#the amount of clumsy wandering they did worried me but they figured everything out just fine

[pallanophblargh]

I got really lucky in terms of timing: the last of the seven cecropia kids has begun their cocoon! Which means I won’t have to worry about them when I go on vacation in a few days. I’m gonna miss them so so so much, you have no idea.

If I get lucky next year and get a female moth out of these seven and she finds a mate, I’d like to raise more of these sweet little babies next year.

Fingers crossed that I get to see all of them emerge in a year!

[chyanxrene]

Sweetheart Part 2

♡ Sweetheart part 1 ♡

♡ Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Y/N

♡ Summary: Draco and Y/N were friend’s with benefits, now that Y/N was avoiding him, it was only a waiting game until he caught up with her.

♡ Warnings: Degradation, pure smut, male receiving

"Y/N have you found an outfit for the ball yet?" Her friend asked from next to her whilst she ate a slice of toast.

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows and then opened her eyes in realisation that she had forgotten the winter ball that was on Friday.

"Fuck, I forgot."

"We don't have time to go to Hogsmeade, you'll have to wear one of my dresses" her best friend smiled and continued eating.

Y/N nodded, spreading jam on her toast. She was trying to forget about her last encounter with Draco which had left him fuming. She was trying to avoid him, she wouldn't walk down the halls by herself— in case he caught her.

"Y/N" her friend drawled, Y/N followed her friends eye line.

"Why is he staring at you?" Her friend frowned, quickly diverting her gaze back towards Y/N.

Her eyes found his, he was mad, furious actually. His gaze was intense, he sat two tables away. Despite the large amount of students in the great hall, he was only looking at her.

His hand was tightly clenched around his fork, his knuckles whiter than his normal pale skin tone. Y/N felt uncomfortable from his staring— but she couldn't take her eyes off him.

She watched as Pansy Parkinson tapped his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. But Draco didn't flinch, he continued to stare at her in anger, watching her every movement.

Y/N gulped and excused herself from the great hall, she ran out into the corridor only to bump into someone and fall straight on her ass.

"Oh fuck."

"Shit— I'm sorry, here— let me help you up."

Y/N watched the large male hand in front of her, she hesitantly grabbed the hand. He pulled her up, maybe a little too hard as she crashed into his chest.

"Thanks Cormac."

"You're welcome Y/L/N."

There was an awkward silence between the two. Y/N knew him from a few classes but had never spoken to him like that. She knew he could be a player but that didn't alter is good looks.

"Say Y/N, you don't happen to have a date tomorrow yet? If you do that's fine but if not then perhaps I could take you."

Y/N chewed on her lip, a part of her didn't want to go with him as he was a ladies man, another part of her wanted to— as she didn't have a date yet. The ball was the last thing on her mind.

"I'm surprised you don't yet" she laughed.

Cormac chuckled and brushed his hand along her right arm. "Well, I wanted to go with you but I didn't have the balls to ask."

This was news to Y/N, she had never observed any interest from Cormac. She decided to bite the bullet and agree to going with him— besides she didn't want to look lonely.

"Sure, I'll go with you."

"Perfect!" He pulled her into a tight squeeze, she heard him take a deep inhale and then let out a sigh. He was weird— nether the less she now had a date, so she had to prepare.

Y/N said her goodbye to Cormac after an awkward hug and turned around to head to her dorm room. At the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of Draco leaning against the entrance door to the great hall.

Her heart was racing, she didn't want to make eye contact with him. She hurried past him, the wind picked up his smell which travelled into her nostrils. Shivers ran down her spine, the smell of Draco was addictive but she had to be strong.

It was the day of the winter ball, Y/N didn't have much time to prepare an outfit so was left with two options, kindly offered by her friend.

"So, there's the red one with the slit— very Christmassy— also very seductive— the slit makes it easy if you want to— well you know what."

Y/N laughed at her friend's dirty mind and watched as she picked the other dress up.

"The black one is cute— it's what you would wear to your enemies funeral— just to show them up" she laughed.

Y/N thought carefully, the black was nice, slightly puffy at the bottom and long sleeves. The red was silk from head to toe, a slit running down the left leg, it was a straight dress— it would be a tight fit.

"The red."

Her friend clapped her hands excitedly and threw the dress over to her. Y/N went to get ready, she took a long hot shower. She done her hair in her favourite style and applied natural make up. She decided to go for a bold red lip, to match her dress.

"Fucking hell."

"Is it too much?" Y/N said worriedly, she looked down at her dress, ironing out the creases with her hands.

"If Cormac doesn't get you in his bed tonight, you'll definitely be in mine!"

Y/N blushed, her friend wore the black dress which complimented her skin tone nicely. She paired it with a smoky eye and nude lipgloss, they both looked good.

"Come, let's go— I have a date with Blaise and Cormac will be waiting for you" her friend said pulling them out of their shared dorm room.

"You look— lovely" Cormac smiled, his eyes went straight to her chest and then to her exposed leg. Y/N scoffed and now began regretting coming with this boy.

She thanked him, shooting him a quick smile. His hand went around her waist, holding her tightly— maybe a little too tightly. Y/N sucked it up, she hoped that she could loose him in an hour and find her friend.

"Do you want a drink?" He asked, his eyes wandered glancing at other females.

Y/N stood on his toe quickly and then retracted her foot "oh my, I'm so sorry, I'm clumsy you see."

Cormac nodded, a hint of anger on his face as he examined his shoe to see if there was any scuff marks. Once he discovered there wasn't he smiled and then went to get drinks.

Y/N stood waiting for her date, she watched as her friend was being twirled around by Blaise. They looked cute together, she couldn't help but feel jealous as she wanted to be treated the same as her friend.

Cormac was taking a while, she glanced over and saw him speaking to his friends, they kept looking over to her and then smirking. Y/N was utterly repulsed— men she thought in her head.

The air suddenly shifted, it was heavier— stuffy, Y/N's breath was caught in her throat as she found it hard to breath properly.

Everyone else continued dancing, she was the only one that was feeling this, and that's when she felt his body behind her. He wasn't touching her, she could just feel him behind her.

She took in a deep breath, and licked her lips.

"You look— beautiful" Draco breathed from behind her.

He had never spoken to her like that outside of sex. Of course he had called her beautiful many times, only when she was sucking his dick, or riding him— oh gosh.

She felt herself grow wet as memories of her and Draco clustered her mind. She had to stand her ground, she can't let him win again.

"Thank you."

"Where's your date?" He said now standing next to her, he didn't look at her, he just faced forward watching everyone dance.

"Getting drinks."

"Mmm, which one is it again?"

"None of your business" Y/N spat.

He let out a short laugh, his eyes finally meeting hers. She turned her head quickly and faced the front again.

"Where's your date?"

"I don't have one."

"That's a shame."

"Is it? Or are you secretly happy about that?" He teased, Y/N's face grew hot, did he know about her crush on him? She thought deeply thinking if she gave away any hints.

Y/N cleared her throat "oh here he comes."

Cormac walked over with two glasses of punch. He eyed Draco and then handed the drink to Y/N.

"Malfoy, everything alright?" Cormac asked, drinking some of his drink.

He hummed, watching Cormac, he looked annoyed "I'm fine, you mind if I have your drink Y/N?"

She frowned at him and shook her head "no— it's mine, get your own."

I looked at Cormac who had a worried look on his face "yeah— yeah get your own Malfoy."

Draco slapped the drink out of her hands, sending shards of glass onto the dance floor. It was too loud for anyone to hear, so no one noticed, only a Hufflepuff who quickly collected the glass.

"Draco what the fuck."

"He put something in your drink" he growled now holding onto Cormac's shirt collar.

"I did not!" Cormac shouted.

"I watched you, you and your little friends had a game going on didn't you?"

Cormac shook his head.

"Who can fuck first? Right?" Draco shouted.

Y/N had heard enough and ran off, she felt embarrassed. She knew Cormac was an ass but she didn't expect that. She wasn't upset or crying, she just wanted to go back to her dorm room.

She felt more embarrassed at the fact that Draco came to her rescue, she should've figured it out herself. Now she was beginning to get annoyed at him.

She turned down a corridor, speeding to her dorm room. Heavy footsteps trailed behind her, she was finally going to be caught by Draco Malfoy.

He tugged on her wrist and pulled her back, she swung around. His other hand pushed her head towards his and he kissed her deeply. Entering his tongue in her mouth straight away.

Y/N let out a whimper and returned the kiss. Draco backed her against the wall, her back hitting the cold stone sharply.

He pulled back, his eyes were heavy which watched his heavy breath.

His finger was raised, he pointed it at Y/N and laughed.

"You— my sweetheart— have been driving me wild."

Y/N could only gulp, his hand slapped the wall next to her head.

"Do you enjoy playing games with me?"

Y/N shook her head quickly, Draco's other hand trailed down her thigh and went underneath her dress. Brushing her inner thighs slowly.

"Answer me!"

"I—I haven't played games."

"You have, you leave me with blue balls, I haven't been able to get rid of them for nearly a week now!"

"That—that's not my fault."

A smirk fell onto his face, his hand stopped moving.

"You're right— maybe it's mine."

Y/N nodded, her underwear now sticking to her wet pussy, his finger grew closer and closer to where she wanted him most. But he didn't touch her, he was teasing her, getting her back for what she'd done to him.

"You know what I want?" He smiled, his thumb brushing her bottom lip, he smudged her red lipstick slightly.

"I want you— to wrap those pretty red lips around my cock."

Y/N moaned at his words, she just couldn't do it, she couldn't let him leave her again when she had all these feelings for him.

Y/N bit her lip and thought to herself— I guess one more time wouldn't hurt, she convinced herself.

Draco searched Y/N's eyes for an answer, then he smirked when he realised she had come to a decision.

Draco looked around and unbuttoned his trousers, he pulled them down along with his boxers. His dick was hard, the head leaking with precum.

"You missed this sweetheart?" He asked wiping the precum off his tip with the pad of his thumb and then smearing it onto Y/N's lips.

Y/N nodded quickly, her tongue darting out to taste his arousal. Draco's hand wrapped around her throat, he pulled her into a hard kiss and then let her go.

"Make me cum" he whispered against her lips.

Y/N fell to her knees, she rubbed up her hand up and down his dick. His hips bucked forward as he felt her thumb brush across his sensitive tip.

Draco's hands tangled in her hair "show me how much you missed me."

He pushed her head forward, his eyes never leaving her. She ran her hand up and down again, stroking the prominent vein on the side, her mouth opened.

Draco guided his tip first into her mouth, Y/N's lips instantly wrapped around it, swirling her tongue to taste him.

"Fuck."

He pushed her head further, forcing her to take more of his thick cock. Her mouth widened, she struggled to take in everything, so what she couldn't she pumped with her hand.

She hollowed her mouth, sucking as hard as she could. Draco groaned at this and gripped her hair harder.

Y/N choked suddenly, feeling his tip hit the back of her throat. Her mouth filled with more saliva, she looked up at Draco, he smirked and pulled her off him.

Multiple strings of her spit were still attached to his his dick from her mouth. Her eyes were watery and her mascara was now running. Draco looked at her like she was an angel.

He traced his tip along her lips and then prodded them, forcing her to open her mouth.

Y/N sucked in a breath, she knew what was coming. She held onto Draco's thighs and he thrusted hard into her mouth. He done this many times until Y/N was sobbing. Her vision was blurry and her mouth was swollen.

"Fucking— love— your— filthy— mouth" he grunted each word. Spit was falling out of Y/N's mouth onto the floor, she looked up at Draco, his head was thrown back, his mouth was parted as he continued to fuck her mouth.

He suddenly pulled out of her mouth and grabbed her forearm. He dragged her up "lift up— your dress."

Y/N quickly wiped her mouth and lifted her dress, Draco looked around again, to see if there were any onlookers. Not that that would make a difference now.

Draco held both sides of her underwear and snapped them, a stinging sensation running through Y/N's body.

He lifted her up, her legs were over his arms as he used the wall to balance his hands on.

"Fuck— I missed you" he whispered, he lined his dick to her entrance and then pushed inside of her.

Y/N's head flew back, Draco let out a strained groan as he pulled out and pushed back in again.

"So tight— you make it hard for me to last long."

She couldn't speak, she was in a total state of bliss, her eyes were screwed shut as he thrusted in and out of her. She moaned his name feeling his cock fill her up sweetly.

Draco moved at a faster pace, the angle made his tip rub against her g spot repeatedly.

Y/N was whimpering, crying his name as she felt her orgasm approach fast.

"You're mine— aren't you?"

Draco thrusted harder, lifting her up slightly higher so he could push into her deeper.

"Fuck— tell me you're mine!"

Y/N's head fell forward, they looked into each others eyes and she nodded quickly.

"Say it— I wanna hear you say it."

"I'm yours Draco."

He slowed his pace, giving Y/N short, deep, thrusts. She was close now, his head leaned in and sucked onto her neck, leaving red and purple marks behind.

He then thrusted one final time hard, which sent them both over the edge. Y/N came moaning his name, Draco let out 5 curse words in one short sentence.

His forehead leaned on hers as he tried to catch his breath. His lips kissed her forehead as he finally let her down.

Y/N pulled down her dress as Draco pulled his boxers and trousers back up. It was silent, no words were spoken between them, both were still reeling from the amazing sex they had just had.

Draco's back was turned from Y/N's, she heard him zip up his trousers "I'm not sleeping with her."

"What?"

"Don't be stupid— you know who I'm talking about."

"Right, I didn't care if you did anyway-"

"You did."

He smiled and turned around, he strolled towards Y/N, he brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face, pushing it behind her ear.

Y/N's eyes were watering, she didn't want to cry in front of him, but all her emotions were coming at once and she couldn't handle them all. She sucked in her tears and remained calm.

"I—I don't want to do this anymore" Y/N whispered, her head faced her feet.

Draco placed a kiss on her cheek "good because neither do I."

Y/N looked at him, she was confused at what he meant by that.

"What does that mean?"

He let out a laugh and smiled "I want you to go back to your room, burn the list of rules and then come back to my room."

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows and then widened her eyes realising what he had just said.

"But—but Draco?"

Y/N was worried what everyone would think about her being with a Slytherin— let alone Draco Malfoy.

"I don't care anymore— now be a good girl and do as you're told."

"Right, okay."

Y/N went to walk off but he pulled her wrist, forcing her against his chest. His mouth found hers as he engulfed her into a wet kiss. Y/N pulled away before they got too carried away.

"See you soon— sweetheart."

[a-n-conrad]

Bad at Secrets (PS4 Spider-man x Reader)

[Summary: For as long as you’ve known Peter Parker, he has been pretty bad at keeping secrets. Lucky for him, you’re much better at it. At least, until you end up drunk at his house after a party.

Warning and Notes: Drinking, Drunk Reader, Awkward convos, PS4 game spoilers, swearing, May didn’t die because I refuse, gender-neutral reader]

Peter Parker was never very at keeping secrets from you. He was clumsy and always managed to leave something obvious out in the open. You were surprised that the entire city of New York hadn’t figured it out yet. Perhaps it was because you were helping him constantly. Whether it was casually introducing him to voice modifying technology, or helping him set up his phone to have two different numbers, you know, for “business”. 

You still couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t told you yet. You knew MJ knew. Did he just trust her more? Maybe you were just jealous. They had dated, so it probably came up then. And to be honest, you had to admit you had a crush on him. But you knew that wasn’t going to go anywhere. You and Peter had been friends for so long, that if anything was going to happen, it would have by now. So you’d be his friend. And you wouldn’t push him to tell you anything he didn’t want to.

- - - - -

It had been a couple of months since the city went to shit. Peter’s mentor, Otto Octavius was imprisoned at The Raft, Feast was now being run by May after Martin Li was arrested, and it took a whole month to get all of the run-aways from Rykers off the street. Everyone was stressed and tired, and you really needed a second to de-stress. So when you got an invitation to a party at one of your old college friend’s houses, you really couldn’t turn down the offer.

Maybe you went a little crazy. You didn’t have the highest alcohol tolerance, and before you knew it, you were starting to get a little wobbly on your feet. Definitely a bit too wobbly to be walking home through the streets of New York City. So without thinking, you picked up your phone to call a friend of yours.

You knew he’d be busy, but Peter was really the only one you trusted to walk you home. I mean, who better than Spider-man. You were surprised when it only rang twice before he picked up, “(Y/n)? I thought you were at a party tonight, is everything ok?”

You giggled a little at the concerned tone in his voice. He overthought a lot, and it was honestly kind of endearing, “Yeah, Pete, I’m fine. I was just wondering if you’re free to walk me home.”

“You didn’t bring anyone with you to walk with?” He asked, “Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

“Mhm,” You hummed, grabbing another can for something. You weren’t sure exactly what you were drinking anymore, but it was fine. Honestly, as much as you’d normally worry about the dangers of a situation like this, it was a lot harder to worry about stuff like that when you had just almost died from a supervillain attack, “That’s why I’m calling you. If you’re busy, though, I’ll figure something else out.”

“No, no,” You heard some noise in the background. He was definitely busy, but knowing him, he wasn’t about to let you walk home yourself, “I’ll be there, just hang tight for another fifteen minutes or something.”

“Sure,” You took another drink, “I’ll see you soon.”

- - - - -

By the time he got there, you had gone through another four cans of, well, you still couldn’t remember. Either way, you were pretty drunk. When Peter got there, he had found you dancing on a table, your hair extra messy and a little bit of your drink spilled on the front of your outfit. You looked like you were having so much fun, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Come on, (Y/n), let’s get you home,” He said, walking up to where you were. You smiled down at him before jumping down from the table.

“Pete!” You exclaimed, grinning at him, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, (Y/n),” He chuckled, “But we should get you home. You need some sleep.”

“But I don’t wanna go home,” You whined, “It’s boring. There’s nothing to do. Can we go to your place instead? I wanna watch movies.”

“Sure,” He sighed. He could tell you were a lot drunker than you were when you called him. It had been a while since he had to babysit you while you were drunk, but he honestly didn’t mind. You were always fun when you were drunk.

- - - - -

Peter’s house wasn’t too far away from the party, but it was a long enough walk that the two of you had to talk about something. And eventually, you ran out of your normal things to drunkenly ramble about. So things started to get a little more interesting.

“Do you think Peter trusts me?” You asked out of nowhere. It caught Peter a little off-guard. 

“I think so,” He said. You obviously didn’t know you were talking to him. He wondered if he should tell you, but honestly, he was a little interested in what you’d say.

“Then why doesn’t he tell me anything?”

“What do you mean he doesn’t tell you anything.” You were always so confident that you knew everything. And Peter tried his best not to keep too many secrets from you. There were just two, so which one had you started to pick up on.

“He has a secret that he’s had for years that he won’t tell me,” you pouted at him.

“Do you know what it is?”

“Yeah, Pete isn’t very good at keeping secrets,” Shit.

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you,” You replied, crossing his arms, “It’s Peter’s secret.”

He couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. You were so sweet and protective. He should’ve known better than to think you’d rat him out to someone you thought was a stranger. He’d just have to ask again when you were sober. 

Eventually, the two of you made it to his apartment. He had gotten a new one a while ago after he got evicted from his. Aunt May was helping him out until he got a new job, and he was working pretty hard on finding something just as fulfilling as his work with Otto. 

“What movie do you wanna watch?”

“Mmmmm, Superhero movie.”

“I didn’t know you were a fan of superheroes, (Y/n),” He chuckled.

“Mhm, I love Spider-man.”

He laughed a bit, causing you to pout, “I didn’t know you were a Spider-man fan.”

“No, I love Spider-man. I love him. He’s so smart and funny and caring.”

Peter couldn’t help that blush that coated his cheeks. He hoped maybe you were too drunk to notice. And lucky for him, you were. In fact, you had fallen asleep on his couch before he could even get the movie he had picked out started.

He smiled at you. You were kind of cute when you slept. You looked so calm. He had missed seeing you calm and happy. So much had happened, he was just glad you were ok. And alive. 

He carefully picked you up, he could pull buses and helicopters, lifting you up was really no problem. He decided that you could take the bed tonight. What kind of hero would he be if he made his friend sleep on the couch? He set you down carefully, tucking you in to the covers, before heading over to the ouch and making a little bed for himself. This might actually be the first night he had gotten a decent amount fo sleep in a couple of months. 

- - - - -

Waking up with a pounding headache should have been expected. Waking up in Peter’s bed with a glass of water a couple of painkillers next to you, however, wasn’t. And what was even more unexpected was the sounds of someone cooking breakfast coming from the other room. Did Peter even eat breakfast?

After taking the painkillers and drinking the water as quickly as possible, you wandered into the kitchen, your hair a complete mess and the clothes you were wearing to the party last night crumpled from being slept in. Standing over the stove, watching the food intently to avoid his habit of getting distracted and burning his cooking, you found Peter.

“Morning, Pete,” You yawn, sitting down at the table.

He turned towards you with a smile, “Morning, (Y/n). Are you feeling alright?’

“Mm, my head still hurts, but I’m sure that’ll go away. Thanks for letting me stay here. I hope I wasn’t too much of a bother.”

“Do you remember anything you told me last night?”

“Ugh, not really,” You shook your head, “The last thing I remember was calling you, honestly. I hope I didn’t say anything too stupid.”

“No, it’s not that,” He said, quickly getting distracted from your conversation, by the toast popping out of the toaster.

- - - - -

Eventually, he sat down at the table with you, placing a plate in front of you and another plate in front of himself. You really hadn’t realized how hungry you were until the food was right in front of you. And to be honest, Peter was getting pretty good at cooking.

“So what exactly did I say last night?” you asked, shoving food into your mouth. Did you eat last night? You couldn’t remember.

“Well, that you were in love with Spider-man,” Peter chuckled, but you knew that wasn’t really what he wanted to talk about. He was just trying to lighten the mood first. You still couldn’t help but blush. You supposed it was true, “But also that you knew that I was keeping a secret from you.”

“Oh.

“You still wouldn’t tell me what, though. I don’t think you knew you were talking to me. I appreciate the loyalty, but I’m wondering what secret I’m keeping from you.”

“Is there more than one, Pete?”

He froze.

“I know that you’re Spider-man, Pete. You really suck at keeping secrets. You think I can’t figure it out when you leave drawings for all your gadgets out all the time?”

“How long have you known?”

“A year or so? Maybe more?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“I just didn’t want to get you swept up in anything. You know, with the villains I have to fight, Spider-man ends up with a lot of enemies. I just wanted to keep you away from that.” He sighed. He looked like he was trying to think of something to say until a realization crept its way onto his face, “In love with Spider-man, huh?”

You choke a bit on your food, causing Peter to laugh a bit, “No, we’re not changing the topic. You’re a superhero.”

“And you’re in love with my superhero self,” He laughs before it seems like his brain clicks again, “Wait if you already knew...”

“Um…”

“(Y/n)?”

“Um, hey, Just let me finish breakfast and I’ll head out. Really don’t worry about it, Pete,” You scrambled. You had avoided that conversation for years. You had sate through him dating MJ, through him risking his life over and over, through him crying to you over and over about everything in his life going wrong without saying anything. You really didn’t want this to be the point where you lose him.

“Woah, wait, no,” He looked panicked, “Why are you running away?”

“Look, Pete, I’ve avoided this conversation forever, I don’t want things to be awkward, or to make you feel like we can’t just hang out. I just don’t want you to stop being my friend,” You rambled, only cut off when Peter grabbed your hand, a grin on his face.

“Ask me again if there’s more than one secret.”

“What?”

“Ask.”

“Do you have more than one secret, Pete?” You were still pretty nervous, and you had no idea where he was going with this, but you trusted him. And you were pretty sure that he wasn’t going to make fun of you.

“Yeah. I’ve been keeping two secrets from you,” He said, “The first is that I’m Spider-man. And the second is that I’ve been in love with you for months.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” He said, “Remember a month or two after MJ and I broke up? When we went to the park in the middle of the night because neither of us could sleep? And we just talked for hours about life and our goals and everything? The next day I realized I was in love with you.”

“I guess you’re better at keeping secrets than I thought you were,” you laughed.

“I guess so,” he laughed, “But I don’t plan on keeping anymore.”

(A/N: This might be trash, but my Spider-man hyper fixation from when I was a kid is back full swing.)

[plusultrachaos]

Chaos ensues when Kirishima and Izuku get hit with a quirk that causes them to keep swapping bodies over the course of a day. 1-A is confused, and maybe the two boys end up realizing there is more than just friendship feelings between them. (Idk if this makes sense, I’m tired but I thought of it and think it’s great lol)

okay so. this turned out way longer than i had anticipated it would, remy. like. wow. anyway. um i did end this a little early, so i may end up postina part two of this at some point, but this ended up to be 3.2k. this was not a drabble like i had hoped. um so have this. it was really fun to write.

The feeling is unlike anything else. It's an odd sort of out of body thing where Eijirou can feel something change. His body doesn't feel like his anymore. He can tell something is different.  His quirk doesn't feel the same—there is an energy flowing through him that is different than the regular feeling of Hardening. 

His view of the villain is different and he can't see Midoriya anymore. It's like he shifted to the left just a bit more than normal and shrank a few inches. Everything shifting to fit his new view point. 

That's when he looks to his right and sees him. He can see himself, face curled in confusion as he looks over at...him. He really needs to touch up his roots when he gets… back in his own body. 

He looks down at the body that's not his and sees the familiar costume of Midoriya's and suddenly he realizes what happens and he shoots his eyes at the villain again who is watching the two with a maniacal grin. He hopes Midoriya has caught up to what's going on so he's not just uselessly sprinting toward someone who switched their bodies and could probably do more damage to them. 

Or he was sprinting. Because he's now facing the ground after tripping, not used to the way that Midoriya's body moves and tripping within the first few steps. If he wasn't in the middle of a fight, he'd find it funny, but his natural clumsiness loses hilarity in times like these. He climbs back up to his feet and starts running again, charging toward the villain. He chances a look back and sees that Midoriya still hasn't moved from the spot he's standing in, Eijirou's body stuck in place and not moving. 

All in all, he doesn't expect the body he's in to keep moving, but he should have because he ends up running full force and tackling the villain to the ground. Despite the surprise, he still knows how to engage muscles and hold the villain to the ground until someone else is coming to help. 

As he's getting used to Midoriya's body and holding the villain down, he feels the same feeling from earlier. That same out of body feeling and suddenly he's back in his own body and sprinting in a familiar way toward Midoriya to help, finishing the job he'd started in the other body. 

"Midoriya, bud. We need to get this villain to Detective Tsukauchi. We can figure out what's going on with our bodies once we-" He doesn't finish his sentence because for the third time in five minutes he leaves the body he occupies. He's back to being in Midoriya's body and Midoriya in his. Eijirou looks up at Midoriya and together they apprehend the villain. They go back and forth a few times on the way to where the police are stationed. Aizawa waits for them there. 

