#your promptober stuff has been great to see ^-^

[midnight-mourning]

DCA Promptober Day 9: Off-Limits

Had an idea in mind for this one, then @soupdweller pretty much solidified it for me with this piece of art. Hope you enjoy!

Word count: 1868

Content warning: non graphic depicitions of death, obsessive behavior if you squint really really hard, reader discresion is advised

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You wish you were taller. Maybe not super tall, and certainly not eight or nine feet tall, but a couple inches you think would be nice. A couple inches could potentially make you feel a bit less, small, in this situation. 

The Daycare Attendant looms over you, that cartoonish grin and dead eyes certainly not helping your nerve. You swallow. You were not going to let him intimidate you, you were not going to let him intimidate you-

"Friend."

"Sun," Your voice is more squeaky than you'd ever like it to be, you clear your throat, "Can I get past you, please?"

His rays click sharply to one side, "I'm afraid not. This area is off-limits."

"I, understand that, but it's also my job as a guard to check that everything is in order-"

He moves suddenly, bending down so that your faces are now inches apart, he tilts his head, "Off. Limits."

You have it in you to get a little annoyed then. You don't really know the Attendant all that well, and from what you've heard from other staff he's usually pretty friendly and even a bit, oblivious. 

This was not that. 

From the moment you'd met he'd been off-putting, a little creepy, and in a way, hostile to you and everything you did. You almost wondered if it was a work hours vs after hours thing, but whenever anyone else was around he had that chipper persona. It was just with you that there was a problem. 

"What's in there that's such an issue?" You ask, trying to peer around him, ignoring the way his 'pupils' seem to shift and watch you, "Last I checked the Plex doesn't have any big secrets. Not any that I as a guard wouldn't know about at least."

It's hard to tell what's back there, mainly because of the near blinding light coming from the doorway to contrast with the darkened space you're currently standing in. And from what you remember, it was all just storage space. One of the bigger ones to your understanding. Actually, how'd the Attendant even get over here? You don't remember there being another entrance to this location. And furthermore, why is he-

"That," He puts a hand on your shoulder, "Is not," You're shoved backward, "Your concern."

Okay, now you're irritated, "For the last time, this is my job. Last I checked, you're the Daycare Attendant, and I'm the security guard. So, you can either move out of my way, or I make you move."

Sun stands upright again, clasping his hands in front of him, "You can try."

"Why do you even care? Why are you even over here?" You point your finger at him now, "You know, you've been honestly kind of a jerk to me since I started, and I'm kind of sick of it. I've never done anything to you!"

A click. You continue. 

"I have tried to be nothing but kind and considerate, I don't stay in your space too long, I wave when I see you, I compliment your art and yet you've been nothing but cold, impassive, and downright rude."

The Attendant is stock still and frankly, you don't care.

"What did I do to deserve this, huh? What made you decide I was going to be the target of your just, straight vitriol toward me?" You throw your hands up, then slap them against your legs. 

Your breathing is heavy now. But at least you've said your peace. 

It's then that the bot laughs, not the reaction you were expecting. For some reason, it sends a chill down your spine.

He takes a step closer, then another. It gives you an idea as he once more bends down to your level. 

"What you've done?" Several rapid clicks of his rays turning to the right, "You want to know what you've done-"

You quickly sidestep him, darting inside, "Maybe some other time! Let's say after my patrol, how's that?"

He makes a loud sound then, which you take as merely mild frustration. Something that in hindsight, was a mistake on your part. You snickered, served him right. You were just trying to do your job.

The storage room was a lot bigger than you were expecting. Grander. Many aisles of boxes piled to the high ceiling on either side of you, along the backwall, and is that a connecting room behind? Geez, why is this area not patrolled more often? Seems like there's a lot of stuff to grab, regardless of there seeming to just be the one entrance. 

You think you've lost Sun, for now anyway. If he catches up to you again it's not like he can do anything except complain. The thought instantly peeves you. 

You're nearing one of the back corners of this front room now, deciding to radio back to the main office, "Hey, working on the last bit of my route, there a reason we don't check this storage room more routinely?"

"We don't.... manpower.... -eople have... -ssing. Wasn't supposed... -your route. -ou should probably-.... -here." Is the response you receive.

You frown, speaking into the device again, "Hey, you're cutting out super bad, could you repeat that?"

All you get is more garbled static as a response. You shrug it off. Must be a dead zone near this room. Annoying, but that's life.

There's a smell in here, you're realizing. And it's not dust, even though there's quite a lot of that. It's decay. 

And the closer you get to that back corner, the stronger is gets. 

