#sooooo sorry for literally vanishing

[jwisun]

dreamies get sick and need your help

gn!reader x nct dream (sfw!)

(ps... sorry for disappearing, i'm here to save you now!!!!)

mark

renjun

jeno

haechan

jaemin

chenle

jisung

[anonymous-dentist]

1, 8, 32, 40!! (i need new songs help)

1. favorite theory

My actual favorite theory is that Roier has something to do with the Federation. Personally, I like the idea of a relative of his, aka Abueloier, being a Federation employee, bringing Roier to work with him when Roier was a kid, and the rest of the Federation deciding, yes, this is their Silly Little Guy, every evil corporation needs one!

8. thoughts on the code entity and or any third party entity/group that isn’t the federation

I think that el Hombre Misterioso (aka that weird hooded figure that followed Cellbit around three weeks ago) is part of the 'Something Worse' that the Eggs ran away from. Because he's got admin powers, he can teleport and go invisible and everything, and he seems to be on creative. Yeah, maybe he's just Roier doing his enigma or whatever, but that would mean that qRoier himself also has these admin powers and that's a whole other can of worms I don't want to get into. But like. He shows up the day the eggs disappear, and then he vanishes and everybody forgets about him. Coincidentally, a few days later the weird new Dark Cucurucho shows up with the same color palette and the same voice mod and, like. Idk man, something's going on with him

32. name a song that reminds you of a character or pairing/group

Okay but. Sorry if this is too obvious, but Touch-Touch Telephone is sooooo Cellbit and also! It's Tubbo! Cassandra figures! Conspiracy theoriests!

40. name a song from the language you speak or one of the languages you speak

Just any song? BECAUSE!!!! ROCKY TOP!!!

Literally nothing compares to real genuine country bluegrass and maybe this is the best song ever made. Has anybody considered that.

Anyway I think it's super cool to show off American music to an international community because the US is just as stereotyped as anywhere else. Maybe it's bc I was raised in the South and the South is where you go for good music, but the real heart of America lies in its music. So. Rocky Top! :D

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

Not so much a question as it is a request, but if you don’t mind, could you take us through how you write action scenes? :) love your work!

First of all, I am sooooo sorry, this has been sitting in my inbox for literal AGES :'''') Partly because of spoons, partly because I would routinely forget for long stretches of time, but mostly because I wasn't really sure how to format a helpful response '^^ Hopefully you're still in a place on your creative writing journey where this might be helpful, ehehehe

I ended up just jotting down a list of tips that I've internalized over time to help my action scenes flow, and added some examples from my own writing. These aren't hard and fast rules that I always follow, but I definitely try to stick to them a majority of the time.

(Also, thank you so much, I'm so happy you enjoy my fics!!! <3)

Know the end goal.

This seems obvious, but I mean specific end goal. Now, if you're a pantser who tends to figure this shit out as they write the scene, then you do you, boo <3 But for me, if I don't know exactly where I want my characters to be at the end of the fight, I get stuck.

Instead of just, "Soren and Rayla fight initially before realizing they're ultimately on the same side," I need "Soren steals the safe back and knocks Rayla into the stream." Instead of just, "Roy breaks free from the soldiers and gets Briggs' attention somehow" I need "Roy breaks free and makes the transport explode." Otherwise, I'm just gonna end up with Soren and Rayla looking at each other awkwardly or Roy sitting by himself in the snow, and a blinking cursor.

Have the setting well planned out.

I mean this in two ways: first, have it planned out in your head and then use it when plotting out how the action goes down. Then when actually writing, introduce the setting before the action starts, so that you're not bogged down in those details and can keep the pace up.

For example, when Callum and Rayla have a showdown with Claudia in the second chapter of and finding answers (is forgetting all of the questions we called home), before Claudia shows up the scene opens with Callum and Rayla chatting together by themselves. I sprinkled in setting details during their conversation so that by the time Claudia shows up and shit hits the fan, the readers already know that Callum and Rayla are cornered at the top of a tall hill with a steep cliff at their backs.

Use short sentences, or short clauses

I've seen it recommended that sentences in action scenes should be short and snappy, to keep the action moving and the tension up. (Though it's a good idea to include a few medium and long ones so it doesn't seem too stilted.) When I'm reading, this has the desired effect on me! However, when I'm writing, I must admit to tending toward the purple-prosy side of things and writing longggg sentences '^^ A method I've found that works for me is keeping clauses shorter even if my sentences stay long. Commas and to some extent conjunctions make my eyes pause just as much as a period does. Here's an example of what I mean from and when you can't rise (i'll crawl with you on hands and knees), with shorter clauses in red and long ones in green:

The other soldiers all gag at their next inhale, eyes flying wide, dropping their weapons in panicked instinct. Riza elbows the one on her right in the throat and grabs his gun as he doubles over in his seat, shooting first the locks on Hausner’s door and the door to her right before turning the weapon on its owner and his comrade. At that point Roy has reached past Hausner, opens the door and tackles the man out of the vehicle. He comes into a crouch, securing the colonel in a headlock, and exhales the breath he’d been holding before taking in the clean northern air. Relief floods him as his captain slides out the rear passenger door, new pistol at the ready, but it vanishes just as quickly when he reaches one-handed for his ignition gloves and they’re not there.

Most of the first half of the paragraph is red, where most of the action happens. I do have a longer clause in there for some variety. By the end of the paragraph, there's more green, but at this point there's a pause in the action as the bad guys have been momentarily dealt with, so the longer clauses can reflect the characters "taking a breath" so to speak.

Strong verbs vs. adverbs

I'm not one of those people who thinks you should never use adverbs, but if you're trying to cut down on sentence/clause length, for me adverbs are the easiest to ditch. Then, if you swap out more generic verbs for really strong, descriptive ones, it paints a more raw and vivid picture. In long live all the mountains we moved (i had the time of my life fighting dragons with you), I especially used this trick, as I was trying hard for an emotionally-charged, desperate vibe:

With a word and a gesture, a gale knocks over flattens a line of corrupted creatures from the outcrop to the edge of the plateau. A rune pops slashes into existence and a cyclone passes rips through the ranks of zombies, leaving a no-man’s land behind. Hailstones the size of eyeballs fall rain down on the humans and elves foolish or desperate enough to fight for the disgraced Startouch elf. In the distance, a black tail slashes across the sky, and with a blistering scream Domina Profundis falls plummets, angling toward the coast. The other dragons retreat, wary, and the corrupted star serpent flies twists towards the rocky outcrop . . . the serpent moves corkscrews through the sky, outpacing the surprised dragons behind. It snarls, mouth bristling with needle teeth the size of spears, smoky tendrils trailing in tainting the atmosphere in its wake.

Engage all the senses...

Stay out of the character's heads (during the heavy action).

Time passes quickly in a fight, too quickly for characters to do much thinking or registering everything that's happening. Plus, interjecting a character's train of thought tends to slow down an otherwise fast-paced paragraph, which can be a bit jarring. I like to save that until after the fight, or during a pause in the action. For example, from we took the step, oh we took the leap (and we'll take what comes):

Coming around the bend of the tunnel, the creatures behind them thundered into view . . . She leapt to meet the beasts head on, but to her dismay, her swords—easily capable of slicing through metal, stone, and bone—deflected off their hides. Duse sithspawned creatures. After taking a nasty swipe to her shoulder that sheared straight through her armor, drawing blood, Rayla backed away. “I can’t stop them,” she called back to her companions. “My beskade bounce right off their armour!” She pulled a pistol from a holster at her back and fired off several shots in quick succession, but the advancing beasts didn’t even flinch. “Haar’chak. Blaster’s no good, either.” Rayla’s thoughts raced as she tried to come up with a plan. She couldn’t win here, probably—but she could maybe hold the tuk’ata off long enough for the boys to escape—but she didn’t know if she could occupy them both at once for the boys to sneak past—

Here, while Rayla does call out a few observations that her weapons don't work (which i mostly included since this is an AU rewrite of a canon scene, and it's based on actual dialogue), she doesn't stop to think about other options until she's taken a step back from fighting for a moment. While she's actually fighting the hounds, I focused on her actions, to keep the pace up.

I hope you find some of these tips helpful, and maybe even worth the wait, ehehe. Stay well, friend!!

[tbtgtr-incorrectquotes]

Naerys reborn as daughter of Daeron the good instead.

I think Daemon Blackfyre and Aegor Rivers would never know peace again.

Naerys: Are you two besmirching my grandma's reputation!? Prepare to die, bastards!

OKAY HI! I got your ask about this but it literally vanished after i had already typed up a response to it so I’m sooooo sorry about that.

But yes! Naerys, twin to Aerys and daughter of Daeron is absolutely chaotic. She’s born in a tense political climate where she’s unlikely to be married to her brother but more likely to be murdered as plot demands.

Daemon is never going to know a real moment of rest since Naerys is 100% monopolising any opportunity to irritate him and if we believe daenerys/daemon is real then he’s never going to see her without Naerys glaring at him.

Naerys is low-key staring up at bittersteel with stars in her eyes because he’s just so cool but also glaring.

Naerys & Naerys get along great though.

[rachi-roo]

Ong you had Asthma that badly??? That's scary af are u OK now?

~🪀

Hey, Yoyo! Don't you worry, I'm fine now, thanks for asking 🥰❤️. It was many years ago that I experienced a similar attack. I haven't had an attack in a long time now since most people grow out of their asthma. It still plays up sometimes, and I need a puff, but nothing that's had me hospitalised like the big one did.

I was 17-18, and in college, doing a costal hike with my class. It was cold and damp, and we were all carrying HUGE bags with tents and everything. I was sweating like crazy despite the cold. We stopped at a small tourist toilet spot to have a drink and whatnot, I went to the bathroom, and that's when the attack started. It was a cough, then, I couldn't get a breath, as usual, after literally seconds, I couldn't see to unlock the door.

Luckily, my friend heard me banging on the stall door from inside. She crawled under and unlocked it. By the time the teacher arrived, I had thrown up and was unconscious. I don't remember much, but I remember being cold and feeling gravity suddenly vanishing.

My teacher resuscitated me and I remember feeling like I had been asleep for days, even though it was literally seconds. They told me when I woke up that I was seeing things, talking absolute rubbish about sand or something?? Unfortunately, I also wet myself. Come on, as if an asthma attack wasn't embarrassing enough XD

The attack itself only lasted about a minute. Less severe ones can last longer, since you won't pass out.

Sooooo, yeah, not fun XD I passed my exam though! I think they just felt sorry for me! Lesson here kids! ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR INHALER!!!!

[temmtamm]

𖤓✧WHOLESOME COLLECTOR SCENARIO ✧𖤓

(Asks are open and appreciated)

Tw//graphic injury talk, a bit of angst, as well as obsessive behaviours

A groan escaped the slightly parted lips of a certain witch as they made their way towards a familiar door.

Blood leaked from the witchlings nose as they limped inside their own home. Yet another failed attempt to sneak into the castle, except this one ended up in some serious injuries.

The witch strained their elbow to try and move it, but ended up just biting back tears from the injury. They probably will have to talk to someone in the healing coven tomorrow.

"I'm sorry, Luz...i really tried to do it this time."

They voiced out to no one in particular as their (E/C) eyes shifted to a picture on the stand near their couch. In the picture was three people. Luz, them, and a third person with their face torn out of the image.

Their legs burned and ached as if they ran a marathon and the standing around sure didn't help with the problem. They're feet dragged as they made their way to the couch and flopped on it. Their uninjured hand tore away from their forearm and searched in the cracks of the couch. Eventually they had found their scroll and was quick to enter penstagram on it. The usual photos were on their feed. Pictures of their friends hanging out, pictures of coven activities, even videos of parties they didn't get invited to. The more they scrolled, the heavier their eyelids became. Their eyes even began to water, though it wasn't die to the sleep in them but rather pity for their situation. They could've been out adventuring with Luz, Amity, and Eda but instead they were bruised up and lying on the couch, just cause they wanted to get some dumb information for Luz that she probably didn't need.

It was as if someone had tied dumbbells to their lashes. The more they tried to fight it, the more tired they got. It was yet another battle they had lost that night, which ended in them falling asleep.

.....

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱

𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘱

𝘋𝘳𝘪-

"Ah, shit-" Back here again. Just as (Y/N) feared. They definitely didn't want their...dream buddy seeing them down in the dumps like this. At least not today.

See, ever since almost a year ago, the witch had stopped having normal dreams and instead, every dream they had took place in a dark black room that was similar to a closet. Sometimes the room would change. Sometimes it would be long like a hallway, sometimes they could change their surroundings. A thing that had never changed though was the black goop that leaked down from the walls and flooded the floor plus the lack of doors.

Oh, yeah. And another thing that was sometimes there? A talking shadow.

The witch hissed in pain, getting torn away from their thoughts as some of the black goop dripped down into their injured arm. This seemed to have alerted said shadow of their arrival since almost immediately after they whined in pain, they're shadow had begun to morph and take the familiar shape of a moon-looking fellow.

"BESTIE!! You're back!! Jeez, it's been sooooo long-" The witch turned to glare down at the shadow and sneer. "Not now, collector. I'm not in the mood to play today." The shadow stretched and moved until they had reached up to the walls. "What d-" They paused, their usually big and quite literally bright smile vanishing as they saw the blood drip down their witch friends nose.

"...Who hurt you?" Their tone was low, not holding their usually jovial tone it held. This is why (Y/N) didn't want to see them...they know he'll get mad and probably end up hurting someone. (Y/N) sucked in a groan of frustration that threatened to come out. Failing at their mission was bad enough, and his anger was just adding insult to injury.

The witch turned their head to the side. "Let's just...not talk about it..okay?" They crowned out, their voice straining with each word.

....

Silence filled the room as the shadow just stared at the witch before them. Well, that was until they raised their hand, manipulating some of the black sludge to drop on the busted nose and arm. They consider that one of the pros of talking in dreams. They have slightly more power.

"AGH!! YOU FUCKING CU-" (Y/N) shrieked in pain, moving to clutch on the burning parts of their body, but was surprised to feel the soft fabric texture of bandages instead of the rough texture of scabbing skin. The witch kinda stood, wide eyed and struggling to spit out any words.

While the witch was looking awe-struck, the shadowy figure beamed, a smile growing back on his face.

"Pretty neat, huh?? Looks like today's one of the dreams where we can have fun with it."

He means that the two could manipulate the world around them. Though, (Y/N) already knew that as they spent enough time with them to be able to understand his usual language.

(Y/N) was about to speak but was cut off by the collector piping up, all while shifting to go back to being the witches shadow.

"Yknow...we don't have to play any games today. Friends are able to have fun without that stuff, yknow?"

The witches eyes softened at their words as they nodded. They wanted to give an answer but their voice box just seemed to refuse to work. They closed their eyes and crouched down next to the shadow.

They could manipulate this dream, right? It would be nice to have a comforting place to just hang out with collector at.

As the thought began to brew in their mind, the wind around them changed to the slight breeze that came from the room to the wild winds of a forest.

When their eyes opened, their surroundings revealed a monochromatic meadow. The fields that surrounded them still held some black sludge to them, though it was toned down to the point where it didn't drown the flowers.

"Oh, wow!! You did that??" The star-themed shadow beamed, their eyes darting around the room.

"I...i guess I did..? I just wanted somewhere comfortable to be...i don't want to think a ton so this wind should stop me from doing so."

The witch shakily stood up and began hobbling down further towards the moon that shined down, making the shadows more prominent with its light. Lucky for that, as it made the collector able to follow quickly after the witch.

"Ooooh, you gonna do a musical number out here? Like in the movies??"

A tired chuckle escaped the elf-eared fellow that the god had followed.

"I don't know about any of that, but if you'd like, I could sing you a lullaby? Something tells me you didn't get sung those a lot as a child." The shadow visible jolted with excitement at the idea.

"Yes!! Please, please, pleeeaase!!" The god whined, letting their inner child out. Not like they ever tried to hide their childish side. A smile crept up on the witches lips. It was a tired one but a smile nonetheless. The collector gave themselves a mental fistpump at getting a small smile on their frankly depressed friends face.

"Alright, how does that tune go again?

Oh, right, right!!

𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥-

𝘚𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶." 

The crunching of the flowers and wheat beneath the witches feet provided some sort of rhythm. They knew far too well that the land will never stop and it will just repeat itself, yet they still searched for the perfect resting spot 

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯~"

Yeah, shocker. The lullaby isn't really a lullaby but rather a song that the witch had picked up from others. It seems though that the collector was enjoying it, as he was watching (Y/N) intently. They even tried to sing with them, despite not knowing the lyrics. 

"𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳. 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘢𝘶𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴��𝘰𝘬𝘦.

𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘯~" 

Sadly, the two couldn't find a spot so they settlee for crouching down into the flowers. 

"𝘖𝘰𝘰𝘩, 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴,  𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴. 

𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦.~"

(Y/N) turned their head to look down at their shadow, and to their surprise, the gods eyes we're closed and they appeared to be sleeping. They couldn't tell if the shadow was genuinely asleep or if they were faking it to make the witch feel better. Either way, it still made the tired grin on the witch tighten into a happy one. 

"I'll try again once I heal. For now though, I'm greatful to have a friend like you who can cheer me up." 

The witch leaked back, gazing up at the stars. Might as well enjoy the rest of this dream before they awaken. As they looked up, their hand moved to hover over the shadows. Sadly, that was the closest the two could get to hand-holding with them trapped. 

"And once I succeed. I'll free you, then we can be true friends." 

Their surroundings warped and melted, caving in on itself as the dream came to a close. 

... 

... 

... 

"Pssshh!! Wake up, (Y/N)!!" 

The witch jolted upwards, frantically looking around at the sound of Luz's voice though visibly deflated at seeing it was just their ringtone on their scroll. They reached out their bad arm to turn the alarm off and- wait....is that bandage/sling Collector put on it still there? But...this wasn't a dream?? 

A weak sigh escaped the witch. 

"Best not to question it. For now though, I should go check in on the others." 

Up they go! And they're out the doors not even bothering to change their clothes or take in their surroundings. 

They did at the very least, pick up a coat from the previous framed picture. 

Though, now the torn face was replaced with a lazily drawn face of the collector that looked as if a five year old had made it. 

How strange.. 

Thanks for reading!!♥︎

[irlnikeiyomiuri]

and i know i yell a lot about this class and im sorry but like.

its a 12 week class. we’ve had less than 75% of the class sessions we were supposed to have because the teacher cancels class literally.. maybe two hours before class. we were supposed to have a exam week 3, 6, and 9, and then our final exam. our first exam was conducted... week 9? and so he threw the two other exams in during finals week. they aren’t mandatory exams we have to take, he has the power to remove them from the curriculum.

it was brought to his attention around week 8 that everyone was confused and falling behind because the textbook doesnt match up with the homework doesnt match up with the quizzes and he doesnt talk to us during class, he just tells us to get started on the labs (which we never know where to be at with the labs because he kept canceling class) and he proceeded to... not do anything week 9, cancel class an hour before it started week 10, and week 11 he announced we were having all these fucking exams.

no one knows what the hell to do. its impossible to learn this material, and we aren’t being given any of the supplementary education we should’ve been getting, and when we brought this to his attention, he didn’t... change anything. he vanishes without saying a word for weeks, doesn’t respond to messages on his preferred way of contact and. proceeds to test us on shit we told him we have no way of learning.

its sooooo... stressful

[mammothhammoth]

| Satoru Gojo x Badass GN Reader Headcanons

[angst, fluff, NSFW, swearing below]

I got carried away with this and it’s kind of an absolute mess

It’s funny cause at first you couldn’t stand him, you thought he was too egotistical………. and a loser

I mean the dude is HIS OWN hype man, even if you have 112% self confidence, if you’re the only one cheering you on then, you a loser (it’s okay dough)

He started seeing you around a lot after he graduated

It was like really weird tho, he saw you A LOT for like 4 months straight and then you straight up vanished

And then one day he saw you talking to the now principal Yaga Masamichi

Like uuuuhhhhhmmchildeanywayso

He questions him after but he isn’t getting an answer

So he takes it upon himself and attempts to track you down but that fails cause you’re one of those EXTRA cool characters that just doesn’t exist unless they’re on screen……..