They switch again and approach their teacher in their own bodies. Eijirou lets Midoriya explain, lets him ramble away about what is going on until they switch again, and Midoriya continues from Eijirou's mouth. The speaking pattern is enough for Aizawa to understand that it's still Midoriya speaking, just coming from Eijirou's body. 

Aizawa sighs, this probably just adding to the stress that he has to deal with. "The only thing we can do until we get back to the resources of the school is to wait. And even then, the quirk probably wears off with time." He raises a hand to wipe down his face, looking exhausted. With his other hand, Aizawa points to a clearing filled with a lot of their other classmates, all in varying degrees of issues. 

From where they are, Eijirou can clearly see Kaminari bothering an annoyed Bakugou who is holding an ice pack to his shoulder. Momo is going around offering a blanket to Todoroki who looks like he is facing quirk exhaustion, ice crystalizing on his right side. The rest of the class wanders around the area in similar, but varying situations. Eijirou is tempted to go over to Bakugou and their group of friends that surround him, and he can tell Midoriya is in the same boat, but the weightless feeling us back before he's in Midoriya's smaller body again. He can't go over to Bakugou as Midoriya without getting Midoriya's ass handed to him, and he would rather not be beaten up until he can protect himself against it. 

So he stops Midoriya before they get any closer. "Please tell me you are already trying to come up with something to tell the class, cause I have nothing." Eijirou can hear the panic that clearly shows in Midoriya's voice that isn't normally shown in his own. It's very weird to hear someone else's voice speak when he us, but it's not something he can't get used to. 

Midoriya worries his lip with his teeth before shooting a look to his own group of friends. Eijirou can tell he takes a moment to think and in that moment, Eijirou is sending his own gaze to his group and watching as Sero and Kaminari mess with Bakugou who looks seconds from exploding. Eijirou sighs, knowing it would probably be useless to send Midoriya over to solve that. 

Eijirou's voice startles him from his thoughts, Midoriya starting to ramble. "Well we could just go to the respective groups as is and explain—which could lead to an explosion of sorts on its own, but it might be the one with the least drawbacks." Eijirou listens intently, even as they switch again, Midoriya's voice going back to his own. "Or now that we've switched again, we could just go and be with our friends and if we keep, like, swapping bodies, we could just try to fill in? The first one seems the best, the second one might be easier though, just because we wouldn't have to deal with explaining."

Eijirou doesn't really have to think, so he blurts out the second option, just wanting the general comfort of his friends, even if they don't know what's going on. Midoriya cringes a bit but nods anyway. They both turn and run off in the different directions. Neither of them are ready to swap seconds before getting to the groups. 

Eijirou isn't quite used to the smaller body or the sudden swaps yet, and he trips again, landing right in front of Todoroki,  who stares at him for a few seconds before offering a hand and helping him up, albeit a little confused. Todoroki’s hand is freezing still, so Eijirou pulls Midoriya's hand away fast, not ignoring the way that Uraraka and Iida send each other lost looks. "Thank you, Todoroki." He nods with gratitude and looks at the others who send him looks that ask "what the fuck are you doing?" 

Eijirou is so confused, but he can't mention anything. Not without having to do a full explanation.  And looking back, maybe the first option might have gone down smoother, but it's not like he can really do anything now. He can't just run away. He's gotta face this situation head-on, like a man! 

"How'd everything go with you guys?" It's small talk and Eijirou is trying to break the tension that has built up, but he can't do it like he normally does so it feels awkward. He doesn't know how Midoriya usually does. The group around him just looks at each other before Uraraka shrugs and starts talking about the situation that her and Koda had found themselves in. 

Halfway through her telling, he's back in his body, shivering slightly at the change in temperatures—from Midoriya's fully covering costume back to his own revealing costume. It's mostly odd because he goes from a calm group where he heard yelling far in the distance to being right next to the yelling. 

Kaminari is freaking out about something that Midoriya had said while acting as Eijirou and Eijirou can't decipher the yelling so he just watches and laughs as Kami keeps freaking out. 

Instead of reacting to the things going on, Bakugou is watching Eijirou, squinting at him. Eijirou knows that look. It's his "I am going to glare until I understand" look and Eijirou panics for a moment before sending a smile at him. If anyone is bound to figure it out, it's Bakugou. He looks back at Kaminari who just zapped Mina's horns to see if he could get electricity to flow between them, and then past them to watch Midoriya's group. 

They were all talking about something, Midoriya's expression going wild. Eijirou worried for a second that Midoriya was telling what happened to them to his group for a second before realizing that Midoriya wouldn't do something like that. Not when he left the final decision in Eijirou's hands. Midoriya wasn't like that. 

Eijirou zoned back into what was going on, laughing at the way that Mina's hair looks and at the same tried to think of something to continue whatever story that Midoriya was telling. He knew that it was only going to be a small amount of time that they would be able to get away with this before the rest of the groups found out. 

Bakugou showed up next to him and Eijirou shot him a sweet smile and went to him. "Hey Bakubro. Thought I'd bring the treat to you. Since you're staring so much." And Bakugou shakes his head and looks at him. Like directly at him and it seems that however this quirk works, it hates him because right after he finishes the sentence, he is sent out of his body and is suddenly confronted by the Dekusquad staring at him, waiting for Midoroya to continue whatever story he was telling. 

Todoroki was staring the most intensely and almost felt gross to send the red and white haired boy the same grin he'd just given Bakugou, just with Midoriya's smile. 

"I um… I forgot where I was…" He said, smiling even wider in Todoroki’s direction. Eijirou could tell something was up between Midoriya and Todoroki. He was going to do his best to be a good wingman and he hoped that Midoriya got the same message about him and Bakugou. If not, that was fine, he just hoped that Modoroya was a good bro about this. 

After someone gave some clarifying clues to where Midoriya had left off in the story, Eijirou tried to continue the best he could. It was difficult, thenstory feeling patchy and he knew that Midorita friends weren't dumb, so they could see and hear a difference between the storytelling. He was glad when he was back to sitting next to Bakugou, blinking softly before smiling. 

It seemed like Midoriya, in place of Eijirou, was able to get Bakugou talking about some dish that sounded amazing. He listened with his full attention, growing hungry with every detailed sentence about how the dosh was supposed to taste. He admired the tiny smile that showed up on Bakugou's face. 

"You're going to make it for us one day, right, Bakubro? Like fuck, dude. That sounds so good." Eijirou leans against Bakugou just a little bit, nudging him gently.

There's a small thing of relief that peaks into Bakugou's eyes that only Eijirou would be able to pick out. "Okay, good. It’s you, Shitty Hair. What the fuck is going on with you and fucking Deku?" His voice is quiet, but Eijirou looks around them anyway, making sure that nobody was really listening. 

"Got hit with a quirk. We told Aizawa, but we didn't want to panic any-" Has Eijirou mentioned that he fucking hates this stupid quirk? Because it swaps them at the worst moment, and he knows that Bakugou won't take the half-explanation that he got. He's put into Midoriya's body when it seems that Iida is scolding Midoriya about something and he cringes a bit. 

He waits a little bit, the swap sending him back to his body and back to his friends. He notices Bakugou staring at him again and nods, Bakugou's eyes linger a little longer than necessary and he blushes. 

The switching happens all the way back to the dorms. Everybody is still shaky from the attack, quieter than the ride up, but there is still the restless energy of twenty teens. 

Eijirou and Midoriya sat together on the bus, not wanting to end up in the same position as before. Eijirou was a little surprised to find out that they had more in common than they first thought. Determined to be heroes to become like their idols, to save people when people can't save themselves. That and they both have crushes on their best friends. Midoriya's crush on Todoroki is deep, deep enough that he rambles most of the trip about the other boy.

And Midoriya hears more about Eijirou's thirst for Bakugou that he ever needed to hear about his childhood friend. 

By the time they get to the dorms, Eijirou has heard enough about Midoriya’s love for todoroki to be set on being Midoriya’s secret wingman. The body swapping may not be totally ideal, but until they know how to deal with it, why not make the most of the situation? 

Plus now, if they weren't before, they've both got a new friend. Midoriya is nice and though the rambling isn't something that Eijirou has had to grow used to happening all the time, it's something that he can get used to. Midoriya is a strong person and Eijirou is sure they'll make great friends.  

Midoriya is also extremely caring and kind and so driven. Eijirou can almost feel a crush forming, but he knows that Midoriya is set on fire and ice. That and Eijirou might develop crushes all the time, but they fade fairly quick, drowned out by the friendship between them. So he doesn't spend too much time thinking about what could be and starts planning how he could land Midoriya a boyfriend. 

He knows Todoroki’s personality, but he doesn’t know how Midoriya and Todoroki interact as friends, so he plans as well as one who knows nothing can.

Simple.

The next time that their bodies are switched, Eijirou starts with small flirts, a way to gauge how far he can get. It seems fairly successful with Todoroki’s left side lighting up with a blush, the smell of light smoldering filling the lounge of the dorms. 

He meets Midoriya’s—his own—gaze from across the lounge. Eijirou can see himchaking his head and getting ready to get up before Midoriya sends his own glance to Bakugou. And fuck. He can practically see Midoriya’s own plan form in his eyes. 

It's almost as if there is a challenge set between them after that, Midoriya doing anything he can to involve Bakugou while also complimenting him endlessly in a surprisingly similar way to how Eijirou does it. Somehow Eijirou finds himself flirting with Todoroki in ways that he didn't even think about when he had his own crush on him (let him live, Todoroki is incredibly manly and very powerful. Most of 1A has a crush on him). 

By the end of this “challenge”, they can both tell that the quirk is already starting to wear out. Eijirou assumes because of a time constraint, but when he mentions this to Midoriya, he can tell that Midoriya already has a different hypothesis to why it's already wearing off on the first day. 

“It feeds on our energy. This quirk works on how much energy the affected has. I assume it usually wears off within the first day, but with the criminal’s luck, the quirk would work better with someone like Kaminari, who will stay up due to too much energy flowing through his system. It’s downfall would be someone like Aizawa or Shinsou, people who can sleep all they want, but because of their own quirks, they never have actual energy to expend. It's pretty interesting.” The ramble is only a few seconds but it has Eijirou spinning in the same kind of way that one of Bakugou’s lectures would have him. 

“So…. we are back to just being in our own bodies tomorrow?” He doesn’t admit that he is confused right out, but he thinks that the small turn of his head and the furrow of his brows gives him away. He does try to figure out what Midoriya means and he gets somewhere, but nowhere all at the same time.

Midoriya nods, his face splitting into a small smile. Eijirou also nods. “Does that mean that we should try and do something that will, like, use up whatever energy we have-” He's broken off of his own sentence with a big yawn followed by the familiar feeling of them swapping again. This time it feels like all of his energy is sapped from him, draining him down like a phone on 30%. 

He yawns again and they switch bodies once again, robbing him of even more energy. He can feel his body moving sluggishly. There is a moment of panic that comes from the draining of energy, the knowledge that this quirk is making both of them incredibly tired and knowing that he can’t get to anyone safe enough to actually feel okay falling asleep so suddenly.  

So he can tell that he looks terrified the moment he and Midoriya pass out in the middle of the hallway. His body feels like an anvil dropping, only a tool for physics to abuse. Eijirou feels so bone deep tired, he can't even activate his quirk to save the landing from hurting him. 

He can't tell if what follows is a dream or not, the days events playing back at him. He can't tell because Midoriya is looking at him with big, panicked eyes that feel too real to be in a dream, screaming at him that something not normal is going on. The only thing that tells him it's not real is the fact that he can't say anything, his mouth opening with words he wants to yell, but nothing actually moving or leaving his throat. 

Instead of switching bodies, not being limited to his own being, he's now trapped forever, nothing of his reaching the outer world. He watches as his hands fade, the texture and feeling blending solidly into his skin tone. He watches as his legs transform into a plastic replica of themselves. 

Maybe the dream is another effect of the quirk. Maybe it's trying to tell him something, but he doesn't care if it is. He just wants out of it. He wants to be back to his life. He wants to hug Bakugou again and be forced off of him. He wants to be himself. 

He feels a sharp nudge in his arm. It's not much, just a small elbow jab, but it's enough for the color to be slammed back onto him. To start spreading over his skin. 

Soon enough, everything is back to how it was. He fits inside his body again. And he closes his eyes for one of the briefest moments before he's opening them to a dark room. A dark room that isn't his, but it feels safe. 

[kyanitegemverse]

Reunion - Ark AU -

Here we are! A bit about two idiots in love seeing each other again. 

some things will have links to help with some context! 

It was dawn when Avry woke up. The little makeshift camp she and Bishop had set up was hardly comfortable, what with the two of them and Bishop’s Argentavis all huddled under one roof. She groaned as she sat up, her back making a loud snap as she stretched. How long has it been now that she and Bishop had been stuck away from the rest of their little group? She wasn’t too sure. The days all seemed to blur together since she woke up here. How long exactly had it been? A few months? It had to have been considering the lunar cycle had gone through at least a few times. Her brow furrowed, a frown making its way onto her freckled face as thoughts came rushing back. Sometimes it was impossible to not think of how she was so far from everyone she cared about. All it took sometimes was the littlest things to remind her.

A stupid pun here, an excited tangent there. Thoughts of orange fur, red hair Avry had dyed, and long black expressive ears came bursting through. A reminder of a friend who put everyone else before herself. A reminder of warm fuzzy hugs just when Avry needed them. Off key duets belted out at the tops of lungs without a care in the world, and tired blue eyes that hid the stress the twitching tail betrayed. Sure they made her sad and gave her a dull ache, wishing for nothing more than for one of Aurora’s bone crushing hugs. But this? This was different.

The Moon and stars were a nightly reminder of the one person she loved more than anything. The one person who had stuck with her through everything. It reminded her of countless nights in her teenage years, looking up at the stars and the full moon, wondering if she was looking at them too.  The tears of joy the two shared at their first in person meeting at the airport that one spring. The many many nights they had stayed up way too late, talking about everything, nothing and all in between. Of how the sun shone on her skin and the wind tossed her hair during a Totally-Not-A-Date flight around town. Where one glance over at her with those violet eyes had stolen the breath right from Avry’s lungs and set a fire under her skin. If it weren’t for the whistling wind around them Avry was sure her pounding heart would have been heard. ‘Oh’ she had thought at the realization, and the questions that swarmed her mind as she could have sworn she saw the faintest dusting of pink on the shapeshifters cheeks. A first kiss, awkward and clumsy, with foreheads crashing into one another. Giddy nervous laughter as a second attempt is made with better results. 

The thoughts made Avry wonder. Did the others know she was stuck here? Did they care? ‘No of course they care!’ a voice cried out inside, trying to reason with her doubts and worries. But what if they didn’t? We’re they looking for her? Was she thinking of all their shared experiences too? ‘Does she miss me like I miss her?’ 

Something hard and cold brushed against her shoulder, snapping her out of her thought spiral. She was curled up against one of the shack walls, arms wrapped tightly around her legs. How long had she been crying? Red eyes looked over to see the beak of Macaw resting gently on her arm. “Hey buddy don’t worry I’m okay.” Her voice croaked out, reaching over to give the giant bird a scratch on the top of its head. The poor thing had been through just as much as Bishop and herself. A broken wing was objectively worse than an aching heart, especially now that the bird was their only real  means to getting back to their camp. Something did strike her as odd though. It had been at least a few days or so since the trip out to scout out the area just south of them. Surely the other three would have at least tried to look for them? She looked over at the bird again, noticing the expectant look in its eyes. “You must be hungry  huh. How about I try and get us something to eat.” 

With that Avry stood up, Stretching as best she could in the cramped space before grabbing her spear. Macaw turned to follow before Avry held up her hand. “You stay here okay? Make sure he doesn’t get hurt.” She said, nodding over to where Bishop was curled up. She made her way outside of the shack before the bird could attempt to follow her and set off hunting. 

It didn’t take her long to scavenge a decent amount of the edible berries Colby had taught her about. “Red, Blue, and Yellow. Don’t eat the black or purple ones.”  came the voice of the cook in her mind. 

Avry rolled her eyes at the phantom reminder. “But what if I want to try the purple ones.” She eyed the one on the bush in front of her. It was just sitting there. Taunting her with its inability to be eaten. Just one wouldn’t hurt right? She could finally figure out why her stegosaurus was so wild about them. They had to taste good then right? Right? Was she really going to try this? Avry looked up and around, knowing full well she was alone and far enough away from the prying eyes of her group mates and their judgement on these sorts of dumb ideas. Yes. She absolutely was going to try this. Plucking the purple berry from the tree, she held it up, sticking her tongue out to give it a little taste test. Or at least she would have if a loud thunderous roar didn’t cause her to toss the thing as it shocked her out of her concentration. Whipping her head around to the direction of the roaring, her eyes widened as panic set in. It wasn’t hard to see the Carnotaurus  in the distance, hell she could practically feel the ground shaking beneath her as it walked this way. If she moved on from here now she could avoid running into it for longer. “Alright I guess I’ll have to figure that out another time.” She muttered to herself as she wandered off, away from the destination of the titanic carnivore. 

A few hours passed and Avry was beginning to remember why exactly she left the hunting side of this to Cheddar. These obnoxious birds had been ever so slightly out of her range for who knows how long now. Perhaps longer than Avry would like to admit. But she had them now. There was no escape for these little dodo bastards. Finally some good fucking food. Or at least it would be if she could just catch the thing on the end of her spear. She broke out into a sprint from her hiding spot at one of the little flightless birds. It squawked and bolted off in a random direction in a panic with Avry close behind. It ducked past a few trees and took a sharp turn to the right, missing the sharp tip of the spear by a feather. “Are you kidding me?!” the woman growled in frustration before continuing her pursuit of the stupid bird.  Taking the sharp turn she found herself tumbling to the ground. She had tripped on something. A root? This was just her luck. The carnivore earlier, now losing her  potential dinner? She frowned as she sat up. “Good one Rayne. Can’t even catch a bird that has no self preservation instincts. Oh yeah Avry Rayne, hunter of the year right here.” She stopped herself as she turned to look at what she had actually tripped on. 

That was no root. Oh. Oh no. No.. that was absolutely a foot. A foot belonging to a rather familiar looking carnivore. “Oh fuck.” she muttered under her breath, unsure of what to do. How had she not heard the Carnotaurus coming? Was she really that focused on her hunt that she failed to see the danger that was so close to her? Wow this day really was getting worse by the minute wasn’t it. 

It was about to get a whole lot worse as the dinosaur above her moved as she was stuck frozen to the spot. The creature let out a low rumbling, almost sounding confused as to what had just happened itself. Avry could only watch from her spot on the ground as it turned. This was no place to stay but she really had no chance of out running this thing. If she remembered all the books she had as a kid, this thing could run at a max of fifty kilometers an hour. She always wondered why that exact fact stood out to her after all these years. Maybe she was about to figure out why. Funny how things like that work out.

Given there really was no hope in running from this beast, the best hope Avry had at not becoming lunch herself was to deter it with the spear. Backing up against one of the trees, she used it to stand herself up, shaking hands pointing the spear up at the thing that was absolutely going to send her back to the camp in just about the worst way she could think of.  The beast seemed to be eyeing her, a low growl in its throat as it stepped closer.

“S-stay back!” She warned, knowing full well the thing wouldn’t understand a word she said. “Trust me buddy I’m kinda lanky. “ She let out a nervous laugh. “Y-yeah that's right. I’m all stringy and gross and probably taste really game-y. There's really not enough meat here to be a snack! You’d be better off with a few dodos!” 

The Carnotaurus was still looking at her, moving its head from side to side, as if it was curious in its own meat eating way. The low growl continued to rumble in its throat as it stood up a little straighter, causing Avry to flinch. She held the spear out, tensing her muscles and shutting her eyes tight. This was it. This was how she died. Died stumbling through unknown territory doing her best to survive. But as with most things it seemed like her best just wasn’t good enough. She hadn’t felt this small and helpless in a long time as she waited for the feeling of sharp teeth clamping down on her.

But the feeling never came.

In fact the low rumble had stopped as well. But it hadn’t wandered off or she would have felt the heavy steps of it walking off completely disinterested. So what was it doing? Why was it taking so long?

“Avry?”

The sound of a familiar voice made her heart miss a beat. Daring to open her eyes, the sight before her caused Avry to gasp. The large prehistoric predator that was staring her down in her final moments had all but vanished. In its place however, was a person. Someone she had figured she may never see again. Was she dreaming? Because if she was this would be the point where she’d wake up back in her bed at camp. She did no such thing however as she stared at the shapeshifter in front of her with disbelief, shoulders slowly lowering as the tension in her body was let go. Avry opened her mouth to speak, hardly able to form words due to the emotional whiplash she was experiencing. 

“Avry is that really you?” The person called out to her again, sounding on the verge of tears herself. She too was frozen in place, mind racing probably much like her own was.

“Jess?” The name escaped her as if on its own, And Avry watched as the person responded. Straightening their posture a little bit, the hint of a smile making its way onto her face. Avry’s vision blurred as the mix of emotions came welling up to the surface. Without so much as a second thought, she tossed the spear to the side and broke out into a run. “JESSI!” 

“It is you!” The shapeshifter exclaimed, breaking out into a run towards her girlfriend. The two met in the middle, practically crashing into each other as they met in the middle of the space that had been between them. Avry wrapped her arms around Jessi the moment she was able to, burying her face into the crook of the other woman’s neck. She was openly sobbing at this point, hands grabbing at the fabric of Jessi’s shirt, as if needing some way of knowing this was all real. A moment later she could feel the shapeshifter’s arms wrap tightly around her, trying to pull her impossibly closer. Time seemed to stand still for the pair as they shared their first embrace in who knows how long. No words could exactly describe the mix of emotions Avry was experiencing. How long? How long had Jessi been there just ever so out of reach? Could she have found her sooner? If she had only looked then maybe just maybe the pair of them could have been surviving together from the beginning. 

“I thought I’d never see you again.” Avry said, voice muffled slightly from being up against the were-dragon's neck. She felt one of Jessi’s arms move, hand going to gently play with Avry’s hair - an action that did wonders for calming her down. 

“I’ve missed you so much Raynedrop.” Jessi murmured, tightening her grip around Avry’s waist. “There hasn’t been a day that's gone by where you weren’t in my thoughts.” The shapeshifter let out a shaky breath. “Everyday and night I that I could was filled with wishing to have you in my arms again.” The shapeshifter chuckled at her own mushy bullshit. “And now here you are, stumbling into my life by pure chance once again. It's almost like you’re supposed to be here or something.” 

Avry didn’t need to look at Jessi to know there was one of those lopsided grins on her face. “Oh can it you big sap.” She said with a laugh, moving to look into those stunning violet eyes. “I missed you too.” Sure enough, that lopsided grin had made its way onto Jessi’s face. She brought her hand to cup Avry’s cheek, thumb wiping away a stray tear. Avry leaned into the affectionate gesture, a lovestruck look on her face. For once the world was still. Nothing seemed to dare disturb the pair and their reunion and for the first in a long time, everything felt like it was going to be okay.

 The shapeshifter let out a happy sigh, placing a gentle kiss to Avry’s forehead. “Just wait till you meet the others at camp. I’m sure they’ll be surprised to see another person with me.” Jessi said with a grin.

“Wait. Others?” Avry questioned, raising an eyebrow. Then the realization hit her. “Oh fuck. Jess I can’t go! Not yet. I still have to get back to the makeshift camp! I’ve got another person and an injured giant vulture with me. Ah shit Bishop’s gonna kill me if I don't come back with some sort of food. They’re both probably starving.” A worried look made its way onto Avry’s face as Jessi moved her hand to brush some of her bangs out of the way and tuck them away behind Avry’s ear. 

“Woah hey it's all good! Tell you what. I have some extra rations with me. We’ll get something on the way back for the bird and all of us can head back to my camp. Okay?” The shapeshifter let go of the embrace, walking over to pick up the spear Avry had dropped not that long ago. “You also might want this. Just don’t point it at me alright?”

Avry turned to watch where Jess was going and put her hands on her hips at the remark. “Oh well excuse me. Need I remind you that you were a giant meat eating dinosaur? What the hell were  you even doing transformed like that? I didn’t realize you could shift into dinos!” She took the spear as the pair began to walk back the way Avry had come from earlier. 

“I couldn’t. At least not before waking up here. Now I can’t really change into anything else.” She answered with a shrug. “Now come on let's get travelling in style.” Jessi stretched out her arms as the changed, bright red scales flowing down them like a wave out to her hands which now had talons adorning each digit. A pair of wings stretched out from her back, ripping part of her shirt in the process. Lastly a long scaly tail with that iconic arrow head tail tip protruded from the base of the shapeshifters spine. “It’s been awhile since we did this so I thought it might be kind of nice.” 

“You want to sweep me off my feet again? Aww babe that's so sweet!” Avry leapt into Jessi’s outstretched arms without hesitation, wrapping an arm around her neck. “Hope you don’t mind me backseat flying again.” 

“Oh no don’t worry. I expect you to navigate at least part of the way back.” The response came with unfurled wings and a running start as Jess lifted off the ground, the pair setting off back to the makeshift shack. Together.

[runesfactory]

run cried the crawling | 03

summary: Tasokare Hotel is a place that exists between the real world and the afterlife. A residing place for spirits whose fate has yet been decided. To die or to live on. Aesop has yet to discover the truth behind his own near demise. It was until a stranger walked through the doors of the hotel with an owl head that the horrific truth began to unravel.

pairing: aesop carl x eli clark

genre: mystery, supernatural & gothic romance

word count: 5399

warnings:  mature themes. descriptive writing of violence and blood. body horror. strong angst. equally strong romance. heavy pining. mild profanity. death. tasokare hotel spoilers.

chapters: 01 | 02 | 03 | ...

The more time Eli spends at the hotel, he discovers new things every day just by observing his surroundings. He meets odd guests and peculiar staff that he hasn’t met before. Not to mention, he’d get lost through some of the halls that seem to elongate themselves and each curve of every corner lead him to many different places, he wasn’t aware of before. Surely, all with the guidance of Emma herself. He finds her never-ending enthusiasm over the smallest of things to be refreshing.

That’s not to say he’s gotten used to being there. Certainly not. He counts time passing by days by striking a line written on paper each time he wakes up from sleep. Even with seeing the same thing, nothing about the place feels like home. It brings you comfort. It doesn’t help too that the windows of his room show the night sky. It’s quite the sight, but nothing like the barren world he entered when he first arrived.

