#I’m also not sure if rocky is supposed to have brain damage in this one? I know he for sure has it in 5

[theboost]

All of the rocky movies are on Netflix so I’ve been skim watching them and I truly think the greatest flaw of the character rocky balboa is not taking his brother in law out back with a baseball bat and beating him with it until something turned into pulp

#man sly stallones directing is rough in rocky 4. though I do always love to see dolph lundgren #there’s a robot here? I don’t understand the robot. I think Paulie is fucking this robot. the movie stops dead to show us the robot #I’m also not sure if rocky is supposed to have brain damage in this one? I know he for sure has it in 5 #I’m sooooo fascinated about this. apollo dies because he’s trying to win the cold war and then rocky wins it for him. it’s so dumb #rocky doesn’t care about politics! he cares about making his wife laugh. also like. sly. my man. I know #okay hold on. there’s a musical number happening. obviously the point is supposed to be American flash versus Russian simplicity but it’s so #strange. anyway I know sly wrote the first one but like he gets that’s apollo isn’t especially patriotic right. it was a gimmick for the #bicentennial. that’s why he had the American flag shorts. and rocky wearing them in 3 was symbolic because it was apollo passing the torch #guys I think this movie might be bad #weird tangent tag

[bisadiemccarthy]

I was bored in the car today and @lesbiansayaishii was nice to me in the tags of my pinned moodboard, so elle, this is for you ❤️ this also marks the first thing I've properly written for the Ivy AU, and it's intentionally not the start of the story but more in the middle, because I wanted to make my brain think about other parts of the story. Thank you elle for giving me an excuse to flex my muse 🖤💞💗

Background/Context, Connor went to Mayo after s3, and Ava didn't ask him to stay, nor did she tell him when she realized she was pregnant from their one night stand. He comes back as head of the emergency department around four years later, and... you can probably fill in the blankssss

Connor is reviewing patient charts in his mercifully private office when the phone on his desk starts ringing. He eyes it for a moment, pretty sure it’s no one he wants to talk to. But he doesn’t get to foist it off now, now that he’s the one in charge, so he picks up the phone with a groan.

“Rhodes.”

“Dr. Rhodes, it’s Beth in the OR with Dr. Bekker,” says the surgery tech. “You’re on speaker.”

Not the most headache-inducing call he could’ve gotten, then. “Thanks, Beth. Ava?” It’s been a rocky few weeks since he’d suddenly learned that she had a daughter— that he had a daughter— but getting closer again, even just by arguing and pestering each other with every spare minute of their shifts, means he’s falling back into the familiar patterns from before his years at the Mayo Clinic, including using her first name.

“Connor, what’s the weather doing right now?”

He blinks. “Huh?”

“I know we’re supposed to be getting a winter storm,” she continues, “but last I heard it wasn’t getting bad until tonight. Only, now Ivy’s daycare is saying they’re closing early because the roads might be dangerous as early as this afternoon.”

Connor scrubs a hand over his face. “Oh, shit, the ER’s probably gonna get flooded.”

“Connor,” Ava says, exasperation audible even over the phone, “I’m currently elbow-deep in the chest cavity of a man in late-stage heart failure. I cannot leave this patient on the table for the half-hour minimum it would take for me to drive out to the daycare and check Ivy out. She can play quietly in the doctor’s lounge up here, she knows how to do that, but I need you to go pick her up.”

“Uh.” He pauses for a moment as his brain tries to catch up. “What?”

“I know you’re working too, but you’ve got a little more flexibility than I do at the moment,” Ava continues. “I’ll call ahead and tell them you’re cleared to sign her out, can you come get my car keys so you’ll have her car seat with you?”

“Hang on.” Connor’s hand flexes on the arm of his office chair. “A week ago you were saying you weren’t even ready for me to meet her yet, and now you want me to go pick her up from school? The hell do I know about entertaining children?”

“You don’t have to entertain anyone,” Ava huffs, “as long as you can buckle a seatbelt, you’ll be fine. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate."

"That makes me feel so much better," he says drily.

"Look, if I spend any more time begging you right now my patient is going to end up with brain damage. Car keys are in my locker; the combination is Ivy's birthday. Beth, hang up on him, please."

Sure enough, the call ends abruptly, leaving Connor to stand there and wonder what he'd expected.

"I don't know her goddamn birthday," he says aloud to no one.

On a hunch he boots up his desktop to open the hospital's L&D records from 2018, and punching in Ava's surname he finds a file from late in the fall. 11-06-18. Got it.

Sure enough, that combination opens the locker, and Connor grabs the car keys from the magnet hook inside the door. He vaguely remembers the name of the daycare, so he punches that into google maps, and even with the snow starting to fall, the drive doesn't hit twenty minutes. When he enters the lobby of the place, the woman at the front desk nods when he awkwardly gives his name.

"Dr. Bekker gave us a call, you're on the approved guardian list," she says. "We appreciate you working with our unpredictable winter schedule; the kids are in the main playroom and their belongings are in the cubbies with their names."

"Got it," Connor says, finding the small cubby with Ivy's name on it. There's a purple coat on one hook and a blue, floral-patterned backpack on the other, and he crosses his fingers and hopes there's nothing else he needs to grab, because he's not exactly sure the three-year-old will tell him. He makes his way into the playroom, scanning the small crowd of children, and a familiar face stares back at him, blonde pigtails bouncing as she crosses the room.

"You're Doctor Rhodes," she says a picture book clutched in one hand. "You work with Mummy." There's a pause, and then she adds, "hi," as if just remembering how to use greetings.

"Yep, that's me," he agrees. It feels insanely weird to have this small child referring to him with his full title, but everything about interacting with her feels insanely weird-- he's going to let Ava tell her what to call him, and all that. "Hey, Ivy, your mom is really busy right now, but because of the snow the nice people here are worried it might not be safe for you to stay all afternoon like usual. So I have your normal car, with your car seat, and we're gonna go back to the hospital. Sound alright?"

"Mhm," Ivy agrees. "I have my coloring books." And then she instantly reaches up for his hand, and he takes hers reflexively, but it brings him a moment's pause when he looks down at her and realizes this is effectively the first time he's held his daughter's hand. But he doesn't really have the time to pause and sit with that, especially with an inquisitive toddler staring up at him, so instead he leads her out of the room and to the car.

"Coloring books sound great."

In the car, Ivy talks a little about friends from her Pre-K, but mostly she looks out the window and dances to the random radio station Connor had turned on. They park in the hospital parking lot, and when Connor lifts Ivy out of her car seat, she wraps her arms around his neck. "It's cold!"

"We'll be inside soon," he tells her, picking her backpack up from the floor of the car. But after he shuts the door and locks the car, he hesitates, looking from Ivy's sneakers to the slushy puddles on the sidewalk. "Um... do you want me to carry you like this?"

"Yeah!" She rests her head on his shoulder. "Your beard is funny."

He chuckles as he begins to walk toward the hospital. "Funny?"

"It's soft. Soft like a fuzzy bear."

"Oh, yeah?" He grins at her. "I thought you weren't supposed to pet bears. Do bears like people?"

"No!" Ivy giggles, leaning back to give him a toothy smile. Connor adjusts his grip to account for the change in her center of gravity. "Bears don't live with people, silly. I got stuffed animals."

"Oh, I see," he says, adopting an air of seriousness. "You're the expert, then."

Ivy certainly agrees with that assessment, and she tells him all about her stuffed animals and their names as they make their way through the hospital. Really, Connor could put her down now that they're out of the weather, but he feels happily warm with her clinging to him so tightly. Yeah, it's a little freaky to meet a tiny alien of a human who's half made of him when she's already her own tiny person, but Ivy is so immediately trusting and bubbly that he can't help but love her. He can lose his shit on his own time; if a toddler wants to hug him, he's gonna hug her back.

"Here we go." Connor sets Ivy on the couch in the CT doctor's lounge, and she eagerly opens up her backpack and pulls out coloring books and crayons. "Your mom will come see you when she's done with surgery."

"Thanks." Ivy quickly opens the coloring book and holds out a crayon to him. "Here. Color."

He takes the crayon, a little surprised. Technically, he really should get back to the trauma floor, but... surely Ava will be out of the OR sooner rather than later. He can stay with Ivy for a little while later.

"Okay," he agrees, sitting on the floor to reach where she has the coloring book on the couch. "What... what color do we start with?"

#chicago med #ava bekker #connor rhodes #chicago med au #chicago med fic #ivy au #my aus #this got long but domestic fluff is my weakness #crockettstiddies #im so tired i might try to tag this better tmrw

[cornfarm]

waves against the rocks

saiki kusuo x reader

word count: 2.0k

synopsis: you show saiki your powers. he’s unbearibly jealous, yet for the first time, he feels seen and understood by another person.

cws: mention of the reader having a bad family

genre: melancholic fluff

reader is gender neutral!

===================================================

notes:

greetings... i promise i’m working on cease and desist part 2 but i keep starting one shots;; I ALSO DECIDED TO CHANGE MY TEXT FORMAT... i yoinked all the capital letters away... it feels a bit more liberating

whenever i make my crazy op self insert oc, i always think about how i can make them a foil/double to the characters i like. for example my gintama s/i is also a traumatized war veteran. i thought like... wouldn’t it be fun to write the reader character as a direct foil AND double to saiki? they have everything he doesn’t, but he has a lot that they dont and it’s like,., mutual jealousy.

i also wanted to write saiki properly empathizing with someone. aiura and toritsuka are so fun because they both have different moral compasses with their powers and how they’d like to use them. however despite the fact theyre all psychics, saiki can’t really empathize with either of them.

i wanted to have saiki be excited about something, and feel truly seen. empathy is a very powerful thing.

i hope the “ability” i chose isn’t too cringe;;;

i can’t help but feel like i write saiki ooc so feedback would be super appreciated!

===================================================

perception. the way people are seen by others, the mental images and sour thoughts rooted in nothing but misconception. the falsafied persona of greatness, beauty, and kindness. perception.

you kept saiki afterschool. tugging at his sleeve, you quietly asked “i need to show you something, stay here for a few extra minutes?”. he refused you at first, but you stayed firm, “i need you to stay.” fierce. he decided to stay.

but you stood before saiki, right? were you there? he suddenly felt a bit weary, head pounding at the thought of you. your name, voice, scent, failing to find matches in his library of records. when he thought of you, his brain flickered through the faces and names of everyone else he knew.

you were a gap, a void, a sudden unconjurable memory. it was horrifying. but he quickly accepted it. the body circling behind of him was none of his concern, because there was nobody there. he supposes he should go home now. why was he standing alone in the classroom anyways?

firm hands land on his shoulders, warm, present. he remembers why he’s here.

“it’s not that i’m invisible, it’s just that your brain can’t recognize me, and refuses to acknolwedge me as a thing that exists.”

like a wave crashing against a rocky shore, the void is filled. your voice, your scent, your name, all slotted back into place in his mental library. he recognizes the hands on your shoulders as yours. 

a hand snakes around and pushes up his glasses, covering his eyes.

“it’s not about visibility, it’s perception. you are unable to percieve me as a living thing, or of anything of importance. that’s why you can’t read my thoughts, and that’s why you’re so quick to give up trying to recall me.”

he’s practically trembling- you have one power. it was simple, but it managed to find a loophole around practically all of his.

“that’s terrifying.”

“right?”

you take your hands away and step in front of him. he adjusts his glasses properly.

“were you born with it?”

you nod, “it caused me trouble when i was a kid. i almost got left at an airport,” you chuckle.

“does anyone else know?”

“i’ve tried to tell my parents but they don’t believe me. they called me a liar and delusional, so i decided to stop trying with them. nobody else knows, i’ve never told any of my past friends either. when i found out about your powers, i thought maybe someone would finally understand. that’s the only reason i wanted to tell you.”

your lip quivers, “you believe me, right?”

truth be told, saiki’s stunned. he wasn’t expecting someone like you to have such an abrasive ability. despite how reclusive and fittingly unnoticeable it is, it was certainly powerful.

he’s jealous. you were able to freely aquire something he wanted- privacy, but he does believe you, afterall he just watched you waltz around him, outside of his keen field of view. 

“yeah, i do.”

you smile, bright and wide- you’re nearly trembling. was being believed that big of a deal to you?

you take a step forward and embrace him, wrapping your arms around his torso as your head presses against his chest. he goes a bit stiff, and glances at the door. “hey, someone might walk in-”

“it’s fine.” you look up at him, meeting his eyes, and oh. your eyes are glimmering, shining greater than he’s ever seen them, “they won’t.”

burying your face back into him, he tenataively wraps his arms around your back. you continue, voice muffled, “’m sorry, you’re the first person who’s accepted me. i’m happy.”

the emotional explanation for your actions ease him a bit, “it’s fine.” he states back.

you finally pull away, and for a brief moment as you lose connection, you flicker out of his view, but you come back in again, placing your hand on his.

“actually, i can touch you while using my power without you being affected by them, but i’m manually using it on you right now.”

“if you touch someone while making sure they still can’t see you, what does that make them experience?” his voice is clear, a bit fierce in tone. you always had trouble reading saiki, but you could tell that this was interest. perhaps he was threatened, but he was certainly intrigued.

“they might whirl around and look who’s touching them and account it to a person around them, but if not, they might think they’re having sensory hallucinations. i can also talk to people, but because my voice doesn’t have any weight to it, it’s almost like a hypnotic suggestion.”

“so you can brainwash people?”

“not necessarily,” you let go of his hand, you must have released your power, your eyes are dark, “if i suggest something to someone and it’s something mild, they’re more likely to do it because it already falls into their line of thinking. if i suggest something bold, they might do it thinking it’s an impulsive thought.”

“most people won’t do extreme things, they’ll read those as intrusive thoughts. but sometimes people think my voice is the voice of god, or a passed on relative, and will do intense things regardless of their judgement. others have poor impulse control, and some are just batshit crazy.”

you sheepishly scratch your head, “but i don’t really like having that much control over people. i don’t want to use my powers to hurt anyone.”

“do you want to use them to help people?”

you pause. it seems you’ve thought about this quite a bit.

“well my powers can’t help people. they give me the ability to help people, but they can’t help people directly. i think it’s a matter of it i’m strong enough to help people.”

“are you?”

“would you hate me if i said no? of course i lend a hand to my friends when they need it, but i don’t think i’m strong enough to really make a difference. i want to live peacefully.”

you look down at your hands, “i wish i wasn’t born with it.”

saiki felt unnervingly softhearted. he struggled empathizing with his peers, but his heart pounded in solemn familiarity. “i don’t hate you for that, i’m the same. having the powers i do means i have the responsibility of keeping the world in peace. people would be jealous of me for the self-fulfilling purposes i could use my powers for, but i don’t want to use my powers to hurt people. i don’t want to help anyone either. i just want to be left alone.”

guilt. guilt was a disease, just like jealousy is. it eats at you from the inside, and creeps up at times least expected. it left both of you hollow and empty.

“i wish i didn’t have powers,” he continues, “i don’t think i’ve ever properly experienced life in the way i’m supposed to, like everyone else has. i’m envious of you, you’ve had a bit more normalcy than me.”

“i suppose we’re equally unhappy, then,” you smile at him. he had been staring out the window, but he turns to looks at you. you’re leaning on the door of the classroom, tilting your head, you ask him a silent “walk home with me?”. 

“i mean,” you begin, “i’ve missed out on a lot. i’ve always had trouble making friends- my powers made it difficult for people to remain interested in me. i’ve gotten pretty good at controlling them, pk academy has been really good to me, but it doesn’t heal the damage it’s caused me.”

your teeth gnaw at your lower lip, “your family is so supportive of you, they love you so much, it makes me angry. i wish i could say the same about mine.”

it wasn’t too empty in the school, but your footsteps were loud and clear, both you and saiki walking in sync. saiki didn’t really know what to say, so he stayed silent. 

sighing, you continue, “i don’t want to be alone, but it’s too easy to be reclusive when that’s where you’ve always been. if you live a life of isolation, making friends is scary and draining,” a grim smile forms on your face, as if you’re trying to comfort yourself.

but saiki does have to admit that the two of you have much more in common than he initially thought. he quietly thinks to himself, perhaps he could use your abilities.

“y/n,” he begins, eyes meeting yours, “will you do me a favor?”

“yeah, what is it?”

he doesn’t like being indebted to people, but he wants to test your limits. you don’t give him the chance to ask, “you want me to use my powers while we walk out together, don’t you.”

his mouth falls a bit open, lips parting, “how did you know?”.

you laugh, “you’re not the only one who can read minds,” and reach out to wrap a hand around his forearm. he raises a brow at you, seemingly amused by your comment. he expected you to take his hand again, but your firm grip on his arm was admitedly unexpected.

he felt his heart skip a beat.

“well? are you doing it?”

“yup, you won’t feel any different though.”

walking down the steps together, people passed the two of you, strangers, familiar faces, teachers. nobody noticed.

the two of you passed toritsuka at the steps, but he paid no mind. “you know,” saiki started, “when i use my invisibility power, that guy can still see me.” 

“can he?” you murmur, your voice a bit low. 

“if it’s easier, you can just think what you’d like to say to me, we can talk that way.”

you squint your eyes in concentration, “like this?” you think to yourself. 

“yeah.”

you smile. you continue to hold onto his arm as he changes his shoes. 

“that must be frustrating, that he can still see you.”

he nods. he supposes if toritsuka can’t see you, then aiura probably can’t track you- and him, down either. 

“hold onto my arm while i change mine.”

without breaking contact, he gently wraps his fingers around your wrist. you hastily change your shoes, and slide your hand a bit up, taking his in yours.

“is it neccesary to hold hands?” he asks. his expression was nearly deadpanned, but the slight crease in his brows communicated just enough. he felt sheepish, a bit lost.

“no, but it’s nice.” 

teruhashi stands idly at the exit, waiting, doing her best to gently shake off the boys that surrounded her.

“she’s looking for me.”

“is she? do you want to talk to her?”

“no.”

you pause. 

“is she the reason you asked me to do this for you?”

he nods.

you turn and head towards the gate, but not before waving a hand in front of her face. you take a deep breath, before exclaiming a loud “teruhashi!”. she whirls around, trying to find the source of the voice, looking rather bewildered.

letting out a hearty laugh, you grin up at him. a slight huff of air escapes his upturned lips.

the two of you slip past the front gate.

“but you owe me something in return, i don’t give out my labor for free!”

he sighs, “what would you like?”

“wait, really? i was joking, you don’t have to do anything for me!” you double down on your demands.

“you say that, but i know you’re secretly hoping i’ll treat you.”

“shit, i forgot you can read my mind. that’s so invasive.” you pout, “not fair!”

“it’s fine, i don’t like being indebted to people, and you did do me a favor like i asked, so i’ll take you somewhere.”

you look a bit nervous, “really? you’re sure?”

“just accept the offer before i revoke it.”

you twirl in a circle, letting go of his hand and hopping a few steps ahead of him. “you’re buying me a nice coffee then!” 

he lunges out to take it again.

“sure.”

and once more in sync, both of your hearts skip a beat.

#im sorry for writing so much friends to lovers in the pining stage i can't help it /j #the disaster of psi kusuo saiki #the disasterous life of saiki k #saiki k #saiki kusuo #saiki kusuo x reader #saiki k imagines #saiki k headcanons #saiki x reader

[justheretobreakthings]

Whumpmas in July: Day 12

@whumpmasinjuly

Warmth

Also my fill for Hypothermia for @badthingshappenbingo

Read on AO3 My house, my rules, my ko-fi

When Coran had been doling out supply-gathering assignments to each of the paladins, Keith had thought nothing of his. Telrov was cold, yes. He wasn’t used to cold climates, sure. But he had his armor, and he had dealt with extreme weather before, so when Coran had asked whether Keith was up to the assignment, of course he said he was. In fact, he was almost insulted that the Altean didn’t think he could handle a bit of cold.

And sure, maybe ‘a bit of cold’ was a bit of an understatement, since it seemed that the entire dwarf planet was covered in a layer of ice that he had to hammer through with his sword in order to get to the fungi growing under the frozen soil that he needed to collect. And sure, maybe after the team’s previous mission yesterday, he should have mentioned that he had taken quite the wallop to the chestplate, but it hadn’t looked like anything had been damaged any worse than a bit of denting, and he had walked away from it with just some soreness and a bit of bruising.

How was he supposed to have known that the temperature control valve had been damaged? There had been no warning signs. Nothing but a few ticks of high pitched beeping started up while Keith was already nearly a varga’s walk through the rocky, frozen wasteland from Red’s landing site. The next thing he’d known, the heating that usually flowed evenly through the armor had disappeared.

He had tried his best not to panic. He knew where Red was, and even without the temperature control mechanisms, his armor and suit were far from flimsy. Surely he could hold out for long enough to make it back. He hadn’t gotten quite as much of the ingredient as Coran had requested, but hopefully he would be forgiven that shortcoming in light of the circumstances.

Shoving the last of the fungus he had managed to collect into the bag he’d been given to store it, he turned to start making the journey back to Red. It should be a shorter walk getting back to his landing site, in terms of time, since he didn’t have to collect anything on the return journey and he’d already broken through the spots where icicles had been thick enough to block his path. Still, despite those advantages, the return trip was slowly revealing itself to be more difficult than he would have liked.

For one thing, it was a lot harder to trudge across the ice while shivering, and that shaking worsened the longer Keith was out in the cold. The boots of his armor gave him some traction, but not enough to always keep him from slipping in places where there was no rock wall or frozen shrub to hang onto for support. More than once he lost his footing and wound up gracelessly splayed across the ice, and each time he dreaded the bruises he was likely gaining from the impacts. During one fall, a slip over the edge of a path and down a good ten feet only to land on his rear, he was certain he heard his loinguard crack – he could feel a particularly biting cold sneaking into that spot as he went on, which he tried his damnedest to ignore.

His helmet, too, was causing him trouble. His breathing, which grew steadily heavier the longer he walked, would fog up the visor with every exhale. It wasn’t completely impossible to see through – the material wasn’t quite glass, and didn’t fog up quite so badly as, say, a window or pair of glasses on Earth would – but he still had to squint through the blur enough to give him a hell of a headache to avoid walking into ice pillars or off of cliffs. He debated simply removing the helmet altogether, but exposing his bare face to the cold didn’t seem like a good idea.

So instead, he powered through, tripping and sliding across rocks and ice. His movements slowed as he grew steadily more numb, not to mention more exhausted by the minute. What he wouldn’t give right now to be back in his room on the Castle of Lions, wrapped up in as many blankets as he could find. Maybe with some of Hunk’s hot cocoa or Shiro’s tea. Not Pidge’s coffee; it was hot, sure, but it was as bitter as Lance after losing a round of sparring during training.

Heh. That was a good one. He’d have to remember it, find some point where it would be natural to use it. Lance always claimed that he had no sense of humor whatsoever, but Hunk actually said that Keith was getting better at –

In his distraction, Keith didn’t notice the thick crack in the ice in front of him until the toe of his boot was already in it, and he was sent sprawling to the ground, his vision whiting out for a flash when he landed on his chin and his jaw was knocked together.

He let out a groan and slowly rolled onto his side, curling inward. He needed to get up, keep walking, get back to Red. But God, getting up was so hard. His muscles were stiff as he could ever remember them being, his hands and feet throbbed. On a whim he tried to curl his fingers – he had no idea whether or not he succeeded, which was concering on its own.

The Garrison had covered first aid pretty extensively, and definitely had at least touched on what to do in extreme cold, considering the low temperatures that could be reached even within their own solar system, but admittedly, first aid hadn’t really been his forte. Especially not first aid related to cold. He was much more accustomed, after all, to weather that was too hot than weather that was too cold. If Telrov was a desert instead of a tundra, he’d surely be having no trouble at all. He knew what to do about overheating, and what signs to look out for.

And he knew that fatigue was a danger sign of heat exhaustion. If freezing was anything like heatstroke, his current sleepiness was probably a bad omen.

The shivering had stopped too, he noticed as he fought to keep his eyes open. Shivering was likely the cold equivalent to sweating. Another bad sign, but he found that he wasn’t quite as concerned as he was a little while ago. He was just too sleepy to be concerned.

He had never noticed before just how pillow-like permafrost was…

His oncoming sleep was interrupted suddenly, with a low, rumbling noise. Not from the world around him – Keith hadn’t encountered a single animal so far on Telrov, and it was unlikely there were any nearby that had managed to hide from him, at least none big enough to let out that low a growl – but seemingly from inside his head, echoing in his ears and worsening his headache.

I’m fine, he thought back to Red. Not because he was, but because that was his automatic, knee-jerk response whenever anyone was concerned enough about his wellbeing to actively check in on him, which the Red Lion usually only did in the direst of circumstances. When he’d spent hours getting beaten up by Blade agents, for example, or when he threw himself out of the airlock of a Galra ship and into the void of space.

He knew, on some level, that he wasn’t, in fact, fine. But at the moment, he couldn’t quite recall what exactly was wrong, besides just being very tired. So he didn’t bother answering any further.

Another growl in his head followed, this one laced with skepticism. It was a weird sensation, having a giant robotic lion inside his brain. Almost humorous. Keith didn’t have the energy to laugh right now, but if he did, he would have.

Red reached out again, this time sending a mental image his way. Well, more a mental sensation than an image. A feeling of icy, sharp and wet and seeping through his skin as if frost were expanding from the inside out and melting into slush to drip off of his fingertips. A sort of questioning lilt at the end.

Cold. Something about cold.

…Are you cold, Red? Keith thought at her.

The frustrated growl that she returned seemed to be as close as a lion could ever get to saying ‘You are an idiot’ in plain English. Rude.

He tried to think of some retort, glad that he could express it telepathically rather than speaking it aloud since he was pretty sure his teeth were frozen together, but before he could come up with anything at all coherent, another sensation was sent his way. At the edges of his mind, he could see the flickering of flames. Not much – the last embers of a fire in a fireplace that hadn’t been properly stoked, but that was still fighting for life.

