#i was kinda hoping for rabis but oh well its close enough for me

[faneth]

i just finished season 3 of doom patrol and im vibrating so hard i could drill a hole 3 floors down

#this!!!! is!! character development bitch!!!!!!! #rita was an absolute star rita was amazing rita went beautifully apeshit #larry got his insane girl summer and good for him honestly #i was kinda hoping for rabis but oh well its close enough for me #maybe next season #doom patrol

[sdv-mostly-shane]

not sure if this has been asked or written before, but what a about a 'sort of cryptid like farmer' and shane? a farmer that's just a little bit more on the non human side kinda thing, if thats alright

A special Spooktember treat for you guys- I hope you enjoy. Been saving this one until it was appropriately close enough to spooky season. Also- TIL that goblincore is a quite delightful aesthetic-read til the end to get the full ✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:* vibes *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ they’re feral AND charming.

Just Goblin Things

Summary: There’s something sinister in Cindersnap Forest, and Shane is the one to come face to face with the creature. What he finds is a more than just a little magical, and he can’t wait to discover more.

Trigger warning : very brief, vague insinuations of alcohol; general spookyness.

“Seb, how many more until we can go back to my house?’

“Just a minute, Sam. I can hear one croaking just over there…“

“Yoba, what was that!-look, there in the bush!” A flash of green had caught Abigails eye, followed by a loud scrambling noise. She pushed herself off the ground, using Sam’s shoulder as a boost, and leaped toward the sound, searching for its maker.

“What kind of frog was that?”

“I didn’t even see anything. Probably just some raccoon or something.” They watched Abby crawl around a small thicket of bushes, peeking in between branches as she went. “Leave it alone, Abby, you don’t want to catch rabies.”

“Raccoons don’t have green eyes, Seb,” she said, as she perked her head up to listen to a faint crinkling of leaves. “Listen, do you hear that? It almost sounds like.. hissing?”

“What, like a snake?”

“No, like a-AH!” Abby shrieked, and fell back. The two boys ran towards her. “No, get back, it might see you!” She was referencing the massive pair of green speckled eyes that were now accompanied with a gnarly, toothy grimace emerging from the bush. From it, came an ungodly snarling and hissing.

“Alright, time to go,” Seb yanked the two teenagers away from the creature, and they started to run. Once they had made it inside Sam’s house, the trio slammed his bedroom door and jumped on the bed. They sat for a moment in silence, listening to each other’s panting breath. Abby began to say something, but Sebastian interrupted, “we’re not gonna talk about it. Just don’t-nothing happened. We didn’t see anything. Got it?” Abby huffed in frustration, and protested with him, arguing that they needed to get back out there and figure it out. All Sam could do was stare at his floor, stunned at what had just happened.

The next day, Sam went to start his shift at the Joja Mart on edge from the night before. Shane was working the freezer when he spotted him-he had picked up a packaged of individually sealed pancakes seven minutes ago and was still staring at it, unmoving. “Uh, you alright, bud?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it…” His voice seemed far away, but he managed to finally move, making to put away the product. He turned to him, “Shane, you live in Cindersnap Forest. Have you ever seen anything… weird… there?”

“You mean besides Mayor Lewis sneaking out the back window and crawling around the house, thinking I can’t see him?”

“What?”

“No, never seen anything.”

“Well we did, Abby, Seb, and I, last night.”

“And?”

“Well, nothing really actually happened-it just scared us, really. Made a really ugly sound and showed it’s teeth to us. It must have just been some animal… but the thing is… gah, I can’t even say it.”

Shane tossed a bag of multipurpose detergent at him, demanding, “C’mon, say it.”

“Ouch, Yoba, alright. I didn’t tell the others, but when we were running away, I looked back and.. and well, I saw it run away and it was on two legs like a person.”

“Hah, okay you got me. There’s nothing in that forest, kid, don’t think about it too much.” Shane slapped the back of Sam’s shoulder, bidding him to just do his work, and went about finishing the stocking. He’d look over, occasionally, to see the golden-haired teen zoned into space again, but he didn’t have the mental capacity to really care at that point; he just needed to get through his shift.

______________________________________________

Shane looked at his phone-11:26 PM. He’d gone out, not able to sleep, and forced himself to take a cold walk through the woods to avoid the saloon. Shivering, not just from the cold, he made his way over to the edge of the lake. He enjoyed watching the little sparkling fish swim, their silver scales glisten underneath the shallow water… Swishing and splashing and crashing-crashing? He flipped his body around to see the source of the crash-in front of the big tree, in a disheveled pile, sat the farmer. They were brushing the leaves out of their hair and dusting off their knees.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh! Goodness, Shane, you scared me.”

“You’re the one who fell out of the tree.”

The farmer finger-gunned, “You got me there,” and stood up, gathering the belongings that tumbled from their satchel.

Shane watched them, and smirked at seeing them covered in Earth matter-leaves, moss, dirt-it all seemed to have managed to stick to them as they tumbled down the tree. “You’re covered in dirt.”

“Oh, yeah I am.” The farmer brushed off their apron and body. Dirt, rocks, and leaves fell from their arms, but the moss stayed firmly attached.

Now with a clear view, Shane could see that their skin wasn’t quite right. It looked jaundiced from their shoulders down, where the color faded to a sickly vibrant green down to their finger tips. The moss had attached itself to their elbows and seemed to grow down to their fingertips. As the farmer moved about, their arms coming in and out of scattered streaks of moonlight, he could almost see it blinking at him. Was it growing on their arm? He blinked trying to make sense of it, “No, no I meant your arms have-“

“Oh, Hey Franklin.”

Shane’s jaw hung open on his words. Emerging from the Farmers.. arm moss?.. emerged a little frog. It opened and closed its mouth a few times before letting out a tiny ‘ribbit’.

“Yeah, I found this little guy a few weeks ago and he just didn’t want to leave. He likes to come with me on our nightly mushroom hunts.” Franklin went cross eyed as he focus on a little bug flittering past before catching it with a satisfying crunch. “Oh, that was a good one, Frankie.”

“Okay I’m gonna go now,” Shane regained control of his jaw, resolutely shoved his hands in his pockets, and started to turn away.

“Wait! You’re not gonna tell anyone my secret are you?”

“Tell them what, that you keep a secret frog hidden somewhere in your arm?”

“No, everyone should know about Franklin, he’s precious. I meant-you know what, can I just show you?” The farmer reached out their hand in an offer for Shane to grab.

He hesitated-he only barely knew the farmer, having really only seen them run past him at full speed with a pick axe held high above their head-but he was in desperate need of a distraction tonight.

The farmer, seeing his reservation, offered up, “come sit down with me, I’ll make us some tea.”

“I don’t drink tea.”

“Well I’ll tell you some of my other secrets?”

He was in too deep now, his curiosity overtaking his tentativeness, “Alright.” He accepted their hand; his fingertips flexed atop their hand, cushioned by the lush, damp covering of green.

Holding his hand, they led him to their crash-landing zone under the tree, where they sat down. As the farmer sat, legs tucked into each other, Shane thought he saw their body hesitate mid-air for half a second. He then was sure that he saw a little fairy ring of mushrooms pop out of the ground with a glimmering puff of orange dust as the farmers body finally made contact with the ground.

