#so thats why i mentioned “the curtains were blue”

[wawataka]

as much as i LOVE the ending to mob psycho 100 (truly a beautiful way to wrap everything up) the one thing that bothers me most is shou’s character development

I think it’s specifically because of his lack of screen time and ONE trying to keep the manga 100 chapters long but he really shot himself in the foot with that. Mostly everyone was written well but I feel like he ran out of time to write everything he really wanted (remember that off handed remark about an esper awakening from Claws horrifying chambers? never brought up again). I feel like for the most part, every other character has a satisfying ending. It aligns with their goals. Serizawa finally feels like he is contributing good to society. Teru understands he isn’t special but hey, nobody is. Reigen isn’t alone anymore. Ritsu and Mob have come to accept Mob for who he is and have started the process of moving on from their trauma. Shou has… well he beat his father. but that wasn’t really him. That was Mob. He spent his whole life coming up with ways to get Toichiro to see some sense and in the end, it had to be someone else. Not him. Not his son. Do you think he ever moved on from that? Do you think he knows he has to? He can technically live his life “normally” now but can he? We can’t even know how he’s dealing with everything because he doesn’t show up in season three at all until like episode 11 (NOT counting the maid cafe scene although it was undeniably really funny). and the thing he takes away from his experience fighting Mob?

BROTHER THEY MADE A WHOLE SHOW ABOUT WHY YOU SHOULDN’T DO THAT. YOU’RE IN THAT SHOW. It almost feels like he’s going backwards??? Like I understand where he’s coming from, and for my own peace of mind i’ve been trying to think he meant it for like violence. but i cannot stop thinking of a Shou that quit using his powers entirely. i literally stopped typing this post and stared at the ceiling rn because of it. like i’m not crazy right?? i can’t be the only one who feels like something is missing about his character??? that CAN’T be what he walks away with

Also this might be a “and the curtains were blue” moment but i also want to talk about this omake

Yeah sure it’s devastating but then I actually started thinking about it. The title is called “Suzuki Shou 13 Years old.” Which is interesting to me because Shou was 12 almost the whole story. His birthday is in december (RIP). He turned 13 like just a month before the confession arc took place. The only thing i don’t know is if he has this dream before or after. I really hope it’s before because if he had this dream post confession arc then ouch???? ?? because if it’s after then that means he clearly hasn’t moved on from everything?? he’s still being haunted by his origin?? and we’re never gonna see him ever move on?? ONE i’m going to kill you and then kill you again make a shou spin off NEOW

[sagerodbomb-n-co]

Hey! Its my birthday today!

To specify, Its not my birthday, but my in-character birthday! Its been about 5 years since I first made our wonderful little bomb here! Which makes it the perfect time to look back at his past designs and talk about how he, and by extension myself, grew over time! Although, Since I myself am bombfolk, Itll be a bit difficult to differentiate between the two. So for that, Hi! This design here will be used from here on to represent my out of character self!

With that, Lets get right to it shall we? A quick pulling back of the curtain to talk about some of the past! Its worth mentioning, With each design, There will be a little sticky note that shows the original drawing of that design, So you can watch how Ive progressed in art-style as well! As a heads up, I'll be rattling off a LOT, you can also just look for yourself and not bother with reading it all, I'll just be pointing out the differences and some small tidbits.

First and foremost! The very first design! As you can tell, It used much duller colors as compared to now, but the shirt design is the same! Alongside that, The bomb part itself is ALSO very different, With a smaller base and MUCH smaller fuse. I went for a more thin design that had five segments back then but as we go along you can see how it changes! Alongside that you can see with the bomb itself, There was no alternate color, It was just straight void-black, same as the borders. As of when I originally made these I actually just straight up used the circle tool for the head, hence why its all one color! We also have the eyes which are considerably smaller and in this iteration eyebrows just sort of appeared when needed!

Next up, A design I am still baffled to this day about, My second iteration, We'll start with the most in your face part, The sun and moon gimmick. So I made this design with the whole idea of my goal of brightening peoples days taken REALLY literally. I was and still am a massive fan of duality in my designs and theming so I was originally gonna make a second character to represent the moon, but I have no idea where that went. In terms of design, We have the collar that was meant to look like the sun and replacing the circuit design with one a sun and moon on the cuffs of the shirt and a wavelength on there as well because white space is not something my brain was a fan of at the time. Also the base of the bomb was smaller than that of the first design, However the it makes the fuse look bigger so a step in the right direction. For the coloring, It was much more vibrant, I actually have kept some colors in my current design as you can see with my shirt's base color. Eyes were still quite small and a smidge duller than the shirt itself, For the bomb part itself, I used a gradient which led to this shade of grey. The fuse however, was shortened to 3 segments but also just the colors were inverted, Likely because the first segment in the fuse was originally brown and I just removed that segment at the time

Next up, The third iteration of the design! The base of the bomb got a bit larger this time, and its quite blatant that this design feels way TALLER than the others. Thats mainly because I ended up focusing on making the character feel more slim. Unfortunately the experiment made him look uncannily tall. Other than that, The sun and moon gimmick was dialed back a bit, Although the MOON IS PURPLE FOR SOME REASON It also swapped places with the sun. This iteration did make quite a few lasting changes though! First being that it coined the face changing color with emotion gimmick, As well as finally figuring out what color the bomb part is, Sticking to a nice navy (Which is specifically called "Valhalla" by the way!). The fuse follows suit, Inverting its colors to look much nicer in my opinion! The shirt was turned into a minty color, As well as the pants with a VERY vibrant ocean-y blue! I still cease to understand why I decided to put a logo on the shirt, Like you weren't able to tell who it is by just looking at the bomb.

Regardless, We bring ourselves to the current form of the design! The base of the bomb is now much larger, even moreso than that of the original iteration, And we've gone back to the original hoodie design, integrating it with the color gimmick from the previous iteration! Alongside that, The fuse is quite noticably bigger compared to all the others and hangs back a bit more, Usually behind my head. I've also decidedly made the eyes and face much bigger, usually taking up a good amount of space, It gives a much more cartoony feel that I like going for! The design also takes more chibi elements, Mainly stubby arms and legs alongside a pretty large head! Finally, I've finally decided to give the shoes a bit more of an interesting design, inspired by the boots of the Mario bros.

Well, thats all for going through the past designs of myself, I always find it fun looking back and appreciating where I came from and how much I've grown, Especially since I can remember a good deal of life events that occurred during the time of each iteration, Its a sweet way of remembering all the great things and fun times that have happened over the years. If you ever feel like it, Take a look at some of your past designs or drawings! You won't regret it, Promise

[popcornforone]

Enjoying The View

Chapter 5 of the Is That All Mr Gutierrez Fan Fic series

Master list

Chapter 4

Sorry Dave York (unsurprisingly) got in the way of chapter 5 of this, but I’ve suddenly really got a move on with this today & ive really enjoyed writing it. I promised people I wouldn’t break Javi G which considering I mainly write Dave, is actually really hard to do, but I think I’ve done well. Things really get going now. Maybe the next chapter will be sooner rather than later.

Synopsis: You wake up the morning after the night before in Javis bed wondering if it was all a dream. But it’s the sight of the man that you’ve always loved that makes you realise this is so much more than just a dream.

Word count:3000

Warning: DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18!Protected PIV sex, kissing sucking, teasing some pre cum play, admiring& seducing, swearing. Boss employee relationship. Long term friends to lovers.

Thanks as always for the read peoples it’s really appreciated. All feed back is welcome in any form. I’ll hopefully see you soon for chapter 6.

Stirring into life on a Sunday morning has always been hard. The bright light flooding into the bedroom as you go oooh no & pull the bedsheet back over you. It’s just your thing. You dont want to get up, Sundays are lazy days. Your bed is meant to be your safe comfortable space until you realise you should make some sort of effort with the day.

But then you smell the bedding. This isn’t your sheets at home or in your room at Javis. These are blue silk & smell of Javi. You are asleep in his bed. Last night was not some wild dream you had. Last night you had sex with Javi on the sofa, not once but twice. You never watched Paddington. You were to engrossed in each others bodies that you never got that far. You can still feel the echo from his hand clutching around your waist, how his flat large thumb was made to pleasure your sensitive clit, how his lips tasted of love, lust & desire. Yea it happened, you & Javi had sex & you chuckle slightly under the bedding, realising that all your dreams had come true.

However thats when you realise Javi is not in bed with you. A quick look around his bedroom & he is nowhere to be seen. But there is the amorous smell of coffee waiting for you on the bed side table. There’s steam coming from it so it can’t have been sat there long. You sit up & that’s when you see the curtains blow from the balcony of his villa. He’s having his morning cigarette & coffee watching the view over your town as it it comes alive on this Sunday morning. You realise that you joined Javi in his bed in your birthday suit & you have no clothes to put on to go & give him a good morning kiss. However the bed sheet is thin & easy for you to wrap around yourself or so you think. “Why do they always make this look so simple in movies” you mutter to yourself before you sort yourself out & eventually knot it. Once you are covered, you take your coffee & slowly make your way across Javis bedroom & lean on the door frame & just have a few private seconds staring & admiring the man you love.

He sits there so peacefully, coffee half drunk on the table, smoking his cigarette. His lips plump after each exhale. His eyes gleaming at the sun, his locks of curls beyond anyones control now, his skin being kissed by the golden sun that is already up, each blemish is a line of perfection & his body is long & impressive, especially his broadness. Those shoulders look a little more relaxed than they have done recently, maybe last night was a relief for you both, that after this morning may never be mentioned again, but you hope to god it’s not. He has his boxers on, being his bedroom of course he could grab them when he woke up this morning. It’s as his large hand grabs his coffee cup, that out of the side of his eye he catches you staring & admiring. A small smile creeps across his face.

“Enjoying the view?” he says casually like it’s nothing unusual that the girl he’s wanted to be with for his entire life is wearing nothing but his bedding just a few feet away.

“Well it’s certainly is something” you reply. He stands up coffee in hand, with the cigarette in the same one walks towards you & he strokes your face, delicately taking in all of your facial features this glorious morning.

“I’m glad you are enjoying it” these soft words from his mouth a followed by a succulent kiss. One that says good morning & I need you all at the same time. The sensation it sends through your body, almost makes you drop your own coffee cup, has your hands trembling. “Morning precious, did you sleep well?” Javi asks as he goes to take another drag of his cigarette. Your own fingers take it from him & you take your own puff. It’s been a while since you’ve smoked anything, probably 3 months & that was to try the recent crop to make sure it was up to scratch. You don’t smoke as much as you used to, it’s much more at the end of a night out or for social reasons. Your mum still hates that you ever even go near it. You hand it back to Javi before answering his question.

“Like a baby, Javi”

You’ve never seen him put a cigarette out so quickly in all your life. It’s stubbed & both your mugs are on the table as his hand caress you & his lips more than welcome yours back to his. Your body remembers every touch from the night before. As his hands enter your hair you recall the moans, the pleasure & the adrenaline. You gasp as the kiss breaks & smile, At the most perfect man you could ever hope for.

“Last night did happen then?” He asks, his thumbs tracing across your knuckles as he looks you up & down.

“Yes Javi it did” you reply looking up into those large brown puppy dog eyes, smiling with your own hoping to get a similar look back.

“I thought so”… he pauses for a second before thinking of his next words”…I… I… I wanted that, for a while, but never thought you would want me back or even think of me as more than a friends” Javi says looking a little sheepish that it’s taken him so long to ask you. “& I didn’t even ask you on a date first” he says shaking his head. But your two fingers that you trail up his neck to his chin make him stop & admire you.

“It’s not like you need to get to know me Javi” I laugh “I think we can skip the dates, I mean we did cook dinner before hand & had good intentions for a wholesome evening as friends, but no…” I smile & stroke & twist his rouge curl”… this curl has taken us down a path that I’m glad it lead us to… because I have been yours from the moment we met as kids” You let out a deep sigh after saying that hoping for it to be reciprocated, your heart beating at 200miles an hours, faster than Lewis hamilton can go.

“Well looks like we are both terrible communicators” Javi replys, clutching your hand that was on his chin & resting it on his firm chest. He can see your body judder, as the contact between his chest & your palm make you feel like you have a teenage crush all over again. His heart if possible is pounding more than yours.

“I like you Javi” you say after a few moments of silence, “I really really…” but you don’t complete your sentence.

“So do I” is Javis quick response before you’re passionately kissing him. Mouths intwined in desire, your hands gracing his shoulders to make sure you are both as close as you can be. It’s a feverish kiss. One neither of you can really control. His hands love the feeling of your body under that silk bed sheet, but he knows that’s not good enough for him. With one hand around the back of your neck & the other around your waist he pulls you back into the bedroom, so your out of view of anyone trying to get a peak at what’s going on & your own hand loosen the knot you spent so long adjusting & tying. The bedsheet cascades to the floor, meaning you’re naked as you make out with Javi as he moves the two of you towards the bed. He’s not yet realised this, he’s too busy enjoying the taste of your loving lips for him, & he’s really wondering why the two of you haven’t attempted to do this sooner.

“Javi” it’s a soft seductive moan that escapes your lips. “I want this, I want you forever” you continue to say inbetween kisses. It’s only when Javis have traces across the top of your breasts he realises the sheet has long gone. His smile twitches as he looks down at your nipples eyes wide.

“If I’d have know these were what was under all those dresses & bikini, I’d have indulged in these long before last night” Javis face is as excited as a kid at Christmas. Those dark caramels scanning your body. From you hair down to your toes, taking in the glorious naked sight of you. He lowers you onto the bed & without realising you spread your legs, fully on display. Javi pauses as he hoovers above you. “Fuck precious, this is too good to be true” he can feel his erection getting harder the more he looks at you. So he stops looking & from your neck downward he kisses you. Your nipples harden as he is sloppy kissing them. His hands wandering as well as you start to roll your hips from just Javis kisses on your skin. The moan he lets out when he reaches your mound & sees the sight is undescribable & it makes you clench around nothing.

“Well, this is a sight” he kisses your thighs, before two fingers slide through your arousal, teasing you but not going inside you. “You really want me that much my princess ?” You lift your head & see Javi suck the two fingers he just used to tease you.

“You have no idea Javi”

“You’re not just sex & lust drunk?” He says as he stands up & quickly shuffles to his dresser to find a condom. He drops his boxers as he goes. That arse really is perfectly firm, like a peach, tanned & looking rather scrupulous

“Javi I’d have told you if I regretted last night I don’t I… I…” words fail you as Javi turns around. This swim shorts & tight trousers always made him look big but it’s girthy too. No wonder you experienced pleasure so quickly last night, your jaw drops, a little trail of spit leaking out as you can’t contain your reaction to how stunning & how large your man is. This is more that you could have ever asked for & you hope to experience this pleasure for many more days to come.Javi Gutierrez being well endowed is an understatement.

“I’m guessing that you really are enjoying the view now” he says as he rips open the condom packet & gives his penis a few leisurely pumps before he slides the protection on, as you sit up on your elbow to check this isn’t a dream. He’s big, he is very big.

“Did I…I…”

“Most of it baby, you took most of it baby, if it is too much we can…”

“No Javi” you interrupt as he straddle over you. “…I said I wanted all of you, & I mean all of you” he holds your hand & your fingers lock, his over hand preparing for his entrance inside you.

“Then we will take it slow baby, this is as much about your pleasure as it is mine” he says before he kisses the crook of your neck. “Are you happy my precious?”

You slowly nod & bite your lip “yes Javi yea I…” the gasp is deep as he slowly breaks down your entrance & you feel his cock slide inside you. You’re panting already. Was he really this big last night? Did he feel bigger now you had seen it? You don’t care. All the air has been punctured out of you & then some. “Fuck” you moan on his second motions as he get deeper.

“Is it too much?”

“No Javi”

“If you need me to stop…”

“Don’t stop, ever” you say quite sternly looking into his eyes as he wanted to ask you face on. He smiles.

“Okay but please let me know if it’s too much”

Javi moves a piece of your hair out of your eyes as he then starts to rock. Each motion pushing his penis further inside you, each one you gasp & moan at experiencing pleasure no man has ever given you. Your hands dance over his chest & shoulders. Your leg instinctively in this position wrap around him making him moan as how good you feel.”oh fuck baby, your so tight, fuck me” he moans before he grips your face & the kissing commences.

Your bodies have very quickly worked each other out. He’s pushing you deeper into the mattress, you’re pulling him further into you. Your hips match his pace. & the moaning gets more. He’s now finally fully inside your. Your vagina is filled to the brim, loving every stroke around your walls. Making you Experience so much more than pleasure. He’s looking after you, you can tell that Javi is a very passionate but sensitive lover, not that it would be a surprise if he was. He is loving you moan & gasp for air. He looks deeply at you, as the sweat drips from his main front curl. The way your eyes shut & scrunch in desire as you feel him move. & then when they open it feels like they are looking at him for the first time again. Your eyes he often says are diamonds now dazzling for the world to see but your world is Javi. He keeps kissing your lips, be them small pecks or longer passionate exchanges as his hips rotate & he starts to pick up that pace. He feels like he’s making up for least time. The more he moves the more you roll with him, clamping every few thrusts, loving every second of making love with Javi. The foreplay was everything, but this is going to be over quickly, your both over come with desire that this moment is here. It’s better than you both imagined.

Your hand leaves his which we’re still gripped together, the nerves of your fingers coming back to life as they trail down his spine, feeling all of his own goosebumps. His body trembles as you do this & it makes him go faster, the moans your now making in sync with each other. You really are meant to be.

“Sweet Javi” you moan & he moans your name back before his lips find your mouth again & then something inside you breaks as he nips at your bottom lip & you let go. Flooding your arousal, cuming & moaning “ooooh fuckkkkkkk” as you experience one of the most intense orgasms you’ve ever had. He’s moving faster & then he pauses as he cums himself. Filling the condom & grunting deeply.

“Ooh baby, oh yea oh fuck” Javi collapses completely on top of you, both of you panting so hard, & you then hold his chin & kiss him hard & firmly on the lips.

You didn’t realise you’d fallen asleep after the intense pleasure you & Javi had experienced for your early morning or realised that Javi had left the bedroom when you woke up. You were back under the bed sheet & some underwear & a robe were on the bed side table for you.

You get yourself together when you realise what the time is & that your meant to be at the hotel help your mum this afternoon with a conference & quickly run to where your room is in the house to shower & get dressed ready for the event. As you put on your shoes you text Javi

*where are you? I need to leave to go help mum

*in my study… your going so soon🥺

*unfortunately yes

You grab your bag & head to the study & see Javi clicking away at his computer & knock twice as you would normally do. He’s in his swim shorts & an open floral shirt as he spins around to see you.

“Afternoon” he says coyly smirking looking you up & down his eyes undressing you.

“Hi Javi, I really do need to go or my mum will kill me”

“No she won’t”

“Yes she will it’s…”

“Not if I’ve already sent Diaz over there to help her set up” Javi interrupts & you look shocked. Diaz is Javis personal trainer.

“Why would…”

“Because I told him I’ve had a works out today” you both blush & you shuffle a little bit awkwardly towards him. The smirk on his face you can tell he doesn’t want to let you go. “& I’m his boss”

“Do all your employees do that Javi? Just do what you want at the snap of your fingers?”

“& more, some go above & beyond” he realises how that’s come out & you can see the concern in his eyes. He didn’t mean it to sound like he way paying you to be his girlfriend or have sex with him.

“Javi if this is going to be awkward I can resign or we don’t have to do this. What happened today & last night was phenomenal but I…”

“I love you…” Javi says & your jaw drops. “I always have, I always will, I’m not wasting anymore time. No one else can do the job like you & im not going to make up any excuse. I want you , I need you, I love you” he then whispers your name seductively biting your ear lobe & you drop your bad on the floor as you stroke his arm & then tenderly kiss him.

“Javi… I.. I..”

“Don’t say it back because you think you have to, but deep down we both know you do” he says.

“No Javi, I think I need to call my mum tell her I’m really delayed.” You smile your eyes dancing & looking back at Javi. His beam back at you before you turn around & lock the office door, to make sure no one can walk in on you enjoying each other. A view for just the two of you.

[hella1975]

Hi hella!!!

I feel like i always start these off or end them by saying that these things are going to be incomprehensible in some way, mainly bc i have trouble translating whats going on in my mind into written words so i really dont know how much of my list thingies make sense to you but this one is especially probably going to not make much sense. (also bc i send them a lot when im either very tired or not sober, but i am sober and wide awake rn so this might be a different kind of incomprehensible)

I found one of my old drafts for an ask from around a year ago and it was a follow up response to the last chapter you posted at the time, so im not sure how its going to sound without the context of that specific chapter, but i also mentioned in one of my other asks that i add stuff in last minute and that ask i added a shit ton of stuff so i dont have any of that pretyped out so im going by memory.  But im sending it again bc i havent seen you answer it 

(please do not interpret this as ‘why didnt you answer my ask >:/’ or me rushing you to answer asks or anything like that, but like I said its been a year so im assuming tumblr ate it.  If not and you just havent cleaned out your ask box and you find the original, congratulations you’ll know what i originally said.  Bc idk how accurate this will be)

SO

Theres two different ways that you seem to write metaphors (idk if thats what theyre called im not caught up on my literary terminology)

 (im scrolling through your blog rn looking for my other asks and tumblr really did you dirty in your asks system like i started scrolling and the third one down was from 2021 and im fighting for my life trying to find my tag (thank you for my tag btw its very useful to me))

Anywho, most of your metaphors ( to me) can be split into two categories.  Theres the simple ones and the complex ones.  Now this might seem obvious but im going to explain to you how these have different effects on my brain.  

An example of the ‘simple’ ones is  

““If Nanook’s tone had a note of seriousness, then Zuko’s was the entire orchestra.”” (idk what chapter this is from its been a while)

You have a lot of these kinds of whatever the haick kind of literary technique this is (is this a metaphor i’ve been trying to google it for like ½ an hour and i cant figure it out) BUT these type of things that are simple and easy to process is one of my favorite things about the way you write.  I think this is a very common technique but the way you do it to me is just a lot more unique than the ways ive seen it done before.  Its extremely fluent with the voice of the characters and brings a perfect kind of vibe to the ‘conversation’ (or story, text, whatever) and it paints the picture of what your trying to say perfectly.  I also really like how these types of things arent ever in Zukos pov a lot (sometimes it is, but not nearly as much, I’ve noticed) and its not in the more serious like revelations that you drop these in.  Like I said, it adds to the voice of the characters, bc of the contrast of Zuko constantly having revelations and dramatic archs and stuff, and the other characters just in general being a lot more calm.  Its like when youre listening to a song and you have the lyrics and the like ‘main’ music behind the lyrics, but then when you listen to the song a lot you notice the smaller, like backup music that adds a lot to the song and makes it a lot more enjoyable than if it was just the lyrics and the louder more up front music.  

Then in contrast you have the bigger ‘metaphors’ 

An example of this is ‘You curse in words already invented’ 

THIS IS MY FAVORITE LINE IN THE ENTIRE FIC.  

OF ANY FIC OR BOOK EVER READ

AND THIS IS WHY

When I tell you I could not figure out what this meant for months I am AWFUL with stuff like this and interpreting it my english teachers hate me bc of it.  Id have the question ‘why were the curtains blue’ and my answer would be ‘bc the people who decorated the room like blue maybe theyre interior designers and it goes with the room 😊 and thats so hot of them bc i love blue too’  

But even thought i couldnt figure it out it stayed in my head and i probably thought about it once a day (i mean this literally, i think about that part all the time) and i cant remember the context for that or anything but i do remember that i knew it was a wonderful phrase.  

