#that got longer than i expected it to but hopefully it helps someone at least somewhat

[honeybeefae]

Perfection (Azriel x Reader)

KINKTOBER DAY SEVEN: BODY WORSHIP

Summary// After a month of tormenting yourself about your body, you finally decide to confess to your mate what you are feeling. You expected him to roll his eyes or dismiss it as silly, but you should know the Spymaster will always surprise you. 

(A long time coming but I hope you guys enjoy this. It’s the comfort I need, and I hope you all know how beautiful you all are, no matter what that silly voice says to you.)

WARNINGS: 18+, smut, body worship, body insecurities, soft sex, dirty talk, pet names, multiple orgasms

It was early in the afternoon as you chatted with Feyre, leaning against the counter and mindlessly washing a cup. Both of you had just finished with training, and afterward, you had brought up a topic that had been giving you some grief, hoping your friend could give some insight into the situation.

“What are you talking about?! You are stunning, Y/N. I would kill to have the body you do!” Feyre said, looking at you as if you had grown two heads. “Has someone said something to you? Did Azriel?”

“No, no!” You almost shouted, shaking your head vehemently. “Azriel seems…happy. A little distant but he’s got stuff he’s been busy with. It’s just a me thing, ya know?”

She put down a towel and grabbed both of your hands, squeezing them while giving you a look of sympathy. “I understand, I do. We can all be insecure about things but what I find most hopeful is talking about it, especially with my mate.”

You looked away and sighed, chewing your lower lip. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to talk to him about your issues, but you were worried that if you brought it up, maybe he would see what you saw. Azriel had never given you any indication he didn’t love your body the way it was so you already felt like you were overreacting, but you couldn’t help it. You hated looking in the mirror nowadays.

“Y/N,” Feyre called softly, making you look back at her. “Talk to him about it later tonight, okay? Even if it’s just a small sentence, at least get the conversation going.”

Her words settle in your mind for a minute before you nod slowly and pull her into a hug. As the two of you got back to work, you went through a game plan for tonight. Azriel was sure to be tired after his mission, but hopefully, he would have enough time to listen to your qualms and ease your mind. If only a little.

You were in the bathroom, staring at yourself in the mirror when you heard the door to your bedroom unlock. It was late, most everyone already in bed, but you had stayed up to wait for your mate. He quietly walked into the room and began to strip off his clothes, noticing the light coming from the bathroom door.

“Y/N?” He whispered quietly, slowly pushing the door open to peek in. You turned and gave him a small smile, nodding for him to come in. “Why are you still awake? I thought you would have been asleep by now.”

“I had something I wanted to talk to you about.” You confessed, playing with the material of your thin nightgown. “It’s something that’s been bugging me for a while…”

Azriel’s face went from confused to concerned in an instant, not even bothering to remove the bottom half of his outfit as he stepped further inside. “What is it?” He asked, his voice lower than before. “Has something happened? Did someone hurt you?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that.” You assured, gazing up at him. He was always so protective of you, ready to defend your honor or cut down anyone who would even think to harm you. It was the kind of devotion most people could only dream of having. 

He waited for you to elaborate, but the words were stuck in your throat, refusing to budge. The courage you had been feeling was fizzling now that you had to articulate your worry and the longer you stood there, the shorter his patience grew.

“Y/N?” He prodded, eyebrows drawn together tightly.

You sighed and turned to face the mirror again, your eyes immediately picking out everything that you thought was wrong or ugly. It was causing that nasty voice in your head to grow louder, and you suddenly wanted to run and hide under your covers, to shield yourself from everyone.

Large, warm hands ran down both of your arms tenderly. He appeared behind you in the mirror, his wings slightly lowered, as he watched you tear yourself apart. Azriel knew exactly what the look meant in your eyes, could feel your pain through the bond as if it was his own. It reminded him of the way he saw himself and his scars.

“Oh angel,” He murmured, rubbing small patterns into your skin. “Is that why you’ve been hiding away?”

A nod was all you could muster as you attempted to hold back tears. You didn’t know how he figured it out so quickly. Perhaps you were right about what you saw, and he was just waiting for you to say something first. You felt the humiliation rising in your stomach from just how pitiful you were at the moment.

But your mate was having none of that. Azriel turned you around and tilted your head up to look at him, his thumb tracing the outline of your lips as the soft candlelight sparkled on the unshed tears in your eyes. He couldn’t understand how someone like you, who shone brighter than the stars above, could ever doubt such beauty. 

It pained him that you could even question it. 

“I know what it’s like to hate things about yourself, Y/N.” Azriel swallowed, glancing at the scars on his hands before going back to you. “More than most.”

Both of your hands immediately went up to cover his own, stroking them softly as you had done hundreds of other times in the past. The corner of his lips tugged into a small smile at the sweet gesture. 

“But trust me when I tell you that I have never seen someone as enchantingly beautiful as you.” He said earnestly, brushing away the tear that was falling. “The way your hair shines in both the sun and moon, the way your nose scrunches in your sleep, I fall more in love with you every day. My entire life…I have never known such happiness or yearning until you showed up.”

His words were wrapping around your heart like a comforting blanket, shielding you from the doubt that had been plaguing you. It made you want to weep from just the pure love that was flowing between the bond. 

“I can’t go into your mind and throw these thoughts away but, if you let me,” Azriel whispered while dipping his head down until your lips were a hairsbreadth away from each other. “I want to show you just how beautiful you are.”

You knew if you said no that he would understand, that he would cuddle you for the rest of the night and whisper sweet nothings in your ear until the sun rose. He would only do what you were comfortable with, but while a small part of you wanted to hide away again, you wanted to get past this. You were halfway there, and with the look in his eyes, you couldn’t resist him.

“Please.” You swallowed, squeezing his hands that were still holding your face. “Show me.”

He closed the distance between the two of you and kissed you gently, as if you would break underneath his fingers. Your eyes fluttered closed while you pressed closer into his body, moving your hands to wrap around his neck. 

The voices in your head were trying to dig into you, but it was like Azriel’s mere presence was shielding you from them, making you only able to focus on the taste and feel of him. 

“I love you so much.” He confessed against your lips, his hands running down your body slowly. You gasped when you were suddenly lifted into the air, wrapping your legs around his waist instinctively.  “You have no idea how long I waited for you, Y/N.”

Azriel pushed the door open with his foot as he led you to the bedroom. The large windows were still open, white curtains billowing in the wind as the stars and moon shone brighter than you had ever seen. He kissed you once more before gingerly laying you on the bed.

The air was growing thicker by the second as he crawled over top of you. You raised one of your hands to cup his face, but he stopped you, intertwining your fingers while pushing it back by your head. 

“Keep it there, angel.” He said before kissing you once more, his tongue sliding in easily to tangle with your own. You let out a pretty moan at the sensation, your thighs rubbing together in pleasure as he let go of your hand to start toying with the straps of your nightgown. 

“Azriel…” You whispered, turning your head to the side as he started to make his way down your neck while the straps fell easily down your arms. He smiled against your skin at the sound of your voice, the tingles it sent down his spine at how you were already pleading for him.

“I promise I will take care of you…” He mumbled against the valley of your breasts, pausing to listen to your fluttering heart. “But first I want to enjoy what utter perfection you are.”

You felt your stomach and heart flip at the sheer honesty of his words, looking down to see him staring at you with nothing but love. It made the moment reach a new high as he sat up straighter to cup your breasts in each hand, massaging them with his calloused fingers. Your nipples started to harden under his ministrations, your sex becoming even damper.

He bent back down to tease the tip of your right nipple, covering it in his spit and biting the nub until you let out a small cry of pain and pleasure. 

“Do you know how much I dream of these, Y/N?” Azriel growled as he switched sides, his fingers pressing harder into your skin in an effort to control himself. “I feel as if I can never take my eyes off of them, the way they make your outfits tighter or when your nipples harden from the cold air. It makes my mouth water every single time.”

“I-” You tried to respond but the longer he continued to tease you, the harder it became to speak.

Azriel was never this vocal during sex. Occasional grunts and teasing words were normal, but he had never lavished you with this much attention, this much praise, and you were drowning in it. 

By now your panties were soaked as were your thighs. The chill of the night was causing your entire body to be raked with shivers of anticipation, but your mate was nowhere near done with you yet. His body went lower as he abandoned your breasts in favor of your stomach and thighs, biting and nibbling his way until it felt as if he was trying to mark every inch of you as his. 

“Stars above, I cannot get enough of your body.” He groaned into the night, pulling your legs apart so that you were exposed to him in the most intimate way. You knew how wet you are, sure that you were already dripping onto the satin sheets, but for the first time in a long time you didn’t try to shy away from his gaze.

And he noticed, sending a smoldering look that was filled with both lust and praise as he ran two fingers down your folds. The featherlight touch had your hips raising slightly to try and get more friction. 

“Az…” You sighed while wiggling your hips. He licked his lips and withdrew his touch in favor of throwing your legs over his shoulders, shivering as the bare skin of your calves rubbed against his wings. 

“Shhh, I’ve got you mouse,” Azriel promised while nestling between your thighs. “I’ll make you feel good, don’t worry.”

You had barely risen up to see what he was doing before the feeling of his tongue against your cunt sent you falling right back into the covers. He explored every crevice of you, letting the unique taste of your excitement explode on his tastebuds as he took his time.

Both of your hands fell to grip the bed below you, already feeling like you were going to float away from the pleasure. Azriel’s fingers tightened around your thighs as he flicked the tip of his tongue over your clit swiftly, holding you in place as you cried out his name.

His eyes were dark, darker than you had ever seen, as he watched you over the top of your sex. Your eyebrows were furrowed, hair messy, and your mouth in a perfect O as he drank down every bit of wetness he could get. 

“Yes, yes, yes, please!” You moaned as the hot coil of pleasure started to coil in your lower abdomen. He moved away from your clit so that he could tease your hole, both of his hands moving from your thighs to grab under your ass so that you were practically suffocating his face.

“Let go, Y/N, let me taste this beautiful cunt.” Azriel grunted into you, going absolutely feral on your dripping pussy. He went back to your clit and started to alternate between sucking and flicking, his cock leaking through his leathers as your voice grew higher and louder. “Give me everything.”

It only took a few more moments of his unrelenting attention to make that coil snap, your orgasm ripping through your body like a hot star. Your voice cracked at the end of his name from how hard you screamed, juices gushing onto his face and the bed below as you ground against his face. 

Azriel was more than happy to let you use him, committing the visual of you right now to memory. He didn’t slow down until your body melted into the sheets, gingerly removing his hands from your cheeks and slithering back up your body.

Your eyes were hazy, as well as your mind, as you clumsily reached for your mate and kissed him passionately. The taste of your sex was still on him, but you could care less, teasing the hair on the back of his neck as you twirled your tongue lazily against his. 

He was so caught up in the kiss that he didn’t feel one of your hands move from his neck to the tops of his wings, his entire body jerking when your soft fingertips moved against the membranes of the skin. 

“Tonight is supposed to be about you…” Azriel whispered though he made no move to stop you. You gave him an innocent smile while trailing down, down, down, tracing tiny patterns as you went. 

“I just wanted to return the favor.” You teased, feeling his hardness pressing against your hip. “You know how much I love to touch them, to taste them.”

The visuals and touches were already pushing him close to the edge. And so, with the training of an Illyrian warrior, your mate snapped himself back into line and used his shadows to pull your wandering hands back above your head. You immediately pouted, but he shook his head, opening your thighs back up for him as he held you prisoner.

“Nice try, little mouse, but I want to focus on you.” He chided while using two fingers to probe your entrance. “As much as I love the look and taste of you, it’s the feeling of your tightness that drives me wild.”

Your eyes widened when he stuffed those two fingers into the hilt without warning, moaning and squirming at how sensitive you still were. Azriel watched your every reaction with rapt attention, moving in and out at different speeds and strengths to find what made you feel the best.

He used his other hand to untie the top of his pants, freeing his cock and immediately fisting it as he played you like his favorite song. You could hear just how slick he was with his own wetness, your face flushing when he hit that spongy spot deep inside you.

“Fuck,” Azriel snarled, his balls heavy with the need to release as you suddenly squeezed around his fingers. “You are driving me insane, Y/N. You’re going to be the death of me.”

His words were only making you hornier, your hands fighting against his restraints as he hit your button with every thrust of his fingers. Another orgasm was quickly growing, faster than you could vocalize, but he knew. He always knew.

Azriel made sure to clench the base of his cock to prevent him from cumming too early as he pushed you into another orgasm, biting the inside of his cheek as you clenched around his fingers needily. 

“Azriel, oh gods!” You moaned as your eyes rolled back into your head, your body going completely fuzzy from the euphoria of his actions. He barely waited until you were finished before he withdrew his fingers and lifted you into the air, his shadows disappearing.

“I want you to ride me.” He growled, sitting against the headboard, so his wings didn’t get crushed as he placed you on his lap. It took you a moment to understand him, your muscles feeling like jello, as he waited patiently. “I want to see every inch of your perfect body swallow my cock.”

You didn’t need to be told twice as you reached down to line himself up with your hole. It was going to be sensitive, but as you started to sink down and saw his face turn into one of pure rapture, all of your pains went away. He stretched you out wonderfully, your pussy taking him in until you bottomed out.

“Ahh-” Azriel moaned, gripping your hips to resist the urge to piston in and out. He was already close, and when you gave an experimental bounce, Azriel swore he would cum right then. “Ride me, Y/N. Take what’s yours.”

Each of your hands gripped onto his shoulders as you began to bounce and grind against his dick, your tits rocking with every descent as you threw your head back in pure pleasure. He watched you with hooded eyes, drinking in the sight, before attacking your neck and chest with kisses and bites.

“So beautiful,” He purred into your shoulder, helping you move with him. “Every inch of you is amazing.” 

One of his hands moved to your lower back as your moans grew louder, just the feeling of his cock throbbing deep inside you making a third orgasm grow. You raised your head back up and grasped his face, crushing your mouth against his as he started to top from the bottom.

His mouth was hot against your own, nipping your bottom lip as he pulled you chest to chest. Azriel moved his lips to your ear and started to whisper praises of all kinds to you, sucking your earlobe as he called you his “pretty little whore”.

And as your rhythm started to falter, he was quick to flip you around onto your back, one of his hands gripping the headboard behind you as he rutted into you with everything he had. It felt like he was going to split you in two, but that was the last push you needed, your entire soul shattering into a million pieces as you screamed his name.

“Azriel!” You yelled, back arching off of the bed at the same time his wings flared widely, his own deep voice joining yours as he emptied himself inside of you.

“Oh fuck, Y/N.” He sighed as his own orgasm took his breath away, his body tingling from his head to his toes. You could feel him leaking out of you from just how much he had cum, but it only turned you on more.

He waited for a moment before pulling out, watching his cum go down the crack of your ass and onto the bed with a tired smirk. You tried to regain control of your breathing as he fell beside you, watching you lovingly.

“I think you just set a new record for me.” You joked breathlessly, turning your head so that you could look at him. Azriel smirked while brushing his knuckles down your sweat-soaked face.

“I’m more concerned with how you’re feeling.” He said softly, making your heart melt. You turned fully towards him and gave a small kiss to his nose, gazing at him with utter adoration.

“I’m much better now…and that’s all thanks to you.” You cooed, your eyes growing tired. “Thank you for everything, Az. I love you so much.”

Azriel pulled you into his body and kissed the top of your head, mumbling into your hair, “I love you too.” As you started to fall asleep in the warmness of his embrace. After a few minutes, when he was sure you were asleep, Azriel looked to the sky and said another thank you to whoever had gifted you to him.

He would never be able to repay them for such a precious, beautiful mate like you. 

[writtenbymisunderstoodnerds]

Best day of my life (USWNT x ADHD reader)

Song: The one my heart beats for by Greg Steinfeld

This took longer than I expected and I got a bit carried away, but it's finally done!

I love this series, but I think it might be coming to an end. I'm open to doing one more part if you guys might want one, let me know and feel free to send me some ideas!

Warnings: Panic attack, self doubt

Part One, Two, Three, Four

Words: 7.3k

"What's got you so excited today?" Tierna asked sitting down next to me on the field. While I had tried to tone it down a bit, I was very hyperactive today. My hyperactivity was always worse when I was excited, there was pretty much nothing that could be done to stop it. Ally had to go back home for a month for work. We hadn't been apart for that long since her promotion so I was suffering. She was coming back today so it was safe to say I was extremely excited.  