“Please, sit.” Shane pretended to not be concerned, but the farmer smiled to themselves as they spotted him cautiously glancing down to the ground as he gingerly lowered himself to sit. Satisfied, the farmer opened up their satchel and pulled out their trinkets for tea-two wooden cups, a shiny silver teapot with a mismatched spoon, and a box of vials and jars. Opening, smelling, taking, and closing the little jars, they began to make the tea. The beautiful earthy colors of the roots, grasses, and leaves peeled out over the edge of the cups. Craning their body, they reached over to the other circle of mushrooms where they crashed, and plucked a purple one.

As they filled the teacups, Shane watched in horror as the they grasped a moth straight out of the air, ripped a wing off, and shredded it into the two cups. He hoped to Yoba the ‘tea’ was done, but they pulled out one final vial. Swallowing, he asked, “Who’s hair is that?”

“Don’t worry about it.” The farmer pick up the teapot, cradling it in their palms. As the silver started to glow red hot, the farmers hair flew up, standing straight when the teapot began to steam. They poured the hot water into the cups.

“Okay, I get it, I know what this is.”

“What is?”

“I just had a few too many today, and I’m actually just super hammered right now and it’s making me see things. I’m gonna go to bed, now”

“But I didn’t see you at the saloon today?”

“Well, no, but if I think about it too much I’m gonna freak out a little bit,” he pushed his hands off to stand, “so I’m just gonna say that this isn’t real and-“

The farmer reached out their hand to him once more. He stood, frozen, as he watched twigs emerge from their fingertips, growing into branches, followed by leaves, and finishing with a delicate flower unfurling inches away from where he stood.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Take it.”

“Take it? But it’s.. attached.”

“Just take it,” the farmer smiled.

He picked it, cupping it in his palms, and brought it to his chest. He watched in awe as the flower petals began to sway, and tiny white fairies sprouted from the pollen. Transfixed, he stood holding his breath as the hazy creatures danced around the petals.

While he watched, eyes big and lit up, the farmer quietly pulled out from their satchel a little carved wooden chair. While Franklin hopped down and plopped onto the chair, the farmer plucked another tiny mushroom, removing the stalk, and tipped a mini-portion of tea from their cup into the cap. They handed it to Franklin who busied himself with dunking his head in and out of the tea and screaming into it.

Shane, remembering his need to breathe, finally gasped and attempted to sputter something intelligible out, but just as he thought of a semi-formed sentence, the dancing fairies suddenly burst into a frenzy of colorful fire. They continued their elaborate dance until the last of them fizzled out, and there was nothing left of the dancing flower except misty smoke and white ash.

“You can keep that-here, pour it into here,” they handed an empty vial to Shane, “sprinkle it on your doorstep and it’ll protect you and your loved ones.”

He did as he was told, not even questioning it at this point-he wanted to know more and how and why and what. Finished, he sat back down, facing the farmer, watching them lift the teacup to their lips. “So uh, does the tree thing happen a lot, or just at night, because I’ve seen you during the day and it doesn’t look like that.”

“No, you’re right, see the thing is, it’s when I- HHREEEEEEEEEK!”

Shane tumbled back in shock, catching himself with his elbows and hands. The farmer had let out an awful screech, showing their (formerly enchanting smile) now fanged row of gnarly teeth. In an instant, their eyes grew and melted into dinner plate-sized puddles of green. Shane yanked his head to match the direction of the farmers leer, where he saw a scruffy-looking opossum attempting to sneak their grubby hands around Franklin. The caught-and foiled-thief returned the farmers screech with a feral ‘hiss’ of its own, before it clambered back into dark bushes.

As quickly as the transformation happened, the farmer returned to normal just the same, meeting Shane’s stunned eyes with their own-now regular sized-smiling eyes. “Can’t be letting Franklin become someone’s snack, now can we?” They laughed and smiled to themselves, giving Franklin a little finger pat.

He was stunned, again. He blinked his way around the farmers face and body, searching for something that would make sense of his feelings. Was it repulsion? Fascination? Perhaps even a little attraction? The farmers little twinkling laugh would normally be very charming to him, but the circumstances of it were overwhelmingly frightening… if not still partially alluring. He settled his searching to focus on their smile-they offered it up so freely to him.

The farmer had waited for him to get settled back into a relaxed position before they continued, “Now what was it you were asking me, dear?”

“I was asking about your arms, that they normally aren’t literal trees,” he stoped, “dear?”

“Well, yeah. We’re friends now, aren’t we? Would you prefer me to call you something else?”

“… no, that’s fine.”

They sat together for a few moments in silence while the farmer drank their tea, and Shane gathered the courage to at least sip the leafy moth water. (It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad. He swished his tongue around his mouth to feel for any fuzzy winged remains, but couldn’t find any. It was smooth, and still hot. While he pondered, Franklin made a few flighty hops over to where his foot was resting, and jumped up onto his sneaker-he was trying to bite the laced up shoestrings.

He let out a little laugh-what a strange little animal. He looked up at the farmer and thought ‘what a strange little.. goblin.’ He let himself stare a bit-they didn’t seem to mind. They had taken off their hat by now, and revealed a pair of little pronged antlers that were hidden underneath. They were encrusted with clusters of crystals, which glittered with every turn and tilt of the farmers head. He continued to drink his tea, getting more accustomed to it with each sip, and watched the scattered moonlight refract off the crystals onto the ground. There, where the prismatic light met earth, a misting of teeny white flowers sprouted and bloomed. Shane had always been appreciative of the wonders of nature, but he had never seen it this beautiful. The farmer seemed connected to the earth, each breathing life into the other. It was humbling. And it-they-were beautiful.

The farmer finally caught his eye, and looked down, now a bit embarrassed. They didn’t mind the scrutiny-it wasn’t out of judgement, they knew, just curiosity. Truth be told, the feeling was more of self consciousness than anything. It was always daunting to show anyone their true selves, but to Shane? His gaze was so honest and searching that it was intimidating. Still feeling his eyes on them, the farmer briefly looked up through their lashes to give him a shy smile, and then turned their attention to the lake.

Shane broke the silence, “Any other goblins in their you wanna tell me about,” he motioned to the lake.

“Nah, that lake is occupied already.”

“Ah, I was just playing. Of course, it’s occupied with fish.”

The farmer was silent

He turned to them, only slightly panicky, “With fish right?”

“Mmhmm yeah fish, lots of fish.” They pursed their lips tight and took a nervous sip of their already empty tea.

Shane squinted to the water, studying it, and caught a glimpse of some bubbles rupturing on the distant surface. He scooted closer to the farmer.

With the shoulders pressed up against each other, the farmer reassured him, “Don’t worry, I got you,” and took hold of his hand.

Shane eased his body deeper against their shoulder with a sigh. He took a peek at the farmer’s face just in time to see an attractive blush warm their cheeks. He smiled, and rubbed his thumb over the tops of their knuckles. They sat together, watching the lake, while the moon rose higher in the sky.

“Did you call me a goblin?” The farmer broke the trance.

Shane let out a hearty laugh, “What other kind of magical creature sneaks around in the dark and scares neighborhood children?”

The farmer returned the laugh, and finger gunned once more, “you know what, you got me there again, Shane.” The pair filled the foggy air with the sound of their laughter, pushing their bodies still even closer together.