I’ve mentioned in my other asks how whenever im reading anything at all that you’ve written (whether its tams, or toab, or in the tags of something even if its like 10 words), everything you type comes out so fluidly like a formula or a color wheel or however i put it last time i talked about this.  And this is on the prodigious end of the spectrum of this.  

But phrases like that are another part of the fic, theyre like the lyrics of the song.  Like the phrases that gets all the attention and gets put in fanart and that gets quoted in comment sections because they deserve that recognition and you deserve that recognition and are just a reminder of how incredibly talented you are.  

I mean that in the most sincere way that i know how to express.  

I am constantly in awe of you and your writing style, and i really do think of you as one of the most talented writers of everything ive ever read.  

And something else worth mentioning is that it isnt just your ao3 that portrays that.  Like if I were to just read your ao3 I’d be like ‘oh wow this person is an amazing writer’ But your tumblr persona plays into it a lot more (In my opinion).  Because then you see like more ‘backround’ stuff on ao3.  And more of your system (im not articulating this in the way i mean it very well) and you get privy to the fact that you’re not a 30 year old with a masters in english and that you’ve never had any formal education on writing.  I vaguely remember you talking about a story about a sailor (??? i might be misremembering that) that you wrote when you were a child and thinking ‘oh wow so she’s always been like that’.  And its stuff like that that you dont get on ao3 that kind of reaffirms how incredible of a writer you are.  

And this (to me) makes you a really easy person to admire.  (ik i touched on this in a different ask but i dont remember if it was one of my list asks or not) but as someone who probably isnt going to ever be able to get an education around writing, it kind of reassures me that i dont need that to be great at it.  

(i kind of feel like a lot of the stuff in this ask is too like ‘simple’ or obvious to be given a lot of weight, but this whole thing is about the kinds of things you do that brings me personally joy and the metaphors are one of them so)

Also on an off note when i was looking through your asks to try to find my tag, I noticed that i send you a heavy percentage of your anonymous asks (mainly without my alias) and I thought that was funny.  But also i hope it doesnt come across as obsessive or weird, I swear i do that to a lot of people on here, I’m just a very social person.  .😂

Also Im in your tbos server (lurking in the shadows) and someone pointed out that whenever you do the reaction emojis you always do the white ones, and thats going on the official ‘my favorite things about hella’ list because that was genuinely one of the funniest things ive seen. 

Also the ‘anytime you type its very fluid (im too lazy to scroll up and see how i put it rn) also carrys on to discord.  I think that i could probably block out the user names and be able to figure out that its you talking every time, you have a very distinct way of talking.  

Also i wanted to mention that every time you answer these i read them again and i want to say like 1/3 of what i sasy, i have no recollection of. And i never have any idea what im talking about. so i think thats funny.

LIST ANONNNNNNNNNNNNN BAWLING MY EYES OUT HELLO BABY WELCOME BACK FROM WAR IVE MISSED YOU IM JUST HERE LIKE THIS RN

[whumpurr]

Adrien and Sawdust part 6

cw: pet whump, whump recovery, bodily mutilation, self harm, brief and vague mention of past noncon, dehumanization, conditioned whumpee, unreliable narrator, brief mention of dissociation

masterlist

Sawdust was searching for his bag the second Master was gone. He hopped out of bed, punctuated with a fit of dizziness as he got to his feet, and crawled around the room looking for his duffel bag. The bright blue bag was nowhere to be found, and Sawdust wasn’t great at seeing in the dark either.

He started to wonder, to second guess himself. Did Master put the bag somewhere in the room and Sawdust just isn’t seeing it? Is he overlooking it? Did he even have a bag at all? Did it come with him to this new house, or was it left with his previous master? No, no, he remembered seeing it next to his kennel with those other people.

If he left the room now, Master would surely hear it and question him, or worse, punish him for disturbing his sleep. As much as Sawdust wanted his ears back, he just had to trust that Master would return them in due time.

Sleeping was difficult without the familiar squeeze of his headband around his head, but with a full stomach he managed to eventually fall asleep even if it took a while.

Sunlight came all too soon for Sawdust. The light peeked through the curtains and he couldn’t physically sleep any more. He was dreading going downstairs and having to face his master, having to eat beside him. He could only imagine what his master was going to do to him. Would he record him? Bring his friends over and show him how pathetic and stupid he looked eating out of a bowl on the floor? Sawdust shook himself out of his thoughts; he was just a dog anyways, he shouldn’t have enough of an ego to be embarrassed.

He was getting himself out of bed, going down onto his hands and knees when he heard a soft knock on the door, followed by Master’s quiet voice.

“Sawdust?” Master said from the other side of the heavy wooden door. “Come on, let’s go get some food.”

Sawdust got to the door and opened it with his paw, stepping out and following Master.

Master gave him a bowl of dog food once he was downstairs. Sawdust half contemplated asking Master about his ears, but really, if Master had taken them away then it was because Sawdust did not deserve them any more.

“Master,” Sawdust murmured, “Is- is there anything your pet can- can do? To assist?”

Master looked thoughtful for a moment then laughed, laughed at Sawdust.

“I think my work stuff is a bit advanced for you,” Master took a bite of his own food, “I want you to focus on… recovery, for now. Okay? That means you rest up and come get me if you want anything, food, water, whatever.”

Sawdust nodded, “Yes, Master,” before he continued eating, the hard kibble crunching satisfyingly between his teeth. He couldn’t work up the courage to ask Master about the ears or his bag, or where they’ve gone.

Lunch and dinner went similarly, with Master coming, getting his pet, and taking him downstairs to eat. Each time Sawdust couldn’t work himself up enough to ask Master about his ears. The lack of his ears made Sawdust feel… Wrong. Like he wasn’t a real dog, like he was a subpar pet. He wasn’t good enough to this new Master who had otherwise been so kind to him. What had he done to deserve this?

Night eventually fell, and Sawdust did his best to do as Master said and get to sleep. He curled up in the nest of blankets and pillows that his Master had made in the corner for him, and let himself begin to drift off. As he was doing so, he couldn’t help but wonder why his Master was withholding his belongings from him. Nevertheless, his eyelids grew heavy, and he eventually fell into a deep sleep.

--

Adrien was still getting accustomed to feeding someone using a dog bowl, with dog food, on the floor. It was a strange experience, and doing it made him feel dirty, but it was all Sawdust was going to accept so if it was between that or making the pet starve again, he would have to go with the former.

He was still very aware of just how lost he was in all of this. He searched the internet and scoured his social media for something that could give him some kind of life preserver in all of this. Finally, finally, he found something. A chatroom for pet owners. From the looks of it, it was heavily moderated and geared more towards pet liberation activists, and pet rehabbers, and people who actually cared for their pets. He requested to join and was accepted within the hour. He immediately sent a message to the ‘help’ section.

Adrien: >> Hey guys, I’m a new owner and I didn’t do as much research as I should have. >> Long story short, I didn’t keep as close an eye on my pet as I should’ve, and he ended up not eating because I wasn’t giving him dog food. Is that a normal thing? How can I help him?

It wasn’t five minutes before one of the other owners responded,

1Y4N4: >> oof, thats no good dude.. definitely watch him harder and probably just stick to feeding him what he wants for now. u said hes new right? let him stay in his comfort zone for a little bit probably

Adrien: >> Thanks. I’ll do that.

1Y4N4: >> np, im a bit more experienced as an owner but i dont think mine were as conditioned as urs >> at least not in that way

Zo: >> Bro wtf? You’re the source of your pet’s whole life and shit, you really should’ve done more research.

Adrien sat and watched as this ‘Zo’ person continued to rip into Adrien for his irresponsibility, though the ‘1Y4N4’ user at least tried to defend Adrien. It wasn’t long before Zo quieted down and 1Y4N4 was able to speak up again,

1Y4N4: >> lots of actual dogs eat things that arent dog chow >> maybe show your pet some videos of people feeding their dogs other stuff, maybe hell be more open then

Adrien thanked the user, and used the rest of his evening compiling some videos and researching, finding the outer bounds of what dogs could eat in hopes that he could convince Sawdust. It was far from exactly what he wanted, but he felt some semblance of satisfaction that there was at least a way to progress forwards.

--

Sawdust finally came up with a plan when he was coming out of the bathroom the next morning. It was before Adrien had gotten up. As Sawdust was leaving the bathroom, he caught sight of himself in the mirror.

His hair was all matted, and the fringe at his forehead was beginning to grow to hide his eyes. He looked lacking without his ears. There were deep circles under his eyes. At least the peaks of his cheeks and his lips were starting to regain some color now that he had a steady supply of food which he undoubtedly did not deserve. The scratched scar across his nose bridge and cheek that one of the other dogs gave him was still there. He looked at that and followed it across his face to his second ears.

His dumb second ears, the ones on either side of his head that his last master hated so much. His previous master had always told him that they made him look less like a dog, less like a pet, when a pet was all Sawdust ever wanted to be. Because if he wasn’t a pet, then he was a toy for both Master and the other dogs, and that was one step above the most reprehensible thing he could be. He had been downgraded to ‘toy’ for a short amount of time previously, and he was eternally grateful that he was never dropped even lower, to being nothing but food for the other dogs.

Master threatened that sometimes, chopping him up and feeding him to the other dogs.

Whenever Sawdust looked at himself in the mirror, he couldn’t help imagine it. Being cut up and thrown to other animals to eat. He found some part of himself that felt that- even if he could never do anything else right- he could do that right. He tried to halt that train of thought as quickly as he could, before his mind shunted him off to some dark, foggy place where he couldn’t think or feel until the bad thoughts went away.

But at the root of those thoughts, he found the problem, as well as the solution. He scrambled down to the kitchen as fast as he could go, wanting to work quickly before he could stop himself.

He got to the kitchen sink, and stood up on trembling, unused legs. They could hardly support his weight, he had to lean onto the granite countertop with his elbows as he reluctantly removed the tape from his paws using his teeth. He would need his fingers for this.

Sawdust’s breath was quick in his throat, the edges of his vision grew blurry as he tried to focus on this and only this. He had one task and he was not going to fail it. He wanted his ears back. He wanted his master to be happy with him again. Maybe this way he could earn his master’s attention and... Maybe even his affection, if a pet was allowed to hope.

Sawdust’s paws were shaky and clumsy as they took out the biggest knife out of the wooden blog. It was heavy and cold in his paw. With one paw he held the tip of one of his second ears and pulled it as far away from his head as he could.

The cold edge of the blade rested on his skin, at the valley between his second ear and his head. He squeezed his eyes shut, he couldn’t break down now, he couldn’t stop now. He took a deep, sharp breath and pressed down on the knife as hard as his feeble paws could.

--

Adrien shot out of bed to the sound of a piercing, howling scream from downstairs.

taglist: @starnight-whump @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi@neuro-whump @whump-me-all-night-long @cupcakes-and-pain @whumpzone @whumpcreations @dancinglifeboat @pinkraindropsfell @looptheloup @cowboy-anon @meetmeinhellcroutons @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @firewheeesky @maracujatangerine

[mustyrosewater]

te amo.

javier peña x reader

request by @hxdxs​ :  hello! i was wondering if you could write smth where javier peña has a nightmare after him and the reader have a fight which results to them sleeping in separate rooms, she wakes up and comforts him no pressure (: 

warnings : fighting, mentions of violence, possibly unhealthy relationship

word count : 3k+ 

you knew what you were walking into when you finally decided to commit to a relationship with javier peña, you knew to expect the disappearing for days at a time without being able to contact with him because he was undercover, you knew that he was walking into a brand new dangerous situation every single day. 

but it didn't hurt any fucking less each time.  at first, you'd tried to tell yourself that you shouldn't be upset, once again telling yourself that it was you who chose this life, getting angry and possibly overreacting would just be hypocritical of you, it would have made you weak.  but as it began to happen again, and again  the last straw had been him coming home at three in the morning, after having been away for a week longer than he'd told you the undercover operation was going to last for. you'd spent hours in your shared apartment, anxiously waiting for a the phone call from the dea or an agent knocking on your door only to tell you that he'd been killed.  you'd spent the night sitting on the couch, clutching his shirt tightly just to smell whatever remnants of his cheap cologne that you hated with a passion was left over on them, suddenly missing it now more than ever.  when he'd finally come back, you'd fallen asleep on the couch, still holding the shirt tight to your chest with dried tears still lingering on your cheeks.  to say the least, waking up at three in the morning to the sound of somebody rustling around in the bathroom was enough to prompt you to slowly grab a knife from the kitchen drawer and slowly make your way to the bathroom. as if being on a streak of being an emotional wreck after what you believed to be the death of your boyfriend, now the universe was truly testing you by having somebody decide to rob you.  seeing the streak of white light poking through the crack in the bathroom door, you approached slowly, feeling your heart beating so loudly that it was thundering in your own ears.  finally swinging the door open, it hit the opposite wall with a harsh crash, only to be followed by you bursting in, knife in hand, cursing angrily in spanish.  only to be greeted by a wide eyed javi looking at you as if you'd gone crazy.  as your heart dropped and your eyes widened, you couldn't help letting out a cry of shock as you dropped the knife onto the tile floor with a sharp clang, unable to process the blade narrowly missing your foot.  reaching to grip onto the door frame in order to balance yourself as you felt your legs begin to go numb, javi sprung forward, reaching out and placing his hands under your shoulders for support.  as you finally got a closer look at him, you could see that his hair was messy as all hell, he definitely hadn't shaved for the past day or two and he absolutely stunk, and you once again found yourself wishing he'd actually been using that horrid cologne.   in that moment however, as grateful as you were that he was alive and wasn't in fact lying dead in a ditch in escobars backyard, the relief had faded away as quickly as it had flooded in, only to no sooner be replaced with a fiery surge of anger.  with no hesitation, you shoved him away from you, now able to stand up straight once more; looking up just in time to see his questioning look he posed your way.  "what the fuck javi!"  you hadn't meant for your voice to come out so hoarse, but the hours you'd spent audibly crying into his shirt had done a number on your throat, as well as the fact that you'd only woken up minutes ago.  he opened his mouth to speak, but you only answered by holding up your finger and continuing to speak. "a week. i don't hear from you for a week! i manage to convince myself you've been shot, and then you just waltz in at three am in the fucking morning and make me think you're a robber!" you can't help but laugh in between sentences, but the laugh is still traced with venom, all too reflective of the angry streak of words flooding out of your mouth. "i mean- what if i'd stabbed you?!" you spoke, gesturing to the knife now by your feet. you didn't even want to picture yourself stabbing javi, especially not after he nearly gave you a stroke due to finding out that he was still very much alive.  as you went to continue, it was now javi's turn to interrupt you, shaking his head as he placed his hands on his hips and stared back at you. you hadn't even stopped to think about how much of a crazy person you must have looked like in that moment, face puffy and red from crying, messy hair and pajama pants you'd been wearing for two days straight, all nicely topped off with a singlet shirt and robe he'd gotten you a few months back for your birthday.  "what the fuck was i supposed to do? i told you i was undercover!" his voice sounded so tired, it was painfully obvious to you how drained he was; but in that moment, the high emotional intensity was blurring all reason within you.  as you listened to him yell, you felt the lump in your throat forming; crossing your arms, you tried to keep yourself together.  "you could have sent me some kind of message, somebody to tell me you'd be gone for another week!" the two of you were no longer yelling at one another, this was screaming at one another. in a brief passing moment you thought about what the neighbours must have thought of you two, but you also just couldn't find yourself to care.  "you know i couldn't do that! i've told you several fucking times why i can't do that!" he turned away from you, taking a step back towards the basin. you could see his shoulders rising and falling with his deep breaths, watching as he reached up to run a hand through his messy hair. "fuck!" you jumped as the tense silence between you two was broken by javi cursing loudly and kicking the small plastic garbage can beside the basin, sending it crashing against the wall loudly. that was when your bottom lip began to wobble and your vision became foggy. you could only reach up a shaky hand to cover your mouth as javi panted, hunched over the basin he was now resting his hands on.  "i thought you were dead javi.." in your effort to conceal that you were beginning to cry, you'd kept your voice quiet, yet i hadn't helped in the slightest; the wobble in your tone was too noticeable for anybody to be able to ignore, especially not javi; who turned to look at you, a few expression laced with regret having taken over his face.  you didn't want to look at him for a moment longer, you couldn't even if you did. so you turned around and walked out from the doorway of the bathroom, only now beginning to audibly weep into your hand.  you could head javi walking after you, only prompting you to walk to the spare room quicker. you just needed to be away from javi for awhile, even if you'd spent the past four weeks desperately wishing he was back.  "wait, just please hang on a minu-"  you can't hear the rest of javi's words before you've slammed the door in his face, turning the small lock over as quickly as your shaky hands allow you to. you turn around and put your back to the door, trying to ignore the fact that you can feel javi standing outside the door, you can hear his faint heavy breaths and the way he's softly cursing in spanish under his breath.  its a few more moment before you can hear his footsteps slowly getting softer and you know he's walked in your bedroom when you can hear the door slam shut, making you jump softly again.  thats the moment that you let yourself break down. your face scrunches up as you slide down the door until your sitting on the ground of the spare room, your knees up to your chest as you rest your palms on your forehead, trying your hardest not to make too much sound as you cry, feeling your shoulders shake as you do.  memories of all the friends who'd advised you not to commit to a relationship with javi over wine came flooding in, remembering the uneasy looks on all their faces the first time you'd shown up to a friends wedding together. the times you'd stayed at their houses because you just couldn't handle the way he acted when a case had set him off; the amount of times you'd told them that you stayed because he needed you as much as you needed him; ignoring the way they shook their heads.  it hurts so much when things get like this between you two, you don't often find yourself fighting, but this had so far been the worst of all; never had the two of you screamed at each other so loudly before.  it takes about thirty minutes of you sitting on the ground to realize that you should probably move to the small single bed in the corner of the room. you had moved the small bed into what was essentially javi's office about a year ago, mainly done for the purpose of giving steve a place to sleep when him and javi were working non stop, it was your idea, knowing that it would probably be easier seeing as him and steve always had to start so early.  remembering when they moved the bed in, you'd brought the two of them beers as they spent hours upon hours trying to put the stupid thing together.  a memory that used to make you laugh, only serving to making you cry harder as you sat down on the bed.  you could hear javi angrily pacing in the next room over, as well as the occasional bang of what you could assume was him knocking something over or throwing something.  as you laid down on the bed, you shut your eyes slowly, trying to pretend you couldn't hear him even if there was nothing but a paper thin wall separating the two rooms.  -- you couldn't tell what time it was when you finally woke up. you couldn't even remember when you'd fallen asleep. you looked towards the window to see a dim blue light poking out of the curtains, signalling to you that it must have been early in the morning, meaning you couldn't have been asleep for more than four hours.  at first, you reached out for javi, only for the events that occurred only a few hours ago to come flooding back in. the fighting, the screaming. it only replaced the lump in your throat as you sat up and rubbed your eyes.  as you began to wake up more, you wondered what had prompted you to wake up at such a random hour, especially when you'd been so worn out and tired when you actually went to sleep in the first place.  you were about to ponder the question for awhile longer, until you heart the soft grunts coming from you and javi's room. though muffled, you could clearly hear javi in quiet distress. its a sound that you wish wasn't as familiar to you as it was; the amount of times you'd been woken up by javi making those sounds fresh in your head, just as fresh as needing to calm him down from them. he was clearly having a nightmare.  and suddenly, it was as if all of those arguements, all of those snarky comments from your girlfriends and all the time you'd spent crying over javi had been flung out of the window and banished to the back of your mind; only leaving room for a sudden concern for javi. with no hesitation to be observed, you walked to the door and unlocked it, heading to the bedroom as the sounds of javi in sleepy distress became louder and louder.  carefully placing your hand flat on the wooden door, you hesitated, briefly taking a moment to prepare for javi still being upset, knowing that it could still very much be the case. pushing said concerns to the back of your mind once more, you push the door open slowly, still aware of the way in which its hinges tend to creak purely due to age and the fact that it was admittedly purely made; remembering the amount of times javi mentioned he was going to fix it himself but still never getting around to it. you spot his sleeping figure on the bed, though sleeping would certainly be a loose term for it. he's shaking and twitching every few moments, his eyes shut tightly. you aren't sure what it is he's dreaming about, much less if you even want to know; it was likely it wasn't something you'd be able to handle. you'd never asked for any details past what he told you about his job; occasionally he would mention things once or twice in passing, and you were simply content to leave it at that. the things that you'd seen on the television were enough to scare you into not asking for anything else past the information he was willing to give. yet in the same breath, the fact that only seeing things on tv was enough to make your skin crawl, you couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him to see it all up and close and personal, much less risk his life every day just by walking into the embassy. you knew what to expect when you committed to this relationship, yet you had found it so hard to think about what he was going through. after what felt like ten minutes of staring at the poor man, you walked forward and kneeled beside the bed, not wanting to put weight on the mattress so as to frighten him out of his sleep rather than calmly wake him. reaching up, you placed a hand on his cheek, ignoring the prickly feeling of his stubble due to having not shaved for nearly a week and ran your thumb back and fourth across his prickly skin. "javi... javi, baby.."  as you try to speak softly to snap him out of it, it seems to only make it worse as he jumps away from your touch; only resulting in a slight cringe forming on your face. the idea that you're only making it worse for him feels horrible, not even wanting to think about what he must be experiencing in whatever dream it is he's having. "please baby, wake up, its just a dream... i'm here."  continuing to stroke his cheek, you watch as he lets out a loud gasp and his eyes go flying open and he sits up, looking around frantically as if he was trying to find out where he was.  this is only one of many times you've had to do this, needing to wake him up softly and remind him that he was safe with you. it pained you to see him so shaken by a dream. you had to wonder how much more of this line of work he was going to be able to take. the more time you spent watching columbia slowly chip away at the man you loved, you tried to pretend that every time you watched him walk out of the door for work that you weren't worried it may have been his last. you tried to pretend that you weren't always noticing his dark circles and the way he'd grunt out in pain from the smallest movements.  being in the dea was slowly killing him and neither of you even wanted to admit it.  you know better than to ever try and convince him to quit, you've known him long enough to know how stubborn of a man he is; and that if you tried to tell him about the danger and how worried you were, it was only going to push him away in the end.  the times you'd had to help him into bed when he came home drunk, the times you'd needed to help him dress his stitches or watch him take of his shirt only to be met with a bullet scratch on his shoulder. while being in the dea was slowly killing javi, watching it happen was just as slowly killing you. reaching forward, you cup his cheeks and force him to look you in the eyes; ignoring the way that his hands grip tightly onto your wrists.  you've learnt to ignore things like this, it hurts when he grips your wrists so tightly, but you continue to tell yourself that he doesn't mean it; you know he doesn't mean it.  you chose to love a broken man, and with all broken things, you needed to be prepared for occasionally gaining a few cracks yourself.  the fear in his eyes is crystal clear, the way he looks at you as if he doesn't recognize you; its painful, but as his face shifts to one of a subtle recognition, you watch as he slowly sinks down from his fear and feel his grip on your wrists begin to relax bit by bit. stroking his cheeks, you smile softly and sit across from him on the bed, feeling his pulse thundering rapidly. "i'm right here javi, it's ok, your ok."  your whispers finally seem to be working as he shuts his eyes, making an obvious attempt to slow down his breathing. he leans forward, resting his forehead on your collar as you stroke his back slowly, letting him try to calm down from whatever violent nightmare he was being forced to endure.  you can feel his arms wrap around you as he pulls you closer, practically leaning against you as he breathes in your scent, just another way of being able to ground himself back into reality.  in that one moment, every fight the two of you had ever had, the amount of time you'd spent crying over your worries, everything you've had to endure becomes worth it as you sit there in each others arms.  he finally leans back to look at you, letting one of his hands rest on the back of your head as he brings you in to lay a kiss on your forehead, shutting his eyes and taking another deep breath.  without saying anything, he leans back down to lay on the bed, pulling you with him so that you were laying your head on his chest; his arms remaining tightly wound around you with little to no intention of letting you go. just as you had no intention of leaving.  "im sorry.." you whispered out softly, beginning to draw invisible patterns on his bare chest with your finger tips. "i was just so fucking scared that i lost you.." you confessed, letting you voice crack as your vision became foggy. he didn't reply at first, but you felt his breathing tense. you didn't want to ask what it was that he was dreaming about, but based upon his reaction, you wondered whether or not that was the subject matter of his dream, losing you or losing himself. when he finally spoke, it was deep and croaky, just as his voice always was after it had been sleeping; a voice you'd heard whispering sweet nothings and pillow talk in the mornings; the voice that would softly tell you goodbye followed by a kiss on your forehead whenever javi would leave early in the mornings and you'd stay in bed.  "please don't cry, hermosa. please don't be sorry." by the sound of his voice you could tell that he felt bad, it wasn't hard to tell that the both of you were hurt over the argument; your high emotional intensity mixed with javi being worn out was a deadly mix that was bound to end badly. turning to look up at him, you rested your chin on his chest and sighed.  javi stared back at you, reaching up to fix the hair that had fallen in front of your face; allowing his hand to linger purely so he could cup your cheek. shutting your eyes, you leaned into his touch; now unable to stop a few tears from escaping and rolling down your cheeks only to be quickly wiped up by javi's thumb as if he couldn't bear to watch them fall. "te amo." he whispered, reaching for your hand and bringing the back of it to his lips, laying a soft kiss on the skin.  laying your head back down on his chest and shutting your eyes, you allowed yourself to begin drifting back to sleep, now finding such a task monumentally easier now that you were back in javi's arms. "i love you too."

