#unless we decide to cause a ruckus

[liminally-charged]

Imagine you have a backyard. It's a nice little space. You have a grass lawn, a few flowerpots, a jamberry bush you take good care of, and a hedge around the yard. You're pretty sure there's ants in the bush somewhere, but you haven't seen any anthills and they don't enter the yard, so you don't bother all that much.

One day you walk into your backyard with your white plastic chair in tow, wanting to enjoy the sun. But something tore a line through the grass towards the center, from where the line expands into a circle. The line trails all the way back to the hedge. You're confused; was that the ants? Do ants make corn circles in grass? You're gonna have to look that up, as well as buy new grass seeds. What a pain.

But over the next few days, you watch something very intriguing happen. Every now and then the circle expands a bit; flourishes and small markings are added, like a crude little mandala. At some point you get a little idea: You buy a garden gnome and place it in the middle of the circle. Curious about what might happen next, you almost can't sleep that night. But on the next day your gnome is gone. You look around the yard, search the hedge, until you almost stumble over something in the ground: a small red tip of a gnome hat. The ants took your gnome and buried it.

You don't know whether to be angry or impressed, or dumbfounded. But if the ants want a challenge, they shall get one. You dig out the gnome, tie it down with ropes and hooks and cinderblocks, smackdab in the circle. Let 'em get through that, you say. But on the next day the ants have bitten through the rope, moved the cinderblocks and buried the gnome again. Even worse, there's a trail of ripped-out grass towards your prized jamberry bush. You have to put an end to this now, so you go out and buy ant poison and ant traps. But when you come back, catastrophe has struck; the ants are swarming all over your jamberries.

Now you're furious. You tear through the hedge, and sure enough there's the anthill. They've stolen your cinderblocks as well to reinforce their sad little hill. But it's too little too late now; your jamberry bush demands blood. You set down ant traps everywhere, spray the gnome in ant poison and jam it into their stupid dumb anthill. You wanna bury the gnome so bad!? Here you go! One gnome buried DEEP in the ground!! FREE OF CHARGE!!!

There's no more ants after that. The gnome remains buried in their hill, inside the hedge, beyond the grass of your yard. The circle markings fade in time, overgrown by new grass. It's more peaceful this way; your daily life can go on without any distractions. Sometimes you crave a jamberry, and then you think of the whole ant situation. But oh well... you can always buy jamberries at the store.

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Please may I have a Blue exorcist scenario of when you (FEMALE reader *she is a highly skilled Paladin and Rin's childhood friend and everything and she is his girlfriend and the same age as Rin*) basically defended Rin when you made an excuse to talk to Bon alone in his home. You understood his pain considering how you lost your older sister in the blue night when you were a baby at the time but it caused a lot of pain for your family which was understandable considering that they lost a daughter. Your tone generally was serious when you remarked; "Only jerks judge books by their covers man.." Bon didn't appreciate that you called him a jerk when you said that..but you only proved your point when he basically grabbed you by the collar when he asked in a dangerous voice of what exactly you were implying. You told him that you thought that he was a good friend but obviously regarding how Rin had been treated recently..you thought wrong. You basically forced him to apologise to Rin the next day

Kinda angsty but not exactly..it's just the reader teaching someone a good lesson about not judging a book by its cover.

Hi! Thank you for your request! Sorry it took so long. I hope you like the scenario!

Fandom: Blue Exorcist

Character: Bon Suguro x gn! Reader (platonic, Reader is in a relationship with Rin)

Work Count: 1.1k (1,118 words)

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You've had enough of Bon badmouthing your boyfriend Rin so you decide to have some strong words with him.

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“Well it’s not my fault I have to share a classroom with this lazy slob.”

“Oh yeah, well it’s not my fault I have to share a classroom with this perfect grade A student who always does well in exams.”

“Uh, Rin, that’s not really an insult…”

“And as if it’s not bad enough that I have to look at your ugly face all the time, you’re the son of Satan. Literally the spawn of the one creature I hate most in this world.”

The classroom fell silent. The longer it went on, the less anyone seemed to know how to break it. Finally your teacher, Rin’s older brother, Yukio, cleared his throat.

Your relationship with Yukio was strange. On one hand, he was your boyfriend’s brother, who loved him dearly but was delighted you were there to help keep him in line. On the other, he was your teacher who you had a healthy amount of both fear and respect for.

You were grateful for his intervention now as both of these roles.

“Well, if you don’t mind, we’ll get back to the class shall we?”

Rin and Bon were still glaring at each other but at Yukio’s words Bon exhaled loudly through his nose and looked away, sitting back down.

Rin scoffed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Although the words were muttered under his breath, you saw Bons eyes light up in anger again and he raised his hands as if to slam them down on the table.

“Mr Suguro, Mr Okumura, that is enough.” There was a sharp edge to Yukio’s voice now, “You will remain in your seats and, unless you’re answering a question, I don’t want to hear another word out of either of you. Am I understood?”

Silence.

“Am. I. Understood.” It wasn’t a question anymore.

“Yes sir.”

“Yeah.”

Yukio let out a deep breath. “Alright then, back to the topic at hand.”

~ After class had finished, everyone began filing out of the classroom. Yukio called out to Rin as he tried to sneak out and, as they turned into the hallways together, you could hear Yukio berating his brother for making such a ruckus in class.

You stood up from your desk, turning to where Bon was still packing away his supplies. Usually, he was much faster with this, but today you suspected he was trying to put some distance between himself and Rin.

You walked over to him. Shima and Konekomaru were standing next to him, discussing lunch.

“Hey, Bon?”

He looked up from his bag. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you could help me out with some of the homework. There’s a bit I’m not sure I understand.”

The corner of Bon’s mouth twitched. “Not going to ask your boyfriend for help?” You could hear the jeering tone in his voice but knew it wasn’t directed at you.

“Rin’s great and all but when it comes to study, I’d rather get advice from someone who actually knows what they’re doing.”

Bon smiled. “Yeah, I guess I can’t blame you there. Sure, I’ll help.” He turned to his friends, “You guys go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

Shima and Konekomaru waved their goodbyes as they left the room. You waited until you couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore before turning back to Bon.

“So, what homework did you need help with?”

You shook your head. “No homework sorry. That was a lie. I just needed an excuse to talk to you alone.”

A frown creased his brow. “About what?”

You took a breath. You’d been waiting for this opportunity for a while and now that it was here, you had to make sure you got what you wanted to say right. “It’s about Rin. And the way you treat him.”

Bon rolled his eyes and stood as if to leave. You stepped in front of him to block his way. Frustration glimmered in his eyes as his frown deepened.

“I know I’m his partner and you might think this is just me looking out for my boyfriend but even if we weren’t a couple, I’d still feel the same way. It’s not cool the way you treat him. Only jerks judge books by their covers man.”

Bon lunged forward, grabbing you by the collar of your uniform and pulling you close. “What exactly are you implying? You don’t know me! You don’t know what I’ve been through because of his father. I lost everything! You could never know what that’s like. And don’t call me a jerk.”

“Oh, don’t I?” Now you could feel the anger rising in your own chest, “So you’re saying I didn’t lose my older sister in the Blue Night? I didn’t have to grow up, knowing my entire life that there was someone so close to me that I would never get the chance to meet?”

You saw realisation hit Bon but you weren’t finished. “I do know Bon. I know better than anyone. And you know what? I still care about him. Because he’s not his father. Oh, and by the way?” You lifted a hand to tap at his, where they were still bunched up in the fabric of your collar, “You are a jerk. If you aren’t, why did you grab me like that just now?”

Bon released your uniform abruptly, as if he’d just realised he was still holding it. “Sorry.”

You smoothed down the fabric. “Yeah, you should be. I’m going to have to iron this now.”

“No, I mean I’m sorry about your sister. And grabbing you. I shouldn’t have said those things. You’re right, I was being a jerk.”

“You shouldn’t be apologising to me. You should be apologising to Rin. He hates Satan as much as you do. He’s not his father.” You sighed. “I thought you were a good friend to him, but I guess I was wrong. If you were really his friend, you’d know that.”

Bon let out a long, deep breath. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. He just has a way of rubbing me the wrong way, you know?”

You laughed. “Oh boy, do I. He’s been an irritation since the day I met him. But he’s a good person. And that’s all that matters.”

Bon nodded, clearly deep in thought.

You picked up your bag and swung it over your shoulder. “Come on. We should get to lunch before it’s finished.”

Bon shouldered his own bag and walked to the door with you. The tension in the room had dissipated, leaving only an understanding between you and Bon.

Before you left, you lightly punched his shoulder. “By the way, you’re apologising to Rin tomorrow okay?”

Bon smiled, chuckling. “Yeah, yeah, okay.”

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[therand0mwriter]

IDOL-Chapitre un

Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir x Male!Idol!reader

When a young American idol and his band tours in France, every one in Adrien's class wants to go. Unfortunately for them, tickets sold out as soon as they were for sale. Fortunately for Adrien, his father was able to get him tickets, but with a cost. Even though theres an underlying reason on why he's going, Adrien decides to take his best friend Nino, and his other two close classmates/friends, Alya and Marinette.

When they all got to the concert and the idol started singing, it mesmerized Adrien, pulling him to the front of the stage. Seeing the idol perform made Adrien feel things he never felt before, and it didn't help when the idol lent down and kissed Adrien's hand. Now that caused quite the ruckus.

"𝐔𝐡, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭?"

[Unedited]

[(h/t) = hair type, i.e. curly, wavy, straight, ect.]

[Everyone in the story is 18 or older unless it is specifically said otherwise.]

*Y/N's POV*

"We're going to France!" Your manager, Sheena, just cheered. It was silent in the conference room as you and your band mates took this in. "Huh?" Was all you could say. "What do you mean: 'huh'?! You guys are going to tour in France! Be more excited!" Sheena yelled at us while shaking her fists.

"Are we that popular to be touring in a different country?" Your bass player, Jiraiya, questioned. "Oh boy, I don't know any french..." Your drummer, Loyal, worried out loud. "Relax, I'm sure this'll be a fun, new experience for all of us." Your guitarist, Kylian, said as he patted Loyal's shoulder in comfort. "Ah, I can't wait for the food!" Your keyboardist, Kairo, was already drooling at the thought of French cuisine.

These are your bandmates. You five, including yourself, make up the band: Ensnare. There was you, Y/N L/N, age 18, 5'9", the leader and vocalist. Then there was Jiraiya Duran, age 19, second in command and the bass player. Jiraiya is of Asian and pacific islander descent, around 5'8", has straight black hair, sharp dark brown eyes, glasses, tan skin, a Medusa lip piercing, sharp features and a slim but fit figure. You honestly think he could become a model if he wanted to. You could call Jiraiya the cool but serious type.

Next is Kylian Thatcher, age 18 and the guitarist of the group. Kylian is of European descent, 5'7", has wavy light brown hair, blue eyes, peach colored skin, dolphin bites lip piercings and a sharp jawline, giving Jiraiya a run for his money. He's definitely the most cocky in the group, constantly butting heads with Jiraiya when you're not around. You could consider him the bad boy out of everyone.

And finally, the twins, Loyal and Kairo Elsher, age 17, mix of European and African descent. Loyal is our drummer while Kairo is our keyboardist. They're identical twins with a height of 5'6", heterochromia eyes (one hazel and one green), light brown skin and a beauty mark under their right eye. They both have curly, colored hair, but their natural black hair is starting to show at the roots. Loyal's hair was dyed blue while Kairo's was dyed orange. The only difference between the two, minus their hair color and their instruments, was their personalities. Loyal was nervous and introverted, Kairo was care-free and extroverted.

Oh, and we can't forget our manager, Sheena Wright, age 40. She is of European descent, 5'6", dyed red hair, blue eyes, freckles, peach colored skin and has multiple ear piercings. Sheena's personality is very outgoing, she's headstrong but determined, she knows when it's time to be serious but also knows when it's time to let loose. In a way, she's kind of like a cool mom to all of us.