“If you don’t want your cover blown, you should probably stop doing that, you know, screeching at teenagers.”

“No, I don’t think I will,” the farmer said with a small growl and a wink.

It was Shane’s turn to blush, now. He looked down at their hands, still cupped together, and smiled. “What other magic secrets do you have?”

“ ✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:* Let me show you.*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ “

#stardew valley #sdv shane #stardew shane #farmer x shane #sdv fanfic #stardew valley fanfic #sdv au #goblin things #cryptid

[red-sterling]

hey remember forest witch demon Red au idea???? no proofreading we die like men

–––––––––

This one has been visiting for months.

Visitors aren't common to Viridian Forest. Stories are told of a witch that lives in the woods, something that leads even the most experienced woodsmen in circles until they reach its lair, and it eats their souls, or corrupts their life force with its malicious intent, or it disembowels and consumes them, or something, it always depends on who might be spinning tales and who might be a coward that evening around that campfire. It's told that the Viridian Forest is not safe to traverse past sundown, no matter how true or how false that may be. It's told that a witch is the reason hikers go missing out here, and not simply the sprawling nature of the woods and the darkness that enshrouds the ground as early as late afternoon, thick curtains of leaves hungrily swallowing the sunlight before it can reach the trails. No matter how it's told, the forest is reportedly a death trap.

He is familiar with the stories, and he is not fond of them.

Should a Pokémon attack a human, said human calls it self-defense. Should a Pokémon disembowel, said human calls it rabies. Should a Pokémon swallow a human's essence from the mortal realm, said human calls it a freak accident.

Should he so much as look in their direction, he is a beast.

Perhaps, then, he is a Pokémon, and perhaps he is acting in self-defense, perhaps he is rabid, perhaps he is the freak accident itself. It's impossible to fully remember anything else about himself. He is made half of branches and vines, he haunts not simply the forest but this form of life itself, he swirls from one tree to the next as he watches travelers come through the woods and he hopes, he begs, he prays, he desperately pleads to be left alone and to be safe. He begs and he pleads and he just wants to be left alone, and that's all he can remember from a life before this.

Well, that, and his broken voice. He can't remember it, but sometimes he hears stories of a selective mute who went missing in the woods, and legend has it he was eaten by the witch, and he supposes perhaps he is the boy and he is the witch, he is fear and fear itself, he is the experience and the concept, the reaction and the catalyst.

Should it be true, he doesn't know how it came to this. All he knows is he wants to be left alone, for any footsteps in his wood are loud and he fears that noise; and no, it isn't the sticks nor the leaves that make the noise, but the travelers themselves are noisy, their energies are always frantic or arrogant, the souls always scream in fear at the mere thought of him, or they call out fight me you fucking monster and his heart snaps like brittle tinder in a fire.

The witch - and he does choose to call himself such a thing, if it should describe him, if he is fear in its most natural form - he does not like visitors to the Viridian Forest.

But he likes this one.

The traveler's hair is unruly, or perhaps styled to appear so, and its shade matches the autumn leaves surrounding him, so he almost blends in to the scenery in that right. His cheeks and the tip of his nose are always tinged pink by the time the witch sees him; how long has he been traveling through the forest? The witch wonders and receives no answer from the traveler, for said traveler doesn't see him, doesn't hear him, perhaps he knows of the forest's myths but if he does - and this is what caught the witch's attention - he pays them no mind. He walks these trails quietly, and oh, sometimes he acts childish, and he makes noise, he bounces in piles of leaves and splashes through puddles rather than circling around them, he tells stories to himself and the Eevee companion he often carries on his shoulder, he stops to nibble on wild berries while he travels, he smiles and he sings and all the witch can think is oh my I'm afraid that I -

The witch feels something strangely, perhaps dangerously human for the traveler. Some faint recollection of an earthly experience worms its way into his memory, and he feels almost ill at the realization. He feels as if he may vomit, if his form is still capable of such a thing, but it's a sickness he almost enjoys, a guilty pleasure of sorts. It's as if his chest is filled with locusts that eat at his heart and from the holes they leave, flowers blossom and tickle the inside of his chest, and he fears if he were to open his mouth he would spit up petals and their scent would intoxicate him - and perhaps, some yearning recess of his mind says, it could intoxicate the traveler, and he could sing you a song and tell you legends of ancient lovers and trees of life, perhaps such a romantic type of wanderer could - could - perhaps -

With his exhale comes a gust of wind through the trees. He feels like a leaf in his own forest.

"Ah... that feels nice, huh, Vivi?"

"Evoi!"

The witch hears his traveler's voice, and he feels his vines coiling around his arms, he feels himself melt, he both grows and wilts at the traveler's voice and, and -

Oh, he's singing again, a wordless song, just this little stream of notes, and, and - and the traveler comes to pause in a clearing, the sunlight dances over him and sparkles on his amber eyes. It's as if the traveler is made of honey and his bees are buzzing in the witch's chest, as if they build their honeycombs in his heart and he drowns in the sweetness that is this wonderful beautiful absolutely perfect -

He doesn't think when he acts. He can't be seen in this light, but he makes his move anyway, or perhaps that's exactly why he does make his move. He runs his fingers over the traveler's cheek, and oh he giggles and seems to even blush and the witch realizes -

"Huh?"

The traveler merely wonders what brushed against him; he sees nothing, of course, but no fear nor aggression reaches the forest, he's not afraid and he's not malicious, he merely wonders what brushed against him and oh, the witch wishes he could speak.

I'm in love.

It hurts a little. The honey boy's bees sting his heart with some such sentiment of defeat: he cannot see you, he will never know you, if he were to see something between a human and a gnarled tangle of branches, he would fear you, and he would be gone, and your heart would be an empty honeycomb.

And yet, this doesn't convince him to kill the bees. If this honey-dipped traveler is the death of him, the witch will choke on him and decompose in the leaves with this sickening heat in his chest and this sugar on his tongue.

The witch floats out of his thoughts when he hear the traveler's Eevee cry, and oh, what a sweet thing, she's begging for a bite of his meal.

"Not yet, Vivi, it's still kinda hot. I told you this thermos was really good, huh?"

"Evoi voi..."

"Aw, be patient, girl," he grins and ruffles his Eevee's fur. "You can have a bite once it cools off a little, okay? I don't wanna let you burn your tongue."

He's so delicate. He cares so, so much; oh, and the silliest thing about this is that one time, just one time, the witch saw his traveler walking with a girl, presumably a friend or perhaps a sibling, but he saw his traveler put on this fake bravado, some masquerading attitude of I'm so much better than you, look at how brave I am, nothing scares me, I could battle anything in this forest if I had to 'cause I'm Kanto's top trainer, oh it was the silliest thing and it was so much more endearing knowing how he truly is.

What a sweet human. He must be made of honey.

"Vee!"

"We've been here for like, ten seconds, girl! Settle down!" Even when he scolds the Eevee, he's smiling, giggling at his companion.

The witch sits behind him, and he wills the wind to blow carefully through the forest clearing. If even in some tiny gesture that the traveler will never attribute to him, he wants to endear himself to his honey boy.

The traveler seems surprised at the well-timed breeze, but he quickly smiles, feeds his Eevee a bite of the noodles from his thermos, he takes a bite himself and smiles and hums happily and the witch thinks I am certainly in love and even the impossibility of the traveler's requital can't sour the honey in his chest.

