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#I REMEMBERED HIS SCAR THIS TIME HAHAHA CHECK ME OUT
c-cw-f-saeko · 2 months
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tell me your name (tesso and seonhee headcanons 2/3)
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they moved out of the way so i could take a picture of mt. fuji -> loose recreation of this image 
hi !! i thought i’d finish this tesso and seonhee (separate and together) headcanon masterpost. it covers their individual backstory, how they met and how their relationship grew.
btw i made another headcanon masterpost about the liumang here 🤩 it wouldn't be a bad idea to read it before this one !
i warn that this is the ultimate yapping session LOL so it's long and very image heavy OOPS! there are more than 30 images, i wanted to add more but will stop there for now. check the bottom of the post for some straightforward headcanons (and a TLDR).
also, please pretend the entire timeline makes sense.....i won't beat myself over ageless characters not fitting 100% with documented events 😭 (imo seonhee is 34 and tesso is 37 currently) nvm my guess for seonhee but tesso is surely 37
also, the two fics i wrote heavily tie to this (don't mind the last one). i won't say you need to read them to understand, but i recommend reading them (BC I COOKED!) it'll be linked when needed.
- wang tielin
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not completely accurate because he shouldn't have his scars but i'm too lazy to re-do the texture from scratch... sorry tielin 💔
birth name is wang tielin
born in japan. lived in the countryside with his uncle for the longest he could remember.
vowed to his childhood friend to live on the straight and narrow no matter what (hahaha)
a promise to keep was to become rich and share with their family when they grow up.
went to school just because, but had no plans nor dreams in particular. never stirred trouble.
was always kinda bland, but made an effort to become and dress "cooler" after coming to kamurocho (look at the fit please 😭 it was definitely a phase). this is part of the stuff tesso left behind (including his real name). would've preferred no one he knows today met him during that time.
zhao tried time and time again to make tesso show him pictures of him when he was younger but tesso claims to have none. zhao even got seonhee on the task and was ready to put down a good chunk of cash to make it happen. unfortunately for him, tesso was a nobody that truly came out of nowhere according to the geomijul (seonhee just lied 🤩 sorry tianyou).
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-> long before the liumang
he came from some city in the country side where nothing really happens. his aunt and uncle took care of him and sent went to school. he was expected to take on his uncle’s restaurant since he was helping out from time to time and that’s what his uncle wanted anyway. 
how can i put it… as long he found a way to feed himself and have a roof over his head, he didn’t have a goal to attain (like a goal career or whatever). he had no aspirations as in “i guess i’ll live” 😍 
though, he had a close friend called liwei. they spent most of their time at school and outside together doing whatever. unlike tesso, liwei had big dreams of finally making it out go the “boring” countryside and establishing himself in a big city, becoming the wealthiest person of his family to provide for his parents. he had a passion about going to especially kamurocho because it was the complete opposite of their current lives. tesso's response to liwei was mostly -> “i support you!” he kinda admired liwei for having determined ambition. 
-> a bit before the liumang 
though, liwei ended up getting killed because a hit was ordered by a bunch of strangers on seemingly the wrong person. not a lot of clues were left behind, but tesso was adamant about it being a mistake since the two of them always swore on being on the straight and narrow (ironically).
so, tesso decided to leave his hometown in the countryside to find out what happened, who killed liwei and how the mix-up happened in the first place.
it lead him to many big cities (like kamurocho) though he navigated a bit clumsily with his words (talking a bit too carelessly about “i’m looking for such such that killed such and such, not knowing the type of place he was getting into), tesso ends up getting jumped by the local chinese mafia at least twice 😭 the clues he finds leads him into yokohama and bro gets jumped again 😭
all to figure out the true culprit was guys from yokohama's chinatown and going up front to them was the worst idea ever. instead, he joins the liumang (at first for refuge as outsider chinese people were vulnerable to trouble between seiryu/liumang and liumang/chinatown). then, in hopes of giving another meaning to his life and eventually seek justice for liwei’s murder.
-> in the liumang 
won't go too much in detail here, but tesso ends up being recruited personally by zhao as a liumang officer through a fight - given the exploit of him being able to scratch his jacket with his claws (and zhao scratched his face across his nose and cheeks with his sabre 😍)
- sakura, the number one hostess
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long ago in kamurocho, seonhee used to be an hostess called sakura. remnants of the jingweon mafia rejected by mainland and local koreans (that later formed the geomijul) survived  the best they could with low-level information dealing. they used cabaret clubs to get info out of the local population. 
moving left and right with her mother, it was lucrative enough for her to be able to fend for the two of them — even if it was temporary, she would be doing it until they’d be able to find some sort of stability. 
eventually, the cabaret club was disbanded due to more prominent gangs taking over kamurocho, basically forcing the geomijul out of the city (to later end up yokohama).
in the move, the geomijul was very unstable; most members falling into despair as they were forced out of of home one more time.
seonhee was one of the few people to step up to rally the remaining people together. if they were wavering in the faith of surviving their predicament, the geomijul wouldn't even survive. she did everything she could to make sure fellow members wouldn't walk astray and find them a new home.
being one of people that proposed lodging the geomijul between the seiryu clan and the liumang and reprise their information dealing activities. it was through her sheer determination and in the success of securing the geomijul in yokohama that seonhee was made leader (despite being that young and a woman) jumping over all the oldheads.
fun fact, after leaving the cabaret club, she vowed to herself to never do that type of work ever again.
- meeting for the first time in kamurocho
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bro came dressed like that to the luxury club 😭 first timer spotted!! fresh meat here!!!!!!
one promise he made to himself was to realize one of liwei’s dreams, no matter how futile it was. so, he gathered most of his money and decided to light it up for one night in kamurocho in his honour. he ended up going to the first cabaret club he laid eyes on - the one owned by the geomijul.
given the way he was dressed (lol) and the fact he had never been in the city before, seonhee (the number one hostess at the time) was tasked of  tending his table. she usually handled the most "suspicious" customers. 
that's what she thought at first, but past their initial talk, she really did find out he was just young random dude trying out the cabaret clubs for the first time. 
“is it your first time here?” “yeah, there isn’t stuff like this where i live” and so on. funny enough, he turned the conversation back on her a lot so she could ramble about the city and the type of work she did (life in the countryside is boring and uneventful anyway). it caused her to indirectly talk about the geomijul — tesso couldn’t know, her words still applied to the cabaret club dynamic. “the streets are competitive so we are working hard to stay on top!” and how teamwork was the most important thing at the end of the day, etc.
they had a good time talking and tesso was glad to find out city girls were so friendly. he had the impression that he’d be eaten alive, but he was doing ok so far. 
he touched briefly on the real reason he visited kamurocho (thought to himself it would defeat the purpose to not mention it). though, seonhee was smart to not make him linger on the subject by proposing to toast in his honor. tesso agreed, he was there to celebrate and she had made the right call. 
[sorry for the lack of continuity here but i can't being myself to write more atm. will evetually expand that part into a fic.]
- meeting for the second time in yokohama
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tesso was always one of the officers zhao relied on the most. for example, he was leading the men sent by zhao after nanba through the city.
so, after mabuchi's overturned coup-d'etat and seonhee taking over the liumang, zhao named tesso as the most reliable man under him and could definitely provide great support in mending the geomijul and liumang together - zhao assured seonhee she could rely on tesso to bridge the two factions.
seonhee was quick to recognize tesso right away, thinking hard about where she had seen such a familiar face before - and the options were very little. it didn't take long for her to realize that it was the same guy she met at the cabaret club years ago. she thought about playing it cool and pretending they never met before, "he probably forgot anyway" and it's not like she looks exactly the same as she did. but she couldn't really shake off the possibility of him remembering. still, she plays it off in front of zhao
for as long as tesso remembers, the geomijul was a very secretive organization and most liumang didn't even know who the boss was and what they looked like. so he rolled with the assumption of having never met them before. so, of course, when he officially met seonhee for the first time, he didn't recognize her. at least at first 😭
- the underworld post mabuchi
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because of fusion of the underworld, there was a lot of re-structuring to (such as combining certain cashflows, identifying businesses to assign new leaders to look after them, etc.) it was challenging especially after mabuchi basically left the liumang in shambles and with a lot of defecting members.
tesso helped out sorting out the mess with seonhee personally; it was easier to go through everything with someone that new the ordeal from top to bottom (thanks to zhao). the little time they had was dedicated to fixing the whole organization. at that time, seonhee relegated a lot of leading responsibilities to joongi while tesso did the same with his subordinates.
that's all it was; hours in a corner of the geomijul (usually in the middle of the night) sorting through hundred of files.
at first, it was awkward. tesso had never seen who led the geomijul before and the reality was very far from this expectations. starting at the fact he didn't even thought the geomijul had a woman at its head because of the rumours running the liumang. a detail zhao never bothered bringing up before they met.
zhao's funky and malleable nature was replaced by something more rigid, stern at times but always stood on business. it was different, but tesso went along with it. her style was definitely gonna bring the liumang and geomijul back on its feet.
still, he spoke to her with the same clumsiness as he did with zhao. distant in his words, just like a subordinate should be to its leader. she didn't mind, especially when she did most of the talking anyway.
that's how their routine was at the start: meet, sort documents, leave — there wasn't anything else more to it.
but, something didn't feel quite right.
the more he heard her talk, the more he was sure to have met her before. the words she used, her tone... it felt so familiar. and he had plenty of time to think about it. there was no doubt, she definitely was that girl from the cabaret club...
he kept it to himself and vowed to pretend he's mistaken. the last thing he could do was to bring it up first and be wrong. he would continue to behave the same as he ever did. given their circumstances, he could assume she had left her old life behind as well.
though, irony seeped from his pores, it was stronger than him. the coincidence was a bit humorous; the two of them meeting again with different names and under these unlikely circumstances. he kept his stun under wraps - or at least tried to.
from lingering gazes when she wasn't looking to the way she held herself, tesso recalled the selfless woman he met long ago in kamurocho. despite the heavy facade she always wore, she played it off well, how, in the midst of her words, always passed others before herself.
even with her bolder style, and it's not like she changed much: she was still as beautiful as ever and had that unwavering aura fit of a born leader.
perhaps, he had made his realization too obvious.
ever since zhao presented tesso to seonhee, she knew they had met before. thus, sat quietly with the intent of pretending she was someone else. however, tesso's demeanour changed out of the blue. he seemed a bit more awkward and careful in his words.
though, seonhee resigned on pretending. "tesso? is that how you call yourself these days?" shortly followed with his real name. she asks, chuckling a bit. perhaps, he could've picked something more subtle. he did abandon his birth name for this alias he wasn't really sure whom give it to him. but it doesn't really matter. it just meant was a completely different man now.
it was a bit ironic; they are able to have to shy laugh about it, the ice is starting to melt between them.
- the bridge between the geomijul and yokohama liumang
overall, the union between the geomijul and liumang was welcome by its members. given the situation they both were in - one left without a leader and the other very vulnerable to outside threats. it was worth leaving residual animosity behind and cooperate for the sake of keeping yokohama safe.
so, antagonists to seonhee taking over after zhao were far and between - mainly geomijul oldheads (like seo hancheol 😍 rip bozo) and the few remaining mabuchi enjoyers (like zheng because yes in this timeline bro didn’t get banished out of yokohama).
so, not only did tesso assist seonhee in the merge of the two groups, but he kinda became for the liumang what joongi is for the geomijul: the first commander under the leader and first rep for the liumang. so, in case of trouble or any reference needed from geomijul members, they could ask him if needed. tesso is known to get along with younger folks (canon) so it helps a lot!
overall, the underworld is structured like this:
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- factions subordinates (tesso and the geomijul)
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yeona calls tesso liumang oppa 😭 she's the one that got tesso to read manga
i feel like yeona would get along well with these two LOL she can get info on joongi from tesso since they work on another level (joongi hides his cringy side from his subordinates). also, she tends to tease seonhee a bit about not being single anymore 😭 in a little sister-big sister type of way. bc like it's not like they ever announced anything, but yeona just picks up on vibes like that 😭 there's banter between seonhee and her, but it's in good faith!! there are so little women in the geomijul, so yeona made sure to stick with
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"seonhee unnie, that's your boyfriend isn't it?" she didn't say that, but her eyes kinda did 😭 yeona always knows when something is up about her big sister. this whole exchange happened while tesso was reading his notes LOL 😭
well kinda... because now that seonhee is taken, han-sama (joongi) can stop worrying about seonhee's relationship status.
- advisor to advisor (tesso and joongi)
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"Tha- That's not possible! She couldn't have a boyfriend! Some random man from who-knows-where!?" (direct canon quote istg 😭)
"some random man from who-knows-where" that's literally what tesso was to joongi for awhile. 
of course, he knew tesso was one of the closest subordinates of zhao. but he wanted to dig out his history as much as he could before even asking zhao about it. surprise came when he didn’t find much out of the geomijul surveillance system — there was no way to know for sure how nor when he got in the city. however, joongi was adamant about not asking seonhee about it just yet. 
sure, tesso and seonhee never announced they were together (for a very long time). but joongi picked up the smallest changes of seonhee's demeanour and her mannerisms. she tried her best to conceal it, but nothing went past his eye. and it was very clear to him... seonhee was indeed dating that random man.
at first, it was veiled concern but joongi believed seonhee could do better. he thought seonhee could aim for someone more or at least just as good looking than him (im sorry LOL but exhibit A) and someone as refined as her and not so… contradictory in looks and personality (tesso looks rough with a lot of distinctive features but is rather simple). so, first impression wise, it was off to a rocky start. 
despite being the two most important members of the geomijul and liumang, joongi and tesso didn’t really get along. tesso thought joongi was arrogant and preferred dealing with his subordinates instead (like yeona with whom he was able to work well with). 
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“don’t mind han-sama. he’ll get over it eventually…” tesso still has no clue what she means by that
the impression of tesso and joongi not getting along wasn't setting a good example for the fellow geomijul and liumang members. while tesso was unsure about the whole thing, joongi struggled moving on for a bit. even seonhee wasn't sure of what was going on between the two.
it took yeona telling on joongi's business back to seonhee for her to set the record straight. no one knows for sure what she has said, but their short discussion was followed by a shy apology from joongi, blaming the geomijul's eternal lack of trust of others for his behaviour and vowed to be as reliable as ever. actually, that was a move from seonhee where she wouldn't let a reason so petty cloud joongi and tesso's relationship further. it was better if tesso didn't know (lol).......
in joongi's opinion, there was too many red flags or dubious points about tesso and couldn’t figure out where nor when they even met (as seonhee never mentioned him before). so, everything came to him as a surprise. 
deep down, the hurt joongi felt was because seonhee didn’t tell him about it first when they shared pretty much everything. he took it as a sign of being unworthy of her trust. understanding it didn’t come from malice, joongi slowly opened up to tesso - it was iffy at first, there was still moments when he was a bit rude despite him. it took time, but joongi trusted seonhee in her decision and agreed that tesso wasn’t so bad after all (“albeit a bit goofy and doesn’t have a presentation as neat as I do”). all that mattered at the end of the day was seonhee’s wellbeing and she seems happy. bro got over himself…
- relationship ladder
(i'm not gonna extend myself too much on this but) the particular thing about them is how the closer they got, the place to work on business changed as well.
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this is the fish shop next to eomoni's vow 😭
it started at the corner of the geomijul but surely became eomoni's vow (which is just my first fic LOL) - right at the time when the city was as calm as ever and the liumang and geomijul were combined together. members were more comfortable walking the streets so the need to remain miles of tunnels under the surface wasn't as needed.
still, they usually met in the middle of the night to work on stuff, but just end up eating and drinking the hours away. they got in the habit of playing mahjong against each-other singing karaoke on rare occasion (amongst other things).
next location is qing jin.
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omg bro with the three piece suit 😭
it's upgrade from eomoni's vow since the top floor has a dress code 😍 you have to be put together to get in there so dresses and dress shirts are a must.
tesso debated for awhile before inviting her. it was a bit of a bold move, but he knew qing jin would be more of her taste (more spacious, luxurious and an entire different palate) AND it was still very private.
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tesso actually picked the artwork (see the tomato picture below) and the room divider is from lin lin
they went a few times, and that was then tesso told seonhee about zhao's apartment complex and eventually advanced the idea to share a spot there. won't go over the details again LOL but you get the idea 🤩
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knowing she'd be coming, tesso leaves her sweets 🥹 he's usually more busy on foot (you know assassination quests 🤩), but will drop by before she does if he has other stuff to do for the day.
seonhee definitely spends more time there since she doesn't have to be out carrying missions out on the streets and enjoys the privacy. it's seemingly normal when compared to the gloominess of the geomijul and restaurant row.
- trip to kyoto
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this is basically the fic i wrote last year - tesso and seonhee go on a trip to kyoto. (PLEASE READ IT I COOKED!!! 😭) the fic in a nutshell:
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i am kidding of course
despite being a higher ranked officer with more responsibilities, he’s always stuck at the “uhhhh taking some time off like that kinda feels unfair” but was bullied convinced by zhao to take some anyway. yokohama had been peaceful for awhile now and his subordinates could run well without him around for a few days.
so take the bullet train to osaka only to come back three days and four nights later. notably, they visit the nonomiya shrine (the shrine of love woooooooohooooo, no it is actually!), tesso dedicates her a poem and they stay in a machiya.
funny enough, i managed to make 3d models pretty close to the original drawings (iykyk) so it's fun!
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pretty!!!!!!!!! 😭
- miscellaneous
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funny thing they do -> rock paper scissors and they talk to each-other the native tongue of whoever wins for a day. seonhee tends to win often; she's just built like that.
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during yua's first year at seiryo, tesso and seonhee attended the parent-student meeting together in place of her uncle (yua's legal guardian at the time). to meet sawa-sensei (yes she lived).
negative trait
tesso : can be too passive | seonhee : lacks humility
positive trait 
tesso: dependable | seonhee: diligent 
strength against the other
tesso: resistant to dominatrix energy | seonhee: resistant to tianyou
their weakness coming from the other
tesso: her cute mannerisms | seonhee: him calling her a specific petname (b......ba......omg i can't [dies of cringe])
serious complaint about the other
tesso: sacrificing health for the sake of fashion | seonhee: sleeps too little
unserious complaint about the other 
tesso: lacks stamina | seonhee: grandpa mannerisms at 37
random quirk
tesso: can fall asleep anywhere | seonhee: rarely laughs from her the pit of her stomach
karaoke? 
seonhee: enjoys anything from koda kumi | tesso: either tone deaf or decent, nobody knows… won’t do anything more than adlibs
hobby they got because of the other
tesso: skincare | seonhee: gardening
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seonhee enjoys growing tomatoes, amongst other things. on his part, tesso grows nappa cabbages somewhere on a rooftop in restaurant row (mostly for kimchi ofc).
hobby they don’t share
tesso: shopping | seonhee: running
hobby they tried together for the first time
dancing (thank you yagami)
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seonhee is pissed bc yagami made them do something really hard as a tryout. it's not easy, but it's simple at least so they managed!
thing they do when sick
tesso: eats lemons like oranges | seonhee: drinks tea with every single aromatic she can find (ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, peppercorns, etc.)
last thing they fought about
seonhee being frustrated at tesso’s reluctance to take over the liumang, leading her to talk ill of zhao’s ways of leadership. though, seonhee is too proud to apologize first and they didn’t talk to each other for two weeks. even zhao and saeko picked up on the fact they were kinda avoiding each other. 
one thing they struggled with
(especially tesso at the start) treat each-other on equal footing. he was kinda confused at how to behave, whether to be or to not be subservient, like.....
not that it was his second nature, but that's what he used to for the longest time. so, he didn't mind at all.
seonhee was a bit frustrated at the need to spell it out, but it was better that way. at least, everything was clear between them from that point on.
for zhao's costume party [i'll write about this later? maybe?]
(actually seonhee convinced tesso but) they did matching costumes of leon kennedy and ada wong from RE.
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TL;DR: i think there are moments when seonhee shares more of herself to someone on equal footing, moments where she's more vulnerable and has room to step away from her idolized self.
i think there are moments when tesso has to put himself first, moments when he must learn to not overextend himself at his own expense.
despite the unlikely circumstances and complicated conditions, i think they would be able to do that together. tesso and seonhee are polar opposites on so many things and i think they can learn a lot from each-other.
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i'll make another post with all different outfits they had soon because the volume of models i made 😭
next headcanon post is either going to be ichitesso on dondoko island or yua.....idk yet........
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and yes in my book miku was on dondoko island LOL
and before you ask, yes i smoke crack! thank you for coming to my ted talk!
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beacon-lamp · 2 years
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Hey beacon long time no see!
I have a confession to make: Even tho I've followed you for ages I've avoided your hermitcraft propaganda posts so hard. NOT BECAUSE I DIDN'T LIKE THE HERMITS THO!! It's because I knew I wouldn't have the time to watch more than 1-2 povs (when I know I'll want to watch way more) or to catch up on previous seasons because I was already involved in watching dsmp streams and all their videos.
And then my interests in the dsmp start drifting and by May I've started binging some animes and mangas my friend was recommending me and I'm about halfway out of mcyt at that point
BUT THEN I start seeing double life fanart appear on my dash, and I realize there's a new life saga series (Does. Does anyone know what to call it? I know it's trafficblr but like. life saga makes the most sense right? It's what I'm calling it anyways). And I'm like "oooooo, third and last life were fun, I should watch the first episode of this!" (I came last to the party for the previous series so I really wanted to be on time for this one)
And so I watch Grian's first episode because he's the hermit I'm most familiar with and. it's so fun. It's got me hook, line, and sinker. I remember how much of a blast is it to watch Grian, I have to watch more.
So I binge Grian's season 8, then catch up on season 9; I realize I'm having such a great time every time Scar's on screen, so I binge his season 9 and am about to finish binging his season 8- and beacon. I'm ASHAMED I didn't find Scar sooner. I almost had a cow seeing he only had 1.8 million subs when I was subbing to him because WHAT. I've banned myself from eating or drinking while watching his videos because I've almost spat on my laptop multiple times from laughing. His kindness and positivity and wise words have made me emotional too many times to count, and reminds me how much being kind is worth it. I would literally fistfight gods on a sea of broken glass for Scar- Alright I have to shut myself up or I'll write a college thesis about that man.
I still haven't read those propaganda posts btw lmao. But I do want you to know I've been kidnapped into being a hermitcraft fan and I'm so happy about it (I was literally kidnapped against my will tho I swear; I was trying to get into a manga SO BAD but then my brain saw double life and said "mmmm, these minecraft men. I want more of these guys, screw everything else" and then I completely forgot about any other interests alskdgh)
ANYWAYS, sorry for such a long ask! I just thought you'd be interested in knowing that I'm in the hermit and trafficblr community now!
