#why is red guy so easy to draw HE LITERALLY HAS NO CLOTHES ON HELLO????

[sug4rst1ckzz]

binged the entire DHMIS YT series, binging the show laterrrrr so here’s traffic light trio and yellow guy getting the Art College Experience™️

I’ll probably draw my own version of the teachers sooner or later (the lamp…i have a design idea for the lamp…)

• 🚦 🚦 🚦•

[myhockeyworld87]

Not So Dangerous Liaison - Sidney Crosby - Part 6

Word Count: 3,259

POV: Reader

Warnings: Language

Notes: Here’s the next part of the Sid series. Let me know what you guys think about it.

NSDL Masterlist

Once you closed the door to your hotel room, you threw yourself on the bed. What the actual hell had just happened? You'd been trapped in an elevator with Sidney Crosby, your brain screamed. The fact that you literally almost kissed him in those last few moments had your mind spinning. What the hell had you been thinking? Obviously, you weren't. Maybe you could blame it on lack of oxygen or something. That was a thing when you were stuck in a confined space, right? If it wasn't, there was always temporary insanity.

 Who were you kidding? You wanted to kiss Sidney, and damn if it didn't feel right at that moment. Well until the lights came on and the elevator started. It was like divine intervention because lord knew you shouldn't be kissing him or anyone on the team. How did you go from telling him there was nothing between you and Beau one minute, to wanting to make out with him in the next? It wasn't like you hadn't wanted to kiss Sid before, but you'd pushed those feelings aside long ago when he'd made it clear he wasn't interested in you, but today, all that changed.

 He'd been so kind and caring, the way he'd calmed you down. God, you could still feel his hands on your hips when he held you tight to him and that was what, forty-five minutes ago. This fact alone had you rethinking dinner, though you had no choice but to go. Half the team was going; you could easily avoid Sidney, or at least you tried to convince yourself of this. Twenty minutes, that's what you were giving yourself to wallow in this self-mortification, and then you were getting your ass up, putting this whole incident behind you, while you got ready for dinner.

 You closed your eyes, and let your mind drift off to what it would've been like had the elevator not turned on in that minute. You let yourself dream of what it would be like to feel his lips on yours, his slightly chapped from all his time spent on the ice, yet still soft and tender on yours. It was easy to imagine them slowly moving against yours, just exploring, as his hands curled around your neck drawing you closer as he deepened the kiss. It was almost as if you could feel the gentle pressure of his lips as they sought entrance to yours. Your eyes flew open, what the fuck were you doing? This needed to stop. Jumping off the bed, you pushed thoughts of Sid and his lips behind you and started to get ready.

 Since you had a little extra time, you curled your long locks, fingering combing them out into the perfect waves that framed your face. Picking up your makeup brush, you applied a little more eyeshadow to your lids, giving them a smoky look for the evening. A bit more blush and a deep red lip completed the looked, the only thing missing was the dress. You'd checked out the restaurant the guys had chosen earlier on Yelp and found that it was an upscale Michelin star restaurant. Thank god, you had a dress packed that would be suitable. The black lace halter dress, was a bit shorter than knee length and had a lace bodice to it. You'd packed it with a blazer you could pair it with to make it less sexy for work. Though it was totally an appropriate cocktail dress for dinner. Slipping on the pair of slingback heels you'd brought, you were ready to go. Grabbing your coat, you gave yourself one last look in the mirror, before sliding the long wool cloth over your shoulders and heading out the door.

 When you came face to face with the elevator, you did a complete one-eighty and headed towards the stairs, not sure if you were avoiding your fears about being stuck in small spaces or your feelings for Sidney. At least the hotel wasn't one of those thirty-some floor ones and it was only about five flights until you were down on the ground floor headed for the lobby. A few of the guys were milling about, waiting till everyone arrived before heading out.

 "There she is. Heard someone got stuck in the elevator for a bit." Flower chuckled as he looped an arm around your shoulders. "See you avoided it this time."

 "Ha, ha, you're so funny. Let me shove you in there for an hour and see if you get back inside afterward."

 "So, did you kill Sid in there or should we expect him for dinner?" Phil asked laughing the entire time.

 You went to answer but were cut off by Tanger. "He lives." It was met with resounding cheers, from a couple of the other guys. "See you took the stairs as well." Sid looked over at you, a knowing smile on his lips.

 "I suppose we won't be living this down any time soon." He pointedly said to you. He was wearing a plain black suit, with a white shirt sans tie, with a few buttons undone. Just that tiny bit of exposed flesh had you yearning to be shoved back in the elevator for a few more hours with him again.

 "No I don't think we will." Jake and Dumo finally joined the party and you all set out to the restaurant, which was only a few blocks away. The air was crisp and you were thankful for the protection your coat gave from the wind whipping through the streets.

 "Maybe we should've taken a car, eh?" It was Sid's voice beside you that startled you as a particularly strong gust came by.

 You chuckled before answering. "It is a little cold for April." He offered you his arm, as the sidewalk got a little icy and you took it. "Thanks." For a second you let yourself believe it was just the two of you and not over a dozen other guys going out to dinner. You weren't going to lie, it would be nice to have his sole attention again. No sooner did you have that thought, then you rounded the corner and there was the restaurant. Phil held the door open, and you filed inside, Sid trailing behind you. Ever the gentlemen, he offered to take your coat, sliding it off your shoulders and revealing the dress you'd worn.

 One of the guys gave a low whistle, and as you turned you saw Sid scowl at either Phil or Schultzy; you couldn't be sure who. "I think that dress is illegal in some states." Flower joked with you, and you just cocked your head and gave him that look. "Seriously, though you look gorgeous. Are you sure you want to hang out with us meatheads?"

 "I feel like you're up for the intellectual challenge." You gave him a wink and then followed the hostess back to a private room, they had for your party. So far, your resolve to stay away from the temptation that was Sidney Crosby wasn't working, in fact it was the exact opposite. So, when he pulled the chair out of the middle of the table for you to sit, you did with a thank you to him of course, but he then proceeded to take the seat next to you. It only stood to reason that fate wouldn't be on your side, as the man was making it harder and harder for you to forget what had passed between you two only hours ago. "Do you guys come here whenever you're in DC?" You asked the room at large, though it was Sid that answered.

 "Um, we've been here a few times before. The duck confit is really good but so is the lobster waterzooi." You looked at the menu in front of you reading the descriptions, which both sounded delicious. "But order whatever you want, order two; it's on us tonight."

 The waiter came over then and interrupted the two of you. "May I get you a drink to start your evening off?" You hadn't really had a chance to look at the wine list, so you weren't really sure what to order.

 "I'll just have a glass of your Cabernet."

 "Of course miss, was there a particular one I could get you?" You quickly scanned the wine list looking for the cab section.

 "Why don't you just bring us a bottle of the 2010 Chappellet," Sid told him, and the man nodded and moved down to get Rusty's order. You finally reached the cabernet section and saw that the bottle cost over three hundred dollars. "Hope you don't mind sharing."

 "Um no, but you didn't have to get the most expensive bottle on here."

 "We're celebrating, remember." His brow raised and you were beginning to wonder if he was flirting with you.

 Conversation flowed throughout dinner, everyone asking about the incident in the elevator; which both you and Sid neatly avoided the almost ending. A few of the guys talked about the game coming up, and you chimed in with some of the missed opportunities you'd seen happen the past couple of games. Which really seemed to impress Sid, as well as the guys. The whole evening was simply amazing. There was laughing, joking and so many stories shared, and through it all you felt like part of the team.

 There were also soft touches from Sid. A hand on your arm here, the brush of his knee there; it was all too much and yet not enough at the same time. Though there was one thing for sure, he was definitely flirting with you. As the waiter cleared your dinner plates, you were wondering if there was some small elevator you could possibly get stuck in with Sid at the restaurant. The waiter broke your thoughts however. "Did you enjoy your dinner miss?"

 "Yes it was wonderful. Please send my compliments to the chef."

 Dumo, who'd been sitting on the other side of Sid, chimed in. "If he has a minute, I'd love to tell him how delicious that wine reduction was on the filet, and maybe pick his brain on it." Dumo was a food aficionado and didn't want to miss an opportunity to learn something from a Michelin star chef.

 "I'll see if he has a moment." He disappeared and conversation around you continued on.

 You got pulled into a conversation with Phil about a fishing boat that he was looking at buying, and in the end you offered to do some research for him; before Sid pulled you back to him. "So I was wondering, if maybe we could continue…." You didn't get a chance to hear the rest, as the chef came out to greet the table, though he didn't get more than a hello out before saying.

 "(Y/N), (Y/FullN) is that you?"

 "Christian, oh my god!" He made a beeline for your seat, pulling your chair out so you could rise, only he lifted you off the ground.

 "I can't believe it's you." You giggled for it'd been about four years since you'd last seen each other. Christian set you back down on the ground but didn't let go of you. He held both of your hands in his, stepping back to take in your appearance. "God, you look amazing." He did as well. While Christian's passion had always been food, he'd also been the star running back of the football team as well as running track and playing basketball. He clearly still stayed in shape, as even his chef jacket couldn't hide his muscular physique. You went to tell him how great he looked as well, but he stopped you. "Where was this dress back when I took you to winter formal?"

 "Not in my wardrobe yet, but look at you. Is this your restaurant?"

 "It is. Speaking of which," He turned to the team. "I hope everyone enjoyed dinner." There was a resounding amount of yeses and it was delicious, but it was Flower who spoke up and said.

 "Not as much as the show right now."

 It hit you then, that all eyes were on you and Christian. "Oh god, I'm so sorry. Guys this is Christian Werner, we went to high school together. Christian, meet most of the Pittsburgh Penguins."

 "Why am I not surprised you're surrounded by a dozen athletes?" You swatted his shoulder, the gesture a familiar one.

 "I work for the team now." You said by way of explanation for being at dinner with the guys.

 "She's become an invaluable part of us," Sidney spoke, a bit of possessiveness in his voice.

 "Of that, I have no doubt." Christian turned his full attention on you then. "You know my dad is still holding out hope that you'll be his daughter-in-law someday."

 "Oh, stop."

 "Or don't." Flower chirped. "I feel like we're going to get the scoop on this one here."