[eroslove88]

Lord Give Me Strength

✧Pairing: Yandere!Shigaraki x Fem!Reader

��Warnings: non-con, gagging (just one part), fisting, mentioned death (not major though), threatening, humiliation, mentions of stalking, public-ish, hinted kidnapping, and yandere themes

✧Note: Random ass thought I had on Wednesday so I decided to write it down hope y'all enjoy!

Another Sunday morning, like most Sundays you spent an hour at church. There were different masses but you always attended the one from 12 pm - 1 pm. This one wasn't far from your apartment but it wasn't close either, well from what Shigaraki could tell you only attended because of 'family'.

Like always the church started with a simple, "Good Morning" then you'd all say it back. You'd hate to admit the mass was boring, but family comes first. About 15 minutes in one of the confession room lights turned on. Even well into being an adult your dad still had to nudge you to get your attention to the red light.

With a sigh you walked over to the door with a silver plate at the top that read, "Father Gonzalez". Since you were the only one there you went in closing the door behind you and covering the window in the confession room for privacy. This confession room wasn't like normal confession boxes, it had a wall with a small curtain covering the window where the priest was on the other side, a cushion to kneel on, a table with holy water and a rosary on it behind where the priest sat and a chair right in between the small wall separating you two.

Kneeling you made a cross with your thumb and index finger and began to persinarte (cross one's self, felt weird to say it in English) , "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. My last confession was last week" you said quietly bowing your head to the closed curtain. Silently you waited for the priest to say something from Holy Scripture but, "Father Gonzalez?" you asked looking up at the curtain.

"What's your name?" a scratchy voice asked from behind the red curtain. This wasn't Father Gonzalez's voice, but even though this should've been alarming you wrote it off as a cold.

"Y/N, Y/N L/N" you said quietly. He's never asked for your name. Nor was he supposed to but here you were just telling this man anyways. Besides you've known him for ever, he's worked here for years. Maybe he was getting Alzheimer's, he was pretty old.

You were about to say something when a dry pale-ish hand with long nails came out from behind the curtain and grabbed a fistful of your hair with his middle finger up pulling you into a deep one sided kiss. The kiss muffled your screams and protests as you tried to push away. But when you opened your eyes you didn't see black ones staring back, but ruby red ones along with light blue hair. He let go and you threw yourself back disconnecting the string of saliva connecting both of your lips.

Scrambling to get up but a hand got the collar of your dress shirt and pulled you back dragging you backwards and pushing you hard onto the baidge wall. You let out a scream only for two long skinny fingers to stop it making you gag on them as they reached your throat, "Don't you dare throw up on them you slutty bitch" he threatened. Now the voice sounded familiar, it was The League of Villain's leader, Shigaraki. "Scream and I'll kill you" he threatened whispering into your ear as he slowly started pulling out his fingers.

Everything was going to fast before you knew it your body was bent over the table knocking over what ever was on there. Shigaraki had one hand gripping your hair and the other hand decaying your skirt, "Stop i-it please" you whispered begging and praying that he didn't drop his last finger. Of course you weren't going to scream especially since one of Japan's most wanted criminals had you in the palm of his hand.

You were only human so you couldn't stop a choked sob from escaping as you felt a skinny wet finger enter your slightly wet pussy. It had caught you off guard so you began gripping the wooden table- but thats when you noticed the pile of dust in the corner, "You want to end up like that priest?" he asked yanking you by your hair so you could face him. Furiously you shook your head but couldn't help but let out a broken moan feeling another finger enter you. Hearing some mumbles of concern from outside made your face turned a darker shade of read and you couldn't stop crying. "Aww is my baby embarrassed?" he asked before licking your salty tears off your red face.

Of course you were but you didn't say anything just whimpered as he added a 3rd finger.

"I said" he paused with a chuckle, "IS MY LITTLE BITCH EMBARRASSED ABOUT ME FISTING HER CUNT!" did he just? He had yelled it out and now you heard the talking getting louder and more concerned voices.

"Y-yes" you whispered as more tears ran down your face making you see a blurry wall.

"I wouldn't have to be this cruel if you had just been obedient the first time" he muttered as he set and eager pace pulling them in and out repeatedly. Slowly you closed your eyes trying to distract yourself from here but this didn't go unnoticed of course, "Eye's open! Nothing's getting you out of this" Shigaraki said pulling your hair your you were facing him.

"Oh god" you said threw gritted teeth feeling another finger enter, "S-stop you'll kill me"

"I'll try not to slip but that all depends of you" his tone had no pity he was serious about this. Your arms and legs were shaking you didn't know how long you could hold yourself before you collapsed. The four fingers went in until the knuckles were out of sight and left one finger out which he bent into his palm and went in with the other four easily.

"S-stop ngh- pleas-" you begged but stopped with a loud moan forgetting there was a mass going on outside when he curled his fingers and hit a certain spot.

"Why would I do that when you seem to be enjoying this" you knew he was referring to dripping core. "Besides I'm guessing I've already hit your sweet spot" he wasn't wrong but you couldn't enjoy this, right? This was definitely wrong.

Pulling you by your hair closer he kissed your tears with chuckle as you whimpered at his now fast pace. It was only getting faster though, the sound of your juices being heard loudly throughout the quiet room. The prayers from outside are what made you remembered where you were, "Pray for me" he demanded still going in and out.

"Ha~ Hail, Holy Queen" you started while sweat was dripping down your red face, "M-Mother of m-m-mercy, our life, our sw-sweetness and our hope" his sweet sadistic grin on his chapped lips only growing with each sentence, "To thee who we cry, p-poor banished children of E-E-Eve" you were getting closer to your climax and just wanted this to end and go home. "T-to thee- ngh, fuck fuck fuck don't stop"

"Finish your prayer" he demanded slowing down to your displeasure.

"Do we s-send u-u-p our our sighs" god you were desperate now even stuttering and repeating words just to cum on his dirty hand, "M-mourning and w-weeping valley of TEARS" you exclaimed when he went in deeper that evem his wrist was gone. "Turn then most gracious A-ahh~ Advocate, th-thine eyes of mer-mercy toward us, and and after this our exile," you were almost done with this nightmare. Just that thought alone made you cry happy tears, "sh-sh-show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus fuck!" one mote sentence then home free, "O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!" you said quickly then sighed out a quiet, "amen"

With a loud cry of his name you came on his hand. Finally when he removed his hand licking it clean you fell onto your knees laying your head calmly on the brown table feeling tired and worn out.

You looked over with last energy to a blurry Shigaraki while he took out his what looked like his phone and called someone and all you could make out was, "Kurogiri" the address and then, you saw black.

[abeinginsand]

Thinking about this AU again Lark and Sparrow are going to a private school here with a dorm that they share. They usually go home on the weekends as the Oak Garcia home is only a short bus ride away. Anyways, wanted to go into the 'Into the Spiderverse' part of the story below.

Firstly, wanted to mention these conversations with Rae about an AU of this AU where Terry Jr. is the person who couldn't be saved. They are here and here with the second link being Rae's art and convo of their Spider Normal and my Spider Sparrow meeting! :] In the dorm room, the twins took apart the bunk bed and put their beds together. They have a ton of posters, fairies lights, and other decorations. One window and two lava lamps. The lamps were from Glenn for a birthday. Other than Lark, only their parents and Nick know about the secret. Nick found out when Sparrow kept missing their new Glenn close trio jam sessions.

Nick got curious and happen to see Sparrow go into an alley and come back as spidey wolf. In a mix of outrage and confusion, he is about to go confront his friend. Lark stops him and calms him down. I think nick secretly blames the hero for not stopping the villian that killed his dad. He just never talked about that with his mom or anyone else though.

Feels wrong that Sparrow is that same hero, even more so because he now knows why Sparrow couldn't save Glenn. The friend group was altogether helping nick pack up his dorm for the summer that day. He was always very last minute with packing (the anxiety, the adhd, the teen urge to not do what you should do...etc.) Still was excited that Glenn was going to pick them all up with the tour bus and bring them to the Oak Garcia for a big summer party with all their families. There was a villian attack, cars piling up, his dad never made it to them.

The whole realization is a lot, too much actually. Lark calms him down at first but he's clearly still dealing with it all for awhile. Sparrow and Nick do eventually get closer again though. This is where the spider verse comes in. One night, the twins were having trouble sleeping so they were talking quietly into the night to distract themselves. Lark, surprisingly, falls asleep first and Sparrow watches him sleep for a little while adding more doodles to their sketchbook. They've been working on this sketch of Uncle Glenn and as he used to say "and my three favorite punks". The 'punks' being Nick, Sparrow, and Lark of course. The green and blue lava lamp on the table nearby is the only light, the curtains closed on the lone window. Until suddenly, specks of reds, oranges, and grungy purple scatter across the paper. Sparrow looks up at the ceiling and there's a swirling vortex glitching in and out above them. Top hat (the radioactive spider) is scampering wildly around its enclosure. Said container starts floating up, Sparrow's gasping and reaching out and starting to float too. Something grabs the teens legs right as their arms passed through the portal, those limbs feeling like they've been torn apart and put back together multiple times....and its hurt, its hurt, it hurts-- Lark is the one grabbing their legs though, always a light sleeper, and at least there's some comfort in hearing a defiant, "I'm going with you. Nothing's going to separate us! Ever," before the twins, the spider, and the spiderwolf suit get dragged completely into another realm.

Nick comes into their messy dorm room to find them missing. Holds up the sketch book page. Its dad and his three punks. Maybe its colored in wetness now too but whether thats from knowing his friend drew this or being scared about the twins disappearing is unclear. Either way, he also notices a little drawing of stick figures floating into a portal.

Nick ends up working on a way to get them back with grant, tj, and Morgan who seem to believe him about the "they didn't run away, I think they got abducted by aliens!" It's absurd sounding, yet Morgan hears so much of Glenn in that idea and it's part of why she's so willing to go with it. Other part being that she loves her kid more than the world itself. She is also the one to convince Mercedes and Henry that there's still hope too... --- The twins end up in an alternate universe and they experience the glitch symptoms since they don't belong there. Except, they manage to make a device that can slow the glitching down with tech they stole. It only works on one person at a time though and needs charging. They both insist the other sibling should be the one to wear the device, arguing pretty intensely--dare I say even attracting public attention when they are rough-housing in an alley. A lady stops them both...this lady being their mom but also clearly not their mom somehow. She looks older than the twins remember and was that a little toddler in her arms? They are in a universe that's closer to the canon world (sorta) +Omega dads as villains +the s1 dads have a heroes guild (daddies hq) +the s1 kids are adults (late 20s?) (some of them have sided with the villains, some with their families) +Birdie exists but earlier than in canon, Lark doesn't associate with the family anymore/doesn't know much about her, Sparrow is around but has become pretty disenchanted about the hero life (like Peter B Parker except he still has a good relationship with Becca). Lark joined the dark side. TJ also joined Lark by the way due to Terry Sr Vampire being a key component in this world too. +Glenn did die in this au, but like in canon he came back. He may have come back wrong though. He was a villain for a little bit, thanks to Willy shenanigans. Morgan is also gone, so Nick was taken in by Mercedes and Henry for a few years. Things are still kinda bumpy between Glenn and Nick though the love has always and continues to be there. In one of the bonus talks about s1, Anthony mentions how Bill would have helped the dads with Glenn at the court house. Willy would have caught him though. ANYWAYS, I have mixed feelings about Bill as a person but I liked that point a lot. That he cared enough to try. In this AU, Bill helps his son escape being under evil influence successfully. Probably at the cost of his life because Willy is very unforgiving (and petty). +Also I think Hero, Taylor, and Lincoln are little kids here (but Normal and Scary haven't been born yet). Nick is not an absentee dad here since there's no FBI equivalent situation. Not sure Jodie exists in this au, but always open to suggestions.

Lots of stuff going on and the younger twins don't find all this out all at once either. For now, they spend much of their first week stuck there sneaking that special device onto each other daily.

Mercedes and Henry are perplexed but also 'wow isn't just so nice to have their beautiful twins around again'? They missed all the noise and adult Sparrow barely talks to them anymore. Henry only sees adult Lark on the battlefield, hurts more each time. Never giving up on trying to convince him to come home though or at least always says that the door is always open if he or Sparrow need a place to rest etc.

Sparrow Spiderman AU

Radioactive wolf spider bites teen Sparrow who was definitely playing with said spider beforehand. Spiders and wolves are just so friend-shaped after all, so of course a wolf spider would be as well! Feel like Sparrow named the spider Top Hat (not sure why other than silliness) and the spider sticks around like Nick jr on Glenn's shoulder

Powers listed below:

Barely noticeable fangs normally but all teeth turn razor sharp temporarily for combat etc cold resistance/minor ice and plant magic? cannot make webs but can high jump half mask, floral and wolf theme (yes their mask has wolf ears...and probably fluffy leg warmers/arm warmers) Who is the person Sparrow couldn't save? I was thinking about Lark but that lead to a villain route. Maybe that is a villain the twins face off against at some point--would be an older Sparrow. But for the main au, maybe Glenn? Close-Freeman and Oak Garcia families are really close here! Glenn's like a fun and mischievous uncle to the twins. Helping teach them how to drive recently too. Lark, Sparrow, Nick, Grant, and Terry are still friends. Nick's been a friend to the twins since childhood, they met Grant in middle school, while Terry is a new transfer student. All of the teens are in the school's adventurer's guild. Its a dnd club that Henry founded when he was in school. Sparrow took over the mantle and brought the club back into existence. Lark brought the 'literally sneaking out and adventuring like when we were kids but more intense' part into things. They lead the club together but Lark doesn't want to be held responsible for dealing with faculty etc so he's a normal club member on paper. I think it could be fun if Lark swaps places with Sparrow sometimes as the spiderhero, did he get bitten too? Possibly and/or maybe the two have a bunch of gadgets for him to use. Added shenanigans...Lark and Sparrow can communicate telepathically sometimes (after both were bitten). At some point Lark does make his own costume, but the two still have fun switching around as usual. Both Nick and Glenn still dislike spider here and while Sparrow was plenty mischievous regarding that info as a kid (and Nick also brought up snakes in revenge), they are pretty...worried about either of them finding out about Sparrow being part spider now.

[umikawa]

can i please get some fluff with inarizaki (suna, aran, the twins or kita) and terushima having an autistic trans male s/o? like just how they would interact with him or help him deal with his sensory issues or what they think of his special interests etc stuff like that. sorry if this isnt specific enough and sorry if thats too many characters, again i tried looking for some specific rules on it but there werent any. if thats too many characters could i just get kita and terushima?

Hi! I’m sorry I never specified anything in my rules I get requests every blue moon so I never thought to update it. I just did though so technically yours still fits perfectly fine!

Also I’ve never written anything like this before so please correct me if I did anything wrong, I’d hate to not fulfill your request 😞 but I didn’t really mention a gender in this.. I hope you don’t mind.

OSAMU

He’ll work out some new recipes that cater towards your tasting, he’ll stray far from anything you aren’t familiar or comfortable with.

If you need something stronger he won’t hesitate at all to come up with something, at this rate he’s all the more comfortable being your personal chef along with your boyfriend. 

The absolute sweetest when it comes down to food testing. Has a trash bin, water, your favorite drink, and plenty of napkins just in case. Won’t take it to heart if you don’t like something. 

ATSUMU

He’s a touchy person, it could be because he’s touch starved or overly-affectionate.

He didn’t realize you were sensitive to touch when he first wants to hug you, feels horrible when you flinch away from him. 

He’ll learn to ask before touching you, whether it be a hug, wrapping his arm around your waist, or just holding your hand.

KITA

Being someone who plays in a gym filled with cheering people- he understood why you wore earplugs, but only by surface level. 

Once you tell him you’re sensitive to sound, he’ll start carrying around extra earplugs. He’d even buy headphones for you, (most likely would tell you they’re old ones he never used but you see the receipt sticking out of his pocket.)

When you’re in a setting where it’s loud, he would either lead you away to a more quiet area and ask if you’re okay with being there.

TERUSHIMA

This man, aw this man probably bathes in axe body spray. BUT, I promise he stops wearing it when he meets you.

 He switches to a non-fragrant laundry detergent and softener, or at least wears a scent that isn’t overbearing. 

It isn’t a drastic change but he likes that he can hold you super close to him instead of practically being on opposite ends when you two are together. 

ARAN

He was a little confused at first when you started tensing up when he was holding you in his lap, though it made sense to him when you said you couldn’t necessarily feel his touch that much.

If you’re fine with it, he’ll start full on bear-hugging you whenever he sees you and he’ll starfish on top of you when cuddling. 

He tries his best to make you feel comfortable in your own space so he isn’t pushy but, he’ll start feeling a sense of clinginess so he’ll work on it. 

SUNA

To be honest, I feel like even prior to being with you, Suna would already have black-out curtains. 

He’s sensitive to light too but maybe not on the same spectrum as you so if his room still isn’t dark enough, he’ll make a makeshift canopy or tent to go over his bed when you’re around. 

Owns several weighted blankets, when you’re not with him or using one, he does that old tik tok trend where they throw a weighted blanket over themselves, sends you a video after he’s recovered.

[thebibliomancer]

Tides of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 24

Tides of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because THE MARINER IS BACK and that’s a bad thing. For the protagonists. I’m pretty excited about it personally.

Last times on book: Amri and co are on a quest to unify the Gelfling clans against the Skeksis. They’ve succeeded with the Sifa and Dousan, causing impressive pyrotechnics that burned a record of the plot into nearby surfaces. While they were working at that, All-Maudra Mayrin was killed by the Skeksis and they’ve installed her daughter Seladon as the new All-Maudra. After meeting the urRu Swimmer in a dream, maybe, Amri came up with a plan to use the Waystar Trees on the nearby mountains to reach out to the Vapra. The group finds the Swimmer’s secret mountain house and stops in to warm up but they’re surprised by skekSa the Mariner.

Chapter 24

Tavra makes an appeal to the Vapra; skekSa isn’t mad, she’s just disappointed. Also, she’s livid.

So last chapter ended with skekSa demanding to know where the Swimmer is.

“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Naia said.

skekSa swept closer, filling the room. She tilted her head at Amri, counting the number of Gelfling before her, then leaned over the worktable and smoothed her claws along the paper and ink, touched the tomes and scrolls. Her gaze lingered on the maps they’d been looking at, then came back to the Gelfling before her.

“Maybe I believe you.”

“Why are you in Ha’rar?” Amri asked. “Weren’t you supposed to stay with the Sifa in Cera-Na?”

“Why would I? They abandoned me. Without their navigators and charts, I cannot escape this infernal mainland. Then Emperor skekSo called me to Ha’rar when things got, how shall we put it? Complicated. With All-Maudra Mayrin. And I remembered that there is someone with the charts I need, who keeps them in her tower near the Vapra Waystar grove.”

Oof.

You have to feel for skekSa a little.

Okay, so she wasn’t helping the Sifa escape out of the goodness of her heart, she desperately wanted to escape too.

She’s absolutely paranoid that the Emperor would send assassins after her for her defiance in, I guess, trying not to live in his hierarchy.

And even if you take into account the show where the death of a Skeksis is unthinkable to the Emperor, remember too that there’s a lot that the Skeksis will do to each other that won’t result in death.

I don’t blame her for wanting to escape.

But perceiving it as the Sifa abandoning her to not abandon the other Gelfling is not a healthy way of coming at it.

Anyway, this reminds Amri of the Swimmer saying “what is a compass without a ship” and he realizes that the inverse “what is a ship without a compass” is true too. But says it aloud for some reason.

And this makes skekSa very angry, although she calms down to go back to being classy hiding menace.

She mentions that skekZok told her about an encounter the Chamberlain had with a group of Gelfling where “one in particular -- a Vapra, to his memory, but I think he may be mistaken -- threw Sifa fire dust in his eye.”

“You wouldn’t know who that might have been, my little apothecary?”

Amri tried not to shrink back. “He was asking for it.”

“Oh, you can burn out both his weepy eyes for all I care.”

HAH!

No surprise that the Mariner who hates Skeksis politics would hate the Chamberlain. He practically is Skeksis politics.

But the major takeaway of the story was the Chamberlain’s description of the Drenchen in the group. A Drenchen who matched the description of the Drenchen who escaped the Castle of the Crystal.

Naia.

“Ritual Master skekZok is very keen in this aspect, you see. And since we are friends, he and I, then you can imagine I am keen as well.”

Ruh roh.

“Of course, I didn’t fully understand his interest in you when we met in Cera-Na,” skekSa continued. “But now that I do, and now that he’s offered a reward for your capture, how fortunate it is that you are here before me, trapped in this tiny room.”

RUH ROH.

Interesting that the Mariner did know who Naia was all along. She just didn’t care at the time when Operation Go Somewhere Else was on the table.

Naia promises she’ll die before she lets herself be drained but skekSa says that skekZok doesn’t want to drain her. The Skeksis need her and Gurjin to study their twin bond to answer some questions that many of them have been wondering.

Kylan stood up, standing firm beside Naia. “Aughra said you’re wrong. She said it’s not going to help you understand how to drain your other halves.”

skekSa scoffed.

“Is that what they think? Unfortunate.”

Hah.

The Skeksis are way off base but skekSa would get her reward for bringing Naia in either way. I like that she’s scornful at how they’re barking up the wrong tree.

Its what I expect from an accomplished pirate captain detective scientist like her.

But since a reward is a reward and because she doesn’t want to fool arond, she offers a deal. She gets to take Naia. In exchange, the rest of the group gets to go if they promise to leave the mountain immediately and not get in skekSa’s way again.

(Imagine from her point of view where you keep running into protagonists)

Naia pointed her dagger at skekSa. Before Amri could stop her, she said, “I’ll take that deal, but I won’t go without a fight.”

“Naia, no --”

Kylan’s protest was cut off by skekSa’s grin. She knocked aside her coat, baring the glinting gold handle of a long blade slung at her waist, putting a hand on the grip and sliding it loose with a deadly, metallic scrape.

“I accept your challenge,” she said.

Fairly accommodating of skekSa, really.