You don't have to post this ask if you don't want to btw, but if you do, quick question: who's your favorite hermit? (I ask this like I know who all of them are alsdgh, I wish I did but there's just so many of them, I'm trying so hard tho)
squish!!! hallo!!!
hahaha this ask made me smile so much, hope it's ok i'm only just now answering it
im very glad you're in the hermitblr/trafficblr community now i'm sure everyone is happy to have you hahaha what'd you think of the double life finale, if you've watched it?
grian is fantastic and the Grian Effect is so real; you start off just watching him and then you blink and suddenly you're trying to keep up with 5 different people's upload schedules.
and i agree, scar is criminally underrated/under-subscribed; i remember watching him hit 1M subs and just being So Happy for him. i need that man to hit 2M subs immediately, he's at 1.92M now. (honestly a lot of the hermits are just under-subscribed i've watched so many of them hit 1M subscribers since the end of season 6 and i am so happy for all of them)
i don't know if i could pick one hermit as a favorite bc i follow pretty much all of them; i watch them based on like the ~vibes~ i'm feeling that day. bdubs almost never fails to bring a smile to my face tho and he interacts with so many hermits so if you haven't checked him out already, you should.
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7th-place · 4 years
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The stars are still there! You can reach them too!!
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oumaheroes · 2 years
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Like to see a fic where..... Arthur is proud of his cooking and someone he cares about tells him food is yummy. I'm sorry hahaha Soft, domestic kitchen stuff is just a weakness 😅
Sorry this took so long to answer, I hope you enjoy! ❤
Characters: England, France, Spain
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‘What are you eating?’
‘Hmm?’ France turned around to find England in the backdoor of Portugal’s kitchen, slightly flushed and messy haired. He never did cope well in the heat unless he was exposed to it for a long period of time and, despite it now being evening, it was still incredibly warn outside where most of the gathering was. Either that, or he’d found Portugal after all, ‘Enjoying the party?’
It certainly was loud enough out there.
Seeing where France’s eyes were going, England flushed and hurriedly tried to flatten down and smooth back his hair, ‘No. What are you eating.’
‘Nothing.’ France rubbed his hands over the sink.
‘Okay, what were you eating.’
‘Why on earth does it concern you?’
‘For Christ’s sake, just tell me.’
‘No.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’ll eat it.’
England opened and closed his mouth, ‘What?’
France shrugged and moved away from the sink, picking up his half-filled glass of wine and taking a sip. He really would need to compliment Gabriel on this one, it was a good bottle, ‘You’ll eat it. It was delicious and I only wanted a small piece. You, however,’ he poked England in the stomach, ‘won’t be able to help yourself and take far too large a portion than is fair.’
England scowled at him, slapping his hand away, ‘How the fuck would you know.’
‘Because you have a sweet tooth,’ France grinned at him, tilting his head to kiss England on the mouth, ‘There, you’ve had a taste. Happy now?’
‘No,’ England pushed past him and made straight for large oak table in the centre of the room. After a few seconds of checking it over, a pile of sliced up cakes and treats and drink, he licked his lips and turned back to France with a triumphant, wicked grin, ‘Was it this one?’ he asked, pointing to one in the centre.
France was beginning to feel as though he would soon be upset, ‘Yes, that one.’
It was a Pão de Ló cake, very moist and rich and clearly handmade, judging from the taste.
England’s grin widened, ‘I made that one.’
France was upset. England wouldn’t let this one go for a while, ‘Are you sure? I thought you’d made Gabriel that little scraggly one in the corner as a prank gift for his birthday.’
‘No, that one was Prussia,’ Spain had silently joined them from the living room and was now leant against the doorway, sadly observing the table, ‘He told me that he was “trying something” but I can’t bring myself to ask him what it was.’
They all wordlessly took in the lumpy, misshapen bulge that had been carefully tucked away to the side of the spread and half covered in napkins.
‘So, you liked it?’
‘Arthur-‘
'Franny, Feli wants to talk to you.' Spain cut in quickly, shooting England a warning look, 'And Arthur I'm sure someone's looking for you. Outside. And then stay out there, we're giving the toast, if we can gather everyone.'
'Delicious, you said,' England looked far too smug, 'Funny, I remember you telling me not to bother.'
'Scarred from prior experience.' France waved a hand airily, 'I've not yet recovered from that abomination you called Chinese food last-'
'Okay!' Spain clamped his hands on France's shoulders and spun him around towards the living room, 'Time to go.'
'Might want to tell people which one's yours dear,' France called over his shoulder, 'everyone will think that it's Gilbert's otherwise.'
'Fuck you!'
----
Shout out to @needcake for her advice on Portugal's preferred cake!
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To Our Beloved Tartaglia
Summary: A story on how two people say i love you without saying it.
A/N: Fluff for today’s birthday boy! I’m buying him a cake and celebrating his birthday! Implied sex at the end.
--
The freezing temperature of Dragonspine was one you’ve grown to find as a minor inconvenience. Though you do enjoy playing in its place and exploring it for treasures, you’ve never grown to like it. It was just a tourist destination in your humble opinion. Not that anyone who knew you agreed, even Paimon had wondered if you were quite alright in your brain.
Of course, correlation breeds attachment and from the moment you heard Tartaglia offhandedly mention how Dragonspine was like Snezhnaya in its freezing temperature, you’ve dedicated a time in the day to spend time in it to ensure that your body would not be shocked when it finally lands in Snezhnaya. If anyone noticed how you’ve silently grown fond of the place, you’d deny to your dying breath that it had to do with Tartaglia.
Not even Kaeya’s impressive boob window would be able to make you admit your growing intentions to tie down the volatile Harbinger to your side through marriage. There were some things you wanted to keep close to your chest, and this was one of them.
It stood to reason then that you would have kept your sudden desire to perfect the art of cocktail mixing or to be more honest, perfecting Blue Lagoon. Your sudden daily appearance in Cat’s Tail had been the talk of Mondstadt, it grew large enough that even the Traveler and Paimon had dropped by.
“Paimon wonders why you would work here just to practice your bartending skills?” Paimon had asked after being served a non-alcoholic drink.
“I wanted to make a drink for Childe with the fire water he gifted me on my birthday” You revealed as you finished the Long Island and gave it to the Traveler, “On the house.”
You winked at them.
“Huh? Why would you even want to do that?”
You smiled and didn’t answer Paimon, opting to give her food to distract her. On the side, the Traveler gave you a knowing look but you merely signaled them to keep it a secret. 
--
“I really hate the taste of fire water but it does its job in the cold. I don’t know why you’d want something like this, comrade...but if it makes you happy-”
“Since you hate the taste of it, give me enough time to make a drink suitable for you.”
“Hahaha! There’s no need to go that far, I’ve drank this when I was just a year in the Fatui!”
“Then I’ll give you a drink just for you as Tartaglia.”
--
When you saw his letter today, you couldn’t help but feel the bubbling emotion in your heart. Excitement rushed through your veins as you ignored the rest of the letters addressed to you to read his letter. You sat in front of your house’s door step, smile on your face as you read his letter.
You couldn’t help but imagine the whine in his tone, you lamented that the two of you couldn’t have bumped into him at Dragonspine but your travels took you far and wide through Teyvat. The chances of meeting him by chance were low, so you resigned on buying information of his whereabouts.
Nothing substantial, just sightings of him if only to fake a chance meeting but it didn't happen so far. The two of you were always on the opposite ends of Teyvat that you had half a mind that Celestia itself was sabotaging your love life. Your heart felt elated at knowing he was fondly remembering the time you had spent with each other, as well as the sparring sessions that always seemed like on the verge of something more.
When your eyes read the final words on his letter, you couldn’t help but feel your heartbeat quicken.
“A special day?” You muttered to yourself, your mind quickly churning as you hastily went inside your rented home in Mondstadt and quickly rushed towards your room to grab your room to change your clothes. You had thought he was in Snezhnaya so you had already sent his gift earlier, timing it so that it would arrive today but if his letter was to be understood, it meant that he was in Liyue today.
‘If I use the waypoints, I can get there quickly and spend the day with him!’ You thought as you began to meticulously fix yourself. You wanted to show him the best sides of you today.
Your clothes were meticulously picked, the outfit would pose no hazards during a battle while at the same time accentuating your figure and increasing your charm. You wanted to be prepared on the off chance Tartaglia wanted to have a spar, but if he wanted to go on a date,
“Then I’ll be prepared as well!” You giggled as you finished checking yourself out and began to apply light waterproof make-up. Your lips were glossed and purposely drawn to capture his attention on how kissable it was.
You sprayed a soft floral perfume before winking at the mirror and making your way to the nearest warp point and teleporting yourself in Liyue. 
You landed softly in front of the teleport waypoint in Feiyun Slope. The effort you spent on yourself was noticeable, the mid-morning populace of Liyue took a couple of glances at you. Anyone could tell that you were about to go on a date, eyes followed you as you happily walked towards the Northland Bank.
“Good morning, Vlad!”
“O-oh! Good morning! Are you here for Lord Tartaglia?” Vlad asked you, blushing after being caught mid-yawn.
“Yeah, I was hoping he was around here” You replied, suddenly feeling embarrassed at your haste.
Vlad grinned, it was no secret to the employees of the Northland Bank that you and Lord Tartaglia frequently went out together. As far as they were concerned, marriage was a foregone conclusion between the two of you.
“Of course! Just head straight to the second floor! Lord Tartaglia is still in his office around this time!” 
“Thanks! I heard Nadia’s into crab tofu this days~” You happily helped Vlad to further his relationship with Nadia.
Each step that you took made your smile brighter, your head was full of thoughts about him. Wondering if he had gotten stronger, was he eating well, did he get new scars, had he visited his family recently, was he taking good care of himself. All of this went through your head as you headed to his office but most of all you thought,
‘Did you think of me as much as I thought of you?’
Your heart was bursting at the seams and you couldn’t wait to be reunited with him. Your footsteps slowed as you reached the door to his office, you could hear the soft muffled sounds of scribbling behind the door. You stood in front of it, debating, thinking, on the words you wanted to say to him.
You hesitated, wondering if the words on his letter were just politeness and not a reflection of his true feelings towards you. You lingered in front of the door, listening to the sounds inside the room, and wondered if you could cross the line today. You thought of the package that had surely already arrived in Snezhnaya, before your thoughts could even spiral further down the road, the door opened and in front of you stood Tartaglia.
Somehow, against your will, you couldn’t help but smile at him. Your traitorous body revealing your heart right in front of him without any regard for your reservations.
“Tartaglia!” 
And when he smiled back, eyes soft as if the mere mention of his name had not revealed your fondness of him, you felt yourself fall in love with him again.
Your name felt safe in his mouth, treasured, and when he pulled you close and held you in a tight embrace, you prayed that he wouldn’t hear the quick and rapid pump of your heart nor would he realize how easily you melted in his embrace.
“You came! I didn’t really expect you to come so quickly!” His tone was bashful, pleased, and a little bit shy and it made you even softer for him.
“Neither did I! I was hoping you were here since I’ve never been to your home in Morepesok before…” You trailed off, feeling shy.
He laughed softly, “If you keep that up, I might just really think you’ve missed me so much!”
“I did miss you” You admitted with soft eyes as you watched his face slowly turn red.
“Comrade…” Tartaglia averted his eyes, the back of his covering half of his face, “I’m no match for you today.”
You chuckled softly, “Mhm. Before that let me greet you first.”
He looked at you and you wondered what sort of face you were making right now. You sincerely hoped it wasn’t weird or ugly.
“I’m listening.”
“Tartaglia, Happy birthday” You stepped closer to his personal space, hands on his chest as you tiptoed and kissed the corner of his mouth.
“I’ve actually sent your gift to Morepesok but since you’re here...today I’ll give myself to you.”
Tartaglia blushed as he grasped your hands and with unconcealed anticipation replied, “How bold! I can’t believe you’re saying that in broad daylight!”
“What’s bold about it?” You asked him “I’m willing to do anything you want today as your present since your real one is in Snezhnaya.”
“Oh.”
You frowned at his reaction, “I-I can change it to something else! Do you want new weapons?” You worried that you had disappointed him with your stand-in gift.
“No!” 
He coughed upon realizing his reaction and hastened to explain himself, “I mean, I’m glad to have you today! You can’t change it to something else!”
You felt relieved at his words. Tartaglia continued speaking, “I want to go on a date with you today, eat your cooking for lunch, and then spar in the afternoon, and we finish this at my room.”
“As you wish!”
--
In the morning, after Tartaglia had finished signing and writing the documents for the Fatui, the two of you ate breakfast at Wanmin Restaurant. His skills in using chopsticks were marginally better but it still took him many attempts before he could eat a couple of bites.
It was cute. It was endearing. And you were so so in love that you didn’t mind picking up the crystal shrimp and feeding it to him. 
“C’mon now, don’t be shy” You told him when his mouth remained close and you could see the hesitation in his eyes “You’ll need all the energy for our fight later.”
You locked eyes with him as he ate from your chopsticks, seeing up close how long his lashes were, the slight curl on its end and the fascinating blue of his eyes. You wondered if Tartaglia could see how much you loved him, if your eyes betrayed the depth of your affection for him. But as soon as he removed his mouth from the chopsticks, crystal shrimp gone, the moment had ended and you ate from your bowl of Universal Peace.
When you saw him swallow, you immediately reached for the Squirrel Fish and took a piece of it, offered it to him and Tartaglia ate. Had it anyone else you wouldn’t have bothered but as always, Tartaglia managed to be the exception and you didn’t mind.
After eating, the two of you walked along Liyue Harbor, browsing shops and buying him small trinkets to bring back home. You visited the blacksmith to commission him a new bow, one designed to further improve his skills at the bow. You would pick it up later in the day, and Tartaglia dragged you to watch opera. The two of you sat close, closer than usual and the butterflies in your stomach never settled down. His hand never left yours and you wondered what sort of picture the two of you painted in the eyes of Liyue’s populace.
You couldn’t help but wish that you could keep on celebrating his birthdays with him from now on.
By the time the play ended it was past lunch time, so the two you went to the market stalls and bought ingredients for a late lunch before heading back to his apartment. Tartaglia helped as you made his longevity noodles, telling him the story behind it from a time before Rex Lapis’.
“I guess, you must really like me that much if you’re giving me this to eat!”
“Well, since we met in the middle of my life, I wanted to make sure that we’d have a lot of time to spend together to make up for it” You teased him even if it was the truth.
You didn’t know what the future held for both of you but you wanted to be part of his life longer than the time you weren’t in it. In his kitchen, you served him the noodles, every part of it made with love and well-wishes for his life and you hoped that there would be more years to come that you could spend it this way.
‘I wonder if you could tell how much I love you with each bite you take?’
When all was said and done, when the two of you had gone through all of his wishes, you both sat at the pavilion in the Dwelling in the Clouds, stargazing and observing Celestia. Between the two of you were two glasses filled with Blue Lagoon.
“You know, I never thought that you’d really make a drink with Fire Water that I’d like” Tartaglia said, his gaze far away “Say, do you do this for others too?”
“I don’t” You confessed, your face felt like it was on fire, you had never been comfortable speaking out your love unless it was hidden behind a joke or said in a playful careless manner.
A moment later, Tartaglia’s movement had you looking at him, drinking in the rare sight of his gentle smile, a genuine one that carried only what you dared to hope was fondness for you.
“If you keep this up, looking at me like that, I might really get my hopes up” His voice was soft and gentle as his face came closer to yours.
“Say comrade, if I kissed you right now what would you do?”
Before you could even think of a reply his lips were on yours and you were pushed down the bench, glasses strewn aside as Tartaglia’s tongue entered your open mouth and kissed you deeply. Your arms embraced his neck as the two of you kissed passionately, drowning in each other in gentle passionate bliss above the clouds. His hand lingered on your thigh, squeezing and caressing it as he applied pressure on your crotch and creating a friction that had you arching your body close.
When the two of you came up for air, you looked so debauched that Tartaglia almost couldn’t help but devour you right then. The flush on your cheeks, the dazed look in your eyes and your glistening red lips that had been a temptation to him all day created a picture that would always linger in his mind.
“If I asked you to give yourself to me…” Tartaglia’s hand traveled down your inner thigh, getting closer to the sides of your crotch “would you?”
“...yes” You covered your eyes, if only to hide your embarrassment.
His soft laughter had you peeking back at him.
“Thank you”
His lips were back on yours and made no move to stop him as his hands went under your clothes, playing with your body as if he had spent time thinking on how to elicit moans from your mouth. He was gentle but purposeful in his acts as your clothes were removed piece by piece and discarded into a pile on the floor.
You bit your hand as he took you apart again and again, plunging you into a passionate love affair that had you crying for his name and tasting the sweetness of his love with each kiss. It felt sacrilegious to have done such an act in a place owned by the Adepti but each bite, each kiss, had your heart pounding in excitement.
You loved him as ardently as the fires of Natlan, as deep as the waters of Liyue’s seas, you loved him with all of your heart and every fiber of your being. What bliss it was to experience this love that made you feel human, that the mere mention of his name could bring a smile on your face.
How wonderful it was to be in his arms right now, enjoying the bliss of being loved and loved in return. With your hands clasped together with his, your heart filled to the seams, you spoke,
“I’m glad to have met you.”
--
When Tartaglia had left that letter on your doorstep,  he had stood in front of it for a long while. Wondering what you would say if he was the first thing you saw in the morning. Would you greet him with a happy birthday? Or would you scream in fright? His thoughts went on and on as he merely stood there thinking upon dozens of scenarios if only for you to be the first one to wish him a happy birthday.
He wanted to tell you that his days were no longer the same without you by his side, that the mundane everyday life no longer felt exciting when you weren’t there to experience it with him. He wanted to tell you how he always wanted you to just show up whenever your informants inquired about him.
He had entertained the thought that you would one day show up in his workplace, food in hand and his name on your lips but he knew that you were the type to stick to your duties, and really he couldn't fault you for that when he was the same. But sometimes, the selfish and childish part of him wanted you to throw away everything for him.
Just for a while, just for a moment, if only to have something to look back upon when all was said and done.
So when he had seen you standing before him, eyes bright and looking at him like he was your most cherished person, he couldn’t help the happiness that was bursting at the seams. And now that you were in his arms, on his lap with your head on his chest, he couldn’t help but kiss you again and again. Making up for lost time, for all of those moments when he could have breached the line and made a move but didn’t.
“Stay with me” He offered, asked even when he knew that it was impossible right now. Not when either of your allegiance could go against each other any time, you with the Adventurer’s guild and him with the Fatui.
“One day” you promised.
And that was enough for him. It gave him hope that both of you would make it out alive. It gave him something to look forward to when his time with the Harbingers had come to an end.
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thewitchofbooks · 3 years
Text
“𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓯𝓮𝓵𝓽 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼” Clavis Lelouch x (fem.) Reader fluff
AN: Hi everyone! I wanted to write some Clavis fluff, because he deserves it(^-^) and i hope you enjoy! (I’m sorry for the English)
Fandom: Ikemen Prince
Character: Clavis Lelouch
Warnings: Some spoilers from his events or events he was included in (please make sure to skip it if you don’t want to know about them!), fluff, slight funny moments.
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It was well known how troublesome that man was. Playing pranks on everyone in the castle by leaving banana peels on the floor, water buckets on top of doors and an ungodly amount of flour, along with a bunch of explosive liquid filled vials.
He loved tormenting his brothers and gossiping about them. You could still remember that day Yves came back, his clothes tattered and his hair snow-white from the flour. Or that time where Luke and Rio were trying to go out of the castle, but two buckets of water, with additional feathers, completely destroyed their plans from doing so.
Clavis especially had a thing for teasing you. Before you became one, he was the first to suggest anything. Going on a fake date with you in public, fake asking for your hand in marriage and even remembering to hold an anniversary party one year after.
Flashback:
“Aren’t you having, wife? It is our anniversary after all, hahaha!” He said and laughed at your frown. But you noticed something else on him that day.
He looked vulnerable, his eyes almost gentle as he protected you from any potential “future love interest that would make your handsome and gentlemanly husband jealous.”
“Oh yes, i’m definitely having lots of fun.” You answered back. Not to sound rude, but because you knew a small challenge would make him feel better and you were right. A prideful, almost arrogant, grin touched his lips and he winked at you.
“Hahaha, my wife is such a delight to have around!”
End of flashback.
But now you knew better. You accepted his proposal in becoming his one and only and there was nothing to regret, even after such a long time of you being together.
You smiled at all the memories, good or bad, you spent them with him. And he was worth every scar you got while the war was ongoing, every tear you shed for him, every smile you gifted him again and again. He was great, in all the meaning of the word.
These were your thoughts as your fingers combed through his fluffy locks, his sleepy face still on your chest and his own arms around your middle, holding you tightly to him.
You smiled gently at the innocence he showed like that, tired from the last check up outside of the kingdom. You felt the need to kiss him again when he wakes up, those pouty lips because he “doesn’t look presentable enough in the morning”.
“Are you gonna watch me more? I know you can’t stand not seeing my gorgeous face, but you could give me a kiss.” Golden eyes, like the sun that had yet to light up the sky, bored into you and you leaned down to capture his soft lips in a passionate kiss.
He was right from the very start. Falling in love with him only made you understand it.
The End
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aphrodite1288 · 3 years
Note
This is not about kadi so if you don't want to answer I would understand. Have you ever had information that surprised you? Something you can't believe? Related to kpop idols, actors or ent industry?
That Jongdae didn't want to have a child at this young age and in the beginning of his Solo career! But once it happened he was so accepting and so understanding! He married his GF becoz he loved her and accepted her pregnancy with open arms even though that brought him so much hate! But he protected her and never let the bad words reach her he is a shield to her and his baby 🍼 But the baby was not planned! when the girl is born he loved her with all his heart and she is so spoiled i saw her she is so cute and has Jongdae's lips 👄. I recently saw Jongdae's footage with his wife and daughter at Apujongreodo entering the mall, he was holding his baby and his wife was holding the baby bag! And they went shopping and got back into his fancy black car.
All Exo members are smoking some stopped but most of them not!
That Sehun is not a happy person and he has more dark thoughts that what y'all see. He hasn't had the best childhood like yall thought. I won't say more i don't want to interfere his private life and expose it. So please Love him and give him a lot of support! He is lovely and he thinks he is useless in the band and members always cheer him up but he needs to hear it from his fans! That's why he is working harder and attending vocalization lessons with Baekhyun and chanyeol's voice tuning teacher and y'all can tell his singing skills has improved from the DFTF ALBUM!!! PLEASE GIVE HIM LOTS OF LOVE!, He is working hard for his fans to be proud of him! He needs reassurance!
That BAEKHYUN is so attached to ExoL! He is so scared of losing them and being forgotten when he comes back from military. He has these doubts and he talked about it with everyone he knew! Even His Fans! Yes he calls his fans and talks to them!
That BAEKHYUN often calls his fansites' masternims and fans he trusts and they chit-chat a lot!! He is close with them!! He asks them about everything related to Exo if they enjoyed the albums, the songs, his Solo etc.. he asks them if he should improve on something, he asks them to tell him if he lacks something in his latest performances! He even calls his fans to chitchat for hours about what content he should post on youtube ! He asks his closest fans to check what other Exol want him to do! And if they're satisfied with his hard work! And if he made the proud ! He discusses everything that bothers him with some of his fansites and trustworthy fans! ALSO He talks to fans about their struggles and he cheers them up! And buys them gifts during their birthdays yes he remembers their bdays!
That BAEKHYUN loaned money to a fan when she called him saying she needed money! He even paid surgery for a fan!
Sehun often pays meals for Exol secretly before leaving the restaurants or Coffee shops especially when he couldn't sign for them !
That Seungri wasn't the one to be blamed in the burning sun but all evidence was against him and he was played ( I don't know abt this, i don't defend any man who assaulted women as a feminist myself i can't come to terms with believing this but i saw a lot of ppl saying it!)
