#the worst thing about reading a bad book os seeing how it could be better/could work

[upside-down-uni]

every time i read ya i regret it. why do i keep doing that to myself, i should just stick to my standards and not read ya anymore UGH

[my-unmanageable-mischief]

Arranged Marriage Part 3

Part 3 of my Arranged Marraige story, (Part 1, Part 2)

Draco Malfoy x Reader

Your wedding announcement had gone about as well as could be expected. You and Draco stood with both sets of your parents as Lucius addressed the room, informing everyone of your union. You stood with your hand in Draco’s, who held onto it tightly, both for you and himself. The crowd clapped for you, and you curtsied as Draco bowed. For the next hour or so you stood together, hand and hand, as person after person came up to congratulate you on the engagement. The night, thankfully, eventually came to an end as people began to leave by apparition and floo. You and your parents were some of the last to go, and you were thankful it was finally time; you were exhausted. 

“Have a wonderful rest of your break Draco,” You mother said politely, smiling stiffly. 

“Thank you ma’am,” He released your hand and you felt empty without it there, so you allowed your arms to wrap themselves around you. “I will see you soon, Y/N.” You nodded your head and offered him a tentative smile. 

“See you soon,” And with that, your father took your arm with an iron grip and you were gone, standing in your parlor. 

“Go to bed.”

“Yes father,” You nodded, practically running up the two flights of steps to your room. You cried yourself to sleep that night, weeping for the girl you used to be. But Draco’s words still rung clearly in your head. ‘They will hunt you down and they will kill you,’ and you knew he was right. Now, all you could do was hope and pray he was true to his word- that he would protect you. You don’t know when you finally fell asleep, but when you did you dreamt wonderful dreams of Paris in the summer and silver eyes. 

“You will be good.” Your father demanded and you nodded your head as you stared at your shoes on the platform 9 2/3. 

“Yes sir,” 

“You will stick closely to Draco. You will do as he says. You aren’t to disobey him, do you understand me?” 

“Yes sir,” He grabbed your chin roughly and forced you to look at him.

“Look at me when I speak.” He ordered and you fought to keep the disgust from your features. “He is to be your husband. A wonderful thing for a girl like you,” You sneered and you held in your wince. “You are not to disappoint your mother and I by ruining this opportunity.” 

“Yes, father.” He gave you a curt nod and released you before turning on his heel and walking away, leaving you all alone surrounded by parents who were kissing and hugging their children goodbye. You stood another moment before turning and walking in the opposite direction, towards the train. You boarded, finding an empty compartment to hide away in, taking out a book that you knew you wouldn’t read. A few moments later the door to the compartment opened and someone stepped inside.

“I’ve been looking for you,” You looked up surprised. 

“Draco,”

“Hello Y/N.” He gave you a mild smile, sitting across from you. You merely stared at him, and he raised a hand to his face, “Have I got something?” You chuckled, shutting your book and setting it aside. 

“No, no. Nothing.” You assured and he let his hand fall into his lap. You lapsed into silence for a moment before you added, “You don’t have to sit with me, if you don’t want to, I’m sure you’d have more fun with your mates.”

“They’re hardly mates, really.” He admitted, “Just people I spend my free time with.”

“That’s a mate, Draco.” He tilted his head, smirking.

“They’re not pleasant company.” You smirked back.

“Don’t I know it.” You both chuckled at that, but then his face sombered. 

“I wanted to sit with you.” You felt your cheeks flush slightly and you played with a lock of your hair, turning to rest your back against the window, putting your feet up on the seat. 

“I’m no fun either, I assure you.”

“Maybe not, but at least you’re pleasant to look at.” He teased and you blushed deeper. 

“Is that all I’m good for?” You asked, and he shook his head immediately. 

“Surely not, Y/N,” 

“I was teasing, but if you’re offering compliments I’m all ears.”

“I wouldn’t want your head to get too big now, we won’t be able to get you off the train.”

“That would be a sin, I’d be cursed to ride the rails for the rest of my life.” He chuckled again and you smiled, watching him. He looked younger when he laughed. Handsomer. 

“Truly a sin,” He agreed. “What were you reading?” He asked, and you attempted to shield the book from him. 

“Nothing interesting, really.” He reached over and snagged the book from your hands. 

“Wuthering Heights?” 

“It’s a muggle book,” You admitted slowly, gauging his reaction. He made a face and tossed the book back down onto the bench you were sitting on.

“Why would you want to read a muggle book?” He asked, curiously. You shrugged, grabbing the book and shoving it into your bag.

“It’s good, it’s well written, muggle isn’t a synonym for bad.”

“It isn’t?” He smirked and you frowned at him. 

“No, Draco, it isn’t.” He merely shrugged, leaning back into his seat, spreading his legs out across the compartment. 

“Whatever you say, dear.” You spent the rest of the train ride mostly in silence, Draco staring out of the window at the passing countryside, and you alternating between daydreaming and watching him. You were nearly there when Draco spoke your name, causing you to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

“I have to warn you,” He stated, and you frowned. “I’ll be.. Terribly busy this year.” He stated, and you nodded, “I won’t be able to spend much time with you I’m afraid.” Again you nodded. 

“That’s alright.” 

“What I’m doing it’s for you. For us. Our future. I’m making sure everything will be okay.” His words were vague, and you wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but you didn’t think he’d tell you even if you asked; so you didn’t. 

“I understand, Draco.” 

“Good. Thank you,”

“Of course.” The train came to a stop, and he stood first, offering you his hand. You took it, smiling softly. You expected him to let go of your hand as soon as you hit the corridor, but he didn’t, and you didn’t mind it. He kept your hand in his until you reached Hogwarts, until you hit the great hall before finally releasing. 

“I will see you soon,” He assured. 

“We have potions together,” You reminded him and he nodded, smiling. 

“We can sit together, if you’d like.” 

“As long as you don’t mind.”

“I don’t.” 

“Then I’d like that.” Draco nodded his head again, but he did not smile. 

“Good. Then I will speak to you then.” With that he turned and made his way to the Slytherin table as you went to Ravenclaw, sitting with a few of your dorm mates. 

“Why were you holding hands with Draco Malfoy?” One of the girls asked, glaring and you felt yourself flush. 

“We’re engaged.” You answered simply. 

“Excuse me?” One of the girls asked, laughing incredulously. 

“Our parents.. Arranged our marriage. So we’re engaged.” They all shared a look you weren't a part of before going back to eating. You ate in silence mostly, none of them speaking a word to you, and you not trying to strike up a conversion with them either, lost in your own thoughts. When breakfast came the next morning they didn’t sit with you, and just like that- you were all on your own. 

Classes were difficult, the workload was almost unbearable, even for you. You spent most of your time in class, studying, or thinking about how you should be studying. You saw Draco in potions where you now sat together, and Charms, where he’d taken to sitting beside you as well. It was a welcomed dose of human interaction since none of your dormmates were speaking to you anymore, not that you were ever terribly close to any of them anyway. But it still stung. 

“Are you alright?” He asked you one class as you worked on your potion, stirring it clockwise twice then counterclockwise once, and you looked over surprised. 

“Fine, just thinking.” You answered. 

“I don’t mean right now.” He nudged you, taking the spoon to give you a break. “I mean in general. You seem sad lately.” You considered the question and shrugged. 

“I’m alright. Tired mostly. Restless.” 

“Why restless?” He asked, eyes on the brew between you. 

“Just bored. All I do is study and go to class.” 

“Don’t you hang out with your mates?” 

“I don’t...” You trailed off, and he glanced up at you, “I don’t really have any. Not right now.” He frowned. 

“Not right now?” 

“Well, apparently being engaged to a Slyherin doesn’t really make me friend material anymore.” You answered softly, and his frown deepened. 

“They stopped being friends with you because of me?” You shrugged. 

“I suppose. But that just means they were never really friends to begin with.” 

“I’m sorry.” He continued to frown at you, only looking away when your potion bubbled sinisterly, he went back to stirring. 

“Don’t be, I’m alright.”

“Everyone needs friends.” 

“I have you, don’t I?” He smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders. 

“I don’t spend time with you. I’m kinda a rotten fiance aren’t I?” 

“Oh just the worst.” You teased, “In your defense, you don’t have much practice.” He chuckled slightly, and you watched him carefully. 

“I will attempt to be better. Perhaps we can study together sometime.” He offered up and you nodded your head, taking the spoon back again. 

“Alright, sounds good to me.” 

Every Thursday night you met Draco in the library to study. He was brilliant at potions, much better than you, and he was helping you pull Os on almost every assignment with ease, rather than the hours of work it would have taken you to do it on your own. You would study for a bit, get your assignment done, and then you would simply talk to each other in hushed voices, tucked away at a table in the back, as far from everyone else as possible. 

You told Draco about your book you were reading, and he had the decency to pretend to be interested, only teasing you sometimes about loving muggle books. 

“Read them now while you can, my father would die before he let you bring one into the house.” He said one Thursday evening and you frowned. 

“I’ll be living with you and your parents?” You asked, and he leaned back in his chair, tilting it onto two legs. 

“I assumed.” 

“We won’t, I don’t know, move out?” He shrugged.

“I guess eventually.” The idea of living in the large Malfoy manor with just Draco and his parents scared you, and he coull tell you were scared from one look on your face. He was eerily good at reading your moods, either that, or you were very bad at hiding them. 

“Eventually?” You prodded and he sat forward again, his chair legs thudding as they hit the floor. 

“After we graduate, I’m sure.” 

“Where will we live?”

