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ironwitchau · 2 months

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The Trials

Ok, I'm tired, so I probably won't be posting this to AO3 until tomorrow or something but tumblr people get a treat. Anyway this connects to chapter 47 of A Hero Forged. The AO3 version will probably be a bit more polished or something. I'm too tired to be doing that right now.

---

“I want to get Amity her job back.” Luz crossed her arms as she glared at Malphas. She had to look serious if she had any hope of this working.

“Ok.” He shrugged.”

“I don't care what you-” she faltered. ��What?”

“Amity’s, like, one of my best librarians. I’d love to, like, rehire her.” The bird demon said nonchalantly.

“Then why did you fire her?”

“She needs to know that her actions have consequences.”

“Oh… Then can I have her ID back?”

“No.”

Luz blinked. “But you just said you wanted her back!”

“It must be earned.”

Luz was going to strangle him. She didn't care that he was the head librarian. They could find someone else, but (now that she thought about it) that someone might not rehire Amity.

“Fine,” she huffed, “how do I earn her her job back?”

“Through trials!” The lights in the library flickered dramatically.

“Of course.” Luz groaned. Everything in the Isles was through trials.

“First task, feed the electric bugs. Gary didn't feed them this morning and we can’t have the lights flickering.”

Seems easy enough.

---

Luz yelped and ducked as a book flew at her head. The book had sharp teeth that could easily tear through her. Malphas caught it and held it by the spine as it snapped at her. “These are carnivorous books.” He told her. “They used to be harmless.”

“I think you mean ‘man-eating’ books.” She corrected.

“Only because Alan gave them a taste.”

She couldn't help but gulp.

“Is Alan ok?”

“He’s in the Conformitorium now.”

Was that better or worse? Luz couldn't decide.

“Oh.”

“Your task is to organize them by publication year and Author name.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

“That’s, like, what they all say.”

He began to float away.

“That would have been more ominous without the ‘like’!” She called after him. He let go of the book, which channeled its inner predator and leapt at her. “Weh!”

She lifted her arms up, her suit covering them. The book sank its teeth into it with the strength of a clamp. She barely felt it.

“Oh.” She blinked. “This will be easy.”

---

Luz hummed to herself as she pulled the book off her arm. It took the elbow piece with it but the suit fixed it rather quickly.

“What a unique method.” she turned with a jump.

“Christ, Gary! Give a girl a heart attack, why don't ya?” She put the book on the shelf with some of the jerky Malphas left her.

“Sorry.” The nervous wreck of a witch fiddled with his thumbs.

“It’s cool. You need something?”

“No, Malphas just wanted me to check up on you.”

“Well, I’m doing fine.”

She tore the book from her shoulder, checked the author’s name and put it back. Wrong letter.

“I could help if you wanted.”

She grabbed one from her knee, checked and nodded to herself. There it was.

“Nah, I’m good. I've got a system.”

“You have a dozen or so books biting you.”

Now was the one on her shoulder.

She shrugged, “if it works, it works.”

“Where’s the rest?”

She pointed to the side where Spot was chasing various books.

“It’s a good workout.”

“O-ok.”

“Tell Malphas that he’s got to try better.”

“What?”

“No outside help.” She smirked.

Gary sputtered as Luz ignored him in favor of organization.

---

“Next is like a bit of a pest that the library has had.”

“Did the pixies get in the library too?” She joked. Malphas gave her a blank stare.

“No.” He opened the door to reveal a large mountain of paper. “Do be careful of the fire breath.”

“The what.”

---

Luz had given Spot her jacket after the mention of fire breath. Even if she had the Mark 6, she didn't want to risk it getting ruined in the time it took for her suit to fix itself.

She entered the room alone and wondered where the ‘pest’ was. It could be fire bees, but she couldn't see the nest anywhere. Before she could look around more, the mountain of paper rumbled and began to stand.

It had a long serpentine body that seemed to fill the entire room. It had four horns, two at the top of its likely head and two at the end of its narrow snout. Its face flared out in what could have been whiskers, she wasn't sure. Its legs were rather short when compared to the rest of its body and ended in a five clawed foot. The paper seemed to intertwine with another, creating a scale-like pattern. Over all it reminded Luz of the depictions of eastern dragons.

“Oh, fuck me.” She muttered as the dragon, which took up much of the room, stared down at her with oddly purple eyes.

It opened its mouth, revealing two sets of large, sharp fangs, and roared. Her arms rushed up as the nano-machines formed a large shield between them to block the fire that spewed from its maw. She was so fucked.

She lowered her shield when the fire finally stopped. She smiled nervously, “You wouldn't happen to be like Toothless, would you?”

It jolted forward in an attempt to bite her in two. Luz leapt back, her armor forming, the propulsion system finishing first to give her an extra boost.

“I’ll take that as a no!”

The dragon hissed at her as she regained her barings.

“I’ll add fighting a dragon to the list.” T.I.T.A.N. laughed.

“What list? And is now really the time?” She fired a repulsor beam at the dragon’s side.

“The ‘Hero Cliche’ list.”

The dragon didn't even seem bothered by the beam. It didn't even singe the paper. The dragon whirled around so fast Luz couldn't react in time. Within seconds the tail crashed into her midsection and she was being embedded into the wall.

She groaned as her back was lit on fire. It felt worse than that time Belos slammed her into a statue. “Ow.”

“A healing glyph has been formed on the left shoulder.”

“Thanks, T.I.T.A.N.” She pushed herself out of the wall. She pressed the glyph and was met with a wave of energy. “That’s better. Now, let’s fight fire with fire.”

She brought her hands together and the nanites shifted to form a large fire glyph in the palms.

Simultaneously, the dragon opened its mouth, embers building in the back of the throat.

“Fuck you, Oragami!” She screamed as a steady stream of fire flowed from her hands. The dragon met it with fire of its own. She could feel the heat start to permeate the suit and warm her palms.

Neither seemed to want to give up, creating a battle of wills. She refused to close, more glyphs formed. A half fire glyph formed between her fingers so that when she brought them together she had four additional glyphs, two on each hand. Another one formed on the leftover space on her palm.

They activated and it seemed Luz’s fire was beginning to win. She grinned. She didn't care if her hands were uncomfortably warm.

She overpowered it and her fire forced its way down the dragon’s throat. It coughed violently as she finally deactivated her glyphs.

She took this chance to land and pressed her palms onto the ground. Nanites rushed to the floor, spreading out. A circle surrounded the creature, lines began to form under it.

“Time for you to chill out.” She smirked as the ice glyph activated. A giant glacier encased it and Luz let out a sigh of relief as it froze.

She let her suit fall away. “That ought to have done it.”

God, she could use coffee at that point. Malphas first, then Amity, then she could go get coffee. That should have taken care of the ‘pest’ problem.

She didn't notice how the ice began to crack until it was too late. The glacier shattered into a million tiny pieces as the dragon released a mighty roar. Blunt and sharp bits of ice peppered her skin. “Shit!”

The Mark 6 reformed as quickly as she could get it. Something in her buzzed. She was tired and more than a little annoyed at this point.

She dodged another bout of fire as the annoyance turned to anger. That buzz, which was close to a bee, grew into a rapid stream. Her eyes burned as the dragon tried to impale her with its horns.

“Leave me alone!” She screamed. It was like the nanites had a mind of their own as they formed some new glyph. She didn't get a chance to look at it but it glowed blue, not unlike the ice glyph.

Water crashed down onto the dragon, soaking it. Any fire it had left died as the once white paper took a more gray color. It whimpered.

The anger faded and she blinked. “What in the…”

“I see you, like, tamed the paper dragon.” Malphas said behind her.

Had she? And what was that glyph? “Huh.”