And just as he saw it in his mind’s eye, he felt it. Sometimes in the heat of battle, Red would send him fire. A heat that would act like a sort of fuel, pumping throughout his body like blood and granting him a boost of adrenaline that could make him feel faster and stronger than he had ever been in his pre-paladin life.

Now, she was giving him that fire again, but it was different this time. It wasn’t a sharp and focused flame propelling him into action. Instead this fire was softer, more diffuse. Spreading slowly from his chest, moving more like water than like fire. Gradually melting the frost in his veins. Warming, but not burning.

Keith shivered, noticing once again how cold the world outside was compared to his insides, but that noticing came as a relief. The aches were returning – he wasn’t numb. As his blood started flowing again, he grimaced at the throbbing sensation that began in his fingers and toes, the skin stinging bitterly where it touched against the fabric of his gloves and socks, circling the silicone of the black and white rings on his middle fingers, always tucked into the safety and privacy of his gloves. He hoped it wasn’t frostbite. He didn’t doubt that a trip to the cryopod could fix it if it was, but he dreaded the way his hands and feet looked right now if they were frostbitten.

Red huffed in his mind, warm breath seeming to hit his face as the sound seeped into his ears. He curled in on himself further before blinking his eyes open, relieved to find that they were no longer stinging from the piercing cold. For several ticks, all he saw was gray, the gray of the sky fogged up by the paler gray of his breath against the helmet’s visor. Even as he watched, though, the fog was clearing, thick water droplets cutting through like rain as he warmed.

And minutes later, the world beyond the visor wasn’t gray anymore. In an instant the cloudy gray was replaced by a mass of red and white, and he found himself staring up at the Red Lion floating above him.

She let out a sound halfway between a growl and a purr, and although the Lions of Voltron had fixed, robotic faces that couldn’t show expression, Keith could swear she was looking at him with that sort of fond exasperation that a parent would give to a kid who had wandered away and later been found. The look his dad had given him as a kid when they’d lost track of each other at a zoo and security had found him trying to figure out how to climb into the hippopotamus exhibit before dragging him to the information booth and reuniting them.

A look that said, “You just did something very stupid, but I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Her mouth was agape, waiting. Not scooping him up on her own, just certain he would climb into her on his own. Keith took a deep breath before finally beginning the arduous struggle to his feet.

It took several attempts to get upright, but once he was standing on trembling legs, the ramp descended from Red’s mouth, and Keith’s hauled himself up it, against all odds making it into the cockpit without falling. Once there, he collapsed instantly into the pilot’s seat. He had never before fully appreciated just how soft the cushioning of the chair was, or how pleasant and soothing the hum of the engine, or just how cozy and warm the entire interior. Never again would he take it for granted.

One more sensation sent his way from Red, a softness added to the weight of his armor and his clinging undersuit, making them feel just a hint more like a blanket. Then she sent one more mental nudge, this one questioning.

“Yeah, Red,” Keith said softly. “That’s better. Thank you.”

With a final purr of approval, and apparently having decided Keith was too busy getting cozy and warm to pilot her himself, Red took to the air, leaving the ice behind.

#whumpmasinjuly #badthingshappenbingo #keith #red lion #vldgen #my writing #fic: it's cold out here

[arvandus]

Touch (pt 3)

Pairing: Dabi x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS: 18+ only please!  Drug abuse/withdrawal, adult language/themes, heavy angst, past trauma/abuse, anxiety/panic attacks, PTSD, fluff, pining, slow burn, eventual emotional SMUT. *please pay attention to the chapter tags as these warnings will apply at different times*

Synopsis: When you first joined the LOV to lend your healing quirk, Dabi  terrified you.  Not interested in attachments, he wanted to keep it  that way.  That is, until he needs your help. (Slow burn, soft Dabi).

Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future chapters.

Recommended Chapter Song:

Dizzy by MISSIO

Part 1   Part 2

Artwork credit to @hellowon31​ on Twitter (https://twitter.com/hellowon31)

Part 3 - Resistance

The next day, Dabi woke up feeling like a complete wreck of a person.  A mockery of a human being, made of faulty parts stitched together haphazardly by a cruel universe.  He was angry. Furious.  Wasn’t your quirk supposed to last longer than this?  His head pounded.  The sun peeking through the crack in his curtains was an assault. Sweat covered his exposed pale flesh and yet he felt cold, clammy hands shaking.  Dabi laid back on his bed to cocoon himself into his blankets when he realized…his back was still painless.

Your quirk was still working.

Dabi’s bleary eyes caught sight of his empty pill bottles on his nightstand, and realization dawned on him. Withdrawal.

It started sooner than he had hoped.  He would have refilled his stock by now, but his usual seller went missing, most likely picked up by the feds.  Dabi had already reached out to Giran to find a new source, but the old man hadn’t returned his text messages.  So, Dabi spent some of his time the day before following connections within the villain network.  His search came up with nothing; what he could find wasn’t strong enough to justify the expense or the sellers were obviously trying to swindle him with a diluted product. Long story short, he felt like shit and had no quick fix for it.

He wanted to crawl out of his skin.  Fuck. Everything.

The memory of your cool touch on his skin came forefront to his aching head and he wondered if your quirk would be useful for his withdrawal symptoms…

Dabi pushed the thought out of his head.  He wasn’t going to let that be an option.  It was a slippery slope leading to a dependency that he simply couldn’t afford and definitely did not want.  He was already on edge from yesterday’s conversation. His sympathetic thoughts, no matter how brief, made him see a man he didn’t recognize, and the thoughts plagued him ever since.  He had never considered himself a soft guy.  It wasn’t that he didn’t have feelings.  Things could still bother him if he let them.  But he had learned very early on that what he felt didn’t matter. Perhaps it was the gradual silencing of his conscience, small pieces of him chipped away like stone worn down over years of crashing waves.  Only rarely, every once in a while, did the waters of his vengeance and bitter hatred recede enough to allow sunlight to touch his burnt heart.  And in that moment, he saw you, a fragile boat approaching rocky, dangerous shores.

He frowned.  As long as you did your job, what should it matter? You chose this life just like everyone else did.  It wasn’t his responsibility to protect you from it.

As if his heavy thoughts summoned you, your familiar knock rang through his door.  He cursed under his breath.  During his misery, Dabi had forgotten that you were going to visit him this morning.  He had planned to be gone before you came looking for him, a silent show of defiance to your mothering.  But instead he here was, stuck, feeling the shittiest he felt in a long time.  Maybe if he just ignored you…

You knocked on the door again, your pounding louder, incessant.  You were so fucking stubborn.  He glowered at the wooden barrier angrily, the intolerant noise sending a ringing like a tuning fork into the depths of his brain.  He contemplated setting the door on fire just to make a point. He held his restraint by hair, only vaguely aware that doing so would make him feel even worse, if such a thing was even possible.  Plus, you were the only person here with a lick of sense for medical care – he was ninety percent positive you had some sort of medical background.

“What?” he growled as he sat up begrudgingly, unwilling to let you see him so weak.  Nausea permeated him from his sudden motion.

On the other side of the door, you stared at the wood in confusion.  The sound of Dabi’s voice shocked you – low, scratchy, slurred… menacing.

You almost wanted to concede to the unspoken request, but your determination to treat him held tight to your will.  “It’s me.” You replied, hoping your voice didn’t sound as small as it felt.

A pregnant pause greeted you before he finally spoke. “Come in.” It sounded like an order.  Or was it a surrender?  Could it even be both?  How did this man always seem to have two versions of himself running simultaneously?

You came into the room and closed the door behind you with a quiet ‘click.’ You were met with a dark stuffiness, the air unusually warm and infused with the stink of sweat. The curtains were drawn closed, light straining to seep out along the edges of the fabric.  A thin slit of light stretched across Dabi’s bed where he sat, his back facing you.  He looked like a fallen angel, a broken soul.  His shoulders were hunched, drawn tight like a bow string, struggling not to fold in on himself and break.

His bravado was gone, his casual presence muted in the deafening silence.  He wasn’t even trying to pretend this time.  His distress was palpable.  You felt shame being here, your presence intrusive.  You weren’t supposed to see him like this.  So why did he let you in?

A mild panic filled you. Did he hurt himself again since you last saw him?  Or was this your fault?  Did your quirk wear off already?

“What’s wrong?” you asked. He didn’t respond.  You stepped forward cautiously.  “Dabi…?”

Your voice grated on his conscience – words of concern, a tone meant to soothe. He didn’t want your compassion.  He wanted you to be cold and indifferent, a mechanic repairing a broken part.  Or maybe even have you be as crazy as the others, waxing poetic about bloodlust and freedom.  That was a language he understood, that he could navigate with ease.  Not this benevolence.  Not this normalcy.  Why were you so different?

“You’re annoying.” He growled just loud enough for you to hear.

You halted your approach and your back stiffened.  “What?”

“Stop acting like you fucking care.”  The words spilled out of his mouth without a concern as to their damage.  He knew you cared, even if it was on a basic level, which was why he desperately, accusatorily denied it.

Everything bothered him. His head.  His body.  The stink of this room… you seeing him like this.  Why did that bother him?

You pressed your lips together, your jaw taut.  The tension in the room became as palpable as the stifling air.  What could you possibly say? That you did care?  Well, did you? You cared enough to be here, at least. You had a responsibility to treat him, and you’d be lying to yourself if you said he hadn’t been on your mind more than usual the past couple of days.  Of course, he’d never know that…. But were you friends by any stretch of the definition? No.  Definitely not. So, if he wanted to be a jerk and suffer with his pride, then you’d let him.

“If you want me to leave, just say so.” You replied coolly.  “I’m just here to do my job.”

Your answer satisfied him, cold and to the point, a counterbalance to your overwhelmingly gentle nature.  It provided him the emotional distance he needed, a cloak he donned willingly to shelter himself from your prying eyes.  And through his mental fog, he realized in mild amusement that it was the second time you called his bluff, grinding in your heels to deflect his verbal strikes. You weren’t easily bullied; at least, not as easily as he’d originally thought.

“Whatever.” He grumbled. “Let’s just get this over with, I got shit to do.”

You clenched and unclenched your hands around your bag.  You were grateful Dabi caved, your conscience breathing a sigh of relief.  You’d make it quick, to address what you needed to and leave him to sort himself out in solitude, like you knew he wanted.  You began to approach him, quiet steady steps around his bed so you could get a closer look at him. If he was going to let you treat him, you might as well try to make the most of your limited time and see if you could figure out what was wrong.

As soon as you could see his face, you realized he was holding something in his hand. An empty pill bottle.  His eyes stared at it like it held the answers to the universe while also cursing its existence.

Suddenly, everything clicked.  The agitation.  The pain. The misplaced anger… Of course.

You closed the distance between you until you were standing in front of him.  Without saying anything, you quietly took the bottle from his hand, which, surprisingly, he let you.  You read the name and the dosage.  It was a strong one.

“Dabi,” you said quietly, hoping you didn’t sound patronizing, “How long has it been since you’ve had your medication?”

There it was.  That kindness again.  You brought it forth so effortlessly, as if he didn’t just insult you a moment ago. Somewhere, behind his defenses, the itch of guilt settled itself into his mind like an unwelcome guest.

He was quiet for a moment as he stared at the bottle in your hand, his eyes either unable or unwilling to meet yours.  “Two days.” He replied, his voice scratchy.

You quickly did the math in your head.  He had mentioned that his pain meds ran out when he first asked for your help, but you had thought nothing of it at the time, assuming he had ways of fixing his problem.  You should have known.  You should have checked with him.  Drug withdrawal was no joke.

“When are you getting more?” you asked.

“Not sure, doll.  My supplier has gone AWOL and I haven’t found a backup.” He put his head between his hands and rubbed at his temples.  You watched him with quiet concern.  At first you wanted to use your quirk to try to help him, your hand starting to reach out to his wild raven hair instinctually. You faltered.  Would your quirk even work with this?  This wasn’t a cut or a burn or a broken rib… this was a chemical imbalance in his brain.  What if you hurt him or messed him up somehow?  Slowly you lowered your hand.  He needed his drugs.  

“How many of these did you take a day?” you asked as you looked at the bottle again.

He answered.  Your eyes bulged slightly.  How was this man not stumbling around when you first met him? He must have built up a tolerance over years of use.  Besides, quirkology affected everyone’s body a little differently.  Still, it definitely explained his bored expression and overall body language – this guy was constantly high.

“Don’t look so surprised, doll.” He stared up at you with shining bloodshot eyes.  His forehead was beaded in sweat, his skin so ghostly pale that only the rise and fall of his shallow chest indicated he was a breathing, living human.

You watched him, taking in his current state.  If he did finally get a hold of new meds on his own, would he be able to show restraint? Logically, you knew that he was experienced with this – it obviously wasn’t his first rodeo.  But still, a part of you couldn’t help but worry.

“You could really hurt yourself with these.” You replied softly.

“I know my limits.” He stated firmly, annoyance starting to seep in.

“That’s what everyone says, until they don’t.”

His brow furrowed, dark eyebrows pulled together like closing gates.  “Look, doll.  If you’re gonna lecture me, then you really can leave.  I don’t need your help with this.  I got by just fine before you came along.”

You wanted to snap back at him, to defend what seemed common sense to you, but you held back.  Poking the bear would help no one.

You kneeled down next to him and opened your bag, rummaging through your things.  “I’m not trying to lecture you.  I’m trying to help you.”  You found what you were looking for and pulled it out.  Nervousness filled you – you hoped he didn’t ask too many questions.

Dabi eyed the bottle of medication in your hand in hunger.

“It’s not as strong as what you’re used to,” you explained, “but it will take the edge off.”

“What kind of doctor are you, aiding a drug addict?” he teased.

A pang of guilt shot through you, but you steeled yourself against it.  “If you’re going to be taking pain meds, then I’d rather have it be something reliable and safe that I can monitor instead of something you find on the street through dubious means.”

“Oh yeah?  Like all of your little supplies don’t come from shady sources.  You can’t exactly get this stuff from anywhere.  Those are prescription only.” Dabi nodded at the bottle clutched so tightly in your hand, that he couldn’t see the label on it.  He couldn’t help but wonder… was it your name on that white sticker?  Or someone else’s?  What other items did you have in that bag of yours?

You lifted your chin pridefully.  “I have an inside source.  Trust me, the stuff I get is the real deal.  And that’s all you need to know about that.”

Dabi grinned as you gave him two of the pills from the bottle.  “Well, look at you, doll.  What a criminal.  You could get in serious trouble for this, sweetheart.”

“Oh, I think we’re well past that by now…” you replied with a grin, which earned you a chuckle.

Dabi popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed them dry.  Your smile faded slightly as you felt the urge to say one more important thing to him.

You stared at his hands in front of you, long fingers intertwined together and suspended in the air as his elbows rested on his knees.  “Look, Dabi…” you started.  Your eyes traced the metal rings holding his skin together.  “I can’t imagine the kind of pain you’re constantly in.  I understand why you take drugs. I think anyone would.  That’s why I’m helping you.  Not having pain meds isn’t really an option for you.”

“So, does that mean you’re gonna let me have that bottle?” his eyes stared at the bottle still clutched in your hand.

You held the bottle to your chest protectively, a part of you afraid he’d try to snatch it from you. Withdrawal made people do desperate things.  He raised an amused eyebrow at your defensive action, a small smirk upturning the corner of his mouth.

Your body felt warm and you broke eye contact.  “Not yet.” You replied.  “I want to make sure you’re okay with it.  It’s different from what you were taking before.  It might feel weaker than what you were taking or might have different side effects for you.  I don’t want you to overdo it.”

“And what makes you such an expert?” Dabi pried, his bloodshot eyes narrowing as his head tilted.

You put the pills back into your bag as you looked away from him.  “I have a medical background, so I know a lot more than you might think.”

Dabi grinned, despite his headache, the skin pulling tight enough along his rings to send an ache of pain along his jaw.  He was right. Not that it was that hard to figure out, but he liked that you answered him honestly.

“You don’t trust me, doll?” Dabi’s teasing tone made you look up at him to find his fiery eyes piercing yours.  That familiar spark of life, dangerous and wild, was starting to return to his drawn features.  Oddly enough, you found it comforting even if it did send your pulse racing like a scared rabbit.

Meanwhile, he was amused at your caution.  Little did you know how many drugs he’d tried over the years, how many times he came close to ‘overdoing it,’ as he learned what his body could and couldn’t handle. Sure, he needed his drugs to keep the pain at bay… but he also needed to carry out his mission.  He refused to let himself devolve into a zombie when he still had unfinished business.

You rolled your eyes at him.  “I just want to make sure you transition to this new pain medication okay.  Switching drugs can be a messy business.  If I decided to trust you and something went wrong, well…” your words faltered, unable to finish your statement.  It almost surprised you how much the thought of something horrible happening to Dabi bothered you… especially if it was caused by your own negligence.

“Aw, doll, you’re making me blush.” Dabi grinned.  “You better not try to take advantage of me. I’m under the influence.”

You raised an amused eyebrow at him.  “Really? Who’s taking advantage of who here? Someone just got free drugs.”

“Trust me, sweetheart – you’ll know when I’m taking advantage of you.”

A proper comeback couldn’t find its way to your lips while your mind was so distracted by suggestive thoughts.

He continued on unfazed, as if his previous words meant nothing to him.  “So, how are we gonna do this then?”

You cleared your throat and wet your parched lips with your tongue.  Dabi watched the gesture intently, but you didn’t notice as you avoided eye contact.  “We’ll start with what I gave you. When it wears off and you feel like you need more, you come find me.  If you have any issues or feel anything weird, you come find me.  I don’t care what time it is.  If it’s 3 in the morning, you come find me.”

A devilish grin spread across Dabi’s features as his head got a rather detailed less-than-pure mental picture of a late-night visit.  He knew that wasn’t what you meant, but he enjoyed where his imagination took him, nonetheless.  He eyed you for the first time since you came into his room, allowing himself to take in your appearance from head to toe, his eyes lingering where he wanted them to, without a care as to if you noticed.  He might not be willing to touch, but he was definitely willing to look. Life was too short to not appreciate the finer things in life, and at this moment the finer thing was you.

You shifted nervously under his penetrating gaze, your pulse quickening under your skin like a raging river. You weren’t quite sure what he was thinking, but the light of his eyes made you feel exposed.  You resisted the urge to wrap your arms around yourself protectively, your self-consciousness fighting to get the better of you.

Your forced yourself to continue, looking away abashedly.  “I’m still coming to take care of your bandages, so I’ll be checking up on you again tonight.  Do we have a deal?”

Dabi was quiet for a moment as he stared at your determined face.  Finally, he smiled.  “Yeah, doll. We got a deal.”

“Good.  Now let me check those bandages.”

He stood up and you instinctively took a step back as his presence filled yours within the tight space between his bed and the wall where you stood. The scent of him filled your nose and you resisted the urge to inhale.  You liked it and you couldn’t explain why.  He turned his back to you and removed his sweat-soaked shirt.  You waited to see if he would move to the more open space of his room, but he didn’t, and you stood awkwardly before deciding to just change his bandages where he was.  Maybe he had a headache and moving was a little too much for him.  It’d take about thirty minutes for the pills you gave him to really get into his system and start working, and you’d be long gone by then.

You changed his bandages quickly and efficiently as well as added a little boost with your quirk to make sure his back was pain-free until you returned to check on him later in the evening.  He seemed to have enough on his plate to deal with without having your quirk wear off.

He was silently grateful you changed his bandages in silence as he waited for the pills you gave him to kick in. He was familiar with them, of course – they weren’t the best for what he needed, but you were right when you said they’d take the edge off.  Still, he didn’t want to use up your supply.  He didn’t know if that was your only bottle, and at the rate that he typically popped pills, you’d be out within a few days.  He’d reach out to Giran again to get a hold of his own.

Once you were done, you packed up your items to leave.  But before you did, you reached into your bag and pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to him.

“Hydrate.  Please.” You said.  “You took those pills and they might make you nauseous on an empty stomach.  Besides, your body needs more than coffee, energy drinks, and alcohol.”

Dabi grinned.  “Have you been watching me, doll?  You’re not stalking me, are ya?”

“I watch all of my patients.” You replied with a critical eye.  “Nice try, though.”

“You got any ramen in that bag?” Dabi teased as he opened the water bottle and took a swig.

“No, but I got a granola bar.  You want it?” you replied casually. You pulled out said item and waved it in Dabi’s face.

Dabi’s lip turned up in disgust.  “That shit’ll get stuck in my rings.  And it’s disgusting.”

“It’s healthy.” You replied with an extra wave for added emphasis.

“You’re like a walking drug store.”  Dabi commented as he watched you put the offending food away.

“I feel like a damn mom with all this stuff, but you’d be surprised how often it comes in handy.” You replied.  “Alright, well I’m gonna go and let you rest.  Do you have my number?”

You said it so casually, that Dabi had to stare at you to process your words for a moment.  He didn’t easily fluster, but he also didn’t ever have pretty girls offering their number to him, his scars always scaring them off.  It was such a personal gesture and completely alien to him.

“What for?” he finally replied.

“In case you need me for anything.  Like if the drugs wear off, or your bandage comes loose or something. We might not always be in the same place at the same time and I’d hate for you to not be able to reach me if something’s wrong.”

The tension in Dabi’s chest eased slightly.  Of course, it had to do with his health.  He noticed that about you – when it came to business, you cut straight to the chase.

He wanted your number.  But as soon as he realized it wasn’t for health reasons, he immediately shot it down, his iron wall crashing down.  “I’ll be fine.”

You stared at him and shrugged.  “Suit yourself.  Just trying to be efficient.  If you change your mind, you can reach out to one of the others.  I think you’re the only one who doesn’t have it.”  You walked to the door and turned back to him.  “Like I said, I’ll be back tonight, probably at around 9pm.  You’d better be here, or you won’t get your pills.” Mischief danced in your eyes and Dabi realized you were teasing him. He grinned.

“You think you can manipulate me?” he challenged.

“We’ll see…” you replied casually and left his room.

After you were gone, he stood there for a moment staring at the water bottle in his hand before he realized he had a dumb fucking smile on his face. He threw the water bottle in his trashcan.

You were a goddamn pain in his ass.  And he was a damn idiot, getting flustered over a pretty face being kind to him. What was this, fucking middle school? Like he’d never been around a girl before?  You were here to treat him.  As soon as his wounds were healed up and he got his own drugs, things would go back to normal.

It had to go back to normal.

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Part 4

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Taglist: @lemonfvck @vs-redemption @inanabsentia ia @sheedaabee @toshiuwuu @marydragneell @chillinwithmybakubros​ @genuinelytodorokisbitch @sam-i-am-1025 @redflannel @axerrri​ @necccomancy​ @miadraws0​

#dabi x reader #dabi #dabi fanfic #bnha #mha #bnha imagine #soft dabi #fluff #slow burn #pining #long talks #intimacy #dabi is a todoroki #touya todoroki #dabi is touya

[pi-cat000]

MSA: Take Back The Future (part 3)

Summary: Vivi and Arthur travel back in time to the beginning of Hellbent. Neither of them are okay. 

(Part 1) (Part 2)

.

Mystery, instead of answering Vivi’s questions, leaps over the seat dividing the front and back areas of the van, exiting out the back doors.

“Wait, ” Vivi yells after Mystery, “get to back here and explain what happened to my memories.”

/It is not a tale that can be simply told. Not right now when we may be in danger/

Arthur thinks kitsune turned dog sounds slightly strained but it’s hard to really tell with Mystery’s weird telepathy. When the meaning of words are projected right into your brain some of the nuance is lost.

“Who is Shiromori? Why is she attacking us?” Vivi tries, following to glare at Mystery who circles the van, barely paying attention to the two of them. “Just answer one question!”

His mechanical arm twitches of its own accord and he eyes it nervously.  To hell with it. Arthur frees his hand and begins to feel about for the quick release lever hidden under a panel on his upper arm. After the van crash and almost getting thrown to his death, the arm had been too banged up to safely remove, jamming in place.  Best to be rid of it now, before everything when to shit all over again.

The sound of his heavy metal arm hitting the ashfelt draws Vivi’s attention and she turns to give him a quizzical expression.

“Better off then on,” He explains, “Wasn’t really working that well anyway. Hopefully, that’ll get rid of the curse as well.” Honestly, this cruse is the least of his worries.

Vivi exhales and Arthur can see the stress pinching her mouth, pulling it down into an uncharacteristic frown, “If the curse is specifically attached to your arm then removing it might work. On the other hand, if it’s anything like the one that got my memories then who the hell knows what will work. I certainly don’t. Apparently, I don’t know a lot of things.”

The last sentence is louder, directed at Mystery. There is no response from the dog who is staring off into the middle distance, head to one side like he is listening intently for something.  Arthur offers Vivj an uneasy shrug. He has his own questions for Mystery regarding Vivi’s memories, his arm, and the night they both went missing. However, his most recent run-in with dead-Lewis has him quickly reordering his priorities. None of the answers are going to mean much if he’s dead. Again…

Speaking of which… On the horizon, a purple light flares, glowing brightly against the dark backdrop. Arthur’s mouth goes suddenly dry and limbs feel very cold. Yeah, that seamed about right…

/You called this spirit Lewis?/ Mystery turns his head to examine him, expression troubled. /Are you sure?/  

He gives a short nod, eyes darting from Mystery then back to the road. It looks like Mystery is planning something based on how his fur is glowing red. He’d seen a similar red glow on the night of Lewis’s disappearance and during the confrontation outside his Uncle’s workshop. How much did Mystery know about Lewis? The question sticks in his mind, painfully heavy.

“Lewis? You mean the purple fire ghost? The one that caused the van crash?” Vivi steps up next to him, eyes locked onto the truck which grows quickly larger, “How are we going to stop it from running us all over?”

It’s too late to try a drive or run away now. Even if he decides to run there is a steep rocky slope on one side and a sharp climb on the other. If he did make it down by some miracle there was just flat desert and no cover for miles. Arthur doesn’t voice this observation instead commenting in a voice several octaves higher than normal, “I don’t think you need to worry about the ghost running you over. I’m pretty sure he’s only after me. So…ah…maybe don’t stand near me?”

