#the result simply sent me. alright. I'm not saying where. It simply sent me. and i still think about it from time to time

[hiddencarpet]

Long time ago a dear friend of mine sent me a "which Dungeon Meshi character are you?" quiz, and the results sent me so much i decided to actually honor that with the painting above.

Iirc it was a really nice quiz so here it is if you like to try it out. :)

https://uquiz.com/quiz/yEfodS/which-dungeon-meshi-character-are-you

[lavenderslabyrinth]

A Sacrificial Game 2

King!Dragon x Reader

Masterlist

p.t 1

pt. 3

Welcome to part two! I'm a very slow writer so you may notice that I posted these parts somewhat consecutively. That's bc I wrote part one last year;;; I know, I know, but I got a new keyboard and I'm obsessed with the way it feels so hopefully it will get me back into writing again! Does anyone even read these...? Gah whatever. Enjoy!

CW: ♢ Abduction ♢ Blood/Injury ♢ Mention of Forced Stripping (Brief, not done by love interest) ♢

The next time your eyes opened back up to the dreary world, a groan was involuntarily passing through your lips. Pain. Fuck. Every breath felt like you were splitting open, and as a result, moving was not a very appealing option. Your ribs, whether fractured or broken, you didn't know. But, oh, it was undeniable something was wrong.

The pain had you sweating despite the night's air being blisteringly cold-- colder than it should have been for this time of year, and the more you got your bearings, the more you were able to process what was around you.

A single, dingy lantern hung from the wooden ceiling above you. It swung wildly with every bump and jostle, the flame within it threatening to flicker out each time. The room you were in was moving, no, no room, you were in a carriage. You tried to push through the pain to get yourself up but found your movements restrained-- expensive looking silk ropes curling around your body and a simple white gown you hadn't been wearing before was now draped over your figure. Though pretty, and far more expensive than anything you'd ever owned before, it did little to ease the painful shivers that wracked through you.

You'd been washed, groomed, and redressed with care, but hot rage filled your chest nonetheless. You'd had little to nothing to your own name-- living still with your family and no claim to a spouse, child, or land.

They've stripped you of those things. Taken away your chance at a normal life, and now, too, they've taken your dignity.

A particularly rough bump in the road sent your body up and off the ground for just a moment before slamming you back into the rough wood of the floor. By the Damned... The pain left you winded as a stabbing sensation shot through your entire body.

"Are you alright?" A meek voice spoke up from above you. There, on one of the benches, a meek priest looked down at you with sad eyes full of pity. Was he also Chosen? Were you both about to meet your end? No... His hands were not bound behind his back as yours were-- instead, they freely laid folded in his lap.

Your gaze hardened and, seemingly unable to stand it, he looked away in shame. “Why are you doing this?” You asked coldly--you knew... but hope was still pushing back the dread that was steadily gathering in your gut. He didn’t answer at first, instead he simply shrunk into himself more, as if somehow he would be able to curl around himself and hide away from your accusatory eyes. “Where are we going?”

It took time for him to give you an answer. Time you, whether willingly or not, gave. The air thick with the silence between you two, only broken periodically by the groan of wheels or the creaking of the lantern above, but with your stubborn, uninterrupted glaring, he broke.

"The border that separates man from beast... you've been Chosen."

Bastards. Those bastards! What were the chances?! Did they even actually draw?!

It kind of dawned on you that... they may not have. You questioned authority often, butting heads against those who supported this horrific tradition-- many of the higher officials found your outspoken presence to be a nuisance, and with their own unmarried children to look out for..... Was it really that far of a stretch to say you'd been sacrificed in more ways than one?

"...Let me go." You demanded, and when you were met with resistance, your rage bubbled over. "Let me go this instant! Now!" Shouting hurt, but the fear and adrenaline eased your pain into fuel for your rage.

“Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

Harder than it has t- was he fucking kidding?

“You cruel bastard! Damn you and damn that Temple as well!”

As though the carriage had also had enough of your behavior, the jostling movement stopped. With an eerie croak, the doors swung open to reveal the drenched silhouette of gruff looking man in temple garb. If it would have been a stranger you saw, it would still have been equally terrifying, but perhaps it would have hurt a bit less.

You immediately recognized the man as Father Kyron, and a cold weight settled in your gut. The Father had watched you grow and mature since before you could walk-- often taking the time out of his day to play ball or sneak treats to the other children after services had ended. He'd always been such a warm pillar of the community, someone everyone could feel safe with. But those kind eyes that had always looked on at you before were now completely vacant of that gentle affection.

A monster was all that was left.

The rain pelted down on his leather-clad shoulders, cold droplets splattering onto you from the force of their impact. Whether or not he was a holy man of the temple, he looked nothing short of a demon in this moment.

Your screams went ignored as you fought not to be dragged out by your hair; body being dumped unceremoniously into the ground's painful embrace.

Kyron didn't spare you another glance as he once more took ahold of the reins. The priest did the same, shutting the wooden doors with a slam, snuffing out the little light the lantern within had to offer you.

The raging tides of emotions slowly simmered away as the carriage finally moved out of view, and now, instead of anger, hopelessness began to ease it's way into your veins. What could you do? You'd been abandoned. Left to lie in the dirt with only the echoing throbs in your side to keep you company.

Your screams turned to wails, then to sobs, and then to silence. And for a few moments you sat there, unable to process the shock of it all.

There's a funny thing about shock that no one tells you about. When there are plenty of important things for your mind to race through-- whether that be the betrayal of a beloved mentor figure, what would happen to your family, if your father was alright, who would tell Alikar... your mind often defaults to something insignificant; something harmless. And all you could think about were those damn peaches that had been laid together so carefully in your mother's wicker basket by Alikar's careful hand.

Had they all been trampled into the ground? Or would your family be able to salvage the last things you touched into something good and safe and warm for themselves...

Your eyes fixated on watching the way the rain thinned your blood and how it trailed down your skin to mix with the mud beneath you. The colors sickeningly seeped into the once pure white satin of your dress like the branching of a tree. The fabric feeling like it took root to your skin as it clung uncomfortably to your figure. It was a suffocating feeling and, surprisingly, was enough to bring a grimace to your face and give your mind enough clarity to realize footsteps were fast approaching where you sat.

"Here! Over here!"

"Damn it all, I knew I heard something!"

"Get the towels, the poor things soaked!"

Unknown voices made their approach accompanied by the warm, softened glow of lantern light. Though vaguely, you could make out the figures of a small group of armor-clad individuals.

Perhaps it was a bit of a cliche. The knights in shining armor coming to the maiden in distress-- but you could afford little to focus on the irony of it all. All you knew was that whomever held that lantern would be a fate far kinder than hungry animals or a slow fall to the elements.

Saved.

You were saved.

"H-Help me" Was all you could muster, the relief allowing exhaustion and weakness to finally take root in your body. Lead weights settling in your limbs and a quiver in your voice.

The closer they came, the clearer you could see them. They were guards, no doubt patrolmen assigned to protect the border, but very obviously not those of the human kingdom.

Otherfolk

Primarily shifters from what you could tell because, despite their mostly human appearances, their natural, beastly features still shown through. Large rabbit ears, a long flowing tail, wings stuck to their backs, or faces that just weren't quite arranged in the typical human fashion.

To some it would have an been off putting sight, but frankly after all the interaction you'd had with humans for the day... an inhuman face was a welcome sight.

"We've got ya, we're here to help, don't be scared." The rabbit shifter cooed, her gentle paw-like hands cupping your face sweetly as the bat's nimble fingers worked away at your bindings.

Her palms were soft and warm, the sleeves of her tunic smelling like the herbs and incense your mother often used at home. Your eyes closed as you couldn't help but lean into her comforting touch. For a moment, just a moment, the thumb swiping away your tears was not that of a stranger, but your mother. And for a moment... just a moment. You weren't shivering in the cold rain of an unknown land, but instead simply sat at the kitchen table at home waiting for peach pie on your birthday...

---

---

---

Ah. Was this death? If it was... it was peaceful. Never before had the space around you felt so soft and warm, and, faintly, there was the gentle scent of citrus in the air.... but was death supposed to be this painful?

Inhaling deeply, you winced, eyes cracking open as you moved blearily to try and sit up only to experience probably one of the most excruciating pains you'd ever felt.

"Easy! Oh, easy, my lady!" A familiar voice fretted, those same gentle hands from before supporting your weight with surprising strength against your shoulders. Carefully, she eased you back in place. "Lie down, the doctor gave strict orders for you to rest as much as possible until the healer can arrive. They aren't broken, but whomever you put up a fight against did one hell of a job on your ribs."

Your gaze fixated on the rabbit as she began to visually check you over once more with her large, rounded black eyes. She wasn't very tall, a bit below average at most, and held a very lithe figure. But despite that, she was donned with heavy, metal plated armor kept a sword neatly sheathed at her hip.

"Who.. are you?" You cringed as your voice was much rougher than expected, but who could blame you? After a night of screaming into the cold like your life depended on it, because it most certainly had, anyone's voice would have been a bit spent.

Without missing a beat, the rabbit shifter handed you a warm glass of water, which you greedily gulped down as she spoke.

"My name is Eve. I am a member of the king's guard here at the palace. I've been assigned as your personal guard, my lady." She bowed at the waist with a practiced precision, her fluffy ears tilting back so as to not land in your lap. "May I know the name of the lady I serve?"

"Hey, pause. Palace?" You full-stopped your assault on the glass of water and took your first good look at your surroundings. Sure enough, it was far from your typical healers hut or hostel.

The sheer size of the bed alone was the first thing you noticed. It was definitely made for something, or rather someone, that was far larger than you as the length of it easily extended another three or four feet past where your own legs ended. The tall, expertly carved banisters loomed over your head, supporting a canopy of heavy silks that seemed to trickle to the floor like water.

And the room

What a room it was. It was as massive as the bed with pristine, marble cut floors and high arching windows. Beautifully intricate moldings were placed all around, masterfully crafted to perfectly mirror one another. It was a chamber fit for a lady, no, a princess-- both of which you were not.

"I... don't think I'm supposed to be here." You murmured, eyes still trailing over the details of the walls that practically dripped with luxury.

Eve's ears tilted back once more, this time nervously as her tiny mouth curved into a frown. "Is the room not to your liking, my lady? I can ask to have you moved to something bigger--"

"No! Goodness no! This is more than enough! Too much, actually." You stumbled over yourself in your haste to not be fussed over to such a grand extent, which made Eve's expression falter from one of concern to confusion. "I'm not a noble," you clarified. "My name is (y/n), just (y/n)." Back home, impersonating a noble was enough to lose a limb if you were lucky-- your head if you weren't. Hopefully, if you cleared up the confusion quick enough, whoever misunderstood and brought you here would be more lenient with their anger.

"How could I dare call the future queen by her name?"

"......Pardon?" Surely you hadn't heard that right. "The what?" Was it.. the shock? Yes, the shock. It must have not worn off yet, that was all.

"The future Queen. I'm afraid it isn't my place to elaborate any further, lady (y/n), but I assure you once his Highness' meeting finishes up he will be here to speak with you himself."

So it wasn't the shock... and the king of beasts himself would be coming here, to you, like.. this?

You didn't need a mirror to know you were ill prepared to be meeting royalty. Your hair and skin still felt dirty and strange from your previous night's rather rough introduction to the ground, and your clothes... well, perhaps more accurately described as the lack thereof...

You felt your cheeks heat in a bit of embarrassment as you gently lifted the warm blankets to peer below. You still wore the underwear you'd had on before, identifiable by the stains of blood and dirt which had settled permanently in the crevices of the fabric, but what covered the rest of your torso and legs were bandages and dressings. Your cuts and bruises had been treated, rather professionally at that if the skill and quality of the supplies had anything to say about it.

But still, it was far from a dignified look.

As if reading your mind, your rabbit knight chimed in once more. "Don't worry, my lady, his Highness is an understanding and gentle ruler. He won't judge you for something like being wounded."

While it was sweet Eve was attempting to comfort you, you were less worried about appearing weak and more focused on the fact you were damn near naked-- though that was probably an idea that mattered a lot less to someone completely covered in fur... You didn't have the heart to tell her that though. Not when she was so eager to please and had that hopeful look in her eyes.

Not that you would have had the chance to anyway as, without so much as a knock, the two heavy doors to the room swung open.

Your hands moved in a flurry to gather the thick comforter up over your chest, your startled eyes locking with another's, and for a moment, the both of you paused.

He was tall, taller than any man you'd ever known, with shoulders just as broad that laid draped in a dark-stained cloak. It was still wet with rain and what you could guess was blood based off the thicker, red pigment that dripped from the bottom hem. Heavy, leathery wings sat poised behind him like two elegant, massive shields as his spear-like tail swung languidly between them. It was evident why everything here was the size it was now. He was massive. He was imposing. And he was horrifically attractive in a way no boy from your village could ever hope to compare.

He didn't need the crown or fine clothing to be identified. You could feel the authority he held in the air the moment he entered the room, and immediately upon seeing him, you understood the stories of your kingdom's best soldiers turning tail the second his taloned foot stepped onto the battle field.

Dipping your head as best you could, you quickly averted your flustered gaze and blushing face. "I greet the King of Beasts."

You'd expected a plethora of reactions. A gentle acceptance of your greeting, a roar of anger as to why someone as lowly as you laid within his palace, or even silence as he ignored you completely

What you hadn't expected was laughter. It was a deep rumble that could have shaken the cores of mountains if he'd leaned close enough.

"Is that what they call me nowadays? 'King of Beasts?' Of all things... you humans and your silly imaginations never fail to entertain."

You only felt your cheeks darken in humiliation as you lifted your head to stare at him with complete bafflement. Was that the wrong thing to say? Instead of answering your wordless query, he instead pulled up one of the oversized chairs to your beside.

"Eve," he called to your rabbit companion with a far calmer and level tone. "You're dismissed." Your guard, whom you'd momentarily forgotten in the chaos of it all, quickly scampered out and very suddenly it was just you and him left alone in the room together.

"Forgive my intrusion, this won't take long." His tone didn't flow like an apology, but more like an order or expectation that you would forgive him. It left a sour taste in your mouth and evidently an equally sour look on your face.

His eyes narrowed.

"Unless there's something you'd care to object?"

For a moment, a primal instinct surged in your gut beneath his gaze: Fear. He was the descendant of a long lived, powerful bloodline known for having the power to snuff out thousands of lives like yours. You were comparable to a meager speck of dust in his eyes, surely-- but an emotion that overtook your momentary fear was... anger.

No, it was rage. To be ripped from your home, stripped of your dignity-- your identity, thrown to the wolves, all to be mocked and disrespected and then be told to forgive them? Forgive him?

How far must you bow your head in order to save it? How much more humiliation did you have to endure for the sake some man deeming you worthy of survival?

Men in power had stripped enough away from you today, you'd be damned if you allowed this one to make you watch the last shred of self respect you had trickle through your fingers.

"I do actually. Quite a few actually."

The beast's narrowed eyes didn't ease, but he made no move to stop you.

"Well? Go on."

You took a breath, steeling the nerves that were pleading with you not to go through with what you were about to do. It was far too late to back down now. Instead, you hold his gaze.

"You laughed at my greeting, yet failed to introduce yourself. You came in without so much of a knock, not having a shred of thought towards my decency. You sent away the only person I knew, leaving yourself, a man, alone in a room with me, a woman, which shows you also have no concern for my dignity. Not to mention you're absolutely filthy covered in... who knows what. And to top it all off you don't ask me for forgive you but tell me to." You begin to falter, slowing your ramble as his slitted pupils begin to round out. "I think you're rude, and inconsiderate and..."

"And?" He urged, leaning forward a bit which only had you pressing further back into the plush pillows that had propped you up.

"And scary."

"Scary?"

At that, the towering dragon leaned back, the sturdy wood of the chair beneath him creaking with the shift in weight. "You look me in the eye, tell me what I can and can't do within my own home, in my own country, tell me all your objections about me... all while you think I'm scary?"

Unsure where this is going, you nod a bit lamely. What else could you have said?

"I see. Well. I suppose, in my haste, I have treated you a bit roughly for a lady."

"You...have." You affirmed hesitantly, your death grip on the blankets over your collarbones easing slightly.

"Then, for that, I extend you my sincerest apologies and ask that you find it in that fiery little heart to forgive me." You weren't sure if his tone was playful, mocking, or both... but it was a start.

"I'll think about forgiving you then."

"Then I'll put forth the effort to earn it. But for now, let's start from the beginning. I am King Jarkah Drak'in, ruler of the Etherian Empire. And you are?"

You had pondered giving him a false name before, but at this point there seemed little reason to it. "(Y/n). My name is (y/n)."

"(Y/n)." He repeated back to you, the gentle rumble in his voice almost bringing back that warmth to your cheeks. "I rarely hear human names so sweet on the tongue."

You tried and failed to formulate a reply to the compliment, your thoughts stuttering over themselves.

Seemingly able to see your internal struggle, Jarkah stood back up, signaling the end to your little exchange.

"As much as I'd prefer to talk further, I realize I should take your fragile circumstances into consideration, I'll postpone our conversation until I hear word that you've recovered." Was he... still mocking you? Or was that genuine consideration? It was difficult to read his reptilian features, and even more so when his back was turned to you. "Goodnight, (y/n)."

You floundered for a response but all you managed was a meager "Goodnight" as the door clicked shut softly behind him.

[wayfayrr]

This fic was originally inspired by the song Kerosene by tart, as it fits got the strong vibe of a yandere needing more in my opinion and I would recommend listening to it while reading <3 but eventually it spiralled into a full on self-aware sky x reader

And with that tone, they ask me 'If I'm ready…'  

Impatiently asking me to throw away my entire life for them, to cast aside everything I've ever known for the chance, the meagre chance, to stay in Hyrule. To join their duet of death, a fight that seems never-ending.

With only Sky offering me an alternate way, offering instead something more valuable than his own life to me. The offer to follow me, of his own regard instead of a twisted love demanding it of me. 

Yet, still sitting here with Sky has its own charm to it. I don't feel pressured to talk or do anything unlike how it can get with the others at times.

"You know my dove, with a touch of your life I was filled with envy… The fact that I haven't been able to live with you, know you longer than I have. I scare myself sometimes."

His chuckle wasn't as reassuring as he would thought it should be if he were trying to be reassuring to me. He could just be nervous after what he simply just admitted to. I know I would be.

"How would you scare yourself with that Sky..?"

"..."

"... I don't - It's just - I… Sometimes I uh- have thoughts. This really isn't easy to say."

Why is he looking at me like I should already know what he’s talking about like he’s going on about an inside joke? 

“It was a catastrophe, as a result of your sanguine vanity. Your confidence that everything was just a game, when you really knew better didn’t you?”

“...Knew better? What do you mean?”

“That I could see you… that from the moment outside the academy when I was told what buttons you would need to press to control me I started to connect everything, that I was alright with you being the one who had this ability to puppet me? You knew, didn’t you? You fell in love with me at the same time didn’t you?”

“Sky I - I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Is he - No he can’t be. He couldn’t have known he was in a game. He can’t have been in love with me since then… even if he did know… He should hate me. At best, this is some broken-down mechanical love, some remnant of stray code… Oh what am I doing lying to myself, nintendo made Link as a blank slate, there would never have been any failsafe like that. Because it shouldn’t be possible for him to become self-aware.

“When I first woke up that day it was like there was this other part of me, you it was you, but it didn’t take me long to realise that you weren’t a part of me. You were you and you could control my every single action.”

“My world at that point was a plaything for you but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.  I didn’t need to eat nor sleep when you were there for me, it was like I was complete. I was blinded by looking for Zelda for so long that I wasted the time I could’ve spent just basking in you.”

“I love you more than I need to breathe because you complete me… but you don’t feel the same.”

“Because I’m just a toy to you aren’t I? Be-because you left me. You just left, you left me behind and didn’t come back.”

Everything, he knows everything. Where do I start, how do I handle this? I can’t leave him spiralling like this, it’s not fair to him. Would he even believe what I’ll tell him? Do I want to tell him? 

“Sky I’m not going to lie to you. I did see you as just a game, I didn’t know that you were a person that you were alive. But I know better now. You’re not just a toy.”

“But I was just that to you…  you - you were just like a god that was sent from above to help me in my darkest moments. I didn’t- I mean I know, I shouldn’t have been able to have known any of that but I just - I don’t - I- I don-”

Tapering off into the most heartwrenching sobs after all of that isn’t something I could ever have imagined coming from the hero of the skies. I can’t comfort him. I’m not a monster.But I’m not a god either. Even if that’s what he saw me as, even though that’s what he wants me to be.  