That BP members are jealous of Jen for getting all the brands and the commercials, which YG ent solved and started distributing solo projects to the other members and asking sponsors to not only focus on Jen and suggesting them the other members! Now we see other members promoting for famous fashion, cosmetics, sports and make up brands, while before, they were jobless and only Jenn who was getting all the money and roles and brands and was the only member active for two years 2018/2019 and even the first one and the yongest to have the earliest solo debut only after 2 years of debuting with her band, i mean a rookie shouldn't get a solo until they skill their singing and acting! But Jenn's potential was big and she has tons of fans that's why YG wanted money so took advantage of her epitome fame to debut her to get cash🤑💰 Jenn didn't like her members being left out and she talked to them about this a lot. This subject of members being jelaous of her bothered her and at a certain period caused their dinamics to go down in the band. She saw them changing and she saved the issue from getting worse by talking to YG coz she truly loved her members.
Jenn is more perverted than what ppl think, she knows a lot of guys and she is very loved by everyone. She is Nice! But she is not innocent! SHE DATES A LOT! ONLY HOT and Tall wealthy GUYS ! MODELS and ULZZANGS! Her mom and dad are in the industry that's why she gets everything she wants and she does work hard for it though! But the opportunities mostly come at her through her parents ! She is very spoiled baby girl.
Kaistal are close friends i mean i saw their pics together and they're still friends and they're still talking and Ji supported her so much when she left SM also he is still supporting her Solo career as an actress now, he texts her to support her works and to give her his opinions, Krystal trusts him a lot he protected her and helped her a lot before! 🤷🏻‍♀️
Ksoo hid his relationship with Ji from his Fam for a long time??
Kaisoo kissed during a truth or dare game when Ji lost and had to kiss Kyungsoo on the lips and Ksoo didn't object it was from before debut! I guess that's when the members knew they were in love?? I don't know abt this! I'm not sure. But it's a possible probability.
Chanbaek did kiss but it was not during a truth or dare game, it was Chanyeol who shocked Baekhyun by kissing him on the lips to shush him down 🤫
Chanbaek living together coz baek is a clean freak and can't stay with many ppl in one place he is a private introvert who loves to stay alone and play videogames! And chanyeol granted him this wish and invited him to live in his house for 2years or more i don't remember 🤷🏻‍♀️
SUHO dated Two members of Apink
Jongdae dated one member of Apink!
Exo are so so close with APink!
Luhan had a crush on Chorong from APink!
Sehun is close with Oh Hayong of Apink! Coz they have the same last name!! He is still close to her and supports her a lot, she is close with Suho too! And all other APink members! Sehun is also close to Gugudan.
Taeyeon loved Baekhyun truly and their breakup left a scar on her heart! She hates men now hahaha I hope she gets to find the love of her life she deserves happiness please give her much support! I want her to be dating Ravi he is a softie and will treat her well!
Yeri of RV is a playgirl she is so bold and asks guys out when she likes them! I love her for that! Girl power! But she is so nice!!!
A lot of news about BTS their Gfs their Exes with Pictures and all their dating history, their toxic company overworking them etc... But I'm not too interested in BTS these things came to me I didn't ask for them🤷🏻‍♀️ lucky? IDK maybe.
And many many many more things. I just can't list everything
I don't know if I answered your question! But that's all that came to my mind! Some things may not be too shocking it surprising or unbelievable like you asked but still they're precious secrets and gave them to y'all for free!
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thesleepy1 · 3 years
Text
All In Endearment, Dear
A/N: My friend really liked that last fic and they wanted another one. I am so glad they liked it. One of the only positive things that happened in a while, hahaha. To anyone who comes across this, commenting, anything, even if it's just a smile makes my day. I finally get to feel that little surge of happiness when my fics are being read. It's a nice feeling, not going to lie. And to top off all of that, @queenofchaos7 requested that I continue this fic. So here we are.
Pairings: Merlin x Arthur
Summary: In an attempt to be more direct with Arthur, he takes Merlin out hunting with his knights. Something so intimate and a clear show of his loyalty, that Merlin could not mistake it as anything else. And in the middle of the forest, Arthur would not be able to chicken out like a coward, lest Merlin gets lost in the forest.
Word count: 3,824
Part 1
Part 3
Warnings: language, suggestive language, crude jokes, violence, blood,
Merlin was ignoring him. The man just had to be. Sure, Merlin came when called, was present in the council meetings, and everytime Arthur “accidently” injured himself Merlin would be there to nurse his wounds. It was just that Merlin rarely ever made eye contact with him anymore unless absolutely necessary. Merlin rarely ever lingered when called anymore, quickly leaving Arthur’s side to do who knows what.
Everyone already knew that Merlin was a wizard. Arthur was in full support of Merlin’s power and his ability to be useful among the court. For once in the brunette’s life that is.
There was no reason why Merlin should be avoiding him like this. Had he done something to make the man upset? Was it the rain comment from the week prior? Whatever it was, it was making him lose sleep. Arthur had long admitted that he was infatuated with Merlin, in love even. Though that was a big word. But obsessed to the point of losing sleep? That was where he drew the line.
“Merlin!” Arthur yelled in that way of his. So distinctive that Merlin subconsciously curled up deeper into his nest of blankets. “Merlin!” Arthur yelled again, banging on Merlin’s door in Gaius’ quarters. “I know you aren’t at the tavern. I checked already. Wake up and come out here or I’m going in!”
Begrudgingly, Merlin rolled out of his straw stuffed bed and unlatched the door for Arthur. The king immediately stepped in before Merlin could close him out. “Do you realize how late it is?” Merlin asked in a sleep filled voice, not expecting Arthur to reply.
“Early actually, Merlin. The sun will be up in an hour or so,” Arthur replied, trying to hide the effects that Merlin’s sleep filled voice had on him. The king was so glad that the room was too dark to properly see.
“That doesn’t explain why you’re in my room, you twat,” Merlin groaned, trying to make Arthur out without magic. If he didn’t know any better, it looked like Arthur was in his hunting outfit.
“Would it be absurd to say I just wanted to see you?” Arthur asked in mock jest, watching Merlin’s face in the dark of the room. Even without light, he was shining.
“You see me everyday, remember? I work for you,” Merlin countered, turning on his heel to beeline for his bed.
“But you’ve been ignoring me.”
Merlin ignored him in favor for getting back into his bed.
“Merlin,” Arthur tired again. “I’m here for a reason, you know.” When Merlin didn’t reply Arthur rolled his eyes. “I’m taking you hunting.”
That got the wizard right out of his bed. “What?” he exclaimed in confusion, his hair stuck up on one side. Arthur was tempted to fix it back into place.
“What do you mean, what? We’re going hunting in the forest.” Arthur approached the bedside slowly, as if coming up to a sleeping lion in its den.
“Is that an order?” Merlin mumbled against the bed, pressing his sagging pillow against his head to hide away from Arthur. His shirt was riding up his chest from the movement and Arthur had to quickly look away.
“I-it is,” Arthur stuttered, suddenly very interested in Merlin’s walls. The wizard had a little parchment picture of a bird nailed to his wall. The sketch was quite accurate, though Arthur could not remember for the life of him what kind of bird it was. “We’re going hunting with the knights.”
“Couldn’t this wait until morning?”
“It is morning, Merlin,” Arthur inched toward the door, suddenly very aware that Merlin had gotten up from his bed and was currently undressing behind him. “J-just hurry or else we’re leaving you behind.”
“Well, we can’t have that,” Merlin snarked, shrugging into a new tunic. “You might stab yourself with your own sword if I’m not around.”
Arthur turned around, offended that Merlin would say such a thing, “Well I would have you know-” Merlin had yet to put on a new pair of trousers. Arthur ran from the door without saying another word, scarred for life at what he had seen. Merlin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion until he heard a distant shout. “I still expect you to be there, Merlin!” Groaning at the unfairness of life, Merlin stepped into his trousers and made his way to the courtyard.
Arthur and the knights were there waiting for him, everyone disregarding, Arthur looked just as exhausted as he was. One of them was barely holding onto his mount. “Dear god, Arthur, what are you doing?” Merlin asked with a yawn, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Take the lot of you hunting for a great beast or something the kitchen staff could roast for us!”
Merlin was ready to leap off a cliff. “At this ungodly hour?” he asked, not really expecting an answer.
“Of course, Merlin. Do you really expect us to hunt at night?” Arthur answered with a smirk on his lips. The knights of the round table all looked as if they were ready to kill their king as well. Gwaine was half asleep on his stallion. Lancelot was sleeping with his eyes open, the lucky bastard.
“I expect you to hunt without me,” Merlin shook his head, turning his back on Arthur to saddle his own horse. The mare was purposely stronger than the others, a more reliant breed that had the best sense of home. If anything were to happen while they were hunting, Arthur wanted Merlin safe.
“Come on, Merlin. It won’t be that bad,” Arthur sounded, ordering his knights to flank him as they rode off into the forest. “Really, it could be worse.”
“It really couldn’t.” Merlin rode to his left, Percival to his right. For knights of his court, none of them except Leon seemed to be properly awake. Even Elyan who used to get up before the break of dawn to help his father was trying to not doze off. Arthur was frankly disappointed in them.
“It could be fun, Merlin,” Leon gave him a reassuring grin, reminding Arthur of a golden retriever. “If anything happens out here, we’ll be here to protect you.”
“It's more likely that Merlin would get himself into a spout of trouble. He’s a magnet for that sort of thing,” Arthur butted in, suddenly aware of how close Leon was to Merlin despite their protective formation. His knight looked bright and cheerful even when the sun barely broke the horizon. “Don’t worry, Merlin. We’ll be sure to save you from yourself,” Arthur added, playfully punched Merlin on the shoulder.
“Ouch, that hurt,” Merlin groaned, rubbing against the spot Arthur had hit.
“You’ll live,” Arthur hid the guilt that ran through his system well. “If you can’t take a punch then you won’t survive out here, you clotpole.”
“First you take my sleep then you take my insults, what next, my breakfast? Oh, wait,” Merlin snarked, holding the reins to his mare tightly. Arthur had made Merlin carry all of their supplies, his horse being the strongest and all. But the wizard didn’t know that. He just saw Arthur as dead from the head up inconsiderate.
“You haven’t had breakfast, Merlin?” Elyan asked in a concerned tone. When Merlin shook his head, Elyan quickly glared at the back of Arthur’s head. “We should catch something for you then. The rest of us had bread and cheese before departing,” Elyan informed, grabbing the box strapped to his back to notch an arrow and be on the lookout.
“He’ll be fine. Missing one meal won’t kill him,” Arthur brushed off Elyan’s concern. His knight was a much more skilled archer than he was. If he was to impress Merlin then he would need all the chances he could get. Perhaps taking his most skilled knights into the forest to hunt for sport was not the most brilliant idea.
But if it were only him and Merlin, then the wizard might have suspected something amiss. Arthur rarely went outside of the city outskirts unless it were for a diplomatic meeting. And he never hunted before day break. It was unsafe to do so alone. However, Arthur wanted all the time he needed to confess to Merlin. So, really, bringing the knights was the only smart choice.
Arthur was beginning to regret his intelligent decision.
The sun finally rose to signal that morning had truly arrived. And with it brought disappointment. They had spent the entirety of the morning running around like cocks with their heads chopped off. Not a single one of them could catch even the smallest of blue jays. No one had any luck.
Arthur even begged Merlin to cast a spell to make something fall at their feet but the wizard had refused because he found it too cruel. The king agreed but at the same time, they would be killing the creature for supper either way. Did it really matter, how?
According to Merlin, yes.
And that was how they ended up here at the river. Noon had just passed its peak and the soft morning sun was blistering with heat. Everyone was sweating in their armor and gear. Practically begging Arthur to stop for a dip. Pleading that they’ll try to catch some fish while they were at it.
Only Merlin sat fine as can be in his faded blue tunic and red handkerchief. The fabric so worn and loved, Arthur could only imagine how soft they were. Though, those two items seemed to be the only things in Merlin’s wardrobe. That and the inverted of the two, faded red tunics and blue handkerchiefs. The wizard’s sense of style was lacking to say the least.
“Do I have something on my face?”
“Besides arrogance? Not that I know of,” Arthur answered defensively, turning his back on Merlin for the second time that day. All the knights had piled their armour and clothes on the ground, running head first into the river. The wizard clearly didn’t want to be left out.
Arthur may join them in the water but there was no possible way he could compete with them. They were soldiers, training from morning till evening and then some more. Their bodies were muscular, hair greased and unruly, their scars gleamed in the sun. Arthur couldn’t help but stare at them, watching as droplets fell from their rippling chest. His face grew bright red, heat making him dizzy as he resisted the urge to look lower.
Merlin was having no such complications.
The wizard had just taken off his drawstring trousers. His boots laid next to the knight’s pile of clothes. The horses were tied to a nearby tree and happily grazing. Arthur noticed these simple things so as to not stare at Merlin’s figure. As much as he would like to make fun of Merlin, there was nothing to make a mockery of. For a simple servant, Merlin was quite fit.
“Come on, Arthur! The water is great,” Gwaine yelled from the river, splashing on shore where Arthur was still standing with his gear on. His back was to the group, but his knights knew damn well why he was not looking their way. They had found out about his little crush on Merlin after he had one too many tankards. And since then, they had not ceased in their teasing.
“There could be leeches in there for all you know,” Arthur replied, watching a family of birds high up on the tree branches.
“Leeches are harmless,” Merlin said in a cheerful tone. He could hear the man swimming and splashing behind him. “If you’re worried about the leeches’ well-being, Arthur, they’ll be fine. Missing one meal won’t kill them,” Merlin laughed in a way that made butterflies flutter in Arthur’s stomach.
“Ha, ha, very funny, Merlin.”
“The river feels wonderful,” Leon added as well, looking like a glowing greek god come alive. Sure, all of his knights were good looking, but he saw the way the soldier looked at Merlin. Just because Leon knew about his crush, doesn’t mean the man wasn’t willing to steal Merlin. The knight was so clearly flaunting his muscles, tousling his bright blonde hair with his veiny hand. “Why don’t you join us?”
“Please, Arthur?” Merlin pleaded, the sound going straight to Arthur’s heart and perhaps somewhere lower. “It will probably fix your sour mood.”
“I don’t think anything can fix that,” Percival said with a grin that took up the entirety of his face.
“I think only one thing could.” Arthur could feel Gwaine’s wink against the back of his head. He resisted the urge to gag in the back of his throat. If he loses to Gwaine, he’ll never forgive himself. Leon was worthy at the very least, Gwaine drank too much. To lose to a pig was an under disgrace.
“Fine!” Arthur yelled to his hunting party. He tugged off his gear, his tunic, and then eventually his trousers. It was all a very frantic dance to rid himself of layers, he felt like an utter git. “Are you happy now?” he turned to ask his party, preparing himself to jump into the river.
“No pants, my lord?” Elyan asked in what could pass as a concerned tone, but Arthur could hear the snicker in his voice.
“Well- Aren’t you all naked as well?” Arthur stuttered, flushed as red as the day he was born.
“Even I have my pants on,” Gwaine grinned widely, floating on his back to prove his point. The man was wearing white cotton pants with pink sewn hearts. It was quite comedic if not for the fact that Arthur was standing butt naked in front of the man of his affections.
Arthur quickly grabbed his pants and stepped into them before struggling to jump into the river. He failed to properly jump due to searing eyes on him and belly flopped into the water instead. “Gah!” Arthur cursed under his breath, surfacing with a grimace. “The water’s so cold.”
“There’s no need to feel ashamed, my lord. Performance issues are normal for someone your age.”
“Stress and lack of usage I hear are big factors in the issue,” Merlin added, grinning at Arthur playfully.
“Shut it, Merlin.”
“I think you might be scaring all the fish away, Arthur. You would think that little shrimp of yours would attract more of them.”
Having enough of their rude jests, Arthur pushed his hand through the water and splashed the nearest men. That only awarded him with six grown men thrown into a water battle. It wasn’t fair that Percival was large enough to create a tidal wave of a splash or that Merlin could use his magic to protect himself and attack the others. So when he had ran for his own horse to wade through the water, it was all within the rules.
“Cheater!”
“Traitor!”
Arthur only laughed out loud, “The horses want to be a part of the fun as well!” He had quickly grabbed ahold of his clothes and putting them on with one hand was proving to be more difficult than it seemed. “Catch me if you can-” A strong gust of wind appeared out of the blue and knocked Arthur right back into the water, his horse swimming to the other side.
“What were you saying about fun, Arthur?” Merlin looked down at him, those blue grey eyes staring right at his heart. “Are you willing to play fair, now?” Merlin said in a whisper of a voice.
Arthur parted his mouth to speak, but Merlin took his breath away. This was the moment to tell him. To confess how much he needed Merlin in his life, wanted the man without hesitation. He would never give away his kingdom, but for Merlin…. For Merlin he would consider it. A kingdom was not one without its kings.
He could not place the exact moment he fell in love with Merlin, but he had always loved the fool. “I l-”
His horse on the other side of the river nighed in warning, the steed whining in fear. Bucking up on high legs, Arthur had to hold onto Merlin’s arm to steady himself. There on the shore was a beast he had never seen before. A bear as large as a house stood on four reptilian feet, the fur of the thing made from pure glistening metal. The creature had three sets of violet eyes and radiated heat like a furnace.
Before any of them could react the bear opened its maw to reveal dozens of rows upon rows of teeth. They were sharpened to a point, serrated edges that tore through the horse with a rigid form of fiery. In the blink of an eye, the horse was gone.
“Get back on your horses!” Arthur ordered his men, back stroking onto shore for his sword. “Prepare yourself!” A breeze brushed against his back, goosebumps littering his pale skin. His men were behind him, but Merlin, the bastard that he was, was in front of him. “Merlin, get your ass back here!” he yelled, gripping his sword in hand, chest and clothes soaked through.
“He’s starving!” Merlin shouted back as if that explained everything. The brunette’s lips were tinted blue, his pale skin a purple bruise from their earlier rough water fight. He looked so small then.
“Get back here before I drag you by your ear. You are not to engage!” Arthur threatened, quickly looking out of the corner of his eye to make sure the rest of his knights were alright. They all stood prepared to give their lives for the block headed wizard. Swords at the ready, amour and gear laid askew on the floor, chest bare. Their lives for the thief that stole Arthur’s heart.
“Don’t attack!” Merlin yelled back, wading towards the bear with vigor. His chest heaved with each breath labored by fear. “The poor thing is starving,” Merlin repeated, holding his hands out in a reassuring gesture.
“Merlin,” Arthur warned in a hushed voice, afraid that if he spoke any louder the creature would feel threatened. “Get back here, it's not safe you, utter git,” he hissed between his teeth, eyes darting between the two beasts
“I’ll live,” Merlin called back, eyes glowing light amber and gold.
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Lancelot muttered under his breath.
Merlin’s lips twitched upwards at the comment, “Make sure Arthur behaves if I’m gone.”
The mere implication of such a thing had the king of Camelot rushing forward. Arthur would die before having to live a day without Merlin. He was seeing red as he waded through the water, pulling the wizard behind him. “Never!” Arthur yelled louder than intended, the creature whipping its head at them.
“You bloody-” Merlin’s curse was shortened by the blood curdling roar that erupted like a volcano from the beast. It reeled back onto its two high legs, claws as long as Arthur’s arms slashing forward. The underbelly of the thing was made from thick places interwoven, almost as if it knew that was where Arthur was planning to strike.
“Bold of you to assume death could get you out of this relationship,” Arthur quipped before diving underwater.
“Relationship? If you think you could confess to me and then go off to get yourself killed, then I’ll kill you myself.”
“Hey, lovebirds! Have your lover’s quarrel after you’re not in immediate danger,” Gwaine shouted, joining Arthur underwater.
“All of you are going on a fool’s errand,” Merlin said exasperated, climbing onto shore. Leon and Elyan pulled him up with their free hands, pushing him behind them the moment he was on his feet. He rolled his eyes at this, absolutely done with his hunting party. Turning on his heel, he found his horse with all of their supplies. “The bear hasn’t eaten in days, have you seen the state of this forest?” Merlin pulled out a small sack of fruits and bread he had nabbed from the kitchen before running to meet Arthur.
The remaining knights looked onto him in concern, none of them completely used to the words and voice Merlin used when practicing magic. It was a low hiss of words, his eyes illuminated by liquid sunlight. If he weren't on their side, they would be slightly fearful of the wizard. Especially when he made the small sack fly through the air like a canon smelling of freshly baked yeast.
The bear whined low in its throat, the sound like gravel being thrown by the handful at glass windows. It caught the flying sack in between its rows of teeth, tearing through the thing thread by thread like it had the horse. Arthur was within attacking distance when the beast unhinged its maw and let put the most rancid burp.
Arthur and Gwaine fainted where they once stood. The creature lumbered away like it hadn’t just killed a member of their cavalry and scared them lifeless. Merlin swam across the river without hindrance, slapping both Arthur and Gwaine across the face the moment he touched shore. “You two better have a pulse or I’m feeding you to the bear,” Merlin threatened, feeling at their necks and wrists.
“Please, mercy,” Gwaine groaned, “The thing smells like my grandfather’s cooking.”
Merlin chuckled despite himself, the sound causing Arthur to stir. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” the king murmured more to himself than to the rest of the party.
“Really? I would have never guessed. I assumed you had planned this all out, being killed by a beastly bear included. Was that not a part of your little list of Hells for Merlin?”
“This was supposed to be a date,” Arthur said instead, struggling to sit up properly. The smell of the beast lingered and Arthur could have thrown up. “I was supposed to impress you and confess.”
“Well call me impressed,” Merlin brushed Arthur’s hair out of his hair. It was soft to the touch, even riding in a forest for the whole day couldn’t ruin it. “But I’m planning the next date.”
“Next date?”
“Oh no, no, no, a concussion isn’t getting you out of this relationship,” Merlin shook his head with a grin and a gleam in his eyes.
“I don’t have a con- Ow!” Merlin smacked him over the head. “That hurt!”
“Really? It felt like I was just hitting rocks.”
“You can’t say that to me, Merlin. I’m your boyfriend.”
Merlin couldn’t hide the blush on his face and to be honest, he didn’t want to. “I say that because you’re my boyfriend. It's said with endearment, dear.” Arthur grinned at the pet name, Merlin returning the smile as he pulled the king close. Pressing their lips together should have been done ages ago, it was breathtaking. Merlin tasted of faint crisp apples, Arthur of something utterly his own.
Arthur tasted of something delicious, Merlin decided. And he was starving.
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next chapter of More Than One hahaha much angst in this chapter. at the very least i love angst with good endings!
@helleborusangel gets tagged for my writing, and yall can send asks if you want me to also tag you.
In the past day or so, Grum had done his best to research everything he needed. He had all his notes ready for what was still an unnamed war, but that’s normally how things started. Of course the hermits would choose sides, but based on what he knew about them so far, there were sides that were likely to form in similar ways to the mycelium war, with a few exceptions.
After that, he worked a bit more on his help for his daddy and catching him up on what he missed while sick. It didn’t take too long, as other hermits were able to do the same since he could move around, but Grum liked being able to help his daddy.
