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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years ago

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Spilled Pearls

- Chapter 20 - ao3 -

“Your brother has been acting strange,” Lan Yueheng said, his voice drifting in through the open door.

He was crouched down in the dirt, happily gathering a small harvest from the plants he’d grown outside Lan Qiren’s window. Most of the materials he used for his alchemy experiments he obtained from the specialized fields in the Cloud Recesses, but there were some variants that the sect members in charge of those fields disfavored on account of certain pharmacological side effects associated with them. Lan Yueheng had prevailed on his friendship with Lan Qiren to beg, at some considerable length, that he be allowed to grow those variants in the area near Lan Qiren’s rooms – he’d argued that no one would ever think to check there on account of Lan Qiren’s rule-abiding reputation.

Lan Qiren had pointed out that there were no actual rules against growing those plants - they were only disfavored, not disallowed - thereby rendering the entire issue with people checking for it moot, but Lan Yueheng had insisted and eventually he’d yielded.

Let Lan Yueheng grow his nightmare plants wherever he liked. What did he care? He wasn’t using that patch of land for anything in particular, and it was nice to have a reason to see Lan Yueheng on a regular basis.

“Strange how?” Lan Qiren asked, finishing off the final stroke of a painting. He didn’t like it, but then again, he never liked any of the paintings he did for himself – they were too stiff and unfeeling, in his view, lacking spirit and movement no matter what he tried. His favorite painting was still the antique Wen Ruohan had left on his wall all that time ago, a lively little landscape with burnt edges suggesting that it had been hastily recovered from a fire at some point; he’d never replaced any of the things his sworn brother had gotten for him.

“I’m not sure how to describe it. Just strange,” Lan Yueheng said. “I don’t know how many people have noticed yet, him being pretty standoffish and above-it-all at the best of times, but it’s not the usual sort of thing for him.”

Lan Yueheng was like Lan Qiren; they were good at noticing patterns, however bad they were at figuring out the meanings behind it. If Lan Yueheng said it wasn’t normal, it probably wasn’t.

Lan Qiren rubbed at his forehead, suppressing the desire to go figure out the problem right away. “I don’t think I can help,” he said instead. “He doesn’t like to see me, remember?”

“He’s important to the sect,” Lan Yueheng said peaceably, and Lan Qiren loved him all over again for not saying he’s still your brother. “You might not like him, but you like the sect. So you have to help figure it out.”

Lan Qiren did not like it when Lan Yueheng was right about things. It gave him a strange itchy feeling of dissatisfaction.

“Someone else could figure it out,” he argued. “He’s sect leader now, remember? His well-being is everyone’s responsibility.”

“But you’re the one who’s good at figuring out weird stuff.”

“Do not tell lies,” Lan Qiren grumbled, but he still put away his things and went to see his brother – who wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Any of the places he was supposed to be.

That was strange.

Lan Qiren’s brother was talented and powerful, skilled and meticulous; he was too proud of his status and accomplishments to shirk work. Whatever had drawn him away must have been very compelling indeed – or so Lan Qiren thought.

He wasn’t expecting, when he finally tracked down his brother through a tracker spell utilized on an old comb, to find him walking through the forest alongside a young woman, sword at his side as if he were night-hunting.

“I am night-hunting,” he said when Lan Qiren asked him. “I’m escorting Mistress He.”

Lan Qiren turned to look at the girl.

She smiled at him in a perfunctory sort of fashion. She was beautiful in a way that reminded Lan Qiren a little of Cangse Sanren, though her looks were very different – more refined and elegant, more delicate and less down-to-earth, thoroughly lacking the vaguely unsettling undertones so characteristic of Baoshan Sanren’s disciple, but no less lovely in her own way.

“Qingheng-jun was just showing me the lay of the land,” she said coolly. “If you need him to return, of course, I won’t keep him.”

“There’s nothing else I need to do,” he said at once, which was such a blatant lie that Lan Qiren’s jaw dropped.

The girl glanced over at him and looked amused, saluting briefly: “He Kexin, a rogue cultivator,” she introduced herself. She shouldn’t have needed to; per etiquette, Lan Qiren’s brother should have introduced them, but he was clearly too far into his own world to care for such niceties. “And you are…?”

“Gusu Lan sect’s Lan Qiren,” Lan Qiren said on automatic, returning the salute. “I’m – his brother.”

“Oh?” she said. “In that case, you must have plenty to talk about. Anyway, there doesn’t seem to be much night-hunting here, so I’ll be leaving.”

Lan Qiren’s brother saluted deeply. “I hope to see you again soon, Mistress He.” His voice was gentler than Lan Qiren had ever heard it.

She waved a careless hand in half-hearted agreement as she went, but Lan Qiren’s brother stared after her departing figure until she was out of sight. Only when she was fully gone did he turn away, and when he did, he turned only in order to glare at Lan Qiren.

“Why did you interrupt us?” he asked, and his voice had gone back to its usual cold remove. “We were finally spending some time together alone, without those friends of hers crowding in and bothering us.”

Lan Qiren glanced in the direction that He Kexin had gone. “I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference,” he said hesitantly. “If you’re alone or with her friends, I mean. I don’t think – I don’t think that she likes you all that much.”

Lan Qiren had no natural social skills, not like his brother, who was charming enough to draw most people in despite or perhaps because of his cool and distant demeanor, but in sheer self-defense he had worked very hard to categorize and identify a variety of unspoken signals utilized by people in order to try to figure out logically what he couldn’t do intuitively. While he was still terrible at identifying indications of positive interest of any sort, as Cangse Sanren was always teasing him, he had gotten much better at detecting negative signs that indicated disinterest, indifference, or boredom.

“She likes me well enough,” his brother said, his tone oddly defensive. “She’s reserved, that’s all – you really can’t tell who she secretly likes or doesn’t. She’s a brilliant cultivator, sharp as a blade and clever as anything; it’s no wonder that she’s kind to others in equal measure as well…”

“But -”

“She makes me feel free,” his brother said, cutting him off. “She’s just - she’s smart and she’s talented and she’s fearless, unrestrained and untamed. There’s nothing weighing her down or holding her back. She bears no expectations and no pressure, and nothing has ever forced her, molded her development in this way or that; she lives her life just drifting on the breeze, complete untethered, and when I’m with her I feel the same, and I’ve never felt that way…”

He trailed off, eyes oddly dreamy, and then suddenly he seemed to come back to himself and remember to whom he was speaking. “Anyway, what do you know about women, Qiren? You’re as frigid as an icicle hanging in the window or a mountain lake in midwinter.”

Lan Qiren acknowledged the point, but he didn’t see its relevance. “If she doesn’t like you, she doesn’t like you,” he pointed out. “There’s nothing you can do about it –”

“Are you saying there’s nothing you actually wanted from me?” his brother interrupted, voice sharp now, almost angry. “Your presence is neither wanted nor needed here. Leave at once.”

“No, it’s just – you weren’t at the hanshi, and there’s work to be done.”

“So what? I’ll do it later.”

“You’re sect leader now. You have duties,” Lan Qiren said. “You can’t just go out night-hunting whenever you wish –”

“You said it yourself, I’m sect leader - me, and me alone!” his brother snapped. “From what I recall, that makes me the one who gives the orders, not you. Now get lost!”

Lan Qiren blinked, shocked at the fierceness of the rebuke, and watched as his brother strode away – in the direction He Kexin had gone, rather than back towards the Cloud Recesses.

This, he thought to himself, is a problem.

It was, too. His brother abandoned his duties more and more often, avid in his pursuit of He Kexin, who he had invited to stay for a while at the Cloud Recesses with the friends she was travelling with. She did, as he’d said, seem to like him well enough, but it seemed clear that her regard was far more cursory than his own - and not just to Lan Qiren, either.

Lan Qiren was roped in by the elders to help do some of the work his brother was neglecting, at first a little and then more. It got in the way of his own preparations, and started getting on his nerves, too.

“You don’t understand,” one of his teachers told him when he tried to resist the notion of spending a large chunk of his time on sect paperwork instead of practicing music. “Love, for our sect, is a powerful thing. When it comes unexpectedly, it is wild and irresistible, like a river bursting through a dam and overflowing its banks. It’s no surprise that your brother is so focused on winning his bride – and all for the best, too. He has to have heirs to inherit one day.”

Lan Qiren didn’t disagree with that, naturally. He certainly didn’t want to be stuck being his brother’s heir any longer than he had to. It was only…

“Just because he’s in love with her doesn’t mean she’s going to be his bride,” he said, and wondered a little spitefully why it was just assumed that he didn’t understand what it meant to love someone. Just because he didn’t feel it the same way as they did didn’t make his heart any less a Lan. “I don’t know why you’re all being so stubborn about this. A woman knows her own mind - just because he offers himself doesn’t mean she has to accept.”

“Stop saying such inauspicious things,” his teacher scolded. “You should be wishing your brother luck, instead.”

“He doesn’t need luck,” another teacher, the one for swordsmanship, put in. “He needs more of a backbone. Doesn’t she have a father he can talk to?”

That started up another debate on the relevance of the opinion of the young in setting their own marriages, an old classic, and Lan Qiren sighed and took his leave. He winced when he realized that his brother was not far away, standing with He Kexin in one of the nearby gardens – at his brother’s cultivation level, there was little chance he hadn’t heard the subject of their conversation, and indeed his glare indicated that he had. He Kexin wasn’t looking his way, but Lan Qiren suspected she might’ve heard some as well.

His suspicions were borne out the next day, much to his misfortune.

“Mistress He!” he exclaimed, groping around wildly for his clothing. He’d been humming his way through a new stanza while taking a bath, having taken a day off to wash his hair, only to turn around and see her standing there in the middle of his quarters. “What are you – I’m not dressed – these are my rooms!”

“I know,” she said, not moving.

Lan Qiren decided his dignity was more important than his health and reached out to yank his clothing into the bath with him, ignoring how they got heavy and soaked with water; he pulled on his inner robes and, once attired, he clambered out, rather annoyed. Just because He Kexin was a rogue cultivator didn’t excuse her from knowing manners, and just because she was his brother’s favorite, granted the freedom to wander wherever she would within the Cloud Recesses, didn’t give her the right to violate his privacy. “Mistress He –”

“You’re cute,” she said, and he stared at her, aghast. “Not quite as handsome as your brother, nowhere near as charming, and the way you drone on is rather annoying, but at least you have some respect for a woman’s wishes, and that face of yours isn’t bad. You’re not courting anyone at present, is that right?”

“I’m not,” he said, taken aback. “But what –”

“Good,” she said, and the next thing he knew she was in his arms, trying to kiss him. It was only through his quick reaction that he was able to turn his face away and avoid it.

“Mistress – Mistress He!”

“Keep your voice down,” she said, sounding amused even as she groped him in an intimate place. “It’s part of the plan, eventually, but it’d still be a pity for us to get caught before we get to the fun part.”

“I don’t – I’m not – I don’t want – let go of me!”

“Are you a virgin?” she laughed. “For shame, a man of your age. Just relax, you’ll like it soon enough –”

Lan Qiren’s brother had described He Kexin as a brilliant cultivator, and he’d been right; for all that she was a rogue cultivator, lacking the resources of a Great Sect, she was talented and promising, a powerful sword cultivator in her own right, and her grip on Lan Qiren’s body was relentless.

Lan Qiren tried first to get away from her without harming her, but she wouldn’t let go of him, pulling open his robes and even burying her teeth into his throat – that was the straw too far for him; he whistled a series of notes, short and sharp, the burst of qi shocking her grip loose, and then he threw her as far away from him as he could, knocking her into the opposite wall.

“Kexin!”

Lan Qiren turned: it was his brother rushing in through his door, falling down to his knees in front of her to examine her to make sure she wasn’t injured, and then turning to look at Lan Qiren, his eyes aflame with rage.

Lan Qiren glanced down at himself: robes askew and sopping wet, scratches on his chest and a bite on his neck.

“No,” he said, abruptly realizing how he must look, how they must look. Part of the plan, He Kexin had said; she must have known that her brother wouldn’t leave her alone for very long, and she’d clearly intended on using Lan Qiren as a means to get his brother to give up on his pursuit. Very few men would continue to chase a woman that spurned them for their own younger brother, especially one they didn’t much like. “It’s not – I didn’t –” Denial wasn’t going to help. “Do not succumb to rage!”

“Do not engage in debauchery,” his brother snapped back, rising to his feet. “Do not break faith!”

Lan Qiren took a step back, and then another. “Do not make assumptions about others.”

His brother wasn’t listening, though, and Lan Qiren found himself slammed against his own wall, held up and strangled by his own collar, his favorite painting falling to the ground from the force of it.

“How dare you,” his brother hissed, his eyes red. “How dare you touch her –”

“I didn’t! She was the one who –”

The next slam of Lan Qiren’s body against the wall jarred his teeth so hard that he bit his tongue to bleeding, and knocked his brain all around his skull. His brother was still talking, he thought, but he couldn’t hear him over the ringing in his ears. It belatedly occurred to him that using the same excuse as every rapist in history – she was asking for it, she was the one who initiated, it was all her – was probably not a good idea, even if in his case it was actually true.

He opened his mouth to try to defend himself, but his brother’s fist hit his stomach before he could speak, all the air knocking out of him.

“And then you – you hurt her –”

“Qingheng-jun, leave him be! It wasn’t him at all, you’re misunderstanding. I only wanted – ”

His brother threw him away, all his attention drawn away by his love, and Lan Qiren stumbled inelegantly on his way down, his feet slipping on the wet floor and tripping him up, and his head slammed hard against the corner of his bathtub as he fell down. As he sank to the floor, his vision going black, he thought blearily that the concussion he was undoubtedly going to have might even be worth it if only it meant that his brother would finally give up on his mad and hopeless pursuit of He Kexin already.

He did not.

#mdzs #lan qiren #qingheng-jun #he kexin #my fic #my fics #spilled pearls #mind the ao3 tags

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streetlight11 · 3 years ago

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Dystopia pt 8 (FINALE)

Summary: You were an Amity born. You were taught to value kindness and harmony. But you also valued bravery and knowledge. After the test to see which faction best suited you, you were given the choice to either stay in your faction or leave. When you chose to leave your faction for another, your whole life changed and you wondered if it was the right decision. You pondered over it at first, all until you met him.

Theme: Divergent au, strangers to lovers

Genre: mild action [I tried], angst, fluff, slowburn

Warnings: mentions of blood and violence

WC: 3.6k

Pairing: Trainer!Jungkook x Initiate!FemReader

Tips: In this whole series, Y/N is a few years younger than JK. Those who were initiates like Y/N that just ended the Choosing Ceremony, are all the same age. None of these characters portray who the mentioned people are in real life whatsoever! It's just a fictional character!

a/n: Hello! Guess what? You made it to the end! I know this is a short series but I'm more than thankful if you have made it this far. Although it's quite short for a finale, I hope I didn't disappoint you too much! But anyways, here's the final part for this series :) Enjoyyy

~~~

With hurried steps, all three of them quickly hollered their way through the facility in hopes that they would reach the dorms in time. Jungkook’s heart was beating so fast against his chest, unsure if he could even calm himself down knowing something bad had happened to you. That was the last thing he wanted. From the day he saw you a few weeks back, he knew he would like you.

He knew there was something about you that leaves him being all clammy and nervous despite his amazing skill at hiding his emotions. Jungkook never knew he would manage to get close to you, thinking it was impossible considering he was a trainer and you were an initiate.

However, it looks like fate has a different plan for you and him when he saw you training by yourself in the middle of the night. That was when he first got to have a close interaction with you.

Even though it was just him teaching you basic tips on how to improve your skills for each of the different skill sets, he still got to talk to you and also earn your trust after a while. And as the days gradually went by, it was needless to say that Jungkook had grown so fond of you and even had a crush on you.

Yes, a Dauntless Trainer having a crush on a Dauntless Initiate.

How cute.

Ultimately, it all goes downhill for him as he finally arrives at the shared dormitory, only to find the rest of the initiates crowding around at one spot. The minute Jungkook and Changkyun pushed through the crowd, their hearts stopped for a millisecond upon seeing what the fuss was about.

There you were, cradled in Hyunjae’s arms as Gahyeon was crying with her hands desperately pressing what looks to be a completely blood soaked towel against your throat.

Your throat has been slit, not too deep to kill you but just enough to render you voiceless.

You were just turning around on your bed when you peeked your eyes open out of instinct, feeling as though you were being watched. Except, you weren’t expecting for it to be legit. Because the minute you opened your eyes, there was a hooded figure looming over you with a hand raised to their head level with what looks to be a knife from the Training Room.

Fuck!

Before your mind could react, your body seemed to move faster as your arms swiveled to a cross position over your face right when the person launched his attack to your head.

With the tip of its blade just barely missing your right eye socket.

You used all your energy to shove their hand away using your arms, only to kick their stomach harshly. They stumbled back a little before lunging back at you. However, you quickly rolled out of bed to your left, falling to the ground with a soft thud just as they plunged the blade into the mattress right where your chest would’ve been.

You rushed to your feet, making a break for it to the open toilet but your steps faltered when you felt a sharp stab to your calf.

“Ah! Fuck!” You loudly hissed to yourself.

The blade got pulled out of your leg harshly, only for you to flip around on the ground.

The person kneeled over you as they tried to stab you in the face again but you managed to grab their wrist with both hands. They were strong. A little too strong if you say so yourself. However, for some reason, you felt like you knew this person.

You were struggling. You were struggling hard to push their hand away. Mustering whatever strength you had left, you used all your power to push them back.

For a moment, you were glad that they nearly fell off you.

However, you weren’t mentally and physically ready for what he was about to do next. And that was for him to make one swift swing of his arm. It all happened so fast, you didn’t even realize what he did until you felt something wet trickle down your neck. You tried to curse at them but instead you were shocked when nothing came out of your mouth.

That wasn’t until one of your hands reached up for your throat and you felt it.

The open slit, the feeling of wet liquid, your nostrils filling with the strong smell of copper, and finally, bringing your fingers up to see your fingers coated in your own red crimson blood.

Your mouth hung agape as you tried to speak but there was nothing. Tears welled up in your eyes as the person got up and smirked down at you.

“Goodnight loser. I hope you rot in hell.”

They soon took off running, leaving you there helpless with no voice to scream for help, to tell people who did it. But of course, you weren’t stupid. Despite the lack of light, only an idiot couldn’t catch on easily. For there is only one person who calls you ‘Loser’ right from the start. Your doubts were confirmed the minute that nickname left their lips.

Dumb move Yeonjun.

Since you couldn’t scream for help, you slowly began to drag yourself across the room, leaving a long trail of blood behind your leg where you got stabbed only to reach the end of Gahyeon’s bed.

With one swift grasp, you managed to hold onto her shirt and that was enough to wake her.

It took her a second to realize what happened until she saw the trail of blood on the floor and your bleeding throat that you were desperately putting pressure on. She let out a shrilling scream before yelling for help from the others. Everyone began to panic at the gruesome scene, making Hyunjae cradle you while Yunho rushed out to get help.

Jungkook carried you to the hospital wing, with Gahyeon, Hyunjae, Yunho and Changkyun tagging along. One of the nurses inspected your injury, seeing that you’ve lost quite a bit of blood. She mentioned that they had to give you some blood in order to save you and they have to be the same blood type as yours. After much inspection, it was clear that only Jungkook and Hyunjae shared the same blood type as you.

Both of them offered to donate some of their blood to you to save your life. While the two were being drawn of their blood, Changkyun went ahead and brought the other two back to their dormitory to rest. You were already laying there on the medical bed unconscious which means you couldn’t feel the way Gahyeon gently gave your blood coated hands a small squeeze.

“Please be okay, Y/N.” She whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. Yunho comforted the girl before they both left with Changkyun.

A few minutes later, the nurse managed to collect as much blood as you probably needed after losing them quite a bit. She placed a bandaid over the spots where she injected the tube in their arms. After she was done, she dismissed the two boys but Jungkook asked if he could stay.

She nodded, setting up the equipment so that the blood she collected from the two gentlemen could be transferred into your body through the IV in your hand.

Hyunjae left after caressing the top of your head, wishing you a speedy recovery.

The nurse went ahead and disinfected your wounds before suturing the open cuts and wrapping them with bandages. Once she was done, she excused herself, leaving you alone with Jungkook as the male went over to scoot his chair closer to your side. Jungkook carefully reaches for your hand that didn’t have the needle attached. He brings it up to his lips, kissing your knuckles softly.

“I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’m sorry this happened to you Y/N. You truly don’t deserve this…” Jungkook whispered as he stood up to plant a gentle kiss on your forehead.

He felt sorry. He felt sick. He felt confused. But more importantly, he felt furious at whoever did this to you. Of course he didn’t know who but you knew.

You woke up to a sharp pain in your throat, feeling it get itchy like an unusual sore throat. The prickling pain in your right calf made your leg jolt as you shot your tired eyes open. The morning sun filled the room. You carefully looked around to find you alone in the room which looks to be the hospital wing.

Memories from last night suddenly came flashing into your mind like a tsunami, and yet, you still couldn’t wrap your mind around it.

Did that really happen?

Was it all a dream?

You almost didn’t want to believe it until your hands reached up to your throat and you felt the soft material of the bandage taped onto your neck. Of course, your stubbornness was trying to make you think otherwise so you opened your mouth to speak.

Truth be told, nothing comes out of your mouth. Absolutely nothing. Not even a sound.

Your thoughts were swirling, a million things running across your head at that very moment. From the incident last night to the final evaluation test you were supposed to have today. The test was supposed to determine your final results of your initiation. It was supposed to determine whether you get to stay in Dauntless or you get kicked out and become Factionless.

Of course, there are two ways of getting that second option. First is by failing Stage 3, and second is of course by not attending the final test at all.

How wonderful.

As your mind was swirling with these complications, you completely missed the figure that was making their way to you. It wasn’t until they were a few feet from you that you looked up only to lock eyes with Jungkook.

Immediately, a whole swarm of emotions came rushing through you as you began to cry. Jungkook rushed over to you, only to hush you.

“Shh… Shh… Don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re fine. I’m here.” Jungkook cooed as he held you in his arms, feeling the way your arms wrapped around his waist tightly like you were afraid he might disappear if you let go. His heart swelled upon feeling his shirt get soaked from your tears.

Your silent cries only made his heart drop even more. Jungkook caressed the back of your head lovingly, making sure to give you small reassuring kisses to the side of your head as a way to hopefully calm you down.

You both stayed like that for a bit before he sang you a sweet song in your ear.

Jungkook felt your body relax in his touch, happy that his singing made you calmer. After a while, he pulled away slowly to look you in the eye. How is it possible that you are just sitting there crying your eyes out and yet you still looked beautiful? Or maybe it’s just him.

Who knows.

Nevertheless, he wipes your tears with his thumbs and soon smiles down at you.

“You’re so strong. You’re a strong girl Y/N. And I really admire you for that.” He whispered. You couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile when you felt him boop your nose with his own. You had so much to say to him. So much you wanted to share with him. Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on your side today. Just then, Jungkook’s smile faltered and it made you curious.

You reached for his wrist where his hand was just cupping your face softly, to catch his attention. You silently asked him what’s wrong through your worried eyes, hoping he could read your mind.

Thankfully, he did.

“The final stage… It starts in 5 minutes. I talked to the leaders about your current condition. I tried my best to change their mind, Changkyun did try too… Unfortunately, the leaders made an agreement to… disqualify you, which means… y-you…” Jungkook paused as he struggled to convey the message to you but you already knew what it meant.

You violently shook your head at him. You had to redeem yourself. You didn’t plan for this to happen. You were forced to be in this damn medical bed out of your own will. Oh if only they saw who did this to you, would they gladly throw him to the Factionless.

“Decision has been made. Since you can’t physically be there, you’re immediately disqualified.” Jungkook said as you shook your head again. There must be something about the way you were staring at him because at that very moment, it was as though you sent him a message through telepathy.

“Wait a minute… For the final test, you don’t need to talk. You… just need to be physically there for the simulation.” Jungkook said in realization as your eyes lit up.

“Does that mean… she’s immediately disqualified?” Gahyeon asked sadly, only for Hyunjae to nod.

“I mean, technically according to the rules, you are supposed to be here physically for the final test… So, I guess that’s true then…” Hyunjae said.

The rest of them who were gathered by the side of the hall where the final stage would take place, shared mostly the same emotions about you not being able to join them which would render you as Factionless by default even after all your hard work.

However, it looks like someone couldn’t care less about you not making it.

“Who cares? She doesn't belong in Dauntless anyway.” Yeonjun rolls his eyes as he walks to the front, leaning against one of the pillars. Your friends exchanged a few glances to one another, not feeling good about the way he said that. A few minutes passed, and they had just finished the test with the third person on the list. All the initiates were anxious as they waited for their turn. Soon enough, the Dauntless leader calls out the next name to be on stage.

“Y/F/N.”

With that, the room fell silent as the initiates looked at each other with deep frowns on their faces. A few beats of silences went by, not a single sign of you anywhere. Meanwhile, Yeonjun had that devilish smirk on his face as he felt satisfied with your lack of presence.

Unfortunately, just as the leader was about to call out the next person on the list, Jungkook’s voice echoed around the hall from the opposite end of where the initiates were gathered. That’s when Jungkook emerged through the double doors with you beside him.

He had one arm wrapped around your waist as you limped your way to the platform where the chair was waiting for you. Your friends cheered for your arrival as they shouted a string of goodlucks to you. Yeonjun growled, totally not expecting to find you still alive.

Maybe he didn’t cut you deep enough.

You immediately recognized the lady who was prepping the tools to put you into simulation, to be the same lady you met on your Initiation test.

After you sat down, Jungkook gave your waist a little squeeze before he smiled down at you and whispered, “Goodluck.”

He soon left your side as the lady asked you if you were ready. You gave her a small nod, letting her inject the needle into your neck right below your ear.

Once the serum had been injected into your system, it took effect right away, bringing you to your first simulation. It was the same simulations you went through during your Stage 2. They were all of your fears connecting one simulation to the other. You managed to remember what Jungkook taught you during the past few weeks and how to properly handle each situation like a fellow Dauntless.

The minute your last simulation ended, you woke up calmly only for the lady to smile.

“You did well.” She complimented you as she helped you sit up. Jungkook came to your side and very gently led you off the platform.

“Good job. Looks like my tips worked huh?” Jungkook asked, to which you smiled, feeling shy all of a sudden. He guided you to the side only for your friends to rush over to you.

“Sweetie! You’re okay! How are you?” Gahyeon asked as she hugged you, making you return her hug. You showed an ‘okay’ sign with your hand before Yunho ruffled your hair. “Of course you are, you’re a beast Y/N.” His comment made some of them laugh, including you. Just then, your eyes drifted to your left only to meet Yeonjun’s fiery eyes.

All you wanted to do was throw him in The Pit. The last thing you wanted was to see his competitive ass everyday from now on.

However, you weren’t going to kill him despite all the pain he’s caused you.

After letting you meet up with your friends, Jungkook brought you back to his penthouse to let you rest. He carefully laid you down on his bed, pulling his blanket up to your chest while you snuggled into his side with your head resting on his chest. Jungkook chuckled as he caressed your hair, tucking them behind your ear, making sure to let his fingers softly trace the side of your face as he did so.

“No matter what the results are, I’m never leaving your side. That, I can promise you.” Jungkook said softly as you tilted your head up to look at him. You wished you could speak. You wished you could verbally say this to him outloud. Unfortunately you couldn’t.

In the end, you opted for the saying ‘Actions speak louder than words’ and so, with that being said, you lifted your head up and used your left elbow to prop your body up on the mattress.

Jungkook watched you carefully as you slowly leaned in only to press your lips softly on his. Almost instantly, he wrapped one arm around your waist while the other allowed his fingers to tangle into your soft locks. You reached a hand up to cup his cheek, letting your thumb trace the scar he had on his left cheekbone. You felt him smile against your lips as he pulled away for a breath.

His eyes fluttered open to find your cute ones staring back at him. Jungkook couldn’t help but chuckle as he gently massaged your scalp in a calming manner.

“If that is your way of telling me what I think it is, then I’ll be the one to confirm verbally that I feel the same way too…” Jungkook’s voice was smooth and sultry in your ears, it almost made you melt into a puddle. Almost.

So with one more kiss from him, your heart raced in your chest as he pulled away to let his lips hover over yours before he said the words you’ve been meaning to tell him.

“I love you Y/N.”

Prologue

6 months had passed, you ended up staying in Dauntless together with Gahyeon, Hyunjae and Yunho. Right after the final stage, you gave Jungkook the weapon Yeonjun used to attack you the night before the final stage. After investigating the weapon and finding evidence that confirms Yeonjun was indeed the attacker, he was immediately thrown out of Dauntless. Rendering him Factionless.

Yes, that jerk deserved it.

Yunho was given the role of a guard due to his unfortunate ranking but hey, at least he wasn’t Factionless.

Gahyeon was a trainer for Dauntless-born initiates while you and Hyunjae were trainers for faction transfers. Although, you only started becoming one after the 3rd month when you were starting to be able to talk again.

And how was your relationship with Jungkook, might I ask?

Well, just splendid.

Your relationship with him only grew stronger each day as he took care of you during the first few months when you still had difficulties to talk. He was always there for you when you needed someone to back you up in heated arguments.

Jungkook took you to visit your parents the day after the final stage. No doubt your parents got upset over what happened to their daughter, they were more than thankful that you were still alive and that Jungkook was there to keep you sane. As the months go by, Jungkook’s feelings for you bloomed.

Today was another day of training for you and your initiates where you managed to guide the new initiates along with Hyunjae’s help.

You were just standing off to the side, letting Hyunjae take over for the knife throwing session when you suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrapping itself around your waist. You giggled as you turned your head to find Jungkook’s face just mere inches away from yours.

“Not here, love… We’re in the middle of training.” You whispered, earning a soft chuckle from him before he peppered your cheek with kisses.

“Can’t I just give my beautiful girlfriend some loving kisses before I go to my meeting?” Jungkook teased, making you giggle.

“Aren’t you being needy?” You laughed.

“Only when I miss you…”

“We literally saw each other an hour ago, Kook.”

“I know.” Jungkook grinned cutely at you only for you to push his face away gently while you laughed.

“Hmm, needy indeed.”

“Hey…” He pouted at you. Of course your heart couldn’t bear to see his sad pout so you turned to face him completely. Reaching up with both hands to hold his face, you pressed your lips on his before pulling away to see his silly smile on his face.

“I love you.” You whispered as you felt him hug you.

“I love you more.”

That was the last thing you heard as Changkyun’s voice beckons your boyfriend over from a few feet behind Jungkook. “Come on lovebird, we gotta go… See you later Y/N.” Changkyun chuckled as he wiggled his index finger towards Jungkook. Your boyfriend gives you one last kiss before he jogs over to his older friend.

Maybe joining Dauntless wasn’t as bad as you thought after all.