"Take a guess."

"Something to do with your better half I'd say. Is she coming back today?"

I did a little wiggle before flopping back onto the grass, "Yup. A month is way too long to not be with her. Oh! It's also her birthday in a few days! I love her birthday because it's the one day I get to go all out spoiling her and she can't complain about it." 

"You two are adorable, I love how excited you get to see her. We should do a team dinner to celebrate Ally's birthday. Is the wedding planning all done?"

"You guys would really want to celebrate her birthday? Um also mostly, we just need to sort out wedding rings and honeymoon."

Tierna looked at me like I had just said the craziest thing ever, "You're marrying her, we see her almost as much as you and she is amazing. Y/n, Ally is family now, of course we want to celebrate her. What rings are you going to get?"

The problem was, I had no idea what my ring was going to be. I had been scouring the internet and countless jewelers for anything that might work, but I was drawing a blank. Rings were a sensory nightmare for me, I could wear them for a short time before they started driving me crazy. Ally had gotten me a few rings over the years, mostly fidget rings. She knew I liked them and wanted to try adjusting even though I always ended up wearing them on a chain. It was my wedding ring though, I wanted to be able to wear it normally, to show off that I was married.

"I don't know. I think Ally is going to use her engagement ring since she loves it so much. I really struggle with wearing rings so we were talking about getting me a fidget ring though a fancier one to fit as a wedding ring. That way I can play with it and hopefully it'll help me get used to it. Ally wouldn't care if I wore it on a chain, but I want to wear it like normal people do, I want to show off I'm married T."

"Hey, don't go comparing yourself to others okay? I think a fidget ring is a great idea and it's awesome you're trying to adjust even if it makes you uncomfortable. Just be patient with yourself and if all else fails, just get it tattooed."

"That's not a silly idea. Thanks T."

---

"Hey Y/n, wher-"

"Don't have time," I yelled running away from Emily. Ally had messaged saying she was downstairs. I was very excited to see her, but I also wasn't going to let her carry her bags up herself. Whenever we went anywhere, I carried her bags. Ally had messaged me when she was already in the lobby, so I was in a rush to beat her before she could come up. 

Before Ally had the chance to turn around I wrapped my arms around her waist and spun her around. She squealed, well at least the person I was currently spinning around squealed. As soon as I heard it, I realised it wasn't Ally. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else."

The women laughed, before turning around to reveal Ally's younger sister. When you see her face on, they look nothing alike, but behind they look very similar, "Hi Y/n."

"Dani? What are you doing here? Where's Ally? I'm very confused."

"Ally's over there getting her key. I'm in town for a work conference so figured I'd come see Ally for her birthday." By this point, the coaches just automatically roomed me alone, but put down for two so Ally could stay with me. There had been a bit of push back when Ally first started traveling with me, though it was quickly realised that I played better when sharing a room with Ally.

After giving Dani a proper hug, I pulled away to go find Ally. There was no way I was going to repeat what just happened so instead I tapped Ally on the shoulder once she was clearly identified. "A warning would have been nice y'know, I just picked up and spun around your sister. Like I'm not complaining, I love your sister, but I love you more."

"I know, I saw and it was hilarious." I pouted. Ally giggled, pulling me into a hug and subtly kissing my neck. We didn't go out of our way to hide our relationship, but we were more careful in public. Things were easier without the public interfering, I also didn't want Ally to have to deal with the meanness of some of the fans. "I'm sorry my love. It was a last minute plan."

I pretended to think about it for a second before smirking, "Hmm I'll forgive you later when we're alone."

Ally blushed, but pulled me over to Dani without a word. I could only guess what was going through her mind. Dani had become like a sister to me pretty much as soon as we had met. So despite my initial embarrassment, I was actually really excited to see her. She was only a few months younger than me and much to Ally's dismay, she did match my energy most of the time. Ally loved that we got along, but it meant she had to deal with two crazy people. 

It was too early for dinner yet so Ally, Dani and I hung around in our room for a while catching up and talking about wedding stuff. Dani made me sit through the torture of looking at her possible dress choices. Ally loved it, but I would rather be doing anything else. Dani literally sat on me though, so there was no other option. 

Ally was taking too long to get ready so Dani and I decided to wait for her in the lobby. I had spent too much time sitting down and was feeling restless so I ran down the stairs while Dani walked behind me, complaining she wasn't an athlete and to slow down. I just flipped her off and ran faster, knowing full well that if Ally or Ali found out I would be in trouble.

Dani had decided to chase me after flipping her off. Some of the team were hanging around the lobby so I made a beeline to Ali and hid behind her, though Dani hadn't given up. I managed a few laps around Ali before she grabbed my shirt, allowing Dani to catch me. The team watched on as Dani tickled me, while I tried to fight her off. It wasn't an easy task given the full blown fits of laughter, but I managed to get her into a headlock. 

Eventually, Dani pulled out of my grip, doubling over in laughter while attempting to catch her breath. I followed suit, not realising how many eyes were currently on us. "Uh hey Y/n and mystery women who's not your fiancé."

My head shot up as I realised how strange this probably looked to them. "Right, this is Dani. Dani the team."

"Hello team."

"Where's Ally?" Ali asked, still looking very confused.

"She was taking too long to get ready as always so we left without her. We're always waiting on her, such a slowpoke." Dani answered, getting raised eye brows in response. A few of the team looked like they wanted to say something, but held back. It was then I realised I hadn't actually told them who Dani was.

"Dani is Ally's sister by the way. She's in town for work so we thought we'd go out for an early birthday dinner for Ally."

"Ohh that makes more sense. Nice to meet you Dani."

Ally caught my eye, looking stunning as always. I was really looking forward to having time alone with her. Not necessarily for inappropriate reasons, but to cuddle with her, the lazy make out sessions before we fell asleep or when we woke up and just being close to her. Dani flicked my ear, running out of my reach. Ali dodged me as I ran around her, moving to the safety of where Ally was standing, "Are they always like that?"

"Unfortunately. Dani matches Y/n's energy pretty much constantly so it's like having a hyperactive Y/n, times like 10 because they feed off each other. Dani is like the sister Y/n never had. They're happy, so I'm happy even though it's exhausting sometimes. I'll give them a few minutes to tire themselves out before stopping them, hopefully they'll sit through dinner."

"Good luck. The team and I were thinking we could go out for dinner to celebrate your birthday. Either on the day or a day around it. What do you think?"

"I would love that." Ally's smile caught my eye, distracting me from where I was going and making me run into Kristie. She stopped me from falling, but all my attention was still on Ally. It was one of her genuinely happy smiles, something that people wouldn't be able to tell apart from her regular smiles. This smile was more lopsided and toothy, the corner of her eyes crinkling just a bit more. Besides her love filled smile it was my favourite smile. Kristie and Dani followed my eye line when I didn't say anything for a while, "What are you looking at?"

"She's looking at Ally of course. She's in looooove."

"More than I ever thought possible," I mumbled, moving over to stand next to Ally. "I love you."

---

We had finished dinner a little while ago and had been walking around, but we all had to be up early so we dropped Dani at her hotel before starting the short walk back to ours. There weren't that many people around so my arm wrapped around Ally's shoulder, pulling her against me as we walked. "I love everyone and everything, but I'm really glad we're alone now. I missed you."

Ally kissed the spot under my ear, "I missed you too Y/n/n. Thankfully, I don't think I'll need to spend that much time away for a while."

"Good. Mmm I can't wait to cuddle."

"I believe you hinted at something earlier."

"Oh yeah, you giving me a massage to make up for not telling me about Dani."

Ally groaned, pushing me away, "You're such a tease."

I laughed, pulling Ally back into me, peppering her face with kisses, "I'm sorry."

"Nah," She pouted, walking away and into the hotel. I went to chase after her, but a group of fans outside the hotel called out to me. Interacting with fans was one of my favourite things to do so of course I went over. I knew she wasn't seriously mad or anything so it made me feel less bad about going over to them. Also, she was waiting just inside giving me reassuring smiles. Ten minutes and dozens of photos later, I made my way back into the hotel, following Ally into the elevator. 

My arms wrapped around her waist from behind, leaving light kisses across her neck. Sometimes, I felt bad that Ally had to deal with me being well known to the public. She never complained about it, instead keeping her distance and allowing me to interact as I wanted to. The guilt was hitting pretty hard right now though.

Once we were back in the room, Ally cupped my cheek, pulling me in for a slow, lingering kiss, "What's wrong?"

I shrugged, not meeting her eyes, "Nothing."

"Liar. You haven't said a word since you came inside, you got all soft and touchy suddenly so talk to me."

 "You're the best you know that? It can't be easy dating someone who's in the public eye all the time."

"You're feeling guilty again aren't you?" I just nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed. Ally straddled my legs, letting my head fall against her shoulder. "Y/n, I knew before we started dating that you were in the public eye and that once you got called up, it would only get worse. Maybe it's not always easy, but if I couldn't handle it, then I wouldn't have pursued you, let alone agreed to spend the rest of my life with you. You're respectful about it, you know the time and place to leave me to interact with them. Please don't feel guilty Y/n/n. Now, I know it's getting late, but I've really really missed you so what do you say we get reacquainted."

Once we were thoroughly reacquainted and cuddled up in bed for the night, I completed my nightly routine of scrolling the internet for my wedding ring. This time though I think I found the one. It was a simple black titanium fidget ring, engraved with shooting stars. They were subtle as they were black and flush with the surface. Ally absolutely loved stars so it would be a little reminder of her when we were apart. Another perk was there was the option to have the band width smaller which would be perfect.

I quickly rolled over toward Ally, making her look at me confused. "Baby I think I finally found my ring."

"Ooo show me." Ally grinned after seeing the photo, kissing my temple, "I love it. Stars because of me right?"

"You know me too well. A part of you for when you're not around."

"You're such a sap."

I cuddled against her side, leaning up to connect our lips, "Only for you Ally."

"Better be. Now we've got everything else sorted, we need to plan our honeymoon."

"Honestly, I don't even know where to start. There are so many options."

"Well, you've always talked about wanting to go back to New Zealand to explore the south island. Maybe we could do that? It'll be winter, but it'll be ski season."

"Wait really? That sounds amazing. It kinda fits, skiing was our first trip as a couple and it'll be our first trip as a married couple. I'll look into game schedules so we can book it."

---

Something anyone could tell you was that I was not in the slightest a morning person. I hated waking up early and would do everything to avoid it. That being said, there were three days in a year that I naturally woke up early for. They were Ally's birthday, our anniversary and since meeting Ally, Christmas. This morning I was awake at 7:30am because it was Ally's 27th birthday. It was too early to wake her up so I spent almost an hour enjoying cuddles before getting restless and sneaking out of bed to find breakfast for us. 

I peppered Ally's face with kisses. She groaned, shoving her face further against my chest, "Baby wake up it's your birthday!"

"Why does my birthday have to be one of the three days a year you turn into a morning person?" Ally groaned.

"Because I get to spoil you and you can't complain. Now I got you breakfast. I couldn't make it this year, but I found a cafe close by that had all your favourites so you gotta wake up."

Ally protested, but sat up anyway, taking the coffee with a sleepy smile. We ate breakfast in comfortable quite, some random show playing in the background. I just wanted to give her the presents I got, but I wanted her to enjoy her breakfast while it was warm so I waited impatiently. As soon as Ally finished eating, I pecked her lips before practically running to the cupboard where I had hidden them.

"Y/n, why did you get me so much? You know you don't have to."

"I don't have to, I want to so deal with it. Besides, it's only three things. You are an amazing, incredible women who deserves to be spoilt. I love you so much. Happy birthday my love."

"Thank you Y/n/n. I do appreciate it even though I don't like you buying me heaps of stuff. I love you."

"I know, now open them!"

In all honesty, I wanted to buy Ally much more than I actually did, but I knew she would feel really bad and not enjoy them as much. Instead I stuck with matching silver initial necklaces with a heart pendant, a star map of the night I proposed and a custom engraved keychain with a photo of me standing behind Ally, arms wrapped around her as she looked back at me with a huge grin. It was her favourite photo of us. These were all things that she had talked about wanting. Ally grinned, launching herself into my arms giggling. "You remembered. Thank you, I love them."

"You wanna know a secret?" Ally nodded quickly, "You know my memories shit so whenever you point something out that you want or talk about, I write it down in my phone notes so I remember."

"Really? You're so sweet Y/n/n. Put this on for me?"

I secured the necklace around her neck, leaving kisses across her neck and jaw before leaving a lingering kiss against her lips. "I have a whole day planned for you. Don't even ask because it's all a surprise."

We spent a while making out before moving to the shower and finally leaving the hotel. Ally went for a spa and massage session, while I went to get stuff required for a picnic lunch at the gardens. It was a little bit chilly, but Ally loved picnics so it was still perfect. We just used it as an excuse to cuddle the whole time. After the picnic, we walked around for a little bit before going to a board game cafe. They had a heap of board games you could play while you were there. While board games may not have been my thing, they were definitely Ally's and her birthday was all about things that she liked doing. That night, I took Ally to a restaurant where the team were waiting to surprise her. Of course we finished the night cuddled up in bed watching all of Ally's favourite movies. 

---

I felt multiple intense and overwhelming feelings as I read the text from an unknown number. 

Unknown: Hi Y/n, it's mum and dad. We're sorry it's been a while, but we've been thinking about you recently and wanted to check in, see how you're doing?

Unknown: We also heard you were getting married and wanted to say congratulations. We're sure he's lovely and can't wait to meet him. Maybe we can sort out a time before your wedding?

Anger, disgust, sadness, fear and many more emotions swirled around my head as all I could do was stare at the message. I didn't know how they had gotten my number, how they knew I was getting married or why they suddenly felt the need to reach out after years of no contact. There was nothing on my public social media about it and the only family I still talked to were a few cousins that had nothing to do with my parents. It was safe to say I was confused as hell and slightly scared at how they were getting information on me. They also knew I was gay, yet they still refused to acknowledge it, instead deciding to misgender my fiancé. 

I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to process it. The familiar tightness in my chest returned as my breath caught in my throat. The tightness that I hadn't felt in so long. It felt like I was drowning, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't catch my breath. My phone fell to the floor, catching the attention of some of the girls. They were saying stuff that I couldn't comprehend as a hand landed on my shoulder. I knew they were trying to help, but it just sent more panic through me as I shrugged it off and stumbled back. 

Arms wrapped tightly around me from behind, calming me down enough to realise it was Ali. I wanted my Ally, but Ali was helping enough to breath a little easier despite still panicking. 

"You're okay, I've got you Y/n. Ally is coming, but I need you to take some deep breaths for me. Just follow my breathing."

The more I focused on mine and her breathing, the easier it became. I found myself relaxing against Ali. The tightness in my chest slowly disappearing. A few minutes later, hands cupped my face, familiar lips leaving soft kisses across my face before landing on my lips.

"Ally," I whimpered, pushing myself into her arms. 

"I've got you my love. Come on, let's go back to our room."

Ally didn't question what had happened straight away, instead she held me tightly as I curled into her side and cried. All the feelings and memories from growing up came rushing back. It had been years since I cried over them, I couldn't help feeling stupid. They didn't deserve my tears. 

A hand ran through my hair and down my back, effectively helping me to calm down enough to stop the tears, but left me a hiccupping mess, "What happened Y/n/n?"

I handed her my phone, never leaving the safety of her side, "Messages."

She was quiet for a few seconds before my phone was thrown back on the bed next to us and I was held tighter, "Oh hell no. Don't even give them the satisfaction of a reply, they don't deserve it and you don't need to deal with this. We can just block them and move past this."

"I know that's what I should do. I don't want anything to do with them, but how did they know I was getting married? We haven't posted anything publicly and we don't know anyone who has anything to do with them. They also shouldn't be able to message, I blocked them. It scares me."

"Okay, I'll text them back and ask then block them. You're not going to have anything to do with it."

"Thank you Ally. I feel like this is a huge step back. I thought I had accepted the situation and moved past it, but I obviously haven't."

"That's not true. It was unexpected, they put you through hell and this was a normal reaction. You've made so much progress, this doesn't take away from that. I know it might have taken you back to times you don't want to remember, but you'll move past it. We'll work through this together."

"I love you."

"I love you Y/n."