Now, a normal person would say fuck it, and call a custodian to deal with whatever poor animal had gotten in here and died. And maybe on a different night, you would have done that. But for some reason, that wasn't the decision you were going to make for tonight.

You round the corner and find-nothing. Just some more boxes. But god that smell is strong now. You're getting ready to turn around and high tail it out of there, when you notice that there's something sticking out from the corner, between where the boxes on either wall collide. 

You don't need to get a closer look to confirm what it is, but you do. 

You can only stare on in complete and utter disbelief. 

Yup. That is indeed a shoe. Attached to a foot, attached to a dead body-a dead security guard's body-which you're 99% sure is what you were smelling. 

The surprising part of all this was exactly how many dead bodies were stuffed into that corner. All in various states of decay. 

"I warned you."

You jump, whipping around to find Sun staring at you. Somehow, the blank look in his eyes is more unreadable than ever before. You swear there's like, a shimmer to optics. Kind of, purplish. But your eyes are probably playing tricks on you.

Your instant reaction is to pray, but you think it's a little late for that. Your second reaction is to beg. 

Your voice wavers as you speak, hands up defensively, "Pl-please don't, don't, hurt me..."

"Hurt you? Oh no no no, sweet thing. I'd never want to hurt you," Sun tuts, his words have a softness you've never witnessed before, "I'll admit I haven't done the best job of showing it, but I do care."

In your shock of it all, you can just stand there, fear dissipating just slightly while blinking a few times, "Excuse me?"

He goes off on his own little tangent, starting to pace as he speaks more to himself than to you, "Believe me, coming to terms with the idea that you of all people would catch my interest wasn't, easy, but I think I've been dealing with it to the best of my ability," He turns to you, hands together, "And now, you've made this entire process that much simpler!"

"...Simpler how?" You're still processing the dead people thing; you aren't even comprehending the idea that Sun likes you. 

"Well, now we can so spend time catching you up to speed," Sun tilts his head, tone eerily cheering as his eyes lift into crescents, "You didn't think you could leave now, did you?"

You bolt.

You try to remember how you got back here, which ways to turn to get back to the front. Given you're kind of freaking out right now, it's not easy.

Sun's behind you, somewhere. Sure you can hear him; those bells were loud on top of the mechanical clinks and whirls his limbs emit as he follows after you. The problem is that he's eight feet tall and you can only run so damn fast. 

You find the entrance. The door's shut.

"Shit. Shit, come on," You fumble for your keycard, shaking hands swiping it through the card reader. 

"Access denied. Access denied. Access denied."

You hear Sun a few aisles over, "Ah, ah, ah. Leaving so soon? After you worked so hard to get in here?"

You curse under your breath as he continues.

"And really, to not bother to listen after I told you to stay is really, quite, rude," From the sounds of it, he's now where you just were, and seemed to be expecting you to still be trying to get out, having the gull to be annoyed about it, "Well there goes that dramatic reveal."

You don't know where you're running but you realize you're going to need to find a destination soon, because you're going to eventually run out of stamina. And Sun will not. 

A hiding place. You need a hiding place. 

"I put in a lot of effort to keep this from you, Starshine," Sun says to the empty space, "Spare you from this thing, that I've become."

There is nowhere to hide in here. It's just the same repeating rows over and over again. Could you maybe circle back? Start climbing? Just something-

"It's not a willing participation, you know. If you understood how this f̴͉̲̲̳̐̑̈́̍̀eė̴̘̽̋l̴͍̣͎̙͎̉̃ṣ̶̪̀, maybe you'd be a bit more sympathetic. Though I suppose that's a big ask."

You need to quiet your breathing, collect yourself a bit. Find another option.

You swallow, trying to calm down as you rest back against the cardboard. It sort of works. 

Until you become acutely aware of the fact that Sun is now silent. 

You strain your ears, eyes flicking back and forth to either end of the aisle. You're closer to the one on your left than the right, but you wonder if it'd be worth the risk to dash to the other side. 

Unfortunately, you don't get the chance.

You take a step away from the makeshift wall, only able to react after the fact as Sun comes from around the corner, the surprise of seeing him making your trip backwards as you spin to face him. 

He catches you, and you notice that the ribbons which usually wrap around his wrists are missing. He tricked you.

"Caught you friend~" He chuckles lightly at the joke. 

You can only look up at him with fear. His pupils are purple, you're sure of it now. He leans in, rays spinning. 

"Maybe next time you'll listen when I say something is off-limits."