There’s the faint sound of the train tracks vibrating against the ground. The smell of grass after a day full of rain along with the breezy wind. Not to mention the small freckles of stars decorating the night sky. Looking out his window feels like he’s in a whole different world: reality. It’s nothing like the hotel because it feels real. It’s all real, aside from the fixed night sky. That aspect is very much unreal, though as a night person himself, he doesn’t mind. He takes in the cold breeze with ease in his heart.

Eli looks up at the stars and unconsciously begin to connect lines between each spec.

Like they’re meant to be connected to create a whole picture.

Constellations are fascinating. It may seem like widespread random bits of stars interconnected as a whole, but it’s far from that. There’s meaning to them, even as random or sporadic it may seem pattern-wise. Perhaps it’s the same for our memories. Plenty of it scattered all over our tiny heads like sprinkles on top of ice cream, and each of them holds meaning.

So, when one piece is lost, then it’s impossible to create something whole again.

Eli believes that, at least. But perhaps, it’s all too hopeful since memories can be so fragile. Recollecting certain memories can have so much effect on you and it is so painful that it leads us to our worst points. Having to regain his memories back feels like he’s being tasked to gather the stars, rebuild the constellation again. But without knowing how it looked like, to begin with. An impossible task.

He’s written down things that he remembers, but couldn’t come up with anything significant. It brought everything to a halt. Although Eli maintains a calm demeanor most of the time. However, the moment the door of his bedroom closes, he’s devastated. What happens then if he doesn’t remember? He can’t imagine living the rest of his not-so-alive life in this state of limbo. Not for him, at least.

From the amount of thinking he’s done, he feels he’d be bound for yet a sleep-deprived week. So he’s come up with an idea. An idea that, well, to keep him occupied while doing his own investigation and that idea would be—

“You want to help around at the hotel?” Emma tilts her head to the side, albeit her smile still displayed across her face as friendly as ever. It’s a new day at the hotel and Eli finds himself assisting in Emma’s room with her surprisingly large indoor garden. She’s been staying up all morning making sure every single plant is well-taken care of. It’s quite surprising to see how vastly different other people’s rooms are compared to his, convinced that each of those rooms does reflect the individual. A room is like a heart after all.

“Sure! I don’t see why not! I mean, the manager’s probably not opposed to the idea of having extra hands on board. But can’t say the same for Ms. Nair.”

“Ms. Nair? The bartender?”

Emma nods. “She’s mostly responsible for, well, everything. Ms. Nair is a little bit strict on choosing who gets to help around here. So, it might be harder to convince her.”

Vera Nair. Eli’s only seen her once before while he’s exploring around the hotel. She was quite the busy woman, always rushing from one end of the hotel to the other when there are a handful of guests around. Her appearance is quite distinct. Always wearing a campy outfit dripped in the colour purple, with her sharp heels clicking against the floors being one of the things that will make anyone aware of her presence.

“Then I would need to speak to her to help around here, right?” Eli questions putting one hand under his chin in a fist.

“Yep, but I’d say it’s best to talk to Norton first before approaching her! She trusts Norton a whole lot so who knows he can put a good word to ‘ya!” Emma nudges the side of his arm.

Norton Campbell. He remembers the man from the other day. He’s quiet, almost unhinged by Eli’s presence though Eli can’t quite point out exactly the atmosphere the man exudes. He has a peculiar getup himself. A mask that hides a portion of his face with such refined details accompanied by a dark maroon blazer, accentuated by gold threads sewn in patterns. The red scar over his left eye, the metal piercings over the bridge of his nose, and well, his glare. Uneasy to him, but maybe it’s just him.

“Good luck on finding Norton though. He’s a bit of a fickle to find.” She adds.

“How so?”

“Hmm,” Emma pauses, “It’s like… he’s everywhere, but nowhere all at the same time? I mean, one time I would see him with Naib then the next, poof! Gone! Nowhere to be found!”

Everywhere, but nowhere. He’d agree more on the latter.

He continues to find the figure from every corner of the hotel, but luck doesn’t seem to side with him. Eli finds himself on the unexpected side of the hotel. The indoor gardens, a much bigger one than the one in Emma’s room. Now that he thinks about it, just how big her room is? Oh well, it doesn’t matter really.

The greenhouse has a tall ceiling watching over him and quite the jungle in there. He could only hear the water hitting the surface of a fountain placed at the center of the glasshouse. His steps echo through the empty room as he fondly gazes over the plants around him. An excitement bubbles within him when his eyes land on small critters wandering around certain plants, recognizing them by heart. Unfortunately, he doesn’t bring along his journal.

“Aren’t you a lovely one?” He gleefully says to the squirrel that’s giving him a puzzled look with those large, glimmering eyes. The place makes him feel at ease. Animals do at least. His fingers gently graze over the soft fur, causing the little animal to lean closer to his hand. He remembers about his own lovely bird, Brooke. He misses her. Seeing the empty birdcage in his room becomes a reminder of the empty confinement in his heart. At least he knows being in nature brings him comfort, another thing for him to hold onto in a world full of unfamiliarity.

It doesn’t seem searching through the place bears any fruit after all. He takes the last few glances around as a way to make sure. Then, his eyes catch the presence of a certain silver-haired man. Eli carefully watches him from a safe distance before approaching. Aesop looks down at the golden flowers. Yellow roses. His covered hands touch them gently as if a mere touch would break them. There’s a soft look in Aesop’s eyes that Eli couldn’t describe. Fondness, perhaps. That’s the word he’s looking for.

But while he’s preoccupied feeling mesmerized at the individual, he fails to notice his shifting body. Bump! He trips falls face-first onto the ground. Causing a ruckus, unsurprisingly. “Shit,” He curses to himself. Quite the elegant fall, he hisses at himself internally. A hand appears before him, his face shifts from a painful wince to a surprised one. When he looks up, he sees the same gentle eyes he was admiring just a few seconds ago.

Eli takes the hand, heart beating fast now before standing up. Patting off the leaves clinging onto his pants while chuckling to himself. “My! That was, uh, very clumsy of me! Not surprised. My sense of balance is shaky at best.” He jokes. As if it would lighten up any awkwardness that could come up from him being a creep by watching from a distance.

Aesop’s eyes flutter away, pulling his hand away slowly. He stares at the scratch that appears on Eli’s hand. Probably from brushing itself against the harsh branch. He did fall with quite the impact through the bushes. Not to mention the thorns. Why did he think hiding behind a bush full of roses was ever a good idea? But then, good ideas are not exactly Eli’s strongest suit.

“You’re hurt.” A simple fact stated by Aesop himself, but coming from him, it’s laced with worry. He says it quietly, but it doesn’t hide away the exasperation.

“Oh, it’s fine. This is nothing, really. You don’t have to worry about it. It was my clumsy mistake.” Eli brushes it off with a fling of his hand and a soft chuckle. But it doesn’t wash away the concern now forming on Aesop’s face. Like clockwork, Aesop pulls out a handkerchief and a tiny bottle from his inner pocket. He gently dabs the content of the bottle onto the cloth, letting some sip through before pressing it gently on the wound.

“Antiseptic. So, it doesn’t get worst.” He continues to carefully brush over the wound with the cloth. He does it all with so much care and attentiveness. Eli notices that almost immediately. From their first encounter when he first arrived. Aesop’s mannerism, way of speaking captivated Eli. Some might find it standoffish, but he just finds it riveting. It’s probably because he’s pretty. He thought of that once.

Although to be fair, Aesop is very attractive. He’d be lying to himself if he ever says otherwise. The first encounter they had when he first arrives, he tried his best to not show his nerve-wracking self.

All that aside, Aesop cares about his craft. He’s very meticulous with his tasks. He seems unwavering especially in front of others. “You’re very prepared, Mr. Carl.” He compliments him instead, trying to brush off the very fact that this very attractive man is tending to his wounds. By the gay gods, what will he do? If he says something stupid and makes a fool out of himself, he’s going to—

“It’s simply part of the job,” Aesop replies shortly. Giving the wound a final rub before covering it with a bandage that Eli doesn’t see him pulling out. It’s no ordinary bandage though. It’s a blue bandage covered in some patterns he couldn’t describe. It’s cute. So very cute.

He continues to ask Eli, “What are you doing here, if I may ask?”

“Oh,” Eli stammers, “Oh, uh, I was looking for Mr. Campbell! I’ve been looking everywhere, but it seems that he’s nowhere to be seen.”

Aesop tilts his head to the side slightly. “Norton?"

He nods, a tad bit too enthusiastically maybe. “I want to ask for him to put in a word for me to Ms. Nair. I’m looking to help around the hotel, as I’ve told already to Emma.”

Aesop’s eyes widen slightly but don’t say much. Eli wonders if it had rubbed him in the wrong way from the way the slightly taller man’s expression switches almost in a blink of an eye. The silence coming from the man lasts longer than his own comfort, but he doesn’t say it.

“It’s just that,” He ponders over his words for a moment. “I’d hate to put the burden on you for helping me recover my memories. I thought about it after what had happened, and I completely understand you need some time away from it. Take as much time as you need.”

Eli just smiles at Aesop then continues. “I thought it’d be best to figure things out by mine how things work around here. I must be honest, I’m a little lost most of the time but think I’ll be less confused if I just get the hang of things.” He gestures a thumbs up playfully. Probably embarrassing himself slightly, but it’s the truth. “And again, I apologize for what happened. I don’t think any number of apologies could convey how sorry I am.”

“No, not at all. It’s okay.” Aesop responses come out like soft whisper almost.

Of course, the tension is a little awkward. Eli doesn’t want to scare away Aesop like last time, but he keeps in mind to make sure not to overwhelm him. His mind scatters what should he say then it comes out. “So, how are you feeling now?”

“Much better,” This time Aesop smiles a little. It sends warmth through Eli’s chest. “Thank you for asking, Mr. Clark.”

“Eli.”

“Hm?”

“Just Eli is fine. But feel free to call me anything you’d like, whatever fits your cup of tea. I just thought Mr. Clark would be much too formal unless you prefer Mr. Clark. Then that’s fine!” He stammers. Aesop nods at that.

“Thank you, Eli.” His name slips out of Aesop’s lips like a gentle whisper. It feels just right, Eli thinks. He just can’t figure out exactly why it feels that way, so he brushes it off. For now.

“Well,” Eli takes a deep breath. “I best be on my way to continue my search. Or I’ll just ask Ms. Nair right away, doesn’t seem like Mr. Campbell’s available anyway.” He takes a few steps back, bowing slightly at Aesop. “It was nice chatting with you, Mr. Carl.”

He turns around with his back facing Aesop. The sound of the water hitting the fountain’s surface echoes through the chamber along with his footsteps. All is quiet, until-

A little murmur.

“Hm?” Eli turns his head towards Aesop, who’s now looking down at his feet. Avoiding eye contact it seems. His fingers fidgeting, not knowing what to grasp nor do. “Did you say anything, Mr. Carl?”

“Aesop…” It’s very faint, but Eli catches it in his ear. “Call me Aesop.” Although Aesop is generally soft-spoken, there’s a certain lightness in his tone. A positive one. To that, Eli smiles widely at him.

“Okay, Aesop.” He speaks through his smile, unable to put it down it seems. “It’s nice talking to you.” It feels right and he can’t leave it be.

“Same to you,” Aesop pauses, forming a small smile on his face. “Eli.”

Just as Eli walks away, he finds it hard to control the explosive sparkles blasting within his chest and the churning tickles in his stomach. It feels right, he echoes in his mind. And he can’t let the feeling go.

After their meeting, Aesop feels oddly lighter though unsurprisingly, quite wary. A little less than before though. He feels he’s been walking on thin ice all this time ever since the last memory trigger. Unconsciously always, his hands would reach to the back of his head. His eyes fluttering, confused, and lost. But time passes, so he too must move forward somehow. He’s gotten a little better now, less tense and less frequent visits to the doctor’s office, but there’s always that dread that it’ll happen again. At some point, it will. It has to.

“Focus.” He tells himself through deep breaths.

In the middle of brewing some tea, he’s lost himself in his own thoughts it seems. Only brought back to the present from the ting of the spoon against the ceramic cup. The slight pinch he gives himself doesn’t help besides leaving a red spot. Maybe he needs some caffeine in his system to wake him up, but what good does that do to a barely living soul? He stares down at his hands. The way his slender finger curls up to his palm, but rather than his own skin it’s the white gloves that he’s been wearing.

He gets the sense that he’s always worn gloves. Part of his wardrobe as he worked his days at the morgue. By the looks of it, the habit comes along with him even now. He wonders if he’ll ever be out of there, rather if it’s worth the effort to fight for the life he once knew. There are too many questions, too many uncertainties. It makes him anxious, causing his heart to beat fast at the thought of the unknown. So, Aesop brushes it off. For now, at least. Let him live a moment of peace without dreading the unknown. If the afterlife can grant him that, he’ll live his way here to his end.

Aesop carries the tray full of snacks and tea down the hallway of the third floor. Emma was responsible to assist this guest, however, she has come to him for aid and he agrees. With him, he’s brought freshly baked cookies aside from the full course meal that Naib has prepared. Something about the guest barging into his kitchen unannounced, but mostly Norton is to blame. So here he is. With his feet stomping against the carpeted floor, balancing himself to avoid the tray from wavering even the slightest.

“If it’s not too much, please make sure there’s not another bottle of liquor in there! Ms. Nair has made sure it wouldn’t happen, but I’m just worried.” Emma’s note stuck in the back of his mind.

When approaching the door, Aesop prepares himself. He knocks on the door. And before he could say anything, it opens.

“Ms. Bourbon?” He calls out to her, greeted by the darkness of the room. Now both hands tightly grip on the food tray. He pushes the door further, now the light of the hall shines inside of the room, giving a glimpse of its state. Messy would be one. Plenty of items are scattered all over the wooden floor. Several bottles on the side of the bed, covering almost all its surface. There, on the bed, is a lump. It rises and down slowly and Aesop concludes where the guest is resting.

“Ms. Bourbon, I’ve come with your food and drinks,” Aesop speaks softly, placing the tray on the coffee table that’s placed not far from the bed. Half of its taken over by even more empty bottles and glasses. It’s a wonder that the room doesn’t smell like alcohol.

He takes one last look around the room, observing every corner. Perhaps, he could assist in cleaning it a little, but he wouldn’t want to disrupt her rest.

“Please make sure to eat, Ms. Bourbon.” He says to her one last time before heading towards the door. Just as he’s about to step out, he hears a loud thump. He turns his head towards the source of the sound, and he sees her slipped out of the sheets. The upper half of her body fallen over to the floor, with her legs hanging onto the bed with all their might. “Ow, ow,” she mutters under her breath. He quickly moves to her side, lifting her slightly by the waist with one of her arms over his shoulders.

“Slowly,” He mumbles under his breath. She rests herself back on the bed, now her eyes fluttering open. “Who-”

He takes a few steps back, “I’m Aesop Carl. Ms. Woods has asked me to deliver your food to your room, as you requested.”

“Give me,” Her hoarse voice speaks, sleepiness still lingers. He tilts his head to the side while she flimsily points at the tray. “Food.”

Quick on his toes, Aesop removes most of the bottles on the side of her table and replace them with the food tray. She swiftly grabs the bottle, chugging it down, but quickly frowned. “Water in an empty wine bottle? This Emma’s idea?” She never looks nor glances at him, assured of the answer. He stands there, still. “Well, I am hungry so don’t mind if I do.”

Demi munches down on the cookies first, all in big bites almost she is swallowing them whole. Between bites, she finally looks at Aesop. After swallowing them, “So, you here to help me, right?”

“Assisting you,” Aesop corrects her. “In recovering your memories, yes.”

She shifts her gaze slightly to behind him. “Emma’s not with you?”

“She’s asked me to be here in her stead. She’s told me all that I need.”

Demi snickers, “Oh, all that you need, hm?” She says mockingly, then continues to bite on the cookies. She takes another chug of the water.

“Then shall we begin-”

“I’m tired. Leave me be.”

Aesop simply stares at her, unable to form the right words at her nonchalant respond. But he persists still, as it is his duty there after all. “Ms. Bourbon, we need to recover your memories or else-“

“Or else what?” She cuts him off again. This time taking big bites of the food Naib’s prepared. “That I’ll be trapped here for the rest of my life? That I’ll die?”

He’s silent for a while, but still, maintain an unwavering posture and gaze on her. She slouches over the plate, taking less messy bites of the food. Looking down at it with fluttering eyes, her hair’s tangled up. When Demi looks at Aesop, there is a disdain in them. Full of distrust and frustration, something that he’s familiar with.

“Need to recover memories,” Demi repeats his words bitterly. “What if I don’t want to, hm? What are you gonna say to that?”

Nothing, he wanted to say. Nothing, if he's being honest.. Is there truly a need to recover them? What if you don’t want to remember things? Then what? But he couldn’t say it. Not to anyone, especially to guests who rely on them to move on. He wouldn’t do that.

So he doesn’t say anything.

“Leave me be.” Another pop of a bottle, “I’ll call you if I need anything.”

Demi dismisses him without looking.

It takes a while for him to finally make his move. He wants to say something, but the words never arrive in his mouth. There's no use to confront her in this state, he tells himself. So he leaves the room, leaving Demi alone in her disheveled state and a bottle in one hand.

“What is it with people and asking for jobs here? You’re not even getting paid!” Vera’s exclaims loudly, voice echoing through the bar causing a couple of eyes to turn towards them. “Enjoy your barely living state! Relax! You humans can’t avoid capitalism even in death, it’s tragic.”

The remark’s meant to be out of concern, but rather it’s laced with pity. Eli doesn’t blame her, really. The exchange didn’t go quite so well, as he expected, but now he doesn’t have much to do but dig through on his own. At the very least, now he can stop his attempt to find Norton. Oddly enough, still nowhere to be found. Just how big can this place hide a man. Wrong question to ask, really. Considering, he'd gotten lost several times his first day here. Relax, she says. Funny enough, that’s the last thing he’s able to do here. Such a grand place of this size intimidates him. The chandelier that towers over him, the empty rooms, and hallways. It’s even much more terrifying with this state.

He makes his way back to his room. Slow steps this time, fatigued after spending an entire day of searching up and down through the hotel. What a mystery. Eli hasn’t been successful in his search, not even once he’s able to find him. Not even a glimpse of Norton anywhere. How can someone just vanish like that? He’s quite certain he’d be somewhere in this house. Perhaps he should’ve asked Vera where Norton might be. However, all for naught.

The walk through the hallway is quite daunting. Sometimes, he feels as if the length of the halls had been stretched. Like a never-ending maze that he must overcome. The lengthy red-carpeted floor taunts at him, like a stretching bloody river. He walks and walks, faster with each step.

He can feel his own footsteps. The bottom of his shoe pressed against the carpeted floor. But he can’t shake the feeling of a presence. Someone else’s steps that are slightly offbeat from his. Is there someone following him? He quickens his pace a little. Now the sound is more audible. Footsteps following right behind him. Eli’s heart beats faster and faster. He turns around.

Nothing. Was it just in his head? He could’ve sworn someone, or something was following him. The feeling of someone staring at the back of your neck. Maybe he’s more tired than he thought.

“Should sleep,” He mumbles to himself approaching his door. At the swing of the door, a ring echoes through his room. A telephone rings. There was a telephone in his room? Since when? How come he never noticed it before?

Eli enters his room, closing his door shut, and follows where the sound comes from. And there it is. A telephone vibrating against the side table beside his own bed. There’s never been a phone there. Never. Now there is. He still can’t shake the feeling of another presence nearby. His nerves are scattered, but he tries to maintain a calm demeanor. The phone continues to ring and ring itself into his head.

He tightens his fist, easing the trembles before picking up the phone. It picks up with a click, then he says, “Hello? Who’s this?“

Heavy breathing greets his ear. ‘You,’ A hoarse voice speaks from the phone.

This voice. The air grows too thick for him to breathe, the rapid heartbeat in his chest pounds against his chest. Eli can feel himself starts to lose himself.

‘I’m sure you understand why I’m making this call,’ The person continues, ‘You should know better than to continue the route you’re going. He won’t be going with you. Do you think I haven’t noticed what the two of you have been up to? I know him more than anyone. I know what’s best for him, that is not you. Aesop will stay. Forget about him if you know what’s best for the two of you.’

What have we been up to? What’s best for him? He wants to ask, but no words come out of his mouth.

‘Don’t think for a second I’ve forgotten about you, Eli Clark.’

A sudden pound strikes Eli’s head. He winces, one hand holding against his head while he falls onto his knees. A memory trigger. He crouches, curling his bed as if to protect himself from the pain he was feeling. His fingers tighten around his hair, clenching it as the voice continues to speak through the phone. It hurts, it really hurts, it--

--is soft. Both of Aesop’s hands take hold of his face, with his glimmering eyes sinking into his blue ones. They’re surrounded by glowing, yellow roses. Eli’s hands rest on top of Aesop’s and the man in front of him smiles. A smile so wide, so beautiful. Eli presses his lips against Aesop’s in a deep kiss. He presses further, deepens it while Aesop’s fingers tangle themselves in his hair. Pulling on it. Now, his own hands wander down Aesop’s back, gently caressing his exposed back while his lips travel down to his neck.

He hears a soft gasp. A sound that he yearns for more. So, he bites, earning another reaction from Aesop. He can feel his hot breath against Eli’s ear. He can feel the warmth. Aesop whispers, “I love you. I love you so much, Eli.”

“I’ll go with you,” Aesop tells him. Despite his shaking hands, there is a determination clearly written across his face.

“We’ll go as far as we can. You don’t have to be afraid.” Eli tells him. His mouth moving, speaking words as if it’s beyond his control. “He won’t get to us. We’re in this together, okay? If you’re in trouble, call me and I’ll be by your side in a heartbeat.”

Eli gasps, bringing his consciousness back out. The phone shuts. Click.

He needs to find Aesop.

Aesop makes his return to his room after he was at was the guest’s room. A little later than usual. The hotel’s quieter if it’s possible to get quieter than this. He shuts the door of his room, locking it with a click.

Just as he begins to undress, he felt something. In the inner pockets of his blazer. Aesop’s fingers pressed against the surface of his inner pocket, and he can hear a rustling. The sound of paper. Carefully, he reaches into the pocket and pulls out a… letter.

The letter’s blank. It leaves no trace of anything to identify the sender. Who could’ve possibly slipped this into his pocket without him noticing? All of a sudden, his shoulders become tense as his eyes wander around the room.

Has it always been there? Did someone slip a letter into his jacket?

Frantically, he tugs on the window’s lock. His doors. Opening closets, even drawers, rubbing his hands over shelves. Finding any possible entrance that would have led someone into his room without him noticing.

And, he finds nothing.

There’s a dreadful sense of curiosity rising within him. There’s no harm in reading a letter, right? His fingers trace over the opening cracks of the letter. He lets out a deep breath and rips it open.

He pulls out the piece of paper tucked inside the envelope. It reads…

My love,

His heart stops.

I’ll be there soon. I promise I’ll come for you. I’m sorry that I have to send letters like this. It seems that he’s caught onto us, but don’t worry, we’ll be out of here before he gets to us. I wish you could’ve stayed with me. I’m so afraid that one day I’ll never be able to see you again, especially knowing what he’s done to you. I know you hate it when I bring this up, I’m sorry for making you angry the other night.

Meet me where the yellow roses grow. Same time.

Please be careful.  

I love you.

E.C

My love. The same initials. He’s caught onto us. The very thing he tries very hard to avoid comes back to taunt at him. This letter unlocks new memories. Aesop remembers now that he was trying to run away, but from who? And why? Another pain strikes his head like a bang. As if a wooden bat struck on his head with a hard swing. He winces, groaning loudly before falling on his knees and--

--his heart’s beating fast seeing the words on the letter. He’s caught onto them, as it says on the paper. He’s been careful so far, how could he possibly figure it out? Aesop’s grip on the letter tightens, gripping hard causing it to crumble slightly. He pleads silently that nothing would come to harm his lover.

He reaches to his neck, looking down at the ring hanging on the chains. Their names carved onto the surface. AEC. They’d be together, no matter what.

He looks down at the lifeless body of a client before him. A pale body spread across the metal bed, covered in a thin white sheet. He fears for the worst, and he can’t brush it off of his mind.

The metal doors to his office swings open. A loud slam. A shadow of the figure appears on the ground, in the shape of a silhouette. His sense of fear begins to overwhelm his senses when the figure approaches. Each step echo through the room, like the sound of impending doom making itself known. And he knows. He’s more than aware.

Aesop wakes up coughing out the sudden tightness that has put him on hold. The split in his head is unbearable. A distinct feeling of his head being patched together as if things are beginning to make sense. In the most painful way possible. Another memory.

He needs to find Eli.

[youarejesting]

BTS Seoul mates: Tender Couple.2

[MASTERLIST]

Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

Warning: implied sex

Summary: Every bump and bruise he apologized to where ever you were in the world. All pain was halved between you. Two halves of a whole. When either felt extreme emotions they could feel exactly what the other was feeling physically.  All pleasure was doubled.

You must have had the clumsiest soul mate in the world. You spent your life with at least one bruise on your body at all times, when it got really bad people started to worry about your home life and you would laugh and tell them your soulmate was just super clumsy. You were the opposite or your soulmate you were as graceful as a cat. You were smart had a vast amount of knowledge but it wasn’t sorted. Your thought process was unique, you could calculate numbers rather quickly in your head, recite every movie you had ever seen from start to finish, you were pretty talented. Your brain was good at receiving and storing everything it encounters.

But your down fall, you had no concept of time. and you struggle with object permanence. If you can’t see it, the thing in question disappears from your mind. You have flooded your house and burnt every single homemade pizza this way. New thoughts tend to get in the way of previous ones and you can get jumbled up. This tends to lead to you stuttering as the words run faster in your head and misfiring words. You get so frustrated with yourself. 

Namjoon had so much confidence in his brain, he enjoyed mental exercises and stimulation. But he lacked confidence physically, he would look at the other members and feel a little jealous. He wasn’t handsome like Jin or romantic like Jimin, he wasn’t very imaginative like Taehyung. His hopes were pinned on you, his soul mate. He had read every study and felt ninety nine percent sure that you would love him unconditionally as he did you. However there was always that irrational one percent fear that you would reject him, if you hadn’t already.

Who was he to you? Nothing but a burden, the constant pain and bruises he inflicted. Who is to say when you meet, you won’t take one look at him and his coordination that could be likened to a newborn giraffe on ice. He was a walking hazard. His first night camping in New Zealand was rather fun and that night he felt your wandering hands once more and he tried to join you as quietly as he could without rustling his sleeping bag. 

He woke feeling refreshed, the group was going to a spa. He was writing lyrics on the way with his imagination taking over as he lost himself to the memories of the past two nights. Remembering the sensations he felt, the way your fingers would brush against your skin the way you would bring yourself to the edge and hold it as long as you could. Last night however, you did something that made him groan quietly.

