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#and likely also did a fashion show there before that I imagine mister hands or Kurt Hanson attended
ciderspunk2077 · 5 months
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Not to be self indulgent… but V(ance) going on a gig where he has to go undercover as a supermodel again
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she-posts-nerdy-stuff · 2 months
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Six of Crows fan-written Script
Thanks to everyone who voted in the poll to see if you guys wanted to keep this going!! 🖤
Hi, so in true me style I still haven't got around to organising these posts into scene breakdowns so this is the next part of episode 1 scene 5, I'm hoping that I can get the end of scene 5 out in the next post and then from that point forwards I'll be able to post it scene by scene. I hope that makes sense.
Same reminder as usual: I'm trying to be as true to the books as possible whilst also matching Show!canon but I've also taken the occasional bit of artistic licence as to how I would imagine producing the show myself, for example inserting my personal headcanon about Anya in the opening scene of episode one. Also, I have never written a script before so the formatting is my own made-up method; if it doesn't make sense please let me know and I'll adapt it :)
Side note: Would it be helpful for me to make a masterlist with links to the parts I've already posted?
Recap since it's been a while - Kaz is with Van Eck at the Hoede house and is holding a knife to the merch's throat when Mika walks through the wall, frightening Kaz because he thinks he's hallucinating from a drug Van Eck has given him
EPISODE ONE SCENE FIVE (PART 2)
KAZ: What the hell is this?
VAN ECK: Let me go and I’ll explain
KAZ: You can explain right where you are
VAN ECK: What you’re seeing are the effects of jurda parem
KAZ: Jurda’s just a stimulant. It’s harmless
VAN ECK: Ordinary jurda, yes. Jurda parem is completely different - and most definitely not harmless
KAZ: So you did drug me?
VAN ECK: Not you, mister Brekker. Mika
[KAZ turns and looks at MIKA. The camera moves slowly up the Tidemaker’s figure; his hands are trembling, the dark circles beneath his eyes are pronounced, and his kefta is slightly ill-fitting as though he has lost a lot of weight since it was last altered]
VAN ECK: Jurda parem is a cousin to ordinary jurda - from the same plant. We aren’t sure of the production process, but a sample was sent to the Merchant Council by a scientist named Bo Yul-Bayurr
KAZ: Shu?
VAN ECK: Yes. He wished to defect, so he sent the sample to prove his claims regarding the drug’s extraordinary effects - Please, mister Brekker, this is a most uncomfortable position. If you’d like, I can give you a pistol and we can sit and discuss this in a more civilised fashion
KAZ: A pistol and my cane
[VAN ECK gestures to one of the stadwatch guards by the door, who leaves briefly and returns with KAZ’s cane]
KAZ: Pistol first. Slowly
[The guard unholsters his own gun and hands it to KAZ by the grip. KAZ grabs the gun and cocks it in one swift movement, then releases VAN ECK and throws the letter opener onto the desk before snatching his cane from the guard’s hand. He is immediately more comfortable. VAN ECK paces backwards and KAZ moves slowly towards the window]
VAN ECK: That cane is quite a piece of hardware, Mr Brekker. Is it Fabrikator made?
KAZ: None of your business. Get talking, Van Eck
VAN ECK: When Bo Yul-Bayur sent us the sample of jurda parem, we tested it on three Grisha - one from each order. 
KAZ: Happy volunteers?
VAN ECK: Indentures. The first two were a Fabrikator and a Healer indentured to Councilman Hoede,
[KAZ frowns; he recalls hearing the name recently but cannot remember why]
and Mika is a Tidemaker. He’s mine. You’ve seen what he can do using the drug.
KAZ: I don’t know what I’ve seen.
[KAZ looks back at MIKA, and the camera follows his gaze. MIKA is focused intently on VAN ECK as though he is unaware of anything else in the room, his expression one of desperation]
VAN ECK: An ordinary Tidemaker can control currents, summon water or moisture from the air, or a nearby source. They manage the tides in our harbours. But under the influence of parem, a Tidemaker can alter their own state from solid, to liquid, to gas and back again and do the same with other objects - even a wall.
[KAZ frowns. He isn’t convinced, but he has no other explanation for what he’s seen]
KAZ: How?
VAN ECK: It’s hard to say. You’re aware of the amplifiers some Grisha wear?
KAZ: I’ve seen them - animal bones, and such. I hear they’re hard to come by.
VAN ECK: Very. But they only increase a Grisha’s power. Jurda parem alters a Grisha’s perception.
KAZ: So?
VAN ECK: Grisha manipulate matter at its most fundamental metals - they call it the Small Science. Under the influence of parem, those manipulations become faster and far more precise. In theory jurda parem is just a stimulant like its ordinary cousin, but it seems to sharpen and hone a Grisha’s senses. Things become possible that simply shouldn’t be. 
KAZ: What does it do to sorry sobs like you and me?
[VAN ECK is marginally offended to be aligned with KAZ]
VAN ECK: It’s lethal. An ordinary mind cannot tolerate parem in even the lowest doses.
KAZ: You said you gave it to three Grisha. What can the others do?
VAN ECK: Here
[He begins to open one of his desk drawers and KAZ raises his pistol slightly]
KAZ: Easy
[VAN ECK opens the drawer with exaggerated slowness and pulls out a lump of gold the size of his palm]
VAC ECK: This started as lead.
KAZ: Like hell it did.
[VAN ECK shrugs]
VAN ECK: I can only tell you what I saw. The Fabrikator took a piece of lead in his hands, and moments later we had this.
KAZ: How do you even know it's real?
VAN ECK: It was the same melting point as gold, the same weight, the same malleability. If it’s not identical to gold in every way the difference has eluded us.
[He holds it out for KAZ to take]
VAN ECK: Have it tested, if you like. 
[KAZ inspects the gold for a moment, then slips it into his pocket. He’s decided that even if it's an imitation, it's convincing enough for him to find it a purpose]
KAZ: You could’ve gotten that anywhere.
VAN ECK: I would bring you Hoede’s Fabrikator here to show you himself, but he isn’t well.
[KAZ glances at MIKA again, and the camera once more notes his sickly pallor and the dark circles beneath his eyes]
KAZ: Let’s say this is all real and not cheap coin trick magic. What does it have to do with me?
VAN ECK: Perhaps you heard of the Shu paying off the entirety of their debt to Kerch with a sudden influx of gold? The assassination of the trade ambassador from Novyi Zem? The theft of documents from a military base in Ravka?
[KAZ nods. He is glad to know the secret of the Zemeni Ambassador’s death and remembers JESPER talking about the three Shu ships filled with gold. Although he has heard nothing of the Ravkan documents, he doesn’t want VAN ECK to know that and so acts as if he is more than aware]
VAN ECK: We believe that all of these occurrences are the work of Grisha under the control of the Shu government and under the influence of jurda parem. Mr Brekker, I want you to think for a moment about what I’m telling you: Men who can walk through walls. No vault or fortress will ever be safe again. People who can make gold from lead - or anything else for that matter - who can alter the very material of the world. Financial markets will be thrown into chaos, the world economy would collapse.
KAZZ: Very exciting. What is it you want from me, Van Eck? To steal a shipment? The formula?
VAN ECK: No. I want you to steal the man.
KAZ: Kidnap Bo Yul-Bayur?
VAN ECK: Save him. A month ago we received a message from Yul-Bayur begging for asylum, he was concerned about his government’s plans for jurda parem, and we agreed to help him defect. We set up a rendez-vous, but there was a skirmish at the drop point.
KAZ: With the Shu?
VAN ECK: With Fjerdans.
[KAZ raises an eyebrow - the Fjerdans must have spies deep in Shu Han or Kerch, or both]
VAN ECK: The diplomatic situation is somewhat delicate, and it is essential that our government not be tied to Yul-Bayur in any way.
KAZ: You have to know he’s probably dead. Fjerdans hate Grisha; there’s no way they’d let knowledge of this drug get out.
VAN ECK: Our sources say he’s very much alive and that he’s awaiting trial.
[VAN ECK clears his throat]
VAN ECK: At the Ice Court.
[KAZ stares at him for a moment, then bursts out laughing]
KAZ: Well, it’s been a pleasure being knocked unconscious and taken caprice by you Van Eck - you can assure your hospitality will be repaid when the time is right. Have one of your lackeys show me to the door.
VAN ECK: We’re prepared to offer you five million kruge.
[KAZ pockets the stadwatch officer’s pistol. He is no longer afraid for his life, but he’s furious to have had his time wasted so tremendously]
KAZ: This may come as a surprise to you, Van Eck, but we canal rats value our lives just as much as you do yours.
VAN ECK: Ten million.
KAZ: There’s no point to a fortune I won’t be alive to spend. Where’s my hat? Did your Tidemaker leave it behind in the alley?
[KAZ begins to walk towards the door and the camera follows behind him]
VAN ECK: Twenty.
[KAZ pauses, and slowly lifts his head - an image mimicking that of season one of Shadow and Bone when he heard the offer of one million kruge. He turns slowly to face VAN ECK]
INEJ voiceover, a reminder of what she told him in Scene Three: Greed is your god, Kaz.
KAZ: Twenty million kruge?
KAz voicover from Scene Three: Greed bows to me. 
[VAN ECK nods, but he doesn’t look happy about having raised the offer so much higher]
KAZ: I’d need to convince a team to walk into a suicide mission - that doesn’t come cheap.
VAN ECK: Twenty million kruge is hardly cheap.
KAZ: The Ice Court has never been breached. 
VAN ECK: That’s why we need you, Mr Brekker. It’s possible Bo Yul-Bayur is already dead, or that he’s given up his secrets to Fjerdans, but we think we have at least a little time to act before jurda parem is put into play. 
KAZ: If the Shu have the formula-
VAN ECK: Yul-Bayur claimed he’d managed to keep the specifics secret - we believe they’re limiting from whatever limited supply he left behind. 
[KAZ has already started thinking about the job, and who he’ll need on his team - and what he’ll be able to do with the money. He pauses, and frowns]
KAZ: Why me? Why the Dregs? There are more experienced crews out there.
[MIKA has a sudden coughing fit, and VAN ECK helps him into a chai and offers him his handkerchief. He snaps his fingers at one of the guards]
VAN ECK: Some water
[The guard exits]
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writernomore · 3 years
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Can you do soulmate au headcannons for feral Bois + Wilbur please?
You are my Other half|| Feral boys + Wilbur
Please do not publish my work/ content to different websites and platforms, I only post my work here on tumblr and wattpad
A/n: I must say these were like the cutest ever QwQ
Gender Neutral! Reader
Dreamwastaken.
Okay for Dream's soulmate headcanons I like to picture that you have a specific sentence/ words written on your wrist that your soulmate would say to you.
Now, I like to think that you've met your soulmate but! You don't know that yet because of the words on your wrist.
Here's how the situation will go, so basically your a streamer (Naturally) and your friends with Dream! (Shocking :0) .
So you've recently been getting undeserved hate because of the way you play a certain game or people just don't seem to like you, sure there are your loyal fans cheering you up and all but there's just sometimes going to be someone who'd take their comments too far and it just gets to you.
So right now your on discord with Dream ( I don't if you guys want it to be the both of you are in face time so I'll leave this part vague so you can imagine which one you prefer.) and you are just venting/talking about your situation with Dream and you come to stop saying that you couldn't handle it anymore and that you didn't know what to do anymore.
Dream has experience to what your encountering, putting yourself out there and becoming a sort of influencer and gaining fame is that there will always be people to bring you down and love to see that they have left and effect on you.
" You don't need to listen to them, clearly, they don't know how amazing you are."
"Thank you Clay, you're really great too, I don't see why people seem to hate you too."
It was silent at first but then you came to a sudden realisation of the familiarity of the words Dream just told you, quickly pulling up your sleeve your eyes widen to the exact words Dream said imprinted on your wrist.
Looking up at your Monitor, you were breathless, there was a sudden change of mood and the both of you were just silent before Dream spoke once again.
"Hello, Soulmate."
Georgenotfound.
Okay, I think this one is cute but I always think Soulmate Au's are cute so here's George's Soulmate Au!
You have a clock timer to when you meet your soulmate and it's just the perfect one for this idea in my head.
So basically, your on your way to meet an online friend of yours, George or going by his online alias Georgenotfound.
You had been streaming for about a while now and you've met such wonderful people, along with George and other nice streamers on the platform.
You were looking out the window of your plane, as you were nearing to the UK, glancing down you notice the timer on your wrist had sped up and that it shows that you might meet your soulmate here in London.
You were ecstatic at the idea of meeting your soulmate at the airport, just like some cheesy RomCom you've watched before.
Going down the stairs of the airplane you go through scanning and you grab your luggage and look for George, taking out your phone you text him asking where he was and he texted back sending where he was standing, pocketing your phone your clock seems to have gone faster and that you might encounter your soulmate soon before you get to meet up with George.
Walking around you glance to see where George is, ocassionally looking at your wrist, but then you spot the man holding up a welcome sign you walk over to him but just as you were about a few feet away you put down your luggage and make a sprint running to him, to attack him in a hug.
10...
9....
8....
7....
6...
5....
4...
3..
2..
1..
You hug George as he carries you and spins you around, the both of you laughing as you look up at him and smile, it was finally that moment you got to meet him.
He sets you down and you look down to your wrist that your timer, you brush your hand over it and George grabs your wrist to look at it, as he examines it you look up at him in surprise, your soulmate was the person you were so desperate to meet.
He looks up at you and smiles even wider as he pulls up his sleeve and showing that the his timer to had gone off, he encases you in a hug and you chuckle wrapping you arms around his shoulder.
Sapnap.
Okay, so this one I like to make this that you and Sap are strangers in this one because, why not? And it would be perfect for the soulmate Au I chose for Sapnap.
Your Soulmate Au with Sapnap is You're deaf until you meet your Soulmate, and the first thing you'll be able to hear is their voice.
So here's how your situation goes, so given that your deaf, you had to learn ASL language to communicate with people(I make it that everyone has different Soulmate Au's, ex: your friend has the red string.) and it's sometimes hard to be able to get your bearings considering your deaf.
And hearing aids don't work as well, there's nothing you can do about it, so you just wait for your soulmate.
So, you're walking down the street after getting groceries, and you try to balance all the bags in your hand but they were to heavy and you were really desperate to not drop the groceries.
So you hug the groceries close to your body but you stiffen at the hand on your shoulder, you turn around to look at the person and they smile at you, raised their hands to sign if you needed help, dumbfounded you try to say something but you couldn't hear what you said but it was clear he did because he had this look of surprise.
And he puts a hand over his ear and looks at you and opens his mouth.
"Can you hear me?" You had the same expression he had but you nodded and then everything seemed to be clear and the both of you can hear sound now.
The two of you just talk to each other about anything you guys come up with relishing the sound of each others voice whilst carrying your groceries.
Karl Jacobs.
Okay, so for Karl's Soulmate thing I picked where your hair would be the same as your soulmates if they dye it and vice versa to your soulmate.
So basically you've had this love for gaming and you practically have been entertaining the idea of streaming, you loved people who play games whilst they streamed, talking to the people in chat and just making people's days.
And you happen to want to do the same, so basically you wanted to be exclusive with your appearance so you usually just turned your face cam off, but when you did people would gush about how nice your hair looked because of the colors you pick out.
Your streaming career had really gone well and you were quiet well known and was doing really well, the people loved you! (excluding the people who bash on you).
You've met really wonderful friends and they're just the nicest and most wonderful people!
And you have this friend named Karl he was really the best, you met him through Quackity and the two of you just really hit it off from the on.
Basically, you and Karl would be streaming later but there was a problem it was when you were with other people or felt the mood you'd turn on your camera but your soulmate decided to dye their hair and now you had the same exact color (awww and you were really growing into the old color too.)
So basically, when you got ready you joined the call with Karl(But you had your camera off) and the two of you were just playing and then you started ranting how your hair changed because your soulmate dyed their hair, Karl just comforted you and then when you were going to look at chat people wanted to see your hair so you went to open your face cam showing your hair, ruffling it a bit.
Unbeknownst to you, Karl happened to have opened your stream on his monitor, You went to talk again with Karl but he was silent for a while, then he smiled and went to talk about how he dyed his hair and he wanted to show the stream, you told him it was nice and was just oblivious to Karl's doing.
People kept on spamming your chat to check Karl's stream and so you did, you pulled up his stream and there he was, with his hair the same color as yours.
You started screaming and just yelled in disbelief letting out little chuckles, you went to cover your face with your hands and chat was ballistic (Both yours and his chat) .
Quackity.
Okay, so for Quackity I chose the one where you write on your skin it would also appear on your soulmate's (and vice versa).
So for this you use this as a form of communication since you don't know each other, it doesn't get personal but just little details about each other.
I have a feeling Quackity would draw penises as a form of prank and you'd have wash it off quickly because you know, it's embarassing but alas, you can't erase it.
It only happens to disappear after time or when your soulmate erases it.
So basically as payback to the little penises he draws you draw these shapes on your face, there are hearts, stars, and little doodles along with the words Kiss me!
It was all fun and games between you guys, and you wanted to share your little 'prank' on instagram, taking a picture of your self smiling and along with a caption saying how you pranked your soulmate.
After you had posted that you just decided to scroll through instagram smiling, but then your smiled had dropped and you saw someone posting a picture, their face having the same markings as you had drawn but you just didn't do anything and liked his picture.
But for a while it had been eating at you so you went to go and message him about being soulmates.
So you just resulted to doing it the old fashioned way and grabbing your marker and contemplating what to write, you decided to write your username and just left it at that hoping he'd check it out.
It was about a few minutes before your phone vibrated, opening you saw someone had DMed you, going on to instagram it was him!
You went to check out the message it said:
"I never knew my soulmate would be so beautiful/handsome."
"Hello to you too, Soulmate."
Wilbursoot.
Mister Soot, your soulmate Au with him would be that you have the same mark as your soulmate, it isn't some random shape but it's a specific mark that you and your soulmate would have.
I don't know how I'm going to be able to write this one so basically this is just how Wilbur found out you were his soulmate, Wilbur would be about a year or 3 older than you and it was your 21st birthday that when your soulmate mark would appear, Wilbur had already gotten his before you.
So the two of you are counting down by midnight in video chat talking and waiting for the clock to strike 12, you had been so excited, you've waited for 21 years for this moment to arrive, when the clock had striked 12 you quickly checked out what the mark was.
It was a white music note, it was cute and it was placed on your wrist, you smiled and look at Wilbur, raising you arm up to angle it so that the camera could see it and show Wilbur what the mark looked like, "Check out my soulmate mark." you found Wilbur silent but then he started giggling, "What's so funny?" You asked him frowning as you looked down to your wrist.
"I guess I finally found you, and you were just right under my nose." Wilbur giggled again.
You held a dumbfounded expression before looking down at your mark and back up again before shaking head, "I guess you found me." You said smiling.
----------------------------------------------------
I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG AND THAT I WAS INACTIVE FOR SO LONG😭😭.
But if you guys want, I have a discord server It was so that I could interact with the readers of my wattpad book but it could be that you guys could see what I'm working on! Discord server.
Anyways, if you guys like my writing, why not and consider giving me a follow? ;)
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brutal-nemesis · 3 years
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Arthropod Day 2021: 🦀Time For Crab 🦀
Malacostraca Moment 😳🦀
So fun story I wanted this to be on a Saturday because SIDEWAYS SATURDAY but when I was deciding on the date I looked at the calendar for July without realizing it. Happy Sideways Stuesday I guess? 
Castys Masterlist
Ingredients: drowning mention, animal attack (kinda chill tho it’s not really violent), dehydration, autocannibalism mention, parasitic insects, partial nudity, heckin surgery (but it’s CONSENSUAL (⊙ˍ⊙) who am I), suicide for convenience (immortal)
“This looks like a lovely spot for a vacation; thank you guys so much for finding it for me.” The small dingy had just landed on a sandy beach enclosed by dark rocks on either side, a lush forest leading deeper into the island. Casyts’s captor glared at him before harshly tugging the rope tied to his wrists, trying to get him to stand and step onto the beach with her.
“Shut your trap, Ragnarok, or I might change my mind about gagging you. Now get up or I’ll have my men drag you.” 
Castys sighed and rolled his eyes, getting up and following her so his rope burn didn’t get any worse. “Aye aye, Yvonne.” 
“That’s Captain Veldna to you,” she growled, jerking him forward. He stumbled a bit, but he was able to catch himself before he got sand up his nose. He debated trying to yank the rope out of her hands and running away or stealing the boat, but her very strong men were right behind him and that would probably just end in him having extra bruises. So he just followed her like a stupid little goat as she led him towards the rocks, hoping she wouldn’t leave him tied up so he could at least enjoy his time being stranded. But no, this was about sending a message to his crew or making him suffer or something. He didn’t really remember, he’d been dazed as hell when he’d initially gotten captured during a fight between their two ships. Blood loss was a bitch sometimes.
They forced him to sit with his back against a large rock, yanking his bound hands above his head and worming a large nail through the knotted rope before hammering it into the rock. “Not gonna lie, this seems a little extra. I’m not going to go anywhere, so, like, just let me-” Yvonne slapped him harshly across the face.
“You’re not here to have fun, you annoying little parrot.” She looked over at her men, who had just finished tying his ankles together and nailing them down in a similar fashion to his wrists. “If you lot are done, let’s leave.” She turned back to Castys, a wicked grin on her face. “I wonder how many times you’ll die before your crew finds you?”
“My money’s on eight. Do you want me to keep track and tell you next time we see each other? If only I could write in a diary what horrors I suffer sitting on this warm rock that you tied me to during high tide so I won’t even drown later. Now that-agh!” Yvonne stabbed him in the stomach, and Castys bit back a scream as she twisted her blade. 
“The sound of your silence is something I could get used to.”
“Well, the real question is, is silence actually a sound-” Castys’s very valid observation was cut off by the bitch yanking out her sword and promptly kicking him in the stomach. He couldn’t help but cry out, doubling over as far as he could. Yeah, yeah he should probably just shut the fuck up and let them get on their merry way before he got more unnecessary injuries. 
“Enjoy your vacation, Ragnarok,” Yvonne spat. As one last gesture of maturity, she kicked sand at him before walking off, and some of it definitely got in his stab hole, so that was nice. He watched them row away, sighing. Now it was just boredom city, but hey, at least he had a nice beach view. The sun was a few hours away from setting, not that it mattered that much since his skin was dark enough that he probably wasn’t going to get sunburned. 
Being tied to a rock on the beach was...just about as boring as he expected. His arms got all tingly after a while from being stuck above his head, so he couldn’t even properly relax, and a man could only watch little waves roll for so long. He had a nice view of the setting sun, and hey, that means the light of dawn wouldn’t be shining in his face. While the sun was still a little ways above the horizon, he heard an odd rustling noise over in the vegetation, different from the background sounds he had gotten used to. He looked over, hoping it was a friendly man with a knife.
