#this colouring is so wonky. ah well

[zerothesonic]

well it was supposed to be for frontiers day but better late than never i guess

[satureja13]

Great A'Tuin finally reached the outpost! Dayn had organized an unmanned shuttle for them, waiting for them in the orbit. And the Boys are getting ready to set foot on their first alien planet! (In fact, Sai and Little Goat had already set foot on Otherworld's Sixam when they'd stepped through the portal to meet Tyalindo, their horse.) (TMI: The pic above shows Hoth in my Star Wars - The Old Republic game. I love this game so much and you can play it for free! I play for over ten years now and when I quested on Tatooine yesterday, I was standing there again, looking around in awe ^^')

Sai called for them to get ready. Jack was just about to finish knitting a pullover for Lenny. Dayn had told them that the outpost lies on an ice planet, so Jack had started knitting right away after Dayn had left :3 Jack: "You will like it!" Kiyoshi: "Hm?" Jack: "Ah never mind. I was talking to the cat ^^' " Skully, busy having an eye on Jack's knitting attempts: "No, two left first - then two right!" Jack: "Oh..." Knitting is so, so hard when your brain is so busy all the time! ö.ö

Jack finished Lenny's pullover just in time and helped him putting it on. Jack: "Look how cute you are! You love food just as much as I do, do you? Yes, you do!"

The Boys all gathered in the cargo bay to board the shuttle waiting for them. And since it's freezing down there, Jack thought they all should wear their winter sweaters (with their uniforms below - to go conform with the starfleet protocol :3 ) Vlad and Kiyoshi are as 'festive' as they can get ^^' And Sai just agreed to wear his because it's matching Jeb's (after Jack made Jeb wear his hahaha) (TMI: Vlad and Kiyoshi already refused to wear colourful sweaters on last year's winterfest...)

Ji Ho was just gulping down the most promising of the potions they'd tested. Skully: "Until the last drop - that's my Boy!"

Then it was time for the 'precautionary embrace'. Let's hope all this will prevent Ji Ho from getting travel sick again! Ji Ho didn't sense much nervousness from Vlad over the Bond, which made him nervous ö.ö What had happened at the sickbay when Vlad had been alone with Jeb and Kiyoshi? Did they make him swallow - potions - too?

Sai kicked Ji Ho out of his worrying thoughts by telling Vlad: "Do it thoroughly!" Poor Vlad, Sai has no idea how awkward and embarrassing this is!

And he did. The Little Goats sighed in awe: 'Aouwwww!'

Vlad tried everything to hide his feelings to not taint the 'preventive healing embrace'. So Ji Ho could just concentrate on getting down on the planet's surface in that shuttle without getting travel sick. Which wasn't an easy task. Holding Ji Ho's body close to his felt so good. It was hard to let go of him again...

Eventually, the Boys, Lenny and the Little Goats boarded the shuttle, and it took them down to the planet's surface!

It was an older shuttle and the ride was a bit wonky, but Ji Ho took it very well! Vlad was so relieved that their - inconveniences - had been of success! Though, it still means they need to have physical contact for 'the greater good' - and oh how he hates that! He wants to touch Ji Ho - and Ji Ho to touch him - because he wanted to and not because he has to -.- Not anytime soon - anyway - but still...

They stepped around the shuttle to take the outpost in. Wow!

Even Sai was amazed: "Now Jack and Vlad - this is just your style, huh?" But Vlad, Jack and Kiyoshi are taken aback. Worriedly Vlad looked at his friend: "Jack..."

This is exactly the place where Jack's mind had wandered to when he fell in his coma. (TMI: Jack has severe mental issues, but back then it was far, far worse. He believed Kiyoshi had been at the Lab to torture Saiwa and him (which he even was in the first place...) and Jack was just about to kill the wire-pullers when he collapsed and fell into a coma from all the turmoil inside of him. Kiyoshi and Vlad know this place too. They'd entered Jack's coma and came 'here' to bring him back.)

Jack: "How is this possible?" Saiwa: "Maybe you saw this place in a movie or documentary and your mind just chose it? Like in a dream, you know?" But there is also the old Twi'lek Jack had met in his coma - and he greeted him! Old Twi'lek: "Jack! Now that's a surprise, huh? How are you doing?"

Jack wasn't prepared for this - at all: "Eh..." Old Twi'lek: "Now, don't you worry, hm? We are going to repair that old turtle in no time and you can leave again soon to rescue B.D - won't we?" Jack: "Eh - sure."

(TMI: B.D, his kids and Albaleyh had been here when they searched for Lenny's vacuum bot.)

And from somewhere they heard Skully hum the X Files theme o.o

to be continued... ö.Ö'

Outtakes

The potion Ji Ho swallowed was the healing potion from the Get to Work pack. Afterwards, he immediately fell asleep ö.ö The Little ones too ^^'

From the Beginning 🔱 Underwater Love 🔱 Latest

Current Chapter: starts ▶️ here Last Chapter: 'Here comes the Sun' from the beginning ▶️ here

📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 23-29

[sleepless-strawberry]

"Yeah right, what are you trynna freak me out or something?"

"Nope, dead serious. Either you have the most amazing skin care routine and have regular plastic surgery or there's something wonky with your power."

"My power? Mike not this again! We've been over it already. Sure they may have somewhat helped me avoid taking some injuries here and there but they aren't omnipotent. Far from that!"

"Bet! If in another 10 years you still have a baby face you owe me a 100 bucks!"

-----

As I wake up I relish the memory of that day whilst it's still fresh in my mind. How long has it been since I had memories from that time? It seems like I've only had that conversation with Mike yesterday, how old was he then? 20? 40? 70?

I remember being at his death bed. He was old, very old. Covered in wrinkles and tubes. His frail skin that clung around his bones contrasted against the sterile apparatuses all around him. I think he said something along the lines of "you still haven't given me my 100 bucks", what a miser he was... He? Or where they a woman? I think I still remember that their name started with an M or maybe an N?

Doesn't matter.

Memories drift in and out of my head all the time. At one moment my entire being feels as if I am reliving that moment. The next, I have already forgotten all about it. I suppose this must be one of the drawbacks to my nigh omnipotents or rather immortality. Since even if I've had a long life there was little I could do with it.

Now then what was I talking about?

I can't seem to remember.

...

Oh right. My memories. There are simply too many...

I don't want to go on about this subject. Makes me feel melancholic. And my melancholy is like a well. One that gets filled by rain. Until the well is full and there is no one to drink from it... I can only keep digging the well deeper for so long... I'll hit stone that's too hard to dig up eventually.

But I have time until then.

In fact, one could say time is the only thing I have.

Suddenly my mind conjures another memory. Ah yes. I remember this one quite fondly also. Just like the one I had previously who's specific contents I can't remember yet I believe they made me feel... better.

I remember sitting on a cliff. Or rather the remains of one. I was the only one on it as it drifted through space. As if the waves that were once at it's foot had encompassed it entirely.

Before me was a display of bright colours. Blinding lights dancing all around me, as if I were in the midst of masquerade ball, where all the participants set on fire their already flashy and dazzling attires.

The meteors and all of it's glistening friends where crashing through the remains of what had once been my planet. It's name... I don't seem to recall. Large balls of fire where tearing through far larger chunks of rock. Like a bullet tearing through a paper drum.

Unlike a bullet however. This scene. This display that put even the greatest fireworks to shame. Was a calming undisturbed silence.

I couldn't hear a sound.

...

......

.........

It. It struck me that. I didn't feel... upset?

One could only suppose that seeing their home be destroyed would be a cause for grief... at least some distress? But I had no way of knowing. There was no one to ask after all. No one but me. And I was untrustworthy.

Perhaps, I pondered, I did not feel sadness nor melancholy at visage due to forgetting my attachment to it?

Plausible.

Quite likely even.

Melancholy. It runs through my body again. Like a heavy blanket wrapping around me as if it were a python. Opening it's suffocating jaws and plunging me into the confides of my own cold mind.

...

What if I were to let it win?

Would the melancholy treat it's long-time foe cum prisoner with kindness?

Would the beast that stalks my every waking moment let me rest once I've found myself in it's stomach?

Somehow, I doubted it would.

I fear that the acids of it stomach would eat away at me. Forever. However long forever is. Not letting me rest. Just slowly taking me apart.

I look around myself, hoping to see something new to stimulate my mind. As by the looks of it I have had run out of memories for the time being.

Empty.

There was simply nothing of note.

Maybe I'll have more luck next time then?

I close my eyes and prepare to drift off into another long sleep. I wished that this time I wouldn't be woken. But judging by all my other attempts... I would have to open up my eyes again eventually.

Hopefully then there will be something new. A new visage. A new memory. A new hope.

In a world dependant on superpowers, you though your ability of being immune to direct alterations from other powers was mildly inconvenient. You realize something is up when a friend points out you haven’t aged at all in a decade.

[tomtenadia]

being overly competitive at child games for the domestic fluff prompts?

Another brick under my foot

The title is silly and a play on the song Another brick in the wall. I am not saying that Lego is a child's game because it's not. I am forty and I adore Lego. I just thought it would be fun. If there are typos I am sorry. I just wrote it and posted it.

No warning... just our Rowaelin being silly.

It was a rainy day and Rowan and Aelin were both off from work and the kids were still at school so they had the afternoon free before having to go and pic up their two terrors. Both were splayed on the sofa, Rowan flipping through the channels in a bored manner, while Aelin was concentrated on her book. 

Rowan turned to his wife and poked her arm and then again.

“Ro?”

“Yes?”

“I’ll punch you.”

He poked her one more time for good measure and then folded his arms at his chest and pouted.

Aelin huffed a puff and closed her book “what’s bothering you, buzzard?”

“I am bored.”

“Oh, poor baby…” she mocked him, patting his head.

Rowan grabbed her and kissed her neck in an invitation, but Aelin pushed him away gently “hmm… not today, Ro. It’s that time of the month.”

He gently nibbled at her ear “do you need anything? Are you well?” Rowan knew from experience that Aelin could be very unwell.

She grinned and showed him the hot water bottle tucked it into her pyjama.

“You look sexy,” 

Aelin laughed and leaned against him.

They cuddled like that for half an hour then she had an idea “we can play with Lego.”

“Hm?”

“The kids are out and for once we all the bricks for ourselves and can do what we want, please Ro?” She looked at him with puppy eyes knowing full well he could not resist her.

He stood with purpose “sit on the floor.”

Rowan disappeared and came back a few minutes later carrying two big plastic boxes full of the colourful bricks. Their kids loved it so much and could play for hours but most of the times she and Rowan had to play with them and help them build stuff.

Aelin quickly grabbed the green base with a few streets painted on “mine.”

“Hey, I had my eyes on that.”

“You are slow and old, buzzard.”

“What are you building?”

“My castle,” said Aelin while already rummaging through the box on a mission.

“ I will build one too.”

She snorted “sure. But mine will be so much better, loser.”

Rowan glared at his wife. He knew that Aelin could get competitive even with the most silly things.

Rowan stuck his tongue out at her and started working on his castle. They both worked in silence for a bit until they reached for the same piece at the same time.

“You got the base, this is mine,”

Aelin sat on his hand “no it’s mine.”

Rowan growled playfully “you can’t always win,”

She smiled wickedly “Oh dear hubby, you should know by now that I wear the pants in this marriage,” and in pure provocation Aelin leaned forward and kissed him while her hand grabbed the piece and then moved away quickly “Ah! I got it.”

Rowan stood quickly and lifted her in his arms and dumped Aelin on the sofa and in revenge he started tickling her.

Aelin screamed and trashed in his arms promising the worst revenges possible. And while Rowan was torturing her she had not noticed that he had snatched the piece from her hand until he moved away and returned to his construction with a smug face.

“Never underestimate me, wife.”

Aelin decided to ignore his antics and go back working on her castle which looked like a wonky cube of mismatched colours. Rowan’s instead looked a little more like a castle. And he knew it. Sneakily he grabbed one of the toys from the kids’ basket. It was one of Thomas’ dragons and he had a plan. He threw the toy on her building “Dragon attack!” Half of her construction broke down and Aelin looked up at him with fury in her eyes.

“Your defences sucked.”

She stood and grabbed a truck and crashed into his “oh, the driver was DUI.”

Rowan stood too but as he moved towards her his foot landed on a brick.

She saw the pain in his face followed then by a vicious string of curses. It was a good thing the kids were away.

“Oh, poor baby did the bad block hurt you?”

Whimpering Rowan nodded until his face morphed in revenge and Aelin started running around the living room to avoid capture until she was the one who stepped on Lego and cursed.

Rowan grabbed her again and went back to the sofa “Truce?” His eyes looking for hers.

“You owe me a castle, buzzard.”

“All you wish, my queen,” a soft kiss on her lips and Aelin curled into him. 

[sanzusbestie]

How do you think Kakucho would be as a husband? And with a foreign s/o with wonky Japanese sometimes? Lol thank you for answering if you do. ❤

♡ Kakucho with a foreign s/o ♡

Pairing : Hitto Kakucho x gn!reader

Warnings : None

A/n : I want a Kaku-chan in my life ❤️ Thank you for requesting and have a nice day ♡

He might be part of the most dangerous gang in Japan, but we all know Kakucho would be an amazing husband

How you two met was quite funny, you were staying in one of the most luxurious hotel in Tokyo for a well-deserved break

Two peaceful weeks, that's all you were asking for

It started nicely until some mfs decided to do their business there

Mfs being Bonten

When Kakucho saw you talking on the phone at the reception, it was like love at first sight

He recognised your language but couldn't speak or understand a word of it

"Kakucho, stop stalling and hurry up." Mikey ordered

He made a mental note to check some vocabulary later

You, for your part, haven't seen him at all

Until later that night, when he pointed a gun at you as you were coming back from a long day of walking in Tokyo

You two went like that 🤡

"Oh my god, sorry I thought it was him !"

Seeing the shadow of the man he was waiting down the hallway, he then pushed you aside and went in a hurry

🗿🗿🗿

You were too shocked to talk

Needless to say you locked yourself and fell asleep frightened under your blanket

You carefully stepped out of your room the next morning and went to the reception

Everything looked absolutely normal, as if there wasn't some crazy men walking around, including one that almost killed you

Decided not to draw attention to yourself (you never know, he might be hiding in a corner waiting to kill you) you decided to ask some people if they didn't see anything different from yesterday

They all looked at you weirdly and said no

Dumbfounded, you went outside only to come face to face with Kakucho

"Ah you're finally out ! I've been waiting for so long !" he said in your language

Your resolutions thrown out the window, you started to yell at him, in your native tongue thinking he'd understand

An other 🤡 moment

"Don't tell me you haven't understood shit of what I just talked ! How did you make this sentence then ?"

"Google translation, also-"

"Also what now ?"

"It's 'said' not 'talked'."

You thought your ears had deceived you

"You said 'don't tell me you haven't understood shit of what I just talked' while it's actually 'don't tell me you haven't understood shit of what I just said'."

And he kept on explaining why it was this word and not an other one while you were standing there 🧍

What intrigued you was that he was genuine about it, he wasn't trying to make fun of you

That's why you accepted when he asked you out

You two went on some dates during your last days in Japan

Of course he told you about Bonten because you weren't just going to forget what happened and you surprisingly accepted it

He's eager to hear about your life there

For months you went often to Japan and he did the same to your country

Until he asked you to marry him

The cultural and language differences never stopped him from loving you

The first time he said "I love you" in your mother tongue" you chuckled and kissed him to hide the fact you were about to cry

Being with you makes him see so much more colours in his daily life that he used to judge as mundane

He thinks it's so cute when you get frustrated and you start to mumble things in your native tongue

He does everything in his power to make you feel at home, now that you live in Japan

Trying to cook you your traditional dishes, putting on some music he knows you listened back there

He's not afraid to go out of his way for you to feel comfortable

But he also tries to introduce you to the fully Japanese life (not what you only saw on vacation) so you two can have both cultures

He still helps you improve your Japanese and you teach him your language

Little does he know you already feel at home with him <3

♡

[homiro]

Ah, a positive interaction? Between me and a stranger? Online? Wild! I'm glad you were happy with this, really. Thank you! I didn't want it to seem like I was stealing your idea or would start doing the same thing, I just wanted to talk about how dumb I am! But also you're a trooper, I think what I wrote can be read as 'they're painted after' but that's not what I meant (and how could it be? The paint job would look bad if that were the case!), because getting the colours to show properly painting before and the way you do it, is impressive. As impressive as this mysterious paper I was sure you had that happened to have all the colours of the pride flags! But that was a compliment on your painting skills, by the way! It looks so good, I thought the paper was just like that and forgot painting was a thing... because I have colourful origami paper (not, you know, the kind with a lot of colours, just solid colour squares).

And in case it helps for the future or anyone who wants to have one that looks like mine, what I did was measure the square, then measure the square to the middle from the side to the centre and the top to the bottom. Then I cut squares from the other colours with those dimensions (in this case, two pink and two blue and one one), and did, left to right, top to bottom, blue-pink-blue-pink. And then measured the little squares to the middle to stick a white one slap back in the middle of the big square. I used stick glue, the kind that leaves no marks. And before all that, I did a reference one where I put numbers on the corners, the centre of the sides and the middle, to see where the colours would end up. It worked out, though the paper turned out THICK. I think this method isn't for beginners... I mean yours isn't, either, since it requires painting well (and I'm guessing working with non-origami paper). But this is literally the longest, hardest route for idiots who forget painting is an option. Because in your case, you're good at painting and you can figure out where the colours will end up, in this case, you have to be measuring stuff and cutting stuff and then gluing stuff in the right places, and finally working with a chunky sheet of paper. Which anyone who knows the basics of origami will be able to tell isn't ideal! I was fearing that I wouldn't be able to fold the head!

