#there’s just so much yelling and complaining and trying to just placate everyone

[icterid-rubus]

Man, it’s almost a week late but I have finally gotten my period. It happened almost exactly after everyone else started cleaning up and I sured up plans to leave the is place. I think this has not been a relaxing vacation.

[mxtxfanatic]

Hm, I know I said at least in my first reading of mdzs that I felt like Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were actually friends as kids, I would like to remind folks that the catastrophic breakdown of their friendship was not because of some misplaced care but because Jiang Cheng is a stagnant character whose whole role in the story is to be the one who never learns, changes, and grows past his insecurities and resentments. They were always going to fall out with each other, even if the Sunshot Campaign never happened, even if the Wen Clan didn’t exist as a subjugating force terrorizing the other clans, because no matter how much Jiang Cheng cares about anyone, he will always place his personal resentments first.

I’m so serious: reread the pre-fall of Lotus Pier parts of the novel (flashback extras included), and tell me how many times Jiang Cheng says something genuinely nice about or to the benefit of Wei Wuxian without prompting. Point to me places where Jiang Cheng puts himself on the line for Wei Wuxian that is not him distracting the Wen. Compare the number of unambiguously positive interactions they have to the number of interactions they have in total, and I bet you’ll see that the positives are laughingly scant. Most every interaction they have together, Jiang Cheng is being a negative nancy. He’s the type of friend who, if you said “Today is a good day!” would snidely respond back, “What’s so good about?” before loudly complaining about what a nuisance your happiness is. Jiang Cheng is the type of friend that tells you that everyone else hates you because you’re so annoying, and you need to do something about that because he also finds you annoying so you should be lucky he “puts up with” you. And all of this negativity can be directly traced back to the resentment Jiang Cheng feels caused by his own mother projecting her insecurities onto him. Jiang Cheng, who cannot grow, learn, or change, is unable to extract his own self from his mother’s insecurities, ending up inheriting them as his own, instead.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like teen!Jiang Cheng is some irredeemable monster (that is reserved for his adult self), but Wei Wuxian already shows signs of being tired of his attitude as kids. He snaps at Jiang Cheng rudeness in the lotus pod seeds extra. He constantly admonishes Jiang Cheng about his blatant disregard for the lives and safety of other people. Most of the time, Wei Wuxian won’t even engage in the petty little remarks that Jiang Cheng makes, just treating it like nobody had spoken at all. The only times Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian move as a unit is when they have a common enemy—like Jin Zixuan—but without that, they are only held together by the fact that…they’ve been friends for a long time.

And this kinda leads me back to the point about the yunmeng friendship not being able to withstand the test of time even without an outside conflict: I would place the point of no return for their relationship at Wei Wuxian killing the xuanwu of slaughter, not at the fall of Lotus Pier. Wei Wuxian is one of two individuals that killed a mythological bloodthirsty creature responsible for hundreds of deaths, spent a week in a coma from his injuries and lack of immediate care, and what does he get for it? Jiang Cheng shows up with soup gifted to Wei Wuxian by Jiang Yanli, except he’s eaten all the meat out of it. Jiang Fengmian gives the most lukewarm praise to Wei Wuxian for his achievements—which Wei Wuxian neither complained about nor called him out for—because they were both trying to be mindful of Jing Cheng’s insecurities, and Jiang Cheng still made it about himself. When Madam Yu storms in to yell about how Wei Wuxian is a “bastard child” and he’s just trying to show off, Jiang Cheng consciously and unambiguously sides with his mother. Wei Wuxian had to drag his feverish body out of bed—after just awakening from a week-long coma—to placate pity-party Jiang Cheng, and the only thing that makes him feel better is not promises of continued friendship but of servitude. Even if at this point Wei Wuxian was still viewing Jiang Cheng as a—admittedly caustic—friend, Jiang Cheng’s view had fully transitioned from “annoying friend my mother hates” to “the servant I need to keep in line lest he overshadows me.” If anything, the fall of Lotus Pier, the debt placed on Wei Wuxian by the Jiang leaders, and the subsequent war probably allowed their friendship to last longer than it naturally would have (remember, they are only united against outside forces).

All this to say that while Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian may have started out as genuine friends in their childhood, their transition to enemies has absolutely nothing to do with that care. Sometimes we fall out with people because we just do not like them as people. Jiang Cheng’s resentment prevented him from appreciating Wei Wuxian as a person, leading to the end of their friendship and their descent into eventual enemies. Not misplaced or warped care, just pure, undeniable resentment.

[drunk-with-anticipation]

hollywood studios

2/24/2023 11:03pm

i really question sometimes in my family if i am the crazy one? or maybe they grew up in another time? maybe we just grew up so differently that i dont feel i can understand them.

we were celebrating my moms birthday and lots of small things had been going wrong. being with my family really reminds me why i used to drink it made existing easier in some ways. we were all tired and there was a dense fog over the city. as we approached the park august kept yelling about the fog.

we were running a bit behind schedule but made it to the cantina in star wars land for morning drinks. it was really cool. the day was exhausting but overall going well. we went from the cantina to the smugglers run ride. the park had been more packed than normal which meant that everyone was a bit more on edge. we went and got pizza then went on the minnie mouse ride in the chinese theatre. we went on toy story mania and then went to walt disney presents and the disney junior area to cool down. after that we went to our dinner reservations at hollywood & vine. it was a buffet it was pretty mediocre quality. at least the characters were coming through which the kids liked. when we were leaving mom and i went to the bathroom and kevin made a joke about us having bladders the size of peas.

we then went to go walk towards rise of the resistance. the really popular star wars ride where there is always a 2 or 3 hour wait. on the way there kevin says he has to go to the bathroom and i start making the joke he made less than 15 minutes earlier about having a small bladder. he cuts me off and says his stomachs bothering him and i said i didnt really care and that it was literally the same thing he just said to me and then he grabbed me by the neck with the same two finger grip digging in that he always did when i was a kid that i hated and he jerked me like he was trying to throw me to the ground and i tried to push against him and wiggle out if it and he kept pushing me to the ground so i elbowed him in the side and he let go and i yelled that he was a fucking bastard he finally let go and walked off to the bathroom. and then everyone started telling me how he was having stomach problems and a long day!! like didnt even check on me or anything and i started saying that it didnt matter and he does not get to put his hands on me like that and saying that i should expect it because no one in this family respects me. and complaining about how its a pattern and theres been other recent times where he has sat on me even after ive been yelling out in pain. and they were just like well everyones had a long day. and then i started chasing the kids around again while he was in the bathroom. and i think my mom told him off when he came back because when he came back he said he was sorry and gave me a hug but i sorta didnt drop it. like i was just like saying the same thing i just said back to you shouldnt cause that kinda response especially when its not relevant. and he told me that he was just sick of me saying that all day and then i asked him if his medicine also caused him to hallucinate cause I was literally saying what he said. and then he asked me when i got so sassy and i said who do you think i learned it from and my mom kinda just wanted it done so we ended it and went to go on the ride.

and then the ride was closed for technical difficulties!! and we went back and now i really have to do pleasantries with all these people even tho i have such pain in my heart from my brother attacking me in public!! and my family being more concerned about his wellbeing and placating me!!

insult to injury i am sleeping in the living room right next to my brothers bedroom. so obviously i can hear them talk and i really can hear him being surprised i got upset with him or something? idk he was less clear and then julie pretty much said it was due after 10 years like what?? i just dont get these people

[kalpasio]

Working From Home

You Better Drink All Of That

A shorter Kalpas x reader fic taking place in the Golden Courtyard mentioned in the summer event. Chapter 1 is below the cut!

Moving into the Golden Courtyard, you had been nervous. Between the influencer, the genius mechanic, and the not so average “average IT guy,” you weren’t sure you would fit in. Hell, even the butler was a world class chef. You were a leader in your field, yes, but that field was so small, you didn’t receive very much recognition. That being said, you weren’t making peanuts for your salary, and you figured you’d outgrown the apartment you got right out of college.

To your surprise, when you moved in, everyone was very welcoming and happy with the skills you brough with you. After having lived there a year, you felt comfortable around most of the residents, and you all had gotten used to each other’s habits and schedules.

Unfortunately, the group you worked with had to make some cutbacks and you no longer had an office building. Which mean you had to work from home. Which meant your schedule was thrown out the window.

Since you didn’t have to travel anywhere or fuss so much about your appearance, you didn’t need to get up at the crack of dawn. Sleeping in felt fantastic! Getting yelled at did not. Honestly, you should’ve expected it. The Golden Courtyard’s butler, Kalpas, was known to chew residents out when they skipped a meal, and this was no different.

“You’re late.”

“Yes, I know,” you gave a small smile in the hopes of placating the angry chef. “I’m not driving into the office anymore, so I’ll be getting up later, if that’s alright. I know you have your other job; I don’t want to make you late.”

“Whatever. I saved your plate.” You tried to thank him, but he cut you off. “Don’t thank me, go eat. Quit wasting my time.”

Sending him another smile, you picked up the plate he put in front of you and sat down to eat. Though it wasn’t fresh, the food had been reheated and everything on the plate was something you loved. You’re surprised he managed to save any of it, you had expected to grab the food that no one else wanted and be on your way. Certainly, you weren’t going to complain, this was a better breakfast than you normally were able to score.

When you brought your dishes back, Kalpas stopped you. “Is this when you’re going to be waking up?”

“Unless something weird comes up, yeah. Why?”

“Got it.”

“Got what?”

He just kicked you out of his kitchen without an explanation and sent you off to work.

Switching to working in your apartment was more work than you expected, and you ended up missing lunch. Luckily, Kalpas had a habit of shoving snacks at you when you left the cafeteria, so you had plenty of food. Between that and your late breakfast, you were fine, though it was nothing like the lunches he made. When it got to be dinner time, you called it quits. Oh, the advantages of being the lead of a project.

 Entering the kitchen, you had a grin on your face. Not only was there a meal already made for you; it was undoubtedly amazing, and you could smell how good the food was before you even entered. Of course, that grin dropped the instant you walked in and were fixed with a very nasty scowl.

“My cooking not good enough?”

“What? Your cooking is perf—"

“You trying to ruin my rep then?”

“No? Kalpas, what are you—”

“Then why the hell did you miss lunch?” he slammed his hands on the counter and leaned forward to continue glaring at you. It felt like you were being interrogated.

“I got caught up with work. Now can I have my food or are you sending me to bed without supper?” He forcefully pushed off the counter and slid a plate over to you. “I try to make it to meals, but I can’t just drop everything to come eat.”

“You better figure it out,” he threatened, and you took that as your cue to leave.

Switching to working in your apartment was more work than you expected, and you ended up missing lunch. Luckily, Kalpas had a habit of shoving snacks at you when you left the cafeteria, so you had plenty of food. Between that and your late breakfast, you were fine, though it was nothing like the lunches he made. When it got to be dinner time, you called it quits. Oh, the advantages of being the lead of a project.

 Entering the kitchen, you had a grin on your face. Not only was there a meal already made for you; it was undoubtedly amazing, and you could smell how good the food was before you even entered. Of course, that grin dropped the instant you walked in and were fixed with a very nasty scowl.

“My cooking not good enough?”

“What? Your cooking is perf—"

“You trying to ruin my rep then?”

“No? Kalpas, what are you—”

“Then why the hell did you miss lunch?” he slammed his hands on the counter and leaned forward to continue glaring at you. It felt like you were being interrogated.

“I got caught up with work. Now can I have my food or are you sending me to bed without supper?” He forcefully pushed off the counter and slid a plate over to you. “I try to make it to meals, but I can’t just drop everything to come eat.”

“You better figure it out,” he threatened, and you took that as your cue to leave.

When you came down for breakfast the next day, your food was being plated just as you stepped into the kitchen. Still feeling a bit bad for missing lunch yesterday, you took your food, mumbled a quick ‘thank you’ and left.

An hour or so later, you had reached a good stopping point in your work, and you decided you’d get some tea. You did have a kitchen and you did have a kettle, but the tea you were craving was one you’d have to go down to the main kitchen to get. So down the stairs you went, assuming Kalpas had already left for his other job.

And you were mostly right. He had all his things and was heading out the door when you entered the kitchen. Immediately, he was on you for entering his kitchen and you were quick to tell him you were just there for the tea you wanted. Making your way to the kettle, you reached for it, but Kalpas beat you to it.

“I can make tea myself,” you said, not wanting to stand there awkwardly while you both waited through the long tea making process.

“You have to steep it for the right amount of time,” he said and started filling the kettle with water.

“I know...” you started but quickly gave up when Kalpas gave you a glare. Shockingly he picked the tea you wanted, and when the drink was ready, he handed it to you with a little potholder so you wouldn’t burn yourself carrying it back to your room.

“You better drink all of that,” he threatened. You just smiled, thanked him, and left. Once the tea had cooled enough to drink, you found it was made perfectly and it gave you the energy you needed to get through your fifty-eight emails. Between getting work done, and arriving to meals on time, all in all, it was a good day.

[magicalforcesau]

Dancing With Ghosts in Your Garden~ Year 3: January (Part II)

Ao3 link

If Obi-Wan’s face had been tinged a little pink before entering the locker room, it was nothing like the tomato red it turned when he entered to cat calls and cheering from Ravenclaws Quidditch team.

“So it is true that you’ve gone and got yourself a girlfriend,” Eeth commented as a couple of their 2 nd and 3 rd year backups made kissy faces behind him.

“I have,” he admitted, trying to push the goofy smile off his face. He didn’t need to look like a lovestruck idiot, even if that’s a bit how he felt.

He was met by a chorus of “Ooooos” and some calls of “Kenobi has cooties!” as he pushed his way, still blushing madly, towards the back of the tent where a few of his Quidditch things resided.

“Finally went and got your Amata, Sir Knight?” Aayla goaded him with a wink.

“Is that what you were going for?” Obi-Wan asked, a little surprised, his mind flashing back to the events of his first halloween bonfire.

“A lady doesn’t tell,” Aayla answered, ruffling his hair with more force than necessary.

“Okay! Okay!” Eeth put out his hands trying to placate his team. Obi-Wan took the sudden change in conversation to quickly gather his quidditch gear, “The other captains and I have decided we’ll play our usual rotation which means we’ve got some time to prepare a strategy while Gryffindor and Slytherin face off,” A collective groan was echoed through the room by most everyone. Even he, himself, felt a little miffed about missing out on watching his friends play.

“It’s just a little tournament,” Nahdar Vebb, Obi-Wan’s personal backup, complained. He never seemed much for playing and certainly Obi-Wan wasn’t planning to end up out of action today if he could help it, so listening to such a plan wasn’t going to do him much good.

“Just a little tournament!” Eeth seemed offended by the very notion, “May I remind you that this is the last time we’ll all play together,” The statement was laid across the room like a blanket and suddenly all conversations and murmurings fell silent, “Especially for us,” Eeth continued into the new morose quiet, “Nahdar, Aayla, Obi-Wan, and me,” The four of them looked each other with a sort of soft disbelief, “This is the last time we’ll get to play for our house,” The room had grown near somber, and it was one of the few times he had seen Aayla without a smile.

“Way to boost morale, Koth,” Cin Drallig called, breaking the silence with an eye roll.

“Hey!” Eeth complained, “This is the last time I’ll be captain. I think I’m due for a little somberness.”

“Wait,” Luminara cut in, she’d finally looked up from the book she’d been reading in lieu of listening to them, “If we’re playing our usual schedule that leaves us and Hufflepuff with a disadvantage,” Everyone turned to look at her before Bultar swore softly.

“That leaves us both to play back to back games while Slytherin and Gryffindor will get breaks in between,” She finished Luminara’s thought and suddenly the mood in the room turned charged as everyone started yelling over each other. Obi-Wan however stayed quiet, gaze sweeping across the room as he considered their predicament.

“It shouldn’t be too bad for us,” He said quietly, hands going up to rest on his chin as strategies started to bounce around his head. Had he been a little more aware of things he would have seen the whole team pause what they were doing and look at him, “Hufflepuff isn’t a strong team, and although their seeker tends to have speed, they’ve missed the snitch when it’s practically drifted in front of their face,” Eeth’s eyes were suddenly shining as he practically leapt over a bench to better hear Obi-Wan, who had started pacing.

“Hufflepuff still is the weakest link,” Cin agreed.

“We should be able to play defensive,” Obi-Wan continued on, not noticing the interjection at all, “That will save us plenty of energy to face Slytherin in a full-on offensive.”

“Yes and?” Eeth was grinning now, leaning into Obi-Wan’s space which is when he finally looked up and realized he was being observed rather closely.

“Oh- I- Well,” He straightened up before catching the end of his previous thoughts before they floated away and continued, “Slytherin’s ruthless and we’ll need as much of our energy as possible,” He tapped a finger on his chin, looking around the room thoughtfully, “I think we should play all our alternates if we can’t capture the snitch from Hufflepuff within 10 minutes,” There was a roar of noise that greeted this suggestion. Some offense taken by their starter players, and some excitement from the ones who never really got a chance to play, Nahdar just looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“I think Kenobi’s right,” Nahdar spoke above the noise, and as he was one usually without an opinion the team stopped to listen, “We’ll need our starting players in their best shape for the match against Slytherin and it should be enough to shake Hufflepuff’s confidence,” Ravenclaw’s team debated between themselves.

“I checked the rules and there’s nothing against it,” Luminara announced, waving a rulebook around lightly.

“What about when we face off against Gryffindor?” Eeth was looking at Obi-Wan with stars in his eyes and Obi-Wan paused.

He knew a lot of Cody’s Quidditch plays, both from playing against him for 6 years and from listening to him talk about the sport constantly. He’d never betray Cody’s trust if he had guessed his plan, but truthfully Cody was a bit of a firecracker and changed up his strategies more often than he pestered Ben into helping him with his homework.

“I have no idea what Cody’s planning,” Ben answered honestly and Eeth looked a little disappointed, “It’s probably best that we watch their games to get an idea of their strategy,” Eeth looked a little disappointed by the prospect of having to watch instead of plan, but the rest of Ravenclaws team chattered in excitement.

“Hey Koth!” A loud, and familiar, voice yelled in warning before sticking his head inside without waiting for an answer, “Ravenclaw’s not just going to sit in here and miss us wiping the floor with Slytherin are you?” Cody smirked and Eeth blanched.

“Of course not!” He spat, as if that hadn’t been his plan the whole time, “There’s more to Quidditch than just planning!”

“Well good!” Cody laughed, “We’ve got a section roped off for all of us to watch while we’re not playing,” Obi-Wan smiled as Eeth crossed the room attempting to look unbothered and unintimidated by the other captain.

“We’ll be there,” Eeth promised, crossing his arms.

“Oh and Kenobi,” Cody grinned, looking right at him so Obi-Wan could see the fire in his eyes, “Try to survive until our match. I’d be a shame if you missed it,” Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes almost playfully.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Cody,” He quipped, “Try to keep your head away from any rogue bludgers, Satine and I would hate for you to lose it,” Cody’s grin grew wider with his words and he cackled gleefully as he ducked out of the room.

He had not only surprised himself by his newly found calmness, but evidently his team as well. Aalya crossed the room to press a hand to his forehead.

“Are you feeling okay, Obi-Wan?” She said with real concern, but he waved her off, “You’re never like this before a match.”

“Well, it’s just a game,” Obi-Wan pushed down a twinge of nervousness that tried to build at her words. Satine flickered into his mind again at the thought and he felt his face heat up and he looked away, suddenly very interested in smoothing down his Quidditch robes.

“You’ve been wound up over this ‘game’ for seven years and all it took was a kiss to set you straight?” Aayla teased and his face really did go red then.

“Had I known that was the key, I’d have kissed you myself,” Eeth lamented.

“That wasn’t it!” He hissed at them, but Eeth just slapped a hand on his shoulder before dropping the subject and calling towards his team.

“Let’s get up to the stands before the other captains wonder where we are,” Their captain announced, snatching up his broom before watching the rest of them follow suit.

“You mean before the other captains start calling you a nerd again?” Cin corrected and Obi-Wan ducked out of the room with his broom in one hand and protective gear in the other before he could hear the retort.

Cody reentered the Gryffindor locker room to his three younger brothers roughhousing with Anakin, and the rest of his team placing bets on the victor. He didn’t bother to break it up, knowing that the four of them had enough energy to play practically into the night if they needed to do so. He passed by them, slapping a hand on his Keeper, Caleb Dume’s, shoulder as he went. He paused though by his broomstick and turned to scan the room again.

“Where’s Moteé?” Cody suddenly felt something akin to nervousness as he looked around once more to see if he was missing something. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around as well, but she did not appear.

“Oh right!” Anakin spoke suddenly and Cody felt a little bit of dread creep into his unshakable confidence, “Padme told me she’s sick. They have her holed up in the hospital wing,” The Gryffindor team lapsed into a silence that rarely ever percolated through their locker room as Cody’s brain started spinning.

“Okay,” He started and then stopped, before starting again, “Okay, that’s fine,” It wasn’t fine given that they were really banking on last year’s skills and the whole team gave Anakin a side eyed glare for failing to mention this earlier, “I want everyone out of this room and prepared for the match,” Cody commanded and the Gryffindor locker room went right back to its usual chaos.

“Rex,” Cody called to his youngest brother, and Fives, who had him in a headlock, dropped him instantly. Rex trotted over to his older brother and waited quietly next to him as the team filed out of the room. Anakin was the last to exit, lingering a moment longer with a look towards his friend, before a stern look from Cody had him out the door following the team out towards the field.

Cody knelt down next to Rex so he could more easily look his brother in the eye.

“Rex, you’ll be playing seeker today,” Cody said seriously and Rex rolled his eyes.

“I know, Cody. I’m her backup, it was obviously going to come to this,” Rex made to move away, but Cody caught his wrist to stop him before dropping it again.

“Rex I know you’re extremely talented,” Cody told him suddenly, “The only reason I didn’t make you a starter this year was because the season got canceled,” Rex blinked in surprise.

“But Moteé-” He tried, but Cody shook his head.

“Yeah she has a year on you, but you know that’s not how I do things,” Cody grinned at him, “I just thought you should know before we went out there.”

“Well, thanks mate,” Rex acknowledged with a growing smile and Cody pushed himself back into a standing position and grabbed his broom.

“Now Rex,” Cody glanced down at him, “let’s go out there and stomp Slytherin into the dust!”

Anakin and the rest of Gryffindor’s Quidditch team were huddled just out of sight of the stands. The crowd was already cheering and Anakin basked in it. He squinted his eyes across the field trying to make out the Slytherin team at the other end. He didn’t much care who they’d decided to play, because either way, his goal of knocking them out of the air was rather unchanged. He felt more than saw Rex come up behind him and he turned to his friend as Cody pushed his way out and into the center of the field.

“What’d he want with you?” Anakin asked, mildly interested as he watched Ventress appear from the shadows.

“Oh, you know Cody,” Rex sighed, but there was a hint of fondness in his voice, “He’s always got to remind me which one’s the snitch,” Anakin chuckled, that did seem like a very Cody thing to do.

“Do you think he’ll call heads or tails?” Anakin thought out loud and Echo scoffed from beside them.

“He’ll call heads,” He answered and Fives nodded wisely, a bit of orange jersey was peeking out from the collar of his shirt and Rex motioned for him to fix it, “That’s his lucky call.”

“He’ll want Slytherin to be downwind, despite the fact that there really is no wind today,” Fives continued, adjusting his uniform to hide his favorite jersey more adequately, “He’s convinced it’ll slow them down,” Sure enough they watched as Cody managed to win the coin toss and pulled out his wand, with a well-practiced flourish the banners at one end of the field became red and gold. Though they couldn’t see her very well, they were sure Ventress was sneering as she pulled out her wand and flourished it, turning the other end green and silver.

Cody waved a hand at them and on cue they marched out onto the field. Their alternate players filed off to the side to sit on the bench and wait to see if they’d be needed and the starters lined up just as Cody had made them practice hundreds of times. As if Cody could hear his thoughts, he turned around from his own position to grin at Anakin.

“Now we look just as professional as we’ll play,” He reminded them.

“Let’s have a clean game now,” Professor Tiin reminded them before motioning for them to mount their brooms and take to the skies. Taking off was always a rush for Anakin, but he tried not to get caught up in it and instead watched intently for the bludgers to be released, adjusting the bat in his hands.

The Quaffle was tossed up and the game began. Cody was already halfway down the field with the ball, so Anakin whacked a bludger towards the Slytherin keeper without a second thought, though he ended up having to dodge it as the opposing beater hit it right back.

Fives had better luck, managing to hit a bludger right between his older brother and a Slytherin chaser. Cody didn’t even blink but the Slytherin chaser veered violently out of the way.

“Cody’s been hit by too many of those,” Fives commented with a frown before they both sped off hoping to get another good hit in as the bludgers started changing course again.

The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff captains were sitting side by side, complaining about the unfairness of the tournament, but Obi-Wan was actively trying to tune them out to quietly cheer for Gryffindor.

When the Fetts all got to play together they were quite a formidable opponent. Obi-Wan knew they liked to play a lot of backyard quidditch games and were all generally good with any position. He knew from many of Cody’s quiet discussions with him that he’d very carefully selected each position for his brothers when they’d joined the team despite them all being jack of all trades. Fives had a little bit more energy and strength than Echo so he’d been good to match up with their resident prodigy and his former mentee, Anakin. Echo had more speed so he joined Cody as a chaser. Obi-Wan had been surprised when Rex had joined them on the field, because Cody had already expressed his remorse for not being able to swap out his seekers with such short notice. When he noticed she wasn’t on the bench though, he figured fate had given Cody a gift, though he quite hoped the girl was alright.

Rex was an incredible Seeker, he’d been told countless times, Cody was very passionate about his speed and agility as well as his tendency to do whatever needed to be done, which was a trait he shared with Cody. Cody had grown into his role as chaser. It hadn’t been his first choice, not that he was picky at all. He played it so passionately that they’d decided to play him right from the start and since then he’d only ever missed one game.

Their third Chaser was Rush Clovis and it was clear why Cody liked to start with him. Rush could be ruthless and while he didn’t always have the quickest speed, he was strong and had the longest throwing range. This, he knew, Cody liked to use quite frequently in his more daring plays.

The oddball on their team was Caleb Dume, their Keeper. Obi-Wan felt he couldn’t say much on the subject as a mediocre Keeper himself, but Caleb did often feel like the weakest link on their team. He did think that it may have something to do with the fact that he was surrounded by immense talent that really overshadowed much of what he tried to do.

Although, as Obi-Wan squinted at the Keeper, he seemed to have just flubbed a rather easy block. Caleb had been staring off at the Beauxbatons section rather than keeping an eye on the Quaffle, but it seemed a quick reprimand from Cody was enough to get him focused on the game once more.

It was a little odd, Obi-Wan realized, to be watching one of Cody’s matches without Satine. He and Satine always made it a point to go to Gryffindor’s games to support him even in the midst of an argument, but this was the first time they’d watched apart. Still, he was having a good time with Aayla yelling out all her opinions on the game and Bultar making much quieter comments on possible strategies they could use against both teams.

Even the complaining from the captains was fairly humorous, considering they were to be each other’s opponents in only a matter of time. He glanced over at Luminara who was still quietly reading her book, mostly uninterested in the sport unless she was actively playing it. She did glance up at him and smile when she caught him looking.

“Apologies, I was just wondering what you were reading,” He gave her a half smile and she returned it.

“Unfogging the Future,” She answered, showing him the cover.

“Ah, divination,” He confirmed.

“Yes,” she nodded.

They lapsed back into content silence, save for Aayla trying to scream instructions across the field. Yes it was rather fun to watch the game with his team, though he couldn’t deny it would be better if Satine was there with them.

Rex was hovering over the field, eyes narrowed in search of any glint of gold. Slytherin’s seeker was watching him closely, Rex was their wild card this game since he’d never officially played a match before, and if he wasn’t so practiced, he’d feel rather nervous.

A flash of motion drew his eye, but it wasn’t golden. A bludger had been rocketed towards Cody who had to swerve to miss it, but it still managed to throw him off balance. Had that been Rex, or even Echo or Fives they’d have fallen off, it was a testament to his brother’s skills that not only did he manage to stay on his broom, he also managed to catch the Quaffle Echo had tossed his way.

He saw Cody dart between a couple of Slytherin chasers before tossing the ball back to Echo without even looking. Echo scored and the crowd cheered. Rex moved his eyes away from the match, tempting as it would be to keep watch and instead did another scan of the field.

There it was. His breath caught as his eyes narrowed at a glint of gold hovering close to the ground. It was fluttering around near the canvas walls of the stands and Rex didn’t plan on wasting any time. The score was close enough that either team could catch the snitch and it would be the winning hand. He breathed out trying to fake an air of calm before shoving his broom handle down and speeding towards the ground. The Slytherin seeker must have been fooled by his calmness because he was not immediately on Rex’s tail. Rex didn’t wait for any of the other players to get out of his way, Gryffindor’s team automatically moved while Slytherin’s were forced to practically leap away.

The ground was fast approaching now and Rex didn’t take his eyes off the little golden ball as he adjusted his positioning slightly so he wouldn’t ram into the ground. Slytherin’s seeker was behind him now, trying to pick up speed to race Rex, but feet away from the canvased edge of the field, he seemed to get a little wary and subconsciously reduced speed. Rex however, didn’t get into Gryffindor for nothing and reached out with his hand, feeling it close over the snitch before he tore a hole through the canvas and was knocked off his broom. He rolled a few more feet, never once letting go of the little golden ball. He sat up and looked at the delicate wings fluttering desperately between his fingers. Underneath the bleachers the light was dim, but the snitch still shined brightly and it caused Rex to grin.

The next moment the canvas walls suddenly disappeared and he looked through wooden beams to see Professor Tiin and Cody, who must have landed in record time, running towards him. Rex lifted his hand and shook his fist around showing off his catch. It didn’t slow either of their paces, but Cody’s look of worry was suddenly replaced by a wide grin.

Cody ended up outpacing the professor and swept Rex up in a hug.

“Way to go!” Cody adjusted his hold on Rex until he’d climbed up on his older brother's shoulders. Professor Tiin did not look happy about it, but Cody ran them both back on the field so Rex could hold the snitch high up for everyone to see.

“Nice catch!” Echo called as he and Fives landed next to them, followed closely by Anakin and Rush before finally Caleb. The crowd was cheering loudly and the whole team was chanting Rex’s name. He caught Anakin’s eye and his best friend gave him a thumbs up and a grin.

“Yes, yes,” Professor Tiin was still staring nearby looking displeased, “Now put down your Seeker, Captain. He’s going to have to be checked over by Madam Nema if you were planning on playing him again,” And as suddenly as Cody had picked him up, he’d set Rex back down and pushed him in the direction of the professor.

“He’s all yours, Professor!” Cody called and then moved to collect Rex’s broom from underneath the stands.

“What a dangerous catch,” Luminara commented quietly as both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff descended the staircases to set up for their own match.

“I concur,” Obi-Wan spoke with a frown, and then cut off Aayla before she could begin to disagree, “The first match is hardly a place for such a risky move.”

“It’s Gryffindor,” Aayla groaned, “That’s just how they are! You both could use a little more risk-taking. Then maybe we’d have a shot at beating them,” Obi-Wan shook his head with a smile.

“I think you’re underestimating us, Aayla,” He tsked, but she just rolled her eyes, “We’ve beaten Gryffindor before and often it’s because they use a risky strategy that doesn’t end up paying off.”

They exited the staircase and the two teams split each going a different way to their respective entrance onto the field.

“Okay! Are we still clear on the plan?” Eeth stopped them the moment Hufflepuff was out of earshot.

“We know the plan, Eeth,” Cin grumbled.

“I’ll keep an eye on the time for us,” Obi-Wan held up his wrist where he’d swapped his watch around so it wouldn’t get damaged.

“Excellent, Kenobi,” Eeth nodded and led them to the edge of the field, “Just give me a sign when it’s time and I’ll call time out,” There was a whistle emitting from the middle of the field and Eeth glanced over his shoulder, “Time for the toss, I’ll see you all out there.”

Ravenclaw team fell into soft chatter as Obi-Wan pulled on his chest guard over his robes. The Keeper position had the most padding in the game and although he knew it likely made Satine feel better, it tended to remind him that it didn’t do much to cushion the blow.

“Do you want me to tie that?” Luminara suggested, taking the two laces attached to the back in her hands.

“I’ll do it!” Before he could respond Aayla planted one foot on his back and pulled the strings tight enough he felt every last breath leave his body.

“Aayla, you’re going to kill him,” Bultar pulled her away from him as Obi-Wan desperately tried to regain oxygen.

“It’s padding, not a corset,” Luminara reminded her, gently loosening the ties, “There! Can you breathe now, Obi-Wan?”

“Yes thank you,” He managed in a rather breathless tone. He had just enough time to strap on the helmet before they were called to the field. Their alternates were walking a little stiffly, but still managed to keep up appearances from a distance.

Obi-Wan watched his team closely until it was time for them to mount their brooms. He glanced down at his watch subtly as they took flight, 10 minutes and counting.

Something seemed off about the way Ravenclaw was playing. Satine really wasn’t a Quidditch expert, and the lack of Cody’s narration wasn’t helping, but Ben kept glancing down and she was starting to wonder if something was wrong. The few times she removed her eyes from Ben she’d seen Aayla playing much rougher than usual, nearly knocking one of the Hufflepuff chasers from her broom. It was something she expected from Cody, but Ravenclaw usually employed a little more grace in their maneuvers.

“Are you listening to me, Satine?” Stass was looking at her.

“I’m sorry Stass,” Satine apologized, “I was just-” but before she could continue, she stopped. Her eyes had drifted over to Ben again, who was now making some sort of gesture to their captain and she felt her heart drop like lead.

“What’s going on?” Stass asked and she wasn’t alone as murmurs spread across the crowd. Eeth Koth had called timeout and the entire Ravenclaw team had soared down to the field. Hufflepuff landed a moment later also looking rather confused.

“Did something happen?” Satine raised a beautiful set of spectator binoculars Cody had gotten her one Christmas and trained them on Ben.

Ravenclaw had just broken their huddle and Ben was looking quite serious, standing next to his captain. She waited for them to move back onto the field, but they didn’t.

“They’re switching all of their players?” Stass gasped and Satine immediately dropped the binoculars and sure enough, though Ben and Koth hadn’t moved, all their alternate players had moved onto the field and were in position. Upon closer inspection, even Professor Tiin looked baffled, but still started the game back up.

She watched in surprise for a few more moments along with the rest of the audience as the game progressed once more before she trained her eye back on Ben.

He was watching the skies with a calculated expression, Koth was still next to him in a similar state. She felt a bit of relief in the knowledge that whatever was going on, Ben seemed fine. Aayla had come up behind Ben and Koth and threw her arms around them, practically choking the two unsuspecting players out. Satine lowered the binoculars once more to watch the game with mild interest.

“Look at Hufflepuff,” Stass whispered to her, “They keep messing up,” and sure enough as soon as she’d said that, one of the Hufflepuff Chasers dropped the Quaffle right into Ravenclaw’s hands.

“I don’t know what they were thinking,” Satine admitted, “But whatever it is, it does seem to have its advantages.”

Eeth was practically in tears watching the alternate Ravenclaws secure the snitch right from under Hufflepuff’s nose and even Obi-Wan had to try his best not to laugh at him.

“They did it! I can’t believe they did it!” Eeth wiped at his eyes furiously.

“Did you really have such little faith in us?” Nahdar questioned dropping out of the air.

“It’s hard not to have faith in you, Nahdar,” Cin commented, “Considering how many times you’ve had to sub in for Kenobi.”

“Yes, quite,” Obi-Wan responded stiffly.

“I don’t really want to play anymore today, Kenobi,” Nahdar told him pointedly.

“I wasn’t planning on falling off my broom if that’s what you’re insinuating,” He said with a glare.

“That’s a first for you,” Aayla poked him in the chest. Obi-Wan scoffed good naturedly, but was saved from further teasing by the approach of the rest of their team. Hufflepuff was walking off the field, looking far from comfortable by their loss.

“Next up we’ll be going against Slytherin,” Eeth reminded them as if they’d had time to forget, “I want a full-on offensive! Ropal I need you to catch that snitch as fast as you can, unless it will jeopardize our win,” The team nodded just to give him the satisfaction of an agreed upon plan before they all wandered onto the field. Ventress chose heads and won so she made Ravenclaw switch sides as if it would throw them off. Since they didn’t bother to leave the field they quickly swapped sides and were in position by the time Slytherin walked in. They were back in the air with the game started before he knew it.

Slytherin was one of the more aggressive teams, it was only natural with their level of ambition, but it still never made Ben feel particularly good about facing them. Or perhaps it was because they were the first team he ever faced in Quidditch and that unease still tended to permeate his thinking about them. His thoughts briefly flickered to Satine again, but he kept his eye on the ball, managing to catch Slytherin’s attempt at a goal and flinging the ball as far as he could towards Cin.

Ravenclaw hadn’t managed to score yet, but he’d also prevented Slytherin from scoring any points either. They were really in a bit of a stalemate, which was only proven true by the frustrated anger he could dimly see pouring off Ventress whenever he took stock of her position. He’d made the mistake of discounting her momentarily in favor of keeping an eye on the Chasers when suddenly something black and heavy pinged off his head.

He found himself dangling from his broom with one hand, ears ringing and practically seeing stars. He was too shocked to even notice the danger he was in, and instead looked up to take stock of the match once more. The Slytherin with the Quaffle had just managed to shove Luminara roughly away and he was lining up his shot. Ventress was still above him, too busy laughing to do any more harm. Eeth was looking his way in mild horror.

Noting the trajectory of the ball and knowing he had no real time to struggle his way back onto his broom, he instead paused for a moment as the Chaser threw. The ball left his hands and headed right where Obi-Wan had deduced and in a moment of strange calmness he used his one hand to direct his broom to suddenly point straight down. As he’d hoped, the tail end of his broom made enough contact with the Quaffle that it was thoroughly blocked and it fell towards the ground with no one in position to catch it.

Finally, able to have a moment to think he quickly pulled himself onto his broom, clinging on a little tighter than necessary. The crowd was cheering and in an exciting turn of events Luminara had managed to scoop up the Quaffle from its descent and put it through the Slytherin hoops with a little help from a bludger nearly knocking Ventress off of her own broom.

“Alright, Kenobi?” Eeth had flown up next to him, voice shaking a little bit.