It was not a friendly man with a knife. But it wasn’t something bad, either. “Oh shit hello crabs!” Castys watched as they scuttled out of the treeline onto the beach, glad to have something fun to watch. One of them was slowly making its way towards him, and Castys wondered if he would be able to convince it to snip his bindings. “Hey there mister crab man, come on down, and please for the love of god untie me.” Yes, yes he was talking to a crab, because why not go full send on the insanity right away? It would be so much more fun, and it’s not like anyone else was here to judge him. “Yeah crab get in my zone-wow you’re kinda big.” He’d thought the crab was closer to him, but nope, it had been farther away but giant. Not like giant giant but not, like, normal crab size. It was almost as big as his torso maybe, but he was never great at estimating the relative sizes of things. 
“You’re large but you’re a gentleman, ain’t ya? I don’t know why, but you just seem like a polite fellow.” The crab stopped not too far from Castys and just looked at him blankly. Or maybe it was making a face at him, but he couldn’t read crab body language. Could anyone read crab body language? Crabs, he would hope. “Could you bring me some tea, good sir? Or just...water. Water that’s not salty. I don’t actually like tea it literally tastes like nothing but you know what I would drink it now because I am thirsty.” There was a moment of silence. “Not like thirsty in the weird way some people are. I have no idea what that’s about. But like, I want water. Or...oh my god, Mr. Crab, bring me a coconut!” Castys closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “Yeah… that would be nice. Food and water and it’s prepackaged and I don’t know how I would eat it because my hands are tied but I’ll figure it out.”
A sudden sharp pinch against his wound jolted Castys out of his daydream. He looked down in horror to see that the crab was holding something in its claws. Something pinkish-red that was dripping blood down onto the sand. The bastard. The crab brought the piece of his flesh to its mouth and just ate it while staring right at Castys. “That,” he blinked in surprise a few times, “was incredibly rude.” The crab stayed still, watching him as it did its weird mouth movements that were maybe chewing. “You are absolutely not a gentleman. I rescind everything. You little garbage boy. Rapscallion. I bet you never get invited to the crab raves.”
And the crab. Had the audacity. To reach out its stupid pincher. And do it again. “Little bitch!” Castys yelled, squirming against the ropes in an attempt to scare the thing off. Shockingly, it did not work, because wounded, dying prey squirmed all the time, and...that’s pretty much what Castys was in this scenario, wasn’t he? He was just stuck sitting here while that stupid crab ripped off little pieces of him with its stupid crab pincher and put them in its stupid crab mouth. If he was lucky, this would make him bleed out and die faster and then he wouldn’t have an open wound anymore, which would be a bonus. Though, it had sand in it, and then if it healed…
A problem for another day.
Not the next day, though, or the one after, because, hooray, he was still tied to a rock, so even though he did die a few hours later, he couldn’t do anything about the Sand In His Insides. He made up a song about it, but singing it loudly did absolutely nothing to scare away the crab, whom he had named Crabstard (Crab Bastard). Crabstard seemed to think Castys was his new best friend, coming back regularly for meals. Castys liked to imagine killing and eating Crabstard as a show of dominance, but that made him wonder...would eating Crabstard be a form of autocannibalism? Because Crabstard had eaten him...
He wasn’t sure what was worse, Crabstard and his stupid giant pinchers, or the mosquitoes. There weren’t a ton of them, but their bites were just awful, littering his arms and legs with swollen, white boils, which were unusual and also very concerning but what the fuck could he do about it. Because of course he couldn’t scratch them, and they itched so much it hurt and he just had to endure it. Just like he had to endure fucking everything. The heat of the sun, the awful tingling in his arms, the soreness of his wrists, Crabstard pinching off bits of his flesh, the maddening pain and itch of all his bug bites, the hunger and thirst, the boredom, and the...the loneliness.
No, he was fine, he was fine with just himself, it was always just him anyway. He wasn’t imagining his crew rowing to shore and untying him and tending to him in his cold, dark cabin, because he couldn’t get his hopes up, because they probably weren’t even coming for him. They were just going to leave him behind like everyone else and fuck he was wasting water like a useless idiot and he couldn’t stop or even wipe them away and he probably deserved this for everything he’d done so what did it matter?
And, great, the next day he started hallucinating a passing ship and a rowboat coming for him. Thank you, dehydrated whore brain! Let’s get our stupid little hopes up! Dang, the people on the boat kind of even looked like some of his crewmates, which was rude of his brain to make this so realistic looking.
It wasn’t until his first mate, Kaveri, was untying him that Castys realized that this was real, that they’d really...really come for him. “I’m so glad we found you, Captain.” She pulled him into a hug as soon as he was free, and he hugged her back as best he could with his sore arms. 
“I’m glad y’all did, too.” He leaned back when she let go and looked down at himself, wincing. “Well, before we get back to the ship, I am going to deliver a much needed death upon mys-“
“Captain, Captain, wait,” the ship’s medic, Sixtus, called as he ran over. He knelt beside Castys, taking his arm and examining the bug bites closely. “I knew it. These bites all over you are...they contain fly larvae. We’re going to need to dig them out before you heal yourself.”
“...what if I’ve died since I’ve gotten bitten. Like, earlier.”
“Well.” Sixtus breathed in sharply. “We will just have to wait for them to, uh, let us know where they are.” He sighed. “For now, let’s get you back to the ship and I’ll get out the ones I can. I don’t have the tools for it with me.”
“Can I kill Crabstard first?”
“Crab...stard?” Kaveri gave him a concerned look, and Sixtus felt his forehead.
“He’s a very impolite giant crab. He is my rival. I wish to vanquish him.” The other two shared a look.
“Do you know where this...this crab is?” Sixtus tried.
Castys held up a finger and opened his mouth, pausing for a second before shutting it and blinking a few times. “I. I do not. He just scuttles out of the trees to commit crimes every now and then. He has no friends.”
“Alright, in that case, no. You’re in no condition to wander around the island looking for a crab.” Sixtus held out his hand. “So, come on.”
“Fiiiine,” Castys groaned, letting the taller man help him to his feet. He was a little unsteady, but he was able to make it to the boat with Kaveri’s help. As they rowed away, he turned back to the island one last time, cupping his hands around his mouth as he yelled, “Fuck you Crabstard I hope you starve and die in a pit and the other crabs eat you!” 
Once they made it back to the ship, Sixtus ushered Castys into his office, instructing him to sit up on the examination table and take his shirt and pants off. Kaveri helped him, opting to stay in case Sixtus needed a hand. He examined Castys thoroughly, using a lightstone to get a good look at the swollen bug bites littering his body as well as the number of small wounds in his side.
“These from the, uh, crab?” Sixtus asked as he gestured to them.
“Yup. Him and his stupid pinchers.”
“Alright, I know you don’t really get infections, but I’m going to clean these out just to be safe.” He paused. “Also it just feels. Really wrong not to. It’ll bother me if I don’t.”
“Do whatever, doctor man.” Castys did his best not to let his pain show as Sixtus dabbed at his wounds with a stingy liquid. It really didn’t hurt that much, but when Kaveri placed her hand on top of his as he gripped the edge of the table, he didn’t wave her off. He’d let it be Fuss Over The Captain Day. For their sake. Because they seem to have been worried about him. 
“Alright, I’m all done with that, so if you could lay down, Captain, I’ll get started with removing those larvae. Kaveri, get him some rum and then hold him down.” She nodded, leaving and returning soon after with a small cup.
“You know, I haven’t had water in days,” Castys mused before winking at her and downing its contents. Kaveri shook her head.
“You literally emptied my waterskin while we were rowing back.”
“Oh dang, I forgot. Nevermind I’m actually not funny and am just stupid.” He scooted a bit and laid down with his hands behind his head. “Get rid of my worms.”
“They’re not-they’re not worms, Captain, they’re insects, since-” Sixtus stopped himself, folding his hands in front of his mouth. “Nevermind.” He cleared his throat. “Arms at your sides, please. Kaveri, if you would.” She nodded, holding down his shoulders as Sixtus turned Castys’s arm, locating the first larva he was going to remove. Castys breathed in sharply as the knife sliced into his arm, doing his best to keep still as Sixtus slid a pair of tweezers into the wound. The rum dulled his senses enough that it didn’t hurt as much as it could, but it certainly wasn’t painless, and he couldn’t help but gasp as Sixtus slowly pulled a small, wriggling grub out of the incision. He dropped it in a metal tray, cleaned the wound, and picked up his knife.
Then the process started all over again.
Castys didn’t bother counting how many times those tweezers probed around inside him, how many wet little plops he heard as another larva dropped into the tray. He focused on staying still, on the prickle of the rough wood table against his bare back, on the feeling of Kaveri’s hands on his shoulders, more comforting than restraining. They reminded him that he wasn’t alone in his suffering, for once. But he wasn’t supposed to need comfort, he was their immortal captain, the one who’d been through everything before and was strong enough to go through it again, the one his crew could always depend on to be strong. And here he was, teeth gritted against the pain, his forehead resting against Kaveri’s arm, fists clenched to mask their shaking, all over a few cuts and some little maggots.
“Alright,” Sixtus wiped his brow with the back of his hand, “I think that’s all of ‘em. That I can see, at least.” He looked down at Castys. “You had seventeen of those things in you, Captain.” He grimaced. “And possibly more, so please let me know if you feel anything, uh, wiggling. But for now, you’re free to...die.”
“Can’t believe I got a new world record for worm friends.” Castys grabbed the small leather pouch that usually hung around his neck from his pile of clothes, pulling it open.
“They’re not worms-”
“Thank you, Sixtus.” With that, Castys stuck his finger in the pouch and touched his death stone. He came back to life feeling infinitely better, but Kaveri and Sixtus still insisted he rest after he cleaned himself up. He grumbled, but he let Kaveri force him into his bed and bring him something to eat. Once he was finished, she collected his plate and stood awkwardly by his bedside.
“Do...do you want me to come back, Castys? Will you be alright?”
“Look, I’m honestly fine, you’re good. I’ve been through a lot worse, and I’m all healed up now so it doesn’t really matter.” 
She pursed her lips. “I suppose, but that doesn’t mean that that didn’t still take a mental toll on you, and…” she sighed. “Just...call me if you need anything, alright?”
“Will do.” She nodded, but as she started to walk away, Castys realized there was something he’d rather not leave unsaid. “Wait, Kaveri?”
“Yes?”
“Th...thank you. For, uh, finding me.”
“Of course, Castys. We’ll always be there for you.” Castys opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped himself and just smiled and nodded, his shoulders only falling once she’d left.
He wished that were true.
Castys Cult: @as-a-matter-of-whump​ @blackrosesandwhump​ @fanmanga1357-blog​​ @thehopelessopus​ @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi​ @hearse-song​ @muddy-swamp-bitch @whumpasaurus101 @yet-another-heathen​​ @galaxywhump​ @starnight-whump​ @his-unspoken-words​ @misspelledwitch
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airi-p4 · 3 years
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From above the stars - Chapter 7
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | ... 
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Sorry for the long wait! I’m not forgetting about this story!! I love it and I’m stopping overthinking it so it can progress at last. I hope you enjoy 💙
Chapter summary:
Gabriel offers Marinette something unexpected she can't refuse. At the same time, Luka stops coming to the cemetery, and she can't help but worry: he had promised her he wouldn't disappear...
AO3
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CHAPTER 7 - Lost
Marinette was staring at Luka's only message on her phone, dated from the previous morning (the one he sent to confirm his contact), when she received a SMS: Gabriel Agreste.
She felt uneasy from being summoned again by her late ex-boyfriend's cold father, but despite hating the idea of meeting him, she got ready to pay him a visit. Gabriel Agreste received her coldly as always, but this time, instead of mourning his son, he had an offer she didn’t expect.
"Marinette. I want to reassume the fashion business. I need someone talented to take care of the designs of Agreste’s future collections and I’m confident you could fill in for that job position. I've seen your sketchbooks and Adrien was right: you're very talented."
Marinette didn't know what to say. It's true Adrien had mentioned showing her designs to his father, but he always ended up apologizing because, in the end, Gabriel would never listen to him. Marinette didn't have much time to think as his suggestion progressed.
"Bring me a few new designs the day after tomorrow and we can discuss this matter further. Take it as a test to see if you’re fit for that job position" He asked.
"The- the day after tomorrow…? I- haven't drawn much lately, I'm not sure I can-"
"I'm sure you won't disappoint me. I would really appreciate it if you joined the Agreste empire. You're the only one I can trust"
Marinette felt sick. Not only because of the autoritharism he launched towards her, but also by the word 'trust'. Was it fair he ‘trusted’ her when she was already moving on from the love she used to have for Adrien- his son? Wasn't she betraying both father and son if she accepted Gabriel Agreste's offer? What options did she have, though? She couldn't refuse- she had had her part to blame for the accident and had to take responsibility for her actions. For Adrien...
"Thank you, Mister Agreste. I- I'll try…" she answered unsecure.
"Good. You can go now. You have some designs to work with. See you the day after tomorrow, here, at the same time"
Marinette nodded at Gabriel's cold back in front of her before passing through the main gates of the mansion to the street. She would have been happy to receive a chance like this when she dated Adrien, but now…? She wasn't sure if she wanted it anymore. She knew she needed a job other than helping at her parents' bakery, but how was she supposed to design anything after months without properly working on her fashion designs? Moreover, working with Gabriel made her uneasy. She could already feel the pressure on her shoulders from a task she shouldn't have trouble to accomplish under normal circumstances. These weren't normal circumstances. She didn't belong to the Agreste family anymore, yet she couldn't find the courage to tell Mister Agreste- or worse: to disappoint him. He needed her and she didn't want to fail his expectations- especially when she felt she was partly at fault for his son's passing.
Snapping from her never-ending thoughts about her new job offer, Marinette checked Luka's message on her phone again. ‘Thank you for today’. No matter how many times she read it, it never failed to help her find some calm. Unknowingly, she would always embrace her phone and smile at it. 'I want to see you' Marinette thought on her way to the cemetery, after buying some flowers.
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Marinette knew she was supposed to work on her designs instead of waiting for Luka, but she couldn't stop herself. She waited, patiently, for hours, even for longer than the time he usually left… but nothing: he didn't come.
It wasn't like him to miss his visit to his sisters. Plus, he had promised her he wouldn’t disappear as long as anything unexpected happened. Marinette became anxious. 'Did anything happen to him? Did he catch a cold during the chill night? Did he become wary of her for depending and relying so much on him? Was his promise out of pity?' She couldn't know the answer.
Lonely and distracted, she went to Trocadero, where she usually hung around- either to babysit Manon, to draw and design or on her dates with Adrien- a place full of memories and her favorite corner in Paris. She expected to find the inspiration that used to overflow whenever she held a pencil in her favorite drawing spot.
She sat at the stairs and looked at her surroundings: the majestic Eiffel tower in front of her, the merry-go-round at her right, with cheerful children playing on it, the candy and ice-cream stalls at the left side. A pair of skaters racing, couples, families and groups of friends were also what Marinette's eyes usually enjoyed observing. She tried to look for inspiration on the landscape, but nothing. Her eyes may have been looking at Trocadero, but her head was somewhere else: Luka. She couldn't help but worry something bad may have happened to him.
Inspiration didn't hit as she called it a day. Still concerned, she read Luka's message again before going to sleep.
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The next day the story repeated: her last message was still not marked as read, and Luka didn't appear at the cemetery. Two days in a row without him was starting to be too hard for her heart. She spent the afternoon at Trocadero again, and when she didn't expect it, as a way to cover her impatience and negativity, her solitude, her fears and her desire to meet him became her sole inspiration.
The morning after, Marinette woke up early to go to Agreste's mansion. Gabriel welcomed her with a hug, and soon he asked for her sketchbook. The old man's strict eyes observed: every detail, every color, every choice of fabrics… Marinette could feel his judging eyes on her through her pencil-drawn sketches.
"Marinette" Gabriel called after closing the sketchbook, and turning to face her with piercing eyes. "What's the meaning of this?"
"I- My new designs…" she answered, scared of his glacial look on her.
"This… this is absolutely worthless" he coldly stated, startling Marinette. "I can understand the negative and longing feelings, but this?” he signaled. “This is not Agreste's style. Can you imagine Adrien wearing any of those? What were you thinking? I'm so disappointed…" he sighed.
Marinette gulped and her body was trembling, afraid of the cold man in front of her. She should have imagined her drawings would turn out to be not of Gabriel's likings. It was obvious they didn't fit with Agreste's style, with elegance and high-class as its trademark. She had been inspired by Luka, and the rock style of her newest drawings screamed his name everywhere. But it was the only thing she could come up with in her state, no matter how hard she tried.
"I'm so sorry… Let me re-do them, please" she begged, seeing the chance she had always dreamed about vanish before her eyes at that instant.
"You have one more day. I have great expectations put on you, Marinette. Show me your true potential- the designs my son was fond of"
"Yes sir. Thank you" she bowed her head, quickly excusing herself to walk through the main gates. She was trembling like a little mouse in front of its predator. She needed to throw out those disgusting feelings of inferiority and devaluing. She needed to recover her steady breath and calm. She needed Luka's presence close to keep her feet on the ground. She needed him to keep her sanity.
But, once again, he didn't come to the cemetery. Another day without him around. Another day with growing anxiety and worry. Another day of painful loneliness… but new designs still needed to be done...
Back at Trocadero, she decided to try to keep her head occupied with her drawings. She tried remembering her dates with Adrien- or what she used to base her designs on before.
She remembered walking hand in hand with him, sharing André's ice-cream, sharing one spoon, and being scolded by a baby's mother when she tried to give her baby a candy from the candy stall. She also remembered bumping with the flyer man- Mr Banana- when she had been rushed by Adrien, all his papers flying and scattered on the ground. She still felt a little bad for not helping him recover his flyers (especially when Adrien stepped on some of them). She also remembered riding the merry-go-round with her ‘Prince’ and she, his ‘Princess’. She remembered picnics with their best friends, too. Even the selfish, prideful and arrogant Chloe, Adrien's childhood friend, had finally accepted her as Adrien's girlfriend in front of the Eiffel tower. She wondered where her past friends were now.
The memories she had now were bittersweet- happy but also sad. How much truth and how much fantasy was in her memories? Adrien's perfection had been an illusion of hers. And their mutual friends 'friendship' appeared to be so too, when they hadn't called her in months. At least Chloe still greeted her when they met in the street, and she still brought Adrien flowers once a week. 'What was Gabriel looking for in her designs?' she had asked herself. Her answer was clear- 'the illusion of a perfect life'.
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Gabriel's eyes studied her newest designs the day after. Elegance, class, innovation- Gabriel's lips displayed a faint proud smile under his serious facade and Marinette could finally breathe.
"Marinette. You really are talented. You outdid yourself here" he said, closing her sketchbook to look at her. "I'm going to ask Nathalie to make your designs part of the new collection. With only a few arrangements they'll be perfect. Good job"
"Thank you, Sir", she bowed.
"As promised, I want you to be the new designer of the company. Take it as training. I expect you to become the pillar of this company in a few years". His chin raised to look at her from an upper position. Marinette’s eyes couldn’t possibly open more as she gasped.
"Wha-! With all my respect, I- I don't think I deserve that, Sir" her head sank between her shoulders.
"Nonsense. You're the only one who cared about my son. You're all I have left from him now, my daughter-in-law. You're the only one I can trust" he reassured her with a hand on her shoulders, under his melancholic facial expression. "I count on you"
"Yes, Sir" her mouth automatically responded. Gabriel hugged her in a grateful manner, before stating the work conditions: a full sketchbook of new designs per week. No fixed schedule, just a deadline every Friday. Marinette agreed with the conditions, still doubting her capabilities.
When she stepped out of the mansion, she wanted to scream, to cry, to jump… but most of all she wanted to meet Luka. Three days without him and she already felt like she was losing her mind. She hoped to finally meet him and hug him and tell him how much she had missed him- but nothing: no new flowers on his sisters tombstones apart from hers.
Disappointed and worried, she moved to Trocadero again. Her message to Luka was still unanswered and marked as unread. She contemplated the idea of calling him, but she supposed she would be a nuisance if he was at work- or maybe he was unreachable when he had yet to read her message. She had no claim on him, anyway. There was nothing else she could do. Before she could notice, tears were falling from her eyes.
She must have been showing a very depressing aura, because soon, André Glacier approached to offer her an ice-cream. The candy stall lady offered her a strawberry flavored lollipop and even Mr Banana offered her a paper crafted flower made out of his flyers.
For the first time, Marinette realized she was also part of the landscape she loved the most in Paris, and she was moved by their welcoming affection. The merry-go-round old man also offered her a blanket to rest on the grass. She was exhausted from the swirl of emotions she had been going on these past days and she soon fell asleep. She could have sworn she could hear Luka's guitar nearby- the song he always played- but her eyelids were too heavy to open. 'Luka…' she cried, and she entered dreamland with the feeling of someone's hand softly caressing her hair. Through her almost closed eyes, she could almost swear she saw nails painted in black, but she convinced herself she must have just dreamed it.
That night, she armed herself with courage and sent Luka another message. 'Let's meet tomorrow. I'll wait for you'.
Before going to sleep, she wished to the stars to meet him again… but they must have been angry at her because no one expected a strong windstorm for the next day. Marinette's parents forbade her to go outside in that weather, but she escaped through the back door and fought the winds to go to the cemetery.
'Why am I even here?' she thought, looking at the still unread message. 'There's no way he comes in this weather… I’m such a fool...' Marinette sighed. She could see some tree branches falling down; and cardboards, metallic plates and other pieces of various materials being carried by the windstorm. She sought refuge behind the Couffaine's family mausoleum, wishing for their forgiveness as the clock hit Luka's usual curfew.
He didn't come. Again.
Defeated, she reached for her phone: no new messages. 'What was the point of being there when he was obviously not going to come?' She felt stupid. And maybe she was. She probably was. Stupidly in love, she realized. Was she even allowed to love someone she had hurt so much? Did she even deserve his attention? Or his help? Will he ever come back to her? Was he even real?
She was losing her mind.
The strong howling winds were covering her loud painful shriek. Her hoarse throat felt ready to tear anytime as her crying amplified. When was the last time she cried like that? Right. After her first visit to Adrien's grave- months ago, when she first met with Luka.
"Luka… I miss you… I want to see you… please… I need to know you haven't left me behind too… please… don't leave me alone… Please… I need to know you're safe… I need you..." she cried in exhaustion, her body curled, sinking her head between her knees. With one last check on her phone, she lost all her hope: no new messages, despite the message marked now as read.
He willingly ignored her, she supposed, devastated. He didn't want to meet with her, didn't he? She was abusing his kindness when his suffering was worse than hers. And his sisters… Of course he would secretly hate her… Maybe living had no point anymore, she thought, utterly defeated by the depression she had been fighting since she woke up in that hospital room. Maybe it was her destiny, or a curse. Once again, she was surrounded by her inner darkness.
‘Maybe it’s time to give up…'
"Marinette!" She could hear someone calling. Probably her imagination, she assumed. "Marinette!" The same voice repeated- Luka's voice. She thought she was at the border of losing her sanity when he called again "Marinette!", but this time he appeared in front of her, sweating, with his hair messy from the wind.
If it weren't for how he ran to hug her immediately, she would have convinced herself he was a product of her imagination. But the touch was real. He was real. And he was there with her. "Luka…!" She cried, clinging to his clothes.
"What are you doing here in this windstorm? Haven't you seen the news? It's dangerous! You could have injured yourself" he scolded her, panicking and worrying. "What would I do if anything happened to you…?" he whispered, so low she wouldn't have heard him if his mouth weren't almost touching her ear.