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Since y'all liked reading the notes I write for Confused Spirit, here's the one I wrote for this lmao:

You can read the others here, sorry for being late with this! As you can see, she was a biggin'. Thanks for reading!

[imnotasuperhero]

Turn your sadness into a rainbow.

Wanda Maximoff x Reader.

Summary: When your daughter is feeling down, you make it your mission to cheer her up. And if it's with the help of your wife, much better.

A/N: THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SIMPLE DRABBLE! But once again, my muses came up with the extended version. So here you have day 3 of Promptober. Hope you enjoy this quick fic.

-

The closing of the front door had you looking up from your task at hand, sending Wanda a sheepish smile.

"Hello, my love," you greeted her as you extended your arms, waiting.

"Someone is way too happy at… 6:30 am," the brunette raised her sculpted eyebrow as she wrapped her arms around you. "What are you plotting?"

Allowing her to take a look at the scattered colored crayons and the unfinished project in front of you, you leaned against her side, sighing softly. "Ailin was feeling sad last night because you had to rush to work, so I thought about cheering her up." You smiled at the kiss on your cheek.

"What are we working on?" You could hear the confusion in her voice.

"Remember how back in elementary school we did the black painted sheet that showed different colors when you scrapped at it?"

"Sometimes I think you're too good to be true, even if I have no idea your way of thinking." Wanda smiled softly as she grabbed a yellow crayon and started to doodle on the white sheet.

"Just wait and see."

After a few more minutes, you both inspected the work of art and decided it was adequate for a 5-year-old before you covered the colorful drawings in black.

"I was thinking," Wanda broke the comfortable silence as you shared a cup of tea before the chaos of the day busied your day. "We could ask for Nat's cabin? I think it'll be good for the three of us to reconnect as a family?"

Hearing the guilt in Wanda's voice, you couldn't help frowning. "Don't get me wrong, I love the idea. But what's wrong?" You placed the empty cup down before moving to Wanda's chair, straddling her lap.

Sighing, she placed her arms around your waist. "I feel like I'm missing out on her life," the woman blinked rapidly twice, thrice, before she cleared her throat. "And once she knows about the baby," the tear rolling down Wanda's cheek had your thumb brushing it away with a softness you only held for your girls. "And the fact you have to take care-"

Cupping her face, you kissed her wet eyes before you smiled calmly. "She might be young, but she knows how much her mommy loves her, Wands." The pad of your thumbs caressed her wet cheeks. "She understands sometimes her mommy has to be a superhero," you patted yourself at Wanda's small smile.

"Being a doctor has been your dream since I've known you. And I know being a mom has been a challenge. But if you feeling fulfilled means I gotta hold the fort while you're away fighting diseases, then so be it. I make sure Ailin doesn't miss you that much," you winked, pulling a soft chuckle out of her.

The connection between your eyes had you shivering from the intensity of her gaze. But before you could get lost in that oh, so beautiful forest, Wanda hugged you with a force that only served to both; squeeze your heart and fill your lungs. "I couldn't do life without you," she spoke against your neck.

"Ehh… I'm having the bling-bling stuff," you laughed heartily when Wanda pinched your side. "I'm serious. We knew the possibilities and we're doing a great job at handling it."

"I love you, Detka," Wanda vowed softly and you felt as if a heating blanket was placed over your soul.

Before you could respond, the noises coming from the baby monitor on the table had you kissing her lips chastely. "Your baby needs you," you stood up turning off the walkie-talkie, smiling softly as Wanda went to your daughter's room to have a private bonding time.

A few minutes had passed when you heard giggles coming from the hallway, becoming louder and louder the closer your family got.

"Good morning, sunshine," you kissed your daughter's cheek soundly, accepting her hug.

"Mommy is here," her big green eyes shone with a light you'd never get tired of witnessing.

"I told you she'd be back. And she brought you something," you ignored Wanda's confused stare.

"What is it?" The small girl wiggled to be placed on the floor only to start an impromptu treasure hunt.

"Cold," you giggled when she reached for Wanda's bag.

You allowed her to wander for a few moments as you turned to Wanda, wrapping your arms around her neck. "You do the giving, I do the talking," you kissed her nose.

"You'll have dessert tonight." She pecked your lips before she grabbed your hand along the dried black sheet.

"What's this?" Ailin's confused brow inspected the dark paper, looking at you for an explanation after a few seconds.

"Remember what we talked about last night?" You took a dime out of the pocket of your sweatpants. At her nod, you continued. "Mommy wanted to show you a magic trick," you winked before turning to Wanda, who inhaled deeply before taking the coin out of your grip.

"Momma tells me all about you, you know?"