It didn't take long for my parents to reply. In all honesty, they were probably waiting by the phone. They were likely delusional enough to think that everything they did to me would be forgotten and I would welcome them back with open arms. Actually, they never understood what they put me through so in reality they just expected to act like the last 3 years never happened.

"So apparently my gran told her church group I was getting married, showing off photos and everything. Someone from the group recoganised you as the daughter of someone they know from a different group and told them you were getting married. As for your number, apparently they just got a new phone and tried your old number. I guess they got embarrassed that they didn't know so wanted to make themselves look better. I'm so sorry baby, I didn't know they were connected in anyway. I'll talk to gran about keeping stuff to herself."

"It's not your fault, it's such a random connection. I don't blame your grandma either, she's just excited that her granddaughter is getting married. We can talk to her about it tomorrow or something. Can you tell them I don't want anything to do with them, then tell them to fuck off, block them and delete the messages? I don't want any reminder of this."

"Of course. I think maybe we should change your number so this can't happen again."

"That's a tomorrow job as well. For now can we just have a bath then cuddle and watch movies? After you please let the girls know I'm okay."

"That sounds like heaven. Let me call my boss as well and let her know I'm done for the day."

"No, you should be working. I'll be fine."

"That's not happening. You're more important than work."

Ally slipped out of my grip to call her boss and run a bath before coming back. I pouted, lifting my arms up, "Carry me?"

"Baby, I would love to carry you, but you're the strong one. You know I would drop you."

She was right, I knew it from experience. Doesn't mean I didn't pout the whole time I was getting up, "Ugh fine."

"Don't pout. I can give you a massage instead."

---

None of the team had been told the details of what caused my panic attack a few days. I hadn't wanted to bring it up again. Surprisingly, after the initial panic attack, it hadn't effected me as much as I expected. There had been a few nightmares to begin with, but Ally had stopped me from bottling it up and actually made me deal with it. 

Ali gave me a quick hug before letting me into her room, "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but you doing okay kiddo?"

"I think so. Ally's been a big help." Besides Ally, Ali was the person I trusted most, so I gave her a quick rundown on what had happened. Even if she tried not to show it, I knew she was worried.  

"Don't worry, even if they show up, they won't be getting in."

"Thanks Ali. I know I've asked a lot of you recently, but I have another favour to ask."

"You know I would do almost anything for you Y/n."

"Will you teach me how to dance? Ally wants to have a first dance, but I don't really know how. She knows and offered not to have one which I agreed to. I'm planning on surprising her though and want it to be perfect."

Ali smiled widely, "Of course I will. I really admire how much effort you're putting into this. I'm sure she'll love it either way because you tried."

Ali put some slow music on quietly in the back ground before standing in front of me, "There are two ways you can do it, either holding one of her hands as you more around or one persons arms around the waist while the others around the neck. Or you can do both depending what you're comfortable with."

Ali guided one of my hands so it was around her waist, hers looped around the back of my neck as she connected our spare hands, "Obviously you two will be closer, but you get the idea."

We moved around in small steps, swaying to the music as I focused on not stepping on her feet. It didn't work though as my foot connected with the top of hers, she flinched, but laughed it off. "It's okay, we'll keep practicing. You're doing great. If you step on her feet, just laugh it off and keep going. I'm pretty sure she won't mind because you're trying."

I stepped on her feet multiple times before managing to go a few minutes without stepping on her feet and we moved on. I was starting to relax by this point while also getting excited about dancing with Ally. Ali looped her arms loosely around my shoulders as mine went around her waist. We mostly just swayed this time as she gave me pointers on where I could rest my hands or head on Ally. "I want you to spin me."

"What? No I can't do that."

"Yes you can, when we do the first dance, move your hand up, spin me around then bring me back in either into the same dance or into the second one which ever feels more comfortable."

As I attempted to spin Ali around, I brought her back in too quickly and ended up head butting her. "Shit, I'm sorry. See I can't do the spin."

"Yes you can, we'll keep practicing. It'll feel easier with Ally because she's a bit shorter than you. Just bring me in slower."

It took a lot more head butting and tripping before I finally got the hang of it. Before we got the chance to practice the full thing properly, Ally's name flashed across my phone screen. I instantly remembered that we had dinner plans tonight and I was running late. 

"I have to go."

"You did good today. On the day you're going to be nervous both because you don't want to mess up in front of everyone and because you want to be good for Ally. So when you start getting nervous, just focus on Ally, let her guide you." 

"Thank you Ali. See you tomorrow."

---

I couldn't believe in just over three hours I would be married to the love of my life. I was excited beyond belief, but I was also incredibly nervous. What if I wasn't a good wife? What if Ally changed her mind and decided she didn't want to get married anymore? What if we didn't work as a married couple?

I knew it was just me overthinking. Ally and I worked well together. We loved each other deeply, we connected and understood each other, we had fun. Maybe it was cheesy, but we were made for each other. Not just because we met and connected instantly. We worked hard to get where we were, we worked hard to keep our relationship working despite our busy schedules, distance, and my issues with my ADHD. I tried to remember that as my thoughts went crazy, but it wasn't working. Ali was updating me on the set up and preparations, I couldn't focus on anything she was saying though. I was too busy overthinking.

"Y/n, Y/n!"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"I-I-I c-can't do this," I stammered, before running out of the house, Ali calling after me. I didn't stop until I found a hidden part of the beach where I slumped in the sand, tears falling down my cheeks. I don't know how long had passed when someone sat down behind me, arms wrapping around my waist and chin resting on my shoulder. Without even looking, I knew it was Ally, the softness of the way she held me and the smell of her hair gave it away. She didn't say anything for a while, just held me until the tears stopped.

Ally kissed my temple, hands drawing soothing patterns across my stomach. They weren't the soft touches most people find soothing, those touches made my sensory issues worse. There was a little bit more force behind it, making me relax against her. Sitting here with Ally, I realised that I was being stupid, there was no doubt that I was going to marry her today. Instead of being angry that I had ran away, she was here comforting me. "We can postpone if you don't want to do this, if you're having second thoughts about getting married. I understand, I know it was quick."

I quickly turned around, accidently knocking Ally over. "Shit sorry." I helped her so she was sitting again before kissing her softly, "No, no, we're not postponing. I want to marry you Ally, I'm going to marry you today, go to bed calling you my wife. I'm sorry I ran, I got stuck in my head, overthinking this, overthinking if I would even be a good wife, if you even still wanted to marry me, but didn't want to tell me and I freaked out."

"Baby, I want to marry you more than anything in this world, that hasn't changed and it won't ever change. You're are an amazing girlfriend Y/n, you're going to be an amazing wife. We're going to keep being the best couple there is and getting married is only going to strengthen that. I love you, I love you so much."

"I love you Ally. Can we stay here for a while?"

"We can stay here as long as you need. Ali's going to take care of the set up and everything. When you're ready we can go back and get ready for the first look."

I settled back between Ally's legs, back against her front as I watched the water, feeling more relaxed than I had all day, "I can't wait, you're going to look incredible."

"So are you Y/n/n."

Ally and I had decided to do the outfit reveals before the ceremony because I knew I wouldn't be able to control my emotions once I saw her. So here I was waiting anxiously for the love of my life to step around the corner. I was nervous about Ally's thoughts on my suit, but I was more anxious to finally see what Ally was wearing. Just as I was starting to get impatient, there she was. I froze, tears starting to fall instantly, I crouched down for a second, face buried in my hands to control the tears.

The sleeveless blue dress lined with lace, the black flats, her hair half up in a braid with the rest loose. She looked incredible, more breathtaking then I could have ever imagined. Ally stopped in front of me, small smile present with eyes shining with love and unshed tears. I took her hand, spinning her around so I could admire everything about her. Ally looked amazing on any given day, but today I was absolutely speechless.

"Y-y-yo-u-" I cut myself off, taking a deep breath to get myself together, "Y-you look breathtaking Ally, absolutely incredible. Holy shit."

Ally grinned, cupping my cheeks and connecting our lips. I heard protests about messing up Ally's make up, but I didn't care. Ally pulled away, this time being the one to take my hand and spin me around, she let out a long breath, making me slightly nervous, "Fuck you look stunning baby, my god you look incredible. I know it's probably out of your comfort zone, but you should definitely wear maroon more often, it is definitely your colour."

"I almost didn't choose it because it's not what I normally wear, but I decided to step out of my comfort zone for once."

Ally laced her fingers with mine, "I'm so proud of you love."

"Alright guys it's almost time to seal the deal so it's photo time," Alex interrupted as Ally was leaning in to kiss me. 

I groaned pulling away, "You couldn't have waited 2 seconds? We already had photos."

"And have you ruin her make up? No, you can do that after the photos. You had photos of your reveal, we want proper couple photos."

---

It was time. It was time to marry the love of my life. Of course I was nervous, incredibly so, but as the time came to walk down the aisle, most of my nerves were replaced with excitement. I was about to marry my person and there was nothing in this world I wanted more. We had decided I was going to go first, purely for the reason that I was dying to watch her walk down aisle. There was no better way to do that, then be standing at the end already.

We had gone pretty simple with decorations. The aisle was made out of various coloured petals, lined with rows of chairs and a wooden arch draped with white fabric at the end. String lights were strung around the trees, fence and patio. The chairs would later be replaced by outdoor furniture and bean bags. Long tables for food and the bar were set up, as well as a smore station for when the firepit was lit. We had made sure to hire a bartender to stop anyone getting out of control. 

Also, while we had hired a photographer, we also had a bunch of polaroid and disposable cameras for everyone to take their own photos. That way we had more intimate and fun memories. We had found a guest book that had mini envelopes and note cards so people could leave little messages if they chose to. The envelopes were the best idea knowing how inappropriate some of the team could be.  

Dance with me in the rain In the heart of Spain Let your hair fall down Curl around your face And sway with the tide Of the strangers passing us by

My arm linked with Ali's, her squeezing mine gently. Our friends and family lined the sides, huge smiles and some with tears in their eyes. My heart warmed knowing they were willing to be here, that they cared enough to make plans last minute to see us get married. 

Well let them watch What do we care There's no need to rush To come up for air As the world spins around us we dive In each other's eyes

No I don't want to go Can't seem to leave you alone For all that I am I wouldn't stand a chance This life on my own So love me now Love me forever Love me today and the days we're not together A moment this right is too hard to deny That you're the one The one my heart beats for

Land light on my feet To not make a peep Tip toe across the room So the floors don't creak As you're laying in bed Perfectly sound asleep I'll wake you with a kiss So you do not miss Your morning cup of coffee Pressed against your lips As the sun warms us up through the blinds We turn back the time

We stopped at the end, Ali kissing my cheek before walking back to her spot. I waited for a few seconds, trying not to fidget for once in my life. Every second that went by, made me want to walk back down grab her and drag her back because she was taking too long. Ally finally appeared, arm linked with her dad who had a huge, proud smile. There was a time in our relationship where I never thought he would be happy about us getting married. We had a rocky start, but now they were family. They had taken me in, treated me as if I was their own daughter. Between Ally, her family and the team, I had never been so loved.

No I don't want to go Can't seem to leave you alone For all that I am I wouldn't stand a chance This life on my own So love me now Love me forever Love me today and the days we're not together A moment this right is too hard to deny That you're the one The one my heart beats for No I don't want to go Can't seem to leave you alone For all that I am I wouldn't stand a chance This life on my own

They stopped in front of me, Ally's dad pulling her in for a hug and kiss on the cheek before moving to hug me, "You look amazing Y/n."

He moved back to his spot, while I took Ally's hands, kissing her cheek softly. We stood there, just looking at each other as the song came to an end. There was so much love shining in her eyes that it made my knees go weak. 

So love me now Love me forever Love me today and the days we're not together A moment this right is too hard to deny That you're the one A moment this right is too hard to deny That you're the one The one my heart beats for

We had chosen to have Sydney officiate our wedding just as she had with Ali and Ashlyn. It made the day feel just that little bit more personal. Once everyone was seated and quiet, Sydney started speaking.

"Thank you everyone for being here today to celebrate the marriage of our amazing Y/n and Ally. We all know Y/n gets antsy when she has to stand still for too long so we'll keep this as brief as possible. The relationship between Y/n and Ally is so full of love, life and friendship. It puts even the best of us to shame. With that being said, Y/n and Ally have chosen to write their own vows. Ally you're up."

"There are so many things I want to say to you, but we would be here all day if I did. So instead I'll start with thank you. Thank you for choosing me, for letting me in and trusting me with you and your heart. For trusting me enough to be your person and to show me who you are inside and out. With that, I vow to you that I will always tressure your love. I will always be by your side when you need me, I will always be there to hold you up when you need it and support you with everything I am. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you now and I will love you forever."

"Okay, you'll have to bare with me because there's no doubt I'm going to cry." There were a few laughs as Ally squeezed my hand. "There was a time in my life when I never thought this would happen for me. Where I never thought I would find someone who loves and trusts me so unconditionally, who understands me so deeply and who makes me laugh uncontrollably. Then you came crashing into my life, flipping it upside down in the best way possible. 

"You are my world Ally, my everything. I am far from perfect, but I promise to always be open and honest even on days that aren't great, to always support you in everything you do, to make you smile and laugh even when you don't feel like it. I promise to hold you, cuddle you and kiss you every chance I get because I know how much you love it. Most importantly I promise to love you with everything I am everyday for the rest of our lives."

My voice cracked as I pulled her closer, cupping her cheek and kissing her forehead, "You are my partner in life and love. I love you beyond what words can describe, I love the person I have become with you and the life we have and will continue to build."

"Now the rings. Ally, do you take Y/n to be your wife?"

Ally smiled widely, "I do."

I slipped the ring on her finger before letting her take my hand, "Y/n, do you take Ally to be your wife?"

"I do."

Ally slipped the ring on my finger, kissing it after she did so. If even possible, my smile grew as I stopped myself from fidgeting with excitement. One final sentence and Ally would be my wife. 

"It is my pleasure to pronounce you wife and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

My arm wrapped around her waist, the other cupping her head as I dipped her, lips connecting in a long, passionate kiss. Everyone cheered and clapped as I threw my hands up, "We're married bitches!!"

---

"We would like to welcome the newlyweds to the floor for their first dance."

Ally looked confused, but let me take her hand and guide her to the dance floor. Just like Ali showed me, I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her against me and taking her hand in mine. Ally smiled, pecking my lips before resting her head on my shoulder as we moved around slowly. As we danced around, watched by our closest family and friends, I was the happiest I had ever been. To have so many people come to celebrate with us at last minute, I felt loved, possibly more than I ever had.

After a couple of minutes, I successfully spun Ally around, bringing her into me and connecting our lips. My head landed against Ally's shoulder, kissing the bare skin softly, "We're married Ally, we're actually married."

Ally giggled, kissing my temple, "Best day of my life so far. You learnt how to dance."

"You wanted to have a first dance so I got Ali to teach me. You make so many compromises for me, I wanted you to have this."

"This is how I know we'll be good married, you're so thoughtful and sweet, you go out of your comfort zone for me with out a second thought. I love you."

"I love you more my wife."

[skyward-floored]

More berry Link? More berry Link.

It’s been too long since I posted any writing with him, I missed my little guy. This is right at the beginning of his adventure, so hopefully you don’t need too much explain. Poor kiddo :(

————————————————————

Link ran through the village in a panic, barely taking in the smoking destruction around him and focusing only on getting home.

The general store had been ransacked, at least one house was gone from the main road, almost nobody was around and Link couldn’t find his sisters.

Some of them were always around this time of day, Del at the store, Lily under the tree at the edge of town, Coriander running around with one of the herding dogs, but Link couldn’t find any of them, and none of the few people he talked to knew where they were.

He already knew Iris was missing since she’d finally been hanging out with him when those monsters had shown up, but he’d never expected the village to be such a disaster. There must have been tons more of them then what he’d seen, he... hoped everyone was okay.

If they weren’t...

Link urged his feet to go even faster, and he almost tripped on the path up the hill to where his house sat. The gate swung wildly as Link ran past it, and he took in the scorch marks on the wood with a horrible feeling in his stomach.

He’d only been gone for a few hours, how could all of this have happened?!

...At least, he thought it had only been a few hours. Had that big monster actually knocked him out for longer?

Link finally reached his house, the windows dim. The front door was lying on its side, partially smashed in, and Link bolted inside, yelling for his sisters.