The other stuff didn’t need to be worked with too much, since if he compared everything to boxes or chests, that was mostly the junk chest. Or more likely miscellaneous. In other words, something that didn’t matter that much right now.
The last was everything with being a kid. Grum took his free time to research what kids normally did, see how Jrum acted, maybe read a few books on the topic, and he was pretty sure he had it down. Now today he was going to test out if he was right, and his first stop was in his Dad’s base.
Grum arrived at the basement of the mansion before taking the elevator upstairs, which was obviously the most fun option opposed to taking the stairs or flying, so he was off to a great start. The next stop was his dad’s closet, which was practically a room of it’s own. In researching, dress up was a common activity for kids, so this would be a perfect activity for him to do. Especially if it ended up in a mess that needed to be cleaned later. A mess he would need to refuse to clean at first of course. Jrum hated getting cleaned up after a redstone project, and other kids seemed to hate the job of cleaning up, or rather, the chore. Because kids got chores, not jobs.
For most of the clothes, they all better fit his dad, which made them too big on Grum, but that was supposed to add to the charm. He even started off with a well worn sweater that had been stretched a bit bigger than the others, really emphasizing the look. Once he put it on, the collar dipped a bit low, and the hem nearly reached his knees while the sleeves when unrolled draped over his hands. Looking in a nearby mirror, Grum couldn’t help but smile at how silly he looked.
Grum took the sweater off and went to hang it up before stopping himself and letting it lay on the floor, nodding in approval at the way the fabric lay on the ground in a messy fashion. His next choice was a black hoodie that was a similar side, but baggy near the bottom. Still, it didn’t quite feel right, so Grum tossed it aside.
He huffed a little while looking at all the clothes. While sure, he was smaller than his dad, the difference between him and his dad was much slimmer than him and his daddy, or Jrum and their dad. But then he spotted something that hung a bit lower on a hanger.
Walking over, Grum saw what was the same color as most of his dad’s sweaters, but more of a jacket or a robe. Putting it on, the fabric draped past his knees, and it was easy enough to wrap around him. Perfect. Reinvigorated by the nice find, Grum started going through the closet, putting the sweater jacket to the side and trying on a number of other outfits.
At first, Grum had been very methodical about the whole thing, but over the course of trying everything on, he sort of stopped treating it like a thing he had to do and actually just did it for fun. He was having so much fun in fact, he didn’t notice the clatter from outside, especially since nothing immediately came from it. But a few minutes later, he stopped when he heard someone speak.
“Jrum, is that you in there?” Grum heard his daddy ask, and couldn’t help but frown a little at the fact that it was assumed he was his brother.
“Nope. I’m Grum.”
“Oh. Well, what are you doing in there?”
“Playing dress up.” Grum replied, taking that as an opportunity to put on some shoes he found, which didn’t quite fit his feet, but it was fun to wear them anyway.
Mumbo said something a bit too quiet for Grum to hear, but then he stepped into the closet, trying not to step on any clothes. When he got close to Grum, the bot turned to look over at his Daddy with a smile, Mumbo chuckling a little at the way Grum was dressed. The bot had kept the cardigan sweater on, but underneath was a bright lime green tank top. Below that was a hot pink skirt that Mumbo recognized as belonging to ‘Ariana Griande’ and Grum was currently putting on the second in a pair of very woolly boots.
“Well, it certainly looks like you were having fun, but your dad was worried about you and I think you should let him know things are fine.”
Grum was a little disappointed, but reluctantly nodded. “Do I need to take everything off?”
“No, I think staying dressed up will help your case.”
.
.
.
It turned out staying in their outfit really did help Grum’s case. Grian was at first worried about something with robots and closets, but upon seeing Grum, the bot could barely explain themself before Grian lit up and cooed over how adorable Grum looked. He scrambled to get his comm out to take pictures while Grum smiled, their screen flickering a magenta color which neither of their dads managed to catch, and it was gone by the time Grian finally took some pictures.
From there, Grum was allowed to back in the closet and dress up a few more times, feeling themself smile more and more as their dads took pictures, and by the end, their dad offered to make some more outfits so they could have more to play with. Grum of course said yes, but then came the dreaded clean up, and they started work on that. They sighed when they started, and over time, Grum could feel it become less of a game and more of a chore for him, which was how it was planned, but he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
After everything was all cleaned up, he mentally checked that off his list and looked at what was next. He didn’t know what his brother was up to, but he was hoping that playing pretend would be okay on his own. The hermits certainly seemed to come up with stories on their own, so he could do the same. Since Jrum always used Scar’s village, Grum tried to think of a different place, eventually settling on Cleo and Keralis’ city.
When he arrived in the city, Grum put down a shulker box and unloaded all his items into it, then put the shulker into his inventory. His whole goal was to make a story while walking the streets, which would hopefully be helped by the presence of the armor stands littered around. He looked around, trying to figure out where exactly to start from, eventually noticing the main road ending near the ferris wheel and deciding to start from there. Ideas ranged from a kid out on their own for the first time or one who was separated from their family. Eventually he settled on the first idea, not wanting to figure out being a worried child.
Grum took a moment to mess with his ‘boxes’ and ‘files’, then he walked over to the outdoor bar area and took a seat, looking around. The place wasn’t that populated, the area down the street having all the armor stands, so it was up to Grum’s imagination. He stared, half glaring at the empty spaces, willing for something to appear to help him along. But nothing happened, making him imitate a sigh. Well, time to figure it out.
He had gotten off the Ferris wheel. And then he came to this… empty stall… no not empty. The… the owner just had to step away for a lunch break, because they can’t eat their own food all the time. It would hurt profits. But the food was a balance in taste, portion and price, so Grum was willing to wait.
He actually waited a bit too long, forgetting about playing pretend, then he reminded himself and was served an invisible bowl of redstone, which he ‘ate’, then he was off to explore more of the city. He didn’t get that far before joining a pair of armor stands, pretending they were the ones taking him to visit the city.
Thinking of them as parents didn’t fit right, especially since they were outfitted with masks of two other hermits, who were definitely not his dads, but technically, he wasn’t Grum right now he was… Well, Grum looked between the masks of Cub and Stress. Maybe Cress? That sounded like an okay name to pretend with. Yeah, Cress was a kid growing up in the city with their dads- er, parents. And they took a trip today to the ferris wheel and now… Grum looked around before spotting one of the armor stands set up to look like they were trapped in webs, and remembered the superheroes. That was perfect. They- Cress- was going to see the heroes and get enamored and run off. So they did that.
They pretended that they were at first watching the villains get beat up by Spider-Cleo, then suddenly the super villains game in to fight her, getting it to a one on two situation. Almost as soon as they had thought of that, Grum noticed the darker clouds rolling in and the rumbling of thunder. It was a perfect mood change.
As the bot went through the streets, they couldn’t help but giggle a little at a spider managing to spawn in a darker area. Of course a spider army was being summoned to help fight the bad guys. Grum still needed to fight it off, but it was fun either way. Simply a mind controlled spider that was being turned.
Grum made their way East at the end of the street, passing by some people spray painting a wall with some familiar faces. Then after a bit more, they went South through a bit of a tunnel. The street didn’t have much on it, but obviously everything was pretty dangerous right now, so Cress was going to have to go from building to building to hide from the fighting if they wanted to keep watching.
The first building wasn’t that exciting since Grum took one look at the elevator and decided he didn’t want to go up that high. The next building seemed like some sort of office space, but it had big windows, so ‘Cress’ was glad to use those to watch the ‘battle’. The last building Grum almost missed, not being as fancy as the others and having normal wooden doors as an entrance. They still noticed it of course, but failed to look at the logo on top of it, or rather, the face, being too caught up in the game they were playing.
So Grum walked into the building, and was instantly bombarded by leftover posters from the election. Specifically for the Get Gorgeous campaign. Grum stood there, frozen as he looked between everything around them in the room. They tried to keep from panicking, screen flickering pink, but it was too much, and they ran out the door, a zombie or something from within the nearby walls making a noise that spooked the bot.
They ran out of the building, the first thing they noticed being the jungle in the distance. Just wanting to go home, they ran in that direction, only to get stopped at the end of a pier, a wall in the water ahead stopping them from making any progress. With the mix of their panic and the darkness from the storm, Grum thought they saw something out of the corner of their eye and ran the other way, back into the city, now worse than before.
At first, they were running right back to the building they just left, but then they took a sharp left turn down an alley. They passed one armor stand before seeing another, backlit in a horrible way that when Grum crashed into it, they looked up and screamed, once again running away. They took another turn to go down the labeled ‘Crime Alley’ before crashing into someone else, this time being grabbed. “Grum, what’re you doin’ ‘ere? Where’s Grian ‘n Mumbo? Where’re yer dads?”
.
.
.
Cleo was able to call Doc over quickly enough, him already meeting with Keralis. Mumbo showed up next, Grian apparently retrieving Jrum. After that were Iskall and Stress, Iskall being the most helpful in explaining what exactly he had done when messing with Grum’s circuits the first time around.
At first, Grum felt pushed on the sidelines, everyone talking about him and not to him. But while Doc was busy talking with Mumbo and Iskall, meaning Stress was also in a similar position. Because of that, after a few minutes, the bot scooted over to Stress.
“How’re you doin’ luv?” Stress asked when she noticed Grum, trying to sound positive, but Grum could tell she was worried, probably about him.
“Okay.” Grum answered. “I just got spooked by monsters, that’s all. I don’t know why everyone’s worried.”
“Well, you are still young. I’m sure it’s jus’ when Cleo called yer dads, they might’ve panicked as much as you were.” Stress explained, comforting Grum.
“I guess. But it’s just frustrating cuz I was just playing and now I’ve been stopped for… it feels like nothing.” Grum pouted. “Jrum never has to deal with stuff like this when he’s playing.”
Stress frowned just a little. “Well after he went missing, everyun reacted the same way luv. If I remember correctly, he was sorta grounded a bit after runnin’ off like that.”
Grum sighed, but then nodded. “I guess. But I didn’t just run away! I said where I was gonna be! And I can’t control the weather but I did well.” The bot argued, and then Stress tried to calm him a bit, pulling him in a hug. “I just wanted to play… why is that so bad?”
“It’s not luv.” Stress answered, only briefly moving away from the hug to shoo Doc from getting closer and upsetting the bot even more.
“Can we just go home?” Grum then spoke up, making Stress look towards Mumbo to see what he thought. Then, before anyone could say more, Grum quickly spoke again, throwing everyone off. “Please Mum?”
.
.
.
Grum crept towards his dad’s room, hoping he could wake one of them up to cuddle with after his nightmare. Ever since the incident at the city followed by what happened with Stress, things had gotten seemingly worse. Doc was constantly over to talk with Grum’s dads. Stress too sometimes, though more infrequently. Etho also seemed to stop by here and there, conversing about redstone, specifically Grum’s internal workings.
All the events and talks and whatnot didn’t help Grum, the bot being kept in the dark to the point he started eavesdropping, wanting some clue on what was going on, why everyone was acting as scared as he felt. And the stress from that led to nightmares which ended up making things worse. So now he was hoping that maybe he could wake up one of his dads and have some way to calm down.
But instead it didn’t seem he would have to, as when Grum approached the door, he could hear them talking. It made him hesitate for a moment, not wanting to interrupt them, but this was sort of important. And it wasn’t as if he hadn’t already started listening into conversations. Maybe what they were talking about would be enough to help. Or instead, as Grum started listening, it could make it worse.
“-what would you suppose we tell Jrum?” Though he was speaking quietly, Grum recognized his daddy’s voice as the one talking.
“I don’t know!” his dad replied, sounding upset, voice in a harsh whisper. “Maybe we just turn him off too!”
Turn him off? Too? Were Grum’s dads planning to… to shut him off for good? Is that what everyone kept visiting about?
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do! Grum’s already breaking, so it’s only a matter of time before the same happens with Jrum, and the end of the season is so close. No one would notice if we didn’t bring them along.”
Grum was frozen in place. Sure, things seemed like a mess to him, but… but he was a kid. It couldn’t actually be that bad. He was just overreacting and the Hermits would be able to help. Should be able to help. But instead they were going to, what? Get rid of the problem? And then get rid of Jrum as well? “Grian, you know the Hermits would notice.”
“Then we make an excuse. Maybe we just send them away instead so no one can find out.” And Grum just stared at the door. They didn’t want it. They were going to throw it out. Make it someone else’s problem. And even hearing all of this, it just felt numb, all the panic and worry gone and filled with… nothing.
Mumbo said more, but Grum didn’t listen any more. Just turned around and walked back. Past the bedroom and down the hall. If it wasn’t wanted. It would leave. Easy as that. It did gather simple supplies. An old diamond sword, some gold boots and a number of rockets to use with its replacements for elytra.
After a bit of hesitation, it also gathered a large amount of charged redstone. Grum didn’t need to eat, but it needed to stay charged, so with a lack of a mobile charger, the special redstone would work as a substitute. Plenty of supplies for a long journey.
The elevator down to the basement was too loud, so Grum simply walked outside and down the main steps. It went through the main portal there, and trekked to the main portion of the nether hub, reaching the section just below bedrock and starting on the East tunnel before heading North. The same direction that Jrum had a while ago on his adventure.
Using about a dozen rockets, Grum found itself in the upside down, the furthest in the nether it was aware that the hermits had gone, at least in terms of with created pathways. In the mirrored version of the mansion, a portal was already created, giving Grum access back to the overworld, and into a village on the other side.
It was still night of course, the villagers asleep and the iron golem of the place keeping the place protected. Grum stared at it for a moment, thinking about how it had much more use than itself, wondering if it would do better to stay and assist. But no. As long as Grum were defective, the Hermits might come looking for it, which they could while active. So if Grum was doing to decide one last thing, it would be when it shut down.
The robot looked at its supply of six remaining rockets. Those would dictate how far it would go. And then it would find a cave, and turn off for good. After using the first rocket to help take off, Grum started gliding, knowing that based on the conditions when flying, the boost of a single rocket could last virtually indefinitely. A few mountains as well as weather in the area changed the conditions for the worse, but Grum still got pretty far, going directly North for so much of the journey.
When down to two rockets, Grum suddenly went east, knowing that after such a long straight path, a sudden curve would be completely impossible to find. After that, it was just looking for a place to finally stop, Grum using the final rocket to reach a floating island with a single tree and two sheep.
Grum dug into the dirt under the tree, making a place to stay, even using its sword to chip at the stone to get deeper. Then Grum used the dirt to block up most of the way in, though still giving a way to view the landscape ahead. It checked the coordinates, seeing that they were North 22,936 blocks from the shopping district, where the center of the world stood. No way to be found as long as they were on. And so. Grumbot turned itself off.
.
.
.
Jrum woke up early, as if knowing was something was wrong to begin with. With everything that had been happening with his brother, he had had to be the more responsible one. Having to do that made him glad that he didn’t need to do it all the time, but also wonder if Grum had to deal with something so exhausting himself and that helped explain what was going on. It was probably something to bring up to their dads. Well, maybe later, because there was something a little more important right now.
Even though it was so early, Grum wasn’t in bed and connected to his charger. Jrum unplugged himself to check his brother’s charger, worried to see that it was cold from disuse. It wouldn’t be that cold if he had woken up early, so he either hadn’t used it last night or stopped in the middle of the night.
That fact wasn’t entirely concerning. Grum had already had night where a nightmare left him with their dads. So there was a good change that had simply happened again. But for some reason, Jrum couldn’t shake the thought that something was wrong, so instead of going back to bed, or finding a book to read to pass the time or something else, he got up and walked to their dads’ room and knocked on the door. And Jrum was very glad he did when the response from behind the door was ‘Who is it?’
“It’s Jrum. Is Grum in there? He’s not in bed.” The bot asked, and there was a moment of silence before frantic movement came from the other side of the door. Grian opened the door, having already thrown his sweater on while Mumbo was quickly buttoning his shirt.
“What do you mean Grum’s not in bed?” Grian asked as Jrum scanned the bedroom in case somehow his brother was there with no one realizing it.
“I mean he’s not in bed. His charger’s cold and everything. I thought he would be here because of that.”
Before Grian could ask anything more, Mumbo spoke up, communicator in hand and elytra on even though he hadn’t put in his blazer or tie. “Grum’s offline. He’s not even appearing on the world list. We need to go see Xisuma. I’ve already sent something in chat.”
“Wait but where was he last?” Grian asked, knowing the system they had on the bots should be helpful in a situation like this.
“It’s just giving an error, which is why I want to see X right away. Jrum, do you want to stay here or come with us?”
Jrum looked between his dads, quickly thinking it over. If the roles were flipped, what would Grum do? Well, he didn’t need to think too hard. It had already happened. And Grum had stayed at home in case he came back while their dads were looking. “I’m gonna stay here, just in case.”
Grian nodded and then gave Jrum a long tight hug until Mumbo was pulling him away to leave. It seemed a little odd to Jrum, assuming they were just worried about him. He didn’t know that both his dads had a very good idea of what might have happened and when Grum disappeared.
Mumbo and Grian were resting after plenty of searching. They had visited Xisuma and told him about what happened, at least what they knew of everything. He agreed to look into it while the pair joined the other hermits in looking for Grum, the admin confirming there was nothing that showed the bot had left the world.
The two had searched for a while until Grian managed to injure his wing. While he was still physically fine to fly, Mumbo could tell the same couldn’t be said for mentally, so they returned to Grian’s base to rest. Grian kept trying to go back out searching, eventually admitting he needed something to keep his mind away from the thought it was all his fault.
Mumbo did his best to comfort Grian, giving him reassurances, when there was a knock on the bedroom door. “Do either of you have a moment?” It was Xisuma’s voice, which made Mumbo smile slightly and look back at Grian.
“See, that didn’t take far too long. I’m sure he’s found Grum. You stay here while I talk with him and I’ll find out what’s going on.” And Mumbo gave one more comforting hug before leaving the room hopefully, before his expression fell at Xisuma’s. “What’s wrong? I’m assuming you found Grum. Is he hurt?”
The admin shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s the thing. I can’t find him. I’ve checked and… well, it’s something you should see for yourself.” and he took off his helmet, which surprised Mumbo, who knew the admin needed it to breathe.
Before the redstoner could say more, the helmet was put on his own head and Xisuma was pressing a button on the side of the helmet. The list of people in the world appeared, Grum’s name missing from the list, then another button and the screen projected on the inner visor flashed red. After reading the words a few times, Xisuma pulled the helmet back, but Mumbo was still left comprehending the text.
/search information Minecraft:player_name{Grumbot} Error: Player does not exist
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alkhale · 4 years
Note
so... that new his dark materials on HBO got me feeling some things and thinking... Memos HDM AU?
Memos His Dark Materials AU Ko-Fi Request
(for context for the excerpt down below this, when someone’s daemon makes contact with another person’s daemon, it’s considered very personal and intimate. This is normal between family members and very close friends or loved ones, say, Luffy’s daemon would probably touch all his nakama’s left and right just fine, but for certain others, this may come as a bit of an alarming little sensation for them since people feel what their daemons feel and the same vice versa as extension of their souls)
- Hoku’s daemon is a white panther named Hau.
The two of them don’t get along very well and tend to get on each other’s nerves due to personal reasons. They’re capable of being a fairly good distance apart even though this isn’t normal and considered painful for most people. They sort of trained themselves to be able to be apart because they felt following their independent values was most important. It’s a bit of a messy situation but they’re the first ones either of them would turn to no matter what. He has the same marking she has painted around the curve of his left eye because it’s tradition for Pokians to paint it onto their daemons when they come of age. All daemons from Artopoki are also always colored white just like their hair.
His name means “happiness” in Hawaiian.
- Mahina’s daemon is a white horse while Manu’s is a small white wild cat. Mihawk’s is a massive, massive ink black raven named Sable. She and Mahina’s daemon got along really well.
- Shank’s daemon is a reddish tinted lionness who goes by Reina. Hoku and Hau are a bit smitten by her but Hau kind of hates Shanks, maybe not hate but he tends to be on the more skeptical end of him versus Hoku being a little doe-eyed for the man. Hau loved Mihawk though. Mihawk was the first person to ever touch him outside of Hoku’s parents (human to daemon contact is a super big deal when it’s not family or intimate loved ones, daemon to daemon is a little more tolerable but raises some brows)
- Luffy’s daemon settles as a springy lionness name Soleil who he calls Sol. She’s very energetic and can’t really read a room but she makes up for it with energy. She and Luffy are two peas in a pod.
- Nami’s daemon is an orange fox named Riki, the greatest thieving duo across the East Blue.
- Zoro’s is a massive bengal tiger named Masumi and she’s got a much more approachable personality than her counterpart but tends to be just as lazy and ferocious.
- Usopp’s is a chameleon by the name of Emmo. She’s a bit of a coward too but she’s funny.
- Sanji’s is a beautiful, rather stunning lady jackrabbit by the name of Celine who loves beautiful people and kicking. She seems a little wiser than Sanji.
- Brook’s is the skeleton of a songbird named Aretha. They’re the strangest case on the Grand Line because of his devil fruit. She sings beautifully for a pile of bones though.
- Franky’s is a female beaver named Aspen, they’re pretty much carbon copies of each other.
- Robin’s is a black owl named Yuval. He’s on the quieter side and tends to creep people out on first glance but he’s a very gentlemanly owl.
- Ace’s ends up settling as a red and black lynx by the name of Iskra. Sabo’s is a peregrine falcon named Brisa.
- Vivi’s is a fennec fox named Seti.
- I couldn’t decide of Kid’s should be one hell of a murderous honey badger with attitude named Naga or a crocodile or a bear. Any of those three felt pretty right but I lean more toward the honey badger HAHAHA.
- Law’s daemon is a snow leopard named Estrella. These two are an especially dangerous duo and Estrella tends to be a bit more on the mysterious side at first.
- - - - - - -
“Your blood,” Shank said, cupping her cheek. “Is worth treasures more than his.”
Hau bit at Shanks’ cloak, snarling as a white husky in protest, trying to pull him away. Reina watched him in utter amusement.
Steam exploded from Hoku’s ears, her entire face flushing red.
“Oops, hey, someone get Makino! I’m worried dove’s got a fever!”
- - - - - - -
“It’s nothing but a childish crush,” Hau said pointedly to her, perfectly aware of the fluttery, gross feelings inside Hoku spilling over to him. He walked after her, lashing his tail angrily while Hoku stared up at the sky in a daze. Shanks had just given them a living, ripe kiionohi tree. ���He just thinks we’re cute kids. He likes teasing us. This is how he took Luffy!”
Hau worked over-time to remain as indifferent toward Shanks as Hoku originally wanted to be. Hoku had just given up and rolled over to the fact that Shanks was just… so hard to dislike. Was there even a reason to dislike him? Sure, she still got jealous that Luffy was so damn fond of him, but when Luffy was always pulling her around despite that, promising she was his first before anyone else—
“Are you listening to me?” Hau hissed at her, biting her ankle in protest. Hoku looked down at him. “I don’t like him! He’s just another schmuck! Nothing’s gonna happen anyway! Dream on! We’re just kids to him, got it?”
“I know that,” Hoku snapped, cheeks flushing. “I-It’s just adoration. Childish adoration. What do you think I’m gonna do, ask him to marry me?”
“No,” Hau muttered, “but don’t get any ideas.”