It lets her friends get away and it means she can try to run away because thats part of the struggle.

I mean, its not quite fair. Skeksis way outweigh Gelflings and hit like a truck. And skekSa is in the prime of her whatever age she is, not like those creaky castle dwelling Skeksis. Fresh salt air has done a body good.

Tae decides to stay and fight with Naia while the rest go and do the Plan they’d Planned on. And Tae is their best fighter.

Amri recognizes that this is the best chance they’ll get, hates it, but grabs an angry Kylan and runs anyway.

They (Amri, Kylan, and spider Tavra) trudge through the snow and up an almost vertical slope and reach the circular grove of glowing blue and white Waystar trees.

And at a good time. Far below in Ha’rar, the Vapra gather and the Skeksis will come to the gathering soon.

Hm. I wonder if whats taking the Skeksis so long is skekSa up and disappearing on a mountain hike. She was called to Ha’rar to help and she went off on a personal errand.

I can imagine skekZok looking for her around the Citadel, cursing as he finds her boots behind a curtain making it look like she was hiding behind that curtain. Or something like that.

Amri searches the Waystar trees, to find the ideal one whose roots burrow into the mountain and intertwine with the veins of water and ice that spread to the city below.

He finds the sturdiest tree and his rock sense or whatever lets him feel the whole mountain and every street of Ha’rar by touching its bark.

“It has grown here since long before the Vapra arrived,” he said. “Before Ha’rar. This tree knows the entire mountain, the entire valley. Runs under the citadel and through every street of Ha’rar. If it agrees to carry Tavra’s message, every Gelfling in the snowy land will see her dream. Hear her voice, and know they are not alone...”

AH HA! So that’s the plan! Amri’s rock sense, Kylan’s music magic, and Tavra’s Tavra to reach every Vapran in Ha’rar through something like dreamfasting that the Skeksis can’t overhear. Good the Plan, Amri!

Kylan starts playing a similar tune to the one he played before the Sanctuary Tree, causing the Waystar trees to glow even brighter.

Amri sees a dreamfast of the three of them standing in the grove but Tavra is with them in her Gelfling body, dressed as a Vapra princess.

“Hear me, Gelfling of Ha’rar. I can only hope you hear me and recognize my voice. I do not have much time, so I can only tell you part of all I have to say. And it is that the Skeksis have lied to all of us. The dream on the pink petals is true. The Skeksis have begun draining us, deep in the Castle of the Crystal. My mother the All-Maudra knew this and planned to rise against them. And in punishment, the Ritual Master and the General murdered her.”

Amri felt a tremble in the dream, as if the earth itself was shivering. The whispers that shuddered through the tree’s veins and the ice and rock were from the Vapra. From anyone who was listening, who heard Tavra’s voice.

“I do not know what the future holds for the Gelfling, but I know this: No matter what the Skeksis say to you, no matter how dark the night may seem -- there are friends in that darkness, waiting for you. Readying the torches we will bring against the Skeksis, when it is time for their reckoning. We will survive. We will endure. Wait for our signal. Let it guide you and we will be victorious, so long as we are together.”

It felt like the beginning of an electric storm crawling across the earth and skin. Amri felt the warming of kindling and a thin string of smoke. He felt footsteps, the earth shaking. Distant voices as Tavra finished:

“I know this and I wait for you, though it may be in the darkness. For in the shadows, we will light the fires of resistance.”

Heck of a speech, Tavra.

I notice that characteristically she doesn’t raise her voice or pepper around exclamation points. Just gives a simple, measured message of hope.

Anyway, its good that she finished up because the fight they left at the Swimmer’s mountain home spills over into the Waystar grove, destroying one of the trees.

Nobody is happy here. The two Gelfling and one Mariner are all wounded from the fight. Amri is not pleased that skekSa followed Tae and Naia to where the Plan was happening. And skekSa’s not happy that they’re all still on the mountain doing things.

The Mariner asks if this is how the Gelfling repay her benevolence in letting them go but Tae shoots back that the Sifa have trusted skekSa for trine and asks whether it was all a lie.

skekSa composed herself, just a fraction, standing straighter and sniffing.

“Little Tae,” she said, though a snarl sharpened the edge of her beak. She grabbed another of the Waystar trees and cracked its limbs in her claws, careless with her impossible strength. Its glow died like an ember pulled from the fire. “I would have taken Ethri and the Sifa across the Silver Sea. Far away from the Emperor and the castle and all of these stupid politics. But Ethri decided not to go. It was you who defied me. Declared your true allegiance. I am not an ally of the Sifa. I am your master.”

Oof.

The underlying thing in all benevolent paternalism is the paternalism. And that can turn ugly when its defied or not given the respect the whoever feels entitled to.

The thing with a parent/child relationship is knowing when to let them go and be adults of their own and that just won’t happen without bad feelings when a “superior” long-lived species rules over a “less advanced” shorter-lived one.

And even if skekSa disdained Skeksis politics and felt drawn to the Sifa for their shared love of that sailing life, at the end of the day, the Skeksis are gonna be around forever while Gelflings lead lives comparable to mayflies. Its hard to stand up against the only people who will share eternity with you.

Its why I think skekGra is the only Good Skeksis that can last. He’s removed himself from a position over anybody else. Just he and himself for company.

Anyway, back to the skekSa.

“Now, as your lord, I will tell you the same thing the General and the Ritual Master are telling the Vapra below. At this very minute. The rebellion is dead and a lie, burnt to cold ash along with the All-Maudra. The Vapra, and the rest of the Gelfling, have only one fate: To bow to the Skeksis, and to gaze upon us with immortal fear. To cower in utter submission.”

Her voice fell low and sinister as her breath clouded around them like a fog.

“There will be no more fires,” she said. “And there will be no resistance.”

Amri replies, basically, with ‘nuh uh’ and points towards Ha’rar.

The torches dotting the city flash through a rainbow of flames, burning bright enough to light the city like daytime. And the flames dream-etch onto every wall of the Vapra citadel, just like at Cera-Na and the Wellspring when the literal flames of resistance were lit.

[Amri] stared in wonder at the etchings as they rippled across the broad surface of the citadel, unraveling for all to see. The depictions of the Omerya, the Sifa, Maudra Ethri. The shade-filled leaves of the Wellspring Tree, protecting the Dousan from the darkening storm.

And now the next verse of the song, which they had told that very night atop the frozen bluffs: Shining like a star, radiant with light, was the image of a Vapra soldier-princess, the crest of six trees emblazoned on her living crown.

WOW!

The recap flames just nominated Tavra to be All-Maudra. Geez, sucks to be Seladon.

It makes a narrative sense in this version, I’m afraid.

Since we’ve stuck with Naia’s party, Seladon is barely a character. We haven’t seen her insecurities first hand and her struggling with her mother’s expectations and her own desires and all that. We don’t directly see her lean into Skeksis loyalty.

Tavra HAS been very present and active in the narrative of the three books. (And people have been VERY vocal about her being a better candidate for All-Maudra. Like very vocal. Seladon would have cried if she had been around for those conversations).

So just taking into consideration the YA novels continuity, we don’t know Seladon. We know Tavra and want good things for her especially since so many bad things have happened.

And another thing... what will happen after all the clans unite has been left vague but if the Skeksis don’t relinquish power gracefully, it could be war (as it was in the show). Maybe a soldier-princess All-Maudra is more fitting for the times the Gelfling are heading into instead of the trained stateswoman raised to be essentially the middle manager between Gelfling and Skeksis.

Sorry Seladon.

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Sweet Pea//no matter what gets in my way

Request: May I please request a Sweet Pea x female reader that’s based off of the song ‘Come for You’ by Nickelback?

hey! before i start chatting at you all, just wanted to let you know about any trigger warnings, so: there’s mentions of therapy, childhood trauma (not in detail, its mainly sweet pea talking about growing up on the southside), emotions and a car accident (near the end) i hope you enjoy!!! have a great day/night!! also the plot of this is completely different to the meaning of the song/music video. just thought i’d let you know!

“This is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever been told to do. And I used to take orders from Jones on a daily basis.” Sweet Pea huffs, flopping onto your bed. A pout takes over his appearance as he stares up at the stars decorating the ceiling and you send him a sympathetic smile, despite the fact that he isn’t paying attention to you. 

“I don’t think its that bad.” You drop your bag on the floor and lie next to him, nudging him with your elbow. He looks at you, the frown on his face somehow worsening, but when you smile at him, it flickers for just a second, the corners of his lips curling up a little. 

“Really?” 

“Well, yeah. You’ve been through a lot. There’s a lot of trauma tucked up in that big head of yours, and if your therapist thinks that you should maybe write down how you’re feeling, then maybe its worth a shot.” You shrug, not tearing your gaze away from the ceiling and he stares at you for a few seconds. His eyebrows furrow as he thinks about what you said. Maybe you were right? 

Thats stupid, you’re always right.

“Why do you always have to be the logical one?” He huffs and you smile, turning on your side to face him. Stray hairs fall in front of your face and he tucks them behind your ear almost as soon as they fall. 

“Because when I’m friends with you, someone has to be.” 

“Yeah, fair.” The two of you laugh before a peaceful silence falls over the room. The sounds of traffic coming from the street below drifts through your open window and it makes Sweet Pea sit up quickly. 

“I thought I said, don’t leave your window open when we’re out.” 

“I forgot.” You roll your eyes, now joining him in staring out the window. A soft breeze causes the curtains to move gently and the sunlight streams in, casting your room in a golden glow. 

“You won’t forget when we’re robbed.” 

“We’re not gonna get robbed.” You huff and start to unpack your bag. 

“Sure we’re not. This is New York City we’re talking about.” He watches you move around your small room, and he smiles to himself. It seems like the light follows you around, casting you in a constant shimmer. 

“We’ve lived for two years and we haven’t been robbe-” 

“Finish that sentence...I dare you.” He cuts you off, sending you a glare to which you just roll your eyes at. Sweet Pea is as threatening as a puppy to you and he knows it. But it doesn’t stop him from pulling his ridiculously adorable faces when he tries to be scary. 

“Aww, you’re so cute.” You pat his head and his scowl falls into a pout. “See, adorable.” You pinch his cheek making him bat your hand away. 

“You’re the worst.” 

“I know.” You smile sweetly at him. 

“I’m going to my room.” He huffs, clearly annoyed at how unaffected by him you are and his reaction only makes your smile widen. 

“Are you going to write about your crush in your diary? Don’t worry I won’t peek.” You tease and he grumbles to himself while walking out. He’s just about to slam your door closed when you call after him again making him stop.

“Yeah?” 

“I am really proud of you, you know?” You tell him honestly and his expression softens, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he looks down at the scuffed floor. 

“For what?” He asks once he finally recovers from the unexpected compliment. To be honest, he doesn’t know what he expected. You always make sure to say something nice to him at least once a day, and he always tries to return the favour. 

He’s just not as good as expressing his feelings as you. Thats probably another things he needs to discuss at his next session. But now he feels a little less stupid for writing in a diary if it means he gets better at talking to you. 

“For how far you’ve come. When we were in High School you never would have thought about any of this stuff. But you are and I think thats great. So, as your best friend and number one supporter, I am so incredibly proud of you. So much so, that I got you a present.” You quickly run towards your dresser, digging through the top drawer before pulling out a wrapped present with a little bow on it. 

He smiles as he takes it from you, looking at you one last time before quickly unwrapping it. “Whats this?” 

“A notebook.” You reply teasingly and he rolls his eyes at you. 

You’d bought it a few weeks ago because it had reminded you of Sweet Pea. You’d been waiting to use it, but when Sweet Pea had told you about what his therapist said, you realized that he would have much more important things to write in it than whatever you would eventually come up with. 

“I mean, whats on it?” 

“Ohh. Its a Sweet Pea. Seriously? Its your name and you don’t even know what they look like. You’ve gone through twenty years of your life and not even googled it once?” 

“First of all, you know Sweet Pea isn’t actually my name. It’s-” 

“Yes, yes. I know what you’re name is. I have been your friend for the past twenty years.” You interrupt, waving your arm at him and he grabs it, pushing it away from him. The two of you play fight for a few minutes before you eventually give in and he finally lets you out of the headlock he had you in. 

You huff, smoothing your hair out and he chuckles, ruffling it back up when you’ve finished. 

“I hate you.” You hit his arm and he feigns hurt. “We’ve been friends- 

“Not long enough.” He interrupts, a bright grin on his face.

“Too long.” You grumble. 

“Shut up.” 

“Get out.” 

“Gladly.” He smiles sarcastically and you flip him off. 

“I am really proud of you though...seriously.” You say, and he stops in the doorway. He clutches the notebook to his chest and he glances at it, a soft smile on his face before turning around to face you, the usual smirk appearing. 

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t go on about it.” 

You just shake your head at him making him chuckles before actually leaving, still slamming the door behind him. Once he’s sat down, he reluctantly places the notebook on his bed, the pale pink flowers stand out against the light blue background and he takes a deep breath, grabbing a pen from his nightstand before opening the cover. 

The pen hovers over the blank page. What the hell is he supposed to write about? His trauma? His feelings? And is so, what trauma? Which feelings? This was a stupid idea. But the he remembers how proud you were of him, and he looks at the cover of the book one last time, deciding that maybe this is something he needs to do. No matter how scary it feels. Plus, he’s done far worse things...a pen and a piece of paper can’t hurt him. 

Dear Diary, 

God, how old do I sound? Anyway, dear stupid diary? Well, now I sound even more ridiculous. My actual therapist and my unofficial therapist (y/n, remember her because she’s going to be mentioned a lot) recommended that i write how I feel down. 

I don’t have to show anyone if I don’t want to and I don’t evem even have to read it myself. But apparently its supposed to help, so I suppose I’ll give it a go. Dr Smith told me that a good place to start is to write down why I think I’m in therapy. And to that I told her that there wasn’t a big enough notebook in the world. I suppose I’ll just have to write in tiny letters to cram everything in here because I want to keep this notebook for as long as possible. So time to be honest? 

When you grew grow up on the southside, you learn to grow up a lot quicker than you should. You see a lot of shit that even adults shouldn’t be witnessing, let alone kids. Its like you’re always waiting for the clouds to lift from the darkness of the life you lead, but they never do. And by the time you get to like, 11, you’re more like a soldier than a kid. I’ve known how to fight for as long as I remember and I remember back then, before me and Y/n moved to New York, I felt like I was constantly a little wounded. I needed time to heal, but in Riverdale, on the southside, there is no time. 

Oh, by the way Y/n is my best friend. We’ve been neighbors since we were born and we’ve been practically inseparable. Whatever memories I have of my life, good and bad, she’s always in them. And when we were younger we made a pact that when we gradated, we would leave Riverdale as soon as possible and go somewhere completely different. So we worked (some jobs more legal than others), and we saved up as much money as possible to get an apartment. That was two years ago and we still live in the same shitty apartment, but now its just more out of comfort than anything else. We like it here and we have some great memories here, so even though we probably could get a nicer place, we probably won’t. 

Anyway. I try not to dwell on the past. I don’t succeed though. I suppose during school I had to just keep up appearance. I was in a gang, still am technically and I love the serpents. But its not the best environment to be around. Y/n is always talking about self love and stuff like that and to be honest, I always thought it was kind of just a girl thing. But then I went on twitter and learnt what toxic masculinity is, and with the help of Y/n, Toni and Fangs, I realized that its okay to feel the way I do. Its completely normal and I should get help for it. Which is now why I’m doing this. 

So yeah, thats it. I mean thats not it, it. But you know what i mean. Well I suppose you don’t, you’re an inanimate object but whatever. Now how do I end this. 

Bye? Bye 

To his surprise, he actually feels a little bit better. Maybe this won’t be too bad. And maybe in a little bit, he’ll feel confident enough to show people. Who knows? Maybe writing is something he could actually be good at. 

----

“You’re an ass.” You shout from your bed. What had started off as a good day has ended in the worst possible way. 

You honestly don’t know how you got here. One minute you and Sweet Pea are talking about what to make for dinner, and the next thing, you’re screaming and shouting at each other while simultaneously pissing the neighbours off. 

“I know!” He spits back and you narrow your eyes at him. 

“Get out.” There’s no playfulness in your voice, not like usual. Its just filled with spite and it makes him feel a little sick. There’s only one other time that you’ve talked to him like that, and it was when he called your boyfriend at the time an self-centered dick. He wasn’t wrong, but that wasn’t the point. 

You stopped talking to him for a week after that, but when he turned up at your trailer with flowers and Pop’s takeout, you forgave him instantly. Hugging him tightly and spending the rest of the night watching movies. 

But now, neither of you know how you’ve ended up here so he doesn’t know how to make it up to you. So he does the next best thing. 

“Gladly.” He scowls, slamming the door behind him. He hears a soft thud and knows instantly that you’ve thrown a cushion at him. “Real immature Y/n.” 

“Get fucked.” You shout back and he huffs loudly before slamming his own door shut. 

The bed shakes as he throws himself down on it and he burrows his face into the grey pillow. His hand reaches underneath it and his fingers brush against something cold. His eyebrows furrow in confusion as he pulls it out and all the anger that he was feeling disappears. 

The blue catches his eye first, and then the green of the stem and then finally the pale, delicate petals. He hadn’t even thought of the notebook since he finished writing in it the first time. He sighs, his fingers tracing over the pattern, and he squeezes his eyes closed. His head drops back onto the pillow, not even bothering to move the diary from underneath his face and he moves his hand over to the cluttered night stand to find a pen. 

Dear Diary

Hey, so I know I’m supposed to be talking about my feelings and my trauma and shit and i know I kind of forgot about you, but life got in the way and I don’t have time to write down all my stupid emotions in a arguably very pretty book.

Anyway. I fucked up. I upset Y/n and I don’t know how to make it better because I honestly don’t know how we started arguing in the first place. We’ve only ever had one huge argument like this, and after a week it ended. But this time it feels different. This time my chest is aching and my head is hurting. I have this weird feeling in my stomach and I really don’t know what to do. I figured if you’re supposed to be helping me...then help me. 

I think she thinks I don’t care. That I’ve just dropped our friendship, and everything that comes along with it on the ground and then stomped on it over and over again. 

So, who knows what I’m going to do. I think saying sorry might be the best place to start. 

Hey, look at that. You did help...thanks I suppose.

Bye.

Sweet Pea doesn’t even bother closing the book, he just drops the pen in the middle of it and jumps up, kicking his leg out of the unmade duvet and stumbling out the door. 

He hesitates outside of your room, wondering the best way to go around it. Should he just walk in like he usually does? Or should he knock? 

“Y/n?”  

“...what?” You sniffle and he looks at the floor, unsure of what to say next. 

“Can I er-Can I come in?” 

“That depends.” 

“On?” He wonders. 

“If you’re still gonna be an ass.” He can tell by just the tone of your voice that you’re a little less pissed than you were ten minutes, but only by a little bit. Like 5%, and he lets out a small chuckle before opening the door. 

You’re sat on you bed, your legs tucked into your chest and when the door opens you send him a glare before dramatically looking in the opposite direction. He rolls his eyes but sits opposite you anyway. 

“I’m sorry okay.” 

Silence. 

“Please Y/n.” 

Still silence. 

“Okay, fine. I’m sorry I was being an ass. I don’t even know what we were arguing about and it kinda just snowballed into one big fight. But if it makes you feel any better, the ten minutes I spent in my room I missed you. Like that JLS song, every seconds like an hour or something like that. Anyway the point is, I’m sorry and I missed you so much that I even wrote in my stupid diary. So there’s that. Now please can you forgive me because I hate fighting with you, you’re like the only person I don’t like fighting with...and I’ll buy us takeout to make up for it.” 

“1. Its ‘every minute’s like an hour, every hour’s like a da-’ 

“I don’t need a full rendition.” 

“And 2. You’re diary is not stupid and even though I also don’t like fighting with you either, I’m glad you wrote in it again...so yes, you’re forgiven. And I’m sorry too. I was also arguing with you.” You mumble reluctantly, trying to hide a smile and he smirks, poking at your cheeks teasingly. “Leave me alone.” You grumble, swatting his hand away. 

“So, are we friends again?” He asks, his heart suddenly starts pounding, but you punching him in the arm distracts him from whatever medical problem he is currently experiencing. 

“Yeah...dingus.” 

“Aww, I love you too.” For some reason, both of you feel a blush spreading up your necks after he speaks and the two of you look away for a few seconds. 

“So.” You break the slightly awkward tension. In the twenty years of friendship, you have literally never experienced any kind of awkwardness, but that was weird, for some reason those four specific words had some sort of effect on you both, and now you’re not entirely sure what to do. “What are we having for dinner?” 

“Oh, I er. I dunno.” He shrugs. “Whatever you want...my treat.” 

“Yeah, it better be.” You try to joke but it doesn’t really work. Instead the room feels weird. There seems to be some sort of tension lingering, but its not anger...so who knows what it is? All you know is that you need to both leave.

So you stand. Unfortunately he does the same and the two of you end up bumping into each other. His hands reach out to steady you, grabbing your shoulders and the two of you laugh, although its more forced than anything. 

“I’m gonna go check the menu on the fridge” 

“I need to pee.” He says at the same time. 

“Oh.” You say, slightly surprised and he mentally curses himself. But he really doesn’t know why. He’s told you a lot worse about his bodily functions, and every time you also mutter a small ‘gross’, followed by a laugh. But this just feels icky. “Okay.” 

He gestures for you to leave first, and you do gladly. That whole encounter was weird and you vow never to argue with him again if it makes you feel like that. All strange and awkward and unsure what to do with yourself while trying to calm your heartbeat down. 

---

Dear...should I give you a name or is that weird? What could I call you? Who the hell knows? I’ll come back to that later. I’m feeling better. I think writing is this is actually working. Its only been two months, but I’m actually becoming a lot better at talking about my feelings and shit. Its like I was blindfolded (kinky) to being able to feel, but now I’m seeing. Talking is great! I’m still a little wary about talking about myself to just anyone, lets be real, anyone can be a snitch, or from another gang. 

But I think I’m better at communicating my thoughts and emotions with the people I love like the most. I feel like before I was very close minded, not in like the usual way...because if you know me personally I’m very vocal about human rights and stuff...thats not the point. But I was very closed minded about my own emotions and how to deal with them. But now, thanks to Dr Smith and Y/n, I’m actually starting to believe in myself. Maybe this is how Y/n see’s me. Huh...she must think I’m great. 

I know what it means to let someone in and I think I kind of like it. But that’s also where I have one small issue. 

I know that I’m supposed to talk about my trauma and shit, but I’ve been doing this for like two months so I think I’m good now. Well, not good. But I need to talk about something else thats much more important than whatever is happening in my brain. 

Its Y/n. 

Now usually, if I had any issues involving her, I would talk to Toni and Fangs, but they just involved birthday presents and who is that dickwad talking her on a date? But I can’t talk to anyone about this problem, because I know exactly what Toni and Fangs will say. They’ll say its because we’re in love...we’re not. 

Its just, ever since our fight. Things have been weird around here. We can barely be in the same room as one another for more than five minutes without one or both of us saying something incredibly stupid. And usually, I’m fine with losing friends, its just part of life. But I don’t want to lose her. I’ve been losing sleep over this. Every time I think about her not being here, my palms get sweaty and there’s like a heavy weight on my chest. It sucks. 

Y/n has organized a movie night for us tonight. I think she can feel the tension too and I think its driving her just as mad. She always seems so unsure around me now, and despite how hard she tries, she is terrible at trying to hide it. 

I don’t really know what to do and I know you can’t reply unless you’re something from Harry Potter, but I just thought if I wrote it down, I might get some ideas. 

Spoilers...I didn’t. 

“Sweet Pea!” You’re yelling makes him jump and slam the book closed, despite you being nowhere near him. 