And here's another thing I made just now. This time with no glue (because I ran out of it last time haha). Intersex flag colours heart (and again that's bright yellow, my phone's just bad)! It's wonky, I know. I'm not Jo Nakashima and this was made with two bits of paper and no glue! It's perfectly imperfect! That's the point!

Posting this before going to bed and saying it's inspired by @pridecranes and I'm not trying to start doing the same or anything. I just wanted my own crane since I also make origami. The dumb part about this story is my negative IQ moment where I didn't realise the cranes were painted and not made with some mysterious multicoloured paper. This one here was made with paper of the three colours and I had to go around and see where what end would be to make the parts be the right colour. Then piece the colours together. The head and tail are light blue, my phone's camera is just bad. The middle is white. I have no words for how dumb I am.

[reporterleroux]

"What if we lived together?"

Characters: ig!tubbo, ig!ranboo, ig!tommy x gn!ghosthybrid!reader (/p, all together)

A/N: Ok so this has been on my mind a fair bit, thinking about you being best friends with the Bench Trio and how one day you randomly popped up with "what if we all lived together?" As a joke and they were like YES SURE OK and you went looking for a spot and stuff

!SOME LANGUAGE!

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

You started the day with the sun glaring through the slit in the curtain burning through the sleepiness if your eyes as if it was trying to say "GET OUT OF BED NOW." So thats what you did. With a groan, you slid to sit over the side of your bed, taking a moment to adjust to the fact you just woke up, before heading down into the kitchen of your single occupant house to make some breakfast. You dug around the cabinets, wandered around the kitchen, attempting to find anything.

"Ah shit."

You whispered in annoyance as you remembered. You were meant to go out to the market the day before and got distracted by multiple other things, therefore leaving you with no food anywhere in the house. You sighed in frustration, you really need to talk to Phil, see if he can help you get distracted less, because otherwise, well, you get this. You sighed in defeat of your past self, and went upstairs to get ready for the day. You jumped into the shower, pondering what chaos you and your best friends would be getting up to today.

You floated through the walls of your silent home, the only sound heard was your light humming as you were doing so. You grabbed and threw on your usual attire, knee length multi-pocketed shorts, a small-ish pocketed belt, a white shirt and some fingerless leather gloves. You liked pockets, they were a useful tool for you considering you were never seen holding any form of bag, ever. You made sure you had all the stuff you needed in your pockets, medical stuff, money, and other things, before you slipped on your off-white trainers and went out the door, headed towards the market.

"The market is on the way to the bench, I can grab a quick breakfast there;"

You grabbed the small clock from One of your many pockets, and looked at it.

"I've got time, as long as I don't get distracted, I'll be fine."

You said to yourself. Though past experiences would prove otherwise. You were usually roughly the 2nd one to the bench, only stopping for a few seconds to look at things on the way.

When you finally made it to the market, it was bustling with life. It was Sunday, so there were more stalls up, therefore more customers. You looked around for a bit before deciding to settle on a simple bagel, it'll fill you for now anyways. You looked at the clock again.

"HUH? HOW?"

You questioned, almost choking on your bagel. It was 10:30, you were about half an hour late. You thanked the stall owner before sprinting off towards the bench.

You could see the boys from a distance, but they couldn't see you, so you decided to play a small prank on them. You went into a full phantom state, making everything you wear plus yourself invisible, before flying up towards them. You stood behind them, them un-aware of your presence, and you slapped Tommy against the back of his head.

"WHAT THE FUCK? WHO? WHAT? HUH?"

He started shouting, whipping his head around while rubbing the back of it with his hand. The other 2 boys did the same. That's when you ghosted through the small gap between Ranboo and Tommy, grabbing Ranboos crown and placing it on your head in the process. That's when you made yourself visible again, still floating with Ranboos crown wonky on your head, laughing like there was no tomorrow. When Tubbo and Ranboo noticed, the started laughing as well.

"Y/N!"

Tommy shouted. You continued to laugh.

"I got you SO GOOD!"

You managed to get out between laughs. Tommy looked pissed, but you could tell he found it funny as well. You weren't his best friend for nothing. You sat in the small gap you ghosted through earlier, and stared to chat with they boys, Ranboo taking his crown back doing so.

You all talked for a while, before the most random question slipped off your tounge.

"What if we lived together? Y'know, like in the same house that we built and chose the land to live on."

Silence was brought among the group. You were slightly worried, thinking you said something wrong, before Tubbo spoke up.

"Y/N... That's- That's a great idea!"

Ranboo and Tommy nodded in agreement.

"Come on! Let's go find somewhere now!"

Tommy said as he grabbed the nearest wrist to him, that so happened to be yours, and started dragging you away from the bench, the other boys close behind.

The 4 of you wandered for a good hour or so, with a few distractions for you in-between, before stumbling upon Niki.

"Oh, hey guys!"

Niki called in a cheery voice.

"What are you up to?"

As to which you responded;

"Hey Niki! Were just looking for somewhere we could live, like an empty plot of land or something."

Niki's eyes visibly lighted up.

"I know somewhere great! It's peaceful but also nearby to prime path, you get what I mean?"

She stated, as to which you all nodded. You walked for a little bit before reaching a slight hill, traversing up it before you were met with a empty plot of land. It was a beautiful area, and Niki was right, it was nearby prime path. The view was one of the many amazing things about the area, but that's not what caught your eye. Oh no. In fact, it was the brightly coloured flower field, just over a few yards away from you. You ran straight over while the others were talking about the land with Niki, unaware of your sudden, but close by disappearance. You laughed while you chucked yourself into the flowers, taking in every moment.

"What are you thinking Y/N, should we build our house here?"

Ranboo asked turning his head, realising you were gone the whole time. It didn't take him long before he saw you running though the flower field and around the nearby trees, clearly having the time of your life. He nudged the other boys and simply pointed towards your figure, showing them your visible enjoyment, before they all turned back to Niki, knowing what the other 2 were going to say.

"Yes Niki, we will build our house here."

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

A/N: FINALLY CAN GET THIS OFF MY MIND LIKE WOW but yes imagine them being your best friends

Or even better

Just them

Have a great day!

[loneworldgazer]

Animator!Y/N

karasuno x gen!reader, hinata x reader

a/n: people who do animation, just take my whole heart pls

this felt like a proper fic but sorry if it's short,,

(please reblog darlings)

yachi first started being curious about you since you were one of the teacher's pet, always lingering around the art teacher asking questions with a tablet in hand

she was nosy, she had to admit

she wanted to sneak a glance whenever you drew on your tablet and you would glance at her if she wants to take a look but she managed to look away before you saw

but she finally founds out what you're doing when some students partake in presentation (even if you didn't want to, the teacher liked you so you had to) and you presented yours

her little heart couldn't handle her excitement when fluid carefully drawn animation popped up on the screen and you looked at your hard work with pride

whatever subject was in the animation you discussed about it with the class and you couldn't help but of course notice the crooked smile that yachi had

she was impressed and filled with so much undescribable feelings, she could cry with how astonishing your work is

after art class yachi decided to approach you and ask a bunch of questions to you and you had the pleasure to answer all of them

you also wanted to cry because of how hyper of a puppy was when yachi would bounce up and down when you started describing about your work and how she would apologize if she was being too excited which you would shake your head to and laugh

you started exchanging numbers and you saved her under "gal who won't stop staring", of course you noticed

she couldn't hide it,,

after finding out where she was after school so you could ask her about art projects or catching up when you're absent, you started going to the club a lot more to also see the boys

they would always see you sliding into the gym and going to one of their managers and asking yachi about something

which they didn't mind much, the simpy duo thought you were stealing her away which you teased them by putting an arm around her as she laughs and says "there was nothing to worry about, y/n doesn't bite"

the whole team suprisingly loves to see your work especially hinata since he would make sound affects for your characters if you haven't added any audio yet

he would leap when your character does a transition or the scenery changes and he would gush about how cool you and your animation were

you, hinata and yachi would walk home admiring your work and yachi would also pull out her drawing as well to show both of you

hinata were both your hype man, he would compliment and point out every detail he loves

(i'm also convinced he has made doodles but they would look wonky but cute)

and since you two were close you always had sleepovers!!

usually it was at hinata's house so you could bond with natsu and she was entertained by your animations that you set up on your projecter

sometimes hinata's mom would pop up and see how it goes and she appreaciates having you over since you were such a kind and close friend of hinata that matches his energy

it was such a blast, stuffing yourselves with snacks and chortling till midnight which hinata's mom would try to shush all of you but she couldn't help but join in because it was so much fun

you would all have headaches though the next day buuut it was worth it~~

whenever you feel out of it, yachi's there

she would always be there to give you snacks or ask you take a few breaks if you worked too much

she would try to scold you and you just can't help but follow because it would be mean of you to ignore her words

and oh they were so wise

it helped you through times when she wasn't even there and it was good that you followed so you didn't hurt your mental health from the get go

now to timeskip,,

T I M E S K I P :

you were an independant animator animating part of your manga with your crew which you grouped together with your friend who was the boss of everything

you felt proud of yourself since you reached a long way,

how your parent/s didn't suppprt you from the start to how stress swallows you whenever you were near a deadline to how people complain if their request wasn't fulfilled to their liking,

yes, you still experienced it but it was a lot more better now than your highschool years telling you to shut up about your dreams

here you were animating frame by frame of your own creation,

what exactly was your manga about?

volleyball :))

yachi and karasuno's volleyball team has inspired you so much about how much team work and pain they went through and your heart stop whenever you remember

your big inspo, yachi who would never stop babbling about you and being right by your side when you need it

you might cry on the tablet you're drawing on which make your crew question on what are you crying about but you held back which also made your crew question why were you smiling so hard

nonetheless, you were almost happy everyday because you could reminisce with the ideas yachi gave you back then which you still kept dearly because they were great plot points

and how you stick close to each character no matter how goofy or chaotic they were, they had a lesson for each time they appear and dissappear

that's how the stadium smelled like, the colours and the adrenaline you felt by cheers from the crowds, you felt like you could fly right now with how much you wanted to scream the team's name and let them notice you

it smelled like the victory the monster duo had, it filled you with so much glee to watch them gain fans from the sidelines

you also felt hinata and kageyama's pride swelling and you could knock your chair over if you kept this up

there he was the orange haired boy who used to be your biggest fan standing in front of you who now has a lot more fans trailing behind him

eventhough he smelled musky and felt sweaty you can't control the urge to hug him and he also can't too

you later hugged kageyama and just spilled all your excitement to both of them on how well the matches went and hinata couldn't resist hugging you again and twirling you around

he planned on telling you all about your manga and how he haven't catched up on it yet on some of it and a pang struck your heart as you teared up which confused hinata

ah, he still remembered

"are you crazy, of course i did!" his boyish laughter was louder than your sobs when he rested your head on his chest and pushed him off, complaining about how sweaty he was

oh you silly goose, of course he did

you also met up with the rest and tumbled into yachi when she appeared around the corner and everyone laughed it out

either of you got a headache as you both help each other up

hinata and kageyama would stand near the third years who held their hearts and congratulated them

which kageyama would smile and nod while hinata would still bashfully scratch his neck while happily thanking them because his seniors were proud of him

you would take a selfie with yachi and hinata, yachi would be the one leaping off the ground and eventhough the picture was a little blurry atleast you could catch both of their smiles

the next time you meet up, hinata was there in his comfy clothes melting into all the pillows you pelted at him and you snuggled right next to him when you both were fresh out the shower

just like the old times, how he would wrap around your arm and yachi would be on your left doing the same

except this time, you were the one snuggling onto hinata's arm

you felt kinda sad that yachi couldn't join since she was really busy

but hinata interrupted your thoughts with a screech when you whipped your head back to see what he was doing

the television showed your blood sweat and tears of the countless projects and art that you did about it, dropping your head on hinata's shoulder as not even a second in, you got a series of shout and yells of eagerness from him

"i added a reference of you somewhere~" "huh! really? did you add kageyama?? he'll text me about it later-"

and the night was drowning in the amounts of laughter and euphoria you two shared,

the number 2 who supports you will always be the number 1 in your heart

[jaskiersvalley]

💜✨ This is an Amazing Creator Award! Your creations are incredible, and they light up every dashboard they land on. Pass this on to eight of your favorite creators to show your appreciation and let them know their art is loved! ✨💜

Bready, my wonderful friend. Thank you for this ask, it really made me smile. You're an eternal delight and I want to say thank you for your thoughtfulness and constant kindness. Have some silly Lambskel as a token of my gratitude.

CW: Clowns (which reminds me of this post)

Children grew up at an alarming rate. Eskel could have sworn it was only a few blinks ago that Geralt took guardianship of baby Ciri with Yennefer. Now, she was turning six and Eskel had been roped into chaperoning a birthday party. Again. Though he did have a scrawled invite arrive in the post, painstakingly stickered, glittered and signed by Ciri. It was nice that she wanted him there but Eskel knew that if she hadn't invited him as a guest then Geralt would have been gently bullying him into helping out on the day anyway. Not like Eskel minded, he loved Ciri and would happily do anything for her.

The big day rolled round and Eskel turned up early at Geralt's house. There were already balloons around the door, the house inside was decorated with birthday banners and, in true Ciri fashion, dragons. That year she had very sweetly demanded a clown for her birthday and Eskel was curious to see whether Geralt had given in despite his strong dislike of them. Why someone felt the need to put on so much makeup and parade around in ridiculous clothes was beyond reason. Once, while drunk, Geralt had admitted it made him uneasy to the point of it actually being a fear.

"Ah, you're here," Geralt said as he stepped out of the kitchen and spotted that Eskel had let himself in. "I need to have a word with you."

A strong hand wrapped around Eskel's bicep and tugged him into the kitchen. He went willingly enough, curious as to what secret Geralt was going to let him in on this time. They stood in silence for a moment, Geralt watching him with serious eyes.

"Don't fuck the clown."

Frankly, Eskel was a little offended at the request. "Is this because of the demon stripper Yen hired for your birthday?" The look Geralt gave him was answer enough. "Come on, she was hot, was off the clock by the time I took her home. And she kept her horns on."

The punch to the arm should have been expected and Eskel grumbled as he rubbed the soreness left behind. Before he could complain, movement in the garden caught his attention. There was the clown, hauling a large, colourful bag to the small gazebo that had been set up. Suddenly, Eskel understood Geralt's request and he promptly decided it wasn't something to pay attention.

"Oh."

"No." Geralt said flatly as Eskel took one last look at the clown and turned to go out into the garden. "Eskel, I'm serious. No! Don't fuck the clown!"

"I won't," Eskel called over his shoulder. "I'd let him fuck me."

Unfortunately for Eskel, Yennefer was in the garden and seemingly in on the "don't let Eskel fuck the clown" mission. Which was quite rude on several levels. Firstly, Eskel was offended that the other two thought he would jeopardise Ciri's birthday party for the sake of a fuck. Secondly, he was an adult who did not need to be guarded and protected. If he wanted to stick his dick in someone, nobody but he and the intended person had any right to object.

As it was, he still found out the clown was called Lambert and, if Eskel focused then he could make out the most sinfully plush lips under the layers of makeup. It was on pretty thick but Eskel couldn't feel like he was in a place to judge, he'd never had to dress up as a clown before so that slathering was probably normal. It was difficult to make out the true features of Lambert under all of it but Eskel knew for sure he was handsome.

There was no time to get to know Lambert any better because Ciri and her friends turned up in a wild, screaming mass and it was all hands up deck. Balloon animals were the start of Lambert's entertainment and Eskel had to give it to him, he was good. Especially when he looked at the parents with a half made giraffe that most definitely looked like a cock before becoming something more child friendly. Eskel didn't think he'd snorted that hard in a long while. It actually hurt.

Next came the cake and Lambert took a well earned break. Well, not quite, because he happily made crowns for all the adults, showing them how to untwist them into swords if they wanted a fight later on when the children had gone. And he winked at Eskel when he gave him a crown and a dubious looking sword that was most certainly two twists away from being a cock.

"Just how many balloon cock shapes do you know?" He had blurted out and quietly adored the smug smirk Lambert sported.

"All of them. But I like to model them on real life ones. And I don't have a model at the moment."

Eskel barely held back on a guffaw at such a blatant come on. It was only Geralt's grip on the back of his neck that held him in check, along with the low growl of "you will not fuck the clown."

"Not while he's wearing large circus trousers," Eskel had agreed.

His composure was totally wrecked by Lambert cocking an eyebrow at him. "Want to see what's under the big top?" Because yes, Eskel really did.

After cake and presents Lambert had a set of magic tricks to show. it started off quite well, nothing impressive but the cards were fun to follow and Eskel saw how sleight of hand worked.

"And now," Lambert announced, pulling a top hat from under the table. "I will make a rabbit appear!"

The top hat did indeed look empty and Eskel was curious whether it would be a real rabbit and whether Lambert kept it to a traditional white on. Getting the children to join in with the chanting, Lambert tapped a wand against the hat and reached into it, only to frown. Rummaging in the hat, he cursed much to the children's delight.

"It seems our magic has gone a bit wonky," Lambert said, not hiding his agitation very well. "Rather than manifesting a rabbit in the hat, we have conjured him up somewhere in the garden."

"Maybe he's up your sleeve?" Ciri called. "You should check!"

There was no way the rabbit was up his sleeve but Lambert dutifully reached in. He pulled out a card, a couple of coins, an unending row of silk tissues, another wand that erupted into a bouquet of flowers. All of it was met by loud laughter and cheering from the children who were rolling around laughing the more frantically Lambert pulled things out.