Why? Why was Lewis trying to hurt him? In his mind’s eye, Lewis and Mystery meld together into a nightmare inferno of fire, teeth and death.

“I don’t want you to get run over either.” Vivi’s voice sounds faint, coming to him like it has travelled a great distance. Too much fear packed into too short a timeframe is making it harder and harder to concentrate. The ice at her feet thickens into long sheets, which creep out over the road, freezing it solid. He is probably lucky his remaining arm hasn’t frozen off with how tight Vivi had been holding it. Maybe if he turns into a giant Arthur icicle and he can sit this whole thing out. The hysterical thought momentarily breaks through his mounting panic.  

/Wait./

Arthur can almost hear the crackle of fire and the hum of the truck's engine.

/ You should not be drawing on so much of this power at once! You’ll damage the seal further!/

“I’m not letting Arthur die again. Anything comes near us and I’ll make whoever it is, regret it… that includes you.”

Vivi steps out so she is positioned in the centre of the road.

/I can handle this confrontation. There are still many aspects to the situation that you remain unaware of./

“And how am I supposed to fix that if you won’t tell me anything.”

/ I swear I will explain when there is more time. I only ever wanted to protect you./

“I don’t believe you.”

Vivi snaps the final sentence and punctuates it with a sharp hand gesture aimed at the oncoming truck. Several lines of ice stretch out and down the road, racing away from Vivi to meet the oncoming vehicle. Shining an ethereal blue, the frost coats the road’s surface, smoothing it over. Arthur catches the briefest glimpse of skeletal Lewis before the truck hits the ice sheets and the wheels suddenly lose traction.  The sound of metal crunching is deafening, accompanied by the hiss of water abruptly vaporising. Heat and cold collide in a cacophony cracking ice and explosion of steam.

A flash of bright purple fire. Mystery disappears, obscured by the thick columns of steam. He finds himself being yanked to the side by Vivi just in time to watch the purple truck careen past in a shower of sparks and groaning metal. At such high speeds, it rams straight into and through the guardrails separating the road from the rocky slope. Stunned, Arthur watches it disappear over the edge. If Lewis hadn’t already been dead then Arthur might have been worried. The sound of banging and crashing, as the truck presumably roles several times, has him physically wincing. Scratch that, he was worried. Very worried. Worried enough that it overtakes his mental panic and replaces it with deep concern. How durable were ghosts? He doesn’t know and that scares him. 

“Vivi! What the hell,” He finally manages to spit out, breaking his panic-induced stupor. He tries to rush past her, intent on checking for any signs of Lewis. He promptly slips. The combination of ice and his lack of a second arm throws off his balance and he ends up falling backward. He is saved from a collision with the ground by Vivi who seemed to now have supernatural levels of balance and was unaffected by the slippery surface.

“I …wow. That was… something.” Vivi breaths, examining the road still covered in planes of ice as if not quite believing it.

“Help me to the edge,” He interrupts, trying and failing to stand straight collapsing back on her, “I need to see if he’s okay,”

“Who’s okay? The ghost?"

“Yes.”

"You want to see if the ghost is okay? You said it was trying to hurt you?”

Arthur can practically see the concern and confusion now hanging over Vivi as she looks down from where she's holding him up by his one good arm.

“It’s just…a misunderstanding or something. I…we…might know this ghost.”

“What?”

“Just help me check.” He motions with his remaining arm. Visible through the plums of steam are thicker lines of darkened smoke coming from the space where the truck had disappeared.

....

Note: I’m Sorry to everyone who’s showed interest in this AU but i’m not sure if i’ll continue this since i’ve lost motivation.  Here are some of the more coherent plot notes if people are interested in this AU. Feel free to ask questions if u have any :) . 

...

-   Shiromori shows up directly after Lewis’s crash, distracting Mystery. With all the steam obscuring their vision Arthur and Vivi don’t realise that Shiromori has arrived immediately, and there is enough time to briefly look for Lewis. 

- Lewis makes it out of the truck crash only slightly worse for wear and tries to attack Arthur. Vivi moves to defend Arthur, then Arthur has to defend Lewis and it’s all very awkward for everyone. 

- Lewis sees how scared Arthur is a reconsiders his revenge plot, hesitating long enough to get some dialogue in. 

 - Arthur finally gives Vivi a brief Lewis overview (sans the whole ‘he almost threw me off a fake cliff thing’). Vivi is suspicious and somewhat unconvinced. Lewis is slightly confused when Vivi starts referring to the alternate time line. 

- Not time for further discussion because Mystery is fighting Shiromori and, since he had warning this time, he’s winning. 

(fight scene stuff. Vivi rushes in to do something idk this part is not planned.) 

Vivi overused ice abilities. 

Lewis and Arthur have a moment alone. 

Vivi, slightly untrusting of Mystery, ends up stepping to stop the two from fighting. (Vivi ends up saving  Shiromori maybe??? a parallel  to the original timeline). A dramatic moment where Vivi rushes in ( maybe takes a blow for Shiromori idk would depend on Shiromori’s backstory) and ends up injured. 

- ??? makes an appearance, takes over Vivi instead of Mystery. 

Some background world building stuff

- Vivi’s ice powers might become unsealed and she is vulnerable to ??? (spiritual energy is damaging to humans if too much is used at once or if is not used correctly)

- Yukino family are spiritual channels making them both more powerful and more vulnerable. Mystery holds a seal to the ability and it eats up a tails worth of power to maintain. Same deal with Shiromori, Mystery holds a seal to keep her fully realised abilities in check which also eats up a lot of power.

- The seal is damaged when Mystery is hurt

- Arthur is unaffected by the ice because he’s got some odd time based supernatural power which has bonded to vivi spiritual signtaure as well. This is the reason ??? want to possess Arthur. One possible resolution was for Arthur to figure out how to rewind time to the seconds before Vivi gets possessed, giving her a chance to defeat ???. It takes a lot of power which Lewis ends up giving to him. 

#MSA #mystery skulls animated #msa fanfic #Vivi Yukino #arthur kingsmen #Mystery the dog #Vivi and Arthur friendship #angst #lewis arrives then imedetly exits stage left #paniced arthur #time travel au

[tessatechaitea]

Justice League #1 (1987)

This is actually a more impressive line-up than I remember.

I'm pretty sure this line-up is a huge scam. I don't remember Doctor Fate interacting too much with this group and I think Shazam bows out fairly quickly. Batman probably does that thing where he acts like he's leader (even if Martian Manhunter actually is) and only helps out every sixth mission. So at that point, the line-up is already decreasing in strength and intimidation factor quickly. Adding Fire, Ice, and Booster Gold later won't really improve the team much. But I'm getting ahead of myself. My impressions from this initial cover were "Wow! Pretty interesting team!" and "What asshole fucking decided on the shit stencil font for the title?" Sorry, I cuss a lot when I'm writing on the Internet and trying to seem like a bad-ass. The issue begins with Guy Gardner calling the other Green Lanterns jerks and suggesting, to himself, that he should be the Commander-in-Chief of the new Justice League. Some people would read this first page and think, "What an arrogant fucking asshole." But my stomach got all queasy and I giggled a little bit and I muttered quietly under my breath, "I love him."

I'm not saying it isn't composed of some truly ridiculous aspects but Guy still has the best costume in the DC Universe.

I don't love everything about Guy Gardner because most writers at the time didn't truly understand him. They made him a jerk that nobody would like because they were too cold-hearted to see the brain damaged cool guy that he really was. Guy Gardner often needed to be written by somebody who loved the character; it would have done him a world of good. He could still have been that abrasive jerk. But written deftly, those who actually cared to take the time would see his true self. Sure, that would also be an abrasive jerk! But a little bit more likable!

Stallone was pretty sensitive in a few scenes in Rocky IV!

Black Canary is second to arrive, after which Mister Miracle and Oberon show up. I never quite understood how Oberon fit into the Justice League. Wasn't he like an agent or a manager? Did Batman and Martian Manhunter need Oberon to sign off on every mission or else Scott Free would have to remain behind? I bet he was included just so Giffen and DeMatteis could make dwarf jokes.

Why would Guy choose Sneezy?! Oberon's breathing has been impeccable since he arrived!

Normally after some kind of cynical prediction about the comic book that immediately is proved true, I'd write, "Grandmaster Comic Book Reader!" But it doesn't feel right to say it in this case. I mean, Oberon is present for four panels before he becomes the butt of a joke based on his diminutive nature. And by Guy Gardner, no less! Is this why I loved him so much at sixteen?! What a terrible and typical sixteen year old white heterosexual male I was! Black Canary (whose costume I'm just now noticing is really fucking weird) responds to Guy's awful behavior by saying, "Dozens of GLs around and we get 'Rambo' with a ring!" That's unfair to Rambo! I'm also unsure who in this story (including the writers of this story) have actually seen First Blood. Gardner is more like the authority mad Sheriff Teasle than the sensitive green beret John Rambo! Rambo should be admired as a hero, battling back against corrupt cops who think they have the right to use as much force as they want for any stupid fucking reason! It's possible they were talking about the Rambo from the second film who gets to kill more than one person because the people he's killing are Russians and Vietnamese. He does get a bit murder crazy in the second film. Or maybe they're talking about Rambo from the third film which wasn't actually out yet so I don't have to read up on it. Next to arrive are Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle, and Martian Manhunter. Martian Manhunter proves to be a buzzkill, reminding everybody how the old series ended in total death and disaster.

His view of the media is pretty spot on though.

J'onn calls up the files of Steel, Gypsy, Vixen, and Vibe before purging them completely from the Justice League computer. That's probably a good idea, like deleting old joke tweets on Twitter that were a bit racist and also boring. Meanwhile Maxwell Lord IV watches from a distance, doing that Ozymandias thing where you watch dozens of televisions at once. I think it proves you're a genius whose done the research and contemplated all sides of an issue before making up your totally rational and logical mind about any issue. As opposed to us losers who simply use compassion and empathy to almost immediately understand the correct and most ethical path to take. Maxwell Lord IV watches all of this television and decides the correct course to take is to leave the "America" off of the Justice League of America this time. Oh, and also the "of".

Maybe this is why I liked Guy so much: because he knew the saying was "you've got another think coming." Look, I'm going to be desperately finding good reasons to have liked Guy Gardner so much when Giffen and DeMatteis are this determined to make him a huge and unlikable jerk.

Look, I was sixteen! Hardly the best time in a young man's life for qualities like compassion and empathy and fashion sense and hair styles! I'm also fairly certain it wasn't this comic book that made me like him so much. I'm pretty sure he gets knocked out by Batman with one punch before the year is over and I remember loving that scene. So I probably despised him like a good reader of Justice League was supposed to do. Hopefully he'll have some character moments during this series that will show why I wound up liking him so much as a character. Right now, he's just a complete and utter asshole. The five panels following the one I just scanned consist of Guy once again calling Oberon "Sneezy" and then suggesting Black Canary is going to want to fuck him soon enough. Martian Manhunter tries to break it up and just winds up part of the chaos.

Okay, I'm starting to get why I might have liked him at sixteen, even after the first few pages. To a sixteen year old white male, mocking Martian Manhunter with a "Ho-ho-ho" trumps ableism, sexism, and, with this attack on J'onn for his inherent physical Martianness, almost certainly racism as well.

Guy continues to play the role of Squeaky Wheel for another page or two. I suppose if you want more on-panel time than the other heroes, you've got to be a raging asshole. I can't say I'm not entertained by it!

Captain Marvel earns a little of my love with this line as well. No shame in drinking warm milk at night!

This is only nine pages into the first issue and Guy has completely derailed the formation of the new Justice League. Was this blasphemy to previous fans of the Justice League where the team may have had some minor squabbles about various things and Batman would quit every six issues but mostly they didn't break out into brawls whenever they got together? Or were internal struggles and arguments a regular plot point? I have no idea because the only Justice League comics I read previous to this title were the terrible months where everything was breaking down and then Steel betrayed them and Vibe was killed off and Martian Manhunter felt like a huge failure. Although was Aquaman leading the team at the time? I dislike Aquaman so much, I'm just going to believe he was leading the team and that's why everything completely fell apart. He sucks. Once per day, I think about that lousy meme trying to prove Aquaman wasn't useless by using the image from New 52 Justice League where he controls a bunch of great whites to breach and kill a bunch of parademons and I hate everybody who actually thought that was a cool moment. Batman and Doctor Fate arrive in the middle of the Justice League brawl (which even Martian Manhunter, the only adult in the room, is taken part in) and shuts shit down The Batman way.

I guess heroes are also a cowardly lot.

Meanwhile, Doctor Light winds up being held hostage with the rest of the United Nations by some white terrorists. I felt I needed to say they were white because a lot of racist assholes can only envision terrorists one way. Also, I should always describe people as white when they're white since I don't want to be an accomplice to maintaining a world where we assume a person mentioned is white, male, and heterosexual unless they're described more fully. Doctor Light was given a Justice League emergency beeper by a mysterious figure some time previously. This isn't revealed but I just read Justice League Spectacular #1 so I know Maxwell Lord gave her the device so that she could alert the Justice League when the United Nations was taken hostage by terrorists that Maxwell Lord IV paid. It's all about getting some early press! There's an advert for the new Flash which I'm surprised I didn't pick up since the advert shows him having some kind of accident in a sperm bank.

Ew Flash is right!

The Justice League head over to stop the terrorist attack. At some point, Doctor Fate disappears to go do something else and I think he never comes back? Is that why I barely remember him as a part of this league? Was he just there to look cool on the cover and fool all the lovers of DC magic users? The League storms the UN, murdering several terrorists.

Look. Manhunter either phased their heads into the solid ceiling or he smashed their skulls straight through the roof. Either way, I don't see a high percentage chance of their survival.

The Justice League capture all the terrorists and then Batman has the building evacuated, leaving just the leader of the terrorists alone in the United Nations building threatening to kill himself so that the bomb attached to his heart would detonate and kill them all. He does kill himself but the bomb doesn't detonate. And the thing is, Batman realized during the mission that the bomb was almost certainly a bluff. So he left the man alone to kill himself. Later we discover the man had a history of mental illness. So this, to Batman, is justice? Batman almost certainly realized the man was being manipulated and that he'd definitely kill himself to blow the bomb and Batman let the man do it. Batman is a fucking monster. After the event, the media points out that the terrorists were mostly composed of 60s radical groups like the Weathermen and the Black Panthers. Which is odd because there wasn't one black terrorist in the bunch. The issue ends with Max Lord talking to himself and admitting to being the one who staged the terrorist attack. He also knew the leader was unstable enough to kill himself for the cause and he sent him in with a bomb that definitely wouldn't blow. So he's a fucking monster as well. And Martian Manhunter is a monster, not because he's a weirdo martian, but because he basically popped the heads on a few of the terrorists. No way will I believe those guys hanging from the ceiling by their necks survived! All in all, Guy Gardner is starting to look like a rational member of this group! Justice League #1 Rating: B+. A better than average start to the new Justice League, building some intrigue and conflict right from the start. Who is Max Lord? What are his plans for the Justice League? Why is he acting like it's his group? Will Doctor Fate ever return? Will Oberon poison Guy Gardner? Will Black Canary and Doctor Light become best friends because they're the only women in the League? Will Guy Gardner and Batman ever come to blows? I can answer that! They will not! They'll just come to blow. One punch by Batman. And that one punch causes some severe psychological trauma to Gardner and nobody thinks he should get medical help simply because he starts acting nicer. They're all fucking monsters!

#Justice League #Kevin Maguire #Keith Giffen #J.M. DeMatteis #Terry Austin

[waywardwrestlewritingwaif]

The Guardian’s Oath, Part Three

In order to make any sense of this, you’ll want to read Part One and Part Two. 

Thanks to everyone who’s read/ commented/ liked so far! My guess is that this section *maybe* represents the halfway point, although possibly a little less. I feel like I’m on the clock here since there’s at least one more “seasonal” (Halloween-type-theme) story I’m working on. 

Hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Feargal Devitt/ Finn Balor x OFC

Word count: 4,734

Content advisory: None. 

"Is everything alright, Miss? I thought I heard you cry out." 

Kate's voice startled me when I came back inside. 

"Oh yes, I'm sorry. I saw… there was a strange man at the gate just now but I told him to be on his way."

"A strange man?" She muttered something under her breath before continuing, "There's too many around this summer. You see tramps all the way down from Dublin with things being so hard there and it makes you feel like you're not safe in your own home."

"I hadn't thought of that. I assumed it was one of the village men."

Kate shook her head. "They're bad enough. But these city ruffians have a look that'll turn your blood cold."

"He was a peculiar looking fellow," I mused. "And there was certainly something about him that set my nerves on edge. But he's gone now."

I tried to sound confident but when I retired to my chambers for the night, I was haunted by visions of the dark man, filled with a foreboding that he meant harm to me or the children. During those few precious stretches when I was able to sleep, I dreamt of his pale eyes bearing down on me, of the man speaking to me without ever moving his lips. 

“I am coming,” he said, and nothing more. 

*

As the summer progressed, the children became more and more restless with their lessons. Although they did not associate much with the youngsters from town, they knew enough to be aware that schools had let out and that other children were free to spend their summers at play. I tried to keep them focused as much as possible but I found myself giving in to their wishes to go outside and, in particular, to go for long walks along the shore. 

I had become accustomed to the constant roll of the ocean in my new home but I still felt a little intimidated being next to what seemed like an endless expanse. In theory, I knew that there was land in the distance but the fact that I could not see it made me feel like it was a fantasy, as much as the monsters that the children told me of. 

“Miss Miles, can we please go around the point today?” William whined at me. 

For weeks, he had been begging me to circle around the tip of the beach crescent, around to the area just below the place where we had had our picnic. He could tell that each request was wearing me down just a little but I felt that he had reached my core and that I could not yield. The area was rocky and uneven, some of it barely above water even at low tide. I knew that, while he might be able to skip through it with impunity, I couldn’t hope to keep pace and could easily slip and injure myself, at which point I would be no help at all to him or his sister. 

“William, I’ve told you before, if we come to the beach, we stay on the sands,” I grumbled, irritable from a bad night’s sleep. “It’s too dangerous to risk going farther.”

“But there are caves! I want to go and look inside them!”

“My word is final and you know perfectly well that your father would agree with me.”

I remained nervous that the children could damage my position by complaining that I’d treated them unfairly, so I’d taken to invoking their father when I needed to enforce discipline. It worked in this case, as it always did, although every time I refused him his adventure, I could see William’s expression growing more frustrated and angrier. 

The three of us took our dinner together, William still sulking. 

“How did your family die?” he blurted as we waited on dessert. 

“Willam, be quiet,” Sophia hissed. “You’ve no right to ask her such questions.”

At the same time, I saw her dark eyes cut back to me for an instant, as if she wanted to see how I’d react without her intervention. I was exhausted and knew that no real harm could come of sharing my story. I even thought that it might generate some sympathy in them. 

“My mother died giving birth to my younger brother,” I informed them coolly. “My father loved her very much and after she died… his health began to deteriorate.”

I knew enough to avoid telling the whole truth in this case, namely that starting with my mother’s death, my father had started to drink heavily. This was not appropriate for children to hear. Then again, I mused, it was not appropriate for a child to experience. 

“He was a schoolteacher and as his health declined, he was forced out of work,” I continued. 

“So you were paupers?” Sophia asked sharply. 

“We were not so bad off. My father had some meagre savings that supported us, and he was able to take on some work tutoring.”

“Where is your brother now?” William now seemed more curious than resentful. 

I inhaled deeply. 

“My brother died when he was hardly more than a baby.”

“Was he sickly? What did he die of?”

I was not expecting the barrage of personal questions but I understood them to an extent. I likely could have scolded them and told them that they were being presumptuous. Instead, I cast my eyes down at the table and spoke. 

“He just died. No one could ever determine why. He went to sleep one night and never woke up.”

“How mysterious!” Sophia exclaimed. 

“I suppose so,” I responded softly. “After his death, my father’s health grew even worse. He grew weaker and eventually, he died too.”

“As a result of his illness?”

“He took a kind of a turn. I think he must have felt dizzy and he fell and hit his head. He died a few days later from the injury.”

“That’s horrid,” Isabella gasped. “You were left all alone!”

“Not quite all alone,” I answered with a smile. “My church took me in and made sure that my needs were met. They also made sure that I was educated enough to be able to take on a position as governess. And here I am with you.”

Sophia frowned a little. “Do churches in your area normally do that?”

“I suppose I was lucky that this one was very generous.”

The truth was that their generosity had always confused me. When I was very young, I didn’t understand why anyone should be so kind to me. As I grew older, I appreciated it more but I understood that this was not something that was normally practiced. Perhaps I had been lucky enough to be born in an especially generous parish. Perhaps the reverend there had seen some potential in me from the beginning, for he was always my champion and closest ally. I only knew that I had fared better than another in my situation could hope to. 

We all retired early, our lungs full of ocean air that soothed the brain. I read to the children from a book of fables that didn’t seem to bore them too much and was relieved when they declared themselves exhausted after just a few minutes. 

I said my prayers that night remembering my family and hoping that they had made their way to Heaven. 

At around one, I was awakened by Kate, who was in a panic. It took me a moment for me to get her to speak coherently. 

“It’s the young Master,” she sobbed. “He’s run off. She says she doesn’t know where he’s gone.”

The word “she” was said with a level of suspicion and anger that surprised me. I knew she was speaking of Sophia and that she had some dark opinions on the young Devitts, but it hardly seemed a tone appropriate to speaking of a child.

“How long has he been gone?”

“About ten minutes ma’am. I ran out to see if I could catch him because he’s run off to hide in the woods as a game before, but I couldn’t see him anywhere.”

I started to gather some clothes so that I could at least make a pretense of being presentable. 

“Was the back gate unlocked?”

“It was, although I can’t say for certain if that was done tonight.”

The two of us descended the stairs, looking out at the trees whipped around by the wind. I was aware that Sophia trailed after us but I was annoyed at her for her refusal to divulge where her brother had gone, even though I was certain she knew. 

“Kate, did you see him go in the direction of the woods?” I asked, another idea springing to mind. 

“I did not… I just assumed that since he’d gone before…”

“He’s not back there,” I told her. “He’s gone down to the water to look at the caves.” I spun to face Sophia. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

She pursed her lips, looking genuinely shocked that I had figured out the answer so quickly.

“The caves?” Kate exclaimed. “But it’s high tide! He’ll be pulled out to sea!”

“Kate, I need you to go to all the houses nearby. Wake them and tell them that you need to form a search party for Master William and tell them we think that he’s near the ocean. They can cover the ground over land in case he’s taken that route. I’m going to go down to the beach to see if I can find him there.”

“But it’s not safe!”

“It will be fine,” I assured her, far from convinced myself. “I should be able to catch him before he makes his way around the point. Hopefully, he’ll turn back on his own when he sees the water but at least I can move much faster than he does.”

Without waiting for another word, I bolted from the house, rushing down to the beach and almost falling several times. The tide was at its highest point, almost reaching the top of the rocks where William liked to collect his specimens. Even at a distance, I could see that the point of the crescent, where WIlliam would have to go in order to access the caves on the other side, was covered in water up to its vertical rise. And well ahead of me along the beach, I could see a small figure skipping along the rocks. 

“William!” I screamed, starting after him as quickly as I could. “William, stop! It’s too dangerous!”

The wind whipping off the water was too much for my voice to carry, so I continued after him as quickly as I could go, confounded that his tiny legs seemed to carry him at almost the same pace. It took me some time to close any distance between us and I was still too far behind for him to hear me calling after him. 

As he approached the end of the beach, I saw him pause and peer forward, as if he were following someone and questioning the wisdom of going further. I tried to call out his name even louder but I grew winded very quickly. 

It seemed like insanity, even for a child, but William waded out into the water, making his way towards the point. I trembled at the thought that in order to catch up with him, I would have to do the same, already imagining the weight of my clothing and the tug of the current on my legs. 

He clung as close as he could to the shore and began to gingerly make his way around the turn. Once he slipped, the rocks beneath his feet doubtless slick and deadly, but he resurfaced a second later, scrabbling his way up to the side of the rock and clinging to it as he made his way around and out of my sight. 

Terrified, I realized that in order to have any hope of overtaking him before the danger became worse, I would have to take a diagonal route, walking through the water rather than moving along the shore. I had never in my life ventured into the ocean but the need to rescue my young charge was greater than my fear. I waded out until the water reached my thighs and fought my way with all my strength. As I approached the point of the crescent beach, I stumbled, almost getting pulled under and soaked to my chest but I persevered, making my way forward until I saw the gouges in the earth that formed the caves William so wanted to see. 

As I approached the first one, I heard screaming over the wind and made my way towards it. Indeed it was William, ghost white and terrified, begging for help. 

“I can’t swim!” he shrieked. 

Of course, I couldn’t swim either, but I wasn’t about to say that. 

“I’m coming William!” I cried out, fighting my way towards him. “We’ll be safe soon!”

By the time I reached him, cowering on a ledge inside the cave, my lungs were burning from exertion. I gathered him up in my arms but my grip was weak. I was gasping and desperately trying to keep hold of him and I could tell from the look on his face that my demeanor was doing nothing to inspire confidence. Despite the cold of the water, my entire body felt like burning coals wrapped in skin. Truthfully, having made it this far, I wasn’t certain I could guide us to safety but I knew I had a better chance than the boy had on his own. And, although I felt shame at the thought as soon as it occurred to me, if I were to leave and focus only on saving myself, there was the chance that he would survive and be able to tell others that I had abandoned him. 

I wrapped my arm around him and crept forward to the mouth of the cave. I glanced over my shoulder, wondering if we might be safer heading further back, into the darkness behind us but there was no way to tell how far back the cave went, if there was a drop, or how deep the water was. So I clung as best I could to the rocky surface with my free hand, trying not to give into the panic I felt hearing William scream and cry. 