#the owl house #the owl house au #iron witch #luz noceda #one shot #bonus content #paper dragon #why was it a paper dragon?#like i know why #but why

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wally-friggin-franks · 4 months

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PART THREE (take two) YOU GOT IT PAL

actually writin' this in my notes, so, uh, hopefully i'll remember the way i wrote some of this stuff-

the biggest story on my mind right now is when henry was tryin' ta work late for the third, maybe fourth day in a row. and i wasn't havin' it. that day i had baked breadrolls, so i just waltzed up to him, gave him some, n' just. talked with him. had a chat, yknow? eventually, i convinced him ta go home and get some rest. i'm glad that i could. i also wanna make those breadrolls again some day- they were one of th' only things i could safely make that weren't too shabby, and they were pretty easy fer me. maybe soon.

the next story was when i was helpin' clean the warehouse. clutter, beams, junk, etc... i was just strong enough to help move this stuff. i wasn't entirely helpless, heh. anyways, i was in the middle of movin' a huge metal beam, it's hoisted onto my shoulder, and friggin' bertie is standin' in my way. now. a normal person would say "hey! excuse me, gotta get through!" but not me. cos i didn't like th' guy. so i just. "accidentally" knocked him unconcious with the beam. everyone believed me, sayin' that i "didn't have th' smarts ta pull it off" WELL I DO AND I DID AND IT WAS ON PURPOSE. take THAT. and the warehouse guys didn't help move anythin' it was just me n' lacie

i think i'll save th' repurposed coat closet story for a while, at least 'til i draw what it looked like. it was awesome. i would make that its own seperate post.

although, i'll gladly tell about the writin' department. usually, that place was dead quiet. could hear th' drop of a pin, and then everyone was lookin' at it. but this particular day, everyone was shoutin' and pointin' fingers, all thanks ta friggin connor wheatley. cos he didn't like alice angel. "boo hoo women character waaah waah weh weh weh BLEUGH." he got punched. i let it happen. after that, i slammed my broom handle to th' floor, and everyone went quiet enough for me to go clean. soon as i left, everyone was back at it again, heh.

if you ever were t' hear susie sing, you'd know the recordings NEVER did her voice justice. sounded like a literal angel. any time she was in a recordin' session, i'd try and clean nearby, cos lemme tell ya- she's gotta be the best out there. her voice had me floored every time. never got old. and she could be a wide variety of characters, too! it was really awesome t' see.

and shawn was th' BEST toymaker. i know about the whole "crooked smile" debaucle but honestly? thought that gave 'em more charm. made it so you could tell which ones would last ya for forever versus which ones couldn't. and just,, the craftsmanship behind it all? was awesome. sure, injury here and there, but each one was made skillfully. i loved watchin' shawn do her thing, they were really good at what he did, y'know? gah.

i really wish i had asked norman about how projectors worked. i would've gotten t' listen to it gush 'bout somethin' it loved, and it would've been smilin' the whole time, AND it wouldn't be mad at me? all around win situation! it was really cool. i can't even properly put anythin' into words it was so cool. the best projectionist in the world ever! n' was just a good guy. awhagwhgr

and henry's awesome, too! the way he could jus' whip up a drawing that quickly, and precisely? you could tell he knew what he was doin'. even the stuff he threw away was awesome. any drawings norman didn't steal, i definetly stared at for a while. he was good at advice, too. all-around a swell guy. he probably didn't have a single malicious bone in his body, in all honesty. couldn't insult his friends if he tried. really sweet guy. makes norman happy, and norman makes him happy right back. sweet, aint it?

jack was one of the best lyricists ever, i think. they could just... immediately get the vibes for a song, n' put it into words. it was really cool! again, what is it with people throwin' stuff away that was still REALLY good? all the lyrics they wrote had some swing to 'em, and just matched the feel of the song perfectly. good tempo, good use of phonetics, etc. just awesome. tried not t' disturb jack while they worked, though, so i mostly admired from afar.

prayin' tumblr doesn't eat this one. if it does, got it saved in m' notes, cos norman said to do that. its really smart :]

#batdr da #batdr irl #batim da #batim irl #batdr kin #batim kin #wally franks irl #《remember that time?》

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waywardstraysau · 1 year

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The school’s gym was in fact a converted ballroom, which meant it was quite big. Not quite as big as the gymnasium back in Gravesfield mind you, the ceiling was lower and the walls were still covered in ornate wallpaper. In fact, if Luz had to guess, it was smaller by a good few yards. The chandeliers above gave the impression that the conversion wasn’t quite done either, a stray ball that went a little too high would easily hit them. If the translucent bits hanging from them were glass, anyone directly below would be in serious trouble. If they were real crystals however, they’d probably be better off, not great, they would still be heavy and sharp, but falling glass usually meant a trip to the emergency room.

The staff, thankfully, seemed to be aware of this risk, for while the students met in the gymnasium, the actual class was being held outside. Stan led them (calling him Grunkle was still weird), and had them meet in the forest near the front of the school. “Alright, you all-” he stopped when he noticed the newcomers, “Most of you know how this works. One lap around the property and no powers allowed until you reach the halfway point, ya got it?” “Yes Grunkle Stan,” the majority of the class said in unison.

“Alright! Now, you all go at the same time, try not to kill each other when you do! Start stretchin’, ya got five minutes!”

Luz held King closer to her chest as she looked around. This was a bit less formalized than what she had expected, the others seemed to be doing their own preferred warmups with no real cohesion between them. Hunter had already made it to twenty-something with his push-ups and showed no sign of slowing down. The odd part was that they were all expected to run at the same time, at every other school she had attended, they would have gone one at a time. Then again this course seemed a lot bigger than anything her old schools could have managed.

“Yo, squirt!”

“Eep!”

She squeaked and nearly jumped out of her shoes at the sudden gruff voice being directed at her! She turned away from her thoughts to see Stan standing in front of her.

“Yer the new kids right?”

“Uh, y-yes sir.”

“Alright, hate ta do this to ya kiddo, but her little furball’s gotta stay here,” he said as he pointed at King.