“I’m not,” Hoku snapped back at him, lightly nudging his paws. Hau swiped at her. “He’s just… he’s just charming, is all. And you’re one to talk, you know. You look at anyone that’s willing to scratch your ears like they’re god!”
“I don’t let people scratch me behind the ears!” Hau protested. “No one’s allowed to touch me!”
“Yeah,” Hoku snorted. “Except Luffy, right? I feel what you feel too, dumbass. Think about how it feels for me to get scratched behind the ears too, okay?”
Hau grumpily settled down onto his haunches, stubbornly looking over to the side, “But it’s Luffy.”
Hoku could understand that, but it didn’t make the sensation any more normal. Actually, I might be starting to get used to that. Luffy’s so damn touchy it’ll kill me. She didn’t even flinch anymore when Hau and Soleil were pressed tight together, rolling around or tumbling about each other or cuddled up in a pile. Luffy’s warm fingers patting Hau’s head, hefting him up into his arms—that was still something she was getting used to.
Or Hoku, cupping Soleil’s head in her hands, pressing a kiss to the top of the daemon’s head, committing utter taboo. Hoku, letting Soleil cozy up to the crook of her neck, shove her face into Hoku’s hand, weave between her fingers while Luffy laughed beside them—
The four of them, touching each other’s daemons, each other’s partners, each other’s souls—
But I am getting used to it. Hoku shivered. Never touching anyone’s daemon, huh?
Hau lashed his tail, “I won’t let Shanks touch me, you can count on that.”
“You’re just jealous,” Hoku said. “Luffy and Soleil already said we’re first. And it’s not like Shanks is going to be here forever, he’s a pirate, remember?”
Hoku rubbed the side of her arm, looking down at her shoes, “He’s just… he’s just become Luffy’s idol. You see how he looks at him—Luffy knows what he wants to do now ‘cause of him.”
Hau huffed, whiskers twitching. Hoku gave him a little shove and Hau shifted into a bull, ramming at the back of her knees as Hoku laughed, shoving back at him.
Shanks was just a bit of fun, that was it.
- - - - - - - - 
But Reina didn’t play by the rules.
“You’re getting faster, little dove.”
Hoku almost screamed. Her heart lodged into her throat, forcing her to choke as Mau nearly clattered onto the dirt from her hands had she not hooked it last minute. She apologized to the amused blade, checking for scratches and trying to work out a game plan in her head.
Hau frowned. As deep of a frown as an unhappy skunk could make, sitting by a log and looking pointedly Reina’s way.
She didn’t know when Shanks’ daemon had made her way over to them or where Shanks was, probably with Luffy to be honest, but there Reina was, living up to her name.
The lioness daemon was stretched out onto a fat slab of rock jutting upwards from the ground. Luffy used it as a launching platform a lot when they were playing. Her red-gold body rippled, leisurely soaking up the sunlight.
Hoku’s fingers itched.
Reina watched them with golden irises. 
“Thanks,” Hoku said, trying not to be awkward but feeling very much so. “I’m not there yet though.”
Reina’s chest rumbled, a deep sound that made Hau wrinkle his nose in protest. She laid her head down onto her paws, rolling over onto her side. Hoku noticed the scars lining her softer underbelly, the notch missing from a piece of her flicking tail.
“You’ll get there,” Reina said soothingly. “Why don’t you take a break?”
I feel like I’m talking to the devil. Hoku shivered. Temptation incarnate. “I haven’t hit my number of swings yet.”
“Shanks and Luffy are playing by the harbor,” Reina almost purred. “Don’t you want to join?”
Hoku frowned at her boots. Yes. “No. I’m glad Shanks is taking up all his time.”
Reina’s ear twitched. Her eyes glimmered playfully. Hoku felt as though if her feet weren’t planted firmly to begin with, she’d already be making her way over to the lioness for no reason other than the fact that Reina seemed to be beckoning her over.
“How come you two can be so far apart?” Hau blurted. Hoku shot him a look of disbelief. 
Reina’s whiskers twitched in amusement.
Hau hunkered down, waving his big bushy tail. “I-Isn’t it painful? It’s weird, daemons aren’t supposed to be able to do that.”
“You two seem to be able to go fairly far,” Reina murmured. “Is that not strange?”
Hoku and Hau flinched.
Reina laid her head down onto the rock, letting the sun color her pelt. She looked crimson gold in the sunlight. “He and I simply found it in ourselves to promise to live our lives to the fullest and the freest.”
Reina seemed to smile, lips pulling back to show her fangs. “Besides, like this, I can be with Luffy and he can be with little dove at the same time, hmm?”
Hoku and Hau blinked in confusion. They looked at each other and back to Reina who’d rolled over to show them her back, settling down for a nice, long nap.
“Finish up those swings, dove,” Reina purred. “Then let’s play.”
I miss Luffy. Hoku miserably flattened herself down against the grass, Mau propped up onto a trunk beside her. Hau was chirping haughtily in the tree branch above her, flapping his white wings even though he was supposed to be a toucan. I always run off even when he’s playing with Shanks. Maybe I should just suck it up and have fun with them too. Or, not fun. Just… spend time. Yeah.
Hoku groaned, rubbing her sweaty face with her hands.
“About time,” Hau chirped at her. “Let’s go! I don’t care if Shanks and everyone else is there, I want to see Luffy and Sol.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Hoku snapped. “I heard ya. You just want to get touched again.”
Hau flattened, ruffling his feathers, “That’s not true!”
It absolutely is. Hoku sighed, preparing her aching muscles to lift her sluggish body up. Hau was practically touched starved and Luffy’s generous pats were like a drug. He did a good job making sure Shanks never got near him though. Hoku didn’t even flinch. Touching other people’s daemons is still such a weird feeling though, I can’t get used to anyone else but them. 
She’d only ever touched Sable twice. Ki and Kekoa didn’t count because they were family. Soleil was the only one she ever really touch-touched, and even then, it was still a sensation Hoku felt all the way to the tip of her toes and down to her bones. Intimate. 
Bet no one else has a daemon willing to get himself pet. Hoku peeked through her fingers at Hau who jumped from the branch and shifted into a little white butterfly. He’d turn into a dog later because it was easier to play with Luffy like that. What daemon goes up to someone to get themselves touched? 
Some taboos just weren’t meant to be crossed.
A shadow fell over Hoku’s face and she blinked, moving her hands away to look up.
Reina looked down at her.
Hoku froze, stiff against the ground like a corpse. Her heart hammered stupidly loud in her chest, loud enough to burst through her ears. From this spot, she could make out every fine, red-gold hair smoothed over Reina’s slender face. She could see the dark lines that traced her feline gold eyes, followed the slope of her muzzle, to the long, elegant whiskers—a few cut short, and the few scars that lined her soft nose. 
This was the closest she had ever been to the daemon.
She could sense heat from the lioness, hulking power and muscle. Reina’s killing paws sat on either side of her head. She could crush Hoku’s skull without much effort. Rip her throat out. In another world, Hoku would be fearing for her life—even in this world, Hoku was still fearing for her life, but, but, maybe death at the hands of such a beautiful, powerful daemon couldn’t be that awful.
Hoku waited, staring at Reina with wide eyes.
Reina blinked once, slowly. Something like amusement seemed to shift over the fine hairs on her face and she lowered her head over Hoku’s. Her body seized up, unable to breathe.
And then languidly, a warm, wet and scratchy pink tongue rolled once across her face, down her forehead to her lips and over her chin. Reina pulled away, satisfied, looking down at Hoku’s disheveled, slightly wet face and bulging eyes before calmly sauntering off, hips swaying.
It took her a moment. A good, solid moment. Her heart did something funny, her body frozen stiff and ascended to some other plain of existence, her mind whirring and still buzzing from the electricity of the slightest contact with—
Someone else’s daemon—
 Reina—
Shanks’ daemon—
Touched—
Hoku’s face blushed a bright, scarlet red. She grabbed her face with her hands and rolled around in the dirt like the little bug she was.
Hau jealously nudged her face with his little ferret nose, huffing and puffing in displeasure.
She’d never been touched by someone else’s daemon before.
- - - - - - - -
The final nail into her own coffin was done by Hoku’s own hands.
At the crack of dawn, when the light was just beginning to crawl its way out of the horizon to peek over into the sky. Just hours before, Hoku had finally shown Shanks the book, speaking with him in the low light of that bar and making a total fool of herself—enough for Hau to tease and taunt her about it for hours until they fell asleep.
She woke up earlier than Luffy today, leaving him snoring in her hammock with Soleil sprawled as a baby badger over him. Hau woke up, slithering into her shirt and keeping himself warm by her stomach as they walked out into the forest.
Reina was already waiting for them.
“Dove,” Reina greeted, velvet voice carrying over as Hoku trudged through the dewy grass. Sunlight was warming her pelt, heating it up like a forge and turning the red-gold of her pelt darker and brighter.
Hau muttered a low, half-reluctant protest. Yesterday, Luffy had picked him up, holding him close and willingly thrusted Hau toward Shanks like some kind of sacrificial offering. 
Shanks didn’t take the daemon, simply grinning in understanding at Hau’s horrified expression. Her daemon had never felt more betrayed.
“Hau, you gotta get along with everyone!” Luffy laughed. “Don’t be dumb like Hoku!”
Hoku couldn’t stop the greedy, uncontrollable itch in her fingers.
“...good morning,” Hoku mumbled, tucking hair behind her ear out of habit. Reina was stretched out, regal and picture perfect on that same slab of stone. Dawn was rising over the fine curve of her spine and the lioness kept her gaze on them evenly, waiting as Hoku slowly came to stand beside the slab of rock.
Reina’s ears swiveled forward. She watched Hoku, eyes glittering. A soft sound left her parted jaws.
Hoku hesitantly took a seat on the rock, a few inches away from Reina. She could feel heat rising from the daemon, her head turning to follow Hoku as they stared at each other.
She weakly raised one hand. Hau’s heartbeat matched her own.
“Could I… Could I draw you?”
Reina’s jaws parted to let out a soft rumble. Her body curved more, keeping Hoku in the middle. Her paws stretched out and Reina kept her eyes evenly on Hoku’s.
Hoku softly set her hand down on Reina’s side. Warmth flooded into her fingertips, spreading up her arm and making half her body feel almost numb with the sensation. Hoku’s head spun, buzzing with that vibrant thrum of energy as Reina’s pelt shifted under her fingertips. Hoku daringly let her hand come down Reina’s spine, feeling the muscles and scars in one gentle stroke.
Reina’s scratchy tongue dragged over Hoku’s hand in approval.
“I hope that man is deep, deep asleep,” Hau muttered. Hoku agreed.
She thought her heart was going to burst.
- - - - - -- -- - -
“This place is crawling with marines now,” Smoker said. “What are you going to do? Let them arrest you like some kind of washed up drunk?”
Hoku lightly pushed the glass in front of her. The bartender nervously refilled the glass, jumping in fear when Smoker glared daggers at him.
“Hoku,” Smoker said.
The woman kept swallowing mouthfuls of the whiskey in her cup, ignoring him. Blanca’s fur had settled over her back, smoothing out. His daemon watched the woman before them in silence, looking at Hau and then back to Hoku.
A soft sound left Blanca’s lips. Smoker shot her a warning look. The smoky colored husky daemon lowered her tail.
“What happened to all that spunk?” Smoker continued. “You don’t give two shits if I cuff you and take you in from here?”
Hoku didn’t even turn to look at them. She kept her shoulders hunched, curling in on herself over the bar’s countertop and refusing to meet the gazes burning into her back. The empty glasses spread out across the wood counter beside her, the heavy smell of alcohol settling amidst the cigarette smoke.
Hau kept silent at her feet, curled up and head low. Smoker observed the daemon carefully, noticing the matted fur, the dirt stains in the crisp white that used to be his go-to for hunting them down in the crowd. His unsheathed claws, caked with dried dirt and blood. The cleanest spot was the blood red ink curled over his half-hidden face under the countertop’s shadow.
A new spot was inked into his fur. A small, blood red flame right where the muscle of his shoulder blade bunched under his right foreleg. Smoker’s eyes traveled upwards to the matching red flame inked into Hoku’s skin over her right shoulder blade.
“This is it?” Smoker said gruffly.
Hoku snorted. Blanca shot him a look, gray eyes hard to read but Smoker never needed to read her eyes, he could hear her thoughts loud and clear in his own head, in the space they shared.
“Who cares,” Hoku muttered bitterly. “You got what you wanted.”
Blanca fell silent. Smoker shot his daemon a sharp look, but she refused to meet his gaze, tail limp behind her and ears pricked far forward, focused on the woman before them.
Hoku bowed her head. Her hands went up, carding through her hair, holding them there as though she were cradling her head in her hands.
“You won,” Hoku whispered.
His daemon took a step forward.
“Blanca,” he warned.
The husky kept her muzzle shut, looking at him.
“Smoker.”
Smoker tossed his cigar to the side. His gloved hand clenched into a fist before it loosened. Smoker let out an aggravated sigh, shaking his head. He took a step forward, raising his hand up.
Hau’s growl ripped through the air like a knife. A single, resounding warning. Smoker glanced down to the daemon, glaring at them with icy venom, fangs and claws bared. Blanca lowered her head only an inch, her only way of showing they meant no harm. Hau pulled his lips back into a louder snarl, tail lashing in aggravation.
Hoku glanced down to her companion, frowning for a moment before she raised her head and looked back at Smoker.
Tears continued to trickle from the corners of her eyes. They slid down the curve of her cheeks, dripping down her chin. Hoku watched him in silence, expression unreadable.
The admiral hesitated for only a second. Blanca let out the softest, softest whine.
For a moment, Hau’s body untensed, staring. The foggy look started to clear. Hoku’s brows creased and Smoker reached out with his gloved hand one more time.
The doors to the bar slammed open.
The light winked out from Hoku’s eyes. Hau stood onto his paws, head lowered, eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. 
His men flooded the dimly lit room, raising their guns and shouting out orders as Smoker cursed in his head and Blanca’s ferocious barks of protest flooded the room over his, ordering the marine daemons to stand down.
Smoker lurched, eyes snapping in surprise to where Hau suddenly had Blanca pinned to the wooden floorboards of the bar. His daemon was silent, rigidly looking up at Hau with her teeth barely bared, body still while Hau’s jaws were wrapped around her neck. Smoker felt his teeth on his own, Hoku’s dead eyes looking at all of them.
“Go ahead,” Hoku said coldly. She turned to the marines by the door, half-smiling. “Just don’t forget, Hau’s got one more life over her.”
Blanca kept silent, staring imploringly at Hau. The panther ignored her gaze, keeping his jaws buried in the scruff of her throat, waiting. Smoker stared hard at Hoku and she kept her gaze on his men, expression devoid of emotion.
-- - ----- ----
“Estrella,” Law drawled, ice dripping with the roll of his tongue.
His daemon pounced.
They poor no-body marine dog never stood a chance.
--- --- ---- ---- --- 
“No,” Law said. “This is rehab.”
He kicked Hoku’s lower back, sending her flying down the stairs with an ungoldy screech and down into the boiler room. Penguin and Sachi peeked their heads around the corner, staring down into the darkest depths of their sub while Law shoved a hand into his pocket.
“Is she still alive?” Penguin asked.
“She’s got a couple, right?” Law asked Hau. “Which one was that?”
Hau flicked his tail tip, the only sign of his annoyance. Estrella watched him with peering eyes, following the sway of Hau’s haunches as he slunk down the steps into the boiler room after Hoku.
“Fuck you, Law!” came the ghostly holler. “I’m going to blow up your submarine! You forgot I’m suicidal, asshole!”
Law looked satisfied, turning his back on them and closing the boiler room door. To Sachi and Penguin he added, “Make sure she doesn’t come out until she’s done.”
---- --- --- --- ---
Law froze, his entire body stiff as ice.
He took a moment, reassessing the sensation he felt unfolding in his chest. He considered it carefully, made sure this… this feeling was not a mistake, that he had not wrongly interpreted the shared sensation between himself and his daemon. He picked it apart in seconds, slowly, rigidly turning his head to the corner of the deck.
It was dark, only a single headbeam lit from the corner pathway of the submarine. The deck on top of the rounded hull was bathed in darkness, but even in the thin light, he knew down to his bones he was not seeing wrongly. 
Law gave the woman beside him one discreet, searching glance.
Hoku looked completely and utterly unaffected. He watched her a second longer to make sure it wasn’t an act, but her careless, bored demeanor showed truthfully she had no inclination whatsoever to sharing his barely, barely startled turmoil. Hoku looked completely at ease, still squinting in the distance to see if she could make out the constellation they’d just discussed, mouth moving around the dried fruit she’d just popped into her mouth.
Law carefully, with great composure, withheld the light, creeping shiver that traveled down his spine. He narrowed his eyes, looking back, but Estrella coyly kept her mind blank, hiding all of her thoughts from him the way they’d taught each other to.
There, against the side of the entry doorway, the two of them laid. 
Hoku’s daemon had stretched out, directly in the middle of the deck to keep the perfect distance away from either side of the railings. His long, furred body turned a pale, ghostly shade of white under the moonlight, large paws hiding pearl white claws. Hau’s side rose and fell in lazy slumber, his tail stretched out behind him like a white whip, ears twitching only occasionally.
But the issue was who was beside him.
Estrella had silently made her way from Law’s side across the deck to his. Her lithe, powerful feline body almost nearly matched his in size. Law watched her with rapt, rigid focus, brows furrowed in dark disbelief as his daemon purposefully ignored his silent prodding.
She stopped inches from Hau’s form, sitting on her haunches, tail curled neatly over her paws. Hau’s ear flicked once in her direction to signal he’d noticed, but kept his eyes closed. Estrella stared down at him, icy gray gaze that had stared back as she ripped throats out of marines and pirates and their enemies alike, becoming almost clear.
Estrella rearranged herself, laying down on her stomach barely a centimeter—a heavy, tense centimeter Law could feel—from him. She folded her paws neatly over each other, staring out seemingly in boredom. Her striped black tail flicked from side to side, occasionally brushing against Hau’s limp one. A ghost of a touch.
Touch.
His daemon. Estrella.
Hau didn’t move, tail limp, body relaxed. Estrella turned her head to look down at the other daemon, expression carefully blank. Her tail curled and then the tip of it brushed against Hau’s flank. His fur seemed to shift, bright, scarred pink nose twitching but he remained relaxed. Estrella seemed pleased by this and her tail promptly laid out beside his own, curling idly over his.
Touching.
Law looked back at Hoku and she reached for another dried fruit, popping it into her mouth. She shuffled through her bag, debating whether or not to shove a handful more. Oblivious.
Is your connection to your daemon that terrible? Law almost bit out. Almost. It would have come out calm and cold and collected. Are you that dull? Is it that messed up? Are you an idiot—
He went rigid, gripping Kikoku with white knuckles. 
Law exhaled, slowly. He carefully turned over his shoulder, inch by inch, glaring daggers behind him.
Estrella didn’t even blink at him, eyes trained sideways and away. She looked silver against Hau’s snow white. Her long, raspy pink tongue slid out languidly from her mouth in soothing, relaxed motions. It showed off the dangerous curve of bone-crushing fangs. But Estrella’s tongue was now running over the top of Hau’s face, over his ears, around his neck as she turned her face and—
“Are you grooming him?” Law spat out in disbelief at her. 
The snow leopard lazily flicked her tail behind her in response. Hau yawned, stretching his paws out, unbothered, and resumed his slumber as Estrella continued her grooming, content.
Law ripped apart the shudder that almost raced down his spine. He shoved the sensations traveling from Estrella and Hau’s shared connection, the low buzz of energy, of electricity that came when two daemons touched each. A feeling he’d only ever felt when Corazon’s Rosa would curl her soft, furry body up around Estrella—
He grit his teeth, squaring his shoulders and forcibly maintaining his composure as he promptly knocked Kikoku against the metal railing once.
Hoku looked up, brows creasing. A fruit stuck out from between her lips. She gave him a look, as though he’d done something wrong for disturbing her.
Your daemon is touching my daemon.
“Somethin’ wrong?” Hoku asked.
Do you not feel what I feel?
Law gave her a flat look. Hoku continued to chew.
Go get your daemon—
“Hoku,” she and Law both looked down. Hau’s voice was smooth and not too low, like a melted rumble. He came up to her leg, pressing his big head against her hip and curling his tail over her leg. The white panther daemon blinked blue eyes up at them. Law could see gold.
Hau seemed to examine Law for a moment before his long whiskers twitched. The white panther blinked once. Law stared back at him, curious about the eye contact someone else’s daemon was making with him.
Without even pausing, Hoku’s hand ran over his face, pushing past his soft ears and turning against his cheek to scratch under his chin. Hau lifted his head for better access, a loud rumble filling the air.
Several feet away, Estrella slowly made her way toward them, nonchalant and shifting mass of silver and black fur. She didn’t even acknowledge the icy daggers her other half was fixing her with, haunches swaying as she came up and sat down loyally by Law’s feet. Estrella looked up at Hoku, whiskers twitching.
“What game are you playing?” Law thought at her.
“Nothing,” Estrella thought back at him, innocent. “Nothing at all.”
---- ----- -----
P.S - If you guys like this au, highly recommend checking out 500shadesofblue’s story “Echoes” on ao3, super good.
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stimmypaw · 3 years
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Stimmypaw reads Darkest Night! The fourth text post!
Back with these uh live reading comments! Remember those? yeah! I'm on the fourth book of Warrior Cats: A Vision of Shadows :D I read The Apprentice's Quest and Thunder and Shadow and Shattered Sky and now!! I'm here :D and boy did I have a time. Click read more to see it!
NEEDLETAIL?????????
Needletail???????????
What?????
OH???????
Wh THIS GUY IS TALKIN 2 DEAD PEOPLE????
HOW WHO IS THAT
OH MY GOD
These guys are weak and dumb skyclan is epic and sharing the territory with them is good, but of course sparkpelt isn't dealing well with change wink wink nudge wink nudge nudge huh???? (this is a nod to how I project into her and say shes autistic)
I am getting anxious for tinycloud SERIOUSLY how much longer until those kits??? Everyday you show up and its WOW my tummy ssure is HUGE AND BULGING I just Wonder Oh When They'll Be Born, probably pretty soon!!! :) and then they arent!!!! Birth dammit!!!
Cherryfall cut the sick and hurt cats some slack jeez youre Fine, youre not feeding half the forest and you have THREE medicine cats ready to help you if youre not feeling well
Bastard Cherryfall I hate you /lh
Dovewing and Tigerheart have relationship drama again. What is UP with those two I simply do not understand them
Watching Bramblestar trying to control this bizarre situation is actually funny he is so close to screaming "PLEASE dont be mad :c"
SOON WHEN???? JUST KIT THOSE KITTENS DAMMIT
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Get her, Alderheart
They LITERALLY said something about sharing the territory, they were like "Stars have five points baby and we need those 5 clans togetherrrr" what else do these cats want??? I know its a big change but its necessary
Wait everyone shut up that cat is named Podlight this is so important to me
Dang these cats are really still struggling :c I wish they didnt blame each other
Harestar is so cool
What the FUCK mistystar????
