#there was one where she was eating a whole fried fish (with rice and the same fish but made with gochujang iirc) and AAOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lemonlamblaura · 6 months

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My Husband is the God of Pestilence - chapter 6

First sermon time!!! 🙌 and Kallamar gets revenge on that nasty shark from the kitchen.

WARNING: The second to last part of the chapter contains vomit and feces, so if you're sensitive to that maybe skip that part. TLDR, Kallamar makes someone explode from both ends if you know what I mean.

Lilybell awoke at dawn's first light, throwing off her blanket and rushing out of the room before the other ladies could even look at her. She was the first one in the washrooms, and threw herself together before anyone else came in. Then she prayed at the worship idol for all of ten seconds before running at full speed towards Kallamar's study.

Trenaty met her just as the older woman made it to the washrooms. "Lilybell! Where are you running to like that? I thought-"

"Not now, Trenaty!" Lilybell cried, already a good distance away, "I'll explain later!"

Finally arriving outside Kallamar's door, she took a few seconds to fix her hair before knocking fast and hard with both hands for a good few seconds.

Heavy footsteps sounded on the other side, before the door flew open to a panicked Kallamar. "What?!" He shouted, "what's going on?!"

"I'm here, Lord Kallamar!" Lilybell said brightly, not realizing in her excitement that she was the source of Kallamar's alarm, "I'm ready to get to work!"

Kallamar deflated instantly in relief, leaning against the doorframe. He rubbed his eyes with exasperation, "Lilybell, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but shall we save it for a more appropriate time? Wait, what time is it? Have you even had breakfast yet?"

"No, Lord Kallamar! I wanted to come see you as soon as possible!"

"Get out of the way."

Lilybell turned to look beside her and saw a group of followers pushing a large cart towards her. There was a large sheet draped over it, and the objects under it clattered as it ran over the stone tiles. She stepped aside as the followers pushed the cart inside Kallamar's study and parked it beside his desk, then bowed in respect before hurrying away.

"One moment," Kallamar said, and they all stopped instantly and turned to their God, "You will bring my assistant her meal as well."

They gave her a surprised look (even with their hoods up, she could tell their expression), then nodded and rushed off. Kallamar extended a hand towards his study, silently allowing her entry. He lifted her up onto his desk, before turning to the cart and lifting off the sheet. Underneath it was an assortment of food, with portion sizes fit for someone of his size. On a large serving plate was a whole tuna, 6 feet long and raw, and in bowls surrounding it were two enormous heads of cauliflower, an entire pots' worth of fried rice, and an entire pots' worth of vegetable soup. Lilybell's eyes boggled out of her head at the sheer amount of food. That whole cart could feed at least half her village back home!

As Kallamar cleared his desk, one of the followers from before came back with a regular sized tray and passed it to Kallamar. Her portion looked relatively meager compared to his: a small minnow, and two little bowls of rice and soup.

All of Kallamar's meal was laid out, and he sat down to eat. Lilybell noticed there were no forks or knives, only a spoon for the rice and soup. How was he going to eat the fish?

Kallamar wrapped one hand around the keel of the tuna and picked it up, bringing it over his mouth, before the split running up his face opened wide, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and he lowered the tuna inside, closing his mouth around it. The sound that followed was almost nausea inducing, as he dragged the fish slowly out, Lilybell realized he was dragging his teeth across the fish and sucking off the flesh, and not much besides the skeleton and inner organs were left. He then used his fingers to pry open the ribs to dig out the organs, which he ate with the same gruesome fervor. The fish was done in a matter of seconds, and he moved onto the cauliflower, which was less intense, but messy, as cauliflower tends to get everywhere when cut, or in this case, bitten into. The rice and soup were thankfully normal, and finished quickly.

Kallamar sighed, setting the empty bowl of soup down, and using the sheet to wipe his mouth. He looked down at Lilybell, who was staring wide eyed at him with her mouth open, her own food not touched.

"Are you not hungry?" He asked innocently, as if he hadn't just subjected her to a gruesome experience.

"I'm not sure," she said slowly, her expression unchanged.

Meanwhile at the dining hall, people were beginning to talk about Kallamar's newest "assistant".

"He allows her to eat with him," one whispered, "he even made us get her food for her, like servants!"

"Yesterday she was sitting on his desk, looking all high and mighty," said the shark cook with a scowl. "She humiliated me in front of Lord Kallamar. I bet they had a real good laugh about it."

"She wasn't wearing her hood either. What nerve! If it had been any of us, Lord Kallamar would have been furious!"

"Maybe she bewitched him. I heard land dwellers have magic powers like that."

"Possibly. Whatever is going on, he clearly favors her. Must be nice to be a god's favorite."

"I bet she's his favorite in more ways than one!"

Trenaty couldn't take it anymore. She put down her spoon and stood up frustratedly. "That's enough. Is it not enough that both of them are happy? And witchcraft, really? You and I both know land dwellers are no different from us."

"Geez, I guess her majesty can't take a little gossip," snickered Nona the green otter, who was always ready to stir the pot.

"You don't know anything about that poor girl you're teasing. Before today, none of you gave a damn about her. You should take the chance to get to know her, and maybe you'll see she's not any of the things you say."

Trenaty stormed off from the dining table, out of the room and towards Kallamar's study. Surely Kallamar wouldn't put up with this nonsense. Before long it will be getting out of hand, and Lilybell will be the target of cruel harassment.

"It must be nice to only need to eat once a month," said Lilybell, pushing her tray to the side, breakfast finally eaten.

"It is less of a chore," he said, "and uses less materials. Much of the work that goes on in this place goes towards your upkeep."

"Me?" Lilybell asked stupidly, pointing to herself. Kallamar would be lying if he said he wasn't amused.

"No, dear, you and the others. Think about it: all the work that goes into growing crops, harvesting those crops, then preparing food, not to mention keeping the temple clean and making sure you all are satisfied with living here. It can be quite a lot to manage."

"Can I help, Lord Kallamar?"

"You already are, dear, by helping me. With you around I'm sure things will be running more smoothly in no time."

Lilybell smiled just as a knock sounded at the door. Trenaty entered, though her hood was up, Lilybell recognized her by the blue color of her hands. "Lord Kallamar, may I speak with you?"

"Come in, Trenaty!" Lilybell said before Kallamar could answer, going to the edge of his desk and sitting down, letting her legs dangle over the edge.

"So it is true," Trenaty said, shutting the door behind her. She approached the desk with her head bowed in respect. "I bring bad news, Lord Kallamar. It seems people are beginning to talk about your relationship with Lilybell. It's as I feared, dear," she spoke to Lilybell this time, "people are suspecting your treatment to be out of favoritism. They are saying disrespectful things."

Kallamar stood abruptly, walking around the desk to stand before the starfish. "Who is saying such things? Give me their names now."

Trenaty shrunk back a little, not expecting the god's intimidating behavior. "Nona is one such person, my lord, to no one's surprise. The other is Mortamer, a shark from the kitchens. They are the ones who are being most disruptive, that I know of." She looked up at Lilybell to see the young lady looking crestfallen, her eyebrows knit together. Poor thing. She really didn't deserve any of this. It's a good thing Kallamar was watching out for her.

Kallamar growled low in his throat. Of course Nona would be one of the ones behind this. He'd been nothing but a problem since the day he arrived. The shark was another matter. The way he talked about Lilybell yesterday... it made his blood boil.

"I will deal with them," he vowed, walking back to his desk and taking out a thick book from one of the drawers. Then he helped Lilybell down from the desk, with all the gentleness of handling a delicate flower. "For now, we must go to the main hall. It is time for my sermon."

"What are you going to do, Lord Kallamar?" Lilybell asked, more quietly than either had heard her speak. The sad look in her eyes was more than enough to melt away the anger in the god's heart.

"Don't worry about such things for now," Kallamar said gently, tone less aggressive than before. Trenaty watched them with a small smile, the kind that older people make when they understand something that younger people don't.

The three of them made their way to the hall, and to their surprise, Shamura was standing outside the doors, waiting for them. They seemed to be listening to the followers talking inside the hall, before they saw the others approaching.

"Greetings, brother," they whispered, so the people beyond the door wouldn't hear. They looked down at the small starfish and lamb beside him. "Greetings, small ones."

"Good morning, Lord Shamura," said Lilybell, not quite recovered from Trenaty's upsetting news, but trying to be polite all the same.

Seemingly satisfied with the greeting, Shamura straightened up and turned to Kallamar. "Good luck, brother. I know you will do well."

Kallamar didn't seem to think so. He hesitated to step into the hall, almost like he was frozen in place. He pursed his lips and cleared his throat nervously. If this sermon didn't go well, how would he recover faith? Would followers dare to leave?

He felt a tugging at his cloak, and looked down to see Lilybell with her hand around it. "Don't be nervous, Lord Kallamar," she said with a smile. "Me, Trenaty and Lord Shamura are here for you. Just think about how good you'll feel when it's all over. That's what my father used to tell me."

This sweet thing... so disappointed, but still trying to cheer him up.

"Thank you, dear," he mumbled gratefully, and her smile grew. He took a deep breath and put one hand on the door, while Shamura sidled up to the wall to avoid the other followers seeing them. They entered as the crowd of people immediately fell silent and watched their God ascend the stage to the pulpit. Lilybell and Trenaty stood in the back, and Trenaty pointed to Lilybell's hood, a silent suggestion to pull it up.

Kallamar set the book on the pulpit and opened it to the desired page, glancing up at all the people staring at him. For a moment he was brought back to his younger days in school, being asked to read aloud in front of the class. His heart jumped into his throat, beating hard, before he saw a small hand waving at the back of the room, giving him a thumbs up. He knew it was Lilybell, only she would be bold enough to do something like that. He straightened up and gripped each hand on the side of the pulpit.

Just think of how happy you'll be when it's over. Good advice.

"Good morning, everyone," he said, trying to not let his nerves show. "I trust you all are well. I am grateful for all the hard work you have done these past few weeks. It is because of you all that we have this magnificent temple. In this life you have only so many days to give, and you have decided to dedicate those days to our cause. You have my undying gratitude.

"As mortals, your lives are filled with toil, blood and sweat. It was not always this way. Once upon a time you were all like the lesser creatures that fill our oceans, and provide food for us. Your minds thought not of how to spend your days, but instead on where to find food, and a safe place to rest. As nature progressed, as it always will, you learned to decide, to choose what you wanted instead of what was in front of you. That warrants respect, that you could grow and develop from the lesser beings who know not what you do."

A few followers looked at each other and mumbled quietly, wondering where this was all going.

"You learned to think for yourselves and dream, and imagine many possibilities," Kallamar continued, "that helped us to where we are today. But in that learning you also learned to question. You asked, "where does life come from"? You asked, "how can we make our lives better"? But most importantly of all, you asked, "what becomes of us when this life is over"?

"It is a daunting question, that many prefer not to dwell on. It is the ultimate question, that many have no answer for, because none live that can answer it. I have no judgement for those who fear death. The unknown is terrifying. Even gods loathe it.

"When I came to life as a god, I had many questions as you do. Death was such a question. Surely I am to die someday. Surely those who follow me shall die. What is to become of them?

"In that moment, I received the answer as if from nowhere, and yet it was something I knew all along. To live a long happy life and simply die is not as straightforward as it seems. Yes, you live and die. But for those who serve and live their lives dutifully, they shall be rewarded in the afterlife, with ultimate peace and happiness. This I saw with my own eyes, as the God of death showed me.

"So I ask you, my people, to not fear death. So long as you are virtuous and diligent, a life of prosperity is awaiting you at the end of life."

Kallamar continued in this manner for a good hour, but no one noticed. All eyes were fixated on him as he preached about hard work and finding happiness in death. Even Lilybell, whose mind was inclined to wander, was glued to him. She didn't even realize her feet were sore until Kallamar closed the book on the pulpit.

"Thank you, everyone, for listening today," he said, "as a reward, tomorrow shall be declared a holiday. You will not have to work.

Everyone cheered at that and Kallamar seemed proud of himself. People began to file out, but strangely, no one took any notice of Shamura. Trenaty quickly realized why. They were no longer outside the doors.

Lilybell ran up to Kallamar as he descended the stage. "That was really cool, Lord Kallamar! You did wonderful! Did you really meet the god of death?"

"Yes, dear," Kallamar said, looking smug. "They were very nice. Come now, we must go and talk to Shamura."

Even Kallamar was surprised to see that Shamura was not waiting for them. Shamura was actually waiting in Kallamar's study, browsing a book they pulled from the bookshelf.

"It is over," Kallamar announced, getting nervous again, like a student about to receive their grades. "How did I do?"

Shamura closed the book and looked up with a smile. "Very well. A bit morbid for a first sermon, but impressive nonetheless."

Kallamar visibly relaxed as Lilybell patted his side cheerfully. "See? I told you you did great!"

"That was positively nerve wracking," Kallamar said, sitting down at his desk and covering his face with two hands.

"It will get easier, brother," Shamura said gently. "Everything becomes easy with enough practice."

"I bet in a few years you'll be even better at giving sermons!" Lilybell cheered with a huge smile.

Kallamar reached down and picked her up, bringing her to his eye level. "With you around to help me, I have no doubt that will be true."

Lilybell squealed with happiness and hugged his face.

Supper was over, but work in the kitchen was still not done. Dishes and surfaces needed to be cleaned, uneaten food taken to be composted. The workers would still be busy for at least another hour, maybe two.

Mortamer was elbow deep in the sink, trying to scrape away at some rice that had stuck to the bottom of a pot. This wasn't supposed to be his job. He should not have to be reduced to doing grunt work like this. Damn that lamb! First she gets him in trouble, then she leaves and becomes the god's new favorite. Spitting in her food earlier hadn't calmed his fury. Instead he imagined the bottom of the pot was her face and he shoved the rag against it harshly. Stupid little girl!

A deep rumbling under the worker's feet signaled Kallamar's arrival, and they all stood at attention and donned their hoods. Kallamar looked around him before settling on Mortamer, distinguishing him from the others by the shape of his hood. Without a word, he raised a palm in the shark's direction and his hand began to glow a sickly green colour, before a small ball of light flew at him and was absorbed into his body.

Mortamer examined himself in alarm, hands touching where the light entered him, but there was no damage. He felt fine. Until he suddenly wasn't. Nausea began to build inside him at a rapid pace. He collapsed to his knees and started to heave, and in seconds he was vomiting on the floor, coughing violently between spasms. He continue to vomit until nothing came out, but still the heaving didn't stop, and blood came with each cough as well as mucus.

Suddenly a terrible pain erupted in his abdomen, and he knew what was about to happen, but before he could try to stop himself, he voided himself, more coming out with each heave until it was running down his legs.

Finally Kallamar lowered his hand, and the spasms stopped, and Mortamer collapsed into the vomit and spit and blood in complete agony, trembling from the torturous, unnatural surge of illness.

"Perhaps this will teach you to respect others above your station," Kallamar hissed mercilessly. He turned to the other workers who were backed up against the wall, petrified in terror. "That goes for you all as well."

He sank through the floor, leaving the others to tend to their co-worker.

Lilybell snuggled up in the soft warm sheets. She had entirely forgotten the pleasure of having one's own room, and she knew she would take full advantage of it.

At the moment it was rather sparse, a simple bed, nightstand and dresser being the main furniture, with a pitcher and basin ready for use first thing in the morning. Her precious ruby sat beside the basin, facing her, sitting on a small doily. She looked forward to having the room filled with treasures soon. More gifts from Kallamar, maybe? Who knows!

The future looked bright, and she closed her eyes and sighed, looking forward to tomorrow.

#cult of the lamb #cotl kallamar #Kallamar #oc x canon #canon x oc

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pixelatedvoid · 11 days

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haha I got an idea!

what are the council's favorite foods and why?

This is gonna be a looong list. Prepare. (All kinds of food are here, not strictly snacks or dinnerfoods)

Lessgo

Aaron: Any kind of soup. It’s easy to keep down.

Eve: Peaches. She just loves fruit in general but peach is her favorite across all. She also loves brute forcing her way through the skin so it’s a big mess.

Sauron: Spaghetti, she likes the choices she has with sauces and toppings.

Orion: Chicken tikka masala. His dad used to make that on his birthday, and he just loves Indian food in general.

Alex: Candy, specifically lollipops. He has a massive sweet tooth and it’s a bonus that you can eat it while working.

Lyca: Gyros. It’s nice and spiced, and his cats can eat it too.

Mikell: He doesn’t really like eating, but if he must he makes lasagna. He likes that you can either eat it whole or pick apart the layers (insane).

Teeth: Steak, while it likes any meat. It prefers steak because “it’s the only meat where humans ask you how you want it done”

Lucille: Ramen, reminds her of home. Any kind is fine.

Noah: Stroopwafels and stroopkoeken (dutch cookies). He likes the sweetness of the filling combined with the slightly salty taste of the cookie.

Marlin: Pizza. Once again one of those things you can customize. They like eating it while working and the fact that you can get it no matter where you are in the world.

Rayne: Fried shrimp, because he loves both the texture and flavor. That doesn’t happen a lot for him.

Daniel: Any veggies, but broccoli is his favorite. It takes skill to cook perfectly, and you can pair it with a lot.

