“Ne ne Kita? One of the students in our year was beaten up yesterday. And guess what” one of the students quipped.

“What what?” came eager voices

“It was by a gang” he excitedly replied.

“Ehhh maji?” The girl questioned in a non believing tone.

“I heard he was a second year which means he’s one of us. Goes by the name ‘Sanzu’. Even though he does go to our school, highly likely if we know him. He doesn’t come for class neither does he make an appearance for exams. Sounds more like a deadbeat gang member unlike the other loud pricks that roam around the hallways of our school” one of the boys in the group said.

“Looks like along with him the reputation of our school would also go down. Looks like I’d have to tell okaasan to pull me out early” one of the girls responded.

Hearing them, you remembered the discussion teachers were having in the staff room when you went to keep assignments on their desk. The number of delinquents had been growing slowly, eating away at the school’s reputation. The most notorious cases had been in and around parks and empty grounds at night. Thinking back to the teacher’s comment, you wondered why they wouldn’t be involved in the life of a delinquent. Sure, it was tempting to not live by the rules… but wouldn’t it better to have something consistent that’s worth depending on like an actual job rather than running circles, breaking the law and eventually running away from it?

“Oi errand girl” one of the boys called out.

Those three words were enough to break you out of your daze and brought you back to harsh reality.

“Go get me some juice” Kawasaki said. “Oh… and you’ll be paying for it” he added with a sinister smile.

Getting up from your desk, you made your way to the konbini which was the closest to school. Buying 8 drinks, you made your way through the lonely street. Turning around the corner, you could hear sounds of people fighting. Peeking from a wall, you saw a young boy with rose pink hair being beaten into the ground.

“Think ya could take us in one go ha?” the man straddling him said as he held the boy by his collar.

“Don’t fucking forget. You’re a Toman reject” he said as he carved into the boy’s with his knife while his other two henchmen laughed.

“Yametekudasai” you screamed as you ran towards the unconscious boy and the trio who pinned him down to the dusty floor of the street.

“Ha? Do you want to get beat up too lil girl?” He said with a sneer as he got up from the unconscious boy and walked over to you. Thinking fast you looked at the boy. What possible excuse could you come with in order to get him and you out of the terrible situation.

“Our sensei sent me to go search for him. He said he had detention after school and sent me to go fetch him. I promise you we won’t trouble you any further. Just give me the boy and I’ll be on my way” you said in a hurry, wiping the sweat away from your face.

“Hm… you think that is a good enough excuse for me to let you go?” He said before looking down at the bag.

“You’ll probably have to give me something else in return” he added with a smirk.

“You can have my money and the juice I bought. Just please give him to me. And we’ll be on our way to school” you replied quickly, opening the bag in front of him to prove your point.

You felt your skin break into a cold sweat. It was no rumor what these gangs were capable of and what they would do to an unarmed woman. You felt your hands shake as you held the bag out to the leader of the trio. The leader stared into your eyes and smiled widely as he breathed in the scene of your fear.

“Ayyyy not bad huh. I was gettin thirsty and I could do with some money too” one of his henchmen said throwing his arm around your shoulder.

“You take those. I wanna have some fun with this one right here” the perpetrator said as he snatched the bag from your hand and threw it to one of his henchmen. Grabbing your hand, he pulled you towards him “I’ll have fun breaking you”

The unconscious boy stood up, kicking the perpetrator at the back of his knees. Letting go of your hand, you grabbed a piece of wood that laid against the wall of if the alleyway and hit it on the face of one of his henchmen while the boy punched the other in his face.

Thanking your stars and relieved by your luck, you dragged the limping boy into the nearest store and hid behind an array of shelves.

“Did you see them?” The leader asked.

“I think they ran ahead” his henchmen said as the ran across the store.

After waiting for twenty minutes and feeling confident they were gone, you threw his arm around your shoulder and dragged him to the Nurse’s office at school. Luckily, there was no one there to answer as you called out for the nurse which made it clear that the room was empty.

Grabbing the first aid kit from the cupboard, you dipped the cotton in antiseptic and dabbed them around the corners of his mouth where there had been a lot of blood. Fucking psychopaths. Even though it was shallow and not in need of stitches, the wound would definitely lead to a scar How could anyone even think of hurting another person this?

Feeling tears come to the corner of your eyes, you put the cotton down and looked at his breathing chest. At least he’s alive. It could’ve been worse had you not made in time… but you’d till couldn’t help the feeling of sadness and what if’s that played in your mind. Staring at his uniform, you could tell he was from a gang. ‘Toman’ huh… you tore your gaze away from the golden ,enters on his uniform to his face, only to find yourself staring into his blue orbs. You gasped while taking a step back. Using his elbows, he grunted in pain.

“Don’t get up. And don’t try to talk either. I’ll be right back” you said as you ran out of the nurse’s office and made your way to the classroom to grab your backpack.

“Oi errand girl. Where the fuck have you been”

Maybe you could pay them back some other day. Pushing Kawasaki aside, you ran back to the nurse’s office to see the said boy sitting against the wall.

Taking the strawberry milkbox, you handed it to him.

“Drink this. I would’ve offered you my bento, but you can’t move the corners of your mouth. Liquid foods till your wound heals up. Meet me here during recess so that I can see the progress of it. And before you ask, you can’t come to the nurse cause if she finds out, you might be taken to the higher authorities and possibly expelled when they find out you’re in a gang unless you have money who are rich bastards at school like Kawasaki. Taking care of your wounds at home is something I don’t trust you with, cause you seem reckless and a person with rough hands. Besides, my okasaan is experienced in this. I’ve seen her do it multiple times with me as a child. Sl don’t worry…” you said with a smile.

“You’re in good hands. I didn’t get your name though… would you write it down here?” You said as you handed him your notebook and pen

With slow and steady movements, he wrote in messy Kanji

“Akashi Haruchiyo”

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“Oi errand girl. Watch where you’re fucking going. My uniform costs more than your fucking rent” one of the schoolboys said as you were pushed into the shoe locker after school.

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again” you said as you bowed your head down, eager to leave the place, not wanting to go attract attention towards the scene.

“Fucking pathetic” he said as he turned his back towards back towards you and continued to make his way to the hall.

Getting your teeth and clenching your fists by your side, you raised your head up. Taking a deep breath you opened your locker, taking out your outdoor shoes, ready to meet Haruchiyo at your usual place.

Stopping by the konbini, you picked up some soda and popsicles before meeting him at the dock.

“Why did you let him go?” You heard a voice near you as you were paying for the bill ont he counter before taking your bought goods.

“Haru! Bikirishita!” You said aloud.

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Sitting on the dock, you took a sip of your soda before turning to face him.

“I see your scars have healed well… seems like my assistance isn’t needed any longer huh” you said with a sad smile as you gently moved back and forth to see the pale patches of skin that adorned the corners of his mouth. Your remark and gaze caused his line of sight to fall from your’s to the soda can that was unopened in his hands.

“What’s so good about them anyway? I could argue and say that it’s just skin… but I don’t like seeing a permanent reminder of how it is. Neither do I like it when other members of Toman stare at me for it” he said.

“I think they look like diamonds” you said as your eyes traced the shape of the scar.

“Diamonds?” He asked with his blue eyes widening.

“Yeah… like the ones you see on playing cards?” You said as you looked at him. Hearing a small chuckle, you nearly spat out your drink.

“Did you just laugh?” You said with a surprised expression. Your words silenced him and the silence was broken with the sound of the opening of a can. Feeling the breeze in your face and watching the sun set, you threw your head back and groaned.

“Nanda?” You heard Haru say.

“Ever wondered about what you’d want to do in the future?” You asked as you stared at the dark sky above you. Glancing at Haru, you saw him shrug with a casual “Betsuni”

“Hmm…” you replied back as you saw dark clouds pass through the night sky.

“Why do the kids call ‘errand girl’?” He asked suddenly. Taking a sigh you replied

“Okaasan works as a house keeper in Kawasaki’s house. Under contract, I was allowed to go to school with him. But apparently, my identity as someone’s daughter speaks instead of my grades and hard work”.

“Then why don’t you fight back?” Haru asked.

“Okaasan goes through a lot of hardships to earn our keep. I’m not about to let some stupid 18 year old with a silver spoon stuck in his mouth tell me how I should be when all he knows is money and being spoiled by his elders. Besides, it’s only of a matter of a year anyway before we go to university. Time flies by really quickly and I plan on becoming a doctor… maybe get out of the country? I want to be able to live a life of luxury… ever wonder what that’s like?” You said in return as you raised your hand to the sky.

“Must be nice to want something” Haru said as he gave a subtle smile towards you.

“The number of days you have is the same as stars in the sky Haru. Maybe once in a while, your chance would come riding on a shooting star, where you would know what you want. Until then, there is plenty of time. I’m curious to see what future Haru looks like though… would you continue to be ‘Sanzu’ or would you actually be ‘Akashi Haruchiyo’?” You said as you looked at him.

“Hard to say… you might end up getting what you wished for. Knowing you, you would tell me to have my identity, but knowing me for the past 18 years… I would follow Mikey wherever he goes” he said as he threw the can into the ocean.

“Haru don’t litter!” You scolded him. Chuckling, he stuck out his tongue while getting up and broke into a light run before turning back and smiling, indicating for you to chase him.

“Bakachiyo. Get back here!” You shouted as you got up to run after him.

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“Who did this?” Haru asked as he grabbed your bruised hand.

“It’s nothing Haru. I just bumped on the kitchen counter on the way to school” you said as you tried to cover your forearm with your school uniform.

“For fucks sake (Y/N) I work in a gang. You think I’m stupid that I can’t tell between a bruise from an object and from a person?!” He yelled. Even though his expression was hidden by his long locks and a mask, this was the most angry you had seen Haru. He was usually calm with his composure and it was surprising to see him this furious.

“I’ll find the bastard. And I’ll make sure he pays the price for it” he said as he turned to the school exit. Grabbing his arm, you held him back.

“We’re only four days away from graduation Haru. Please don’t be reckless. I won’t let people remember you as a person out for blood. Please let them see Akashi Haruchiyo and not a member of an infamous gang. I know you have a change of heart when it comes to Toman… but can we keep Toman you aside from the other you?” You asked him in a small voice as you let your tears fall onto the marble floor.

“Fine. Until graduation. Till then, I’ll behave” he said as he clasped his hand with your’s.

“I have a place where we should go” you said as you pulled his hand, telling him to follow you. Reaching in front of the large building, you said with a laugh

“Tadaa”

“The mall?” He asked with a bored expression.

“Well… there was something I wanted to buy you. Think of it as a graduation present… but I needed to see if you would like it or not” you said as you stared at your shoes embarrassed.

“Surprise me” he said.

“What?” You asked while blinking at him.

“Surprise me”

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“Open it” you said as you shoved the gift into Haru’s waiting hands. Opening the box and moving the butter paper, Haru eyes widened as he stared at the content of the box. Unfolding the cloth, he realized it was a scarf. It had the portrait of the king of hearts on it. The cloth was smooth and it had bright but subtle colors. Haru ran his hand through the scarf in admiration.

“Ahh… I hope you like it… it did cost me a fortune… but I managed it with saving my money and getting part time jobs. I’m sorry for missing out on the times we had Haru… I-”

“Kirei. Omae onaji da” he said as he chuckled. You shuffled bashfully at the compliment and felt heat pour out of your ears.

“I got you something too” he said as he held out a box in front of you.

Opening it, your eyes widened and your mouth left a gasp, surprised at the object inside the box. Pressing the back of your hand into you rough to muffle a choked sob, you picked up the stethoscope from the box.

“Why are you crying? Did you not like-” Haru asked as his blue eyes widened at your expression.

“No! I love it! This means so much to me Haru… apart from you and okaasan, no one really believes that I can actually have my dream. This means so much to me. I told you my dream just once and you actually believe that I can do it. I can actually do it. Do you know how much it means in the world to someone when they’re told they can achieve anything by someone else? I now have a permanent reminder of it. Thank you so much Haru. Every time I lose hope, I’ll remember to look at this on my desk. And if you ever need to be treated, then you know where to stop by” you said with a laugh as you wiped away the tears streaming down your face.

Pulling you in for a hug, Haru breathed in your scent, pressing your head into his shoulder.

“H-Haru?” You asked as you clung to his uniform.

“Will you leave me?” He asked in a broken voice, realizing that these were your last moments together before you left for the states to study.

“Never. I’ll always be beside you. Even though I am far away, I’ll be always be there when you need me the most” you said as you rubbed his back. He gently titled your face by placing his hand under your chin. Before you could question him, you felt your voice silenced by his lips pressing against your’s. Feeling his tongue danced with your’s you pulled his head back to stare at his beautiful blue orbs.

“Call me when you reach”

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“The number you have called is currently unavailable. You will be directed to voicemail *beep*”

Sighing deeply, you’d eat your phone on your desk as you stared out into the night.

“Where are you Haru?” You said to no one. Haru had not picked up his phone in last 8 years. Yet everyday, you tried to call him. Making trips to Japan, you wandered streets in search of him, only to be yelled at the turned away by people. No one knew who was Akashi Haruchiyo. At the start of your shift to the states, calling Haru was easy. But soon, days turned into weeks, which turned into months and then a year. The boy you once knew was erased and no where to be found. You were broken from your train of thoughts but the sound of your phone ringing.

“Doctor. You have get here fast. It’s an emergency and we’re losing out on blood” Making a dash for your coat, you slammed the door on your way out of the house and revved up the engine of your car.

Reaching the hospital, you were shocked to find the door of the room the receptionist directed you towards to be torn off it’s hinges. Your assistant and a nurse were found dead on the floor and a hulking figure hovered over the unconscious man on the bed.

“I told you I wouldn’t let you get away. Bastard” he laughed sadistically. Squinting your eyes, you saw long locks of familiar pink hair.

“Ha-Haru?” You said in a shaky voice while grabbing a fistful of your scrub in fear.

The figure turned around, and your eyes widened at the sight of diamond shaped scars at corners of the said figure’s mouth. Trailing your eyes from his lips, you gasped in fear at the blood that stained his cheeks. Meeting his eyes, you saw a maniacal expression with his pupils dilated.

“Wh-wha” you said as you took a step back from him.

“Ah… you’re alive?” He said with a maniacal smile. Dropping the collar of the unconscious man, he moved towards you. Taking steps back, you tripped and fell to the floor. Haru stared down at you with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

“How… why are you here?” You asked as you stared up at him. Giving a deep chuckle, he dropped something on the floor.

“Don’t have time to play around right now (Y/N). Maybe we can have a play date some other time. This” he said as he stomped his foot near the object he dropped.