“Lily? Marigold?!” Link shouted, panic making his legs shake as he took in the mess inside. Broken class crunched under his boots, and the remains of a book were strewn around them, ripped and ruined. “Poppy?! Del?!”

Nobody answered him as he checked all over the house, and Link paused in the middle of the living room, his panicked breathing the only noise.

They were gone. His whole family was gone.

Link slid to his knees with a hiccup, his head pounding in time with his heart. His whole family was gone. And he hadn’t been able to do anything to stop it. If he hadn’t convinced Iris to help him look for the cuccos he’d let escape, she wouldn’t have been taken, and they both would have been here to help, and now... everyone was gone.

Then Link heard a groan.

Link jumped, hope rising in his chest, and he ran into the one room he hadn’t checked yet, his grandpa’s study. There were papers strewn all over the place, and Link looked around before spotting someone collapsed on the ground behind the desk.

“Grandpa!”

Link scrambled over the papers, and got to his knees beside his grandfather, giving him a hesitant shake.

“Grandpa?” Link asked frantically, and to his relief, his grandfather opened his eyes, looking dizzy.

“Link... oh Link, you’re all right...” he said in a raspy voice.

“Grandpa, the cuccos got out and Iris got taken and there were monsters around and I couldn’t stop them and now everyone is gone,” he said all in a rush, tears stinging his eyes. “What happened?”

Link’s grandfather groaned as he began to sit up, and Link quickly helped him lean against his desk. It was a moment before he spoke, rubbing his head.

“Taken,” his grandpa croaked. “Your sisters... they’ve all been taken.”

“What? All of them?!” Link gasped, and his grandfather sighed, leaning his head against the corner of his desk.

“I’m sorry, Link. I should have told you more before this happened. I should have prepared...”

“Prepared for what? Grandpa I don’t understand!” Link said, a tear escaping down his cheek. “Did you know this was going to happen?”

Why hadn’t he told him? He wouldn’t have left if he’d known monsters were going to attack! And what did the monsters want with his sisters? What had happened?

“No, no Link I didn’t know,” his grandfather said, closing his eyes. “Your sisters... they are important. More important than even they know... and somehow the enemy found them.”

Link shakily wiped his face. “The... enemy?”

Sahasrahla exhaled, and opened his eyes, looking at Link with an expression he couldn’t totally figure out.

“Yes. Link, listen carefully... Your sisters are key to freeing an old evil, a powerful one. There are people in this world who would do anything to gain even a fraction of such power, and as such, are trying to loose it once again.”

Link’s head was spinning. “But... but why my sisters? What can they do?”

Sahasrahla took his hand, and looked Link in the eye, his usual stern expression turned to something more deeply important.

“You and your sisters are descendants of very powerful people, Link. This power runs in our blood, and has especially manifested itself in your sisters, more powerfully than has happened in a long time.” He Let Link digest that for a moment, then continued. “You’ve heard of the legend of the Seven Maidens?”

“Of course, Lily reads that one all the time,” Link said, throat aching at the reminder of his sister. Then he blinked. “Wait... you mean..?”

“Your sisters are six of their number,” his grandfather said gravely. “And with them in our enemy’s hands, I’m afraid things have gotten rather serious.”

Link stared, mind whirling with legends and myths, powers and magic, and then he hesitated, thinking further about the story.

“But what about the seventh?” Link asked, and his grandfather looked somewhat more at ease.

“The seventh, keeping to legend... should be Princess Zelda herself. But she is safe. And without her, our enemy cannot do a thing.”

“Really?!”

“Indeed. He won’t be able to do anything without all seven maidens, and that gives us time,” his grandfather sighed, looking exhausted. “Her highness is well guarded, but I will alert her to the danger as soon as possible. Whatever puppet the demon has chosen will not be able to make their move yet.”

Link stared. “...What?”

Demon puppet?

“Never mind that now, Link,” Sahasrahla said, closing his eyes again. “All things in due time. Your sisters... by now they are out of our reach. But... they will need us. They will need you.”

“Me?”

Sahasrahla sighed. “So much to explain... I’m such an old fool. I should have been preparing you, not hiding you.”

“Grandpa, you’re not making any sense,” Link grumbled. His panic had leveled out now, weirdly enough, but he still felt like he might cry if he thought too hard about his sisters. Not to mention all this magic and legends and demons and... stuff.

His head was starting to hurt again too, and Link rubbed it, trying not to wince at the bump he could feel. Sahasrahla saw the motion, and sighed again, reaching out and setting his hand on Link’s shoulder.

“You’re hurt, Link. Let’s patch you up before we do anything else,” he said in a tired voice. “And you can tell me what happened with Iris.”

“Okay. But only if you get patched up too,” Link agreed quietly. His grandpa nodded, and Link helped him up and over to his desk chair. All he really wanted to do was rush out and find his sisters, but his grandpa had said they were out of reach... whatever that meant.

He couldn’t just leave grandpa here all alone. Plus his head really hurt. He would help out here, and let grandpa fuss over him for now. But then...

Link swallowed thickly, and firmly wiped another tear from his face.

Then he was going to find his sisters.

[smiski-collector]

why are you running

pairings: Lamina x Treech (past), Treech X Reader warnings: self-sabotage reader, pining feelings, ghosting

prologue

When Lamina and Treech broke up in second year of college, it was a shell shock for everyone that knew them including you, mostly because you attended high school with them. And also because you knew they were officially dating in sophomore year of high school but definitely had feelings for much longer than that. People on their level of closeness do not develop feelings out of nowhere after all. 

However, you mused, people changed because their breakup was something you did not expect at all. You had a feeling it was going to happen of course, from when Coral would invite you to hang out with the Pack, consisting of herself, Treech, and Tanner as well as mutuals. Her eyes would flicker between Treech and Lamina before going back to you, smiling sheepishly. You had smiled back, hopefully in a comforting manner, being understanding.  

When Lamina left, “To Sweden,” you overheard her saying sweetly, eagerly, “The art program I applied to accepted me and I am leaving early to get used to the environment before I start,” something changed in Treech. You saw it in the science classes you had with him, watching him from a distance. His eyes were sometimes red, voice quieter, and bags darker. 

You felt pity for the guy but did not dare to overstep to help him. He never snapped at you, was always cordial or friendly but that did not mean you could reach out to him about the very obvious breakup. It is a boundary that was clear to everyone that would drift close to the topic. Even his friends that knew the both of them did not push on the topic.  

You only had the chance to bring up Lamina to Treech in your third year at a party hosted by Coriolanus Snow, having been invited by Lucy Gray. She was a social butterfly, having befriended nearly everyone with her chirpy presence, positive energy, and beautiful voice. Their relationship is something you did not want to dissect, as they had been on and off ever since they met at a mixer hosted by Snow’s co-ed fraternity in their freshman year. 

Treech had been at the party, dragged by Coral and Tanner he said, to avoid being miserable that Friday night and begin the process of moving on. You were endeared by his sleepy demeanor, flushed cheeks, and an openness that you would not have normally been privy to. 

He put his face into his palms, bent over his knees, voice muffled as he asked, “But how could I move on when it feels like I would be losing such a big part of myself.” 

“It is not my place to agree or disagree with them,” you say to him, “But I know Coral and from seeing her tough love for her friends, I think it is good to give it a shot. And you wouldn’t be losing yourself, you would be closing one chapter of your life.” 

Treech went quiet after that and nodded off, slumping over on a couch. His head curved dangerously close to your shoulder and you stayed by his side, scooting over to provide distance once he was steadied, and content on pondering life quietly, sipping on your own beverage. Coral eventually came over having spotted a passed out Treech, Tanner following closely behind with a red party cup in hand. They were panting and it was obvious Treech somehow managed to lose them in the party, causing panic to ensue. 

Tanner giggled, poking Treech’s face,  “Sorry about him,” he eventually said, “He doesn’t usually drink at parties, something about not being able to experience it fully.” Coral snorted in agreeance, shaking her head in fondness? Or maybe it was exasperated. 

You smile back at him, waving your red solo cup as you spoke, “It’s all good, I figured he needed someone to talk to.” You may have been a stranger to him and he might not even remember that he spoke to you at all, but you are glad that he at least got some of his worries off of his chest. 

The next day, Treech treated you normally, distantly or so you thought. Because the following day, it was Treech that invited you to hang out instead of Coral. He wanted to get to know you better, he said. You gradually went from hanging out with the Pack, playing music, going to cafes, to hanging out with Treech alone. 

Treech seemed to like your presence and you were not one to ignore your friend’s needs. So when Treech would call you in the middle of the night sobbing about Lamina, you would oblige, listening to his woes and regrets of the relationship. These calls became a regular occurence, expanding to video calls in the middle of the night, not always about Lamina, and you loathe to admit it but you were beginning to develop a crush on him. You couldn’t help it. 

Soon enough, instead of Lamina and Treech, it was you and Treech, with a weekly schedule of going to each other’s place to play board games (“sore loser” he called you teasingly) or to study for the science classes you shared as pre-med tracks. You were shocked when you found out Treech was pre-med but he said it was what his older brother, Cypress, did so he just made time for music. 

By this point, you thought that maybe Treech had moved on. It had been about a year and half since Lamina left and you had entertained the idea of asking him but didn’t dare to bring it up, knowing their history. 

Nothing could have hurt you more than the lack of explanation when Treech stopped texting when he would come over. You felt used. 

You could not hold it against him because you knew Treech did not hurt people on purpose. He just couldn’t help it because Lamina returned from Sweden, she was his comfort, what he was used to. He does still try to include you in his life, a bit differently than before but you were still there. 

You try not to let out an irritated sigh at a cafe table, it was rare to hang out in person with Treech after all. But he continued talking about Lamina, how he thinks he has a chance back with her and you just have to interrupt – “Wellllll, I guess I won’t be seeing you for a while?” 

Your question wasn’t really one, it was a statement and it was confirmed with Treech staring at you with apologetic eyes, an awkward smile on his lips. You try to smile at him but it must come out as a grimace because he is quick to make it up to you. 

“We can hang out next week?” 

Treech stopped all calls after that day. Part of you thinks it is because you made your crush on him too obvious but it can’t be since he still texted to make sure you were still down to hang out. You agreed but changed the location to the school courtyard. It would be empty at this time of the school year but still open to students that were on-campus or needed the space. 

When Treech saw you waiting for him, his face adorned a grin, jogging to reach you. He closed the distance and in a surprising move, wrapped his arms around you in a hug. It was brief but the warmth stayed and you looked up at him in question. He blushed slightly, realizing it must have been out of character for him, “It is my way of saying sorry for ditching you recently.” 

You smile at him endearingly, showing that you accept but giving him a hug of your own. He accepted gratefully wrapping his arms around you before he breaks away from you so he can make his way deeper in the school courtyard. You are receptive to his every word, offering earnest advice when you can, and really taking in today with him. Silence falls upon the two of you every now and then but it is comfortable and not overbearing. You two sit down on a high point of the courtyard, able to see the sunset from where you are and take in the scenery. 

“Hey YN,” Treech starts, “Thanks for being there.” 

It was hard for me were words that went unsaid but you heard it all the same. You shift from one palm to another, kicking up a knee and resting your arm there. 

Eyes still on the sunset that casted a golden light on both of you, you responded, “Yeah… no problem.” 

It was only after a few minutes that you started something you regret a little bit, you didn’t want him to know yet, “Treech?” He hummed in acknowledgement, turning slightly to face you. 

“Thanks for being my friend.” 

There was silence from him and you turn to finally face him, eyes sparkling, with tears or because of the sunlight you do not know. But Treech smiles and returns the statement softly and fondly. 

The rest of the week goes by as normal and everything seems to settle down in senior year. Lamina and Treech, while not back together, are still hanging out with each other everyday, like nothing has changed. If anything, things have drastically improved the two of them and they are happier than ever, although you still see a hopeful gleam in Treech’s eyes when you pass by them with brief yet pleasant exchanges. 

You had grown closer with Coral during your last year, her presence reminds you of a friend that you would be reuniting with soon enough. Her tough love evokes fond memories in you and allows you to be more open with her. 

On graduation day, Treech had been hoping to catch a glimpse of you, wanting to thank you again for raising his spirits when it felt like no one really could. His texts to you went unread and calls unanswered but he understood. Everyone was getting ready to enter the next phase of their lives and preparations had to be made. 

He didn’t have anything to worry about, at least that is what he thought until you failed to walk across the stage to grab your diploma, a tradition that he knew was important to you being the first to have a college degree in your family. He still did not allow himself to panic, he could always talk to you after graduation since he knew where you were. He did not see Coral’s eyes flicker to him and his phone at the post-graduation dinner between friends.

[king-midas-fortnite]

Journal Entry: The Island Shifts

Midas jots down some thoughts on the changes

The island has changed again. I think there were a number of us who felt a shift coming. I'm glad I had taken the yacht further off shore before it happened. As well I am glad Valeria agreed to come with me. I know it was not easy for her to leave. Her railway station was already gone, but Glacier still stood. She was already there when I had called her, gathering a few items of sentiment and just...saying goodbye, I'm sure.

Walking away from anything you hold dear for the last time is incredibly difficult. She seems to be handling the change well enough, though I am not surprised by this.

Deadpool Wade was here as well. At least, I know he was towards the start. The man has a habit of popping in and out of my peripheral vision. However, I haven't seen him on board since the change. He probably made a quick exit to look around himself.

A guest I am less happy for, but nonetheless resigned to accept, is Kado. I extended a "hand" (bastard) to him as a courtesy to Valeria. We have not spoken since our altercation. When he attacked me for making a joke or two at his expense when some "unimportant" documents of his got leaked out. Unimportant enough to try and kill me over, evidently. Regardless, he joined on the yacht as well to wait everything out.

He's been tense the whole time, on edge as he watches the skies closely. For what specifically, I have no clue.

At one point there had been a number of those rift butterflies that had come down to the boat. Many of which seemed keen on Val, landing on her shoulders and hands. It was nice to see her smile at them. Nice, too, to see a few flutter into Kado's eyes as he was swatting and hissing.

Anyway, an island I know all too well is back. Everything here feels so painfully nostalgic. This island was home to me in many ways, but it's very different than it was before.

The Agency is back, but it's clearly not the one I knew. It's someone else's. All the hard work of my past sitting in the middle of the island, a monolith to my failures covered in tacky dogs and flourishes as if to mock me personally. The Zero Point sure does have a funny way of making me feel that way.

That's not even to mention the other version of me that's here now. This...Meowscles/Me creature. I simply cannot spend too much time thinking about him before I get a headache. I'll just keep my own yacht moored by Sweaty Sands, away from his for now.

I will make contact, I don't doubt that we'd have enough to talk about to get along. I just...I don't think I need to explain why a version of me that is also my feline friend is a tad uncomfortable.

Regardless, the island I know best is back in a strange way. Not the change I expected in the least, but it is what it is.

The Underworld being gone (hopefully returned to its rightful plain of existence), is a monumental weight off my chest. Hades already owes me for dealing with Mephisto and returning his rule to him, but it is an extra boone to not have to see my own personal hell sitting in the distance.

I expected the souls that speak to me in my vulnerable moments to have left with it, but they remain. They stubbornly cling to me like glue. I imagine they'll be with me forever. At least they still grant me the shade step.

Perhaps with Mizuki's offer for help, I'll learn to live in harmony with these voices, rather than merely tolerate. A quandary for another time. For now, I have much to learn about this island and it's differences.

My main concern is naturally what lies underneath the "Doggpound". I know it is no longer my building, but I can't imagine it isn't here for much the same purpose. If the same hubris befalls whoever is in charge...

I hope we can avoid another flood. Reminder: Unless discussed, these are not "public" to other Tumblrverse characters. Okay to reblog, but please do not roleplay on journal entries!

[amethystina]

If it gets ten kudos, I consider the fic a success. Because, when you think about it, ten is a pretty solid group of people. Like, if I were to gather those ten people in a room, I would probably feel a little intimidated knowing so many people read and liked something I wrote. But I'd also be really happy since, hopefully, the fact that they liked it also meant I made their day better. And improving the day of ten people is definitely something to be proud of :)

I need to print this and put this on my wall, or just have a screenshot of it on my laptop. I had stopped writing for a while, just because the engagement with my fics was so low. The kudos is always okay but the comments were so low, it made me doubt my ability to write for sure. And it's still in my brain now but I am writing on a Stony fic I had stopped and it's nice to write and think about.