“Coming!” He replies, quickly scribbling the end of his stream of thoughts before closing the book again and throwing in under his bed. 

Gotta go...byeeeee

“Hey.” You’re already sat on the sofa by the time he leaves his room. The film is  set up, waiting for one of you to press play and two pizza’s are sat on the coffee table. 

He smiles as he sits down on the other end of the couch, remembering all the other movie nights you guys have had. He enjoyed the ones back home when it was all four of you. But some of his favourites have been with just you. The film is usually forgotten about half way through, and you just spend the rest of the night talking and laughing and playing stupid games, before falling asleep on top of each other at like 5am. 

But as he looks over at you, staring straight at the tv, his chest aches. Usually you would end up sitting as close to each other as possible, but now, you’re both sat as far away as you can be. 

He can’t remember the last time you laughed at something he said, or you told him a stupid story from work. It feels like you’re just two strangers living as roommates instead of two best friends. 

“Do you want me to press play?” You wonder and he nods. The opening titles play, casting the room in a soft glow and Sweet Pea watches you silently while shadows flicker across your face. “What?” You say suddenly, locking eyes with him. 

“I-er. Nothing.” He stumbles and you send him a look. 

“Okay.” You reply. You don’t believe him, but you give him the benefit of the doubt anyway, and start watching the film again. 

You really don’t know what you were expecting to get from this night but you have a feeling you’re not going to get it. Things have been awkward for over a month now. And its the worst. You feel a little lost without him to be honest. You used to spend all your time together, but now you can’t remember the last time you spent more than five minutes together without one of you making up some excuse to leave. 

You miss him, and you miss how you used to be and you have no idea how to get back to the point...if you can.

Its the first time in twenty years that you’ve actually seen a film all the way through. And its torture. The closing credits play, and you stretch before standing. 

“Do you want anything?” You look down and him but he just shrugs before unlocking his phone. 

“Hey, if you ever get lost in the middle of the woods with a creepy ghost lady trying to track you down and tear you limb from limb. I’d search forever for you and then I’d bring you home...possessed or not.” You stop on your way to the kitchen, a small smile appearing on your face as you see a flicker of how you used to be.

”Awww...you’re so sweet.” You smile sweetly at him and he feels a blush creep up his cheeks, although, he’s not really sure why. 

“I know.” He says smugly making you roll your eyes. 

Its silent. So very silent. 

What do people say to each other? 

How do you have a conversation?

“Well, goodnight.” You both say at the same time. You quickly shut your bedroom door behind you and Sweet Pea goes to his room. You slide down the door, your head falling into your hands while you squeeze your eyes shut. 

He does the same in his own room and both of you wonder the same thing 

what the hell happened? 

----

List of diary names: 

- Doris 

- Petunia 

- Harry 

- Louis

- Liam 

- Niall

- Z

Wait, hold on a minute somebody’s calling me. Who calls anymore? And why am I telling you this, you’re a diary? Whatever...oh shit, I’m gonna mis

“Hello?” He answers lazily, barely pulling his attention from the tv playing some cheesy sitcom. His notebook lies closed on his lap, and his fingers trace over the pattern as he waits for a reply. 

“Hello. Is this a, er...Sweet Pea?” A woman asks, there’s a hint of confusion in her tone and he rolls his eyes.

“Yep.” 

“Hi. This is Dr Floyd from the New York City Hospital. You’re listed as Y/n Y/l/n’s emergency contact.” He sits up quickly, almost dropping the phone and his eyes widen. The TV, his diary, the rest of the world is completely forgotten. 

“Is she okay?” He swears he can heart his heartbeat in his ears while he waits for a reply. 

The Dr takes far too long to respond. The few seconds seem to drag on for days while he waits to hear if you’re okay. Its already felt like you’re not around anymore, but what if you are really not going to be hear anymore.

He doesn’t even want to think about that, his chest tightening and he has to hold back a sob. 

“She has been brought in after a car collision. She was crossing the street when a car hit her. I just want-” 

“I’m on my way.” He’s already replied and hung up before she can finish her sentence, grabbing his keys and jacket before running out the front door. 

He doesn’t think he’s ever ran so fast or so far and by the time he makes it to the hospital, he’s sure he looks like he should be in one of the wards. But it doesn’t matter when he finds you. Your eyes are closed and you look so peaceful in your bed. 

The room is a bright white, with faded green furniture that hasn’t been updated since the 70′s are dotted across the room. A blanket covering your body, a green chair with an awful pattern by your bedside, green curtains that are more sun damage than fabric. 

“Shit? Are you dead.” He mumbles, more to himself than to you as he cautiously walks through the door. 

“Nah, just lying down. Whats up?” You ask, opening an eye to look at him. 

“Whats up? Seriously I have just ran to the hospital because I got a call saying you’d been hit by a car. And you ask me whats up?” He huffs, sitting in the chair.  

“Yeah...so whats up?” 

“Nothing much.” He shrugs before realizing where he is again. “Actually a lot is up. You’re body in the air is whats up from what I heard.” 

“You are so dramatic. You always have been. Its just a mild concussion and a few cuts and bruises. I’m fine.” 

“Are you sure.” He looks you up and down, his eyes scanning every part of you, looking out for something the doctors might of missed. When he’s sure you’re okay, he lets his gaze rest on your scratched and bruised face and he lets out a deep sigh. 

Despite the bruises blooming on your cheeks, you still look as pretty as usual and his eyes widen as that thought dawns on him.

“What? Are you okay?” You ask, now worried as you try and sit up, but he’s quickly pushing you back down. 

“I er. I’m fine.” He stutters. “I think I just realized something.” He admits, a deep blush spreading across his cheeks while he looks at the scratchy blanket covering you...shit. 

“Pea?” You ask, your voice quiet. He’s never heard you so unsure of something before. Almost like you’re scared to know the answer to your question. “Are we okay now?” 

“What do you mean?” He forces the words out. He knows exactly what you mean. But now he thinks he’s figured out what’s been wrong the whole time. You may have been scared to hear the answer to your question, but he is absolutely terrified to answer it himself. 

Its been so obvious but he’s been so oblivious. Toni and Fangs were right. Or at least half right. He’s in love with you. And that makes his heart race, but for good or bad reasons, he doesn’t know. 

“Its just. When I saw that car I thought I was going to die. And I remembered us and how we aren’t as close as we were and I realized, that if I was going to die, my biggest regret would be not making things with us right again. I don’t know whats happened over these past few months that have made us not know how to act like human beings around each other. But I know I want it to stop. I miss you Pea. And I don’t ever want to feel that alone ever again...in my bedroom or by the side of the road.” You admit, your eyes trained on the blanket while your fingers play with the frayed edges. 

He slumps in the chair, letting out a long breath while your words settle in. 

“Did you really think you were going to die?” He asks after a few seconds and you look at him surprised. 

“Yeah. One minute I’m crossing an empty road and then all I heard was a high pitched screech and then this car was coming towards me.” You say shakily and he grabs your hand, giving it a tight squeeze. “The thing is though. For a spilt second I made eye contact withe the driver and she looked almost as scared as I did.” You laugh humorously and he sends you a sympathetic smile. “When I was lying on the pavement. I was looking up at everyone panicking around me, and all I thought about was you and how you weren’t there. And how if I died, I never would have got to say goo-” You’re cut off by your own sobs and he quickly wraps his arms around you. His chin resting on your head while he cries his own silent tears. 

“Its okay.” He whispers. “You’re okay now. We’re okay.” 

“I’m glad.” You give him a teary smile once he lets go, and you notice him wiping his own tears away. You grab his hand again and squeeze it reassuringly. The gesture makes his cheeks heat up a little and he has to look away for a little bit until they go back to normal. “Hey.” You start, wanting to distract the two of you. “How many cars do you think you could take on?” 

“Me?” He raises an eyebrow. “A solid ten. If not more. And I’d fight any that tried to get to you too.” 

“You’re so sweet.” You giggle. 

“I know.” He smirks. 

“I keep meaning to ask, how’s your diary going? Have you doodled your crushes name in hearts yet?” You tease making him roll his eyes. 

“Shut up.” He mumbles. 

“Hmm...nah.”

“Its going good. I’m kinda worried though.” 

“About?” You wonder. 

“What if I’m too good at expressing my emotions.” He asks seriously and you have to stifle a laugh. 

“How can you be too good at that?” 

“I could just constantly tell people what I’m feeling. Or, I could use really big, fancy words to emote...see, I did it then. And then I just come off as pretentious.” He rambles and it takes everything in your power to keep a straight face.

“Yeah, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”  

“Oh yeah? Try this.” He clears his throat. “Y/n. I’d crawl across this world for you.” He tries to say it seriously, but the two of you end up laughing loudly, and he thinks to himself that maybe this won’t be so bad. Maybe he can keep being your friend, even if he is in love with you. Plus, he’d rather keep being your friend and just admire you afar, than lose you forever. “I’m in love with you.” He blurts out and his eyes widen. 

“What?” You look at him, your expression mirroring his and he quickly starts backtracking. 

“I mean. I love you as a friend. I’m not in love with you. That would be ridiculous. Sorry.” 

“Is that why everything has been so weird between us?” You ask and he nods slowly. 

“I think so. But I’ve only just actually realized like ten minutes ago.” 

“Thats okay.” You laugh. “I only realized when I was lying on the ground wishing to see your face.” 

“You mean...you love me too?” 

“I think so.” You nod. “Although, it could just be the concussion.” You shrug and he punches your arm lightly. 

“I’ll take take.” He smiles. “So, when you’re feeling better, do you want to have a movie and pizza night, but like, as a date?” 

“I’d love to.” You beam, and press a soft kiss to his cheek. 

“Hey Y/n?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I have so much to write in Harry!” 

“Who the hell is Harry?” 

“...my diary.” 

“...okay?”

[willddheartt]

What Your Father Says | JJ Maybank

Summary: The dynamic between you and JJ was an odd one, you were always fighting and never dating but actions speak louder than words. With all the fighting a fake hatred you pushed away the thought that you could ever be in love with him. 

Inspired by: What Your Father Says - The Vamps

Warnings: Swearing, slight smutty content (?), drug mentions, thats it ?? 

Word Count: 3.7K

Masterlist

Is it a bad time to tell you I love you When I'm watching you walk away?

You and the Maybank boy always had a complicated relationship. You were never dating, but there was an unspoken thing upon you. No other guy even tried with you because the blonde always had his arm around you, ready to start a fight with any guy who looked at you the wrong way. But you two always bickered about anything. There wouldn’t go a day where you had not argued with JJ over something, no matter how small and irrelevant it was. 

“I just don’t understand why you always pick a fight with any dude who even looks at me,” You argued as you walked down the street, slightly tipsy, having left a party in a fit of anger. JJ held your heels in his hand as he walked with you. “I’m just trying to protect you,” He argued back, “You know how the Kooks,” You shook your head, “You don’t know that about all of them,” Even though you knew he had a point you continued to argue, too heated in the moment. “You know what, fuck you JJ,” You yelled, grabbing your heels from his hand. “I can take care of myself, you know, I don’t need you by my side all the time.”  JJ knew why he always walked you home from every group outing or party, no matter how close to your home you were, he wanted more time with you, even if all you did was argue. You were a firecracker, unpredictable, and he loved that about you. But he was too stubborn to admit it and you were to blind to see it. 

A bad time to tell you I need you When he's made up his mind again

The timing was always off, as though every force of one earth wanted you to suffer. Every time you told the blonde boy, you refused to admit you loved, to fuck off. He would. You’d find him a few days later macking on some Touron at John B’s house. But they would never stick around after seeing the way you glared at them, leading to another fight between you. 

“Why do you even care anyway?” JJ yelled at you down by the dock, while the group sat on John B’s porch watching the two of you. “Because you’re just using them!” You’d yell back. This argument was had so many times over, the two of you had your replies ready to fire at one another like you were delivering lines in a play. “You’re just mad all my attention wasn’t on you for once,” You rolled your eyes at his ridiculous reply, “That’s not true,” You said taking a step closer.“So you weren't making faces in the corner every time I looked at her?” The boy challenged, raising an eyebrow at you “I thought you weren’t paying attention to me?” The distance between the two of you was hardly enough for either of you to take a full breath. “And I thought you didn’t need me all the time,” JJ smirked down at you, taking the final step to close the distance between the two of you.  You couldn't take it any longer, fighting with him when the moonlight was hitting his every feature making him look like some kind of greek god. Your eyes faltered in holding his stair, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the taller boy, when your gaze remained on his lips he closed the rest of the space in between you two, crashing down on your lips. Kissing you with force and spite, igniting all of your senses as his hands gripped your waist tightly and your arms came to rest behind his neck, one hand finding home in his hair, tugging softly and pulling a soft moan out of his throat. 

The walk back to your place was more of a run, both of you eager to have the other undressed. This was normally how your fights about his other girls ended. Both of you in your room with the door locked, pulling your clothes off in an excited frenzy. Before you knew it you were being pinned down, with him on top of you. A reoccurring hookup backed by annoyance as a form of makeup sex. 

Don't be cruel to me All I do is believe

The mornings after were when your head filled with ideas of you and the blonde boy as you laid with your head on his chest, admiring the way his messy hair fell over his forehead in the few minutes you had before he woke up after you. Thoughts of calling him yours spiraled around your head as you began to recall the actions of last night. Strings of profanities left your lips that would leave your christian grandmother in shock that her innocent granddaughter could ever say such a thing

“Good morning,” JJ said with his sleepy morning voice as he sat back against your headboard “Morning,” You mumbled back with a content smile on your face. “What?” He asked, with a teasing smile You’d shake your head as you whispered a quiet ‘You’re cute,’ to him that would make him pull you into his chest once more before slipping out of your bed and gathering his clothes up from your floor. It was always hard seeing him go, you wanted so badly to ask him to stay for breakfast so you could savor a few more sleepy minutes with him in bed but that always seemed to be off limits. Hookups shouldn’t stick around in the morning, it was common sense, but he was more than just a hookup.

That it's a bad time to tell you to trust me When I'm getting my story straight

You were always the one to flip out on JJ after he had done something stupid and reckless, even though you were a complete hypocrite with how reckless you were, some would argue you were worse than JJ but you just got away with more because of the way you could sweet talk the authorities. 

“Why do you even have a gun JJ?” You sighed, going at him once you got back at John B’s from the boneyard party.“I-I found it. Yeah, I found it,” He stuttered, “I was going to turn it in but then,” He paused, thinking of his story as you put your hands on your hips, waiting for him to get it straight, “I thought it would label me as a suspect for something,” You rolled your eyes, “How do you expect me to believe that when you’re clearly making it up on spot?” “What would you rather hear?” He shouted back “The truth!” 

A bad time to kick up a fuss When it's only ever me to blame You're confused about me

“Fine, I took it from the motel room John B and I found the key to!” “So you’re breaking and entering now too? Great” You scoffed, “What do you expect me to do if you go to jail? You know I can’t get you out of that, JJ!” “I never asked for you to do that for me!” He yelled, “I never asked to be your problem, or something that you have to fix.” His words caught in his throat and tears brimmed his eyes.  You ran over, hugging him tightly as the once noisy atmosphere seemed deadly quiet now, not even a cricket made a noise as JJ let out a sob.  “I never asked for you to fix me,” He mumbled against your neck “I know,” You nodded, knowing your words crossed a line. 

No matter how big the argument was, you never left the other person crying. Having crossed lines many times before, there were many nights JJ spent rubbing your back as you sobbed into his chest over something he said out of anger that he didn’t mean, and there had been even more when you spent doing the same thing with JJ. Most times this would end in one of you falling asleep in the others arms. 

All the rumours getting through 'Cause he heard that I'm bad news, oh baby

Your father, although he wanted the best for you, kept it open that he disliked your friends. But mostly JJ, always telling you he would end up like his father and that you shouldn’t be around him because of all the trouble he gets into, even though you’re normally the one to do something that the Maybank takes the fall for. You always got lectured from your dad after coming home, smelling like weed from smoking with JJ, it was a never ending speech that you could recite from memory now. It didn’t matter if you had heard it a thousand times before, every time he smelt it on you, you were sat down in the living room so he could go off about the negative side effects of marijuana once more.  The angrier your father got with you for keeping the blonde as a friend, the more you brought him around. Most times bringing JJ back to your place was to either continue a fight the two of you had been having at John B’s but ended up getting kicked or to make up for him macking on other girls after you told him to fuck off.  There was an endless cycle of your father telling you to stop bringing him around but never actually doing anything when you did have the boy around.

Forget what your father says I'm throwing stones at your windowpane

A small argument broke out as you had JJ in your room for the night, but had been quickly resolved when you shut him up by kissing him, and so began your makeup. The blonde boy had pulled you over his lap while he sat against your headboard. There was a knock on your door that you ignored, thinking you had locked it, but being horrible wrong. Your father walked in, throwing JJ out immediately and grounding you. Taking away your phone and leaving you to sleep, but not before giving you the same lecture about why he didn’t like your friends and how he only wanted the best for you. 

You were tossing and turning in your bed as the clock struck 12:00AM, not being able to sleep having not finished what you and your blonde started. 

tap… At first you thought you had just been hearing things, the wind knocking a tree branch against the side of your house or the floor creaking from the house settling. But two more taps from outside caught your attention. 

Tap...tap...tap Throwing your comforter back and throwing open your curtains, seeing JJ standing a few feet away from your first floor window. He was almost hidden in the darkness, accept for the blue light the moon shot down on him. 

“Its late,” You said after opening your window.  “I know,” He nodded, “I just wanted to see how you were after this afternoon. You know, with your dad,” He seemed nervous, his gaze never settling on you as he watched the toe of his shoe crush a dandelion. You smiled slightly, “I’m okay, J”  “O-okay,” He nodded, “I should- I should get going,” He stuttered. His sudden nervousness making you chuckle.  “Let's take a walk,” You offered  “Thought you couldn’t leave the house?” His signature JJ smirk settling upon his features  “When has that ever stopped me?” You laughed as you slid out of your window. 

'Cause a boy like me and a girl like you Got no degrees and a lot to prove

It seemed these midnight rendezvous had been the only thing keeping you sane as you lived under watch of your father for the next week. The only contact you had with any of your friends had been with the one who was the cause of your grounding. Every night as the clock struck 12:00 rocks began hitting your window, small taps pulling you out of your boredom. The Maybank stood outside your window, watching you slip out your window with a mischievous grin plastered on his face upon seeing the clothing you slept in, or rather the lack thereof. Being with JJ became a point to prove, your father could try but he could never separate you. 

Says that you're wrong for me Fuck what your father says

You laughed as you walked the moon lit beach,  the summer breeze blowing your hair behind you. With the moon lighting up your face, the boy couldn’t help falling even more in love with you as you stood in front of him in just a small tank top and a pair of short adidas shorts. 

“You know what my father says about you?” You teased, walking closer to him “What's that?” JJ asked, smiling You placed your hands on either side of him, grabbing the railing of the gazebo, “He says you’re a bad influence,” You chuckled, rolling your eyes slightly  “Fuck what he says,” JJ mumbled as his hands came to rest on your hips You nodded, “Fuck what he says,” Repeating his words before connecting your lips to his. This was the first kiss you two had shared that wasn’t backed with rage. As you let yourself relax into him your heart fluttered, and your head was dizzy, feeling like you were on cloud nine. 

Is it the good time, sneak in the back door When your dad's at work all day?

After your grounding your father thought he had been rid of the blonde, only being rid of what he saw. You snuck the boy into your room knowing your dad had been off work for the past hour, knowing you could be caught in a moment's notice. The thrill of being caught, just by having him in your room excited you to no end. Your hookups became more frequent now as you began sneaking around your father. Every encounter with him now, filled you with excitement and adrenaline, feeling like you had been drugged but it was pure adoration 

A good time to lean in and kiss you When he's not up in your face

Deciding to give the Maybank another chance, thinking they just got off on the wrong foot, your father invited JJ over for dinner. You knew it would end horribly, it always did. As your father turned his back to clear the plates in the garbage before bidding your boy a goodnight you tugged him into you, kissing him hard. Right when you thought you had heard every lecture your father could possibly come up with, you were ripped a new one when he turned around seeing you borderline making out with JJ at the dinner table. Whispering to JJ that you would see him later tonight before dragging your teeth over his ear, driving him crazy. 

You're confused about me All the rumours getting through Because he heard that I'm bad news, oh baby

Although the excitement had worn out from sneaking out with him, you didn't stop. Sometimes it felt like the only time you didn’t fight was when you were both already too tired from the day but couldn't stay away from each other. You argued all day, but laughed and smiled through the night. Neither of you were sure what to make of it anymore, what you had was definitely more than what most people would consider friendly but you didn’t want to address it, fearing it would end in a fight that you might not be able to make up from. 

You had never been confused about the status of your relationship, but as days passed you started to wonder. 

Was he just a forum of getting back at your dad? Did you even feel anything besides annoyance for JJ? Could you talk about this without it ending in a fight?

Forget what your father says I'm throwing stones at your windowpane 'Cause a boy like me and a girl like you Got no degrees and a lot to prove Says that you're wrong for me Forget what your father says

A smile tugged at your mouth seeing your boy standing outside your window holding a six pack and blanket.  The two of you sat at the beach. The blanket, JJ brought, acting as a barrier between you and the sand. You were half way through the pack of beer he brought. The thoughts that consumed you for the past few weeks getting the best of you as you looked out over the waves that crashed onto shore. 

“S’wrong?” JJ asked, nudging your shoulder with his  You shook your head, pulling you back to reality and out of your head, “Nothing,” You forced a smile, hoping he would drop it before your mask faltered. “You sure?” He asked, “You look distracted,”  Finally you blurted it out, you weren't sure if it was because he was pulling it out of you or if it was because of the slight buzz you were running on, “What are we?” You asked

The question caught JJ by surprise, looking at you as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Friends,” He answered as more of a question. You shook your head not being happy with his answer, “Friends don’t fuck, JJ” You said dryly“Friends with benefits,” He smirked, thinking you’d be happy now but when the serious look remained on your face he frowned, shrugging off his last answer. “I don’t know,” He sighed You leant against him, resting your head on his shoulder. “Do we need to answer this now?” JJ asked quietly“No,” You whispered going back to enjoying his company in the dark of the night while the waves crashed onto shore.

Told me he don't like my hair, he don't like my music Told me that I better run otherwise he'll lose it And if I want his daughter's love I better start praying So all that I keep saying to her

It was only a matter of time before your midnight rendezvous were cut short. You were caught sneaking back into your window at 5:00AM. Your father sitting both you and JJ down this time, yelling at you together. You noticed how the yelling made him flinch, offering your hand to the boy beside you as your father went off, as he normally did. 20 minutes later you were released from what felt like a backyard army boot camp from all the yelling. You grabbed a bag, filling it with some clothes as you followed JJ to John B’s. You had no plans of staying at your house in the following days, giving your dad space to calm down, not being able to forgive him for yelling at JJ especially after how he flinched each time your father took a step towards you. 

Forget what your father says I'm throwing stones at your windowpane 'Cause a boy like me and a girl like you Got no degrees and a lot to prove Says that you're wrong for me

“Fuck what he says!” JJ yelled at you, another fight broke out, the second in the day. “Who said you need him? You’re doing fine on your own!”  “I can’t continue to couch surf at John’s, JJ” You sighed. This fight broke out after you said you were going home tonight, not out of your own will but you were out of clean clothes, and you needed to make up at some point “Then you can take Big John’s bed, I’ll take the couch,” JJ pleaded “Why do you care so much about it? He’s my dad, and it's my choice,” You fired back  “Because I care about you!” He finally admitted, making you stop in your tracks as you were turning to walk away, “I care about you, and the way he yells at you like that isn't right,” JJ repeated. 