By pure chance, Eskel gazed out over the garden, only to spot a large white rabbit merrily hopping towards the house. Quietly, he went to grab it, cradling the obviously well loved and spoilt creature, petting it out of habit. Watching Lambert grit his way through a few more rather lacklustre and failed magic tricks, Eskel couldn't help but be thoroughly charmed. He almost missed the growling sigh from next to him.

"Fine. Fuck the clown." Geralt looked utterly resigned.

With Lambert looking a little frayed around the edges, Eskel finally took pity on him. Walking up behind the children, he cleared his throat.

"There I was, trying to have a slice of cake when this suddenly appeared on my plate instead. I don't suppose any of you know anything about it?"

The cheer from the kids was deafening but Eskel only had eyes on Lambert and the almost palpable relief rolling off him in waves.

"Maybe if Lambert would care to whisk this rabbit away, it might bring my slice of cake back."

Rabbit carefully handed over with one last scritch between the ears, Eskel stepped back and happily joined in with the chanting to hide the rabbit in the top hat again. Thankfully it was a success and no rabbit was visible when Lambert showed his audience with a flourish.

After that the children were ushered away and Lambert was left in peace to pack away. Well, mostly in peace. Eskel lingered and watched, curious to see Lambert without the clown makeup.

"That was an entertaining set," Eskel commented, sorely tempted to casually lean against the leg of a gazebo. But it would never hold his weight so he refrained.

"Fucking Rabbit," Lambert growled, much more rigid and tight now that he wasn't performing for children. "I'm going to eat him for dinner if he does that again."

"And how often do you threaten him with that?"

After a telling silence, Lambert snorted. "Every other day. He's a bastard."

Valiantly, Eskel held back from commenting how pets usually turned out like owners. But then he'd have to admit to Lil Bleater being an absolute menace and what would that say about him? Instead he straightened up and sauntered closer to Lambert.

"So, the offer of seeing a pitched tent still available?"

He crowded against Lambert who gave him a once over before nodding. It was all the permission Eskel needed before kissing him, heedless of how makeup smeared against his skin. Behind them, the door to the house was slammed shut and Eskel had to pull away with a chuckle.

"I'm under strict instructions not to fuck the clown." His eyes were dark as he took in the smudged and ruined makeup around Lambert's lips. "So, either the clown fucks me, or you can take your makeup off."

There was hesitation in Lambert's expression. He was obviously torn, lower lip caught between his teeth. "I'm not-" he broke off and his shoulders hunched. "I'm not handsome like you under the makeup."

"I think you're plenty handsome enough. Why don't I help you take it off?"

Another pause before Lambert gave a nod. He sat on one of the chairs after handing Eskel the makeup remover and wipes. It was slow progress but the more Eskel saw, the more he liked. One half of Lambert's face was done and he flinched away from Eskel's touch.

"It's not pretty," he warned and Eskel nodded before reaching again. That time Lambert didn't move away but he was tense as a scar was unveiled.

"You worry that it's not pretty," Eskel rumbled, "yet you called me handsome with all my scars. Double standards much?"

There was no reply but Lambert couldn't meet his eyes. Gently, Eskel wiped the last of Lambert's makeup off and sat back with a grin. "Knew it. Utterly, devastatingly handsome. I'm afraid it's terminal."

That drew a laugh from Lambert at least and Eskel leaned in to kiss the giggled from his lips.

"I think Geralt and Yennefer can handle the kids from here on," Eskel purred. "Why don't I take you home?"

As they left, he sent a cheeky wave to Geralt who was watching them from the kitchen window. Eskel couldn't resist sending him a text from the car though.

"Thanks for the fun afternoon. Don't worry, I didn't fuck the clown. We'll play it safe though, he'll keep the shoes on to keep my knees comfortable though."

The reply from Geralt didn't bear repeating but it had Eskel throwing his head back and laughing.

[harper-emory-writes]

The heart strings (chapter 1 )

Pairing: Aragorn x original female character (devon) 

Words: 2270

Summary: to be summarised later 

Warnings: violence, smut in later chapters, trigger warnings of abuse and flashbacks 

DON’T LIKE IT , DON’T READ IT!

authors notes: @my-marvel-musings​ my lazy arse has done it their have it i will regret it later but ah welll, i will go die in my hole of embrassement whilst leaving this in here 

Devon POV 

Devon’s hair was a light dusty brown blonde in colour as she wiped down the wooden surfaces of the tables in the prancing pony. The warm light of the roaring fire extruded heat as she watched all the locals come and go. There was far near the back of the tavern. The cloak that covered him only showed a pipe that was being smoked. Her eyes shifted onto him a few times as she carried on her cleaning of the tavern.

The locals were quieter than expected, she noticed as the Bree people were staring at the darkened cloaked figure. The groups of people’s whispers to whom she served drinks earlier that evening were all speaking in hushed voices. “That’s one of those ranger folk. I hear they’re dangerous.” The time slowly ticked past as the locals dissipated out of the tavern. The playing of music made its way out of the pub. She looked out at the bards playing in the rain. A drizzle had just started as she said goodbye to the last customers. 

The cloaked man was still at the back of the tavern. She kept an eye on him but did not think that unless he needed help, she was much for worrying on customers if they had a room in the tavern she was only here as a job to be a barkeep. Her mind drifted as she went to get her cloak, to cover her outfit as she walked home. Her dark coloured trousers were tight but gave her a slight show off to her curves. She never felt part of the family. 

Her sisters were tall and thin, whereas she was shorter than both her mother and sisters. She was always more of an ugly duckling. Her family life was not simple, nor was it going to be easy. Her boots were dragging from the mud that the track she took most days, the path was quiet, the rain was getting heavy as Devon wrapped her cloak around her body tighter as she curled into the tree line heavier. Her mind was flashing back to her childhood. 

“Hahahaha, come on, ugly, you will never catch me,” Ferne shouted as devon tripped back over in the mud. Her checkered dress made it hard to run in as she was barefoot, her shoes were stolen away from her by her sisters. Devon never liked dresses as a young girl. Her sisters often teased her about the dislike them. Her skin was covered in mud as her brown eyes squinted at two shapes in front of her. Their voices high pitched as they shrieked at her. “Haha, devon is chubby, and she can’t get up.” Ferne and Cecilia started running again as devon picked her self up off the floor. “I will get you one day,” she whispered as her eyes fluttered close. 

Devon looked up at the sky as she kept going down the track. Her hazel eyes brimmed with tears from the memory as she tucked her cloak over herself, wiping at her eyes before carrying on with her journey. Her body was slightly cold as her body got farther away from the Bree. Her eyes fluttered shut as she kept moving. Her clothing soaked through from the rain, her body started to shiver, the mud being too slippery for her footing to hold any longer.

The woods were more sheltered as devon slipped between the trees. Her hair was matted from her cloak being soaked as she walked amongst the large pine trees. The forest soon fell from her as she lay on the forest floor. Her legs curling up into a foetal position on the forest floor.

Aragorn pov 

The sound of brego’s hooves squelching in the mud as he pulled on the bay horse. The large pine trees over his head did give him little shelter as the rain lashed against his cloak. The female he followed quietly, staying behind her quite a bit of the way as he whispered in elvish to brego. Quiet mutterings as the footfall stopped. The woods opened up into a slight clearing as he dismounted, looping the reins over bregos head as he walked into the woods. 

The roots were slippery as he picked his way over them. His eyes settling on a body from the looks of it in the centre. The rain was getting heavier as he tied his beloved steed to a tree before creeping closer to the body. It was a female, her skin deathly pale from the cold as her clothes were soaked through to her skin. 

His first reaction was to pick her up, but he was not entirely sure how without startling the lady. His clothes were slightly wet as he picked the female up, unknown where she was from or going as he watched the woods. The leaf canopy swayed as he gripped at the unknown stranger, his face watching hers, seeing her relaxed features as he mutters to himself. “Nin mel.”

His eyes wandered over the strangers' facial features as he quietly walked brego following him as he grabbed the reins that he attached to a tree earlier. The body was still slightly breathing, letting him know that she was alive but only barely before hypothermia would get her. 

His eyes wandered over the features of her face. Her nose was slightly wonky, and her lips were large and easily kissable as he kept walking; the slow, steady pace made it easy to carry as he just watched his footing. The woods soon opened up to a clearing, the fire recently burned down, and his sleeping gear easily locatable as he placed her on a thick blanket just to give her some warmth as he placed another blanket on the top of her, usually did not have two blankets. Still, there was supposed to be a cold snap in the air as he watched the storm clouds clear on the horizon, as he made up a small fire of wood which he had rummaged around for earlier whilst setting up camp. 

The fire burned nicely as it provided a heat source for him, and this complete stranger he found in the woods. It was noticeable that she was either going home to the woods as he placed the mouthpiece for his pipe into his lips. His eyes watching as she slept, hoping the warmth of the fire would get her so much less pale than she looked when he found her. 

The rain started again as the smoke cloud from his pipe, his eyes continually watching the female as the rain poured down in the woodland clearing he had set as a camp. The fire kept up as the rain dampened it down slightly. 

Devon pov 

Her eyelashes fluttered open, the rain sheeting down as she propped herself up on her elbows, feeling dazed from only just waking up, her body marginally warmer as she watched the fire burn on the wet ground. Her body was somewhat warmer as she sat up, her hazel eyes scanning the silhouettes of a horse and a man—complete strangers as she watched him from a reasonably good vantage point. 

Her hair was messy as she tugged her fingers through her hair, the dirt cloaking her ends as it splayed over her back. The blanket on the ground damp as devon soon got up, her footsteps trying to sneakily move past as she looked for an exact opening in the trees for her escape. 

Devon’s clothes were still slightly wet as she got up onto her two legs, her body somewhat wobbly as she started walking towards a clear opening in the trees. A voice soon caught her attention as it spoke to her in a gruff tone. “What do you think you're doing leaving when you could have died, and there is no saying you still can’t die from the storm.” Her head soon turned around as she snarkily replied, “well, unlike some others, I still have to go home and get jobs done.” A light chuckle came out from the stranger’s voice. “If it is on my watch, I would not let you go home at all.” Devon looked straight at him, her voice not breaking at all as she monotony of her voice dropping slightly as she kept her eye on him. “Hmmmmm, and what does this mean you will do to me, stranger?” a deep chuckle came out of him as he got up from the tree stump that he was previously sat on before he spoke again, this time his tone rougher as his footsteps took steps towards her. “Anything I would do to keep you.” her voice hardened on the surface yet again as she toyed slightly with the cloaked stranger. “I challenge you to a game of riddles then, hope your brain is enough to match your brawn.” her face contorted into one that was not easily readable. She waited for his reply patience was never her strong point. As she was waiting for a reply from the stranger, her mind drifted back again. 

The smell of blood was noticeable as the house was a pigsty. The leftovers from last nights chaos were every time that devons mother and sisters decided to have a party. Devon's hair was loosely tied in a bun as she sighed at the mess. Devon was an okay child by any means; her outfit was ripped and not cared for as she heard the shrill voice of her mother. “Wretch, why is this not clean yet.” devon winced as her upper arm was still sore from the fall she had just yesterday. Her lack of healing knowledge tried to heal it the best she could as the blood dried on her skin. It was the same as it usually was. She was the unwanted child, her sister and parents ruled her choices, and maybe one day it would break her to do the worse, but that was not the day. 

Her stomach was open that night, the night where she did not know if she would live to see her day. 

Devon's eyes were glossed over slightly; her hand went down to the large wound, which had only just healed up 2 weeks ago. Her ears heard the strangers reply as he spoke back to her. “Deal, but you look like you have seen a ghost.” devons eyebrows knitted together as she said again. “I have seen nothing, but what do I expect for a stranger to know.” his voice was a calming influence slightly as he spoke again. “You go first, then little one.” devon stood, her eyes still knitted tightly together as she told her tine of voice unwavering as she challenged him. “At night, they come without being fetched. By day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?” he stayed quiet for a bit before answering her. “The stars” devon scowled slightly as she looked at him to give her a riddle. “It lies behind rocks and rills, and under mountains and hills. It cannot be seen or felt, nor even heard or smelt. What is it?” devon quirked her eyebrow before speaking again, this time slightly cocky as she opened her mouth. “The dark.” her face smiled somewhat as she watched the stranger. 

Aragorn POV 

The female made him curious, he wanted to steal her. The game of riddles was a curiosity he had been normal, but she was covering something up. He would soon find out that the girl challenging him underneath, she was obviously not a damsel in distress but his curiosity was telling him that she was being hurt in a certain way. He asked the girl. “Now little one what would you do if the wolf knew he could keep you forever.” the scoff that came out her mouth before he walked forward, his strides predatory as she stepped back. “I would run.” his chuckle that came out of his mouth was gruff almost rough and brooding as he spoke again. “Then I must catch you my little one.” he was soon wrong when she made a break for it, his legs much more able to catch up as he loped through the trees like a wolf was when their prey was fleeing. Her hair easy enough to follow as the predator and prey game soon would be stopped as the girl tripped over a tree root. He was one to take advantage as he watched her before pinning her so she could not get up. 

His body was above hers as she squirmed and wriggled around on the dirt. Her mouth hurling insults at him. “You bastard all I need to do is get home.” he soon chuckled as he watched her looking at him in disdain. His voice spoke again. “And you did not think I would not chase you down little one.” he was greeted with her fist hitting him in his chest. His eyes watching hers as he moved his face closer, his voice quiet and soothing as he watched her. “I am not here to hurt you please just let me help.” the female had a spirit like that of a wild horse not wanting to be tamed. “Just leave me alone please.” her eyes were glassy the tears in them not shed as he lowered his lips to kiss her, the woodland birds were singing their song as he lifted his lips off her. “Now why did we need to fight and why do you have to get home Dilthen er ?” 

[ak47stylegirl]

Okay, thought I'll repost my secret Santa gift for @misstb2 here for you all. Huge thanks to @tagsecretsanta for organising this fantastic event, it is always such fun XD

Now onto the fic that is connected with the artwork above 😁 (The prompt I decided to use was special gift)  

---

Scott pov

They sat around the Christmas tree, each in their pyjamas still as it was Christmas morning and who wanted to waste time getting changed when they could be opening presents, he thought with a laugh watching as Gordon got an ‘I’m a very fishy person’ T-shirt from Virgil. 

Gordon barked a laugh and stood up, pulled his pyjama top off-

“Ah! Gordon, what ar-” “Young man, not in my living room-” “Put your shirt back on, Gordon!-” “Really? Right now?-” “Honestly, I’m not surprised-”

-and putting the ‘I’m a very fishy person’ t-shirt on with a grin. 

He rolled his eyes, taking that as his cue, “Okay, whose present is nex-”

Alan jumped up in an instant, “Me! Me! Me! My present next!” Alan ran over to the tree and grabbed out a nicely wrapped small box, before stopping in front of him, “For you, Scotty!”

“Oh, for me?” He blinked, slightly startled by Alan’s eagerness to give him said present. He chuckled, as Alan handed him the small box, his eyes bright with excitement and anticipation but there was also a sliver of nervousness in those eyes, he noticed as he took the box, “Thanks kiddo…”

He brought it up to his ear and gave it a slight shake, but he couldn’t really hear anything rattling, whatever it was, it was packaged securely. He slowly undid the ribbon with a small grin, knowing he was driving his brothers crazy with suspense. 

He lifted the lid of the box….

And froze...

“W-well, do you like it?” Alan asked after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, the tips of his ears flushed slightly. “I...I made it myself, with some help from Virg, of course…” 

Alan made this? For him? He thought as he continued to stare down at the present. He opened his mouth to say something, anything but nothing came out; he was utterly speechless.

“Nah, Alan did most of it…” Virgil answered with a wave of his hand after he failed to speak up, noticing how shellshocked he was. “I was only there to make sure he didn’t destroy my studio…” 

“Okay, imagine that not all of us know/ can see what you are talking about…” Gordon groaned impatiently, rolling his eyes as he sat on the edge of his seat. “So come on, Scotty! What is it?!” 

He slowly slipped his hand under the handle and lifted it up so his whole family could see, before cradling it in his hands, scared to break it.

It was a mug, but not just any mug, it was a handmade clay mug, drip glazed with a beautiful dark blue colour. It wasn’t perfectly symmetrical and was a little wonky in places, a fingerprint or two left on the clay in places, but that didn’t ruin it. 

No, for him, it made it so much more special. And the thing that caused him to go speechless, the thing that caused tears to gather in his eyes, was the text on the front of the mug. 

“Best bro-dad ever…” He read out loud, his eyes trailing the words that had been so carefully written. He looked up to see his family watching him in suspense, Alan standing in front of him, his eyes wide and vulnerable.

“Be-because you basically raised me and...and I, well I want to somehow, I don’t know, show you how much I...um, well..” Alan was blushing bright red by this point, rubbing the back of his neck raw, “that I...well, a-appreciate all you’ve done, for...for me and well, it’s- I mean um it’s okay if you don’t like it, I-”

“Come-” He choked, his voice thick with emotions as he held his arm open. “-Come here, kiddo…” 

Alan’s eyes widened briefly before the kid dived into his side, snuggling in close. He smiled, pulling Alan close, laying a soft kiss to Alan’s temple as he whispered, “I love it so much, thank you…” 

“Thank you…”

[amoosewritesfanfic]

[+18]

[Dabi x Fem!Reader]

[Villain x Pro Hero]

[Warnings: drunk sex, aphrodisiac, drugging, mentions of alcohol, rough sex, lipstick marks, runny make up, kinda dub con, swearing, stalker kinda vibes]

[I have no clue what this is, but here ya go, while I'm still busy writing that other thing.]

[I own none of the characters or art! All credit goes to original creators. Edit and story is mine tho]

-

Another bust, Y/N had been working on this case for the past two months, a string of burnt corpses popping up all over the city, it was hard to I.D the bodies but they were apparently some low rate criminals that seemed to piss off the wrong person, this man was named Dabi, his distinctive feature was the burnt skin covering his body, but there was not much else about him that she could find.