“Sky I’m not a god. I never was, but I do care about you, I’ve said it before and seeing as you need to hear it now more than ever. I love you Sky. The you, I’ve gotten to know over this whole thing with the shadow.”

“But I - [Name] I just -”

“I know this is a lot to go through. It must’ve been absolute torture going through all of that. Can you breathe for me? I’m here to listen to you but I can’t if you’re too stressed to speak properly.”

“I - Thank you.”

The tears staining his face are starting to dry now, leaving streaks as proof of his own sadness, ones that have too much emotion behind to have been faked. All of this has to be true, there’s too much detail on things I’ve never mentioned to him for him to be lying to me based on one thing he’s heard about my own world. Which means he’s been aware of me for so much longer than he’s let on. That he might have known me for far longer than he’s let on. There’s no safe way to ask this now though so I’ll just have to hope he brings it up on his own. 

“I first figured out that I was this character after the dream I had about demise, after I woke up, when Horwell was talking to me about the lost remlit and how he told me to press z to target him, not even calling me by my name he called me Sky. But what made it even worse is I could remember fighting demise, making up with Groose and getting the triforce yet I was back to the start and being called something different.”

“That’s when you knew? Did you realise it was me immediately or did that take longer? You don’t have to answer of course, just talk about what you’re comfortable with Link.”

His breathing is slowly evening out now, clearly his earlier panic is starting to subside. Although now I don’t have my past option of being able to move away from him anymore, not with how he’s leaned all his weight against my side in, if he wasn’t so deeply upset about all of this, what I could call a desperate attempt to keep me by him. With all of this only seemingly proved more by how he’s tangling his fingers in mine to hold my hand tightly against his chest. 

“I first knew it was you when Zelda pushed me off that landing again. Your disgust at her doing that, at her not trusting me even though you already knew it was going to happen at that point. It wasn’t until I was first in the temple with Fi that I saw you properly though. I couldn’t even spare more than a second to bask in your beauty because, well I was scared that if I acted too differently from what you expected then you would just abandon me, but I wanted too more badly than anything. What I wouldn’t have given at that time to just have been able to spare more than a simple glance at you. Who I wouldn’t have killed to get the faintest chance to simply hold you.”

“...What was that last thing you said?”

“What do you mean my dove? The fact I would’ve given anything to spare a glance at you?”

“No that other thing you said.”

“That I couldn’t act differently out of fear that you would abandon me to a lifeless world where everyone was acting like soulless husks only repeating the same line over and over and over.”

“No that very- you know what, don't worry about it.”

The last remains of his tears finally fade away now as he nuzzles himself further into my shoulder and brings up our intertwined hands to kiss my own. Drawing out the moment as long as he can, fitting as he’s spent so long pining for this very touch. What’s going unsaid here is more than enough to be unsettling now, with how overbearing his feelings are getting and how desperate and cheery he’s sounding now. It’s a terrifying combination.

“I realised pretty quickly that it was your second playthrough. That I’d missed out on basking in you because I was too focused on saving Zelda,  but now I’m done with saving. I don’t want to go back to my own world, I don’t want to go back to her with how she’s always asking for more. I wish I could’ve just crawled through the screen and into your arms instead; burn away my past but I never could. I was stuck in that damned game, watching as you were so happy with me even though I wasn’t a person to you - just a toy. I could hear all the things you were saying from you complaining about your day, to how you kept calling me your precious baby girl.”

“Oh so… you heard everything… everything I was saying?”

“Everything. From the sweeter things like when you would apologize for me getting hurt even though I would never have held it against you, to how you thought I looked good in 'that green', how you'd let me do that to you as I finished off a skulltula, even how you thought ghirahim was fatherless. By far the best things to hear were you just talking about your own life, hearing you going on about your day made me feel more real than anything else did. I could imagine myself there with you, as a real part of your life.”

The chill down my spine at that admission didn’t go unnoticed by him as he coiled tighter into my side as if he was attempting for my touch to consume him fully. Like he’s gotten a taste of this touch and he’s wanting some more, like a hit of kerosene or something sweeter. 

"I don't want to go back to how it was before [name], I can't go back to Skyloft. I don't ever want to be pulled apart from you again, because when you finished the game? it felt like nothing was worth anything any more. I'm convinced I would have been better off dead than how I was without you."

He seemed not to be fond of my stunned silence, even still he respected it, letting me have precious moments to gather my thoughts. To say what? Where would I begin with handling this? I can’t question him, he’s so fragile right now and I’m too scared to break him. Maybe just…

“I’m sorry, Sky I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t know earlier… that I couldn't help you through all of that, that I didn't treat you like an actual person. Is there any way I could possibly make it up to you?"

If that wasn't the best worst thing to say then, I don't know what I could have said instead. Luckily he seemed to like it if how he’s burning himself further into my side is anything to go off of, proven more by the contented hum he’s let out. 

“Please, just don’t leave me again - I- I won’t hold it against you if it's not your own choice, like how the shadow brought you here to me, but I never want to have to be apart from you again. I want to go back to your own world with you, a brand new life with you is all I need.”

“I promise link, I won’t leave you of my own choice from now.”

“If anything happens so that you get torn away from me - can you start a new save on your switch?”

“What..?”

What good could that be - what if it only made things worse? What if that got rid of his memories? No. [name] you have to trust him on this. He knows so much more about it, he’s the one who’s lived this. If that’s what he thinks the right option is. Then it’s the best option.

“If you make a new save then this time - this time I won’t have to be worried about you overreacting and deleting me - I don’t know if I’ll be able to talk to you -  There has to be some way I can get out of that game and into your arms again my dove. I just know it.”

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||The cursed king doll||

Hi everyone, Peahen mom here with a little funny drabble for fun. After some asks from anons about a little punishment for a certain king. However, this one is for fun so lets get into it.

||Drabble Summary||

Lets say today was Christmas finally where everyone was enjoying the holidays and taking a break. However, what would happen when Sukuna sent a gift to NYC but it went too far? Seems a certain dragon had enough and asked a special someone to aid her in a little help. The result? Read to find out.

||Warning||

~This is half funny/adorable type of drabble

~crying/freaking out is present in drabble

~scared but adorable Sukuna plush is present in this drabble

((Guests in this drabble))

Taz Hellion, Kinie Ger, and Kisho belong to my amazing friend @demon-blood-youths

Sukuna Ryomen, yuji itadori, nobara kugisaki, megumi fushiguro, and gojo satoru come from the anime jujutsu kaisen but their also muses I rp with.

((Grammar mistakes and errors will be seen and noticed in this but it’s written for fun. I hope you understand but with that, please enjoy <3))

Today was a jolly happy Christmas day, seeing the jujutsu high school being on break while they are spreading cheer and holiday goodness. However, for a few, that was different. Right now, Yuji and KIsho was trying to not laugh while heading to class but their was a angry growling in Yuji's bag while he was walking with him.

Megumi was already in class with Nobara, Taz, Miko, and Yuria wondering where the two boys were.

"Are you sure they are not over sleeping again? I mean, they would be here with you right?" Yuria asked and yet Megumi sighed with a shrug of his shoulders.

"They would be yes but they told me to go ahead and they will see us later when class starts." he looks to the girls but sees Taz tilt her head with Kinie on her head too.

"Maybe their just being lazy again and wasting time. I know my king would not like that." she said simply but grins. "Or maybe chasing them for a good hunt will wake them up."

"Kinie.." Taz sighed.

"Umm..w..well, I'm sure they have a reason...it shouldn't be too bad." she mutters with Gojo wondering where the two were indeed.

"Well, I'm sure they will show. Though, we can wait a bit longer before-" as Gojo said this, the door opens showing Kisho and Yuji had finally arrived.

"Oh! You guys made it!" Taz smiled to her big brother and Kisho though they close the door to walk in but they were trying not to laugh while sitting down.

"Uhhhhh, are you both alright?" Nobara asked but Kisho tries to calm down with snorts and giggles slipping out.

"M..Morning Nobara and everyone else Pfffhh.....*snickers* Were good just having a nice Christmas." he said.

"Uh huh...." Megumi said. "And you too Yuji?" he asked seeing him nod.

"Yep..all good. No worries at all!" he said smiling even if he was lowering his head snickering with Kisho still giggling. The girls blinks now confused while Gojo confused too.

"Itadori is something funny?" He asked.

"No???" the two said snickering more while snorting loudly. Yeah, something was seriously up right now. But now that makes sense, others in school were snickering or giggling about something and the teachers didn't know what was going on. It was rather strange indeed.

For a bit, the two just kept snickering and giggling before Nobara sighing. "Alright that's it. What are you two laughing about!? You been giggling non stop for a while so what is it. What is making you two so giggly?!" Nobara asked before Yuji and Kisho just look at one another before breaking out laughing falling on the ground holding their stomachs.

"????????"

"Uhhhhhh..." Miko and Yuria was confused.

"Big brother?" Taz said confused and Kinie really confused.

"What the hell?! Why are you two laughing!? What is it!!" Kinie said demanding what is going on.

"Seems like it's pretty funny but were missing the joke here." Gojo said with a pout.

"Not funny Gojo sensei. Guys will you say what is going on?! What is so funny!!" megumi said only for Kisho to show a letter Yuji got to have him read it.

"Huh?" Everyone looks to the letter. Here is what the following letter reads:

'Dear King of Curses, Someone told me that you have been naughty and you like curses so much that you became the King of them. Therefore, here is my gift. You are now someone to toy with and play with. Hope you enjoy the week till the New Year or the upcoming spring....who knows.... Merry Christmas Signed By - Krampus

Megumi was silent reading this as the others were wide eyed then looks at him then at the other two laughing their butts off on the floor. "Hold on....Krampus?" he mutters before something caught Miko's ears.

'Yujiyoudamnidiot! getofftheflooryourfuckingcrushingme!!' said a angry toy like voice that sounded familiar.

"Uhhhhh, guys? Did you hear something?" Miko asked as Taz, Yuria, and Nobara blinks.

"Hear something?" Nobara asked but now the girls were hearing the angry yelling but Yuji hear to sit up but still was laughing catching his breath.

"H..Hold on, hold on.." he said snickering to reach into his bag and sets it on the table but their was movement inside the bag! This made Megumi, Nobara, Taz, Yuria, and Miko tense moving away a bit to see this. What was in the bag????

Gojo blinks to look but that's when something crawls out on all fours showing some sort of doll that looked like Sukuna. "Ughhh...damn brat..." he hissed but he looks seeing he was in a room but noticed the others seeing him.

'Oh damn it..'

"........Uhhhh, is that a doll?" Nobara asked.

"...That is a doll...and it sounds familiar.." Megumi said.

"Yeah...very familiar." Yuria said with Miko agreeing.

"True..." Taz mutters and Kinie looking at it.

Seeing this, Sukuna looks at them but grumbles as he tried to look menacing but couldn't. "What? You haven't seen a stupid doll before?" he said that the other blinks to look.

"......HUH!?!"

Both Yuji and Kisho bursts into laughing again falling on the ground with Eito squawking around with tears in it's eyes too to fall rolling on his back too.

"Damn it you three, shut up already! It's not funny!!" he said.

"..W..wait, isn't that...." Miko started but Megumi looks to the letter then to the doll that his eyes were in shock.

"You have got to be kidding me........." he said with his eye twitching.

"Uhhh M..Mr. Sukuna? Is that you?" Taz said worried.

"....Sadly yes Pup...it's me. Damn that stupid Krampus. He'll pay for this insult!" he growls but Kinie was more shocked that she looks to her king.

"My king! What the hell happen to you!?" she said.

"..Don't look at me princess! I look ridiculous in this stupid damn stuff toy!" he said that everyone was shocked but he kept hearing the boys still laughing except for Megumi who looks seeing the girls blink to the doll.

"Honestly I...so it was true? Krampus did this to you?" Yuria said but Miko blinks worried.

"What do you think!?" he shouted.

"Now now, don't shout. That's not nice." Gojo said. "Though, you look adorable as a stuffed doll." he said poking his cheek that Sukuna growls.

"STOP POKING ME! I'M STILL THE DAMN KING OF CURSES!! NOT SOME DOLL YOU CAN PUSH AROUND! I-" that's when Gojo picks him up to smile.

"But your adorable though!" he said holding him in his hands.

"LET ME GO YOU FOOL!!" he warns but Nobara takes him.

"You know, he looks so cute like this. Really cute." she said smiling while squeezing him gently.

"Will you stop with the squeezing girl! I demand you stop that or else I'll-" But as he said this, they were not prepared for what happened. A cute like squeak came from Sukuna followed by an adorable tone playing a Christmas song. When it finished playing he said, "

"I Luw you <3"

"o.o" Megumi was silent.

"O.o" Nobara was speechless

"........" was the only thing Yuria said.

"........" Miko was silent covering her mouth.

"........" Finally Taz was quiet to blink.

The group was speechless but Nobara blinks but in a moment...

"Awwwwww!!! That was adorable!" Nobara said squeezing him again hearing the cute squeaks.

"Stop that! Stop-"

"I luw you <3"

"Stop squeezing me you damn-"

"I love huggies and cuddles..."

"Damn it you wench stop-"

"Merry Christmas I love you all.."

"STOP SQUEEZING ME DAMN IT!!"

Nobara had hearts over her head squeezing and hugging the Sukuna Doll with a smile. "So adorable. This is too cute!!" she giggled that even Miko and Yuria was finding it cute. Even Taz too!

Kinie was in shock but she did admit he was adorable.

"Wow, this is new. I guess Krampus is punishing you for being a naughty boy this year Sukuna-"

"FUCK YOU GOJO!!" he shouted still being squeezed. "PRINCESS HELPPPPPPP!!" This snaps Kinie out of it before she quickly moves to snatch the doll away from the girls to hold the doll in her teeth.

"HEY!"

"Enough already! I think you made your point!" Kinie said but Gojo blinks seeing Kinie being cute too. "Besides, you guys need to act like adults here!" she said but as she said this, she looks to her king.

"Are you alright my king?"

"Nooooooo..I feel so humiliated being as this stupid stuff toy." he said.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way to turn you back-"

"You can't. Seems from this letter he's stuck in that doll till new years or till spring....." Megumi said but Sukuna growls angry.

"Damn it!" he said. "Ughhhhh...I hate this." he said.

"Don't worry my king. I'll be here to protect you so don't worry." However, as Sukuna was about to speak, Gojo picks Kinie up who blinks but sees him hold her.

"HEY! PUT MY PRINCESS DOWN!!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Kinie hisses but Gojo was having hearts over his head too while nuzzling her.

"So adorable! You look so cute too Kinie!"

"Uhhh.."Taz was not expecting that while Kinie was struggling.

"Unhand me right now you idiot teacher! I only belong to my King!" she hissed but he still finds it adorable. Before Sukuna could help her, the girls grab him now squeezing and giggling.

"STOP SQUEEZING ME YOU VILE HARPIES!!!! STOP!!"

"But your soooo cute!" Nobara said hugging and still squeezing him hearing more squeaks.

"Yeah he's seriously cute!" Yuria said poking his cheek and Miko watching.

"Yep, so cute!" Gojo said happy.

"LET ME GO YOU DAMN TEACHER!!" Kinie hisses but bit his hand to jump down but he chases her with a smile.

"Come back! I want more cuddles!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU IDIOT!"

Megumi and Taz blinks seeing this going on but he sweatdrops to do a face palm. Still hearing Yuji, Eito, and Kisho laughing even worse.

"...Why? Just fucking why?" Megumi said with Taz sweat dropping too.

This was going to be a while.....While for Sukuna, deep down he was furious.

'I'll kill that damn son of a bitch but I'll punish whoever did this to me. Ohhhh I'll make sure they regret doing this to me...but why do I get the feeling I might know who..' he thought but cute squeaks and hissing was heard in the room but again this might take a while.

[skarloeyspa]

While You Were Away

Saw a "make a story" tweet and was like why not so this is the result. Based on the Seven Years Later AU by @ryan1014n2, here you go bestie I hope I didn't mess up your characterizations too much. Formatting was a bit awkward for this one since I'm still inexperienced when it comes to this platform, so apologies for that lol.

Warning for self-deprecating talk, Skarloey gets recurring nightmares and at one point hints toward no longer wanting to be around, there are parts where this is written in 2nd person, but the role "you" play isn't really integral to the story. General warning for grief as well since this is a bit of an unprofessional exploration of its five stages, I personally have not experienced grief from a deceased person so this might not be the best depiction.

While helping declutter the director’s office, you found an old wooden crate with several envelopes, browned from age. The envelopes were addressed to some workshop in Wales, but no mention of a receiver, nor a person to return to should the envelope become lost. There was no stamp on the envelopes, no glue to keep them sealed, only a date in the corner. Within the envelopes you found letters, written by someone who hadn’t had the best penmanship. Curious, you decided to read through the letters by date.

Dear Brother,

Driver said it would be a good idea for me to send you letters while you are away, and I thought it would be nice to keep you posted about the railway, so I hope you’ll have time out of your busy day to hear from me. How are you? How’s your overhaul going? I still don’t know why they thought it was necessary to send you all the way to the Mainland, but at least that means you’d be getting the best care there is, right?  I’m doing alright, it’s a bit lonely here without you, but it’s not as if driver lets me be alone much, so don’t you worry about me. Your driver’s been swapping out with mine with you gone, and the stories they tell me are just hilarious! How come you’ve never told me about the time you had to stop abruptly because a cat jumped out onto the tracks? Your driver said he spilled his morning tea all over your cab, and I didn’t even hear a word of complaint from you. By the way, I had sort of a strange dream last night. I dreamt that-

An entire sentence was scribbled out. You managed to make out the word “boiler” amongst the mess. The letter continued as normal after.

-you got into a nasty accident that resulted in some serious boiler issues, so serious that you would have to be sent for a heavy overhaul overseas. Ha! Isn’t it strange? I know you’re overseas right now, but I still managed to dream of such things. But perhaps the strangest part of it all was the pit in my boiler from when I woke up, it just felt so real. I’m alright. It was just a nightmare, all engines have those. But I can’t say I don’t miss you just a little. I hope your overhaul is going well.

Much love, Skarloey

You picked up the second letter, the paper was noticeably more wrinkled than the last.

Dear Brother,

Hello, it’s me again. I haven’t heard back from you since my last letter, but it’s not like you could have read it anyway.  I got into trouble today. I was shunting some trucks in the yard and broke some loaded trucks, I spilled slate everywhere and the trucks were deemed irreparable. Mr. Sam was quite cross with me, but he didn’t punish me as I had thought. He simply made me stay in the shed for the rest of the day while those new engines ran the line. I guess I should have felt more apologetic, but those trucks had it coming. I don’t want to tell you what they said, but it was about you, and it wasn’t nice. Just-

The word seemed to be written in a rush, as a single pen stroke tore across the page as if whoever was writing this had to quickly drop the letter to handle something else. The letter continued as normal after.

Sorry, thinking about it makes me upset, driver said I shouldn’t talk about it. Oh, let me tell you about those new engines, Sir Handel and Peter Sam. They’re fine, I suppose. They kept our line running while I was kept in the sheds.  But I must say, I’d much prefer you return. Sir Handel is quite arrogant and irresponsible, and Peter Sam is so cheery it’s almost annoying. But driver didn't seem to mind, he even called me a grouch! Me!  I miss you, brother.

Much love, Skarloey

You picked up the third letter, the writing a lot more scratchy and rushed.

Dear Brother,

I had that nightmare again, remember the one I told you about in my first letter? You probably don’t, but I don’t blame you. It must have been so annoying for you to have to listen to all my nonsense, huh? I hope you’re at least getting some silence wherever you are. Sorry, about my nightmare, I hope you don’t mind my rambling once more. It’s still the same, only now it’s more clear to me what that nightmare was really about. It’s still about you, but now it’s about me as well. It was never something I made up, and now I can’t stop seeing it in my sleep. I keep seeing you over and over again, and it keeps replaying in my head. Your

The ink colour changed here, as if the writer had to pick up a new pen because the old one dried up. But the previous ink was still well-pigmented, you had a feeling something else happened that forced the writer to put down their parchment.

Incident. I could still hear that loud sound, it’s still ringing in my head whenever the night gets quiet. And every time I see piping on the side of houses, I see you. I see your 

The ink colour changed again, you realized this happens several times throughout this letter.

Broken boiler. Your piping sticking out where it’s not supposed to. I couldn’t see your face, and you couldn’t reply to me. And every time I think about it, the pit in my boiler only gets wider, and it feels like a million ants are crawling all over me, trying to dig their claws into my shell, it feels like the fire inside my own firebox is trying to burn me alive, melting away until all that’s left of me are the charred remains of my chassis. Perhaps that would have been a better fate. I wish you were here to berate me, to tell me that I’m just being silly, tell me to get back to work and to act my age. I should have noticed, I should have realized that something was wrong. Why wasn’t I more vigilant? Why did it happen to you? It should have happened to 

The paragraph ended abruptly there, with no harsh pen strokes or blotches of dripping ink, as if whoever was writing this simply decided not to write down their thoughts.