 "What scoop? You guys already know me." You insisted.

 "Oh so they know about the time, that you snuck into the high school garage and decided to throw, what was undoubtedly one of the biggest beer parties in our school's history."

 You winced at the memory. "What?" you heard a chorus of guys ask.

 A sigh left your lips before you said. "It wasn't that big of a party and it wasn't all my idea."

 "Maybe not, but you were the one who had us take out all the outside lights out so we wouldn't be caught." Christian wrapped an arm around your shoulders and drew you into his side. "And if memory serves me right, it was also your idea to sneak out of the hotel to go to a club on our senior class trip."

 "That was only supposed to be a handful of us. If I remember, it was your mouth that told Alexis, because you had a crush on her and she blabbed it to everyone else."

 "Well if I would've known you only wanted it to be just the two of us back then; I never would've given Alexis a second thought." You could feel the eyes of all the guys burrowing into yours. Christian had always been a notorious flirt, that you always thought was harmless, but tonight there was something different about it. As if he was staking a claim on you in front of the team, though he had none to make.

 "Don't flatter yourself. The only reason I asked you was so you'd tell Stephen Cartwright, but you failed miserably at that." The team laughed, dissolving some of the tension in the air.

 "Ouch, you wound me, but here I am being a horrible host. I don't believe you've had dessert yet, and I do know how (Y/N) here can't resist something sweet." There was something about the way he said the last part of that statement that had both you, and from the looks of it some of the guys, thinking he wasn't exactly offering dessert but something else entirely. Maybe it was the way his hand slid down your arm to the small of your back only to brush along the top of your ass, as he spoke the words, but it made you uncomfortable all the same.

 "You really don't have to do that Christian." Part of you wanted to step out of his embrace completely, but then you didn't want to make a scene.

 "It's really no trouble. Why don't I show you the kitchen, while the staff gets things ready? You guys don't mind do you?" He asked everyone, yet didn't give them time to object. "Sam, get everyone another round of drinks on the house." He then led you to the back of the restaurant, where his staff was busy fixing dinner, as well as the aforementioned dessert.

 "Wow, Christian this is all amazing. Your parents must be really proud."

 The two of you were weaving in and out of stoves and cooler as you went deeper into the kitchen. "It's not so bad. I'm actually thinking about opening another restaurant in Pittsburgh. You know something a little closer to home. Maybe then you could come work for me."

 You lightly laughed at his comment, as he showed you into his office. "And what would you have me do? You know I'd make a lousy waitress."

 He dragged his knuckles down your bare arm, the effect causing you to shiver and you found yourself taking a step back from him. "The same thing you do for them out there." You cocked your head to the side at his comment.

 "I doubt you need someone to report injuries of your staff to family members." You went to say more but he stopped you.

 "Come on (Y/N), we both know that's not what you do."

 "I'm sorry it most certainly is, as well as other things that are needed." You went to turn but he grabbed your wrist stopping you.

 "It's those other things, that I'm talking about. You can't tell me that you dress like this," He looked you over in a way that made your skin crawl. "And go to dinner with over a dozen men and none of them expect anything in return. You were always a bit wild in school, I just never thought you'd end up doing something like this. Tell me do they take turns every night or do you prefer them in groups."

 Your hand shot up before you even knew what you were doing. How dare he insinuate that you were some whore. Christian's reflexes were quick and he caught your arm before you were able to strike the blow. "All I'm asking for is a little taste of what they have." A sly grin came across his face, that made your stomach turn. "Then maybe we can talk about something more permanent. I'm sure some of the senior staff would enjoy your little perks." His lips smashed into your then, as he jerked your body towards him. When his hands released his grip on you; you brought your knee up and connected it to his groin. "You bitch." As he doubled over in pain, you took the palm of your hand and thrust it into his nose, effectively breaking it in the process, then shoved him to the ground.

 "For the record Christian, I'm not some two-bit whore you can just buy, and those men out there respect me and my job on the team. So, you can go fuck yourself. I only wish your parents could see you right now." With that you turned on your heel, walking straight through the kitchen not making eye contact with anyone. Your emotions were so high, you felt as though you could burst into tears at any second. When you walked back into the private dining room, you could see the concern on each of the men's faces. Your breathing was labored and you were afraid if you said too much, you'd just breakdown and you couldn't do that. So you took a deep breath to calm yourself, then moved to grab your purse. "Thank you guys for the lovely evening, but I…" You faltered then, both in step and in word. "I need to go."

 "(Y/N) are you ok?" Sid looked up at you with worried eyes and though it was his words you heard, you could also vaguely hear his teammates' concern. You nodded then headed straight for the front door.

[daily-dose-of-imagines]

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Matchup ♥

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Hello there! If you don’t mind, would it be alright to request a matchup for Demon Slayer, Fullmetal Alchemist & Fire Force?

I’m an autistic, gay trans guy!

(I’m a Libra & ISFP).

I’m 4'10 with short hair that I dye often (as of right now, it’s indigo!) and I have hazel eyes, with a lot of freckles. I’m chubby, but with a very prominent hourglass figure. I gravitate towards wearing clothes that are baggy, but I have a secret love for wearing things like dresses or generally very pretty/cute clothes?

(Like.. Lolita style stuff! I have no problem wearing feminine things, and a lot of it makes me feel really confident! I often feel insecure about myself due to my autism, and I have a birth defect that gives me complications with walking, so wearing nice things and looking fancy makes me feel a lot better about myself!)

I’m timid and struggle when it comes to socialising especially with new people. I tend to not speak at first and only gesturing to avoid having to properly talk unless necessary. I struggle anxiety and extreme hyper-empathy (I feel emotions a lot more intensely than most people would). It’s not hard to get me very overwhelmed either so I do find it difficult to talk to others, but I do get along better with those who are a lot more extroverted and will open up more with people like that! Over time I tend to come more out of my shell and I’m very loving and compassionate!

I’m not the smartest, and can be pretty oblivious (i.e. with romantic advances) and need most things to be said to me at face value or I usually won’t understand, or it’ll go over my head.. And to which, I have my head in the clouds most of the time, always day-dreaming and that causes me to be uncoordinated or clumsy.. Which my short attention span doesn’t help with at all!

(It’s taken me a few hours to actually sit and write this ‘cus I keep getting distracted, haha!)

Despite my initial shyness, I have the tendency to be very loud and childish around people I like/want to impress, and won’t think much when I do this, which leads me to embarrass myself rather often. My love language comes in gifts or words of affirmation and I’m over the top lovey-dovey, but I instantly fluster if they’re returned. I’m very much so teased for how easy I am to embarrass.

I’m creative and absolutely adore most forms of fiction, taking mass amounts of inspiration from it for what I make! I’m a writer, artist and a singer in my free-time! (I love to sing for others or draw others, do anything to just show off my talent to make others happy!)

I really enjoy impressing with my ideas and their originality, and adore nothing more than when I get to talk about what I love; but sometimes I overshare or talk too much and can be unsure where to stop.

I guess overall I would do better with someone who doesn’t mind how 'eccentric’ I am? (I’m often bullied for these “strange” qualities) And someone who’s more outgoing than me? That aside, I don’t mind anything else, but I do have a type for guys who are a lot taller than me, haha!

I hope this isn’t too much, but thank you so much for reading, and if you accept this request! I really tried my hardest with this 'cus I really like this blog!

Waah, thank you again! I hope you have a nice day!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Hello @eggedeggs and thank you so much for requesting with us! I am sososososos sorry this got out so late, but I truly hope that you enjoy this!

>Admin 𝕋

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽...

 Alphonse Elric! So, the reasons as to why I matched you up with Alphonse is because i really like the idea of having someone who looks so basic with someone who looks so cool, you! I feel like Alphonse, being the accepting person that he is will have no reservations being with someone so outspoken in the way you show yourself to the world. Hopefully that makes sense, but ultimately Alphonse will ultimately be fascinated with how you look, cool hair and lolita style and all! 

You aren’t the only person who is a little timid at first, Alphonse is just as timid, but as had time to adjust to it. He could be someone that could help you with your shyness and being timid! He understands the feeling, he knows how it feels to be shy towards others, so he will know how to help you feel more confident! And when you feel overwhelmed about meeting new people, he will pull you to he side and make sure that you okay, make sure that you feel calm until you can socialize again, and if you can’t then he will take you some place that will help you feel better! He also loves that you are so compassionate and he especially loves watching you come out of your shell when you are comfortable around people! SO with that in mind, Alphonse will do everything in his power to make you feel comfortable so that he can see you being the bubbly and eccentric person you are!

Alphonse would notice your love of fiction, how you are always reading or writing; so he’ll sometimes go into town and look the various shops to see if they have a new fiction book or if they have someone writing utensils that would suit you and your creative endeavors! He is very attentive to stuff that really makes you happy, so when he sees something that make your smile the brightest, Alphonse will never hesitate to get it for you, no matter the cost!

All in all, I feel that Alphonse will be the best fit for you in the fullmetal universe because he is attentive, loves how you express, yourself, understands your shyness and how sometimes being around people really overwhelms you! He will love every bit of you from head to toe. He isn’t really the most outgoing person, but for you, he will do his best to be the man of the party!

Tanjiro! Okay, so you and Tanjiro! It’s just *Chef’s kiss*! Tanjiro is a pretty outgoing guy with a love for friends and family that compares to no other! And you not be an exception to that! He would love you cute clothes, your cool Indigo hair, and your amazing hourglass figure! 

Tanjiro would be understanding about your shyness around other people, though wouldn’t personally understand it himself. But that won’t stop him from trying to make sure that you feel comfortable around his friends and such! And oh boy, once you do get comfortable enough to show all of them your funny confident side, Tanjiro’s eyes will become literal hearts for you! He will fin d it extremely endearing when you talk about things that you love and things that give you inpiration! And just as Alphonse will do, Tanjiro will find things that will help you get more inspirations and more motivation to be creative!

Tanjiro will notice that you are a bit floaty, in the sense that you get distracted a lot, which is perfectly fine for him, he is the kind of person that has dealt with that and knows how to help you back to the grounds of reality! But sometimes, Tanjiro will let you do you thing, whatever it may be, from thinking about something else entirely or maybe just letting you stay in your daydream! He mostly does it because he the look on your face whenever you go into your little dreamland intrigues. He always wonders what you are thinking about whether it be your next project or something about the flowers in the garden! He just likes staring and watching, his heart beating rapidly because of how cute it is!

