#this better not be the last time we see argenti

[lia-lillies]

how i think various hsr men would ask you out (gender neutral reader)

warnings: none; poor attempts at humor and possible swearing

a/n: wowee! 2 hsr posts in one day; go me!

tagging @sheyfu, @ayrastv, and @threnodians cause they eat my writing up all the time, every time 

the planners 

these guys are great! they are ready and organized to ask you out. they have a date, time, and everything else planned for the PERFECT date, and he may even account for when things look dicey. the date WILL go smoothly because he did all of the work and made the most out of the scenario. so help him, dear god (or aeons), if he doesn’t account for something and the date goes horribly wrong- the date goes perfectly fine, spoilers. 

dr. ratio, welt, dan heng, moze, gepard, jiaoqiu, your faves!

the somewhat planners

they do the bare minimum when planning but may accidentally schedule something very last-minute, which then leads into your date. but it all turned out fine in the end, and he was just happy to be around you and bask in your amazing presence. the vibes? chaotic, but it was actually quite a nice time! 

boothill, caelus, sampo, aventurine, your faves!

the flirt

very eloquent in his words that you almost don’t recognize that he’s asking YOU out, quite silly indeed. but then as the conversation goes on, there’s this almost desperate sound to his voice. oh my god, he’s not being a shithead and asking you out for real. very suave and eloquent, but he does plan everything with your preferences in mind. listen, he may be a flirt, but he’s so down bad for you, let’s be honest. be honored he’s asking you to go out with him, for my sake.

jing yuan, luocha, gallagher, argenti, your faves!

the desperate lil’ simps (this is a joke btw)

they are the epitome of “PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE” in paragraph form (yknow the one, we all do) but seeing him like this is kinda funny- so funny to the point you decide in taking blackmail of the moment and watch the light in his eyes go from happiness to horror. you don’t do it in the end, but the idea was funny in the moment. they just want to spend time with you, and who would you be to deny them of that? 

caelus, sampo, luka, aventurine, your faves!

the straightforward (almost menacing)

their tone of voice when they ask you out is almost a 180 from how they normally he talks to you, it’s almost scary. it’s a simple “go out with me” that catches you completely off guard and almost knocks you off your feet. but in actuality, he adjusts the date to your liking and you have a pleasant time! the way he asked could have been better, though…blade, dr. ratio, moze, gallagher, your faves!

©lia-lillies 2024.

[werchezdeeno]

aoughhhh argenti quest...how to be the most capable but cringefail at the same time? Hes the master at them simultaneously.

the way he rlly wanted to see wubbaboo 🥺

and i find his relationship with velite very...interesting. during the whole quest it felt like smth happened between them (?) Im not sure how to describe it. The thing abt hsr is time is only convenient to the story. Weeks will pass and the reader wont be informed. Exactly how many days were we in the sting or wtv it was? Definitely more than one day. I might have thought otherwise if velite was not part of the quest, but his behavior says more time has passed. He starts with annoyance than near the end feels affection towards Argenti. He talks as if they have gotten a lot closer over the course of the quest, which further soldified my thoughts. How much time passed from the events of the quest and Argenti's mssgs? Obviously quite a bit since Velite changed careers during this time and how Argenti helped.

Overall the quest was pretty cool, but it would've been so much better if they just added a scene like "___ days later..." or smth like that. Or "the next day". The timing kinda threw me off since it didnt take very long but felt as it should have.

But what himeko said at the end kinda made me sad for argenti. He's essentially looking for something that can't be found. Or maybe idrila can idk how aeons work.

[gay-dorito-dust]

I love your writing btw! I’ve been perusing it for awhile haha- can we get cuddle headcanons for how the hoyo boyo’s cuddle? (Sunday, Argenti, Ratio, and Gallagher please? And any other ones you’d like!)

Sunday: possessive cuddles.

Probably watches over you in your sleep like a creep.

He will not let you go as you are kept caged to his chest within a firm hold as he slept peacefully.

Even as he slept, Sunday didn’t like you being far away from him and prefers to keep you close to him as humanly possible.

He’ll want you to rest your tired head against his chest and coddle you in his arms all the while pressing kisses into your head and upon your face as his wings fluttered softly, bathing your face with a gentle breeze.

His little wings only fluttered when he was feeling strong emotions such as love, anger, betrayal and happiness for instance. So needless to say you constantly felt his wings flutter softly in your face but you weren’t going to complain for such as cute display. That and the fact that his little wing flutters were great for when the nights got warmer, and when you didn’t want to cuddle up to Sunday as much.

Not like he’d let you, seeing as how he can’t stand you being a mere three inches away from him. He sleeps a lot better knowing that you’re by his side and the soft fluttering of his wings made you more than aware of that.

His preferred cuddling position is: chest rest

Argenti: this man needs to hold you against him as though he were trying to fuse your souls together. He won’t assume any other position that didn’t have you pressed against one another, or touching in some way shape or form.

He’d even press his forehead against your own while pulling you to his chest as his hands drew patters into your side and interlocking your legs either one another.

He craves the feel of your warm skin like no other.

He can’t sleep without your touch at all as he feels as though half of his soul was somewhere he couldn’t be.

He’s being dramatic, you’re literally in the same bed with the smallest amount of space between the two of you.

The downside of cuddling Argenti is that sometimes you’d wake up with a face full of his ruby red hair that oddly smelt of fresh roses. But other than that cuddling with Argenti was soft, warm, comforting and it made you feel safe being in the arms of your charming knight.

His preferred cuddling position would probably be the honeymoon hug.

Gallagher:

Clingy/playful.

This man is hugging you as though you were his personal pillow/plushie.

You weren’t complaining though as the man runs warm like a furnace and you got to have your face smothered into his tits. You were in heaven.

Will personally get offended when you try to move away from him.

‘Stop trying to escape will you? Unless you’ve got to piss, then I’m going to assume you don’t want to cuddle me anymore.’ He’d say groggily as he burrows his face into your neck, playfully biting it as you tried to swat him away.

He may even try to tickle you because he’s bored or can’t sleep, when in reality he just wants to hear you laugh one last time before falling asleep for real. He loves getting to be playful and affectionate with you when your both trying to find sleep. The moments shared during them were real, authentic and something to treasure for the future.

These moments were proven more precious to Gallagher when his dog then joins in on all the fun and slept at the foot of the bed.

His preferred cuddling position would be: leg cradle.

Ratio:

Average at cuddling unless he’s deep in his sleep.

Ratio looks like someone who doesn’t like the feeling of another person pressed up against him in fear of contracting their stupidity like a disease. 💀

The best he’ll do is touch pinkies and or have your backs pressed against one another. That’s it.

However when he’s deep in his sleep, he’ll be the big spoon and cuddle himself into your neck as his arms clutched at your waist firmly. It was cute and sweet in it’s own way, but it be best not to admit this to Ratio when he’s awake as he’ll try to prove why you’re wrong.

He’s secretly a cuddle bug but is too prideful to admit to it, obviously.

He’s a touch staved man who denies all allegations the fact that he’s touch starved and craves your touch to an extent where he feels it borderlines embarrassment. So as a result of his prideful ways, he’s left to yearn for something he couldn’t not and would not bring himself to speak up upon.

Veritas only finds comfort in seeking your touch when your fast asleep and cuddles himself into you back under the guise of being asleep, it was bound to work and work it did.

His preferred cuddling positioning would be: back to back/ spooning.

[crystallinestars]

Taking Care of Them

Short scenarios about Argenti, Aventurine, and Jing Yuan receiving much-needed care and comfort from you. Pure fluff, a little hurt/comfort for Aventurine's part.

I took some creative liberties with Aventurine's character since we still don't know everything about him yet, so this is simply my interpretation of him.

This isn't proofread because my brain is fried from writing.

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

🌹 Argenti:

As a Knight of Beauty, Argenti is a highly skilled fighter who puts his very life on the line to vanquish his foes. Usually, he defeats his enemies with grace and style, but even the refined Argenti sometimes sustains injuries.

In his most recent battle, Argenti made it out practically unscathed, save for a few scrapes and bruises that marred his handsome face. That was how he found himself obediently sitting on your bed while you treated his wounds.

“I apologize that you have to see me in this state,” he murmurs, guilt darkening his expression. “I did not want to cause you worry.”

“No need to apologize,” you brush off his concerns with a smile. “Now turn this way. I’ll clean the scratch on your cheek,” you said as you gently turn Argenti’s face to one side to reveal the shallow, red gash on his cheek.

Argenti complies without hesitance and sits perfectly still as you dab at the scratch with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. It stings, but the Knight of Beauty unflinchingly tolerates the burn with a small smile on his face.

He can tell through the delicate and careful way you clean and dress his wounds that you care a great deal about him. Your touches were gentle so as to not cause him unnecessary pain, yet no less thorough. It felt nice to be touched so tenderly, to be cared for in such a loving manner.

Your heart is beautiful, he thinks. To possess such a caring and loving heart, you must rival the beauty of his beloved Aeon Idrila. Argenti truly believes that you are a wonderful and beautiful person, both inside and out.

As you finish patching up the last wound and pack away your first aid kit, Argenti turns to you and gives you a radiant, sincere smile from the heart.

“Thank you…” he softly says as gently takes one of your hands and kisses the back of it, “You have a dazzling heart—so pure and gentle. I feel like the luckiest man in the universe to have the privilege of receiving your care and affection.”

His words may sound over-the-top and perhaps even fake, but he truly means them. Every single one. Even if you don’t entirely believe him, the amused smile that his flamboyant phrases elicit out of you is all the reason he needs to keep them up.

“You’re welcome. Just try to be more careful next time. I’ll love you no matter how you look, but I hate seeing you hurt,” you murmur in reply and lean in to kiss the band-aid on his cheek.

“There. A kiss to make it all better,” you giggle as you pull away.

The little gesture catches Argenti by surprise, but he can’t say he didn’t like it. In fact, he enjoyed it more than he ever thought he would.

With a small chuckle, he pulls you close to kiss you fully on the lips. If you don’t take his word for it that he feels incredibly lucky to have your love, then perhaps his actions will convey the sincerity of his feelings for you.

🦚 Aventurine:

All his life, Aventurine has faced hate. Hate for being Sigonian, hate for being a dog of the IPC, hate for acting exactly the way that’s expected of his kind. He played into people’s perceptions of him. Why waste time trying to correct their views when they won’t change? It’s easier to just act according to their expectations and hide who he really is behind this playful and sly mask.

Only with you does he let his carefully crafted façade crumble to reveal his vulnerable self.

Aventurine is very good at acting like everything is fine when the world is against him. Perhaps to an extent, he truly believes that life is all about fighting battles on his lonesome. He can use others and get used as a tool in return, but the only one he can trust is himself. It’s the only life he’s ever known.

However, you’ve known him long enough to tell that the hate and isolation get to him, no matter how much he pretends that they don’t. When he comes home one night after a particularly awful day, it doesn’t take long for you to figure out that he feels down.

Aventurine smiled and teased you like usual, but he spoke less and clung to you more than usual. He hugged you from behind and kept an arm around you no matter what you were trying to do, almost as if he was seeking comfort from your physical presence.

Turning to face him, you glance into his tired eyes.

“What is it, darling? See something you like?” he teased, the corner of his mouth tugging into a smirk.

“Hmm, no,” you hummed. Extending your arms forward, you wrapped them around Aventurine and slowly pulled him into a hug. “I don’t see something I like.”

Aventurine is momentarily stunned by your unprompted action, but he quickly recovers.

“Oh? How come? Am I not appealing enough for you?” he quipped, resting his chin on your shoulder and returning your hug. Unlike your tight hug, his arms wrapped around you in a loose hold, as if he was uncertain how to go about it.

“Quite the opposite,” you softly chuckle, “I don’t see something I like, but I do see someone I love,” you whisper and turn your head to look directly at Aventurine’s face.