"Wait, wait, wait," You started, placing your hand on the table to calm everyone down. "Isn't France notorious now because there's villains constantly running rampant?" "Oh yeah, will we be safe?" Loyal sat up, instantly starting to worry. Sheena waved us off, "Of course you'll be safe! You'll have your bodyguards and Frances hero's."

"'Frances hero's?'" You repeated, not sure if you heard her correctly. "Oh, that's right," Jiraiya started, opening the conference room laptop. He started typing then projected an image of a dark blue haired female in a skin tight, red suit with black polka-dots and a blonde haired male in a skin tight, black cat suit with cat ears on top of his head. "This is Ladybug and Chat Noir, Frances hero's. They're the ones who take care of the villains." Jiraiya explained, pointing to the duo.

You sighed then asked, "When is it?" "It's in six months, you'll be doing the same tour you did earlier this year." Sheena informed. All of your bandmates look to you, their leader, for your decision. "Seems like we need to start learning French." You shrugged. Kairo and Kylian cheered, Loyal got a nervous look and Jiraiya smiled.

*Time Skip, Adrien's POV*

When I entered my class, every one was absolutely buzzing. I went up to Nino, Alya and Marinette as they were huddled together watching something with large smiles. "Whats going on you guys?" I smiled, peeking over Nino's shoulder. Marinette jumped and squeaked at my presence and Nino greeted me, "Hey dude! We're just watching the announcement for Ensnare's France tour!"

"'Ensnare'?" I questioned. "Yeah man," Alya started, smiling. "Ensnare is an American boy band that's totally amazing. Everyone in the group is super talented and not to mention super hot! And they have mentioned some of the best news I have ever heard: they're coming here!" Her and Marinette squealed in excitement. "Here, watch this!" Alya said, pulling up the video they were watching earlier.

On the screen was a... really attractive guy. He seemed to be around our age, but he had a mature air about him. His soft smile, (e/c) eyes, (short/long) lashes, clear (s/c) skin, sharp jawline, and (h/t) (h/c) hair all screamed hot model.

"Depending on when you're seeing this, bonjour or bonsoir République française! This is Ensnare announcing that we will be touring all of France in six months! The tickets will go on sale at 10 in the morning your time, so get them while you can! They're limited! And if you get the VIP tickets we all can't wait to meet you! The VIP tickets include a meet and greet before the concert, a picture with us, and a signed piece of merch! But we are giving out a handful of Deluxe VIP tickets where you get everything a VIP ticket does, but you also get to have dinner with us! The meet and greet will be after the concert though. Remember, premier arrivé premier servi. À bientôt!" The male ended with a smile and a wink.

Ba-bump

'What was that?' I shook my head. "Who was that?" I ask, pointing to the male on the phone. "That's (Y/N) (L/N)! He's the leader and singer of Ensnare! Then there's Jiraiya," Alya excitedly explained, hurriedly moving on to the other members before I could ask more questions about the bands leader. 'Oh well, guess I'll do my own research tonight.' I mentally shrugged to myself as Alya continued to explain every member to me.

"Wow, it seems like you guys really like them. Are you going to their concert?" I questioned, getting pouts from the girls in return. "We're gonna try! That is, if the tickets don't sell out." Marinette answered. "I'm sure you guys will get them!" I encouraged, giving her a smile. Her face immediately turned red and she gained a nervous smile, she started stuttering before Alya stepped in, "Well it's going to be hard since pretty much every one I know is going to try to go to that concert. But we're going to try too!" "I'm sure you'll get them, babe." Nino said, kissing Alya on the cheek.

"Wait, when you say every one you know is going to try to get tickets, does that include our friends?" I ask, referring to the other students around me. "Definitely," Alya sighed. "Well, fingers crossed." I gave Alya and Marinette a comforting smile.

*Time Skip*

"I'm sorry you guys," I tried to comfort my sad friends. "We were so close to going to their concert..." Marinette mumbled. "At least no one else in our class was able to get tickets!" Nino also (poorly) tried to cheer them up. "Still..." Alya sighed in a sad manner. Everyone in our class was bummed out that no one got tickets. And not to mention Chloe who had a temper tantrum when even her dad couldn't get tickets. Even I was a little sad that I couldn't get tickets, I don't know the band very well but I wanted to see that (Y/N) in person... 'Wait, what's up with my thoughts?' I shook my head.

*Time Skip*

I just got home after a photoshoot, heading straight to my room. After I closed my door and made sure Nathalie didn't follow me, I let Plagg out of my shirt. "Gosh! Its about time!" I ignored the kwamis complaint and went to my computer, logging in.

I went to the search engine and typed in: 'Ensnare'. The American boy band popped up and I clicked on the members. "Um... excuse me? I think you're forgetting something." Plagg flew next to me, opening his mouth. I rolled my eyes and tossed him a piece of camembert, successfully quieting him.

I turned my attention back to my monitor and clicked on the bands leader. "Hm... let's see, Y/N L/N, age 18, Ensnare's vocalist..." I was mumbling to myself as I read information about him. After a couple minutes I watched some of their music videos and covers. "His vocal range is amazing..." I mumbled to myself again.

"You seem to really be into this guy, you like him or something?" I jumped as I heard a voice in my ear. I turn to see Plagg with a smug look on his face. "W-What? N-No! I just found out about him today!" I explained, confused at my stuttering and racing heart. Plagg flew circles around my head, "Doesn't mean a thing!" He teased in a sing-song tone. "Whatever..." I waved him off.

I saw a thumbnail of a video and it looked like Y/N in an interview. The only thing was, it was titled: 'ENSNARE'S Y/N'S TYPE'. I clicked on it, curious. You could tell the video didn't start at the beginning of the interview with how it was edited.

"So," The interviewer started, "All of your fans want to know: does Y/N L/N have a secret girlfriend?"

Y/N uncomfortably laughed, "I'm not going to lie, I wasn't expecting this question."

The interviewer laughed, "C'mon! Every one wants to know!"

"Fine, fine. No, I do not."

"Wow! Really?! Why not?!"

"Haven't met the right person yet."

"Can we at least ask who your type is?"

Y/N was quiet for a bit, thinking. But he finally smirked, "Blondes."

Ba-bump

"Blondes? Like me?" I unconsciously said, making Plagg snicker in amusement.

*Time Skip*

I was eating dinner by myself in the dining room, picking at my food. "Adrien," Nathalie called out to me, "Are you alright? You seem to be thinking about something." I blushed and waved her off, "O-Oh, yeah, I'm fine." It looked like she wanted to say more, but left it at that.

In fact, I was thinking about something. More accurately, someone. I couldn't get his face or voice out of my mind! 'Y/N L/N... what are you doing to me?'

"Adrien," I look up to see the owner of the deep voice. "Father!" I stand up from my seat, pleasantly surprised and confused. "I don't have much time, but have you heard of the American band: Ensnare?" He got straight to the point. "U-Um, yeah." I answered.

"I have 4 Deluxe VIP tickets to their concert in six months, I want you to go."

"Really?!"

"There's a catch. I want you to befriend them and convince them to collaborate with me for a new fashion line. I've asked them multiple times myself, but they keep turning me down. So, go to the concert, befriend them, and convince them. If you fail, I'll be disappointed."

"...Yes, father."

"...You can give the 3 extra tickets to your friends if you would like."

"Thank you, father!"

He nodded at me and walked out. I was excited but nervous at the same time. Me and a few of my friends get to go to Ensnare's concert! But... if I can't convince them to collab with my father he'll be upset. 'One step at a time, Adrien!'

*Time Skip*

"AHHH!" Alya and Marinette screamed in excitement. "I can't believe you're taking us to see Ensnare!" Alya shouted, large smile on her face. "This is amazing! Thank you so much, Adrien!" Marinette also shouted. "Yeah man, we all really appreciate it!" Nino added, patting my shoulder. All I could do was laugh at their reactions, "It's no problem, you guys are my best friends, of course I'll take you!"

...

"Did you guys hear that?" I asked, after hearing a faint scream. Alya and Marinette snickered to themselves, "I think Chloe is a little upset you didn't ask her to go to the concert." I frowned and shrugged, "If I had an extra ticket I would."

[atopvisenyashill]

Asking this because I (for some reason) have yet to see a theory stating this (even though it must exist!) but waht do you think the changes are of Brienne being the person who gets Alaynes favor and her potentially competing on Sansa's behalf in a trial for the kinslaying allegations? Obviously Brienne and Sansa even meeting is hotly debated but with the direction the show went in I can't see Briensa (platonic) not happening!

First I'm assuming you meant kingslaying because I was like wait how did I forget Sansa being accused of killing one of her siblings omg?? alsdjf unless you mean "kinslaying allegations" ie she betrayed Ned in which case, if that does come up (it's certainly possible) it's not likely to come up until waaaay later because the only person who would care is like, Arya, really, (I think both Jon and Bran would understand Sansa's actions here) and I don't think it will escalate to Brienne having to fight a trial by combat for her in that case.

BUT.

THAT'S AN INTERESTING THEORY. I think the general consensus here is that they're going to meet somehow at the tourney and escape it together, and also, Shadrich will be involved and probably Bronze Yohn as well, but that's pretty much as concrete as I've seen anyone get (altho if anyone does have a more concrete theory, let me know!!!).

So firstly, I think this would match up with the Ashford Tourney Theory very well -> Sansa having all the same suitors, only for the tourney to get upended by a trial by the seven/the appearance of The Truest Knight In All Of Westeros. Brienne, being both a True Knight and a descendant of Dunk, makes the most sense for being part of the foreshadowing of this theory in my opinion. And that little note we got of GRRM's outline included that line "kill the mouse" which points to Shadrich being a problem for Sansa or Brienne or both in the coming twow chapters. However...some random hedge knight can't just make off with either Sansa Stark, Last Surviving Stark or Alayne Stone, Only Child Of Lord Protector Baelish, without causing a HUGE ruckus (look at her escape from KL - they needed a huge ruckus to cover up their movements!). SO. Considering he showed up with a bunch of other guys...maybe Shadrich and several others looking for Sansa accuse of her being a kingslayer and say they are arresting her and taking her back to King's Landing to face the king's justice. And just like Tyrion got free by having Bronn defeat someone, perhaps Brienne, who enters in the lists in the hopes of getting close to Sansa as a mystery knight, steps up to call for a trial by the seven. That would be a parallel to Dunk as well!

And in the chaotic aftermath, when Brienne (and Bronze Yohn maybe!!) has cleared Sansa's name, something goes awry (maybe Harry dies fighting in the trial, maybe Sweetrobin dies and Sansa tells Brienne she doesn't want to marry Harry), the girls decide to make a run for the Wall, to the only other known relative Sansa has left alive outside of the Tullys - her recently revived bastard brother Jon Snow.

As for gaining her favor...while I'm fairly confident that Brienne saves Sansa and they leave together from the Vale, the state in which Brienne shows up is really up in the air. She's just leaving from whatever the fuck has happened with Lady Stoneheart and Jaime. Maybe she's injured. Maybe she has no money. Maybe she sees Ser Shadrich there and decides she's better off disguised. It could make sense that she enters the tourney in an attempt to see if she can find Sansa in the crowd, spots her, and asks her for her favor. Cue Shadrich accusal, trial by seven, and escape.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Interesting prediction anon, I'd love to hear what other people think.

[beestalesofarcadia]

Hello beestrollhunterplace! Might I request either Blinky or Dictatious with a human librarian s/o? Maybe she had first joined the group when the kids asked for a ton of troll books, she notices all of their scars and bruises, she investigates and discovers their secret. She's not at ALL happy that a minor was picked to be the Trollhunter but she tutors the kids to help them in school.

This is literally so late I apologize 😭 

★・・・★⊱••✩••⊰•★・・・・★

Blinky with a human librarian s/o

Jim is super obvious when he’s trying to hide a secret, especially the first few weeks he becomes the Trollhunter. Toby doesn’t help either. Their time at the library would become more frequent than usual, with him visiting every so often to pick up books from the fantasy section. “Didn’t take you as an avid reader, Mr. Lake.” You remark one day, to which Jim sheepishly replies with, “Well Mrs. (l/n), I’m just… trying to find myself through uh… reading!” You glance at Toby, who normally picked out comic books or mangas, with a 1000-page textbook about ancient folklore. With the bruises littered throughout their body and the sudden change in personality, you made it your duty as a librarian to make sure these kids were alright.