“Would tell you where to find me. See ya then!” He said as he walked through the hall of the hospital. Watching his retreating figure turn to the corner of the hallway, you looked at the object he dropped. It was a playing card.

Turning it over, you saw it was the ace of diamonds.

“Meet at the mall, Friday at midnight. Come alone or else there will be a price to pay - Sanzu” the card said.

Gritting your teeth, you clenched your fist and whispered

“Who are you and what did you do to Akashi Haruchiyo?”

“Did you happen to know the man who was there in the room with a gun? Pink hair, Blue eyes, scars on either side of his mouth?” You asked the nurses and doctors in the room as you crossed your arms and leaned back into the chair.

“He just told us to move. And if we got in his way, he’d shoot us” Dr. Miyamura said as he adjusted his glasses. Humming deep in thought you looked around the room.

“Tell me this. How did Haru find the patient in the first place? Who went to pick the patient up after answering the call?” You asked as you looked around the room.

“Are you trying to tell me that there was a traitor among us Dr. (Y/L/N)?” Dr. Miyamura said with a slight chuckle towards your question.

“Riddle me this. Since I was called on emergency regarding the patient, I wouldn’t know what kind of injuries they suffered. Highly doubt a gang member made a report cause when it comes down it, if the patient was a member of the gang and got hurt, they would’ve taken them for healing into their own space. If the member was a traitor, they would’ve killed him cause that’s what most gangs in Japan have as one of their unspoken rules. So, this proves the fact that the report was made by a civilian. Now what doesn’t make sense to me and rather leaves me unsettled is the fact of how the pink haired man came into a particular room of a particular hospital? Tailing medics in the van with the patient would’ve caused him to jump early and by now there would have been newspapers stating that there was an accident on the highway and people in the van were found dead” you reasoned and said these words out loud for everyone in the room to hear.

“So yes, Dr. Miyamura. There was a traitor among us” you said while getting up from your chair with force. Looking around the room, your eyes fixed on the cctv that was on the edge of the room. Smirking, you made your way out of the room and headed to your office. If there was a traitor in the room, they would’ve seen your act of looking towards the ceiling. Packing up your belongings including a taser, you made your way to the control room where recordings of people in the hospital would be there. You had to stay in the room till nightfall to make sure the perpetrator would appear.

It was nightfall when you found the footage. Going through it, you couldn’t see the face of the nurse, but you did find it suspicious that they were heading into an empty hallway only to find Haru make a scene at the entrance of the hospital mere minutes later. Hearing footsteps approach the door, you quickly deleted closed the file and hid away in the dark corners of the room. Hearing the click of the door, you stayed still, digging your hand into your pocket, holding the taser. The figure had their back turned towards you and were going through the files.

Making your way from the corner, you twisted their arm in a lock and held the taser close to their neck.

“Don’t move. Or I’ll have you tased” you said. Hearing a slight chuckle, you dug the head of your taser into their neck to prove your point.

“Talk. Who did you call?” You asked. Laughing the perpetrator said

“The person you’re dealing with is the most dangerous one from Bonten (Y/N) san” he said in a raspy voice.

“Miyamura?” Your eyes widened in surprise, recognizing his voice.

“Sonotori desu” he said with a chuckle. Hitting him at the back of the head, you made him unconscious. Dragging his figure to the supply closet, you dropped him on the bed near the window of the room. Switching on the lights, you pulled belts from either side of the bed and strapped him down. Grabbing a chair, you waited for him to wake.

.

.

.

“Ore… doko da?” Miyamura said as he blinked his eyes, trying to get used to the hazy vision that came with him being knocked out.

“Doko demo iie. Now tell me. Who are the Bonten?” You asked while standing near his bed. He threw his head back and laughed.

“You think I would tell you?”

“Kosuke. If that’s even your real name… did you happen to forget that I’m a doctor?” You asked lifting a scalpel. Dragging it towards the corner of his head.

“They say the head and spinal cord at the most sensitive areas of your body. But I’ll get to that after I’m done with dealing with your femur and groin since that this what’s the most valuable to man… Am I correct?” You whispered into his ear.

Dragging the scalpel along his clothed thigh, you cut the cloth. Using the tip to prick his skin, you said “I’m a doctor Kosuke. Blood and hearing a person yell comes with the job. Don’t confuse me for a psychopath cause that’s what your kind does” you said as you lifted the scalpel high into the air. Trying to break free from being strapped down, Miyamura’s eyes widened as your hands came crashing down with the scalpel.

“I’ll Tell!” He screamed as your hands stopped mere centimeters away from his thigh. Grabbing his face you said, “I see you’ve a made a wise choice. Now tell me what is Bonten and for long has Sanzu been a part of it?”

.

.

.

You felt numb and shocked to know how Haru had become over the years. Had he truly fallen so far as a human to commit such gruesome events? Pressing the button to your floor, you saw the elevator doors close. Being unable to keep your eyes open, you decided to take a nap once you reached home. It had been a stressful night with finding the perpetrator, getting information, processing it and calling the cops with a charge of hospital malpractice and breach of confidentiality.

Crashing on your bed, the last thought you had was about seeing Haru. You woke up later to the sound of your alarm. Turning it off, you stared at your screen ‘Friday 9pm’. Realizing that you had to meet Haru at theI mall, you threw on your shirt with jogging pants and a parka. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you accepted your fate of possibly not coming back after your meet with Haru. Taking your black cap off the hook, and your keys, you closed the door and headed for the mall.

.

.

.

The mall looked broken and empty. According to the news, there had been a blast in the very same place about a year ago and it would undergo reconstruction. Looking at the broken windows, you remembered the day you bought the scarf for Haru. Working part time jobs and coming late to your meetings with Haru brought a smile to your face.

“You’re 15 minutes early” a voice came from behind you. As you turned your head the voice said “Don’t you dare turn around. Not yet at least” with a chuckle “Walk up the stairs and go the store you bought my scarf. But before that, throw your phone on the ground”

Taking your phone out, you placed in the ground.

“Good. Forward march” he said. Climbing up the steps, you made it the fourth floor and went into the store which was once surrounded by scarves.

“You can turn around now”

Taking slow and steady steps, you turned around to face the man you once knew. Taking a seat, he gestured you to do the same. Sitting far away from him, you looked at your feet. Hearing the crack of a pill, you watched him sprinkle the powder on his tongue before throwing the dissolvable plastic aside.

“Are you a corpse or are you a person? I came here to talk ” He said as he looked at you. Taking a note of his complexion, you noticed bags under his eyes and pupils dilated. His skin looked a sickly pale.

“What happened Haru?” You said as you grit your teeth. Your question was only met with the crack of another pill.

“What do you mean what happened (Y/N)? You’re pretty fucking dumb to not see anything around you” he said with a dark laugh.

“Why are you being like this?!” You screamed. “After disappearing on me for eight years, not answering my calls or texts, is this what I get?! What the fuck were you doing all this time Haru?” You yelled as you got up from your chair.

The sound of a gun rang in the air at the end of your sentence.

“Know your place (Y/N). That was a warning shot. I could take your life this fucking moment and no one would be able to find you. Not the police, not your family either. You’re a numbskull for a fucking doctor. It’s even a wonder how a pitiful person like you even made it this far to find me. I’ve chosen my path (Y/N). Nothing you say can change that and neither can you fucking stop me in the future too. Wherever Mikey goes, I follow. Even if it is the darkest pits of hell” he said as he held the gun a few meters away from you.

“Bonten is what you chose huh… what happened to waiting for me?” You said felt tears sting your eyes.

You heard a cackle around the room at your question. Coming to a stop, Haru’s eyes were wide as he stared at you.

“That Haru is dead (Y/N). You’re even lucky that I let you live. Small fries like you are fish bait in godowns that were once a part of Bonten. If I don’t spare people who work under me what makes you think I’ll spare you? And then you talk about me waiting for you and being your lover” he said as he continued to laugh.

“The man I know is Akashi Haruchiyo. The man I once knew was a friend of mine” you said as you took a step.

“The man I once knew was saved by me from a gang. He calls me pitiful for being that way, but I’ll never forget that incident as long as I live”. You took another step.

“The man I once knew has scars on the corners of his mouth. He used to feel ashamed about them… but it made think of diamonds every time I saw them. It’s what makes him even more beautiful”. You took another step.

“His baby blue eyes would shine anytime I said they looked like diamonds… I remember the day he got protective over me. He saw my bruised hand and scolded me for it. He threatened to find the boy who hurt me and kill him. But I said no. That day made my heart skip a beat and I realized that I couldn’t see him as a friend anymore… but I kept it all in” you said as you moved your foot forward to take another step.

“Stop right there or I’ll shoot” he said, placing his finger on the trigger. Taking slow and steady steps with shaky breaths you said

“On the day we graduated, he told me to surprise him with a gift I wanted to give him. I got him a scarf which would hopefully remind him of me. He got me a stethoscope. Even though I told him only once I wanted to become a doctor, he remembered it. It’s a gift I would never forget and it sits in a case in my office. He helped me save lives of people even though I was far away and he was here. With the last kiss he gave me, he told me that he would wait for me. And I promised I would be beside him” you said as stopped at gunpoint.

“But little did I know that the man I love was stuck in a hellhole while I was away. Abusing drugs, killing people and living his life where each day could be his last. It hurt me so much that the man I love is taking lives away and is happy to see his hands coated in blood of innocent people while my hands are the same, struggling to save their lives in an operating room. It hurt me so much I couldn’t breathe when I saw him standing over an unarmed man, ready to take his life like it was snatching candy from a child” you said as you pressed your forehead against the gun.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you Haru. I’m sorry that you are this way when I should’ve been there to save you. I should have been there to stop you. Even though you were under Mucho-san, according to what Miyamura told me, I’m equally to blame for being unable to pull you out of it cause I made a promise that I would be by your side. But I broke a promise and people paid for it. Ne, Haru, can I ask you one last thing before you decide?” You said as you held his hand with the gun as tears streamed down your cheeks.

“Have you ever thought of me from the years that went by? Have you ever thought about finding me as much as I tried finding you?”

Your question was again met only with silence.

“You’re still very handsome Haru. You’ve aged quite well from a boy I once loved to a man I still love and would go to the ends of earth for. I would have loved to spend time with you, but my time is up. I looked at myself in the mirror once last time knowing that there was a possibility of me not coming back in one piece. I’m glad though… and now that I’ve seen you and I’m happy you’re alive, I don’t really have anything left. You were the only friend I made in school and Okaasan isn’t there anymore… colon cancer took her away from me. I tried telling you this years ago… but after your silence, I realized how lonely I had become. Children would come into my office and grab candy from the bowl I keep …and that gave me joy… but there was a feeling of emptiness cause everyday I would hope. That you would burst through my office door and take me the dock with sodas from the konbini… but this is how we meet. I really want to go back to those times… but no matter how I hard I try I know I can’t. So what’s the point anymore? And you’ve made up your mind about not needing me anymore…” you said as your tears hit the floor while you pressed your forehead into the mouth of the gun.

“I can’t be vengeful… I can’t be angry. If only I stayed and saved you from falling into all this. Even though I hate so fucking much point I want to slap you, my love for you would always be stronger which is why I’m holding back” taking a deep breath you sniffled.

“Aishiteru… Son'nani. I’ll be waiting for you on the other side” you said as you pressed the trigger of the gun with your finger pressing into his.

*BANG*

You felt a pain on your shoulder. Opening your eyes, you saw turned around and saw the bullet lodged into the opposite wall. Looking down at your arm, you saw blood stream from your wound.

“Are you fucking idiot?!” Haru screamed. Staring at his face, you could see his eyes bloodshot and tears flowing down his chin, falling onto the tips of his leather shoes. Turning your head, you saw his hand shake while holding the gun.

“Haru?” You said in a shaky voice.

Dropping the gun, he pulled out the scarf in his pocket and wrapped it around your bleeding shoulder tightly. Tying the cloth into a knot he pulled you into him by the end of the cloth strings. You could feel his form shake against you as he held your head, nuzzling it into his chest while his other pressed your back against him.

“How fucking dare you. How fucking dare you pull shit like that!” He screamed as he cried. Using your other hand, you rubbed circles into his back.

“Did you really want to go into an early grave? You think I could handle seeing you as a corpse? Huh?!” He sobbed as he pulled at your parka. “Drugs are only way I can see you. When I’m sober, reality hits like a fucking bus knowing that you’re not there. Having Mikey so broken that he turns his back when I shoot people makes me think about you. And it hurts. It hurts so fucking much knowing how disappointed you would be with me. I even killed fucking Mucho. I feel like I’m going insane (Y/N). I thought about you every day, dove. Every fucking day” he said as he pulled back. Staring into your eyes, you could see how red and angry they were. Taking your cap off and looking at you clearly, he feel to the floor and pulled you down with him. Pulling you into his lap, he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against yours. Taking shaky breaths, he t go of your parka and held your face to make himself realize that you were here and you were real. You could hear his grit his teeth and let out a voice of pain.

“Were you really happy about dying? Were you going to leave me with telling me how much you love and not hear a fucking reply back? Did you really think I was gonna kill you?” He asked in a broken voice as his shoulders shook from violent sobs that racked his body.

“I didn’t want to see a world with you painted in red Haru. I knew what you were getting yourself into when you decided to join a gang and it was common at the time. But heinous crimes? Murder? Prostitution? Smuggling? Were those the heights you were aiming for? How did I not see all this? How… how did I not know about all this. Putting me out of my misery sounded more easier than living with the regret that I am to blame as well” you said as you felt your shoulders relax and your grip on Haru become loose as you let it fall to your side.

Taking your hands into his, he softly kissed the tip of each finger

“I might be a selfish man. But I’m not that selfish to keep you away from your calling. Saving people was your’s. Getting rid of them was mine. You don’t have to feel responsible about what I do. I chose to follow through with it. You gave me an alternative years ago where you asked me what I’d want to do going ahead. I had plenty of time to think about it. And going with Mikey is what I chose. You don’t have to take the blame Dove. If anyone is to blame t should me. I didn’t tell you where I went, if I was alive… I was just satisfied about you crumbling on your knees when you couldn’t find me. I thought it would teach you your lesson to be involved with me. Thought I would scare you off. But looks like it only led to you wanting to die by my hands” he said as he sniffled.

“I wouldn’t be able to bear it if I found my hands red with your blood dove. No matter how many drugs I take. No matter how many drinks I have. No matter how many people I kill. I wouldn’t be able to erase the thought that you weren’t fucking there anymore. Having you far away from but still breathing was enough to let me know that I can survive without you. You mean so much to me. So fucking much p” he said as he leaned in to kiss you. You could feel passion flow through him as you he tilted your head back and held you gently by your throat. His thumb moved in shooting circles on your pulse as hummed into the kiss.