He would love if you were to tell him your ideas, run it by him so that he can be a part of the creative adventure! Tell him about a new book you want to write or maybe a piece of art that you want to paint! And if by chance, the painting would be a portrait of him, he will smile and excitedly pose for the painting! He wants to be there every step of the way even if he doesn’t really know what is going on!

All in all, I feel like you and Tanjiro would make a fantastic couple! He will help you get out of your shell a little but, but still support you when you need to be a lone to recharge! He will be there for you when you have amazing ideas for a book or a picture that you want to make! Tanjiro will be the one to make you feel confident and feel great about yourself with how much love he will shower on you! So make sure to give some of that love back to him!

Vulcan! So, I chose Vulcan purely for the aesthetic, like come on. You have this amazing lolita look going on with the cool hair and the and the nice sense if style mixed in with his tattoos and rocker look, and his hair and iron personality, it just makes so much sense to pair you up with him! His personality is outgoing, loud, and rambunctious. It’s something that can really combat your shy demeanor in a good way. The way you see him conversing with other people, they way he would make you feel comfortable around because he is with you will help you tremendously! He will make sure you will never feel overwhelmed ever again, and knowing him he will most likely try to fight that overwhelming feelings himself. On another note, I feel that out of all three of these guys, Vulcan would be the most into your body! He wou0d loves the curves and just, the way you look in clothing, he just love it so much! 

As for your floaty mind and your daydreaming, he would find it a extremely endearing and kind of irritating at times, but mostly endearing. What makes it irritating for him is when you do it for too long and you accidentally fall and hurt yourself or something along those lines. He just doesn’t want you to hurt yourself! He also doesn’t want you to forget things, but he would learn to live with it by putting little notes all around your shared space, making sure that you don’t forget at least the important things, such as doctors appointments or  bills that need to be paid! 

Vulcan will be the type to constantly want to embarrass you, so if you show him any affection and he returns then sees you get all flustered by his affections, you will be in for a long ride! He will shower you in hugs and kisses just to see how red you can get! Is it mean? Yes, but does he really care? No, not when you look so cute when you are blushing! He can’t handle it! But he does it cause he loves you, and if anything it is more of an excuse to give you more hugs and kisses!

On another note, he will be absolutely love how creative you are! I mean, look at him, you and Vulcan can do wonders to the worlds with both of your creative minds working together! So, all in all, I think that you and Vulcan would make a fantastic couple in the fire force universe. He will treat you spectacularly, with care and with lots of love! So make sure you give him your all too!

[outsiderisin]

Day 23: Machines

Agent Matthew felt his guts dip as he glanced over the text from command as 13 hastily drove to the location coordinates after getting a call from her unit. He quickly got distracted as 13 whipped around a turn like a stuntman for a James Bond movie during a chase scene . He tensed a bit as his team cussed within silent prayers to survive this drive. That's when she Growled, 

"Fuck it. Anyone who says a word of this is either a liar or dead."

Suddenly they were nearly there as she speed the car towards a group of mekhanites who were trying to trap their respective personal. Half stopped and went into a defensive formation to stop the car as 13 floored the pedal again. They crashed into the group. The sound of crushing metal and grinding was heard as the car jolted about. The tires’ rubber being tossed in the air with loose rock, dust and metal pieces as 13 dropped from the car.

 Matthew waiting to be at a full stop before bailing as his team lagged behind for a moment. Him seeing 13 drawing near the remaining half of the half machines as the leader looked furious. He then saw she was bleeding terribly from her left arm as gear was stuck in it with a spring and a rock to boot. It had partially soaked her normal bandages on her arm.

"Halt child, you do not know what you…" started a member as Matthew got to 13’s side when She whistled a sharp, brief tune to her team with a hand signal. Agent Time stared wide eyed at the group of Mekhanites as he snapped his fingers; time seeming to slow down for those within his gaze.. Agent Theory got everyone else away as Agent space worked quickly to Agent Time away as he blinked, breaking his focus.

They floated over to the group drooping down and landing hard as 13 quickly gathered her crew, making sure they were okay with few coded hand signals as they made sense to anyone but them.  The scientists looking unsure at 13’s team as Matthew signalled his group to reassure them that this was normal. The mekhanites looking rather confused, before looking pissed at what just happened.

“You blasmepers. You interrupted a holy ritual that would nearly complete  our broken god. Do you realize all the work you just undone?” The leader hissed out. The echo coming from him made Matthew’s skin literally crawl under his clothing as 13 hissed at him.

“Easy Matthew. Don’t lose your shit, the major danger is over. I think.”

“Trying 13, but with our incoming back up. I might lose it a bit.” He hissed back as his team whispered lowly when 13 catch the word ‘Samsara’. The mekhanites looking unsure as suddenly in a flash of flying dirt, four new figures stood between everyone.

“Alright, looks like Red-Hand got our scientist back. And I got no clue on those useless incidents over there so Nanku keep your eyes on them” said the leader as 13 felt her eyes twitch at the comment as Matthew had the look of decking the guy with some of his crew. “Now I take your the guy in charge of this problem. How about surrendering and we  call it a day.”

“I believe we won’t.” The leader as he said something beyond anyone’s understand yet for Matthew who yelled for an instant retreat. 13 nodded as she shifted the car glass into another location as Matthew ordered everyone through it. The new team staying behind as there the sounds of shifting metal was heard behind 13 as she was the last person through the window.

“What the fuck is with this UIU squad Mr. Hummer?” snarled a scientist at Matthew as they point to 13’s team as she glared. Agent Theory stepping in her way as the scientists sort of hid behind Matthew’s team who simply just rested their fingers near their weapons’ triggers.

“This is the UIU decommissioned task force who refused to be decommissioned. Basically they are the Black Ops of the UIU. They don’t exist and I advise you keep your mouth shut on that. Director Henry has more contacts than you think to make sure of that” Matthew said as 13 couldn’t help a smug smile from coming to her face as Matthew looked at her. Her team also failing not to smile as Matthew’s crew sort of chuckled at the event.

“Trust me. They are friendly people when they haven’t been insulted” Offered Agent Comet as Matthew went into review what had occured as 13 pulled her crew to side to gain their end of event. She then conversed with Matthew and the head scientist who ended up questioning 13 on how her ability worked as she gave short  answers without detail, much to the scientist annoyance. 

Henry soon showing with O5-5 in tow, which flung everyone for a loop and even more when O5-5 hugged 13 hello. Matthew quick to give her hell as the ‘Samsara’ crew appeared soon after. They looked like shit as Agent Theory quickly asked if they could be of help to the crew at the sight of the injuries. They waved them off, as Matthew waved later to 13’s team as his men joined him with the ‘Samsara’ members. 

Ten minutes later, 13 and her team was in Henry’s car as they got lectured about using their abilities in front of so many scientists and MTF members. 13 taking the blame for giving the all clear to do so as Henry chewed her out well for it. As she slumped back in her seat, holding back tears as Agent Time snapped at Henry to shut up and that they got the point. HIm point out that 13 was nearly in tears and was clearly upset with herself now. The team then explain how and why they did it as Henry huffed. The car easing into uncomfortable silence as 13 noped out to the empty road.

The car kept going as she shifted the world to a place where reality had no sense to it. Her staying there as she calmed herself down from her flurry of emotions before returning to henry’s office. Him starting to apologize for his harshness, but 13 stopping him as the damage was done. He was simply upset and vented out on the team. 13 made it clear she knew she had messed up, but she felt no other opinion was there as she wasn’t aware of the foundation’s planned back up. After calmly hashing things out, 13 let the office feeling better as she went to medical to get the machinery out of her arm, nearly forgetting about it in everything that had happened that late afternoon.

[real-fakedoors]

You must have gotten this question a lot but... how did you get the idea for star-crossed? And how’d you develop the world? I was really inspired by how you detailed your story to create such an amazing image for us readers of the world; especially when it got down to politics, the watches, characterizations and the planets-turned-countries. I’m currently writing (or trying to write) a book of my own, and I’ve been struggling with how to incorporate those kind of details. Do you have any advice?

hello & thank you for the ask! what a wonderful question, and an even more glowing compliment!! my heart is so full :,)

it’s a mixture of a few things, and I’m happy to break it down further if you’d like, but allow me to lay out my basic approach to writing in general & this fic specifically. I’ll try to address each question the best I can!

1. Ideas born from ideas

Music - I’m one of those people who draw on other sources of inspiration – especially music. All three of my most popular stories were at least first thought of by songs. (star-crossed was inspired by Constellations by The Oh Hellos).

Reference material/research - I’ve tried to be as explicit as possible in star-crossed when I describe/utilize the design of another creator for the basis of my work (like all of Lance’s pretty outfits), but in general, having reference material is the MOST IMPORTANT thing. I’ve done a ton of research on medieval culture, cuisine, buildings, and courts. A good example of this is from Chapter 16: The Prisoner’s Dilemma, I had no freakin’ idea how to describe a battlement, or what that even was – hence me googling “what is the top of a castle wall called” > they’re called battlements, got it! > google image, battelments 

There, I found this:

and from that, I wrote this:

Quietly, they climbed until the highest reaches opened around them, a large plane of dark stone, stained by ombre rust to near-black on opposing ends of the terrace. A very small amount of snow had gathered, but most of it had blown away in the wind –  some small catches had gathered in pockets of shade, where the perimeter wall was buttressed by columns of scaffolding that each came to a point. They were massive structures, like stone arrows pointing towards the heavens; vaguely, Lance remembered one of his mother’s stories about a fletcher’s workshop for the gods; the sweep magnificence of the architecture, certainly lent itself to a sense of the divine and otherworldly greatness.

Linear plot - In terms of figuring out what I want to accomplish in the story, and in the chapters, I quite literally depend on my notes. I tend to get over-eager and want to do a lot in one chapter, so I force myself to map things out in accordance to time rather than events, and that helps me maintain something of a regular pace.