“Yes, I seem to be fine now,” He decided but his grip on his broom was still rather iron tight.

“Good man,” Eeth put a gentle hand on his shoulder before zooming off to steal the Quaffle from a Slytherin catch.

Satine’s heart was in her throat as she clutched the railing, pressing the binoculars so tightly to her face it would probably leave a mark.

“Satine he’s fine,” Stass sighed, but Satine couldn’t tear her eyes away from the game to look at her, “He made it back on the broom and he’s still in one piece!”

“He could have fallen!” She managed to hiss, “And he looks a little jarred from the experience. What if Ventress gave him a concussion?”

“Look,” She pointed as if Satine wasn’t already glued to the field, “Eeth talked to him and he’s not calling time out, so it’s fine! What are you, his mother?”

“Of course not because I actually care about him!” Satine spat, before remembering herself. She managed to take her eyes off of him for just a moment to give Stass an apologetic look, “I’m sorry Stass, but I just got him and I really don’t intend to lose him. Especially over such a barbaric game,” She tacked on the last part with enough venom that Stass actually laughed.

“That’s fair-” She cut off with a gasp and Satine turned back to the game fast enough to give herself whiplash. Ben was fine, however, still floating in front of the hoops at the end. Glancing around further she saw Ravenclaw’s Seeker streaking across the sky with his hand outstretched. Slytherin’s Seeker was trying to push poor Bolla off his broom, but he must have been extra determined today, because he managed to cling on and wrap his hand around the golden ball despite nearly ending up in a spiral towards the ground. Cheers erupted around Satine who let out a breath as Ben descended from the sky to celebrate with his team.

The next match was Cody’s though and she was rather certain that if Ben didn’t give her a heart attack today, Cody might.

The Gryffindors thundered down the stairs ahead of the Hufflepuffs to get onto the field first. They ran across the Ravenclaw team, attempting to leave the field and weaved through them like a stampede of hyper cattle. Cody had just managed to scoot past Koth when he ended up colliding with Kenobi who he knocked to the ground with an “oof.”

“Oh! Sorry mate, didn’t see you there,” Cody offered a hand and Obi-Wan took it allowing Cody to pull him back up.

“Thank you, Cody,” He answered with a smile.

“That block was awesome by the way!” Cody suddenly remembered, grinning widely, “I didn’t think you had it in you to do something like that,” Obi-Wan looked a little surprised by the praise, but was quick to turn his head to hide a smile.

“Well, I’d prefer not to have to do it again,” He told him, “Ventress can actually hit fairly hard,” Obi-Wan removed his Keeper’s helmet at the thought.

“You’re alright though?” Cody checked with him, eyes searching for any sort of injury, but thankfully finding none.

“Nothing a little ice can’t solve,” He confirmed before they both heard the warning whistle from the field, “That’ll be your cue, Cody,”

“Sure is!” Cody said excitedly, jogging down the hall with a little wave back towards Obi-Wan.

“Have fun!” His friend called after him and Cody smiled.

By the time Obi-Wan made it up the stairs, the game had already started. He’d been practically jumped by Madam Nema, who refused to let him go before she gave him a once over. In her defense though, he didn’t have a great track record involving trips to the hospital wing.

The Gryffindors were already pulling ahead of Hufflepuff who seemed to be playing quite poorly. He reclaimed his seat between Luminara and Aayla while gazing across the sky trying to figure out what was going on. It seemed Rush had possession of the Quaffle and they were likely about to pull some risky stunt given Cody’s current positioning. Rush tossed the Quaffle high into the air, but it fell short of Cody and into the hands of a Hufflepuff chaser. It didn’t seem to matter though because it was snatched back rather quickly by Echo.

“What did I miss?” Obi-Wan asked, adjusting his hold on the ice-cold towel that Madam Nema had insisted he take.

“Hufflepuff decided to try our strategy,” Luminara explained and Obi-Wan’s eyebrows shot up.

“That’s really not a good move for them,” He turned his gaze on Breha who was doing her level best to keep Cody from scoring.

“They did adjust it,” Bultar leaned over to add, “As you can see, they decided to play half their starters and half their alternates this game. It’s still not very smart, but I can’t blame them.”

“Going against Gryffindor and Slytherin back to back, was trouble for them from the start,” He considered as Breha managed to block Cody’s attempt to score.

“I see the snitch,” Bolla pointed towards the Hufflepuff’s end of the field and sure enough, hovering just above the center ring was the game-ender itself.

“Where’s their seeker?” Nahdar scanned the crowd to see the Hufflepuff Seeker looking in the opposite direction.

“Breha’s seen it,” Obi-Wan said. Sure enough the Hufflepuff Captain seemed to be trying to subtly get the attention of her seeker. Before they had much of a chance for communication though, Rex shot through the sky and secured Gryffindor’s victory.

“Tough break for Hufflepuff,” Aayla cringed, watching as Breha approached her seeker, no doubt to say a few words about their lack of direction.

“It’s a shame really,” Eeth sighed gazing down at the Hufflepuff captain on the ground, “She’s really quite a talented player. Hufflepuff just hasn’t had much luck with recruiting recently.”

The Ravenclaw team broke out in quiet conversations as they waited for Slytherin to join Hufflepuff on the field. It only took a couple minutes before Ventress made her appearance.

“Didn’t even want to watch that last match,” Cin huffed in annoyance, “I always get the feeling that Slytherin thinks they’re better than us.”

“You don’t say!” Aayla responded with sarcasm coating her voice.

The next thing they heard though, was the thundering of feet as the Gryffindor team approached the stands.

“Switch seats with me, Kenobi?” Luminara asked politely. He knew she wasn’t asking for her own benefit as unsurprisingly once the Gryffindor team burst in, Cody ran down the bleachers, ignoring the stairs entirely to sit down right next to Obi-Wan right on the line between the two sections.

“What’d ya think?” Cody asked him, still clearly riding off the high of another win.

“I think you ought to take a shower after the tournament,” Obi-Wan answered with a rather underhanded look.

“And miss out on the after party? Wouldn’t dream of it!” Cody punched him lightly on the arm.

“Hey Cody, we’re placing bets,” Fives dropped down next to them, “How long do you think Hufflepuff will last before Slytherin destroys them?”

“Well that’s rather rude, Fives,” Obi-Wan responded before Cody could, “I’m sure Breha and her team will try their best, and I certainly wouldn’t want them to lose to Ventress.”

“Someone’s a little salty about getting hit in the head,” Cody teased, poking Obi-Wan in the cheek.

“Oh come on,” Fives pressed, “What do you guys think? We all know that Slytherin will win.”

“I’ll bet on 10 minutes,” Cody decided. Obi-Wan took in the field and considered their positioning.

“13 and a half minutes,” He deduced and Fives wrote it down with a laugh.

“The specifics are what will get you,” Cody pointed out with an eyebrow raised, but Obi-Wan just shook his head.

“Feel free to tell me, ‘I told you so’ if I lose,” He told him, pressing his fingers together and observing the game with laser focus.

13 and 3/4ths minutes later the snitch had been caught by a silver glove and Cody was looking anywhere, but Obi-Wan’s smug face.

“You were still off!” Cody tried, but knew he’d already lost.

“But the point of a bet is whoever guesses closest and I do believe that would be me,” Obi-Wan was looking rather pleased with himself and Cody scrutinized him closer.

“Are my eyes deceiving me or are you actually having fun?” Cody fought the urge to remove the ice from his hands to ensure he hadn’t gone and landed himself with brain trauma, but Obi-Wan was staring across the field towards the Ravenclaw section with a look just short of awe.

“I’ve been told I need no reason to worry today,” He said finally, but Cody was sure there was a little more to it than that, especially considering the moon-eyed lovestruck gaze sweeping towards where they both knew Satine would be sitting.

“Satine snogged him once and suddenly it’s like he’s a new man,” Aayla interjected, a little too loudly as Gryffindor team heard easily and started turning towards them. Cody gave them a look before they could make any teasing remarks; he’d waited seven long years for them to get together, he didn’t want to take any chances.

“That’s not it, Aayla!” His face was beat red and Cody really had to bite down a laugh.

“Sure mate,” Cody grinned, and really, he’d earned his ability to tease them.

The warning whistle sounded from the field and suddenly both Quidditch teams were staring at each other in surprise.

“The match!” Koth was scrambling up the bleachers while the rest of his team followed his lead.

“Come on team!” Cody shouted, floundering in the absence of Ravenclaw, “We can’t let them beat us to the field!” So they raced down the stairs, and around the pitch, Cody just managed to sprint onto the field a few steps before Koth did.

“So we’re tied for first!” Cody grabbed the opposing captain’s hand and although the run hadn’t affected him much, Koth was panting and holding onto Cody’s hand a little longer than necessary as he tried to catch his breath.

“So we are,” Koth managed.

“I call heads!” Cody turned towards Professor Tiin who didn’t look surprised in the slightest.

“Tails for us then,” Koth finally managed to straighten back up, still looking frazzled.

“It’s heads,” Professor Tiin told them and Cody pulled out his wand and decorated his side of the field.

Cody would never say he was as thoughtful as a Ravenclaw, but when it came to Quidditch he strived to learn every possible advantage that he could. Fives and Echo often thought it wouldn’t help, but Cody figured it couldn’t hurt .

As soon as Koth had decorated the Ravenclaw side of the field, the two teams approached from the edge of the field and they lined up.

“Just like we’ve practiced,” Cody turned to his team, the dawning realization that this was it, his last game at Hogwarts, echoing in his mind.

“As planned,” He heard Koth murmur quietly to his fellow Chasers and then they were off.

When the Quaffle was thrown, Cody resorted to his usual strategy to rush it. Cody didn’t try to knock anyone off their brooms, but he could be intimidating enough that they might think he would. Ravenclaw however had observed all their other matches and had managed to steal the Quaffle right out from under him. He swore with a grin and fire in his eyes as he tore after Koth. Ravenclaw over the years had become a fine matchup for Gryffindor and while their rivalry with Slytherin would always be stronger, Cody was happy that his last match would be one that really challenged him.

Cody reclaimed the Quaffle from an intercepted pass rather quickly and raced towards the other end of the field, his eyes focused on his friend who was stealing himself to block whatever stupid move Cody was going to throw at him. Cody had always been aware what a disadvantage it was to be best friends with the person who would be blocking all his plays, but after six years of playing against him, it was one of the things that pushed him to be a better Chaser and he was very proud of the progress he had made.

Cody dipped right in front of Obi-Wan and whipped around to toss the Quaffle through one of the side hoops, but it was tapped off course by straining outstretched fingers as Obi-Wan fed him a calculating look.

“Going easy on me, Cody?” He asked lightly as he readjusted his balance on his broom.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Cody yelled back as he was racing away back down the field after the Quaffle.

Obi-Wan adjusted his grip on his broom, which really was just a nervous habit after years of being tossed off in varying degrees. Practically everyone was down at the Gryffindor side of the field fighting over the Quaffle, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they would be heading towards him.

This whole game was stretching on much longer than any of the others had. While Gryffindor surely had an edge on them in skill, Ravenclaw was good at strategy and those two things seemed to occasionally cancel each other out.

Cody hadn’t stopped grinning the whole game and in fact looked happier every time Obi-Wan managed to block one of his rather stupid attempts at a goal. He wasn’t the best Keeper in the world, but he knew Cody liked to play against him, based on his knowledge of Cody, alone.

Speaking of, Cody was racing towards him with Echo following closely on his right. He just managed to dodge a bludger sent by Anakin that surely would have taken his head clean off, before he had to make an educated guess and block the hoop on the right. He managed to stop them from scoring, but Echo got possession of the ball and was racing towards the left side. Ben moved to block him, but it was the wrong choice as instead the Quaffle flew over his head and into Cody’s outstretched arms.

10 more points to Gryffindor then.

“Good try, mate!” Cody called to him before racing off.

“I should have seen that coming,” Obi-Wan spoke quietly to himself, a little frustrated, but it was hard to be mad when he knew he was outmatched.

“Kenobi,” Eeth had zoomed over to him rather out of breath from the skirmish over the ball, “It’s just a matter of time before the snitch shows. Do not let them score!” And he zoomed off without waiting for an answer.

Eeth made an attempt to snatch the ball from Cody who was approaching once more, but he failed and spun out leaving just Cody and Obi-Wan facing off against each other.

Cody tried dipping down, but he didn’t fall for it. So when Cody flew hard to the right and Ben positioned himself to block he was surprised at the angle of the throw. Looking backwards quickly he saw Echo, hands outstretched to catch the ball and score.

Time was moving slow and he knew he wouldn’t make it, but Eeth told him to block the ball so he was going to block the ruddy ball. Ben pushed himself up, dropping hold of his broom; it gave him just enough elevation to slap the ball down and away from the goal. He was suspended in the air for just a second too long seeing the flabbergasted expression on Echo’s face before he fell, barely managing to catch hold of one of the foot holds at the base of his broom. He struggled to pull himself back onto the broom for the second time that day, but it had been enough of a shock for the Gryffindor team that Ravenclaw managed to score not once, but twice.

“Bolla’s seen the snitch!” It was announced to the arena just as Cody had gotten hold of the Quaffle once more.

Obi-Wan was still shaking with the latent fear of almost falling to his death, but tried to steel himself. Cody was flying too high though and Obi-Wan didn’t know how to match him. He surely had something up his sleeve, but he hadn’t tried this maneuver on him before. He finally moved up to meet him and Cody dropped faster than he could follow corkscrewing to the right and managing to score a goal. Cody hadn’t stopped moving though and he realized much too late what was about to happen. Cody had reclaimed the ball and before practically anyone else on the field could move he’d score one last goal before the crowd was cheering and red and gold swept the banners around the whole field. Both boys looked up to see Rex, out of breath holding up the snitch for the third time that day.

Obi-Wan was first to land on the field, his hands were still shaking from adrenaline as he dismounted his broom.

“You’ve been holding out on me, mate!” Suddenly he found himself in a headlock and Cody was grinding his fist on the top of his head hard enough he could feel it through the thick helmet padding, “That was an absolute Gryffindor block if I’ve ever seen one!”

“I prefer being on a broom while in the air,” He managed to say, worming his way out of the hold, “You clearly were too, how long have you been trying that last move for?” Cody put a finger to his lips.

“Trade secret!” He said gleefully, before wrapping an arm around his friend and dragging him towards where the other Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were landing.

“When I said not to let them score,” Eeth pulled Obi-Wan away from Cody, “I didn’t mean to take such a great risk,” He chided him, but Cody tossed an arm around both of them.

“Come on, Koth! It was a great move!” Cody said proudly.

“You’re one to talk!” Eeth huffed.

“Rex!” Easily distracted, Cody turned away from them to scoop up his little brother, “What a catch!”

“You’re okay?” Eeth checked with him once more, before leaving him alone after a nod.

Though Ravenclaw was a little sore about losing, it was hard not to be wrapped up in the joy exuding from the Gryffindors. Cody was heading their little pack as they walked off the field and Obi-Wan couldn’t help the smile creep onto his face.

He knew Cody wanted to go pro after they graduated. In fact, he knew Cody would go pro after they graduated, whether his friend could see it or not. No one he’d ever met was so passionate about the sport than Cody Fett.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” He turned his head at the ice-cold voice to see Satine, practically spitting fire, who had clearly run all the way down the moment the match ended.

“Satine,” He greeted, and despite her anger, he felt his heart soar higher than any broom at the mere sight of her. She grabbed his arm tightly and pulled him away from the rest of his team, both of them easily ignoring the “Oooooo’s” as if he was a first year about to be sent to the headmaster’s office

“When I said, not to worry,” She was glaring a hole through his eyes, but he still couldn’t seem to stop smiling at her, “I didn’t say, give me a heart attack!”

“Now Satine, that's hardly fair. Ventress was the one who knocked me off my broom after all,” He skirted around the topic she’d been speaking about a little more cheekily than he normally would, but the adrenaline hadn’t quite worn off yet, and looking at her really wasn’t helping.

“That’s not what I’m referring to and you know it! I expect these kinds of things from Cody, but I really thought you were less of a risk taker,” She hissed, before her features softened just ever so slightly, “I really thought for a moment that I might lose you,” The smile slipped off his face rather quickly which seemed to make her own frown deepen.

“I do apologize. I didn’t mean to make you worry,” He looked more worried than she did now and she sighed, reaching up and smoothing a thumb across his temple.

“Still,” She spoke softly and he leaned in a little closer to hear her, “You did play wonderfully.”

“It seemed you were right after all,” He admitted and she raised an eyebrow, “There truly wasn’t anything to worry about. Now that it’s over I’m starting to realize I may have been overthinking some things the past several years,” She looked deep into his eyes, still cupping his face before continuing.

“Perhaps,” She started carefully, “But it’s not your fault,” He suddenly felt a bit like he was under a microscope and changed course.

“A shame we lost today,” He sighed with a smile, “Perhaps otherwise I could have gotten a kiss for winning,” He said it rather shyly, looking at her through his eyelashes and trying not to blush madly. She rolled her eyes at him, her hand dropping to his shoulder. He was a little disappointed she hadn’t taken the bait, but he was new to all this so he was just happy she wasn’t too angry with him.

“Ben, this isn’t some fantasy,” She confirmed and he nodded, about to pull away from her when she stopped him with a hand on the back of his neck, “Good thing too,” She pulled him down and met his lips with a smile.

After everyone was showered and dressed, it didn’t take long for students to gather in drones to form an unofficial celebration to commemorate Gryffindor’s victory. Naturally, true to the form of the other various parties that had occurred at Hogwarts, it was a bonfire, as apparently all things must be. Thankfully, this bonfire had been charmed by Professor Tahl to keep everyone warm within a certain perimeter. Given that it was still January, this was a relief. Still, Anakin didn’t mind the predictability of it, because his heart still soared with pride to be in Gryffindor house, alongside some of the best of them.

Especially Rex, who had essentially been their saving grace in catching the snitch so they could narrowly beat out Ravenclaw’s Bolla Ropal, who proved to be more of a force to be reckoned with than previously assumed. He’d learned not to assume a lot of things that day, including just how good his own former mentor could be when he put his heart into the sport. It was undeniable that Obi-Wan had been instrumental to Ravenclaw’s unusual success that day and his team seemed to be basking in it.

The star Keeper in question looked more outgoing than Anakin had ever seen him. He hadn’t been spending as much time with Obi-Wan thanks to the tournament, but he had to admit it was good to see him handle losing so well. It was a skill that he had to admit he didn’t have.

He, like most of the players, had bathed and switched out of his uniform and into his team jacket and a Ravenclaw t-shirt. He opted for black trousers as opposed to the sweatsuit pants that were likely given to him, but it was still the most casual he’d ever seen him. It was no secret that one of the biggest pluses of being on the Quidditch team was the perk of getting your own cool clothes.

Even for a team like Hufflepuff, who never really took off.

Breha didn’t look sour about the turnout for today either, instead she and Bail chatted amicably with Obi-Wan and Satine.

More strange wizard music blared around them and some took to dancing like Caleb and Hera, who apparently hadn’t gotten enough of it at the Yule Ball, while others like Hondo stuffed their faces with s’mores.

“Weirdly, it feels like they’re celebrating just as much as us,” He’d said to Cody, who patted him on the back. Cody, unlike everyone else, still wore his full Quidditch regalia. It seemed he was too starry eyed to make the switch and seeing how hard he’d worked for this over the years, Anakin could hardly blame him.

“Anyone who plays and enjoys the game has cause to celebrate, Skywalker,” He ruffled his hair and though Anakin would normally object as he was getting too old for such things, he couldn’t help but laugh. The happiness in the air was infectious and he was glad to have contracted it.

“Shouldn’t we be getting pictures with the trophy?” He’d really wanted to see it in person, especially after years of only catching glimpses through pictures from the Quidditch display case near the great hall. After all, Slytherin held firm custody of it all year and Ravenclaw had it the year before.

For a brief moment, Cody’s face darkened, “Because it’s not a regulation season, Ventress is claiming it’s not a legitimate win.”

“What?” Anakin and Rex both burst at the same time. That didn’t make sense. Headmaster Yoda had agreed to apply the usual amount of points to whichever team came out on top, so clearly it was viewed as official to the most important judges.

“So, they’re not giving up the trophy?” Anakin reiterated.

“Nope,” Cody grimaced.

“And… You’re alright with that?” Rex asked slowly, clearly trying to read his older brother’s face for any signs of being broken. Anakin had to admit, he’d expect Cody to freak out a lot more too. He’d been waiting for this for years and now wasn’t getting his big victory portrait with the trophy.

“We’ll get it eventually,” He said, “Windu was a Gryffindor, so I’m sure he’ll push the issue. It’s been a while since we’ve won the cup, after all.”

“You’re relying on Windu?” Anakin groaned, “Good luck.”

“He will if I harass him enough over it anyway,” Cody smirked and rested a hand on both of their shoulders, “Hey, enjoy this night. The most important trophy is the memory and satisfaction that it happened.”

From there, he went off to join Obi-Wan and Satine, who’d found themselves in the midst of a heated debate over the proper usage of Aguamenti vs Aqua Eructo. Even with how intense their points seemed to be, regardless of how menial the subject matter was to Anakin, their style of banter had changed, even if subtly, as they seemed to be poised much closer and their anger less palpable.

If anything, it almost sounded like they were flirting , even if their words didn’t quite match the tones for such a thing. Then again, Anakin knew very little about flirting to begin with. Caleb and Hera were a little more on the money with what he would expect: excessive touching, giggling, soft teasing met with compliments.

It was really gross, actually.

“I can’t believe he’s completely unbothered,” Rex echoed aloud.

“Yeah, well, I’m not exactly in the business of waiting for Windu,” Anakin rolled his eyes, looking off to where the Head of Gryffindor house amicably chatted amongst the other leaders, more out of place than ever at an event that was designed to be fun.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“I appreciate the “we”, Rex.” He grinned and slung an arm around his friend’s shoulders, “Because I was going to loop you in anyway.”

“Like I didn’t already know that,” Chuckled the youngest Fett as they approached where Ventress stood with her gaggle of Slytherin followers. Shu Mai and Faro Argyus shot them scathing glares over the rims of their cups when within earshot. Even though many of the other schools intermingled with Hogwarts’ students, Slytherin remained on the outskirts as the most salty over Gryffindor’s victory.

“What do you want, Skywalker?” Sebulba crooned before Anakin could reach Ventress.

“I didn’t realize your name was Ventress,” He said.

“You want to mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.” He gritted.

“One of Slytherin or Sith sympathizers?” Anakin asked.

“Don’t bring politics into this,” He scoffed, spitting a bit on Anakin in the process, though it was almost worse that it wasn’t intentional.

“This is a chat for the big kids, Sebulba, so why don’t you move aside?” He snarked and pushed past him.

“Bold of you, seeing as you’re still a little pip squeak.” He grabbed him by the arm and twisted him back around, forcing him to look upon his long brown snout with little sharp teeth that had clearly never been brushed once in his 15 years of living.

“Did I say big? I meant relevant.” Anakin retorted, shaking him off, “Watch where you put those claws, I am a dragon wrangler, after all.”

A few snorts from the surrounding crowd seemed ready to dispute this, but no one stepped up to argue. Slytherin was clearly finding Gryffindor’s true champion a hard pill to swallow, which Anakin simply only further took in stride. It was especially damaging to them that they’d lost their precious Quidditch tournament, one that they clearly assumed they would have won.

“More like a dragon kisser, since that’s what you looked like you wanted to do,” Groff, one of Sebulba’s very unhelpful friends, cut in.

“At least it would have wanted to kiss him, unlike you foul blokes,” Rex also wasn’t on his top game in terms of taunts this evening either, it would seem.

“Thanks, Rex,” He grumbled and slipped from Sebulba’s clutches while he chastised his henchmen, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to talk to Slytherin’s actual players.”

Did he get a bit more satisfaction by further pissing Sebulba off? Absolutely. It wasn’t his fault the idiot got himself kicked off the team his first year playing. Anakin hadn’t even been around for such a stunt!

“Ventress, give up the trophy!” He demanded. “We won it fair and square!”

“Someone should have you checked for head injury, Skywalker,” Looking ever the unimpressed shrew that she was, she tapped a bony finger against her pointy chin in mock contemplation, “For you to ever believe I’d do such a thing could only be explained by near critical condition.”

“You would have liked that,” Anakin said.

“Why would you ever say that? I’ve been nothing but supportive for your victory in the tournament as of late?” She was smooth, he would give her that, and was rare to lose her temper over anything she deemed less than worthy. Instead, she sipped at her glass of punch as though it was the finest of wines and looked down at him enough to make their height difference feel like more than it was.

“That’s all for show and you know it! Just like your scam of a marriage to Obi-Wan!” He accused, “Which I see is going so well.”

She narrowed her eyes at him a fraction, “You should learn quickly not to involve yourself in other people’s business, Skywalker. You might get to keep that big head of yours a bit longer if you do.”

“My business is with the Quidditch trophy,” He said, “Which, like Obi-Wan, doesn’t belong to you!”

A few people oohed and aahed like any proper heckling crowd would, much to Ventress’ disapproval and her sharp glare silenced many of them, but not Anakin’s unwavering determination. They’d worked hard for this, dammit! And even if Cody wasn’t letting on to it, having that trophy tonight meant a lot to him. It was obvious he dreamed of it even back when he’d trained Anakin on how to play.

“Mark my words, Skywalker,” She leaned close enough for him to realize how sharp her teeth were when bore like a wild animal, “You will not get your greasy little hands on that trophy so long as I’m leader of this squad.”

She shouldn’t have been, according to the fallout of the previous year, but it seemed they never actually found her replacement.

He held her stare for a moment longer before Quinlan Vos stepped between them.

“Hey now, this was a fun day, right?” He laughed a bit in his usual whimsy. Ventress didn’t take her glare off of Anakin despite his efforts.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, a move that surely should have sent him to the grave, but surprisingly, did not. In fact, some of the tension melted away from Ventress, even if her gaze was still venomous. He placed one on Skywalker’s shoulder soon after, but the change in current did not go unnoticed. It had originally bummed Anakin out that Quinlan had chosen to support Slytherin over Gryffindor today, but he never actually took the time to wonder why.

“Walk it off,” He said to the both of them, “And Asajj, maybe you should give him the trophy. They did win, after all.”

She snapped her attention to Vos and shook off his hand with the sort of bite that Anakin would have expected to begin with. “Do not presume to understand how things work around here, Vos. This is my turf.”

And with that, she stormed away, disappearing to the end of the clearing, near the woods. No one paid it much attention, as dramatic exits were hardly unusual for some of Slytherin’s finest. Instead, everyone pretty much resumed what they were doing and cranked whatever music had been playing louder.

“Well, I tried,” Quinlan laughed lightly and shrugged at Anakin, “Good playing today, kid.”

“Thanks,” He said, “But I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve.”

“Glad to hear it. That’s the only way to best these Slytherins.” He said, “By beating them at their own game.”

“Hey, we already did it once today,” Anakin smiled, “What’s one more time?”

“It’s a shame Moteé couldn’t play today,” Sabé commented as the girls all sat with their legs stretched out over the grassy hill beneath them. All had s’mores and hotdogs on their plates and wore various representations of Gryffindor regalia, save for Rabé, of course, who still represented Slytherin house.

“I know, but she was practically vomiting toads this morning.” Cringed Eirtaé as she wiped chocolatey fingers off on her napkin.

“Poor thing,” Padmé agreed, “By the way Rex played tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts soon.”

“Or they alternate.” Yané suggested and then grimaced, “Still, she’s not going to like that.”

“I’m sure she’s still happy Gryffindor won,” Her girlfriend supplied happily from Yané’s other side, still starry eyed from the victory. Between Anakin’s lead in the tournament and their win today, their entire house was practically walking on air. Even those who didn’t care too much about Quidditch were happy. They needed the school spirit.

“Of course,” Rabé said, “A bit of a pity Ventress will never give up the trophy.”

“She’s a bitch for that,” Sabé growled.

“She a bloody bitch in general, it’s Ventress,” Rabé had a particular and justifiable distaste for Slytherin’s most publicized, seeing as she’d turned her to stone the previous year. “None of us should be surprised. I’m sure Headmaster Yoda will make her give it up.”

“Speaking of the wicked witch of the eastern seaboard.” Muttered Eirtaé as Ventress cut through the crowd and stepped through the barrier designed to encase them in a comfortable temperature, and into a clearing of trees.

“Probably off to commit more human sacrifice,” Snorted Rabé.

“I should hope not,” Padmé said, “I think she’s done enough at this point.”

Strangely enough, after a few long minutes of waiting for her to reemerge, she didn’t. Instead, Quinlan Vos, though attempting to appear casual and aimless in his walk, followed her. Each girl looked at each other in equal parts confusion and curiosity.

“You don’t think…” Sabé started, meeting Padmé’s own conclusions with her own. They’d always been connected in a way few people were. As children, they used to swear they could read each other’s minds.

“It’s a horrendous thought.” Padmé agreed and then shook her head, “But anything is possible. That much we should know by now.”

“What are you two conspiring?” Saché asked. “That Vos is her next target?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Rabé said as she was the first to stand and walk down the hill, breaking through the protective bubble with considerable ease. Padmé looked both ways, assessing that they weren’t being watched, before leading the others in her wake.

“I’d hate to learn that Quinlan is actually evil,” Sighed Eirtaé.

“Gee, I wonder why that’d break your heart,” Teased Yané.

“Wouldn’t you be upset if Saché was actually partaking in the she-devil’s cult practices?”

“Yeah, but that’s different,” Yané insisted, “For one thing, Saché actually knows I exist.”

“That’s a bit unnecessary, thank you.”

“Ladies, hush,” Sabé hissed, “Some of us aren’t exactly looking to be put on the menu this evening.”

Padmé had to agree with that. While spying on anyone could easily be frowned upon, spying on Ventress and getting caught was practically a death sentence on sight. At the very least, she’d probably turn all of them to stone too.

She’d be instantly caught by the likes of Windu, but that wouldn’t save Padmé or her friends.

Still, drawn by curiosity and the need to know in the event that Quinlan was up to shady dealings that could affect the tournament, she was propelled in her quest of knowing. Quietly, but swiftly, they crept up to the edge of the forest, kneeling behind some large shrubbery to remain unseen.

“I thought I told you not to speak to me in public,” Ventress said in a low voice.

“I didn’t say anything that would tip anyone off,” This voice, darker than usual, belonged to Quinlan. “I was trying to help.”

“You were butting in,” She insisted, “Which I do not need or want.”

“I’m sorry,” He said, “But you were being a bit harsh. You looked about ready to strangle the boy.”

“I was, you should have let me,” Though she didn’t sound nearly as threatening as usual. If anything, it was the closest thing Padmé had heard to humor from Ventress.

It was most unsettling.

Sabé shot Padmé a concerned glance that she could feel burning through the side of her face, but she kept listening, waiting for any indication that they were planning anything harsher than what apparently occurred earlier.

“I never took you as the type to care that much about school Quidditch.” He said.

“And you? This isn’t even your school.” She parried.

“I have my reasons,” He said. “Even if you did try to decapitate Kenobi on the pitches earlier.”

“He walked it off,” She said, a shrug in her tone, “Someone like him could use a little scare every now and then. He’s far too comfortable these days.”

“Well, you are scary,” He said.

“I thought you liked that about me.”

“Sometimes,” He admitted, “But in the right circumstances.”

“So, tell me what those are.” She said, her voice smooth like velvet and nothing like the rough tones that Ventress typically used to get what she wanted. There was a breathy quality that could only mean she was going in for the kill or...

“Well, you can strangle me if you’d like,” He said with a smile that they couldn’t see, but could hear through his words, “Bind me to you entirely.”

“Don’t mind if I do, pretty boy.”

This time, it was Padmé’s turn to shoot a shocked look to Sabé, who like all the other girls, was right there with her in incredulousness. Still, they were painfully rooted to their spot until the obnoxious sounds of wet kisses followed by deep moans caused them to scurry away, their cheeks burning brighter than their shirts.

“No, no, no , that cannot be happening.” Gagged Eirtaé once it was safe to do so.

“I caught a glimpse during our escape,” Rabé wrinkled her nose, “And you couldn’t pay me to touch that tree ever again.”

“Not a million galleons,” Asserted Yané.

“A billion.” Promised Saché, who looked a bit green.

“This… This doesn’t make any sense,” Sabé said looking at all of them, completely rid of any appetite for perhaps the rest of the year, “Vos and Ventress?”

“Shagging in the woods,” Rabé said, shaking her head, “Sad to have seen this day come upon us.”

Eirtaé grimaced, “That’s not the only thing that’s com-”

“-Stop!” Padmé held out a hand, stopping that thought before it could be finished, refusing to visualize any of the dirty details of what they’d been exposed to. She released a breath, trying to clear her thoughts of all things seedy, “I suppose it’s not too far fetched… He was showing support for Slytherin today.”

“I thought he just liked the color green,” Saché sighed.

“That’s what I was hoping,” Eirtaé said sadly.

“And weren’t they seen arguing together after the Yule Ball?” Padmé asked.

“Who doesn’t Ventress argue with?” Rabé asked.

“Not like that,” Sabé added sardonically, “Not with her tongue down someone’s throat.”

“I might be sick,” Yané clutched her stomach. Saché rubbed her back soothingly and they all moved to take a seat again on the grass.

“I guess she has been far too calm and collected over Obi-Wan and Satine getting together,” Padmé said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her finger, “I mean, why else continue to keep it a secret from his parents?”

“That’s true,” Sabé agreed, “You’d think she’d want that stamped out.”

“But if she’s busy hooking up with someone she shouldn’t be, that’s all the more reason to remain quiet,” Rabé said, “Wow, I just never thought she even had feelings.”

“It could just be physical,” Eirtaé suggested.

“Let the dreams die, girl,” Yané sighed heavily, “And accept your life with Hogan Tinmar.”

“Oh come off it!” She scowled.

“Well, whatever is going on between them, we shouldn’t tell anyone,” Padmé said, glancing back to the cursed forest, “After all, if Obi-Wan and Satine lose this leverage, even if they don’t know they have it, that could be the end for them.”

“And we certainly don’t want that,” Saché said, “It’s about time.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Sabé said.

“I’ll drink to anything right now, I need to have that erased from my brain,” Rabé said.

“I think Hondo was trying to turn the punch into rum earlier, but had limited success,” Padmé said teasingly. “I’m pretty sure Windu put a charm on it.”

“Yeah, I’m not that desperate anyway.”

“Windu is totally going to catch us if we try to sneak off,” Rex said warily as he shot a look over to their Charms professor, “Especially after that confrontation with Ventress.”

“Nothing happened because of it,” Anakin waved him off, “And don’t worry about that.”

“What are you planning?” Rex asked suspiciously, because not only did Anakin look far too comfortable for anyone else’s peace of mind, but he seemed very sure that Windu wouldn’t catch onto their plans. Then again, Rex truly could plead ignorance in this case, since he still had no idea what those plans were.

Normally, he’d be just as fine enjoying the bonfire for what it was. Music was playing and kids danced around the large multi-color flames, food was available in the form of items best consumed when heated over a campfire, and lawn games in the form of dodge-quaffle and toss the jelly slug were offered. Unsurprisingly, the twins were ensconced in a match of Exploding Wizard Skittles.

Normally, the game didn’t explode, but that was just the Fett touch.

“Wait for it…” Anakin smiled and before Rex could even open his mouth to offer a rebuttal, a very flustered Nute Gunray came running across the field and over to Professor Windu.

There was so much commotion that Rex couldn’t hear what he’d said, but he had been able to read his gray, lipless mouth, as he anxiously relayed how a snake climbed out of the toilet in the professor’s bathroom and wound up in an unfortunate spot.

“Did you-” But once again Rex didn’t have the option to exchange words because Hondo Ohnaka’s loud laugh immediately gave him away.

“Ohnaka!” Boomed Windu and he stormed in the opposite direction of them, making his move towards seizing the squirming Weequay. Hondo was making quite a show of his escape, shooting off green and silver streamers into the air and using various other students as obstacles to be avoided.

“Come on, Rex!” Anakin grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him through the reasonably distracted crowd.

In a flourish that was no doubt somehow planned by his mischievous friend, the two young Gryffindors slipped seamlessly from the event, completely unnoticed thanks to Hondo’s eccentricism.

“How the bloody hell did you manage to plan that?” Rex asked as they hiked the big walk up and over the hill where the castle was nestled. “And how did you get Hondo to take that massive fall for you?”

“I really didn’t have to do much. I found him at the right time and just nudged him in the right direction with the prank. Gunray had just failed Hondo for his essay on protection spells.” Anakin laughed, quite pleased with himself.

“What was wrong with it?” Rex asked.

“You know, he didn’t say.” Anakin said, “Something about them having different ideas of the sort of “protection” being implied. He was pretty pissed, so I suggested he make Gunray cry about it.”

“Not sure Neimodians can cry,” Rex thought aloud.

“Still, he came pretty close, eh?”

“I’ll say,” It was Rex’s turn to laugh, “I don’t even wanna know how close that snake got to his bum.”

“There’s already a big stick up there, so what’s a snake?” Anakin asked.

The two boys laughed as they walked back into the castle as though it was their own, interrupting a few annoyed ghosts that thought they’d have the night to themselves.

“Alright, hotshot, well what next?” He asked. “We’ll never get into Slytherin’s common room without someone from Slytherin to let us in.”

Maybe Anakin should have used his newfound bribery skills to simply have Hondo let them inside. That would have been a lot less showy. Then again, neither Anakin nor Hondo did much the normal way.

“Remember when I said I had some tricks up my sleeves?” He asked coyly, slipping from the inside of his left sleeve…

“The map?” Rex gasped, his voice echoing off the stone walls around them, startling the enchanted pumpkins that were perched above them on a windowsill. “How the hell did you get that back? When the hell did you get that back? Why the hell-”

“-I think that’s enough,” Anakin held out a hand, a smirk on his lips, “I have my ways, Rex, isn’t that enough of an explanation?”

“Er, no? Absolutely not?”

“Fair,” He said after some thought and led them along their way, “Because they did a lot of rebuilding and reworking after the Maul incident last year, many of the tunnels have completely changed for safety purposes-”

“-And to likely keep you out of them,” Rex added.