One night, you decided to stay at the library and catch up on work. A loud thud had distracted you from your paperwork, and curiously, you couldn’t help but walk over to investigate. “Keep it down, guys-!” A voice hissed, sounding strangely like Jim. “Psh, relax man, it’s not like anyone else is in here.” You could recognize that voice anywhere: Tobias! Considering that they broke into the museum a few nights before, it wasn’t really far-fetched that they’d do the same here. Geek duo, you thought to yourself as you shook your head. With a sigh and roll of eyes, you popped out from behind the bookshelf, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Listen, kids, couldn’t you break in somewhere else…” Your voice trailed off as you saw a large, brute of a stone, and a pair of six-eyes staring right at you.

You thought it was bullies at first. You thought it was adults at first. Hell, you even thought that it was some mafia that was threatening these kids. Not once did you consider the possibility of it being trolls or any other magical creature that existed. Of course, you freak out, with your first initial reaction to grab a book and throw it at the larger troll. With ease, he opened his mouth and swallowed it. He smiled and rubbed his stomach, humming “tasty.” You pulled Toby and Jim back, shielding them. “BACK AWAY- YOU BEASTS-!” “Pardon me madam, but we are trolls!” Despite his best efforts to dwindle the situation, it was futile. It took Jim and Toby having to stand in front of you to calm you down. They assure you that they would explain the situation, but you just needed to take a seat. Shakily, you agree to do so.

After a recap of the events of those past few weeks, your fear had shifted into anger. Mainly directed at Blinky- as you were under the impression that he chose Jim to become Trollhunter. “He’s a kid! He has school, he has finals, he has girls to worry about-!” “I understand your frustrations about Master Jim’s current predicament but realize that is the amulet’s will. It is his destiny. That, we cannot change.” Unless he died, you soon realized.

The weeks that followed soon became routine for you. You’d assist the kids, going as far as to help them even during school hours. Anything that they needed you’d get for them. Access to the classrooms after hours? You got it. Security camera footage of Strickler? That’s pushing it, but yeah. Your car keys? … There’s a line that needs to be drawn somewhere.

Outside of that, you become a frequent visitor to Trollmarket. Despite the other trolls’ blatant dislike of another human gracing their grounds, Blinky and Arrrgh are quick to be at your side. Vendel tolerates you since you seem sensible enough. But the minute you cause any ruckus around Trollmarket, you are out. Blinky assures him that it would never get to that point, to which you quickly agree. “I won’t tell a soul or cause any trouble,” You bow out of respect before continuing. “Cross my heart and hope to die.” “… A strange proclamation, but admirable effort nevertheless.” Now you gotta explain what idioms are.

Your intelligence is what initially draws Blinky. Whether it be from your wide range of vocabulary (as he’s seen whenever you’ve explained words that he couldn’t understand), or even the suggestions you’ve thrown into plans. Then it becomes your courage and selfishness, which you had demonstrated many times. From defending the kids to even fighting alongside them at the Killahead bridge. The determination and fierceness he saw in your eyes as you freed him from his bindings. No longer were you the little, fearful librarian he had met. You were now, as Tobias would put it, the “kick-a$$” librarian.

Post Killahead bridge is where you both get closer. Alone time becomes more frequent, as Arrrgh still remains Toby’s roommate/Wingman. You keep Blinky company, and his mood lively with the quick quips you often exchange with him. You tell him of the books you’ve read recently, even giving him a few copies to read himself. Although he’s more interested in historical fiction (“As a witness, I can tell you this is quite inaccurate-”), he doesn’t mind indulging in a few other genres here and there. Romance is a big guilty pleasure, followed by the occasional fantasy books (he thinks their interpretations are interesting). You two often find yourselves sitting together, reading and talking amongst yourselves. You would lay against him, your soft skin contrasting his own stone texture. It would always catch him off-guard, but that soft smile that grew along his face would always follow. Idle moments like those were what caused Blinky to realize his feelings for you.

Courting was difficult- mainly because Blinky can get in over his head. While he was going to go for the Troll customs, he then decided to go for the humans. But upon researching it, he found it so strange. Poisoning yourself, then actually turning out alive, then going back to your lover only to realize they offed themselves? Such oddity. Wait, that was Romeo and Juliet…

Blinky settles to do a combination of both. He manages to forge a small dagger for you (with Draal’s assistance) before shaping a crystal into a flower. Both are gifts that he hopes you would love, as small as they were. His confession was within his own library. He could never forget the soft expression as he handed you the gifts, the smile as he spoke, and the warm embrace that followed after his declamation of love.

★・・・★⊱••✩••⊰•★・・・・★

[misc-obeyme]

I like the idea that pact marks aren't visible unless summoning a demon or just wanting it to show (but I also like the idea of Solomon being covered in pact marks). So going on that idea, the brothers don't find out about Ollie's pacts until Mammon brags about being his first, goes kinda like this:

Ollie:no you aren't?

Mammon: whaddya mean?

Ollie: my first pact was actually with Hades.

Mammon, not believing them but playing along:W-what!? I-i was your second tho!

Ollie: nuh uh

Mammon: whaddya mean nuh uh!?

He then proceeded to show both of his pacts which stirred up quite the fuss.

Bows for barb

LOL! Poor Mams, he just wants to be first! How would he proceed if he couldn't constantly talk about how he was "your first man" and all that huh?

I also like the idea that pact marks are only visible if you're using them to summon the demon they belong to. I think this could be a feature that's unique to MC, even. They're certainly unusual in their power, so I don't think it's a stretch to say the pact marks manifest differently for them.

I also like the idea that pact marks will show up in different ways on different people and for different reasons.

Like maybe Solomon's are always visible because the demons themselves were like, we gotta keep an eye on this guy. So when they made pacts with him, they did it with the intention that the marks would always be visible, as a way of warning other demons. (That worked well lol.)

Or maybe it's Solomon himself, subconsciously deciding that he wants to have all that on display, as a show of power.

I just think there are ways to explain why Solomon and MC might have pact marks that act differently... and it's interesting to think about!

But yeah, I can imagine that an MC with pre-existing pact marks would cause a bit of a ruckus as soon as the bros found out lol.

[per-the-jellicle-magician]

Tuggerlurina Week Day 6: Anything with kittens

I wrote a little thing, once again it's all Warsaw so i'm using their Polish names. Tam is Tugger and other cats mentioned, in order of appearence, are : Skimble, Munk, Misto, Jelly, Victoria, Quaxo, Tumble and two Warsaw og kittens

@jelliclekay Hope you enjoy!

Bombalurina was looking for Tam, but to no avail. She knew he was somewhere in the studio, she even knew when exactly he came back thanks to Semaforro, but not where he was now. Finally, she decided to seek Myszołap, as the protector and also his brother, he of all cats should know where Tam was. She found him on a pile of boxes, talking with Mefistofeliks and Galaretka.

"He's spending time with his fan club" Feliks smiled at her.

"He's babysitting" Myszołap explained and pointed her to a particularly sunny corner of the yard. Surprise must have shown on her face because he continued with a shrug: "He didn't want to help us clean up after last night's storm, so he got to entertain the little ones as we cleaned". He smiled and his companions laughed a little.

Bombalurina thanked him and walked in the direction he gave her. She expected to hear the usual kitten squeals and shouts, but there was silence, only noises coming from where she came from and a distant buzz of traffic. Finally, she reached an old bench standing next to a wall and seeing Tam's long tail hanging from it, she jumped on it. She wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted her.

"Don't you dare say anything" Tam mumbled as he laid on the bench under a colourful pile of the clan's kittens, all of them soundly asleep. Bomba could see little Wiktoria curled up on his shoulders, Dyzio and other gray and yellow kittens clinging to his side. Klaps impressed her the most as he laid spread out over Tam's back, his tail falling on the triplets who wedged themselves between Tam and the bench's back.

"I wasn't about to" she smiled, laying down herself and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "It's a wonder they find your back comfortable. How did you even get them to lay down?"

"Using my good looks and charm" Tam smiled and returned her kiss, just before getting hit by Klaps' flailing paw. He briefly glared backed at the kitten, now even more spread out on his back. "Why, do you want to join us?" he smiled at her again.

"Maybe I do" she smiled back, nuzzled his cheek and pressed herself to him as much as the mass of kittens allowed her to. It was nice, laying together in the sun, heat and kittens' slow breaths slowly lulling her to sleep.

Until she felt something warm and heavy settle on her back and side. She opened her eyes to see Mamrotka and Sierściuch, now using her as a pillow. How they got there from the rest of the pile without making a big ruckus she couldn't fathom. She could feel Tam grin without looking at him.

"Don't you dare say anything" she whispered, which made his grin even wider.

"Welcome to the club sweetheart" he kissed her cheek. She rolled her eyes as she settled back for a nap. It was a good nap, at least before they got woken up by a swarm of now rested kittens running off to cause mischief or whatever else they did.

"Does it always end like this?" Bomba grumbled, still half asleep.

"Yeah, unless it's only Wikuś, she just lights herself away" Tam mumbled in response, before reaching for her and pulling her closer. She had no idea what he meant, but it didn't matter now. Hopefully no one would interrupt their nap now.

[morphyvt]

Etie's Workout

Ao3 | Wattpad (Fire Emblem Engage) Etie x Reader [Self-Insert/OC]

Words :2522

Tags: Fire Emblem, Fire Emblem Engage, Etie, Kisses, Neck kisses, OC, Self-Insert, Romance, Kissing, Friends to Lovers, Ao3, Ao3 Fanfiction

After Sombron's defeat, Elyos rejoiced in its newfound peace. Lythos, Firene, Brodia, Solm, and even the returning land of Gradlon all united under a non-aggression pact. With the end of the war, the age of hope and rebuilding the world back to normal had begun. The entire continent became busy with efforts of fixing the fragments left by the conflict. Many of the Divine Dragon's companions soon had to part ways. The monarchs returned to rule their sovereign lands, ensuring that relations with each nation would heal and remain firm. Of course their retainers and knights would return their sides. Others would return to their families, some would travel the world, and the rest went back to enjoying a normal life. The once populated Somniel returned to being a tranquil place for the Divine Dragon. The ruckus of Timerra, Merrin, & Panette's singing  was replaced with silence. As was Pandreo's constant howling as returned he to his church. Even the silent gaze of Louis was sorely missed at the Somniel. The Divine Dragon and their stewards' duties mostly had them situated at the newly rebuilt palace of Lythos, so there was little need to return to the Somniel, yet it was still open & welcome to those who had stayed there during the Divine Dragon's journey to expelling the evil Sombron.

It was at this day that I found myself returning to the place where I once enjoyed tea with the likes of Celine & her vassal Chloe. The place where Seadall & Kagetsu read my fortunes. I was overcome with a feeling of yearning for days gone by, then immediately feeling guilty that I would selfishly wish to return to a time where there was war, constant battles, and when the Somniel was full of people.

And yet it seems desire actually became reality. From the plaza I could hear a faint noise coming from somewhere distant. It couldn't have been one of the animals at the stables as they were all either adopted or joined the Divine Dragon at Lythos. Even the creature that follows the Divine Dragon around doesn't show themself unless the Divine Dragon is around. To sate my curiosity, I decide to investigate the sound. As I got closer, I noticed that I was heading in the direction of  the training yard, and that I could hear it more clearly. It was familiar and no animal. It was a person grunting, none other than Etie, a knight of Prince Alfred of Firene. But more important than that, she's a comrade, someone I could trust with my life. 

I do admit, seeing her doing sit-ups like she used to do when we were constantly traveling made my heart beat out of rhythm.  She was facing away from me, so she didn't see me yet, also it would have been awkward as she was also wearing her usual clothes and not the workout garments. I wondered why she was wearing that iconic frilly yellow-ish midriff blouse, though I must admit that I didn't mind seeing her in action. Her sweaty abs glistening against the sunlight-- Oh, I really must have gotten carried away with staring because I lost track of what I was supposed to do. Etie did eventually see me, throwing her reps. Getting up quickly, she lets out a winded "It's you!" 