Pulling back he rocked you back and forth into his figure while kissing the crown of your head.

“(Y/N)” he said breaking the silence.

“Hm?” You asked in a muffled voice.

“Aishiteru. Ore no diamond no joō”

There were a lot of things to be settled and said that night. But it could wait. The only sound you needed was of his heartbeat. It was enough to know he was with you and you had never felt more alive.

Looking down at you as you nuzzled into his chest, Haru felt his lips turn into a soft smile. When he was around you, there was no Sanzu. He was just… Haru. Your diamond in the rough… your, Haru.

Bonus : "I got your scarf dirty"

"Doesn't matter. Person who gave me the scarf is alive and that's the real pill"

"Don't use me as a drug reference. My shoulder will scar though... bye sleeveless shirts"

"You look beautiful in every way dove. Wasureruna"

Ne ne Kita? : Hey, Hey did you hear?

maji? : Really?

okaasan : Mother/ Mom

konbini : Japanese convenience store

Yametekudasai : Please stop ( and not in that tone ya pervs =_=)

Bikirishita : You surprised me

Nanda : What

Betsuni : Don't really know/ care

Kirei : Pretty

Omae onaji da : Same as you

Sonotori desu : That's right

Ore… doko da : Where am I?

Doko demo iie : Wherever, you're fine (in this reference)

Aishiteru… Son Nani : I love you so much

Aishiteru. Ore no diamond no joō : I love you. My queen of diamonds

[honouredsatoru]

JJK Characters x You on a date

notes : I tried including Gojo's love for Digimon since I also grew up watching Digimon and loving the anime with all of my heart, also because Gojo's seiyuu, both Japanese and English versions, voiced for characters in Digimon, so I wanna pay homage to the both of them. other than that, I also included my love for arts and history, something I tried to incorporate into my writing, just to make it like.. lilith's style, ya know?

extra notes : also I wrote megumi for Elli, just because haha.

warnings : slight cussing. not proofread lol. other than that, none. 100% fluff!

characters : gojo satoru, fushiguro megumi, kugisaki nobara, nanami kento, itadori yuji.

Gojo Satoru - Arcades, vintage shops, especially collectors, especially Digimon, comic book/manga stores.

[Your name]! [Your name!]! Look, look! It's the Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 series! All 9 of them! Let's get in!"

"Ahh hold on. Towu! We're supposed to visit the cat cafe, you promised that you would go with me and take pictures with the cat hairband on! And I'm starving!"

You jokingly scowled at him, tapping your Doc Martens feet on the ground, arms folding.

"Fucking adorable. Let me see if I can tease her more, hah." A smirk soon appeared on this blue-eyed darling of yours.

"Let me get the manga and I promise, I'll go to this cat cafe with you, baby. Hm?"

"Oh alright."

"I love you, sweetheart. I know how much you wanted to go there but the manga. I- ahaaaa"

He started pouting as he kept pointing in the direction of the Digimon manga by the window. You quickly opened your camera, taking pictures of him sulking, emitting a soft giggle that actually made his heart squeezed with joy.

He presses his lips against your forehead, thumb circling your cheek, gently squishing them before opening the door, yanking you into the comic book store with him. You vowed to hide the comic books once he goes on a mission. After all, he made you wait a month before the two of you finally get to go to this cafe you always wanted to visit.

"Baby, I can read what you're thinking. Your face shows it too. Hehe. Watch me hide your panties."

Taking in a few gulps of air to deepen your breath, you opened your eyes, to meet the love of your life's own eyes, snickering at you, his large hands on the crown of your head before ruffling your already messy hair. There is no way you can stay mad at this man, as childish as he is, you know he loves you and deep down? He knows you love him too.

Itadori Yuji - Thrift stores, internet cafes to play online games with you, cinemas.

"Candy! [Your name] love! Don't! Make! Me! Ahhh cover up for me! I am gonna lose! I am gonna-"

He turns around to face you with soft eyes, his eyebrows slightly droopy before looking back at the computer, taking in the seconds in his head to register the fact that he lost in his mission with you in Inferno.

"Awww sorry babe. I mean.. you just started playing CSGO, so tell me, why- again- damn it- you wanna- AH. Damn it! Throw the fucking grenade! I mean why you wanna play this game, you need more practice- FUCK YOU."

Gentle chuckles were heard, emitted from his throat, his soft, peach toned lips landed on your cheek repeatedly as he rubbed soothing circles around your back.

"Breathe, bunny baby. You're so feisty whenever you start having online matches. Breathe. I love you, and I don't want you to get your blood pressure rising because of these dumbos, hm?"

Your lips curl into a faint and appreciative smile, nodding while your eyes are glued to the screen, ignoring the fading laughs and snickers from the people acknowledging your mini rage.

"I love you too. If I win, I'm getting us boba and chicken nuggets. So let me fight them, okie?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Megumi - Museums, art galleries, photo exhibitions, aesthetic cafes.

"Oh Gumi bear, look at that! That is the Raft of Medusa, it was done by Thèodore Géricault, he himself interviewed two survivors from the shipwreck."

He looks over your eyes that shine with excitement and pure happiness.

"Art"

Was what he thought every time he laid his sight onto you. God knows that he falls in love with you every single time he is blessed with your presence. Resting his arm around your waist, pulling you closer, inhaling the scent of mixed berries and wild roses, he swore he heard his heartbeat increasing every two seconds in a span of one minute.

"Oh really? What do you think this painting is all about?"

Glancing at him before returning to the painting, you puffed your cheeks, pressing your lips together with your index finger curled on your chin and your thumb under it.

"Lord, she is so cute whenever she does that. Can I kiss her? Should I? No wait, she's trying to tell me her own interpretation of this painting. To me. Oh wow. I'm gonna kiss her... later. I can't interrupt her." That is all he could think of. You. He is deeply, madly, beautifully in love with you.

"In my opinion, it tells me the ways of how men, or human beings, seek out in order to survive. When we are at the brink of desperation, insanity, happiness, greed, lust, desire, wrath, grief, don't we all do things unimaginable to help us go through the day? They even resolved to cannibalism. I think even I would commit to that if I was in an extremely dire situation."

You looked at him, a wide smile on your face, emitting a soft giggle that entered his right ear and stayed within the chambers of his mind. He closed the spaces between the both of you, sealing his lips onto yours, with the intention of making this very moment last a little longer heavy within his heart.

"Art."

Was what you thought of him.

Nanami Kento - Theatres, historical museums, fine dining restaurants.

You squealed, lightly clapping your hands as you ran to a block of marble, your foot tapping against the floor. He chuckles, hands in his pocket, taking fast strides towards you.

"Namnam! Look look! That's the Parthenon Sculptures! It was founded in hm... Athens, yes! If I am not mistaken, around 438 to 432 BC. These sculptures decorated the insides of the Parthenon, it is a temple located at the fortress of the Athenian Acropolis. It is said that this temple was built to appreciate and worship the Goddess Athena, she was the deity worship in Athens. Also, ah ah! Did you know that the word parthénos means "maiden", "girl" or ‘virgin"? And I-"

You look at him, your magnificent lover wearing a dark brown trench coat, with ecru brown trousers and a black turtleneck tucked in, his neck layered with white gold necklaces. Your hand unconsciously scratches your sideburns, giggling at the side of his stoic expression, eyes piercing yours beneath that yellow-green glasses he constantly has on his chiseled face.

"Oh... I am sorry... I didn't mean to bore you. I was just so excited because you know me! I love anything that is related to ancient greek history and mythology. I can't seem to get enough of it and it is absolut-

"I'm not bored, [your name]. I was just paying attention to every single word that pretty lips of yours uttered. It's magnificent that you knew all of this. It shows just how smart, curious, bright your mind and soul is. And darling?"

"Huh?"

"I am lucky to be blessed with someone like you. With Gojo constantly following me, there is no way I can read the books I bought for myself. However, having you around, breaking the ice with your random history tib bits, I feel like I am reading the pages, savouring each word, alphabet, sentence, thus expanding my quest and love for knowledge."

You looked down. Normally, you're not the type to tear up this easily but seeing how this man, this angel of a man, appreciates the little things you loved and adored, you can't help but let the waterworks out. You lifted your head up to meet his gaze, the tip of your nose slightly stuffy. You grabbed his arms, clinging onto him, the difference of height and size makes it sweet to the eyes of strangers surrounding you both.

"Oh Namnam. Thank you so much. This means the world to me. Shall we... go and see the best of Ramesses the Great? I've loads to tell you!"

Nobara - Shopping malls, ferry rides, beach dates, parks with cherry blossoms.

"Baby... tell me, have you ever seen anything as joyous as the ocean?"

You two stood by the seashore, fingers intertwined, your head resting on her shoulders, the sound of the seas splashing against the rocks and the warmth around your foot, it tingled but it feels good at the same time.

"I don't want this moment to end, [your name]."

"Why is that, pretty one?"

A faint sigh leaves her lips, you feeling her body loosen up.

"I just.. school is sort of stressful so my time spent with you liberates me from the pressure, fatigue, and image of curses embedded in my brain. Walking with you... through this airy womb of skies and clouds, don't you know it makes me happy?"

You leaned closer, pressing a soft peck on her cheeks, earning yourself a pair of scarlet cheeks with a gorgeous smile from the one next to you. You turned yourself to face her, hands on her shoulders, bringing her body closer to yours.

"Whenever and wherever you need me, I will be there. I might not be perfect, but I am gonna do my best to be the one you can always count on."

You pressed a kiss on her left cheek.

"I love you."

A kiss on her right cheek.

"I love you."

A kiss to the lips of the woman whom you shared your entire universe with.

"To the moon and back, I love you, Kugisaki Nobara."

The end.

tags : @tojisveryown @sookyshima @megumifushi @sixeyesgojo @sirthisisa-wendys @sasso-oda @fushigurocockslut @nkogneatho @kotarousgf @noritoshiikamo

[solinarimoon]

Gimme all the answers for TLK for the ask game!!! I neeeeeeed to knowwwww.... ❤

Oh my dear!!! Thank you for asking! This is so fun! And honestly, it was super hard bc I wanted to include all my favs but I tried to stick true to the characterizations.

Here ya go!

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

I mean. I doubt this answer was a surprise. This man lives rent free in my mind and I have so many head cannons and ideas for him. Fluffy versions and angsty versions and dirty versions and combinations and just. He’s such an underdeveloped character (books and show) that he’s fun to be able to mold. I love his quiet and brooding, observant presence on screen. And his arm. And his jaw. I mention his jaw a lot when I’m writing. So yes. Sihtric = Sarah’s blorbo.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Osferth just screams “baby, we must protect” to me. It’s literally in his nickname, baby monk. And he is so different than the rest of the Coccham squad but they love him. He watched out for the children with Eadith in season 4, he is adorable and dorky and I love him.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

PYRLIG!!!! I love Pyrlig so much!!! He’s one of my favorite character in the books and in the show! (I had a random idea for a story heavily featuring him as an OC’s father who he has kept a secret or didn’t know about the other day… could be something to write there or not)

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Ok, I really love the character Sable. She’s Aethelflaed’s handmaiden and helps her escape to the nunnery at Winchelcumb then delivers her message to Beocca. I perk up whenever she’s on screen even though it’s only a few short scenes.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

A whole ass chaotic mess who (let’s be honest) had a right to be out for the throne because it was stolen from him. Now, he would have been a horrible king. Just awful. But I just loved watching his problematic ass just being a pain to everyone around him. Can I forgive him for murder if Ragnar? Absolutely not. Do I still love him and what he did for the story? Absolutely.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Beocca hands down would be so fun to pick at and torment. Good natured ribbing of course. But I love his relationship with Uhtred and how they’re constantly poking each other. I’d continue with that.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Aethelred. Fuck that pretty boy, piece of shit dick wad.

[apparentlyaswarmofbees]

Deaf MC vs Devildom

.

A HUGE thanks to @jaywalk-on-me for reaching out to me about this subject. I really hope I have given this it some justice.

Also, to avoid some of the controversies inside the Deaf Culture: I will not be referencing cochlear implants.

And a note for my fellow hearing people, there is definetelly not much difference between us and deaf/hard of hearing people, in fact, after reading about it, I can hardly consider it a disability seeing it can actually allow them to percieve the world in a much different way from ours and would not have any problems in their life if only us, hearing peers, were cooperative and understanding. Everything we need to do is literally minor details and does not hinder our own lifes in the slightest, in fact, it can even help us too! An example is captioning, there is literally nothing to lose, and honestly, even I put captioning on movies of my mother lenguage because sometimes I just can't understand what is being said and captions really help me with that and enjoy whatever I am watching to the fullest! So let's be more understanding. We are all humans, and can all learn from each other's perspective.

And as always

Warning: Uncensored swearing lol, and reference to lesson 16

.

Lucifer

Ah, yes, he knew about it, was in your files, nailed it, he learned your local sign lenguage, all good.

Except his expressions are so damn stiff.

He signs a 'Welcome to The Devildom' and I kid you not, you will not be able to tell if he is trying to be welcomingly polite (and failing miserably) or threatening you.

It was definetelly both

He gets better at it-

Perks if you like classic music though, because you will be able to give him a whole different way of enjoying it.

He won't force you to speak if you choose not to, but he sure will never stop being delighted to hear your voice if you do.

It still baffles him how observant you are, may start trusting you to find details he missed on certain things.

.

Mammon

He definetelly forgot everything he learned on sign lenguage the moment he stepped out of the tutoring Lucifer made him and all his brothers, except for Levi and Satan, go through.

Yes he will mistake around 5 signs per day on the first week of your arrival in the Devildom.

And he will often forget that you most likelly cannot hear him (if his voice frequency doesn't match your hearing that is) and go off blabbing without signing and then just go "oi why ya ignoring me" and he definetelly is this close 👌to being wacked with the closest thing at range.

Again, he gets better too.

In fact, once he warms up to you (and that's like, real fucking fast) he will make so much effort to get things right, and he always pays attention to have captions in movie nights even without you asking??

He tries lip reading once when you told him it's not easy and, I will let it to your imagination what on hell he managed to lip read.

.

Leviathan

As mentioned above, he didn't need the tutoring. Why? Guess what, he already knew at least a few sign lenguages, all because of the many animes, games and shows he has watched portray it, even though the ammount of representation is small.(btw I recomend DARK, there is a deaf&mute character and oh boi she's awesome, it's on netflix)

So he definetelly had no problem communicating with you, in fact, he was almost relieved.