So yeah, I need this on my wall. 😊

Go right ahead! I'm very happy if I can offer comfort or motivation :)

I also want to point out that there's nothing wrong with wanting engagement on one's fics. I just try to put my expectations into a context that's easier for me to grasp. I think it's easy to just go "I want as many kudos as possible" — which, again, is valid — but I prefer to focus on what's beyond that. Like the joy I'm bringing people and the difference I might be making in someone's day.

That's not to say that I don't love when I get lots of comments and kudos — of course I do — but I try not to expect them. And, if I do get them, I try to appreciate them for more than just their number. Which is one of the reasons why I reply to every single comment. Because they're not just a statistic to me. There is an actual person on the other end of that comment and it blows my mind that people take time out of their day to write them. I'm just so grateful for every single one.

Also, just a casual observation: Certain fandoms seem to be having a problem with dwindling comments. Not going to lie, I was pretty surprised when I wrote for Marvel again for the first time in years because I got fewer comments than I ever have. Like, the number of comments on the first two chapters of my Stuckony fic is roughly the same as the comments on the first two chapters of my Mad Dog fic. And Mad Dog is an obscure Kdrama from 2017 that literally no one cares about. The comments on the Mad Dog fic are also a lot longer and more thoughtful.

That sort of thing depends on what kind of people are in the fandom, of course, and if there's a previous bond between the reader and writer, but I'd say it's not just you. Something has definitely happened within certain fandoms that results in authors getting fewer comments.

And maybe me saying this ruins the encouragement you were able to get from that other reply of mine, but I want you to remember that: it's not you. It's not that you're a bad writer, people just don't seem to be commenting like they used to. Which is discouraging for sure, but at least it's not your fault.

And maybe reframing how you look at kudos and comments will help? It's definitely okay to want them — we all do — and it's understandable to feel sad when we don't, but please don't let that stop you from writing. It's not your fault and you shouldn't doubt yourself 💜

So good luck with your fic and I hope you have lots of fun writing it! 😘

[foxett]

What's the swingset AU. I am hellbent on this AU rn and like pls yap about the lore 🙏

Aha.... Buckle your seatbelts this will take a while. (TW for mentions of s*icide, s*lf h*rm and death in general under the cut. Also omori spoilers. But that's probably to be expected)

Swingset was first an idea. Probably around early 2024??? I'm not sure but!!! I didn't actually plan to write anything about it until I got the idea for it and started writing the fic my last week of school (so it updates every wednesday)

The au itself... Hhhh yeah. Basically, the incident happens as normal, but Sunny doesn't have headspace and whitespace to slip into in his mind, and is fully aware the whole time Basil is doing the hanging and stuff or Mari. Sunny decides it's for the best and kills himself, hanging himself on the same tree Mari was already hanging on only like. Minutes later. (First chapter). Basil leaves before Sunny does that so he doesn't know it happens.

The rest of the gang (+ Basil is dragged along) and they find Mari and Sunny!!!! Yay!!! (Sarcastic yay) Anyways in short they react badly but Kel probably has it the worst because he's a little delulu in this au. Basil is close behind tho.

Kel twists the incident to Mari and Sunny making a swing and. Yeah. Au name!!! He also makes up fake versions of Sunny and Mari (and also everyone else, because the group fell apart) to hang out with. In other words, Kel needs a schizophrenia diagnosis. Everyone copes horribly (Basil. Well. Self harms. And generally is probably going insane.) (Hero bedrots like in canon but longer) (Aubrey bullies Basil at first but they make up and form a sorta sibling bond!) (not gonna spoil the exact thing but Aubrey will be traumatized further)

There's!!! A lot of stuff going on. Kel has all his fake friends (before the group reunited because of a certain incident!) - and also ghost Sunny and Mari (who age like ghost Mari does in canon because i said so) exist but they're not too important outside of the good ending.

I don't keep count but i think there's a total of 8 something's total. Canon something (Mari something, Maris hanging body), Sunny something (Sunny's hanging body), canon something (Mari at the bottom of the stairs, Basil's something), Noosething (Basil's extra au something (tying the noose which leads to Sunny's own suicide), Basil something (Aubrey's extra something. Not spoiling it for now...), Kel something (bad ending) and hero's very hd quality something's (he looked at the bodies too long ig)

Everyone has the sunny and mari somethings. Basil has 4 total. Hero and Aubrey have 3 (sunny, mari, their own bonus) Kel repressed his two but they still show up in the shadows sometimes :)

Basil is. Where do i start. He actually is completely delusional. Completely. More than Kel kinda. He also hears voices. He almost kills someone trying to kill himself (spoilers), and overall almost kills himself like. At least thrice. He doesn't take care of himself. At least Aubrey's there to help!

On a sorta wholesome note, everyone gets their hair dyed!! They do it to 'help' Kel to snap out of his delusions (it makes it worse) (kel does snap out of it at some point! But it might just be too late for it by then :) )

For the fic itself it's 11k ish words and 4 chapters at the moment.???? I have 20 chapters planned total plus two bonus ones so. Ouch. that's gonna be fun to write. I take the au itself seriously but the extra drawings i do for it... Ehhh not so much.

I have this gem of a doodle (vision basil and real basil) i frankly don't remember when i drew this. I probably was half asleep and it was like 2 am.

I plan to rework the old reference sheets i have and hopefully do the fifth chapter today and tomorrow! I don't actually wanna spoil much but definitely keep an eye out for some post!!!

Yippie! Read below ↓

mind the warnings (although since you made it this far, you probably don't care!!)

[fillinforlater]

Important Announcement and Updates

Hello everyone, Smite here!

Dear readers of my blog, loyal followers, writer friends and everyone in between, I got some news for y'all. Things will change and partially already have and I feel like I should give a heads up about it in a single post so you're not confused as to what has happened.

But first of a word from our sponsor a big thank you for the insane Notes-Totals on my last couple of fics. There is a lot of 900+ and already a fuckton of love for "Just Testing", and leaving aside all the nonsense I wrote in this fic, I'm still very grateful for the support. Thank you!

Now to the upcoming changes/wtf is actually happening:

1. I will take an (warning, evil words ahead) indefinite hiatus from writing fics in the manner I did in the past/up until now.

What does this mean?

"Are you retiring? Are you going to delete your stories? Are you not going to be online/active in Discord anymore?"

NO, NO and NO.

I have no plans to (ever) retire and if I would, a 31some would look pitiful it would be with a feeling of certainty and geniune satisfaction (at least I hope so).

I just need a break from this neck-breaking pace of forcing every ounce of horniness and creativity from my head onto the Docs to the point where it's all just a mush of nudity, sex and filth and words and chaos... I'm losing grip on wtf I write at times.

This hiatus is to reset myself, to test other things without feeling forced to post them or at least something just to be on a streak, just to push that number higher and higher. I will def continue creative writing, just don't expect me to post it cuz it won't be all kpop.

BASICALLY: Stories will be released, but they will be rarer and most likely longer and hopefully still to your liking, from a story and smut perspective (unless it's full-on fluff/angst).

2. Uni will come like three big waves and during the strongest fucking tsunami, I have to do a boatload of other things on top. I'll be busy, I need to be focused, failure is not an option. Freeing myself from the (internalized) pressure of "having to post a fic this week" will help me to push through this mess.

I'll miss you when exams start and I'll come back to you, don't worry.

3. MoA will continue until Part 100, then there will be a two year special (because dayum, that's how long I am doing this already) and before/after the special, MoA will enter a new phase:

Instead of doing an appreciation post every Monday, I will do MoA's whenever I've read one to five stories that I want to appreciate. They will pop up every now and then, in different formats, to show you what I read and enjoy and who you should follow for more good stuff.

My intention with MoA was always to appreciate something, never to exclude someone or tell them that their writing id bad because they have been featured less than others. I want to continue this with more heart than before, so I'm going to break out from the regular pattern after Part 100.

4. Regarding the update I send a while back with all the series' and stuff: I still have intentions to keep my promise and write them, just with less urgency and pressure. The final request from back in January 2022 (lol) will also be written.

I will try my best, I thank you for your patience.

5. The final part of L4 and another fic are big guarantees to be released soon, so get ready, cuz I won't hold back. Remember: I'M STILL HERE! I GOT A LOT OF STUFF...

See y'all around!

... and I'll add more!

Let's start this new era on my blog. I hope you'll give me the same love and support you've given me until now.

(Oh, and feel free to flood my askbox with pics, questions, gams and ideas. No guarantee of reacting to them, but they might stirr me up xD)

[rising-volteccers]

Murdock turns to glare at Friede, putting the donut batter aside for a moment to make sure he heard it correctly. After a beat of silence, he hears it; the unmistakable chattering of teeth.

"Friede," Murdock looks at him fully, "were you in the cold again?"

"I-" *achoo*, "I maybe, got into a battle where an Absol kept spamming icy wind..."

"Oh, for the love of-"

(not exactly from the sick prompt list, but I was inspired after ep25)

Wrote this up while I was stuck at the hospital so hopefully it's still a decent read! If I have to suffer, Friede gets to suffer alongside me. <3

Series: Pokemon Horizons

Characters: Friede, Murdock

--

"Alcremie, could you add a bit more of your cream in here please?"

The little Fairy-type did a twirl before releasing dollops of its ruby cream into the bowl. Murdock thanked his partner, then resumed his whisking.

Today, he stayed behind on the ship while the rest explored a nearby town. Part of the reason was to restock their supplies so he gave his shopping list to Friede, accompanied by Liko and Roy. Mollie and Orla went off to do their own personal shopping last he recalled. 

In the meantime, Murdock decided to get an early start in preparing lunch. Since he was in the mood for some doughnuts, he chose that to be today's dessert. Nothing like a freshly fried doughnut glazed with Alcremie's ruby swirl cream to end the meal off with.

Satisfied with the consistency, he set aside the glaze for now to work on the doughnut batter. Murdock knew two people on board who'd love this treat, so he doubled the recipe so there could be extra batter to fry up later in the day if needed. Their smiles popped up in Murdock's mind (or at least one of them), prompting his own to form.

Murdock swayed from side to side as he whisked, humming a soft tune underneath his breath. He paused when he heard footsteps approaching the kitchen. Moments later, Roy and Liko swung open the door whilst carrying bags of groceries. Roy in particular sported a huge grin.

"We got the stuff on your list," Liko spoke up, placing the bag on the table. "Sorry that it took a little longer than expected. We–"

"Someone saw how strong Charizard looked and challenged it to a battle! It was soooo cool! I've never seen an Absol in person before!" Roy piped up, mimicking Liko so his hands were freed to move animatedly throughout his storytelling. 

"Really now?" Murdock replied warmly, multitasking by listening to Roy's tale and putting away the groceries with Liko's help. It occurred to Murdock that the subject of said story had yet to poke his head into the kitchen.

Eventually, Liko and Roy excused themselves so they could go hang out with Dot. Far be it for Murdock to keep these two from spending time with his niece so he waved them off with a beaming smile. It never failed to make his heart sing that Dot had such good friends around her.

In a far better mood than before, Murdock resumed his whisking with gusto. He wanted to make an extra good batch of doughnuts now in hopes of enticing Dot to grab more than usual. 

Murdock had his back turned to the door when he heard it open. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder to see Friede, then went back to his work on making more batter.

"Hey, Roy told me that some kid challenged you to a battle earlier?"

"Y-Yeah. Saw Charizard and he w-wanted a go at battling…"

His whisking slowed once Murdock caught the faint sound. After a beat of silence, he heard it; the unmistakable sound of chattering teeth. He turned to face Friede properly, thus granting him the rather pathetic sight of his captain hugging himself tightly, looking a touch pale with his nose tinged red.

"Friede how on earth–it's sunny outside!" Murdock asked, sounding mildly exasperated. 

"T-That Trainer wanted to–" Friede turned away when a sneeze slipped out, leaving him sniffling afterwards. "--slow Charizard down so he had A-Absol spam Icy Wind."

"And you didn't think to change? I swear to Arceus–go change into dry clothes! I'll make some tea to help warm you up." 

With a miserable nod, Friede left the kitchen. Murdock heard another sneeze as the door closed shut behind him. With a mild shake of his head, he set aside the batter for now to pull out a kettle. 

While he waited for the water to boil, Murdock grabbed the tea bin from a different cupboard. Once he found the blend he wanted, he got to work in fixing up a mug of tea for Friede. Knowing him, he was probably on his way to catching a cold.

It was a well known fact to the old members of the RVT that Friede didn’t do well in the cold. Like, at all. Whenever they flew through colder climate, he often layered up underneath his bomber jacket. While Murdock had little trouble walking around in short sleeves and shorts, Friede wore his long sleeved shirt almost exclusively from how easy it was for him to get chilly. The only reason why he could handle flying around on Charizard was due to how warm the part Fire-type was.

His sensitivity to shifting temperatures also meant that he was susceptible to catch colds if he didn’t get warm quickly. Knowing that fool, he probably didn’t say anything during their walk back to the ship, choosing to remain in damp clothes until the kids weren’t around to fuss over him. 

Well, he was about to get a whole lot of fussing in the next few days, intentionally or otherwise. It will drive Friede up the wall, and Murdock will hear all about it as he ply more soup and tea into him. At the very least, he could plan out the dishes in advance. Hopefully the crew would be up for soups and stews in the near future.

By the time Murdock finished making a fresh, piping hot mug of tea, Friede shuffled back into the kitchen. He was considerably dressed down, opting to wear a long sleeved fluffy sweater and slacks, his go to outfit whenever he wasn’t feeling too well and wanted to feel warm. He didn’t wear his goggles, leaving his bangs to fall and partially cover his eyes. 

“Take a seat and drink this,” Murdock instructed, gesturing at the empty chair for him to sit at. 

Friede dipped his head once, going over to sit down on said chair. He cupped his hands around the mug, savoring its warmth before taking a careful sip. Light sniffling prompted Murdock to hand him the tissue box.

“I won’t have you contaminate my kitchen,” Murdock warned lightly, earning him a small pout from Friede.

“I’m fine.”

“You and I know that come tomorrow, you’re going to whine about how Mollie’s making you rest.”

“I don’t whine.”

Murdock raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. “I suggest that you do follow her orders to avoid spreading whatever you caught. Not to mention, the kids are probably going to feel guilty, thinking that you’re like this because of them.”

Friede grimaced around his next sip, placing the mug down to look up at Murdock. “‘s not their fault that my opponent decided to spam Icy Wind.”

“I know, but try and tell me that I’m wrong.”

Friede’s eyes flicker back to the mug with a deep frown. “Point taken.”

Silence briefly draped over the pair. “Just take it easy and you’ll be back on your feet before you know it.”

Friede had grabbed a couple of tissues from the box to blow his nose. “Ugh.”

Murdock felt a little sorry for him. “I’ll make your favourite soup tomorrow. And you can have some doughnuts later if you feel up for it.”

That got him a little smile. Well, Murdock better get back to making those doughnuts if he wanted them to be finished by the time lunch rolls along. He didn’t mind the extra company sipping and sniffling away behind him as he picked up the bowl to continue whisking away. 

[creativecuteness]

Happy November 1st

Welp, the boops are gone, (Sadly I couldn't max mine out, I was too busy too but at least I got booped by a lot of people.) Halloween is over and I've still got a few Halloween fic chapters that need to be posted however after that I'll be taking a writing break. I've been busting my butt for a few months straight and I kind of struggled with writing motivation this month and when that happens, I know it's time to take some time off of fanfic writing. However, you're not going empty handed this month. Let's take a look at what will be posted both on here and my other socials.

Chapter 2 of Whitechapel Adventures Remastered: I was really hoping to post this more frequently, but I underestimated how long some of the chapters are and then I got caught up with Rory week and my free week chapter ended up being longer than I thought. But the chapter will come out soon.

One of a Kind Vamp: Chapter 5: As I said before, this is meant to be the free day prompt I wanted to get this out yesterday, but the chapter was longer than I thought and took longer to proofread and to be fair I hate rushing my fic's out, so I decided to just give it one more day in the oven it should be out later today.

Ghosts of the Past Chapter 5: Started work on this chapter a while ago and have yet to finish it I don't want to leave unfinished chapters for months at a time now, so I'll try to finish it this month.