“Weh?! No! I’m not leaving Luz!” the little demon squealed. “Kid, this is an obstacle course, she’s not gonna be able to carry you and run it at the same time. Plus it’s a bit too big for someone yer size anyway.” “I’ll ride on her back! I’ll hide in her hoodie! I’ll-” “I got candy!” Like a magician, he pulled out two large handfuls of sweets from seemingly nowhere, and King’s eyes widened. “But… but… I can’t leave Luz… she’s-” “Hey, King, buddy, it’s okay,” the girl in question interrupted, her voice soothing, “It’s just going to be for a little while. Plus you’ll be spending the day with the other little kids soon, one class away from me’ll be good practice for that.” He let out a tiny whine and she kissed him on his skull. “Just for one class, and I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” He hesitated, but then nodded with a small noise of affirmation and sat in the grass by Stan’s feet. The grown man then knelt down to hand him a piece of hard candy, that appeared from seemingly nowhere by sleight of hand. It reassured Luz enough to turn away and start her stretching. As she was finishing up her stretches, she was surprised to hear someone running towards her. She looked up and smiled as she recognized Tulip, who looked rather excited. “Hey, Luz!” “Hey, what’s up?” “You remember those friends I mentioned this morning? Well one of them wants to meet you.” “They… do?” “Yeah, I told them about you and they wanted to say hi before class started.” “Oh, uh, o-okay, sure! Where are they?” “I loom behind you!” Luz let out a small yell and jumped in surprise, turning around so fast she almost made herself dizzy. The first thing she registered was that the person had the same face as Tulip, to the point she thought they had to have been a twin the redhead had failed to mention. The second thing, though it probably should have been the first, is that they were made of metal. This new person had a cocky smirk as she soaked in the details of their appearance. While their face was the same, barring a single eyebrow slit, they also had a shaved head, with a few needle-like strands of hair, and holes in their earlobes. They wore a black t-shirt that had the sleeves ripped off, jeans, a little black bracelet and brown boots. “S’up? The name’s Lake,” they asked, with a metallic ring to their voice, like they were speaking into a soup can. “Whoa…! What… I… ahem, lo siento. Hi, I’m Luz.” “So you’re Tulip’s new roomie, huh? I thought you were supposed to have a living stuffed animal with ya or somethin’.” “Y-Yeah, well I mean, I am her roommate, along with King,” she pointed towards the little demon, Stan seemed to be showing him a magic trick, “He’s too little for the obstacle course so he’s staying here… also he’s a demon.” “Oh, huh, that’s cool.” “Yeah… um… can I go ahead and ask the obvious question here?” “Hehehehe, you wanna know why I’m made of metal right?” “...that was actually my second question. My first one was why the heck do you and Tulip look exactly alike?” “You wanna tell ‘er or should I?” Tulip interrupted, resting her arm on Lake’s shoulder. “Eh, I might as well,” they smirked before looking at Luz, “I used to be her reflection.” “Reflection? As in like…?” “Yup, I don’t have a reflection anymore,” Tulip grinned, pulling out a small pocket mirror and held it up, showing only Lake, “I’m like a vampire! Bleh! I’m gonna suck your blood!” “You can try, you’ll never be able to bite through my skin!” The two of them laughed, and Luz tried to restrain back her own giggles. “How did you two even meet?” “Remember the Train I told you about?” “Uh huh?” “One of the cars was the Mirror Car, and inside, you could switch places with your reflection, one thing led to another and I helped Lake escape the Mirror World.” “We went our separate ways after that and eventually I got off the train with the help of my friend, Jesse.” “Oh… uh, is she here or…?” “Well, first of all, Jesse’s a boy, and second no, not yet. His parents want him to finish out the semester at his current school before sending him here.” “What, why?” “I ‘unno, adults are weird.” Before anything more could be said, Stan called out, “Alright kids, get to the starting line!” The students scrambled to the starting line, it was drawn in the dirt with yellow chalk. A few of them crouched down, like the professional runners she sometimes saw on TV, while others were simply standing. She didn’t know which she should do and didn’t know who to ask. She also didn’t see Hunter anymore, there must have been too many people between them. “On your marks!” Stan loudly proclaimed, “Get set!” He pulled out a blow horn. “GO!” The horn rang loudly and spooked a flock of nearby birds. The gaggle of students began to run, Luz had no idea where anyone was, and decided following the group as best she could was the safest option. The first obstacle was very simple, a large downed tree that laid across the path, she could see the others vaulting over the trunk with ease. Some were getting a lot more air than the others, it was rather impressive to see! She managed the jump with a semi-awkward landing on the other side, and she could see the next obstacle. It was a steep wooden incline with a series of small ledges for footholds and three lengths of rope hanging from the top. At the base, there were three lines forming as the others got ready to climb. She looked up and could see Hunter disappear over the top, how the heck was he so fast?! It took no time at all for her to reach the front of one of the lines to begin her climb, and she was happy to find it wasn’t quite as hard as she had been expecting. She looked to her left and saw Tulip reaching the top, who looked back, noticed her and grinned, geturing for her to hurry up. When Luz joined her, she looked down the other side and saw that there was another incline on the other side, one that was made of colorful foam and wasn’t nearly as steep as the one they had just climbed. “I love this part,” the redhead smirked before sliding down with a loud, “Woohoo!” Down below, Lake was standing at the bottom, as if waiting. When their double reached the end of her slide, they helped her up, the two said something and then the bespectacled girl looked back up to the summit. She quickly waved for Luz to come down, followed by the former reflection doing the same. They were encouraging her to follow them. She smiled to herself a bit before sliding down. Her roommate was right, it was fun! Then the two helped her to her feet and they started running again. This whole thing was turning out to be fun already! Further ahead, Hunter was having different thoughts. He thought it was insultingly easy. Now, he knew not everyone was as athletic as him, he was the Golden Guard after all, excellence was expected of him in everything he did… but by the Titan this was child’s play! There was no challenge to it! Where were the traps? The spiked pits? The swinging axes? Sure this wasn’t the castle but they could have set up something! Were humans too fragile for that? He had left the human and her little rat in the dust at the very start, followed shortly by just about every other student he could actually name. He hadn’t seen that loud-mouth MK yet though, had he gotten ahead of the group or something? Were there others who had gotten ahead of him as well? Whatever, he’d overtake them all eventually, he couldn’t fail at this. He had to reach the end first. His suspicions were proven right when he reached a rope ladder that led to a series of large platforms built into the trees. When he reached the top, he could see someone up ahead. The witch frowned and ran faster. He caught up to the kid as he was crossing a suspended bridge that hung between two of the trees. The stranger was going a bit slower, clearly trying not to lose his footing as it swayed softly. Down below, Hunter could see a net, set up to catch anyone who might fall. His eye twitched. This was getting very insulting. He grunted and ran again, gaining ground on the boy on the bridge and pushed past him, feeling a tiny prick of pride at the success. He could hear the kid yell out in surprise when he did but he didn’t pay him a second thought. Once he reached the halfway point, he’d use Flapjack to catch up to whoever else might be left. Or at least, that was the plan. Instead, he found himself having to put actual effort to run faster, the boy from the bridge was also fast, and able to keep pace. There was still some distance between them, but Hunter had no doubt he’d make a move to close the gap soon. He cursed his luck before looking ahead to see there was one platform left. The way to reach it was by crossing a series of small, wooden platforms that were suspended by a pair of wires strung between the ones built into the trees. He would have to jump to reach them, if he was lucky he might be able to skip over some if he had enough momentum. He made it to the first few with ease, after only a few jumps, he realized he was losing speed. Taking a risk, he skipped over the next one entirely and went straight for the one after it. He made it, but he needed a second to regain his balance. Feeling emboldened, he jumped again, skipping another platform, but this time, he couldn’t regain his composure in time and fell to his knees. He panted as he looked down below, seeing the net again. “Hey, you okay?” the boy called. Hunter looked back and got his first good look at him. He was surprisingly mundane-looking, with neatly combed black hair that was parted on the side, big blue eyes and very willowy. He was dressed in a blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up, just below the elbows and zipped up halfway, showing a white shirt underneath. He also wore blue jeans and blue and white shoes, overall, he was perhaps the most boring-looking human he had seen yet! But there was also something weirdly familiar, he just couldn’t place it. He chose not to answer the question, instead jumping to his feet and decided not to repeat his prior stunt. Instead, he simply returned to taking them one-by-one, he had to keep his lead! The last of the large platforms ended with a tube slide, one that curved and left Hunter’s body so filled with static that it tickled his nose. He didn’t look back to see if the boy was still right behind him, he had to assume he was. Well he wouldn’t let him catch up! No, he had to prove he was the best, he had to focus on reaching the end. The second his boots hit the dirt, he took off running again. He considered dispelling his cloak to cut down on the drag but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t explain why but he just couldn’t send it away, not yet. Up ahead, he spotted a large sign along the side of the path, and written in sloppy white paint were the words “Halfway point! Powers are allowed now!” This made Hunter smirk. Time to prove why he was the Golden Guard. “Flapjack!”

He drew his staff from his cloak and held onto it tightly. He waited until he was safely past the sign before igniting his teleportation spell, immediately jumping forward several dozen yards, leaving streaks of yellow magic behind him. He cast the spell again, and then a third time, putting a considerable distance between him and the human. He continued with this strategy, and wondered if he would be allowed to actually fly on his staff to the finish line. Would he get in trouble for not doing it right? Better not risk it, plus, this way he could prove himself further by sheer physical capability alone. Though he did spot a few rings suspended just below the canopy, so some students were clearly meant to fly through this part. Any further thoughts he might have had were interrupted by the sound of… something? It almost sounded like ringing metal, but there was something more to it, something he couldn’t identify. Hunter hadn’t had time to think on it further, nearly maniacal laughter followed the strange sound and it was approaching him from behind, fast! He looked over his shoulder, with only a split second between him recognizing MK and the young man’s look of excited enthusiasm turning to immediate regret. He then plowed into the young witch at a speed no magic staff could possibly match, sending them both tumbling across the forest floor. They only stopped when they crashed hard into the trunk of a tree, Hunter first and then MK landed on top of him. Hunter’s vision was dark for a second, possibly even two, before it slowly faded back, accompanied by a series of color-changing dots, fuzz in his brain and a ringing in his ears. He let out a groan as he began to make out voices, the face of the boring-looking human was leaning over him in concern, MK had somehow already bounced back and was looking at him in worry. The dazed boy tried to move only to let out a harsh grunt as a sharp shock of pain shot out from his left shoulder. He tried moving it again only to growl in his throat when he was greeted by a tingling that spread from the joint and up his neck, while his arm and hand were entirely numb. Yup, dislocated. It was far from the first time this had happened, he’d had countless injuries throughout his life. Be it from training, during his missions or from uncle Belos’s outbursts, pain was like an old friend to the young witch, an overly familiar one. His thoughts were disrupted when he recognized a small weight on his chest, and a small, high-pitched sound, the only one that was coming in clearly. “Flapjack…” The cardinal was sitting on his chest, a look of concern in his one big eye.