“Sure, sure, but clearly, that didn’t last long,” Grinned Anakin as he kept his eyes on the map, “One thing they didn’t account for, is that just as Hogwarts updates, this map does too, unlike that other shoddy one we were using. This one was made by Palpatine, after all, and he’s about as powerful as he is old!”

“Interesting,” Rex nodded, “That doesn’t explain how you got the map. Remember? You lost it in the tunnels when you ran into Maul.”

“But I didn’t run into Maul if you recall,” He seemed quite pleased with himself about that rhyme, but only continued on, “I ran into Ventress.”

“So… Oh .” It was all becoming quite clear to Rex, “So this entire time…”

“I don’t know how she’s been making use of it,” Anakin went on, “But I think everyone can agree that it’s in much better hands with me than it is with her.”

“That’s why you confronted her.”

“I knew she had to have it on her,” He said, “If I got her angry enough, she wouldn’t have noticed a little light pick-pocketing.”

Rex had to admit, Anakin might have a bit of mischief in him, but at the very least, he was becoming a great deal smarter with his plans than he had in their first year at Hogwarts. He still shivered when he thought back to how Anakin essentially willingly wandered into what was supposed to be a sacrificial chamber for him .

“I’d ask where you learned that, but I really think it’s better I don’t know,” Rex retorted and allowed Anakin to lead them down the path to the new entryway to Slytherin’s common room. This time, it was found in a potions’ closet, which was actually unlocked.

“That doesn’t seem safe.” Rex commented passively.

“Neither do swinging staircases that could knock you off and send you to your deaths at any given second,” Anakin said, “Or a giant tree that attacks people on sight. Or a forest with-”

“-Point taken,” He said and followed Anakin through the little door behind the shelves, which was just big enough for the two of them to fit and inch their way down the very dark space. Idly, Rex realized he’d never actually been in Slytherin’s common room. It wasn’t exactly the most sought after place for him to visit, not when its occupants had a tendency to be so foul or troublesome. Even still, he found he’d much rather deal with them than those Durmstrang blokes.

They entered from the floor, actually, just beneath a very dusty gray rug that made the both of them cough hysterically. Clearly, it hadn’t been moved in quite some time.

Surprisingly, it resembled less of a dungeon than what Rex had always suspected, considering their proximity to actual dungeons, but the green reflection from the black lake cast the entire space in an eerie glow. It was too dark to see any creatures, but a twinge of fear sprung within Rex of a beady eyed shark being on the other side of the glass.

If it was even still in the lake, he reasoned.

Like their common room, they had a fireplace, though it was decorated in more ancient artifacts and regalia associated with Salazar Slytherin’s greatest triumphs. Their walls were adorned with the many Quidditch victories by House Slytherin through the years and their library was quite extensive. Judging by the layers of dust, he had doubts that they actually read much of them.

He was most surprised to see a large portrait of a cat off to the right. He squinted as he leaned in close. It didn’t have any fur and had a rather bored look on its face. Evidently, it once belonged to one of the Headmasters at Hogwarts.

The little tag on its collar read, “Madame Killer III”, which go figure for that one.

“Do you think it would be too obvious if I charmed some Gryffindor banners to spruce up the place?” Anakin asked.

“Yes,” Rex laughed, though he wouldn’t deny he enjoyed the idea of Ventress and company’s faces when they walked into a red and gold themed Slytherin common room. “Where do you reckon the trophy is hidden?”

In Gryffindor’s common room, there was a display case for the trophy to be held should they win. When it was empty, it was instead filled with pictures and plaques of the great wins of the past. Anything to improve enthusiasm. Proudly, Cody had a few pictures and awards on display in the case.

“Ventress is probably selfish enough to keep it for herself.” Anakin said thoughtfully, “But she’s not exactly team captain anymore.”

“She basically is, just not officially,” Rex said. “We ought to be quick, though. This is the last place I’d like to be caught lurking and stealing.”

“We’re not lurking, we’re perusing with the intent of reclaiming what is rightfully ours.”

“Sounds like lurking and stealing to me,” Rex said, but walked up the stone stairs that wound their way up to the bedrooms. “I don’t suppose we’ll be able to get in here. They’re supposed to be charmed.”

“We wormed our way into Ravenclaw’s.” Anakin shrugged and pushed him aside. Low and behold, he was nearly blasted backwards by the force of a strong protective charm, knocking him on his arse and on the floor. Still, the blond boy looked rather unperturbed considering he was about to have a hearty bruise on his bum.

“Well, maybe Slytherin updated their charms.” He said.

“Probably because of what happened in Ravenclaw’s.” Rex rolled his eyes. “Well, now what?”

“I find it really hard to believe that the girls would be able to just hoard the trophy,” Anakin said, “It’s a co-ed team!”

“Wait a second, you can speak snake!” Rex snapped his fingers.

“Only in dreams,” Anakin reminded him, “And really only a handful of times.”

“That’s a handful more than anyone else can.” He said, “But that’s Slytherin’s big gimmick right? Salazar Slytherin used to communicate in secret that way.”

“What’s your point?”

“My point, is that getting into the Slytherin common room is supposed to be about whispering to walls and stuff, passwords and all that, what if some of those passwords include speaking like a snake?”

“But when I spoke like that, everyone was shocked. I thought no one else could.”

“Maybe not naturally, but it’s possible they know the exact intonation of the password,” Rex pinched his chin and walked around, coming back around to the wall of quidditch portraits, noting that there was only one portrait that was completely still. It was a random sketch of Salazar Slytherin, himself, very detailed but unmoving all the same in his quidditch regalia. He couldn’t deny that it was a bit out of place amongst the rest. “Just say something, anything, in that snake language.”

“Pretty sure it has a more refined name than that, Rex.” Anakin said.

“Oh? And what is it?” He raised an eyebrow at his friend.

Anakin gave it some thought, but they both knew he nor Rex was going to come up with it, and gave up. With an exasperated sigh that Rex most certainly did not deserve out of the two of them, Anakin followed his lead and stood beside him.

“I’ve never just… Spoken like that before.” He clarified. “Intentionally.”

“In your sleep you do,” Rex said, “Sometimes, anyway.”

“You listen to me while I sleep?” Anakin wrinkled his nose.

“It’s either that or Echo and Fives’ synchronized snoring.” He said, “Why can’t any of you be bloody quiet sleepers?”

“I don’t know, I’m asleep,” Anakin said. “What should I say?”

“Anything! Just get on with it before Ventress comes back and skewers us one by one!”

Knowing that was definitely a possibility, Anakin took a deep breath and centered himself, likely reminding himself of some of the things he heard whilst asleep. Rex had to admit, more times than one, hearing the whisper of hisses was far more alarming than he led on. He always hoped they weren’t an indicator of nightmares, but Anakin always seemed quite peaceful if he checked on him.

“Ayaeehaaahssssseyythaasssseythasssssssseythahaassssehhhssss” A voice that would have been completely foreign to Rex’s had he not witnessed it a few times at night, uttered, sounding completely unlike Anakin and more like a spirit whistling through the wind. In fact, Anakin looked a bit haunted as he spoke it, like it was taking over him entirely.

He only looked away from him when he heard the sound of stone grating against each other and sure enough, the stone behind the sketched portrait began to rotate. When turned entirely, it revealed a small shelf with the House Quidditch Trophy in its place.

“Thatta boy!” Rex smacked him on the back, “What’d you say?”

“Open Sesame, I think.” Anakin shrugged.

“And Slytherins are supposed to be quick,” He rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s get out of here!”

Obi-Wan had to admit that it was nice getting a night off from research and homework and losing sleep over the meaning behind the blank golden parchment. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever suspect that relief would come from a quidditch-related outing. Not when the previous six years had involved dreading such events.

Still, it was rather impossible to deny that it was a beautiful night to celebrate hard-earned victories amongst friends quite literally encased in their own bubble of merriment. Ventress wasn’t enacting torture on any of the other happy students, Cody was free to speak on as much quidditch as his heart desired, and Satine was sat between his legs while toasting a marshmallow over the presently purple campfire.

All was well.

He sighed contentedly, intent on basking in the glow of this moment for days to come, especially should things get dark again. With Dooku’s recent silence, that darkness seemed imminent and foreboding, but Obi-Wan could not give it any care for right now.

All was somehow made even better when Satine carefully raised the now-golden marshmallow up towards him, quite literally waving it around on a stick for the taking.

“For me? You shouldn’t have!” He said happily as he plucked the fluffy treat free from its skewer.

It certainly helped his spirits that such fine sweets were included. There was a simplicity to s’mores that he could appreciate, particularly because they involved such essential tenets to the dessert world all in one basic package of: chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker. Add heat and it was immeasurable gooey goodness.

“Get any of that marshmallow in my hair and that will be the end of that, Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Satine craned her head to look at him, a stern look on her face that could only draw a laugh from him. He would never dare, but couldn’t pretend that he hadn’t accidentally spilled worse on her in the past.

“Of me or us?” He asked cheekily.

In response, she grabbed his face with the hand not still holding her marshmallow stick, squishing his cheeks lightly between her thumb and fingers. Though she was mocking appraisal for his wit, he could feel no fear nor retribution due to the mirth in her eyes.

“Both,” She laughed a bit at the end of it, clearly finding his face in this position to be quite funny, before releasing him promptly to place another marshmallow on the tip of her stick.

“Oh good,” He said, not quite giving up on the schtick, “Because I needed a bit of clarity on the subject, seeing as it would involve me haunting you for the remainder of your days.”

“I see,” She pondered that thought, “Yes, that would be quite terrible. You’d be a very annoying ghost.”

“Are you calling me annoying?” He laughed.

“Yes,” She deadpanned before breaking into a coy smile, “But in all fairness, it would be quite difficult to get anything done with you hovering around trying to debate me at every turn.”

“Is that not how we are now?” He asked.

“I can silence you with a kiss as a corporeal being,” She smirked, “As a ghost, I’d be left to listen to all your incessant thoughts on whether or not cavemen were wizards.”

“There is plenty of proof supporting the claim that-” But she’d proved her point and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, one too swift for any prying eyes to catch wind of. He delighted in the fact that she tasted like chocolate and marshmallows, yet was resolute to know that he found a new way to appreciate s’mores. One that he had to admit he liked more.

“That is a very unfair advantage,” He countered.

“Really? Because I’d argue we’re very equally split,” She said, “You could easily do the same to me.”

“I don’t find you annoying in the slightest,” He raised an eyebrow at her, “Not even when you find yourself on your pacifistic tirades.”

“Tirades, my dear, Ben?” She chuckled, “Well, far be it from me to subject you to such anger, not when you make me feel so sweet.”

“You’re just sucking up because you called me annoying.” He shook his head.

“Au contraire, have you ever considered that I like you because you’re annoying?” She tapped his knee aimlessly and he smiled, lacing their fingers together. “Because I do.”

He pretended to give that some thought, completely unaware of what anyone was getting up to around them. It was as though within this temperature sealed bubble, there was another bubble and it was reserved for just the two of them.

“I suppose I can live with that,” He raised her fingers to his lips, “With the condition that you promise never to relent on that stance.”

“I haven’t so far,” She said, leaning back so her head brushed against his chest, “And with seven years down, I quite like those odds.”

“I do too,” He said softly.

Any sense of peace that had been gathered between the two of them had effectively been shattered by the raucous chants and cheers that came from Gryffindor house when none other than Anakin Skywalker took a bold stance atop a large tree stump to wave the Quidditch House Cup proudly in the air.

“Something tells me Ventress didn’t give that up willingly,” Satine murmured as she disentangled herself from Obi-Wan to stand up. He followed without question in case prefect support was necessary and knowing how Slytherin could react to this, it very well might be.

Cody was in the heart of it, unsurprisingly, and had effectively been lifted by his team to stand beside Anakin on his makeshift stage. It was practically a sea of red that surrounded them and it was nearly impossible to hear what Anakin was cheering, but judging by the movement of his lips, it was something along the lines of “Gryffindor! The true champions!” and was devoured by the crowd.

Obi-Wan would have felt joyful and participated with the excitement had Ventress not been practically breathing fire from where she stood off to the side, appearing a bit disheveled, but angry no less.

“And now!” Anakin called, his voice suddenly loud enough to be heard, likely in thanks to an amplifying charm, “I present this trophy to the person who deserves it the most. Without them, I wouldn’t even know what quidditch is, let alone be part of a winning team. So, I’m proud we did him right today. So, I think it’s high time this be in the hands of the person who earned it.”

He’d shot a rather scathing look towards Ventress, who only scowled more with arms crossed tightly enough to cut off blood flow. He’d be worried if it was anyone else but Ventress. A few others, like Krell and Sebulba, were also a bit salty, but most, even the majority of Slytherin house, were on board.

“Our captain, the best of Gryffindor…”

“My big brother, Cody!” Rex completed for him, thrusting his older brother’s arm in the air with the influx of cheers and screams from the crowd. This time, Obi-Wan and Satine both participated in full, like they were excitable school girls catching a glimpse of a celebrity. Then again, Cody was bigger than a celebrity to them. He was their best friend and Anakin was right. It did belong in his hands.

Cody, for his part, seemed a bit dazed, as though in absolute shock that any of this was happening, even after years of hard work and dedication to the sport. He’d essentially centered his entire life to his squad and his love for it and them. Obi-Wan sincerely hoped that it was everything he’d ever wanted, because he deserved it and so much more.

“I…” He was at a loss for words, staring in both parts adoringly and in disbelief at the trophy in his hands, likely catching a glimpse of his own reflection as he’d always dreamed to. For a moment, Obi-Wan thought Cody might cry.

The crowd fell just quiet enough to allow for their captain to speak and it was good to see at least most of his house backing him again. Anakin’s own verbal support had likely been helpful in cementing that loyalty, but either way, it was about time everyone saw Cody for what he was: the truest of them all.

“I don’t know what to say, honestly,” Cody admitted, a bit of uncharacteristic self consciousness creeping in, “I believed this day would come, because I believed in my team, but while I always dreamed of what it would feel like, it was nothing like this.”

He looked out at each of them, starry-eyed and slowly gaining vigor with each second, “But what made it worth it, what made it amazing, was playing along the best bloody squad in the entire world!”

That earned him hoots and hollers from no doubt said squad, including Rex and Anakin, who still stood on either side of him.

“Some of which were my blood, my brothers, my family,” He said, finding each of them, “Who will always be my lifelong teammates.”

“Yeah!” Fives or maybe it was Echo cheered, eliciting a wry smile from Cody.

“Just because you’re done with me on the school field doesn’t mean you’re done at home.”

“Boo!” The other twin called and everyone laughed.

“And for my other friends, who always supported me, regardless of house and regardless of how I never shut the hell up about it.” Obi-Wan and Satine exchanged a knowing glance, boiling over with happiness and Satine, a bit misty eyed.

“I love you guys,” He said with a grin and looked at the trophy again, “And I’m honored to house this for a year and look forward to seeing it stay with Gryffindor for quite some time, even without me.”

And that, for some reason, was quite sad to imagine. They all knew they were graduating, but Obi-Wan couldn’t quite picture Gryffindor without Cody. Yes, Fives and Echo and Rex would still be happy to take up the mantle, but it suddenly dawned on Obi-Wan that there would always be a new rendition of students, each who brought their own special contribution to tradition and to living history.

Hogwarts would always go on, well beyond their time.

But Cody didn’t look sad, he looked emboldened and overwhelmed by the joy on this night.

“And I promise you all, this won’t be the only trophy you see in my hands, just you wait.” He said with a slow nod, earning the largest amount of applause of all.

“I’m holding him to that,” Obi-Wan said.

“Yes, you and me both,” Satine grinned back at him, wiping away stray tears from her eyes, “But for now, I’d say he earned hugs for this one.”

“Why are you up so early?” A groggy voice startled Rex from quietly (or so he thought) wrapping his winter layers around his body. He turned, spotting Anakin, whose head was peeping through the curtains of his four poster bed. His friend’s eyes were still droopy and full of sleep, hardly recovered from the late night they’d all had thanks to the big Gryffindor win.

No, the festivities certainly hadn’t ended at the bonfire, at least not for their house. Windu had been specific in ordering them all back to their common rooms, but he was certain it wasn’t just coincidence that he hadn’t bothered to come check that they were all asleep.

Maybe, the authoritarian Charms professor was starting to come around.

“Er… Just taking a morning walk to visit my brother,” It was the truth, but not the entirety of it. Rex didn’t like keeping secrets, not from his best mate, but it was for the best that Anakin not have himself dragged into more trouble. It seemed he was finally getting a bit of a break this year.

“Oh, I can come if you want,” He said sleepily and moved to push his curtains the entire way aside.

“No!” Rex hissed, far too harshly, causing Anakin to freeze in place, eyes wide and definitely a bit more awake. “I mean, it’s early, and I think he just wanted to talk about brother stuff.”

He hadn’t meant to make that sound so exclusive, because Anakin flinched a bit at the dismissal, trying as he might to hide his disappointment, “Okay, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s completely fine!” He waved him off, still trying to keep his voice soft to avoid waking up any of the other boys. Luckily, the festivities had run into the very early morning and many were out cold. “I’ll be back soon. We’re just getting tea.”

“I hate tea,” Anakin grumbled and then nodded a bit more at ease, “Well, we’re still going to investigate that symbol from my parchment later, right?”

“Of course,” Rex nodded, happy to be able to make an honest promise in the midst of his evasive escape. “I’ll meet up with you and Padmé later.”

“Did she seem a bit strange last night?” Anakin whispered before Rex could free himself from their bedroom, “Like, after we got the trophy? She seemed a bit shaken.”

“I think everyone was in new form last night after that win,” Rex said with a shrug, “But we can ask her about it later.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” He yawned, “Well, enjoy your tea time with Ninety-Nine. I’m going to get some more sleep if it’s all the same to you.”

Rex would have happily done the same if he hadn’t already promised to watch Rotta the Hutt while Ninety-Nine cleaned the classrooms in preparation for school on Monday. It was the only real time allotted for it this week, since the castle was still in full swing on Saturday.

There had been an unexpected snow storm in the wee hours of the morning, which completely covered the front lawn and all the walkways, not giving enough time for Ninety-Nine or anyone else to perform a charm to clear the path just yet. This only added to Rex’s delay as he trudged through the mess discontentedly. However, he was anything but sleepy at this point as the cold was biting at his cheeks every second of the way.

The sun had just barely crept above the horizon, causing an orange shadow to brim beyond the castle and appear almost angelic if it weren’t so damn chilly.

He’d expected to find Ninety-Nine inside with the baby, but was surprised to see his eldest brother bundled up and with a scraper in his hand as he painstakingly removed something from the sides and windows of his house. From a distance, it looked like an awfully feeble practice of snow and ice removal, but when he got within a proximity where the icy wind no longer blinded his sight, the picture became clear.

“What happened?” He shrieked, appalled at the sheer amount of eggs that were frozen solid to Ninety-Nine’s once pristine exterior. It looked like an onslaught had occurred, pelting just about every square inch of the surface and solidifying overnight. Knowing how much care Ninety-Nine had put into making this hut feel like a home, Rex felt all of the cold melt right off of him, instead replaced by a burning sense of pure rage that sustained him.

“Either a really big chicken stormed through here or someone played a joke,” He sighed, a puff of cold air encircling his head. He was more resigned than anything else, but Rex couldn’t really bring himself to be humorous about this.

“Who did this?” He demanded, storming around the house to inspect for more damage beyond just the eggs.

“I don’t know, I slept right through it somehow, but it really doesn’t matter, Rex,” Ninety-Nine said, leaning against his snow shovel to take a breather, “What’s done is done and it’s not like I can have Headmaster Yoda or any of the other professors come investigate.”

Looking through the small window to see Rotta happily sucking on a rubber duck on the couch, the reasoning why became very apparent.

“Arseholes,” He cursed under his breath.

“Clearly, some kids had a bit too much fun last night,” Ninety-Nine shrugged, placing a hand on his shoulder, “There’s nothing to get worked up over. There are bigger risks at play. I’m just glad they didn’t find Rotta in the process.”

“Yeah, I guess,” He said, but couldn’t wrap his head around why anyone would choose Ninety-Nine’s little house as a target for a mean spirited prank. Not anyone from Hogwarts anyway. There had always been an unspoken respect for those who took care of the school, as it was considered bottom-tier to mistreat them.

Then, it was as if a spotlight had been shown on the answer in the snow. He bent over, retrieving a silver rectangular belt buckle from where it had previously been covered in snow. Dusting it off, he could make out the unmistakable dual headed eagle that was often synonymous with a symbol used in Tsarist Imperial Russia.

“Krell,” He said in a low voice, grasping the buckle so tight in his gloved fist that it very easily could have punctured through material or bent at his will- which ever came first. Rex didn’t care in the slightest, only cultivated more disdain for the contemptible Besalisk. He doubted he did this alone, thinking back to how Krell’s Durmstrang friends had watched and laughed when he slid snide insults towards Ninety-Nine, thinking they were all the better when it only proved how weak they really were.

“Rex?” Ninety-Nine shook him from his daze, a concerned look on his wrinkled face.

“Krell did this,” He spat, “I told you he wasn’t going to stop! He’s just going to keep tormenting you! We’ve got to do something!”

“He’s a child,” Ninety-Nine shook his head, “I will not be enacting revenge or buying into a prank war with a child.”

“He’s a seventh year! Very nearly an adult and he can’t just keep getting away with this!” He argued. Out here, in the snow, their voices were practically drowned out and he didn’t care if it carried all the way up to Headmaster Yoda’s tower.

“And I’ll happily relay what happened to Headmaster Tiure so he can be dealt with,” Ninety-Nine said, “But really, no harm was done. Rotta is safe, I’m safe, and there’s nothing that a simple schoolyard bully can do to break my spirit.”

“As if Ziro is going to give him detention!” Scoffed Rex, “Why do you think he transferred to that school? Because there’s no consequences for those pigheaded pricks! They do as they please and their Headmaster is a perfect example! He was gambling on Anakin and Obi-Wan’s lives in the tournament and nothing can be done about it!”

“I think you’re generalizing a little bit there, Rex,” Ninety-Nine said calmly, “I’ve met quite a few students from Durmstrang who were quite nice.”

“Probably faking it,” He said, “They’re the Slytherin of the wizarding schools: always up to something.”

“And I’ve met plenty of good-hearted Slytherin students as well,” He narrowed his eyes at him, “I must say, I understand why you’re upset and I don’t disagree that Ziro is shady, but I do not appreciate this side of you.”

“What side? The honest side?” Laughed Rex, “Because that’s how I see it!”

“The prejudiced side!” Ninety-Nine snapped and he’d never seen his usually relaxed brother so stern, “Our father did not raise us to have preconceived notions about anyone based on where they come from.”

“He hardly raised me at all,” Rex shook his head, pushing his way through the front door, “Whatever, you can lay down all you want about this, but we have to do something to prevent them from seeing Stinky! You’ll get arrested for something I’m pretty sure Durmstrang is responsible for.”

“Why would Durmstrang steal their own Minister’s son?” He asked.

“Because… I haven’t figured that part out yet, but why would anyone from Hogwarts?” Rex asked, “That would be the stupidest crime ever.”

“I’d argue that stealing a child for any reason is foolish and evil,” Ninety-Nine deduced.

“Yeah, well so is picking someone else while they’re down.” He said and whether it angered Ninety-Nine or not, he would ensure that eggs would not be the only thing cracking around here.

It was a rather boring morning without Rex around. Anakin had failed to fall back asleep after his friend had gone off to Ninety-Nine’s hut. Perhaps it was a still lingering, faded memory of a nightmare or simply the light streaming through the window, but hanging around the dormitory didn’t seem so appealing.

The common room was always quiet in the mornings, most students aiming to get as much sleep as they could before breakfast. Gryffindors as a collective usually tended towards staying up later, whether it was because they started some sort of tournament or were frantically trying to finish procrastinated essays. Anakin was really no different. But on the occasion when he woke early and couldn’t find sleep again, he didn’t mind sitting on the couch and paging through a few of his well worn comics.

His few Spiderman comics were practically falling apart at the seams for how much abuse they’d been given, being dragged all over the place ever since he had the ability to read. Still he refused to part with them. Every time Spiderman, or rather Peter Parker returned home to his Aunt May it reminded him of someone else . And he still missed her. An unending feeling of a broken heart that he longed to fix, if anyone would actually do anything about it.

In fact, that was a big inspiration to doing this stupid tournament in the first place right? To bring some awareness to his mother’s situation. Yet the press clearly was just as unbothered as the ministry seemed to be. Most in fact had stopped even looking at him with pity and although he certainly appreciated it, had they forgotten? Had they forgotten that he was still missing a rather large piece of his heart that had been stolen and hidden away somewhere?

He turned a page in his comic, Spiderman was sneaking out again to save the city. They probably had forgotten, after all, who was Shmi Skywalker to them? Who was she to anyone else besides Anakin? She’d kept them away from the wizarding world and if she had any friends besides Qui-Gon he’d never found them.

He was jarred from his reading, his thinking really, by tired heavy steps coming down from the boys dormitory. Half asleep and still donning his Quidditch robes, Cody appeared trudging towards the portrait hole. He likely wouldn’t even have noticed Anakin if he hadn’t shifted on the couch, the movement catching the chaser’s eyes even as they were mostly still shut.

“Anakin? It’s a bit early isn’t it?” He mumbled, voice nearly gone from all the shouting yesterday.

“Rex woke me up when he was getting ready to head to Ninety Nines-” Cody’s eyes widened just slightly, like Anakin had revealed something that he shouldn’t have, “Anyways I couldn’t go back to sleep. But I’m surprised to see you up, I thought you wouldn’t sleep at all,” Cody had, in fact, still been dancing on top of a table by the time Anakin excused himself for the night.

“I’m supposed to meet Kenobi,” He ran a hand down his face, “You didn’t go with Rex?”

“No he said it was brother stuff, didn’t seem to want me there…” Anakin tried not to let it get to him. He knew Rex didn’t mean anything by it, probably just wanted a chance to chat with his brother alone.

“Oh good, good,” Cody said distractedly, before ducking through the portrait, “Don’t make friends with Ravenclaws who think it fit to meet so damn early,” He warned and with a roll of his eyes he was gone.

Anakin shrugged, not something he had to much worry about, his best friend was a Gryffindor after all. Though he still found that Padmé had a bit of similar talent at getting him up and working at a time where he would most certainly prefer to be at breakfast. Today at least, they hadn’t planned to meet until at least a few hours afterwards.

There was a tapping on the window and Anakin turned to see Artoo peck at the window expectedly. Anakin jumped up and popped open the latch quickly. Artoo swooped around the room before dropping himself down on the couch and sticking a leg out to Anakin who raised an eyebrow.

“Artoo? Is that the prophet? I’m pretty sure I don’t pay for that…” His owl just gave him a firm look and waited until Anakin grabbed the rolled up parchment. Artoo then moved, a few flaps of the wings took him towards the still burning fire. Anakin didn’t bother to watch him make himself at home and instead opened the paper with a frown. He was greeted by a picture of him, hair slicked back and in horrible, uncomfortable dress robes from a Kenobi summer party that he’d attended. He was quite sure no one had taken his picture there so it was a bit off putting to see grace the front page.

“Anakin Skywalker,” it said in bold letters atop the page, “Who is he really?”

“Who am I?” Anakin sat further up, still staring, “They didn’t ask me!” He hadn’t received even an invitation to an interview in a couple weeks and none of the ones he’d gone to were for the prophet.

“Anonymous sources speak the truth,” He read aloud quietly.

Receiving such a surprisingly open and honest letter about the young champion Anakin Skywalker was not what I expected on an early Friday morning, but the work of a journalist truly never stops. I wasn’t to believe it without searching for the truth myself, but everything checked out and although our source remains quite anonymous we assure you they are truthful in their letter.

Anakin Skywalker grew up above a seedy muggle bar in London with his mother, Shmi Skywalker, who seemed to have renounced the ways of the wizarding world for a supposedly quiet life with her son. Anakin however it seemed was never suited for such a quiet life and instead allowed trouble to follow him quite far and quite often.

It is true in fact that upon his first year at Hogwarts he released the wild and strange Zillo Beast from under the school. Yet was easily kidnapped by the notorious Dooku. Later he broke into the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic and discovered that he may in fact be the Chosen One.

But what sort of Chosen One is the type to bring so much trouble onto those around him? But we’re talking about more than childhood pranks such as putting some trick soap into the girls bathroom. Our anonymous source says that when Maul stormed Hogwarts that fateful and tragic day, it was Anakin who went to face him. It was said he didn’t last too long in the fight if it wasn’t for others coming to his aid, notably his former mentor and fellow champion Obi-Wan Kenobi, would the chosen one truly be here with us.

Despite being a third year he allowed his fellow students along with himself break the rules in order to enter into such a dangerous tournament as the Triwizard Tournament surely is. Our source confirms that several younger students were able to surpass the barrier and place their names inside. What if another young student had been chosen, would they have lasted so long or would their death have brought just another tragedy to Hogwarts?

Anakin blanched, they were what? Blaming him for stuff he couldn’t control? He hadn’t released the Zillo Beast on purpose . Not really . It was that or get murdered by Dooku and he really didn’t have to think twice about his options. And Maul? He… well he had gotten in over his head, but he wasn’t the type to sit back and let anyone pick the school apart piece by piece. His heart still panged when he thought of Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan had assured him always that it wasn’t his fault… Obi-Wan.

Anakin turned the page and skimmed another section of the article. There was one more picture, it was of Anakin in his pajamas reading comics in the Kenobis’ massive library.

Anakin may have fallen into life with the Kenobis since, but he certainly hasn’t let go of his more muggle upbringings. Pictured here in a one piece pajama set of a muggle superhero and reading picture books of similar origin. He’s also been spotted playing with action figures in his new bedroom. Is this the work of traumatic experiences or is this simply a boy, not yet grown up?-

Anakin dropped the paper, face pink in embarrassment, as he stared blankly across the room. He turned back to the paper, skimming it even quicker. Words flickered past his eyes with hardly any time to acknowledge them.

Skywalker still finds himself sleeping with stuffed animals-

When he’s not doing schoolwork, which is often, you can find him asleep in the library.

Generally unmotivated, hard to believe he managed so well in the first task.

The article ended, the same way it began, “So who is Skywalker really? A child playing at a hero, perhaps.-” He didn’t bother to read the other closing remarks.

He sat there, listening as the clock on the mantel ticked quietly and the fire crackled and the paper in his hands slipped to the floor.

It left him more with the question of why than the question of who.

Why was he being torn down, his embarrassing quirks aired for all to see, to read? His eyes drifted towards the comic sitting next to him on the couch and he felt that warm self-conscious feeling burning through him as he quickly stuffed them back in his school bag. What did it matter that he still played with action figures or liked to keep his food separate on his plate? What did his distaste for sand have to do with how well he would do in the tournament?

The article was written like he was a child who didn’t know what he was doing, but he knew exactly what he was doing! Had he or had he not come out on top in the first task! He was winning! He was in the lead! He’d just helped win his house the Quidditch cup too. He’d grown a lot from his first year; they all had to see that.

But he didn’t have to ask who had submitted such delicate information. Because the answer was still clear enough. Palpatine’s voice echoed in his head at the very thought. Obi-Wan Kenobi, his own mentor, had turned against him.

Anakin looked back at the picture of him at Kenobi manor. He didn’t like what he was perhaps considering, that his mentor was the anonymous source. But it was true that he wasn’t sure who else had so much information on him. Rex surely did, but that didn’t explain the picture and he didn’t talk much about what had happened with Maul. But Obi-Wan knew because he was there .

Obi-Wan had practically been following him around all summer, he would know all of Anakin’s embarrassing habits, he knew well enough now about Anakin’s comics and he’d explained his favorite TV shows. He racked his brain hoping he was wrong, but could come to no other conclusion.

Obi-Wan was playing the game for real now, playing dirty and Anakin was surprised, hurt, and angry. With a clenched fist around the prophet he snatched up from the floor he stormed out of the portrait hole.

The halls were clear and any ghosts lingering around this morning seemed to see his expression and flee. It saved him valuable energy that he was saving to possibly ram his fist into Kenobi’s surely smug face. He passed the boys bathroom and ignored Cody’s rather horrendous cover of some pop song Anakin wasn’t familiar with as it drifted out from the showers. It was probably good the other 7th year wouldn’t be present during this conversation.

The library doors were shut, but Anakin didn’t bother to knock, just pulled them open, if Madam Nu let Obi-Wan in at all hours she would have to do the same for all students. It was only fair.

And there he was. His former mentor sitting serenely at his usual table pouring over some ancient, musty tome that likely hadn’t seen the light of day since even Yoda was born. He looked relaxed and at peace and that made Anakin feel even better about shattering an otherwise perfect morning. He stomped up and tossed the prophet onto the table, face still heated and hands shaking.

“Anakin?” Obi-Wan blinked slowly in surprise, eyebrows coming together, “What are you-”

“You know when I told you not to help me out with the tournament, I didn’t think you’d resort to some stupid blackmail!” Anakin spat.

“Blackmail?” Obi-Wan’s eyes drifted to the prophet and started skimming immediately.

Anakin scooped the paper back up and shook it towards the other boy's face, “Don’t act like you don’t know! There’s no one else it could have been!” He hissed, tossing the paper at Obi-Wan, who caught it and with one more surprised and cautious glance at Anakin turned back towards the text and read it at a speed that really shouldn’t be possible.

“Anakin, I-” Obi-Wan frowned looking up at him in concern, “You think I did this?”

“Look here,” Anakin pointed at the picture from their summer party, “And here,” He ran his fingers across the bit about Maul and the bit about his action figures, “And here and here and here!” Anakin pointed at every bit of personal information he could find.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan started, his tone just at the edge of lecturing.

“Don’t ‘Anakin’ me!” He growled, “After all the help I did getting rid of your embarrassing interview, and this is the thanks I get?”

“Anakin, I didn’t have anything to do with this article, it was likely-” Obi-Wan started with infuriating calmness.

Anakin scowled, “They really were right about you, you are more like Ventress and those slimy Slytherins than I thought.”

Despite the slightly nauseous look that flashed across Obi-Wan’s face he continued with calmness, “It’s just an average smear campaign, they try to undermine you with information they shouldn’t have about you,” He sighed, “Pretty much all purebloods get an expose done on them at one time or another-”

“So what you thought you’d teach me another dumb lesson this way?” Anakin picked up the prophet again, glaring at the words as if he could catch them on fire.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to prepare you for one of these,” Obi-Wan spoke softly as if Anakin was some spooked creature, “They prepared a similar one on me my fourth year, I thought you might have gotten to avoid the whole thing, being in the tournament and all.”

“I’m not hearing a no,” Anakin huffed.

“Anakin be serious!” Obi-Wan scoffed, a spark of irritation glinting in his own eyes, “If you don’t let it get to you it’ll go away in a weeks time-”

“Oh boy,” Anakin rolled his eyes, “A whole week.”

“I’m only saying-”

“I think you’ve said plenty ,” Anakin balled up the prophet and stuffed it in his bag.

“I haven’t said anything at all,” Obi-Wan gave him a sharp look, “And you should know that I’d never betray your trust like that,” He said as his eyes softened just a touch.

“Do I?” Anakin meant to say it with more force, more anger, but it came out sounding small, unsure. So before he could hear another response he spun on his heels and hurried out of the library, ignoring his former mentor- former friend’s calls behind him.

Obi-Wan was stressed to say the least. The next task was only weeks away and he seemed no closer to finding the answer to the stupid golden scroll than he was to be passing his NEWTs with flying colors. He’d been kept afloat largely by the happy feeling that seemed to flood out every negative thought whenever he was near his girlfriend . Even he could tell though that the spell was starting to wane. Not that his affection for Satine had lessened at all, it would always be the part of him that burned the brightest. But instead it was simply reality checking in to remind him that his future and quite possibly his survival hung in the balance.

“Mate, it’s too damn early for this,” Which is in fact why he’d invited Cody to join him in the library this morning. He winced, a bit of guilt swirled through his chest as he took in Cody’s haggard expression; he doubted his friend had gotten much sleep after the tournament win. Cody may have been doing his level best to scrub the sleep out of his eyes with a damp towel, but Obi-Wan still felt the need to apologize.

“Ah Cody,” He started, as his friend dropped into the seat across from him, “So sorry to ask you here so early-”

“Ugh it’s fine,” Cody complained, pulling a wrinkled shirt out of his bag and wrangling it over his head, “I’m late, I should be the one apologizing, I did promise to be here.”

“Only by a few minutes,” Obi-Wan added unhelpfully, “And really it’s best you were, Anakin was just here-”

“Anakin?” Cody raised an eyebrow, “Saw him in the common room before I left, but he looked pretty occupied reading those picture books he’s been showing Rex.”

“There’s been a bit of gossip released about him in the papers,” Obi-Wan frowned, “I tried to tell him it was a standard affair, I mean you remember fourth year-”

“Mate, this kind of stuff isn’t normal to us ‘regular folk’,” Cody was giving him that look again. The one that said ‘Mate wake up, you’re rich and your family’s infamous.’ Obi-Wan fought the urge to hide behind his textbook. He was done hiding.

“I’ll have to talk to him again,” Obi-Wan sighed, “I should have warned him, when he entered the tournament, or perhaps when the prophecy was exposed.”

“Or when your parents decided they needed another ward?” Cody prompted.

“Perhaps,” Obi-Wan had done his best to keep an eye on his parents' relationship with Anakin, but he could only do so much in that house.

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Cody brushed the whole thing off. He had that ability, to push away whatever was weighing on Obi-Wan’s shoulders, “You don’t always get it right with brothers, but that’s when you just make up, preferably over a nice Quidditch match, but I’m sure talking it out will work just as well for a bookworm like you.”

“Thank you Cody,” He was hard pressed to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

“So, what’s the reason for meeting so early? I hope you’re not submitting me to reading more dull books,” Cody rested his head on his hand and Obi-Wan simply closed his textbook and instead pulled out a piece of parchment.

“Of course not,” He scoffed, “Satine would be mad as a cut snake if we were to start reading without her.”

“Aw, young love,” Cody snickered, “I’ll be sure to tell her you think she looks like a snake.”

“Shut up,” Obi-Wan refused to take the bait and instead dipped his quill in ink, ignoring the feeling of warmth that was slowly creeping up his neck, “Plus this isn’t about something as horrendously boring as reading ,” He tried and failed at mimicking Cody.