He summons another breeze, and he almost runs his fingers through the honey boy's hair. The traveler hums contentedly at the wind and oh, oh, the witch is in love.

–––––––––

It's getting cold.

Green is lost. So lost. He has no idea how deep into Viridian Forest he is now, but he knows it's getting darker and windier and he just wants to get home as soon as he can. He, unfortunately, has no sense of direction after waking up, and so after his midday nap, he's managed to get... somewhere. He's definitely moving around the forest, so he - he's gotta be close to the perimeter, right? He should've known better than that, though, he shouldn't have fallen asleep, even with how inviting the autumn breeze was and how warm the sunlight was on his cheeks. Now it's just cold, the sky is overcast and the wind is pelting him with leaves.

"Evoi..."

"You smell the way out, girl?"

"Evoi vee."

Green sighs. "Yeah, I dunno either, Vivi. Are you cold?" Eevee tries to purr reassuringly to him, but he can feel her shivering. "Come back into your pokéball, girl. You'll be warmer there."

"Voi voi!" she barks in protest.

"Hey, I don't wanna let you get sick! Come on."

She purrs against his cheek one more time, but she does let him call her back into her ball. At least she can be cozy.

...there's a clearing up there.

"Oh, perfect," Green hums to himself and the privacy of the woods. "Maybe I can get my bearings there if the clouds get outta the way for long enough. As long as I can actually see the starts for a minute, I can figure out where to go from there. 'cause, y'know," and Green almost speaks as if there's an audience, as if someone is listening, "I kinda don't wanna sleep out here. I didn't bring a sleeping bag or anything like that."

Part of Green wonders if anyone ever listens to him.

He's torn. As Kanto's Champion, he's often on a figurative podium, surrounded by figurative microphones - or literal microphones, too, the paparazzi tend to flock him if he's in a city for more than fifteen minutes. He knows people are hearing him, and sometimes that's almost too much, but it's never quite enough, either. Everyone asks him everything under the sun, he answers, they hear, but they don't really listen and that's what kills him. Even his own grandfather doesn't listen to him (granted, he hasn't been home in months, but still), and his sister has been up in Cerulean City with her boyfriend, so she's not around either, and a camera doesn't listen, it hears and it spits out sound waves but nothing is truly understood, he isn't listened to, he's a sensation but he is not a human anymore.

Truly, Green feels like the only ones who listen anymore are Leaf and this forest.

Green looks up through the clearing at the sky. The clouds are intermittently thinning and thickening, but they never clear quite enough for Green to see the stars.

"...ugh."

Green just flops down on the forest floor and watches the clouds.

"...and like, I mean that, too," Green continues his thoughts aloud, as if the forest were listening. "I feel like no one actually wants to listen to me, you know? They wanna hear the Indigo League Champion, but they don't wanna hear me. They don't wanna hear Green and it sucks. And like, I wonder how many of them - I mean, I wonder how many people actually know what my name is. All the papers and reports refer to me as Professor Oak's grandson or the Indigo League Champion or... anything other than my name." He sighs. "I guess at least I have a little bit of privacy, but... y'know what? No, I don't even have that. I still get followed around the region. This is the only place no one'll follow me, and I have to keep making it into a like, a I'm brave enough to go into Viridian Forest thing. I just wanna enjoy myself."

Green hears the grass next to him settle, and he rolls his head to the side. He doesn't see anything, though.

"...you know what I mean?" As if someone were listening, as if someone were truly listening. "This is the only place I feel safe anymore. I can actually do stuff I wanted to do when I was a kid that I had to stop doing when I became Champion. But like," he looks back at the sky, and it's darker than before, "come on, who's gonna yell at an eleven year old and tell him to stop jumping in puddles 'cause it's unprofessional, right? That's stupid."

He takes a breath, desperately trying to gather his feelings in his chest. He's sprung a leak, though.

"I dunno, maybe I'm just stupid and I need to grow up. It's been a decade since I became Champion, anyway. I should just..." His thoughts trail off for a moment. "I didn't get to be a kid for that long, though. I just wanna live without having to be this perfect Champion, you know?"

The wind blows some leaves off the trees, spiraling through the clearing, almost dancing around specifically him.

As if something were listening.

As if -

"Do you know what I mean?"

He feels something brush the top of his head, almost like a hand, and he actually shoots up and shouts in surprise - because he's alone out here, that's the only reason he let himself express anything other than a confident type of arrogance.

Nothing is there.

Presumably.

The air stills and he doesn't feel like he's alone.

"Uh..." His pulse picks up. He looks around for any sign of a Pokémon, but he sees none, and that just makes that even weirder. "I guess that was... leaves, huh? Yeah, leaves. It's gotta be leaves."

It's so dark out now. Green is still very lost.

"...fuck."

He just starts walking back the way he came, he thinks. It's impossible to tell exactly where he came from when it's so dark and he's already lost all the beaten paths. Leaves crunch under his feet, seemingly louder than before, now that the forest is so... quiet. He could swear he heard at least a few crickets around before, but now even that white noise is gone. All he has is the rustling of leaves and his own tinnitus.

...wait.

Wait. Wait, there's no wind.

How -

"Hello?" Wow, he hates this, he's starting to panic a little and he, he hates it, Viridian Forest is usually so perfect and so tender and now he's working himself up into a frenzy. "Yo, come on out."

That's... probably the worst thing he could've said, but he's talking on autopilot. He has to tell his Pokémon to come out of hiding fairly often - Eevee, specifically, they all like playing hide and seek but sometimes she's a little too well hidden. Nothing comes of the call, though, so...

"...okay, uh..." I'm gonna go home, but now he's not sure if he should say that. He carries on in the direction where he thinks Viridian City is. He's all turned around now, though, so it's hard to say if he's heading home or towards Pewter City - or maybe he's walking directly east, following the long dimension of the forest, and fuck he's going to be stuck in the woods all night.

"No, it's fine, I'm fine," he tells himself and pretends he believes it, "everything's fine. I'm totally good. I am golden right now." He's always been a good actor. "Nothing's wrong."

He's not as good an actor when there's no audience, oddly enough. It's a touch of inverted stage fright, perhaps.

Green still hears leaves rustling around him, he still hears twigs snapping even when he's not the one stepping on them, and he just... keeps going, he continues walking and he continues calmly because he's not about to let whatever is following him know that he's afraid. A dull memory rises to the front of his mind, a story his grandfather told him to try and keep him in line as a child.

A witch lives out in Viridian Forest, you know, he had said, speaking with the same matter-of-fact tone he always used to talk about his research. It's eyes will drill right through you, and it's got tree branches growing out of its back. It'll grab your wrists and throw you over its shoulders into the branches so you can't escape if it catches you. If you're not in bed by nine, Green, the witch will come looking for you.

What if it finds me, huh?

Then it'll eat you alive.

Unfortunately, that's one of the milder things his grandfather has said to him.

Feeling a bit nauseous, Green shakes the memory off as he comes to a fork in the road - oh, finally, trails! He'll just take the left one and figure his way out from there. The real problem is falling off the trails, truly, and even a few degrees off from your original position will send you hurdling deep into the recesses of Viridian Forest with no way of telling where you are or where you've been, with no way of calling for help, because how do you call someone and tell them to just wander around the woods until they find you?