A beat of silence passes as Aventurine processes your words, before bursting out laughing.

“That was painfully corny, even for you!” he chuckled.

You scoff but don’t say anything in response, simply continuing to hug him tightly. Slowly, carefully, you card your fingers through his blond hair before moving lower to stroke your palm along his spine in soothing circles.

Aventurine’s laughter dies down, his initial mirth now replaced with something fragile and vulnerable as he falls quiet. He won’t ever share what burdens him, but you don’t need to know the details to provide him comfort. If he doesn’t want to tell you, then you won’t pry. At the very least, you’ll do all you can to support him and remind him that he’s not alone.

Being wrapped up in your warm embrace, feeling your gentle caresses—it all felt unfamiliar to Aventurine. It’s been so long since he felt the tender and loving affection of another person. It took a while, but eventually he relaxed and allowed himself to lean into your body, burying his nose into the crook of your neck.

Silence lingered in the air, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. There was something soothing in not having to talk. It was freeing to not worry about pretending to be okay or be pressured to talk about the things that trouble him.

That hug—that simple act of human affection—made him feel safe and protected in your arms. When you leaned back slightly to plant a tender kiss on Aventurine’s forehead, something inside him snapped and he had to hold back tears. Burying his face deeper into the crook of your neck, he clung tightly to you while you continued to rub slow circles along his back.

“It’s okay. It’ll all be okay, I’m here. You’re not alone…” you whisper, hugging him tighter.

Being wrapped up in your warm hug, feeling your affectionate kisses and gentle words is something Aventurine never knew he needed until now. Just for this moment, he lets his walls come down and bares his wounded self to you with the hope that you can soothe his pain if only a little.

And you do. With whispered reassurances and loving caresses, you ease his hurt, even if just temporarily. He is safe, you promise. He will always be safe in your arms.

🦁 Jing Yuan:

Jing Yuan is notorious for disliking the abundance of paperwork and other leadership tasks he has to take care of on a day-to-day basis as a General of the Xianzhou Luofu. Despite his woeful sighs about how tedious it is, and how the work never seems to end, Jing Yuan still accomplishes all his duties in a timely and precise fashion.

Jing Yuan is a hard worker, you are well aware of that. Which is why when he snuck out of the Seat of Divine Foresight to come spend some free time with you, you offered him to rest on your lap. And who was he to turn down such a tempting opportunity?

Sitting outside on the veranda with Jing Yuan’s head resting on your lap, you softly ran your fingers through his fluffy, white hair, marveling at how silky it was. It was as soft as it looked.

“I could get used to this,” Jing Yuan said with a sigh, relaxing into our touch. His golden eyes were closed as he enjoyed the sensations of your fingers combing through his hair, gently massaging his scalp and soothing any tension he felt.

Chuckling, you looked down at him, mirth dancing in your eyes.

“Really? I wouldn’t mind having you as my lap cat like this more often. Why not come see me every day and get pets?” you tease him as you lightly poke his cheek.

Jing Yuan cracks open one eye to give you an amused look.

“Being your lap cat sounds like a wonderful idea,” he sighs, “Laying on your lap and getting pampered sounds like my ideal life.”

Both of you burst out laughing at the ridiculous notion of Jing Yuan being a lap cat, your spirits lifting as the mood brightened even more.

“Ah, but if you ever want to take a break and relax, you’re always welcome to see me,” you say in a softer voice this time, resuming running your fingers through his tresses.

“I’ll keep your invitation in mind,” he replied, his voice dropping an octave as he relaxed into your touch once more.

The minutes pass in a comfortable and serene atmosphere, with you pampering Jing Yuan with affectionate caresses, meanwhile, the man listens to you talk about your day. You both knew that after this he would have to go back and complete the mountain of work waiting for him, but for now, you were content to spend this little bit of time with your beloved.

Under the warm sun and gentle breeze, with his head resting comfortably on your lap, Jing Yuan felt himself growing drowsy. His eyelids became heavier, and his body didn’t want to move from his position on your lap.

Noticing the General grow sleepy, you fought the urge to tease him. If you pointed out his sleepiness, he would most likely apologize and put a stop to this tranquil moment by getting up and heading back to work. He already saw you less than either of you wanted, simply because work kept him busy. Moments like these were a luxury.

Keeping quiet, you gently massage his scalp until his breaths even out and become deeper, seeming to have fallen asleep. His expression looked so serene and vulnerable, something that very few people have had the chance to witness. As his lover, you were privy to this sight more than most. You watch over him with a small smile on your face, gently tucking away a stray strand of his hair.

Thinking he was asleep, you lean down to press a lingering kiss to his forehead, but as you straighten, you notice Jing Yuan peering up at you with an amused glint in his eyes.

Growing flustered, you quickly look away, feeling your cheeks heat up with a blush.

Jing Yuan only laughs in response, but his laughter quickly turns into a contented purr as you shut him up with another head massage. Whatever teasing remark he had prepared, immediately died on his tongue as relaxation washed over him and he felt sleep take hold of his mind again.

“It’s ok, take a nap. I’ll wake you up in a few minutes,” you murmur, willing Jing Yuan to finally get some rest. You could tell he wanted to protest, but with a light brush of your thumbs over his temples, he released a sigh of defeat and conceded.

“You certainly know how to take advantage of my weaknesses,” he chuckled, voice a little hoarse from drowsiness.

Despite his initial reluctance, Jing Yuan fell asleep fairly quickly. The continuous days of endless work had left him exhausted, but your tender pampering and sweet company were just the respite he needed.

“Sleep tight,” you whisper, gracing him with another sweet kiss on his forehead.

[m-neuvillette]

Star Rail Men and their duo Halloween costume

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

Characters: Argenti, Aventurine, Blade, Boothill, Caelus, Dan Heng, Dr Ratio, Gallagher, Gepard, Jiaoqiu, Jing Yuan, Luka, Luocha, Moze, Mr Reca, Sunday, Welt Yang, Yanqing

Notes: fem reader, implied to be shorter and smaller than him

Authors note: Hi everyone!! Our last post actually got way more popular than we thought it was going to so thank you so much for that!!! We hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!!

Argenti

100% knight and princess. He’ll be in nice silver armor (with red and gold accents of course) and you’ll be in a long red dress. He will be walking around all night talking about his beautiful princess!!

Aventurine

You guys would be pilots, like in Top Gun! He would be the pilot and you would be his co-pilot, of course! You would be wearing matching green pilot suits and while you guys were out and about he’d make you wear his hat and sunglasses instead of the pilot ones because he thinks you look better in his things that any costume!

Blade

You guys would both wear purge masks! This is kinda of obvious since death is kinda of his whole thing hehe. He’d be wearing a white dress shirt and black dress pants with blood splattered all over them. You’d be wearing black shorts and a black shirt with a white button up splattered with (fake) blood. You would both wear red purge masks to match! When you guys were going out, Kafka said that this was the perfect costume for you guys :)

Boothill

Based on the halloween art hehe but a mummy and Indiana Jones. But he REFUSES to be Indiana Jones so he has his you dress like him but make it cute and girly in your style and of course you’re wearing his hat. Be prepared for him to lowkey moan in your ear all night claiming “it’s what a mummy sounds like”.

Caelus

You guys would be pirates! He’d, of course, be the captain and you his first mate, because he is THE Galactic Baseballer, he has to be the captain. He would totally want to dress up exactly like Jack Sparrow, and how can you deny him that? You would be wearing loose black pants, a white undershirt with a black corset on top, along with a brown overcoat! You guys would totally get matching pirate hats too, because how can you not match?

Dan Heng

You guys are going to be a zombie bride and groom. He actually gets really excited at the idea especially when you show him the makeup and suit he’d be wearing. He thinks it’s so cool with how you do your guys’ makeup as a zombie plus the entire time you’re doing his makeup he loves how close you two are. And when he sees you in that wedding dress costume he knows he needs to propose as soon as possible to make that dress a real one.

Dr Ratio

Easily evil scientist and Frankenstein. You try to convince him to be Frankenstein because he’s much stronger and taller but he gives you a look of “I’m an actual scientist I’m being the scientist”. He also complains that he doesn’t want to be green. So fast forward and you are in a black outfit all green with the makeup and props to be Frankenstein while he’s wearing a lab coat and glasses. By the end of the night he’s a little green because he kept giving you kisses (so much for not wanting to be green).

Gallagher

You guys are the definition of werewolf and little red riding hood. He also thought about this way in advance so his little stubble is actually a beard by the time Halloween comes around. He also got your costume way in advance and he picked it out perfectly. A cute white dress with the red robe of course. He also has no shame in growling in your ear all night.

Gepard

He’s the cop while you’re the prisoner. Poor guy feels bad making you the prisoner, you literally have to tell him it’s okay and it’s just a costume and that it’s not that serious lol. But once you have on that orange jump suit showing off your body he accepts the idea. He also tells you often throughout the night that you’re the prettiest prisoner he’s ever seen!

Jiaoqiu

A witch and wizard. Since he loves to cook he wanted to be a wizard so he could make “potions” with you. So here you are in a black dress and witch hat while he’s in a long red robe making treats and potions. Your guys’ treats and potions were a hit at the party, and Jiaoqiu walks around saying of course they were because your guys magic is incomparable.

Jing Yuan

Football player and cheerleader. Dude is so buff how could he not want to show off his muscles in a football jersey ahah, but there you are wearing a cheerleading outfit with his jersey number written on your face. The number doesn’t last long because he keeps kissing it throughout the night.

Luka

You guys would be matching boxers! it was his idea, because he is a fighter after all! You would wear matching red jackets, because red is kind of his color so the choice was obvious. You’d be wearing black shorts and a black tank top, while he would just be wearing black shorts! He spent a good amount of the night begging you to “fight him”.

Luocha

You guys would be matching grim reapers! He does carry around a coffin, so it’s only fitting that you guys are grim reapers! You would both be wearing long black robes with skeleton masks. You begged him to still carry his wonderful companion (the coffin) around because it fits the costume perfectly!

Moze

You guys would go as matching Ghostfaces! You told him you had to go as him because he’s amazing at using a dagger, so it fits perfectly! You guys would be wearing long black robes with the Ghostface mask. He gave you one of his daggers to “make it more realistic”, when in reality he just wants to see you use his daggers ehe.

Mr Reca

You guys would be the Joker and Harley Quinn! It took some convincing to get him to step away from filming and dress up, but he relented when you brought up that you two would really just be acting and that Halloween is just one big film! By the end of the night he was fully convinced that Halloween is the best day ever and that you guys just dress up every year so that he can make a new film each time.

Sunday

Angel and devil. This is self explanatory but he puts up a fight. He claims you should be the angel because “you’re his angel” you pause for a second while blushing but telling him he has to because he already has the wings and halo. He finally relents after some time but it’s because he loved that short red dress on you hehe.

Welt Yang

You two wanted to keep it relatively simple so you went as nerds! Here you guys are with your glasses, flannels and books looking like the best nerds ever. The funny thing about the costume was March begging you not to become “a real nerd” because she can’t be surrounded by 3 nerds on the express.

Yanqing

You guys are definitely vampires! It took some convincing to get him away from his sparring routine, but don’t worry Jing Yuan was there to force him to dress up with you hehe. He would be wearing a classic black suit and you would be in a black dress with red accents. You would of course have matching black and red capes! At the end of the night he asked what you guys would be dressing up as next year :)

[yurinaa-world]

Can I request an Part two of Argenti x fem Vash like reader and maybe x Boothill too? Like since Argenti met Vash reader what if they meet Boothill too? Like how he was trying to find Vash reader due to their bounty over their head and finally found them when Argenti gave them a gun to vash reader from the last interaction with Argenti and Vash reader, this can be the reason why Argenti and Boothill fought for each other about how they fight over who tried to capture Vash reader when the readers goal was saving many lives as possible and stoping their twin brother knives (knives is the very reason why Vash reader has a bounty over their head because knives made it convincing that Vash reader stole smithing sand murder others when it’s actually Knives that did that)

(It is said that Boothill met Argenti and caused some heat between the two so I assumed the two became enemies😭, you can ignore this if you’d like and also take your time and be sure to hydrate!!!)

