#some commissions may take a pinch longer to finish if there happens to be more orders than i expected

[bakusquad-blog]

Hey yall!! Mun is still very much alive, just been going through It this whole summer ajdbsjs but today I've opened colored commissions!! As the semester comes closer to starting, I realized I really need to get myself together and do these so that I can make some extra money. So if you're interested, please come DM me and we'll talk out the details!! 😄

Payment methods: Zelle/PayPal

[PLEASE RETWEET 💕]

[illyaana]

Birthday Special: Mashirao Ojiro

credits to the artist who drew the picture above!

Tags: Timeskip! Ojiro x Hero! Reader, No Specific Gender for Reader, Fluff

Your Hero Name: Pavlin (Peacock in Bulgarian)

Your Quirk: Peacock

When you wish, a bunch of peacock feathers form from the small of your back. Much like Hawks' quirk, they listen to your orders and can become swords. They also double as a shield. You also have a telekinetic connection with them too. The drawback is that removing too many in an hour can make you bleed.

Synopsis: You were tracking down two vigilantes. As you were severely injured, you sent a notice to all the heroes where you believed they were heading. After you healed, you continued to follow them. Soon, they removed their disguises and you found out it was Toga and Dabi. Toga shoved a needle in your arm and you thought that she was only drawing out blood, but you were wrong.

Word Count: 1879

The two vigilantes were relentlessly attacking you. Their guns and daggers came at you from left and right, forming multiple gashes and wounds on your body.

You knew you were reaching your limit. The feathers on your back were stained by the blood dripping due to you using so many of your feathers without any time to recuperate.

You jumped from the building and hid in an alleyway. You were planning to give yourself 5 mins to let your body rest while you use the smaller feathers of yours to track the two armed men.

By injecting a syringe full of green liquid formed by some of the heroes you knew who had quirks that could heal, you felt the wounds in your body seal and heal while you focused on the task at hand - to identify where they were going.

You were in your subconscious, feeling the movement of your feathers in a makeshift map of Musutafu in your head. You memorised the city like the back of your hand, it was required to be one of the more efficient heroes of Japan.

You knew they knew you weren't physically following them anymore, so they'd lead you straight to where they intended to go - and it oh so happened to be the base of the League of Villains.

Using your phone, you alerted all the heroes nearby the base with an app designed by the safety commission to keep an eye out for the two as you recharged.

Soon, you felt your body was ready to continue with the mission you were originally conducting.

Using the boots designed by your agency, you jumped and used your feathers to swerve to the right. Soon, you were jumping from building to building to catch up with the two men you were tracking.

You heard your phone ring and you picked it up,

"What is it Ojiro?" you said, speaking loudly.

"Where are you, most of us are waiting outside of the base to get those two," he stated with a worried tone.

You chuckled. "Don't worry about me too much, honey. Your fiance is stronger than you think."

"Still, where are you?" He asked again, now with a more stern tone.

You sighed. "Look up, stupid."

You saw him look to the top of the building opposite the base and instantly spotted you. You were leaning against the wall with your arms crossed and your phone by your ear.

You saw his face turn pale and you instantly turned around.

The two males smiled as one of them shoved a needle into your upper arm, drawing blood from it.

Soon, a muddy-like shell covering their bodies fell from the both of them, revealing Dabi and Toga.

"Pavlin wasn't as strong as they said, right, Dabi?" Toga said smiling, revealing her two fangs.

Dabi smirked as he walked towards you and grabbed your chin.

"They're hot too," he said as he trailed his fingers on your lips, "It isn't fair that Tailboy managed to secure this hot of a person to himself."

You bit Dabi's finger and pulled on the syringe, causing all the blood drawn to fall on the floor.

Using your feathers, you pinned both Toga and Dabi to the wall.

While Dabi tried to burn the feathers, you used a flashlight and showed a signal to the heroes perched outside of the base and turned their attention to you.

Ojiro was soon behind you along with Shoto and Aizawa. He quickly grabbed you before you fell due to the blood loss.

"You okay?" he asked as he gripped you from the sides. You could only nod, unable to say a word.

You felt your feathers begin to fall from your back.

You didn't tell them to.

They fell on their own.

You began to vomit out blood, copious amounts falling from your lips.

Soon, you heard Dabi laughing hysterically. "So how is it being quirkless, Pavlin?"

Your face paled.

Quirkless?

"We weren't only taking your blood, you know," Toga explained, "We also injected you with something the League has been developing - a serum to remove quirks."

Toga took the knife from her hands and cut through your feathers. "You were our first test subject, and it clearly worked!" She began chuckling, "You are relieved from your duties, Pavlin. It was a pleasure being your opponent."

You gripped Ojiro's arm, not wanting to act recklessly.

You were no longer Pavlin.

You chuckled lowly.

You took one of your longer feathers from the ground, touching the very tip of it.

It was still sharp.

It could still cut.

You looked at Ojiro.

You didn't need to say anything.

He already knew what you wanted to do.

You got off the floor and stood in a fighting stance, wiping the blood from the sides of your mouth.

"At least let me finish my job before I am relieved of my duties, Toga."

You ran to her, using your boots to get a high distance so that you came to her at an angle.

You were going to stab this bloodsucker and give her a taste of her own medicine.

Thanks to Shoto, they couldn't move. The ice beneath them had secure them to where they stood.

Every single time Dabi tried melting it off, Shoto just formed more ice.

The next few seconds were a blur, but you knew you stabbed Toga at her right shoulder. You made sure to push it in deep, letting the finer hairs of your former feather enter her skin, preventing her from using her dominant hand ever again.

Dabi stared at his partner as she screamed.

While she was writhing in pain, you looked at him.

"I am not done with you get."

A dark smile reached your lips as you jumped off of Toga's body and grabbed two of your smaller feathers.

"Get out of the way!" you screamed at the others as you ran straight to Dabi.

You threw one small feather while running and it immediately hit Dabi's lower arm.

"Even if I wasn't with Ojiro, I would've never fall in love with you let alone get in a relationship with you."

You threw the other smaller arrow to reach his lips vertically, slicing each lip in half, "...so don't you ever touch my lips ever again."

Everyone surrounding you sighed in relief when you kneeled down, catching your breath.

But Ojiro wasn't going to let this end like how it did.

He was furious.

That quirk was the only thing that reminded you of your family that died so many years ago.

It was the only thing that you could call a present from your family.

He knew how life was for you as an orphan who was never adopted.

He remembered how you'd go on and on about your late parents who taught you the basics of your quirk.

He remembered how you cried when you told him about how they passed off.

He knew how much that quirk meant to you.

And all he could see now was red.

"How dare you do that to them!" He screamed at the two of them.

You saw the anger in your fiance's eyes as he gave a death stare to the two villains in front of you.

"Ojiro, I have already-" he touched the top of your head, signalling you to let him speak on your behalf.

"They may be willing to let this slide with just a few cuts and bruises, but not me."

Ojiro was going to fling himself off the pole beside him but you managed to stand in time to stop him.

You made him crouch beside you and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, Ojiro, but I don't need your name dirtied because of what happened to me," you pat his back.

"Besides, they have injuries they can't heal that will affect their line of work because of me, and that has given me all the satisfaction I needed," you ended, a dark smirk on your face as you faced the two villains.

Soon, the two of them were apprehended and sent off to be contained. You and Ojiro headed back to your shared apartment and began to watch an episode of the show you both were watching together.

You loved the domestic life that you both shared. You did not crave adventure. So did Ojiro.

You both loved the indoors. Just being surrounded by comfort after a long day's work is all you both needed to re-energize yourselves.

You saw the popcorn bowl empty and headed to prepare more until Ojiro stopped you.

He turned off the TV and gave his wholehearted attention to you.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

You were all prepared to let it die off with the severe injuries of two villains, yet those six words managed to form your tears to form.

"I spent only four years with them, Ojiro. I lost them when I was going to turn 5 - the day right before my birthday," you began, "My quirk was the only thing keeping them alive within me. I lost my whole family thanks to one measle injection I could've easily avoided."

