#I made some valentine's card of my OCs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

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!*~Valentine's Times~*! pt 3

A/N: Here's the last half of the dorms! More world-building! Hope you enjoy it! The final part will be uploaded later on tonight, Happy Valentine's Day! Word Count: 7.9 (The Brick) Warnings: She/They Pronouns OC, Gets mildly spicy, swearing (Ortho gets ONE SWEAR) Pairings: Established poly (Yuu/Azul/Jamil/Malleus), Alluded Rook/Vil, Fake past relationship Rook/Yuu, Alluded Cater/Idia L (NRC Staff ft OCs). O (Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Octavinelle). V (Here). E (Crack)

V is very, very extraordinary...

~SCARABIA~

The desert dorm was hot. But compared to the still nippy weather of the campus, Yuu welcomed the hot sun. Walking into the dorm's lounge area, Yuu looked at what could only be called ‘Craft Heaven’ or ‘Neat-Freak Hell’.

Construction paper, hot glue, and glitter were everywhere. No surface was seemingly uncovered by either paper scraps or stray blobs of paint. They just barely avoid stepping into the path of splattered yellow paint, eyes glaring at the half-apologetic student.

Things had nearly escalated before a pair of arms wrapped around their waist, picking them up and spinning them around as a joyful voice rang out.

“Yuu! I didn't know you were coming over!” Kalim laughs, taking care to place his friend in a cleaner area after taking note of their pretty white boots, “If I had known you were coming I'd have your Valentine ready to give to you! I just finished it so it's still wet…”

Yuu smiles, “Aw! You made me a Valentine? Kalim, you know I'm a taken harlot~.”

He laughs, hands proudly on his hips, “And you know I'm not looking! But! You are one of my dearest friends. It'd be wrong to not give you something on the day of love!”

Sniffling, Yuu wipes an imaginary tear from their cheek, “Kalim, you are my shining star.”

Once the two had calmed their respective vibes, Yuu gestured around the dorm, “So, is this like a side hustle Scarabia has or is there a holiday tradition I'm missing?”

Kalim makes a questioning noise, then looks around the dorm before shaking his head and laughing, “OH! Naw. Lilia was pouting the other day about how he doesn't get ‘adorable’ homemade Valentine's Day cards anymore. So I had planned on gifting one to him and Cater at the exchange tonight. But then I wanted to make one for Jamil, then I couldn't leave you out of course, and then I had to make one for Azul, Malleus. The list just kinda grew!”

He gestures around to the other Scarabia members, only now did Yuu realize some weren't actually Scarabia students, “Everyone else saw me making them and wanted to join. So, we're having a last-minute craft party!” They both wince at seeing a spray of paint and glitter go flying through the air, “Yeah…Jamil’s in the kitchen making lunch for everyone. I'm in charge of cleaning this up before we leave for the exchange.”

“Well, Kalim I'm gonna make that harder for you, while also giving you a little treat.”

“Oh!?...” Kalim squints his eyes, brain catching the first part of Yuu's statement, “Wait, make this harder how? I'm happy for the treat but I don't want to make this even harder to clean up!”

“Gonna ignore the concern in your voice and give you the treat first. It's chocolate!”

Yuu pulls out a bag tied closed with white and burgundy ribbons. Inside were multiple colored gems, each glittering in the light through the plastic. He takes the bag, eyeing the gems with a focused stare. Only when he brought the bag closer did he fully see the ‘gems’ were simply chocolates luster-dusted in bright colors. He laughs, pulling a chocolate out to hold in the light.

“Ah! Clarity is bad, but the cut is very pleasing…”

“You are not evaluating my chocolate right now.”

“The colors are also pretty! Good saturation, a very pure hue…” Kalim brings the sweet to his mouth, eyes widening when he bites down to discover they were filled, “Oh! Coconut cream! Forget the grading, these are perfect!”

Yuu folded their arms, a smile winning the fight they put up to frown, “Okay, so with the grade they were bad, huh? You know what? Here.” They reach into their bag, pulling out a purple velvet bag with golden drawstrings, “That's for you.”

Kalim looked at the bag, opening it and raising an eyebrow as he stuck his hand inside, “What'd you get me-...” he pulled out his completely gold-coated hand, staring at it before he realized what he had in his possession, “Yuu, did you give me a bag of gold dust?”

“Ye.”

“...” Kalim giggles, lightly bouncing on his heels as his eyes searched around the dorm, “Midas! Miiiiiiiidas~!” With his target seemingly found, Kalim raced off into the crowd of people, bag of luster dust and chocolates in firm hand.

Yuu wipes their hands of imaginary dust, turning on their heel and heading toward the kitchen. A part of them almost felt bad, the area near the kitchen was completely empty. Jamil must have been in Heaven, cooking in blissful solitude…

Jamil jumps hearing the doors of the kitchen swing open and slam against the wall, shoulders moving up to his ears only to feel every ounce of strength to tense leave his body at his date-mate's voice.

“Hi, Jamil~.”

They both stand in silence, Jamil still facing the stove before he sighed. Looking at them from the corner of his eye he mumbled out, untrusting that they appeared for a simple visit, “Hello.”

“Wow, Jamil. I can feel the love we share for one another pouring out of your fucking pores from here.”

Jamil sighs again, rolling his eyes so hard his head followed the movement, “Alright, let me try again…” He turns to Yuu fully, fluttering his eyelashes as he copied their earlier tone, “Hi, Yuu~.” he drops the flirty tone, raising an eyebrow, “Was that better?”

Yuu smiles, wrapping their arms around Jamil’s neck as they press against him, “Very.” A kiss, short and sweet as they let Jamil gently nudge them away from the stove.

Jamil subtly licked his lips, shoving Yuu lightly to one of the stools at the massive island, “Don't stand too close. You're in light colors and it'd do no good to get oil on yourself.” He goes back to tending the dish, flipping the meat by simply flicking his wrist, “If you came for lunch, it'll be at max an hour to wait.”

“What if I came to give you Valentine’s Day gifts instead?”

The look Jamil threw over his shoulder was disrespectful to the point Yuu hoped their future children would call Jamil out on it. They gasped, offended and miming they closed a coat around their body as they put on a thick accent, “Why I never! I came in here, alone, without a care in the world to give my loving boyfriend some chocolate I slaved over! And this is the thanks I get? Suspected of crimes that I would totally commit, but didn't?

“...” Jamil turned off the burner, grabbing a dishrag and cleaning off his hands in silence. He walks toward Yuu, hands quickly grabbing their hips when they try to step away from him. With a tired smile, he simply tilted his head to the side, “I love you. Have I ever told you that?”

“Don't sound so defeated when you say it. God, you make it sound like I wore you down!” They could barely contain their laughter, arms wrapping around his waist in a hug.

“That's because you did, you beat every ounce of fight out of me. Now, what did you bring me?”

Yuu had a hybrid of a pout and a smile on their face. Looking at Jamil’s tired expression before pulling out his bag of sweets, “I brought you chocolates. And they’re spicy, because I thought you would like that.”

Jamil holds the bag in his hand eyeing it passively. Tied off with burgundy and black ribbons, the chocolates inside were dark and shaped like gems. The edges of the chocolates painted with gold luster dust, burgundy and gold chocolate pearls scattered within the bag. The promised flavorings of dark chocolate and the Sriracha paste he had helped them make was a welcomed retreat he looked forward to.

He smiles, placing the chocolates on the counter and pulling Yuu fully into his embrace, “Thank you. Now sit down and do nothing.”

“I have another gift!”

The sigh Jamil let out was loud, giving his smiling date-mate a playful glare, “Yuu. My love. My hayati…I will not tolerate your bullshit today. If you cause trouble when my plate's full as it is, I will spank you.”

“Don't threaten me with a good time. But, no. You'll like this present, I swear.” They reach into their tote, pulling out what looked like a thick checkbook and holding it out to Jamil.

He raises an eyebrow, taking the booklet in hand and reading the dull red cover. “Jamil’s Cheat Checks” was on the front in gold script, flipping it open showed what seemed to be legitimate checks. The illusion was broken as the amount was pre-written as ‘Shut up and do as I say.’ He chuckles, checking each ticket to confirm they all said the same thing, “What is this?”

“Checks that when handed to me will make me stop all manner of shenanigans, hijinks, and/or funny hahas.”

“Wow. Even your funny hahas? The power you've bestowed upon me.” Jamil tucks the checkbook into the waist of his apron and presses another kiss to Yuu's lips, nodding his head toward the island before turning back to the stove, “Now sit. Food will be done in about 45 minutes and you can help me bring it out.”

“Yeah, yeah. I will do as asked and not spread my joyous presence to the masses.” Yuu sat on the other side of the island, resting their cheek on their hand as they smiled dreamily at Jamil, “I'll just sit here and daydream~.”

Jamil raises an eyebrow but goes back to prepping the food. But, the silence was short-lived, Yuu lasting at most a minute before they started to mimic the sound of a phone ringing. Jamil paid them no mind, focusing on getting another dish prepared for its final roast in one of the dorm's many ovens. He does look from the corner of his eyes as Yuu started to speak out loud, just to see if they actually were on the phone.

Yuu's phone screen was black. Held in a way that it looked like they were talking, but made it easy to see the blank screen, “Yeah? No, I'm with Jamil. Yeah…I know.” They smiled at him, clearly catching him glancing at them, “He's so cute right?”

His eyes quickly turned back to the pan, a blush slowly growing worse and worse the longer Yuu ‘talked on the phone’

“I know right? Like, dude, how are you so handsome, talented, and intelligent? Can you be any more perfect?” Yuu internally cooed, watching Jamil’s shoulders raise higher and higher as the tips of his ears darkened with his blush.

“I can not wait to male wife him the fuck up.” The sound of Jamil’s accessories jingling as his head snapped around to glare at them was almost enough to make Yuu break, but they kept going.

Jamil knew they were doing this because he was focused on cooking. He could see their phone, they weren't even holding it right. Yuu was simply waxing poetic behind his back because there was a whole island between them. His mind drifts to the tickets tucked against his hips and a part of him huffed in mild annoyance. They would make him use his present the second they gifted it to him.

Yuu watches Jamil grow more and more fidgety, listing off all the things they ‘had planned’ for when they were bound in holy matrimony. Romantic dates, quiet nights at home in each other's embrace, moments of passion. It was hard keeping the laugh out of their voice watching Jamil’s steadily quickening movements to place the crafted dish into the oven.

“Yeah. I just can't wait to be barefoot and pregnant-” they hear the hasty sound of an oven door slamming shut and ripping paper, “Hold on. I think Jamil wants something.” They place their phone down, turning to smile at Jamil, “Yeah, babes?”

Jamil held out one of the checks, glaring across the island with his cheeks flared, “You say that shit behind closed bedroom doors, not in the kitchen where anyone can hear it!”

Yuu sat patiently, blinking once before they pointed to the ticket, “You know you have to hand that to me right?”

…

His eyes narrow, moving to walk around the island only to stop as he watches Yuu mirror his movements. Every step he took toward them, they would move away. Jamil glared over the counter, the two of them now on opposite sides from where they started, “Really?” He couldn't fight the smirk on his face.

“Yeah, you really have to hand me the ticket, Jamil.” Yuu wiggled their eyebrows, a challenge ringing clear that even with the tickets they would never go down without a struggle.

Jamil clicks his tongue, untying his apron and slapping it on the counter. They stood still, eyes locked in a stalemate before he quickly faked left and then darted to the right of the island.

Yuu barely kept themselves from falling as they fled, the distance between them kept steady as Yuu yelled out, “Jamil! You're in sandals, I'm in heels! This isn't good for either of our ankles!”

“Take the damn ticket!”

“You have to hand it to me!”

They made a few complete circles around the island before Jamil threw caution and ‘playing fair’ to the sands. He braced his hands onto the counter, jumping and quickly scrambling across the island and managing to grip a screaming Yuu by the back of their overalls. They both fall to the ground, the sounds of Yuu's panicked scream laughter bouncing off the walls. The sound of a heavy ‘SMACK’ turning their laughter soon into breathless moans and the sounds of heavy kissing.

The door clicks open. Kalim walked in, a handprint of gold smeared across his face and more dust coating his hair and clothing, “Hey, Yuu. Is this stuff edible? I think I-Ah! AAAAH!” He quickly turned back to the door, trying to flee after catching a glimpse of Yuu and Jamil lip locked and fully grinding against each other on the floor, “STOP DOING THIS IN THE KITCHEN!”