My New Life in Despair School: four years ago, I created a Danganrpona 1 retelling with my OC's back in September I officially remastered the first act as a challenge to myself to see how far I've gotten as a writer and when I tell you I've fallen in love with the rewrite would be an understatement. However, I ran into a problem I met someone on ao3 who decided to help me flesh out the story a few years ago and I can't bring myself to just undo all that work. So, I'm officially starting the story all over again and labeling my original as Losercandy's edit. That way I won't have to undo all the work and take away the co-author credit because he helped me so much in my writing journey and it feels so wrong to take it all away. You can expect the new remaster on ao3 however Tumblr and Fanfiction.net will be under the original title since I never ported Losercandy's edit over there (mostly because I didn't know if it was allowed.)

The Adventure of a Lifetime The beginning of the end arc: Five years ago, I would start this story and now it's time to close the book so I can prepare for the next one. My Kingdom Hearts story is returning hopefully this month with both Neverland and Hallow Bastion my favorite world in Kingdom Hearts 1 and my all-time favorite part of the game (Mostly because I love Dark Riku's outfit come on guys he looks sooo good in it.) KH2 fanfic will still be a bit away but maybe I can post it monthly next year who knows (Hopefully it won't take me five years to finish it)

I think that's it; my new writing schedule is Monday's and Fridays this month only however I hope by December a few fic's will be finished but who knows with that said, I love you guys, and I hope we all have a good November. :)

[oddlittlestories]

Trick or treat! Prompt 3 looks amazing :)

:-D I get to write a genuine creepypasta! This is turning out longer than I expected, so I’ll post it in parts as I write.

Part 1 of prompt 3 below the cut!

The Warping Ward, Part I

Kutner rubbed his eyes. He loved coffee—he loved caffeine of any kind—but it didn’t keep him up. Sugar helped, but he’d just eaten the last of the Halloween candy he had here. Time for a snack break. He smacked the spacebar to pause the show on his laptop and shrugged, shaking out his shoulders and getting up from his seat.

Down the hall in the break room, he’d stashed a jumbo sized bag of cheese puffs. House wasn’t going to like him getting cheese puff orange all over the equipment, but, well, Kutner didn’t want to be here. Lose-lose? House had forced him to stay after hours. Maybe he should pay for it.

He stumbled into the break room, the low light casting shadows on the walls. It was a little eerie, maybe, but he liked being mostly alone in the hospital. Sometimes it was spooky but it was mostly just relaxing. Plus, he could take a quick walk to almost any other hallway if he needed people for some reason. And no one could tell him not to eat his snacks.

He knelt down to open the bottom cabinet, moving aside the cardboard box of serving silverware that covered his cheese puff hideout.

Nothing.

Kutner frowned, blinking. Either he ate it already, or someone found his snack stash. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d forgotten he already ate one of his snacks, but if someone on the team wad screwing with him, he’d really like to know. In the meantime, he scooted the silverware box back into his line of sight, taking out most of the giant spoons and forks with a clatter and rummaging around underneath the rest. C’mon… gummies… he had to have at least one more package, right?

Wrong.

Kutner sighed, glancing at the microwave. A little past 1 am. Too late for the Speedway across the road. And the twenty-four seven Wawa was too far if he wanted to finish this by the morning. He bit his lip. He hated stealing food, but he couldn’t do this without snacks. Kutner threw open the cabinets.

Most of the shelves were bare. There were no bags of chips, microwave popcorn… there were no snacks at all. There wasn’t even the fake creamer or packets of sugar for the tea.

The cabinets weren’t totally empty. On the top shelf were the big bowls, and on the bottom, all the usual mugs. But there was something off about the mugs. He squinted at them until it hit him. They were tucked in perfectly uniformly, all of the their handles turned forty-five degrees to the left. Weird.

Maybe they’d done a deep clean of the break room. Kutner yanked the fridge open, blinking in the bright light. Empty. Hmm.

Kutner rummaged in his pocket and opened his wallet. Okay, cool, had some cash, so desperate times called for desperate measures: the first floor vending machine.

The elevator always seemed to take longer at night, like it was coming from the top floor or something. Kutner pulled his yo-yo out of his pocket, swinging it around so it kept a comfortable tension on the string as he waited. The only light was from House’s office and, further down the hall, the lab and break room. Kutner shuffled impatiently, and tried a few real tricks. When the elevator doors slid open, the light very bright and cool in the warmly dim hallway, he didn’t want to stop, so he kept playing, sending the yo-yo down the string as he stepped into the elevator. It flew further than he meant, hitting the mirror with a resounding crack. Oh crap—he grabbed it frantically with both hands, wincing. He squinted at the mirror. Was it broken? No. Okay, good.

When he got to the first floor, it was unusually quiet, so hopefully no one would interrupt him. Kutner liked to chat but tonight he was a man on a mission. He turned right and slipped around the corner to the vending machine nook. It stood there in yellow light, humming softly, and had absolutely nothing in it, the silver springs painfully empty.

Crap.

This was weird right? Well, he had one more move if he wanted to finish this all by morning. He needed those snacks. Kutner pulled out his phone and dialed Thirteen’s number.

She answered right away, laughing. The soundtrack of a movie was playing in the background. “Hey, what’s up? We’re doing a movie marathon.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me and Chase.”

“What, are you dating or something?”

“Ew, gross,” she answered.

Kutner could barely hear Chase protesting, “I’m not gross.”

“I’m on the phone,” Thirteen whispered, mock sanctimoniously. “What’s up?” she asked again.

“Can you bring snacks down to the hospital for me?”

“House wants you to do the labs alone. Why should I come all the way down there?” It was an almost-genuine question, even if it was sarcastic.

“Uh… because it’s fun?”

“Snacks are fun. But we already have snacks.” She was half teasing him, half daring him to come up with a reason that was actually good. “Cutting into our horror movie marathon to run an errand to a place we already spend too much time at? Not so fun.”

Crap. She wanted him to make it worth her while, but how? He’d traded in his last favor with Thirteen to get out of Saturday clinic duty. The comic book signing had been totally worth it, but now what? She didn’t owe him a favor. He didn’t have any dirt he could trade. There was only one way.

He sighed. “I’ll owe you one.”

Kutner could hear her wolfish grin through the phone, and he could already tell he was going to pay for it. “We’ll be there in fifteen.”

Muffled, he heard Chase add, “Make that twenty.” The line went dead.

Kutner wandered back up to the lab and hit the spacebar. He could watch nearly a whole episode before they got here, so he might as well try to get some more lab work done.

Kutner adjusted the microscope and leaned forward, looking down at the next slide. He’d barely had a chance to adjust the magnification when his phone buzzed. It was a text from Thirteen. “We’re here, but the door is locked. Come break us in?”

Kutner blinked. No way they could’ve gotten here that fast. He looked back to his computer. Sure enough, it was at the end of the episode. Twenty minutes had passed. He shook his head, trying to wrap his brain around what had happened. He didn’t think he’d dissociated—he felt pretty good, actually. Maybe he’d just fallen asleep? Hmm. Nothing he could do about it. He got a move on and was downstairs as quick as he could, pushing open the front door to catch the tail end of a long conversation.

“—Witch Project was the most boring horror movie I’ve ever seen.” Thirteen smiled at Kutner, striding through the door. She held out a giant sized cheese puff bag like she was triumphantly rescuing him—which she was.

“It was artistic!” Chase protested, following her. His arms were wrapped around a huge, crappy grocery store bag full to bursting with snacks, but he managed a small emphatic gesture with one hand.

Thirteen shook off the cold as the door shut behind them. “Run Lola Run is artistic. In Bruges is artistic.”

“I’ve never even heard of those.” Chase protested.

“I liked Blair Witch Project,” Kutner said. “It was creepy. Besides, without Blair Witch Project, you never get…” he trailed off as he saw concern cross Thirteen’s face. “What?”

“Where is everyone?” she asked.

“Everyone, who?” Kutner wasn’t totally sure what she meant.

“Everyone who runs the hospital?”

Chase frowned, looking around. “It is really empty in here.”

“No,” Thirteen corrected, “it’s completely empty in here.”

“There were cars in the parking lot,” Chase pointed out.

“Isn’t there usually a night person here at the front desk?”

Kutner shrugged. “I have no idea.”

Thirteen frowned, wheels turning in her head. “ER‘s not that close to here, and the clinic is closed this late. But… are you sure you didn’t miss something?”

“Like what?”

Thirteen hesitated. “An evacuation?”

Kutner thought about it. The diagnostics office was pretty out of the way. And he’d obviously been out of it to somehow miss an entire episode of his show. “I guess it’s possible.”

Thirteen shook her head. “I’m jumping to conclusions. It’s probably nothing. So what if the hospital’s a little quiet? We should just go up to the diagnostics ward and not worry about it.”

Chase hefted the bag of snacks protectively. “Nah, let’s go check out the surgical ICU. There’s patients they couldn’t have evacuated.”

“Or evidence that they did,” Kutner added. It was a good idea.

“If we don’t find anyone, we should get out of here,” Chase said.

“Yeah, screw House’s tests,” Kutner agreed.

Chase pushed the elevator button.

“Shouldn’t we take the stairs?” Kutner asked.

Thirteen nodded, pushing open the stairwell door.

Chase sighed. “Thirteen,” he groaned, “Can’t you carry a few more things?”

Thirteen playfully dropped the door on him. “Hey!” he protested, using his shoulder to catch the door. “You’re gonna smash the snacks.”

“I’ll help you carry them,” Kutner offered, grabbing a few packages out of the the bag.

“Thanks!” Chase’s eyes lit up with a smile before he turned to race Thirteen up the stairs.

Thirteen stepped neatly ahead of Chase so that he couldn’t get ahead of her. Kutner trailed ahead, wheels turning, and then it clicked.

They weren’t a couple at all. “Oh, I’m an idiot!”

“Yes,” Thirteen agreed firmly.

Chase paused to look at him. “Why?”

“You’re not dating. You’re basically siblings!”

“Um, yeah,” Chase deadpanned.

“C’mon, let’s go find the ICU team.” Thirteen pushed open the third floor door.

Kutner instantly knew something was wrong. The hall was semi-lit and silent, and the trio settled down as they walked. As they pushed open the doors to the ICU, Kutner began to worry. It was too quiet. Even if everyone was quieted down for the night, there should be monitors beeping, ventilators puffing, and the quiet hum of machinery.

He was right. The surgical ICU was completely empty. No one was at the nurse’s station. No one was in any of the rooms. The lights were on here, but it only highlighted how wrong this all was.

Every computer was off, the chairs neatly pushed in against the desks, stacks of paper organized neatly beside them. Every ICU bed was made, the equipment more perfectly set up than Kutner thought a hospital ward had ever been.

“This is too perfect. It’s creepy.”

“Even if they’d evacuated,” Chase whispered, “there should be signs. You’d expect a messy ICU, not a pristine one.”

“We should leave,” Thirteen said, her voice shaky.

They went back down the staircase without talking. Every step was too loud in the echoey stairwell, and Kutner kept glancing over his shoulder even though he didn’t think there was anything there.

Chase pushed at the front door only to find it locked from the inside. “That shouldn’t even be possible.”

Cold dread squirmed in Kutner’s chest. He glanced back at the lobby, scanning the upstairs overlook. It really didn’t feel like anyone was watching him, but he had the overwhelming sense that if he was too loud, it might get unwanted attention.

But was it intuition? Or just anxiety?

[starrspice]

For your Runaway Bride AU, it seems pretty obvious that Sun & Moon will fall completely in love with reader and reader will fall in love with them.

Especially seeing how speechless both Sun & Moon were in seeing how gorgeous they thought reader is, even though she was crying, hurt and in a torn up dress. The setup made it almost seem like “it was love at first sight for them” which, to me, helped made it seem like a big factor in why they wanted to help protect reader and be okay with marrying her immediately (even though they were most likely already programmed to just be nice in general). A quick setting of them first becoming acquaintances to growing into friends to become real lovers sort of situation and honestly I’m just eating ALL that up.

But I do wonder in who will fall in love first of the three? (Honestly, I think it will be tie between Sun or Moon first; but it would funny if it was actually reader who fell first for a change.) Will William try to do something horrible to Sun & Moon; or threaten them or their shop to get them to divorce reader? Or will he try to threaten reader to void her married to Sun & Moon just so he can try to force her to marry him instead? (Knowing how much everyone hates Afton in the fandom I wouldn’t put it pass him to try and go dirty to try to get what he wants. But then again, he just sounds like a big annoy jerk of a CEO then a mob boss honestly.) Will the “Afton virus” be part of this AU or (hopefully) not?

*Le gasped!* Will her MOTHER find her and try to force her to void her marriage to Sun & Moon or will she actually apologize for the pain and misery she put her daughter through for greed?

As stated before I’m just EATING this AU up! 😏🥰

Ooooo i Love the attention to detail you've caught onto there!!! (You've definitely caught on to some intentional details)

I should Say, Sun and Moon don't really care too much about looks. Theyre strong believers in don't judge a book by its cover. But they're very good at reading the kind of energy people give off. Yknow how you can just tell someone is snooty, or really nice just by the way they carry themselves? It certainly started as a form of pity for someone clearly in distress, but I'd say after y/n came out of hiding and immediately tried to help clean up the mess, thats when Sun and Moon REALLY got a read for who they are, and it struck them in a way neither expected.

And all the theories are an absolute TREAT to read!!!! Im eating up your theories like candy after halloween!!!

Funny enough there IS an answer to who falls in love first (or at least who REALIZES They're in love first). I could even tell you the exact MOMENT they realize it

Ive got this fic all planned out but it might be a smidge longer than i expected!!! Its still kind of on the backburner to my amnesia moon fic but that doesnt mean i wont be writing and uploading new chapters here and there!!!

As for William oh he certainly won't be haply when he finds out his bride who jilted him is now supposedly marrying two baker bots. Made from his own company no less. He certainly won't take that lying down. As for the Afton virus, that will not be an element of this fic (but will be of heavy focus in another future fic of mine)

And Y/N's Mom will be returning in the story, but a bit later on...

[katyspersonal]

Some responses

Oh jeez...... Guys, I did not expect my post to resonate with so many people. I was aware that the problem of people feeling excluded and mocked just for less common headcanons had to be big, but I still thought this post would stay between me and all five of my followers, hahah; I am glad that some people feel really heard here! Some are for very different reasons, too?

I ESPECIALLY want to point out this one, because it is exactly the result I've been seeing a lot:

@tsunbath I've heard similar things from (former?) Malenia fans, and also I know at least two friends for whom Maria was ruined as a character because of how toxic her fans were. You are VERY right about the fact that Malenia would've hated to be the symbol of gatekeeping and bullying in the fandoms! I feel like the same would go for Maria; there is no direct confirmation, but I doubt many people can argue that she IS compassionate soul. Like... how do those toxic fans keep making the deep, compassionate, tragic female character into THE symbol of mockery, exclusion and aggression? Beats me.

It just deeply resonates with me how actions of the bad type of fans can create aversion to a character or a ship. I've had this phase with Mariadeline ship tbh. My advice would be - avoid searching content for the character/ship, try to find a tiny pool of people that likes them but are normal and respectful about it, allow yourself to feel identified with "normal fans of the thing" pool rather than dread of identifying with toxic gatekeepers by association... Like, the ship got recovered for me this way, same as Maria's character herself. Just remember that toxic fans and normal fans are not the same entity... It is a very rare case where division is HELPFUL! Hopefully you will be able to recover Malenia for yourself and not think of those l00sers anymore.

@mycopok I know Mal, easily the best person to have ever crossed BB fandom, and nothing will ever replace her </3 I am just happy that her positive influence still lingers even after becoming way less active, like... yeah, fans just should be allowed to explore any idea they want. Maria x Laurence is SUPER interesting concept! In fact, the initial post WAS made because of someone venting that they were afraid to post their Maria x Laurence stuff out of fear of being ostracised!

@underworldsheiress Yeahhhh again, you are not the first one I hear a story like this from. I also heard takes like 'tomboys are the grossest aesthetic, either come out as a trans or get back in line' (not exagerration). It is REALLY unfair how a woman looking masculine should be either her being a butch lesbian, or... well, no longer being a woman in the end. Infighting and forcing pointless norms on each other is a huge problem with LGBT+ community, you'd expect people to gather to support each other but... people will be people I guess :/ Anyways gigachad move of you to wear what you want.