It felt really good to see her, and next thing I knew she rushed at me and gave a tight hug. For someone almost a foot shorter than me, I could feel her practically lifting me off the ground before she lets go. I did like the embrace though, she hugged me like how I would want to hug someone I care about, if that makes any sense. Maybe it was the sunrays causing me to hover my hand and arm slightly above my eyes, but I could have sworn at that moment when she let go, Etie was blushing.  "It's good to see you! Wait-- What are you doing here?"  She asks, to which I swiftly respond with "I could ask you the same thing!"  

I could see it in here eyes that she felt the same thing I felt. Etie was one of my closest friends during our journey with the Divine One. After the emblems disappeared, it felt just as lonely knowing the fact that Etie had to return to Firene to serve her Prince. I'm sure Alfred & Boucheron would have been great company for her but I wanted to be there for her too. I wasn't native to Firene, neither am I a knight there. Perhaps that's why I decided to return to the Somniel. I was fueled with purpose to fight alongside the Divine Dragon. Now that peace had returned, I felt like I had served my goal. I didn't just come back to reminisce on old times, but to return to a place where I was driven to achieve something. Maybe I'd be inspired to pursue a new goal again!  That would probably be too long to say to someone I hadn't been in contact with for a while, so I just followed up with  "I don't know, I just missed this old place." 

"Huh, I didn't take you for the sentimental type. Me, I missed working out here! Firene's been really noisy lately with all the parties & celebrating us beating Sombron. So I wanted to go somewhere quiet to train." Etie explains to me, albeit panting as she speaks. "Woops! looks like I certainly interrupted that. Sorry to ruin your quiet training day."  I was pretty sure I wasn't really bothering Etie, but honestly I just wanted to tease her. "What no! I don't mind you here." she retorts. "The Divine One used to stare at us training. Remember?" bending her arms and anchoring her hands on her hips in a defensive stance. Etie didn't sound as fatigued as she was earlier. Knowing how intense her workouts usually are, it was quite impressive.

Thinking back, I definitely remember that time. Me, Boucheron, Etie, Prince Alfred, and even little Jean were doing squats at the very training yard we were standing on right now. The Divine One would always stop by to either watch or join in exercises, mostly they'd just stare at us. "That Divine Dragon, always running around and watching out for us. I don't know if they did that cause they cared or if he just thought we'd be too chaotic." I said to Etie. "Wha-- Us!? Chaotic? Why I'd never?" Her voice wavered in denial.

"I'm pretty sure you almost started a fight with Goldmary over a potato." A memory that vividly clouded my mind as soon as she said she'd never. "THAT WAS MINE! THAT POTATO THIEF JUST TOOK IT WITHOUT ASKING AND ATE IT! SHE---" she blew her bangs to the side of her face, clearly showing her furrowed brows. Yet despite the face she was making, I found her adorable. I always had thought she was cute despite her... Intenseness. 

I was still curious why she was working out with her regular clothing, though I did notice the ribbon on her head was crooked. The sight of it lured me to reach out and adjust it properly. I didn't realize I was oblivious to the fact that Etie stopped dead on her tracks mid-sentence. She was willing herself not to look at my face as I had gotten really close to her face. Her cheeks burned red, as did mine when I finally wised up to what I had inadvertently done.  We had closed the distance to each other as if fate or an unseen force was pushing us towards each other. Etie, with her head sunken and eyesight glued to the floor couldn't even mutter a single word. Where was the loud and brash athlete from earlier? Her forehead makes contact with my chest, not completely buried but a light touch as if she was beckoning me to come and embrace her. Funny, if only she knew what I knew. No, what I always had known especially during those moments where corrupted would try assault her and I'd come in and shield her from the blows, or when she'd snipe out enemies who'd almost snuff me out from behind - that I had always had a warm yet soft spot for her. There is no one on earth I would trust in my life. And at that moment, there was no one who I wanted to be alone in that serene Somniel with except her. I didn't even mind that she & her outfit was completely drenched in sweat from her workout, which reminded me... "Why were you working out in your battle clothing by the way?" "So I can be used to fighting with this on-- no, actually... I come here every now and then, hoping to see you again. I-- I missed you." Her face was now fully buried on my torso. Despite how muffled she sounded, I could clearly hear what Etie said. It reminded me of the last time we saw each other, when the Divine Dragon ascended the throne. We arrived that day to celebrate, but left going our separate ways. I recalled how I was tasked with bringing Anna back to her family at Elusia, which believe me was one crazy experience that maybe I'll someday tell, and Etie was tasked with bringing Jean back to his family at Firene. Me and Etie, going to opposite sides of the map. I remember wanting to look back but choosing not to glance over my shoulders. I regret not doing it because maybe she was waiting for me to look at her. However the map of Elyos is a ring, a circle, and ultimately me and Etie found ourselves where we both started - at the Somniel, back at the yard where we'd overwork ourselves until our bodies gave in, hopelessly trying to bulk up. When she said she uttered that she missed me, it felt like our last meeting. Except this time I was ready to face her. "I missed you too" I rested my right  hand on her bright auburn hair, though it probably messed up her ribbon again.

"This seems like a good time for a jog! I'll just..." in that moment, when she said that and turned her back, ready to run - I instinctively grabbed her arm with a tight grip, but not enough to to inflict pain on someone I cared about. In those few seconds, I was overthinking. What if this was too much for Etie and she drifts away from me? Would she pull further and further from me no matter what I said? It felt like my mind was thinking a billion scenarios in that short instant, and I didn't know what would be the right thing to say.

 I tugged her arm lightly and tried to say something, anything. Before I could even form a word, Etie wrenched my gambeson with her other hand like she wanted to rip it off of me. I could not even react as my mind blanked when her lips pressed against mine. Whatever strength I had to yank her to my direction softened. She had brought herself closer to kiss me, and I was paralyzed. Deep down inside, contentment was spreading within and all I could do to express it was to kiss her back the way that she would hopefully love to be kissed. Her hand, still clenching my gambeson, pushes me against the stone wall of the training yard. You know, I imagined I would be the one pinning her against the wall, but I didn't mind this one bit. Feeling Etie's full weight pressed against me while being kissed and backed into a corner, I moaned with our mouths still stuck together. She definitely noticed that because she started kissing more aggressively. Two can play at that game. I grabbed Etie and turned sideways, pinning her against the wall this time. This time I was the one who was stealing a shameless moan from the other.  We were both turned on being chest to chest to one another. My hands & fingers dance along from her shoulders then to her waist. I could feel her hard abs even from the sides. She was the real deal, a body chiseled like a warrior goddess. Then I felt Etie bite my lower lip, catching me off guard. I tilt my head away to see that smug grin on her face. All I could think of was a way to get back at her for that.

When my tongue & mouth touched her neck, she exhales, breath misting away. I stay buried there until I went back to pressing my lips to her. Her shakey arms hook around my neck as she misses kissing me too. We pull away for a moment to meet each other eye to eye, the way we looked at each other changed. There was more of an unexpected warmth. We were magnetized to the sight of one another.  

"Come home to Firene with me." Etie's eyes still glued to mine, I could have sworn they were sparkling at me. When she requested that, my mind quickly returned to reality. Etie was a royal knight of Firene, and the daughter of a marquis. I am nobody,  I'm not even from Firene. I don't think Alfred or Princess Celine would bat an eye. Queen Eve and all those other nobles might though. I don't want to make life harder for Etie. Perhaps our romance would just be this one special moment at the Somniel, but before I could even voice a concern--

"Don't you dare think of having second thoughts now. We kissed. I... I want you with me. I don't care what anyone else thinks, if anyone has a problem with you at home, then they'll have to deal with me!" She reminded me of just what I admired so much about her. It wasn't just the attraction or the bond we've built, but Etie is someone who truly inspires me to be strong inside & out. And with that, my mind was set. I found what I came to the Somniel for. Wherever Etie goes, I go.  

"You are the one I feel closest too. Of course I'll go with you!" My arm, wrapped around her waist and back. I fell closer to her to give her another kiss. Her lips did not move, here eyes remained open. "Did I say something wrong?"  "No, not at all" Now she falls closer to me to give me another embrace.  I wanted that hug to never end. With a single finger, I tilt her head up from the chin. Looking at her eye to eye, I could tell she reciprocated what I felt when I gazed upon her. It was like those moments when war raged on, the chaos of battlefields, and when I was at my most lost - I'd look for her. Knowing Etie was still alive during a battle always calmed my nerves. Now that we saw each other for how we truly feel, I felt content.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

[worldsfinest2000]

I think, to a degree, this type of behavior has always been a part of the Court. Just on a smaller level so as not to bring attention. But with the 2nd coming of the Information Age, more truths are being exposed. That being said, The Federalist Judges(the three Trump appointees and Uncle Ruckus) have made their agenda clear. Only believing in the literal interpretation of the Constitution means we(Blacks) have no rights. It means women have no rights. Gays and homosexuals have no rights. In fact, Federalists believe Amendments are "UnConstitutional." The Koch Brothers were and are a big part of the Federalist movement. They saw Agent Orange as a pawn in their cause. They have presented case after case to SCOTUS trying to overturn so-called "PRECEDENCE." It began as just a simmer. During Bush, it came to a slow boil. But with the 3+1(Justices), it's at a rolling boil. And unless we pack the Courts, not only will Agent Orange destroy the Democracy, but so will they. Suppose you want to understand their intended goal truly. We have to go all the way back to the Articles of Confederation. The 13 colonies were anti-king or President. They wanted each State to have an equal say in running the country. It is where they get the term "States' Rights." The problem was they could never agree on anything. Even ratification of The Articles of Confederation took three and a half years. Only having Congressmen with equal say led to gridlock. They realized this new type of government was ineffective. This led to the Constitutional Convention in Philly and, eventually, the Constitution. Here, they agree to add Senators and a President to the Government. They also decided on a tax structure. They were having trouble getting tax revenue under the Articles of Confederation. Remember, all 13 States had to agree. So, because we refuse to observe history in this country, the plan, although evident to many of us, can take shape, and we can all pretend no one saw it coming. MERICA...

[mauannacreates]

Flufftober March.

So, I have finally completed my story for @flufftober and it's a bit of a lengthy one, being over 3000 words. The pair I did for this one is Braedon and Jules. I wanted to do a story with Braedon, since I haven't done him yet for flufftober. I didn't know who to do him with in regards to the theme at first, and then I thought of Jules. So I am going to roll with it.

The art I did is of Braedon (left) and Jules (right) sitting together on a hill. The writing is a bit experimental from what I usually do, as it's in first person and past tense from Braedon's perspective (some of the things I'm not exactly used to) and I tried to be descriptive with the writing.

There's also a bit of swearing, for those who are not into those sort of vocabulary.

So enjoy the story and the art.

--

Today is March. And, well instead of always being in the damned hell of a volcano as I usually do during the day… I decided to go out. I didn’t know what to expect, especially since it has been ages since I’ve last been outside at this time of day, but what the hell. Why not? 

I walked outside, the fresh breeze flowing throughout the grass, and dismantling the tuft of my hair I didn’t spend much time perfecting. I looked around the city of bricks around me. There were bustles of people chatting throughout, minding their own business. Some of those people have flames circulating around... Those people would probably like to show their powers to me, if they caught sight of me. But if they did, then they'd also behave like I'm some idol who's above everyone and think my life's different. But even then, it's not advised to make a huge deal in front of them.

I creeped through the alleyways as much as I could, seeing other taller rabbits buying something from the shop nearby. Well, at least I'll be outside of this place soon enough. Then, I could go to the spot we used to go together. I stood towards the edge of the houses that covered me turning let and right. There was only a few people there, but they were distracted on their phones. I ran through the stone streets before hiding behind the big tree stump. I peeked behind me, and no one seemed to have noticed. Well, technology had it's uses.

I released a much needed breath as I slid to the bottom of the stump. At least I didn't have strangers who tried to pry on my business. At least they won't expose me... Unless they're hiding in the distance and taking a photo as we speak. They better not, then I'd have to try to act nice in front of other people. Val does better with those countless questions they give to us.