He placed his right hand over the little bird and rubbed his cheek with his thumb, assuring him he was fine. “I’m okay buddy.” He sat up slowly, his body was aching and sore all over, he was going to have some nasty bruises later but he was considerably lucky otherwise. A dislocated shoulder was easy enough to fix, after years of tending to his own injuries, he had it down to a science. Once he was upright enough, he used his right hand to lift his numb arm, he could vaguely hear the humans saying something to him. The one he didn’t know the name of had one of those scroll-things out, what was it called again, a phone? He brushed off the question, as well as concerned voices of the two humans before carefully guiding the bones back into the socket. A crackling sound that was similar to gravel filled the air, his own tightly restrained yowls of pain reverberated in his throat. After a moment, he lowered the arm, flexing his hand gently in a test. Pins and needles still covered him from the tips of his fingers up to his neck but he had done it. The fuzzy feeling in his brain was taking its time to dissipate, but that was fine, he just had to get back up and finish the obstacle course. He pushed off with his right hand, his feet stumbling under him before his balance returned. He took a few staggering steps, let his spinning head have a moment to slow down, and started running again. He could hear the two dark-haired boys calling after him, but he disregarded it. Just had to keep running… The rest of the course was a blur, he didn’t remember how he got through it all or how long it took, just that one minute he was running and the next he had passed the finish line. He was leaning against a tree, using his uninjured arm as support, with Flapjack chirping at him in worry. He took the moment of peace to let the disorientation untangle itself from his brain and felt his awareness shift back to normal. By the time MK and the boring-looking human had made it across the finish line, he was only mildly dizzy and smirking at them like he’d accomplished some great victory. In his mind, he had, he had finished the course first, he proved he was the best, proved he was worthy of being the Emperor’s right-hand man. Not that either of them knew that about him, but… it was important. He didn’t know why, it just was. He ignored their questions, asking if he was okay, that he had taken a hard hit but that was ridiculous. He suffered far worse back in the Emperor’s Coven, this was nothing. “Hunter?” He grunted. Of course. The human was here now too. He hadn’t seen her finish the course, but she was with two others with her and-okay that one had metal skin, he’d have to ask about that later-and she was looking at him in concern. “What happened to you? You look… rough.” “Tch, this is nothing,” he said, speaking up for the first time. Flapjack chirped sharply in something akin to a protest. “Dude, you dislocated your shoulder,” the unnamed boy said, it was the first time the young witch had bothered to really pay attention to his voice, “You are definitely not okay.” “He did what?!” the human exclaimed, her voice becoming high-pitched, “Shouldn’t we be getting Dr. Lake or-” “It’s fine,” the witch interrupted, “I already put it back in its socket. It’s fine.” “...you did what?! You know how to do that?!” she put her hands on her head in disbelief, like it was some impressive thing. “Of course I do, I wouldn’t be the Golden Guard if I couldn’t handle simple injuries like that on my own.” “Hunter, a dislocated shoulder is not simple! I just- that is so messed up!” “Maybe for you humans, but this is perfectly normal for-” “This isn’t even normal among other witches! None of my friends back on the Boiling Isles ever had to do that!” That statement caught him a bit off guard. Okay, maybe it wasn’t normal for civilians but still… “Oh yeah well… th-they’re not members of the Emperor’s Coven, now are they?” “Putting aside the shoulder thing, you still look like you got hit by a truck!” “I don’t even know what that is!” “It’s a type of car!” There was a pause, Hunter could feel his frustration growing, and he could see a strangely similar look on the human… but it wasn’t the same. He didn’t know what it was. He didn’t like it. “Uh, actually,” MK piped up awkwardly, “He was hit by me because I made a dumb mistake with my powers… and we crashed into a tree. Ehehe… seriously dude, you’re a mess, you need to see the doc.” “I don’t need to see anyone, I’m fi-” “YOU CRASHED INTO A TREE?!” “Why are you yelling, human!?” “You have at least five scrapes that I can see, you probably have internal bruising and who knows what else?!” she exclaimed, “You need to-” “WOULD ALL OF YOU CALM DOWN?!” The voice made all of them stop. They all turned to see Steven running towards them, looking both frustrated and worried. He took a few deep breaths, like he needed to calm himself. “Steven! Buddy! Just the man we need!” MK exclaimed in delight, “Hunter here got a bit uh, banged up. Think you could give us a hand here?” He looked Hunter up and down and now he had a concerned look as well. “...I’d say banged up is putting it lightly. What happened exactly?” “Too long to explain, just do your thing please!” He gave MK a sideways look before stepping closer. “Hunter, are you okay?” “I’m fine.” “...no offense but you look like you got trampled by an angry mob.” “Shouldn’t you be worrying over MK? He went through the same thing I did.” “MK is… uniquely hardy. I’m not worried about him right now.”

The witch paused, glanced at the grass below and quietly muttered out what happened, even crashing into the tree. The older boy listened, sighed and nodded. “I see… okay, hold still, I’ll patch you up.” “You don’t have t-” He never got to finish his sentence, as Steven took his hand suddenly, raised it up and gently kissed him on the knuckle. Hunter felt like his face caught fire. He could hear the human making a strange squealing noise. His brain took far too long to catch up with his body and he immediately pushed the other boy away, making a sound that wasn’t a scream but not coherent enough to be words. It still managed to convey the only question on his mind. “What are you doing!?” Steven, who had fallen back on the ground and was now sitting on the ground, looked up at him in surprise… and then looked horrified. “O-Oh! Oh my gosh! I am so so sorry! I-I wasn’t thinking-” “Clearly! What kind of-of… I-I don’ t know what to call you but what made you think that was okay!?” “Just check your wounds!” “My wo-what are you-” He looked down at himself and his eyes widened.

Every small scrape, cut and bruise he had gained from the crash now had white sparkles dancing over them, and all of them were now slowly closing or fading away. “W… What the…” “I uh… that’s… another power I should have told you about sooner,” Steven said awkwardly, “I… kinda have healing powers. Well… healing spit.” He stuck out his tongue and pointed at it. “But people here get a bit grossed out if I just lick my hand and slap it against their open wounds.” Everyone’s skin began to crawl at the thought. “So I started do the kiss thing instead… look, Hunter I’m sorry, I-I should have-” “No! No-no… it… it’s okay… you just… caught me off guard… really off guard.” “...do you feel okay now?” He did. A lot better actually. He wasn’t even sore or achey. He nodded but refused to make eye contact. His ears were still burning. “Well, if he’s okay, we should probably head back inside,” MK piped up, pointing his thumb over his shoulder and towards the school, “We finished pretty early, heck, Stan ain’t even here yet. I wanna get in some extra time for Art class.” “...did you just say art?!” The human turned fast, faster than he thought she was capable of! She certainly hadn’t moved that fast when he threatened her back home! “Oh yeah, that’s next on the schedule,” the young man piped up, “We either have that or Music every other week.” Steven made a strange sound, like he was trying to clear his throat but at the same time trying not to say anything. “Why every other week?” “I ‘unno, all I know is it gives us more time to work on our assignments. Either way, you guys comin’?” “I can’t, Stan’s watching King and I have to go get him.” “Oh, don’t worry! They’re probably on their way over already, Stan drives this… uh… darn it what’s the English term for it again? Gāo'ěrfū chē… Gāo'ěrfū chē… Gāo'ěrfū chē in English…” MK seemed to be rolling something over his tongue, trying to remember. “...you mean the golf cart?” Steven piped up and the older brunette snapped his fingers. “Yes! Xièxiè nǐ! I-I mean thank you! Any Stan drives one of those to get to the end of the course faster, they’ll be here before you know it!”

She smiled in relief.

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asrisgratitudejournal · 7 months

Text

Hati-hati

[Intro si teman ini ada di postingan sebelum ini ya wankawan]

Nah, tadi pagi nih yang bikin aku kasian banget sama si teman aku ini HUHU. Ku sambil ngopi dan sarapan kan ya, kami ngobrol. Intinya ku bilang planku hari ini akan ketemu ini ini ini. Terus dia yang “Duh, aku belum berani banget nih ke dept... Belum siap ketemu orang karena ku gendut banget sekarang…” Padahal asli sumpah, berat dia tuh 53kg apa berapa gitu. Ya emang naik 4kg dari normal dia 49kg tapi gak yang GENDUT gak sehat gitu… Lebih emang ke chubby aja kalau ingat dia sebelum lebaran. Jadi dia ceritanya pulang ke Indo buat ngambil data di field itu kan selama 6 bulan, dan ya sangat wajar di field pasti pusing stress banyak mikir dan bikin lapar dan jadi naik berat badan. Cuma yang ku sangat tidak paham (I tried to understand, though, and I am trying now makanya ku coba dengan rationalising di postingan ini), adalah “masa iya sampai segitunya gamau ketemu orang cuma gara-gara naik berat badan aja…”. Dia sampai ga makan juga… Cuma makan sayur aja… Wow.