I’m sorry, I’ve just been thinking a lot these days, maybe a little too much. I keep getting this impending feeling that something would go wrong, like something would stop our trains from running or worse, shut down our railway.  And those new engines as well, Sir Handel and Peter Sam. They were fine when they first got here, but lately they just keep making small mistakes. How hard is it for an engine to stop properly at a station? And don’t even get me started about their work in the yards. Any engine can shunt, but that Sir Handel just won’t stop complaining. And I understand treating others with respect, but you can’t be too lenient with trucks, and that Peter Sam simply couldn’t understand that. Oh, but I shouldn’t be talking about them, when I’m such a wreck myself. I’m sorry, brother, that you have to hear from me like this.

Love, Skarloey

You picked up the fourth letter, written on a different type of paper entirely, small and fragile. The writing was awful, almost incomprehensible.

Dear Brother,

I keep having nightmares, every night they end the same. There’s nothing I can do, there’s no one I can go to, no one would understand. Everyone seems to have moved on already, and I should as well.  But when I think about leaving you behind, when I think about you, I just can’t. I’m so sorry, brother. I’m so sorry for letting our railway fall like this. I can’t even bare to leave my shed these days, there’s no point if you aren’t there.  There’s no point when you’re not here. 

Skarloey

You move on to the last letter, seeming much less weathered than the rest. The penmanship was also different.

Dear Brother,

Hello, it’s been a while. I hope you’re well, wherever you are.  I’m doing fine, better than the last few years. It seems that our railway is doing better now as well. You wouldn’t believe the new flowers that have started blooming at Rheneas! Oranges and reds and buds and petals, all blooming strong under the sun.  Whenever I see them, I think about you. Don’t worry, I really am better. I think about how you would have been concerned about how distracting they are for passing locomotives, but you would secretly love them yourself. I even dare say some of the bigger ones match your livery perfectly. While I was away, I think they fixed some of the old tracks around the railway. It’s so smooth I could barely even recognize it. I think it’s some well-needed change, wouldn’t you agree? Oh! Speaking of the tracks, Sir Handel was being cheeky again. He almost derailed himself at the junction again. His wheels saved him just barely, and now he won’t stop talking about them. Silly engine, he looks like a steamroller! Also, I hope you wouldn’t mind. I know you wouldn’t, but I felt this deserves to be mentioned at least once to you. I talked to your crew the other day about you. I was very happy to find that they shared similar feelings as me, albeit less strongly. It was a nice change of pace, I haven’t allowed myself to speak of this with anyone for a very, very long time.  And I know you would tell me there’s no need for an apology, but I do feel like saying sorry, maybe just one last time. Talking with your crew finally woke me up, I can’t cling on to you forever. There’s still a railway to run, with you or without. And I’ll be damned if I don’t keep our railway running till my very last puff.  So please, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine here. I’ll keep your memory alive, and I’ll do it properly this time. I don’t think I’ll write to you again, I doubt you would need a written parchment to understand my thoughts anyway. 

Thank you, Rheneas.

Much love, Skarloey

That was the last letter. With the paper still in your hand, you looked out the slightly browning window of the old director’s office. Just outside, a vermillion well tank engine and a dark blue saddle tank engine chattered, laughing about something you couldn’t quite hear. The vermillion engine laughed particularly hard at something the dark blue engine said, their eyes crinkling from joy. The dark blue engine simply smiled, with such a warm look in their eyes you could almost feel your heart melt.

The director’s voice calling your name knocked you out of your observations. You hastily returned the letters to the old wooden crate and shoved them atop an old shelf. The excitement from this morning returned, you couldn’t wait to watch the two old engines double-head their first train since Rheneas’ successful overhaul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OKAY IT"S DONE

Hi hello thanks for making it this far I don't have much to say besides errrrr is it implied that Skarloey got someone on the railway to write the letters for him or he grew fingers and wrote them himself uhhhh I dunno that was the prompt I got so I'm just gonna roll with it

[sunshine-vx]

Across Space, Time and Dreams (ASTaD) (Ch. 20)

(Blankshippers DNI)

(Please refer to beginning of chapter 1 post for complete list of CWs/TWs)

(Extra notes: Hello everybody! To make this short, I planned on having another chapter released a few weeks ago but my schedule kept going all wack. I have the time today but it'll be a bit late bc I overslept lmao. I'll be releasing two chapters today, so after this one, there should be another in the proceeding hour or so (edit: it's now up!)! Thank you all so much for your patience- and of course, for reading!)

(Huge thanks to @moonlightalpha666 as always. They've been carrying the illustration aspect of this fic for a bit. I'll still be doing illustrations myself but Moon has been an amazing help, and every illustration she does is always incredible. Obviously, this chapter's illustration done by @moonlightalpha666 !)

(Reblogs are appreciated!)

-

Emmet picked up his phone. He needed to alert some people of Ingo's return immediately. 

"Ingo. I am going to alert a few people and they will show up here soon, okay?"

"Do they know me?" Ingo asked. He seemed just ever so hesitant. 

"Verrry well." Emmet replied. 

Ingo smiled, feeling a bit more at ease now. "Then alright, I don't mind at all!"

Emmet nodded and swiftly turned to send a message to Elesa and his Uncle Drayden, along with his and Ingo's Assistant Subway Masters- Depot Agents Jackie and Cloud. He sent the same message to all of them;

"I am Emmet. I have found Ingo. We are both at Nimbasa Police Station 2A."

He would elaborate later- there was no time to say anything else at the given.

Soon, Ingo and Emmet were being approached by paramedics- the officer had called them in. Emmet knew why they were here- a health evaluation. It was standard procedure when a missing person has been found, but Ingo seemed a bit nervous and less aware. 

"What's going on..?" He murmured.

"We are going to be brought to a hospital for a health evaluation." Emmet explained. 

"But- I feel fine."

"Yes, but they have to check just in case."

A nurse approached the two brothers. 

"Follow me, please." She instructed.

The nurse led Ingo and Emmet to an ambulance. The back doors were open, and Emmet stepped inside, waving Ingo in to let him know it was okay.

After a moment of hesitation, Ingo stepped inside as well, sitting down beside his brother. 

Another paramedic entered the ambulance after Ingo and Emmet, closing the doors behind them. They stood next to the twins.

"I'm required to stay with you two.” The paramedic explained, “My apologies if it's inconvenient, but it's protocol to make sure y’all are alright."

"It is okay." Emmet responded. Ingo simply nodded.

Although Emmet tried to assure him it was fine, Ingo fidgeted some. How many people would be arriving to see him? How would they respond to his memory gaps? Would this be a recurring issue? How often would he need to address it?

Questions were spinning through his head. As soon as it seemed the ambulance had left the police station, it had arrived at the hospital, Ingo and Emmet being escorted inside to be evaluated.

Before anything could proceed, the twins firmly stated that they refused to be separated, and that they would not argue. 

Thankfully, the doctors and nurses complied. 

Ingo and Emmet didn't necessarily mind the evaluation- they understood it was necessary. Having to remove their coats bothered them a bit- but they'd live. They were together now, after all, and in the end, everything went alright. 

After all the tests were complete, the brothers were escorted to a hospital room, where they would wait for the test results- as well as for any guests that would come. 

After a nerve-wracking hour passed, a nurse alerted the twins that two people had arrived to visit them.

Ingo and Emmet exchanged a glance. 

"Who?" Emmet questioned. 

"Gym Leader Elesa and Gym Leader Drayden." The nurse responded. 

"Uncle Drayden." Emmet added. 

Ingo sat down on one of the hospital beds, his mind drifting away. 

Elesa…Uncle Drayden…

Ingo's eyes immediately started to water. Emmet could only smile bittersweetly in response.

"Anything coming to mind?"

"..A lot…" Ingo muttered, "It's like remembering so much at once, but it's all blurry..I can't quite see it…"

Then, the door opened, and two people rushed in. 

Ingo snapped out of his daze, looking at the individuals. He felt himself starting to shake. 

There was a taller, lean woman, with dark hair and an unmistakable blue-and-red headband. She wore bright yellow and black clothing and heels. 

Then, there was a tall, muscular man, with white hair, growing down into a thick beard. He wore less notable clothing for the most part, but the slightly decorated lederhosen felt like it was signature.

"Emmet!" Drayden called out to the younger twin, "There you are! Thank The Dragons you're alright!" 

Elesa was already getting a bit teary eyed, relieved that her best friend was okay.

"And what about-" Drayden almost immediately cut himself off as both of the visitors saw Ingo, the older twin lifting his head and raising his hand in a small wave. More tears welled up in Ingo's eyes, looking at the two individuals in front of him.

"..Ingo...." Drayden murmured. 

Elesa didn't hold back anymore. She ran and embraced Ingo, crying in utter relief that Emmet had kept the full extent of his promise.

Tears began spilling harder from Ingo's eyes. He had more family here. Ingo returned the embrace. 

Drayden approached the situation with more caution. He did not want to overwhelm his nephew.

Drayden carefully, like a gentle giant, approached Ingo's side, putting a hand on Ingo's shoulder.

"Ingo…are you feeling alright?" 

"I'm..I'm okay." Ingo replied quietly, a small smile on his face.

"I'm just…really happy to see you here."

Elesa let go of Ingo and tried to wipe her tears away, but even if she couldn't, her wide smile said much more.

"And we're relieved to see you! Oh, Ingo, I couldn't be happier that you're back! It's been so lonely without you.."

Drayden looked at Ingo and fixed a gaze with him. 

"I hoped everyday to the Dragons that they'd guide you back to us. We're nothing but relieved to know you're back home."

Drayden wasn't much of a person who showed physical affection, but he still pulled Ingo gently into a soft hug. Ingo felt himself choke on tears. He buried his face in Drayden's chest, regaining the composure he was beginning to lose.

"I'm glad I'm home, too." He said simply.

Ingo pulled away from his uncle, who took a step back. Tears ran down Ingo's face, and he brought his hand up to his eyes to wipe them away. Drayden, initially looking in pride, was caught off guard. A concerned look was apparent in his eyes.

"Ingo, may I see your arm?"

Ingo blinked, confused. But he complied, although unsure what reason Drayden was asking this for.

"Oh. Y-Yes, of course, uh-"

Ingo stretched his arm out for Drayden to look at, the older man taking Ingo's arm and inspecting it. Elesa took a step back, also examining whatever Drayden was looking at. 

"Scars…more muscular but..almost malnourished." Drayden let go of Ingo's arm.

"What in the world happened?"

"Yes, Ingo, I understand it's a hard situation, but you're acting ever so slightly strange. Is everything okay?" Elesa added

Ingo winced. He didn't want to keep it a secret from them, but Dragons, he hated feeling like he was letting people down over and over again. 

"I…It's a long story…I just don't.."

Ingo's eyes began to fill with tears. He was frustrated. 

"I don't want you all to think I don't love you, because I do, but I'm afraid people won't believe me and it hurts to see, and they have the right to feel hurt, but the situation is so complicated and it's just kind of really difficult--" 

Drayden crouched down and looked at Ingo, putting a gentle hand on his leg as a gesture of comfort.

"Ingo. It's okay. Are you afraid?"

Ingo blinked tears away, looking at his uncle.

"O-Of you? N-No. Never…"

Ingo averted his gaze and faced the ground.

"I'm..I'm afraid of hurting you…"

Elesa frowned. She looked at Ingo, concerned, putting a hand on his back to help calm him down.

"Ingo, whatever's going on isn't your fault. We just need to know."

"..Okay….okay, uhm, Emmet? Can you come over here?" Ingo requested.

"On it." Emmet answered. The younger twin stood up from his hospital bed and made his way over to stand beside Ingo. He knew what had to be done.

With Emmet's help, Ingo explained everything he could to Elese and Drayden. He felt a knot in his stomach as he saw Drayden and Elesa's expressions turn to that of horror, their hearts dropping, but Ingo would make sure to raise them again. He made sure to emphasize the most important part- that despite his memory gaps, he knows in his heart who they were. Even if he couldn't remember the memories, he knows very well of their bonds. 

“I can already feel my memories returning. Even if it will take time, I promise, I'm already with you.” Ingo stated.

Drayden lowered his head to think, closing his eyes. Elesa wiped forming tears away, letting out a sigh. Ingo tensed, Emmet preparing to help how he could. But thankfully, the other two came around.

Elesa smiled, and Drayden opened his eyes. 

“You're home, and you're able to remember, and you already are. That is all that matters. It won't change anything.” Drayden spoke.

“No matter how much time it takes,” Elesa added, “You're still our Ingo.”

Ingo's eyes became misty, blinking the moisture away.

“Thank you.” Ingo replied.

Ingo felt, and knew, that this was going to become some sort of pattern. It didn't make each new encounter less relieving, bittersweet, and yet heart wrenching at the same time, but at least he could become accustomed to it.

He had asked Emmet about it, who said he didn't have to tell everyone. That it wasn't lying to not say anything, and that it's okay to keep to yourself if that's for your better interest.

Ingo would have to think about that. 

For now, though, he just focused on the present moment, with his family with him. 

Drayden, Elesa, Ingo and Emmet just talked and rejoiced in the moments that passed. Ingo felt a weight on his shoulders lift.

After a while, a nurse entered the room with a clipboard holding a few papers and a pencil. 

"My apologies- I don't mean to interrupt anything, but I have the evaluation papers for both patients."

The nurse turned to Drayden, handing him the clipboard

"You're considered a guardian figure, yes? Here, take a look."

Drayden nodded and thanked the nurse as he took the clipboard, reading it aloud so the others could hear.

There were some worrying details, but what was important was that they had been assured that the twins would make a full recovery; that's all they could ask for, really. 

"They will be staying the night at the hospital to make sure they are stable, before being returned to the Nimbasa Police Station for questioning." The nurse explained.

Drayden nodded, “We understand. Is there anything else?”

The nurse shook her head, “There will be people that will arrive in the morning. They will inform you of what comes next.”

And with that, the nurse exited the room.

Emmet turned to Elesa, relieved but surprised.

"How come they did not bring you in for questioning? I may have been declared missing for a few days- a Depot Agent may have seen me leave into the portal on the tunnel cameras.." Emmet spoke

"Yes- Depot Agents Cloud and Jackies, they saw.”

Before Elesa could continue, Ingo perked up, his eyes wide.

“Depot Agents Cloud and Jackie…?”

Emmet nodded, smiling. “Yes. They helped us.”

“How…how are they?”

“They are well.”

With that, Ingo simply nodded. He needed time to think about these things. 

Elesa continued, facing Emmet, “They contacted me and asked about you. I had to explain the situation to them, along with Drayden here- but," Elesa explained, "we didn't tell the police or anyone else. As for your public appearance, I had a little help from a new friend!"

Elesa pulled a Pokéball from her bag before clicking the button. 

A blue light shot out and took form into..

A Zorua!

Ingo blinked, surprised. The Zoruas in Hisui looked much different, but at the same time, it looked extremely familiar. 

"This little fella started following me right after you left for your mission!" Elesa stated, "It was fantastic timing. It was able to pull off your appearance for long enough so no one got suspicious- it liked helping, and it never attempted to do any harmful pranks or actions. It's a sweet little guy- and really skilled."

The Zorua yipped in contentment. 

"Oh wow!" Emmet exclaimed, "What a twist, huh, Ingo?"

Ingo chuckled a bit, nodding. "Indeed."

Emmet sighed in relief, "Thank you, Elesa. You are a genius!" 

Emmet turned to the Zorua, giving it a friendly smile.

"And you, too! Just do not go taking my identity unless given permission, alright?"

The Zorua responded with a friendly bark, before yawning and using one of its hind legs to reach an itch behind its ear.

Ingo laughed, chiming in.

"Yes- thank you both! I am glad that everything went smoothly- and now Elesa has a new friend!"

Emmet nodded, "Yup! It is verrry exciting!"

Elesa giggled. 

While a generally good vibe filled the room, a bit of worry flickered across Ingo's eyes.

"So..what do we do when we're brought in for questioning?" He asked, glancing at Drayden.

Emmet simply looked at Drayden as well, his eyes asking the same question.

"Elesa and I will be fine. Just tell the truth." Drayden replied, "And if they don't offer it, perhaps ask if they could run a test or so to prove what may not be able to be proven otherwise. There are many resources that can be put to use here. Outside connections are also useful. Emmet, you mentioned having outside help, yes?"

Emmet perked up and nodded, his eyes letting off a spark as he caught onto Drayden's drift, "Yes! Codename "Looker" from INTERPOL."

Drayden nodded, before continuing to speak, "Then ask for that individual as well when you are taken in for questioning. It's not a guarantee, but they may be able to help us if they arrive on time."

Elesa chimed in, "I can go and ask the officers to call for them so that they have a better chance of getting here!"

"Are you sure?" Ingo asked.

"Yes, of course! I'm always willing to help!" Elesa responded.

Emmet nodded, "Just be careful, then."

"Of course. And I'll be back!" Elesa replied, before taking Zorua's Pokeball out of her bag, "Alright, bud, c'mon!"

With that, Elesa returned Zorua to its Pokéball and left the room. 

Drayden nodded in approval, "She is a very smart lady. She'll be able to get it done."

"I am verrry grateful for all that she has done…more than most people would, for sure." Emmet stated.

"I have no doubts in my mind or heart that that is true. She certainly seems like the type- and….I just know." Ingo smiled, agreeing.

Emmet smiled in return.

Drayden began speaking again,

"Absolutely. On another subject..until tomorrow, we will be remaining here. I will be staying here to watch over you two overnight, along with Elesa.” Drayden said.

The twins nodded. They were more than glad to have Drayden and Elesa stay here with them. 

It was well past 10:00 PM now, and both twin brothers were asleep in their hospital beds, only an opened-up curtain apart. Elesa had dozed off in a chair near the door to the hospital room. 

Drayden was still awake, watching over his nephews with the vigilance of a Salamence in the air. 

As Elesa had promised, she returned to the hospital room with good news after a few hours. 

Although it took some prodding, she was able to get the officers to call for Looker.

The rest of the afternoon had been well, among all four of them. Ingo and Emmet just chatted amongst themselves, Drayden and Elesa. At one point, Ingo had suggested they go out into the courtyard- when they got there, he showed them new Pokémon he had captured while away! Some of them were Pokémon the others had never seen before. They wanted to ask questions, but they would have to do so later, as they didn't want to overwhelm Ingo. Regardless, it was fun in the courtyard!

Drayden, like the twins, was truly grateful for Elesa's help. She was pretty much family to him at this point, too.

Drayden was not an emotional person, usually. No, he wasn't the type to call emotion a weakness, or shame himself for showing any- he just wasn't the type to express himself in that particular way. 

But as Drayden looked over the sleeping boys, leaning his back against the wall, facing the end of the hospital beds, he felt his eyes watering and his throat closing up. 

He had helped raise these two. To see Ingo back with them, to see Emmet resting soundly again, to see them side by side.

It hurt him to know what they've had to go through, but it healed him to see a sign of hope that everything would be okay again.

Drayden did not stop himself from crying. He would not awake Ingo and Emmet, of course, but he wouldn't stop himself from allowing himself to feel.

He was a more quiet person overall, anyways- it seemed that included being a silent crier. 

Drayden did not shed many tears, but they were there. Regardless, it was something he had needed to express. Joy that Ingo was back, relief that Emmet had been alright, and hope for the future of his nephews.

Drayden wiped his tears away and regained his composure. 

He looked up. 

Ingo and Emmet were still sound asleep. Drayden hummed quietly to himself. That was good.

He should probably get a little bit of rest himself.

Drayden and Elesa were up early, and had awoken Ingo and Emmet quite early as well. The hospital would be dispatching them soon, and police would be here to take Ingo and Emmet in for questioning.

"Do you two feel better than yesterday?" Elesa asked the brothers.

"Yup! I feel quite a lot better, actually." Emmet stated.

"I do." Ingo replied, "I feel..very refreshed."

"That is good." Drayden spoke as he went over to a desk where the twin's folded clothing could be found. Drayden handed it to them, who took the clothing gratefully. 

"Go change into these. I'm sure you'd prefer it." Drayden commented, "Be sure not to take too much time, though. I will be signing you two out while you do that."

"Thank you, Uncle Drayden!" Ingo and Emmet answered in sync. 

Once the twins returned to their designated hospital rooms, Drayden and Elesa were waiting for them, an officer and paramedic to the side.