"Even when I'm not nice?" The fear in her features had you biting your laugh.

"Even then," Wanda chuckled softly. "But she also tells me when you feel sad, so I can make sure I can change that when I'm back," your wife patiently explained the knotted words in her mind.

"You see this black paper?" At the girl's nod, Wanda handed her the coin. "Scrap it off," she instructed, and Ailin obeyed her mom's instructions.

But nothing could have prepared you for the reaction you received.

"COLORS!" The toothy smile reflected the mirth she felt as she kept scrapping the sheet, uncovering the doodles you and Wanda had drawn before. "Mommy, look! There are colors!" She turned to your wife, who had unshed tears in her soft eyes.

"There are a lot of colors," she smiled and you felt alienated enough to interfere in such a delicate moment, so you just observed the scene unfold in front of you with warmth filling your insides.

But at Wanda's inability to keep speaking without crying, you took charge of the situation, squeezing her hand in support.

"That magic happens all the time, munchkin." You placed a hand on your daughter's shoulder, giggling when she extended her arms for you to pick her up.

"Whenever you feel sad, make sure you look for something colorful and you'll feel better,"

"Any color?" The kid asked interested.

"Any color you see. Let the comfort protect you from the sadness." you saw how your daughter processed the information she's just got.

"Can I see colors in people?" At her words, you exchanged a look with Wanda, who was equally confused as you.

"I suppose that's possible, yes."

"Okay, because I think of green when I see you."

"Oh, yes?" you tilted your head intrigued by her thinking, but saved it for another time. "And what color is Mommy?"

Ailin's eyes shifted from you to the woman sitting beside you as she pursed her lips, inspecting her mother for a moment.

"Mommy is orange!" She smiled cheekily.

It was Wanda's turn to tilt her head, curiosity written all over her face. "Why orange?"

"Because your hugs are warm like the fire," she explained nonchalantly and you felt your heart somersault Wanda's expression. So full of pure love and amazement.

"I love you, my baby." She took Ailin off your lap, holding her tight against her chest.

"I love you too, mommy."

Leaning down against the back of the couch, you basked in the realization that no matter how busy Wanda got, she would always have time for your daughter and that no matter what, the bond they shared was something unbreakable.

But it wasn't until later that day, when you were on your way back from the store, that your daughter healed the cracks in your heart once again.

"Mom, look!" The girl ran towards a pile of fallen leaves. "Can I bring it to mommy?" She showed you the orange leaf in her small hands, and you felt your heart grow ten times.

"She would love that," you smiled softly, making a mental note to have some tissues at hand when you had to comfort Wanda from her intensified emotions tonight.

It was right then, right there, that you made it your mission to shield them from the cruelty of life. Now more than ever, you made sure Ailin would always have her rainbow to fight her darkness.

Taglist: @wandabear @red1culous @xxxtwilightaxelxxx (If you want to be tagged in all of October's stories or just all my stories in general, let me know!)

[caseofthestolenspecs]

Promptober Day 25: Birthday

(For @miluette‘s Promptober!) (Happy birthday to a sweet special someone who has burrowed his way into my heart as my favourite character of all time. I hope he likes this Promnis-flavoured birthday cake in the form of a fic, and that you do too! <3)

Prompto wasn’t sure what came over him that morning. As he sat there on his Coleman’s chair by the remains of last night’s fire, the embers snapping and popping by his feet, he stared over at the nearby food prep table. For some reason, he was filled with the insatiable urge to touch something he knew he shouldn’t, to flip through the pages of what could possibly be the equivalent to a certain someone’s personal diary.

Ignis’ recipe book.

There it sat on the food prep table. Like a priceless golden idol on a pedestal, it called to Prompto, begging him to touch it, daring him to flip through it. What would be the harm? It was just a recipe book, right? Ignis was off at the nearby lake on laundry duty with Gladio, and Noct was off fishing, meaning everyone would be occupied for a while. The moment was perfect. It was like someone had wrapped this opportunity up like a conveniently boxed present and dropped it into his hands, complete with a shiny, glittery ribbon weaved with temptation.

And yet, his conscience reprimanded him for the very thought, arguing with him in his head.

Don’t touch it, Prompto.

It’s just a recipe book!

Yeah, but you know how protective Ignis is over his stuff!

C’mon, one little peek won’t hurt. It’s just. A. Recipe. Book.

Yeah, a book that still isn’t yours? Don’t do it!

“Hey, Prompto,” the book said in a deep voice, “Fancy a look-see at my sweet, sweet content?”