But Dabi definitely found out about her, chatter could be heard from a few low rate villains who was starting to chase after him. When he saw Y/N for the first it it was like hos heart was set a flame not because he was in love, no... far from it. He thought;

'This is the one that I'm going to absolutely ruin~'

-

Usually Y/N would have said no, as usual, to any drinks or a night out but her boss happened to tell her to take a break and with a direct order like that she couldn't say no. Her friends were immediately excited to see her rock up in that tight black dress she loved to wear when she went out, the way it hugged her curves and showed off just the right amount of cleavage was pleasing to anyone that looked, of course she wasn't wearing a bra and anyone who would feel her up that night would know.

The black heels making her slightly taller than usual, her hair loose, framing her face. Her lips painted with a pretty black lipstick and somewhat of a smokey eye done giving her that real seductive look.

Y/N had no clue that the man she had been hunting was in this bar and he knew that she was hunting him, of course everyone was, but he had grown infatuated with her specifically. The way her body moved with her friends or the way she laughed with those flushed cheeks had the man eager to see... to feel more of her. He knew when she were about five shots in and a glass of gin and tonic she would be wonky and her perception of who or what was around wouldn't matter.

So that's when he made his move, after all she stood alone ordering what looked to be like another gin, when she wasn't looking a distraction which came from one of her friends he managed to slip something into her drink. A harmless little drug.

Five minutes in she was back on the dance floor having chugged down her gin and almost bouncing off the walls from how good her body felt. Dabi wasted no time in moving in, his eyes watching her now, Y/N noticed him now, not taking in his appearance under the low colourful lights. He moved in closer when he saw that cute little finger beckoning him to come closer to her and he did, he got in close, pulling her back up against him.

She didn't mind, no in fact she grinded her ass against him, her fingers tangled up in his hair as his hands trailed along her curves, giving a few gropes to her ass and breasts. He could hear those cute little moans fall from those pretty little lips grinding her ass more against his slowly hardening cock. He tilted her head slightly, capturing her lips against his, a pierced tongue slyly running along her bottom lip making her part her lips allowing him access to her mouth.

She couldn't help but moan in delight from the way the metal felt against her tongue. Soon he broke away from the kiss, his fingers dancing along the hem of her dress, a deep voice rumbling against her ear making her giddy. "You wanna fuck doll?~" the way his tongue tan over the edge of her ear made her almost moan again but she gave him an eager nod, her body felt far too hot to say no and honestly she felt like this man would give her the pleasure she desired.

With a small smirk against her skin he took her hand and led her to a back room, away from prying eyes. Seems as though her colleagues hadn't even noticed. When the door shut his hand immediately moved around her throat slamming her against the, a small smirk on his lips. He couldn't believe it, the hero that had been chasing him for the past two months was practically moaning for him to fuck her. "Look at you... you look so slutty, like a bitch in heat~" he teased as his free hand pulled down her dress, exposing those pretty breasts, a thumb trailing over the hardening nub.

His hand then dipped between her juicy thighs, running over her, panties, no... a g-string. "What a slutty bitch... and you're so fucking wet too~" he breathed against her ear, earning a quiet moan from her. "D-don't tease me...~" she whimpered as her hand kept his hand between her thighs, he didn't hesitate for a second as he dipped his finger between those slick folds earning an almost desperate moan from her. "Do you want me to fuck you doll face?~" his lips were still pressed against her ear, his hand tightening slightly around her throat, the other wiggling inside her sloppy wet hole.

"Gods yes... please... please fuck me~" she moaned as her fingers dug into his coat. His lips captured hers again before he shifted them again, he pulled his hands away from her body for a moment before he bent her over a nearby table, the room that they happened to be inside seemed to be an office of sorts? Who honestly knew, all that Y/N was thinking about was being plowed until she couldn't think straight.

'If this is how she acts on a simple aphrodisiac what will she act like on a stronger drug...?' He thought as his hand landed a firm smack on her exposed rear making the female yelp her hands gripping the table. "I hope you're on birth control dollface~" he hummed burning off the g-string. "There's no need for this~" he added on, the sound of his zipper being pulled down and that light smack against her ass had the hero whimper almost.

She didn't even need to look back to tell he was rather well endowed, but what really surprised her was the slight bumps she could feel, his hand wrapped around his shaft slowly gliding his tip to rub against, the groan that fell from his lips was drowned out by the moan that fell from her lips as he slid himself inside her, stretching out her walls making her moan in delight, the feeling of his piercings rubbing against her walls made her legs tense up and her back arch slightly.

"F-fuck~♡ you're so big~"

"And this pretty little pussy of yours is taking my cock so well~" he grunted, his hands gripping her hips before thrusting deep inside her, his tip pressing against her cervix making her moan. "Shit...~♡ you're gonna make me cum already~" she whined out. "You better hold it~" he grunted, his hand moving from her hip to her hair, gripping it as his hips started moving, the pace wasn't slow at all, it was rough, the sound of skin smacking against skin filled the room along with grunts and moans from the two of them.

"Oh gods... you're gonna make me cum... your cock is touching all the right spots~ I can't hold it" she whined, he leaned in keeping her head tilted so he could attack her neck as his hips didn't stop, even as her walls slowly tighten around his cock.

"Oi oi oi, you better not cum doll, I'll stop if you cum~" he breathed against her ear as his hand now wrapped around her throat making her gasp out, legs were shaking. "P-please let me cum... I want to cum..~" she managed to breath out, she was so close, she could feel herself slowly reaching that high as much as she tried to stop herself, but oh... she definitely couldn't hold back anymore, her love juices dripped all over his pierced cock, making him grunt slightly from how tight she had gotten, but his thrusting hadn't stopped no, in fact he picked up the pace.

His hips snapping back and forth into her sensitive cunt with his hand tightening around her throat. "W-wait... you're being to rough, if you... ah!"

SMACK!

A bright red hand print was left on her ass, the skin swelling up slightly from the harsh impact of his hand, tears building up from the harsh spank.

"Little sluts who don't listen shouldn't be treated nice, you can't even listen to simple orders I'll have to teach ya a lesson doll face~" he cooed into her ear, his hand easing over the swelling skin, making her wince slightly, his tongue running over the shell of her ear. His hips were pressed up against hers now, not moving at all.

"Now that you've cum don't you think you should make me cum? Hmm~? I think you should let me fuck that pretty little throat until its bruised..." he whispered into her ear, her hips grinded slightly back getting some form of friction from his cock still buried deep inside her. "Huh? Or should I fuck you here...?" His hand trailed over her ass spreading her asscheek slightly before slowly dipping his thumb into her puckered hole squeezing her throat a little tighter making her gasp out.

For him however it almost felt like her pussy walls tightened around his cock. "Oh? Well would ya' look at that doll face~ I just squeezed your throat slightly and your pussy tightened up so much~ or was it my thumb rubbing against your pretty little ass hole?~" he hummed it felt like his thumb heated up against your puckered hole making you gasp out, your back arching. "Are you a horny little masochist? Do you like being choked out and fucked? Nod if that's what ya' like~" he teased and she nodded almost eagerly, her make up seemed to be running down her face from the tears that spilt, but she didn't care...

"What a stupid little masochist..." he murmured.

His hand loosened around her throat before he pulled his cock out of her pussy, it looked like it was twitching but his focus was now on that puckered hole. Dabi let his cock sit between those sweet asscheeks, lubing it up with her pussy juices before he shifted his shaft, pressing the tip against the puckered hole. "W-wait... not so-..." he didn't slid himself into her tight little ass, inside he pulled her up and shoved her onto her knees.

"I'm gonna save it for when you really piss me off~" he hummed as his hand stroked her cheek softly making her look up at him.

"But that doesn't mean that you're let off the hook dollface~ I'm gonna mess up that pretty black lipstick all over that pretty little face of yours~" he hummed trailing a thumb over her bottom lip, forcing her to part her lips, his eyes watching her expression as she ran her tongue over his tip which earned a quiet grunt from him. "Open that pretty mouth doll..." he mumbled as his hand trailed through her hair before giving it a firm grip, her lips immediately parted for him, he wasted no time in sliding himself into her mouth, groaning at how her tongue immediately rubbed against his shaft as it slid into her mouth, he stopped for a moment to let her get use to his size, but slowly pulled back, grinning slightly at the sight of her lipstick already staining his cock, but

"Don't forget to breath."

Was all he said as his hips snapped forward, burying his cock down her throat, making her gag slightly, his grip being firm on her hair made it easier for him to start thrusting, heavy balls smacking against her chin, faint lipstick marks covering his balls and cocks when he pulled back. Cerulean hues watching her eyes tear up and the drool starting to drip from the corners of her lips down onto her breasts or on her thighs. He felt the way her throat tightened and the way her nails dug into the back of his thighs, it made him pick up the pace.

His thrusts were slowly becoming a bit more erratic, with a few more harsh thrusts she could feel him throbbing in her throat, with one last harsh thrust, he buried his cock deep down her throat, his that warm salty essence spurting down her pretty little throat.

Her hands were tapping at his thighs as an indication that she couldn't breath, she almost passed out but he pulled back, his cock falling from her lips as he examined her face.

Mascara running down her skin and her lipstick smudged with strings of salvia connecting from her lips to his cock.

He loosened his hold on her hair, threading his fingers through the slightly matted locks. "I can't wait to use you more... do you want that doll face?" His words were soft as his fingers played with her hair as some means of 'aftercare'

She gave a slow nod, she looked like a dog waiting for it's master to give an order...

And gods it would be so wrong for the villain not to use that to his hearts content.

"Good, cause this is far from over my cute little hero~" he taunted and Y/N let the words fly over her head, it wouldn't be until the next morning that she would find her hands cuffed to the bed, her pussy feeling oddly full and her legs feeling sore along with her throat, yet she felt she was on a soft bed...

How smashed did she get...?

"Oh, you're awake~" that slightly familiar voice teased out, she looked up towards the source, there was standing with his hands shoved into his pockets a smug smile on his face, the scars on his face confused her for a moment before everything clicked in place.

"Dabi..." she whispered.

"Oh you figured it out hero~ how adorable~" he cooed clapping his hands together. "I can't let you go." He said as he moved closer, "shame you can't use your quirk would of been more fun if you fought, but it was more entertaining to watch a hero fall in a pool of ecstasy last night. It was fuckin' cute the way you be-..." "Shut up." She blushed, looking away from him, but feeling of him gripping her face made her whimper and look up at him.

"I think it would be more fun to fuck you while you're sober, you'll break so easy because of how weak you are~" He hummed a thumb trailing over her bottom lip.

"Oh I can't wait to fuck you into submission~" the way he had said it had her body throb in... delight? No... it had to be disgust delight

-

-

[I still have no clue what this was but I hope you enjoyed it :3]

[misskikuwrites]

Downpour

Bede/Gloria (dressedinpinkshipping)

Hurt/comfort, fluff, light angst

-

Bede stepped out of the station and surveyed the open, unfamiliar landscape before him. A beach of soft, white sand met crystal clear water of shimmering azure, an endless sea sweeping to the depths of the horizon. Pokemon he had never encountered before lounged on their pink bellies, sleepy eyes drooping shut. He retrieved his Pokedex. Barely a minute off the train, and the Isle of Armour had already proved its worth, and Bede realised that perhaps Ms Opal had been onto something when she suggested that he train here. To reach new heights of pink, or something along those lines.

As pink as Galarian Slowpoke were, Psychic Pokemon weren't cut out for the Fairy Gym, and so Bede decided to let sleeping Slowpokes lie. He sent out his Hatterene, and trained his sights down the beach.

"Well then, my dear Hatterene, shall we find out what all the fuss is about?" he said to her, a resolute smile dawning across his face.

Hatterene chimed in agreement, her dark eyes narrowing as she mimicked her Trainer's grin.

"We'll have to make the most of this opportunity. Ms Opal must have sent us here for a reason, and I won't rest until I find out what exactly the Isle of Armour has to offer."

Bede turned from the blinding white sand and marched along the dirt path, Hatterene drifting by his side.

"The strongest Trainers from around Galar have gathered here to train," he continued, "which means there must be something here that cannot be attained anywhere else."

More Pokemon he didn't recognise darted into the grass. Long floppy ears peeked above the bushes, the chocolate coloured pelt tipped with fluffy clumps of lighter fleece. A brief scan of the Pokemon with his Pokedex revealed it to be a Normal Type, called a Buneary. It tilted its head at him, pink nose twitching as it sniffed the air, and both ears shot upright.

"Hmm, you are rather cute, aren't you? I'm sure Gloria would most certainly fawn over a Pokemon like you."

Bede hid his growing smile behind his hand, a faint laugh escaping him at the image conjured by his mind; Gloria gasping in delight and unable to contain her excitement, her eyes sparkling and twinkling in glee as she practically vibrated with untapped energy, ready to pounce on Buneary at any moment.

A trill of amusement snapped Bede out of his delusion, and he stole the soft smile off his face. Roughly clearing his throat, he took off down the path again.

"Enough distractions," he said, voice coming out tighter and strained. "We're here to train."

He continued down the path, trying to push away the possibility that Gloria was here. Somewhere on the vast Isle of Armour, she could very much be training here as well, and that realisation sent his gaze wandering as if to seek her out, as if an encounter with her could happen at any moment. As he headed past the Dojo, his mind was constantly on alert, distracted and muddled by anyone and anything with a passing resemblance to her.

A flash of dark brown hair in the corner of his eyes made his pulse skip until he looked and saw the face of a stranger instead. Upon seeing that it was someone else, he sighed heavily, frustrated that his attention was so easily stolen. The flutter in his chest, anxious with anticipation, reminded him of how on edge he had been for weeks after finally accepting his feelings towards Gloria. His mind constantly on alert, bracing itself for her to show up at any moment. It was pathetic that after months of dealing with the way he felt towards her, coming to terms with the fact that he was in love with her and figuring out ways to keep himself in check, nothing had changed at all.

Bede couldn't stop himself from jolting as the Dojo doors swung open, heart catching at the slightest chance that it was her, and plummeting when it wasn't. He marched on, away from the building and the Trainers in bright yellow uniforms outside, and decided that he needed - and deserved - to train in peace and quiet.

"Hey, Bede!"

One step short of the wetlands, Bede turned and gave Hop a disinterested stare.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Hop grinned at him, Dubwool at his side. "I had a feeling I'd run into you sooner or later."

"And here I was hoping otherwise," Bede sighed.

It took but a glance for him to determine that Hop was by himself, and that continuing their conversation would be a waste of precious time.

"Look, I didn't come here to mess around. If you'll excuse me, I have training to attend to."

"What, you're not here to see Gloria?"

Having turned on his heels to stalk away, Bede froze with a foot in the air. At the mention of her name, his heart had flopped and heat began to rise across his face. He knew instantly that Hop was taunting him. Dangling information about Gloria like bait on a string, waiting for a bite. Bede refused to react, to give Hop the satisfaction of a response. He marched purposely away.

"Betcha haven't seen what she looks like in the Dojo's uniform," Hop continued, "or that new Pokemon of hers. Glo said she's only introduced him to her closest friends, so I guess if you haven't seen it…"

"I've met Kubfu."

Folding his arms, Bede met Hop's grin with a flat look of his own. Forget propriety, he wasn't about to walk away after that insinuation - at least not before tearing down the smug look on Hop's face. Injured pride swelled in his chest, burning with irritation, and he trooped right back to Hop.

Amusement widened Hop's grin. "Really? Bet you didn't get to touch him though."

"And why would I?"

"Well, Kubfu's super shy. He'd only let you touch him if he trusted you, so if you didn't even manage that much…"

"I had no need to touch Kubfu in order to know whether he trusted me," Bede huffed. "The fact that he no longer cowered behind Gloria said enough."

Besides, his conversation with Gloria had switched quickly from Kubfu to the gift she wanted to give him, the bracelet of woven twigs that hung around his wrist, and he hadn't been able to think about anything else. Even now, he still wore the Galarian cuff she had made for him, amateurish as it was.

"Ah, you've been here before, haven't you?" Hop said. "Must've run into Gloria then; guess that's why you didn't react to my comment about the uniform. You've already seen her in it."

Bede frowned. "No, I haven't. This is the first time I've stepped foot on the Isle of Armour."

He ignored Hop's pointed remark about the Dojo's uniform once again, despite his mind already wandering.

"Then how come you've got a Galarian cuff around your wrist?" Hop pointed at it, an eyebrow raised. "The twigs they're made from are native to the Isle of Armour, you can't get them anywhere else. They're usually made into cuffs to evolve Galarian Slowpoke but… dude, why's it so wonky?"

Hop leant forward to get a better look at the misshapen bracelet, his mouth curling into a crude grimace.

"I'll have you know, this was a handmade gift from Gloria." Bede took a sharp step back, holding the bracelet protectively where it hung beneath his watch. "I would appreciate it if you kept your ill-mannered comments to yourself."

"Wait, Gloria made that for you?" Hop balked. He straightened in surprise, eyes wide. "Gloria did? As in, Champion Gloria? My best friend, the girl you're head-over-heels for, that Gloria?"

Bede's cheeks burned as he glared at Hop. "What other Gloria is there?" he hissed, unamused by having his feelings outed like that.

"Dude, no wonder it looks like that-" Hop cut himself off as Bede's glare darkened, "-uh, I mean, no wonder it looks so… unique. She's never been good at any form of crafts or, heck, anything to do with her hands! It took her years to learn how to tie her shoelaces!"

Heavy thumping in Bede's chest scattered his thoughts, and he looked down at the bracelet around his wrist once again. The bracelet that Gloria, supposedly uncoordinated with her hands, had made for him herself.