Until one day…. One day when he gets sent on a mission a few towns away so he’s set up with a little motel for the night

But when he opens the door, you’re sitting on the table reading a book, drinking a cooler

He almost has a damn stroke

He stands there for a sec in utter shock before lowkey questioning you a bit

Well he starts off with “Nice to finally speak to you”

………..

Nothing

“Oh so you’re the silent type.”

Little does he know, you’re cool, stealthy, sneaky but also….. really fucking dense so it takes you like 10 minutes to realize he’s even there

But by the time you do he’s immersed in a one sided conversation so you just stare at him until he locks eyes (blindfold) with you and he just

Malfunctions

Why is your gaze so intense

It’s not supposed to be you’re just staring like a deer in headlights not knowing where to lead this conversation

You lowkey scare him but in a good way

You don’t know how it happens like AT ALL cause as far as you’re aware only like 3 words were spoken the rest of the night but when you woke up you were naked next to a naked Gojo

You throw on a robe you brought with you, not even bothering to tie it cause you’re just thAt cool

It’s not that you’re confident, no, you just don’t f#cking care, you used to care about your appearance and how others perceive you but after certain incidents the need to please just… faded away

When he woke you were drinking a tea (with too much sugar probably) sitting against the headboard

You guys skirted around each other after that, not that you wanted to, Gojo just didn’t know how to approach you and you don’t understand feelings sooooo

But conveniently you happened to move closer (before you were in Italy because [redacted]🙂)

And you guys kept getting paired together

After Itadori Yuuji joined you were “hired” as a teacher to help (monitor) him

Things just kinda fell into place after that

Gojo started chasing you

He would bring you food, literally everywhere HE got something he also got YOU something and then would hunt you down to give it to you

You still haven’t actually talked to him but when you do it’s the first time you see his eyes

You just stared at him like the night in the motel before saying “I was hoping you were hiding a scar or something” and then walking away

GOJO.exe has stopped working

You start talking to him more after that

He would never tell you but every time he watches you fight he would almost pee his pants

He could outpower you but if he tried you would outsmart him, your wits and techniques are ASTRONOMICAL

Things don’t really become official until after Yuuji “dies” and you show up at his house for comfort

You guys spend the night in each other’s arms and when you wake up (with clothes on this time) you make breakfast together and he gets you to laugh

That’s when he realized he’s in love with you

When you find out Yuujis not dead you’re happy but when you find out Gojo knew he wasn’t the whole time you felt sad

You managed to chalk it up to all a timing thing. Gojo was conveniently paired with you on that mission, and was attracted to you that’s why you woke up naked together

You conveniently moved closer after that and he probably felt obligated to smooth things out with his one night stand

He just so happened to be training Yuuji so you thought he would need comfort over his “death” too

So you avoid him after that

He doesn’t like it

He tries extra hard to make it up to you, instead of buying you food this guy starts hand making stuff for you with little letters apologizing

He invited you to a festival and you reluctantly go

And you have an amazing time

At the end of the night he takes you to a secluded bridge with a beautiful stream underneath as you watch the fire works and kisses you with so much adoration you get weak in the knees

Literally

He had to catch you

You apologize for misunderstanding but he just shakes his head “you’re so dense”

Cue another silent treatment

“WAIT- I DIDN'T MEAN THAT YOU KNOW IT!”

You two become an ACTUAL power couple after that, like you two are the most powerful beings ever

He becomes your hype man too and since that classifies as someone else hyping you up, you are now cooler than him

Seeing you in action not scares him but lowkey gets him going, if there’s a tough mission and you end up breaking a few sweats with your badass skills you bet your ass you’re gonna be sweating A LOT more the rest of the night when you two get to your bedroom

He brags about you all the time too

“I have the coolest wife/husband/wusband”

You aren’t even engaged but he just KNOWS you’ll say yes when he proposes

When you find out he’s calling you a marital term you decided to swipe the rug out from underneath him and on one date night you take him to the bridge he kissed you, get down on one knee and ask him

“Will you marry me?”

There’s no elaborate speech, you can’t put how much you care about him into words

He stands there’s shocked for a second

…

…

…

You get impatient and stand before placing a ring on his finger and a ring on yours, kissing him and then leading him home

He doesn’t say anything and you think you did the wrong thing so when you’re taking your shoes off you start to apologize

“I’m sorry I did that, if you want to redo it we can or we can not do it all whatever you wa-“

He cuts you off with swiping you off your feet and kissing you so hard for so long you have to grab his hair and yank him away to breathe, which doesn’t last long cause after the first exhale he’s on you again

[NSFW content below if you are uncomfortable please don’t read and just skip ahead]

He takes you to bedroom, slowly peeling off your clothes on the way there

the last thing removed is his blindfold and when he does remove it you see watery eyes filled with absolute love and gratitude

He treats you like glass that night

Slow thrusts and gentle nibbling FILLED with praise, not even sexual praise he's just filled with so much emotion

“I love you so much”

“You make me so happy”

“You’re so amazing and beautiful”

He lets out the most amazing noises that night

His love for you wafting off of him in waves you can drown in

Your cool demeanor slipped away long ago and you became so vocal he’s shocked

“I love you too sweetie”

“You complete me baby”

“No one makes me feel the way you do”

“You take such good care of me- fill me up so good”

He’s so surprised his hips stutter a little but that little jolt hits that sweet spot inside you and you unravel beneath him

Seeing you like that instantly brings him to the edge

You guys catch your breath and then take a nice warm bubble bath after that

[End NSFW]

You hold each other close that night

Gojo never thought he’d have a happy ending like this, with his line of work and how crazy and dangerous everything is

You want to get everything off of your chest if you two are getting married so you start to apologize for how you are

“I’m sorry for coming off as cold most of the time I just don’t know how to-.... I just love you so much and -“

“It’s okay, I think you’re cool and love you with all of my heart and the kids think you’re cool and we all care about you”

“People always confuse cool with cruel”

He just hugs you close, he had his suspicions but he hoped they were never confirmed

He honestly didn’t understand at first how you can be insecure because of how badass and cool you are

But as he watched your interaction or- lack thereof with people he understood

You aren’t cool cause you want to be

People think your ~don’t give a f#ck~ attitude is admirable but they don’t know the reason behind it

That’s one of the things that drew him to you, he wanted to know you

And that’s what drew you to him

As he held you he cured you of your insecurities and doubts and told you his

He knows he can be distant sometimes when he’s busy or how cocky he can get

But you told him that’s how you like it, that’s how you like him

You guys spent most of the night talking and whispering sweet words to each other

The students knew something happened as you two were VERY late the next day, and you looked….. happy

You never stopped being a badass after that night and you weren’t planning on it but you did smile more

You and Gojo had a simple wedding, you’re too cool for the extravagant stuff

[kaeyapilled]

okay hehe im about to be really delulu.

this song is sooooo them in their breakup era. either during their actual academic divorce or in a nebulous situation where they dont ever solve their issues and drift away from each other. i think both fit in different parts of the song and i dont know which to choose lmao why choose one interpretation though. make it about both and neither go crazy go stupid. here are the lyrics!!

(acrilic on canvas - legião urbana)

it is yearning, then and once again of you i made the most perfect drawing ever made the strokes i copied from what did not happen, the colors i chose among the pigments i made up, i mixed with the promises that the two of us never made i worked on you in light and shadow

!! i know kaveh's thing is architecture and not painting but! i just think it fits thematically either way. besides you need to be a bit metaphoric about it. something something missing a person very much even though they hurt you and you hurt them and your memories of being together are bittersweet. building something (in a literal sense or not) with pieces you have kept of them and keeping it close to your heart. having mixed feelings about it, that product of both your love and your resentment towards them. yeah. okay rest of the song where you can feel everything i just talked about

i prepared my canvas with pieces of the bedsheets that we never got to dirty the frame i made with the wood from your bedroom window from the gates of your house, i made palette and easel and with the tears that didn't stay with you i distilled linseed oil and from your bed i ripped away pieces that i cut up in different sizes and i made, then, paintbrushes with your hair i made coal out of the lipstick i stole from you and with it, marked two vanishing points and sketched my horizon

this entire part makes me go insane i just really like it. oh the lyricism.... oh..... ah...... it's also the part that slaps the most in the song if you, hypothetical reader, end up listening to it (WHICH I RECOMMEND EVEN IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE I SWEAR ITS A VIBE ITS MY FAVORITE SONG) (okay let's proceed)

and it was always "i didn't mean it i swear i didn't mean it, i didn't want to hurt you i promise that it won't happen another time" and it was always, always the same again the same betrayal sometimes it's difficult to forget "i'm sorry, she doesn't live here anymore" but then why do i pretend that i believe what i make up none of it happened this way it wasn't like this nobody suffered and it's only you who causes this empty yearning trying to paint these flowers called heartseases and forget-me-nots

(translator's note i was very happy that forget-me-nots are called the same thing in both portuguese and english so the meaning isn't lost but heartseases are called "perfect love", which. adds to the meaning okay. so yeah. but heartseases also kinda hits and fits so its alright)

anyway DO YOU SEE MY VIEW? DO YOU GET IT!! ITS SOOOO THEM it's them in their angsty breakup arc. and i just love the imagery of the song which i think fits them too!! from kaveh's pov specifically because he's the artist of the relationship.. anyways i just spent like half an hour typing out this post im a little ill and diseased over it

im gonna post another fucking messy translation of a song by the same band i never shut up about and i will make it about kaveh and alhaitham and im gonna be so annoying about it.

[deanandthephantoms]

We're a Perfect Harmony PT.4 - Reader x Charlie

A/N: Sorry it took so long for this next chapter to be posted i really struggled with this one. Thanks for the advice and encouragement to keep me going @julie-thefatones and @happinessinthedarkesttimes you're both gems <3. - Hopefully you'll all enjoy this new part!

Summary: Charlie and Y/N meet again in real life after a year of face timing.. Will it be just like last year or will thing be different? How will Y/N deal with her feelings for Charlie? And what happens when Emma is suddenly around all the time? We’ll find out in this chapter..

Wordcount: About 5700

Other Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3

Playing pretend..

A year had passed and summer came around again. There however was one major difference with last year. Around this time last year I felt scared and anxious because I was about to go on this camp with all those people I didn't know. Now I felt super excited cause I was about to see all of my friends again after such a long time. Madi was the only one I had seen a few times cause she lived somewhat close to me. I had talked to the rest regularly and had of course seen Charlie almost every day over Face time. There however was this tiny voice in my head, a voice that was telling me things would be awkward. I was afraid things would be different, afraid they suddenly wouldn’t like me anymore and possibly the biggest fear; afraid that Charlie and I would not have as good of a time as we had last year, I for some reason was afraid our real life click had vanished. Even though I knew that would not be the case and I desperately tried telling myself that, I couldn’t help but feel nervous on my way over there. The fact that I had developed feelings for Charlie didn’t help either. I didn’t want to like him like that and I would do everything in my power to deny the fact that I did. I was so lost in my own anxious mind I didn’t even notice the fact that we had arrived on camp..

Once I got off the bus there was the same big crowd as there was last year. This time however my eyes instantly fell on the boy I was most excited to see. I felt my heart jump a little and butterflies emerged in my stomach at the sight of him. At the same time he seemed to have noticed my bus arrived. And as soon as our eyes locked he dropped everything he was holding and came running towards me. “ NUGGEEEEETTT!!” He picked me up from the ground and spun me around while giving me the tightest hug “ YOU���RE FINALLY HERE!!” i wrapped my arms around his neck and held on to him as tight as I could. Being in his arms made me feel like all my doubts and fears were never even there. I just felt calm , peaceful and happy. ”It's so good to finally see you again Charlieee” he then put me back down to look at me with the brightest smile “ what do you mean? you literally saw me last night, you dork.” he says playfully. “ yeah, I know. But you know Face time is nice and all but it doesn’t beat seeing someone in real life right?” “ oh I get it, I definitely missed doing this” he says while pulling me in for another tight hug. “ Me too” I mumble into his shoulder. We let go of each other and I start to gather my stuff from the bus, when Charlie sees me struggling with a big and heavy bag he comes over to me and laughs “Let me get that for you.” and without allowing me to even say anything he takes the bag from my hands. He then walks me and all my stuff to my bedroom and when I open the door I see Madison is already there. I see a grin appear on her face when she sees me and Charlie who’s still carrying all my stuff. “HIIIII Y/N and Charlie!” she greets us. “Maaaaads!” I say while pulling her in for a hug, trying my best to hide the girl’s stupid grin from Charlie. Not that he would think anything of it, but I wasn’t gonna risk it either. I then let go of her and finally take my stuff from Charlie’s hands. “Thank you” I just tell him with a smile. "No probem" He smiles at me before pulling mads in for a hug "Goood to seee you mads!" He then leaves us alone suddenly remembering he had literally dropped all his stuff for me.

“Sooooo remind me again how there’s nothing going on between you two?” Madison says the moment Charlie left the room. I let out a groan causing Madison to laugh. “I already told you. We’re just friends Mads, Charlie was just being nice.” “Just being nice? Really Y/N? Me and Charlie have been friends for years. He has never dropped everything for me or Sav or Jadah or basically anyone.” I wasn’t even gonna fight her on this.. I knew nothing would change this girl’s mind. So instead I just said “Look Mads, whatever it is that may or may not be going on, can we not talk about this when he’s around?” “Don’t worry. I won’t mention anything. Even if I wanted to I can’t. Emma is in our group this year so..” I know I told Emma I would like to get to know her better this year but I’m not sure how I felt about the fact that she was in our group now.. Super selfishly I may be a bit scared it would have it’s negative effects on the time I would get to spend with Charlie. I couldn’t think like that though, she was his girlfriend if there was anyone deserving of his time it was her. “Oh wow, I didn’t see that one coming. I bet Charlie is very excited about it, I know he tried to get her into this group last year but back then she didn’t want to..” there's a short silence “Charlie didn’t tell you?” Mads seemed genuinely surprised by this fact. “No.. I bet he just forgot about it or something..”

There was no time to think anything of it because Savannah and Jadah came bursting into the room, we all just screamed gathering in one big group hug in the middle of our room. Mads couldn’t help but tell Jadah and Savannah about how Charlie had carried my bags for me which made them once again tease me. But once I asked them to not do this when he was around they promised me they wouldn’t and I trusted them. We talked and giggled while unpacking our bags and then our last roommate came in.. “Hello Girls” She said. She sounded and looked somewhat shy and or uncomfortable I couldn’t tell for sure. But I did know she could use a hug. I got up and embraced her into a warm hug. “Hi Emma! I heard you’re in our group this year. That’s cool!” and I wasn’t just saying that to be nice.. The way she came into the room reminded me of how I had felt last year. I felt for her and wanted to make sure she actually felt welcome. My gesture seemed to have taken her by surprise “Hi Y/N, I eh I am yeah. Thank you.” She smiled at me. A genuine one. Who know maybe Emma and me could actually become friends after our rough start last year..

When I was done unpacking I decided to go out and see if Jeremy and Owen had arrived yet. Emma came with me so I took this chance of getting to know her a bit better. I learned that she had an older brother and that she had a great connection with her parents. She loved baking and wanted to work with small kids in the future. That was gonna be something we could bond over. That’s when is saw the boys. “JER , OWEN!” I yelled all excited before running up to them and pulling the both of them into a hug. “Y/N!” they both yelled back “You actually came back!” Owen added. That’s when Charlie threw himself into the conversation. “Of course she came back Owen. She just couldn’t miss us any longer.” He said clearly teasing. i shoot charlie a look and he just sticks his tongue out to me. “Glad to see you two getting along” He then said to me and Emma before throwing his arm around Emma and giving her a quick kiss. Oof.. I was gonna have to get used to this. I’m sure I would have to see a lot more of this now Emma was in our group. It’s not that it bothered me that much, I mean I expected to see them together. It was fine. But I couldn’t stop myself from hoping they would not be stuck together like that the entire week.

Just like last year we were placed into smaller groups and during our first activity we met this new boy called Sacha. He was kind of cute and on top of that he seemed really nice. That’s when a plan started to form.. The girls were pretty sure about the fact that I liked Charlie heck i was convinced everyone could see it.. I needed a form of distraction, something to keep everyone from obsessing over how i actually felt. And that’s where Sacha came in.. What if I just started casually telling people I thought Sacha was cute I mean he had blonde hair and blue eyes I had once mentioned that was my type.. Surely that would get their minds of me and Charlie? Since Sacha was new to the group I decided to invest some time in genuinely getting to know him, making sure he felt welcome and all that. Just like the rest of the group he was into music and loved playing the guitar and had the ambition to become an actor. I couldn’t help but think this guy was gonna get along with Charlie quite well.

As if I had summoned him Charlie came up to us and sat down beside me. – actually, he couldn’t sit closer to me if he tried..- “Hey guys!” “Hi Charles” I said to him with a big smile. – I really had to stop reacting to him that way..- "Sacha and I were actually just talking about how he loves playing the guitar.” “Oh? Awesome! We should totally jam sometime!” and just like that I was sat between two boys fangirling over guitars and guitar players I had admittedly never heard of.. “Aaalright” I interrupted the two. “I’m gonna go find the girls.” I give Charlies leg a quick pat before getting up and walking off.

I find the girls outside on a bench “heellooo, what are we talking about?” I say while joining them. “boys, actually.” Savannah says with a grin on her face. “Jadah was telling us about this dude she met.” Boys? Great. Time to put my Sacha plan to action.. “ahh I wanna hear all about it Ja!” “Soo.. since we’re on the topic of boys.. What do we think about Sacha?” I ask nonchalantly. We all seem to agree on the fact that he seems nice and pretty cool. “I was just talking to him. That’s until Charlie interrupted us.. I think he’s kind of cute actually..” Madison looks at me with a suspicious face. Then Emma speaks up “ohh, You like Sacha?” “well I mean.. I’ve only just met him. But he is totally the type of guy I would usually fall for..” “Who is?” I hear Owen ask behind me. Before him and Jer join us. “Y/N likes Sacha.” Emma just happily replies. “Ohhh does sheee?” Jer says and I instantly see two boys with a teasing smirk looking at me. I had not expected it would be so easy to convince people.. Although I could tell Madi was not convinced at all, but she promised she wouldn’t say anything so it was gonna be fine.. I think.

Later that night our group was chilling by the campfire. Charlie and Sacha both had brought their guitar and were jamming away. Emma was resting her head on Charlie’s shoulder and was actually engaging in our conversations. I found myself taking in the scene and being completely fine with it. I felt happy and at peace it was only the first night and i was already wishing it would never end again. That’s when almost everyone of our group decided it was bedtime. “You coming too Y/N?” Madi asks me. I shared a quick look with Charlie before replying “Yeah, I eh, I’ll be right there.” Apparently Madi got the message loud and clear and wished us a goodnight before leaving with Sav and Jadah. Emma shared a kiss with Charlie before quickly following after the other girls. I hugged Owen, Jer and Sacha goodnight.