He doesn't need to speak verbally?? He basically would rather spoon his eyes out than talk on the phone so on drug levels texting instead is like heroin????

And oh lord you NEED to invite him to the music festivals on the human world catered towards deaf and hard of hearing people, be will LOVE it.

A little bit of downside though, some of his expression changes are very subtle, but as he spends more time with you, he will start incorporating character voices into expressions and body lenguage instead, and you bet he enjoys doing it.

He will definetelly make music just for you. You only hear high frequencies? Or maybe only low frequencies? Or just nothing at all but you enjoy the rythmic vibrations? He definetelly has spend an entire night making a full fucking album just for you.

.

Satan

Seriously, he knows so many sign lenguages it actually made his way of signing pretty unique!

Another fake ass who will give you gentlemany smiles at first. He may be a way lot more smoother than Lucifer but you bet his fake ass is not passing your vibe check, not with the way his eyes just feel a little bit not right.

Another one who gets better though.

It's kind of nice how he grows so used to signing while speaking that his hands often give off a sign or two even when he is speaking to hearing people.

He will definetelly roast quite a few half assed interpreters.

Also he may or may not have gotten a new obssession after you two watched a few silent movies together??

.

Asmodeus

Oh boy this one needs to chill out a bit.

If you can't interpret signs when done too fast then good luck because his hands will literally be able to spell a full fucking paragraph in 20 seconds.

And oh how he explores your other senses.

Definetelly goes to you first to judge how he looks.

Also he is the best option to keep yourself informed?? I mean, it's also something he can relate with, it doesn't matter if someone killed somebody or just broke their nail, he needs to know about it.

He may be a bit disappointed if you don't speak but he gets over it quickly.

Will ruin many people's carreer if they so much as refuse to attent to you just because you're deaf. There's just nothing wrong with it??? Stop being so petty!

He is now your biggest distraction in mid class and you will definetelly end each day carrying at least 10 paper notes in which he will try to speak with you. They definetelly smell like whatever he smells like at the time. And are definetelly written in colored pen. With glitter. And there are hearts. And possibly a kiss mark-

.

Beelzebub

Big boy definetelly has two types of sign lenguage he uses, and if literally depends if he is eating and what he is eating.

Normally he is just, normal lol. Since he is pretty much quite a bit of an amateur at it he will make use of speech filters a lot when he needs to remember certain signs.

If he's holding something big like a sandwich he will either just gulf it all in to have both hands free or try to make a simplified version with one hand. I'll admit the first scenario is quite amusing.

Yes some of the first questions he asks is how to spells certain foods.

And yes you bet you won't be able to know all of them because Devildom food is definetelly something.

Oh and get ready for a bit of chaos if anyone refuses your order because you're deaf.

Please tell him to flap his wings and proceed lay on him or hug him. The vibrations will be very much close to one of those massage chairs.

.

Belphegor

Oh boy.

First off, he did NOT know about you being deaf because thanks Lucifer.

You guys definetelly spoke in a lot of exchanged notes under his attic door.

He keeps them all hidden somewhere but he will never admit it.

If you're willing to teach him at least how to say 'hi', 'good night' or things like that, he will appear to not be very interested but once the entire lesson 16 fiasco happens they're definetelly the only signs he knows about for some reason when he finally gets tutored.

Still texts you instead.

Even in the same room.

That's what you get from the avatar of sloth I guess-

He does sign a few remarks at you per example commenting on how the new hairstyle Asmo decided to make made his bangs look like a poop behind his back.

Also this:

(The picture above actually happened and was translated to english from my mother lenguage)

[kaistarus]

Fake Confessions Spawn Real Feelings

Pairings: Nishinoya X Reader

Words: 2.2K

Summary: Noya asks you to help him make Kiyoko jealous, but like most of his ideas it doesn’t go the way he expects it to.

Notes: Chaotic Noya is my favorite Noya, so half this fic is cute and half this fic is him being a crackhead. Both versions I'm unhealthily in love with.

**there’s now a sequel with the first date**

Masterlist

“Noya what the hell are you doing?”

Nishinoya appeared by your desk the moment the final bell had rung bouncing with the energy of a caffeinated toddler. You were suspicious of the impatient look in his eyes that could only mean trouble, which was later confirmed by him pulling you out of your desk the moment your class materials were packed. Now, without explaining his actions, he weaved his way through the halls while dragging you reluctantly along.

“The most genius thing ever.” He said once you arrived outside the school’s gymnasium. Nishinoya dropped your hand and began looking around the empty courtyard.

“What are you looking for?”

“Kiyoko,” he opened his bag and dug around before producing an envelope. You raised an amused brow at the poorly drawn hearts adorning the parchment.

“Are you giving that to her?”

Nishinoya raised an eyebrow like you’d just asked the most ridiculous question he’d ever heard. “What? No, this is empty.” He shoved it into your hands.

You blinked, raising the envelope into the light to confirm that it was indeed see through. “So, you just decorated an empty envelope? What’s the point of that?”

“Well, when Kiyoko sees another girl confessing her feelings for me. She’ll think I’m irresistible!”

He puffed out his chest after swinging his bag back onto his back.

“Another girl?” You snorted as you flipped the envelope over to admire the poorly drawn kissy faces on its back. “Who’s stupid enough to do that?”

“You are!” He said as if it should have been the most obvious thing in the world. You stared blankly. “You’re going to give me that fake love letter.”

“What do you mean I’m going to-”

 “Then she’ll be like, ‘oh Noya, I didn’t realize you were so sexy and talented, please don’t leave me’,” he said while clasping his hands together and raising his voice several octaves.

“I don’t think she’s going to-”

“And I’ll be like, ‘Kiyoko baby I would never leave you. I’d wait a million lifetimes sweet mama’.” He grabbed his cheeks and wiggled his butt around, clearly lost in a fantasy. “Then we’ll fall in love and get married at a destination wedding and have ten thousand children and Tanaka will weep of jealousy at my astounding awesomeness.”

“Ten thousand babies?” Your jaw dropped in horror before you quickly shook it off. You pushed the envelope against his chest. “Look, I’m not doing this.”

“C’mon, this is literally life or death.” He tried, shoving the letter back into your hands.

“What if someone sees? I’m supposed to live with the reputation of confessing to you and everyone thinking you turned me down?”

“First of all, ouch. Second of all, everyone’s gone home by now.” Nishinoya shrugged. “What could possibly go wrong?”

The phrase alone made a long list scroll through your mind. “I wouldn’t even know how to confess.”

“I’m literally cool as fuck,” Noya smirked. “It should be easy. Just be honest.”

You gave him a once-over. “Do you want to impress Kiyoko or have me be honest? Pick one.”

Nishinoya glared at you before his eyes connected with something over your shoulder. “Okay, here she comes. Act natural.”

He released the envelope and you caught it on reflex, sneering at him while he straightened out his poster and uniform jacket. What did he mean to act natural? Absolutely nothing about this situation was natural.

“Oh my gosh, (Y/N). Why did you ask that we meet out here all alone?” Noya said, his voice awkwardly stiff and loud.

Your grip on the envelope tightened as you tried to keep yourself from becoming more agitated with Nishinoya. He has the nerve to tell you to act natural and then puts on a performance like that. “I have something important I need to tell you…” 

“I wonder what it is. As someone who respects all women I will take any amount of time out of my day to listen to your words.” The corner of his mouth quirks up and he shoots you a small thumbs up at his hip. It takes all of your concentration to not roll your eyes.

You heard a pair of footsteps echoing from the walkway that connected the main building and the gymnasium, so you figured one of them belonged to Kiyoko. In your peripheral you spotted her and Yachi pretending to stare down at a clipboard in Kiyoko’s hands, but you knew they were glancing up at the fake display you both were putting on.

“Uh, well, it’s just… um... ” You nibbled on your bottom lip from frustration. Thankfully, they probably took your hesitation for nervousness rather than the inability to think of something to say.

 It wasn’t that you disliked Nishinoya. You actually really admired him-not that you had ever imagined admitting it to his face. But… if you didn’t have a choice.

You took a deep breath.

“I think that you're really amazing,” you said, avoiding his excited amber eyes you knew were trained on Kiyoko anyway. “I like how determined you are to do your best and how that transitions to how hard you work in volleyball. I truly believe you’re the greatest libero there is.”

You felt Nishinoya’s focus become more grounded on you, so you lifted your stare to meet his. The longer you made eye-contact the more it felt like he was pulling the confession from you. “I like how much you care about your friends and that you work hard to cheer people up even when I can tell you’re not in a great mood yourself. I also admire how fearless you are and how you’re the first to try new things.” You looked down again and dug your shoe into the dirt. “I wish I could be more like that sometimes.”

You felt your cheeks warming as his mouth went a little slack and his brow creased. You knew you could probably stop at any moment, but the words were flowing too easily and a part of you wanted him to hear them now. Later you could pretend it was for the bit and not because your heart weighed heavy in your chest.

“I’ve always been jealous of how free it feels to be around you. Like, how chaotic and carefree you can be, but you still know how to be serious in certain situations.” You shrugged. “You’re also pretty cute or whatever, so that’s a good addition.”

Nishinoya looked in awe. You glanced back at Kiyoko and Yachi who were now watching from the gymnasium’s entrance-their heads peeking out from the doorway. You became self-conscious when you remembered it wasn’t just you and Nishinoya and you felt the urgency to wrap this up quickly.

“So, uh,” you held the poorly crafted envelope Nishinoya had made outward. “I really like you, Nishinoya. I hope you can accept my feelings.”

The moment had come where he was supposed to turn you down. Say he couldn’t accept and you’d be on your way to live life like normal. But, instead of saying anything he just kept staring at you.

You coughed awkwardly and waved the envelope in his face. “Noya…”

“Oh, uh, right.” His cheeks dusted pink and he took the empty envelope. “Thanks. That um… you’re also… pretty cool.”

He just stared down at the poorly crafted envelope for several moments before glancing back up at you nervously.

 “So, I get done with practice at around six if you want to hang out later? Unless you’re busy tonight. We can hang out this weekend or really I can make any time work. Dead ass, like, I can fucking skip practice if that’s what you want.”

You blinked.

...what.

“What’s going on?” You leaned forward to whisper, but he leaned away awkwardly. “This wasn’t the plan.”

“I know, but you said all those nice things and now I’m confused.” Nishinoya covered his face with his hands.

“Confused how?” You looked back to the doorway where Kiyoko and Yachi had been peeking out and frowned at how they were gone.

“Confused like my heart feels funny and now I want to get married and have ten thousand kids and stuff.”

Your face turned bright red. “What? I can’t have ten thousand kids.”

“One thousand?”

“I’m not having more than two kids,” you crossed your arms. “Besides, one kid with your energy is equivalent to at least two.”

He pouted. “Fine, but then I get to choose our destination wedding.”

“Absolutely not. You’d pick somewhere ridiculous like Nebraska.”

“What the hell is a Nebraska?”

“It’s a boring place in the US where nothing-” You waved it off. “Why are we even talking about this? You don’t like me, Noya. You like Kiyoko.”

“But I didn’t even know I was allowed to like you,” his brow furrowed as he thought. “I mean, I’ve thought about liking you, but it’s different ‘ya know?”

“No,” you responded. Next time Nishinoya pulls you into a ridiculous plot where he claims ‘what could possibly go wrong?’ you’d have to add actual confessions to the long list.

“You’re like a real person.” He gestured to all of you and you just tilted your head confused. “It’s like, Kiyoko can turn me down a hundred times, but she’ll still talk to me so who cares. But if you turned me down it’d be different. I might never get to be with you again. Does that make sense?”

“I guess… so…” You furrowed your brow and stared at his shoes that were tapping nervously against the ground. “Do you even know how to go on dates?”

“How dare you,” he placed a hand over his chest in mock horror. “I’ll have you know I’ve read two whole romance books. No pictures.”

“Well, when you sell yourself like that.” You smirked before taking a deep breath. “I mean, I guess… it would be fine. If we had one date.”

“Really?” He fist pumped. “Fuck yeah. I’m gonna swoon you so good. This’ll be the best date of your life.”

“I’ve never been on a date.”

“Even better! There’s no standard.” He cackled as he spun around with his fist raised high. “I can’t even fuck it up.”

“I don’t think that’s how that-”

“I’ll text you,” he sent you a wide smile over his shoulder. “I promise that this is going to be really great. You’re going to love it.”

You gave a slight nod and watched him practically skip into the gymnasium. It took Tanaka’s disbelieving shouts to snap you out of your frozen stupor and you stared down at your hands in confusion.

What the hell just happened?

Mindlessly, you made your way to the front of the school where your bike was chained up so you could finally get home and relax. You spent the entire ride home in a numb state of disbelief that somehow, in less than an hour, you’d gone from refusing to admit you found Nishinoya even remotely cool to going on a date with him.

What kind of witchcraft had he pulled?

You assured yourself that it was just a date and nothing would come of it. So when you struggled with focusing on your homework that night because every few minutes your heart would do acrobatics at the idea of spending time alone with Nishinoya, you pretended it was just leftover embarrassment.

It also probably meant nothing that your face turned red when he texted you immediately after his practice with like ten smiley faces. And it definitely wasn’t a big deal that you giggled like an idiot while texting him until three in the morning about absolutely nothing. That was all just normal stuff that happened between normal people who had a normal non-romantic connection. No way had you actually fallen for Nishinoya.

You definitely weren’t in denial.

As you sat through a boring lesson the next day in class your eyes drifted, landing unsurprisingly on the boy taking up too much of your mental space. He was absentmindedly fiddling with his dyed strand of hair as he focused intently on the workbook on his desk. His tongue poked out in concentration as he repeatedly wrote and erased something on the same line in his notebook. You smiled fondly at the frustrated crease between his furrowed brow as he struggled to analyze that day’s literature passage.

Nishinoya must have felt you blatantly staring because he lifted his head confused before searching around the room and finally meeting your eyes dead on. You stared at each other briefly until he gave you a lopsided grin that sent your heart into a frenzy. You lifted your hand for a little wave and embarrassingly turned your attention back to your own schoolwork.

You rubbed your pencil’s eraser against one of your now pink cheeks.

Damn it… you thought, as you began underlining random sentences to appear busy. You really did like him. A small smile rested on your lips as your heart kept it’s irregular pattern. Perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing?

You snuck another peek and your smile fell when you saw him cross-eyed and balancing his pencil on his top lip. He’d apparently given up on attempting to do the assigned work for the day. You watched the pencil roll forward and he tried to catch it on his tongue before it clattered onto his desk, pulling everyone’s attention.

You groaned quietly and covered your face with your hands.

At least he was cute?