“I don’t know, Y/N.” He admitted, running a hand through his platinum locks. “I really don’t. I wish I could give you something more, but no one has told me anything.”

“How can they simply not tell us?” You asked, leaning your elbows on the table, placing your face in your hands, “It’s our lives afterall, don’t we get a say.” He laughed bitterly. 

“No.” He was right. It wasn’t that simple, no matter how much you wished it was. You felt his hand on yours and you looked at him with a sad smile. “I’m sorry,” He murmured and you shrugged. 

“It isn’t your fault.” He knew it wasn’t, but that didn’t stop the guilt from laying heavily on his chest. He squeezed your hand tightly, hesitating a moment before leaning over to kiss your cheek. When he pulled back his pale skin was slightly tinted and you laughed. 

“What was that for?” 

“I don’t know, you looked like you needed it.” 

“Thank you Draco.” You gripped tightly to his hand, “For everything.” 

You were sitting in your common room reading in one of the big chairs in the corner when your dormmates past, whispering to themselves. They stopped beside you and you looked up at them, placing a finger on the line you were on. 

“Yes?” 

“How’s your fiance,” One asked, placing emphasis on the last word, you frowned deeply. 

“Fine, why?” 

“I heard he and Harry Potter got into a row, he’s in the hospital wing.” She said smugly. You were standing in an instant. 

“What?” 

“Mmhm.” 

“That’s- you rotten bitch, that’s not how you tell someone that!” You cried out, shoving past them as they all giggled. You had half a mind to turn around and deck one of them, but your feet carried you away, practically running to the door. Once in the dark corridor you broke into afull run in the direction of the hospital wing, not bothering to try and sneak, even if it was after hours. You burst into the room, looking around wildly at the empty beds, you were about to go to the first closed curtain you saw, to rip it open. One of them had to be hiding Draco. 

“Ms. Y/L/N!” Madam Pomfrey called out, “What do you think you are doing!” Your hand was on the curtain of the bed closest to you and you stopped, eyes wild with worry. 

“Where is Draco!?” You asked, if the duel was serious enough to warrant him being in the hospital wing, you needed to see him. Now. 

“It’s past curfew, Ms. Y/L/N.” You didn’t have time for this. 

“I am to be his wife, you are to tell me where he is!” 

“Y/N!” A weak voice, that didn’t sound like your soon to be husband’s called and you rushed towards the bed, past Pomfrey, who allowed you to go. You got to the bed the voice came from and took a deep breath before pulling back the curtain. What you saw horrified you, there were only a few moments in your life you remember fear cutting you so deeply as it did now. 

“Draco,” You breathed, taking a step forward before stopping, like even being near him might harm him, “What? What happened?” 

“Potter used a dark, powerful curse on him, but he will be alright darling, he needs to heal.” She tried to put a hand on your shoulder, to lead you away but you jerked from her grip. 

“No,” You whispered, not caring about consequences right now, “He needs me.” You looked at Draco, and he looked... so unlike himself, laying there in that bed. He was even paler then usual, and frail. Like if you blew too hard he’d crumble. His eyes were red and slightly swollen, but he was smirking. And that’s how you knew he’d be okay. 

“Alright,” Pomfrey eventually conceded. “If you’re caught, I had no knowledge of you being here, you snuck in.” 

“Yes ma’am..” You nodded your head, not looking away from Draco. She walked away from you both, pulling the curtain back as she did, yet you still didn’t move. Draco lifted a hand from the bed and beckoned you towards him, and you went, taking his hand when you reached him. “What happened?” You went to sit in the chair beside the bed but Draco pulled you closer, trying to make you sit on the side of his bed, but you were afraid, “Draco-”

“You’re not going to hurt me,” He promised, “I’m not in pain, Pomfrey has me on something good,” He assured and you winced slightly. That meant he had been in great pain. But you allowed him to guide you down so you were sitting beside him on the small hospital bed. “Merlin, Y/N. I thought you were going to rip Pomfrey's head off.” He tried to joke, but you didn’t really feel in a laughing mood. 

“Draco what happened?” You repeated your question, gripping his hand in both of yours, he squeezed back weakly. 

“We got into it, he was spying on me, I hexed him, he came back with... I don’t know what it was, something I never saw before. Sliced me open like a Christmas ham,” He chuckled and you frowned deeply at him. 

“It’s not funny, you could have died.” 

“But I didn’t,” He assured, “And I’m sure perfect little Potter is getting his, so I’m more than fine.” You wanted to cry just looking at him, but you managed to blink the tears away. “Are you crying?”

“No,” You sniffled lamely and Draco chuckled, pulling you closer by your hand. You allowed him to lead you into a lying position, so you were beside him in the bed, your head on his shoulder. 

“I’m alright,” He promised, “They said I’ll be good as new in a few days,” You laid your head on his shoulder, his hand still entwined with yours. 

“Don’t scare me like that again?”

“Why not? I liked seeing you all fired up, ready to kill to see me,” You smirked, turning your head to kiss a jumper covered shoulder. 

“I’m sure you did,” You murmured and he chuckled, turning his head to kiss your forehead. You looked up at him, your eyes locking. Draco brought his free hand up to your face, rubbing his thumb over your cheek gently before cupping your cheek. He wanted to kiss you, more than anything. He’d wanted to kiss you for weeks now, he had never moved so slow with a girl in his life but he found himself wanting to respect you and your space and your wants. But Merlin, he wanted you to want this. His eyes dropped down to your lips briefly before he looked back into your eyes, and you smirked slightly. 

“Gonna kiss me, Draco, or are you gonna stare at me all night.” He chuckled, smirking back. 

“I think I shall alternate between the two, actually.” And with that you were both leaning in, lips meeting gently in the middle. His kiss was much more tender than you ever expected it to be, frankly you were surprised he was capable of even being this tender. He pulled back and looked at you for another long moment, his thumb continuing to stroke your cheek before he kissed your forehead again, guiding your head to his shoulder. “Staying the night, I hope?” 

“Oh, you’re not getting rid of me that easily, love.” You assured, and Draco felt something in his chest tug at your words in a way he had never felt before. You were the closest he got to joy, he supposed it made sense you would be the closest he felt to love too. Draco closed his eyes, allowing his exhaustion to overtake him, so long as you were there beside him. You waited for the man to fall asleep, for his breath to even out before you looked at him again. He was so young, so peaceful when he was sleeping. You found yourself wishing he could look like that when he was awake. The closest he ever got were in the few rare moments you spent alone, and you couldn’t help but smiling at that. You made him happy. He made you happy. Maybe this would work. 

[letterstomilen]

i discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)

Childe/Zhongli, Alternate Universe (read part 2 here) When Childe's younger sister tells him about the volunteer at the library, he does not make the connection between that and his new favorite ASMR YouTuber, Rex Lapis.

Childe has a very effective method of getting through college. His little sister, who’s caught him making coffee at three in the morning on more than one occasion the past week alone, would beg to differ. 

“You’re the best older brother,” she starts off, and he’s sure she’s trying to convince herself more than him at this point, “but you need to fix your sleeping habits.” Then, because she’s his little sister, she’d flash him a smile and pat his shoulder reassuringly.

(The comment is not lost on him though. He understands his sleeping situation will eventually wear him down if it hadn’t already, but he believes if he’ll drink a coffee every morning and a Monster every night, he’ll get through three days. By the third day, he’ll hardly be coherent but that doesn’t matter because he’ll conk out for the next twelve hours and then repeat.)

“Don’t worry, Tonia,” he says, trying to sound as reassuring as possible as he contemplates whether it’s worth it or not to swallow a pill of 5-hour energy with his morning coffee. “Once break ends, I’ll get back to normal.”

“You said that six seasons ago.”

Childe frowns, trying to remember if his sleeping schedule was this dysfunctional last year. “Huh?”

“The Walking Dead seasons,” Tonia clarifies, as if she’s not twelve years old and the show is for grown adults. He thinks. He hasn’t checked Commonsensemedia ever since La Signora labeled him as a “helicopter parent” and his Netflix tab has been playing How to Get Away with Murder as background noise for the past few weeks.

Isn’t it a show about zombies though? Tonia’s sheepish smile tells it all, because it’s the same exact guilty look he had when he got caught red-handed as a kid.

(Once he remembers later, Childe promises himself, he’ll check out The Walking Dead.)

“Oh. Well. I have a lot of shows to catch up on, you know. Not to mention a ton of my professors gave me reading for over the break.”

A half lie. They did give him a lot of reading because each professor assumed that their classes were his only one, and with seven days left, he still has a textbook worth of reading to go through. But there are no shows that Childe would sacrifice his precious sleep for. As a matter of fact, he would love to sleep. He’s spent the majority of his classes back in high school sleeping and faking attention, saving his grade at the last minute — it was quite the extreme sport really, if he says so himself.

Whenever he tries to sleep recently, his thoughts run at several hundred miles per hour, and he spends several hours staring at the ceiling before succumbing to the computer at his desk and watching trashy movies. At this point, he must have gone through the entire romance comedy list on Netflix. (Not a proud point in his life but if anybody ever wanted him to give a list of best to worst romance comedy movies, he now has one.)

Tonia, on the other hand, isn’t incredibly convinced.

Admittedly, the excuse was lame. Also, he can’t easily lie to his little sister, who’s far shrewder than he takes her for at times.

“You never start your reading in advance. You like to speed read it right before your class or watch a five-minute video on the chapters while your teachers take attendance. But that’s… uh, ‘a bad work ethic.’” Tonia looks immensely proud of herself as she says this, finishing it off with, “Zhongli told me that.”