Ojiro pulled you into his lap and softly placed his tail on you. He knew you liked to touch it when you were sad or angry.

"Your quirk wasn't the only thing keeping them alive, love. The fact you worked so hard to become someone who your parents could be so proud of, the fact you didn't falter through all those trying times in your life, the fact you stood tall when everyone doubted you - that fighting spirit of yours," he touched the middle of your chest with his finger," That keeps them alive."

"You will always remember the training they gave you when they found out your quirk, right?" You nodded.

"You will keep the memories you've made with them in those precious years, right?" You nodded.

"You will always carry your last name, even when you're married, correct?" You nodded.

"Then what is there to worry about?" He said, pinching your cheeks.

"I fell in love with you because of who you are. I will always remember you as the little feisty person who made me see my talent and made me love myself."

He placed his head on your shoulder, rubbing the side of his face in the crook of your neck.

"You made me the hero I am today, and you will be known throughout the years as someone to be respected. And it's all thanks to your parents - to your family, isn't it?" He ended, giving a kiss on your neck.

This was it.

This is why you love this man.

He knew the main reason behind your pain and made it go away.

This is why you are going to marry him and make him the happiest man on Earth.

You turned to face him and gave a kiss on his forehead. "Thank you, Ojiro."

He just smiled and placed a kiss on your forehead, too. "Thank you, Y/N."

If the world was something that gave you a blessing amongst an array of curses, you both knew that he was your blessing as you were his.

Happy Ojiro Day! The Tailman himself is totally underrated, so let's give him some love today, hmm? (✿◡‿◡) As always, thanks for all the reblogs and the likes. I hope you enjoyed it :3

As usual, if you have any ideas or headcanons or just wanna talk to me, tell me here!

[gardenia-angel]

Chapter 3

𝓑𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓿𝓮 𝓜𝓮 𝓝𝓸𝔀

A few hours later I was sitting on the couch. One of my hands handcuffed to the arm of the couch and my other was softly petting a cat that was resting in my lap. I should’ve expected that they weren’t going to completely untie me. They’re trained assassins, that would be dumb of them. I probably would’ve tried to escape anyway. Axel had also put the gag back over my mouth. I guess we weren’t on the level of asking personal questions.

The day just kept getting weirder. Axel had taken off his clothes and was now cooking in the kitchen in just his underwear, a white t-shirt, and a pink apron. What could be weirder than that?! I asked myself. Lo and behold, Otto and Oscar stood face to face in front of me. I watched with perplexed look upon my face. Otto had a knife in his hand, ready to throw. Keeping his eyes on Oscar, he threw the knife in one swift motion. The knife barely missing his foot by an inch. My brows furrowed in confusion as I stayed silent and continued to watch. Oscar picked up the knife and did the same thing. Although this time the knife actually could be seen penetrating Ottos thigh. My eyes widened at the amount of blood that started to pour out. “What the hell?!” I tried to say but it only came out as a muffled noise. They both looked at me a little alarmed, but not even fazed about the blood.

Oscar finally got what I had said and tsked his tongue. “Oh he’s fine, right Otto?”

Otto removed the knife with no effort and nodded to Oscars question. It made me wonder what era they were from, seeing that this is their way of passing time and also I noted their very outdated clothes.

In an instant, it was like I had vertigo. I was thrown into another vision. The three brothers were in a cornfield. Vanya was also in the cornfield. She seemed to be running away from them. In another moment, Axel was about to shoot her but Vanya has sent them flying backwards with her powers.

The vision had come to an end and I was back in my reality. “Are you ok?” Oscar had asked. Axel was about to come and investigate what was wrong but a ‘woosh’ sound could be heard coming from the cupboard. He opened the small door revealing a tube with a message inside. Oscar and Otto came up behind him to see what the message from Commission was.

I already knew what the message was. A picture of Vanya and her coordinates. To get their attention I decided to try speaking again, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to understand what I was saying. So they would have no choice but to take off the gag. Otto came and took it off of me. “Thank god, finally!”

“What were you saying?” Axel asked.

“The message you got from the Commission, it’s about Vanya isn’t it?” They looked at each other, which made me certain that it’s true. “Listen, you shouldn’t go. Vanya’s more powerful than you think!” I continued.

“It doesn’t matter. We have orders.” Axel said before going back to the kitchen. Otto went to the freezer to get ice for his leg while Oscar took the seat next to me and began playing with another cat. When Otto opened the freezer door, I gasped. Sitting inside was the head of the lady that lived here. I turned away quickly, directing my attention to the cat Oscar played with. “I’m gonna be sick.” I mumbled. Oscar turned, seeing the head in the freezer too? “What? Just a head..” He shrugged.

“Just a head!” I scoffed.

Axel had finished making their dinner. He set their plates on the table then came over to me and tried handing me a plate. The smell of fish almost made me gag. “You know, I may not remember who I am but I’m pretty sure I wasn’t a seafood person.” I laughed lightly while trying to block the smell by pinching my nose. Axel still had the plate out for me to grab. Geez I wonder when he’ll loosen up. I shook my head and pushed the plate back towards him. “I appreciate it but no thank you. I’ll pass..”

“You can’t just eat nothing!” Axel said while going over to the table to give his brothers the fish, which they happily took.

“If I’m not mistaken, I think you’re sassing me!” I said in the same tone as him. Oscar and Otto looked at each other after I said that. Axel, taken aback by my words, turned back to me and scoffed. “You’re being difficult..” He grumbled.

“Maybe if you wouldn’t keep me chained, you’d see that I’m not so much of a pain.” I countered, crossing one of my arms around my waist and tilting my head. He narrowed his eyes in thought. “So what you’re saying is you’ll cook for yourself?”

“Yeah I will if I’m hungry but right now I’m not...I’d much rather take a shower..” I mumbled the last part. Axel gave me a funny look, not knowing what to say. “You are going to allow me to shower right?!” I hated this. It felt as though I was being treated like a child.

This time Otto spoke up. But this time they spoke amongst each other in Swedish. I internally groaned. What the hell was being said this time? They didn’t appear to be saying anything bad about me, otherwise they probably would be laughing and smirking. But they sounded serious.

“Fine.” Axel said when he turned back to me. I smiled. “You know I think we will learn to get along very well with each other..” I said as he unlocked the handcuffs. I stood and walked over to the hall entrance. “And don’t worry, I won’t try to escape.” I turned to say. I walked calmly away until I wasn’t in their vision then bolted down the hallway to the bathroom. It wasn’t that hard to find. There were four rooms. Three of them being bedrooms and one being the bathroom. As soon as I shut the door I went straight up to the window. A clever smirk on my face as I pulled the curtains apart.

“Fuck.”

It was a single hung window which was the type that only opens up a few inches. Not enough room for anyone to fit through. I guess a shower really wasn’t such a bad idea anyways. As I showered, I thought about what was happening with the Hargreeves siblings. I wondered if Five was worried that I disappeared. He probably isn’t though. I was just a burden that was thrown into a story that’s not even mine. But how do I know this isn’t my story? Or maybe I was just in the afterlife. Some weird afterlife if you ask me.

Once I was done, I felt a million times better. I was refreshed and ready to make peace with the Swedes. Or at least try to be on civil terms with them. I still thought it was a bad idea for them to go on their mission. I tried to think of things to get them to stay but no solid statement could come to mind.

I looked down at my pile of clothes. They were absolutely filthy. Both my pants and my shirt were covered in dirt and grime. My shirt also having the smell of sweat and the slight metallic scent of blood. It made me gag. I never knew my clothes would ever smell that bad. I had a decision to make. I either put these clothes back on or I can try to find something to wear in one of the rooms. Leaving the bathroom was a risk I was willing to take. I opened the door slowly as to not make a creak and peaked my head out. The coast was clear, they seemed to still be in the living room. I quickly tiptoed into the nearest room. I turned the light on to see better and took a look around. If I had to guess this was the landlady’s room. Opening the closet I took out a sleeveless dress with a multi colored checkered pattern. Oh yeah this was definitely the sixties. The dress itself was too big compared to my frame. I put it back in its place and made my way into the next room. This room had a slight teenager-ish vibe to it. To put it simple, the walls were slight darkish pink but covered in posters and the furniture and decor were a light cotton candy pink. I walked over to a vanity and picked up a notepad that sat on top. “Packing for college checklist.” I whispered. The lady must’ve had a daughter who just recently went to college. Well I hope she doesn’t mind if I raid her closet.