Mikael: Cake. They like how it gives them a party vibe, but without having to socialise.

Sin: American burgers, the absolute size of those things is what does it for her. She also likes the customization.

Yunio: Chocolate, most specifically white with raspberry. She likes how many kinds there are and how you can pick if it’s sweet or bitter.

Treble: Mushroom soup. She loves mushrooms, and soup is the easiest way to get it into her system.

Cyrus: He likes curry, but mostly just eats the rice. It’s something his parents made often, so just another childhood dish.

Joey: Anything spicy, but especially spicy chicken wings. He says it’s easy to eat while working, and also makes him feel something instead of boring bland food.

Mire: Spinach with fishfingers, “the perfect winter food”. They just love spinach and fish goes well with it.

Ezra: He barely eats, but he likes desserts, no matter what it is. He also loves the choices he has.

Kismet: Any kind of bread. No matter where it comes from, if it’s bread she wants it. I guess she likes that you can put anything on it.

Damn this took a while lol

#scp #scp foundation #o5 council #scp o5 #scp community #scp fandom #oc ask #answered

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leoneliterary · 2 years

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Since we’re going on a (hilarious) food journey with the latest asks, I can’t help but wonder…

We know the ROs’ favorite foods, but what are their LEAST favorite foods? >:D

It's kind of hard to think about food that isn't good. Let's all have a moment of appreciation for food. Anyway, here you go!

Merikh:

There is a type of fish soup that is a staple where he comes from and he hates it. Really he hates the vegetable that goes in the soup because it makes all of the broth really slimy. Had to eat it as a child, refuses to eat it now.

Laverna:

She hates greasy food and there is one dish her brother loves, that is made out of the fried liver of the raob pig, that she can't stand. Mainly because it's greasy but also because the animal it's from weirds her out.

Sutek:

He doesn't like dried foods. It might be because he's had to eat a lot of dried foods, but he hates how much you have to chew them and that they are, well dry.

Desma:

Vegetables. She has to eat them in a fun way, like in a dumpling, or glazed in something. She's so bad about it, that even some of the guild children snitch on her for trying to slip them her vegetables.

Sarai:

Soup with no rice or noodle. It reminds her of being ill and it isn't as filling. Soup really bores her so soup without the excitement of some rice or noodles is almost intolerable.

Nari:

Pastries with more air than pastry. Or ones with cream. They just feel disappointing and she doesn't need that in her life. She hates the feeling of biting in and just getting sweet air.

Aretas:

Eggs with a runny yolk. He doesn't like the texture and doesn't understand the point of cooking something and it still not being cooked.

Heka:

Anything with eyes, like when people roast a whole fish and leave the head on. One of the few cases he might turn down an offering of food. Just makes him feel awkward because he will make eye contact.

#Honor Amongst Thieves #answered asks #ROs #worldbuilding #food #snacks #Merikh #Desma #Laverna #Sutek #Sarai #Nari #Aretas #Heka #All Ros #scenarios #if wip #interactive fiction #hat if

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nagirambles · 2 years

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What do you think fairy tail would have been like if Lucy wanted to be a baker/cook/chief instead of an author ?(ive been watching one piece lately and now I’m curious since Lucy hobbies besides writing is baking/cooking? ) love to hear your thoughts 🍪anon

Well... that’s a unique question.

Honestly, Lucy’s writer thing fades off quite often, so quite a few things can still remain the same. Cooking is a bit of a strange one, though, would her dream be to become a renowned chef (making herself famous by her own efforts rather than perpetuated rumours and family prestige), to write her own cookbook and open her own restaurant and taste delicacies all around the world (which would give her more of a ‘travelling around the world for more experience’ motive and she wouldn’t stay in a guild all the time.)

I do like the idea of chef, though. I think Lucy and Sanji have been compared often, so first they would both have gone through the whole ‘you’re a noble/royal, and cooking is for the chefs, not for you’ talk with their fathers. But Lucy would have a more positive environment than Sanji, and you know, learning how to cook is a good skill for a woman in that kind of society. But if Lucy starts getting too invested in her passion, Jude would probably still disapprove.

Come to think of it, she tried to give him a rice ball in a flashback, didn’t she? Similarly, Jude would consider it a skill, but he’d also consider it a waste of time and frown upon it.

Ironically, I’d like to think that Jude was a good cook, not Layla. So Lucy actually got this part of her from him, and this is what they’ll bond over when Jude’s business collapses. Maybe Jude will eventually give her his cookbook, and it’ll be the only, most meaningful thing he’s ever gotten from him.

I think one of the few things to immediately change would be the starting scene.

Imagine if, instead of treating Natsu to food, Lucy also takes a bite and sighs, because Hargeon is a fishing town. Other than fresh fish, everything else is subpar, and she’s not satisfied. She wonders where she’ll be able to get actually good food, but she also doesn’t have that kind of budget. Maybe Bora will lure Lucy onto the ship with promise of good cruise cuisine.

There will probably be a running joke from Happy and Natsu, about Lucy’s arsenal consisting of humanoid food ingredients. They are mortified, Lucy is offended. They still don’t know what Plue is, a snow cone?

I think it’d be cute if downtime scenes were, instead of them siting around chatting, they sat around while Lucy happy starts bushfire cooking. Gray and Natsu argue for a bit and suddenly Lucy has fried rice served and ready to eat, ma’am holy crap that was fast! And they’ll eat. It’d be a cute theme if Lucy continued to go about everywhere foraging for anything she could cook. Also, she has a stone oven in her apartment that is never used or mentioned. Maybe in this AU they invade Lucy’s house because they know she probably has something cooking. Free food!

Lucy would probably be very angry when Natsu burns something to a crisp, even if it was a person. It’s just chef instinct, she hates it when things are burnt.

(“Natsu, why can’t you ever hit a perfect medium rare? It’s not that hard!”)

(“I prefer my meat well done.”)

(“You heathen!”)

Unlike Sanji, she won’t have the whole ‘my hands are sacred’ thing because she doesn’t have them for novelist hands in canon either.

Let’s say in this AU, she has a quirk of photographing instead of writing. She usually takes pictures of food, of people enjoying food, and finally, people in general. She’s still the log keeper and narrator, and she sends these pictures to her mom. Instead of writing letters, Lucy bakes or cooks something amazing, takes a picture, and writes a very meaningful ‘to Mom, today I cooked this’ and nothing much else. She doesn’t need anything else to tell her feelings-- maybe in this AU, she’s not very eloquent to begin with.

In this regard, would she still be friends with Levy? I’d say no, but we could make it work. Maybe Levy’s got specific allergies, or body image issues, or maybe even an ED-- and thus she doesn’t eat in the guild. Lucy notices this quickly and helps her work through it together. There, friendship.

Lucy cries in despair when he sees the dragon slayers eat weird things. It eventually grows into indifference, and soon enough, she’s taking notes on what fire tastes better and how to make it exactly how Natsu likes it. Everyone mourns when she was normal, because now Gajeel has to explain to her that rusty metal has a kick to it that he likes better than polished metal, and she keeps asking.

Lucy’s love language will be food, of course. She likes to keep everyone well-fed, maybe use her house a lot more as a meeting spot. One of her first indicators of trying to get along with you would be asking you what’s your favourite food and the reason why. The easiest way to make a good first impression with her is to recommend her an interesting snack. (Eg, Loke giving her fruit milk after she gets out of the public bath, Loke arc anime-only scene.)

If Lucy ends up fighting something edible, eg old guy that turns into an octopus in Edolas, her first thought would be "holy crap, think of how much takoyaki I can make with this guy! But it would be the least appetising takoyaki ever, I’m so conflicted, what do I do?!” Lucy would probably also start freaking out when animal-type enemies attack her. She’d cry about finally receiving karmic vengeance for her crimes or something, just to be dramatic.

I like to imagine a scene where Natsu comes in as backup for Lucy in a tag-team battle.

(As tongue-in-cheek, he would hold onto his enemy and ask her, “how would you like your steak done today, ma’am?”)

(And Lucy would reply, “medium rare, please.”)

(It would be cute if he messes it up and Lucy snarks, “you’re a horrible chef, this is inedible. How dare you serve this to a customer, send it back to the kitchen!”)

(“Well, that’s why you're at the chef and not me, right?”)

Something like that.

#it's an ask #it's a headcanon #fairy tail #fic related rambles #regarding chef lucy

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missguomeiyun · 2 years

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Homecooking [Oct ed]

What’s up everybody?!

Slightly more homecooking content in this month’s post. .. as we transition to fall (& winter), noodle soups will be occupying more space in these posts xD

Udon noodles with chicken breast & napa cabbage. Used Knorr chicken broth as soup base.

Ddeok-guk, which is Korean (flat) rice cake soup. I added some dumplings & baby bokchoy in.

Sujebi + chayote in leftover chicken soup. .. & hard-boiled egg. This was my breakfast post-night shift.

Sujebi dish #2 . .. This one in fish cake broth + zucchini. Also very light, but very tasty!

Sujebi dish #3 . .. I call this the “leftover hot pot special”. I don’t know about you, but when we have hot pot, we always over-prepare foods, so there’s always leftover defrosted proteins & seafood, as well as veggies. The next day, we either have another hot pot or we use the leftovers & throw it all in a pot to make a ‘soup’. This sujebi was made with the soup so it contains: chicken, frozen seafoods, napa cabbage, & some fish balls/tofu. I usually do this with my fav thick rice noodles but I had an opened bag of sujebi, so I used sujebi. Any noodle works.

Sujebi #4 . .. lol bcos I have to use up my sujebi.

Cucumber + egg stir-fry

Leftover yookgaejang with thick rice noodles. AHHH SO GOOD!!!!

This doesn’t look pleasing but I swear it was good! At the beginning of the month, my mom had prepared (ie: de-boned) chicken drumsticks, where she separated the bone from the meat but kept the meat ‘together’ in one whole piece as she deboned. We had plans to use the portable BBQ outside for the chicken thigh fillets; however plans changed. .. we didn’t do that. Instead, I used the chicken fillet pieces to make fried chicken ^^ I didn’t bother cutting the pieces into smaller pieces so that’s why they’re in such large chunks haha

Cheongguk-jang soup. Cheongguk-jang is an extra fermented soybean soup. It’s more savoury & has a greater depth of flavour profile compared to the regular soybean soup (the doenjang). As I’ve mentioned in the past, after trying this since. .. 2yrs ago, I now can’t really go back to doenjang anymore. That almost seems too bland to me. Cheongguk-jang typically includes the common ingredients like onion, zucchini, pork, tofu. .. I skipped the meats & just used zucchini, onion, & napa cabbage. The soup turned out very well!

I fried pork cutlet for the first time. I’ve fried chicken many times but not pork cutlet. I left it frying for soooo long bcos I was scared the pork wouldn’t be cooked thoroughly haha the sauce on the side is just a mix of bbq sauce with ketchup.

*that ripped off part was the 30% off sticker :P

This was a very interesting dip. .. it was heavily garlicky & a little spicy. I didn’t get much “Mexican spice” out of it, which was slightly disappointing but I still was ok with it.

I had the dip around for literally dayyyyyyyysss. It’s quite heavy & salty. It doesn’t really go with anything else I eat normally. So I used it as a pasta sauce. It looks more yellow than it really is IRL. The photo makes it look like that Kraft Dinner ‘fake’ cheese colour but it’s really not! I cooked this late at night for lunch the next day so the lighting is not great. It was alright. Made good use of the dip.

Random Korean snacks I still have lying around my house. .. expired, but still tasty!

I was munching on the above snack & reading a webtoon called MONEY GAME for about 10 days in October. You guys should read it. The length isn’t too long. I found some parts lagged a little bit, but overall, I really enjoyed the series. It’s surprising to me that it was released Squid Game. They shall similar themes - namely a group of ppl in a closed setting interacting with each other, & they play a “money game” for the grand prize.

This is a cheaper way of having naengmyeon - buy the noodles & broth separately instead of the kit! Hmart had 2 types of broth. I’ll try the other one next time, but this beef-based broth was delicious. I found 1 soup serving for 1 noodle serving a bit off, as in there was more soup. In the future, I’ll likely use 1.5 noodles for 1 soup. I haven’t figured it out yet... The noodles are individual ‘servings’ but they’re not individually wrapped so I separated the 10 servings & put them into ziploc bags myself (& froze them).

PLAIN CHEESE RAMYEON~

Another ramyeon I ate this month bcos that’s my quota lol Used up leftover hot pot materials.

Imitation flat bread using naan. Toppings: corned beef, cherry tomatoes, Babybels, & garlic seasoning. This was gooooood!

That is it~

Sorry for the slightly late post.. . been busy lately. I’ve been watching badminton & gahhhhh Short Track 22/23 season has officially started with the 1st stop in Montreal this past wknd. Super exciting stuff!!! Salt Lake City in a few days :D

PS: I’m sad Choi Min Jung didn’t get gold. .. Same with Lee June Seo =( Hopefully in Salt Lake City!

#food #homemade #homecooking #lunch #dinner #noodles #sujebi #healthy #i cook #pasta

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crystal-in-nagasaki · 4 months

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crystal NOT in nagasaki, singapore: part three

Hello, and welcome back to part three of my Singapore and Thailand travels. In this part I'll pick up where I left off on day 6 in Singapore (of about 10).

This morning, we of course went to get breakfast at a hawker center. I found at my breakfasts with my Singaporean host family that it's pretty normal to eat what I would consider lunch or dinner foods for breakfast, like soup and noodle dishes. With the exception of obvious breakfast food like kaya toast, it seemed that breakfast food could really be anything.

For this breakfast we ate a noodle dish called cheung fun, originating from the Cantonese province of Guangdong in southern China. It's made by filling a wide strip of rice noodle with meat and/vegetables then served in broth. The cheung in cheung fun means intestine, not because it's made of intestines, but because it looks like them. The more you know! Anyway, it was of course delicious.

After our breakfast of hot noodles, my friend's mother brought us a sweet treat which ended up being one of my favorite foods of the whole trip. It's called pisang goreng, meaning fried banana. It was soooooooo good. I still dream of it even now.

After this delicious breakfast, I split off with my American friend again and went to Singapore Botanic Gardens to see the tropical flora and fauna (and try to hunt down some wild otters.)

I admittedly became obsessed with these grass-cutting robots, which I nicknamed "grass roombas," so I feel the need to include a picture of one here. They were all over the park and I thought they were so cool and really shows how advanced Singapore is technologically!

Despite it's reputation as a city-state, Singapore is home to a lot of interesting wildlife including huge monitor lizards and wild otters. I found this big monitor lizard sunning himself by a pond, and I saw many more in Thailand as well.

I heard stories from my Singaporean friend that wild otters could be found in the nature reserves of Singapore, so I was really excited to find them. She said they can even be pests to Singaporean residents, sneaking into public ponds and pools and even eating pet fish. I finally spotted a huge group of them in the Botanic Gardens swimming and playing in a big lake. The little chirping noises they made were so cute! I'm really glad I got to see them in their native habitat.

At this point we were sufficiently sweating from the tropical heat, so we met back up with our Singaporean friends to grab a lunch of Indonesian fried chicken, called ayam penyet. I got coconut milk to drink, which came in a large coconut. You could also scrape out the flesh and eat it. It was so tasty and refreshing!

After this, I broke off with another Singaporean to go to something I had really been looking forward to: an ice cream museum. This was basically just a ton of colorfully decorated rooms with all-you-can-eat ice cream (and a little bit of educational content.)

At the entrance, you can create your own nametag, and making some kind of ice cream pun was encouraged. For example, I saw names like Kanye Zest and Brad Pittstachio. I can't remember what name I chose, but I remember trying really hard to come up with a pun and couldn't think of anything. If you think of a good one, let me know!

After putting on our nametags, we continued into the first room which had a beach-y vibe. We also received our first ice cream. There were two choices and I picked pink guava. It was really good!

After finishing our first round of ice cream, we moved into the next room, in which all four walls were covered in letter magnets that could be moved around. There were prompts on the walls like "where are you from?" and "what is your dream?" My friend arranged the letters into "live in Tokyo" and I put down "open a cat cafe." This is earnestly my impossible dream that I daydream about when I pretend money and other obstacles don't exist. But anyway, this room was really fun, and I liked reading what other people had left as well!

The next room was set up to look like a retro diner (but still pink of course.) There was a bar, jukebox, and fake vinyl records hanging on the wall. In this room we chose to eat a twist of peppermint and vanilla frozen yogurt. This was easily my favorite ice cream of the day! Frozen yogurt is much more popular back in the states, so it had been a long time since I had it. It was delicious.

From there, we walked down this aesthetic hallway and grabbed some instagram-worthy pics before heading into the next room.

The next room was decorated with huge colorful popsicles sticking out of the walls, and we received a similar size and shape of ice cream to enjoy. These ones came in traditional Asian flavors like pandan and red bean. I got pandan since I was learning to love the flavor on this trip.

In the next room were some swings and playground equipment. Am I an adult? Yes. Did I enjoy swinging on the giant banana-shaped swing? Also yes.

My friend also told me that the playset was designed to be a cute version of another famous playset in Singapore that's shaped like a dragon! I'll post the other one for reference.