I sighed. Why am I thinking about this again? Suddenly, I could feel a slight shift pulling me. Not exactly flowy, but… Something that wanted to pull me closer from behind. I breathed in, it feels familiar I turned around and my eyes widens.

… I had a feeling but…

“Jules…?” I said, almost breathless. Their dark eyes glimmered at the recognition with their huge ears twitching a notch. They flashed a smile as they walked towards me. Their gait sleek and precise with their old brown coat they wore flowing behind them before they leaned towards me. 

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” Bullshit. The corner of Jules's mouth raises, as if they were going to laugh.

“Sure.” I said, “Are you sure you didn’t track me down? That’s your specialty.” This time, they didn’t bother hiding the amusement in it.

“Yes Brae Brae, I’m sure.” This time they laughed louder. I looked behind the stump and people didn’t seem bothered by the ruckus they’re causing. I stood and quickly covered their mouth. They muffled between my hairy arms for a few seconds, before they tried to grab my arm and move it aside. But I didn't move, waiting for a few more seconds until the people of the streets were gone. I glanced down at them and released their mouth. Jules stares hard at me panting.

"Thanks for the... Warning..." They said quiet and in between breaths. But I frowned.

“I am trying to avoid people here, not to drag more attention.” I said before they could speak again. “Can we do this somewhere else?” And not use the nickname that they somehow nabbed from my brother I added. They stare at him, rustling their hand behind their long green hair they had down today. How unusual.

“Yeah, we can do it somewhere else,” They said, as they walked in front of me. Then they turned their muzzle and their eyes glances sideward towards mine. “But I’m still using the nickname. It sets you off every time.” They gave a cocky smirk before they turned back. My jaw tightens, that damned fox and their smartass attitude. Before I could think this through further, I ran towards them. Nearly catching up I brought my arms out. But before I wrapped my arms around them, their ears fell and they bursted ahead of me. 

I stared at them hard and they looked back and they smiled “What’s wrong Braedon? You can’t catch up?” I stared as if they had some intention on joking around, but then their mouth went lopsided “Y’know. That’s why I use it. Braedon doesn’t have the same appeal. At least you’d hurry up more if I used Brae Brae.”

“That’s very nice to know.” I said, walking slow as Jules’s eyes stares at me. 

“I’m serious. I thought you didn’t want anyone to spot you. But to tell you the truth…” They walked closer to me. I was going to walk back, but instead, I stayed. They went and touched my shoulders, and leaned closer to me, “I don’t want anyone to spot me either.” They whispered as they moved away from me and glanced at me “So… it’d be nice to just… Spend the day away from everyone…” 

It went quiet. My fists tightens, and I grasped onto Jules arms and moved it away. They gasped as I twisted away and started walking further away from them. 

“Oh my god. Not from you!” I turned around and Jules's cheeks flushed a bright red. My eyes narrows at them as my mouth curves.

 “Not from me what?” Satisfaction rose in my voice and they stared at me, like when they’ve lost the games we’ve played countless times before. But they didn’t say anything, they only gave a challenging glance at me. I repeated what I said and held onto the sides of their arms and they sighed harsh before their ears drooped down. 

“I wanted to hang out with you…” Jules muttered, and glanced away from me. As much as I’d like to gloat as I usually did, I nodded instead. 

“Ok.” I searched through to the striped blue and white shirt they were wearing with their usual black and white necklace with stars on the opposite sides. And they had black pants with slip-on shoes, but it looked new. I looked back at them, and they were looking at me. my heart flared up the longer I glanced at them, I faced away from them while my hands dropped to the sides while it quivered. Now what the hell am I supposed to do…? I glanced at their hands. They wouldn't mind if we held hands? Jules did hold my hand when we first met. But how where they even brave enough to do that?

“Do you want to….” I gulped the tension in my throat and looked back at them. “Do you want to hold hands…?” Their eyes widens for a split second before looking at me. Their stare bore into me, biting their lower lip. Under the arms of my sleeves started to feel damp. This jumper does not help me. I grabbed the bottom of my black woolen jumper and flinged it off me. I went and tied the arms around my waist. And when I looked up again, Jules’s eyes widened with their lips parting slightly. Their face blossomed red throughout their face to the tips of their ears. 

“I…” Jules flings their face away from me. They rubbed the sides of their arms and remained silent. I waited a few seconds.

“You know, you--” I started, but they interrupted with a sigh before piercing their gaze back at me.

“I’m getting there.” I knew Jules had their days years ago when they would do what they wanted without a thought. But, seeing their dark eyes glimmer while their eyes glanced towards mine was… Uncomfortable. They gave a slow nod, “Yeah I… Sure.” The word ‘sure’ sounded strained. But before I said anything, their small hand knocked onto mine. The breaths felt harder to get out as I glanced at Jules, but they only looked back at me. I brought my hand towards their palm and interlaced my fingers on theirs. They stared back, their eyes flickered downwards. And they wrapped their fingers around my hand. My blood rushes throughout me, like any second, it will explode. But, I can’t let them see that. 

“I know somewhere private we can go to.” I said deliberately. And their eyes widened. “Not that private.” Trying to clear whatever they were thinking about. ”But… At least no one would see us for the next few hours.” Before I could ask them for their input, the corners of their mouth twitched.

“Kay. Lead the way, Princy.” I would argue about how I hated being called that, but at that moment, my mind went blank. 

I led them through the long grass and towards the hill I used to visit a lot with my mum. They stared around as whiffs of floral and sweet scents raised as we went past. Bees rested on the roses as butterflies flutter throughout the meadow. Some of them looked as if they were dancing with each other. I stared at Jules and within a few moments, they looked back. For a split second, the closeness I felt between us was like we're being devoured. Merging closer than I have ever seen. But just as quick as it came, it left. My gaze snapped away from them. What the fuck was that…!? My face heated like being in a volcano - no, maybe even hotter than that! I knew I felt something for them, but… this. I’ve never felt this way from anyone else before them. Not even from Lucie! 

“Braedon!” I snapped my attention towards Jules. They smiled as they were chuckling, but their small brows curved. “Geez, I know you like butterflies, but you don’t need to ignore me.” Before I could say anything else, their smile dropped “I called you at least five times… Maybe more. You ok?” 

I stare at them. We were still holding hands, but is it worth trying to disrupt what's going on right now…? I muttered a no. But Jules’s eyes narrows bemused and their grip tightened.

“Are you trying to lie to me…!?” I snapped my attention back at them, and their brow tensed mumbling “I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment. You hardly want to lie to anyone.” They gave a hollow laugh. “And, now here you are, doing what I thought you’d never do to me.”  

I groaned, I never want to admit whatever the hell I had felt minutes ago. But here we are… I tried to lie to them, I easily got caught in the act. How does that work? 

“Ok… Then, do you want to hear something absurd?”

“Absurd?” Jules stared at me, almost as if they’re trying to read me. But the corner of their mouth drops slightly. “What is it?” 

I stared at them, as my heart started to beat, like it was going to give in on me any minute. I breathed in deep, but it wasn’t helping. God, if I dared admit that to them, they’d think I’m crazy. Or, maybe that they had already felt it, and were waiting for me to say something about it.  

“No, forget it. You’re going to think it’s crazy.” I shaked their hand off me, and started to march up the hill. I couldn’t hear them follow me for a minute. I should tell them. But, why do I want to keep this all to myself? Jules is right, saying things that I’ve seen has never stopped me before. So… 

A sudden bump crashed me forward, I jerked my head to the side and Jules grasped my arm with both of their hands from behind.

“Try me.” Jules’s brows narrows. “What do you mean by ‘it’s crazy’? You don’t know what I’ll think.” Their voice held a hint of sharpness, with their mouth stretched out.  

I looked down… No escape from it. Not that I needed to leave, but if they’re going to try to force me… Then they’re going to get it. I craned my head towards them, and they looked back. I swung my arms, shaking Jules’s hands off me, and they yelped. But I couldn’t care less. I swayed my arms on their shoulders, and leaned towards them. The smell of roses emanates from them. 

“You didn’t sense it too?”

“Sense… What?” Jules asked slow. Were they judging me? It was difficult to tell. They only held a dumbfounded expression. 

“You know how we can sense each other?”

“Well, yeah.” I was going to speak again when I saw a smile creep onto their lips. I asked what was funny. Jules’s smile grew. “I could sense shaking from you. Erratic shaking.” They said, emphasizing Erratic. Jules paused, before their brows curved. “I don’t normally sense that from you.”

My face started to flare up. I forgot that they can sense me like that. Did they know I was lying because of them being able to… 

“You don’t…” I was going to say outright, but it turned into a question. 

“No.” They had a glint in their eyes and gave me a chilling smirk. “Brae Brae, you can’t hide everything from me, even if you wanted to.” My jaw grinds, piercing my gaze at them.

“Shut up.” I pushed them back and I felt their gaze watching me as I turned away and walked a bit further up, the slope then sat where there was some dirt path on the curve. So much for bringing them on this trip. They say that I couldn’t escape their grasp. I was away from them for two years, and ever since we meet more regularly, now we’re suddenly inseparable!? But of course my glare didn’t stop them. They trailed slowly towards the grassy hill and sat next to me. They glanced sideward towards me a few times, before moving their muzzle down. 

“Sorry. I forgot that it… Sets you off.” Jules says slowly. I couldn’t hear any insincerity in their voice. I released a long needed breath.

“Yeah, the same thing sets you off too.” I gave a smile, and they pouted at me. I snorted back at their reaction before sighing. “But, it’s ok.” They smiled, but it was short lasting, as they said I never answered their question. And when I thought I got away with it. I looked away from them, spreading my legs out and placing my arms on top of my legs. The sky became a sea of blue, pink and orange, I looked down at the hill. 

“I just felt something… strange about whatever I sensed, that’s all.”

“‘That’s all’!? Oh my god, Braedon!” Jules laughs. “You’re saying that like it’s not important!”

“But it’s not… Is it?” It couldn’t be that important, but Jules gave a small smile.

“What did ya sense? Amuse me.” Did they move nearer…? I paused, staring at them. Their ears laid low and their smile widened, almost as if they’re relaxed.  

“Closeness. Like, the kind that when you are near someone… You can feel them being with you.” Was that the right way to explain it? I tried again, “It’s like… When you mix eggs and oil. They don’t usually mix well together, but when you do it right… It merges well enough to make mayonnaise.” I looked back at them, and they blinked for a few seconds, as if they didn’t get it. Don’t tell me I’m going to have to say it out right (And they usually didn't mind the metaphors). Then, they let out a sudden sniff as their eyes widened, a bit of redness spread on their face. So they did get it. 

“What…? I…” They looked away towards the side of my shoulder. Busted. 

“You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?” I sounded deeper than I’d like, but I didn’t want to flinch at the surprise, especially when they turned towards me. I inched my face closer to theirs. Jules’s eyes flicker down before they looked at me again and gulped. 

 “Yeah…” Jules almost stuttered, their head moved back a bit. But before that, I swear they looked as if they were leaning towards me. My arms trembled at the thought. I shifted my muzzle away from them and looked at the sky around us getting darker. 

“We’re nearly there.” I said to them, their eyes widened.

“Really…!?” Jules asked with a tone of surprise. I peeked at them and they had their arm covering their mouth, yawning. “We’ve been gone for that long…?” 

“Yeah.” I said. I couldn’t help but let a smile creep my lips. “What, are you tired?” They put their hands down and stood up before they started walking up the hill. I jumped up staring at them before I ran up “You know I’m supposed to be leading you, right?”

“I know. But I wanted to get to the top of the hill first, since you always win.”

“But, I am not racing you!”

“Well, what’s with the running then…!?” And they turned away from me before they rushed further away from me. I lifted my legs, my heart beating fast as I rushed swinged my arms. Then Jules’s body swayed down. 

I rushed up the hill and grabbed their shoulders and bring them towards me. I panted, my heart squeezing itself for much needed air. I glance at them… At least they didn’t crush their face to the floor. A few minutes came past before I bothered to look around me. Where I had climbed up was steep, but where they fell and all around us was flat.