His words played over in your head, ‘Because I care about you,’ you were almost speechless. 

“What did you say?” You asked  “I don’t like the way he yells at you,”  “No,” You shook your head, “Before that, the thing about caring?”  Understanding what you meant he nodded, “Was it not obvious?” You shook your head. “What, you think I would share my good stuff with just anyone?” JJ asked with a laugh as all the time he told the cops it was him stealing or drinking to protect you. It all hit you so fast. How were you so blind? All this time as you were ignoring and denying your feelings for him, you were too worried about yourself you could never catch his feelings for you. 

Just like a scene straight out of a romantic movie you closed the distance between you, your one hand cupping his cheek as the other rested behind his neck, pulling him into you. You kissed him tenderly and softly, for what felt like a minute but hadn’t been anything more than a few seconds. Pulling away you looked into his blue eyes, 

“Fuck what my father says, Yeah?” You smiled, asking with a nod. His hands slipped into the back pockets of your shorts, pulling you impossible close.  “Fuck what your father says,” JJ repeated, his lips ghosting over yours as he spoke.

As you finally let yourself admit you loved the blonde boy who was kissing you hardly like you were going to slip between his fingertips, you felt yourself falling madly in love with him. Smiling into the kiss when you knocked his hat off so you could run your fingers through his hair. 

It was the perfect ending for you two. Finally able to call him yours. Hiding your face in his neck when your friends started whooping and clapping for you from the porch. 

Forget what your father says I'm throwing stones at your windowpane 'Cause a boy like me and a girl like you Got no degrees and a lot to prove Says that you're wrong for me Forget what your father says Forget what your father says Forget what your father says

[frostmarris]

Day 7: Knights, Dragons, and Druids

Pairing: Shikamaru Nara/Sakura Haruno/Kimimaro Kaguya

Rating: Teen & Up

Content Warning: some peril I guess but thats about it

Additional Tags: Medieval Fantasy, Plant Magic, other magical creatures, sakura is stubborn

Summary: Sakura makes a discovery that probably should have been left a secret. 

Notes: ok i lied, one last entry for the @naruto-fantasy-week​

I've had about 1k of this written for months and months and it just so happened to fit the last prompt almost perfectly. Sakuras not a druid but theres def some plant based magic going on

This is TECHNICALLY the first chapter to a multichapter fic, but im just gonna leave it as a oneshot for now and maybe come back to it one day

Enjoy!

Violet Lines

The morning sun barely reaches over the top edges of the stone wall surrounding the castle gardens, daybreak just beyond and peeking into view. Birds chatter and sing as they welcome the sun and, if she listens closely, she can almost hear the sounds of the morning market far, far behind her on the other side of the palace.

The castle is already awake and bustling, but there's no one else out in the gardens just yet - at least no one who might stop her. 

Sakura spares a moment to watch the first few rays of daylight make their arrival before she continues onward, glancing over her shoulder only a handful of times as she passes between rose hedges and meticulously maintained trees, winding her way through the garden on a path she'd long-since memorized. The skirt of her gown drags over the grass and the toe of her riding boots occasionally peek out from under the fabric as she walks, her steps light and leaving the earth as undisturbed as possible.

She spies one of the groundskeepers pruning a bush of peonies and ducks behind a tree despite knowing he's unlikely to try to deter her.

(It's even less likely that he knows where she's going.)

Waiting until his head is turned, Sakura hurries forward and passes more flower hedges, smiling to herself at the scent of the blooms and the way a breeze makes them dance and bow to her. She's almost to her destination, close to the wall and the more open expanse of the garden behind her. Ducking under a low hanging branch, her fingers trail over the bark of the tree until her hands meet a ripe peach, gently plucking it free with a pleased hum before she carefully slips it into her satchel - a treat for later.

As the vegetation grows more dense and the sounds of the castle seem to become more muted, Sakura finally arrives at the cluster of cherry trees, low branches almost braided together with how closely they're entwined, creating a twisted wall of tree and leaves. Undeterred, she reaches out to gently brush her fingers over one of the branches, politely stepping back as the trees seem to shudder.

There's a low groan and a rustling of leaves as the trunks twist and turn outwards towards her, the branches untangling and bowing away to reveal the curtain of ivy covering a sturdy oak door, set into the stone wall. The vines and leaves raise on their own, pulling away from the door to allow her access and bunching up out of the way. Smiling, Sakura reaches for the smooth, golden handle, the finish unfaded despite how many times she'd traced her fingers over the curve and delicate filigree over the years.

The door opens easily and silently, a cool breeze gently blowing her hair back as it travels through the passage to meet her. Hitching up her skirts, Sakura assuredly steps inside, the ivy and cherry tree branches returning to their prior positions as she pulls the door shut behind her. 

The cobblestone path is covered with patches of thick moss that creep up the sides of the walls, the passage just wide enough for her to reach her hands out on either side of her body and her fingers just barely graze the stone. More vines and branches arch overhead, lining the domed ceiling of the passageway and nearly fooling her into thinking she's merely walking under a canopy.

But no daylight permeates through the foliage and her hidden path would be bathed in darkness were it not for the fluorescent mushrooms that dotted the ground and walls here and there, bathing her way in a soft blue light.

The space does not match what should be on the outside, her path straight for much longer than the width of the stone wall, but she's long since stopped trying to make sense of it. 

As she walks, Sakura begins to gather the skirt of her gown in front of her then awkwardly tuck it between her legs, miraculously managing to not trip all the while before she reaches behind her to grab the two halves. Bringing the fabric back around to her front, she ties it off and successfully girds her loins, revealing the brown leggings she wears underneath. By the time she starts folding her long sleeves up to her elbows as well, the path begins to slope downwards slightly, just barely at first before the cobblestone path becomes steps as the decline increases.

It's silent save for the sound of her breaths and her footsteps, her boots occasionally meeting stone rather than moss. The path levels out after a minute or so and Sakura pulls a ribbon out of her satchel, beginning to tie her long, loose hair up and out of the way. The braided plaits at her temples help keep her hair back, but it's the golden circlet that stops her bangs from falling into her eyes.

By the time she's satisfied, her ascent begins, more cobblestone steps appearing in front of her as the passage takes her upwards once more. The path levels out again after a couple of minutes, the steps ending just feet away from another oak door. Several clusters of those glowing mushrooms grow around the doorframe and Sakura simply reaches for the handle, easily pushing it open. Daylight greets her as she exits the secret path, entering a small clearing in the forest. 

A thick ring of trees and underbrush surround the large cherry blossom tree in the center of the meadow and a branch lowers towards her, offering Sakura a handhold as she steps through and out of the door embedded in its trunk. She knows she's fairly deep in the woods, far deeper than anyone in the castle or the town dare enter, but she greets the forest with a smile, closing the door behind her. Moonflower vines move to cover the door once more, having pulled away as they sensed her approach, and the large leaves spiral around the trunk of the cherry tree so thickly, the bark is almost invisible.

The tree stands alone, no wall or path behind it, and leaves no suggestion of the passageway it hides. It's a mystery she's simply chalked up to magic, no longer concerned with its origin or purpose after years of using the hidden doors to visit the woods. She knows it's her own secret treasure - why else would her namesake hide the doors?

Listening to the rustling of leaves in the wind and the singing birds above, Sakura continues onward through the clearing and into the forest, fairly certain of her destination. The tall bushes and shrubs that create a makeshift wall between the ring of trees shake and pull away as she approaches, creating a clear path for her.

"You're worrying your lady in waiting sick, you know."

She'd only made it about five steps out of the clearing and into the trees when the familiar voice greets her and Sakura can't hold back her surprised gasp, turning sharply to the right. She spots him almost instantly, the sunlight that's broken through the canopy glinting off of his armor as he leans against a nearby tree with crossed arms.

He's not wearing his full set, just the breastplate and pauldrons, so his tired expression is on clear display as he eyes her with an almost disapproving look.

"And you, Sir, shouldn't be sneaking up on a lady on her lonesome in the woods." She cuts back, turning on her heel to continue onwards. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

Shikamaru sighs, running his gloved hand over his hair, pulled back high in his usual style, as he pushes off from the tree and follows after her. 

"You shouldn't even be out here, Sakura." He calls after her, delving slightly into that rather inappropriate air of familiarity - as he always did when they were alone. "Especially not on your own."

She doesn't reply, but does slow her pace slightly to allow him to catch up to her, listening to the sound of his footfalls on the forest floor - heavy and loud compared to her own. 

Sakura doesn't question how he managed to get here before her. The walk through the hidden passage always takes much longer than it feels, but she's surprised he's finally managed to find the exit after all this time. She used to be able to make it to the woods and back without seeing hide nor hair of the captain of her personal guard, but he'd been getting better and better at finding her over the years.

"What are you even doing out here?" Shikamaru asks, at her side but just a pace behind her. He's eyeing what she’d done to her dress, obviously disapproving but not making any comments in regards to it.

"Running errands," She replies, his arm held out for her to hold as she climbs over a raised tree root.

"What errands could a princess possibly have in the middle of a forest?"

"I just need to grab a few morels," Sakura states matter-of-factly, smiling as she spots a pair of nightingales flit down to lower branch closer to them. "There's supposed to be a really good patch of them out this way."

"Mushrooms? " Shikamaru asks incredulously, rubbing a hand over his face. "That's what all this trouble is for? Mushrooms that I'm sure the kitchens already have on hand?"

She doesn't answer and simply picks up her pace, very pointedly not looking at the knight.

Groaning in frustration, he follows after her and easily catches up, his frown deepened after a moment.

"Wait a moment ," Shikamaru says suddenly as it seems to click. "This is for that witch isn't it?"

"She's been sick the past week and mentioned them the last time I visited, so I thought I'd surprise her," Sakura avoids addressing the part where he said 'witch', acting as if she was just out getting a gift for a friend - which she was.

"Sakura."

"Just because she lives outside of the town and she frequents the forest and she makes the occasional potion and everyone avoids her, doesn't mean she's dangerous!"

Shikamaru is in front of her in a few large strides, reaching out to rest his hands on her shoulders. 

"But it does make her a witch." He says, his expression both concerned and disapproving.

But she simply gives an annoyed huff and pushes past him, obviously done with the conversation.

"Are you going to accompany me on my troublesome errand for my wretched, evil friend, or not?" Sakura calls back, ducking under a particularly low-hanging tree limb.

Sighing with all the weight of the world, Shikamaru takes off after her - uncomfortable with how deep into the forest they were heading, but not about to leave her anytime soon.

The further into the woods they went, the more it seemed to come alive. The canopy shakes and dances in a breeze that blows over the treetops, high above, and the creatures of the forest call and chatter, their voices and footfalls echoing through the trees. 

Sakura's expression lights up as the first small, glowing creature appears and approaches her, leisurely flying in her direction and stopping just in front of her. It's body is almost indecipherable through the bright yellow glow, lost in the light like a firefly in the evening. But the pixie's wings are much easier to spot, long and thin like a dragonfly. 

It circles her head a few times as she walks, chattering on in a voice that sounds like tiny bells, and a quick glance behind her confirms that Shikamaru is still following her in blissful unawareness.

Unable to either see or hear the pixie, he sends Sakura's back a confused look when she whispers something to herself and is completely lost to the fact that she’s asking a tiny flying creature for directions.

Sakura, however, can easily understand the tinkling bells of the pixiespeak and smiles brighter as it leads her further into the woods, more colorful, glowing pixies appearing through the trees to join them. They fly around Sakura with a chorus of happy, ringing bells, some moving in to land and rest on her head or shoulders while others curiously inspect her guard.

A few occasionally pinch or prod at any exposed skin or tug on the hair at the nape of his neck, their laughter ringing louder whenever he reaches to swat at what he thinks are bugs. 

Shikamaru glances around in confusion more than once, trying to find the pesky mosquitoes that seem to be more interested in him than the princess. But he can't spot any pests swarming around him and doesn’t even hear buzzing near his ear when something stings his earlobe, his grimace growing with every moment.

Fortunately for him, they soon arrive at a large, moss-covered boulder, a huge cluster of morel mushrooms circling around the base of the stone. 

Grinning and whispering a quick thank you to her pixie guide, Sakur moves to crouch down next to the mushrooms and opens her satchel, pulling out a small knife and a large handkerchief. She begins cutting and collecting several of the edible mushrooms, placing them carefully on the handkerchief and vaguely hearing Shikamaru move to lean against a nearby tree.

"Did you steal that from the kitchen?" He asks with a sigh when he notices the knife, sounding more tired than chastising.

"I'm only borrowing it," She answers, rolling her eyes but still smiling. A few of the pixies leisurely fly around the large stone while others move to land and sit on some of the mushrooms, pointing out the best ones for Sakura to harvest. Before long, she has a plentiful collection and carefully ties up the ends of the cloth, packaging away the fungi and slipping it all back into her satchel.

Before she puts the knife away, she grabs the peach from earlier and cuts it in half, digging out the pit and tossing it off into some nearby shrubbery before cutting a few small slices off of one of the peach halves. She sets those on a flat patch of moss on the boulder before carefully slipping the knife back into the satchel pocket.

Straightening up, she tosses the full half to Shikamaru and starts eating the remainder, a chorus of happy bells behind her as most of the pixies move in to enjoy their treat.

He catches the peach half easily and sends her a raised eyebrow before taking a bite, not noticing the slices she'd left behind.

"All finished, princess?"

Sakura nods and they move to head back the way they'd come. She takes the lead and he doesn't question how she seems to know the way back - even despite the yellow pixie quickly returning to her. They make it all of five paces before something in the brush catches Sakura's eye and she makes a detour to her left, her expression turning curious as she finds what looks to be an old cobblestone path.

It's mostly covered in moss and grass as the forest floor has reclaimed it, but, as she parts the bushes and plants, she can easily long path leading further into the forest. Sakura smiles, ignores Shikamaru's questioning calls, and begins to follow it as her curiosity overwhelms her.

She only pauses when the pixie grabs and tugs a lock of her hair, trying to pull her back towards the way home.

Reaching back, she holds out a hand for the pixie to land on and smiles down at it, Shikamaru coming into view moments later.

"It'll be fine," Sakura says, to both of them, "Just a quick look to see where this leads."

The pixie's bells sound rather reluctant but it stays perched on her hand, a few of the others coming to follow her. Shikamaru, however, has no qualms with voicing his disapproval.

"This isn't safe," He says, reaching for her elbow and glancing around the darkening forest with worry. The trees are growing larger here, with thicker canopies that only let in just barely enough light. If it were the evening rather than the morning, it would be pitch dark.

"No one ever goes this deep, Sakura. We need to head back."

"I've been coming to the woods since I was a child," She says assuredly, following the barely-visible path. "No harm will come to me."

She wasn't completely wrong. Anyone who spent a decent amount of time around Sakura has seen the way plantlife gravitates towards her and how the earth seems to look after her. No one could quite explain it, as she didn't seem to possess any inherent magical abilities, but it was mostly chalked up to the peculiarity behind her birth.

'A gift from the fairies,' the Queen had said when her daughter was born with hair the color of flower petals and eyes as green as the forest. The royal family had tried for years and years to have a child, always ending in failure and heartbreak, until, miraculously, Sakura was born.

People who have seen how fond plants are of Sakura claim that the earth itself had rejoiced in the princess' birth and must have vowed to protect her.

Shikamaru grimaces, tempted to pick her up and just carry her back to the castle. But he knows it'll be better to just let her fill her curiosity now with him there, rather than risk her coming back here alone .

The path continues on for several minutes before the overgrowth becomes thick enough to make it fade away entirely, giving no inclination of which way to head. Sakura frowns in disappointment and is about to reluctantly head back when she realizes she can see light ahead, only viewed from the corner of her eye rather than directly.

A new lead to follow, she heads through a tall wall of brambles that parts for her, a sight that makes her smile and Shikamaru wary.

On the other side is a large, abandoned courtyard. 

Huge stone pillars surround the clearing, covered in moss and vines and all mostly collapsed or crumbling, and the brick floor of the courtyard is almost invisible through the grass and weeds. A few trees have managed to sprout and rise, dislodging brick and stone - their large size a testament of how long they've been there.

On the other side of the courtyard is a tall, grassy hill - a huge, lumpy mound of earth covered in waist-high plants and flowers and shrubs. It's too large to see over or even how far back it extends and Sakura and Shikamaru exchange curious looks, the latter letting out a frustrated groan when the former immediately heads toward the hill.

"Sakura," He calls, quickly following after her as she explores, "We need to head back."

"Just a few more minutes!" Sakura replies with a grin, the pixie on her shoulder and others meandering around the courtyard and into the sparse trees. "We're probably the first people here in decades!"

She starts to climb the hill but pauses at how hard the earth is underfoot and, after debating for a moment, she reaches down to clear away the grass in a small spot. She's met with carved stone under the layers of earth and she frowns in confusion.

"Or perhaps centuries..." Sakura mutters under her breath, her curiosity only growing as she continues her climb.

When she finally makes it to the top of the hill, she looks out over the expanse of the ruins before her, shocked at the sight.

"It's a castle!" Shikamaru hears her call from above, inciting him to quickly climb up to join her.

Indeed, despite the forest's attempts to take the land back, the decrepit ruins of what was once a large castle lay before the pair. The only visible stone is the upper parts of fallen towers, the building almost entirely collapsed, where the plants are still attempting to fully encase. Only one and a half walls remain, covered in ivy and vines and almost indecipherable had it not been for their shape, and what's left of a grand stone staircase is mostly obscured by a huge tree, the roots bursting through the rock and climbing up from what was likely the main foyer.

Sakura begins to climb down into the ruins before Shikamaru can stop her and he quickly follows suit, catching her arm when they reach the bottom of the hill.

"I don't like this," He says, quietly but sternly as he looks around the ruins with clear distrust. "We should leave."

She slips out of his grip and wanders towards the staircase and its tree, carefully making her ascent.

"I've never heard any sort of story about a fallen castle in the woods - how long do you think this has been here?" Sakura calls, running her fingers over the bark of the tree as she reaches the top of the remaining stairs and looks out over the ruins. 

"It's a grand discovery, yes, but it could be dangerous," Shikamaru is obviously keen to leave and even the pixie's bells sounding slightly worried.

Sakura turns in a circle to take in her surroundings, marveling at how such a thing could go undiscovered for so long. Eventually, however, she sighs and finally nods, turning back around.

"Fine, fine. We'll go. But you'd better agree to come back here with me another time to explore."

Shikamaru groans and rubs the back of his neck but nods as well, unaware of the pair of pixies sitting on his head. His answer and the sight makes Sakura smile and giggle, but her expression is soon turning to one of shock as she feels the stone give way under her feet.

She gasps in surprise as a piece of the staircase crumbles and she feels herself fall backwards and even the tree's attempt to catch her with a branch isn't enough to keep her from falling several feet down the other side of the staircase.

It's a sheer drop and she hears Shikamaru shout her name when he disappears from sight. The bed of moss she lands on isn't quite cushion enough and she groans as she sits up, rubbing the back of her head.

Shikamaru comes running around the corner of the staircase and his relief is immediate when he sees her sitting there, a little bruised but fine.

"See?" He says, moving towards her. "This place is falling apart."

Sakura reluctantly nods and he's just feet away when she feels the ground shift again - and this time she screams as the earth collapses under her and she falls and falls down into darkness.

Her fall is broken by water and the impact winds her as she's fully submerged. Panicking, she instinctively kicks and swims for the surface, gasping for breath when she breaches and manages to grab onto a floating something for support.

It begins to glow fluorescent green at her touch and both the huge lily pad and the hole in the ceiling above give off enough light for her to look around in confusion once she's caught her breath. She's landed in a large underground pond, apparently, the small waves stemming from her body disturbing the surrounding lily pads and making them glow from the movement. 

They're huge - large enough for her to comfortably lay with her arms and legs fully outstretched - and the one she's clinging to feels incredibly sturdy under her arms, barely even dipping down into the water from her weight. Considering the thought for just a moment, she carefully manages to climb up onto the pad and out of the water, its surface glowing brighter wherever she touches.

She hears Shikamaru's voice come from above and she looks skyward, shocked to realize just how far she'd fallen.

The light from the hole she'd made casts down onto the pond in a singular beam, a couple feet away from her current position on the lily pad. Her entry point is high above her, at least 50 feet of a sheer drop, and she sees Shikamaru's head come into view as he kneels down and carefully nears the edge as quickly he can, the yellow glow of the pixie guide perched on his shoulder.

"Sakura! Are you alright?!"

"I'm okay!" She calls, kneeling on the lily pad. "I landed in water!"

She can hear the relief in his sigh even if she can't make out his face from the way he's back-lit.

"Just stay right there!" Shikamaru calls, starting to pull away from the hole. "I'll look for a way down!"

Nodding to herself, she looks away from the light to let her eyes adjust to the darkness and fully take in her surroundings. She's in some sort of cavern, though the walls look carved and built by hand rather than natural, and she turns slowly on the pad, the movement sending more small ripples in the water to make the other lily pads glow again. Her gaze follows along the distant walls, the edge of the pond about 40 paces out in every direction, until she spots a set of stairs carved from the stone, leading up and through a passage in the wall.

"I think I see an exit!" Sakura calls, Shikamaru's head popping back into view a moment later.

"Sakura!" He shouts again, voice worried and frustrated. "Don't. Move."

But she ignores him and moves to carefully stand, taking a moment to find her balance on top of the floating plant. Once she feels secure, she looks to the closest lily pad and, readying herself and muttering encouragements under her voice, hops across the small gap of water. 

She nearly falls when she lands but the pad stays mostly in place and she continues onto the next one, soon getting the hang of it and smiling at the way the lily pads light up under her feet. The glow lasts a few moments after she's lept onto the next and the one after that, leaving a small trail of fluorescent green footprints.

When she makes it to the shore, she lets out a tired laugh and looks back out over the pond, taking a moment to wring the water out of her hair and gown. The staircase passage she'd spotted is just behind her and she looks up at the hole in the stone ceiling.

She'd gotten all turned around when she fell into the pond but, if the sun had been behind them when they'd arrived at the castle ruins and if she takes the angle of the light beam from the hole into account…

"Head right from the tree, Shikamaru!" Sakura yells, as loudly as she can. "The passage leads out that way!"

"SAKURA."

He sounds furious but she doesn't want to stay stuck in one place while she waits for him. The lily pads had been helpful but, if they were able to survive in a pitch black cave with no access to light, there was no telling what else was in the pond.

She turns and heads into the passage, the stairs tall and sturdy under her boots. The stone arches over her head, just a few feet taller and wide enough for two of her. 

Besides a few patches of moss and mushrooms, the stonework is clean and uncovered, not yet reclaimed by the forest. The air is damp and cold and she shivers as she climbs the steps, her soaked clothing doing nothing to keep out the chill. Eventually the stairs end and lead into a long, large hallway of stone - a straight path but with no end in sight.

Sakura knows she hasn't made enough ground to be more than a third of the way towards the surface but, since this had been the only way out of the pond's cavern, it would ultimately lead to Shikamaru anyways. Wrapping her arms around herself, she continues down the stone hall, searching for but failing to find any doors or other passages. The walls are bare besides mounted torches that had long-since gone out and the occasional patch of lichen or mushroom - no tapestries or art or any sign of life.

It's completely dark without the lily pads but her eyes have adjusted enough for her to see well enough. 

Still, she almost doesn't catch herself in time when the hallway suddenly ends and drops off into a huge chasm of darkness.

Gasping, Sakura stumbles backwards and grips the strap of her satchel in tight fists. It takes her a few moments, but she can eventually make out the edge of the drop, the stone floor jagged and broken. She still can't quite see how far the drop is in the darkness and she takes another step back, her expression growing unsure and worried.