Next we walked through a few more aesthetically pleasing spaces, like this dimly lit one, and a banana tunnel.

Then we entered another room which offered a Barbie-themed ice cream. It was vanilla flavored, but colored a bright pink. It was yummy!

One of the last rooms was arguably the museum's main attraction, the giant ball pit filled with (non-edible) sprinkles. I haven't been in a ball pit in a loooooong time, so I did admittedly flounder about a bit, but it was really fun to throw the sprinkles around and pretend I was in a giant sugary wonderland.

That was about it for the ice cream museum. It was a bit expensive, about $50 and mainly existed for instagram photo-ops but hey, I loved walking through all the pink rooms and eating copious amounts of delicious ice cream. I did find the place a bit...dirty. There were lots of kids running around and climbing on stuff, so I wish it was cleaned a bit more often. But overall it was fun and I recommend it!

I'd like to talk briefly about just two more things before I wrap up this part! That night after the ice cream museum, my friends and I went to the Night Luge, where we could race carts down a big colorful hill. The carts aren't motorized and you just use gravity and a brake to control it. You can take a ski lift to the top and then ride down several times. It was really fun!

The next night I went to the Night Safari, the world's first ever nocturnal zoo. Have you ever visited a zoo during the day and found that all the animals were asleep? At the Night Safari, you enter the zoo after nightfall and can enjoy seeing various nocturnal animals up and moving about. It was very dimly lit so the visitors could see without disturbing the animals, so I wasn't able to get many pictures. The pictures I did get were very blurry because of the slow camera exposure at night.

My favorite animals were the fishing cats, a type of nocturnal wild cat known for their fishing ability. I spent an almost embarrassing amount of time watching them stalk up and down the river banks, trying to eye fish to catch. They were so cute! Here's one very crappy picture of one of them:

I also got this cute picture of a sleeping tasmanian devil. I guess nocturnal animals aren't always awake all night!

Okay, that's all I have for part three of my Singapore travels. I think there will be one or two more parts about Singapore, and then I'll share about my time in Thailand, which was much shorter. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for Singapore part four!

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afairywithacrown · 3 years

Note

Hi! How you been doin? Pls keep hydrated and eat some good food ♥️.

If it's okay, can i ask to be part of your Valentine's blind date event?

I'm 21 and my pronouns are she/her. I'm a virgo and an introvert. My hobbies are watching horror movies and documentaries, listening to true crime, story based games, and collecting stationery. My personality is basically either "professional, prim, proper" or "crackhead energy" depending on who I'm with and how I'm feeling but in general, I try to be compassionate and kind but honest.

There are times where I get flustered and I talk too much or too little. I can also get a lil too blunt and can't read the room sometimes and things also fly over my head sometimes. On the flip side, I also have a short temper when it hits too close to a nerve. I hold on to grudges but I don't develop grudges that easily. I also have a tendency to bottle up feelings and thoughts.

My love language is acts of service mainly. I suck with words. I like taking care of my person by doing grocery runs for what they need, having lil spa days with them. I like cooking for them and making hand made stuff.

I also have eczema since I was a kid. It was really bad when I was younger but I've learned how to handle it. Some days it's really bad to the point that I want to cry but there are days where it's bearable.

If it's possible, can I request a blind date with someone from the MHA world? A guy if its okay or who do you think best matches? Thank you bb.

I hope you have a nice day, please don't overwork yourself, okay? Congratulations on 200 followers! o((*^▽^*))o

Also. I'm doing good! Today's a good day. I had a good brunch (fried fish, a spicy lettuce salad, rice, and a big bowl of miso soup) and I had coffee. I am very sleepy and feeling cuddly today.

*LOADING*

Your date is...

Keigo Takami (Hawks)!

There is no one more perfect than him to take you out on a date:D

He asked you out because he saw you working in a food place. (I'm going to make up a whole life for this scenario) He thought you were cute so in a not so discreet way he sent you with one of his feathers a little note asking for your number.

Fast forward you were laying down in bed after work, he sent you a text, and as long as you kept talking the date was set up for next Friday.

Where does he take you? Contrary to popular belief, he isn't taking you to a fancy restaurant, he is going to get recognized, he cannot enjoy his date like that. He is taking you stargazing.

Does he bring you anything? Absolutely yes. Some pretty flowers or nice expensive chocolates.

Is there going to be a first kiss? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Slow intimate kiss while holding your face.

It's going to be right in the middle of the date. Little insinuations here and there until he gets close enough you can't move without your lips touching.

He ends up very delighted with you.

The conversation went so smoothly he even got a little pink and his cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

Something he noticed when he left you home.

Would you go out with him again?

#mha x y/n #my hero x reader #hawks headcanons #hawks x reader #hawks x y/n #hawks scenarios #keigo tamaki

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feralaot · 3 years

Note

headcanons for the characters at an all you can eat buffet? who only eats the chicken tenders? who is forcibly removed from the establishment by the owners? who fights with other patrons over the last price of cake?

interesting indeed...

AOT characters at an all you can eat buffet

no warnings

modern

eren: for those of you who went to public school, do you remember in lunch how there was always that kid who made a gross amalgamation of his food like pouring milk on his pizza, sticking french fries in his juice box, all that kind of stuff? that’s eren. he’s gonna get a plate, a bunch of different food, and mix it all to high hell. by the end of it he’s probably gonna create a new element.

mikasa: I feel like everyone has a girl in their life who, no matter where you take her, will eat only the tiniest morsels of food. you’d think she doesn’t actually eat to feed herself but is instead a hollow vessel and is merely feeding a mouse inside her. that’s mikasa. she’ll get two, maybe three chicken fingers then grumble about how full she is.

armin: he’s the “lucky guy” in the sense that he can come back to the table, plate after plate, filling the abysmal void of his stomach and yet he still manages to be skinny. he’s also extremely disappointed in eren’s behavior and has to sit at a different table because the sight makes him nauseous

jean: he takes the idea of ‘$40 dollars all you can eat’ very literally in every sense of it and he makes absolutely damn sure that he’s getting his money’s worth. he’ll come home and unload half of the god damn buffet from his jacket pockets

connie and sasha: connie completely gorges himself on chicken tenders and french fries because he is internally nine years old. sasha takes much longer to get her fill and will inhale at least one serving of everything, but by the time she’s done she’s going to play hide and seek with connie around the buffet because their actual age will not prevent them from being children.

historia and ymir: well, historia always bites off way more than she can chew in every sense of the phrase. she’s way more sensitive to restaurant and buffet food than she realizes (she always gets sick after eating out) so half of the time that they’re there, historia and ymir are stowed away in the bathroom, ymir holding historia’s hair and patting her on the shoulder reassuringly.

levi: he can’t bring himself to eat at this establishment. if there’s dust in the corners, or maybe a lamp is leaning too far to the side, or perhaps there’s plates left at unoccupied tables... he just can’t do it. he’s going to invite himself onto the custodial staff and make the place shine like it just opened.

hange: got permanently banned from the buffet when they were 20 years old for an unknown reason. fourteen years later they tried to return with friends and immediately upon stepping in, someone yelled “get the fuck out, hange!”

erwin: doesn’t eat at buffets, ever. the only time he goes is to convince levi to stop acting like he works there and get him to come home.

reiner and bertholdt: reiner really likes buffets but he eats so much there that he’s gonna go into a bit of a food coma and fall asleep in the booth. bertholdt however doesn’t really like buffet food but will have a plate of french fries while he waits until it’s time to leave so he can wake reiner up

annie: got the worst food poisoning of her life at a buffet once so she refuses to go to them. you’re never gonna catch this girl lackin at an all you can eat

porco: the only thing he eats at buffets is sushi, he marches straight up to the nigiri and uramaki and builds a tower of raw fish and rice on his plate. and boy does he tear through it. did you know his name is portuguese for “pig”? cause he sure fuckin acts like it with buffet sushi

pieck: sits under the table with her switch the whole time and will occasionally pop her head out to gank a sushi roll from porco’s plate with no warning. either that or she pats him on the shin which is his cue to hand her a piece under the table which she gingerly takes from him like a little goblin

zeke: get rid of any notions you may have that suggest zeke is charming or a gentleman in any way. let him off the leash at a buffet and he’ll clear the damn place out, fighting other patrons over who gets dibs on the new batch of tempuras, turning it into a free for all. at a buffet, zeke has the same kind of energy you’d see in american black friday shoppers at a southeastern walmart. may the odds be ever in your favor.

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bbrandy2002 · 4 years

Text

Fool’s Rush In

Part 15

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Liam x MC

Warnings: mild violence

Series Premise: With two weeks until Liam is to marry Madeleine – his pick during the social season – the guys throw him a bachelor party in Vegas. After a drunken night, he finds himself with more than he bargained for.

Thanks @burnsoslow for the beta read.

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

Supposedly, the more a person suffered in the name of love, the more it showed they really cared.

At least, that's what Riley thought.

After nightfall of this particular evening -- when she least expected it -- she never realized how much truth that belief held.

Or how much it would hurt to sacrifice the one person who made her believe she was worthy of love and saw who she really was on the inside.

Her dainty arm -- a delicate bronze in color, sleek, with a glittering red strap across one shoulder -- linked through the arm of the man she had grown to love more than life itself as they entered the palace ballroom. Working tirelessly over the last week to ensure everything went off without a hitch had taken its toll on her. All she could think about, as she shook hands and charmed dignitaries with a sparkle in those twinkling brown eyes, was how much sleep she planned to make up for after the ball ended.

This ball was to introduce the King and his new bride to the Cordonian court for the first time. A show of solidarity and, hopefully, strength. A way to establish that what happened in a tiny chapel 10,000 miles away weeks ago between two strangers wasn't a careless mistake, and that she could handle the duties bestowed on her as a common American woman.

Or at least pretend she could for now.

However, for the King and the "Jewel of His Heart" whom he escorted through the curious crowd of pretentious naysayers in extravagant gowns and tuxes, with their fake smiles and tedious posturing ...

It was nothing less than fate.

Riley was the key that unlocked that safe space deep inside Liam's heart that had been sheltered for so long, waiting for the perfect person to come along and open it. This was the place where he kept his most sacred feelings: a genuine love, never-ending laughter, joy, romance, ecstasy, and every dream he ever held for the future -- one he presumed would never exist in any form he longed for.

But she didn't just unlock it. Riley shattered it wide open, where everything came flooding out at once and consumed him like a raging wildfire.

And it was the most remarkable, intoxicating experience of his life.

Liam showed her off all evening as they mingled during their rounds, danced, and conversed with the variance of nobility. She was the sexiest woman in that room, and he'd dare say the looks of envy shot in his direction from high-class men as he proudly cavorted her around didn't bother him in the least. Not that that was her only quality -- far from it. There were so many things about Riley that were special. But he couldn't help feeling a sense of pride that she was all his.

And without question, he was all hers.

Seated at the head table, Riley swallowed a morsel of the veal medallion she wanted to be served for this occasion. When given a choice between fish and lamb, the fish never stood a chance. The memory of that smelly, god-awful lunch with Regina three weeks ago was not something her palate had forgiven her for yet. As wonderful and savory as this extravagant meal, covered in a light brown mushroom sauce and served with a side of broccoli rabe, was, it couldn't hold a candle to what she craved the most: a slice of white pizza from Carmine's back in Brooklyn.

Or a slab or two of the New Yorker.

With maybe some cheesecake.

Covered in chocolate.

And a sausage rice ball. A Frito pie smothered with sour cream. Definitely a rainbow bagel from The Bagel Store. Barbecue ribs and beans from the mom-and-pop diner hidden just off the strip in Vegas.

Of course, her grandma’s country fried steak with white gravy sounded delicious too.

For sure, a fried Twinkie like the one she ate at the New York State Fair in 2013.

"You've outdone yourself, sweetheart," Liam marveled while wiping at the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "The meal was delicious, and our guests appear to be enjoying themselves." The others seated at the table looked up, adding their compliments.

Still dreaming about a fat slice of New York-style pizza, Riley smiled graciously back at him, until she noticed the server refilling Liam’s glass with merlot, causing her to do a double-take.

Hot tears pooled in her eyes, and a heavy feeling of sadness swelled in her chest as she panicked. "I asked for the Pinot Noir. Not the merlot,” she rasped meekly. “You don't like merlot, Liam. And the Pinot Noir was from the 'C' place where Duke Hakim lives. He'll be so disappointed and think I'm slighting his duchy. They’ll all hate me forever and ... wait a minute." She trailed off as a realization hit her, and Riley quickly glanced down at her plate before scanning each of the dishes from those seated around her.

The anxiety intensified; she could no longer suppress the heartbroken sob that wailed out of her. "Where are all the potatoes? We were supposed to have the potatoes, Liam. They didn’t serve the potatoes. Now the whole night is completely ruined, and it’s all my fault. I'm such a failure as a queen, and you should just send me to the dungeon now and throw away the key. I apologize to all of you for my incompetence and the lack of potatoes with your meal." Riley’s red-hot face, full of tears, plunged into the palms of her hands, then quickly sprung back up as Liam hesitantly tried to place a hand on her shoulder. A strong urge to use the restroom ended her crying spell as if it never happened. “Oh, oh. I gotta pee so bad. I’ll be right back.” She gave a warm smile and excused herself as she pushed her chair back and scurried merrily toward the nearest restroom.

Liam, Regina, Leo, Maxwell, and Olivia watched with confusion as she happily took off, not knowing what to say or what to make of the sudden shift in her moods.

“What the hell was that?” Olivia scowled, her eyes fixed on Liam.

“Is she all right, dear?” a concerned Regina asked.

Liam scratched the back of his head, nearly at a loss for words. “I ... I don’t know. I’ve never seen her that upset … especially over potatoes.” He paused in thought. “She was a little on edge this morning. Still, she’s been working a lot on the preparations and everything else going on. It must have gotten to her.”

Maxwell shrugged. “Maybe she just finally snapped.”

Leo shook his head, swallowing a forkful of beef. “Or maybe she has the premenstrual syndrome.”

“Leo!” The group admonished.

“What?” Leo bit back, taking in each of their disappointed glares. “Don’t act like it’s not true. Trust me, when I have cramps and bloating, I can go from a happy little Leo to a Bertrand, just like that.” He snapped his fingers, following it up with a frown. “It ain’t pretty, you all.”

Maxwell looked across the table at Liam and agreed, “He has a point.”

Wanting to shed his skin and slither away, Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can we not discuss something so personal and private, especially while several hundred people are dining around us?”

“I’m just saying, little brother, that you need to be understanding and gentle during this special time of your wife’s 'lady business.' You should speak softly and slowly to her because Shark Week messes with a girl's mind, man. Their brains short-circuit, and there’s nothing left up there but a couple of crickets and man-eating rattlesnakes. One second, you think she’s fine, but if you’re not careful, in the next second, you’ll find yourself with two venomous fangs rattling from your nut sack, dude. She will tear you apart and spit you out like a rabid dog. You can make it through these next few days, but only if you take my advice.”

“That is the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Olivia spat, boring her eyes into him. “And you’ve said a lot.” She turned to Liam, whose face was slightly pale and void of expression. “Don’t listen to his sexist drivel. Why you haven’t declared him insane yet is beyond me. You should have sent him away with that filthy hairball to Valtoria you had caged earlier.”

“IT WAS MONGO!” Leo erupted, causing the dishes on the table to clatter as he jumped to his feet and hovered over the redhead. Every head in the ballroom whipped around to see what was happening, and a deafening silence filled throughout. Even the orchestra stopped playing their classical tune.

A wide-eyed Regina smiled sheepishly as she glanced out at the quiet audience who were waiting to see what all the fuss was about. She thought fast before calling out, “We were just playing a little game of … 'It was Mongo.'” The former queen snatched Maxwell’s Sunset Rum punch from his hand, thrusting the drink up at her stepson, towering beside her, and instructed in a grandmotherly tone, “Be a good lad, Leo. You lost this round. It's time to chug-a-lug, my boy.” With his face burning, Liam slid down in his seat.

“Ooooo, I wanna go next.” Maxwell bounced excitedly while the guests resumed the festivities. "How do we play?"

“I think I want to go, too,” Liam replied, straightening back up before hurling his napkin on the table. “I’m going to go find Riley.”

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

Riley exited the ladies' room, clutch in hand and a fresh dab of clear gloss gleaming on her pink lips. She stopped walking just as the door closed behind her and smiled with a look of surprise at seeing Liam leaning against the opposite wall. "What are you doing out here?"

He pushed himself off the wall, closing the distance between them and meeting her in the middle of the empty corridor. They wrapped their arms around each other, indulging in the warmth of their lovers' embrace. "Would you believe me if I told you I just missed you?" he answered, placing a tender kiss on her lips that skimmed lower to her jawline.

"I missed you, too," she moaned with each gentle pressure of his seductive lips, suckling and nibbling along the spot that trailed behind her ear that he knew drove her crazy. "But something tells me that's not the only reason you left the ballroom."

Their gazes met simultaneously. "Leo."

Riley chuckled softly. "Do I even want to know?"

Liam sighed, smoothing back a loose hair behind her ear. "You know my brother and his wonderful words of wisdom." There was no way in hell he would tell her what they really discussed after she left; he could only imagine her embarrassment. "Everyone was just a little worried about you, that's all."