~~~

a/n: Thank you for reading this series! Do check out my other fics if you're interested to read more of my writings! ❤️

Main Masterlist

Taglist: @moonchild1 @danyxthirstae01 @helenazbmrskai @jenna-posts @pimentelssmile

#bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts jk #bts jungkook #bts jeon jungkook #bts fluff #bts jk fluff #bts jungkook angst #bts jungkook fluff #jeon jungkook #jungkook x reader #dystopia series #bts x reader #bts divergent au

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magicalforcesau · 3 years ago

Text

Fragments of the Garden - Origins - part 1

A companion collection to Dancing With Ghosts in Your Garden

(ao3 link)

Getting into Diagon Alley had been a bit of an event, her mother had to take off work and get Bo up and off to school before they could finally head out. The time and place on the parchment had been specified down to the minute, but as they seemed to circle the same block for the hundredth time Satine started to wonder if maybe this was all some elaborate prank.

“I’m sorry, love,” her mother finally turned to her, “It’s supposed to be right here, but I don’t see a Leaky Cauldron anywhere along this stretch,” Satine looked back down at the parchment again, rereading the same message she had a thousand times since receiving it. Disappointment started to seep into her bones and she looked up in desperation, one last time scanning the buildings around them. Her eyes drifted just right of her mum and she lit up.

“It’s there!” Satine pointed her finger at the old iron sign dangling over the door, dripping water on passing pedestrians. When she glanced up at her mother though she was only met by confusion.

“Uh, what is dear?” Her mother’s eyes seemed to skim over the building without seeing it, and Satine was struck with an odd feeling of experiencing something that her family never would.

“The Leaky Cauldron,” Satine answered, grabbing her mum’s hand in her own, “I’ll show you,” Determined she pulled them across the street and up to the building, her mum still showed no signs of acknowledgement so Satine pulled open the door and dragged her inside.

“Oh,” the soft gasp came from behind her and she glanced back to see the surprised look on her mum’s face, it seemed entering the building was enough to break through whatever weird magic surrounded the place and she followed her mum’s gaze from the owls swooping through the windows to the dishes washing themselves in the kitchen.

“You must be the last of the muggleborns,” A creature was approaching them, eyes like a hammerhead shark and face long, it took Satine a moment of staring to realize that their mouth was on their neck, “You’re a little late, but I know we can be a little hard to find,” The creature pulled out a piece of parchment and skimmed it over, “So you’re the Kryze’s?”

“I’m Satine, and this is my mum,” She found herself answering for them, her mother looked a little pale so it was probably for the best.

“You can call me Jho,” they said pulling out a brown stick, that Satine realized with belated excitement was likely a magic wand, “Follow me and I’ll let you into Diagon Alley, make sure you buy a wand when you get in there, because otherwise you’re not getting back in,” they made a sound that she assumed was a laugh and she tugged on her mum’s hand in order to follow close behind.

“How many pounds is a wand?” She wondered aloud and Jho scoffed.

“Pounds. When you get inside you should first go to Gringotts, transfer over the amount your letter told you to bring and they’ll give you real money,” They were facing a brick wall and Jho turned back to them for a moment, “Welcome to Diagon Alley,” they turned back and tapped a pattern into the bricks with their wand and suddenly the whole wall melted away, bricks turning into themselves to get out of the way and a bustling path with funnily dressed people was revealed. Satine stepped through pulling her mum in with her and the wall closed up behind them.

“Hello you must be the Kryze’s,” They turned and were greeted by someone who looked almost human, but with white and blue pieces coming from her head instead of hair, “I’m Professor Shaak Ti from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, here to help our new muggleborns find their way in our world,” Satine’s mum stepped forward dropping her hand for the first time.

“It’s lovely to meet you. I must say I’m very overwhelmed,” Her mum had seemed to have gotten over the shock and Satine took the opportunity to tune out the grown-up talk and gaze around the new world she’d stepped into.

Owls seemed to be a common theme as they swooped around in broad daylight, landing near magical folks wearing a wide variety of interesting clothes. Most commonly seemed to be cloaks and funny hats, but she saw one witch wearing an outfit entirely made of feathers and hoped very much that her school uniform would not be something that itchy. Her attention was drawn next to the shop windows. There was one with a broom floating in the window, many children seemed to be gathering around it so she wondered if maybe it was a toy of some sort. A building with sweets in the window boasted such things as cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties instead of chocolate croissants and eclairs and she saw a tall wobbly looking stack of cauldrons in the next. Her eyes landed on another window jam packed with books and her heart leapt in excitement.

Satine had always been a reader. She read during both class and lunch, as well as nearly constantly at home and when she’d gotten her letter to Hogwarts, she’d read that too, but she hadn’t considered that a new world of people would provide her a new world of books to read. She found herself approaching the window, excited to read the spines until her mum was done talking when a flash of dark fabric bumped into her sending her falling backwards onto the cold stone pavement.

She looked up and her eyes met that of a witch’s, they were such a light blue they looked like ice, although Satine would maybe attribute some of that to the witch’s personality.

“Watch where you’re going, girl,” She spoke sharply, and the wizard behind her turned and rested his eyes on Satine too. His were a dark blue, but held the same kind of coldness, like how she imagined the bottom of the ocean would feel like.

“They’ll let anybody in here these days,” The first part was spoken under his breath, but not quiet enough for Satine to miss it, “We have more important things to worry about than another lost, muggleborn,” He turned on his heel and continued on.

“Don’t muggle parents teach any manners,” the witch also spoke as she turned to follow her companion further down the street.

Shocked and confused Satine continued to sit where she fell staring off after them. She jumped when suddenly a hand was thrust into her view.

“Need a hand?” She turned and looked at the newcomer, he was a boy near her own age, with a wide grin and warm brown eyes. She took his hand and he pulled her up, “Are you ok?”

“I think so,” She replied, but found herself still staring after the icy couple.

“Hey, whatever they said, don’t let it bother you,” The boy gained her attention again, “They’re pretty much as old-fashioned and traditional as you can get,”

“You know them?” Satine questioned.

“Yeah, the Kenobi’s,” the boy rolled his eyes, “My family used to attend their pureblood dinner parties until a couple years ago when my older brother Hevy lost his temper… But good riddance I’ll say, none of us Fett’s care too much about blood status politics anyways,” Satine’s head was reeling trying to make sense of it all.

“Purebloods?” Satine asked, too busy trying to catalogue all these new terms to ask it with a little more of her usual finesse.

“Purebloods are wizards whose family line is all magical,” He answered, and with the realization of who she likely was he continued, “There are halfbloods who have one magical parent and one muggle parent, and muggleborns who have 2 muggle parents.”

Satine thought back to the words the Kenobi’s had said to her and a new fire started burning in her chest. She had no time for such an old-fashioned way of thinking, she needn’t prove herself to them she’d been invited here and that was enough. Still they’d manage to plant a small seed of doubt in her mind.

“I hope I never see another Kenobi again,” She decided and the boy laughed loudly at that.

“I understand that sentiment,” He agreed, mirth still sparkling in his eyes, “By the way, the name’s Cody.”

***

Riding the train had been exciting, looking up at the castle had been extraordinary, but standing next to her peers waiting to be shepherded through the doors to the great hall was as nerve wracking as it could get.

Cody, who she’d written to a few times to test her new owl, Sundari, had explained a lot of wizard things, especially the sorting. Cody laughed at her on the train and said if there was any way she was anything, but a Ravenclaw he’d eat every vomit flavored jelly bean in Honeydukes. She was still nervous though, and as the time crept closer even Cody looked a little pale.

The doors swung open suddenly and they followed the prefects inside, each student taking a moment to admire the starry night sky, before they stopped before the stool with the old sorting hat resting upon it. Cody had mentioned that they changed up the order of ceremony a lot, sometimes they’d go in alphabetical order or the reverse. Or they’d just go at random, Satine hoped that whatever way they went she’d be one of the first to get things over with.

So of course, it was her luck when they decided to go in alphabetical order anyways. Cody was called before her of course. His name was spoken loudly and it made it easy to pick out his older brother, and fourth year, Hevy who cheered embarrassingly loudly for his little brother. Cody stepped up onto the stage and sat on the stool, the hat barely sat on his head for a moment before shouting out for Gryffindor. The red and gold table cheered loudly, and Cody was smothered in a headlock by his brother as soon as he reached it.

Satine waited patiently as names were called all the way through J and readied herself for the K’s before suddenly the man up front started calling for Z’s. She felt a spark of indignant rage as they started going in reverse which would leave her as one of the last to go, she cursed her own luck as she tried and failed to not look a little grumpy.

Finally, finally her own name rang out over the crowd, and she heard some cheering from the direction of Gryffindor table as she stepped up shakily onto the stage. The hat was dropped over her eyes and she heard its voice speak through her own thoughts.

“Oh, quite right, with a mind like this it can only be,”

“RAVENCLAW!” The hat was removed from her head and she looked across the large room to see the dark blue and silver table cheering passionately for their new member. She felt something warm settle over her as she walked over to the table and was patted on the back and high-fived all the way to her seat. She’d worried a bit about belonging, but to think her place in this school had been so easily found made her grin widely. She sat down and had a minute to collect herself while they called the next student, and then maybe she could start making friends with the other Ravenclaw first years-

“Obi-Wan Kenobi!”

At first, she’d thought she was imagining the hush that crossed the room at that name given her own ears suddenly seemed muffled. She threw her gaze onto the stage as a boy with perfectly styled hair, and finely pressed robes walked poised up the steps to the stage. The words of the older Kenobi’s, who could only be his parents, rang in her ears as she frantically made eye contact with Cody over at the Gryffindor table, who gave her a worried look and a shrug. They both turned back to the stage and waited for the final verdict of who would have to put up with the son of the most pretentious wizarding family in England.

***

When Obi-Wan Kenobi had first gotten his letter to Hogwarts, he’d reacted with the poise and manners that his mother had instilled in him since he was born.

“Your letter came today,” His mother had said, handing it over to him, “When your father gets home from work today, he will once again tell you what you are expected to do,” Obi-Wan didn’t spare a glance at the letter, instead keeping direct eye-contact with her.

“Yes Mother,” He replied as he had been instructed to do and she nodded in acknowledgement.

“Now leave me to my work, you may have the afternoon to reflect,” He gave her a short bow in thanks and used every ounce of willpower not to scurry out of the room. Once his mother was out of sight though, he let all pretenses drop and all but ran to his bedroom.

Throwing himself onto his bed (he mentally noted to remake it before his mother saw the wrinkles) he hugged the letter delicately to his chest and grinned in absolute elation.

He’d been dreaming about this moment for as long as he could remember, memories of bedtime stories from his parents, before they’d deemed him too old, about their own time at the school. The absolute honor that they felt having been chosen for Slytherin and how one day he too would get to experience it. He’d dreamed of the green and silver robes when he was a child, but as years passed and his responsibilities around the house grew and grew, he found himself these days just dreaming of the school itself.

He chided himself for thinking that way, but if he were honest with himself about his own selfish desires, he was wishing these days about being away from this house and away from the people within it. He knew he’d never escape the demands of his family and he would be foolish to ever try, but he certainly wouldn’t mind them not breathing down his neck every moment of the day.

Once again he shook his head, banishing the thoughts, he knew he was lucky to be a Kenobi such thoughts about his parents he really shouldn’t consider. They’d given him all the finest toys as a child, and on his 6th birthday when they’d swapped out all his toys for fancy robes, they’d gotten him only the best, plus, he remembered with excitement, they’d let him choose one sweet from Sugarplum’s and didn’t even bother to remind him that boys should not have such a fondness for chocolate.

This year, on his eleventh birthday, they’d given him the greatest gift a wizard could ever receive, he turned over on his bed eyeing the sleek Elder wand on his bedside table. It had been darkened with a varnish and there was a real strip of silver winding around the grip. It was his prized possession.

The reminder of the wand brought him back to the letter still gripped tightly in his hands. Gently he peeled back the wax seal, and pulled out the parchment within. He didn’t need to read the letter, already knowing exactly what it said, but that didn’t stop him from reading his name over and over again, wanting to memorize the script in case he was in a dream he would wake up from.

He eventually left the letter and the list, tucked back inside the envelope, on his nightstand. It was rare he had the afternoon off from chores or some sort of manners lesson, so he would be foolish to waste it daydreaming. He remade his bed, sheets perfectly smooth, and sat at his desk pulling out his father’s old transfiguration textbook for the hundredth time, flipping it back to page one.

***

When Professor Windu called his name, it all became real to him. He ignored the hushed whisper that fell across the hall, his parent’s reminders to stand up straight and walk with purpose echoing loudly in his head as he started forward. His palms were sweating, but he ignored it in favor of schooling his expression to be neutral, his eyebrows pulled together slightly as the whispers got louder and the hat stared at him funny, but his father's disappointed tone smoothed his expression once more. Once he had sat down on the stool, facing the audience, he knew from experience he did not look any part nervous.

“Well, well a Kenobi, welcome back,” the hat spoke as it slid down over his eyes. It was silent for much longer than he’d expected and he fought the urge to fidget, “You seem to think you’ll be assigned to Slytherin,” The hat commented finally.

“I’m a Kenobi,” He thought back as if it was obvious, “My place is in Slytherin, like my family before me,” The hat hummed which felt very odd, like a vibration through his skull.

“Your family has fit into the Slytherin name for generations,” The hat agreed and Obi-Wan mentally agreed with satisfaction.

Yes, he was certainly on his way to following the guides his father had set up for him, he’d be a Slytherin and make friends within it, work towards becoming a legislator and-

“It’s my place to determine where you will succeed,” The hat interrupted his thoughts to muse once more, “I think the best place for you would be-”

“RAVENCLAW!”

***

The hat had been silent for so long Satine had been starting to wonder if something was wrong. So, when the announcement had finally been made, she jumped in surprise before the words really registered within her mind.

“Ravenclaw,” She echoed in surprise, and the realization finally dawned on her. She watched as the pristine boy walked down from the stage, he still looked bland and neutral almost like he was bored by the whole thing and it made Satine rather mad. When he passed by her she ignored him, she would not cheer for someone like Kenobi. She did make eye contact with Cody again who seemed very surprised about something, but she would not have time to bother him about it now. The feast was beginning and even her disdain for Kenobi would have to wait until after such a marvelous feast was enjoyed.

***

The feast was everything he dreamed it would be, but he found himself staring at his empty plate rather than gathering anything for himself. The Silver plate was almost right, but the blue table cloth just kept the hat’s voice echoing in his head, ‘Ravenclaw!’

Him? A Ravenclaw, that hat had to be daft, and likely had it out for him, seeing as how his parents may actually kill him for this. It wasn’t even his first day here and he’d already failed them. Surely, he’d be forced to polish every single one of his fathers awards next time he was home. For this he may even have to shine all the dishes too. Though, he supposed, he’d be lucky if they didn’t lock him up in his room all winter break.

Him, A Ravenclaw! Sure, he liked learning, but didn’t that show his ambition? That was a Slytherin trait, right? And he supposed resourcefulness and creativity could be seen as similar traits. Maybe it was because he wouldn’t describe himself as cunning, but he couldn’t really see himself as witty either.

He noticed suddenly that there were eyes on him. He looked up from the table, suddenly realizing where he was and made automatic eye contact with a girl across the table from him. She was also a first-year judging by her robes, she had hair the color of wheat and eyes the color of the sky which she was using to glare at him now that she had his attention.

“Um, hello there,” He greeted, nearly biting off his own tongue for using a filler word, his father would really have his head come winter break, if this was the path he’d be going down.

“Don’t tell me you’re not planning to eat anything,” Her voice was filled with fire, “You know that’s quite rude,” He didn’t know what had provoked her, but he did realize that perhaps what she said may be true.

“Well, it’s not really your business, but I’ve no appetite this evening,” He retorted, but still glanced at the feast around him for something to take, he didn’t want to offend the staff. He reached for a roll, but suddenly the food vanished and the desserts appeared.

“Serves you right,” She said, before ignoring him in place of spooning pudding onto her own plate.

Obi-Wan stared at the desserts lining the table, there were many he’d always wanted to try and his eyes kept coming back to the chocolate pudding. He caught himself mentally begging the girl to call him out again as an excuse to have some, but she didn’t, so he just stared off across the room at the Slytherin table and listened to his mother’s voice echoing in his head.

#obi-wan kenobi #satine kryze #cc-2224 #commander cody #obitine #star wars #prequel trilogy #clone wars #magical forces au

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storysims · 4 years ago

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NIFTY KNITTING - GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW 🧶

Gameplay was what I was most excited for with this pack. As an irl crafter + crocheter, this is the dream! ✨ (Still would like a hobby pack though, EA).

I ended up going a lot more in-depth than I thought I would, so obvious “spoilers” under the cut.

I was provided with an early access copy of Nifty Knitting to review via the EA Game Changers program!

Getting started with the knitting skill is as easy as plopping a bag or basket of yarn into your sim’s inventory and picking something to create! At level one, you’ve got the choice between nine different beanie variations for all ages.

I noticed my sims had a tendency to gravitate towards rocking chairs for knitting, unless directed to sit elsewhere. You can pick their knitting spot by clicking on any sittable surface and telling them to knit in the pie menu.

Unfortunately, the bag or basket has to be in your sim’s inventory to do any sort of knitting. In my opinion, this sort of defeats the purpose of having yarn sitting around the home. It’s honestly a shame, since my apartment is covered in random bags of yarn and half finished projects. It doesn’t stop you from placing them for decoration, but it does make for some useless spending for sims on a budget. And honestly, what was the point of voting on what this looked like if we’re never going to see it outside of inventory?

Additionally, each sim will need their own basket of yarn in their inventory if multiple members of the household want to knit.

As your knitter progresses through the skill, more things will become available.

level one - beanies

level two - socks

level three - mailbox cozys, hanging plants

level four - rugs

level five - sweaters, the ‘teach to knit’ interaction

level six - poufs

level seven - decorations (cacti, turtle, octopus, penguin, llama)

level eight - toddler and baby onesies

level nine - sweaters with scarves

level ten - child toys (bear, grim reaper), mentoring sims in knitting

completed aspiration - yarny toy, yarny sculpture, ‘sacred knitting knowledge’ trait, bonus when teaching other sims, ability to dispel the sweater curse

I was honestly pretty disappointed that onesies require such a high skill level. I’ve really been looking forward to decking out all the babies in my 100 Baby Challenge in cute new clothes. Like I mentioned in my CAS review, I don’t foresee Day having the time to devote to knitting in the forseeable future, much less getting to level eight.

Thankfully, items are available to buy on Plopsy!

According to the gurus, Plopsy can also be used on the computer - but I never even thought to try it. I was honestly surprised that it was fully functional on the phone, both for buying and selling items.

Buying something on Plopsy is just like anything else in the game - funds are immediately deducted and the item can be found in your inventory. When purchasing clothes, you’ll need to select the item once it arrives in your inventory and hit ‘add to wardrobe’ in order for it to appear in CAS.

I specifically tested purchasing baby onesies, and it seems like a mod I have prevents them from actually being applied to the baby. I have no idea which one, but I tested two onesies purchased from Plopsy in a CC free game and had no issues.

Failed item variations cannot be purchased on Plopsy - your sims will have to make those all on their own!

Selling items on Plopsy is probably my favorite part of this pack, and has the potential to be a huge money maker! Most things your sim can craft with a quality value assigned to it will have the option to be listed online from the sim’s inventory. I was able to list paintings, woodworking sculptures, herbal brews, photographs, flower arrangements, potions, candles, and knitted items for sale!

One of my test sims knitted a sweater dress and the cost of yarn was deducted automatically from her household funds - §50. She listed the dress on Plopsy, and within 24 hours she had an offer of §747. 💰

After knitting and selling duplicates of several items, it definitely seems like the cost varies a bit depending on the buyer. But I was always able to sell at a profit.

Believe it or not, there are dangers to knitting! This pack doesn’t come with a new death, but instead a curse. In my opinion, this is a super fun change and I’m so glad for something different.

There’s a chance that when giving a significant other a knitted sweater, both sims will become cursed!

Oh no, you’re cursed! They say couples with the Sweater Curse are destined to break up, so be very, very careful. Maybe don’t try anything romantic for awhile, because it will not go well. The threads of fate can be cruel.

So naturally, I cursed Bob and Eliza and then spammed the hell out of romantic interactions. They were all rejected. Their relationship plummeted in the span of a few sim hours. I didn’t stick around to see if they would organically break up on their own, but it wasn’t looking good.

It’s worth noting that I was never able to get this to work while they were married, but the second I demoted them to dating they got hit with this nasty seven day long moodlet. So if you plan on gifting sweaters to significant others, it’s definitely worth completing the aspiration.

As fun as the failed knitting items and the forbidden sweater look in CAS, there are consequences to wearing them in game!

The moment a sim puts them on, they’ll receive a negative moodlet:

Itchy Knits (From Clothing Item) It’s as if a thousand tiny insects are nibbling the flesh!

I’m a little disappointed that these aren’t feasibly wearable in game, but I’m sure someone will fix it with custom content. It does add another unique repercussion to knitting, though!

On a more wholesome note, the ‘teach to knit’ interaction is absolutely adorable. 🥰 Knox sat down with Bee, his daughter with my simself, and got her skill all the way to level four!

Children can knit on their own without being taught, just like adults. But I have very fond memories of my grandma teaching me to crochet as a kid, so this was an interaction I was SUPER excited to see in the game.

I still feel like this is a small pack as far as physical content goes, but the gameplay is pretty fun. Plopsy is an amazing feature, and I definitely see myself using it often! Both with buying and selling, I really feel like it adds another layer to the game and gives more self employment opportunities for sims that don’t want a traditional career.

There’s a bit of gameplay I feel like I didn’t get the chance to fully explore yet, but I’m looking forward to integrating it all into my game.

My initial reaction to playing this pack was disappointment, but I honestly think my expectations were too high. This is a stuff pack, it’s bound to be small. After a few days to sit and play around with it, the gameplay specifically grew on me. I still have a lot of mixed feelings - some things I really like and some things I’m just not crazy about at all (cough cough, buy mode. why did everyone vote in crazy pastels? it matches NOTHING).

But with tempered expectations in mind, I would ultimately recommend this pack for the gameplay elements alone - especially to crafters. As always, different people enjoy different things. If this style of gameplay isn’t your cup of tea, pass it up or wait for a sale!

#the sims 4 #ts4 #ts4 nifty knitting #eagamechangers #review

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bl1ndbraavosi · 4 years ago

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White violet or huckleberry for kakasaku 🥺

eeeeep this was soooo much fun THANK YOU

ok tbh i wanted to do smth for each of these prompts but my brain is EMPTY so i offer u this piece for huckleberry - simple pleasures

send me a prompt!!

“We’re celebrating,” she said as she walked into his office, uninvited, unexpected, and unwarranted.

“I don’t have anything to celebrate,” he said shortly, sending her one of his patented Very Tired looks before returning to his mind-numbing paperwork.

“Well, I do,” she insisted, circling his desk and planting herself very inconveniently on top of his paperwork, the sound of paper and scrolls crunching beneath her weight. “Do you know how much work it takes to keep you alive and well? I’m celebrating another year I’ve kept you around,” she teased, swinging her legs out and kicking him in the shin far more viciously than he thought the situation called for.

“Maybe you should quit,” he muttered under his breath. She let out a deeply unhappy tut-tut.

“We’re going to unpack that some other time. Today, it’s your birthday, and I am determined to make sure you have fun,” she said with a triumphant grin. “Even if it makes you miserable.” He thought that sounded a little counterintuitive, but he knew from years of experience that there was no deterring Sakura once she was on a mission. She was the embodiment of do or die.

He had begrudgingly let her tear him away from his desk, which he could admit was a gift in and of itself, and now they were wandering aimlessly around the village. She had made it a point to teasingly parade him by the Hokage monument, where his big head was staring down at him, immortalized in stone.

“How incredible that it’s life-sized,” she teased. He nearly cracked a smile before he remembered that he was meant to be there with her against his will. He had a feeling she knew he’d nearly cracked, because then she’d taken her torture one step further and announced—loudly—that she was so pleased to be celebrating his birthday with him.

The villagers flocked unrepentantly. He was shocked her face didn’t split in half under the force of her shit-eating grin.

“I thought birthdays were supposed to be fun,” he complained once they’d made a daring escape from all the bowing well-wishers.

“I was under the impression that torture and melancholy was your idea of a good time,” she said, pouting in thought and looking up at him with mockingly wide, innocent eyes.

“Cute,” he said, not hiding how unimpressed he was with her. She giggled and held herself to his arm.

“Okay, fine. So what do you want to do?” she asked, smiling up at him with so much warmth he nearly burnt up from the inside out. He just shrugged. He had never really thought about it. “Well, what do you usually do?”

“Nothing,” he said plainly. She frowned.

“What about when you were a kid?” she asked, her lip jutting out in a genuine pout as her frown deepened. He shifted uncomfortably beside her as they ambled down a quiet road. Truthfully, there was really only one person in the village that ever acknowledged his birthday since the death of Minato-sensei. Gai was always available for a “celebratory competition”, and that was all he ever really needed.

“I don’t know, Sakura,” he said tiredly. “I was probably on missions most of the time,” he admitted with a shrug. He remembered Rin always bringing him dog-shaped onigiri on his birthdays. Minato-sensei had always been disgruntled when Kakashi’s one birthday request was a lesson in fuinjutsu, but he always complied. Obito…

Kakashi sighed and when he looked down at Sakura, who was uncharacteristically quiet, he was horrified to see her big green eyes filled to the brim with unshed tears. He flinched away from her at the sight, which thankfully dispelled the tears, but her tears had made way for annoyance, which she relieved by roughly punching his arm.