~POMEFIORE~

Vil looked at the mess before him, glaring with his eyeliner brush hanging almost limp in his hand. Yuu stood in his doorway, sheepishly tugging at their shirt edge to hide the various bite marks along their collar. He could tell their hair was curled, but the state it was in now left it nothing more than a fizzy manhandled mess. By the Seven, their makeup. Smeared and blotchy, nothing more than an utter sabotage of the beauty community.

Sighing, Vil sat down his eyeliner brush. Motioning them into the room as he opened his drawer to gather makeup closer to Yuu’s skin tone, “You were either mauled or you went to one of your lovers before walking in here looking so unkempt. Which one was it?”

“Jamil…” Yuu drags the ottoman closer to his vanity, sitting down and placing their tote on the ground, “And all I can say is that he actually looks more fucked up than I do.”

The third year reaches out to hold a frizzled tassel of Yuu's hair with two of his fingers, face pinched, “I highly doubt that…though I will commend him for still leaving bites and hickeys with that choker you have on.”

“Can you fix it?”

“I shouldn’t, in the hope that this will teach you a lesson in restraint,” He grounds out, already pulling Yuu’s hair out of its half ponytail gently and taking a brush to it, “But, I’d feel worse letting you walk around like this. I have very little authority over you as your club leader but I expect all under my care to look their best at all times.”

Yuu smiles, letting Vil do his favorite activity of priming others, “Thank you, big brother.” They will agree the laugh they let out was ‘gremlin’ adjacent, closing their eyes on Vil’s command as he poured his mineral water onto a towel.

Vil grumbles but takes care to remove the smeared pigment from Yuu’s face, “Honestly. I don’t know what’s worse. You spreading rumors that we’re family or the fact my own father sent you a Valentine’s basket along with mine…”

“One of those is mine!?” Yuu looks away from Vil, eyes glittering to the two large red and pink-toned baskets sitting on Vil’s bed, “Aw~! That’s nice.”

Vil quickly moved Yuu’s face back to him, frowning at the fact he nearly poked the younger student in the eye when they moved. “Stop moving…” His glare intensifies, staring at reddish spots dotted along their cheeks, “Are you breaking out? Why are you breaking out? Honestly, I make you a personal blend of skincare and you don’t even use it.”

Yuu waves his words off, rolling their eyes, “I’ve been stressed! I spent the last few weeks trying to perfect chocolate molds and fruit fillings. Also, pretty sure standing over a pot of boiling sugar wasn’t good for my skin…”

Vil snaps his fingers, pointing upward, “Look up.” He ignores Yuu groaning, applying a few drops of his handmade blemish eraser serum, “Honestly, why are you so stressed about it? I understand you have three lovers but that shouldn’t be too much for you to handle.”

“Oh. Naw, I made chocolate for all my favs, not just them.” They rubbed the serum into their cheeks, humming lightly at the scent of lavender.

“...” When Yuu doesn’t say anything more, he frowns. Turning to his gathered makeup he mumbles while applying their foundation, “Well, I see how it is…”

“I don’t wanna give you your chocolates now. You’re way more of a bitch to me when it’s just the two of us.”

“Oh, so you did make me chocolate? Color me surprised, I would think you’d leave me out from ‘sibling spite’...”

Yuu groans, reaching into their tote but not pulling the bag out, “You can’t be mean to me about these, okay? I worked really hard on them.”

Vil rolls his eyes, turning his full attention to them with a raised brow, “Fine. If they’re horrible I will simply remain silent.”

“...” Yuu pulls out a bag tied off with purple and gold ribbons, the bow multiple loops and grand. The chocolates inside were dark chocolate and shaped like crowns, half of them luster-dusted with gold and purple chocolate pearls scattered inside, “I filled them with raspberry. Like, the saddest raspberry filling. I didn’t add sugar past what was needed to help keep it edible after thickening it.”

Vil takes the bag, eyeing it silently before he places it on a free shelf of his vanity. He gives a brief yet fond look to the chocolates before making sure their foundation was properly blended, “They look very nice. Where did you learn to tie a knot that intricate?”

Yuu breathed a sigh of relief, “Tulip did the bows, mine weren’t good enough it seems…” They already knew getting Vil chocolates would be a gamble. The star was hyper-aware of nearly every calorie he took in. They had honestly entertained the idea of getting him a celery bouquet instead, “I’m glad you like them though.”

“Ah…Tulip…” Vil did his best to not pull a face at the mention of the over zealous fairy. “The chocolates are cute. I’ll try them later tonight and give my full review.” He smiles, holding up two eye shadow palettes. One was centered around reds and darker tones, the other had more pink options and various glitters, “Now pick your eyeshadow.”

“Oo~! I want a glittery smokey eye.”

Vil worked fast, redoing Yuu’s makeup faster than they had done it themselves. Taking the time to paint small hearts along their cheeks, over where their tiny red spots would be. Saving their eyeliner for last, he hums at his project and gestures for them to look into the mirror, “There we go. Two fat little wings, just as you like.”

Yuu lets out an ‘Ooo’, fluttering their eyelashes and winking just to watch the glitter on their lids, “I love it! And don’t hate on my ‘fat wing’ liner style. I say nothing about you staining your skin with the darkest eyeshadow every day.”

“Get out of my room.”

“No, give me my gift basket.”

Vil turns back to the mirror, eyeliner brush back in hand as he applies his own wings to a ‘proper’ length, “No, it’s mine now since you want to be rude to me.”

Yuu frowns, crossing their arms and intentionally making their voice whiney, “But you said dad got it for meeeeeee.”

“We aren’t siblings-”

The door bursts open, making both of them jump at the loud cry of “BONJOUR~!”

“Hi, Rook~!”

“Mon vieille amor~!” The Florian quickly walks into the room, dropping to one knee in front of Yuu and presenting them with a small bouquet of roses, “For the brightest flame of my past! Roses as bloomed as your wedding bouquet, pink as the twilight from the night sky of our first dance.”

Yuu gasps, taking the gathering of pink flowers into their arms, “Oh, Rook! Just like our 20th anniversary~! I’m so glad you remembered!” they reach into their tote bag, pulling out a mason jar filled with pink and gold chocolate pearls. The bag was tied off with purple and black ribbons, plastic keeping the chocolate sculpted roses safe, “Chocolate roses, for the man who taught me how to love.”

Rook takes the jar gently, smiling as he opens it immediately. He takes a petal from one of the roses, placing it in his mouth, “They love me…” He takes another petal into his mouth, “They love me not~ Beauté! 1000 points for this gift of love, mon vieille amor!” with the jar in one hand, he wrapped the other around Yuu’s waist to pull them closer to place them in a faux dip. He makes loud, borderline obnoxious kissing sounds as he mimes pecking along a giggling Yuu’s face.

Vil glared at them, a jagged line of black from the corner of his eye and down his cheek. He turns back to the mirror, pouring more mineral water onto a towel, “Both of you get out of my room…”

“Vil, stop being so jealous. Me and Rook are so in the past, but we were married for 40 years. It’d feel weird to not get each other something for Valentine’s Day.”

“You two. Never dated…”

Rook stood, placing Yuu up right beside him with a hand over his heart, “Oh, mon roi. My and Yuu’s love was true and deep. 40 years of affection, a son, and a lifelong companionship to stand the test of time.”

“You’re both under 20, your ‘son’ is a bird, and you didn’t meet until this year. The joke is old.”

Yuu clicks their tongue, shaking their head before resting it on Rook’s chest, “You just don’t get it, Vil…”

“Oh, no. I get it. My boyfriend and my little sister are both infected with the same brain-eating virus-”

“HA!” Yuu pulls away from Rook, pointing at Vil’s frowning face, “You called me your sister! Sibling bond, you BITCH!”

“I WILL-”

“Why is everybody yellin’ in here?” Epel stood in the open doorway, looking at the scene in front of him. He raises an eyebrow at Vil’s appearance, the third-year with one side of his face completely bare, “You…you doing something new and stupid with your face?”

Vil scowls, “Epel, I will make you sit at my and Rook’s table the whole party.”

Epel looks to the side, beads of sweat forming on his temple as he internally panics, “Never mind. I love it.” He turns and waves, eyes pleading for Yuu to help take Vil’s glare off of him, “Hey, Yuu! What are you doing here? Let’s talk about it!”

“Actually, I’m leaving. But here you go!” They reach into their tote, pulling out a bag tied closed with purple and red ribbons.

Throwing it to Epel, the other first-year had to rush forward to keep it from falling to the ground. He holds the bag to his face, tilting his head at the red luster-dusted and milk chocolates in the shape of apples. Green beads of chocolate scattered in the bag, “Oh! You even made them apple-shaped. Thanks, Yuu.”

“Thank you for the apple cider. I used it to make the caramel I filled your chocolates with.”

Epels eyes widened, quickly opening the bag to grab a chocolate to try, “Hot damn! That sounds fuckin’ sweet-”

Vil glares at Epel through the mirror, finally painting his second wing properly, “Epel…”

“Thank you, I’m very excited to try it…”

Yuu snickers, “Did you forget he was in the room? Anyway. Pomefiore boys, thank you for hosting me, but I still got a few stops to make before I gotta head back to Ramshackle and get ready for the party.”

“...” Vil sighs, pointing to the gift baskets on his bed, “The red one is yours. You can take one thing from it.”

The squeal Yuu lets out is giddy, bordering on ear-splitting. They rushed toward the bag and made sure to open it as carefully as possible. Opening the basket to see a plethora of nail polishes and beauty products, “Aw! Mr. Shoenhiet really doesn’t do anything in half does he?” Yuu pulls out a dark red lip gloss, opening it to apply to their lips.

Vil smirks, seeing Yuu had picked the lipgloss he had personally advised his father to get for them when the man had asked what Yuu would like in their basket, “Of course he doesn’t. He’s my father after all.”

~IGNIHYDE~

Ignihyde didn't even bother decorating, nothing past the holographic screens showing a loop of hearts. Even then, they were the basic dorm blue, nothing even red. Though Yuu did see the tables were adorned by fresh flowers and pomegranates. They looked around the empty lounge, walking closer to a table to pick a fruit for themselves. Only to jump at seeing multiple bright dots appear on their hand and a disembodied voice ring out.

“Prefect Yuu, do not take the fruit. I repeat. Do not take the fruit.”

“Ortho, what the fuck my guy?” They pull their hand away, both hands placed beside their head as they looked around the room in panic.

Ortho appeared from a hallway, at least looking mildly sheepish as he floated closer, “Sorry! I forget at times you're not from here and don't know traditions.”

“It's tradition to try to shoot a bitch getting some fruit?”

“...” Ortho looks to the side, “Well…the shooting is more so my choice. But still! Taking the fruit is bad!”

Yuu sighed, throwing their head back but waving a hand as if to say ‘Go on’.

“The fruit and flowers are offerings. Hades was one of the longer lived Great Seven, so there's a number of stories about him. One of which was about his wife.”

“Ah. Persephone right?”

“Yes!” Ortho closes his eyes to show he was smiling, “Hades loved his wife dearly even though they were separated multiple times in their marriage. The offerings started out in the warmer months when Persephone and Hades were separated. The flowers to keep Hades in good spirits and the pomegranates to remind Persephone of her husband. But once the Queen's Marriage Anniversary was adapted outside of the Queendom of Roses, it also became tradition to offer both! As a way of gifting the lovers on this day of love and appreciation.”

“Aw…that's actually really cute…”

“I agree.” Ortho narrows his eyes, wagging his finger at Yuu in mock scolding, “So no taking any fruit or flowers! It's very rude to steal from a God.”

Yuu giggles, nodding their head, “Noted. Also…” They take a step forward, wrapping their arms around Ortho's body and pressing a kiss right below his eye before pulling away, “Happy Valentine's Day!”

Ortho stood still for a moment before he rocketed back into Yuu's arms, nearly lifting them off their feet from the force of his hug, “Happy Valentine's Day, Prefect Yuu! Thank you for the kiss! I've now collected three kisses!”

“Three?”

“Yes! Nii-San, Cater Diamond, and now Prefect Yuu! I feel very loved!”

“Aw. Well you're gonna feel a lot more love, baby boy.” Yuu reaches into their tote bag, pulling out a heart printed wrapped gift tied with white and blue ribbons, “A gift for you. Since you can't eat…”

Ortho's eyes were so bright Yuu was afraid they'd burn a hole through the box. The android took the package with care, “Thank you so much! May I open it now?”

“Go ahead!”