"I didn't mean to scare everyone. I just wanted tonight to be perfect. Instead, so many things went wrong. I can only assume what the court thinks about me now." She lowered her gaze to the red carpeting where they stood. "I let you down."

"I don't want to ever hear you say that again. Riley, sweetheart, you can never let me down. Do you understand that?" Liam lifted her chin; her tentative eyes stared back at him for a moment before nodding. "Good. And just so you know, our guest are used to bombings, stabbings, kidnappings, shootings, and terror plots at most of my palace events --"

"Wait. What?"

" -- I assure you, just the fact alone, that none of that took place tonight, and they're all going to leave here soon -- alive -- will be huge for them. Not having potatoes with the meal or the right wine was the least of their worries. They will consider this night a success. And a testament to their new queen. You should, too. I'm so very proud of you."

"I have so many questions about everything you just said."

Liam smiled, caressing Riley's petal-soft cheeks and lowering his head to kiss her again. "All in due time, my love.”

Riley let out a deep, drawn-out yawn she lightly covered with her palm before stretching and rolling her neck. A couple of weeks' worth of planning and endless decisions had left heavy tension in her shoulders and overwhelming exhaustion like nothing she'd felt before. None of it went unnoticed by Liam, who placed his hands on her shoulders and gingerly kneaded the taut muscles.

"What do you say about heading back to our quarters, taking off all of your clothes, and I'll be up soon to massage this gorgeous body from head to toe? And hopefully, when I'm through, you'll massage parts of me, too … with any part of your body that you'd like." His lips curved into an inviting smile.

"Mmm, that's tempting," she purred, rubbing her hands over his ample chest. "But I can't just leave. It's the Queen's Ball. Without me, it's just ... The Ball." She chuckled, despite herself.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little panties over the ball. Just go upstairs and take them off. I’ll handle everything down here. Then … “ He squatted down to her eye level. “ … I’ll handle you.”

Her heart fluttered every time Liam spoke to her that way. The way he desired only her. She bit the corner of her lip teasingly. “I love you so much.”

Liam smiled. “You better. You’ve got one hell of a husband. I’d even venture to say you’re the luckiest woman on the whole damn planet right now.” Before Riley could respond to his jest, he put both of his hands on her cheeks to hold her head still and began placing playful, wet smooches all over her face, causing her to laugh riotously. After a few seconds of her squirming around and cackling at his antics, he paused to look at her. “You know I love you, too. Now go on up. I’ll be right behind you soon.”

With a pat to her backside, they went their separate ways.

---------

Liam returned to the ballroom, having offered to finish what little time was left without her. He would offer his apologies for her absence, but in reality, the King couldn’t have cared less what anyone there thought. Since his bachelor party weeks ago, he had grown from a man who had no choices to one who made his own. His marriage and relationship with Riley came first. Her wellbeing was the main priority -- to hell with anyone who had a problem with that.

As Riley placed a hand on the elegant wooden handrail of the grand staircase and took the first step up, her thoughts meandered to where she had been in her life one month ago and how vastly it had changed in such a short time. For the first time in years, she was happy, and it felt so good to be in that place where she could finally let go of the past and move on. Liam was a game-changer, and she was thoroughly convinced he was the only person on the planet who could have gotten her out of her own head and to this level of blissful existence.

Rounding the corner at the top of the stairs, she reached into her clutch to pull out the key card to her quarters, exhaustion slowing her strides. Shuffling past a row of closed office doors and framed artwork, she made her way to the residential wing.

The squeak of a door behind her and the click of heels drew her attention, causing her to stop and turn to see who was there.

The color drained from her face as Madeleine casually stepped out, her hands behind her back and a devious, unsettling grin cemented on her face.

It wasn't the fear that made Riley's heart pound with a sickening thud, but more shock than anything. No one had seen or spoken to the Countess since the confrontation in Las Vegas when she showed up unexpectedly after finding out Liam had married Riley the night prior.

Now, suddenly, there she was, as if out of nowhere, a gleam in her eye, looking all too pleased to have this run-in with Riley.

"A little dramatic, don't you think?" Riley scoffed, taking one step back the closer Madeleine approached. "What are you even doing here?"

"I'm not going to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about," she answered contemptuously. Her green eyes drifted to one of the cameras mantled at each end of the hallway. Riley placed a shaky hand over her stomach, letting out a low, relieved breath, hoping that was the truth. "Not physically, anyway."

"Well, that sounds promising," Riley replied sardonically. "Now, if you don't mind ..." She turned away, wanting nothing more than to escape this conversation and make it back to her quarters.

Madeleine reached out and grabbed the Queen by her elbow, pulling her back and harshly twisting her around so they were now face-to-face. "You're not going anywhere until I'm through with you," she hissed with an icy glare. "I told you I would make you regret what you've done."

Riley jerked her arm, trying to free herself. "Let go of my arm, Madeleine!"

"Not until you hear what I have to say."

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say! Now LET ME GO!" Riley hoped someone heard her yell or at least witnessed what was happening on the camera. Where the hell is security?

While continuing to struggle to free herself, she reached up with her free hand in an attempt to pry off Madeleine's bony fingers that were squeezing tight grooves around her elbow, her manicured nails digging deeper into Riley's skin. "You're hurting me. I said to let me go."

"Very well, then." The woman, who had twice lost her chance at the crown, released her firm grasp, knowing that the momentum would cause Riley to stumble back as soon as she let go.

Just as predicted, Riley planted a foot behind her for leverage before drawing her arm back as hard as she could, one last time. Her eyes grew wide, and she let out a sharp gasp that sounded well down the corridor. Riley sailed backward, tripping over herself and toppling to the ground. She finally landed with a hard blow on her backside, the rear of her head just inches from slamming to the floor.

A shockwave of pain coursed up Riley's spine from hitting so abruptly. Before she had a chance to respond or process what happened, Madeleine crouched down beside her, holding a DVD up and gaining Riley's attention.

The pain had morphed into a throbbing ache that was soon forgotten as the Queen stared quizzically at the object displayed in front of her like a grand prize.

"What is that?" her voice trembled.

"It's my ace in the hole," Madeleine stated, then wagged a finger. "Someone used to be a very naughty girl."

Furrowing her brows, Riley responded. "I don't know what you mean."

"You know precisely what I mean, but just in case, please allow me to refresh your memory," Madeleine smirked before rising to her feet and prancing around as if she were having the time of her life. "I did a little digging after my brief visit to Las Vegas and came across a man who knew you very, very well at one time. I made some calls. We exchanged e-mails, a transfer of money or two. And he was all too eager to accept my offer of payment for any dirt he could give me on you."

There was no point in asking "who" -- she already knew; the thought made her nauseous. Riley closed her eyes and muttered. "Tyler?"

"Yes," Madeleine beamed, " Your ex-husband. He had a lot to say about you."

"I'm sure he did. Does it even matter to you that he's a liar and a cheat -- not to mention greedy? He would make up anything if he thought he could profit off of it."

"Oh, it matters. Personally, I don't believe a damn thing he had to say. Honestly, Riley ... even someone like you could have done better than that slime."

Riley cringed in pain as she pushed herself off the floor and turned to her oppressor. "Just get to the point, Madeleine. Clearly, he gave you something you thought was valuable enough to use against me, so just spit it already."

Madeleine smiled, "How very astute of you. You're correct. He did." She held up the disc as Riley regarded it suspiciously. "On this disk are several hours of the two of you ... together. Very graphic, if I do say so myself." Riley's jaw dropped upon hearing those words as Madeleine continued, "Now don't worry. I only watched it long enough to make sure the video was legit --"

"Give me that!" Riley reached out to snatch the DVD, but Madeleine pulled it away just out of her grasp. A burning sensation filled inside her chest and spread across her face. "You're lying. I never made videos like that."

"Oh, I think you did," the blonde countered with a mirthful tone. "You just didn't know about it. Your ex admitted as much to me ... an asshole move, for sure. But nonetheless, I purchased the copy from him for a hefty sum. And ... well ... here we are now. You're more than welcome to take this disc and see for yourself; I have it downloaded as a backup, knowing you'd want proof."

At that moment, all Riley wanted was for Liam to walk down that corridor where she now stood, pick her up in his arms, whisk her away to safety, and tell her it was all a bad dream. Not that she did anything wrong -- she was married at one time to the man, presumably on the video, and would have been a consenting adult.

No, it was the fact that Tyler Brooks had taken intimate videos with her during their marriage, without her knowledge. Now Madeleine had possession of them.

God only knew what she planned to do with them, but Riley had a pretty good idea. "What do you want?" she whispered in defeat, afraid to hear the answer.

Madeleine grinned from ear-to-ear. "For you to leave Cordonia tonight and never return, or I release everything to the press."

Riley shook her head. "No. As much as I don't want anyone to see that video, I did nothing wrong, and I won't be blackmailed or intimidated by you so that you can get your grubby little paws on the crown."

"Is that so?" It wasn't a question so much as a remark meant to convey who was in control.

Maintaining her position, Riley raised a brow, refusing to give in.

Madeleine was far from giving up, though; she had manipulation in her blood. "Very well, then. I'll release the video in the morning. It should be interesting to see how the world reacts to yet another scandal by this monarchy. Their Queen plastered all over the internet again, except this time, uploaded on every porn site on the web.

"The news will run the story with your blurred-out silhouette in the background. Your father will see it, and his business will become a target.: Your friends. Family. Students. They'll all be inundated with your sexual proclivities. But the worst part will be the tribunal. The council will have no choice but to question Liam's decision-making abilities after not only squandering his pick of queen on some American nobody, but now one whose ass will be featured on the desktops of teenage boys across the world. It's a shame that he'll lose his reign, all because of you. Would you really do that to Liam? Do you genuinely believe you're worth all the trouble it will cause him?"

Riley froze. She knew Madeleine was taunting her with the people she cared about the most. The last thing she wanted was to embarrass each of them. But to possibly cause Liam to lose his legacy, his birthright, and the rulership of a country he loved so much? It was something she couldn't shake.

Staring blankly, twisting the bands of gold that belonged to Liam's mother, she couldn't get the question Madeleine just asked out of her mind: Did Riley believe she was worth the trouble it would cost him?

Nothing was damning on that video, aside from the fact that she never knew it existed. But she already had so much to prove; another video in the press' hand would tarnish Liam. Maybe the Countess of Fydelia was right: He would lose it all.

"Time is ticking," Madeleine reminded Riley as she tapped her watch. "What's it going to be?"

----------

@burnsoslow @dcbbw @ao719 @hopefulmoonobject @jessiembruno @texaskitten30 @janezillow @merridithsmiscellany-blog @mskaneko @callmeellabella @queenjilian @sirbeepsalot @drakexwillow @caroldxnvxrs @jovialyouthmusic @forthebrokenheartedthings @bebepac @kingliam2019 @lovablegranny @cordoniaqueensworld @amandablink @liamxs-world @choiceskatie @iaminlovewithtrr @hopelessromanticmonie @charlotteg234 @annekebbphotography @txemrn @thecordoniandiaries @alyssalauren @cordonianroyalty @monsoonbloom12 @mom2000aggie @theroyalheirshadowhunter @princessleac1 @kimmiedoo5 @graceful-leah @iam-the-kind-and-thoughtful @thegreentwin @gkittylove99 @cinnamonspongecake @lifeaskim @neotericthemis @pink-diamond13 @walker7519 @natureblooms24 @yourmajesty09 @gabesmommie1130 @sweatyrysconnoisour @kat-tia801 @debmcg1106

Liam x MC: Cordonia-gothqueen

FRI Series Tags: @narrytheworld @queenwalton @cordonianprincess @zaffrenotes @zilch3 @drrookie @sfb123

#liam x mc #liam x riley #prince liam #king liam #the royal romance #trr #choices liam x mc #Fools Rush In #bbrandy2002

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alexboehm55144 · 3 years

Text

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 39 - Before The Storm

"So what did you guys get out of the stuff we pulled from that Chinese base? One that was apparently supposed to be impenetrable." Nick asked before muttering to himself. "Heh, they were no match for this sly fox."

"We went to hell and back to get that stuff," Judy said.

"Thing is… we don't know yet," Jack responded. "There was a lot of information on those maps and papers you guys pulled. It will take time for the eggheads to go through it all."

"I have to say I really respect the analysts," Skye noted. "I mean, how much stuff have they looked at from just Heroes alone?"

The four mammals were sitting in Jack and Skye's Aston Martin as they drove through the busy Zootopian streets. Nick and Judy were in the back seats while the two ZIA agents sat upfront. All around the car, mammals moved and went about their business as the city entered the evening. Most mammals were probably heading home as the sky began to dim. While others were getting ready for a night on the town.

"You guys over at Heroes have recovered a ton of intelligence throughout this war." Jack said, "Servers, documents, maps. Knowledge is power."

"Yeah, that is true," Judy responded. "I can't believe how much action we've seen. This is a lot more than a normal day at the ZPD."

"Hey, sometimes things are pretty action-packed at the ZPD," Nick said. "There's a lot of dangerous crooks and thieves out there. Though none of them as crafty and talented as this sly fox."

This got a chuckle out of Judy.

"And here we are!" Jack said.

The car pulled into a parking lot of a one-story building with Japanese architecture. The walls were made of white-colored stone with wooden support pillars, covered by a pagoda-style roof made of matte green tiles. Mounted on the front wall was a red and white light-up sign that said:

"Tanukchi, Japanese Grill."

"Well, we'll certainly be eating good tonight!" Nick said, the four mammals stepping out of the car.

"Isn't this place pretty high-end?" Skye asked. "How did you get a reservation?"

"Well… heh…" a slightly mischievous look crossed Judy's face. "I may have let it slip that we were brave ZPD officers, and you two were selfless ZIA agents."

"Clever bunny," Nick said.

"And… I may have also mentioned that we were war heroes."

Sky and Jack laughed.

"Well, at least you got us a nice dinner," Jack said before the group headed inside the restaurant.

Inside the building, the walls were made of wood and paper, resembling traditional Japanese walls. However, there were also support pillars made of marble-like, red-colored rock with messy streaks of white running through it. A short distance from the two glass doors was a desk made out of bamboo, behind which was a fish tank teeming with aquatic life. The entire restaurant was filled with the sounds of people chatting and the metal clang of cooking equipment being used.

"Reservation for Hopps," Judy said to the fox behind the desk, prompting the mammal to check her computer.

"Hopps…. Ah! Right, this way!" The fox said, grabbing four menus and leading the two couples into the dining area. There were 4 grills, 2 for smaller mammals, 2 for larger mammals, set up in the dining area, each surrounded by stained wooden chairs. Above each grill was a vent to the outside. On the walls of the room were paintings of trees and natural landscapes.

The waitress handed out menus as the group sat down at a grill for smaller mammals. "Would you like to order your drinks now?"

Nick got a soda while Jack went for an ice tea. Judy had carrot juice, and Skye got water. The fox waitress left to get their drinks and appetizers.

"You know, it kind of surprises me how quickly life has got back to normal here," Skye said. The fox looked around at the families and groups laughing and enjoying their meals. "You would never have thought that a short time ago, this city was under assault by the Chinese military."

"I know," Judy said. "It's almost like a distant memory to everyone. But I suppose they're just looking ahead towards a brighter future."

"And the future is bright," Jack said. "We're really pressing hard on the PLA now. But regarding what you said, there are plans to make a memorial to commemorate the Chinese attacks on the city. The full-scale assault, the airship strike, and the concert."

"Well, I hope that helps the citizens of Zootopia remember what happened. And that we must be vigilant against those who want to hurt us."

"Hmm… well, we should get some fried rice," Nick said, perusing over the menu.

"Heh, thinking with your stomach, I see." Judy chuckled.

"I agree," Jack responded. "let's get some fried rice."

The waitress returned with drinks, as well as salads and miso soups for everyone. She also took their orders for meals.

"A chef will be with you shortly."

The waitress left, and the group began to enjoy their appetizers.

"Wow, this is really good," Jack said, trying the salad.

"Hopps told me this place is highly rated," Nick said, sipping the soup. "You did a good job getting us this reservation."

"I agree." Skye said, "thank you, Judy."

Judy smiled "aww, guys are too sweet."

A few moments later, a tanuki wearing a traditional chef's uniform came over to the grill with a small cart of ingredients and tools.

"Hello! Welcome!" The chef said, going over the group's order. "Let's get started!"

The tanuki started up the grill and began to cook the various vegetables for the fried rice. Skye took out her phone and captured the exciting moment in a video while the chef performed tricks. He spun his spatula and tools around in his hand and juggled an egg for the rice.

The chef then set up an onion volcano, filled it with edible oils, and lit it on fire. A tower of flame shot out of the small volcano, eliciting gasps from the officers and agents watching the show.

"Dinner and a show," Skye said.

The tanuki chef finished the fried rice, taking a small portion of the rice on his spatula and launching it in the air towards Jack. The rabbit opened his mouth to catch it, but it just bounced off his nose onto the floor.

The chef tried again, & this time Jack caught the portion of rice in his mouth. All the while, the other mammals laughed and watched the spectacle.