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈: Boothill & Argenti x Female reader

𝒮𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓅𝓈𝒾𝓈: with a reader that like Vash

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: fluff, spelling mistakes,

𝒫𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓉𝓌𝑜 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈: post

𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓁𝓁 "𝑀𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒢𝒶𝓁𝒶𝓍𝓎 𝑅𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇𝓈"

The second he sees that bounty on your head, he wants you. He never missed a target, never! You ain’t nothing special either, pretty face with a high bounty. He doesn't mind any mouse and cat chase with you, you better hope you’re running fast.

He’s gotten you a couple of times but you're always escaping by matter of luck and mistakes. The galaxy rangers make fun of him, saying if he ever caught you he should try his luck on a lottery ticket.

You’re just pulling his boot but he’s got ya. You're distracted by that redhead knight, just don’t move and let his bullet go right through yer’ without any pain, quick and easy for everyone.

Until that dunce of a knight grabs you and pulls you away just at the right second. Now he’s just gotten himself some more work to do. You run along with that Prince Charming of yours holding him off, He doesn't get any time for this bull. 

He’ll take the loss this time but he’s gonna be on tail til’ you’re backed up in the corner with your tail between your legs.

That knight ain’t telling him nothin’ either, all that’s coming out from his mouth is flowery trash. Makes him wanna feed that knight some led

Till he found your little self in a bar with some angry men around you and they have a bone to pick with you.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

“Come guys! Let’s talk things out first!”

Putting your hands up to surrender, while a group of men surrounds you—all of them are angry and you’re not getting out of here Scot free.

“How bout’ we sell her piece by piece?” One of the men brought up an idea that made everyone else laugh but made you shiver to your core. “That isn’t necessary!” “Yea, gentlemen, that ain’t necessary cuz’ she gonna be my catch.” 

Shots just started piercing through everything like a madman was given a machine gun. You just book it towards the behind-the-bar—glass shatters around you as you run— the adrenaline in your body doesn’t want you to stop.

“Move 'n I’ll shoot yer brains out too.”

You just completely stop the track, hearing his gun click he was going to shoot and there isn’t any way you're getting out of this either. The cold barrel of the gun against the back of your neck.

“Come on, let’s just talk this out of you—“You slowly turned your head, before he smashed you to the side, against the wall with a gun right between your eyebrows. “Yeah, talkin' it out like good ol buds, sorry but I gotta bounty to collect. It’s money, not ya”

“Haha….” You feel sweat dripping from your forehead, the gun being pressed more in between your eyebrows as if to prove a point. “Come on, it doesn't have to be that depressing! Not everything has to do with money.”

“Neither does it have to end up in people getting shot up—“  

You shove him roughly to the side, fast but not fast enough for you to avoid the bullet going through your body—catching him completely off guard. What are you stupid or just that selfless—sharp bang echoes fill the air. 

The flaming sharp pain in your shoulder, makes the adrenaline run off the walls in your head. Your knees weaken, collapsing onto the ground, body hunching over. Your hand clutches the coat where the bullet tore into, warm blood rapidly soaking through. Every breath just felt like you’re last. Gasping for air like a man who’s drowning in the big ocean.

He doesn’t get it at all, that bullet would’ve gone straight through and probably killed him, no it would have killed him. Yet after shots were fired and everyone was lying limp on the ground, he turned back to have gone with a trail of small drops of blood following.

Guess he was unlucky today.

In another universe you kiss, have a happy family and live without worries because I said so

𝒜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾 "𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒦𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽��� 𝑜𝒻 𝐵𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎"

Argenti is bae. Like he saw you around a couple of times, helping people and keeping them safe and how can he not find that respectable? Like is knight, not someone who is the most selfless even without amour.

Forget the bounty bae, you're his bae now(jk). He finds you so gentle that he can’t even come close to taking you away. 

Seeing kids surrounding you, telling you all about their days and interests all at the same time like you’re the heavenly woman he’s ever witnessed. You’re blessing him with your presence near him.

But seriously he’s most of the time just seen you injured, and it’s pretty obvious when you try not to. Taking shallow breaths, grunting in pain, having a hard time leaning down or just the expression of wanting to die when you’re alone.

Yet he doesn’t understand when he tries to help you out that you start telling it’s fine and he should get off his knee. A warrior fighting for others shouldn’t go without some reward, to allow him to help with injuries. One look. Just one.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

“Even under the gaze of the bright sun and in pain, your beauty is breathtaking.”

Sitting on wood with your back against the old wood of the box, creaking every minute with newspaper on your face blocking out the sunlight as you try to deal with the terrible pain in your shoulder—even with the bullet out and bandaged up, the pain was just worsening— “Huh?…” you take the newspaper from your face to get a good look at who was there.

“Ah…before you decide to arrest me…we…should talk out Mr knight!” You look at him nervously, knowing you probably wouldn’t be able to get out of this with your injury. 

You don’t have glasses on, why now? You try to move your arm around to see where your glasses go. You can’t just leave without them! 

“A knight doesn’t attack the innocent. Especially one with honour such as yours.”

“Yeah ....I wouldn’t say I would have honour, it's more like I just want to be as helpful as I can.”

Glasses? Where are those glasses? “Your eyewear.” He’s just holding it right in front of you, “Allow me.” Put it gently on your face before going on your knees. 

“What are you doing?!”

“Allow me to treat your injuries.”

“No, no, that's completely fine!”

“I insist, allow me to be in the grace of your beauty.”

if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

[razorblade180]

An Option

Stelle stumbles in with cuts and bruises all over her arms and face.

Caelus:Woah…what happened to you?

Stelle: Automatons and their mechanical koi contraptions. Ugh, I’m over those things. There has to be a better way to get materials.

Caelus:You’re bleeding.

Stelle:It’s fine.

Caelus: That’s the Destruction in you talking.

Stelle:Pfft, as you’re Mr. Preservation? My risks are just a little flashier than yours.

Caelus: Butt. Seat. Right now.

The girl groaned as she walked over to a chair while Caelus got up to get the first aid kit. Everyone bone felt like the abandoned door on a haunted house as Stelle tried to relax her body. Caelus came back quickly, brushing her tangled hair out of her face and gently putting a cotton ball doused with rubbing alcohol on a cheek cut that made her wince.

Steele: Hiss! That stings!

Caelus:I bet it does! Probably not as much as it was to get in the first place. Man, you really at shit.

Stelle:Thank you. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear after helping people all evening. Immaculate bed side manner.

Caelus:You’re extra feisty today. Credits for your troubles?

Stelle:I’m tired is all. I don’t know…maybe feeling the stress of everything?

Caelus:It pays to relax. You don’t have to face everything. I can swap jobs with you more often.

Stelle:I like my responsibilities. Plus not being active all the time doesn’t feel good.

Caelus:I’m active! I just don’t feel the need to go into the Simulated Universe every day! You need meaningful ways to spend hours.

Stelle:We don’t all have people inviting us for “personal encounters”

Caelus:…Ah, so that’s what the problem is about? You need to get laid.

The man witnessed the slowest head turn in history as Stelle’s jaw dropped from his audacity. Caelus didn’t even blink while putting another bandage on her arm.

Stelle:Do you think I’m not trying!? We all can’t be suffering from success like you!

Caelus:Like me!?

Stelle:Yes, you! You and Dan Heng in March’s room!

Caelus:I didn’t know what was happening!? She called us in there saying she needed help. I thought another spider entered her room. I wasn’t expecting her to the “I offer you a proposal” stance.

Stelle:She’s so dorky. It’s great.

Caelus:Surprisingly good negotiator. Regardless, not my fault and not a common occurrence.

Stelle:Siver Wolf.

Caelus: Barely here and a shot in the dark. I’m not saying I wasn’t interested but I didn’t expect things to be so…casual.

Stelle:Still counts. Topaz.

Caelus:I’ve never done anything with Topaz. I just think she’s beautiful.

Stelle:What? But you hangout sometimes.

Caelus:Yeah, and? We just like hanging around cute pets. That’s it. I don’t even think she likes me.

Stelle:Eh, her mind is a mystery. I’m sure she wouldn’t hate it.

Caelus:I don’t think that’s the point at all. Anyways, it’s not like you can’t get a date or a potential “buddy” to spend time with. You’re way more attractive than me.

Stelle:That’s not hard.

Caelus:You can do your own stitches.

Stelle:I’m sorry. Please don’t stop. It was a bitter joke!

Caelus:Stop crying. My hands are still moving aren’t they? So, pick someone you fancy.

Stelle:You’re forgetting my luck is atrocious. Bronya is taken.

Caelus:Correct.

Stelle:I don’t think Welt could bring himself to see me in that light.

Caelus:A trait that maybe you should consider with him.

Stelle:He’s handsome! I don’t have to look at him like a parent! He’s just an older guy! It would be no different than liking Jing Yuan or Blade!

Caelus:Those two have enough baggage to fill the train. Asta thinks you’re cute.

Stelle:The last thing Asta needs is more rumors and drama.

Caelus: Ruan Mei?

Stelle:Why would I like her? We’ve barely met…I think?

Caelus:Wait, I’m an idiot. Don’t you like Argenti? You seemed like a fan.

Stelle:Did you forget the part where that man told us goodbye to find the Aeon on Beauty as he jumped off the train!? I would love to have dinner with him but he’s a bit busy! I hope he crashes into us again.

Caelus:Or you know, dock normally? That’s an option. Didn’t you go to dinner with Gepard.

Stelle:He’s definitely a sweetie. However… *red* No, there’s no way I could feel comfortable sharing my needs with him without dying of embarrassment. Especially when I’m friends with Serval!

Caelus:I don’t think he’d judge you, but I could definitely see how awkward that could be.

Stelle:And let’s not forget the one person I wholeheartedly swooned over may not have been the person around for most of my conversations and got their neck snapped. My luck is probably why Nanook likes me. *deflates* Maybe I should phone it in and become a Celestial Jade enthusiast.

Caelus:…Am I an option?

That question hung in the air for a moment, slowly registering to Stelle’s brain. Her eyes then gradually widened as she turned her head to see him focusing in a leg injury. That did nothing to hide the growing red on his ears.

Stelle:…What?

Caelus:It’s a pretty straightforward question. If this situation is about being stressed, opportunity, and comfortability then…. it’s not that crazy.

Stelle:Are you saying you would say yes?

Caelus:No! I’m saying if I was an option for you that o could see it and it would make sense! It’s not like any good would come from you not at hundred percent.

Stelle: Caelus, so you would say yes?

Caelus:…I mean who would put up with you effortlessly?

Stelle:You’re in kicking distance.

Caelus:You’d pull your stitches. Anyways, it was just a random thought. Forget I said anything.

Stelle:….You’re not, not an option; I guess?

………..

Caelus:Neat…

He finally fishes the last of her main injuries. Caelus rises to his feet and closes the first aid kit with a satisfying case click that filled the awkward silence.

Stelle:Thanks for the pick-me-up.

Caelus:No biggie. Just doing what I can and all. Welp…time to put this back! See ya. *walks away*

Stelle looked down at his careful needle and gently bandaged wraps. Not even Welt or Himeko could do a better job. If anything, Caelus was good with his han-

Stelle:Fuuuuuuuk. Noooooo don’t think thaaaaat. *covers face* Damnit all. Why’d you have to ask that?

xxxxx

Caelus:(Why did I say that!?)

[merakiui]

Hi Mera! Sorry it took so long to respond to your reply in the Dr. Ratio ask! Got sick and really busy :<

I can't find the original ask anymore but I remember you being excited about him too and if I would be pulling for him.