Terus ya kubilang aja “sumpah ku gak relate, karena jujur aku ga terlalu peduli sih orang mau mikir ku gendut kek, jelek kek, apakek, ya ku gapikirin banget” (BOHONG. I did a full make-up: eyeshadow, curling my lashes, blush on, dan lipstick this morning). Tapi maksudnya kalau kaya ku gendut gitu juga “YAUDAH, what can you do juga” gitu kan??? Mentalku betulan seperti itu banget. Terus si temanku ini bingung, “kok bisa ya kamu mikir kaya gitu dan aku mikir kaya gini?”. Pas ditelusuri ternyata tapi emang perbedaan kami adalah: di duniaku, yang berisik banget tukang complain dengan penampilanku… hampir gaada. Palingan ya mama aja suka bilang “dijaga badannya” sama emang lebih excessive ada obsesi ngedadanin anaknya sendiri aja, tapi di luar itu, beneran gaada yang komentar samsek terhadap badanku ini. Well, ada sih dulu jaman lebaran kaya Budeku yang “weh lemu men, Non sekarang” tapi yowes itu aja udah, palingan 1/365 dalam setahun where my day get ruined by a stupid insensitive comment but that’s it. Dan jujur COVID Alhamdulillah ngebantu banget ngejauhin aku dari orang-orang jahat beserta komen-komen unfaedah kaya gini. Dan juga Alhamdulillah aku being so far away from them geographically now that I am in Oxford gitu kan. Kalau di dunia per-psikologi-an tuh, ada phrase: “jauhin diri kamu dari sumber stress”, ya betul banget salah satunya dengan being physically far away from the mean mouths. Makanya pergi ke luar Indonesia tuh ENAK BANGET kalau kalian living situation di Indonesianya kaya hell. Please do try! (Orang-orang yang support system-nya bagus di Indo gaakan relate dan bingung: “kok mau sih Non jauh dari keluarga dan makanan enak?”).

Meanwhile, my friend ini kebalikan, malahan majority lingkungan dia yang sangat put importance on looks! YAALLAH apa tidak capek… Kebayang gaksih… Dengernya aja udah capek… Anyway, iya, apparently because she comes from a quite well-off family, what the women (cici-cici sepupunya, aunty-aunty-nya) do adalah get money from their husbands and spend it… Mostly tentu saja on looks: skincare, skin treatment. Dia cerita dia habis did skin booster dan sekali tuh bisa habis 5jutaIDR… Terus dari dia juga ku baru tau ada yang namanya CO2 laser??? That sounds scary tbh. Tapi barusan did my Wikipedia research to find it’s not as scary as it sounded. Nah iya, jadi sepertinya environmentnya ini yang ngasih pressure buat dia sampai ngaruh ke how she view her body-image. Jadi tentu saja komen “kok kamu gendutan ih sekarang?” bukan saja mentrigger sudden one-time reaction dari otak dia tapi juga the whole trauma she has built on selama… hampir 30 tahun dia hidup… Dan sangat wajar juga si women in her family ini cuma bisa commenting on other people’s looks karena… that’s literally THE ONLY thing they know, the only thing they are knowledgeable of! Dia juga cerita dari semua cousinsnya dia yang perempuan, cuma dia dan satu orang lain yang betul-betul punya “real” job. Mostly yang lain ya gitu tadi kerjanya skincare-an (sekarang ku jadi tahu kenapa menjadi dokter spesialis kecantikan kulit di Indonesia bona-fide sekali), shopping, yaudah. Gak bakal mereka bisa duduk dan diajak ngomong tentang… snowball earth… atau ketimpangan pendidikan di Indonesia… Ku kasihan bangetnya itu sih. Dia padahal sangat pintar, dan sangat pekerja keras, I can tell how she loves her job gitu. Tapi sayang banget harus tumbuh di lingkungan yang kurang bagus.

Ku udah bilang juga: “Ya ngubahnya harus terapi gaksih itu, karena kamu sudah subconsciously aja kepengaruh dengan cara pikir “fisik itu penting” selama berpuluh-puluh tahun”, dia bilang udah terapi. Ya tapi gimana mau sembuh kalau pas lagi berproses tetap keekspos sama sumber penyakitnya. Si temanku ini sempat kuliah di Columbia University (TUH KAN KURANG PINTER APA COBA) dan kerja di NY juga, dan dia berarti kan sebetulnya sudah sempat ke-ekspos mental body positivity-nya US yah, tapi tetep aja sulit. Wong setiap balik ke Indo akan ketemu sama aunty-aunty dan cici-cicinya ini lagi. Fortunately tapi mamanya termasuk yang nggak terlalu peduli dan ikut-ikutan sama geng women lain ini sih, jadi at least her inner circle dan primary support systemnya nggak jahat sama dia. But in her words: “but my mom is minority! The majority of them still think that way!”, which is fair.

LAH ku malah jadi exposing insecurity orang di sini yak wkwkw. Issokay, kalian gak kenal orangnya juga kan. Dan ya emang bukan aib! Lebih pengen sharing aja gimana environment where we grew up/how people were raised itu ngaruh banget ke mental orang di umur 30-an nanti. Jadi please HATI-HATI BANGETTT NGOMONG. Kalau gabisa ngomong baik mendingan gausah ngomong deh. Kita gapernah tahu apa yang kita omong sebagai bercandaan basa-basi doang ternyata bikin orang lain gabisa tidur semaleman, ga makan seminggu, atau harus konseling. Terus please kalau kita punya niece, nephew, treat them kindly juga please. Kalau anak sendiri InsyaAllah mah udah pasti kita sayang ya, tapi kadang ya si keponakan-keponakan nggak terlalu jauh ini-lah yang dapet impact paling gede dari kata-kata kita. Lebih dipake lagi otak dan empatinya aja sih: “what words do I want to hear from my aunt/uncle? Do I want to hear criticism about my body? Or do I want to hear them sharing their excitement in their job?”

VHL 17:24 18/09/2023

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floralb0t · 2 years

Note

“Stop flirting with me, I’m not going to fall for it.” MirageHound? 🥴

WEH. that took me a little longer than i thought. but tis done now!

Tw: minor mentions of canontypical violence

3.7k words, flirting and Awkward flirting, minor makeout at the very end also ha

AO3 link / prompt list

Mirage had been acting strange lately. Or, Elliott rather. He’d insisted that that was what he wanted to be called outside of the ring, and away from the cameras.

Years later, they had trouble remembering he had made that request.

But that was not related to this. No he had been acting especially … kind lately. It was odd.

Normally, Mir-Elliott was simply too busy between his many endeavours to cross paths with Bloth more than once a day, and often not even that. But lately, for some reason, he seemed to be everywhere and more than willing to fill his time with idle requests for help or even just conversation. The fact that they weren’t much for conversation didn’t even seem to dissuade him.

To be honest, they were quite a fan of it though. Part of the reason Bloodhound felt so uncomfortable in conversation, honestly, was just a lack of practice with so many people. This usually wasn’t a problem, Bloth had much better things to be doing. A people to save, games to win, money to give to the people to save, all of that. Friendly conversation was certainly something that they never really gave the time of day and now they were feeling it effects.

M-Elliott never really seemed to let that stop him. Especially not in the past few weeks. It was … nice, the more and more used to it they had gotten. They had to stop and sit a few times, in quiet places, and think about it. Few people had seemed so determined to make extended conversation with them. Elliott had added himself to a list that contained little more than Fitzroy, Loba, Natalie and a few select others.

They … well, completely transparently, they liked it.

And it was very, very strange.

Bloodhound gathered their gear and sighed. They felt excitement, perhaps, at the idea that he may sit near them on the drop ship before the match today, to just chat. The first time he had done so was annoying, but eventually they both seemed to figure out how to converse with one another. And now they were looking forward to it. Wasn’t that so curious? They poked at one of the dangly decorations on their helm as they walked onto the dropship and sighed again. This was all incredibly silly. They really did have better things to be doing. Why were they not trying to find their teammates so they could strategize? Why was Bloodhound instead taking a seat near the door so that any person getting on the ship could see them? The pounding of Bloth’s heart told them exactly why. They put a hand to their chest and felt it’s rhythm. “Hey!” Elliott slid into the seat next to them. “Fancy seeing you here, huh?” Bloodhound looked up with a start. When the hell had he walked up? And he had actually sat where they had hoped? “H-hello.” “Lost in thought? Yeah, I get that.” He leaned back into his seat and chuckled. “Better to do it now instead of during the match. Don’t end up like me, ya know.” It was almost like he knew they sat here so he would join them. Maybe he did? Excluding the last few weeks of matches, it was out of character. It wouldn't even be that bad if he did know, Elliott's confidence in himself was one of the things Hound liked, and this would no doubt feed it. “It makes you an easy target,” they agreed after their pensive moment. Their cheeks were flushed under the many layers of their mask. “Mirage is quite visible when he has his head up in the clouds.”