The tanuki then launched a portion of rice at Nick, who managed to catch it in his mouth on the first try.

Judy laughed clapped a little as Nick looked smug that he got it first try.

"We should hang out more often," Jack said as the chef began to serve the fried rice.

"I agree. It's just that we've been busy lately." Nick chimed in. "But when the four of us hang out, it's always fun."

000

"Come on, Toothdee, you'll enjoy it!" Laval said. "Arcades are fun. Although in Chima the arcades are usually less tech-savvy… but… same principles apply."

"I don't know…." Toothdee said, looking over some maps and papers in her room. "The end of this war is in sight, and I want to focus on my work so we can make the final decisive push to end this conflict once and for all."

"Hey, we've got them on the backfoot." Eris said, "besides, we're on shore leave right now. It's not the time to work. It's time to rest and recuperate."

"Yeah, you can't just keep fighting constantly. Evening though I do think that would be fun, you'll get worn out." Laval noted.

"Oh, alright, fine." The Heroes commander said, getting up from her desk and grabbing her phone and wallet. "Let's go."

"Great!" Eris said. "Laval spotted a place just down the road, within walking distance."

"Well, lead the way, Laval."

The trio left the typhoon and headed out of the guarded compound where the airship landed. The landing zone was in the city, giving Heroes good access to any part of Zootopia they needed to reach in the event of an emergency.

However it was not right in the center of the city, instead situated near the airport. This was to avoid buildings acting as flying obstructions and to cut down on noise pollution.

"You guys really love exploring Zootopia, don't you? Getting out and seeing the sights." Toothdee said as they walked.

"Totally!" Eris said. "It's a gorgeous city. I can see why Nick and Judy love it here."

"Yeah, I love exploring, so it's great to get a whole new city to explore!"

After a few minutes of walking, the group arrived at a building with big glass windows and a bright blue sign that said "arcade" on the front.

The inside of the building was dark, lit mainly through light from gaming machines. The air was filled with the sounds of said machines. Various boops and chimes were used to attract customer's attention. The floor was covered in a dark blue carpet, and a tired-looking mountain lion sat at a desk near the door.

The trio walked over to the desk, and the mountain lion didn't flinch upon seeing an evolved eagle.

"Hi, can we each get a card with $30 on it, please?" Toothdee said, "that seems reasonable, right?"

"Works for me," Eris said.

Each member of the group took out the required money and placed it on the counter. The cashier nodded and quickly transferred the money to 3 plastic cards that could be used to purchase games from the machines.

"Thank you," Laval said, the group heading towards the machines.

"What are you going to play first?" Toothdee asked.

"Uh… hm, well, I've seen this before," Laval said, walking over to a skeeball machine. "Now Chima does have games like this."

"I'll play against you!" Eris said, standing in front of a second Skee-ball device next to Laval.

"Alright! Your on!"

The couple slid their cards through readers on the machines, and balls were dispensed in return. As the two started rolling the hard plastic skeeballs down the length of the device, Toothdee went to examine some other games.

She spotted an arcade game with a large screen, and fake plastic guns hooked up to it. Across the top of the machine were the words "Terminator" along with a scary-looking robot head. Toothdee went over to the arcade machine and paid for a game before picking up one of the weapons. She could also keep her skills sharp while having fun.

The young warrior selected a level and began. Terminator robots appeared on screen and engaged. But toothdee fired the toy weapon at the screen, and the terminators in-game were struck down by gunfire.

As her character continued to move through the game world, gunning down robots, toothdee heard Laval and Eris behind her.

"Yes!" The eagle said. "I win! Don't worry, I know you let me win on purpose."

"I thought YOU were going to let ME win." Laval chuckled.

The pair came over to watch Toothdee, who continued to gun down terminators, even as her own player character took damage. Eventually, a game over screen appeared, and toothdee put the plastic toy gun back down on the machine.

"You know what's funny is most of the stuff here we can do for real," Laval said. "That motorcycle racing game over there? I can just hop on my speedor. That game you were playing where you shoot robots? You could just get a gun and charge into battle!"

"Heh, well, why don't you do that then?" Toothdee asked.

"Well, fighting can be fun. But it's nice just to do it… what's the word I'm looking for… Fictitiously! Without any worries, where you just have to get points."

"Alright, I can understand that. Now, what do you want to play next?" Toothdee said, turning towards the rows of game cabinets. "You guys were right. It is good to get out and relax once in a while."

000

Haida looked at a map on his phone and struggled to figure out where he was in relation to the roads and structures on the map.

"I'm telling you it's this way," Fabienne said, pointing down a roadway. "Trust me, I know this city."

"But it looks like it's this way on the map!" Haida said, pointing down a different street."

"It's not! Your just looking at it wrong!"

"Retsuko, what do you think?"

The red panda, who had been patiently watching the two argue, looked at Haida's phone. The hyena smirked, expecting his girlfriend to agree with him. Plus, he was pretty confident his examination of the map was correct.

"Hmmm…." Retsuko said, "I think Fabienne is right."

Haida's jaw dropped while Fabienne smirked.

"Alright then, this way."

The snow leopard started walking down the street, Haida and Retsuko in tow.

Haida looked a bit down that he was wrong, but Retsuko gave him a playful jab to cheer him up.

Eventually, the group arrived at a large stone building situated by the coast. The American flag was flying on a pole outside. There was a large wooden sign reading "Zootopia World War 2 Museum."

"Told you," Fabienne said.

The trio went inside, where a bunny attendant was waiting in a booth near the entrance.

"Hi! 3 please, general admission." Retsuko said.

The trio paid for their tickets and entered the museum, which was not very crowded. The rooms were filled with equipment, posters, flags, pictures, all from the Second World War.

Pictures of troopers in combat. Guns those soldiers would have used. Maps of the battle formations they would have been in.

Retsuko and Haida went over to a giant wall of black marble. Upon which were carved the names of soldiers from Zootopia who had distinguished themselves in combat during WW2. Above the wall was a black and white mural of US Soldiers of many different species.

Fabienne was busy looking at an exhibit about war correspondents during the Second World War. There was an old camera on display, articles published by war reporters, and photographs of correspondents. This sort of thing was right up her alley.

"It's amazing how much we've progressed," Fabienne said, looking at old photography equipment. She spotted an old camera that was a lot bigger than her phone and probably could only photograph in black and white.

The snow leopard moved on to a small exhibit that contained mannequins of different mammals in combat gear. There was a small video screen playing a video comparing the biological system of various mammals as soldiers.

"Humans make the best soldiers." Said a disembodied voice on the video, as the picture changed to show a human soldier on a long trek in the desert. "They have unmatched endurance and survival skills. Not to mention their skills in combat have been continuously refined and improved over millennia, in the many wars and battles fought by humans."

"Maybe that's why a human is the leader of Heroes," Fabienne asked herself.

"This does not mean other species are incapable of waging war. Many other types of mammals serve in specialist roles."

A picture of a Russian polar bear in arctic camouflage appeared on the screen as the announcer continued.

"Polar bears and other arctic mammals make good soldiers for sub-zero environments."

The screen changed again, showing a picture of a cheetah soldier.

"While cheetahs and Pronghorns make good couriers, depending on the distance being traveled."

The snow leopard found this fascinating. Every species was unique in some way.

The ZNN reporter moved to rejoin Haida and Retsuko. They were looking at an exhibit about imperial Japan and the war in the pacific.

"Wow, look at that," Retsuko said, examining a model of a US aircraft carrier.

Haida and Fabienne looked at a map of battle formations around an island, complete with pictures of soldiers.

One photo showed Japanese troops digging trenches around the island as defenses. Another picture showed US pilots getting into planes and preparing to launch from the deck of a carrier. A third picture showed US marines charging against stubborn and dug-in Japanese pillboxes on a hill, firing down at a beach.

"My God, it's so reminiscent of the current war," Fabienne noted, looking at another image of American and Japanese warships engaging each other as planes crisscrossed the sky.

"I know…" Retsuko said, "I mean, we're fighting in the pacific, with warships and planes. I guess history repeats itself."

"What I find amazing..." Haida said, "the US and Japan used to be such bitter enemies, and now they are great allies."

"Yep, it only goes to show you how things can change with time," Fabienne responded.

"Here we are, mammals from Japan, doing an important role in a US military organization," Retsuko said. "And there is no place I'd rather be."

The three mammals continued through the museum. Examining the past and how it could tell them about the present and future.

000

JayJay was in her cabin on the typhoon, putting away some clothes she had just washed. The wolf put a dress on a hanger, hanging it in the closet, before turning her attention to some stockings and a few shirts.

As the young hero finished putting her clothes away in a drawer, there was a knock at her door.

The wolf opened the door and smiled, seeing captain Boehm in front of her.

"Hey Jay, what are you doing?"

"Just putting away some clothes." The wolf said, quickly fixing her hair and making herself look presentable. "What brings you around?"

"Well… I was wondering if you would like to hang out?" The captain said, trying to speak confidentiality. "We could go somewhere. There's plenty of attractions around Zootopia. Or just stay here and watch a movie or something."

JayJay's tail started wagging.

"Oh! I'd love to take you out clubbing!" The wolf said.

"Clubbing? Eh… that's not exactly my thing…."

"Please!" JayJay said, giving Alex puppy dog eyes. "I'd love it if you came along!"

"Sigh, alright, fine."

"Yes! Trust me, you'll have fun! Let me just get my things and get ready to go."

"Ok, I'll go get my wallet. Meet you back here."

Both mammals used the bathroom, got their personal effects, and met back up outside JayJay's room before leaving the typhoon.

"I'm really excited," JayJay confessed. "You, my favorite person in the world, going clubbing and dancing with me, which is my favorite thing to do!"

"I mean, I'm not exactly big on that sort of thing… but I'll bite the bullet if it means spending time with you."

The wolf wagged her tail in excitement. The pair then came upon Kion and Jasiri, who walked down the hallway. Each had an arm around the other.

"What are you two up to?" Alex asked.

"We're just going out," Kion said.

"Oh! So are we!" JayJay responded. "I'm taking him to a club."

The wolf gestured at the human.

"Heh, didn't think that would be your kind of thing, Alex." Kion teased. "You are usually a very reserved person who tends to keep to himself."

"Your correct." The captain responded, "But I just like spending time with Jay."

"Well, I like spending time with Jasiri." The lion kissed the hyena on the cheek, making her blush. This prompted JayJay to turn to her companion. Giving a look that almost saying "What? Where's my kiss?"

"If you two are going out, what if we come with you? We could all hang out." Jasiri said.

"I'm fine with that," Boehm responded. "Jay?"

"I'm down! Let's go!"

The four left the typhoon and headed down the street, led by JayJay, who knew where all the excellent dance parties and nightclubs were.

"I am going to bring you out of your shell tonight." JayJay said to Alex, "you can't be so reserved all the time."

"I think you are the right person to do that." The human responded to the wolf. "You're so outgoing and social. I'm an introvert, your an extrovert."

"Opposites attract." Kion laughed.

After a few minutes of walking, the group reached a building with dozens of bright neon lights outside, shining in all colors.

"Hey! It's the party animal!" Said the bear bouncer, opening the door for the team to go inside.

More bright lights of all colors flashed above a dance floor made up of light-up squares, which also changed color frequently. Mammals packed the dance floor, moving and cheering as they enjoyed themselves.

A bar that glowed white from internal lights was stationed against one of the walls. Behind the bar were shelves of liquid backlit by blue light. Tables and chairs were set up around the main dance floor for mammals to chat and rest.

"Say what about loud noises?" Kion asked Alex. "I heard that introverts like things to be quiet."

"Yes, but Kion, I'm a soldier. I've heard the blasts of artillery strikes and the engines of rockets and jet planes. I can take some loud music."

"Do you guys want to get something to drink first?" Jay asked as the group drifted over to a table. "We need to stay hydrated if we're going to be dancing."

"What time is it?" Alex asked, "ah, I'll just have lemonade or something."

"Coke, please," Kion said. "No ice."

"Water is fine for me," Jasiri said.

"Alright! You guys have to pay me back, though. Kion, could you give me a paw? I can't carry all the drinks."

The wolf and lion left, heading to the bar.

"Say do we have any Glocks onboard the ship?" Jasiri asked.

"Yeah?" The captain said.

"I think I'm gonna try those as my pistols. See how they do in battle."

"Well, if you're going to use them, akimbo, we have plenty of attachments you can use. Sights, flashlights and lasers, muzzle breaks, and suppressors…. Heroes is well supplied."

"I can tell. I suppose all the money spent is worth it, though. We get the job done."

"Maybe you should get yourself another weapon if you find the pistols aren't cutting it. Like an SMG. Maybe an MP5 or UMP."

The human and hyena continued to discuss their weapons of warfare until Kion and JayJay returned with four glasses containing the drinks. The two giving Alex and Jasiri their beverages. JayJay had apparently ordered a beer, as her glass contained a foaming brown liquid.

"Jasiri and I were just talking about our combat gear," Alex said, taking a sip of his lemonade.

"Yeah, he thinks I should get an SMG for when the pistols don't cut it."

"I recently changed my armament as well." Kion said, "I quite like the LMG I got my paws on."

"Well, as I told Jasiri…" Alex said, "we have plenty of attachments you can put on."

"Oh sweet! I'll have to check those out."

"Well, while your running into battle with a sword and a big gun, my own equipment is a bit smaller," JayJay said. "Just a simple pistol and a machine pistol for when the going gets tough."

"Yeah, Kion, you are like the tank. With an LMG, a powerful sword, and your own strength to punch right through enemies." Captain Boehm noted. "Jay is more focused on her agility and speed."

"I've been thinking of getting a sword more like what you and Laval use. Chima style!" Kion said. "Also, JayJay, isn't your pistol an older design? 1911?"

"Yep! And not just any 1911. That very pistol was wielded by my ancestor, Jim Burdel, during WW1!"

"Wow, That should be in a museum."

"Hey, I like to think I'm doing right by my ancestor by carrying his weapon into battle. Though I don't know if he would like the paint scheme I've given it, he's not here to complain."

Suddenly the loud dubstep music slowed down, and all the lights on the dance floor turned a light blue as their movement speed slowed down.

"It's time for a slow dance!" The DJ said, "Maybe grab that special someone and bring them out onto the floor!"

Jasiri smirked at Kion and jumped up, gesturing for Kion to follow her, which he did. They headed out onto the dance floor, joining in the crowd of mammals.

Jasiri playfully pushed Kion, trying to figure out how exactly he should dance with his hyena. Fumbling with his paws and where to put them in a way that was not lewd.

The lion's lover just hugged him close, prompting Kion to wrap his arms around her and slowly turn and dance.

"Come on, Alex!" JayJay said, standing up, prompting the captain to do the same and follow her.

The two mammals reached the dance floor, surrounded by other mammals and couples, moving slowly to the music.

Under the blue light, the pair embraced, nuzzling against each other's fur and skin. Alex and JayJay closed their eyes, enjoying the moment with each other, along with the other couples on the dance floor, including Kion and Jasiri. But the human and wolf were just focusing on each other. Both of them were, to the other, the most important mammal in the world.

Moments like these were what they were fighting for. China was an autocratic nation, curtailing freedoms and liberties. But here, people could be free and enjoy themselves without fear of the government or military.

It was these moments of peace that made their battles worth it. Worth fighting for a million times over.

26 notes · View notes

mistymark · 4 years

Text

VIGILANTE/S VII

part seven // 6.1k words // superpowered!au // series masterlist

summary; in which you consider yourself somewhat of a vigilante.

warnings; swearing, suggestive (?) content not really, lots of swearing, mention of death

The following days are almost boring. Almost normal. Jaehyun had cancelled all your training sessions, even the ones that wouldn’t cause any harm. You spend your days poring over all the information the team had gathered about the Red Crown and their guests, and running errands in preparation.

A few hours after your last training session with Jeno, he’d caught you and read out all the information his girlfriend had sent him about what to wear to the ball and you’d spent the evening buying floor-length dresses, shoes that were bound to hurt your feet, glamourous jewellery and makeup products you didn’t even know the purpose of.

“What is that?” Donghyuck leant over to see what you were looking at on the laptop. You were both sitting on your bed; you were quizzing him on the Crown leaders while you looked at makeup. He was slouching, leaning against you as his eyes scanned the screen.

“Eyelashes,” you murmured. Most of them looked too big to be natural but you figured it would only help you fit in at the ball. You added a pair of lashes to your basket – they were on the smaller side, but you figured they would be easier to use.

“Are they… are they real?” Donghyuck furrowed his brow as he looked at them.

You paused, looking away from your laptop for a moment. “God, I hope not.” You both burst out into fits of giggles.

“Most of the Crowns are Shields,” he said, flipping through the information. “Except for the leaders.”

“Mentalists.” You shiver. You’d never really liked Mentalists – people who could manipulate the mind, bend the wills of others, alter who they are. Shields weren’t so bad – sure, they were dangerous, able to manipulate physical things, but at least you could see what you were dealing with. They surged with power – a type of power that wasn’t dark. Mentalists had dark power, a kind that made it both invigorating and terrifying to use.

You have to remind yourself that Doyoung and Johnny are Mentalists, too.