With almost surgical precision, Ortho unwrapped the gift and gently placed the folded paper and ribbons to the side. His eyes scan the box; a children's ‘make your own candy’ science kit. He flips the box over, reading the list of ingredients included in the kit. Once he was done, he looked into Yuu's eyes, “Prefect Yuu, may I swear?”

Yuu chokes on their laugh, but smiles and nods, “Yeah…yeah let it rip, buddy…”

“Prefect Yuu, this kit is shit.”

“I know…I know…” Yuu laughs at the bewildered look Ortho gives them, his eyes going from reading over the kit to squinting at them, “Look. I got it because while the candy is…barely edible, the kits are fun! You've got access to actual chemicals and stuff that you could use to make them taste better anyway.”

Ortho looks at the kit, calculating the few things he'd need to gather to make the potential candies in a greater quality, “That's true.”

“Plus! You can make fun gummies for Idia to try and like…slip a multivitamin or something in them.”

“I love it, thank you so much.” Ortho hugs the box to his chest, already coming up with numerous candies his brother would like. He perks up, eyes glittering when he realized Yuu hadn’t left, “Do you…Did you bring chocolates for Nii-San?”

Yuu nodded, patting their tote, “I did.”

The halls passed by in a blur, Ortho had picked Yuu up and flown as fast as he safely could to the housewarden’s door. Yuu had barely realized where they were before Ortho was knocking on the door at a rapid pace, “Nii-san, may we come in!?”

A quiet voice calls out from inside the room, “We…?”

Yuu smiles, calling out so that Idia knew who was with Ortho, “Are you decent?”

The voice calls out again, louder and with an edge of panic, “YOU CAN’T COME IN!”

Yuu nods at Ortho, “I think he’s decent.”

They reach and swing the door open, smiling at seeing Cater look up from Idia’s bed and remove one of his earphones, “Sup?”

“No…Ortho why do you do this to me…?” Idia curled into his gaming chair, pulling his hood over his head as though if he could hide from Yuu’s sight they would have forgotten he was even there, “It was a good day…I got a free day from classes…Cater brought me candy…I didn’t see that fucking thing…”

“This ‘fucking thing’ has ears and the power to beat your ass.” Yuu smiles, reaching into their tote, “But I’m gonna let you get back to your day and just give you your chocolates. Catch!” They threw the bag, purposefully making it land against Idia’s keyboard.

Idia looks at the baggie, bright blue and black ribbons tying it closed with milk and white chocolate skulls inside with multi-colored gummies that looked like the buttons of a game controller. He brings the bag closer, eyes roaming to see if he saw anything truly hazardous in the bag. Like…a carrot…or broken glass…or a scorpion. But seeing nothing, he brought the bag closer to his chest and looked over at Yuu.

“I don’t know if this item drop showing our friendship…makes me fear you less or more…”

“Pick whichever one makes you feel safest.”

“...” Idia opens the bag, digging through the bag for one of the bright blue buttons, “It makes me fear you more.”

“That was the right answer. Ok! I gotta GO! Love you guys, see you at the party. Bye~...” Their ‘bye’ was heard as they ran down the hall, only ending at the sound of the dorms front doors slamming shut.

Idia turned to Ortho, frowning mildly at his beaming brother, “Why do you keep letting her into my room…?”

“Well, Nii-san. You refuse to leave your room. So I have to bring people to your room.”

Cater speaks up from the bed, placing his ear phones back as he nodded, “You gotta get that enrichment babe…”

“...” Idia turned to his computer, typing into the search bar, ‘How to tell if you are being bullied’.

~DIASOMNIA~

“I'm sorry, run that by me one more time?”

The diasomnia student sneered down his nose at them, sword held out to clash with the other student guarding the rope bridge to the dorm, “You heard me you harlot. You are no longer welcome in the grand Noble dorm of Diasomnia. Take your swill and be off!”

“...” Yuu nods their head, raising their eyebrows and pursing their lips, “Okay.” They turn on their heel walking away from the stunned students.

As Yuu was a good distance away yet still in the dorm, the more spiteful student smiled at his fellow guard, “S-see!? I told you. There was never a need to fear that wench, she only got away with everything she did because Lord Malleus favored her. Now that he doesn’t, she’s powerless!”

He continued on, boasting about how their dorm leader had finally seen that a magicless human wasn’t worthy of his affections. But during his speech, the silent guard kept his eyes on Yuu. The Ramshackle prefect didn't even walk toward the mirror when they left, only a few paces off to the side of the path. He watched silently as they knelt down, pulling festive bags from their massive tote and even a bouquet of flowers.

Then he felt a shiver go down his spine as he watched them fill the now empty tote with rocks.

Silver looks up hearing the doors open, blinking in mild confusion at who walked through them, “Yuu?”

Yuu was smiling, pulling a sizable rock out of their tote bag and dropping it outside the door, “Hey Silver! Um. If you think you see two unconscious bodies over by the bridge, no you don't.”

“What?”

“Happy Valentine's day!” Yuu was quick to pull out a plastic bag tied close with silver and bright green ribbons.

He takes it slowly, eyeing the dark chocolate shapes of swords and Z's with green and light purple chocolate pearls scattered in the bag. Opening it, he was greeted with the strong scent of espresso, “Oh. Coffee flavored?”

“Espresso cream filled. Thought you could put them in your coffee for an extra boost!” They look around the dorm lounge, eyes roaming, “While I adore you Silver, where is Malleus?”

Silver remained silent, putting a small sword into his mouth and chewing, “...It's good…”

“...Okay. You enjoy your chocolate, I'm gonna go hunt my boyfriend down.”

A nod was all Silver gave, stepping to the side to show he wasn't going to stop them, “Bye, Yuu.”

The dorm was filled with distrusting eyes, more so than normally. Yuu didn't bother asking any of them where Malleus was since they probably would have the same response as the guards. And sadly they don't have any more rocks in their bag. They sigh in a hallway, hands on their hips and looking around the room one last time.

“Beastie!”

Yuu felt a tap on their left shoulder, turning to the right as they knew Lilia's tricks. But, instead of seeing Lilia they see open air. They sigh, turning back around only to jump back as Lilia's face suddenly dropped into view, “AH! FUCK LILIA!” They braced themselves against the wall, catching their breath as Lilia giggled behind them, “Stop doing that…”

Lilia floats closer, smiling as he pats Yuu’s head, “Stop having such adorable reactions. What brings you to Diasomnia, dearie?”

“I’m passing out chocolates to my favorites and looking for Malleus.”

Lilia's eyes widen, humming loudly as he looks to the side, “Well, I can accept the chocolate and give you Malleus's location. But, you'll have to deal with him and Sebek alone…”

“Oh, Sebek is never an issue for me. While I have you, can you tell me what the fuck is wrong with Malleus?”

“...” Lilia smiles, tilting his head so far it made his whole body start to slowly spin in the air, “You said you brought chocolate?”

Yuu groans, but still reaches into their tote to pull out a baggie tied off with bright green and pink ribbons. Dark chocolate in the shape of bats and green chocolate pearls filling the bag.

Lilia squeals out in delight, taking the bag and opening it, “Oh, Beastie! I didn't think you'd actually bring little old me chocolate.” He coos lightly at the bat between his fingers, biting into it and nearly choking, “...Did you fill this with tomato paste?”

“More so a tomato jam…but basically…” they raise an eyebrow, “Are you going to tell me what's going on with Malleus?”

“Hmmm…” Lilia grabbed another chocolate, eating it whole and chewing, “Such an interesting flavor combination…I quite like it!”

“Okay, fuck you guys. But seriously. I've been so busy running around all day and I only, like…noticed that Malleus hasn't talked to me all day? Is he sick?”

“Hmmm. These chocolates are so good!”

Yuu frowns, reaching into their tote and pulling out another bag, “Just because I'm annoyed. Here.” They shove the bag into Lilia's chest, walking away as the older fae looks in confusion.

When he realizes what's in the bag, he frowns. Pastel colored shapes of a bat, a sword, a crocodile, and a dragon all cut out from marshmallow. He sticks his tongue out and turns around to yell after Yuu, “These are cute but you know I dislike marshmallows!”

Looking over their shoulder, Yuu yells back, “That's not my problem!” They continued walking, ignoring Lilia muttering under his breath if he'd be able to regift the marshmallows to Silver.

As expected, Sebek stood at attention in front of Malleus's door. They make eye contact, Sebek's eyes narrowing instantly upon seeing them.

“Yuu.”

“Sebek.” Yuu folded their arms, raising an eyebrow at the half-fae, “So…move.”

Sebek sniffs, turning his head to look away from them, “I don't take orders from you.”

“I know you don't. But, real quick, how are your kidneys doing? They doing ok?”

“If you're trying to start a fight-”

“I would bust your kidneys a second time. But, no, I'm not here for that. Lilia told me to come find you.”

“...” Sebek tilted his head, a sneer lifting one side of his lip, “Do you truly think I'm that stupid?”

“I do think you're dumb, but Lilia seriously asked me to come find you. He needs help finding his phone.”

Sebek simply sniffed again, turning his nose up at them. He even widened his stance and remained unmoved in front of Malleus's door.

“...” Yuu shrugs, turning around and walking away with a wave over their shoulder, “Fine. I'll just make sure Lilia knows you don't care about his problems.” They counted in their head, smirking when they heard Sebek groan.

“Fine! But, you’re coming with me-” The moment Sebek had walked beside Yuu, he choked, feeling them yank the back of his collar harshly. The kick to the back of his knee sent him down, aheap on the floor and then being blinded by being hit in the face with a plastic bag.

He only looked at the bag for a few moments, tied off with green and yellow ribbons. Milk chocolate lightning bolts, what looked to be gummy green crocodiles, and green chocolate pearls. That ingrate had assaulted him with festive chocolates. He tried to roll to his feet quickly, glaring up at the human running back down the hall toward Malleus’s room, “YUU!”

“Caught you lackin’!” Yuu had already reached Malleus’s door, smiling and holding up their fingers to form a heart, “Love you, bitch~.” They open the door, managing to slam and lock it just before Sebek had reached them. Smiling with a wicked glee seeing the door shake from the force of Sebek slamming against it.

The room was dim, but it normally was. Having night vision apparently made the goth aesthetic too easy to fall into. Lucky for Yuu, Malleus was always easy to find. The pair of glowing eyes in the corner at his desk giving away his location.

“Hi Malleus. I haven't heard from you today, I was getting worried. You feeling okay?”

Strangely, Malleus doesn't respond. His only reply was to deepen his frown, eyes looking to the side in dismissal.

“...” Yuu blinked, placing their hands on their hips as they looked around the room in confusion, “Why…are you pouting? What happened?”

“...” Malleus sniffs, frown turning into a mild scowl as he fully turns his body away from them. Though Yuu was able to tell he was still watching them from the mirror with his eyes.

“...Are you ignoring me!?” Yuu couldn't stop the half-offended guffaw they let out that nearly caused them to choke. Malleus had responded by flipping a tassel of his hair over his shoulder. “The fuck did I do!?”

Was he pouting because they wouldn't let him come to Ramshackle the past week? Or maybe there was a certain fae etiquette that they hadn't done and now he was upset by it. They walked up to the pouting mage, trying to catch his eyes though he kept turning away from them. Soon they had straddled him in the chair, forcing eye contact.

“Ok. Talk to me. I can't make it up to you if I don't know what I did babes…”

He scoffs, “Oh, it's so trivial that you've forgotten what you did? Timothy surely hasn't…”

Yuu snorts, looking away when Malleus snaps his head to glare at them. It takes them a good few moments to compose themselves, but when they do they place their hands on Malleus’s cheeks. Squishing the cool flesh to make his pout even cuter, “You’re jealous…of Timothy?”

“You kissed him…” Malleus’s glare softened, turning his expression more into a kicked puppy than the annoyed dragon he was, “How could you bestow a kiss to him before me? It’s a grave error at worst and a slight at best…”

“...” Yuu’s hands left Malleus’s cheeks, not saying anything to his expression becoming even sadder. Instead they looked around their tote, pulling out a single item and placing it in Malleus’s hand.

Malleus looks into his palm, a drop wrapped in shiny aluminum with a paper tail sticking out of the top. He blinks, looking at Yuu in confusion as they leaned against his shoulder with a mischievous smile, “What is this?”

“A kiss.” Yuu’s smile widens as Malleus seemed to realize his mistake, turning away with a small blush rising to his cheeks. But they simply kissed along his neck, a hand moving up to scratch at the small patch of scales just behind his ear, “I gave each of the fairies a kiss as payment for helping me make chocolate for all my loved ones.”