"Hello, Ingo Sokomasu, Emmet Sokomasu." The officer greeted them, "I will be taking you to Nimbasa Police Station 1A for questioning. Please follow me."

The officer led Ingo and Emmet outside the hospital, approaching a police car, with Elesa and Drayden following. The officer opened the door for Ingo and Emmet, who sat inside, looking nervous. The officer made their way into the front seat.

The paramedic, Drayden and Elesa approached the car windows. 

"You two will be fine. Just do what you'd usually do, as I said before. You are both very intelligent young men." Drayden encouraged.

"Do not worry." Elesa piped in, "Drayden and I will be heading to the station, as well. We'll be waiting for you!"

The brothers nodded, thanking their uncle and best friend. Knowing they'd be there helped calm their nerves. With that, the officer rolled up the window and began to drive towards the station. 

When they arrived, Ingo and Emmet were taken in separately to be questioned by themselves. It wasn't ideal, but it was necessary- to accommodate, the other twin was placed in the room right next to the questioning room, where they waited intently while the other was being questioned, hoping that everything would go okay. 

Ingo was asked what he remembered, what happened while he was gone, where he had gone, and what he knew. Emmet was asked more or less the same questions, but also of what he knew of Ingo's disappearance, and how he had found Ingo.

Ingo answered honestly and only honestly, and to his fullest ability. Of course, his answers would seem out there, and the officers were certainly perplexed, but Ingo insisted he was telling the truth.

Emmet also told the truth, and mostly to his fullest ability, although he left out a few details, such as..stealing the Orbs. He was sure Looker had returned them by now.

When was he going to get here, anyway?

After the brothers were done being questioned, they were escorted to another, singular room. Ingo and Emmet were excited and relieved upon seeing each other again, although anxious upon seeing multiple officers inside the room.

Looker was there, too, speaking with them. There he was!

Looker turned as he heard the brothers enter the room, and he smiled. Ingo and Emmet- the younger brother especially- seemed glad upon spotting Looker.

"Greetings. Looker is what they call me." He announced, turning to meet eyes with the younger twin

"Emmet, thank you for alerting me to your current situation."

Emmet nodded, "Yes. Thank you for coming."

Looker nodded, then turning to the older brother, "And Ingo. It is wonderful to see your case has been solved."

Ingo smiled, "I am endlessly grateful for your help, detective."

"It is my job to make sure citizens stay safe. We have business to discuss, that being said." Looker averred, waving the Subway Bosses over to a nearby table, with enough chairs to fit a whole group, and many papers and books laying on top. "Here, we have been discussing the case and the information we have gathered thus far."

Emmet faced Looker anxiously.

“I am assuming that…others will be questioned?”

“Yes.” Looker answered, “No need to worry, they are not in trouble. It is just standard protocol.”

Ingo turned to Emmet, confused and a bit concerned.

“Who?”

“Ms. Elesa, Ms. Cloud, Ms. Jackie, and Mr. Drayden.” Looker responded.

Ingo's eyes widened, “Cloud and Jackie are here?”

Emmet nodded, “Yes, but not..here.”

Ingo's shoulders drooped ever-so-slightly. “Oh…will..will they be alright? And Elesa and Uncle Drayden?”

Looker nodded, “If you had a real reason to worry, I believe I would need to be concerned, myself.”

That helped Ingo's nerves a bit, although he couldn't help but think about what he just heard. 

“Now, it is time for business.” Looker announced, taking a chair and pulling it outwards at the table.

Chapter 19 (part 2 of 2)

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Chapter 21

[tailoroffates]

Heads up 7 up tag game

Tagged by: @emelkae, thanks for the tag! I was given a choice between heads up 7 up, and last line. I've decided I'll do the heads up, as I enjoy putting up the snippets :P For this post I'm going to tag a few folks and then leave the tag open so anyone interested can participate! @luckyy19 @doublegoblin @charlesjosephwrites @the-orangeauthor @primroseprime2019. Also, please feel free to tell me if you aren't into playing tag games and I'll keep you out of the loop. Thanks!

From: The Garden That Burned series - Book 1, Kindling (my upcoming novel).

(Context: Danny stands inside the witches hut and is asked to travel to a different plane of existence in order to free an immortal guardian who has been sealed for centuries...)

  “So this Karma person, she will guide me- wait... What do you mean the rings will protect us from each other? Is she dangerous? Would she hurt me?” I asked nervously as Rizza frowned.   “No! Well, not intentionally. Look, Karma was sealed after the Tari Nova, but during the fall of Atlantis. She fell mid-battle, and she’s been there for thousands of years. You need to keep in mind most everything that she’s ever known is long gone, not to mention the fact that it was another Guardian who sealed her in the first place. We couldn’t possibly begin to predict her current mental state, so yes. Give her this ring and tell her I sent you and all should be well. Oh, but do make sure you use my name, don’t just say a witch or she’ll punch you into space.” She replied giving me a thumbs up. I continued trying to keep myself calm, gripping the banister hard as a small cope for the information overload I had just received. Punch me into space… can she actually do that or was Rizza joking with me?   “I’ll go along with this because my gut is telling me I should, but this is a shitty idea…” I said as suddenly Rizza's hand shot to her mouth and she looked at me in shock.   “Hey! Language!” She scolded, then pointing to a sign on the wall that I swear to all gods present and lost, was not there the last time I looked. It read:  “In my home, mind your manners. Actions, thoughts, and language matter!” My focus shifted from the sign to Rizza, then to the sign again. My expression must have revealed that I was utterly unimpressed, because she simply started laughing at me.   “I can’t just give you all the answers or you won’t learn how to learn. These are just things that you’ll have to do, and you’ll have to do them your own way. That’s the only way that’ll do, after all. Just remember, if you are going to do something, be it right or wrong, do it with conviction. Nothing worthwhile comes easy, Danny. So, unless you’re willing to put your best foot forward your desired results may be out of reach, hmm? Yes, you’ll do fine.” She said in a bashful tone while waving her hand in a playful fashion. We stopped in front of one of the doors.   “Alright... What’s the plan then?” I asked, fidgeting with my fingers. A wispy carved symbol sat above the door and the plaque nailed to its center seemed to be written in Belani script. I frowned. I’d need to get closer to translate it… I thought as Rizza suddenly reached down and turned the doorknob revealing a strange, stagnant place with absolutely no color. Hues of black, grey, and white cascaded across this vast empty space where no ground or sky appeared to exist. Several faces appeared out of nowhere and began pressing themselves into the fabrics of their reality, creating dull silhouettes on the other side of the door. They desperately tried to force their way through the colorless sea of nothing, each releasing a gasping scream which made it through the doorway and echoed off the walls of Rizza's house. Just as they closed the distance to the door, Rizza slammed it shut and glanced at me quickly with a coy grin.   “Oops, wrong door.” She said playfully as we walked forward two more doors before she stopped. “This is it, Kid. Last stop before you start to have an idea of what you’re doing.” She said as I frowned in response. I wiped the sweat forming above my brow.   “Wrong door? Are they all like that?” I asked in terror as she laughed out loud.

[truckreincarnation]

Entomology || King Calum’s Truths [1/3]

The crowd cheers as Theophania and Avery return for the questioning, having been taken to the lobby for a short while so that they could discuss their game plan. In the time they were gone, a table was set up in the middle of the arena, with three cups set on it. At the head of the table is King Calum, looking as smug as ever. To his right, the Cavalry Captain sits astride her feline steed, and to his left a servant stands holding a fancy bottle.

“To assure my honesty, and to ensure that none of you bribed my servant into poisoning me, all three of us will be indulging in the truth potion together,” the king declares. “Each of us will take one of the three cups on the table and consume it. As such, we will all be under the effects of the potion. But I am a kind king, and I will ask no question of you, lest the Cavalry Captain silence me.”

THEY would have to take a truth potion as well…? Avery… looks a little more hesitant at that, a number of thoughts and fears crossing their mind. But… this is what it would take to make this happen, huh…? They look to Theophania, silently making sure they're both on the same page here.

Theophania grimaces a bit, but ultimately gives Avery a subtle nod and reaches out to squeeze their hand. It’s alright. They can do this, if it means answers…

Just not first.

“Go on, Calum. Take your potion and we will follow suit.”

“If I must…” He seems rather put off, but the king quickly downs the first of the potions, which he very clearly picked at random.

"I'm… willing, under these conditions," Avery says as they steel their expression, though their tail's anxious flicks still portray some of their inner worry. Regardless of that though… they take up their own cup of potion and drink it all in one go, ready to Purify themself at a moment's notice if it ends up being a trap.

Satisfied that Calum drank first and that she got away with disrespecting him to his face, Theophania grabs her cup and downs it. Huh. So that’s how it feels to be honest. But in any case, it’s time for their first question.

Theophania asks, “What is the full, unaltered account of the demon king's origin and history, including actions taken by Calamity towards them thus far or initially?”

Ah, that… Calum seems a little uncomfortable answering that question, but the truth potion doesn’t give him any choice in the matter. Against his will, his mouth opens and answers begin to spill out. “The Demon King, whose name was lost to us, as we simply didn’t ask back in those days, was an Incarnate of the first generation, when the soul of an Incarnate was summoned into an occupied body. Normally, the original inhabitant was dominant, and controlled the Incarnate’s power, but the Demon King was different. He was stronger willed, and simply crushed the soul of the original owner of his body. Unwilling to follow Calamity, he fled to the north, where he began to amass power.

“For many years, Calamity knew nothing of this, and simply went on our way. However, in 1029 M.E., he made contact with Tal’nula, which informed us of the fact he was there. We sent ambassadors to attempt to make peace with him, but they were driven away. Over time, we tried again and again, but he began killing or maiming those sent over the border. Because of this, we feared an attack. The king at the time, King Reynold, attempted once more to make peace, and it seemed to be received earnestly. The king was invited to Hivemount, the capital of the Demon King’s nation, to discuss terms. The treacherous Demon King then proceeded to slay King Reynold, sending his corpse back to Calamity as a warning. As a result, my ancestor, King Calum I, and his sister, Princess Magnolia, declared war on the Demon King’s nation. Tal’nula, seeing this as it was, an act of aggression against Calamity, joined us in the battle. Though, they could have provided more. It was barely a pittance…”

The king scowls, looking in a certain direction. None but him would know he was looking towards Tal’nula. “The war was a massacre on both sides. We lost our heroes, and though the Demon King was severely injured in the conflict, we suspect he lives to this day, having finally recovered from the injury Lioness dealt to him. We thought, perhaps, we could have peace. And peace we had for sixty years, before a follower of the Demon King poisoned the crown prince at the time, Calum II. Said follower, both confessed, and made clear that tensions between our nations were still at a high. Meanwhile, Tal’nula, traitors they are, established friendly relations and started trading with the Demon King. Hastily, Queen Peony shut their border, but that left us isolated. We were lucky no attack came in that time. Or, at least, that was the case for a while.

“In 1047 M.E., several villages around the border were completely emptied. Their people were either killed or taken to the Demon King’s nation against their wills. We could never confirm which of the two was the truth, but I suspect they were taken as hostages. We chose, wisely, to not attack, as we were still in a difficult situation. It was only nearly a century later, when my mother strengthened the border defenses, that another large scale attack was launched. A number of soldiers lost their lives, but it did not escalate into a full war. And then… Moonrise…

“Moonrise was the largest confirmed loss of life since the war.” Murmurs come from the crowd. Everyone there knows what happened to Moonrise, even if the Incarnates do not. “Moonrise was a hamlet not far from the capital. Its population swelled, however, when a summoning academy was built there, the biggest outside the capital. Three of the Demon King’s followers managed to sneak into Calamity. They set their sights on the relatively unguarded Moonrise. They prepared an Abyss ritual… Not a single soul made it out of Moonrise. We considered an attack just then, but we bided our time. Until now. It was from Moonrise that the ritual you are all a part of was dreamed up.”

He goes silent there, letting out a breath. It seems that the potion is finally satisfied that he’s given all the information he needs to on that topic.

The news is more or less what she expected. The Demon King was an incarnate too. She also isn’t surprised by the King flavoring the whole thing like Calamity were the innocent victims in all of this. It’s probably all he knows.

“So…let me get something straight here. Your greatest adversary, the Demon King, is an Incarnate…and your solution to dealing with him is…to summon more incarnates? Because clearly that has been going so well for you,” Theophania scoffs. This man and all of his ancestors, apparently, are absolute morons.

Avery’s eyes narrow at the last sentence by the King there especially, after having listened intently to the rest of it. They glance towards Theophania though, and then back at the King. “That’s not our next question, by the way. You can answer for yourself, but we still have two more after this.”

“We summoned Incarnates for the better part of a thousand years before we even found out that the Demon King was still alive,” the King huffed. Stupid Incarnates, not understanding basic logic. Once you rely on something, it’s very hard to give it up.

[kotonoba]

Daybreak (Madara/Fem!Reader) Ch. 0

I thought I should write this before starting with the Reader’s POV. This is through Madara’s POV. He doesn’t know what happened; he only saw the most triggering results. Like how the reader would be oblivious to how Madara feels towards her (maybe), Madara is oblivious to how the Reader feels towards him. Also, can you tell? I write on PC before I upload it? It looks a bit odd, I'm so sorry, my phone has this bug where my touch doesn't register, so I can't exactly write on my phone. New phone soon, I hope.

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A fool he might be, smiling at a fond memory as he took his last breath from the ‘peaceful’ world that she couldn’t witness. He recalled so clearly that she invited him out for dinner a few nights prior, “let’s throw a surprise party for Hashirama!” She exclaimed happily but quickly toned it down as she got strange looks from the party-goers around the restaurant. If only she would have that same energy towards him as she did towards his best friend. 

Preoccupy Hashirama for me; I’ll do the decorating for the party, okay? Thanks, Madara!

He was a fool living in his little world, he knew she liked Hashirama, but he still couldn’t help but fall for her, help her even, because he simply craved for her smiles and happiness. His brother called him a fool and told him he should just pursue her if he liked her so much. But Madara didn’t want to make it awkward between them; what if she didn’t like him!? It was always a possibility since she always gave him candy whenever he seemed down to her. Even though he had explicitly stated that he doesn’t like overly sweet foods a few times, she always gave it to him. Maybe it was her way of saying she didn’t care for his feelings.

Chuckling at those thoughts, he closed his eyes after passing on his legacy to young Obito. He will make a peaceful world for her. He recalls as his mind slowly slips into oblivion – the night of the birthday party, Hashirama happily announced he was getting married to the Uzumaki princess. The smile on her face faltered, but it never left her face; it just became like a decoration on an empty shell. She didn’t have much to say; the smile on her face slowly disappeared as the night went on… and so did the happiness in his heart. He couldn’t bear to see her so down. It wasn’t like her. 

As he was in a land that was neither pure nor dark, his mind wandered. As he was thinking about the time after the party, as people left, she stayed behind to clean up quietly. Never had he seen her cry. She often did not cry, even if she had gotten hurt. But, as she was cleaning up, silent tears dropped out of her eyes like sakura petals in the harsh wind. He… didn’t know how to comfort her. As he approached her, she flinched and pulled away from him, “ –rry… sorry, I-I need to go…–” never had he heard her voice so broken. It tugged at his heartstrings to see her hurry off toward her home, where her family decided to migrate over to Konohagakure to be closer to her. 

As he was resurrected at the climax of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, he was warming up, seeing how people all spoke of peace as if it were their privilege; he gritted his teeth. A sudden memory flashed into his mind – the day after Hashirama’s birthday, she was sent on a mission. Perhaps Hashirama was aware of her feelings for him. Had he not sent her on that mission, had he not said: “I’d like you to gather these herbs for the hospital because the Uzumaki princess prefers this type of herbal tea – but I cannot come with you, is that alright?” Had Hashirama not said that everything would have been alright. If only he had returned from his mission soon enough, maybe he could have protected her till the very end. 

The flicker of chakra Madara felt as night fell before the Shinobi world – Madara recalled the same night of that mission, where no one accompanied her as she wandered out of the safety of Konohagakure to gather herbs for Hashirama to make the Uzumaki princess feel more at home – if only. If only he had returned soon enough. 

“She had feelings for you, don’t you know!?” Madara’s anger towards himself for not being there to protect her better was redirected into hate towards Hashirama and the village. Such a kind soul – by the time he returned from his information-gathering mission and found out that Hashirama had sent her out on a mission alone… chills shot down his spine as he recalled one fateful conversation with her:

“You know, Madara, I feel safer around you and Hashi. Whenever I’m alone, it feels like someone’s following me. I’m sure it’s nothing. But I like being around you two,” if only Madara had taken it more seriously, this wouldn’t have happened. 

Madara remembered when he finally found her. She was lying lifelessly in the lush green meadow splashed with red. Her eyes slashed, losing their color, turning dull red with all the blood that painted her features. Her insides were exposed to the rainy night, her skin pinned open like a dissected frog; her intestinal organs, liver, kidneys, and lungs were all taken out and neatly placed beside her motionless body. What he recalled from that memory was burned into his mind as his Sharingan flickered on. She was still clutching onto some herbs and a small pouch of candy labeled: “For Madara.” 

The thud of him falling to his knees beside her lifeless body was covered by the thunder’s cry. Gloved digits gently brushed down her half-opened eyelids. His eyes wandered around her body until he spotted a note beneath her head. He gritted his teeth at the words that were written on the note;

“Thank you for leaving her side, and I couldn’t strike when you two kept guarding her so tightly.” 

Madara was found kneeling beside her lifeless body by his little brother. There was no exchange of words as he was escorted back to the village. For days, he hadn’t spoken. The times he tried to leave the village was often stopped by Hashirama, oblivious of what happened; she was just marked as M.I.A., not that anyone cared enough to try and find her. As he returned to the same spot, her body no longer remained, all his hate bottled up, and the foreboding darkness slid back into his shadows – “if only she weren’t sent on that mission, she would have been fine.” 

With so many legends resurrected to fight Madara, she was the only one that mattered, yet she was missing from that crowd. They simply cannot resurrect someone whose body has long gone. As the battle drew close, Madara came to terms with his hate and waves of anger; all of those were not targeted at the village or Hashirama. It was targeted at himself because he wasn’t there to protect her better. 

“Next time,” he breathed weakly, his chakra slipping away with his consciousness as he glanced at the reanimated Shodai Hokage. He expected confusion, but he saw sadness instead. 

“Next time, we’ll protect her better,” perhaps it was reassurance that Hashirama said that to him so he could rest better. But, instead, Madara shook his head, his gaze shifted towards the mildly lit sky.

“...next time, I’ll protect her.”

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

My dumbass forgot that the prologue was posted on Saturday. “Twice a week,” she says – that means Saturday and Sunday. Don’t worry. I’ll manage the upload time better. I don't -- I don't think Madara minds sweet foods? So, to be safe, mildly sweet is okay.

Cloudy's AO3

[whumpmatsus]

Hi! 👋 Two things! First, a fic request (again Ichimatsu whump because I'm sorry but I have to): Ichimatsu takes a hit meant for one of his brothers (be it accidental or on purpose) and is pretty badly injured. Cue the rest of the Matsu Bros. to the rescue!

And second, um...would you be okay with it if, let's just say hypothetically, I made fan art of some of these fics? 😺

FIRST OF ALL thank you for this because it's LITERALLY the longest thing I've written on this blog so far!! so I hope u enjoy it fully uwu

Matsu Bros plus a cameo by Mama Matsu!! <3

second... YESSSS THAT IS ALWAYS DEFINITELY OKAY!!! aaaaaaa you flatter me <3 <3 <3

-

When Ichimatsu first wakes up in the hospital, he doesn’t remember why he’s here. Hell, he barely even remembers who he is.

All he really knows initially is that he’s in a lot of pain. It hurts to breathe, his face is kind of numb in spots, and his leg feels weirdly positioned, plus heavy and uncomfortable. His shoulder feels kind of sore… as does his wrist.

There’s also some strange fog drifting around his mind that’s making it difficult to really focus on anything.

He feels a hand in his own. Not very tight… he thinks it’s someone giving just enough pressure to let him know they’re here. That he’s not alone. That’s comforting, he thinks.

Then he starts to remember things.

He was out walking with some of the others; Karamatsu and maybe Totty? What they were doing is a little fuzzy and isn’t coming to him instantly. He just recalls they were together, walking on the sidewalk. They came to a crosswalk and waited their turn. Karamatsu, as the eldest out of the three, stepped forward first to cross.

Ichimatsu thinks Karamatsu’s intention was that he would hold Totty’s hand to keep the youngest safe while they crossed, and Ichimatsu could follow after them. He doesn’t believe Totty had any objections.

They waited. They followed all the rules they were supposed to. The crosswalk light told them they were allowed to go.