God what a disaster of a gathering Starclan is gonna be so pissed everyone is doing the opposite of what they should
I was holding my breath oof
I hope thunderclan gives some territory too thats too small a space for Skyclan
Oh boy oh boy oh boy i am Anxious for these Kitties
Violetpaw is me having nightmares every night
Macgyver is a heavily gringue name and I have No Clue how to say it how the hell do you say it
Update its either Mick Guyver or Mac Guyver apparently
Its fun to see how different the sisters are from one another, I love them both
I also love their mom with the name identical to puddleshine wish I got to meet her
IM CRYING BRO........M...MDB.....NFBANN.....VIOLETPAW BELONGS MY DARLING MY DAUGHTER
Sadly Twigpaw is for gender binarism 😔 /j
Twigpaw is often in her thoughts and doesn't pay attention to anything around her and I love her for that
Bad news Finpaw is gonna lose his tail, good news I can draw his tail fin-shaped
Puddleshine surgeon moment!!!
I love Graystripe and Millie
And I love that being flirty is a part of Sparkpelt's personality, I don't know what Alderheart is talking about she's always been dandelion-headed
Ok this is epic, I’m glad we’re breaking gender roles in Warrior Cats my heart dropped when the books called Briarlight cr*ppled, that’s the thing they promised not to do anymore recently right? I’m not sure but, I could use some uh less ableism on my Warrior Cats, the series is old but the newer books should be better, so yeah, good modernize these cats babyyy
OH COOL Skyclan journey!!! Fun I hope they find someone :] also fuck Molewhisker and Cherryfall bastards.
Jayfeather is gonna miss Alderheart too much for him to leave hehehe
ALL of Starclan showed up just to call out Riverclan pahahah
oooo is shadowclan haunted?????
FINALLY TINYCLOUD IS KITTING YES GOD YES GO QUEEN GOOOO!!!!
I wonder why Twigpaw wants to stay behind, there has to be more than just the camp stuff
"I wish I were more positive like Twigpaw, but at least I'm just as scarred by the death of my loved ones as my dad :] I like being like him"
Violetpaw witnesses a car crash 😔 that was a bit messy what happened to those cars also why the hell was one of them smaller was it a bike??? Or ???? Idk what's up with it!!!
Needletail just happens to have slow-down turned on for her on the discord chat so she can only say like a few words each hour :/ why the hell is she here tho Violetpaw needs to get OVER your death!!!!
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This short exchange has made me love Dewpaw
Also, I love Twigpaw, I still wonder why she stayed behind tho
Ahh, is it cus she feels too estranged from her family :c ? I wish her mom was around maybe that would help
Jee Twigpaw be a tad more empathic, I can see Twigpaw struggles with that sometimes
You can't cheer him up right now he's grieving, just find him on common ground, talk to him, don't try to make him happy just try to keep him company
Oh wow finpaw that's a dangerous thing to say I hope Twigpaw doesn't crumble under the pressure to never be sad because people like her because she's happy and her being sad would be bad
ALSO I JUST REMMEMBRERD UH TWIGPAW MENTIONED BRIARLIGHT BUT BERRYNOSE IS RIGHT THERE???? HE IS RIGHT HE DIDNT DIE OFF SCREEN IM SURE OF IT WAIY
BERRYNOSS IS RIGHT THERE I CHDCKED!!!! HE LOST HIS TAIL TOO AND HES A GREAT WARRIOR, TWIGPAW!!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED IT ITS MORE RELATABLE
Okay I'm glad they're getting along this is nice
Oh look twigpaw you Are like your father :] this is cute
Skyclan begins to fish competitively I'm glad
I like it when medicine cats bicker about their leader's behaviors ehheheh, Jayfeather talking about how weak Shadowclan is, Alderheart being annoyed at his father for wanting to stay silent, the others worried about the tensions this is all cheff the kisser
Jayfeather spitting the truths about how Starclan doesn't know shit, and he is very much one to speak
Puddleshine: Rowanstar stepped up the patrols :c
Leadstar: He has warriors enough for that?? Damn good for him
Dang poor Skyclan I hope they manage stuff better soon
Oooo the girls are fighting!!!
Alderheart starclan anxiety time dang
Sheep :]
Needletail :[
I'm sad Ravenpaw isn't here, this is a lovely reunion scene but knowing Barley will be alone when they all leave breaks my heart
Oh, maybe not, but if they stay I'll be sad also cus Skyclan needs its warriors
Aw man, Twigpaw is struggling :c
OUCH
I WANT SKYCLAN 2 SWIM THO......
Omg crimes
That sounds kinda possessive twigpaw!
DOVEWING?????
T
WhHAHAGAHAHA WHERE DID THAT COME FROM
omg tigerstar 2 real
Whats he gonna do to rowanstar???
ALRIGHT THATA OVER THEN PAHAHA
Aw, I'm glad they're having fun tho, and that twigpaw sees herself as skyclan
Alderheart, as he meets someone for the first time in a while: ARE YOU OKAY???
Blackstar protagonist moment
The medicine cats: our gods are toying with us again and destiny is uncertain
Leaders: I cannot DO this right now PLEASE leave and let me care for The Real Issues
Alderheart: YOU WILL hang out at my house Willowshine this isn't up for debate
Riverclan suffered enough and it's their turn to throw a tantrum about it, honestly good for them hsghahah
Alderheart asks his father to go on a quest to check people's feet
WHAT THR HELL IS A CANTANKEROUS
Alderheart and Willowpelt sitting there watching Shadowclan fight
This is really funny
HEWWO????
Puddleshine, in his eyes: help help
I love Skyclan
Ok this sounds like it's gonna be very very fun
Mission impossible: Escape From São Paulo
Oh, is Fallowfern deaf? That's so poggers omg I wanna see more of her
Edit: fallowfern is an elder that lost her hearing with age and retired after that happened :/ boring
I love leafstar so much
Juniperclaw: aren't you gonna punish her????
Leafstar: why
Juniperclaw: when I tell rowanstar he's gonna be pissed
Leafstar: don't tell him
Juniperclaw: the fuck is wrong with you and your clan??? Where is everyone???????
Leafstar: busy
Icon
I don't trust abled people specially able-bodied people telling disabled people they just have to train harder and feeling sorry for yourself won't help.
But this is the closest to a positive message to disabled people we have ever had in warriors so I guess I'll take it but I want better
IVYPOOL!!!💖💖💖💖💕
Dang ivypool what a way to show someone you miss them hahaha
Twigpaw: uhhhh how's dovewing?
Ivypool: what do you mean did she do something illegal I'm sure she did
Ivypool is a seriously funny character WHY are you yelling at the young adult about your sisters illegal activities she doesn't know anything about it!!!!
Alderheart goes on an adventure
Feet inspector on the road!!!!
Jasper is so funny I love him
Omg what's he got against clan cats??? What's his sad backstory????
YEESSSS SPARKPELT MY LOVE 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💕💕💕💕💕💕💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💕💕💕
Sparkpelt your opinion sucks but I love you
I'm really really glad they had this moment this is really sweet, they hadn't talked for a while but this is genuine like, we hadn't had this sort of relationship in so long in the books with just, dialogue yknow??? THEYRE TALKING ABOUT THINGS
And the pause Sparkpelt takes between her speaking to fix what she's saying "I'm sorry for saving you :c no wait uhh not exactly but like" this is so good so natural so fun I love you sparkpelt
I get why she has a diferent opinion on Skyclan it's good for someone close to Alderheart to have a different mindset from him and for him to have someone like uh be opposites from him a lil yknow contrats his characteristics makes both siblings fun round and full of kitty do you get what I'm saying???
I love this
I love Sparkpelt, love her lil anxious moments, love her, love that she just wants to fool around with toms and enjoys Larksong but doesn't want to get serious you go girl
They wanted to write smart-ass they wanted to write smart-ass so bad
They're doing this in the rain?????
I'm quite certain Violetpaw is a young adult by this point its valid for her to go
Wh why did you let your cat out in the rain dude!!! When it comes back it's gonna dirty up the whole place it's wet out there!!!! And the cold is gonna get in the house!!!!!!!
I WAS HOLDING MY BREATH OH LORD
That was SO INTENSE AND SO FUNNY AND SO MUCH, IM SO GLAD SHE MADE IT I GOT SCARED
Oh this is so epic
That moment when your cat nearly dies and then it runs off and you go after it and then a bunch of other cats show up and start running with it
I hope Twigpaw can see the others soon
Glad to see her keeping her medicine cat knowledge ehehehe
???????
Sandynose I hate you you are so abled
Sandynose: I don't want my son to feel distanced from his peers so I'm distancing him from his peers
DOVEWING???
SANDYNOSE SHUT UP IM GOING TO KILL YOU ANS MURDER YOU
I'm so upset with Sandynose WHY isn't leafstar seeing this WHY DOESNG ANYONE SEE THIS SOMSONE PLEASE CONFORT AND LOVE MY CHILD TWIGPAW DOESNT DESERVE THIS
Angry sad upset why
Piscina
Thanks graystripe
Ok who's dying this time
Ok no one just a background cat got hurt he will survive otherwise it would be relevant
This was intense though what will happen now???
YES FINALLY
Oh this is lovely so good they're here!!! The rest of skyclan has arrived and we are all happy together
That dream felt good
NEEDLETAIL??? AGAIN
Where were you at!!!!
What!!!
Check this man's feet how many toes are there this could be good
What
Hegshahwha what the fuck is up with this guy
Okay I like him
Ohhh THATS tree
Change your name if you don't like it you sound trans already
Yeah nothing makes one smarter like dying
This is very fun I'm excited for more of whatever happening
Twigpaw :c
HIS SNIFFLES
Oh no
Hhhhnn I want Twigpaw to be happy so bad, I hate seeing her struggles
Sandynose you are so evil and very detested by me
You can and you SHOULD feel angry at Sandynose he SUCKS and he is being needlessly mean at you!!!!! There are much better ways to bring up the possibility that maybe you'd be happier with thunderclan!!! Fuck off Sandynose
Oh so Snowbush hasn't improved, maybe he will die?
Poor Alderheart
Oh fuck there he goes
Yeah
Aw man, rip to the background cat
That was a heavy death too
Aw, I was hoping the rest of Skyclan would show up before the gathering, maybe just after it???
I wonder what's going on in Shadowclan
TIGERHEARTS MISSING HUH???
The couple was kidnapped
HUH????
Oh my lord oh fuck
Can't anyone step up to lead why do they depend on Tigerheart so much???
Jesus christ
Alderheart kills his gods
This is so chaotic and funny I'm worried as hell for shadowclan but excited a lot is happening
HI TREE AGSGAHAH
Tawnypelt >:(
Puddleshine: WAIT DONT KICK HIM OUT, CHECK OUT HIS FREAKY FEET INSTEAD
Oh dear
Twigpaw :c
TWIGPAW :CCCC Man rememebr when I said I hope Twigpaw doesn't crumble under the pressure of being happy for others? yeah
GET OUT SANDYNOSE I DONT CARE YOURE BEING REASOMABLE FOR ONCE YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN LATER
:C
I'm so heartbroken for them
Uh pdhsgahab okay then
Bye finpaw
Wow that was easy for him
This is fun
I'm still sad as hell
Okay there's a lot going on right now wow
The owl scene was funny as hell to picture, this dramatic prophetic moment and the cats just "uuggh is that a prophecy??? Nooo"
Okay so
There's some shadowclan cats missing, considering the many sleekwhisker maps I'm sure she's up to no good but I have no clue what happened to the others and I hope they're okay
Wow! That was really something
Fantastic ending to a very good book its, definitely a different energy from the third but I'm really enjoying this I'm still excited as hell!!! I got worried things would get kinda bad from here but nope!!!! Very fun stuff for now this is very very good and I am enjoying it
This is definitely one of the most fun arcs I've read so far!!! The drama the stakes the little moments everything is tying together really well into a very fun story I'm enjoying a lot!
I worry for Twigpaw and hope for her happiness, and Violetshine too, hope her and Hawkwing deal well with missing her. Tree is being interesting. Alderheart wasn't much of a focus here but always fun to see him trying to solve the damn prophecy no leaders seem to care about. Mousewhisker was okay??? Lots of very fantastic turns for all events and uh let's see where this all goes next!!!
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Hi there,
I wanted to give some updates on things!
Now that it is November, I am making it clear. I will be as active as I possibly can, but for the next three weeks I will probably only be online sporadically. I have 2-4 large surgeries to perform every day between now and November 21st (at the latest). These days will be long from morning to night, and I even work one weekend in between all of them. Please feel free to still write to me or send asks or pop into my dms, but don't think something is wrong or I'm never to return! I am feeling okay, just tired while I focus on that physically and mentally stressful stuff. My job changes contracts on December 1st also, so there is a lot to do but I am hopeful it will mean more money for me in the end 🤞🏻. We also will have a few weeks of odd overnight shifts from December 7th-24th. I'm not entirely sure how my body will adjust to days and nights within the same week. There may be some strange periods of limbo activity so please bear with me if I'm being weird or on at oddball times, especially for those of you who I talk to frequently and know my schedule, lol!
Okay, so writing! I had about 2 weeks where my laptop was having trouble with Word, and after checking my licensing, other software and all of that I think, just today, it is fixed? With that being said, as for Allotrope- I have gotten over the hump with figuring out how to trigger a certain event (that would act as a catalyst for the ending) into fruition, so I spent a great few hours this morning writing. We're up to 5k! I am hopeful to write more this weekend for it. Please understand that with this work in particular, sometimes it is hard for me to write it because it was born in part from my own abuse and scarring, so thinking about those things can hurt or be difficult to get the exact feeling I want to portray across. Sometimes it is painful.
Regardless, I am off for 5 days over Thanksgiving break, but with these surgeries I might spend a few of those days sleeping and playing video games to blow off steam/recoup/not use my brain, hahaha! I would love to finish Allotrope before December, and then spend the rest of the year working on the next piece of AAGTR, which is nicely underway! :)
I have also spent a few days here or there while I was house sitting, working on Desiderium, an extremely personal Yoongi x reader angst/quiet romance piece, and the prologue and first chapter of Heat Seekers, the dark multi-chaptered Chanyeol x reader angst/smut series.
I hope you've all been well and had a safe and happy holiday for those that celebrated yesterday. Please stay safe as flu season is here and the pandemic numbers begin to rise again. I love all of you and am always open, even if I can't get to it right away! Remember to practice self love! 💖💕🌟💘💞
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dreamingsushi · 4 years
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The King: Eternal Monarch - Episode 5
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So... a million years later, I am picking up again with this drama.  It was about time. I didn’t even remember the opening ost was that nice.  Let me listen some more, no thank you Netflix, I am not going to skip that. Am I the only one who thinks that the intro is also part of the drama? Like, why skip it? Unless it’s pretty bad. It puts you in the mood for it. I don’t know. Don’t you think it’s good? Anyways. Last episode, Lee Gon just took Tae Eul to his universe. How will his people see this parallel universe girl? I am pretty curious about my lovely Lady Noh.
The episode starts with our sweet baby Shin Jae going to the bubble tea place. BOUM! Product placement again. Will you stop it please producers? I really want my Asamu milk tea right now. But it’s so far away mow... Please have mercy for your poor viewers in western countries, where people have not understood yet how great bubble tea is and how there should be a bubble tea place at every street corner. Maybe I should just open a bubble tea store. Since I have gone jobless? What do you guys think? I can totally see me as the boss lady watching dramas between two customers. Who’s in? Well anyways, this isn’t about me right now. It is about Shin Jae. He’s pretty disappointed that Tae Eul is not there, he wanted to play pool with her.
Jo Yeong calls lady Noh to tell her that they found the King and the he is coming back with a guest. She tells them to take the sea route so he’s not seen.
Lee Gon tells Tae Eul his name. Finally. She looks shaken and says that then she will be beheaded and Lee Gon laughs. How fake that laugh is though... Well, so they head back to the palace. And the horse is a female??? Why would you name a female horse Maximus? Whatever, the vet takes care of her and Tae Eul tries to get her cellphone working, but there’s really no signal. She asks to see Jo Yeong’s gun and end up pointing it at Lee Gon, naturally as expected everybody moves to protect the king. She lets go of the gun and Jo Yeong finally recognizes her as the girl from the ID. She’s like do you know me too? And then they are on a ship to go to the palace where Lady Noh is waiting for them, quite unhappy and makes Tae Eul go through a security check even before she finishes introducing herself. Lady Noh is like come and talk with me, and Lee Gon is just happy that Tae Eul believes that he’s the king now.
So Lady Noh sends Myeong something girl to check on Tae Eul and poor girl is really shook by the crazy woman in the king’s office. Jo Yeong comes back to take Tae Eul’s finger prints, she realizes that’s what he plans to do and even ink her thumb to make it easier to see. He asks if she’s from the parallel universe and she’s like how did you know and he asks her is she’s the one that gave the king the weird scar on his shoulder. I love how she responds that they have not reached that level of intimacy where they show each other’s back.
Lee Gon brings Tae Eul some food and she takes his cellphone from him. Lady Noh takes her to her room for the night and then tells her about how they all know about her. She tells her too not to engage with other people other than her, the king and Jo Yeong, also not to try to stay in this workld. So the doors of the room are glass like and Jo Yeong is on guard outside. She looks kind of distressed, but then Lee Gon barges in the room from the back. Dude she could have been changing. You don’t go in a lady’s room unannounced like that, even if you are the king. He brought her some more beer, at least. Anyways, he teases her about how there are dozens of cameras in the room and when she freaks out about it, he says he was just teasing. Then she asks him if he ever dated and he says he has and she’s like let me guess when... right now? WHAT? Is that a love confession??? Already? Tooooo faaaaaaast! He kisses her. Omg. HE. KISSED. HER. And she’s not pushing him away. GUYS! THIS IS EPISODE 5 SLOW DOWN. We will already have babies in episode 8 at this pace...
Next morning, he comes over again to give her a royal guard uniforme so she could sneak out but Lady Noh was already inside the room so... but it still works anyways, she lets them do it on the conditions of no pictures together. Tae Eul hands him back his phone and say that he’s a weirdo. What did she say in there? Okay, so she follows him all day long? Shouldn’t she be going back to her world to work?? Okay she’s not, he gives her clothes so she can go and have fun by herself while he’s busy. So she asks Jo Yeong for money because she bought stuff Lee Gon in her world. Hahaha. The poor chicken that they NEVER eat.
So. Now here’s the mean uncle. Offering a pregnant lady to take the place of her other self in the parallel world. Damn. That’s some plotting there, next level. I’m sure she’s goint to say yes. But to get that she has to kill the other her. She asks what will he do to her if she says no. He says he hanven’t thought about it because nobody ever told him no.
So Tae Eul is about to take a train to Seoul, the guys chasing for Luna see her and want to get her, but then Jo Yeong stops them.
So she goes looking for Kang Shin Jae. And finds him, but not as a police officer, just out of luck. They cross paths, but he doesn’t notice her. Strange. Or was it just the worlds colliding and she didn’t see him either? She’s also looking for her family, but can’t find them. And then she’s stuck in Seoul because she doesn’t have anymore money. She tries to call the king but of course they won’t let her talk to him no matter how many times she calls. Finally they tell Lee Gon about it and he decides to go get her in his helicopter. He’s a little angry that she went to far. She just wanted to see if her mom, even as someone else, was still alive in this world. Then Prime minsiter Koo is coming right then, she looks so sneaky.
And that’s it for episode 5. I have mixed feelings. Everything about this is confusing. But so far the plot is surprising and addicting. I just have a bad feeling. I hope Shin Jae never crosses to the other world. I am really worried about that. I like him better then Le Gon, but it would be a first to have guy B go crazy killing people. Well it wouldn’t really make sense so far with the plot, but I am still worried. Years of Kdrama taught me that you should never trust the writers of a show. EVER.
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painandpleasure86 · 4 years
Text
I can’t live with you (but I can’t live without you) - JohnicaWeek 2020
Author’s note: This idea born in my mind since Rachel announced this special week. My real life inspo were my own parents, married since 1991 (I born in 1992). Here I portray this couple as I imagine, based in real life experience having a 67 yrs old dad and in things that I read about this couple. This will be the most realistic posible representation of them that I could write. Don’t hate me if isn’t all cuteness here, life it’s good but also bad things :/ Also sorry if it’s too cheesy! I don’t like make suffer to my characters a lot lol.
Art by @imflashqueen (instagram). She drew the second piece inspired in my story! She was my beta indeed :3 Thank you for give me some feedback! Ah, and the first one was an old collab that we did in last November!
Plus, i’m doing this just for mere entertainment ;) I just love participate in this kind of events to meet new people, practicing my skills and have fun!
Summary: The anniversary date it’s here! How will they react about this?
Pairing: Current John and Ronnie :)
Warnings: Angst, some humor, some swearing, some fluff too. Mention of death.
Word count: 2139 words, perhaps my longest fic. If not, the second one.
Prompt used: Anniversary Day
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First part
January 11th. Just like another weekend, another morning. He left very early his bed, trying to not wake up her. He wants some quientness to drink his tea. He wants to forget for a moment everything. Ever that next Saturday will be 18th. Just like in 1975. A cold Saturday in that catholic church, where Freddie made a particular entrance. Remembering that made him smile, but then was so upset, because Fred were ruining the strict ceremony. 
“I’ll always love you bud. Cheers for you” he said rising his almost empty cup of tea watching the sky through the windom and finishing his tea. 
His eyes were shining. His smile, wide. Until…
“Morning, no?” she said near to him.
He jumpscared a bit.
“God Ron! You know that I have heart problems…” he exaggerated putting his left hand in his chest.
She laughed.
“Exaggerated as always…” she added.
“Morning, yeah!?” he said finally, letting the empty cup of tea in the nearest table.
She started to prepare her breakfast. 
“Who you were talking?”
Lighting a cigarette, he said “I… just remembered something Ron.” He aspired the smoke deeply. Now the cigarette are between his index and his middle finger of his right hand. 
“Something happy”. Let go to the smoke through his nose.
Her eyes focused in him and smiling widely.
“I just remembered when Freddie entered to the church with that two girls in our wedding.” He aspired the smoke again. “Hahahaha… he couldn’t did it in another way!”
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Her face turned so quickly in an deceptioned expression.
“oh… that, haha.” she said meanwhile she was preparing her tea.
Letting go the smoke but now from his mouth, he smiled mischievously. He did it again.
---------------------------------------------------
In the afternoon of that Saturday, the couple received a video call of their youngest offspring.
“Hiiiiii dad!! Hiiii mom!!!” he said with his habitual happiness, smiling widely.
Both parents greeted to their son.
The young continued talking.
“How you feel knowing that next Sat will be your anniversary?”
Ronnie smiled widely. “FINE!!”
But he stared at the camera and rolled his eyes, sighing. “Another year” he said kinda melancholic.
His son and his wife watched at him.
“Huh? I was honest.” But really he wasn’t real honest…
Trying to change the mood, Cameron added with a smile “Well, the fans are more excited for that than you, and you’re the one that’s married with that lady” winking an eye to his mom.
Being visible upset, the old man said: “That fans, ha! Try to be married at least 5 years and have 3 children in the meantime and after they can say if they’re happy with that life! I have enough of that fans speaking about me like the cute one, the good dad! I wasn’t one all the time for fucking god's sake!”. He raised of his chair and slammed the door of the room.
“Another time with that rant about the fans…” she said sighing and watching at her child.
“Well, let’s speak about you then mom. You have plans to the anniversary?” he said trying to make smile to the 69 years old woman.