"H-hey!" Elliott squawked. "My whole thing is trying to be visible! I'm soooo visible it makes everyone who shoots at my decoys look stupid."

"Is that how you intend for it to come across?" They felt their tone change, almost without their realizing it. The feeling of their hands growing warm inside their gloves, clutching at the air, cued them in. "Because I would have assumed it was for another reason entirely."

"To look incredibly cool and sick? Yeah, I know." He smiled, incredibly satisfied with himself apparently.

They had to admit, the confidence in himself was pretty 'cool and sick', to say the least. Bloodhound pushed their agreement aside in favour of continuing, trying to make themself warmer from the excitement and anticipation of what he would say next. "I would have thought you liked the attention."

Elliott laughed. There was a hint of colour across his cheek bones and it looked so enticing. They wanted to make him make look like that forever. And wasn't it so strange, in the end, that Hound was able to do that in the first place?

"Ha! Well that's easy. Of course I like the attention."

Of course he would, and of course he would be so up front as to say it. The attempt at teasing went over without acknowledgement. Bloodhound didn’t know what to say in response to keep it going. They needed more practice, obviously.

They sighed internally and tried to move past it to what they knew they should be thinking about instead. The next match was so close at hand. Despite many people on the drop ship still acting quite casual, everyone was mere minutes away from being in the ring. And yet it was so hard to drag their thoughts away from the man who willingly sat next to them, even when the conversation was like trying to mix oil and water.

Hound sighed again, not realizing that it slipped out into an audible vocalization.

Perhaps the strangeness that Hound had been experiencing wasn't just because of how Elliott had been acting. Perhaps it was instead because they had felt a moment of it, and had since been pursuing it. The strangeness was addicting. They really shouldn't have been wasting time on it, but they wanted to.

There was a shake of the main cabin and then Legends started standing and gathering at the jump points. Bloodhound looked around, flustered. Was it really that time already? They stood quickly and attempted to make out their teammates in the crowd.

Off, on the far side of the wide room, were the people Bloodhound was looking for. They rushed between other legends to take their expected place, directly between Seer and Ash. Back in the direction hey had come however, Hound could see Elliott… still Elliott, not Mirage yet, sitting in the seat, staring back at them. Maybe, if they were lucky, he would sit with them on the way back too.

Seer cleared his throat to get his teammates attention, and from then on they had to be focused. They did their best to remain focused. The cold of Talos was balanced by the blinding heat of the lava Hammond had accidentally dredged up. It drew them in, reminding them of their place, just like every time Seer cleared his throat or Ash scoffed.

The first kill their squad managed got them firmly back in their boots, back on the ground. By the time the rest of the enemy squad was taken out, they had a lazer focus.

And they continued to have the unfazed attitude and attention all the way up to a kill leader position. It was a lovely turn around from that turmoil right before dropping. Their steps on the sand of the Canyon were only unsteady because of the ground. Bloodhound knew exactly what they were doing.

And they kept doing it, all the way to the final battle. Seer, Ash, and Bloodhound versus Bangalore, Caustic, and Mirage. Bunker was the location of choice, and despite the fact Bloodhound’s team was coming from the least optimal angle for the squad they were up against, they thought they could handle it.

They knew they could handle it, personally, and hopefully impress one of the very legends they’d be sending down.

But… perhaps they had been a little too confident in themself. All it took was one exceptional kraber shot and Bloodhound was put severely off kilter before even making it inside. Bangalore’s use of her ultimate in conjunction with Caustic’s gas had them down within minutes of the skirmish starting and despite them putting in as much effort as they could, the gaping hole in their chest was too much.

Second place was surely nothing to scoff at. And when they awoke in the medical bay, they were still … pleased. Second place was a decent showing. They were less pleased when they realized it meant an evening stuck in interviews, despite not having survived the final ring.

Though, as they wandered the many halls from the medbay to the interview room and caught sight of a particular man running on ahead, their mood picked up again. Mirage’s interviews were entertaining at the very least, especially when paired with no-nonsense legends like Bangalore and Caustic. His charisma often shone through even at the worst of times, but the moments he was left fumbling were something else altogether.

Others passed them in the halls, but Bloodhound didn’t mind. That slow pace was their normal. They were the last of the top six to make it to the interview space and they lingered outside of the door. It wasn’t considered unusual or unexpected by anyone who would be present. The hunter’s opinion was widely known: they hated interviews. They hated being under the bright lights and not being allowed to leave, and especially hated the questions by people who obviously didn’t know what they were talking about. But… it was in their contract.

Bloodhound was in the middle of trying to work up the willpower to force themself inside when a body pushed past getting out.

“S-sorry.”

“Mirage?” They righted themself and brushed off their chest where he had run into them. “Are you alright?”

“I … just needed a little air.” The man sighed. “Just a little out of sorts I think.”

“Well,” they paused, considering it. “You shall be in fine company then. The lights are awful.” Bloodhound chuckled slightly. They leaned against the wall beside them and nodded toward the interior.

Conversations with him were so much easier to start these days.

“I was more thinking about the noise, but yeah. Long days and all sorts of contracts. I wish I could just go home right now.” He leaned against the wall on the other side of the door. “At the very least, put this off for a little while longer.”

“The noise is bothering you that much?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes a man wants to be in front of the cameras, and sometimes he wants to be away from them. Simple as that.”

“If… if you wish, I can show you to where I hide out when the idea of the questioning is too much,” Hound offered. “It is not too far.”

“Yeah. That doesn’t sound too bad, I do have to go back in eventually. I’ve got a mandatory number of journalists to talk to before I get to leave.” he chuckled a little.

Even tired, it was a nice sound.

They smiled underneath their mask and pushed off the wall to lead him down another hall. In this location, the lights were a little dimmer, it ended abruptly with double doors that were locked, the sound from the interviewing room carried just enough to know when they had to return, and they’d never seen another person down here. It was perfect.

Elliott sighed happily when he saw it.

“Wow… are you sure you want to share this with me?” The man spread his arms and spun, taking in the space. “Next thing you know, it might be my little hideaway.”

“I’m sure we could share it. Despite your mouth, you only take up so much space, mikilmunnr.” It was a well known tease between them at this point. “You would need to be quiet about it though. Hard as that may be.”

He laughed. “Hey, I’m exceptional with secrets. How many people have I told that you actually have a sense of humour?”

“Hmmm, but I do seem to recall you mentioning the books I read to Renee, once.” For a split second, Bloodhound feared that it was too dismissive of a tone and the back and forth would be over. Every word felt like they were getting further and further in over their head but they couldn’t stop themself.

It was Mirage’s turn to scoff, making them breath an internal sigh of relief.

“If you wanted your pretty little romances to be a secret, maybe you shouldn’t have been reading them in the common areas, did’ja think about that one?”

His smile was radiant, even with the tired look in his eyes. The little bit of flush he seemed to have worked up at the tops of his cheekbones was just as delightful.

They wanted to keep doing this forever.

And that meant upping the ante.

“Stop flirting with me, I’m not going to fall for it, Elliott.” Hound was grinning under their mask, as they said it.

Elliott, in response narrowed his eyes before smirking. “If you think I’m flirting with you right now, then that probably says more about you than it does about me.”

They leaned forwards, just a touch. Anticipation was speeding through their veins. “And what, praytell, do you think it says about me?”

“I think it says that you want me to be flirting with you.” The smirk grew. “Hm? How’s that hit you?”

They wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. Of course they wanted him to flirt with them, they wanted him to sweep them off their feet! They wanted to press him up against the wall. Their want was actually driving them crazy.

Did he not want to accuse them of it, or did Elliott really not see it? How much longer was Hound going to have to labour away, practicing social skills to make him get that? … Or was it all just, part of the game?

The unknown hit them and Hound’s excitement was tempered by uncertainty.

Elliott was still watching them closely. They could see his eyes flick around the shape of their helmet, no doubt trying to find anything that might give away their reaction.

“It hits … well,” they mumbled eventually. It sounded lame, but it just made Elliott’s smirk turn into an honest smile.

“Ooooh, so it hits ‘well’ does it? Was I right on the money?” There was a brightness to his eyes that seemed unreal. “Well, I guess if you want it so much, then I’ll have to do it now, won’t I? Really get some practice in.”