“...I see…” The dragon would only be flustered for so long. He turned back to Yuu, a hand under their chin to hold them still as he gently kissed their lips. Pulling away, there was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he smiled, “Well, do you have an offering of love for me?”

Yuu smiled back, just as mischievous. They lean back, holding up the final bag of chocolate in their possession. Tied off with green and black ribbons, filled with dark chocolate shapes of ferocious faces and bright green chocolate pearls. They smile, gesturing to the bag with an excited look, “Open and try one!”

Malleus chuckles but does as asked. He pulls a single chocolate from the bag and looks at it with a keen eye. The shape confused him at first, not knowing why they’d make his chocolates in such a form until he realized he had seen it before. The smile on his face was what Lilia had once described as ‘Lovestruck’. Yuu had taken the time and effort to make his chocolates in the shape of gargoyle faces. Placing it in his mouth, he only bit down for a moment before a shock went through his body at the flash of cold.

The laugh Yuu let was high and almost mocking if he wasn’t so familiar with it, “I’m guessing it worked then?”

“Did you…how did you fill these with ice cream?” He took another chocolate from the bag happily eating it and purring at the feeling of chilled and unmelted ice cream mixing with the bitter chocolate.

“The fairies helped me. The frost fairies were super excited to make an ice cream that wouldn’t melt in the chocolate.”

“Well, I’m glad you succeeded in your culinary endeavors.” Malleus smiles, placing the chocolate on his desk to wrap his arms around them, placing his chin on their shoulder.

Yuu hums, snuggling into Malleus's warming body with a teasing smirk, “And that I didn’t kiss Timmy?”

“Don’t refer to him by a nickname…”

They snicker, knowing Malleus had regained his pouting expression, “Anyway.” Yuu leans back, squishing his cheeks in their hands again and smiling lovingly, “You wanna be my date tonight for the party?”

Malleus’s eyes glitter at the invite, only to dim a bit as he thought, “Would that be…fair to the others? We all are your lovers, isn’t it unfair to have only one of us as your date?”

“Jamil’s gift to Azul is to formally invite him as his date for tonight.” Yuu wished she would have been there to watch Azul try to keep his cool at Jamil’s invitation, “It's just an unspoken truth that you guys are all my dates anyway…”

“Ah, an unspoken truth, you say?” Malleus reaches up, holding Yuu's hands in his own before kissing their knuckles gently, “I shall accept your invitation, both spoken and unspoken.”

Yuu giggles, pulling their hands away to weave them through Malleus’s hair. Pressed against him as they lightly scratched at the base of his horns, feeling the purr he let out, “You charmer…Oh!” They could barely pull away from Malleus's embrace, ignoring the whiney growl that the dragon let out.

They reach into the tote, pulling out a single slip of paper. Handing it to the confused dragon, they placed their head on his shoulder as he read it over.

When he was done, Malleus's smile widens. He carefully tucks the ticket into his desk drawer, his free hand moving to trace along their collar bone, “May I leave a mark as well?”

“Not even gonna ask me about the ticket?” Yuu raises an eyebrow, eyeing the closed drawer with a mildly concerned eye. The ticket was labeled with ‘24 Hour Free Trial Breeding Pass’. A simple ‘Get out of contract consequences’ offering since Malleus seemed so keen on trying to change their agreement at every slight inconvenience. How getting pregnant will help them pass their algebra class, they weren’t sure…

“What is there to ask? I read it and know what it offers.” Malleus kissed along their jaw, chuckling under his breath as he picked his spot to leave a mark, “I will collect my prize when I see fit.”

…

Well, that was only mildly concerning~♡

#twisted wonderland #twst #disney twst #twst wonderland #yuu oc #holiday fic #scarabia #pomfiore #ignihyde #diasomnia #jamil x yuu #jamil x mc #jamil x oc #malleus x yuu #malleus x mc #malleus x oc #rookvil #cater x idia

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twstgarden · 11 months

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❀ ❝ 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸? ❞

━ azul ashengrotto x gn! reader (reader can either be yuu or an oc/twstsona) ━ after receiving a letter from azul, you decided to pay a visit to mostro lounge to get your complimentary drink. (inspired by twst valentine cards 2021) (f/n means first name)

do not steal or translate without my permission.

my dear friend, thank you so very much for this absolutely wonderful present. i am positively overjoyed to receive such an affectionate gift. when you have the time, please do drop by the mostro lounge. present the enclosed card at the door and you can enjoy a complimentary drink on me. ━ azul ashengrotto

a smile ghosted its way over your lips as you read azul’s returning card, finding it sweet of him to do this gesture all because you gave him a valentine's gift. you placed the card on your desk and made yourself look presentable before visiting the lounge.

“are you going somewhere?” asked grim, “we ran out of tuna cans, so go buy some!” you let out a hum in response before patting his head and telling him to behave. you then ran out of your dorm, holding the card that azul told you to present for a complimentary drink.

as soon as you step onto the floors of mostro lounge, jazz music can be heard along with the chatter of students from different dorms and sounds of glasses and plates clinking, hinting that it is mostro lounge's busy hour.

“little shrimpy!”

hearing that familiar call, you looked around and spotted the twins sitting by the bar. you waved at them and sat beside floyd as you had a conversation with the twins while sipping on your drink.

the aura of mostro lounge was relaxing which is why it is one of your favourite places in nrc.

“azul is available if you wish to speak to him,” says jade as he seems to know the reason for your “free” drink, “he’s in his office right now.” he smiled at you and you replied with thanks before you walked towards his office while holding your half-finished drink.

you gently knocked on his office door three times, hoping you weren’t disturbing him. “come in,” voiced out the male as you turned the doorknob and entered his office. you smiled at him as he smiled back, gesturing you to sit on the couch.

“i see you have received your drink,” said azul, “do you like it?” you let out a hum as you nodded, “aren’t you going to have a drink too?”

it felt awkward for you to be the only one enjoying a beverage and you wanted to have a drink with him, but he shook his head and told you he was fine and that you should finish your drink first.

you nodded and placed the cup on his desk once you were finished, causing him to stand up and grab your cup before walking towards to door.

“i’ll be back,” said azul as he left you in his office. you nodded and made yourself sink into the comfortable couch.

it was cold in his office ━ not the shivering type of cold, but the refreshing type, similar to the scenarios when you enter a cold room after a long day out in the uncomfortable heat. it felt relaxing and you wanted to sleep, but you thought that would be embarrassing.

your eyes trailed around his beautiful office before landing on his desk, a blue folder laid flat on the surface on the further left side with his fishbone pen placed neatly on its holder. it was neat, as expected from azul.

seconds later, the door opened revealing azul with two glasses filled with your drink of choice. he arranged the glasses down on the table and sat on his leather chair.

“care for another drink? with me, this time,” uttered azul as he grabbed his glass. you took yours and thanked him before clinking your glasses together and taking a sip of your drink.

“thank you again,” said azul as he smiled at you, “that was... thoughtful of you.”

you avoided his gaze for a moment and stared at the drink in your glass. you did not know what to say, wondering if the feelings you desired to convey to him through that gift were clear. however from your point of view at the moment, it doesn't seem like your feelings were communicated properly.

“glad you like it,” you mumbled as you continued gulping down on your drink. you continued to lounge around azul's office for a while and had a pleasant conversation with him.

unbeknownst to the man before you, your heart was racing the entire time, feeling as if you were lucky to have this moment with someone that you are head over heels for.

hours later, you have decided it was time to rest for the night. you stood up and thanked him for his time and how you enjoyed being around him before turning around and walking towards his door.

suddenly, he held your wrist before you could walk away any further. his touch was gentle as his voice called out, “wait...!”

out of curiosity, you turned around to look at him and questioned, “is there something else?”

azul was silent for a moment before leaning towards you and placing a soft kiss on your lips, then he pulled away and smiled, “sleep tight, love.”

#disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst #disney twst #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland x you #azul ashengrotto #azul ashengrotto x reader #twst azul #azul x y/n #jade leech #floyd leech #twst grim #twst wonderland

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ericvelseb666 · 4 months

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💗Valentine's Day Cards💗

I made some Valentine's Day Cards with some of my Welcome Home ocs in the Mailing Time Day Welcome Home cards style!

Nina Dear "Velseb" 🌙🪽

Freddie Dear Frankly 💌🦋

Zachary Pillar 🐛🌿

Eric Dear "Velseb" 🍎🔪

I enjoyed experimenting different coloring styles so I like how these came out 💗

✨BONUS✨

After Bob found Nina's Valentine's Day card

#welcome home #welcome home arg #welcome home puppet show #welcome home oc #welcome home ocs #spooky month #spooky month bob velseb #bob vesleb #digital art #art #oc character #ocs #valentine's day #welcome home drawing #welcome home fandom

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grammarrray · 4 months

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Thing i made for the valentines card art prompt on hatcord

(Deeeefinitely didn't allude to one of my oc's with the flowers and flytraps(i did))

On that topic if I ever feel comfy enough i will probably show some comfort ship art i made of him and said oc because i am a very lonely person

#grammarsactualart #art #a hat in time #ahit conductor #the conductor #ahit #conductor #a hat in time conductor #valentines day

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mystery-salad · 4 months

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Some Valentines cards of my ocs that I made for a discord server thing 💖

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #sylvari #gw2 sylvari #asura #gw2 asura

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coffinsister · 4 months

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Movie Marathon

Prompt: Andrew comes home, he finds Ashley setting up a little date - by @coffinbrotherr

(Thank you so much for giving me the perfect excuse to write about my oc as well! I love u !)

Andrew didn’t quite know what he was expecting to find back at their shitty apartment.

They didn’t exactly celebrate Valentine’s Day. For sure, Ashley loved making a big declaration of everything, but they had never done the whole cards and chocolates thing.

In retrospect: Andrew should have guessed, there was no way, he was going to have a normal night. They never did have any normal nights.

He sighed, as his hands turned the cold and fragile doorknob.

Andrew stepped back into their, somehow, Home.

“Hey-”

“Hey Andrew!”

Ashley’s voice greeted him, and his anxiety finally died down.

Andrew hated to admit it, but finally seeing his sister’s bright pink eyes, made him feel secure.

Andrew always hated having to part with her, because he always ended up missing her the second she was out of his gaze.

“‘Sup Andrew.”

That was right.

There was another person living with them now.

“I hate that I can tell exactly what you were thinking just now,” Itzae said.

Itzae was sitting on his sister’s left, her knees tightly pressed together, and her lips furrowed into a wobbly line. Her arms were crossed in a self-soothing hug.

“Bold assumption to make” Andrew said “Why do you look so scared today? Ashley, what did you do?”

Ashley gasped dramatically, her arms raising to her sides “Why always me!? She’s the freak here!”

“How am I more of a freak than you?”

“You are both the freak here.”

“You are a freak too!”

“Augh! Itzae! Andrew! Focus!” Ashley slammed her hands down, making a loud hollow sound against their cheap sofa “We are all freaks” Ashley said, her face spreading into a wide grin “But that's okay! Because we are all here together.”

Andrew and Itzae shared a look.

Beneath her layers of bandages, Itzae still had those red scars around her wrist, from way back then, when Ashley and him had promptly kidnapped her, locked her up in their apartment, handcuffed her, and chained her to their radiator.

Memories.

They all understood Ashley's implicit message of ‘We are all here together. And there’s absolutely nothing any of us can do about it.’

“So, what do you want us to do this time, Ashley?” Andrew said.

“Well” Ashley threw both of her arms over Itzae’s shoulders, and to Itzae's credit, she didn't even flinch, even though Ashley must have hit her a thousand times before “Our little jailbait friend here-”

“Hey!” Itzae turned to Ashley “You are still going on with the jailbait stuff!?”

“You really should tell me how old you are sometime” Andrew said deadpan.

“I will!” Itzae avoided his gaze “...Someday.”

“Someday.”

He absentmindedly wondered if he should be more worried about that. (Or feel some sort of guilt?)

“And!” Ashley reached one arm over to him too, now holding the both of them in an oddly close position “We came up with something for us to do together!”

“And what is that, Ashley?” Andrew could already feel a headache crawling onto him.

Right after, Ashley stood up in the middle of the room, she took a power stance, and shot both her arms into the sky.

“We are gonna have a date! A house date!”

“All of us?” Andrew looked at Itzae, and Itzae looked at the floor, with her face bright red.