And then it was just me and Charlie. Suddenly I was not completely sure what to do.. so I just sat there just looking at the boy I very secretly liked. That’s when he scooted closer to me and just casually threw his arm around me before breaking the silence “I’m glad we still have our little late night moments together..” I felt myself relax at his touch and automatically just melt into him. “Yeah me too. I was actually feeling really selfish for wishing we still would have this..” I admit. “How is that selfish? We both agreed that last year the late nights were our favorite part.. Hoping that would happen again this year isn’t a bad thing Y/N.” “Yeah.. I don’t know. Now that Emma is in our group I thought she would be around a lot more and that would maybe mean the end for our late nights. But you know she’s your girlfriend so wishing for time alone with you felt wrong? You must be happy with the fact that she agreed to join our group though? ” “ yeah.. I get that.. and honestly it totally could have been that way. She can be a bit clingy and sometimes has some trust issues when it comes to me and spending time with others.. but yeah I’m happy to see she seems to be pretty chill and trusting this week. I hope she’ll open up more and really become friends with my friends you know. Would make it all a lot more fun for the both of us.“

“Well.. I guess, for us, maybe it helps that she thinks that I like Sacha.” I blurt out before even realizing it. I had become way too comfortable with telling this man everything.. “oh.. Do you?” I swear I heard a change of tone in his voice but that might have just been some diehard wishful thinking on my end.. “I.. I don’t know. I’ve only just met him Charles.” “I mean i get it, he’s a pretty cool guy. He’d be lucky to have you Nugget.” “Oh stop it. I really am not as brilliant as you still seem to think I am. ” “Eh. YES YOU ARE Y/N. and getting more and more brilliant every day actually.” “Well, that’s all on you then. Since you’re the only thing that has been in each and everyday over the past year.” He laughs. The sound of that fills my heart with even more love for him. “I’ll gladly take that credit. I’ll make sure to tell Sacha you’re only this awesome because of me.” “Ah yes greeeeat plan Gillespie! Maybe he’ll date you then.” I laugh. “Oof imagine the great music that would come out of it! But no. He’s all yours “Y/L/N.” Charlie and me joke around like that for a while before deciding it’s time for bed. When we arrive at my door Charlie pulls me in for a tight hug. “So good to finally not have to do this virtually.. Sweet dreams Nugget.” “Sweet dreams Charles.” He holds onto me a little longer just hugging me in silence before he lets go. “goodnight” he says and with a smile walks off to his own room. That smile was one day gonna be the death of me.. good thing the owner of that smile didn’t know that..

The next morning I woke up to the sound of my roommates chatting away. “Morning sleepyhead” I hear Madison say as I open my eyes. “Morningg” I groan which makes the other girls laugh. “It got that late already huh?” Savannah says teasingly. “You guys know me.. I don’t need a lot of sleep.” “uhu. Sureeee you don’t.” Sav says again. I just sigh as a response and get myself out of bed to get ready. As I get out of our room to freshen myself up I bump into Charlie who is standing in front of our door. As I’m about to say sorry he just wraps his arms around me ‘Good morning Nugget!” every bit of feeling dead and grumpy instantly disappears . I rest my head against his chest for a good second. “Good morning, Charlie.” Realizing the fact that the other girls may soon get out of our room I wiggle out of his grip and just smile at the always happy look on his face. “I was actually about to go freshen up, I’ll see you at breakfast okay?” “You look perfectly fine to me you know. But okay, I’ll save you a spot at the table.” “Thanks, Charlie” I smile at him before making my way to the bathroom.

Once I’m done the other girls are done as well and together we make our way to breakfast, and as promised Charlie saved us all a pot at the table. Emma sat down next to him giving him a quick good morning kiss. I find my old familiar spot across from Charlie and Sacha sits down next to me. “Morning Sacha!” I greet him. I instantly feel multiple eyes on the two of us. Pretending like I’m not noticing that but happy with the fact people are apparently believing that I like him, I continue my conversation with Sacha and soon enough the others join in.

Later that day we had some sports activities. It’s a very hot and sunny day so the minute the activity was over our group made it’s way to the shadow under some trees. Charlie was the first one to fall down into the grass and I was quick to follow. I don’t know what took over me but I decided to use him as a pillow. I sat down next to him only to slowly fall back and let my head rest on his stomach. Surprisingly no questions were being asked about this and no comments we’re being made.. Emma lies down on the other side of Charlie resting her head on his chest and Owen lies down next to me , using my stomach as a pillow causing me to giggle at the tickle of his hair. Before we knew it we we’re just one big pile of people using each other as a pillow.

We just chilled like that for a second not saying much. I felt every breath Charlie took under me and I noticed that was a weirdly calming thing to me, without even trying my breathing matched his. Never had I ever felt as at peace as in this moment so i couldn’t help but feel just the tiniest bit sad when we had to get up to freshen up before dinner. There really was no denying this man had an influence on everything I did, liked and felt. There was no denying that I liked and possibly even loved this boy. I was gonna have to be careful with my actions if I wanted to make sure no one else knew about that.

Later that night Emma came up to me "Hey Y/N? Can I talk to you for a second?" I feel myself getting nervous, what could this possibly be about? "Yes of course. What’s up Emma?" I follow her towards a quiet place on the campground. ‘I..I just wanted to talk to you..’ she sounds sad. I sit down next to her putting my arm around her shoulder “Are you okay Ems?” “Honestly I don’t know. I’ve been feeling insecure and Charlie is not making it any better at the moment. “ “oh.. I’m sorry. Do you know where the insecurity is coming from?” I say hoping to kind of avoid discussing Charlie with his girlfriend. “Well. I’ve always been a bit anxious and insecure.. I’ve been bullied a lot as a kid but even at home it was always about my brother and it’s like I almost don’t exist? Don’t get me wrong you’ve all been super nice. And I know you’re all Charlies friends and he hasn’t seen you all in a year and so obviously he’s gonna be excited to hang out with all of you but I guess I just feel a bit left behind?” I had no idea about the fact that Emma had somewhat of a same life story as me. I know what being bullied can do to a person.. “Wow. I’m sorry you had to go through that Ems.. and I get that, that all makes you insecure and anxious I’ve been struggling with that as well.. But this is a safe place, you don’t have to feel insecure or left behind. You’re always welcome to hang out with us. I’m sure Charlie wouldn’t mind either.” “Yeah you say that now, last year we got into a fight over me jumping into a conversation between you and him and during the last year we’ve gotten in a few more fights that come down to the same topic of me not wanting him to do something or me wanting to come along to something he’s doing..”

I wasn’t aware of the fact that there had been more fights between them.. Apparently Charlie had not been telling me everything, not that he was obligated to do so but I just thought he did? “Oh.. I did not know that.. sorry. But can I be honest with you Emma?” “No you couldn’t have it’s okay. and yes. Actually please do. “ I take a deep breath before speaking again “ Well.. I of course have not been there for all the fights.. I know of the one of last year cause Charlie told me about it. It wasn’t that he didn’t want you to join us. It’s the way you did it.. If you would have just joined us everything would have been fine. But I got the feeling you we’re trying to make very sure that I knew Charlie was taken.. and that’s what he didn’t like. I think ,and you can correct me if I’m wrong, maybe you’re scared of losing Charlie? If so, don't be.. I know Charlie really loves you. I think all he wants from you is trust that he will be faithful to you and maybe some space sometimes to do his own things. But I also know for a fact that he wants to spent time with you and he wants you to spent time with his friends so you can all hang out more.. Maybe just have a good conversation with him about where you’re coming from and what you would like and / or need from eachother?”

“yeah.. You may be right there. I know I was acting horrible last year, I just really thought you were on your way to steal Charlie from me.. Sorry about that. You and Charlie both did not deserve that.. I don’t know though.. I believe that he loves me and all but if you’d ask him to name a list of things he loves most in this world I’m pretty sure things like food and music would come first and then maybe at one point he’ll be like oh yes and Emma of course.” I can’t help but smile just a little at the amount of love this boy indeed has for food and music but quickly compose myself again. “ I’m not sure Em.. Sure he loves music and food and stuff he makes that very obvious. But from things he told me I know you’re so so important to him.. Just talk to him about all of this okay? You really gotta be honest about your feelings with him..” “Yeah.. Thanks Y/N. I appreciate you listening to me and actually giving me advice on all of this.” “ yeah no worries. Any time. “ I say while giving her a smile. We fall silent for a second and I stand up holding my hand out to her “ So are you ready to get back to the others?” She nods and takes my hand. We make our way towards our group and once we get close I share a quick look with Charlie, a look that tells me he wonders if everything is okay. I just give him a reassuring smile and the smile I get in return is the end of that small silent conversation. After playing some fun and very competitive boardgames with our entire group, it in the end is just me and Charlie again.

We end up finding a quiet spot in the middle of a field and just like earlier that day he lies down in the grass and I lie down next to him with my head resting on his stomach, one of his hands now reaching up to softly play with my hair. We just lie there in silence for a while looking up at the stars admiring the beauty of it all, and in my case very much enjoying this warm and fuzzy feeling this boy was giving me right now. I feel Charlie taking a deep breath underneath me before he breaks the peaceful silence “Soo.. was everything okay? That conversation with Emma I mean..” I take a second to consider my options, should I tell him? It doesn’t feel right to hide something from him but at the same time it is not my place at all to talk about Emma’s feelings.. I decide on keeping our conversation private.. “Yeah. No eh she just needed to get a few things of her chest. Don’t worry about it. It was nice getting to know her a bit better actually. She even apologized for last year..” “She did? I’m really glad to see you two getting along.. I’m happy she found someone in you she can open up to. I sometimes feels like even I can’t be that person for her..” I sigh. “I’m sure that’s not true Charlie.. at the very least I know she wants you to be that person. And for what it’s worth.. You are that person to me..” Not my very best line when it comes to hiding how I feel but this boy needed to know it wasn’t his fault at all. I can feel him let out a small silent laugh. “For what it’s worth? Really nugget? You do know that hearing that means a lot to me right?” “Does it? I mean you’re just so easy to talk to, and you’re always so nice and understanding. I would quite literally trust you with my life, Gillespie.” “Well for what it’s worth Y/L/N, I trust you with mine as well.” I can’t help but smile at that.

“Hey Charlie, can I ask you something?” I say softly, not being mad about it if he wouldn’t hear it. but he does.. “Yeah, anything. You know that..” he says still playing around with my hair. “Why didn’t you tell me about the whole Emma coming to camp and being in our group thing? Not that you had to! I’m just curious?” He’s silent for a while.. “Charlie..?” “Honestly? I guess.. Seeing how things we’re last year, I maybe was afraid you wouldn’t come if you knew?” he says and I let out a little laugh. “It was not that bad Charles.. She just didn’t like me very much.. But that did not bother me enough to not come here.. I’ve missed all of you too much over the past year..” “I missed you too much” I barely even whisper. “Good. cause I really need you here. “ I could not deny that hearing that made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy. He needed me? I reach up with my hand to grab his free hand and give it a light squeeze. “Well, I’m not going anywhere. You’re not getting rid of me that easily. Although maybe I should be going to sleep..” as I’m about to get up and let go of his hand he grabs mine tightly and pulls me back down “Naaah-aah. You can stay here a little longer.” He says teasingly.

“You really think you’re teasing me by doing that? Gonna have to try harder than that Gillespie. “ I laugh. “Is that a dare? Cause I will. But in this case no. I’m not teasing. I Just would like us to stay up a little longer.” I lay my head back down on his stomach and he instantly finds his way back to my hair. “Fine then. I’ll stay. And yes, maybe that was a dare..” He starts to laugh as soon I said that. “What?” I ask him. “You have no clue what you’re getting yourself into Nugget. I’ll have you know that annoying someone and teasing them is actually one of my talents.” “uhhu. Right. I think you’ll soon learn that I’m not THAT easy to annoy.” “Oh it’s so on now.” “Bring it, Gillespie.” We just lay there a little while longer talking and teasing each other. My head never leaving his stomach and his hand never leaving my hair. Until Charlie notices I’m getting more and more silent.

“Really Y/N? You’re falling asleep on me? You could have just told me that I was boring you , you know. “NO THAT’S NOT…” “HA! See. Already got you there.” He laughs. “You’re the actual worst Char.. but no. I was actually just very comfortable and that made me sleepy. You make quite a good pillow you know.” “Well thank you Y/N.. I trained long and hard for that. We’re gonna have to get you to bed now though." he starts to sit up causing my head to slide towards his lap but I don’t plan on moving any time soon. When he’s fully sat up he just looks at me and my head that’s now in his lap. “Come on nugget. Time to go!” “Naaah-aah. We can stay here a little longer.” I smile up at him mimicking his words from before.

“Are you sure about that?” He leans forward a bit his face now sort of hovering above mine with a suspicious smile spread on it, and I feel a slight panic grow in me. What is he doing? What is he thinking? When I don’t move but also don’t say a word he continues. “Well alright then..” and that’s when he starts to tickle me making me laugh uncontrollably and as soon as I get the chance it roll away from him. “Fine. You win, we’ll go to bed” I say while getting up, offering him my hand to help him up as well. He takes it and I pull him up. “Good decision nugget. Good decision” he says teasingly and I playfully hit his arm “Oh shut up Charles..” when I’m in bed my brain is racing. What was happening between me and Charlie? I mean we were just friends obviously.. but I couldn’t deny that we were in someway getting a whole lot closer? And why did it feel like I was in the middle of the relationship between Emma and Charlie? I was gonna have to figure out a way to get out of that position.. and I was gonna have to try a whole lot harder when it comes to hiding my feelings for Charlie as well. I basically told him he’s my person and I like laying on top of him? COULD I BE ANYMORE OBVIOUS? My mind keeps running like that for a while before I get, 3 hours of sleep at most.

The next morning I am the last to join everyone at the breakfast table, somewhat surprised to see my spot across from Charlie is saved for me. “Good morning” I greet everyone feeling more dead than alive. A bunch of happy and cheerful good mornings are being thrown my way while I sit down. I can hear everyone talking but what they’re saying isn’t even really getting through to me that’s how tired I am. At this point I’m just staring in the distance trying to stay awake. That is until I literally get slapped back to reality by Charlie. I just look at him, mouth wide open in pure shock. Not that it was hard or painful but I never expected him to do that.. “WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!” He just laughs, which normally would make me feel all better but in this case made me more annoyed which apparently was showing cause the laughing stopped. “So you are alive! Had to make sure since we were talking to you and you were not responding to a single word we said. ” “I’m Sorry..” he adds after noticing the fact my facial expression has not changed one bit. I relax my face even though I’m still shocked by the fact that he did that. “It’s okay. Sorry guys I just really have not slept the best last night.. But I’m here now, what we’re we talking about?” Glad no one asks me about why I had a bad night we just fall right back into the conversation they we’re having beforehand.

The rest of the day was, lucky for me, pretty easy-going we were just chilling in the sun and Charlie and Sacha had both gotten their guitars out and we were all singing songs together. I could not stop myself from thinking that the whole guitar playing thing somehow made Charlie even more attractive. Sacha wasn’t bad either though.. maybe I just had a thing for guitar players? That’s until out singing gets interupted by Charlie’s phone ringing, he gets up and walks away from us before picking up. When he gets back though I can tell something is wrong.. my thoughts being confirmed by Charlie who picks up his guitar and gives us a quick “excuse me for a sec..” before storming off..

Continue reading in Part 5 :)

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Sweet Pea//Freeze Your Brain

Request: Can I request a song-fic with song Freeze Your Brain, with Sweet Pea/Reader, plot twist, reader is "JD" in it; for the plot maybe Sweet Pea's talking about how the Serpents are his family; sorta trying to help reader settle in to school

hey! first of all warning: death of a parent and abandonment. other than that, i hope you enjoy it! also, this has been sitting in my drafts for m o n t h s. like i wrote this last year at some point i think, so here ya go! sorry everything is taking so long. 

“Oh.” Sweet Pea’s familiar voice makes you look up from the magazine stand you were staring at. You and Sweet Pea were in practically every singe class and you almost always sat next to each other meaning that you talked to him several times a day, practically every single day. From the conversations that you had had, you learned that he was a serpent, he was funny and he was cute as hell. “I see you’re familiarizing yourself with the local and only 7-11 we have.” 

“Something like that.” You shrug and take a sip from your slush. 

“Sooooo, what are you actually doing here?” 

“It better than being at home? You?” 

“Fangs wanted some Corn Nuts.” He replies and waves the packet in his hand. 

“Oh.” You reply and go back to reading the front of the magazines. 

“So, how are you finding Riverdale High?” 

“Its okay.” You shrug. “I’ve been to ten high schools already so they’re kinda all starting to blur.” 

“Oh. Do you think you’ll be staying here for a while?” He asks, a hint of hopefulness in his voice. Your eyes meet his and you send him a warm smile. 

“Hopefully.” You nod. “It just depends on my dad. We have to move around a lot because of his work so there’s no point in ‘planting roots’ if you know what I mean?” You explain and he nods. 

“Yeah, I get that. My mom was kinda the same before she left me. Instead of moving around she just moved in a lot of different ‘boyfriends’.” 

“I’m sorry she left.” 

“Its fine.” He shakes his head. “You know enough about me. Tell me about you. I’ve only had a so many conversations with you in class but I know nothing about you.”   

“There’s not much to tell.” You reply and walk around to the drinks aisle. He follows closely behind you and picks up a bottle of soda. “My dad keeps two suitcases packed in the den no matter where we are so its really only a matter of when. Thats why I haven’t really bothered talking to people. I used to, but after the third school there’s really no point, don’t learn names or bother with faces. It easier that way.” 

“That sucks.” 

“Yep.” 

“If it makes you feel any better I don’t like Riverdale High much. Its too preppy.”

“It is definitely the preppiest school I’ve ever been to.” You laugh softly and he smiles at you. 

“I think you would have fit in at Southside High.” He says casually and you raise an eyebrow. “Thats the school the serpents went to before Riverdale. Southside High was closed down and we were transferred.” He explains. 

“Oh.” You take another sip of your drink and move further down the aisle. 

“Apparently we’ll ‘get a better education’ at Riverdale High. But you can’t get much of an education if you’re fighting people that hate you because you’re ‘invading their territory’.” He mocks and you laugh. 

“Is the education the reason Southside High was closed?” 

“No.” He shakes his head. “It was deemed a health hazard due to toxic fumes from one of the chemistry labs but everyone knows that Mayor McCoy just needed an excuse to close it down.” 

“Ah.” 

“So, how do you cope with moving around all the time?” 

“You promise you won’t laugh?” You ask and he nods. 

“Cross my heart.” He replies. “Scouts honour.” 

“I don’t believe you were in the scouts.” 

“Fine. Serpents honour.”

“Every time I feel like the worlds falling down and that I’m going to start having a breakdown, I always got to 7-11.” You admit and he stares at you dumbfounded. 

“7-11?” He asks and you nod. 

“Its like a concrete oasis.” You add and he laughs loudly. “You said you wouldn’t laugh.” You roll your eyes and start to walk away. 

“I’m sorry.” He runs after you. “I just wasn’t expecting that.” He catches up to you and you stop walking so you can glare at him. “Tell me about why you love 7-11.” He continues and you raise an eyebrow. “I’m being serious. Tell me.” 

“Fine. But if you laugh I will kick you in the balls.” 

“Okay?” 

“7-11 never changes. Literally every single store is the same, from Las Vegas to Boston. Linoleum aisles that I just love to get lost in. And the slushes. Don’t get me started on the slushes. They are God-like.” You ramble and he smiles at you. “Are you laughing?” You ask in a threatening tone. 

“No!” He says quickly. ‘Its cute.” 

“Hmmm.” You narrow your eyes at him and drink some of your slush. 

“I really do live for the sweet frozen rush.” You say to no one in particular.

“I feel the same way about the serpents...kind of.” He interrupts your moment of thinking. “They took me in when not even my own mom wanted me.”

“Your mom’s an idiot.” 

“I know.” He nods his head and you smile softly at him. 

“Care for a hit.” You offer him your slush and he takes it from you.

“Who needs cocaine when you can just have one of these?” He asks. 

“Exactly.” 

“Anyway, so the serpents. Its like having a really weird extended family. We look after each other, its even written in the rules. Although I dunno if anybody has actually written them down or if they’re just remembered. But they’re the best family I could wish for. Better than my actual family.” He trails off and stares out the window for a few seconds. He’s clearly thinking about something unpleasant, but it passes and he quickly turns his head to look at you. “What about yours? Does your mom know you eat all this crap?” 

“Not anymore.” 

“What?” He asks worriedly, his eyes widening. 

“When my mom was alive, we sort of lived normally but now its just me and my dad.” You explain. 

“Sorry.” He apologizes. “But its nice you still have your dad.” 

“We’re a littles less formal...and normal.” You mutter the last part. “He isn’t really around much so I had to learn to be an adult quicker than a lot of kids do. I learned to cook pasta, and almost burned the house down the first time.” He interrupts you with a small laugh and you smile at him. “I pay rent and stuff. Turns out the world owes you nothing.” 