“You okay?” Jungkook asked quietly while he drove. He nodded making a casual noise. You had come so hard last night the first time without any physical stimulation you seemed to just lay there enjoying his company pleasure coursing through you. What were you thinking about? The second time followed quickly and he smiled happy you were feeling good but disappointed you finished without him.

Or so he thought, because he felt the pleasure build again and he shivered, trying to keep up, you were now edging the third. He had read somewhere that woman could have up to twenty orgasms in a row. So your third didn’t shock him. He came with you when you had your fourth and he was panting relaxing and yet he felt you chase another and another. When he got his second you were on your seventh. He knew when you met he could have a lot of fun with you.

The car pulled up and they went inside ready to the spa. The girls went to another section of the building and left to wash up and relax. Sitting in one of the many outdoor tubs in shorts and shirts the girls sat talking and playing games.

Namjoon and the boys were relaxing in their tub when he burned his hand and he frowned it was a good one alright and he frowned holding the injured hand to his chest trying to ease the pain. He felt a familiar sting on the side of your face and knew you had gently slapped your cheek to let him know you were mad. But he also felt kisses on his fingertips which made him forget about the pain and concentrate on not getting hard in front of his band mates.

“It’s been so long since we have been close like this” Taehyung said getting sentimental as the dried and dressed together. Namjoon listened to them all chatting about their plans for their next activity and wondering if any of the girls would want to join in.

“I don’t want to go what if Aster asks me to go?” Jimin whined.

“I want to go with my baby Beau on the swing together”

The Nevis High-wire platform was beautiful. Everyone seemed to be having a good time looking around and the brave ones signing up for a swing. Currently all the boys excluding Jimin and Yoongi were participating and all the girls except Rose. 

The pairs were, Namjoon and Taehyung, Jin and Hoseok, Melody and Aster and finally Jungkook and Aster. They each took turns, Hoseok and Jin were shaking in their skin. Melody and Aster the latter kissed Jimin dramatically and as she was being harnessed started a monologue as if she was dying. Jimin had almost collapsed in his fits of laughter. 

Namjoon went with Taehyung, taking in the view together singing their theme song. As they traveled back up to the platform. The golden maknae turned to his soulmate and suggested they go upside down and to their shock she agreed. She was like Jungkook never one to back down from a challenge. They both flipped upside down and were sent of making whoops and cheers as you fell from the platform.

They each relaxed and headed to their next camp to set up, half going shopping and buying food. The night was filled with jokes and laughed and a few stolen kisses under the stars. Namjoon, was already planning on doing some work tomorrow, he was trying to write lyrics but he couldn’t get you out of his head.

That night he lay in bed and felt your index finger tapping on his palm. He couldn’t figure it out but it repeated like a beat, he fell asleep to the repetition he was so amazed how you seemed to just know what he needed.

[verdandir]

FFXIV Writing Challenge - 2020

Day 6: Starlight

Verdandir lay back against the hill and stared up at the night sky, lost in thought. Her long tail flicked and curled as her mind wandered, drifting on the cool breeze as she thought about everything she had learned over the moons she had spent here.

“Ah, so here you are.”

She turned her head and started to rise as another figure approached before a raised hand stopped her. “Teacher!”

“I see you’re still testing that new skill of yours. That’s good, that’s good.” The old Sharlayan Elezen lowered himself down to sit next to her and looked up at the sky, a deep sigh escaping him. “Ah, what a lovely view you’ve found, my dear. I wish more of my fellows would take the time to do the same.”

Tipping her head to the side, she furrowed her brow at the melancholy in his voice. “Teacher Jio, is something wrong?”

He didn’t answer for a long while, his face turned up towards the starlight. “All things must eventually come to an end, you know my dear?” He finally answered, his words slow and carefully thought out. “Even among your kind, for all that ours are but a moment of your long lives…”

She sat up finally, her tail curling around her leg to match her growing distress. “Teacher Jio, what do you mean ‘come to an end’? Are you unwell?! I can… I can heal you, I’m sure!”

“Peace, child, peace.” He raised a hand and chuckled. The irony of calling her ‘child’ when she had lived far longer was not lost on him, but at the same time… he had come to care for her as if she were one. “I am not ill or so old that I’m about to drop any time soon. No, I wasn’t meaning that I was coming to an end… but my ability to be your teacher… is.”

“It is? You… you don’t want me to come here anymore? Have I become a bother,” she tangled her fingers together in her lap and visibly drooped.

“Verdandir, no, nothing of the sort.” He reached over and put his hand atop her’s, squeezing reassuringly. “Do you remember when I told you that there were a group of people wanting to take over all the other people around them in order to force them to follow their rules and beliefs?” She nodded and he sighed. “They, the Garlean Empire, has made a move that… startled… the leaders of this place enough that they’ve been debating what to do. And they decided earlier today.”

He looked over and felt a pang in his heart at the worried look in the Dravanian-turned-Au Ra’s eyes. He was going to miss her. Not because she had been his research material, or because she had stroked his ego as a teacher, but because she was simply a sweet being who had shown her fondness of him and who he had gotten fond of in return.

“The entire colony here will be leaving and returning to our homeland,” his voice was weary, heavy with disappointment. “They’ve decided it isn’t safe for us here, with our ways and beliefs against conflict and protecting the knowledge we have. I’m sorry.”

She lowered her head and closed her eyes. “You… won’t be coming back then, will you?”

“I very much doubt it,” he looked back up to the stars and closed his eyes as well. “It’s a long journey, and no doubt there will be a great deal to do with moving so many people and things. Even if the war ended or was somehow called off, I doubt the homeland will be keen on attempting such a massive undertaking again any time ‘soon’.”

Soon for him… Soon for them. But what was ‘soon’ to a dragon? Did it matter?

“But like I said, there are a large amount of people and many things that have to be done. So it isn’t as if I’m going to up and vanish right away.” He glanced over to her and smiled. “It just… is going to be very busy up until we leave. And it means it could be dangerous for you to wander around, or even visit me, with all the comings and goings. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Teacher Jio,” her voice was subdued and he felt his heart squeeze again.

“I brought you a gift, though,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out the wrapped parcel, weighing it in his palm before holding it out to her. “Go ahead, open it.”

Her fingers were still a little clumsy, he mused, as he watched her. It would take a bit more time and practice for her to get used to a human body fully. He wondered if she’d ever be able to fully conceal her eyes… but he somehow doubted it. She glanced up at him once the wrapping had been removed and held up the pair of choker necklaces, one with shining red and the other glowing blue between gold, a dragon-like head with the length designed to curve around the neck and end like a tail.

“They’re special,” he explained, leaning forward to tap them. “Remember how I told you that your aether was… rather extreme? There are people who are sensitive to other’s and my people have developed ways to even see things like that. Well, these will help to hide and conceal your aether. So if you want to travel around someday without letting people know you’re a Dravanian, you can wear one.”

She smiled up at him, her eyes both sad and happy at once. “Teacher Jio…. thank you.”

[kiwi-cake]

Arranged Part 3

Prince!Luke

Warnings: language, sexual violence

Masterlist

A/N: here you go kids!

-Megan

By noon, Luke is out of bed and grumpy. she didn’t envy the servant that has to wake him. she take her lunch in her private quarters most of the time in order to avoid his incessant complaining. After lunch, she goes for a walk outside if it’s not raining, but if it is, she must stay inside and spend another 5 hours reading or sewing until dinner. Luke and her are required to attend dinner together, you know, to keep up appearances.

Tonight was no different than any other night. It’s the same routine every day and at this point in the evening, Luke has consumed a considerable amount of wine and she is sitting quietly, watching the people as they dance with their partners.

“So,” Calum says once he’s finished telling about the lovely girl he had met in on summer holiday and how much he misses her, “I heard you were quite the troublemaker back in your country.”

“Parliament thought I was far too involved in politics for a woman, and suggested I take up knitting instead. I told them where they could shove their knitting, which landed me as the one of three sisters they decided to ship off here to get married,” she sighed. Calum gave her a sympathetic look as she watched Luke drunkenly flirt with a woman in a purple dress.

“I’m so sorry Y/N,” he says sincerely.

“Thank you Calum ,” she says as Luke runs out of the ballroom, most likely off to wretch up the alcohol he’s intoxicated himself with. They sit and talk a bit more before she politely bid him goodnight.

****

Okay, she was lost. Like really, really lost. She thought after a month she would finally know her way around, but here she was, wandering around the dark maze that was the castle at night. She was used to having Luke there with her at night, so of course the one night he can’t hold his liquor is also the night she decides to go to bed early. Suddenly, her footing was disrupted by an uneven patch on the floor, making her trip. She gripped her ankle in pain, having twisted it during her fall. She heard footsteps coming down the hallway and soon a guard helps her up.

“Are you alright princess?” he asks once she’s on her feet again.

“No, I believe I’ve twisted my ankle,” she replies, blushing at her clumsiness.

“Good,” he grins, “can’t have you running away.” His hands roughly grab her waist and shoves her against the wall. With one hand he gropes her breast, with the other he palms his crotch. He breathes heavily, his foul breath hot on her face. her head spins as she realize there is no one in this part of the castle right now who could help me.

“P-please stop,” she stutter. The man only laughs and attempts to kiss her. she turns her head away.

“I’ve been watching you for a long time Princess,” he says. He unbuckles his pants and starts to reach up her dress. she cries out in the opposite of pleasure as he starts to touch her upper thigh. Her mind frantically searches for a way out, but she can’t do much with an injured ankle. Just as he starts to hike her dress up, a voice stops him.

“What do you think you’re doing with my wife mate?” a familiar voice says angrily. In any other instance, she would have rolled her eyes at the sound of Luke’s voice, but when he came into her line of vision there was practically a halo glowing around his head. Luke ripped the man off her, and punched him square in the jaw. She fell to the floor once the man’s arms weren’t pinning her to the wall. Of course, she fell on her bad ankle, making her cry out in pain and bang her head on the wall. She sits there for god knows how long, watching Luke beat the man unconscious.

“You shouldn’t treat girls like that you piece of shit, especially not my girl,” Luke gave the man a swift kick to the groin and he screamed, “I’ll do much worse than that if you ever touch a woman against her will again. Not that you’ll get much action in prison…”

“Luke,” she called weakly. He turned to her and the rage in his eyes softened. He approached her cautiously. She thought she must look terrified.

“I won’t hurt you, okay love? I’m just going to check your ankle” he says softly. He reaches out to assess her ankle, and she flinches when he touches her skin. Her vision starts to get blurry around the edges and she thinks that’s either her brain saying its had way too much for one night, or maybe she bumped her head harder than she thought.

“I think you’ve sprained it. You’ll have to stay off of it for a few days,” he tells her but she hardly hears him over the ringing in her ears. As her eyes flutter shut, she feels arms wrap around her body and lift her off the floor. Everything goes black after that.

……..

The feeling of a cool cloth being placed on her forehead jolted her from her nightmare.She looked down to see bruises covering her arms and a very swollen ankle. Her sides ached as she tried to move, so there’s probably more bruises there too.

“Don’t move miss, you’re quite unwell,” the maid dips the cloth in water again. She wondered what she meant. Then everything came back to me: the injured ankle, the man with foul breath who left bruises on her, and Luke. All of these things resulted in a splitting headache. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“He’s gone right? Please don’t let him get to me,” her voice was hoarse as she ask the whereabouts of the rapist, but the maid seemed to think she was talking about Luke.

“Don’t worry, miss, I’ve been very discreet about the bruises. Every couple has their arguments. The prince probably didn’t mean you any harm.”

“No, no, no, Luke didn’t do this to me. He helped me, he--” she was interrupted by the man himself walking into the room.

“Oh good, you’re awake, love. Was really worried about you,” he walked over to the bed and placed a hand on top of hers, “that’ll be all Betsy, thanks for watching her while I was gone.”

His eyes followed the maid out of the room and then he turned back to her, “I, uh, haven’t told anybody. Didn’t think you’d want anyone knowing, people can be quite cruel.”

“Where is he?” she asked the one question that was burning on the tip of her tongue. The one thing she needed to know to get an ounce of peace of mind back. His face fell, no longer meeting her eyes.

“He got away. After you went out cold, I was distracted and he got away. But I promise we’re looking for him. He won’t get away with what he did to you, and I’ll make sure he never comes near you again,” through the sudden nausea she felt, she managed to notice how tired he looked. There were dark circles around his eyes and his voice seemed horse. His hair was messy, most likely from pulling at it like I’ve seen him do so many times when he’s trying to figure out a difficult document. It’s quite likely he hasn’t shaved these past few days, there is a beard shadowing his face.

“Thank you, for doing all of that,” she said quietly.

“Y/N you don’t have to thank me for saving you from being raped. Any decent human being would have. Besides, none of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t been too wasted to take you back from the party. Or if I had thought of anyone else but myself this past month. Jesus, I’ve been a real dick to you, haven’t I? I’m sorry, Y/N, I’m so sorry,” he says, his broad shoulders slumped.

“We’ve both been completely childish, but that doesn’t mean any of this was your fault.  I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unless this was part of your elaborate scheme to get rid of me…” she joked. He chuckles slightly. It’s weird to hear his laugh. Weird, but nice.

“Friends?” he asks holding his hand out.

“Friends,” she agreed, taking his hand, sealing their agreement.

Request for part 4!!! also feedback is very welcome 

[thewitchwithoutvoice-blog]

Aoi Shibunuri

"If I told you about her, the princess without voice, what would I say?”

Hello everyone! First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this, I appreciate it very much. Now, allow me to introduce you to Aoi, she’s my little bean and I am looking for RP contacts and an RP FC as well. I hope this gives you all a bit of an idea of what she is like. I recently moved from Mateus here to Balmung, I did have Aoi ver. 1, but since I moved over, I wanted to start fresh. Thanks again! ^^

NAME: Aoi Shibunuri 

AGE: Twenty-Six

RACE: Au Ra (Raen)

GENDER: Female

SEXUALITY: Demisexual

DISABILITY(s)?: Yes, she is mute from birth. 

MARITAL STATUS: Single

SERVER: Balmung

physical appearance ���–––

HAIR: Light brown. Slight wave to her hair. She had shorter hair but it has grown quite long since. It has reached a bit past her hips currently. Half up, half down french braid sometimes or just simply half up, half down with a long braid running down her back. 

EYES: Black, depending on lighting, they can look endless and pitch dark.

SKIN TYPE: Medium Tan(Amber) with very soft skin and bright scales. She has flecks of moles here and there throughout her body. She enjoys bathing in oils so she has a healthy glow to her skin. 

HEIGHT: Four feet Eight inches

BUILD: She has a small amount of tone to her body, a bit thin with wider hips and a full top, an hourglass figure to be precise. 

DISTINGUISHING MARKS: From head to toe, her scales are pearlescent. Her horns and tail aren’t entirely, they have flecks of luster and shine here and there. 

COMMON ACCESSORIES: Flowers, she enjoys having flowers in her hair and always seems to have fresh ones. She usually has her nails painted with rings adorning her hands. She always has one special ring she does no take off for any reason other than in her home, she was told it was her mother’s. Anklets, the prettier the chiming bells, the more skip to her step. Occasionally, she’ll wear a necklace, but not too often. She carries a satchel with medical supplies, herbs, potions, inkwells, gauze, quills and her journals. She also carries a one-handed wand on her person at all times in case of emergencies.

personal –––-

PROFESSION: Wandering healer/conjurer currently. It has been about a year and a half since she retired from the Adders as a combat medic. If she isn’t wandering, she always takes the time to visit home...Gridania. The Central Shroud is one of her favorite places to be, she’ll often mediate there, gather herbs and supplies, or enjoy being around the greenery. 

HOBBIES: Reading, her head is always in a book. Her home is filled with books, stacks here and there in messy piles. She enjoys taking care of plants, much of her home is filled with them so often she will be watering them and possibly getting more (even though she knows she shouldn’t). Aoi enjoys dancing, she can get lost in it, but it is something she does when she is alone. Aoi plays the harp as well, she learned at a young age and finds it soothing when she feels stressed or anxious. 

LANGUAGES: Common and Sign Language

RESIDENCE: Her home is a small apartment that she occasionally visits in between her wandering, she is not one for having large homes, she enjoys having a smaller space. It is filled with plants and books, in a corner, she keeps her large harp so that she can entertain guests. 

FEARS: Drowning. She never learned how to swim because she was so caught up in her studies while growing up, and whenever she was prompted to, she brushed it aside. She has other tiny little fears such as neglecting her duty of traveling around and healing and caring for others. She is not a big fan of insects such as spiders, anything creepy crawly makes her uncomfortable. Heights make her extremely uncomfortable as she can be clumsy, that and she feels dizzy being in high up places. She doesn’t like the feeling. 

relationships –––-

SPOUSE: N/A

CHILDREN: N/A

PARENTS: Both mother and father are deceased. She was raised by her aunt from a very young age of about a year old. 

SIBLINGS: She has no brothers or sisters, she grew up as an only child. 

OTHER RELATIVES: The only living relative that she is aware of, is her aunt.

PETS: She has none, but she won’t easily admit that she kind of thinks her plants as pets. 

traits –––-

extroverted / introverted / in between

disorganized / organized / in between

close minded / open-minded / in between

calm / anxious / in between (depends on situation)

disagreeable / agreeable / in between

cautious / reckless / in between (depends on situation)

patient / impatient / in between

outspoken / reserved / in between

leader / follower / in between

empathetic / unemphatic / in between

optimistic / pessimistic / in between

traditional / modern / in between

hard-working / lazy / in between

cultured / un-cultured / in between

loyal / disloyal / in between

faithful / unfaithful / in between

additional information –––-

SMOKING HABIT: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

DRUGS: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

ALCOHOL: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

possible hooks –––-

- If your character is an Adder or was associated with them, she was a combat medic for them before she retired! She will most likely approach you if mentioned, badger you if you are taking care of yourself and properly getting rest in between missions or shifts. 

- If your character is mute or selectively mute and knows sign language (or just knows sign language in general), she will automatically approach with clear excitement in her eyes and a big smile! Her main form of communication is through writing, she does not meet many who know sign language so when she does actually meet those that do, it is a shock to her, a happy one!

- She is a wandering medic, so she is always aiding those that are in need of assistance, be it healing, child birth, or a serious injury, she will approach, very worried but ready to get to work immediately. 

- These are just some thoughts I’m throwing out there, situations that I think my character would respond to, to give an idea (it’s super early and I haven’t slept..so they are not the brightest ideas). I am open-minded, if you are interested, don’t even hesitate to throw some of your ideas out there too, I would love to hear what you have to say as well! Working together to come up with an awesome hook or plot is the best part! ^^

what I’m looking for ––––

- Honestly, any kind of contacts! Be it friendships, job offers, rivalries, etc! I mentioned above that I was also looking for an RP FC so, if any of you are in need of a healer (additionally an alchemist, gotta level that up for RP purposes, same for botany), shoot me a message and give me some information about your FC and what you’re all about! 

- I mentioned that I’m an open-minded person, so if you got ideas, shoot them my way, I love seeing what people can cook up, and it helps give me an idea of what I can too depending on the person(s) that approach me (character-wise, like personalities, backstories, what sort of plot you’re informing me about and how Aoi would fit into it).

✓ Will do temporary incapacitation, temporary imprisonment, walk-ups

✓ I don’t mind doing RP that is a bit dark, I like being pushed in different directions and it’s fun to explore. Things revolving voidsent (very little knowledge of it though, if you have the patience to give me some lore tips and pointers, I don’t mind one bit), drugs/violence/alcohol/language, I don’t mind at all, as long as it comes naturally with roleplay.

- As for longterm RP, I am not too sure about it, one way to find out is talking to me about it and giving me an idea of what you had in mind (especially if they involve long-term incapacitation, long-term imprisonment, or long-term disfiguration). 

- I don’t mind lore bending at all, not one bit, as long as it isn’t anything too crazy or displaced. It is fun to be creative! So as long as it works and flows nicely with everything. 

✗ I will not do ERP or anything involving rape. I don’t at all mind having my characters naturally building a romantic relationship (comes along with roleplay, fan of slowburn sort of stuff), but ERP is not my cup of tea so I’m putting this out there now, don’t ask me later, my mind won’t suddenly change. 

oocly, I am –––

I am a fairly chill roleplayer, I enjoy in-game roleplay but I don’t mind at all if you would like to use Discord as well. It’s very convenient! I enjoy all sorts of RP as I mentioned above, if you would like fast-paced, I will do my best to keep up and adapt, I am more of a paragraph roleplayer and enjoy putting in a lot of details into my posts, but like I said, I can adapt, I’ve been roleplaying for about 11 years, I’ve been all over the place.

Don’t worry about responding to me asap or roleplaying with me constantly, like I said, I’m a laid-back person, plan with me, gush about characters and stuff, take your time. There is no rush, after all, we’re all here to relax and have fun! So if anything is troubling you, don’t hesitate to approach me about it!

I am on CST, and am usually on most of the time, my sleep schedule is all over the place so I’ll be on during the day, afternoon, night...like I said...jumpy sleep schedule. >w< 

you can contact me via ––

Tumblr Messages!

Discord: Aoi Shibunuri#4857

In Game: Aoi Shibunuri

PS: Totally didn’t nab this from my friend, @ijazrahalffxiv, *sweats*, I don’t really know where he got this template from so the mysterious template shall continue it’s journey onwards!! Thank you for your time :D

[guksthighs]

A Spell For Jealousy || kth

COLLAB

Pairing: V X READER

Summary: ‘Taehyung could see you were busy, he knew his jealousy and possessiveness were apparently unfounded, but you had been lying to him about how you had been studying and had been meeting his best friend behind his back.’

Genre: fluff, angst, wizard au, jealous tae, angst with a happy ending

Length: 2.4k

A/N: this was my first collab and although their account only has a few pieces of writing, i hope you show your support for @korean-hellhole ~ they’re so lovely and i really enjoyed doing this project together.

have fun trying to figure who wrote what !

You sighed in exasperation as the professor’s explanations morphed into gibberish and your gaze wandered towards the window next to your seat, following the snowflakes that coated the school grounds in white. The late afternoon sunbathing the dull white scenery in gold and you silently willed for time to speed up.

“Y/N!” An elbow nudged your side making you turn to look at Namjoon with a raised eyebrow and he used the tip of his quill to point towards the professor as if to say: ‘Listen in class!’ Rolling your eyes at him, you nudged him back with more force and suppressed a laugh when he yelped and bumped into the boy next to him.

“Unbelievably hopeless…” He muttered and shot a warning glare towards your direction but you knew this was far from being over, messing with Namjoon was way more entertaining than watching snow anyways.

An idea suddenly popped into your head and you grinned mischievously, reaching for your wand, your fingers wrapping around the smooth wooden rod and you whispered a simple spell, watching as the pink haired boy’s glasses slid off his face and snatching them before they dropped to the floor.

Namjoon glared at your smug face while you slid his lunettes onto your face, snickering at the dirty looks he shot you as you pretended to pay attention to the professor.

“Okay that’s it for today. Class dismissed!”

Cheering out loud, you stood up immediately from your chair, ignoring the stares your classmates were giving you, and scooped all your books into your messenger bag. “You know you really have to start paying attention to this class (Y/N).”

You turned to watch the pink haired boy’s blurry figure stack his textbooks into a neat pile and blinked, feeling yourself tear up from the glasses. “Joon, I’m terrible at Charms and you know it. It’s okay if I fail this subject, I’ve accepted my fate.” Your reply was said with a dramatic air as you placed a hand on your friend’s shoulder and nodded. Namjoon chuckled as the two of you headed towards the exit, his black cloak billowing behind him, commanding attention from everyone as he walked.

Kim Namjoon was a prefect, top of his class in every single subject he took and an absolute genius. Being taller than most of the student body, he radiated superiority, intimidating many and you were grateful to have a friend like him.

“If you even need help with the spells you just have to let me know alright?”

“Don’t be silly! I don’t need anyone’s hel-”

A pair of arms wrapped around your waist before you could finish your sentence and you immediately knew who it was, giggling before leaning your back against his chest.

“Yah Tae! How did you get here so fast? Don’t you have class on the other end of the campus?”

Your boyfriend nuzzled his nose into your loose hair before turning you around to face him. You beamed at him as soon as his boxy smile came into view and he raised his arms to squish your cheeks when he suddenly stopped, staring at you before glancing at Namjoon who stood behind you.

“Y/N ...Are you wearing Joon’s glasses?” You hadn’t realized you were still wearing and you nodded, taking them off to hand them back to the pink haired boy. Taehyung frowned and mumbled an excuse before walking away.

“You better go after him; you know how possessive he gets when you’re around any of us.” Namjoon urged you to leave, shooing you with his hand and you gave him thumbs up before rushing after your fuming boyfriend.

“Taee, you aren’t mad, right? You know I only have eyes for you!” You hugged his left arm to your chest, resting your cheek affectionately against his shoulder as you looked up to him with large innocent eyes and he gulped before sighing, placing his hand on top of your hair.

“I can never get angry at you; you know that?” Taehyung grinned, finding your bashfulness endearing and freeing his arm from your grip before wrapping it around your waist. “So how was class?” You pouted, remembering the amount of spells you had to learn to keep up with the rest of your classmates.

“Absolutely terrible Tae, I’ve given up on Charms at this point.”

“I can always give you a hand with the spells?

You looked up at your boyfriend smiling gratefully and leaning up to kiss his cheek when he returned your smile with a boxy grin.

“Thanks, babe, but I think I’ll manage on my own…It might be my worst subject but it’s not like I’m failing.”

His smile drooped a little before returning quickly as if it never happened just as you glanced up at him again.

“If you say so…”

“Miss (Y/N), I’m sure you realize Charms isn’t your forte. If this keeps up you’re bound to fail the year.” The professor spoke in a hushed tone, careful not to attract attention from the other students.

Your eyes widened in shock as time seemed to freeze at that moment. “I see; is there anything I can do to raise my grade though?”

“Tell you what Miss (Y/N), if you past the test next week; I can guarantee at least a B for your final grade.” You nodded softly, frowning while your mind whirled with unsaid thoughts and bowed before returning to your seat where Namjoon waited, a worried expression on his face.

What would you do now? There was no way you could learn the spells on your own! Especially with how clumsy you were… you would probably burn down your dorm before you could master one!

Your mind drifted to your boyfriend, smiling faintly as you remembered how he had sweetly offered to help. But knowing Taehyung, he was probably as bad as you if not worse. Sighing hopelessly, you turned your head to watch Namjoon take notes on his notebook and you silently wondered how amazingly smart he was.

“If you even need help with the spells you just have to let me know alright?”