With that in mind I opened her closet. She barely had any dresses in here, at least none that I would feel comfortable wearing, so I went to take a look in her drawers. I picked out a pair of high waisted plaid pants and a white sleeveless button up top. When I went to close one of the drawers it had gotten slightly stuck. For a moment I had forgotten where I was and went ahead forced it shut with a loud bang. ‘Oh shit they had to have heard that!’ I thought to myself in a panic. I stayed quiet to see if I could hear any footsteps. Within a few moments someone could be heard coming down the hall. I was still wrapped up in a towel and didn’t have the time to change before one of them came. I dashed to the door to shut it all the way before anyone could come in. I closed it with a slam and reached down to lock it, yet there was no lock to be found. “Shit, shit, shit!” I said in a hushed tone as I held my body to the door. One of them tried to open it but found that the door knob wouldn’t budge. “Huh? What are you doing in there?!” Came the angry voice of Axel. He banged on the door. “No! D-Don’t come in!” My strength was no match for his and he was able to push the door open. I took a few steps back and mentally prepared myself for the embarrassment I was about to endure. I turned my head down to the side and winced as I held on to the towel wrapped around me tightly. “What do you think you’re. . oh. .” His voice started off furious but it quickly trailed off. I could feel my face flush as I tried to regain my composure and look at him. He looked absolutely confounded and lost for words. “Uh —umm..” I was also lost for words but I at least broke the silence making him snap out of it and avert his eyes away. He stepped back through the doorway. “Uh, sorry.” Was all he said before closing the door gently. I put my hand up to my my mouth to keep myself from the burst of nervous laughter that wanted to come out. I had mixed feelings of uneasiness, shock, and giddiness. What just happened?!

I quickly changed into the new clothes, not wanting to ponder on the thought much longer, and walked into the living room like nothing happened. They three were loading up guns. They looked up as I entered the room. I put my hands on my hips as I looked at each of them. “You’re still gonna go? Even after what I told you!” Axel looked at me, his eyes lingering for a second before turning to Oscar and saying something in Swedish.

Was it bad that I wanted him to look at me again the way he did earlier?

Oscar made his way over to me and pulled me towards the couch, once again hand cuffing me to it. “You guys don’t believe me, do you?” I sighed as I stared at the wall in front of me. None of them spoke until they were about to walk through the door.

“Even if we did believe you, we still have to do our job.” Axel said before shutting the door behind him.

As I sat there on the couch, the cat from earlier had come up to me again and sat in my lap. “I may not have known them for long . . but I worry for them.” I said softly to the cat, who stared up at me while purring. “Yeah, maybe I will be able to help them. Maybe that’s why I’m here?”

A few hours passed by before I stirred awake again, the cat still sitting with me. I looked at a clock that read ‘1:11 am’. They still weren’t back yet and I wondered what could be happening. As if on queue, one by one walked inside. Their shoulders were slumped and their eyes looked tired. Oscar has a gash the side of his head that was bleeding slightly. Otto has some fresh cuts on his face. “What happened?” I questioned. I knew something was going to go wrong.

Axel was the last to walk in, his face contorted in pain. He took off his coat, his whole sleeve was soaked in blood from a wound on his arm. I gasped softly at the sight of it. I’ve seen so much blood in such a short time. I wondered if it was always like this for me.

Axel rolled up his sleeve revealing a bullet wound. A feeling, almost like and instinct, took over and before I could stop myself, I spoke up. “You guys looks awful! Un cuff me and let me help.”

They all looked at me with their same expression of surprise and suspicion. “Please . . Let me help you.” I said slowly and earnestly. They gave in with little hesitation. Once I was freed I asked Otto, him being the least injured to go find some washcloths and other medical supplies. I went ahead and helped Oscar first. The cut on his head wasn’t too bad, it just needed to be cleaned up. He smiled and thanked me for helping. He stood from the chair to leave the room. “Careful with Axel he may bite.” Oscar joked before disappearing into the hall. I felt my face heat up as I turned to Axel. He had his face in his hand, shaking his head slightly.

“Well anyways..” I said trying to get back to the task at hand. I cleaned the wound up as much as I could. “It looks like you need stitches.” I told him. He nodded for me to go ahead.

“Why are you being kind to us?” He asked as I began stitching.

“I’m not sure.” I said after a moment. I didn’t really know how to answer his sudden questions. “Maybe because you decided not to kill me.” I said with a small smile. I finished up and we stayed sitting there on the couch. “And I feel as though there’s . . Something more to you guys than what’s on the surface.”

“What’s on the surface?”

“Cold hearted assassins that work for the Commission.” I said without a second thought.

“And the ‘something more’?” He asked. His aura seemed to be more at ease and not so tense around me anymore, making me feel more relaxed.

“I don’t know yet . . But I’d like to find out.” I replied in the same soft tone.

“You’re very different.” He said and smiled to that. We sat there in comfortable silence for a while. I felt myself become more tired again and soon my head leaned to the side and I fell back asleep.

“Thank you . .” Axel whispered before falling asleep as well.

❤️Tags : @koelu-chan @gorgeourrific-nerd

[lonewolf34500]

So here is the last comic before we tackled plot and is Sam and Eileen’s date this one took a bit longer we finally finish it. The rest of the series here.

Panel 1: Bonding Song

Eileen: She enters the den that Sam lives in. There were many stone tablets scattered around the entrance she went through the crevice that leads to his nest. “Sam are you here?” she asks. Eileen gets a muffled response and follows it to the back where there is another entrance. She swims through to find more tablets stacked on top of each other. Sam is huddled over reading one of them; she settles next to him, “Are you busy?” Placing her hand gently on his arm. 

Sam: He looks up at her and places his hand over hers and smiles, “No, you want to do something?” He feels the nervousness leaking through their telepathic connection. This was the most secure way to communicate with each other. Eileen could read lips just fine and understand hand signals but this was an intimate connection only done when there was full trust. They can put walls up to block from certain feelings being known but Sam likes to keep it fully open. Sam squeezes her hand and pecks her on the cheek hoping to prompt Eileen to say what she has in mind. 

Eileen: She looks up from her lap into Sam’s brown eyes and nervously she lets out a few simple notes of the bonding song. This song is sung between soon to be mates or are starting a courting. Since she could not light up her tail like the mermen she thought this might be a good idea for her own version of starting a courting. She gets more confident as she sees Sam smiling at her encouragingly. Eileen began to sing the bonding song again hoping Sam would join in this time.

Sam: He loves listening to Eileen sing, she will usually hum a lullaby or when they were cuddling in the nest and she would run her hand through his hair and softly sing. Through their connection he could tell she was getting nervous again. Sam cups her cheek with his hand and sings a few notes of the bonding song. Eileen smiles brightly and continues to sing; they soon find an even ground and their voices meld together. They end up cuddling afterwards in the nest with their tails intertwined with each other and Eileen petting Sam’s hair. 

Panel 2: Dinner Date

Sam: He was woken up by his older brother begging him to come and help him catch crabs for their date together later on. Sam only agrees because he remembers Eileen telling him this was one her favorite foods. They head to a rocky area near a cliff, well known for being a good place to find crabs that feed on anything that hides among the rocks. Sam turns a rock when he feels a pinch on the end of his tail,  he screams in pain, and he flicks his tail. He sees something red being flung on the corner of his eye and hears Dean laughing hysterically. Sam watches as the little crab scurries back under a rock and gives his older brother a bitch face, “Shut up jerk, is not that funny.” 