"Is there a point to your questions, or am I free to resume my training?" Bede huffed. He absently adjusted the bracelet, his loose golden watch, where they hung. "I have yet to find a place secluded enough so Hatterene and I can work in private."

"What, do I need a reason to mess with a mate?" Hop beamed a cheeky grin. "If you're looking for a place that's quiet and out of the way, then the Forest of Focus might work for you. It's nearby, too - if you head through the Soothing Wetlands, it's on your left."

Bede appraised Hop for a moment, taking in his advice, the comment that they were friends. "I suppose it won't do me any harm to take a look. Thank you."

"No prob!" He sauntered back a step. "But man, she seriously made that for you?"

Hop's insistence over the bracelet made Bede frown. "What about it?"

"Nah, it's nothing!"

The twinkle in Hop's eyes said there was more to it than that, but time was slipping away, and Bede didn't like the look of the grey clouds forming on the horizon. He didn't have the energy, time, nor patience to press Hop any further.

"If that's all, then I'll be on my way."

"Later!" Hop gave him a wave, a flash of a smile, and turned on his heels.

Bede didn't bother to comment that he didn't plan on running into Hop later - or anyone else, for that matter. He was here to train, not socialise, and headed for the Wetlands, for the Forest of Focus, for relative silence.

-

As it turned out, Hop was right. The Forest of Focus was devoid of people, the path overgrown, and the air was filled with the sounds of undisturbed Pokemon. Rustling of bushes, of branches and shrubs, the chattering of Pokemon in the trees and the trickling of a nearby stream was a melody strung by nature itself. Peaceful and serene, there were no strangers in sight. A place where he could truly focus.

"Alright, Hatterene. Let's get to work-"

A dull thump made him pause, and he glanced down towards the noise by his feet. His heart dropped, air leaving his lungs in a sharp, broken gasp, and he snatched his golden watch from the dirt where it had fallen. His fingers trembled as he fastened it around his wrist. Pressed it right to his skin, held it there as the panicked beating of his heart drowned out everything else. The clasp, loose and worn, clicked into place.

Bede took a breath. Then another, and another, deeper and slower than the ones before. He had to be more careful, couldn't let that happen again. Needle-sharp pain sank into his chest with a pang of disgust, loathing that even now, after all this time, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of that watch. After everything that had happened, he couldn't.

He couldn't.

A heavy weight fell over him. The cold metal against his wrist sat as a reminder of his failings, his weakness, his past. It made him work harder. Train harder, to push himself and Hatterene further in the isolated forest. For hours, they trained in the humid air, until sweat and heat soaked into their bones. They trained until the wind picked up, until the forest came alive with creaking and cracking branches and Pokemon began to scatter from the trees. The sky above turned dark and grey, a hint of the storm to come spitting through the canopy as droplets of rain. Bede wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, slick with sweat, and decided enough was enough. The ache in his lungs had become a burn that rose up his throat. Hatterene sagged, drifting slowly over to him, eager for respite.

"That should be enough for today," he said to her with a nod, a faint, exhausted smile that she shared. "You did well, and deserve a break." He returned her to her Great Ball, noting the change in weather. "And I should be getting back before this storm hits."

With a sigh, he rolled his shoulders, and turned to head back the way he'd come. He touched the Galarian cuff in his wrist, his fingers absently tracing the uneven pattern, before he slid his hand up to his watch.

Everything stopped.

Nothing. He felt nothing. No weight, no cold metal, no watch. It was gone. Bede stared down at the empty space on his wrist, his eyes blowing wide. Unable to breathe, to think. Fingers winding around his wrist, grasping the air, his sleeve, his skin.

It was gone.

Heart in his throat, Bede whirled on his feet and swept his gaze over the ground. The dirt, the thick grass, the leaf litter and detritus, his footprints in the soft mud.

No.

It had to be here, he knew it had to be here. He dropped to his knees, brushing leaves and twigs away with hurried swipes of his hands. Scrambling forward across the dirt on his hands and knees, tossing everything out of his path.

It has to be here!

Wind broke through the trees, whistling and rustling. Deafened by the pounding of his heart between his ears, by the panic seizing around his throat like a vice, and he couldn't feel the rain as it fell over him. He felt nothing; not the cold wind, the biting rain, the rocks beneath his hands and knees, the thorns on branches he swept aside. He scrambled to his feet, wiping the rain off his face, unknowingly leaving a streak of mud in its place.

He staggered back the way he came. Kicked and shoved aside leaves and branches, twigs and logs. His hand fumbled for his wrist. Empty. Gone. It was gone. How could it be gone? How did he not notice?

He couldn't breathe. Couldn't see through the rain, his vision blurring, eyes prickling with heat and panic, and he turned around again. Faster this time. Breaking into a sprint, rushing back to where they'd first began to train hours earlier. The dirt, disturbed by their efforts, was now slick with water. The path turned to mud. He hit the ground on his knees, digging through the muck desperately, rocks and branches scraping his fingers raw, burning his knuckles.

No.

He continued. Through the mud, the downpour, the pain.

No, no, no.  

Again and again, searching up and down the path, into the overgrown grass and bushes, tossing stones and logs out his way.

No, no, no, no, no.  

Back and forth. On his knees, on his feet. Wiping away raindrops, the water, the tears on his face, down his cheeks, smearing mud in its place. Gasping with heavy sobs. Breaths of white hot panic, blazing in his throat.

It can't be-

Thunder crashed in the distance. A flash of light, a flash of realisation.

No.

It went dark. Everything went dark. The forest, the sky, his vision. He fell to his knees and felt nothing.

Nothing at all.

-

Gloria rushed into the Dojo, the wind slamming the door shut behind her.

"Whoa!" She breathed a nervous laugh as thunder crashed in the distance. "That's one heck of a storm!"

She stepped into the Dojo as the rain began to fall in earnest, the wind roaring outside. The warmth and shelter of the sturdy building was a welcome relief, and she was ever grateful that she'd made a run for it at the first sign of rain.

"That's not even the worst of it," Hop said. "It's forecast to get worse from here!"

"Oh, gosh. I'm glad I got back in time, then!" Gloria tidied up her uniform, fixed her wind-swept hair back into its neat bun, and settled down beside Hop. "Have they shut down the trains, yet?"

"Yeah, last one left for Wedgehurst half an hour ago. They're not going to be running until the storm's well and truly gone."

That was understandable, and as Gloria glanced around the Dojo, she found it was full of all sorts of different people, not just the students. League staff, Pokemon rangers, odd Trainers who had been caught out by the storm were taking shelter here too. The air thrummed with the noise of dozens of conversations taking place at once, the floor packed with people. Gloria could hardly hear herself think.

"It sounds like we've got the whole island in here," she joked, trying to settle her nerves.

The buzz of noise was reaching an uncomfortable level, swamping her body with a jumble of sounds from all directions. She heard someone laugh behind her, a young girl squeal to her far right. In the kitchen, chairs scraped against the floor.

The storm outside was looking more and more tempting as the seconds ticked by.

"Hmm, not the whole island," Hop commented. "I don't see Bede anywhere."

Gloria perked up. "Bede? Is he here?" She glanced around the room, spying yellow uniforms, League Staff, Trainers she didn't recognise.

"I ran into him this afternoon. He was looking for a quiet place to train, so I mentioned the Forest of Focus to him."

Gloria hummed in thought. Heavy disquiet settled in her gut as the storm raged outside. Thunder shook the building. Lights flickered. Her heart pounded harder in her chest, and she couldn't stop feeling as though something wasn't quite right.

"Do you think he caught the train back?" she asked, pulling out her phone. They still had service, and she fought the urge to ring Bede then and there. Nerves spun in her stomach, and she didn't want to overreact for no reason; there was no need to panic.

"There's no way he'd let himself get caught in this weather, he's too proud to let anyone see him looking like a soggy Wooloo!" Hop laughed, but his reassurance did nothing to calm the anxious thrum in her chest.

"Yeah, you're right."

She tightened her grip on her phone, held it close in her lap. Her eyes swept over the crowd and back again, trying to spy anything recognisable. Platinum blond hair, a magenta jacket, or the colours of the Fairy Gym. A lump sat in her throat that she couldn't swallow down. Something wasn't right.

Where is Bede?

"I'm going to call him," Gloria said.

The pull on her gut, of her instincts, was too great to ignore. Too fierce, too strong, and she unlocked her phone and called him despite the incredulous look on Hop's face.

"Seriously? He's probably in Ballonlea right now, drinking tea or whatever with Ms Opal." He waved off her concerns. "Arceus, I could go for a hot drink right now."

She focused on the ringtone by her ear, her whole body tensing as the seconds ticked by.

"I know, but…" Gloria pursed her lips when she reached Bede's answering bank, his calm voice telling her to leave a message, and she hung up. Not a second passed before she called again.

Hop raised an eyebrow at her. "For all you know, he could be having a shower or something."

Trepidation sloshed in her belly, and she couldn't bring herself to respond to Hop's unhelpful jibe. Her call went unanswered a second time. She stared down at her phone, at Bede's name, at the picture she'd chosen for his contact. It was from their trip through the Wild Area, a cropped portion of a picture she'd taken not-so-sneakily one morning. A peaceful moment in time captured in the early morning, Bede illuminated by soft light as he cooked breakfast, unaware of the phone trained on him. The serene smile on his face stirred another bout of unease inside her.

"Do you really think he'd let himself get caught out in this storm?" Hop scoffed. "This is Bede we're talking about. Didn't you say he was always checking the weather when you two scouted the Wild Area together?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know!" Gloria huffed. "Something doesn't feel right. He always answers his phone."

"Maybe he's got it on silent?"

"Bede doesn't put his phone on silent!"

She called him again, staring off to the side as her phone rang by her ear so she didn't have to see Hop's bemused expression.

"You call him often, do you?"

Gloria sent Hop a look.

"Hey, you're the one who said he always answers his phone. You must call him pretty often to be so sure of that."

For the third time, her call went unanswered. She went to call again when Hop snatched her phone out of her hands.

"Hey!" Gloria yelped, lunging to try and grab her phone back.

"You're just gonna keep bombarding him with calls!"

"So what?! That's none of your business!"

Hop jumped to his feet, holding her phone high above his head. "You've gotta give him a break! If he's not answering, he's not answering! There's no point in spamming him with calls!"

Gloria got to her feet and stared Hop down. "Give. Me. Back. My. Phone."

"No can do! Not unless you tell me why you're so insistent on calling him like this."

She huffed. "I already told you; something doesn't feel right!"

"You've gotta be more specific than that."

Hop waved her phone above his head, taunting her. She glared at it, at him, and debated tackling him to the ground in order to steal it back. It was tempting.

"I don't know how to explain it, okay?! I just- something doesn't feel right."

Her heart ached.

"I need to know that Bede's okay," Gloria said, and folded her arms across her chest. "I can't help but feel like… something's happened. I know it's probably nothing, and I'm probably wrong, but…"

She couldn't brush it aside. Something hardened inside her, and she turned towards the heavy wooden doors.

"Hold on, you're not seriously thinking of going out there, are you?"

She didn't look back. "You said he was in the Forest of Focus, right?"

"Glo, come on. He's probably fine!"

"I know," she said softly, pressing her lips tightly together, "and I'm probably an idiot. But I need to know. I'd rather be a soggy, wet idiot than do nothing at all."

"This isn't even the peak of the storm!"

"That's why I have to go now. Bede's not answering and you've stolen my phone, so…"

"Wait, wait, here's your phone!" Hop thrust it back to her, and she pocketed it.

"I'm still going."

He sighed. "I know, but now I can call you if he turns up here. Or if he happens to call you back, you'll know."

"Thanks, Hop."

"Yeah, yeah. Just know that if he's cozy and warm in Ballonlea and you get drenched for nothing, I'm going to throttle him next time I see him, okay?"

That made Gloria laugh. "I'll make sure to warn him."

Above all, above the nervous churning of her gut and the anxiety pulsing in her veins, she wished that Hop was right. She took a breath and made for the doors, shoving them open against the roaring wind. Gloria slid between them before they slammed shut with a crash as loud as thunder behind her. She stepped out into a torrent of wind and rain, of blistering, breathless cold. Gusts of wind threatened to knock her off her feet. Blinding rain fell sideways and drenched her as though she'd been hit with a wave from the ocean instead.

Not once did she consider turning back.

Gloria launched down the stairs, slick with water, and broke into a sprint towards the wetlands. A blazing heat burned inside her. It ached in her lungs, up her throat, and drove her onwards. Forward. Fighting through the storm, through the wetlands, the overflowing bog and thick mud, pushing hard enough to stumble and land on her feet before she had the chance to fall.

One thing - and one thing only - kept her going, and she ignored everything else.

Bede.

She wanted to be wrong.

The canopy above muffled the storm as she burst into the Forest of Focus. It became an orchestra of wind ripping through trees, branches rustling and snapping, a million drops of rain pattering on a million leaves.

For once, she wished her instincts were wrong.

It was dark. Bursts of lightning cut through the canopy, followed seconds later by booming thunder. Trees became humanoid shadows in the depths of the forest. Rushing water warned of an overfilled river nearby, a black void opening up into the ground where it ran. Gloria turned from it, forcing down a panicked thought of the consequences if she fell in. She, or someone else before her.

Pain thumped in place of her heart. She no longer felt the cold; the cloak of thick water covering every inch of her body had sapped the heat from her bones and made her numb. She didn't feel the mud flicking up against her legs as she ran through the forest. Her foot twisted. An awkward step on slick grass, and her stomach lurched as she staggered and fell to her knees. She didn't pause for a moment, not even to wince, and leapt to her feet. Onwards again. Following the path from memory, looking left and right and back again, searching the trees, around rocks, over the bridge. Peering into dark bushes, through the shrubs and thicket.

Light flashed. It lasted a split second, enough to illuminate the path ahead of Gloria and the figure slumped in the grass.

Bede.

Something tore inside her chest. She was at his side before she'd realised she'd moved. Before she could take a breath, her lips formed his name. A gasp, a sob, a cry of desperation as she touched his shoulder, upon seeing the hollow expanse behind his eyes. Wide and unseeing. She took his hand, his fingers cold. Too cold. His face, pale and streaked with mud and water, was marked with the trails of tears coursing down his cheeks.

Gloria fell into him. Against him. Her arms wrapped around his back, pulling him into her arms, pulling his head to her chest, as she broke. She shattered and crumbled at the sight of him, and couldn't do anything else but embrace him.

She hated being right.

Bede-

Her heart ached.

He was cold. Soaked to the bone, shivering against her. He shifted slightly, giving the faintest movement in her arms, and she held him tighter.

"I'm here," she said. A broken whisper against the top of his head. His platinum blond curls cold and damp with water, darkened by mud. "It's okay."

Forcing the torrent of emotions down, Gloria pulled away. Enough that she could look into his face, into his eyes, and urge him to move.

"Come on, let's get you out of this storm."

She regretted meeting his eyes when nothing registered on his face when he looked at her. There was nothing. Nothing at all behind his eyes. She glanced away and helped him to his feet, looping an arm around his back when he staggered.

What happened to you?

Her jaw clenched hard with unanswered questions, to stop herself from voicing the agony that lanced through her chest. Questions could wait. The blistering rain and biting wind would only strengthen, and the chill of Bede's skin, his faint, shallow breaths, filled her with a greater sense of urgency. They had to get out of the storm. Without thinking about it, she led Bede down the path, through the forest, and away from the Dojo. Deeper into the island. Away from prying eyes, from noise, from people, to the shelter of a cave nearby.

Out of the wind and rain, in a secluded, quiet nook, Gloria directed Bede to sit. He collapsed to the ground as though his legs had given way. Slumping forward, his damp fringe fell over his eyes. The tips of his hair were speckled with mud.

A tight lump lodged in Gloria's throat. She turned away from him for a moment, shucking off her bag, and dug out a towel. She had to gather enough strength to look back at him. Words she couldn't say built in her chest, in her lungs and throat, and stuck on her tongue. Heat washed over her eyes. Despite finding him, despite leading him to shelter, she felt useless. Unable to do anything with her friend suffering right in front of her.

It hurt.

She couldn't bear to see Bede like that any longer. She stepped over to him and sank to her knees at his side, twisting the towel in her hands, and he didn't react. Didn't glance up at her, didn't move at all. If it wasn't for the slightest rising and falling of his chest, he could have been made of stone.

Gloria blinked back her tears. Slowly, she lifted the corner of the towel to Bede's cheek, wiping away the thin streak his own tears had left through the mud on his face.

He turned his face away.

It broke something inside her. The towel slipped from her hands, and she reached up to cup his cheeks instead. With nothing else she could do, she wrapped her useless arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug once again.

"I'm sorry-" she hiccuped as she spoke. Broke off into a sob. "I'm sorry. I don't- I don't know what happened, but- but I'm here. It's okay."

She squeezed her eyes shut. Her lips trembled as she fought back a sob.

Whatever it was, whatever had happened-

"-I'm sorry." It was all she could say. "You don't have to say anything, or tell me what happened, but… but I'm here. I'm here. Everything's going to be okay."

She couldn't promise that, she shouldn't, but she did. She hugged him close as he sank into her, his head dropping to her shoulder, Bede finally accepting her embrace. He did nothing to return it, remaining still in her hold, but it was enough. Enough for Gloria to know this was what he needed. It was all she could give, all she could do to stop herself from crumbling any further when his shallow, shuddering breaths reached her ears. The trembling of his body gave his tears away.

She said nothing, and held him until silence fell over the cave once more.

-

Gloria had come out of nowhere. Like a bolt of lightning, she had appeared before Bede in the darkness, as though summoned by the flash of light itself.