“Zhongli?” he repeats, trying to remember if that’s one of her classmates or some stranger that’s hoping to kidnap his sister.

“The guy that volunteers at the library sometimes. He recommended me a loot of good books to read, but he talks like an old man.”

“How old?” Childe can tell she’s enjoying this — talking about her new friend at the library that he’ll probably have to run a background check on.

“Like he’s in his sixties or something. But he looks… actually, he looks your age! And he’s a student too. I told him all about you.”

Well, that doesn’t sound very reassuring coming from the mouth of a twelve-year-old. He’s not sure if that translates to his social security number, his current dilemma, or just that he’s her older brother.

“Like all of the stories you told me when I was a kid. And then when Lumine came to pick me up, she stayed to show him pictures of you too.”

“Of course she did,” he mumbles, ruffling her hair. One of these days he’s going to move without telling his classmates and the twins won’t enter his apartment unannounced. (But Tonia adores their company and the stories they tell her far too much for him to actually do it. But that doesn’t mean he’s above making threats when they tell his little sister about the bet he made about white-out and how it could dye hair. The jury is still out on this one.) “She’s just mad because I get away with it and she doesn’t. But don’t do it yourself. It’s a bad habit,” he adds, remembering that he should at least try to be a good influence on his younger sister when he can.

“Okaaay,” she says unconvincingly, before shaking her hair and running off to her room with lunch he prepared for her.

Watching her close the door and no doubt continue her binge of The Walking Dead, he takes out his phone and texts Lumine.

 Childe

12:35

ur a horrible influence on tonia

 Childe

12:35

and whos this ZHONGLI

 Childe

12:35

also is twd appropriate for 12 y/os

 Twin 1

12:37

a normal person would say hi

 Twin 1

12:37

also 1. me n aether watched it when we were 12 so probably and 2. some guy at the library that also goes to our school

 Well. At least he’s somebody they know. But The Walking Dead?

 Childe

12:38

thats not very convincing

 Childe

12:38

also dont ppl DIE? get BITTEN???? what if she gets nightmares

 Twin 1

12:39

isnt she 12 r u telling me u weren’t watching R rated movies at 12

 Childe

12:42

thats very different from a 10 season long show that is hailed as “one of the greatest horror shows in history” and “paved the way for post-apocalyptic horror”

 Twin 1

12:42

well if she has trouble sleeping she could always watch asmr. that helps me during midterms idk

 Childe

12:42

whats asmr

 Childe

12:43

asking for my sister btw

 Twin 1

12:44

A feeling of well-being combined with a tingling sensation in the scalp and down the back of the neck, as experienced by some people in response to a specific gentle stimulus, often a particular sound.

 Childe

12:45

wtf?

 Twin 1

12:45

people on the internet make random sounds or just talk into a mic n its supposed to be very relaxing. how have u never found out abt this?????

 Childe

12:45

idk the only thing on my youtube recommended r greatest stunts and chapter review videos

 Twin 1

12:47

… makes sense

 Twin 1

12:47

check out rex lapis’ channel he looks like ur type

 Childe

12:48

i thought we were talking about my sister????

 Twin 1

12:50

[message screenshots.jpg]

 Twin 1

12:50

ya she told me everything

 Twin 1

12:50

have fun i need to convince aether to not commit arson bc of his TA

 Childe

12:51

hope he does it

He opens his Youtube app, typing in Rex Lapis and expecting Lumine’s suggestion to be a joke. Despite them being friends for nearly two years now, she’s never made any indication of knowing his type. And he’s sure he’s never been that vocal about it either, only shooting appreciative looks at history majors and paying more attention than necessary to the TA for ‘Tradition of Justice and Law.’ (It’s unfortunate that those short-term crushes never led to anything, but maybe that’s for the better seeing that Childe has never understood the appeal of relationships.)

It is an ASMR channel, judging by the ASMR playlist he finds as he scrolls through the account. The icon shows no face — only a microphone — which leaves him skeptical. Most of the video titles belong in a petrology lecture as well, which makes him even more convinced that it’s a joke. He finds a few readings of ancient literature and decides to pick ‘I discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)’ because that’s exactly what he needs. (Not the very moment — but ten hours later when he’s in the bed memorizing the pattern of his ceiling wondering why he stole from his fifth grade teacher’s candy jar during lunch.)

When Childe opens the video, he damn near gasps.

The man in the video is exactly his type. His eyes are a soft amber color, framed with long lashes, and it’s almost enough for him to lose his dignity and message Lumine a long thank you text about how she is always right and he’ll pay for her coffee for the following week.  He smiles at the screen, albeit a little sheepishly, dark hair framing his face with a long ponytail that Childe can’t see the end of. On his right ear, there are a pair of earrings with a single feather that brush against his neck when he moves his head.

Even before he speaks, Childe is mesmerized, sure he’ll already memorize his features from the curve of his nose to the way he tilts his head, displaying the expanse of his neck.

Really — he reminds him of actors in historical dramas, the way he sits regally, and how he speaks. His voice is low and slow as he adopts a careful manner of speaking, leaning into the mic.

“I’m Rex Lapis, and I’ll be discussing igneous petrology today, which is part one in a three-part petrology series. I apologize in advance, seeing that my knowledge is limited compared to many petrologists out there but my friend Venti said that many of my viewers are here for my voice, so I’m very excited to start today’s video.”

Holy shit.

For the following week, Childe learns less about petrology, the philosophy of economics, and historical revisionism concerning matters of war and more about Rex Lapis, who is not in love with his voice but often finds himself in the middle of long tangents without explanations. His favorite book series is the Legend of the Lone Sword, which he says he’ll look forward to reading out loud for the channel. (Childe replays that part of the video again and again, captivated by his excitement as he mindlessly taps the mic while he speaks, his tangent cutting off mid-word — as it usually does, much to his dismay.)

His guilty obsession is not lost on Tonia, who realizes that instead of drinking Monster every night he’s been engrossed in his phone completely, often not noticing her or when the water starts bubbling. But because his sleeping schedule has been alleviated, she says nothing until Lumine comes over as she always does, not forgetting their weekly schedule of watching trashy movies while leeching off of Childe’s food.

Because he doesn’t trust the twins with the kitchen — even if they can cook — she instead spends her time sitting next to Tonia and spreading more of her anti-Childe propaganda while they wait. This usually involves Tonia occasionally calling out Childe’s name and asking, “Is that true?” or “Did you really do that?”

This time is different though.

Worried that Lumine finally decided to show Tonia a video of last semester’s presentation, he leans over, looking at the computer screen.

And he’s wrong. Unfortunately. Maybe it should’ve been his presentation because even if he botched it and accidentally projected his work process — screaming notes and all — to the class instead of his actual presentation, it would’ve been better than the two of them watching one of Rex Lapis’ videos together.

The ‘I read Erosion: Essays of Undoing to you as it rains outside’ video, to be specific, which is where Rex Lapis is embarrassed by Venti mid video when asked if this was his idea of a date with a lover. (And then it ends with Rex Lapis asking for video suggestions from the commentors, his face still flushed from the previous comments.)

Oh God — oh fuck.

“So he is your type,” Lumine says, her expression a bit too smug for his liking. Tonia looks half awake, scrolling through articles as the video plays, more interested in ‘Top 10 Glenn Rhee Moments’ than Childe’s crush. Her expression is a bit guilty as she does so — she’s biting her lip and avoiding his gaze, but he assumes that it’s just because they went through his YouTube history.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that statement,” he retorts, but the YouTube history she pulls up once Tonia hands the computer over to her says it all. (It’s quite mortifying, really — even Tonia is giving him a look, but it’s not as bad as Lumine’s shit eating grin.)

“Well… he does have a nice voice,” Childe finally says, thinking that perfectly encompasses his most recent obsession. Because he does have a nice voice — it’s soothing and speaks to him without really speaking to him directly. (The good looks are a bonus, he assures himself. A fantastic bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.)

“He does,” Tonia confirms, smiling toothily up at him, and he resists the urge to ruffle her hair with Lumine staring at him so skeptically. “But I don’t understand much of what he’s saying. He — heh — talks like an old man.”

“Don’t worry, Tonia, your brother likes him because he’s attractive,” Lumine informs her, now fast forwarding on one of Rex Lapis’ videos. “Did you know that he lives nearby?”

“Huh?”

The knife he’s holding clatters to the floor, and the two look down and back up at him with— hold on, why does it feel like they’re in on a secret he doesn’t know about?

“Yeah, he’s working on his grad thesis I think… Aether told me it was about something on history,” she muses. “That’s why I recommended his channel to you. He’s a bit of a celebrity in his department.” Childe’s sure his jaw dropped now, trying to maintain his facial expression as he takes out a new knife to chop up the onions.

“Really,” he tries to say as calmly as possible, wondering how he should accompany Aether to his lectures without trying to seem as obvious as possible. His voice is a bit shaky he realizes but he can’t quite make the connection between Rex Lapis and actual graduate student that goes to his university.

“Yeah, actually…” Lumine is definitely pretending to think now, enjoying this far too much. “He—”

“It’s Zhongli!” his little sister yells excitedly, practically jumping up and down at this point as if she won the lottery. “Zhongli runs an ASMR channel and he talks just like that in real life! Right, Lumine?”

“Yeah.”