Dean takes a few breaths than snorts, “I am telling your beautiful mate this story once I meet her, bitch.”

“Eileen is beautiful and you will meet her when you properly introduce me to your mate. You have to stop keeping him stash away in your nest all for yourself. The whole colony wants to see the leader’s choice for a mate.” He smiles knowing full well that some females of their colony will not be happy with his brother’s choice. 

“Whatever,” Dean mumbles,“lets catch some crabs.” The brothers hunt for crabs for an hour or so and find five that were a good size. They head back to the colony; they split them between each other before heading separate ways. Sam sets the basket down among all his stone tablets and then heads back to work in archiving them. 

He meets up with Eileen after she is done with her patrol shift and they swim back to his den. Sam presents the crab to her and smiles, “I remember you like crab so I caught some. Also I helped Dean catch some today.”

“Well I will get some mangoes so we can sit and start to eat,” she smiles and swims off to get them as Sam gets everything set up for dinner.

Panel 3: Stone Tablets 

Eileen: She went to the Council Chambers to see if they had any copies of the history of their colony; these were common tablets that were always copied and distributed. All the hatchlings learn from these tablets so it will not be hard to find one. Eileen found the room where the tablets were kept, she cleared her throat, “Hi, you have any tablets with our history and laws?” she asks the mermen that was looking through a list. 

He looked up and nodded, “Yes, wait a minute while I retrieve it.” He swims away to find it and she gets lost looking at all the stacks of tablets. Eileen thought this would be a good idea for a gift for Sam since he was a scholar. They were the ones that wrote and archived all the tablets that had to do with history or anything that happened in the colony. Sam’s colony had come from waters far from theirs and they were staying here for a short time. That meant they probably had tablets from many other colonies they had visited. 

Now that she was thinking this meant they will be moving on soon this meant if she mated Sam she will have to go with him. Eileen looks  at the ceiling of the room this never felt like her home. She was brought into the colony when they found her after her colony was destroyed and she swam through the ocean until a patrol found her. She will never have a home with them; they are nomadic, always moving, never staying in one place, she is broken out of her trance as the merman comes back. “Here it is, it has the laws in the back and in the front is the brief round down of the history,” he explains.

“Thank you, I don’t need to return it right?” She asks to make sure it doesn't need to be returned. He shakes his head and returns to his list. Eileen swims to Sam’s den to deliver her gift; she finds him at the entrance with his own list and counting some tablets. “Hey Sam,” she calls out until Sam looks at her and smiles, “I thought you might be interested in reading some of our history.”

Sam swims towards her holding two tablets; one looks like the five headed beast they tell stories to the hatchlings before they go to sleep and the other she is not sure. “I would love to read some of your history. We got a basic rundown of the rules when we settled here but I am always up to reading more of the customs in a colony to help keep my brother informed. You are not going to get into trouble?” Sam asks, concerned for Eileen and excited at getting a new tablet at the same time. 

“No is all common knowledge,” she assures him.

“Want to explain to me more about the tablet?” he asks hoping she will stay. She smiles and sits in the center of the room as Sam joins her and they go over the tablet.

Panel 4: Gifts

Sam: Since Eileen had gifted him the tablet and some healing herbs he wanted to give back some herbs and stones to the healers so they didn’t run out. He had commissioned a new blade that he planned to give to her. All he needs now is sea glass and collect the healing items. Sam wakes up early knowing full well it will take most of the day to get to the beach. He arrives and surveys the beach from the rocks; there are usually not many people this early. Actually this beach is usually empty and the sea glass just collects and also there are a lot of mango trees. As Sam nears the beach he sees pieces of mango skins. Another merfolk was here and did not clean up after itself. Sam rolls his eyes and drags himself across the shore to where a huge collection of rocks and sea glass has gathered. He skims through the pile until a purple sea glass catches his eye and picks it up to inspect. This was perfect for her, Sam put it in one of the pouches before sinking back down below the waves. He made it just in time to meet with her and pick up the blade too. They meet in his den where Sam presents all of his gifts to Eileen which she thanks him a lot that might have led to other things.

Panel 5: Dancing

Sam: They were just lying down on his nest when Eileen started humming as she traces nonsense patterns on his chest. Sam gets an idea and swiftly gets up as Eileen looks very confused but waits for him to explain. He bows slightly and stretches his hand towards her, “May I have this dance m’lady.” 

He smiles when Eileen laughs at his antics and she takes his hand, “You may.” Sam places a kiss on her hand as he puts his hands on her hips. Eileen starts to hum a tune and places one arm around Sam’s neck and the other on his chest as they slowly start swaying.

Panel 6: Scales

Eileen.: She had been thinking about mating with Sam; she could still be a healer and a seraph in Sam’s colony they will just be moving. Eileen looks at the four scales in her hand and smiles; she knew the answer and could not wait to give them to Sam. They met at her den, they were sharing stories when they were hatchlings when Eileen put her hand over his. Sam stops talking and looks at her, “Sam there is something I want to tell you,” she says nervously. Sam puts his other hand over hers and nods for her to continue. Eileen takes out her scales out of the pouch she has been caring them, she looks up when Sam gasps. He withdraws some of his scales too for her to see. “ I wanted to tell you that I want to be your mate and I was okay with moving around as long as I was with you,” she smiles up at Sam.

“I wanted to ask you to be my mate and well I will tell you a secret  we have been thinking is time to settle, John, my father was the one to start us in the nomadic lifestyle and we are done.” They trade their scales and then Sam cups Eileen’s cheek and closes the gap between them in a slow but passionate kiss that promises to lead to more.

Tagging: @shadowywerewolfqueen @peanutbutterandgrapejelly @fantastikitty7 @deservetobesaved @katishereintown (let me know if you want to be added)

[ghost--houses]

Untamed Spring Fest 2020 Day 20: Fond

NOTE: Daily was ambitious, even a month late T_T Still committed to finishing, could happen before end of June, but probably won't be any more for a week or so while I try to wrap up the last ten

Posting daily a month late because I’m a slow writer!

read this one on AO3

read all currently finished prompts on AO3

Fond (Jin Guangyao & Jin Ling, Fairy, 675 words)

On the second day of Jin Ling's tantrum, a servant comes to Jin Guangyao to tell him that the boy has still not left his room and isn't taking his meals. He briefly considers how feasible it would be to remain blameless if he let Jin Ling starve himself to death, and what benefit that would gain him, before he catches himself and dismisses the thought entirely.

He sends away the servant and considers a different equation. What gift will bring Jin Ling out of his mood and have a lasting impact on Jin Ling’s respect for him? There's a bow he commissioned from the armory, but he was saving that specifically for a Jiang Wanyin-inspired tantrum, as a way to indicate that Jin Guangyao can also provide combat experience and expertise. Besides, while having another Jin Zixun might have some uses, he'd rather not give Jin Ling the hint that his problems should always be solved with violence.

No, this requires a softer touch. Literally, Jin Guangyao realizes, as he remembers a conversation last week with the hound-master. And Jiang Wanyin will be furious that he beat him to it.

The puppy is black and white and somehow wet, everywhere, or maybe it’s just her slick-soft baby fur. Maybe it's because she keeps licking his hands. Jin Guangyao isn't sure. Whatever it is, he keeps checking his robes and under her belly to see if she's peeing anywhere. He laments the fact that delivering the puppy himself is an essential part of the plan. But at least Jin Ling's room is almost in sight.

"Go away, xiaoshu!" is the response at the door. Jin Guangyao looks down at the puppy, who yawns, uselessly. This would be a great time for a cute dog noise. May if he pinches one of her toes --

There's a crashing noise inside the room, no doubt from Jin Ling further demonstrating his mood. The puppy goes alert, turns her head to the door, and gives a single, serendipitous bark. Jin Ling's door slams open.

The look in his eyes as he beholds her is a master class in childish delight and enchantment. He reaches for the puppy as if she were the answer to all his prayers and Jin Guangyao gently leaves her in his arms. He never considered for a moment that he'd miscalculated the gift, but it's more rewarding than he anticipated to see the confirmation.