Cody laughed, “Now you’re speaking my language, what took you so long?”

“Well to be honest?” Obi-Wan tapped his quill anxiously on his fingers, “The threat of imminent death.” Where Cody had such a gift to bring the spirits in a room up, Obi-Wan often had quite the opposite, plunging the room into uncomfortable silence, “Of course I believe that knowledge is the ultimate power, I wouldn’t be a Ravenclaw if I didn’t,” He tried to bring back a bit of lightheartedness into the room, but Cody didn’t bite.

“It’s just that with the second task coming up,” Obi-Wan was forced to continue, “I thought that perhaps, focusing a bit more on strength of the physical kind might help me last long enough in any situation to think my way out of it.”

Obi-Wan had been thinking about this for a few weeks now actually. It was a sound plan, he thought. If he could simply run fast enough or climb far enough, he’d survive long enough to come up with a plan. He knew that Satine would hate this line of thought and he didn’t like it much himself, but with the days rapidly leaving him, he decided it might be best to start the discussion before it was too late.

Cody didn’t seem to like this plan much if his silence was any indication. His eyebrow twitched angrily and he crossed his arms over his chest, “You’re not telling me you’re giving up?”

Obi-Wan shook his head so quickly he thought it would send him into a dizzy spell, “Heavens no!” That wasn’t the idea of this at all, “I plan on redoubling my efforts with Satine as well, and honestly I’m sure Professor Gunray wouldn’t even notice if I didn’t show up for his class.”

“Now I’m sure you’re ill,” Cody was giving him a warning look.

“Cody please,” Obi-Wan set his quill down and crossed his own arms, “I’m covering my bases nothing more. With or without your help.”

“Oh I’ll help,” Cody huffed, “But we’re already doing workouts, what did you intend to be your plan here?”

“Honestly, I was hoping you had some ideas,” Obi-Wan picked his quill back up, “I tend to yield to the experts.”

Cody frowned, but more in the way that he was thinking, than in disapproval, “Alright,” He gestured for the quill and parchment, “I’ll work on it, your only job is to be committed to what I give you.”

Obi-Wan more than happily relinquished his writing utensils, “Perhaps I can do something to help?” Obi-Wan spoke after a moment of silence, “Did you finish your DADA essay?”

“I’m not letting you do my work for me,” Cody didn’t bother looking up, “I don’t need to be bought you know.”

“I never said I would,” Obi-Wan argued, “But I could edit it perhaps or something else if you’d prefer-”

“Kenobi,” Cody rolled his eyes, “It’s fine. Have you seen the assignments in DADA? It’s the same as our third year, I practically copied my old essay. That’s what everyone else did.”

“That’s not a terrible idea,” Obi-Wan sighed.

“You can’t tell me you didn’t do the same,” Cody looked up at him then, hand paused mid writing and eyebrow raised, “It’s the exact same lesson plan.”

“Truthfully I haven’t started yet,” It clearly wasn’t the answer Cody was hoping for as his best mate put down the quill rather forcefully and gave a hard stare across the table.

“Well let’s both get to work then shall we?” Cody waved a hand towards him and Obi-Wan just stared at him a moment more before dragging out his third year DADA textbook and some more parchment.

They fell into silence as both of them scratched away at the parchment. The sun rose as they worked, going from just peaking over the horizon to revealing itself from behind a rather towering hill. Obi-Wan tried his best to be focused on his paper, but his mind continued to wander. It wasn’t often he found himself so uninterested in a topic, but he knew all about boggarts.

Though certainly interesting at the time of reading about them, they were just mysterious enough that without a lot of time and study there wasn’t anything new there to discover. They clearly reacted to your own fears as a defense mechanism to make them seem powerful, but were actually quite harmless. He’d had a few unfortunate run-ins in his own home. Not something he was really looking to document anyways.

He found his eyes wandering around the bookshelves around them, comforting as always though he’d read every title in the area. It was like his mind was begging for something a little more stimulating, he couldn’t really blame it. As he glanced towards the rest of the library he caught a flash of black and gold as a Hufflepuff entered his cone of vision. Her black hair fell forward to block her face, but by the way she was clutching at her textbook she must be worried about something.

He sat up further to watch as she made her way across the library before disappearing from his sight. Something about it was suspicious, not that he alone owned the rights to the library, but Sunday mornings were often unintentionally reserved for him.

“What?” Cody prompted drawing Obi-Wan’s attention back to where Cody had turned to watch him.

“It’s probably nothing…” Obi-Wan started, but he still felt himself stand. Whether it was for his own desperate pursuit of knowledge of any kind or general concern he still moved, “I’ll just be a moment.”

“Kenobi-” But Obi-Wan moved quickly and quite easily out of earshot.

Hogwarts library was large, and Obi-Wan was quite sure it expanded on its own when new shelves were needed, but Madam Nu would neither confirm or deny his theory, only saying he ought to find out for himself. Still he knew where every table ought to be and where students were likely to hang out, so he followed the most obvious path. It didn’t take him long to catch up to the Hufflepuff and he placed himself easily behind a shelf so he could peer through and observe without being spotted.

There were 3 students, the Hufflepuff girl, an older looking Slytherin boy, and a Ravenclaw sullustan named Tyanna.

“I’m not sure about this Stridus,” The girl spoke, “I’m all for pushing our studies further, but maybe we should start smaller.”

“No better place to start than the top wouldn’t you say!” Stridus grinned, “Plus it wasn’t my idea anyways…”

“I’m the one who came up with it,” The sullustan spoke smugly, “And it’s going to work.”

“You see Alara?” Stridus wrapped an arm around the girl who sent him a glare that was just icy enough for him to step back, “Tyanna knows what she’s doing! Ravenclaw’s are always good at coming up with a plan.”

“So what? Your Slytherin ambition isn’t strong enough?” Alara huffed.

“My ambition leads me to people who will help me succeed,” He grinned, “Why do you think I always hang around with you? I have a good feeling about you.”

“And I have a good feeling we’re being watched,” Tyanna cut in, “So mind what you say why don’t you.”

“Madam Nu?” Alara dropped her voice to a whisper.

“Not quite,” Obi-Wan knew when to make himself known, stepping out into the open.

“The Head Boy?!” Alara hissed to Tyanna, “I thought you had good hearing, why didn’t you warn us?”

“Because you’re as oblivious as a doormat,” Tyanna’s cold eyes fell onto Obi-Wan, “It was you he followed,” Alara gaped like a fish.

“Now, now,” Obi-Wan fell into his role as a prefect so easily, “Your plans have been foiled so why don’t you go ahead and tell me what you were up to?”

“Why would we do that?” Tyanna crossed her arms, “I’ll take it to the grave.”

“Well you can hardly blame us,” Stridus stepped up leaving Tyanna to shoot Alara an incredulous look, “The best books about the dark arts are in the restricted section and I’m sure a top student like yourself would be hard pressed to stop us from learning.”

“What are you saying?” Tyanna hissed angrily.

“What Stridus means ,” Alara cut in quite quickly, “Is that we’re simply trying to pass our tests.”

“Care to tell me what that has to do with reading about the dark arts in the restricted section?” Obi-Wan crossed his arms, his left hand sliding into his robes to reach for his wand in case they decided to run.

“Cause that old codger Gunray probably couldn’t even name the three unforgivable curses!” Tyanna growled, clearly mad about not only being caught, but by her accomplices being far too willing to sell them all out, “Can you blame us?”

“You’re not learning anything yourself are you?” Stridus moved towards him, “Come on! Maybe if you join us, you’ll have a chance to pass those NEWTs! Don’t be like me, failed my OWLs and now I’m right back to where I started,” Stridus tried slinging an arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulders but the 5th year was too short even if he was a year older than he should have been.

“I have no trouble admitting that Gunray’s teaching is failing those taking his classes,” Obi-Wan admitted, shaking off the Slytherin’s arm and stepping away, “But I still cannot allow three 5th years access that they should not be granted.” He was met with groans and curses he purposely pretended not to hear, “Tell me what are you struggling with? Maybe I can be of assistance?” Obi-Wan offered, gesturing to a table just a little ways away and they walked past him to sit down.

“What aren’t I struggling with,” Alara clutched her textbook, “He keeps assigning us the same reading over and over, it’s not even from a third year book. It’s stuff we learned last year.”

“I tried to go over my notes from last year,” Stridus winced, “It was hard enough trying to learn it all the first time and now I can’t seem to get it at all,” In an clearly uncharacteristically quiet voice he added, “I don’t want to have to repeat 5th year again.”

“I thought we’d learn something useful at least,” Tyanna pulled out what was clearly their latest essay assignment, “But if I have to write one more essay on cursed artifacts or potions, I’m going to scream.”

Obi-Wan took a moment, standing over these three fifth years he was reminded of his own frustrations, his own worries about the upcoming NEWTs. He was to be an Auror and yet his curriculum was probably the furthest thing from helpful. These kids were being wronged by the school and honestly it could put them in danger with Dooku at large.

“Alright,” Obi-Wan said sitting himself down next to Alara and across from Tyanna, “I think it’s best to start with the most practical of things, I’ll teach you about hex deflection-”

“Now there’s something useful!” Tyanna interrupted at the same time Stridus looked up from his old notes and Alara sat up straighter.

“I won’t teach you to cast it today though, theory is just as important in magic as ‘winging it’ as my former mentee would say,” Ah and Anakin, he would have to make a point to speak to the boy later. But first-

“But you will teach us to cast it?” Alara prompted. Obi-Wan looked between the three hopeful students and found himself stuck, it was rather impossible to deny such a request in the name of learning.

“Yes, but we can’t do it in the library, Madam Nu will have my head and I’d quite like to keep that til graduation.”

Anakin was having one of the worst days of his life. Maybe that was a little dramatic. He’d had worse days, specifically when his mum had gone missing and when Qui-Gon had died. Definitely when he got kidnapped by Dooku and that time he’d almost been sacrificed below the school.

But even after all of that there was something still so horrible about people whispering behind your back. He knew they’d all read the paper. He wasn’t dumb and they weren’t being very subtle. Still he stalked his way angrily into breakfast and made sure to sit between the Fett twins. They had teased him for a lot of things in the past, but didn’t say a single thing about him that morning.

It was nice to be shielded in that way, just those who refused to bring it up and would let things settle back into the dust when they were done. He wished Rex was closer, but he’d been late getting to breakfast so he found himself forced to sit at the very end of the table. It was just as well Anakin felt, then at least his friend could hear about what was going on and Anakin wouldn’t have to talk about it.

After breakfast Rex caught up to him and they walked the halls towards the common room in silence. Every person they passed in the hall stopped whispering the second they saw him and shuffled papers quickly out of view.

“You don’t really think Obi-Wan did this?” Rex prompted, as they turned a corner and glared at a few watchful 4th years. Anakin had of course caught Rex up on his suspicions, but the other boy didn’t seem to be as sure, “He’s stuck his neck out for you so many times it seems a bit unlikely.”

“And he’s also the only person I know who was at the Kenobi manor this summer,” He shot Rex a look, “The pictures are pretty good proof if you ask me.”

“I guess so,” Rex frowned, “I just find it so hard to believe.”

“Yeah and I found it hard to believe that Dooku was with the Sith, but here we are,” Anakin groused.

“Look who it is !” And if there was one, one person Anakin was not in the mood to see it was Sebulba .

“What do you want, Sebulba?” Anakin took a deep breath before spinning around, hand itching for his wand to just blast the guy’s stupid mug down to the other end of the corridor.

“Aw aren’t we just so mad that the truths finally come out about what a baby you are?” Sebulba crooned, grinning madly. He turned to his cronies and waved the paper about, “He plays with dollies, you know!” They snickered and Anakin sneered.

“I’m pretty sure they’re called action figures,” Rex cut in unhelpfully, “And what do you know about muggle toys anyways?”

“Clearly enough,” Sebulba barked a laugh before flipping pages in the paper, “Lookee here boys, says he’s a child playing the part of the chosen one. Are you even sure that’s your title?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t see you get sorted into the triwizard tournament, Sebulba,” Anakin ground out about to spin around and storm off.

“Maybe if you didn’t claim such false glories your mum would still be around,” Sebulba’s words halted him in his tracks, “It says you still call for her in your sleep, is that why you still have stuffed animals?”

The cogs in Anakin’s brain screeched to a halt and it took quite a lot of self control to not unleash a rather strong blast of unfiltered magic, but instead he took a small shaky breath, “Maybe!” He shouted, “What else does it say in there Sebulba? Since you seem so keen on reading the whole thing out loud!”

“It says you’re lazy, sleeping on the job more like it,” Sebulba was happy to take the opportunity to continue, “Not sure how you of all people got in this bloody tournament, they usually pick people who have a chance!”

“Is that all?” Anakin prompted and Sebulba’s eye twitched in confusion before continuing.

“Haven’t you read it yet?” Sebulba smirked, “Well no matter I can fill you in. It has an embarrassing picture of you in your pajamas, covered in some muggle hero,” He snickered, “And apparently the first time you went to the beach you cried because you got sand in your eye.”

“Does it?” Anakin felt an unnatural level of calm flood across him as he faced his foe in the hallway.

“Sure does,” Sebulba grinned.

“Why don’t you show it to me?” Anakin felt his heart beating out of his chest because he was pretty sure-

“Okay I will!” Sebulba flipped a page. Then another. Then another. His face lost a little color as he looked up to meet Anakin’s steeled blue gaze.

That had never made it into the paper to begin with.

“So it was you,” Anakin kept his voice level, only a little bit of anger shadowing his words.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sebulba snapped, fingering through the paper again, “I must have just heard something and-”

“You must have heard a lot of things,” Anakin took a few steps forward, wand pulled out and extended towards the bully, “But the real question is where.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-” He repeated, but his eyes gazed down at the wand and he seemed to think better of his answer. He pushed Anakin’s wand out of the way before he snarled an answer, “I don’t know, I just found them and thought that the world might be interested.”

“Well you thought wrong,” Anakin pushed his wand back into the dug’s neck and Sebulba let out an unconscious squeak before retreating a few steps, “Most of that’s not true anyways,” He wasn’t stupid enough to deny it all, many of his fellow Gryffindors had seen him reading comics or wearing that particular pajama set after all.

“W-well, how was I supposed to know,” Sebulba spat as he turned to retreat once more.

“Not everything you read is real you know, maybe it's a good thing you’ve never read a comic!” Anakin shouted after him. Lowering his wand slowly, and not without a small twinge of regret that he didn’t get to use it. Sebulba really deserved a visit from karma and if Anakin had to do it himself he would.

“So it was him,” Rex swore, “Bastard never seems to cut you a break.”

“Sebulba’s slimy,” Anakin tucked his wand away, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but then where did he find all that?”

“Some of it is common knowledge,” Rex pointed out, “Even Padme’s seen your comics.”

“And some of it isn’t,” Anakin tried to keep the red from pooling in his cheeks, “He’s not wrong about the sand thing,” Anakin hissed under his breath, “But I didn’t think anyone knew that, but my mum…”

“She wouldn’t sell you out,” Rex assured him, though Anakin didn’t need it. He knew his mum would never, wherever she was…

“At least it wasn’t Obi-Wan,” Anakin felt both relief and guilt at the thought, “He writes his diary in cursive with a little old english in there and I’m positive if I can’t read it, neither can Sebulba.”

“So you’re sure then?” Rex raised an eyebrow, “Because just a few minutes ago you were likely on a vendetta to blackmail your mentor.”

Anakin sighed, truthfully he didn’t want Obi-Wan to be the bad guy. Tensions were high this year though, and they were in such a fierce competition, “I like to think that I trust him,” Anakin spoke after a moment, “And I do, it’s just, how can I trust anyone anymore?”

“You trust me,” Rex pointed out, “And Padmé as far as I’m aware.”

“You guys have always been there for me,” Anakin pointed out, “And Obi-Wan…” He thought back to his first year at Hogwarts, Obi-Wan was a good mentor yes, but he’d also hurt him by keeping things from him. Qui-Gon had asked Obi-Wan to mentor him and although it was clear now that it was a mutual decision, it had still hurt to have such a thing hidden, “Obi-Wan’s a bit unpredictable,” Anakin settled on.

It was kind of true, he was mysterious which made him hard for Anakin to follow and oftentimes it felt like he was testing Anakin unnecessarily like this morning. He could have simply been there for Anakin, but instead he brushed it off and said it happened to the best of them.

It was frustrating and Anakin felt himself constantly falling into the gap between child and teenager.

“I’ll go apologize,” Anakin decided, because in the end he had been wrong and that’s what his mother would want him to do, “But I’m worried Rex.”

“And I’ll be here for you, no matter what,” Rex reminded him.

Anakin turned and walked his way towards the library. The whispering still followed him but somehow it was less noticeable. Sliding easily off his back now that he knew where it had come from. Still he tried not to listen.’

Approaching Obi-Wan’s table however, he realized quickly that the Ravenclaw wasn’t there and instead there was Cody, scribbling away. Obi-Wan’s things still sat there abandoned and Anakin frowned.

“Where’s Obi-Wan?” Anakin asked, and Cody looked up in surprise. Whatever he was working on had to be related with Quidditch because Cody was rarely ever so deeply into his work that he’d miss the opportunity for a distraction.

“He went towards the back of the library,” Cody checked his watch, “Oh I dunno an hour or so ago?” He looked around like he’d finally come to and he frowned, “At this point I’m starting to think a better question is where Satine is.”

Anakin didn’t stick around to follow that line of questioning.

He walked around the library, which was pretty quiet and while that wasn’t out of the ordinary, he thought he’d see a few more students studying. He walked past the restricted section and a group of huddled students caught his attention. He approached and it was pretty clear by the tones of lecture that floated his way that he’d found who he was looking for.

“And that’s why Salvio Hexia was created in the first place,” Obi-Wan’s voice droned on and Anakin shoved his way through the other students, there had to be at least 10 surrounding the table, many were 5th years, but some other years had joined as well, “The important thing to note is that-” Obi-Wan trailed off when he saw Anakin in the crowd and he paused, his wand still raised, painting shimmery pictures in the air that demonstrated his points as he went. Anakin did take a moment to wonder why none of their professors did that and instead relied on blackboards that were quite boring.

“Ah Anakin,” Obi-Wan acknowledged him and Anakin suddenly felt all eyes fall on him and he shifted, “One moment, I just need to have a word,” he gestured at Anakin, the magic in the air fell and covered everyone nearby in what looked like extra sparkly glitter, “I’ll just be a moment, perhaps until then you can practice the incantation… words only! ” He emphasized, “I’m not trying to get myself booted from the library!” He sounded a bit more panicked at the thought than anyone else would.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan started once they had walked a fair bit away, “I wanted to say-”

“I’m sorry,” Anakin interrupted, “It wasn’t you, it was Sebulba that fed information to the prophet.”

“I- what?” Obi-Wan frowned.

“Yeah you know, Sebulba, tall and gangly, ugly mug can’t miss him,” Anakin added a bit of his anger painting his words.

“Where did Sebulba-”

“I don’t know,” Anakin cut in, “I don’t know, but I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions.”

“Honestly, I can’t say that I blame you,” Obi-Wan deflated a little, “A lot of that article seemed rather personal, from what I could glean. It only makes sense that you would think of the person who spent the most time with you over the summer,” though even as he said it, he didn’t look like he fully agreed.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Anakin grimaced, “I just have a lot of people out for me.”

“I understand, and for what it’s worth. I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan cringed, “I blew you off this morning and it may have come off unreasonably harsh. I had a lot on my mind, it wasn’t that I didn’t care.”

“Let’s just forget the whole thing happened,” Anakin hurried them along, it was awkward enough to stand in the library talking about feelings, he’d rather let them both get back to the task at hand… literally.

“If that’s what you want, but Anakin I would never-” Obi-Wan started, but before he could finish there was the very distinct sound of a spell backfiring and it had Obi-Wan on a mad dash back to his impromptu lecture.

Anakin watched him go, he felt a little better about the whole thing, but he’d be even more grateful for the whole thing to blow over. Obi-Wan had said to give it about a week, so that’s what Anakin would do. One last piece of advice from someone who was supposed to stop mentoring him years ago.

It wasn’t that Cody cared much about what Satine was doing with her Sunday, but it was quite odd that she hadn’t shown up to the library. She knew full well that was the best place to find Obi-Wan and the two had been even more inseparable since they'd gotten together. Obi-Wan had yet to return to their table, wherever he’d gone off too, but it surely wasn’t Satine because he wouldn’t have left the library without picking up his stuff.

Cody set down his friend's quill and folded up his new workout plan, tucking it inside Kenobi’s DADA textbook. He set off towards breakfast first. The halls were crawling with students given that it was indeed a Sunday and any excuse to not be found in their common room or a classroom was good enough. The Great Hall was emptying out with breakfast almost finished. He snuck up behind Koth and stole a croissant off the Ravenclaw captain's plate.

“Oi!” Koth tried to snatch it back, but Cody was faster, “I was saving that for last!” He complained and Cody shrugged.

“You snooze, you lose mate,” He shrugged, “You haven’t seen Kryze around anywhere have you?”

“Kryze?” Koth looked to his fellow Ravenclaws all who shook their heads, “I haven’t.”

“Haven’t seen her yet today,” It didn’t seem to concern anyone in the vicinity, but they didn’t know Satine like he did. She was rarely absent from anything.

“I saw Satine,” He turned eagerly towards Padmé, who had happened to be walking past at the right time, “I ran into her this morning and we had a bit of a chat,” She shrugged, “Nothing out of the ordinary, but the next time I saw her she was heading outside. She looked a little ill, her face was all white. I do hope she’s alright.”

Cody frowned, it was a rather cold day, the good weather had only lasted long enough for the tournament. It even looked like it may rain soon and Cody sure didn’t want a friend outside wandering the grounds. He was sure she didn’t have rounds today either.

“I’ll go check it out,” He decided, plans already whirring into motion as he finished off Koth’s croissant and hurried towards the entrance.

It was windy, definitely enough to blow someone small away, but to his well earned credit, Cody was not someone to be toppled over so easily. He started exploring the grounds, looking down towards his brother’s hut, but no one was to be seen.

It was a long walk across the grounds. The Quidditch pitch was empty, but even so, he made it a point to check every room hidden under the pitch. He paused a moment more in Gryffindor’s locker room to grab his broom out of the locked box. If he couldn’t find Satine on foot, he was sure he could find her from the sky.

He continued on foot a bit longer, walking all the way around the side of the castle until he got to the sheer cliffs that led down towards the docks. He hadn’t been down there in quite some time, no need really. But it was lucky he thought to check anyways because as he scaled down the stairs he started hearing voices picked up by the wind.

“But if-”

“Maybe it’s not-”

“-whole thing-”

“Do you-”

“-surely Ben-”

Even without being able to clearly hear the lilt in her voice, he knew it would be Satine at the end of the steps. Cody edged further down feeling the need to be stealthy. A skill he picked up after living with brothers for so long and it certainly came in handy a lot in recent years.

“I wouldn’t worry your pretty little head,” Cody froze, finally he caught a glimpse of Satine’s blonde hair, windswept as it was. And in the other voice, he certainly had an inkling, “It’s going to be alright.” Satine shifted her weight just enough for Cody to catch sight of Quinlan’s locs and he quickly backed up so he’d stay out of sight.

Cody hesitated. He’d made a big deal about this sort of thing before and been wrong, but he still felt like a secret meeting between Satine and her Yule Ball date was maybe something that should be reported to Obi-Wan. It was only right! The bro code! So Cody backed up a few more steps before taking off quickly and carefully on his broom. He kept low until he was sure she wouldn’t catch the tail of his broom and he swooped quickly towards the library.

He peered through the window, Obi-Wan had returned to their table and was working on his essay once more. Cody banged on the window swiftly and definitely a bit too loudly. Kenobi nearly jumped out of his skin and did in fact fall out of his chair before standing swiftly. He marched towards the window with that lecturing gleam in his eye and threw open the window so forcefully he nearly nicked Cody.

“What on this green Earth are you doing?!” Obi-Wan placed a hand over his heart which was surely racing, “Scaring me half to death. Shouldn’t we save that for the tournament?”

“Heh, sorry mate,” Cody apologized despite the fact that it was really funny to see Kenobi so flustered. He grew a bit more serious as he brought up the topic at hand, “I just thought you should know, I went looking for Satine-”

“I was wondering about her whereabouts,” Obi-Wan had that gooey look in his eyes again and Cody rolled his eyes, “Not that she’s meant to be anywhere of course.”

“She’s having a secret meeting with Quinlan down by the docks,” He blurted out and Kenobi’s face grew blank as he processed that information.

“Quinlan?” He asked as if Cody wasn’t clear enough the first time.

“Quinlan,” He confirmed.

“It’s probably nothing,” Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair, messing it up a bit.

“Probably not,” Cody agreed.

The conversation hung in silence for a moment before Obi-Wan, careful not to look at the ground below them, stepped onto the window sill clutching the sides of the window frame with white knuckles.

“Don’t you dare let me fall,” He threatened as he climbed onto the back of Cody’s broom, his nails practically digging into Cody’s shoulders.

“Wouldn’t dream of it mate!” Cody confirmed before he adjusted his position and they zoomed across the grounds.

Satine had already found her morning quite dreary having woken up far too early and not been able to fall back asleep. She’d still opted to have a bit of a lazy morning, spending a bit of extra time in her bed, reading a bit of muggle fiction that her mum had sent to her in the last care package she’d received. As much as she loved life as a wizard, sometimes it was easier to drown oneself into the mundane drama of a couple of muggles struggling to fall in love with one another.

She took her time getting dressed, combing her hair and slipping a headband on. She found no reason to try anything fancy today, but she didn’t want to go out looking like a rat had attacked her in her sleep. She opted for more casual wear though she made sure her Head Girl pin was clear and easy to see, she would not be taking any nonsense from younger years.

The hallways were clear with it still being rather early. Ben hadn’t been in the common room much to her disappointment. But he was likely in the library so that’s where she set off towards. She ducked under a ghost that didn’t seem keen to move out of her way and ended up face to face with Padmé on the way up.

“Oh Satine!” Padmé smiled, it was a rare day indeed because even Padmé hadn’t opted to do anything rather wild with her hair. She was likely up quite late the night before given the party that had surely drug itself into the night.

“Padmé,” Satine greeted, “How are you?”

“Doing quite well,” She replied and joined Satine in walking through the halls, “Gryffindor’s in mighty high spirits.”

“As they deserve to be,” Satine smiled proudly thinking of her best friend, “The Quidditch team worked hard for that win.”

“You Ravenclaws aren’t at all perturbed by your loss?” Padmé asked with the tilt of her head.

“Not at all,” Satine shook her head, “Ravenclaw’s team played the best they have in seven years. I’d say it would be hard to be mad at being outmatched in that case.”

“Are you sure that’s not just you?” Padmé nudged her with her elbow and Satine laughed.

“While Ben and I are extremely proud of Cody, I don’t think any member of our team holds any hurt feelings,” Satine added after a moment of thought, “Ravenclaw’s focus is never about the act of winning, but the path that takes you there. They get enough of a kick about planning great strategies as they do when they come out on top.”

“I guess that’s a pretty big divider between our houses,” Padmé hummed, “Gryffindor is about glory.”

“As is Slytherin,” Satine pointed out, “It’s not a bad thing to strive for a goal and to be happy when you get there. But I don’t think our houses are as different as you think they are,” Satine thought back to all the Quidditch talk Cody had had with her over the years, “Cody’s more of a strategist than he’d have you or anyone else believe.”

“That may be,” Padmé agreed, “Are you on your way to meet them now? Cody and Obi-Wan?”

“That’s right,” Satine nodded, “And what about you? Meeting up with Anakin and Rex? I know you’ve been working on solving that scroll.”

“Oh, maybe a bit later,” Padme considered, “But we’ve already solved the scroll, or rather Anakin solved it.”

Satine tripped.

“Oh are you alright?” Padme put a hand on her shoulder, but when Satine brought her face up it was painted carefully neutral.

“Loose cobblestone,” Satine brushed it off with an awkward laugh, “You were saying?”

“Just that Anakin solved his scroll,” She continued as if nothing had happened, “He said he was inspired by something he overheard in the library. Something about a wash of sorts.”

Satine measured her breathing easily and let her thoughts jump three kilometers ahead of the conversation, “Oh good, I had hoped you’d solve it soon enough.”

“We’re maybe not as quick as you three, but we won’t fall behind you!” Padmé joked, completely blinded to Satine’s racing thoughts.

“Oh damn,” Satine cursed as she halted in her tracks.

“What is it?” Padme looked at her with concern.

“I left my history textbook in my dormitory,” She rifled through her bag, shoving said textbook further down so it wasn’t visible.

“Oh no,” Padme frowned, “Do you want me to go with you to get it? I’m not doing much else at the moment.”

“No,” Satine shook her head, “That’s quite alright, I’d hate to accidentally wake up Stass,” She turned and started walking in the opposite direction.

“I’ll just head down to breakfast then,” She heard Padmé say before the girl was out of earshot.

Satine felt bad about lying to Padmé, but she wanted to be absolutely positive . She turned and headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

Cody should still be there, that’s what she hoped at least, but upon entering through the portrait, which she shouldn’t be doing, this wasn’t prefect business. She didn’t see her friend anywhere.

“Have you seen Cody?” She asked Echo, or maybe Fives.

“He left ages ago,” He answered, “Didn’t see him when I woke up.”

“Did you need something?” The other one asked and Satine hesitated.

“I think he has one of my textbooks,” It sounded too unrealistic so she continued, “We might have gotten them mixed up,” It had certainly happened before, and Satine had a bad habit of sticking her notes between the pages.

“Well you can go up to his room,” Echo (maybe?) shrugged, “No one else is there.” Satine nodded and climbed the stairs. She paused outside of a different door. Upon hearing only silence she peeked inside, empty. She felt a bit bad, walking into the room, but also was reminded that a certain someone had broken into her room a mere month ago and sprayed her with water. She crossed the room quickly.

Anakin was predictable, his golden scroll lay out in the open on his bedside table. She was quick in pulling her wand out and taping it gently on the parchment, “ librum, ” She whispered. It unrolled revealing indeed an image. It was some dark figure that had no meaning to her, but that wasn’t what mattered. She tapped her wand to it again to roll it up and booked it out of Gryffindor’s common room.

Satine headed outside and was immediately buffeted by the wind. It was cold out and she didn’t have on her robe, but her heart was beating fast enough to keep her blood flowing. She hurried to the docks, descending the stairs quickly, but carefully. She needed confirmation from someone else. Had Quinlan been able to solve it? If he hadn’t, she’d have to ask Hera.

She knew Ben would likely disapprove of essentially asking for the answer. Both of them really were more the type to love a good riddle, a good mystery, but when it came down to Ben’s life she was willing to put all of that aside.

Durmstrang’s ship was quite massive, only a plank serving as an entrance and an exit. She scaled the thing quickly and was greeted by quite a few sets of eyes as it seemed its students liked to hang out on the deck in the mornings. Satine went to the first person she could find and respectfully asked for Quinlan. That got her a few interesting looks, a few whispers, but she didn’t bow to them. She simply walked down the ramp again and waited a few minutes. Quinlan appeared at the top of the ramp, despite the cold he still wasn’t wearing a shirt which seemed a bit too much even for him.

“Satine!” He greeted her with a wide grin, “Wonderful to see you, but I am surprised nonetheless.”

“I need the answer to a question,” She said firmly, “I believe Ben may have been sabotaged again.”

That wiped a smile off Quinlan’s face quite quickly, “Sabotaged?”

“Did you solve your scroll?” She asked and he looked at her with a carefully guarded look.

“I don’t think-”

“Did you solve it?” Satine pressed, “I don’t need to know what's on it, but this is important . I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t.”

“I did,” He answered seriously.

“How did you solve it?” She asked softly.

“A bit of washing soda-” He said more, but Satine’s ears still felt like they were ringing.

“Are you sure?” She pushed rather forcefully.

Quinlan frowned, “What?”

“You’re sure it was washing soda?”

Quinlan nodded, “Yeah one of my buddies had a muggle magician phase, not sure what his deal was, but he told me it would work and it did. So what’s the problem?”

“I tried that,” Satine wrapped her arms around herself, “But if you're sure that’s what you did�� Ben’s parchment is still blank.”

“Blank? Well maybe it’s not the same for everyone,” Quinlan suggested, “It could be an additional challenge”

“Yeah except Anakin solved it too, the whole thing,” She gestured with her hands, “Revealed. After he heard about my method.”

“Do you really think he’s being targeted,” Quinlan lowered his voice, “I mean I heard about the shark, it’s fishy, but not entirely out of the ordinary?”

“I do,” Satine said calmly, “Because surely Ben would have solved this thing by now if it was anything magical.”

“Have you spoken to Syndulla yet?” Quinlan asked, crossing his arms, “She’ll want to know about this too, or maybe she had a different way to solve it.”

“Yeah maybe…” Though Satine wasn’t convinced.

They walked towards the Beauxbaton carriage. Satine was rather silent, thinking over and over about how she tried the wash on Ben’s parchment trying to see if she’d missed any step, but it was unlikely. Quinlan was much more chatty, talking about his parchment, it showed a picture too. Of someone walking away, he said. He seemed to not like that train of thought anymore because he started talking about the Quidditch match.

“Durmstrang could have beat any of your teams I’m sure,” He was saying, “Not that Fett didn’t play a solid game, never seen that last move before-”

There was a flash of movement as something dropped right in front of them. Satine fumbled for her wand and Quinlan quickly threw out an arm to keep her back, but once her eyes caught up to her she found herself staring incredulously at Obi-Wan Kenobi. She glanced up to see Cody hovering a few feet over her head looking just as surprised, before she turned back to her idiot boyfriend.

“Ah Satine, there you are,” Ben swiftly moved around Quinlan’s still stretched out arm to greet Satine, “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“ I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Cody corrected as he landed next to him, “This guys been writing his dumb essay for DADA.”

“What in heaven's name made you think you could jump out of the sky at me?!” Satine had barely blinked before the lecture practically ripped its way out of her chest, “ Obi-Wan Kenobi , you just about gave me a bloody heart attack! And what if you’d have gotten hurt, you idiot!” He didn’t seem to hear her entirely as he was in the process of removing his cloak and throwing it around her shoulders.

“You know it’s cold out here right?” He admonished, “You shouldn’t leave the castle without a cloak, honestly Satine-”

“Don’t you ‘Honestly Satine’ me!” She still clasped the collar of his cloak around her neck, “And what’s this about your DADA essay? I thought you had that finished already.”

“It’ll get done,” He waved a hand to brush it away, “I had a lot of other things on my mind you know-”

“As did I before my boyfriend decided to jump out of the sky,” As she brought this back up she turned, remembering Cody was also there, “And you let him?!”

“He told me not to let him fall, I didn’t expect him to jump !” Cody complained, looking to Quinlan as if the other man was an out. Quinlan just burst out into laughter halting any further discussion between the three of them.

“Man and you were worried about him,” Quinlan lightly punched Satine in the shoulder and Ben moved to put himself in between them.

“Worried about me?” Ben looked over at her inquisitively and she gave him her iciest glare.

“When am I not these days?” Satine huffed, but she let her fury drain away for now, “I have bad news.”

“What’s new around here?” Cody sighed, leaning against his broom.

“Remember when I tried the washing soda?” She prompted and Ben’s eyes lit up.

“Oh yes! The science,” He said at the same time Cody frowned.

“The what?”

“Well I was right,” She looked to Quinlan, “Anakin and Quinlan have already solved theirs and they did it the way we did.”

Ben blinked, gears certainly turning behind his eyes as he put a hand to his chin, “It- They solved it?”

“ Yes ,” Satine confirmed, “Once you apply the wash and the heat it reveals an image.”

“But mine didn’t,” He looked a little shaken by the thought, “I really am going at this blind.”

“No, we're bringing this up to the Headmaster!” Satine stepped towards him, “We can’t let this go unchecked.”

“Satine,” Ben looked up at her, “We don’t know that this is anything to be concerned about, maybe, maybe I’m missing something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Satine growled, “I will not have you die because of some clear oversight! This isn’t fair!” She felt a couple tears threaten to well up, but she pushed the feeling down, thankful for the cold that dried her eyes before she could worry about him seeing them.

“I think I agree with Satine,” Quinlan hesitantly joined the conversation, “I don’t think it’s fair.”

“It’s like going into a Quidditch game where you’re the only one wearing a blindfold mate,” Cody added, “I think we have to say something.”

“That might not be the case,” Ben frowned, “It must mean something.”

“It means ,” Satine grit her teeth, “Someone wants you out .”

“Fine,” He met her energy with his own, “I’ll write a letter to Headmaster Yoda, for you . I still think there’s something we’re missing, I’m missing,” He hummed, “I think I’ll head back to the library, are you coming Satine?”

She took his cold hand in her own, “I’ll join you later, I want to confirm with Hera.”

“I’ll go with you,” Cody and Quinlan both said at once. Quinlan volunteering out of his own interest likely and Cody seemed to be volunteering for whatever reason possessed Ben to jump out of the sky for her. Ben didn’t seem to mind anymore, deep in thought and already heading towards the castle.

Though absent of any actual desire to see him, Sidious had entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with the intention of catching up with Professor Gunray. He’d heard many reports from his students, including Anakin, that they weren’t learning much in the ways of actual magic this year. This level of incompetence was to be expected when he was brought on board, but for the sake of image and to remind him that there were certain students that necessitated actual dark arts training, it was time he have a chat with him professor to professor.

Sadly, this meant he’d have to leave behind any methods of punishment or threats, and would have to appear like the concerned professor that Palpatine had become known as.

It was agonizing, really, to pretend as though he cared for the growing minds of the imbeciles that called themselves witches and wizards. However, Gunray’s lack of productivity and menial taskwork only proved just how incapable this current state of Ministry was. To allow such an unqualified being to spread knowledge of defense against evil was like tying hands behind backs in a fist fight.

And while this would theoretically provide something of an advantage to Sidious down the line, he needed to prove that his Hogwarts wouldn’t be like that. It would be strong. Formidable. Deadly.

He tried not to smile too hard on that thought. Oh, to actually use the dungeons for their intended purpose. That was a day he dreamed of at night.

However, he needed to snap on the professor's act even firmer when he bumped into Obi-Wan Kenobi as he exited the otherwise empty classroom, a large stack of papers beneath his arm as he moved to put away his wand.