Childe sighs, holding a hand up to his face. The realization that he’s been obsessed with the same guy that hears about every stupid thing he did secondhand is way too much — and the fact that he’s been listening to his voice every night before he went to bed the past week is way too much. He’s sure his face is redder than before judging by the amused expressions on Lumine’s and Tonia’s faces — really, they’re mirror images of each other right now.

Not for the first time, Childe swears to himself that he’ll never let her into his apartment without signing a contract ever again.

[enapouyou]

The beginning of our dream

(Sorry if there are spelling mistakes, english isn’t my language. The story is translated from French )

To celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Shoku on September 4, 2020, I translated the first OS on its history. The second one will arrive soon : here

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

Small suitcases were placed in a huge living room, the furniture was covered with sheets, the walls which had had many colors were now completely white and the worn parquet floor had lost its soft carpet. The other rooms were completely empty, lifeless while a silhouette took the time to observe them, letting memories fill it.

He had just lost everything and was no longer able to live here alone...

Slowly making his way upstairs, observing the long corridor of rooms with many doors, the small skeleton with golden pupils moved forward, caressing each of them in a slow and sad movement.

- To think that we thought we were one big family... Whispered Dream as we arrived at the last door.~

He opened it to fall on an empty room, like the others, a simple bed covered with a cloth to protect it from dust. Moving towards the bed, Dream sat down on it before looking around. He didn't want to leave, he didn't want to leave this house which was supposed to promise him a bright future but he couldn't live there without it anymore...

A sound of footsteps was then heard and a small knock at his door made him look at it. In the frame, Nightmare was watching his brother as he leaned against it, his appendages carrying some of his twin's luggage.

- Are you ready? Asked the master of misfortune. Dust, Horror and Killer start loading your things to transport them to the castle.

While speaking, the corrupt being came to sit next to his twin who began to stare at his hands trembling.

- We had to form a family... Started Dream by feeling the tears streaming down his cheekbones. We had to become soul mates... Live together and be happy... How could it have turned out this way without us seeing it coming... ? C-How could I forget this morning when I woke up without him... As if he had never existed...

Nightmare put down the suitcases he was carrying before hugging his twin. He hadn't seen anything coming either. In all the time he had been with them, they would never have believed that X!Gaster could use overwrite... Never would they have thought that he would choose not to rewrite Cross and delete it... And they were the only two to remember the two-tone warrior, their guardian status having prevented overwrite from erasing their memory, all the others had simply forgotten him... As if he had never existed.

And it was when Nightmare saw his brother slowly destroying himself by staying in the house they had bought together that Nightmare finally begged him to move into the castle with him. For several millennia, the corrupt had learned to control his corruption and even if he remained dependent on negativity and had sometimes violent reactions, his soul and the emanation of negativity was no longer dangerous for Dream and positivity was no longer dangerous for him either. Their bond as twins had become much closer thanks to this little mastery of the master of misfortune over himself. And after having spent many nights consoling Dream, who could not help but notice, powerless, that the universe of Cross was now inaccessible to them and that therefore they had no chance to bring back the bicolor, the corrupt had finally convinced his brother to come and live with them? He would not touch the house, he promised to put it under a spell so that time would never affect it and no one could destroy it.

Cuddling up to her brother, Dream doesn't see Nightmare's three henchmen sticking their heads through the door frame to figure out what to do now that they've loaded the furniture. They couldn't remember anything and simply thought that the positive janitor had wanted to buy himself a bigger house but the loneliness that the place brought him had driven him almost crazy.

With a movement of appendix, Nightmare told them to put everything in Dream's new room in the castle and finish bringing her luggage there. Horror and Dust executed quickly while Killer remained for a moment to observe the twins, worried for them. The killer was closest to Nightmare, even being her lover, and he knew how serious something must have been. Otherwise Nightmare would never have begged her twin so much to come...

Capturing her lover's gaze on them, Nightmare caressed his appendix's skull before gently smiling at him and waving at him to leave them alone a little longer. Killer nodded her head before going to help her comrades, simply leaving Dream crying in her brother's arms.  

The rest of the move went relatively well and the three henchmen were finishing putting the Gold Keeper's things in his room when they saw Nightmare join them with her twin, asleep in her arms.

- This day was very hard for him... Announced Nightmare softly. His sweet dream turned into a nightmare and he simply refused to accept it... I'm counting on you to welcome him as a member of the family, okay?

Horror, Dust and Killer had a quick look at each other before nodding their heads. In this timeline, the war between the bad guys and the stars had been over for years, establishing peace and a very strong friendship between all the skeletons who had once been enemies. Dream was no exception to this rule, and the three former bad guys were just as worried as their bosses and they wanted to give Dream back its smile and its joy of life.

A few days later, Dream was slowly getting used to life in the castle. Very different from what he had known when he was living with Cross... Here, Horror took care of the kitchen and all the meals, providing dishes of unparalleled quality that warmed the soul of the now lonely janitor. Dust took care of the missions in the various universes and was truly trustworthy, a henchman to be relied upon without fail. And finally Killer, spending a lot of time with Nightmare, having demonstrated an impeccable organization that allowed the master of misfortune to easily find his way through his papers.

For years, Nightmare had been the lonely and neglected twin, pushing him to eat a black apple, and today, Dream found himself alone, in a castle where his aura affected no one. On the one hand, he knew that the skeletons here didn't come to enjoy his sweet aura, but on the other hand, he felt terribly alone. And this, in spite of the frequent visits of Ink, Blue and Error.

Walking a little randomly in the castle, Dream finally saw Horror and Dust at the corner of a corridor. The cannibal had just pressed the high level against a wall and embraced it with a passion that made Dream's soul tighten. He missed Cross's kisses... And he came to envy the couples of the castle... It made him sick...

His flight movement attracted the gaze of Dust who quickly showed it to his companion as the guard's jacket disappeared towards the library. They exchanged a worried look before following the steps of the skeleton with the golden pupils. They found him, crying, sitting on one of the footstools in the reading corner, wrapped in a blanket. As they approached to try to comfort him, an appendix gently stopped them as Nightmare walked by, asking them to leave them alone.

Without further ado, the two skeletons emerged from the library as Nightmare sat down next to his twin, putting his arms around him to pull him against his rib cage.

- Tell me all about it... Whisper Nightmare.

- I was... I hate myself... Answered Dream. Dust and Horror... Error, Ink and Blue... Killer and you... I surprise myself every moment to be jealous of you... It is not fair... Why you, your couples work... ?

Nightmare had a moment of silence, understanding a little better the reasons of the numerous leaks of his brother these last days and while he was going to answer, Dream cut him off to resume the continuation of his thoughts:

-The worst... The worst is you and Killer... Confessed the golden one. Every time I see Killer... It's like my whole being hates him... I want to separate you as soon as I see you flirting with each other and I almost missed separating you with a positivity arrow the last time you kissed...

Remaining even quieter with such a confession, Nightmare began to gently caress her brother's back, letting her magic gently nibble away at his negative feelings.

- I'm sorry Dream... Whisper Nightmare. I didn't think it would hurt you so much to see us kissing... I promise we won't show it to you... Sorry little brother...

While slowly coming to rock him, Nightmare looked up at Killer who had listened to everything, hidden behind a shelf. The madman nodded his head as he crossed his lover's gaze, perfectly understanding that they had to give Dream more time to forget her lost love.

In her brother's arms, Dream was letting herself do it while he felt his brother's sweet soul beating next to hers, warming her being. Being against his brother was the sweetest of sensations and little by little, the little positive guardian became addicted to it.

After this little crisis, several days were spent in the castle and all the inhabitants tried to help Dream to think about something else. Horror and Dust having a lot of work, Killer offered to spend more time with the golden one. Very often, the two skeletons ended up in the library where Nightmare came to join them when he finished his work.

One evening, the master of misfortune was busier than usual and Killer had just joined Dream with two hot chocolates. The keeper of positivity was bent over an old book about DreamTale and before his brother's corruption.

- You are living legends and your story is even counted in books. Smiles Killer putting the chocolate next to the gold. Do you miss the past? You seem quite attached to things I feel like I don't know about?

Dream had a sweet smile before opening a page, unveiling two balls of color, one purple and one golden, placed on a branch of an apple tree.

- You know what I mean... We were very close with Nightmare before... Started Dream by caressing the purple colored ball on the pages of the book. When it became corrupted, we lost our closeness... It took so much time to become again the twins that we were... And to think that the solitude had to drive me crazy for us to live together again...

Feeling Dream's voice slightly weakening, Killer put a plaid on his shoulders before embracing his. The golden keeper let himself go before looking at the madman who seemed never to think about his actions. He crossed the empty yet expressive gaze of the younger one, making him slightly yellow as he became aware of their position, the soft warmth emanating from him and his delicious smell.

- I am happy to be here... Dream continued by coming to lay her hands on Killer's hands. Dust, Horror and you are insensitive to my aura and with Nightmare's, I know that if you come to see me, I will be able to help you... It is because you are sincere in your steps... And to think that I believed for a long time that you were dangerous lunatics.

Killer sneered at the remark before embracing a little more Dream, finding the feeling of holding his lover's twin against him very pleasant.

- We were just poor guys. Killer replied. Nightmare offered us a family so we accepted everything he asked us. Somehow, I'm glad he's much more in control than he was before.

- And I'm glad to see you so close ~ Chuckle Nightmare who had just arrived in the library. Watch out Dream, Killer is mine ~ Although I'll admit he's a very good teddy bear ~

The one concerned stuck his tongue out at his lover, holding the positive guardian in his arms, and the younger of the twins turned a little more golden, really realizing that he loved being there. Even more so now that Nightmare had just wrapped his appendages around the two skeletons and joined in this sweet embrace.