The rocks under my feet were slick and treacherous and more than once I slipped, sending both of us under the water and forcing me to expend more precious energy fighting back to the surface. After the second such accident, William ceased to cry and seemed to grow heavier. He coughed and spluttered and I found myself shaking him violently in the hopes of making him cough up the ocean water he’d swallowed. Eventually, though, I became so focused on getting back to the shore that it was all I was aware of. 

Rather than head back around the point and risk the strong current there, I took the shortest route and headed for the land nearest the caves. I remembered from our picnic on the cliff above that it was narrower and rockier but I didn’t believe I had the strength to carry William much further. I knew that there was some kind of path up because the children had taken it the day of our picnic. But I was certain what shape it would be in or how accessible it would be with the high tide. 

I felt like it took me hours to reach the point where the land rose above the water. The path up was difficult to mount but I somehow managed it, all the while pulling my young charge along. Although I managed to get us on to some semblance of solid ground, the soil there was loose and slid around, frustrating my attempts to crawl to safety. William whimpered and whined, for I was at this point dragging him like a sack behind me. I had to pause every few steps just to get more air into my body and because I felt too exhausted to continue. I gave some anguished sobs myself, desperate and furious that this boy had put us both in danger. 

About halfway up the hill, I saw some lights and thought I heard voices. I waited a moment, afraid that I was imagining things but the sights and sounds persisted and it occurred to me that there were people there: Kate had gone to raise the alarm with our neighbors and she would have sent them to the place where she knew I had headed. 

“Help us!” I cried as loudly as I could manage. I knew I was nowhere near loud enough to be heard over the wind but knowing how close rescue was, my body refused to move further up the path. “For the love of God, help us!”

I stayed in place, clinging to William and holding him close to my body in order to share what little warmth I had. I continued to scream, my voice growing louder as some of my strength returned. Although his glassy eyes told me that he had no idea what was going on, William was roused by my voice and then joined me in my calls for help. As I reached what I truly felt might be my last breath, I saw a couple of faces appear above us. I raised my arm weakly and hollered in the hopes that they would notice us. 

“They’re here!” a man’s voice cried out. 

I felt my body slump as I realized that we’d been seen. I clung as tight as I could to William and felt my head tip back. Although I never lost consciousness, I was only dimly aware of what was going on as the men descended and gathered us up to bring us back to safety. There was a cacophony of voices offering praise to God, trying to evaluate our health, barking orders on where to take us. 

Finally, one familiar voice cut through them all. 

“Oh my heavens, Miss Miles,” Kate cried, “you are a saint.”

I felt filthy and waterlogged and pain ripped through every tissue of my body. I felt like nothing like a saint but her praise felt better and more genuine than anything I had been told in my life. I tried to smile but even the muscles of my face felt heavy and I don’t know that I managed more than a twitch of my lips. 

The rescue party conveyed us all back to Wynn Cottage, throwing rugs and blankets over us as they did. I heard Kate giving orders and was quietly impressed at how her sweet, matronly demeanor changed when leadership was needed. When we reached the cottage, the group split into two. One part hurried up the stairs with William, yelling that the doctor was needed. Another group carried me to the kitchen, where Susan was standing over a washing basin filled with hot water. 

I was surprised, in light of her often grouchy mood, to see that her eyes were red from crying and that she reached out to grab hold of my hand as soon as the men brought me close to her. She held onto it hard and a strange mix of prayers and praise flowed from her lips. 

“Thank you, thank you,” Kate muttered, fighting her way to the front of the crowd. “Now please leave us, we have to get her into the bath to warm her up. Give us some privacy please.”

The men shuffled out of the kitchen and I immediately felt Kate and Susan working at the buttons of my dress. Their movements were frantic enough that a few buttons were torn clean off. Each time that would happen, I heard Susan assure us that she would take care of it. When they finally removed the last of my drenched clothing, I saw Susan gather everything up and grab the errant buttons off the floor before disappearing. Kate helped me step into the basin and lowered me into the hot water. 

It was painful, for my skin felt like I was being poached in the heat, but she stroked my hair and soothed me, assuring me that this was what I needed. 

“You’ve done more than was ever asked of you,” she told me. “You are that boy’s guardian angel and everyone in this place is going to hear of what you did for him.”

Gently, she laid my head against the edge of the basin and I looked up at her, able to focus my eyes for the first time since my rescue. 

“Thank you,” I croaked, my voice cracking with the effort of speaking. “You’re too kind.”

She huffed and shook her head. “The Young Master deserves a hiding for sneaking out that way. You are a truly godly woman and there’s not many that would have done what you did, putting your own life in danger to save him.”

I remembered that moment in the cave when I had considered abandoning William for an instant and shame washed over me. 

Some voices came from the landing above and Kate frowned a little. 

“I suppose I’m needed up there,” she sighed. “Can you hold yourself up if I go? You won’t slip under the water?”

“I’m fine,” I promised her. “Go and tend to the boy and make sure he has what he needs.”

I thought that she was going to repeat her assertion that what he needed was a hiding but she simply shook her head and left the kitchen. 

My body had adjusted to the temperature and I could feel myself relaxing. Fatigue was so heavy on me that I did need to keep a firm grip on the sides of the basin to avoid sinking to the bottom. How ironic it would be, I thought mirthlessly, to have escaped a watery ocean death only to drown in a tub of water here. 

The oil lamp that had been left to give me some light flickered a little and I wondered if there might be a draft. I couldn’t feel anything on my skin but in my state, I couldn’t be sure of anything that was happening. The lamp seemed to grow dimmer and the shadows in the room drew closer. It was my exhausted mind toying with me, I told myself. I couldn’t trust my senses under such circumstances. 

Nevertheless, a current of fear ran through me, making me feel more awake and alert than I had in hours. And as I looked around the room, I saw a figure emerge from the shadows, the low lighting casting a sheen over its dark skin and illuminating its pale eyes. It advanced until it reached the edge of the basin where I lay, helpless, its long tongue flicking over sharpened teeth like a predator discovering injured prey. 

I wanted to scream but there was no air in my lungs and my lips refused to open. My whole body was paralyzed, so that I could not escape or fight him. His face was familiar but I could not remember from exactly where. But while I was certain I had encountered him before, I knew immediately that he had not been in this form, this demonic shape, nude with an oily hide, black mottled with red and white, a deranged grin and eyes that seemed to hold me in thrall. 

Unable to move though I was, I quickly realized that I was not unable to feel. As he leaned over the edge of the tub, he took hold of my foot and lightly dragged one clawed finger along the sole. The sensation made me shiver, made me want to thrash around to free myself, but I could do none of those things. Grinning, he dipped his head low and stuck his tongue into the bathwater like a cat at a saucer of milk. Then in one smooth motion he tightened his grip on my ankle and pulled my leg forward, immediately pulling my upper body under the water. 

I wanted to push myself up again. I wanted to wriggle free of his grip. I wanted to run from him. But my body would do none of this. Instead, I was forced to feel the air escaping my lungs, to feel the desperation and panic grow in me as I realized that I could not reach the surface. At the same time, I felt the tip of the demon’s tongue touch the instep of my foot and trail a hot path over my calf. I could feel its cruel smile against my skin as it made its way higher, until its mouth came to rest at the back of my knee. There was a sharp pain as he bit down on the flesh there and I wanted to cry out but had no power to do. 

At that moment, his touch was gone and I was trapped under the water unable to move. A second later, a clawed hand grabbed a handful of my hair and jerked me back into a sitting position. I gasped, drawing in as much air as I could, touching my skull where I’d felt hairs ripped out. My body was my own again but as I surveyed the kitchen, I saw that I was alone. Had I imagined everything? Had it all just been some fevered hallucination? 

I looked at the skin under my knee and found a red mark where he had bitten me, however, as I prodded it with my finger, the mark disappeared and the flesh looked normal once again. For the first time since the demonic figure had appeared, I heard noises coming from upstairs in the house. People were bustling around, Kate was giving instructions, there were footsteps everywhere. I stayed in the tub for as long as I could stand, feeling the water grow cooler against my skin. Susan had left some towelling for me and I wrapped myself in it as I emerged from my bath, relishing the sensation of the soft fabric. 

I stood there, wrapped up, before the oven for some time, lost in thought, before Kate came back into the kitchen. 

“Oh bless you, miss,” she exclaimed. “We didn’t even remember you here.”

“It’s all right. I’m warm and I’m dry now.”

“After all you’ve done, it’s a poor return on our part to leave you all alone.”

“Kate, I’m fine.” Instinct told me that I should keep my demonic vision to myself. “If you could fetch me my nightdress, I would be most obliged.”

She hurried out of the kitchen, still fretting and returned only moments later with my gown. She helped me into it, as my arms ached so much I could barely lift them. 

“Is Master William safe?” I asked timidly. 

“He’s better than he deserves to be. He’s asleep in bed as if nothing happened.”

“I was a bit rough with him,” I admitted. “I was worried that I might have injured him on the way back.”

“A few scrapes and bruises is all. And it’s no less than he deserves.”

“You mustn’t be too harsh on him. Children are adventurous at that age, especially boys.”

She shook her head, guiding me up the stairs. “I have three brothers and let me tell you that all of them knew that if they’d run off like that, the cuts they got from the rocks would have been the least painful part of the experience.”

I smiled weakly and hugged her as she helped me into the bed. 

“We all need to sleep,” I told her, “yourself very much included. I don’t want to hear you up and about at the usual hour. You rest as long as you can.”

“You’re too kind, ma’am.”

“Nonsense. It’s the very least I can do after all your work tonight.”

As she left the garrett, I saw that she turned and looked back at me for a moment. “God bless you and keep you,” she whispered. 

I was quickly asleep, however, I woke up periodically, convinced that I felt a hand on my cheek or my throat, or that an unseen figure was hovering nearby, waiting. 

#finn balor imagine #finn balor fanfic #wwe fanfiction #wwe imagine #nxt fanfiction #nxt imagine #wayward wrestle writing

[loveafterthefact]

Love After the Fact Chapter 66: On the Road Again

Lance makes a confession and tells Keith a story.

First  Previous  Next

Lance’s eyes scan the rocky foothills’ landscape. In the past few vargas, they’ve passed kilns, tanneries, quarries, gardens, orchards, and vineyards tumbling over the uneven terrain beneath the terraced mountain civilization. Now, he and Keith find themselves at the edge of the foothills, where the last of the mountainous landscape fades into rocky tundra. This is a more arid part of Daibazaal, though parts of it are temperate, or even tropical. And then there’s the vast grassy marsh at the equator, which filters all the water south until the continent slips into the sea.

Lance has since learned that the large body of water he’d seen from space is in fact salt water, and it’s so large that crossing it takes an entire quintant.

He won’t see the sea on this visit, but he’s already promised himself he’ll come back. The tundra, however, is spellbinding. On either side of the road are flowers in shades of yellow, pink, blue, orange, and white with thick, waxy, bluish-green leaves. Among the flowering hills with twisty-trunked trees, are small mounds, topped with little towers of stacked stones. Some have toppled over. Others have small nests in the gaps. Others are held in place with vines and foliage.

Cairns, marking ancient burials, Keith told him a ways back.

Ahead is a river, one so wide, so deep, and so fast that they need a bridge to cross it. Lance can already hear the water, and given how one of Keith’s ears is rotating in every direction, and the other is fixed on the rushing water, so can he. Every now and then, the ears switch duties, keeping an eye out for the many predators that call Daibazaal home.

It's the cutest thing Lance has ever seen.

Keith halts his bull elk by the river, leads him forward to drink. Lance follows his lead. Rubbing Bruna’s furry neck as she drinks at the river’s edge. They’ve been riding all morning, and it’s time for a rest, and some lunch.

Wrapped in leaves, Lance finds some bread, dried meat, and a soft, somewhat amorphous white substance. He sniffs the substance, finding it has a bit of a stink to it. It also smells… good? Somehow?

“Beloved?”

“Hm?”

“What the quiznak is this?”

“Oh. Cheese.”

“Cheese? What’s in it?”

“Milk. From the elk.” Keith pulls out his blade, slicing a bit off the lump, spreading it on the bread. “Try some. If your body produces lactase. Otherwise, do not.”

“I do. Some plants on Altea have lactose. Milk does, too?” At Keith’s nod, Lance shrugs, taking a bite of the offered food. It’s good. Salty, a bit gamey, a little nutty? No matter how Lance thinks to describe it, cheese sounds absolutely disgusting, but it’s delicious.

Keith hands him a wrinkled red fruit that looks past its prime. “Here, try this purp fruit. I know it looks gross, and I think they’re disgusting, but Lotor likes them a lot, so you probably will too.”

Lance takes a bite, humming as sweet, syrupy juices explode over his tongue. It’s delightful, probably the sweetest thing he’s tasted since arriving on Daibazaal. The taste sours almost instantly as Lance remembers something he’d said earlier. “Hey, Keith? There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Okay?”

“I may have made a deal with my father that we would return to Altea as mates.”

“You what?” Keith stares at his spouse, clearly displeased. His ear pin back against his head, tail twitching back and forth. “That wasn’t your place to say. At all.”

“I know. I thought it was fine, since it’s not like he’d actually do anything if we didn’t, but I also didn’t say anything, so… I got the feeling I was in the wrong.”

Keith stares at him, fur bristled, murmurs, “Did you mean it?”

“No! I-” The Altean’s shoulder sag. “I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so,” Keith echoes. “So you assumed that we would, and figured that meant it was fine for you to agree to those terms.”

“...I suppose,” Lance mumbles.

Keith shakes his head, disappointed in his spouse. Not that he’d say that. Nothing damages a person like hearing their loved one is disappointed in them. “Why, Lance? Why would you agree to that? You’ve kept me safe all this time. What changed?”

“He made it a stipulation of our trip to Daibazaal. I should have argued the point, but I just wanted to get you here as fast as possible. I wanted to make sure that happened, with as little trouble or wasted energy as possible, and as little stress to you. Still, I was careless, and thoughtless, and I am so. Sorry, Keith.”

The Galra sighs, staring at his mate. “Well, you told me, and I know you wouldn’t have forced yourself on me, so I’ll forgive you. This time. But even though I’m mated to you, you can still lose my respect, and my trust. Just like I can lose yours.”

“I know, I know.” Lance’s ears droop. “The idea that I could have damaged this…” He shakes his head.

“It’s nothing that can’t be fixed,” Keith murmurs, letting the hurt ease away as he gazes over the river, watching the wind move through the tundra flora. “You’re reasoning saved your ass though, just so you know.”

Lance chuckles, still subdued as he picks at the last of his food. “I really am sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m upset, but we’re gonna be okay.” Keith takes Lance’s hand, squeezes it tight. “You haven’t ruined this. Your intentions were good, if a bit careless, and we’re going to be fine.”

“Okay…”

“You need to be careful, though. It’s not like you to make hasty promises like that. We can't rule like that, so it can't become a habit.”

“I know,” Lance groans, carding a hand through his white hair. “The Ancients are going to smite me if I can’t get my shit together!”

Keith licks his lips, anxious. He still trusts Lance, and his intentions, no matter how misguided in practice. And the man clearly recognizes that he’s been an idiot. Now, he just wants to move on. “Hey. Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” The Altean rests his head against Keith’s shoulder. Keith wraps his tail around Lance’s waist.

“What happened to Romelle?”

“Ah. It’s kind of a long story...”

Alfor leaned against the control board of their small craft, shaking. On either side of him, Romelle and Honerva stood in awe as they gazed at the sight before them. A white hole, light pouring in seemingly endless arcs of light.

“I can’t believe it,” the blonde girl breathed. “We’re finally here.”

“Everything we’re searching for, everything we could ever want, is right here before us,” Alfor murmured. They stared a moment longer, then the king gave a cocky grin he’d later dread seeing on his son. “Let’s go get it!”

The women giggled, giddy on new discovery, as they hurried to their control panels, Alfor at the helm. They were here for everything they could possibly get, and the adventure, but also with a specific goal in mind.

Oriande, among other things, reportedly had its own unique flora and fauna, from which Altea’s organic life had evolved. It was possible, perhaps even probable, that they could find a cure for the thing that killed his wife.

“Wait. What exactly happened to your mother ?”

"A fungus. They found a capsule in her reading room. It... It grew up underneath her scales, and made them die and fall off."

"That's... horrific. I can't believe anyone would do that!"

“Mnh.” Lance sighs. “They cut me out of her as soon as they could so I wouldn’t die with her. They put me in a pod for phoebs, until I could breathe on my own and they were sure I didn’t have the same thing.”

“What an awful way to die,” Keith whispers, thinking about watching his power and lifeforce fall away from his body before his very eyes.

“Romelle’s brother died later from the same thing. We still don’t even know where it came from. We couldn’t figure out how to kill it. It kept spreading even when they were put in suspension.”

“Does Romelle know?”

“I’m not sure. We told her, but…”

“I don’t understand!” Romelle clinged to her research console, staring at the apparition formed from the light of the white hole. “Why won’t it let us pass?!”

Alfor glared at the ghostly obstacle, pale blue scales flaring in time with his frustration. “Try again. If it doesn’t let us pass, we’ll pull back and think of a new strategy.”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Honerva did as she was told, wheeling their craft back around, soaring through space, dodging the arcs of light curling from the white hole. The apparition struck again, sending them spiraling into another arc of light. The entire ship shuddered and creaked, threatening to come apart as it was assaulted by pure energy.

Alfor fell to the floor, wrapped his arms around the leg of the console. He heard a crash from behind him and assumed they’d taken some kind of damage. Once the ship settled, however, it became clear that wasn’t the case.

Romelle was on the floor, Honerva leaning over her, dark hair falling from it’s usual bun. “Alfor…”

The girl was bleeding profusely, gray matter visible from a gaping wound in her head.

“Ancients… Pick her up. We have to put her in a pod.”

“Alfor that could kill her!”

“What about her exposed brain? Couldn’t that kill her?”

Honerva grew pale beneath her orange, green-tinted scales. She nodded, scooping the girl into her arms as Alfor rushed to calibrate a pod to preserve her life.

As Honerva prepared to take them home, Alfor turned back to the formidable white hole. He’d been so close. He could practically smell that familiar, unfamiliar atmosphere just beyond these outer limits.

Were it not for the beast that guarded it...

“So what happened to Romelle?”

“My father spent decaphoebs rebuilding her brain. At first, everything seemed fine. That’s when she and Allura got close, and fell in love. But not long after that… She started talking about odd things. Guardians and descendants and glass that is water but also holding water and a blue ember growing cold. Weird stuff. Eventually, that took up more and more of her. I think that’s all that’s left now.

She doesn’t recognize Allura. I don’t think she even knows Allura’s pregnant. I’m not sure she even knows who she is, or that she’s a person. Alfor says that trying to fix her is just doing more damage and causing her pain. As much as I hate it, I think he’s right.”

“I wonder what she means,” he whispers. “I wonder what she’s trying to tell us.”

“I don’t know,” Lance murmurs. “But whatever it is, she’s too far gone to understand it herself, let alone tell us.”

“Right…” Keith frowns, unsure what to make of the story, but he lets it go for now. He’s heard Romelle speak plenty of times before he moved to Altea, Allura having gone out of her way to visit with him and try to ease his anxiety. It always sounded like nonsense.

All the same, he has a nauseous feeling that Romelle’s ramblings aren’t ramblings at all.

Keith stares at Lance’s scales, glittering up and down his arms, exposed by his rolled up sleeves. Blue, shining red in the light. Water and fire.

Suspend the ember in water. Stall its final breath.

The guardian waits for the descendant.

#LoveAftertheFact #LAtF #klance #galtean au #altean lance #galra keith #adashi #altean adam #galra shiro #voltron legendary defender #vld

[artyrogue]

Blind Date Gaming: Konami GB Collection Vol. 3

Boy, I am WIPED after my date last night. It all started out as it usually does -- a quick visit to PRANG for an introduction to my next potential video game suitor. Who could have guessed that I would served up 4 dates! They all came together at once under the guise of Konami GB Collection Vol. 3.

I was greeted at first by an anime schoolgirl with a huge hand and quite possibly a contender for the weirdest hairstyles I've seen in a while. What is that, a grass-inspired mohawk laid over top a normal haircut?

Is this what the cows that make cowlicks eat?

What happened next was an eventful set of speed dates. This onslaught left me with no down time, thus the exhaustion. However, I did end up meeting some nice games. I'll speed through them each quick-like to keep this from being overly long. Luckily each of the games are pretty short (as expected from Game Boy games)!

First up is Gradius II! Now, I've never actually played a Gradius game, so I can't say if this is a port, some reconfigured version of Gradius II, or what. What I CAN say is that it has tight controls, beautiful graphics, interesting bosses, and some fun gameplay.

Looks like a rocky magic 8 ball

You start off hangin' out with what I assume are your dad and mom starships. Aww, family time! Soon, however, someone decks your old man and blasts your momma fulla lasers. Obviously disturbed, you fly forward and get chased by the perpetrator through a buncha rocks until you escape.

Good thing this guy doesn't feel like firing at me for whatever reason

...Except you kind of don't? You end up going through a bunch of planetary landscapes, shootin' dudes and grabbin' powerups that let you fire lasers and stuff. Pew pew! You eventually get captured, break out, and summarily fly through a ship, an asteroid belt, and I think some alien's guts? I'm not sure; I never went to med school for interplanetary digestive systems. Bosses fight you at every turn, and they are so sweet. Like, I don't always know what I'm attacking, but it just looks so cool that I really don't care!

Ever want to fight a kneeling, fanged alien stuck in a wall with detachable mouthy-brains? Yeah, well now you do, obviously!

In the end you find the enemy ship that assassinated your nuclear family with nuclear weapons, commit your own brand of galactic revenge, and I assume go on with your day in a half-arsed way, never addressing the journey you just went through for fear of sparking up some majorly weird PTSD.

Next up is some Castlevania game! It claims to be Castlevania II, but don't think it's Simon's Quest since it doesn't have slow-scrolling text boxes telling me that night is a poor time to explore the world when suffering from a magical adversary's angry sentiments. Instead, you just go about whippin' junk. Alright, I can be a lion tamer for the undead.

Why do cultists always gotta wear hoods? Can't they wear like a polo and some comfy slacks?

So in this installment, you can apparently shoot fireballs from a fully-upgraded whip, so it's instantly MUCH easier than most Castelvania games. The list of enemies is kind of lacking, but it was enough to feel competent. The level design was pretty spot-on, which is par for the course, though for some reason this game has a love affair with ropes? They're EVERYWHERE, but there's enough variation in the levels to give them pass. For example, some areas have auto-directional-pulling ropes, some ropes are spider webs made by enemies, some require quick sliding to avoid obstacles, etc.

You gotta wonder, does the guy living here have to go through all these traps every day just to get his mail? And how does he carry groceries back to his (probably rope-decorated) kitchen?

The boss fights were definitely memorable. Some of their designs were flat-out brilliant, and they were all pretty fun! Your sub-weapons weren't really that useful here, but that's fine. The bosses, too, were made a little easier with the projectile whip, but the designers struck a good balance between fun and hard.

These guys shoot out vertebrae in an arc, transferring them from one head to the other. I don't have a quip here, it was just a stupidly awesome designed boss that I wanted to gush about for a bit!

Well, perhaps I spoke too soon. The bosses were all fun except for the last 3 in the game. Allow me to whine and complain about them for a bit, if you will! The first was a tunneling snake on a forced scrolling screen that made you take damage unless you memorized where he was going to surface next (I HATE memorization-by-death gameplay). The next was a fellow Belmont who would relentlessly whip the crap outta you, throw swords all over the screen, and would probably be nigh impossible if I didn't have Holy Water. The final was Dracula, who I suppose gets a pass for being hard since he was the final boss...but he, too, was pretty much a memorization-by-death fight, too. The dude has 6 orbs revolving around him that spread out, essentially making 85% of the screen unsafe. Unless you know the specific spot to crouch down for the given position he's in, you get hurt, and you get hurt pretty badly. Oh, and you can really only hit him once per attack, so you'd better learn the safe spots for all 8 of his attack spots and hope you can hurt him and get into your safe position before taking damage.

ouch ouch ouch OUCH

In the end, it was overall a pretty fun time. Konami definitely knows how to make a good sidescrolling action game, which is probably why they're half of the name of the 'Metroidvania' genre. Go team Belmont!

Next up: Yie Ar Kung~Fu! What is this? I've never heard of it. It's a simple fighting game where you face off against 5 fighters, each with their own weapons and special moves. You play as a normal weaponless guy who can only kick and punch, because that's fair? Regardless, you must persevere through 4 rounds of these 5 fights, each time with your foes getting slightly harder.

Mmyep, this is fair.

My trademark fighting game strategy of sweeping seems to work for the most part, though as the difficulty ramps up, the other fighters move with ridiculous speed between attacks. Eventually, the game just becomes 100% about approaching a foe with more range than you, which obviously is the main focus of fighting games. What's that? Combos? Pffft, those are lame, just have the enemies fly across the ring like a sugar-high Jack Russel Terrier.

So this guy's power is to propel himself like a missile and look like an absolute goon while doing so

There's also a mini-game where you hit things thrown at you, but like they show up so quickly and your animation speed is so slow that it's impossible to do very well. It was an okay game overall, though, but I can sort of see why it isn't as well-known as Gradius or Castlevania.

Last game: Antarctic Adventure! It's a penguin-based racing game! I think? Does this count as a racing game? Well, you race against the clock, so sure. You gotta move at top speed through an icy wasteland, avoiding sea lions and holes in the ice.

I like how this sea lion looks after getting plastered in the face by a penguin moving at ~120 km/hr. Is he in shock? Is he alive? Should I notify his next of kin?

The lore is actually pretty deep in this game. The world has fallen into ruin due to global warming, and the glacier sheets on Antarctica are slowly melting away. As a penguin trained in espionage and terrorism, you must travel to the different embassies that many countries have propped up in an attempt to stake a claim in possibly the only livable area in the near future.