It was someone else who broke the rules, tearing through a stop sign, the car headed right for his brothers. He… thinks he remembers Totty had only just come forward to grab Karamatsu’s hand, so he wasn’t quite there yet. Karamatsu was the one in the most danger.

He doesn’t remember much else. Running forward, pushing his baby brother behind him and yelling for his big brother to move.Then an impact. A lot of pain. Black and nothingness and warmth.

Now he’s awake. Putting the pieces together, he’s pretty sure he shoved Karamatsu forward and ended up getting hit by that car.

He thinks, in his haze, that the car should have hit Karamatsu, because he was the one who went first, because things happened so fast. But he’s glad it didn’t happen that way.

A couple groans catch the attention of whoever’s in the room, and he gets a squeeze to the hand. “Ichimatsu? Honey? Are you awake?”

“Mmh…” It hurts a little to move his head. He does it anyway, getting a glimpse of his mother. “… Mom…?”

It looks like she’s smiling… relieved, maybe. “Yes! Yes, my sweet boy, Mama is here.” She reaches her free hand over to gently stroke his hair. It feels nice. “Thank goodness. How do you feel?”

He closes his eyes. “I hurt.”

“Well, I should hope so! I’d be worried if you weren’t in a lot of pain right now. Do you remember what happened?”

Although he tries to move around, it’s difficult simply because it’s so painful. “Uh, yeah, kind of… I got… hit by a car, right? ― H… hey… Karamatsu and Totty… where are they? Are they okay?”

“Yes, dear, they’re both fine. Karamatsu has a couple of scrapes, but nothing serious. You, on the other hand, are lucky, young man. You’ve got a broken leg, a couple of broken ribs, and a broken wrist. You did have a dislocated shoulder, but they got that back into place. The doctor said it could have been much worse. She said you got off easy compared to some people who get hit by a car.”

She combs his bangs back in a way that mitigates any anger or frustration in her next words. “What were you thinking?”

“The car was coming for Karamatsu…” He frowns as the memory surfaces again, in slightly better detail. Damn. “… And Totty didn’t see it… he was gonna step out, too…”

Everything seemed to happen so fast. How the hell did he manage to get his older brother out of the way and keep his younger brother out of the way when everything happened so fast?

Matsuyo sighs and continues stroking his hair. “Oh, I know… they were both in tears when we all arrived. Totty was inconsolable… saying that Karamatsu would be dead if you hadn’t run forward and that he thought you were dead because you weren’t responding. I should be mad that you scared your brothers… but…”

She leans forward to kiss his forehead. “… You did a brave thing, Ichimatsu. Mama is very proud of you. I just don’t like any of you boys hurt… if you’re inclined to do this again, pull the other person back instead of taking their place. You silly boy,” she adds with an affectionate smile.

“Hah…” he laughs weakly, wincing at the pain in his chest. “Sorry, Mom. Everything hurts… I wanna go home.”

“Mhm, they’ll probably let you go pretty soon now that you’re awake. That’s the main thing they were waiting for, I think.” She moves her hand down to pat lightly at his forearm.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be home before you know it, and your family will take good care of you.”

-

Coming home is kind of weird.

Ichimatsu can’t really walk on his own. Since his leg is broken, the doctor gave him a crutch that he can use with his good hand, but it’s an awkward movement and leaves him feeling unbalanced. It’s just easier to lean on one of his brothers to walk ― in this case, Choromatsu has volunteered to help if Ichimatsu needs to walk somewhere. Though… he gets the feeling that the others would be more than happy to volunteer if the third eldest were somehow busy when he needs to get up.

Every motion, from sitting up to reaching for things to just breathing, is painful thanks to the broken ribs. There’s nothing that can really be done for those, so he’s evidently got to just suffer. He remembers the doctor saying they should feel quite a bit better in a couple of weeks. Most of this is going to take a month or more to fully heal, which is… according to Osomatsu, a ‘major boner-killer’.

Sitting around doing nothing but being in pain is going to be the end of Ichimatsu. He’s sure of that. He can’t go outside to feed the cats, and it’s difficult to cuddle with them inside with all his injuries. That alone is pretty depressing.

The pain medication they sent him home with is also a little frustrating. The first time he takes it, it makes him so tired he sleeps right through dinner.

He falls asleep on the couch in the spare room, he knows, because it’s where he has to be set up for now. There’s noway he can sleep in the futon with everyone else while he tries to heal; that runs the risk of running into someone, or having one of his brothers accidentally run into him.

His leg’s in a cast and his wrist is in a splint, to protect them as they fix themselves, but if those areas have someone roll onto them, it’ll probably result in more damage. Which means more pain and more time added to his recovery.

It’s apparently a bad idea to sleep on the couch. When he wakes up, everything is sore and screaming in pain. Justified, unfortunately, since he fell asleep in the same position he was relaxing in.

Someone else… is here? There’s something warm pressed up against his side.

He glances over to find that he’s evidently been resting on Karamatsu’s shoulder, likely for a while given that Karamatsu’s eyes are closed too. It looks dark out, and Ichimatsu’s foggy mind busies itself wondering what time it is.

There’s a soft chuckle beside him, and looking over reveals one of his big brother’s eyes is cracked open now. It’s swiftly followed by the other one, then the sudden absence of a pressure around his shoulder makes him aware that Karamatsu had an arm around him. “Awake, hm?”

“Yeah…” He tries to stretch, stopped short when a jolting pain in his chest reminds him that it’s definitely a bad idea. “Oww. I don’t even remember falling asleep.”

“That’s alright. You started to get a bit drowsy about half an hour after Osomatsu-nii-san gave you your medicine. We saved you a plate from dinner, though, if you want me to go warm it up.”

Ichimatsu blinks. “I slept through dinner?? Shit. How late is it right now?”

His brother shifts a bit more to take out his phone. “Hm… a bit after midnight.”

“Midnight?” Well, fuck. Although he can justify an hour nap or so, he’s just slept like six hours. He missed dinner, he missed going to the bathhouse, he missed maybe a game of cards before bed.

Karamatsu laughs again, his hand tousling Ichimatsu’s hair fondly. “That’s right, my brother. Don’t worry. Osomatsu-nii-san said fatigue is a side effect of your medicine, and your body needs sleep right now, anyway. So, are you hungry? Mommy made soba and yakitori for dinner, but if you’d rather have something else, just say the word. Your wish is my command!”

Honestly… he’s not really that hungry. He knows he should probably eat; his stomach is just trying to tell him not to have anything heavy. Another side effect of the medication, maybe. “Are you… sure? I kind of just feel like plain miso and rice. Other stuff doesn’t sound good.”

“Of course! I’d be delighted to go heat some up. You simply rest and I’ll…” When he goes to stand up, something catches Ichimatsu’s eye, and he grabs his brother’s hand, weakly, with his own injured one. It’s painful, but…

Karamatsu’s eyes focus on his younger brother, brows furrowing. “Ichimatsu? What’s the matter?”

It’s… that cut on Karamatsu’s face. Ichimatsu didn’t notice it before. Now that he’s a bit more alert, it’s practically all he can see. It’s not very big, maybe the length of one of their little fingers, and not deep. It looks like a scrape from falling off one’s bike or something. He thinks maybe it had a bandage on it at one point. The color has faded into something dull; the skin around is still bright pink, though, suggesting that it’s irritated despite not being cut.

His gaze shifts down to find similar wounds on Karamatsu’s hands. On the palms, where he probably got a sort of road rash when he tried to catch himself after Ichimatsu pushed him out of the way.

His own wrist protests with a violent throb as he reaches to let his fingers graze lightly over Karamatsu’s wrist. Image after image of what might have happened to him if Ichimatsu wasn’t fast enough comes unbidden into his head. Karamatsu could be the one with a broken leg or broken ribs, or it could have been worse.

“Y… you’re okay… right?” As soon as those words are out of his mouth, tears start spilling. All at once he’s pulled into a hug, loose fists resting against his back. He can’t stop himself from leaning in, pressing his face against Karamatsu’s shoulder.

He can feel the soft rumble of mirthless laughter his big brother gives. “You’re the one who was hurt, Ichimatsu. I’m only okay because of you. If you hadn’t seen… I wasn’t paying attention…”

The words, “It should have been me”, hang heavily in the air even though Karamatsu doesn’t say them.

He brushes a delicate kiss over the side of his little brother’s forehead. “Heh… you would have been a better big brother than me. You kept us all safe when I failed. You probably saved my life, you know. Thank you.”

Ichimatsu isn’t sure why it’s now that the full weight of everything has hit him. Now, when he’s home and out of danger, when everything is okay. Shouldn’t he have been falling apart when he first woke up in the hospital? It shouldn’t have taken seeing Karamatsu’s small injuries to remind him that they all could have died when he’s the one in a cast.

It’s hard to keep himself together, to keep his breathing normal so he doesn’t completely go to pieces. (Though, if he did, what better place to do so than in his older brother’s arms?) “… You’d do the same for me, right? So it’s only fair.”

“I would,” Karamatsu hums. “Without a second thought. You’re my little brother and I love you very much and if I could save you from being hurt, I would. I’m… sorry I was so careless that I couldn’t do it this time.”

Ichimatsu grunts, slipping his good arm around Karamatsu’s waist in an effort to be closer. “Don’t feel too bad. The next car’ll be yours.”

-

After eating as much as he feels like he can, Ichimatsu allows Karamatsu to help transfer him to the floor. It’s already set up with a spare futon, a blanket, and a pillow, probably because someone guessed that sleeping on the sofa wouldn’t be comfortable.

He’s still in so much pain. The shoulder that was reduced back into place aches like an old war wound, and his chest is sore even when he’s lying still. To say nothing of his wrist and his leg. His whole body feels like one giant bruise, except worse.

Although Karamatsu insists he’d be just fine to stand guard all night, after a few minutes Choromatsu comes in and sends him back to the bedroom. Ichimatsu doesn’t hear too much of the conversation ― mostly whispers that Karamatsu needs to go get some sleep, that Choromatsu is glad to take a turn.

Soon enough, though, Karamatsu relents and comes to tell Ichimatsu goodnight before he leaves the room. Ichimatsu gets one more kiss on the head and a reassuring squeeze to his good hand and exchanges another round of “I love you”s with his brother, then heads into the bedroom.

Choromatsu came prepared, setting his own pillow up on the couch and tossing a blanket at the end just in case he needs it. “So… how are you feeling, Ichimatsu?”

“Mm… like crap, kinda.” He looks over to where his brother is trying to get settled in. “I can’t believe I slept six hours and I’m still tired. What kind of shit did they put me on?”

“Hah… y-yeah, it’s the good stuff, probably. Is it at least helping the pain a little?”

“A little. Like Mom said before we left the hospital, I… guess it’d be more worrying if I wasn’t in pain right now. I did get hit by a car.”

Choromatsu leans forward and places a cautious hand on his little brother’s head. Once that earns him no punishment, he gingerly combs through Ichimatsu’s hair. It certainly feels relaxing. “You sure did. I… I can’t believe you kept both Karamatsu and Totty safe. Adrenaline’s a… a weird thing, huh? I’m glad you’re all okay. Hopefully the pain medicine will work better once you’ve had a few doses.”

“Mh. I hope so.”

“Yeah. For now, just, uh… just try to get some more sleep, okay? Your body needs a lot of rest while you’re healing.”

Yep, that’s what Karamatsu said, too. Two of his brothers saying the same thing can’t be wrong. … Well, they could be, but it would be weird. “I’ll try. Thanks for… being here. I dunno that I’d really want to sleep alone for the whole night. Guess Totty’s rubbing off on me.”

A low chuckle leaves Choromatsu as Ichimatsu closes his eyes. The sound of rustling suggests that his older brother has laid down and pulled a blanket over himself as well.

After a moment of quiet between them, Ichimatsu becomes keenly aware of a sensation that definitely isn’t going to allow him to sleep. “Uuuugh. Shit.”

“Huh?” Choromatsu is sitting up in an instant, ready to practically spring out of his skin. “What’s wrong, Ichimatsu?”

“― My leg itches.”

“O-oh. So… scratch it??”

He throws his head back in frustration. “No, the one with the Goddamn cast on it.”

“Ohhh. Okay, uh, well…” Choromatsu gets up and rummages through one of the drawers for a few seconds.

After that, a pencil is pressed into Ichimatsu’s good hand with a smile. “Here, try this. Stick the eraser end down in the little space between your leg and the cast, then keep moving it. If the itch is high enough up, it should help.”

Ichimatsu raises an eyebrow at the advice. Well. What’s he got to lose, after all? He spends a moment trying to get the itch scratched after slipping the pencil down, and finally he sighs in relief. “Fuck, that’s a lot better. How’d you know that was gonna work?”

Choromatsu grins self-consciously, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Ah, well… remember when I broke my arm? When I went for my checkup, I had this itch inside the cast that was driving me nuts. So the nurse showed me this trick. It doesn’t always work, but…”

“Huh… well… thanks.” After everything, he’s just really tired and ready to sleep now. He would cross his fingers that nothing else disturbs him if he felt like moving at all.

“Heh, no problem. All good now?”

“I think so.” When he sees his brother straighten up to head back to the couch, his brain evidently thinks it’s good to say something. “H… hey. Choromatsu?”

Choromatsu looks back down, concern etched on his features. “Ah, yeah? What’s up?”

His heart is hammering so fast it feels like it’s trying to break more of his ribs. He doesn’t really want to embarrass himself. It’s just… he feels… “Can you… can you… stay for a minute? Down here?”

“Oh… yeah, sure. I can’t stay too long… I-I can’t sleep next to you. I might accidentally hurt you.” Even so, he lowers himself back down, sitting cross-legged and reaching to stroke Ichimatsu’s hair.

He nods. That’s part of the problem. Even though he normally wouldn’t have much complaint about being left to his own devices… he’s used to sleeping next to his brothers. Right on the end beside Karamatsu. When he’s not feeling well, being absent from them is apparently not doing him any favors. “I know. It’s just…”

His eyes drift closed once more. It must be the medicine making him feel out of it and way too honest. “… I think I’m gonna get lonely sleeping like this.”

“O-oh… gosh.” He can practically hear the frown in Choromatsu’s voice. The other man’s hand combs through his hair, a rhythmic and repetitive motion that makes him sleepy again. “I can probably… sleep like this, propped up against the couch. Is that okay?”

“Mmmh… I don’t want you to have to do that… you’ll make your back sore.”

He chuckles. “Ah, I-I think I can handle it. Even if that’s true, it’d be worth it to me so you don’t have to feel lonely. It’s the least I can do for my little brother.”

“I can’t stop you,” Ichimatsu mumbles. Sleep is scrabbling its tiny, strong fingers at him, trying to pull him down. It’s getting hard to resist. “If you want…”

“Yeah… yeah, I wanna do this for you.” Choromatsu leans down to press a small kiss to the top of Ichimatsu’s head. “Hey. Love you, Ichimacchan. Try to get some rest, okay?”

He doesn’t have to tell Ichimatsu twice. Within a minute of Choromatsu’s urging, he’s fallen back into a peaceful darkness.

-

When Ichimatsu wakes up the next morning, Choromatsu’s presence has been replaced by Jyushimatsu’s.

As much as he loves his immediate older brother, he doesn’t have any complaints. He and Jyushimatsu are very close, and his younger brother being here is pretty soothing to wake up to.

He’s uncharacteristically quiet, though that’s not to say he isn’t his usual energetic self. He appears to be flipping through baseball cards, maybe organizing them in his little album, humming to himself. There’s also one hand free to play with Ichimatsu’s hair, which he supposes is why he still feels relaxed.

“Hey, Jyushi.” His body reminds him why stretching is a bad idea right now, so he settles for arching his back a little in an effort to make something pop. Everything is sore. Even that little bit of movement hurts his ribs enough that he has trouble catching his breath for a minute. “Fuck… morning.”

“Oh! Yeah, it is morning!” Jyushimatsu is chipper as always, though when he leans in for a hug, he’s surprisingly gentle. “How’d you sleep, Ichimatsu-nii-san?”

“Okay, I guess. I still hurt a bunch.”

“Yeahhhh, you were crying in your sleep! But it’s okay! Because guess what? Jyushi is here!” He grins, nuzzling his cheek against Ichimatsu’s. It’s a bit weird, but par for the course as far as Jyushimatsu is concerned. Besides, the hug is nice after the fear of being lonely last night. “Did you have nightmares, huh?”

Now that he mentions it… yep. Ichimatsu’s dreams, or what he remembers of them, were filled with horrible things. The memory of being hit by the car, or the images of either Karamatsu or Totty being hit because he wasn’t fast enough.

He recalls one piece of a dream which involved looking into his own chest and seeing the end of a fractured rib shatter his glass heart.

A shudder runs through his body, prompting Jyushimatsu to tighten his grip just slightly. “Oh, you’re cold! It’s past breakfast, ‘cause you slept for a really long time, but I’ll go get you some tea!! Sound good?”

Given that his appetite hasn’t come back from war, that sounds better than anything else. Though he did manage to choke down that rice and miso last night, he’s not sure if he wants to eat even anything bland. “Yeah, sounds good. Put just a little bit of agave syrup in it for me?”

“Yeah! Anything for Ichimatsu-nii-san! Be right back, okay?”

With Jyushimatsu, ‘be right back’ is typically how it goes. He’s only gone for a few minutes, or at least it only seems like a few minutes.

Regardless, Ichimatsu has a cup of tea in his hand relatively quickly. Almost as if his brother predicted that it would be difficult to hold something very hot with only one hand, the tea is warm, not boiling hot.

It’s easier to balance it with one hand, plus this means it’s pretty much the perfect temperature to drink. As he starts to sip it, he feels Jyushimatsu’s hand, covered entirely by his sleeve, rubbing affectionately between his shoulder blades. “It’s good, huh?”

He swallows and gives the other a nod. “Yeah, pretty good. Thanks.” Thankfully, it should wake him up, too. He’s still feeling kind of groggy.

“Good!! Osomatsu-nii-san said he’s gonna give you your medicine in a minute, since I told him you were up and hurting.” Jyushimatsu shoves his binder of cards away, shifting up to sit on the sofa. “Do you want me to move you up here after you’re done drinking?”

“Probably, yeah. You got anything you wanna do today?” Another sip, and he sighs in relief feeling the warmth flow through him. Damn.He can’t believe he could take something as simple as a cup of tea in the morning for granted. “I can’t really help with baseball practice… but we could watch TV together or something.”

“Sure! We can watch whatever you want!” After only a few seconds, Jyushimatsu wiggles himself back down and leans against his big brother’s shoulder. “Hey, Ichimatsu-nii-san… I’m really glad you’re okay. Even though you’re hurt and everything, you’re home with us instead of… being not home with us!”

The least he can do is let his head rest gently against Jyushimatsu’s. “Yeah… I’m glad I’m home, too. Don’t think I’d rather be anywhere else.”

Jyushimatsu nods eagerly, making a brief, dull wave of pain wash through Ichimatsu. However, he’d rather have that pain than not have his little brother close. “We’ll take really good care of you! Just say if you need anything, okay? I’m really strong and I can get anything! … And if I can’t, Osomatsu-nii-san probably can!”

“Heh.” Ichimatsu takes another gulp of his tea. “You guys are the best.”

-

True to Jyushimatsu’s word, Osomatsu is in pretty soon to give Ichimatsu the painkillers. For whatever reason, even when he can’t be trusted with literally anything else, the eldest is pretty good at monitoring medicine when one of the others needs it.

All things being equal, Ichimatsu has a lot of faith in taking medicine when Osomatsu keeps track of it. He knows how much was dispensed, how many Ichimatsu is supposed to take and how often, how many are left, and all the related things. He’s like some kind of idiot savant who was put on Earth to be a pill counter.

After he takes it, he expects to start getting tired again, so he silently begs Osomatsu to stay on the couch with him. They’re all supposed to be hanging out anyway, based on what Jyushimatsu said, so right now he decides he wants to be close to his oldest brother for a little bit.

Osomatsu seems all too happy to oblige, snuggling Ichimatsu as close as he dares to. It’s probably not a good idea to use normal force, so the touches are… lighter than usual. It’s not so bad.

He settles in on Osomatsu’s shoulder, trying to get his eyes to focus on the show Jyushimatsu turned it to for him. It’s kind of unfortunate that he’s almost certainly going to fall asleep on it. “You guys are taking really good care of me,” he sighs, letting his eyes slip closed. “You want my allowance? Or, like… a bag of sardines?”

Osomatsu snorts. “What? You’re nuts, man. We’re taking care of you because we want to and because you need it. I mean, if I was sitting here with a broken leg, a broken wrist, broken ribs, and had to have my shoulder cherry popped back into place, wouldn’t you all be like, ‘Wow, maybe we should give the poor bastard a hand’? We’re just doing the same thing for you that we’d do for any one of us.”