[binniesthighs]

call me babydoll | reader x chan

a/n: ahhhhh holy holy heck this chapter is SO DAMN EXCITING hehehe I had sosososo much writing and doing all the research!! please let me know if there is anything factual/cultural that I need to fix! I tried the best I could although I most def am not an expert in Egyptian culture so I appreciate it a lot :) hehe i hope ya have fun reading this chapter teehee oh! also I love hearing what you thought of it too! :D 

Four 

Pairing: self insert, female reader x bang chan 

Genre: action, mystery and suspense, fluff, smut, angst 

Tags: (of this part) bodyguard au, secret agent au, royal au, moderndayprince!chan, secretagent!reader, secretagent!jeongin, secretagent!jisung, collegestudent!seungmin, royal!minho, skz side characters, adventure and mystery, action and peril, plot driven, running out of time, slow-ish burn, growing feelings, sexual tension, explicit language, several mentions of food and alcohol as well as getting tipsy/drunk that good, good making out, suggestive themes

CWs: mentions of guns, mentions of knives, themes of jealousy (expressed by the reader) 

Word count: 7.5k

Parts 

ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE 

“Well, we’re in Cairo alright.” 

Two tugged the amazed young stow-away-student, Seungmin, by the hand of his backpack to keep him from running into one of the palm tree planters decorating the terminal. The young man had nearly slept the whole flight due to the length as well as the exasperation that he had just been through. While his eyes were still darkened from his nap, his glossy pupils still wondered all around him. 

“I take it back. I’m so glad that I almost died so I could end up here with you guys.” 

Jeongin slapped him from the backside of his head. “Never be thankful for almost dying. Life is a lot more fucking fragile than you think. This isn’t just some joyride--” 

“--Ease up F.” You interrupted your partner as you shouldered your bag. The kid had already been through enough already: he didn’t need accosting on top of it all. 

The dashing prince sighed out and stretched his arms. “Ahhhh Cairo. It’s been a while; too long actually.” 

The airport was humid: the kind of sticky warmth that dripped down your neck in a matter of seconds to then get caught above your lip. It wasn’t much help to the anxiety that already had seeped into your veins. The closer you got to a gun the more comfortable you would be. You and the other two guards created a formation around the prince with two in the front and the other in the flank. While each of you were dressed in regular street clothes, your responsibility of his detail still hung over your head with a severe air. 

Chan threw his arm over the young student with an obscene grin. His hair had become a little disheveled from the plane seat and his hoodie, but he didn’t appear to mind. Seeing him so normal was somewhat of an odd change to your previous unbreakable impression of him. 

“Seungmin my friend, you’ve never lived until you’ve been to Cairo. I’ve never seen another place so enriched in history in my whole life...it puts my kingdom to shame. It’s almost like...you can just feel the time here: hundreds of thousands of years...beauty, art, food, industry...I’ve got a thing or two to learn.” 

Seungmin nodded at the prince’s grandiose gestures in the terminal with an enamored smile. “I can’t wait to see it!” 

Your partner put a firm hand on the prince’s back to guide him to the baggage claim. “We won’t be here for long, so, don’t get too excited. We’ve come here for one reason and we shouldn’t dally otherwise.” 

The young boy appeared to frown, and Two bit his lip with a little chuckle. “Way to crush the kids dreams F.” 

“You know the mission, J.” Jeongin gritted his teeth with the words. “Everything is set, there will be a car waiting for us in the garage, and at the hotel we’ll have anything we need.” 

Prince Chan lulled his head back with heels clicking on the flooring. Rogue strands of his hair hung over his sunglasses where he threw a look back at you while pulling them down. 

“Don’t forget our little deal Bee? We’ll have time for a little pleasure.” 

The white haired agent rolled his eyes with gusto then adjusted the royal’s glasses over his face. “We’ve still got to be careful, you Highness. We never know where they could have eyes.” 

“I know where I’ve got mine...” He turned back once more to throw his cockiness in your general direction. 

“Listen to F, your Highness...if you want to live.” 

“Oooo. Feisty as ever, Bee. I love it when you bite back.” Chan turned to his new pet, Seungmin, “She’s really something isn’t she?”

The young man nodded, but not necessarily because he agreed, but it just seemed like it better to agree with a prince than to disagree with him. 

The air appeared to turn even thicker in the summery and arid city and your group approached the parking lot half shaded. Outside of the cement lot, iridescent waves of heat wiggled on the horizon, and further, the astonishing urban sprawl of Cairo, and just over it, the stretch of the Nile and Giza. Palms and other varieties of plants spotted the landscape and above it all, a perfectly crystal blue sky streaked with thin clouds. Had the circumstances been different, you really would have wished to have been there for pleasure. 

“This one. Right here.” Jeongin announced upon spotting the black armored sedan. It wasn’t the most inconspicuous vehicle, but you were prioritizing safety over aesthetics. Your partner touched his index fingerprint to the car door’s invisible panel, and it flashed blue just as the lock had at the safehouse with the ticking clock insignia. 

Two whipped his head around to make one last check of the surroundings before taking off his sunglasses and reddened eye. “Get in. Both of you.” He urged the prince and the student. He popped the drivers side open to find a different pair of glasses in the storage compartment: gold framed aviators. 

“Huh,” He said happily while putting them on. “This is more my style.” He rummaged around a bit more to find a new pair of black framed glasses there too. “Fox! Think fast!” He threw them over to your partner who sighed out with relief. 

“Thank god.” 

The trunk opened with a mechanical sounding creek, and you lifted up the trunk bed to find your whole arsenal: Heckler & Koch MP5′s submachines, Remington 870 shotguns, and Glocks complete with thigh holsters. Among the pile of metal, various knives and other weapons were held in foam holders. 

“They’ve got knives back there?” Two asked while pulling the rearview mirror to see. 

“Oh yeah. What? You more of a knife guy?” You teased while looping your thigh holster over your cargo pants. It fit just right. 

The illusive man popped his gum with a shiny smile. “‘Don’t ever have to reload them...that’s what I’m saying.” 

“Thank you Carroll.” Jeongin sighed upon seeing the thick laptop among the weapons. “Finally I can do some real work. That kid’s damn Chromebook was killing me. I nearly short circuited it trying to connect to our network.” 

“You what?!” Seungmin was suddenly much more interested. 

“Dont worry yourself too much, its still fine.” 

“Are there cameras in here?” You quickly asked your partner. 

“Agency should’ve fried them a long time ago. Why?” 

From the trunk bed you sized up the Glock to feel its weight and how cool it settled into your sweating hand. You unloaded the magazine to see that it had already been filled. 

“Carroll. She really is too kind to us.” You slid the magazine back in then, pulled back the slider to lock it once more, catching Chan’s adoring glance. 

“Something interesting pretty boy?” 

The prince appeared to shiver a little, but brushed it off sighing, “Oh, nothing.” 

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

Either it was Carroll or the King, but someone had spared no expense on the young prince. The sun set upon the sparking Nile where you had arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza. 

Anything for His Royal Highness The Prince. 

The towering and gleaming building was a sight to behold in and of itself. It was nestled right into the riverside anchored with several leisurely sailboats bopping in the evening breeze. As day crept into night, the city grew with a swell of lights washing as far as you could see. Extensive bridges and roadways glowed with headlights and every building appeared to be illuminated along with more boats strolling down the river in a rainbow of colors and music. 

The prince craned his head as close to the window as he could and rubbed together his hands excitedly. He looked from you to your partners, finally making a disapproving scoff. 

“Come on. You’re not just a little excited to be here?” 

“We’re here on business, how many times do we have to explain?” Jeongin typed away at his computer from the front seat. 

“Bee?” He looked back to you with a hopeful little glint to his eye. 

“Like Fox said...tomorrow is our appointment with White Rabbit, then we’re on the first flight back home for you.” 

The young prince frowned, but this quickly faded once he had seen the golden brass doors to the magnificent hotel. Seeing the state that the four of you were in, it was a bit comical that you had rolled up to a place such as this. Immediately a valet and bellhop jogged up to the car wearing perfectly pressed uniforms and spotless shined shoes. Little did they know you had no belongings to your name...the rest was waiting in your suite: the royal kind. 

Seungmin cranked his neck to take in the scale of the building in all of it’s regal glory and let out an airy laugh his with his backpack straps snapped tight. 

“Holy shit.” He exclaimed with a giant smile 

Two rose a “no thank you” hand to the valet, and asked him where the garage was in perfect Arabic. The gesture surprised you...as many things did with that man. Jeongin gave a little nod in appreciation to the bellhop and expressed with his own broken version of Arabic that you group had no luggage. The young man was confused, but still gladly took the bills that Jeongin had slipped into his hand for the inconvenience. 

“We’re staying here?” Seungmin wondered while he followed you in. 

“When you travel with The Prince, it comes with some perks.” Chan tore off his glasses with a particularly prideful grin. 

“I feel like I need to pay for just...breathing in here.” 

Indeed, it was a luxurious and grand place. The atrium was patterned with various plush lounge chairs and benches and the path was made of emerald green marble tiles with swirling designs of beige loops. Thick, round columns also supported the ceilings in the lobby, and crystal glass chandeliers sparkled. On several tables, massive floral arrangements had been freshly placed, and you wondered how much the hotel must've paid for them to look that good just to have them replaced the next day. 

A couple formalities were exchanged with the worker at the front desk, and soon the keycards to the royal suite were placed into your hands. Seungmin held his piece of plastic as if it were a gold bar in his hands whereas Chan shoved it right into his front pocket. 

“Everything that we should need should be up in the room.” You told the group who were too distracted to hear what you had just said. 

Just before you had entered the elevator, a tug at your sleeve stopped you in your tracks. Jeongin pulled you back, nodding at Two to go with the others up first. 

“Remember what we talked about before?” He muttered in the hollow and stone corridor. “About the prince?” 

“I need to stay beside him?” 

Your partner nodded with a furrowing brow. “We’re out in the open here, it’s a big city...anyone could be watching us. No distractions, no messing around, no anything. We see White Rabbit and we leave. Hell, I’m even inclined to make sure he doesn’t leave the room...” 

“Jeongin...” You squeezed your partner’s shoulder which felt stringy and tense under your fingertips. “I got it. Trust me. He won’t leave my sight. I promise.” 

“..Okay.” He said with a nervous brush to his hair, then he pressed the elevator button with his knuckle. 

“You...okay?” 

The young man appeared to snap out of a trance. “What? ...Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? I’m keeping it together fine. It’s just...there’s a lot riding on this mission. I don’t...” 

The gold and reflective elevator dinged to the ground floor. 

“We can’t disappoint Carroll with this one. There’s too much riding on it...I can’t disappoint Carroll.”      

You invited your partner into the marbled and mirrored interior of the small space. 

“Don’t worry, we won’t.”

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━ 

 Even without the help of his royal helpers, Chan managed to clean himself up nice...provided, only the finest clothes had been sent for him to wear. While they weren’t the usual designer labels that he was used to, it was clear that they had been picked out from the finest markets and boutiques in the area. Chan, as he always was, was a prince to the full extent of the word. After a shower and some perfume to his chest, he was the same man that you had been introduced to. 

A loose linen shirt swayed from his frame with little regard for the usage of buttons. He wore slacks that had been pressed made of a kind of fabric that you had never seen before, but looked airy and comfortable. As always, there was a small assortment of shoes for him to choose from as well. He picked brown leather loafers, then tucked up his sleeves to reveal his arms; scratched as they were, but still strong and spiderwebbed with thick veins. 

Arrangements had been made for you to share one of the bedrooms with him--as much as you had fought it at first. Chan was thrilled with the idea, and gladly let you settle into his room with your small assortment of sidepieces and modest set of clothes by regulation of The Agency. While it had mostly been denim button downs and several kinds of functional trousers, they had sent an evening gown. 

The silky white fabric was not unlike the dress that had worn for the gala, but it appeared to be even more sultry once you held it to your frame. The thin spaghetti straps barely held to your shoulders and the back dipped nearly halfway down your back. 

Knowing the man that you had an appointment with, you figured the dress would make it just a little bit easier to talk to him. Along with it, there was a matching set of diamond earrings and a necklace that glinted with the same sheen of the sea. 

“You’ll look gorgeous in that.” Chan said while slipping on a wristwatch. “I’m sure that it will suit you perfectly.” 

The wooden bedside nightstand creaked when you put your holster and Glock in with a matching matte black knife. You had to be careful with that one, as it had nearly cut your finger upon inspection earlier.         

“Hm. I think the both of us know that you’d prefer it on these lovely marble floors rather than on me. Correct?” 

The confident prince strode across the room in the dim lighting of a couple lamps with stained glass shades. Outside of the balcony attached to your room, the sheer curtains blew in the night air and distorted the city lights across the river. Further, Cairo Tower surged with a pink light wrapping around the length were the cylinder pierced the sky. 

“Maybe.” He tutted, then crinkled the king-sized bed where he sat. The prince’s disposition was alluring, there was no denying. He tiled his head to inspect you further, jaw clenching with a sharp angle and a testing glare to his brown pupils. The man smiled slightly while rubbing his index and ring finger down the sleeve of your considerably less scratchy blouse. 

“I hope that during our time here Bee, I’ll get to know you a little better. I’m...really looking forward to our drink later. I made reservations for us.” 

“Reservations? When did you do that?” 

“Oh. When you were showering.” He smirked at his sneaky plans unbeknownst to you. 

“If you think that I’m letting you go anywhere else besides this hotel--” 

“--Bee?” The young royal grew quieter, softer, careful even. His hand cascaded from your arm down to your waist where he tentatively went to grab at your hip and squeeze lightly there. 

While your first reaction was to swat him away, your second crept up on you unexpectedly, and swelled with a kind of confused euphoria feeling the pressure of him on your body. You let his hand linger there, thumb pressed into your hipbone. 

“You don’t need that dress to be beautiful.” 

His words snapped you back; sickly sweet, and sticky in your chest. You cast his hand off of you. 

“You’re crossing the line, your Highness. Don’t...don’t touch me again.” 

The royal sighed as he rose, then inspected his face in the sizeable mirror. Each of his cuts and scars had been skillfully covered with makeup the best he could manage.  

“Bee, I’d cross multiple lines for you. I thought you knew?”    

“THIS BED IS FUCKIN’ AMAZING!!” Seungmin called from the opposite of the suite. 

The prince smiled, then followed you to the door. 

“I’ve already got enough on my hands, your Highness. I ask that you not distract me.” 

“Distract you?” 

As soon as you had said it, regret bit at the tips of your ears. You couldn’t meet his teasing glances, but rather slid one of your more discrete sidepieces into your crossbody bag--as if guns as such could be such a thing. 