"Luka... Luka! I was- so scared! And worried! I- I've missed you so much!" She screamed between whimpers, as her arms grip tightened around him.
"I'm here Marinette, it's ok. Sorry for being late" he apologized, hugging her tightly. "I'm so sorry"
"Luka, I-" before she could continue, two voices joined the wind sounds.
"Marinette?" "Marinette!"
"My parents," she gasped, recognizing their voices.
With his usual gentleness, Luka offered her his hand and helped her stand up, but she refused to let go of him.
"Go with them. They must be worried" Luka said in his usual calmed voice.
"But-"
"I'll be here as usual as soon as the weather allows me to. Rest assured". His hands on her shoulders were more reassuring than the unreadable look on his face, but he sounded sincere to Marinette and she decided to trust him.
"But- what happened? Why didn't you answer my messages? She cried. "You promised you wouldn’t willingly disappear and yet… I was so worried something bad could have happened to you..."
"I'm sorry, Marinette… Something happened, it’s true, but-” he looked away and took a deep breath before looking at the directions Marinette’s parents' voices came from. “I'll tell you next time. You better go now. Your parents sound very worried"
"Will you really come again?" Marinette asked, squeezing his hand, scared of him disappearing again.
"I promise. I won’t fail you again” He nodded. “Now go."
Marinette was hesitant, but she finally let go of his hand and started walking towards her parents' voices, encouraged by Luka's hurt smile and his slight push on her back.
"Mom! Dad!" She cried, running to hug them.
"Marinette! We were so worried! Why did you escape? It's dangerous! What if anything happened to you, all alone here…" her mother hugged her.
"No, mom. I wasn't alone… I was with-" she turned to signal Luka, but he was nowhere to be found. 'Did she imagine it?' she frowned her eyebrows in disappointment.
"Let's go home" her father said, with his arm behind her back.
Sad and confused, Marinette looked back once again, wondering if her meeting with Luka had just been a product of her imagination. But when she looked back again, he was indeed there, watching them from afar.
In relief, Marinette waved back at him, but he walked away- not before Marinette's mother caught a glimpse of him.
"See, mom? Luka was with me!" She signaled, noticing how she had seen him too. Sabine’s reaction was not what Marinette expected. She had a look Marinette’ had never seen before on her mother’s face: a mix of anger, sadness and fear. Her words only amplified the bad vibrations she was giving off.
"Marinette. You should stay away from that man" she coldly warned her daughter.
Marinette was confused. "Why?"
"Just stay away from him, please"
Why? Why did she have to stay away from Luka? Why would her mother dislike him? Did she know him? Why did it feel like everyone was keeping secrets from her?
Marinette didn't plan to listen to her mother. No matter how massive was the concern and fear her face reflected.
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The Best Quiche in Tokyo
Rating: ‼️18+ Minors Do Not Interact ‼️
Warnings: explicit sexuality (it literally takes place at an orgy so like.......Y’know)
Characters: Hatter (Takeru), Aguni, and Female Reader (You)
Summary: When one of your customers invites you to a potluck-slash-orgy, you assume the “orgy” part is a joke—because nobody really hosts a potluck and an orgy at the same time, right?
Notes: One time, @nessinborderland (happy belated birthday btw) gave me the brilliant idea of Hatter hosting an orgy and serving really good food and I just......ran with it. This ended up being part comedy, part character study—and mostly features Aguni, if you can believe it! I don’t know, I just let the story take me where it wanted to go! (Also, this is definitely the longest thing I’ve written on here, so get ready to dig in!)
It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon in March, and you’re standing in front of a hat shop. Well, technically, you’re slightly to the left of a hat shop, peering down a skinny alleyway in search of a door or a set of stairs—something to indicate that there is, in fact, an apartment up there and this is not just an elaborate prank.
There is a very good chance this is a prank—after all, the eccentric man who walked into your stationary store two weeks ago seemed...off. Not in a bad way, just. One-of-a-kind. Unique. Entirely himself, in a way that people usually aren’t.
Was he flirting or was he just overly friendly when he leaned in just a bit too close to see the various fonts available for his choosing? It’s difficult to say. He did seem genuinely interested to know the difference between serif and sans serif, which doesn’t much thrill your customers on the regular. Does asking for an extra business card ‘for his personal records’ count as a pick-up line? It’s hard to say. Not that it matters much, of course—you are a professional, he is a customer, and there’s nothing more to it.
And you really are a professional, because when he told you that he wanted—in metallic gold, 30-point, center aligned—to say, quote, “The Third Annual Springtime Potluck and Orgy: Presented by Danma Takeru,” you didn’t so much as bat an eye. Partially because he was very insistent that you spell his name correctly, and partially because. Well. How does a person respond to that?
In truth, he ended up being one of your better customers—he showed a genuine interest in the process while still deferring to your expertise—and when one of the printed invitations arrived in your mailbox, you figured you might as well go see what the fuss is about. It could be an opportunity to meet some new friends, maybe drum up a little business if you’re lucky.
And besides—a potluck-slash-orgy? Who would even do that?
The merry little jingle of bell catches your attention, and you turn your head to see a solemn-looking man peeking his head around the hat shop’s glass door. He looks at you. He looks at the plastic-wrapped pie in your hands. He looks back at you.
He frowns.
“Hi,” you say, putting on your most charming smile in the hopes that he’ll stop looking at you like you just slapped him across the face, “I’m, uh, I’m here for the party!”
You shuffle over to him, careful not to scuff the white of your sensible-yet-pretty patent leather heels on the sidewalk. Maybe you’re dressed too formally—he’s wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans while you’re sporting a calf-length chiffon dress dyed in a lovely array of watercolor blues and violets.
Oh dear, what a faux-pas! There was no dress code listed on the invite, but maybe you should’ve dressed in a more casual fashion. You don’t live far, you could probably run home quickly and change...
“Do you...have an invitation,” the man asks, crossing his arms across his chest and furrowing his brow. Is he annoyed? No, no. He seems. Confused? Wary? How very strange.
“Oh, of course,” you answer, reaching a fumbling hand into your purse to search for the little pink envelope, “I almost forgot it walking out the door, but I remembered at the last second! I can be a bit scatterbrained sometimes!”
The man doesn’t say anything, but leans forward to inspect the invitation once you manage to produce it from the cluttered mess that is your handbag.
“I know the time said it started at three, but the pie took a little longer than expected. It takes time for the chocolate to set, and—“ you gasp, covering your mouth with your invite-laden hand, “I haven’t kept you waiting, have I? I’m so sorry, Mister...?”
“Call me Aguni,” he says, and his eyes narrow slightly when you give him your most chipper ‘thank you’ and apologize for not being able to shake his hand at the moment. What a strange man.
“You,” he asks slowly, “you read the invitation, right?”
“Of course I did! I’m the one who made them,” you explain, puffing your chest up with pride, “and our host was kind enough to send one to me! He must have really liked my work!”
“...Yeah,” the man called Aguni says, “I’m sure that’s it.”
But, to your pleasure, he steps aside and holds the door open for you to enter. Such a strange man, but at least he’s gentlemanly enough to hold the door for you as you step inside.
“Oh, wow,” you say, “this place is amazing!”
And maybe it sounds silly, but you’re being entirely honest. There are hats in shelves, hats hanging on the wall, hats on faceless plastic heads on the counter and placed atop a long wooden table to the left—all of them in different shapes and colors, embellished and feathered and ribboned to the nines. There’s a certain magic to a little place like this, a kind of whimsical charm you want to bottle and keep on the kitchen windowsill.
“Walls could use some paint. Floor needs polished, too,” Aguni says, “but...yeah, I guess it’s nice enough.”
You follow him as he leads you towards the back, your eyes drinking in all the details of this fascinating little shop.
“No, no, the walls and the floor are perfect,” you assert with a wide-mouthed smile, “it gives it character. Makes it feel...like home, I think.”
“Takeru says the same thing,” Aguni answers with a chuckle, “although I also think he just doesn’t want to put in the work. He’s...not very handy.”
There is a second door at the very back of the shop, and once again, Aguni holds it open for you. Perhaps his original air of discontent was a simple case of shyness—maybe he just takes a bit to warm up to people. Well, just wait until he tries your homemade triple-chocolate silk pie; you’ll be best friends in no time!
He leads you into a tiny courtyard, which is just barely big enough to hold a steep set of metal stairs and a handful of plant pots, which remain empty due to the early spring cold. But, oh, it must be so lovely back here when the plants are in full bloom! You say as much to your companion, who actually manages to smile a bit in your direction as he leads you up the stairs.
“Those are mine, actually,” he tells you, his boot-covered feet thunking up the stairs at a leisurely pace, “He lets me garden back here.”
You picture it—this tall, stoic man, kneeling on the ground, his gloved hands tending little green sprouts as the morning sun shines gold and warm on the cold stone ground. The thought of it warms you. Does he know anything about succulents? You’ve always thought they would look so cute in the shop...
“Look,” Aguni says when the two of you reach a very drab-looking door, “I’m not trying to be a jerk, but...you sure you’re ready for this?”
What an odd thing to say! Maybe you’re acting more nervous than you originally thought? It is rather daunting, walking into a party of strangers; but, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
“You’re sweet for worrying about me,” you respond, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, “but if everyone is half as lovely as you, I’m sure I’ll do just fine. I will probably stick with you for a while—if that’s okay, of course!”
“Alright, then.” Aguni says—and is that a hint of a blush you see creeping up his neck? All this time, you thought he was just being strange, but he’s just a little shy! You give his arm a knowing pat before withdrawing your touch, and he quickly turns around to unlock the door.
Are all of Takeru’s friends this adorable? You hope so. You follow your bashful escort inside—the genkan is already full of shoes, but you manage to squeeze yours in between a pair of snakeskin wedge heels and the wall. Aguni also removes his boots, and you’re happy he isn’t going to stay down in the hat shop the whole time. He can introduce you to everyone, and maybe—
You hear something. Was that...? No, no, you must be imagining things. You definitely did not just hear a woman moan on the other side of the wall. You stop and angle your head towards the door slightly to get a better listen. It’s all rather muffled (it must be well-insulated!) but there’s definitely some kind of music playing. Maybe it’s part of a song?
It happens again. This time, it’s deeper, and more of a prolonged “ah” sound. And then laughter. Aguni is looking at you in that concerned way of his again.
Instead of waiting for him to open the door for you a third time, you decide to take initiative and open it yourself—a show of confidence, to put his mind at ease. For a moment, it looks like he’s going to try and stop you, but he instead just crosses his arms and watches as you open the door to the rest of the house.
The first thing you see is candles. Little flickering spots of yellow-orange flame, winking inside clear glass votives. A trio of them on the kitchen table to the left, surrounded by a mismatched variety of trays and plates and bowls, each holding a different delicacy.
There’s a candle on the kitchen counter, next to the refrigerator. One on a bookshelf, which is filled to bowing with vinyl LP’s. Two on either side of the television, and a cluster of them on a coffee table next to a fishbowl of shiny gold squares and—
Oh.
Oh, dear.
There are limbs. Moving, writing, reaching. Hands grabbing. Mouths kissing. Mouths...doing things other than kissing. Oh, God, there’s boobs. And somebody’s butt. Aw, geez, there goes another one. How many naked people are there in here, anyways?
“Oh, hey!”
A familiar voice calls out from the fleshy throng, and your stomach drops. Like Venus emerging from the surf, you see Danma Takeru rise up from the crowd, hair mussed and smiling mouth smudged with at least two different colors of lipstick. While he does appear to be wearing some kind of brightly-patterned robe, the more he stands, the less confident you are that it’s actually covering anything.
You spin on your heel, unwilling as of the moment to become visually acquainted with your host’s penis, and you’re met once more with Aguni’s concerned stare. This time, though, you understand why he’s looking at you like that, and it makes the burn of embarrassment creeping up your neck that much hotter.
“Do you want to leave?”
This is. Oh, boy. This is a lot. Aguni must be able to sense your discomfort, although you imagine it’s rather palpable at the moment.
“I,” you say, “I don’t...know.”
And you say you don’t know because you truly don’t know what to do. Was it really so naïve of you to think that the ‘orgy’ part of the invitation was some kind of weird inside joke? Is there some kind of social protocol for these things?
You feel two hands descend upon each of your shoulders, and you try to convince yourself that they are slightly damp with sweat as opposed to any other kind of aqueous material.
“You made it,” Takeru exclaims with genuine excitement as he gives your person a gentle shake, “I’m so glad you decided to come!”
“He’s covered, don’t worry,” Aguni says to you before directing his attention over your shoulder, “I take it you didn’t tell her.”
“Tell her what?”
The hand on your right shoulder stays while the left slips away, leaving room for Takeru to stand at your side and squeeze you against him in a weird little half-hug. In another situation, you might enjoy the way the silk of his robe whispers against the skin of your arms, perhaps smile at the warm comfort of a lazy arm thrown about your shoulders like a heavy scarf, but. Well. Right now, it’s just a little...awkward.
Aguni rolls his eyes.
“About that,” he says, gesturing impatiently at the debauchery behind your back, “I mean, just look at her face.”
“Mori-chan, how could you be so rude to our lovely guest? Darling,” Takeru says, turning your face towards him with two fingers under your chin, “don’t listen to him, you’re...ah, I see what you mean.”
Is your expression really that bad? It must be, because Takeru very slowly and very carefully withdrawing his arm from around your shoulder and taking a generous step to the side. His mouth is twisted into a rather comical gaping frown, his eyes nervously darting side-to-side.
“In my defense,” he says, putting his hands up like some kind of fucked-out traffic cop at a four-way intersection, “the, uh, the orgy part was very prominent. Big letters, right at the top.”
“I,” you reply, “I thought it was...a joke?”
“This is why we don’t just hand out invitations,” Aguni grits through his teeth, “for fuck’s sake, Takeru, we’ve talked about this!”
“I know, I know. I am humble enough to admit when I’ve fucked up, and this time, I have fucked up in a truly spectacular fashion,” Takeru’s gaze shifts from horrified to quizzical as he scrutinized you for a moment, “Unless...you’d like to stay?”
You look at the pie. The slowly-warming chocolate is beginning to sweat beneath the thin film of plastic wrap you so lovingly secured with lilac ribbon.
“Or you could slap him on the way out,” Aguni offers, “he’s very slap-able.”
“It’s true! And when you slap me,” he whips his head to the side suddenly, “my hair does that and it looks really cool!”
Yeah, okay—it did look pretty cool. But, does he deserve to be slapped? Probably for something else, but not for this. It’s a simple misunderstanding, and honest mistake on both your parts.
“I want...” you start, and the way they’re looking at you, wide-eyed and breath-bated, reminds you of the final rose ceremony on The Bachelorette.
It’s kind of hilarious, actually.
“I, uh,” you continue, “I want to...to put this in the refrigerator, if that’s okay? It’s, uh, starting to melt...”
To say that Takeru’s face lights up is an understatement. With a mega-watt smile and a sparkle in his eye, he swoops his arm back around your shoulder and begins leading you towards the kitchen.
Although you have (almost) gotten used to the sea of strangers fucking and moaning in the background, you still choose to politely avert your gaze as you pass them by. You instead focus on Takeru, who has taken this opportunity to explain the inner-workings of...whatever this is.
“...And I personally see to it that these events remain exclusive,” he says, “Although I do occasionally invite outsiders, such as yourself. You were just so sweet and helpful, I couldn’t resist trying my luck and sending you an invite.”
“Thank you,” you say, “although, I, uh...”
He opens the refrigerator door and motions for you to place the pie inside. Luckily, it’s mostly empty, save for a collection of bottled water and a tin of what looks to be cat food. You’re grateful to not have to carry it around anymore, and thank him for his assistance.
It’s finally time for you to acknowledge the proverbial ‘elephant in the room’—except, you’re not exactly sure how to begin.
“I,” you start, stopping to bite your lip, “I, uh. Is it okay if I...don’t, y’know, do the whole...uh...sex thing?”
“Oh, do you prefer to watch?”
“No! I mean, no, uh,” you laugh nervously, “I’m just...”
Takeru chuckles.
“I’m only teasing. You’re more than welcome to skip the sex and go straight to the food. As long as you’re on the kitchen side, nobody will touch you. It’s one of our rules.”
He motions for Aguni to come over with a wave of his arm, smiling when the tall man comes to lean against the kitchen counter.
“Mori-chan also prefers to abstain from the more salacious aspects of our little gathering, so the two of you can keep each other company.”
“I’m usually in charge of the food,” Aguni adds, “and I try to make sure the candles stay lit.”
“I, uh, I noticed those on the way in. They’re nice.”
Takeru leans towards you as if he’s about to share a secret.
“I don’t mean to be indelicate,” he says in a low tone, “but there is a certain stench that comes with these events. Sweat, musk, various secretions...it all really adds up in the end.”
“It’s awful,” Aguni concludes, “but candles help dissipate the worst of it.”
“Oh, and the ambiance,” Takeru exclaims, “there’s just nothing like candlelight to really get people in the mood for—“
A sharp ding! makes you jump. From what you can gather, it came from the small oven to Aguni’s left.
“Hold it right there,” Takeru growls towards Aguni, who had been in the middle of donning a pair of floral-printed oven mitts, “she needs thirty more seconds.”
Aguni looks at you and rolls his eyes. You stifle a giggle behind your hand, hoping your host doesn’t notice.
“I saw that,” Takeru snips towards Aguni, “honestly, Mori-chan, you get one new friend...”
And even though he’s mid-scold, there remains a joviality to Takeru’s tone—a testament, you believe, to what can only be a long-standing friendship between him and Aguni. It’s hard not to feel jealous of their easy back-and-forth, their banter like a well-matched game of tennis.
“Now you can take her out,” Takeru says, “but, so help me God, if you don’t let her rest for seven minutes–“
“–They’ll never find my body, I know, I know,” Aguni finishes, gingerly placing a metal pan on the stove, “Look, we’ve got it handled. You can go back to your side of the party and I’ll call you when it’s plated.”
“Fine,” Takeru answers with a false pout, “but only because I know she’ll keep you honest.”
And just like that, it’s just you and Aguni once more—but, this time, he seems much more at ease to have you around. Happy, almost. It must be kind of boring, sitting alone in a kitchen while everyone else is...well, busy.
“So,” you say, moving to Aguni’s side to peer into the baking pan, “looks kind of like...a quiche?”
“Not just any quiche,” Aguni answers, opening the drawer to his right and digging a hand inside, “the best quiche in Tokyo.”
He pulls out a shiny silver chef’s knife and places it on the counter. Next comes a pair of dainty forks, delicate little things one might use for tea cakes at a French-inspired bistro. Knowing what you know about Takeru—which, granted, isn’t very much at all—it doesn’t surprise you in the least.
“You’re in front of the plates,” he says, tapping the cabinet directly in front of your face, “grab us some?”
“But we’re supposed to wait seven minutes,” you protest, all while following his instructions, “it’s only been...like, three.”
Aguni’s eyes take on a glint of mischief.
“Only a problem if we get caught.”
Honestly, it looks divine. Pillowy-soft and the perfect pale-yellow hue, delicate tendrils of steam billowing out as he drags the knife through. You hadn’t ever seen a non-rectangular quiche before, but you suppose it makes sense; there are a fair few people in attendance, and the standard circular composition wouldn’t quite feed everyone.
He serves you first. A corner piece (which he insists are the best), speckled with herbs and studded with little pieces of what you assume to be some kind of ham. Little strings of cheese stick to the blade of the knife, and Aguni scrapes them off with the side of a fork, which he then hands to you.
“Takeru doesn’t cook much,” Aguni explains, playing his own small square, “but when he does...”
The sound that comes from your mouth as you take your first bite of quiche could rival any of those happening in the orgy across the room. Oh, that is so good! Buttery crust, the salt of cheese and ham, the subtle bite of onion—and there’s something else there, something you can’t quite place, but you know it tastes absolutely heavenly. Immediately, you take another bite.
“Grew the herbs de Provence myself,” Aguni mentions, “He refuses to use store-bought.”
“Makes all the difference,” you respond, “I could eat the whole pan by myself.”
“I did that for my last birthday, actually,” Aguni chuckles around a forkful of quiche, “Takeru insisted on putting all thirty-eight candles in before carrying it to the table—you know, like a dumbass. Part of his hair caught fire, and I had to give him a haircut at two in the morning because he was so distraught.”
The two of you laugh—Aguni at the memory, and you at the idea of a tearful Takeru sulking as Aguni snipping the fried locks with a pair of kitchen shears.
“He forgave me, even though I took a whole two inches off,” Aguni sets his empty plate in the sink and looks out of the small window above it, “He’s not a bad guy, you know. Doesn’t always make the best choices, sure, but he’s got a good heart in him.”
There is a sadness here, something in Aguni that speaks to a troubled past you haven’t quite unearthed yet—and you know better than to press him, especially here, especially now.
“Well, I can’t say I’m an expert,” you say, handing him your plate, “but you two seem like decent people. Orgies aside, of course.”
“Of course,” Aguni nods, “though I don’t suppose you’ll come to the next one, will you?”
For the first time since your arrival, you allow yourself to watch the festivities happening across the room. It isn’t that bad, you suppose—it’s just a group of people having a fun time together, laughing and gasping and enjoying each others’ bodies in a safe and comfortable place. It’s not something you necessarily want to do yourself, but...well, the ‘weird’ factor of the whole thing has gone down exponentially over the past hour or so.
“And miss out on the best quiche in Tokyo,” you say, nudging against Aguni’s arm with your shoulder, “not a chance!”
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luytenae · 3 years
Text
Fishing lesson
Hello there! Enjoy another one of the kiss prompts!
Kiss number 22: in a rush of adrenaline
Matenro, the division from Shinjuku, had an entertaining tradition. Every once in a while, whenever their days off coincided with each other’s, they would go fishing. It was a hobby Jakurai had in common with Hifumi, and Doppo ended up tagging along with them. This weekend would be no different, and the doctor even made a reservation to have a guaranteed spot...
If it wasn’t for Doppo’s boss.
“I am truly sorry, sensei… I am just garbage, the worst kind you can find, and I ruined our day out…-“
The salaryman apologised, showing once again his low self-esteem, and sounding pitiful even during a phone call. Jakurai felt he wasn’t helping Doppo enough during their appointments.
“Do not worry, Doppo-kun. Don’t say such things, as it is not your fault after all. We will go fishing the next time, alright? There’s no need to be so hard on yourself…”
Jakurai cut him during his speech, not wanting Doppo to deprecate himself. He knew well his teammate was sorry, so everything the doctor needed to do for him was to reassure and calm him down. After all, Doppo didn’t ruin a single thing nor was his fault. If it was someone’s fault, it would be his boss for not respecting his leisure time. As he had predicted, Hifumi would make him company in order to finish Doppo’s tasks as soon as possible, so it would be just him at the fishing centre this time.
After –once again– reassuring the couple at the other line of the call that it was going to be all right, he hanged up the phone, making a half smile as he put it back on his pocket. He found lovely how Hifumi could be so devoted to his partner, sacrificing his own day off to help him and keep him company. With his teammates still on his mind, he started gathering his supplies: fishing rod, a replacement reel, lures and everything else he could need.