“Not even a cent.” He finishes your sentence and you face him. 

“Exactly.” 

“You know if you wanna fit in at Riverdale High, you need to know what you’re doing after. You ask literally anyone that goes there and they’ll tell you their life plan for the next 10 years.” 

“Hmmm, lets see. I could go to a college, but who knows where I’ll be by then.” 

“You could marry a lawyer.” He suggests. 

“Hm. Depends on what type. Are they gonna be like a medical lawyer or one of those ones that get given to criminals when they can’t afford one?”

“In the middle? He’s the best at his firm, but his firm isn’t the best.” 

“I could work with that.” You nod and walk towards the candy section.

“But.” 

“Ooooo. There’s a but? Now I’m intrigued.”

“The sky’s gonna hurt when it falls.” 

“Damn.” You sigh and he sends you a sympathetic smile. 

“You better start building some walls.” 

“Already have.” You wave your half empty slush in front of his face and laughs. 

“Do you have any more insightful information?” 

“Nope. Wait, don’t talk to anyone but the serpents. Now I’m all out.” He says making you laugh.

“Do yourself a favour then.” 

“Whats that?” He asks. 

“Freeze your brain.” You hand him your slushie and he nods.

“I’ve got brain freeze!” He says after a few seconds. 

“Get lost in the pain Sweet Pea.” You reply. “Just shut your eyes tight until you vanish from sight. Thats what I do.” 

“Thats not healthy.” He replies and gives you your cup back. 

“I know. But do you have any other solutions?” You ask and move further around the shop until you finally decide where to stop.

“No.” He shakes his head. 

“Exactly.” 

“Fight pain with more pain.” 

“Yep. Now you’re getting it.” You smile at him proudly. “Forget in six weeks you’ll be back on the road...and you’ll have to say goodbye to the only good thing you’ve had in your life for a long time.” You say sadly and look at Sweet Pea. He’s already looking at you, his gaze going from your eyes to your lips and back again. You lean in slowly, and he closes the gap, his hands resting on your waist. You pull back and smile at him softly. His expression mirrors yours and you both stare at each other for a few seconds before you turn away. 

“On Monday do you want to sit with Serpents at lunch?” He asks and you hesitate for a moment while your filling your drink up. “Its not gonna hurt you to make some friends. 

“You sure about that?” You raise an eyebrow. 

“Try it.” 

[snowboiwinwin]

I really liked your the boyz headcanon 💞 can i make a request for a BTS one?? Something like BTS having a s/o who they share similar interests with. I’ll be very grateful, have a good day ✨

Thank you very much, I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🥰 I hope this turns out the way you imagined it to!

----------------

Namjoon:

our leader LOVES nature, I think we can all agree on that

of course there are people, who might not be as fond of it as Namjoon himself

therefore he is scared, he might bore certain people

but when you walked up to him and asked 

“hey, would you mind if we spend our day at the beach? I really like going there... there are lot of cute fishes and crabs.”

his heart was about to BURST

when you then started rambling about how you hope it won’t be too boring to him

he shut you up with a big smooch on the lips

“silly, i would love going to the beach with you! i’m also quite experienced with catching crab friends, so i can teach you a thing or two.”

the way your eyes lit up made him weak in the knees

but it meant as much to him as to you, to get to know you guys have similar interests 

Jin:

i’m still confused; is Jin the fishing boy or Yoongi?

either way, let’s just say Jin is obsessed with going fishing

but for similar reasons, he is scared to tell you

it is quite boring, right?

that’s what he tells himself

and even if you don’t like it; please just show a little interest

he always leaves early in the morning for his fishing trips

so one day you got up early and prepared and waited in front of his house

to say he is surprised is an understatement!

“Jagi? what are you doing here?”

“we’re going fishing right? you gotta teach me how to do it properly but i will try my best!”

dude, if he wasn’t already in love with you, he will be after this!!!

his smile would be so big and his cheeks so red

you would make him feel even more loved than before

Yoongi:

our boy is always sleepy

that’s just part of his personality

he is so busy all the time - there is no time for sleep or food

because every free minute he has, he wants to spend with you

therefore, sleep has to wait

but luckily he got himself a sleepy girl

so usually, whenever a comeback is around the corner

you prepare a pillow fort in your living room and organize a sleepover date

you basically have Yoongi arrive in his pyjamas so you both can cuddle in the fort and fall asleep comfortably

he will never admit it, but he LOVES it

he always complains how cheesy you are but dude, he is in love

with the date idea and you of course

“man, i truly love you.”

“i love you too sleepy head.”

“ya, you are as much of a sleepy head as i am. stop bullying me.”

“stop being a big pouty baby and sleep. your genius brain needs a break.”

Hoseok:

it’s not like you are a good dancer (if you are; pretend i didn’t write that)

but you are super interested in learning it

your boyfriend is this crazy talented dancer, so why not try it?

usually he separates his private from his work life

he never wants to put any pressure on you

when he is in his zone, there is no coming home until the early morning hours

you, the good partner you are, decided to bring him food one day, cause he has been occupied in the practice room for days

and when you arrived, you could see the frustration in his eyes

nothing’s working out

after wordlessly walking in and giving him a soft kiss, you slump down next to him

“mind teaching me?”

he looks confused

“teach you what?”

“dancing! just maybe a few simple steps... but i would love to be able to dance with you one day!”

the excitement in your face warmed his heart

not only has your presence made all the frustration vanish but it also made him realise how in love with you he truly is 

Jimin:

he is always very hard on himself

as another comeback is coming up, his vocals are his main problem

no matter what, he felt as if he sounded horrible

which is far from the truth

he is so passionate about singing... when something isn’t working out it seems like a major set back to him

he locked himself in the bathroom, so all you could hear was his sobbing

which is absolutely heartbreaking

quietly you walked up to the door and tried to calm him down

“baby, don’t be so harsh to yourself! you’re a fantastic singer, you just need to rest your voice for now.”

although the sobbing died down, you know he is far from being back to his usual cute self.

“you could give me some singing lessons, if you would like? i always wanted to learn how to sing, so why not start now?”

the door then opened and Jimin walked out, a faint smile on his lips

“you would really want me to teach you?”

“who else? you are the best singer i have ever encountered. you’re the best for this job!”

he pulled you into a tight hug and kissed your forehead lovingly

“thank you, i love you so much.”

Taehyung:

our boy loves photography

whether it’s pictures of him, Tannie or the boys - he loves it

but now that you walked into his life, he loves taking sneaky pics of you

what he did not expect, was you having the same passion as him

so when he caught you taking candid pictures of him, which resulted in you blushing hardcore, his heart skipped a beat

“sorry Tae, I just love taking pictures of things that inspire me.”

that made him even more giddy

“you find me inspiring?”

“yeah? you are so beautiful. on the inside and out. you are such a kind hearted and well-mannered man... i cannot not be inspired by you. you are a fantastic human being.”

with slightly glistening eyes, he wrapped his arms around you, nuzzling his head in your neck

“oh honey, you’re going to make me cry.”

“i’m sorry, i just love you a lot.”

“i love you too, so much. now show me what pics you got and i’ll keep on posing for you!”

Jungkook:

it was the first time he stayed the night

and you completely forgot to tell him, you have a date with your personal trainer at the gym

but he looked so peaceful sleeping, you couldn’t wake him

so you just left and hoped to be back before he woke up

you succeeded, because as you entered the apartment, he just walked out of the bedroom

“baby? where were you?”

“oh, sorry. I was at the gym. i had a scheduled session with my coach.”

confused he looked at you, or so you thought

he was actually feeling butterflies erupt in his stomach

“you work out? for how long? what are some exercises you do?”

after explaining everything to him, his smile was sooooo big

“damn, i got myself a badass woman! we HAVE to workout together next time!”

he literally turns into an excited bunny and will constantly brag about you to the boys

[madllamamomma]

Journey Back to the South Part 10~

[Ok I am so sorry this is late! I am currently on vacation with my husband, then my step dad now has the virus and that really stressed me out, because I’m closer to him than my own P.O.S. father... Sooooo yeah... Life is a nightmare. Thats why I write fan fiction to escape it..... Thats healthy.... right......right?.... *crickets....*  Anyways, enjoy!]

WARNING: Heavy topics about abuse and rape. NSFW.

Part 10~

“You’re important too.”~

As the crowd is continuously distracted by giving praise to the new Illuminator, Muriel is still gently forcing his way towards the front where you are standing. As he finally comes to your rescue, he is just as shocked as you are to find Shona, the sole Kokhurian in all of the Shining Steppe that claims to despise you and your people, hugging your neck and literally crying on your shoulder. Unsure what to do, your hands hover over her but you are unsure what to do with them. “Uummm…”.

“Thank you….” Shona whispers, shakiness in her voice. Just as quickly as she embraced you, she pulls away and scurries off out of the gathering tent without a second glance or thoughts. Everyone else is too focused on showering Ava with much deserved praise, no one else even noticed what had just happened.

You glance up and meet Muriel’s eyes, and he mirrors the same dumbfounded expression that's in your face. As his hand wraps around your waist to pull you close, you both stare out the tent in the direction she fled, and he mutters. “Did…..did she…. just—?”

You nod your head slowly, still completely stunned as well. “I’m…. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who witnessed it. I don’t think I would have believed what happened…… I still don’t believe it actually.”

This is… very shocking. Little did you suspect that she’d thank you let alone hug you.

Soon the crowd makes their way outside around the large fire in the middle of camp. Muriel tugs you both along with everyone else and notice Una standing in front of the fire as she speaks in Ruin. “We thank our Great Mother and Great Father for blessing us with a very fruitful year. We have had many blessings that we have shared. Many victories, and some losses. But we are strong, we will always keep going. Tonight concludes our Winter Solstice! May winter have mercy on us as we continue to honor our Great Mother and Father. May our departed visit us tonight as the spirit realm and the living realm merge tonight....” Una keeps going on, but you start to zone out slightly feeling very tired all of a sudden and you lean into your hermit. Even he looks a bit tired, lusting after a good night sleep.

As soon as the closing ceremony was completed, Muriel, Inanna and you head back to the tent and nearly collapse out of exhaustion. Lazily taking off your clothes and dress into your long shirt and taking off your pants. All the anxiousness you and Muriel had felt for Ava’s trials have all but vanished and left the want to sleep for about a full day or two. Even though the ‘celebration’ was completed, it sounds like others are still up, singing, dancing, and being merry and whatnot… Hmmm… it has to be for Ava. But they deserve to be celebrated over! They worked so hard... You groggily turn over and murmur good night to Muriel and Inanna before you gently drift off to sleep and you feel a feather light kiss on your temple and his warm arm wrap around the small of your back. For some reason you hear Una’s words repeat in your head before slipping out of consciousness.

‘May our departed visit us tonight…… as the spirit realm and the living realm merge tonight…..’

—————————

The feeling of being on all fours and fur all over my body are becoming rather familiar to me now. The dark tundra is frigid and icy and I can see my warm breath cloud in front of my face, yet it never bothers me. The moon is just barely showing any light on the dark plane. I’m alone again…. but not for very long.

I can’t help but feel such joy when I start to sense warm air rush overhead and a large ball of fire lights up the hillside. It’s her…. Rhemi… She flutters her wings over me for a moment and she makes happy little calls and I growl softly back in response. Gracefully, she brings herself down from the sky and perches herself on a nearby bolder. Once comfortable, her flames dissipate showing her dark brown and red feathers, the dark night blankets the vast tundra once again. For a moment I just gaze at her…. Even now, underneath all her magical flames she is so beautiful. She always is…

My body starts to move, and before I realize it I’m sitting next to her by the boulder. Her small beak rests on my snout, and she snuggles up against my thick fur like she always does, even in the real world. I always like how she does that. It makes me feel wanted… loved. After a while the two of us start to stare into the dark night sky, I’m unsure why, but I feel like something is bound to happen soon.

The Aurora’s lights suddenly start to dance across the sky and I can hear that deep humming once again. With bright colorful lights illuminating the tundra, I can see that we are sitting in the middle of Khamgali’s graveyard on a small hill.

One by one I can see what looks like people’s casts burst from the ground and tombstones. Bears, wolves, eagles, hawks, caribou, foxes, and many other animals crawl out. But after they come out, their bodies become physical like mine and Rhemi’s. The bright colors of the cast dissipate giving away to the various furs, feathers and other features. Thousands emerge and stretch their limbs and backs out as if they have been resting for a long time. Soon the creatures start to roam around, seemingly recognizing each other, and greet nearby animals. Some even start to wrestle, chase, or play around on the vast plane. I find myself rather dumbfounded at this sight, unable to take my eyes off the scene. It is even rather entertaining to see.

“...Muriel?..” A very deep male voice calls out from behind us nearly startling Rhemi and I—I…. I feel like I know that voice… The two of us quickly turn around. Two bears are standing side by side; one as big as I am, maybe even slightly bigger, and the other is smaller and silky, beautiful. They both have deep green eyes and have this presence to them that feels…. comforting…. warm… I feel like I know them. Like I used to see them in my dreams before when I was young…

The smaller one starts to approach me warily, apparently attempting to not scare me… She smells sweet like fresh heather and after the morning dew. It finally clicks in my head… Her presence is all too familiar and I step backwards ashamed and I hang my head down low wishing to disappear. I glance my eyes over to Rhemi, still perched on the boulder. She looks a little confused at first, but seems to understand who these bears are as she sees my face. Her ruby eyes light up, and she mutters a low chirp as her eyes glance back to the two bears in wonder.

I shake my head as my eyes shut close tightly and the feeling of dread overwhelms me, tightening my chest and my stomach feels like it's in knots. No…. please no… No, no, no….  I…. I really don’t deserve you or your comfort… all this time I thought you both….. just got rid of me… Because I was a burden… but really you were just protecting me… protecting this land… Now that I stayed here I completely understand why you did….. but for the longest time… I didn’t want to care about you… I didn’t want to even think about you…… No…. I don’t deserve your love.

Suddenly I feel the small bear lifts my head up with hers and starts to softly growl and grunt as she lovingly nuzzles my furry neck with her small silky soft snout. She’s a lot stronger than I expected and she pushes up against me, but she’s comforting non the less…. She has tears in her deep green eyes as she huddles close to me. The other larger one trots over and gently lays his head over top of mine. Why does the feeling of him there so reminiscent of when he would pat me on top of my head? I remember enjoying that when he came back after hunting or trading…. Now that I think about it, I do the same to Ida when I see her.

The two bears both are making very small sad, yet happy, gruff whimpering noises like their hearts are torn in two… I don’t want to… but I feel myself relax as they are around me. I know why you both stayed here and fought—I do now at least… but…… part of me…. wishes we all left the Steppe together—GodDamn it….. that sounds so selfish.…. But…. I wish…. I got to know you both better myself… I wish you got to know... me. Maybe… I’d be more like you two…. maybe I would be braver….. stronger…

The small bear pulls away to look me in the eyes. I can see the corner of lips curl up… she’s smiling at me… she looks… proud? “Our little cub…” She says softly, but somehow does it without moving her mouth at all. Her voice is as silky, calm, and smooth as her fur... Just like I faintly remember when she used to sing home to sleep.

“... Look how you have grown. Our boy, mo ghoul.”  The large bear mutters, his voice shaky. His voice minds me of the one in my head. Very similar to my own when I speak, but just slightly different….. it’s strange to hear. “We love you, Son… we always have….”

I don’t open my mouth…. but somehow words flow out like a river before I can stop them. “..... I know….. I know you did…. I’m sorry…. I’m so sorry…” I can feel tears drop down my long nose. Just less than a minute ago, I didn’t want them to come even near me…. but… now…. I don’t want them to leave…. “I wish I was better for you both…..”

“Nothing to be sorry about, my son.” The bigger bear mutters in such a kind and warm tone. “We can never ask for a better son. We are sorry we had to leave so soon.”

The two bears huddle up to me once again. This time they are even tighter… Even though they don't have any arms, I can feel their loving embrace around me. It feels good… Like I have been craving it somehow. “We will always be here with you cub…. Always…. Even if you don’t see us.” The smaller bear says.

….I can feel that pulling once again…. Something is taking me back to my body…..

Please no!..... Why?! Why am I being pulled back now?! Whatever this is—a God? Father Sky? Or Mother Earth?.... or even me…. Please stop this!! Don’t make me leave them!!.... Not again… Please!!! I want to be with them…..just... let me stay…. just a little longer….. wait… —WAIT!

“We love you, little cub.” I can hear them both say as I fade away from this realm….

“..... I love you both too…..”

————————

You can feel as Muriel snaps his trunk up from the bedding with a gasp. For a moment he just sits there panting hard. His movements wake you from your slumber as well. But it takes you a few seconds for you to  sit up and get awake. Once you feel like you can move your body, you rub your tired eyes to comfort Muriel… Those bears... they were Glenna and Artturi… his parents. Una mentioned that the solstice was the time when the spirit realm is closest to the living. You glance up towards the hole in the tent. It’s still night, the moon is hardly even out... Probably not even midnight yet.

Carefully you slide your small fingers and lace them with his and he very slowly tightens his grasp. You both sit there for a while in silence listening to the fire crackle and hiss. “...You ok?....” You very quietly ask, leaning your head against his large deltoid and look up to his very emotionally torn face. He presses his lips tightly together and he very sluggishly nods his head, but you can see the tears forming in his eyes. “.... Ya’ know….. It’s ok to miss them….” You whisper.

He opens and closes his mouth a few times, trying so hard to say what’s on his mind. “I didn't…. I didn’t care when I forgot their voices… or their faces…” He stops for a moment and he closes his eyes and furrows his brow, thinking hard. “.... I dunno…. maybe I didn’t think I did…. but… but now… I.... I just…. just…. wish……” Tears flow from his eyes and chokes on his sentence. He covers his eyes with his hands to stop them and shakes his head irritated with himself as his body starts to tremble. “.....S-... Sorry…. Rem.” He murmurs through his tears.

“Please, don’t be sorry, Mur...” Your heart breaks in two anytime you see him cry like this… but it’s to be expected after that dream. Sitting on your knees, you wrap your arms around Muirel’s shoulders from behind him and place a kiss on his temple bone. Those two bears were his parents' spirits…. ghosts?… previous casts?— Well…. whatever you want to call them, and however they got there hardly matters. The fact is that they were there to see him. Perhaps Artturi still can leap into dreams even after death?...Maybe he knows how to bring Glenna with him?...Who really knows?... You take in a large thoughtful breath and place a soft kiss on Muriel’s head again. “... It’s okay to miss them… even if you don’t remember.” You understand how it feels not to remember your parents faces either. It hurts not to know—it’s almost infuriating how much it does.

He shakes his head avoiding looking you in the eye. “.... All my life…. I didn’t… let myself… miss them..... but n-... now…. Do… do I even have the right to?.... Especially after the way I thought of them? That they just... abandoned their only son?”

“Of course you do, Love…” You tenderly guild his head down and turn him so he rests his head on your chest and pet his hair and he clutches the back of your shirt. He seems to feel soothed once he’s there and starts to calm down a bit. “….. You were too young to understand what was really happening…… no one was there to tell you tell you otherwise….. You did what you had to do to survive….. Perhaps thinking that they sent you away was a method of coping with it all… somehow to make sense of it... It’s better than not knowing anything forever… I think guessing about it most of your early life would have been worse.” He huffs a long exhale and shrugs. Your fingers brush through his dark hair pulling it out of his handsome face. “...You really shouldn't beat yourself up about it, Muriel. ”

“.... I wish I could… see—” He slightly flounders in his words, then gives up mid sentence in frustration. “—I…. I don’t know…..”

“Come here…..” You whisper, very tenderly pulling him back down to the bedding. As you rest your head back on the pillows and he buries himself into your neck and shoulder holding you tight while you both lay on your sides. You squeeze him back comfortingly, tears still slowly trickling from his eyes. “... They both were so happy to see you….” You mutter just above a whisper, pushing back his hair out of his face again.

He softly closes his eyes, melting into your touch, but doesn't appear to be convinced. “.... How can I know?.... Know for sure?..”