“I-I...I’ll sleep on the couch.” You then resolved out loud, however the prince chuckled at your sudden break. 

“As you wish Bee.” 

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“I think that this is the best meal that I’ve ever eaten in my entire life!!” 

Seungmin kicked his legs under the table to the embarrassed glances of both Jeongin and Chan. Before you, the prince had ordered a variety of both cold and hot mezzah dishes with a couple main entrees for you to share. While he was the only one to drink, he indulged in the most expensive wine that the hotel had to offer. Granted, everything would be paid for in cash from The Agency, however the Prince swore up and down that anyone could order anything that they wanted and that The Agency would be paid back in full. You and your partners ate modestly, however the young student didn’t hold back. As the boy shoved his face, it appeared to make the prince happy to see him eating so well. 

You were still an odd group, and garnered curious glances from other restaurant guests. While they were only glances in passing, they still didn’t make you feel any better. You had already drawn enough attention to yourself with you being an odd mix of foreigners who each held themselves differently. You could sense that you partner felt it too while he sipped at his seasonal soup with eyes up to scan the room as he did so. 

Chan threw his arm behind your chair to take in the rest of the room: perfectly decorated with jade green chandeliers and perfectly symmetrical wallpaper and furnishings. It was as if he felt somehow content with your strange little group; like he was the ringleader of it all or some king of the round table. For a moment, he paused to watch the way that the boats passed by on the river from the window nearest to him and sighed. Knowing him, he was probably enjoying running for his life in this way. 

Two cleared his throat and unbuttoned his fashionable suit jacket as the waiters came to clear the table for dessert. 

“So. What are the specs for tomorrow?” 

Jeongin fiddled with his glasses, then dabbed away at the corners of his mouth. “He’s invited us to come around 11pm. He wants us to dress up too--as I’m sure you’ve all seen the clothes that have been provided for us. He apparently loves his formalities, but, anything to make him feel more comfortable I suppose. His men will meet us in the front and take us to him, then we try our best not to fuck it up.”

“--Which we won’t.” You soothed your partner. 

Seungmin perked up, “I’m coming too?” 

“How else are we going to look after ya, kid?” Two ruffled up the young man’s hair. 

“W-wait. Didn’t you say that it’s a club? Will they even let me in? I’m not like, 21 yet? I mean, I will be in a couple months--” 

“--Ahhh you’re so cute.” Chan beamed. “If you’re rolling with us that doesn’t matter.” 

Seungmin blushed and played with the condensation of his water glass. “Oh.” 

Your partner shifted in his seat. “Speaking of. Considering that you’re “one of us” now. We need to discuss something important with you. Your identity.” He looked over to you to finish the rest of the speech that had been pushed off for just a bit too long. 

“Your name...is your most valuable asset. It’s the only thing about yourself that you can keep for yourself. No one else should know it besides you...and, well, us. If they know your name, they know your family, they know where you live, where you go to school, even that girl that you had a crush on in the fourth grade. Got it?” 

Seungmin gulped dry with blown out eyes. “I-I think that I understand.” 

“What do you want us to call you from now on?” 

He paused, considering towards the ceiling. ”Well...if you’re B, and he’s F...and he’s J...I could be S? Simple enough right?” 

“S it is then.” 

The waiters arrived with every dessert possible: chocolate cake, Crème Brule, fruit cheesecake garnished with mint, as well as traditional desserts like Om Ali and Mehalabiya--a type of milk pudding dressed with delicate, pink, edible flowers. 

Seungmin--now dubbed S--made happy little eating sounds while he tried a little bit of everything. 

“Thank you.” You finally spoke to the prince, who now smelled strongly of Lotus and Jasmine. 

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind treating my friends.” 

The word hung in the air, and you didn’t quite know what to do with it. 

Friends. 

“Where is this reservation that you mentioned?” 

He took a swing from his crystal glass with finesse. “Hm. That’s for me to know and you to find out.” 

“Jeongin told me that I need to keep an eye on you, you know that? It would be best if we didn’t leave the hotel at all--” 

“--But what would be the fun in that?” The prince nearly pouted. 

From the others side of the table, Two in his aviators brushed off his lap before standing. “I’m going to get some sleep, if that’s alright with you? I’m feeling pretty jetlagged and I want to be prepared for tomorrow. Excuse me.” 

The slender man bowed to you at the table, then even deeper to the prince. 

“What was that about?” Jeongin muttered while he poked at the thin caramel layer of his French dessert. 

“Actually, I think I want to head to bed too, I’m stuffed.” Seungmin rubbed his belly in his contentment. “Also...I think I might have homework due...heh. I don’t know...I’ve got to figure out all these all these time differences and stuff.” He pushed in his chair then gave the prince a deep bow. “Thank you, your Highness.” 

“My pleasure.” Chan said with a tiny bow back. “Rest up, kid.” 

With the empty holes at the table, the silence was deafening. 

“And then there were three.” Jeongin yawned. “Bee? Wanna do some laps in the morning? I saw that they had a pool? Wanna see if you can beat my record...again?” 

“Psh. I was coming off that biochemical cocktail the last time we tired. You had an advantage.” 

“Then you’ll beat me? Hm! I look forward to that.” Your adorable partner flashed the first smile that you’d seen in a couple days. You missed it, you realized. 

“Sleep tight Bee. Goodnight your Highness.” 

“Thank you Fox.” The prince mirrored his warm smile. 

Knives and forks clinked on china in the dining room, and music softly payed the soundtrack of the evening. A low hum filled the space where the tourists and patrons chatted among themselves. It was peaceful and normal amidst everything that had been pricking your skin and plaguing worry over your mind. The prince merely sighed, sparking eyes reflecting the candles dying out on the table. 

“And now it’s just the two of us.” 

“Seems like it.” 

“Can I whisk you away now?” 

“Whisk? Who said that I would allow any whisking?” 

“Come on...Bee. Just this one time? I promise to be on my best behavior.” 

You laughed out incredulously at the comment. “You out of all people can’t promise something like that.” 

“I guess you’re right about that. But...still, I won’t try to make a scene or anything.” 

The royal placed his napkin on the table with his knife and fork respectfully tilted off the edge of his plate. 

“Follow me?” 

Chan held out his hand. It was pink with heat and scraped a little from the glass that had pierced the fragile flesh. In some way, you had felt a twinge of guilt seeing the small injury knowing that you couldn’t have protected him well enough then. You allowed him to lace your fingers with yours, and felt the rough cuts of his scars in your palm. 

You had promised to yourself that he would never know such pain again. 

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“Annnd...this is it!” 

You had taken all of twenty paces outside of the hotel when Chan gestured with open arms to the riverfront. Just at the riverbank, a steamboat was anchored with open doors for hotel guests to enter. The massive, multideck, white steamboat shone like the moon peaking at the ocean’s horizon. Each of the semi-circle windows were lined with white lights and from the inside, the delightful sound of laugher and live music spilled out to the glossy water of the Nile. 

“W-what is this?” 

“Well…it’s a dinner cruise but I just signed us up for the bar part. Are you...surprised? I thought that it must be pretty safe considering that we’re on the water and no one can drive up and shoot at us.” 

“I mean...it’s a bit closed off, but nothing that I can’t handle.” 

The prince held out his arm for you to lead the way, then took your hand to help you watch your step down the stairs. Chan provided his name to the conductor in elegant sounding Arabic, leaving you shocked. 

“Y-you speak Arabic too?” 

Chan chuckled once more, taking your hand in his to bring you down the creaking wood deck with swinging with lanterns above your heads. 

“As a royal and diplomat, it’s best for me to know how to communicate if I might need to.” 

“I must say your Highness, I am definitely impressed.” 

“What? You thought I was just another pretty face?” The charming prince escorted you to a room within the steamboat that was lined with red velvet carpets and small bar tables with tea candles and water lilies floating in a shallow dish. He pulled out your chair before his own, then settled with hands folded in his lap. “I’m trained in hand-to-hand too, although I could use a refresher; that was so long ago, back when I went to school.” 

“Hand-to-hand? Well! You really are full of surprises.” 

The prince appeared smug and faintly amused by the compliment as he crossed his legs under the table and leaned in with his dizzying floral scent. 

The waitress appeared and Chan flexed his language skills once more while he ordered a Hemmingway Daiquiri for himself and a French 75 for you. Somewhere off in the distance or perhaps a different part of the boat, louder and more excitable music played along with the echoing claps of those who listened along. Here, it was much quieter, and the loud sound was replaced with a jazz song that you had heard before--likely from your more formative years. 

“It’s a beautiful night.” Chan began, “Thank you for agreeing to do this with me. I know that I’ve been a bit forward, but, I appreciate you entertaining me.” 

“If I had said no, what would’ve happened then?” 

“Well, maybe I would’ve dropped it, but...knowing you...I don’t think that I would’ve given up easily.” 

The waitress returned with the drinks on a silver platter: his grapefruit pink and yours the color of a lemon drop. 

The royal rose his glass for you to clink with yours, “To...adventures.” 

“To adventures.” 

With a resounding sound, the glasses met, and you watched the way that the shimmering liquid ripped across the prince’s nose. 

The two of you sat for several moments more, saying nothing, but sipping and soaking in the night breeze and the humidity that made your whole body feel blanketed with a sense of calm. You had felt this way before back at the safe house, and it snuck up on you once more. Simply exisiting with the prince provided you with a sense of solace that had long since faded from your life. The sense of responsibility that you felt for the man was noticeable, but you couldn’t help but notice how he provided for you the same sense of safety that you did for him. 

Perhaps it was the loneliness of the job and the solitude that came along with it. Was that you craved to be touched? Listened to? Admired? You had distanced yourself from irrational things such as love and other feelings of attachment. In your line of work, people died often, and you had to move on just as fast as their lives had been taken from them. You supposed that you had become unfeeling at this point...but this prince, so full of himself and focused on the material...there was something about him that reminded you how to feel. 

“Bee? What are you thinking about?” He asked carefully. 

“Oh...nothing.” 

“You looked kind of lost here.” 

“Was I?” 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah...yeah. I’m fine. Maybe the drink is just...getting to me.” 

“Just one drink?” Chan giggled a bit, “I didn’t take you for being a lightweight Bee. I thought that they gave you like, drinking lessons or something back at that agency of yours.” 

“I’m fine. I shouldn’t have more than one drink anyway.” 

The prince nodded, understanding. “So, what will you tell me about yourself? Is there anything that you’re allowed to tell me? Or...will you always be this mysterious, beautiful, enigma?” 

“Me? Enigmatic? Ha! Hardly.” 

“Well? What then?” The prince sucked at the lime garnishing his glass. “Since I don’t have the pleasure of knowing your real name, I’d love it if you could tell me something.” 

Over the stereo, the muted trumpet played along with the twang of thick upright bass strings,

“I suppose I could tell you how...” Chan leaned in, “I didn’t want to join The Agency. At first.” 

“Oh? Why’s that?” 

“It felt like a bit of a last resort and anything that is a last resort is something that can’t come easy.” 

Chan titled his head as if to say, I’m listening. 

“Life...fucking sucks sometimes. Sometimes...you’re left...living with your sleazy uncle with a letter addressed to you post mortem telling you to carry on the family name if you want to feel some connection to the parents that you never knew.” 

The royal cast his eyes down, “I-I’m so sorry.” 

“The Agency has been everything I’ve known since I was a teenager. This life...it’s everything. I think in a way I feel obligated to it...since it was what took my parents from me...I owe it to them to do a job that they spent so much energy on so that it wasn’t in vain.” 

You stopped, realizing the weight of your words in the air and how they cut like the blade of the knife that you kept tucked in your waistband sheathed in a leather cover. Once the sharp metal was taken from it’s confines, there was nothing to protect those from the damage it could do. 

“Bee...I don’t know what to say besides I’m sorry. That’s terrible. I can’t imagine what it must be like to loose your parents and have been thrown into this life...no one deserves that.” 

“Its okay.” You sighed. “I did it to myself. Now, it’s of no concern. I can take care of my own, and I have a new family. I try not to look back.” 

As he had done numerous times before that night, Chan’s hand reached out for yours under the table, brushing up against the white cloth. 

“I can’t say how much I appreciate you enough for what you do; risking your life for me...I owe you everything Bee.” The prince softened, rubbing his thumb against the back of your hand. 

The chug of the steamboat hissed softly behind you in that back bar room, and just through the windows, you could see the stars dotting the sky just as they did in any corner of the world. They were a reminder that while some things changed, others didn’t. 

The echo of footsteps on the deck clicked, causing you to turn a careful glance back to the direction of the sound. The man who entered was dressed in a casual cotton button up and navy slacks. On the white of his breast, he wore a pin holding the symbol of a crest.

“Lee Minho?” Chan gasped. 

“Your Highness!” The handsome man bowed immediately with a startled little smile. 

The friendly prince stood immediately upon seeing the other royal to shake his hand. “What a coincidence that we meet again!” 

Lee Minho shied with a polite smile while fiddling with his hair that looked to be masterfully styled. “Must be...fated. Or something like that.” 

“Are you alright? Last I saw you was at the shooting at the gala. I’m so glad to see that you’re safe. You didn’t get injured I hope?” 

This close, Lee Minho had oddly cat-like eyes that were as intense as they were alluring. He was just as you had remembered him to be--put together and polished like a true royal, dastardly handsome with all the right curves to his body, and just enough mystery to him to pique the interest of anyone who had sensed his air--just as the prince had. 

“What are you doing in Cairo?” Chan asked, gesturing for the stranger to pull up a chair. 

Lee Minho swatted away the question with an annoyed cringe. “Royal stuff, you know how it goes. Everyone is always trying to poke their noses in places where they shouldn’t be...unless they’re looking to get themselves killed. That's why they send me. I’m dispensable.” 

“Oh, I’d hardly say that.” 

In seconds the prince’s entire body had shifted towards the direction of the other man, and hung onto each of his words as if they were a siren song. 

“When you’re not as high up in the ranks as you are your Highness, royalty starts to feel more like servitude than a legitimate position.” 

“So, where are you poking your nose?” 

Lee Minho’s eyes nervously flicked to you, and Chan realized that he had skipped right over introductions. 

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce the two of you. Minho, this is Bee, my--” 

“--I’m a member of his detail.” You spoke for him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you formally Lee Minho. I recall seeing you at the gala.” 

Minho bowed slightly, “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” 

It was obvious that you had made the man uncomfortable, just as you had liked it to be. While you could see what the prince had seen in him, you had the disposition to be much less trusting than his Highness. 

“Which royals are employing you? I’d love to know! It’s always exciting for me to learn about who is plotting what. The royal drama keeps me really entertained.” 