Just when he was going to leave his house, his phone buzzed again, this time receiving a call from someone completely different.
“Hey hey old coot! Whatcha doing on this loooovely Saturday morning?”
Ramuda’s voice announced him as cheerful as usual. Of course, who else would call him during his free day?
“Why, good morning to you too, Ramuda-kun. I was about to go fishing-“
He announced, holding his phone with his shoulder as he fetched his car keys, opening the vehicle’s trunk to start packing his gear.
“Ohh, one of your booring hobbies? Lemme guess, you’re going with your teammates, right?”
The fashion designer laughed at the other side, rummaging through his desk to pick a lollipop to unwrap and enjoy.
“That was our initial plan, yes”
Jakurai left out a heavy sigh, deciding that his gear could wait for a little, as he found himself incapable of holding the phone with his shoulder as Doppo could do.
“What do you mean with initial?”
Curious, the younger man popped the candy out of his mouth, paying real attention to Jakurai.
“I mean that they cannot come this time, so I am going alone”
“Boo-hoo, then Jakurai must be feeling soooo lonely!”
His curiosity changed to a tone that could be considered a mock or real concern. The doctor, knowing his partner, interpreted his words like what they were: something in between; real concern disguised with jokes, because that’s just how Ramuda was. Jakurai laughed softly, shaking his head a little.
“Why don’t you come with me, if you are so concerned about me being lonely?”
A small gasp was heard at the other end of the call, audible enough for Jakurai to notice the fashion designer’s surprise.
“Uh-mhhhh, fishing sounds a bit too boring for someone like me, but I guess I could go and make you some company! Don’t want my old man to be all gloomy!”
That was Ramuda’s way to announce that he was free and willing to go with him, if only he was honest enough to recognize he wanted to spend the day together with his lover.
“Alright then. I’ll be at your place in 30 minutes, so get ready. I guess you do not have a rod, do you?”
“Nuh-uh! As I told ya, I’ve never went fishing. You see, I don’t have grandpa’s hobbies!”
“Very funny, Ramuda. I’ll lend you one of mine, then”
“Wow, so cool! Thank you babe! See you real soon!”
Before Jakurai could reply, Ramuda ended the call, leaving the older man wondering whether he liked or not to be called “babe”. Letting that aside, he finally got everything in the car and, before heading to Shibuya, he came back home and fetched another rod for his new companion.
As scheduled, the doctor was in front of Ramuda’s shop just in time, only to see Ramuda was waiting for him. Jakurai chuckled, not expecting him to take fishing so seriously. He was dressed with a knee-length jean overall full of patches, a plain and short-sleeved blue crop top, matching sneakers and bucket hat.
“I didn’t imagine you would take this so seriously”
The doctor announced jokingly, rolling down the window and inviting the designer in.
“I must follow the aesthetic, you know!”
Replied the designer, opening the door and hopping in the passenger’s seat, grabbing the seatbelt and securing it. He then kissed his partner on the cheek as a greeting, giving him a paper bag.
“And I got you something too! You gotta be fashionable if I’m coming with you. I can’t let you ruin my reputation as a top designer”
Sceptically, Jakurai took the bag before starting up his van, checking what was inside. The contents surprised him, as he was expecting a present like the one he received last time –when Ramuda gifted him that one hat with the “women want me, fish fear me” phrase–. This time it was also a hat, but a decent one. One Jakurai could wear without having everyone’s eyes on him. The doctor smiled, putting it on and kissing his partner’s cheek.
“Thank you for gifting me this. I shall cherish it”
Ramuda giggled, opening a lollipop and lifting it cheerfully.
“You’re soo cheesy! I just wanna see you dressing fashionable for once, and not like a grandpa!”
Soon enough, the couple headed to the fishing centre, Jakurai driving back to Shinjuku. The ride was short and full of bickering from Ramuda to Jakurai and vice versa, since the doctor couldn’t help but fall right into the other man’s shenanigans.
After parking the car, they both got out of the car –Ramuda previously put on a pair of sunglasses–, got the fishing gear, and proceeded to go in. The staff welcomed the older man, as he was a regular there; and was asked about where did his teammates were as well as who his new companion was. It didn’t take them longer to realize he was the leader of Shibuya division, because Ramuda soon started to behave like, well, like him. The room was soon filled with cheers echoing how cute he was, as the designer was laughing and taking pictures with everyone that wanted one.
“I’m glad you’re already having fun, Amemura-kun. I can’t wait to see how will you react to fishing itself”
Jakurai waited for the crowd to calm down, heading right to his partner and gently reminding him what were they going to do. The smaller man put his phone back on his pocket, grabbing his boyfriend’s hand and going with him to the ponds.
“Since it’s your first time, I should tell you about this place”
The older man led the way, waltzing around fellow fishermen and families that went to enjoy their day.
“This is the Ichigaya Fish Center. People from both Shinjuku and other places frequent it, and, as you can see, it is family friendly. That’s because they don’t have a focus on professional fishing, having a small pond with goldfish that’s very popular among children”
Seeing his usual spot free, Jakurai went there, placing everything –starting by opening their chairs– down. Ramuda launched himself to the chair, enjoying the remains of his lollipop while the doctor continued his explanations.
“Since it’s your first time fishing, I’ll guess you don’t know how a rod works, am I right?”
“Yup! I mean, I know that you have to use a bait and things like that…”
Ramuda stopped mid-sentence, appearing paler and frowning.
“Wait wait waaaait a minute there. I’m totally NOT touching a worm, for your information!”
Jakurai laughed, sitting by Ramuda’s and starting to assemble both rods.
“Rest assured, it is not allowed to use live baits. They only permit mashed baits, so you will not be touching any worms”
The young man let out a relieved sigh, now intrigued by the doctor’s assembling task. He would ask him whenever he got a question, no matter how silly it could be; and Jakurai replied with pleasure, thanking Ramuda’s interest. It didn’t take them long to be completely ready, Jakurai handing Ramuda a rod and making sure he was holding it right.
“Always make sure to tie the knot tightly. A bad knot may make you lose a good catch. Understood?”
“Right and clear, mister!!”
And, like that, Jakurai taught his partner how to throw the rod, what led to a couple of failed attempts –where a fisherman’s hat was related, as well as an apology for “fishing” his hat– and a final success that made Ramuda enthusiastic enough to keep going.
“It’s important to know that fishing takes patience. Do you think yourself capable of such thing?”
Jakurai joked, receiving a pout as a reply from the pink haired man.
“I can be pretty patient if I want, humph!”
“Alright then. Keep an eye on your bobber, and if you see it shaking, then a fish is nibbling on the bait. If you see it going completely under the surface, quickly set the hook before losing the fish”
“Aand… How do I do that?”
His question was answered with actions: a fish happened to nibble on Jakurai’s bait, and he took that as an opportunity to teach Ramuda.
“It’s simple. You just have to do this–“
As soon as the bobber submerged completely, the doctor quickly rose the pole, pointing it straight in the air.
“By doing this, the fish will swing to you. Like that, you will have successfully catched a fish”
The designer looked at him in awe, amazed by the scene –and by how hot the doctor when he rose the pole–. He set down his rod and rushed to Jakurai, who was now holding his catch gently.
“Remember to hold it carefully. Pond fishes don’t usually have sharp teeth, but you may find fishes with spiny fins and, overall, they are very slippery. You have to hold them behind the head, without fear and gently”
Ramuda looked at the carp full of curiosity, admiring how his partner was holding it. He estimated that it was about 60 centimetres long, and laughed at the sight of its moustache.
“Before releasing it back, we remove the hook with these–”
Jakurai motioned to his other hand, showing a pair of needle-nose pliers. He took out the hook with ease, showing his skills and how accustomed he was to the activity, leaving Ramuda to wonder for how long he has been fishing.
The younger man took out his phone, making the doctor pose for a picture. Jakurai agreed happily, letting him take a picture.
“This is bringing back some memories! I used to be your teacher, but you’re the one teaching me now!”
They both smiled bitter-sweetly, remembering the old TDD days. The bitterness didn’t last long, because now everything was in the place it should be. No more misunderstandings that could make everything tangle up the way it was tangled before.
“Now it’s your turn, Ramuda-kun. Show me what you can do”
As soon as the picture was taken, Jakurai put the fish back on the pond, watching it swim away before sitting back and launching again his rod.
“Alright! Well then, here we go!”
Ramuda launched his pole, looking to Jakurai occasionally in order to check if he was doing it right. After he reassured him, he gazed again to the bobber, frowning as he focused on the task.
“UGH! This is taking forever! Why don’t they come faster?! Silly fishes!”
As the older man had anticipated, after 10 minutes motionless, his partner lost what little patience he had.
“What was the first thing I told you before starting, Ramuda-kun?”
“That it takes patience…”
He replied, somewhat irritated and frustrated.
“And what did you answer?”
Jakurai kept the conversation going, taking his chance to bicker the designer.
“Geez, I know, I know! I gotta wait! Now shut up, old coot!”
The lilac haired man laughed, launching his rod back in the water and providing Ramuda with small talk to help him overcome dullness. As someone who had lots of energy, he needed to be in constant movement; and activities such as fishing could be frustrating due to long waiting times and needing to be calm and quiet. For that, they kept talking about whatever topic they could find, keeping the designer entertained and focused –not losing his patience was the main goal–.
Their counting, after a while, was still negative for Ramuda. Jakurai managed to catch three medium sized carps and a big one, whereas the younger man only had a couple of failed attempts.
“I swear if I don’t get one the next time, I’m launching this stupid rod to the pond and never coming back!”
The doctor could notice how this was more frustrating than entertaining for his partner, and started to feel sorry for bringing him here. But the feeling didn’t last long, because soon enough Ramuda’s bobber went underwater again.
“Now, Ramuda-kun! Do it as I taught you, quickly!”
The designer reacted swiftly and, thanks to his efforts, he finally succeeded and raised the pole straight, catching his first fish. He grabbed it just like Jakurai told him to, and right after taking out the hook, he started to jump enthusiastically, laughing with pride and showing off his “prize”.
“Look!! I got it, I got it!!”
He couldn’t help but laugh, smiling widely for his picture. The doctor felt relieved, letting his recent thoughts go away, washed by his lover’s laugh.
“Yes, you did it very well. Congratulations on your first catch, my love”
Moved by the adrenaline, Ramuda jumped to kiss him after releasing the carp, clutching to the doctor’s neck and trusting him to hold him. The kiss was eagerly replied, Jakurai caressing his hair after putting him down again. The designer’s broad and sincere smile was something he would never get tired of watching.
“See? You just needed to be patient”
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ary-se · 4 years
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Mankai with a roach
some of these are based on irl experiences so i hope y'all enjoy reading this as much as i did writing it LMAO no braincells were involved in doing this i am so sorry.. also tagging @tsum-uwu-gi for some of the totally whack ideas, tysm 🥰
🐪 the mankai dorm never really experienced having a roach flying all over the place that much, and even if it did, they're immediately dealt with by the moms of the dorm
🐪 that was mostly the case until that one specific day arrived, when the reliable people were gone for different reasons. tsuzuru was in his part-time job, omi was getting groceries, tasuku was a guest actor for another troupe, and no one knows what in the world sakyo was up to
🐪 anyways the first one to notice was azuma, he walked in the bathroom probably to take a dump or something - who knows really lol - when he found himself staring at a roach that was literally on the toilet.
🐪 azuma literally has no idea how or when it got there, but the fact remains that there is no freaking way he is going to use the toilet unless he wants a death sentence. the logical choice was to close the toilet and flush it, but at that moment he kinda lost his shit, both literally and figuratively, and so all he did was act composed as he quickly left the bathroom
🐪 "azu-nee, why do you look so pale?" yuki asked him out of curiosity in the dining room, but azuma is hella smooth so he just laughs it off and acts as if he totally wasn't horrified at all, "it's nothing, you're probably imagining things."
🐪 after that incident, nothing happens for at least an hour. unfortunately, a roach doesn't simply disappear just because you want them to, which was why azuma's efforts of not letting the roach escape from the bathroom were in vain...
🐪 for some apparent reason taichi sometimes has this tendency of holding his own pee before he sprints to the toilet and just bursts in there, so when he ran to the bathroom and immediately let out an ungodly screech, it's all fucking over
🐪 did taichi piss himself? who the hell freaking knows. if he did, mankai would normally either laugh or feel bad for him or both, but at that moment nobody cared about that. what actually mattered was that taichi left the fucking door open so the moment he screamed, the roach already started flying EVERYWHERE
🐪 the one who was nearby the bathroom that time was kazunari. even if kazunari acts like he is scared of roaches, he actually isn't and he is capable of killing a roach in sight. would he help taichi, who has his fly almost open, by killing the roach and call it a day?
🐪 the answer is hell no. killing it doesn't even cross his mind. kazunari thinks this is really hilarious, and if he finds something funny he doesn't do anything to solve the problem. kazunari would basically make things worse by going live on his instablam to record what is happening. in this case, it is all about the unwanted creature and where in the actual world it is gonna land
🐪 gladly, kazu's sanity is still intact that he didn't include taichi in his live for the first few minutes. if kazu did, taichi better say bye bye to his remaining dignity and write his last will so he can finally dig his own grave. people will forever know him as the ugly sobbing, screaming dude in the bathroom with his fly open, and that is honestly the last thing taichi wants to be known for
🐪 sakuya goes to where the chaos is, poor boy was legitimately confused as to why two people are yelling and laughing at the same time. it is normal in mankai but every time it happens, somewhing whack is happening. unfortunately for sakuya, he was completely unaware of the roach flying behind him
🐪 "hi kazunari!" sakuya greets, and the roach lands on the sleeve of his hoodie. sakuya is a pure little bean, he is ALWAYS a pure bean but if kazu was being honest, the current image of sakuya smiling widely while a roach is chilling on his sleeve was really unnerving in its own way
🐪 kazu started to laugh so hard that he is physically unable to explain to sakuya what was happening, and he felt so bad about it. sadly, kazu doesn't have the capability to stop laughing by force, does he? because of the lack of explanation, it took sakuya approximately 7 seconds of obliviousness before he notices
🐪 tenma arrived right after that, and the roach flies off sakuya's hoodie after he jumps from surprise. high and mighty carrot boy is now in for a storm cause the moment he appeared, the roach lands on top of tenma's freaking head out of all places
🐪 "hey guys, what's happening?"
🐪 "there's a flying roach. and it is now on your head." kazunari deadpans. he always tricked tenma when it comes to these kinds of things, but he is serious this time
🐪 tenma literally HUFFS as if he doesn't believe kazunari in the slightest, and tbh you can't blame him cause summer troupe gave him trust issues from their pranks. sorry mister. unlike their old pranks, it is actually real right now... kazu ain't joking, please believe him now
🐪 tenma shrugs and places a hand on his head nonchalantly to ~prove his point~, "you won't fool me again-" he froze the moment he actually felt something moist moving under his hand
🐪 at that moment tenma screamed one hundred fucking times louder than the entire mankai company could, the entire neighborhood would learn their lesson to bring earplugs wherever they go cause his screams are literally ear-splitting
🐪 tenma should say goodbye to his reputation as a k00L b0y 4ct0R😎 that he has maintained for so long cause a lot of people are already watching the live. also rip to the people who were using earphones... at least you have witnessed tenma's most unglorious moment on public. from that moment he is already and permanently a meme and there is no going back
🐪 "STOP SCREAMING HACK!!" yuki yells at him with all of his might, but it was super inaudible because his scream still reigns. the roach lands on the wall, so yuki grabs whatever was on the table. it was banri's fashion magazine, which is fucking useless by the way, because he still can't dress himself up no matter how many fashion magazines he purchases. good job yuki for using it as a sacrifice
🐪 yuki rolled the magazine and repeatedly whacked it to the wall out of pure annoyance so he can kill the roach. in all honesty, the roach would've been dead by now from yuki's wrath, but curse his height cause he can't reach the freaking roach no matter how hard he tried. sorry yuki, your courage and bravery were all in vain
🐪 amidst all the chaos, nobody freaking noticed muku, who was deadass in the living room the whole time. question is, how is muku not aware of what was happening? how did he manage not to hear taichi's and even the mighty tenma's screams? the answer is simple. HE WAS TOO ENGROSSED IN HIS SHOUJO MANGA.
🐪 when yuki was about to finally hit the roach, it flew to the cover of muku's shoujo freaking manga. for an unknown reason, muku doesn't even flinch. HE JUST KEPT ON READING. muku, everyone adores you especially with your love for romance but the kissing scene isn't important right now, PLEASE STOP READING THIS INSTANT
🐪 everyone literally went silent, nobody had the heart to tell muku. they just watched the roach crawl slowly to muku's fingers in suspense. after what seemed like forever, muku closed his book while giggling, but that didn't last forever cause he saw the roach and in a split second he dropped his book without any hesitation
🐪 muku got so freaked out they all felt sorry to the poor boy. he just stared at the shoujo manga that is now on the floor, endlessly mumbling about having to buy a new one because the roach already cursed his book and he will become unlucky and he might pass on the curse to everybody else and they will fail all their upcoming shows and---
🐪 anyways. the roach lands on citron's palms, and citron... surprisingly doesn't freak out. he doesn't care. actually, CITRON'S HAPPY??? he just looks at the roach in fascination and if it were any other creature it would look so adorable. but no, it had to be a ROACH and it's absolutely whack and disgusting. please remember that it is the same roach that came from the freaking toilet. citron, please wash your hands RIGHT NOW.
🐪 "CITRON KILL IT!!"
🐪 "NO, NO! POOR COACH!" citron shakes his head, reluctant to kill it. he kept the roach in his hands so nobody would be able to kill it... he was oddly protective of it and NOBODY KNOWS WHY. THEY ALL DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHY EITHER. citron please stop, what you're doing is making everything way worse. let go of that roach this instant and be hygienic just PLEASE oh my god
🐪 everybody already lost hope on trying to kill the roach, citron and his questionable logic is beyond their comprehension. but they refuse to waste their time fighting him about it because it will fly everywhere and no one wants that... lucky for them, tsuzuru finally arrives the dorms. HE IS EVERYONE'S SALVATION! SOMEONE WHO CAN FINALLY KILL THE ROACH! FREAKING FINALLY,,
🐪 yeah no, nevermind that. tsuzuru was so fucking tired from his part-time job that he just collapses right after he closed the door. please let the poor man sleep, don't even bother on trying to wake him up to kill the roach cause there's no way he is gonna wake up any time soon. cut him some slack. they felt bad for him but it happens way too often so they just left him on the doorway and that's it.
🐪 a few minutes after tsuzuru passed out, banri got back from no one knows where, probably shopping for more animal print clothes... who the hell knows. unlike the others, banri already knew what was happening without asking cause he has been watching kazu's live for like ten minutes already. if he was being honest, the whole thing was making him lose his shit so he tried to go back to the dorms asap to not miss out on anything good
🐪 coincidentally, juza also left their room from his long ass nap to see wtf was happening cause they were being hella noisy. after some explaining, when juza already fully figured out what was going on, he was aboutta kill it, ACTUALLY KILL IT, when banri stopped him. "you get out of this. i am the one killing it."
🐪 "get your own roach for you to kill, settsu"
🐪 curse their competitive asses cause it has reached to the point where they're already starting to beat each other up to death. the goal here is to kill the roach, not each other you dumbasses, get your brains straight please that's not helping anything don't be stupid for once
🐪 the roach flew from citron's hands and everybody screeched but finally, FINALLY AN ADULT walks in. tsumugi went in the dorm from the garden with a bottle of pesticide in his hand. once everybody noticed what he was holding, they were all getting panicky so they angrily screamed at him to spray it to the roach, it was too chaotic
🐪 tsumugi was so confused??? why was everybody angry at him?? what did he do to deserve this?? he doesn't actually think his pesticide works on roaches, but it was probably better if he stays silent about it since everyone will not listen and would force him to spray it on the roach anyways, what's the point
🐪 and so he did. at first, the roach stopped moving, so they assumed it was already dead. tsumugi then sprayed a lot more to make sure it actually was dead and everybody collectively sighed in relief. finally the fiasco is over. everyome can go back to their normal lives before this fucking happened
🐪 or not. the ROACH DEADASS FLEW AGAIN AND THEY ALL PANICKED. funny enough tsumugi calmly explained amidst all that, and it turns out tsumugi's pesticide was weak, and to top it all off it was water-based so it had no freaking effect on the roach whatsoever. too bad, so much for everybody getting false hope, huh. they wanna blame tsumugi for not saying anything before spraying but it is also their fault for getting worked up so whatever
🐪 itaru arrives from work, and one quick glance on what everyone was yelling about tells him that he refuses to participate in this crap. give him a freaking break please. he was dealing with work and you're telling him that he has to put up with this, too? hell fuckin no. he manages to quickly escape to his room to catch up on his games and it is a good thing that no one really noticed. they're too busy screeching every time the roach just flies outta nowhere.
🐪 masumi was deadass watching them from the sidelines. he could tell them to open the windows and just wait for the roach to fly outside so they can get it over with and call it a day. what a joke though, masumi giving helpful tips so everyone can calm down? yeah right haha no. he doesn't want to waste his energy on doing that even if their noise was actually getting into his nerves, so the whole duration he stays silent while he watches them lose their shit
🐪 this is one of the moments where they all legitimately wished misumi was here right now. him blabbing about triangles every second made them think that the roach kind of looks like a triangle when its wings are out. misumi what did you do to them to make them think this way?? did you make them do the triangle calisthenics or cathletics or whatever the heck that is??
🐪 knowing misumi, he can catch the roach in a matter of seconds. so where in the world is misumi? he is out again for his daily triangle hunting, obviously. come back, misumi... literally everything would be over in a flash if misumi decided to stay in the dorms today
🐪 despite this, for some apparent reason homare manages to find inspiration in all this. look, mister. the dorm is a fucking chaos. actual chaos. kazunari is somehow still live on instablam, wheezing so hard like he is gonna die any second now. the scene is literally just teenage boys screaming and running all over the place. two of said teenage boys are beating each other up... and one (1), ONE roach flies on top of everything, still fucking alive. EXACTLY WHAT PART OF THAT MAKES YOU FEEL INSPIRED HUH HOMARE!!! SPEAK UP!!!
🐪 the noise levels of mankai dorm is practically a headache at this point, if sakyo was here his boomer brain would be having a migraine that would be worth a week of pure pain and agony. for some reason, hisoka, who is on the sofa in the living room, literally in the MIDDLE OF THE CHAOS, just sleeps through it all.
🐪 how does he do that? just what kind of marshmallows does he eat?? do they permanently damage a person's hearing?? no matter how many times they woke hisoka up, he doesn't budge. what the actual fuck. and tsuzuru is still sleeping in the freaking doorway. at this point they could cuddle each other for all they want until they fucking die cause no amount of noise is gonna wake them up from their eternal slumber
🐪 after what seemed like forever, sakyo arrived and everybody immediately went silent. they stopped what they were doing except kazu, who was either incredibly stupid or incredibly brave, nobody wants to answer that right now. he is still live on instablam. even the live chat went silent.