Ichimatsu huffs. “Yeah, well… you’re all doing a lot. Karamatsu went in the kitchen past midnight to make me miso and rice, Choromatsu probably fucked up his back sleeping against the couch so I wouldn’t be lonely, Jyushi’s waiting on me, and you’ve got my medicine on a damn schedule or something.”

“Yeah, well,” Osomatsu grins, “I can’t leave it up to you, crackhead.”

He can’t help but chuckle at that. Even so, it’s not going to make him totally drop this. “I’m serious. You guys are…”

Osomatsu nudges him carefully. “We’re being brothers, you boner. I know we suck at showing it sometimes, but… you know we all love each other, right? I guess it’s easier to show it when one of us is sick or hurt. Just so happens you’re the hurt one right now. And also your ass is on painkillers, so everything seems weird to you.”

… Okay, so maybe he can’t fault that logic. Still, though.

They’re both quiet for a long moment while they watch the screen, then Osomatsu lets out a soft hum. “You did good, you know. I don’t like that you tried to get yourself killed, but you did good.”

“I wasn’t trying to get myself killed,” Ichimatsu retorts with the nastiest facial expression he can muster right now. “I didn’t wanna get hit, either. But Karamatsu and Totty weren’t paying attention… I didn’t want them to get hit. I was trying to get us all out of that way… I just wasn’t fast enough.”

Osomatsu scoffs before reaching his hand up to ruffle Ichimatsu’s hair. He appears to be getting a lot of pets like that lately, not that he’s complaining. It feels really good and is one of the biggest comforts he has right now. “You protected them, anyway. I can’t say too much, because you didn’t do anything I wouldn’t have done if it were me.”

Ichimatsu offers a low, mocking wail. “Oh, shit. I’m turning into you. I think I’d rather be a cat. If I were a really bratty cat, you’d still be nice enough to feed me sardines and scratch behind my ears, right?”

“Uhhhh, I guess. You’re changing the subject, you dick.” A small puff of laughter makes his bangs move. “I just… wanna say I really respect you, man. Sometimes I remember the days when you would kick Karamatsu in the leg just for breathing the wrong way. And when you used to blow Totty off to hang with your friends in high school.”

He gets a shrug in response. “People change. We’ve all changed a lot.”

“Yeah, sure. I know.” His arm shifts down and he squeezes Ichimatsu’s good hand in that reassuring, proud way only an older sibling can. “They haven’t all been good changes. But seeing you trying to keep the others safe… that’s a a good change. Just gotta give you your props, Ichimacchan.”

He’s too tired to really argue with Osomatsu. Despite the fact that he knows he’s the shittiest of them all, he has to at least silently acknowledge that what he did prevented one of his older brothers and his baby brother from being in the same pain he’s in right now.

Instead of saying anything meaningful, he just presses himself in more against Osomatsu and mutters, “That’s nice. I’m tired.”

Osomatsu snorts and Ichimatsu feels a light kiss on top of his head. “Alright, dumbass, get some sleep. The pills are probably kicking in. Let me know if you need anything.”

Ichimatsu thinks that, right now, all he needs is his big brother to be the perfect pillow, and he’s doing a pretty good job of that.

-

Although it’s not dark at all the next time Ichimatsu wakes up, it’s significantly later than he meant to sleep. 3 P.M., meaning that once again he’s slept through a meal ― lunch, this time.

Just like last night, he finds that he’s not really all that hungry. Even so, it might be a good idea to eat, so probably he ask Osomatsu to get him something small.

When he shifts and looks over, though, Osomatsu isn’t there anymore. Instead, there’s Totty…

… Oh.

He’s holding onto Ichimatsu pretty tight. Ichimatsu isn’t sure he can move too much with the way Totty is holding him.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Totty? Everything okay?”

His little brother stiffens, wide eyes suddenly turning up to look at him. Unlike what he noticed about Karamatsu, Totty doesn’t have any physical injuries, but… the skin around his eyes is red and puffy. “Y… yeah, it’s all good. Sorry, am I hurting you?”

“No… not really hurting.” He doesn’t remember having seen Totty too much after everything happened. He visited Ichimatsu in the hospital, all teary-eyed and not talking, before they were all allowed to take him home. Once he got home, though, he can’t recall Totty being around a lot even though everyone else was.

He assumed Totty was freaked out after everything and avoiding him just because he’s emotional right now. Seems Ichimatsu was right about that.

He maneuvers his good arm to put it around Totty’s shoulders, pulling him in closer. “Have you been crying? You sure you’re okay?”

Totty sniffles and dips his head down. “Yeah, sorry… I just…”

“Don’t be sorry, dumbass.” Even though it hurts a little to move so much, Ichimatsu cuddles his brother in against him. “It’s fine, you big crybaby. I just wanna make sure you’re okay.”

“I should be the one making sure you’re okay.” Regardless, Totty nestles in, tucking his head under Ichimatsu’s chin. It’s a bit of a weight on his hurt ribs, but it’s not that bad. “… H-hey. I, um. You know. I… I love you.”

Huh. It’s been a while since Totty has said that point-blank to any of his brothers, Ichimatsu thinks. It’s kind of nice to hear. He closes his eyes and offers an appreciative hum. “I love you, too. That it?”

Totty lets out a frustrated sigh, and Ichimatsu can just imagine the pout he has on his face. Kinda cute. He can’t really help himself; the youngest is always gonna be the baby, always gonna be adorable, even when he’s acting like a little bitch or if he wants to deny it. “I wanted to… say I’m sorry.”

“For…?”

“For… everything! Y-you know, for almost getting hit and… I mean, you got hurt trying to protect me and Karamatsu! If I hadn’t tried to follow him without even looking… you wouldn’t have had to worry about me. And… and I haven’t been with you too much since you got home…”

He nuzzles his head against Ichimatsu’s collarbone, kneading his hand against the top of his brother’s good leg. “I’m sorry about that. It’s just… I’ve been… really upset. It was scary, seeing the car hit you…”

The hum Ichimatsu gives this time is lower, pensive and understanding. “Yeah. Mom said you were crying a lot when she got to the hospital. ‘S okay to be kinda freaked out, you know.”

“Yeah, I know… and I was… am.I was scared the whole time… Karamatsu tried to wake you up, but you were just lying there and you wouldn’t…” Totty sniffles and his hand curls into a weak fist against Ichimatsu’s knee. “I didn’t wanna lose you, Ichimatsu-nii-san, and I was really afraid you were gone. I’m happy you’re okay… I just… I-I was pretty sure I was gonna cry the first time I tried to take care of you, so I… wanted to be alone with you. Crying in front of all you guys is…”

Ichimatsu nods to quiet his brother, ghosting a kiss over the top of Totty’s head. “I get it. It’s okay, Totty. C’mere, okay… you don’t have to be sorry for being freaked out and not wanting to cry and all that shit. I’m sure Karamatsu’s freaked out, too. And everyone else. Don’t apologize for your feelings, stupid.”

An indignant huff is the response he gets, before Totty presses in against Ichimatsu’s uninjured shoulder. “It just makes me think a lot,” he finally confesses.

Ichimatsu smirks. “Right. And you’re so out of practice with thinking, it’s hard. I know.”

“Th-that’s not it, you jerk!” Totty whines and brings his arms in, curled against his chest. His knees come up onto the couch, folded under him, as he tries to get comfortable. “It makes me think… anything could happen, at any moment, and that… might be it.And I know we’re all shitty to each other a lot of the time, but… but I love all of you.”

He sniffles, snuggling against Ichimatsu when his big brother pulls him even closer. “The thought that one of us might… die… I-I didn’t… I didn’t know how afraid I was of that… till I thought it happened. If one of us wasn’t here… it… it wouldn’t be the same anymore.”

“… Yeah.” Ichimatsu gives Totty a squeeze that’s maybe a little tighter than necessary. It’s not like he can pretend that Totty is wrong. He’s right. Even though they’re all assholes and treat each other like crap sometimes, the last thing any of them want is for their family to be… incomplete.

They sit quietly for what feels like a long time, holding each other. Breathing. Just existing in sync, in perfect understanding for a while.

Sometimes, it’s true, Ichimatsu is kind of a death seeker. Sometimes he really does want to die. Sometimes he doesn’t care about anything, and just wants it all to end so he doesn’t have to deal with the weight of life anymore.

Sometimes, though… sometimes he fights death with all he has. He thinks maybe that’s what happened after he got hit by the car.

It would have been easy to die then. To just let his injuries swallow him up and put out his life like blowing out a candle.

He’s in a lot of pain right now, but he’s not dead. There must be a reason, right?

He thinks this is the reason.

Holding his youngest brother and realizing how broken his absence would leave his family, thinking about how broken it would be if anyof them were gone, how much they love each other…

… For once, he’s happy to be alive.

[nesonkin]

So, this is the second part to my embarassment of a post. I will be assuming you've read it before reading this one and if you didn't you should check it out first. With that out of the way, let's just continue.

Again, there's this big problem I'm facing when writing AI characters because I'm trying to stay grounded to what actually makes sense. And I'm afraid that because of that I'm either creating something that's been done (EDI) or simply making them autistic-coded (well, I suppose it's a reason why I relate to AI characters so much). Or worse I can make them straight up bland and boring. Which is something I don't want to do. So, if you feel like telling me my version of N-7's character is meh I get it. Perhaps, I can do something better for her if I'll ever write anything for this.

But I do think connections are a better way to define a character so let's get on with it. I've talked about Mary Ann and N-7, and briefly mentioned Ozar taking care of her in Mary Ann's stead. I see N-7 working with Ozar as sort of a secretary. They'd have a mentor-mentee relationship where Ozar's experience helps N-7 form her own values and understanding of the world. And in turn Ozar could revaluate some of his life choices according to feedback N-7 would give to him. Obviously, this shouldn't be exclusive to these characters only, but given the context of them having a deeper bond I thought I'd mention it. And I see this bond as important because in my headcanon lore N-7 would be mostly isolated from others (until S4) just working and rarely making an effort to try and define herself outside of being helpful. To Te-Osh she will be the part of her old friend. Te-Osh was there to oversee the progress during N-7's development and was just as proud of the result as Mary Ann was. They didn't up growing as close as N-7 and Ozar would but they still respected each other. Te-Osh trusted N-7 enough to let her train Matt in her stead while she had an injury. So, you could say Te-Osh and Ozar were the few proper connections N-7 had prior to joining Olia's cew. As before that no one really made any effort to try and relate to her on a personal level. Mostly due to isolation and the way she holds herself. And because she's a robot, yes.

So, it's really good when she puts herself out there and gets more involved with other rebel officers. From what we've seen, which isn't a lot or anything to begin with, Olia and N-7's relationship is that of mutual respect and I imagine Olia just trusts N-7 wholeheartedly to do her best job. Olia likes to figure people out no matter what they're made of. She's a good judge of character. This gets challenged by N-7's usual upbringing but they make it work. It may get to a point where their beliefs clash but it's alright. Olia has a large collection of books from her homeworld that N-7 reads in her spare time. Sometimes Olia has to step in to clarify that what the books depict may not always be the accurate portrayal of how something works in real life. Like, when it comes to romance books. Especially when it comes to romance books.

And now we finally get to Matt. Because this whole thing has always been Matt-centric in my head. Kinda like SW Rebels is Ezra-centric. Oh, god, why do I have to justify this being Matt-centric. Anyway.

Matt is kind of a mess. A panicked, lost, traumatized and withdrawn kind of mess. He gets abducted by aliens (which in other circumstances would be quite exciting), gets separated from his father, almost has to fight the beastman (which we know would get him killed) before Shiro injures him and fights in his stead, then gets sent to another prisoner ship for workers. He's isolated from the only people he knew. And even they can be as good as dead for all Matt knows. That's a lot to handle for someone his age and experience. Then he gains a new cellmate. The only person who seems to understand what he's saying. It's his first real bond with someone in what feels like an eternity. It's what makes their friendship special to him. Gus gave Matt support and hope that he can make it through. And save his dad, and potentially Shiro, given the latter's not dead. And this hope is paid off by the appearance of the rebel squad that later comes to their rescue.

Matt is rescued by the rebel fighters and taken under Te-Osh's wing until he is able to stand his own ground. His injury is generally taken care of and Matt can begin to receive his combat training. Soon enough he is able to participate in some of the ground missions like raids and scouting. It's not without occasional mishaps but nothing fatal.

I imagine because of his help to Gus while on the prisoner ship he got the attention of the rebel officers who would invite him to join their forces. And while hesitantly Matt decides to take the offer. Because he understands they're his only way to find dad and Shiro and go back home. He sees it as an opportunity. So, that's his priority at the time. It's only after spending time with the rebels and learning more about the Galra and what they've been doing to everyone his priorities begin to shift from his needs to the greater picture. And then a bigger mishap happens. And Matt allows himself to be seen without a mask while also pissing someone off so bad they put a bounty on his head. Tbh I haven't exactly thought out the way it happens. Only that it was mostly because of Matt's carelessness or trusting nature. I will have to think about that some more. So, for him it's only logical he is to be transferred to a remote location hidden from everyone and contributing to the cause by listening in on the Galra radio chatter. There begins another period of isolation for him.

Until his location is compromised by Pidge. Damn, bro, it's like the Paladins can't do anything without compromising Coalition bases. But, yeah, Matt takes care of the equipment and leaves with Pidge. As for his time in isolation I can't say anything interesting happens. Matt collects the data and reflects on his life. It's not a very great time for him. Isolation can do a number on one's mental health. Especially if it wasn't that great in the first place. Tbf there are barely any signs of this when Pidge finds him in canon. But canon who? It's at this point when Matt finally gets to meet people he was separated from for Bob knows how long. And in addition to that he also gets to learn that Shiro did survive the arena and is doing well (even though that wasn't the real Shiro but okay). Only thing left to do is find their dad. Except now Matt knows not to put his wishes before the mission/the needs of others. That's why he wouldn't come back to Earth given the opportunity.

But I went ahead of myself. Prior to Lotor joining the party Matt has to regroup with his former rebel squad. He joins Olia's crew and reunites with some of the familiar faces. Except for Te-Osh. Who is dead. But I'm not going to get into that here. He also gets to meet some of the new people like Meloi (the alien rebel with long ponytail looking ears? or whatever it is? the name is original), Slav, and the trouble trio - Nyma, Rolo and Beezer. They're Spare Pirates and they haven't fully joined the Coalition but they're willing to lend their help in the upcoming attack if it means getting back at the Galra and because extra credits are extra credits.

This is also that time period when the Paladins were making fools of themselves during the Voltron show. It gets the attention, sure. But I can't help but think of how tone deaf it all seemed to the rebel fighters. Who at the time were busy doing the dirty work.

The cooperation between the rebels and the BoM is another thing I should think more about. So far it's unclear how involved they are with each other. And I wonder if they ever crossed each other's path before Voltron. It's important because it's very unclear what Matt and Keith's relationship is like in the show. They clearly care about one another but have they had interactions off-screen? Joint missions or something? Unclear. I like to imagine that they did.

And Matt continues to learn as much as he can about the alien tech while living out his Mass Effect dreams. Which becomes even easier when Lotor joins the party. Because his knowledge has been a great help for the Coalition. That is until he becomes the Emperor and Shiro decides it would be a great idea to sync the Galra map with the one from the Castle of Lions. Which in hindsight was a pretty bad idea (I mean, yeah, that was the clone Shiro, but no one objected either). I can't even begin to imagine the Coalition's reaction to learning that all of their secret bases were now revealed to the Galra Empire. It's especially fucked up for the Blades for how much they relied on secrecy. Damn, they didn't deserve this crap. It still bothers me how no one talks about that.

So, the disappearance of Voltron. Another event that left a huge impact on the state of the Coalition. It still pains me that they decided to pull the time-space-skip to force the plot to take place on Earth. I mean, you know how the beginning of S6 had this whole thing going on about the Galra Civil War and how Lotor needed the Quintessence field to stop it. And then they just... dropped it. Like they never even wanted to deal with that and skipped right to the end. It's just sad because to me it seemed like a very interesting plot point. We were given some basic info on the Civil War and how it affected the Coalition. For one many rebel fighters have been wiped out. How that happened is a whole other story that I would have to think about some more later. But, damn, that's 3 whole years that they just skipped and it's the most interesting time period too, because we know so little about it. I mean it surely boosted Matt's character development as evidenced by the second glow up. He must have been devastated to learn that his little sister disappeared along with the rest of the Voltron - their symbol of hope.

It is at this point I am also struggling with what I want to write down in this point and what I want to omit for the sake of any of my future works. But to keep it brief it's a very bad time period for the Coalition. They're forced to adapt to changes brought by Lotor and Voltron which is extremely difficult when they also have to navigate Galra's Civil War and avoid being hunted. Some rebel officers ended up joining Galra warlords to escape their fate in exchange for the information on the Coalition. Rebel forces have been divided which made them easier targets for space pirates. And at this point Matt and the gang are just trying to stay alive and lay low. Matt's skills at keeping himself hidden come in handy. They also are constantly on the move, making sure they leave no trails. With how unstable the state of the galaxy is there's really no telling what will happen the very next minute. And then they're also struggling for resources all the time. Now more than ever. There is a need to regroup and rebuild the alliances which becomes nearly impossible when the Galra's craft is simply superior to anything the rebel fighters have. It almost feels like they have to start from the ground up. Fortunately, some of the rebel officers managed to stay low for as long as they could thanks to being stationed on various listening outposts. You know, like Wakala and Remdax. It's really helpful to have all these "sleeper agents'' when it's time to assemble. So, it takes 3 years for the state of the galaxy to stabilize a little. And for the rebels to regroup. Galra beating the hell out of each other meaning there's less warlords potentially coming after their asses. And the Fire of Purification basically built their own Empire. Rebel fighters take every opportunity they can get from this nonsense and rebuild their support system. They take it step by step and help who they can.

When the Fire of Purification moves to Earth it's an opportunity because that leaves the biggest enemy out of the picture (to be completely honest with you I cannot find anything that suggests the possible time of when they attacked Earth. I am probably missing something but all I can find is that it happened during the time-skip. No sign of when exactly that is except maybe for the confirmed "not earlier than 6 months after Voltron disappeared". This obscutiry gives me anxiety because I feel like it was mentioned somewhere and I'm just too stupid to find it.). Okay, so obviously those are not good news for Matt especially when they receive Sam's transmission. Thankfully, soon comes Krolia who is there to tell the rebels about everything that happened. And later they arrive on Earth. That's basically it for the general history of events.

I know I haven't exactly discovered America with this post but writing it has been both fun and exhausting. I'm glad I got to put my thoughts out there and I hope others will enjoy it as well. For the rest of the post I'll just write some of the headcanons... like I was supposed to from the beginning... instead of writing some stupid essay. Well, anyway.

Matt is good with kids, so Olia's pups love him. They call him Uncle Matt.

Olia has this no nonsense attitude. Slav finds it especially intimidating because of her fangs.

Speaking of Slav, my man has been a great addition to the coalition thanks to his brains. Matt enjoys spending time with him. There's a lot of interesting theories Slav talks about that Matt is intrigued by.

Rolo didn't die. He found the few remaining members of his species including some very old friends and stayed with them to help. He still has ways to contact his rebel friends, so it's all good.

Nyma became a proper rebel officer. For the most part because she had nowhere else to go and the coalition needed every help they could get. And she does care for Matt and the gang too. Her charisma proves to be helpful when the situation calls for it. I also like to think she's got some medical training as well. And that area she grew up in specialized in medicine. Weed too.

Beezer is hard to headcanon because I have to also make sure I'm not treating him as an astromech from Star Wars. He was likely stolen from the Space Mall as we've seen a similar looking model at Vrepit Sal's cafeteria. Both Rolo and Nyma understand what Beezer's saying perfectly and they use it to their advantage quite often. Matt would learn the droid language soon too.

Being Space Pirates Rolo, Nyma and Beezer would often get bored with nothing to do. So they have Beezer broadcast the closest TV channel they can connect to. They become quite knowledgeable in the lore of that one Bii-Boh-Bi sitcom. And they've watched so many trash shows like this they have to restrain themselves from making a reference in random situations. It makes them insufferable when they decide to tease someone. Like Matt.

N-7 accidentally jumpscares people. She also uses a longsword as her weapon of choice.

Olia rarely fights, she's more of a pilot, but when she does she usually just uses a pistol.

At this point it's getting a little tiring, so I'll just end it there. Maybe I'll write some more for the gang. Just not now.