Oh, great. Now the damn book itself was taunting him. It radiated an aura, as if it were some kind of mystical tome of power from an RPG, just waiting for someone of a high enough level to stumble upon it and discover the magic within its pages.

Oh, no. Now it was even more tempting.

Before he could stop himself, there it was, in his hands, and he was back in his chair.

Crap.

Well, now that it was here in his possession, he may as well just do it. Just a peek. It would be quick. Ignis would never know. Right? What was he so protective over, anyway? It wasn’t like it was a big secret that the man copied recipes out of books in the marketplace, or that he analyzed a cook’s dish until he was able to pinpoint every single ingredient so he could replicate it himself later. It wasn’t like the book contained patents that he could copyright to his own name. Right?

So what was one little peek?

Prompto swallowed his conscience in favor of exploring the book. He opened it carefully, thumbing through the pages slowly as his eyes passed over the words written on each page. Ignis’ writing was neat and legible. Even the entries that looked written in haste were damn near font-worthy. How was that fair? Maybe that was why he didn’t want anyone to see his book. The scandal of his secret double life of being a font designer would be exposed to the world.

Looking at all the recipes was a little like taking a trip down memory lane. In some ways, it was like Ignis’ scrapbook. He’d written down the names of the places where he’d learned the recipe, and if he knew the name of the original chef, he’d written it down in a little box at the bottom of the page. Prompto recognized most of the dish names and every single one of them had been delicious, even the ones that he had been apprehensive about at first. No wonder Ignis was so meticulous when it came to writing down a recipe - it was to ensure a perfect replication. And he always succeeded.

Oh, hey, he especially remembered this recipe in particular. ‘Carp of the Diem’. Gladio hadn’t been able to stop singing its praises the first time they’d had it. Prompto smiled as he remembered that night. That was a good night. Good food, good company. As he studied the page a little closer, he realized that there was something different about it that he hadn’t noticed until now.

There was a “G” written in the top right-hand corner.

“G” for what?

Wait.

“G”… for Gladio?

Oh. It wasn’t coincidental. As he continued sifting through the book, he discovered that more pages were labeled, each one matching a dish that he knew that person was fond of. “G” for Gladio, “N” for Noct, and even “P” for Prompto.

Ignis had been keeping track of all of their favourite foods.

It was actually really heartwarming. Ignis… he really cared about everyone, huh? If he didn’t, then why would he even bother taking notes like that? Not that Prompto had any doubt in his mind that Ignis was their friend, it was just… nice to see him express it, in his own little way. He knew it couldn’t have been a coincidence when their favourite meals would start popping up more frequently, especially if one person in particular had had a rough day or something.

Now that he had noticed this detail, he flipped back to some of the previous pages to check them out, see where else the letters appeared. And in doing so, he noticed one more little detail: all of the “P” pages had a double underline under the letter. Huh. Was there a reason? Prompto didn’t dwell on it for very long, though, as he was far more interested in the fact that there was a severe lack of “I” pages.

Odd. Did Ignis not have a favourite?

No, he definitely did. And besides, it was his book. Why would he label anything as ‘I’? Ignis didn’t speak in third person. Oh, but wait--- this page had a star in the top corner. Could this one be Ignis’ favourite? No… no way. It only had two ingredients! But then again, he remembered the small hint of a smile Ignis had had on his face the last time they’d stopped by The Crow’s Nest. What had he ordered? A Kenny’s Original?

Oh. Look. This was definitely the recipe he had written down that day. It matched. Prompto smiled. Ignis was a man of simple tastes, he’d learned.

Prompto continued browsing. The next “P” page was for spicy curry. Damn right he’d loved that one. He’d made sure to compliment the chef many, many times that night. Best damn meal he’d ever had, actually. Ignis seemed pleased that he’d made a hit, and Prompto remembered how handsome Ignis had looked sitting by the fire that night.

The book was an ongoing work in progress. But despite Ignis adding to it all the time, the man had somehow managed to keep it organized, even going so far as to make a tab system to separate the sections. Dessert had its own section, and beyond that was a tab that was unlabeled. Huh. What could this be?

Beyond the unlabeled page wasn’t recipes, but rather hastily written notes. Some that were nonsensical to Prompto, but probably made at least some sense to Ignis. Others were notes that Ignis had written about everyone. Little things like 'Gladio best enjoys his Cup Noodle at a temperature of exactly 100 degrees', 'Beans off the menu for Noct, but had successfully served them in a pureed form mixed in ground meat for added nutritional value'. Heh. Oh, man. If Noct knew, he’d flip. Prompto smirked at the forbidden knowledge he’d just gained.