There are a few things I knew I had to have happen in the story, and some of it filled in naturally as I began writing. Here’s a picture of my office from the week I began writing star-crossed.

(the text on the sticky notes doesn’t really matter; but pink are plot points and yellow are narrative themes)

If you squint – an example – Tuesday was supposed to be the day of the bombing, originally. All of the tension and build up and worries about the murder plot were never actually going to happen, as it was going to be wrong-place/wrong-time as a bomb went off in the city. Lance was always intended to get caught up in it instead of Keith as the target, but that obviously didn’t end up happening.

Why? As I wrote the beginning chapters, I had to remind myself that Keith is the Prince of Marmora, of which their expertise is spy networks and information. It didn’t seem feasible to me that such a large scale attack could occur in Marmora without the Blade knowing about it, which is why the attention ended up shifting towards the ball specifically.

Prompts - I am also of the belief that there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. There are wonderful, wonderful authors and writers out there who generate material specifically designed to help writers kickstart ideas; I collected a huge Google Doc of these when I first started star-crossed just to keep my head in accordance with the right themes. Rarely do I use a prompt word-for-word because they never really fit exactly what I’m writing, but the tone of the language often helps me in moments when I’m stuck. Here’s a sampling (and I am sorry, I didn’t think to mark the original blogs I took these from:

“The world was in flames. People were in need of laughter.”

“The world was in flames” helped me to derive some of the terrible disaster that came on the third night of the ball. I just really like that visual, so much orange and red light, and the unbearable heat.

“You can feel the world blooming and withering around you while you’re in prison.”

This sort of… live-and-die, questioning mortality thing, while in “prison” helped me to build Lance’s internal monologue while he was in the cellar.

“If I ignored destiny, so can you.”

Because Klance.

“I was waiting for a chance to ask you to dance with me, but you were gone.”

A knife-twist of how, though this was loosely inspired by the premise of Cinderella, Keith only got to ask Lance to dance twice over the course of three days – in part because Lance was always gone or with someone else, but also because Keith was equally tied up in the expectation that he was to dance with anyone who asked him.

The watches - That was my hope of tying in the paladin’s bayard. It was theoretically impossible to have a magical weapon appear in the hands of four teenagers and an adult without it raising many conspicuous questions, so I needed something a little more subtle. There’s still some… [redacted] about time that has to [redacted] before [redacted] can [redacted], so I can’t say much more than that. :,)

Pomp, Circumstance & Politics (oh my!) - okay, sorry, I couldn’t resist. heh. but, yeah, I don’t know if I can point to one specific thing in particular that gave rise to the political quagmire of this story. It’s definitely been inspired by an array of existing media – Downton Abbey certainly helped shape the “upper class” vs. “lower class” treatment. I also really enjoy historical readings. fiction or nonfiction, pertaining to wars: Ken Burn’s Vietnam War, for instance, helped remind me of the massive impact the decisions of few can have on the many. Whether or not you support a war, or a policy in Marmora’s case, can have devastating after-effects for the people beneath you. Keith and Krolia happen to be very conscious of this. But even so, there will always be a level of detachment from their view of the “many” (in which Lance, Hunk and Pidge fall), and this is never so apparent as when things are told from Lance’s POV. He’s just another person. He’s just one person. One of the hundred of thousands that would be effected by the daily decisions of Keith or Krolia, and it is that constant tension between “big picture” and “small picture” that I try to draw out in the on-going struggles had by the characters.

2. For me, the character’s are the world. 

That’s not me being poetic or anything – let me explain.

Imagine this: Suppose there is a person who has been devoid of all of their senses, all of their life – no touch, no smell, no hearing – nothing. Then suppose, one day, they are shaken from this catatonic state for the first time. Their senses now free, how would they experience this scene I am writing? What is so prevailing to the senses that it demands to be included in the narrative?

That is how I write my my worlds, at least descriptively. I try to pick out a few key things someone wouldn’t be able to help but notice.

This is great for characterization, too, because I can tweak the premise of the “feelingless individual” to suit how I imagine my characters. 

Keith, for example, from star-crossed – a few things I keep in mind when writing him: he is constantly frustrated by his inability to act on his impulses, so when he does it is extra satisfying. He’s keenly aware of the mannerism of others because of his upbringing in the court – if they have a weapon on their hip, for instance, is something he would notice in a heartbeat.

There were certain ticks to look for in a person trying to get too close: the ways their eyes moved, where their hands sat, what sort of clothing they wore. Was it something trim and fitted to make for an easy escape, or something bulky with a dozen pockets to hide any manner of weapon? Were those chemical burns on their hands from working with unstable materials? Did they look restless, liked they’d been up all night debating with themselves to go through with such a monumental act?

Maybe it was just learned paranoia, but these were the small enough traits that most people wouldn’t notice.

Keith, however, was trained to notice.

Lance, on the other hand, is a little more indulgent but easily overwhelmed; he has been restricted his whole life, so he indulges often and easily, but that puts him in a vulnerable position that can (and has) left him open to being hurt by the world around him. He’s one who is going to notice the weather, the quality of the air, because those were things that held meaning to him when he lived in the mountains – he’s one to fixate on his own mistakes, because he’s used to them being pointed out to him.

Lotor wanted to take off his mask so it was one less thing getting in the way, an obstruction to peeling back Lance’s sense of self, his ideas and interests and beliefs balled up in and thrown in a bin, along with his name and his past, so that he could be some fucked up little prize for the guy’s own enjoyment.

The fucking betrayal of his own body, too. The flushed cheeks, the friction of his hips over Lotor’s… ugh. It wasn’t —  he didn’t want it, it didn’t feel good, but the physical sensation was demanding and his body literally could not do anything but respond, and the memory of that alone was enough to have him clutching his head between his knees, legs drawn up to his chest.

Why was this so confusing? It shouldn’t be, and that only made Lance more frustrated. Lotor was a selfish asshole who tried to use his title to his advantage and force Lance to do things he didn’t want to do. Lance had even succeeded in pushing him away and standing up for himself, but the triumph was bittersweet.

This mindset was especially critical when writing Chapter 14: Twenty-Six Hours, because it was the first time we delved into the consciousnesses of the other characters! (I’m just really happy with the way that one turned out *sob*)

Also, a note on villany: I really dislike one dimensional villains. I prefer when my evil comes with a healthy dose of “fuck I sort of agree with that… to an extent?”

Which is why writing Lotor’s big monologue in Chapter 16: The Prisoner’s Dileema was such a challenge. I had to make his treatment of Lance seem, in some fucked up version of reality, justifiable. Because really, Lotor is a product of circumstance; he was raised with his beliefs of the poor and especially of someone of Lance’s “status,” and was acting in such a way that reflected that up-bringing. Now, Keith was raised in similar circumstances and isn’t a huge piece of shit, so there’s no excuse for Lotor’s behavior – but it’s at least logical. You can imagine buying an ox that’s for sale at the market, and then using said ox to plow your fields; we don’t see that as cruel or as mistreatment. Lotor sees Lance as little more than that, and so, in giving him lots of attention and “validation” (something that we know canon-Lotor was unfortunately lacking), it stands to reason that he was in fact trying to be kind to Lance, to treat him with a warped sense of respect.

…okay, that’s all for now! I really hope this helps and wasn’t too long-winded, like everything I do. you’ve effectively made my morning, anon, and I hope you have a wonderful day. my best wishes and luck to you while writing you story! 

[merinathropp]

Tanz der Vampire - Vienna 2018: Detailed Breakdown

Guys, this was such an amazing experience, I have a real mixed bag of opinions (both good and bad) and a lot of emotions. I feel so lucky to have seen this production. Now, to get all my thoughts down on paper! 

First night - from middle stalls front row Second night - from middle stalls seventh row

Graf von Krolock - Drew Sarich (second night) Graf von Krolock - Florian Fetterle (first night) Alfred - Raphael Gross Professor - Sebastian Brandmeir  Sarah - Diana Schnier Herbert - Charles Kreische Magda - Anja Backus 

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THE GOOD STUFF

ALFRED - Hello yes first off I would like to marry thank Mr. Raphael Gross for his powerful, heartfelt portrayal of one of my all-time favourite characters. He was everything I could ever want in an Alfred: sweet and devoted, full of energy and expression, and completely freaking adorable. He scurried around the stage like a frightened hedgehog, but I mean that in the best way possible. He was a ray of (very anxious) sunshine, you couldn’t help but love him and want him to win against all the odds. 

- Für Sarah was An Experience, in the best way possible. Raphi’s Alfred started off very soft and uncertain, sort of pep-talking himself into summoning up the courage to keep going, but as the song went on, he seemed to sort of...grow and strengthen in front of your eyes? Like he was channelling all his love for Sarah into fighting against his fears, and by the end of the song, he had defeated them completely. He was practically punching the air and thrusting the bag all over the place with passion and determination. It was sweet and stunning and perfect, and the audience rightfully cheered at the end :’)

- Loved this detail: when the Professor was demonstrating to Rebecca how he was going to stage Chagal, Raphi turned his head away and cringed and closed his eyes for the actual moment of staking. Such good foreshadowing, setting up how frightened Alfred is by the whole staking process, so early on!

- When the Professor gestured in Ein Guter Tag for a bowl of gruel, he leapt up and charged around the bed at such a speed, he completely forgot where he was going :’) because he headed straight for the Professor’s clothes instead of the trolley! He had to skid on his heel and go charging back to fetch a bowl of gruel instead. It was the most Alfred-y thing to do (being in such a desperate hurry to please the Professor, he forgets what the Professor actually asked him to do) - I loved it.

- When the Professor is chiding him for stepping on the creaky floorboard at the end of Act 1 (even though it’s actually the Professor himself), Raphi’s Alfred stood there with this expression of half-bewilderment, half-hurt on his face, kind of like: “But Professor I’m not...doing anything...” and it was both hilarious and sad all at the same time. Then when Alfred himself passed the creaky floorboard, he walked very carefully to make sure it didn’t creak again, which is the most Alfred-y thing and I loved it. 

- Okay, this made me laugh so much at the time, even though I always feel so bad for Alfred: when the Professor does his “Hast du ihn provoziert oder was?!” line and tries to investigate his trousers, Raphi’s Alfred went into a complete panic and struck this ridiculous wobbly pose where he tried to turn his legs in and cross his knees, he looked completely silly and like he was about to fall over at any moment :) poor Alfred, it’s just the icing on the cake in that scene...