🐪 sakyo still doesn't know what was happening but he knows it is BAD news, so he glared right at kazunari's camera and the last moments before the live ended was sakyo angrily stomping his way to kazunari and the screen blacked out
🐪 after learning that everything was only caused by a roach, sakyo got so mad that he managed to snatch a flip flop out of nowhere and killed the roach until it was completely crushed. it was safe to say everybody felt bad to the roach despite being the cause of everything. by the way, whose flip flop was that? nobody knows.
🐪 tasuku, misumi and omi arrived in the dorms while sakyo was lecturing everyone, and they still got dragged in without knowing what in the world happened. please pray for these poor souls they have to deal with his yelling without even being a part of it.
🐪 omi just bought groceries for dinner, he didn't waste his time to do that just to have no dinner tonight oh my god please give this man a break from everyone's bullcrap. tasuku's role in the other company's play was some random teen whose parents were mad at him for doing shit. he doesn't have to deal with sakyo actually getting mad too please let this man live in peace. and misumi? he isn't happy that he got dragged in, too. this is not very sankaku of you, sakyo
🐪 "MIYOSHI, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO RECORD THE WHOLE THING? YOU'RE RUINING THE COMPANY'S IMAGE. ALSO THE BOTH OF YOU FIGHTING YADDA YADDA YADDA"
🐪 the lecture lasted for 5 hours and nobody ate dinner that night. everybody was so tired after that. nobody was allowed to speak and if someone mutters, sakyo will yell at them next. can sakyo still lecture you for another 5 hours even after that long ass session? unfortunately yes.
🐪 everybody was banned from eating meals the next day. the resident moms reached an agreement that at least one of them always stays in the mankai dorm so this never EVER happens again. once is enough, they do not need another fiasco like this one.
🐪 oh and was it mentioned that kazunari doesn't have a phone for a solid month? cause that happened, sakyo banned him. you bet he managed to live a phoneless life by logging on his social media platforms on other people's phones without sakyo knowing,, not really the definition of "phoneless" if you ask him..
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Boys are raised to be men. Part 1 - Two broken people
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Series Masterlist - Bucky Masterlist - Full Masterlist
Summary: Things are different outside the city. When Bucky moves out of the city to live closer to his father’s best friend, Steve, he meets a peculiar girl from a strange family. She’s loved by everyone in the village and like him, she’s missing a limb. And, to Bucky’s surprise, she’s determined to make him part of her life.
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word count: 2377
Author’s note: I am not disabled and I couldn’t ever imagine what it’s like. If you have anything to not about that aspect of the story, please send me a message so I can fix possible mistakes or misunderstandings in upcoming chapters. Also, let me know if you want to be tagged in future updates.
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‘Good morning mister and misses Rogers.’ You smile and wave at your next-door neighbors who are enjoying the warm spring sun on their porch. In your hand is a plate of cookies. You have always liked baking and often bring a plate to your neighbors on Sunday so they have something to enjoy with their tea after attending church. You would join them at church but you are simply not religious and you can’t stand the pastor in this town. He’s a dick and after his son spent the night in your bed once, you can’t look him in the eye.
‘Morning Y/n,’ Steve replies with a smile. His wife, Peggy, gets up from her seat and shuffles inside to get another cup. She does this every Sunday. Well, she’s been doing this every Sunday ever since a few months. It seems her memory is declining quite rapidly but Steve doesn’t mind reminding her to do mundane tasks. He’s as happy as can be. From what he’s told you, their love story hasn’t been sunshine and butterflies at all. He was nearly killed in the war and just barely survived. When he came back, Peggy was engaged to another but they still found each other in the end. It’s beautiful. You could only hope to marry a man as kind as Steve, who will look at you like he still has a crush on you. Because damn, Steve looks at Peggy like he’s a schoolboy with a crush, like she’s the most beautiful woman in the world, like she’s the only woman in the world. It’s wonderful. You’ve seen that look on Tony’s face when he looked at your mother and you’ve been seeing it more and more from him when Pepper comes around. ‘How have you been Y/n,’ Steve asks, patting the chair next to him to gesture you to sit down on the straw chair. You put the plate on the table and take a seat. The chair barely budges under you even though the thing looks ancient. Good craftsmanship. ‘I’m doing well,’ you say with a smile, ‘I might not be a Christina but I do think the Lord has put an angel on my shoulder.’ ‘Well, you know we pray for you and Peter,’ Steve tells you with a gentle smile, ‘you deserve happiness after everything.’ Peggy steps back outside and shuffles her way over to you two. And of course, in true Peggy fashion, she’s heard everything. ‘I agree,’ she says as she puts the third teacup down on the table with shaky hands, ‘you two are wonderful children.’ Steve smiles at his wife and holds her hand to help her sit down comfortably, only turning back to you when he’s made sure she’s properly seated. ‘Say, how’s that man of yours? Ehm, Samuel, was it not?’ Steve nudges you like you’re two teenagers gossiping. You chuckle and shake your head. ‘Sam and I are still friends,’ you tell him, ‘nothing is ever going to happen between the two of us.’ ‘Maybe you should try living in the city if you’re not interested in the men here,’ Peggy suggests as she does every Sunday but you are perfectly content here. You’ve always liked the little life you’re living. You don’t need and don’t like the big fancy cars, busy streets, and small apartments. ‘I’d rather stay here,’ you shrug, ‘and there are enough people to choose from here.’ ‘Let’s go down the list of potential suitors for a second,’ Steve suggests but he’s not really interested in your opinion. He just wants to know who is with who and what the drama is. He just wants to know about the “youngsters.” Youngsters being people in their mid to late twenties. ‘First up, Thor Odison.’ ‘Lovely guy but he’s in love with Jane. You know, the farmer’s daughter.’ ‘Oh, those two are never going to work out,’ Peggy chimes in, ‘she’s way too much of an individual for him.’ ‘Agreed,’ Steve nods, ‘Loki Laufeyson?’ ‘No way,’ you laugh, ‘that man is a trickster. He’s a great friend but I could never date him.’ Peggy shrugs at Steve’s confused look. ‘Okay, that’s fair,’ Steve agrees with a sigh, ‘Natasha Romanoff?’ ‘She’s dating Bruce Banner. Besides, you do remember she’s my ex, right?’ ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Steve says with a sultry look and pats you on the shoulder for a second. ‘Don’t you work at her flower shop?’ Peggy looks quite confused as she asks you about it. ‘Yes, we’re still friends. We just came to the conclusion that we weren’t going anywhere. She’s great but just not for me,’ you explain. ‘How about the Maximoff twins? They seem like something you’d be interested in,’ Peggy asks. ‘They’re fine but Wanda is already dating Vision and Pietro, well, he’s cute but not quite my type,’ you explain but there’s a blush pulling up on your cheeks. Steve picks up on it right away. ‘Is that so? Didn’t I see Pietro sneak out of your house a few weeks ago?’ He grins, sipping on his tea. Gosh, for being elderly the two are awfully gossipy. ‘We’re not talking about those kinds of endeavors on the day of the Lord,’ you say to try and laugh it off while simultaneously admitting to Steve’s indication. Steve seems satisfied with this answer but Peggy seems lost in thoughts. ‘What about Bucky?’
‘Dad! Did you know we have a new neighbor,’ you yell into the house from the hallway while kicking off your shoes and hanging your jacket most hastily. You walk into the living room to see Tony sitting on the couch with a rugged-looking man. The man only has one arm, which has her surprised for a second but she isn’t one to stare as she is also missing part of a limb. Besides, there’s enough else to stare at. This man is a gift. His hair is a tad bit long and he has a bit of scruffy facial hair. And his lips. There’s something about his lips. The corners look upturned at any given moment. It makes him look friendly and approachable. You are certain he either is or used to be quite the ladies’ man. For a short second, you get lost in his icy blue eyes. Wow. Just wow. This man is beautiful. ‘I do know,’ Tony says a bit annoyed at your loud entrance, ‘Y/n, this is James Barnes. James, this is my daughter, Y/n Parker.’ James looks a bit confused at the introduction as his eyes flicker from you to Tony until you shake hands. He doesn’t ask about the difference between the names though. ‘So you’re Bucky?’ He nods at your question. ‘Would you prefer I call you Bucky or James?’ ‘Bucky. Thanks for asking.’ A faint smile appears on his face. ‘He’s already met Peter,’ Tony tells you to explain the confusion on his face earlier. ‘Ah,’ you chuckle, ‘I understand. We aren’t the most usual bunch.’ ‘James- I’m sorry, Bucky here is from the city.’ Tony completely brushes away the whole conversation and hops right into a new topic as you take a seat next to Bucky. ‘Why’d you decide to move somewhere so boring?’ Bucky seems hesitant in answering but something tells you it has a lot to do with his missing limb. You can tell by the way he’s slowly retreating into his jacket. ‘You don’t have to tell me,’ you assure him, ‘I don’t mind.’ ‘Thank you,’ he smiles gratefully and sits up a little straighter again like bricks have been lifted off his shoulders. You can’t help but wonder if your dad was interrogating him up until now. The poor man must’ve been stressed out of his mind. ‘So what do you do, Bucky?’ Tony asks it while he gets up from the couch, making his way over to the kitchen to get the grocery list you put on the fridge whenever you need something. After all, you made a deal yesterday. You cook, he gets groceries. ‘Not much these days,’ Bucky admits, ‘I used to be in the army.’ Ah, that answers a lot of questions. ‘Sow hat do you do to pass the time,’ you ask as you hear the front door close. Of course Tony wouldn’t tell you he was leaving. He’s just glad you took the unexpected guest off his hands. ‘I paint,’ he tells you, looking slightly more at ease now that Tony left, ‘I’m not great but it’s a nice way to pass the time and get some emotions out.’ ‘You’ll have to show me sometime,’ you say with a wink. It catches Bucky off guard. Did you just flirt with him? ‘Would you like some more tea?’ ‘Oh, no, I’m good,’ Bucky says and quickly gets up, ‘I only came by to introduce myself.’ You nod and get up to show him out. You notice he’s still wearing his shoes even though you never wear shoes inside the house. Tony probably felt bad about asking him to take them off so he didn’t. You watch him step outside but you just can’t let him walk away. He’s just too… Wow, he’s too beautiful for you to let him walk away. ‘If you don’t have anything to do tonight. Most of us hang out at the pub downtown every Sunday around seven pm.’ Bucky isn’t sure what to say and you feel obligated to keep talking. ‘It’s just a bunch of stupid people getting drunk but it’s fun’ And now you’re oversharing but Bucky doesn’t seem to mind. He shows a friendly smile but doesn’t look too sure of what to say. ‘You don’t have to but if you want to, I’ll leave here at seven,’ you tell him, ‘so I guess I’ll see you around?’ He smiles and nods to you. You close the door as he walks down to the house next door. Old man Steve’s house. ‘Ah, Bucky, how do you like the Parkers?’ Steve calls out to him before he can make it down their driveway. Bucky and Steve go back a long way. Bucky’s father was good friends with Steve and the man had always been like a backup dad to him. So when his father passed and he got overwhelmed in the city, the next best option was to go look for Steve. ‘They’re a strange bunch,’ Bucky admits, ‘but the girl, Y/n, she’s really sweet. She invited me to the pub.’ ‘You better go punk,’ Steve says in a tone that’s close to warning, ‘you won’t get a better offer to meet the youngsters in town.’ ‘Youngsters? From what you told me, they’re all nearing their thirties.’ ‘You know what I mean,’ Steve argues and waves it off. Bucky takes a seat with Steve on the porch, the chair creaking under his mass. ‘So what’s up with that family? I mean, I know of Stark industries but I never expected to find Tony Stark in a small town like this.’ ‘It’s not my place to tell you.’ Steve looks pained as he says it and it surprises Bucky. Sure, three people living in a house that don’t all share the same last name, there’s a story there. But Steve’s reaction makes him think it’s more than that. ‘Those three have been through a lot. They aren’t related by blood but they’re more of a family than most others down here.’ Bucky gazes over his shoulder at the house next door and watches as the door to the Parker residence opens and the two siblings come running out. The two are like spitfire as Y/n chases Peter for something that doesn’t seem to matter much to them judging by the smiles on their face. ‘I can see that.’ Then, suddenly, they hear Y/n yelp and she falls in the grass in front of their house. She lets a string of muffled curses fall from her mouth as her brother runs up to her. The two seem to be concerned about her leg. Steve tries to call Bucky back but he’s already running up to them. Peter sees him coming and tells him they’re fine but Bucky doesn’t want to go back to Steve. Instead, he kneels down next to Y/n. ‘Hey, are you okay?’ She doesn’t look at him. His eyes fall to the strange picture in front of him. It looks like her leg has been snapped in half at the knee but last time Bucky checked, ankles aren’t made from metal. ‘Yeah, fine,’ she grumbles as she pulls her flared jeans up to her mid-thigh to reveal the prosthetic that came off, ‘it just got stuck and I tripped.’ She grabs the metal leg and pushes it back into place like it’s nothing. Something stirs inside Bucky. “She’s like me,” he thinks, “she’s broken too.” But he doesn’t speak. He understands now why Steve tried to call him back and why Peter tried to tell him it was fine. He wouldn’t want help either. Because when you’re broken, people feel the need to treat you like a child, like you can’t do anything on your own, like you’re not a grown adult with a brain. You lost a limb, not your brain. ‘I’m sorry, I was worried you hurt yourself,’ he says softly and offers his hand to help her up but she politely declines and gets up herself. ‘It’s fine,’ she huffs and pushes her smile back on her face, ‘did you make up your mind about tonight?’ He smiles back at her. ‘Yeah, I’d love to join you. Steve wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I declined.’ ‘You know him well, right?’ ‘Yeah, he used to be friends with my dad.’ ‘Explains the pictures on the fireplace,’ she teases, ‘and all the stories.’ ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Bucky groans, letting his arm drop to his side, ‘please tell me these friends of yours aren’t close to Steve.’ ‘Just Sam but I think you’ll like him,’ she tells him, ‘he’s the same kind of chaotic as you.’ She pats his shoulder and walks back to her house, Peter following her closely behind. ‘Great, just great,’ Bucky sighs.
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yoongikisses · 3 years
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{MYG} My Pick-Up Note
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Pairing| Yoongi x Reader
Summary| You get a Pick-Up note for your order as you missed the Postman this morning. As you pick it up at the post office, you notice it is not your order. But a guy's named Min Yoongi.
Genre/Warning| Fluff, oneshot
Note| I came up with it today and woke up way too early on my free day :,> so enjoy
Disclaimer| Authors note!
Please know that english is not my first language. I apologize for grammar/spelling mistakes and hope you can still focus on the storyline instead. All of the upcoming stories are only pure fiction from my daily ideas and imaginations and I'd likely want to share my passion with you.
If you have requests please always feel free to dm!💜
Much Love!
—Silvy🐱
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You groaned as you spotted the yellow pick-up note sticked over the top rim of your mailbox. You ordered a hoodie. A hoodie that would've been delivered and worn by you now only if you weren't that lazy to open the door for the postman just about twenty minutes ago. You rolled your eyes and went back to your apartment. You cursed at yourself under your breath. You've been waiting and all hyped about that hoodie for so long. And now, it is your fault you have to wait for even longer now. You looked at the pick up date, only to percieve the message, that your package would arrive back at the main post office two days later.
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Here you were. Standing in line to get to the shelter. You couldn't take your mind off of how good you would look in that new damn hoodie after a painfully long amount of pre-order waiting and shipping duration. Your head snapped up at the 'ding' and you stepped to the smiling lady at the shelter.
You handed her your yellow pick-up note and she nodded her head checking her PC.
"Just a moment miss Min~" you nodded and then frowned after she left.
"........ hah?"
She came back with the package and handed it over. Your face was the definition of happiness and your hands have already met the white box. "Thank you, have a nice day~"
The lady already pressed the button to cause another 'ding' to invite the next person to get to the shelter, as you jumped in "Wait!"
The lady snapped her head up at you.
"Th--this is not my adress!" She blinked and checked the yellow papers. "It's your pick-up number miss. It is truly the right package"
You looked at her dumbfouned. "Miss, this is still not my adress! I want my damn package!"
The elderly lady behind you started mocking in a high pitched voice to make you move out her way, impatiently wanting to hand in a letter.
The lady at the shelter sighed. "Miss Min, please. Contact our hotline about your issue. I'm just trying to do my job. Have a nice day."
You boiled in anger "I am not Miss Min! Arghhh!" You stumped out the Post office angrily and left. You entered your car and threw the box onto your passenger seat and left a bothered sigh.
After calming down you turned your face to the box again. It surely was the same brand you bought of. That's why the boxes must've been exchanged... you carefully scanned the box and looked at the adress. Maybe just the adress was wrong? But then the package must've arrived at the wrong adress and you would've never got that doomed pick-up note. You rolled your eyes annoyed. The only way to find out was to drive to that adress and ask the real owner. He probably has your package.
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You scanned the plate once again to make sure before you rang. "Min Yoongi" it said. It's the right thing. It only took a few seconds for the inhabitant to open the door after you rang. and he caught you off guard. Real bad. Here he was. A guy your age. Maybe just a year older. Or two. His eyes were hooded. His features were beautiful and skin really well taken care of and lips pouty. His black, probably freshly dyed hair was all over the place. His black plain shirt was hanging loosely from his shoulders, showing off his collarbones. His necklace was hanging from his neck showing a silver pisces pendant and the black baggy sweaters matched also to his black fila slippers.
After a few seconds of re-thinking your words you snapped. "Um-..."
He tilted his head at your unsureness. "Can I help you?" His voice was even more amazing. It was raspy. Probably still his morning voice.
"I-- had to pick up my package I ordered. But it's the wrong one. It's your adress." You looked to the box in your hands. Quite shy at the stranger. "So... I wondered if you possibly have mine?..." you asked shily and lifed your head once again to meet the strangers eyes again. He leaned agains his door frame crossing his arms and poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Looking up as if he's trying to remember something "Hm... could that be the Mastermind hoodie?" Your eyes got wide "Y-Yes!" The realization hit you "Y-You opened it??" That left you sink in annoyance. "Of course" he nodded simply. All unbothered and unapologetic. "I was expecting a package of the same shipper." You lifted your hands. "Correct. This one" he just nodded. Remaining in the same position. He caught you in confusion. "So...... can I have my package?" He lifted his eyes again as if he's seriously thinking about it. "Technically, what's lost, gets owned by the new founder"
you frowned, not showing mercy of being friendly anymore "what? Are you serious??" He chuckled at your annoyance. "I'm pretty sure you'd be happy with my purchase aswell." You boiled in anger.
"Yah! Are you seriously thinking anything you bought could exchange my Mastermind hoodie in collab with Vans??" He laughed at your passion about the fashion item. "Mh. I don't know. I'll think about it. Okay?~" he smiled and stepped in, grabbing the door handle. "W-Wait!" You placed your hand at his door nearly desperately. He lifted his head. Trying so hard to hide his amusement. "Do you seriously want me to pull up at your door again just to ask if you've changed your mind??" He shrugged.
"Hahh??" You frowned at him giving him a judging face. "Why not. Maybe I'd change my mind by evening" he smirked. A blush kinda creeped up your face as it kinda sounded like an invitation. You make your annoyance stand out more so he wouldn't notice your flustered face "ughh just you wait mister Min." He waved annoyingly and gave a cocky smile before closing the door.
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You entered your home nearly slamming the door and gripped the box in your hands. "This guy has the guts-" your gaze fell onto his box and you thought.... "Technically, he opened mine." A smirk grew wide as you did wonder what he ordered. You did not hesitate any further to open the package and it caught you by surprise when you saw his purchase. It was a fear of god hoodie... a heck lot more rare and expensive than yours. Why would he decide to keep yours? You threw his hoodie on without hesitation and scanned it in the mirror. It was obviously a bit over sized on you but honestly. It looked amazing on you. You instantly fell in love with the item. Not wrapping your head around the fact that he would ever exchange his purchase with yours. He probably gave hundreds and hundreds of dollars on it and probably waited a painfully long amount of weeks just like you. Wasn't he upset when he opened a wrong delivery?
Your mind reached to the possibility of him just hitting on you. But when you remembered his hot features you instantly shook your head off the thought. Impossible. He was probably just bored or wanted to annoy you.
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You rolled your eyes as you saw the name plate at the doorbell of his door. You rang it. Gulping for some reason. And there he was again. Still his fluffy black locks. Pouty lips and those narrow eyes. He wore a hoodie. Not yours in particular. And neither his. Which left you questioning how it would look on him after you tried it on. "Miss?~" you rolled your eyes once again. "My. Hoodie." You caught him lff guard. He was visibly surprised you did not mean to keep his hoodie, even though the worth was like five times the amount of his. Why didn't you? Well. Technically you could just keep his unbothered. Probably anyone would. Maybe... if there wasn't just his invitation that always sticked in the back of your mind for you to come back in the evening. That was like more of a reason you came. But of course, you wouldn't tell him that.
"Not satisfied?" You chuckled. "Funny one you are." He gave a cocky smirk. "Why don't we disguss that with a cup of coffee. Is probablx cozier than the hallway." Here it was. The 'hidded invitation' again. What was this guy up to? He let you inside. And you stepped in carefully taking your shoes off as you scanned his place. It was clean. Really clean.
There was a bottle of wine standing unopened on the coffee table. Probably his plan to consume it for the night as a weekend start on friday evening. There were art pieces hung up on his plain white and grey walls. The furniture were mostly black. It looked cozy yet modern and expensive. The apartment was dimmed with warm lights, the TV giving a better job of illuminating the living room area. "Thought you said coffee" your comment reffered back to the wine. He scratched his head "I did not expect you to come actually..." now it was his turn to blush. It was cute. It caught you off guard. "Pff." You rolled your eyes. "I'm no stealer. I dont need your hoodie" he smirked at one realization. "Good. Give it to me" it made your expression drop. "Uhm-........" he smirked as you noticed what he was reffering to. Yes. You didn't have it. The excitement and nervousness to know you were 'hiddenly invited' to a guys place made you forget why you actually came in first place. "You forgot it." You nervously snapped. "I--I really don't need it! I-it's yours really I just--" —"You forgot why you actually came here?" Yes. It sounded really dumb when he said that. But yes. He's right. You could not say a word as the blush on your cheek made it hard to do so anyways.
"....... I don't even really want mine anymore anyways......" you took a seat at the couch.
He looked amused at you. Letting your words sink in for a minute or two, that seemed like an eternity. The only thing that made sound was the two wine glasses that he got from the kitchen and the next sounds were his steps he made with his Fila slippers. He sat to you. Not really bothering to make an appropriate distance between your two sitting figures. It caught you in nervousness even more. You honestly did not even expect a guy like him to sit that close to you. He seems rather chill and distant. He placed the two glasses to you and grabbed the bottle opening it while piercing his gaze on you. "So.... why then" you lifted your gaze to meet his eyes. Hoping he would read your expression that clearly said 'Duh. You invited me'. He just chuckled. And it was damn attractive. "We can also just see this as an invitation." He said and back here was that annoying smirk. He got your message. You really wanted to change the topic to end the embarrassment of your poor actions. "You... got taste." He gave you a short glance with a low 'huh?' After pouring the dark red liquid into your glass, placing it to you.