"I found this girl on the street," he lies, thinking of the price he paid the merchant for a prize whelp from the litter of a known spirit dog. "Can you give her a name, A-Ling?"

"Is she for me?" Jin Ling asks, eyes still on the puppy in his arms as he reverently strokes her fur. There’s no pretense in it, just radiant, unconditional love for a creature he didn’t know existed an incense stick ago.

"Yes, if you promise to look after her."

"Oh. Xiaoshu." Jin Ling says, looking at Jin Guangyao for the first time since he arrived. "I promise. I will take the best care of her. I will play with her every day and train her and help her become the best spirit dog." He looks back at the dog, his eyes shining a little. "I'll name her Fairy."

Jin Guangyao’s smile grows wider to fight the cringe he feels underneath. It's a powerfully bad name and will no doubt lead to more teasing and more tantrums. He considers how to steer him towards something more noble without ruining his restored mood.

But before he has the words, Jin Ling, with the hint of tears in the corner of his eyes, says, "Thank you, xiaoshu. This is the best gift ever. I won't be bad again, I promise."

Jin Guangyao finds it’s easy to ignore the blatant falsehood of “won’t be bad again” when the boy looks so sincere. Maybe it’s better to allow him innocence instead, at least for a little while longer. "Fairy,” he replies, with a simple, fond smile, “is an excellent name."

[geronimo-11]

Casey/John - Distracting kisses from someone that are meant to stop the other person from finishing their work, and give them kisses instead

IT’S BEEN EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS

Not really, but it definitely feels that way. I’m so sorry this took so long, but I got stuck for a while and it took a quarantine for me to finally get my butt in gear. It also turned out way longer than expected, but that’s nothing knew for me I guess lol

Thanks so much for sending this in, it was a lot of fun to write and I hope you like it!

---------

John approached the open doors of his hangar with all the caution of a man approaching the cage of a wild animal.

The comparison, honestly, wasn’t too far off.

Casey had arrived hours ago, positively fuming as she pushed her motorcycle up the long driveway to his ranch, a dark scowl twisting her features. Leaves were tangled in her hair, sweat glistened on her skin from the blazing summer heat, and she barely spared him a glance as she headed straight for his airplane hangar. The one look she did send him at his puzzled call of her name was filled with so much rage that John snapped his mouth shut and decided to let her pass without further question.

He’d let her be for a while -- hoping that by the time he went to check on her she would have cooled off some. The first time he went to see her, he made it as far as the doorway before the sound of clattering tools and a furious snarl made him think that maybe she needed a little more time alone, and he’d retreated back to the confines of his ranch.

A little over an hour had passed since then, and now he was going to check on her one more time. Casey was hunkered over her motorcycle when he walked in, her dark hair tied back in a messy ponytail on the back of her head. The space between her brows crinkled as she worked, focused solely on the task before her. If she heard him enter, she didn’t show it. Her red plaid shirt was tossed on the workbench behind her, leaving her in a plain white tank top, and John watched as she paused and rolled out the tension in her shoulders.

He was honestly surprised she’d been able to stand being in here for so long. The hangar was hot even on cooler days, but with the summer sun beating down on the metal walls John felt like he’d walked right into an oven. The small box fan she’d placed beside her couldn’t have been doing much to alleviate the heat. John felt sweat begin to drip down his back as soon as he walked inside.

Casey’s lips pressed in a firm line as she continued to work, seemingly oblivious to his presence. Leaning back on her heels she heaved a sigh and swiped the back of her hand along her forehead to get rid of the sweat dripping down her face, leaving a trail of grease on her skin. She froze, realizing what she’d done, and looked down at her hands before she sighed again, wiping her palms on her jeans in a crude attempt to clean them off before diving back into the machine in front of her.

John approached her quietly, smirking to himself when she remained unaware of his approach. When he was close enough he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest and pressing his lips to her cheek in one swift movement. Casey jolted under his touch, letting out a small shriek of alarm. The sound of his laughter reached her through the small burst of panic, and she raised a hand to her chest as she tried to ease her racing heart.

“Shit, John, don’t scare me like that!” She scolded, swatting at his arms with her other hand. John’s laughter dulled to a chuckle and he pressed another kiss to her cheek in a way of apology. He plucked a leaf from her hair and twirled it between his fingers as he let his chin rest on her shoulder, his other arm still wrapped snugly around her waist.

“What are you doing in here?” He asked, eyeing the bike propped in front of her. Tools were strewn haphazardly around her on the floor, and there was so much grease and oil it looked like she was performing some sort of botched surgery. Casey heaved a sigh.

“Well, I decided to grab my Baby and go for a ride, but it’s been a while since she’s been out of my mom’s garage and…” she jabbed the wrench in her hand at the motorcycle as though that should have been more than enough explanation. “I dunno, I’m not even sure what happened. One minute I’m driving down the road, the next there’s a loud bang and then I’m flying through the air into a ditch and a bush is breaking my fall.”

John blinked, tilting his head so he could look at her face.

“You call your motorcycle ‘Baby’?” He asked. Casey turned and rested her wrench against his cheek, although the smile curling at the corners of her mouth had him less than scared.

“That’s what you took from what I just said?” She quipped.

He smiled and lifted a shoulder, not really apologetic, but good enough, and she continued.

“Anyway, I couldn’t get her to start again after that. And your place was closer than mine, so, here we are.” She threw her hands up and gestured around the hangar. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more work to do.”

Casey moved to reach for her bike once more but had barely moved before John tightened his arms and pulled her towards him again. She hit his chest with a soft “oof” and he buried his nose in her hair. His beard skimmed the exposed skin of her shoulder and John grinned to himself when she shivered. 

“John, I’m serious. Let me go.”

A small noise of protest sounded from the back of his throat, but at her insistent tapping on his arm he released her, and she was quick to get back to work without sparing him a second glance.

A pout pressed John’s lips together at the sudden lack of attention. He waited for a moment, then cleared his throat once… twice… nudged one of the tools by his foot so it clattered into another… Nothing. Casey showed no sign of talking to him again and John sighed, moving instead to where Affirmation sat in the middle of the hangar. He dragged his fingers lazily against the cool exterior of his own pride and joy before sparing her a glance over his shoulder. 

Small wisps of dark hair clung to the sweat of her forehead. Once again her dark brows were nearly pinched together in concentration, and her lips were pursed slightly. She was focusing so hard that John was surprised her tongue wasn’t sticking out, and he chuckled to himself at the thought. Chocolate eyes darted up to meet his baby blue at the sound, and he smiled at her before she shifted her gaze back down to her hands.

Pushing himself away from his plane John walked towards her, his gaze never wavering. He watched as she glanced at his boots, watching him as well but determined not to give him her full attention, and he could have sworn he almost heard a sigh of relief when he passed her and instead headed to the workbench behind her. 

John pushed her discarded shirt aside and fiddled absently with the different tools she had accumulated on the table, rearranging them in size at first and then, when Casey still showed no signs of acknowledging him, he rearranged them again by type. 

He supposed he could have left and gone back inside, it was blisteringly hot inside the metal walls of the hanger and he had plenty of paperwork to keep him busy. But the knowledge that Casey was there would have distracted him anyway. She was starting to grow on him, as much as he’d tried to convince himself otherwise. He found he actually liked having her around.

“What are you doing?”

John blinked, looking over his shoulder and meeting her confused stare with an innocent one of his own.

“Just making sure everything is in order.” He gestured to the table, one corner of his mouth turning upwards in a smirk. “I’d hate for you to not have what you need in order to operate on your… ‘Baby.’” 

Casey gave him a glare before rolling her eyes and resuming her task with a mumbled, “Don’t mock.”

He would have thought she was actually annoyed if he hadn’t seen the small smile on her face.

His smirk spread into a devious grin. If teasing was all it took to get her attention, he was happy to oblige. John approached her slowly, taking in every movement she made carefully -- from the tilt of her head to the shift of her foot.