“This guy’s bulletproof,” he points to a photo of one of the Shields listed. You remembered the power from the night you’d witnessed the Senator’s kidnapping, but the smiling face in the photo isn’t familiar.

“I’m done,” you say, pushing the computer from your lap. You’d purchased hundreds of dollars worth of makeup that you’d never used before, hoping that you could figure it out before the ball. “I can’t order anymore.”

“I’ve got four fittings tomorrow,” he mumbles as you shut down the computer and place it on the ground beside your bed.

“Here?”

“No, some place Jaehyun goes. You wanna come?”

You shake your head no, everything you’d ordered would have to be picked up tomorrow and you were hoping to get it all done so you wouldn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the week. “I have to go pick all this up,” you gesture to the screen.

He groans and slides down the headboard of your bed like a dead fish, and you offer him an amused smile. “Ugh.”

Someone knocks on the door. The door clicks open and Johnny pokes his head through the small gap, “Dinner’s here.”

You groan and push Donghyuck off your bed, knowing he wouldn’t move on his own, “Come on, you bag of bones.”

He grunts as he hits the floor but he stands up eagerly, “It’s Thai.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s Chenle’s turn to order – he always chooses Thai.” You’re reminded of how much of a family they are when Donghyuck smiles to himself, grabbing a hoodie from his bed and sliding it over his head as he walks out of the room, ready to have dinner with the rest of the team.

It’s the first time you’ve had dinner with the whole team, and you find yourself enjoying it more than you thought you would. Jaehyun sits at the head of the table, with Johnny on the other end, and the rest of the team find seats wherever they can.

“You’re in my seat,” Jaemin points at the chair Chenle is sitting in.

“Fuck off,” Chenle turns back to the food, reaching for a plastic container of rice. Immediately, Jaehyun stands up and grabs Chenle’s glass, sitting it down in front of Mark instead. Jaemin’s actions are fast, but Chenle anticipates his attack, slamming his hands onto the table’s surface to hold him steady as Jaemin attempts to wrench him from his chair. Chenle’s finger hits a piece of cutlery, causing it to flip and almost knock over a nearby bottle of chilli sauce. If it hadn’t been moved, Chenle’s glass would have been knocked over. Chenle snaps his fingers, and Jaemin’s hands immediately become encased in fire, causing him to shriek and step back.

Chenle shakes his head, reaching for his wayward piece of cutlery and digging into his food, “It’s not even burning you.”

Jaemin mouths Chenle’s words, shaking his head from side to side in a mocking manner, before dropping into the empty seat beside him with a huff. “Pass me the rice.”

“Say please,” Chenle smirks.

“Can you pass the sauce, please, Y/n?” Mark asks from beside you. You nod and reach for it.

“You know, that ice girl got kicked out of the finals,” Renjun says, biting into a piece of pork.

“No! Really?” Mark’s eyes get wide as he looks at Renjun.

“Yeah, she lost to that guy who can turn things to stone,” Renjun explains. You hardly kept up with the Super fights, but you listen anyway. You’d honestly thought that ice would beat stone, but when Renjun excitedly fills you and Mark in on how she lost, you begin to understand how easily she was beaten.

Jaehyun laughs at something Doyoung has just said, and when you look at him, you’re reminded of how young he is. He looks ten years younger like this, laughing at the dinner table with his friends, eating fried rice in his pyjamas. They might not be his pyjamas, but compared to his normal attire, the drawstring pants and plain tee is the most relaxed outfit you’d seen him wear.

At the other end of the table, Johnny is leaning in to talk to Donghyuck, his face serious as he nods. His brows are furrowed and you wonder what Donghyuck has said to prompt that response. Suddenly, Johnny’s eyes snap to yours and you quickly look away, feeling awkward after witnessing whatever that exchange was. You tune in to the conversation around you.

“You’re coming to the fittings tomorrow, right?” Renjun asks Jeno, but the latter shakes his head. “No, I’ve already got my suit.”

“What colour is it?” You ask.

“Blue.” You feel your eyebrows raise. You’d always picked him as the type to only ever wear black. Even now, he wasn’t wearing anything that was lighter than a dark grey.

The dinner talk drifts from the ball to the fights to the arguments over who gets the last of each dish until finally all the food is gone, and you stand up to clear the dishes.

“I’ll do it,” Jaemin says, quietly. You blink. He takes the plate from your hands and begins walking to the kitchen.

“If I could do all my chores in ten seconds flat, I’d offer, too,” Donghyuck deadpans. He stretches in his seat and yawns, “Unfortunately, I don’t, so…” He shrugs and then rises from his chair, kicking it back under the table.

“Jaemin’s on clean-up duty,” Jeno’s voice is quiet. “You can leave it.” He walks away from the table.

You start stacking some of the empty containers together as everyone else disperses.

“You know,” you turn to see Jaemin walking back out from the kitchen, that signature smirk on his face. “It would be much faster for me if you didn’t help.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” his tone has changed – he’s being sincere. “I can do it at my speed, but I don’t want to if you’re standing here.”

“What-?”

“You know when a car goes past you really fast and you get that strong force of wind? Imagine that but ten times harder.” You mouth drops into a slight ‘o’. During your training, you’d found it more difficult to train with him – your reflexes were fast, but you found it difficult to judge distance when you were using his superspeed. It had never occurred to you that he could go faster than he was letting on. “It’s okay, really. You can go.”

You offer him an apologetic smile and leave the mess to him, making your way to the corridor to see what the others were up to. When you turn back around to see how Jaemin is doing, the table is cleared and shiny with water, having recently been wiped down and cleaned. “Huh, what do you know?”

You feel a rush of air and roll your eyes when you see Jaemin leaning against his own doorframe at the end of the hall, “Hey, slowcoach.”

You quirk an eyebrow at him, stopping, “Nicely done.”

In the blink of an eye, he’s a few feet from you, stepping forward at what you would call a normal speed as if he’d walked the whole way like that. “I try my best,” his voice is deeper, quieter. His signature smirk remains on his face. He passes you, knocking his shoulder against yours as he walks back out of the hallway. You wonder if he’s going out.

A door nearby is wrenched open, breaking your train of thought and Renjun marches into your room, raising his voice, “You’re so fucking stupid.”

You follow him inside, confused, only to see Donghyuck on his bed, dead. Again.

“We’re not even supposed to be training this week, you fucking moron.” You’re about to ask him why he’s yelling at a dead guy, but he continues. “I know that’s not where you are but-”

Now, you’re thoroughly confused. He doesn’t notice you’re there until he turns around, “Oh, Y/n. Sorry. I’m mad at Donghyuck.”

“I can see that.” When he’s standing so close, you have easy access to his power, and for the first time, you reach for it. A sense of cold washes over your body. Like you’ve just stepped into a freezer. You had felt it when he was around, but you hadn’t thought it was actually coming from him. You’d never been able to name his power – just feel it. But now you understood what he could do. “You… you can communicate with the dead?”

He looks surprised. “You didn’t know?” he frowns, and you feel almost embarrassed.

“Uh, no?”

“Oh. Okay, then,” he reaches a hand up to scratch the back of his neck. “Well, uh, I can talk to dead people, yeah.” He straightens, dropping his hand back down to his side, “Actually, it’s more like the dead can talk to me. I can exist in both worlds – the dead and the living – so I can see them and talk to them… yeah.”

“You can talk to Donghyuck?” You gesture to the body on the bed.

“He’s right there,” Renjun using his left hand to point directly to his right, determinedly not looking in that direction. “He says hi.”

You look at the blank space Renjun had pointed to, “Hey.” You turn your attention back to Renjun, about to ask another question, when a loud bark interrupts. Bruce is standing at the door, growling at something in the room. He looks bigger, angrier like this, less like the adorable dog who had sat in his fluffy bed in the gym and watched you train.

“Not now, C, go play.” You only now realise that the dog was looking in the direction of Donghyuck.

“Your dog can see ghosts,” the words come out in a disbelieving tone.

Renjun laughs, “What? No. Just me. He just hates Donghyuck.” Bruce is still standing in the doorway, a low, rumbling growl echoing in his chest as he stares into the room.

Renjun’s tone is stern now, warning, “Cerberus…” The dog’s attention snaps to its owner and his ears twitch, his tail beginning to wag slowly. “Go play.”

When the dog begins to trot away, you hear Jaemin, his voice high, like he’s talking to a baby “Hey, Brucey! Hello, Brucey Baby! How’s my good boy?”

“He’s normally more obedient,” Renjun says, apologetic. “Something about Donghyuck gets him all riled up.”

“It’s okay,” you smile. “Did you just call him Cerberus?”

“Yeah,” Renjun says, dismissively. Then, “Bruce is just a nickname, what we call out at the park. His name is actually Cerberus, though.”

“Like Hades’ dog. The god of the underworld.”

Renjun’s smile widens, “Yeah. Exactly like that.”

You find yourself matching his smile, “You named him?”

“Of course, I named him.” He almost sounds offended.

You nod approvingly and let out a laugh. You had not expected this from Renjun at all – he was small and thin and had a natural aptitude for computer science. You’d expected him to be, well, nerdier.

“He says he’ll be alive in about an hour. Do you wanna watch a movie?”

You nod, “Yeah. What movie?”

“I was thinking-,” Renjun cuts himself off, his head turning to the side quickly, a stern frown on his face. “No. You stay here and think about what you’ve done.”

You laugh, “Does he want to watch, too?”

“It doesn’t matter what he wants to do,” Renjun looks at Donghyuck’s body. “Idiot.”

You follow Renjun out of your room and trail after him. Mark, Chenle and Jaemin – with Bruce – end up inviting themselves to your movie night and you spread out in Renjun’s room to watch the movie. He has the biggest room as far as you can tell – multiple desks and computer screens are situated around the room. You notice a stack of expensive laptops on one of the desks and almost laugh. There are also a lot of beanbag chairs in his room, which you’re surprised to see.

“Does anyone want popcorn?” Jaemin asks from the doorway, and you all nod eagerly. He smiles at you and then disappears, the doorway only remaining vacant for all of two seconds before he’s walking in again with bowls and a bag of popcorn kernels in his hand.

“When I said I wanted popcorn, I did mean popped popcorn,” you say as you watch him spoon a few kernels into his mouth, letting it out loud crunching noises as he chews.

He juts his chin up, gesturing over to Chenle and Renjun. The former is holding his hand over Renjun’s bowl of popcorn, and you watch as bits of popcorn jump up in turn. He does the same for Mark and then himself.

He turns to you, “Do you want me to-?” He almost sounds shy. “Since you’re not supposed to use my abilities.”

You give him a grateful smile and nod, “Yes, please.” You pass him the bowl and he lets the bowl rest in his lap as he grabs the remote and presses play on the movie. When all the kernels have been popped, he passes it back without a word.

“Thank you,” you whisper. You swear, in the dark, you could see the lightest flicker of a smile on his face. Maybe it was just the light from the movie projector.

It’s the first time you’ve managed to have a sleep-in and you almost don’t like it. Waking up to bright sunlight and an empty warehouse is almost unsettling.

“They’ve gone to the suit fitting,” Jeno says when you walk down the corridor in your pyjamas. Jeno is sitting at the table, with one hand wrapped around a pale yellow mug of tea and the other holding his phone. He locks it when you approach.

“All of them?” He nods. “Damn, okay.”

“Why?”

“I was going to ask Jaehyun if I could borrow a car to go pick up the stuff I bought.” You pad into the kitchen, barefoot. You pour yourself some of the leftover hot water and make your own tea.

“I can take you.”

You turn around in surprise, “Really?”

He shrugs, “Sure.”

You take the seat directly across from him, “Thank you. What time do you want to leave?”

The expression on his face almost makes you laugh. He pointedly looks from his own clothing to yours, “Whenever you’re ready.”

You nod and almost ask him why he’s not at the suit fitting. Why does he have a suit already if the others don’t?

“How long will they be gone?”

“With Donghyuck and Jaemin there? At least a few hours.” You laugh and he looks at you, almost confused, as if he didn’t think what he’d said deserved a laugh.

Once you’re ready, you meet Jeno in the garage, quickly running down the steps to the lower level. He’s leaning against the wall, texting. A helmet sits at his feet, another held in his hand, and you notice he’s wearing a fitted motorcycle jacket.

The garage is a large space, resembling a small aircraft hangar. Vehicles are parked in an ordered fashion with numbers painted on the concrete floor, as if you were standing in a mall’s parking garage and not Jaehyun’s personal garage.

A few of the spots are empty, whatever vehicles were there were now being used by the others.

You eye the motorbikes standing in row only a few feet from Jeno, ignoring the helmet Jeno’s holding out to you, “I’ve never ridden a motorbike before.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not about to start,” he slides his phone into his pocket before reaching for your hand and wrapping your fingers around the helmet. “I’m driving.”

“We can’t take a car?”

He stops. “I-,” he looks away from you, and you wonder if the slight blush on his face is from embarrassment or the leather jacket. “I can’t drive.”

“Motorbike it is then,” you nod, staring at the bike. It was huge and looked pretty stable – you weren’t afraid of motorcycles, but you would have preferred to take a car. Especially this close to the ball.

He handed you a leather jacket that vaguely matched his own, “Wear Jaemin’s. He won’t mind.”

You take it and slide your arms through the sleeves, zipping it up as far as the zipper would allow. The sleeves were a little too long on you, but you didn’t mind.

He has to help you with the helmet, but once he’s satisfied that it fits and won’t come flying off in the rare instance that you were to crash, he throws his leg over the seat and holds out a hand to help you stabilise as you follow.

You didn’t notice the large ramp at one end of the garage but you certainly notice when the roof over it slides open to reveal a large, empty room. The room above is made completely of stone, with the exception of one wall, which is actually a metal gate that rolls upwards to let you out.

Jeno doesn’t bother with any warnings like “Hold on” or “Ready?” so you have to stop yourself from shrieking in surprise when you surge forward and up the ramp. Other than that, he’s a pretty safe rider – you make it to the shop in one piece.

You pick up your shopping with no trouble, though the store managers keep trying to offer you refreshments and encouraging you to try on more dresses. You wonder if that’s common in stores like this – where the cheapest gown is over two thousand dollars – or if they just think you’re wealthy enough to buy more.

“Do you want to get lunch?” You ask Jeno, and you hope he says yes.

He surprisingly says yes. “I know a good place,” he cocks his head to the right and starts walking down the street. He has to use his head to direct you because he’s carrying two of the three bags you’ve just collected.

You follow him, “You come here often?”

“Are you hitting on me?”

“What?” Your eyes are wide and you look at him in shock because, no, you weren’t hitting on him. At all.

He gives you a tight-lipped smile, “I’m joking.” Shaking his head, he continues, “It’s where Jaemin and I used to go when we first moved in. It’s not far from here.”

You eat in almost total silence. Not because it’s awkward or you have nothing to talk about, but because the food is just so good. It’s the first time you’ve eaten lunch that wasn’t leftovers, or some form of breakfast food. “Can I get you anything else?” The waitress is a slim girl about your age, who focuses her sole attention on Jeno.

Jeno looks at you for an answer, but you shake your head. “No, thank you,” he says, handing the card with the order number back to her.

She lingers for a second, disappointed, and then nods, offering a wide, perfect smile, “Let me know if you change your mind!” Something in her voice makes you think she’s not just talking about the food.

When she walks away, Jeno returns to his food. “What?” He says when he finally notices the look on your face.

“What do you mean, ‘what?’ She’s into you! She was so obvious about it, too.”

“Oh,” he looks taken aback. He looks into his bowl, “I didn’t notice.” And you can tell he’s being honest.

“You know what’s interesting?”

“What?” His tone suggests he doesn’t care.

“She’s not a Normal.”

He looks up at you in surprise. You know he’s interested when he leans forward a little, “How do you know?”

“I can feel it.”

“Can you tell what she can do?”

You laugh, “She photosynthesises.”

“What?” He looks at you like you’re insane. “She’s not green.”

For some reason, this makes you laugh even harder, “What?”

“I mean, she could have accessory pigments but-,” he shakes his head. “She’s pale as fuck, though. Surely that wouldn’t be enough.”

You shrug, “I don’t know.”

Now, he turns in his seat to look at the waitress, and she notices immediately, almost dropping a coffee she’s carrying when he doesn’t look away, looking her up and down.

“Stop,” you laugh, tapping his hand with your pointer finger to get his attention again. You can practically feel the smugness radiating from the waitress, and you don’t know why it bothers you. “You’re making her flustered.”

“That makes no sense,” he thinks aloud, his mind still on her ability.

“You can crush a car with your bare hand. Jaemin can run at the same speed as an airplane flies and she doesn’t make sense?”

His brows furrow in thought, “Unless she’s not using visible light…” He leans forward, a spark in his eye, “What if she can just use radiation? That’s so cool.” Something on your face makes him clear his throat and settle back in his seat, “I used to be a science student.” His tone is shy, almost bashful, and he sneaks one last look at the waitress, much to her happiness.

“Used to?”

“I deferred when I started training more, I didn’t want to do it if I wasn’t going to be able to dedicate my time to it, you know?” He can tell you’re surprised, “You ready to go?”