“All of us,” Ashley declared.

“...Okay?”

“Be more excited!” Ashley screamed first at him, and then at Itzae “It! Help me set up the thing!”

“On it” Itzae saluted like she was in the navy, dutifully marching into their kitchen.

Andrew heard something being ripped open and thrown into their microwave.

Similarly, Ashley went into the kitchen. She came out with a pay, and a huge knife.

Decorated with a big red heart in the middle, the pastry seemed to have cooled down a century ago.

“We put our blood in the strawberry jam!” Ashley said, her eyes closed as she smiled. She looked like a very proud child.

“When did we get to the point, in which that doesn't surprise me anymore?”

“Probably around the fifth murder + dinner combination.”

“Don't remind me.”

Ashley placed the pay on top of their table.

That old thing was seconds away from giving up, the legs were buckled and the wood was chipped, but the tiny table still did its job.

“Yummy!” Ashley passed her finger through the red heart, quickly licking it off her hand.

“You don't even like strawberries” Andrew was sure he knew all the things his sister liked.

“No! But I like blood” Ashley grinned like a cat “Specially when it isn't my own blood, right, It?”

Their microwave made a way too loud beep beep noise, and Itzae came out of their kitchen with a drowned-in-popcorn plate in hands.

“Really? Popcorn and pie?” Andrew almost felt a little impressed, at whatever their train of thought must be like, but like hell if he was going to let them know that.

“And that’s not all” Ashley sat on the couch, purposely taking as much space on it as she could “Show him what you bought us, It.”

“I didn't know, okay!?”

Itzae left the plate beside the pay, the plastic made a thump noise against the wood.

Andrew always felt like Itzae should have been more offended over being called a Thing, but she never was, so who was he to tell her off.

Ashley laughed “Now you are getting embarrassed. That’s embarrassing, but going to school covered in hickeys and cuts isn't?”

“Shut up!”

“Just give him his thing already” Ashley rolled her eyes.

“Fine, fine” Itzae rolled her own eyes in response.

But below that, Andrew could see the red getting from Itzae's neck to her ears.

She stiffly walked towards their fridge, the damned thing was always buzzing, and its lights were constantly flickering.

In his most irrational moments, Andrew was sure the thing was possessed by the original owner, the original owner who he and his sister had killed, eaten, and robbed, in order to get this apartment.

Details.

Itzae opened it in a harsh motion, and for a second, Andrew was sure the fridge’s door was going to come undone. He would not know how to cope with that.

Andrew looked at her skinny arms as she pulled something out of it.

“Here you go. Laugh at me now if you want to, you duo of asshole siblings.”

Itzae presented them with three chocolate lollipops, in the form of huge hearts. It was easy to tell which one was for who, hers was white, Ashley's was pink, and his was green.

Fitting.

“Really. How old are you?”

“Kill yourself, Andrew!” Itzae screamed, she let go of his and Ashley's lollipops, and they fell loudly onto the floor.

“Hey! Only I get to tell my brother to kill himself!” Ashley pushed Itzae “And don't waste food, dumbass!” Ashley screamed even louder.

She kneeled on the floor to carefully pick up the lollipops.

“You make me feel so loved, Ashley.”

It wasn't even a lie, really.

“I know, I'm the best.”

“Are we actually gonna eat that, Ashley?” Andrew was growing to despise eating.

“Fifty second rule, don't be a bitch” Ashley handed him his lollipop, and thankfully, it didn't look completely covered in dust, yet.

“Augh! I did it for love! You all suck!” Itzae sat on the couch with her arms crossed.

“Yeah, yeah, you are all about my brother’s dick. We know.”

“It’s not…just that…”

Ashley offhandedly dismissed her “But now! For the best part!”

Ashley stood up, she ran to their shelf, and unearthed something from behind all the grim and dust.

Andrew automatically said “I don't like that you can hide things there.”

“You haven't even see- Whatever!” Ashley excitedly turned around and showed him, what was effectively, a mountain of rented DVD Cassettes.

“Aren't I the best?” Ashley said, excitedly going up and down on her tippy toes “I got us only the best! Aren't you going to praise me, Andrew?”

“Of course, of course” Andrew placed his open palm right on top of his heart “Nobody rents videotapes better than you! Nobody has a more morbid, and pedestrian taste in movies than you do. Truly, I do not have the most minimal idea where any of us would be without you, My Ashley.”

Ashley grinned, gentle giggles escaping her lips. She stood tall and proud, taking in Andrew's every word.

“My Andrew, I know, I know” Ashley said, batting her hand, her eyes closed, absorbing the praise “Now, go put them on.”

“I have to be complicit in this consumption of vapid filmographic garbage.”

“Yes.” She shoved the pile of movies into his hands “Do it.”

Next thing: She allowed herself to free fall on their couch. Itzae placed her hand on top of Ashley's without much forethought.

“The state of mass media” Andrew dramatically said, but he did as he was told, surprising absolutely no one.

He pressed play on the movie, and they sat side by side. Ashley in between him and Itzae, her skin was always so cold, but it never bothered him.

They were two minutes in, and there was already some naked actress getting axed down on screen.

“The garbage you watch” Andrew placed his arm on the sofa’s armrest, using his left hand to support his head.

He was already bored, and yet, he knew there was nowhere else in the world he would prefer to be.

“You two better eat this thing whole,” Ashley spoke up, while cutting herself a slice of pay “I spent�� the entire afternoon baking this.”

They didn't exactly own a lot of plates, Andrew knew it, but he still didn't think that was a good enough justification, for just placing it directly on her palm, and biting at it.

“Did you spit on it too?” Andrew said. Knowing his Ashley, honestly.

But Andrew still wasn't going to get up to get them any plates, so eating with their hands it was.

“If you want me to spit on your mouth, you can just ask, Andrew” Ashley said, crumbs of pay now all over her face.

“You eat like a toddler” Andrew reached over to her “Come here.”

And he quickly cleaned up his sister’s face.

By their side, Itzae had grabbed the knife to cut herself a slice of pay too.

She always stared at them, like she was looking into a microscope.

Ashley looked away from Andrew's eyes for a second “Pass me that” She said pointing at the knife in Itzae's hand.

“Here you go.” Itzae handed it over, and Ashley cut Andrew his own slice.

He took a bite of it, straight from Ashley's palms. Tasting the blood on his tongue.

Andrew licked his lips “You have iron deficiency.”

“You hate everything!”

Behind them, they heard the stifling sound of Itzae's laughter. She had one arm wrapped around her waist, and her palm pressed tightly against her mouth.

But they could still hear her laughing just fine.

“Who are you laughing at, bitch?” Ashley pulled at Itzae's arm.

Andrew did not know if Ashley was actually going to hit her or not, up until she didn't.

“Nothing, nothing” Itzae lowered her hand from her face “It’s just… an interesting way to spend San Valentine’s Days, is all.”

“Oh yeah” Ashley's gaze turned bored, her eyes half-lidded and empty, as per-usual “You were spewing all that bullshit about your home country and shit earlier.”

“You asked!” Itzae shouted offended.

“Eh?” Andrew licked the strawberry jam away from his fingers “What was she saying?”

“Some boring shit about different kinds of love they celebrate, and corny things like that.”

“If you didn't want an answer, then don't ask!” Itzae declared, before shoving half the pay into her mouth all at once.

“Ew.” “Yikes.”

“I hate the both of you.”

Ashley grinned, all fangs. She had that mean glint in her eyes she always got before pouncing on her prey.

“In my country we call it Day of Love and Friendship. That's it, that's everything I said.”

“So what love do we have, It?”

“Love?” Andrew grinned “We love each other now?”

“I love you guys” Itzae said, without hesitation, her huge black eyes reminded Andrew of an insect.

“...Don’t start it right now.”

Andrew knew they weren't a couple, (throuple?) and they weren't even friends. He twirled the stick of the chocolate lollipop on his fingers, it felt like those chocolate cigarettes Ashley insisted on buying him.

Itzae pursed her lips, but didn't insist any further, instead, she shoved her fingers into the pay’s blood jam and licked it clean.

Andrew conceded “You love us as much as any hostage can love their kidnappers.”

“I love you too, why don't you give me the philosophical answers too?” Ashley whined, unwrapping her lollipop, she bit into it, little spots of pink chocolate tainting the sides of her lips now.

There was an overt dangerous edge to it all “You already know why, Ashley.”

“Why do you need to tell women what they are feeling all the time, Andrew?” Ashley mockingly poked her tongue at him.

Andrew rolled his eyes, he took a bite out of his green chocolate, and they watched on.

Ashley idly commented on the bad practical effects, and how the blood looked ‘so cheap’ meanwhile, Itzae looked like a dead fish halfway through the first movie.

Andrew knew better than to start criticizing it, because once he started, it was like an uncontrollable fountain of words leaking out of his mouth.

“Move. I wanna get comfortable” Ashley, without taking her eyes away from the screen, said, to neither one of them in particular.

Both, Itzae and Andrew moved a little, trying to squirm away, like there was any space left in their tiny couch.

Ashley yawned softly, she always reminded Andrew of a tiny black cat.

One who wanted to hunt down everything on sight, without any regard for her own fragility.

“My spot” Ashley said, as she laid her head to rest on Andrew’s lap.

Ashley raised her legs, her shorts receding, and showing her white thighs fully. Ashley placed them down on top of Itzae’s lap “And my other place.”

She sounded so self-satisfied.

“Her places, uh?” Itzae shot him a look.

Andrew shrugged “All hers.”

They kept watching the TV, in this pleasant shared silence.

Ashley seemed to be struggling to pay attention, her eyes starting to drift off.

Andrew found it almost adorable, the way her eyes would flutter between open and closed, how her heavy dark eyelashes obscured her view.

Ashley nuzzled closer to his legs, and finally allowed her sleepiness to win.

“She looks adorable like this, doesn't she?”

Itzae’s voice completely took him out of his musings.

Andrew was acutely aware of how alone they had been their whole lives, now that there was another presence in their life.

Everything Itzae did stung.

He huffed out “Yeah, I wish she would stay like this forever.”

Itzae smiled softly, shaking her head from side to side “No, you don’t.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Itzae bursted out laughing. The bright lights of the analogue TV in front of them, reflecting on her face, making striped lines of blue and red dance along her freckles and moles.

Andrew felt like they were encapsulated in time.

At some point, his hands were entangled on Ashley’s black hair, like it was the roots he belonged to, and Andrew supposed, he did belong to.

And, at some point, later in the night, when his eyes were already starting to ache from staring at the TV in the dark, Andrew felt the weight of Itzae’s head resting against the crook of his shoulder.

And even later, when he could no longer be trusted, or held responsible for his own actions, Andrew allowed his head, to softly, barely, touch, and lean against Itzae's own.

Andrew thought; It was the first time he had gotten a full night’s rest during Valentine’s Day.

#the coffin of andy and leyley #ashley graves #andrew graves #coffincest #gravecest #soleil writes #itzae #tcoaal oc

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choicesficwriterscreations · 10 months

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August MC of the Month: Jensen Valentine

Please welcome our sixth MC of the month! Each month, we will highlight one MC or OC that is currently on our Meet My MC / OC List. The MC / OC is selected randomly on the Wheel of Names, and eligibility requirements can be found here. We accept MC / OC profiles on an ongoing basis. Please feel free to send yours in!

This month's MC of the month is...

@mydemonsdrivealimo's Jensen Valentine

In your words, tell us what you like most about your MC.

What I like most about Jensen is his resilience. He has never been dealt the perfect cards, or even good ones, at that, but that didn’t stop him from striving for great things. He hasn’t always been like that; some setbacks were worse than others, and he considered giving up, but he knew he couldn’t let himself do that. His intrinsic motivation to amount to something has usually been enough, but it’s also his interactions with other people that have helped him along. Some of them were good, sure, but, in all honesty, it’s usually the bad ones that kept him going.

A good example would be one of his med school professors, who publicly called Jensen out as the perfect example of what not to be like, citing how a man having painted nails shouldn’t be allowed in society, much less is it professional when going into the medical field. Jensen has never been one to sit quietly (no matter how many times it’s gotten him into trouble), and he wasn’t going to start. He pressed that professor, asking him what his evidence was, why he thought like that, and if he had any other reasons besides being a bigot who couldn’t handle seeing people different than himself. Not only that, but he also didn’t transfer from the class for the rest of the semester, making sure that the professor was as uncomfortable sharing flawed ideas as everyone else was hearing them.