“They were. I know it…… So do you…. they loved you, Muri. They still do….. I… I think they’re still watching like Khamgalai….. But perhaps the Great Lights really do hold a part of their spirits….. even after a year has passed…. just like Kok… I guess we’ll never really know for sure…. But I know they are proud of you. You could tell on their faces.”

“...... I….. I wish I could have known them…..” His body starts to feel slightly warmer as he looks back into your eyes rather sheepishly. “... I wish…. they could have met… you….”

You smile back at him a little… He doesn’t know. “Well…” He lifts his head up slightly and listens to you intently. “....Before….. I woke up….. And you left…. For some reason I stayed a little longer….”

“...What?” His eyes light up and widen as you say that. “.... What…. what did they…?”

“.....They just…. Kinda hugged me—well first your mother inspecting new all over like Una did our first day here— but then they both nuzzled their faces kindly on me like they did to you….” You can feel as your cheeks glow red as you continue and Muriel still has his eyes locked onto your in astonishment. “...They asked me…. To take care of you…..”

“They….. they did?” Muriel seems to get a hold of his tears now. You scoot into your back and he follows, slightly hovering over you, resting his hand on his propped up arm... “.....and… what did you say?”

You can’t help but give a silly love stricken grin as you open your mouth to tell him the answer. “I told them I would… forever…. until I drew my last breath… and even after that…..” Your hands start to shake a bit, feeling anxious as you continue, and you grab his large hand and caress his palm with your small thumbs. “.... I will always be here by your side, Muriel. I will protect you with all my might….” His eyes seem to sparkle when you utter those words and he looks so adorably smitten. But then your brain decides to ruin the moment as overthinking takes over and you start to expel words. “Well—I know that’s not saying much… I-I’m not very strong physically compared to you—…. but you know I can kick some ass if I need too— I won’t let anyone hurt you that’s for sure! As long as I can—” Suddenly Muriel’s hand cups your right cheek and he presses his parted lips to yours, stopping your silly rant and kisses you like you're the air he needs to breathe. A little surprised muffled squeak escapes from behind your teeth, but then you start to melt into his touch and kiss him back.

As he very slowly pulls away, his forehead meets with yours with a little happy grin on his face as he strokes your bottom lip with his thumb. “.... Sometimes….. you talk too much….” He says with an amused snort.

You slightly pull away, sticking out your bottom lip, feeling a little embarrassed and you avert your gaze to the other side of the tent and sigh, “Yeaaaaah….. I know…” You do have a tendency to rant at the worst of times.

He exhales sharply through his nose and he turns your face back with his thumb and pointer. “....But I love you for it….” He sits up, holds you close and your head rests in his large shoulder as he embraces you tightly, and you kiss his neck a little. “... thanks…. for being here… and…. letting me talk… and understanding me…”

You smile wrapping your arms around his strong torso. “I always will, Muri… I love you… with all my heart.”

“... I love you too….” His whispers back in your ear very sweetly.

He returns laying on his side facing toward your direction and the two of you lay there facing one another, still entangled in each other's arms as you both drift off back to sleep.

—————With feather made of hot embers, you float back to the realm of dreams————

…….But this time Muriel isn’t there with you….

You glance down, and your feathers have faded away and you are in your normal body.

This place…. it looks familiar….. you're not sure where you’ve seen it before. But it feels like you’ve dreamt…. or maybe been there…. but a very long time ago...

—It’s night time again. The buildings look different to you compared to the ones back home. They are mostly made of wood instead of brick or stone, they are delicate looking. Tall mountain peaks are surrounded everywhere, on the very tops are powdered with snow. It looks like whatever city you’re in, lives in the heart of a valley. The sea is nowhere in sight, neither is salt in the air. You’re landlocked. It's rather pretty scenery wise, but a strong sense of foreboding seeps into your chest as you continue to roam this strange place…. Why do I know this place…. it's so pretty here… so why do I feel like I hate it?

Suddenly you stumble upon what looks like a noble’s house… a vast mansion with tall widows and ornate sculptures everywhere… It's rather lovely… almost reminds you almost of Nadia’s palace, the bright lights inside make the stained glass windows shimmer as they cast their colored light on the stone outside. As it appears to be flakes of snow are softy falling down. You peer up and twirl around, even though you hate being cold, you have always liked to watch snow as it fell from the heavens. Cupping your hands, you reach out your palms to catch them. However the white snow turns dark and looks ominous. Once it falls into your hands you then realize it’s not snow at all—It’s soot and embures falling from the sky. Your body makes an about face back to the beautiful home. The entire mansion is now engulfed in flames. You never thought that stone or marble could catch fire…. but it seems that you were wrong….

There isn’t a soul around and you look all over for someone to help put it out. But it’s dead still other than the terrible flames consuming the building. You're still all alone…. or so you think…. Out of nowhere, a lone woman with dark brownish red shoulder length hair, and very familiar looking clothing is suddenly standing in front of you about eight meters away. With her back turned away as she stares at the flames as they quickly eat away at the mansion. “...H-... Hello?” You quietly call out to her, almost afraid to utter a single word.

Eerily the mysterious woman turns her neck around very sluggishly, just enough to reveal a small part of her profile over her shoulder. The whites of her eyes are blood red and sickly looking, you can even see red veins under her eyes and mouth. You take a few steps back instinctively out of fear. I know that look all too well…. The red plague….. those are the end stages…. The visible corner of her lip curls up into a comfortable grin as she stares at you with those cold burgundy eyes that almost have no life in them.

Your feet take a few steps back in fear. “Who….. who are you?”

She still won’t turn herself all the way around to face you, but there isn’t any denying her familiar features.... Is that…. me? Your eyes squint and you tilt your head feeling just completely dumbfounded once again tonight.

Finally she opens her mouth and begins to speak over the loud roaring flames as the mansion’s riff begins to crumble away. “...... You know who…...” it’s rather creepy to hear your own voice answer you, but it sounds so weak… so tired… so strained.

“What do you want?...” You ask not sure if to run or press on.

“.... Truth….” She replies, the loud noises if the inferno dampens as she speaks, you can hear her crystal clearly.

“...Wha—What do you mean ‘truth’?” You shake your head slowly trying to comprehend this strange answer. “Where are we—?”

A loud viscous enraged scream suddenly comes from the fiery mansion making you nearly jump out of your skin. It sounds like a person has been very badly injured…. But a very icy shiver runs down your spine and shakes you to your very core. It sounds like the voice of the creature who killed Ezavior—It frightens you to hear it again so soon. “W-..... What is that?? Is there someone in there? Shouldn’t we save them??”

The wind starts to pick up her hair and flows over her face. “....You know who…..”

You feel as your mouth sneers at that preposterous answer. “What??—No I don’t! That's why I’m asking!”

“You know who it is…..” She repeats sounding almost saddened. “.... You can’t deny it….. You know they survived… You remember seeing them… don’t you?”

“What—? No!!! I don’t!!! Don’t you listen??” You start to become frustrated with all of this strangeness, and just desire answers, not more coded messages.

She shakes her head disappointedly, her grin falls and turns her back to you once more and sighs. “...You're still not ready… one day your going to need to face this…I may not be here to protect you anymore.....”

“What?— What does that even mean?”

“.....Now is not the time…. Not yet.... you should go.”

“What do you mean I’m not ready?!— WOOOH!! HEY!!” Out of nowhere an invisible force wraps around your torso and throws you backwards through an open door frame. It’s so dark inside.

She finally turns all the ways around, but the flames cast too dark of a shadow for you to see her sick face. “Go…. be with him… enjoy the time you share spending together.” She says warily.

“What do you mean?? What’s going on?! Wait just a moment!!! Why aren’t fucking answer me??”

She brings up her left hand and waves it. “I suppose you’ll see in time….” She utters lastly as the door shut in front of your face before you can dash out of it.

“Wait!!!” You scream right before the door completely slam closed. It then starts to feel farther and farther out of reach then it completely disappears into oblivion and you find you yourself running towards it. “WAIIT!!!!!”

—————

“Mmmmmmm…. W-Wait......” Your body sits straight up and you wake with a start fluttering your eyes open….. Did I just say.. something… just now? What was I even doing?

“Rem—You ok?” Muriel and Inanna quickly come to your side from the middle of the tent by the fire, both look rather worried. “—Was it another bad dream?”

You squint your eyes and look all around, slowly becoming oriented with where you exactly are. “Hmmmm? Wha-.....What now?”

Muriel brushes his knuckles against your sleepy cheek and huffs a bit grumpily. “.... Did you just have a bad dream?”

You realize that you were just dreaming and it was a strange one too. You tilt your head looking at the covers, squinting your eyes in attempts to recall it… but there is just nothing…nothing you can remember about what you just dreamt. Inanna nudges her snout under your right elbow and you start to lift your arm up to pet her still pondering hard. Your lips click, and you shake your head a little. “...I….. I don’t really know….. it was definitely a weird one….. But I…. I can’t really tell you what happened in it….” He looks at you pointedly, brow slightly furrowed, looking for any signs of fibbing. You stifle and yawn and drowsily smirk taking his wrist and place it over your cheek, cuing him to hold your face. “I told you I would talk to you. I promised, Mur. This time I really don’t remember. I would tell you if I did.”

He sighs and he slightly relaxes as you lean into his touch and he strokes your cheek with his thumb, looking more convinced. “Alright….” He leans down and kisses your forehead sweety and you do a little happy tired wiggle. “Come on, I made some breakfast for us.”

“Alrighty~” You get yourself out of bed, quickly donning your tight pants for warmth. It may be warmer from the fire in this tent, but the temperature has most definitely gotten colder since you both arrived nearly two weeks ago. As you get on your socks, you see that Muriel was kind enough to make you some fish and eggs for breakfast. And you start to boil the kettle for tea. “Whatcha think, Love? Earl grey, or cinnamon chai this morning?”

“Hmmmm….” He looks thoughtfully glancing between the tea tins, then closes his eyes. “..I like them both... But Chai always goes good with fish… I think so anyway...”

“Oooo!! That’s true. Good call, my sweet~” You say with a toothy yawn and start to prep the tea cups. While the tea steeping, you take the time to stretch like you do every morning when you can, making your spine and hips pop satisfyingly. Muriel just shakes his head with a small grin as he watches you. He may attempt to hide it, but you are pretty sure he likes to watch when you do a stretch called ‘the pigeon’, it shows off how flexible you are.

Soon all three of you start to chow down breakfast that your hermit so kindly made for you in comfortable silence. Slowly you start to wake up, the food and the chai tea slowly bring you back to life this early morning. As Muriel swallows his last piece of fish, then stares very thoughtfully into the fire, a somber expression washing over him. “.....Should be leaving soon.” He faintly breaks the silence and you stop mid bite to listen to him. “.... Gilbert says the snow will be falling any day… don’t want to get stuck…. Asra would be sad….and so will his idiot.” Muriel's face looks almost sad when he says that. You can only imagine how hard it is to leave his new found family. But you both have obligations back in Vesuvia… you with the shop and him with the forest.

You lean into his arm and snuggle up to him and he leans back. “We’ll come back next year.”

He blows out sharply through his nose and brings his tea cup to his lips. “....Yeah, I know.”

You both lapse back into silence for a moment and you think about the middle of last night during the dream in the graveyard and Muriel’s parents. He said he didn’t remember their faces or voices….. but Una has a way of tapping into distant memories. “Hey…. Muriel?”

“Hmmm?”

“Do you remember when we first met Una in the graveyard?”

He nods firmly, unsure where you're getting at. “...What of it?”

“...Well .... I was thinking… about last night…. What you said…. about your parents….”

“Oh…..” He averts his eyes over to the other side of the tent and still looks a bit ashamed for some reason. “What does that have to do with the first day we met everyone?” He asks with a raised eyebrow, curiosity now in his gaze.

You look back at your warm tea and run your pointer finger over the rim. “... Well…. before we leave… maybe…. you can ask Una…. to show you…. your par—”

“--M-Madainn mhath!” Just as you were about to finish your thought, you hear a familiar little child’s voice outside the tent. “....Cousin!..... Not Cousin!!” It’s Ida. And by the second pair of feet stepping behind her, it sounds like she isn’t alone. Inanna's tail starts to wag as she hears her little voice and quietly whimpers in excitement. Who is gonna miss Ida more when we leave? Muriel or Inanna? You smile and chuckle to yourself. “....Are you both awake?” Ida calls out again, but a little quieter in fear that she may be disturbing you two.

Muriel and you exchange surprised glances, it’s still early in the morning. You shrug and you and Muriel stand up. “....Uhhh…. H-hang on, Ida.” Muriel replies, grabbing his shirt and throwing it on while you make yourself decent. He shoots you a quick glance before opening the tent and you nod once you fasten your corset belt over your long shirt.

Once the entrance is untied and opened, Ida steps in and Inanna goes straight for her, licking her little face and she giggles adorably. “Nana!! Tha thu a ’fàileadh mar èisg!! Hee-hee!” She hasn’t been wearing her hood lately, perhaps she’s becoming more comfortable in her own skin. Not very much to your surprise, Ava comes into the tent behind her, they look a little tired, evident with the small bags under their eyes. They were probably up all night celebrating after getting the approval from the elders, but they look so happy like a five ton weight was lifted off their shoulders. It looks good on them.

“Ida…. Ava.” Muriel says stepping aside to welcome them in with a nod. “Morning.”

Ava smiles up at him with a toothy grin, this is the happiest you have even seen them other than last night. You are actually excited to see them again. The last you saw of them they were being paraded around camp the night before and you didn’t get to say good night. You lunge forward and wrap your arms around them giving them a large hug, almost startling them (but they have almost gotten used to your mannerisms). “AVA!!!! How’s my favorite Master Illuminator doing today~?” You ask cheekily, moving them slightly side-to-side in excitement.

Ava’s face quickly flushes, yet they can’t help but keep a large humble smile on their lips as you call them that. You pull away so you can watch as they communicate with their hands. “... Not a master yet, Rhemi….. but I am officially an Illuminator now… that is thanks to you and Cousin Muriel of course.”

“We were very happy to help! Right, Love?” You turn your face towards him with a giddy looking grin.

Muriel smiles over to Ava and gives a solid nod, then reaches down and pats Ida’s head and she giggles again. She turns around, grabbing his wrist and starts to inspect it. He snorts, knowing what she is looking for. “Don’t worry.” He says showing her the bracelet she made him. “... I haven’t taken it off…. I promised you I wouldn't.” Her little cheeks are painted bright pink as she lifts up her arm and shows hers as well.

Ava makes a little muffled laugh at the two of them then turns their attention back to you. “Sorry to interrupt you both this early in the morning. Didn’t want to wake you.”

“That’s alright. We were just having some breakfast.—We have some tea left if you’d like some.”

Ava politely shakes their head. “We are here on business…”

“Business?” You repeat with your head tilted slightly a little surprised.

Ava scratches their neck and looks slightly sheepish. “.... The elders are all in the gathering tent this morning. They asked me to come and get you two. They want you and Cousin to join us.”

Muriel looks rather confused, still not understanding Ava’s hand language as you start to look uneasy. Ida tugs on his large wrist to get his attention. “Momma, Papa and the other old people��” Ava shoots their sister a particular scolding look and Ida tries to recover herself. “.... I-I mean e-elders—wanna see you and Newcomer in the big tent where we eat.”

You look over towards Muriel then back to Ava. “Wait…… the elders?…. Are…. Are we in trouble, Ava??”

Ava shrugs and scratches the back of their head, honestly, not really knowing what the deal is. “Elder Evander said to try not to keep them waitin’--.” Ava gently smacks the back of their sister's head to scold them. She apparently wasn’t supposed to say that part. Ida rubs where she was struck and blows a raspberry at Ava and they just sigh irritatedly.

“Sorry…. Take your time, but they are all waiting for you two.” Ava communicates sheepishly, noticing that you aren't fully dressed with your plum colored overshirt and blue skirt.

Muriel huffs slightly grumpily, from Ava’ expression, he could tell what they were saying. “Tell them we’ll be there in a moment.”

Ava nods and opens their hand up for Ida to grab hold. She takes it and they both walk out the door and Muriel closes it so you can get dressed.

Feeling nervous, you try to get dressed quickly, but fearing the worst. “What do you think that they want us for?”

Muriel shrugs, taking off his shirt to fasten his belts to his torso. “Maybe it’s about leaving. They may want us to get going before the snow starts to fall…”

“I doubt that… If we decided to stay, I think they’d be more than overjoyed.” Muriel pauses for a moment, and hides a little smile, he won’t admit it, but you know he agrees. “Uggh….. I hate that we have no idea why they are calling for us…… You know…. I get a feeling like I used to get into trouble a lot…. Maybe that's why I am so anxious.”

Muriel stifles a chuckle sounding a bit too amused. “Why doesn't that surprise me?”

“What does that mean?? I’m a goddamn angel~” You smile fakely innocently and bat your eyelashes.

“Pffttt!!! You’re a goddamn mess is what you are.” He throws his head back and cutely laughs with a large smile. “... Come on. Let’s not make them wait anymore.” He leans down and quickly steals a kiss and it makes you feel a little more calm.

“Well if we are in trouble, at least we're in trouble together.” You say with a smile, throwing your traveling cloak over your shoulders.

You follow your hermit out the tent, through camp and to the gathering tend, trying your best to not feel so anxious about all of this. As the two of you make your way inside the gathering tent, you notice that not only are Una, Gilbert and the other elders that you expected to be there; But Ronin, Tad, Ava, and Shona are also there. They are all sitting in a semi-circle on the blankets and pillows a new feet away from the fire. Una is holding her boy baby in her arms as he sleeps away peacefully.

“Muriel! Rhemi! Madainn mhath!!” Gilbert cheerily greets with a warm hearty chuckle like he normally does. He points to the front of the semi-circle. “Come, come, come! Have a seat!”

You take Muriel’s hand, feeling him starting to get a bit anxious as well and you both take a seat. He hates being front and center of everything. “We…. we aren’t in trouble…. are we?” You warily ask sporting a nervous smile.

Una jolts and sputters at the thought, waving her hand dismissively. “Oh heavens!——No!! We just have something we would like to discuss, that's all! Something good!” She then smiles reassuringly at you. “Sorry if we worried ya!”

You exhale a long relieved sigh and relax your shoulders and lean into Muriel’s side. “Pfffew!! Ohhh!!! Thank goodness…..” You mumble under your breath and Muriel quietly snorts at you.

Gilbert chuckles a little at your apparent relief. “OH! Before I forget…” Gilbert pulls out the journal from his fur cloak. “I read it all, Rhemi. Three times, in fact. It’s fantastic. I couldn’t ask for a better representation of the stories of old and of our history. It was very well written.”

“Thank you…. Can’t take all the credit, though! I had some help from Ava of course..” You nod towards Ava and they blush a little, seemingly at this point out of habit. Gilbert smiles over to his child, their face heats up even more and scowls as if to say, ‘please don’t look at me like that!!!’

He stifles a chuckle, shaking his large shoulders as he sets the journal down next to him and looks back to you and Muriel. “Well, I’m sure you want to know why we asked you both here this morning… We have something to ask of you both….” He pauses for a moment, what you could only guess is for effect. “...Since you two have been here, you have helped in so many ways…. Muriel helped us catch fish, fixed some things here and there, learned to grow plants with Una like your mother did, you even took care of the chickens and other animals during the mornings, you spared my young little warriors cubs to help them better defend themselves. Ha!! You even did patrol a few times when no one asked—you didn’t have to do that. Any of those things… But we greatly appreciate it....” Gilbert then reaches out his hand, gesturing to you and you stiffen. “....Then you, our Newcomer! You helped preserve our history and documented it accurately…. You’ve helped revive an old tradition of the Illuminators, and help my eldest child so they could pursue their dreams of becoming a storyteller. We just can't thank you enough. We are just glad that little cub has someone like you.”

You can feel Muriel’s body start to heat up and his heart pound, but he still holds your hand and doesn't show signs of letting go. Una chuckles softly at Muriel, lifts up her head and starts to speak.“.... Berty and I know you both have plans to get married when you go back to Vesuvia….. My husband, the other elders and myself have been discussing… and we have one more request before you both leave…. Many years ago, we had a tradition called the

Gabhail Ris Ceremony.”