She may be stubborn, but she wasn't stupid enough to take a leap a faith over a hole that might be 3 feet long or 300.

Groaning in frustration, Sakura turns to head back to the pond when, out of the corner of her eye, she spots a vague light emanating from the other side of the darkness. It's harder to see when she looks right at it, as all things are in the dark, but it's straight ahead and seems to be at the same level of her position.

However, she's unsure if it's just small or very far away.

Shifting her weight from leg to leg as she bites her lip unsurely, Sakura eventually turns around to head down the hall slightly, managing to remove one of the old torches from its hold after a few moments of struggling. Kneeling down on the stone, she opens her satchel and searches for her tinderbox, hoping the water hadn't gotten in her bag and ruined the contents.

She fumbles with it in the dark for a couple minutes before, eventually, she's made a light and, using the handkerchief that had managed to stay dry and what's left in the metal cage of the torch, stands with the flame aloft. Sakura makes her way cautiously to the edge again and peers out over the chasm, grimacing at its size.

It has to be at least a hundred feet - some sort of collapsed chamber with a domed ceiling that rises high above her, intact despite the scene below. There's large pieces of broken stone scattered around the edges and down into the center but, the more Sakura stares at it, the more she thinks she can see a path down and back up the other side.

Grinning at the chance of a way out, she carefully begins to climb down onto the pit, the stone pieces slanted and lying awkwardly, but spaced enough for her to use them as stairs. Her foot slips only twice as she descends, but she catches herself each time and lets out a relieved sigh when she makes it to the bottom, the torch still burning as she holds it high.

It'll take a bit more effort to make her way over and around the rock scattered about her, but she is determined to reach that light and find Shikamaru. Making sure her sleeves are still rolled up, she starts forward and begins to climb up over a particularly large chunk of stone, finding her balance once she's made it to the top.

When she raises her torch just a little higher, the firelight glints off something metallic far to her right and she pauses in surprise, turning to look curiously.

She moves the torch and catches the reflected light again and, with a quick glance back up towards her exit, she decided a small detour wouldn't hurt.

Sakura carefully walks across the several feet of stone before climbing down, making her way through jagged rock towards the direction of what had caught her eye. As she climbs over the last small precipice, she finds a small patch of cleared ground, a figure nestled into the rubble.

The sight startles her and she nearly drops the torch but, after a moment of carefully inching forward, she realizes it's just an odd... statue?

Her head tilts curiously and she cautiously makes her way down towards it, more detail coming into view. 

It's the figure of a man, carved from stone that might be marble, though she can't quite make out the color under the layers of dust and cobwebs. The statue is sitting in a reclined position on the ground, one leg stretched out and the other bent and raised slightly while it leans back against one of the huge stone chunks, as if it had collapsed there. One arm lays limp at its side while the other hand rests in its lap, fingers curled slightly. The head is angled down, chin to chest, and carved hair draped over its shoulders, a deep-seated tiredness permeating through the stone.

A mask covers the head, long and carved like the skull of a beast and obscuring the face, but the most peculiar part of the statue is the very much not stone dagger sticking out of its chest.

It's obviously what had caught the firelight and Sakura inspects the jewel encrusted dagger curiously, her fingers tracing around where metal meets stone. It wasn't part of the original statue, she realizes - it had actually been stabbed into the rock with enough strength to crack it.

Sakura frowns sadly to herself, wondering why someone would intentionally harm such an admittedly strange but interesting piece of art.

Her gaze drifts back up to the hidden face and her hand moves to trace her thumb along the jaw, strong and sharp, that peeks under the mask. She leans forward in interest when the action wipes away the layers of dirt and dust to reveal a stark white stone underneath, an otherwise perfectly unmarred marble.

Sakura pauses for a moment before unrolling one of her sleeves and using it to wipe away the cobwebs and dust on the statue's face, fingers tracing the curves and lines of the skull mask and revealing the astounding detail in the maker's craftmanship. When it's decidedly more clean than when she found it, she looks back down at the dagger and decides it has no place in the crafter's original vision.

She grips the handle tightly and pulls, the grating sound of metal scraping against stone sending a shiver down her spine but the knife coming out relatively easily enough. Sakura smiles and shuffles back in her crouched position, only to stumble back onto her rear when the ground shakes.

It surely must be an earthquake with how the cavern rumbles and tremors and she sends a panicked look upward, frightened of the ceiling collapsing. The shaking lasts a few moments before it suddenly stills and Sakura is met with the sound of sand cascading over stone.

She looks to the statue in alarm and gasps in surprise at the sight of the twin, pale green, glowing lights emanating from the sockets of the skull.

She's still in her seated position, knees up and arms behind her to support herself, as the white marble of the statue begins to recede, slowly disappearing to reveal very much not-stone skin and clothing.

It starts from the legs and makes its way upwards, the crack where the dagger had been slowly knitting itself back together until a very human man is sitting across from her.

Sakura stares for another few moments and shrieks when he moves.

The sound makes his head lift, sluggish and tired, and she scrambles backwards - only to find her back pressed against a chunk of rock. The green glow from the eye sockets disappears and, with the light of the torch she still gripped tightly in her free hand, Sakura can see eyes of a similar color open, shaded by the mask but very obviously looking at her.

The man sits up, the hand in his lap clenching and unleashing for a moment, as he continues to stare back at her until his gaze drops to the dagger in her other hand.

She follows his gaze down to the knife with a quick glance but, when she looks up again he's crouched in front of her, the skull mask inches from her own face.

"You..." He pauses, his voice raspy and deep. Those pale green eyes close for a moment and Sakura’s gaze darts fearfully over what she can see of his face before dropping down to his shoulder to note that, besides the skull, his hair is the only thing that had remained white.

She's startled from her thoughts when she feels something warm on her cheek and she realizes it's his hand, his thumb tracing over her cheek in a similar fashion to when she'd touched his jaw.

Sakura finds herself blushing despite the bizarre - and worrying - moment.

"You..." He starts again, his hand still caressing her cheek. "You freed me."

"I..." She takes a nervous breath, shrinking back slightly when he pulls away just slightlu and reaches a hand up towards the mask. "W-well, yes, I suppose, but-"

He removes the skull with slow movements, revealing a handsome face with sharp features. There are red markings edged around the lower corners of his eyes and above his eyebrows and his free hand moves to grip her own, his much larger grip circling around the fist clutching the dagger.

"I owe you a debt of immeasurable gratitude," He says, voice still hoarse but softer now. Sakura stares at him with wide eyes before jumping slightly as he leans forward, her cheeks burning when he rests his forehead against her own. 

"My life is yours, as yours is mine." He says, his eyes closing for a moment and his skin feeling like fire against her own.

"I-I-" Her voice is barely more than a whisper and his eyes open again, holding her gaze with an intensity she's never experienced before.

"What is your name?" He asks gently, releasing her fist to reach up and carefully run his fingers through a lock of her hair.

"I-"

"SAKURA!"

They both look up at the distant shout, far off but echoing down the hall Sakura had come through. Her face lights up with relief at the sound of the knights voice and the man kneeling in front of her shifts, his lax posture stiffening.

"SH-SHIKAMARU!" She calls, hoping he can hear her. "I'm here!"

When she looks to the white-haired man again, she freezes in shock. Though his gaze is pinned in the direction of Shikamaru's voice, she can easily see how his pupils have narrowed to slits and that pale green glow has returned, his expression stoney and grim - a stark contrast to the tender look he'd held moments ago.

They hear Shikamaru's voice again and she moves to stand, the man backing away just enough to give her room before he helps her to her feet. The echoing thuds of running footsteps greets them moments before Shikamaru comes into view overhead, absolutely soaked in water and skidding to a halt as he arrives at the edge of the chasm.

He looks around frantically for a moment before his eyes fight the light of Sakura's torch and she lets out a relieved sound, waving up at him. Her call is cut off, however, and Shikamaru's expression turns furious as she feels the white-haired man gently wrap an arm around her waist and pull her back against him.

She glances back at him in surprise, startled to realize how much taller he is than her, and finds him staring up at the knight, his glowing gaze harsh and dangerous.

"Release her," Shikamaru orders, unsheathing his sword in one fluid moment. "Now."

The ground rumbles and shakes again and Sakura gasps, leaning back against him in support before she stiffens at the feeling of a second rumble growing in his chest. An inhuman growl rips through him and he starts to change, growing larger behind her as smoke begins to curl out of his mouth through bared teeth. 

The cloud of fog grows larger and thicker until it obscures him from view and Sakura feels the huge, clawed hand gently move off of her waist. She's moved and tucked away in a stone alcove, lifted body off of the ground before carefully placed back down again, the fog beginning to dissipate moments later.

The man is gone but, in his wake, is an enormous bone-white beast, crouched over the scattered stones of the chasm and tall enough to look Shikamaru in the eye as they stare each other down. Its tail, lined with a row of sharp protrusions that look like rib bones, waves slowly through the air, and sharp claws dig into rock, a pair of huge white wings stretching out for a few moments before tucking against its scale-plated body.

Its head looks familiar and Sakura realizes with a start that it wears a skull mask identical to the one the man had been wearing, though this one is sectioned into pieces and a part of its body, those green eyes filling the sockets with a bright glow.

"You are a fool," The dragon says in a voice deep enough to make the cavern tremble, "If you think you can fight me."

Shikamaru looks slightly pale, but his expression is determined as he brandished his sword, his lips curled in an obvious challenge.

There's little warning before the beast strikes but Shikamaru manages to jump down and into the pit moments before impact as the dragon's maw snaps at where he'd been standing.

Stone shatters between its teeth and Sakura is already scrambling out of the alcove and up the side of the chasm to where she'd seen the light before, watching with frightened eyes as Shikamaru lands with a grunt on a large rock chunk several feet down. He leaps forward moments later and onto the dragon's shoulder, but his sword shatters against its scales when he tries to stab it in as an anchor.

Cursing, he keeps ahold of the hilt and what's left of the blade as he manages to scramble upwards, running down the dragon's back and towards Sakura. He's nearly flung off as the beast turns fast enough to give him whiplash and he loses sight of the princess, reaching out to grip one of the bony spines along its back for support. Once he's sure of his footing, he runs again, the sound of the dragon's jaws snapping at the air behind him a terrifying experience. 

The massive creature curls and twists as it tries to snatch the knight off of its back and gives a ferocious roar that makes dust rain down from the domed ceiling above. Sakura, who has managed to avoid being smashed by the lashing tail, reaches the top edge of the chasm and presses against the wall of the opposite hall. She watches with wide, terrified eyes as Shikamaru dodges the dragon's jaws, his mouth set in a grim line as he searches for her.

When he spots Sakura, he takes off in a sprint, skidding and sliding down the dragon's back when it rears up on its hind legs suddenly before he leaps off with as much strength as he can muster. It's tail whips at the last moment and ruins his trajectory slightly and Shikamaru lands with a hard grunt against the edge.

His arms and shoulders are over the top of the jagged stones and the armor of his breastplate scrapes against the side as his boots search for purchase. Sakura is quickly at his side and helps heft him up over the edge, just as the dragon turns to spot the pair.

Her lips part but, before she can say anything, Shikamaru grabs her hand and takes off down the hallway, the two running as fast as they can.

"He's just going to follow us!" Sakura manages to shout, keeping up with his pace.

"The passage is too narrow," Shikamaru replies, winded from slamming against the side of the chasm.

They both glance back at the sound of scales scraping against stone and a furious roar to see the dragon's head entering the hallway, its neck long enough to almost reach them before it stops short.

"For its body, at least." The knight grunts, not slowing in his pace as they race towards the light at the end of the passage.

Its moments later when the ground trembles and shakes again and Sakura stumbles, hissing at the sudden pain in her ankle and squeaking when Shikamaru suddenly scoops her up, abandoning his useless sword. He continues running even as they hear a great commotion come from behind them, the sound of the cavern collapsing and the dragon roaring as it tries to force open the passage.

Like dominoes, stone hall begins to cave in behind them and Shikamaru grits his teeth, his eyes widening as the sight of the exit finally comes into view.

They can see daylight, but it's blocked by old wooden boards and a curtain of vines and moss, extending into the passage some feet. As they near, the plants actively retreat, pulling away from the planks and out into the open air or higher on the walls. The action casts more light into the darkness and, hearing the collapsing stone nearing behind them, Shikamaru makes the decision to keep running.

He turns slightly to shield and brace Sakura as he barrels into the barrier, his shoulder splintering the centuries old wood and breaking through to let them escape. Shikamaru stumbles and falls, but keeps Sakura from harm as he rolls and clutches her to his chest, landing in soft grass and forest leaves. They barely have a moment to rest and collect themselves, however, and the ground shakes violently and they hear an enormous crash and rumble. 

Though they can't see it, they can clearly hear the dragon's roar as it echoes in the open air.

The pair look back at the way they'd come, taking in the sight of a hidden doorway set into the side of a grassy hill. Sakura's eyes grow wide and she sits up, quickly trying to rise to her feet but stumbling as pain flares in her ankle. Shikamaru scoops her up into his arms again and he looks around frantically for a moment, that clever mind of his searching for an escape path.

As Sakura looks skyward, she sees a cluster of familiar glowing colors heading towards them through the trees and she hurriedly points in the same direction.

"That way!" She insists, hearing a frantic chorus of bells calling to her. "Keep running."

"We're lost!" Shikamaru hisses even as he starts off in the direction she indicated, the sound of the dragon's roar and rampage growing louder. "We need to hide."

"Just trust me, Shikamaru!"

He growls but relents, racing into the woods that seems to part a path for them, not a single branch touching or scraping the pair as they escape. The yellow pixie is at the lead of the group as they meet them, swarming around the princess and her captain with alarmed bells and Sakura grips his arm tightly, pointing forward as the yellow ball of light begins to hurriedly guide them out.

"That way! Keep going!"

"Sakura," He says, panic in his voice, "We're lost!"

"Just follow the damn pixies, Shikamaru!"

"The what?!"

If they weren't running for their lives, she's sure he would have been giving her a look as if she'd grown a second head. Gripping her hair with a frustrated sound, she shouts into the air, pleading and desperate.

"Let him see!"

Shikamaru is about to question her, growing concerned, when he nearly trips as a dazzling display of swarming light suddenly surrounds them, the pixies having accepted her request. 

They never show themselves to humans but their fondness for the princess and the desperation of her situation won over their distaste for being seen and they show themselves to the knight, the chiming bells of their voices making his ears ring. 

He can't understand them but he can most certainly see him and Shikamaru doesn't realize he's stopped moving until Sakura reaches up to grab his chin, physically pull his wide-eyed gaze away from the pixies, and point to the singular yellow glow ahead of them.

"Follow that one."

Shikamaru, bewildered and rather disturbed, nods and breaks out in a sprint again, dutifully following the pixie guide.

The sound of the earth shaking and trees being uprooted grows louder and closer behind them and some of the pixies surrounding Shikamaru scatter and fly off into the woods. A tremor nearly sends him to the ground again and they can hear the roars and growls much too close back the way they'd come.

Sakura thinks she sees a flash white through the trees and she grips Shikamaru even tighter, her expression lightening slightly when she sees a familiar wall of shrubbery ahead. The yellow pixie gives a frantic chime and circles once in the air before following the rest of the swarm back into the forest. When Shikamaru makes to follow, she quickly reaches for his shoulder and points towards the hedges.

"No, no! Keep going straight!" She says, and, despite the worried look he sends her, the knight races ahead, letting out startled grunt when the bushes part for them to reveal the meadow and the singular cherry tree in the center.

"The tree!" Sakura hisses when he looks around like they'd been led to disaster, "Head for the tree!"

They're halfway there when they both glance back at the sound of a large crash and see treetops fall and crumble, the dragon's furious face bursting through the foliage. Its jaws part to reveal bared teeth when it spots them and Shikamaru runs as fast as he can, his expression determined as the beast chases after them.

The moonflower vines and leaves pull away to reveal the door as they approach and Sakura reaches out for the doorknob before Shikamaru can touch it, flinging it open. The moment they're through, she shoves her way out of his arms, lands on her good foot, and slams the door shut behind them, cutting off the view of the dragon's jaws snapping closed just inches away.

Shikamaru quickly grabs her and shields her with his body as he braces for impact, expecting the tree to be torn down around them. But, when there isn't even the barest shake or thud, he cautiously looks up and gently releases her a reluctant moment later, finally looking around their new surroundings.

While he gazes over the moss covered passage in confusion and wonder, Sakura lets out a relieved sigh and collapses back against the wall, her hand over her racing heart. She slides down to sit on the ground, careful of her twisted ankle, and leans against Shikamaru's shoulder when he joins her.

He's quiet for a full minute before he looks down at her, his expression so tired.

"What the hell happened."

[wildlydeliciouspainter]

VI - the nighttrain part I

Hi! Been a bit busy lately but here is the next chapter of my stardew fanfic :D This time I added a bit more drama and tension for our adventurers. Hope you’ll like it!

Only a few mornings back Daya stood on the perron with Elliott. Now, she was leaving the valley with Sebastian on her side. It being well into autumn the days were short and nights long. So they waited for their train to arrive under the stars. To Daya it felt so fitting. The autumn sun that made her husbands hair glow fiery red, and now the moons soft light on Sebastians dark hair. The men and their characters could not have been more different from each other, and still each had been important parts of her life in their own way. While Sebastian leaned against a pillar and texted with Sam, Daya texted Elliott. “I miss you.” Almost immediately she gets a heart emoji back. “And I you dear. Can’t wait to come home, this hotelroom feels empty without you.” Daya smiles but her heart sinks when she thinks about the task ahead. She didn’t want to worry Elliott so just never mentioned her plans to help Sebastian in saving Abigail. And with keeping him in the dark, it felt like she was doing something wrong. It would have been so much different if he were home... “The train is here, Dy.” 

And indeed, as she looks up a modern looking train silently glides over the tracks towards them. Its colors are peculiar, turquoise windows and a purple body, the exact combination of a piece of iridium. When it stops, a low hissing sound from its engine make it sound like a living breathing creature. “So this monster is going to take us where we need to be?” Sebastian looks at the vehicle with apprehension. He mentioned his preference for his motorcycle multiple times, even though they where both set on following Rasmodius instructions to the letter. When the purple doors open to show a cozy coupé, Sebastian gently pushes Daya inside and follows her closely. The interior of the train is completely different from the exterior. Retro cubicles with gold and wood finish, dark red velvet chairs and blood red wallpaper give the train a classical look. Wall sconces and ornaments on every wall add to the mysterious atmosphere as does the faint smell of cinnamon. “Madam, Sir.” An employee in a spotless purple uniform with golden trimming takes them to their places. When they are seated the man gives Sebastian a golden key with a tag. “This is for the sleep cabin, we are here if you need anything. We hope you’ll have a pleasant journey!” After that the man disappears into another coupe. Sebastian whistles between his teeth. “Rasmodius didn’t spare any expense.” “Its important to him we succeed.” “True, and the rest of our journey will probably be less comfortable.” Daya nodds and picks up her phone again to text with Elliott. When Sebastian notices he scoffs. Daya tenses immediately and looks him straight in the eye. “What is it?” “I don’t suppose you told your husband about this adventure of ours?” “No.” Daya admits, blushing. Sebastian scoffs harder now. “Do you think he wouldn’t approve?” “I can make my own choices, its not that. Though you made sure it would be hard for him to trust you, didn’t you Sebastian?” “What is that supposed to mean?” Sebastian mumbles, his face pointed towards the window instead of her. “I meant what happened in the bar..” thinking back on what happened in the bar the night before the wedding still makes Sebastian cringe. It was a beautiful autumn night, and a lot of the villagers gathered in the saloon to cheer to the engaged couple. Sebastian happened to be in town to hang out with Sam and visit his mother. At first he was set on staying inside, moping and playing videogames with Sam and a couple of beers . It sounded like the perfect way to forget. But he didn’t forget, and the more hours past the more angry he got at everything that happened between him and Daya. And that anger redirected itself towards Elliott as always. He still though if the handsome poet hadn’t shown up he would be in her life. They would be getting married. “Hey, if you feel that way. Why don’t you tell her? Maybe she feels the same?” Sam said. Sam was sweet and supportive as always, and slightly slurring after three beers. Sebastian decided he would do just that. Tell her. Which he did, in front of everyone in the saloon. In the middle of Elliotts ode to his love he walked up to her and started to tell her everything he didn’t say before. The alcohol gave him the courage but the words where his. How sorry he was, and how much he loved her. All she did was sit there, frozen. Elliott stopped talking, everybody did. And then, well, he picked a fight. It wasn’t pretty, and it ended fairly quick. Elliott trew him off and when sebastian tried to lunge at him again Daya smashed a beerglass on the counter so hard that it made the whole of the valley shudder. 

 “You already up your mind that night.” He said, when his mind moved back to the train and the present, and turned to look at her. How furious she was that night. But now a sadness showed in her eyes. “I did.” She nodded, tears glistening in her eyes. “Then why are you crying?” “Because I loved you. I did, so so much. But you didn’t open up to me, and I couldn’t deal with your silence anymore... I was just never really sure how you felt about me.” Sebastian stayed silent but nodded. He wanted to touch her hand, but wasn’t sure that was appropriate. So he just listened. “And I waited for you to do the right thing for so long. Even after we broke up and you left for Zuzu. I was sad for weeks... But eventually I picked up the pieces, and focused on the farm. I healed for a year and that was when I connected with Elliott.” A smile glistened through her tears. “He was very passionate about his writing, and as soon as we became closer he started showing that same passion for me. We connected in a way you and I never did Sebastian, I can say that even though I missed your company.” 

Daya stares past Sebastian, at the scenery thats moving past the window. Afraid to look him in the eyes. “And right now, I just don’t want him to worry, thats all...Elliott’s bookdeal is important to him, and I want this tour to go well instead of him worrying over me wrestling shadowbrutes.” “I get that.” When Daya refuses to look at him Sebastian decides to stare out the window as well. They sit in silence for another hour when Daya asks for the keys. “I want to go to bed.” “Sure.” He puts the key in her hands but holds on to them. “Am I allowed to join you later? Or do you want me to sleep here?” Daya looks at the small bench and prays the cabin is spacious. “Sure, I won’t force you to sleep on the floor or this uncomfortably small bench.” “Thanks, I appreciate that. I won’t be late, just need to process this day a bit.” Daya nodds. “Take your time, I’ll leave the door open.” 

The corridor with the sleeping cabins is long and small. On Daya’s left the rooms and her right windows that now show the vague outlines of the mountains, shrouded by the night. “Found it.” She turns the key of the cabin and then texted Sebastian the location before she closed the door behind her, leaving the lock off. She takes in the room and curses. Its as she feared. The room is as cozy and romantic as the rest of the train, and one big matras stuffed in between two wall closets. There even is a fairy rose positioned on the bedspread. Her favorite flower. There is a little space between bed and door to walk and on both sides of the door a small rack for shoes. Above the door the luggage space, and thats it. Daya quickly stores her bag and takes of her shoes and clothes to get into her sleeping t shirt and leggings. 

After that she seats herself on the bed, leaving the curtains open and a bedlight on. She picks up the fairy rose and smiles. The blue variation is her favorite, and even in de dim lamplight its extraordinary aray of blue tintes shine through. It takes her back to the time she would visit her Grandpa’s farm in autumn. There would be fields filled with them, and she was allowed to pick one to keep in a vase in her bedroom during her stay. She always picked a blue one. Gently Daya puts the flower in the open closet space behind her head. Her phone is lying besides it, and shows a new message. Its from Elliott “Traveling gave me new inspiration. I’m thinking of a story inspired by a train. There is an idea for a chapter in the link under this message. I can’t wait to talk through concepts again from the comfort of our home. Missing you, mind and body.” Daya smiles softly, and let’s her feelings for Elliott wash over her as she reads the chapter he send. She falls asleep with the memory of his face and the low rumbling sound of the train engine, dreaming of the day of their reunion.