Snapping up as you recalled what the pink haired boy had told you, a sense of hope filled you, he was a genius after all. Maybe you weren’t doomed after all! You poked his arm shyly, giving him a lopsided smile. “Yah Joon! Do you think…Youcanhelpmewiththespells?” You flushed, not used to asking for help and glared when Namjoon smirked at you.

“Oh so you finally admit you need my assistance?” You scowled before nudging him causing him to  laugh and nod, nudging you back. “Sure, we can start today after class?”

“Yeah you can use my notes” You gave him thumbs up, and turned to face the professor just to hear him dismiss the class.

You remembered with a groan that it was your date night and that you would have to cancel, and as you sent him a quick text the thought that maybe you should have asked your boyfriend instead of Namjoon made you wonder if you had just messed up doing this even with the knowledge of how insecure he could be about your relationship. And yet you still hit send.

Well, There was no turning back now.

“Babe,” Taehyung whined and tugged at your arm trying to get your attention but you pulled your arm out of his grasp and continued to study, the peace of the library that was meant to hide you from distractions had led you into the biggest disruption of all, your boyfriend.

Taehyung had been working in the library since you had met him, spiderwebs strung in his hair like an ornate crown that sat regally on top of his brown hair. These days the library was less dusty from his constant cleaning, but, as amazing as it was to have him know where all of the books you desperately need were, instead of studying all you wanted to do was fall asleep in his arms to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

However, you were busy reading over Namjoon’s notes, whispering incantations to yourself that now made more sense but whose wording was still needlessly complex. You flicked through the books Namjoon had recommended to read, things like ‘spells for beginners’ and ‘so you can’t remember your spells’ but you were becoming progressively more despairing.

“I’m proud of you,” your head whipped up to meet Taehyung who was staring at you, a small smile on his face as he admired your concentration, “You’re putting in so much effort, I mean look at all of these notes,” he gestured at Namjoon’s work, his obvious scrawl covering the copious amounts surrounding you but Taehyung continued with a beam, completely oblivious to the evidence of your lies, “and you did it all by yourself!”

You swallowed hard, it was becoming obvious that when this came to light he was going to be extremely upset and yet the compliment gave you the boost you needed to learn the last few spells. Quickly you leant forward to press a kiss on the tip of his nose, whispering thank you before you muttered another spell and you both watched in awe as it started to snow above the two of you.

The library was quick to dispel the magic, but Taehyung knew what it meant, you had improved massively and although he had thought he would have to stand in and give you some last minute tips, you seemed to have everything under control.

Contrary to your belief that Taehyung was as incapable at spells as you were, he was actually a magical genius. His constant chatting in class and pranks meant he was under more scrutiny from the teachers which led to him having more help than other students, and within months Taehyung was consistently getting top marks, not that he had told you that.

Taehyung watched you begin to study and wondered if your problem lay in you making incorrect notes, so he leafed through your pages and found a higher grade spell, studying the writing he was hit by an icy feeling of realisation. The messy scrawl that was covering your page, devoid of small animations and pretty colours, was not your handwriting.

Taehyung could see you were busy, he knew his jealousy and possessiveness were apparently unfounded, but you had been lying to him about how you had been studying and had been meeting his best friend behind his back.

In the meantime, he was able to swallow the lump in his throat, waiting for you to finish so at least your deceit would be worth a good grade, even if the second you had finished you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him like there was no one watching, making him feel slightly unsure to the judgement he had made.

Taehyung didn’t kiss you back, instead, he placed his hands on your waist and moved you so you were sitting on your chair again, and that was when you realised he knew, even before he started talking, “Why did you lie to me?”

His voice broke; Taehyung’s eyes fell to his hands that fiddled as he found himself unable to meet your eyes in embarrassment at being so easily deceived. “You lied to me,” he whispered, more to himself than you and as you opened your mouth to reply, he pushed his chair out and stood up.

“Tae-” you tried to get his attention, but he was busy picking up all of the books you had been using and before you could say another word he had stalked off into one of the many aisles of floor to ceiling books and with a quick wave of you wand you packed everything up and into your bag, grabbing it and sprinting after your boyfriend, desperate to diffuse the situation.

“KIM TAEHYUNG!” You shouted, and with a flash, you had been teleported out of the library, their warning system of going over a certain amount of decibels getting you banned was apparently still in place and you paced outside, hoping he would come out and talk to you.

The boys often teased you about how jealous he got, but after you explained it was because most of his ex-girlfriends would date them after the breakup and that had resulted in his confidence plummeting, they lay off and became more protective of him.

You knew you needed to talk to him, so you could explain what had actually been happening instead of the romantic rendezvous he was imagining after watching all of his beloved dramas with Jimin on a Friday night.

“If you had a thing for Joon, you just had to say,” he was standing in front of you, brown hair messed up as if he had been running his hands through it, and you realised he probably had been. Taehyung still wasn’t looking you in the eye, but you could see how hurt he was, his arms hugging his torso as he moved from foot to foot, “You were so scared of me you didn’t even tell me.”

Taehyung seemed in pain, his brow creased as he began to back away from you and your arms extended without a thought, as you tried to make him stay, “That’s not true.” Taehyung smiled but it was hollow, it didn’t quite reach them and make them sparkle in a way that was special to just your boyfriend.

“I’m not attracted to Joon,” he raised an eyebrow at the nickname and you just sighed, taking a step forward and grabbing his hands in your own, “No matter how many times I have to tell you, I’ll say it a thousand more. I love you Kim Taehyung, my eyes are only for you and for no other boy, no matter how smart or helpful they are. You are the one that stole my heart. You, my loving boyfriend, Kim Taehyung.”

He frowned, his brain obviously trying to process what you had just said but you knew this was a matter of the heart, not the mind, so with a smile you leant forward and gently pressed your lips to his, hoping he wouldn’t pull away, and as his hands moved up to lace into your hair, you knew everything was okay.

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[singingpuppies]

RP with Sanders-Sides-RP-Blog-12

Who: Patton and Roman.

Part: Three.

General Notes: When Patton woke up this morning, he was a regular guy. Now he’s come to find out that he was kidnapped as a baby and he’s actually a Prince, who’s set up in an arranged marriage with another Prince named Roman. How will Patton react to so much changing in his life all at once? Especially when neither of the young princes want to marry someone they’ve just met?

Warnings: None just lots of cute.

ROMAN

Roman smiles, moving his hands from Patton hair and moving so that he could get up. He didn't want to leave the cuddles, but he had to go get them food. He decides against actual breakfast food, instead, running down to the kitchen and grabbing a bag of cookies instead. Cookies for breakfast was perfectly acceptable! Roman sprints back to the room, grinning. "Cookies for breakfast?" he asks with a smile, holding the bag.

PATTON

Patton only pouted more when Roman actually got up and left the room, he knew it was about to happen but that still didn't mean he had to be ready for it. He let out a small yawn, stretching a bit before reaching for his glasses, sliding them onto his face and giving himself a moment for his eyes to adjust before running his hand through his messy hair. Ugh, not the same. He sat himself up just in time for Roman to pop back into the room. His face lit up at what Roman said, looking at the bag eagerly. "Yes!" he squeaked happily. Cookies for breakfast, this was turning out to be the best day ever.

ROMAN

Roman smiles, hopping back onto the bed and wrapping his arms around Patton again, placing the bag of cookies near him. "I figures since we're just relaxing today, we could have an unhealthy breakfast." he says with a smile. And really... Roman just wanted to see Patton's smile.

PATTON

Patton didn't even wait before reaching for the bag when Roman set it down on the bed, his excitement only calming slightly when Roman put his arms around him again. He'd almost forgotten that they were actually getting married tomorrow, but if it had crossed his mind, he would've been even more grateful for today than he already was. They both needed a chill day to just relax and eat cookies and look for frogs and just do whatever without worrying. "I'm always up for an unhealthy breakfast." he stated with a smile. It was true, especially if that unhealthy breakfast consisted of cookies.

ROMAN

Roman smiles fondly, picking up a cookie as well and taking a bit, keeping the arm that wasn't helping him eat wrapped loosely around Patton. "So- we're getting married tomorrow. That's- that's something, isn't it?" he asks, still... Roman doesn't know how to feel.

PATTON

Patton took a bite of the cookie, blinking at what Roman said. Oh yeah, that was tomorrow, wasn't it? "Oh, yeah." he said softly. He still didn't feel ready. He didn't even know what he was suppose to do or say at a wedding, he felt underprepared, which might've been weird... it was a wedding not a play or something. But he felt like he was going to say or do something wrong and embarrass himself in front of everyone, or worse, embarrass Roman. Although, he had to admit, he was more nervous about the wedding itself than he was about the marriage anymore. He might not have felt ready for any of it, but the thought of being married to Roman? Getting to be around him like this all the time... he had to admit, that part actually sounded kind of nice. "Are you nervous?" he asked after a moment.

ROMAN

Roman thinks for a second. "I- I'm not sure." he says honestly, but his arms tighten around Patton a bit. It made him feel... better, holding him. "Not nearly as nervous as I was. I- I'm glad it's you, so I don't care about that, but I'm just... so scared about being the king. Because I'm bound to mess something up at some point- and I'm going to be in charge of hundreds of thousands of people! Maybe even millions! /We're/ going to be in charge of them! That's... that's a lot."

PATTON

Patton rested his head on Roman's shoulder as he thought about what he was saying. It did make him feel a little better that Roman was glad that it was him. He was glad it was Roman too. Listening to Roman go on, listing off all the same exact fears and anxieties Patton had, he felt his own anxiety bubble up inside of him. There was a part of him that was relieved that Roman felt the same way, that meant there was someone that actually understood what he was going through. But there was a part of him that hated it, because he felt awful, and he hated to think that Roman felt the same way. "I don't feel ready." he admitted as he looked down at his lap, he hadn't really meant to say it out loud, it'd just sort of slipped out. He didn't feel ready to be a King. He didn't feel ready to be in charge. He didn't even feel ready for the wedding stuff. He had never even been to a wedding, all he had to go off of was the little bit Roman had told him about weddings. He was sure he was going to do something to mess it up, and everyone would be looking at him and wondering why someone like him was getting to marry Roman and become King in the first place, and he didn't have an answer for them. He didn't think he deserved it either. He just hoped he didn't bring Roman down, he could tell Roman was having his own doubts, but Roman would be a great King.

ROMAN

Roman hugs Patton tighter. "Pat- don't worry. It's all going to be okay. I know... for a fact- that you’re going to be great at this. You're kind, you’re caring- and you're so sweet- you're going to do wonderful things. And it's okay if you're not ready. You were dropped into this mess a few days ago. I'm here to help you if you need." Roman says reassuringly.

PATTON

Patton gave a small smile when Roman reassured him that everything would be okay. He was still worried, of course he was still worried, he didn't know what it would be yet, but he just knew he was going to do something embarrassing in front of all those people. Something that would make his dad wish they hadn't found him, something that would make Roman's parents regret agreeing the whole thing, something that embarrassed his mom, and Roman. He'd never even ever been in a room with the amount of people that were going to be there before. He was clumsy and bound to mess up somehow. Not to mention that he and Roman were going to have to kiss in front of all those people. Sure, they'd talked about maybe kissing once before then so that at least they had some control over their first kiss and it didn't end up having an audience, but they hadn't actually done it. Patton had never kissed anyone before... what if he was bad at it? He pursed his lips in thought... he wondered if Roman had ever kissed anyone before...

ROMAN

Roman held Patton, and he noticed Patton tense as he thought, and purse his lips. "What are you thinking about, Patton?" he asks, starting to run his hands through Patton's hair again, he had seen that Patton had liked that, so he wanted to calm him down again. "Whatever it is- you can tell me." he says softly.

PATTON

Patton was so focused on his thoughts, that he didn't even think about it when Roman asked what it was that he was thinking about. "Kissing you." had just sort of slipped out before he even realized he said it... of course when the realization of what he'd actually just said did hit him, his entire face turned bright red, much brighter than Roman had ever seen it before, and much more of his face covered in the shade of red, and he stuttered in a desperate attempt to explain himself. "Not like... I mean, like at the wedding we're suppose to... and all those people are gonna be... not that I... I mean not that I wouldn't..." stop, stop, stop, the more you talk the more you make it worse, you're digging yourself deeper into a hole, just stop. "I just meant... uh..." so much for stopping. He only managed to stop when he realized Roman's hand was in his hair. It did calm him enough to get him to stop rambling, but he was full on panicking now, and embarrassed, and even something that worked as well as playing with his hair was gonna take a bit longer to work with how worried he was about how Roman was going to react. It wasn't even so much what he said, it was how he said it, how it came out. Well, there went any chance of Roman ever wanting to be anywhere near him again, let alone cuddle him or play with his hair. He'd probably made Roman uncomfortable. He didn't want to be the reason Roman was uncomfortable. Covering his bright red face with his hands, he wondered if he concentrated hard enough if he could just disappear until Roman forgot he ever brought it up in the first place.

ROMAN

Roman could almost laugh at the absurdity of this whole situation. But he doesn’t, because Patton is distressed, and Roman does not like seeing Patton in distress. Kissing him? He sees Patton start rambling, and he keeps one hand in Patton’s hair, wrapping the other around him. “Yeah- kissing in front of people wasn’t exactly my ideal spot for a first kiss either.” He admits. When Patton covers his face with his hands, Roman gently pries his hands off of his face. “Patton- come on darling it’s just me, there’s nothing to worry about.” He says soothingly, trying to calm him, not realizing that he had just called him ‘darling’

PATTON

Patton calmed a little bit when he realized that Roman not only was playing with his hair, but he was holding him. Okay, so Roman hadn't let go upon hearing anything that Patton said... that was a good sign, right? His mind wandered again when Roman pointed out that having an audience present for a first kiss wasn't ideal to him either... he wondered if he meant first kiss in general or first kiss with Patton. Not the time to think about it. When he felt Roman's hands disappear for a second only to gently pry his own hands off his face, he glanced back at Roman shyly, his nerves getting the better of him. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable..." he said softly. It was comforting to hear Roman say that there was nothing to worry about and... wait, had Roman called him darling? It didn't seem possible but the blush in Patton's face got deeper and he looked down at their hands, biting down on his lip to try and hold back a smile. Roman probably hadn't even realized he said it, so why did it make Patton so happy to hear it?

ROMAN

Roman realized what he had said, and a giant blush creeps onto his cheeks as well. But Patton didn’t seem to have minded? “Hey- everything will be fine.” He says softly, wrapping his arms around Patton and pulling the shorter male into his lap. He decides to call Patton sweet names more often. “Everything will be okay, and it’s not like we have to make out or anything.” Roman says gently. He holds Patton close, enjoying his presence. “Why don’t we do something fun? Like the frogs? To get our minds off of it?”

PATTON

Patton hugged Roman when he felt his arms wrap around him, pulling him into his lap, his head resting on Roman's chest. Roman was still hugging him, still cuddling him, still playing with his hair, and holding his hands, holding him... so maybe Patton hadn't made Roman uncomfortable... maybe everything was okay. His face was slowly but surely returning to it's normal color, he never would've guessed that just being close to Roman would help so much, especially since him suggesting being really close to Roman was what got his face red in the first place. Hearing Roman's suggestion, he gave a small nod, his head moving against Roman's chest. He'd almost forgotten about the frogs. "Yeah, that sounds good." he said softly.

ROMAN

Roman smiles, holding Patton close, before sitting up. "Come on- let's get dressed, and then we can look for frogs!" he says with a smile, moving so that he had scooped Patton up, and then placed him down on the floor. "Do you want to take some of my clothes again darling?" Roman asks, looking over at the comfortable clothes that he had in drawers.

PATTON

Patton felt a tiny hint of that blush return to his face when Roman picked him up and set him down on the ground. Getting dressed always seemed daunting now, he hadn't really got to pick his wardrobe himself, it had been put together for him when they realized he'd been found and was returning... most of it didn't even fit him right because they'd had no idea what Patton was going to look like. He knew eventually now that he was here, that would probably all get resolved, but in the mean time it was difficult to wear clothes that didn't feel like you. That was why he couldn't help the way his face lit up when Roman offered to let him borrow some of his clothes. Roman had a much better understanding of what Patton liked and his sense of style, so he was able to pick the right things for Patton to wear, they were a bit big on him since he wasn't as tall as Roman, but in a cozy sort of way that made him feel comfy and safe. Not to mention they smelled like Roman which was a major bonus. The blush getting a touch more noticeable when Roman called him darling again, he gave a small nod. "If that's okay with you."

ROMAN

Roman nods, reluctantly moving away from Patton to grab him some clothes. He found him some more formal black pants, but a soft pastel sweater as well, one of Roman's favorites. "Here." he says with a smile, passing the clothes to Patton. He didn't know why, but seeing Patton wear his clothes... he didn't know how exactly to describe the feeling, but it was... good. Or at least he thought so. Roman gives him one final smile, before pulling out something for himself to wear as well.

PATTON

Patton smiled, taking the clothes from Roman. "Thank you." he said, trying to contain his excitement about getting wear Roman's clothes again. He headed into the bathroom to change, wanting to look at himself in the mirror and really make sure he looked good, fixing his hair so that his curls were a little less messy. He wasn't sure why it was something he cared about all of the sudden, but he did. Once he'd decided he was presentable, he took a minute to just... enjoy what he was wearing, before heading out. "Lead the way." he said with a smile, excited to finally see frogs up close and in person.

ROMAN

Roman changes quickly, not doing it in the bathroom. He preferred to avoid mirrors, as he hated seeing the scars that lined his body, reminders of previous battles he had been in. He finishes getting dressed, before smiling when Patton emerges from the bathroom. He runs to him, quickly scooping him up again, and then sprints off down the hallway. "Froggies!" he shouts joyfully.

PATTON

Patton squeaked when Roman picked him up, letting out a small laugh as Roman raced to their destination. He could feel himself getting more and more excited, unable to believe they were actually gonna get to see real frogs, it was still mind blowing to him that Roman and Remus got to see them whenever they wanted to, which he was only just realizing meant that he was now going to be able to see them whenever he wanted to from this point forward.

ROMAN

Roman giggles when he gets to the pond outside, setting Patton down, but he still is holding onto Patton's hand, walking to the edge of the pond. There's lillies in the pond, and a few bright green frogs hopping around. Roman smiles, crouching down next to it with Patton. "Looks like there's a lot of frogs today!" he says with a smile.

PATTON

Patton smiled when Roman set him down and took his hand, barely able to contain his excitement. Especially once he actually spotted the frogs. Though his energy shifted upon actually seeing them. Not that he was scared of the frogs, he was definitely extremely happy to see them, but it was more like the way a person would get nervous or shy when meeting someone they were really looking forward to meeting for the first time. What if the frogs didn't like him or were scared of him? It was highly unlikely of course, Patton was always great with animals and they all always seemed to love him and gravitate towards him, but still, he was nervous.

ROMAN

Roman looks at Patton, seeing his nerves. He reaches forwards, carefully opening his palm and picking up one of the frogs, showing it to Patton. "Look!" he says brightly, showing Patton the frog with a grin.

PATTON

Patton let out an excited little gasp when Roman picked up one of the frogs, covering his mouth with his hands in an attempt to hold back his excitement. The frog was even cuter up close! "You're holding him!" he half squeaked, half whispered from behind his hands as if Roman didn't already know that, bouncing on the balls of his feet as his eyes lit up. Patton didn't think he'd ever wanted anything more than he wanted this frog to like him in this very moment.

ROMAN

Roman giggles, looking at Patton. His excitement was so endearing- it was truly adorable. "Do you wanna hold the frog?" Roman asks, extending his hands so Patton could take it. Roman would give Patton every frog in the land if it meant him being this happy. The frog looks up at Patton, croaking curiously.

PATTON

Patton gasped again. "I can hold him?!" he squeaked, nervously putting out his hands, but then pulling them back before Roman could actually hand him the frog. "Wait, what if he doesn't like me?" he asked nervously before he found himself extending his hands out again because come on, he couldn't help himself, he was about to get the chance to hold a frog! "I really get to hold him?" he asked again as his hands went back out, carefully taking the frog from Roman. When the frog looked up at him and croaked, he felt like he could've fainted from the excitement, but he kept his cool, not wanting to scare the frog. "Hi, I'm Patton... do you have a name?" he asked as if he fully expected a detailed answer directly from the frog himself.

ROMAN 

Roman giggles when Patton asks. "Pat- oh my goodness of course he'll like you! There's quite literally nothing not to like." he says with a smile. "And if they tolerate Remus, I'm sure they'll love you." Roman places the frog into Patton's hands, watching the other marvel at the little animal. Roman iggles when Patton asked it for it's name, but the frog just looked up at Patton, croaking as though to say 'are you really expecting an answer'?

PATTON 

Patton tilted his head slightly as if that croak from the frog had actually, legitimately meant something to him. "Alright, alright... you're a bit sassy, aren't ya? That's cool though, you do you... you seem really nice, so I'm sure the two of us can still have a ribbiting conversation." he said before laughing at his own pun. Yep, Patton had reached a level of comfort where he was finally pulling out the puns. "So, how are things with the other frogs? Everybody getting along, everybody doing well?" he asked the frog because yep, he was still talking to that frog like he genuinely understood what it was saying and he was having a conversation with him.

ROMAN 

Roman almost laughs, watching Patton speak to the frog as though it was capable of understanding him. The frog croaks as if to say 'the frogs are doing well, what about you', tilting its head to look up at Patton with big glassy eyes. Roman giggles, scooting a little closer.

PATTON 

Patton smiled a bit more. "Well, that's good to hear, although I guess it's no surprise that you all are so happy, you just eat anything that bugs you." he laughed at his second pun. "You know Roman right? I'm sure you know him by now." he said, tilting the frog so he could get a good look at Roman before turning him back to face himself "Well, we're getting married tomorrow so thats... pretty exciting. I still don't really know what to do at a wedding, let alone my own, but... I guess I'll just figure it out as I go, right?" he said with a shrug. "I bet frog weddings are great... outside in the garden by this little pond with all the lilypads, talk about romantic." he said with a dreamy sigh. "Do you have a significant frogger? There's a ton of adorable frogs here, we could probably set you up if you're looking... unless you're just enjoying that single life, that's cool too... whatever makes you hoppy." he said with a smile. It was like he didn't even hear the puns anymore.

ROMAN 

Roman... he wasn’t sure why he loved watching Patton speak to the frogs so much. It wasn’t because of the frogs, those he could do without, but... he found himself looking at the gentle way that Patton held the frog, the way that he smiled at it, the little glimmer in his eyes whenever he added in a pun. He watches him talk about frog weddings, and Roman just sits there and smiles stupidly. He’s not sure why exactly. “You’re full of puns today, aren’t you?” He asks Patton with a smile. The frog croaks up at Patton as though to say ‘I’ve actually been feeling a bit lonely lately’.

PATTON 

Hearing Roman's voice, he gave a shy little shrug. "I'm always full of puns... just sort of depends on if I'm in the right mind set to actually say them out loud." he said with a small smile. Patton loved those sorts of jokes and puns, but he hadn't really felt like he could make them lately. He didn't know how his parents would feel about a future King being silly and joking around like that. So he'd tried not to... something that was impossible to do with this frog. "Okay, well, let's see who we got over here." he said as he sat himself down as close to the pond as he could. He looked at the other frogs, tilting his head, trying to see if there was any frog in particular that the frog he was holding was looking at. After a moment he extending his other hand out to one of the other frogs in the pond, not picking them up, but just holding his hand out gently, watching as the frog just hopped right into his hand without any instigation like Patton was just some sort of frog whisperer. "Have you two met before?" he asked, figuring they had to have at least met but that didn't mean they knew each other that well.

ROMAN 

Roman nods. "I'm glad that you are saying them- I think they're fun." he says with a smile, and he barely notices when he shifts again, moving closer to Patton. The frog that was in Patton's hand croaks, looking at the other frog, then up at Patton. 'I've seen them around, we haven't really spoken'. Roman found it endearing that Patton was speaking to the frogs.

PATTON 

Patton blushed a bit at Roman's comment before setting the two frogs down, gesturing for them not to go anywhere. He looked around and you could practically see the wheels turning in his head. Spotting a few flowers that were growing fairly close to the pond he picked the frogs back up and set them down by the flowers as if he were trying to create the perfect romantic setting. "Okay, so you two talk and get to know each other for a bit... I'll check on you later, if you need anything just... croak!" he said with a smile, giving the frog he'd spent the most time with a little thumbs up before returning his attention to Roman. "So, what do you wanna do while they're getting to know each other?" he asked curiously, wanting to give the frogs their privacy on the little date he'd set up.

ROMAN 

Roman smiles fondly as he watches Patton set the frogs up on their little date, smiling when Patton comes back. "You're quite the matchmaker, aren't you?" Roman asks with a laugh. "Why don't we get to know each other a bit as well?" he asks. "I'm sure most people usually know a bit more about the person they're supposed to marry the next day." he jokes.

PATTON 

Patton gave a shy smile. "I try, I just want them to be happy, maybe they'll be happy together." he said hopefully before hearing Roman's suggestion. "Yeah, that sounds great." he said, excited by the thought of getting to know Roman even better. He may not have known him for that long, but the bits of Roman that he'd already gotten to know he already really liked, so he loved the idea of getting to know even more. Plus in a way it sort of felt like a double date with the frogs which made him smile when he thought about it.

ROMAN 

Roman nods with a smile, settling down on the grass next to Patton. "So- what do you think is essential knowledge that we should know about each other?" Roma asks with a little smile. He really was happy to be getting to know his husband-to-be better.

PATTON 

Patton fiddled with the grass a bit as he tried to think of a good answer to Roman's question. He wasn't really good at coming up with these sorts of things, he'd never really had conversations like this with anyone before. "Um... you're not allergic to anything, are you? I just wanna make sure, cause I don't wanna be baking and have you try something I made and accidentally make you sick..." he said as he looked back up at Roman. It did seem like the most important question, considering that Patton did love to bake.

ROMAN 

Roman burst into a fit of giggles. The fact that Patton had asked him that.. asked him if he was allergic to anything was extremely endearing. "Oh my god you're adorable-!" he says with a grin. "But no, I'm not allergic to anything. My turn to ask you a question... well- hmm, what's you love language?" Roman asks. Even if they were... forced together... Roman still wanted Patton to feel loved and special and appreciated.

PATTON 

Patton blushed a bit and smiled more. He wasn't really sure what he'd done that was adorable, but he really liked hearing Roman say it. Patton continued to fiddle with the grass as he tried to think of an answer to Roman's question. It wasn't a question he'd ever been asked before, and before Roman, nobody had ever really shown any signs of love before, so he wasn't sure if he'd figured the answer out entirely yet himself. "I don't really know... I kinda like being reassured that the person I'm with... you know, wants me there... I like quality time. I really like spending time with people I care about even if we're not really necessarily doing anything together cause... I just don't like being alone.”