The french are planning to build replicas of their famous landmarks here, like the Ice-full Tower and Arctic de Triomphe.

You're not exactly racing as much as you are keeping ahead of the authorities pursuing you for planting bombs in the embassies. If you successfully plant your payloads in all of the embassies across all of Antarctica, you destroy their chances of bringing cultural imperialism to the local wildlife. Your customs are at stake! You must cast your empathy aside for the greater good of penguin-kind!

Also, you can sometimes turn into a helicopter? Not sure what that was about.

Okay, okay, yeah, I may have embellished a bit there. No, it's not as cool as that. You just run from one place to the next and heck if I'll ever find out why miscellaneous countries happen to have little castles in a barren arctic wasteland. People's taxes at work, I guess!

Oh right, there's also a fifth option on the main menu. It's Ms. O.C. Anime Girl explaining things about the games to you. I can't read anything she's saying, though, so I can only imagine the shady koala statue in the back has some relevance to her dialogue.

So that ends an exhausting series of dates. Whew! Glad you toughed it out with me. As I've completed all of the games this time, I didn't think another date was warranted. However, Gradius and Castlevania were fun enough to say that sure, I guess, it's worth going on another date in the future. Maybe it'd be better to find the original games, though, instead of this particular port. I can only assume the extra screen real estate, better sound effects, and greater ROM size would only enhance their experiences. And speaking of experiences, grab a Sprite of Passage from the jar over there on your way out! It's mint-flavored and can double as a water purification tab if you're ever stuck somewhere in the wilderness!

Man, I would kill to watch a skeleton ballet

#blinddategaming #gameboy #gradius #castlevania #otherdumbstuff

[aerinmelina]

Give me an a super fluffy Warrenessa fic!

I am sooooo sorry about the delay with this one. The muses were not particularly helpful. And then this idea popped up quite a while ago, and it took a lot of careful thought and refinement before I could make it work out. This oneshot didn’t really turn out the way I’d initially imagined it would, but I think I’m happy with it. I hope you enjoy my late submission for Warrenessa Day!

Thank you to @fairyprincesskendra for being my beta!

*Spoilers for Dragonwatch 3.*

You’ve been warned. Because I couldn’t resist a little bit of backstory behind That Line™️ from Vanessa in MOTPI. I’m posting this from my phone, and the tumblr app isn’t cooperating with a “click to read more” link at the moment, so I’ll try and figure that out on my laptop tomorrow.

——

All it took was one misstep, and voila - everything changed.

Vanessa and Warren had been trying to carefully scout the islands in search of the Sunset Pearl - or find evidence of its location - when they realized they were being tracked. Unsure of what predator may have been following them, exactly, they’d decided to try and seek shelter somewhere secluded and cramped in order to (hopefully) avoid an unwelcome confrontation with something potentially nasty and dangerous.

They’d quickly scrambled up a semi-steep hill of grass and sand when they noticed that the terrain started to become rather rocky. The next area to climb consisted of layers of loose shoal and sharp rocks which jutted out of the ground at odd intervals; a very interesting geological formation which Vanessa would have loved to spend more time studying and exploring if they weren’t in a hurry to shake off whatever was on their tail. They climbed the hillside as quickly and carefully as they could, neither of them feeling particularly safe while exposed on the side of a rocky hill.

Maybe it was the fact that they were rushing. Maybe she hadn’t been paying close enough attention. Maybe it was purely physics.

Whatever the cause… she lost her footing and fell. Hard.

Vanessa cried out in pain, then bit down on her lip and tongue to try and silence herself. Not that there was much point in that effort; the rocks she slipped on had made quite a bit of noise as they started a chain reaction and caused a slide of additional rocks to cascade downhill. Warren turned around and grabbed hold of Vanessa‘s arm before she completely lost her balance and tumbled to the bottom of the hill along with the rest of the rumbling ground. Tears instinctually sprang to her eyes in reaction to her pain. She forced her eyelids open after a moment to assess the damage and found that her right calf had a very large and nasty gash running from nearly the back of her knee to about four inches above her heel. Blood was everywhere. Panic began to swell within her. She wasn’t used to that feeling.

We’re sitting ducks in broad daylight, and I can’t move.

Warren shifted until he was in a better position to examine Vanessa’s wound, then smiled at her.

A forced smile.

“Can you stand?” he asked.

She doubted very much that standing was within the realm of possibilities, but said, “I’ll try.” She twisted carefully to her right and cringed when she realized that her hips, hands and arms were also scratched up pretty well. Her calf was by far the largest and most concerning injury, but the additional cuts and scrapes didn’t make the situation any easier to deal with.

Warren helped her up, then caught her before she could hit the ground for the second time that afternoon. “That’s a no,” he stated. He looked around the area; Vanessa could tell that he was nervous. “We have to get off the side of this hill. Here… climb on.”

“Climb on what, exactly?” she bit out. Her leg was screaming at her. Blood continued to seep out of her wound.

“My back,” Warren replied as if stating the obvious. Maybe he was being obvious, and she was simply in so much pain that she couldn’t properly assess the situation. She watched as he removed his backpack, turned it around, and then placed his arms through the straps so that the bag itself rested against his chest.

Vanessa took a few deep breaths, then nodded her head. “Okay. Okay.” Warren crouched down next to her and she somehow managed to clamber onto his back. When he stood up, she noticed that he was taking care to be aware of the huge gash in her leg. “This is dangerous,” she said. “How are you supposed to get both of us out of this?”

“Shut up and let me think.” After a couple of quick seconds, Warren seemed to decide something and nodded his head sharply, readjusted Vanessa’s weight on his back, and slowly started climbing to their right instead of further upward like they’d initially been doing.

Vanessa wanted to ask him a million questions, but didn’t want to distract him. She wanted to tell him to put her down and run for help, but could then promptly hear him telling her ‘absolutely not.’ And when her leg began to sting and burn, she held in her tears and and thanked whatever God existed that she wasn’t alone.

Progress was very slow. The ground was unstable, and Warren was trying to move as carefully as he could. After perhaps fifteen minutes of grueling climbing, they reached a fairly level shelf of rock which appeared to be at least partially protected from the elements. Warren helped Vanessa down from his back, then took off his pack and fumbled through it for what she assumed were medical supplies. Sure enough, he wound up removing a roll of medical tape, several unopened packages of gauze, wound cleaning solution, a bottle of water, a small container of hand sanitizer, and some sort of thick paste Tanu had sent with them before they’d even left for this preserve in the first place. Vanessa, for her part, couldn’t stop shivering even though she wasn’t cold.

“Your body is in shock,” Warren informed her.

‘Tell me something I don’t know’ was the thought which immediately popped into her brain, but she swallowed those words. He didn’t deserve that. “I’ve lost a lot of blood,” she said instead.

Warren looked down at his side where her leg had been dangling. His pants were very wet with her blood. “I know,” he replied. “I’m going to clean your leg. Hold still, this is probably going to sting pretty bad for a while.” He cleaned his hands with some of the sanitizer, wet a piece of gauze with water from the water bottle, then set to work.

She hissed in pain when he started trying to clean the gaping wound on her calf. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know this sucks.”

“You would know,” she retorted as she continued to scream internally at just how much her leg hurt.

“You should be grateful. Experience makes me an expert at wound care.”

Vanessa lost track of time. She tried to just focus on breathing while Warren worked on bandaging her up. Her body continued to tremble, although the shaking eased up a little by the time he was done. She only realized he was finished when he held a water bottle out to her, along with a couple of pills he’d apparently found from somewhere; his backpack, probably.

“Ibuprofen,” he explained. “Take it.”

She swallowed the pills as instructed. “How are we going to get out of here?” she asked. “I can’t walk, and the treehouse is too far for you to carry me. I’m amazed you made it this far with me on your back.”

“I’ll carry you to the treehouse,” Warren said.

“Did you not just hear me? The treehouse is too far!”

“Have some faith in me, will you? I know what I’m doing. You and I have been in enough tight situations that I would hope you’d know that by now.”

She let out a loud exhale. “Our best bet is probably for you to go run for help.”

Warren glared at her, which quite honestly surprised her. “I’m not leaving you by yourself, behind enemy lines, with something actively tracking the two of us. You’d be the obvious target. I won’t let that happen to you.”

“Warren-“

“Don’t ‘Warren’ me. I’m not leaving you alone, so stop suggesting it.”

She knew the effort was futile, but between the pain still radiating from her leg, the hot sunshine in her face, the threat of some unknown creature probably wanting to eat them for dinner, and Warren’s obstinate attitude, she couldn’t help but argue.

“Why?”

“What? Why?”

“Yes. Why? Why did you keep me from falling to my death? Why did you carry me all the way over here? Why aren’t you leaving me to go get help, when you and I both know that’s the best option to save at least one of us? Why? Why?”

Warren tugged at the hair on his head. “You are the most infuriating woman I have ever met.”

“You’re doing this because I’m infuriating? That sounds like a good reason to push me off of this ledge.”

“Vanessa! I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to leave you!” he shouted.

She made eye contact with him. They stared at each other for a while before she spoke again.

“Maybe you should,” she muttered.

“What?”

“Maybe you should,” she repeated with a little more volume.

He set his backpack to the side and then sat down in front of her. “I heard you the first time,” he said. “And I’ve already said no to that option.”

“Why?”

Why won’t you save yourself? Please. Please save yourself.

She watched as he ran his hands over his face. He looked at her for a few seconds, then spoke. “Why?” he asked. “Because, probably against my better judgment by now… I still love you, Vanessa. And I’m not going to leave the woman I love to face death by herself. Like it or not, I’m sticking with you. You’re not dying on my watch.”

Vanessa threw rationality out the window, grabbed the front of his shirt, and crashed their lips together. The kiss was short-lived, but it’d have to do for now. “Say it again.”

“You’re a little full of yourself, aren’t you?”

“You like kissing me.”

Warren shrugged. “I love you.”

She smiled. “I didn’t ruin everything?”

“Well, there was that whole ‘oh crap my girlfriend is trying to kill my family’ thing, but you kinda redeemed yourself for that one. But Vanessa?”

“Yes?”

He looked at her seriously. “I’m trusting you. Again. I wasn’t playing last time, and I’m pretty sure that what we had then was real for you, too, but this time… I’m… This is it.”

Vanessa nodded and reached for his hand, then squeezed it. She understood his unspoken message.

Don’t hurt me again.

For at least the millionth time since she’d been sent to the quiet box all those months ago, self-hatred and regret started to creep into her heart. She brushed the emotions aside for the moment and focused on their current predicament. “How are we getting back?”

“You climb onto my back and I carry you to the treehouse.” Warren started re-gathering their items.

Vanessa looked over the edge of the ledge they were sitting on. Climbing back down wasn’t going to be easy. The loose rocks would pose a huge threat to their wellbeing.

“Hey,” Warren said, grabbing Vanessa’s attention. “Look at me, not the ground. I’ll get us out of this mess. Trust me.”

“I do.”

“Well, then stop looking so nervous.”

“Easier said than done, Warren. It’s a long walk down, and the ground isn’t solid. Climbing this hill in the first place has got to be one of the dumbest ideas we’ve ever thought of.”

Warren shrugged. “You’re forgetting Bolivia.”

“Bolivia wasn’t a dumb idea. Your execution of it was dumb.”

“My execution-? Wow, you and I must have very different recollections because I distinctly remember that that plan was your idea.”

“Like I said, the idea itself wasn’t dumb. The actuality of it was.”

Warren rolled his eyes and stood up. He held a hand out toward her; she took it and allowed him to help her stand. Vanessa placed no weight on her bad leg; Warren had bandaged her up very well indeed, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand on it.

“We should ditch one of the backpacks,” Warren said. “Get rid of as much weight as possible.”

Vanessa gestured to hers, which still rested on the ground. “Leave mine,” she said. “There’s nothing in it worth keeping anyway.”

“You probably have blow darts or throwing knives in yours,” Warren reasoned. “If I’m doing the walking, you’ll have to be on the lookout.”

“Front pockets,” she instructed. Warren bent down and fetched an assortment of small weapons from Vanessa’s bag. “And the sides. Everything else can stay here.”

He handed her the items, which she found hiding places for on various parts of her person. “Just like Bolivia,” Warren remarked as he watched her tuck a couple of small throwing knives into her shirt.

“This is nothing like Bolivia.”

“Says the woman with knives in her bra.”

“Can we leave yet? Or are you going to stand here and falsely reminisce all day? Because I’d rather be sitting if that’s your plan.”

Warren smirked at her, then placed his backpack over his chest like he had earlier and motioned for Vanessa to climb onto his back. She did so with caution, not wanting to injure herself or cause him to topple over.

“I’m ready,” Vanessa said once she was confident in her ability to maintain a solid grip on his shoulders and waist. “Slowly, now.”

“Yes, Princess,” Warren teased.

Vanessa rolled her eyes, although she knew he couldn’t see her. Curse him. Him and his stupid sense of humor, trying to lighten the mood.

She had to admit, though… he was great at it. He was great at a lot of things, actually. Like climbing down steep rock faces with loose footing and a passenger, and then carrying said passenger all the way back to their home base.

They never did find out what had been tracking them; whatever it was, it seemed to lose interest in them when they drew close to the Lagoon. Vanessa was grateful for that; Warren was very obviously worn out from their trek by then, although he stubbornly continued forward until they reached their destination.

Her stalwart companion. Her irreplaceable man.

Her love.

#fablehaven #dragonwatch #aerinm writes #warrenessa #thanks for asking! #anonymous #warrenessa day 2k19 #warren burgess #vanessa santoro #look warren is awesome ok #he would absolutely take charge of a situation like this #i hope we get more strong warren moments in dw going forward

[luobingmeis]

For the fluff/angst prompt thing, 85 and/or 40 for fargo? 🥺🥺

A/N: anon thank you for my life these prompts are a gift and i would lay down my life for you……………… i’m still playing around with ship dynamics and grad characterization but this was a lot of fun!!!! and also this feels a lot more pre-fargo still in that “what are we” stage

post-writing note: i ended up not being able to fit #40 in, but i still hope you enjoy!!! ....... might try to find another fic to work that prompt into

(also just thought i’d say to the general public that, while im doing a lot of taz grad shipping w/ fitzroy/rainer and fitzroy/argo, i am not looking to force anyone to ship anything nor am i looking to start any “””ship wars””” omg, this is all just for fun!!!!)

(so anyways!!!!)

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85) “Don’t lie to me.”

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Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt, Knight in whatever-the-fuck in the Realm of It-Doesn’t-Fucking-Matter-Right-Now was an idiot. A fucking idiot. Only he would get himself stabbed on a mission miles away from the school. Only he would run into the fray of chaos to stop it. 

Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt was an idiot and a bad villain.

But Argo wasn’t panicking. Not panicking at all. 

He was just near dragging Fitzroy down a dark, damp alley as blood seeped through his robes and into Argo’s own tunic. Which would be a bitch to get out. Blood always was. But it was okay. Fine, even! Because Bud had been able to heal Fitzroy… kind of. Not much, because spell slots were an issue, but, hey! It was probably enough to keep Fitzroy from bleeding out within the hour! 

And, yeah, they were supposed to be trying to work out a deal with two rivaling guilds and not getting ambushed by a group of bandits larger than the party they came with, but it was all good! And, sure, Rolandus, Rainer, and Bud might have had to run distraction while Leon and Buckminster try to get in contact with the school’s emergency hotline, and Argo might just be getting more and more lost as he pulled Fitzroy’s semi-conscious body through streets that he already didn’t know, but it was fine!

Completely, and totally, and absolutely, and… and…

Fuck, why did he have to get hurt?

“Argo,” Fitzroy, voice strained, managed out. He was barely walking already but, even so, his feet stumbled over each other and Argo had to secure him tighter. “Wait… hold on…”

Argo wanted to deny him, wanted to say that they needed to keep moving, needed to get somewhere they knew, but he looked down at Fitzroy’s grimace and the sweat on his brow, and found that he couldn’t.

“Okay, okay,” Argo said quickly, his eyes darting around for anything that could support Fitzroy, though the sentiment was short-lived as Fitzroy began to become dead-weight in his arms. “Okay, wait, wait, wait-” And, as carefully as he could (and trying to still his shaking hands), he helped lower Fitzroy down onto the cobblestones and watched him wince as he leaned back against the wall “-I, uh, are you- where does it hurt?”

Fitzroy, as Argo kneeled down in front of him, shot him a tired, pained grin. “What d’ya mean? I’m doing just fine.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Argo hissed, flashing his eyes from Fitzroy’s face to the ever-growing dark patch on his shirt. He ghosted his hand over it, wanting to see the damage but too scared to face it. “Not-” He cleared his throat, shaking his head “-not here.”

Fitzroy watched his face and, after a moment, let his head fall back against the brick wall as his eyes slipped shut. “Everywhere.” He swallowed thickly. “But maybe I’m just dramatic.”

“We already know that,” Argo murmured, hands moving to the buttons at Fitzroy’s collar and then freezing. It was silly, almost: Fitzroy was wounded and bleeding before him, yet Argo froze to unbutton his shirt, but-

“It won’t be a pretty sight,” Fitzroy said.

“Is this okay?” Argo asked, quietly.

Fitzroy nodded.

Argo was careful. He had to be; tact was integral in his line of work before the school, both in stealing and in patching up his own wounds, but now he found himself praying that his hands were defter, gentler.

Leave it to fucking Fitzroy Maplecourt to turn him gentle.

He had been right, though: it wasn’t a pretty sight.

The biggest problem was the actual stab wound in the left side of his stomach. Not particularly large and, wracking his brain, Argo couldn’t think of any organs that the wound would’ve hit (plus, Bud’s healing probably helped in that aspect), but, nonetheless, the wound was still bleeding much more than probably wanted. The rest of his stomach and chest, though, was marked with slash wounds, all varied in length and depth, and even some bruising already beginning to purple along his side.

“Shit,” Argo whispered.

Fitzroy was caught somewhere between a smirk and a grimace. “So, what’s the verdict, doc?”

“That you’re an idiot,” Argo said, though he was already tearing off parts of his own tunic for make-shift bandages. “Fucking villain rushing in to de-escalate a situation. That’ll show up in your report card, don’t you think?”

“Good to know that you care, Argo.” Fitzroy hissed as Argo pressed a bandage to the deepest wound, and Argo tried to not think about it too much.

Of course I do, Argo said, except it came out as, “Well, first time for everything.”

His relationship with Fitzroy was complicated, as most things involving Fitzroy were. The two cared for each other more than either would admit, not necessarily out of pride, but out of the rocky road it took to get them there. Working through their rivalry and stubborness had taken time, taken work, but, before long, Argo found himself willing to do what it takes to help Fitzroy, and, well…

Fitzroy threw himself into the bandits after one barely missed Argo with a throwing knife.

It was a devotion that the school almost expected of them: kicks and henches throwing themselves forward in defense, heroes and villains throwing them into the midst of it all for some big showdown. And, in practice, it was fun. The three of them laughed when Bud used his imposing form to simply block the two of them when Rattles rushed them with a dulled rapier. Argo found joy in sneaking around corners to catch Rainer and Fitzroy off guard in practice scrimmages, only for them both to laugh as Fitzroy charged him and missed at the last moment.

Practice was always fun.

It was when it was real, when there were no do-overs, that Argo realized it wasn’t always such. Maybe Fitzroy did, too. Maybe they realized, too, that the two of them—three of them—were stronger fighting together instead of letting one take the brunt of the damage.

Hell, Argo didn’t want Fitzroy to get hurt while rushing in for some final showdown.

Maybe Fitzroy didn’t want Argo sacrificing himself to take the damage, either.

As Argo’s hands finished tying a secure knot in the make-shift bandage, Fitzroy watched his movements. Even though blood still seeped through, he hoped that it was enough to slow it. All he could do was hope.

“It’s a knight thing,” Fitzroy said, tired, and Argo eyed him, confused. "Rushing into battle. I’m trained to protect people, so... that’s what I did.”

“That’s some pretty sidekick thinking for a villain.”

Fitzroy laughed slightly before quickly, painfully, catching himself. “Well, maybe those stupid human shield games stuck.”

Argo, barely managing a smile, shook his head. “You… you didn’t have to do that. You’re hurt now and… you’re gonna be fine, we’ll find the others, but… you’re hurt.”

“I know,” Fitzroy said. “But…” He released a breath and let his head fall back again. “I just couldn’t hold myself back. They attacked first, attacked you first, and I just…”

Argo wanted to say that he could handle himself, but he knew that wasn’t the point Fitzroy was making.

“Well, thanks,” Argo said. “But next time you’re about to go rushing in, at least give us a warning? A codeword, perhaps?”

“Come up with a cool pirate one and we’ll be golden.”

Argo nodded and, worrying his bottom lip, studied Fitzroy quickly. He was still looking a little pale, and his eyes were scrunched up tight, but his breathing was decently okay, and-

“I can feel you staring,” Fitzroy murmured. “My half-elf senses are tingling.”

“That makes no sense,” Argo mumbled, but didn’t deny it.

Fitzroy cracked an eye open. “Thank you, though, Argo,” he said. “For… helping me.”

Complicated or not, whatever their relationship was, first and foremost, Fitzroy was one of his two closest friends at Wiggenstaff’s, and the last thing he wanted was for his friends to be hurt.

Argo flashed a smirk. “Is that a proper honoring from Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt?”

“Think of it as me, Fitzroy, your roommate, your-” Their eyes, for just a second, caught each other “-friend, appreciating what you’ve done for me.”

Seeing Fitzroy pained like this, vulnerable like this, made Argo realize that he wanted two things: something more, and to never see Fitzroy hurt again.

Argo felt his face heat up, and was almost thankful of the darkness for hiding his flushed face before remembering that Fitzroy had darkvision.

“Well, of course, Fitzroy,” Argo said. “I would never leave you.” He swallowed, his eyes quickly darting around the alley. “Not to bleed out, that is. Or be stabbed by a bunch of sneaky bandits.”

Fitzroy cracked a smile and opened his mouth to say something before he was interrupted by a voice calling out, “Argo! Fitzroy!” which was followed by another saying, quieter, “Where the fuck could they have gone?”

Argo, nearly unable to measure how relieved he was, called back to Buck and Rolandus, “We’re over here!”

“Oh thank god,” Fitzroy breathed out and, at the thought of being able to return to the school, he seemed to sag further against the wall, almost as if he had been trying to hold himself together up until this point.

“You’re hurting, aren’t you?” Argo asked, quietly.

“Terribly so,” Fitzroy whispered. Footsteps, not too far away, could be heard hitting the pavement.

“We should probably get you up, though,” Argo said, feeling ready to hoist Fitzroy over his shoulder and walk back to campus if it was needed. “We… we have to get moving.”

Fitzroy sighed but, upon Argo standing, accepted his outstretched hand, and let himself be helped.

#taz graduation #sir fitzroy maplecourt #argo keene #fargo #fitzroy/argo #sorry to anyone looking into the fargo show tag i just... dont know if / show up in tagging systems omg #answered #stuff i write

[bangtan-insfired]

Whalien 52 | Taehyung (2)

genre: fluff & light angst

summary: Of all the fish in the sea, Taehyung was so glad you swam to him.

pairing:  mermaid!reader x Taehyung

A/N: i’m so sorry for it taking so long to update this. this part may be familiar (since I did delete it a couple weeks ago to edit.) I've added an extra scene so it’s not 100% the same as it was before.

read part one here

You returned to the rock the next day and the day after and the day after that…until it became a bad habit of yours. You couldn’t help yourself. You didn’t care how much you were risking every night as long as it filled that void in your heart, even if only for a short amount of time.

You were relieved, a smile spreading on your face as the human boy always returned to the rock, blessing your ears with his beautiful voice. Some nights, he’d change the song he’d sing. Some nights, he wouldn’t sing at all and stare at the sea instead, which made you wonder what it was that would make him so sad.

But tonight, he seemed different.

He stumbled over his own feet and almost fell into the rocky sea below him. A glass bottle was in his grasp and your nose scrunched as he reeked of whatever it was that glass bottle contained. It was a strong scent and anything but pleasant. You also noticed eyes were glossy and glazed over.

The smile left your face and you watched wide-eyed as something leaked out of his eyes. Is that…water? You thought. You’ve never seen such a thing. Was he okay? Was this his way of bleeding out? All that registered in your mind was that he is in some sort of pain.

“In the middle of this ocean, one lonely whale cries…”

Something was wrong. Something had always been wrong, you sensed. He was leaking out of his eyes and you wish there was something you could do to take his sorrow away. Were humans always this sad and lonely?

“An endless signal will reach someday…an endless signal…” The human boy trailed off, his voice wavering. He slapped his hand to his face, eyebrows knitting together. “Gah, what’s the next part? An endless signal will reach someday…”

“Everywhere, even to the other side of the Earth.”

You surprised yourself with your own voice. You hadn’t heard it in years as you communicated with your fellow sea creatures telepathically, leaving you with no reason to speak out loud.

The shock of hearing your own voice didn’t last long as the shock of revealing your presence to a human was stronger and much more severe. You were too blinded by trying to help the human boy to think rationally. Your hands flew to your mouth as if that would repair the damage you’ve just done. But it was already too late.

His mouth shut and head turned, searching for the voice he had heard.

You held your breath in fear that he could hear you. Holy carp…

He moved forward, crouching over the rock and you dipped your head lower as you saw him lean over. You didn’t dare to look up. You knew if you did, you worried he’d be able to spot you. Glancing down at your tail, you willed it to change to a darker color so that it blended with the dark waters around you and closed your eyes, praying to Poseidon he wouldn’t see you.

You remained that way for seconds but those seconds felt like an eternity to you as you waited…and waited…and waited.

A splash had all your senses on alert and your eyes snapped opened just in time to see the human boy falling into the water right in front of you. Judging by the awkward angle he fell in, he must’ve slipped, his body missing your own only by a few inches. A million thoughts cursed through your mind but among them, there was a prominent one: Did he know how to swim?