Minho sat up straighter, then waved a hand for the waitress to come scuttling over. 

“Some of my family members. You wouldn’t know them, we’re all dreadfully insignificant to be honest. They heard all this business about those men with the red crests and they’re starting to get scared. After they targeted...you, they’re wondering which royal family might be next...if any. I’m here to find out who they are, their whereabouts, anything else.” 

“Wow! That’s actually what we--”

“--And where are you planning on getting this information if I may ask?” You hushed the prince’s loose lips as quickly as you could. 

Minho leaned in over the flickering candle to lower his tone, “I heard that there’s an informant here in the city who might now something about this group. They’ve been popping up on national news too as of late. I’m looking to talk to him tomorrow evening. Luckily, I was able to make an appointment but it was no small feat. I had to bribe him to high hell to get him to speak with me.” 

“Hm. Sounds familiar.” You mumbled. 

Chan’s eyes widened, then he looked back to you to ask for permission. You gave him a nod.

“It seems like we’re here for a common purpose my friend.” The prince leaned in to bridge the gap between them, his hand notably reaching to rest on the other man’s thigh below the table’s surface. “We’re seeking similar information and I think we might be speaking of the same informant.” 

“But your Highness, isn’t it dangerous it you to do something like this?” 

“Not when I’ve got her around.” Chan threw a sly grin to you across the table. “I’m well protected. And you? Where’s your detail?” 

“I’m afraid that I’m out here alone. Like I said, when you’re as low in the ranks as I am...” 

“What? That’s terrible!! They aren’t even protecting their own? Bee!!” 

“Yes, your Highness?” You already knew where this was going. 

“Let’s bring Minho along with us tomorrow! We know that there’s safety in numbers--” 

“Your Highness, in case you haven’t noticed, our hands are already a bit full...”

“I can fend for myself.” Lee Minho suddenly piped. “Travelling alone, I’ve picked up a few things about protecting myself. You don’t have to protect me, but, I appreciate the offer.” 

“Nonsense! You should come with us! I would feel more comfortable if you did rather than went by yourself.” 

Lee Minho gave the royal a smile in his thanks, it was pure and a little adorable you had considered...but that was likely the champagne going to your head. 

“Really? I appreciate it, your Highness.” 

While you were distanced, you nearly could’ve sworn that the prince had squeezed the other’s leg reassuringly, and you were willing to bet he had rubbed it with his thumb too just as he had done to you. 

After long, the waitress returned with Lee Minho’s drink, and the two men chatted like old college buddies while you slipped away at your drink in an attempt to make it last as long as you could. While Chan did try to engage you in conversation, it would never last for long until he would become puppy-eyed over the stranger again. In the end, you wondered if the tipsy prince would’ve also confessed to this man if he had one too many drinks. 

The table bumped with their jovial and restless legs, and you could only imagine what wandering hands sought to discover. 

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The hotel was quiet save for the click of heels on the marble floors from ladies who had just gotten off the steamboat and clung to their husbands in their drunken stupor. They cackled in the empty and golden lobby, then pressed hasty kisses into the stuttering mouths of their husbands who’s mouths then smeared with hot pick lipstick. Chan giggled at the sight while he tripped over his own feet too. 

“Ahhhh. Being in love is so cute.” He adored them once you had entered the elevator. 

“You’re not going to throw up on me, are you?” 

The prince hiccupped, then shook his head. “Unlike you I know how to hold my liquor. I’m fine. Just a bit sleepy I think. Must be the jet lag.” 

The tones for each floor beeped in the compartment, and Chan lulled his head back and forth. 

“So. Lee Minho huh?” You said, not even able to help yourself. The alcohol had brought you a bit of an edge...so you thought. 

“Lee. Minho.” He sighed out dreamily. “What do you think of him?” 

“I think I can’t trust anyone as long as I haven’t ran at least three background checks on them.” 

“Awww, Bee, you’re so thoughtful of me.” 

In the empty hallway, the prince with squinting eyes leaned against the doorframe to the royal suite, reaching out to brush up against your blouse once more. You let him, excusing his drunken state. After he did so, his eyes hazed over with something much different, while he looked exhausted, it was laced with something else: something much more longing. 

“Bee...fuck, I really want to kiss you again.” 

“Hm. That’s ripe coming from you who was just viciously flirting with Lee Minho.” 

You could see his head spinning in his dilated pupils. “What?” 

The door clicked open and you less than gracefully lead the prince through the dark to your shared bedroom. 

“B-Bee, what are you talking about?” 

You scoffed, “I’m not blind, you know.” 

“A-are you...jealous?” 

“W-what? Fuck no. I’m just...you can’t just...toss people around thinking that they’ll all bend to you.” 

Chan sat at the edge of the bed and rubbed at his temples when you turned one of the lamps on. 

“I-I was doing that?” 

You tore a pillow from the bed as well as the throw blanket at the end. “I’m sleeping on the couch. Good evening, your Highness.” 

“Wait! Bee!” The young prince stumbled after you, stubbing his toe against the bedpost in the process. “Ah-FUCK!” He grunted. 

“What?” You growled back to him, half shrouded in the darkness of the suite living room. 

The royal stumbled out, eyes blank and backlit from the bedroom. While you couldn’t see him fully, you later could assume that there was something in him terribly torn and ripped in that moment that made little sense to him, as it did to you to. 

Arms reached out, bodies softly illuminated by the lights of the city, and the prince leaned himself fully into you, pressing bitter tasting lips to yours with a heat and desire that only seemed amplified the breather he had gotten. While he tasted of lime and grapefruits, with a twinge of alcohol. He was just as addictive as any vice. You wanted to feel him. As infuriating as he was, and oblivious, your abhorrence to him was just as strong as your attraction. 

“Mm, Bee--” He moaned directly into your mouth while shuffling both of you back to the bedroom. 

The prince’s trembling breath floated from his mouth to yours where he used both of his large hands to pull your face closer to his. You knew that in some way, there must have been something ingenuine about the whole scenario, but you didn’t care too much, not when kissing him felt like something. Maybe he had kissed you out of pity, or because he really had wanted to kiss you. You broke for seconds before both of your tangled limbs hit the bed. 

“Before...you said that you wouldn’t kiss me.” 

“I didn’t make any promises...but, how come...you said that you wouldn’t hesitate...? But you kissed ba--” 

You silenced the prince’s words with your own heated kisses that made little sense, only that kissing him as such felt good. You straddled the man while his hungry fingers traced all the way down your back. The prince’s hips sunk into the cushiony mattress, and you screwed him down even harder into it with your own heated hips grinding into him with as much pressure as you could muster. 

“This is what you want, right?” You pulled at his lip with your teeth to hear him groan from it. 

“Is it...what you want?” Chan got out between more kisses. 

You could blame it on loneliness or lack of touch all that you wanted, but it wasn’t even close. 

“Wait. Wait.” Chan suddenly interjected. 

“What? What is it?” 

The prince looked up at you, that haze in his eyes now fading to something much different that wasn’t covered in the lust that he held before. 

“Bee...I-I don’t know if I want it to happen this way. It feels...it’s not...” 

“Not what?” 

He brushed his hand upward now to caress your face, lingering on the side of the peach fuzz on your cheek. “You deserve better than whatever the hell this is.” 

“Oh, so when I finally want to fuck you, you’re saying it isn’t right?” 

“I’m saying, I’m drunk, it’s late, clearly there’s something that’s upsetting you, and I want to know what it is before we do anything else. Tell me, what’s wrong?”

It might’ve been Lee fucking Minho, or it might’ve been something else much stickier for you to admit, but seeing the prince like this, it was too much. He was gorgeous under you, practically angelic looking. 

“I-I’m...complicating things.” You whispered out, and the prince softened even further. 

“That’s what it is? Bee, I told that you don’t have to worry about--” 

“--Yes. Yes I do...your Highness. I-I can’t feel...” 

“Bee--let’s just talk about--” 

The prince might’ve said more, but his words faded into murmurs once you closed his door behind you, then crawled onto the couch in Jeongin and Seungmin’s room, locking their door too. 

~🌹~

Bunch of (Ro)ses!

@minaamhh @dazzlehoseok @synnocence @jjewibeans @hyunsluvv @unexceptional-h @bobawithchaitea @lechanters @sailorhyunjinz @silencefavarchive @eunaeiekim @lunarskzzz

[hajimesh]

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚘̄ 𝚡 𝚏𝚎𝚖!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 // 𝟷.𝟺𝚔 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲; 𝘶 𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶. 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘪'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺

𝐚/𝐧; 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @animatedrapture 𝘣𝘤 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘮. 𝘪 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘰

-ˏˋ𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 ♡

The stands were filled with Inarizaki students –marching band, orchestra, and cheerleading team included– making their cheers reverberate all over the gym.

The thrill in the atmosphere was almost palpable.

Atsumu’s eyes raked the over the stands, choosing to ignore the squealing group of fangirls, and just focusing on the most familiar faces. Until something caught his attention.

It so happened that Suna was just walking by, the setter instantly gripping his shoulder and forcing him to stand next to him.

"Damn Suna, check it, that girl in the cheerleading team is hot."

Suna followed Atsumu’s stare, his eyes landing on you.

Wearing your cheerleading uniform, you stood with a radiant smile, your hands resting on your hips, and the red pom-poms shaking every time you moved around.

On the outside, Suna remained impassive. But on the inside? he felt as if he were having a war flashback.

“Suna-kun!”

He saw you skip down the hall and towards him, a scowl automatically appearing on his face.

You stopped in front of him, a fascinated look in your eyes. “Good job at last week’s game! Oh, you're such a good middle blocker!”

He answered with a tired sigh, it was way to early for your ridiculous comments.

“Ne, Suna-kun,” you whispered, inching closer to him. “Spike me next time, daddy.”

He groaned internally. Why couldn’t you be a Miya twins fangirl? Why did it have to be him?

You laughed when you saw his scowl deepening.

He had no idea of how much you enjoyed annoying him.

Suna was brought back to reality when he felt a hand clapping him on the back.

"I should ask for her number, dontcha think sunarin?" Atsumu’s eyes crinkled as he smiled.

Somehow, hearing the setter’s words irked him, making him speak before thinking twice.

“She doesn't like you."

He had never wanted to take back his words so badly, but the harm was already done.

"The fuck you mean? Of course she likes me!” Atsumu pointed at you with his finger. “She's a cheerleader for our team!"

A snarky smile made its way to Suna’s lips. "Sorry to break it to you, but she has a crush on me.”

Atsumu was left astounded, finding Suna’s comment oddly interesting while it bruised his ego at the same time.

Inarizaki won the match, no surprise. And after collecting your stuff, you made your way towards Suna, not missing the opportunity to tease him.

He saw you from a mile away and mentally prepared himself for whatever you were going to say to him.

You sported an elated grin, your hands clasped behind your back. “You were so good today, Suna-kun! Congrats on the win!”

To his surprise, you didn’t even give him enough time to shift his impassive face into a scowl, strutting off as your short cheerleader skirt swayed behind you.

As much as it pained him to admit it, he was not letting Atsumu get his hands on you.

- - - - -

It had been a few days after the game and Atsumu still had Suna’s words fresh in his mind. He spent the entire weekend thinking them over and over until he came to a verdict.

Suna was lying.

Because there’s no way someone as pretty as you would be crushing on him, right? Not on the expresionless middle blocker. Nope. It didn’t even make any sense.

Suna, observant as always, noticed the setter staring at him the entire practice. He brushed it off and continued with his own thing. He was bending down to fetch his water bottle when he heard him.

“Ah, Kita-san! Yer quite familiar with the cheer team, yea?”

Suna’s ears perked up.

What was Atsumu’s pea-sized brain thinking!?

Atsumu felt quite proud of himself for tying the loose ends. Kita had to know you, he was the captain after all.

Said captain looked confused but nodded, not understanding where Atsumu words were coming from.

“Ya know that girl with h/c hair? I think she has e/c eyes also, like, this tall?” he gestured with his hands as he described you.

Suna’s glare didn’t go unnoticed by Atsumu, whose grin widened when he saw Kita nodding in affirmation.

“That’s l/n y/n, same year as you. Top of her class too,” suddenly, the aura around Kita became threatening. “She’s a smart girl.”

Oh, right. Atsumu thought. L/n y/n, one of Inarizaki’s top students. Your name was always on the highest rankings in both class and school.

Yeah, Suna must be lying because there’s no way a pretty and smart, top of her class girl like you had a crush on him.

Suna wasn’t doing any better. He almost choked on his water when he compared Kito-san’s version of you against the version he knew.

“Suna-kun!” you came up to him with a mischievous glint in your eyes.

He glared at you, knowing that, by the way the apples of your cheeks flushed pink, it was going to be a bad one.

“Why don’t you be the iceberg and I’ll be the Titanic ship?” you said with a straight face, your voice lowering to a whisper. “So I can go down on you.”

That had to be the most disgusting yet amusing joke he had ever heard.

How and where the hell did you get the guts to say those things to him!?

His usual deadpanned expression faltered slightly, wanting to laugh so badly but he wouldn’t give you the satisfaction. So even if he was dying to laugh, he only rolled his eyes.

You finally started laughing, taking out the hand you had been hiding behind your back, and placing a jelly fruit stick on his desk. You waved him goodbye with a dashing smile and walked away.

Suna absolutely hated the way his heart seemed to skip against his chest, the words ‘you’re so annoying’ burning in his mouth.

- - - - -

Atsumu nudged Suna, “Oi, yer girlfriend’s coming here.”

He immediately looked towards the direction Atsumu had pointed, and indeed there you were. Walking from the bleachers towards them.

Inarizaki’s game was about to start and it shouldn't have been a surprise to see you there.

Suna flipped him off and looked away as he answered, “She’s not my girlfriend.”

He watched you from the corner of his eye as he drank from his water bottle. Your steps halted in front of Kita, your face all serious as you listened intently to whatever he was saying.

What could you possibly be talking about with Kita-san? Suna thought.

But his thoughts were interrupted when he saw you smile and Kita reciprocating the gesture.

Huh?

Atsumu saw his chance and took it eagerly, walking to where you and Kita were. His classic confident demeanor made you raise an eyebrow.

“Hey, doll. I’m Miya Atsumu, nice to meet ya,” he flaunted a cocky smirk, especially because he knew Suna was watching.

“L/n-san, this is our team’s setter,” Kita introduced you.

With a smile and a hand-shake, you greeted him, earning a grin from the setter.

“Why don’t ya give me yer number? I want to take you out,” Atsumu casually asked.

Suna was still listening, waiting expectantly –just as the other two males next to you– for your answer.