“Congratulations for winning, dumbass.” I mumbled, but they didn’t reply. I looked at their face and they were looking down, and between their fringe, their eyes were closed. Their chest moves in and out… Jules is asleep. Great. They would’ve been elated to know they won, but what can you do?   

I bent down and lifted their legs up and carried their body towards my chest. I walked towards the giant tree, towering over us. Brown bark with plenty of orange leaves falling down and some were green. I laid them down to the bark of the tree sitting up. Watching them for a few seconds… They must’ve not had much sleep again. 

I turned towards the stump and glanced at the dark hole of the creased tree. I placed my hand in there. Fumbling through rough and bumpy surfaces until there is an out of place surface. Smoother than the rest. I opened my hand and grabbed it. I pulled the item out, and a red notebook was between the grasp of my hand. It’s one of the notebooks she used to have stacked around the house. I opened the book and there was her messy handwriting with diagrams of dark squiggles and me… 

There was tension in my eyes. I sniffed as I rubbed my eyes. I flipped the book shut and breathed out unsteady. It’s been ages since I’ve last seen her. A year nearly. It’s already been that long… I looked towards the floor, and took a glimpse at the lighter hand that sits nearby. Even though they are sleeping, would they mind? I placed my hand on top of theirs and interlaced my fingers. I leaned my head on their shoulders, watching the dark sky rise as the stars glimmers.

…Maybe it wasn’t that bad that you came.     

[im-not-here48]

You’d moved into the house a week ago, starting over in a brand new city with brand new people and no ties anywhere.

It was perfect.

If only you weren’t going crazy and having delusions. Delusions being the fae village living in the passion fruit vines out back you’d seen yesterday and promptly fainted.

When you woke up in bed the next morning you decided you could just buy some passion fruits, it didn’t matter that much.

When you went grocery shopping you grabbed your usual for the first month of moving. Salad mix, veggie burgers, bread, eggs and milk. Only the basics.

If you felt fancy you’d grab an apple or three. But today you were weirdly draw to the gardening isle, and the stores collection of flower seeds. This was a weird grocery store.

You flipped through the packs and decided you could waste a bit of your budget, as a treat. You ended up with hibiscus seeds, and you decided they would fit nicely into the empty garden bed in the yard.

Hours later found you walking out, opting to ignore the passion fruit as you work through the (oddly enough) already soft soil with gentle hands.

You worked calmly, the simple task bringing you peace as you hummed along to a song stuck in your head- although you swore you could hear it aloud.

————

We watched as the new resident hummed along to a tune, some of us joining in softly and watching as they relaxed as they went on.

Their kind hands seemed to be planting us new life, new homes, and the odd encounter from yesterday seemed unimportant anymore with this kind action.

Some of us flew back to our village, others stayed and dancing through the air to the beings soft singing, it was an enjoyable day.

The previous residents of our home had never been as kind, always cutting down out homes, relaxing them just as quick before repeating.

Some even dared to put a mist of poison over our homes, deteriorating our health and killing our dearest pets. The memories of danger had caused obvious distrust to this being before we noticed their matching distrust of us.

It was concerning to say the least when the being dropped like a wilted flower at the sight of us, we’d lined up to make a front from attacks but it seems they just wanted to admire.

They helped them up to their room, a slow process but a worthwhile one seeing as the being didn’t come to bother them for a long while.

Now we’re here, new homes being made rather than destroyed and a day of dancing and joy with the new resident rather than a day of destruction. It was fun.

————

As you finished planting the last of the seeds there was a shout from over the fence, your next door neighbours were calling for you.

You stood up, wiping some of the remaining dirt off your hands and walking over to the relatively short fence- well, you could see over it so it was short enough.

“Hey there!” Was the greeting you gave, a kind smile as you looked at the man that’d be your neighbour for the next however long.

“Who’re you?” he replied, his tone slightly angry and mainly questioning. The song in your head gave a sudden stop and you frowned, you didn’t notice it was still going.

“Oh I just moved in, it’s been about a week now,” you explained, bringing the smile back seeing as he didn’t look to happy about your existence.

“Right, well don’t cause too much ruckus alright, you young people are always so disrespectful,” he muttered, and you gave a frown at the assumption that you were some rebellious annoyance.

As he walked off you looked around a bit, your cheerful and relaxed mood killed as you walked over to pick up your stuff. As you went you saw a blue and green blur behind you, before a scream came from the aforementioned neighbour.

You turned to the noise on instinct only to find him desperately swatting at what seemed to be neon coloured flies. Although your glasses were inside you knew well enough that they weren’t flies- unless a new species had just appeared.

You walked forward one only to be hit with a sudden urge to stop in place. It was weird, you knew it wasn’t your own thought but someone didn’t want you helping.

Looking more closely in front of you rather than at the neighbour it was obvious there were some of the neon blurs in front of you, bright red and blue in front of your eyes.

You mentally screamed. Externally you also screamed. Just a bit quieter.

“Oh Gods!” was your dignified shout, hands tucking into your chest as of afraid the small creature would attack.

You’re safe.

Oh great, voices. Voices were new.

You’re eyes flew around wildly, body still frozen on the spot but taking in whatever information you could. You pinched your arm and flinched. You attempted at swearing before realising you couldn’t speak. You were getting weirdly more calm as time went on.

Breathe.

For some reason you listened.

————

Some fairies have taken residence on your property, and have grown fond of you, as much as those with such alien morals can. And they are not happy when the bank tried to foreclose on you.

[silkendandelion]

Million Dollar Baby (completed), A One Piece fanfiction

Sir Crocodile x OC (male) Words: 40.8k Genre: Comedy, drama, smut, fluff

Summary: With some time passed, autumn reaches the coast, and Vivi's play come to relevance.

Rated Teen and Up Audiences for suggestive content and fluffy happy ending. <3 You were warned. <33

Chapter 15 - Four Months Later

Nefertari Shipping shone in the autumn sun, bustling with machinery and hard-hatted crew on every level. Between the parking lot filled with cars and buses to bring in the rest, they had all existing positions filled, including a significant number of new jobs at their newest consultant’s insistence. If they kept up this pace, his proposal for Christmas bonuses wouldn’t be a next-year plan after all.

Coming in from the yard, River exchanged his hard hat for a sigh of relief in the air-conditioned office.

“Mr. Faustina?” His receptionist, a new hire, called from behind her desk. “Um, perhaps it’s a bit late to ask but, are you expecting anyone?”

He dabbed at the sweat on his hairline with his handkerchief before answering. “I don’t think so… Wait, what day is it—”

“River!” Vivi suddenly threw open his office door. “We made ourselves at home, we didn’t know when you would be coming back.”

“Whatever you like, Miss Vivi,” he smiled back. At his desk, assessing the comfortability of his chair and the quality of the cafeteria coffee, sat a woman almost sixty, with long, graying hair combed over one shoulder and a familiar sparkle in her smirk.

“So, this is where my son works.”

“You’re early.” He rounded the desk to hug her anyway, and place a kiss on her cheek.

“We came straight from lunch. I wanted to wait until you got back to give her the tour.” Vivi grinned from the other chair. Her long, pale blue hair laid over her shoulders, held back from her face by a flattering pastel headband, one that matched her youthful, buttoned dress.

“Who drove?” He looked between them.

“She did,” Claudia chuckled into her cup. “I’m still not ready to drive around this city yet.”

“Well, I can see Vivi already showed you where the coffee maker is. What else would you like to see?”

“Actually, we—” The opening of the door interrupted her. A bright-eyed Koza poked his head in, seemingly to speak but was easily scooted aside by a shorter man, completely gray and held up by his cane. Koza hovered by the stranger’s elbow everywhere he wandered, even when he paused to browse River’s bookshelves, just before he remembered to come back to the conversation.

“I heard we were taking up space in River’s office today. I didn’t miss it, did I?” He said.

Vivi rose to offer him her seat. “Claudia, this is Koza and his father, Mr. Toto. He’s just come back from medical leave but he’s already causing an appropriate amount of ruckus.”

“There wasn’t nearly enough going on when I got here. But we’re working on it.” He winked, putting his elbow into River’s side just to watch him grin.

“If I know my River—and I do—he’s not happy unless he’s getting up something or other. I’m glad he’s found a place that encourages him to do so,” said Claudia.

After deciding his father was, in fact, seated comfortably in the plush chair, Koza met Claudia’s smirk with a cool smile. “We will treat him well, I promise.”

“Hey,” Mr. Toto clapped his hands together. “Didn’t I also hear something about dessert being served? Specifically, the rumor was ‘whatever Claudia wants she should have on her special visit’.”

“Where are you getting these rumors from?” Vivi chortled at him. “Though that can certainly be arranged.”

“Well, I suppose anything strawberry, verdad?” Claudia looked to River.

“I know just the place,” he smiled.

~*~

Even after escorting Claudia to her taxi and insisting the paper bakery box with the leftovers made it into her lap (despite her protests), River knew his day still wasn’t over, though he was used to Vivi popping in and out at all hours. While Cobra came down from his office less and less with age, Vivi had slipped easily into his role of shaking hands and talking anyone blue who had the good fortune to meet her.

“One more thing, River. If you’ve got a second.” She hurried to his side. By now, the sky was dark, and the security lights flickered on above them.

“For you, always.” He loosened his tie as they climbed the steps to the now mostly empty office.

“I never told you—well, it wasn’t really relevant until now. All those months ago, Crocodile’s rescinding of his offer came with a condition. At our suggestion, actually.”

“Condition?”

“To put him further at ease, we agreed that a representative from the New York branch could inspect us as often as they liked. We have nothing to hide, and everything to show off lately. I want you to show them around tomorrow.”

“That’s awfully short notice… but of course I will. Can I ask why me?”

The smile that didn’t quite reach the rest of her face said her next words were as much the whole truth as either of them could be led to believe. “It has to be you.”

“I can’t argue with that.” His smile, softer and awash in his patient eyes, coaxed her to speak her mind, but only after she had the courage to release her bottom lip from her teeth.

“You haven’t spoken to him since he went back to New York, have you?”

“Who?” As soon as the word left his mouth, the foolishness of trying to play dumb burned across his cheeks and the twist of his frown. “No, I haven’t.”

He managed to spare her all his rehearsed excuses, that he was busy, that Crocodile was no longer his client. That having Claudia at home left him so relieved, at the same time he had little opportunities to have lovers in the new apartment they shared, or that the number of lovers he wanted to see had dwindled to just one.

“He tried to stop it, you know?”

“Stop what?” River lifted his head from where he had been studying the scuff marks on the linoleum. This time, she left her lip alone, and instead reached for his hand where he had tried to avoid her gaze by fidgeting with his ruby cuff-links.

“My father found a counter-proposal inside his files. Crocodile must have been looking for an opportunity to bring it up without isolating the rest of his team… His mind was already changed.”

River’s eyes prickled, hot where he scrubbed away the tears beginning to pool on his lashes. With a deep breath, he steeled, and managed to give her a genuine smile, melancholy in it’s edges. “I miss him.”

“I know. Go home, River. Get some sleep, we have plenty of work to do tomorrow.”

With a quiet goodbye and the swing of the front door, he stood alone in the lobby. On his receptionist’s desk sat his new business cards and, as he opened his wallet to replace the ones he kept for clients, he instead removed a single card, yellowed and rubbed round at the edges from holding it whenever he couldn’t find the courage to dial the numbers.

Ring, ring ring.

The receiver rang in his ear long enough for him to both gather his nerve and lose it, slamming the line closed with the excuse that the time change put his sulking at well beyond business hours. Maybe trying his cellphone would be a better option—

“I had hoped you wouldn’t be here,” came a voice behind him.

The familiar rumble should have frozen him. But the sight of Crocodile standing in his doorway, the want in his eyes and the restraint in his grip around a white gift bag shocked River to his feet, nearly into his arms.

“What are you… Why?” He struggled to breathe beyond his disbelief, the tightness behind his ribs, and the tears in his throat.

“I dislike flying overnight. To be here for my appointment in the morning, of course I would arrive early.”

How eloquent, for a half-truth. “So, you’re an inspector now?”