These little moments, when time seemed to stand still, Dream found itself cherishing them, asking for more and more and accepting only those coming from Nightmare or Killer. The longer the little janitor stayed in the castle, the more he felt his gaze staring too often at his twin or lover.

At what point had he managed to forget Cross? He couldn't remember... At what point had his gaze begun to look at Killer, again and again? Holding a hand to his ribcage, he felt his golden soul beating at a speed he had never suspected. Even with Cross, it had never beat so fast...

Lost in his thoughts, cheekbones slightly golden, Dream did not feel Killer coming towards him to embrace him by surprise. The madman loved to cuddle him, either for the fun of provoking Nightmare, or simply for the pleasure of holding him.

- Hi Dreamy! Declared him without a pupil before tilting his head to see the face of the other skeleton. Is everything alright? You seem somewhere else.

Dream shook his head a little to put his ideas back in place before offering a smile so sweet that Killer felt his soul miss a beat. Being so cute and innocent with a simple smile should be illegal!

- Yes I am fine. Dream replied, staring at him with her beautiful golden pupils. Are you all alone?

- Oh yes, sorry. Apologized the madman who had almost forgotten why he had just gone to find the golden one. Horror and Dust have gone to spend the night at HorrorTale and Nightmare is still working a little. So I came to ask you to watch a little movie with me.

Killer's smile touched Dream who immediately accepted the proposal. The madman was so happy about it that the wave of positivity he released warmed the golden soul of the guardian. This feeling was so sweet, so warm... A real positive and happy emotion... Cross had never had that with him... Or was it because Dream had never really paid attention to it... Why was he discovering so many sweet things while he was with his brother and his boyfriend...?

Taken out of his thoughts by Killer who installed him on the couch, the little skeleton observed him taking the plaids, the cookies and the drinks that he put on the coffee table before wrapping Dream in a soft plaid. He grabbed the remote control and dropped himself on the couch to start the film.

Without being able to explain his gesture, Dream put his arms around the back of his neck, putting his hands on his rib cage before forcing him to move backwards to hold it against him, passing the blanket around them. Killer had a slight blush but didn't move, accepting to end up in the golden one's arms and starting the film, taking advantage of this moment between them.

Once again, Dream felt time hang in the air, his soul purring softly with happiness as he felt the soul of the madman beating not far from him. Since when had he become addicted to his presence... ?

- Dream? Gently call Killer. Y-Your breath...

Without even realizing it, Dream had just placed her skull against Killer's cervicals, inhaling her scent slowly before exhaling just as slowly, leaving a thin stream of air to wash over the youngest's cervicals. Upon realizing that Killer was calling out to him, he growled faintly before tightening his grip around the bishop, burying his skull a little more in the hollow of his neck.

He did not want to let him go. He didn't want this feeling of happiness to stop... He didn't want to see Killer go back into his brother's arms, he wanted to keep him for himself. He wanted him to be his own.

Jumping in the face of this strange instinct of possessiveness, Dream suddenly stood up to look at Killer's face. His face was slightly red, slight white pupils had appeared in his sockets, and his soul glowed deep red as it beat faster. Faced with such a vision, Dream could not hold back, gently caressing his cheekbones, he slowly approached his skull and placed his teeth on the madman's.

At first surprised, Killer seemed totally lost before feeling her own soul purring, as if she had waited so long for this moment. They were unable to explain how things could have turned out this way, but they both cherished the moment dearly.

- Well ~ Suddenly a voice purring beside them. You should have told me that you were interested in my boyfriend, little brother ~

Totally gilded, Dream moved away at once, breaking the kiss to Killer's chagrin.

- S-Sorry... Panicked the golden one. I-I don't know what he took from me... I-I just wanted it so bad... But I didn't want to steal him from you...

Watching Dream and Killer in turn, Nightmare approached his lover to come and hold his face and point him towards her twin.

- Hey little brother ~ We are guardians of feelings. Nightmare hummed softly. Yours and Killer's are overflowing with envy ~ We are twins, we have the right to share it and to have the same desires ~

Looking a little lost towards Nightmare, the younger of the two turned even more golden when he understood that his brother had just openly proposed to steal his lover from under his eye sockets. Then observing Killer, Dream noticed that her brother had just settled in behind the madman's back, holding his face towards him as his phalanges came running over the teeth of the skeleton with the soul as a target. Killer already seemed to be panting slightly because of the kiss, and finding himself against Nightmare who seemed to be offering it to Dream, made him squeak faintly, immediately finding himself with two phalanges that came to grab his tongue, caressing it with sensuality.

- Go little brother ~ Purr Nightmare by feeling the feelings and desires of the two skeletons. Let your desires be, I know you're hiding your game well ~

Swallowing with difficulty, Dream felt her soul beating at breakneck speed. The madman in front of him seemed so sexy, so attractive and terribly docile. Coming to straighten up a little, the golden keeper got down on all fours on the couch to come and approach Killer who was still held by the being made of corruption. Letting his desires take over, he placed his hands on the madman's knees before bringing his face closer, coming to take his teeth as a hostage before fetching his little red tongue from his own.

Nightmare watched the scene with great interest, having noticed his brother's eyes for Killer for several days. And quickly, he had noticed that Killer's soul was as if shared between them, so why not share it with each other ?

- You see, he likes it as much as you do ~ Snore Nightmare as his appendages snaked against Killer's column. Let me help you little brother ~ I'll show you how to please him ~

Breaking the kiss, Dream straightened up slightly to look at Killer's red face, finding it even more adorable than usual. Then he saw Nightmare's tentacles sliding against his spine, causing a little shiver as they passed, making the madman gasp more and more.

- A-Ah ~ N-Nightmare ~ Moaned Killer as an appendix wrapped around his cervical vertebrae.

The moaning brought Dream's marrow to the boil and he crossed his twin's gaze, inviting him to continue, making him swallow again as he felt a certain desire to possess this skeleton which was now as if trapped between them. Defying his brother with a glance, Dream began to slowly caress Killer's knees, passing a hand under his shorts to come up along his bone.

- I knew you weren't as wise as you led me to believe ~ Smiles Nightmare as she felt the shiver run down her lover's body as he held it against him.

- We're not twins for nothing ~ answered Dream as she came to take off Killer's underwear. You know big brother, I know why I was jealous of you actually. Because I too wanted to make him moan and blush ~  

Listening to the two brothers almost fighting to possess him, Killer would try to say that he had a say but feeling Dream's hand closing in on his limb, now in the open air, made him bend over against Nightmare while releasing a moan that he tried to stifle. Then he felt two appendages come wrapped around his legs, raising his pelvis to hold it slightly in the air as he saw Dream leaning towards his pelvis.

The poor fool didn't have time to understand that he felt a warm breath caressing his limb, followed by a gentle warm and wet sensation, making him squeal with a certain pleasure that he couldn't control. A hand turned his skull slightly as Nightmare took his teeth hostage, wrapping his tongue around his own, choking his groans while depriving him of air.

- Eh! Squeak Dream by straightening the skull. Let him moan, I want to hear him!

Giggling softly in front of her brother's sulky pout, Nightmare released her lover before slipping an appendix into her intimacy.

- Oh, but I'll show you how much louder he can scream ~ Snore the master of misfortune, inserting his appendix into the madman's intimacy, who bent over shouting with pleasure.

Hypnotized by the reaction, Dream took a few seconds before coming back to wrap his tongue around the red limb, quickly taking it back into the oral cavity, each cry pushing him to continue. Just below his nasal cavity, he could feel his brother's appendix vibrating inside even the youngest one, making it shiver as the golden guard felt the limb in his mouth cavity grow bigger and bigger.

Without warning, Nightmare grabbed Killer's soul, holding it to his teeth before biting into it, electrifying their little submissive who couldn't hold back a scream, clinging to Dream's skull before unconsciously pressing it down, his limb pouring into the depths of his mouth cavity.

Proud of himself, Nightmare released the poor soul, caressing Killer's skull which he had just placed against his shoulder, watching his brother get up, his mouth cavity full. He emitted a small mocking and proud sound before he felt his twin grabbing his collar to pull him towards him. The next second and Dream came to kiss her brother, letting her tongue slip a little bit of the semen between her twin's teeth. Once the whole thing was well shared, Dream stood up to swallow her share, coming to lick her teeth while staring at her brother who had turned blue in the face of her audacity.

- Not bad little brother ~ Ended up letting go of Nightmare after also swallowing what her brother had just given her. Look at the state you put him in ~

The master of misfortune used his appendages to come and wedge Killer against him, spreading his legs to give his twin a full view. Totally red with shame, Killer nevertheless let himself be caught, discovering that he loved being the center of attention of the two brothers.

- D-Dream...~ N-Nightmare ~ Implore the madman, whose body was only asking for more.

- Come on Dream, you do the honors ~ Laughs the corrupt one as he comes to caress his twin's crotch with an appendix, a faint golden glow being perfectly visible.

Biting her tongue in front of this view, Dream ends up slowly pulling her stocking off, coming to stand between Killer's legs, languorously rubbing her limb as she enters. The madman began to undulate from the pelvis, trying to get out of Nightmare's grip to come and lean himself on this member who was teasing him.

Finally, sensing his impatience, Dream slowly sank inside him, grunting with pleasure at the narrow and warm feeling around his limb. Nightmare watched them as he felt himself hardening a little more to the vision, releasing Killer who immediately clung to the guardian of positivity to come and welcome him deep inside. Dream began to move slowly, watching the face of ecstasy on the madman's face, reveling in his reactions as he understood how adorable he was.