But you see Mera, the beauty of it is...

I GET A RATIO, YOU GET A RATIO, WE ALL GET A RATIO!!! 🎉 (everyone gets him in the mail :> )

But I will absolutely be pulling for his lightcone 🥴

Also! I FINALLY GOT GEPARD, AFTER ALL THIS TIME!! :DDDDD Ngl, I wasn't crazy about him before but now that I have him, I love him so much, he's so precious >3< !!

Tbh, even tho I was saving for him in the standard banner, it terrified me when I saw him bc I was pulling on Argenti's banner. But then Argenti came home right after! :D I got the sweet romantic duo in one fell swoop~! 🐆🌹 a small yandere part of my brain likes to think they were competing or cockblocking but that's a brainrot for another day hehe

Anyway, just wanted to respond to your question in the last ask and share the wonderful Gepard news since I know he's your favorite! :D

Hope you have a wonderful day Mera and stay hydrated!! <3

- ☄️

☄️ ANON, HELLOOOO!!!!! >0< I'm so happy to hear from you!!! I hope you have recovered from your sickness and are feeling much better!! <3 happy new year!!!!!!!! 🎉 💖

ALSO, REGARDING DR. RATIO........ OH, WE ARE SO BLESSED. MY LOVE WILL COME HOME TO ME IN THE MAIL!!!!!!! This is wondrous news!!!! I'm so happy we can all receive our beloved Dr. Ratio without having to fret over saving enough stellar jades. I'm tempted to pull for his light cone as well,,,, shirtless man in bath.......... I'm not immune... 😵‍💫 waaaaa!!!!!

OMG GEPARD CAME HOME TO YOU!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! May he love and cherish you forever. (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈) and he was accompanied with an Argenti as well..... :O truly the most romantic duo of all time!!!! May they compromise to love you together (although competition and cockblocking is fun to imagine!! >:D).

Aaaaaa I really do love Gepard. T_T he's so cute,,, I want to write something for him one day, as well as other hsr characters. Gepard is always in the corners of my brain even if I scarcely write for him. He's truly so precious hehe. :D I'm so happy to hear the good news that Gepard came home to you!!!!!! He's the best!!! ( ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ഒ

Please also have a wonderful day and stay hydrated and healthy, dearest ☄️ anon!!!!!! <3

[nihilaraarchived]

HSR VOICE LINES: KURO & MIMI. once an emanator of yaoshi, kuro is a shell of his former self. skirting along the cosmos with his companion mimi, one of the hyper intelligent and near extinct species of cat - like creatures, known as the felista.

kuro is classified as the hunt, and does imaginary damage.

kuro is blue and mimi is pink

FIRST MEETING:  name's kuro nice to meet you. i uh... don't really do very much. worth noting that is.   nonsense. kuro you'd do well to be more cat - like sometimes. take pride in the fact you do very little of late.

GREETING:  sup, you need... help with something? mimi and i can handle it.   prrrrp!

PARTING:  *kuro & mimi yawn* we done? if so im gonna go lay down for a bit.

ABOUT SELF, APPEARANCE:   what...? do i look that bad?   your shirt is undone, and your hair is unbrushed.  ohh... oops. i tend to forget sometimes, not that it matters. i'm not trying to look nice for anyone in particular so...

ABOUT SELF, MIMI:   mimi? she's my best friend.  i thought she was a run of the mill cat for the longest time. turns out she's the last of her species. we've both kind of saved eachother, isn't that right?   couldn't of put it better myself, kuro. we're both a bit out of place. but i am truly grateful to have you with me in these difficult times.

CHAT, YAOSHI:   th-the aeon of abundance...? i know about as much as anyone else does. what... did you think my being an emanator before... helped me understand them? i really don't. they wish to rid the world of suffering, and death.  but even the best medicine can become poison, when applied too liberally. 

CHAT, XIANZHOU:   my history with the xian/zhou people... is complicated. i feel guilty for what i've done, and wish something could be done about their circumstances--  but it was their ancestors that asked for immortality. and yaoshi gave it to them.   well said, kuro. be sure to remember, you cannot change the past. but you do not need to let it ruin your future.

CHAT, IPC:   mrrow!! a dreadful corperation! invasive, manipulative, greedy! they took my home for resources, and believed us worth nothing more than common cats. tsk!    yeah. i'm pretty bias on this... but big companies like that. trying to get their hands in everything. i'm with mimi on this. 

HOBBIES:   uhhh...  does sleeping count?   again, credit where it is due, kuro. he is a wonderful cook, he seems at his happiest when making meals for others, mya!    but i love sleeping too...

ANNOYANCES:   immortality is, and will always be, a curse. what's the point of life, if there is no end?   mrr...?

SOMETHING TO SHARE:  you can tell a lot about a cat's mood, and what they're feeling by their tails. they're incredibly honest animals, if you know how to read them.   prrr...

KNOWLEDGE:  yaoshi's goal isn't inherently bad. see, the aeons don't care about good and evil, they don't care about us. their only desire is to perpetuate whatever concept, or ideal they embody. no matter who, or what it hurts. 

ABOUT JING YUAN:  best if our paths never crossed again. though knowing my luck, it's bound to happen.   i just hope he's had a bit of time to cool off after your dashing escape, nyehehe!

ABOUT BLADE:  i can't be mad about the animosity he has towards me. thankfully though he's courteous enough to not try anything when mimi's in the way.   hmph.

ABOUT DR. RATIO:  i've seen him and mimi having conversations before. i really don't bother listening in or interrupting, they look like they're enjoying themselves.   i care for you deeply kuro, but sometimes i am in need of more...  stimulating conversation.

ABOUT ARGENTI:  i can say with confidence that argenti is a friend. we've crossed paths more than once. he's odd, eccentric... but he's a good person.   and he spoils me rotten, nya~  he's selfless, beautiful, and chivelrous. you could learn a thing or two from your friend, kuro.  

ABOUT BOOTHILL:   revenge? against the IPC? an admirable goal, prrr.  it will not be easy, their influence is vast, and the things they're willing to do for their own advantage? truly wishing him the best with his mission.   yeah, what she said.

EIDOLON ACTIVATION:  ohh that's neat.

CHARACTER ACENSION:  excellent work kuro, keep it up.

MAX LEVEL:  so can i go take a nap now?

TRACE ACTIVATION:  phew, looking pretty good...

ADDED TO THE TEAM WITH JING YUAN:  no hard feelings about my escape, right? ah? ... oh...  

ADDED TO THE TEAM WITH RATIO:  you can also talk to me, i hope you know that.  afraid i might run away?

ADDED TO THE TEAM WITH ARGENTI:  good to see you again, argenti. and in one piece no less.

ADDED TO THE TEAM WITH BOOTHILL:  all you really need is a horse huh...

bonus

ABOUT KEVAH:  mimi really likes him, so i like him too. i was... admittedly very surprised to see so many sketches of myself in his book. it's kind of flattering. am i that nice to look at?   prrp...

ABOUT SUNDAY:  is it insulting so say he reminds me of myself in some way? i don't want to say too much. but i can't help pity him, and the situation he's in.   the entirety of the dream hotel seems to be in a bad way. hmph.

I WILL ADD MORE AS I PLOT WITH FOLKS. THIS IS UNFINISHED!

[materlux]

I am Icarus and you are my sun, lord I know I will burn before I reach you, but I'll be damned if I don't try.

I used first-person pronouns, this is entirely self-indulgent, i do not care, this was for me. It's pure devotion and body-worship, but not in a smut way, a soft wholesome fluff way.

Main Masterlist | Honkai Star Rail

Argenti, a knight of beauty and a man who claims to be better with actions than words, as strongly as many would disagree, myself included, I think he has a point. At least he is proving something now, or maybe it’s just his unrelenting honesty combined with calloused, gentle hands.

   At first his hands were gloved, still warm, and glided over fabrics, tracing the outline of a body ingrained in memory. As minutes passed and comments of the day were made, somewhere along the way he lost his gloves. Calloused hands sneak under the fabric, with them they leave warmth that rivals the sun, in their wake they leave goosebumps and shivers.

   He mutters every synonym for beautiful in the known universe into now exposed collarbones, at some point it feels like he’s making up new words, just to describe the patterns of my skin. Heavy armour gleams in the sunlight, abandoned on the floor, it will be picked up later and treated with the utmost care.

   He does this alot, at this point I have given up in proving his stance wrong, ‘he’s better with actions than words’. Instead, I make a game of this, a competition to see who loses to the whims and charms of the other first. After all these years you’d think I’d grown immune to his sweet tongue, but everyday he proves me wrong, and I find I don’t mind being wrong this time.

   Red hair filters between my fingers, soft as silk, he responds with a light kiss to my skin. I call him every word under the sun for handsome, and responds with more words, real and ones that seem made up. We go on and on, I caress his scalp and kiss his hair, his hands run over my skin, tracing his thoughts in cursive patterns.

   Perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me, but I swear I can see flowers grow under my fingers as they graze his skin, I can feel them grow in my own skin, their roots sinking deep and mimicking nerves. In the late sun I watch him unwind and unfurl, like a flower growing in adversity.

   The way he says my name, it’s as if it is the only lyric to his favourite song, and honestly, if I had to choose, I’d choose his voice singing my name as the only sound to hear for the rest of my life. And if it drives me mad, then I shall welcome it, though at this moment I fear it may be his hands that will drive me to insanity first.

   I know now, I have lost, for nothing I can say could ever amount to this same meaning. But I speak his name in a way that makes me wonder, was it the first word I ever spoke? It feels so natural on my tongue, that it must have been.

   In time, the sun sets in the sky, but my sun never sets over the horizon, he looks into my eyes instead and pledges his life to me. I lean in, like a moth to a flame; like Icarus and Helios I fear not the fire. But unlike the examples before, that will surely end in tragedy: The moth will turn to ash, Icarus will crash into the sea. I do not believe we will end in tragedy, and perhaps that is exactly what they all say: Does the moth know it will burn in the candle light? Did Icarus know the cold sea would be his last resting place? He did, I think, but did he care? I think not, and neither do I.

[spacebuck]

1, 3, 13 and 15!! I love all your writing BTW. Especially your newest one with Argenti messing around with Boothill’s -REDACTED-. It’s incredible 👀

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

I actually really like both!! Some stories lend themselves better to one or the other. I find my attention span leads me to one-shots but I enjoy the lore and world building I can out into longer things!

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

OUAHHH this is a hard one!! Depending on the fic it can just be "see art. Stare. Blink. Fic written." and sometimes it can take a bit of nurturing. Taking my current long fic as an example, I floated the idea to another writer who loved it enough to not only support my dumb ass, but we're actually cowriting it now! I started by describing the setting and the biggest scene I had in mind, then we walked back and established the larger arcs of the setting and some core secondary characters, and how we wanted the first scene to go. Then, i sat down and wrote it. Then we came back together, once we had words on the page to look at, reassessed our plan, and have built on it from there.

Sometimes I'll literally just send them a twitter post or a meme and be like "them lol" and an hour layer we have another chapter fleshed out tho, that's always fun.

I can't wait for you to meet Nonna C. Beloved Nonna C.

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

Oh man. Uhh. "show don't tell" I suppose? I'd rather say "Argenti's eyes gazed over" than "Argenti got bored" as an extreme example haha. I'm a big fan of purple prose and playing in the bounds of words, so that's probably the one that I keep to the most!

15. How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

It depends on the scene! I will often have an idea of how I want it to go in my head, either from talking to someone of a brainrot urge or a nice art made me think of something. Then I'll do any research I need to do (like, if I want to use a specific item or prop or position - there are free online pose libraries I love!!) and I make sure I know the mechanical aspects of it. With my schooling and sporting background I'm pretty comfortable in knowing what bodies can do in terms of positions and relative strengths, so I trust my gut in that regard. Then I just kinda. Let the brainrot take me? Kinks I like to read get shoved in a lot of the time too, what are authors if not self indulgent!