You waited a few seconds but when he had not come up, you wasted no more time in diving in straight after him. Him seeing you was now the least of your worries and him falling in was your fault. As you swam toward him, you saw that he was desperately trying to reach the surface.

You urged your tail to push you further as you approached him from behind. You hooked your arms under his shoulders and made sure your grip was stable before pulling him up to the surface along with you. His body relaxed in your arms and fear began to ensue. How long could humans endure under water?

You didn’t trust the human boy enough to place him onto the rock anymore so you dragged him all the way onto shore. His eyes were closed and you poked at his chest, wondering if he was alive for a second. Relief washed over you as you felt him twitch beneath you.

You didn’t know what came over you. It was instinct the way you pressed both hands against his chest and pushed until you finally got a better reaction from him. “Please, don’t be dead.” You whispered in a desperate manner. “Please, don’t be dead.”

With one more push, his eyes flew open and he sat up, leaning over to the side as he gasped for air, his drenched hair hiding you from his face. You lifted your hand to rest it on his shoulder but let it drop back to your side instead. Should I leave? You asked yourself and although the voice in the back of your head screamed “yes,” you found yourself rooted to your spot.

And before you knew it, the boy in front of you stopped wheezing and lifted his head, turning his gaze in your direction. He blinked...once...twice. He even shook his head, his brain denying what his eyes were seeing.

“Hello.” You greeted with a nervous smile, ignoring the warning bells ringing in your head. While there was no one to enforce it on you, you knew you were breaking the laws of merkind. You’ve been breaking them since you came across this human boy.

Hearing your voice, confirmed that you were real and not a figment of his imagination. His eyes widened by a fraction. “You have…you have a…tail?” He breathed in bewilderment.

“Yes.” You replied, looking down at your tail as well. It glimmered under the moonlight in hues of purple and blue. You waved it at the human boy in a playful manner. Maybe, this is okay, you thought. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Somebody pinch me.”

You were confused by his strange request but did it anyway and you jumped startled by his immediate reaction and glare. “Ow!”

Your lips sunk down into a pout, shrinking under his cold gaze as he rubbed his sensitive arm. “But…but you said…”

The human boy’s eyes softened at the naive look on your face. He had indeed asked for it, therefore he couldn’t really blame you for it. Then, the reality of this situation finally sunk in…

You were a mermaid. A mermaid who saved him. A mermaid who saved him and is now staring at him with strange curiosity. This had to be some sort of hallucination, if not a dream.

“You’re a mermaid.”

“Yes.” You replied with a frown. Why is he looking at me like that? Your tail fell flat against the sand and out of his line of view.

The human boy ran his hand through his dripping hair. He kept his hand on his head, palm pressed against his forehead and fingers threaded in his hair as he looked away.  “How?”

“Well,” You began, your voice uncertain and body tensed up. “It’s not like I had a choice...I was born like this just as you were born as...you.”

“No,” the boy shook his head, his gaze landing back on you. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just….I thought you were a myth but clearly you’re not! You’re sitting right in front of me. A part of me still wants to believe I’m dreaming or hallucinating, even though you pinched me and that felt very real. I did drink tonight but I’ve drank much more before and--oh gosh, I’m rambling and you look very confused. I’m sorry.”

“You seem troubled.”

“Troubled?” The human boy slapped his hands to his face.  He sat up straight and brought his knees to his chest, fixing his gaze on the slight changing patterns of the tides. The water was cold as it met his shoes, easily seeping into them but he paid no mind to that. “I guess you can say that.”

“Hmm,” you hummed thoughtfully, allowing your body to relax and turning your head so you could admire the sea as well. The warning bells in your head faded out into a dull murmur and allowed for your curiosity to fully take over. “I thought all humans should be happy but you’re not.”

The corner of his lips tilted up into a half smile at your childlike innocence. “Humans can be sad, too.”

Not liking the silence that came after, the human boy decided to change the topic and extended his hand out to you. “I just realized I haven’t properly introduced myself.”

You stared at his hand, eyebrows knitting in confusion. What am I supposed to do with it? As if he read your mind, he edged his hand toward yours ever so slightly. He was careful to watch your reaction, not wanting to scare you away so he did it slowly until you felt his fingertips brush your hand. You lifted your gaze to meet his questioningly and when he gave you a slight nod, you unfurled your fingers and watched as his hand gently closed around your own. His hand was warm compared to your own and comforting.

“Humans like to shake hands when we meet each other while we say our names...so nice to meet you. My name is Taehyung.”

“My name is [Y/N.]” You replied, letting your hand fall back to your lap. I like the way humans greet each other, you thought, feeling your interest in humans grow more and more by the minute.

“What’s it like being human?”

Out of the blue, just like your question, the waves picked up and crashed furiously against the rocks, spraying both of you with sea mist before retreating back to the calm rhythm it had before. It appeared to you that the sea was not fond of your question and doubt began to settle in. What if I’m going too far?

Taehyung’s sigh pulled you out of your concern. “It’s complicated.”

He struggled for a moment, trying to figure out where and how to begin but once he did, there was no stopping him. He began with the basics of humanity, on how they all needed food and water to survive like other species but unlike most species who ate for survival, they also ate for fun. He called the latter a luxury for humans. He explained why humans couldn’t stay underwater for long yet some trained for it. Humans weren’t so different from you, you noticed. Besides, the whole living on land and having two legs, of course.

He briefly mentioned the many objects they use. You were familiar with some due to your exploring of shipwrecks but you were shocked to find out their actual names. Who would’ve thought that a piece of silver utensil was called a fork and not a dinglehopper? Not to mention the fact that they were used for eating rather than brushing your hair, as you had previously thought…

There was so much more to the human world than you thought and you didn’t hesitate to ask further questions, especially when he touched on the subject of his family and friends. The stories he’d tell you about his bonding experiences with his family made your heart yearn for a taste and the adventures with his friends both fascinated you and brought you to laughter. You found yourself craving for more.

It’d be nice to be human for a day or two--to be able to walk on two feet and see everything with my own eyes. You sighed with longing, raising your tail and lightly splashing it against the shallow waters the tides provided.

“It’s not as great as it seems.” You hadn’t realized you were thinking out loud and noting the slight downwards curve of your lips, Taehyung added: “But if you really want to experience it, I can show you around. The human world is too dangerous of a place to be on your own.”

This is crazy, Taehyung thought. Here he was, telling you, a mermaid, about the human world. His world. And now, he was offering to show you around. He didn’t know why he did it, why he made the offer. Maybe, it was the look in your eyes. They were so hopeful and innocent, enamored with the idea of being a part of the human world. It made him hesitant to tell you just how cruel humans can be. He knew the light in your eyes would dull at the prospect of the human world not being as you’re imagining it so he decided to protect you from it the best he could.

Or maybe it was the same reason why he didn’t run away at the sight of you. There was just something about your presence that was comforting to him and judging by the way you remained by his side, he liked to think you felt it,too.

“The ocean is a dangerous place, too.” You replied solemnly. “But at least you have others. Your family. Your friends. You’re not alone.”

“But I still feel lonely.” Taehyung confessed.

You tilted your head, eyebrows knitting together. “What do you mean?”

“Loneliness isn’t always about being physically alone. Sometimes, you see everyone around you laughing and being happy and even though you don’t feel the same way, you pretend to.For their sake. You’re too scared to reach out because you don’t want to burden them so then you’re left alone with your own thoughts and feelings…”

“Because even if I cry, no one would know.” You said softly. “I’m a whalien.”

There was a quiet pause...and then recognition flashed in Taehyung’s eyes as he remembered what had happened right before he ungraciously fell into the ocean. “How do you know that song?”

“You sing it almost every night.” You answered simply without thinking of the consequences. Taehyung turned his head to you and the blood rushed to your cheeks.

“Have you been stalking me?”

“I wouldn’t call it stalking!” You exclaimed in defense, startling him. “I just--it’s just that this huge storm came out of nowhere and I didn’t have time to seek shelter so I got carried away and now I don’t know where I am and the fish here are so mean and the sharks just keep to themselves so when I heard you singing one night, I thought you were a merman but turns out you’re a human, which should’ve been a signal to run away--”

“Wow,” Taehyung breathed, a bit overwhelmed with trying to keep up with your rambling and although every thing that came out of your mouth was shocking yet adorable in its own strange way, there was one that was more prominent than the others. “Is my singing that good?”

You nodded. “You do have a beautiful voice.”

“Never thought I’d live to see the day where a mermaid compliments my voice…,” Taehyung muttered. The crazed look in his eyes made your stomach feel uneasy and heart race. “Are you sure this is not a dream?”

You were always the trusting type but the fact that he had a habit of bringing up what you are…what if he wasn’t as different as you thought? The last time a friend of yours was too trusting of a human was the last time you ever saw her…

Negative thoughts and images of you dead on display to humans who poked and probed your body began to consume your mind. You didn’t want to end up like your old friend. All you knew of the human in front of you was how sweet he sounded when singing. That wasn’t enough to ease your worries. You had to fix this situation and you had to fix it fast.

“It will be. I’m sorry.” You spoke hurriedly, barely even giving him a chance to process your words as you violently crashed your lips to his.

Images of you and your tail flooded your mind and you soaked them all in, draining any and all memories of you from his mind. When you pulled away, you watched as his eyes closed and he fell back onto the sand.

“A mermaid’s kiss can make a man go amiss.” You sighed as you brushed his hair away from his face--the exact way you had been yearning to earlier.

**

“TAEHYUNG! KIM TAEHYUNG! YAH, I’VE BEEN WORRIED SICK!”

Taehyung slowly came to his senses as he felt a harsh slap to his cheek. The ground beneath him was soft and he felt the tides kiss his legs. With a groan, he pried his eyes open to confirm that he was on shore. An angry Soomi came into his line of vision and before he could even process it, another harsh slap came to his cheek.

“YAH!”

“Damn, that one hurt me, too.”

“Soomi, I think your oppa needs one more.”

In an instant, Taehyung sat himself up, his hands flying to his cheeks in a protective manner as he scowled at his little sister who was still set on glaring at him. He then turned his attention to the other two voices and confusion settled in as he recognized them. It was two of his close friends: Jimin and Jungkook. They both held flashlights in their hands and taking advantage of the situation, they pointed them directly at Taehyung.

“Gah!”

“Just how much have you had to drink tonight, hyung?” Jungkook asked as he took in his friend’s red eyes. He tried to act stern and mad because Taehyung had him worrying so much but now that he know he was okay, he was finding it hard not to laugh at Taehyung’s state. He’s so lucky we found him and not his mother, Jungkook thought.

Jimin, on the other hand, didn’t find the situation as amusing. Not when he caught a whiff of his friend. He sighed as he outstretched his hand toward him. Taehyung took it and stumbled over his own feet but Jimin was there to steady him.

“What did I say about getting wasted without me?”

“What are you two doing here?” Taehyung asked, ignoring the question asked. He didn’t find the need to answer it as him drinking by himself was an action that was too late to take back. Besides, the hour drive to the city where Jimin and Jungkook lived was always a hassle.

“They came because I called them.” Soomi answered. Her hands were at her hips and she looked pretty proud of herself.

Taehyung resisted the urge to groan. She resembled their mother so much and he knew, he was in for a scolding once he got home. If Jimin and Jungkook were called to go out and search for him, then that meant his parents were aware of his disappearance. Or else Soomi wouldn’t have been able to call them.

“We’re just glad you’re okay.” Jimin said, mouthing at Soomi to ‘tone it down.’

“I just texted your mom that we found you. We should head back.” Jungkook suggested. “It looks like the sun is about to rise.”

“Why do you even have my mom’s number?”

“I don’t even have her number.” Jimin grumbled under his breath with a pout.

“She must like me so much because she’s the one who gave me her number.”

“Jungkook-oppa, my mother is happily married! Don’t you dare!”

Jungkook and Jimin laughed as an annoyed Soomi stomped her way to the front of them with her arms crossed. Taehyung’s head was pounding and all this yelling from his little sister was only making it worse. He could only muster a small smile as he watched his two friends follow after her.

He couldn’t bring himself to move. Goosebumps were forming on his arms and the wind grew colder. Something in him was telling him to look back. So he did.

The sky was a beautiful arrangement of blues, oranges, and yellows as it slowly welcomed the rising sun. Waves crashed lightly against the surrounding rocks. If it wasn’t for his terrible hangover, he would’ve found the sight peaceful. He stayed there for a moment longer, his eyes searching for something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

His head was pounding but something was telling Taehyung that it wasn’t all due to the alcohol he had consumed. Something was missing.

“Tae!” Jimin called out.

Taehyung snapped out of his trance. His head ached over the thoughts swimming in his mind. He felt as if a part of him was lost to the vast sea. But as he spared one last glance to the sea, he saw that everything was in its place.

Maybe, I’m just going crazy.

Despite his uneasiness, Taehyung didn’t return to that rock the next night or the night after that. Not even to feed his curiosity when certain dreams started plaguing his nights. They were often pitch black and he’d hear this female voice, singing the song he’d sing. Sometimes, he’d dream that he was back on shore and this shadow came over him. He knew it was someone but every time he was about to open his eyes in his dream, he woke up.

And the feeling that something was missing never went away.

#bts imagines #bts texts #bts aus #bts mermaid au #taehyung imagines #taehyung texts #taehyung mermaid au #whalien52au

[ofwolvesandbutterflies]

So...shall we dance?

ASTRO’s Rocky x Reader ft. JinJin and Moonbin

Genre: fluff

dance!AU

A/N: Hey so park minhyuk is SO F_CKIN TALENTED AND PRETTY AND JUST WOAH. SO IS THE REST OF ASTRO so like I felt the need to write about this talented af pretty boi who also happens to be one of mah astro biases. also i’m so sorry for the unoriginal title... this ish is hardd.... but please enjoy. feel free to leave feedback (because i haven’t ever taught a dance class) and requests are open! 

My feet moved quickly, catching on the wooden floor every so often, creating even more scuff marks. I flung my arms open wide, body moving naturally through the steps ingrained in my memory. Perspiration dotted my forehead and adhered the hair in my ponytail to my skin. I glanced at the students behind me in the mirror, a minuscule smile winding its way to my lips. They too, had improved so much since the first time I met them.

Finally the music stopped, signalling the habitual collapse and chorus of groaning from all the younger kids. Jinwoo turned to face them, running a hand through his sea green hair. I crouched down, rolling my shoulders and gazed at each of my students proudly.

“Alright guys! Rehearsal is over for today, make sure you stretch, make sure you drink water, make sure you practice at home and if anyone has any questions or needs any extra help, don’t be afraid to ask me or Ms. __,” Jinwoo clapped, rising back up into a standing position. “I’ll see you all tomorrow!”

One by one, the students began to rise, gathering into their friend groups and walking towards the lobby to find their parents until no one was left.

“Nice job, __,” the male called, wiping his face with a sweat towel. I nodded my thanks and paused in thought while he began to stretch. Should I ask him about it...

“So Jinjin…” I started, stretching my hands above my head. He turned to look at me, an expectant look on his attractive face. Should I…? No, not yet. “Nevermind.”

I went over the steps for the dance the advanced group was practicing, trying to decide whether or not to ask what was on my mind.

“Hey Jinwoo,” I rushed to catch up with my boss and friend from high school, fingers crossed behind my back. The shorter male turned, eyebrow raised as he waited to me to catch up. We had just finished the last dance rehearsal of the day.

“What’s up, __?”

“I was wondering if - uhm - you had filled that one spot yet…” You know… the one I’ve been asking you about for the past couple weeks. I knew Jinjin knew I was dying to become an actual dance instructor, but I had no idea if he was considering me as a possibility. Though we were friends, he took his job seriously and knowing him for a couple years prior to becoming his employee still gave me no leeway.

“Which spot?” The green haired male paused, pretending to think about which spot I could possibly be referring to. I bounced on my toes impatiently. He knew what spot I was talking about, but still he waited, sending me a cheeky smile. “Oh, riiighht. That spot.”

“Yeah, that spot. Have you filled it ye-”

He held up a finger, silencing me before I could ask him the same question for what must have been the millionth time. Before speaking, he gestured for me to follow him to the staff room.

“Actually, now that you bring it up, I do have someone in mind,” he spoke, opening the door for me. I thanked him giddily and entered the room, acknowledging my fellow dancers with a slight nod before locking eyes with a slender, handsome, unfamiliar brunette leaned against the cubbies. As someone who had been dancing for 10 years of my life, I was used to being around lithe, good looking guys. This time shouldn’t have been any different. However, the burning sensation on my cheeks begged to differ.

Dressed in a black muscle tee and black faux leather skinnies, his outfit did little to hide his lean, taut muscles. His dark eyes gleamed with mirth. His plush lips betrayed the slightest smile at my post-class and only slightly awed state. Everything about him, his powerful presence, his graceful aura, his dazzling features… reminded me I was sweaty, my hair was messed up from dancing, and that my baggy t-shirt and sweatpants weren’t as good looking on me as other things.

Jinjin came up beside me, waving to the guy and interrupting our staring contest.

“__, meet Park Minhyuk.”

Minhyuk moved forward, smiling pleasantly and offered me a hand to shake. I took it without a second thought.

“Hi! Nice to meet you, Minhyuk. Like Jinwoo said, I’m __,” I said, surprised at how easily the sentence came out. It wasn’t everyday that I met a cute guy and was able to introduce myself without somehow messing up my name.

“Nice to meet you,” he spoke, his voice the perfect combination of deep, smooth, and honey-like. “You can call me ‘Rocky’, though. Most people do.”

“We’ll see, Minhyuk,” I shot him a playful smile. “I’m not like most people. Besides, what brings you here anyways?”

His lips parted to say answer my question, slight smile turning into a smirk.

“Alright you two,” Jinjin interjected, placing a hand on the small of my back and guiding me forward ever so slightly. “Chill out. I don’t need my new instructor and my favorite TA hooking up.”

A laugh bubbled out of my mouth before my brain registered what Jinjin said. All at once, my heart stopped and my carefree laughter halted abruptly. Mouth open in shock and what almost felt like betrayal, my eyes narrowed at my employer and I pointed at Rocky incredulously.

“Wait… Wah.. what?!” It couldn’t have… I wasn’t… My dream job… Wait, Rocky?!

By the time I had finished mulling over the fact that I was not going to fill in the position of dance instructor any time soon, both Minhyuk and Jinwoo were peering at me, concerned.

“__, are you oka-?” Rocky was reaching toward me, deep eyes studying mine. Shaking myself out of my disappointed daze, I pushed his hand away, all admiration towards the handsome male gone. I forced a fake smile to my face and grabbed my bag off a nearby shelf.

“Yeah, I’m just peachy. Congratulations, Minhyuk.”

With that, I turned on my heel and did my best not to stomp out of the room.

And so the story goes. The days passed and not one of them ended without some reminder that such a kind, playful, not to mention extremely good-looking guy had stolen my dream job from right under my nose. The only thing that held me back from putting that aside and making an effort to be nicer to him was my damaged pride.

“Hey __,” Minhyuk approached me, signature black muscle tee and skinny jeans displaying his flexible limbs. A friendly smile sat on his lips. It took all of me not to just walk away. Instead, I plastered an annoyed smile on my face and turned towards him.

“Oh, it’s you,” I spoke through clenched teeth, reaching past him to grab a bagel. The smile on his lips began to change into a confused frown.

“What’s that supposed to me-”

“If you’ll kindly excuse me,” I cut him off, pushing past him. “I’m going.”

With my nose high in the air, I sashayed out of the staff room, refusing to acknowledge the obvious hurt I caught flash across my attractive coworker’s face. If I was being completely honest, part of me felt guilty about being an ass. I still remembered the fast pace of my heartbeat the moment I first laid eyes on him and part of my heart still went haywire every time I saw him.

Staring down at my bagel, I contemplated whether staying mad at such a nice, talented guy was worth it. Taking a bite out of it, I continued walking towards one of the practice rooms.

“Yo, __.” I spun around to see Moonbin, another one of my coworkers.

“Hey Bin.” Greeting him, I slowed my pace so we could walk side by side. “What’s up?”

The blond walking beside me stayed quiet for a moment, thinking over his words before speaking. “Are feeling you okay? Like, did you get enough sleep?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” Brow furrowed, I sent him a confused look.

This time, he stopped, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“I dunno, you just seemed kind of… grouchy back there in the break room.”

“Oh that,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “Yeah, don’t mind that.” Glancing down at my watch, I nearly stuffed the rest of the barely eaten bagel in my mouth, waving towards my friend and hurrying towards my destination. I was supposed to be with the Jinwoo and the first group of the day.

“See ya, Bin!”

“__,” Jinjin called from across the empty practice room. There was a few more minutes before the next class and I had just been practicing the choreo from yesterday. “Come here.”

“Yeah?” Leaving my spot by the mirror, I jogged towards my boss.

“I’m not going to be here Friday and Saturday,” he spoke, scrolling through the music library. “I’m heading up to Ilsan to visit some family, so Rocky’s going to be covering for me.”

My eyes widened and I gaped at the green-haired male.

“Are you sure? I mean like, I can run the classes myself-”

Jinwoo chuckled, eyes still trained on the computer screen.

“I know you can, __, but I already briefed him on what each of the groups are doing. And besides, you should at least try to get along with him.”

I groaned inwardly. Great. Two whole days with the obnoxiously pretty dude that stole my dream job.

“Moonbin has more experience here but whatever. Also, do I get anything from this?”

“Well that depends,” Jinjin smiled mysteriously, picking a song and walking towards the middle of the dance floor. “Don’t forget to lock up every night, okay?”

Shaking my head, I cracked a grin and I followed him to the middle of the room. I knew the dance to this song well. Ten seconds later, I had already pushed the matter to the back of my mind. The lyrics to ‘You Need Love’ by Microdot, the moves we had choreographed to this song, and the screech of our shoes on the floor had already filled my thoughts.

Another busy day came to a close as all the younger kids filtered into the lobby. Jinwoo had already gone off to the break room to pack up, telling me to wait with anyone whose parents were running late. By now, all the students but one had left. The little boy stood by the door, fingers intertwined together and rested atop his head. A customary scowl of dejection sat on his pouty lips.

A brief pang of sadness reverberated in my heart. Little Jung-min. I walked over to the eleven year old boy who had been constantly picked up later and later, day after day.

“Hey Jung-min,” I called, sitting down beside him. The boy looked at me, a painfully crestfallen look in his doe eyes. Over the couple of months I’d been working with him, I had learned that neither of his parents were ever able to pick him up and that responsibility always fell on his older sister, who was almost always at least twenty minutes late.

“Hi, Ms. __.”

We sat there in silence for a moment. What could I say? I already knew his sister wouldn’t be here for a while. Finally, after a couple excruciatingly quiet moments I exhaled.

“You know, Jungmin, you’re improving a lot. And I just wanted you to know that I’m so proud of you.”

“You think I’m improving?” The hurt in his eyes began to morph into the tiniest bit of confidence.

“I know you’re improving. In fact,” I stood and offered a hand to him. “I think you’re ready for another song. A harder song. What do you say? You up for it?”

The shy, scowling boy took my hand hesitantly.

“.. Yeah.. I’m up for it.”

When Jung-min’s sister finally showed up with the usual river of apologies flowing out of her mouth, I was half-way done with teaching him the chorus. As Jung-min went to get his bag, his sister, a shorter, thin girl with long, bleached hair and thick-rimmed glasses, bowed repeatedly, adding to the frazzled and stressed ambiance about her.

“I’m so sorry! I know I’m always late, I just get out of work at the same time his class finishes. I hope he wasn’t any trouble!”

“No, it’s fine,” I spoke, trying to reassure the frantic-looking lady. “Your little brother is very talented.”

“Are we talking about the same Jung-min?” She squinted at her brother who had his tongue sticking out at her from across the room.

Laughing, I waved bye to them.

“Wow,” an annoying familiar voice sounded. Immediately, all of me stiffened. I turned to see Minhyuk leaning on the door frame, a soft smile gracing his irritatingly perfect face. “Now, there’s a side of you I’ve never seen.”

“There’s many sides of me you’ve never seen,” I rolled my eyes, scoffing. I closed the door and clicked off the lights, the weight of his penetrating gaze on every move I made. The pace of my heartbeat increased tenfold and a hot blush threatened to overtake my cheeks the closer I got to him.

Slipping past him, all I wanted to do was get to the break room to get my stuff and go home and sleep. Anymore time with him and I might actually start blushing. Unfortunately for me, he sidled up to me, gaze still set on my every movement. The ten feet it took to get from the practice room to the staff room seemed to take hours as we walked in an awkward silence.

“So, __,” Rocky started. “We’re working together tomorrow. Any tips on how I could get on your good side? At least for a couple days?”

“Just… know your boundaries,” I spoke in a clipped tone. “I’d rather work with Bin or by myself, but I trust Jinwoo, and if he tells me to work with you, I will. Don’t push your luck, though.”

Once again, I left him standing in the middle of the hallway, staring dumbfounded at my receding figure. Why was I such an ass when he was clearly trying so hard to prove he was worthy of being on my good side? And more importantly, why was I being such an ass when he was the object of my affection?

Sweat poured through my pores and down my body. Stray pieces of hair that had escaped my pony tail stuck, plastered in sweat, to my forehead. My eyes ran over my dancing figure in the mirror. No… that didn’t look quite right...

I hadn’t originally planned to stay so long, but there was one song stuck in my head and I had been putting together steps to the melody throughout the day. Glancing towards the time, I almost cursed out loud. 10:49 pm. It had been nearly 3 hours since Jinjin, Moonbin, and all the others had left.

Now that the music had stopped, every single one of my muscles screamed out in agony and I collapsed on the floor, breath coming out in short, harsh bursts. The sound of my breathing rang out through the otherwise empty studio and I lay there for a moment, enjoying the far off sound of music.

Suddenly, it hit me. My music had stopped. I was done dancing. Either I was getting delusional from not drinking enough water, or there was still music playing in another room. Straining my ears ever so slightly, I pushed myself into a crouch. Yes.. there it was… The distinctive sound of what sounded like ‘Usher’.