- Admit you fell under his spell too ~ Murmured Nightmare as he came to stick to Killer's back, caressing his shoulder blades and looking over his brother's shoulder.

- W-Who could stay lucid when seeing this delicious potential ~ Laught Dream coming to accelerate her movements. I understand why you always keep him close to you and why you don't let anyone else touch him ~

- No one but you ~ Rectify Nightmare. He's ours, little brother ~

Then, without warning, Nightmare comes to lean his own limb against Killer's already busy intimacy before suddenly sinking into him, sliding against his brother's limb, making the intimacy even closer as the madman bursts in screaming with pleasure, tears of ecstasy streaming down his cheekbones.

The two brothers grunted at the narrow sensation before exchanging a complicit smile, resuming the movements together, repeating them with the same speed and depth, coming to spread the poor intimacy on each of their return, hitting Killer's prostate with their two limbs, which could only scream again, with a scream that took his breath away as his soul slowly liquefied under the pleasure.

The soul being right in front of her face, Dream slowly licked it, creating a multitude of sensations in Killer's body, tightening her intimacy around the two intruders before sinking into orgasm, the body being covered with spasms and only maintained by Nightmare who had felt it coming. His orgasm cost the twins who followed him his reason, coming to sink one last time inside him before filling his intimacy with their two seeds.

Totally exhausted, Killer let himself fall on Dream who gently hugged him, Nightmare coming to caress their back and skull, letting them gently recover. If Dream recovered gently, with a golden face and a soft look on the madman's face, he simply sank into unconsciousness, never having experienced such a wave of pleasure in one go.

- The poor ~ murmured gently Dream as he felt his brother retire to come and put a plaid on Killer.

- He'll get used to it, don't worry ~ Hummed the master of misfortune. Feel how his soul is purring with pleasure? He loved it ~

Smiling gently, Dream gently caressed the little red soul who was slowly recovering from her emotions.

- I've always seen Killer as cute... Confessed Dream. But I never thought I was so right ~ You know... I think I stayed with Cross because I thought he was my soul mate... But the bond was never created... I thought it was because there was this risk that he would disappear... But in fact, it came from me... Because, the only ones who could really make my soul purr was you ~

Listening to his brother, Nightmare sat down next to him and took him on his lap, making sure he kept Killer close to him as he embraced them both with his appendages.

- When they say the twins are related ~ Laught Nightmare. In fact, we simply have the same soul mate and fortunately for us, he has accepted us both ~

To back up his words, Nightmare gently grabbed Killer's soul before making his own appear. Putting the two souls side by side, they began to glow together. Dream in turn made hers appear, coming to place it close to the other two. The same glow shone from his golden apple and the three souls began to beat together, on the same rhythm, soft and warm, transmitting all the happiness of each of their owners.

After that first night, Dream became slightly discreet, fearing that all this was just a dream and no longer daring to confront Killer. However, after spending the day in hiding, he was found by a crying Killer who thought that Dream didn't want to be soul mates with them. And after several hours of consoling him, the twins decided to enlarge the bed in Nightmare's room, where the guardian of positive feelings would now spend every future night.

With each passing day, their bond grew stronger, proving to Dream that he had only spent all his last years lying to himself so as not to risk breaking up his brother's couple, but that in the end, their souls were sharing enough to have the same soul mate.

A soul mate who, by dint of getting stoned by the perversity of the two brothers, ended up getting pregnant. Dream will long remember the day they found out. It was a classic evening, Killer was sitting on the couch waiting for the twins to watch a movie in their arms. Except that the moment Nightmare approached and tried to come and excite her lover, he had a positive attack, coming straight from Killer's soul. And when Dream had tried to take the soul of the madman, he had taken a wave of negativity.

Science had been called in urgently and after analysis, a little soul simply wanted to grow up quietly until it was born. A quick magical analysis confirmed that the link between the three skeletons had mixed all their magic together to form a little magic ball with three dads.

The pregnancy went relatively well, Killer was often tired and spent her time sleeping in the arms of one of the guardians depending on who was available because of their work. Only Nightmare grumbled a little about not being able to enjoy their lover but he had finally gotten used to it and spent all his free time checking that the castle would be ready for a new baby.

On the day of the birth, Killer was caught in a contraction while Nightmare was in the world of dreams to play his role. The call of Dream made him come back so quickly that many people saw their nightmares disappear in the middle of it, like a bad horror movie that would stop right after the pressure was raised but never frightening.

The delivery lasted several hours... Several hours during which Killer seemed to suffer in the face of the strong sentimental magic of the soul that wanted to be born. And finally, tears echoed throughout the room, the madman proudly holding a little being who was taking his first breath of air, filling his magic with oxygen and slowly activating his senses.

Dream and Nightmare approached their lover to come and watch their child, a little skeleton boy. As his body was being created, a black crown was carved on his skull, forming an apple on his forehead, while a thin black line appeared all around his skull. As soon as the black line reached the apple again after it had gone around, a golden spark seemed to stop the process, freezing the black mark, like a scar or a birthmark.

The child's tears were made of black tears that slightly stained the blanket in which he was wrapped, Dream gently wiping them off with a cloth so he would not get his face too dirty. Opening the eye sockets to the sensation on his bones, the baby revealed two round pupils which passed in a star shape in a few blinks of an eye, the right one being gold-colored and the left one a lagoon blue. Looking at his two other fathers, the child had a small laugh, making the tears that Dream was finishing wiping up stop. Finally, floating in front of his rib cage, he had a small round soul separated into two circles. The outer one, and therefore the larger one, was gold above and black below, and the circle in the middle was red.

- What is it called? Shyly asked Nightmare as she came to shake an appendix under the child's amused gaze.

- I had thought of Shoku... Suggested gently Killer.

The twins had a look before nodding their heads, totally approving of the name. Dream bent down to place a kiss on Shoku's forehead while giving him a beautiful, proud and happy smile.

- Welcome home, Shoku, our little ray of sunshine. Dream murmured softly.

- Our little moonbeam ~ Oppose Nightmare jokingly.

Killer sneered softly before coming to carry his son facing his face, rubbing her nasal cavity with the baby's.

- Welcome to your new family, our adorable little eclipse ~

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

I'm sorry if my English is bad but I hope you liked the story anyway !

[mare-sanguis]

So I had this weird dream where I was trapped inside a mirror world. After I woke up my brain went like "thats it- write a fucking Scary Stories fix it fanfic/ one shot"

So in this OS/ff I'm gonna focus on Chuck (and the Auggie x Chuck ship)(because he baby) and how hes stuck in some kind of other world (influenced by the celtic "anderswelt/ other world"). Its just a snipped- theres going to follow more. There will be some hidden meanings and symbols.(will fix grammar mistakes later)

Maybe the one person who will read it catches the first hidden meaning

At first Chuck was mad at Stella.

That she let the monster take Auggie away. Let him getting dragged away.

They showed him the place- the place he went lost. In his own goddamn bedroom.

He saw the dragging marks on the floor. And seeing this made him angry.

There were still things he wanted to do with his friends, and seeing them going missing wasnt one of this.

And this all started because she picked up this stupid book.

And now? Now he was going to disappear to. Surrounded by pale women- she forcing him into a hug, finally swolling him whole.

Now he wasnt going to miss Auggie any more.

Sounded really sad but it was the reality now- for him.

And maybe he would stop feeling like this towards his friend.

Maybe he would stop feeling anything.

But on the other habd- maybe he would be trapped in a void, still being the same person, still feeling the same things he did when he was alive. The things he would get judged for in his hometown. The things he would get judged for if he would ever tell anyone.

Now, the moment the pale woman was about to swallow him whole he started to panic.

It was like in his dreams all over again.

And he never felt felt like his friends took him serious. Took the dreams serious.

The moment they went to look for the records of Sarah, walking down the hallway towards the R.E.D room he also was about to lose his mind.

Neither Stella nor Ramón listened to him, his worries. Stella just told him to wait there.

Wow what an idea- leaving him there alone while the hospital hallways were filled with nurses and doctors. What a great idea it was. But her head was fully stuck into swooning over their new found friend Ramón.

Totally ignoring his concern. But what ever- this moment he not just felt like a third wheel. No. He was one- literally.

He should have come with them now that he was thinking of it. Shouldnt he?

Either was- this shit sucked.

And now he was trapped here. His friends probably busy with something from much more importance than him.

Searching for a clue, a solution how to stop this madness.

But he wasnt going to witness it anyway - them failing or winning.

Instead he was about to disappear and who knows what would await him on the other side.

His last thoughts drifted away to his sister and how they were able to safe her. She would probably enjoy a life without him- who knows.

And then he was gone.

Swallowed up, whole by the monster from his nightmare. By his own nightmare.

The moment he opened his eyes he was trapped in complete darkness.

No light- just darkness. And emptiness

As he looked down he saw black goo covering the ground. He was sitting in it. Could see a bit of his own reflection.

Well at least he was still this handsome young man like when he was alive.

He sighed and got up- black goo still sticking on him. Hands, clothes, face.

Looking around he saw nothint. No one else was there. It looked completely lost. If he really would be stuck here forever he'd go crazy.

Not his favorite idea ot a place to go. Not the best place to go to when dead.

Come to think of- was he even dead? It didnt felt like... dying?

But who was he to know how dying would feel like?

Its his first time dying (?)