“I’m serious! I can’t imagine what would happen if your poor baby were out of commission for good. I don’t think I could live with myself.” He was milking it now, overemphasizing the pet name to get a rise out of her. Stopping behind her, his chest nearly touching her back, John pulled a leaf from her hair and examined it with feigned interest. Casey sighed and looked up at him, brow arched in mock annoyance. 

“After all…” he started, pulling his gaze from the leaf with a playful glint in his eye. She stared at him for a moment before she blinked, realization dawning and she started shaking her head as though she could read his mind.

“Don’t you dare-”

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”

He blamed his sudden playfulness on boredom, her own apparent lack of interest, and increasing delusion from the heat. Sweat dripped down his neck and made his shirt stick to his back, and he briefly contemplated removing the garment entirely. That would be sure to keep her attention, although it may be a step too far...

With a visible cringe and dramatic roll of her eyes Casey turned away from him.

“I’m ignoring you now. For real this time.”

The corner of John’s mouth twitched.

We’ll see about that.

He hummed thoughtfully, plucking another leaf from her hair and letting it flutter to the ground before pushing the hair from her ponytail to the side and tracing a finger over the bare skin of her shoulder. He started connecting the freckles there with an imaginary line. Her hands stilled for only a moment before she carried on.

Gotcha. 

Leaning forward John pressed a kiss to her shoulder. Casey didn’t move except to place the wrench in her hands on the ground and shift her bike so she could better see what she was doing. Indignation flared in the back of his mind and John moved to her temple, lips brushing gently over her skin before he pressed a kiss there. He glanced at her face to gauge her reaction, but her eyes never left the bike in front of her.

Slowly John worked his way down from her hairline, nosing under her jaw to nip playfully at her skin, and smirking when she sighed again -- finally annoyed with his antics.

“Stop.” Her tone was light but John listened anyway, pausing with his lips still hovering over her pulse. Casey turned her head and looked at him, a slender brow arched and her gaze accusatory.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not gonna work this time. I’m serious!” She said defensively at his knowing smirk. “I need to figure out what’s wrong with my baby before I go insane.”

Her hand glided reverently across the polished surface of her bike -- now streaked with a thick mixture of dirt and grease -- and John rolled his eyes. His hand settled on her lower back as he leaned over her to get a better look at the damage that had been inflicted. The front tire was busted and oil was leaking from somewhere, which explained why there was so much on her hands and clothes. There were so many dings and scratches he couldn’t tell if they were from the recent crash or if they’d accumulated over time. John scrunched his nose distastefully.

“You know I could just buy you a new-” the look she sent him before he was even finished turned his blood cold, and a chill went down his spine. He promptly closed his mouth and pressed his lips in a firm line.

Casey turned from him and resumed her prodding.

Suddenly she froze, shooting him a glare over her shoulder that was half-hearted at best.

“John.”

He smiled innocently at her, slipping his hand out of where he’d managed to sneak it into the back pocket of her jeans. 

“That’s it -- you’re too distracting. Get out,” she ordered, gesturing to the open hangar door with the wrench in her hands. John raised his palms up in defense but the amusement glittering in his eyes betrayed any sense of innocence he was trying to convey.

“I’m only trying to help, darling. It’s not healthy to be cooped up out here in this heat for hours on end.”

Casey rolled her eyes and lowered the wrench. “I haven’t been out here for that long.”

John showed her his watch and her eyes widened.

“...oh.”

He smiled at her, fondness spreading through his chest and sticking to his heart like honey — warm and sweet and thick — as he watched her grab a rag from his work bench and wipe at the sweat on her skin.

“I should go, I didn’t realize I’d been here that long-”

“You should stay for dinner.”

She paused and looked up at him. Arched a brow. She glanced down at her greasy hands and oil stained shirt before casting him a hesitant look, “I’m disgusting.”

“I have a shower. It works pretty well from what I remember.”

“Shut up,” she teased, tossing the rag at his head. He caught the rag out of the air and a laugh bubbled past her lips at the suggestive look he gave her. Casey worried her lip between her teeth and cast another longing glance at her motorcycle. She clasped her hands together as she turned back to him.

“Ten more minutes?” She pleaded. Before he could protest she quickly added, “And then I’ll come in for dinner. I promise.”

John sighed, his fingers drumming impatiently against her back. Finally he leaned forward to press his lips to the shell of her ear. His voice was low, tinged with warning as he spoke against her skin.

“Ten minutes. One second longer, and I’m coming back for you.”

Casey grinned, turning so her nose bumped gently against his. “Yes, sir.”

She pressed a kiss to his lips then that had him seriously considering making her come back with him to the house immediately, her bike be damned. It really shouldn’t have been such a surprise when he came back exactly ten minutes and thirty seconds later, all but throwing her over his shoulder as he carried her back to the house -- her protests falling on deaf ears.

[monstersandmaw]

Fluffy birthday minotaur!! (male mino x female reader (sfw))

Edit which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

So, and I really hope this is ok, I happen to know it’s @aelia-likes-monsters‘s birthday today. She’s a great support in the exophilia community, and a fabulously talented writer herself, and always has a kind word and lots of encouragement for writers and creators like me, and I just wanted to write a teeny extra-fluffy lil piece to say thank you, and wish you a happy birthday. You’re a star, and you deserve all the floffy, nerdy minos.

***********

It wasn’t that you’d hidden it, per se, but you just had… neglected to tell anyone that it was your birthday. And now it sort of felt a bit too late to be like ‘oh yeah, well, today’s the day! Surprise!’, so you just went through your day as usual. Your work colleagues carried on oblivious, and it wasn’t until lunchtime that anyone seemed to remember at all.

Your phone rang, vibrating round in an insistent little circle before you caught it and smiled. It was one of your oldest friends, and as you answered, she immediately began to sing a horribly out of tune rendition of ‘happy birthday’.

You held it away from your ear, wincing as she insisted on singing the whole thing to you. It was honestly worse than a rakshasa cub being unwillingly given a bath. At the sight of your face screwed up in horror, your coworker, Ben, looked up and cocked his head to one side, one of his big, fluffy, blond ears twitching curiously. The minotaur blew his long red-blond fringe out of his big dark eyes and hissed in a stage whisper, “Everything alright?”

You nodded, and he strained a little and he obviously caught the words (and definitely not the tune) of what was being howled at you down the phone, because his brows went up and his eyes widened and he half bellowed, “It’s your birthday?!”

He clapped his hands over his muzzle as you rolled your eyes, but luckily it was just the two of you and an intern in the office at lunchtime.

Your best friend finished with the pride of an opera singer, and you laughed. “Thanks, sweetheart,” you chuckled. “I feel special.”

“You are special! And not in the way you think I mean,” she added. “Seriously. You’re giving and sweet and understanding, and you’ve not had the greatest time of things lately, I know. Listen, if I weren’t so bloody far away from you right now, I’d be there in a heartbeat to take you out for dinner somewhere tonight, you know that, right?”

“I do,” you smiled. “You’re a treasure. I’ll be fine though. I’ll have a nice quiet night in, maybe make some tasty homemade pizza or something, and do some needlework, and yeah. It’ll be nice.”

“That sounds just like your every other night though,” she huffed.

“Not every other night,” you countered somewhat hotly. “I do have a social life you know!”

“I know! I’m sorry - that wasn’t how I meant it,” she laughed. “Look, I’ve got to dash, but I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday, you absolute goddess!”

“Thanks. You’re the best.”

When you had hung up, you found that Ben was still staring at you.

“What?” you demanded curiously.

He tilted his head and blew softly from his large nostrils. “I didn’t know it was your birthday,” he said in a quiet voice. “You never said…”

“I don’t tend to advertise it much,” you shrugged.

“If I’d have known, I’d at least have brought you cupcakes or something…” he grinned.

You couldn’t help the smile that plastered itself across your face. “You bake?”