Physical violence was far less terrifying than being confronted with such an outward display of emotion, though, so he would accept this as a victory.

“I have an idea,” she said once she’d finished terrorizing him with her brute strength. He wasn’t sure what he found more daunting; her fists or her mind. He went along with her to spare himself the trouble for the time being.

Not long after, he found himself laid on a blanket at a park, staring up at the stars while Sakura snickered into the basket of goods she’d procured. He hadn’t argued when she’d pulled him around town, ducking into a couple of storefronts until she had gathered all her necessities. Now, they were sharing an itchy blanket in the middle of a park while she concocted some beverage in a couple of embarrassingly festive cups.

From where he lay, he couldn’t see much beyond her hunched back, shaking with her quiet snickers. Whenever he asked her what exactly she was doing, she told him to kindly shut up and let her surprise him. And so, he was staring at the stars. Not a bad end to the day, he supposed. Even if there was a madwoman at his feet, brewing up a surefire shit-storm.

When she finally decided to re-enter the realm of normal, human behaviour, she was brandishing two plastic cups, filled to the brim with some heinously green liquid that she said was guaranteed to get him “Kaka-shitfaced”. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’d also presented him with a massive sparkler sat atop the saddest baked good he’d ever laid eyes on.

“What is this?” he asked in distaste.

“A bran muffin; you need to watch out for your digestive tract at your age,” she teased. “Also, it was late and that was all the bakery had left in stock.” It was the thought that counted, he supposed. Still, he made her share half of it “for good luck”.

She was right about one thing, though. That drink was going straight to his head. He knew he was in trouble when the stars starting dancing above him. Sakura was lying beside him, her head resting against his shoulder and her arms tightly hugging one of his. She gasped, untangling one of her arms to point overhead to a star shooting clear across the sky.

“Make a birthday wish,” she said through her giggles. He peered down at her, pink-cheeked and gazing up at the sky, the silliest grin plastered across her face. He felt so lighthearted he thought he might just float away. His mind was shockingly blank as the star and its tail disappeared from the night sky. “Did you do it?” she whispered.

He hummed vaguely, and that seemed to be enough to appease her. He was grateful for that tight hold she had on his arm, because right now, he felt like that was all that was keeping him tethered to this world. He could have blamed the drinks, but honestly, it was a combination of things.

“You know, I had planned on making you play a drinking game with me, but I think we are both better off without it,” she said, giggling to herself. “But, just so you know, that is quintessential birthday behaviour.”

“For sixteen year olds, maybe,” he mocked.

“What do you know? You went straight from five to fifty,” she chided lightly. Then, her head was tilted back and she was gazing at him with the same intrigue with which she had been watching the stars.

“And is stargazing quintessential birthday behaviour?” he asked. She pouted in thought.

“Could be. It’s all very individual, you know,” she said with the confidence of a bonafide birthday expert.

“Except the drinking games. Those are non-negotiable,” he said.

“Exactly. You’re a quick learner,” she playfully praised him. “They really are essential.”

“How about one round, then? For the sake of tradition, of course.”

“Of course,” she repeated, a mischievous smile playing at her lips. “Truth or drink,” she proposed, and he agreed because he had absolutely no basis for refusal. He was entirely unsure of why he’d proposed this to begin with. She turned so she was curled up to his side instead of on her back, and it felt only natural for him to move his arm from her grasp to drape it around her. He didn’t dwell much on just how natural it felt to have her tucked under his arm that way.

“What was your best birthday?” he asked. She snorted, delicate as ever. He couldn’t help but smile at that.

“That’s a terrible question, Kakashi. You’re supposed to pick something that would be hard to answer so that I’d be tempted to drink,” she said, rolling her eyes as she laid her chin on his chest to peer up at him judgmentally and drunkenly. He thought that was a strange combination, but it worked for her. When he shrugged and made no effort to rectify his drinking game blunder, she sighed. “Fine, I’ll tell you, and then you have to recreate it with me. If you refuse, you have to down another birthday beverage,” she proposed with a wicked smile.

“I feel like you are taking advantage of my trusting nature,” he complained.

“You are the least trusting being in existence,” she said, waving him off. He didn’t argue; instead he agreed to her terms, curious to see where it would take them. So far, leaning into her ideas had landed him in a decent position. He couldn’t deny that this was the best night he’d had in a long time, birthday or not. “My favourite birthday memory is from when I was seven. Ino and I ate our weight in dango and birthday cake, and then we played on a swing set until we both threw up,” she said, giggling through the story as she recalled it.

“I’m not eating my weight in dango,” he warned. Her giggles intensified.

“I’ll concede on that,” she agreed.

“And I’ve never been on a swing set,” he admitted softly, sorry to see her giggles give way to a wide-eyed disbelief, tinged the faintest bit with sadness. So quick it made him dizzy, she was up on her feet and tugging on his arms until he was standing with her.

“That is unacceptable, Hokage-sama,” she said seriously, slipping her hand into his and towing him toward a children’s playground, her blanket and basket forgotten behind them. She presented the swing set to him with a flourish, pushing him until the swing was behind his legs, and then she was shoving him until he was uncomfortably sat on its band, his feet dragging sadly through the woodchips beneath him.

“I feel that I may have missed my window of opportunity,” he said as he stared down at his legs, seemingly too long for this endeavour to truly work out in his favour. She ignored him, sitting herself on the swing beside him and wasting no time in launching herself into a languid swing. Cautiously, he did the same. She laughed at him every time he miscalculated and kicked up a burst of woodchips mid-swing.

“You’re a natural,” she teased, leaning back and enjoying the breeze as she flew back to front, her hair billowing behind her, shining in the moonlight. “Isn’t this nice?” she called out as they swung in opposing directions. He had to admit, silly as it felt, it was nice. It felt good to finally have this small, seemingly inconsequential experience; even if it was coming a few decades late.

He wasn’t sure how long they did that, just swinging back and forth, higher and higher, mostly in silence, but for Sakura’s delighted giggles every now and then. A few times, he even laughed with her. Eventually, though, their swinging slowed until they were simply hanging side-by-side.

“I don’t see how that made you puke,” he said after awhile. He should have known nothing good would come of this when her mischievous snicker hit his ears. She hopped off her swing and grabbed each of the chains that hung on either side of him.

“Do you trust me?”

“In general, or right this moment?”

She didn’t bother elaborating, nor waiting for his final answer. Instead, she gripped those chains and twisted, link over link, until the chains were tangled and taut and he was deeply nervous of where this would lead him.

“Ready?” she asked, her voice lilting with palpable amusement.

“No,” he answered, but just as he did, she gripped his shoulders and pushed—he suspected with a hint of chakra strength—and sent him spinning furiously. The world around him was a total blur. He felt the chains untangle and re-tangle in the opposite direction, the force of his spinning too strong to stop. He felt her arms on his shoulders again, and he stared up at her to meet her green eyes, even though she had six of them.

He couldn’t get a word out before he was spinning again. Her uncontrollable laugher taunted him as he turned without end. Finally, just when he thought his head might fly off like a spinning top, he stopped.

“You feeling okay?” she asked softly, her laughter subdued but not departed.

“Never better,” he responded, as strongly as he could. He was pleased that his voice managed to sound deceptively even, but the effect of that was entirely ruined by his sliding off the seat and flat on his back into the woodchips, his legs dangling on the swing above him. “Ow.”

“Oh, gods,” she giggled out, falling to her hands and knees above him, peering down at him in concern, but her shoulders still quaking with silent laughter. His head was still spinning, and he was seeing stars, but this time, they appeared to be dancing in Sakura’s eyes instead of the night sky. He thought they seemed to belong there.

“I think it’s your turn,” he rasped out.

“I think our game of truth or drink has ended,” she said with a light laugh, pressing cool fingertips to his forehead. He shook his head and demanded she take her turn. “Well, we’ve already thrown the rules out the door,” she considered with a soft smile, her soft hands still sitting at the side of his face. “Would you show me your face?” she asked, her cheeks going pink.

He would blame the alcohol and the light-headedness, but he didn’t even hesitate before curling a finger into his mask and pulling it down. She stared down at him in surprise, her cheeks transitioning from pink to red.

“Does that mean you have to drink?” he asked stupidly.

“You have woodchips in your hair,” she responded, equally stupidly.

And then his hand was at the back of her head and he was leaning up to meet her halfway in a kiss that made him dizzier than all the swing-spinning in the world. She tasted like that vile green drink and bran muffin. With a contented sigh, he fell back down to the woodchips, leaving his hand lingering in her hair. She smiled down at him.

“Birthday kisses are also essential,” she offered. He hummed, agreeing wholeheartedly.

And then he was curled on his side, throwing up into the woodchips, Sakura’s laughter ringing loudly in his ears.

#alholland #prompt

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goose-books · 4 years ago

Photo

whoa, it sure is about time around here for a post, huh!

today i offer you 1.7k words about cressida and rory simply being soft. that’s all. this is the happiest thing i’ve ever written in the darkling canon and making this moodboard reminded me that it’s because these two are the only kind and friendly people in the entire book.

more details about cressida and rory’s home WIP, darkling, can be found here! (short version: it’s a speculative fiction king lear; there’s magic but it’s weird about being magic; half the characters are gay trans and neurodivergent because i said so.) this takes place about a year before the story starts; the two of them have just turned sixteen and seventeen, respectively!

also, i wrote all of this while listening to “kentucky” by hippo campus on repeat. the lyrics aren’t quite as relevant as the vibe. if you catch me yearning on main mind your own business /j

Lorelai Rory Flowers is afraid of thunder.

This is a bit of an embarrassing thing to admit, as they’re seventeen (“at least seventeen,” they like to tell people, “maybe two hundred, who’s to say?”) and generally wise beyond their years, or whatever it is that adults say about kids with too much psychological baggage. Being afraid of thunder is not a very wise-beyond-one’s-years trait. And yet the state of affairs remains: loud noises make Rory want to melt into the earth. Back when they still went to school, even the fire alarm sent them scuttling under their desk to hide.

Right now, in the elevator, all they can do is shrink into their sweater.

They haven’t let go of Cressida’s hand yet.

Beside them, Cressida is soaked, long golden hair and long white dress dripping. Rory rocks up onto their toes and back down, anxiety worming along the back of their neck like an itchy coat. This was not the plan. The plan was not “get caught in the rain and run through a storm for two blocks.” The plan was for the two of them to go walk by the river and - who knows, talk about Joan of Arc or the Kennedy assassination or something. Swap special interests. Maybe swap spit. Probably not, though. It’s not a date. It’s not not a date - but, like, Rory still does work for Cressida’s dad, so who knows how awkward things could get. Plus Cressida’s hard to read. She doesn’t really make facial expressions, and that’s usually fine, because Rory can’t really read facial expressions so it’s about the same to them, but in this particular situation -

“I trust you,” Cressida says, squeezing their hand, “but where are we going?”

The rain’s left Rory’s glasses fogged up enough to render them effectively blind. They take their glasses off and squint at the elevator buttons. They are still effectively blind.

“Is that a five or a six?” they say, pointing.

Cressida peers over their shoulder. “Which one do you want?”

“Five.”

Cressida presses the five button with her free hand. The elevator, which is about the size of a broom closet, jerks into unsteady, fitful motion.

The thing is that the apartment building is kind of - well, not a dump. It’s not horrible. There aren’t cockroaches. But Cressida lives in a manor, literally. Stayer Manor. Capital S, capital M. And there was never any sort of plan for today, even in the wildest of circumstances, that involved Rory bringing the city’s golden girl to a building the size of a shoebox. But then it was raining, and Cressida kept saying she didn’t mind the rain despite clearly minding because if she ruins her dress her dad will go rabid-dog on her, and Rory’s cognitive wheels were spinning like they were powered by a well-greased hamster, and none of the restaurants close enough to duck into were appropriate places for them to safely freak out about the thunder, and their apartment was only two blocks away.

So.

Here they are.

“Sorry,” Cressida says. “Where are we going?”

Rory attempts to dry their glasses on their soaked-through sweater, to little avail. “We are going,” they announce, “to a world of pure imagination.”

Outside, thunder cracks the sky. They know Cressida sees them flinch, because she squeezes their hand again.

The apartment is 505. Cressida waits as Rory digs around in their jacket pocket, shuffling past loose coins and two pairs of headphones and four melted Starbursts and way too many scraps of paper until they finally unearth their key. Their lock sticks - their lock always sticks - so once they’ve turned it, they have to drop Cressida’s hand and plant one wet Doc Marten on the wall and yank. The door swings open.

“Voila,” Rory says, performing jazz hands. “Willy Wonka wants what I have.”

Their apartment is purple. Not startlingly purple. Gently purple. Purple like it creeps up on you. Purple like you don’t realize exactly how purple it is until you realize everything - walls, gauzy flower-patterned curtains, plushy armchair, compass-rose-shaped clock, old-fashioned record player on the table - is the same shade of soft lavender.

There is at least one nail sticking up out of the hard-wood floor. Rory snags a sock on it every time they dance around with their headphones in.

Two people have been inside since Rory started renting the place a year ago. And that’s them and the landlord. This is their place, their safe haven, their nook, and it’s the size of Cressida’s bathroom, and rich pretty Cressida Stayer is standing, dripping, in the threshold.

“Don’t touch anything,” Rory says. Cressida draws her hands in like the walls might electrocute her. “That was a joke. You can touch things.”

“This is your apartment,” Cressida says.

“Indeed.”

“You live here.”

“That succeeds the first!” They give her an encouraging smile. “Subsequent statements! How cogently lucid of you!”

Cressida looks down. The hem of her dress is dripping onto the floor. “I don’t suppose you have a vent I could sit on…?”

“In fact I do!” Rory directs her, aircraft-marshall-style, to the heating vent on the floor. They’re jittering. They’re using way too much arm movement. They can’t get their heart to stop skidding around, because normally! They do not! Let people in here!

They stand and drip. Cressida sits and drips. She gazes around, and Rory gazes with her, trying to see it through her eyes.

“Where’s your bed?” she says.

Rory skips over to the closet and pulls the door open, with the grand gestures of a magician presenting a trick. The inside of the tiny closet is lined with a thick downy comforter; there are sheets and pillows scattered around atop it, and there are glow-in-the-dark stars stuck up all over the walls and ceiling.

Cressida gazes at it. “On purpose, right? Not because -”

“On purpose. Yes. I could have bought a bed. I just think it’s cozy.” Oh, Rory is going to lose it right here. Their foot is tapping the floor at about a million miles an hour. Granted, being in their apartment helps the overstimulation a little - just being where it’s safe and everything’s always the same and they control their space. That always helps. But it’s not like they can just curl up in their closet with their headphones in and the door shut, because Cressida is here -

Cressida, for her part, looks a little impressed.

“It’s nice,” she says, wrapping her arms around her knees. “You just live here? By yourself?”

Rory shrugs. “I’m emancipated,” they say, which isn’t strictly true, but they work for the most powerful man in the city, who has their back if anyone actually looks into their files, so it’s as true as it really needs to be - and then thunder roars outside again and Rory skitters sideways and falls over their armchair.

“Oh! Oh my God -” Cressida jumps to her feet.

Rory scrambles up from where they’ve tumbled to the floor. “Sorry sorry sorry!” they say, except really they yell it because they have their shaking hands over their ears. “Sorrysorrysorry, I - I really don’t like loud - I d-don’t -”

“Can I -” All of a sudden Cressida’s in front of them. Rory doesn’t move away, just stands there, chest heaving, and Cressida slides her still-damp hands very gently up both of their arms, and she very gently pulls their hands off their ears.

The thunder, again. Like a cannon blast. This time Rory yelps a little. Cressida pulls them in close to her and sits both of them down on the vent, which, at the very least, is warm and also on the floor, so Rory can’t really trip over anything when they flinch.

“You don’t like loud,” Cressida repeats. She’s a good deal taller than they are - Rory’s exactly five-foot in their Docs - and so it makes logical sense for her to settle down with her chin on their head, probably.

“I don’t. I don’t. I really don’t.” They’ve started fluttering their hands a little; their voice is getting that shaky tilt it gets when they’re in sensory overload. “Fun story, back in high school we went on a field trip to this play where they used gunfire blanks for sound effects and I had a full-on crying-and-screaming public meltdown. I like to tell fun stories from high school like it wasn’t actual purgatory, because I cope through humor!”

“I know,” Cressida says simply, and she wraps her arms around them so they can lean back into her chest. The next thunder crash comes, and she tightens her grip. “Is this helping?”

“Yeah. Uh-huh. A lot. Like a weighted blanket.” Rory tilts their head back to give her a shaky upside-down grin.

They don’t like making eye contact, so they don’t, but they are aware that Cressida’s gaze is resting pretty solidly on their face, which is - fine, and normal behavior for friends, and the fact that they’re cuddling on a vent and they can feel her heart beating against their spine is, like, normal also, probably -

“Rory,” Cressida says tentatively, “can I…”

Rory tilts their head. “Can you what?”

Cressida hesitates; then she leans in. It is a very very gentle kiss, almost hesitant; she pulls away after a second or so, to find Rory staring at her dumbfounded.

“Whoa,” they say, face assembling itself into what they’re fully aware is a stupid doofy grin. “Whoa. Hi. Hey. I - yeah! You can do that!”

They both cling to each other’s hands for a second; they both let out a breath that is, Rory thinks, equal parts relief and euphoria.

Then Rory leans in and kisses Cressida again, and this time neither of them pull away, and when the thunder crashes overhead Rory thinks they’ve never felt safer than they do right now.

#max.txt #darkling tag #lorelai flowers #cressida stayer #fun fact about this: i wrote it for my school creative writing class and we had to do peer feedback circles #and of the three people who gave me feedback only ONE of them got rory's pronouns right #while the other two played choose your own adventure i suppose?#(i'm not; like; pissed off i just think it's funny.... cis people let me study you /j)#max actually writes

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halothenthehorns · 3 years ago

Text

All in the Family

Chapter 81: The Yule Ball

"Achoo!" Regulus sneezed painfully hard, his eyes watering so much they were squinted nearly shut, leaving him half blind as he tried to gaze blearily around to their new torture grounds. The bright sunlight was helping nothing, the nausea that still persisted through their trips along this place was as heavy as ever, and this time in particular they seemed in a truly bizarre area that he couldn't imagine had to do with Harry Potter's circumstances. It was a garden, a truly illustrious one that Professor Sprout would water at the mouth to see. He'd landed on a pile of Honking Heleniums that were vocally none too happy at him as he scrambled onto the smooth limestone pathway, and looked around to see Evans the Muggleborn in the field across from him gazing in just as much confusion at some purple flowers he couldn't identify.

Brushing pollen from his robes and looking around carefully, surely no one had forgotten the Devil's Snare, he found nothing immediately dangerous about their environment, but didn't quite relax either. The hedge walls were about a foot above his head, but he could see even taller ones in the distance as if they fluctuated in size, or perhaps the whole place was built on rolling hills, and behind him in the distance he could see where the trail began in the shadow of an odd building. It looked sort of like an abandoned, though clearly once very fancy hotel carved right into a mountain. The huge cracks along its surface made him leery though it would collapse any moment and start an avalanche, so he wasn't keen on inspecting it too closely. Rising clear above all of this was the mountain peak, the glinting sun shining down right on the whole place like a spotlight.

He turned back around to see Evans was cautiously making her way through the plants with the most dainty of steps, and waited patiently for her to make it to the pathway before deciding she wasn't going to die so turning to be on his way in search of the book.

"Hey, err, Black!"

He turned back with honest curiosity what she had to say to him, they'd hardly spoken this whole time, and he certainly had nothing to say to her.

"I, um, I don't recommend stepping back off the path, alright? There could be something more dangerous than Dancing Dahlias around here, wherever here is."

He nodded once to show he'd heard before going back off, hands deep in his pockets. He was surprised at himself he didn't care anymore what anyone would have said about how he handled that situation. That he should have cursed her, or at least reminded her that as the more superior wizard he needed no such warning, would have been the expected return, but now he had other things on his mind to worry about than whatever that Muggleborn got up to in this place.

He didn't have to travel much farther, taking two right turns before he found the book nestled in a patch of strange-looking plants. From what little he knew of them, he'd guessed they were foxglove and irises mixed together in a bright plum color to create whatever was strong enough to hold that hefty book aloft nearly up to his waist. Even though it was in arms reach, he wasn't stupid enough to try grabbing it from the strange plant, and instead he looked miserably at his bare hands. Even if he did summon the book to him, he wasn't sure he trusted the strange plant enough it wouldn't leave residue on his hands to cause some adverse effect. Then his eyes brightened with an idea, and he shucked off his shoes, slipping them carefully into his bag this time, almost enjoying the warmth of the path on his bare feet while he pulled off his socks and used them as makeshift gloves before getting the book in hand. He was quite proud of his ingenuity and didn't care how ridiculous he probably looked as he read out the chapter title, happy at least this was being gotten out of the way already.

Frank had landed in a very prickly shrub, and the more he twisted to get free, the sharper the leaves dug into his clothes. He could feel small nicks where several had already broken skin. He was cursing so frantically by the time the hand was being shoved in his face he didn't care if it was You-Know-Who offering him help out, he took it with gratitude as he was finally pulled free.

"Thanks," he said in relief, already scratching at a bead of blood traveling down his wrist as he looked up into the werewolf's eyes. He yelped so hard in surprise he backed right back into the bush, which gave him a very uncomfortable prod and sent him stumbling back forward right into him. Lupin caught him with a look on his face Frank's panicked mind couldn't process. Was he smelling the blood? Was it going to send him into a frenzy? He didn't know, he bloody didn't bloody know-

"Oi, Moony! What was all that then?"

Lupin rolled his eyes with an expression anybody in the world could have understood. 'This idiot, right?'

"What do you think it was Sirius? Frank petting the thing?"

Sirius Black was giving him a look that was somehow more dangerous than even the werewolf had yet given as he was scrutinized, and Frank took another automatic step back. Black was splattered in what appeared to be gray paint and was already clearly in a bad mood. Frank saw this as a perfect opportunity to make his escape. He meant to turn around and leave, and found himself face to face with a very large hedge, at least twenty feet high. Looking around properly now, he saw there was only one path away, where Black was standing, with only a cobbled limestone walkway leading towards the bramble bush he'd landed in. It still had a few delectable, succulent green fruits hanging lowly from it, resilient little thing it was.

"I don't suppose you two know where we are then?" He asked into the awkward silence, taking all self restraint not to scratch at his itchy skin, the blood quickly mingling with sweat that had nothing to do with the pleasant weather.

"Not one little bit," Lupin said pleasantly.

"If we find out, we'll let you know at the next landing," Black shot off with more venom than a Venomous Tentacula could hold as he spun around and stalked off, clearly expecting his friend to follow. Lupin watched him go with an exasperated look, gave him an awkward sort of smile, before jogging after him.*

Swallowing uncomfortably, and well aware whatever insane garden they were in could possibly have that as well, he made his choice and stood his ground as they turned the corner and left. Counting to thirty in his head, he then left the area as well, hoping Alice was alright.

James was staring up at a tree full of golden apples and was very tempted to climb up and grab one. Not for eating even, just for something to toss around and do. Peter was being no help, humming to himself and bouncing on his toes as he watched a patch of Sunflowers carefully, the edge of their enclosure keeping them in a nice warmth despite the breeze blowing through. He seemed no more intent on breaking the awkward silence though.

"Wish Evans was around," James finally said. "Bet she'd be able to name every plant here. Wonder if that will give you the Midas Touch if you eat it?"

"You never need an excuse to want her around," he returned passively.

They were saved from anymore stilted attempts by Sirius' little brother's voice breaking the silence, and to James's further bewilderment, he saw an actual smile break out across Peter's face.

"We should go find him. I've been meaning to ask for ages-"

"Why bother?" James blurted in confusion. He barely registered Peter's downcast look at being interrupted, this had been baffling him for ages. "What on Earth have you two been getting so chummy about anyways?" His tone came out far more bitter in the end than he really meant it to, how he wished none of this had even happened anymore and they could just go back to school. If he had to find a way to get Remus and Sirius to make up again all over he'd take that over this constant spin-table of his usual life.

"I, I mean we, well he doesn't-" He's never interrupted me, just sounded petty out loud, but Peter couldn't think of anything else to say in that moment. The first time he'd talked to Regulus, he'd just been trying to be friendly in some bad circumstances as well as outsourcing a prank on Sirius, it wasn't until this moment he realized he'd been so excited to go find Regulus and ask him about this strange environment he'd not even bothered to question he'd be able to ask without somehow being overlooked.

He'd stuttered himself into silence, and James just gave him a bizarre look for it. For a peace offering, Peter summoned one of the golden apples to him and gave it a toss to James, who smiled in delight at the distraction and began tossing it in the air, turning on the spot and walking off without glancing back, expecting Peter to follow as usual.

Peter only hesitated for a moment before he did.

Alice landed in a fountain with an undignified squee. Standing up and checking all over her skin wasn't melting off or something, she slogged through the golden liquid and had to crawl on her belly to drag herself over the edge and flop down on the other side, shivering harder than ever. Realizing she was alone and instantly weary of this fact, she kept her wand held tightly and turned slowly, hopefully to clue in what was going on.

The fountain was glamorous, the water itself had a charm on it to sparkle in the sunlight from the two golden wands crossed, being held aloft by two people she vaguely recognized for some reason. It took a lot of concentration for her to recall that was Nicolas Flamel, and so possibly his wife Perenelle with him. As the book echoed around her of Harry being at the Yule Ball, and not enjoying it one bit by the sounds of how the night was going, then further progressing into the grounds where Hogwarts had set up a sort of mini garden path as well, she suspected her home school had been inspired by the Beauxbatons Academy for some decorative inspirations.

She sighed wistfully and shivered again Frank couldn't be here to dance with her at the mention of all this, she'd have much rather landed in the splendidly decorated Great Hall, and she winced in sympathy instead it seemed to be wasted on the patrons as not everyone's love life was going so well. Hagrid and Maxime, then Ron and Hermione even having an unpleasant spat, as well as Harry's Champion Rival giving off the oddest of advice before going back to the girl of Harry's affection. As grand as this place was, she couldn't imagine even its splendid manor could fix the myriad of problems going on in these worlds.

HPHPHPHP

Sorry I couldn't show off how I imagined the real Beauxbatons would look, but you know, they are outsiders and I'm probably cheating a bit by even showing off the gardens.

*Lemon to be posted separately

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #GoF #Wolfstar #Jilly #Marauders #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Peter Pettigrew #James Potter #Frank Longbottom #Alice Smith #regulus blurb

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nostalthicc · 5 years ago

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hives | jeff wittek

jeff wittek x reader, zane hijazi x reader[PLATONIC]

summary: delayed allergic reactions are the worst, especially when they happened off a steep slip n’ slide. this is bad summary. im sorry. im supppperr bad at them.

warnings: fluff, slight angst, cursing, allergic reaction

1.9k words

lower case intended ` not my gif

y/n would usually jump on the idea of being in a video with two of her best friends- jeff and zane -but she had a photoshoot she needed to get over with because she has been pushing it back for ages. the last video they all did together was one of the most viewed videos on y/n’s channel. everyone said their chaotic and crackhead energy all evened out with one another. which they all knew was true, their jokes always bounced off each other. that's all y/n and jeff heard that all the time before they started dating, that they were a perfect match and continue to hear it to this day.

she decided to pick wraps from hat favorite shop near jeff's apartment. y/n had just finished her shoot and was heading over to her boyfriend’s to hang out with him and zane before they all went to david's for the night. when she to jeff's they were still finishing up the video for his channel.