- The bite was 10x more traumatic than it needed to be, because inbetween the usual screams of pain, Raphi’s Alfred cried out Sarah’s name, and that pretty much broke me. I don’t know whether he was begging her to stop or just crying out in horror, but either way, it was gut-wrenching. 

- He undid four of his shirt buttons in the bathroom scene??? revealing a lot of bare chest to the audience??? I think this is the most scandalous thing I’ve ever seen an Alfred do??? (not exactly complaining, it was just...unexpected)

- Raphi lost his red coat somewhere over the course of his dance with Herbert and it was the greatest thing I have ever witnessed in a rendition of Wenn Liebe. Literally, it was hanging off his shoulder, and he couldn’t pull it back up because of the mirror-reflection. This + drenched in sweat + his hair looking like he’d come through a hedge backwards = I felt bad for laughing, but it was hilarious and adorable in equal amounts, just the icing on the cake in that scene.

KROLOCK (DREW SARICH) - I was not prepared.

- Seriously, nothing could have prepared me.

- Nothing, I tell you.

- Don’t get me wrong, I’d seen this guy on YouTube before and always thought he was a perfectly decent Krolock. But seeing him live...oh boy, seeing him live was an experience I will never forget. I finally understand all the hype for Drewlock and it is so. freaking. justified. I’m now going to fangirl for a couple of paragraphs and probably say 19023 things that all his fangirls have been analysing for decades, but what can I say? I’m a shiny new fan!

- I think the best way to describe Drew’s performance is hypnotic, charismatic and animalistic. There was something so intimate about his portrayal, you hung on every single word he spoke. Each line was given purpose and meaning, every gesture controlled and planned, every tiny inflection mattered. He was magnetic to watch, sending this incredible hush over the audience whenever he spoke or sang. When he was onstage, it was like the entire world and all the other characters revolved around him, and each time he left the stage, I found myself wishing (for the first time) that there was more Krolock in the show. 

- He glided around with this incredible predatory grace. His hands were constantly moving and arching and flexing, like a cat with its claws. He’d snarl, hiss, bare his teeth, twitch his lips, lick his fangs etc. in a way that somehow always came off incredibly chilling, never silly or pantomimic. During his numbers, I kept noticing my heart literally pounding in my chest, or having to to lean back in my seat and let out my breath in a gush because I’d been holding it...ridiculous, but true, and completely awesome.

- His personality for Krolock was full of charisma, pathos, wit, genuine menace, and humour. Proper humour, that was what surprised me the most, e.g. his sarcasm with the Professor and mocking reaction to Alfred’s candlestick charge both made me laugh out loud. 

- His dynamic with Alfred was...full-on seduction? Vor Dem Schloss was surprisingly intense! I’m not a Krolfred shipper, but I can see where the inspiration comes from now, and understand why this ship has climbed in popularity recently. Drew’s Krolock approached Alfred and moved his fingers in front of his face, like he was casting a spell, and Raphi went all dopey and wide-eyed, like he’d slipped into a trance (much more interesting than Alfred looking mildly scared and awkward through the whole scene). Then during the ‘Ich lehr dich, was es heißt zu lieben’ line, when Alfred was gazing sleepily out into the audience, he tucked a finger under Alfred’s chin, guided it around and upwards to look at him, then begin to draw them together (literally, I thought a kiss was coming and was ready to throw a riot) - before breaking off at the last second and sweeping away. I was like: “This. This right here, is when the ship was born. I’m holding you personally responsible, Mr. Sarich.” 

- In fairness though, I like that Drew’s Krolock kept his interest in Alfred consistent throughout the show and made a proper ‘arc’ of it: during the He Ho Reprise, when speaking directly to Alfred (who had hunched in on himself and turned away, like he was hiding), he reached out a hand over the battlements and beckoned with one finger, and Raphi’s Alfred slowly looked up to meet his gaze, and started to shuffle towards him across the stage, like he was falling back into a trance again. Tom’s Alfred did something similar when I saw him in Hamburg, but this was much more obvious and a nice throwback to Act 1. 

PROFESSOR - This guy was perfect. Hilarious, frustrating, easy to love, fond of Alfred. Ticked all the boxes and an amazing voice to boot. What a great performance. 

- Once Alfred had helped him undress in Eine Schoner Tochter, he reached out and held his hand to Alfred’s cheek and gave him this proud grandfather smile like “Thank you my boy, another good day’s work done :)))” and I cried a lot on the inside...these two will be the death of me I swear...

- During the He Ho Reprise, he brandished his umbrella threateningly at Krolock, and then when Krolock spoke directly to Alfred, he encouraged Alfred to take his umbrella instead, so he could brandish it at the Evil Vampire Overlord too and presumably protect himself more effectively :’) 

HERBERT - Why, oh why is no one talking about Charles?! This guy is sheer perfection as Herbert! Hands down one of my all-time favourites. He reminded me strongly of Kirill Gordeev from the Russian production, but with his own personal flair. Very much a graceful, charming, vain, ‘spoiled princeling’ Herbert with the perfect amount of underlying menace. He felt very fresh, and there were so many little details to his performance that stood out. Best of all, he never played for laughs or threw Alfred around like a sack of potatoes to get an audience reaction.

- On the line: “Was macht dich so blass? Bist du krank?” he said the last part as if it were a dry witty joke, and then giggled and swept his hand like “I’m so funny!” and it made Alfred’s nonplussed reaction twice as hilarious :)

- When the minuet began in Tanzaal, he swept off his cloak and tossed it over Koukol like he was a hatstand, it was priceless. And 110% Herbert. Somebody write that into the official blocking for this character, please. 

- Throughout Carpe Noctem, he was very much embodying the ‘MC’ role and pulling all the strings. Lots of elegant gestures to pull dancers on and offstage, that kind of thing. At the end of the song, he focussed his attention completely on Alfred, watching him sleep with this :) expression whilst all the other dancers exited the stage. Then he clambered off the bed, and started to exit the stage...before pausing, and turning back to look at Alfred again (kind of like a kid sneaking a last glance at something special, it was unexpectedly sweet?) with this little smile on his face like “Awww look at my human! :3” and finally slinking offstage after that. Definitely stealing that for a fanfic someday...

KENTAUR SETS & COSTUMES - Are stunning and beautiful. ‘Nuff said. The vampire outfits in particular are exquisitely detailed and lovely to watch, all that sweeping velvet and heavy embroidery. The rotating set in Act 2 is also super neat! I think the projections are best seen from middle of the stalls, rather than front row though.

ORCHESTRA - Sounds like a dream, y’all were right, it’s a thousand times better than the German touring version. Full and luscious and gorgeous. Loved it so much.

THE BAD STUFF

SARAH - Oh boy, time to brace myself for the hate mail. I really, really didn’t like Diana’s Sarah. I found her belt shouty and downright painful at times, and her acting choices very confusing and inconsistent. I don’t want to turn this into an unnecessarily negative post, so I will just say: she’s clearly a wonderful talented young person, I just personally didn’t like her performance for Sarah at all. 

KROLOCK (FLORIAN FETTERLE) - Again, didn’t care for this guy’s performance. Very sedate, bored-by-his-eternal-life Krolock that came off...downright dull, for me. I felt as though he had no stage presence. He didn’t seem to want to give Krolock any real menace or personality in general, though I understand that this might be part of his take on the character as a vampire with ‘deadened’ emotions. Full respect to the guy as a performer, I just personally really, really wasn’t a fan of his Krolock. 

DANCING - Went wrong in multiple places, both times I saw it, which absolutely broke my heart. The cast I saw in Hamburg were flawless, not a foot out of place, but this was a whole different story. During Red Boots Ballet, Sarah didn’t even hit her splits on both performances I saw, and Krolock’s dance-double let one of her legs drop on that amazing ‘spinning’ lift at the end, which must have thrown him off balance, he was staggering around all over the place. Carpe Noctem was equally messy, with some really nice moments and some really “huh?” moments as well. White Vampire/Sarah seemed to lose their marks halfway through and face the bed instead of the audience, several moves felt like they were being ‘marked’ rather than fully danced, or left unfinished in aid of keeping up with the music. I spoke to two other fans who warned me that the Vienna dancing could be sloppy sometimes, but I genuinely didn’t think it would be this noticeable. I know we’re spoiled with all the Moscow/St. Petersburg bootlegs of insanely polished Russian dancers, but still...

BLOCKING ETC. - During my first performance, it seemed as though bits of blocking were being lost or accidentally messed up, e.g. when the Professor pushes his bag off the table using Chagal’s body and Alfred has to catch it...well, the bag was positioned wrong, so Alfred just picked up the bag and the joke was lost. The ensemble also managed to get out of time with the orchestra during Vor Dem Schloss, which was funny at first and then just frustrating. I’m going to put this down to the heat of the day, because it was pretty stuffy in the theatre and maybe the cast were just finding it hard to concentrate...?

.

I’ve now seen Tanz four times in total, and continue to love this show more every day. Time to start saving for a trip to Russia, that’s the production next on my bucket list! Unless someone attempts a heavily, heavily revised Broadway revival before then...I mean, a girl can dream, right? :)

[kazosa]

Fireflies: the Beginning

This is what happens when a simple one and done turns out to be so much more...

Daryl and the Reader have a rough start. Will they tear each other apart or become friends?

Warnings: mentions of dead deer and language

Word count: 1600ish

A/N: takes place between seasons 3 & 4 when everything at the prison was calm. After the initial attack, but before round 2.

Series Master

@charlottecl   @dragongirl420 (just for you)

Working hard was nothing new to you. Now that you were at the prison, you wanted to make it work. You wanted to be invaluable to them, to fit in, to have a family again, a place where you belonged. Being alone was the worst thing a person could be in the apocalypse and you were tired of being alone. Even when you were at Woodbury, you kept to yourself, stayed off the radar. With a person like the Governor running the place, you knew better than to draw negative attention, or any attention at all, to yourself.