“I’m overseeing my investment. Vivi already informed me you would be my escort for the day.”

“… She’s become awfully sneaky. I think Mr. Toto’s influencing her too much,” River said, hoping that fiddling with his business cards could hide his blooming smile.

“I had hoped you would have already left the office by now but, on the off chance you were overworking yourself exactly as much as I assumed…” Crocodile set the gift bag on the desk, pristine and with a familiar, golden label that made River’s bottom lip quiver.

“I’ve—actually had strawberries today already.”

“Spoiling yourself on a work day? Well, I suppose if you don’t want them, then—”

River snatched the bag, struck by a teary chuckle. “No no, that’s not what I meant, I just…”

Crocodile’s gentle palm on his cheek broke the dam on his tears, and he relinquished the strawberries only so his arms were free to return his embrace. Tobacco and fennel flooded his senses, crashing over him in a wave that fell from his eyes to dampen the silk of Crocodile’s suit, right below his cravat.

“I didn’t know that—that you—why didn’t you tell me?” River’s back shook with quiet sobs.

“…because I knew you would follow me.”

“I’ve missed you so much.”

“You’ve done so well.” Crocodile’s arms tightened around him as he caught the name plate beside the door, ‘R. J. Faustina’ on shiny brass. “That brings me back to my earlier statement, why are you here so late? Didn’t I teach you about enjoying your spoils?”

“I’m—,” he replied around his haphazard tearing open the box to get at the chocolate-covered comfort faster, shoving a black-and-white berry whole between his lips. “I’m doing half days a few times a week for school, and staying late to catch up on days I don’t have class. With Claudia at home now, it gives her some extra privacy so—”

“Your mother’s here?”

He nodded with a swallow. “So it’s convenient… I’m on track to graduate in the spring.”

Crocodile intercepted his want for another berry with a hand on his cheek, beckoning him to meet his eyes. “You’re the only man I know who has never given up something for his dream. Never allowed himself to settle.”

“What did you give up?”

His silence, and the warmth in his gaze, bloomed between them. To River, it hardly mattered his questioned went unanswered for another. “Will you have dinner with me?”

“Actually,” River said quietly, as the tip of his boot bumped Crocodile’s loafer. Between their faces, the smell of chocolate threatened to tempt them beyond their gentlemanly sensibilities, right here on the desk. “I’d rather have room service.”

Crocodile simpered, at least he tried to, under a series of hurried kisses. “I know just the place.”

~*~

By the time the weather had turned cold, business had been slow for weeks. Until they were closer to the holidays, it would stay that way, and Sanji just hoped he could see River one more time before he left for New York. They saw each other sparingly since he moved, and the quiet dining room only exacerbated the loneliness.

“I’ll only be gone for two weeks. Expect me after New Years, I want to celebrate being back in California with your cooking,” was what River had said, moments ago at dinner with his boyfriend. That was a phrase Sanji wasn’t used to saying, he had never known River to date for a myriad of acceptable reasons.

Through the window, he could see them waiting for a cab, smiling from a conversation he couldn’t gleam. The boyfriend, Crocodile, Sanji recalled, looked more gangster than businessman, with a frighteningly flat affect and cold, golden eyes. An icy stare that had melted when River slid into the booth across from him, hastily apologizing for his lateness with a flap of the rainwater from his coat.

Now, on the curb, they huddled under the same umbrella, and Sanji watched River lean up to accept a chaste kiss to his cheek and some whispered, cheeky secret that made him grin.

He looks so happy… I suppose that’s all it takes.

At that moment, the mosshead beat cop slid himself into a bar stool after neatly depositing his folded coat onto the seat adjacent. His large, calloused hands fidgeted with the starched cuffs on his uniform.

“Well, what do you want?” Sanji snipped, one hand on his hip, the other on the counter.

“Can I… have the special? And a beer. Whatever’s tapped. Please.”

“You’re ordering food. And you said please.”

“Yeah well, I’ve been told I need to be nicer to the locals or I’m off this beat.” His words suggested he was miffed at that fact, but the pull of his frown, sheepish and soft like a scolded child, spoke of regret.

Sanji smiled, hoping it passed for a smirk around the wick of his cigarette. “One special, coming right up.”

END.

Thank you for making it to the end, love you <3

[phoenix-d-shunko]

Whispering Inferno Part 1

First post to Tumblr please be kind

I'm not supposed to be writing but with my brain screaming here we are.

"Lord Cimmerian " still didn't like the name or the title, but it did its work—evident by the flinch the secretary couldn't hide as he snarled through the heavy iron mask. Identities were treasures, and Lord Cimmerian couldn't risk losing his with all the baggage his life was tagged with.

"Your rundown on the agency's new recruits."

He took the heavy binder in his hands, and although it seemed tedious and boring—much like everything was since he claimed the city for his own—it was always worth looking into new recruits and nipping them in their pathetic buds before they could bloom and cause more problems.

That being said, the agency's recent batches were nothing to worry about, and he flipped through pages and pages until -

"Incendra?"

"Ah yes, she's an annoying one. The foot soldiers report she has been hitting our decoys regularly—but with no tact, it seems. She's quite popular with the public as well, and her Phoenix fire is annoying as much as her desperate efforts to find our headquarters."

Strong build, the sword in her hand that didn't seem to cave to her flames, and those flames—something about them looked very... alluring. But that look in her eyes told him what he had to do. She had to be dealt with.

"Do we have her location?"

"Yes, Sir. She was last seen in today's incident involving Chimera's team. Since then, she's been creating quite the ruckus at the abandoned buildings between Main Street and Elm Avenue."

"What the hell is she doing?" He tried to zoom in on the feed being displayed on the tablet the secretary had handed him.

"It seems like she's trying to...fly...with the flames."

The secretary almost lost it when he saw his lord smile and then chuckle a short laugh. He was... Amused? Amused? Amused. His eyes bulged out at the realization, The Cimmerian amused by a rookie? Something was indeed special about this one, but he was still surprised when the lord himself started to prepare for a bout with the rookie hero.

"Put her location in my tracker and box her if she starts to get tired by her little 'flight practice' and starts to leave. Chimera might want a round two with her. And Bloodshot. Him too. Give them a squad and set up a parameter until I arrive."

"All this for her, lord?"

"Don't doubt my judgment." He snarled. The secretary instantly gulped. "And tell them to get the hell out of there as soon as I arrive. Unless those idiots want to get impaled."

---

Kaida looked at the daunting height of the abandoned building and let out a calming breath. "You just need more airborne time, Kaida Davis. Just more airborne time. You'll be okay. You'll be okay."

She assured herself that no matter what, she could soften her impact with her flames. But as she climbed the stairs, a certain uneasiness kept creeping into her bones to the point she was ready to talk herself out of the whole thing when she reached the rooftop.

She took one peek over the edge and felt her stomach drop - "nope, nope," she kept saying the word as it would make her feet move from the edge, but they didn't. She knew she had to try flying with her flames so she could take care of her biggest weakness, but this was stupid. Sure, it would be cool to fly, and sure, it would fit her actual name perfectly (even though nobody was gonna know "Incendra" was her). Ugh, that name. She broke herself out of the damned thought track, focusing more on the 80 ft drop.

Gosh, why is this building abandoned? She tried to focus her feet more when she felt herself teeter and almost had stabilized herself when she felt a jolt to the back, and there she was, falling. Snapping her out of the sudden feeling of weightlessness, her instincts took over as she conjured flames out of her boots and hands, much like all those 90s cartoons.

She considered letting her flames roar, but then decided against it as the thrust would have propelled into the opposite building and instead let her flames just slow her descent and stopped just 5 feet short, letting herself fall on her back, the impact still stinging but not like an 80 ft fall.

But what she saw made her wish she had taken the huge fall instead. The Cimmerian. He was the one who had pushed her.

"Shame the push couldn't make you fly... at least it could have killed you." He sounded offended and almost sassy, but the voice through the mask made it sound more ominous.

"Didn't think you would go as low as pushing someone from the back, Cimmerian."

Yep. The mask was what made him more fearful. Kaida made all the effort to bite back both mentally and through her voice, but the pain and fear rendered the attempt futile, and her voice had broken halfway through her poor dialogue.

"I hope you fight better. So far that retort and the name isn't doing it." The Cimmerian bit back as he sent a piercing column of iron near Kaida's neck, barely missing it. She quickly put the pain and fear to the back of her mind and got moving. Springing quickly to her feet and gliding out of the range of attack by propelling herself using her flames, she took her scabbard, swinging it from the back to her side, and drew her sword, lighting it and her mask with flames.

"Well, I think this does it."

In an instant, The Cimmerian had descended from the building commanding an iron plate much like the Silver Surfer.

"Not the time to make comic book connections, Kaida Davis. Focus," she muttered to herself.

"I still have my reservations." The Cimmerian barked as he sent a flurry of nails towards 'Incendra,' who just surrounded herself with some blue fire that rendered those nails into small molten iron puddles.

"This will be interesting." He boomed. For once, the prospect of a fight brought The Cimmerian a certain high. A high he loathed. A high that probably led him to this path in the first place.

[wispisstillverybored67]

All Star Apologies

"A body has been discovered!! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!"

______________________________________________________________

This search has been nothing but a waste of time.

So a bit of base for this. Out of all of us, 1 of us has apparently died. I refuse to say whom at the moment. And this asshole bear thing had recently announced a motive; there will be an obscene number of lire waiting towards any one of us that manages to kill, and escapes freely. Naturally, this created something of a schism between us among us in La Squandra di Esecuzione, the professional hitman team to the boss, the ones with the shitty payment from said boss, and La Unita Speciale per Boss, said boss’s personal guard. Nero has chosen to keep quiet about this fight, while Doppio explicitly said that he won’t take sides on this, with what the woman he loves on the other side as well. So us hitmen (and the little one) decided to go look for the body as someone disappeared. Because wherever he, whoever he is, did the crime shouldn't be that far, right? Who's he? Oh, no one in particular. But I am the only woman in this group, so everyone else is a man. Hehehe...

After about half a day of searching, we all just gave up. And by "we", I mean me, Melone, Illuso, Doppio, and perhaps Nero himself. Well, Nero says that he won't stop the search, and chided us for giving up, but a: his tone is just dripping with weariness, and b: he "excused himself" in the bathroom, and won't get out (I heard faint crying noises too so he's not helping his case). So our group is heading back to our rooms. Actually, I think the others should be heading soon enough, it's almost time to check in. 'Cuz if they don't in about an hour or so, they'll end up like a pincushion just like Carne. What was it called again...? Oh, I don't wanna know! At least being temporarily Stand-less has it's perks. I do NOT wanna clean up the Notorious goo mess.

"VoUlEz-VoUs CoUcHeR aVeC mOi," That's a French phrase. We got told that because we gave up quickly. Only France gives up easily. Do you think the boys know what that means? Hell no. Illuso is the LAST to know. "The hell's that supposed to mean...?!"

"Will you sleep with me," I remarked, annoyed.

"The fuck?! No!" He exclaimed, horridly.

"No, not like that. The phrase means 'will you sleep with me'," Why would I want to do you? Don't get any ideas. "Melone, don't even try,"

"Alright alright..."

Pass through the hallway, then take the door on the left. I guess the search would go on the next day. Now I told you this before, that two of us are missing from each group; the lovebird duo on our side, and the medic and his human pet on the other side. One of them may be dead, while the other is perhaps looking. I wonder where the place is being powered from.

And then.

It happened.

*fwush!* The power blew out. Uh, does my GBA need charging? Guess not.

"...Dammit," Whenever the power in the building goes out, Melone is almost always is the first to go. Do you seriously use that computer while you're walking? You do, don't you ya freak. "Okay, okay, now where's the fuse box?" Planning to turn it on again, I suppose? I guess I could tag along. The other two would follow with.

"On the other end of the hall with Izza's room," Wonder how'd Illuso find that out, poking around in the incinerator I guess? "Hey Paulla, do you have a flashlight?" someone asked sheepishly. It was Doppio. Of course it was.