She said “yeah. I reserved a table in Nobu for that day” and smiled shyly.
“MOOOOOOM, that restaurant it’s so famous. Every famous people will can see you with Dad there” almost shout the young man.
“It’s my intention, son.” and she smiled kinda mischievously.
-------------------------------
Second part
Another 18th came finally. Another year. Another cold winter day. Another time where he remembered why he did that.
He opened his eyes that morning earlier than usual. He watched at his side. She was snoring softly. 
Finally he decided take his morning tea. Putting his robe and his winter flip-flops, go to the kitchen. He’s trying to not make any noise. More than ever, this morning needs that Ronnie don’t wake up at the same time than him. More than ever wants some silence and time with himself.
In the kitchen, he puts to boil some water to his tea. Meanwhile, he smokes a cigarette watching at outside through the window, still dark.
“45 damn years today. For good or bad... “ he sigh deeply meanwhile he was thinking. “Sometimes I ask myself why I did that. Sometimes I wanted to get away from this life, but for some reason i’m still here. Perhaps i’m tired of trying? I don’t know.” He aspired the smoke and let it go in a deep exhalation. “The only certainty it’s that I decided 45 years ago that beautiful slim prego lady, now an old woman, be my wife. Her…” and his thoughts were interrupted for the sound of the boiling water. “For fucking god’s sake…” he mumbled, while he turned off the fire. He prepared the tea and go to his “office” to check the internet. “Let’s see what the people say about me today… Wait. It’s early… Don’t care. I’ll be with this all day long if it’s necessary. This will be more fun than always.”
He sat at his desk with his computer, with his tea in one side. Meanwhile the PC was initializing, he was with a lot of expectative.
He sips his tea and opened the navigator. Typed the right search in the search bar. “Gosh, a lot of thing already. That people really loves me being with her”, he whispered. Clicks in the first result. And he started to laugh. “Happy 45th anniversary blahblahblah, his marriage its the proof that the love always wins” he said reading the text on that post in a social network. “Little person, it’s just the proof that I prefer be with her for a reason. Well... Six reasons. Hahahaha” he “responded”. 
Another post. That one, a drawing. “Oh okay, I look cute with her, goooootcha” he said  with a pinch of sarcasm. 
A fic. In this he stopped to read it entirely. He almost ended his tea meanwhile. And his laugh was harder. “These little girls haves a lot of imagination. Gosh, why I’m almost always the good boy in this things? Hahahahaha”
And another, and another, and another… He passed a lot of his morning there, having fun or merely entertain himself with the posts of the fandom. More than always.
Ronnie wake up. And her husband isn’t there with her. “John… at least today…” she though resigned meanwhile she puts her robe and his flip-flops.
When she was about to down the stairs, she listened a loud laugh. “He’s in the studio”.
She knocked the door. 
And he sighed. “why Ronnie?” he though. But he said “come in!”, still laughing.
“Morning Ronnie!” he said as any morning. But that one wasn't like any morning. Was the morning.
She stared at him, after close the door behind her. 
“Just that?”
He rolled his eyes, sighing.
“Happy anniversary Ronnie!” and he smiled quite exaggerated. “Come here”.
She was with mixed thoughts and kinda hysterical, but she approached him. She after a few steps was at his side. He hugged her, still in that comfy chair, with funny face. She couldn’t resist to hug him too, caressing his almost bald head. “Sometimes I hate your behavior John” though Ronnie. “But anyways i think that I still like to be with you, haha”, continued in her mind, quite smiling.
He, moving his face to leave that embrace, said “Well honey, I told it. I was cute no? hahaha. Stay with me and have fun with me reading that things that under 30-years-old girls write and draw about us”.
She stepped away from him.
“John, that people are just being kind with you. A lot of people recognize you now. A whole new generation. And they’re educated greeting us for the anniversary”, she said watching at him.
He laughed. Turning his chair in her direction, he continued talking. 
“Ron, that people thinks that marriage its easy, plus having 6 SIX kids to raise! Isn’t nice, it’s hard! And super stressful!”
Her face showed her nuisance.
“Ha, really you say that? You always recording or touring or in an endless holidays. I raised OUR kids ALONE a lot of time!”
He sighed so deeply. He started to need another cigarette. Now his arms are crossed.
“Really this again? Honey, stop. We fixed that already. Now i’m more at home with you and I helped a lot raising to our youngest kids”
Without thinking in the repercussion of her words, she said “Yeah, just because Freddie died before the birth of our youngest ones” and she half turned to her left, arms crossed.
He was without words. Was like a dagger in his heart. He didn’t knew how to react. A lot of mixed feelings. His hands in his face, he reclined his head.
“Veronica, get out.”
She, watching the results of her impulse, tried to fix that situation… in vain.
“But John, it wasn’t m-”
“GET. OUT.” His words were like a sharp.
She left the room, almost crying. “Well I’ll change my clothes meanwhile… and ill make my breakfast” she though in the meanwhile.
--------------------
That old wound was opened. he remembered that words about getting older together writing songs. he remembered how Freddie cheered him up to write songs, how he said once “shhhh John it’s creating”. He remembered noticed that scars. And knowing that his friend would die sooner than everyone expected. “He had a lot to give… We lost a lot of moments together for that damn disease. He was my real fuel to composing, and when he gone, my interest faded away. I just wanted to survive…” he started to think. He raise of his chair and took an old whiskey that he had over there, serve a glass of it and drank it of one sip. He lighted that necessary cigarette, now watching at the window, immersed in memories, in things that happened… He cried.
In audible voice, he said
“Fuck you Ronnie. Why you said that? Why you opened that wound again?” He sighed deeply, putting the cigarette in his mouth and aspiring the smoke. “I can’t live with you, but I can’t live without you, sadly.” Exhaled the smoke for his mouth. “Why I couldn’t leave you? I’m a masochistic? I love a lot to my offspring? In the very deep inside, I still love you? I don’t know really…” Aspired the smoke of the cigarette again, the last one. The cigarette its too short now. Throwing the cigarette to the floor, he stepped on it, turning it off. Exhaling the smoke, he continued. “You are my life, despite all the events. I give you my life. My love. My “freedom”. I married with you just having 23 years old. I REALLY loved you. Now?” He sighs deeply. “I don’t know. I just know that I don’t hate you”.
He didn’t knew that those words were listened for her, she opened silently the door minutes ago to apologize her  for her words and she stared there, listening.
“John…” she said with tears in her eyes.
He turned his face enough to show her that he noticed her presence, smiling. She entered to the room running. She hugged him. “Sorry John. I- I was impulsive”.
Now watching at the window again, he said “nothing to sorry. It’s okay” and he placed his left hand over her hand that was hugging him from the back. He take that hand and kissed it. He turned to her and hugged her tightly.
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“You should knocked that door first, he said, leaving the embrace.
“well, I-” started to say Ronnie, kinda scared.
“hahahaha! Relax! Now come with me and read that things that the people say about us” he said going to sit to his chair again.
“No John.” she said, shaking his head.
“Uh Ron, you’re booooooring! hahahah”
“That aren’t plans for an anniversary” she said, getting closer to him.
Watching at her eyes, he said “and go for a dinner today? We don’t usually go to dinner and you want TODAY? Oh, and I just hope that you didn’t asked to the Father of the parish  to office a Mass for our anniversary! I’ll not go to the church today, and nevermore!” 
She stared in silence, incapable to react. Her plans are discovered.
He watched at her, smiling mischievously. “Ha, Mrs you’re so predictable…” he thought.
She, trying to cover her real intentions, responded “Eeeeeh, no. I didn’t do that! You know me John, hehe… I’ll just cook a special meal.”
“No Ron. I’ll do that, and I promise, will not be cheese on toast” he replied smiling lightning another cigarette.
He had a surprise. But one that just he knew… And eventually Ronnie. Because something like that deserves an adequate celebration. And will be at Deacon style.
---------------------------------------------------
If you liked this fic, please reblog and leave a comment! (or if you’re shy, a reply, some emojis as response or an ask (could be in anon!)).
-Lily.
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onepdumpsterfire · 4 years
Text
Hospitality
Sabo . Reader
I’ve been stressing out lately. Work keeps piling up more and more, and life keeps moving on without letting me catch my breath. Therefore, after much begging, my grandparents lent me their cabin for the weekend, just to get sorted out again. Located right at the edge of nowhere, surrounded by the serene silence of the plains that were once filled with laughter. The cabin is as beautiful as I remember it. Inside, memories spill into every crack and dent that were made by time.
I push the flood of memories as I walk up the stair to the bedroom. Reminiscing can wait for a while, I’m gonna take a small nap. Fuck knows I need the rest after the constant all-nighters I’ve had to put myself through for work. I don’t even unpack, crashing right onto the bed as soon as I was close enough. The world can wait right now.
No schedules to follow, no work time limits, or project deadlines. I can take as long as I want napping. For these 2 short days, everything is irrelevant. As it should be, and yet I would like to know who the flying FUCK IS WAKING ME UP AT THE ASS CRACK OF DAWN.
Begrudgingly, I make my way back to the living room. The insistent knocking didn’t cease until after the door was widely open. “What do you want,” I annoyedly spat out at the….. Bleeding stranger. I’m zapped awake in an instant. “Holy shit, dude. Are you okay?!” I yelled at the bent over blond in front of me.
“Yeah…” The man looked surprised by my presence. “Mind if I come inside?”
“Y-yeah, it’s fine,” moving aside, I made way for him. “Should I call an ambulance?”
“NO! No ambulance. We’re too far out, anyway.”
That certainly doesn’t raise any red flags. What was he doing all the way out here, and how the hell didn’t I notice him coming in. there’s nothing surrounding this area but an old mill. Still, though, that’s half a mile away! What was he doing in the middle of nowhere?
 The man limped over to the sofa, “I can take care of this anyway.” 
“And if you don’t? That’s a lot of blood, I don’t want a dead body hanging at my place.” I close the door behind me as I go to stand by him, changing my voice into a lighter tone, “at least if the ambulance is here, they can take your body away if you don’t make it.” I give him an innocent smile as I nudge his shoulder with my hand, a sign to tell him I was only joking.
He chuckled, tying a piece off cloth he ripped from his shirt onto his wounded leg. “How cold,” he looked up at me, “my name’s Sabo, by the way.”
“Y/n,” I walk over to the kitchen, ‘It’s true though. They either make it in time or they take your body away from here.”
“Ouch, you’re colder than ice,” he adds another layer to the makeshift tourniquet, “what’s colder than ice?.... Dry ice, maybe?”
“Aw, c’mon. I’m looking for a first aid kid. I’m not that cold.” I start to open cabinets loudly to emphasize my point. “Ah yes, my bad.”
“They’re usually in bathrooms and kitchens, right?” I stride over to the bathroom, “It wasn’t over there, so I’m gonna check here.” 
“Nope, not here either,” I chime over my shoulder, deciding to check somewhere else, yelling over to him that I still haven’t found it with every room I scavenge.
“You don’t have to tell me every time you don’t find it,” Sabo shouts from the other room.
“No no no,” I peak my head out of the room to look at him, “that’s a very important part.”
The blond snickers at my serious face, “ah okay, I will suffer in silence then.”
“Greatly appreciated, thanks.” I saunter over to the hall closet, telling him it wasn’t in the guest room either.
I was trying to avoid looking in here considering that my grandparents use it to store any useless crap they can’t find a place for. It shouldn’t bee in here, but I have to cover all the bases. Dusty boxes litter every area of the floor, climbing all the way up to the ceiling. I sigh heavily, taking the first one down as carefully as I can.
After a few minutes, I come across a box labeled ‘emergency’ on the top. I pull it from the pile, finding the kit shoved all the way at the bottom. Wow, so it WAS in here.
“Found it!” I walk back over to where Sabo still sat, shrugging my shoulders, “Closet, who would have thought.”
Sabo extends his hand, “Thanks, I can patch myself so don’t worry about it.” Alright, then. Handing him the kit, I take a seat on the adjacent sofa to him. “How’d you end up like this?” l ask him, averting my eyes as he shimmied his pants down to have better access to the wound.
“You know what they say about cats and curiosity, haha…” He awkwardly tries to push the question aside. “So how long have you lived here?”
No. you’re not getting out of this one that easy. “And you know what they say, ‘satisfaction brought it back’. So spill it.”
“Touché.” Sabo made himself busy by looking through the kit, stomach grumbling all the while. I practically grew horns when I heard it.
Leverage.
“I could extend my hospitality and get you something to eat,”  he looked up at me, eyes as big as saucers. “... For a price.”
“Still so cold.” He feigned hurt.
“Hahaha c’mon I wanna know,” I bounced over to his side, peering at the wound. “Hunting accident? There’s nothing to hunt here though,” I looked up thoughtfully, “a car wreck further down the road? Or are you one of those weirdos with weird interests.”
“Ouch, ‘Weirdos with weird interests,’ that hurts.”
“So that’s it!” laughing, I bump him with my shoulder, “No, seriously. Pleeeeaaaasssse tell me”
“Hmmm… get me something to eat and I’ll think about it.” he sends me a quick smile before returning to his leg.
“My house, my rules. You tell me first.” I don’t really plan on holding this over to him forever. I make him something even if he doesn’t give in, but it wouldn’t hurt to keep pushing. “After all, you could be a murderer burying a body in the middle of fuckwhere.”
“What about you? Living in the middle of fuckwhere doing fuckwhat.” He bumps me back, “you could be a murderer too.”
“You probably have a hoard of corpses in the basement.”
“Touché. I’ll make you a sandwich.” I walk over to the kitchen, keeping the conversation going as I make his food. He’s actually a pretty cool guy, if it wasn’t already apparent by how he just went along with my jokes. Eventually, he did tell me he was fixing up the old mill when he fell from his ladder onto some sheet metal he’d stacked. His phone had died and his car got a flat further u the road and ambulances were too expensive to get one sent over. He couldn’t pay for that, especially after his car had a flat. (Not to mention the expenses for getting his leg treated at the hospital.) The reason he was out here was because he is broke. The money he would get from fixing up the mill was what would help him pay off some debt that he has. 
Sabo had come over to the cabin because he’d seen it earlier and wanted to get a phone to call for someone to change his tire, and by the time he’d gotten here, the bleeding wasn’t as bad as before. It looked bad because the blood had soaked into the clothes; not like it wasn’t good either. The cut was still deep-ish and ran down his outer thigh; it will definitely leave a scar after it heals.
Moving on from why he was out here, we got to talking, finding things in common with each other and such. I even offered to change his tire with he spare in the closet, from his description it should fit. He agreed to my help, we went over in my car after the food and some pain killers. By now the sun was out and shining on a beautiful Saturday morning. It would have been nice to be out this early if it wasn’t for my car’s battery dying halfway there.
For god’s sake. Life can you give us a break? Now we have to push my car to his so he can jump-start mine and so I can change his tire.
It’s gonna be a long day.
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1stunseeliefaelass · 4 years
Text
Darksiders Arthurian Tales Revisited
Chapter 13: The Hunt Begins
Strife immediately panics and goes looking through his inventory to find a crystal. Death however grabs him by the shoulders.
"STRIFE! Calm down, Miriam should be fine. Uther likely won't pay attention to her. As far as he's concerned, he's probably among the group that doesn't view her race as people."
"Still worth checking on her, you know? I do not want tiny getting punted." Strife states.
"She can actually avoid getting stepped on you know. I taught her a spell to make herself taller. A better disguise than her running around in country bumpkin dress."
"Ok she can do a whole lot more than just country bumpkin, I know, I helped" Strife tells him annoyed.
"Right, and you have such a good style." Death remarks sarcastically.
Strife rolls his eyes before calling Miriam up finally. Miriam meanwhile is reading another romance novel as per usual in the city library. She ends up hearing her crystal go off and quickly hops down from her powder puff for a bed. From there Miriam hopped across a thin line with decorative lanterns on it, using said lanterns as platforms. Once across the line she gets down to the table her crystal is on using a bucket for a elevator. Finally upon reaching it she answers the call in a very cute, high pitched voice.
"Hello there?"
"Miriam you alright?"
"Mmhmm, you know I am my big gunslinger. What's cooking?"
Death suddenly busts out laughing in the background, "Did she just utter the expression 'big gunslinger'!?"
"Oh go sit on Harker's dick Death!" Miriam shouts in a mini explosion.
"Uhm no thank you. Ahem."
Then Puck walks in, "Already did it for him."
"Wait a minute.....Strife did you get into trouble at another bar?" Miriam asks.
"No no not at all my Sugarplum Fairy." Strife tells her gulping.
Puck looks at him funny, "Wait are you and her an item? I didn't know you were into shots of hard alcohol."
As Death continued to try and die of laughter, Strife retorted to both of them, "First off, she's a shot of Jaeger. Second off, you, shut up."
Miriam is of course squeeing at the comment, "Awwwwwwwww. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee."
"AH! Sugarplum you're gonna crack the windows, tone it down a peg. Anyway, I'm calling to ask if you're alright."
"As I said I'm fine. Why so worried?" Miriam inquires gingerly.
"Uhm just uh...telling ya....uh....if anyone bad mouths my brother, keep your head down. Don't speak up about it ok?"
"Oh sure, but what's he done this time?" Miriam asks.
"Uhmmmm.....I may have pissed off a King, again."
He hears a tiny facepalm, "Really?"
"To be honest, I was trying to stop him from harming an innocent person." Death expresses.
Strife adds on, "Yeah, he's got on crush on her too."
"Zip it."
"Hey you make fun of my love life, I make fun of yours. This is the game we play brother, this is the game we play." Strife states.
Suddenly Miriam hears the bell above the front door ring and glances over, "Oh, I gotta go now. May need to help with this customer. It's how I earn my keep here you know."
"Right right, just stay out of trouble. Swear to me you'll be safe ok?"
"Of course honeybuns, talk later." Miriam says before ending the call with a smooch. She then scurries to the front desk where a rather scary looking pirate is. The old librarian is noticeably concerned upon meeting them.
"Uh ah.......Mr Ding.......uh-uh I mean Captain Leatherbeard. What brings you to my humble library? A romance novel perhaps?"
"Heheheh haha....Nah nah, you know I'm not into those books. They're nowhere near realistic, or worth my taste." The bald man said simply. His 'beard' lived up to his name. Scarred tissue and calloused skin that when touched was comparative to leather. He had no true hands, as one was replaced by a massive anchor. The other looked like an unfinished prosthetic, that is unless it morphed another tool. A constantly changing piece of work that could become multiple things, using the mechanical parts mixed with a good dose of magic. Course he hadn't expected to hear a sudden small voice pipe up next to him.
"Actually sir, the romance novels can be very realistic."
He glanced over to the small Pixie Elf girl, "Hmhmhmhm....how so?"
"They just are, I assure you." Miriam insisted a bit flustered.
"Heheh....and have you experienced any of those things in your books?" The Captain inquired, getting closer to her.
"Why would I be so inappropriate as to tell a customer such things?"
"Heheh....I hear it's inappropriate to call a customer 'wrong' on a subject."
Miriam gulped, "Sir it was only an assurance."
"Oh assurance was it? So, you're saying this poor lonely soul of mine could find love? Have a peaceful life? Could have someone accept me for the way I look? The way I talk...heheh? For the way I act? You're saying I can find love? So naive. So filled with hope in this cruel dark world."
"I have love, and he appreciates me for who I am. Never judges my little stature." Miriam states.
"Heheheheh....Well I mean you are quite a pipsqueak but, I've seen smaller. And besides, how tall is your great prince? Is he as tall as me? Or is he as tall as my beautiful first mate here?" Leatherbeard asks her whilst pulling his first mate over, a female surprisingly.
"Shorter than both of you actually, but I still love him very much." Miriam says all dreamy.
"Oh well then, since there is a small height difference, you mind telling me how you get all 'snuggly' with him?"
"I'm afraid I can't say, it's private." Miriam states firmly.
"Hmm, we've already gone this far? Why can't we go any further?" Leatherbeard questions before suddenly snatching her in his fist. Squishing her big time he inquires further, "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't pop you? What makes you unique enough for me NOT to SQUEEZE?"
Miriam finally utters the spell under breath, which knocks Leatherbeard back slightly. As the light from the spell clears, he sees she's taller now. Slightly taller than a halfling, lithe, and actually rather 'blessed' as well.
"Hohohoh....now I can see it. Hahaha." Leatherbeard says before putting his hands on both her shoulders, "Now I can see why someone as tall as him could find someone like you pleasurable. Mind if I take a peek?"
"I'd rather you didn't....." Miriam says backing away like a frightened fawn. Her black doe eyes certainly don't help her image.
"Oh come now, you already gave me one good peek. What's wrong with seeing the whole show, as it were? I'm sure your, man, won't mind. He isn't here to give any trouble now is he?"
Miriam began looking around frantically and finally just forced herself through a window. Naturally she was cut by the glass but in her terror she paid no heed to her bleeding arms and feet. Scurrying away like there was no tomorrow. Only for Leatherbeard to pursue her. He takes a shard of glass, and upon sniffing it, "Got ya. Run run as fast as you can, nowhere to hide from me."
Miriam kept running, leaving a trail of even more blood as she went on in her fear. Meanwhile the librarian takes the opportunity to call Strife, "Strife you need to get down here, Miriam's in trouble."
Strife freezes and asks, "Wait what do you mean by trouble? What's going on?" Suddenly he hears the poor man being choked out and yells, "What's happening what's happening!?"
The first mate then picks up for him, "Captain's about to get himself a new gift. Thank you for her, honestly. Captain's been feeling a bit antsy today."
"Bitch where's my girl?!"
"Look honey my time is short, so if you know what's good for ya, let this happen. Or you can just get yourself killed, your choice buddy. Either way, this one's on you." She tells him before slitting the librarian's throat and ending the call.
Suddenly Death gets his own call from a very scared Miriam, "DEATH HELP ME!!"
"Ah! What's going on, and please speak calmly if you can?"
"Just get me out of here! Please!" Miriam screams at him.
"Merlin, get a portal ready! Miriam you need to keep running, who's chasing you?"
Suddenly Death hears a yelp and a voice he never thought he'd never hear again, "So your name's Miriam eh? Heheheh...and I can hear your friend there. Hello there Death, been a while. Hahaha ha..." Leatherbeard tells him before singing the song Oh Death.
Course he's interrupted by Strife, as he explodes whilst hearing Miriam whimpering on Death's crystal, "You motherfucking son of a bitch! Fucking damn you, you goddamn monster! I won't let anyone I care about become one of your playthings! No matter how demented you are, so come at me you bitch!"
Leatherbeard actually looks impressed, "Strife? Heh, last time I remember you were just a squirt. Heheh...been a while, been a while indeed."
"What the hell are you on about? Last I checked, we never met!" Strife yells at him.
Death notices Morgen looking a bit scared again, and inquires quietly, "Do you know him?"
"He's one of Uther's privateers." Morgen says in her fear.
"Shit. Strife you need to cool it." Death tries to tell Strife before they hear Leatherbeard singing that song again.
He then actually lets Miriam go surprisingly, and menacingly calls after her, "Keep running, just...keep...RUNNING.."