The prison had a better feel to it, more community, less psychotic. Mostly, the people at the prison were welcoming, there was one that was less so, Daryl. You got nothing but the cold shoulder from him. That was fine with you, you didn’t care if he liked you, but he could, at least, say hello when you said hello.

He’d been gone a few days on a hunting trip with Rick when he came walking up to the food prep area with a deer carcass on his shoulders. He was covered in mud and blood and the sight of him was slightly alarming. Too late, you realized that he was going to drop the carcass near the prep area.

Unceremoniously, he shrugged the deer off his shoulders and it landed with a thud near the baskets of vegetables. He barely lost a step and kept on walking right past you, silent as usual. Carol didn’t even register what had happened.

“Hey!” you called after him but he kept walking.

You dashed after him to get his attention, sick of his bullshit.

“Hey!” you said again, catching him and grabbing his upper arm.

He turned out of your grasp.

“What?!” he was staring you down, pissed off about something.

You didn’t back down. You could be dead tomorrow and life was just too damned short to take shit from assholes like him.

“Are you hurt?!” you asked pointing at the mess down the front of his clothes.

“No, I ain’t hurt, this comes from real work,” he sneered.

It seemed like he was decent to everyone but you.

“Look pal, I work my fingers to the bone. Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I don’t know what you think I do, but I sure as hell don’t sit on my ass all day. Now get that carcass out of my prep area before you give us all food poisoning,” you barely held back from yelling at him.

“That’s food,” he pointed at the deer, “prep it.”

“Did you even field dress it? How long has it been dead? Is that blood from draining it? I could give a shit less if I have a bite of it, but these people need every scrap we can provide. Now I have to clean all of the vegetables to make sure no one gets sick. You,” you jabbed his bloody shoulder, “get that goddamned deer out of my prep area. Drain, skin, and clean the fucking thing and I’ll be happy to fix it up any way you want.”

Before he stalked back to the deer, you thought you heard him say “bossy bitch.”

Carol was watching her friend get his ass handed to him by the new girl. She only barely hid her amusement as he stalked back to the deer.

“She’s not wrong, you know,” Carol pointed out.

“Whose side are you on?” he grunted while picking up the deer again.

“The side that keeps us healthy and fed,” she said as he walked away.

“Thanks a lot,” he grumbled.

“That’s your side, too!” she called after him.

Rick had caught the tail-end of the argument and asked Carol, “What was that all about?”

“The new girl is finally tired of him being an ass,” she explained.

“Huh,” Rick mused. He watched as (Y|N) was cleaning up the tables. He had an idea, but he’d have to wait and see if it happened on its own.

THREE WEEKS LATER Things weren’t good between you and Daryl, but they weren’t worse either. He even said “hello” a few times. You knew he wasn’t a bad person, that was easy enough to see. For some reason, you brought out the worst in him.

You’d just finished cleaning up from dinner and made yourself a heaping plate of leftovers. They would go bad if they didn’t get eaten.

“(Y|N)?” Hershel asked.

You turned to see your mentor looking at you rather sheepishly.

“Oh god, what?” you answered.

“Daryl didn’t get any of this fine dinner you made tonight. Would you mind taking him some?”

“Hershel, that man hates me and I don’t know why. I don’t make much effort to chat him up.” It hurt your feelings that he was so cold to you and you hated that it bothered you.

“He doesn’t hate you, darlin. He just doesn’t know what to do with you. He’s been through a lot and pushes people away. Just don’t give up on him,” he handed you a bottle of water.

That was bullshit. Everyone you met since the world died had been through a lot, yourself included.

“Fine,” you relented, “where is he?”

A few minutes later, you were trudging through the field to the south west guard tower. The grass was growing like crazy already, thankfully there was a path that was well worn through the field. There was no sneaking up on that tower, there was nothing but open spaces on all sides of the remote tower.

Inside the building, you climbed the stairs and emerged in the lookout. The small space smelled of rotting wood, paper and vinyl that had cooked in the sun for far too long. Daryl and a couple other people were the only ones that took watch in that tower and cleanliness was not a priority.

You made a quick dash out onto the catwalk, “Jesus Christ, there’s a lot of spiders in there.” You couldn’t hold back the whole-body shudder that came over you.

Daryl was sitting on the catwalk; his legs dangling over the edge and was leaning over on the lowest rung of the guardrail. No matter what, Daryl always wore that leather vest with the angel wings on the back. He only half-turned his head to speak to you.

“How’d you live this long makin’ all that noise?”

“I wanted you to hear me, smartass. I didn’t want to get shot dodging all those spiders,” you told him.

You sat down near him with your legs crisscrossed. You put the plate down in the space between you and you noticed Daryl eyeing the over-full plate before he turned back to watch the fields. You nudged him with your hand. He gave you a scathing look in response.

“You don’t scare me with that hateful gaze,��� god he’s exhausting. You indicated the plate between you, “It’s not all for me, Oscar.” You waited for him to take the water bottle you were holding out to him. You eventually had to put it down. “Look, man, I can eat this all myself, I’m hungry enough. It’s been a while since I felt like a fat pig, wouldn’t mind remembering what that feels like, but here I am willing to share with a guy that hates me.” You watched him for a few quiet moments.

“I’m not asking to be super best friends, Daryl, just basic courtesy, the stuff I see you do for, literally, everyone but me,” you waited for a reaction but got none. “I don’t know what I did to you, but I don’t think I deserve this level of shit from you. Share with me or not, I don’t care. Take the last of your deer meat. You need it more than me.”

The silence that followed wasn’t awkward for you. You were happy to look at the grounds from that vantage point. If you could put aside the fact that the world died, it was quite peaceful and the view was spectacular. The grounds gently rolled outside of the prison yard and there were trees everywhere. The sun would start to set soon and the clouds looked promising for a spectacular sunset.

Daryl had been hungrier than he’d let on and ate most of what was on the plate. You’d brought along a large can of pineapple chunks and were quite pleased to be eating them, especially since they hadn’t gone bad. You ate as you waited for the sun to do its light show and looked up at the clouds to see if you could spot any hidden pictures.

“Sea turtle,” you’d randomly spotted the familiar shape.

You’d caught Daryl off guard, “What?”

“That cloud,” you closed an eye and pointed, “right there, looks just like a sea turtle.”

He craned his neck around to look.

“It does look like a turtle,” he admitted.

“Yeah, but it’s a sea turtle,” you clarified. He gave you a look that said “so?” “Dude, they live their whole lives in the water. The females only go on land to lay their eggs. The only thing they have to worry about are natural predators, not dead things trying to eat them……plus, they look cool.”

“Ever see one before?” he asked.

“Only in a zoo,” you answered.

He made a scoffing sound and went back to watching the fields. Daryl was being almost pleasant. What a nice change, you thought. When you were both done eating, the sun was starting to set. The yellows and oranges faded to pinks and reds and that was when you saw them, letting out a little gasp.

“Daryl,” you whispered and touched his arm. He grabbed for the rifle next to him. “No, you assured him, “it’s okay.” You were still whispering, not taking any chances of disrupting them. Seeing them told you what time of year it was and that your birthday was coming soon. “Look…fireflies.”

[vikingpoteto]

call it home (AO3)

Part 2 |  Part 3 | Part 4

 Chapter: 1/5

Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi, Sawamura Daichi & Michimiya Yui

Summary:Once upon a time a fearless knight whose best friend was taken by a demon king. Sawamura Daichi would do anything to save his princess, so he marches to the king's castle ready to fight the demon. He wasn't expecting to fall in love with him.

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Final Haikyuu Quest, KuroDai Week 2017, fairy tale-ish, Fantasy, Curses and magic powers, Fluff, Falling In Love

Word count: 4896

Once upon a time a cursed castle. Its king had enraged a powerful enchantress that punished him by binding him to the abandoned castle until he learned his lesson. Concerned that the king would never learn anything on his own, the enchantress started sending all of her enemies to the castle, so they could either learn and grow together or rot there for eternity.

One day, a princess ran away from her home to avoid an arranged marriage. In her desperation to find shelter, she ended up in the cursed castle.

In the next morning, a mysterious voice rang, “let it be known that princess Yui of Karasuno is the Great Demon King’s prisoner! She is to be wedded to the brave one who rescues her from captivity.”

Many warriors tried to invade the castle, only to be chased away by a foul beast. Many swear it was a monstrous black lion, many that it was perfidious creeping vines and some even swear they were attacked by giant crows and murderous owls. A year has passed and no one was able to rescue he princess,

Maybe no one ever will.

Daichi doesn’t want to believe in rumors. He arrives to his homeland only to find out his childhood best friend was kidnapped by demons and she’s beyond saving. Maybe she’s become the bride of the demon, they say, or maybe she’s already dead. Daichi can’t accept any of that. Cursed or not, he’ll find the castle and he’ll have Yui brought home, safe and sound.

His parents seem pleased by the idea rather than worried about the risks their youngest son is about to take. They were one of the few families that never tried to sacrifice anyone to bring back the princess, so they didn’t particularly care that Daichi might get killed in the process. They send him away in his quest with their blessings.

He’s thinking of home – and of how little it feels like home, for it was achingly easy to leave it behind without looking back – when the first sight of the cursed castle greets him. Daichi stops his horse. For days he had traveled alone through unwelcoming forests and narrow paths. Finally, he reached the part of the forest in which the trees were ancient and too tall to see the top and the space between their majestic trunks is too narrow to allow any sunlight to pass through their leaves. In the midst of this unwelcoming scenario, he finds a narrow path that grows wider and wider until it ends in a gigantic metallic gate.

The walls surrounding the castle are not as tall as the trees, but they are just as intimidating. Daichi hesitates for a second, before he wills his tired horse to keep going. This is no time for hesitation.

The metallic gate opens on its own at his approach.

Daichi swallows his fear and keeps going.

The castle doesn’t look like he expects it to. There are no ruins, to fallen warrior’s skeletons, no signs of the monsters that live there. In fact, thought there are vines everywhere and plants grow almost like in the wild, the garden looks somehow well kept. As if someone has been taking care of the weeds and watering the plants dutifully. It’s not the biggest castle he’s seen either, though its impressive height compensate for its narrowness. There are vines around its towers as well. As he leaves his horse and walks toward the front doors, he wonders if he’s in the right place.