“Obi-Wan! My, my, still staying late after class I see!” He tried to be cheerful, even as he felt a rush of scorn towards the boy. Once again, he was getting in the way of Sidious’ plans.

Sidious wasn’t the only one surprised in this exchange, though, because Kenobi looked as though he’d been caught for a moment. Doing what, he wasn’t sure.

“Oh, Professor!” He straightened, gaze flickering for a moment as though he was contemplating whether or not he was going to lie about his whereabouts. He shrugged rigidly, “I was just editing this DADA essay that’s due Monday.”

“Without your professor?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

“Well, as you have likely noticed, my grades have slipped a good deal. I need as much quiet time as allowed to bring them back up.” He said and Sidious almost scoffed. No, he hadn’t noticed whatever minutia of a point Kenobi had dropped in the ranks, nor did he care. There were bigger things at play.

If only he could see just how limited his days were.

Then again...

They were standing alone in the corridor, completely absent of watchful eyes. He could snuff out the pitiful flicker of light he provided in Skywalker’s life, thus sealing his fate. Gone would Obi-Wan Kenobi be from the world and he would no longer unknowingly carry on the same problematic edge that Qui-Gon Jinn did to Sidious’ plots and ploys.

No one would know the difference, and he doubted very many would care.

In a moment of weakness that not even he was immune to, his fingers flickered towards his wand, imagining the shock that would color the sad excuse for a Head Boy’s face as he realized he was about to die. There would be a lovely flash of green, one that had gone far too long from erupting from Sidious’ wand, and then slowly before all at once, the life would drain from him. Behind, would only remain an empty carcass that never met the potential handed to him.

When the boy showed him his essay as though detention was the punishment he’d debated on relaying, the minimal logic behind this plan seeped in quickly. Though it was bitter and left the cooling sensation of a burn, he knew it was just as well. No, the death of one of the Champions would certainly draw some suspicion, especially in Hogwarts.

Plus, as he spotted one of the ghosts drift through the walls of Gunray’s classroom, he sighed. It wasn’t as though he could very well bribe or barter with the unliving, not again.

So, he took the essay and read over it, moderately impressed with Kenobi’s craftsmanship with words as ever. Though a rather useless skill to have, it had projected him to the top quite easily, no matter how much tension rolled off his shoulders. Still, there was something different about him, just as there had been ever since the new term started. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, nor did he care enough to give it much thought.

His time would come.

“Well, I don’t see how this wouldn’t make top marks,” He said with a smile as he handed the essay on the history of Obscurials, “I was actually stopping in to discuss the curriculum with Professor Gunray. Have you felt as though you’ve been learning a lot? A ministry perspective must be quite different.”

“Oh… er, well it has been different,” Kenobi winced, “But I’ll be honest, we haven’t done much in the means of physical magic.”

“So my concerns have been confirmed,” He shook his head mournfully, being sure to separate himself from the invasive ministry officials.

“It’s certainly not ideal,” He said, clearly uncomfortable with speaking out of turn against a professor, even if it was a sham like Gunray. “The fifth years haven’t even begun to learn patronuses yet and that, in my experience, has always been the most difficult to master.”

“Really, someone of your caliber?” He was suddenly thankful to the fates for having arranged this impromptu discussion. In fact, it took everything in him not to grin wickedly as he recalled the details of Maul’s intrusion last year and just how Kenobi was too weak to thwart him in full before it was too late.

“Every wizard has their weaknesses,” He justified, “But I have struggled in the past with it.”

How lovely.

Sidious nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder- a far cry from wrapping it around his neck like he’d initially wanted to, “Though I hope the day never comes where any of you must use it, there’s nothing quite like seeing the very symbol of your soul immortalized for the first time.”

While quite competent in shielding his emotions from others, he was not quick enough to escape Sidious. He knew the fear of incompetency when he saw it and relished in this display of weakness.

“I imagine it would be,” He nodded just barely, his eyes searching elsewhere in hopes of evading this conversation entirely. “What’s yours, Professor?”

“An Adder, dear boy,” He said, though he hadn’t cast such a spell since he was a child, “Power, determination and a renovation to mankind.”

“I’ve been patient, Aveross,” Dooku’s deep voice rumbled as he crouched in front of the fireplace in the far corner of the White Wyvern, “Some would argue, too patient. Now, where is the child?”

Rael, like Dooku and his master before him, kept his head bowed and his hood hanging low so that a shadow of obscurity shielded him from view. Likely, he was in Scotland, gathering intel and resources to spread their cause to a wider range. He’d certainly seen the news where a muggle bank had been lit to flames.

That wasn’t even Dooku or Rael’s doing, which meant progress was being made. Slowly but surely, they were gaining their desired following.

“Apologies, my Master, but there have been some… Complications with our contacts.”

He cursed under his breath, silently damning Lord Sidious for bringing that foolish Gunray aboard in the first place. The moron was nothing but a hazard to their plots and was proving as such every day.

“And how will you fix this?” Dooku wasted no time placing blame, not when they were dangerously close to blowing this entire mission up in their faces.

“I have received reports from my own resources of where the child is located.” He said, “I have not made any move on retrieving him just yet.”

“And why not?” Dooku gritted. He hated playing these waiting games, especially when they seemed so trivial. Their largest conquest took time, that he understood, but to have to sit around and twiddle his thumbs while he waited on every piece to slide into place was agonizing at best.

“Instead of heroically returning the child, master, how do you like the proposition of catching its kidnapper?” Rael had always been a helpful student, one that Dooku quite liked and took on as a protege of sorts, even before Qui-Gon. He was powerful, knowledgeable, but experimental with the rules in a way neither Dooku nor Qui-Gon ever were.

It was part of what made him so useful to have as an ally. He hadn’t expected him to turn, not so easily, but after the tragic loss of Nim, Rael was but a shell of what he once was in spirit. Luckily, Dooku didn’t really need much of that.

He stroked his beard, considering this option, “And who have we chosen as the perpetrator of this heinous crime?”

“Who would you like it to be?” He asked.

“I’d like for it to be Yoda,” He said, but shook his head, “But I fear he’s not a convincing sell. It should be someone important, but not quite so analyzed.”

“I know I would like to blame Gunray.”

“We all would, but that hardly proves our point,” He said, hiding a smile at the thought of how surprised the Neimodian would be if the tables were turned so sharply back at him. It would certainly serve as a reminder that he really isn’t as necessary or important as he believed he was.

“I think I have an idea,” He said.

“Be creative, Aveross, but be quick.” He said, “When I brought you on, I expressed that this was a time sensitive area.”

“Indeed, but I’m sorry to say that your other allies do not understand.” He said.

“I’ll ensure that they are… Handled… After all of this. Just do the job and do it right. I will concede to going along with this change of plans, just this once.”

“Understood,” He bowed, “I will notify you when the time is right.”

“Please do,” He said.

And like that, he disappeared into the flames, but was instantly replaced with the green hue that took shape when Master Sidious contacted him. The entirety of the dark room was instantly replaced with a ghoulish light that inspired even the shadows to hide from the lord of darkness, himself.

“Master, this is unexpected,” He bowed, tucking his head so the grimace could be well-hidden from his face.

Was he ever to receive a break?

“I have been trying to reach you all evening, Lord Tyranus,” Sidious’ scratchy voice scowled at him disapprovingly, “I should hope you aren’t plotting without me again.”

Dooku flexed his hand, “No, Master, I was conversing with Aveross regarding our Huttlet predicament.”

“I see,” He grunted, “Another former servant of yours to do your bidding.”

“It is not as though I can be everywhere at once,” He said, “Is that not the point of gaining resources?”

“You are doing well enough in that regard,” He admitted begrudgingly, “But we must have something to show them, something to prove our superiority.”

“I believe you will be most satisfied with the outcome of this Hutt fiasco, Master.” Dooku said, “To prove our superiority is to dismantle theirs.”

“I wish not to be corralled in such a tired scheme, Tyranus, not when I’ve larger fish to fry.” Sidious said and Dooku bit down on his tongue, anger flowing through him at such carefree dismissal. Did he not recall that it was his lackeys that were making this process tiresome in the first place?

“Shark-sized fish?” He couldn’t help but jest, feeling secure in knowing that no harm could befall him here, but he knew that wouldn’t be the case if they were closer in proximity. Though he couldn’t make out anything on his face except his wrinkled chin and orange eyes, he could practically feel the flicker of sharp acrimony.

It felt good.

“Your wit is sharp, my apprentice,” He said in a ghostly voice, “But not sharper than the blade I could so easily drive through your heart without so much as lifting a finger.”

“You wouldn’t.” He dared.

“Don’t try me,” Sidious said slowly, “No one is irreplaceable, not even you.”

Thinking back to Maul and just how easily he’d slid in his place, Dooku straightened his posture and stuck his nose up to appear nonplussed but obedient. He didn’t speak out of turn again, this time waiting for Sidious’ lead on the matter. His master did not just make house calls to check in.

“My apologies, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’ll admit, I believe I was misguided in my decision to allow Gunray to drive Kenobi to his grave,” Sidious said, “He has proven himself to be stronger than I thought.”

“I assume you are referring to the boy,” He clarified, “Not Gunray.”

“Of course,” Scoffed Sidious, “It turns out, I will be requiring your assistance with ensuring the second task goes our way.”

“Given the confines of it, I suppose I could implement traps to ensnare-”

“-Oh no, Lord Tyranus, nothing of that realm,” He chuckled, clearly delighted in what he perceived as his own brilliance at being the only one to see what should be done. “We shouldn't interfere with the placement of the contestants, not this time.”

“No? But Kenobi-”

“-I think the boy will perform exactly how we want him to,” He said, “Entirely on his own.”

“So, what will you need from me?” Dooku asked.

“It is not a monster or beast that shall consume Kenobi. We should have learned from Maul’s mistakes last year.”

That didn’t answer his question in the slightest, but it seemed Sidious was intent on receiving a response of his own first.

“I’m assuming you’ve found an alternate solution on the matter.”

“Oh yes,” Sidious bore all of his sharp teeth, cackling with giddiness at the visual suffering that would incur. Dooku was more interested in the results than the pain they caused along the way. “Why hold the boy under when he can do that himself?”

“If not consumed by a monster or foe, what shall destroy him?” Dooku asked.

“Fear.”

[junicai]

who taught you that?

| order no. | 4/21

| summary | Aria's Korean has improved greatly since stepping off the plane to Korea. But sometimes, the lingo still trips her up - in interesting ways.

| word count | 2.3k

| warnings | Sexual innuendos

| era | circa. January 2017

The cushions had been collected from throughout the dorm; blankets pulled from beds and from the top shelves of wardrobes to amass a large pile in the centre of the living room. The members stood around in varying degrees of formal clothing;

Some still in their clothes that they had worn for the promotion earlier on in the day, and others having stripped and changed into leggings and old shorts and faded t-shirts as soon as they had stepped foot into their home.

Aria had waited for the others to use the bathroom before she had slid in quietly afterwards, knowing that she took the longest in the shower and not wanting to use a large amount of the hot water.

Sure, the spray of water ran a little icy towards the end, but she'd read that it was good for your pores to turn the shower head cold at the end of a haircare routine anyway, so she wasn't complaining.

She'd shuffled her way out of the bathroom and into her room, where she immediately fluffed out the excess water still in her hair, leaving it damp and loose to dry on her shoulders, prior to tugging on a stolen sweatshirt and a pair of cotton shorts that had been retired to sleep status months ago.

The hoodie was warm, and Aria tugged it around her neck to fight the chill of her damp hair, shuffling out into the living room with a blanket fisted in her hand and a pillow tucked underneath her other arm.

"Do you want to just toss that onto the couch, there, and go dry your hair?" Doyoung paced over to Aria, hands taking the bedding from hers already.

"Oh, no, it's okay." Aria shook her head, moving to help him flatten out her blanket onto the carpet. They were building a blanket fort, of a kind.

The movie night had been Taeyong's idea - a bonding experience he said. Donghyuck had jumped at the idea of constructing a fortress of soft and fluffy bedding, and well. No one was going to turn him down.

"You'll catch a chill, go dry your hair." Doyoung reprimanded, gently but firmly tugging the edge of the blanket from her grip.

"My hair dryer is broken," Aria winced.

"Well why didn't you just say that?" He looked up at her briefly, shooing her towards his own room. "Go, you can use mine. I think Jaehyun's in there, maybe he can help."

Aria nodded, mollified, and made her way into Doyoung's room. She passed Taeil in the hallway, who patted her back lightly in greeting. The doorway was cracked open, so she knocked once before tentatively pushing it open.

There, as Doyoung had predicted, was Jaehyun, sitting on his bed and scrolling through something on his phone. He looked up when Aria knocked, and smiled, locking his phone and dropping it into his lap.

"Hey, Akari. What's up?" He asked.

"Uh," Aria wrung her hands in front of her. "Do you know where Doyoung oppa's hairdryer is? He told me I could use it because mine is broken," She trailed off.

"Yeah! Sure, give me a moment." Jaehyun pushed himself off the bed, crouching down in front of the storage unit beside Doyoung's bed and pulling open the bottom drawer. There, beneath several half empty bottles of varying brands of hair conditioner and toning shampoo was the hairdryer, which he pulled out with a flourish.

"There we go. Do you need help or?"

Aria shook her head. "Oh no, it's alright. I'll be out quickly, you can go join them in the living room."

"Yeah, no problem. Don't take too long though, or else I think Donghyuck will pick the movie again, and last time," Jaehyun grimaced. "That didn't end very well."

Aria could remember. Last time, Donghyuck had insisted on watching a new horror film that had recently come out in the cinemas; one that Aria never actually ended up watching in favor of burying her head in Yuta's shoulder, his hands covering her ears as the characters on the screen screamed blue murder.

Hilariously though, Donghyuck hadn't fared much better, despite the movie being his own choice, and the two maknaes ended up sharing a bed for the following three days - unable to sleep alone.

Aria agreed, and as soon as Jaehyun had left the bedroom she plugged in the hairdryer and began running her fingers through her hair to detangle any knots.

She pulled the device away from her head when the air grew too hot for her to handle, and spent a couple seconds trying to figure out how to turn down the heat. After giving up on the endeavor though, Aria just decided to get through it as quickly as possible.

She blew out every strand until it was only slightly damp and no longer dripping with water, and tugged her hair into two plaits on either side of her head.

The hairdryer was pushed back into the bottom drawer of the storage unit, and Aria closed the door into Doyoung's bedroom behind her as she left the room.

Entering back into the kitchen, she realized that Mark, Sicheng and Jaehyun had already claimed their spots on the floor and singular armchair respectively.

Looking over, Taeyong and Doyoung were leaning against the counter with Taeil; Donghyuck emerging from behind the wall to join them.

Aria padded over to the second group, wanting to grab a glass of water prior to settling down for the movie and becoming reluctant to move less she lose her comfortable position.

As she made her way across into the kitchen, she caught the tail end of Donghyuck's whining tirade, his hands clutching onto the back of Doyoung's sweatshirt.

"But hyung, I'm hungry." He pouted, pulling on the material.

"It's late, Hyuck, you'll feel sick if you eat this late."

Donghyuck's pout deepened. "But not if I eat something that isn't sugary."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Please!"

Doyoung sighed a long suffering sigh. "Fine."

Donghyuck cheered, squeezing Doyoung in a hug in thanks. "Thank you thank you!"

Doyoung grumbled something about raising him wrong with no manners at all, placated by Taeil's hand rubbing soothing circles on his shoulder.

Taeyong just turned away, hiding his grin into the glass of water he was sipping.

"Hm," Donghyuck pondered, fingers tapping his chin. "What to eat, what to find."

Aria's head popped into the conversation. "Do you want to eat ramen?"

Taeyong choked on his water.

"What!" Donghyuck whipped around, hand landing on his chest.

Aria stumbled back slightly, eyes wide and bewildered. "R-ramen? Ramen noodles? Do you, want to, eat them?" She turned to Taeil. "Am I saying that right?"

"Saying what right?"

"Do you want to eat ramen?" Aria sounded out each syllable carefully, thinking it was an issue with her pronunciation. She was still learning Korean - it has improved greatly, but there were still issues that arose occasionally.

"Don't say it again!"

"What? What am I saying!" Aria spun, looking at the four men who were staring back at her with wide eyes.

Taeyong cleared his throat, having recovered from his coughing fit. "It's just, uh, it's nothing."

Aria's face fell. "I thought my Korean was getting better though.."

Doyoung floundered slightly. "It is! Oh it's a million times better; it's not that, Aria. It's not that at all, it's just that - that - hyung, you explain."

Taeyong fixed Doyoung with an affronted look, "You explain!"

"I'll explain," Taeil held out placating hands. "You're scaring her."

It was true. Aria's head was whipping back and forth between the two, the confused crease between her eyebrows only growing deeper and deeper.

"Aria, the phrase that you used, is, generally used in such a context that would mean you'd like to take the other person home - for the night." Taeil slowly explained.

Aria nodded in tandem. "Like a sleepover?"

Donghyuck smacked his hand to his face, dragging it down. "You asked me if I wanted to sleep with you."

Aria's shriek brought yells from the other boys.

"What!"

"What is it!"

"Who's dead!"

The three boys in the living room received no response other than a red faced Aria bursting in, immediately burrowing herself beneath a mountain of blankets and a cackling Donghyuck following her.

"What's happened?" Mark questioned, wide eyed.

Doyoung entered, trailing a hand down his face with his eyes closed. "Nothing, Mark. Nothing at all."

Mark looked over at the mound of blankets that was currently Aria. "Uh, okay?"

As the conversation faded into background noise, Jaehyun shuffled over to Aria's blanketed form.

"Ari? Are you okay?"

"Fine!" She squeaked.

"Are you sure?"

Aria's head popped out from a gap in the blankets. Her cheeks were still flushed a bright red. "Mhm! Totally fine!"

Jaehyun regarded her suspiciously, looking her up and down. Aria's eyes begged him to drop it, pleading with him not here, not here please, don't bring it up here, and he conceded.

Sitting back onto the couch, he pushed himself into the arm slightly, making room for an extra person to sit beside him without saying a word, and Aria gratefully slid out from her blanket hideout and into his arms.

Jaehyun pulled one of the blankets from the floor up over the both of them as they shuffled about for a moment, finding a comfortable position.

Taeil, who had settled onto a mattress of sorts that had been constructed on the floor with Taeyong and Doyoung resting comfortably on either side, took a look around the room.

"Is everyone ready? Drinks, snacks?" He questioned, knowing the uproar that would occur should someone get up in the middle of the film.

After receiving the general consensus of yeses, he clicked onto the movie, and pressed play.

The opening scene of Train to Busan lit up the television screen, and Aria promptly pulled the blanket back up over her head. She could feel Jaehyun chuckle beside her, and a strong arm encircled her waist to pull her against him tighter.

Aria stayed that way throughout the entirety of the film. Midway through, Yuta's hand found it's way onto her knee, rubbing soothing circles into the skin and Aria's own hand slipped out from underneath the blanket to clasp his hand in her own.

For once, she was glad that Korean wasn't her native language, because it meant that when Yuta began speaking to her in soft, gentle tones, the Japanese drowned out the Korean and made it easier for her to pretend that there wasn't a zombie apocalypse happening on the screen right in front of her.

It felt like an eternity, with Jaehyun's arms tightening around her to warn her of a loud noise before it happened, and Yuta's soft murmurs trying to comfort her.

Eventually, the movie clicked off with a light snick and the living room was plunged into darkness. With the television no longer illuminating the room, the only light source came from the moonlight peeking through the gaps in the blinds; and slowly, the members began to stir.

Sicheng and Yuta stood up, the latter patting Aria's leg once, brushing dust from their legs and bending to snag the pillows they were lying against up to their chests.

Mark slowly rose from the floor, arms raising above his head and he rolled his neck with a crack that reverberated around the room.

Gradually, all the members bar two bid a goodnight and sleepily shuffled their way back to their own beds, bar Donghyuck, who followed Mark into his bed.

The movie might not have been his choice this evening, but that didn't change the fact that he was too prideful for his own good; and that meant watching the film in its entirety, even if it sacrificed two days of restful sleep.

Honestly, she fully expected to find Donghyuck in her own bed tomorrow, or be dragged into his.

Aria, still encircled in Jaehyun's arms, was reluctant to move. Here, she was warm, and comfortable, and her bed was most definitely cold, and she'd have to move around all her bedding to find a comfortable position.

Dithering over her options, she was taken by surprise when Jaehyun tightened his grip on her waist slightly, rolling over to position her more comfortably and safely away from the edge of the couch.

"Jae?" Aria whispered when he didn't let go. "Shouldn't we go to bed? It's pretty late."

"M'no." He mumbled. "I'm tired, let's just sleep here."

"Oh," Aria thought about it for a moment. Was this what her manager meant when she said that Aria would bond with the boys eventually?

"Yeah, yeah okay. Let's sleep here."

Aria ran a hand over Jaehyun's hair once, before snuggling back down into his warm embrace.

[colorseeingchick]

Onigiri and Second Chances

Pairing: Osamu Miya x Reader

Summary: The Black Jackals are hosting a Christmas party, and Osamu agrees to come. But there’s some details Atsumu forgot to tell him- 1, he’s supposed to mass-make Onigiri for the party, and 2, a figure from his past is making a reappearance. 

Warnings: Mostly Fluff, some Angst, suggestive content, swearing 

Word Count: 3.7k 

A/N: Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays everyone! This is far from my best work but I hope its fun regardless !

Osamu swears he can see his breath crystalize before him in his kitchen as he plots the murder of his damned brother. 

Well, plotting his brother’s demise is currently secondary to the molding of the  onigiri in his hand. It feels odd, the contrast between the soft, squishy rice warming his palms as he meticulously works at it and the prickly cold that bites his forearms, bare and at the mercy of the cold air of his kitchen, unprotected by his rolled up sleeves. 

Now, you probably have a lot of questions! 

Why’s Osamu Miya making some lip-smacking onigiri at 4 pm on Christmas Eve? 

Because his bitch of a brother tricked him.

Why’s he making 70? 

Ask Atsumu smh (if it’s not abundantly clear, my boy Osamu is VERY salty).

Has he been here for like, 3 hours already? 

Yeah, he sure as hell has. 

Will he be here for a good few more?

Uh huh. 

Why? 

Well, Osamu doesn’t take onigiri lightly. 1. If he’s gonna make em for Atsumu’s party, he was gonna do em right. Even though Atsumu forgot to mention that onigiri was gonna be the special dish to Osamu- the one making the onigiri- until 10 am the day of, (I’m sure y’all get why Osamu is mad now) there wasn’t a chance in hell he was gonna let his dishes fall flat, especially for a party this big. He has a bunch of specialty flavors he’s been wanting to showcase anyways, and in the process of making so many for such a large number, he knows it’s easy to get lost in a ‘quantity over quality’ mindset. No matter the amount, Onigiri Miya’s quality never wavers (A/N: period king as you should). 

But the AC being broken? That’s not a part of his plan. And it was just kinda, icing on his metaphorical cake of reasons why he’s pissed as hell right now. It makes him question if all this effort is really worth it, at least for tonight. 

Osamu’s initially thought that, because his brother’s the host for this party, that maybe he should try to spruce up a bit, come in lookin like an acceptable counterpart to his charismatic, showy brother. But now? He’ll realistically be here in this kitchen till the time of the party, so he’ll show up lookin a lil rough. Effort that should’ve gone into his looks is not being put into his food.  If Atsumu complains, Osamu will not hesitate to shove an onigiri up his-

It’s whatever. It’s not like he has anyone he needs to impress there anyways. He’s just the onigiri twin tonight. 

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The party is in full swing when Osamu arrives. But unlike Atsumu’s usual parties, the music wasn’t blaring- it’s festive and moderate. And despite being ‘party’ attire, everyone seems a little less scandalous. I guess that’s natural when some business representatives and officials from the volleyball world are also present. Unfortunately, this does mean that Osamu is the most underdressed, but he’s come to terms with it. 

But knowing his brother, there’s no way a Miya party would be fully professional. There has to be some element of childishness or stupidity somewhere in this party-

And Osamu gets his answer when he looks up. 

Mistletoe. And lots of it. It’s not everywhere everywhere. But there’s more than one, and they are seemingly strategically placed. 

Osamu chuckles. Leave it to his brother to try and start shit. All this means is that he has to be careful to not end up in the wrong spot with some random person. He’ll be fine. 

Giant container filled with onigiri in hand, he maneuvers his way to the kitchen, nodding and smiling at his acquaintances as he goes. As he’s about to step onto the cold tile of the kitchen, he stops dead in his tracks. 

Fuck his brother. 

He didn’t say anything about you being here. Somebody’ll have to stop him from slugging his asshat of a twin across the face. 

“SAMMMMUUUU!!!!!” Speak of the devil. 

Atsumu slings his arm over his twin’s shoulder,  a cup in his other hand.

“Are ya drunk?” 

“Huh? No. Gotta keep it together! I’m the host after all.” Atsumu smiles wide, rather stupidly. 

“Great. If yer sober, that means I can beat the ever livin’ shit outta ya and yer gonna remember.” 

“Oi, oi, what did I do!? Ya just got here!” Fear shined Atsumu’s bright eyes. 

“If you could like, not beat my boyfriend up, I’d appreciate it a bit, Samu-kun,” a female voice gently chimes in. 

“Homura-chan, hello.” Osamu’s shoulders relax as his brother’s level-headed girlfriend pops up in between the two, giving Osamu a side hug only to watch Atsumu pout. 

“Homura…” Atsumu’s whine is enough for her to placate him with a tight hug, but she continues to face Osamu. 

“Why do you wanna kill him this time? Not that you’re wrong for wanting to. I’m just curious.”

“Hey!”

“He didn’t tell me they were gon be here.” Osamu’s eyes shift to you, laughing in the kitchen, talking to Hinata and Bokuto, while filling cups with hot chocolate. 

“Oh I thought you were gonna yell at him for not telling you about the onigiris till this morning.”

“That too.”

“HEY!” 

“But I guess it’s my fault they’re here. I invited them, they are my best friend after all. But I should have told you. I’m sorry, Samu.”

“No, no. Its fine Homura-chan. I just…” 

Osamu doesn’t know how to verbalize it. He’s had a crush on you since 2nd year, and it didn’t go anywhere even through college. You two knew each other pretty well, and he almost asked you out. Emphasis on almost. Being honest, he abandoned ship when he saw some guy kissing you after class one day- he figured he had waited for too long. He cut off communication with you soon after, despite your attempts to reach out. Homura had time and time again reminded Osamu that you didn’t hate him, and he did trust her. But that didn’t help him shake off the feeling you did, and always would, resent him. 

It also did not help that his stomach jumped the moment he heard your beautiful laugh resonate in the kitchen, or that his face heated up when he saw you warmly hug your cup of hot chocolate, sipping it so gently. So cute. 

He’s still whipped. Fuck. 

Homura nudges his shoulder, one hand intertwined with Atsumu’s. “We’re not gonna make you talk to them-”

“maybe...” adds in Atsumu.

“-But if they come up to ya, maybe it won’t be the worst thing.”

Osamu looks down, tightly gripping the strap attached to his container. “Okay,” he quietly agrees.

Atsumu slaps his brother’s shoulder with a smile and comments, “ya know where my clothes are, grab em if ya need em” before taking his leave to go entertain other guests.

“I’m assuming you have more containers?” Homura asks, standing by Osamu’s side.

“70 onigiris definitely do not fit in here.” Osamu smiles with his quip, and she smiles back. 

“Figured. I’ll help ya grab the rest. Go and put that down first.” She heads towards the front door, leaving him in the doorway. 

He takes a deep breath before recomposing himself, restoring his classic blank n’ bored expression. He strides into the kitchen, placing the black container down softly and attracts eyes in the process, including yours. He feels your soft gaze somehow dig into the back of his head once he swiftly turns around, walking away back to the front door. As he steps back into the winter breeze, he’s met with Homura’s knowing gaze. 

“They’re single, ya know.” 

Osamu huffs out cold hair, eyes closing at the sting of the wind. And somehow, the cold sting filling his lungs eased the fear in his stomach. 

“I look like shit.”

“Atsu said you could take his clothes. Let’s go pick somethin’ nice out for ya.” 

This is gonna be a long night. 

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

Osamu sits himself on the couch, a glass of champagne in one hand. Atsumu’s maroon button-up faintly smells like his signature cologne, and although he usually hates it, something about it helps Osamu channel his brother’s cockiness confidence, which feels very helpful right about now. 

But the confidence he’s tryna channel can only do so much. Suna and Akaashi are both worried as they watch Osamu space out mid conversation. Its far from normal. Suna knows exactly what’s on his best friend’s mind, while Akaashi is astute enough to make a guess. 

“Myaa-sam.” Akaashi gently calls to Osamu. No response. 

So Suna gives him a nice kick. 

“Oi!” Osamu rubs his shin. 

“Talk to them, before ya go crazy and take us all down with ya,” Suna’s tone is flat and bored, but the intensity of the statement is clear. 

“I dunno…” 

“Myaa-sam, don’t you think it's worth a try?” Akaashi’s approach is different, soft and coaxing. 

“Ya know how awkward it’s gonna be?” His leg is bouncing now.

He wants to. Very badly. But he can’t. It might only make things worse. 

“It’s only awkward if ya make it awkward. And that’s comin’ from me. Ya know, from both of our personal experiences, waiting too long is the worst mistake you can make.” Suna turns his gaze back to the kitchen, wistfulness is his voice. 

“We fucked up. But yer gettin’ a second chance. Don’t do it again.” 

Osamu knows Suna’s pain. He knows he’s right. 

“How the hell do I even start?” 

Suna’s gaze shifts to something, or someone, else before quickly locking eyes with Akaashi. 

“Don’t run.” He then gets up wordlessly and walks away. 

Akaashi brushes his pants off before standing, a small smile resting on his face. 

“Just remember Myaa-sam, you’ll only regret the things you don’t do. It’s best to be honest,” and with that, Akaashi also walks away. 

As Osamu’s eyes trace Akaashi’s path of escape, his eyes are caught by you, happily bounding towards him- a smile on your face and onigiri in hand. 

Yeah, that’s you for sure. Osamu is caught between the nerves in his stomach and the fuzziness in his mind as you come up to him. 

“Osamu, hello! Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, L/N.”

“Can, can I sit here?”

Don’t run. 

“Yeah.”

As you sit down, he notes the distance, he notes how your arms are in front of you, he notes your smile, and he notes how your eyes shine. He notes how cute you look with the onigiri tightly held in your hands. 

“Your onigiri’s are amazing! I always knew you were a great cook, but I’m so sad I never got to try them before!”

“Thank you, L/N. These definitely aren’t my best, Tsumu didn’t tell me I needed to make em till this mornin’ so… I was worried they weren’t as good.”

A lie. He knows they’re not bad. But he wants you to think they can be much better. 

“If this is bad then I’ll definitely have to come by and try more! Because this is the best onigiri I’ve ever had. But maybe that’s because you’re the one who made em.” You quickly move on from your comment by taking a giant bite out of your onigiri, and Osamu hopes that you don’t see how intensely his face heats up. 

Are ya, flirting? With him? Nah, yer just being you, all nice and all. But that doesn’t do anything to mitigate how much you’ve just stroked his ego. 

“Sounds like classic Atsumu, to forget to tell ya something important. What was your day like? Having to prep all this so fast.” You look up at him, expectantly, eagerly ready to listen to him.

Your undivided attention does illegal things to his heart, ya know. 

But just like that, you two fall into your usual pace, as if y’all had never stopped talking in the first place. He tells you stories, you add in charismatic quips, you both share laughs, and slowly the gap between you two closes. Osamu’s hand is now empty of any glasses and lounges against the back of the chair right by your head. You, on the other hand, have your legs pulled up under you, your knees gently pushing against his thigh. 

“Oh my gosh I should be at more Black Jackals games from now on, this sounds amazing,” you say as you wipe a tear from your eye after laughing too hard. 

“If yer goin, lemme know, I can keep ya company,” Osamu lets the words fall from his mouth before he processes what he’s saying. 

You pause, soaking in his words. “Really?”

Now it’s his turn to process his offer. “Uh.. only… if yer interested-”

“I’d love that.” You smile at him, excitement clear in your voice. 

As Osamu indulges himself in the sight of your smile, he realizes that some rice clung to the corner of your face. Out of instinct and enabled by proximity, his hand resting in his lap reaches out to you. His hand caresses your jaw while his thumb drags against the corner of your mouth, down over your bottom lip. Out of shock, you could do nothing but stare at him as his eyes meet yours. 

In this moment, in this place, time has stopped. Osamu has one thought on his mind as he thumbs at your lips. 

I need to kiss them. Now.

But then he didn’t. 

Osamu sharply retracts his hand, a “ah, sorry,” running off his tongue. 

“You’re, you’re fine.” You look down, flustered. “I’ll, be right back.” Osamu sighs and feels his heart start to sting as you walk away, head lowered. 

Fuck me. I fucked up again, didn’t I? I just didn’t want to do anything they didn’t want. 

 Osamu snaps back to reality as he feels a hard slap against the back of his head. 

He’s ready to fight when he turns around, only to see Homura and Atsumu behind the couch. 

“The fuck was that, Samu?” Atsumu aggressively yell whispers. 

“What doya mean!” He knows what Atsumu means. He hates admitting Tsumu is right, but he can’t admit that. 

Homura’s disappointed glare quiets him down. “Don’t do anything you don’t want to, Osamu. But if you want it, you can’t keep running away. And don’t lead them on either, that ain’t fair.” 

“I didn’t know if they wanted to…” Hasn’t that always been the problem? Osamu is a confident guy. He pulls a lotta people, pretty consistently too. But you were different, always had been. Osamu never wanted to hurt you, never wanted to make you uncomfortable. Never wanted to ruin your friendship. But in trying to do that, once it was too late, he knew that’s exactly what he did. And he couldn’t find it in himself to do that again. 

“They want it. I know my best friend. They want you as much as you want them, headass. So if you’re not gonna make a move, I will.” With that, Homura turns on her heels and walks away, Atsumu glaring at his brother while his girlfriend pulls him along. 

That’s definitely a threat. What does it mean? Who knows! But better to not find out.

Osamu’s eyes scan the room and he finds Suna leaning up against a wall, Akaashi standing next to him. Suna’s lazy gaze makes contact with Osamu’s for a moment before closing while sipping at his hot chocolate. Akaashi’s squint also feels more piercing in this moment. 

My boys are talkin’ shit about me? Incorrect, Samu. In case you have not realized, your boys are not the type to talk in the first place. 

I deserve it this time though. He rubs the back of his neck as he stands up to stretch. 

You do regret the things you don’t do. Dammit Akaashi. Time to talk it out. 

Osamu strides through the house tryna find you. He finds you stepping down the stairs, wiping at your face. His heart shatters and he really wants nothing but to hug you. But he resists, mind determined. 

“L/N.”

“Osamu! Hi um… I’m so sorry if I’ve been bothering you.” 

“L/N.”

“I’ll just let you go, I don’t wanna make you anymore uncomfortable.”

“Y/N.” Osamu grabs your arm as you try and walk away and gently tugs you to face him. “Please. Can we talk?” 

You pause, take a deep breath, and then turn to him, eyes still ensuring him that he has your undivided attention. 

With butterflies fluttering in his stomach, he calmly speaks. “I like you.”

Your eyes widen.

“I like you a lot. Since 2nd year-”

“In college?”

“High school.” 

You shudder and tears pool in the corners of your eyes. Instinct takes over Osamu as he pulls you forward with all his weight, throwing you against his chest as he wraps his arms around you. 

“I’m sorry I never told ya,” he whispers to you as he rocks you side to side, your face buried in his chest and your arms tight around his back. 

“I’ve always been so scared of, hurtin ya. You were one of my close friends, and I didn’t wanna mess it up over feelings. I didn’t wanna lose ya.” 

You nuzzle against his chest as he feels you start to shake.

“But when I saw that guy kissin ya one day, I thought… I thought I lost you anyways. I realized I waited too long and that I made a mistake. And then I proceeded to do everythin’ I never wanted to do, I hurt ya and I fucked up our friendship.”

“Osamu, I never wanted him to kiss me.” Your voice cracks. 

“...What?” His eyes go wide with concern and confusion. 

“He kissed me outta the blue. I thought we were just friends but he didn’t see it that way. I was just being myself, though. But right after that I told him there was someone else I liked.” 

Osamu internally hits himself. Maybe he should just ask Atsumu to punch him. How could he be so fuckin’ stupid? 

“I was gonna confess to you after that, but that’s when you dipped on me. I didn’t know what I did, and Homura told me to talk to you and find out for myself- she said it’d be fine if I talked to you, and that I should learn to communicate with you but I… I didn’t reach out. That’s my fault.”

Osamu pulls you closer to him, crushing you as much as he could. It’s his turn to shed a few tears, in frustration and pain. He coulda been with you all this time, but he was being a headass. Maybe Homura should punch him instead. 

“I’m...I’m so so sorry Y/N. I missed ya so much.” He cradles you in his arms, a calming (self-calming) sigh falling through his lips. 

“I’ve missed you too, Samu.”

You two look at each other for a good, long moment before small smiles crawl onto your faces. Osamu pulls you against him once more. 

“Let’s try this again. I wanna get it right this time.”

“Sounds good to me.” You say, sniffles stopping and giggles rising out of your chest. 

He buries his nose into the top of your head drawing in the sweet smell of your shampoo while his hands grab onto your fluffy sweater. 

“So cute! NOW KISS.” You and Osamu jolt out of your hug when Atsumu barks. All Osamu’s (and your) friends had now come to look at you two, smiles all around. 

Akaashi smiles fondly. Suna smiles lazily, and your favorite dumb Black Jackals (Bokuto and Hinata), who were unaware of any history between you two, are now in shock while also smiling like crazy. 

“Get it, Mya-samm!” Bokuto cheers out, causing everyone to erupt into laughter. 

“Wait, wait!” Atsumu runs down the hall, jumps, and then runs right up to his twin. He then proceeds to hold a mistletoe right above yours and Osamu’s head. 

“ I’ve been waitin’ for this shit to happen for Ion even know how many years. No chickenin’ out of it this time.” 

“Wasn’t planning on it, jackass.” 