"What...?"

Something is blocking the path ahead - not really blocking, per say, but something is dangling in the way of the dirt trail, hanging from a branch. He'd call it a Metapod or a Kakuna if it weren't so small - though it could be one of their larval forms, too, just dangling from a string as they do. Green has wandered the woods for long enough to get hit in the face by all of the above before, actually.

"...that's not a Pokémon." He says that to himself as he approaches the object, trying to affirm what he's seeing. "That's not - "

It's a bundle of sticks. Vaguely, it looks to be in the form of a person.

"Okay. O-Okay," he almost laughs, but he's trembling and he can't blame it all on the windchill. Witch echoes in his mind again and he wonders if maybe he should turn back.

Something rustles behind him. He can either turn around and see probably nothing, possibly something, or he can trek towards an ominous albeit harmless something in front of him instead.

A stick snaps just a little too close to him. Green walks forward.

"Okay, it's fine, it's just like... like a wooden doll, or something. Yeah." Pause. "Just a wooden doll tied to a branch from it's neck, that's all." Another pause, as he processes this. "I'm gonna keep going."

As if something were listening. As if something were following.

Green walks around the bundle of sticks, rather than under it, because some neurosis of his swears that if he crosses it's path directly he'll be in trouble - oh, but he already walked past the doll's threshold, so he's fucked either way. He just... needs to keep moving. He realizes he doesn't recognize this trail and the trees are mossier out here than he's used to seeing so he is as lost as a bottle at sea right now, but he's fine, it's fine -

"I'm fine, I'm fine, everything is fine, I'm - "

Hey.

Green's footsteps slow to a stop. His heart is going to beat out of his chest but he stops, he listens, he swears he heard someone, and if someone is fucking with him, he wants to punch them in the face.

"Yeah?"

No answer. Of course. Green swallows his fear down and puts on his Champion mask.

"Listen, if you're fucking with me, get out here and battle me. Don't be a coward."

Hey.

"Get out here!" He's starting to get pissed off, now. "I can hear you, you know. I know you're here."

No answer this time. His chest sinks. He turns and oh fuck there's another doll and it's right in front of his face -

"Fffff - fuck!" Well. He tried act tough.

Wait, he just -

"I was just there." That means the doll wasn't there before, he realizes. That means something put the doll there.

He turns again, expecting to see another stick doll, but he fortunately has no new visitors.

Hello?

"Hello?" he calls back, just - just confused, his heart is still pounding but he just wants to know what the hell is going on at this point. "Y'know what? I'm not even mad. Just come out and let's talk for a second." No answer. Green paces away from the doll (not that it's scaring him, no, shut up) and down the path. "Are you lost, too? I kinda fell asleep, and I got turned around. You shouldn't be out this late either, you know."

I know.

The voice seems to always be just up ahead, but by now, the trail is dead-ending at a mound of earth. "Where are you?"

Something snaps to his left. He turns and sees a shallow cave tunneling into the ground. He swears he hears something croaking in there, not like a frog, but like, like -

"Are you hurt?"

No answer. This is well out of his better judgement, and part of him says dude look at those fucking dolls and tell me this isn't some freaky cult, just get outta here, but another part of him says just look around, maybe they are hurt, maybe you can help, you're the Champion, after all.

"Yeah," he says to himself, to his more reckless side. "Yeah, I am a Champion. If anything goes wrong, I'll send out one've my Pokémon, that'll be fine. Pidgeot can take anything on."

It isn't until he says this, dead-ended at the back of the cave, that he realizes it never occurred to him to fly out of the woods on Pidgeot's back, and he realizes how strange that is, because he's gotten turned around in the forest before and that's always how he's gotten out of it.

"...I'm an idiot."

Green turns to leave.

Something is silhouetted by a dim moonlight at the entrance of the cave.

The first thing Green notices is that he feels dizzy, suddenly very, very dizzy. The earth seems to spin around him and the figure is still, silent. It - It's too tall, dangling, almost, like a stick doll hanging from a tree. Robes seem to drape over the figure, ripped to shreds just inches off the ground. The figure seems to sway, or maybe Green is dizzier still. Belatedly, Green realizes there are tree branches protruding from its back, and then he notes vines dangling from what would be arms, if this is a humanoid being, and he can't tell because everything is swirling and all he can feel is an overwhelming pressure from this thing's presence.

He can't see its face, but he feels eyes boring into him.

The figure makes a croaking sound. It's not a croak, actually; it's creaking wood. The branches seem to be reaching out towards him.

Oh god.

Oh god there really is a witch.

Green tears up and his heart pounds as the witch's cold stare pierces his very essence.

"H... H-Hello?"

The witch floats up to him quickly, but he's already basically against the cave's back wall, so there's no escaping. Twiggy fingers wrap around Green's wrists just, just like that, he didn't even process when the witch got face to face with him or when it grabbed his wrists, he feels bark scraping his skin and oh god oh god oh god he can't break its grip and okay now he's crying because even if it isn't about to eat him alive this is still unbelievable, he can't process what he's seeing, he can't, he can't - fuck he can't even think, the witch has him cornered and the fact that he's not even sure of his fate is what's scaring him senseless -

Nothing is happening.

Green looks up and realizes the witch actually has a fairly human-looking face. Greyish eyes stare back into his through matted bangs, a shaggy black mop of hair that's as coated in dirt as its (or his?) cheeks. His face is almost gentle, round, a stark contrast to the gnarled branches growing out of his back and the spindly vines dripping off the witch's wrists.

Green is slowly regaining control of his breathing as he looks at the soft face of something that's supposed to eat him alive. He stops whimpering and squirming, and the witch's grip on his wrists lightens.

The witch's delicate hold on his wrists is actually comforting. He can't believe he's admitting that to himself, but that really feels nice...

"Um... hi."

The witch smiles.

"Uh - mmph!"

It happens all at once, and then it's over, but the moment seems to linger for hours, though only a few small things seem to happen after the witch smiles, and, and, everything just seems and it's so surreal that Green isn't sure what to believe when he blinks and he's at the entrance to Viridian Forest.

"Wh... What...?" He replays his memories, and they're too clear to be manufactured, but... no way. Does this make any sense? He - no, it doesn't, does it? "Wait - "

Ever since he took his first step out of Pallet Town, Green has kept a journal of sorts (no, not a diary, thank you), just to keep track of what happened when. A little bit OCD, his sister said, but whatever it is, it brings him comfort, so he writes the encounter down and reads and rereads and he still doesn't know what to believe. Taking a nap, is his last entry, and everything else just sounds impossible.

– Woke up; groggy. Got turned around and unsure of where to go.

– Walked. Still lost. Got dark.

– Stopped at a clearing; wanted to see if I could navigate by stars. Too cloudy. Thought out loud.

– Didn't feel like I was alone. Left.

– Found a trail. Followed it.

– Wooden stick doll hanging from a branch on the trail. Passed it.

– Found another stick doll.

– Heard someone's voice. Thought someone was fucking with me. Called out.

– Kept investigating. Found a cave, sounded like someone might've been hurt. Went to search.

– Hit a dead end.

And this is where it gets to the point where Green feels like he's writing a fairy tale.

– Saw the witch.

– Witch saw me.

– Witch approached me. Grabbed my wrists.