Without saying anything, I turned on the little backlight in my GBA. That should suffice. Or maybe not, who knows. But with this, we took a detour to the boiler room. Who even flipped off the switch, anyhow? It can't be because someone's planning a murder... yet.

Let's see. Monopad ping the door, then file inside. Find where the box is... unless you get hit with something squirming at the legs.

This caused a bit of a ruckus among us 4, because we couldn't see what was there, and it was too dark to stray even WITH the GBA light. The fuse-box SHOULD be somewhere... right?

"Aceto, let go of me," I complained to the little guy, who currently had his arms and legs wrapped around my top half. He doesn't budge. Man, for a so-called "Ultimate Bodyguard", he sure is un-threatening now, isn't he? Look around, see what's there.

"...There it is!" Illuso was triumphant after all. It was wedged on-top of the incinerator chute itself. I would've thought it was on the other side of that and the boiler, but I guess not. And with a flick of Melone's wrist and switch, the lights turned back on. Chattering all the way in the dining room came all the way to here. Ah well, the stampede should awaken in... 30 minutes or less. So without further ado, let's turn off the GBA and go back to our rooms like intended. Until...

We saw it.

In broad daylight (not literally).

Gelato was bound up extremely tightly and gagged on the floor, but he's still alive. Blood stains all over the floor and walls, and whatever happened to him had his face absolutely stained with tears (still crying, I may add!). A piece of paper that read "PUNISHMENT" was taped to his forehead. Handwriting is unlike anything I've seen in the last 2 days. What the hell happened in here? Was he the one that kept bumping into our legs? Why didn't he try to make any noise indication that he WAS here? Ugh... it's getting really hot in here.

"The fuck?" "What the-?!" Half of us were more reactive than others.

"Why are you just sitting there, watching this?! GO HELP ME OUT HERE!!" Melone scolds me in a moment of wild uncharacteristic fear.

"I'd love to if he'd stop SQUIRMING!" I complained in the back. Melone can handle it on his own. ...Aren't I forgetting something?

"Hold on hold on," I think Illuso noticed it too. "If Gelato's over here, then what happened to Sorbet?" Motherfucker, you're right. Ugh. Those two NEVER leave each other's presence for too long, if I didn't know any better, I'd think they were just having sex in their room.

"We'll look for the other one later. Now come on! Help me get this off of him!" Yeah, that gag is done on WAY too tight. One wrong move earlier, and he'd already be dead through suffocation. "Aceto, go get Nero-chan," Stained blood has better iron generations in it, right? Oh wait, he doesn't have Metallica on hand. But I think that wouldn't matter, he's always got something sharp on hand. "You got it, Paulla!" At least he's eager. "Let me see what's up here..."

Whatever happened to him, he's rendered to a shell of fear and nerves, a far cry to his usual self. You know, I'd expect this to be slightly more from the other one, not him. I took off the taped note, revealing a moderate gnash on his forehead, most likely from hitting one of us, or the wall. I wonder who should go look for Sorbet, with us handling the other one. Does he even know that he's here? I don't think so. Why is he not looking for him? Can he look for him? Is he still alive, even?

"Okay, howzabout we go look for the other one, y'all? Does that sound good?" I don't know how to comfort people. Much less people in this position. Still, as I picked him up, at least his cries were softened a bit. Listen, just WHAT do you want me to do?

"Uh... you guys?" Hearing Doppio's sheepish voice again can't be good. From afar is even worse.

"Aceto..." We all (surprisingly) began. The other two had corrected themselves, since only I call him that. "Uh, Vinegar..."

"What happened to Nero?" Not even I could've torn off his gag.

"No, not that, just..." He looked back to where the others were, as if he was remembering that something came up. "Come over here really quickly! You guys have to see this!" He shouted, then ran back to the others.

We all gave each other a glance, feeling dread settle upon us. Maybe they found the other three... I sighed, then we all went over to where he told us to go. The gym gates open to reveal...

Sorbet's spliced up corpse.

The Ultimate Opera Singer has been killed.

Sectioned into 39 pieces, and dipped in formaldehyde for preservation, his face is permanently twisted into a gape of pure agony and despair. I would've showed this to little Gelato, but he's already unconscious, as I had checked. Or is he? Eh.

*ding ding dong dang* What the?! The loudspeaker came on... Don't tell me it's-

"A body has been discovered!! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!" *Fwush* An announcement came on from the big screen in the gym room. It was that jackass bear. How come he didn't announce it before, when the group had most likely found it? Probably just to rub it in our faces...

We all faced the artistic corpse again, all in various faces of either horror, disgust, or fear. Even those among La Unita aren't hiding their shock. Well, most of us, at any rate. I, who can't feel anything at this time, and the now found duo for the special unit, Dolcio and Secco. I'd expect that those two aren't very worried either. As a surgeon, you'd have to expect the worst in damages. And I'm assuming that human pets simply don't GAF. Of course, one COULD use it for... discerning evidence.

Illuso is the first to leave, quickly dashing towards the nearest trash can to gag in. Doppio and Pesci refuse to look at this, clearly too terrified at this to continue looking. It's strange. I can sense everyone's despair, but none of us have our Stands, and that was a plus from Smooth Criminal, so what gives? None of us say anything the whole time, I just fake being horrified to suit the others. Hardened assassins, running about like children stumbling upon 2 month old leftovers in or out of the fridge. Look at us... who'd have ever thought? At least Nero is out of the bathroom now, so we can get Gelato un-bound-and-gagged with. Oh! I see a lighter on the stage! That makes this even better! And since he's unconscious... that makes it easier for us to do so without interruptions. Just gotta make sure the smoke doesn't hit him. Once he's freed, we can squeeze an answer out of him.

We had to go to sleep soon enough, so Nero and the others grabbed up the pieces of Sorbet, and moved it to the stage. Investigate later, that sounds better. When the guys went to leave once they were finished, I went to grab the lighter over there. Make sure to tilt his head back so he doesn't inhale the smoke. Doppio is the only one to linger. I motion for him to go help me out here, so he held up the body carefully on top of the stage so I wouldn't have to bend down.

*click!* Steady now... Don't move much. Watch the flame. I'm so glad Gelato doesn't have messy hair! Halfway done. Hmm...

"Aceto,"

"Yeah, Paulla?"

"Do you know what's going on here? Does the boss, like... know that we're stuck here?" On the hitmen's end, we were just chatting in the hideout, but when I went to go get a drink, the others fell unconscious. I soon joined their fate once I got back to the other guys. We all woke up in here alongside the unit.

"I've tried calling him, no go. I wonder what happened to him?" Worried about him? Well, I guess that is rather like you...

"What I want is for this to wrap up quickly. Destroy the bear thing, or wait until someone tries to get us," ! He's waking up! Almost done, you hear? The weight radiating from him in the boiler room is coming back!

"GUYS! HE'S AWAKE!! GELATO'S ALIVE!" I tried to call out for the guys. "NERO?! TIANZO?! HELLOOOOOO!!" Tianzo? Tiziano? Whatever. He's the only one not named Aceto that I talk to in the unit. Doppio himself went to go fetch the guys for the discovery. I had to go carry him again carefully so the others could see. But what happened next is a different story.

What did he see then? You'll figure it out. What we saw then, however, were fireworks.

A screech hits the room, loud, discordant, despairing. A violent and horrified yell, at the sight of something that caught his eye in the stage. The stage where we kept his husband, or rather, the corpse of his husband.

"AREEEEEEEEAIIIIIIIIHHHHHH!!!"

Oh, this is gonna be a long, long day. And now my head hurts...

[madmaryholiday]

encountered my first irl "children are identifying as cats and want to use litter boxes at school" bullshit today.

the coworker i talk to most often and sit with at break announced to me today that he'd read a very strange news story. i invited him to share, and before he'd got halfway through the premise, i knew what he was on about.

i just went "no. i promise you. no."

and explained why people like to cite this non-existent news story in their ongoing "think of the children!" tirades.

turns out the guy who sits next to him showed him the article. my coworker was like "oh, good, [name] will be so relieved to hear it's not true!"

but of course that second coworker was all "idk man CRAZY stuff is going on these days!"

and i miiiiight've been a little too blatant with my shock that anyone would believe something so obviously designed to outrage people. but i managed to bring it around to the general "if you read something that outrages you, first ask yourself who's benefiting from your outrage" and other critical thinking tools.

to really drive it home, though, because i could tell he was still skeptical (as was another coworker nearby), i went back a bit later and did a quasi-apology "i hope it didn't sound like i thought you were dumb for taking that story at face value" thing, that i'd just genuinely thought people knew that particular story was fake.

i'm still slightly horrified that three people i know accepted this obvious reaction bait as the truth, but i'm hoping they know better now.

there was also some concerning talk about "their environment" and "the internet is everywhere these days" and other coded language about kids being, like, tricked by the adults around them, but like i do not have time to unpack that.

but like jesus christ people. kids are not stupid. they play stupid games and don't know as much about the world as adults do (sometimes), but they're fully capable of making their own decisions and separating reality from fantasy. and like. a kid asking to use a litter box at school would get them bullied so fucking hard. what kid would voluntarily do that to themself??? kids understand that there are social rules you have to abide by or risk rejection.

(i mean i also didn't have time to interrogate the assumption that kids telling people they're a cat is automatically a sign that they're a danger to themselves or others, cos like kids pretend to be animals all the time and it's fucking FINE. and if they genuinely think they're a cat? they probably don't actually think they're a cat, you just can't tell they're fucking with you. but if they DO think they're a cat, how is that your problem? let that kid go be weird and either grow out of it or learn when it's appropriate to talk about it. it's not gonna ruin their life unless you decide to ruin their life for them.)

i know that some people do actually think kids are being indoctrinated by the big scary trans agenda, but for the folks who just think kids are so easily swayed that a single tiktok can convince them they're really an animal? how goddamn insulting. you don't spend the first 18 years of your life a blank slate and then suddenly gain self-awareness when you reach adulthood.

and children having a misconception is not the same as them indelibly stamping that misconception onto their worldview forever. as they learn more information, their understand of the world can change! just like any other goddamn person!

i just. argh. there are SO MANY layers of bullshit here. i'm glad i definitely got my one coworker to understand that story is fake, but those other two....the way they were talking makes me nervous.

i'm not gonna go provoke them into a discussion on trans rights or anything. but like. we know i'm, uh. very passionate about defending children. and i worry that something will come up in the future where i will not be able to hold my tongue. and things will get extremely uncomfortable. and i will wind up in trouble for causing a ruckus.

gonna try and decompress now and not think about that any more tonight. heaven knows i don't need that stress right now.

[theallblue]

❛ i won’t bite. unless you’re into that sort of thing. ❜

subtle smut |still accepting|

Cigarette in hand, Sanji was enjoying the peace that decided to make an appearance on the deck of the ship even if their noisy captain who often caused a ruckus. A ruckus that tended to make an appearance quite often especially when Luffy was unable to sit still, he was occupied watching Franky and Usopp work on another one of their inventions. Everyone else was spread out focusing on their own hobbies since they were heading toward the next island following the path that Nami had given them. It most likely was going to take a few days to get there while they had to be careful because it was unknown when things could change on these peaceful waters. 

A storm could appear, an enemy could appear whether it be pirates or marines, or a large aquatic animal could attack their ship. It was always something while Sanji didn’t regret joining Luffy’s crew because of the places that he got to visit, places that Zeff most likely visited himself when he was a pirate. He just hoped that he would be able to complete that dream of finding the All Blue, a dream that Zeff most likely would be unable to complete since Sanji was part of the reason why he no longer was a pirate. The man had given up his leg for the sake of saving him when he was just a runaway child living on a cruise ship. 

It was because of this journey that Sanji was able to meet Ace since he was the older brother to Luffy, a meeting that eventually caused the relationship to form between the two. A relationship that he never expected to gain while traveling these dangerous waters, but it was one that he was glad to have. A relationship that the crew was willing to support. 

Eyes blinked at the sudden words that escaped from Ace’s lips who came to join him as he was watching the waves move beneath their home. Was he trying to flirt with him or suggest something more? A small smirk was quick to grace his lips though “We would have to find out, wouldn’t we?”