You tilt your head, squinting your eyes thoughtfully. “.... ‘Accept…. it’…. ceremony?” You mutter the translation slightly perplexed.

The old woman that passes out the ale every night barks a quick amused laugh. “... Sometimes words have many meanings in the language of old, little one. Sometimes they can be lost in direct translation…. gabhail ris also means ‘acceptance’.” Her voice is shaky and has age to it, like the little old woman that you make a reumatizam potion for. She’s also very sweet and cute, but rather strong for her old age...

Gilbert nod then continues on after the older woman explains. “...Yes! Many many years ago, when a Kokhurian married someone from outside of our tribe, they would conduct a little ceremony. It was a way the betrothal’s family, mostly the parents, showed their child’s betrothal acceptance into the tribe—Not just as their spouse, but as an individual of the Kokhuri. Traditionally the ceremony was conducted the day or two before the actual wedding, but we know that you two are planning on becoming wed once you're back to your home in the north… we can’t be there when that happens, but… Well…. we wanted to ask if we could at least conduct this ceremony as a sigh of our gratitude—” Gilbert pauses and drops his gaze, a somber expression washes over his usually cheery face as a thought crosses his mind. Una notices his silence, peers over and places her hand on top of Gilbert’s and squeezes it. Her touch seems to snap him out of it. His eyes glance back up and he grins back at his wife and he clears his throat before pressing on. “..... Moonlight and I know we could never replace your parents, Muriel—We would never want to either…. But we care about you like you were one our own cubs….. That day we saw you at Aunt Khamgalai’s hut, well…. it felt like you were a missing piece in our hearts.... now that you're here, it’s like you’ve never left…. ” Muriel doesn’t seem to know what to do with that statement and his face turns a little pink. But you can tell, he feels the same way. “.... We also know that Glenna and Artturi would have loved Rhemi to death. And if they were still here——well…. they would have wanted this….. So…..” Gilbert trails off and peers back to Una, they suddenly place their right hands over their hearts and half bow while still sitting on their knees and Muriel starts to stiffen at the gesture, holding his breath. “..... Una and I want to host a Gabhail Ris ceremony in your parents honor.” Gilbert lifts his head up slightly to look at the two of you. “...That is, if it is alright with you, Muriel… It’s your decision afterall.”

Muriel quietly sits there next to you and flutters his eyes. He is completely baffled by this request. Honestly so are you. As you both sit there you can’t help but think to yourself,….They want to accept…. me? An outsider as their own??..... Muriel finally looks down at you and you both have no idea what to say. He flounders for a moment trying to understand everything. “.... You both want to make Rhemi….. an honorary… Kokhurian?”

Una and Gilbert straighten their torsos back up and she rocks her baby a little, shaking her head. “Rhemi wouldn’t be just honorary, she would be part of us. It’s more like… an adoption so to speak.”

Muriel’s eyes become a bit watery and squeezes your hand tight as he looks at you again for what to say. With one quick soggy eyed smile, he nods to himself and exhales sharply through his nostrils glancing back to Una and Gilbert. “I—…..we—….” He stutters a bit, still shaken at this beautiful gesture and he takes a deep breath. “.... It would be an honor if you accepted my br- br-....” His face quickly becomes red and panicked at that word, and he scowls grumpily at himself, drapes his arm over your shoulder and proudly hugs you in front of the elders. “—R-Rhemi….”  He then picks up his eyes and glances back at every elder with such gratitude. “Thank you….. both of you…. I mean all of you...” Your heart feels so fluttery and overjoyed as he utters those words. But then you smile uncontrollably at yourself a bit. Bride…. he was going to call you his bride. He still can’t say those words. Jeez, he’s too cute. Everyone’s faces light up and are so exactic and they all start to speak amongst themselves. Tad and Ronin are giddily huddled together trying not to cry sappily. They did say they loved weddings. Ava looks so happy and has this sweet looking emotion on their face as they look at you and Muriel, almost like a sense of longing. But Shona looks pointedly at her knees, she doesn’t look upset or angry like you expected. Instead she looks like she’s full of regret, she still won’t even look at you or Muriel or anyone else at all. Ava notices and places their hand on her shoulder and pats them comfortingly, but she still shrinks into herself.

Una hands the baby to her husband and takes the small bundle gently and starts to make silly faces at him, and he coos sweetly. Once her hands are free she makes a single clap, making a loud smack getting everyone’s attention once again. “Alrighty then!!! Now— there is one other thing…” The elders stop their chatting and listen to her carefully. “... Traditionally, Muriel’s siblings, usually with femine understands, would be assisting Rhemi to get ready for the ceremony….. However, Muriel doesn’t have any siblings. The other option is that a Kokhurian would volunteer to keep taking her into their care. So we need a person, of age, mind you, married or unmarried that would represent Rhemi. They will act as your Neach-Cùraim, or caregiver and will help you prepare for the ceremony, and teach you what to do.”

With a determined look in their face, Ava makes their way to stand up to volunteer. But suddenly Shona grabs their wrist before they get to their feet. The twin’s eyes meet and she tugs them back down, quickly whispering something in their ear. Ava's jolts and their face becomes rather red and they return to their seat looking complexly embarrassed hanging their head down low. Then, the tent goes dead quiet as Shona stands up to her feet. Everyone stares at her as she takes a large breath before moving her feet toward you and Muriel in front of the semi-circle. She still won't look you in the eye, keeping her gaze glued to the ground, but she suddenly places her right hand over her heart, and bows slightly, making her long braid fall off her shoulder. “... I’ll represent the Newc— I.. I mean….. Rhemi.” Ava and Gilbert’s mouths drop to the floor in utter shock and quickly exchange perplexed looks. Una eyes seem to gleam with pride as her lips sprout into a large smile, just beaming at her daughter.

Muriel’s eyes meet yours and the both of you are mirroring the same astonished expression as Gilbert and Ava. She…. wants to… help...me?... ME?! You flutter your lashes and look back to Shona with your confused big burgundy eyes. Her demeanor has completely flipped, normally incredibly confident, short, and snooty, she’s now very sheepish and humble. It is almost alarming. “You….you want to represent…. me?.... A-A Traveler?” You ask, tilting your head a little bit, not knowing if you are comprehending completely at this moment. Maybe…. is she misunderstanding?

She straightens back up and starts to play with her braid, opening and closing her mouth a few times, seeming to be struggling to form words. “I....I would be honored to represent you, Rhemi.” At last she answers. “...No one is more worthy of becoming a Kokhurian than you….I see that now……. And yes…. I would be happy if you let me…. If... If that's alright with—OOF!!”

Your body moves before you can stop yourself as you quickly stand to your feet and embrace her without a second thought. “I will be happy if you would, Shona.” Her cheeks light up a bright pink and for a moment; her face looks just like Ava’s has in the past; she continues to avert her eyes away from yours and her trunk is a little tense in your arms.

You realize that you may be making her uncomfortable and let go and awkwardly scratch the back of your head and everyone in the tent is rather quiet. Una looks to her husband and nudges with her elbow and he snaps out of the stupor. “Hmmm?—AH, Yes!!! Right, right, right!—Alrighty then!! Shona will be in charge of getting Rhemi ready! Good, good, good! That solves that problem!”

Una practically jumps to her feet, looking so completely thrilled with all of this. “Well, best be off then!! Let’s get you to my tent, eh? This ceremony won’t start itself, now will it??” Una and another woman around her age who is very heavily pregnant stands up and follows her. They then come on each side of you and loop their arms around yours and start to drag you out of the tent.

“Wait— you mean this is gonna happen now?!” Muriel interjects with a bit of alert in his voice, you both were not exactly prepared for this to happen right at this very moment.

Una turns to Muriel but keeps tugging you right along out of the large gathering tent. “Why yes, of course!!! The snow should be a-comin’ any day now! And you both said you wanted to head back north unless you plan on staying all winter here!”

“Wait— w-what’s happening now? Una?! What are we doing?” You mutter as you are being let out of the tent. Just as you turn back around to catch a glimpse of Muriel before exiting the tent, he looks a bit confused and rather uncomfortable making you feel concerned for him. “W-waits gonna happen to Muri while I’m getting ready??”

“Oh, don’t you fret ‘bout him, my dear! Gilbert, Shawn, Ronin, and probably Ava will be with him. They will be helping him get ready and keep him company while we get you all prepared.”

“Oh… wait, it’s morning, how long is this gonna take??”

“Well…. we have to bath you, do your hair, then get you dressed— we also need to get you fitted for a headdress and earring—Ohhh!! I’m so very excited! I haven’t seen one of these since I was a young girl! Glenna had a cousin that got married to a newcomer. Those two were so cute together!”

“.... So this is like a wedding?”

The pregnant woman giggles a little and speaks up. “No—Not quite. It’s more like Una said as an adoption into the tribe…. But in a way it's like a marriage to the tribe. Now don’t you fret, Muriel will be by your side. But we’ll be dressing you in traditional Kokhurian clothing during the ceremony.” You aren't sure what to expect at this point, but now that Muriel and you have agreed, there isn't any going back, so you decide to roll with it.

Ida comes running out of the tent with Inanna, both carrying a bucket of water. “Com’on, Nana!! We gotta fill the tub up in the other tent now!”

You can’t believe your ears for a moment and Ida and Inanna run toward the outside of camp. “... Did she say what I think she said?” You quickly open the entrance of the tent and see a wonderful looking sight of an extra large wooden Kokhurian sized tub. You can feel your left eyebrow slightly twitch. “..... You-... You had a tub this entire time, Una?!”

She chuckles a bit standing at your side. “Of course I do! Can’t bathe in ice water during the winter on this tundra, can we??”

For some reason you feel a little irritated at this discovery. “.... So…. your tellin’ me… I could have had an actual bath this entire time down here??” You ask, trying to hide your frustration.

Her arm drapes over your shoulder and she starts to laugh a bit more as you just stare at the tub with a rather disappointing look on your face. “Well—You should have just asked!” You can’t help but just groan semi painfully remembering how you were forced to use a bucket to wash your hair for the past couple of weeks. All you’ve been doing is dream of a nice tub to soak in. “Ha-Ha! Oh you poor sweet thing! Oi!! Don’t just stare at the damn thing! Get yourself undressed and get it!” Una says patting your shoulder as she leaves the divider.

The tub clearly has some years to it, it’s no royal tub like at Nadia’s palace. But it’s large enough to fit even the tallest Kokhurian, and it’s a sight for sore eyes. The water is steaming and you just can’t wait to get into it. You take your clothes and fold them to the side next to the divider and carefully step into the bath. The hot water feels so nice on your cool skin, you can feel your muscles unwind as you soak into it. It’s large enough that you can get your shoulders down into it. A happy sigh escapes your lips as you relax the back of your head on the side. This is so nice…… nothing can ruin my relaxation….

“Hey—” Shona's voice suddenly calls out to you behind the divider, making your eyes fly open and you shudder a bit. “... NewC—I mean, Rhemi?”

You drop yourself into the water and cover your naked body with your arms and legs….. Spoke to fucking soon….. You lift your chin up slightly so you can be heard and shyly answer. “Ye-yeah?”

“It’s me, Shona… do you mind if I come in? I have some flowers and soaps for the bath.”

“Uhhhhh…. oh??” The thought of her coming in actually makes you feel uneasy. You don’t really show your skin off to people normally. Muriel is the only one who has seen you naked… that is that you know about… But Shona did volunteer to help you after all. It may be incredibly rude if you deny her assistance. Besides….flower petals and soap would be nice. “Ummm…. o-ok I guess….. I’m naked though!”

You hear her snort a little. “Yeah I know you are, that's why I’m asking if I can come in.”

You feel a little stupid stating the obvious and you shrunk into your shoulders. “O-okay. Come in.”

She comes through the divider completely unperturbed by your nakedness. She isn’t wearing her long parka for the first time. Instead she’s wearing a pinkish-plum colored wrap around dress, with orange designs and yellow flowers embroidered on the collar. You’ve seen part of it when she pulled one arm out of her sleeve for the archery game, but you didn’t see the full dress until now. Hiding underneath the thick furs, she is rather stout and fit, but not as thick as you had thought, and she has an excellent and elegant figure.

Feeling rather embarrassed, you keep yourself covered tightly as she makes herself busy preparing the flowers amen soaps. She may not be bothered by your nude presents, but you curl into yourself trying to hide your body, hoping she doesn't think any less of you.

As she turns her attention to you noticing your tightly bounded self, she raises an eyebrow as she sprinkles the flower petals into the hot bath water and softly grins. “Please, don’t be shy, it’s just skin… All of Great Mother’s children have it one way or another.” She then sits next to the tub and places the bottles of soap and shampoos to the side on the floor. “... Kokhurians may hide our bodies under thick furs, but we are not afraid of it. Besides, we're both women.” Thhhhaat really doesn’t mean anything… You quietly snort, thinking to yourself, but you feel a little more comfortable and you unravel yourself. I guess it’s fine if she is with it. She sticks her hand into the water to swirl the petals around a bit and immediately pulls it out, her fingers a bit red. “Ssssshit!—Tha an t-uisge seo uamhasach teth!!” Her eyes finally meet yours and she looks very concerned, then realizes that your skin isn’t at all red or burning. She tilts her head and sneers out of habit. “—How… how are you sitting in that?! It’s scalding hot!”  

You smile awkwardly and scratch your neck. “Yeah….. I apparently have a high tolerance to heat…. a very high tolerance...”

She flutters her eyes and her sneer falls making her face soften looking impressed. “.... You are just… full of surprises. Huh?” She grins a little more.

“Yeah…. I’m told that a lot…..” You mutter bashfully. A bit of awkward silence takes over the tent while Shona starts to wash your hair. She really is taking her time and carefully washes your locks. Her longer nails feel very relaxing as she exfoliates your scalp and you start to understand why Muriel loves it so much when you do it for him. He even asks if you’d do it for him from time to time, you never mind either.

“Let this set for a few minutes.” Shoa says while getting comfortable sitting next to the tub, her arms draped over the side.

“Oh ok….” You reply with a half forced smile and you both lapse into very uncomfortable silence once again. You kind of want to start a conversation, but you have no idea how to do that with her… You don’t really know anything about her, other than she likes archery, making clothes, and taking care of her younger siblings.

Before you open your mouth attempting to ask a vague question, she surprisingly breaks the silence. “Can I say something without sounding weird?” She utters, finally glancing briefly into yours eyes.

You grin and shrug, relieved she broke the silence instead of you. “Ummm....Yeah, sure.”

Her eyes verse vertically and she stares uncomfortably down at your naked body as she rests her cheek on her knuckles. “... You have really nice boobs.” —HUH- What?!?! You start a bit when she utters that, but she looks like she’s very sincerely complimenting you. “... They’re a lot bigger than I thought they were. And they have a really great shape.” You shrink a bit into the water feeling a bit embarrassed again. “... I… I’m sorry if that was a bit too personal—”

You shake your head and try to relax. “N-..... No… it’s fine— it’s just—Uuuggghhhh. My friend, her name is Portia… She told me that too when we went shopping for swimwear this summer. It’s actually a really nice thing for someone to say…. but It's just very shocking when someone says it outloud… I never had a sister to tell me otherwise… Or at least I don’t think I did…..’”

Shona just snickers a little and leans her head into her arm resting on the side of the tub. “No wonder my cousin is crazy about you…” Her smile then falls and she averts her eyes toward the divider looking a bit ashamed. “..... Well that and you’re…. really patient….. and kind… and…. a better person that I am…”

Your heart drops when she says that, her tone filled with such regret and pain. “You’re not a bad person, Shona… I get why you didn’t like me. I remind you of someone that hurt you and your sister. And then Ava and I were keeping a secret from you…”

“It… It still doesn't excuse myself. You were right, the other day…. you didn’t hurt me or Ava�� All you’ve done is help my family...” She pauses for a moment as she starts to rinse your hair with a bucket. “Here, close your eyes.” You do it obediently and she carefully pours the water on her head making your hair cover your eyes. You shake your soppy wet air and push it back out of your eyes. Once all the shampoo is rinsed out, Shona uses her fingers to comb through your hair to make sure there aren't any tangles, “.... It’s strange…. A Traveler took my sister’s voice. But another one gave them another….. For a long time, I thought I was the death of her happiness. But we just were looking at it from the wrong angle.”

“Ya’ know….” You look at her very kindly as she returns to lean on the side of the tub. “... I never hated you for not liking me, Shona… I'm just glad you're actually speaking to me like this.”

She looks away very ashamed grabbing another bottle of nice scented conditioner and starts to pour some in her palm. “I don’t know how or why you’re…. You're so understanding, I would have punched me in the face by now. I was a real bitch to you…”

You shrug a little, thinking it over. In normal circumstances, you would have done just that now that you think about it. But you never did feel hostility when it came to the twins, especially Shona. “....Maybe it’s because I get how you felt….. I mean…. in a way… People can be awful.” Shona stops washing your hair for a moment and just listens to your words. “....I didn’t like textile merchants for a long time… I made my friend buy me new clothes for over a year.”

“What do you mean?....” She mutters.

“... A few years ago, I woke up and didn’t have any memories…. the person I was living with was my only friend and he took care of me. He taught me how to be a normal person again….. but he would always leave town for awhile and I would be sad… really sad…. This one time when he left, for some reason I decided to go to a tavern… it got late, and this…. this guy I met there offered to walk me home.” You stop for a second, fiddling with a flower petal before you start again, Shona listening intently to every word. “.... I’m not proud of it…. but I was lonely and a bit drunk. He kept complimenting me, made me feel like I was wanted…. So… we started to kiss—this is before Muriel and I really knew each other, by the way….” She nods a little and you continue. “—But then he wanted to take it further, and it…. it just didn’t feel right. When I said no, he suddenly became so angry….. he overpowered me and pinned me against my own shop door.”

A look of horror washes over Shona’s face and she nearly stumbles on her words. “.... What did you…how- how did you— what did you do?”

Thinking back, you snort a little and lightly rub your forehead. “I head-butted the shit out of him and somehow broke his nose—hurt like hell too! Then I threatened him with a spell, but it didn’t work. Luckily Muriel was there and… and he saved me. Since I woke up five years ago he had always looked out for me. I just didn’t know it until just over a year ago. Then we got to know each other more… and… well you get the idea….” You feel your cheeks heat up at the thought.

Shona looks down at her dress for a moment, her hands slightly trembling. “How… How are you ok with…. just talking about it like that? Like it was nothing?”

You sink your shoulders into the warm water and fiddle with another flower petal pondering rather hard about it. “I…. I wasn’t. Not for a long time. I tried to forget that day even happened… but then, somehow the jackass wandered in my shop. He didn’t recognize me at first… he was looking for a sleeping potion but I knew he had other intentions…. Muriel was there again. Good thing too. I may have done more than just hurt the bastard.” You look back over to Shona and she’s just trembling all over, looking so terrified for some reason, tightly gripping her dress. Eerily, you know that look on her face. Very slowly you reach out for her shoulder. “... Shona…?” She jumps at your touch, but doesn’t pull away nor is she disgusted with it. “....Those Highwaymen... You said that Ava was protecting you from them?” Shona eyes become watery like a dam about to burst. “They….. did more than beat you up… didn’t they?”

Tears overwhelm her eyes and she can longer hold them back as they roll down her face. “M-Momma and Papa don't even know. Only Ava does…. Please don’t tell any—”

Bursting your top half out of the tub, without thinking you throw your wet arms around her, unable to stop yourself. “.... It wasn’t your fault what they did, Shona.”

She is a bit shocked at the sudden embrace at first, but doesn’t pull away. “Y-Yes it was. I was the one that insisted on going near the Great Gate…. I— I even flirted with that highwayman—the leader! He posed as a merchant when we were trading…. he-... he saw all that we had. That’s why he and his gang raided our tents!! But…. They’re all dead now... Papa and the other fighters killed them. So why does it hurt so much still?”