You don’t want to push it so you nod and gather your bags to leave. Jeno pays for both meals and you wait for him by the door. When he leaves the small café, he’s still putting the change into his wallet. You catch sight of the receipt, most of the printed words illegible due to the bright red handwriting covering half of it. Jeno barely spares a second glance at it before he throws it in the trashcan outside.

“She gave you her number?” You watch him in amusement.

“Yeah.” His eyes catch sight of something back inside. “I think she saw me throw it out.”

You laugh at the look on his face, one of almost pure terror. “Come on. We should get back.”

When Jeno parks his bike in its spot, you notice that the garage is filled again – the rest of the team were back.

“There you are!” Donghyuck says, walking down the corridor. “Come check this out.” He grabs your hand and pulls you into your shared room, leading you to stand in front of the cupboard doors. A suit is displayed on the front, the hanger dangling dangerously from the top of the door. Jeno follows you inside, silently putting your bags down on your bed.

“What do you think?” Donghyuck asks, as you nod in thanks to Jeno. He nods back, pulling the door closed behind him.

“It’s beautiful,” you say, looking at the suit. It was black with red thread detailing. It wasn’t as noticeable as most of Jaehyun’s suits – much more subtle – but you thought it would look amazing on Donghyuck, the warmth of the red thread bringing out the warmth in his skin tone. “You’re gonna look great.”

He looks at you sideways, a smile on his face. The smile in his eyes makes him look younger, and you realise how much he’s looking forward to wearing the suit, to attending the ball.

“Can I see yours?”

“Sure,” you shrug, moving to the bags on your bed and sliding the boxes out delicately. Donghyuck helps you remove the lids and arrange them on the bed so you can see them all. You were glad Jaemin was wearing black, because it meant you could wear anything and it would look good. You’d bought four dresses, because you didn’t want to buy one and then have it fit poorly. You did fully intend to return the unworn dresses afterwards, though.

“I like this one,” he points to the red one, still in its box.

“Mm…” you stare at the dresses. One’s a bright red, simple in comparison to the others. It’s classier, using the colour as its main feature. A beautiful green dress sits in its box beside it, the material catching the light in beautiful ways – illuminating different greens in the dress’ fabric. The midnight blue dress is simultaneously the most revealing and most regal – the gold detailing along the bodice makes it look like a princess’ dress, though the deep neckline and tight fabric would make it a little scandalous. The last dress was a plain black – beautiful and simple, but would probably be your last resort if the others didn’t work out.

“Donghyuck, Johnny wants to see you,” Doyoung’s voice carries down the corridor, so when you look up he’s only just walking into the room.

Donghyuck nods at him and ducks out of the room, his pace quickening as he goes to find Johnny.

Doyoung notices your frown and walks around the bed to stand beside you, “What are you doing?”

“Debating which dress to wear. This one is a beautiful colour but I’m worried it’ll look to revealing. This one is a little shorter and it might not look formal enough, you know?”

Doyoung nods, the expression on his face serious. You know he’s mocking you, but you don’t say anything.

Mark interrupts your thought process by stopping in the doorway, “You called?”

You turn to Doyoung – neither of you had said anything, so you presumed Doyoung had summoned Mark using his abilities.

“Can you do Y/n a favour?”

Mark nods instantly, “Of course. What do you need me to do?”

“Try on these dresses,” Doyoung tries to hold back his laughter at Mark’s confused and then bewildered expression.

It’s weird dressing yourself. Mark had shapeshifted into you, keeping his eyes clenched shut as he stepped into a dress. “Can I look?” Once you’ve secured the zipper, you nod. When you realise he can’t see you, you say yes.”

“This is ridiculous,” you shake your head, looking at your second self in the mirror. “Thank you for doing this.”

“It’s okay,” it’s your voice, but you recognise the waver in voice. He’s nervous. “Ready?” You nod. He’s wearing the green dress and you’re in the black one. You definitely prefer the green one.

You open the door and make your way into the main part of the warehouse, Mark beside you. Doyoung looks up from a large floorplan of the Red Crown’s headquarters and he almost laughs.

Jaemin’s sitting at the table nearby, eating something and he does a double take when he looks up. He looks between Doyoung and where you and Mark are standing, wondering if he’s going insane.

“You see two Y/n’s, too, right?”

“Yeah,” Doyoung nods and stands up straighter, analysing the dresses. “The green one.” You nod, turning around to head back to your room and try on the blue dress.

When you step out, Johnny is laughing at the other you, as Mark self-consciously crosses his arms over his – your – body. Chenle’s eyes widen – he’d just woken up from the looks of it – from where he was making some tea in the kitchen and he looks almost horrified at the two versions of you.

“Do you think this is too informal? Too revealing?” You ask, spinning around. “The neckline is too deep, right?” Your hand subconsciously moves to cover the exposed skin.

Your eyes search your audience. Doyoung cocks his head to the side, thinking. Johnny is still staring at Mark, laughing. Your eyes meet Jaemin’s and he gulps, “Uh, the green one.” He stands from his seat and heads to the kitchen to put his dish in the sink.

Chenle doesn’t say anything as he follows Jaemin down the hallway, presumably heading back to bed.

“The blue one is really nice,” Johnny admits. “But if you’re worried about the neckline, wear the green one. You don’t want to look uncomfortable the whole night.”

Doyoung nods in agreement.

“Yeah, I think I would be distracted if I wore this,” you respond, honestly.

You don’t catch it but Johnny’s attention drifts to something behind you, mumbling, “You’re not the only one.”

Once you’ve changed into the red dress, you immediately like it more than the others. It’s attention-grabbing but not too obvious, giving you an almost subtle beauty. You step out into the hall to find Doyoung and Johnny looking at something on the blueprints and Jaehyun standing opposite them, his back to you, discussing something about the plan.

“Okay, this is the last one, I promise,” you say, though it’s mostly directed at Mark. He’s relieved, you can tell, though he would never say that he hated this. He felt awkward being you, being analysed in the dress.

Johnny and Doyoung lean to the side to look around Jaehyun and stop. Neither of them say anything. Jaehyun turns to you and Mark, he clearly hadn’t noticed Mark standing there when he was talking to Doyoung and Johnny.

He looks surprised for a split second before his brows furrow, “Don’t you have something more important to do?” He’s looking at Mark. Mark nods and turns around to make his way back to your room, which was being used as a changing room.

Doyoung’s voice is in your mind, They’re both good.

Jaehyun turns to Doyoung and Johnny, “Meet me in my office.” They nod and Johnny begins to roll up the large piece of paper as Doyoung grabs the two coffees sitting on the table and they walk into the office.

Jaehyun doesn’t say anything for a moment, but you half expect him to scold you for wasting precious time. He doesn’t, ever the gentleman, not wanting to label you a distraction or any other objectifying term. You were already the only female in the team, and the last thing he wanted to do was offend you.

He turns to leave, then hesitates, “I like the red one.”

You’re frozen in place, your hands fisting the dress’ material in your hands and you nod. It takes a moment for both of you to realise you have to be somewhere, and you point behind you, “I should help-”

He nods, “Yes. I need to-”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

You move at the same time and when you’re sure he can’t see you, you shake your head at yourself. “Oh, thank god,” Mark’s sitting in your room, perched on Donghyuck’s bed, still mimicking your appearance and still in the dress. “I didn’t want to… you know.”

“No,” you shake your head dismissively. “Thank you.” He gives you a smile and covers his eyes with his hands so you can unzip the dress. The experience is surreal. You wonder if your body really looks like this – the way you see it now in front of you. Just quickly, you step back from behind Mark and check out your ass – you’ve never seen it like this.

“Can you pass me my shirt?” You grab the baggy t-shirt he was wearing and he blindly slides it over his head. The shirt is baggy on him, but dangles a little lower on your shorter frame so your body is covered.

“Okay,” you breathe out. “Thank you so much for that. I know it was-”

“It’s okay,” Mark laughs, shooing you out the door. Through the closed door, he yells, “I’m not looking!”

You laugh and only a few seconds later, he’s opening the door again, fully clothed and looking like his normal self.

“I didn’t see anything, promise.”

“It’s fine, Mark.”

“We could’ve just used pictures, you know?”

“I think Doyoung would’ve convinced you to do it even if you’d said no.”

“True,” he laughs. Then, “Did you end up picking?”

“Yeah, this one.” You gesture to the dress you were still wearing.

He nods, letting out a low whistle, “So I wore that thing for nothing.”

“It was the runner up,” you remind him.

He chuckles, “The red looks really pretty on you.”

“The green one looks really pretty on you,” you tease, making him scrunch his nose.

“I’ll see you later, then,” he says, saluting you as he heads back to his room. “If I don’t help Chenle now, he’ll probably burn my suit.”

“Then you might actually have to wear the green dress,” you nod, solemnly.

His eyes widen, “Chenle! I’m coming!” You laugh as he rushes back to his room and you return to your own to box up the rest of the dresses and change out of the dress you were still wearing.

A knock on the door alerts you to Jaemin’s presence and you open the door. He’s surprised to see you in casual clothes, having expected to see you still in one of the dresses. “That was fast,” he says.

“Mark was good help,” you smile.

“That was so weird,” he shakes his head, his eyes closed as if he’s trying to forget what he saw. “I thought I’d been drugged or something.” You laugh and a serious look crosses his face, “Wasn’t it weird? I mean, he… he saw you naked.” He steps forward a little to lean his shoulder against the doorframe; it’s something of a habit for him now.

You don’t step backward, refusing to give him the satisfaction of getting to you. You raise an eyebrow, “You jealous?”

He laughs, “Actually, yeah, kind of.”

You roll your eyes, but your loud laugh kind of counters its intended effect, “Oh, my God, Jaemin!” When you’ve stopped laughing, you explain, “He kept his eyes closed the whole time, I’ll have you know.”

“Bullshit,” he raises his eyebrows, shoving his hands into his pockets, leaning down to be almost eye level with you. “He totally looked.”

You shake your head at him, “You’re an ass.”

“I’m just looking out for you.”

“What would you suggest I do, then?”

“Get me to help instead.”

“You’d definitely look.”

“But I wouldn’t lie about it.”

There’s a moment of silence. You hadn’t noticed the way you’d both been leaning in closer every time you’d spoken, but now the space between you – or lack thereof – is very evident. He seems to notice this at the same time you do, judging by the way his eyes dart from your eyes downwards and back up again.

He lowers his voice, but he doesn’t pull away. “Which one did you end up choosing?”

You’re about to tell him but you choose to give him a sly smile instead, “It’s a surprise.” You step backwards, attempting to shield the boxes behind you.

He quirks an eyebrow at you and pushes off the doorframe with his shoulder, “I’m looking forward to it, then.” And, with that, he’s gone.

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vegetalass · 4 years

Text

RDR2 Boys Cooking + Eating Habits

Arthur

Somebody else on here wrote some headcanons about Arthur not being able to cook and just eating microwave food all the time and I just have to say…. That’s canon

Lowkey though he’s trying his best to get better at cooking

Probably the only thing he knows how to make is pasta

He adds a bunch of random frozen veggies to water as the noodles are cooking

And then smothers the whole thing in butter and calls it a meal

Or he puts marinara sauce on it straight from the jar

And yes, that means it’s cold

He’s also getting better at friend rice, too

But he’s really bad at actually making rice

If he doesn’t add too much water… He burns the bottom

Charles makes a mental note to buy him a rice cooker for his birthday

Makes his own popsicles out of random fruit juices and eats them 24/7

Thinks this qualifies him as a chef

Eats pickles and olives straight out of the jar with a fork

And sauerkraut too probably

Just goes over to john’s house on his pizza nights

Puts ketchup on eggs

John

Pizza dad

Probably orders pizza, salad, and a 64oz soda twice a week

Everything else is just Dino chicken nuggets, Eggos, hot dogs, quesadillas, and frozen peas and corn

Food you feed to little kids, basically

Mostly because he does have a little kid

But also because it’s easy and takes minimal effort and he doesn’t mind eating it, too

Abigail would be mad but she has no room to talk

The most you’ll see him actually make is buttered pasta (like Arthur) or sometimes beans and rice

Abigail bought them a rice cooker a while ago so that’s one thing he doesn’t have to worry about

Probably always has some type of dessert laying around

Doesn’t mean it’s good, but it’s there

Abigail buys a bunch of those gross, low calorie ice creams and John ends up having to finishing them

Family lunches consist of a bologna sandwich on wheat bread with American cheese and mayo, a piece of fruit, a bag of chips or crackers, a go-gurt, and some gummies

And yes he makes them for himself and Abigail too

They’re all eating good at the Marston household

(Not really)

Charles

Everything he cooks are things that can’t be made in single batches

Lots of healthy soups, chilis, stew, etc…

Most of the time, he makes too much of whatever it is so he always has leftovers

Everyone is jealous when he brings them for lunch

Probably finds all of his recipes in the newspaper or random magazines he reads while at the grocery store checkout line

Everyone is like, “Charles… Why are you reading Women’s Fitness?”

And he’s like, “Check out this salad recipe, though”

Puts hot sauce on everything

Salad, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers... You name it

And he’s the king of snacking

All of his snacks are healthy, though

Raw veggies and fruit and quinoa chips from Whole Foods or something like that

Nobody likes this

He’s one of those people who brings hard boiled eggs everywhere as a “snack,” too

And yea, he puts hot sauce on those, also

He really likes those weird protein bars that are hard to bite into and taste like chalk

The flavors are either normal stuff like white chocolate macadamia or Protein Power Punch with whey, chia and seaweed

There’s no in between

He’s also a charcuterie board legend

Hosea is jealous of this talent

Micah

Spends all his money on take out

He’s totally one of those weird people who’s entire trash can is just filled with take out boxes and cans of coke or beer

Constantly eating fast food

You ask him what he bought at the supermarket and he’s like “Pub mix and bud light”

SIR

Everything that he does manage to cook only involve one step of preparation

Unseasoned, fried meats and boiled veggies

Sometimes scrambled eggs and bacon

If he’s feeling fancy, he will make plain sandwiches

This is very rare, though

Can and will complain about anyone’s cooking

Even if it’s good and he he likes it

There are certain people he can’t do this to, though, or they won’t let him eat

The only person’s cooking he doesn’t complain about is Dutch’s

Constantly snacking from an entire party sized bag of chips

And yes, he eats straight out of the bag and wipes his fingers on his jeans

His oven is dirty

Hosea

A meal for him is probably a handful of almonds and an applesauce or yogurt cup

He is constantly making a bunch of those Tik Tok recipes where you just put a bunch of random stuff into your crock pot and add ranch seasoning and cream cheese

*insert all of those memes about mom pulling out the crock pot*

If you complain, he says “Well, you’re always welcome to cook, too”

Wears an apron when he cooks

Constantly eating plain toast with butter

And bananas

And cheese sticks

Thinks that this makes him “healthy”

Definitely likes to snack on those cocktail fruit cups and canned mandarin oranges

His entire freezer is just full of ice cream

It’s all weird flavors like Cherry Garcia, chocolate banana, and pistachio though

Everyone hates him for this

Raisins are his late night treat

Has a secret stash of candy no one can find

That’s okay though because it’s mostly Werthers Originals

And Chiclets gum

He picks out all the orange ones, though

Dutch

Tries to re-plate takeout so he can call it his own

Everybody sees through this but they stopped commenting on it like four Thanksgivings ago

Buys a bunch of those meals from Costco that all you need to do is heat up in the oven

He does like fast food but only from the less popular places

Carl’s Jr., Wendy’s, BK, Arby’s, etc.

A&W, too, because he’s old and weird

He can totally cook, he just never does

It’s just normal stuff like spaghetti and meatballs or chicken and rice, though

Tuna fish casserole

He over-seasons everything, though

Mostly because he’s trying to prove that he’s a good cook

Eats dessert twice, every night

Once right after dinner, and then later when he’s feeling like a treat

Will eat in bed

Uses a little bib and tray and everything

Likes pumpkin and sunflower seeds

Would eat hot wings with gloves on

He’s the one who taught Arthur to put ketchup on eggs

Kieran

The second I realized that Kieran would probably be white trash, my life changed

Hamburger Helper meals for LIFE

That one cheeseburger pasta? Kieran probably eats that three times a week

He 100% makes the ketchup-butter sketti from Honey Boo Boo

“It’s been a while since I done had roadkill in my belly”

His favorite dessert is ambrosia salad or that weird yogurt/Cool Whip covered jello that was popular in the 2000s

Probably has a TV dinner every once in a while, too

Instant mashed potatoes and minute rice type of guy

Also gives me big microwave cheddar broccoli vibes

I’ve said this before, but his house is probably stocked with all kinds of on-brand goodies

Probably always has some kind of chip and cookie around

Eats dinner in front of the TV

Dips french fries in mayonnaise

All of this said though, he isn’t a picky eater and will eat whatever is put on his plate

That’s why he’s great to take to restaurants, because he never complains

Honestly it’s just so sweet to think of him making big crockpot meals to share with ppl even if his cooking is a lil.... strange

Javier

Thinks that the hot dog combo from Costco is a suitable dinner

Also gets hot food from the grocery store for dinner a lot

Literally will just heat up a can of something and eat it plain

Beans, chili, soup…

Doesn’t doctor it up or change it at all

He’s happy to share but no one wants any

Chips and dip, 24/7

And it’s just Tostitos Hint of Lime chips and hummus

Probably puts hummus on everything, too

Corn chips, tortilla chips, tortillas, vegetables, sandwiches, etc.