From there everyone hears the painful transformation that Leatherbeard undergoes. His 'screams' of pain more like moans that slowly become a strained hissing sound. The bones snapping in place, limbs and teeth growing. Every visceral detail and bloody pop they hear on the crystal. Finally a low hiss is all that's heard next before the crystal is smashed to bits. The wereshark has begun his frenzy. Strife begins having a panic attack, imagining whatever twisted being he fears Leatherbeard may be now. He can't get the image of Miriam being devoured by some twisted amalgamation out of his head. No matter how hard he tries.
"Shit fuck....shit!"
"Calm down calm down, Merlin get that portal ready damn it!" Death shouts.
"Working on it working on it! I can't keep a good lock on it when she's running around as fast as she is!" Merlin shouts back.
"Then let ME find her! My crystal's still intact so you can track me with that right?" Strife tells him.
"Riiiiiight." Merlin says.
"Be careful, he's a vicious monster and you still don't know what you're going into." Death warns Strife.
"I think I got this." Strife states confidently.
"Don't be cocky."
"Bitch please, I know what I'm doing. He's a Therianthrope, magic can still work against him right?" Strife questions.
"You have no idea who or what he is. That's it, I'm going with you in case you get yourself killed."
"I have this covered." Strife insists.
"Now is not a good time to argue. If you want to save Miriam, we need go now. Merlin get that portal ready!"
Merlin shouts back, "I already got it ready, now stand in the circle!"
As they do so, Miriam turns into her normal self. Letting a loud little shriek as she does so. As the glass still stuck in her scratches her up more. Miriam then slowly climbs up a wall pipe and after getting comfy she slowly begins losing consciousness. Course Strife heard her shriek of pain and immediately bolts in that direction. With Death running after him in worry. Miriam's extra blood however, brings Leatherbeard's attention all the more. Eventually Strife finds the blood trail Miriam left, and he and Death then hear Leatherbeard breathing nearby.
"You go get her, I'll take care of this guy." Death tells Strife before taking a stance for combat.
Strife nods and hurries on, finding the blood trail has led to the pipe she's hiding in, and it's practically leaking out of the pipe. He panics and quickly whispers up the pipe, "Miriam, you alright in there? Miriam I need you to say something."
He doesn't get much of a response, beyond a sudden rapid group of little thumps going down the pipe. Finally Miriam falls out of it, covered in her blood and scaring Strife shitless.
"Miriam!" Strife shouts in his panic whilst trying to patch her up. Even ripping her clothes off to get to her injuries better. As he's working on getting the glass out and wrapping her up quickly. Occasionally he nudges her with a finger and each little moan she lets out gives him the reassurance he needs. All of a sudden, Death is sent flying through a building. Landing conviently right beside his younger sibling.
" What the fuck?!" Strife shouts before looking behind him. Seeing a massive wereshark staring him down.
"Heheheh...three birds, one stone." Leatherbeard says in a low, hissing voice.
Strife pulls out Redemption and uses charge shot on him. The first shot sends him back a ways. Leatherbeard looks at Strife, then at where the bullet hit him, and laughs. Strife then realizes, the bullet didn't even penetrate through that thick bastard.
"The fuck?"
"Heheheh, cute." Leatherbeard laughs before flexing the bullet off of his skin. It left a dent, but nothing more. Not even blood.
As Strife is trying to think something to do, he feels something grasp his hand. Looking down he sees Miriam hugging his hand as tight as she can in her state. Shaking a little bit as she does so. Strife then hears Death behind him getting up.
"Nnngh...try the electric shock and run!"
Strife does so and hopes for the best. Using his electric shock on Leatherbeard seems to be somewhat effective. The electricity slows him down and it pumps through his body. Strife then immediately takes the borrowed time to try and help Death up.
"Go! I'll be right behind you!"
"I'm not leaving you behind!" Strife hollers before getting Death on his shoulder. His other hand grasping onto Miriam still. From there he hurries as best he can to get himself and the others out of there. Suddenly Leatherbeard forms his prosthetic into a massive anchor flail and then slams it down in front of Strife.
"No more running boy. Heh....you grew up big and strong. Compared to the pipsqueak you were when you were young. Absalom didn't see your potential, while THAT ONE on your shoulder nearly smothered it out. Heheheheh...."
"Last time I checked, if there's one thing my brother taught......don't give a shit about what others think. Give a shit about what you think. And personally, I think you're an asshole." Then he set Miriam in Death's hand pulls out Mercy, and aims at Leatherbeard's dick. Using a lazershot he continues, "And just for you scaring my lady, prepare to lose your dick!"
Strife begins firing, whilst Leatherbeard pulls his anchor back to deflect the shot. He succeeds in doing so to Strife's anger. Strife brings out his daggers but sees even those seem to not affect him. As unfortunately his silver enchantment doesn't work as he'd hoped. He's then bitch slapped backwards into the square, hitting a fountain at the center. Strife then gets up with some effort and fights on, only to get slammed in the ribcage by the anchor. He spits out blood briefly and Death meanwhile finally searches his mind and finds Crom.
"I need a little bit of your power, that's it."
"A small bit, in return for your time later." Crom states to Death's confusion.
Death suddenly feels a surge of power in him, like a rising flame, a burning sensation as vines begin growing around him. He then shields Miriam in a small bubble before going on the attack. The vines catching a flame and wrapping around Leatherbeard as Death begins floating in midair. A raged fuelled fire consuming him, slowly eating away at his sense, as he begins burning Leatherbeard. Even thorns form eventually that hold Leatherbeard in place as he burns within the vines' grasp. The shield bubble housing Miriam soon harmlessly bounces towards Strife, who's looking at his older brother in horror and shock. As the vines are also wrapped around him and burning him as much as they are Leatherbeard.
Scooping the bubble up he shouts at Death, "That's enough! We've got her let's go!", Strife then hollers out, "Merlin we've got her! Get us out of here now!"
Death however gives no indication that he's hearing him. Fighting the power as much as he is using it. Unable to do much else beyond attacking and fighting for control of himself. The pain making it even harder.
He thinks he can hear Strife shouting at him, "Death snap out of it! Merlin pull us out now!"
"If Death's like that I can't! He'll pose a danger to others! If I bring him here he'll probably burn this whole place to the ground, try and snap him out of it!"
Strife then yells at his brother one more time, as he can see Leatherbeard smirking. Healing from the flames as fast as Death could burn him, "Dude it isn't even working on him, stop!"
"I.....must burn...." Death shouts as he begins to lose control of himself, then in Strife's mind he tells him, "Douse..me.....now!"
Strife nods and sees the broken fountain spewing water. He only needs to redirect it. Strife takes a manhole and tries redirecting the water towards Death. The water hits Leatherbeard at first but isn't doused. Death however is then hit square in the chest and is doused. Death reacts quickly by throwing an attack at Strife, being under the influence of the power still. It misses luckily and Death grabs his head suddenly. Finally coming to his senses with effort, and realizing he is massively burnt. He begins healing and gets over to Strife, only to turn around as he hears Leatherbeard snapping the vines. Death takes off towards Strife despite his extreme pain, then shouts,
"GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
Merlin then finally does so," Got it got it, it's on its way."
"We're low on time! Death's hurt bad and Leatherbeard's coming right at us!" Strife replies.
The circle then begins forming around him, and Death manages to get into the circle. However his achilles tendon is suddenly scratched by Leatherbeard's prosthetic hand, which he morphed into a harpoon gun. Just as the group finally teleports away, Leatherbeard picks up the bloodied harpoon bolt. Death meanwhile is screaming in pain as the adrenaline shuts off, he can feel the burns all over his body and his injured tendon. War immediately grabs Death, throwing him over his shoulder.
"Gah! Could you please be gentle!?"
"Sorry." War says simply before hurrying to find a medic.
Strife meanwhile stays behind with Miriam after getting her out of the shield bubble. Merlin is about to ask but Harker comes in and does it for him, "What the hell's happening here? Why is your brother screaming bloody murder?"
Strife only shook his head, "Leatherbeard....nnngh....", he then holds his side as the adrenaline rush in him dies down too.
"You, sit down. I'll take care of your girl as best I can. Ok lassie, geez what'd ya do to yerself in order to cause this?"
Miriam shakily explains, "I was big at first....and broke through a window....got glass in me though. Me going small again.....well you can probably guess what happened...."
Strife then looks at her, "Seriously, you shrunk down with glass in you?"
"I was scared......but it was even scarier while I was hiding......I thought.....I thought......" Miriam begins to say before sniffling.
"Take it easy, he's not after you right now. Plus he doesn't know where we are, and he can't find us." Strife tells her whilst nuzzling her with his finger.
Then everyone freezes as they hear Leatherbeard call them up and begin singing Oh Death once again. Harker drops to the floor, screaming, "NO!", over and over again. Having a full blown panic attack. Miriam hugs Strife's hand right away and begins sobbing into his palm. The taunting singing goes on until after the third or fourth time Harker screams no.
"Ah Harker, I didn't know you were here. Heheh I'm on my way to wherever you land lovers are. And Harker, keep yourself warm for me. I don't want it to be too hard on ya."
Harker immediately hides in his serpent form inside an empty pot. Muttering gaelic swears to himself in fear and occasionally uttering things that suggest pleading. Eventually they hear him having what sounds like a PTSD flashback in there. Death comes back into the room with help from War and Morgen, having heard the commotion.
"What's going on? I heard Harker screaming." Death inquires with a slight hitch to his tone.
Strife points at the pot, "He's having a....'moment' in the pot there. Might want to go check on him."
As Death goes to do so, Leatherbeard has one final thing to say to Strife, "So, how often do you use the cocksleeve?"
"You son of a...!" Strife goes to retort before the crystal hangs up. He then notices Miriam looking extremely hurt by that. Naturally he scoops Miriam up and brings her close to him. Gently placing her to his face after removing his helm. She of course hugged his nose for being so sweet to her, a gave a teensie peck to it's bridge. His warm smile gave her a big reassurance as he oh so tenderly returned the kiss to the side of her head.
"Sugarplum, I love you more than anything. You're so much more to me than a cocksleeve. You give me what matters, you accept me just as much I do you. And that's just fine by me, in fact it's perfect."
"Awwwwwww.....you always know what to say." Miriam replies blushing hard.
"And she's completely red, you sure she's bandaged correctly?" Death states sarcastically.
"Yeah I'm pretty sure I patched her up just right. And uh what did Leatherbeard mean by he'll see us soon, he has no idea where we are? Right?" Strife inquires of him.
He thinks back, and remembers how effective a shark's sense of smell is. And both of he and Miriam have bled profusely between themselves, "He has both our scents. Damn it!"
"How the fuck did he do that?"
"He's a shark! Think about it." Death growls at him.
Both Strife and Miriam get a horrified look, and Miriam in particular begins having a mini panic attack. "Don't worry, I won't let him get to you. I'm gonna find a way to kill this bastard, you hear me?" Strife tells her calmly whilst cupping her in both of his hands.
Death then remembers Harker and checks on him inside the pot. "You in there?" Death asks tapping the outside of it.
Harker then comes up from the pot and is now in a smaller version of his true form. Being about the size of a house cat once he comes out. He then hops into Death's arms and begins to make a slight purring noise.
"Seriously?" Death asks before petting him like a house cat.
"Thanks Death. I know it's......probably not the best....time right now but.........thank you." Harker expresses slowly.
"Don't mention it. I'm only doing this to calm you down." Death states.
Harker sighs before telling him, "Thanks anyway, it helped."
Death notes his depressed and hurt tone, and can't help but say something, "Sorry if my cold, callous nature is making itself too apparent. Just trying to handle all that's happened."
Harker perks a bit at that and questions him, "How's Miriam? Is she alright?"
"I daresay she's probably about as scared as you are. Perhaps it'd do her good to hear from a person who knows how she feels right now." Death tells him simply.
"You think so?"
"Yes, I do."
Harker thought a moment before deciding to make his way over. Going into his serpent form and floating over in a flowing motion. He lands on the table near Strife and coils up into a circle before asking him, "May I speak with you and Miriam by chance?"
"Yeah sure." Strife responds before revealing Miriam from within his hands. She looks over to Harker and waves a bit despondently, "Hello Harker."
"You doing alright?"
"Better now, just still not great." Miriam replies snuggling her man's hand.
"That bastard. He just knows how to get inside your head, and mess with you." Strife adds on in anger.
"Yeah he gets inside your head and messes with you, real bad." Harker responds simply.
Miriam lays down on Strife's hand and tries to fall asleep, course Strife has a better idea for her. He stands up and thanks Harker for the brief talk, even suggesting they continue another time. For now he takes Miriam to his room, placing her on his bed and breathing heavily as he removes his armor. Still in pain all his own, but masking it as best he can for her sake. Wanting nothing more than to make sure she's fine. He soon has his armor off and checks himself in the mirror. Making sure he's not hurt too badly as he looks over his massive bruising.
"Damn, he really did a number on me. But it's worth it. Nnnnngh." Strife says before hissing as he turns around, looking at his back next. Covered in scrapes and bruises from the fountain.
"Ah damn it!" Strife hisses out when scratching his head, right where a bump happened to be.
Strife ultimately sighed to himself and laid down at last. Seeing Miriam all curled up on the bed was both warming and adorable all at once. Gently he stroked her teenie body up and down with his finger, only for her to hug it. He couldn't help but continue to let her hold him that way. Falling asleep slowly as he watched her keenly. The next morning Miriam woke up and seeing Strife asleep with his finger in her grasp made her truly happy. Gushing and squeeing on the inside, Miriam gently kissed his finger before carefully maneuvering around so as not to wake him up. Granted it was easy, given that she was barely the size of his hand. Eventually she made it to the floor and made a pitter patter sound running along it. Miriam upon reaching the door placed her tiny hand to her chin and began thinking of a plan. She wanted to test to see if it was locked. She found some long wire and formed the end into a hook shape. From there she tried to place it on the door knob, which took a few attempts. Once she finally hooked the door knob, she began to shimmy up the wire. Once all the way up it took some effort to balance herself on the knob. But after managing this, she hopped from the knob to the latch lock. From there she checked it's position and saw it wasn't locked, so she thusly latched it that way. She heard Strife stir with a light groan but he didn't wake up. Miriam then sighed with relief before hopping onto the hook wire and sliding down it to the floor. She then went behind the room's partition and decided to borrow a chair cushion to sit on the floor. Her grabbing of the cushion's tassel was enough to pull it down surprisingly, but it landed on her as well. Causing her to get smothered a little before she made her way out from under it.
"Mmmmmph.....mmmmnnngh....eeh! Whew. Ok. Now to wait." Miriam whispered to herself before getting on top of the cushion.
Strife then curled his hand up and realized Miriam wasn't there. He bolted up, "Miriam, agh........damn! Knew I was gonna be sore in the morning. Uh Miriam, you here? You alright?" He goes to get up but is way too sore to move.
Miriam however finally answers, "Over here honey! Behind this big, tall.....thingy! I wanted to surprise you with something."
"Oh ok, whew."
War however comes on by and tries the door. Seeing as it's locked, he can't open it normally. So he knocks and calls out to Strife, "Is it alright to come in?"
"Yeah it's alright, none of us are doing anything. You can come in now."
"The door's locked." War states.
"Well I can't exactly get up!" Strife retorts.
As War begins searching for a key, Miriam calls out, "Sorry, was hoping to surprise your brother with something. But, I guess it can wait.....want me to unlock the door?"
War laughs, "Uh yes, I need to check on him. Make sure he's able to move."
"Dude, I'm having a really hard time moving my arms, my legs.....just nope." Strife informs him.
"I could do without the mocking, but I'll unlock the door." Miriam states before going the through her earlier process all over again.
This time Strife is awake to see what she's doing. Naturally he can't help but give some comments and encouragement, "Doing pretty well, although one thing would make this easier and better. Try swinging, it makes it easier. We practiced on your landing remember?"
Miriam sighs and begins swinging like he says to. Course she ends up going in circles and in her little panic forgets to let go. "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhaaaaaaaaahhaaaaaah!"
"Let go let go let go!" Strife shouts at her.
War meanwhile hears the commotion and readies his fist to punch through the door to catch her.
Miriam finally lets go and has her eyes shut the whole time. Strife then let's her know, "You're fine, if you kept your eyes open you'd have gotten a 9.5 landing. That's an 8.5."
"Hmmm? Oh....ok whew. Also, zip it." Miriam retorts before hopping to the door's lock from the knob and then unlocking it this time.
War settles down at this and then opens the door. Seeing Strife stuck on the bed and letting Miriam hop onto his massive gauntlet hand. He then lets Miriam down onto the bed and begins checking Strife over.
"I've never seen you this fucked up. Even up against Moloch."
Strife gains an grumpy face, "I would flip you off, but I can't seem to move my fingers."
War shakes his head, "You're probably just exaggerating.", then upon seeing all the welts and massive bruises he has when removing the covers, "By the nine hells, what happened? Next time you go up against him, I'm coming with you."
Strife then told him, "He punched Death through a building! This guy then bitch slapped me through a fountain, and he threw an anchor at my chest! Who the fuck brings an anchor to a fight!?"
"Oh my gosh! Is that why these look so bad?! I'm so sorry." Miriam says before cuddling Strife.
"Not your fault, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ow." Strife assures her.
"What would win, his anchor or my fist?" War inquires.
"Depends, how close are you going to get?" Death questions from behind War, whilst on crutches.
"What the fuck happened to you?" Strife immediately asked.
"A harpoon to my achilles tendon doesn't bode well for me. Although the question you asked me is one I have to ask you. What the hell ha-?"
"Anchor to the chest, and being smashed into a fountain too. Yeah be happy you're able use crutches. I can't do shit." Strife tells him.
Miriam meanwhile curls up onto Strife's neck and snuggles him a little. Course Death has an idea.
"I have some ointments that can help heal....all that. But I'm not doing it, Miriam, if you'd be so kind. I'm going to get check on breakfast, War let's give them some privacy."
"Why must we?" War inquires.
"Do you really want to our brother naked?"
War immediately shakes his head and follows a snickering Death outside the room. Once it's closed Miriam taps Strife's face to get his attention.
"Yes Sugarplum?"
"Think I could show you that one thing? Since we're alone now, and because it might make things easier." Miriam suggests.
"Yeah go ahead and show me."
Strife then watches as Miriam goes behind the partition again after using the blankets to climb down to the floor. Then after a moment he sees a flash of light and hears her speak again. But her voice sounds a smidge lower now,
"Are you ready?"
"As ready as I can be."
Strife then sees Miriam step out as a nude short woman. With long black hair and quite the 'blessing' for such a small girl. The curves she has aren't that bad either, in fact it's a welcoming sight. Only her eyes remained the same, pure black like a raven's.
"How do I look?"
"I'm glad that one muscle's working." Strife smugly remarks.
Miriam's giggle makes him smile warmly as she walks over to him to get the ointments on. "Guess that means you like it then? I was worried you might not..."
"Miriam, all I need is you."
She gushes and does her best to hold in the squee before finally beginning to get the ointment on him. Being as gentle as possible so that he doesn't feel pain. She hears a few pops and feels them too as things go back into place. Strife groaning and moaning all the while.
Meanwhile Morgen began tossing in her sleep again. She could hear that one voice again, in that ever dark void. Immediately she screams for Death to help her. But is taunted by the being for the effort.
"Why scream for such a man who cannot understand us for what we are? My sweet Ilona."
"Please Death, if you can hear me, help me....please." Morgen continued to beg, ignoring the voice as best she could.
Suddenly she heard a brand new voice, one just as terrifying though, "Let the poor girl rest. She needs it after all. Don't you have anything better to do, other than tormenting children?"
The voice from before answered, "You know as well as I do, this is no mere child."
"What is going on? Please just....no more....Let me go..." Morgen begs the two voices in her fear. One presence tries to pull her away, another however keeps her in place.
"She must stay." The voice spoke up.
The other however explained angrily, "I will not allow her to remain here. Release her now or else."
"Or else what?" The original voice laughed from beyond the haze.
Death is using the crutches to get around, and catches a sudden dizzy spell. Nearly toppling over but catching himself with the strength he's got left in him. He then hears a creepy, grandiose voice speak in his mind, "Prepare yourself for an unexpected trip."
"I'm not exactly in the best condition for...oooh" Death begins to warn him before completely faceplanting on the floor.
He comes to in a darkened plane, one with a swirling blackness that he can't begin to make sense of. He hears the screams of several men, women, and children. Then he hears a familiar voice from within. One that he recognizes above all the rest in that void,
"Please stop.....please...."
"What the? Morgen? Morgen?! Is that you?! Where are you?!" He shouts into the void.
"Death!? Death please help me!" Morgen replied as a sudden light quickly bursts from her chest.
Quickly the light travels forth and finds Death after a moment. Circling him briefly before leading him along. Good thing the Horsemen's mental strength is enough so that he can actually run. Chasing the light down, and hoping it's leading him to Morgen. Luckily he's correct in his assumption, and grabs Morgen once he reaches her. Morgen naturally hugs him in her panic.
"Morgen are you alright, what's going on here?" Death quickly inquires.
"Morgen? Funny name. You're not supposed to be here."
"Neither are you, whatever this place is." Death retorts.
"It's all in my head, that's where we are." Morgen explains whilst shaking.
"Come out and show yourself coward!" Death shouts into the void.
"Coward? I find that hilarious coming from you. Given your fear."
On cue some burning worms begin traveling up Death's body. He tries swiping them off and stomping on them, only for a pile to begin forming. Morgen quickly reaches into the pile after him and searches for his hand. Course the more frantic in her search she gets, the more her light begins shining. Finally it bursts from her entire body, engulfing the worms in a bluish white light, as well as the void around them. Morgen is left dazed after the experience but pulls herself together enough to make her way over to Death. Death's on his knees when feeling Morgen's hand on his shoulder. He glances up to see her looking dazed still and the world around them is now a bluish white void instead. Only a few patches of black remain, like parasites in her head.
"What's going on?" Death asks sighing.
"I truly don't know. Either it's an evolving nightmare, or some unknown tormentor. But this has happened twice now. It horrifying each time I go through this." Morgen informs him whilst sitting down to try and manage her dazed state better.
"Are you alright?" Death implored.
"I'm fine, just dazed." Morgen replies doing her best to stand up, nearly falling down.
Death of course stands up to catch her, "Woah easy there. I have you. You sure you're alright?"
"Yes, I'm only dazed. But thank you regardless. What about you? That looked horrifying." Morgen says to him.
"Little shaken up, that's all. Now, where the hell are we?"
"My head, like I told you before." Morgen replies simply.
"Ok I must've been seriously messed up from that incident."
"Uhm so long as I wake up we should be fine, I think. We just need to find a way to achieve that." Morgen explains a bit unsure.
"Please tell me that there is no ridiculous requirements or tasks to get the hell out of here."
"I'm trying to think of something believe me. Perhaps knock me out here and see what happens? Shove me off a cliff maybe? Falling dreams do wake people up usually." Morgen tells him.
"Are you insane, where are we going to find a cliff here? Secondly why would I even do that?"
"Then let's hear yours then smartass." Morgen retorts.
"Uhm let me think let me think, let me think of something good."
Morgen looks at skeptically before she starts hearing something. Turning around she sees the black spots pulsating. They're silent, then one begins talking and starts to sound eerily familiar.
"Hello little bun oven. When you grow up you're probably gonna be all nice and pretty. Yeah your Papa's pride and joy, and other things maybe, heheh..." Morgen heard Leatherbeard say.
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