“It doesn’t just go away, Shona. It fucking sucks what they did! It was wrong! It’s sickening!” A single tear drips down from your cheek.

“Yeah. It.. It does. I fought them off as much as I could but…. They still…” She shakes her head, unable to say it. But she doesn’t have to, you know. If she doesn’t want to talk about the details, she doesn’t have to.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone about it? You’re mother especially? How has she not seen it?”

“I… I don’t know… She asked if anything happened… and I denied it—and why would she want to relive that?”

“... Why would you lie?”

She shakes her head a little, seeming unsure herself. “....I dunno….. They-they almost killed Ava. That was enough for my parents to deal with. I didn’t want to make things worse… Maybe… Maybe I thought if I didn’t talk about it… It would just go away. Like it didn’t happen. As if it was just a bad dream. I… I don’t know. It didn’t seem important.”

You hug her even tighter. “...You’re important too, Shona.”

Shona shakes uncontrollably, but she places her hands over your arms, excepting the comforting embrace. “It’s been so long…. it shouldn’t matter anymore.”

“But it bothers you still. Doesn’t it? That should be reason enough to talk to someone...... Get it off your chest. This is too much to beat. Even for you! You are very strong, all of the Kokhuri are… but you don’t have to be alone with this, Shona.”

“.... How do I even ask for help for something that happened years ago? Besides what can talking do?”

“....It's not just the talking, Shona… it's the listening part too….”

Shona leans into your arms and softly weeps, it seems like she needed to talk about this. A few minutes go by and she finally gets a hold of herself, gently pulling away from your arms. “....Thanks for listening, Rhemi…..”

“Any time....” You lean over the edge of the tub and kindly smile, then see her dress is half soaked now. “I’m sorry I got water all over you.”

She wipes her stray tears away with her forearm. “It’s… It’s fine. Th.. thank you… I.... I really don’t deserve you being so nice to me. Especially the way I treated you since we met.”

You smile a little wider, conjure your magic and wave your hand instantly drying her dress. She glances down in astonishment. You can’t help but be empathetic towards her. “... Yes you do. I knew you had a reason. Just because you disliked me didn’t mean I didn't like you. Believe it or not, I’m bad at talking about things that bother me too. So is Muri.”

She snorts a bit, at last giving a small grin again. “Cousin Muriel- I can see, but... you? You seem so open. You bearly know me and you spoke about a horrific thing that happened to you.”

“Yeah. You would think that, huh?... I think I kept a lot of secrets when I was younger. I don’t really know why I know. But I think I remember that I had to hide a lot. Especially the person who I really was…. But with Muriel. I never feel like that. I can alway be myself… I can be honest with him. And he loves me anyway. But sometimes I forget about that. He made me realize that I needed to be more truthful too.”

Shona just gives you a knowing look and smiles a bit wider. “Cousin Muriel is lucky to have someone like you, Rhemi.”

You shift your legs a little to make sure they don’t go to sleep and mirror her smile. “..Ya’ know…. you can call me ‘Rem’ for short if you like. My friends call me that.”

Shona flutters her eyes and makes a very happy sounding huff out of her mouth. “Thanks, Rem.” At last, you can call Shona your friend. It feels good. Like Ava, she seemed to be secretly lonely, even both of their energy seems to be lighter like a huge weight has been lifted.

Shona stifles a soft giggle as you start to shiver because of your cold wet hair. “I think we need to rinse your hair again, you don’t want to catch a cold.”

You tilt your head and gently close your eyes. “That’s actually a myth—”

Suddenly Keavy comes into the divider with something in her hands. “Oi, Shona! Have you seen—” Quickly you sink even deeper into the tub with a surprised squeak and tightly cover your breasts.

“—Keavy!! Privacy! Ever hear of it?!” Shona snaps looking rather grumpy and stirn again.

Poor Keavy shudders and quickly darts back behind the divider. She also doesn’t have her parka on and is wearing a wrap around dress very similar to Shona’s. “—Ooooh! I am so sorry, Rhemi! I didn’t mean too—…. Wait—Shona?! You're her neach-curaim???”

“Y-yes…” Shona‘s cheeks start to heat up very slightly, but as a matter of fact face washes over her. “.... What about it??”

“N—nothing!!! I-I…. just didn’t think… that…… Know what, n-... nevermind. I guess I’ll come back later.”

“I-It’s just you…. right, Keavy??” You whimper.

“Yeah it's just me. I promise! No one else!”

“You can come in then. B-But I’m naked.”

“Yeah…. I got that part.” She softly chuckles as she comes back behind the divider and you feel a little silly at your obvious statement. “I have the clothes you made for her, Shona. Momma just put the final touches on them.”

You whip your head to look at Shona in astonishment. “Y-You made me a parka??”

She shrugs with a hint of blush on her cheeks. “Well, I can't take all the credit. Momma and a few of the other people helped. Great-Auntie Khamagalai taught Momma how to sew very quickly and she taught me the same. And it’s custom that your new family make you a traditional parka, headdress and earrings. Since you're not getting married I’m afraid it’s not as fancy, we didn’t have as much time to prepare anyways. It was a parka I was already working on.” You look back towards Keavy and she gives you a huge smile and opens up the parka. Suddenly you feel breathless at the sight of it. It’s the same one you saw that she was working on the other day when you peeked into Shona’s tent. It’s so beautiful, she even made it short enough for you to wear. Your eyes suddenly get watery and Shona jolts. “—It really was last minute… I’m sorry if its not to your liking—”

“No! That's not it!…. I…. I love it, Shona. It’s— it's perfect.”

Keavy eyes dart between you and Shona, looking very surprised at how you both are getting along all of a sudden, not really sure what to make of it. Shona notices, then glances over to her sister a little irritation fresh on her face. “What??”

Keavy blinks a few times and shakes her head. “N-… nothing…. It's just good to see you…. look like that, Sis.”

Shona blushes a little more and plays with the end of her braid. “Whatever…. you weirdo. So are you gonna help us or just stand there staring??” She mutters as she stands to her feet.

Keavy looks rather surprised. “You…. you want me to…. to help you?”

Shona sighs, sounding a little annoyed to grab a towel passing by her. “Well you might as well make yourself useful…. right?” She utters grumpily flicking Keavy’s forehead at her older sibling-like as she passes by her. “I’ve still gonna get her the dress I had to make the other day and I still need to finish the earrings and the headdress…. Could you help her rinse her hair?”

Keavy is stunned at her sister's actions, but actually doesn't need to mind at all. A large ginger smile washes over her lips “Yeah!—I’ll be happy to help.” She carefully folds the parka back up and places it on a small stool by the dividers and picks up the small bucket and stands knees over where Shona was sitting before. Keavy seems so happy at this moment. Shawn mentioned that Keavy and her were close at one point when they were younger. He also mentioned that she never let anyone help her either when it came to her duties and took on way more than she needed to. Maybe Keavy hasn’t seen this side of her in a long time. It must feel good to be trusted to help.

Keavy helps you rinse your hair out then hold your hands as you step out of the large tub and blankets you with the towel. Once dry, Shona comes back with the dress she was talking about. It’s not a wrap around dress like theirs, she seemed to have taken another dress and sown it together to make it fit you. Her skills just amaze you, she made it look like it was purposely made that way. As you donn it over your head, it fits perfectly, and hangs off of you very well. Shona and Keavy then lead you out of the divider after you're dressed and you sit next to the fire.

“Awwww!! You look nice in mauve.” Keavy says cupping her cheeks in girlish excitement and Una comes into the tent with her newborn tightly in her arms. Una stops for a second as she sees you and a happy smile takes over her lips. “Look Momma! Oooo I am so excited! I haven't been to one of our weddings before!—Well I guess this isn’t really one. But…. it’s close enough for me! I can't wait to see Cousin’s face when he gets a load of you after we get you all ready~.”

Your cheeks light up, feeling so nervous all of a sudden. “You—You think he’ll like me dressed up?”

Una tuts at your statement and kneels down to your level and gently tilts your chin up. “Of course he will!! You are a very gorgeous girl, Rhemi! I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I’d bet ya he would think you're beautiful dressed in a potato sack!”

Shona fetches a comb and starts to brush your hair, patting your shoulder comfortingly. “You’re gonna blow his mind.” She adds while Una stands back to her feet, taking the sleeping baby to a small crib to sleep.

“Thanks… Both of you…” You say with a little happy grin.

Suddenly without any warning, Tad comes bursting into the tent, heaving heavily like he ran as fast as he could from the other side of the camp. “RHEMI!!!” He cries out with such urgency in his voice, making everyone in the tent just jump in shock.

“—YES!! What?! What’s goin’ on??? WHERE’S MURIEL?!” You half shout as your heart drops into your stomach fearing the worst.

He suddenly doubles over completely out of breath. “Wha—?..... Oh! He’s—he’s fine.” He utters exhaustively waving his hand. “Ronin,…. Gilbert,...A….Ava and…. Shawn are…. with him… Pffew—”

“Then what is going on? Spit it out, man!!” Una chims in, looking just as shocked and worried.

Tad huffs out his sentence, but only a single word at a time. “Rhemi,.....Can… Can I… Please….. Do… Your…” He takes in a large inhale attempting to slow down his breathing. “....HAIR!!!!!!”

You flutter your eyes and start to relax and slap your forehead with your palm. What the hell Tad…

To be continued…..

Again, I am so sorry this is late. These last few chapters are gonna be hella fluffy. So, be prepared! Hope you all are staying safe and staying healthy! Mother Llama loves you babies! Enjoy my hot trash!!

[blazewatergem]

I’ve literally never done this before but I feel confident sooooo HERE WE GO!

Name: JoAnna. Not giving a last name, sorry.

Nicknames: JoJo is my most common one, but I’ve been called; Jo, Blaze, and “Weirdo” in a affectionate tone before. Please, please do not call me JoAnn. Don’t. Don’t. No go. Cease and desist. I would literally rather be cussed out.

Why do I have two capitals in my name?: It’s not a typo, fun fact! My name is literally spelt that way because I am the actual ship name of my parents, Joe and Ann. :D even more nerdy history, I was originally going to be named after Seven of Nine. Mum won out though 😂

Location: Michigan, USA. Where not even the Heavens themselves know WTF our weather is going to be like.

Birthday: April 19th. I’m an Aries officially, but I REALLY don’t act like one.

Romantic Life: I identify as bisexual. I am also polyamorous, it fits better for me. However, I have only burned roads in the legit dating field. As in, I had exactly one(1) boyfriend and he proceeded to cheat on me before moving away. Then I got asked out as a joke, multiple times, by multiple people.

Health: I can’t really talk much about it in real life, but I’m more than certain I have Anxiety. I can’t get it properly diagnosed(parents are old fashioned. Still love them, and doing my best to try and get them caught up with the Now but...yknow...). I’m certain I have this through extensive research, and the fact that I’m literally training to be a therapist so...Psych classes. Yeah. I also have PCOS, which SUCKS SO BAD. 😭 The comments I’ve gotten on my body type...bruh, I’m just trying to love myself. (PS: If you’re the type to make unwanted comments on people’s bodies the exit is right there. Bye)

Appearence: Look me up on Instagram if you want. I got some decent selfies. Trust me, you already know the user name.

Occupation: College Student. Currently planning on majoring in Psychology to become a therapist, as I’ve been told I’m a good listener and I’d like to help people.

Least Favorite Subject: Algebra. Math. I just can’t do it. My body rejects thee.

Favorite Season: Fall. I love the colder months. Which makes my birthday ironic. At least the weather gods of Michigan occasionally gives me snow.

Fun Facts About Me:

I hate bugs in real life, but bugs in media I ADORE. Like I will SPRINT from a bee but I’ll study bugs in horror movies like they’re works of art.

I get scared and paranoid so easily but I love horror so much. Monsters are so much fun!

High School was, funny enough, better to me than my younger years in school. In Elementary, I dealt with people making fun of me about EVERYTHING(My dog, the fact that I’m a bigger girl, my love of fantasy) but in high school, everyone was super supportive! I made real friends there, and we’re all still close!

I have had one dog in my life. His name was Buddy, middle name Mojo, and he passed away roughly a year ago. I still miss him, and we have a tree planted out back in memorial.

In Middle School I had one friend who actively called me Shoelaces because of that old Tumblr post.

My final year of High School, because of how much I love Halloween, I bought two huge bags of candy and just...gave out pieces to whoever wanted some. My art class hailed me as a Queen, the teacher thought it was hilarious, and my favorite moment was how they told me to keep the Whoopers because I love those. I agreed, then proceeded to open up the second bag they didn’t know about. When they saw second bag, I think the laughter reached the second floor. 😂

I have trouble staying focused, so sometimes I vanish from fics unexpectedly. I promise, I’m never going to abandon anything I write. It’s just...really hard to focus on things. That’s why I start so many projects. That way I always have something to work on. At least that’s the idea. Questionable on whether that’s working 😂

Another funny High School story is that I was in a mock trail because I wanted to try out Law for a potential career. Found out the hard way arguments are...NOT something I can handle. Not even in a professional setting with no shouting. We won though! :D

I can’t eat cucumbers. They legit make me sick.

And I think that’s all I got! I got other funny stories, and I’m sure I’ll remember other stuff later. Normally, I hate talking about myself. On here though...I feel like I can really be myself.

😊 Y’all are awesome!!

[five-rivers]

Scarecrow/Grave Robber

I feel like I told whole bunch of people I wouldn't continue Unearthed. Here I am, continuing Unearthed, like a liar. But not finishing it. Because I can't decide how I want this scenario to end.

All y'all'll have to wait 'til the next event for another continuation, because for the last two Ectober prompts I'm doing completely different things.

Sorry.

.

.

.

Scarecrow/Grave Robber

.

Detective Collins looked down at the body on the autopsy table. He'd looked at bodies before. Corpses, rather. He and Patterson were APPD's homicide team, and did a lot of death investigations, even if Amity Park hadn't had an actual murder for years. A single casre of involuntary manslaughter, yes, several instances of assault, yes, a good number of accidental deaths, yes, murder, no.

Apparently, the knowledge that a so-called permanent solution to a problem might not be all that permanent, and that the problem might come back with superpowers was enough to put a damper on that kind of thing.

The corpse wasn't exactly a normal one, and it hadn't come to police attention in the normal way. Still, Collins was just doing his job.

So why the hell did he feel like a damn graverobber?

"Got anything for us, Molly?" he asked the ME.

"If you mean a cause of death, that's a hard no," said the red-haired woman. "If you mean a whole bunch of weird stuff, then yes. This is the strangest body I've ever seen. I think I'm going to have to call out for a second opinion."

Collins and Patterson exchanged looks.

"I think you'd better not," said Patterson. "This is the kind of thing that should stay in Amity Park."

Molly eyed the other woman shrewdly. "The rumors are true, then?"

Collins cleared his throat. "What rumors?"

"This is Phantom's body."

"Where did you hear that?" asked Collins.

At the same time Patterson said, "So he claims."

"The paramedics told me," said Molly. "It's been all over the hospital."

Great. As if this case wasn't 'interesting' enough. "What's so weird about the body?" he asked, bringing them back to the topic at hand.

"Well, first off, half of it's missing."

Collins looked down at the body. As far as he could tell, all of it was there, even if it was far from adult-sized.

"I know what you're thinking," said Molly. "I get it. I didn't notice at first, either, not until I took the x-rays. His bones are half as dense at they should be. At first I thought that he just had some kind of bone disease- that would make identification easier, right?- but then I started weighing other parts of him, and his everything only weighs about half as much as it should for a teenager of his height."

"Are you sure that's not just because of decay? Or because he was burned?" asked Patterson.

"Yes, I'm sure. He's pretty well preserved actually."

"Is he?" asked Collins, dubiously, looking at the blackened and whithered corpse.

"Yeah. What you're seeing here," she gestured at one of the corpse's arms, "it isn't skin. I know he looks burnt, but he's actually got all his layers. This is something he was wearing. I've sent a sample out for analysis, but I think it's mostly plastic and cloth."

Patterson sighed. "Guess that rules out burning to death, or someone trying to burn the body afterwards. What could have caused the, uh, halving?"

Molly shrugged. "Might have to do with how he died, or becoming a ghost. I don't know. I only deal with the bodies of the dead, not their spirits. You'll have to ask the Fenton, or the GIW."

"Anything else?" asked Collins.

Molly shrugged. "I found a lot of ectoplasm residue on him, and something that might be lichtenberg figures, but I won't know for sure until I can get his clothing off, and I'm not sure we want to do that until we figure out what happened to them and what they're made of."

"Right," said Collins. "Good call."

"Everything else is in here," said Molly, handing the file to Patterson. "But, just so you know, he does have the proper height, age, and body type to be Phantom."

"Any que-" the phone in the back office rang, cutting Molly off. She groaned. "Hold that thought." She ran off into the other room and shut the door.

"Sooooo," said Patterson, playing with the end of her braid. "Who gets to interview the Fentons?"

"Both of us," said Collins, looking at Molly's report. She hadn't written anything about how long the kid had been dead.

"Aw, you're no fu-"

The temperature of the already-cold room dropped, and all of Collins' hairs stood on end, indicators of an agitated and very close ghost. Both Collins and Patterson had their ectoguns (standard issue for APPD) out in second.

A ghost shimmered into view on the other side of the examination table.

"You need to stop this," he said, green eyes boring first into Collins', then Patterson's. "People are going to get hurt."

"Is that a threat?" asked Collins.

Phantom recoiled as if slapped. The shock faded, and his face settled into a more standard offended scowl.

"No, of course not. It doesn't make it any less true. So stop."

"We can't."

"Why not?" asked Phantom, aggrieved. "It isn't like this is about justice. I don't need justice. It was an accident."

"Because we don't know who this is, and we don't know who you are," said Collins. He did not add that, even if the body on the table had belonged to Phantom, they could not take his word that his death had been an accident.

Phantom threw up his hands. "I'm the guy who's been protecting Amity Park from ghost attacks for the last two years! And that's my..." he faltered. "My, um. My c- My body," he finished quietly. He took a deep breath, and some of his earlier fire came back. "Why would I lie?"

Collins could think of dozens of reasons, up to and including Phantom being the killer, though he doubted the young ghost had a murderous bone in his body. Either of them.

"It would really help," said Patterson, "if you could come down to the station to be interviewed."

Phantom's expression softened. "If it would help-" he broke off and shook himself. "I'll think about it." He frowned down at the body, looking rather ill.

"Is there any proof you have that this is your body?" asked Collins, slowly, more cautious than Patterson. He remembered hearing somewhere that ghosts didn't like being reminded of their deaths.

Phantom shifted slightly, and his gaze slid away from the corpse. "Other than knowing you had found... it, and being able to feel it? Not..." He trailed off, rubbing a circle into the palm of his left hand. Jerkily, he tugged off the glove. He kept his hand curled tight, and half hidden, as he stared down at the ground. Then he spread out his fingers, and thrust his hand at Collins. "This," he said. "It'll be the same on... it... as me."

In the center of Phantom's palm was a burnt-in star. It had seven points that faded out to lightning bolts as they twined up his arm, disappearing under his jumpsuit.

"Is that from when you died?" asked Patterson.

All the lights in the room flickered, and the the ghost hissed before vanishing. A light bulb near the door burst in a spray of glass.

The temperature returned to normal levels.

"What the hell, Patterson? You don't ask a ghost about their death. And what was the whole 'it'll really help' thing?"

"Sorry," said Patterson. "I know, I know, but how often do you get to interview the victim of one of these things?"

"Literally all the time. We do assault cases ninety percent of the time."

"When you put it that way..." Patterson grimaced. "The 'help' thing... Well, ghosts are supposed to be governed by their Obsessions, right? I took a class on that, a couple of months ago. Anyway, there's big speculation that Phantom's Obsession is heroism, or helping people. I thought maybe I could use it. It almost worked. You saw how he considered it."

"Yeah," said Collins. He rubbed his face, thinking.

Phantom said he could feel the body. How much could he feel? If he could just tell what was happening to it, that wouldn't be so bad. But if he could feel it like it was still his body? That sounded like torture.