Why?

She pulled him into her arms and nothing made sense.

Why are you here?

He followed her directions, her urging, and stood. Walked with her to a cave, out of the freezing wind that threatened to draw all the heat from his body. Her arm around his back was firm. Solid. It was real.

It didn't make sense. Why had she been there, in the forest, in the storm, when the world had turned to chaos around him?

Bede's legs gave way. Strength sapped from his bones, his body heavy and numb, and he collapsed to the ground with no will to fight. All he saw was the empty space on his wrist.

Again, it hurt. It stung. Guilt driving a stake into his heart, throbbing with shame. With regret and disgust.

Why-

Why does it still hurt?

The touch of a towel against his cheek scattered his thoughts. She was here. Still here, still real. Still looking at him with heartbreaking concern that only made him turn away from her with regret.

How could he bear to face her like this?

He didn't have to. Gloria pulled him into her embrace, wrapped her arms around him, and his remaining walls crumbled. Everything inside him snapped all at once and he collapsed against her. His head fell to her shoulder, dampening her already wet shirt with his tears, as his heart gave way to her touch. He felt everything. He felt all his pain and guilt and regret, and gave it all to her. With quiet sobs, he let himself cry in her arms. The words she whispered to him soothed the turmoil raging inside his chest, and he succumbed to her.

He gave in.

"It's gone."

His voice, loud in the silence, cracked. Heat swam behind his eyes, further tears clouding his vision, and he squeezed them shut as he took a shuddery breath.

It's gone.

He didn't want to believe it.

Gloria pulled back slightly, settling her hands on his shoulders, and regarded him for a moment before asking, "what's gone?"

Bede couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, afraid of what she'd see, knowing that he was unable to hide it from her when she looked at him like that.

She always saw right through him.

Instead, he lifted up his right hand, staring down at it and away from her. Gloria followed his gaze. A moment later, she gently took his wrist, her fingers lingering over the spot where his watch used to sit.

"Oh, Bede…"

The anguish in her voice was too much.

"It's gone," Bede repeated in a fragile whisper.

Her hand shifted to hold his, and he squeezed her hand tight in return. Tears threatened to spill again, his face scrunching up to hold them back, to fight the agony blazing in his chest, and he forced his lips firmly together to prevent them trembling. The hand still on Bede's shoulder slid to his arm, soothingly brushing up and down in an attempt to comfort him. Her gaze remained on his wrist. For that, he was thankful.

"How…?" Gloria tried again. "What happened?"

He took a breath, his lungs heavy and rigid, and it felt like it took all his energy just to inhale. His words came out as a sigh.

"I don't know."

He didn't.

"I… lost it."

Somehow.

It was difficult to speak. Exhausting. His tongue weighed down like a stone in his mouth.

"It fell off and I…" He clenched his jaw, disgust towards himself and towards his pain rising like bile up his throat. "I'm finally free of that wretched thing so why does it hurt so much…? Why can't I-? Why-?"

A sob escaped through his teeth. The chain around his wrist was gone and yet its grip around his soul felt tighter than before. The freedom he'd sought had been ripped away and left a gaping hole in its wake. It hurt. The weight of his regrets, his past, remained.

Why, after all this time, could he not unshackle himself from it? The hold that watch had on him endured, a deep scar seared into his flesh.

"Why can't I release myself from this burden?" It came out as a gasp. Following the burning tears in his eyes, the heaving of his lungs for air. Heat washed down his cheeks as he cried. "Why am I still chained to him-?! I should rid myself of it and be done with it but- but- I can't…!"  

His fingers trembled, curled into a fist, as Bede crumbled into Gloria. Shuddering breaths and broken sobs wracked his body. Pain and guilt and everything all at once tore through his heart, and Gloria held on to him through it all. She wrapped her arms around him and shouldered him as he wept.

And he broke down like never before in the comfort of her embrace. The wails that met his ears sounded too close and too far away, foreign and yet familiar, and he knew it was coming from him. He couldn't stop it, like he couldn't stop the pain. He couldn't hold anything back. There was nothing he could do but let it all out; the cries that left his throat raw, the heavy gasps that shook his body, the tears falling from his eyes. Held up by Gloria, he let it happen. Let the floodgates open, his walls collapse, and he held her in return. As tightly as he could, he held her, and it kept him from shattering completely, from letting the darkness take hold.

Bede gave in to her- to her comfort, her concern, her embrace, and they rode out the storm in his heart, sheltered from the turmoil raging outside in the depths of a cave. When his tears had dried, his breathing calmed, when he had no more agony left to voice, he remained in her arms in silence. The shame he felt was not towards how he lingered in her hug, but due to the fact that all it had taken for him to break was a simple, golden watch. A trinket, an object from his past. A chain he couldn't bring himself to remove.

He was shameful. Piteous. Pathetic. Knew he didn't have to say as much for her to know the truth of how deplorable he had become.

It made him laugh. A dry, hollow breath of laughter.

"It's merely a watch," Bede said softly, as quiet as a whisper. Disbelief in his voice. "He didn't deign to gift it to me himself- no, it came wrapped in a box, with assurances from Oleana herself that it was from him. "

Pain flashed behind his eyes.

"For all I know, she could have been behind it, gifted it without his knowledge."

It hurt.

"Why would he have remembered my birthday when he couldn't even recall my name?"

Memories he had buried deep resurfaced. Innumerable, unanswered calls. Awards received without an audience, without recognition. Disinterest in the eyes of the one looked up to the most.

Disappointment.

Movement across his back swept those images away. Gloria, her arms still firmly around him, comfortingly ran her hands across his back. Her touch was tender. Gentle and soothing, and he let his eyes flutter shut from her ministrations. He didn't know how such a simple gesture could be so calming, if she knew how much it would quell the pain in his heart, or if he felt this way because it was her.

Bede sighed. "I should be grateful. Happy, even, to finally be liberated from it-" from him "-yet why? Why does it- why do I feel this way?"

"Maybe... you weren't ready."

He hadn't expected her to answer him, and her voice cut through the silence. It gave him pause.

"I think, and I might be wrong," she continued, "but... maybe it hurts because you didn't have control over it. You didn't actively choose to get rid of it, you had that choice made for you, and… sometimes, that lack of control can hurt the most."

Bede let her words sink in.

"It's okay if you weren't ready. No one gets to decide when you're ready to move on - if you choose to do at all - except you. And Rose, he had such control over your life for so long, a year or two apart from him isn't going to be enough to get over everything he did to you."

Gloria let out a quiet breath, resting her head against the top of his shoulder.

"You've come so far already and, and I know it still hurts. It's still so raw. I'm not able to do much but… but when the storm passes, I'll help you look for it."

Everything stilled inside of him. "You… you will?"

She didn't tell him to leave it. To move on, now that he had a perfect opportunity to rid himself of it for good.

"Why?" He pulled back, pulled out of her arms, and finally met her eyes. He saw then that she had been crying as he had.

She smiled. "Because it means a lot to you. And… and I want you to be able to choose to move on when you're ready." Her expression wobbled as she spoke, as her lips quavered slightly. "How could I not want to help you, Bede? I almost want to drop everything and go out looking for it right now." Admitting that, she laughed. "And- And just because you're attached to that watch doesn't mean you haven't already come so far. You know, it's just a watch. Whether you keep it or not says nothing about you as a person or your past or anything at all. I… I want you to know that."

Bede wanted to embrace her again. His heart ached as he took in everything she said, filling his chest with warmth.

How could he not be so utterly in love with her when she was like this?

Arceus, she… she was everything he needed and more, and he lost himself in her gaze for a moment, unable to pull away, to look away, to see or care about anything else but her. Adoration for her surged in his lungs, rising up his throat with words that formed silently on his tongue, seconds from spilling out.

Everything he wanted to tell her.

Gloria flustered, quickly glancing away. "I- we should, um, try and dry off a bit," she squeaked, jumping to her feet.

The towel that had fallen into her lap dropped to the ground. She went to grab it as he did, their fingers overlapping on the cloth, and she jolted as though the touch of his skin had burned her. Even in the darkness of the cave, Bede could make out the blush on her cheeks. It made his heart skip with a heavy thump.

Gloria snatched the towel, her sudden embarrassment startling him. Nothing he had done, or said, should have elicited such a reaction from her, and his lungs fluttered breathlessly as his mind scrambled to work out why she was acting this way.

"You've, um, got a bit of mud on your cheeks," she said quickly, shoving the towel into his hands.

She wasn't looking at him, and Bede couldn't take his eyes off her. He absently rubbed the towel against his cheek as he studied her, using the cloth to hide the slow trickle of heat that built across his face. Seeing her flustered like this had completely distracted him from his lost watch, a new set of emotions pooled through his veins and washed over the pain. It was as though upon losing it, he had gained even more in return.

The key to his unbroken chains was right in front of him. It had been all along.

-

Something was wrong with Gloria. Her heart galloped at an impossibly fast pace in her chest, thumping like a drum against her ribcage, and she could feel her cheeks begin to flush. All it had taken to set her off like this was a simple look from Bede. In that moment, his eyes raw and red from crying, mud streaked across his face, his damp hair hanging over his brow, something had ignited inside of her. Despite the pain, the cold, the discomfort, he had smiled at her. His expression had eased, light returning to his violet eyes, and it had done something inexplicable to her.

Her heart raced. Blood surged through her veins, her mind dizzy and incoherent. Now wasn't the time for- for whatever this was, and she chided herself for finding Bede adorable in such a vulnerable moment. Guilt pierced her chest, and she tried to shake the giddy feeling in her lungs away. It wasn't right to fawn over how ridiculously gorgeous he managed to be even when he was drenched and covered in mud, when he had been crying on her shoulder minutes earlier. She needed to screw her head on straight and focus.

Gloria peeked at Bede, remaining stiff at his side, and the strings of her heart tugged at the sight of his platinum blond curls damp and plastered to his brow and cheeks. His hair seemed even longer than usual, the weight of the water pulling out some of the curl. Droplets spilled from the tips of his hair and slowly cascaded down his cheeks.

She snatched the towel off him and threw it over his head. Covering his face, his hair, and muffling his yelp of protest, Gloria forcefully ruffled the towel as her heart punched upwards into her throat.

"Y-You should dry your hair as well!" she squeaked.

"Hey!"

She didn't know what she was doing anymore, rubbing the towel over his head because she couldn't bear to look at him for a moment longer. Bede caught her wrists, tugging her hands away from the cloth, and she stumbled to her knees from the motion. The towel fell from Bede's head, revealing his irritated glare. Having fallen to her knees, she was suddenly close to him again- close enough to make out the heat swimming across his face, the embarrassment in his eyes. Her breath caught. His hands, firmly around her wrists, felt like lighting.

"I'm perfectly capable of drying my own hair," Bede huffed.

Gloria opened and shut her mouth wordlessly. She couldn't speak. Not when he was this close to her, not when he was holding her wrists like that, not when the blush on his cheeks melted his glare into something heated and dark. It sent a shiver down her spine and all she could do was nod fervently until he let her go.

She turned away from him, air filling her lungs with a silent gasp, and she fumbled for her bag.

"S-Sorry," Gloria mumbled. She wasn't thinking straight at all. Her heart thumped in her ears, drowning out anything coherent. "It's- It's really cold in here, huh?"

She rubbed her arms up and down, giving an exaggerated shudder, as the cool air in the cave began to gnaw at her skin. Her damp clothes didn't help.

"Do you have a change of clothes on you?" she asked, glancing back at him.

Bede was drying his hair with the towel, and looked over at her from beneath it.

"I hadn't planned to stay here long enough to warrant a change of clothes," he said. "If it hadn't been for me losing my watch, I would have returned to Ballonlea by now."

"Right. Of course." She snapped her gaze back to her bag. Somehow, he'd managed to send her heart rate skyrocketing again. She heard Bede shiver, and almost shivered in return from that faint sound alone.

"I-I have a blanket!" Gloria yanked a picnic blanket from her bag, bundling it in her arms, and gestured with it to him.

"I'm not sure how much a blanket will help, but I appreciate it. It will be better than nothing, I suppose." He took it from her and began to unfurl it.

"You should at least, um, take off some of your clothes…" she trailed off, her cheeks heating as she spoke. "Y'know, since  th-they're wet and it's cold and- and you can use the blanket to, um…"

She wasn't making any sense.

"F-Forget it!" she squeaked, unable to think past the fact that she'd just told Bede to undress when he didn't have a change of clothes to get into, which meant he would be-

"I'm gonna change!" Gloria said loudly. Her voice cracked, and she pulled out her change of clothes. "So- So don't look this way, alright?"

She sent Bede a pointed look over her shoulder, her face ablaze with embarrassed heat, and he blinked at her, his eyes widening.

"You don't have to tell me not to!" he huffed. "Of course I wouldn't…" Bede cleared his throat. "Although, you are right. I should probably remove at least some layers…"

He said that last part quietly, and Gloria snapped her head around so she wasn't looking at him any longer. He was going to take up her suggestion, and that realisation sent a crackle of lightning through her blood. She clutched the dry clothes in her arms to her chest, and tried to shove those thoughts away.

He was her friend, for Arceus' sake! He was getting out of his damp clothing because it was cold and the storm wasn't going to pass any time soon, and the blanket would keep him warm and- and she had to stop thinking about it. Sure, Bede was definitely attractive. He was extraordinarily gorgeous in a way that left her breathless, and she found her gaze lingering on him more often than she'd like to admit, but he was her friend and she shouldn't be gawking over him.

And she definitely shouldn't be flustering over the prospect of him with less clothing on.

Gloria heard something shuffle behind her, the sound of wet clothing being removed, and she jolted. Her mind snapped back to reality. With her heart in her throat, she quickly began to change, and fought the urge to glance over her shoulder to make sure Bede wasn't looking this way.

Of course he wouldn't. There was no need to check, no need to even think about looking behind her, when Bede was most certainly undressing as well. That would be all kinds of wrong.

Gloria took a shaky breath as she pulled on her cozy woolen jumper, and shoved her damp clothes to the side by her bag. Her legs were no more bare now than they'd been in the Dojo's uniform, but she wished she had packed something warmer, or longer, than her pink dress. She undid her hair, shaking out her messy bun to dry it as best she could. As she sighed, silence filled the cave once more.

"Are you, um…" She didn't know what to say, hadn't thought this through. "...decent?"

Arceus. Her cheeks burned with a furious blush, and she squeezed her eyes shut in mortification. She wasn't even facing him, for goodness sake!

Bede cleared his throat. "I am," he said, making Gloria jump.

"Right!"

She whirled on her feet a little too fast, with a bit too much panic, and relief knocked the air from her lungs when she realised Bede had only taken off his outermost layers. His t-shirt and shorts were folded neatly beside him, keeping his long-sleeved top and, presumably, his leggings on. He had the blanket covering the legs and the lower part of his chest, and appeared enviously warm. Gloria's heart stammered in her chest as she sat next to him, with a comfortable distance between them. She faced forward, not letting herself look at him, still feeling awkward- as though he could read the inner turmoil that had been churning in her mind.

It was difficult being friends with someone so undeniably attractive at times.

"Feeling a bit warmer now?" Gloria asked, needing something to fill the silence. She absently rubbed her calves up and down as the cool air seeped into her.

"I am, yes. The blanket certainly helps."

She nodded stiffly. With Bede so close, it felt like her whole body was on alert. Stiff and tense, hyperreactive to the slightest sound, the slightest movement in the corner of her eyes. The situation was so strange, she couldn't bring herself to calm down. Cold wind swept through the cave, the temperature biting, and in a swift movement, the blanket was thrown over her legs.

Bede shifted closer, right up against Gloria's side, wordlessly sharing the blanket she'd given him. Warmth enveloped her. Flooding her veins, her chest, her lungs, and she gaped at him in silence as he looked away.

"That's better, isn't it?" he said quickly.

"You- You don't have to…"

She flustered and stared into her lap. Their shoulders were pressed together, and although they'd hugged before on many occasions, and sat like this before too, it felt different. Worlds apart from their casual hugs, from the time he'd sat beside her like this to comfort her.

"Need I remind you, it's your blanket? It wouldn't be right for me to have it all to myself when you're shivering like that."

Gloria nodded. She'd stopped shivering. "Thanks…"

"Like I said, you're the one sharing it with me," Bede huffed. "If anything, I should be thanking you."

That made her laugh. A short breath of laughter that dissolved the tension in the air. It allowed her to relax, to see how absurd the whole situation was, to realise that she was making a big deal out of nothing. This was Bede. Her friend. There was nothing for her to get worked up about.

With a smile, Gloria leant her head against Bede's shoulder. A comforting gesture that warmed her heart.

"I'm… just glad you're okay," she whispered to him. Her eyes drew closed. She settled against him, relishing in his presence, how calm and peaceful she felt beside him.

She felt safe, and knew everything was going to be alright.

-

When Gloria leant her head against his shoulder, Bede's mind screeched to a halt. Every fibre in his body tensed all at once. He couldn't breathe for a moment, his brain short circuiting in disbelief, as she snuggled into him. The practicality of sharing a blanket for warmth was suddenly lost, thrown out the window, the cave, into the storm, and he glanced at the girl curled into his side in shock.

"I'm… just glad you're okay," she whispered with the sweetest smile on her face, and her eyelids fluttered shut.

He couldn't say anything in return. His heart wedged in his throat, in his mouth, and no words would form. She looked so serene, so peaceful, and he didn't dare move, not wanting to risk disturbing her.

Somehow, she had become something of a panacea to him. Her mere presence at his side was enough to ease the pain, appearing out of nowhere whenever he needed her the most.

In the midst of the storm, she had found him.

"Why were you there?" he found himself asking.

"Why was I where?"

"In the Forest of Focus, where you found me."