Osamu’s hands find their way to your cheeks, gently caressing it with his fingers running up and down your jaw. His eyes take their time inspecting every inch of your face, mentally mapping every beautiful feature that adorns you. With the fire hot in his stomach and his lips aching, he pulls your face to meet his, lips gently massaging yours, telling you everything he had said earlier all over again, but this time with his actions. 

He likes you. A lot. For years. And he’s missed you so much. 

He slows the kiss down, taking his time to let you feel his lips against yours. When your hands reach up to hold his face he can’t help but try and pull you closer. 

As he pulls away after a mere 30 seconds, which did indeed feel like forever, his adrenaline is pumping and his smile is uncontrollable. The whooping and hollering slowly starts to die down, not that either of you heard it while so focused on the other. 

Osamu’s eyes find Suna’s. Suna has his camera out, as per usual, but his face has a small smile on it, and he nods to his best friend. With that, he nudges Akaashi and they walk back to to the family room. 

“Alright alright let’s get going boys. We have games that need to be played.” Homura grabs Bokuto and Hinata by the arm and collar (respectively) after giving a look to you. 

In that moment, Atsumu winked at Osamu while doing the ‘okay’ sign with his hands before walking to the room with everyone else. 

It was a signal the two had established way back in high school, when he and Homura started dating. It was their nonverbal sign of permission to the other twin for guaranteed privacy- which was important in a household of shared rooms and shared, well, everything. 

“What now Samu?” You look up at him, tugging him closer now that everyone else was gone. 

“I’m not done with ya just yet.” He smiles down at you, his eyes mischievous. 

You tilt your head in confusion. 

“I’m throwin ya over my shoulder, okay?” 

“Yes but why-” 

With that, Osamu sweeps you off the floor and throws you over his right shoulder easily.

“I messed up for years of my life, and now I have to make up for lost time. I told ya I’m not done with ya just yet.” 

Osamu proceeds to carry you up the stairs, giggles falling from your mouth. 

He’s gonna make sure you know much he really likes you. He’ll shower you in so much love, there won’t be a doubt left in your mind. 

He promises.

Epilogue- the next day

As the Black Jackals all slept like logs in their rooms, the smell of pancakes and coffee filled the air, attracting some of the other guests.

Some of the other boys, Suna, Akaashi, and Osamu, had all slept over, and were the among the first to find their way to the kitchen. 

“Samu, did Y/N get home ok?” Homura asks him while flipping some pancakes at the stove. 

Rubbing his eyes as he approaches her with a cup of coffee in hand, he nods. “Happy n’ safe.” 

“I’m very glad.”

“Homura-chan, I have a question for ya.” 

“Yes?”

“You knew both of our sides of the story from a long time ago. Why did ya never say anythin’? I’m not mad but I’m tryna figure it out.”

She smiles before saying, “It didn’t feel right. I love you both. A lot, obviously. But I think we both know intervening can... make things worse. A lot worse.”

A shared memory flashes through their minds. 

“And on top of that, I don’t think it would’ve solved the real issue both of you had. I wanted y’all to be happy in a relationship, but that meant y’all would have some barriers to cross. Y’all needed to grow before you could work as a couple. So I figured time would do its work.” 

“Although!!” Atsumu’s bright voice cuts in as he marches into the kitchen, wrapping his girlfriend in his arms, “us not telling you they were coming yesterday was 100% planned.” 

“And not telling me about onigiris?”

“Yeah that was intentional. Had to keep ya away from the house long enough.” 

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill ya, Tsumu.” 

A/N: I hope y’all enjoyed! The ambiguity with Suna, Osamu, and Homura was intentional, so stay tuned!!!

[kuiinncedes]

PROMPT LIST? cheerio!tina & skank!quinn, angst #37, quinntina ofc

yes prompt list!! sorry this took so long, thanks sm for prompting sim <33

some pre-notes: first that wow this got long again 😂 2398 words (before probably some edits in the tumblr post editor) *oops i did it again*

1 2 3 these are my other three (very short) “installments” for this “verse” i guess 🤪 i wouldn’t say it’s required to read them tho i think everything is pretty understandable 🥰

this also got a little anti rachel lol 🥴 and anti schue but like yeah and i think that’s it 😗

Angst 37: “Lie to me. I don’t care what you say, just lie to me. Make me feel okay again.”

--

Glee club has been going well… all things considered.

Including the fact that Quinn’s crush on Tina only grows, that Rachel Berry still doesn’t seem to warm up to her and Kurt’s presence in the choir room, that the teacher really kind of sucks and apparently only Kurt and Quinn see it, that most of the other members are still wary around them - around Quinn.

But not Tina. Tina, who’s one of the most popular girls in school, not actually head of the Cheerios but probably the most well-liked, and there’s a reason. Tina is the first to welcome her and Kurt to the glee club after their audition, the first to make an effort to befriend them. She talks to Kurt about fashion, and Kurt is hesitant to bring down his facade but Quinn can tell how much he loves it, how much he’s missed talking about something that brings him so much joy. Even with his temporary and purposely limited wardrobe situation, he’s talked Quinn’s ear off about the things he wants to do and wear in New York City; she doesn’t understand much of it so she’s glad Tina does.

And she talks to Quinn. Tina actually talks to Quinn like… like she’s a person, just another student at this school, not Quinn Fabray, half of the most cold and closed-off duo that walks the halls, ex-most popular girl in school, Quinn Fabray with an unspeakable history, unspeakable in that Quinn will have consequences for those who speak about it. 

It’s dramatic, she knows. But it’s part of her untouchable image at this piece of shit school with its horrible students. 

Not Tina. Tina’s not horrible.

(Get a grip, Fabray.)

It feels like she and Kurt are on the edge of a precipice with glee club. Tina likes them, Blaine is nice enough to them (Kurt seems to like him, too), Rachel isn’t very welcoming, everyone else mostly ignores them. (Which is fine - preferable, really.)

They sway in the back, they sing, they do their part. And Quinn has missed singing, so it’s not all bad, she supposes.

But Quinn can feel the tension, the others’ hesitation whenever she and Kurt walk in to sit in the back, their unspoken thoughts, loud in their silence, their barely hidden glances.

She feels like she’ll tumble from the edge with one push.

One day, Tina sits beside Quinn and she can’t stop her jump of surprise. Tina just shoots her a small smile and moves her chair a bit further away, but Quinn finds herself wishing she would scoot the other way instead.

Tina keeps sitting by Quinn, and Quinn has no idea why.

She ignores the way her heart speeds up a little every time she makes eye contact with Tina, the way Kurt smirks knowingly at her but then returns to staring at the back of Blaine Anderson’s head, the way she can’t stop letting her eyes wander over to Tina every time Mr. Schuester starts talking about something she has no interest in (which she admits is very often).

Kurt had said glee would give her the chance to talk to Tina. And he was right - she’s made conversation with Tina multiple times (mostly initiated by Tina, though), and she would say they’re friends. Tina has said they’re friends and she definitely didn’t freak out to Kurt about it.

Kurt she called me her friend holy shit -

Inside voice, honey. Your gay is showing.

Shut - we’re literally outside. Let’s talk about you and Blaine.

Nope, fuck you, walking away now.

Kurt - wait! She - but she called me her friend - Kurt -

Besides Kurt, Tina is probably the person she’s closest with. Which still doesn’t say much - she’s not close to anyone besides Kurt…

But she wants to be, she thinks as she watches Tina perform an upbeat solo, a song she doesn’t recognize, but she watches her - how alive she looks, how good she sounds. It’s not like Quinn hasn’t heard her sing in the months since she’s joined, but if she had it her way, Tina would be the only one singing in this entire group. (She would insist on highlighting others, though, so Quinn adds herself and Kurt to that list. Not that they would ever get a solo.)

“All right, guys,” Mr. Schuester says. Kurt nudges Quinn with his elbow to get her to pay attention, and she shoots him a half-hearted glare. 

“So that was everyone who signed up to audition for a solo at regionals,” he continues. “I’ll let you know who we’re featuring by tomorrow. So I’ll see you then!”

“Who do you think is gonna get it?” Kurt asks as they leave, walking out to the parking lot. 

“Um…” 

“Right, I forgot, you’re too busy staring at Tina to know what’s going on in glee.”

Quinn scoffs. “I know what’s going on in glee.”

Kurt gives her a questioning look.

“I do! Sure, I didn’t know about the auditions, but I know Rachel’s probably getting the solo, even though it should go to Tina.”

“Anyone could tell you that.”

Quinn shoves Kurt lightly, a smile spreading across her face as they get into his car. Quinn’s been spending more time at Kurt’s lately - Quinn’s parents don’t give a fuck about her - they did the bare minimum allowing her to stay when she was pregnant and they’ve used up all their good parenting cards, it seems. She’s infinitely grateful for Burt Hummel, because if the kids and some of the teachers at school are going to treat her and Kurt like shit, at least there’s someone in their corner.

-

Completely unsurprisingly, Mr. Schuester announces Rachel as the soloist for regionals the next day, after years of the same thing, from what Quinn has heard.

Surprisingly, Tina isn’t in the room. Although, Quinn thinks, she wouldn’t be either if she knew what the outcome was going to be. And everyone knew what the outcome was going to be.

But Mercedes pushes back against his decision anyway, Santana complains, Blaine and Brittany try to placate, Kurt watches Blaine, Rachel jabbers about her destiny as the New Directions soloist or something, Quinn sits and wonders about the empty chair next to her. (She also wonders what would be the easiest way to get Rachel to shut the fuck up.)

She’s not paying attention, letting everyone’s arguing fade into the background. She barely registers Rachel saying shrilly, “We’re supposed to be a family!”

“Not much of a family when you’re the only one who can have anything good!” Mercedes snaps.

“I bet you wouldn’t react like this if Kurt or Quinn got the solo! Like they would even deserve it! At least I belong here, they don’t even - ”

“Would you shut - ” Mercedes starts at the same time Santana yells back, “Quinn doesn’t need a family, she’s a mother!”

And she knows - Quinn knows - that Santana just does this, she says shit and hurts people and this is just that and it’s whatever but -

Suddenly Quinn is in sophomore year again, hearing the taunts of her classmates behind her back and to her face. Suddenly she’s in sophomore year again, somehow invisible in the halls but also the only person anyone was looking at, pointing at, laughing at. She’s in sophomore year again and teachers do nothing to help her, no one but Kurt bothers to notice anything but the fact that she’s pregnant. And they laugh, and they taunt, and they stare.

She’s a mother. 

There it is. There’s the edge of the cliff that she has been fighting for balance on in this stupid club for months. 

Like they would even deserve it.

They don’t belong here.

And Quinn’s falling.

“I need to go, meet you at your car,” she says roughly to Kurt, who it seems hasn’t been paying attention at all, more focused on committing to memory the details of Blaine Anderson from halfway across the room. Quinn storms out and the arguing continues behind her.

Quinn slams the door to the bathroom as she barges in and all at once, sees that Tina is here (Tina is here?), realizes that she herself is crying, trying not to make noise and she just throws her bag on the floor and sinks down against a wall, hands around her knees and head leaned back. It’s too fucking much.

“Quinn?” Tina asks gently, so gently and Quinn watches as Tina kneels down in front of her. “Are you okay?”

Quinn wipes at her face, laughing harshly. “Yeah. Fine.”

Tina looks at her, not moving but just watching her. Quinn thinks it must be uncomfortable for her to kneel on the bathroom floor in her Cheerios outfit. Quinn thinks that Tina shouldn’t care about her, she should just leave, save her knees from the cold tile.

She doesn’t leave. 

After a moment, Tina says, “Hey, so, you don’t have to tell me anything… but I’m here if you need to.”

Quinn’s not actively crying anymore, grey smudges on her fingers where her makeup was wiped off. Her face probably looks like a nightmare, but she’s too exhausted to care. She leans her head back again and fixes her gaze just above Tina’s head, at the ceiling, the harsh bathroom lights piercing her vision through the tears in her eyes.

“I just - ” I guess I’m talking, she thinks, “Santana said something dumb about me being a mother and that’s what I heard sneered at me every day for months and even now still… and I’m not…”

Quinn trails off, looking at Tina again who nods, encouraging her to continue. She swallows and averts her gaze again.

“…and Rachel said something dumb about Kurt and I not belonging and not deserving it but she’s Rachel and I don’t care about the shit she says - I usually don’t. But her saying that - ” she scoffs. “Newsflash, Rachel, we don’t fucking belong anywhere.”

That was painfully made obvious sophomore year, with Quinn’s exit from the Cheerios, from popularity. It was obvious when no matter what, she couldn’t get it back, any of it. It was obvious when she and Kurt were the only ones to really notice each other and help each other. It was obvious when the only choice they had, the one they took, was becoming this and isolating themselves. It was obvious when the only chance they had was each other.

As if she needs someone else to tell her that, to rub it in.

It’s been building up, she realizes, this feeling, the hatred, the estrangement and isolation. She wonders if Kurt feels the same, how close he is to the edge, or if he’s even on a precipice like she is at all.

Quinn’s falling, she doesn’t know when or how it will end and she just wants -

“Lie to me,” she says to Tina, teeth clenched and voice tired. “I don’t care what you say, just lie to me. Make me feel okay again.”

Falling, falling, falling - 

Quinn thinks bitterly that she should be used to it after her falls from popularity.

Tina takes her hands gently and squeezes them in reassurance. “I know this might just seem like words, and I’m not lying - you do belong. Both of you. You belong in glee club. You belong here.”

Quinn just swallows again, letting the words wash over her, and in the back of her mind, the part that’s not thinking about - everything, she marvels at the fact that Tina is holding her hands, and Tina’s skin is soft, and Tina’s words and actions feel genuine.

Falling… slowing.

Lie to me.

“We don’t belong. Everyone hates us,” Quinn mutters.

“I don’t,” Tina says, smiling a little. “I know we can be pretty difficult, the glee club, but we really don’t think that. Rachel might - if I’m being honest, I think she’s the one who doesn’t belong in glee club, for a multitude of reasons - but it really is supposed to be a safe, welcoming space. I’m really sorry we haven’t been able to do that for you.”

Quinn shrugs. “You have,” she admits softly. 

Tina looks like she doesn’t know what to say to that. Quinn pushes herself up against the wall, a little awkwardly, hands still intertwined with Tina’s, who squeezes again. “I’ll talk to her,” Tina says. “Rachel. I’ve been getting fed up with her shit, anyway. I’ve been needing to talk to her.”

“Okay,” is all Quinn can think to say, quietly uttered, her voice a little choked. “You don’t have to - ”

“No, I do,” Tina says. “And I want to. Mr. Schue lets her get away with way too much.”

Quinn huffs a laugh and Tina grins slightly, then withdraws her hands and pulls them through her ponytail, suddenly looking almost nervous. Quinn drops her hands in her lap and plays with her rings. Now that Quinn’s calmed down, her proximity-to-Tina-Cohen-Chang-induced nerves are back in full force. 

And maybe she isn’t falling anymore.

“Why weren’t you there today?” she asks after a moment.

Tina’s lips clench into a line. “Knew Rachel was getting the solo. I don’t know, I didn’t want to deal with that today, you know? Three years of the same shit, I’m just tired of it.”

Quinn hums in understanding. She can imagine.

“Are you okay? What do you say we… get out of here? Go somewhere?” Tina asks a little awkwardly, wincing slightly as she stands up and extends a hand for Quinn. She takes it and lets Tina pull her up.

“I’m actually… going home with Kurt, ” - but going somewhere with Tina - Kurt will understand - “actually, yeah, sure. I’ll let him know,” Quinn answers, not letting herself doubt the decision, pulling her phone from her pocket and quickly typing out a text and sending it to Kurt, who immediately responds.

omg did u actually talk and get a date with tina cohen chang

Quinn replies, fuck you, i’m leaving bye

are you okay?

yeah, fine i’ll talk to you later

ok have fun on your date ;)

yeah 🖕

Tina bounces a little and shoots her a smile when she puts her phone away. “Awesome. There’s this coffee shop that I think you’ll love - ”

“It’s not the Lima Bean, is it?”

Tina laughs. “Of course not. Barely anyone knows about this place, at least from school, so I really love it there.”

Tina grabs Quinn’s hand again and they head out of the school, Quinn ignoring how she can feel her pounding heartbeat against Tina’s skin. Hopefully Tina doesn’t notice.

*****

some notes for after 🤪

ok so i don’t really know why i used the “she’s a mother” line and idk if i’m just overthinking it but i’m not saying that scene was bad or anything ?? idk lol it was just on my mind i guess so i put it in slkdgfj (basically,, not related to the canon scene lol i just like adding canon lines 😗)

i think the point i was trying to make if any was that quinn doesn’t really have any family (in this au) so yeah it’s kind of a sensitive point

i did say this was very similar to my previous werewolf!quinn and vampire!tina fic but i’m okay with it now tbh,,, you know like it’s an alternate universe and they just help each other in all universes :’) yeah

i would love to continue this but i don’t have the best track record with that lol so we’ll see 😂

[willow-salix]

Hog-Malarkey

Just a little (I’m lying about the little) thing that @olliepig​ and I have thrown together for you all to enjoy. The Secret Santa gift exchange took care of Christmas so we’ve got New Year covered. Here’s a little snippet of the first half (we’ll post the second half tomorrow), you can read the rest on Ao3 by clicking this link. 

“Remind me again, just why are we here?” asked John with a shiver as the car made its way through the streets toward the centre of the city.

“Because Penny was invited to some fancy party at the castle and invited Gordon and Cat, which somehow ended up with all of us getting dragged along just for good measure,” Scott grumbled from the front seat, ignoring the whack on the back of the head that could have come just as easily from Cat or Selene.

“Well I think it’s going to be fun,” declared Selene firmly with a defiant look at John, daring him to disagree with her. “It’s not often we get to spend time together off the island as a family and the least you boys can do is stop complaining.”

“It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s too early and I have far too much work to catch up on after Christmas, I fail to see why I had to be included on this little trip,” John muttered under his breath, crossing his arms  in an effort to keep warm. The driver had the heating on full blast but he could still feel the damp cold sneaking into every exposed gap on his person to freeze him down to his toes. 

“I’m looking forward to it,” Virgil piped up, a happy grin firmly fixed on his face. Scott shot a look at him that clearly warned him not to elaborate on that, on pain of death.

“Honestly, you men are so grumpy it’s ridiculous. I thought I’d married the only anti social one,” Selene said, ignoring  John's huff of protest, “but clearly not. This is a chance to have a break, maybe take in the sights and relax and all you're doing is complaining. If this is how it’s going to be then Cat and I will leave you at the hotel and have some fun on our own, won’t we, Tippy Toes?”

“Absolutely. If you boys want to be miserable then that's fine, but you’re not cramping our style. I’ve not been to Edinburgh for years and I’ve been looking forward to this so I’ll be damned if I’m letting some grumpy ass Tracys spoil it,” Cat finished with a flourish.

“OK, OK,” Scott placated her. “We’ll get checked in to the hotel, get some warmer clothes on and head out to see what the city has to offer. How does that sound, everyone?”

“That’s good for me,” Virgil smiled, nudging Alan as he peered out the window at the fairground attractions that were in the gardens below the castle. “Wanna go and see those, squirt?”

“I’m not a kid any more, Virgil,” grumbled Alan, trying hard to ignore the matching grins on his brothers’ faces as they watched him trying to reconcile his love for anything that spun him upside down with his desire to be seen as one of the adults. “But I guess it might be fun…”

“I’d just like to say, here and now, that I am NOT going on anything that spins fast or does that loopy loop shit, not unless you want me throwing up on your lap. We all remember what happened last time I let Alan and Gordon drag me onto a ride and we won’t be doing it again,” Selene told them firmly. 

Alan sniggered to himself, reminded of their trip to the theme park a few years before. “I promise we won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.”

“Good,” she huffed. “I need a relaxing break after the stress of dealing with you idiots the entirety of Christmas.”

“She’s just worried what she’ll blurt out this time if she goes on another ride,” Scott side whispered to Cat. “Last time she yelled for a divorce and they had only been dating four months but Grandma overheard and got all excited. They said they weren't ever getting hitched but now look, married and scowling all the time. I thought that only happened in TV shows.” He ducked and yelped when he received another smack around the head, confirming his suspicions that it had been Selene the first time too.

“I don’t think there is anything else she could yell out,” Cat whispered back. “Not unless she starts offering to sacrifice her first born to ensure her safety.”

“Don’t give Grandma more ideas,” Scott winked. “That would mean popping out a sprog first.”

“We can hear you, you know,” John hissed through chattering teeth, allowing Selene to wrap her arms around him in a bid to warm him up. Space was never like this, his suit kept him at the perfect temperature, space was quiet and calm and above all, didn't have his brothers there. This little trip was going to be a nightmare, he could feel it in his bones. 

“I know,” Scott assured him. “Doesn’t make it less true.”

“I think that's us here,” Cat called out, elbowing Scott in the ribs as they pulled up outside a grand looking old building right beside the castle, shutting down any further conversation. 

“Wow,” Selene whispered, her nose pressed against the window. “That really is a castle, an actual freaking castle. Bitch, we’re gonna be princesses!”

“Hell yeah, we are,” Cat grinned back at her as John and Scott exchanged a look of pure terror, wondering what was about to be unleashed onto the world.

“I wonder if  they have decent bathtubs here?” Selene pondered, ignoring the sniggers that echoed around the car. It wasn’t her fault that Scott had told everyone about the room cleaning bill that Penelope had discreetly passed on to him after she and John had accidentally flooded a bathroom the morning after Penelope’s charity ball.

"I meant so John could warm up!" 

"Sure you did," Scott drawled, not sounding like he believed her at all. 

“Oh look,” Virgil called loudly, pointing out of the window, clearly having never been more thankful to see his younger brother in his life before. “There’s Gordo.”

John frowned, catching sight of the strained look on the aquanauts face through the rain speckled windows of the car. “He doesn’t look happy.”

“That’s not a good sign,” Scott agreed, throwing open the door before the driver could make his way around the car to open it for them, waving his aside impatiently. “Gordon, what's wrong?” 

Selene exchanged a look with Cat, one eyebrow raised, Cat shrugged in return, a small smile forming as she watched Scott striding across the pavement. It was always interesting to watch the sudden shift that took place inside Scott whenever his bro sense tingled. He could go from teasing to serious in the blink of an eye whenever he felt like one of his family needed him.

“I know that smile,” Selene whispered to the other woman, “should we be expecting another room cleaning bill?”

“He’s just so damn sexy when he does that,” Cat sighed dreamily.

Selene cast a glance at John who had apparently forgotten that he was cold and grumpy to join Scott in his interrogation, a frown creasing his forehead as he shifted effortlessly into work mode. “Yeah, I'm with ya, girl.” 

Slipping her arm through Selene’s, Cat towed her along as they scurried to catch up with the rest of the family, Virgil and Alan having exited while they had been eyeing up their men.

“So she was sick right there and then?” they heard Alan ask, his eyes as round as saucers, as the girls joined the huddle of Tracy that had formed.

“In the ice bucket,” Gordon confirmed with a sad nod.

“She didn’t go on any of those rides, did she?” Alan asked. “Because if that’s the reaction I’m definitely not sitting next to Sel on anything ever again.”

“Hey!” Selene protested, insulted on her stomach's behalf. Alan just shrugged, unconcerned, he'd only said the truth. 

“And you still don’t know what it was that caused it?” Virgil asked, trying valiantly to drag the conversation back to its original point, the medic in him wanting all the information. 

“No! One minute we were enjoying dinner the next she was bright red and honking like a goose whenever she tried to speak.”

“Definitely an allergic reaction,” Virgil agreed. “Any other symptoms?”

“Other than re-spackling half the bathroom from both exits and not coming out all night?”

Alan made a face that registered his disgust at his brother’s vivid description, he'd never look at the Lady the same again.

“Yes, other than that."

“Itchy, blotchy, pukey,” Gordon ticked off symptoms on his fingers like he was calling a register at Disneyland. “Swollen and dizzy. Nope, I think that’s about it.”

“Is that not enough?” Selene asked, her eyes widening in horror.

“Where is she now?” Cat asked, concerned for her best friend. Penelope was not one to be caught out in such a manner, she had very few allergies but always made sure that any chef was well informed before she dined, so this one had to be previously unknown.

“Parker took her home about an hour ago, she’s got the family doctor on standby waiting to meet her back at the manor.”

“So, does that mean we can all go home?” John asked hopefully.

Gordon shook his head. “She made me promise that we would represent her in her absence. Apparently someone from the Creighton-Ward family has been in attendance for the last two hundred years and we can’t let her down.”

“Well, if you promised I don’t see that we have a choice,” Virgil admitted.

“Oh, come on guys,” Gordon pleaded, seeing the looks of resignation on his family’s faces. “It won’t be that different to what we would have been doing already, we just have to be on our best behavior and follow a few more traditions, that's all.”

“Why do I feel like we’re going to regret this?” Scott groaned.  

               ***

“So you’re telling me now that we’ve all got to wear kilts?” Scott exclaimed, his displeasure written all over his face as he took in the five matching outfits that hung from a rail that had been wheeled into the shared living space of their suite. 

[tarithenurse]

Nightingale - 21

Fandom: Naruto Pairing: Hatake Kakashi &/x Fem!OC Contents: Some...niceness? Oh, that’s gotta be a mistake! Curious Naruto (that’s a warning all on its own). A/N: Work is fucked (not so noticeable during night shifts, though, and I (+ many colleagues) feel horrible about it all (we’re supposed to do rehabilitation but it’s bare basic care)...and so I’ve got a job interview tomorrow and I’m freaking OUT because I didn’t expect to be taken into consideration! ARGH! As usual, ASK or REBLOG for tag!

Ch. 21

Kakashi had refused to leave the woman behind at first. It wasn’t until the Hokage had stepped over and threatened with constant missions abroad that the blue nightingale finally snapped out of her stupor, glared at her protector, and told him not to be a bloody idiot that he accepted leaving her behind – and even then, his thoughts constantly sought her out.

He had not had the motivation to think of something for Team 7 to do as training, but he also knew he needed the distraction.

“Perhaps,” he had contemplated, “you could do better in the bell-test this time?”

Of course, Naruto had complained: “Why’s it always you get the easy part of holding on to things? It’s not fair!”

“You rather be the one defending the bells?” An idea had formed then. “Fine, you three will have to protect three bells from me...if you succeed saving just one, then there might be a prize -”

“Yipeee!”

“...if you fail twice, though...” he had let the threat hang in the air, knowing that would be plenty of motivation.

...

Dirty, tired, but happy. The three students’ chatter surrounds Kakashi, bringing an unseen smile to his face. Naruto’s recount of his apparently more amazing moves than anyone had witnessed is a high-speed noise compared to the more dignified analysis of the other two. Gotta remember this exercise, the sensei promises himself as he picks a stick from his unruly hair.

“Must admit...the first round was over so quickly, I thought you hadn’t even learned anything from it,” he teases, earning groans and contradictions in return.

“But we did it! I never give up!”

Sakura sighs. “We know, Naruto, now quit yelling!”

“Butbutbut! What do we win?!”

That stops all three students who look to their leader.

“Ah, right. I did promise something, didn’t I?” Oops, shouldn’t have let my attention slip at the end. “Well then, how does a stop at Ichiraku’s sound?”

Apparently, that sounds good to more than just Naruto who always can eat, and they set off towards the best ramen-bar in town.

He hears the angry voice before the student do, and though the distance still is too great to pick out the individual words it's clear from the tone that most must be threats of sorts. As a jōnin, it may not be his explicit task to investigate the matter – there's the local police corps for civilian crimes and misdemeanours – but the presence of a shinobi such as him tends to have a calming effect on any hotheads.

Skidding around the corner with the kids hot on his heels, the scenery in front of a bakery unfolds with theatrical clarity: the matron, standing on the stoop to her shop with a broom in hand and both arms and hair flying wild on the rage she's spewing; the crowd, a mix of customers from the bakery and passers by, simultaneously intrigued and appalled as they take in the drama; and finally the demure figure with the hands clasped before her and the cascade of blue hair obscuring the face that's lowered towards the sandy ground. No one, to stop the verbal abuse from the shop owner – although Kakashi doubts the newcomer has been allowed to walk around the Village without a shadow.

"Hai, what seems to be the issue here?" he interrupts gently, placing himself between the two women.

The baker smiles coldly. "About time," she fumes, "this...this girl has the audacity of asking for continuous employment even after the ANBU came this morning to ransack the room she was renting!"

"I believe there has been a verbal agreement between the two of you that part of the rent was payed in labour?" Glancing at Uguisu, it worries the jōnin that she's not raising her voice to speak up for herself.

"If I'd known she was a criminal then I'd ne-"

Kakashi fully turns to the woman. "Criminal?" His disapproval is palpable in the air. "If she was a criminal, then she wouldn’t be allowed to walk around freely anymore."

Tugging away a few of the errand strands which leaves white flour smeared across black hair, the baker glances at the surrounding people who do nothing to help her out. "Well...she's been lying to me about her identity...even disguising herself! If I'd had any idea then I wouldn't have rented the room to her!"

"Not everyone has the luxury to freely announce their presence wherever they go." He ignores the halfhearted attempt at a protest from behind him. "Now, for the rent...I believe you are owed?"

"Yes."

"Perhaps we can reach an arrangement...I'll be willing to supervise until the remainder of the debt has been payed off in the form of cleaning. Would that be acceptable?" Hesitantly, sure, but Kakashi wins the acceptance and only a slight huff when the baker finally returns to her business. "Alright. Nothing left to see here, people!"

The onlookers scatter slowly, muttering as they go but not daring to be too obvious in their curiosity while there still is a ninja present.

"You didn't have to do that," Uguisu points out softly.

Maybe not. "Where will you be staying now?" he deflects.

"A room at the dorms."

The trio of kids have edged closer, one of them cowering under a death glare from Sakura, proving that she at least has some tact and managed to stop the usual flow of obnoxious questions. Sasuke has stuffed the fists deep into his pockets and pretends a pebble is much more interesting, but their teacher is well aware that the kid is soaking up any and all information.

"We were headed to Ichiraku’s for a celebratory ramen dinner...want to come along?" Regret is plastered across her face, a shrug growing into a shake of the head, but Kakashi has made a decision. "My treat, of course, can't expect you to stick it out with the number one knucklehead there otherwise."

Her crooked smile alone would be enough for the man to live for.

Introductions are quickly managed on the way to Ichiraku, and though Uguisu dishes out an impressive amount of non-answers the kids stop pushing for information as soon as they get their food. Blue hair pushed to one side, the former mystery has laid claim to a seat at the end, allowing her to sit at an angle that grants a better view while her back is protected and Kakashi sits as a buffer between her and the kids.

"Celebration?" Mr. Ichiraku, the patron of the eatery, looks between the guests.

"Hai!" Somehow, Naruto manages to be talk and eat at the same time. "We beat Kakashi at his own game!"

It earns a smile from the chef who gladly engages with the kid.

The teacher glances to the added guest only to find her attention glued on Sakura. "Haruno-sama," Uguisu begins, "would it be possible for me to borrow your Academy books from before the Genin exam?"

The question silences everyone, underlining the sudden hectic stuttering from the girl in answer.

"Why do you need them, hey, lady?" Naruto demands, voicing the question everyone else is thinking.

Before satisfying their curiosity, the woman takes a sip of water, her brows wrinkling slightly as if she’s thinking of the best way to say whatever is on her mind. “Sarutobi Hokage has decided the best way to ensure my past training is by having me sit in with the Academy Recruits -”

“Whaaat?!”

“Shut up, Naruto!”

“- meanwhile my warden will plan an alternate chunin exam.” She bites softly into the bottom lip, momentarily lost in thought. “I suppose that’s for the best.”

To Naruto’s credit, he really has been trying to hold back for several seconds, but now the scratchy laughter escapes him in a sputter that makes his comrades cringe visibly. “Hahaaa! You’re gonna be learning with the kiddies! Eheheheeee-”

He’s efficiently silenced by Sakura once more. This time probably for longer as he’ll have to nurse an oncoming lump on his head.

Looking past Kakashi, the girl attempts a placating smile. “Hai, you can borrow them. And please excuse Naruto who’s a moron.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Let me get them right away!” The rose-haired girl rushes off before Uguisu can stop her, leaving three guests and a cook behind with a dazed boy.

[not-majestic-bluenicorn]

Crescent || Chapter 10

Fandom(s): ATEEZ

AU: Treasure Hunters

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Relationship: Everyone x Everyone, Established Hongjoong x Yunho

Language: English

Status: Ongoing

Chapter WC: 5,414 words

Warnings: Character Death, Stabbing, Fighting, Blood, Aliens, War, Funerals, Kidnapping, Attempted Kidnapping, Mentions of Child Abuse / Child Work, Explosions, Murder Attempt, Robbery, Homeless/Runaway Character, Torture, more will be added.

Chapter Warnings: Blood, Injuries (Dislocated shoulder), Torture (electrocution).

Summary:

"You don't make friends easily, do you?" Yunho asked.

"Why does that matter to you?" San immediately retorted, posture growing even more tense. Yunho raised his hands in an attempt to placate him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, it was just a question..." Yunho opened his eyes wide, not expecting this reaction from San. "I genuinely just want to talk to you, I've never seen you interact with anyone else from the crew..."

"You're worried about me, basically?" San asked, looking at him with distrust, but relaxing a little bit more.

"Yeah, you can put it that way." Yunho smiled, putting his hands down.

AO3

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Tagged: @angel0taiyo​

Jongho was lying on his bed, reading a book about other treasure myths and stories. Hongjoong had picked it up for him in the last stop they had made when it had caught his attention. He wasn't much of a reader, but with their hunt for the treasure, he had gotten interested in it. Jongho had never received a formal education, and so everything he knew had been learned from the workers that had taken care of him all of his life.

The reading was simple enough that he could understand it and enjoy it, but every once in a while he would stumble against a couple of words that he wasn't too sure of their meaning. Whenever this happened, he would ask the person closest to him. At that moment, the person was Mingi, who was sprawled on the bottom bunk bed, more asleep than awake. Jongho poked his head from over the railing on his bed and observed the taller man as he fought sleep.

"Mingi..." He called. If Mingi didn't answer, he would just let him sleep and go look for someone else.

"Hm?" Mingi replied back, eyes opening and meeting Jongho's gaze. "Oh, hey..." He yawned softly. "What's up?"

"Do you have any idea what these words could mean?" Jongho asked, passing him the book and using the bookmark to point at the words.

Jongho noticed as Mingi immediately tensed once he received the book. He put it on his lap and just stared at it blankly for a moment, eyes fixed at the point in the page marked by the bookmark. Jongho waited, patiently, maybe Mingi wasn't sure either and was trying to decipher them. He knew how much Mingi liked helping others, maybe he didn't want to disappoint Jongho.

Still, the seconds became minutes and nothing came from Mingi's mouth, and Jongho started to get worried. The truth was that Mingi couldn't read. He had been orphaned pretty early in his life and raised like most kids in an infirmary until he had had the age to work at the mines. The only education he had ever received was how to operate explosives. So as Mingi started at the words, he began to panic, and without realizing, he started to breathe heavily.

Jongho got off his bed and knelt in front of Mingi, grabbing his shoulders with both hands and shaking him softly, urging him to react. Mingi looked at him after a moment and Jongho took the book from his hands, throwing it away. He couldn't understand why Mingi had panicked like that, but that wouldn't matter until he calmed down.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Jongho asked, grabbing Mingi's face with one hand to make sure he was looking at him and was focused on something. "Follow my breathing, it's okay."

Mingi did as he was told, following Jongho's breathing as he looked into his eyes, unable to tear his eyes away. Little by little, his breathing returned to normal and he no longer felt like he was about to pass out. Jongho didn't let go of his face until he was sure Mingi wasn't going to faint in front of him.

"What happened just now?" He asked softly, when he felt like Mingi would be able to reply.

"I'm sorry," Mingi apologized, looking so regretful that anyone would think he had committed some sort of crime.

"Why are you sorry?" Jongho continued speaking in a soft voice to him, softly coaxing the answer out of Mingi.

"I'm sorry," Mingi repeated again, closing his eyes. "I don't know how to read, or write... I-I never learned, I'm sorry."

Jongho's eyes widened slightly before his expression softened once again. So that was the reason Mingi always refused to help when there were documents involved. It also explained why he hadn't wanted to order at the restaurant bar when they had gone, even though he had been staring hungrily at Jongho's food the rest of the night. Mingi didn't know how to read.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." Jongho reassured him, trying to come up with the right thing to say at a moment like that.

"It's pathetic, though, it's such a basic thing... and I can't do it." Mingi sighed, feeling worthless. A little voice in his head shaped like Wooyoung told him he wasn't, but he pushed that voice away, feeling tired and defeated.

"It's not pathetic, you're not pathetic," Jongho insisted, grabbing Mingi's hands. "It's not your fault that you didn't get the chance to learn. There's nothing wrong with you, you're perfect."

Mingi looked at Jongho with big eyes. He almost looked like he was about to cry, but didn't, deciding to hold it in instead because he didn't want to ridicule himself in front of Jongho more than he already had. 

"You do have the universal translator installed though, right? Those are supplied by the government." Jongho asked, wanting to make sure that the situation wasn't worse than it seemed. Mingi nodded. "Then I can try to teach you how to read and write, if you want. I'm sure the others would be willing to help as well."

"No!" Mingi raised his voice, startling Jongho. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, just- You can't tell anyone." Mingi insisted, looking a bit scared. "I don't want them to think badly of me."

"I'm sure they wouldn't," Jongho reassured him, but Mingi's expression told him that he just wasn't ready to believe him something like that. "But it is not my place to tell them anything, so I promise I won't."

"Thank you." Mingi smiled weakly, and Jongho smiled back at him.

"Don't worry about it, go to sleep now." Jongho leaned closer to ruffle Mingi's hair and Mingi stared at him.

His heartbeat picked up as he stared at Jongho from up close. No one had ever told him he was perfect, yet Jongho knew so much about him, about his imperfections, and he had not hesitated when he had looked Mingi in the eye and told him he was perfect. Jongho told him to rest well before getting off of his bed and going back to the top bunk.

Mingi could only stare at him. His heart was beating so fast and loud that it flooded his ears and he couldn't hear anything else. There was no way Jongho couldn't hear it too, but if he did, he had decided to spare Mingi the embarrassment and not talk about it. Mingi, too, decided to spare himself from the conflicts that came with feelings and just covered his head with a pillow and willed himself to sleep.