The miscellaneous tabbed section turned out to be kind of interesting, when it made sense. More similar notes about food and everyone’s preferences. Other random comments regarding how to prep some ingredients and the like. Notes about daemon’s weak points. Then, hidden among the tidbits of knowledge a few pages later, he came across one note that stood out from the rest.

'October 25th'.

That was all it said. It looked like it had been written over a few times, as if it were an attempt to make it look bolded. It was also underlined, like, five times.

Prompto's heart nearly leapt out of his chest. Normally he'd pay no attention to a random date, but... that was... That was…

His birthday.

October 25th was his birthday.

But why?

Why was his birthday written down, and in such a way to make it stand out? There was no way all that extra detailing wasn’t done on purpose.

Oh… oh shit.

Tomorrow… happened to be his birthday.

Was… Ignis planning something?

Suddenly, he became aware of just how much mystic power the recipe book he held in his hands possessed. He’d been right. It really was a powerful tome of mystery, filled to the brim with secrets and sorcery. The double underlined “P”. The birthday note.

Did… did Ignis...

Prompto turned bright red as a hundred different emotions and thoughts hit him all at once, weighing down on him like a blanket heavy with retained water. Feeling more than just slightly overwhelmed, he clapped the book shut, quickly scrambling back over to the table to return it to its rightful place, nearly tripping over his own feet twice in the process.

There. The golden idol had been returned to its pedestal.

Prompto’s heart was racing.

The wait for tomorrow was going to be brutal.

And it was.

The following day was awesome, though. Everyone said happy birthday to him right away. Gladio, unfortunately, insisted on giving him ‘birthday bumps’ as a gift before he slipped him a gift card to use toward music downloads. Noctis gave him a new case for his camera. Ignis gave him a sweater, a nice and cozy one at that, and even if Gladio and Noct teased him for his gift choice, Prompto thought it was great. He got chilly sometimes, so the heavier top was definitely needed. It was really thoughtful. Had Ignis noticed him shiver a little when it got dark?

In that moment, he learned that Ignis had paid him far more attention than Prompto had originally thought.

The rest of the day was normal, only now Prompto couldn’t stop thinking about Ignis.

Ignis Scientia.

Prompto had always been fond of him. As it turned out, the man was really kind and had an awesome sense of humour, to boot. To Prompto’s surprise, they actually had a lot in common, and there would be times when they would stay up later than the other guys and have long conversations before finally heading to bed. They even listened to some of the same music.

Somewhere along the way… Prompto had gained a little bit of a crush on him. Now, that crush was making itself painfully obvious, his heart aching something fierce while butterflies fluttered in the pit of his stomach every single time he looked at him. And for what? An assumption he’d made while sneaking a look at Ignis’ recipe book?

No.. he’d liked him this whole time. He knew this. Ever since they first met, Prompto had felt a little funny around him. But now, there was a chance that Ignis liked him in return. And it made all the difference in the world.

Later, it was finally time for dinner. Prompto pretended to be really invested in his cell phone as he sat by the fire, trying not to look Ignis’ way at all since they’d returned from their day’s hunts. Ignis was cooking, and when Prompto glanced up he noticed that the others were nowhere to be found. Huh.

“Prompto, could you come here for a moment?” came Ignis’ voice.

Prompto’s heart stopped.

Well. Here goes nothing.

There he was. Ignis, standing beside his cooking table. Spicy curry, served on two plates. Noct and Gladio were still MIA. He’d been kind of mad at them for apparently ditching on his birthday, but now he understood. Something was happening. Something... special.

Something about Ignis was different tonight. Maybe his shirt had been ironed with more care than usual, or maybe it was his hair that was styled just right. Even his suspenders seemed like they were perfectly placed in the middle of his shoulders, his shirt collar perfectly folded. Prompto wasn’t sure if he was just imagining things, but… Ignis just… looked ten times more handsome than usual right now.

Before Ignis could say anything else, Prompto spoke, interrupting his train of thought.

“Sorry, this is incredible and all, but I have to confess something before I go nuts,” he said quickly.

Ignis blinked, taken aback. “Very well… what is it, Prompto?” he asked.

Prompto took in a slow breath, bracing himself for a potential disaster. “I… peeked in your recipe book yesterday,” he admitted, eyes downcast. He really did feel bad about it, now. Not only was the book kinda personal, he’d accidentally ruined a surprise. Sort of. It still managed to be a surprise.

Ignis seemed to relax a little. “Ah. I see. And how was that for you?” he asked casually.