Wooden doors open up before he can knock. There is no one to open them in sight.

“Well,” Daichi mutters to himself, “how many magic castles can there be in one single forest?” And he walks inside.

The entrance hall makes Daichi think of the forest outside: tall windows framed by deep green curtains let the sunlight in, but just barely. Rich tapestries decorate the floors and the walls, delicate and intricate patterns of green and gold make him think of fresh leaves and magical forests. There are beautiful marble statues covered in vines guarding the stairs the lead to the second floor. It’s not the kind of place Daichi would call cursed, but there is something undeniably supernatural about it.

“Hello?” He calls hesitantly. He isn’t sure of what are the etiquette rules when you visit a castle with the purpose of killing its king.

He hears footsteps and draws his sword. It feels wrong to act violently in this place – as if the castle is sacred and Daichi is committing a terrible sin – but he ignores the sensation. This is probably the magic of the castle trying to cloud his judgement and get him to lose before he even has the chance to fight. He will not be defeated this easily.

“Oho?” A deep voice rings somewhere upstairs, making Daichi’s shoulders go even stiffer.

On the top of the stairs, a young man stares at him. In his deep crimson coat, he looks a little out of place in the green hall, but he doesn’t look bothered by it. The young man carries the kind of easy confidence of a man who knows he’s in control and can outplay whatever mishap that may come his way. Daichi can see that in his easy smile and his relaxed handsome face.

“It’s been a while since we had a visitor,” says the young man absently running his fingers through his unruly black hair as if trying to fix it. His hair stays unruly. “Are you a traveler in seek of shelter?”

“I’m here for the Demon King,” Daichi says, his voice carrying. “And I won’t leave before I see him dead.”

“I’m afraid we can’t have that, no.” A sly grin. “The king isn’t here.”

Daichi feels his arm slacking. “What do you mean he isn’t here? Where is he?”

“How would I know?” He shrugs. “They travel a lot, our king. Most of the ruling is done by Shimizu-sama anyway, so it’s not a problem. Maybe you want to come back in a month or two? The king might be back by then.”

Daichi stares at the man in awe, extremely put off by the carefree way he leans against the handrail. This guy… he’s the cunning type, Daichi can tell. He tightens his grip on his sword.

“Well, where is princess Yui, then? Don’t tell me the demon king took her!”

“Oh, so you’re here for the princess, not for the king.” The man straightens his back and starts walking down the stairs. His movements are oddly feline. “Well, I can’t have that either.”

“Why not? Who are you?”

“You could say I’m the king’s counselor and I am guarding the princess while the king is away. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I’m not leaving without her.”

A sigh. “I was afraid you’d say that.” The man takes off his red coat and lets it slide to the floor, revealing simple black clothing. “It’s a pity, but I have to show you the exit now.”

Before Daichi’s astonished eyes, the man’s lean body starts to shift. His expression darkens and his inky hair starts to look even messier. A supernatural wind rushes through the room and his sly grin widens until he reveals bright fangs and he leans forward until he’s on his fours… Except that he is not a man anymore. He is an gigantic black panther with golden eyes and crimson claws.

“Sure,” Daichi manages, his voice hoarse. “Why not?”

The panther pounces with a roar and Daichi barely has the time to roll to avoid it. He almost loses his sword in the movement. He just manages to firm his grip when the panther roars again and attacks. Daichi takes a swing at him, but the monster is too fast and sidesteps it with ease. He stands on its back legs and Daichi knows he’s dead. The shiny claws look like they can cut through his armor and Daichi knows that’s what the panther is about to do.

However the paw that hits him is shockingly clawless.

Daichi gasps in surprise and he’s already being thrown across the hall before he can even register the pain. He lands several meters away and slides some more. When he struggles to get up, he realizes that he had dropped his sword during the fall.

Instead of going for other attack, the panther roars again. It sounds an awfully lot like the word “OUT!”

The monster is not even trying to kill him. He is literally trying to push Daichi away.

“Not without her!” Daichi says, and pulls his dagger from his belt. He stumbles back to his feet, ignoring the pain on his side. He dashes toward the panther.

The monster prepares for another jump and Daichi prepares to aim for his throat. And then…

“STOP!”

The panther is already midair, but both him and Daichi turn to the source of the voice. On the top of the stairs, a vision in a white dress, princess Yui reaches for them as if she can physically pick them both up and make them stop. She’s alive. She’s well. For the second time, Daichi drops his weapon.

On the next moment, he’s knocked down by a giant mass of black fur. Daichi lets out a shameful yelp. The bizarre meow sound the panther makes isn’t much better.

“Holy mother! Are you two okay?”

Daichi still can’t see anything – or feel anything, for that matter, he is but a pancake of a man beneath a giant cat – but he hears her rushed footsteps as she runs down the stairs.

On top of him, the panther makes another displeased sound and there’s a little shifting and, seconds later, there is no monster in sight. Suddenly what is struggling to get away from Daichi is a handsome young man dressed in black.

“Princess,” he calls, pressing a hand to his stomach. “You didn’t need to startle me like that.”

“I’m sorry,” she pleads, offering a hand to help the man to his feet again. “I was scared you were going to hurt each other. I wasn’t thinking.” Then she turns to Daichi and offers him a hand as well. “Daichi? Is it really you?”

“Yui,” he croaks in disbelief.

She smiles at him. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Wait,” panther man interrupts. “This is the one? The Daichi?”

“Yes!  Can you believe it, Kuroo?”

Daichi stares. Yui doesn’t look like a damsel in distress, she looks… well… happy. Her cheeks are rosy and her dress is immaculate. She might be taller and more woman-like than she was last time Daichi saw her, but she’s still the same girl with the easy smile Daichi spent his childhood playing with.

And she’s smiling at her supposed kidnapper in the very same way she smiles at Daichi.

“What,” is all Daichi manages to say in a flat tone.

“Oh, right! You must be so confused! Huh… Where do I start?” And she looks at the strange man as if seeking for aid.

Without hesitation, he turns to Daichi. “Forgive me for my manners earlier. I didn’t know you were a friend of the princess. Let me introduce myself again. I’m Kuroo Tetsurou, the king’s right-hand man and Yui-chan’s friend.”

Daichi thought about how it would be saving Yui several times. He thought of the risks he was willing to take and the dangers he would probably face. He thought poor Yui would certainly be traumatized by her time in captivity. He also thought it would take a lot of time for her to recover and he thought about what he could do in order to make things easier for her. None of the scenarios in his head was easy or happy, but he never thought of giving up. She was his best friend, after all.

For all the agonizing hours he spent going over his plan, you would have expected him to have covered all of the possibilities.

Despite everything, Daichi had never considered he would end up in the kitchen of the cursed castle drinking tea Yui and a demon cat.

He never considered, and yet…

“Be careful, it’s a little hot,” Yui tells him, handing him a cup.

On the background, Kuroo had put back his red coat and he’s leaning against the table. Even in his human form, there is something undeniably feline about his posture. His crossed arms and crooked smile make Daichi more than a little antsy, but he can’t tell if the butterflies in his stomach are his fighting instincts telling him to flee or just his general reaction to attractive people.

He forces his attention away from the demon and back to Yui.

“I thought you were a hostage,” he says. It sounds like an accusation.

“That’s the rumor, isn’t it?” Yui sighs, looking guilty. “We regret spreading that one. I wish we could take it back.”

“We?” Daichi repeats. “I heard you ran away and were captured by a demon, Yui. I thought I might find you dead!”

“I’m sorry! I did run away, but, huh, the being captured part… I just got lost in the forest. Really lost. I thought I was going to starve to death when Oikawa-sama found me.”

“Oikawa?”

“You know them as the Great Demon King,” Kuroo says.

“But they're not a demon,” Yui continues. “They brought me here and took care of me. Healed my wounds and fed me back to health. When I told them why I was in the forest, they offered me shelter.”

“Don’t make them sound like some sort of angel, princess,” Kuroo says. “They were extremely vexing the whole time.” And then, in an curiously sweetened voice, “We can’t let a pretty girl like Yui-chan run around alone like that, Kurocchi! We have to protect her! I know! Let’s invite a lot of annoying princes to fight us in our own home! But you take care of it, since I’m never here!”

Yui pulls a face. “Well, they are a little dramatic, but they have good intentions. When I said I didn’t want to marry the prince my parents chose for me, Oikawa-sama said they’d find me a better husband and I agreed. Then they spread the rumors you heard.”

“What about all of the men who came after you?”

“We’d let the princess see them before anything else, of course,” Kuroo says. “If she liked them, we’d let them rescue her. If she didn’t, we would just chase them away. It was fun at first, but it got pretty repetitive after a while.”

“I decided I didn’t want to get married, after all,” Yui says. “I like it here. I like not being a wife. This is my home and Oikawa-sama and the others are my family like my parents never were. They’ve been sending everyone away since then.”

“So… you’re okay here?”

“This is my home,” she repeats.

Daichi lets out a heavy breath. Maybe he is too shocked to react. He certainly feels a little numb. He was willing to burn down the world for his friend’s happiness. He feels purposeless – dumb – now that he found out that she’s perfectly happy – and without his help.

He almost immediately reprehends himself. He’s being petty. He should be grateful that Yui is fine.

“You’re welcome to stay, if that wasn’t already clear,” Kuroo says, dragging Daichi back to the present. His eyes are droopy and lazy at the first sight, but, now that Daichi is paying attention, he can see that Kuroo’s eyes are sharper than they appear. As if the demon can see more than you would expect him to. Daichi feels too exposed. “For as long as you need. Your trip here probably wasn’t a short one,” Kuroo adds.

“Of course! We’d love you to stay!” Yui smiles. “I missed you so much and there’s so much I want to show you! Who’s in charge of the rooms, Kuroo-san?”

Before Kuroo says anything, a woman makes her way inside and Daichi almost drops his cup of tea. She’s so beautiful Daichi feels the need to look away – especially because her black outfit is quite revealing.

“Kiyoko-sama!” Yui jumps to her feet in excitement. “Kiyoko-sama, this is Daichi! Daichi came!”