"Oh, that." She laughed sheepishly. "Hop said that's where you were going to train."

"But why were you there in the first place? You should have been taking shelter."

"I actually had been taking shelter," she admitted, "in the Dojo."

"So you just decided to go wandering around the Forest of Focus in the middle of a storm?"

Gloria snorted. "No, I'm not that reckless!"

"Then… why?"

Why had she been there?

"I… was looking for you," she said quietly. Sheepishly.

"And you say you're not reckless…" Bede huffed, despite the firm squeeze of his heart. "What on earth would cause you to look for me in the middle of a storm?"

He hadn't given anyone, let alone her, any indication that something was wrong.

Gloria pursed her lips. The bashful look in her eyes, along with the hint of a blush on her cheeks, sent Bede's heart fluttering.

"Well… it's a bit silly," Gloria began. She chewed on her bottom lip as she mulled over her words. "But I… I had a bad feeling about it. When Hop mentioned that he'd seen you earlier, and you weren't there in the Dojo, I just… something felt wrong."

"That's it? You went looking for me based on a feeling?"

"There's more to it than that!" Gloria pouted. "You didn't answer your phone, either."

He hadn't heard his phone ring over the storm, and doubted that he would have answered in that moment anyway.

"I still don't see how that alone would make you venture out into weather like this."

Her expression fell and, for a moment, Bede wondered if he'd somehow pushed that point too far. As though he'd stepped on her toes, hit a sore spot.

"I guess it was a bit ridiculous," she agreed with a sigh. "But I couldn't just sit and do nothing. Not when everything inside me was screaming that something was wrong. Not when… when I've felt like that before."

She went quiet.

"What do you mean?" Bede asked. There was more to this, more to what she was - and wasn't - saying, and he desperately wanted to know. He needed to know, to understand.

"I haven't told anyone about it before," she said slowly. "It's one of the reasons why I'm always going with my gut, trusting my feelings, that sort of thing. Sometimes, most of the time, I'm wrong, but… once, before this, I was right."

Her eyes closed. She took a breath, a slow, deep breath, before continuing.

"It was the day my father died. The day of his accident. He was… hit by a car on the way home from work."

Bede's heart dropped into his stomach. She'd never spoken about this before.

"He was always really punctual, always made an effort to be home before seven at night. But that day… I remember looking up at the clock right as it hit seven and- and I knew. I knew then that something had happened."

She sighed.

"I mean, I obviously didn't know what had happened but… at that moment, I felt like something was wrong. I knew something was wrong. And- And maybe that was just me being an anxious child or finding something in those memories that wasn't there in the first place-"

Gloria caught herself and paused. Again, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I just… whenever I get a feeling like that, I can't stop myself. I have to do something. And today, when Hop mentioned that he'd seen you, and the storm was raging, I-I felt like something wasn't right."

Bede found her hand under the blanket and gave it a squeeze. A firm, comforting squeeze, as his heart ached for her.

He didn't know what to say.

"I didn't want to be right," she continued, "I wanted you to be okay. To be wrong, like I have been hundreds of times before this. But I needed to know for myself. I'd rather have wasted my time and got drenched than do nothing at all, if there's the slightest chance that I was right."

"I'm… sorry." It was the only thing that came to him. "I had no idea."

She gave him a faint, appreciative smile. "Of course you didn't. I haven't told anyone about that."

"Well, yes, but I meant that about… your father. And what happened. I'm sorry."

He fumbled over his words, his mouth dry.

"I didn't mean to make this all about me," she said lightly. "But thanks. It's been almost ten years and yet when I get a feeling like I did that day, it's like I'm going through it all again. At least this time, I could actually help someone. I'm glad."

"So am I," he found himself replying.

She squeezed his hand, and Bede's heart skipped. He didn't know if he should keep holding her hand like this or let it go, and the thought that perhaps she didn't mind sent a wave of heat through his veins. He decided to test the waters, to try something a bit more daring, and against all logical reasoning, he threaded his fingers between hers, interlacing them together. She returned his grip, and the air died in his lungs.

Arceus, it was too much. His heart surged, filling with heat and emotion, and he couldn't believe what was happening. That Gloria had found him in the Forest of Focus to begin with, that she was nestled at his side under a blanket they shared, holding hands with her head rested on his shoulder. To be like this with her was more than he could handle, to have her accept him and all his faults, his failings, to offer to go look for his watch with him after the storm passed.

He wondered how on earth he had managed to find someone like her in the first place.

"Oh, I should probably let Hop know I found you," Gloria said, stifling a yawn. "That way, you don't get 'throttled' the next time you see him."

"Excuse me?"

She snorted, pulling out her phone and typing a quick message with her free hand. "Yeah, Hop said that if I went out into the storm and got drenched for nothing, then he'd throttle you the next time he saw you."

"I'd like to see him try," Bede huffed, amused at the thought of Hop trying to fistfight him.

"Hopefully now you won't have to." Gloria pocketed her phone and relaxed again, settling her head further on his shoulder.

It would be easy for him to rest his cheek against the top of her head, and he fought the temptation to do so- holding her hand, their fingers interlaced, was already overwhelming, his chest thrumming and fluttering with heat, and he didn't want to risk pushing his luck any further. This was more than enough for his heart as it was.

Gloria yawned, lackadaisically covering her mouth with her free hand.

"Sorry," she said, catching the end of her yawn and slurring her words, "I had an early start. Went looking for Max Mushrooms all morning."

Bede swallowed the bubble of amusement that swelled in his chest at her sleepy yawn, and bit back a smile. He didn't know how she managed to be so cute all the damn time, constantly tugging on his heart with the most ordinary behaviour. A simple yawn sent his heart fluttering once again.

"Well, since I doubt the storm is going to pass anytime soon, now might be an opportune time to rest," Bede said, as casually as he could.

"Mm… but shouldn't I-" she yawned "-keep you company?"

Her eyes had already fallen shut.

"You don't have to be awake to keep me company," he said softly. Unable to hold back the tender smile on his face. "You've already done more than enough for me."

Gloria grumbled something in thought, in a weak protest, pouting her lips.

"Go ahead and rest. You deserve as much." He reached over and pulled the blanket higher over her so it rested just beneath her chin. As though he was tucking her into bed, urging her to sleep.

She sighed heavily, and sank into the warmth of the blanket. Her body relaxed. The pout of her lips eased. Her breathing slowed as she fell into the depths of sleep, and Bede finally gave in. He lowered his cheek to the crown on her head and smiled. An unbidden, unabashed smile pulled on his lips. His heart, having melted in her presence, swelled with adoration for her.

"Thank you," he whispered into her hair.

The space on his wrist no longer felt so empty.

-

To not fall asleep beside Gloria was an onerous task. Her warmth was comforting in a way that caused him to let down his guard, to relax, to forget the world around them. He found himself dosing on and off, woken by a sudden clap of thunder or the cry of Pokemon deeper in the cave, and chided himself each time for it. Sleep was too inviting next to her. Bede huffed. It wasn't like him to ignore the dangers of sleeping around wild Pokemon, completely throwing aside years of protective instincts he'd drilled into himself, just because of her. Had her naivety rubbed off onto him, or was it because somehow, she made him feel safe?

His worries faded when he glanced at her. Sleeping soundly with the faintest smile gracing her lips, the expression on her face calmed him. Talking with her, crying in her arms, being in her embrace, bit by bit she had chipped away at the cage around his heart and released him from that pain. He knew, with her beside him, that he could forsake the chain that had kept him shackled for so long. He could finally leave it behind.

Her acceptance was what he had needed all along. The Galatian Cuff around his wrist, although not a replacement for his watch, filled the space it had left behind. Just like how Gloria, how Ms Opal and the Trainers of his Gym, how all the people he now considered friends, had filled the gap in his heart left by the wounds of his past.

As the tempest inside Bede began to ease, so too did the raging weather outside. The storm passed. Golden light streamed into the cave as the setting sun breached the dark clouds and bathed the Isle of Armour in warmth once again. He didn't know how much time had passed since Gloria had found him, since they had taken up shelter in the cave, and he couldn't bring himself to wake her just yet. She continued to doze happily on his shoulder, evidently more exhausted than she had let on. As always, it seemed as though she had pushed herself as hard and as far as she could manage, even though no one was expecting her to do so.

That much, they had in common.

Bright light flashed over Bede's eyes, and he recoiled, squinting, and glared at the source towards the entrance to the cave.

"Oh, Arceus this is gold!" Laughter spilled from the person aiming the blinding flashlight from their phone at Bede and Gloria. "I have to get a picture of this."

Bede immediately recognised that cocky laugh, his heart catching in his throat as a shutter sounded. Again and again.

"Delete those right this instant!" Bede snapped.

Heat surged across his cheeks, embarrassment filling his lungs, and he stiffened in shock. With dread at having been caught snuggling under a blanket with Gloria.

Hop snorted. "No way! I'm sending these to Gloria." He flashed a grin at Bede. "And Marnie, and Sonia, and her mum-"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't I?" Hop sauntered over, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Marnie is not gonna believe this unless I have evidence and, hey, I have a competition to win."

Bede bristled with mortification. "What competition?!"

"Nope, can't tell ya. That'd ruin the whole thing!" Hop kept his phone trained on them. His grin widened. "But wow. Wow. This is what you two have been doing the whole time? And here Gloria keeps insisting that you're only friends."

"We- We've done nothing of the sort! Whatever you're insinuating, you must have your head screwed on backwards!"

"Right. Says the guy currently snuggling with Gloria. And aren't those her clothes next to her bag?" Hop let out a low whistle, his eyes wide. "Maybe I should give you two some privacy…"

Heat surged through Bede's entire body. With the blanket covering Gloria up to her chin and the clothes she was wearing earlier bundled up by her bag, he realised what exactly Hop was getting at.

"Sh-She got changed!" Bede barked quickly. "We got drenched in the storm, so she changed! You- You've got this all wrong. We haven't- we didn't- whatever you're suggesting, you couldn't be further from the truth!"

He tugged the blanket down enough so Hop could see with his own eyes that they were both fully clothed. At the sudden lapse in temperature, Gloria grumbled and shifted closer to her only source of warmth, to Bede. Hop watched on, amused.

"Sure, sure. I believe you." Hop's grin said otherwise. "This is definitely something purely platonic that I'm witnessing right now."

"What are you even doing here?" Bede huffed. He pulled the blanket back up to Gloria's chin, scowling as his cheeks blazed with a dark blush he couldn't force down.

"Glo told me where you guys were, and since the storm passed, I decided to come check up on my mates out of the goodness of my heart."

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Ouch, that's harsh."

Hop's cheeky grin remained firmly in place, evidently amused at Bede's growing discomfort.

"How Glo can do something like this and act like she doesn't have feelings for you is beyond me." Hop gestured at them snuggled beneath the blanket. "You should've seen how distraught she was when you wouldn't answer your phone. I doubt she would've acted like that towards anyone else."

Bede's heart flopped. "She was distraught because-"

Gloria's words came back to him, how she'd never opened up about the feeling she'd had the day her father died to anyone before. He realised then why Hop was reading so much more into the situation.

"Because…?" Hop raised an eyebrow, waiting for Bede to finish his sentence.

"It's not what you're thinking," Bede sighed. "Trust me, you couldn't be more wrong. Gloria, she… she can't help but act when she feels as though someone is in need of help. I'm sure you know that well enough."

Hop looked at Gloria and his grin began to fade. Amusement fell from his eyes.

"Yeah, you're right. And Arceus, she'd hate it if she heard what I was insinuating…" He made a sour expression at himself. "I just… want her to be happy, y'know? If she's got feelings for you, I want her to realise that but… ugh!"

Hop ruffled his hair in exasperation, before sighing heavily.

"I guess it's still too early for that, huh?"

"You don't need to tell me that."

Hop quirked a smile. "Good thing she sleeps like a log. If she heard any of this… the Meowth would be out of the bag for sure!"

"Which is why now would be an opportune time for you to can it."

Bede sent a wary glance at Gloria, finding that her peaceful expression hadn't changed one bit. She was still fast asleep. As much as he didn't want to wake her up, now was as good a time as any. He shifted his shoulder gently in an effort to rouse her.

"Gloria? The storm's passed," Bede said to her. "You should get up now."

"Good luck with that." Hop grinned again, phone ready in hand to take more unwanted photos.

Bede decided to ignore that. He'd already fallen for Hop's taunts twice in one day, and wasn't going to give him any more fuel. Gloria's brow scrunched as Bede nudged her with his shoulder again, and she grumbled something incoherent in her throat. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. She blinked a few times in a daze, Bede's heart swelling at the adorable, sleepy haze in her eyes, and she lifted her head off his shoulder.

Their eyes met. A moment passed before recognition filled Gloria's eyes, before she realised how close they were.

"Oh! Sorry!" Gloria squeaked, recoiling off Bede's shoulder.

The blanket fell as she startled, and it pooled over their laps and revealed that they were still holding hands. Their fingers were still entwined. A shutter clicked. Gloria snapped her head towards the sound.

"Hop?!" She snatched her hand from Bede's. Heat rushed up her cheeks, and Bede glanced away as an identical blush burned across his face. "What- What are you doing here?! Did you just take a picture?!"

Her embarrassment infected Bede, and he felt suddenly sheepish, as though they had been caught doing something indecent rather than simply holding hands. As though that was somehow worse than sharing a blanket, than her sleeping on his shoulder. He could feel amusement radiating off Hop and focused on folding up the blanket instead as Gloria flustered.

"Delete it!" she cried, leaping to her feet in indignation.

"Too late, already sent it to Marnie," Hop teased.

Marnie again. Bede bit back a frustrated huff. He couldn't voice anything in protest, silenced under the weight of mortification at being discovered holding Gloria's hand after assuring Hop that nothing was going on between them. He knew what it had looked like, and that made it impossible to deny what had happened, or what Hop thought had happened. The furious blush on Bede's face pooled to the very tips of his ears and flushed down his neck. An entirely unhelpful physiological reaction.

"Why did you send it to Marnie?!" Gloria squawked. She stamped her foot, folding her arms firmly across her chest as she stared Hop down.

"How else is she gonna believe me?" Hop flashed a grin at her. "Who knew you two were at that stage already-"

"Gimme that!"

She launched herself at Hop and swiped his phone before he could blink. Bede watched on, impressed.

"How many did you take…?!" Gloria swiped through the photos on Hop's phone, her eyes widening.

"Don't worry, I already sent them to you."

"I don't want them!"

She thrust his phone back at him with a huff. The embarrassment on her face shattered into hurt, and her expression darkened. She turned from Hop, her eyes meeting Bede's for a split second, before she marched over to her bag.

"Forget it," she said through her teeth, stuffing her wet clothes into her bag.

Bede sent a pointed look at Hop, who grimaced apologetically. They both knew he'd gone too far.

"Glo, look, I'll delete them." He tapped away at his phone. "And I didn't send them to Marnie, or anyone. I promise."

Bede stared at Hop in disbelief. He hadn't sent them to anyone at all?

Gloria sent an unimpressed look over her shoulder at Hop. A hard, callous stare that made Bede glad it wasn't directed at him. The hurt in her eyes was obvious, and it made her whole body tense as though she was trying to protect herself from further harm.

"You know how much I hate the paparazzi, taking pictures of me all the time when I'm just minding my own business, always insinuating stuff about me, and then you go and do the exact same thing…"

She pursed her lips. Bede knew it was to stop them from trembling. She always did that when she was about to cry, and it pierced his heart.

"Glo…"

"I should be safe with my friends. To be able to relax without- without you acting like them."

Gloria turned away from Hop. Her bottom lip trembled for a second before she bit down on it. Bede went to stand, moved to step closer to her in order to offer her some comfort, when she picked up her bag and stood.

"I came here to support Bede," she said, turning sharply to face Hop. "You have no idea what he went through, what happened, at all. So don't act like them, don't twist what you saw for your own amusement when you don't even know what happened."

"I... I'm sorry." Hop slumped. "You're right, and… man, I really acted like an ass. Sorry." He gave her a regretful smile, turning the screen of his phone towards her. "I deleted them all. Guess I should've known better, huh? You and the paparazzi are like water on an oil fire."

Gloria's expression eased slightly, the corner of her lips turning up at Hop's analogy. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Can you forgive an ass like me?" Hop lifted his arms, gesturing for a hug.

She looked at him for a moment before shaking her head with a smile, and accepted his hug.

"As long as you don't do that again," she warned.

Hop laughed. "I think I learnt my lesson."

Bede sighed to himself in relief. He was grateful that he didn't have to intervene in any way. Gloria had a glare that was sharp enough to kill, and the last thing he wanted was to give her a reason to level it at him.

He took note to avoid resembling the paparazzi in any way, shape, or form.

"Oh, the storm's over!" Gloria realised way too late. "We should get going, then."

"I was thinking the same." Bede nodded, gathering this folded up Gym Leader shirt and shorts, and handed the blanket back to Gloria. She met his eyes when she took the blanket off him, holding his gaze for a moment.

"Did you still want to…?" she asked quietly, looking deeply into his eyes as if searching for something.

He didn't know how to reply, suddenly put on the spot by the depth in her eyes, the concern on her face, and the question she didn't finish lingering in the air.

Did he still want to… what?

All he could think about was Hop's insinuation from earlier, and his mouth went dry.

Gloria tilted her head as she waited for his answer, the motion adorable in a way that didn't help his ability to speak at all. She leant closer, and Bede's breath hitched in his throat.

"Your watch," she whispered, "did you still want to look for it?"

Oh.

Oh.

Bede swallowed, and glanced away from her face, from the warmth of her eyes, in order to form words on his tongue. Did she not realise how close she was standing to him, or did she not care about personal space?

"No," he said.