"The hoodie.... you got good taste in fashion" He couldn't help but take advantage yet again to connect your opinion to the previous topic. "You mean you got taste now?" You got flustered and embarrassed. Leaving you give a "yah!" That made him laugh out loud. "I really don't need it! I forgot okay?...." he gave you a rather warm smile now. "Okay. Let's say I believe you." You frowned, as it sounded like he didn't. "What's the reason you forgot. You must've had in mind what our business was, as you prepared for tonight." You gulped. You did put in a bit more effort in your make up and hair to look cute. And you really looked stunning. "I'll bring it...." you lowered your gaze. The next thing you felt was his warm fingers lifting your chin and your heart dropped at the physical contact. "I told you. I don't need it. And as you said you don't need yours." It gave you the impression of him wanting to confess to why he made such a scene with the orders. "S-so... why......?" He smiled and took grip of the glass circling it to make the crimson liquid stirr in the glass. He sure was a wine lover. He brought the glass closer to smell it. His small actions and silence only making your interest rise in excitement, also making you more curious of his person himself.
"I took advantage." His lack of explanation did the same cause as his quiet actions did. "...... of?" He put the glass down, not even taking a sip and he smiled folding his hands as if he's having a hard time telling you the truth. "I came to return your package two days before you came to return mine" you blinked surprised waiting him to continue. "W-what made you stop?" He chuckled low. "I saw the pick-up note on your mailbox and knew, you would get my package. It....... sounds creepy but I saw you get out the apartment to grab your mail and.... you caught my interest" you blushed. You were really surprised at his statement and did not know what to say, making yourself repeat his words. "I.... caught your interest?" He nodded "yeah. So I wanted to see if your appearance and your type matched my interest aswell when you knock on my door asking me the favor of exchanging our packages." You stared. "So....... you invited me?" He nodded once again. "You were cute." He smiled at his own words. "So the next step was to test you if you're interested aswell in giving you two options" you frowned confused. "The first one being keeping my hoodie and never saying a word again,"
"You know...." you turned your head to him. Your face matching his state aswell. He leaned closer. Making your blush grow only wider as you could even smell his cologne mixed with the fruity scent of the high quality wine. He talked low. Almost seductively
"I do wonder what you look like in my hoodies."
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eastofthemoon · 3 years
Text
A Paladin in the Fire Nation
Chapter 1
Rating: PG
Series: Voltron Legendary Defender/Avatar the Last Airbender
Summary: After the fight with Zarkon, Shiro accidentally gets tossed into another reality where humans have the ability to bend the elements. His best shot at returning home is with someone called the Avatar, while he waits he might as well take on the job of being the Firelord's bodyguard. 
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Shiro groaned. Despite his body feeling sore, he forced himself to sit up as he held his head.
“I feel like I got hit by a truck,” he muttered.
Then he recalled. The fight with Zarkon. All of the paladins in Voltron.
And it suddenly dawned that he was not in the Black Lion. His eyes opened wide and panic struck when he saw his armour had been removed and he was in his black bodysuit.
His heart started to race.
Was I captured? No, no, not again!
Frantically, Shiro scrambled to his feet but his fear began to subside as he looked around. He was in a cell, but it was clear it wasn’t a Galra one.
In truth, it seemed like an old fashioned prison cell he had seen in museums on Earth. He frowned as he walked over to the bars and tapped one of them before he gripped it.
It looks like regular iron, Shiro thought.
If that was the case he could probably bend them easily with his cybernetic arm and escape, but it was probably better to wait until he knew exactly where he was.
Could the others be here too? Shiro thought. Did I end up on another planet?
“Hey, I hate to interrupt your deep thinking, but might be wise to look over here.”
Shiro jumped and looked to the right. He spotted a person that assumed to be his guard. The person seemed female, and although he didn’t recognize the red and black armour there was something else that stunned him.
He blinked as he pointed at her. “Are...are you human?”
The woman raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. “Yes, last time I checked.”
Shiro narrowed his eyes. “Are there other humans here?”
At this the woman leaned against the wall and folded her arms. “No, the rest of the palace is operated by moose lions.”
Shiro sighed. “Are you serious or are you joking?”
The woman dropped her arms. “Um..clearly joking?” She stepped forward. “Did you honestly think I was serious?”
“I’ve seen weirder,” Shiro admitted, not that he knew what a moose lion was.
With that said, was it possible he ended up on a planet that also somehow had humans? It seemed unlikely, but a few years ago Shiro also would have said that of giant robot lions.
The woman looked ready to say something else when footsteps approached. The woman stood straight and saluted.
An older man appeared, wearing similar armor to the woman.
“At ease, Ling,” the man said with his hands tucked behind his back. “I merely came to see if the intruder has woke up”
“Yes, sir,” she replied and pointed, “and he has, Sir.”
The man turned and his eyes instantly narrowed upon seeing Shiro.
“I am Admiral Jee,” he stated firmly while keeping his arms behind his back. “Who are you?”[1]
Shiro straightened his own posture. “I’m Takashi Shirogane.”
“We found you unconscious in the royal gardens,” Jee said as Ling was as still as a statue. “Gave the servants quite a fright. Mind telling me what you were doing there?”
“It was just me?” Shiro asked.
“Yes,” Jee said as he stepped closer, “unless you are saying there were supposed to be others with you?”
“No,” Shiro replied quickly.
Last thing he needed was further suspicion, but that did answer one vital question. The other paladins weren’t here as well. He was likely alone.
The man didn’t look convinced, but stepped back.
“In any case I was instructed to bring you to the Firelord once you’ve awoken for questioning.” He sharply turned to Ling. “Go fetch the handcuffs and some robes for him.”
“Yes, Sir,” Ling said as she marched off.
They were left in silence, but thankfully it didn’t last long as Ling returned with the items. Jee took the robes and passed them through the bars.
“I don’t know what kind of clothing you were wearing under your armour but I imagine this grants you some more dignity,” Jee said.
“Um, thanks,” Shiro said as he took it.
The robes were a bit shabby and not exactly high class, but they were still better than his prison uniform the Galra used. He tossed the uniform over his current clothes as Jee unlocked the cell while Ling held out the handcuffs.
Shiro flinched at the sight of them but ignored the stirrings of memories as he let Ling put the cuffs on. Shiro pulled at them slightly and felt relaxed. The cuffs, like the bars, were made out of regular metal. It wouldn’t take Shiro much effort to break free if he had to.
Jee stared at Shiro with narrow eyes. “Don’t try anything funny.”
“Don’t plan to,” Shiro said honestly as Ling escorted him out of the cell. They walked in silence out of the dungeon and into the hallway.
Neither said a word as they three of them walked, but a few more humans who walked by cast Shiro with a curious glance.
Their clothing style was odd. It was both familiar and yet unfamiliar. It was like Shiro was seeing real life pages from his grandfather’s history book, and yet it didn’t quite feel like he was on Earth.
Shiro was forced to stop pondering as they approached a large pair of doors.
“Wait, here,” Jee instructed as he opened and shut it quickly behind him.
Ling kept a tight grip on Shiro until the doors opened again and Jee gestured for them to enter. Ling shoved Shiro forward, and he obeyed.
There were only four other people in the room. Two were guards stationed at the door, and two others were sitting at the far end of the room. One was an older man with a beard, nex to him was a younger man sitting in the centre.
His eyes were glaring at Shiro like a cat waiting to swipe back if need be. Shiro had to assume he was this Firelord. However what really caught Shiro’s attention was the large burn that took up half of his face.
He can’t be much older than Keith, Shiro thought grimly. What kind of accident burned him that badly?
Shiro didn’t have time to ponder as he was forced to halt and kneel on his knees.
“I am Firelord Zuko,” the young man spoke tensely. “Who are you?”
Shiro swallowed as he straightened his posture.
“My name is Takashi Shirogane.”
“We found unconscious inside the royal palace,” Firelord Zuko continued as he leaned forward. “Who sent you?”
“No one sent me,” Shiro replied.
“Then why did you come here?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
Firelord Zuko raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t mean to?” He gave a huff. “You honestly expect to believe you got by my guards and just wandered into my palace by accident?!”
Shiro sweated. Yeah, he had to admit it did look bad.
“Tell me the truth,” the Firelord Lord demanded.
“I am telling the truth,” Shiro repeated.
“Do you think I'm foolish enough to fall for that?!” the Firelord cried looking ready to stand up.
“No I don’t,” Shiro replied.
“Then tell me why you are here!”
“I don’t know,” Shiro shot back, his words echoed in the room.
The Firelord’s eyes, but Shiro noted the older man looked at him with a tight frown.
Shiro took a deep breath to calm himself.  “Listen, this is a misunderstanding.”
“Is it now?” Firelord Zuko asked.
“Yes,” Shiro said as he straightened his posture. “I’m not an enemy, I'm a Paladin of Voltron. I’m sorry for my intrusion, but it was an accident. I mean your people no harm.”
Firelord Zuk blinked and seemed surprised by the answer. “And what exactly is a paladin?”
Shiro frowned. “What?”
“And where is Voltron?” Zuko continued. “It does not sound like a Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom town.”
“It’s not a town,” Shiro began but then stopped himself. They had never heard of Voltron. Did that mean-
“Does the word ‘Galra’ mean anything to you?” Shiro quickly asked.
The Firelord’s eyes twitched. “You just said you were from Voltron? And now you’re saying you’re from ‘Galra’?! Which is it?”
Oh boy, Shiro thought. How do I explain this?
The older man sitting next to the Firelord cleared his throat. “Firelord Zuko, perhaps we should save this interrogation for later.”
The Firelord turned to the man and pointed to Shiro. “Why? We have him right here-”
“And you also have the meeting with the royal treasurer,” the man replied and pointed to Shiro. “You know how she does not like being late and I believe you will need more time to question Mister Shirogane.”
Firelord Zuko frowned and then sighed. “Very well,” he said and looked back at the guards. “Take him back to his cell for now.”
“Yes, my lord,” Jee said with a bow as Ling pulled Shiro up to his feet.
Shiro said nothing as he was escorted out of the room and stole one more glance at the Firelord.
Shiro didn’t know where he was, but he had a feeling it was going to be tricky to get back home.
1 Is this Lieutenant Jee from Zuko's crew during season 1? Yes. Do I think it would have been nice for his crew to reappear in the show at some point? Yes, I do. Did I decided to correct this by making him an Admiral and taking over Zhao's position. Yes, yes I did.
Notes: Normally I wait until I have the full story written, but I couldn't resist posting at least the beginning chapters I have. I can't promise a weekly schedule, but I will try to work and update it as much as I am able.A few notes. 1. This takes place right after season 2 of Voltron and partly during season 3, while on the Avatar side it takes place three years after season 3. 2. I am ignoring the Avatar comics simply because I really didn't care for how they turned out so don't expect any mention of them here. It's just based on the three seasons of the show. 3. Except for some background Sokka/Suki I'm not putting any ships in this. I got enough happening in this story, and I didn't want to be bog down by any romance. The canon ships just decided they were better off as friends for the time being.
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followtheowls · 3 years
Note
Kids throw Kanera surprise date night
Thanks for the prompt :) 
I actually really love this prompt because it reminded me of a Tik Tok I recently watched lol and that inspired the path I took this fic. Re-reading it through after writing it, Sabine and Ezra do kinda seem childish, but roll with it because the concept is super cute.
Also it’s kinda fitting a prompt with Valentine’s day coming up.
I imagine it’s set somewhere in the second half of season one.
Words: 2.5k
…….
Ezra sank heavily into the Dejarik booth in the gallery, his eyes tracking the game currently being played between Sabine and Chopper. Sabine was staring intently at the holo-pieces in front of her and didn’t even look up when he sat down. The sounds of Hera and Kanans argument rang down the hall. It didn’t sound like anything too serious, but it was definitely strange to see the couple arguing - it wasn’t something Ezra had witnessed before that day. Despite just having sat down, Ezra fidgeted nervously, the fact that his Captain and his Master were arguing made him feel on edge. 
He’d only been on the Ghost for a few months, but Ezra had gotten used to the lifestyle of his new living situation. He never went to bed hungry, the Ghost had heating, and he had access to regular showers with hot water. The best part of it all was the place he had found for himself in their little family on the Ghost. Ezra jumped, startled out of his thoughts as a particularly loud “Kanan!” echoed down the hall and into the gallery. His frown deepened. He knew how these things went - the two leaders of a group fight and the group ends up splitting up because the rest are forced to take sides. Ezra had seen it before on the streets with gangs of other Loth rats. Another pang of unhappiness rang through him. He’d just gotten used to being onboard and he was finally happy - happier than he had remembered being in a long time - why did things have to go wrong now?
“You okay, kid?” Ezra looked over to Sabine, who had been distracted from her intense game of Dejarik, and was staring at Ezra in mild concern. “You kinda look like you’re freaking out about something.”
Ezra rolled his eyes in annoyance at her usage of the nickname kid (Sabine was barely two years older than him!), and forced a smile. “I’m not freaking out about anything! It’s just, well,” Ezra floundered, struggling to come up with the right way to phrase his concern without revealing too much. “Uh, have they ever fought like this before?” Ezra finished timidly.
“Who? Oh, wait, do you mean Kanan and Hera? Do they fight? Is that what you’re worried about?” She clarified, inquisitively. At Ezra’s nod she continued, “Don’t think too much about it; they argue every once in a while. They get over it eventually, I think some people call it a, uh, lovers quarrel?” She snickered and Chopper emitted a loud beep of laughter. “They just need some time together that's not about missions or supply runs or anything too serious.”
Ezra visibly relaxed at Sabine’s words. “Oh. I guess that makes sense.” His eyes clouded as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. 
“Uh, oh,” Sabine chuckled. “What are you up to?”
Ezra’s face broke into a large grin. “I have an idea,” he started, “and you can help.”
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“Come on, let’s get the supplies inside,” Hera ordered, while shifting her grip on the package in her hands. “I wonder what the kids have gotten up to while we were out.”
Kanan huffed. “Probably nothing good,” he muttered. “I don’t know how they get into the situations they do. Force only knows how they survived before we came along.”
Hera smirked and playfully retorted, while poking him in the shoulder. “Some might say they get their troublesome streak from you.”
Kanan chuckled dryly and rolled his eyes. “Well, I guess I’d have to disagree with you there, Captain Rebel. I’d say they take after you and your wild antics.”
Hera playfully turned her nose upwards feigning an air of innocence. “I have no idea what you’re referring to Mister I-like-to-jump-out-the-Phantom-midflight-and-have-my-apprentice-follow-my-lead.” 
Kanan just snorted humorously in response while making his way up the ramp of the Ghost. They both set down their crates in the cargo bay and looked up to see the twin Cheshire grins aimed at them from the two youngest members of the crew. The older Jedi and the pilot exchanged wary glances with each other. “What have you two done?” Hera asked with a brow raised and a tone that indicated a fair amount of suspicion.
“Oh, nothing to worry about,” Sabine replied, sporting a cheeky smile, while Ezra beside her was seemingly vibrating with excitement. “Just a few decorations, why don’t you come see.” Ezra nodded enthusiastically, and giggled while racing up the ladder before the rest of them.
Kanan and Hera exchanged another glance, both sporting cautious smiles, before following the two teens up the ladder and Sabine ushered them into the gallery. What greeted them was a scene that they never would have predicted. The gallery was decorated in a romantic fashion - Hera assumed this was mostly Sabine’s doing. There were two sets of silverware and glasses on the Dejarik table and a bunch of lit candles in various parts of the room. There were also decorative hearts and flowers made of flimsi strewn throughout the room. 
Once again, the couple stared at each other, this time bewildered instead of suspicious. Whatever they were expecting, this was not it. Ezra returned again with what looked like a thick piece of fabric or ribbon tied around his collar like a bow tie. He giggled again and started to lead Hera to her seat while Sabine pushed Kanan towards the opposite seat. “Kids - what? What is this?” Hera questioned. 
Sabine replied with an everlasting grin. “Welcome to date night on the Ghost, we will be your hosts for the evening! Thank you for choosing us, please settle in and get comfortable. My colleague Ezra will take it from here!” And at that she disappeared out the door, heading in the direction of the kitchen. Ezra stepped forward with two pieces of flimsi that he placed in front of the seated couple. 
“Here is the menu,” Ezra said playfully, putting on a posh accent. “Let me know if there's any questions! First off, what would the both of you like to drink?”
Kanan’s eyes crinkled with amusement and affection and a smile tugged at his lips. “We’ll take some water, and I don’t know… Hmm…” He said, playing along. “How about you surprise us? Sounds good, Hera?”
Hera hid her smile with her hand. “Of course, love. Surprise us with your best drink.” Ezra nodded vigorously, and made a big show of writing something down on a notepad. He then bounded off in the same direction Sabine disappeared to, but not before bowing in an exaggeratedly. 
The couple turned back to face one another and there was silence for several moments until Hera exclaimed, “Oh. My. Goodness. This has to be the most adorable thing they’ve ever done!” She tried to make sure her laughter was not too loud or giving the kids the wrong idea. Kanan echoed her reaction, his shoulders shaking with his suppressed chuckles.
“Let’s see what menu they’ve worked up for us in the meantime,” Kanan proposed, still sporting an amused grin. “By the way,” Kanan leaned in to whisper to her, “did you see his little bow-tie?” Hera hummed and nodded, her attention diverted to the menu.
The menu itself was handwritten (presumably by Ezra if the handwriting and spelling were any kind of indicator) and was comically short, provoking another round of amusement from the two. There, apparently, was going to be three courses. The first course was, hilariously, a choice between the four different flavors of ration bars they had on ship. The second course was a selection between the two different types of canned soups they had one board far back in the pantry. The dessert section announced it would be a chefs special, but didn’t list the item.
After only moments of deliberation, the two had made their selections, just in time for the return of the ‘waitstaff’. Giggling, Ezra stepped forward holding two glasses of water, in his excitement a little sloshed over the side. He set them down in front of the pair, and stepped out of the way while Sabine brought over two champagne flutes filled with a sparkling pinkish-purple beverage.
“Ooh,” Hera commented, “What’s this pretty drink?” 
The kids met each other's gaze, and Sabine replied, “It’s our signature drink, we call it ‘the Sparkling Spectre’.” Ezra giggled and clapped his hands. “It’s really just meiloorun and jogan juice mixed with Alderaanian champagne.”
Now that made Hera strike a serious face and she opened her mouth to inquire for further explanation. “And, how, may I ask, did you acquire the champagne?” She doubted they had gotten it themselves, no vendor would believe either of them to be over the legal age. 
Breaking character for a moment, Ezra explained Zeb had generously offered up the bottle, which he had received as a gift a while ago, claiming it to be too bubbly for his liking. At that response, Hera relaxed. 
“Well, I will leave you with my colleague, as I must be returning to my kitchen.”
Ezra stepped forward, again putting on a posh accent and asked if they were ready to place their order. They responded affirmatively, and relayed their orders to him. “Very well, I will inform the kitchen,” Ezra confirmed. “Before I go, are your beverages to your liking?” The both of them sipped their drink and responded affirmatively.
Kanan and Hera watched, not quite suppressing their amusement, as Ezra scurried out of the room towards the kitchen to tell Sabine what they had ordered. On his way out, he passed Chopper, giving him a swift kick and ordering him to play the music Sabine had found. Chopper replied he would do no such thing, but remained in the room. Hera covered her smile with her hand and giggled. “I wonder what brought this on?” She asked Kanan. He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
“Eh, I can never tell with that kid. It sure is funny though - and nice to not have to have to organize dinner, even if the dinner’s going to be ration bars and canned soup.” Kanan replied, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
Chopper once again made his presence known with a loud string of beeps. “Baby Jedi’s scared that Mom’s gonna break up with you, so he and Spectre 5 are making a date to offset that outcome.” Kanan and Hera looked at each other in bewilderment, both of them clearly wondering where Ezra got that idea from.
“Well, obviously that’s not true. I wonder where he got that idea from?” Hera contemplated for a moment before realization dawned on her face.“He must’ve been spooked by how we were arguing earlier. We’ll clear it up - he’ll be fine. You hear that Chop? No one’s breaking up with anyone!”
Chopper responded with a curse, and fled the room whooping with laughter, but not before beeping “A droid can only dream!” at Kanan, who rolled his eyes. 
Several minutes of pleasant conversation followed until their youngest crew member returned with a tray in his hand. “For you, Madame, and for you, Master Jedi.” He placed the ration bars in front of them, and backed away heading towards the kitchen.
----------
Around thirty minutes of warm and pleasant conversation and two courses later, the Twi’lek and Jedi had finished both their ration bars and soup. “Delicious, Ezra,” Hera praised, purposefully holding Kanan’s hand in a visible manner; she wanted to try to ease his worries about the couple. “We loved it!”
“You did good, kid,” Kanan smiled at him, picking up on Hera’s intentions. “It’s been an excellent date.” His body language was relaxed in a way Hera hadn’t seen in a while, he’d had a tenseness to him ever since he began to teach Ezra the ways of the Force; it was almost as if he struggled to relax lately and sometimes the evidence of the heaviness of his past weighed down on him. But, right now, Kanan was grinning happily while looking at his student, his eyes twinkling in a prideful expression that Hera noticed was often inching everyday towards paternal.
Ezra beamed in response. “That’s great, and there’s still the last course!” He took away their finished soup bowls, headed back towards the kitchen. From the gallery, they could hear Ezra relay their compliments of the meal to Sabine and, seconds later, the cheering and slapping sound which presumably was a high five. The couple now also heard the addition of a new voice echoing down the hall - Zeb. They were thankful to hear his voice, as neither teenager had any cooking skills.
Dessert finally arrived along with the rest of the crew, this time Zeb finally making an appearance. He presented them with their dessert - a stack of fresh waffles with slices of meiloorun and whipped cream - it was clearly made by Zeb as he was the only one with the necessary skills to make it. 
Hera gasped with appreciation, clapping her hands together in praise. “Wow, this looks amazing everybody! I can’t wait to try it. While you're all here, we just want to say how much we appreciate this. We love it and we love our little family here on the Ghost.” Spectres 4, 5, and 6 smiled back at them, and Hera gracefully chose not to comment if Ezra’s eyes happened to glisen more than normal. “You all are so important to us, really!”
Zeb laughed and scratched the back of his neck. “Eh, that’s enough sappiness for me, I’m going to go clean the mess they left in the kitchen.” He backed, away leaving the kids with the parental figures of the ship.
“Hera’s right,” Kanan continued. “We couldn’t have asked for a better family, kids who care enough to organize a whole dinner for the two of us. We love it and wouldn’t change it for anything in the galaxy.” His words clearly resonated with the two teenagers, both coming from sensitive familial backgrounds. He opened his arms, inviting them both in for a hug, which Ezra practically melted into. To his left, Sabine was hugging Hera.
“Why don’t the both of you stay while we eat dinner, hmm?” Hera asked, reaching across the table to grasp Ezra’s hand. The two teens nodded and settled in beside the adults who began to dig into their dessert. They chatted joyfully with the young teens, enjoying the leisure time. Kanan wrapped an arm around Ezra’s shoulders, and the teen eventually leaned his head against Kanan’s arm. For what felt like the thousandth time that day, Kanan’s heart fluttered with affection and gratefulness for the family he and Hera had built, and the home they have been able to provide for the younger members of the crew, both of whom were products of difficult living situations. Kanan met Hera’s eyes for a brief moment and knew she was appreciating the same thing. Together, they basked in the intense sense of pride for the thoughtfulness and creativity of their younger counterparts, knowing that their family, in that moment, was untouchable by those of the Empire who wished to break them.