Bloodhound had just been lamenting that it seemed like he wasn’t picking up on it, but that seemed… to just be part of his flirting? To be honest, this was much easier understood when they weren’t a part of it. And now, when he was offering exactly what they wanted, why did they feel so unsatisfied?

Oh no... that worry did seemed to be right, they did need more practice at this all! Shit. Bloth was a fully grown adult, twice over nearly. Why had they never tried doing any of this in the past two decades?

Hound forced themself out of their internal struggle, once again hoping to find some sort of cue on what to do or say next based on what Mirage was doing … only to find him watching them. That, okay that one wasn’t too surprising, that was almost exactly what he had been doing before. The major difference was that that cocksure smile they liked so much had fallen away, and he didn’t seem to know what expression to be making.

That was fair, they didn’t know what expression to be making now either. Or what emotion to be feeling, or anything really.

Elliott must have picked up on something though, because he settled on looking embarrassed, watching the floor, and taking a step away from them. “So, uh, sorry. If that was a bit much.” He used an idle hand to adjust his goggles and then shake his hair out from underneath. “We should, you know, like, get back to our squads. Maybe just pretend this didn't happen?”

Bloodhound baulked. They did want this, you know, whatever it ended up being. Even if it was just this again, they did want it! Hound just … didn’t really know how to do it, in practice.

They took a breath and summoned up as much of the previous energy as they could. “It’s incredibly unfair to rescind an offer for practice, you know.”

That startled out a noise, somewhere between a scoff and a laugh, and he turned back to them in confusion. Clumsy as it was, he seemed to recognize they were trying not to end this. “What happened to uh, to my flirting not doing anything for you?”

“You also said you weren’t actually flirting yet,” Bloodhound responded after a moment to think. Why did they people they see do this in public never need to pause to think? At least it made sense in books, but in public people always seemed so snappy about it.

“Perhaps, let me see what your flirting is really like and then I’ll decide?”

Hound did their best to push through the lack of confidence they felt in this situation, but it was no doubt audible. They couldn’t dare to close their eyes and miss whatever happened next, but they wanted to hide away from the embarrassment.

Elliott’s head moved in a small nod that got larger and larger. “You know me; I’m all about making good impressions. Impressing people.”

“I’m sure once you, get started, you’ll, uh.” He hadn’t backed off yet, so Hound took a risk and tried to lean more into his manner of speech at least for their own practice. “You’ll knock my socks off?”

Mirage stared at them for a moment before breaking out into hearty guffaws. “Wh-Yeah! Yeah, babe, I’ll knock your socks off for sure!” He laughed more, wiping his eyes, before trying to calm down. “Yeah… yeah, so, uh. You uh, you okay with this?”

“This? The … flirting?” Bloodhound looked down at him slightly and tilted their head in confusion, feeling their beads run into the side of their face.

“Well, yeah. Yeah, the flirting.” Elliott looked for a moment like he had ate a lemon. It made it obvious he had meant something else as well. “Uhm. Don’t worry about it, I’ll keep my mouth quiet about it all.”

Well. He could do that if he wanted, and they would do that if he wanted too, but… “I might like it more … if you talked about it.”

“The … flirting?” He parroted their question back to them.

It felt like there was a stone in their stomach, but even without practice and knowing when something could be reasonably understood, they felt they were not being gotten here. The pretense of romance’s doublespeak had to be dropped. “That it is I who is flirting back. And if … if you’d like, maybe it is I who would be interested in doing more.”

“…Maybe?” Elliott’s lopsided grin had returned, small as it was.

Oh the return of that grin was heavenly. It meant they were doing it right, they were doing it correctly. That things were going well.

They spoke slowly, picking their words. But hopefully, they were saying enough of the words they needed to so that he kept that pretty pretty grin. “Maybe. As long as you impress me.”

He chuckled. “Haven’t I told you before? Impressing people is what I do best.”

Bloodhound smiled beneath their mask as he slowly started to close the distance between them again. The hall the two had escaped to was only so wide to begin with but he had used that to it’s fullest extent.

“Let me know when you’d like to help me practice, hm, Houndie?” Elliott edged closer and closer.

They closed some of the distance.

A set of heavy footfalls sounded in the echoy space of the hall before a voice started calling out. It was weird to hear it on their ears, unobstructed, but Bloodhound tuned it out. Whoever it was, they wouldn't come down here, right? Why would they be wandering around the back halls during the interviews?

Bloodhound was much more in favour of the man currently wrapping his hands around their waist and pressing his nose into their cheek he was kissing them so hard. How were his hands warm enough that they could feel the heat as he felt his way up and down their coat?

It was intoxicating.

“HEY!”

The two of them jumped apart and Elliott instantly started groaning.

It appeared he was too close to the wall and had knocked his head into it? They’d have to apologize, it was their fault he had been pushed up against it in the first place.

“Not … why I was expecting you to be gone, Hound. But .. you’ve got an interview.” Bangalore stood at the entrance to the hall, looking bemused. “I knew you’d been acting strange lately.”

Fuck.

They wiped their mouth, back of their hand feeling a little wet. Had he bitten their lip or was that something Bloodhound had dome themself?

“Hound? C’mon, no skipping class.” Bangalore leaned down and grabbed their goggles off the ground, holding them out for Hound to take. “Though you might want to put these back on first.”

They opened their mouth to speak and she just put up a finger. “I am going to be honest with you, I couldn’t care less. I just want this session over with. So uh. Put your shit back on and get in there.”

The anxiety bubbling up in their stomach quelled slightly. She was the person least likely to be lying about that. They quickly gathered up all the pieces of their gear they had discarded and rushed to put it back in place while the woman walked to the man they had just been kissing and slung her arm around his shoulders.

“Now, you on the other hand. You have no way to hide you look like - is that a fucking bite mark?”

Yes, perhaps it was Bloodhound and not Mirage who had been acting strange lately, but by everything above and below, they had enjoyed it.

#miragehound #oneshot #apex legends fanfic #writing prompt #mirage apex legends #bloodhound apex legends #writing.txt #i had most of this finished over the weekend but then i got distracted working on larger products lol... anyways here u go heart #send more prompts feed me

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thegreatcrowdragon · 2 years

Text

Me? Posting my fanfics on my main? Impossible

IT’S THE COLLECTOR FIC YOU’VE AALLL BEEN CRAVING

King sat on the blanket. He couldn’t do it. He couldn't sleep. But... The way they sounded, “The Collector” it sounded... Desperate. Begging him to stay. But... What if they were faking?

“You're back?” a voice echoed. King had fallen asleep without realizing. He was on the sunken boat, dark green sludge all around. He stared up at the ball. “Uhhhhhh, yeah. You uh, sounded pretty lonely. Figured I'd check on you.” he said.

“Little Titan. So kind, and caring. Unlike your kin.” Collector said, their voice snarling the last part.

“Is... Is there any way to get you out of the ball thingy?”

“Break it. That’s my best guess. Try the sonic screech.” King stumbled in surprise at THAT. They knew? Didn’t matter, he angled his head as far upward at the ball that he could and let out a loud “WEH!” at the ball. It broke instantly, a figure tumbling down towards the murky depths. King quickly grabbed their arm and dragged them back onto the wreckage, and almost dropped them when he realized.

They looked exactly like Luz.

Well, not exactly. Their hair was fluffier, eyes slightly smaller, and they had a sharp noise. And obviously, the outfit and their two-toned skin, split to look similar to a crescent moon. They stood up shakily, but fell back down quickly, clutching their leg. An ugly gash ran across it, with a shard of the ball poking out. It took all of King’s strength to back the urge to retch as he saw a small sliver of the shard poking out the other side of the Collector’s leg.

“Uhm” King stammered. “I don’t think a band-aid can fix THAT.”

Collector gave him a look that said, “No shit, dumbass.” and began slowly pulling the shard out.

“Wait! Won’t that make it worse?” King grabbed at their arm. It was one of the many facts Luz had taught him, and most definitely the only actually useful one.

“Can’t regen with it in there.” Collector grunted, snatching King up by the scruff with the other hand, holding him like a disobedient pet. Finally, the shard came out with a disgusting squelch, and the skin began knitting itself back together quickly. They set King down.

“So. What ya want, dog?”

King made an offended noise, and Collector chuckled.

“I’m gonna sleep this off. And you should too. It’s not healthy to be here unless you're me. Plus, you look dead on your feet, King.”

“I suppose you're- WAIT! HOW DID YOU KNOW MY-”

“Sweet dreams baby titan! See ya around!”

King’s vision went dark.