[dreaminae]

We All Need The One Friend

Chapter 15

Sure, distance makes the heart grow fonder, but it also drives the brain aloof. Or so, that was Liv's take on her current situation. Almost four weeks went by since the big family dinner blowout where Billy and Jordan learned of Liv's drinking. Four weeks since her father's overwhelming disappointment swallowed Olivia whole with a growing fear of being sent away for help once more. Four weeks since her fear led to Liv, running away for help from the one person who she hadn't been in contact with for months -- her sponsor. And four weeks since Liv was giving a large wake-up call when she found her former sponsor behind bars for attempting to steal from her very own parents.

That night Olivia saw what could be her possible future if she didn't receive proper treatment while she still had the chance. Despite her fear of being sent away, she returned home after hours of dodging calls and texts from her loved ones. She walked into her home ready to accept the help, no matter the consequences. And perhaps that why fate played into her hands.

Fore when Olivia returned home, she found both her parents welcomed her with open arms, simply content that she was alright. Following the long night, Liv was surprised to find her family already with a suitable compromise. Instead of shipping her away, Billy and Laura decided upon an intensive program that allowed Liv to remain at home while she recovered.

Later into that evening, Spencer dropped by for what they both knew would be their last moment together for a long term. Acknowledging that they both had things to work on, they agreed to delay their romance until they were both in a good place to be together for real. They weren't breaking up or taking back the feelings they once declared. No, they were -- as Liv put it that night -- 'playing the long game'. Sealing their goodbye with a heartfelt kiss, they parted ways.

Focused on her recovery, Olivia found a new sponsor and confidant in Nurse Joy. Admitting her dependency upon Alcohol, and accepting responsibility for falling off the wagon, Olivia began her road to recovery. Meanwhile, Spencer centered his time on football and plotting his plan to bring Crenshaw a state championship.

Ignoring their constant desire to be together they cut off all physical communication, choosing to stick to the everyday messages to check in on one another. It wasn't until the night of Jordan's second concussion they were able to be in each other's arms.

Utilizing each other as helping shoulder through damaging announcement of Jordan's future in football, they found comfort in their buried affections. Having each other's back when Simone dropped the marriage reveal, Spencer and Liv supported each other when confronted by Billy and Laura.

The secret marriage only adding to Liv's troubled life as Laura grounded her into the next century for her deceit. Life toppled their trivial matter with the death of Tamika, shaking Olivia's inner social justice warrior to its full-frontal.

From leaking footage of Tamika's wrongful death to protesting for the indictment of the guilty officers, Liv found something bigger to be a part of. Her best intentions leading to backfire as Laura took the heat of alleged bigoted D.A. Learning to accept her mistakes, Liv tried to make the best of a complicated issue.

She and Kia's devotion to cause, sparking Spencer to follow suit, persuading his team to take a knee during their most important game. Inspiring by the Crenshaw team their opponents took a knee in protest. As a result of more football teams following Crenshaw's players in taking a knee, Crenshaw was granted another shot at the state championship.

Everything seemed to play into Liv and Spencer's hands, except the main thing they both desired since summer. It was all in a matter of timing, and they both couldn't help but anticipate when that moment would finally arrive.

So when they found themselves planning a surprise party in honor of Spencer's mom earning her college degree, the anticipation rose to a new peak.

"So no gouging out my eyes?" Liv playfully joked, allowing herself to make a joke of the foolish comments people were making about her online.

Spencer scoffed as if insulted. "What, those pretty eyes? You crazy." His eyes drifted from the direction of her eyes to her lips.

Olivia smiled softly as he quickly shifted back to their original conversation, unsure if now was the right time for them to share that type of moment. "You gon' help me fix this came or what?" He questioned with a crooked grin.

"Yes," Liv replied with a cheeky grin as she hopped from her seat, wondering how long he'd wait to make a move.

The next hour and a half flew by with them baking the cake while making basic small talk to catch up with one another. They discussed Liv's daily meeting with nurse joy and how her recovery was coming. Liv caught Spencer up on Jordan's everyday hobbies since his time away from football, while Spencer tried his best not to admit to Liv that he was aiding in Jordan's desire to return to football. Their topics switched until they circled back to Spencer's upcoming game against Westlake, and how Olivia punishment lifted just in time for her to come see him play.

"You'll be my personal cheering section." Spencer goofed as he iced the bare cake.

"Of course. I'll be decked in your jersey number and sporting Crenshaw colors all night." Liv giggled, imaging herself ornamented in Spencer James merchandising. "I'll be shouting the loudest. Go, Spencer! Kick some Westlake ass!" She shouted cheerfully, causing Spencer to chuckle.

"And what about I finish kicking Westlake's ass?" He wondered aloud. "Do I get a prize?" He inquired with a lifted brow.

"You'll have won the state championship for Crenshaw and saved your school. What more could I give you?" Liv snickered, sipping her lemonade.

"I can think of a few things." Spencer flirted causing Liv's cheeks to redden as she swallowed her refreshment.

The knocking of the front door interrupted their flustered juncture. "I'm should...um..you know..."

"Don't worry, I will still be here when you get back." He chuckled towards her rattled nature.

He frosted the cake as Liv dealt with a package delivery on behalf of the coach baker. Shortly after leaving the package in the living room, she rrutrned. Her reserved nature now contained after she took a moment to compose herself.

She returned to the kitchen with more pep in her step resolved with knowing that the moment she and Spencer both delayed was finally arriving, and all she had to do was lead it.

Eyeing Spencer with a twinkle in her eye she cheekily leaned over close to his direction, dipping her finger in the canned frosting. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" She inquired sassily, catching his attention as she strutted a few feet around the counter.

"Girl, you know I got skills." He responded cockily, earning a snicker from Liv as she shut the refrigerator to from putting leftover baking ingredients.

"Hey, I was thinking that we should have that graduation won't playing at my mom's party," Spencer suggested, humming his ideal tune aloud.

Olivia listened to the tune with a puzzled expression. "Umm, that's the wedding song."

Spencer eyed her strangely, confused as to how he got the two melodies muddled.

Giving him a sympathetic grin, Liv rubbed his arm, comforting him. "Hmm, you'll get it." She laughed as Spencer twisted his face in slight embarrassment. "It's okay." She added jokingly.

Rolling his eyes, Spencer gestured down to the finished cake. "Well, what do you think?"

Liv analyzed the frosted cake, impressed by how well it came out. "It's good." She complimented with growing suspicion. "Like really good." She added, smirking at Spencer. "You've done this before, haven't you?"

"Maybe like once for my moms birthday..." He dragged out, sensing that his cover was blown as he smiled crookedly. "And maybe all of Dillion's birthdays." He admitted, redhandedly causing Olivia to laugh.

"Alright, you caught me." Spencer chuckled, then grew serious. "N'all but, I just wanted to get your mind off everything." He confessed wholeheartedly, hating the low amounts of times he witnessed a real smile from Liv over the last few weeks.

"You did," Olivia assured him, touched that Spencer went found the energy to help her through the day's mess, even though she was meant to be helping him today. "You made me feel a lot better." She added, wanting him to know that his intentions were highly effective.

Spencer simply nodded, content to help in any way he could.

Liv smiled thinking back to how their last few hours together reminded her of the summer they spent together. No matter if it dumb shows or extended time at the mall shopping, Spencer remained glue to her hip just to make Liv happy. If he noticed she was having a bad day, he'd make a stupid joke to make her laugh. When she felt alone and needed someone to talk to, Spencer spent hours on the phone with her. When she felt like crumbling, he was always the rock that steadily held her up.

"You've done that before too." Olivia slipped out, letting her affection take over. Her eyes darted to his with a knowing twinkle.

Spencer observed her stature, finding Olivia in control and sure of herself. She beamed gently with a slight tilt of her head as if waiting to see what he would do next. She wanted to know if he still wanted her, and this was her way of conveying her yearning for him. With an assured confirmation that she was ready, Spencer took this as his cue.

Without saying another word he walked towards Liv, ready to give in to their passions. His head tilted in the opposing direction of Liv's as they both leaned in to close the small space between them.

However, right when their lips were about to meet Spencer's phone buzzed. Spencer grunted under his breath, annoyed by the bad timing, but reached for his phone nonetheless. Liv sucked in a tight breath, frustrated by another halted moment.

Remaining with barely an inch separating them, Liv took matters into her own hands. Literally.

"Spence," Liv mumbled, topping the hand that held his phone with the palm of her hand to gain his attention. His phone continued to buzz, as Spencer gave Olivia his awareness. "Yeah."

"It'll still be there afterward." Liv sighed with an unsure smile, gently pulling his phone out of hand. Her finger dragged across the screen, rejecting the call. "But I'm right here. Right now." She remarked, locking eyes with him, lust emitting from her own. "And I don't know about you but I'm tired of waiting." She snickered sassily, earning a smirk from Spencer.

Liv eyes danced from Spencer's brown orbs, falling to his lips, then back to his eyes. Cupping his face, she brought his lips to hers for a kiss that was weeks in the making.

[sonnetthebard]

This is kind of an extension from a headcanon I sent a while ago about Owen's superiors not being the best people and not really caring about their agents, just that they get results, but it should be fine on its own. I'm just thinking about it again and want to talk about it more

You mentioned before that they don't usually pay his medical bills, but they also don't usually let him leave the field when he's injured unless it's something life threatening. That's one of the few things Owen doesn't get much slack on from them. He's gotten results while injured before, so his superiors don't see why he can't do it again(he usually can, but that's not the point). He'll usually get a bit of time to recover, a few days to a week depending on the severity of his injuries and the importance of the mission he's on, but he's still in the field and working during that, and he's still expected to complete his mission with the same standards as if he wasn't injured. It's not too bad(in his opinion, but he's also kind of used to it) when Owen's not hurt too badly, but it can get a bit messy when he is -S

Guess what, S? I'm back at it again. You gave me so much info here that I just... had to. Genre: Romance/ Angst Words: 957 TL;DR: Curt discovers how terrible Owen's superiors are. TW: Mentions of injury, swearing, abuse

This one's a bit shorter, but that's ok.

______________________________________________________

Owen limped into his hotel room. He'd gotten shot in the thigh during their latest mission- stealing military secrets from the Russians. He had been sloppy, really. That's why he had gotten shot to begin with. He couldn't be angrier at himself. But he'd gotten to a hospital in good time, and luckily the price for having the bullet removed and the wound tended too wasn't too steep here. He couldn't afford to stay the night at the hotel, though, and a crutch was just a bit expensive. he was trying to budget himself so he could afford to eat. As soon as he got in, Curt frowned.

"Hey... hey, O, you okay?" Curt asked.

"I'm fine, Curt." Owen grumbled.

He was far from fine. His leg had just been stitched without anaesthetic. It was sore, but sterilized. He probably shouldn't be walking on it, but he'd spent his cab money on the stitches. His superiors made him pay medical bills, so... he had to skimp on some things. Which wasn't great, because he also knew he'd be expected to be back at work tomorrow, to the same standards he usually worked at. He just needed rest. He needed to stay off his feet for the night. Come tomorrow... he'd still have a limp, but he was sure it would be manageable.

"What's with the limp?" Curt prodded.

"I got shot." Owen sighed.

"Woah! Woah, why aren't you at the hospital?" Curt's eyes widened, walking over and taking his boyfriend's arm, leading him to the couch to sit. "You should be somewhere with doctors to take care of you!"

"Relax, doll. I already went to the hospital and got the wond tended to." Owen soothed him, chuckling.

"Then why aren't you still there?" Curt blinked.

"I couldn't afford to stay the night." Owen shrugged casually.

"What?" Curt froze, confused.

"I couldn't afford to stay the night." Owen repeated.

"No, I heard you." Curt clarified. "Just... what do you mean?"

"It's pretty self explanatory, Curtis." Owen rolled his eyes. "I didn't have the money to stay in one of their cots."

"Did they budget your mission or something?" Curt furrowed his brows.

"No... I did." Owen explained. "The only thing that my superiors pay for is my room. And even then I think they let your superiors pay for it most of the time."

"They don't pay your medical bills?" Curt's jaw fell slack.

"Certainly not." Owen scoffed. "Do... do yours?"

"Um... yeah? All of them." Curt blinked. "Alright. Okay. Well... I'll see if I can get Barb to tell me how to tend to it..."

"No thank you." Owen started to laugh. "Love, if it means that much to you, I will call her myself. I trust myself more than you- no offense meant, darling."

"None taken. There's a reason I'm not a doctor." Curt chuckled. "Okay. Well... while we let that heal, I'll handle recon tomorrow."

"No." Owen shook his head quickly. "No... if my superiors were to learn I shifted my responsibilities to you, the punishment would be severe."

"Punishment?" Curt scoffed. "O, babe... you got shot!"

"That doesn't matter. I'm a spy. A bullet shouldn't take me down." Owen scoffed.

"Okay... um, I hate to tell you this, but I get at least a week when I get shot." Curt bit his lip.

"What?" Owen blinked.

"Mostly so that I don't do more damage, or... you know, die." Curt nodded.

"Valid points... but how do you get the missions done?" Owen asked.

"We usually send in another agent." Curt told him.

"Right..." Owen sighed.

"How long have they been doing this?" Curt asked. "Sending you out into the field injured with no support..."

"Well... as long as I've been a spy..." Owen shrugged. "It's simply the way things are done where I'm from."

"Right. Well... my people don't. And I don't want to risk bringing an injured asset into the field. You understand, right?" Curt tried to speak Owen's language. Owen nodded reluctantly. "So you're going to rest tomorrow, and my people will make sure that your people don't find out. I swear, Cynthia is going to lose her shit when she finds out about this... don't be surprised if you show up to work and find a new boss there because honestly Cynthia might kill them."

"Let's hope not." Owen chuckled. He sighed. "You're sure Cynthia will make sure I'm safe?"

"Babe, she's basically adopted you." Curt teased him. "I'm not letting you go out there wounded."

"Fine." Owen relented. "Thank you, love."

"Now... let's get you to the bed, and I'll get you dinner." Curt soothed him. He scooped Owen into his arms gently- which shocked him. He didn't think Curt could carry him that effortlessly.

"Should I be scared?" Owen teased.

"Of what?" Curt blinked.

"What you're about to try and pass as food." Owen rolled his eyes playfully. "My humour is wasted on you."

Curt made an effort to take care of Owen the next day... and, with much persuasion, the rest of the week. The Americans sent another agent to cover for Owen without telling the Brits. Curt was right to say Cynthia would be pissed. She'd already started the research process on how to get Owen transferred to A.S.S.- even if there was likely no workaround for that. They would at least try. And... it made Owen feel incredibly valued. Something he didn't feel a lot of the time at his own workplace. It made him want to be an American- even if they had butchered the English language. Because they may not be as sharp as the Brits, but they made up for it in heart, and Owen was beginning to see just how valuable that was.

[daantaat]

twu s2 thoughts even though nobody asked <3 just a brain dump and it’s quite long so I tried to separate my commentary by categories but it’s still a mess unfortunately. Spoilers under the cut!

General

Overall, I enjoyed season 1 more than season 2. I’ve watched season 2 three times now, and I do think it had some good parts that I definitely overlooked during my first watch (probably because I was preoccupied with Charlotte x Shona 😶😅). My initial reaction to this season was like ‘hmm so that happened and I’m not sure what to think’ but then I rewatched it and tbh I think my complaints are mostly to do with the time jump between seasons and the pacing...

Like yeah there’s only so much to touch on in six 25-minute episodes but!!! I finished the season wanting a bit more, because I thought that some of the things that were introduced were either not explained fully/well or they just dropped off completely and didn’t really have an effect other than me asking questions after the season was over, like it felt as though there were missing scenes— more on that later (though maybe they will be addressed in season 3??? If there is one? How soon do shows get renewed? Idk). Though I guess the audience does have to do some interpretation of their own but still... Idk! Idk. And the assumption that certain events/plot points mentioned in a character’s dialogue would be enough for context had me kinda “:///” y’know? Like don’t tell me, show me?? I’d like the full course please!!

Charlotte x Shona (+ Vish I guess)

I think it was really jarring to see their relationship grow from colleague/business partners to friends and then finally to something more in season 1 only to see them awkwardly handle their unresolved feelings in the workplace with nothing to show for their actual relationship besides a mention of “a week-long gay safari” + the brief flashes of a sex scene that was intermingled with Shona and Vish’s cyber sex session, which in itself is 😐😐😐 like yes it shows that Shona still thinks about/fancies Charlotte in some capacity, but if I were to choose between that sex fantasy/flashback or a flashback of Charlotte and Shona together (like Charlotte telling Shona she was falling for her!!!!)... I think I’d choose the latter? I was just disappointed that we didn’t really get to see Charlotte and Shona being all cute and romantic with each other this season :(

ALSO I wished we got to see more of jealous!Shona; I was super hyped to see that since that scene was included in the trailer. It was nice to see her want the best for Charlotte because she’s “great” but the jealousy part of knowing Charlotte is dating someone great got settled pretty quickly and instead we got Shona evaluating her commitment to Vish and considering the idea of having kids after learning she has a womb of a 39-year-old (😐) and it felt.... like a lot!! It was definitely different from season 1 Shona (”I actually don’t want kids” “I genuinely, I genuinely don’t, you know, it’s not a big deal. Just never have” in 1x04) but if this was to show her dealing with comphet or internalized homophobia or just simply running away from her feelings then... idk what to think of it! I really don’t. I think this is where things could have been written differently because using an affair with Charlotte like that (an affair that we didn’t even get to see besides the stolen kisses at the finance event) was so... ugh, I’m suffering here

Anyway, I think their office scenes were definitely highlights of the season, like Indira and Sharon really gave those scenes their all!! Even though it hurts to see Charlotte so heartbroken and Shona running away from her feelings and hurting Charlotte in the process, I live for the angst lol. I will say though, the 180 that happened after their convo outside Charlotte’s office was a bit “🤔” considering Charlotte had talked to her therapist about Shona for 4 months. Like one hungover feeling dump from Shona and they can move on? Hmm communication is connection, huh. And I guess they were just excited that the article got good results? But how cute that they got each other gifts of their picture in the article??? Wtffff I love my “unfunny and obvious” gal pals even though I’m in pain

As for the voice note... omg, so many questions. Like did Charlotte try to reach out to Shona after she abruptly ended their call to check if she sent the voice note to Vish?? Was that gonna be the first time Charlotte heard Shona say “I love you” to her? What was the reason Shona said “I love you” anyway??? Is she, you know 👀 Also do y’all think Vish will listen to the entire voice note since it was clear it was meant for Charlotte? And who knows maybe Vish’s phone died and he can’t turn it back on or check his WhatsApp or whatever. I’m in denial lmao. But also I think he's a pretty good guy, like when he sent biscuits over to the house when Shona wanted some and him saying what’s the point of having fun in New York when she's not there with him... :/ but he was also a bit weird about her putting a nail in a wall or leaving out the egg duck or whatever as a display item in their house though I suppose that’s not a huge problem so like idk man idk!!! I'm just saying season 3 better not have a time jump I need to see what happens and not just in exposition

Shona and Aine

Love them :) I wish they had more scenes together (if that's possible??) but I liked the somewhat change in dynamic seeing Aine a bit worried about Shona (asking her if she’s okay when she mentions she’s thinking of getting a fringe lmao and again asking if she’s okay when they’re unpacking in Vish’s house). And of course Shona is still very protective and worrisome but seeing Aine just miserably lounging around her apartment over the weekend and getting in her bike accident after Shona wasn’t too supportive of her and James’s business idea made me so sad :( like Shona was so shitty about her not typing up everything in the notes for the meeting! And not even reading James's CV... big yikes. Anyway I thought it was odd that we didn’t get a follow up on the voice note Aine left Shona after getting into the bike accident... like she sounded soooo shaky and out of it :((( what luck Shona was sick and didn’t see Aine with a missing tooth before she got it fixed

Anyhow, Aine was right when she said Shona needs to talk to her and talk about her feelings more!! AND this is part of where my complaint about the pacing and the missing scenes comes into play! I think we should have seen Aine and Shona fighting about Shona’s affair and leaving Vish the voice note. The audience knows Aine cares about Vish and I’m not entirely sure where her relationship with Charlotte stands since Charlotte told Freddie about her being in rehab (on the assumption that he knew, as Aine’s ex-boyfriend) but!!! Just cutting to them on the floor waiting for Vish’s flight to land was not as hard hitting as it could have been

Aine x Bradley (+ Richard)

OKAYYY. Cute!!! I definitely overlooked the signs during my first watch here but yeah they were definitely there during my rewatch(es)!! I quite liked seeing Bradley try to get Aine to stop talking negatively about herself and just try to treat herself better in general like exercising and actually eating off of a plate :’) and the comparisons between Bradley and Richard have me like 👀📝 Bradley saying he likes how much Aine talks vs. Richard’s friend Mark saying she talks a lot and how he wasn’t expecting a whole show to which Richard replies he thought that at first too but she “calms down” like brooo... alright. Anyway Bradley going with her to Tom’s funeral/service made sense since he actually met Tom (though Aine did vaguely talk about him and his drinking problem to Richard in 1x05) and the fact that she told Bradley about PACT and her time there but she didn’t tell Richard (to be fair she was thinking about telling him) hmm 👀 Also Bradley saying “Sometimes it would just be nice to be with someone you could just relax with as yourself” yeah I’m on board with them

Loneliness, COVID, Communication is Connection

Initially I thought these themes could have come across a little stronger but after rewatching... hmm. Yes, Shona was lonely in the house by herself; she even asked Anil to stay for dinner, had her own “pile of shit” boyfriend on her bed (which she did clear off), and told Vish that nobody had time for her. Also after the business meeting she asked Aine what she was doing during the weekend (which Aine also spent alone anyway), but I dunno... oh yeah her hen/bachelorette party was a bit lonely since places were starting to go into lockdown and not everybody could attend, but I think the COVID element entered a bit too late into this season? I’m not sure it really added much in terms of the loneliness. Maybe it did add to the uncertainty of things though

“Communication is Connection” was there but I thought it kind of fell flat as well, but maybe that was the intention— to highlight the mess that a lack of communication can cause? Shona apparently writing off Charlotte’s feelings and them not necessarily talking about their relationship/feelings until their convo outside Charlotte’s office... Shona talking to Seema saying she’s never really asked what Vish wanted (regarding kids) and Seema saying that’s a convo for her and Vish to have... Aine not telling Richard she overheard him and Mark talking about her... Richard not consulting Aine about telling Etienne about them and just getting a new tutor for him... hmm. What does it mean. What does it all mean

Other stuff I’m still thinking about/have questions about

Shona mentioning it’s “annoying” how Aine talks like she’s the only person to ever get sad in episode 1 but still telling Aine she’s fine and then in episode 6 Shona saying she only has two emotions or whatever so she doesn’t need to talk to Aine about her feelings as much -____- istg we need to get Shona to talk to a therapist in season 3!!!