Will put anything in a tortilla and call it a sandwich

Eats leftovers cold

The rest of the gang thinks this is a sin

Makes stir fry with whatever is laying around the house

It’s a little gross because he will try to add leftover beans

Refuses to eat fast food

The only exception he’ll make is for french fries and ice cream

Walks around and eats at the same time

Isn’t above asking the other boys to share with him

Despite the fact that this only happens if what they’re eating is good

Which is almost never

Sean

Sean can’t cook. That’s the end of it

The most he can make is that weird microwave Mac and cheese where the pasta is boiled in the mug??

He never does it tho and just sticks with the normal, frozen Mac and Cheese you can microwave instead

Uses his microwaving ability to make mug cakes

And microwave scrambled eggs

Burns his popcorn every single time

He’s probably set of the smoke detector or fire alarm multiple times

He’s Irish though so of course he’s addicted to potatoes and cabbage

And since he’s from the UK, he likes stuff like beans on toast and marmite

He’s a little nasty too so catch him eating bologna sandwiches on wonder bread

Not even the Marstons are that bad

When he does get takeout, he overspends trying to use a delivery app

He’s like, “And do I need the extra side of special sauce for $5…? Yes.”

Cooks like this

#rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #red dead redemption 2 headcanons #rdr2 headcanons #arthur morgan #i finally wrote the cooking one LOL #hope you enjoy!!#excited to work on some requests now!

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bichlordstories · 3 years

Text

7: Daddy bento

“(L/n)-san, before you head off to lunch, I need to see you for a moment.” Sekijiro said.

He could briefly see a bit of a scowl you failed to hide before forcing your frown away. From the first week he got to know you from simply teaching the class, he learned that you were terrible at hiding your true feelings, though sometimes it seemed like you weren’t even trying.

He could tell you had a temper, he even seen you getting rough with the other students, especially that silver haired kid, Tetsutetsu. You weren’t directly going after them, in fact, you never really started things. And to make it worse, Tetsutetsu was coming back to you, losing a bit of his temper himself.

Unlike him, however, you were more of a ticking time bomb.

You didn’t go off out of nowhere, and your motives weren’t very predictable. You waited for the person to finish (usually) before striking. You always had a blank but annoyed expression when hurting the ones that mildly inconvenienced you on purpose. And today was worse.

“Yes?” You said in a rather rude tone, earning a raised eyebrow from the teacher.

“...sir.” You corrected.

“I wanted to address your behavior.” The man said simply before pointing to the chair next to his desk.

You rolled your eyes and reluctantly sat down.

“Before you start, Sekijiro-sensei, I just want to note that they started it first.” You said.

Seikijiro sighed and began rubbing his temples.

“Yes. That is true. But that shouldn’t warrant your behavior, (L/n)-san. You need to have better control of yourself, or your actions may lead to dire consequences in the future.” He said in a stern tone.

You looked to the ground, a deep frown evident on your face.

“(L/n)-san... you have a lot of potential. Your physical abilities are outstanding, you take things very seriously in every single test I have given you, and you’ve only been here for a few weeks. I want to help you become one of the greatest heroes of our time, but I need you to work with me here.” He said, this time in a softer tone.

“...ok.” You said.

He leaned back in his chair with a long exhale before continuing.

“If your behavior continues, I will have to have you do counseling, understood?”

“Yes sir.” You said and got up, ready to leave the classroom before the man stopped you.

“Oh, before you go, you’ll have to do some tutoring as well.”

This caught you off guard, to say the least. Before you could ask him what he meant, he spoke once more.

“Although you are passing, you are barely. Out of everyone here, you have the lowest grades, specifically in math. The other subjects have acceptable grades, but I know you can do better.” He said.

“Meet me after school in class, we’ll discuss more.”

And with that, he dismissed you, finally letting you leave the classroom. You opened the door, wanting nothing more than to eat after losing your egg sandwich that morning before walking head first into somebody’s chest.

At first, you thought it was a tall woman, seeing that your face was met with big tits, until you backed away to find two blonde hairs sticking up like rabbit ears.

“All Might.” You said.

The man flashed you a surprised look, smile crooked and nervous.

“Oh, hello there! I’m just passing by, wanted to talk to your teacher!”

You cocked an eyebrow at the blonde before moving to the side to leave.

“Yeah, he’s in there.” You said with a flat tone.

Once again, you left the blonde man to stand awkwardly in a hallway.

“Class 1A is getting a lot of attention lately.”

“Yeah? What’s so good about them anyway?”

“They must have done something so amazing that it got people’s attention.” Someone whispered in a sarcastic tone.

“Like surviving an attack?” You said out loud, drawing the attention of others, including class 1A, who were being blocked by the large group of students.

This whole day wasn’t going your way at all, first you lost your egg sandwich, and then you had to be forced into tutoring by your homeroom teacher. What especially didn’t improve your mood was the rumors of class 1A.

And now look where those rumors led people. In the middle of the hallway, blocking your path in front of class 1A. You had tutoring to go to, and they were not fucking helping.

“They were attacked by villains. They could have died, their teacher had injuries all over him. The fact that they made it out alive without wounds is a miracle.”

A familiar face turned toward you with a mild scowl.

“That doesn’t give them the right to treat the rest of us like garbage.” Shinsou said.

“When did they say anything? What did they do to insinuate that everyone else was trash.” You said.

A student next to you butted in nervously, rubbing his arm.

“W-well that blonde guy-“

“The blonde guy?” You interrupted.

The student looked at you startled, but you continued.

“What about that girl behind him? Did she say something?”

“Uh-“

“And four eyes? He doesn’t look like one to cuss a storm, hell, he looks like he would faint at the word ‘vagina’.”

The said blue haired teen flustered at the word and was about to scold you before Midoriya grabbed his arm, shaking his head.

“Did anyone else say anything.” You said to the crowd.

Everyone else looked toward each other, some looking down while others looked to Shinsou and the class with guilt.

“No? Just the blonde? I mean, wow, if the blonde is an asshole, that must mean everyone else in this goddamn school are stuck up pricks.” You spat their logic back into their faces, earning some grimaces.

“Let me remind you that they could have died. Their parents could have had the bodies of their children sent home to them. Siblings would have lost a brother or sister. A friend would have had to watch their friend be lowered in their grave. They’re still kids. We all are. So get your heads out of your own asses and move.” You said before shoving through the crowd of embarrassed and ashamed students.

After a whole day of missing breakfast and only getting a few bites of lunch, you were starving, cranky, and all around just not having a good day.

You met your homeroom teacher in class 1B. To say you were embarrassed was an understatement. Although you hid your embarrassment well, you still stood awkwardly in the door. You knew you were the only one getting tutoring out of everyone else.

Why did you have to be so dumb???

“You’re not dumb.”

Shit, you must have said that out loud! Sekijiro-sensei gestured to a seat and stood up from his to approach you.

“People have different ways of learning, and yours isn’t through reading a textbook.” He said.

“I am observant, and I’ve seen you reading textbooks when there’s nothing to do. I’ve seen you struggling to focus as well.”

You looked down at the desk you were sitting in, quietly trying to chip away the edge. Your face twisted into what he could tell was a saddened frown, much different from the usual scowls you gave people. It was obvious that it bothered you to no end that you got almost nothing out of reading. His own expression softened a bit once seeing you crack a bit before sitting down in the seat next to you.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’ll admit that I struggled with reading when I was your age. Sometimes I still do have problems today.”

You slowly lifted your head and gave him a side glance. He clearly got your attention that time. Knowing that he was able to connect with you further, he began speaking more before something low and guttural resounded within the room.

You froze immediately and turned your head away from him, clearly embarrassed by your organ angrily rumbling at you for food.

The man paused at this before getting up and walking towards his desk. He grabbed a white container and placed it in front of you before sitting back in the desk next to you. You stared at the bento in front of you and then to your teacher.

“Sekijiro-sensei...?”

“Go ahead and eat, kid. You clearly need it after today.” He said before his eyes widened.

“Unless you’re allergic to certain foods...”

You muttered out a no and looked back down at the bento.

“Go ahead, I already ate lunch, that was for later tonight.” He said.

You still hesitated before opening it, being met with a delightful sight. Grilled fish, fried brown rice with vegetables inside, and other greens. You slowly grabbed the chop sticks and looked back to the man, who nodded at you to eat what was in front of you.

And you did just that. At first, you slowly picked at certain foods inside the bento before eating in a more comfortable pace. Sekijiro could see that you were still tense, afraid almost, but he waved it off in his mind.

“...you’re wife did a good job.” You said after finishing.

“I made that myself actually. I don’t have a wife.”

You looked over at the man with surprised look before covering it up and placing the chopsticks across the bento politely.

“Thank you, sir.”

The man flashed you a smile and said that it was no problem before getting up and grabbing a piece of paper, your failed math assignment, and began going over it with you.

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

Vlad King is one of the most underrated daddy material in MHA. Seriously. He’s Endeavour if Endeavour was actually a great fucking father (but he ain’t sadly... still love the fire fart, but he excretes small dick energy).

Gotta love blood daddy.

#bnha x y/n #bnha fanfiction #bnha x gender neutral reader #bnha x reader #blood sport

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thewritewolf · 5 years

Text

Black Cats and Chinese Takeout

Marinette is dealing with a broken leg, but thankfully Chat Noir is there to help keep her company while she is homebound. A light hearted Marichat story.

I wrote this for @firebird525 for the discord secret santa!

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

“Marinette, be careful! You don’t want to-”

“Make it worse, yes, I know,” Marinette replied curtly as she hobbled to the couch with her crutches. “I haven’t suddenly forgotten about my broken leg since the last time you told me to be careful.”

“Right.” Marinette glanced over and saw how Tikki’s antenna dropped. Taking a deep breath, Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose to clamp down on her frustration. She was just being concerned for her, after all.

“I’m sorry for snapping, but I don’t like being coddled.” Which was an understatement. With everything that had happened, she felt more vulnerable than ever. Tikki assured her that even outside of the suit she’d heal quickly, but that didn’t help her now. She slowly adjusted herself so her leg was elevated and gestured at the cast. “And this thing doesn’t give me a whole lot of choice in the matter.”

“Well, you know what they say,” came a voice from the window. “A princess deserves to be waited on hand and foot.”

“That pun doesn’t even work,” Marinette said, glaring at a grinning Chat Noir. “My leg is hurt, not my foot.”

He shrugged as he entered the apartment through her window. “Are you sure you didn’t break your funny bone? That joke was pretty humerus to me. Ah well. I guess I’ll just have to do some research ahead of time. You know, get a leg up on it.”

Marinette was unimpressed by his rapid-fire punning. Although she only had herself to blame - Chat was always one to double down on his jokes whenever she pointed out their flaws. Her lips were pressed into a thin line when she saw the two styrofoam take-out containers he was carrying in a plastic bag.

“You don’t have to bring food everytime you come,” she said, but her words were immediately uncut when her stomach growled in protest. “Ignore that.”

“No, ignore her,” Tikki said from her place on Marinette’s shoulder. She deftly dodged out of the way of Marinette’s hand as she half-heartedly swatted at her. “She has been in a mood today. A grumpy one too.”

Chat chuckled. “Looks like you’ve been outvoted, princess.” He tapped at his chin. “Or should I call you ‘my lady’ even when you’re outside the mask?”

“I’d rather you use neither of them,” she said with a huff, crossing her arms.

“I know you don’t mean that. Here.” He passed her a container along with the proper cutlery. “You’ll feel better after you eat.”

“I don’t know, kitty. I don’t trust Chinese food in Paris. Not unless it’s made by my maman.” Despite her words, she begrudgingly she took the offered box. Her eyes widened when she saw the logo on the box. “Is this…?”

“Yup! The owners are close friends of your mom’s, right? I think you told me once that they were about the only people to get it as close to perfect as possible.”

Marinette looked back at her partner and narrowed her eyes. “I definitely did not tell Chat Noir that. It’s bad enough that I messed up - you at least still have to protect your identity.”

His tail flicked back and forth, the only outward sign of his irritation. He grumbled, “Seems kinda pointless now, doesn’t it? It can’t hurt us that much now. Might as well get it over with.”

“No, Chat. And that’s final.” She opened her container and a heavenly scent hit her nose. Despite her annoyance, she sighed in bliss. “Chicken chow mein. My favorite.”

“Oh! Speaking of your favorites…” Chat reached into his magic pockets and pulled out a single red tulip. “For you, my buginette.”

She eyed the flower. While it was definitely her favorite, she wondered if he was aware of its meaning, representing true love. Knowing her cheesy romantic of a partner, it seemed likely.

“Leave it on the table, I’ll find a vase for it later.” She patted the spot on the couch next to her. “Now come on, you got enough food for the both of us. Take a seat.”

Marinette smiled and raised an eyebrow when she saw that he had gotten shrimp fried rice. “Fish for the cat, huh?”

“I promise it’s not just because of the suit, Mari,” he said with a wink.

They ate in silence for a few moments. Despite everything, she did enjoy his company. And he’d been nothing but respectful ever since he discovered her identity, even toning down on the flirting. Although there hadn’t been any akuma fights since her accident, he had made a point of visiting her every night and making sure she was recovering. Usually tag-teaming with Tikki to keep her from doing anything strenuous.

Most of the time, it almost felt like nothing had changed and they were just bantering on the rooftops of Paris in their suits. She was grateful for it at first, but then as he dropped more and more hints that he knew her as a civilian, she began to get worried. Did he back off to let her heal? Or was he no longer interested now that the mystique of Ladybug had been exposed?

It was an irrational fear, she knew that. But she couldn’t help herself. Once the idea had occurred to her, it was hard to shake off.

“You didn’t mess up.”

She was startled out of her own head by Chat’s murmured words. He was watching her carefully. How long he was watching her, she had no idea.

“What?”

“Getting hurt. That was just an accident - you didn’t mess up anything. We beat the akuma perfectly fine.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but that just makes it worse. Since I busted my leg leaving the fight, that means it didn’t get healed like the rest of the city.”

“More terrifying than any akuma fight,” Chat said with a shiver. “Seeing you cry out in pain and just crumble was horrible.” He nudged her with a smirk. “But hey, at least it will make for a funny story later.” He held up his hands as if making a picture frame. “The time Paris’s darling, Ladybug, crashed into a billboard of Paris’s golden child, Adrien Agreste.”

Marinette buried her face in her hands. “Don’t remind me. I’m just glad Alya wasn’t there to get pictures for the Ladyblog. That would’ve been a disaster.”

“And don’t worry - I’ll only tease you about it a little,” he said while patting her back. “I’ll even wait until you’ve recovered.”

“Thanks for bringing me home, by the way.” She gave him a weak smile. “Getting an ambulance to pick me up at home was also very sweet of you. Especially since you were panicking along with me.”

“I wasn’t freaking out! This cat was cool as a cucumber.”

“You were crying as you carried me home.”

“I was feeling a lot of emotions, okay? I finally knew who my lovely lady was.”

“In fact,” she continued, now smirking. “You confused the emergency number because you said that we had a broken leg. I had to explain when they got here that it was just me. My friend had only been very concerned.”

“Can you blame me?” He huffed and pouted. “I was worried… You know how much I care about you.”

Mhm,” she said, even as her heart fluttered. “And thanks for all that, by the way.”

“No problem,” he muttered while picking at his rice again. “Not exactly the romantic reveal I’d had planned, but I’ll take it.”

“...I know I’ll regret asking, but what did you have planned?”

He grinned and rubbed his hands together. He put a hand on her opposite shoulder. “Picture this: Candlelit picnic on the Eiffel Tower. Then a visit to the street where we first met, reminiscing on our first few outings together. How much we’d changed. Then we go to our favorite spot-”

“That alcove in Notre Dame’s tower?” She glanced down at his tail, which had gently wrapped around her waist. He hadn't seemed to notice yet.

He smiled proudly. “The same! With that privacy, we could finally drop our transformations and see each other for who we really are. No masks, no suits. Just us.”

“And a pair of hungry kwami.”

“And that,” he acknowledged with a nod.

“It sounds more like a first date than a reveal ceremony, kitty.”

“Oh, by that point we’d have been dating for ages.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “You couldn’t resist my raw animal magnetism and good looks.”

“Uh-huh.”

He sighed. “Missed opportunities.” A grin lit up his face. “Although falling for me is still on the table.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The return of their familiar dance - flirting and pushing him back - lifted a weight of her shoulders as she returned to her food. A comfortable silence settled between them, Marinette feeling more at ease than she had been ever since getting the stupid cast.

“I’m glad it was you.”

Her eyes widened and she looked at Chat. He was wearing the same soft, loving smile that he always wore whenever he thought she wasn’t looking. It was something achingly familiar to her when she was behind the mask. But seeing it directed at her now did more than the last six years of Chat’s flirting had. A blush spread across her face as her breath caught, a realization bubbling to the surface.

Somewhere along the line… she had fallen in love with her silly kitty.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Chat Noir #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Marichat #Tikki #ml fanfiction #my writing #Black Cats and Chinese Takeout #aspsecretsanta

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