I definitely can get detailed, but it really depends on the scene. If it's supposed to be quick and hurried my writing will reflect that, skipping and stopping and starting erratically almost, but if it's supposed to be a more lovey affair I will do that, slow it down, and that lends itself to more detail. More time to wax poetic about cyborg mechanics hehehe

Regarding realism, I'm torn. I don't think it's important for fic to be too realistic - most of the time people know you're not gonna rawdog a stranger etc, but there's also a level of suspension of disbelief that plays into it. Does the character have feasibility to do these acts? Are they physically capable? Does the realism of the smut match the realism of the rest of the fic? Depending on the intent of the work, you may want to maintain a very specific tone or style and the whole story should match that imo, and that to me is more important.

Man, I yapped jdjcjdjcjd but I hope that was insightful?

Also, THANK U SO MUCH!! the brainrot OVERTOOK ME NDNCJDJXJD but also it's a v real example of what I mean with my last answer!!! It's a cyborg, people aren't gonna care about too much realism, but also I'm in stem so I couldn't not. Include certain bits hehe freakgenti rise

[lostacelonnie]

It sure is the new year & somehow im still tired and way busier than i would like. So uh. Sorry this took me a bit to get to. The first time i read your response i thought you'd said you were watching bocchi which confused me because you had already. But im glad you are enjoying bofuri. She's such a chaotic disaster character. Ohh i think i feel you on that my brother in law & i have like. Opposing autism vibes & coexisting with him when we share apace is exhausting. I hope school is going well for you! Yeah like. Honestly sometimes ill chat with people at a theater but mostly just. Please do not. Im just there for a film. Love the communal effort to just. Understand your teacher what a time that must be. My parents did teach to cook a bit. I learned spaghetti & a basic taco recipe from them. But i learned a lot from there so i had a bit of a spring board to go off. I hope you have a fun time learning to cook stuff i enjoy it immensely. Even with all the dishes it can make. Honestly schools are just. Weird if anything. Liminal space adjacent but in a way neither good or bad. Im sad i missed getting to pull her i want ruan mei but due to bad storms my internet was out, which also contributed to late response, for the last days of her banner. So i have to save for her re run. I am so normal about her & stelle(lying). I finally finished the argenti quest but had to level & gear himeko & welt. Got kafka on my console account from her banner & it gave me e1 bailu when i hoped for clara. Ohh so its like a character growth/change type thing. As the story progresses & they change they gain new herscherr forms. I think if my understanding is right. Or right as it can be for something not fully explained? I miss manaria & the gang already. Can only tide myself over with other villainess shows til it returns. Or i read more. Dungeon meshi at least has an airing anime adaptation now which means i can see my favorite fail girl marcille in animation. I will remember that & look to the community for help as needed if i pick noita up thank you for the tip. I too want himeko to be fine & alive so i sympathize with the hi3 fans. I dont remember if she's getting off on penacony or not if thats been said. But penacony definitely has some characters i want. Oh okay damn i always wondered about her floating. So thats one mystery solved. Wait seele has just. Basically a good dog aura? Oh so kiana mei & bronya have the most extensive lore? What about uh. Durandal? I feel like ive seen that particular polish phrase before whats it mean?

HI HELLO its been 20 years which im SO FUCKING SORRY about...... my life has decided to just Not give me a break recently. and understandable akdfkgjksj i should really continue watching it but ah.... so busy. and Tired all the time. actually got to skip school today bc i was so sleep deprived i thought i was sick but then i slept for another 4 hours and i feel so much better now. should be studying [have 8 exams coming up until the end of february.......] but i also Need to chill for a bit. agghhh. and oh understandable!! it really is just like that sometimes. school, as i said, is. psychologically torturing me but im actually not in that much pain so yeah!! and thanks also. i hope my teachers let us catch a break soon. at least ive recently picked up baking to destress so at least im not about to become the joker. and REAL LIKE i also dont mind talking with people in public places from time to time but i usually just wanna mind my own business. and yeah its SO funny but also im surprised how nice all my classmates are about helping others. like. if we had to cooperate to create a message with my old classmates everyone would just instantly start making fun of each other for not knowing something. OOOH COOL....... when i have more time i should learn to make some spanish dishes. went to gran canaria with my mom recently and god ive missed their cuisine SO much. god yeah schools are like another dimension to me ngl. they work based on different rules then the rest of the world. AND AUUGHGH PAIN...... good luck with getting her on future reruns tho!!! same with being Totally Normal. and hey congrats on all that!!! i also ended up doing argentis quest and luckily didnt have time with fighting him thanks to clara who makes it extremely easy. generally shes always carrying me. finally got to trailblaze lvl 65 and i only have my clara team at lvl 80 rn so i should probs work on kafka etc but i hate grinding mats...... hell on earth. oh well. and yeah more or less!!! tho it also depends on the person and circumstances, as some people will get new authorities, some will kind of. get closer to their current one? and some people might even give up their herrscher authorities with time. but yeah honkai loves to retcon itself so its kinda blurry sometimes. I MISS EVERYONE TOOOOOO and i started watching reborn as a villainess some time ago but ah. didnt have time to continue. i ALSO started watching dunmesh and ALSO didnt have time to catch up with it but im SO excited for it bc ive only watched 3 eps but love it already. if you ever Do pick up the game then good luck!! its as brutal as it is fun to play. himeko protection squad forever....... i should finish penacony when i get the time and motivation. wasnt too interested in any chars at first but acheron stole my heart....... so would sparkle if she wasnt so Racist for no reason. yes seele Does have a good doggy aura SHDKFJKS even The Great Herrscher Of Sentience cant say no to her. shes so sweet and i love her. and yeah basically!!!! since theyre effectively all the protags, even if kiana is the "main" one. AND I WILL VERY EXCITEDLY TELL YOU LITERALLY ALL DURANDAL LORE AS I KNOW IT BY HEART BUT ALSO LITERALLY DONT HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY TO WRITE IT ALL DOWN RIGHT NOW SO ILL TRY TO GET THAT DONE BY YOUR NEXT MESSAGE. so well both have time to write our respective stuff. and oh polska gurom is a misspelled version of polska górą [since its pronounced almost the same] which more or less means poland on top. its used ironically most of the time and i LOVE saying it

[deja-you]

Starlight

m. de lafayette x reader

chapter two | spies and white lies

summary: it was never your intent to be anything more than a common thief, but fate -- and a rather attractive general -- have other plans for you.

word count: 3.6k

masterlist | previous | next

“What are we at now? Twenty argenti?” You grin and lean forward, elbows resting on the table. “Another round, Mulligan?”

The tailor gives you a look that only makes your smile widen. “I don’t know if I have anything left to wager.”

“Mulligan, your deployment is about to head out, you should get down to the loading dock.”

The look of relief on Mulligan’s face is nearly comical when Hamilton interrupts the next game you are setting up. Mulligan mutters a half-hearted apology, you wish him luck, and then he is all too eager to leave.

Hamilton places a hand on your shoulder and points you in the direction of Lafayette’s office. “The general would like a word with you.”

“Am I in trouble?”

“Aren’t you always?”

“Fair point. Wish me luck, Lex,” you mutter, making your way into the lion’s den.

You knock twice on the door, and without waiting for a reply, you push open the door and let yourself into Lafayette’s office. Dim, warm light greets you – a stark contrast to the harsh white lighting found in most buildings on Philia. Lafayette sits at his desk, thumbing through pages and pages of paperwork. The navy cape usually worn around his shoulders is draped over the back of his chair, and he absently scratches his beard as he continues to read the papers in front of him.

“You wanted to see me?” You ask.

He nods toward the empty chairs in front of his desk. “Yes, have a seat.”

You sit down across from him and wait for him to inform you as to why you’ve been called into his office. The two of you sit in silence for a few minutes before Lafayette finally puts down his paperwork and leans back in his chair.

He appraises you silently, then finally: “Hamilton says you’re cleaning my men out of their money.”

“I want you to know,” you say quickly, “that my actions have been completely legal. It’s not my fault you never taught your men how to gamble.”

“How much did Mulligan lose today?” He asks.

“Twenty.”

“You don’t feel bad about taking money from the poor guy?”

“It’s Mulligan.” The both of you share a laugh. “Did you call me in here to tell me to stop taking your soldiers’ money?”

“Not at all, feel free to continue scamming them out of their money,” he says with a shrug. “As long as you keep supplying me with intel on the New British battle plans, you can do whatever you want with your off hours.”

“I take it you’ve got a new mission for me?”

“Perceptive. This is why I hired you.”

“I thought you hired me because I’m expendable,” you say bluntly.

He stiffens at your comment and slowly shakes his head. “No, that’s not it. You’re incredibly good at what you do, and I think you’re the perfect person for this job.”

Lafayette hands you a tablet with the information for your next mission. This one is a bit different than the previous jobs he had you run. It had been your job to lay low at shady bars around Philia that had been known as sympathizers of the New British crown and report back any information you had overheard. On occasion, you had been sent to spy on wealthy sympathizers at dinner parties, galas, races, etc. All these events took place on Philia or neighboring planets. Looking down at the tablet, your eyes widened a little at the name of your next location.

“You’re sending me to Hesse?” You say in surprise.

“It would be…” he pauses and thinks through his words. “It’s rather vital we send someone to observe negotiations between the leaders of Hesse and New Britannia. We have reason to believe they’re discussing more than just a renewal of the neutrality act.”

“I see. It’s just that… Hesse is quite far. It’s not even part of the United Planets of Amerigo,” you say. Lafayette knows this. Hesse is a part of a large federation of planets that has remained neutral during the war between Amerigo and New Britannia. It’s out of Lafayette’s jurisdiction, if anything happened to you there…

“You don’t have to go,” he says quickly. “You can say no. If you don’t think you can—”

“You said this was vital, yes?” You say. “Who else would you send?”

Lafayette is silent while he tries to come up with another name. There isn’t anyone else they can send; his silence tells you.

“Alright. I’ll go.”

He eyes you warily. “This is a risky idea. Maybe I shouldn’t have suggested it. We can find another way. You shouldn’t go.”

“General,” you say firmly, “I’m going to Hesse. You said yourself that I’m the perfect person for this job; I already speak Alemanni.”

“You speak Alemanni?”

“There’s a lot you still don’t know about me, general. Glad I’m still full of surprises.” You scan the information on the tablet and stand from your chair. “Guess I should be going, then. I’ve got a lot of studying to do.”

“Our contact will be limited while you’re on Hesse, but if you run into the slightest bit of danger, press this button here on your bracelet and we’ll fly in to pick you up immediately.”

Lafayette hands you the bracelet in question, and you give him a nod before sliding it onto your wrist. You’re a few minutes out from the capital city, and the general is running through any last-minute details with you before he drops you off and the ship heads back into orbit around Hesse.

“Remember, this is a reconnaissance mission. You are not to engage in any combat whatsoever. Get in, get information, get out. Do you understand?” He asks.

Lafayette misses it when you roll your eyes, which is probably for the best. “I got it, general.”

He lands the ship, opens the cargo door, and turns his chair to face you. “One more thing.”

You groan. “What could you have possibly forgotten to say?”

Lafayette crosses his hands over his chest, taking one more good look at you. “Be safe out there.”

You’re a little shocked by his sudden switch to a softer tone, and it must show. You stare at him awkwardly for a minute before giving a small nod, grabbing your pack, and stepping out of the ship. Behind you, the ship begins to depart. You don’t turn back to watch it leave. You are now on a mission.