Molly walked back into the room. She frowned. "What happened?"

"Phantom decided to pay us a visit. Say, Molly, I know you don't want to strip off his clothes, yet, but if you could just clean off his left hand..."

.

"So," said Collins, drumming his hands on the steering wheel. "Let's recap. What do we know?"

"The body is the right age, sex, and size to be Phantom, and has the same scars as Phantom," said Patterson. "The body is really weird and has a lot of ectoplasmic residue on it. Molly can't tell how long it's been dead. Forensics thinks it's been there two years, based on soil settling and a picture search. The cairn only started showing up around then, at the end of summer."

"Which is before the ghosts started to be a big thing," added Collins.

"Which makes the ectoplasm even weirder."

"And now, we're consulting with the only ghost experts in town who aren't the GIW to find out what could have caused that."

"But, unfortunately, said ghost experts are also the only people in town who had access to ectoplasm before the ghosts showed up."

"Which means they're suspects," finished Collins, moving from knowledge into theory. He sighed. "Of course, since Phantom claims to have buried his own body, he could have left the ectoplasmic residue."

"It's also possible some other ghost hunter did it," said Patterson. "The GIW did exist before the ghosts became a problem. Or it could just be a natural result of turning into a ghost."

"Right," said Collins. "So, who's going to ring the doorbell?"

The two detectives looked up at the front door of Fentonworks. Everybody knew what happened to people who rang the Fentons' doorbell.

Patterson sighed. As the more junior of the pair, she knew how this was going to pan out. "I'll do it."

She got out of the car, and went up the stair. Collins followed, but stayed a safe distance back.

With an air of resignation, Patterson pressed the doorbell.

Surprisingly, the door opening did not herald a flood of green goo. One of the Fenton children had opened the door. The boy. An unidentifiable expression passed over his face before he turned and shouted, "Mom! Dad! The police are here to see you!"

Odd. How did he know Collins and Patterson were detectives? They didn't have their badges displayed.

He scampered off as Jack Fenton bounded to the door. "Hi there!" boomed the big man. "Are you here to talk about ghosts?"

"Yes, actually."

.

The Fentons, once you got past the goo, were actually very hospitable. Maddie brought out tea and cookies, and sat the detectives down in the living room.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked.

Collins and Patterson exchanged a glance.

"We were wondering," said Collins, "if there is any way to tell if someone has become a ghost by looking at their corpse."

Maddie clicked her tongue. "That's a common misconception. People don't become ghosts. They leave ghosts. Ghosts are impressions on ectoplasm, not people."

There was a very faint, unamused scoff from above, and Collins looked up to see the Fentons' son crouched behind the banister of the stairs. He noticed Collins' gaze and fled.

Interesting.

Meanwhile, Jack and Maddie's explanation was winding down. "But to answer your question, no. There's no way to tell if a person's death produced a ghost unless you encounter the ghost. The body would be completely normal. Is this about the body you found in William Park?"

Collins frowned. It was easy to forget how sharp the Fentons were.

"Yes," he said, deciding it wouldn't do any good to hide the fact.

"And you think it's ghost related somehow?" pressed Maddie.

"A ghost claimed the body was theirs."

"Hm," said Maddie, thoughtful.

"Well, it isn't impossible for a ghost to form with the Obsession of finding the person that murdered the human they are modeled on," said Jack. "I'm actually surprised you didn't encounter one sooner."

"The ghost in question wanted us to stop investigating," said Collins, watching their reactions. He wondered if he was revealing too much, but he really did need more information about ghosts and he refused to go to the GIW unless it was absolutely necessary. He'd talk to the cults (there were many in Amity Park, several of which were dedicated primarily to Phantom) first.

Maddie frowned. "That can't be right. What ghost was it?"

"Phantom," said Collins.

Jack and Maddie were already shaking their heads.

"That's impossible," said Jack.

"There are record of Phantom going back to the beginning of human history. Farther, even." Maddie got up and walked to a bookshelf, where she pulled out a large heavy book. She thumped it down on the coffee table, and began to thumb through the pages. "Here, look. This town in China even used effigies of him as a kind of 'spirit scarecrow.' Apparently he would show up periodically to fight 'evil spirits.' Ghosts. Just like now."

The dolls on the page did bear a shocking resemblance to Phantom. Maddie turned the page, and another. Each one had pictures of Phantom, though all in different styles, and clearly all from different cultures.

"There aren't a lot of these, true," said Maddie, "and when we were in college, a lot of it was dismissed as a hoax. But they existed when we were in college."

"So either our Phantom is the same, or he's imitating the legend," said Jack, "and the legend was never well known."

"We prefer the former theory, obviously." She sat down and leaned back in her chair. "Now, as for the body, normally, if this was any other ghost, I would say that they caused the death, but..." She pursed her lips, then shrugged. "As dangerous and inhuman as Phantom is, I doubt it. We are fairly confident his Obsession falls in the lines of 'protecting people,' and that wouldn't allow murder."

"He's definitely involved somehow, though," said Jack. "It's possible he's protecting the killer."

.

"I feel like we know less now than we did before," complained Patterson.

"Yeah..." said Collins. "Did you notice their kid? Did he seem a little off to you?"

"Maybe a bit," said Patterson, playing with the end of her braid. She paused, looking back at the Fenton house. "You know, I saw this theory on a website once," she said, slowly.

"What kind of website?"

"Conspiracy, I think, but it could have been a cult one. You know how it is. The theory was that the Fenton's son was secretly Phantom. The kid who posted it got laughed off, of course, but... Y'know, I think it was picked up by a cult or two. They're hard to keep track of. They keep having those schisms, and merging, and, you know."

"The Fenton kid would have had access to ectoplasm before the ghosts showed up," said Collins. Could his theory about Phantom masquerading as one of the living be correct?

"I guess anyone slimed by the Fentons would have, too, though," said Patterson.

"Right. Wonderful. You want to talk to the Cult Division first, or start interviewing kids?"

"Is the 'Cult Division' still Cameron Daily and his computer?"

"You know it is."

"Let's get started on those kids."

.

"Well," said Danny talking to Sam and Tucker over the Fenton Phones, "they're getting clues, but they're buried in so much junk that they're useless, or they're completely inconclusive."

"That's good, right?" said Tucker.

"Not if they think I killed someone!"

"It doesn't quite sound like that's what they think," said Sam. "Even your parents don't think that."

Which had been really nice, actually. Which was sad. But, hey, odd manifestation of post-human consciousness was a step up from evil manifestation of post-human consciousness. Right?

"They think I'm covering up a murder, then, Sam. That's just as bad." His tail twitched and flicked as he rode invisibly on top of the detectives' car. Ever since his... that... had been dug up, he had felt uneasy. Anxious.

Restless.

Basically, what was dead people were supposed to feel like when their remains were disturbed.

"I can't just go on letting them think that," said Danny.

"Don't. You're just going to get yourself into more trouble," cautioned Sam.

Danny bit his lip. "It's just an interview," he said, eyeing the police station. "It isn't like they can arrest me."

He flew in.

[98prilla]

Changing Tides

Next

Previous

AO3

...

“What is taking so long?” Roman muttered, tail flicking the water impatiently.

           “Look.” Logan replied, pointing up the hill. Two small figures were making their way down the slope. One was the easily recognizable form of Patton. The other was slouched, hands deep in pockets, following after Patton a little hesitantly as they reached the pebbly beach.

           “Hey guys! So, Virgil, officially meet Logan and Roman!” Patton exclaimed, pointing to the two mermen in turn. Virgil’s eyes flicked up, quickly taking in the two of them before looking back down at the ground.

           “Heya.” He gave a little salute, leaning against the rocky outcrop that ran around the beach.

           “Well, I’m just gonna slide this on and get in the water. Don’t mind me.” Patton said, slipping easily into his seal skin. Virgil watched wide eyed as he instantly morphed into the form of a seal. It gave a little bark, then hopped the few feet to the water and glided away, splashing playfully as he went.

           “woah. That was wild.” Virgil commented, eyes still fixed on where the seal vanished into the water.  

           “So, everything healed fine? Nothing sore or aching? Nothing wrong?” Logan asked, looking over Virgil carefully for any sign of injury.

           “Yup.” He popped the p, rubbing the back of his head. “thanks, by the way. For rescuing me, I guess. For… for helping. I can’t imagine it’s safe for you, being around boats and stuff.”

           “Yes, well, some of us can’t resist showing off. You’re just lucky he happened to be nearby.” Logan replied, pointedly looking at Roman, who rolled his eyes.

           “So overdramatic, Logan. That’s supposed to be my department. I’ve been around longer than you, and I haven’t been found out yet!” The mer argued, though it was clear they’d had this fight before and never resolved anything.

           “I’m going to go catch up with Patton. If you’ll excuse me,” without waiting for an answer, Logan flicked his tail and was gone.

         “Sorry about him. Not much of a social person, he’d rather be cooped up in his cave all day studying. Sometimes it’s like grabbing a jelly fish by the stingers, trying to get him out into some open ocean.” Roman commented, looking the kid up and down, frowning slightly.

           “Your hair wasn’t purple before, was it? It looks good, don’t get me wrong, but-“

           “Yeah. Yeah it’s purple now, for some reason. I don’t know why or how so…” The kid trailed off, kicking a pebble.

            “Easy there bud, didn’t know it was a touchy subject.” Roman replied, hands up in surrender. Virgil sighed.

           “sorry. It’s just… just been a lot.”

           “I’d imagine. Mermen, selkies, magic, most humans couldn’t handle it.” Virgil shrugged.

           “Is it so hard to imagine? I mean, there’s tons of the ocean we haven’t explored yet. Of course there’s going to be stuff we don’t know about. Like, I don’t know, giant squids were just legend until the 1920s. And you guys are clearly smart, so you can hide from divers or whoever.” Virgil replied animatedly, gesturing with one hand to help make his points.

           “Obviously. It’s just most humans think they’re the smartest things around, and if they haven’t conquered something or discovered something by now, it doesn’t exist. A load of arrogant pricks, most of the time.” He muttered, flushing as he realized what he’d said. “Not that you are, I mean, you seem fine, for a human, not that you being a human makes it not fine, I mean-“ He cut himself off before anything else could escape from his mouth, noting with some satisfaction that at least the human was grinning now, clearly having found his stumble amusing.

           “I’m the last one who’ll argue against humans being pricks, I can promise you that much.” He replied, smile fading a bit as something flashed across his eyes, a memory of something. He sat down, leaning back against the crag, looking up into Roman’s face for the first time since they’d started talking. “its not like they’ve ever done anything for me.” His voice was bitter, and he bit his lip as he idly grabbed a stone, running his thumb over its uneven edges to keep himself grounded.

 “I’m sorry.”

 “Why? Not like any of it is your fault. Should blame my mom, I suppose, for leaving and not taking me, too. But what's the point? He was a scumbag before she left, too. If she got out, good for her. Probably knew I’d just weigh her down.” Roman winced at the dullness seeping into Virgil's voice, the pain he tried to hide in his clouded eyes. Then Virgil stood, hurling the rock as far as he could, letting out a long breath, before wiping his eyes, turning back to Roman.

 “So. What do you do? I mean, Logan heals, Patton turns into a seal, sooooo what’s your thing?” He elaborated, at Roman's confused stare. Roman blushed, tail flicking the water uncertainly.

 “Don't freak out. I’m a siren.” Virgil stared at him for a long moment, before he stifled a snicker.

 “Aren't sirens supposed to be all ‘oh look, I’m so beautiful, come swim with me, sexy sailor', not… giant whale tail?” Roman gasped in indignation, flopping onto his back on the beach, hand flung dramatically over his face.

 “So ignorant! I have been slain by your words, young human! My pride is forever destroyed!” Virgil covered his mouth with his hand as he laughed at the merman's dramatics, standing so he was leaning over Roman's face.

 “… whoops?” It was Roman's turn to laugh at the bright smile across the human's face, his smirk infectious as he began to giggle again, flopping to sit down in the sand next to Roman. He shifted so he was on his stomach, hands under his chin, tail idly splashing the water.

 “Siren songs are what lure sailors close. And it’s not always sex" Roman wrinkled his nose, getting another snort from Virgil, “it’s whatever the human wants most. And our song only affects humans when we sing specifically to lure them in. Usually it’s harmless. Still, I don’t sing when there’s anyone around. Don’t want to risk it, mostly." Virgil bit his lip, thinking it over.

 “You… you weren’t singing this morning, were you?” Roman shook his head immediately.

 “No. Especially not near the island, now that you’re here. Why?” He shrugged.

 “I… had a weird dream, I guess. It was like… like the ocean, was singing to me. Trying to lead me somewhere, show me something. It sounds crazy now, I guess. But I thought your singing coulda caused it?” Roman squinted in thought, tapping his chin.

 “wasn’t me. And no other sirens are nearby, either. Could have been just a dream, I suppose.” Virgil's shoulders hunched a bit higher as he sighed, looking out at the waves.

 “that's when this changed.” He commented, indicating his eyes and hair. Roman’s eyes narrowed further.

 “well it definitely meant something, then. Logan might have an idea. He’s spent pretty much his whole life studying different beings, like us.”

 “Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. How many are there? Different beings I mean. Are we talking other mer people, or like, sea serpents? Kraken? IS THE LOCH NESS MONSTER REAL!?” Virgil asked excitedly, jumping to his feet, eyes wide.

 “Please. Nessie is a hoax perpetrated by a bored human who took pictures of a log.” Logan scoffed, head appearing above the water, settling on a rock in the surf. “sea serpents on the other hand, are real, and, contrary to human lore, quite timid and friendly.” Roman groaned, Virgil practically bouncing up down.

 “ohmygod cryptids are REAL!” He exclaimed giddily, fist pumping the air.

 “Um, did we not count? Cause, literal merman, in front of your face. But sure, get excited about some sea snakes, or whatever.” Roman pouted, making Virgil laugh.

 “yeah, yeah, you’re a pretty fish man, now shut up, Logan was about to tell me everything.” Roman squawked in offense, Logan looking a bit flushed at the sudden intense attention directed his way by the young, very enthusiastic, human. Still, he wasn’t one to pass up giving a lecture, and soon Virgil was wide eyed and completely enthralled by Logan, raising his hand when he had a question, Logan answering each one patiently, his own enthusiasm growing as Virgil soaked up every word.

 “well. Glad to see the both of them loosening up.” Roman jumped at the voice beside him, splashing Logan and Virgil with a face full of water, Patton devolving into giggles at their water logged expressions of annoyance and shock.

 “Sorry, kiddos!” Virgil groaned, pushing his wet hair back out of his eyes, though his lips still hinted at a smile.

 “It’s fine, Patton. You would think given his size, he would be less of a scaredey cat.” Roman huffed, sitting up and crossing his arms.

 “You’d think given your size you wouldn’t be so rude, and yet you hold enough attitude for the both of us!” Logan raised an eyebrow.

 “Alright, alright, enough arguing, guys.” Patton cut in.

 “He started it.” Roman grumbled, making Virgil smirk.

 “I don’t care who started it, I’m finishing it.”

 “Fiiine. I suppose I should be off, anyways. Need to spend a lot of time looking for food, comes with the size.” Roman explained to Virgil.

 “And I have sea creatures to check on. No supernatural beings, just normal ones.” Logan added, sensing the question on the tip of Virgil’s tongue.

 “Well, stop by again soon, guys! I should get your new books in any day now, so you have to come back now.” Patton teased, smiling as Logan waved, Roman flashing a grin, before slipping back beneath the waves, as if they’d never even been there.

 “Wait, how do you get books out here? Or food? Or… anything?” Virgil asked, following Patton back up the hill.

 “Oh, I have an arrangement with a captain of a boat from the mainland. He brings supplies and anything else I request, if he can get it, once a week. I pay him for the items and his time. He’s a fae, so he doesn’t care much about the odd goings on around here, and he knows better than to touch my coat.” That made Virgil shake his head, because why not add fae to the list of stuff that’s real?

 “should… I be worried about him?” Virgil asked, trying to keep his voice from rising an octave at his nervousness, pulling at his sweater sleeves.

 “Oh, no, you’ll be fine. If you’re nervous, just stick close to me, kiddo. I won’t let anything happen. I think he’s a bit lonely, honestly. Not many people around who he can really talk to, and fae don’t exactly trust each other.” Patton waved away his concern, and he bit his lip, thinking, unconsciously hunching in on himself as they reached the door, and he curled his legs under him on the chair near the fireplace.

 Why was it so… easy? It had never been easy, nothing in his life was easy, yet trusting Patton, believing Patton when he said nothing would happen, was so easy it was terrifying.

 Nothing good, happened to him. Nothing right, or happy, or positive ever happened to him. So why was Patton here, why was Roman, why was Logan? What had he done, to deserve to be found by them? He’d given up. He didn’t deserve a second chance, not when he’d chosen to give up, like the coward he was.

 “Virgil?” He flinched back, realizing he’d bit his lip so hard it was bleeding, trying to ignore the sting of tears pricking his eyes. He pressed his lips together into a hard line, trying to hold back the ache that suddenly tore at his chest and made him want to scream. Because he wasn’t worth that soft concern. He shouldn’t be here right now. It should be some other kid, who’d had it way worse than being hit, tossed around every now and again, not him, pathetic, little, useless, him.  

 “i don’t deserve this.” He whispered, looking down. “I don’t deserve to be here, to be… happy, here.” He felt Patton slowly come around the front of the chair, kneeling so they were eye to eye.

 “Why do you think that, kiddo?” Virgil swallowed hard, shaking his head.

 “I’m bad. I… ruin everything. I never do anything right. I’m a coward. So many people have it so much worse, and handle it all so much better, I-"

 “hey. You’re not bad, alright? I know it’s hard to believe, but you didn’t deserve any of the pain or hurt your father put you through. And you’ve been plenty brave, taking all this weirdness in stride. You were plenty brave when Roman rescued you, from falling over board.” Virgil winced and pulled back further into the chair, a desperate laugh bubbling up from his throat.

 “Brave? That wasn’t brave! He didn't rescue me, he stopped me! I’m not some cast away, Patton, I didn’t fall over board! I jumped! I jumped, okay?!” Patton drew back just slightly at that, eyes wide, and he wanted to stop before the selkie saw how pathetic he really was, but he couldn’t force the words back, now that they were coiling his throat. “I couldn’t take it anymore, I couldn’t get out any other way, I’d tried and it was hopeless and nobody would have even noticed, so what would it matter? What’s the point, if no one even cares to notice!? So why not?! Drowning's supposed to be peaceful anyway, once the body stops fighting it. Just drifting away. Sounded better… better than living with him for a single more day.” He gasped in a heaving breath, eyes wide as he looked through Patton, deflating almost as quick as his anger had risen. “I’m not good. How can someone who would do that ever be good? I tried to kill myself, Patton. I wanted… I wanted to die. How pathetic is that? How… how useless, right? I can’t do anything right, can’t even die without fucking it up. All I had to do was drown, and I couldn’t even manage that.” He said hoarsely, swiping at his eyes.

 “Oh, kiddo.” Patton murmured, trying to reach out, but Virgil shrank back, an almost feral hiss escaping him, as he lunged, shoving past Patton and throwing open the door.

 His world was spinning, tilting, and he needed out, needed air, needed to be alone, because he couldn’t let anyone see him fall apart, or he’d be hurt again, hit or kicked or grabbed and slammed against the wall for being a weak, no good waste of space, who was lucky he could haul a rope or he wouldn’t even bother to feed him, every once in a while. It didn’t bother him that they were scraps from the table, that he was treated like some unruly stray dog, that needed to have its lessons beat into its too thick skull, its what he deserved, after all, if he’d been better it wouldn’t have to happen, if he’d been better he’d have managed to run away properly, if he’d been better his mother would have taken him with her, if he’d been better he would have done everyone a favor and never existed at all.

  He wanted to scream, to rage, to rip at his hair, to claw his own skin to shreds, he wanted to bite his tongue until he choked on the copper, he wanted to stop, to stop feeling, stop caring, stop hurting, and he barely realized he'd stopped breathing before his vision went black and he crashed to the ground.