“But I don't wanna feel like I'm being a bother or keeping someone from other stuff they'd rather be doing... but I guess that's sort of a silly thing to say because if you tell people you want to feel like you're worth their time, then you never really know if they're telling you that you are because they know it's what you want to hear or if they really mean it." he rambled, though he wasn't sure if what he was saying made any sense. He thought a moment, debating if he should say what came to his mind next. "Um... I really like physical signs of affection too... not like, that... I've never... I just meant like... when we were cuddling, and when you were playing with my hair, and like, hugs and holding hands and... stuff. That made me happy." he admitted, looking down and biting his lip as his face got a bit red before he shyly glanced back up at Roman. "Do you... like that stuff?" he asked curiously.

ROMAN 

Roman nods, listening to Patton intently, and paying attention to the things he was saying. He'd make sure to remember all of those. "Those all sound quite nice- I especially really like physical signs of affection as well." he admits. Roman didn't exactly have a lot of people to hug either. He reaches out, taking Patton's hand gently giving him a reassuring smile. "I tend to show love with physical affection, and words of affirmation- but I also enjoy giving gifts." he says with a smile. "Alright- your turn to ask a question."

PATTON 

Patton smiled as Roman took his hand. It was nice to hear that they pretty much had similiar love languages. He tilted his head a bit in confusion when Roman added that he also liked to give gifts. "Oh, I don't think I'd be very good at gift giving... I use to make little presents for my dad... or... you know, the guy I thought was my dad, but he never really paid attention to them so I guess they weren't that good, and I've never been given anything before so I don't really have a frame of reference to get better at it." he said before raising his eyebrows as a thought crossed his mind. "Although, you gave me those drawings you did, so that was a gift!" he smiled a bit more. Trying to think of another question, he bit down on his lip in thought. "So like... you've been a Prince longer than I have, and you said you've been on the battlefield before... does that mean you're really good at like... sword fighting and stuff?" he asked curiously. He couldn't imagine doing anything like that. Being the klutz that he was, it was only a matter of time before he accidentally dropped the sword or injured himself somehow. It was sort of fascinating to think that was something Roman could do.

ROMAN 

Roman smiles again- gosh, he's been smiling a lot lately, hadn't he? He thinks it's because of Patton- his infectious happiness, the way he seems to just... light everything up. He looks at Patton, nodding before answering his question. The battlefield was definitely not something that Roman particularly enjoyed- it was... miserable, really- but he did like the feel of a sword in his hands, knowing what to do next in a fight, memorizing techniques and combinations. "I'm not the best, but I'm pretty decent." he says to Patton. Roman was being modest, really though.

PATTON 

Patton hadn't really realized that when Roman took his hand, that Patton went from fiddling with the grass, to nervously fiddling with Roman's hand instead... he'd squeeze it every now and then, or let his other hand trace random patterns on the back of Roman's hand. It started around the time that Patton brought up the man he'd grown up thinking was his father and it just hadn't stopped, nor did he seem to realize he was doing it. "It seems like it'd be really hard." he commented, his fiddling only getting worse when he started actually thinking of Roman on a battlefield and how dangerous that was... how easy it would be for Roman to get hurt, or worse... Roman wasn't going to have to ever do that again, was he?

ROMAN 

Roman lets Patton fiddle with his hand- he finds it nice, calming, actually. “When you’ve had years of practice, it gets easier. When I was younger... I got hurt quite a bit. I wasn’t good, and I didn’t have enough practice. Now, I still get hurt sometimes, but not nearly as bad or as much.” Roman says to him. “Maybe you’d be good with a sword as well?”

PATTON 

Patton squeezed Roman's hand a bit when he mentioned that he got hurt quite a bit, glancing up when Roman suggested that he might be good with a sword as well. "Me? You think so?" he asked. He supposed it was a good skill to learn... he didn't want to fight anyone, that just wasn't in his nature, but if he was a Prince, maybe there were certain things he should know, just incase. He doubted it was a skill he'd ever use, but the kingdom would probably feel a lot safer if Patton had some idea of how to protect.

ROMAN 

"Obviously I'd never take you out on the battlefield but sword fighting is a useful skill." he says. "I'd be willing to try and teach you, if you'd like?" Roman offers with a smile. Teaching Patton something that he was good at and enjoyed doing? That sounded like a good time to him.

PATTON 

Patton smiled a bit before nodding. "Yeah, I'd like that." he said. Even if it wasn't something that he ever planned on actually using, it was an excuse to spend more time with Roman, which was a definite plus... not to mention the fact that he'd be taking part in something that Roman was good at and enjoyed, which Patton hadn't really gotten the chance to do yet. He wanted to see Roman's face light up at the act of doing something he enjoyed the same way Roman had seen that sparkle when Patton saw the frogs, or read his favorite book. He was in.

ROMAN 

"When would you like to start?" Roman asks, a smile on his face. He squeezed Patton's hands gently, holding them. "Because we don't have to start for a while if you don't want to- or we could start as early a later today- I mean it's really up to you though!" Roman says, rambling a little bit.

PATTON 

"We can start today." he said with a small smile, a bit too excited by the thought of seeing Roman in action. Okay, he couldn't one hundred percent focus on Roman because he was suppose to be learning, but still. He glanced back at the frogs he'd set up together, smiling to himself. They seemed like they were enjoying being together... like him and Roman, so they'd probably be alright while Roman showed him how to use a sword.

ROMAN

"Okay- one more question before swords." Roman says, looking at Patton. "If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?" he asks. He knew it was... a very personal question, but... they were getting married tomorrow! He felt like he should be able to ask, but he still didn't want to pressure Patton... "I mean- you don;t need to answer if you don't want to."

PATTON

"Just one thing?" Patton asked without even thinking. Well, that was hard to narrow down, there were a lot of things Patton would change about himself if he could. He'd make himself better at talking to people, he'd make himself stronger, physically and emotionally, he'd make himself less scared, more self assured, he'd make himself the sort of person his dad would actually be proud of, someone that this kingdom would actually want to be their king. He wouldn't be some scared kid who grew up with trauma. He wouldn't hide any feeling he had that was negative and pretend to be happy all the time. He'd make himself better... better at... everything. "I guess... it'd be kinda nice to... I don't know, be better at all of this? To not be so clueless all the time. Then I'd actually know what I was doing tomorrow, and you'd be getting a husband that was actually worthy of you." he said softly before biting his lip. "Or, I'd fix my eye sight so I wouldn't need these anymore." he joked as he adjusted his glasses, a forced smile on his face as he did what he always did when his feelings got a little too real. Smile and crack jokes.

ROMAN 

Roman frowns. He was no stranger to making jokes to hide one's emotions, but he didn't want Patton to feel like he had to. He reached for Patton, pulling the other into his lap and wrapping his arms around him tightly. "Being clueless is okay." Roman says gently. "We're both clueless- but what matters is that you try and do out best. And Patton- you don't need to be 'worthy' of me. If anything I should be doing my best to earn you." he says quietly.

PATTON

Patton was a bit surprised when Roman pulled him into his lap and wrapped his arms around him, but he instantly relaxed into the feeling. It was comforting... just being there and listening to Roman. Hearing the last thing Roman said, he tilted his head slightly. Roman... should be trying to earn Patton? The words almost didn't even register in his head. "But... you're perfect... what else could you possibly need to do?" Patton said. Roman was incredible, what would that even look like? Why would he even want to try and earn someone like Patton? Patton was the one who was trying to be better for Roman.

ROMAN

Roman chuckles, but there's no humor in the laugh, just a quiet thing that could maybe be sadness. "Patton, darling, I'm far from perfect." he says quietly, brushing a stray strand out hair out of Patton's face. "There's so many things I could be doing to better myself- but I'm not. You? You're always so sweet to everyone, you care so much- and I've only known you for a few days, but I can tell your heart is full of love."

PATTON

Patton didn't like the sound of Roman's laugh... usually he loved it, but this one sounded different. It sounded sad. He hated the thought of Roman sad. He glanced up when Roman brushed his hair out of his face, pursing his lips when Roman stated that he was far from perfect. Okay, maybe he wasn't perfect, nobody was perfect, everyone could always work towards ways to better themselves... but Roman was perfect to Patton. He just didn't know how to express that to Roman. There were a lot of feelings Patton had about Roman that he had no idea how to actually express. He hoped he'd be able to figure that out. Having a million things he wanted to say, but no clue how to actually verbalize a single one of them, he simply wrapped his arms around Roman in a tight hug, burying his face in Roman's shoulder. If he couldn't figure out how to say it, he'd just have to show it.

ROMAN

Roman was a bit surprised when Patton wrapped him in a hug- Roman had just admitted to being less than perfect, and princes were supposed to be perfect, and if he wasn’t, then he wasn’t good enough- but he hugs back tightly, holding onto Patton. The two of them stay like that for a while, Roman holding Patton, Patton holding Roman. Roman doesn’t want to break the comforting silence with words.

PATTON 

Patton wished he knew how to verbalize what he was feeling, how to tell Roman that he thought he was perfect, that he cared about him, that he was good enough, but despite it all making so much sense in his head, he just couldn't find the right way to put it into words. The hug was nice, but somehow it didn't feel like enough. He felt like there had to be more, he had to do more, he just didn't know what. So he just did the first thing that popped into his head. Pulling away from the hug he gave Roman a quick kiss on the cheek before realizing that he'd never exactly done anything like that before, and while they had both said they liked physical signs of affection and it wasn't as intense as kissing him on the lips or anything, it technically was still a kiss, and maybe Roman hadn't wanted him to do that. Blushing a bit, he started fidgeting with his hands. "Sorry." he said after a moment, hoping Roman wasn't upset with him. Sure, friends held hands, and hugged, and maybe even cuddled... but perhaps kissing on the cheek was him taking it a bit too far.

ROMAN 

Roman frowns when Patton pulls away, about to pull him back so that he could hold him, but then his face flushes a soft, barely noticeable pink when Patton kissed his cheek. He- he had liked that. Perhaps more than he should have, but that was not a now problem. "No- no don't apologize!" he says quickly, taking Patton's hands in his. "That was... nice?"

PATTON

Patton felt his own face go a bit pink, giving a shy smile. "Yeah?" he asked shyly, fiddling with his hands nervously before allowing himself to smile a bit more. It was a relief to know that Roman hadn't minded... that he even thought it was nice. He squeezed Roman's hands a bit when he felt Roman grab them, looking down at their hands a moment. "Good..." he said quietly when Roman commented that it'd been nice. Unsure of what to do next, though he glanced back up at Roman. Speaking of kissing, there had been a thought that kept popping up in Patton's head, and somehow now both felt like as good a time as any to either ask it, or push it down like he'd been doing and go learn how to sword fight. Which would Patton do? "So... have you ever kissed anyone before? Like... actually kissed anyone?" he asked nervously. It'd crossed his mind too many times for it to not slip out at some point before the wedding.

ROMAN

Roman shakes his head at Patton’s question. “No- I’ve never actually kissed anyone. Hell- I’ve never even had a boyfriend before.” He admits. He never really had much of a chance. “What about you? Although I’m assuming that’s a no, seeing as you were kidnapped and all.” Roman says, looking at Patton. He raised a hand to gently pet Patton’s hair again, seeing as the other had liked that when he had done it earlier.

PATTON 

It was probably strange, but it made Patton feel a bit better, knowing that when he had his first kiss, it was going to be Roman's first kiss too. He shook his head lightly when the question was returned to him. "Nope. You're the first person around my age that I've ever even interacted with so... I haven't even ever had like... friends before, let alone a boyfriend, or a first kiss, or even like... hugs and stuff." he admitted. "But, now I've interacted with two people my age cause, there's you, and I got to talk to Remus the other day, sort of." he said as he relaxed into the feeling of Roman playing with his hair.

ROMAN

"Well maybe you can meet some more people at the wedding? I think some other people around our age are bound to be there- children of royalty, my cousins, royalty from neighboring kingdoms..." Roman nods- but he can't help think back to when Patton had mentioned... perhaps kissing before the wedding to get the first kiss out of the way. His face flushes a bit more at the thought. He keeps his hand in Patton's hair as he says "Patton- remember when you brought up- er- getting our first kiss out of the way? So it wouldn't be as weird at the wedding?"

PATTON

"I don't really know what he's talking about most of the time, but I like hanging out with your brother... plus, I want him to like me." he admitted. Remus was about to be his family, and Patton had never really had family before, plus he was important to Roman, of course he wanted Remus t like him. When Roman pointed out that he might get to make more friends at the wedding, even meet some of Roman's cousins, his face lit up a bit. There was a hint of nervousness and fear, what if none of them liked Patton? But on the small chance that they did, and Patton would have even more friends? That sounded amazing. "Really? Yeah, that would be great to get to spend more time with people around my age." he said before glancing back at Roman when he brought up Patton's idea about kissing before the wedding so it wouldn't be as weird, giving a small nod at the question. "Yeah, why?" he asked innocently, a bit oblivious to why Roman was bringing it up.

ROMAN 

Roman nods, smiling that Patton seemed happy to meet more people. He blushed at having to explain the question. "Well- uh- I was thinking about it- and I think it may be a good idea." he admits. Roman was never this blushy and nervous- he didn't know what it was about specifically talking to Patton that made him feel like this.

PATTON

Patton blinked a bit, surprised to see Roman so nervous, and blushing... even more surprised at his words. "Really?" he asked. Roman really wanted to kiss him? Not because they had to at some wedding but just because? Okay, that wasn't exactly what was happening, it didn't mean Roman really wanted to kiss him, it just meant that Roman agreed things would be less awkward this way. "Yeah, I mean... yeah, okay." he said. Why was he so eager? Stop sounding so eager.

ROMAN 

"Uh- so do I just... go for it?" Roman asks, blushing deeply, before deciding that yes, it was best to just go for it, and then he gently cups Patton's cheek with one hand, before pressing his lips to the others. And it was... well Roman would be the first to admit that it was wonderful. Patton's lips were so soft, and he tasted faintly of vanilla.

PATTON

Patton gave a tiny shrug. "I think so, yeah." That was probably the best thing to do, to just, go for it. He felt his face flush a bit when Roman's hand against his cheek, and before he knew it, Roman was kissing him, and he was kissing back. He'd be nervous that he'd mess it up somehow, that he wouldn't know what to do, or would be awful at kissing, but in a way, Patton almost had the opposite problem because once Roman actually kissed him, his initial instinct was to lean in, move closer. Kissing Roman had been on his mind for a while, but now that he was actually doing it, it was even more amazing than he'd thought it would be.

ROMAN 

Roman felt Patton lean in, and he thought that that was a good thing, because it deepened the kiss just a little bit. After another few moments of that, Roman pulled away, his hand still on Patton's cheek. Wow... he never noticed how pretty Patton was before now. Wait- was he allowed to think his friend was pretty? Well... he did just kiss him.

PATTON

Patton would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed when the kiss ended. It wasn't the same as when Roman would give him a hug or cuddle with him and there was that tiny bit of hope that it might happen again. Roman wasn't going to kiss him again, except at the wedding, which wouldn't be as enjoyable because they'd both be distracted by all the people watching them. He wasn't going to get another kiss, and Patton was surprised by how much he really wanted Roman to kiss him again. His face a bit pink, he looked at Roman a moment before forcing himself to glance down because if he kept looking at Roman and seeing those gorgeous eyes sparkling at him like that he was gonna kiss him again and that was not part of the plan. Roman didn't want to kiss him again, right? "That was nice." he breathed out after a moment of not knowing what to say or do, rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze went up to the sky a moment.

ROMAN

Roman must admit- the thought of kissing Patton again that had definitely crossed his mind one or twice or twenty times in the few seconds since they had pulled away. He was disappointed when Patton looked away, he wanted to keep looking at his pretty face- wanted to see the curve of his lips, the beautiful soft blue of his eyes. "It was." he agrees quietly. "Your lips are really soft." he blurts out, before blushing brightly again. He didn't know why he had blurted it out- but he had felt the need to.

PATTON

Patton blushed a bit more when Roman commented that his lips were really soft, a small quiet giggle escaping him at the compliment. He wasn't really sure what to say or do next, because all his brain could come up with was... well, kiss Roman again. But he wasn't suppose to do that, right? They were just kissing once to do it before the wedding. "So... um... now what?" he just sort of breathed out awkwardly, hoping that Roman had a better idea of where to go from here than he did, because his brain had all but short circuited from that kiss.

ROMAN 

Roman isn't any better off than Patton, not knowing what to say next. He really wants to ask Patton if he can kiss him again, but he doesn't think that Patton would want that. "Uh- swords?" he says nervously, still very blushy. Maybe swords would help Roman get his mind off of Patton? A long shot, since recently he's been thinking about Patton all the time, but worth a try.

PATTON

Patton gave a quick nod at Roman's suggestion. "Swords." he said back softly. Right, Roman was going to teach him how to use a sword. That'd certainly take his mind off all this. He would be so busy concentrating and trying to focus on learning that he wouldn't be thinking about kissing Roman anymore. Granted, he had to focus on Roman to do that but... well, no plan was perfect. He stood himself up, taking a quick second to check on the frogs and let them know that they were leaving but they'd be back soon before looking back at Roman. "Lead the way." he said, his face still pink. He wondered how long that fuzzy feeling caused by the kiss was gonna last.

ROMAN

Roman takes Patton's hands, pulling him through the castle grounds and looking for the swords. He found the weaponry shed, and he opens the door, before speaking to Patton. "Er- there's usually spiders in there, so I suggest you don't enter the shed." he says, letting go of his hand, and then entering the little shed, and taking two swords off of a shelf. The were dull, used for practice, and he comes out again, holding one out for Patton to take.

PATTON

Patton followed after Roman, his face going a bit pale at what he said and giving a quick nod of understanding as he let go of Roman's hand... and maybe took a few nervous steps back to not be quite as close to the spider shed. He waited patiently until he saw Roman again, taking the sword from Roman as it was handed to him, stumbling a bit. Wow, it was a lot heavier than he thought it was going to be...

ROMAN 

Roman places a hand on Patton's back to steady him after he stumbled with the sword. "Yeah- we wanna be careful with those, they're heavy. But don't worry- these are dulled down for practice, so you won't be hurting anyone or yourself accidentally." he says with a smile.

PATTON

Patton's face went a bit red, this time from embarrassment, but he quickly let his energy shift and he gave a small nod. It was good to know that the likelihood of him accidentally injuring himself, or Roman which was the far more important thing to worry about, wasn't very high. He didn't exactly know what he was doing, so it was comforting to know that it wasn't something he had to be worried about the whole time. "Okay." he said softly.

ROMAN

Roman smiles, before taking a stance, planting his feet firmly into the ground. "So this is the basic stance that you want to be in, just plant your feet, and keep your back straight." he says to him. He moves so he's holding the sword at about chest-level. "Hold the sword about here- not too loosely, or you'll drop it, but not too tightly, or your movements will be stiff."

PATTON

Patton watched Roman carefully. Wow, he looked really handsome with a sword like that... nope, not the thing to be focused on. He attempted to copy what he saw... but how was he suppose to know if he was holding onto the sword too loosely or too tightly? He guessed Roman would point it out if he were doing something wrong. "Um... okay." he hummed out in response once he was pretty sure he was doing it right. So far so good, although even he didn't think he was clumsy enough to mess up standing. The hard part hadn't really happened yet.

ROMAN 

Roman nods, gently moving Patton to correct his posture, but there wasn't really much to correct in the first place. "You're doing pretty good so far!" he says with a smile. Roman then moves, standing across from Patton, and putting his sword close to Patton. "Now- something simple, just try and hit my sword with yours, and I'll move to block you." it was a simple exercise, easy enough, but he could use it to gauge how well Patton would do.

PATTON

Patton gave a half smile when Roman commented t hat he was doing good so far. He really did want to be good at this. He wasn't sure why, fighting and using swords wasn't exactly... well, Patton. But Roman was good at it, Roman liked it... and it made Patton want to be good at it. Maybe if he was good enough, Roman would be impressed with him. When Roman moved his sword closer and told him to try and hit his sword with his own, he bit down on his lip, trying to focus and push the nervous thoughts out of his mind that had suddenly realized that to do all this he had to use a sword in Roman's general direction. As long as he did what Roman said, everything would be fine, right? Right. He gave a small nod, attempting to do what Roman told him but the movement was really too timid to even be noticed... not to mention the sword really was a lot heavier than Patton had expected it to be.

ROMAN

Roman looks at Patton, watching the small movement of the sword. "Patton- you need to swing the sword harder than that." he says with small smile. He knew Patton had never done this before, and he was a little bit nervous, but Roman wanted to push him out of his comfort zone just a little bit.

PATTON 

Patton's face got a bit red again, chewing on his lip as he listened to Roman. "Right..." he said softly. He knew Roman was right, but now that he was actually doing this, it wasn't just a lot harder than he thought it would be, it was a little scary. What if he did it wrong? Roman had said that the swords had been dulled down for practice, but the thought of messing up so bad that he accidentally hurt Roman couldn't help but be fairly loud in the back of his mind. He'd much rather accidentally injure himself than Roman. Making a second attempt that was better than the first, though still not great, he stumbled a bit before trying to get himself back into the position that Roman had helped him into in the first place.

ROMAN

Roman watches Patton, and he had to admit, his second attempt was... better. But not exactly good either. "That was better!" he says with a smile. Roman catches him when he stumbles, guiding him back into position and helping him stand straight again. "Don't worry- you're a beginner, and swords are difficult. But if you want, we can try a different weapon?"

PATTON

Patton thought about Roman's offer to try a different weapon. Internally, he wanted to be like, yes, this is so much harder than I thought, this isn't me, it's not working... but Roman was good with a sword. So Patton wanted to get better at it. Maybe he still would... like Roman pointed out, Patton was still a beginner... although he had a pretty strong feeling that Roman had been a lot better a lot sooner when he was a beginner. "Maybe... but I wanna keep trying this a little bit longer..." he decided after a moment. He could be good at this. He just wasn't focused enough, that had to be it.

ROMAN

"Okay- Patton, can you just try and hit me with the sword? Don't worry about hurting me, just try and touch me with the sword." Roman says, Taking up his stance again. He was planning on making it extremely easy from Patton to hit him with the sword.

PATTON

Patton nodded before doing as he was told and attempting to hit Roman with the sword. He tried not to let his nerves and fears of injuring Roman get the better of him, Roman was good at this, he'd be okay. What he hadn't expected was to accidentally drop the sword before it even touched Roman. What was that thing Roman had been saying earlier about not holding it too loosely or too tightly? Covering his mouth with his hands, his eyes went a bit wide for a second as the sword hit the ground, his face a bit red as he picked it back up. "I'm gonna try again..." he mumbled. Was he getting frustrated? No, he couldn't be, that wasn't an emotion Patton felt. When learning new things Patton always had a positive attitude about it, he was patient and knew some things just took time... granted, no new thing he'd ever tried before had ever gotten off to this rocky of a start... but that didn't mean Patton was getting frustrated with himself... right?

ROMAN

"Hey- it's okay. We can just try again." Roman says with a smile. "this isn't easy- I wasn't good at all when I started. You weren't holding your sword tightly enough, so just tighten your wrist and make sure you keep your grip firm." Roman instructs him, watching him pick up the sword. He takes his stance, giving Patton a nod to continue whenever he was ready.

PATTON

Patton nodded as Roman spoke, he just had to do it right. Even just once, he wanted Roman to tell him to do something with the sword, and for him to just... do it right. That couldn't possibly be that hard of a task. Tightening his grip on the sword slightly, he made a second attempt, missing Roman and nearly stumbling to the ground himself this time when he couldn't figure out the balance shift with the additional weight of the sword. Okay, maybe Patton was frustrated. His nose scrunching slightly he tried not to let his frustration show before making a third attempt... where basically the exact same thing happened. He'd thought the sword would just feel like an extension of himself, but it didn't. It felt heavy and cumbersome and it was completely throwing him off his balance. "I'm like... really bad at this, aren't I? Like... scary bad... like it's actually frightening how bad I am..." he said softly after a moment. Roman was just being nice, wasn't he? There was no way Patton was ever going to actually get this.

ROMAN

"That's okay!" Roman says, moving closer to Patton again. "Remus is horrible with swords, but I'm legitimately scared of him when he has a throwing star or a morningstar in his hands. We just need to find whatever works for you!" he says with a smile. "I'm sure there's something here that would work!"

PATTON

Honestly, Patton wasn't even sure what a morningstar was, but if it meant that he wasn't the only one that was awful at this, it did bring him a little bit of comfort. Handing the sword back to Roman, defeated, he used the majority of his energy to hide the frustration and disappointment from his face. He hadn't really cared about being good with a weapon, Patton wasn't the weapons type anyway so it really wasn't any great loss, but there was still that part of him that had wanted to be good at this because he wanted to impress Roman. If he was good at something Roman liked, then Roman would've been impressed. So much for that. Why it mattered to him that he impressed Roman? He wasn't exactly sure, but it did... a lot.

ROMAN 

Roman goes back into the shed, putting the swords away, before grabbing the first weapon he saw- a bow and arrow. He brings it out, and a quiver of arrows. "Here- why don't we try this?" he offers, walking to Patton and holding it out to him. He thought that maybe this could be good for him.

PATTON

Patton looked up when Roman offered him the bow and arrow, tilting his head slightly. At least he knew what this was. He'd seen pictures of them and read about them in books like Robin Hood growing up, though he really didn't know much more than what they looked like... he certainly didn't know how to use one. He doubted it'd be something he'd be very good at, it took a lot of practice and skill to be good at using a bow and arrow. Not to mention all sorts of physics and things that just... didn't come naturally to Patton. When he took it from Roman, he couldn't help but notice that it did feel a lot better to hold than the sword had. Spotting the target, he adjusted the glasses on his face. It was big and round and it sort of made him think of a giant cookie decorated with bright icing. 

He was just suppose to hit it, right? With little to no effort because of his ongoing frustration with himself when it came to his horrid sword fighting, he tilted the bow horizontally before placing the arrow on the shelf of the arrow rest. He pushed the nock of the arrow onto the string right between the two brass nocking points, before returning the bow to a vertical position. Putting his fingers on the string, but not the arrow itself, his index finger above the arrow and his middle and ring finger below it, he pulled the string back, his index finger resting below his chin as the string brushed against his face. Shutting his right eye a moment, he lined it up with his giant cookie target before letting go, watching the arrow as it landed perfectly on the bullseye. It didn't really seem like it registered how well he'd done.