I stood, grabbing my water bottle and shutting off the computer. As soon as the lights went out, I strolled out of the room, silently cursing myself for not checking the other rooms’ sound system.

However, a soon as I neared the entrance of the other room, I stopped short, lips parted in shock. No way.

The last thirty seconds to a remix of Usher’s ‘Moving Mountains’ reached my ears just as my eyes took in the familiar, lean figure of my least favorite human on the planet. Minhyuk’s slim body moved with ease to the music, clearly dictating the melancholy undertone of the pop song. He slid through the motions with such precision. The look of utter concentration in his dark, once playful eyes held me captivated. I stood there, awestruck, for the remainder of the song.

Never had I been so spellbound. Though the song came to an end, Rocky danced on, the determination in his eyes shouting that nothing was going to stop him until it was absolutely flawless.

My eyes traveled down his figure, a blush -long overdue- dusting itself over my cheeks. He was dressed in all black again, the only difference this time being that he was decked in a dark long sleeve pushed up to his elbows instead of a muscle tee. The longer I gazed at him, the more one thing became clear to me. No longer was I pissed at Minhyuk for taking my job… I was more pissed at myself for falling for him.

I didn’t realize he was finally done dancing until he began to turn in my direction. Shaking myself out of my daze with an embarrassed squeak, I rushed to the break room and away from the source of my assumed unrequited affection.

“Listen __, take it easy on the poor dude. He doesn’t need you bullying him,” Jinwoo sighed through the phone speaker. It was around the time his train should have left the station and I was just calling to clarify everything. “He’s never been anything but nice to you so please, for these next two days, cut him some slack.”

“I know…” I spoke slowly, fingers tapping impatiently on the surface of the table as I finished the rest of a bagel. “I’ll try, but no promises. Have you gotten on the train yet?”

“Yes mom. I’m on the train and it just left the station. Good to know you miss me.”

“Don’t be gross,” I snorted, putting the phone on speaker and pulling my hair back into a ponytail. “I’m just making sure you stay alive so I’m not forced to work with him for the rest of my life.”

“Somehow, I don’t think you’re as pissed as you make it out to be,” he chuckled. Scowling at my phone, I stuck out my tongue at his caller ID and ended the call. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I rolled my neck and re-tied the flannel around my waist. Jinjin was right, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing it.

Reaching my arms towards the ceiling in a stretch, my eyes wandered lazily about the room until they came across someone I hadn’t noticed enter the room. He stood in the same position I saw him in yesterday, slim body slumped elegantly against the door frame, blank, almost defeated look on his angelic face, sculpted arms crossed over a white muscle tee. I lowered my arms immediately.

“M-Minhyuk?! How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to be reminded of how much you despise me,” the attractive boy spoke, tossing his towel down by the speakers. A pang of guilt stabbed at my heart. Right… He walked towards me, shoulders slumped ever so slightly.

“Ahh..” All intelligent words escaped my mind and for once in a long time, I found I had no rebuttal. An awkward silence hung between us that not even the hum of music could cut through until finally younger kids began to trickle in.

I leaned my head against the cool mirror, sliding down the wall, staring up at the lights. As my eyes shut themselves, I exhaled slowly. One last group left, then I could go home and wait for sleep to overtake my consciousness. The day was nearly, nearly over.

“Yah, __!” Minhyuk called from where he stood, going slowly through the moves to make sure he remembered them all. Opening my eyes reluctantly, I cocked my head lazily in his direction. “The kids are arriving any minute now, you should get up soon.”

Scoffing, I rolled my eyes and yelled back.

“Did Jinjin tell you to annoy the living daylights out of me or something? I know the kids are coming, it’s not like I teach them every day, 6 days a week..”

He stopped dancing, hands in front of him defensively, opening his mouth to say something when Jung-min suddenly walked in.

“Hi Ms. __. Oh, hi Mr. Rocky. Are you teaching us with Ms. __ today?” the younger boy asked, dropping his bag by the row of cubbies.

With his attention now off of me, Minhyuk smiled. I studied my teaching partner, latently taking in every little detail of his smiling face. The crescent shape of his deep, caffe americano-colored eyes… the gentle incline of his plump lips… his sharp jawline.. the way the lights in the room highlighted his face perfectly… I hated just how good looking he was.

“Yeah. It’s me and Ms. __ today.”

Stupid as it seemed… I couldn’t help but like the way that sounded.

As soon as all of the younger kids filtered into the studio, Minhyuk glanced towards me, double-taking when he realized I was still seated.

“__… You planning on getting up any time soon?”

A groan left my mouth and I reached up as if to ask for help. I didn’t need it, of course… but he didn’t know that. Rolling his eyes, he started towards me. Not a single part of me was expecting his help, so when he bent towards me with both arms outstretched, I brushed it off as nothing. That was, until his smooth, strong hands enveloped mine and tugged me towards him.

Unlike the cheesy, romantic moments in kdramas, time did not slow down enough for my mind to digest what happened. It seemed his touch fried all the circuits in my brain because as soon as his arms retracted to pull me up, I froze. All at once, time sped up.

Explaining how I ended up in Minhyuk’s arms would be virtually impossible because once his grip tightened, I blanked. The only thing going through my mind was a mantra of the same thing, ‘I’m going to fall. Flat. On my face.’ One way or another, the security I felt in his grasp with his dark eyes gazing into mine sent a rush of heat throughout my body.

The angle he was holding me at and the lights behind him only increased how heavenly he looked. It was at that moment when time decided to slow. Tufts of his darker hair fell in front of his dark chocolate colored eyes, complementing the elements of his face just right. My gazed traveled down to his parted lips, accelerated heartbeat roaring in my ears.

In the midst of falling, I was somehow able to reach up and loop my arms around his neck. With that advantage and the subtraction of a few inches, I’d be able to press my lips to his no problem.

And the Lord knows how much I wanted desperately to, yet the weight of all the younger kids’ curious stares woke me from my trance.

“Uhm… Ms. __, are you okay?”

In a mad rush to stand up, I shoved Minhyuk away, a deep crimson staining my cheeks.

“__-” Minhyuk called, reaching towards me. Concern and the smallest hint of hurt swam in his deep, riveting eyes. Refusing to acknowledge the things he did to my heart, I forced a scowl to my face. “Are you oka-”

“I’m fine, don’t touch me,” I hissed. I wrapped my arms around myself protectively. The quietest of sighs exuded from his entrancing lips and he looked away, hurt. Thankfully, the only student that had taken full notice was Jung-min and rehearsal proceeded as usual. This time though, the guilt of pushing him away rang in my head and heart louder than it ever had before.

Once again, Jung-min sat gloomily by the door. Minhyuk had just left to go to the restroom, eyes downcast and looking everywhere but me. My steps sounded on the wood floor heavier than normal as I approached him.

“Hey Jung-min… Would you like to work on that other dan-”

“Why do you hate Mr. Rocky?” Jung-min asked, dark doe eyes searching mine. The inquiry halted me in my approach and I stared at the eleven-year-old incredulously.

“I don’t… I don’t hate him.”

Jung-min rolled his eyes sassily, greatly over accentuating the movement.

“Ha ha. Yeah, right. And I’m the president of the United States.”

I crossed my arms at his change in attitude.

“I don’t!”

“Then stop making him so sad and depressed when it’s so obvious you like him,” Jung-min stated  matter-of-factly, pointing at me accusingly with a small, bony finger. My mouth dropped open… So much for my feelings staying secret.

“Wh-what are you talking about? How can you tell?”

“You look at him a lot and your cheeks got really red when he caught you. Also, you stared into his eyes really deeply and you didn't let go until you remembered we were in the room,” the younger male said, ticking off the reasons on his fingers. “You like Mr. Rocky, don't you?"

I opened my mouth to protest, to deny the obvious truth when the sound of a hydro flask hitting the ground brought the both of our attention to the man himself. The one, the only, Park Minhyuk stood in the doorway, lips parted in sheer shock. Before I could say anything, Jung-min’s sister rushed into the room, usual apology halted the moment she caught sight of my dance partner.

“I’m soo sorry!! I’m late agai- Oh!”

A bright cerise shade painted itself onto her supple cheeks and she began to twirl a section of her hair shyly. Her rushed steps became more sultry as she made her way closer to Minhyuk. I nearly threw up in my mouth. I mean, it’s near impossible to look sexy while wiping the fingerprints off your glasses. Luckily for everyone, Jung-min intervened again.

Grabbing his sister’s hand, an exasperated Jungmin dragged her backwards towards the lobby.

“YAH! Noona, you can’t flirt with my teacher!” She turned towards her brother, mouth open to spit out a retort when Jung-min continued. “He already likes Ms. __!”

As if the awkward silence wasn’t edgy enough before, the awkward silence now was deafening. Part of me melted in relief. Now that the secret was out, I really had no good reason to continue acting stuck-up and bratty. However, the other part of me tensed in anxiety. What would Minhyuk say?

For a while, neither of us said anything. Thoughts wizzed and whirled through my mind hundreds of miles an hour. Eventually, I sighed and wiped my sweaty palms on my black tights.

“Minhyuk…” At the sound of his name, Rocky looked tentatively at me, bottom lip caught in between his teeth. “Was there… any truth at all to what Jung-min said?”

“Unfortunately…” He murmured as eyes began to wander again.

“Unfortunately?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Minhyuk laughed nervously, dark bangs obscuring his view as he studied his worn out vans. “I suppose I’ll start at the beginning.

“You told me the day we met you weren't like most people,” he paused, fingers drumming on his thigh. “And after that day, I realized that no… you weren't.”

Dark eyes narrowing, I opened my mouth to question his words, but he continued.

“Yet being around you when you didn’t realize, watching the way you interacted with your students, admiring the synergy you created between power, elegance, and grace while dancing… I fell for you then and I still feel strongly about you now. You're passionate about what you do, you care about others, you push them to be better, to learn and grow… From what I’ve heard from Jinjin and Moonbin, you are confident in who you are as a person. Being absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous is just a plus."

I knew for certain that his words brought a hot blush to my cheeks and now I was the one whose gaze was trained on the floor in front of me.   

“And I know you told me not to push my luck and I know by saying what I just said, I’ve likely pushed my luck too fair, but…” Rocky spoke, voice now sounding so much more self-assured. Bringing my stare back up towards him, I admired the handsome male in front of me. Every aspect of him from his lips to his deepening blush, his sharp jawline to his lean limbs left my mind reeling.

“__, before I leave here feeling like an idiot, can I at least know what I did to make you hate me so much?"

I let out a sigh. Might as well tell him the truth.

"I never hated... you. And I know I was a jerk, I know I made it seem like I loathed the very fact you existenced… but seeing you for the first time had my heart beating like it never had before. You…” I pursed my lips, trying to come up with a cohesive statement. The heat of his eyes on me made it hard to think. “You just emanated confidence and grace and the playful banter between us for that brief moment… you were like… you were my dream guy.”

Minhyuk raised an eyebrow.

“You said ‘were’. What changed?”

“I just... Jinwoo gave you the job I had been asking him for and I got ridiculously petty-”

“You can say that again,” he snorted, rolling his eyes. I glared at him for a moment before proceeding.

“But no… I never hated you, I was just jealous of the fact you got the position I had been going after for the longest time. Seeing you a couple nights ago, late at night, dancing like there was no tomorrow... it just reinforced the feelings I had for you,” I paused for a breath, hands sporadically motioning all around me to emphasize my point. “And I-I'm sorry for acting like an asshole, I'm just.. I'm really bad at expressing my feelings which is really no excuse... but I-I don't hate you, I actually -uhm- I really like you."

A shy smile slowly spread across his lips and everything about him from his gentle smile to his anxiously shuffling feet was dazzling, really.

“So __,” Minhyuk spoke, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully, the movement accentuating his toned arms. I had no idea if it was the studio lights or just me, but the glimmer in his eyes seems to shine. “I honestly think you dance beautifully and I know you told me not to push my luck but I'm just wondering if maybe… you’d like to dance together?"

As if on cue, the song I had been choreographing a dance to the night I saw him dancing began to play and the smile grew on my own lips. He stared walking towards me, slowly, hesitantly, waiting to see if I’d back away.

"I hope you don't mind, I saw you dancing the other night as well and I figured out an additional person's part..." Minhyuk stopped a foot in front of me, offering me a hand.

A small laugh escaped my lips and I took his outstretched hand. All feelings of hostility towards the dancer before me had fled. The blissful feeling of completion overcame me as I twirled into his body.

“I don't mind at all.”

His arms snaked their way around my waist and his hot breath brushed against my cheek.

“So… Shall we dance?”

Before Rocky arrived the next day, it was almost as if nothing changed. I sat on the stool by the refrigerator and scrolled through my social media while eating my bagel. However, the second Park Minhyuk stepped into the room, an uncontrollable smile broke out on my face. Unfortunately for me, he saw. Dressed in his signature dark muscle tee and joggers, it seemed as if he knew I was going to be subconsciously checking him out.

"Hey __," Rocky said, tossing his bag down by mine. He sidled up to me, shooting me a teasing smile before sneaking an arm around my waist. "You look good today."

"Oh shut up, you weirdo. I'm leaving if you're going to be like that," I scoffed and punched his shoulder playfully, smile still very much present on my lips.

“You wouldn’t,” he purred, bending down to press a quick kiss to my temple.

“Watch me, hun.”

Minhyuk chuckled, resting his chin on my shoulder. The heat of his body flush against my back warmed my cheeks. My girlish giggle resounded in the near empty staff room as he showered me with affection. With his attention solely on me, I nearly forgot that Moonbin was in the room until Rocky left.

“Ehem… Uh, __?”

I turned immediately at the sound of Bin’s awkward cough, dark crimson blush spreading on my cheeks like a wildfire.

“Moonbin! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I forgot you were in the room!”

“So I’ve gathered…” My coworker nodded, an utterly flabbergasted look on his face. “Are you okay? Like, did you get enough sleep?”

Burying my face in my hands, I laughed nervously.

“Yeah… I’m fine and yeah… I got enough sleep.”

“Then what was…” Moonbin motioned from you to the door and back to you. “- All of that?”

“I-uhm… just please don’t mind that,” I pleaded with him. “Also… please don’t tell Jinwoo. He’d never let me hear the end of it.”

I walked into the studio a few minutes early, the awkward ambiance with Moonbin in the staff room too much for me to handle. Entering the room quietly, I savored the last few seconds of watching my handsome partner dance.

The song he had been dancing to a couple nights ago played softly out of the speakers and I leaned against the door frame, gentle smile playing at my lips. Minhyuk saw me out of the corner of his eye through the mirror and a bright smile made its way to his lips as he finished off the choreo.

As soon as he finished, I burst into a round of applause. He grabbed a sweat towel and made his way over to me.

“How’d it look?” Minhyuk smiled nervously as I tapped my chin in thought.

“Hmm… I mean it looked okay…” I shrugged playfully. He scoffed and grabbed my waist, pulling me into a sweaty hug.

“Okay? Oh come on, it was better than okay,” he grumbled. His grip around my waist tightened and he lifted me up effortlessly.

“Yah! Park Minhyuk! Put me down right now!” I squealed, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Not until you agree to go out to dinner with me and be my girlfriend.”

My lips parted in awe at his smooth transition.

“I mean, you could’ve just asked straight out like most regular people do and I would’ve said yes…” I paused to raise an eyebrow at him. “But I mean sure.”

He placed me back on the ground, toned arms still wrapped around me, holding me close.

“Oh but __,” Rocky smiled devilishly. “I’m not like most people.”

Glancing at the clock for the nth time in the last ten minutes, I let out a long breath. One last class and then I could go home and sleep. Minhyuk had run out to get something and I was alone in the room, waiting for people to show up. I pushed myself up off the floor and strolled towards the computer to select a song.

“Hi, Ms. __.” A familiar voice called. I turned to smile at Jung-min.

“Hey, Jung-min. You want to practice that other song really quickly before anyone else shows up?”

He nodded and went to put his bag down. Before I could play the song, a pair of muscular arms snuck around my waist and I heard Jung-min snort before greeting the newcomer.

“Hi, Mr. Rocky.”

“Hey, Jung-min,” Minhyuk laughed and waved to the younger boy.

“First of all, what is it with you and back hugs?” I whined, leaning my head back onto his shoulder. “I like seeing you when I hug you. And second of all… come on, Minhyuk! Jung-min and I were going to practice somethin-”

“Nah, it’s fine, Minhyuk,” Jung-min sang mischievously, shooting me a smug grin that clearly said ‘I told you, didn’t I? “We can practice after rehearsal.”

I rolled my eyes.

All the students, including Jung-min, had left, meaning that I could either lock up the place for the weekend or stay up practicing. And right now, with my head spinning from my lack of sleep recently, I was leaning more towards locking up the place for the weekend.

“Yah! Park Minhyuk!” I yawned, pushing myself up into a sitting position to watch my boyfriend who, at the moment, was still dancing. It took a moment for my call to register in his mind. Even from my view of his back, I could tell that he was completely zoned out, mind, body, and soul engrossed wholly on dancing.

Knowing he wasn’t going to stop until he was done, I rested my head against the wall and took the time to actually study Rocky. His dark eyes smoldered with an intense concentration and every single move he made was met with the utmost scrutiny. His lean limbs moved with absolute precision. He knew this music well and his facial expressions narrated the tone and messages of the different songs. Watching him in his natural habitat was without a doubt mesmerizing.

Finally, the song ended and he turned around, eyebrows raised expectantly.

“What’s up?”

“You almost done?” I inquired, rubbing my eyes. “We need to lock up soon.”

“I was going to go on for a little while longer...” He chuckled, strolling over to where I was seated. “But you look tired, so-”

“You can keep -” a yawn interrupted my slurred words. “- practicing. I’ll wait.”

“You’ll wait or you’ll sleep?” Minhyuk peered at me dubiously. “Because as much as I love and care about you, I really don’t want to carry you home.”

“Here,” I waved his question away and pushed myself up. He surged forward when I stumbled, but I sent him a ‘reassuring’ smile. “I’ll dance with you and we can practice that other song, that way I’ll actually stay awake.”  

“Okay…” He shrugged, clearly skeptical of my words, but started the music anyways. As soon as the sound registered in my mind, I began to dance. Unfortunately for me though, the only thing my exhausted mind had registered was the music, not the steps or the movements my body needed to go through to complete the steps.

“__!” Rocky called out, reaching forward to grab my hand. Within seconds, I had tripped over my feet and was falling backwards rather quickly. Although one of his hands succeeded in grasping mine at the very last second, a loud ’thump’ echoed throughout the studio when I landed on my back, staring glassy-eyed at the handsome male hovering above me.

Time stood still as I took in the image before me. Minhyuk had propped himself up on his hands and knees, slim body hanging between my legs, arms trembling while he struggled to keep from collapsing on me. The blush that had found its way onto my cheeks had also painted itself on his handsome face. His deep, dark chocolate colored eyes traced the outline of my bewildered expression. Though my body felt as if it were on fire because of the mere millimeters between us, his body radiated a warmth I wasn’t entirely against. Without warning, his gaze found mine.

Something in the back of my mind yelled and screamed at me to push him off and get up off this nasty floor… but not a single fiber of me listened. I was frozen. Trapped. Entranced by his enchanting eyes.

“Hey __…” Minhyuk said hoarsely, eyes darting down towards my lips before coming up to meet my eyes, voice coming out lower than a whisper. “Do you… do you know how beautiful you look right now?”

At that moment, every rational thought left my mind and my heart took control. My arms wound around his neck and I pulled myself up to press my lips to his. He responded almost immediately, chapped, warm lips moving against mine enthusiastically. My heart beat climbed erratically the second one of his hands came down to cup my cheek tenderly.

Out of nowhere, one of his arms slid behind my back, picking me up and pulling me into his lap. A sound of appreciation rumbled in his chest when my fingers tangled themselves in his coarse hair. Tilting his head ever so slightly, he leaned closer, deepening the kiss. I didn’t want the moment to end and judging by the low whine that came from his lips the moment I pulled away for air… he didn’t want it to end either.

The music in the background faded into white noise as I gazed fondly at the light pink dusting his cheeks. Bringing one of my hands up to his face, I brushed the bangs out of his eyes and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. He turned, lips hitting my palm in a sweet kiss.

And as I leaned forward to kiss him once more, part of me questioned how I’d ever been able to do anything but love Minhyuk.

“Hey, Jinjin,” I called out to my green-haired boss from my spot next to the fridge. Minhyuk still hadn’t arrived, yet. “How’s your family doing?”

“Hey, __.” Jinwoo smiled, reaching into the fridge to get a water bottle. “My family’s fine. They were definitely excited to see me after all these months. How were the kids? How was it with Rocky?”

From across the room, Moonbin opened his mouth to say something, no doubt about Minhyuk and I, but the death glare I sent him effectively shut him up. Turning back towards my friend, I shrugged.

“It was fine, everything went well.”

Jinjin raised an eye suspiciously at my cheeriness and turned to look at Moonbin.

“Hey Bin… is she hiding something? She’s not usually this happy.”

“Don’t look at me,” the blond male held up his hands, avoiding both Jinwoo’s and my eyes. “I just work here.”

Again, Jinwoo spun around to peer at me, a skeptical smile decorating his face. He pointed towards me, lips parting to say something, only to be stopped by a pair of hands that came around to obscure my vision. A grin played at my lips and Rocky’s voice sounded close to my ear.

“Guess who..”

“Let me guess… my least favorite person in the world?” I laughed, grabbing his hands away from my face. Minhyuk smiled. His hands came to a rest on my hips and his breath tickled the sensitive skin on my neck.

“You mean Jinwoo? Nope, sorry. It’s actually your favorite person in the world.”

“You’re not Jung-min.”

“Oh Ha. Ha. You’re hilarious.”

All the while, Jinjin stared quizzically at the two of us until the puzzle pieces clicked in his mind. Ahh… so our plan worked. A cheeky smile crept onto his face and he silently motioned for Moonbin to follow him out of the room.

“Oh right! Jinjin!” I called, stopping him in his tracks.

“Yeah?”

“Do I… I dunno,” I fiddled with my hands, mulling over my words for a moment. “Do I get anything extra from working the last couple days without you?”

My green haired boss took one look at Rocky and I and smirked.

“You got a boyfriend, didn’t you? Isn’t that enough?”

Astonished, I glanced at Minhyuk who was wearing a similar, just as stunned expression before looking back towards my friend.

“Wait- Park Jinwoo! Did you plan this?”

“Me? Nah,” Jinjin waved his hand as if dismissing the topic and sent me a playful wink. “It was mostly Jung-min’s idea.”

Brows furrowed, I peered at him warily.

“Oh but also,” my boss backtracked until he was staring at both Rocky and I. “No making out in the studio or the break room, okay? It’s just… not good work ethic.”

Burrowing my face in Minhyuk’s chest, I groaned loudly.

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[eventuallyfail]

13 Envelopes

pairing: reader x lin summary: After graduating from UCLA, you would find any way to escape having to go back home. Lucky for you, your Aunt Jasmine Cephas Jones had organized a way for you to have the adventure you’d never gotten to have before. You’re ready to take her up on the offer. warnings: rpf (naturally), mentions of teen pregnancy

tagged: @defenestrate-yourself-please @andschuyler@linslovelylocks @elithepeali @sarahgurl09 @fancy-fighting-name a/n: I actually debated against posting this today. But the thing is that I feel weird about having more than two weeks between updates. And it’ll probably take another one to two weeks to take part eight where it needs to be taken to move the story forward because I’m trying to avoid stall outs in the story. Also they’re getting lengthier as time progresses because of the nature of the fact we’re starting to build to all the plot twists and stuff that I actually knew would happen in part one. I hope you guys like it and I’m sorry that I’m sporadic in updates and have no real activity to speak of in between updates.

(part one) (part two) (part three) (part four) (part five) (part six)

Envelope #7

The train ride back was quiet yet again but this time not because you had nothing to say. You had so much to say and not enough brain power to process everything you wanted to say. You wanted to talk about how your father had cheated but it somehow felt like just because you knew didn’t mean you had the right to breach that subject further. It seemed like you knew something you weren’t supposed to know. Parents were supposed to have the perfect relationship and yet… knowing your father had betrayed your mother’s trust cut too deep. You had this idea of your parents’ relationship. The idea was that it was rocky, but they had stuck together through everything. You thought about it in terms of before you knew and after you knew. You wondered how many arguments had the cheating at the root of it.

You’d learned how arguing worked at a young age. It started with something small, some sort of uttered frustration regarding the dishes, to the electric bill, to forgetting the exit on the highway. And then the other person digged back and eventually the minor reason the fight started blew up until the train ran off its tracks. Until neither could remember what either of them was fighting for and was yelling just to yell. Or maybe… it was screaming to be heard. Maybe your mother had always been screaming because no one could notice how hurt she was. It seemed to make more sense.

The last fight you’d witnessed between your parents, you saw your mother cry and your father stormed out. It was easy to decide you didn’t want to be around them anymore after that. You packed your bags the next day and went off to college without so much as a goodbye. Now that you knew the full story, you felt just a tad bit guilty. Perhaps you should’ve been there for your mother, perhaps you should’ve know. You wondered when it even happened – you couldn’t recall the obvious shift.

Midway through the trip, Jasmine gently reminded you could open envelope seven and you pulled it out your bag. She looked surprised you had it with you. You were surprised at the drawing – it was the perfect capture of you at fifteen in your homecoming dress. You didn’t think she’d cared enough to remember that.

Honey Bun,

I barely remember your mother in any way other than a mom. Anya had you at seventeen and I was barely two when you were born. The huge age difference between us already worked against us as sisters and it didn't help that Anya didn't like my mother. In a way, it was easy to view her as an aunt or something to that effect. It's why I grew up closer to you, honestly. It's easier to view you as more of a sister than my own sister which sucks a lot. It hurts to think that I should relate to her, understand her but I can’t. It’s this massive barrier between us.