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purkinje-effect · 3 years
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The Anatomy of Melancholy, (20)77: Caught Up in the Moment
Table of Contents. Third Instar, Chapter 8. Go to Previous. Go to Next. TWs: Food/meat, implied digestive trouble, unapologetic medical fetishization, brief grievous memory association, smoking. Seventy-seven is a sentimental number for me.
“...[C]lothes do not merely make the man, the clothes are the man; that without them he is a cipher, a vacancy, a nobody, a nothing.” -- Mark Twain’s “Czar’s Soliloquy”
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‘Choly and Angel walked next door to rejoin Sticks in the junk vendor’s stall. He found it peculiar, that trash did not comprise a majority of the dealer’s wares, despite the store’s categorization as a junk vendor. Much of it had been restored or repaired in some capacity, if not marginally more presentable polished or cleaned up some. A distant, crooked smile tugged at him, delighted by his ability to identify the most mundane of ancient things which had not graced his sight in some time. Ceramic figurine egg timer. Cake breaker. Dusting bellows. Pewter powder box. No, perhaps the entire mall could be called a large scale antiques dealer of sorts--with a healthy mix of contemporary crafts for sale as well, of course.
While ‘Choly had taken Liam’s suggestion to try some local fashion choices for something more compatible with the cervical collar, Sticks had decided to test his suggestion this type of merchant might yield their hunt better results. Sticks hadn’t wanted to wait around while ‘Choly clothing shopped, no matter how brief the errand with their appointment at the Gate City Clinic at eleven. When he found him, Sticks had just given up digging in a bin of various sacks.
The ghoul eyed him with pleasant surprise, hands stiff in his pockets.
“Didn’t expect you to be done first. Take it from your good spirits you found stuff you’re happy with.” He squinted at the new garments ‘Choly wore. “...I know you wear it well, but Ant lace? I thought we were pinching caps here.”
‘Choly smiled. First the cervical collar and a genuine direction to procuring the rest, and now brand new clothing. He now wore a collarless mesh chemisette, over his corset but tucked under the edge of the cervical collar, with a ribbon tie in the back and to either side. The corset still peeked out under the cropped hem. Atop this he’d put his cardigan back on. Draped around his neck was the article with which Sticks had exception: a long Irish lace shawl, with its tails drawn into a loose knot in the front. Several hundred dollars lighter for it, his heart felt even lighter still. In his day went the phrase, the clothes make the man, but it persisted even now that new clothes could do wonders.
“Up until now,” he finally replied, “all my clothes have either been prewar salvage or military issue. But now, I own some clothes handmade this year. I need to stop feeling like the relic I am. To stop feeling like I’m still stuck in 2077. I’d imagine it’s well enough time to finally celebrate something.”
“I figured last night was a to-do, but I guess you’ve earned something fancy. Appearances sure matter a lot to you.”
“Have to make up for my personality somehow, don’t I?” He shrugged off his own glib self-deprecation. “Before we get going, did you want to try something new, too? The apparel clerk was incredibly helpful.”
Sticks’s attention fell elsewhere as they walked out of the junk vendor’s stall.
“Mm, no offense, but I prefer the way duds used to be made.”
“That’s fair. The display windows of the boutiques that specialize in prewar fashion have caught my attention every time we pass them. Right now, though, I feel more like trying to blend in a bit. To feel present.”
Something about yesterday’s conversation with Liam had ‘Choly’s mind abuzz with a confusion he nearly welcomed. His interaction with the apparel clerk repeated in his mind. With the utter unisex nature of garments, he couldn’t not ask her, with some trepidation, And how might a man go about wearing this one? And this? She’d let him into the fitting room stall so she could show him, making adjustments once he reemerged with the new clothes on his person. He smiled into himself as he mounted Angel.
“The clerk showed me how Laners wear things. I thought I could tell at a glance that wealth and status were demonstrated with wearing as many individual garments as possible, with wearing as much of a given fabric as possible, with the greatest intricacy to a fabric possible. But it’s more complicated than that? Really, it shocks me that you wouldn’t take a shine to this kind of place. She lamented that my orthotic corset has no detail work, and is made from such an uninteresting fabric. All function, with none of the form, she says. Clothing here is designed to show off the undergarments! Socks included, for example--hence all the golf trousers.” His eyes wilded, focused on nothing, as he reared up on his grip on Angel’s car-door handles. “I can’t imagine literally airing my unmentionables to the whole neighborhood, no matter what I paid for them.”
“...What’s that supposed to mean? Me not taking a shine to Ant.”
“Your... interest in corsets,” fumbled from him.
“Tch! Believe it or not, I don’t blow my top every time I see one.” He twisted taking exception to it into flirtation, and smirked up at ‘Choly. “Depends a lot on who’s wearing it.”
‘Choly crinkled his nose to hide his flustering.
“--Well! Hopefully we’ll find more to outfit me with. I know you didn’t find anything at the one merchant, but there’s dozens of vendors here with junk for sale. Which, speaking of leather scraps... You know, I’ve been noticing lots of leather and fur here, too. I know the Clark sisters dress the Laners’ kills, but I haven’t noticed anyplace that’s been permitted leather tools. It’s been driving my curiosity wild. Everyplace with clothes has had sturdy fur-lined leather overcoats for sale.” He waved a declaration through the air one-handed, before returning to an even grip. “A must-have for any body with business out-doors. Sufficient winterized rad-resistant gear and all that.”
“You really must be feeling better, to be so chatty. God bless that neck thing.” Sticks chuckled, warmed. “By curiosity, I’m assuming you’re asking where they get it all. You’re right, if you think the Furriers had anything to do with it. Well, had. No idea how Ant will react to the Unfolded. They used to caravan up here every so often, with the Riverhawk. They’d trade leather, fur, salvaged prewar fabric bolts, dressed meat. The Laners never much liked them, but the commerce was too good to turn ‘em shy. I traveled with them up here a few times, but even the times I’ve come up here on my own I’ve never really taken a shine to living here.”
“Fuck-me-in-the-mouth, I hope they don’t show up here.”
The last thing any of them needed was a continuation of what had transpired in Lowell. Surely, they hadn’t been followed.
“Gen’s got all their hands too full to bother with trade route upkeep, I imagine.”
“...You don’t suppose my coat lining came from here, do you?”
It took some time to grasp what ‘Choly was on about.
“That Franken-monster of a thing Bones gave you? I guess so, maybe. Both cities had a lot of textiles. There’s no telling where she got it.”
They entered the Gate City Clinic and sat in the mostly empty waiting area. One of the other medics noticed them and approached.
“Do you need help with something?”
“We’re waiting for Liam,” ‘Choly said.
“He’s about to take his lunch soon. You’ll be waiting at least an hour, if you’re intent to see him and not one of the other staff. What brings you in?”
“Just on time.” Sticks winked. “We’re waiting for his lunch hour. We’re here on business. Not doctor stuff.”
The medic shrugged and walked off to a desk to contend with some papers.
Liam walked up shortly after, this time in a velvet-trimmed sheer mesh shirt, and golf pants again. His deep eyes brightened in an otherwise indifferent face.
“You’re awfully stuffed up. You know that right?” His cigarette bobbed limply as he spoke. “But this, it’s an improvement. Really, I don’t get the preoccupation with salvaged prewar clothes. Most of it’s garbage these days. Deteriorating, stained, doesn’t breathe...”
“It only wears out if not properly cared for,” Angel said.
They couldn’t tell if Liam’s silence came more on account of his consideration of the Mister Handy’s comment, or more of their speechlessness that it had sassed a prospective business partner they’d only met the night before.
“Anyway.” Liam lipped at his smoke, then walked away. He wagged his head for them to follow him to the back. “I’m taking lunch now. Allow me to give you a tour of the place.”
The Gate City Clinic, the best ‘Choly could tell, utilized the original shop’s two offices for an office and storage space. He presumed the stock room at one end of the hall made up Liam and Orqueida’s living quarters, though Liam didn’t show them. He took them finally to the kitchen at the opposite end of the hall, once a break room. The makings of a rudimentary chemistry setup occupied a small kitchen hutch.
“Neither of us cooks,” Liam said, “but we also prefer to eat in privacy. Orqueida got us food before she headed to the Inn for the day. Have you eaten?”
“We haven’t!” Sticks eyed the sizable sack on the table. “You shouldn’t have. Thank you.”
“Orqueida insisted. You’re welcome, though.”
‘Choly’s mouth watered at the lingering aroma of hot pickled meat. He swallowed and did his best not to frown.
“...I appreciate it, but no thanks.”
“Oh,” Angel worried, “breakfast must be disagreeing with you already.”
“You’re out of your smoothies.” Sticks gave him an assertive glare. “Eat with us.”
Sooner than argue, ‘Choly took it upon himself to scrutinize the hot plate and various glassware Liam had collected.
Liam smushed his cigarette in the ashtray on the kitchen table, then produced from the oiled canvas sack beside it a series of lidded tins, ranging from bread box to tea tin, but mostly an average of them. Much like the sewing kits of yesteryear, ‘Choly knew better than to think Liam intended to serve them two hundred year old butter cookies.
“I thought the food court didn’t include the dishes,” ‘Choly said.
“They charge you for not having your own. But we can sell back the tins.” Liam shrugged. He opened the tin in his hand then, to demonstrate some shredded juicy pale stuff, only to glance down with a disappointed frown and replace the lid. “Ugh, sauerkraut. ...Breaks even if we clean it before returning it. You have tins, you find tins, you sell them to the food court.”
Sticks helped him remove the lids to reveal shaved corned brahmin, toasted bread slices, sauerkraut, thin fragments of a rindy cheese, a pepper tin of some sort of sauce, and what resembled pickled garlic cloves or mozzarella balls. The not-gold lighting blanched any visual appeal the foods may have had, but the savory piquant aromas more than made up for it. Liam produced utensils from a counter drawer and set them down on a clean dishrag.
“At least she didn’t forget the morsels.” Liam sighed as he popped one of the globules in his mouth, then one more. He held the tin out to the two of them. Sticks took two. ‘Choly picked up a fork to take just the one, almost uncertain they could be stabbed without breaking. “Digestive issues? Really, we should make time to sit and discuss all this. Maybe I could help.”
‘Choly watched the two men cobbling together sandwiches to either side of the table. He stuck the morsel in his mouth. Coated in a tart oil, its flesh had a firm bite but still a tenderness. Chewing on it for some time, it dawned on him these were some sort of mushroom.
“What would help... is more... Stimpaks.” As ‘Choly said it, his voice garbled into a self-conscious hush. “I’ve got everything else.”
Liam sat to dig in, his befuddlement on his sunken brow.
“I don’t figure you’ll be able to get started today. We’re just talking things over. Knowing the equipment you’ve got at your disposal should help draft what to send your ‘acquisition expert’ on errands for.” He unfolded a piece of paper from his shirt pocket one-handed and gave it to Sticks, who was much more nettled by the whole thing than he let on. “I’ve got a few things I’ll pay you for as well. Provided it wasn’t some fancy way of saying you’re a scavver, it should be a cakewalk.”
“The hell do you need so much-- You know what. Don’t worry about it, and I won’t, either.”
“You deal with him, so I don’t have to. I pay very well for it.”
Stress snagged up in ‘Choly’s throat.
“You mentioned last night that you’re looking for first aid basics. You traded a cervical brace for my handful of Addictol and Med-X.” His voice cracked. “What-- about Stimpaks?”
Liam sat up, and set down his hand on the table, still holding his sandwich in it. He scowled at his food instead of his guests.
“Stimpaks aren’t the end all for first aid. I really don’t have much use for them. A medic once had to know how to work without them, in the chance they ran out on the battlefield. I got my training in similar circumstances. I do rarely have them, but as far as I know, making them is a lost prewar science--”
“--But why not use advanced tools, where available?” ‘Choly reeled back the accidental sarcastic shock, clasping his chin. “Do you not see many severe injuries here?”
“We’re a cautious bunch. Most of what I oversee is illness, not injury. While I can handle injuries when they happen, I’m definitely grateful it’s not my job. It means the Lane’s safe.”
‘Choly steadied himself a bit by beginning to craft his own serving.
“What... if I told you that I knew how to make them?”
“I’d tell you not to bother.”
The chemist’s ears rang. He dropped it for now.
Over the next few days, ‘Choly got to work on chems, Sticks went on Liam and ‘Choly’s errands, and Angel assisted Liam in the clinic where he’d permit. He disliked that a majority of his trouble amounted to isolating the alkaloid salts from pounds of dried Hubflower petals, but he reminded himself that he was synthesizing Med-X with it. At least it came easily for him. He even got plucky and decided he’d throw something together with his stash of dried melon blossoms, to test his theory its compounds could steady one’s alertness. For the time being, he stifled the compulsion to up the level of difficulty and complexity, and did not propose anything off Liam’s work order more grandiose than an herbal remedy. They all had to prove their reliability to Liam, and sprawling out his efforts when his lab equipment was one step above kitchenware was the opposite of a sound idea. Besides, the man had requested medicine and nothing more.
One afternoon, Sticks burst into the kitchen. He flung down a mess of something in the tile floor with a semi-muffled clatter, only to dash back out with a huge grin. ‘Choly eyed the pile breathlessly from where he sat at work. Recognizing the same canvas and leather he had around his neck, he did his best to make sure the soaking pale purple-blue petals didn’t over-process.
Sticks stomped back in some time later, dragging along an exhausted Liam.
“These are the legs right?” He had the catalogue open, pointing at it eagerly. “Right???”
“It appears so. But I can’t tell from this jumbled mess, if it’s complete.”
“Then let’s see! ‘Choly! Stop messing with that smelly junk and let us at your legs.”
“You’re lucky the start you gave me didn’t make me break something. I was handling acid. ...I don’t have to remove my pants, do I?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” Amending the snark, Liam added, “We can see how they fit over the trousers first.”
Sticks chuckled, wringing his hands.
With some effort, Liam pieced together the components, eyeing the catalogue for reference. Each segment was reinforced with metal boning and fastened shut on the outer parts with busks and fan lacing for ease. Sticks had the luck that the waistband which secured each hip hinge had come attached to one of the legs. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have known the piece was necessary.
“Aren’t you glad you turned me loose to go hunting on my own?” the ghoul delighted. “It’s funny. I remember fewer merchants being okay with anything less than cold hard cash. I’ve been getting run ragged obtaining the right stuff for the right people. But it’s all a drop in the bucket for you, Mindy.”
“Two pieces in one week. Three, if you count each separate leg. In tact. Yes, of course I’m amazed.“
Having followed Liam and Sticks back in, Angel entered to supervise.
Liam lowered himself into the floor and chewed at his cigarette filter while he worked at getting one of ‘Choly’s legs slipped into the thing. ‘Choly did his best to balance, and let out an anxious laugh when Sticks all to eagerly joined Liam in the floor to mirror the effort with ‘Choly’s other leg.
“Gotta practice,” Sticks insisted with a crooked grin, despite meeting no protest.
The two helped ‘Choly stand, so he could fasten the waistband. Liam gestured where the circular hinges needed to align, and the two steadied the leg pieces at the height needed to achieve this, so that the padded belt could be adjusted accordingly. Once they got him into the device, he took a few testing steps. His heart fluttered. Unsurprisingly, they gave a great deal of protest with each step.
“I brought a tool kit with me,” Sticks offered. “We can adjust how tight the hinges are, to stop all that squeaking and creaking. I’m sure I can find some oil, too.”
“Forget how they sound.” Liam put out his cigarette. “Do they help?”
‘Choly kept testing them out, pacing slowly and deliberately from one end of the kitchen to the other. He couldn’t help but snivel and smile with awe.
“I feel like a toy soldier... but that isn’t necessarily a negative. My hips are lined up to where I don’t have to think so hard about the steps I take. I do think they could stand a little tightening up, but the alignment’s still good despite being as old and beat up as I am.”
“The oldest thing in this room is probably the ghoul--” Liam elbowed Sticks beside him, “--but the braces come in a close second.”
‘Choly turned, deadpan.
“I’m older than he is.”
“By seven years or so, if memory serves,” Angel said. “Twenty-eighth of November, 2034.”
Liam’s humor didn’t falter, though he stood with a vague discerning squint. ‘Choly ambled over to the table to sit with a grunt.
“If I can bum a smoke and sit back down, I’ll explain why I might be one of your weirder patients.”
He himself sat backward in the metal diner chair wordlessly. He produced his pack of Clipper Ships from his rolled sleeve, tapped out two cigarettes to place in his lips, and lit them. And he offered one across the kitchen table between genteel thumb and forefinger, his eyes bright with eager skepticism.
____________
Fun facts: Russian dressing (often substituted with Thousand Island) is credited to have been created in Nashua, NH, by one James E. Colburn.
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Now that the initial shock has worn off--mostly--I feel like I can ramble about the Supergirl comic news in a more coherent fashion.
Under a cut because there’s a good chance it’ll be long. XD 
So yeah! Tom King, writing Supergirl. Wild!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been jokingly entertaining the notion that King’s teased ‘Super’ project would actually be a Supergirl thing, but I always assumed that if it was, in fact, a Supergirl thing, it would be in the vein of Mister Miracle or Strange Adventures--a prestige, out-of-continuity take, possibly featuring an older Kara, from pre-crisis continuity. Maybe interrogating the whole, ‘her most famous story features her death’ thing. 
I never expected mainline, in-continuity, teenage Kara from him. 
As I said, wild!
Wild, because King is like. A HUGE name in comics, and his wheelhouse is primarily Sad Dads. He’s also known for making really controversial, polarizing decisions WRT characterization of fan-favorite characters. (See: Wally in HiC, Batman in Batman, etc.) 
So, like. I get that immediate ‘What?! Oh no!’
...But also...
He’s written Superman: Up in the Sky, which, barring one particular issue, is an extremely good Superman story.
(The whole premise of Up in the Sky is that Superman leaves earth to rescue an orphan girl who’s been kidnapped by aliens. The issue that’s a bit ‘yikes’ features Clark trying to reach Lois from deep space, and he can’t, so he’s imagining that something terrible has happened to her. That, I feel, is a perfectly fine, in-character reaction, and an idea worth exploring. HOWEVER, in execution, it ends up being Lois dying in several different, awful ways on-panel, which...yeah. Kinda Yikes! I can’t remember if it was terribly graphic but, still. I don’t think it needed to be seen, you know?)
So aside from that misstep? A really good Superman story.
(On the topic of King and Lois, I frequently cite his story in Action Comics 1000 as an example of a writer just being like, ‘screw it, Lois is alive 4 billion years in the future, and still with Clark.’ So I give him props for that.) 
Back to Up in the Sky--King’s referenced that in describing Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, so. That’s mostly a positive!
The ‘Tom King’ thing also starts to make more sense once you look at like, the money/sales side of things. I’ve already seen a bunch of tweets from people who are like, ‘I’ve never read a Supergirl comic before but I’m gonna get this because you’re writing it!’
Yeah. I see you, DC. I see you. XD
We’ll probably never know the behind the scenes stuff, but I gotta wonder if this wasn’t so much DC choosing King as King wanting to do this, and DC letting him.
Another valid criticism/concern I’ve seen mentioned: Another dude writing Supergirl!
Which...yeah! Kinda crummy! Would be nice to see a woman write Supergirl for more than, you know. Three issues.
(Side note, though: personally I do not ascribe to the ‘only men can write men, women write women’ thing. That’s kind of a separate topic, but I mention it here because I don’t automatically assume that a book will be better/worse based on the gender of the person writing/drawing/etc.)
(For instance! Bennett just churned out one of the worst Supergirl comics I’ve ever read so...it’s equality! Anyone can write an awful Supergirl story!)
Speaking of Bennett...
The solicit text...kinda sounds like Future State 2.0, which...
Is not promising.
It’s really weird, IMO, that DC is like...letting such similar premises happen back-to-back? 
A lot of DC books are incorporating stuff from Future State but this isn’t so much, ‘teasing out plot threads’ as like. Just doing it over again. XD
I mean. Worst thing that can happen is we get another ‘dead in the backyard with the dog.’
(I’m intensely curious about the DC editorial situation, like. Which pitch came first? Was the Future State Superwoman book always going to happen, what with FS being built from the ruins of 5G or whatever? Did King come up with his stuff at the same time FS was being developed? The world may never know...)
Given that this is King’s next big thing...kinda hoping we get some press coverage and interviews. I wanna get a better sense of like...where he’s coming from. 
Also, it means absolutely nothing re: the book, but I appreciate that King used a gif from the show to respond to some well-wishes on twitter. Specifically, the ‘thumbs up’ gif from one of the season blooper reels. Good choice, sir. 
Okay, enough about King. Let’s talk about the ONE SUREFIRE THING ON THIS BOOK.
BILQUIS. EVELY.
Wait, I take that back. TWO SUREFIRE THINGS:
BILQUIS EVELY, AND MAT LOPES!!!!!
Gosh this book is gonna be so pretty.
Like, just look at this:
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Now I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking: that looks stunning. BUT WAIT!
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BOOM. LOOKIT THOSE COLORRRSSSSS! 
Guh, it looks so GOOOOOOD. And it’s just the cover.
(I'm ignoring the sword because I need more info before jumping to conclusions, but as some sharp-eyed folks have noticed, that *might* be a red sun which*might* mean a de-powered Kara, in which case the sword could be used in self-defense. Also, give me a Super wielding a sword over a gun any dang day.)
Evely drew an AMAZING Silver Age Kara back in Sugar & Spike and had a pretty stellar run on Wonder Woman.
Fun fact I just learned from a few interviews she shared recently! Supergirl is the character that got her into superhero comics, and when Giffen was writing Sugar & Spike, he asked if there were any characters she wanted to draw specifically. She said Supergirl, so Giffen made sure she showed up in one of the issues. :D
Also from those interviews: She’s excited about the book, and enjoys working with King. It was harder to figure out the art talk in said interviews (I was using Google translate) but I think...she was saying that there’s some specific influences that folks will pick up on when the book comes out? 
Also, when asked to tease anything about the book she just said Mat Lopes colors and stars.
WOOOOO, pretty space backgrounds, yay!
It cannot be overstated, how pretty this book is going to be. 
Evely’s a little similar to Sauvage in that they both have like...an almost fairytale quality? To some of their work?
(Evely just did a Batman: Black and White story that was quite literally a fairytale.)
But Evely, I think, has a little more range, particularly in the area of expression/acting.  
And Lopes knows how to make her work shine. 
Who knows about the writing though. XD On the one hand, the bar for bad Supergirl comics is so incredibly low, but also.
...Future State.
*shudders*
TL;DR: I refuse to let myself get excited for the story side of this because you could make an IHOP-size omelet, with all the egg on my face from my Future State hopes, but if nothing else: EVELY. DRAWING. SUPER. GIRL. *wild muppet flailing* 
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zuffer-weird-girl · 4 years
Note
Where kaito and kin planned ?? Did Kai have a preference like he wanted a boy or a girl?? Also you have mention in other post about the first time Kai saw Kaito in the ultrasound do you have a scenario about that or would you be willing to write about it ??:0
Here we go.