Hesse is vastly different from Philia. Where Philia has a temperate, warm climate, Hesse is considerably colder. Fortunately, it’s not snowing when you arrive, but the chilling winds are so harsh you don’t think it would make a difference. Traffic on the streets in Hesse is minimal, and you attribute this to the less than desirable weather. You’re not going to get any information from the inanimate light posts or street signs, so you find what looks like a promising tavern and head inside.

The tavern contrasts the icy Hesse environment; inside is warm and bright, backed with patrons from wall to wall and buzzing with conversation. As you make your way to the bar, you pick up on bits and pieces of the conversations happening around you. You’re in your element.

“You have to stop worrying so much. She’s a smart girl, she would call you if she needed any help.”

It’s been a few cycles since Lafayette dropped you off on Hesse. He didn’t expect you to call for him immediately, but he can’t stop himself from worrying a bit when he doesn’t hear from you for a few days. Lafayette is on a spaceship by himself with nothing better to do except work through piles of paperwork and think up every scenario that could go wrong for you on Hesse. If anything happens to you, he will be to blame.

In his defense, Lafayette had never wanted to send you to Hesse in the first place. It had been a rather forceful suggestion from General Washington after the head of the army had seen your success rates. Of course it made sense that you would be the one to take on this mission, but that didn’t make Lafayette feel any better about it. He voices these concerns in a call to Hamilton while he orbits endlessly around the planet.

“I’m serious, Lafayette,” Hamilton says, beginning to sound a little exasperated. “There’s nothing you can do at this point. I’m sure she wouldn’t want you panicking over this anyway.”

“Was this a huge mistake?” Lafayette asks, effectively ignoring all of Hamilton’s previous statements.

“No, it wasn’t. We need information on these treaties, I have no doubt New Britannia has something up their sleeves. If anyone’s going to figure it out, it’s her. You didn’t have a choice.”

It must be the eleventh or twelfth time Hamilton has repeated these sentiments on this call alone. Lafayette decides there’s no point in continuing on this line of conversation, so he surrenders for the time being.

“You’re right,” he says. “No point in worrying. So, have I missed anything while I’ve been gone?”

“Not much. Mulligan’s sent some intel back to us from his latest mission, nothing big yet. Oh, Laurens arrived back yesterday. A few bruises and a broken finger or two, but other than that, he seems to be fine.” Hamilton is happy enough with the subject change.

“He made it back in one piece? Well, how about that. The way he fights, you’d think he’s got a death wish.”

On the other line, Hamilton releases a bark of laughter. “You’d think so. Most men in your battalion are rather careless when it comes to safety. You think you had a hand in teaching ‘em that?”

“Me? I hardly think—”

He pauses mid-sentence when the light on his computer begins flashing a few times and a succession of beeps start sounding. Whatever he was about to say is lost at his lips when he stares at the blinking light. Lafayette has been waiting for this.

“I have to go,” he says to Hamilton, “it’s her.”

Lafayette doesn’t offer more of a goodbye, not that he needs to, and hangs up the call with Hamilton. Immediately he kicks into gear, sliding into the pilot’s seat and speeding toward the surface of Hesse in the direction being sent to the ship from your bracelet.

He’s surprised to find your tracking signal coming from a few miles outside of the capital, but he’s even more surprised when he finds the position you’re in. Amidst a forest of snow-covered trees, a fortress peaks out over the treetop with Gothic towers and intimidating sculptures. Along the top of one set of battlement walls, a fight has broken out and blasts of light are being shot from one side to the other. As Lafayette gets closer, he sees that you are on one side of this battle, doing your best to fend off a squadron of joint Hesse-New Britannia troops. It could be going better for you; you’re crouched behind a heavy shield, leaning out now and then to fire a blast at the soldiers who are gaining ground second by second.

Lafayette can’t be sure from this distance, but when you see the ship approaching, he swears he sees a grin spread across your features. Then, in a move that surprises both Lafayette and the soldiers, you stand from your position, and with a few steps, you’ve flung yourself off the castle walls. Lafayette curses under his breath, racing forward in the ship, opening the bay doors, and turning the ship sideways to catch you while you plummet from the air. Somewhere behind him in the ship, he hears a loud thud and is relieved to know you’ve made it onboard.

The soldiers recover from their shock and begin targeting the spaceship instead. Lafayette is able to avoid any significant damage to the ship by weaving through the trees, but it isn’t an easy task. When the blasts begin to fade and the fortress is far enough behind, the spaceship shoots up into the air, racing out of Hesse airspace. Lafayette navigates the ship for a bit, but once he feels they’re safe, he switches the ship into autopilot. He has a spy to debrief.

Lafayette finds you in the cargo bay, looking a little worse for wear. “Are you alright? Injured?”

You look up at him and grin. “Fantastic.”

After a quick observation, Lafayette concludes that “fantastic” would not be the word he used to describe your current state. Your hair is a mess, your face is covered with dirt and cuts, and you are cradling your wrist that looks bent out of shape, the skin around it already turning into a purple-blue color. He raises an eyebrow.

“Alright, I suppose I’ve been in better shape,” you say casually.

Lafayette steps closer, gently pulling your arm to him so he can inspect the injury. His  eyes darken as they move from your wrist to your eyes, and you’re suddenly aware of the proximity between the two of you.

“Who did this?” His voice is quiet, but the low growl in the back of his throat sends chills down your spine.

Your uninjured hand takes the arm that is holding you, and his grip on your arm softens. “No one. I think I might’ve broken my wrist on landing.”

His eyes lower and he releases you. Suddenly aware of your closeness, he takes a step back.

“You think?” He scoffs, walking over to the wall and opening up the first aid kit. You’re sitting on the ground, back pressed up against a crate, and Lafayette kneels beside you and begins to tend to your wound. “Tell me about the mission while I patch you up.”

“I think it went rather well. I found a job as a translator my first day on the planet.”

“How did you manage that?”

“Turns out there’s a lack of Alemanni-English speakers on Hesse, and the New Britannia diplomats were in need of a translator. Right place, right time, I suppose.

Anyway, I was brought to this Hessian duke’s castle where the negotiations were being made. The first few days of negotiations gave me nothing to report on; just usual diplomatic pleasantries and treaty renewals as had been stated by New Britannia. However, last night negotiations took a different turn.

The New Britannia ambassador told the duke that the New British army was in need of troops, and they were willing to pay large sums. They’re hiring Hessian soldiers as mercenaries.”

“Mercenaries? I thought Hesse wanted to remain neutral in this war,” Lafayette frowned, placing a bandage over one of your larger cuts.

You nod in agreement, “That’s what I thought, too. Apparently, many of the Hessian princes are in a lot of debt – they need the money and the Brits backed them into a corner. I was going to call for you to pick me up last night, but I thought I could dig up some more information.”

“And did you?”

“Of course I did, general,” you grin again and pat the leather bound journal next to you; Lafayette hadn’t even noticed it before. “Snuck into the ambassador’s office this morning and found this. Looked like it had some information on upcoming battle strategies, but I didn’t have much time to read through it, I was caught by one of the ambassador’s guards. Barely made it out, guess I was lucky you were there when I needed you, huh?”

“Lucky only begins to describe it. You shouldn’t have put yourself in unnecessary danger.”

“I took care of myself, didn’t I? Besides, I think General Washington will find this information rather helpful.”

Lafayette can’t help but smile when you hand him the journal. He flips through a few pages, his eyes widening in pleasant surprise. This is more information than he had hoped to get out of this mission. Lafayette sets the journal down beside him, pulling a sling out from the first aid kit and gently lifting your arm into the fabric.

“I’ll make sure you receive proper medical attention once we get back to Philia, but this should do the job for now.” Lafayette tucks the journal under his arm and stands to his feet. “I need to make a call to the generals to update them on the information you’ve just shared with me.”

“Of course.”

“Get some rest, you look like you need it.” He begins to walk in the direction of his personal quarters but pauses before he leaves the room. “Oh, and starlight?”

You look up at him.

“Good work.”

Once Lafayette leaves the room, you can’t stop the proud smile that appears on your lips. Still, Lafayette is right about one thing: you need some rest. With whatever energy that is remaining, you pull yourself to your feet and begin to search for somewhere more comfortable to sleep. You were provided with your own quarters on the ship, but the room is small, windowless, and cold. You doubt you could get any rest there. It’s been a long couple of days, so you give yourself the authority to wander the ship in search of something comforting. You’re careful to avoid the direction of Lafayette’s personal quarters, even though that’s where your heart is being pulled toward.

Somewhere in between the kitchen and the bridge, you find a large observation room, and it takes your breath away. A large window gives you a view of space that leaves you in awe. Stars and planets swirl past you in a mixture of colors and brightness as the ship races back to the familiarity of Philia. The vastness of space should be intimidating, but for some reason, you feel safe. There is a world of opportunities open to you, and somehow you’ve managed to end up on this little spacecraft drifting through space and time. There is nowhere you’d rather be.

The observation deck is by no means extravagant or luxurious, the metal walls have sustained a fair amount of scrapes, a stale odor hangs in the air. Somehow, it feels more like home than anywhere else on the ship. You curl up on one of the old, stiff couches pushed against the back wall. As stars pass by, you count them. One, two… thirty-eight, thirty-nine… It’s somewhere between eighty-two and eighty-seven that you finally lose count and your heavy eyelids finally succumb to sleep.

Hours later, or maybe it’s days – you can’t really tell the passage of time in space – you begin to stir. When you open your eyes, the planets and stars outside the observation window are passing by slower, and in front of you, you can see the brown and green landscape of Philia. You pull your blanket around yourself tighter and enjoy the moment of peace. Who knows when you’ll have a chance to relax once you’re back on Philia, most likely you’ll be given another mission.  

It’s not that you don’t enjoy your job; it’s the best job you’ve had in decades. You wouldn’t admit it to anyone else, but you like doing work that feels important, work that makes you feel like you’re making a difference. The paycheck is a nice benefit as well. Still, the life of a spy for the United Planets of Amerigo isn’t exactly relaxing. Taking on new identities each week and the risks that came along with it was exciting, but incredibly stressful. Maybe one day when the war ended you would settle down. Picket fence and an army of kids might be too much to ask, but you could see yourself moving to a quieter planet and building a home for yourself… and maybe someone else. You gazed out the window, looking at all the planets and picking which one you would one day grow old on.

“Great view, isn’t it?”

Your eyes flick from the window to where Lafayette stands in the doorway. He wears his white uniform as always, watching you carefully, the gold in his dark eyes bright underneath the starlight. He crosses his arms over his chest and casually leans against the doorframe.

“I come here when I need to clear my head. It puts things in perspective, gives me a sense of…”

“…peace,” you finish for him.

Lafayette stares out the window for a moment, nods and turns back to you. “Yes, peace.”

The two of you sit in a comfortable silence for a moment, Lafayette watches the way the light dances over your skin and can’t help but admire the artwork. You stare back into his eyes until you feel that he’s on the verge of staring right into your soul. You’ve never been completely open with someone before, and you’re not ready to be now, so you look away. The connection is broken, and he takes a step back, looking anywhere but at you.

“I just came to let you know that we’ll be landing in Philia soon,” he says, turning to leave.

“Wait,” you shrug the warmth off your shoulders, “I believe this belongs to you.”

It had taken you a moment in your sleepy consciousness to remember that you had no blanket when you had fallen asleep. At some point, Lafayette must have found you and covered your sleeping body with his navy cape. Always the gentleman. You fold up the fabric in your arms, already missing its warmth, and cross the room to return it to its owner.

“Thank you,” he says politely.

Your hands briefly touch when you hand him the cape, and the both of you linger for a moment too long. The moment is over when you pull your hands away, and the both of you silently agree not to address it.

[dramashouts]

Summary: Rachel Ophelia Cambrica enters her fifth year at hogwarts (a year above our golden trio) and something develops between her and a Weasley boy.

I’ve decided to post this fic I’ve been working on!

She’s a slytherin , cool, flirty, a tease. idk. A bit of Oliver x oc in the beginning, will be mostly Fred x oc. Multiple part fic.