– Totally didn't start fear crying shut up.

– Nothing happening.

– I calmed down. Looked up.

– Normal human face. Wearing torn-up clothes. Branches on its/his(?) back.

– I tried to say hi.

– It smiled at me.

And his heart skips a beat in some stupid way when he writes the next point.

– He kissed me.

He kissed me. That thought lingers for a moment longer. He's not about to write this down, but his lips were soft. He tasted like chamomile tea and forest air after a heavy rain and a bit like dirt.

And Green, he - he kissed back. The Viridian Witch kissed him and he kissed him back.

"...no way." Still, though, he still tastes something earthy on his tongue.

– He kissed me. - which he already wrote, but he feels like it warrants repetition.

– Something stabbed me in the wrist.

– I think he asked my name but his voice was really soft and rough and I might've imagined it

– but he has a nice voice

– and I think I told him

– ...woke up at the entrance to Viridian Forest.

– There's a piece of wood lodged in my wrist.

And yeah, it's probably gonna just stay there. Green tries to pull it out, but it hurts like hell. Pulling at it makes him want to scream in pain, it makes him feel like he's going to pass out or throw up or, or something, but removing the wood isn't an option, it seems.

Green just... he flops on his back, staring up at the clouds once again. If it weren't for the wood embedded in his wrist, he would've assumed that was a fever dream. Maybe this still is a fever dream. Maybe he hallucinated it all... wait, what? He's not prone to hallucinations, even when he stays awake for days on end. He's kinda weird, but he's more or less stable.

"There has to be an explanation."

Unfortunately, Green thinks he might have to accept what his memory says. He'll have to play it off like he just slept for... over twelve hours in the woods? Hm. That's not believable, though.

Buzz, buzz. Fuck. Leaf is calling and he doesn't have a cover story yet.

"Yo, Leaf."

"Where the fuck are you?" Leaf asks, her words dipped in irritation over a core of concern. "It's five in the morning and you're not home yet."

...how long did the witch keep him in the woods?

"Eh," Green starts, fails to sound nonchalant. "Yeah, um, I skidded down a gully in Viridian Forest and kinda knocked myself out. I'm fine now," he adds quickly, "just kinda bumped up. I'll be back in ten."

"Where - how hard did you fall? How long were you out?"

"Pretty hard, and uh, I dunno for sure. It was dark when I was trying to get back home," oh, this is actually pretty believable, that's improv baby, "and I just didn't see it, I guess. I was a bit more east than usual."

"Ah." Pause. "Are you hurt?"

"Just a bit bumped up, like I said. I'm not bad, though."

Leaf is quiet for a moment, pensive, and certainly suspicious. "Were you out cold all night?"

"I guess...? I dunno, I, uh," and maybe he can play it off as a mild amnesia, "I don't remember, to be honest. I'm gonna come back now."

"Okay, just... lemme make sure you're not too beat up when you get back to the apartment, buddy, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. See ya."

Green ends the call and sits up. Something, perhaps someone, perhaps someone in particular, urges him to turn back toward the forest.

He sees nothing. The world is quiet. The sun is coming up behind the storm clouds overhead.

Green still tastes the witch on his lips. He knows he made a promise to share all the juicy details of this moment when he and Leaf were younger, but Green isn't sure how to tell her he just had his first kiss.

He's also not sure how to explain the wood in his wrist, and he's not sure how to explain to himself why he kisses it and hopes the witch might be kissing back.

#nameless #sterling content #this got longer than i expected it to and also i made Green really soft #viridian witch au

[banghyung]

happy (f)

word count - 1.5k

warnings - fluff, tsundere!sunwoo

member - Sunwoo of The Boyz

request - “can u do a tsundere sunwoo fluff where the shy reader and him both wont admit they like eachother and in the end they kiss or something idk asdfgkl i love ur work and love cliche anime shit oof”

a/n - ahhhh thank you so much! I thought this would be a good scenario to try a new style, I hope you like it! :D

sunwoo?

yeah, you know sunwoo

everyone knows sunwoo

most know him as that hot guy that walks around school with a resting bitch face

you know him as that hot guy that sulks in the corner of music comp

what you don’t know is that he’s actually the softest bean

he had to bribe his friends with a month’s worth of food so that they wouldn’t blow his cover

“I just wanna be edgy foR ONCE”

“Sunwoo you cry watching romance movies”

“and when you see cute pictures of animals” 

“and-”

“THE WHOLE SCHOOL DOESN’T NEED TO KNOW THAT”

hyunjae and eric still laugh when they see him walk through the halls like he owns the place

sunwoo, ya know the hardass that he is, oftentimes comes home and guSHES over you

“hYUNGs Y/N was wearing the cutest outfit today I walked into class and almost started yelling”

“you mean like you’re yelling now?”

“shut up eric no one asked you”

despite how much you made him melt inside

he always kept up his dark, mysterious persona

and no matter how hot you thought he was

you were always too shy to talk to him

besides he has the whole school drooling after him, why would your attention in particular be anything special

you stopped any feelings from growing for that reason

until

you’re walking home after getting off work late one night when you hear a familiar voice coming from an alley

“come here kitty kitty, i just want to pet you”

out of sheer curiosity, you peeked your head into the alleyway 

and who did you find?

none other than Mr. Edgy himself, Kim Sunwoo

“stop running away from me I just want tO LOVE YOU”

“Sunwoo?”

he whipped his head around, scaring the cat more and causing it to leave various gashes in sunwoo’s exposed arm before running away

“oh my god are you okay??” you ran up to him and held his arm gently in your hands as you looked at the various cuts

sunwoo, speechless, just kinda looked at you like :O

“wow it got you pretty good”

edgywoo finally came back to his senses and pulled his arm out of your grip

“yeah i’m !!! fine!!!”

you’ve never heard a more forced laugh in your entire life

“right,,,,,,,,,well i live close by why don’t you just come with me and I can clean your arm up because it’s bleeding pretty bad”

sunwoo, still staring at you only a little, only noticed the blood dripping down his arm after you said something

cue hardass!sunwoo jumping around in panic 

“OH MY GOD OH MY GOD IM BLEEDING WHAT THE FU-”

only calms down when you put your hands on his shoulders

“come on” 

you grab his hand and start pulling him in the direction of where you live

sunwoo just trailed along, his jaw practically dragging on the ground as he looked down at your hand holding his

he was speechless the entire walk to your apartment

even after you let go of his hand

he tried to pull himself together 

but for some reason his heart was beating really fast and his mouth was dry???

you chalk it up to he’s in shock because he obviously doesn’t know how to handle the sight of blood

so when you reach your door and he still hasn’t said a word, you’re worried he’s about to pass out

you pull him into the apartment and quickly push him into the bathroom

the entire time you’re scolding yourself because you were supposed to clean yesterday after class

but instead you took a nap 

and NOW look

there was a hot guy in your apartment

along with the 2 weeks worth of clutter that you put off because of studying

anyways,,

you closed the toilet and sat him down, grabbing your first aid kit from under the sink

as you start to clean up his arm you attempt to make small talk to keep your mind from hanging on the fact that THE hottest boy on earth was currently in your bathroom 

“so why exactly did you think that chasing a stray cat was a good idea?”

he sucked in a breath harshly as your cloth ran over the wound

“i just,,,,,,wanted to pet it” 

you nodded in understanding as you finished cleaning his arm

“there, all done.”

you both stood up and you walked him towards the door, sunwoo finally being able to think clearly enough to once again to resume his edgy persona

“i guess i’ll see you monday then” you said as he walked out of your apartment

he nodded before muttering a soft “thanks” and walking off

leaving you with a heart doing backflips and the sudden urge to clean your apartment from top to bottom

as the weekend passed you grew more and more anxious for monday

what were you supposed to do???

ignore him and pretend like nothing happened?

make a joke about possible rabies and risk getting hit??