“Heavens no!” the fluffy minotaur snorted. “My ma banned me from the kitchen altogether after I once tried to bake my lil sis a carrot cake for her birthday. Got cake mix in my coat and it took so much washing out that I used up all the hot water. Plus I got egg on the ceiling somehow.”

He was so easy going and sweet. And huge. Like, huge. As in, seven foot tall and deliciously broad at the shoulders, and he had the sexy accent to match his Highland appearance too, which definitely didn’t help your growing crush on him. Ben hadn’t been at the company all that long, but he was good at his job, quietly confident, and apparently endlessly patient.

“Well, I appreciate the gesture, but I’m glad not to have risked egg on your apartment ceiling,” you said.

He grinned, and the two of you chatted for a bit longer over lunch before returning to work.

You were pretty wiped out when you got home, and frankly you were glad that you weren’t heading out with your best friend that night, and could just curl up on the sofa. Maybe at the weekend you would treat yourself to something.

You’d just settled down on the couch, wearing your scruffiest, baggiest, and most comfortable clothes, with your favourite drink, the lights low and soft, and a blanket at the ready under which to curl up, when the doorbell went. A scowl pinched your brows as you set your glass down with a heavy sigh, flung the blanket back, and padded barefoot to the door. Peering out, you got a glimpse of a mass of blond hair.

“Ben?” you asked, opening the door and craning your neck up to look at him.

The big, blond minotaur was standing on the garden path looking more sheepish than bullish, despite the long horns and the colossal hooves. He was wearing casual, dark trousers which he’d cuffed up a little at the hock, his adorable tail swished nervously back and forth behind him like a cat’s toy, and he wore a t-shirt with the words ‘what doesn’t kill you gives you XP’ emblazoned across the chest.

“Hi,” he croaked, clearing his throat. “So… I… I may have… um… I hope you don’t mind me coming round like this…?”

“Of course not,” you said. He’d dropped you off after work one day when your car had been in for service last month, so you weren’t surprised that he knew where you lived, just surprised to find him standing on your doorstep in an utterly adorkable t-shirt. You eyed it and said, “I didn’t know you were a gamer.”

“Tabletop, mostly,” he grinned. “I’m a huge nerd. Listen, before I bottle it and fuck up this up or have to roll some kind of charisma check… I brought you flowers…” he said, brandishing a bunch of really beautiful spring flowers from behind his broad back. “Happy birthday.”

“Ben, you’re the sweetest,” you said. “I’m sorry I’m dressed like such a slob, but do you want to come in?”

“I don’t want to intrude,” he began, but you shook your head. “But… sure? Just for a bit? You’ve probably got plans or something.”

“No,” you said. “Unless you count devouring the latest Critical Role episodes along with a pizza…”

Ben froze with one foot in the hallway and one on the front step. “No way,” he breathed.

You grinned. “What, the pizza or the show?”

“Both? But mostly the show…”

“I can’t believe this has never come up before…” you giggled, stepping aside as he brushed his hooves off on your mat and followed you indoors, careful not to knock his horns on the walls or the ceiling lamp. “Drink? Beer?” you asked him.

“Yes please, that would be great. Thank you. I’m babbling again. I’m sorry. I do this when I’m nervous. Please shut me up. Immediately.”

You had to laugh. “You know…” you said as you paused in the doorway to the kitchen and turned to look over your shoulder at him. He was standing there with his fingers knotted in front of him, his ears flicking nervously, gazing around shyly. “You’re not quite what I expected from a minotaur.”

“Oh?” he asked, his fluffy pulling back against his head and his big eyes going even wider. He shuffled his hooves. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Good. Definitely good,” you said, and he went slack with relief.

In fact he ended up staying well into the night, and you shared the pizza you’d originally made for yourself, plus a bunch of other snacks and drinks, while watching any number of nerdy shows together. It was pretty much perfect, and when you said so as he stood and stretched, apologising for staying so long, he glanced down at you and smiled sweetly. “I’m glad,” he said. “And I had fun.”

You stood and walked him to the door, and as he stepped out into the night, you caught his thick wrist in your hand and tugged him to a sudden halt. “Wait,” you whispered.

His ears pricked forwards and he went very still for a few heartbeats before turning to face you, eyes gleaming in the dim light from the hallway behind you.

It was a stretch, but you reached your hands up to his cheeks and drew him gently down, planting a kiss on the very end of his nose. “I think that was possibly the best birthday ever.”

Ben snorted bashfully and then brought his big, rough palm to your cheek and nuzzled you gently. He couldn’t kiss you in quite the way a human could, but the gesture was impossibly sweet. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said shyly, but before he drew back, he let the tip of his tongue rasp over the corner of your mouth in a gesture that could only have been a kiss.

You nodded and watched him go, a fluttering in your chest and a smile on your lips.

___________________________

Hope you have a great day, you wonderful person. And thanks for being a real star lately for me. 

___________________________

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[feywildatheart]

Oh Darna. I wish you were here, too. I wish I could have that hug. I don't know about legend, but-- Well. I won't argue with you about that. I may have your stubbornness, but you've had more years to hone it, and I can recognize arguments I won't win.

I don't feel like a legend. Shouldn't legends feel like they have the faintest idea of what they're doing? When does that start?

I am sorry to make you worry. I hated writing you about the balhannoth, because I knew how it would make you both fear for me. I'm trying to be better, and smarter, I am, I just don't know... how.

You will, I think, be glad to know that we've begun the process of increasing our supplies. We've left Haewood and come to the port city of Arstead, which is quite sizeable. We stopped in at a shop for spell components for Elyn, so she'll be able to cast Teleportation Circle, which she's recently learned, and while we were there I bought a potion of climbing, to have should the occasion arise that I find myself in need of climbing swiftly and well, since Elyn and Cloudleaper are both far better at it than I am, and we went to the Pack and Tack where Elyn perused their armor, but ultimately didn't find anything she liked enough to buy, and I bought a set of lockpicks. We spent a few days making our way into and then up through the sorceress's tower when we were down in the ruins, just before returning to Haewood, and within the tower we found a few doors barred to us by locks and with no means at all of circumventing them, so I-- Well, I'm sure you both recall those adventuring novels I took a fancy to after the first time you took me to Cadiz Beta, and wheedled with you until you bought me my LICD and the rest of the series so I wouldn't be left in suspense when we returned home. They were always picking locks in those books, and goodness knows I read and reread them enough to have them practically memorized. And I'm decently good with my hands, a bit steadier in a pinch than either Elyn or Cloudleaper at any rate, and so I thought, well, what was there to lose? And I borrowed a screwdriver from Elyn and, with her tools and her encouragement and those novels buoying me up, I made a go at seeing if I could work the lock open.

And, nenîth, you won't believe it but it worked! There were a few locked doors in the tower, all told, and I was able to get each of them open in turn. It must be because the locks were so very old, I'm sure, they must be simpler technology, less secure. In any case, though, I didn't suppose that using the wrong tool for the job was going to make me any better at it, so I bought the lockpicks while we were at the Pack and Tack, and got a recommendation from them about where I might find a bookstore likely to carry an instruction manual that I can learn from, and with a bit of luck and a great deal of practice, perhaps the next time we encounter a locked door -- ancient or otherwise -- I'll be able to make sure it doesn't stand in our way.

I'm going to try, anyway.

There was a compendium of monsters and beasts at the bookstore, too, that I set my eye on, and when I opened it up to see if it had anything about a balhannoth written there (no one we've spoken to, really, seems to have much more than a vague notion of what it actually is, and I envy them that, but it seemed like a decent litmus test to identify just how thorough and useful the compendium might be), Cloudleaper leaned over quicker than I could snatch the book away and wrote in it, just wrote right in it, something about balhannoths being a nightmare to fight, as though that's news to any of us at this point. I protested, and the store clerks were highly disapproving, and Cloudleaper declared she was going to buy it for me, to make it up to us both I think, so I let her.