--

The next morning, Yunho felt so much better after spending that small moment with Hongjoong. He wasn't necessarily a stranger to sailing through space, but he had never before passed so much time on a vessel with no obvious destiny in sight. He could tell he wasn't the only feeling like that, though, so he knew he had to keep himself in high spirits to motivate the rest of the crew. Yunho did wonder though how Hongjoong wasn't absolutely exhausted of the whole thing yet. He suspected it was probably because he wanted to honor his brother, and nothing would stop him from doing just that.

As he paced around the deck, Yunho spotted San softly stretching on the opposite side. Yunho observed him with curiosity. Since the beginning of the journey, San had kept to himself for the most part; he didn't really speak with the rest of the crew members and was always locked with Hongjoong in the quarters just working on the map. Yunho had heard from other crew members that they found him intimidating.

San had never complained about how much time he spent working on the map, and there was no way to tell only by his expression if he was enjoying it or if he hated the whole thing. Hongjoong had become sort of close to him after spending so much time together, but other than that, no one ever talked to San. Yunho couldn't help but feel curious about him. Especially after what he had noticed when they had revealed the little bet they had going on with Hwanwoong and Siyeon.

To be fair, Yunho understood how people would sometimes be drawn to Hongjoong. He was just attractive in many ways. Yunho himself wasn't jealous, so he found it very amusing when other people showed interest in Hongjoong and then were surprised when they learned about Yunho. Which was funny, because they were hardly ever apart and they weren't secretive about their relationship either.

In a split second, and driven by curiosity, Yunho changed his route and walked towards San. San looked at him at first, but seemed to convince himself that Yunho was just going to pass by and didn't say anything until Yunho stood in front of him. San continued stretching until he noticed Yunho wasn't leaving, and decided to ask him if he needed something.

"Not really," Yunho shrugged. "I was just thinking of chatting with you."

San looked at him with confusion, stopping mid stretch to just look at Yunho from head to toe and then back up again. Yunho chuckled, unable to understand why it would be so weird to San that someone wanted to talk with him. Maybe he was conscious about his intimidating presence. Maybe he was doing it on purpose and hadn't expected someone to bypass it and talk to him. Whatever it was, Yunho had made his decision that he would learn something about the man that day.

"Why are you so weirded out?" Yunho smiled. "I mean, I know we've never had just a chat before, but it can't be that weird, can it?"

"I guess not..." San mumbled, finishing his stretches before facing Yunho.

It was obvious by the straight line his shoulders formed that he was tense, and Yunho couldn't help but find it amusing. San was always so serious and kept to himself, but Yunho had never seen him tense. Now though, he looked uncomfortable and out of place, and he realized that this might be the first time someone from the crew was actually talking to him.

"You don't make friends easily, do you?" Yunho asked.

"Why does that matter to you?" San immediately retorted, posture growing even more tense. Yunho raised his hands in an attempt to placate him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, it was just a question..." Yunho opened his eyes wide, not expecting this reaction from San. "I genuinely just want to talk to you, I've never seen you interact with anyone else from the crew..."

"You're worried about me, basically?" San asked, looking at him with distrust, but relaxing a little bit more.

"Yeah, you can put it that way." Yunho smiled, putting his hands down. "We've barely spent time away from this ship, and I can imagine it might be getting to some of the crew members, so I just wanted to check on you." Yunho shrugged. "It's harder when you don't have someone to rely on."

San sighed and leaned against the rail with his back, tilting his head backwards to look at the black canvas that was space. There were so many stars and planets and whatnot out there, but even with all of that, it was dark. He reckoned it would probably be difficult to see on the ship if it wasn't because the artificial atmosphere it came with emitted a glow of its own. 

"It is a bit hard, yeah," San agreed, letting his defenses down a little. "I'm okay though."

He was very stressed, but it was not for the reasons Yunho was thinking about. Honestly, he couldn't care less about being away from land for so long, it was something he could handle. But the stress of not fulfilling his mission was killing him. He had yet to make the choice of killing Hongjoong and each day it only became harder and harder to pull the trigger on the Captain. 

Of course, that wasn't something he could share with anyone, so he had to carry the burden alone. Plus, even if he could share it by some sort of miracle, no one was willing to approach him, and he wasn't there to make friends, so there was no one to share with anyway. Yunho didn't seem quite satisfied by his answer though, so San guessed he wasn't going to get away from that one easily.

"Why don't you try to approach the others?" Yunho suggested, leaning on the rail by San's side. "Also aren't you close to Hongjoong? You could try talking to him, he wouldn't push you away."

"Well, why don't the others approach me, then?" San huffed, not wanting to have this conversation. "I wouldn't say I'm close to the Captain either..." He mumbled right after, trying to ignore the feeling akin to guilt setting on his chest.

"It would hurt him quite a lot to hear you say that," Yunho smiled slightly, but he seemed uncomfortable. "And the others don't approach you because you look..."

"Scary?" San supplied, having heard that countless times before. "You can go ahead and say it, I don't mind."

"I wouldn't say scary," Yunho shook his head. "Maybe a little intimidating."

"Well, I didn't do anything to intimidate them so..." San shrugged again. "They can just think whatever they want, I'm okay anyway."

"You're a difficult one, aren't you?" Yunho chuckled, looking down at San.

"I get told that often, yes," San nodded, scoffing.

 "What is the real reason you don't approach others?" Yunho insisted.

"Why do you think there's a reason?" San crossed his arms and looked back at Yunho, challenging him.

"Well, you're particularly defensive about it, so there must be something, right?" Yunho leaned in closer unconsciously, putting an arm behind San's back on the rail. San briefly looked at it before looking back at Yunho.

"Not really," San let out a deep breath. "Let's just say it's something my people are not very good at."

That wasn't entirely a lie, but it wasn't completely true either. San just had never had an opportunity to socialize. People like him were especially raised, from a young age, to be used as weapons and tools. He knew nothing but the training he had received in proper etiquette, how to act like a normal human being that had grown with a normal background. 

San had never particularly excelled at those classes though. He was an expert at managing all sorts of weapons and carrying out any kind of technical task. He had learned so many languages in case his universal translator ever failed, and he could absorb almost any kind of information. But he didn't know how to properly interact with others. He couldn't pretend to be a friend or play games of seduction.

Because of that, he was usually sent out on missions where he didn't need to interact with people much, and this one was supposed to be like that. He would just get in, kill Hongjoong, and disappear. But it had not gone as it was supposed to, and now he was basically trapped in the ship with no idea of what to do and how to deal with his situation. And he was alone, because he just didn't know how to interact with the others.

"Fair enough," Yunho said after observing him for a while and stepped back. San had to hold himself from sighing in relief. "There's not much that can be done in matters of culture and such."  San nodded and stepped away from the railway, assuming that was the end of the conversation. However, Yunho spoke again. "You can come speak to me if you need something to, or to Hongjoong. You don't have to think of us as friends, but we won't push you away."

"Okay," San agreed, his voice quiet and small. "Thanks." He didn't look at Yunho as he said that and just left towards the crew's quarters.

Yunho stalled in the main deck for a little while before going to Hongjoong's quarters to look for him. He found him sitting next to Yeosang, their heads close together as they examined a picture of a statue, probably trying to find the code in it. He smiled, amused, when he noticed the glances Yeosang would spare at Hongjoong every few seconds.

He decided it would be fun to give them a surprise and approached them in complete silence. He looked over their heads at the picture, it was kind of blurry, so no doubt they were looking so closely at it. And after a few seconds waiting for them to realize, he decided to announce his presence.

"What are you looking at?" Yunho asked.

Hongjoong raised his head in surprise and hit Yeosang on the eye by accident. Yunho grimaced at the nasty sound of their bump as they both complained in pain and tried to rub the spots. He felt only mildly sorry as his grimace turned into a laugh. Neither of the two victims paid him any mind as Hongjoong checked on Yeosang to see if he was okay.

"I'm so sorry," Hongjoong repeated, grabbing Yeosang's face delicately to check on him. 

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." Yeosang insisted, trying to push Hongjoong away because he was too close.

Instead, Hongjoong pushed Yeosang's hands down with one hand and used the other to check the affected area. Yunho had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing as Yeosang's face became red and he made the inhuman effort to not look Hongjoong in the face. When Hongjoong was satisfied with his little checkup, he patted Yeosang's head and then turned to confront Yunho.

"Why did you do that?!" He yelled, standing up to confront him. Yunho's shoulders just continued to shake slightly as he laughed, trying really hard to keep it under control. "Stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry!" Yunho tried to pull a serious face before he broke into a wide smile again. "I just wanted to see what you were looking at," he turned to look at Yeosang, "it's not my fault that your reaction was so funny."

Judging by how red his face went, Yeosang knew that those words were directed at him. He stammered an excuse before giving up and just turning to look at the picture again, wanting the ship to swallow him whole instead. Yunho grinned until Hongjoong slapped his arm, claiming his attention back. He didn't seem very happy with his little prank.

"Stop teasing him, you have no rights," Hongjoong reprimanded him. He looked adorable when he wasn't truly angry, just like right then.

"Oh, and you do?" Yunho teased, raised an eyebrow. He could see how Yeosang sunk deeper on his seat from the corner of his eye, and it took copious amounts of strength to not start laughing again.

"Shut up, shut up!" Hongjoong whisper-yelled, looking absolutely scandalized at Yunho, who just shrugged.

"Yeosang, can you give us a moment, I think the Captain has something he wants to talk with me?" Yunho glanced at Yeosang before looking back at Hongjoong, who was trying to kill him with just his stare.

"Y-Yes, I'll be outside." Yeosang dropped everything he was doing and left the quarters in a hurry, gone within seconds.

Yunho turned to look at Hongjoong and smiled, but Hongjoong only looked at him with murderous intentions. The taller man raised his hands in defeat and yelped when Hongjoong hit him on the arm again. Hongjoong could be short, but he was ferocious, and usually only Yunho could get out of it unscathed.

"What was that, Yunho?" Hongjoong asked him, serious this time. "Are you trying to scare him off because you didn't want him on the ship to begin with?"

"I promise I'm not." Yunho's smile softened. "I genuinely just wanted to scare both of you 'cause you looked so focused on that picture, thought it would be fun."

"And?" Hongjoong pressed further, not satisfied with that answer.

"And he might have been looking at you in a way that made me want to tease him a little." Yunho grinned, exposing his intentions.

Hongjoong hit him again, a few times for good measure, and Yunho ran away from him until he stopped. Hongjoong seemed a little ruffled, and Yunho wondered if maybe he had hit a sore spot. He had seen the way Yeosang was looking at Hongjoong though, so he wasn't about to take back his words, he was an honest man after all.

"Stop joking about these things," Hongjoong mumbled once he got tired of hitting him on the arm.

"I'm not joking! I seriously think you've charmed at least a couple of our crew members," Yunho exclaimed. He was trying to look serious, but Hongjoong's embarrassed expression made it hard for him. "You should stop seducing our crew, Captain, it's going to make work difficult." 

"I'm not seducing anyone!" Hongjoong yelled, hitting him again, but weekly this time.

His face was so red that Yunho decided to take pity on him. He brought Hongjoong into a hug and he buried his face on Yunho's chest, taking deep breaths to calm down from how embarrassed he was.

"Stop teasing me..." Hongjoong complained weakly after staying in that positions for a few minutes.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," Yunho smiled. He knew Hongjoong wasn't genuinely upset beyond his embarrassment, but he still felt a little bit bad about it. "But for the record, you know we can work things out if one of them catches your eye, right?"

"I know,"Hongjoong nodded, voice muffled. "But that's not what's happening, okay?"

"Okay, I believe you," Yunho kissed the crown of Hongjoong's head and dropped the topic. It had been enough teasing for one day.

--

Wooyoung was sitting on his bed in the hotel room he had booked in Umeri. He had been having more dreams recently about his destiny. They were still confusing and he couldn't completely understand them since he didn't have the full picture, but the one thing he knew was that they weren't supposed to meet yet. He knew his dreams would show him where to meet them once it was time.

Truth be told, he was starting to get a little impatient. He had been visiting Mingi and Yeosang in dreams, and had already met Hongjoong once, but he really wanted to meet all of them, in person. Yunho scared him a little bit, because from what he had heard, he didn't seem to trust others easily. And San was, apparently, intimidating. The only other options were Jongho, who Mingi seemed really fond of, and the mystery man they were missing.

He went to bed trying to make his mind, and before he realized it, he had fallen asleep without choosing who to visit next. The place he found himself in was far from pleasant as Yeosang, Mingi, or even Hongjoong's dreams had been. Wooyoung was inside of some sort of building, completely white, which made the light bounce off the walls and the floor in painful ways. It took him a while to get used to it, but once he did, he began walking around.

Wooyoung had never seen a building so white, and it was starting to make his head hurt, but it's structure was so detailed that this could only be another memory. The hallway was slightly curved, and Wooyoung deduced that the building he was on was some sort of tube. Eventually, after walking for an eternity, he found an entrance on the wall to his left, towards the interior of the building. 

There was nothing near the entrance that told him what it was, but it was completely open, and since he was tired of just walking around in literal circles, he decided to try his luck. The inside of the room was the same blinding white, but here and there were specs of black that filled it up. They were training equipment. He had stumbled upon some sort of training room, and he wasn't alone.

In the center, there was something akin to a boxing ring, and a tall man dressed in black clothes stood in one of the sides as two other people sparred in the center. Wooyoung walked closer, and soon he noticed that one of these people was San, dressed in completely gray clothes. The person he was fighting with was also wearing gray clothes only, which had made it difficult for Wooyoung to differentiate them at first.

The breathing of the two fighters was heavy, and they were both covered in sweat. San had a little bit of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, where a purple blotch was starting to form. However, this was nothing compared to the other person, who had multiple bruises and gashes and was holding their left arm close to their body, probably dislocated. Wooyoung wanted to interrupt the dream, but San's determined eyes deterred him from it.

Instead, he watched how the other person dashed towards San and tried to throw a punch. San easily dodged to his right and grabbed the person's arm, using their weight to throw them over. He sat on the floor and pulled the arm between his legs, placing them on top of the person's neck and cutting their air flow. 

It couldn't have lasted for more than a few seconds before the man dressed in black, who Wooyoung guessed was some sort of coach, stopped them, but to Wooyoung it felt like an eternity. He watched the other fighter struggle, but it was obvious he had already lost. He tried in vain to ask San to stop, and then the coach pulled a small device and pressed a button. San yelled and shook in his place before his body went limp, and Wooyoung had to cover his mouth to not scream.

The coach called someone else to pick the body of the person that had lost before leaving San abandoned on the floor. Once everyone had left, Wooyoung got on top of the ring and approached San. He was on the verge of crying, unable to comprehend where the horrible dream was coming from, but he held it in and sat next to San. San was awake, but he was breathing hard from the pain of the shock, and seemed to be unable to stand up.

"Are you okay?" Wooyoung asked with a trembling voice.

San eyes immediately shot open and he looked at Wooyoung. Despite having talked to him, the dream place didn't disappear around him like it had happened with the other dreams he had visited before, and Wooyoung looked around in worry. With some effort, San sat down and grabbed Wooyoung by the neck of the shirt pulling him closer. Wooyoung yelped and looked at him in fear.

"Who are you?" San heaved out. He sounded exhausted, and Wooyoung knew that his real body was probably also restless.

"I-" Wooyoung didn't know what to say. He was terrified by what he had seen before and couldn't make up his mind.

"How did you get into my dreams? Unless..." San narrowed his eyes as he examined Wooyoung closely. His expression lightened up with understanding. "You're a Somnum."

Wooyoung's eyes widened, and he immediately tried to rip San's hand off, but it was like the other had regained all his strength all of a sudden. San pushed him to the floor and sat on top of him, immobilizing both his arms with his legs. Wooyoung trashed around, panicking, but San was too strong and he couldn't push him off, couldn't get him to move.

"Calm down!" San yelled. He too was panting, seemingly still tired from the sparring he had been doing before. 

San conjured a knife and pointed it to Wooyoung's neck. Wooyoung immediately stopped moving and looked at San with tearful eyes. He was scared, this was not how things were supposed to go. San wasn't supposed to be threatening him with a knife inside his dream. Wooyoung's panic was so strong, that he couldn't even remember how to force his body to wake up, to leave.

"Who sent you here?" San asked, voice rough.

"W-What?" Wooyoung asked, a couple of tears spilling from his eyes.

"Who sent you, to kill me?" San's mind was going a mile a minute. He knew that the Organization had captured a few Somnum and used them on special missions to kill particularly difficult subjects that wouldn't be easy to take care of with their normal tools. San was probably one of those difficult subjects.

"No one sent me!" Wooyoung yelled, trying hard to control his tears.

"Stop lying! Why else would you be here?!" San was starting to lose his patient. Had they finally decided to get rid of him?

"I promise I'm not going to kill you!" Wooyoung was now full on sobbing. If San chose to kill him, that would be the end of it all, he couldn't let that happen.

"Then why are you here?" San's resolution lost force as he saw Wooyoung cry. It made him uncomfortable, but it was impossible to think that someone who looked so afraid was there to do him any harm.

"Because you're part of my destiny," Wooyoung sobbed. His arms hurt under San's weight, but he was too scared to try moving again. "I saw you in my dream, you know what I am, you must know!" 

"I don't believe you," San muttered, but his resolve was shattering. 

He knew very well about the traditions and lifestyle of the Somnum, they were always urged to capture them if they saw one during their missions. Captured Somnum were treated worse than the soldiers of the Organization, worse than even animals. San had met a few and it was like their personalities had been stripped away from them. But the man under him still seemed human, still seemed like himself.

"P-Please," Wooyoung begged. "You can ask Yeosang, Mingi or Hongjoong, they've seen me in dreams too, I beg you."

"Why them?" San asked, leaning closer to Wooyoung. It was a dream, but he was still self conscious of his surroundings.

"Yunho and Jongho are also part of this, and someone else, but I haven't met any of them yet..." Wooyoung began to calm down as San's aggressiveness died down as well. "We're supposed to be together, there's something else beyond finding the treasure, but I don't know what it is yet."

"So you know about the treasure," San mumbled. "What else do you know, about this destiny of yours?"

"I really don't think you want to know..." Wooyoung mumbled. He still hadn't revealed to anyone what happened to them, and he was afraid to.

"Tell me," San insisted, reminding Wooyoung there was still a knife pressed to his neck.

"We're supposed to fall in love," Wooyoung mumbled, his face growing red with embarrassment. "The eight of us."

San dropped the knife, feeling genuinely shocked about the revelation, and the knife vanished in a cloud of thin smoke. Wooyoung looked at him in curiosity. The grip on him softened and he was able to get his arms out. He sighed in relief as he watched all sorts of thoughts reflect on San's face, like he was trying to decide just how bad these news were. 

"That's impossible, it can't happen as you say." San mumbled, remembering his mission.

"Why?" Wooyoung had managed to stop crying. He was still pretty much shaken, but he didn't think San would try to kill him again.

He sat down instead, causing their faces to be just millimetres away from each other. San pushed him away, slightly startled, and moved to sit down beside him, suddenly too self conscious about Wooyoung's presence. What Wooyoung was saying just couldn't be possible. San had been sent there with a mission, and yet... And yet he didn't think Wooyoung was lying either. He was in trouble.

"I think you should leave..." San said, looking at Wooyoung without really looking at him. Wooyoung wanted to complain, to stay and clarify things with San, but that empty look San gave him was enough to deter him from insisting. He nodded and stood up. 

"Just... Please don't tell the others, they're not supposed to know yet." Wooyoung added, looking at San with worry.

San nodded, and Wooyoung woke up.

[thecassadilla]

Change of Pace - Chapter 2

Pairing: Kristanna

Chapter 2 on AO3 

Chapter 1

Word Count: 3,332

Summary: With her sister’s blessing, Anna takes a step back from her royal duties and finds herself working for a ski resort nestled in the mountains. A chance encounter with the resort’s maintenance technician leads them down an unexpected path, as they must work together to plan the resort’s annual ball - and maybe fall in love in the process.

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! Sorry to leave you all with a cliffhanger last week! This chapter picks up on the same day but from a different perspective ;). I’m thinking I’m gonna update on Tuesdays every week if that’s cool? Or should I try to update more often? Also, if you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoy the holiday safely! Sorry for all the asterisked words - tumblr likes to censor and remove posts from tags if they have “bad” words in them, but the uncensored version is on AO3. Enjoy!!!

There were very fews words that Kristoff Bjorgman would use to describe his life; miserable, mundane, ordinary. From the minute he woke up in the morning until the minute he went to bed at night, he wished he were someone or somewhere else.

Nobody stayed in Valley of the Living Rock - often shortened to Valley - if they could help it. The main draw to the area was Valley Ski Resort, which was nestled in the mountains. For decades, the town flourished during the winter months, but suffered as warm weather drew near due to the resort’s influence. Most of the people who stayed in town year round lived above their means, as it was difficult to find and keep work when the money practically dried up in the summertime. That all changed when the resort began to expand - adding amenities such as a pool, archery, horseback riding, and a multitude of events that attracted people during the hottest months of the year.

After the resort expanded, the local government decided to put money into the town itself, enticing visitors to venture away from the resort during their visits and see what the town had to offer. Tourists began to appreciate Valley itself as a picturesque, quaint town they could visit during their stay at the resort, and money began to pour into the local economy. Deciding to take full advantage, the decision was made for the main street to be transformed to a “Winter Wonderland,” with the storefronts adorning themselves with string lights, wreaths, and pine garland in the colder months. Business boomed and as the years went on, more and more people came to visit.

For Kristoff, life in Valley was bleak. Abandoned at birth, it was difficult to navigate the foster system as a small, generally “unwanted” child. He was bounced around a lot in his early years before becoming one of the lucky few who managed to find a family willing and able to foster him until adulthood. But people talked, and in small towns like his, that gossip traveled fast. By the time he made it to high school, he had hardly any friends. The only good thing that had ever happened to him - aside from his family - was his ex-girlfriend, Joslyn. She moved to Valley in their senior year of high school, and was as much of an outcast as he was. They became fast friends and eventually started a relationship. She stuck around for a few years and attended the local community college while they dated, but like everyone else who had the opportunity, she eventually moved on. The breakup was amicable and he admittedly missed her from time to time, but also understood that where she was going was bigger and better than what Valley - and he - had to offer. 

As a junior in high school, he’d managed to snag a job at Valley Ski Resort as a janitor, and then after he graduated, he took courses in plumbing, electricity, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in order to be promoted to a maintenance technician. It was a year round job with sh*tty pay, but it put food on the table and he had to take whatever he could get. On the bright side, it was a step up from cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors. There was no escaping Valley, for a person like him.

He didn’t mind the work at all, but there were few words to describe how much he loathed the hotel. The people who visited were willing to spend a fortune on the amenities, but were generally unkempt behind closed doors. He could think of several occasions where he’d nearly slipped on a used c*ndom after being called to a guest room for maintenance, or how frequently the pipes would clog because people were determined to flush non-flushable items. 

But still, he went to work everyday, and waited to go home. He did what he had to do and he hated every second of it. The only advantage of working at the resort was the employee ski pass that came along with it. He frequently spent his weekends navigating the slopes and had worked his way up to expert-level. Coasting down the side of a mountain was freeing. For those few hours, he could put aside the monotonous life that he lived and could focus on what was right in front of him. 

On this particular day, he had a sinking feeling about heading into work. He just knew that something bad was going to happen - he could feel it in his chest. He debated calling out, but because he couldn’t afford to miss a day without pay, he had to go in, bad feeling or not. The feeling only got worse as he climbed out of his car and stared at the main building in front of him.

The interior of the resort was in desperate need of an upgrade; faded, worn-out gray carpet covered the floors of the lobby area, and old-school style wood paneling laced the walls. The guest rooms in the central building remained the least expensive as a result of this, and as part of the resort’s expansion process, dozens of stand-alone cabins were built on the property. Difficult to maintain, but guests were willing to pour money into spending a week in a luxury cabin with the same amenities as a hotel but with the added benefit of a home-y feel. 

He walked in through the employee entrance, which happened to be situated right next to the lobby area but was only accessible from the outside. Down a long stretch of hall and then to the left sat the maintenance office. One of the perks of the job was that he didn’t have to wear coveralls like he did when he was a janitor; just dark-colored jeans, a company-provided shirt with the hotel’s name stitched onto the front, and work boots. He dropped his jacket in his locker, grabbed one of the work cell phones so that the front desk could reach if he was needed for a repair or other issue, and walked into the main office, where his boss, Andrew, was scrolling through his email.

“Hey, man,” he said.

The other man glanced back for a second before returning to his work. “Hey, Kristoff.”

“What’s on the agenda today?”

“Nothing crazy,” Andrew responded. “A couple of rooms complained of low water pressure, so we’ll have to check that out. It’s probably calcium buildup that’s clogging the showerheads, or a clog, or something. But aside from that, it seems like it’s going to be a pretty normal day.”

He heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank god.”

He didn’t mind working with Andrew; he was quiet and kept to himself, which Kristoff appreciated. It was easier to work with someone who didn’t waste half the day with gossip or other nonsense. Having a job was about getting work done, after all.

Andrew had a list of the rooms that had been experiencing the low water pressure from the front desk complaints, so when he finished answering his emails, they set off to figure out what exactly was happening and why it was happening. “I bet another pipe froze again.”

“This hotel is so old, do they even realize that the pipes probably have to be replaced?”

“They know, they just won’t listen,” Andrew said, shaking his head. “This is going to be a losing battle for the rest of eternity.”

Just as they made it to the first floor of guest rooms, a call came over on Andrew’s work phone. They stopped in the middle of the hallway so he could pick it up. 

“Hello, this is Andrew from maintenance,” he answered, scrunching his face up in concentration. “They said the water smelled bad? Did they say if it was a weird color or anything?...okay, we’ll look into it. Thanks.”

“Another water complaint?” Kristoff asked, once Andrew had hung up the phone.

“Yeah, something weird is going on today.”

“Probably a frozen pipe, like you said.”

They knocked on the door of the first guest on their list, and a woman answered. “Are you the maintenance guys?”

“We are ma’am. The front desk told us that your water pressure is low, do you mind if we come in and take a look?”

The woman shook her head. “I didn’t say low water pressure. I said no water pressure - as in, there’s no water, at all.”

The two men exchanged a worried glance before Andrew spoke up again. “Do you mind if we have a look?”

The woman didn’t answer, but stepped out of the way so they could walk into the room. They went into the bathroom, and attempted to turn the faucets to no avail. 

The woman was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. “Well?”

“We’re trying to figure out what’s going on, ma’am. We’re going to check in with a few more guests and the front desk will get back to you.” 

“I’m taking my family skiing, and all I have to say is that the water better be working when I get back or someone will be getting an earful from me. I did not spend all of this money to wind up in a room with no water!”

They nodded in an attempt to placate her and as soon as they made it back into the hallway, she slammed the door in their faces. 

“God, I hate this place,” Kristoff muttered.

“I don’t understand how people on vacation can be so f*cking miserable. Management will make sure they get a more expensive room on the house if there’s nothing we can do about it, so I don’t really see the point of throwing a fit.”

“I know. It’s kind of disgusting how entitled some of these people are. I understand the frustration, but don’t yell at the people who are trying to figure out what the problem is.” Kristoff shook his head. “Let’s go to the next one.”

The routine seemed to repeat itself; the rooms were occupied by extremely angry guests who were experiencing a myriad of plumbing issues - either little or no water pressure, foul smelling water, or rust-colored water.

“Something big is going on here. Bigger than just a frozen pipe,” Andrew deduced, after visiting several guests’ rooms and being called a few more times by the front desk. “I can’t figure out what it is though.”

“Do you think a pipe burst somewhere?” he suggested.

Andrew shrugged. “I can’t imagine where. There are guests in basically every area of this hotel and no one has called about a leaking ceiling. Unless it was something in the basement.”

“We should go check.”

The two men scrambled to the basement, but as cold and neglected as it was, there were no signs of water damage anywhere. Just a lot of dust and noise from the systems that were housed down there.

“I’m stumped,” Andrew admitted, throwing his hands in the air.

“It has to be somewhere in the building. None of the other buildings or lodges have complained about issues with their water, right?”

The other man skimmed the list in his hands. “Nope, just this one.”

“Are there any places that guests and employees normally wouldn’t go during the day? The lobby’s fine, the children’s center is fine...wait, what about the ballroom?” Kristoff snapped his fingers.

“Oh sh*t, we should check the ballroom,” Andrew agreed. “No one goes in there unless they’re having some kind of an event.”

“I bet that’s where we’re going to find our problem.”

They raced back up to the first floor and passed the front desk to the corner of the hotel that housed the ballroom. Andrew searched through his massive ring of keys before locating the one that unlocked the doors. 

“Holy f*ck,” Kristoff gasped, his eyes widening at the site in front of him. 

The entire room was destroyed. The ceilings had caved as a result of the massive amount of water that had pooled from the burst pipe. Nearly everything in the room had been destroyed from either the water damage or from the impact of the broken pieces of ceiling landing on it. The walls were moist, and there was a considerable amount of water remaining on the floor. 

“How the hell did no one hear this?!” Andrew bellowed.

“This...is bad,” Kristoff said, shaking his head. “This is thousands of dollars worth of damage.”

“I need to get Bonnie on the phone,” Andrew said suddenly, walking away from the scene.

Kristoff continued to stare in the meantime; the room was significantly damaged. First and foremost, the pipes would have to be replaced - immediately. They were already going to be spending a large amount of money for the repairs, and they definitely couldn’t afford to lose the income that guests would bring in by occupying the rooms in that building. They’d have to drain the water that pooled on the floor, rip out the carpet and gut the walls, throw away all of the destroyed tables and chairs. 

When Andrew came back a few minutes later, he was not happy. “Bonnie is on her way and she’s having a cow.”

“Can you blame her? This is a nightmare.”

“I need to see if I can get any of the other guys in today. They’re going to be p*ssed.”

“I’m here and I’m p*ssed,” Kristoff scoffed. “I knew I should’ve called out today.”

“Good thing you didn’t because I would’ve had to haul your a*s in anyway.”

“Yeah, right. Zach calls out once a week and no one ever does anything about it. The rest of us are forced to pick up his slack all the time - if I called out once, it wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“Trust me, Zach isn’t going to be employed here for much longer.”

Bonnie finally arrived a moment later with a panicked look on her face and interrupted their conversation. “What the h*ll happened?”

“See for yourself, boss,” Andrew answered, motioning to the entrance to the ballroom.

Bonnie peered inside before staggering back and raising her hands to her face. “Oh my god.”

“The damage is severe, Bonnie. The repairs are going to be time-consuming, and you’ll have to postpone any events that they were planning on holding here,” Andrew spoke up. “Most importantly, the guests in this building have to be relocated until we can replace the pipes.”

Bonnie nodded, and for the first time that Kristoff had ever observed, she was totally speechless. In all his years of working around her, he’d never seen her so quiet.

“I’m working on getting my other guys in here,” Andrew continued. “This is not going to be an easy fix.”

“Alright,” she said, before pointing at Kristoff. “You go tell the front desk to start working on getting the guests out of this building and then come back here.”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes once his back was turned; this was not his job. He wasn’t an errand boy. But because he wasn’t trying to lose his job, he begrudgingly followed her instructions. Once he arrived in the lobby, approached the first person he saw at the front desk, a brunette woman with thick black eyeliner who he recognized from high school.

“Hey, you need to -”

She raised a finger, but didn’t look in his direction. “Hold on, I’m helping my guest.”

“This is important.”

“Sir, you should get in line.”

He glanced over at the line - which was long, because it was checkout time, of course - before interrupting again. “I have orders from Bonnie -”

That seemed to catch her attention. “Let me get my manager out here.” 

“Thanks.”

A few moments later, the manager appeared from a door behind the front desk. “How can I help you?”

“I work in maintenance,” Kristoff explained. “Bonnie needed me to tell you that guests can’t stay in this building for a couple of days. A pipe burst and there won’t be any water in most, if not all, of the rooms.”

The manager's eyes widened. “O-okay. What about the restrooms on this floor? Or the restaurants and the bakery?”

“We’re not sure what the situation is with those areas of the hotel.”

She nodded. “Okay, well keep me posted. There are a lot of places on this floor that require the use of water.”

“Has anyone called to complain from any of those places?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that they’re unaffected, but I’m sure Bonnie will be in touch soon.”

“Thank you.”

He gave her a slight nod before turning around and walking back towards the ballroom; for the first time that day, someone had actually been appreciative and not downright condescending about the situation. He was just glad that she didn’t rip him a new one like all of the guests had earlier. 

“Good, you’re back,” Bonnie said once he finally made it back to the ballroom.

“Any updates?”

“I just made contact with the people in the event planning office,” Bonnie explained. “They’re coming down now. I need you to wait out here for them, so you could tell them about the damage. The annual ball is in three months and this was their venue.”

“I should probably start clearing stuff out of there,” he insisted, hoping to remind her that he was not her personal secretary or a professional bearer of bad news. “We can’t start gutting it out until the water is drained and all of the damaged furniture is removed.”

“You need to stay right here,” Bonnie said snidely, placing a hand on his shoulder before walking away.

“Is she serious?” he wondered aloud, his mouth agape. He really was her errand boy, wasn’t he?

“Hey man, Scott and Dan are both on their way in now,” Andrew said, approaching from inside the ballroom. “Liam and Eli are outside doing snow removal. I’m trying to get in touch with a couple of the other guys, but some of them have to be in for the overnight shift. Management has to take pictures of the damage for insurance reasons before we can touch anything, but we should be able to start getting rid of the furniture later today.”

“I have to wait here and break the bad news to the event planners,” he responded bitterly. “Because I’m not the maintenance guy today, I’m her errand boy.”

Andrew shook his head. “She’s really pushing her luck. She should be the one to tell them since we warned her that the pipes would need to be replaced a long time ago and she brushed it off.”

“You know, I had a gut feeling that today would suck. Wish that I could’ve been wrong.” 

“Should’ve checked the calendar, man. It’s Friday the thirteenth.”

He scoffed. “I’m not superstitious.”

Andrew shrugged before taking a few steps backwards. “I’m just saying.”

As soon as Andrew’s back was turned, he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. It was quite the coincidence that this had all gone down on a day historically known for the bad luck it brought. He reminded himself that he didn’t believe in that stuff; this was a real life situation that had only happened because of sheer negligence from Bonnie and the other people who ran the hotel. If they had just listened from the start and had replaced the pipes when Andrew recommended they should, they wouldn’t even be in this mess. He didn’t necessarily believe in curses either, but at this point, he was convinced he’d done something wrong in life that warranted this misery. 

Until he spotted a gorgeous redhead he didn’t recognize being dragged in his direction by the half-a-head shorter lady he knew from around the hotel, and he was suddenly aware of a new sensation different from the misery and dread he was used to - a hopeful fluttering in the pit of his stomach.  

[girls-scenarios]

Would You?

Idol: Mina (gugudan, formerly ioi)

Prompt: Hiii can I get college AU of reader x Gugudan Mina where reader is trying their best to take care of a very drunk Mina in a party. Mina keeps asking nonsensical question but as she’s taken home, she blurts out ‘would you like me back if i confessed that I Iiked you?’ The ending is up to you, tyyyy!

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: I miss gugudan so much that it’s not even funny. I’ve kind of lost hope for a comeback now... Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this scenario!

♡ Tip Jar♡

You had never seen Mina so drunk. Sure, you’d been to parties with her before and the two of you had gotten drunk together plenty of times. She loved to party and have fun, and you loved to have fun with her. But she’d never gotten like... this.

She was giggling and holding your arm in an iron grasp, her eyes hazy as she rubbed her face against your shoulder. “There’s four banana’s,” she said through giggles, pointing at the bowl on the kitchen counter that did, in fact, have bananas in it. There were only two, though.

“And that’s funny?” You were nowhere near drunk enough to understand why the bananas had sent her into yet another fit of giggles. In fact, when you’d walked into the kitchen to find her giggling, slumped against the counter with a cup in her hand, tilted near spilling, you had promptly put down your drink out of worry for her wellbeing. You had no idea when she’d separated from Sejeong, who was currently belting out a song in the living room, but the last time you’d seen her, she hadn’t been anywhere near this drunk. What was she drinking?

She let out a string of noises that sounded vaguely like words before bursting into giggles again and you swallowed, your arm beginning to tingle and your face flushing as she shuffled even closer. Dealing with a drunk friend was hard enough, but dealing with a drunk friend who you had a crush on? You weren’t sure you were going to make it through the night.

“Why don’t we drink some water?” You suggested, steering her back to the fridge. Thankfully, Hana had stocked up on bottled water, and you pulled one out, opening it and handing it to Mina. She stared at it for a moment before coming back to and taking a sip.

“It’s not alcohol,” she said sadly, staring down at the bottle like it had offended her. With a nervous laugh, you encouraged her to take another sip.

“It’s not. It’ll help you feel better though, so think some more.”

“‘Mmm I don’t wanna.” She finally let go of your arm, only to hug you after putting the bottle on the counter. Your heart picked up and you wished you could push her away, but you knew that would likely result in making her cry and you didn’t want that.

“Um, how about we go back to the living room? They’re playing karaoke. You like karaoke.”

At this, her face lit up. “I do! Will you sing with me?” She slurred, looking up at you with her eyes wide and a pout on her lips. God, she was so cute. Even if she was drunk.

“S-sure. Let’s go.” Awkwardly, you detatched yourself from her grip and took her hand instead, which placated her, and she followed happily behind you.

It was now Haebin’s turn to sing, and as she dramatically performed her own song from a musical she’d been in, Sejeong and Hana were pretending to do the high notes behind her. You found a seat open beside Sally, who gave you a sweet little smile as you guided Mina to sit beside her.

“I forgot you were here!” Oh god, she was drunk too. Sober Sally was sweet and quiet. Drunk Mimi was spacey and spoke her mind. You just laughed, feeling way too sober for this.

“Oh, that-.”

“You can’t forget about (Y/N)!” Mina jumped to your defense. Or, really, just turned in her spot to frown at Sally. “They’re so important!”

“Thanks, but it’s okay,” you said, hoping to calm her down with a pat on the shoulder.

“It’s not. I didn’t forget about you. I can’t forget about you.” She pouted and your heart skipped a beat before you could remind yourself that she was drunk and probably didn’t mean anything that she was saying. She grabbed your hand again and pulled you down onto the arm of the couch beside her, and you couldn’t find it in yourself to push her away when she put her head on your lap.