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A snap of fingers broight him back to reality... only noticing shortly later that he had dozed off.
"Overhaul?" Chrono called right besides him, one hand on his front while the other had a firm grip on the quivering girl... Eri...
Chisaki stopped for a bit to look at the child, no emotions present, only staring at it... before sighing and returning to walk towards the experiment room.
"Eri don't make this even more complicated than you already do." He said monotonously before he froze on his steps, worring his childhood friend a bit.
"... cancel the experiments for now." He said suddenly before making his way to get out of the underground base he had created.
"What? Why?"
"I have something to do. I will be back before the afternoon, take her to her room and put someone to keep a eye on it." He turned to send one side cold glare.
"No escaping. Understood?" The girl teared up and looked down while trembling as he monotonously made his way out.
~
"Come on-!" You cursed under your breath as you tried to open a can of cookies that one precept had bdoight due to your husband's commands.
Tried.
"Just hand it over. We're going to be late." You scoffed at hearing your husband's monotomous voice as you groaned at trying again to push that tin off.
"No!" You protested and even if you weren't looking at him you knew he had arched one of his damn perfect eyebrows up "First, I need a snack so screw it, the doctor that waits for us. And second-" you groaned again, applying all of your force on that cursed thing "I'm a strong independent woman that acn still open a pot with no he-"
Chisaki snatched the pot out of your hands before opening it easily with a 'plop' sound. One eyebrow evidently arched up as he placed the pot on the counter.
"... I eased up for you." You mumbled with a pout before snatching one intere cookie on your mouth.
He hummed in sarcasm while crossing his arms, trying not to smirk at the adorable pout you had on your lips while you eated the sugary things.
"Right. Just like the heroe society is one of the best things in this world for me." He messed up with your hair even despite your whines of protest before flipping your forehead.
"We need to go now. I need to know what mutant of a demon and a angel is exactly inside of you."
"KAI!" you exclaimed but with a disbelieved smile no less as he opened the door for you to pass first.
"Is not a lie."
~
"Kai please don't kill the doctor." You pleaded as much silent as you could while you two walked the halls.
"Don't touch, doesn't get killed. Simple as that." He mumbled under his mask with a piercing glare at the doctor in front of you two.
"For God's sake, is a woman!" You whispered yelled "And I know her for ages now!"
"Still is sick." He snarled back "I read her profiles angel, she has a quirk that helps her on this job... disgusting."
"Kai plea-"
"Alright (Y/n)!" The older woman clapped her hands together and showed it to you another room "Go in there and put on the mantle so we can get started!" You nodded with a grateful smile, quickly rubbing your thumb on Chisaki's palm before going inside to change.
Chisaki sighed and took a seat, glaring at the smile the woman sended to him.
"Geez never took little old (Y/n) to have such a grumpy husband. Chin up daddy! You're about to meet your child in no time!" She exclaimed excitedly while she turned on the machine and prepared the machine.
He was about to get up to threaten her if it wasn't for your shy self getting out, blue mantle covering from your shoulder until thd middle of your thighs.
You layed down and sighed nervously, boucing a bit your leg in excitement and anxiousness.
"You two decided on names yet?"
Small talk... how he hated those.
"No..." both of you answered in synchrony, making the woman laughed while she placed the gloves of latex on.
He arched a eyebrow at that. He respected and at lleast she did a decent job on putting those... but the moment she had grabbed a gel for you to apply on yourself he got... confused.
The quirk of the woman consisted on a X-ray vision... some devices that connected to her glasses and the machine make it possible for her to show any fractures and even fetus to other people along with the machines.
She wasn't doing it...
"What's your deal?" He spated, placing a protective hand on your shoulder as both woman tilted their heads "You're not using your quirk, illness." He growled.
"Ah that!" She laughed before picking up the device "Ask your wife about it! Not ma fault!" She pushed a chair close to you.
He glared down at you, trying not to let his guard down at the smile you gave it to him.
"I asked for her to be the traditional way you know? No quirks, no powers... only the fashion old way." You whispered, giggling a bit at the way your husband's eyes widened a bit before returning it back to normal in a fraction of seconds with a 'I see.'
Always going out of your way to do these things for him? He was a goddamn blessed devil to have such a perfect angel on his arms...
You yelp a bit at feeling the cold material touching your skin as the woman laughed, deciding to start a small conversation with you since your husband she could sense it he didn't want it to speak much.
"Alright... is a bit difficult but I think Iiiii-" she squeezed her eyes a bit as she still moved the tool before she jerked a bit on her chair "AHA! GOT IT! SNAP!" she pressed one button on the device before pointing at the screen, laughing at both yours and Chisaki's confused as fuck face.
"Listen you two." She pointed at a small white part "This is the head of your little one!" You gasped with a open smile, turning it a bit to see Kai... with wide eyes staring at the screen.
"Following we can see the body... tiny hands... and adjusting just a bit the angleeeeee..." she moved the machine, not takung her gaze away from the screen "We can see that..." she smiled warmingly at the scene before looking at you both.
"Congrats you two, a healthy and beautiful baby boy!"
Your breath was taken away as you smiled with a bit of tears in your eyes, the woman placing the device with a 'fuck it I already took the picture GIVE ME A HUG!' as she opened her arms and hugged you close while you laughed, rubbing your tears.
While in the other hand, Chisaki was simply... astonished, out of words... breath stolen.
The realization that this was his child there had definitely hitted him like a train only on that moment, sure he knew of your pregnancy ever since you told him but...
Seing a completely new life, gerated by a fruit of love that involved you and him was... shocking.
He made that life. He made that fetus...
He created along with his angel a soon to be a boy on this world...
He hasn't said more than one world ever since you both left that place, arriving on the Shie Hassaikai house to take a shower...
He was supposed to go back to his experiments but... something felt... different at only comimg to his head the thought of...Eri.
"Angel that woman gave you the-" he stopped talking the moment he saw you holding them on your hands while sitting on the couch.
He sighed before taking a seat close to you, analyzing alongsides with you.
Your fingers traced delicately the form of the legs while your other subconsciously went to your growing belly to carress it... Without any of his control, his own gloved fingers went to touch the area where the little head was forming it.
"Kai oh my god..." you whispered with a hand on your mouth, looking up at him with teary eyes.
"What?" He growled before widening his eyes at you pointing at both his and your eyes...
Oh.. he was with one tear on both of his eyes...
He scoffed at that and immediately went to rub it away before your gently fingers beat him on it.
"Thank you..." you whispered before touching forehead with him "For giving me such a beautiful and unique gift Chisaki Kai."
"You are the one who I should be thanking for... although I have to admit..." his eyebrows furrowed, making your frow as well in concern.
"This kid. They have me as a father. I don't think I would be one of the... most suitable ones." He sighed while closing his eyes, placing his gloved hand on the plave his son was growing.
"Chisaki Kai I am a first parent too mister." He opened his eyes again, arching his eyebrow "Both of us surely wont know what the fuck is going on by the first few weeks." You giggled at the pinch in your side.
"Language brat." He smirked behind his mask at your smile.
"Back on, most people would say the same to you as a lover, and as always, you rubbed their disgusting faces on the asphalt... proving them wrong."
"Is different." He growled.
"Maybe. But is still half me and half you in here...we won't be perfect, but we will try... and that is already enough for our son, Im sure of it. He will never suffer on his life if both of us show what we already feel for him."
Our son... his son suffering. His angel's son suffering... that seentence gave him the worst of the chills.
The feeling of deja vuu hitted him completly as scenes of his experiments went through his head... he hesitantly looked down at the ultrasound and mentally wimced at only imagining his own child passing through... what he did with her.
Shit. What was happening to him?
"Although both os us know what I am capable of after what I went through." He sighed while laying his head on the back of the couch "Pops was explendid on my creation but the same can't go to those prokects of humans..." he clenched his jaw at remembering his biological parents... his father probably burning in hell while his project of a mother was still somewhere on the streets.
"You're not like them my devil." You reminded him.
"I have their disgusting parts of DNA... and imagine if him, a half pure being growing up to become something similiar of what I once was or even worse? Imagine the chaos." He said nonchalantly while you shook your head
"Pure this pure that. You know the difference here Kai? Every human is unique... I know who you are..." you sighed with a smile, laying your head besides his and broughting the photo up for both of you see "And this little one, will be the luckies little mobster to have the Chisaki's name. No wonder why I wanted it so badly when we married." You cooed the last part, turning your head to stare lovimgly at him.
"And you know what else?" You whispered, catching his attention as he turned his head to you "This boy will grow up in the yakusa, but with actual good and decent parents, whose will care and love him... will you? My devil?"
His heart did one of the worst flips in his chest as he looked into your eyes... imagine if you even discovred a bit of what he already did with a child...
Experiments after experimwnts, nursing her back to health only to put it back again for more and more...
The images of a little boy replaced the girl and that only got worse... your face of horror, the shouts of his parents... all coming like a desperate train on his mind.
"... this is my creation with you my angel. I maybe not be the bets for those things still..." he placed his gloved hand on your belly while the kthed cupped your cheek "I won't fail on my job of keeping you both safe and unharmed."
"I love you so much that it hurts..." you whispered with a smile at him, he brought you close to touch foreheads again with a sigh before lowering his mask down to connect his lips with yours and a sweet and passionate synchrony... enjoying the warmth that your body brought to his.
He...needed to find another way...
~
"You sure about that Kai? It's been a long time since you planned those things... aren't you going to tell Pops about it?" Chrono asked while walking not much away from Chisaki in the middle of three a.m on the base of the Shie Hassaikai.
Kai had demanded his oresence before he went to his room, widening his eyes at what the young man told him before nodding with uncertain.
Sure, the plan was fucked up, but it was a way of bringing the yakusa back from the shadows... and he knew how stubborm and straight forward Kai was with whatever he wanted.
So... why the sudden drastic change of plans?
Kai didn't said a world... only his and Hari's sound of steps on the area... before they stopped on the front of the oh so familiar door.
Chisaki sighed before opening it, not bothering if he was waking up the girl or not.
Eri widened her eyes immediately and muffled her terrified gasp at seing both men, standing on the other side of the door.
Golden yes piercing her sould before she almost sweared that the man hshe feared was shivering a bit before he averted his gaze from her.
For his son...
"You no longer will be used to my plan." He said after regaining his posture, glaring down at her.
For the family he finally could have it on his damn life...
"Your things will be packed soon, and you will be moved to a place where other people can keep a eye on you." He said darkly, Chrono geffing imprissed at seing that it was for real that Chisaki was saying this... without a hint of hesitation or regret on his voice neither eyes.
For his wife... he would do anything. Anything to not lose her...
"You are free Eri." The girl widened her ruby eyes at the man's words before he glared at her "Don't make me regret my decision, don't return. Just stay with those whose are from your own kind." He spitted the words before turning his back to her and leaving the room, allowing a bunch of man to enter to start helping on the change.
Hari, now walking besides his childhood best friend, decuded that now was better than ever.
"Mind me asking what was the miracke that made you change your mind? Or just leave it at that?" Chisaki took it from his pocket a folded black thing before handing it to Chrono with two gloved fingers, gaze still locked on his front.
Kurono took it and unfolded the image before widening his eyes a bit and smirking.
"This uh?" He asked with a smirk, not minding the scoff Chisaki gave it to him as he returned his gaze at the ultrasound "Have no idea wjere its what... but I can guess that this is my godchild or something?"
"You're NOT being the godfather of of my son Chrono." He growled back.
"Ah so its a boy, nice. Godson. And by the way; (Y/n) said it was no problem and even agreed with it."
"But I didn't. Stay away from my son block head."
He almost laughed but decided ti stay quiet...
So things were going to change a bit on the Hassaikai...
"Man just wait until Pops know about this, he will print it..."
"That's why I am not showing it."
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Text
Lazerquest - part 3
Alex Turner x Reader
Chapter 3/?
Description: you are an impulsive bartender who recently moved to London after traveling across the United States and living on the road for a few years. You befriend Alex, a musician who recently got out of a long term relationship, and you show him the ways of your free-spirited lifestyle in an attempt to help him move on from his ex. However, you become more of a muse than a friend for Alex and all is revealed when he releases his band’s fourth studio album, “Suck it and See”.
Word count: 2.5k
Warnings: none
Tag list (msg me if you would like to be added):
@lolurnotmileskane @imagine-that-100
Updates whenever the heck I please (at least once a week) 
Oh also for those of you who don’t know: 
Y/N: your name (first)
Y/L/N: your last name
Y/F/N: your full name (first & last)
Y/N/N: your nickname
**************
“Oi, Y/N. Do you want to explain to me why Alex Turner is asleep on my couch?”
You were shook awake by your roommate, who looked rather embarrassed.
“I told him he could stay the night. Him and I were up until like 5 a.m…. Is that a problem?” you grunted before flipping back over and shutting your eyes.
“Yes it’s a problem, I just went out there in nothing but a towel to start my coffee! A literal celebrity could’ve seen me nearly naked!” Tatiana whisper-shouted. 
“Well he didn't, did he?”
“Well...no…”
“Then why are you in here, Tatiana? I don’t see an issue.”
“Fine. I’ll leave you alone grumpy,” Tati said and walked out of your room, but immediately she turned around and shot you a devious look. “Before you go back to sleep, though, I think your little friend is waking up. And since you didn’t give him a good shag last night, I’m gonna go make my move.”
Your eyes shot open and you were out of bed in a matter of milliseconds. “You better not, Tati. I swear to God.”
She winked at you before darting down the hall, and you ran after her. The two of you turned into a scene out of Tom and Jerry, chasing each other around the apartment but being silent so as to not wake up Alex. This went on for way longer than it should have, before the two of you heard rustling coming from the couch and stopped dead in your tracks. Tati had to put her hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter and you mouthed some profanities at her before watching Alex’s head pop out from the couch and rub his eyes at you.
“Well good mornin’ ladies. The two of you are pretty energetic, aren’t you?”
You thought Tati was going to pass out from embarrassment, and you had to chew on your bottom lip to stop yourself from bursting out into laughter. “Morning, Turner,” you said.
“Can I get either of you some coffee?” Tati asked and turned toward the kitchen. Both you and Alex expressed interest in Tati’s offer, and you went to sit beside him while your roommate was in the kitchen.
“How’d you sleep?” you whispered to Alex and rubbed his back reassuringly.
“Not too bad considering how small your couch is,” he smiled and ran a hand through his messy hair. “I actually slept better than I have in days. I think that opening up to you last night really helped.”
You couldn’t help but grin. Alex and you had stayed up for hours talking about his feelings, and you could tell it was something that was long overdue. He had so much pent up that he told you it physically hurt to talk through his emotions, but a bottle of wine and many tears later he said that a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He wouldn’t tell you this until months later, but that first night Alex came to trust you and enjoy your company more than he ever had with anyone before. You already felt like an old friend to him, the way you clicked and communicated was perfect and he never wanted to be away from you.
“I’m glad to hear that, Alex. You better be well rested, we have a long day ahead of us,” you chirped, and rubbed your hands together in anticipation. Boy oh boy did you have a day planned for Alex. You genuinely wanted to help him get his mind off of Alexa as best as you could, and you knew only one way to do that.
Alex gave you a curious look. “What kind of long day?”
“That’s unimportant. Just know you’ll have lots of fun. Oh, you don’t have anywhere you need to be tomorrow, do you?” 
“Not that I know of… but if we’re going to be out all day and night then we’ve gotta go back to my place so I can change.”
Before you could respond to Alex and let him know that’d be fine, Tati re-entered the room with 3 cups of coffee, creamer, and sugar in her arms. “Where are you guys going? Do I get the apartment to myself today?”
“There’s our little waitress!” you clapped. “and yes, you get the apartment to yourself today. Alexander and I are going on a bit of an adventure.”
“Ah, a classic Y/F/N adventure! How come Mister Turner gets to accompany you in one before I do?” Tati pouted and handed out the coffees. She put a considerable amount of cream and sugar in hers before handing you the creamer.
You took the bottle from your roommate and thanked her. “Well, Tatiana, maybe if you didn’t work 6 days a week we would have gone on one by now. Alex just so happens to have an open schedule today, and I want to help him take his mind off of some things,” You smiled at your new friend, before noticing that Tatiana was giving you a wild look. “Not like THAT Tati. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
Alex laughed heartily at that and began to drink his coffee.
“No cream or sugar for you, Alex?” Tati asked.
“Nah, I like my coffee like I like my women…. bitter and unforgiving,” Alex smirked. You and Tati looked at each other and then back at Alex before cackling like witches.
The rest of the morning was spent with the three of you on the couch, cracking jokes and enjoying coffee. Around noon you left Alex alone with Tatiana in the living room so you could go get ready for your day. 
After taking a shower, you slipped on a pair of black Levi’s shorts that very much reminded you of your time spent in the southwestern United States. They were vintage and had an extremely worn look, and you had added studs to the front and replaced the worn pockets with new ones made of a black bandana material. They served looks that you described as “trashy cowgirl”, and you thought they paired perfectly with a black bralette, a leopard print fur coat, and your go-to platform Doc Martens for a True Romance vibe. Back home, your friends praised your sense of fashion constantly, saying you were “classy coke whore chic”. Your most iconic looks consisted of vintage mini dresses, printed pants, platform shoes, corset style tops, and lots of fishnets. Basically anything that was out of the ordinary and had a vintage vibe, you were all over. 
After putting together your outfit for the day, you put on some mascara, a plum lipstick, grabbed your denim bag, put your hair up into a banana clip, and walked back out into the living room. You were surprised to find Tatiana and Alex still on the couch, playing chess. 
“That’s checkmate,” Tatiana yelled victoriously, and Alex had his head in his hands.
“Aw Turner, not too good at chess, are you?” You giggled. When he looked up, a wide smile appeared across his face.
“That’s one hell of an outfit you’ve got on, Y/L/N. You may even be taller than me in those shoes. Looks like something out of a horror movie,” he chuckled, and stood up from the couch. “Time for us to go, then?”
You nodded and walked toward Tatiana to hug her good-bye. “Yep. Except we have to take the tube around, unless Tatiana wants to lend me the car,” you looked at your roommate with puppy dog eyes, praying she’d say yes. Her BMW Z4 was one of your favorite cars to drive, and any excuse to do so you were all over. 
“Oh, don’t be silly. I’ve got a perfectly good car that we can take on our day trip back at my place. We’ll just take the tube back to mine,” Alex said, and gave Tatiana a hug. “Farewell, Tati, thanks for completely destroying me in chess.”
“Anytime Alex, hope to see you again soon!” Tati chirped, and with that we were out the door
************
“This is a really nice place, Alex,” you gasped as you walked through the door of his apartment. It was one of the most beautiful spaces you’d ever seen, and it was obvious Alex lived here. There were massive bookshelves overflowing with books and records everywhere, convert and movie posters on the walls, and close to 20 guitars in different spots of the apartment.
“Oh it’s not much, I’m in the process of moving again since Alexa took her shit and left. I think I’m going to take a lot of this stuff back to Sheffield and then get a spot in LA to record the next Monkey’s album,” Alex mumbled. You could tell he didn’t like being here much. “I’m gonna go shower, feel free to pop a record onto the turntable over there or raid my fridge or whatever.” You smiled and nodded as Alex turned down the hall. You headed over to the shelf containing his vinyl, and browsed his collection for 10 or so minutes, just taking in the massive amount of music he owned, before settling on a Best Of Tom Petty album. Petty’s music reminded you a lot of home, it’d be the perfect music to get Alex into the mood for the day you had planned. You walked over to his record player, which was very nice and had an amazing speaker setup, before putting the disk onto the machine and adjusting the needle. When you pressed play, American Girl began blasting through the apartment. You smiled. How fitting. 
Moments later, Alex emerged from the dark hallway, wearing nothing but black skinny jeans.
“Where’s your shirt, silly?” you laughed over the music. Alex didn’t reply, though, he just started singing and grabbed your hand. He put his other hand on your waist, signaling he wanted to dance, and after you put your free hand on his shoulder the two of you started singing and dancing around the apartment. The music was so loud and you both were so distracted by dancing and singing and laughing that you hadn’t noticed the door open and a man walked in. 
“Well, well, well, what have we here?” The man said, and you and Alex both nearly jumped out of your skins. 
“Jesus, Miles, you’re gonna give me a heart attack,” Alex gasped, still clinging on to you for dear life. Miles was laughing so hard he struggled to breathe. When the three of you calmed down and caught your breath, Alex let go of you and went over to Miles. He gave Miles a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Miles grabbed Alex’s ass. The embrace lasted a few seconds, and then they both turned to face you. 
“And who might you be?” Miles said in a cheesy, fake, posh accent.
“Miles, this is my friend Y/F/N. Y/N, this is Miles Kane, one of my closest mates.”
Miles flashed you a smile and shook your hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Y/N.” 
“As it is you, Miles.” You flashed a grin at Miles. He was quite charming, and you could tell that his personality complimented Alex’s well. 
“So, Alex,” Miles muttered. “What kind of friend is this Y/N?” 
Alex elbowed him in the side. “A friend friend. We’re going on some sort of ‘adventure’ today, but Y/N won’t tell me where we’re going.” 
You gave the boys a devilish smile. “Patience, Alex. If you’d go out a damn shirt and some shoes on, you’d find out sooner than later.” 
At this Alex chuckled and shook his head. “Fine. I’ll go get ready. Miles? Is there any specific reason you’re in my house?”
“Just dropped in to say hi. You go get yourself fixed up and I’ll keep your lady friend company.” Miles said and put an arm around your shoulder. Alex gave Miles a warning look as if to say ‘play nice’, and walked back down the hall toward his room.
“So, Y/N, care to dance? I didn’t mean interrupt your and Alex’s waltz,” Miles said, and put a hand out. You nodded your head and flashed him a toothy grin before putting yours into his and the two of you began doing a little tango.
Miles was a flashy dancer, he had spun you around and dipped you over and over again, the both of you laughing and singing. When Alex came back out he stood against the wall watching the two of you with a big grin plastered across his face. Miles and you danced through the entire album, and when the familiar sound of the needle hitting the end of the record sounded, Alex erupted into applause. 
“That was bloody amazing, you two!” He exclaimed. You and Miles took a bow, and then he hugged you. 
“You’re welcome to Alex’s any time I’m here, Y/N. You’re a brilliant dance partner.” Miles chirped, and you gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek.
“As are you, Miles,” you smiled and turned to Alex. “Ready to go, slow poke?” 
Alex nodded. “Miles, lock up when you leave, please? And don’t eat all of my leftovers!” 
As the two of you turned to walk out of the door, you heard Miles shout “No promises!” Alex rolled his eyes and shut the door behind you.
“So, how do I look?” Alex grinned, and did a little spin as to show off his outfit. He was sporting a Rolling Stones tee, his skinny jeans, and a pair of suede ankle boots. His hair was as long and unruly as always, and you had to refrain yourself from running your hands through it.
“You look fantastic Alex. Although I know something that would make your outfit absolutely perfect,” you smirked. He furrowed his brows in confusion, but you just turned around and started down the hallway of his apartment complex. “So where’s this car you were telling me about?”
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