???????

you settled on a happy medium

if sunwoo noticed your existence in any way - you would respond

if he didn’t - then it was just another school day 

although, you were a little disappointed when you were walking out of music comp and he hadn’t even spared a glance in your direction

resigned to your fate, you realized that it was just another one-sided crush 

and you forgot about it

until you were leaving work late once again

and stumbled across a stray sunwoo hovering awkwardly in the same alley way that had brought you together before

“are you looking for that cat again?” you asked, catching him by surprise

“no. i was out walking and remembered this was about the time you got off work the other day and i didn’t want you to walk home by yourself”

you tried to control the incessant fluttering of your heart

but couldn’t help the blush that spread on your cheeks

you were just thankful that it was nighttime

“oh,,,,,uh thank you”

you walked home in silence once again, but you were grateful for the company

you hated walking alone in the dark

after you reached your apartment building you muttered a quick thank you to sunwoo before going to head inside

“wait”

at his words, you turned back around 

“give me your phone number” 

you looked at him in shock, your jaw dropping slightly as you fumbled around for your phone

you handed it to him so he could put his number in

your mouth was suddenly really dry for some reason and you couldn’t quite get words out

after he had put his number in and texted himself from your phone he handed it back

“text me whenever you have to work late, I’ll walk you home.”

and then he left

leaving you wheezing on the stairs

but this was the routine you fell into

sunwoo met you by the alley every night that you had to work late and walked you home

but he would still barely acknowledge your existence in school

you found comfort in this, though

and walking home with sunwoo became the highlight of your week

you were looking forward to it the entire time that you closed up at your job

finally yelling a “I’m heading out” to your boss after all of the work was done

walking out, you opened your phone to see that sunwoo had texted you

‘something came up. be safe walking home’

you sighed and shoved your phone in your pocket

disappointment crept its way up your throat as you thought about how stupid you were for catching feelings for a guy that was still so out of your league

tears were almost

ALMOST

about to spill as you reached your apartment building

you grabbed for the door handle as you heard someone yell your name from behind you

you turned around, seeing sunwoo run towards you

“Sunwoo?? what the hell are you doing???”

when he finally reached you he bent over, trying to catch his breath

“i’m sorry that i couldnt walk you home” he began after he finally regained control of his breathing

you looked down at your feet

“its okay-”

you were interrupted by sunwoo yelling “I like you a lot”

you looked up at him, dumbfounded

“you,,,,,,what?”

“i like you a lot. I have for a while, actually. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

you laughed in shock, causing sunwoo to look at you in amusement

“you,,, WHAT?” you laughed out

he stepped closer to you

“I like you. You’re the cutest person i’ve ever seen in my whole life. From the way your eyebrows scrunch when you concentrate in class to the way that you always stare at the sky like it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen when I walk you home, you make my heart do this really weird thing and at first I thought it was anxiety but my friend Sangyeon told me I was stupid and then I realized that its just because I like you, a lot.”

You stared at him, taken aback by his sudden confession.

“I like you too.”

“you,, what”

“We’re not doing this again-”

you were interrupted by sunwoo pressing his lips against yours

“You don’t know how happy that makes me,” he whispered against you

You smiled and wrapped your arms around his neck, kissing him again.

“You don’t know how happy you make me.”

#mine #request #banghyung.txt #the boyz sunwoo #kim sunwoo #sunwoo imagines #the boyz imagines #kpop imagines #the boyz scenario #sunwoo fluff #the boyz fluff #kpop fluff #kpop tsundere

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Ok well no not really, that's a lie, there were two people stirring in the wee hours of night, thinking about their christmas past, present and future.

Merry Christmas @auroskhai ! Hope you're having a real good one today! And I got a pretty fluffy present for you right here! I hope you enjoy💖

"So what, you're telling me you never believed in Santa Claus? " Lucy scooted back into Natsu, sighing happily when she feels his warm chest against her back. She grabs his arm and drapes it over her waist, trying desperately to soak up some of his heat.

It's not like he needed all of it.

Natsu was always ridiculously hot, literally and in the other way that makes him don his trademark snarky grin whenever she said it. Cuddling with him in summer was like condemning herself to the deepest pits of hell but at least now in the winter's chill it was fully welcome.

He chuckled at her antics and hugged her close, pulling Lucy flush against him. He hissed when she evilly rubbed her frosty toes against his calf. Why doesn't she ever wear socks when she knows her feet get cold easily? He's pretty sure it's a deliberate thing, that mad woman.

"Well back home we didn't exactly have snow. Or a chimney, so there's that." Natsu relented his other arm to Lucy, deciding to abandon her pillow in favour of his bicep. It was gonna be dead by morning but it was worth the closeness, even if it meant waking up with her hair in his mouth.

"Plus the windows and doors had grills on 'em so he'd have to get through those," He explained. "And that sounded more like a thief to me when I was a kid." Natsu snorts at the sudden memory of Igneel's roaring laughter when he'd first come to that conclusion. Looking back on it now Natsu still felt he was right.

"Oh my god you thought Santa was a thief." Lucy deadpanned. "What about the tooth fairy, was she a thief too? Please tell me the easter bunny have rabies or something." He couldn’t see it but Natsu could feel the grin growing as she spoke. She wiggled like she wanted to turn over but otherwise, stayed as she was.

"Guy comes to my house in the dead of night, eats all my cookies and leaves after maybe leaving some presents if I'm good by his standards. Yeah he totally sounds like someone I should believe in."

"I bet you were a real grinch at Christmas time, huh?" Lucy mused, elbowing him in the stomach.

"I was still a saint!" Lucy snorted in disbelief. "Ask Wendy. She'll totally vouch for me. But you shouldn't rag on me, what about you? Did you ever believe in the jolly ol' fat guy or what?"

Natsu nosed her cheek, pushing aside stray blonde strands that tickled him into sneezing. Best not let that happen, once was enough for Lucy and she still won't forgive him for that. But she forgave him when he almost ran her over with his bike. And she said he was the weird one, honestly.

It was snowing outside, a light wave behind the frosted window just beyond the bed but it'd be a heavy blanket by morning. A thick, heavy blanket of cold that Natsu'd frolick through, creating snow-Happys and bombard her with when her back was undoubtedly turned. And probably rally in the neighbourhood kids while he was at it. He was really good with kids, and just seemed to attract wherever he went.

It was refreshing to say the least, how he made her appreciate the cold. Her mind drifted to somewhere else, fireplace always empty and locked up, only needing to look pretty like everything else in the house. Why use it when the house had perfectly good heating as it is? It was always warm there yet, inexplicably cold, and it grew colder yet when she innocently asked the question to the wrong person. Even when her mother told her otherwise, she still wouldn't forget.