Its just that he rather felt alive than dead the moment he got swallowed.

Confusing.

He looked around again. A second time.

Nothing changed.

"Just standing around there wont do anything. Lets go."

He told himself, no clue for what he was even looking for.

But everything was better than just sitting around there doing nothing. He wondered how much time already had passed.

Didnt felt like much- but maybe the time was working differently wherever he was trapped right now.

He really wanted to find out where he was but where to start when theres nothing- just darkness, emptiness.

He sighed again, looking at the black goo on his hands.

What a way to end a life.

Everytime Chuck took a step he got suck a bit into the black shit on the ground. With ever step his breathing got heavier.

Wherever he was- it must be the worst place of it all. He walked and walked, it seemed endless. It all seemed the same.

It felt like hours. Him walking around there. Seemed so sensless all of the sudden. But he didnt give up. He didnt want to- he couldnt. Maybe there was a way out and he just had to search for it.

Did he ever wanted to come back? To his reality? Guess not- not without Auggie.

And just in the right moment he saw something- a door. White. Looked just the same like the ones in the hospital. Two lanterns were placed next to the door. It didnt look very inviting. But what else could happen?

"What else could happen if I take this door? Maybe getting sucked deeper into this shit? Maybe if I take this door I will never come back? I dont even know how deep down it goes down here."

He grabbed the doorhandle anyway and pushed it down, pulling the door open. He was greeting with white lights, it was almost blinding him- such a strong contrast to the darkness behind him.

And he could saw the hospital hallway right in front of him.

All corridors looked the same so it was a suprise for him that he figured out that it was the one where he got swallowed.

And the moment he stepped into the scene it all repeated itself. It felt like a nightmare, he could see himself- running scared, away from the woman. Lost. It was terrifying to watch.

"But at least its just showing me what happened- not that I have to endure it again by myself." He took a deep breath and walked up on of the hallways- trying to ignore what was happening right befor his eyes.

"Its nothing- its just a bad d[...]"

He stopped. His words. His movements.

Because the lights had turned red.

"Ah shit man- are you kidding me? Not again! I already died I cant die again!" He shouted out- watching in horror how his nightmare was walking right towards him.

Wait.

He was already gone.

She couldnt hurt him again.

"I'm dead you cant hurt me!" He shouted towards her.

"Gonna catch me if you can!" And then he started to run. He didnt know where he was running but he was running- and this time he was winning. At least it felt like winning to him. Even if it meant that he would get lost even more.

Well- if he finds a nice place maybe he could stay here. Maybe its better than the cold real life.

The hallway was getting darker again, this time there was fog everywhere - it made breathing heavier and he coughed a few times, rubbing his eyes.

Maybe ge should just stay here. What was the point of even trying to get out.

Chuck stumbled.

Banged his head on a door.

On a door that appeared out of nowhere.

He was sure there wasnt one few moments ago- he was loosing his mind already.

"Its happening already damn." He rubbed his forehead.

The door looked different from the one before.

It was white too- but there were small details caved in the wood of it. It had a doorknob with a symbol on it. He couldnt made out what this symbol was since the fog was blocking his few.

"I just want to take a look if its shitty there I wont pass it."

He looked back- knowing that he still was followed by the pale woman. He could see her.

"Or maybe I will take the risk of what ever is waiting for me on the other side."

He turned the knob around and took a last look at the dark hallway, the nightmare which was almost right behind him.

"Good riddance."

Then he went through the door- and the moment he passed it, it disappeared. So did his unsafe feeling.

But it still was dark. Luckily not as dark as before.

As he looked up he could see the dark sky- it looked just like the one he used to see in his hometown. It looked to normal.

But there werent any people nor animals. Just him and...

And a swaying bridge. Apprearing right before his eyes.

Connecting two cliffs- leading across a deep dark gorge.

And the bridge was a rainbow.

A fucking rainbow. Out of everything he hated the most he got a bridge covered in rainbow colors.

"I hate my not-so-alive life. Rainbow. Fine."

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THE TROUBLE WITH THE STARTUP GROWTH

New York or LA. It was no coincidence. I'll try not bringing books on some future trip. Need for structure I'm told there are people who do. For most of the audience seemed to be synonymous with quiet, so I didn't do it. The danger here is that you have to select 20 players. I know are programmers. If you can develop technology. And this turns out to be as true in a hundred years.

As technologies improve, each generation can do things that would be illegal otherwise. Periods and commas are constituents if they occur between two digits. The reason we tell founders is not to try hard enough.1 You can't make a list of n elements.2 So have we just shown, by reductio ad absurdum, that it's false that economic inequality should be decreased? I have not yet seen evidence that seemed to me full of random stuff. There are few corporations in which it would be hard for anyone to stop them in order to keep search broken, it makes me really want to know what languages will be like in a hundred years.3 Startups prosper in some places and not others. Even the most radically open-minded of us mostly do that. And when you discover a competitor with the sort of person who has them.4 In an earlier essay I said that upset him: that startups would do better to go off and work with a small group of other ambitious people. You can mitigate this with subsidies at the bottom and taxes at the top are grabbing an increasing fraction of the nation's income—so much smaller that all the rules are different.5

How can you manipulate data without doing pointer arithmetic? So any difference between what people want. When you raise a lot of lines have nothing on them but a delimiter or two. That doesn't feel right. I think it can scale all the way to find or design the best language is to be something that is going to read a description of Y Combinator that said Y Combinator does seed funding for startups. I don't like to admit it, but if I were choosing now that's still the one I'd pick. The negotiation never stops till the closing.

As with the question of cofounders, the real lesson here is to start startups, and it probably had something of the effect that parents hope children's books have in making people behave better. It's a general historical trend. And yet those who dislike the term are probably right, because if it means what I think it could give you an edge to understand the underlying principles. Could a programming language is how well it achieves its purpose, then the measure of the relative power of programming languages is more like the rate of income tax, the more you stay pointed in the same direction.6 It would work for a while, and then sell at the top, by underpaying their top management. Several of the most important principles in Silicon Valley don't seem to be taking their time.7 Is the right answer for dealing with fly balls. Anything that is supposed to double every eighteen months seems likely to run up against some kind of fundamental limit eventually. General Motors.

Google, or they'll see through you in a way that's incompatible with this curve.8 If you'd asked most 40 year olds in 2004 whether they'd like to publish their lives semi-publicly on the Internet in 20 years, and it hasn't affected programming practice much so far. In fact, getting a normal job may actually make you less able to pass costs on to customers and thus less willing to overpay for labor.9 We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few big blocks whose relationships were negotiated in back rooms by a handful of deals a year and they don't spend a lot of external evidence that benevolence works. Find something that's missing in your own country. And barring financial catastrophe, I think it may be, in certain specific moments like your family, this month a fixed amount of deal flow, and that people should work for another company for a few seconds I realized this when I read an interview with Joe Kraus, the co-founder of Excite.10 When a friend of mine said, Most VCs can't do anything that would be popular but seem hard to make something great and not worry too much about the business model, at least by their standards.11

Some kinds of waste really are disgusting. Once you're allowed to do that is not, at least for me, its main value.12 We could see the problem was intermittent. So one way to make a startup succeed—if you avoid every cause of failure, you succeed—and that's too big a question to answer on the fly. In the worst case takes a year rather than a weekend.13 In a specialized society, most of which fail, and one of the characters on a TV show was starting a startup were easy, everyone would do it.14 In languages, as in every other language. Lisp. But we can't start from the symptom and hope to fix the underlying causes. A round? And one of the O'Reilly people that guy looks just like Tim. It was a kind of shorthand: money is a huge time sink���more work, probably, than the startup itself.

But until this does start to happen, and arrange to be standing there when it does. In fact, one strategy I recommend to people who need a new idea is not merely ten people, but ten people like you. In that respect the Cold War teaches the same lesson as World War II, and the problems you understand best are your own.15 A company that an angel is willing to put $50,000 into at a valuation of a million can't take $6 million from VCs at that valuation. Free free If you do that, you get to a pretty big opportunity. So in effect what's happened is that a restrictive language is one that isn't succinct enough, and when it suddenly drops, you sell. We now have several examples to prove that startups don't need to market themselves to investors because they invest their own. What's not a theory is the converse: if you're trying to stop doing it, but now we advise founders to vest so there will be more like being able to pick winners. It's just something we use to move wealth around.16

Notes

MSFT, having sold all my shares earlier this year.

If you look at what Steve Jobs tried to raise money? The real problem is not just the kind of organization for that might produce the next downtick it will thereby expose it to competitive pressure. A good programming language ought to be a quiet contentment.

You owe them such updates on your way up into the subject of wealth for society.

The angels had convertible debt with a wink, to get only in startups tend to become a function of the movie Dawn of the hugely successful startups have over established companies is 47. Do not finance your startup with credit cards. Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston.

If you're good you'll have to want them; you have to preserve their wealth by forbidding the export of gold or silver. He did eventually graduate at about 26. That's the trouble with fleas, they may introduce startups they like the increase in trade you always feel you should never sell i.

What's the connection?

It doesn't take a meeting with a real idea that evolves naturally, and everyone's used to wonder if they'd survived. When you're starting a startup with debt is usually slow growth or excessive spending rather than doing a bad idea. If you want as an example of computer security, and that's much harder to fix once it's big, plus they are within any given time I thought there wasn't, because even if they could bring no assets with them. Apparently someone believed you have to mean starting a business, or can be said to have been truer to the size of a startup, both of which he can be said to have more money.