“oh wow, look who decided to show up.” jeff said, pointing to y/n. reggie turned the camera towards the girl, who just scowled and threw her middle fingers before walking to the kitchen to put the food in the fridge. “and she brought food!”

zane turned around in the chair to face y/n. “y/n/n, baby! help me, please, look what he did to me, he's making my hairline recede even more than it already was!” he shouted, thrashing around in the chair causing jeff to have to pause on fixing certain stops. y/n laughed as the two started bickering about zane’s whining. soon getting bored with their fussing, she made her way to jeff's room to change into something cozier than the outfit she had to wear for the shoot, she felt as though the material was stabbing her skin and could feel herself already growing extremely itchy.

david had texted the groupchat to come early and bring a swimsuit which never led to anything good or safe but no one ever seemed to question and y/n would not be the first. the three of them all headed to david's, zane was driving but y/n and jeff were in a very intense game of cup pong. the winner got to choose dinner and the loser had to pay.

when they arrived at david’s house everyone was there except alex and nick. inside they were many drinks scattered around- as usual -and a few people y/n didn't recognize, she figured they were here to set up david's miraculous plan. everyone was supposed to carpool to motley lake because they were going to be using the giant hill for a slip n’ slide. y/n loved the water, this was probably one of the first of david's idea she wasn't hesitant about, which says a lot for all the ideas that come from him.

the set up was perfect, the huge line of tarp expanded down the hill, the sunset, and the water. jeff, y/n, zane, heath, and mariah stopped by the store to get floaties, oils, and soaps. the floaties were zane and y/n’s idea.

everyone was now gathered at motley with the proper essentials, they were ready to start the video. y/n wore one of the new bikinis she got with carly, erin, and suzy a few weeks ago on their monthly shopping trip. she hadn't had the chance to wear it yet and it was probably the sturdiest swimsuit owned.

“baby! get in the donut with me!” zane shouted at y/n, who was talking to erin and mariah. she had no intentions of going first and the entire slide somehow collapsing in on itself- that was zanes thing. but despite her doubt, she hopped on the back of the tube, letting todd and heath push them over the edge. the anticipation of getting down the slide was worse than coming in contact with the lake, even though y/n completely flew out of the floaty into the air as they reached the bottom.

jeff ran over to y/n as she got closer to the top of the hill. “are you okay?” he asked, a concerned look on his face, he scanned her entire body to check for any injuries and her bikini straps before throwing a towel around her shoulders. he always worried about her when she did all the crazy stuff with zane or for david's vlog because she is the clumsiest and most oblivious person he's ever met. she will basically do anything anyone asked of her because of her kind and reckless nature.

“did you see that!” y/n flung her arms around in the air, she had a huge rush of adrenaline from the slide but the longer she had both of her feet planted on the ground the faster she was starting to crash from that same rush. “actually i think i need to sit down,” she said, allowing jeff to lead her to the peak of the hill and set her down next to david who had his camera pointed straight at them. y/n’s heavy breathing attracted the attention of Jason and Josh- the parents of the group. josh plucked the towel off of her shoulders to inspect her back to see a dark red, raging rash along her upper back. he then moved around back to her front, he gently grabbed her chin to look at her eyes before instructing y/n to open her mouth. her tongue was swollen. “y/n, you’re having an allergic reaction.” Josh said calmly. “what are you allergic to?” she tried to speak but couldn’t from the coughing and heavy breathing. by now the entire group as circled around them trying to see what was wrong with their friend.

natalie pushed past the crowd to get next to jeff. “she’s allergic to bees,” she burst out, watching as jeff and zane share a look but natalie decided to ignore it to focus on y/n. “we should take her to the hospital unless someone has an epipen.” after a few seconds in the silence jeff picked up his girlfriend, hurrying to carry her to his car. he explained the prank he pulled on zane for his video that he didn’t know she had a bee allergy.

david, jason, josh, natalie, todd, and zane all piled into jeff’s car to travel with y/n to the ER. jason constantly told jeff he was an idiot the entire ride there. y/n was in between natalie and todd in the backseat, she had started wheezing soon after they got in the car, only adding to the coughing and heavy breathing.

jeff didn’t even park the car before getting out to take y/n in the hospital, as soon as he stepped foot in the building he was shouting to nurses to get the sick girl help. they acted quickly, helping jeff get her into a room before they immediately started getting her on oxygen and got her an epi-shot. everyone was forced out of the room so they had room to treat on y/n.

“jeff, calm down. the doctor said we got her here in time, she’s going to be okay.” natalie told a frantic jeff who hadn’t stopped pacing since they got kicked out. she has been trying to calm him down for about thirty minutes but nothing has helped. he can’t help but like this entire situation was his fault, even though he didn’t know. he was completely shaken by events of the day.

when they were finally allowed back in, y/n was asleep due to the sedative they gave her to stabilize her body down from the shock. she looked absolutely pitiful hooked up to all the machines, even though they were only for vitals and to watch her heart and lungs. natalie, jason, and david were quick to excuse themselves to find food and water for everyone when y/n woke up- they were really trying to let jeff and y/n have space, zane and todd didn’t get the memo.

“did you know she was allergic to bees?” jeff question his two friends left in the room with him. he needed to know to ease his mind that he wasn’t the only clueless moron who didn’t know she was allergic to freaking bees.

zane and todd shook their heads no. “she never told me anything.” todd replied.

running his fingers through his hair, a long, heavy sigh escaped jeff’s lips. “fuck, i just feel so stuid. it’s really messing me up, man. y/n could have died and it would’ve been my fault, the one person i can’t live without could have died on my hands.” he paused, looking at all the equipment attached to her. “i’ve seen and heard a lot of shit but this really fucks me up, you know.” todd put a comforting hand on jeff’s shoulder, he felt for him, jeff wasn’t one to show much emotion so to see him this shaken up makes him upset.

“it was all of us, jeff. we all agreed on the prank, we didn’t know but i don’t think she blames you,” zane told his friend, his eyes trailing to an awake y/n behind him. jeff followed his gaze to his girlfriend who had tears building in her eyes. his mind immediately went to bad reasons of why she was upset but he was so, so wrong. zane and todd hurriedly gave y/n a hug before making their way out the room to let the couple talk.

jeff opened his mouth to speak but y/n cut him off before he could ramble out a ton of apologies. “first off, i’m not mad, i could never be mad at something so innocent. i mean, i didn’t even tell you- or anyone for that matter. which now i see was stupid but i never thought i would run into many bees in LA. secondly, what you said- that was so fucking sweet, like really fucking sweet. no one in my life has cared about me the way you do and i couldn’t say thank you enough.” she bit her lip to try and conceal her sob but it came out anyway. “and i- i really love you for it, for everything. god, i probably will never be mad at you so anything. i would end up in a million hospitals just to hear you say those things again.” everything she said was true, y/n loved him and what better time to tell him than in the ER. his silence was setting a bad feeling in the pit of her chest though, many doubtful thoughts rushing through her head. had she said the wrong thing? was it too soon? did he hate her for not telling him about the allergy? “please say something or do something- just anything. p-please.”

“you love me?” he asked.

“yeah, i really fucking love you,” she exclaimed, another sob leaving her lips. the twinkle in jeff’s eye could be seen from a mile away. he swiftly made his way to the bed, bringing y/n in for an embrace, he maintained the urge to squeeze and never let go ever again. they held each other for ages, they were the people in the building- in the world right now.

jeff lifted his head from the crook of her neck. “i really fucking love you too.” he said before bringing her into a long, passionate kiss which was interrupted by their friends joining them in the room once again.

#jeff wittek x reader #jeff wittek imagine #david dobrik #jefft wittek #vlog squad #vlog squad imagine #jason nash #zane hijazi #toddy smith #natalie mariduena #josh peck

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pink-imagines · 5 years ago

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fly me far away

request: 'Like Real People do' with Kirishima please!

a/n: i really just want to have this, that’s all. i’m projecting.

warnings: mostly fluff, a bit of angst, and an open ending

masterlist

requesting rules

song promptlist click here for the song!

The evening was young, you could still see the glimpses left from the sunset which was painting the sky in pink and orange colors. The grass tickled your ankles as you walked further away from the castle walls. You had managed to sneak out once again, mostly thanks to your maid who promised to cover for you. You wouldn’t lie and say something like “being a princess was hard”, because it wasn’t. It was quite easy actually. Just very very suffocating, especially for you. Your father used to joke about how you were definitely a village girl in your past life, until your mother told him to stop. Though he still sometimes gave you a look that told the joke without him having to speak it.

During the summer you used to sneak out almost every night, only doing it a few times during winter and here and there during spring and fall. It was your only sense of freedom, outside the walls was where you could breathe. On a night like this, who could not go out to adventure. There wasn’t much to adventure, as you had already looked through most of the forest and the village surrounding the castle without going too far. But you still had your favorite place to visit, the nurturing stream in the middle of the forest where the animals always gathered. If you were quiet enough you sometimes got to see deer sneak by. The birds, however, had gotten used to you and always expected to get some bread whenever you visited.

Once you had gotten through the long grass you ran to the edge of the forest, afraid to get caught if you didn’t. You felt safe as soon as you had wandered a bit further into the forest. Luckily you didn’t wear one of your longer dresses, otherwise it’s be full of grassstains by now. Whenever you went out you always dressed down the best you could, especially if you were going to the village. Tonight you were wearing a simple light blue dress, it was one you really liked because it fit you so well. Sadly it was also one you never got to wear much since it wasn’t princess-like enough, at least to your mother’s standards. With the way the grass tickled you right now you wished you would’ve worn some form of boot, but you were stuck with the simple slip-on brown shoes. Before you had left your maid had wrapped her cardigan around you. “Just unless you don’t make it back until it’s still warm outside.”, she had said before you snuck out. You thought about asking your mother to teach you how to knit, since this cardigan was awfully itchy and someone like your maid didn’t deserve this type of material. You were sure that your mother had some soft wool that would match the dark brown color of this one.

As you were too deep in thought you hadn’t even realized that you had reached the stream until you started hearing the running water. Instinctively you started sprinting towards the stream, holding up your dress ever so slightly so that you wouldn’t trip over it. You stopped dead in your tracks as soon as you reached the water. There was someone laying on the ground beside the stream. He wore raggedy clothes; a simple whool vest that was barely covering his upper body, a red cloth around his waist over his trousers and a pair of black boots. Perhaps that wasn’t the craziest part as he had red hair, wings, a tail and horns! You had only just heard of these creatures, magical creatures and human hybrids, but you never thought you’d see one. You hadn’t even seen a magical creature, let alone a dragon! As much as your mother told you not to read to much into these matter you found it important, since you were the heiress to the throne and wanted to be a fair ruler. Knowing as much as you did about the magical creatures also meant that you knew the fact that dragon’s were basically on the top of the food chain... and that you should probably run by now. Yet, you didn’t... the dragon-human hyrbid seemed to be unconscious so it couldn’t be dangorous, right? Slowly, you started to approach the creature... he looked hurt, or at least roughed up. “Sir... are you alright..?”, you asked carefully, hoping that he wouldn’t respond. The man let out a grunt for a response, it sounded like he was in pain. You decided to approach him and sit down next to him. When you got a better look at his face, it was scrunched up in annoyance... not in pain. “... sir?”, you asked once again. One of the man’s eyes opened to look at you. His irises were a color of deep scarlet red. You saw his pupils adjust to the light. “... too... bright...”, he grunted. Without thinking shielded his eyes from the last rays of sun with the palm of your hand. When he opened his eyes again he gave you a strange look. “You’re a peculiar one...”, he whispered, “... you’re not running away...” “Is there a reason for me to do so?”, you asked calmly, trying to not give away the fact that you were terrified. The man didn’t answer your question, instead he sat up and groaned in pain as his hand moved to his stomach. “Are you hurt?”, you whispered. “I just got a blow to the stomach...”, he brushed it off, “Why are you here?” You didn’t want to answer his question, you would rather not let him know that you were the princess. Maybe it was a stereotype but you were just being safe. “I will not ask you where you came from and neither should you. Now let me help you with that.”, you reached to help him with the wound on his stomach. “No!”, he backed up, “I don’t know who you are!” “Listen to me, you’re hurt! I want to help you!”, you explained, “Do I really look like someone who could hurt you?” “I don’t know... are you a sorcerer?”, he quirked an eyebrow. “Nope... I... I come from the nearby village.”, you were technically not lying, “I only come around here because it’s... it feels freeing.” The dragon-human hybrid looked at you skeptically before scooting closer to you. You looked at the wound across his abdomen, there was a lot of bruising and marks across his body that looked like they could only come from ropes. You could feel his eyes burning into your skin as you stood up and walked over to the stream. Luckily you had brought some fabric in your basket, to put on top of the bread. You took the fabric and soaked it in the cold water. When you back to him you started cleaning the wounds. “I can’t do much, but the cold water should help to linder the pain a little bit.”, you explained, “Here.” You handed him the basket and told him to take a little piece of the bread. He did so hesitantly, but as soon as he had tried it he finished it within seconds. He certainly didn’t look famished, but he sure acted like it. Once you had cleaned the wounds you told him to lay back down and then you went to gather some of the herbs that were nearby. The gardener had explained which herbs could heal and which were dangerous to you as a child. So when you find some you picked them carefully, making sure not to break them. “These should take away the pain completely fo a period of time...”, you explained, “... you’ll probably be able to heal in that amount of time, right?” He nodded and watched as you broke the plants leaves down the middle. A green substance came out of the plant and you smeared it over the wounds. “Sorry, it’ll sting a bit.”, you said as he hissed, “Tell me about yourself... maybe it can help you forget.” “I... my name’s Eijiro Kirishima...”, he spoke between his teeth.

After letting him mumble on about something that you couldn’t really hear, but you think it was about a cave, you were finished quite quickly. “There you go.”, you took the fabric from before and drained it of water, “This should start working in a few minutes now.” When you put the fabric over the gel you looked around you. It was dark, how much time had passed? “Thank you...” Eijiro said quietly, “I never got to know your name.” “I have to go-”, you stood up, “Sorry, it’s getting dark... take this.” You gave him the rest of the bread before running towards the castle, holding your dress up ever so slightly so that you wouldn’t trip.

A few days later you go on your usual adventure once again, a part of you still hoping that Eijiro would be there. So you took some other things with you this time. Some more food and a scarf, one that you had knitted yourself.

When you reached the stream no one was there and your shoulders dropped a bit. But you could still sit there with the birds like you usually would. Which is what you did, until you felt like someone was watching you. “Is anyone there?”, you looked around. No answer... it was probably just a deer or any other animal that would dare go this close to the castle. So you kept sitting there, minding your own business and talking to the ducks that floated by. “Why is it that you talk to the birds like that?”, a voice said from behind you. You let out a squeal and jumped up, scaring away the quacking ducks. When you turned around Eijiro was standing there. Your scared look turned into a soft smile. “Hello again.”, you said. “You do know that they don’t understand what you’re saying, right?”, he sat down next to the spot where you were sitting before. You sat back down, shoulder to shoulder with him with only a few centimeters in between. “They’re very good listeners.”, you shrugged. “You don’t have any human friends who listen to you?”, he asked. You thought about the fact that all of the workers at the castle were payed to be there and technically had to be nice to you, which caused you to shake your head no. “Well that’s a bit sad.”, he leaned back, “A whole village and not a single friend...” “... is your wound healed?”, you decided to change the subject. “Sure is!”, he said happily, “Thank you, by the way.” “It’s no big deal.”, you brushed it off.

The two of you sat there, dipping your feet into the chilly stream and simply talking about anything and everything. It felt nice to talk to someone so freely. You told him your name when he hasked this time. He questioned if he had met you before since it sounded so familiar but you shook your head quickly, not wanting him to know who you really were. It felt so wonderful to finally be normal with someone. You gave him the knitted scarf and he thanked you at least five times. He kept saying how manly it looked on him, which made you giggle. Eijiro was really one of a kind.

“It was nice meeting you, Y/N.”, he stood up suddenly, “I need to head on my way, I have someone waiting for me.” “Oh... well, it was nice seeing you again.”, you smiled, “Do you... do you think you’ll ever come back here.” “Hm... I’ll tell you what.”, he crouched down to meet your eyes, “I’ll come by here tomorrow if you show me how to knit.”

And so you did. Then after that you had another excuse. As well as the time after that. You kept finding excuses to see him, no matter how weird they got. Eventually you just stopped coming up with excuses and told him you wanted to see him again... you were starting to fall for him after all, and what better excuse was there than that? Your love seemed to make you blind to the fact that people could still see you sneak out, and you became more reckless.

“Do you ever want to get out of here?”, he asked you suddenly one evening, “You said you didn’t have any friends in the village... would you ever consider it?” You thought about it for a while... your duties, your responisbilities... but your freedom was at risk. As soon as you were queen there was no more sneaking out. “I’d have to think about it probably.”, you said honestly, “Why do you ask?” “Oh... no reason in particular.” You thought a lot about the words he spoke that day... and a tiny part of you wanted him to ask you to fly far far away with him.

“This time I’ll give him a kiss on the cheek!”, you giggled to your maid, “I’m sure he’ll get completely red in the face!” “Don’t tease him like that, princess.”, she smiled warmly as she folded your clothes, “He seems like a nice man.” “Oh, he is. He gave me flowers last time! Could you believe he picked them himself?”, you spun around with a bright grin on your face. Your maid of course didn’t know that Eijiro was a dragon, even someone as caring as her would get the wrong idea. She simply thought that he was a kind stranger in the woods.

That evening you ran out quickly to the forest. He was there and you embraced him as soon as you saw him. “Hello, love.”, he grinned. “Oh! You won’t believe what I saw today!”, you said happily. You didn’t get that much time to say anything though, shouting and the sound of people running towards you filled your ears. “Did someone follow you?”, Eijiro asked worridly. “Princess!”, one of the guards shouted. “... princess?”, he looked at you in disbelief. “Get away from him princess! You’ll get hurt!”, another guard came running up. “Look, Eijiro, I can explain everything.”, you whispered to him. He looked at you the way that no one else could, even when you had broken his trust like this. “I can take you away from here.”, he whispered back as the guards aimed there arrows at him. “Please.”

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captainillogical · 5 years ago

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Distant Lands Ch.13

Stranded on a planet with toxic conditions and nothing but the clothes on your back, your only means of survival lies within the gem that got you here in the first place.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

You shout as you slide down with the moving soil as if anyone can even hear you, attempting to grab anything for purchase - but your hands can only grasp dirt. You cup your face as rocks and dirt fly all around you, much of it getting into your mouth.

Your heart and head are both pounding, and most of your body is stuck in soil right now as you try to not have a panic attack about your current situation. After nearly a minute with the dust settling, you realize that you've sunk nearly forty feet down into something - a single beam of light coming down on you from above.. you break out into a coughing fit as more particles get into your mouth. You try getting one arm out - it takes you nearly five minutes of wiggling your arm in the loose dirt to pry it free.

Next, you scrape away the rocks and dirt against your chest, moving as much as you can away from you with a single arm. Once your other arm is pried free, you work at the rest of the landslide around you as you manage to control your breathing.

It takes you the better part of half an hour, but you're free. You look like a kid that decided to have too much fun at the park, after you look down at yourself. You feel itchy and gross, but you're proud of yourself for mainly staying calm and not freaking yourself out into another worse situation.

Okay.

You look around you - you can't see much of anything, as it's very dark around you aside from the light up above. You're underground, and you can really only see dirt. Are you in some sort of pocket?

You think you might be able to climb up from where you've slid all the way down. You lift one of your legs up to gain purchase on the dirt that looks most steady, but as you step into it your foot just sinks down. You try hoisting yourself up in several areas, but the dirt just crumbles or slips out from your grasp. You can't get a decent hold on anything, it seems.

There are some tree roots sticking out of the dirt above you in a couple places. You think it seems decently manageable, trying for those. It takes you a couple tries, reaching for the lowest one. You think it might be possible to use these like some kind of rockwall, if you can get a grip on that first one, and use them to climb back up. You find that the only way for you to get up to the first one is to build a small pile of dirt up, but you do actually manage to grab it after a couple of enthusiastic jumps.

Once you have that root in hand, you pull on it hard twice to make sure it's stable enough, and sure enough it is. You pull yourself up tentatively, it's hard, but your time on this planet the last few weeks have toughened up your muscles. You're a little proud of yourself.

You manage to get yourself up a good six feet by the time you have to reach for another root, and you nearly slip. This wouldn't even be a problem if Spinel was with you. She could just.. stretch her arms and throw you up there. Fucking gems and their stupid weird abilities that you're definitely not jealous of.

You find yourself annoyed that this shit seriously has to happen at the worst times.

This would be even less of a problem if you had like.. not taken a shortcut. Because while you know where you are, Spinel does not. And you know you're far enough away from the regular path that she'd never hear you even if you screamed. You feel so fucking stupid for getting cocky out here.

You sigh out loud through your teeth, and resign to pretending things are okay and that you're not always 2 steps from complete disaster. You reach out for the other root, grasping it firmly and cementing your left foot a bit higher on the wall. So good so far. Maybe at this rate, you'll get out and can meet back up with Spinel and pretend this little incident never happened. She'll wonder why you're covered in dirt, again.. but you don't need to divulge in specifics. She'll just admonish you for going off path.. and basically every single other bad decision you've made.

You get up a few more feet - it's fucking difficult, you're not going to lie. You haven't had to do much of any climbing on this planet so far, and you weren't expecting for it to strain so badly on your arms. You guess that the gravity has some to do with it, and the rest on this shitty soil. It smells pungent and moldy, and you're trying to not breathe much in as it's making your head spin the more you inhale. When you think you're about halfway up, you make the mistake of looking down.

Instantly, you feel the room spinning, and you close your eyes to not cause any further nausea to build up. You grip the root in both hands, feet firmly planted in the soil in front of you, legs straining with all of your weight and tiredness. You're extremely proud of yourself for getting up this far by yourself, and in these circumstances to boot.

You lift up your right foot to keep climbing up, but your shoe catches on a fairly large smooth rock, causing you to slip. You hold on to the tree root as hard as you can as you feel more dirt slip out from beneath your feet. In the several seconds it takes for all of this to happen, you look down again to see that you're basically suspended, and you have very little to work with now as you reach for any kind of purchase to grab onto.

Your hand slips, suddenly, and you fall.

You don't remember passing out, but your entire fucking body hurts and you can't see shit. You can hear wind, and there's a steady pattern of water dripping onto your face.

You sit up slowly, as you start to regain memories of what just happened in the last day. You were out gathering sap with Spinel. You guys split up.. Your eyes start to adjust to the darkness around you. Oh, right. You fell. Looking up, you see that it's clearly night out.

Okay, fuck. You were supposed to meet with Spinel. Your mind starts to reel a little, panic bubbling up in your gut.

Stay calm. It's not like it's impossible for her to find you. You think for a moment about shouting for her, and then realize that it would be utterly stupid. Who knows where she's at right now, and besides, it's raining. She wouldn't be able to hear you beyond thirty feet out there anyway! And you're in a hole in the ground!

Speaking of holes. You stand up - and immediately stumble and need to lean against the wall to support yourself. You're pretty fucking sure you sprained your ankle.

Great.

You test your weight on it, and it fucking hurts, not gonna lie. You don't have much of a choice, though. You maneuver yourself to the darker, drier side of the hole - so that the rain isn't coming down on you directly. You sigh, cursing yourself. You wish Spinel was here.

You hate that she's who you're thinking of, instead of like, you don't know, Steven. The Crystal Gems. Lars. Wow, yeah your standards for companionship are completely skewed right now.

You start to notice the walls next to you seem almost familiar in shape. All around you, and.. beyond, you realize. Relief, and a wave of dread hits you, much like running directly into a concrete barrier. How did you not realize before?

You didn't fall into a pocket. You hit a soft spot above one of the fucking tunnels and caused a landslide somehow, and caused half the tunnel to collapse. You have a clear path behind you - it was just hidden in murky darkness that you can now start to kind of see in.

You stand there for a few minutes, staring into the darkness and weighing your options. Option. You have just the one.

You just.. really don't want to.

Your eyes adjust a bit more, and you think 'well, it's now or never,' to yourself.

Slowly, you painfully limp down this tunnel by yourself as the rain starts to fade away behind you, and instead, the eerie softness of underground settles in. It’s taking quite a bit of effort from you to walk right now. Spinel’s going to absolutely rip into you for getting yourself into this mess, and for hurting yourself. You’re not looking forward to it at all. You’re pretty sure she’s beside herself with worry about you and is out right now looking for wherever you could be, and probably thinks you’re dead. Or worse.. that you left her.

Which.. you would never do to her now. She doesn’t deserve that. This is the longest you’ve been separated from her since meeting her, you think. You hope she’s not freaking out too bad over this, but based on her previous reactions to you momentarily disappearing, you kind of doubt it.

You’re lost in thought a bit while you’re trying to ignore the pain in your foot, when you realize that you can sort of.. see in here. Your eyes adjust to some kind of.. glow along the walls? You stop in your tracks to examine the dirt at your eye level. It’s.. there’s a film on the dirt, now that you’re looking closer at it. It’s kind of sparkly? Which is utterly fucking strange. It must be old, because it doesn’t wipe off when you run your finger along it. You can see maybe eight to ten feet in front of you vaguely thanks to the luminescent cave slime. Nice. Looks like you really didn’t need a torch down here after all. Spinel would definitely be making fun of you for this.

You keep going at your extremely slow pace. You feel like ages have gone by, stumbling at this slow crawl, as you trail your hand along the wall in case you lose your balance. Walking this much on a sprained ankle is definitely going to make it so much worse in recovering, but it’s not as if you have a choice in this. Sometimes you hear the occasional drip echo in the one direction ahead of you, but you hear nothing else in the ambient of this tunnel. You have no idea how long this one is, but you hope to be near an exit soon. You’ve been walking basically in a straight line this entire time. Your muscles are aching terribly.

After a while longer, the air starts to smell a little.. funkier. You don’t really know how to describe it, other than it smells heavy and a bit musky. You’re pretty sure that’s just from the warm dirt all around you, though. As you keep walking, the air starts to feel a little different the further you go along. Your hand hits an abrupt end to the wall, and you squint out as you come to a stop to realize that you’ve come to a fork in your so-called road.

You look down each side it splits to - you can see barely anything. There’s nothing either way. You lick your finger and stick it out into the open to discern an air flow direction, but it seems mainly stagnant much to your frustration. You think you can try something else, and cup your hands around your mouth, making a loud noise to pan out in each direction.

You hear your voice echo out down both tunnel paths, and curse out loud to yourself.

Fuck! You have no idea which direction is best to go in. You lean against the tunnel wall, sliding down to sit and rest your ankle. It’s in agony now, and you’re doing your best to ignore it as much as you can. You’ll get back up in a couple minutes when you figure out if left or right is your best course of action to not fuck your ankle further.

You pull your foot in closer to yourself and pull up your jeans to expose some of your skin. It’s extremely bruised and purpling around your joints, and you wince as you test your pain tolerance. It’s swollen. You consider maybe tearing your sleeve to make some kind of compression, but think better of it. It would be utterly pointless to tear up your only clothes for this. You lean your chin on your knee, feeling stupidly tired.

You know you shouldn’t, but you want to rest for a little while before you keep going. You have no idea how much longer of a walk you’ve got ahead of you, and everything hurts. It’ll just be for a bit.

You close your eyes.

You wake up laying on a dirt floor, and have a mini panic attack before realizing where you are.. and then you just get irritated and worried. You have no idea how long you were asleep, but you’re groggy as fuck now. Something is digging into your hip, so you sit up. Your ankle lights up in pain, and you slap a hand over your mouth as you howl out in agony. You almost forgot about that happening..

You feel what was digging into your side, and pull the tracker out of your pocket, as well as that blade from the Spire. You stare at the tracker for a minute, the little red light still visible to you. Weirdly enough, it still gives you hope. Even though you’re lost underground right now, on a strange and faraway alien planet.. you still have a tiny smidge of hope.

You think it’s a little ironic that you’re not scared, when you have every right to be. No one knows where you are right now, and you’re injured. You don’t even know if any of these tunnels lead you back to the surface. You’re trying your best to lie to yourself to keep up the facade of calmness, and it’s kind of working.

Anyway.

You get up from your sitting position, and it takes you much longer than you’d like to admit. It hurts like a bitch to walk, like what the fuck are legs even useful for if they just hurt? You’ve decided to take a left, because fuck going right. That side of the tunnel just seemed cursed, anyway. You are so extremely grateful for the luminescent sparkly walls, because walking alone in here is kind of like.. your worst nightmare? Or was.

You used to think getting kidnapped and held against your will and being generally helpless to your situation was your kind of worse-case-scenario, but now that you’ve actually gone through it.. Eh. You’d just laugh at yourself now. You’re pretty sure you’d also yell at yourself about some Stockholm shit considering you’ve kinda fallen for your captor, but that’s a discussion to completely disregard later.