-random junk I need to say-

I wanted to make this longer, but I'm supposed to be sleeping. Keep in mind I’m not great at writing, fanfics even less.

#the owl house #toh the collector #the collector #toh king #Slight gore #as in Collector pulls a big ass shard out of their leg like it's nothing #shit's gotta hurt man #Collector is kinda ooc but whatevs #it went all the way THROUGH their fucking leg what the hell

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blueballsblack · 1 year

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youtube

@mellabellas-blog ❤🤘🏿

There's a lot of silly young girls wanna show off

And you're wishin' one day they will grow

But it's alright, it's alright

They only hear of the things that you know of

And you're wishing one day you will soar

But it's alright, it's alright

So let's have a talk

Like grownups do

Let's do the things that grown folks do

Me, you

Grown folks like this

Big old man heartless

Watch it make me not this

Experienced fighters

Love it on the liners

Gong to the Zilla

I'm a monsta like a Loch Ness

Look how I hang my lockses

All dues paid, all bets made

House well clean, all bugs sprayed

Vacation tripping, she ain't tripping

Island skipping, fine wine sipping

Gourmet cooking, no Facebooking

Nothing to see 'cause she ain't looking

Tag team masseuses, deep bounce music

Natural juices, so therapeutic

Lips on my earlobe, softer than a q-tip

Getting kinda stony, actin' kinda stupid

Pretendin' we're in highschool, kissing at the movies

So do you're grown an' sexy, baby 'cause your awesome

See some likkle young girls, don' beg you no pardon

Teach 'em how to act, welcome dem to stardom

There's a lot of silly young girls wanna show off

And you're wishin' one day they will grow up

But it's alright, it's alright

They only hear of the things that you know of

And you're wishing one day you will soar

But it's alright, it's alright

So let's have a talk

Like grownups do

Let's do the things that grown folks do

Me, you

Early mornin' wake-up, springin' me the papers

Continental breakfast, smoked salmon an' capers

The eggs are over easy, you're puttin' on your makeup

We do some excercises, strolling through the acres

A mansion out in Gables, cottage in the Naples

Fingles out in Bordeaux, horses in the stables

Everywhere connected, like tv is the cable

Like paper is the staple, like syrup is the maple

If Madonna's like a virgin, age is just a number

So tired of searching, gettin' weh my comfort

She feelin' kinda naughty, I'm feelin' kinda rumpish

She is my accomplice, we're gettin' things accomplished

Call ya by your last name, tell ya that your gorgeous

When I get around you I'm nervous till I'm nauseous

Tell me what's the holdup, baby 'cause I'm anxious

Both of us are grownups, drop your drawers to ankles

It's a lot of skinny young girls wanna show off

And you're wishin' one day they will grow up

But it's alright, it's alright

They only hear of the things that you know of

And you're wishing one day you will soar

But it's alright, it's alright

So let's have a talk

Like grownups do

Let's do the things that grown folks do

Me, you

Happy Birthday to my Grown and Sexy Turnip😘🎊🎉🎊🎉

#Youtube

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omealio · 1 year

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If you never love me make u neh talk?

Kmt, dawg me devn pissed off

Should’ve seen it from morning now a 6 pass

#dancehall #Spotify

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mephinomaly · 2 years

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[TL] Keito Lecture/Chapter 2

Season: Summer

Location: COCHI

Yuzuru: (...I have finished my work, now I must join everyone)

(Keito-sama and Hiiro-sama too went ahead...Oh?)

Hiiro: Heyy! Fushimi-senpai! Over here!

Yuzuru: Ah. I’m awfully sorry for keeping you waiting.

Aira: It’s alright. Here, have a menu.

Yuzuru: Thank you very much. …Then, I’ll have the lunch set.

Mika: Weh, I’ll have the same~. Naru-chan said that the fried food here is real good. I can’t wait ♪

Mika: Nnah~? Hasumi-senpai, where you off to?

Keito: I’ll only be a moment. I’ll be back.

Aira: He’s walking towards the entrance. Who’s he talking to… Kiryu-senpai?

Hiiro: Buchou’s there too. Look, they’re coming back together.

Keito: Kiryu and Nagumo also came here to eat, but it seems there is no more seats left.

Though fortunately this table is rather big, so we have room to spare. Is it alright if we all share a table?

Hiiro: I see. I warmly welcome you all.

Let’s clap everyone! That’s the right thing to do when you welcome someone.

Tetora: Nonono, that’s embarrassing so I want you to stop.

I’m gonna go grab two chairs so we can sit and talk, Taishou.

Kuro: Yeah, please do. …Anyway, this is a weird group. What brings you all together, Hasumi?

Keito: We’re all apart of Keito Lecture.

Kuro: Keito Lecture… Ohh, I remember. Ain’t this your studyin’ circle, Danna?

Keito: Yes. Will you be joining us?

Kuro: Absolutely not. I’m no good at studyin’.

Tetora: Taishou~, I got some chairs for us! Whilst I was up, I ordered as well.

Kuro: Cheers, Nagumo. Right then...

Hiiro: Our circle is not just about studying, Kiryu-senpai. Today, we learnt about traffic rules.

Tetora: Traffic rules? Like when you put your hand up when you’re crossing the street? [1]

How nostalgic, right? I remember learning about how to cross the road safely in elementary school.

Kuro: Yeah me too. Did you lot not get taught about that? You’re not kids anymore.

Keito: You’ve probably forgotten that if there isn’t a sidewalk, you’re meant to walk on the right-hand side?

I set out with the intention of reviewing it. It seems that Amagi has learnt from the experience, so it was worth teaching.

Seeing him reminds me of the old Kanzaki. Though I can appreciate his seriousness and having an one-track mind, he lacks common sense in some aspects.

For immediate results, in regards to wanting to improve yourself, I think you must also devote yourself. I’m concerned that a lack of common sense will invite trouble.

Tetora: Ah~... I think I have an idea of what Hasumi-senpai’s saying.

Whether it's Karate Club or your mind, sometimes you have to do weird things~ It’s always surprising what works out.

Kuro: At the moment it’s nothin’ harmful, but it’s interestin’ t’watch from the sidelines. Danna, what’s Amagi’s schooling like?

Keito: Well. Though I am making an effort, there are some things you cannot learn in a classroom.

How can we properly assess how much Amagi has adapted to society? Should we consider hands-on-training…?

Kuro: Hands-on-training, heh..? What about all of Keito Lecture going out on a trip?

I’m a part of the Overnight Outdoors Party, and we go to loads of place to escape modern society, though the first time we went out, gettin’ there was a pain.

After a while, you get somewhat familiar with each other's habits. Now we’re all in sync, it’s good fun.

You should go somewhere far away with your group too. If ya spend a night and two days livin’ together, it’ll be a good, educational path, right?

Keito: Hm… Then, how about meditating under a waterfall in the mountains?

Kuro: Woah, hold your horses. They’re no Kanzaki, so it’ll be pretty tricky for the average person.

Keito: Nothing else comes to mind. I seldom leave my hometown, so I don’t know what this so-called “outing spot” is.

Kuro: Oh right. Well, what about just going camping?

There’s a campsite I’ve been to a few times with the Overnight Outdoors Party. It’s aimed at beginners, so the service is good.

There’s someone permanently stationed at an administration office, so if you have some issues, you can go talk to them. You can rent everything you need as well for camping from tents to cookin’ supplies.

You can get food stuff from a nearby shop, so everyone knows you can just show up empty handed and still be alright.

Keito: Hm, please, tell me more.

Mika: …Hasumi-senpai, Kiryu-senpai, campin’ sounds pretty excitin’.

Hiiro: I think so too. By the way, what’s camping?

Aira: Huh?! Have you been listening without knowing what they’re talking about?

Hiiro: Yes, because it’s bad to interrupt halfway through a conversation. Please, I’d like you to tell me what camping is.

Aira: Umm, how do I put this… Like, roughing it?

Yuzuru: I believe saying “living out in the open” would work well as a definition too. It is where you enjoy the simplicity of living in a cloth tent.

Hiiro: I understand if you say that, Fushimi-senpai[2]. Back in my hometown, hunting is a tradition. So will we be hunting?

Fufu, I’m looking forward to it. I’ve always been taught about it, so I can finally put it into practice…♪

As a child in Japan, you are taught to put your hand up when crossing the road so cars will stop for you

Everyone has been using the word "キャンプ" (kyanpu). Hiiro only understands what they're talking about once Yuzuru uses the kanji for it (野営/yaei)