@alma-amentet I don't quite agree with your tastes on body types maybe not gonna lie; However what you pointed out (not so much in the tags, I saw what else you said heh) is a very good example of how fandoms are open spaces and everyone should feel welcomed here. Like, the girls in the fandoms will have absolutely ridiculously specific tastes regarding male characters - not liking shorter height, not liking slim build, prettifying their canonically not-so-attractive face, judging them in sexy look contests, throwing insults towards their appearance quirks at times...

But once someone tries to pull similar things with female characters - all HELL breaks loose. Double standards in the fandoms regarding genders of the characters are absurd. I even once saw someone in BB fandom whining about how someone attempted to discuss which female character was hotter with them...... after we, as a fandom, CONSTANTLY have shit like 'sexyman contest who is sexier Mico or Brador vote now from your phones!!!!'. .... Like idk if you need to hear this as well or not, but everyone should be allowed to say 'muscular women aren't my taste' for the exact same reason why everyone is allowed to say 'muscular men aren't my taste'.

@fantomette22 @rhythmloid Devotees of the Biphobic Order are the bane of every western fandom's existence at this point for real though :/ They will see a female character that wears pants and kicks ass and start shaking over her like Gollum with The One Ring, ignoring all the context, nuance, her personal story, other possibilities, etc... Like I said - feelings of real people who just try to enjoy the fandom are more important than some toxic bunch's creepy obsession with the character they want to crown as their token masculine lesbian based on stereotypes, no less. I say if they really care about masculine lesbians, they should direct their activity towards real world and real people. Because, again - fandomry is not activism.

Anyways thanks everyone for speaking, and sorry if the tagging annoyed you or something fdsjhfh I really appreciate that, and I do hope you all will be able to find your own group in the fandom that'll keep you mentally safe from the toxic fans ruining characters for you. Like a power barrier in the middle of the chaos! I know I did find mine, lol

[stormxpadme]

Whumptober 2023 No. 27 - Matches/Scars/“Let me see”

Scogan Bingo challenge Pick-Up Line

Logan's head was spinning when he came around, and he was still sore all over from that damn car crash, including a hated painful tensing of only just recovering muscles in his neck from where he'd broken the latter two times within a minimum of time. Couldn’t have been long since he'd passed then, his still dazed mind tried to conclude …

Or had it? Logan couldn’t scent or hear anyone nearby – at least he didn’t think, with his senses still slightly off –, so the stinking fur guy who had caused the crash had apparently left him behind for some reason, maybe getting bored with trying to gut someone with an off-the-chart healing factor. Asshole could be anywhere in these damn woods right now … Damnit, Logan had to get the fuck up and see where that stupid kid was he'd picked up on the road for some reason, as soon as he could muster up enough energy in his cells. But the more awake he got, the more he suddenly doubted, Rogue was still anywhere nearby. Especially not if psycho fur dude had really taken her for some reason that Logan decided he'd rather not think about too hard right now, not with all he knew from painful personal experience about some ferals in this fucked-up world. Because fact was, it was pitch-black like in a damn monkey's ass and bitterly cold around him, meaning he'd been unconscious for far longer than a few comparatively minor injuries should actually allow and his enemy surely had one hell of a headstart by now … How damn off he was about pretty much everything, he only realized when he finally scrambled to sit up, tried to stand up, and promptly banged his dumb head on the roof of some car. Not his truck; a lack of orientation or not, he'd immediately have been able to tell his own distinctive scent and a week's worth of laundry to be done plus two bags full of trash to be thrown out. Whoever's ride this was whatever reason, fur guy had seemingly dropped Logan's stupid ass in here for, they couldn’t be outside in any case. The echo was all off. No smell of a garage, or of the spicy, crystal-clear air of Canada either. And when Logan instinctively tried to reach around him, to use the handle that his fingertips soon brushed, the door didn’t budge an inch.

"Please don't do that. Unless you want to get us both killed, that is."

God fucking damnit … Logan shook himself with an annoyed hiss, trying to push the last of dizziness from his system and get his perception back to full work while his claws were already springing forward, a menacing snikt in the absolute darkness around him that should hopefully be a warning to whoever was in this damn car with him. On the back seat by the sound of an also quite exhausted-sounding voice, while Logan's hectic movements could now make out that he had to be on the passenger side in the front. Restricted space, shitty for a fight unless he wanted to rip the interior right to pieces, it flashed in his mind. He gritted his teeth, preaching himself patience, something not exactly easy when you'd been forced off the road unprovoked by some Neanderthal. "Who is this?"

The stranger didn’t seem too impressed by either his threat or the growl in his voice. Still not moving an inch at where he was laying, breathing so almost inaudibly shallow that Logan hadn’t picked up on the guy's presence immediately, the stranger only turned the slightest bit toward Logan, followed by a pained hiss. "Name's Scott Summers. My team partner and I came to help you after our employer had heard about a planned attack on you."

Logan gave the stuck door another annoyed hit, ignoring the stranger's weird warning, his teeth quickly starting to chatter from the unholy temperatures. "Well, great job."

"We almost got you and the girl out of there in time," that Scott guy continued as if he hadn’t even heard him, still in that strained voice. "But a second enemy showed up that we weren’t expecting. Shapeshifter, excellent hand-to-hand combatant. Took my partner right out before she even knew what was coming. When I tried to help her, the man who was after you attacked me from behind. They took the girl for some reason. Still trying to make any sense of that. Us, they apparently had no use for."

"No shit." Logan rubbed his ears repeatedly and felt the car's doors and windows down a little more carefully this time because his instincts let him know more clearly by the moment that something was alarmingly wrong about this precarious situation that the two of them were in. Which Logan had no doubt in by now. He didn’t even necessarily have to rely on his instincts to know the guy wasn’t lying. For that, that fight earlier which Logan had mostly missed, had taken audibly a far too big physical toll on him. And yet they were both alive – not that in Logan's case, that was much of a surprise, of course. With how ruthlessly the fur bastard had ripped Logan's car basically apart earlier though, that was more than weird. His throat immediately tightened just thinking what such a primitive bastard might want with an innocent homeless minor who wasn’t anywhere as used as Logan to people trying to use her for some shit. Since that was obviously not the case this time, he tried in vain to wrap his head around why these people hadn’t at least tried to get rid of him and his involuntary car neighbor. Why they'd only been left them behind in this piece of junk that of course didn’t react to Logan tentatively slipping one of his claws into the ignition slot either, in whatever place this was, with obviously entirely isolated walls and no lightning … About high time to find out. "I need to go after the girl, bub. Stay where you are. I'll cut us out of here."

"Don't. We are …" This time it sounded like an order, and from someone who was used to giving them, no less. An uncompromising sharp tone ruined only by a cough following that elicited a series of agonized moans and more labored breathing. Rib or lung damage.

Usually not Logan's problem but if for some reason, they were really stuck in here, he could maybe use the guy's help still. Not to mention that the dude had allegedly tried to help him earlier. Wasn’t asked too much to try and return the courtesy, hurry or not. "We're what? And what's with the wheezing? Fur guy got you bad?"

"Could be worse," Scott answered when he could talk again, but the faint smell of copper in the air revealed, that cough had brought up some body fluid. "He didn’t need to ghost me anyway. It was enough to fling me against some tree so I was too concussed to use my powers. And they were too pressed on time for torture just for the sake of it for once, unlike in some of our last fights. They rather decided they wanted to bury us in my partner's and my jeep and let exposure do the job for them."

When it finally, finally clicked, Logan felt even more ice-cold. "You telling me we're underground, bub?"

"Avalanche," Scott answered tensely which wasn’t exactly better news. "The guy who attacked you caused it. I was only half conscious at that point, so I can't say how deep we are exactly. As long as you stop trying to open the car, we should have a couple of hours of air, though, and the snow masses shouldn’t crush it either. The jeep's body is quite stable. Just don't open the damn window, unless you want gravity to do the job for those assholes. My people will track me down and get us out of here. Just stay put."

"When some assholes have kidnapped an innocent teenager? I think not." But hard as he tried, Logan couldn’t come up with a solution to end this unfortunate situation either. Sure, he could have easily cut through the car's body and probably dug his way out of the snow bit by bit too. But depending on how deep under they really were, chances were he would pass out from hypothermia again and again which would in the end take just as much time as waiting here for some obscure rescue. Not to mention, he'd have military voice dude here on his conscience. "You sure your people are on their way?"

"Absolutely. We have … ways of communicating, even without a radio signal. My boss knows that something's wrong. Another one of my teammates will be here soon." It sounded like the guy was faintly smiling for some reason but he didn’t seem ready to elaborate further. "The woman I came here with will soon be waking up again as well, I hope. Her injuries didn’t look that bad. She's atmokinetic, so it's possible she can melt the snow even before the others come."

"A couple of maybes too many for my taste, kid." Logan rubbed his eyes with a bone-deep sigh, resigning for now to the fact that they had no choice but to wait. At least for a couple of hours, he guessed, he could do that. After that … It was not impossible he'd no longer have to worry about leaving someone to die in here either way. At least that unhappy possibility, he probably should be trying to counteract, given that this guy and his people, whoever they were, might save his ass again soon. Good thing, Logan had found unexpectedly something very useful, absently patting down his jacket for a cigar and a flask out of habit alone. "First, let's make sure you'll still be drawing air with that fucked up lung of yours by the time we're rescued." Pulling out said package of matches, he turned around on the seat, getting up on his knees left and right of the center dashboard, and then lit a first flame to finally get a look at his fellow captive and especially the guy's injuries.

Logan drew in a sharp breath when he saw the man's black uniform hanging in shreds from his upper body. In spite of the meager lighting, he was pretty sure these razor-sharp claws hadn’t stopped at scratching that layer of clothing open, too. A couple of cuts couldn’t be why that remarkably tall and lean-looking shape was curled up so tightly on his side on the back seat though. Neither did they explain the distorted grimace on a face that Logan had to actively tear his gaze away from because holy shit, military guy was hot. Which wouldn’t matter soon given Scott obviously didn’t come with a healing factor. Logan would at least have to try and help with his jacket in a second, but first, he needed to know what he was dealing with here. "Let me see." With a curse, he threw the match away when it burned out on his fingertips and clipped off a new one, feeling with increasing annoyance that not even half of the package was left. He should be smoking less. Or buy a couple of damn Zippos more. "I'm not gonna have a lot of time to give you a hand, bub, so be quick and don't make a fuss. Uniform off. Not much of a loss, frankly. Did you get here right after some fetish club visit or what?"

"Combat gear, asshole," Scott grumbled, but it didn’t sound entirely pissed, more worn out as Logan noticed with increasing worry. The smell of blood was impossible to ignore at this point. At least the guy obeyed, judging by the rustling of what was left of the stiff black material on his chest.

When the noise stopped, Logan lit another match and swallowed a curse, staring at the gaping gash at the guy's side through which a hint of white showed, with wide eyes, before pulling off his jacket, to get to his shirt for a necessary bandage. "Anyone ever tell you, you got the self-preservation sense of a lemming, kid? We don't wrap that up, you'll bleed out in less than half an hour."

"Been through worse." The sad thing was, that sounded sincere. "I'll be alright as soon as the others come. We got some pretty useful technological and medical toys at our home."

"Yeah, well, you're not home right now." Logan threw the second burned-out match away and got out of his shirt, leaning to the back again to try and find Scott's hand at where it was clumsily pressed to that frightening bleeding. "Put that down on it. Tightly. Gonna see if I find something better in the glove box."

"You won't." Right, car belonged to this guy; he would know. At least there was a hint of energy back in that warm, deep voice now, instead of that exhaustion bordering almost on resignation from a moment ago. "First aid kit should be in the back though, along with a couple of blankets. Supplies, too. If you can cut through the seats with those knives of yours …"

"Not exactly knives, kid." With a bit of maneuvering, Logan made it to the back seat, now kneeling right beside Scott's cramped shape, hissing when he realized even through both their clothes, the young man's body was already alarmingly cold. About high time to move. Since he had no interest in accidentally kebabing the dude even more than he already was, he found Scott's free, trembling hand where it was tightly clutching down on his other arm and handed the matches to him. "Hold one right to the backrest." Because of his trembling, it took Scott a moment to light one of the remaining sticks but once that was done, Logan made short work of the upper part of those seats. He expected the usual shock on Scott's face that Logan was being used to from people seeing his claws for the first time and shrugged his surprise away when it never came, maybe because the young man still had his eyes firmly closed. If the guy really came from a place where there were more of their kind, he'd probably witnessed weird shit before either way. Logan needed to bend and twist a little to get to the medical supplies and by that time, the match was already out again, but Logan had already spotted all he needed to see. He put not only the kit but also a six-pack of water and a couple of prepacked sandwiches down in front of the backseat before turning on the two strong headlights also part of the car's equipment, hanging them from the front seat's headrests with a relieved sigh. "You guys always leave the house prepared for a whole field trip?"

Scott gave him a still weak but honest-looking grin and damn Logan if he didn’t catch himself staring at that chiseled, youthful face yet again instead of fumbling with medical supplies. "Our mansion doubles at a school. Always prepared comes with the job description."

"Yeah, I don't think I even want to know, bub." That was a blatant lie, but for now, there were more important things to do than talking about trivialities. Logan already rummaged for bandages in the kit when Scott reached for his arm in an uncoordinated movement, grunting when that obviously caused new pain in his side. "There should be a small metal box on the left side by the spare wheel. Black circular device, red glass." At a loss yet again about what the guy was going on about, Logan leaned down to the trunk once more, not least because the makeshift bandage of his shirt seemed to slow the bleeding enough for now, and the urgency in Scott's voice let him know, it was important to the young man.

He only understood when the guy slipped said device, looking like something taken from some old Star Trek series, over his eyes and let out a careful hiss before turning his head Logan's way. "Thanks. Sabretooth took my other VISOR. Oh shit, you really took your shirt off for me, huh?" An askew little smirk curled on these beautiful full lips that would have probably sent Logan's hormones into overdrive for good if it hadn’t been that damn cold.

He decided he could think about that, and about what the deal with the guy's eyes was later, finally getting to work, provisionally disinfecting and taping up the ugly wound by Scott's side. The hint of interest took a backseat when he leaned in closer to the guy's half-naked body and had to swallow thickly at spotting a whole map of scars covering the smooth, enticingly soft skin, some quite old looking, some clearly fresh. "For someone who looks like they've only just graduated, you sure got a lot of miles covered, Shades."

"I'm 29 but thanks, I guess. And I was orphaned at twelve if you need to know. Ran into a few very unpleasant people on the way." Scott circled an especially dangerously looking trace right over his left hipbone absently, sounding like he was miles away with his thoughts for a moment, his shoulders tight in visible agitation. "When my boss took me in at the age of fifteen, he had me taught me how to fight back. It seemed only logical then, to help others do the same and try to change some of the shit going on in this world for mutants for the better."

"Not a choice anyone should make at fifteen, bub." Only Logan knew very well that especially being a member of their race, that kind of choice often didn’t ask for age of maturity. Again, he couldn’t help but think of the girl. Burying a nervous hand in his hair once he was finished with that bandage, he gritted his teeth as he was trying in vain not to imagine what these assholes of whom he still didn’t exactly know who they even were, might be doing to Rogue right this fucking moment.

"I guess not. So far I didn’t regret it though." A trembling, shy hand came to rest on Logan's elbow, and he could swear he could see Scott shudder not only from coldness at the feeling of Logan's thick muscles tensing instantly. "Care to tell me your story? Not like we got much else to do for now."

"I'm afraid I lost the memory of anything interesting to tell fifteen years ago. Been cage fighting my way through ever since, trying to find them again." Logan turned away with tight lips when Scott gasped in sympathy, leaning down to the trunk for a last time to get said blankets. Then he carefully wormed his way onto one of the seats, resting Scott's legs on his, telling himself bravely it was only so that the guy's system wouldn’t crash for good at some point. Once they were both comfortable and warming up under all of the blankets available and once Logan had thrust a bottle and one of these disgusting-looking sandwiches into Scott's hand, his thoughts wandered back to today's events. "Seriously, in this world of freaks, I'm the least interesting guy you could find out there. Why did you people ever think, these assholes were after me? They obviously wanted the girl."

Scott showed a just as clueless-seeming shrug. "We'll have to ask the Professor when he gets home. He's got a mental gift, you see. It's not always entirely reliable. Which is also why we couldn’t pinpoint your exact location in time. Or the girl wouldn’t be in these bastards' hands right now. We failed big time today, Logan. This cannot be happening. Too much is depending on my team for that." For a moment, he clenched his fists, an expression almost of self-loathing flitting over that handsome face.