You’re walking down this swampy tunnel, leg in complete misery, when you hear something. You stop in your tracks immediately to listen to it.

It’s a.. scuffle. Like the sound of something solid hitting the dirt.

Your heart rate picks up.

Is it.. one of the nocturnal creatures? You ball your fists to stop your hands from shaking. You can’t fight something down here, bare-handed, with your ankle like this. You feel your heart pounding in your chest, and you bite your lip to cause any kind of pain to focus on instead of the panic rising in your chest. WAIT. You have that blade in your pants! Very quietly and calmly, you place your hand on your jeans pocket, feeling the blade resting in the cloth underneath.

The movement stops, and so does your breathing. You slowly grab the blade out of your pocket, flipping it open as quietly as you can and point it at the sound.

You don’t know how long you’re standing there in utter silence. The entire time you’ve been standing still, you’ve seen no movement or sign that it could be a hostile animal. You wait there for several moments longer, and you hear nothing else. Maybe it could have been nothing?

You think you’re a bit paranoid, anyway.

You take one, two steps forward, and hear movement up ahead. Something moves, slightly, and you freeze again in complete terror.

And then you see a different light in the shape of an upside down heart floating about ten feet in front of you.

“SPINEL?!” You exclaim in relief, and you jolt to run to her - except your leg erupts in pain. You groan instead, grasping the wall beside you for leverage.

"Y/N!!!" She closes the gap between you two, face full of relief and bewilderment - she looks like she wants to hug you. "I've been looking for you everywhere, and I couldn't find you after we were supposed to meet up, I was so scared - I thought something must have taken you so I went down here to-"

"Spinel, breathe," You say, looking at her face - even in these circumstances, it makes you feel better. You have never been more glad to see her in your entire life. "I'm alive, and that's what matters."

"Do you even know how long I've been looking for you!? Nearly a day! And I've been so scared I was going to find you dead somewhere! How did you even get down here in the first place!? Why didn't you show up to our meeting place!!?" She pelts you with so much at once that you feel like she's about to keel over from worry.

"I didn't come down here on purpose, you know I never wanted to be here in the first place." You close your blade, putting it back into your pocket. Spinel makes a curious kind of face as if she's wondering if you'd have stabbed her. "I fell down here."

"You FELL down here!?" She gives you a perplexed look, eyebrows shooting into her hairline. "How did you manage to do that!?"

"I uh.." You cough into your hand, and pull your ankle up to your knee as you lean on the wall for support. "I took a shortcut along the path to get somewhere faster, and managed to step in an area where the soil collapsed into one of these tunnels. Did you know that they are connected? I've been unable to find my way out."

"Yeah it's how I got lost in here, looking for you." Her eyes drop down to your ankle, and concern blankets her face. "What the fuck is wrong with your foot?"

"I think I sprained it trying to climb my way out, regrettably. Shit fucking hurts." You wince, looking at the massively bruised skin around your ankle.

"Can you walk on it?"

"Barely. I have to go slow."

"Well, we gotta get you outta here so we can fix that, as much as I wanted to explore down here." She taps her gem, and pulls something long out of it to hand to you. It's a decently sturdy looking stick. "I knew this would come in handy sometime, you can use this to walk."

"You kept a fucking stick in your gem?" You look at her, perplexed, and slightly amused. "Why? What use would you have for this?"

"Uh.. I don't have to answer that. Also, would you rather me carry you? Because I can do that instead, if ya' want." She gives you a cheeky look. You imagine it for a second, and then push that thought out of your head immediately as you feel your face heat up against your will.

"No, this is fine. Thanks." You quickly say, snapping your mouth shut.

"Suit yourself. Just let me know if it's too much to deal with and I'll carry you." She replies, genuine consideration in her voice. "And.. Y/N.. I'm glad you're mostly unharmed. I was completely terrified that something really bad happened there, for a while."

God, it's like she's actively trying to come for your heart now. You scream at yourself internally for having feelings show up at a time like this.

"Eh." You shrug casually, like you're not swallowing your feelings. "I think it'll take a lot more to kill me than that."

"Do all humans think they're invincible? Or is that just you?" She gives you a look. You feel like you're immune to her judgement at this point.

"Mm, both. You should see a crowd of drunk dudes at a football game riot."

"I'm not even going to pretend like I'm going to understand that. Anyway. We should move on."

"Yeah, yeah.." You groan, and move from your position leaning on the wall. "This place gives me the creeps, anyway."

"It ain't that bad, the luminous dirt walls make for decent light. And you were so worried about lighting in case something happened to me.. oh the irony." She says, tone tinged with mockery.

"Oh, shut up, will you." You roll your eyes, and she grins to herself like she just won an argument. You hate how much it makes you like her. Leaning on your stick, you take a step or two, and then look back to her. "Do you even know what direction we should be going?"

"Er, figured we'd go the way you came." She says, lifting up her hand to scratch at the side of her face sheepishly.

"Back my way is a collapsed tunnel. And I have a feeling if we went back to the fork in the path I passed earlier, it'd be counterproductive to getting out of here."

"Well, back my way the path splits in several directions, so we can try there?"

"Spinel, did you seriously get lost down here?" You give her a slightly judgemental look.

"Look, I was more worried about you than anything. Also, I passed by multiple split paths on the way over here, you really can't expect me to remember which ways I've went." She replies, albeit a bit poutily.

"Fine, you get a pass. And I think going back your way will be best."

"If ya' say so." She turns to head in the direction she came, and you follow her. "But if we get lost, I'm gonna blame you."

"Me!?" You scoff, doing your best to keep a steady pace without putting too much weight on your ankle. "We're already lost, you idiot! Besides, you came in here on your own volition, I literally fell in!"

"Well I wouldn't have had to come down here if I wasn't trying to find you!"

"Because I totally fell in here on purpose! God you're an ass, I can't believe I-" You cut yourself off in horror, and Spinel turns her face to look at you in confusion.

"You can't believe you what?" She slows her pace a little, walking right beside you.

"Nothing." You snap your mouth shut. Unbelievable. You really are a fucking disaster, aren't you? You literally just almost confessed your feelings, right then, like an idiot.

"No, what were you gonna say?" She asks again.

"Absolutely nothing. Drop it." You keep walking, making sure to avoid eye contact with her.

"You are impossibly irritating, Y/N." She scoffs, the soles of her feet making more noise than you stumbling around. "And you're hard to read. I can never quite tell where I'm standing with you."

"Good. It keeps you on your toes." You say, making fun of her a bit.

You're glad she hasn't caught on to your feelings. You aren't entirely sure what you're going to do about them, yet, if you're honest with yourself. You're not going to do anything about your feelings for her. That's utterly ridiculous, actually. She doesn't even like you. And besides, a human and a gem? Oh, what would people think.. you shake your head from your current thought process, brain nearly short circuiting from even considering any of that.

You both walk slowly in the one direction, Spinel keeping pace with you as she occasionally babbles about nothing in particular. Your mind keeps wandering, worry and irritation plaguing your thoughts. Your foot keeps shooting intense waves of pain throughout your leg that you are finding it increasingly hard to ignore.

“Why do the walls glow like that?” You tune back in to hear Spinel wonder out loud to herself.

“I.. don’t know, actually.” You answer, and she stops for a moment to stare a little more closely at the tunnel walls. “There’s nothing like this outside on the surface that we’ve seen.”

“It’s so sparkly, and there’s so many colors in here. I kinda like it.” She puts a finger to her lip in consideration, eyes squinting, and places another hand on the wall. She swipes her gloved hand along the dirt, and you see some dirt and sparkles flake off onto the floor.

“That’s.. kind of weird, actually.” You stare at the wall where her hand had swiped, and the glow in that area has dissipated a bit. You walk up right next to her, and scrape a large amount of the dirt off the wall, sparkles and all. When the dust settles, you can clearly see that the area you messed with is dark, whatever film that was there before now gone. “Huh.” You say out loud.

“What? You can just scrape it off?” Spinel also pushes more dirt off, with the same result.

“What the fuck is this?" You ask out loud. "Is this some kind of paint?"

“Are you serious? You think someone painted this? How does that make any sense?" She stares at you in bewilderment.

“Well, it doesn't, but I don't see you answering any of these questions yourself.” You huff.

“You act like just because I’m a gem, I must know everything.” She says in mild irritation.

“Well, you’re certainly older and have more experience than I do.” You retort.

“Not of stuff like this.” She says, scraping off some of the dirt off the walls into the palm of her hand, examining the sparkles closely. After a couple of seconds she drops it to the ground, and shrugs. “I don't have a clue."

“How helpful.” You say, and turn to leave. You hobble forward, gritting your teeth in pain and curse at your foot inside your head.

It’s bothering you.

You feel like you’re close to discovering something, but you can’t exactly place everything together and it’s frustrating.

“Boy this sure goes on forever. I think we're close to the split I hit earlier, though." She says from beside you, and just after she barely finishes, you see an open area up ahead.

The path seems to branch off in several directions from here.

"Which way did you come from?" You look to her.

"Um." She scratches her head. "I'm pretty sure it was this one." She says as she lifts an arm to point at the path directly to the left of this one.

"You're.. pretty sure? Are you fucking kidding me, Spinel?" You place your hands on your hips, almost wanting to tear into her. You don't want to be lost down here forever.

"Seriously, I was going out of my mind with worry, okay. You could be nice to me for once." She rolls her eyes, looking down each path in front of you. There's five.

"I'll be nice when I'm dead. You'll have to pry niceness from my cold, dead fingers."

"One day, you're gonna regret saying that to me. And then you'll be like "oh Spinel, you're so funny and cool and a great friend." when you finally realize how much you've wronged me this entire time."

"Fat fucking chance. In your dreams, care bear. Let's just take the right tunnel." You keep going, ignoring Spinel's protests behind you.

"Don't call me that! I don't even know what that is!" She sighs disdainfully, keeping pace with you. "And you can't just choose a direction like that. This needs to be a team effort."

You spin around to look at her. "Do you want to go down a different path?"

"Uh.." She looks behind her, considering her choices for a second. "Actually, this is fine."

"That's what I thought." You say smugly, and keep walking ahead. Your ankle is in agony, but you're sure you can manage the rest of the way on your own, you think.

"Brat." You hear her mutter behind you.

"Excuse me?" You clear your throat pointedly.

"Nothing." She answers curtly. You grin to yourself quietly. It's very amusing when you're clearly getting underneath her skin.

After a little while longer of walking you see something in the distance, on the ground.

“I think I see something.” You whisper and you stop, looking at the object fifteen feet ahead. You put an arm out to stop Spinel in her tracks. “Shhh.”

“Don’t shush me.” She retorts beside you, stopping where she stands.

You put a finger to your lips, and squint at whatever is on the ground ahead of you. It’s really dark, so you can’t make out much, so you take a step or two closer. It’s.. well it’s not moving. So it’s not a living organism, much to your relief.

“What is that?” She asks, completely ignoring your motion for her to be quiet.

“Nothing that would kill us, thankfully.” You say sarcastically. “Because if it was something that could, we’d be dead by now. You’re too loud.”

“You have no faith in me. I can take nearly anything.” She replies, and you ignore the look she’s giving you entirely to go examine what lays a couple feet ahead of you.

“Stop trying to convince me that you’re tough shit. I know what you’re like when your sleeping is interrupted. You’re whiny.” You reply to her, mockingly.

“I am not!” She exclaims, sounding completely offended. “Take it back!”

“Nah.” You walk closer to it, carefully, just in case. Once you’re standing in front of it, it takes you a second to realize what it is, because it’s incredibly mangled and bent in ways it was not supposed to.

“An injector..” You say out loud. The gears in your brain are starting to turn, a little.

“An injector? Down here?” She says as she walks up beside you, and just straight up kicks it on the side. Glass and steel crunching echoes out along the tunnel. “What the hell is it doing down here?”

“Well..” You trail off, staring at the broken glass of the center of the chassis. There are.. marks gouged on it, along the edge, that are strange. Marks that make it seem like something organic brought this down here, and you feel a bit of dread settling at the pit of your stomach. “I have a feeling that something might’ve dragged it here.”

“What do you mean?” She asks. You point to what you’re staring at.

“I’m not sure what could do this to an injector, or why it would fuck it up like this, but it has to be something incredibly strong, considering this is far away from the kindergarten. Also, what could even bend it like this? This is pretty thick steel.” You lean in a bit further, trying to see if there are any other indicators of what could’ve possibly dealt this kind of damage. You’re not seeing much else.

“So ya’ think it’s some kinda animal?” She looks at you, her face contorted with confusion.

“I don’t know.” You answer. “But whatever it could’ve been, it should be long dead by now, right? I mean.. It’s been a couple thousand years since that incident.”

“Well, yeah. What could live that long besides gems?” She shrugs, staring at the broken injector. “We don’t have anything to worry about.”

“You’re.. probably right.” You say, almost reluctantly. Something in your gut tells you to not relax, though. Like you just can’t. “I just can’t shake this feeling.”

“Ya’ justtttt paranoid, Y/N.” She says, drawing out her words dramatically. She gives you a cheeky wink, and you roll your eyes. You ignore the butterflies it gives you, and you stand back up from your hovering position to keep walking.

Hobbling forward, you’re maybe walking with Spinel for a good five or so minutes when that pungent smell increases maybe tenfold, it hitting your nostrils much like walking into a cloud. You stop in your tracks to cough as it smells not great, nearly gagging for a moment.

“God, what the fuck is that smell?” You say out loud, waving the air around your face with your hand like it would somehow help dissipate it. “It’s fucking awful.”

You glance over to Spinel to see how she’s fairing, and you freeze momentarily. She’s got this glossed over look to her eyes, and she’s staring out into the tunnel as if she’s spacing out.

“Spinel? You okay?” You ask her. She turns her head slowly to look at you.

“Uh…” Is all she manages to say. Her pupils are blown, but nothing else seems to be wrong with her. She looks like she’s about to start drooling, actually.

“Spinel?” You say to her, watching her apprehensively. What the fuck? You take another step closer to her, and reach out to grab her by the arm. Still no response. Okay. You shake her arm, and it’s like a dead weight. You smack her side a little, and it doesn’t even jostle her.

How the fuck is she so unresponsive? You’re starting to panic as you’ve never seen her act like this before, and you don’t really know what to do.

“Spinel,” You say again, watching her face for any kind of response. “Spinel, if you don’t react in the next five seconds I’m gonna slap the shit out of you.”

No response.

You lift your favored hand, and slap Spinel on the side of her face so hard that her head moves with the force of your hand, and you’re definitely gonna feel that on your palm for the next week. The sound echoes down the tunnel. Several seconds later, she moves her face back to level with yours, and relief floods you.

She breaks out into a seriously goofy kind of grin, and out of her mouth comes a-

“Heyyyyyyyyy.” As she looks at you stupidly.

"Uh." You answer, like a smart person, as your brain struggles to comprehend what’s going on. "Is your gem cracked?" Your eyes roam over her chest to her gem, seeing nothing wrong with it.

"Whaddya' mean?" She asks almost innocently, her grin not even phased by your words.

"Are you serious right now!?" You are so, so confused. She blinks at you and you stare at her, in all of your body's screaming agony as she just stands there. “What’s wrong with you?!” You walk around her to see if there is anything physically wrong with her, poking and prodding at her to see how she reacts. She turns her head slowly to you, pupils trailing to yours.

"Whatcha doin', touchin' me all over and stuff? Are ya' flirting with me, Y/N?" She takes a look at herself as if she's also trying to find out what's wrong with her, grinning like a fool.

"I'm not," You stop in your tracks, brain malfunctioning. "Why do you think I'm flirting with you, right here and now, in this dark tunnel!? Are you high?!"

"Listennnnn," She places an outstretched hand upon your upper arm, bringing your attention to her face. "You are always so mad, but I can see flirting from liiike.. a hundred miles away."

“Are you-” You cut yourself off as you realize what’s happening. You’re not sure why you’re not affected, but Spinel surely is. “Spinel, come here.” You say as you grab her by the arm, and you drag her the opposite direction long enough to not smell that nasty pungent smell anymore.

After a minute or so, she looks at you a little more comprehensively.

“What..” She says in confusion at the entire situation.

“So, not sure what’s happening exactly, but you’re clearly reacting to something in the air.” You state, staring at her. She meets your eyes, but looks as if she doesn’t quite understand. “Spinel, it doesn’t affect me. It’s just affecting you for some reason."

“What do you mean, what’s affecting me? I don’t feel any different..”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t. Except I know you, and you’re never like this.” You huff out, racking your brain on how to deal with this, but are unable to come up with anything sufficient.

“So what’s the problem? Can’t we just pass through it and be done?”

“I mean, sure. That’s super easy for you to say." You retort.

"What do you even mean by that." She looks at you, confused.

"You were incredibly.. how do I say this.." You stop as you watch her eyebrows raise in apprehension. "Idiotic."

"What." Her face drops. "Can you stop being a jerk for five minutes?"

"I'm not trying to insult you right now, I'm serious. You were like a zombie." As soon as those words come out of your mouth, something ticks in your brain. "Wait a second, Spinel."

"What." She crosses her arms.

"Doesn't this seem kinda weird? Why would just YOU be affected by that smell? Considering I'm human, usually it'd be me if anything."

"Um.." She trails off, thinking for a moment. "You're actually right..”

“Do you remember anything that just happened a couple minutes ago?” You ask her.

“It’s mostly fuzzy, actually.” She states.

“Huh. Okay, it’s starting to make a little sense.”

“What is?” She raises her eyebrows in question.

“I think I know how all those gems went missing, now that I’m thinking about it.”

“You don’t think..” She trails off, considering what you have just said. “You think all those gems disappeared down here?”

“With how I just saw you act, it’s really the only thing that remotely makes sense.”

“So, what? The gems came into these tunnels, smelled weird shit and disappeared? We’ve walked a fair bit in here, and we haven’t seen any signs of gems here at all.”

“Look, I haven’t figured it all out, I’m just saying. It makes sense, kind of.” You sigh, leaning on the stick Spinel gave you.

“Okay, even if what you’re saying is true, that happened so long ago I doubt we’d find sufficient evidence of what actually went on.” She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Regardless.. What’s the plan here?”

“Our options are to either push through and see where that goes, or head back and go in a different direction.”

“Would you prefer to backtrack and possibly get more lost without finding where this goes?” She gives you a look.

“No,” You say, reluctantly. “I’m just a bit nervous about how much the air will affect you.”

“Eh, I’m not worried about it. I trust you to lead my idiotic self past whatever this is.” She gives you a kind of reassuring grin, but you’re still uneasy, and you don’t know why. Fear of the unknown, maybe?

“If I have to drag you the entire way, I will.” You say to her with a smirk, and turn to walk back to where you two were originally headed.

“I have a feeling this is going to be more painful for me, somehow.” You hear her say as she’s walking beside you.

“I doubt it.”

The smell hits you again, and you push through it to keep on walking ahead. You hear Spinel’s footsteps start to lag behind you, and you turn to make sure she’s alright. She’s got that glazed over look again, face free from any kind of emotion.

You don’t like it, but you don’t have much of a choice.

You grab her hand, and keep walking forward. Surprisingly, she keeps up with you, and it almost feels like you’re leading a child. You kind of feel like you should start talking out loud or whistle just to fill the quietness with something.

It’s actually only another hundred yards or so when you see through your straining eyes some kind of end to your tunnel. Or more like, some large.. room, or cavern. The closer you get to it, the slower and quieter you walk out of nervousness.

You stop right at the entrance to this room, and let your eyes adjust to the change in light as you take in everything that your eyes can see. It’s brighter in here, and the entire room is lit up in that weird, sparkly glow along the walls, floor, and even ceiling with piles of rocks and dirt in largely stacked pillars. This room is.. huge. You can’t see the end of it.

“Woooww..” Spinel says from beside you, and you go ahead and just put a palm over her mouth to stop her from talking. Something in your gut tells you that you need to be quiet.

Your gut is actually telling you to just turn around entirely and find another way out, but you’ve come this far, and goddammit do you want to be out of here. You feel like you’re extremely close.

Much to your.. dawning horror, you’re realizing that those pillars of rocks are actually.. Injectors.

What. Your brain is trying to process too much at once as your heart speeds up. Spinel tries to walk into the room by herself, and you pull her back to stand right next to you. You can’t deal with all of this alone, and curse the repugnant stench you still smell around you. It’s stronger now, actually..

There are so many injectors piled all around this room. Hundreds. This is clearly where basically all of them went. How they got in here, you do not know.

“Whoa, shiny..” Spinel rips her hand from yours, and walks over to the injector pile twenty feet in front of you, and you nearly screech in terror at her actions.

“Spinel!” You angrily whisper, getting over to her as fast as you can, grabbing for her hand again. “We need to get out of here, and fast. I have a feeling that we shouldn’t linger.”

She doesn’t answer you as you tug her hand, instead leaning into the broken injector on the bottom of the pile to inspect something. While she’s doing this, you’re looking at all the damaged injectors in this pile with increasing worry. Uh..

They all have similar marks like the one you saw back there, but you’re starting to realize that they all have something else in common. The middle of all of the chassis, where the diamond’s essence is, is torn into.

Spinel grabs onto one of the legs to move it, and before you can stop her, it shifts enough to slide down and causes a loud CRASH to echo out inside the room. It rings in your ears, and you forcefully pull Spinel up so she can't cause any further damage.

You're about to admonish her, when you hear something shift fifty or so yards away from you. It sounds a bit like large metal plates scraping against a surface. You feel vibrations in your feet.

Spinel looks at you, and the only thing you can feel is fear.

#spinel x reader #spinel #su #steven universe #my fic #distant lands #sorry for the wait #this chap actually wasnt gonna have a cliffhanger im actually sorry for this #i didnt want this chapter to be over 10k so..#this is what you get lmfao #you're welcome

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random-imagines-blog · 5 years ago

Text

Bittersweet (Barry Allen x Reader)

Requested by: @kurtbastianlover Wordcount: 3967 Summary: Like every fan’s dream, you suddenly drop into your favorite television show.

The world could be a very mysterious place. Not knowing how they built the great pyramids, the Bermuda triangle, the current US president - but the biggest one was how the hell you went from falling asleep on your couch, to waking up in a bed in the fictional STAR Labs with the actress Daniel Panabaker sitting across the room, looking at medical charts on the computer. When you blinked open your eyes and looked around your surroundings, you tried to think of how this could be happening. There was too much detail for it to be a dream, you could see things that were just background blurs in the show. And the IV needle stuck in your arm hurt too much for that to be part of a dream too. It grew itchy and you scratched the area around it, which caught the attention of the actress. She got to her feet and pressed a call button that made her voice echo throughout the lab. ‘They’re awake!’

“Alright, is there some new prank show out there where they drug you and put you on the set of your favorite show? Because that seems a bit on the illegal side, Netflix will never pick it up.” You looked at your arm and at the needle. You’d seen movies and shows where people pull them out of their own arms, and it always looks uncomfortable. “I’ll play along if you can get a Doctor or a nurse to come and pull this thing out of me. Health and safety nightmare for me to-”

A bright flash appeared, and then there he was. Grant Gustin himself, wearing the infamous, skintight Flash suit. It looked even better in person than it did on your shitty little tv. But how did he get there so fast? You would have noticed if he just walked in. It’s like you were watching reality with special effects. “Wow, it really sprung for the big names.”

“What are they talking about?” Grant leaned in to ask Danielle, who looked at you concerned.

“Grant Gustin, Danielle Panabaker. I met the both of you at SDCC a couple of years ago, after the first season came out. I don’t expect you to remember me, though you certainly made an impression on me,” You chuckled nervously. Danielle shrugged and looked puzzled, before coming closer to you with her hands up. You didn’t make a fuss, only watched carefully as she removed the IV so you were free to move about. “Did they have enough in the budget for Carlos?”

“Who is Carlos?” Grant asked, moving forward. “Is that the person who did this to you, or someone we could track down or...”

“Cisco Ramone? Seriously, what kind of show is this?” You looked between the two actors, frowning now. It had been a bit fun at the start, but the genuinely confused look on their faces was making that run out quick. “Alright, the only thing that I can do from here is pretend that this is serious, so that’s what I’ll do.” You breathed, then got to your feet, realizing that you were still in your pajamas. Well, this certainly is not how you wanted anyone to see you.

“How do you know Cisco?” Danielle asked. You noticed they were avoiding any sort of conversation about this being a show, as though they were scared of the topic. You didn’t blame them. You’d be confused if you were just going about your life and someone showed up and said they knew your life.

“We’ve never met, but I guess you can say that I know a lot about all of you.” You admitted. “I know that sounds crazy but hey, if I somehow slipped from one earth to another, in your words, then anything is possible, right?”

“I’m going to go get Cisco,” Danielle said, backing away, and left the room, leaving you alone with Grant. You stretched your back and took a better look around, noticing that there was no cameras, and the room was indeed closed off - not open like a set. Once Danielle was back with Carlos - it was strange to think of them as their characters when they were standing in front of you - you cleared your throat. “You guys might want to sit down, I have a lot to say.”

When you were done, and having done a short introduction of yourself, the three in front of you seemed to have their minds blown. Grant, no, Barry, had taken off the hood of his costume since you revealed that you knew his identity anyway.

“So somewhere in the multiverse, we’re a TV show. Please tell me I’m played by someone good,” Cisco said, looking at you eagerly.

“You’re played by a guy who looked exactly you. And this is your only real acting gig. It’s great though, you’re fantastic. And Caitlin, you’re Danielle Panabaker, you did, let me think,” You tried to remember other things you’ve seen her in. “A Friday the 13th remake, and a high school superhero film called Sky High. You controlled plants and were hella feminist.” She seemed more troubled at this than happy. “And Grant, sorry, Barry, you also did Glee, which is funny because so did Melissa - er, Supergirl.”

“So this is really all just a TV show? You know all about it?” Barry reiterated.

“Uh - probably, unless I somehow just changed the timeline. Can you tell me about what’s been going on recently? Because by the looks of things, I might actually be ahead of you guys.”

“Tony - he’s made of metal or something. We were fighting and then I just saw you, lying off the side of the road. I couldn’t tell what was wrong, you were just unconscious so I brought you here,” Barry explained. You thought for a moment, Tony, Tony - no, you couldn’t be this far back, could you?

“Tony, as in your childhood villain, Tony?” You asked to be sure.

“That’s where I remember him from!” Barry jumped up. “I knew he looked familiar. But how-”

“This is just season one stuff. You have no idea how crazy things are going to get from here.” You sighed. “This is like, calm before the storm type of things. I could tell you how you eventually defeat him, if you want me to.”

“Season one, how many seasons are there?” Caitlin finally spoke up.

“So far - six.”

“I gotta go tell Harrison about this, he’s going to freak-” Cisco said. At the mention of Harrison Wells, you remembered the twist at the end of the season, and instinctively reached out and grabbed Cisco’s wrist. He stopped, surprised. It was the first contact that you’ve reached out for with any of them. It was still hard to believe that they were real, and you were touching skin. Cisco’s skin.

“It would be extremely dangerous to tell him any of what I’ve just told you,” You said, seriously. “I wish I could tell you, but it would also be dangerous if I did that. Just um - just tell him I’m diabetic and I passed out on the street, and I’m - I don’t know, a cousin or something, because if he finds out who I am and what I know...”

“Do you know who killed my mom?” Barry asked, getting onto his feet.

“Uhh - yes, but - oh god, please don’t make me tell you the big things. I have a really bad feeling about this.”

“Let’s give y/n a little space, okay?” Caitlin said, smiling at you softly. You returned it, knowing that by doing this, you were giving them a little space. You climbed back onto the bed in the medical room and closed your eyes tightly.

You even tried to click your heels three times, muttering, “There’s no place like home,” but that didn’t do anything. You were still here, in the Flashverse. And you had a lot of decisions to make on what to tell them. They weren’t just entertainment now, you could be putting lives at risk. You could be putting your own if Eobard Thawne, under the guise of Harrison Wells, knew that you knew the future. You probably already ruined it by telling them that they had six seasons of adventures ahead of them. You sighed, and went over what you could remember of the first season, especially what was coming up next.

“He seems undefeatable,” Barry said, coming to you in the Medical Bay. A couple of days had already past. Caitlin got you some clothes to change into, and had concocted a story to Harrison about how you had been her neighbor when she was younger. He seemed to buy it and welcome you, which was a bit difficult for you to accept naturally, but you did your best. He still seemed to linger, however, especially when you were alone with one of the members of the team. This was your first one on one talk with Barry since you got here.