The thought that there were still medical professionals out in the world who shared the same ideas the professor didn’t sit well with Jensen. No way could he let that slide when it came to patients and people seeking help, which was just another boost for him to keep going and try to make the changes he wanted to see. Even though he has been knocked down, it’s never made him hide his personality or beliefs.

Do you feel your MC is like you at all? How are you alike or different?

Jensen and I definitely share the same demeanor, especially around how people treat others. People making others feel small, for any reason and on any scale, is fucked up, and being an inactive bystander is never going to solve it. Especially knowing how American healthcare works, I knew I could never make Jensen someone who’s proud of how it currently runs and how it treats the patients. Though he is not the softest, or kindest, or sweetest, he would still do anything it takes to make some sort of change or impact, on a large scale or just one-on-one with a patient. I know I tend to come off in ways I don’t necessarily mean (it’s the rbf for the most part, lbr), and I wanted to reflect that in Jensen’s character, particularly in his day-to-day, as quiet and not-overly-optimistic characters are often synonymous with rude, brooding, or otherwise unapproachable, which is definitely not the case.

As for differences, Jensen is really like this cool, elevated, eloquent person, which is definitely Not me. I stumble through most things, and I hope I get spit out the other side more-or-less okay, whereas Jensen usually has a plan and, you know, thinks through things before he does them.

What is most important to your MC? What is their motivation in life?

What’s most important to Jensen is being able to use his position and the opportunities he’s been granted to help elevate other voices in the community and within certain issues he deems important. Being able to make more opportunities for other people, especially those who are or were in similar situations to himself when he was younger, is a big motivation for him. For most of his life, he was not in a place to be making any types of calls or really have anyone listen to him at all, and being granted such a high position within his career, and therefore his life, isn’t something he takes lightly. He has never been one to support how much power people with money or in high-ranking positions have because he knows what it's like to be on the bottom of that chain, and he knows he’s incredibly fortunate not to be in that position anymore, so he wants to able to use everything he’s been given to support others who need it or who are otherwise flushed out of “adult” conversations purely because they don’t fit the top 1%’s model.

What are their biggest pet peeves/dislikes?

Entitled people. Of course, he has some more petty ones, but if Anyone shows people disrespect for 1. No reason, or 2. A shitty reason, he’s going to have a problem with it, and he will be saying something to them about it. He has been the recipient of it many times growing up, and he knows it is never called for, nor does it have a good impact on anyone involved. Again, now that he is in a more respected position, rather than having his “turn” as the entitled one, he will continue to stand up for those who need it and speak out against the people who treat their power like a free pass to be a pos.

If your MC could change one thing - anything - what would it be?

Jensen has big aspirations, and while he’d like it to be the entirety of society, social standards, government, systemic bigotry, healthcare, etc. etc, I think being able to positively impact one person’s day is enough for him. During med school was when he really started carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but after the first few years at Edenbrook, he realizes it’s an impossible goal that will only lead him to disappointment. He will help where he can, but it’s nothing compared to reassuring a patient or getting them a life-changing diagnosis, surgery, or something else. Not every case has a happy ending, but being able to take any amount of worry away from someone makes it all worth it for him. Changing someone’s view of something into a more healthy and accepting lens, whether it be their life as a whole or even just something affecting their day, is one of the most rewarding things for him.

What is your MC’s favorite quote or song?

This was one of the hardest questions for me so I narrowed it down to a few options, and I think (one of) Jensen’s favorite song(s) would be Boring by The Brobecks. He most certainly would’ve seen it live while The Brobecks were still a thing, and though the lyrics are simple, it would’ve hit him at a very particular yet perfectly-timed place in his life.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your MC:

Being a fiction and original character writer at my core, I have poured pieces of myself into Jensen, and I have developed him during some of my worst and best moments (which, of course, changed the plot of his life). I went through many different phases and stories with him before ever joining the fandom, and years ago, when I first played Open Heart I never would’ve imagined it would end up on my hyperfixations list. I remember one night, at least two and a half years ago, I was up until 2 in the morning jotting down random backstories for him, running through the stages of his life in my head. I never looked at it again, never thought it would mean anything, and now here I am, at my one-year anniversary in the Open Heart fandom (August 2nd), with an almost completely different character that I love and think about every day.

The one thing that’s stayed the same though is how much he’s overcome. Though the struggles were very different in the beginning, his overall disposition has always been the same. He has been a loud activist for queer people and poc despite that it was never the most “convenient” for him, but he has also never been the sunshine character. Even through all the overhauls his character has been through, he has always been fighting for the same causes and has been using what he’s been given for good, which I wanted to share because it is arguably the most important part of his character. Even though he does not always have a smile on, doesn’t jump to be a part of every conversation, and doesn’t try to befriend everyone, he still cares just as much as anyone who does those things. It’s been fundamentally rooted in his character since day one, and it’s important to me that it gets seen.

#cfwc mc of the month #mc of the month #jensen valentine #open heart #mydemonsdrivealimo #playchoices #choices fic writers creations #choices fanfic #playchoices fanfic

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kazoosandfannypacks · 3 months

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summary: when an apollo camper falls for an aphrodite camper, heart-shaped cough drops and haikus written with glitter gel pens aren't too far behind. word count: 6815 words a/n: it started as a simple headcanon. apollo's kid falling for aphrodite's. i told a few friends on discord about it, and they ate the idea up so much, i knew i had to write something about them. this story is about two ocs, but you'll see a few familiar faces in here too, and if you're paying close enough attention to context clues, you can figure out where eva and kodi's story fits in within the pjo timeline. taglist: @poptart-cat-78 @fynn-arcana @babsbabbles @laughingphoenixleader {if you’d like to be added to my halfblood 5&1 taglist/pjo taglist, let me know!}

also on ao3!

five times it paid to know an apollo boy (and one time being an aphrodite girl paid off too)

~eva's first summer~

Eva wasn't surprised that, in a camp with archery, flying pegasi, and lava in the dish pit as well as on the climbing wall, she'd gotten herself hurt within her first week at Camp Half-Blood.

But, although she hadn't sat down and considered all the possible injuries available to her at Camp, if she had, getting a papercut while opening a chocolate bar for s'mores wouldn't've exactly made the list.

And yet, even in the dim lighting of the camp's bonfire, she could see very clearly the scratch on her thumb.

"That kind of injury takes some serious skill," someone said.

She couldn't see his face in the low lighting by the bonfire, but she saw him hold something out to her.

"Need a band-aid?"

"Thanks," Eva said. She took it from him and unwrapped it.

By the time the bandage was around her thumb, the stranger had disappeared into the crowd, and she shoved the wrapping into her pocket.

She'd almost forgotten that moment had happened by the time she got back to her cabin. But now that she looked at it in the light, she saw that the band-aid was a shade of hot pink— her favorite color, and the same color as the accessories she'd worn with her Camp Half-Blood t-shirt that day.

~eva's first summer~

When Eva was a little girl, she always looked forward to Valentine's Day. It made more sense now, looking back on it after her demigod diagnosis, why her decorated shoebox mailbox was always filled to the brim with heart-shaped lollipops, tiny treasures, and cards with cartoon character puns on them. Of course Aphrodite's daughter would attract a lot of attention from her classmates.

Not long after she settled into camp, she realized Cabin 10 was one giant Valentine's shoebox. Eva was used to coming back to the cabin each evening and seeing her sisters' bunks surrounded by flowers and chocolates and her brothers' bunks cluttered with assorted candies and letters that smelled like perfume. As long as there were Aphrodite kids who treasured cheap attempts to buy their affection, there would be kids from the other cabins more than willing to oblige them.

But Eva didn't get gifts like that, at least, not as much as her siblings. She spent a lot of that first summer reminding herself that she was still the youngest in the cabin, and that her time to shine would come soon enough.

In the meantime, though, she'd just have to get used to all the flowers. She had just the luck of having a bunk next to Silena— kind-hearted, beautiful Silena, who could scarcely glance in a boy's direction without him falling for her. Eva soon found out that where there were boys falling for you, there were flowers, and where there were flowers, there were allergies, and she figured the best way to dispel the issue quietly was to stop by Cabin 7.

A normal camp would have a camp nurse, maybe a nurse's assistant on staff, and wouldn't be much more than a phone call away from the nearest hospital. Camp Half-Blood's medical treatments pretty much amounted to "tell someone at Cabin 7 what's wrong, and if they can't patch you up, well, there's not much a mortal doctor could do for you anyways."

~💘~

As Eva approached the cabin, she noticed there were several chains by the door, each one with a different label underneath.

"PULL FOR URGENT EMERGENCY"

"PULL FOR IMPALEMENT"

"PULL FOR PRANK-RELATED INJURY"

"PULL FOR WALK-IN CONSULTATION"

That last one sounded the most like what she needed, so she pulled that chain and heard a chime go off in the cabin.

"I'll be out in a second," a voice said, and a moment later the door opened to a blonde boy, not much older than Eva, whose eyes widened when he saw her.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" he asked, with so much concern on his face she might as well have been actively on fire.

"Yeah," Eva wrinkled her nose, "just a slight problem I was hoping someone could help me with."

"Oh, good," he said, "I, uh, what can I do for you?"

She hesitated a moment, not sure what would happen if word got out that Aphrodite's new daughter was allergic to flowers.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Anything for you," he said, then coughed so hard Eva thought that he might need a doctor, "I mean, uh, of course."

"I found out I'm allergic to flowers," Eva whispered, "and Drew said that if I wake her up with my coughing one more time, I'm gonna be the one who needs beauty sleep."

"That's perfect!" the boy said.

"My allergy is perfect?" Eva asked.

"No, no," he said, "I have just the thing. Don't go away!"

He scurried back into the cabin, and about a minute later he came back with a bottle and a cloth pouch.

"These will help the allergy," he handed her the bottle, "take one each night before bed, and you should be cough free. But, just in case!'

He handed her the pouch as well and she opened it to see several heart shaped lollipops.

"What are these?"

"Newest breakthrough in Cabin 7 medicine," he said, "making your own blend of cough drops is almost a rite of passage, but I've turned the science into an art form."

Eva held one up and sniffed it. "You made cough drops into lollipops?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

They stood in silence for an awkward moment.

"I gotta go," Eva said, "but thanks for everything."

"You're welcome," he said.

She walked away, slightly confused and highly appreciative, though the whole of the moment was soon lost in the hubbub of demigod adventures.

~eva's second summer~

The biggest problem with being a child of Aphrodite is that your skill set usually boils down to "distraction." Another unfortunate truth is that sometimes "distraction" boils down to "do the hard part and run through the woods so that someone else can get the glory for your actions."

Unfortunately for Eva, this was one of those times.

All of Red Team had been hopeful for their own chance to shine when Clarisse announced that she wouldn't be going directly for the flag this time. She claimed it was a solid strategy for her and a couple of her siblings to divert the enemy's attention, so she volunteered to take patrol up along the lake instead of in the woods as usual.

However, this shuffling of the troops meant that Eva and a couple of the other Aphrodite campers were on a new mission: distract the enemy while the remaining Ares campers rush the Blue Team's flag.

Things had gone pretty much according to plan there. A few of the Apollo kids had been guarding the flag, and more than half of them had abandoned their post to chase down the Red Team's distraction.

But although the chase was part of the plan, Eva hoped the boy running after her would just give up already. She wasn't sure how much more of it she could take right now.

As the forest passed by around her, she glanced over her shoulder— just long enough to see her pursuer's determined smile— then looked back ahead of her, in just enough time to notice the tree root in front of her, but without enough time to avoid tripping on it.

She landed with her hands in front of her, the wind knocked out of her for a moment.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry," his voice behind her said, "are you okay?"

Eva pushed herself up a little and turned her head to see the boy who'd been chasing her, now with a concerned look on his face.

She wanted to make a clever remark and then run past her enemy and make her escape, but as she tried to push herself up further, she realized the pain in her knees and chin, and especially her hands.

"I'm alright," she huffed, sitting up and looking at her hands, both of them brushburned and dirt stained, and one having a decent sized cut.

"No you're not," he said, and knelt down in front of her, "you're bleeding in five different places."

"I'll be fine," Eva said.

"At least let me take a look at it. Apollo's my father, I…."

"I know," Eva said, "and you'll take me back to Blue Team's jail as a wounded prisoner."

A drop of blood fell onto Eva's shirt, and it took her a few seconds to realize where it had come from. She touched a sticky spot on her chin, then looked at her fingers to see a streak of red and brown.