Meanwhile, a few coupes back, Sebastians night is less peaceful. He’s a nightowl, used to writing and programming till deep in the night, fueled by caffeine and sushi. It pushed his sleeping schedule to an, as his mother would call it, ungodly 3 am. That combined with the excitement of this journey made him sit on the train bench with a restless mind. His eyes wander off to the mountains outside. It started to snow, and ice crystals would get pressed onto the glass before melting and forming tears on the window. Sebastians mind is wavering between rescuing Abigail and a deeply uncomfortable set of feelings towards Daya. He knows she is the most skilled swordswoman in the whole valley, and if anyone could help him succeed its her. But he felt frustration when he saw her again after years apart. Living in Elliott’s cabin, content with harvesting snails and living in the shadow of the writer. He knew her as a fierce warrior that would stay in the mine till late and defeat monster after monster, gaining the respect of the adventurers guild and the rest of the valley. She used to approach Sebastian with a similar attitude, passionate about their relationship and doing whatever it took to remove the obstacles in their path. It still feels like a stab to the heart to realize he couldn’t keep that flame awake. All she needed was for him to open up, and let go of that shroud of anger he used to shield him. But he couldn’t see it, and it drifted them apart. He moved to Zuzu city and only kept contact with Abigail and Sam, while Daya got closer to Elliott every day. Elliott wasn’t particularly brave or outspoken, but his love for Daya was unquestionable and it made her bloom in ways Sebastian could not achieve. Staring at the pattern of melting snow he clenches his wrist and pushes it against the cold glass. As it hits him harder than ever before he mutters “I’m still in love with her.” “Sir?” The employee with the purple costume is back, a notebook in hand. Sebastians bewildered look doesnt scare him off in the least, and set on giving travelers the best experience possible he repeats his question. “Would you like something to drink sir?” Sebastian eyes the cart behind him, filled with bottles and glasses. It would be nice to turn of his thoughts for a bit.. but he shakes his head “No thank you.” Alcohol wouldn’t help him, he learned that the hard way. He just had to be brave. Brave in rescuing Abigail, and brave in allowing himself to have feelings for both her and Daya. He had to allow them to exist untill they faded. His feelings for Daya where eventually going to fade he reassured himself. Sebastian sights and checks his phone for the time. 1.30 pm. 

As his eyes move from the window to his phone he notices a glimpse of a shadow by the door but when he looks again its gone. It could have been the shadow of the man with the cart, but he wasn’t sure. “Yes, time for bed. I’m starting to hallucinate.” He mutters, and gets up to find the sleep cabin.

All the coupes Sebastian passes on his way are empty. The other passengers retired to their sleeping cabins, and he tries to find his own with Daya’s text as his guide. “Number 230, okay, that should be the next corridor.” As he moves into the corridor something immediately feels off. He notices movement in the back of the wagon, but can’t make up if there is someone standing in the shadows or if it looks like that because of the movement of the train itself. Cabin 230 is in the middle of the wagon and the door is slightly opened. “Daya?” Silence. He pushes the door open and feels something crush beneath his boot. As he bents over to pick it up and hold it to the light it seems to be a fairy rose, only its petals aren’t any of the usual colors. Instead of its vibrant blue or purple the flowers are black as coal. A sense of dread fills him when he touches the rosebuds. Its a feeling he remembers from some of Rasmodius relics, magic.. He walks back into the corridor, all the way to the end. There is no one there... when he returns to the cabin he locks the door behind him. Then he notices Daya’s, lying still on one side of the matras. “Daya, are you okay?”

He moves onto the matras and turns her around, positioning her head on his lap. When she stays silent he slides one hand into her neck to support her head and holds the other in front of her mouth. The soft pulsating motion of her heart is noticeable in the veins in her neck and her breath is warm on his fingertips. “Yes, dear.” She murmurs in a sleepy voice and wraps her arms around his body, burrowing her face into his lap. “Oh thank Yoba.” Sebastian whispers with shaking breath. He strokes her head gently. She tightens her grip around him in her sleep, unaware of the tenderness in Sebastians voice. Unaware she his touching him instead of her husband. “Well, your grip is still firm as ever.” He jokes, looking down on the sleeping woman. Its tempting to let her sleep like this, but apart from all the moral reasons not to, he also realizes he can’t get any sleep this way. Especially with all his clothes still on. So he softly wriggles her arms loose to take of his jacket and his shoes. His jeans he quickly switches for his sweatpants and climbs back into the bed. In the meantime Daya is still talking in her sleep. When he lays next to her she is murmuring about shadows. She reaches out to him with her hand and touches his chest right above the neckline of his t-shirt, resting her fingers there. “Saw one on the station today. A friend from the shadows. Linus...” That didn’t make any sense, why would Linus follow them? “Don’t worry about him now.” He whispered, as much to Daya as to himself, because the dark rose is still on his mind. “I think he is in the cabin with the blue ones, Elliott.” She then continued her riddle. In the back of his mind Sebastian had hoped she knew it was him when she held him close, and would have wispered his name but he pushes back that though and tries to go to sleep instead.

[visndcaitswhore]

Ephemeral|| FRED WEASLEY

Summary: Starting his first year at Hogwarts Hades Lestrange thought it was going to be peaceful and he would keep a low profile. But peaceful and low profile isn't in the twins' vocabulary, apparently.

                                                           TWO

The Slytherin dorms where quiet, which made sense since it was the middle of the night and every student after eating to their hearts content had quickly retired for the night. Yet, in the dark and suprisingly warm room- of course, there is no way the wealthy parents would allow their kids to freeze under the lake- a sigh sounded through the quiet of the room.

Hades shifted for the hundreth time that night, sleep wasn't his friend that night. Laying on his side he pushed the dark green curtains of the bed aside slightly to peek at the clock that was resting on the bed side table. He squinted at the clock which told him that it was almost 4 in the morning.

He closed the curtains with a groan.

Whatever, he thought, time is relevant.

Fuck, he needed sleep.

He closed his eyes trying to fool himself into thinking that he is asleep but that did not seem to work because of the unexplained uneasiness he felt. Well, not exactly unexplainable, he knew it was because of the red headed twin storms and their friendship that lasted for almost three hours or so.

It was stupid to think about them so much, of course it wouldn't last. He knew that. But he lost himself, he was happy and he laughed so much he forgot to take in account their worn out shirts, their baggy clothes that obviously weren't originally bought for them but for someone taller, propably a sibling. No signs of wealth anywhere, he couldn't associate himself with them even if they were sorted in slytherin.

Which they would not want, who would seat in a table full of back stabbing snakes?

Assholes, mother fucking, horses ars-

There was a loud snore from one of the boys that broke the silence out of nowhere, causing Hades to fall off his bed with a loud thud, becoming a tangled mess with his covers. Struggling, he managed to push his upper body glaring at the boy,

"Sorry, Lestrange" he mumbled sleepisly before turning to his side and falling asleep.

The dark haired boy just growled at him as he considered attacking his fellow slytherin but he decided to let it go as something dawned to him.

He was a Lestrange- rich, spoiled and entitled. He didn't know what that meant in its entirety but what he did know was the fact that he absolutely should not be bothered by irrelevant Gryffindors who were quite clearly prejudiced against him for his house while ironically calling Slytherins prejudiced.

He scoffed, shaking his head with a smile.

"What a joke..."

And everything went quite again, and stillness conquered.

Then a very loud snore shook the bedroom, again.

"For fucks" Hades grabbed the pillow from underneath the snoring boy, before attacking,

Hades walked the halls of Hogwarts like a zombie on his first day. His dark curls were all over the place, his tie was made up the wrong way and he would glare at anyone that dared talk to him this early.

Any activities before 12 should be forbidden by human rights, he scowled.

But does that mean that he would have a quite day?

No, because the universe had another obstacle for him that morning. And it had purple hair.

"Hey, Hadie, wait up!"

Hades did not respond to the name Hadie so he chose to ignore the female voice but the girl just moved to walk beside him.

"You are Hades Lestrange, right?" Asked the purple ball of energy and loudness.

"No. I'm Miguel"

The purple haired girl threw her head back with an obnoxious laugh, almost falling causing her to grab onto the dark haired boy.

As she laughed Hades kept glaring at her hand located on his arm, then at her face. Glare at her hand, then glare at her face. He continued to do that as she came down from her high, wiping away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes

"You are funny, mini Lestrange "

Salazar, give me strength to not slap this bitch.

"I'm not that small" he sounded pretty offended. Which he was. He knew he was pretty small for his age but he still had room to grow, or that's what his uncle told him one day when he was giving him the cold shoulder for calling him short.

"Aww, of course you are. You are cute and small, with really cute cheeks. Perfect for squeeezing" she 'complimented' while squeezing his cheek really hard giving him a mischievous smile.

Hades slapped her hand away, suddenly thankful that there were only a few students at the hall.

"Rude" she gasped "Is this how you treat your cousin?"

"No cousin of mine has purple hair, I can assure you" Of that he was pretty sure, purple hair just didn't fit with the dark and brooding death eaters of  his family.  It wasn't angsty enough.

"Well, now you do. I'm Tonks" she extended her hand for a handshake with a huge smile.

"Your first name is Tonks? Your parents dont really like you" he furrowed his eyebrows

Another obnoxious laugh.

He didn't know, or even like this girl, but she sure knew how to laugh.

"You are good, mini Lestrange"

"Meh"

"Dora!" a male voice cut their conversation off giving Hades the opportunity to try and bold as Tonks was looking at the by that called her. Only for her to grab his cloak without even looking.

The red headed boy walked closer to the two with a smile ignoring the pouting and glaring Hades, held captive by Tonks.

"Dora, you need to stop skipping classes. Sprout is looking for you"

"Well, I'm sure that she can excuse me this time. It's a family reunion!" she put a hand around Hades shoulders when he tried to wiggle his cloak out of her hold "Charlie, meet my cousin. Hades, Charlie Weasley"

The dark haired boy stopped struggling, pushing his dark curls back, looking at Charlie in pure shock.

Charlie was a very handsome young man, that much was clear. With red hair reaching past his ears, with shining blue eyes that were slightly screwed as he smiled down at Hades kindly. The boy bit down on his cheek as he could feel the blood rushing through his cheeks, quite a contrast on his pale skin. He wasn't sure if he was blushing because Charlie was handsome or because his last name was Weasley, reminding him of the twins he so wanted to strangle now.

A bit of both.

Charlie moved for a handshake when Hades made a sound of realization. With his mouth agape he pointed at Tonks accusingly "Tonks, Andromeda's new surname after marrying a muggle born." he paused "So, your first name isn't Tonks"

"Nope," she said playfully "but you can just call me Tonks"

Charlie, saw an opportunity and took it "Her name is Nymphadora"

There was a glint in the cousins' eyes.

"Don't call me Nymphadora" said the girl with a dangerous glint in her eyes as her hair turned red.

Meanwhile, Hades and Charlie smirked at each other. The glint in Hades' eyes screamed mischief. And here he thought he would get bored without annoying Draco for a whole year, little did he know the next victim would offer herself over to him. Cousins are a blessing.

"Anyways!" Hades interrupted their bickering "I have to go to my potions class. See you later," he pinched Dora's cheek affectionately with a shit eatting grin "Nymphadora"

Hades turned on his heels, suddenly very jolly as he skipped away with an evil laugh.

So, Hades was set on one thing. His potions teacher is an insecure asshole who likes to bully kids, propably because he finds no real joy in his life. And to top it all off, he was the head of his house.

And to add to that, the asshole kept calling on Hades even when his hand wasn't raised. Obviously because his last name, Lestrange, meant that he knew every single answer. Which he did, but thats besides the point. The point was that Hades' anxiety had reached its peak, and he thought he would propably have a cardiac arrest,

Not to mention he was obviously biased towards his house and he didn't even hide it as he took points from the Gryffindor's mercilessly for every stupid reason he could find, usually undeservingly. The only instance that was excused was when the twins made tampered with another students potion making it explode in his face as they died of laughter. Hades almost smiled.

If the potion had exploded in Snapes face he would have laughed not caring about the consequences.

But that small prank costed 20 points from Gryffindor and Snape seperating the twins, so thats how Hades ended up trying to scoot as far away from Fred as possible. Thankfully, Fred respected his boundaries as they both worked on their seperate assignments while stealing glances at each other from time to time.

As they stole glances at eah other their eyes met, and they held eye contact for a few seconds before the redness spread from their neck to their whole face and they looked away, wide eyed.

Hades cleared his throat, continuing with the potion but not before slapping Fred's hand away as he tried to sneak something into his cauldron.

"Touche" whined Fred rubbing his hand

"I thought we were the snakes that went behind people's backs?" Hades asked not even bothering to look up from his cauldron as he threw in the last incredients.

"I never-" tried Fred, touching Hades' wrist but he was quick to raise his hand

"Professor, I'm done"

The head of his house made his way towards him to check his work. As he examined his cauldron, Hades and Fred examined his face wondering what he felt since his expression continued to be sour and his eyes basically dead. The two first years ex changed looks, then looked back at their teacher in curiosity.

"Very well done, Mr. Lestrange. 10 points to Slytherin." Then his eyes fell on Fred's unfinished project "Mr. Weasley, why don't you follow Mr. Lestrange's," he trailed off as he saw that Fred still had his hand on Hades wrist, the slytherin not bothered in the slightest. Honestly, they had forgotten about it but now they noticed and quickly pulled their hands away ", example" Snape then walked away with a confused expression, not really wanting to know the details.

"Yeah, follow my example, Weasley" Hades smirked.

Fred puffed his chest , clasping his hands behind his back, sticking his nose high in the air "It's Mr. Weasley to you, young man" he shook his head disapprovingly "Kids these days"

Hades just smiled "Well, you should propably get used to following my example."

Fred's smile fell as he instead narrowed his eyes at the shorter boy whose smile widened. Snape dismissed

"Finally," Hades sighed "Now you can go back to your non- backstabbing Gryffindors, and I can finally be rid of your horrible excuse to a humor, yeah?" and with that he grabbed his books and walked out of the classroom.

Fred watched his back before George snapped him out of his daze and they walked out of the classroom with Lee as Fred explained to them their next plan.

[tgai-spock]

Lines of ice from rolling waves and subtle villains

The chaotic boy who won’t shut up

tw: mentions of a ‘r*pe alarm’ but its actually a slightly different personal alarm. Nothing to do with r*pe this is pg. I just use the word so I’m giving you a heads up.

Chapter 5

Have you ever walked into a fancy house you had to pay to visit? There’s always those weird spiky plants on chairs, and urgent messages saying ‘do not sit’, as if you don’t have the common sense to knock the plant on the floor before sitting down. The common room reminded Spock of that. Red walls, seats everywhere with carved wooden legs, and big puffed cushions. To the left of the room 3 sofas faced each other around a coffee table on a rug. They looked out of a window, which on this second floor gave a view across the field, up to the beginnings of the not too distant forest. 

The right side of the room had another dark red rug, with a table  on it low to the ground, cushions on the floor around it. Elsewhere around the room, snuggly hidden were several other tables, with cushioned chairs. Tyler walked to the wall nearest the door they had just entered and tapped the cabinet with the sink.

“This is the drinks station, you can drink all the water from the tap, use the kettle, and any of the teas” He opens a mini-fridge below the table where several different types of milk were stored “milks all good, but if you see sweets they belong to someone. Do not eat the sweets. And clear up after yourself, or I will beat your arse. I mean, report you, and you will be on cleaning duty for a week. That means you get to clean the toilet. If you refuse the punishment you get expelled.” 

“Upstairs belongs to the elder years, don’t go up there, it’s mostly just dorms” he said pointing to a small twirly stairs next to the window. They walked through a door on the right side of the room. It was stacked with a bookcases, and several dozen bean bags.

“This is the bean bag zone. A lot of people come in here when they get cramps, apparently. It might have something to do with the real fire, or the way the bean bags eat you. First years are not allowed to touch the fire. You gotta get your fire license first. Might seem annoying but apparently a few years ago some kid set himself on fire, which personally, I don’t know how you’d even manage - a burn sure, your whole face on fire? Ridiculous. Don’t put anything near the fire. I’d say flammable, but y’all dumbass’s so don’t put anything near it. Especially illegal alcohol. Alcohols not allowed on site, it’s the one thing me and the other prefects have agreed not to tattle on, but if I catch you puking anywhere in the common rooms I’m going to throw you out a window.” Tyler said and they walked into the next room. Tyler, was a confusing guy, was he serious? He was threatening yet also, he smiled. Smile means happy, and friendly, Spock thought. 

“This room is split in to 14 mini segments it’s a quiet zone. Whatever you do in their you gotta be quiet. Some folks just need a moment alone introverts and all, or want to do their  homework in peace. Do not masturbate in the segments. I need one room I know I can lay down in, without getting gunk on me. My own beds no good because thats where I masturbate. Jokes! Thats where I f*ck.”

“Is there… a room to do that then? The set wank room?” One boy asked, and he was pushed around by the blokes around him laughing.

“The fucking toilet, whats your name?” Tyler asked.

“Scotty.”

“It’s wanker now. Wi-fi reaches the toilet, don’t wank in the showers. Last year I took my money into my own hands and started DNA testing the shower, will I ever recover? No. But now I can  shower in peace, and if someone has a complaint I have money and DNA tests I will freely give. Anyway, enough about wankers. I’ve made out with someone in each segment.” He points back out the door, the way they came from “down that hallway is all of your dorms. Have fun finding yours.”

There were six, huge bedrooms, each room had a bit of paper stuck to it. Spock searched each room for his name but couldn’t find it, he and Pavel carried their bags with a bunch of other kids to the end of the hallway. Where Spock at last found his room. The room was blue. The floor wooden, and the single bed frames silver. Spock walked to the end of the room, seeing the bed he wanted immediately at the end, close to the large window. Pavel followed and put their bag on the bed opposite him. Pavel frowned as they put their bag on their bed.

“Is this okay?” Pavel asked him and glanced towards the others, what from appearances alone looked like 4 boys, and 3 other girls “or like are we dividing the room between girls and boys and.. non-binary… are any of you non-binary?”

“I’m agendered” said a person who appeared asian short black hair, and big circular glasses “although I just use he/him pronouns.”

“Cool, I’m Pavel, what’s your name?”

“Hikaru. I heard someone call you Moriarty what’s that about?” Pavel put his head back and sighed.

“A mistake. I’m sorry I forgot my name. My name is Pavel, please I just panicked.”

“I wondered how the dorms were going to be split” Nyota, with hair cropped in a wavy bob, and hooped silver earrings said as she placed her bag on the bed next to Spock’s “not to sound sexist but I’m a little worried that someone who doesn’t have tits might stare at mine in my sleep, I mean, a lot of the teenage boys I’ve been around are just the worst. Not to accuse any of you anything but I doubt everyone in this school’s an angel, it’s mathematically impossible.”

“I get what you mean” Pavel nodded.

“Well” Sulu said “what if someone stares at my dick while I’m sleeping?”

“Thats not the same, I mean, its always under covers, it’s not like your duvets going to outline your dick.” Nyota said, Sulu raised his eyebrows and his eyes darted to Spock, and the boy on the bed next to him. The boy next to him was Charlie, a large sized boy with brown hair and a look of confusion. On the other side of Charlie was a girl with blonde hair called Janice with a buzzcut and lightening shapes in her hair. She seemed amused by the conversation, but didn’t look like she agreed. On the bed beside Nyota close to the dorm door, was Christine, the girl who had called Tyler a slut. She was opposite Charlie. It was during the moment of awkward looking about that Tyler bursted into their dorm room.

“Oh don’t tell me you fucked someone in this bed too” Christine immediately yelled.

“I did not fuck anyone in that bed. But I think pissy Jax slept there last year so good luck with that.” Tyler said hands firmly on his hips.

“Oh you must be joking? Someone swap with me, Janice?”

“Why? You sleep in Jax’s piss, piss girl.” Janice said.

“I’m sure it got washed” Tyler said rolling his eyes, then he shook his head in Nyota’s direction.

“Have you all found your privacy barriers?” Tyler asked.

“The what?” Nyota asked.

“I’m about to save your life.” Tyler said walking over to her “just slide your hand down over that black thing behind you.” 

Nyota turned behind her. There was a 1cm wide, 20cm long black stick, outlined by silver metal on the wall. 30cm to the right of it was a small square black box. Nyota waved her hand over it, and down from the ceiling fell a black curtain. There was one of these sticks behind all of their beds. The ends of the curtain stuck to a silver metal line that went around the whole of the outside of the bed leaving enough room for her legs.

“Neat” Nyota said from inside her curtain.

“Pretty cool right? Watch this” Tyler said and pushed the black curtain, almost immediately a quiet, but loud enough to be easily heard beeping began, almost like the ringing of a phone.

“Thats the rape alarm. The goto rule is, if the curtains are down, you’re not allowed to clown, also you gotta yell at them to get up. Except me of course I’ve got this” Tyler said and pulled out a card and waved it next to the silver box. The curtain began to raise by itself and the alarm cut off.

“My brother goes here” Janice said “he said it was to stop kids dragging the mattresses on to the roof whilst they were asleep.”

“You say, de-pranker, I say rape alarm, tomato tomatoe.” Tyler shrugged with a grin.

“Why is there an alarm?” Nyota asked.

“It’s mostly incase someone gets stuck in their curtain, or they’re having a medical emergency. Surprisingly getting tangled and sucked up into the curtain happens more often than you’d think. Honestly theres nothing wrong with having some hand pulled curtains but then the rooms don’t look minimalistic y’know? If you think theres an issue with someone, like you can hear them breathing real funny and they won’t respond you just run upstairs and find a prefect. However I’ve adjusted that rule, you put up someone else's curtains, you set of the rape alarm, then you get me. Then I’ll help your friend while a teacher is already on the way.”

“How long do the teachers take to respond?” Spock asked.

“They - nice hat kid” Tyler said with a slowing grin, and then a blink “been meaning to say that the whole tour. Shit what was I saying? If your personal alarm stays on for more than 30 seconds, it starts getting louder, after two minutes you’ll have a teacher come in. Last year, the third years drew up this really elaborate murder prank and set it off at 3 in the morning, turns out those pranks aren’t as funny as you’d think because apparently the teachers will straight up bring a stun-gun into your room, and I’m pretty sure that shits illegal.”

“You set of an alarm and think its bad the teacher would come to your rescue with a stun-gun?” Nyota asked

“Well… whatever. You folks all good now? Can I go catch up with my friends. Oh, and just so you know. There’s no bell you just have to manage yourself. You’ve probably all got your timetables already, the next thing you go to is lunch, which is in an hour or so, and then you will have to head to your last two lessons. For lunch, just go back to where you came from.” Tyler said and then left. Spock took a deep breath in, this was a lot of good news, but the personal alarms seemed a bit much, still given his history with classmates, at least he’d be able to sleep peacefully, he had already been planning to go find somewhere else to sleep like on the roof for a week or so before he made the brake from school. The bed was now a better option.

“I’ve got no idea how we got here” Pavel sighed “let alone finding the lunch room.”

“Me neither” Charlie said “but at least I know every room Tyler’s fucked in.”

Note:

Listen most people have direct hair cuts when their a kid. The reason for Janice Rands long elaborate hair is because she used to shave it off all the time because punk, but later she learns to be a gentle punk and love pink without fear. Nyota hair is similar. Chapels is similar. Was thinking about giving sulu long hair but he can stick with short.... leaves a lot of wiggle room incase I think of something cool to do with it. 

[Chapter 1]         [Chapter 2]         [Chapter 3]          [Chapter 4]

[Chapter 5]         [Chapter 6]