Soon, Haebin was done with her song and Nayoung and Soyee jumped up to sing a trot song and Mina hummed along, not bothering to sit up as she moved her arms and cheered. Halfway through the song, she looked up at you with wide eyes.

“Do you think a microphone could hurt someone?”

You blinked. “What? Like, if you hit someone with it?”

“No, do you think the electricity could, like, hurt someone?”

You had no idea what she was talking about, so you just laughed. “I don’t think so. Not the Bluetooth one.”

“Oh.” She stared up at you for a moment, making you shift under her intense gaze. “Do you think dogs can talk?”

“I don’t think so, Mina.”

“Oh.” This one made her frown, her lips turned into a pout once again. “The dog from Up could talk.”

“That’s because it was an animated movie.”

“I want a talking dog.”

“Me too.”

Mimi’s drunken yell that it was her turn distracted Mina for a moment, but soon she was staring up at you again.

“Would you still love me if I was a worm?”

“If you were a worm?” This conversation was getting weird. You found yourself laughing again, hoping that your answer wouldn’t give your feelings away. ‘Well, I guess. But how would you turn into a worm?”

“You never know. But you wouldn’t squish me?”

“Not if I knew it was you.”

“Good.” She seemed satisfied with your answer and you let out a relieved sigh, only for her to startle you by sitting up and grabbing your hand. “We wanna sing!” She yelled, interrupting Mimi, and you groaned internally. It was going to be a long night.

-

By the end of the party, only you, Haebin, and Hana were sober enough to help everyone get home. Haebin took responsibility for Nayoung and Soyee while Hana convinced Sally, Sejeong, and Hyeyeon to stay at the house with her and Mimi. Which, of course, left you with Mina.

Her apartment was close to yours, so you accepted your fate, calling goodbye to your friends as you wrapped an arm around her to make sure she didn’t fall and set off on your way.

The night air was cool and it seemed to sober her up a little bit, because she was mostly quiet as the two of you walked, only humming occasionally under her breath. But as you walked up to her apartment door, she suddenly turned to you and grabbed your arm, holding you tight again.

“Is something wrong?” You asked as you opened the door, her code already memorized from how much time you’d spent at her place.

“I need to know something.” She was obviously still drunk, her face flushed and her body swaying slightly, and you sighed, guiding her inside.

“What is it?”

“Would you still like me if I confessed that I like you?”

Her words made you freeze in your tracks, your heartbeat roaring in your ears. “W-what?” You turned to face her, your eyes wide and your chest feeling tight.

“I like you,” she said bluntly, studying your face, then slumping forward. “Sorry, you hate me now, it’s okay.”

“I don’t hate you!” You were rushing, trying to find the right words to say. “Actually, I like you too. I could never hate you. But you’re drunk, Mina. Right now isn’t the time to talk about this.”

“What do you mean?”

You took a deep breath. “I don’t want to do anything to you in this state. So if you remember this conversation when you wake up, call me and then we can talk. When we’re both sober.”

“Oh. Okay.” She looked down at the ground. “I am tired.”

“I know you are,” you said softly, guiding her to her room. “So get some sleep and we’ll talk in the morning. Okay?”

She sat down on her bed and accepted the pajamas you put in her arms. “Okay.”

“Goodnight, Mina,” you said, turning for the door, and after a moment, she replied.

“Goodnight.”

Your heart pounded the entire way home, and even later, laying in your bed, her words still repeated in your head, over and over. And you knew you weren’t going to be getting much sleep.

-

The next morning, you woke up to a text from Hana complaining about spilled alcohol in the carpet, but no messages from Mina. The events of the night before were still fresh in your mind, and you couldn’t help but feel disappointed as you sighed and padded to your bathroom to wash up.

It wasn’t until you were searching through your cabinets for a late breakfast that your phone rang, making your breath catch in your throat.

It was her. Did she remember?

“Hello?” You tried your best not to sound too hopeful, but your heart was already jumping around in your chest and your stomach felt like it was being tied into knots. On the other side of the line, you heard her clear her throat.

“Hey (Y/N). Thanks for taking care of me last night.” There was a slight waver to her voice, and she sounded like she was in pain. She probably was in pain: hangovers were getting worse as the two of you got older.

“Well I couldn’t just leave you to your own devices,” you said, adding a playful lilt to your voice. “You were so drunk you asked me if dogs could talk.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” She let out a soft laugh. “I was a mess. I guess I should stay away from tequila from now on.”

You swallowed down the ball of nerves beginning to ball in your throat before replying. “So, how much do you remember from last night?”

“Most of it. I remember all of the singing and clinging onto you and asking you a bunch of dumb questions.” She paused for a moment. “And one not dumb question when you brought me home.”

“Oh.” The breath left your lungs and you leaned against your counter, your body thrumming with so much anticipation that you were almost shivering. “So you remember me asking you to call?”

“I do. And I’ve been super nervous all morning, but since my drunk self decided to confess, there’s no going back now. So I called to say that I, um, still like you.”

Happiness and relief washed over you, giddiness replacing the nerves and making you want to burst into laughter. “That’s a good thing, since I still like you too.”

“Oh. Good.” She started to laugh, and you joined in, enjoying the sound even through the phone speaker. “That’s great. So, uh, should we date now?”

“That seems to be the next step,” you joked, feeling like you were floating. “So I’ll ask you out on our first date. Would you like to go to brunch with me?”

“I guess I’ll have to thank drunk me.” She giggled on the other line, making you smile so wide that your cheeks hurt. “Because I’d love to go out with you. How does eleven sound?”

“That sounds perfect.”

[sugdenlovesdingle]

for @aaronsmrshifty because things didn’t go according to plan with the @robronengagementgiftexchange and then this took me forever and a day to finish.... but i hope you like it!

A promise kept (AO3)

“I’m going to marry you one day.”

Robert had said it to Aaron when they were teenagers, trying to figure out the world and their place in it. Aaron had jokingly asked if that was a promise or a threat but Robert had just laughed and kissed him.

He’d said it a few times since then. When they’d gotten back together after a big fight that had led to an almost six month break up, when Aaron had supported him when he’d come out to his parents, and the first night in their own flat.

Aaron had never given it much thought, put it down to Robert being the romantic sod he is, who just liked saying these things.

As it turned out, he wasn’t just saying it.

He should have known. Robert isn’t one to make big promises like that and not keep them.

But still it’s the last thing Aaron expected to find looking through Robert’s bedside cabinet looking for the cufflinks he knew Robert kept in there.

They were running late for Matty’s wedding and it was the absolute worst timing in the world but he couldn’t stop staring at the little black velvet box in his hand.

“Aaron, come on, we’re going to be late! Have you found them yet?” Robert yelled from down the stairs. “Just go without. No-one’s going to notice if you just keep your jacket on.”

Aaron heard him and knew he should reply and they should get going, but he was too mesmerised by the two rings in the box.

“Aaron? Are you ok?” Robert called out when he got no reply. “Aaron?”

The sound of footsteps on the stairs made Aaron snap out of it. He quickly closed the box and slid it in his pocket, getting up and meeting Robert halfway down the stairs.

“Did you find them?”

“Yeah, yeah I got them.” He held up one of his wrists to show Robert.

“Right. Did you not hear me when I called you just now?”

“Uhm yeah… sort of. I was distracted… Adam sent me a video of Matty being all stressed out. Looking for the rings.”

“They lost the rings?”

“No, he’d just forgotten he’d already given them to Adam. Weeks ago. He’s kept them in his bedside cabinet.”

Robert nodded as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Alright. Well we’re running late so I’ll drive.”

“What? What does being late have to do with you driving?” Aaron protested, easily falling back into the familiar argument.

“We’re taking my car and you already have a speeding ticket waiting for you.”

“I’m going to fight that. That piece of road is just really unclear.”

“Save it for the judge.” Robert joked and waited for Aaron to lock the door to their flat.

“I’ll drive back tonight.” Aaron decided, getting into the passenger’s seat.

“I thought we could get a room and stay the night. So we can both have a drink.”

Aaron considered the suggestion for a moment.

“Can we afford a hotel that posh?”

“It’s just for one night. And I can put it on the business account.”

“Nicola will kill you.”

“Nicola doesn’t have a leg to stand on. She did the same thing last month.” Robert grinned as he turned the car onto the motorway.

When they arrived at the wedding venue, Holly was busy arranging everyone just so for the family photos she was taking. Matty had asked her to be the wedding photographer, and Adam hadn’t stopped complaining about his sister’s creative streak since.

When he spotted Aaron he started mouthing ‘Help’ and ‘Save me’.

“Adam don’t ruin my photos!” Holly snapped when she noticed her brother making faces.

“Hol, it’s alright. I just want some pics of us during the ceremony and maybe a few of the reception.” Matty placated. “I don’t need Adam’s face 50 times over. He’s not that interesting.”

“Cheers bro.” Adam deadpanned and decided he’d had enough of Holly’s stressing and made his way over to Aaron and Robert. “Alright lads?”

“Are you allowed to just leave like that?” Aaron asked jokingly as he greeted his friend.

“Holly thinks she’s going to win awards taking photos at her brother’s wedding... and apparently I’m not helping.” Adam said with a chuckle.

“So how’s the groom?” Robert asked. “Has he recovered yet from earlier?”

“Earlier?” Adam frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The rings? He’d thought you’d lost them?”

“No? I’ve kept them safe for weeks… they’re right here…” Adam patted his pocket.

Robert looked back and forth between Adam and Aaron.

“Are you having me on? You sent Aaron a video earlier…”

“Uh… no I didn’t?”

“Yeah you did mate.” Aaron cut in quickly. “Is your memory getting that bad that you forget what you did an hour ago?”

Both Adam and Robert were utterly confused but thankfully at that moment Vic appeared at Robert’s side insisting she wanted some pics with her big brother, and dragged him away.

“What’s going on?” Adam asked when the Sugden siblings were out of earshot. “Are you cheating on him or something?”

“What? Of course not? What makes you say that?”

“You telling him I sent you videos when I didn’t?”

“I’m not cheating on him. I would never.”

“Ok. So what is it?”

“I… I found something. In his drawer in our bedroom at home.”

“Ok, stop right there, I don’t think I want to hear this. Whatever you two get up to in the bedroom is your business but I really don’t want to know.”

Aaron rolled his eyes.

“It’s nothing like that.” He quickly glanced around to make sure Robert wasn’t watching them and pulled the little box from his pocket and opened it. “I found this.”

“Is that…”

“A ring? Yes. Two actually.”

“Is he going to propose?”

“I don’t know. I think so. Maybe?”

“Right. Shouldn’t he have it then?”

“Well yes… but I panicked.” Aaron admitted. “I was looking for cufflinks in his drawer and then found this hidden away in the back of it. And I just… put them in my pocket when I heard him coming up the stairs. And now I don’t know what to do.”

Adam shrugged.

“Put them back?”

“Oh sure, I’ll just drive all the way home and back here in less than half an hour without Robert noticing. Great plan Ads, definitely fool proof.” Aaron replied sarcastically.

“I didn’t mean now. But just… when you get home tonight.”

“We’re not going home. We got a room at the hotel.”

“Really? Alright for some. I didn’t know Home James was doing that well.”

“Shut up. What am I supposed to do with these now? He’ll find them in my pocket sooner or later.”

“I don’t know. Just tell him you found them?”

“No. I can’t do that. You hang on to them for me.” He pushed the little box into Adam’s hands.

“No way. What if I get them mixed up and give them the wrong rings in there?” he nodded at the church behind them. “Just talk to your boyfriend.” Adam said and gave Aaron the box back and went to find Matty.

Before Aaron really had time to think, he saw Robert making his way back to him and he quickly stuffed the box back in his pocket.

“All done?”

“Hopefully. If I never have to pose for another picture again, it’ll be too soon.” Robert complained and Aaron laughed.

“Hey I’m supposed to be the grumpy one in this relationship.”

They went inside and found a seat on the groom side to watch one of their best friends marry the love of his life.

The wedding was lovely. Everyone was happy for the newlyweds and neither them or the guests stopped smiling throughout the entire ceremony.

Aaron watched Matty slide the ring onto his new wife’s finger and imagined doing that to Robert. He watched them share their first kiss as married couple and their first dance at the reception and wondered what it would be like for him and Robert.

He was vaguely aware of Adam getting up from his seat to make his best man speech. He listened to him joke about the odds of Matty marrying a girl called Hannah and Moira having a daughter called Hannah after all, as well as wishing them all the best in their life together.

What kind of bad jokes would Adam make as his best man?

When Adam sat back down at their table, Holly slapped him on the back of the head.

“What’s that for?!”

“For being an idiot!”

Aaron bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. When he looked at Matty he saw he only had eyes for his new wife and his thoughts drifted back to the little box in his pocket.

Would he and Robert be like that if they got married? Would they only have eyes for each other? Would the rest of the world just cease to exist?

Robert’s hand on his arm pulled him back to reality.

“I said are you ok? You seem distracted.”

“Oh uh yeah I’m fine. Just… kind of zoned out a bit. Don’t worry.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been weird all day.”

“Weird? What do you mean weird?” Aaron asked, getting defensive.

“You’ve barely heard a word I’ve said since we left home and I doubt you could even tell me what colour the bride’s dress is.”

“White, isn’t it?” Aaron said with a cheeky grin.

Robert rolled his eyes.

“Just talk to me… I can’t help if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong, I promise.”

“Then what’s bothering you so much that you’re not even criticising the music?”

Aaron sighed, he should’ve known Robert would notice he was distracted. He knew him better than anyone after all.

“Nothing’s bothering me… not really… I just…” he looked around and noticed everyone’s attention was on the happy couple. “Come take a walk with me?”

They walked into the hotel garden to find a place where they could talk.

“If you’re trying to think of a nice way to break up with me… a wedding is not the place.”

“I’m not breaking up with you. That’s the last thing I want!” Aaron said and saw Robert relax. “I kind of love you, you know.”

Robert smiled and leaned in to press a kiss to Aaron’s lips.

“I kind of love you too.” He put his hands on Aaron’s hips and pulled him close. “But is that what you brought me out here for? To tell me you love me? I mean I appreciate the sentiment but - ”  

He was cut off by Aaron pulling the ring box from his pocket and all but shoving it in his face.

“I found this at home. In your drawer.”

“I…  you… you weren’t supposed to find that…”

“It’s not what I think it is then?”

“I uh…” Robert swallowed thickly. “What do you think it is?”

“Something that will get us one of these sometime…” he nodded at the wedding party going on inside.

“Yeah… yeah that’s… uh… what I was hoping… Is that a problem? I mean it doesn’t have to mean anything if you’re not ready or anything…”

“I didn’t say that.” Aaron opened the box and studied the rings for a moment. “I just… wasn’t expecting it I suppose.”

“Well… I’ve been saying it for years… so I thought I’d finally make good on my promise.” Robert admitted. “I wanted to do it on our anniversary.”

Aaron frowned.

“That was ages ago.”

“I know… I lost my nerve.” Robert said and took one ring out of the box. “But I’m feeling a lot more confident today.”

Aaron’s breath hitched in his throat as he watched Robert get down on one knee and hold the ring up.

“Aaron Dingle… will you marry me?”

Instead of answering Robert’s question, Aaron pulled him to his feet and took the other ring from the box.

“Only if you’ll marry me too.”

Robert smiled and put the ring on Aaron’s finger.

“Of course I will.”

[zayray030]

Don't push a kind woman into darkness.

Summary: Iris really wanted to cry. She desperately wanted to cry and she didn't want to be the teams punching bag any longer.

OR

Everyone's a dick to Iris and she finally pops off and her husband reminds her that he will always love her

Notes: Team Arrow is here because they wanted to visit Central because of a villlian. Everyone is a dick except for Barry and Felicity so yeah.

Iris wanted to cry. She desperately wanted to cry. She also wanted to sleep. Maybe she could sleep forever and not have to wake up again to this. But maybe this was just a nightmare? Maybe she could wake up if she tried really hard.

Those thoughts filled the African American woman as she tried her best to keep her emotions in check as the team took turns at using her as a punching bag.

What Iris had been thinking at the time was that if she hadn't jumped at the attacker that was attacking a little girl in the mall then the little girl would have gotten hurt. But of course her father was choosing to skip over that part.

“I just wanted-” Iris tried but was interrupted. She just wanted to tell them her side of the story. She just wanted to tell them what had actually happened but there was too much anger.

“Iris, what you wanted is completely different than what you should have done.” Caitlin said using her special doctor voice. Iris didn't like the sound of it. It sounded condescending and the way that she was looking at Iris made her want to punch the doctor's perfect teeth.

“What I should have done is-” Iris really just wanted them to shut up right now but they wouldn't shut up and it wasn't helping. Was the room spinning or was it just her?

“Get to safety, Iris. You should have let the professionals handle it.” interrupted Oliver. If Iris was the same girl she was before, she would have swooned at the thought of Oliver Queen talking to her, but now she just wanted him to shut up and she wanted him to use that brain of his and listen to her.

“Okay guys. Let's take a breath.” Felicity interrupted everyone and Iris really wanted to hug the blond right now. “I'm sure Iris has a logical explanation, right Iris!?” Felicity asked her and Iris really wanted to bury herself in the blonde's arms right now. She was no Barry but her arms would help her feel safe until Barry could come to save her.

“I'm sorry blondie, but right now the only logical thing is that Iris decided that she wanted attention and went head first into danger.” interrupted Ralph before Iris could begin and she really wanted to get her hands on some of that acid that the Trickster had made right now.

“I wouldn't call it heard first because technically she hadn't head butted him.” Felicity had said, trying to diffuse the tension but only making it worse.

“Felicity, you're being biased.” said Diggle who hadn't said anything so far and Iris couldn't help but glare at him. So Felicity was biased for siding with Iris but Oliver could speak even though he wasn't even part of the team?

“Can I just-” Iris really wanted to talk right now but everyone was being an ass today. Maybe not Barry and Felicity definitely. They listen, they understand.

“No Iris! You don't get to be pissed off! Do you have any idea how worried we were? You don't get to worry us like that and complain about it!” snapped Cisco and she could see the hurt in his eyes. But why couldn't he see the hurt in her eyes?

“But I just-” she was cut off again and she desperately wanted to break down right now.

“West Allen, don't even try it. Even someone with the IQ of gum would know not to stupidly jump into battle like that!” Harry snapped and she really wanted to say something hurtful at him but she couldn't. She just held back and tried not to burst into tears.

“Please can I-” she desperately tried not to cry but it was hard. However that's until her father spoke again.

“Iris, please be grateful. Everyone on this team goes through more horrible stuff than you and don't complain. But you complain about us worrying and-” but she had had it. They don't complain? Oh, that was not going to stand.

“I'M SORRY?!?” she screamed, turning to him, giving him the glare she leaves for the scum of earth. Everyone except Felicity recoiled slightly in shock at her tone. It was one of pure hate but she didn't have it in her to care at this point.

“THEY DON'T COMPLAIN! BUT I DO!?!” she didn't even care about how mean she sounded. She had every right. Not once has she been allowed to scream for all her worth but everyone has been allowed to rag at her for the smallest thing. She didn't even care at the look of pain in Caitlin’s eyes. The Ice Queen could sit down and listen to others for once.

“Iris maybe-” Oliver tried to interrupt but she wasn't going to have it. She turned to him and sent him a glare so angry he was shocked into silence.

“Maybe you should shut it and keep your nose out of everyone's business and accept the fact that just maybe you're a dick to everyone who needs to understand the meaning of boundaries and not to interfere in shit he has no need to interfere in!” suggested Iris mockingly, but the tone was angry and harsh and tears where flowing down her eyes.

“Baby girl I'm sorry I-” if her dad thought he could sweet talk her into forgiving him then he had another thing coming.

“When will you understand!!? I'm not a baby!?! I have gone through enough shit to classify me as a senior! I was lied to by everyone in my life for an entire year, all for the sole reason that I was a girl!” she screamed at her father and he had the decency to look ashamed.

“Iris, people have to lie to-” Digg tried to placate her but she spoke over him, sending him a nasty glare that had him shutting his trap.

“My fiancé killed himself right in front of me thinking that I never loved him!! And you wanna know the worst part?!? I forced myself to push that away to make sure that everyone else around me was protected, safe and happy! To make sure you were okay! Make sure Barry was okay!!” she screamed and she could feel Caitlin giving her a sad look from behind her but Iris didn't want her pity.

“YOU!!!” Iris screamed as she turned to the ice queen. Caitlin looked like a deer caught in headlights and her hands were icing up but Iris didn't care. This was long overdue and she wasn't going to wait any longer.

“Don't even get me started on YOU!! You fucking assisted in my murder and I had to fucking accept the fact that you would start working with us again. You and that phycopath! And when I tried to yell at you before, you know what happened?! I got fucking yelled at like I was the villain!!”Caitlin had the decency to look ashamed but when she opened her mouth Iris spoke over her. “I would be perfectly fucking fine with you here. But I didn't even get a fucking apology!” Caitlin froze at that, horror setting in her eyes but Iris could care less.

“I have sat here in this team doing nothing but be sweet and nice to everyone. Have tried my hardest to make sure we all stayed friends. Didn't complain when I was sidelined and just took it in. Because when I did speak up I was looked at as if I was the villain.” Iris said, her tears making her choke on a few words and her dad looked like he wanted to hug her, but he could tell Iris wouldn't react too nicely to that.

“And now, I may not have been stranded on an island for 5 years,” she said nodding at Oliver who had a mighty look of shame. “or been in the army.” Diggle had the sense to look ashamed at himself. “but I know about being hurt. And the biggest hurt ever, is when people you love and trust won't even listen to you.” Her tears were falling silently now but Felicity was smiling encouragingly at her and Iris continued.

“But if you had listened then you would have known the criminal was straight up molesting the little girl and I stopped him from going any further. If you would have all wanted him to continue, I'll make sure to remember that when I see someone getting touched against their will.” her voice sounded so broken and so wrong on the normally happy girl that everyone but Felicity couldn't help but put their heads down in shame.

“She's right you know.” came a voice. Everyone turned around and they could see Barry standing there and he had a look of upmost fury on his face and he was glaring at everyone like he would do to the criminals he would arrest for murder or for rape. In disgust.

“She has been through so much and instead of complaining and whining about it like we do, she goes on about it to be a better person. She puts her problems aside for others and makes sure that everyone is protected. I won't deny that I have wronged her in the past, because I have, but I always make sure to apologise.” said Barry, cold fury directed at them and Cisco couldn't help but bow his head down in shame.

It reminded him of time he had created the cold gun and Barry had found out.

Barry quickly sped over to his wife and quickly picked her up, carrying her bridal style. Iris didn't say anything, just put her head in the crook of Barry's neck and tried to stop her tears.

“Now, I'm going to take my beautiful, selfless, kind wife home and all of you, except for Felicity considering she's the only one being nice to her, are going to think long and hard about what you've done and find ways to beg for forgiveness.” Barry's tone held no room for discussion and even Ralph or Oliver tried to say anything.

“Make sure she knows she's loved. And by that I mean bring her chocolate. Not that there's anything wrong with sex. I mean that is if you use sex. Which is fine.” Felicity babbled going bright red and Iris couldn't help the watery giggle that escaped her.

“I prefer both.” she said softly and Barry couldn't but smile at his wife.

“Then you'll get both.” he said quietly into her ear before running off.

“We really messed up this time.” mumbled Cisco and nobody, not even Harry could deny how dirty they've done Iris. Even Joe was standing there, shame in his eyes at the pain he bought his girl.

~Westallen loft~

Barry quickly sped into his and Iris's loft and quickly went over to their bed. He gently laid her down and sped into the kitchen. He grabbed all her favourite chocolates and sped back into the room.

He speedily undressed her out of her jeans and blouse and into some pajama shorts and a flash hoodie.

“I love you, Iris West Allen.” Barry said lovingly as he began kissing down her body and Iris couldn't help her giggle.

“Babe, no!” she giggled. Barry pouted in disappointment but didn't interrupt as she continued. “Let me eat the chocolate first. I need the sugar to catch up to you. Your stamina is crazy.” she said throwing a saucy wink at him and Barry couldn't help feeling the love for the woman right in front of him grow tenfold.

[aedelia]

A Hero in the Making

Also cross posted with FF.net and AO3

All Tucker wanted was to play on the slide.  Some bullies interfere and he ends up gaining something much better than just a trip down a slide.

A Hero in the Making

                 Tucker was grinning as he raced around the playground. He had helped his mom make cookies and she let him lick the spoon and the beaters.  It tasted amazing as always and then she had shooed him out the door to play while they baked.  There were only a few weeks left of the summer before third grade and the weather was perfect! It was nice and warm outside, birds were singing and kids were laughing while they played.  He ran past a bench where a red haired girl with headphones had her nose in a book and a sandbox where the little kids were digging for treasure.  

His eyes lit up when he spotted that the big slide was empty.  He clambered up the rope ramp and bounced in excitement at the entrance to the tunnel.  He had just put his hands on the top to go in when he felt someone grab his shirt from behind and yank him back.  He stumbled as he was pulled and tried to keep his feet under him while being dragged backwards to the edge of the platform.

A tall blond boy with green eyes gave him a mean smile and said, “Kids with glasses aren’t allowed to slide.”

Tucker shook his head at him twisting his neck to try to see the other boy, “Yes I am!  I’ve gone on this slide before!”

Tucker was flailing around and trying to get the bigger kid to lose his grip on his shirt.  The blond boy smirked as he yanked Tucker back again and swung him around.  He then shoved Tucker down the ramp. He was bouncing and tumbling as he rolled over the knots to the ground.

“Hey Frankie, this kid thinks he’s allowed to slide on our slide!”

Another blond boy who looked like the big kid snatched Tucker’s glasses off the ground from where they had fallen.  He peered through the lenses; his eyes magnified as he held them up to his face.

“Wow Russ, his eyes are really bad.  I can’t see anything!”  He looked around the playground with his dirty hands half covering the glass and smudging the lens as he twisted and bent the frames.

“Hey give them back!” Tucker shouted, shedding wood chips as he scrambled to his feet and lunged at the thief.

The other boy laughed and held the glasses up high above Tucker’s head where he couldn’t reach them. There was a thud as Russ jumped back down to the ground.  

“You’re just a little kid, you’re not even big enough to get your glasses back!” He taunted, shoving Tucker.

“A blind little kid!” Echoed the other blond as he pushed Tucker back into Russ’s grip.

Russ grabbed Tucker’s ball cap off his head and threw it behind him, “My big brother is on the Casper football team and you’re not cool enough to wear a Ravens hat!”

Tucker’s hair had sprung into a fluffy cloud without his hat and Russ squashed his hand into it, smacking Tucker on the head in the process.

“Wow!  Look how girly his hair is!”  

He shoved Tucker back to his friend.

“It’s so gross and poofy!” Frankie exclaimed, shoving Tucker again.

“Stop it!”  Tucker cried as he was violently shoved back and forth between the other boys.  His vision became more blurry as his eyes started to tear up.  New insults assaulted him with each push.

“So girly like a princess!”

“Aw look he’s crying now!”

“Little girly crybaby!”

“No one is going to save the crying princess!”

“Princess Poofyhead!”

“Cotton Candy Head!”

Frankie pointed Tucker’s glasses at him and said, “More like Cotton Head.” He said slyly, “You should go find some cotton and pick it like-” his next words were cut off as a red and white blur flew into him and tackled him to the ground.

“You’re just a mean bully!” A voice shouted from the figure kneeling on the downed bully.  

Russ shoved Tucker one more time, knocking him to the ground as he rounded on the shorter boy that had interrupted his fun.

“Hey kid, we’re just showing this crybaby who’s allowed and not allowed on the playground.  It wasn’t very nice of you to knock down my cousin.”

The boy swiped the glasses from the stunned blond he had knocked down and leaped in between Tucker and the bigger bully.  Now that he was closer, Tucker could see he had curly black hair, a red and white shirt, shorts, and red shoes.

“It wasn’t very nice of you to be a bully and be mean!” he shouted.

“Hey hey, we’re not bullies! We were just...enforcing order on the playground.”  Russ, hands stretched out in placation.

“You’re lying!” The black haired boy hissed through clenched teeth, “The rules are to be kind to each other!”  He clenched the hand holding the glasses and roughly pointed his other at the bully. “Stealing is wrong!  Pushing around kids that are smaller than you is wrong! Calling people mean names is wrong!” His volume increased until he was shouting.

The second bully slowly got to his feet.  He rubbed his backside and then brushed off the playground dirt and wood chips that were clinging to his shirt and shorts.  “We were just having some fun.” He muttered.

The smaller black haired boy heard him and quickly changed targets, “It’s not fun if it hurts someone else!  If you don’t leave us alone and go away…” he paused, face scrunched as he thought of a good threat, “I’ll yell for my mommy and daddy and tell everyone that you were hitting and calling names.”

Russ stood still for a moment thinking before he grimaced slightly, “Hey Frankie, let’s go.  Slides are stupid anyways.  Let’s let the babies play with the stupid baby toys.” He turned and tugged his cousin along when it looked like he was going to argue.

“Why are you listening to him?  He’s just a whiny little kid, the only reason he knocked me down was he got me by surprise.” Frankie complained.

Russ leaned towards him and loudly whispered, “Cause we don’t want the Freaky Fentons coming over here. Let the weirdoes play, we have better things we can do.”  

Frankie faced the smaller boys as he was led away and called, “Keep your weirdness to yourselves freaks!”

Tucker’s rescuer waited until the tormenters were far enough away before crouching down level with him. “Hi!  I’m Danny!” He said with a friendly grin.  

“My name’s Tucker.” he responded, using his sleeve to wipe away his tears.

Danny offered his hand and helped pull Tucker to his feet.  He frowned as he passed the glasses back to their owner, “I’m sorry they messed up your glasses.  I ran as fast as I could but I was on the monkey bars when I saw what happened.”

Tucker shook his head still letting out little sniffles, “Thank you for helping me, they were really mean and said some really bad things.”

Danny had a thoughtful look as he picked up the hat and handed it to Tucker.  “Do you want me to tell the grownups?”

Tucker shook his head again as he put the crooked glasses on his face, “No then they’ll just be mad and come after me again.  They’re not worth it.”  He blinked as he adjusted to being able to see again, Danny’s eyes were very blue.

Danny shrugged, “If you’re sure.”  He offered Tucker his hand again.  “Come meet my big sister!  Jazzy is really smart, she skipped the fifth grade and is starting middle school this year.”

Tucker hesitantly took Danny’s hand and asked, “Why are we going to your sister?”

Danny grinned at him, “Cause we’re friends now right?  Jazzy will want to meet my new friend and know who you are!”

Tucker felt hope in his chest like a little bird stretching its wings for the first time.  He shyly returned the smile, “Yeah I’d love to be friends.”  

Danny’s grip was gentle as he led Tucker to the park bench, chattering the whole way. “And I have these really cool model rocket ships that my mommy and daddy got me, they glow in the dark!  And I have glow in the dark stickers on my ceiling too!  Daddy had to help me put them on, he’s really tall!  We had to do them over a lot until they matched the real constellations.  My mommy makes cookies every week and they’re really good!  We have ghost sprinkles that we can put on them.”

“My mom makes cookies too, I helped her make some today.” Tucker said.

“Helping make cookies is so much fun! Did your mommy let you lick the spoon?” Danny asked.

“Yeah!  She let me lick the spoon and the beaters from the mixer too!  It was so good!” Tucker answered.

“Ohhh that’s the best!”

They came to a stop next to the bench that Tucker had run past earlier.  The red-haired girl was still reading her book.  It didn’t have many pictures and Tucker could see a lot of big words.  He recognized ‘mitochondria’ and ‘nucleus’ but didn’t know what ‘vacuole’ or ‘cytoplasm’ meant.

Danny reached out with his free hand and put it right over the pages, “Jazzy!” he sang while wiggling his fingers.

“Danny!  I was reading that!”  The girl slid her headphones down around her neck as she finally looked up. Mozart continued to play as she and Tucker stared at each other for a moment.

Danny looked back and forth between them with a sunny smile on his face, “Jazzy!  This is my new friend Tucker.  Some bullies were being mean to him but I stopped them.” He said proudly.

She held her hand out to Tucker, “It’s nice to meet you, my name is Jasmine Fenton, but you can call me Jazz.”

Tucker gave her his best firm handshake and replied, “My name is Tucker Foley and I just turned 8 last month.”

Now that the introductions were through, Danny pressed forward and asked, “Jazzy can Tucker come over to our house to play?”

His sister frowned at him, “Danny you can’t just invite him without checking with his parents first. He can come over to our house if he gets permission first.”  

Danny turned to Tucker with hope shining brightly in his eyes.  Tucker rubbed the back of his neck as he considered what to do, Danny was even better at the puppy eyes than him.  “We can go ask my mom if it’s ok, she can fix my glasses up too.”  He grinned at the other boy, “She’ll be really glad to meet my friend and the cookies might be done now too!”

Once he had agreed Danny began bouncing in place and tugging on his sister’s hand.  “Come on Jazzy, you have to come too!”  As she packed her book and music away, he turned expectantly to Tucker, “Where do you live?” he asked.

Tucker pointed and said, “The second street over from the park on that side.  I live in the yellow house.” He grinned as Danny took his free hand and started swinging their arms as they walked, Jazz trailing a few steps behind them.

It only took a few minutes for them to arrive at the door to the Foley house.  Tucker shoved the door open, kicking off his shoes while yelling, “Mom!  I made a new friend!”  He turned to the Fenton siblings and pointed to the mat by the front door.  “You can put your shoes here and then you can come into the kitchen and meet my mom.”

Once all the footwear had been dropped onto the mat, he led them down the hall and into the kitchen.

“Wow, your cookies smell really good!” Danny exclaimed as they came into the room.  

“Why thank you, young man.” Angela Foley said as she used an oven mitt and a spatula to slide the cookies from the baking sheet to the cooling rack.  Once all of the cookies had been moved she looked up at the children hovering by the hallway.  “Oh my! Tucker, what happened?  You’re covered in dirt and your glasses!”

Tucker sniffed as he showed the bent frames to his mother, “There were some mean big kids at the playground and they messed up my glasses and tried to take my hat too.  Danny made them stop.”

“And this is Danny?” she asked, looking at the other boy.

Danny nodded while scuffing his foot as the attention shifted to him, “They were being really mean and pushing him and saying mean names.” he explained.

“And who’s this?” she asked while looking at the third child in the room.

“My name is Jasmine Fenton, I’m Danny’s older sister and I didn’t see the bullies.” Jazz answered while hovering behind her younger brother.

Mrs. Foley knelt down in front of Danny to meet his eye level and sincerely said, “Thank you Danny for helping Tucker when the bullies were being mean to him.  It means a lot to me that he has a friend who will stand up for him if someone is being a bully.”

Danny nodded and then surprised himself with a big sniff as tears started to come down.  He scrunched up his face in confusion as he continued to sniffle.

Jazz moved around to face him while asking, “Danny, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Danny shook his head, “No! I don’t know why I can’t stop.” He said, offended that the tears wouldn’t stop.

Tucker tugged on his mom’s sleeve, “Mom, why would you cry is you aren’t hurt or sad?” he asked.

The other children waited expectantly for the answer.

Angela smiled and said, “Well sometimes if you’re trying very hard to be brave and strong when you’re feeling scared you can get through without crying, but when you get somewhere safe then the scared or sad feelings will still need to come out.  It’s ok to cry if you need to, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

She got off the floor and dampened a nearby towel.  She then used it to wipe Danny’s face of tears and dirt.  Once she had cleaned his face, she rinsed the towel and repeated the action with Tucker.  Jazz watched her with something close to awe in her eyes, “How did you know that?” she asked.

Angela chuckled and answered her, “That’s called psychology dear.  It’s the study of how the mind works and is very useful for understanding why people act in certain ways.”

Jazz nodded thoughtfully while watching Danny and quietly muttered, “Psychology sounds very useful and helpful.”

“There, that’s a lot better now.” Mrs. Foley said once both boys were cleaned and calm.  She gestured to the kitchen table and said, “Why don’t you three have a seat and help yourself to some cookies while I fix Tucker’s glasses.”  After plating the sufficiently cooled cookies, she ruffled Danny’s hair and held out her hand for the damaged glasses.  Tucker handed them over and then slid into the chair next to Danny, “Mom, after my glasses are fixed may I go over to play with Danny?”

His mother hummed thoughtfully as she ran water over the glasses to remove the dirt and smudges. She glanced at the table and had to hide her grin at the pleading looks the boys had.  “Of course you may.  As long as you come back before dark and follow any rules the Fentons have in their home.  You can give their parents our phone number when you get there.”  She carefully didn’t react to the happy exclamations from the boys and gently bent the metal frames back into the correct position. Once she was satisfied with the shape, she used a clean cloth to wipe the lens and passed them back to Tucker.

Once his glasses were back in place, Tucker shoved the last third of his cookie into his mouth and chewed furiously.  A moment later he thanked his mother and slid out of his seat.  He shifted on his feet while he waited for Danny and Jazz to finish their cookies as well.  Once they had all finished and Mrs. Foley had dropped some baggies with more cookies into their hands, they were out the door again.

Angela hummed cheerfully as she started cleaning her baking dishes.  She had almost finished scrubbing her baking pan when her husband returned from work and entered the kitchen.

“Hello Honey.” He said as he pecked her on the cheek.  “Where’s Tucker?” he asked as he swiped one of the warm cookies from the plate on the table.

“Tucker made some friends at the playground today.  Some bullies were harassing him and another boy stepped in and scared them off.” His wife answered while finishing the dishes.

“That’s wonderful!” He absently replied before taking a bite of the pilfered treat.

“Yes, the Fenton children are very sweet and were very polite when they came here to ask if Tucker could come over to play.” She said while placing the last dish on the drying rack.

Maurice choked on his cookie; “Did you say Fenton?” he gasped out, crumbs flying.

Angela dropped the towel she was using to dry her hands and hurried over to pound on his back.  “Yes, the Fentons.” she repeated, “Danny is around Tucker’s age and Jasmine is his older sister.”

“That’s great Honey.” Maurice wheezed, thinking back to his junior year of college and the party where he poured a whole bowl of punch over some huge freshman with the name Fenton. ‘That was years ago and hundreds of miles away from here.  Surely it can’t be the same Fenton?’