"No, I didn't." She whispered. Lucy wiggled again and Natsu relinquished his hold on her waist for her to turn over, rolling on her side to face him. Her eyes were downcast, watching as her fingers ghosted over the bare mattress.

She never liked having the sheet on. It felt too smooth and always made it hard for her to sleep.

"Dad killed any sort of belief I might’ve had." Lucy wrinkled her nose. "And I think I might’ve killed it for a few kids at school." His hand found hers atop the mattress, tapping her knuckle thoughtfully. "Sounds like you were the real grinch." He joked, grabbing the blanket- worn, kinda holey but full of love- and threw it over their heads, landing on them with a heavy 'fwump'.

"You're a mean one, little miss grinch~" Natsu sang, bumping noses with her. Lucy glanced at him, a little smile on her lips as she let out a breathy giggle. He couldn’t do anything about her past, but he could at least lessen her guilt about things that happened. They weren't her fault anyways.

"But I'll admit, I might’ve lied about being a saint." She quirked a brow, the look dripping with sarcasm. "I was maybe a little bit of a grinch back then. So we can both share the title of being 'the mean one'."

"You're so thoughtful. " Lucy said, pinching his cheek. He didn't look it, but Natsu had very pinchable cheeks with just the right amount of squish between her fingertips when her hands, more often than not, found themselves on his face. And it especially didn't help when he grinned, like right now for example, it just made her want pinch them even harder. She thinks she might be developing a problem.

"I know." He said smugly, waggling his eyebrows. "But it's such a weird idea though, isn't it? A guy somehow flying all around the world delivering the perfect gift to each and every kid there is. I did physics Luce, that just ain't happening."

She hummed in agreement, reaching behind to tuck the blanket under her side. That little cold spot was freezing her butt off. "Well since it check out then its a good thing we grinches never believed in him. Else this revelation would've been a real shocker." Lucy surmised, brushing back his hair out of his eyes, to no avail. It just fell back , thick pink locks that didn't really to anything to block his tired yet happy green gaze.

She too could feel the sleep pulling at her from all sides and drooping her eyelids low. Natsu stifled a weak yawn, which was followed by a stronger, more powerful yawn.

"Am I boring you?" She teased, poking his chest.

"No I'm not." He managed through another yawn. "You're just making me sleepy s' all. You're comfy." Natsu inhaled deeply, nosing at her again. Her smell, she remembered him say, always relaxed him,made him feel calm and can always ease him to sleep. Weird but somehow incredibly heartwarming.

"Well ok then, we should try and get some sleep." "But I wanna stay up and talk some more." He protested, draping a leg over her as if to prevent her from any sort of escape.

"Fine. What're we gonna talk about then? Because it's your turn to carry the conversation. I don't think we can trash talk Santa anymore." "Never know until we try, right?" Lucy huffed as he rolled dragging her to rest half on top of him with a satisfied rumble, hand combing through mussed up hair before cradling her neck, hair bunching up beneath his fingers.

"We could do something me and Igneel always did. It was sort of an every night thing but," He shrugged. " it still works for the holidays."

"First you start off with 3 things you're grateful for right now and then you say 3 things that you want for the future. Not stuff but just, things you want to happen." Natsu explained, hand leaving the back of her neck to smooth up and down her back. "He always said when you did that you'd wish it into existence.

Here I'll go first. Right now I'm grateful for....." He paused, eyebrows scrunched up together in deep thought, bottom lip jutting out cutely. "Happy. " Natsu said with absolute certainty. "He's better than us because he probably believes in Santa."

She buried her face in his chest, shaking with silent laughter. "Natsu what the hell." "It's true and you know it."

Lucy glanced up at him." Our cat believes in meow mix, kitty litter and that he can somehow fly." Seriously, she'd seen that cat jump from balcony to balcony like it was some kitty version of Assassin's Creed. "Be serious."

"I am! Lemme just finish! I'm grateful for Happy, my super cool, extra awesome firefighter job and well, you of course. How could I forget about the lovely miss grinch?" He pinched her cheek, the one way lower down and snickered when she yelped, pulling his hand to settle back on her waist. "Your turn."

"Yeah alright. I'm grateful foooor, our friends." "Sure you grateful for Gajeel? Be serious."

"I am!" Lucy replied, parroting his earlier words. "Lemme just finish! I'm grateful for all our friends, including Gajeel." "A mistake but continue."

"And I'm grateful for Plue, even if he keeps chewing through all my shoes. And you of course, like you'd even had to guess about that one."

A weak sneeze sounded from outside the room followed by some weak shuffling before everything went back to quiet, save for their light breathing beneath the blanket. That's good, if Plue woke now then they'd never get to sleep, he was too excitable that big puppy.

Lucy drew her legs up from poking out under the blanket. These toes were warm and they were staying that way. "So I'm supposed say what I want now, right?"

He nodded sleepily, tucking her head under his chin.

"Well, I want my novel to be published soon. Like next month soon." She mumbled into his chest. " And maybe a better job." Definitely a better job, working for Jonah Jameson wasn't fun or paid that great.

"And I don't wanna sound cheesy but, I wanna stay with you. For as long as possible." She finished casually, knowing with satisfaction that his cheeks swirled red despite the calm expression he wore. Sure he had his moments of making her red, but she had her times too, they weren’t as often as his but that made them all the more fun.

"Your turn Pinky. What do you want?"

Natsu stayed silent for a few seconds, hands smoothing up and down her back once more. "What I want huh...." He said softly.

"I'd want some more cash." Natsu said simply, shrugging weakly.

Lucy pulled herself up, balancing herself on his chest as she stared down at him confused. " I thought you said no stuff on the want list." Lucy pouted. "You're breaking your own rules here. "

"Don't worry Luce, my list gets better. I also want a ring too, a really, fancy one." His eyes darted to the side and Lucy was absolutely sure the blush spread to his ears. Though she could be sure she was the same, her face feeling warm. She gnawed on her lip, almost sure of what he might say next.

"What'd you need a ring for Natsu?" She asked softly, cupping his face. " Your list is sounding kinda expensive."

"Well..." He wet his lips almost nervously, eyes darting to the sides before settling on her face. His next words came out soft, nearly hesitant. " I need a ring because I want to make little ms. grinch a Mrs., if she'll say yes when I have it."

"Well I'll say yes from now." She laughed happily, pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose watching as an elated smile grew on his lips. Natsu’s arms wrapped around her tighter, almost crushing her in the hug but Lucy hardly minded. "But I think I'd prefer Dragneel to grinch, if that's ok with you."

"Aye sir." He let out a light laugh, pressing a sloppy but well meaning kiss to her shoulder. "Love you Lucy."

"I love you too Natsu. Now let's get some shut eye, before Santa comes and finds us." She winked and he snorted, eyes already drawing shut at her words.

Even so, they still stayed up for another hour, 'til the sun pierced even their thick blanket, aimlessly chattering as giddiness bounced between them easily. They finally fell asleep way into Christmas morning, where nothing really was stirring and the blanket outside was cold and white.

And the last thought they shared was of jingling bells, clearer than any bells ever heard on a sleigh.

#natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #natsu x lucy #nalu fanfiction #fairesandchristmas #fairy tail #fairy tail au #fairy tail fanfiction #nalu nerds #merry christmas dude hope you enjoy!!!