ROMAN

Roman watches Patton, hoping that he'd be at least a little bit better with the bow. His jaw quite literally /drops/ when he saw Patton do that. "Patton- holy shit oh my god- have you ever done that before? Because that was amazing! If this is your first time ever doing this- wow, you might be a true prodigy! I mean- that was like really, really impressive!" Roman says, smiling brightly going to wrap Patton in a quick hug. "How'd you do that?"

PATTON

Patton tilted his head slightly. "No. I've never had access to anything like this before, and even if I had, it'd sorta be dangerous to do it inside the house..." Patton explained when Roman asked if he'd ever done it before. He didn't really get why Roman was so excited, it was his first time attempting anything like this before, had he done well? Hearing Roman state that what he'd done was amazing, that he might be a prodigy, he blinked a few times in surprise before looking back down at the bow in his hands. "Really? I didn't think it was that big of a deal... the target just sort of made me think of a giant cookie and then I just... hit it..." he admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. When Roman not only said he was impressed, but wrapped Patton in a hug, Patton's face lit up a bit and he blushed again. "I don't know... I just... did?" he answered honestly, too distracted by the fact that he'd impressed Roman and made him happy to think.

ROMAN

Roman laughs quietly, at the absurdity of it, and he was... proud of Patton. He really was, and he was happy because Patton was happy and that he had found something that he was good at. He smiles, holding Patton close. "You're amazing you know that, right?" he asks. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that on their first try ever. Hell- I didn't even need to tell you how to hold the bow!"

PATTON

Patton blushed more when Roman said he was amazing, failing as he attempted to hold back a smile. His shoulders raised slightly, he didn't know that he was amazing, necessarily, but it was really nice to hear Roman say it nonetheless. "I just... did what I remember seeing in the pictures of my Robin Hood book." he admitted when Roman pointed out that he hadn't even had to show him how to hold the bow. Patton wasn't really the... knowledge for knowledges sake type, but he liked reading growing up because, in a way, it was his only method of travel. When he read fairy tales he could pretend the people in the books were real, that they were his friends, that he wasn't trapped in that house all alone. He hadn't really realized until now that maybe he'd actually learned something along the way. 

TO BE CONTINUED

[spirify]

「Reflection」Chapter Four

Reflection

Elsword Fanfiction | Add x Ara

Written by Spirify. 11. 18. 2017

Add watched with slight amusement as his fiancee turned around with a red face, stomping away angrily. It was almost a bit cute, but he decided he wouldn’t go there. With a content sigh, the male was ready to head back to the dining room to bid the old hag a goodbye. He didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary and a proper farewell would be more than enough to please the lady. Just as he started walking, his mind fell blank and suddenly he realized the situation he was in. Where in Elrios was he? Of course, he was in the Haan Estate, but exactly… where? Face turning pale, his eyes glanced down uneasily at the long corridors, the different twists and exits of the halls swirling his mind into a jumbled mess. Wonderful. He was lost. And his only guide out was through his fiance, the fiancee that he had just so happened to tell off about one minute ago. The day couldn’t honestly go any worser now could it? Whirling around just in time to watch her silhouette turn down the hall, Add called out desperately.

“Hey! Wait up!” He quickly chased after her, realizing soon enough that she had no intent to slow down for him, “I said wait!”

“Why are you following me?! Didn’t you just say we wouldn’t meet again outside the boundaries of a social or formal party?” Ara snapped, clenching her fist as she took a sharp turn with the intent to shake him off.

“Agh, I know! But, just, wait up! I need to ask you something!” Add cried miserably, running an irritated hand through his hair as he continued his pursuit after her.

“Sorry, but I’m not taking any questions right now! If you need something, why don’t you go to my Mother!” The maiden replied back firmly, her heels at this point smashing into the ground with annoyance.

“Ugh, stop being such a spoiled princess! Are you really that upset? I’m quite certain you told me that you weren’t interested in this marriage either?” Add shouted, beginning to easily catch up to the female.

“I’m not upset! So just leave me alon- ahh!” Just as she began to retort back, her quick walking pace had sowed the seeds of chaos for her. With her heels accidentally catching onto the hem of her dress, Ara felt herself trip forward, letting out a fearful gasp as she clenched her eyes close, preparing for the hard impact of the ground.

However, the impact never came. Instead, she felt herself fall onto something warm and soft, the sound of a muffled groan echoing into her ear. Just as quickly as she had snapped her eyes closed, they flew open once more to reveal Add beneath her.

“Add?!”

The gentlemen used his arms to push his upper body off the ground, Ara still clinging to his shirt as he let out a sigh. Opening one eye to lazily gaze up at her, Add opened his mouth.

“Could you get off of me now? It’s not very comfortable to be held down.”

“O-oh! S-sorry!” The female stammered, hastily getting off of him to kneel down at his side. Concerned, her eyes flickered up and down to search for any injuries that may have fell upon him during his catch.

“I’m fine, but you need to be a bit more careful. What kind of lady trips over her own dress?” The male noticing her distress, quickly addressed her worries before standing up to dust off his suit.

“I-uh, um, I’m sorry,” Ara replied, frowning as she took in his disheveled appearance. Out of instinct, she stood up and reached for his tie, carefully tightening it and placing it back in the middle. Without missing a beat, she went next towards his hair, using her fingers to brush it back and smooth down the strands that were sticking out. Once she was satisfied with his look, she took a step back, nodding in approval. As her eyes moved up his body searching for anymore errors, they soon enough fell upon his amused glance.

“...What..?” She questioned slowly.

“Hm? It’s nothing. I was just a little surprised that you could actually display the qualities of a wife,” Add smirked, raising an interested eyebrow.

“Huh? What’s that suppose to mean?!”

“Exactly what it’s suppose to mean.”

“Are you trying to say that I don’t resemble a wife at all?!”

“Considering your clumsiness, I might be.”

“I’m not always clumsy! It was just that one time!”

“Are you sure? I believe just this morning you couldn’t even walk without me pulling you along, no?”

“That was because you took me by surprise!”

“Oh? Was I so dashingly handsome that you froze in awe of my looks?” At that joke, Ara lightly punched him on the chest, letting out a pout as she crossed her arms.

“Agh, whatever! Anyway, what did you want to ask me?”

“Oh, that’s right. Show me the way out,” The bluntness in his voice caught her off guard.

“The way out?”

“Guess you didn’t hear me the first time. Yes, the way out,” Add nodded, gesturing down the halls.

Ara’s eyes trailed down the direction of his hands, taking in the long white halls with golden out-linings. It seemed as if the corridor went on forever, with infinite amounts of turns and twists at every nook and cranny. She had realized that during her earlier anger, she had strided away from Add without a thought about the direction to her room, just merely assuming that by walking she would arrive. That was obviously not going to happen. With a nervous laugh, she bit her lip lightly, turning to face his awaiting face.

“I’m not too sure of where we are either…?”

“What?!” Add cried incredulously, “What do you mean you don’t know? Don’t you live here?”

“Not really… I only come back to the main estate when Mother calls for me. To be honest, I’ve only stayed here a couple of times and then again, it’s only for a maximum of three days per visit, so…”

“So, to say, the main Haan estate is only a place for you to answer your Mother’s call and that you yourself, the daughter of the Haan family, does not actually live here?” Ara nodded quietly in response to his sarcastic question.

“C’est juste genial…” Add muttered under his breath, “The only daughter of the prestigious Haan family doesn’t even live in the main estate, this is just great.”

“Sorry…” Ara murmured softly at his displeased voice, shirking down as she lowered her gaze.

“You need to stop apologizing for everything. Your lack of knowledge of this place isn’t your fault.”

“I know, but, I feel a little guilty. You cushioned my fall and I can’t even give you the basic directions out of this godforsaken place…” Ara intertwined her fingers, letting out a defeated sigh.

“Like I said earlier, it’s not your fault. Well, in either case, we might as well wander the halls together incase Madam Haan or your butler finds us. Now listen up, don’t say a word about what’s happened here, got it? I don’t particularly enjoy spending extra time around royalty while answering rhetorical questions,” The male reached an arm outwards towards the maiden.

Ara stared back at it confusedly.

“This is to prove that we’re fiancees, remember?” Add clarified.

“Oh, right,” Gently, Ara wrapped her arm around his, using her other hand to smooth down her dress and tidy her hair.  She didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea when looking at her and her husband together, deciding it was best to remain neat and composed. She especially didn’t want her Mother to see her in a messy appearance, for she knew the questions would come aimed at the time she had spent together with Add.

Shaking her head in slight fear of the potential problems to come, she let Add lead the way through the hall, praying that Chung would be the one to come find them first.

Flashing lights, booming music, and the chattering crowd filled the air as Ara sat cooly on the edge of the stage, her face resting against her propped up leg. Dressed in her usual break-dancing outfit, black sweatpants and an orange crop top, she watched dazedly at the people dancing in-front of her. This night, there was no competition between her and E.N.D. Infact, E.N.D wasn’t even here. Perhaps, it was because there was no event this time around. In either case, Ara felt a little sad that he wasn’t here, wanting to share her horrifying prior experience from this morning.

Right after she and her fiance confirmed that they both had no idea where they were, the two had decided to team up to find the way back to the dining hall. Wandering together, Ara had the chance to actually talk to Add one on one without the fake facade that she had put on earlier. She had pointed out his rude and sarcastic personality, questioning if he actually was the gentlemen that everyone had praised him as. He had replied back yet again sarcastically, he too pointing out that she was too clumsy and oblivious to actually be a lady. They had bickered and teased each other the whole time, sooner or later being found by (to Ara’s disappointment) Mother Haan. Add had smoothly switched back to a princely personality, claiming that he had wanted to spend some time alone with Ara to learn more about her and apologized lightly. Mother Haan had merely beamed and stated that it was quite fine, later on escorting him out to bid a farewell.

“A.C.E~? What’s wrong, baby?” At the sound of a sultry voice, Ara snapped out of her thoughts, her eyes trailing towards a slender woman with silky blonde hair.

The woman had emerald eyes that sparkled vibrantly, dressed in a tight green top and loose white pants that showed off her busting chest and curvy figure.

“Rena,” Ara murmured softly.

“Wow~ That was quite the excited response~” Rena replied back cheerfully, smiling as she leapt up to seat herself beside the maiden.

Rena was the hoster of the enormous break-dancing club that sat behind the alleyways of France. She and her husband Raven, had found it and brought the culture of the dance alive, driving all sorts of people to come join and dance the night away. Rena was also the one who realized Ara’s potential to break-dance during the female’s ballet performance, excitedly asking if she wanted to try it out. Cue to now, Ara was the most popular female break-dancer, however her identity remains a mystery. Her name A.C.E was given by the other members of the club. Ara was grateful to Rena and Raven, since they were the one to honor her decision of remaining anonymous. They even went as far as to provide guards and a locked room all for the sake of protecting her.

“What's bothering you? You’re not even dancing today,” Rena said sweetly, brushing a hand through her hair and flipping it behind her.

“Hm? Oh, it’s nothing. Just dealing with some, y’know, family problems…” It wasn’t the full truth, but it wasn’t a full lie either.

“Ah, I see… I know it’s hard for you right now, Ara. But you can’t always look at the down-sides to a situation, there’s always something good that comes from it! Everything happens for a reason, and even though that reason might be complete bullshit, just know that life comes with its ups and downs.”

“Mm.”

“You know… It’s been awhile since we danced together, why don’t we usher down there and do a little performance, hm?” Rena cooed, gesturing down at the opened space within the crowd.

Laughing lightly at her remark, Ara hopped on down, brushing her hair towards the back. Today wasn’t the best day, but neither was it the worst. Her husband turned out to be a complete jerk, a jerk that she enjoyed talking to. She was also relieved at the fact that he wasn’t interested in her sexually, and that their relationship would only be political. Free from the binding chains that her mother had placed on her, Ara felt alive once more, a more vibrant flame now burning in her chest as she stepped towards the now-waiting crowd, ready to let A.C.E take over for the night.

[lady-hammerlock]

Assassin’s Creed Rogue - The Novel - Chapter 18

4th August 1757

My recollections of the weeks following my flight from the Davenport Homestead are confusing and disjointed at best. I remember feeling nothing but cold and pain, and then hands on me, carrying me or caring for me. When I think back I can recall, with very little clarity mind you, looking up through my delirium and seeing the shadowy figures of men standing over me, their voices raised as they argued. I cannot recall what it was that they argued about, although I can guess that it had something to do with me.

I was confined to bed for weeks, and they were some of the most unpleasant weeks of my life. Between my injuries and the fever that had gripped me thanks to the cold of the ocean, I was completely delirious, waking up from nightmares of Lisbon only to find my body still in enormous amounts of pain, sometimes worried that my life was still in danger but my body still too injured to do anything about it.

The couple that took me in were my saving grace. They were a middle aged pair named Cassidy and Barry Finnegan, and at times their wonderfully familiar Irish accents were the only thing that kept me calm and grounded. They showed me all the care in the world, despite the fact that they were complete strangers. I’m afraid that I kept forgetting their names in those weeks of recovery, along with where I was and what had happened. The Finnegans were so patient though, explaining things over and over again whenever I was lucid enough to ask about it, although Barry did take to teasing me about it.

Eventually the fever subsided, my sanity returned, and all that I had to worry about, in theory at least, was recovering physically. It was not as easy as that though. When my mind settled and my memories returned, I was forced to confront what had happened in Lisbon all over again, and I slowly came to terms with the fact that my life as I had known it was over.

The thought that Liam had shot me didn’t worry me as much as it probably should have. It was as though, with that one bullet, Liam had destroyed any ties that we had to one another. There was no point in hoping anymore; no point in thinking that maybe one day we might be able to go back to being friends if only we could sort out this mess.

As far as anyone in the Assassins knew, I was dead. Liam had killed me. I do remember wondering whether or not any of them mourned me, or whether I was, to them, still just a failure and a disappointment. I convinced myself it didn’t matter. Miraculously, I had survived. I had to content myself with that.

The Finnegans did their best to help me through it all. I tried not to cry in front of them, not wanting to burden them with my worries and my grief along with everything else, and when Barry Finnegan suggested more than once that I was probably nothing more than a clumsy deckhand who fell off his ship half-drunk, or something of the like, I went along with his suggestions. His explanations were as good as any other I might make up. I certainly couldn’t tell him the truth.

After weeks of resting up and recovering I began to grow restless. The morning came when I was finally ready to get up and start walking about under my own steam. The room in which I had lain up seemed perfectly modest and comfortable; part of a wooden family home like many in the colonies. I am sure that the Finnegans must have told me as much many times over, but when I made my way over to one of the room’s tiny windows, I discovered that we were in the middle of New York. After years of living in the Homestead or on the ocean, it did not feel like coming home as much as it probably should have.

In those days I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with myself. I think at least some of the time I entertained the idea of going back to a normal life, at least once I had established that the manuscript was gone and the world was safe from the Assassins, but it wasn’t to be.

The Finnegans had already been up and checking on me the morning everything changed; Barry teasing me, and he and Cassidy gently arguing with one another like the old married couple that they were. They had just returned downstairs when I heard Cassidy let out a scream. I called out after the Finnegans but there was no reply.

Clearly something was wrong.

My body was still in a fair amount of pain, but I couldn’t just stand there when the excellent couple that had taken me in might be in trouble. As I made my way downstairs as quickly as my broken body would let me, I became aware of a couple of voices that definitely did not belong to the Finnegans.

When I arrived in the Finnegans’ sitting room I found Barry doing his best to help Cassidy up off the floor, while a couple of rough-looking strangers jeered at the two of them. The two intruders were both relatively young men, and were both wearing the same mix of yellow and brown cloths; clearly the uniform of some sort of street gang.

“Now what are you going on about?” I asked one of the strangers, ready to fight to defend the Finnegans, despite the bandages that still covered half of my body, and the fact that I was having to concentrate just to keep standing on both of my feet.

“Stay out of this you fool!” one of the thugs yelled at me.

As if I could do that. What sort of coward would stand back while two men roughed up a kind old couple like the Finnegans?

“Well I was going to,” I lied, “but now you’ve made things personal.”

I cracked my knuckles at the two thugs and advanced on them, raising my fists in front of my face as I did.

I found that now that I was up and about my strength returned to me quickly. The thugs were clearly not the excellent fighters that they would have believed themselves to be either. Even in my weakened state I thrashed them soundly, and soon the two of them were running out of the Finnegan’s house, muttering vitriol and meaningless threats beneath their breath as they did.

Barry Finnegan had been huddled in the corner, attending to his wife while I fought off the thugs (as he should have been – one’s wife must come first in such things) but as they ran off he jumped to his feet and yelled after them with fire in his voice.

“And don’t come back!” he screamed.

Barry Finnegan then turned his attention to me.

“Thank you Shay,” he told me. “In me younger days I could have taken them one-handed.”

I hoped that I had not injured the old man’s pride too badly, but unfortunately there were more important things that we needed to talk about.

“Why were these men bothering you?” I asked Barry Finnegan. They were clearly criminals of some description, but it seemed strange to me that criminals should be so brave and foolish as to enter a couples’ house while they were still at home. Surely there was an easier way to go about these things?

“Ah, the usual,” Barry spat out, clearly both used to the thugs disturbing his and Cassidy’s life, and highly frustrated by them. “They feel they’re owed money because they’re not harming citizens. Mark me words, those gangs are going to be the downfall of the city.”

It was the first that I had heard of such things. It seemed to me that the criminals in New York had grown far more brazen and troublesome in the time since I had last visited.

As I stood there, staring at the front door of the house, I began to think. Who knew what kindly old couple those thugs might terrorise next? It was an injustice that needed to be righted by someone, and it might as well be me. After all, I had no idea what it was that I was supposed to do with my life now that I was no longer a member of the Assassins. Chasing down those thugs seemed like as good a start to my new life as any other, and would, besides, be a good way to start repaying the kindly old couple who had taken me in.

My thoughts, or at least my desire to leave and chase after the thugs, must have shown clearly on my face, because the next thing I knew Cassidy Finnegan was leaving the room with a sly and secretive smile on her face.

“Wait here,” she told me. “I have something for you.”

I turned to face her husband, thinking that Barry might be able to explain what it was that she was up to, but he merely shrugged in response to my unvoiced query.

Neither of us were waiting long for an answer however. Cassidy Finnegan soon returned to the room with a small pile of clothing in her hands.

“It won’t do you any good walking around starkers,” she commented, which was fair enough. I was still wearing nothing but the old trousers I had worn in bed (and more than my fair share of bandages).

Cassidy Finnegan approached and held the pile of clothing out to me.

“Here, try these on,” she prompted. “They were our son’s.”

Barry Finnegan wandered over to a nearby table, seemingly prompted by his wife’s having fetched the clothing. He grabbed a bundle wrapped in plain white cloth and brought it to me, placing it on top of the small pile of clothing in my arms.

“I suppose, if you’re looking for trouble, you’ll be needing these,” Barry Finnegan said to me.

Most of the parcel was covered in cloth, but I could see the end of a very familiar looking sword sticking out of the cloth covering, and judging by the weight of the parcel and what I could see of its contents it contained the rest of my weapons as well.

“Thank you,” I told the Finnegans, more grateful than they could have possibly imagined.

I immediately headed back upstairs to get changed. The prospect of heading out after the thugs that had disturbed the Finnegans had energised me. The thought of having something to do with my life, something that seemed just and right was a marvellous one.

At first I laid everything out on the bed, taking stock of my belongings and admiring the clothing that the Finnegans had given me. They had not only returned my sword to me, but my gun and both of my hidden blades as well. There was no sign of the manuscript though, and I frowned as I considered what might have happened to it. I was sure that I had still had it on me when I had fallen off the cliff. I could only hope that it had fallen into the ocean, where it would be almost impossible for the Assassins to recover.

I then stared at myself in the mirror for a long time. While I had lain injured in bed my hair and beard had grown out so that I looked every bit the drunk deck-hand that Mister Finnegan had accused me of being. The hair I could do little about in that moment, save tying it back with a bit of red ribbon the Finnegans had left on the dressing table. The beard however…

I contemplated it for a few more moments, before I began the process of shaving it all off. During my time with the Assassins I had chosen to wear a short beard, trimmed close to my chin and kept in a relatively tidy manner.

No longer though; it was time for a change. I might as well give myself a new look to go with my new life. I shaved it all off, choosing to go completely bare-faced for the first time since reaching adolescence.

I then turned my attention to the clothing that the Finnegans had laid out for me. The undershirt and trousers went on easily enough, and fit so perfectly I might have thought they were made for me.

I paused when it came time to put on the large coat that they had left for me however. It was made of fine black leather with red trim, and was a more valuable and well-made garment than any clothing that I had owned before.

It was not the valuable nature of the garment that put me off though. It was the crosses that had been pressed into the leather of the coat, and which adorned the matching belt buckle. It was the same square cross that I had seen on almost every Templar I had come up against while with the Assassins.

I soon dismissed my concerns however. It seemed to me in that moment that my time with the Assassins had made me paranoid. After all, plenty of people chose to wear a cross in some fashion or another. It was purely coincidence that this coat bore the same cross that the Templars used. The Finnegans’ son had probably been a pious man, and if the nature of his parents was any indicator, undoubtedly a good one as well. It did not seem at all likely to me that he could have been a Templar.

I put on the jacket, as well as the beautiful boots the Finnegans had left for me, and then moved on to my weapons. My gun and sword found themselves placed back in their proper locations, but then I hesitated once more when it came time for the hidden blades.

The hidden blades had always been a symbol of the Assassins, a group to which I could no longer claim I belonged. I probably did not deserve to wear them anymore, and was, in any rate, not sure that I wanted to.

I was not sure that I would know how to fight effectively without them though, and so, Assassin or not, I picked up the hidden blades and the gauntlets that would fasten them to my wrists, and with a heavy heart, strapped them back into place as well. Perhaps the blasted things could actually do some good now.

When I went back downstairs I discovered that Barry and Cassidy Finnegan were waiting for me at the bottom of the staircase. Their faces lit up as I descended, and Cassidy even clapped her hands together with glee.

“Oh, don’t you look a right gentleman!” she exclaimed as she grinned at me, her face turning red. It did not take an expert to realise she was very much appreciating my new look. I grinned back at her, knowing she was probably old enough to be my mother, but still rather flattered.

Barry Finnegan complained and gently nudged his unexpectedly flirtatious wife.

As delightful and entertaining as the exchange was there was something more important that I needed to bring up with the Finnegans; a matter that I was still gravely worried about. I had been resting up for quite a long time. Who knew what might have happened to the manuscript in the meantime?

“Did I have a book with me?” I asked the Finnegans.

They glanced at one another, and then back at me. Barry Finnegan seemed to think the matter over for a few moments before replying.

“Just those peculiar weapons,” he said.

I thanked them both from the bottom of my heart, and then made ready to leave the Finnegans’ house in pursuit of the ruffians that had disturbed them.  It seemed to me then that the manuscript must have fallen to the bottom of the ocean, where it would hopefully lay undiscovered for a very long time. I suppose it is still there now. Good riddance to it. It brought the modern world nothing but misery. I can only hope that it lies there still, away from the Assassins and the rest of the world, hidden deep beneath the waves where it can do no further harm.

Previous chapter

[fox-household]

D&D Shenanigans #1

So here’s this thing that regrettably took ages, my apologies, just wanted to write some fluff and it took me ages to get through, not sure why I found it so hard. But yet it was still enjoyable. Hope this thing is enjoyable to you to. Doubt I’ll be doing one again for a while, even when we get the others in. I’ll put character sheets down at a later time when I get around to it. Have a good day. P.S: Because I did like half of it on my phone the formatting on the start looks very, very different. Instead of changing it, I’m going to keep both formats in and I want an actual opinion on which you think reads better because I think I’ve seen people use the first one before, so please let me know if you will. 

Sci and Asgore both stopped dead in their tracks as they walked into what had been the dining room, not expecting to find the table they were used to eating on to be so different. The table in question was now covered in a purple tablecloth that reached to the floor, the edge of it having rune symbols sown into them with gold thread, the same had been done to the very centre of the cloth with a larger circle like symbol. Alphys was sitting at the end of the table, peering at them from under an emerald cloak that matched her eyes. In front of her on the table also stood a Dungeon Master’s screen that hid her notes and dice from sight, on it was an illustration of a group of adventurers surrounded by undead spirits of various descriptions. Alphys’ expression turned worried as the other two remained in the same position for a long while, taking it all in. “Wh-why’re you l-looking at m-me like th-that, I j-just wanted to p-put some effort into y-your first s-session”, her face portrayed a combination of worry and defensiveness.

“Nah Al, we’re just impressed with what you got here, I mean did you have all this just stored away out the back somewhere?”, he chuckled lightly as he tried to quell her worries.

Both of them went ahead to the table each taking a seat to the side of the table, opposite to each other.

“I uh didn’t have th- this the entire t-time, only g-got it d-done a few days ago.”, she gripped part of the table cloth and held it up a little before dropping it.

Asgore started to grin as he gave a suspicious gaze, “But what about that cloak, did you only just get that?”

“I uh umm”, embarrassed she looked down and turned lightly red before looking back up again, “um yeah, I m-may have h-had th-this for a little b-bit.... stop giving me that l-look, th-this is l-like the only opportunity I g-get to use it ok?”

“I’m not judging you, just very curious hehe, you’re not embarrassed around us are you?”

“N-no just.... lets j-just get started”.

Alphys cleared her throat as she appeared to be looking down at her notes from behind the board, “So umm d-do we want to introduce o-our character... who w-would like to g-go first?”

Asgore gleamed and stood up in a dramatic fashion, “I’ll go first if that’s alright”

“Of c-course it is, f-fire away”.

With a smug smile he started to tell his narrative, “I’m a Goliath Paladin who comes from a family steeped in Royal heritage and blood. After all my training I decided to leave home to try and live my life as much as I can before my responsibilities keep me there for the rest of my days. So here I am, travelling and going on wild adventures”.

“W-would you l-like to say your characters s-strengths and w-weaknesses?”

“But you helped me make it, you know them already”.

“Y-Yes but for Sci’s sake”.

He let out a sigh, “Ummm he’s real strong and takes a lot to keep down, apparently has a lot of charm and.... isn’t the smartest supposedly.... like that?”

She gave a reassuring nod, “P-Perfect, also last thing, d-did you end up d-deciding on a n-name for him?”

“Oh yes, his name is Asgore Dreemur”, he gave a confident thumbs up in exclamation.

Alphys looked a tiny bit confused, “Y-you’re using your own n-name?!”

“I sure am, I figured that if I need to get into perspective for my character, I should make him similar to me in all ways, including my name. So then I can give you the most accurate of representations.”