“He’s not - Cisco comes up with a way. You defeat him, with a little help from Iris actually. Just give it a little time, and stop trying to just punch him, it’s clearly not working.”

“Does she know who I am?” Barry asked, growing nervous at the mention of Iris’s involvement. “Does she find out when we fight Tony?”

“No, this isn’t how she finds out, but she does eventually. So just keep being careful, alright?”

“Yeah, alright.” Barry nodded. “Hey, have you had a chance to check out Jitters yet?”

“Haven’t really been able to leave this place, no matter how many times I try to explain to Cisco that there’s no Central City in my world so running into a double of me is impossible.”

“Do you want to go, with me?” Barry asked. A flush came across your cheeks. You always thought that Grant Gustin was handsome, and that Barry Allen was an amazing character, so seeing that face, with that personality, and seeing those lips form ‘do you want to go with me’ was overwhelming to you.

“Is this just a ploy so you can go see Iris?” You questioned, trying to play it off cool.

“No, though she might be working. I just thought that since you’re here, I could show you around. Maybe you’ll see something that isn’t in the show.”

“Sure, sure,” You teased, knowing that he was in love with his best friend and that they would one day get married. It was best not to get your hopes up. “Oh, and can we also go to Big Belly Burger? I’ve always wanted to try it.”

Barry laughed at that, but agreed that he would take you there for dinner.

Apart from the danger of being near the big bad from the first season, being here was a dream come true.

You sat across from Barry at a small Jitters table with large coffee mugs in front of you. The place was larger than you thought it would be, but you only were able to see a bit of it due to camera angles. You got what sounded best, while Barry got his usual. And of course, Iris was working. It was just like the show, where she was front and center while there were background characters literally in the background.

“So you know all about us, why don’t you tell me a little about you?” Barry asked, taking a sip from his coffee. He was barely looking over at Iris, it was odd.

“Oh, I’m really not that interesting,” You said, brushing it off. “Not like you guys anyway. My life is pretty pedestrian.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Barry frowned. “There’s got to be something.”

“Well, I live by myself, so apart from my job, I doubt anyone has noticed that I left yet. Thank God I don’t have a pet or else I’d be freaking out about them not being fed,” You chuckled, trying to think of anything that might be of interest. You told him about your job, and how it wasn’t nearly as cool as being a superhero.

“You shouldn’t compare yourself to other people as often. Especially not TV characters,” Barry said, looking a little concerned.

“I guess I do that a lot, huh?” You tried to lighten the mood with a little chuckle. “Is there anything that you want to know, by the way? I mean, I can’t spoil the big things, obviously, but there’s probably some things that I can tell you.”

“There’s one thing that I’ve been thinking about, but you don’t know the answer,” Barry frowned. “How you being here is going to affect the timeline that you know.”

“I hope someone cool plays me in the show,” You mirrored what Cisco had said earlier. This made Barry laugh which was a wonderful sight to see. He was so stressed about this whole Tony thing, and his mother’s investigation. Looking at him smile, you noticed that he hadn’t been looking at Iris throughout the whole conversation, but seemed to have his eyes set only on you. You wondered if - maybe - did he think the same way about you that you thought about him?

“You would definitely be played by someone cool.”

You wiggled around in your seat, a little more bashful than you were before. “Barry, I have to ask-”

You were cut off by a shadow over the table,and it belonged to the one and only Iris West. She was absolutely stunning in person, just as she was on your TV screen. “Nothing else for you two before we close up?”

You were surprised by that, and looked at the clock only to find that you had been there for hours. Wrapping your arms around yourself, feeling shy next to the supermodel beside you, you shook your head.

“Iris,” Barry said, getting to his feet, as if just realizing that she was there. “This is y/n.”

“Thanks for the delicious coffee,” You said, smiling awkwardly. You really did have a problem with comparing yourself to other people. Being here had made that abundantly clear.

“You’re welcome,” Iris said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Barry has been rather busy lately, I’m guessing that’s because of you?”

“A lot of things, but yeah, y/n has been ... helpful.” You nodded along as Barry gave a haphazard explanation for your friendship. The look on Iris’s face showed that she didn’t entirely buy it but she dropped the subject.

“However, we are closing so - Barry, do you want to come for dinner at dad’s house sometime this week?”

“Uh - maybe, I’ll let you know.” Barry stood up and put his coat back on, and you did the same. Both of you left, and once you were out in the night air, you let out a huge breath.

“It’s a bit awkward, isn’t it?” You asked. “Iris is your best friend and you’re in love with her then along comes me and makes it uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”

“You know about that too?” Barry looked at you, then sighed, leading the way towards the fast food place. “Is there anything that you don’t know?”

You thought for a minute, then shrugged your shoulders. “I don’t really know where to go from here. I mean, both the burger place, and in this weird life.” He nodded along, listening to ramble about how you missed your old life a bit, even though it wasn’t nearly as exciting as this. Within a couple of minutes, you had it all out of your system and were finding a place to sit while he ordered the burgers.

“Thought we could eat outside,” Barry said, holding up the bag. You nodded, agreeing with that, and the two of you found yourselves sitting on a nearby bench, looking out at the water. “I know things have really changed for you but, I like having you around.”

“Really?” You squeaked more than said, which made you blush again. You never even blushed this much in the real world, but then again, you didn’t have anyone like Barry Allen in your real life. He looked at you and a little grin came across his face - and you recognized it. It was the same grin that he had when he looked at Iris during the show. “Um - thanks, that’s really nice of you to say.”

Barry’s phone ruined the moment, the annoying beeping not stopping until he took it out of his pocket. “Hold on, it’s Cisco,” He said, and answered it. “Cisco? Yeah, y/n’s with me, really? I thought it would take longer than that... Okay, yeah, we’ll head that way now.” He hung up then put it back into his pocket, and looked over at you. “He found a way to potentially get you back home.”

“Oh, alright,” You said, a little disappointed. It felt like things were only beginning to grow here, like maybe you could have a place, but you knew in your heart it wasn’t right. Any move that you make now could affect the lives of these people. Knowing the future and not being able to tell them was extremely difficult. “Yeah, we should head over there.”

“Y/N...” Barry started, but then stopped as you got up and started to walk away from the bench. He jogged, rather than raced, to catch up with you. “It might not even work-”

“But it might. And then - then I’ll have to be content with watching you all on the television again, once a week, seeing you fight and be in pain, and see bad things happen, and good things and not being able to be there anymore...”

“I’m sorry,” Barry said, looking down at you as the both of you walked, hands shoved deep in his pockets. “I wish you could stay here.”

“Yeah, me too.”

You weren’t as thrilled about the idea of going back as Cisco thought that you would be, but you put a big smile on your face so he wouldn’t feel bad about all the work he put into it. When he explained that he would be attempting to alter your frequencies in the same was as televisions in their world, you just nodded and smiled.

“It was really nice to meet you all, I guess I’ll be seeing you again soon.” Your laugh gave away that you were a bit sad about this. They each gave you a hug - first Caitlin, then Cisco, then Barry, though his seemed to linger for longer.

It wasn’t until you rested your head against his chest that you realized that this was your only chance. At first, you were hesitant to bring it up, but then you looked into his eyes and knew that you had to. “Remember how I was going to ask you something at Jitters?” You licked your lips, still slightly tasting the Big Belly Burger, and wished you had a mint or something.

“Yes,” Barry nodded. You smiled slightly, and tried to think of how to word it. Iris had thrown you off your guard back at the coffee shop, and you had to get those thoughts back together.

“I was going to ask if it would be alright if I considered coffee and the burger as a date. It would be really cool to be the only person on my Earth who can say they had a date with a comic book hero.”

He chuckled at that and you thought for a second you had made him blush, but it could have just been the lights. “We can both call it that,” He agreed.

“And would it be alright if I ended this date ... with a kiss?” Even you couldn’t believe how bold that you were being, and Barry looked a little shocked by it as well. You two had just started to get to know each other but he thought that you were a lot more shy than this. But he nodded his head, so you stood on your tiptoes and pressed your lips against his.

It was a good thing that he also tasted like burger, so neither of you had to feel insecure. Apart from that, it was amazing - there was a storm rumbling in your belly, which was more powerful than any butterflies you’ve ever felt before. It was like being on a roller coaster that was just about to totter down a large drop. It was like coming across untarnished treasure. It was beyond any other kiss that you ever had before, and when it ended, you were holding in tears that you had to leave.

He looked at you sadly as well, and took a couple of steps back. You smiled, because despite the sorrow at leaving, you were happy that it had happened at all. “Alright Cisco, beam me up.”

The last thing that you remembered was him pointing a device at you, and some sort of weird vibration going through your body. And then you woke up, which was startling because you didn’t remember falling asleep. You were back on your couch, with the credits of a recent Flash episode playing on your television. The only thing that was different was your clothes. It wasn’t the pajamas that you had been lounging it, but rather, it was an outfit that Caitlin had found for you, and that you had worn on your date with Barry.

That’s how you know that everything that happened was real, and not just some crazy dream. These were definitely not clothes that you owned.

You sat up and reached for your cellphone which was charging on the armrest of the couch. You saw that your phone was not only fully charged, but that you missed three days of your life, that you had 13 missed calls, 22 text messages and plenty of notifications from phone games - and of course, the ever threatening Duolingo reminders. You swept past those and called your best friend right away. She sounded sleepy as she answered the phone, given that it was almost one in the morning.

“You won’t believe what just happened to me,” You said.

“Does it have something to do with the fact that you’ve been lounging around, not answering your phone for three days?” Your friend yawned.

“Yes, actually, it does. I just went on a date with The Flash.”

You waited for your friends reaction to either think it was a joke, or be utterly surprised. It turned out to be neither. “Y/N, I know, you’ve been saying that since that episode came out.” You could hear them rolling their eyes from here. “Yes, there was a character with the same name as you back in season one, we get it, can I go back to sleep now?”

“Yeah, sure,” You said, and hung up. You looked blankly at the TV as another episode started. A rerun, but from season five, not the season that you were in. You rested back against the couch and watched it, a longing in your heart to return back to the show. You wouldn’t be able to watch it without remembering the feeling of Barry’s lips.

#Barry Allen #Barry Allen x reader #The Flash #The Flash x reader #DC #DC x reader #Barry Allen oneshot #The Flash oneshot #DC oneshot #oneshot #request

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ive-got-ships-to-draw · 5 years ago

Text

Legosi x Haru

All he could ever want

Legosi can't help but stare sometimes. It's a bad habit, especially with herbivores. It's safe to say he does this more often with Haru, his eyes are practically glued to her.

Today, as he's watching her talk about how her flowers have been doing, he notices her little sniffles between sentences. Two to three sniffs for each sentence. That's too much, isn't is? Is it allergies? Is she coming down with something? Is it rude to ask someone why they're sniffling so much? Well, he's sure she wouldn't mind. Right? It's worth a shot...

"Haru, are your allergies acting up?" Haru perks up at the sudden question.

"Huh? Oh, uh, probably. Lots of dust and pollen and stuff..."

"Are you sure? You aren't dizzy, or have a sore throat?" His tail smacks the ground a bit and he leans in closer. Haru crosses her arms on the small coffee table.

"Hmm, I guess my throat is a little itchy-"

"Are you getting sick?"

"Uhh I dunno, I can't really tell-"

"I know how to make miso soup at least! And I can go buy some medicine if you... if you want me to, that is!"

"Hey, hey, calm down! I'm fine. If it gets worse, I'll let you know, okay?"

Legosi shrinks back down a bit, and nods dismissively. Maybe that was a bit too much... It could just be the pollen, after all.

"Oh, yeah so! I think you could use a plant or two in here. Maybe some cacti... Or a fern? Or maybe you'd like some flowers? I know having plants around makes a house feel more like home."

"That sounds good!"

"Okay, I'll help you pick out something from my garden! Free of charge!"

The idea of having something to remind him of Haru when she's not around leaves Legosi excited for that day. He wonders what plant she'll pick for him...

His daydream of plants is interrupted, however, as Haru lets out a loud sneeze too big for her tiny body.

"Aaahhh... sorry! You got any tissues?"

"Here!!" Legosi hands her his handkerchief.

"You sure you're alright?"

"Phew! ... I think so. Look. If I get sick, I'll stop by and you can help me out, but I'm pretty sure its just allergies!"

"... Okay."

The next day, Legosi is anxiously waiting around. He can't help but worry about Haru. He hasn't heard from her yet. She could be right, that it was just allergies, but the wait is agonizing. Which is why he's practically flinging the door open when he hears the tiniest knock. He's greeted by Haru gazing up at him, a lazy smile on her face. He can't hide his excited tail at seeing her finally, it brushes against his legs.

"Hiii." She greets him with a small wave.

"How are you feeling?"

"Ahah... guess you were right. Its totally a cold. I'm all stuffed up. And man, is it hot! ...Agh this stinks!" She shakes her head in disappointment. "I could've just toughed it out, but, you know... You seemed like you wanted to help."

His tail droops as he really starts to notice the changes since yesterday. She's a bit unsteady, shifting her weight like she's trying to keep her balance under control. Her little sniffs are more persistent too. Snapping out of a worried haze, he holds the door open wider, moving aside.

"Uh, you can come in! Sorry, feel free to get comfortable..."

"Thanks." Haru drags her feet as she walks in and sits down at the table with a huff, her head resting in her hand. Legosi idles around the kitchen area.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Not really, I don't have much of an appetite right now."

"Oh... do you want some water?"

"Yeah, sure." Legosi waves a bottle in her direction and she takes a swig gratefully. Her gaze drifts into a distant corner, not really focusing on anything, fidgeting with the bottle in her hand. She let's out a sigh. The floor creaks as Legosi sits down at her side, leaning in closely. He places the back of his hand on her head carefully, the touch surprises her a bit. She weakly shoves him away. "Hey, hey! I don't want you getting sick, don't get so close!" Legosi shrinks back a bit, still very concerned. "Ah, sorry... I usually just hide out in my room when I'm sick. Never really liked all the fuss... But you're just trying to help. I shouldn't push you away."

As if to apologize, she grabs his hand and puts it against her face firmly. "Your hands are so big! They can cover my whole face!" She laughs, her breath feels very warm. Legosi can't help but enjoy her touch. Once Haru let's go, she tucks her hands into her lap. "You should wash your hands..."

Legosi hurriedly washes his hands in the kitchen sink as Haru stands up, her legs wobble under the weight. "I should probably lie down for a bit..." On her way to the futon, she stumbles over her feet. Before she can hit the floor, she's swiftly caught by Legosi, her weight supported by both his arms. He sets her down on the futon gently. Haru smiles up at him. "Thanks, I just got a bit dizzy is all."

"I should really go get you some medicine. Uhhh though maybe I'll make some tea first? So you'll have something while I'm away... Do you want some tea, Haru?"

"I guess tea would be nice..."

Legosi fills an old kettle with water and prepares the tea hastily. Haru smiles as she watches him pace around anxiously. The sight reminds her of how worried her mother would get when she was sick as a child. She would always complain, but she was glad someone cared.

Legosi can't help but pace and busy himself. Caring for someone so small and delicate feels like a very important duty. Especially since its Haru! That makes it even more crucial that he does this right! She had to be comfortable, she needs to be warm, she needs to eat, to stay hydrated, and-

Legosi jumps at the kettle's screeching whistle. He hurriedly prepares the tea, burning himself a few times in the process, but succeeding nonetheless. He hears Haru laugh at his clumsiness, and appreciates that she even has the energy to. When the cup is finally ready, he carefully brings it over to Haru. She takes the cup and breaths in the aroma. Legosi is already halfway out the door and fumbling with his jacket.

"Uh, so, I'll be back soon!! Enjoy the tea, and make sure you rest while I'm gone! I'm going to go get some medicine!" He swiftly closes the door, and his footsteps fade as he rushes out. The silence doesn't last, however, as those same footsteps shuffle back to the door and hurriedly lock it, a muffled apology is heard from the other side as they stomp off again. Haru sips at her tea, smiling warmly. As she finishes the cup, she plops over on the futon, feeling the tension slowly leave her body.

It sure is nice to be taken care of. Of course she would rather avoid worrying others, but when its Legosi, it feels... okay. It truly feels as though he'd like nothing more than to care for her. And that feeling is better than anything. She knows how nice it is to take care of others. When a flower is wilting, she always gets it to perk up again. She hopes Legosi will let her worry about him more often. But that guy is just so oblivious to that stuff... If he were sick, she is sure she'd have to practically tie him down to make him stay. The image of him collapsing from working himself too hard always sends a shiver down her spine. Though that could just be the cold... She burrows under the blanket as the shivering starts to get more intense. Maybe when he gets back, he'll let her hug him close.

The creaking from the front door wakes Haru. She sits up and rubs her eyes. Legosi hobbles into the room, kicking the door closed. He's carrying way too many bags. He piles them all on the counter.

"Sorry for waking you... I ran into Louis, and he bought a few things for you. Some tissues, pudding... Vegetable juice... Some ice packs... Oh, and I got some medicine!"

"How's he doing?"

"He's fine, more concerned about you, apparently. But I'm not surprised..."

"Mm-hm..."

Legosi holds out an ice pack. "Ooh, yes please." She takes it and holds it against her cheek, lovingly. "Aaaaahhh thank god..." She plops back down on the futon, hugging the ice pack to her face.

"Before you go back to sleep, you should take some medicine... here." She takes the pills from his hand.

"'Kay..." she swallows the pills with a swig of tea. "Thanks, Legosi."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you came to me before it got any worse..." Haru smiles, tracing her fingers around the large cup in her hands. After putting a few things away, Legosi kneels down at Haru's side. He gently feels her forehead. They linger in heavy silence, until Haru smirks a bit. Still maintaining eye contact, she quickly pecks Legosi on the nose. He flinches on contact, freezing up. Haru can't help but laugh at his priceless expression. This big wolf suddenly looks like he could float away at any second, his tail standing straight up and eyes wider than usual. She watches his expression slowly shift to something more firm, and kind, and she leans into him as he bends down and embraces her in an overwhelmingly warm hug. Her arms clutch his shirt and he wraps his long arms around her form, strong, but gentle. A hug that describes Legosi, wholeheartedly.

"Haru... I love you..."

"Mmhh..." she softly hums, burrowing her head into his neck. They stay there for a long while, until Haru completely relaxes in his grip. Legosi leans back, and lies her back down on the futon. She curls into the pillow with a content sigh. Spotting the ice pack nearby, he places it by Haru. She instinctively grabs it and holds it close. She's just... so small. And cute. He contemplates taking a picture for a bit too long, but decides against it. He'll just commit the image to memory...

He wonders if he should try to make soup. Some miso soup and rice? That should be easy enough... And now that she's taken some medicine, maybe she'll feel better when she wakes up. Good enough to eat something. With a determined nod, he gets to work, grateful that he can do this for someone he cares so deeply about.