Your head tilted to the side, pondering the offer but you ended up scrunching up your face.

“Nah, I don't want your fangirls after me,” with a shake of your head, you turned him down. Grinning back at Atsumu and the teasing tone evident in your voice.

Atsumu visibly deflated at your reply. “Just give me yer number then, let’s be friends.”

It was your turn to be stunned. Your stare became calculating, intimidating even, and that was when both second years suddenly understood how Kita and you were acquainted.

“Talk to me again next time and I might consider it,” you said with a genuine smile, so genuine it almost knocked Atsumu off his feet.

Atsumu smiled back at you with a nod and remembered why he even came near you, “By the way, Suna mentioned ya have a crush on ‘im, that true?”

You were caught off guard, he had made his question sound so innocent. Did Suna really mention you to his teammate?

“Did he now?” you say, finally looking at him from behind Atsumu and Kita.

Suna was fuming, ready to rip Atsumu’s head once he got a hold on him.

“That’s none of your business, Atsumu,” Kita sighed with an apologetic look towards you.

You giggled, brushing off the situation. Bowing before Kita, you started to take your leave. “Thank you, Kita-senpai, I'll relay the message to them!”

You waved at them, and then at Suna, goodbye. A satisfied smirk being the last thing he saw before you finally turned your back to him.

He growled under his breath because all he could focus on was the stupidly annoying, top of her class, pretty girl that was crushing on him.

And whom he might be feeling something for as well.

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, CA, USA - September 7, 1982 (Part-1)

(x)

The band are in great form tonight, full of vitality and passion. Only the intro of Rock It is performed from now onward. When the vocal is expected to re-enter after the rhythm section joins in, the band jump into the first verse of the fast We Will Rock You. John Deacon's bass solo after the second chorus is aggressive, and overall the band are clearly happy to be playing the longer version of the song again - although they do have a bit of trouble getting out of the middle section together, but they recover well. Freddie offers a great version of Play The Game. After the song, he has a word with the enthusiastic audience. "So here we are, back again in Oakland after a long time. Has everybody been keeping okay since we've been away?" Naturally everyone says "yeah", and Freddie replies, "Bullshit!" He continues, "Anyway, we have a lot of new songs for you since we were here last, and this next one is a song for all the girls here tonight, you know what I mean? The real girls. If you've got tits or if you haven't got tits it don't matter." The girls quickly stop cheering as Freddie is just trying too hard when he actually doesn't have to. He attempts to recover, "You just don't understand English. It doesn't matter. This is a Roger Taylor composition [the mention of Roger's name gets the girls screaming again] entitled Calling All Girls." Just before the first chorus of the song, Freddie adlibs, "I've got a message for you babe!" After the second chorus, following "take a message of love for all to hear," he adds to the energy with a few spontaneous words: "Have you got it? Can you hear it? Can you feel it?" Tonight is the first known performance of the Hot Space rocker Put Out The Fire, segueing from the vocal improv of Now I'm Here (Freddie doesn't have the lyrics perfected yet, which suggests it hasn't been performed too many times - fan club magazines from the period say the song was performed as a standalone piece earlier in the tour). After the second chorus, the band seamlessly jump into Dragon Attack. The combination of these three songs seems to recall the medley idea that had been dropped in 1981. After Now I'm Here, Freddie challenges the audience to one of his usual vocal duels. For the first time, he is heard singing "Dee do de de", something that would become part of the lyrics of "Living On My Own" off his first solo album in 1985. Shortly thereafter, after an "alright" that's held for a few seconds, he shouts, "You can do it!" in encouragement, after which he says, "Not bad! It's amazing what you will do if you're pushed." He really takes a liking to this audience. During the next song, Save Me, instead of singing the line "I love you 'til I die," he speaks the words "I love ya", and during the three quiet beats leading into the first chorus, he quickly and poignantly adds, "don't forget it!" Freddie once again dedicates Fat Bottomed Girls to "people who like fucking a lot." In the second verse of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, he modifies a lyric to say "she knows how to fuck and roll." One can draw their own conclusions as to where Freddie Mercury's mind was at on this tour. He turns in a very passionate version of Bohemian Rhapsody (despite not being in full voice by the end of the show), where everything seems to come home to him. Only he knew what the song really meant, but plenty have suggested that the proverbial man being killed in the first verse as told to his mother is his former self that had not yet come to terms with his sexuality. A clash of worlds in 1982, if that's the case. Matt Granz (also with a story from San Francisco '77) fondly shares his memories of this show here:

“This photo is from Queen's last Bay area show ever with Freddie Mercury. With the new direction that they took with the album "The Game" Brian May stated that Queen had "gained the world, but lost America". I think that after they played a Los Angeles gig or two after this particular show that they never did come back to the US. That is truly sad since they were one of the most charismatic of all rock groups to ever play on a stage. This concert was no exception! This photo was taken during Brian's echo solo. The three lights backlighting Brian belonged to one of two manned light pods that followed him around the stage. It was a spectacular effect!

The friend I went to the concert with (who's name I can't even begin to recall) took his SLR 35mm and I took a pocket fixed focus... after seeing me lament over the bad quality of my images he took mercy on me and sold me this memory as an 8x10 B&W Glossy that I kept secured in a folder... and just recently rediscovered and decided to digitize these many years later. My own pics from the concert all came out underexposed... drat! His SLR had some great lenses and he had his own darkroom. He also had great access to many good spots to shoot from.

By the way… remember the days when you didn't need a press badge to bring a camera to a concert? What happened??? Lawyers, I'll tell ya... Lawyers.

The story behind the Flying V being utilized was that at the very onset of his Echo solo, Brian busted a string on the "Red Special". He waked backstage and then shortly reappeared with this guitar. The sound was quite different. After the solo was done fifteen minutes later, he took back his own guitar and proceeded to use it for the rest of the show. It was pretty unusual to see him playing this and (besides the Tele he plays on Crazy Little Thing Called Love for the songs' first solo) have not seen him play another electric besides his main axe that he and his father made.

I was pretty poor at the time, but I liked this photo enough to buy it because of the before mentioned spectacular lighting and the fact that Brian is playing a Flying V.

Though I was not a fan of The Game, this concert was superb! I came to see Brian (being a guitarist myself) and was amazed at how distracted I was by the rest of the band. They were flawless that night and the floor seats I snuck into... 20 rows from the stage... provided the perfect viewing experience. The light show was also the best I had ever seen as well, in that it didn't distract from the music or musicians but rather pulsated perfectly with the beats and saturated the stage with great color combinations.

Freddie, Brian, Roger & John all had the whole auditorium held by the throat from the very start of the show till the last fading notes of "God Save the Queen". Sheer Excellence!” Most of the photos were taken by Sean Trend. A few of the pictures show Brian with the Gibson Flying V, as he had played in East Rutherford last month. But this time he begins his solo with the Flying V, as confirmed by someone who attended the show. Brian, in disbelief, later commented on this: http://www.brianmay.com

“Well, I'm shocked. I definitely would have sworn that I never played a solo live with a Flying V. I played around with them, but mainly at home, except for one video appearance for "Princes of the Universe" in which I'm obviously not really playing!!!

Cheers Bri”

(x)

Part-2

[michals]

Can i please kindly request something with klaus and diego? ✨

Klaus is being antisocial, which is strange for him, but then again no one seems to have noticed. This one time though he’ll let it go, everyone’s got a lot on their minds these days what with the whole world being rearranged. So he’s hunkered down on the fire escape outside of the run down boarding house Allison rumored the landlord to get, smoking and listening to his thoughts echo through his head that’s emptier than it was a day ago.

“We might not technically exist anymore but those things will still kill you,” says a voice from the open window. Diego’s head appears, giving him that disapproving look like he’s chiding a kid. Jokes on him though, Klaus is officially second oldest at this point.

“Well, considering the laundry list of things I’ve put in my body a cigarette might as well be a Tootsie Pop, mi hermano,” Klaus says, trying to sound teasing but he can hear the futility in his voice. He’s hoping Diego doesn’t.

Diego frowns harder at him, looks like he’s about to give another health class lecture but after a beat he just lets out a breath through his nose, the frown softening. He looks out across the city, studying it for a long moment. Klaus watches him out of the corner of his eye, hoping he doesn’t do exactly what he ends up doing. Diego hefts himself up over the window frame, testing the strength of the ancient fire escape before settling down with his back against the brick wall.

Klaus tries not to sigh. He’s not really the ‘sit in silence and reflect’ type, even all those years in the 60’s he’d rarely had a moment of peace with the cult around, but right now he just wants to be alone. Everyone else gets to brood, dammit.

“It’s all exactly the same,” Diego says, still looking out over the skyline. He shrugs like he didn’t just say something kind of stupid, “I mean like, the city – so far – it’s just like I remember.”

Diego would know, he’d stalked these streets for years; so did Klaus but he usually saw them through a drunken haze. “Guess our Sparrow friends also kept Valex Valex from blowing up the Sears Tower.” Klaus tries to remember that mission but doesn’t put much effort into it. If anything’s at the back of his mind it’s their old missions.

Diego’s mouth twists at the mention of the Sparrow Academy. Klaus hates that whole thing too, sort of. It’s more he hates that one specific person is in it. He blows out a smoke ring.

“It’s sunny though,” he says. Was sunny anyway, it’s 6 p.m. so the horizon’s getting dark.

“Yeah, wonder how that works,” Diego says, eyebrows furrowed. “It’s supposed to be raining.”

Klaus wonders where his umbrella is right now. “Oh, sure Five’s got the answer somewhere in that quizzical little brain of his. Any grand ideas from our young old man?”

Diego shakes his head, “Naw he’s down for the count. Finally ran outta steam.”

“Aww, poor little guy.”

Diego shoots him a look that says ‘don’t let him hear you call him that’. Then he pauses, says in a curious voice, “He was asking all of us our favorite colors.”

Klaus’s turn to pause. “…unexpected. Why? He knitting us all sweaters?”

“Somewhere between the second and third whiskey – before Allison took it away – he said something about-” he stops to think about it, like he’s not sure he heard right, “how the last time he saw us we were kids and he doesn’t really know us. This version of us.”

“Huh,” is all Klaus can say. Now that the thought’s in his head it actually makes sense. Five doesn’t really know them as adults. Even though 45 years is longer than 17 that’s still 17 years between the siblings Five knew and the ones he’s come back to. Makes sense too that this new wrinkle in their situation would make him realize that.

“What’re the results?” he asks, “What’d everyone say?”

“Allison likes pink-” Klaus hums cause that’s not surprising, “Vanya likes green. Luther likes yellow.”

“Yellow?”

“Yeah I wasn’t expecting that either. Five likes blue.”

“And? What about you?”

“Orange,” Diego says like he’s waiting for Klaus to make a comment.

But Klaus just thinks it’s funny, and fitting, that’d they’d all be different. He takes a drag on his cigarette.

“Well?” Diego asks, eyebrows raised, “Come on, what’s yours? Five passed out before he could get out here.”

“Oh ya know frère, I like all the colors of the rainbow, I can’t possibly discriminate against the others just to pick one,” there, that sounds more successfully flippant.

He purposefully keeps his eyes on the horizon cause he knows Diego’s staring him with some kind of look on his face.

“For real,” he says, his tone as gentle as it gets for him, “you’ve got one don’t you.”

Klaus breathes out more smoke. Dave’s eyes had been light blue, his dog tags are slate gray, Klaus’s favorite shirt had been yellow, that umbrella had had a pink stripe, but no, those are all wrong.

“Purple,” he says. He points over the railing towards the sunset at the melting decrescendo of the sky, at a dark royal purple strip, “that shade specifically.”

Diego stares at it with him for a while, they watch as it disappears as it gets darker out.

“We really don’t know shit about each other do we?” Diego says. He sounds annoyed by it, frustrated. “Any of us.”

Understatement of the year brother, Klaus thinks but it suddenly widens the hollow part in his heart that lingers there now. He had someone who knew him. He had someone who’d been there with him his whole life. Ben knew all his likes, his dislikes, all his secrets both dark and stupid. Klaus had taken it all for granted, more obvious now more than ever when Diego says that. The cherry on the big beautiful cake of a mess that this is is that Ben does exist, and he’d looked Klaus in the eye and had no fucking clue who he was.

Diego breaks the silence: “First year I started going out, doing the solo hero thing-” Klaus is tempted to interrupt with ‘illegal vigilante thing you mean’, “got this sucker.” He points to the scar running from his cheekbone past his hairline. “Mafia enforcer. Took him down, got him arrested, 14 stitches and 3 staples. Walked away like it was nothing. Got back to my place and fell down the stairs. Broke my leg.”

Klaus is very much full of grief and malaise but he laughs out loud.

“That night was when I met Patch actually,” Diego gives a wan smile, but none of this is lost on Klaus. Probably took a lot to admit to any of that but he looks like some kind of weight – a small one – just fell off his shoulder. Probably wanted to tell someone that stupid story for a long time, probably ever since the idea of Team Zero popped into his head.

“Allison’s gonna wanna hear that one.”

Diego blanches. He turns to Klaus. “Alright, your turn. What d'you you got?”

That is a very, very loaded request. Klaus isn’t ready to answer it. He could be glib, like always, he’s got plenty of stories like the chocolate pudding one. He can’t give anything big right now but he knows what he can say to Diego.

“You’re the only one I told about what happened with Hazel and Cha Cha.”

Diego’s brow knit together again in surprise. “Yeah?” Klaus nods. Diego goes quiet, looks at his knees like he’s taking this in. After a bit he nods.

“Thanks,” he says, all macho sincerity in his voice and eyes. Klaus gives into a smile. All different aren’t they, like their favorite colors.

Klaus’s cigarette is burning down and he takes a drag to take advantage of what’s left of it. He wishes he could just pass out like Five.

Diego seems to understand that’s enough for one night. He climbs to his feet, brushes rust particles from his pants. “Don’t stay out all night. You already lost out on the bed and couch by the way.”

Five in the bed and Klaus will bet Allison and Vanya are gonna sleep head to feet on the couch. Poor tall Luther never had a chance at either. “I’ve slept in plenty of tubs in my day. Including a nice clawfoot one in a senator’s mansion.” He points the nearly gone cigarette up at him, “There you go. There’s another one.”

Diego gives another approving smile but doesn’t ask for the story, not yet anyway. Allison will love that one too. He disappears through the window.

Klaus stays outside for another two cigarettes, after the sky’s gone dark. He thinks a whole lot and not much at all. He wishes he had something to take but he can’t bring himself to go out to find anything. Instead he picks himself up and meanders back to the room, says a half cheery goodnight and takes a throw pillow into the bathroom and settles down in the tub.