"Capture the Flag isn't my concern right now," he said, taking off his helmet to reveal a familiar face, with a mop of fair blonde hair that would've looked even lighter if it wasn't so sweaty, paired the warmest brown eyes Eva'd ever seen— the boy who'd given her the cough drops and allergy pills last summer, "let me patch you up, and I'll give you a fifteen second head start."

"I guess that sounds like a deal," Eva said. She was supposed to be the distraction anyways, and this camper wouldn't be after her teammates if he was occupied with her instead.

"Good," he said. He'd already taken off his chestplate as well, and he pulled a knife out of a holster at his side.

"What are you doing?" Eva asked.

"Emergency bandages," he said, cutting a strip off the bottom of his shirt, "maybe this'll convince Annabeth to let us bring more first aid supplies next time. She says they only slow us down," he cut another chunk of the fabric off his shirt, "but this would go a lot faster if I didn't have to tear apart my wardrobe to do it."

"You don't have to."

"Nonsense," he said, pouring some water from his canteen onto one of the cloths, "you wouldn't've tripped if I hadn't been chasing you. May I?"

She nodded as he took her right hand and dabbed her open palm with the wet cloth. She tried not to wince too much.

"Sorry," he said, "I wish I had something better to clean this out with."

"No need to apologize."

Once her hand was clean, he wrapped a strip of the fabric around it, and tied it tightly.

"Here," he said, handing her the wet cloth, "wipe up that cut on your chin, then apply pressure to stop the bleeding."

She followed his instructions as best she could as he cut off another chunk of his shirt and wet it.

"You know a lot about first aid," Eva said.

He smiled a little as he took her other hand and dappled off the dirt.

"I'm not the best of my siblings," he said, "but I do what I can."

Eva knew all about struggling to be the best, having consigned herself at this point to the fact that she wouldn't even be third best among her siblings for a very long time.

"I'm Eva," she said.

"Evangeline Blythe," he nodded, "I know. This is your second summer, right?"

"That's what it says on my necklace," Eva said, glancing at the single clay bead on the string around her neck.

He held up his own necklace with two beads on it. "Then I guess this is my third. I'm Kodi Archer."

"I remember you from last summer," Eva said.

"You do?" Kodi asked.

"You gave me something for my allergies," she said.

"Glad to make an impression," he said, cleaning the spots of dirt off her scratched-but-not-actively-bleeding knees, "that's also not the first time we met."

"It's not?"

"I'm just sorry I didn't have any hot pink bandages on me this time."

"That was you?" Eva asked, recalling the bonfire and the perfectly accessorized band-aid.

"Yeah," he said.

Kodi looked back up at her, a smile on his face as their eyes met for half a moment. His eyes then shifted, however, to the cloth she had pressed against her chin.

"Let's see what I can do for that chin," he said, his hand brushing against hers as he took the cloth from her.

She hardly noticed the sting of the wet cloth on her cut as he tilted her chin up with his other hand, giving her a better view of his face in the golden lighting of the sun, warming his eyes to an even richer hue. He hadn't been this nice to look at last summer, but he'd apparently grown into his nose, and his height, and some confidence had no-doubt come with it, all of which paid off nicely together.

Her gaze was drawn away when she heard a sound in the distance: the blaring of a horn, signifying the end of the game. Kodi stopped a moment as well, looking up as though trying to see where it came from.

"That's a relief," he smiled.

"Who do you think won?"

"Doesn't matter," Kodi said, "I'm just glad I didn't have to explain to Luke and Annabeth why I was stopping to help you and would've given you a head start instead of taking you prisoner."

"At least you don't have to report to Clarisse," Eva offered.

"I don't envy you on that one," Kodi said, dabbing away the last of the blood on her chin, "now, keep applying pressure, and stop by Cabin 7 to get it looked at once you get back by the main camp, okay?"

Eva rolled her eyes.

"At least grab yourself a couple real bandages?"

"Do they have hot pink ones?" Eva smiled

"If you tell them I sent you," Kodi smiled back, resheathing his knife. "Now, do you think you can walk with your knees all scraped up?"

"I think so," she said, trying to stand up off the ground.

"Here," Kodi jumped to his feet, then held a hand out to Eva, who gladly took it and let him help stand her up.

"Thanks for everything." Eva said, taking a couple steps with minimum difficulty.

"All in a day's work," he said.

In the distance, they heard quite a ruckus.

"What's that?" Eva asked.

"Sounds like some commotion over at canoe lake," Kodi said, "probably nothing important."

~eva's third summer~

Eva had no idea where the haikus were coming from.

It started one day at dinner, when she got up to make her offering to Aphrodite, and came back to find a three-by-five index card on her napkin. One one side was her name— Evangeline, not Eva— written with a smudged pink glitter gel pen. The other side had three lines written on it.

She stayed at the table after most of the other campers had left, when it was a little quieter and easier to focus on the words scribbled on the notecard:

"if the sun should rise

and see the way your face shines

it would be ashamed"

That was it. The only other thing on the card was a heart, near her name, a classic Valentine's heart with an arrow through it, and a scribbled line near the top corner that looked like something you'd do to get the ink in a pen flowing.

By now, Eva was used to this kind of stuff. Toward the end of last summer, a couple of the Demeter boys started competing to win her affection, and she found her bunk surrounded each day with fresh flowers (which, of course, led to frequent trips to Cabin 7 for allergy medication and a weekly supply of heart-shaped "cough-pops," as Kodi had branded them.) It wasn't uncommon for the Hermes kids to slip candy bars into her pockets and backpacks for her to find later. One of the Ares kids had dedicated an arm-wrestling victory to her, and one of Mr. D's boys had just about run out of elaborate pickup lines to use on her.

Being well-acquainted with this kind of stuff by now, Eva slipped the poem into her backpack and went on with her evening.

~💘~

That night before bed, she pulled the notecard out of her backpack, only to discover a second notecard with it. Her name was written on this one as well, with the same arrow-struck heart next to it, but there were two marks in the corner, and the glittering ink on the other side read:

"your smile is like the

dripping of nectar, like a

lump of ambrosia"

It was a pity that whoever wrote the poem wasn't there to see her read it, because they would've seen another one of her smiles as she read it.

She stacked both notes together neatly, and was about to set them on her nightstand, when she realized there was a third notecard already there. The unlined side, once again, bore her name and and the same kind of heart, this time with three marks in the corner, and a haiku that read:

"your laugh is a song

that i've always known without

knowing all the words"

Eva couldn't help but laugh just a little as she read it, then stacked all three notes on her nightstand and went to bed.

~💘~

As they tidied up the cabin the next morning, Eva smiled with a newfound confidence. There's always something special about having an admirer, but even more deliciously romantic about a secret admirer, one who writes you poems and tells you the sun doesn't hold a candle to you.

"Is there an Evangeline in this cabin?"Aurora, one of the first-year campers, asked.

"Yeah, that would be me." Eva sighed. Her dad had always said he gave her the name because it was a beautiful name, and she was his beautiful daughter, but she'd never been a fan of the impromptu Disney karaoke sessions she'd see whenever she introduced herself by it. "Eva" suited her much better.

"Someone left you a note," Aurora said, holding up a three-by-five card.

"Where?" Eva asked, walking over to her.

"Tacked onto the door," the girl said, "I found it while I was sweeping."

Before Eva could get to her, one of their older brothers, Mitchell, grabbed the note and read it out loud.

"'You are a poem, and I am just the reader,'' he read, slowly, his tone slightly mocking, "'I've mem'rized your words.' What a piece of…."

"None of your business," Eva snapped, taking the note from him and looking it over carefully, noting the lines in the corner and familiar handwriting. A favorite pastime of the Aphrodite kids was making fun of the horrible attempts at poetry the other kids would write for them, but for some reason the mockery of this one seemed out of place.

"Relax, Eva," Drew said, "tell me, who's this new beau, Evangeline?"

"I don't know," Eva said, calming down a little in spite of her anger.

"Someone from Apollo's cabin," another guy said, looking over Eva's shoulder.

"You don't know that," Eva shrugged. Several Apollo campers came to mind.

"Well, it is a poorly written haiku," Mitchell said.

"And there's that arrow through the heart," he said.

"Who do you think it is?" Aurora asked.

"I don't know," Eva shrugged, "but it's not the first one, either."

Now that the whole cabin was invested in this story, she showed her siblings the other three notecards and told them where she found them, as they laughed at the words comparing her to ambrosia and singalongs.

"Those are some hard-to-get-to places to sneak a poem into undetected," Mitchell said.

"Could be a Hermes kid, then," Lacy suggested.

That didn't seem right, but Eva couldn't say why.

"Could be anyone," Silena said, "but for now, let's finish getting the cleaned up and head to breakfast. Just because those Posiedon boys are gonna lose at cabin clean up again doesn't mean we shouldn't try to win."

And with that, the campers got back to work.

~💘~

Within a week, Eva had found five more notes in various pockets of her backpack, one at her seat at almost every meal, one on her nightstand each night and her cabin door in the morning, and three in her shorts' pockets (and how they got there without her noticing, she didn't want to know.) Each of them came with her name and a heart pierced with an arrow, a series of strikes up in the corner (which she soon realized were tally marks, the highest one up to twenty-nine so far, though a few in between were missing,) and a haiku, likening her to arrows, celestial bodies, anything beautiful you could think of (except, strangely enough, flowers,) and an assortment of diseases and ailments. Any time she found one, her nearby brothers and sisters would gather around and giggle and gawk over the attempts at romance.

Eva, however, treasured every one of these notes in her heart. With each note she found, her secret admirer became even more of a point of interest. At the end of that week, her curiosity got the better of her, and she hatched a plan involving a stakeout out front of her cabin. Whoever was hiding these notes came every night to leave them on the door, and tonight she'd catch the cupid culprit in the act.

~💘~

It was nearly midnight, and her tiredness had almost caught up with her as she crouched behind a flowering shrub outside the cabin.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of someone coming, and perked up to watch. This part required the most secrecy. If they heard her, no doubt they'd come up with some alibi that didn't involve haikus and thumb tacks. She'd have to catch them in the act. Quietly as she could, she watched as a figure approached the door, stuck something to it, and started to walk away.

Quickly, Eva shone her flashlight at the note, just to check that it was indeed another three-by-five with her glittering name on it, then turned the light on the intruder.

"Going somewhere?" she asked.

He looked like he was gonna jump out of his skin, but instead turned back around to face her. She recognized him as one of the Stoll brothers from Hermes' cabin, but even in better lighting she wouldn't be able to tell you which one.

"You've been writing me haikus?" Eva asked.

"Oh no," he said, his hands over his head in a way that made Eva feel like she was some kind of cop. "I'm just the delivery boy."

"You're running errands?" Eva asked.

"Half-Blood's gotta make a living," he said, "and I'm just using the skills dad gave me."

Hermes was a master of sneakery and delivery, and there was a reason the Stoll brothers were the heads of his children. Every demigod knew that if you want something done sneaky and you want it done right, you turn to the Stoll brothers.

Every camper also knew that they could both be easily bought.

"Who put you up to this?" Eva asked.

"My 'client' paid a high price for my silence," he said.

"Oh?" Eva asked, "and how high a price would I have to pay for the opposite?"

"I'm not a sellout," Stoll said, "even among thieves and pickpockets, there is honor."

"Such a shame," Eva smiled, smugly, knowing she had a bargaining chip worth much more than money, "because that means I won't have to tell my lovely sisters that you were part of this 'secret admirer' plot."

"Why should that matter?" he asked.

"They haven't been able to stop talking about it," Eva said, "someone being so clever and sneaky in the name of love. They always go crazy for guys in touch with their romantic side."

"Really?"

"Oh, sure," Eva said, "If they found out you were involved with this, oh, they'd be all over you."

"They would?" he asked, his voice weak.

"And of course," Eva said, knowing exactly how to seal the deal, "the best thing about attracting my sisters' attention? Being a child of Aphrodite pretty much guarantees more candy than you'll ever be able to eat, more than enough to share with such a daring romantic soul as your own.."

"Any peanut m&ms?" he asked.

Though they were a favorite slip-into-your-pocket candy from the Hermes kids, the Aphrodite kids seldom appreciated them. However, there was no one at camp who loved them more than Connor Stoll, who'd burn a pack of them for his father on the regular, and that gave Eva a pretty good hunch who she was talking to.

"Too many to eat," she said, "it's a shame, really."

"What's a shame?"