“It was, uh, enlightening,” Prompto replied. Good. Ignis didn’t seem mad at him. Or was he? Sometimes Prompto couldn’t tell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to touch your stuff. Won’t do it again.”

“It’s quite all right, Prompto. I appreciate your honesty.” Ignis smiled at him, shifting his weight to his opposite foot. Looking handsome. As always.

Well, that was a relief. Only now, there was silence, and a whole lot of it.

Oh, Gods. What sort of mess had he gotten himself into? Now things were awkward, and… it was just the two of them, standing there, in front of a meal that Ignis had clearly cooked for him and only him--- well no, obviously it was for both him and Ignis since there were two plates instead of one, or four, but---

He remembered those underlined “P”’s and that super underlined “October 25th”.

He just… he just had to know.

“I’ve.. got another question for you, too.” Prompto’s heart was racing again. It was practically screaming at him, longing to burst from his chest so it could be in Ignis’ hands instead. Where it belonged.

“What is it, Prompto?” Ignis asked softly.

It was a long moment before Prompto spoke again. “How long has it been?” he asked in a small voice.

“...I beg your pardon?” was Ignis’ reply.

Prompto took another deep breath before he continued. “That you’ve liked me.”

Prompto saw Ignis’ Adam’s Apple twitch, just a little, as the man cleared his throat. He saw a hint of his usual calm composure cracking for a split second. Had he been right?

But Ignis… wasn’t replying. Nerves were on the rise.

“It’s... ah… been quite some time,” Ignis said at last. It was like the man had shrunk right then, his proper posture deflating somewhat.

“How long, Ignis?” Prompto urged.

Ignis took a short breath. “...four years,” he uttered.

Prompto stopped breathing. He felt dizzy. Four years… wait, but that meant… “Dude, but that’s… how long you’ve known me?” he said slowly, hoping his voice wasn’t cracking from the nerves constricting his throat.

Ignis cleared his throat again, adjusted his glasses that didn’t need adjustment and pulled at the cuff of one of his gloves. “Yes. That’s right,” he replied hurriedly.

Ignis… was nervous. Clearly. Prompto had never seen him act like this before. Well, he himself was nervous, too, so at the very least they had yet another thing in common.

Was Ignis’ heart also screaming?

Before Prompto could reply, Ignis stepped closer to the table. “Happy birthday, Prompto,” he said gently, lifting up one of the plates and holding it out to him.

“...my favourite,” Prompto murmured, smiling shyly. He trembled, but despite he managed to take the plate from Ignis without dropping it. Yet. “But you knew that, right?”

“Correct.” Ignis picked up the other plate.

“It was one of the ‘P’ recipes,” Prompto added.

Ignis chuckled. “Also correct.”

“You… remembered my birthday.” Prompto glanced up, meeting Ignis’ gaze.

“Of course I did, Prompto. I made sure I couldn’t ever forget. After all, it’s a very important day,” the man articulated.

Prompto wanted to cry.

“....four years,” Prompto whispered.

“Pardon?”

“...It’s been... four years. Since, I, uh…” Prompto fidgeted with his pocket chain, using his free hand. “Since I knew I liked you, too. Four years… and neither of us knew… that the other had felt the same… the entire time. Heh.”

Ignis set his plate back down on the table, stepping closer to the other. “So it would seem,” he replied. His tone was warm. Loving. And so was his hand in Prompto’s hair, gently coaxing the other to step closer to himself.

Prompto’s heart was halfway through his ribcage now.

“I…” Prompto tried to say something. Anything. Anything at all. But all he drew were blanks. He nearly dropped his plate right then, scrambling to get it back over to the table before he could. “Crap.”

“It’s all right. The curry is safe from the jitters,” Ignis mused. “Can’t quite say the same about you, though. Are you all right, Prompto?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I’m better than fine. I’m just… really happy,” Prompto admitted. He took a deep, slow breath, trying his best not to ruin the moment any more than he already had. “Ignis… thank you so much for this. For dinner. For… everything. For always being there for me, for watching out for me this whole time. For taking the time to chat with me, even if it was about something unimportant, or just... silly. For... forgiving me for snooping in your cookbook,” Prompto added with a laugh. “And... thank you. For… caring… about me.”

Ignis listened, stepping closer to him as he did so. “You are very welcome. It was my pleasure.” The man watched Prompto for a moment. Ignis looked content. Calm. Prompto could see himself in the reflection of his glasses, wishing he could see Ignis’ gorgeous green eyes instead. Ignis slid his hand away from his hair before he continued.