The finality of his answer eased something in his chest, and he found himself relaxing. Tension he hadn't realised he'd held finally faded.

"No…?" she echoed. Her eyes widened. "Are you sure…?"

Ahead of them, towards the entrance to the cave, Hop stood with his back to them. Out of earshot.

Bede managed a smile, turning to walk towards the cave's entrance. He looked back at her, a steady warmth filling his lungs, and he knew this was what he wanted. He could finally set himself free.

"I'm sure," he answered. "It's time for me to let it go. I suppose all I needed was a push in the right direction for me to realise that."

She returned his smile and fell into step beside him. "If that's what you want… then I'll support you."

With her next to him, Bede found he could stand a little straighter, a little taller. Each step became easier as they made their way towards the Forest of Focus. Whenever he felt a prickle of doubt, all he had to do was glance at her, to remember her support, her encouragement, her acceptance, and he could move forward. He held his head high as they walked through the forest, not once feeling the urge to search for his watch.

He could finally leave it behind-

Something crunched beneath his foot. Automatically, Bede glanced down at whatever he'd trodden on, and spied a glimmer of gold beneath a mound of mud. A golden buckle covered almost completely in mud, yet still recognisable and familiar. His watch.

"Bede?"

From up ahead, Gloria called to him. Her voice stole his gaze away from his watch, and he could suddenly breathe again. Hadn't realised that he'd been holding his breath, that his heart had been pounding in his ears.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, looking as though she was about to head back over to him.

Bede smiled at her, and took a step, and then another and another, until he was at her side once more.

"Everything is more than alright," he said, and lightly touched her hand. He gave it a quick, gentle squeeze, before continuing on after Hop.

Gloria skipped to catch up with him, her cheeks slightly flushed. She caught his hand as they walked, returning the squeeze he had given her, before releasing his hand. When he glanced at her, she glanced back at him, smiles building on their faces.

Everything was more than alright.

It was perfect.

[tagsecretsanta]

From @Ak47Stylegirl

to @misstb2​

Secret Santa does not own this work, full credit to the creator above!

They sat around the Christmas tree, each in their pyjamas still as it was Christmas morning and who wanted to waste time getting changed when they could be opening presents, he thought with a laugh watching as Gordon got an ‘I’m a very fishy person’ T-shirt from Virgil. 

Gordon barked a laugh and stood up, pulled his pyjama top off-

“Ah! Gordon, what ar-” “Young man, not in my living room-” “Put your shirt back on, Gordon!-” “Really? Right now?-” “Honestly, I’m not surprised-”

-and putting the ‘I’m a very fishy person’ t-shirt on with a grin. 

He rolled his eyes, taking that as his cue, “Okay, whose present is nex-”

Alan jumped up in an instant, “Me! Me! Me! My present next!” Alan ran over to the tree and grabbed out a nicely wrapped small box, before stopping in front of him, “For you, Scotty!”

“Oh, for me?” He blinked, slightly startled by Alan’s eagerness to give him said present. He chuckled, as Alan handed him the small box, his eyes bright with excitement and anticipation but there was also a sliver of nervousness in those eyes, he noticed as he took the box, “Thanks kiddo…”

He brought it up to his ear and gave it a slight shake, but he couldn’t really hear anything rattling, whatever it was, it was packaged securely. He slowly undid the ribbon with a small grin, knowing he was driving his brothers crazy with suspense. 

He lifted the lid of the box….

And froze...

“W-well, do you like it?” Alan asked after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, the tips of his ears flushed slightly. “I...I made it myself, with some help from Virg, of course…” 

Alan made this? For him? He thought as he continued to stare down at the present. He opened his mouth to say something, anything but nothing came out; he was utterly speechless.

“Nah, Alan did most of it…” Virgil answered with a wave of his hand after he failed to speak up, noticing how shellshocked he was. “I was only there to make sure he didn’t destroy my studio…” 

“Okay, imagine that not all of us know/ can see what you are talking about…” Gordon groaned impatiently, rolling his eyes as he sat on the edge of his seat. “So come on, Scotty! What is it?!” 

He slowly slipped his hand under the handle and lifted it up so his whole family could see, before cradling it in his hands, scared to break it.

 It was a mug, but not just any mug, it was a handmade clay mug, drip glazed with a beautiful dark blue colour. It wasn’t perfectly symmetrical and was a little wonky in places, a fingerprint or two left on the clay in places, but that didn’t ruin it. 

No, for him, it made it so much more special. And the thing that caused him to go speechless, the thing that caused tears to gather in his eyes, was the text on the front of the mug. 

“Best bro-dad ever…” He read out loud, his eyes trailing the words that had been so carefully written. He looked up to see his family watching him in suspense, Alan standing in front of him, his eyes wide and vulnerable.

“Be-because you basically raised me and...and I, well I want to somehow, I don’t know, show you how much I...um, well..” Alan was blushing bright red by this point, rubbing the back of his neck raw, “that I...well, a-appreciate all you’ve done, for...for me and well, it’s- I mean um it’s okay if you don’t like it, I-”

“Come-” He choked, his voice thick with emotions as he held his arm open. “-Come here, kiddo…” 

Alan’s eyes widened briefly before the kid dived into his side, snuggling in close. He smiled, pulling Alan close, laying a soft kiss to Alan’s temple as he whispered, “I love it so much, thank you…” 

“Thank you…”

[falconlord5]

Mystery of the Batwoman

And now we come to it. One of the most controversial, disliked and outright hated entries into the DCAU: Mystery of the Batwoman. Released in 2003, nearly four years after the end of Batman: The Animated Series, this movie is mediocre, sloppy and done entirely without Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. It deserves it's middling reputation.

However, were not for this movie, I would not have rediscovered the DCAU. So it holds a certain place in my heart.

It's the Green Goblin!

Silver and pink is a terrible stealth outfit

Why does the laser rifle have recoil?

Welp, he's dead.

Gobby needs to keep better track of his toys.

Story by Alan Burnett

Written by Michael Reaves

Produced and directed by Curt Geda

Depending on the writer.

Alfred is still the best part of this show

Rupert Thorne! Haven't seen you in a while, old buddy.

You can tell this is an early to mid 2000's production, because there are a lot of gangsters of colour which wasn't really a thing in the nineties

That's a fair question, Penguin.

Penguin, you're kind of a jerk.

That's a nice apartment.

My sympathy is entirely with Kathy's bodyguards.

Gotham has it's own news program dedicated to Batman.

Okay, this is one of the reasons why people hate this movie so much and I kind of agree. The anti-Bruce/Babs crowd are largely idiots, confusing Barbara (who has never had a father/daughter relationship with the Bat) with Cassandra Cain (who is very much Bruce's daughter), accusing Bruce Timm of using Bruce as his avatar, so on and so forth.

However, this is a little weird. In normal BTAS continuity, Barbara is out of college and probably only a little younger than Bruce. It's hard to tell, because Bruce is an adult when Dick was a kid, and Barbara and Dick are roughly the same age. Maybe. They all kind of hit that comic book time warp where once you get around 30-ish, or even just past twenty, you stop aging.

But in this movie, Barbara is back in college and implicitly a lot younger than Bruce. And that makes their relationship kind of creepy. The relationship was already kind of wonky compared to the Adam West show and pre-Crisis comics, were Barbara was explicitly much closer to Bruce's age and seven years older than Dick. However, they aged up Dick, de-aged Barbara and possibly de-aged Bruce, making it all just a little... off.

And then this movie de-ages Barbara again. Or maybe she's just gone back to get a second degree? I don't know, but it's majorly weird. I normally don't have a problem with the Bruce/Babs ship, but this movie screws it up.

Timmy Todd is wise beyond his years.

I don't think that trick would work with today's phones.

Nowadays, you'd just use Powerpoint.

Nice save, kid.

So this is where Grant Morrison stole his ideas from!

Ah, our faux!Montoya.

How do you miss the frigging Penguin emblem, Harvey?

Wow, a rare joke from the Bat.

Ah, sexist comments from the bad guys.

You need to lead with that, Batwoman

Why was Duquesne just standing around there?

Yeah, that's exactly what he means, Kathy.

Efram Zimbalist Jr. deserves all the money.

Bruce Wayne. Which means she's a lot safer than with either you.

Well, they're fired.

I think Bruce is more notorious than you, honey.

Bruce does have the worst taste in women. Or maybe he has a taste for the worst women?

Good to know Bullock has no respect for Bruce in either identity

Penguin, you're almost smooth

Pretty sure Bruce and Penguin have met since he retired. As Bruce, I mean. I know Batman and Penguin have met.

Hey, Penguin's bodyguards got an upgrade!

That is flimsy wall

That's one way to put it.

I think most of your dates end in a police investigation, Bruce. Or start with one.

It's nice to see people whom Bruce has touched positively.

Pretty good moves for a corporate girl

Given your track record, Bane, you really aren't in a position to give orders.

Once again, Alfred solves the mystery.

The plot thickens!

Smartest bad guy in Gotham

Kathy has a lot of drawings of pretty women. Bi or art student? Both?

Ah, art student then.

You're in trouble, boys.

That broke Penguin's arm.

The fire is not interacting properly with the environment.

And Timmy Todd saves the day!

Then you're dating the wrong guy, Kathy.

Batman created by Bill Finger.

Next up, Justice League and Static Shock.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Jason Voorhees x Freddy’sDaughter!Reader || Oneshot

Title: They Cuddles; Him, Her, and her Bottle of Hypnocil. 

Notes:

‘-There was something in her, something that was… pure horror. Everything you were supposed to watch out for. Heights, fire, shards of glass, snakes. Everything that his mom tried so hard to keep him safe from.’ - John Ajvide Lindqvist.

Inspired by the above quote.

Quick Background of Reader: You’re Maggies younger (Only a little) half-sister. (You were conceived and born shortly after he killed Loretta and your mother didn’t want you so you were pawned off to him so you were living with him until he was burnt by the Springwood Parents, whereas Maggie was of course taken away) (Pretend it was years between the time he was caught and the time he was killed)

Tried to write in Jasons POV, not sure how good it is, hah. 

I miiiiiiight have some ideas for future parts of this, this was adorable and sweet.

Plot: 

Just, Jason falling in so love with the enemies daughter who is so like her father - she’s loud, she’s hurt, she makes s t u p i d jokes and then laughs way too hard at them, she’s dangerous, - but who is gentle with him and kind. (She’s basically the type of girl Pam wouldn’t approve of at first but is so honest and kind that Pam cant help but begrudgingly like her eventually XD )

Warnings: Age gap? I mean it’s not a main plot point so you could ignore it but Jason and Freddy are similar in age so you’re young enough to be Jason’s kid too- but you’re in your 30’s-40’s so its okie. Fatherly trauma (Is that the right phrase?? Hah. You know what I mean) / Nightmare on elm Street survivor trauma also. Panic attack I think? Ends in fluff ^^ 

~~~

When you stayed a night in your van at that old, abandoned camp, you certainly didn’t expect to meet Jason. I mean, you weren’t surprised by his… abnormalities -referring to the fact that he’s dead. Not his deformities, - as much as you were how cute and sweet he was. And how well you two got on, after he tried to kill you.

And you don’t blame him for that! You trespassed; you get it. If you had known he was there and he had taken ownership of the area, then you would have asked before parking there.

When Jason had found a girl hidden away, sleeping in the back of a yellow van, he certainly didn’t expect that she would soon become so important to him. She was just another trespasser acting like a hoodlum -living! In! A! Van?! – in his general vicinity and of course, he didn’t like that.

Boring chase story short; He pushed your van over and there was a chase through the forest (You’ve never run that fast in your life, jesus christ. You can still feel the wind burn on your cheeks, that one rock under your bare feet that cut you and the energy rushing through your body pushing you forward anyway) and you leapt into the lake- waiting until he came in after you. And then when he did, you just screamed random nonsense, splashing around spastically at him until you hit a nerve that sobered him (Something about his mother). This is a technique you developed after you were given up to various foster homes after your father was burnt to death (And then also when he found you again) when stinky foster parents, foster siblings, bullies at school rando’s off the street wanted to put their hands on you, and that you mastered since. It works, evidently, with asexual zombie monsters too.

After that, you went back to your van and rap up your foot, thinking that at least the lake water cleaned up the cut on your foot, and then grumpily set up your bed on your window now since the van (Poor, dear Mandy) is now on its side thanks to the local undead jerk!

You hadn’t slept a wink the rest of that night, not because of the hulking mass of rotten flesh and a hockey mask that you knew was lurking somewhere close by, watching you, but because you weren’t about to waste an extra Hypnocil pill in one night. You just laid there, pillows propping you up and being bored. Staring at the ceiling, smearing various ugly pastel shades onto a page in your sketchbook, listening to the woods and imagining getting rawed by Danny Zuko were highlights. Then, when daylight finally broke out, you were finally, unhappily wondering how you were going to get Mandy back on her wheels, zipping up your jacket and looking at your beautiful pale-yellow Volkswagen.

You thinking what pain this would be to correct… and then having turned on your heel and went on a trek to the closest town to get some kind of breakfast. Procrastinating the inevitable.

When you had returned, a bag of groceries in your arms -drink propped on top of everything else so you could sip through the straw as you walked,- , your van was back on her wheels.

You don’t know what it was about you that made him do that, that made him stop and not kill you, and its likely you’ll never find out since he doesn’t talk, after that you had gone directly to find the - cute, now, -behemoth you knew fixed it for you, to make and give him fairy bread to say thank you and sorry for what happened last night- and honestly you’ve been friendly ever since. More then friendly, after a while, but never less then.

___TIME SKIP: Current time now. Months and months after you met___

~ POV Change~

Oh my god.

The second I see that the familiar bottle, the one from Typo with the Coca Cola logo on it that reminds me absolutely zero percent of my father that I keep Hypnocil pills in is not where I left it, a deep sense of dread and anxiety fills me up to the brim- only proceeding to grow outwards to the air around me as I search in an increasingly more panicked fashion for the thing. Where is it!? Where is it, where is it, where is it. “Where, where, where, where, where, where- “

I fling a pillow out the back of the van and am just bundling up the blankets, not caring what else goes with it to push out as well so I can find that fucking bottle when I notice Jason standing there at the back doors watching me, head tilted. I immediately stop what I’m doing, heart stopping for a second. “Lost something.” Is all I can squeak out.

He leans forward and I watch as I bends down so his head and upper body are in here with me and looks around, then up at me again as if to ask what I’m looking for so he can help me. “I-Its, um… “ My voice trembles. I need to find that bottle- the fact that Jason is being so sweet and offering to help me look just makes me feel even less together. I could cry. “A r-red bottle with umm, curly writing on it?” He probably doesn’t remember what coke is, much less the logo…

He nods, and starts looking around, eyes focused and slow as the graze along everything in the van so studiously that I stay extra still instead of helping- so he doesn’t miss anything with that super-vision he’s acting like he must have. The vans a mess and I’m just kneeling in the corner, against the driver’s seat with the blankets all bundles up in my lap, worrying my bottom lip and waiting for this man to save me. Please, jesus- help me. Save me.

A moment later and I’m about to slowly move from my place and Jason suddenly moves. His heavy arm shoots forward and pulls the bottle, a tubular shock of red, out of a nook between my portable DVD player/screen and some books and I was showing him earlier, offering it to me.

Dropping the blankets and sitting on them instead, feeling the softness on my bare legs and taking the bottle from him before hugging it to my chest and covering my face with my hands, silently.

Oh my god.

~POV Change~

Y/N curls up on herself, hiding her face and the bottle between her legs and her tummy and doesn’t make much noise except a quick, quiet whimper. She’s acting different, in a bad way. Why isn’t she talking to him, Jason wonders? Why isn’t she being loud? Is she okay?

Looking around the van, because he has to go in there and see if she’s okay- get her out of that body-cocoon, Jason crawls into the vehicle that he’s never dared to touch since the first night they met, and it breathes under his weight a little bit. He sits down next to her, crossing his legs and watching her for a while. What… to do… now… hmm…

Finally, he decides putting his hand on her shoulder might work to get her attention at least, and she does relax her shoulders quickly at the contact. Then looks up, face red, at him before wiping her face again and crawling suddenly into his lap. She takes a deep breath, regaining some of her usual colour and composure as Jason just sits solid and c o m p l e t e l y still beneath her, flashing him a quick, toothless smile. “Thank you for finding this Jason, it’s important to me.” She looks at the bottle in her hands, not wanting to put it down and risk losing it again even as she knows its irrational that she would do it twice in a row. “Its… how I keep him away… “

Y/N looks up at Jason, eyebrows risen up her forehead to watch him cautiously, worriedly, looking for signs. Did he understand what you were talking about? And if so, is he okay at the mention of your father?

He’s just completely unmoving still. Y/N blinks at the utter lack of responce. “Jason?”

When she still doesn’t receive a response, she taps his mask gently. “Jaaaason?”

That gets his attention, as he looks down at her face… and nods. A wonky smile that makes his somehow-still-beating heart flutter weirdly appears on her face and she looks outside instead. “So, what did you come to see me for? Ya just missed me? Hah, I missed you too cutie. How about we go for a walk? Its pretty today- ah.” When Jason’s big arms suddenly, slowly take action and wrap heavily around her, she’s pleasantly surprised. Her anxieties and panic from earlier all but slip from their knot in her chest and disappear at the action, and she responds by turning properly to her side in his lap so she can lean into his chest. “Oor we could cuddle. That sounds better anyway!~”

She taps the side of his face affectionately before closing her eyes, and he lets his own half lid themselves at the feeling of her so close to him. She’s so cute and warm. Its weird, but he thinks- if someone were to come right now in this moment, and not be loud and not do anything to Y/N or him… he would probably let them go.

(Well at least until he let her go.)