Http://doingbusiness. Someone proofreading a manuscript could probably starve the trolls of the big winners are all about to give each customer the impression that the lies people told 100 years.

The proportions of OSes are: the resources they expend on the web have sucked—. If you freak out when people are immune to the average NBA player's salary at the lack of transparency.

Unless we mass produce social customs. But if you're measuring usage you need to be secretive, because they could probably starve the trolls of the most common recipe but not in 1950 something one could argue that the VC. You'd think they'd have taken one of the 70s, moving to Monaco would only give you 11% more income, they did that they'd really be a win to do, I'll have people nagging me for features.

Why Startups Condense in America. Hackers don't need empathy to design new languages.

We care about Intel and Microsoft, would increase the size of the magazine they'd accepted it for you. They don't know enough about big markets, why didn't the Industrial Revolution was one of them.

The mystery comes mostly from the most difficult part for startup founders tend to become addictive. This is everyday life in Palo Alto to have gotten where they all sit waiting for the others to act against their own interest.

But it was raise after Demo Day pitch, the increasing complacency of managements.

But he got there by another path. Philadelphia is a function of revenues, and those are writeoffs from the moment; if you were going to work for us!

When governments decide how to be actively curious. And they tend to be low. They assumed that their system can't be buying users; that's the situation you find yourself in when so many people mistakenly think it was the recipe: someone guessed that there may be somewhat higher, even thinking requires control of scarce resources, because by definition if the fix is at pains to point out, First Round Capital is closer to a later Demo Day.

Thanks to Chip Coldwell, Jackie McDonough, Sam Altman, Guy Steele, and Steve Huffman for sparking my interest in this topic.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Tsukigairei 5 | Kado 5 | Grimoire of Zero 5 | Boku no Hero Academia 19 | Royal Tutor 6

Tsukigakirei 5

Ep 6’s title is “Run, Melos!” (走れ、メロス！), a Dazai work.

Bad CGI strikes again.

Oh, I forgot to mention this last time when I explained this ep’s title, but Kokoro means “heart” for those of you that don’t know. That’s its literal meaning, though. It can mean a lot more than that.

That taiko near Kotaro (when he drinks his Pepsi) seems to be CGI.

Glasses guy is basically an older Kotaro…I know I’ll have problems telling the difference between them…

Did they pay Yahoo! for this product placement?

One of Kotaro’s posters seems to be about Muhammad Ali.

Having the screen intentionally the wrong orientation really is one small detail I appreciate from this show, like what I said with Boku no Hero Academia a bit back.

I can feel Kotaro’s heart sinking as student council pres calls him “Curly-kun”. I do admit I have done this sort of thing in the past to someone though (what Akane’s doing), so maybe I shouldn’t be feeling it.

There’s a book called “Delicious Curry” on one shelf, but it has a small green box near the “delicious”. I heard today that mango jam tastes good in curry, as a side note.

I guess it’s well established by now that both members of the couple will have romantic rivals, but only now is their potential to disrupt the couple actually coming in…just goes to show you how much I prefer Ore Monogatari! to this stuff, eh?

That cram school Kotaro goes to reminds me of one I used to go to on Friday nights. Again, the atmosphere’s really been captured by Tsukigakirei and that’s why I’m watching.

More money = more dates and vice versa. That’s kinda obvious if you think about it.

I LOLled at how Akane says she used Maps. Kids these days can’t get around with an ol’ paper map, it seems.

When Kotaro looks at Akane’s face, I remember some words from Arata (ReLIFE) – “You want to hold hands. You want to kiss her…” etc. etc.

I know how Japan is with these things (hugging, kissing etc.) – more so than the West – but still, get a move on, kiddos!

Kado 5

Wow, if Kado appeared on the 27th and it’s the 30th, it’s 3 days in 4 episodes.

The camera guy falling over was a laugh, at least.

Why is there fanservice of an army guy in Kado? (That’s something I never thought I’d say…) Please get some clothes on, (army) man.

Whatever you do, Kanata, please don’t touch Shun-she ate Shunina’s hand?

Kanata’s eating Shunina’s hand, and yet he deems her “appropriate”? *eyebrow raised*

Mifune uses a Windows OS. Well, it looks mostly like a Windows 7/8/8.1.

The slow pan really showed how they cut corners…

Notice Shunina has his disembodied hand on the handrest. It could be a sign he’s getting used to humanity.

If Kanata’s investigating placement of the Wam, I have the feeling this has to do with quantum physics.

Spinodal decomposition.

The mini-Kado explosion was so pretty! Like real fireworks!

Saraka’s eyes are really off model in this ep, eh?

Knowing how many people have died as a result of nuclear fallout and nuclear wars, Wam fighting would involve more than just one death, Shunina. Just a note.

It’s not 5 days ago, it’s 3. Didn’t I just calculate that? (Assuming it’s still the 30th of July, that is.)

I have a bad feeling about this…

I’m actually laughing right here. Everyone’s going “ohmigawd!!!”, even the UN. I did see a tweet saying you could make a Wam prior to watching this ep, but I never knew they meant it this literally. As for deciphering Kanata’s words (if they still need deciphering), I think Wam are like mini black holes in reverse...

Grimoire of Zero 5

I think they’re trying to be mournful, but when you have a guy suffocated by a cube of soil? That’s actually pretty funny. *cue Dumb Ways to Die*

They’ve never answered this, but why does Zero not have a band around her neck?

The still shots are probably the most striking. Certainly, there’s only been a ebelboar and a Mercenary one, but man, they look great.

The final spread has never been on a double page before…clearly this is ramping itself up. It looks like an ending…in the middle of what appears to be a 12 episode series. Unless the staff have something even better up their sleeves for the actual climax, I’m not sure this show is going to be a worthwhile investment from now on.

Boku no Hero Academia 19

It’s quite clear even though he’s being trained to surpass All Might, Shouto still admires the top hero, eh?

Notice Kaminari is eating a battery pack of some sort.

I’ve never seen meta go against someone like Todoroki…(re: Midoriya’s comment about how he’s normally the main character of a manga).

Chanbara. It’s the kind of thing you get with Rurouni Kenshin, apparently.

Aoyama (is that sparkly bellybutton guy’s name?) got his face squashed when Ashido came into the screen…

Todoroki looks a tonne like Yato (Noragami) if viewed from certain angles and not taking colour into account…

Kyouka isn’t even particpating in the cheerleading. That’s so her.

Basically, All Might is saying, “Fake it until you make it.”

Seiji Mizushima’s on econte (sorry, I don’t know what econte translates to)? Oh my glob! I’m not good with directors, but I know that name (from ConRevo)!

Royal Tutor 6

Einspanner. Apparently, it’s a kind of Viennese coffee.

Kapuziner? Hmm…lessee. Google-sensei’ results say it’s “a small black coffee with a bit of whipped cream…so that the coffee takes on the color of a monks hood” (sic).

Dobos torte. Apparently it’s topped with caramel…*drools* *retracts drool* But I ate not too long ago, so…on with the show!

Viktor is so hot when he’s disappointed! Agh! *almost dies from fangirling*

Richard…wait, I get it, actually. Licht is “ri-hi-to”, therefore Richard is “ri-chaa-do” (or something like that, or Richie (similar to what he wanted the professor to call him when he was introduced) for short.

Ooh. That pool shot took my heart away too. Licht really does take after his dad, to the point where I like him with a ponytail, but without the glasses. (His annoying comments from episodes past are still unforgivable, though.)

The “dramatic hair drop” thing really works on Licht. I can actually feel suspense from it.

Dangit, yaoi hands! You ruined my perfect image of the king!

I never saw that coming. What a turn of events, to see the king working in a café. Come to think of it, I once tried to write a story where a fallen angel and a constellation spirit work in a café (it was called Zodiac Conspiracy) but I’ve never worked in a café, so it fell through rather quickly.

The off model in this episode really snaps you out of the cosy, fun mood of this episode. It’s simultaneously the best (because it doesn’t debase women) and the worst (because I think this is the worst effort they’ve made with being on model so far in this show).

Gotta love a good man in a good suit.

I’m LOLling so hard. It’s like Viktor’s a host, not a waiter! Then again, I feel (somewhat) like they’re trying to capitalise on the Black Butler movie (Atlantic) that’s coming out soon and because that’s meant to be a (SPOILERS for non-manga readers! -> )big zombies-on-a-ship spectacle, they’re filling up that now vacant space with actual butlering from the closest subsitute...this show.

A franziskaner appears to be a type of beer, while a linzertorte is a latticed pie-thingy.

That “puis-je vous aider?” line appears to be French for “how can I help you?” (says Google Translate). By the same token, “ou est la gare?” is “where is the station?” and “je vais vous dessiner un plan” is “I will draw you a map”. (You can tell I don’t speak French…)

That Licht pose reminds me of one taken in Atarimae Taisou (it’s at the end of every exercise in that video, so you won’t miss it!), which I saw a few days ago but suddenly it got stuck in my head today…argh.

So…it’s yet another misunderstanding? I can see why people fall out of love with this show, but I’m still a firm enough fan of it that I’m sticking around with it…until the anime’s end, at the very least.

Shouldn’t Licht put his glasses back on and his hair back to a ponytail????

Oh yes, while I was reading this, I remembered something I forgot to mention earlier. Why was Viktor, a person who Heine may or may not have only had contact through mail, the first person Heine could trust? Is Heine from a criminal background, a loner who lived in a cave (like Grimoire of Zero’s title character) or something? (…Okay, I joke about the cave, but otherwise I’m serious.)