The woman eyes Daichi as if measuring him and says nothing. He feels as if he should apologize or make her an offering or—well, do something. He’s not sure what, though. She manages to be more suffocating than Kuroo is, in her own way. Maybe it’s because she’s too beautiful to be real. Or because she is so obviously not human that Daichi’s instincts are yelling at him to get away. Either way, something tells him he would prefer to be under Kuroo’s claws again than to go against this woman.

“This is Shimizu Kiyoko-sama,” Kuroo tells him and there’s a warning in his voice. “She’s the king counselor too, but she might as well be another ruler.”

Daichi suddenly knows what he must do. He stands up and bows down respectfully, as he would for any lady of the court. “I apologize for invading your home.”

“Nonsense,” Shimizu says in a quiet, yet musical voice. “I’ve hear a lot of stories of you from princess Yui. Any friend of hers is welcome.”

“He did try to kill me,” Kuroo says with a crooked smile.

“Name one creature in this kingdom that hasn’t wanted to kill you at least once, Kuroo, and I’ll punish him for it.”

Kuroo laughs as if being universally considered an annoyance was something worthy of praise.

“Well, if you’re staying, then I should show you around!” Yui claps her hands in excitement. “The first thing you should see is the capital, of course, so you can stay. Is that alright, Kiyoko-sama?”

Shimizu nods once and then gives a significant look at Kuroo, who bows slightly. Seeming satisfied, Shimizu leaves.

“Wonderful!” Yui jumps to her feet. “You’re going to love this, Daichi.”

He takes a few more sips of his tea and burns his tongue in his hurry to finish. Kuroo takes the cup from his hands with a knowing smirk, though what he knows is unsure. Maybe that is just the way he smiles. Like he knows something you don’t and he’s having fun at your expense.

He tries to ignore the weird twist of his stomach at that grin as he follows Yui back to the entrance hall and then to the gardens outside.

Kuroo walks some steps behind them, not quite within earshot, but close enough he doesn't lose sight of them. Startled, Daichi finally understands Kiyoko's nod. She has sent Kuroo to act as Yui's chaperone. Daichi knows that, for a princess, the only acceptable chaperones are either women or men of their own family. The fact that a demon is acting as if he's part of Yui's family - and the fact that she seems perfectly comfortable with it - shows how much she got used to her new life.

Not for the first time, Daichi feels a bitter sting as she enthusiastically points at doors and windows, explaining where they lead. He can't help but feel he has lost his friend in a way, although she's right in front of him.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Yui asks.

"A...? Oh. Of course."

She takes a hesitant look at Kuroo behind them. He's walking unworriedly and looking around rather than at Daichi and Yui. She takes a deep breath to ready herself before she admits, "For a long time, I wished you would come and take me back."

Daichi stops walking. "You...?"

"I know! Weird, isn't it?" She laughs weakly. "I though you might hear the rumors and come back. I thought that if I had to get married, I would like to marry you."

Daichi bites his lower lip, not knowing what to say. He toyed with the idea when he was younger, but not out of his own volition. Seeing how close he was to the princess, of course his parents planted the seed. They told Daichi he were to wed the princess when he got older and he accepted that as a fact: the sun rises everyday. The sky is blue. Men are supposed to grow up strong and get married to nice women. Despite that, he had never experienced the chills and burning desire he read about in books when he was around Yui. He was never sure if it was because of his young age or because he was never in love to begin with.

So he understands what Yui means when she says it's a weird idea. It seems rude to say so to a lady, however.

"I don't think of you that way, Daichi. I never did. You're like family for me," she tells him.

Daichi feels oddly relieved. "I'll have you know that the feeling is mutual."

"I thought so. I'm glad." Yui smiles. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way here, but I'm glad I got to see you, too."

And that's when a loud explosion noise comes from the castle making them jump about thirty centimeters in the air.

"What the--" Daichi starts, shocked.

Yui, however, past the initial shock, seems almost resigned. Kuroo easily closes the distance between them in few long strides.

"It seems like Nishinoya and Tanaka are at it again," he says pointing at one of the tallest windows. There is orange smoke coming out of it.

"Someone should take care of it before Kiyoko-sama catches them."

"I will. But you have to keep it a secret that I left you alone with your friend."

Yui starts to smile, but her expression quickly becomes guilty. "You already took care of it the last two times, Kuroo-san. That's not fair."

"It's not a big deal."

"Yes, it is." She turns to Daichi. "Would you mind if Kuroo-san showed you the rest of the property? I should join you again by..." She looks at the window, likely measuring the amount of smoke coming out of it and quickly judging how much time she would spend dealing with it. Whatever that meant. "I should join you for dinner," she says finally.

"Of course. Do what you must." Daichi tries to smile encouragingly.

Yui seems satisfied with that, so she nods and turns on her heels to run back to the castle. Daichi watches her go in silence and only when she's too far to hear them he asks, "what the hell was that?"

Kuroo smirks. "Tanaka and Nishinoya. Technically, they're Shimizu-sama's servants. They like to experiment, though, and sometimes their spells go wrong. Yui-chan and I try to do some collateral damage."

Their spells. Between giant cats and exploding spellcasters, Daichi wonders how many demons he's dealing with.

"How many inhabitants does this castle have?" Is what he asks instead.

"Hmm... That's a tricky question. Seven, if you count the king and his knight. Right now there are only five of us. Six, with you."

Wide eyed, Daichi stares at the gigantic castle and then back at Kuroo.

"You're not serious. What about the staff?"

"It's a magic castle, Sawamura. It keeps itself. And... Well, sometimes Shimizu-sama forces us to do some housework. It builds character, she says. And, of course, we get visitors all the time. People from the village, people seeking mine or Shimizu-sama's aid. A lot of them come to see the princess too."

At Daichi's surprised look, Kuroo merely shrugs.

"So... Shall we continue?"

Out of options, Daichi nods and follows him.

Kuroo takes him across the garden pointing directions and explaining where they will lead him to. His matter-of-fact explanations are far clearer than Yui's excited words and Daichi finds easier to pay attention. He carefully saves all the information he can, not wanting to find himself lost in a sentient castle.

"You created the cursed castle rumors, too?" Daichi asks when they reach a semi open area that leads to the library.

"Not really. People decided that themselves. They assumed that a magic castle rulled by a demon can't be anything but cursed." Kuroo shrugs again. "They should know better, though. What's cursed isn't the castle, but the people in it."

Daichi follows Kuroo back inside. The small hall only has more paintings of forests inside and ends in large steps leading upwards. Without hesitation, Kuroo heads toward them.

"So... All of you are cursed?"

Kuroo nods. "I mean... Yui-chan isn't, but she's the only one. All of us have done something to piss off a magical being and that's how we ended up here. But... Well. The king's curse was broken long ago by their knight, so..."

"What was the king's curse?"

"They were insecure and would act arrogant because of it. An enchantress turned them into a monster and they wouldn't be human again until they learned some humility and how to be a good leader."

"Oh."

Kuroo smirks and says nothing else. Daichi wants to ask about his curse, too, but decides against it. He shouldn't be prying. He're here to learn more about the castle so he won't get lost trying to find a bathroom during his stay. He's not here to pry into Yui's friends' personal business. He decides to change the subject.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, somewhere really nice." Kuroo's eyes sparkle. "We don't usually show this place to newcomers, but I'm opening an exception for you."

"Why?"

"The princess talked so much about you I feel like I already know you. Besides, I take you're spending more than a couple of days. If you ever get bored of the castle, you can ask Yui-chan to take you to the village."

"What village? There is nothing but ancient trees everywhere around this castle."

Kuroo smiles smugly, but says nothing in response. Daichi has no option other than to keep following him.

After what feels like an eternity, they finally reach the top of the stairs. They find themselves in a hall even smaller than the one downstairs and this one doesn't even have decorations in it. Kuroo makes a beeline toward a small door on the opposite side, so old and rusty Daichi can barely see against the rock walls.

"We're in the tallest tower," Kuroo tells him." We don't always come here because, well, it's quite the exercise, but I thought you might find the view a fair compensation."

Daichi can barely feel his legs at this point, so he silently disagrees. He says nothing, not wanting to be impolite, but Kuroo has no problem interpreting his expression, judging by the way he laughs.

"Well, see for yourself."

And he opens the door.

Daichi stumbles out to find himself surrounded by thick battlements. When he approaches the walls and looks down his breath gets stuck somewhere in his throat. Where earlier he had seen impossibly tall trees and mud there is now a city. Small houses, plantations and even a small market... Everything seems as small as children's toys from where he is, but they also look very full of life and happiness. He watches as ant-sized people travel through buildings, as smoke lazily float from chimneys and a clear river cuts the city in the middle without disturbing its perfection.

Kuroo called it a village and it doesn't seem like a wrong word, judging by how simple the houses down there look. There are more buildings in there than in any other village Daichi has ever visited, though, the territory expanding way farther than where his eyes reach.

"You didn't really think there was nothing out here, did you?" Kuroo asks, his grin always present. "A king needs a kingdom to rule."

"How?" Daichi asks, leaning agains the battlements in awe.

"Actually... This is one of my spells," Kuroo tells him proudly. "With some help from Shimizu-sama and the king, that is. Your people don't like magic very much, so we hide. Outsiders can't see or reach our kingdom unless one of ours shows it to them."

"I could see the castle," Daichi says.

"Because we spread rumors about a magic castle."

"There were legends about the demon king prior to that."

"Well, that was before I even met King Oikawa, so the spell didn't exist then."

"It's..." Daichi struggles to find the right word. All of the adjectives he knows seem wrong. He doesn't know how to start to describe the view in front of him. Everything about it is simple and humble, yet everything screams peacefulness and bliss. It's... Well, magic. "How big is your kingdom?"

"Gigantic. Of course, our spell doesn't cover all of it, just the capital. Most of our people have magic powers, though, so they have their own defenses."

Daichi stares some more, fascinated. Kuroo chuckles.

"Think you're going to enjoy your stay, Sawamura?"

He manages to tear his gaze away from the dream like village only to have the air punched out of his lungs again. Kuroo is smiling softly at him, obviously pleased with his reaction. He looks beautiful and dream like, too, so much it can't be anything but demonic magic. Daichi feels like he's following a path without return, selling his soul, when he says, "Yes. I think I will like to stay."

And he's smiling back.