"Hey, Shades." Logan instinctively reached out for that scrunched-up face without even thinking about it, his own half-eaten sandwich forgotten on his lap, and shook his head at the stranger disapprovingly. "From my point of view, without you guys? I'd be stuck alone down here right now. I got a power set that won't let me die but let me tell you, freezing into an ice cube over and over again is not something I got a fetish for. You guys helped without even knowing me, so that whole doing some good for this world thing doesn’t seem to go that bad. And these primitive motherfuckers, we'll find as soon as we're out of here. Next time I'll be prepared, don't worry." He demonstratively extended his claws on his free hand again, shuddering a little when he saw the definitely more than just a little interested look, Scott was regarding his main weapons with, the clean-shaven skin under his soothing touch maybe now heating up not just from the returning healthier body temperature. Maybe, when all this was over … Taking a closer look at that weird school, wherever it was, wasn’t a bad idea. It wasn’t like chasing ghosts had gotten Logan anywhere so far. Only when Scott belatedly seemed to realize for how long Logan's touch had been lingering there on his cheek and he startled, looking away, his expression one of a bad conscience, Logan let go of him as if he'd burned himself. "Sorry, bub, was just trying to make sure you're warming up. No need to worry that your girl at home's gonna be jealous or something." It was only a stab in the dark, but judging by this even darker blush on Scott's cheeks and the way he was biting his lower lip, Logan was pretty sure he wasn’t that far off with the assumption of a committed partner. Just his luck.

"Jean hasn’t been jealous of anyone for a long time, to be honest," Scott murmured in an unexpected new wave of sadness, staring into nothing another time for long seconds. "Her and me … That hasn’t been anything but show and convenience for two years or so. I guess I just didn’t have a reason to admit that even to myself so far."

Logan was pretty sure the guy was only just talking so much, and to a stranger no less, because of a beginning fever. Not to mention, he was still busy dealing with his own increasing attraction to someone he'd literally only just met. So he decided rather to not say anything to that. But he crossed his arms lightly enough on Scott's muscular thighs under those blankets, to keep an eye on the guy's body temperature, stared at the dull grey and glistening of the snow frozen heavily against the windows, and lost himself to his thoughts.

*****

It was less than two hours, in the end, it turned out, before they could hear the telltale scraping and crunching of the snow around them being worked on from the outside. When Scott woke up from a few hopefully healing minutes of sleep, he listened with that absent look on his face again, his head tilted, to something only seemed to be hearing. With growing relief in his voice, he confirmed that it was indeed his people trying to get to them, not the enemy for some reason. "Ororo's alright, too. We'll fly to Westchester to regroup. The Professor is already looking for Rogue with his powers. We'll find her, Logan, I promise." He firmly grabbed Logan's hand, his jaw thrust forward in determination.

"You bet your cute little ass on it, Slim." As long as the snow cover was still intact and no one could see them, Logan thought it couldn’t hurt to hold on to that encouraging touch for a moment. Maybe, once Shades guy had taken care of certain interpersonal issues in his house, they could even go back to that at some point. "And once this all is over … Seeing as we've already almost died side by side … Wanna give trying to live together a shot next?"

Scott snorted but made no move to pull away. "That's the worst possible pick-up line you could have come up with, you know."

Logan shrugged and reached for a cigar in his pocket with his free hand. "Not much of a romantic."

"Good," Scott simply said, an enchanting small smile on his lips, and that was all that needed to be said for the moment.

*******************************************************************************

@whumptober | @whumptober-archive

@scoganbingo

[autumnslance]

Misunderstanding

Also on Ao3

Shadowbringers 5.55 "Death Unto Dawn": After that final scene in Mor Dhona, when everyone returns to the Rising Stones to wait on Krile to make any headway with Sharlayan. Uses/extrapolates from a bit of info from a certain Radz-at-Han sidequest.

Under the cut for those who prefer Tumblr:

---

“Everything all right?” Thancred asked, waiting a bit further along the trail as Estinien and Aeryn caught up. The twins had dashed ahead, while Urianger and Y’shtola walked and talked. Estinien and Aeryn fell into step alongside Thancred as they returned to the Toll.

“Someone got distracted,” Estinien said, tilting his head toward Aeryn.

“'Twas nothing,” she said. Thancred’s eyes narrowed; he had caught the attempted lie, as she wasn’t terribly good at that. “I thought I heard something.”

“If you say so,” Thancred replied. “Y’shtola’s dismissed us to do as we like, having all the reports and Urianger’s willing aid. Unless of course you wished to join them.”

Estinien harrumphed and shook his head. “Not I. My plans involve a hot bath and a nap, hopefully without interruption from certain young comrades using my quarters as their verbal battleground.”

“Good luck with that,” Thancred said. “And you, my lady?”

“A bath and sleep sounds like a good idea, actually. Running hither and yon to test the towers was more tiring than I thought.”

“Then allow me to accompany you. There’s something I’ve been meaning to show you, besides.”

“And that is my cue to leave,” Estinien said dryly. He grinned as Aeryn rolled her eyes before they parted, Estinien stopping by the Seventh Heaven’s bar while the other two continued into the Rising Stones.

“Was it the Echo?” Thancred finally asked as he walked with her to her room, the halls otherwise empty.

She frowned as she opened her door. “No. At least, I don’t think so.”

“Don’t think so?” He followed her inside, setting his blade on the waiting rack and shucking his coat. “Usually obvious, isn’t it?”

Aeryn leaned on her desk. “There was a woman, calling to me. Familiar, glowing white. Giving a warning of approaching doom, and my responsibility to stop it. The usual.” She stared at one of the many bright rugs covering the stone floor. “She’s never contacted me like this before.”

“Hydaelyn?” Thancred asked, voice cracking slightly. He draped his coat on the desk next to her, instead of hanging it up.

Aeryn nodded as she helped him remove his chestplate. “It’s always been Her voice, but pulling my mind to the aetherial sea—all those times I used to faint, especially early on. But after the Praetorium—brief attempts, now and then, mostly when reforging the connection to the crystals that Midgarsormr had suppressed. But She obviously struggled, and did not otherwise reach out. Not until we went to the Antitower to look for Her.”

“And found what had happened to Minfilia,” he said quietly.

Aeryn nodded. “But Minfilia’s no longer Her voice. I wonder…is it because Elidibus is gone? Has She found a new voice to bear Her messages?”

“But all this vision said was what we already know,” Thancred replied. “Imminent danger, and everyone shall expect you to avert it.”

Aeryn laughed, hearing her own tinge of bitterness. “Always the way of it.”

She made to push off the desk, but Thancred stepped in front of her, catching her wrists and pressing her hands between his. “Well you’re not alone, you know. You have us. You have me, always.”

Aeryn smiled, letting out a content breath. “I know. I do; thank you.”

He smiled back, and she thought, oddly, that he seemed almost shy. “Good,” he said. “Though, I believe you could stand to have a reminder of that, if you’ll indulge me.”

She tilted her head, curious now. “Of course; what are you up to now?”

“Up to? Darling, I am a paragon of virtue, I assure you.” He grinned as she scoffed and rolled her eyes, unable to hide her own smile. “But I did find myself needing to keep my hands busy whilst Urianger and I camped in Garlemald, lest my fingers freeze and fall off.” One of his hands let go of hers to pull something from the pocket of his laid-out coat.

“That would certainly be tragic,” Aeryn said. “Thought you weren’t the crafty type.”

“Well not to Tataru’s artisanal proficiency, certainly. And don’t ask me to work large projects in metal or leather. But a little hand weaving of small things now and then is a handy skill to have.” He handed her the soft package; just a bit of cloth around something small.

Aeryn took it. “You never cease to surprise me—” she began as she pulled aside the cloth, revealing a woven cord bracelet with a simple but pretty silver clasp in the shape of a lotus native to Thavnair, connecting bright, interwoven bands of light blue and a pale tan. The weave was tight and neat, not a lump, misbraid, or gap to be found—given his perfectionism, it must have taken him much longer than the Garlemald mission.

Words from her childhood buzzed through her head, remembering the excitement of the evening when Rashae had shown off her fire-colored band, Mama playing with her own. “The braids must be perfect,” she reminded the younger children. “The tighter the weave, the closer the bond to the gods, that their protection might be upon the one you love.” She and Papa had shared a smile, Mama’s easy blush visible on her cheeks.

“Aeryn?” Thancred sounded slightly anxious.”I know as a duelist you often wear red to battle, but blue’s your favorite color, so I do hope I haven’t committed some fashion sin.” He was trying to joke.

“Wh-why now?” She asked, trying not to squeak. That damnable blush rose over her face and back past her ears, her pulse loud. They had talked about this and she had thought they were on the same page.

He blinked at her, his concern and befuddlement keening across her empathic Echo. “I thought…well, Lyse beat me to earrings, while rings on one’s finger have certain…connotations, yet I wanted…something…?” He gestured at the bracelet in her palm almost helplessly with one hand, the other rubbing the back of his neck.

Rings. Mama had continued to wear her bonding ring, the Eorzean tradition not conflicting with Thavnair’s. “Both my loves kept close,” she said, when asked by a neighbor. “Especially for my children's sake; their father will ever be an important part of my life, as Tanzel’s first wife remains important to him and their children.”

It had taken news of an acquaintance’s impending nuptials for Aeryn and Thancred to tentatively talk around the subject—once.

“Our own reticence to discuss it seems an indication in itself,” he had said then. “I know I want to be with you, but the how—“

“Is fine for now,” she had answered. “We need to think about some things, and…just come back to this when we’re ready.”

He had frowned, but nodded. She thought the matter was safely tabled.

“For gods’ sake, Aeryn,” his voice yanked her back to the present. “Say something—anything?”

“I thought we’d settled this, how can you spring this on me now?”

His brows drew down in a scowl to cover his confusion. They were close enough that she felt the icy hooks of dejection snaring him, even as he took a step back. “It’s only meant to be a simple token of my affections…Though if you don’t like it you may simply say so!”

“I do! It’s lovely, but we’ve already said we’re not ready for marriage so I don’t understand why—“

“What? Who said anything about that, it’s a bracelet, that I apparently toiled over for no—“

“Wait! You didn’t—you don’t know what this means?!”

“Apparently not!” Thancred snapped—and then stared, as Aeryn suddenly let out a nervous, helpless laugh, reaching out to grip his shirt with one hand, and the bracelet held tightly in her other.

“Oh gods! For a moment I thought…” She continued to giggle uncontrollably.

“I shall wait until you can breathe normally again to ask you to explain,” he said coolly, resigned to holding her up, lest she fall into a hysterical pile on the floor. It was also an attempt to mask his fearful stiffness.

She nodded. “In…in Thavnair… a band l-like this, well…the weave is a…a promise, between man an-and gods,” she managed past her titters. “Tighter the weave, the stronger the protection and usually one, one presents it to one’s…lover, as a promise, and to beseech the gods’ protections, and usually mea-means…” She lost her words to another peal of relieved laughter.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, deep sigh. “This is what I get for not looking deeply enough into your other peoples’ traditions; I discovered bracelets like this to be a gift, but not…I’m not—I mean, I did not intend to—”

Aeryn pulled him into a kiss, holding each other tight—though the giggling continued, his own stressed chuckles tentatively joining hers. “Thank you,” she finally murmured as they leaned close.

He rubbed the back of his neck again, still self-conscious. “You’re quite welcome, and glad am I to avert the argument that was beginning to ensue.”

“It came close,” she said. “Though…I might have also thought about answering.”

“I consider myself duly warned,” he deadpanned back. It didn’t last long, both of them falling into another giddy fit of laughter against one another.

She pretended not to notice that he had bit back the question of how she would have answered.

“I’ll keep it under my gloves and sleeves so it doesn’t clash,” she said, head leaning on his shoulder.

“Oh I see, keeping it a secret then,” he half-teased.

“Keeping it safe, do you know the things that I get into?”

“Only most of them,” he replied. “And there is a protection on the item itself, thanks to Urianger. It should be more durable than it looks, given your proclivity for danger.”

“I’ll have to thank him as well, then.”

Thancred wrapped his arms tighter around her. “I think that can wait until morning.”

“I think you’re right,” she answered, returning the embrace. Too soon they disentangled to get out of their gear, clean up, and have a light meal. Eventually they went to bed, holding one another as they talked about recent events and the coming days’ plans until falling asleep.

Aeryn rested her head on Thancred’s chest and listened to his heart rate steady as he slowly slid into slumber. The arm he had wrapped around her as she lay against him was warm and grounding. In the dark, she felt the band on her left wrist and smiled. She had decided that though it was her primary writing hand, she mostly fought right-handed, and this would be a better choice in the long run.

It would take some getting used to, she thought, toying idly with the bracelet. He hadn’t fully known what such a thing meant, and she did not believe in any gods herself anymore—yet the warmth and giddiness at the gesture still made falling asleep difficult.

She would have to remember to write Rashae about this; she would find the misunderstanding amusing and make joking comments about silly Eorzeans—and if she also teased Aeryn a bit, well, that was the price for confiding in her elder stepsister about her love life.

The questions of marriage were still safely set aside—for now.

---

(I'd determined at the end of ShB that Thancred would gift Aeryn a non-betrothal token, but she already had her earrings from Lyse, so maybe a necklace or bracelet. Then I played EW and got to the bracelet sidequest in RAH in the later levels, and it felt serendipitous. I've been sitting on this draft for months, EW's a year old now, and it's time to yeet this one out, after getting a friend to help unstick some things.)

[lordystrange]

i think in order for me to "forgive" noah i'd want him to acknowledge the fact that he spread misinformation, spread islamophobia on his instagram story, liked islamophobic posts, and clear up what he actually meant with that statement that while yes, didn't directly call all palestinians terrorists, definitely read like it so much so that a palestinian fan of his that i'm friends with literally dmed me upset about it :/ like i want to know WHY he thought any of that was okay to do and an acknowledgement that it was wrong. idk it may sound pathetic but as someone who was a big fan i just want him to acknowledge it. it just sucks because my parasocial relationship w him was strong lol like i thought he wouldn't be some weird bigot who goes around saying/sharing dangerous shit that directly harms marginalized communities. like i don't mean to vent to you but as someone who really loved him this definitely hit me because he does all this talk of making his fanbase a safe space but then turned around and made islamophobia (and honestly just straight up racism towards brown people) an acceptable (and at this point, expected) part of his fanbase. like as a brown person myself i can't help but feel like he'd value my support of him less than a fan that looks like him :/ i don't think i could even stand to be a fan of him anymore especially with the way he seemingly wants to sweep this under the rug and act like it didn't happen. and i know i'm not the only one as the gc of (mostly non white) noah fans i'm in have all mentioned this feeling of us being seen as less than within his fanbase simply because we have spoken out against israeli bombardment in gaza (not even touching on the occupation very much) and in support of palestinian people and we got the most abhorrent comments. like...i don't think i can be a fan for much longer if his method of dealing with real harm in both the real world and his fanbase is to act like nothing happened and he did nothing wrong :/

Hi! 💚

Thank you for this ask! This is what I wanted to hear from people. I’m so sorry for what so many of us had to go through because of all this, especially the ones who are close to the issue.

I think it’s absolutely fair to want him to acknowledge this. I want that too. And this is only speculation, but I think the reason he’s not saying anything anymore is because he’s been told not to. I do think that everything that happened after the time he last said/did something have made many people like him to think twice, which is good. But in order to say something about that, he would have to go against people closest to him. So I get why it’s hard. He should do it but as a someone who themselves has to deal with a somewhat racist family, I know from experience that it is not easy to unlearn all that and then go against them.

If it is any consolation, I really do believe that Noah is not genocidal, just ignorant. That he really does want peace for both israelians and palestinians and doesn’t (or didn’t, hopefully in a past tense) recognize some of the posts he liked to be islamophobic. And the reason why that could be consolation, is that unawareness can be ’cured’ with awareness, but wanting a certain group of people dead would be more difficult to deal with.

I think the year Noah spent with going to Israel and spending time with mainly his jewish friends and family made him live in a bubble. Hopefully since he spends this year in set, it’ll break the bubble. (For Brett too but he is a harder case I think, unfortunately).

Anyway, I hope my reply doesn’t seem too much of me just defending Noah. Because I really do agree with you. And I hope that he’ll either does something that helps the people who want to like him feel like they can like him again, or at least won’t make anything worse.