This is really all he could ever want.

~~~~~

#beastars fanfic #beastars legosi x haru #sickfic #fanfiction #fanfic #sick day #legosi x haru fanfic #legosi x haru #beastars #beastars legosi #beastars haru #writing #fluff #i really tried to get their characters right #i hope this makes you smile

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itscalledbisexualcrisis · 4 years ago

Text

Scrap Metal - Chapter 5

Summary:

Hiro broke off her engagement to Kuvira three years ago and left Zaofu. All she wants is to live her quiet life in Republic City, away from her haunting past. Kuvira's catching up to her, but is she going to find what she's looking for? Or is she only going to reveal the secrets Hiro kept hidden from her all these years?

AO3 Story Here

“Now down here in this car are living quarters, you’ll be assigned to a pod today. You’ll be provided basic necessities as well as extra uniforms. There aren’t many of us on the maglev train, but we do use it as our main headquarters. Everything is coed here, I hope you don’t mind.”

Kuvira walked promptly down the hallway going from train car to traincar, pointing out various things to Hiro. She was impressed that such a large metal object could move throughout the Earth Kingdom at high speeds by only using magnets and metalbending to propel it. Upon learning that Baatar Jr. was the one that designed it, she wasn’t all that surprised. She recognized some of the features were emulated from Zaofu technology.

She couldn’t linger in her admiration though. She felt like it was her death march as she followed closely behind Kuvira. Things were being shown to her, but she could only half listen. Anxiety swam through her veins and her thoughts kept racing around. What did Kuvira want with her? For the past few days since the fall of Zaofu, Hiro had been kept in the dark. Literally and figuratively.

While Kuvira was spearheading the conquest of Zaofu, and the official reunification of the Earth Kingdom, Hiro was locked away. She thought maybe she would find Baatar Sr. or Huan, but to her dismay, she was put in a singular prison in Zaofu. She supposed it could be worse; they coud’ve sent her to one of the many camps. She shivered at the thought.

Her new Earth Empire uniform was tight and itchy in all the odd places. She tried multiple times to loosen the collar up, but it was no use. The boots they provided were clunky, but she could feel that they were made of a strong metal under her feet. The whole uniform was. Although not a skilled metal bender, even she could feel how much power emulated when she put it on. It made her feel powerful. She wondered what Kuvira’s uniform felt like then or if Baatar had invented this, too.

“And finally here is your work station.”

Hiro raised a suspicious eyebrow. They were in the final train car of the maglev. It looked like a brand new train car attached to the older looking one they previously stepped out from. There were two levels so spectators could watch on to the lower level from the deck. Couches were strewn with tables on the upper level. Along the walls of the lower level were individual lab tables and the center had one large metal table. Hiro was curious at how empty it all looked. More specifically, untouched.

There’s no way they built all of this just for me.

Kuvira noticed her silence and cleared her throat.

“This is a brand new train car, yes. We had to replace the old one after an...incident. Follow me, there’s something I want to show you.”

Hiro quietly made her way down to the lower level. On the wall underneath the stairs was a full size map of Republic City and the United Republic.

“I know you’ve worked closely with Asami Sato and Republic City on the latest infrastructure remodel,” Kuvira started. “I want you to copy down everything you can remember from that; the technology, any underground roads, hidden passageways. Keep in mind, these will primarily be used by Baatar, so no need to be worried about the reader having engineering experience. Any piece of information about weapons and means of defense will be especially useful.”

“Why?” Hiro finally broke her silence and swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked around the table. It’s the first word she spoke to Kuvira since she picked her up from the prison this morning. A stack of workbooks stood prim and proper, ready to be used on the center table. The map before her loomed eerily as Kuvira sood in front of it with her back turned to Hiro. There were four guards placed around the room, something she thought was excessive. “The United Republic is part of the original Earth Kingdom. Therefore another piece of the empire that I need to rebuild and take back for our people.” Hiro didn’t like how Kuvira used the word ‘our’. “To be very transparent with you, the Earth Empire is seeking to reunite the full original kingdom.”

Hiro scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Believe me, Republic City doesn’t need to be rebuilt or updated, I’ve already done that.” She knows that may have sounded smug, but it was the truth. “Plus, the United Republic hasn’t been part of the Earth Kingdom in decades. Avatar Aang created it as a neutral territory after the Hundred Year War.” “Avatar Aang failed to return what was lost during the Hundred Year War. That doesn’t change its historical significance to the Earth Empire,” Kuvira said. Her emphasis on the word ‘Empire’ lingered and Hiro could hear the warning in Kuvira’s words. Hiro paused, but took a cautionary step forward to stand next to Kuvira. There was a generous gap between them as Hiro studied the map up close. Her eyes darted around the map of the United Republic, slowly piecing the puzzle together in her mind.

“It’s oar supply is significant, you mean.” Kuvira let out a short laugh before letting her face fall into a cocky smirk. Everyone knew the United Republic had an abundance of natural oar supply, which was a valuable and high-priced commodity across all the nations.

“An added bonus to our cause.”

“This is crazy,” Hiro muttered.

Kuvira clenched her fists at her sides.

“Everyone leave us,” she commanded.

The guards cleared out of the train car and left promptly. Hiro kept her eyes trained on the map before her. She knew there was an oar integral mining plant just outside of Republic City. It was something her and Asami had to keep in mind when making renovations. If Kuvira had control over that one mine, she could power the Earth Empire for months from that singular facility alone. With control of all the mines across the United Republic, the Earth Empire would no doubt become the richest nation.

“I will not take any insubordination from anyone, especially in front of my soldiers and definitely not from you,” Kuvira scolded.

“You can’t be serious about this. You’d be setting off a meaningless war with an independent nation. You’d be hurting thousands of people,” Hiro countered, letting the weight of the situation set in.

“You’re not here to tell me what to do. You’re here to serve your country and take back what is rightfully ours.” She spoke carefully and with a clipped tongue. Her patience was running short, but Hiro didn’t care. This is actually insane.

“What, Zaofu wasn’t enough for you?”

Kuvira doesn’t respond, just gives a vocal exhale through her nose.

“You do not want to play this little game with me. I don’t need to remind you that I have Suyin.” The threat didn’t go past Hiro. She finally tore her eyes from the map and towards the floor. Kuvira knew she couldn’t argue against that. At the end, she knew she couldn’t risk anything happening to Suyin.

“Fine.” She turned around and sat down at the central table, opening up a workbook.

“Glad to hear.” Hiro heard Kuvira walk around the table and behind her. The looming presence made her freeze ever so slightly. “Oh and Hiro? If you try anything suspicious, remember my office is only a train car over. So don’t think you can try to pull anything.”

---

Hiro rounded a corner of the Beifong estate. Nothing seemed to be going right this morning. She was already running late to her meeting with Suyin after spending all night trying to perfect her work for today’s presentation. In her flurry of trying to remember which direction was the meeting room, she didn’t notice the stack tipping a little too far to the right and spilling out of her gasp.

Hiro cursed to herself and bent down, trying to regain some semblance of organization. She bent down to pick them up, not noticing the other person coming up to her.

“Here, let me help you.” Looking up, she was met with the most beautiful green eyes she’s ever seen. She blushes and retracts as the guard continues to collect the papers for her. With her help, she manages to somehow get her stack back in order.

“There you go,” Kuvira says, as she hands over the neatly organized paperwork. Hiro notices how her fingers lingered ever so slightly during the exchange and had to swallow the anxious lump forming in her throat.

Even that simple gesture can send warmth radiating through Hiro.

Who could blame her though? It seemed that everyone around Zaofu knew that the Captain was very charming. In her few weeks of living here, she’s noticed how various other young women and men fawned over the young Captain. Hiro had been too shy up to this point to try to speak to her. Besides she was here to work, not chase after beautiful green eyes.

“Thank you, Captain.”

Kuvira’s smile twitched and she cleared her throat.

“Please, call me Kuvira,” she answered smoothly. Spirits, the rich timbre and bass in her voice was intoxicating. “Are you on your way to Suyin?”

Hiro nodded.

“I can be clumsy, I’m sorry to have bothered you,” she apologized.

“It’s quite alright. I don’t mind helping you anytime, Miss. Zhao,” Kuvira replied. Hiro was surprised she even knew her name. She was still fairly new to Zaofu and kept to herself most times. “I can walk you. I was just on my way to the meeting, myself.”

“I would like that very much, Kuvira.” The name slipped off her tongue was foreign, but she liked the way it curved around her lips. Hiro found herself smiling silly at the feeling and tried to contain the joy that came with saying the name aloud. “And please, call me Hiro.”

---

Hiro itched at her collar with her left hand as her right scribbled down notes in the workbook. Sure she recently worked on the plans for Republic City, and she could probably recite all of the new plans by heart. Spirits, Asami and her basically designed the whole city down to the smallest intersection signage and lamppost placement.

But instead she took her easy time filling out the first set of notes. She spent a lot of time tapping the pages, writing things down only to scribble it out seconds later, and pretending to think for longer than she should’ve or using her fingers to count out numbers. The guards clearly weren’t the wiser about the show she was putting on for them, so they didn’t bother her. Meanwhile, Hiro was thinking of her plan.

These past few days had given her time to think about a plan to take Kuvira down. It was going to be a heavy feat, especially since Kuvira’s new endgame was taking the United Republic. She told Baatar Sr. that she could talk to her somehow, that she could get through to Kuvira. But now it seems hopeless and she was fighting against herself on what to do. All she’s really done is replay their interaction from Zaofu multiple times in her head.

“I didn’t forget”

Those three words made an impact on Hiro, more than she’d like to admit. When she glanced up at Kuvira’s eyes, she thought she saw a shadow of the woman she once knew. Maybe it was Kuvira playing tricks on her, trying to gain her trust somehow. Hiro had tried to keep her guard up during their heated argument, but it was that moment that made her feel something she hadn’t in a long time. The sprinkle of warmth and longing landed in her like a ball of fire. It lit a need within her to know more. And then it was the next words that made her spiral more in her thoughts.

“I never wanted to hurt you”

Hiro didn’t want to think that Kuvira had cared. She always thought Kuvira had cast aside any feelings for her when she started seeing Baatar Jr. If she truly didn’t want to hurt her, then why do it? It was the question Hiro was so scared to answer, because she never got one. She stopped trying to answer that question long ago. It only triggered her to curl up in tears. Was she not enough? Was their relationship not enough? Was she not useful enough?

Stop.

Her hand had stopped writing and was trembling over the page. Lost in her thoughts she almost forgot her surroundings and suddenly could feel the guards staring at her back. She blinked a few times before completely ripping the page of nonsense and crumpling it up. She started writing on the new page, willing those thoughts to withdraw from her mind. Kuvira managed to bring out the weakest part of Hiro and find the cracks in her heart to chip away at. It was dangerous, and she needed to move forward with caution. She couldn’t let her emotions get in the way again while trying to find Kuvira’s weakness.

As far as she knew, Kuvira’s weaknesses were minimal. Physically was not an option for Hiro; Kuvira could easily overpower her. Hiro could only utilize her own wit to combat someone as calculated and fierce as Kuvira. This would have to be like a game of Pai Sho: slow and steady moves to defeat one’s opponent. Which meant Hiro needed to play strategically for now, and to be brave. With each action she made from now on, it needed to be with purpose.

Hours passed as Hiro continued to mentally psyche herself up, while continuing to fill out a workbook. She was barely halfway done with one book, starting out with mostly descriptions of machinery rather than actual schematics of the framework of the city, when Kuvira returned. Hiro didn’t even realize the train had stopped and that she was starving. From the train window she could tell it was the afternoon now and they were out of the mountains. Probably far from Zaofu at this point, but still somewhere in the Earth Kingdom.

Wordlessly, Kuvira walks up and motions for the workbook which Hiro hands her. Her hands are fatigued and she rubs her tired eyes, then she stretches her arms overhead. Kuvira’s eyes quickly darted across the first couple of pages before turning a beady green eye towards Hiro.

“You don’t expect me to believe this is all you’ve done all morning?” she scoffed, giving her a once over glance. Hiro tensed.

“You wanted information about the city, and I’m giving it to you,” Hiro responded. If there was anytime to be brave, it’d be now. She looked up in Kuvira’s eyes, trying to subside the anxiety that’s creeping up in her to look away.

Kuvira turned to the guards and ordered them to give them privacy. When they were left alone, she placed the workbook back on the table in front of her. It was the only thing between them and Kuvira leaned down to put a gloved hand on the metal surface. Hiro didn’t let her eyes move from her and matched Kuvira’s blazing eyes.

“I’m not stupid. Giving me information that even a basic engineer student knows about machines that don’t pertain to system management? You’re playing a dangerous game with me right now.” Hiro’s jaw clenched. She hadn’t expected to be caught so fast.

“I thought Baatar Jr. might need some refresher on the basics.”

Kuvira slams her other fist on the desk, and Hiro resisted flinching. Her eyes were now an enraged shade of green and a scowl danced on her lips.

“I have no patience for your bullshit today,” she growled. Hiro wonders if it was because of her or if something happened earlier to piss her off. Her attitude definitely didn’t help it if that were the case.

Kuvira leaned down threateningly, closing the distance over the desk.

Hiro felt the metal on the shoulders of her uniform suddenly tighten around her neck and her eyes widened realizing Kuvira’s silent threat. The fear sparked in Hiro’s eyes just seemed to rouse Kuvira’s anger. It wasn’t tight enough to hurt her, but she felt the weight of the metal give pressure around her slender neck.

“Well this brings back old memories?” Hiro teased and chuckled lightly to herself at her own joke. Kuvira’s fist clenched and so did the metal, stopping the laughter. Her hands quickly reached up gripping the metal best she could. She tried bending against it, but was easily overpowered, helpless clutching it with both hands. Despite being choked, she could see a light flush creeping up Kuvira’s neck and knew she at least caught the Great Uniter off guard.

“I could easily kill you right now and you want to make jokes?” Kuvira spoke with such confidence that Hiro almost believed her. Almost.

Hiro shrugged as best as she could, the constriction around her throat making it hard to move or speak. Kuvira held on for another second, studying her face carefully, before dropping her hand and releasing her.

Hiro gasped out as she regained airflow. She had still been trying to bend the metal against Kuvira, but with no resistance they flew back and clanged to the ground. Her hand reached up and touched the tender skin around her neck, blooming red with bruises. Kuvira said nothing, simply watching as Hiro took time to catch her breath.

“Well you clearly need me and it seems like it’s something only I can accomplish. Baatar doesn’t know anything about Republic City and neither do the rest of your soldiers since they’re from rural villages,” Hiro explains and coughs. She rubs her neck for some relief as she continues. “Killing me isn’t a risk you’re willing to take right now if you want a clean victory for your empire.”

Kuvira’s eyebrow quirked in irritation. She pulls away and stands straight.

“No, but Suyin is still my prisoner. Need I remind you that I won’t be afraid to hurt her if you disobey me?” Hiro bit the inside of her cheek. Of course. The one thing Hiro can’t control or have any leverage over. “So what’s it going to be?”

Hiro stares down at her work and glances back up at Kuvira one more time before turning to the map of Republic City. She takes a marker and starts drawing lines across it.

“I guess something useful would be the underground passageways running all throughout Republic City. They’re part of an old sewage system. We created a new one, but the old one is still in place and out of use,” Hiro mutters and clears her throat. If her neck didn’t have a rash before, it certainly was irritated now. “My honest apologies, I haven’t exactly done this kind of work in a while. I mostly do Sato Mobiles nowadays.”

There’s a brief pause and the only sound in the room is coming from Hiro’s scribbling.

“You worked on Sato Mobiles?” Kuvira questioned, clearly doubting Hiro’s statement.

“Surprised?”

“You didn’t even have a license three years ago.”

Hiro smiled slightly at seeing Kuvira’s surprised reaction.

“And I still don’t have one. Just because I don’t know how to drive one doesn’t mean I can’t draft designs of it,” she said. “Getting to learn from the CEO herself, made it a lot easier to master.” Kuvira is quiet for a moment, letting the statement settle in the air.

“I’m assuming you and Asami were close.”

“You could say that.” The answer was innocent enough. But Hiro couldn’t help the creeping blush heating on her face and she let the lingering smile show on her lips as she thought about the young engineer. It was also a sad smile considering how she left things. Asami was a great friend, and Hiro loved being around someone who thrived off knowledge and technology as much as she does. Despite how close they had gotten, Hiro had kept a lot hidden from her, afraid of being judged or looked down on. Still, it wasn’t right for her to have snapped at Asami for trying to help mend her relationship with Suyin. She promised herself that the next time she sees Asami, Hiro would finally come clean about her past, no matter how much it hurts. It was only the right thing to do for everything Asami has done for her.

Hiro drew more lines and indication markers, completely engrossed in her work now. She hadn’t even noticed when Kuvira left without another word commenting on her relationship with Asami. The guards came treading back in and with the Great Uniter gone, Hiro let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

To her left was the metal plates that had been previously wrapped around her neck.

It wasn’t the best way that could’ve gone, but hey she was still alive and that’s all she could really ask for at this point. This was definitely going to be harder than she thought.

---

What Kuvira claimed was a room was more like a closet. It was a tight rectangle box with a pull down bed from the wall, only wide enough to fit one person. Directly next to it were hooks she assumed for clothes and a dresser. The thin blanket and soft pillow didn’t look very cozy. For such a high tech train, their means of living was certainly lackluster.

Hiro sat down and rubbed her neck, trying to relieve the crick in it. Her hand grazed the rash and she winced, remembering Kuvira’s threat from earlier. Her gaze turned towards the small square window near the ceiling of her room. What was she doing? After running for so many years, she was right back to the root of her problems. To help the Earth Empire went against her basic morals. She heard about the reeducation camps and Kuvira’s cruelty towards towns after she conquered them. It was wicked and cruel to do to people already suffering. Hiro can’t help her thoughts linger on Kuvira. The Kuvira she used to know stood for balance and equality. She fought for what was right and would protect people. Doing this just didn’t seem like her.

Hiro closes her eyes. Of course this was Kuvira. This is the name she made for herself now: The Great Uniter with her maglev train of oppression. It was both a symbol of hope and destruction; a beginning and an end. And Hiro doesn’t know at what end she was at. This could all be for nothing and she could just be helping the Earth Empire finish its mission once and for all. She was directly helping the impending war on the United Republic. Maybe it was too late and Kuvira was too far gone. Zaofu fell. Their once shared home had succumbed under her rule and she had Suyin prisoner. Maybe...it was really too late.

The shouting outside her door alerted her from her melancholy thoughts. Hiro hesitated before peeking it open and pressing her ear to the small opening she made.

“You need to trust me, I’m not having this discussion again.”

“Can’t you see she’s tricking us, she’s nothing, but trouble!”

“Will you stop shouting! I told you I’ve handled it.”

“You really think she’s going to give us anything substantial? How do you know it isn’t all a trap?”

Hiro’s hand slipped across the handle and the door slammed shut, nearly taking her ear off with it. She cursed to herself. Even after all these years, she was still quite clumsy. The door abruptly slid back open, not to her own doing. She realized someone had metalbent it open and she cautiously stepped out into the small hallway.

Baatar Jr. and Kuvira stood a few feet away down the narrow hallway. Baatar had a scowl on his face and his hair was out of it’s usual cleaned slick back position. Kuvira had both her gloves off and the top buttons of her uniform undone and disheveled. It was either two scenarios: Hiro had either just cockblocked or gotten in the middle of an argument. She doesn’t know which would be worse. Hiro blinked twice and looked between the two of them.

“Hey Baatar…it’s been a while?” Hiro jokes. She was met with silence, neither of them amused by her sudden appearance. The awkward smile left her lips. “I was just going to the bathroom!”

Hiro mentally slapped herself when she realized she’d have to walk past them to go to the direction of the bathroom. She quickly shuffled past them and kept her eyes down. The tension in the hallway hung in the air as she closed the train car door behind her.

She walked briskly through the train car and past two guards, into the also very small bathroom. She was going to hide out in here for a while and hope that whatever Kuvira and Baatar had been doing outside her room was finished by the time she got back.

She leaned her forehead against the cool bathroom door in exhaustion. By what she heard, they were definitely having a fight about someone. Maybe her? She didn’t want to assume, although it does flatter her. This could be very useful. In the newspaper articles of Republic City, it seemed like Baatar and Kuvira were the perfect couple. They were always picturesque and ready to lead a nation together. It was something Hiro thought was impenetrable. However, if there was ever a crack in the armour, Hiro thinks she might’ve just found it. Another piece in her Pai Sho game.

After some time, Hiro exits the bathroom and the guards are still stationed. It's dark out now and most of the train inhabitants have retired in their closet rooms. It also meant Kuvira was probably also in her room. Hiro walks quietly past the guards, trying to keep her head low as they continue a conversation languidly. Either they don’t see her as a threat or don’t care about what they’re saying.

“Those twins are really getting on my nerves. Someone should show them respect.”

“Nah, that mom is what’s a pain for me.”

Hiro’s ears piqued and tried not to let her interest show. Walking past them, she tries to slow her pace as she moves into the other car.

“Oh well, they’re getting sent to the camps soon enough.”

Hiro let's the door shut behind her. Relief washed over her when she realized Baatar and Kuvira were gone and she immediately went to her room. Sliding the door firmly shut and locking it, she leaned her back against the metal door. Her heart was racing now at her newfound information. Suyin and the twins were here. On the maglev train. Even though Kuvira gave her word, Hiro had to see them herself. And if what those guards were saying was true, she was running out of time.

---

Kuvira was not having a good day.

She partly blames it on the rooms on the train and how uncomfy they were. Granted she had a slightly larger living space than most people, but it still wasn’t comfortable. She often woke up with a stiff back and aching neck. It was something she had never truly gotten used to despite having to live on the maglev train for quite some time now.

She also blames it on her fight the night before with Baatar. She hated when he let his feelings cloud his judgement. Didn’t he understand that Hiro was useful? And if she wasn’t then Kuvira would send her to one of the prisons, as simple as that. But for now they needed any information they could about Republic City. It was all for their cause, she tells herself. And that’s what she tells herself when she goes to see Hiro in the small gap she has in her schedule.

“Here to check in again? Doesn’t the Great Uniter have better things to do?”

“What is your progress?” Kuvira asked, ignoring Hiro’s comment. Today was not the day to be challenged. Hiro noticed too and obediently slid her now half filled workbook. The Republic City map was now completely drawn over and Kuvira had a hard time understanding what half of the different colored words and symbols meant. She skimmed over the workbook. “It’s a good start, I’m impressed with your progress.” Hiro smiled and leaned back, balancing herself on the back two legs of her chair. “Is there anything you need that I could get for you? Did you eat yet?”

“No, but I’ve been on a roll all day I hadn’t noticed,” Hiro shrugged, casually. Kuvira noticed the metal plates on her uniform were completely gone. “I probably need another map of Republic City though and maybe also the United Republic. There’s more I could write and give visual context for. I know Baatar was always a visual learner.”

Kuvra narrowed her eyes, studying the map ever so closely. Then she turned her gaze to Hiro.

“You seem to be in a good mood?” Hiro stretched her arms over her head and yawned.

“Well the food here is better than I would’ve thought. No fire noodles or seaweed wraps, but better than military rations,” she complimented.

“I was speaking about your adjustment to the Earth Empire. I was expecting more of a fight from you.”

“Why? You want me to beat you up?” Of course this was a joke. Hiro could barely bend metal straight let alone fight. “And to answer your question, oh Great Uniter, maybe I’ve just accepted my fate. I mean what’s the point of fighting what’s inevitable? You have Zaofu and the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Republic City isn’t going to go down without a fight, but what more damage could you do?”

A smirk grew on Kuvira’s face and memories from this morning’s meeting came to mind. The one thing that had gone right today was coming along just as planned.

“Oh you have no idea.”

Hiro’s eyebrows furrowed together and she tsked, observing Kuvira’s behavior.

“Eerily creepy and very mysterious,” Hiro deduced. “Nice to know you’re just as vague as ever.”

“Let’s just say, soon the world will know of the power I hold,” Kuvira taunted. “Your efforts are much appreciated, please let me walk you to get something to eat before continuing your work.”

Hiro gets up and follows Kuvira out and through the train cars. Kuvira had already eaten, but she could take the time out of her schedule to escort Hiro to the eating area set up outside. Hiro was limited to go places on her own and always had one guard to take her to the workstation and back to her room. They were camped out on the outskirts of the Foggy Swamp since last night. The small fleet of soldiers they brought with them were mostly holding down the maglev train. The main group was already deep in the Foggy Swamp, searching for more Spirit Vines. Baatar had headed out this morning with them, using his equipment to track the strongest spirit energy. Right after she drops Hiro off, she would be leaving with the next set of troops. Kuvira glances over at the woman before speaking up.

“I know this may be inappropriate to bring up, but I don’t like rumors spreading,” Kuvira said, stopping mid pace to turn and face her. “I want to apologize for arguing outside of your room last night.”

Hiro choked visibly on her breath, clearly surprised by the conversation topic. There weren’t that many soldiers around them so Kuvira didn’t have to worry about someone overhearing their conversation.

“I should apologize! I didn’t mean to hear any of that,” Hiro stuttered. “I also really didn’t mean to intrude on anything going on.”

Kuvira’s eyes widened as she realized Hiro’s insinuation. “It was nothing like that!” Kuvira defended. Looking at Hiro’s eyes, she saw them dancing with amusement and the slight smirk she was fighting off. She was making jokes?

“I don't need the details, and don’t worry my lips are sealed,” Hiro reassured. “There’s no one here for me to talk to anyway.” Kuvira smiled gently back at her.

“Thank you. I know it must have seemed strange, as how most people perceive our relationship,” Kuvira started. It was a hard time keeping their personal life away from the cameras or the troops. Kuvira made it a point to never speak openly about their relationship in interviews or meetings. It was something her soldiers knew better than to comment on. That is unless they wanted to be crushed by a boulder. “I assure you, it will not happen again.”

“Like I said, I don’t need to know the details.”

It was the way Hiro was firm with her words that kept Kuvira from pressing further and also made her realize Hiro’s visible uncomfort with the topic. She was seated at a table outside away from many of the other soldiers. Her eyes darted around the camp, looking anywhere but at Kuvira. She sighed, realizing she might’ve just made things worse than keeping her mouth shut.

“I’ll be leaving now, I’ll see you again tomorrow.” Hiro didn’t even look at her as she turned and walked back to the maglev.

---

That night Kuvira slugs back to her room, exhausted, but hopeful. Being the leader meant she needed to always be hopeful for an auspicious outcome. Although it was a very successful day for them, they were going to have to pull in as many forces as possible now to collect all the Spirit Vines. Plus the travel through the forest had been a tiring one, and they had only made it back to the maglev after nightfall. She was tired and smelled like grime, but maybe she’d have to pass on a shower tonight in exchange for at least some sleep.

She metal bends the top portion of her uniform off, leaving her in a black tank top and green pants. She lays back on her bed kicking her boots off. A gentle knock on her door made her sit up. Kuvira resists groaning as she calls out to the person. There were only a few people that dared bother her after she retired to her room.

Baatar slid the door open and gently closed it behind him.

“I want to talk,” he started. Baatar took a seat next to her and when she didn’t protest, he continued. “I wanted to apologize for last night. I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn.” He gently reached up and started to help her unpin her hair.

“You are forgiven.” “It’s just,” he spoke up. The worry in his eyebrow tells Kuvira that there’s more he wants to push against. Their relationship was a delicate push and pull. He was her second in command, but in turn that meant she was his superior. She’d be lying if she said their work dynamic didn’t also reflect their relationship. And right now he seemed to be weighing his options of which fight he wanted to pick. “I don’t trust her. I think this is a big mistake to have her coming with us.”

“Hiro knows more about Republic City than anyone else. She was vital in the rebuilding project. We need to be prepared for whatever Republic City has in store,” Kuvira answered. She runs a hand through her wavy hair, scratching her scalp. “Besides, she won’t try anything as long as we have Suyin.”

“I know, but that’s what makes her even more untrustworthy,” Baatar argued. He lay back on her bed and took his glasses off. He rubs a hand across his eyes. “I’m not questioning you, I’m just worried.”

“Are you sure this isn’t your personal feelings getting in the way?” she asks quietly. She didn’t want to bring it up before, but it seemed like now was the only time where they could have true privacy to speak openly. Kuvira’s not oblivious to the fact that their three shared past could become a problem. It was the reason why they fought last night. And clearly it seemed like this was past work and was bothering Baatar on a deeper level.

“No of course not. I love having your ex fiance only a couple doors down from me,” he groans sarcastically. Kuvira shoots him a glare before getting up to change into pajamas.

“It’s not for nothing. Believe me, she hasn’t been easy to handle,” Kuvira muttered.

“Why do you even bother seeing her then? Just leave the guards to take care of her if she acts up,” Baatar said ominously. Kuvira frowned. Baatar was engrossed with cleaning his glasses to notice. “Or I could keep an eye on her? Check her work to make sure she isn’t plotting something.”

Kuvira thought about it. On one hand it would be the smart thing to have Baatar oversee Hiro. But given their history, they may get less done than if she left Hiro alone. He had a good point though, Kuvira couldn’t keep wasting time watching over Hiro. She had a whole empire to oversee and a plan to execute. Once Republic City and the entire United Republic surrendered to her, she will have completed reuniting the kingdom. Then it would be a period of building prosperity back to her people and she would need every waking minute to make sure she could have that. It only bothered Kuvira that she hadn’t thought about it herself.

“What about Zhu Li? I’d rather have you stay primarily working on the Colossal and the Spirit Canon. But if you could release Zhu Li to watch her, I would be satisfied with that.” That seemed to appease Baatar as he nodded sleepily on her bed. With how small the rooms are on the train, they had separate rooms. He seemed to already be dozing off though. Kuvira tucked herself in next to him, letting his heavy arm fall around her waist. Her back was facing him and she was sure that he was asleep, but she wasn’t tired anymore.

Her thoughts kept her from falling asleep. Hiro felt like a new kind of mystery to Kuvira. She wasn’t sure why she insisted on visiting Hiro herself when she knew she could’ve gotten someone else to do it. Although it seemed like Hiro was being complacent, something just didn’t sit right with her. She was just being too casual, when the Hiro she used to know would be fighting and refusing to work unless Suyin was freed. As Kuvira slowly let sleep overcome her, she didn’t let her mind wander away from the young woman who had somehow once again piqued her interest.

---

“Again? Twice in one week, I’m thinking you need to get a bag,” Kuvira jokes. It wasn’t something she did often. Most of the time she needed to be professional and save face as the Captain. But in this empty hallway with a pretty woman struggling with papers across the floor, even she could let her armour down. Hiro’s glasses were pushed up to her forehead, revealing more of her illuminating brown eyes. They had Kuvira completely captivated.

She looks up and sees the green and metal clad Captain approaching her.

“I do have a bag. I just never remember to bring it,” Hiro points out. “Maybe I should start though. This is becoming embarrassing.”

“Only a little. I find it quite adorable though,” Kuvira winks. “If I didn’t know any better I would think you were trying to distract the Captain from her duties.”

“I promise that’s not it! I would never!” Hiro shouts, clutching her papers tighter to her chest. She was on her knees and holding on to the papers for dear life. The glimmering look in Kuvira’s eye was the only indication that made her realize that the Captain was teasing her. And the flush on her cheeks made Kuvira want to see Hiro blush a hundred different ways.

“Well I don’t know if Su would approve of me shirking my duties, but I certainly don’t mind helping a woman in need, especially one that seems clumsy.”

“Sorry, Captain,” Hiro apologizes, looking down at her lap. “I told you earlier this week to call me by my name.” “Sorry! Again,” Hiro muttered.

“You apologize a lot, is that a habit?”

“Yes?”

“Well that’s something we’re going to have to break out of you.” Kuvira didn’t think Hiro could flush more. She licked her lips and realized that during their conversation they had moved closer together. Their shoulders were almost touching now and Kuvira had even a better view of Hiro’s brown eyes now. Realizing how this must’ve come across, she scoots back from her. “I’m sorry. This is very unprofessional of me.”

“No! It’s not you. Can I speak frankly, Captain?” Kuvira nodded. “You make me quite nervous.”

Kuvira's laugh echoed through the hallways.

“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.” The twinkle in her eyes gave away that she almost found it a compliment. Of course someone of her rank came with a sense of responsibility, and even her closest friends said she let her “Captain” side incorporate it’s way into her personality.

“I don’t mean to offend. It’s true though. You probably have the most intimidating eyes I’ve ever seen.”

“If we’re both being frank, you also make me nervous,” Kuvira admitted. Hiro’s eyes jerked up in surprise.

“Me? Quiet amateur scientist who drops her papers in the hallways?” Hiro gawked.

“You intrigue me, what can I say?” It was the truth. Unlike most newcomers to the Metal Clan, Hiro was dedicated only to working for Suyin and Zaofu. Hiro hadn’t tried to seek another form of metalbending or trying to find some kind of self improvement journey; she was here to work. There was a sense of loyalty that came from her, something that Kuvira held high respect for. As someone who has spent their whole life trying to find loyalty or a sense of purpose, Kuvira relished meeting someone with similar goals. It was what drew Kuvira to Hiro in the first place, trying to find more reasons than not to visit the security department.