"Oh, you know," Eva said, "the fact that you'd rather keep your silence than attract the interests of a dozen beautiful girls with a lifetime supply of chocolate."

Eva turned, with a smile on her face, knowing she'd made an offer he couldn't refuse.

"Do you promise you won't tell him I told you?" Stoll asked.

She turned back to him.

"The only person who'll know about this conversation is my siblings, who will get to hear about how wonderfully romantic the great Connor Stoll is."

He smiled, so Eva assumed she had guessed properly as to which brother it was.

"I don't know," he said, with a wink, "Kodi paid a good price to tell me not to tell you."

"Kodi?" Eva asked, "Kodi Archer?"

Aside from her trips to Cabin 7 for allergy pills, cough-pops, and brightly colored band-aids, she hadn't spoken much to Kodi since the Capture the Flag game at the start of last summer. She'd attracted the attention of a lot of guys last year, and even more this year, so a lot of her attention-seekers fell through the cracks. She couldn't keep up with every boy who went out of his way to do something for her.

"I don't want any trouble between myself and the guy who makes my medicine," Connor winked again, and nodded in confirmation, "but don't tell anyone besides your sisters."

"You got it," Eva smiled, "now, you should get outta here before the harpies catch you."

"That's not a concern when you know what you're doing," he laughed. He pulled something out of his pocket and threw it into the distance, and Eva watched something in the sky chase it into a far-off tree.

"How did you…" Eva asked, but when she looked back at him, he was already gone.

Since she didn't have any magical harpy-escape-plan, she decided it best to head back to the cabin.

But she stopped a moment at the cabin door, running her fingers along the index card. Had she been paying attention, she could've figured it out without Connor's help. No one at camp called her "Evangeline," except Kodi. He'd written it in what he clearly knew was her favorite shade of pink. The arrow piercing the hearts doodled on the notes represented Cabin 7, and also the boy whose last name just-so-happened to be Archer. There were metaphors to sunshine and medicine and archery all throughout the poorly written poems, and while any other poet would've likened her to beautiful, fragrant flowers, only Kodi knew of her allergy. Not everyone on campus would trust the word of one of the Stoll brothers, but the facts lined up in this one.

She sighed, and decided not to bring the notecard back to the cabin with her. It would be better to leave it there for her siblings to gawk over in the morning.

~💘~

The next morning, Eva regaled the tale of her stakeout to her cabin mates, a captive audience, especially for her version of the story, in which Connor had taken the task of leaving the haikus solely "for the sake of romance" and "keeping the delicate flower of young love alive" and a few other poetic turns of phrase that made him into the kind of guy that at least a few of her siblings would fall for by the end of the story.

The other big change in this version of the story was that when she recounted it, Connor was not so easily bought, and claimed to "honor the romanticism of mystery," meaning he disappeared into the night before telling Eva who her secret admirer was.

In Cabin 10, names were thrown around often. Eva could list off the top of her head at least a dozen demigods who'd tried gestures like this to win her siblings' affections. Gossip was more juicy when you had names and faces to go with the story.

But for some reason, Eva didn't want this to be juicy gossip, though, quite frankly, she couldn't quite put her finger on why. So, she kept Kodi's name out of the discussion, suggesting to her clamoring sisters that maybe the best way to get that information was from Connor, either through sweet-talk, or just sweets in general

~eva's third summer~

It was Eva's turn to help Silena in the stables. It always fascinated Eva, how comfortably Silena got on with the pegasi, and vice versa, especially because Eva was terrified of them. It wasn't just pegasi; she was afraid of horses too, and though she'd never seen a unicorn, she was sure she wouldn't want to. No matter how much Silena would tell her it was safe, that the pegasi wouldn't hurt her— and even having a satyr and that Percy kid translate the pegasi's whinnies for her multiple times— this was something Eva couldn't shake.

And yet, that afternoon she found herself in the stables with Silena.

"I wish I could talk with them," Silena said, brushing a winged palomino.

"Why?" Eva asked, polishing a saddle as far from the pegasi as she could be.

"I think they know more than they let on," she smiled, "kind of like you."

"What?" Eva's nose wrinkled.

"I heard you talking to Connor outside the cabin last night," Silena said.

"You what?"

"I knew you were gonna stay up and get to the bottom of the secret poet mystery," Silena said, "so, I waited up to listen in. Kodi likes you?"

"Not so loud!" Eva said.

"The only ones around to hear us are the pegasi," Silena said.

"And they know a lot more than they let on." Eva rolled her eyes, then looked back down at the saddle in front of her and buffed up a stain.

If Silena had anything further to say, she didn't say it. Instead, she rubbed her wrist, anxiously, then bit her lip, with a far-off look in her eyes.

"I'll be right back," she said, before Eva had time to question her or protest at being left alone with the flying death horses.

"May as well get this over with," Eva muttered. She picked up the horse-brush Silena had been using and decided to try to face her fears head-on.

Everyone had always told her these kinds of creatures were more afraid of her than she was of them, which seemed stupid because they weighed at least ten times more than her and had a mouth bigger than her entire face.

But whoever had said it was apparently right, because the pegasus she approached seemed startled by her mere presence, and the last thing Eva remembered before hitting the floor was the pegasi standing in front of her, reared up to a terrifying height on his hind legs.

~💘~

Eva knew stable floors to be notoriously hard and dirty, and yet when she came to, she felt like she was lying on fresh bedsheets on a mattress. Instead of being surrounded by hay and the smell of a stable, she saw tulle around her, and smelled something delightfully clean.

"I know this room," she thought, "I'm in the Big House."

Usually, campers only stayed in the Big House for medical emergencies. As her consciousness regained itself, a pain in her head did too, and she realized why she qualified.

Trying not to move her head too much, she looked around the room. Out the window was total darkness, like the middle of the night. Flowers were gathered, not near her bed, but on the other side of the room. The only light in the room was a lamp, which sat next to a chair that was next to the bed, and in that chair sat someone Eva knew well: a dimly lit Kodi.

He didn't look like he'd intended to fall asleep. Instead of a blanket, his lap was covered in notecards, and he hadn't returned the cap on the pink gel pen in his hand.

She turned over, just a little, and felt something out of place on her pillow: a notecard, her name written in familiar handwriting, with an arrow-pierced heart, and more tally marks than she wanted to count. The other side contained three simple lines.

"evangeline, please,

you've got to wake up because

i kind of love you."

The rest of the kids in Cabin 10 would've laughed their heads off at the words "kind of," but she was focused on the word after them: love. It was one thing to say you like someone, or have a crush on someone, or you think someone's cute. But to say you love someone, even just "kind of?" In the last three summers at Camp Half-Blood, and all those years of grade-school Valentine's and getting hounded for her phone number, not one of those guys had ever said they love her. And now, Kodi had.

But Kodi hadn't just said that he loved her, he'd shown it. Maybe the hot pink bandages weren't a coincidence. Maybe the heart-shaped cough pops were made with her in mind. Maybe there was a reason he'd helped his Capture the Flag enemy. Maybe he hadn't left her side since he heard about her pegasus incident, and wanted her to see a friendly face when she came to.

Even if none of that was true, there was no denying he'd gone out of his way to pour his heart out for her. Given the lengths he went to to get his poems to her and the price he paid for Connor's silence, it was clear that he wasn't doing this to get something in return. He just wanted her to know that she was special, and she was loved. That was all he'd been telling her from the beginning, wasn't it?

~kodi's fourth summer~

From the first time he met Evangeline Blythe, Kodi had known one thing: she was special, and she deserved to be loved like it.

Of course, his friends and siblings tried to dissuade him. Demigods and mortals alike throughout history had grown a sudden belief in "love at first sight" after meeting Aphrodite kids, and it never worked out as planned.

Kodi, however, was great at working out plans. He saw the way she accessorized each day, and sent for some colored bandages to meet that need. Every time he saw her felt like Valentine's Day, so when her coughing fits started, it'd only made sense to make heart shaped "cough-pops" to capture that essence. And when he realized that helping her with her injuries in capture the flag wasn't enough to compete with all the other boys who sought her attention, he started his most ambitious project yet, which took a long while (and several pink gel pens) to execute, but the payoff was well worth it.

He was a worried mess when Silena called him to the stables, and even more of a wreck when he saw Evangaline's lifeless form, and the blood dripping from her forehead. He was thankful he always kept a bit of ambrosia on hand. Had his shirt been able to voice an opinion it would've been ungrateful, though, that Kodi had thought ahead to keep hot pink bandages and a knife on hand, but didn't keep any cloths on hand. A chunk of his shirt was cut off without a second thought as he wiped the blood off her forehead and prayed a million prayers to his father.

He'd gotten her to a more stable condition— no pun intended— though still unconscious, and brought her back to the Big House as safely as he could on the back of a pegasus.

Kodi had insisted on staying by her bedside until she woke up, and Chiron said that would be fine, as long as they weren't alone together. Silena volunteered to stay with them, feeling excessive guilt over not being in the stable to stop the problem before it happened.

Around midnight, after an unexpected heart-to-heart with Silena about his feelings for Evangeline, he'd told her to get some sleep, and that he'd wake her up when Evangeline did.

In the meantime, Kodi had plenty of time to write some more haikus, and had just slipped the best of them on her pillow when his exhaustion from the day's events finally kicked in.

~💘~

Kodi woke with a start when he felt something touching him, and looked down to see a hand on top of his. The hand was slender, nails well-manicured in a shade of pink that perfectly complemented the bracelets around the wrist.

His eyes followed the arm to Evangeline's face, her eyes open and her lips smiling at him as she lay on the bed next to his seat.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," she whispered, despite the fact that the sun hadn't even risen yet.

"You're awake," he whispered back in surprise, "and you're… holding my hand?"

He wasn't sure how this had happened, but he tried to move his hand away from hers, just in case, but instead her hand chased after his, and caught it.

"I am," she smiled.

"Why?" he asked, and when she looked disappointed, he followed up, "not that I'm upset, just a little confused. Did I miss something? Maybe you're delirious? I should wake Silena, or maybe get Will…."

"Not yet," Evangeline said, "I'm thinking clearly. I'm actually thinking a lot more clearly about a lot of things than I have been in a long time."

"What kind of things?"

"I never asked to be Aphrodite's kid," she said, "we don't get to come up with strategies or fight epic battles or tend to the wounded with great expertise," and she smiled and squeezed his hand, "but we do have it lucky."

"How?" Kodi asked.

"When your mom is the goddess of love," she smiled, that pure smile that somehow had a way of healing his soul every time he saw it, "the most confusing thing anyone can ever go through suddenly makes a lot more sense."

"What's that?"

"This," Evangeline said, holding up the note he'd left on her pillow, "'I kind of love you' too," she said.

"You do?" He asked, and he hoped she liked his smiles as much as he liked hers, because there was no stopping the one that now spread across his face. All that planning and working at getting her attention had actually worked.

Instead of responding, she squeezed his hand three times, and he'd listened to the modern poets enough to know it meant "I love you."

He responded the same way, but after the third squeeze, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, the world stopping a moment as he looked up and saw the blush creeping along her cheeks, that perfect shade of pink she'd taught him to see everywhere.

"You said you needed to wake Silena?" Evangeline asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Can it wait ten seconds?"

"Why ten seconds?" Kodi asked.

"Because," Evangeline said, leaning closer toward him off the edge of the bed, "that gives me just enough time to do this."

Then, she kissed him, and if it had lasted ten seconds or ten hours, he wouldn't've known the difference, and he wouldn't've cared. It still would've been overwhelming. He still would've thought it ended too soon. It still would've taken him a few hazy minutes to recover. Even after passing out in a stable and spending a day in a hospital room, her lips still tasted like chocolate and strawberries, and they pressed against his as gently as a feather, pulling away just as softly.

"Wow," he whispered, between deep breaths, "I think I kind of love you more than I thought I did."

She giggled a little, and said "me too," and it was the capstone of the greatest moment of his entire life.

The sun was just beginning to rise out the infirmary window, and as perfect as it would be to say they held hands and watched the sunrise together while Apollo painted the skies in glorious hues, no one could honestly say that's what happened that morning— because Kodi was much more interested in watching Evangeline than in anything the sunrise had to offer.

#percy jackon and the olympians #kazzy's ocs #evangeline blythe #kodi archer #5 and 1 #kazzy writes #fanfiction #silena beauregard #drew tanaka #percy jackson book spoilers #kazzy borrows uncle rick's sweater #kazzy writes fanfic #camp half blood #tw blood #connor stoll

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