She nodded, thinking over it for a moment before returning a smile back to the confident goat, “Well that sounds wonderful, I’m glad you’re really thinking about how you’ll put more effort into this.”

Quickly Sci interjected with a hurried sentence, “I uh think I’ll go by Sci then. I think it’ll fit in much better and make things easier on everyone”.

She gave him a curious look, “Really? Y-you know it’s fine either w-way?”

“Yes I know, but I’m Sci”

“What name did you have p-planned?”

Sci scratched the back of his head and gave a slightly nervous smile, “Oh umm... it’s silly really but... Balthazar Hallowwind”

Alphys covered her mouth as small giggle sounds came from within before finally bursting out laughing, grinning ear to ear as slowly she started to struggle for breath.

Sci started to look annoyed, “Is it really that bad?”

“B-bad? N-no not at a-all, j-just it’s heh so f-fantasy and a b-bit cliche in a good, loveable way. It’s uh j-just very you, I l-love it, I promise, I’m n-not trying to m-make fun of you... would you l-like to t-tell us about... Sci?”, she let out a long exhale while wiping a few tears from her eyes as she gave a kind look towards him.

The skeleton took a deep breath and started to smile, cliche or not he supposed it at least made her happy, “Well Sci here is a Half Elf Wizard that is with Asgore to explore the world as studying everything up close is the best kind of research, the most valuable discoveries are the stuff that you can do first hand. He comes from a middle class family in the city and was eventually sent away to magic boarding school where he was supposed to learn the tools of the trade so to speak after finding out about his natural knack for it all, when it came to his strong studying skills and general intellect, but eventually the books weren’t enough and now he’s broken free from those chains of simple, tertiary education to learn about things on his own terms. His intelligence is very high and his very good dexterity allows him to be a very nimble fellow. How ever he lacks quite a bit in strength, a tad in constitution as well as having basic charisma. Will that do Al?”

“Yes th-thank you. F-finally I’ll introduce m-my character-“

“But wait, aren’t you the dungeon master?”, Sci inquisitively questioned

“Well yes, b-but I um wanted to h-have a character too, plus also th-the party needs a h-healer and it’s easier to b-balance with th-three people as opposed to two”.

“Oh ok, continue then”

With a grin that wasn’t all to dissimilar to Asgore’s previous, she giggled, “Alright, my character was meant to be the l-like the m-middle ground wh-when it came to names, I was going t-to call her Phys, but you c-can do whatever”, she looked down at her notes for a moment before continuing, “I’m a Gnome C-Cleric that l-lacks the a-ability to s-speak, a mute I g-guess you’d c-call her. She serves the god Omoikane-

“Hey wait a seco-“, Sci tried to interject, but Al didn’t give him a chance to continue.

“- and servants of th-this god wish to h-help and provide good c-counsel and h-help for all. Phys here i-is with your party b-because sh-she believes she can s-spread her g-guidance and h-help further in a t-team than all by herself. Phys is h-high in Charisma especially when it c-comes to performance. Her main weakness is a lack of Dexterity m-making her quite clumsy and not v-very nimble.”

After a short pause to just make sure she was done, Asgore encouragingly exclaimed, “Wow she seems really cool, Phys is a welcome addition.”

“Wait so we’re using her character’s name?”

“Y-you want t-to change y-your mind Sci?”

He tensed up slightly and shook his head, “N-no of course not, my name is fine.”

Alphys rubbed her hands together with a giddy gleam in her eye. “A-Alright, a-are we a-all good to g-get started?” The nods from the other two was all she needed.

This tale of adventure, danger and general hijinks takes place in the land of Grangelow, to be more specific it starts in the city of Filota, the third biggest city in the country. Sci and Asgore both met first in the city during a nighttime card game at a pub, both of you realising you had similar goals you decided to team up so there would be a higher chance of you two being hired as ready to go adventurers. Unfortunately you’d both been running into a problem, the fact that you chose one of the busiest cities in the land did mean more potential customers, but also much more competition, lots of it having much more experience and reputation than you, some even being part of prestigious guilds and the like. One night you thought you’d caught a lucky break when a Gnome Cleric by the name of Phys asked to hire you which of course you accepted, unfortunately your hopes were dashed when it turned out she thought she needed to pay people to be her friend so she could create a party... as well as she was going to run out of gold in a very short amount of time. Taking pity on her and deciding that maybe having a bigger group would make people consider you, she was allowed to join the group. So now the three of you have spent the last few days, wandering, asking, investigating and even begging to strangers for a job all while the gold between us all slowly dwindled. If nothing changed you were going to have to sell your equipment and head home in shame, but then one fateful night it all did indeed change.

“S-so what is i-it that you two w-want to do?” Alphys softly spoke in her shy tone.

“Oh where are we exactly?”, Sci returned with a question as he pondered scenarios in his head.

“Th-the tavern if y-you want? Unless y-you have any b-better suggestions”.

Asgore hit the table with both of his hands in an enthusiastic manner, “Asgore is going to do a drinking contest, that’s what happens in taverns all the time in the stories and we might even be able to make some money from it”, a small prideful smile showed up at his idea.

“O-oh y-yeah, that’s actually a g-good idea, b-but you’ll have to r-roll against your o-opponent.”

“Oh which die is it?”

“The D20, t-the ‘really big one’ as you call it”, she said as she passed Asgore a red and gold dice she had spare.

Quickly he rolled it, putting almost enough power for it to bounce off the table, but to everyone’s relief it stopped at the edge, a result being shown on top.

“8? Is that a good one? Is that a win”, he said, putting on a hopeful smile.

“J-just g-give me a second...”, the sound of a dice rolling behind the DM screen could be heard, “...o-oh d-dear... y-your opponent g-got a umm 20”. The lizard monster sighed and briefly face palmed.

Asgore’s positivity dropped as even he was looking worried, “Wh-what does that mean? Is that really bad?”

“L-let me describe it f-for you”.

Asgore was having another one of his drinking competitions in an attempt to gain coin and most importantly, bragging rights. So far overtime he’d been very successful and many a person feel to intoxication before him. The unfortunate thing for him was that his reputation was growing and Asgore was soon face to face with a well known drinking champion, a bulky looking Dwarf that held a fire in his eyes that looked to be able to burn through stone. When the two of you locked eyes and got served multiple tankards of Mead, the duel went underway. Drink after drink disappeared down your gullets, a mighty battle it was. But as with all great fights, one must fall. Asgore, barely able to even see the world straight went to grab his last tankard, before the world went black and the Goliath collapsed to the floor in defeat. The dwarf took his spoils and left, but not before giving a respectful farewell to the non-hearing loser.

“Oh umm well crap... that’s not good is it?” The prince sighed, his mood deflating.

“Umm y-yeah, n-not really, I-I’ll just h-have you b-blackout for a l-little bit maybe?”, Alphys winced at the unexpected turn of events.

“Yeah that’s fine, I’ll wait then I guess”.

She sighed, “D-don’t worry, y-you’ll be back into it b-before you know it... So what’s Sci d-doing? Hopefully n-nothing quite as... d-disabling?”.

Sci crossed his arms, “Well I suppose I’ll just be sitting at a table across the room, having decided to not get involved in such a racket. Drinking a beer of some sort and reading over my spell book.”

“Y-Yeah, yeah, that’s p-perfect, ummm let me j-just... aaaannnd....”.

Cool air rushed into the tavern as a tall man walked in, his form mostly hidden by a long, raggedy brown cloak, though a black goatee could be seen on his chin. Closing the door behind him, he stood still and seemingly surveyed the situation in the room before without any hesitation moving to the table of Sci, and sitting opposite to him.

The man spoke in a rough, deep voice as he stared at the Wizard with a serious gaze, looking up and down him, looking at his fairly civilian clothes as well as the equipment on him that was showing. “Excuse me, but you wouldn’t happen to be an adventurer of some sort? Couldn’t help but notice your book of uh magic stuff there.”

Sci gave a questioning look as he closed the book, “Ummm yes, I am an adventurer... why do you ask?”.

“Well you see, I need some help with a uh, problem and honestly a lot of people have turned me down, saying my pay was to low or that they had better things to do, I just really, really need someone’s help.”

Phys came over to the table and sat next to Sci, putting her arms crossed over on the table and rested her head on it as she listened to the two of them.

The man glanced over at her cautiously, “She one of yours?”

“Yep, Phys, myself annnnd Asgore over there knocked out on the ground make up our little party.”

Phys sat up with a smile and offered her small hand to him, the man returning with quite a reluctant handshake.

“That’s good, three of you will just be perfect for the job”.

The scepticism in his voice rose as he kept examining the expression of the man, trying to work out what it was he wanted, “You haven’t told us anything about the so called job, if we’re going to accept it, we want some info.”

The cloaked figure cleared his throat rather harshly, “Yes, yes of course, well you see. At my lowly home, in a room out the back, there has been a slight outbreak of... demons. Not very mighty ones as they’ve been locked in, but I fear what else may spawn in there if nothing is done about it.”

The half elf squinted with an expression of confusion and worry, “That’s a bit of an intense thing for people to ignore. Do we even know how to deal with demons?”

“W-wait a second, c-can you b-both show me y-your character sheets?”, she said with another one of those worried looks.

Both of them obliged of course, handing her the piece of paper. Adjusting her glasses slightly she read over them around a few times before passing them back, her face not showing any signs of improvement.

“What’s the matter? Something wrong?”, Asgore questioned.

With her hands over her face she sighed, “No one h-here knows s-sign language, she c-can’t properly communicate”

Phys gave Sci a light hit to the back of his head, waiting to get his attention before pushing a brown coin pouch over to him. With two fingers she just opened it to reveal empty space, no shiny coins, no cash whatsoever.

He hesitated before nodding, “Guess we don’t have much of a choice”, he muttered. Now bringing his attention back to fellow across to him, he smiled. “After some careful consideration we have decided to take on your job and eradicate the demons plaguing your house... how much pay are we talking?”

“25gp... ok yeah I’m sorry it’s all I have, I’m desperate ok... maybe I can pay you back some other way?’’

The other two could only assume looking at their winces and hesitation would only demoralise the man further. Yet despite accepting the job previously and even that last reaction, he didn’t seem any happier or sadder. If anything he remained with a fairly consistent tone.

Continuing with this tone, she spoke as he stood up, “Thank you kind people, well I’ll be waiting for you back at my home, third house down on Crane Road. Come when you can please”.

Without properly acknowledging any farewell from the pair, the man left through the door.

Sci smiled, “Well hey, we’ve got our first job right? There’s hope yet”.

Phys nodded with a gleeful grin and offered him a high five which the other obliged with a loud, air-cracking smack. However the two of them came to the realisation that the last third of the party had to be dealt with. They approached Asgore who was on the floor unconscious and tried shaking him a little, but he wouldn’t budge. The Gnome pointed to the unconscious party member and pointed outside, Sci taking it as needing to move him outside. While Phys moved out of the room, Sci attempted to move the Goliath which proved almost impossible for him with his size and heavy armour along with the wizard’s feeble strength. However the with the help of the most certainly stronger bartender, they managed to get him out in the night time air, leaning against the front of the building. Moments later Phys came around with a very large water bucket and chucked it over Asgore without so much as a warning. 

Asgore woke up and got to his feet at the speed of a bullet, looking between the duo, ‘’Wh-what’s going on? What did I miss, where am I’’?  ‘’You lost, your drinking streak is over.’’ Sci proclaimed with a shake of his head’’.  The Paladin sighed, ‘’God d-‘’  ‘’But more importantly we have a job, we might actually get paid’’.  Phys proceeded to point to the sky excitedly while also brandishing an empty coin purse in her hand.  ‘’Whoa really? YES, finally, thank my lord’’, the disappointment was automatically replaced with cheer, ‘’C’mon, where the hell are we going? Let’s get started I’m ready to go’’.  Though after a couple of steps Asgore felt himself stagger slightly, Phys suddenly jumping in front of him with her hands on his chest to stop him from falling forwards. Sci pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, ‘’Let’s just make our way there slowly… we really don’t want to be dragging you across the streets.’’ 

(Format changes now)

A mere fifteen minutes later the trio arrived at a rundown house in an admittedly cheaper part of the city, it was hard to believe anything was happening here except for shady dealings, let alone some small, inexpiable demon outbreak in a house. Asgore had managed to make his way there slowly while trying to hide how sick he really was feeling, Sci walked behind them, seemingly trying to stuff some spare food he took from their last meal at the tavern into his bag with which the others assumed he was desperately starving, while Phys stayed next to the Paladin just in case he was going to fall over. Sci decided he was going to take the lead and walked straight up to the door, putting on a smile as he knocked. With some loud, rushed footsteps, the man they’d met at the tavern opened the door with a relieved face. ‘’Oh thank goodness, I’m so glad you could make it, please waste no time, come in quickly, let’s get this over and done with’’, with a concerning amount of alarm he moved behind the group and outright pushed them into the building. The door entered into a small, dimly lit hallway, all the doors around it were closed except one. They proceeded through, heavily led by the very owner, to the door that was open. They entered a normal sized bedroom, though it lacked any furniture to identify it as such. The other peculiar feature it possessed was the one window in the room being completely barred off with iron. ‘’Wait? What type of room is this? What do you use it for?’’, Sci questioned as he turned around to a rather troublesome sight. Behind the trio, the man quickly stepped out of the room and slammed the door, the sound of a key locking them in filling the party with dread. ‘’Haha yes, look Boss, I did it all by myself, I fucking told you I would!’’, he exclaimed loudly and excitedly. ‘’Hey what hell is the meaning of this?’’, Asgore tried to open the door in a futile effort to escape before simply and angrily punching the wooden door, causing it to shake. Outside the room, other doors could be heard being opened, undoubtedly the other rooms in the hallway, and footsteps came their way. Phys made small noise as she approached the door, putting her hand at a mid-portion of the door where a slot was, not to dissimilar to a mail slot on a front door except a little bigger. Pulling it she opened the slot to see a small group of men in leather armour, they looked ready for a fight. One individual from the group approached the one that lead them here and put an arm around him, ‘’And so you did Reggie, very nice. Three in one go isn’t to bad, seems like they have some valuables, that plate armour might go for a good amount, I’m proud’’. ‘’Thank you, sir, I did my best’’. Asgore punched the door again, albeit weaker as a light headed feeling started to interfere with his senses, ‘’Wh-what is going on? What the hell do you guys want?’’. The leader of the group approached the door, yet not so close as to risk anyone reaching through the slot, ‘’To put it simply, us folks here need to eat, to eat we need money, to get money we sell valuables. We find gullible folks like you, adventurers who aren’t worth a damn, wait for them to starve, then while weakened we’re gonna kill you, sell your stuff and repeat, honestly a lot quicker and easier than hostage taking I tell ya’’. He gave off a very punchable toothy grin at the Cleric watching him at the slot. ‘’Though I’m not wasting anymore time, I was having a nice dinner. Reggie, you don’t have to worry about guard duty tonight as appreciation, Daryl, you’re up.’’ The one called Daryl sighed, ‘’C’mon Boss, I was having dinner to, it’s not like they’re going to get out of there, we don’t really need to guard.’’ ‘’Shut the fuck up Daryl, we’ll bring your dinner out to you, but you ain’t getting out of this, don’t say another word.’’ He sighed once more, ‘’Yes Boss’’.

Around half an hour had passed since the incident, nobody else from the gang was heard from since the man guarding was given keys and food, the other three were in the middle of the room, trying to figure out their plan. The door had been shaken and attacked to read avail; it was obviously reinforced. The window didn’t appear to be any solution either, the bars stopped anyone from leaving, although the window was smashed. But despite many minutes of yelling for help, nobody heard, or nobody cared. ‘’I’m guessing nobody knows anything about lockpicking here? Too much to ask?’’, Sci stated, his gaze intensely focused on the floor as he tried to think of something, though it was weird that he seemed to be tightly hugging his bag. Phys and Asgore shook their head. ‘’Wish smashing it open was an option, wouldn’t have made things so complicated, is there really no magic you can pull Sci?’’. ‘’Nothing that’s destructive enough that won’t risk setting the place on fire… while we’re trapped in here… starting to think I shouldn’t have focused so much on destructive spells.’’ Asgore sighed before looking back over towards Phys, ‘’Anything?’’ Phys had for the last while been staying near the slot, checking every now and then to see if the guard had come any closer, hoping that maybe if he got close enough they could reach the key, yet while he was sleeping on the job, he definitely wasn’t that stupid. So, the only answer she had was to shake her head back at Asgore. ‘’Damn, it only appears that slot is the only way anything gets in or out, but even Phys isn’t that small.’’ Sci’s eyes widened, ‘’Small, small, small… that’s it. Why was I so focussed on getting past the door? We just need to circumvent it’’. Phys scurried back over to where the other two were sitting, putting a finger to her cheek, a common sign that she wanted to ask a question. Asgore helped by actually voicing it, ‘’I thought you didn’t have anything? Are you seriously telling me that you could’ve got us out of here earlier?’’ The wizard looked nervous, ‘’Oh uh y-yeah maybe, I just don’t really like showing him to strangers, also he gets kinda shy to those he hasn’t met… I’m usually pretty hesitant to bring him out.’’ ‘’You keep saying him, whose him?’’ ‘’Oh my familiar… come on out Newton’’, Sci opened the bag that he was hugging, some movement could be seen coming from within. He laid it down slowly and gently called for him. ‘’Don’t worry, they’re good, just hop out, we need your help’’. Slowly and cautiously, a small, brown weasel walked out of the bag, keeping his eyes locked on Phys and Asgore, then suddenly making a small squeaking-like noise before climbing up onto Sci’s shoulder. ‘’So uh yeah, this is Newton, he might be able to grab the key’’. It was as if their entire dangerous situation had disappeared for a few moments, Asgore had a massive grin on his face and Phys was trying to contain her excitement as she bounced up and down, the urge to just grab and hug the adorable thing being hard to suppress. ‘’So, you’ve been hiding him from us this entire time?’’, The goliath questioned. Sci stood up and walked towards the door with Newton in tow, ‘’As I said he’s bad with strangers’’. The weasel was trying to retract as much as it could into a small ball as they got the door, the three of them crouching down next to the slot. ‘’Ok Newton, I’m going to ask you to do something very scary, but I need you to trust me…’’, he opened the slot and showed the outside to the familiar, ‘’…you see that key? I need you to grab it and bring it here’’. Newton started to shiver and even shake its head lightly. ‘’No, no, no it’s going to be fine, trust me, he’s even sleeping see? No one will see you except us and these two are our friends.’’ He visibly started to calm down yet seemed reluctant. ‘’I’ll make sure to feed you lots and lots, I promise. You’ll have a feast next time we can afford one.’’ Without further ado the weasel jumped from Sci’s shoulder at the open slot and dropped, hitting the floor with a soft thud on the other side. Slowly it approached the sleeping guard, sitting against the wall. Newton got slower and more unsure as it grew closer to the man, the shiny key just almost being paw’s reach. But suddenly the man moved slowly and caused the familiar to skitter back in fear. Luckily it was just the man falling over on its side, he was still asleep. It looked back at Sci to see him nodding, giving a thumbs up to try and give his friend reassurance. With that slight comfort it began its approach once more, slowly and steadily heading to shiny key on his waist. As it finally got close enough, without any hesitation it quickly snatched the ring the key was on with its mouth, causing metal to make contact the floor in a surprisingly loud clang. This caused the man to stir and slowly sit up, groaning. ‘’Uggh, was I sleeping again? Damn it I just… what?’’, his eyes locked with the weasel who was frozen in fear, watching with small black eyes. The guard noticed the key and put two and two together, ‘’Hey wait a minute, that’s not yours you damn rodent’’. He quickly stood up and Newton bolted to the door, climbed up the door and burst through the slot of like a rocket. Once he dropped the key at their feet, he sprinted straight back into Sci’s bag.

The man ran straight for the door just as he heard the unlocking sound, using his body as a barrier, ‘’Oh no you don’t you little shits… GUYS WE HAVE A SITUATION”, he yelled out to the rest of the house. After a few moments of successfully holding door closed from some resistance, the pushing stopped. Confusion appeared on his face as he wondered what they were up to, before being blasted into the wall as a massive plate armoured Goliath rammed the door after an across room sprint, the man was knocked out almost instantly. After picking up all their stuff, they swiftly exited the room at the exact same time the other four members of the gang entered the hallway. ‘’So, you little shits think you’re tough do y- AGGHGGGH’’. He started to scream as a firebolt from Sci smacked into the side of the leader’s face. ‘’AGGHGGUGGUUUU WHAT THE HELL DID I SAY ABOUT TRYING TO TAKE A WIZARD REGGIE?!’’ ‘’I’m so sorry, I didn’t know, he doesn’t even look like one’’ ‘’OH I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU SORRY, AFTER WE CALL THESE BASTARDS’’.

Asgore readied his glaive and went first, rushing at one of the random men and swung it from the side, causing a huge cut into the man’s side, the blood gushing out only confirmed more the decisiveness of the strike as he fell to the ground. The other three suddenly looked pissed and went after Asgore, pulling out their own short swords. Two of them swung overhead which he caught with his long weapon, but the third one went for a stab right into his gut, the only stopped the Goliath from taking a critical blow was more fire heading to the leader, the pain causing his stab to only graze it’s target. Deflecting off the two individuals he went for another slash at the two that they nimble dodged away from. Phys used their distraction to summon a Sacred Flame on one of them, the fiery radiance burning the man enough to cause him to fall to the ground, presumably dead. Only two remained, one heading one wishing to avenge his friend ran at Phys with the sword raised above his head, swing at the gnome before finding it blocked by a small shimmering field surrounding her, Shield of Faith managing to stop the blow. He barely had anytime to voice surprise before Asgore hit him over the back of his head, taking him out instantly. ‘’I’M SO SICK OF YOUR BLOODY FIRE’’, The leader of the group, covered in burns went straight for the source of his misfortune, his sword stabbing right through his right shoulder, causing the wizard to yell out in pain.   Sci used this pain to fuel his anger and cast his own spell, ‘’If you’re done with fire, then how about let the chill of the grave help you out.’’ A ghostly skeletal hand appears and grabs at the leader, gaining a grip on him as cold started to move through his body, the life seemed to drain from his face before finally, he to hit the floor along with the rest of his men.

Sci held his shoulder, wincing at the pain and blood coming from the wound. Phys quickly ran over and shoved the wizard’s hands away, replacing them with her own as she pumped her healing magic into him, closing the wound, the only trace left being his ripped clothes. ‘’Oh thanks, I guess we can rely on you for that huh?’’ Phys gave him a salute with a massive grin, before pointing at the men. She pointed at them and brought both her wrists together. ‘’What? Are you on about?’’, Sci looked confused and Asgore didn’t seem to get it either. Phys pouted before continuing, she kept her previous position while walking around very slowly on a hunched over, sad posture. After looking over at their faces and still seeing that they didn’t get it. Next she pointed at the men once more, before putting her hands in front of her face, as if she was holding something vertically, shaking them a little in feigned frustration. ‘’Oh wait, wait, she’s holding bars, iron bars, she’s talking about jail… she wants us to put these guys in jail, maybe she’s saying we get the guards over here?’’ It looked like a light bulb went off in Asgore’s head as he explained his theory, a grin appearing as Phys’ nod showed he was correct. Sci nodded, ‘’Oh yeah, I’m sure they’d appreciate that… just wait, I think this might be an opportunity for us’’. He moved over to the bodies on the floor and searched them, over all managing to pull out about four small pouches of gold. ‘’Look at this, we’re gonna be set, we can actually afford a proper meal and keep on going.’’ ‘’We’re not out of the game yet, it’s a sign I tell you, we’re meant to keep on going, home will have to wait forever’’. Phys gave an excited fist pump of excitement; her eyes showed determination and resolve. ‘’Well we better get moving, take to long to report this and people might think we’re the shifty ones.’’, Sci shrugged and started walking to the front door, ‘’How about we celebrate the success of our first job with lots and lots of food tomorrow?’’ Asgore stretched his back with an affirmative nod, ‘’Sounds like a great plan, drinks on me?’’ The trio laughed as they left the building and headed out into the night.

So, after this incident, the guards came and arrested most of the gang that you reported, some appeared to not be dead and managed to escape, an investigation is in progress. They thanked you for your service and rewarded you with even more gold, this group has apparently been a pain for a long time that they’d been trying to find. After that you all head back to the tavern and the next day is spent relaxing and enjoying your new found riches. Though as much as enjoying your current victory is sweet, you look to the future and wonder what other adventure and glory may be awaiting for you to come along. 

‘’Oh, was that all?’’, Asgore spoke first, his expression neutral along with his tone. ‘’G-gosh s-sorry, did I-I d-disappoint you th-that badly?’’ ‘’Huh? Oh god no, it was really fun, I was just hoping there was going to be more honestly, I really enjoyed it’’, the goat child gave an encouraging smile. ‘’Don’t stress Al, it wasn’t half bad, we both enjoyed it’’, Sci said, leaning back in a relaxing manner. ‘’T-thank g-goodness, th-thank you so s-so much, I’ll t-try to m-make it more e-exciting next time, I only d-did a little bit so you guys c-could get a t-taste.’’ ‘’Well consider this entrée excellent, though I don’t think we’ll be fully satisfied until we move on to mains’’. ‘’Heck yeah, we need to make sure we do this again, maybe we could make it like a thing you know? Every once and a while? Please Al?’’, Asgore grinned and gave a glance to Sci. ‘’Well I’m not going to complain about it, that’s for sure.’’, he spoke with an amused tone. ‘’R-really? Y-you want t-to do it th-that much? Gosh w-wow… th-that means so m-much to me…’’, the lizard monster turned red as she was flushed with embarrassment. Taking a few moments to calm down before speaking. ‘’A-alright, I’ll m-make sure to c-come up with the b-best stories and w-worlds for you all, y-you can c-count on me, I guarantee it, we’ll h-have the best c-campaign ever.’’ The other two seemed appreciative and after a few moments of silence, Asgore got up from the table, ‘’Well I’m hungry after all that, I’m going to go get something, thanks again Al.’’ Sci stood up as well, ‘’I think I should probably go get some of my work done as well, thank you as well’’. After both of them left, Al just looked down at her notes and smirked evilly, ‘’N-now j-just what will I h-have to d-do first, so m-many ideas to throw in one w-world’’.

[greenbookreclaim]

They heard the news and decided to go on a vacation of their own :D

I got really lucky in terms of timing: the last of the seven cecropia kids has begun their cocoon! Which means I won’t have to worry about them when I go on vacation in a few days. I’m gonna miss them so so so much, you have no idea.

If I get lucky next year and get a female moth out of these seven and she finds a mate, I’d like to raise more of these sweet little babies next year.

Fingers crossed that I get to see all of them emerge in a year!