“How can a simple girl like me intrigue you? I mean, you’re the Captain of the Metal Clan Guard for crying out loud,” Hiro boasts. “You’re the youngest person to have been promoted to be Captain and you’re a dancer.”

“Stalking me now?” Kuvira teased again. Kuvira’s instincts were right then when she thought she felt a figure watching her while at dance rehearsal the other day. Who knew it was the cute girl she had been thinking about? “It doesn’t seem fair that you know so much about me and I know so little about you. How about we change that? Are you free for dinner tonight?” “What?” Hiro sputtered out. Kuvira was known to be very direct. It was honestly a blessing and a curse. Because right now she could either get a date with this beautiful woman she’s been yearning to learn more about or get rejected and have to face possible repercussions for inappropriate behavior. In addition, she’d have to stop trying to find excuses to see Hiro, and in her opinion that was the worst result.

“I apologize for being so forward.” Kuvira had a sheepish look on her face. It was difficult to face possible head on rejection from such attractive eyes staring at you. “I find that being direct and honest about my intentions takes away from any miscommunication. I would like to have dinner with you tonight, Miss. Zhao. As a date.”

Hiro’s mouth is agape, taking in Kuvira’s words. Kuvira shifts uncomfortably by the silence that follows, and is ready to apologize and promise to leave Hiro alone-

“Okay. It’s a date, Captain.”

#kuvira #kuvira x reader #kuvira x oc #tlok #tlok fanfic #legend of korra #legend of korra fic #kuvira fic

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missingrobin · 5 years ago

Text

Unconditional (part 2)romance

Description: Love. Lies. Heartbreak. A recipe for disaster. When you move to Riverdale you have to face your dark past and a possibly hopeful future.

Pairing:Sweet Pea x Reader, Jughead x Reader

Warning:language, drugs, violence, underage drinking, parties? (just don’t get triggered)

Word count: 4199

A/N: Yall this story is getting so good! I’m so excited to keep writing and if you’re enjoying it tell me below and if you have any thing you might want to see in this series or just in general send me an ask or dm me :)

Part 1

You woke to feel a heavy hand on your back. The hand belonged to Sweet Pea, your sorta kinda friend. It was around 11am most people had already left the bar but few remained because they were still too tired to drive home. You looked up and saw that Sweet Pea was still asleep, so you gently wiggled his hand off your back and grabbed your things. Toni was awake and was already cleaning up the bar. You walked over to her to see what your newest adventure together was going to be.

“Hey Toni good morning,” you said

Hey Y/N how are you feeling?” Toni replied

“Pretty damn good honestly,”

“Hey we should probably get you all moved in,” said Toni

“Alright let's hit the road.”

You both jumped in your cars and you followed Toni to her trailer. You drove down a windy road till you reached the trailer park. The trailer wasn’t anything you expected. It was painted a raziliant purple color and was quite large on the outside. The trailer was partially graffitied with beautiful drawings that made the outside even better. There was a pink motorcycle and a garden with lavish plants along the trailer. The inside was so much grander there were two bedrooms and a very modern kitchen .The living room was screaming comfort from the plush chairs to the soft blankets that sat in a basket near the tv. After your tour of your new home for the time being you resided to where your room was and placed down your few belongings.

You laid your bed and took some deep breaths and tried to process what the hell was going on. One second you were in California fearing for your life now you’re in Riverdale in the safety of your new friends home. Time felt like it was never ending while you were being held captive by Nico, now you feel like there’s finally room for you to love your life and yourself.

“Y/N let's go to Pops you’ll love it.” Toni declared while almost breaking down your door

“Okay,” you agreed.

You spang from your bed with power and met Toni in the main living area. Together you set off for Pops in Toni’s white jeep.

When you arrived at Pops you got situated and ordered a Strawberry milkshake and a large basket of fries that you and Toni would share.

“Do you miss it,” Toni asked while twiddling her fingers around her glass.

“Miss what?” You responded even though you were deep in thought. Toni noticed.

“California.”

“Yeah,” you hesitated slightly. “I wish things didn’t have to go so wrong,” a small sigh left your lips.

“I just miss the beaches and the boardwalk but most of all my family.” You didn’t dare to look up. You could feel your eyes start to grow heavier and your heart start to beat faster.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all that stuff Y/N,” Toni reached her hand across the table in hopes to comfort you.

“It’s okay things will work out they always do.” you smiled

“Hey on a lighter note there’s a party next weekend we should totally go, It would be a great way to meet more people and it's being held at the Quarry so it would be fun to explore,” Toni remarked brightly. Her puppy eyes gleamed and you couldn’t resist.

“Yes! That would be awesome!” you exclaimed with fake excitement.

You both finished your meal and drove back home. It was already getting dark so you decided to stay in and have a girls night. You stayed up to the early hours of the morning watching Clueless, Legally blonde, and many more movies to pass the time.

When you woke up you saw that it was 3:27 pm.

“Toni, Toni wake up it's the afternoon already,” you shook her till she woke up.

“Oh damn well there goes most of our day,” Toni replied with a melancholy voice

“It’s fine lets just go hang out at the Whyte Wyrm,” you suggested

“That’s a really good idea, let's go,” Toni slightly cheered up.

You both hopped on Toni’s bike and drove to the Wyrm. The parking lot was nearly empty except for a shady black van but you ignored it and walked inside.

“Lets play pool!” Toni exclaimed

You both walked over to the pool table and had a pleasant evening playing pool and chatting with your new friend.

“You suck ass Toni, why did you even ask me to play?” you laughed while holding the cue stick in between your hands.

“Because I thought you would suck more,” she giggled and poked you playfully with the stick.

“I just remembered my first day of school is tomorrow ugghh,” you rolled your eyes a

“Oh it's not that bad I promise, school can actually be sorta fun and plus you have Sweet Pea, Fangs and I to keep you company,” Toni replied with warmth in her voice.

“Yeah that’s true, I should really try to be positive about this,” you declared with hope.

“Precisely.” Toni smiled

“Oh this is gonna be such a shit show,” you said while burrowing your hands in your arms.

“I thought you were gonna be positive.” Toni looked at you with a smirk.

“I gave up,” you replied with a grim look.

Toni looked around the room. You saw a clock by a dart board that read 11:12 pm.

“It’s getting late, we should head home, we have a big day tomorrow,'' Toni smirked with an evil look.

You flipped her off and laughed. You were home in less than 5 minutes. You both returned to your designated areas and retired for the night. You took off your makeup and itchy day clothes and picked up your latest read The Diviners from your night stand. You read yourself to sleep and soon drifted off to a comfortable slumber.

You woke to your loud ass iPhone alarm and groaned. You rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. You put on a fabulous denim skirt and a cropped long sleeve button up top. You accessorized with gold rings and a gold necklace. You looked in the mirror and you looked like the baddest bitch ever. You threw on your black heeled boots and headed out the door. You had to drive to school alone because Toni was already gone but you weren’t worried because you knew you were gonna make this school your bitch.

Your drive to South side high was quite refreshing. You listened to Tame Impala with the windows rolled down and thought about what school was going to be like.

You pulled into the parking lot and got out of your car. All eyes were on you, boys looked you up and down, girls gave you fake smiles and whispered to their friends . People made crude comments in all directions but you ignored the unwanted attention. You strutted up to the school doors and you were met by Toni and Sweet Pea.

“Damn Y/N you look so fucking hot,” Toni exclaimed while stared at you in awe.

“Thanks babe,” you wrapped Toni in a tight hug.

“Yeah Y/N you really do look great,” Sweet Pea said while raking his hands through his dark lush hair.

“Thanks,” you replied

Sweet Peas face turned a velvety shade of pink and you noticed. Sweet Pea was obviously gorgeous but you didn’t have time to deal with a boyfriend, especially another drug dealing one that likes to pull knives on you.

You and Toni headed off to your first period class together leaving Sweet Pea in the dust. His mind was filled with thoughts of you and what he would have to do to get you.

In your first period class you sat with Toni and her friend Fangs who you just got acquainted with and laughed and talked about how shitty the school was. You were genuinely enjoying yourself. You giggled and barely paid attention to the teacher who was lecturing the class about drugs.

At lunch you sat with Toni and her friends again but this time you met Jughead. He was simply angelic, he had the best personality and above all he was a writer just like you. You couldn’t help but stare at his gorgeous face.

“So Jughead what do you usually write?” you questioned and slid your hand under your chin.

“Oh god Y/N please don’t get him started,” Toni begged.

You ignored her comment and connected eyes with Jughead.

“I write anything that I feel matters, from articles to poetry,” he smiled at you and looked at your red stained lips.

In your head you thought of you and him sitting in pops together sharing a milkshake on your first date and of course you thought of your wedding and how cute your kids were going to be.

“Snap out of it woman, you’ll start drooling in a second ,” Your internal monologue told you.

You quickly realized that you were staring at his lips and you forced yourself to look at the ground.

“Y/N do you write?” Jughead asked

“Yeah actually I do, but I haven’t written anything in a while,” you started staring at his lips again.

“Why not?” he questioned and adjusted his hat.

“So many reasons, maybe I can tell you sometime over coffee,” you flirted, making sure to make direct eye contact then to him and look him up and down.

“I’d like that,” he smirked playfully while sucking on a cherry lollipop.

During that whole debacle Sweet Pea was staring at you and he was pissed. He felt his insides burn with rage and jealousy.

“Why didn’t she look at me that way, I’m ten fucking times better than that dickhead,” he thought and sank his head to the ground with slight defeat.

He couldn’t take it. Sweet Pea stood up and stormed off through the cafeteria. His whole face was bright red and he wanted to fight someone. Fangs noticed Sweet Pea’s change in attitude and he took off after him.

“Hey bro what’s got you all hot and bothered,” Fangs questioned trying not to make Sweet Pea even more upset.

“That bitch and her little boyfriend.” Sweet Pea spit

“Huh,” Fangs said utterly confused.

“Y/N and Dickhead,” Sweet Pea had anger fuming off him at this point. He reached forward and struck a locker leaving a dent.

“How many fucking times do I have to tell you not to talk about girls that way dumbass, and Jug didn’t even do anything they were just talking,” Fangs rolled his eyes.

“Is a coffee date just talking idiot,” Sweet Pea mocked with hate in his voice.

“Look dude, it's not that serious and aren’t you the one who pulled a knife on Y/N when you first met her,” Fangs leaned forward closer to Sweet pea and balled his fists to his sides.

“Oh yeah she told me about that dumbass,” Fangs replied with equal amounts of anger.

“Go Fuck yourself.,” Sweet Pea slashed words at his friend and stormed off and out the doors to the parking lot.

Fangs knew that Sweet Pea could get like this sometimes but he had never seen him so upset. He wondered why Sweet Pea was so pissed off about a girl that he just met a few days ago. Fangs knew that he had to let Sweet Pea go blow off some steam by himself, but it didn’t make how he just acted okay.

The school day went very fast and was pleasant. You had noticed tension between the Sweet Pea and Fangs but you didn’t want to get in the middle of that so you ignored it. Although you didn't see much of Sweet Pea at all for the rest of the day.

After school you had your first shift at the Wyrm and you were excited because you would be able to bartend. You had drinking experience since you were 16 but you really didn’t like alcohol too much, only the sweet refreshing stuff but you absolutely adored making drinks.

You drove to the Wyrm and Toni walked you through some of the signature drinks which were simple enough to learn. Within 30 minutes you could make anything on the menu. You were fucking amazing at bartending and talking to strangers so this job was an excellent way to make some cash while still doing something that you loved. Time went by like a breeze and before you knew it your shift was over. When you finished and clocked out for the night FP approached you.

“Hey Y/N your work at the bar was fucking incredible great job tonight,” FP was thoroughly impressed by you.

“Thanks FP, I really appreciate the opportunity to work here. It's great,” you gave him a bright smile and wrapped your tired arms around your body.

“You’re welcome kid, Anyways have you met my boy?” FP prodded hoping to gain insight on your relationship with Jughead.

“Yeah I met him today at school he’s really nice,” your palms started to sweat.

“Oh cool, cool, hopefully you guys can become friends, god knows that boy needs some more of those,” FP chuckled lightly.

You gave a brief lowkey uncomfortable laugh.

“Oh I should really get going goodnight FP,” you tried to make your escape as fast as possible.

“Yeah you’re right kid, goodnight,” FP replied while strolling off to a group of older serpents.

When you finally made it to your car you sat and tried to take in that conversation. Why was FP asking about Jughead? Why did he put such emphasis on you being friends? Most importantly why did your hands start sweating when he brought up Jughead? Sure he was really cute and he liked a lot of things that you liked but it's no reason to get all worked up about. Damn it, you knew you had a teeny tiny amount of feelings for him but it doesn’t matter, or does it?

“Let it go,” you whispered to yourself with slight disappointment.

In Jugheads trailer he was having the exact same thoughts as you. He questioned why he felt like this and how he magically felt this strongly about some girl he just met. In his head he replayed the first time he saw you walking through the cafeteria looking stunning. With your beautiful long luxurious legs and your impeccable sense of fashion. He thought about holding you in his arms while he recited poetry to you in fourign languages. What the hell man he thought. Then he suddenly slapped the shit out of himself to make the day dreaming go away.

“That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.” Jughead muttered to himself as he rubbed his brutally attacked cheek.

Several days later…

It was finally Friday afternoon. The weather was blazing and bright and you took that as a good sign. Your week had been thrilling from you starting your new school to you hanging out with your new friends and sneaking off with Jughead to hang out at the library during lunch. If you were being honest you would even say that life was currently fucking awesome. Although your week was going great you still had so much more to do like the Snake Bash starting at midnight. You still had to get on your craziest rave outfit and pregame but you just got out of school and you wanted to take a drive to reminisce on all the bomb shit that had been happening lately.

After your drive you went back home to find sparkly shit all over the floor in your living room.

“Y/N which one do I wear? It's the last Snack Bash of the school year. I have to start it with a bang.” Toni was speaking so rapidly and she was quite literally jumping up and down. She held outfits up to her over and over again.

“Okay first of all where did you get all these dresses? Second wear the diamond cover up with a black swimsuit set under you’d look so hot in that.” you replied and took a second look at the shiny mess.

“Okay thank you so much.” Toni jogged over to you and wrapped you in a quick hug while trying not to step on the eight million outfits on the floor and then took off into her room.

You stepped off the mountains of clothes and went into your room to get ready. You searched through all your old rave clothes and then found the one. It was a metallic super cropped top with matching cheeky bottoms. You paired that with white fishnet tights and white doc martens that you stole from a store in California when you were homeless after your parents died. You did a ravishing makeup look that consisted of a lot of glitter and crystals. Finally your masterpiece was finished. You looked like a goddess and you knew it.

You came out of your bedroom to find a crowd of your friends. Fangs, Sweet Pea, Jughead, and Toni were waiting for you so you all could drive to the quarry together. When everyone laid eyes on you they were stunned. You were thrown up on with immediate compliments. Jughead's jaw dropped to the floor. Sweet pea looked like he was drooling all over the floor.

Someone finally spoke up. “U- Uh Y/N you look beautiful,” Sweet Pea professed while pushing back his hair with his strong ring covered hands.

“Yeah you really do,” Jughead chimed in. He walked over to you on a finally clean floor and wrapped you in a warm comforting hug.

Sweet Pea frowned and gave a look of disgust from the action but to everyone else it was just a simple hug.

The guys couldn’t keep their eyes off your body and you had to keep saying out loud that you weren’t a piece of meat. Although you looked divine your friends did too. Fangs wore a see through shirt and skinny jeans and his makeup consisted of a shit ton of glitter too. Toni wore the outfit you told her to and she curled her bubblegum pink hair into loose waves. Sweet Pea actually didn’t wear a shirt, he only had a kimono and pants on and a bandanna tied around his neck. Jughead wore a short sleeve button down shirt tucked into distressed black pants and of course that god damn hat.

You and your friends got in Toni’s jeep and drove to the Quarry. You blasted music and laughed the whole way there.

When you reached your destination you could tell that this party wasn't going to be fucking crazy. Pretty girls danced with dangerous guys. Heads bobbed up and down, the ground almost felt like it was shaking. Colorful lights decorated the floor along with colorful outfits. You were drawn in just like the first time you went to a rave. Your eyes darted to where most people were dancing and you and your friends immediately joined them. You ran off to the dance floor and moved your body with passion. You shook your hips along with your hair. You felt eyes on you as you got lost in the music. You were dancing with a group of Serpent girls when a handsome stranger walked over and asked you to dance. You took the mysterious stranger's hand and deepened in the crowd.

“I’m Leo.” the gorgeous man remarked

“I’m Y/N,” you said while connecting eyes with the man.

He had a soft smile and beautiful hair that touched his chin. His eyes dared you to get lost in them. You danced wildly and rested your arms on his shoulders.

The man became a little too handsy and you moved his hands off of your lower back.

“Not so fast lover boy.” you smirked

“Hey don’t be like that baby girl,” Leo said sternly. He moved his hands back to their previous place and discomfort washed over you.

“Back off asshole” you spit pushing his arms off of you. You stormed off into the abyss of bodies.

You didn’t like that at all. You knew that it was probably a good idea to get away from him. You drifted off to find your friends but they spotted you first.

“Hey Y/N is he giving you trouble?” Sweet Pea said while cracking his knuckles

“Nah it's no big deal Sweet,” you replied in an effort to calm him down.

“Alright,” Sweet Pea hesitated

You grabbed Toni’s arm and you sped to the dance floor. You wrapped your arms around her and you swayed to the music. It was nice to have really good friends that would look out for you.

“Toni.”

“Yeah Y/N,”

“Thank you for everything,” you said warmly

“You’re welcome, thanks for being here,” she pulled you into a close hug.

You both held each other and listened to Somebody Else by the 1975. People were all around holding their loved ones and best friends. Time felt infinite. You felt Infinite.

Behind the trees Leo and a gang of ghoulies plotted a scheme.

“That bitch is so full of herself,” Leo spat while looking over at the crowd of people.

“Don't worry about Leo, we'll take care of her,” some goulie said while lighting his cigarette.

Sweet Pea stood lips locked with some pretty girl. Fangs was talking to some guy and you and Toni were dancing, but where was Jughead?

“Hey I’m gonna go look for Jug okay,”

“Got it,” Toni replied while still dancing .

Your eyes scanned the crowd but there was still no sign of Jughead. You tried to come up with an idea of where he could be, but then a melancholy thought crossed your brain. Maybe he left with someone else, you dismissed the thought simply because you didn’t want to think of that. You walked back to the car with a droopy mood and tired feet.

When you arrived back at the car to your surprise you saw Jughead sitting on the roof of the car looking at the stars. You strolled up to him.

“Hey stranger,” you almost whispered

“Oh hey Y/N,” Jughead replied trying to act like you didn’t just scare the shit out of him.

“Not the party type?” you questioned

“Yeah not really.” he replied dully

You climbed to the hood and sat beside him. The sky was decorated with stars and the moon shined in the distance.

“It’s beautiful,” you sighed and laid down on the roof to rest your aching body.

“It is.” he agreed while resting his arms on his crossed legs.

“Tomorrow wanna go get breakfast at Pops and hangout?” you said calmly

“Yeah that would be nice.”

“It’s a date.”

“Like an actual date?” he questioned

“Yeah if you want it to be,” you replied with your heart racing. You were so good at flirting on accident that it should be a crime.

“Then it’s a date,” he proclaimed while looking at you. He saw how the moonlight shined against your skin and his heart twirled.

Your eyes were darting at all the different stars.

“You’re a dork you know that,” you said while giggling.

“You’re too,” he said while playfully bumping you.

You sat up and looked at him. Time stopped. The World stopped rotating. It was just you and him. You turned to face him. Your eyes connected and you slid your hand on his neck. You pulled him closer and your lips locked. Your lips seemed to fit together like the perfect puzzle. The kiss was like no other, nothing could ever come close to it. It lasted a lifetime and when you parted you still felt buzzing on your lips. You had never been kissed like that. That kiss danced in your heart and was ingrained in your brain. Jughead looked at you and smiled, his cheeks were flushed with pink.

The air was filled with passion, there was no need for words. You simply just laid back down on the roof of the car and he slid his hand into yours.

You could still hear the music from the party booming in the other direction. The wind was chilled and the fresh spring air swept over your body like a blanket. Your body shivered because of the temperature outside. Jughead noticed.

“Do you want my jacket?” he questioned

“Yes please,” you replied with a smile.

Your hand felt safe and right wrapped in his but that didn’t stop the various amounts of insecurity from coming in and drowning your brain with hesitation. Was this right? Is it too soon? What if he’s like Nico? You silenced and came to the realization that he might not be like Nico. What if he was actually a good guy.

You jumped into conversation with Jughead about the copious amount of things you shared in common. Maybe things will work out.

Well that was pretty freaking cute but the good shit never really lasts. Hearts break. People lie. And love is a dangerous thing…

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candythemew · 4 years ago

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UrSan Headcanons!🌊

The UrMaid of Thra...

It’s probably no surprise that UrSan The Swimmer is my favorite Dark Crystak character considering how much I draw her, but I feel like many of you would like to hear my headcanons for this beautiful lass!

UrSan is a Nomadic UrRu. Constantly swimming through the various waterways and seas of Thra. Like Urgoh and UrVa, she seeks out her own path. Prefering not to stay in place for too long. Like her counterpart, she yearns to have her own independence and sense of purpose.

UrSan is Loving and kind, but not Naïve. She knows life can be cruel, but she tries to keep her spirits up. She shows compassion to others, because she knows firsthand how hard it can be when you feel isolated, alone, or nobody cares. She had been scared half to death once when someone very close to her nearly perished due to their grief.

UrSan’s voyages across the rivers, seas, swamps, and lakes of Thra have inspired many folktales and legends among the Gelfling. The Majority of them coming from the Drenchen and the Sifa. These tales can arrange from terrifying bog monsters with bright glowing eyes... Made up entirely of tangling limbs, reeds, and mud. Shambling about to take away any naughty children who may have wandered too deep into the swamps, To beautiful women who lure young Gelfing into the dark depths, or even pure-hearted sea spirits that will lead you back to shore with their songs when you’re lost at sea…

UrSan’s singing sounds like that of a whale or siren. Many Sifan folktales have their roots in hearing this elusive tune underneath their ships. Echoing beneath them with a resonating lullaby that can be heard for miles.

Ursan wears little to no clothing as to prevent drag in the water as she swims. Her long hair serves to cover up most of her body whenever she leaves the water. (Which isn’t often.) But if she must be out of the water for an extended period of time; she has a lightweight dress she wears. She’ll usually keep these dresses in hollow tree trunks along the banks of rivers where she’s known to stop and rest. She finds clothes kinda itchy and weird.

Due to all of her underwater travel, UrSan occasionally gets things stuck in her hair. Mostly Seaweed, but sometimes small animals, or sometimes even Gelfling can get trapped in her deep indigo locks! Although for that to happen is extremely rare and scary! She often lets plants that get tangled within her mane stay. Using them as a form of decoration. ((And sometimes a food source.)) Although most of the time, this is actually due to her forgetting to remove the flora in the first place! When dry, UrSan’s hair is wavy. She also has little tufts of hair that stick out of place.

UrSan Swims by using her powerful tail to propel her forward in the water. keeping her arms and legs pressed against her body. She’ll use her arms to cling onto rocks in particularly strong currents, or to assist in turning another direction.

UrSan has hidden grottoes and hideaways she stays in if she needs to rest or recover from an injury she may have gotten from her travels. Most often when noticing that her counterpart got into a particularly nasty fight. She calls these places “Sanctuaries”. These areas are scattered across the world of Thra, and are very hard to come by if you aren’t The Swimmer. UrSan knows these places by heart, and a few of them are connected by underwater tunnels. Any adventurer to stumble upon one of these sanctuaries is a lucky one indeed! As these places are full of necessities for survival, as well as rare and exotic items The Swimmer finds on her travels. She keeps these behind as mementos of previous journeys. If you’re particularly lucky, you may even stumble upon her during a period of rest. A sight very few ever see, but will always remember. As well as Sanctuaries, She also has a network of underground channels she’ll use for fast travel. Although these are more risky due to the darkness, sharp rocks, and strong currents. Here are some visuals of what I have in mind for these Sanctuaries:

(Below) An underground channel located in the claw mountains.

UrSan makes a pilgrimage back to The Valley of the Mystics once every few Trine.

On this voyage back home, she’ll bring back various things from her travels to give to her fellow UrRu. It’s not about the quantity, but the quality. Since she can’t carry too much while swimming miles upon miles back home; she’ll put a lot of thought into it. These items will often have a special meaning on how she feels about a certain individual. As well as a use. Many of these objects are not accessible in The Valley making them a heartfelt gift indeed. She keeps them in a small bag made out of fishing nets, or tied up in her hair.

She’ll stay in the valley for about a week or two before leaving. During this time, She’ll catch up with her brothers. Helping out, speaking of her travels and answering numerous questions. She will also allow her hair to be brushed, dried and braided. Decorating it with seashells that she will leave behind in The Valley from her numerous pilgrimages. As well as wearing clothing. Elaborate ones at that. (Or at least for a Mystic...) Her Robes are made from Sifan silk she found in a shipwreck that she gifted to UrUtt the Weaver, who in return created this masterful work of art. ((Clothing HC Based off of this description of her outfit!))

The two are good friends. Even though UrUtt is put off by her decision to remain nude outside of the Valley. UrSan however, is blissfully unaware of how others could find her choices inappropriate. Being completely innocent about this aspect of life.

Speaking of Relationships, Two of her closest friends are UrTih the Alchemist and UrZah the Ritual Guardian. UrTih the Alchemist is very close to UrSan. With the two of them interacting like a Big Sister and Little Brother of sorts, despite them being the same age. UrSan will spend a good part of her time back home experimenting and helping The Alchemist out with all sorts of things! Be it finding the materials he may need for potions, or asking him thousands of questions on whatever he may be working on! She also helps The Alchemist get out of his shell, as he sometimes feels anxious to speak or share his ideas with his fellow UrRu. UrTih is fond of UrSan as well. And is one of the first people to greet her upon her return. He enjoys the stories and excitement she brings to the monotony of Valley life. Even if she can get to be a too much at times. UrSan gets very excited whenever she’s around UrTih. He always has something new to say, and she admires his Creativity. She brings out a brave side of him, and he offers her kinship and a feeling of family. All and all their bond is inseparable! I heard that with the collaboration with another UrRu, UrTih is crafting a strange vessel known as a “Canoe”... UrZah the Ritual Guardian is one of UrSan’s oldest, and closest friends. Their relationship started when his facial disfigurement caused him to spiral into a depressive state where all he would do was pray, do his rituals, and go to sleep. He wouldn’t eat and barely ever drank. As he felt unworthy of it. Like he was being punished by the gods for his transgressions. He was guilty of so much; breathing and speaking hurt so bad... It had to be a punishment. Especially considering the wicked acts of his “Other Half”. UrZah was just as responsible of those atrocities as he. They are two sides of the same coin. This period happened during a time frame where UrSan’s travels were very brief. Still being titled “The Swimmer” however she was not nearly as nomadic as she is today. Only really acting as a scout as she swam around the streams in the wilderness they had camped for the night. As they were still looking for their own home. She would make sure check up on everyone at night as she held her vigil. One particularly cold night, She heard UrZah’s harsh wheezing in the distance. It sounded much more labored... So she followed the noise and saw him collapsed on the ground surrounded by various types of sands, prayer objects, and half finished symbols. Twisting about in mesmerizing patterns all across the ground. Mortified, she immediately rushed for help. A few nights later the golden haired mystic awoke to see The Swimmer, UrIm the Healer, and UrSu the Master all watching over him. She had learned that she had saved his life; but he didn’t know why or how. He was scolded harshly by the three, but UrSan stayed with him for the night as she was worried for him. She would spend the next couple unum trying to lift his spirits, giving him little reasons to go on, and making sure he was eating and drinking at least something small everyday. It took a long, long time but he got better due to her and his fellow Mystics. And for that he’s eternally grateful. When he asks her about what happened the night she found him, she only stares off into the distance. Silent. Not saying a word. But perhaps... that’s for the best. As the trine passed the two grew closer despite their long distance apart due to UrSan’s travels. Becoming better friends despite their vastly different personalities and opposing worldviews. UrSan believing in being independent and doing all that they could to make up for their past transgressions, while UrZah believes the opposite. Following the Master’s orders of staying hidden, remaining vigilant, and being patient. Praying for safety until the next great conjunction. They work together like Caramel and Sour Apples! Better with each other than without. UrZah is a stable mystic who can help keep UrSan grounded in reality. Reminding her that there is a way to things. And UrSan is someone who can help him get out of his overly strict attitude and lift him out of his all or nothing mentality. The weight of the world is not on his shoulders. And She’ll always make sure to remind him of that. Other Wandering Mystics: She has many experiences of running into UrVa the Archer, UrMa the Peacemaker, and in her younger days; UrGoh the Wanderer.

When finding one of her Dear, Fellow Travelers. She will often speak to them. Asking where they might be headed and what their plans are. Sometimes they’ll even camp together. Telling each other of their travels. Each Interaction is different depending on who she meets, but meeting another vagabond is always a fun surprise! UrMa the Peacemaker is by far the most social. As he travels the lands looking for peaceful solutions to conflicts. When the two meet they’ll be sure to play around a bit before catching up. This usually entails UrMa racing her on the riverbank as she swims by the water’s edge. Or UrSan slowly emerging out of the water creeping from behind to startle the big strong UrRu! They’ll definitely set camp together and talk until dawn. Most stories shared between the two are those of unique individuals they met. The Peacemaker telling UrSan of some of the most foolish reasons conflicts had arisen and the weirdest ways those problems were solved! In the morning UrMa will usually invite her to follow him wherever he may be headed next and as long there’s a river alongside him to follow his path, The Swimmer will accept! UrVa the Archer is someone UrSan also likes to catch up with when she can. She’ll find him most often drinking from a stream or resting in one of her secret sanctuaries. Their talks usually consist of philosophy with a bit of witty remarks and jokes sprinkled in-between. The two will also practice their physical abilities by sparring. As they are the two most active and strong UrRu. When they camp together they’ll catch fish to make into kebabs. (UrSan is extremely fond of this part) UrVa will wait patiently as he stays still and catches them with his hands in the shallows. Using his strong reflexes and knowledge of the Mystic’s rarely used martial arts. UrSan however will chase the fish around the open water like a dolphin until she catches up to one and grabs it either in her mouth or powerful arms. Sometimes quickly jumping out of the water as she chases them! Each take only what they need for the night and make sure not to waste a single bit of what was given. All life is a gift from Thra. And as they are not of Thra, they can’t take recklessly. The two will cook together, and speak of their journeys and various tales they had heard or have made up themselves. The two will sleep at their camp together, and then part ways in the morning. Wishing the best for each other on their travels. UrGoh the Wanderer is a name UrSan hasen’t heard of in hundreds of trine. She hasn’t seen him since she was young. Telling her of a vision he was given to embrace unity with their counterparts. As well as the others shunning him from the Valley due to him trying to convince the rest. But sadly, they were all too stubborn. UrSan didn’t know what to make of this. It was a very complex and ambitious task to set fourth to acomplish. She did not follow him. But she gave him a spiral shell as a memento to be safe and to keep going forward. There wasn’t much she could do, because to be honest... She was scared. There are some nights where she wonders if she should have done more, should she embrace her own half as well? And how is The Wanderer nowadays? Safe she hopes. These thoughts sometimes keep her up at night.

Scars: [MAJOR SPOILER WARNING FOR THE TIDES AND FLAMES OF THRA UNDER THE CUT] Non-Spoiler HC: She has some minor scarring from SkekSa due to the Skeksis being a swashbuckling adventurer. Of course she’s gonna get nicked from time to time. UrSan has gotten used to these. She also has piercing holes along the sides of her snout, but she doesn’t choose to wear any piercings to go with them.

When Skeksa gets her hand cut off by Tae, as we know, the same happens to UrSan. Her hand being cut clean off. Thankfully Urru have four hands in all, but this wound took a lot out of UrSan and makes turning while swimming harder. As well as gripping to rocks in areas with stronger currents. Saltwater can sometimes enter the wound. Causing a stinging sensation. She also has a bad stab wound in her abdomen and shoulder. As well as burn scars across her body. Her Fight with SkekSa also gave the two of them some deep scars.

Although her Counterpart was imprisoned inside an enchanted apeknot tree, UrSan survived into the Garthim wars. During this time she would save and hide away as many Gelfling as she could even though all seemed hopeless. She died of unknown causes during this era. Let’s just hope her efforts weren’t in vain.

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