“Happy birthday, Prompto,” Ignis repeated. Then, Prompto felt a pair of deft hands on his waist, and the space between them closed as Ignis embraced him. Prompto’s night-air-kissed skin warmed, then, and he swore it became harder to breathe. Their screaming hearts escaped their chests at last and met halfway, beating as one from that point on.

[cyndecreativity]

*pulls out the 71+page Word document and adjusts glasses* Let’s see here...

In all seriousness, I tried to do NaNoWriMo 2 years ago to follow the advice that if you just do the thing you’ll find all the problems and cracks that you need to fill, and then I spent the next couple years working on the outline, worldbuilding, and researching technique and other stuff when I felt like it.

I have a Powerpoint that I’m using as a World Bible, then the huge Word document as the receptacle for the outlines of all the books for the series. I’m trying to focus on the first book only, like I did a couple years ago, but at least I have a better hold on the world and the plot I want.

Mystery in Tauri is the working title for now and I’ve made a post about it before, but these last couple months have been somethin’ else, lemme tell you, so I haven’t really been working on it.

There’s magic and several different races of people, all modeled after the Western Zodiac. Tristan is a Taurus and the Taurus have bovine horns. Alden is a Scorpio so he has a scorpion tail, etc.

Tristan’s town has been experiencing some weirdness lately but everyone just follows what the Mayor tells them because he knows best or whatever. But his daughter wants to prepare herself for the inevitability that she will be the next Mayor so she starts organizing to help one of her classmates after his father gets injured a disappears. This leads to them uncovering some sinister shit, being captured and almost experimented on, and then a big confrontation involving the whole town and monsters. Also Alden is here and he ends up being very important to the resolution.

But, that’s just a very short, informal breakdown of the plot of the first book. That I will be working on for NaNo.

Hopefully I’ll actually be able to finish it.

As for October, I’ll be doing what I call Promptober to get ready, where I pull 3 different prompt lists, moosh them together, and then write something with the new triple prompt. Last year I somehow managed to do it and I had a great time, so I thought I’d do it again.

What about yours? Do you have one?

Preptober is still a day away but I'm JAZZED I simply cannot wait

Tell me about your projects!!!

[midnight-mourning]

I'm back! (for the most part)

Hello, hope everyone is doing alright, needed a few more days than I expected. BUT, here now and slowly working on being more active. May take me a bit but plan to get caught up with everything and the likes. Going to release promptobers throughout the next couple of days, along with anything else I'm currently working on. Expect some updates on the oneshot, ch. 35 and so on as well ^-^ Thank you all for your paitence and hope to be back to regularly posting soon!

some medical/mental stuff below the cut if you're curious, I was going to save this for the ch. 35 note, but figured I might as well just say it now as it's part of the reason my return was delayed

SO, haven't really spoken on it but I've had a sinus infection for about two months now and gonna be so fr with you all, it's sucked. Like, i've never had one this bad before and it just totally knocked me on my ass. I've been tired, dazed/brain fog, some bad headaches/face pain, all the really fun stuff. I made the joke that I spent like two days of being 23 healthy and the rest of the time I've been sick lmao

But anyway, I kept waiting to see if it would clear up on it's own (and for like a week or so there my health insurance was messed up so there was that to deal with) and it just, didn't. And with everything going on with research (esp this past week) I just made myself tough through it hoping it would get better, and it didn't. So, finally went to the doctor and got on some meds and I'm feeling a LOT better.

The point to all this is to say, I've had no motivation to write beyond very small bursts and thus why I've been putting out promptobers but not the latest chapter of CS. My energy has just been super low, and I had a lot of brain fog for several weeks and I just, couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe it was a little bit of writer's block from stress too, not super sure

I took the break mainly bc things with research just got, really shitty for a few days there and I just needed time away from everything for bit esp with the sickness issues. Thankfully, things are working out a bit better this week people-wise and hopefully we'll continue to go up from here.

As for why I was gone the few extra days, the stuff they put me on made me feel physically great, but it also made me feel like doing absolutely nothing for a day or so. But, figured out the timing for those so now it's manageable to get through the next week and hopefully I'll be fully back to normal by then ^_^

TL;DR if you can go to the doctor when you're sick, go. It is NOT worth the discomfort, stress, etc to not. Also, take a break when you're stressed, does wonders for your mental health

well, since you took the time to read all of this, enjoy these pictures of a cat that showed up at my parents place a few days ago. She’s a bengal! Which makes her the second stray that's shown up that is incredibly rare/bred to look like that (the first is Nubs, my idiot who eats everything if any of you recall). Not to worry, she went home to (hopefully) her forever family early yesterday :)