After the bookstore, we headed across town to find a tanner whose name Elyn had been given, to see if they could make something of the dragon hide that we found in the balhannoth's lair, and Cloudleaper started wailing in the middle of the street, because -- honestly, I'm still not exactly sure what happened. Elyn and I managed to convince her to collapse onto Squirt's back, rather than there in the middle of the street, so we could get her to a park and try to figure out what was wrong, which seems to be that her friend Stormflight, from the monastery, wrote her and something about the letter made her realize that she's in love with him, which she seems to think is something utterly terrible.

I really don't understand her at all.

There didn't seem to be anything that we could do to try to console her, so Elyn distracted her by taking her off to find trousers and boots to replace the ones that have been a mess ever since we fought the balhannoth, and while they did that I excused myself to go find a decent tech shop.

It occurred to me at some point during the few days we spent in Haewood, after leaving the ruins, when we were all rejoicing in having LICD connection again, that we could almost certainly afford an upgrade there, too, and I thought-- well, Cloudleaper's always so upset when she doesn't have access to the internet and the stories she likes to read, and I thought I could buy her one, as a sort of a gesture, and an attempt to repair some of what's broken between us. And then she was so upset by Stormflight's letter, it seemed the right time to go and get it, and try to make her happy.

It wasn't terribly hard to find a decent tech shop, and the clerk there was very helpful, and in short order I left with three IICDs, one for each of us, and with special access on Cloudleaper's to science databases, and on Elyn's to ones for music and history, and on mine to a beastiary, to hopefully keep us better informed about the things we might be finding ourselves facing.

Elyn and Cloudleaper weren't at the shop where I'd left them when I came back, but I managed to find them, wandering about in search of a tech shop themselves, it turned out. I gave Cloudleaper her IICD, and-- oh, Darna, she's so effusive! I don't think I'm particularly reserved when it comes to affection, but Cloudleaper's is always so overwhelming! Maybe it's only because she's twice my size that I'm so easily overwhelmed.

In any case, she sobbed, which was very concerning and the opposite of what I'd hoped to accomplish, and then she snatched me up in her arms and squeezed all the breath out of me, and when she finally set me down I gave Elyn hers, who looked very startled by it -- as though I'd have bought such a thing for Cloudleaper but left her empty-handed!

Once Cloudleaper had recovered, they mentioned their search for a tech shop, and I was going to show them to mine until Cloudleaper got that look in her eye that she sometimes gets and started being all insistent about how I hadn't paid more than fifty gold for it, had I? And, well, I was perfectly capable of affording what they cost, and I don't in any way feel that the price was unfair, but it was definitely more than fifty gold, and I just had a vision of Cloudleaper storming into the shop and terrorizing that poor clerk who had been so helpful to me, so I changed my mind about that right quick, and then Elyn reminded us about our plans to find the tanner Balla, so we headed off in that direction.

Balla was very kind and helpful, though his eyes about popped out of his head when I pulled the dragon hide out of our bag. He seems to know what he's about, though, and said that he could make a set of armor from it, and that the properties of the hide would likely give its wearer some extra protections against dragons. Elyn and I have both been feeling a need for a little bit more protection than we have, especially after that balhannoth, so it was a little disappointing to learn that there was only enough material for him to fashion one set of armor, but Elyn and I are close enough in size, at least, so we commissioned him to tan the hide and make a set of studded armor from it, in dimension that would fit either of us, and I suppose once it's finished Elyn and I can argue over who it belongs to. I'm inclined to insist that she takes it, since I have my cloak to help protect me and also it's really imperative to all of us that she stays on her feet, since she's the one with the healing magic. I think she's as inclined to shove it at me, though, she's always saying that it's important that I stay on my feet, because I have the wand of healing and can get her back on hers if need be. So, we'll have to see how that goes once it's finished, and perhaps in the meantime as we continue our shopping, she or I will find some other set of armor that we fall in love with, and the debate will be moot.

We decided to find a bank after that, so we could unload some of the considerable amount of loose coins in the bag of holding and put them into our account, but as we were walking Elyn heard music playing somewhere nearby, and so of course we had to make a detour to find its source. We met a pair of dwarven cousins who were busking, one playing the harp while the other sang, and after we'd watched for a while and Elyn struck up a conversation, they invited her to join them, and seemed to appreciate both her own harp and her gloves very much. They played a song from their home planet about the creation of the Ollamh Harp, and it was incredibly lovely.

Eventually Elyn said that we should leave before the bank closed for the day, though it was obvious she'd have stayed longer if she could, and neither Cloudleaper or I were rushing her away. But off we went, and took up some poor teller's time as we dug all nine thousand coins out, one handful at a time.

Cloudleaper and I got into a little bit of an argument then -- well, it wasn't heated, so I suppose it was more of a debate. But she started talking about how we should be investing our money, so that it earns interest and we can have more money, and ... I just can't fathom the purpose of that. We have so much already! What's the point of acquiring it for its own sake? She was talking about investing it in the sorts of places that wouldn't let us have access to it for years, and what if we need it? And when I protested she started demanding, what if I get hurt and I need it for my medical bills, what if I die and it's needed for funeral costs. I pointed out that there are temples dedicated to healing those in need of it, and that our funds would be better used in service to keeping us alive than squirreled away in event of our death, but Cloudleaper didn't much seem to hear me about any of that, and she was just getting more agitated and the conversation was just going in circles, so I said that she could do whatever she liked with her portion of the money, and left it at that.

I don't know, I don't think your or Cylla will agree with me, considering what you said in your letter about managing our money. It's not that I'm opposed to the idea entirely, but I need a better reason for it. Elyn mentioned saving up for a college fund for the kids, and that's a reason I can get behind, but I don't care about acquiring money just for the sake of having it. And we're already doing that, aren't we? If the balance in our party funds is anything to judge by, we're already acquiring money faster than we can spend it.

Anyway. Elyn cut through the argument by suggesting that we all go get dinner and talk about Stormflight's letter, if Cloudleaper felt like talking about it, and to my considerable surprise she did. So off we went, and what followed was a very bewildering conversation, in which Cloudleaper said with one breath that she loves him, and with the next that she'll never say so because she doesn't deserve to be happy, which is such bullshit. Even I, who has spent much of our time together unhappy with her and thinking she disliked me, wouldn't have ever said that she didn't deserve to be happy. We tried to gently encourage her to see that, Elyn and I, and I asked if that was why she'd cried when I'd given her the IICD, because I'd gotten it for her specifically to try to make her happy, and I told her she could give it back if she didn't want it (I didn't really think she'd take me up on that, not considering how delighted she'd been by it when I gave it to her), and she snatched me up again and squeezed me again and started going on about how I was hers now and she would fight to the death for me (I pointed out, with what breath I could manage, that she's already done that, she's killed lots of things for me and Elyn both).

I still don't know what to make of her. I think I've given up on ever knowing what to make of her. She talked in such a matter-of-fact manner about not deserving to be happy, like it was a simple and undisputed fact, like the speed of light or the force of gravity. And then she started talking about leaving like the one thing followed from the other, and only Elyn pointing out that the two of us will definitely die without her stopped that particular line of conversation.

In any case, at least now we all have our IICDs, and magical necromancer towers notwithstanding, should find ourselves much less likely to be out of signal range and out of contact than we so far have, which I hope will be a relief to you both. And we've made a start to better equipping ourselves, at least, and once we decide on where to go next we will hopefully be able to make some further progress on that. I wrote to Marsa, asking if she knew of where might be a good place to go to find magical supplies, and she suggested a few options that we've yet to decide between. She mentioned Sumula Station as one, and I think Elyn and I would both be glad for an excuse to go catch up with Biza, but there are a few others she listed as well, and we're thinking we might reach out to the adventuring guild for guidance on where to start. We've certainly the funds to take teleportation circles from one to the next if we felt the need to shop widely, though.

I'll write you both once I know where we're heading, or if anything exciting happens in the meantime -- though I certainly hope it doesn't, I think we've all three had our fill of excitement for at least a little while. I'd like to at least get our shopping done and the lot of us a little better equipped, before the next excitement finds us.

I love you both, more than my letters can ever convey.

Maliah