I’m bad at summary’s forgive me and maybe give it a chance

————————————————————

CHAPTER 0: INTRODUCTION

She secured her grip on the boot and strengthened her hold on the shoulder strap of her bag.

“You guys ready?” The portkey keeper asked, but didn’t wait for a reply.

           A few seconds later, Luna, her Ravenclaw friend, two years younger than Rachel, Luna’s father, and a few others who she had seen around, soared through the sky.

“That was fun.” Luna muttered. They where quite different, Luna was too nice, according to Rachel. She never said anything, though; she tried to keep her comments about Luna’s cheeriness to herself.

“There are bits of grass in your hair, Lovegood.” She muttered, a bit dizzy from the fall. Her father liked Quidditch, but his demanding job in the board at Gringotts collided with the world cup. Luna had kindly offered her to stay with her and her father during the cup and after it, until classes started. They were friends since Luna had arrived to Hogwarts three years ago. They fed the thestrals together.

Luna’s father insisted he build the tent himself. Rachel wandered off while Luna talked to a shy boy from her house.

Rachel didn’t get far when she started spotting familiar faces. She didn’t care enough about any, not enough to say hi, until certain ex-Gryffindor Quidditch captain caught her eye.

Swiftly brushing off any remains of the trip out of her hair and making sure her jeans weren’t dirty, she made my way to him and the red head, who were talking enthusiastically outside of a tent.

She walked, though, not directly, of course. Never approach them directly, an older Slytherin girl had taught her back when she was in second year, too young to actually understand. But she was almost sixteen now, and the tips always came in handy.  

Pretending to be going straight ahead, she glimpsed in his direction as soon as she noticed him noticing her.

“Oi! Cambrica!” Oliver Wood called. He might be kind of immune to me, but he would love to remind a Slytherin about his win.

“Wood. Of course I should’ve known I would see you around.”

He took a step away from his friend. “Yeah well, I’m planning on pursuing a Quidditch career this year. Winning house cups was real fun, but gotta get out there y’know?” There it was. Gryffindor ego.  

“Absolutely.” She squinted her eyes a bit, looking up at him; she liked that move, boys always thought she looked cute when she looked at them like that.  “Being out of school suits you.” She flirted “Although,” she took a step closer and leaned in, speaking a bit lower  “I hope you have a bit more fun this year.” The hidden meaning of her words was obvious, to them, at least, who were the only ones who knew about their previous fling.  She enjoyed making him blush. Both of them knew that, too.

“You must be Charlie. ” She turned to the Weasley. “Oliver never did shut up about you.”

“Don’t-” Oliver threw her an embarrassed glance. He always tried to seem unbothered, but he couldn’t hide the reddening of his cheeks. She might’ve cared more than him, but he was definitely redder, always.

“Well, not that I would know, Oliver isn’t much too friendly. I’m Rachel.”

“Slytherin Rachel?” She nodded, a bit confused.

“Huh. So you’re the infamous Rachel.” Charlie continued.

“What?”

“Well, I’ve heard about you. My brothers would not shut up about you during Christmas dinner last year.” It took her only a second to realize what Charlie was talking about.

“Right! Weasley! Yeah! The twins, right? Poor Flitch spent hours in there before realizing he was just walking through the same hallway over and over again, yeah, they loved that.”

           And so they talked only for a few more minutes, Rachel mostly to annoy Oliver who wanted his old Seeker back to chat, and, unknowingly to her, was a bit jealous she paid no attention to him, a boy she had, so notoriously to him, crushed on during her fourth year.

And then Bill walked out.

“Huh. Is everybody a Weasley these days?” She muttered, eyeing the eldest Weasley.  Oliver got annoyed once more as he noticed her short attention span was now focused on another boy, granted, a much older boy, but someone else nonetheless.  

“Rachel? Fancy seeing you here.” He greeted formally. Charlie looked confused.

“Was I the only one who hadn’t met her?”

Ignoring him, she explained that he worked at the bank, like her father, and they had met on previous Gringotts Events.

After a bit more chatter she decided it was time to leave. “See you Bill, hope Egypt has been nice to you. Nice to meet you, Charlie.” They nodded and muttered goodbyes.

She turned her attention back to Oliver, who she had been ignoring, purposefully, of course.

She spoke with less volume, so only he would hear. “And so I guess,” she pressed her hand against the side of Oliver’s arm, a gesture that could be perceived as casual, but both of them knew everything she did was on intended. “I’ll see you around.” Without awaiting his response, she left.

‘Never overstay, a taste is better than all of it’, the older brunette had told her, back in the Slytherin common room.

Her rules had worked out for Rachel once she turned 14 and developed a pretty strong interest in boys.

But although she was confident, and boys did ask her out, she couldn’t remember actually liking a boy, or anyone liking her really, she was sure boys only thought they liked her, and as soon as she gave in, and they snogged, they’d be over her.

Luna and Her father celebrated loudly. Rachel didn’t actually care much for the sport, but she liked the atmosphere, the event of it all. And the party of course. While the Lovegoods had settled for butterbeers, she was looking for something a bit stronger. The need for some liquid fun and to get away from the family aspect of it all led her to wander around the campsite.

She had started to miss her best friend, Argenti, who didn’t make an appearance at the game because she and her family was travelling around America.

It didn’t take long for her to bump into some fun.

“Well, well, well.” One of the twins teased, while crossing his arms, a few feet a head of me. “Ms.Cambrica, were you lookingfor us?”

“You wish.” She teased, rolling her eyes.

“It looks like you were pacing awfullyclose to our tent. Come for some advice from your idol pranksters?” Fred smirked.

“No, but some of that sparkling cider will do.” She stated, reaching out for George’s cup. He curiously handed her the cup. “Plus,” She sipped “It seems its you boys who want to learn from me. I’ve been told you keep going on and on about me during your family dinners.” She pestered playfully, with a small singsong in her voice. “Which is quite silly, considering we’ve spoken, at the most, twice?”

She had exchanged words with them a couple of times, enough to know who they were, enough to tease them knowing they wouldn’t take it the wrong way. But they were a year above her, so they didn’t share many friends, they didn’t share classes at all.

The twins’ faces were now red, knowing someone had commented on their secret admiration of Rachel’s prank.

“That’s no- we don’t.”

“Please boys, go ahead and do fawn over me all you want.” She joked, enjoying their reddened cheeks.

Fred, regaining himself quickly, leaned in to her and whispered. “Keep annoying us and we won’t share any of the muggle rum we sneaked out of our dad’s muggle cabinet.”

She pulled back and scanned his face for any sign of bluff. She didn’t find any.  “Oh, okay Weasley. You’ve sparked my attention.” She took another sip from the cider and caught a quick wink Fred sent George, she pretended not to see, she didn’t read anything into it, and forgot about it a moment later  “So I guess I’ll see you around, boys?”

“Sure thing, Slytherin. Next to the butterbeer stand at 12am, yeah?”

She nodded.

That’s when everything erupted.

Death eaters.

There was screaming and yelling, and everybody was running. The cup of sider slipped through her fingers, but she stood still, shocked and confused, until Fred pulled her by the wrist. They ran into the woods. She saw their little sister, Ginny.

Rachel couldn’t hear much of what they said. The only thought in her head was Luna. She was with her father. She’s probably safe, she told herself. But the girl was basically her little sister. Luna had spent most of her first year alone, until they befriended each other, and though Rachel didn’t admit it, she had taken it upon herself to keep the sweet girl safe, make sure her annoying positivity didn’t fade. Like Rachel’s did a few years ago, she didn’t want that happening to Luna.

           The dark mark appeared on the sky. Everything happened so fast, she felt like it was no use to pay attention to any of it.

It was a while until everything was quiet again.

“Come with us.” George muttered, so quick she barely caught it. “You can’t stay here, it’s not safe.”

“Please, Gerogie, she’s a Slytherin, I bet she could manage.” Fred obviously meant it to be taken lightly, but she was in no mood to talk, let alone joke. She ignored him, and Fred noticed.

“Thanks, George. But I can’t leave. Not without Luna. I need to know she’s safe.”

George leaned down a bit until he was at eye level with Rachel, and held her by the shoulders, tightly, making sure she was listening to him carefully. “Rachel, there’s no way you’ll find her here. If she’s with her father she’s most probably fine, they’re attacking muggles, she’ll be fine.”

“If she’ll be fine, then I will be too. No worries. Thanks though.” She slipped from George’s hold and ran towards the direction she assumed their tent was.

She knew they wouldn’t be there, and they weren’t. Hurriedly, she headed towards the portkey, hoping they hadn’t left without her.Why wouldn’t they?She questioned, rethinking her choice of denying George’s offer.

“Rachel!” Luna ran towards her, and hugged her. Her father sprinting close behind her. Rachel returned de hug awkwardly.  “Thank merlin you’re safe. We were looking for you.”

“That’s funny,” she said, though she was anything but entertained, “I was looking for you too. I ran into the Weasleys and they led me to the forest until it was all over. Thanks for waiting for me.”

[abdomented]

dash!whump and harv!angst for the b’day blogger ;)

HBD @distendedbellies! Hope I got enough angst in there for ya!! -Ripley

Dash curled up on his sectional couch, pulling his limbs in and cradling his sore stomach. 

"OooOhh," he moaned, almost snorting at how freaking pitiful he sounded. This incubation was the pits, though. It was less than twenty-four hours after he'd swallowed the specimen capsule, and already he was too bloated to sit up straight – or stand up at all – and had resorted to rolling around in the fetal position like a wuss. 

His abdomen made a hideous, thick "GLLuorp" sound. He chanced a look down at it. It bulged tightly, giving him a "six months pregnant" potbelly that should've only been half that size by now. Dash pressed a splayed hand gently into the taut surface and hissed in pain: his insides were so tender, it felt like pushing on a bruise. He could feel something oblong and solid shift beneath his fingertips… had to be one of the specimen’s grotesque extra limbs.

The localized pain throbbed for another thirty seconds after Dash lifted his hand from the spot, and when he looked again there was an ugly deep red coloring to the skin there. Dash was about to check out the ruddy blotch some more, but suddenly the fledgling creature in his belly started bucking and wriggling so much that a little discoloration was the least of his issues. Dash tipped his head, clenching one set of fingers in his dark mop of hair and hugging the other arm around the shifting, groaning mass in his middle. He could feel the thing inside him flopping and jerking and hammering his guts. Bile surged up his throat and it was all he could do not to spew it heartily onto the living room floor. Dash didn't care how pitiful he sounded anymore: he whimpered, high and painfully. Moments like these were why he kept Harvey on speed dial. 

"And you say this is bigger than you expected to be by now?" Harvey was asking. Dash could barely pay attention: he was concentrating on biting his lower lip to keep from groaning. He took a deep breath and let the feeling of the soft, firm hospital bed against his back steady him. "Ohhhhh yeah," he grunted. "Way bigger. As in. It was only supposed to be half of this." He gestured vaguely at his domed belly, which Harvey had begun examining. Harv held a stethoscope against the slowly undulating skin. "Mmm," he mused, putting his other hand on the opposite side of Dash's bloat like he was trying to hold it steady. "It’s really active. What’s it supposed to be, again...?" "Luren Spiral… Scar-thing? Scab-thing…?” Dash said weakly, trying to remember. "Y'think they gave me two on accident or somethin'? At least I might get bonus pay outta this…”

Harvey held the diaphragm of the scope right below Dash's protruding navel. The doctor shook his head. 

"Yeah, we can check on the quantity," he said. "It's the violence of the movement in there that I think is the real problem, though. Might just be a more rambunctious species than InCube figured. How bad's the pain?" "It's like a si..." Dash started, and then his voice jumped up an octave as one lopsided bulge in his stomach visibly switched switched places with another, “eight! Ahggh shit, eight and a half…”

“Okay, bud, hang in there,” Harvey soothed as he swiped around on his tablet, “we’re gonna have a look and then get you feeling better. You with me?”