I also liked that Shona, Aine, and Eileen talked more. I’m still a little disappointed that the fact Eileen leaving Shona for three months when she was a baby was not mentioned at all. Yeah it was a secret but when Eileen said “well, you should never lie. You’ll always get caught out.” I— HELLO? If anything, that secret seeing daylight could have had something to do with Shona's sadness + loneliness this season. Also could you imagine that becoming a fear of Shona’s, like what if she doesn’t want kids because she’s afraid of doing the same thing to hers if she has any??

Jim asking Charlotte if she’s straight and Shona immediately going “what does that have to do with anything” or something like that and apologizing to Charlotte after Jim left— I’m not sure how I should have read that??? Did Shona mention to Jim that Charlotte is a lesbian?? When he started to ask, he was still looking at Shona (yeah I’m reading too much into this I know)

Marcia figuring out that Aine and Richard were seeing each other (after he touched her hand on his way out to get a taxi)— what was the purpose? Other than Marcia obviously feeling bad for Etienne, whom I assume she sees as a son of her own (based on the Mom Instinct™ snooping when she was doing housekeeping + her convo with Aine when he came back from France). She didn’t talk to either Aine or Richard about it, just told Aine to have a good time when they were leaving the house to go to their “separate” events. I guess it wasn't her place to say anything, but hm. Speaking of Etienne, it was obvious he had a schoolboy crush on Aine (or at least he was vying for her attention) in season 1 and it’s really too bad we didn’t get to see his reaction to suddenly getting a new tutor or dealing with Aine and Richard’s relationship other than him looking at them hugging while the new tutor was teaching him. He deserved some more screen time this season :(

Hmm so that was all very incoherent but if you made it this far thank youuu <3 here are some last silly comments:

Absolutely loved Julie!! I want to know what she knows about Charlotte and Shona 👀 girl give me the scoop on the last 4 months at the office

Super sad we didn’t get to see Charlotte’s cat (I’m always gonna be vocal about this 🗣🗣🗣) or know who her new girlfriend was but at the very least we were introduced to one of the most important side characters of all: Charlotte’s stompy boots <33333 she really wore those around the office with a blazer/blouse/leather skirt! We love that lesbian attire

[ssamie]

twelve. “the moon looks beautiful tonight, doesn’t it?”

kozume kenma x fem dazai!reader

(bsd x hq)

tw: mentions of suicide

masterlist.         suicide freak!

"kenma just this once please!!" y/n pleaded with a frown

"literally why?" kenma grumbled back.

they were currently seated by the stairway of the second-year building, five minutes away from being late to their next class, which was history. "because it's fun!" she reasoned "besides, you don't even listen to the lesson, you just play games under your desk" 

"yeah, but it's not considered skipping classes" kenma sighed 

"c'mon kenma, live a little!" she chuckled "then you can die with me afterwards." 

kenma sighed but nodded in reluctance "fine, but please don't kill me" he said with a sigh

"huh? then how are we supposed to die?"

"the point is we're not going to."

after a little bit more convincing, and a very troublesome escape from the school grounds, they were finally on their way off. the pair was walking towards the same riverbank kenma found her on after disappearing

"ah, isn't this nice, kenma-kun?" she said with a content sigh. she was holding a box of apple pie, while kenma chomps on a slice. "the air is nice, the apple pie is nice, the bridge is kinda nice" she hummed

"did you know, this is where i found atsushi-kun on the brink of death from starvation!" she exclaimed with a bright smile 

"i- what?" 

"yes, that's right" she said "ah, good times~" 

"i don't think you should consider that a good time" kenma sweat dropped "also, what's with you lately?" kenma asks her 

"hm? what do you mean?" she responded with a raised brow "you've been kinda.. tamed?" he muttered as more of a question than a statement "like, usually your attempts would be more bizarre." he said with a shrug 

kenma then reached out to grab another slice of the apple pie. that is, until his whole body shuddered. he looked up at her, looking like a shaken up kitten as he immediately shook his head. 

"i don't mean that i want you to start going all crazy again!" he shrieked 

she simply laughed, shaking her head as she sat down on the ground "well then i guess you're fulfilling your promise of keeping me alive, huh?" she mused 

kenma blinked at her words and meekly nodded, a faint smile ghosting his lips "i guess.." he replied "anyways, what are we doing here?" he asks as he takes a seat next to her

"were here to slack off" she responded with a nonchalant grin "work is like, really stressful" she said with an exaggerated sigh 

kenma simply furrowed his brows as he sent her a questioning look "but atsushi said you haven't done anything in like a week-" 

"anyways, kenma." she cut him off "in return of making you skip class, i'll share some of my incredibly utile knowledge to you!" she announced cockily 

"i don't think i need it.. nor do i want it" kenma deadpanned 

"well, i'm gonna tell you anyways" 

"but first, let me beat this level" she said with a cheeky grin as she snatches his PSP from his pocket. as she began to play, kenma simply watched her fingers click the buttons, silently watching as he nibbled on the apple pie 

"now, as i was saying.." she muttered "my knowledge consists of the mafia and their history.." 

"that's kind of relevant right?" she beamed with a small smile 

"no, not really." 

"alright! well, the mafia is kind of fun" she started out 

"im gonna have to disagree." kenma sighed "it's the mafia, why would it be fun?" 

"also, why are we talking about this anyway?" he rolled his eyes playfully at her 

"because its literally all i know about" she chuckled "unless you wanna hear about how to dispose of dead bodies." 

"no." 

"okay. well, in this same spot we're sitting on, there have been at least.. like, maybe one or ten murders?" she cooed out with a small smile. kenma looked at her, face scrunching up as he picked himself up from the ground, holding his apple pie tightly as he walked away 

"goodbye." 

she laughed loudly as she watched him walk away, eyes darting from between the boy and the PSP in her hands "wait! kenma, im kidding!" she yelled out 

"well, im actually not, but.. COME BACK!" 

kenma sighed, looking back only to find her shuffling around with the device in her hands as she screams about losing. 

"kenma you made me lose!" she groaned out. the pudding head simply sighed as he trudged back to her with an unamused look on his face 

"well, whatever" she shrugged it off. she placed the PSP back in his pocket as she jumped up from the ground "you know what we should do?" she mused "we should steal a car and have a road trip!" 

"no! are you crazy?" kenma let out an exasperated sigh 

"i dunno about crazy, but i do know that kunikida-kun has a car and.." she trailed of with a suggesting smirk 

(he prolly doesn't have a car i think, but go along w it 😋) 

"were not gonna steal a car just to go on a road trip." kenma said to her 

"really? i don't think that's the right response, kenma" she slumped out defeatedly 

"we are NOT gonna steal a fucking car-" 

"YOU STOLE THE FUCKING CAR?!" kenma rubbed his temples in distress as she stood proudly before him, holding the car keys with a grin 

"yep!" 

it has been fifteen minutes since she's disappeared, only to come back to announce that she had carnapped kunikida 

"y/n, im pretty sure this is illegal." kenma sighed tiredly "do you even know how to drive?" he asked 

"of course!" she said with an offended scoff "well..last time i drived, it ended in a crash" she mumbled sheepishly "but that's not gonna happen, i promise!" 

kenma looked at her up and down, before shaking his head. "that doesn't sound very promising.." 

"cmon, live a little!" she exclaimed as she unlocked the car doors 

"i won't be able to if i die in a car crash, you understand that right?" 

"that's even better!" 

although despite his disputes, kenma ended up joining her anyways. now, he's seated in the passenger seat while y/n drives the car. music was softly playing through the speakers, though it was getting drowned out by kunikida's yelling, which was emitting through her phone

"oi! you bandage-covered brat, where the hell is my car?!" kunikida exclaimed 

"stop with the names, kunikida-kun!" she whined out "and how dare you accuse me of such!" she exclaimed with a dramatic cry 

kenma simply deadpanned at her as kunikida let out a deep breath from the other line 

"i have very right to accuse you becauSE RANPO TOLD ME IN EXCHANGE OF A CHOCOLATE BAR!" 

"AGH! BUT I MADE HIM PINKY PROMISE NOT TO SAY IN EXCHANGE OF A CHOCOLATE BAR TOO!" 

she fake cried as kunikida continued on scolding her through the phone "now, now, kunikida-kun~" she cooed out "dont go screaming a lot, or else your vocal system gets messed up" she warned "they say you can cough your throat out." 

"you- wait really?" kunikida asked in wonder

"i dunno" she responded nonchalantly 

"STOP RIDICULING ME, BASTARD!" he exclaimed 

"whatever.. there better not be any scratches or dents or i'll kill you myself" it was all he said before hanging up

she pocketed her phone and looked over at kenma, sending him a smile "that went well, won't you say so?" 

"50/50" kenma responded "anyways, where are we going?" he asked her 

"i don't know kenma, i've never done this before" she laughed softly "let's just drive around and stop for food once in a while" she said "let's just talk! preferably about our double suicide" 

kenma laughed at her antics and nodded "okay, i'd like that." 

in the end, they ended up roaming around the city. at some point they stopped by a wine shop to buy all of chuuya's favourite wine just to mess with him

chuuya did in fact come into the shop minutes later and had a fit. 

by the time the sky got darker, kenma suggested going to a mcdonald's for some fries. but sadly, it ended with y/n flirting with the female cashiers, so he had to drag her away. they even stopped by a cliff to 'stargaze' but it ended with y/n trying to make them fall to their deaths, so that ended quite quickly. 

now, they were back in the usual restaurant the agency goes to, having a light dinner. 

"so, kenma-kun, how was our road trip?" she cooed out 

"it was chaotic." he responded "but it was very fun, thanks for that y/n" he said with a smile 

she smiled cockily as she sipped on her coffee, letting out a small chuckle as she does so. "heh, let's just hope kunikida-kun won't notice the scratches on his car" 

kenma shifted nervously in his seat as he noticed kunikida leaning on the back of her seat, as well as atsushi listening in on their conversation. 

"um y/n.." he said nervously, slyly pointing behind her, though she seemed to ignore him anyways 

she snickered under her breath as she continued to talk. "there's so many scratches on the side! and-" she was cut off by kunikida's fist making contact with the side of her head, resulting in her falling off the seat

"y/n-san?!" atsushi called out with widened eyes 

"what did you say, brat?" kunikida asked in a low tone as his tall figure loomed over her 

"a-ah! what did i say?" she mused "i don't think i said anything, kunikida-kun! you must be hearing things!" she laughed sheepishly as she stood up straight once again "and why are you interrupting our dinner, hm?" she asked him 

"shouldn't you be at work? tsk tsk tsk" she clisked her tounge as she shook her head disappointedly 

kenma and atsushi froze in fear as kunikida seemed to have grew angrier by the second. veins popped out of his temple from agitation as he started strangling her, all while she still had that dumb and taunting smile on her face 

"and who gave you, the poster child for sloth and irresponsibility, the right to say that to me?!" he yelled 

"kunikida-san! don't kill her!" atsushi yelled out in panic "why not?! that's exactly what she wants!" kunikida exclaimed 

"ehehehe- AGH!" she coughed out, wheezing slightly as he shook her around 

after a quick minute of calming down, y/n was now back in her seat, facing kenma who was talking about a game he was currently playing "and this one is um- um.." kenma cut himself off, feeling himself grow anxious 

his cat-like eyes look up to meet kunikida looking at him like a disappointed father "is something wrong?" he asked quietly 

"i had trust in you, brat." kunikida said "i thought you were sensible enough to keep the maniac grounded." 

"buT INSTEAD YOU BOTH HAD YOUR FUN CRASHING MY CAR AROUND-" 

kunikida was cut short as y/n slammed her hand on his face and pushed him away with an innocent smile "now, now, kunikida-kun~" she cooed "kenma was talking about his new game, don't interrupt him!" she scolded him 

"i don't care, you're paying me back" he said as he sent her a pointed glare. she simply laughed carelessly at that statement. though her laughter abruptly died down as she spun around to face atsushi. 

"atsushi." she called out 

"y-yeah?" atsushi replied hesitantly 

"as your senior, i command you to pay the cost!" she exclaimed 

"no! also, im older than you!" atsushi yelled at her 

"oya~" she cooed tauntingly at him "but aren't i the one that saved your dying self months ago?!" 

"and to think i believed we had a special bond" she sulked 

"but y/n-san!!" atsushi panicked "I DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY!!" 

"work it out~" she cooed as she ushered kenma out of the restaurant "we'll be going now~" 

"are you really making me pay?!" atsushi shrieked 

"bye-bye~" 

"so what do you wanna do to end the night?" she asked him 

they were currently walking around, basking in the moonlight while kenma talks himself up in his mind  "um.. can we go back to the riverbank? like, by the bridge..?" he muttered quietly 

"why? its already so late" she said 

"just- can we just go?" he pleaded "... please?" 

she looked at him and smiled, nodding along silently to his request. the walk to the bridge was quick and quiet. no one was speaking a word, only y/n humming under her breath and the sounds of cars passing by

the whole time, kenma was just screaming in his mind. 

he was pondering over kuroo's oh-so-wise words. the suggestion to confess to her sounded more simpler at the moment. he's been preparing for it the whole day. but now that it was actually happening, he was honestly just considering jumping into oncoming traffic

"were here." she announced 

kenma jolted, sporting a confused expression as he looked around their surroundings 

"it seems you've been so lost in thought that you couldn't even tell we've arrived" she chuckled "so, what's on your mind, kenma?" 

he didn't answer but simply watched her from his peripheral vision. she leaned on the metal railings, resting her hands on the bars as she looked down at the flowing water 

the only light source they had was the moon, and the street lights littered around the bridge 

"um.. it's just that-" he cut himself off with a deep breath 

"that..?" she urged him further 

"i- um-" he stammered nervously 

kenma inhaled deeply through his nose before sighing. "i can't do this." he muttered 

"what is it?" she asked worriedly "are you okay??" 

"is it cause you wanna die with me? are you agreeing to the double-" 

"t-thE MOON LOOKS BEAUTIFUL TONIGHT DOESN'T IT?!" 

"i- why are you screaming?" 

"fuck it. i like you, okay?" 

[itsmymindspeaking]

MCL: Love Life EP 3 Castiel,Rayan and Nathaniel Routes Quick Guide

Sorry it took me so long 😭 but here it is 🖤 hope this helps you guys 😊

Aunties Gift:

Weights

Outfits:

If an answer does not have anything next to it, it means i do NOT know the result for that answer

Castiels Route:

Castiel: Would it really be the end of the world if I saw Hyun tomorrow...?

I understand. If only I could get out of this meeting with my banker... +5 No. You need to take care of your responsibilities, I'm afraid. It's the price of fame... -5

Hyun: You... I'm not sure that you realize. It was... really violent!

Castiel... I'm afraid that this isn't the time to make that sort of joke... -5 w Castiel /+5 w Hyun

Gosh, he's still allowed to joke, right? We aren't online here! +5 w Castiel /-5 w Hyun Don't worry, Hyun. Castiel is just like that.+5 w Castiel & Hyun

Nina: Oh... I... I hadn't thought of that. I really wanted to find a solution and...

That's nice of you... This isn't your best idea, but don't give up! +5 Don't worry about it. I'll end up finding a solution. -5

Gustave: You aren't the only commerce concerned by the weather, and our other accounts in town haven't suffered like this.

But do your "superiors" have any idea what it means to run such a place?! +5

I'm the first person to be sorry, believe me. But look, I'm getting things back on track! -5

But, at some point, you need to be pragmatic...

If we come to that point, I guess I won't have a choice... +5 w Gus / -5 w Nina No, I can't do that to Nina. -5 w Gus / +10 w Nina

Yael: Ah... the sinews of war! And... are things that bad?

Oh, no, no. It's alright. It was... a routine visit. -5 Honestly... I feel like I'm in a choke hold. I don't know how I'm going to get out of this... +5

Dan: There are always opportunities for those who know how to take them...

Perhaps, but in my case, it's a bit different. -5 I would have liked for my banker to see things like that. +5

Candy:

Art is a simple question of feeling. +5 w Dan But you know, the band represented has many fans. It could be an interesting investment -5 w Dan

AFTER talking to Eric head to the shops street where you will automatically enter Leigh's store and after some inner dialogue Auntie will show up

Kim: Hmm, that is complicated...

I'll find a solution. I don't know what yet, but I'll find something. +5 Yeah, I feel stuck. I wonder if I should just let things go. -5 Let's just say that I'll need luck to get out of this... /

Chani isn't at the university so if you want to save some AP just go straight to the Art Building

Castiel: You watch too many series, Hyun...

Because you see another possible explanation? Let's face the truth, Hyun's right. +5 w Hyun Previously on "CSI: Crowstorm"... - 5 w Hyun

Yeah... I don't know if he's the right person for this sort of...

It would be more discreet than lodging an official complaint. / Just say that you don't want to owe him anything. +5 w Castiel

Castiel: He should be the one supporting me the most. Instead of that, he's asking me if I have something to admit...

He's your friend. You misinterpreted his thoughts. He just wanted to be sure... Put yourself in his place. You said it yourself: you never really know people. +10

Seriously? But they can't make you do that? You should have sent him packing!

Since you're so smart, next time, I'll send you to negotiate for me. +5 Unfortunately, I'm not rich enough to be able to do that. / Unfortunately, we don't all have that choice, Castiel... I'm not a rockstar.

Rayans Route:

Rayan: All this seems to be upsetting your friend, if I remember our conversation the other night.

Do you want to come with me? +5 I won't ask you to come with us. I'm afraid that it will make things too dramatic...+5

Candy:

(Even today, I don't know how our relationship is considered. In the doubt, I simply returned the salutation.) (So, I walked over, and I kissed him in front of everyone. A sort of small revenge...) +5

Rayan: You have to try to see things from a different angle. "A problem without a solution is a poorly stated problem", right?

I'm afraid that philosophy won't be of any help, this time around... +10 To be frank, my dear, I'm afraid that your advice won't be very useful in the business world...

Nathaniels Route:

Nath: This may be nothing. He's seen worse...

You're probably right, but we can't be sure... I would prefer to clear things up. +5 Can't you imagine how he must feel? With everyone that's attacking him on the networks... -5

That's for sure, but you'd be surprised at the number of people who are ready to do anything to get revenge.

I think I would prefer not to know... +5 You are distorting things because of your job. Those are isolated cases. -5

...to make the whole building fall down. Next time, don't hesitate to counter their attack.

Yeah, well maybe that works with criminals, but not everyone is one. / Well, you know, you weren't there. You don't know anything! You have never even seen him..+10 Nath... Not everything is a power struggle. Sometimes you just have to tone things down a bit. -10