What’s really upsetting is that there’s a distance between the two of us now. We grew up as sisters and now… it’s my fault, really. I’m the older one, I’m supposed to be the one who takes care of things. I’m supposed to be the one who’s always there for you and to advise you. It’s on me. And I’m sorry. I suppose that’s what this envelope is… an apology. Accepting responsibility for the wedge between us that exists now. I run away when it gets hard and that’s on me.

I don’t stop to think what my actions can affect other people. I know that I’ve been hard on your father, harder than I should be. I hope by now I’ve told you what happened with your father and your mother. It’s the real root of everything. And I’ll be honest: when my only relationship models have been Anya’s and the ones my dad has had… it’s no wonder that I’ve had difficulty managing any of my relationships. And I know that sounds like an excuse but I promise that it isn’t.

I feel like it’s really hard to come up with tasks for these envelopes so I think this will be another wild card. You’ve probably been in New York City for weeks by now. Do something you loved again – you’d be surprised how different something can feel when it’s in a different context. When you’ve completed that, you may open envelope eight. I hope by now… we’ve started to rebuild our relationship.

All my love, Aunt Jas

There were no answers. Nothing in it seemed to give a way to move forward and only suggested that you look back instead. You felt your heart thud and then you couldn’t feel it in your chest anymore. You were vaguely aware of existing as a person but it was like something disconnected, snipping you away from the reality of the moment. You could blame a lot of things but the truth was… feeling disconnected from the moment was something that happened a lot. Out of body experiences like this were surprising common. It was just getting swept up into thought as some vague idea was forming in the back of your mind. You couldn’t articulate it quite yet, but you just started vaguely drawing something on your thigh. You were pulled out when you heard Jasmine say your name and the bubble broke. You blinked before looking up and realized the stunned look on her face. “Sorry,” you said, the apology instinctive. “Just… got distracted.”

A pause before she said softly, “I didn’t know you knew how to draw.”

“I didn’t know you knew how to draw either,” you said as you awkwardly put your pen away, a flush on your face. “Suppose we’re both artists, then.”

It was such an awkward pause. There were a lot of unspoken things in the air. You supposed the more that you thought about it, the more you could’ve reached out. You could’ve tried to stay in touch with Jasmine. But you hadn’t. Neither of you made the effort. You could understand the effort behind this whole trip. And you found yourself grateful for the slow pace you were moving at. Once it was over, you couldn’t go back to this moment. Savoring the moment seemed like the obvious thing to do but it was rather hard to do. The more you try to hold onto to a moment, the more it vanished like sand between your fingertips.

You couldn’t figure out how you ended up back at the apartment you were sharing with Pippa. It was empty, as it had been for the past few weeks around this time. You’d gotten used to the emptiness the way one got used to an unpleasant smell. You’d never really been alone before. In Los Angeles, you shared your apartment with two other roommates and usually at least one of them was home. You supposed at least it was better than coming home to your parents screaming at each other and threatening to leave… or damage property, at the very least. When comparing the alone time to that, it wasn’t so bad. You supposed it was all about context.

The bed beckoned and you ended up changing into pajamas, wiping your makeup off and pulling your thick curls back into a high ponytail to keep the hair off your neck. It was still warm but you noticed Pippa had set up a fan in your room in your absence. It was a sweet gesture and you overthought what it meant – just something that your mind tended to do. You got lost in a first draft, words spilling out easier than they ever had.

You barely noticed the hours flying by as you wrote, captive in your own world. It became easier to float away. The city enveloped you like magic, holding you captive and creating an entire world around you. When the front door slammed, you jumped half a foot into the air and glanced at the clock. It was midnight. Suddenly the exhaustion set in and you set aside the laptop as you stretched out on the bed. If you didn’t go greet Pippa, you wouldn’t see her again until Monday. “Pip,” you said, a bright grin on your face. “It’s so good to see you again.”

She was clearly just as bleary eyed as you but grinned at you regardless, pulling you into a tight hug. Her earthy scent filled your senses. “It’s getting insane at previews,” she said. “Almost every seat is filled. It’s getting nerve wracking. I don’t know how I’m going to do when I know you’re in the audience at the premiere.”

You flushed. “I’m sure you’re going to be amazing,” you said with a grin. “I can’t imagine you being anything other than amazing. Plus we get to go home together after the show.”

Pippa smirked. “You may have to let me get to second base,” she teased. “After all, I could end up going home with a hot date instead of you.”

“Please,” you said with a bright grin as you pulled away. “We both know I’m going to be the hottest date to have at the premiere. You might have to fight for my hand.”

“In that case, I might have to fight Lin for the right to take you home,” she said with a grin, bumping against you as she headed off to the kitchen. “How far have you two even gotten, anyway? There’s a pool going on. I’ve got ten bucks on second base.”

You made a face. “Sorry, you’re betting on my love life?”

“Sure,” she says with a bright grin as she gets herself some of the cashews from the cabinet and a sparkling water out of the fridge. “Why? Don’t tell me I’m losing ten bucks.”

“Erm, kinda,” you said, your cheeks feeling like they were on fire. “I mean, I sorta… listen, when your mom was a teen mom… and just… okay?”

Pippa’s jaw dropped and she looked oddly delighted. “You’re a virgin!”

“I did not say that,” you said, your eyes wide. “But yeah, kinda. I just… didn’t want to end up making a mistake. Like, I grew up watching my parents argue and fight over money and they didn’t exactly have a stable life. I just… didn’t want that to me. And the easiest way was… well, to not… do anything that could lead to having a kid.”

“No, it’s okay,” she said with a grin. “You just… should tell Lin. Cause I mean… it’s better that he knows that you wanna wait before things get hot and heavy, you know what I mean?”

“What if he dumps me? I mean… other guys…”

“Lin’s not other guys,” Pippa said with a roll of her eyes as she takes a swig of her water. “He’ll be cool about it. And if it he isn’t… Jas and I will beat his ass. But don’t worry. Lin won’t dump you just cause you don’t want to fuck like… right off the bat. And he’s a massive romantic anyway. Dumping you cause you wanna wait is like… so unromantic.”

Before you could even comment on the last part, Pippa walked off and left you with a mix of confusing thoughts.

The next day, you decided that the best way to deal with this was to talk with Jasmine. It was the last thing you wanted to do, but you felt that Jasmine would give the best advice on this. You had texted Jasmine that you wanted to talk to her about what to do and she gave you the address of some café near the Richard Rogers. You were kind of were surprised by how busy it was and how difficult it was to find Jasmine in the tiny café. “Sorry,” she said with a bright grin. “A lot of the people here are trying to track down the cast. Try not to draw attention to us.”

“So… this musical… it’s a bit of a bigger deal than you, Pip, and Lin lead on, huh,” you asked as you noticed that Jasmine remembered how you liked your coffee from years ago. You didn’t take your coffee like that anymore, but you were touched that she remembered. “Can’t believe I now have a famous grandfather anda famous aunt. You better hype my book when I finish writing it.”

Jasmine grinned. “You probably won’t even need us to hype it,” she teases with a bright grin. “I’ve read some of your early essays – you’ve got the talent. So what did you want to meet about?”

It was a strange feeling that you took a moment to bask in – the feeling of knowing Jasmine but also not really knowing her. Knowing that she knew you but didn’t really know you. You wondered how you would describe the feeling. And it also felt nice that she remembered reading your essays before she disappeared from your life. “I just… Look, don’t freak out about this but like… I sort of… need to tell Lin something kind of important. Sort of… sex life related?”

She made a face. “Ew,” she said. “So not the kind of thing I wanna hear my niece talk about.”

You didn’t blame her for that. You didn’t want to discuss this with your aunt either but desperate times and everything. “Er, does it help that the thing I need to tell him is that I’m a virgin?”

“Sort of,” she grumbles as she takes a bite out of the sandwich she’d ordered for herself. “So why are you telling him this? Also… is there any reason you decided to not have sex by now? Like… religious pact with God? Oh, are you like… that thing where you don’t feel sexual attraction? Asexual!”

You felt your cheeks get hot again. “No to either of those things,” you hurried out. “Like… I mean, I’m not exactly straight but… I just didn’t want to get distracted from my studies. And after growing up with mom and dad… you saw how it was. I didn’t want…. a kid growing up feeling like a mistake.”

“Makes sense,” she said with a shrug. “Doesn’t explain why you didn’t just lose your v card to a girl but whatever. More power to you.”

“Jas,” you hissed, nearly tipping over your coffee cup in shock. You didn’t often dwell on this – it was just something that was a fact of your life. Telling people seemed strange – normally it was something that came up on the third date and then you never saw the guy again. “I just… I’d rather not stay on this topic like that. I just… want to know how you think I should tell Lin. Like, I don’t want him to think it’s because I’m a prude or something. Or that I never want to have sex, just that… I don’t want to rush into it.”

She snorts. “Tell him on a fancy date,” she said simply. “Like… opera or something. No one’s allowed to make a scene on a fancy date. It’s like… social convention. That way you can get it out the way and hey, you could do it at the MET. Get the seventh envelope done while you’re at it.”

“What if he dumps me?”

This time she rolled her eyes. “If he dumps you over this, tell me and I’ll personally beat his ass. But I doubt he’s going to dump you. He’s too much of a nice guy.”

You had experience with nice guys before. Nice guys took you on a pity date and decided that it wasn’t worth waiting around for you to be ready to have sex. Still, you decided it would be worth telling him if only so he wasn’t surprised when you decided to stop when things got hot and heavy. So you called him, grinning the whole conversation as you asked him if he’d like to go to the opera with you. He mentioned having a night off and you agreed to see him Tuesday.

By the time Tuesday rolled around, you were regretting agreeing to going out with Lin again at all. You were scared and worried. It seemed like everything that could go wrong had played out in your head. You woke up from dreams where Lin just ditches you for someone else… thinner and blonder. Or someone who was less of a stick in the mud. Or someone more adventurous. Your first thought was that he can’t break up with you if he never sees you again. How the logistics of it would work didn’t make sense, of course, but you were on anxiety brain.

The brochure for something going on later in New York City (you hadn’t paid attention to what it said) ended up in a small shredded pile in your lap as you tried to remember the exact steps that Google Maps had told you to take to get from Pippa’s apartment to the MET. You wondered if it would be so bad if you called Lin and told him oh no, you got lost and couldn’t make it. You nervously ran your hands through your curls, putting your hair up and taking it down repeatedly until you transferred trains.

It didn’t seem like this long of a trip the last time you went but it seemed like it stretched on forever. You picked at the skin of your thumb, wondering how you bring up this subject in the first place. It didn’t seem like a casual enough subject to just randomly blurt out. You sighed deeply when you realized you were already there – how had it felt like ages yet like nothing at all? You were out of time to think of how to delicately approach the subject. Your heart was pounding and you smoothed the skirt out on your dress as you got off at your stop – Lincoln Center. Lin had suggested the two of you meet at that stop and you hadn’t stop to think about how it didn’t offer you the chance to mentally prepare at seeing him.

He was devastatingly handsome. Of course he was – that hadn’t changed. He never stopped looking so handsome and it drove you crazy. “Hi,” was all you managed to breathe out. Nerves were getting to you.

He didn’t seem to mind that at all. He had that typical easy-going grin that you were starting to associate with him. You noted that he seemed to look a little more tired than last time. You imagined he wasn’t getting much sleep and you had an overwhelming urge to tuck him in for a nap. It was irrational. He was a grown adult. If he wanted a nap, he would’ve had a nap. “Hi,” he replied as he took your arm, leading the way. Which was good because if you were honest, you were prone to getting lost in the city. “It’s pretty hot that you took initiative.”

Of course he was teasing. That didn’t stop the heat rising to your cheeks or the forced laughter coming out and you cringed internally at it. You swore up and down it sounded like a horse’s laugh but Lin was clearly charmed. He’d say that it was beautiful. “I mean, my aunt was pretty specific in her letters about what I need to do,” you rambled. “Kind of still owe her a thank you, I mean…”

He cut you off with a kiss and you melted into it. It was easy to melt into his kisses, you were discovering. And you craved them the way one craved sweets. When he pulled away, you were grinning as his hand moved to grasp yours. “That reminds me that I still haven’t thanked her for setting you up on this adventure that led to me getting to meet you.”

“If it helps, I haven’t thanked her yet either,” you said with a grin as he led the way to the MET. “I felt like… I’d thank her when I make it to the end of the adventure. I don’t know where it’s going… but it seems like it’s important.”

“Sometimes it’s more about the journey than where you’re going. Have you considered that maybe it’s just a journey and the outcome doesn’t mean that much?”

You considered that. A journey in which the path you took mattered more than the outcome seemed like a strange idea to process. The path you took from the very start of life seemed to have a very clear outcome. You went to school with the intent of passing, getting every good grade you possibly could to go to college. College was an escape from the fighting at home. You chose English because you fancied yourself a good teacher or even a novelist. You decided it was a good solid degree plan because the degree mattered more than what it was in. “Outcome always means something, though. If you don’t want to end up somewhere, you wouldn’t take a certain path.”

He seemed surprised by this. “You’ve never done anything for the sake of doing something? Never went out just because it seems like it’s a fun thing to do?”

“That was always Jas’s territory,” you said slowly as he squeezes your hand. “I’ve always been the boring one. She was the one who encouraged me to go out, who made the plans and cared more about the journey. I’ve… always thought about where it goes. Getting on a plane because aunt Jas told me to do it is more of… an example of the way our dynamic always worked.”

The thing you’d discovered with Lin is that he was relatively easy going and rarely suggested that the way you and Jas interacted was odd. Even after discovering Jas’s niece was closer to her in age than he expected, he simply rolled with it and never once made it weird. You liked that about him. You also liked how he seemed to be willing to bounce ideas back and forth, not once acting like anything you said might be stupid. And even now as you talked over the philosophical question of if the path matters more than the outcome, he never once belittled you despite disagreeing with you.

And somehow, he managed to get you to see his side of things. It wasn’t that he changed your mind (you still felt the outcome mattered when picking a path to journey on), but rather he helped you see what the point of a journey was. You’d almost forgotten the important part of what you wanted to do on this date until things started to get steamy with Lin. His lips felt so good against yours and then his hand was on your chest, his other firm on your hip and pulling you to him.

You didn’t know how you ended up in the back of the Uber pressed to him and you couldn’t recall what the opera was even about. All you could think about was how easy it would be let him take you home. It was easy to get wrapped up in the feeling of his lips against your neck, the feeling of his facial hair scruffing against your jawline. And then you realized what going home with Lin would entail, you pulled away. “Sorry,” you half yelped. “I just… I kind of… never done this before?”

He paused and you prepared for the break up. “You’re… a virgin?”

It took a minute before you found your voice again. “Yes.” You wished the earth would swallow you up so you could escape the look he was giving you. You wondered what he was thinking. And before you could stop yourself, you found yourself giving a word vomit. “Not because I… don’t want to or anything like that. I mean, I don’t know if I want to I’ve never even tried it before. Just that… it’s a huge deal and I don’t want to end up having kids by accident with the wrong person. Not that I think that you wouldn’t use protection or anything, I mean, I’m on the pill but that’s because I have these awful… you know what, that’s not romantic or anything sexy –”

Before you knew it, he cut you off and cupped you cheek. The minute you looked into his eyes, you knew he wasn’t going to dump you. “So did you want to go home with me still or did you want to continue to wait?”

“I… wait,” you admitted. “I just… I’m not a fast kind of person. Not to say that girls who are fast aren’t… you know what I mean?”

He laughs and nods. “I know what you mean, don’t worry,” he said before kissing your cheek and telling the taxi driver Pippa’s address. “I’ll call you later.”

You were worried that the “I’ll call you” was the start of being ghosted but when the taxi left, your phone lit up. It was Lin texting you good night.

#reader x lin #lin x reader #lin miranda imagine #lin manuel miranda imagine #lmm x reader #13envelopes

[thechocoboos]

Bossy

I’m an angry lil potato today so this was born! Enjoy. Ft. Bossy ass dickwad Ignis and an angry reader

Genre: ??? Slice of life...?

Word Count: 2,047

Pairings: lowkey Ignis/reader if you really squint

Warnings: Swearing. So much swearing.

He was so bossy-always walking around with his back straight and head high, a commanding tone to his rich voice. He told you what to do, when to do it, and sometimes even how to do it, which had always been more insulting to you than he’d realized. Yes, Ignis Scientia was a bossy man, and it absolutely pushed your buttons. You two were meant to be equals - to serve Noctis as his advisers, together. Granted, Ignis had been Noctis’ adviser much longer than you as you had only been hired a year ago, however, that did not mean you were incapable of doing your job.

Part of you reminded yourself that he was a busy man, having to advise the damn prince alongside additional duties, so his commanding nature was necessary for everything to get done. Still, he didn’t have to be such an absolute posh-ass about it. Day after day, you had to live with his dumb requests, his dumb voice, his dumb glasses and it - no, he - was hell.

Ignis wasn’t a bad person by any means, but he definitely had his head stuck up his ass and you were absolutely sick of it. One day, your anger and your frustration caught up to you, leaving room for nothing but negativity to brew in your brain.

His loud, expensive shoes were clicking on down the hall as he listed off instructions for you to follow. “-and you’ll have to stop by to get the Marshal’s list of executive orders as well as follow through on the Shield’s list from last week. I trust you can manage that much in the next hour.”

Your mind halted. Next hour? Tracking down Cor would take a good half hour alone, and trying to get any information from Clarus Amicitia was like pulling teeth (You swore his stubbornness could stop a freight train if he tried). Your annoyance was peaking, and as you turned to rip Ignis a new one, he was already listing your next orders.

“-You’ll have to go speak with the Crownsguard about their atrocious behavior at Mini’s Bar from last night as well as collect their payments for the damages they caused. You would also do well to write down their reports as to what happened-” he paused, his pale green eyes flickering to your face for a moment. “Y/N? Are you listening? This is not the time to be daydreaming-”

You cut him off, voice barely controlled as your blood boiled beneath your skin. “Yeah. Yeah, I fucking heard you.” You said, your own eyes meeting his head on for the first time in your career. “You want me to do all these extra, menial chores, on top of my normal duties rather than have all these fucking responsible-ass adults report to you like they should fucking be able to do for once in their goddamn lives, all while you treat me like an absolute child with your dumbass face and your fucking-” You cut yourself off, face red in anger and voice slowly rising and shaking with repressed emotions.

Ignis’ eyes were surprised, “I beg your pardon-”

You cut him off once again, anger rolling into your voice. “Then fucking beg.” You halted where you stood and faced him with one sharp pencil pointed at his disgustingly well-toned chest. “I was fucking handpicked to be your goddamn equal! An adviser, just like you! Instead, you treat me like a five year old who can’t brush their own fucking teeth!” Your voice had risen to a yell as you jabbed your pencil towards him. “I’m fucking tired of this shit!” You finally finished, throat slightly sore. Glaring at him in his surprised daze, you threw your pencil to the ground and thrust your clipboard into his chest, not waiting for him to catch it as your turned on your heel. “I apologize for my fucking abrupt news, you absolute cactus of a prick, but I’m taking a personal fucking day off.” You snapped, not waiting for his response as you began to stomp down the Citadel hall.

Just to your luck, Prince Noctis was waiting at the end, his own eyebrows risen slightly and his best friend, a hyperactive blond you had seen hopping around, was slack jawed with his blue eyes wide in surprise. Behind them, the Prince’s shield had one perfectly bushy eyebrow raised, his muscled arms crossed as he gave you an appreciative nod.

It wasn’t often you saw Prince Noctis, or his shield, as Ignis never gave you chores that involved them. An embarrassed blush rose to your cheeks; you hadn’t planned on royalty witnessing you bout of anger. You bowed slightly before the Prince, “I apologize for my unprofessional behavior, Your Highness.” Your voice was clipped, a remainder of your anger echoing in its tone. “If you’ll excuse me.” Rather than wait for a response, which Ignis would no doubt reprimand you on (if he didn’t fire you, that is), you brushed passed them with a scowl on your face, a tense anger in your posture, and attitude in your step.

Ignis watched you as you disappeared behind a corner, his green eyes just a millimeter wider than normal and his lips parted in a slight “o”. He was holding the clipboard to his chest, more out of instinct than much else at this point. His eyes shifted as he heard the familiar steps of the other three approaching.

“Well, shit. I never thought they’d have it in ‘em.” Gladio’s rocky voice chuckled.

Ignis cleared his throat, closing his mouth as he adjusted his glasses and shutting his eyes for a millisecond. “That was the most appalling behavior I have ever witnessed from someone of such a high standing.” Ignis stated calmly, swallowing thickly. “There will no doubt be a punishment in order-”

Noctis cut Ignis off, “High standing?” He echoed, voice flat. Ignis glanced at Noctis, surprised at the sarcastic tone to his voice. Noctis continued, “For someone who’s supposedly, ‘High Standing’, you treat them like dirt.”

Ignis felt a twinge of offense. “I disagree-”

“-C’mon, specs.” Noctis crossed his arms. “Like they said, they were handpicked by my dad and about a billion other officials to be my second adviser, but you just give them shit that the lowest of the low could do around here.” If Ignis wasn’t mistaken, there was a note of annoyance in Noctis’ voice. “Hell, I can’t even remember their name half the time ‘cause they never even get to talk to me.”

It was silent for a moment. For the second time that day, Ignis’ eyes were wide and he was speechless.

Prompto piped up, voice a little uncertain as he looked at Noctis and whispered, “... You have a second adviser?”

It was with Prompto’s innocent question that things clicked. Ignis blinked, recalling the same list of chores he had given you that day. Sure enough, each item was a menial task that anyone could have done. In hindsight, Ignis was indeed being an “absolute cactus of a prick” as you had so kindly called him.

“I don’t know what your problem with them is,” Noctis said, catching Ignis’ attention. “But whatever it is, it needs to stop. Let them do their job, dude. I get it if you don’t want a new adviser to mess everything up or whatever it is, but they’re the best of the best. They can handle it.”

Ignis was quiet for a moment. He glanced to Gladio, who gave a grunt of agreement, and to Prompto, who still looked confused. He let out a small sigh, nodding. “I suppose-No, you are right, Your Highness. I do believe I have been rather… unfair to them. I believe an apology is in order.”

Noctis snorted, “Don’t tell that to me.” He replied, rolling his eyes.

Nodding, Ignis went to pull out his phone, only for Gladio to stop him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you think you’re doing?” Gladio asked, raised an eyebrow.

“Calling Y/N, of course-”

“I don’t think so.” Gladio chuckled, remembering that yes, Ignis is a genius, but sometimes he’s an idiot, “They’re taking a personal day off, remember? Let ‘em cool down for a bit.”

Ignis nodded, adjusting his glasses. Of course. They were most likely still angry, afterall, he was rather rude and dismissive of them… Still, as the day progressed, Ignis’ stomach was rolling around in the unfamiliar feeling of guilt. It wasn’t often that he felt guilt, as his decisions were logical and thorough enough to be guilt-free, although in this situation, he knew he was in the wrong.

The following day, you walked into Ignis’ office with a steeled mask over your features despite the clear nervousness in your posture. “Excuse me, sir.” You began, voice wavering slightly. Yes, you strongly disliked him, but that was no excuse for your harsh words. As much as it killed you to do so, you began to apologize. “I… I apologize for my words and actions yesterday.” His eyes glanced up, patiently waiting. You continued, “It was unprofessional an immature of me to behave in such a way-”

Ignis held up a hand, stopping you mid-sentence. “It was.” He stated bluntly, voice as posh as normal. A twinge of frustration bloomed in your gut, only to be stopped short by his next words. “However, you made logical points.” He began, standing up. There was something in his voice, an almost apologetic voice. His next words were strong, his voice sure. “You were handpicked from the finest advisers in the city, by the finest officials we have at the Citadel. You were chosen to stand by Prince Noctis and aid in advising him, just as I was. We were supposed to work together as equals and help him be the best Prince - the best King - that he can be.

“I came between you and your duty.” Ignis admitted, looking at you with guilt in his wonderful eyes. “I treated you as an assistant - even as a maid when we’re meant to be equals and…” He stepped around his desk, standing three feet away from you and looked you in the eye as he spoke, “I can only say I’m sorry.”

It was clear he expected you to say something, but you found yourself speechless. This posh, somewhat arrogant man who treated you like dirt, had apologized to you with nothing but respect. Part of you was still angry at him for wasting your past year as adviser, but another part - a much bigger part - forgave him.

It took you a moment to collect yourself and your words. It seemed with each passing second, Ignis felt more and more dejected about his apology. Finally, you spoke. “Part of me is still a bit annoyed.” You admitted, scratching your arm. “But… I think both of us were assholes, here. I think, as long as you’re willing to let me do my job from now on, that I forgive you, sir. I can only hope that you forgive me for my inappropriate outburst from yesterday.” You found yourself bowing slightly, eyes anchored to the ground.

A hand fell on your shoulder, your head jolting up in surprise. A small smile sat on Ignis’ face, catching you by surprise. “I do believe that bowing to each other will be unnecessary, as will be using terms such as ‘sir’.” He told you, his hand still on your shoulder as you stood up. “From now on, we are equals, Y/N, as we should have been.”

You couldn’t stop your own smile from sliding onto your face or your nervously thumping heart as you heard him say your name with respect.

“Now,” He began, releasing your shoulder and adjusting his glasses, “I do believe I have to fill you in on today’s schedule.” he chuckled, “I’ve left you in the dark for far too long.”

For once, as he spoke, his voice didn’t sound so dumb and his face didn’t look so annoying. In fact, you daresay that he looked handsome. Of course, there was no time to spend admiring him, as you two would be late for an advisement meeting with King Regis and there was plenty of catching up to do on the way.

#ffxv #final fantasy xv #final fantasy #ignis scientia #ffxv ignis #ignis #ft. wise noctis and asshole ignis #i hope you guys enjoy it cause i like this piece surprisingly