“Mmmph… yeahyeahmmkay…”

“Good,” said Harvey, putting his hand on Dash’s shoulder as a large, shiny ultrasound scanner whirred down from the ceiling.

“That's… new…” Dash panted at the ceiling, trying to let his friend’s tech distract him from the violent alien offspring in his aching belly.

“InCube budget’s always good for a couple new toys here ‘n’ there,” Harvey said with a tense smile. He powered the machine up and detached the cordless wand from its holster. A round bubble of gel appeared on the end of the wand and then fanned out into a malleable disc that Harvey held up to his patient’s heaving gut.

“There’s a joke to be made here…” Dash groaned through gritted teeth, “...’bout the wand… producing its own lube… AAUgh Harv owow that spot hurts…”

“Sorry, sorry,” Harvey murmured gently, “just a little longer…” His voice deepened and got more sincere the longer he stared at the monitor. “Oof, Dashie… Hm… I'm really sorry…”

“Would you stop apologizing?” Dash snipped, voice tight from the pain. “It's freakin’ me out a little.”

Harvey didn't want to know how much more freaked out Dash would be if he could actually see the ultrasound output. The screen was turned away from the bed: only Harvey could see the knobby, slimy nightmare that was winding and spreading through Dash’s stomach and bowels. It had at least twenty limbs, and each limb had hundreds of smaller tendrils spiraling off of it, wormy protrusions that spasmed and coiled around each other like colonies of maggots on dead logs. The bigger limbs had multiple joints that looked… almost bony, like little elbows. Once in awhile the entire creature would spasm and shoot a leg or an arm in an awkward direction; the movement was so forceful and jagged that it made Harvey’s grip tighten on the wand. This awful thing didn't seem like it belonged in a human… it didn't even seem to have a face…

Suddenly the thing’s whole body thrashed and a particularly harsh, snarling gurgle from Dash’s overtaxed abdomen jolted Harvey’s attention away from the monitor. Dash held a trembling hand against the left side of his gut, his eyes wide and watery and his breathing fast like… wait, fuck, was he going into shock?

“Harv… I…” Dash stammered, swallowing hard, his expression alternating from slack-jawed dizziness to grimaces of pain, “I… ungh… there's three of you all of a sudden… oWWowOW… ahh…”

Dash’s head fell back onto the pillows as the pulse-ox beeping sped up… Harvey was rushing to get in Dash’s face and tell the younger guy to keep his eyes open when he saw it: a reddish cluster of bruises gathering around Dash’s straining belly button. Cullen’s sign.

Fffffffffuck.

“Dashie, hey,” Harvey said, quietly but urgently, trying to keep fear from creeping into his voice. As he talked, he guided the ultrasound wand around Dash’s lumpy stomach. “Dash, bud, can you help me out? Can you tell me if that last big movement hurt you anywhere specific?” Fuck. Checking quadrants for a bleed. Upper right. Nope. Lower. Nope. Fuck. Keep your hand steady, Edmund…

“Harv…?” Dash whined. He was sweating and shivering, getting less alert by the second. “I think I might…”

“Shhhit,” Harvey said under his breath and got an emesis basin beneath Dash’s chin in the knick of time. There wasn't much, just a weak, guttural cough that brought up yellow bile. Harvey checked “stomach” off the list of places Dash could be bleeding internally.

“I know,” Harvey said in response to Dash’s shaky, threadbare moaning, “I know, you're feeling really bad now but I promise it's gonna be fine…” Jeeeesus, leave it to Edmund Harvey to be so distracted by a crazy alien specimen that he didn't think to look for a god damn bleed. He wanted to comfort Dash more, to rub his back or his hair and be there for his friend, but he needed to keep searching for the hemorrhage. He could kick himself and comfort Dash later.

He paged for a nurse to treat the shock and stay on basin duty while he slid the wand over more of Dash’s swollen abdomen. Right when he was thinking he'd have to open Dash up just to fucking figure it out, he felt a clammy hand close around his wrist.

“Upper left,” Dash croaked, “you goateed fuck…”

And then his eyes slid shut and he fainted for real.

Harvey’s hands flew to get the wand over Dash’s upper left quadrant. No wonder it was difficult to tell… all of the creature’s bony, twitching limbs were in the way. Harvey flicked through the wand’s different settings and finally got one of the ultra-sensitive heat configurations to give him what he wanted… ugh… gnarly hematoma, clear as day. Would explain some of the extra swelling and tenderness, too.

Harvey turned to the nurse. “Tell them to prep OR eight plus a transfusion, specimen containers…”

He looked at Dash belly one more time. It seemed more swollen than even a minute ago, more blotches of red staining the skin and the creature’s movements rapid and chaotic.

“And everybody better bring some tranq guns just in case,” Harvey added.

Even though admitting it made Harvey want to scream and throw a beaker at the wall, he had to keep telling himself. Had to keep telling himself so he would do better next time:

Dash was really, really sick.

Not like, “low grade fever” sick, or “minor obstruction” sick.

This was “Dash has an artificial spleen now because the specimen elbowed him in the old one and popped it” sick.

The artificial spleens were a recent development for Argentis’s medical community. Could humans live without a spleen? Certainly. But would their quality of life improve in the long run if they could have another one? The odds said yes, and the clinical trials had gone well enough that a splenic implant had crossed over from “net harmful” to “you'll be in an InCube board hearing if you don’t give an implant to an eligible patient.”

Dash had been eligible. But Dash was now fighting strained bowel walls, peritonitis, and a phony new organ that was barely out of its trial days.

He was keeping Dash in a medically induced coma until things looked stable enough to wake him up. Harvey snuck pulls of whisky, and slept in a cot next to Dash’s bed, and watched the monitors until he wasn't sure where the data ended and his own thoughts began. He had to constantly, constantly hold himself back from giving the okay to wake Dash up: as heartbroken as he felt now, Harvey had to remember that talking to Dash sooner wasn't worth him dying the same damn day.

On the morning that all of Dash’s vitals were finally clear, Harvey had a raging headache and an awful sense of dread, like waking Dash up would almost certainly put the nail in his coffin.

Harvey shut the door in the lab’s tiny bathroom, took a couple deep breaths, and cried for the following ten minutes.

Dash woke up just fine. Everything worked: his heart, his lungs, his limbs, even his sarcasm (“Harv, if you start crying again I’ll pop my god damn stitches on purpose”).

The next day, they raised the back of Dash’s bed a little, and Harvey relaxed on the cot, and they watched bad movies.

“How are you feeling?” Harvey asked.

“Haaaaaarv, c’mon, I just told you…”

“That was at the beginning of ‘Lair of the White Worm.’ Now we’re more than halfway through, and I'm not pressing play until you tell me.”

“Once again: I am sore, weak, and spectacularly high.”

“So…?”

“Once again: not too shabby.”

Harvey picked his tablet up and pressed “play.”

“Good enough for now,” he said.

Ripley: Heheh. Might’ve rushed the ending there but again. Happy happy birthday, hope you enjoyed!!

[pedrokozakpsa]

Boys grieve death of a beloved soccer coach

Times Free Press article by Mark Kennedy

A child's first encounter with death is hard.

The other day, I interrupted our younger son while he was cutting wood on a table saw in the garage.

"Take off your headphones for a minute," I said. "I have some very sad news to tell you."

He slowly lowered his ear protectors down around his neck and looked at me expectantly.

"Pedro died this morning," I said.

"What?" he said.

"Your coach, Pedro, he passed away today," I said.

Our 13-year-old immediately lowered his head and stared at the ground. He didn't cry, but his eyes were a million miles away.

Pedro Kozak, a legendary Chat­tanooga youth soccer coach, died last Sunday of natural causes. He was 71.

Our two sons, ages 13 and 18, are among the hundreds of boys and girls who played for Pedro's Pre­mier Soccer Academy, which was founded here in 1997.

Our family's association with Pedro's teams, which lasted only about three years, was brief but meaningful.

Some of Pedro's first Chatta­nooga-area players are now in their 30s. A former Argentine professional player, Pedro coached a Canadian national boys team before arriving in Chattanooga. All told, his coaching career spanned more than 40 years. 

A few minutes before I told our 13-year-old the tragic news, our 18-year-old son had come down the stairs at our house with moist eyes to tell me that texts about Pedro's death were flooding his phone.

He had traveled with Pedro's River Plate team throughout the South and had thrived under the coach's tough-love style. Pedro would shout at oµr older son in his trademark clipped English: "Keegans, what the heck'ins you doing? Pass the ball and stop doing the hokey pokey, or you'll make your­self fall down!" It was 100 percent Pedro that he mispronounced our older son's name for two years.

It was also 100 percent Pedro that he telephoned me with tender concern in his voice when our 13-year-old boy hurt his back last winter and missed a month of training.

Pedro Kozak was known universally by his first name: For hundreds of Chattanooga soccer players, "playing for Pedro" was their athletic calling card.

"Playing for Pedro" meant you were mentally tough, physically fit and absolutely relentless. His teams were known for outworking opposing teams that would sometimes wilt under in the final minutes of a match. Pedro made his players run hills and sprint endlessly in the days leading up to a tour­nament.

"Pedro was definitely con­cerned about being the fittest team in any tournament we played in,'' said Jonathan Rick­etts, a longtime PSA player who went on to star at Bryan College and now plays for the Chatta­nooga Red Wolves professional team. "He always pushed us to be better players every day in training. It might have been hard to see in the moment, but I can see that now."

Pedro coached scores of local teenagers who went on to play at all levels of collegiate soccer, including Divi­sion I. If Pedro vouched for your child, college coaches listened.

His PSA club was nomadic. At points his teams had been based at Middle Valley; the North River YMCA, Camp Jordan in East Ridge.and, most recently at Red Bank High School, where he presided over his last training session on May 30.

When his PSA club moved to Red Bank seven years ago; Pedro had five boys teams and a girls squad. By the 2019-20 season, PSA was down to two teams. The Chattanooga FC and Chat­tanooga Red Wolves youth academies also compete for club players now.

Pedro's teams always had names rooted in Argentine soccer such as River Plate, Lanus (his former profession­al club) and Boca Juniors. His PSA teans were known throughout the South for their blue and white Argenti­na-style jerseys,·which soccer fans worldwide associate with legendary. players such as Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.

On the day before his death, Pedro had been on the field at Red Bank High School guiding his under-12 Boca Juniors and under-15 Lanus teams through their first social-distancing train­ing sessions of the coronavi­rus era. It was the first time the teams had gathered since mid-March, and Pedro had carefully structured drills so the kids stayed 6 feet part.

"Not so close!" he would shout at the boys if they acci­dentally drifted together. Pedro was not outwardly Warm and fuzzy. In fact he was loud and bossy. Yet he cared deeply for his players, and they returned the feelings.

When Pedro dressed down a player it was demon­strative, but not personal, and usually involved a correct­able fundamental or mental error. He also didn't abide lollygagging or horseplay.

I used to tell our boys that it was never hard to find Pedro at a soccer tour­nament. You could just roll down your car window and follow his voice, which would boom across the pitches no matter how many games were in progress.

Pedro's older players learned to "play on" through his scoldings, as the game might have progressed 20 touches and a goal by the time he refocused, his attention on the action.

Pedro could also be playful, often telling the boys to return a bag of practice balls to his Maserati or Lamborgh­ini, when they all knew he meant his Honda minivan.

As was their custom, the players at last Saturday's training session filed off the field at Red Bank and called out, "Thanks, Pedro." As was his custom, Pedro Kozak answered, "OK, sweethearts!"

So, one last time, from all the "sweethearts" who ever wore the blue-and-white, "Thank you, Pedro." You were one heck'ins of a coach.

Email Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com

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