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#Most of us had not seen it with seal sass
eli-the-dumbass · 6 months
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Neuvillette fluff (i think-)
You had never wanted to get married but according to your parents, it was necessary for someone of the age 21 even though most of your friends were older and they weren't even dating anyone Apparently your parents made some kind of deal to their first investors that there first born son could marry their first born daughter and now here you were at the venue of a wedding-
your wedding getting married to some man named Neuvillete that you had never even seen before As you walk down the aisle clutching the bouquet of flowers in your hands your dad's arm linked with yours you take shaky breaths and chew the inside of your cheek
You look up and finally meet the gaze of the man you have to marry someone you resent without even talking to- you recognize him Immediately he's the kid who used to bully you in 2nd grade...
Of course, your parents were marrying you off to some rich scumbag why wouldn't they Before you know it you've both recited your vows and said I do now his lips glide against yours for the sealing kiss as he spins the ring on your finger
You wanted to hate it but it just felt so fucking electric it felt too fucking good dangerously good You pull away and look around not knowing what to really do now considering you've never been married before when a muscular arm wraps around your waist and nudges you closer causing you to stumble slightly pressing your bodies firmly together
"Get off this isn't a part of the ceremony." You whisper and shout so as to not let anyone in the audience hear "Make me."
He whispers against your ear his breath hot sending a shudder through your body Your parents call you over and you quickly take the opportunity to scurry away "Awhh Y/N look at that already loving your husband!"
your mom says grinning like she just won the lottery. It was very very tempting to sass her but you didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone so you bit your tongue "Yes I agree with your mother you look so very in love."
Your dad says glaring down at you as a warning to keep your mouth shut "Oooo! Let's have cake and do a dance and then you and your husband can go to your apartment for the night!"
You since at the idea of having to even look at him again let alone share a hotel room
"We're not sharing one I'm getting a different one." You grumble to your mom as nonsassily as possible "There's two beds you'll be fine."
She says simply before grabbing your wrist and dragging you over to the cake "You grab the cake cutter." She says to a random servant for the wedding who quickly scurries off to grab it
She gets back and cuts the cake giving you the first slice which you quickly take and go sit down on a bench away from most people It was a vanilla cake with white frosting which you quickly started eating not even paying attention to your surroundings until there was someone right next to you
"What?" You look up and meet Neuvillete eyes suddenly he leans in and whispers
"God you look good with all that white frosting on your face I'll have to cover you with my own later." You freeze not knowing how to respond when he licks off the frosting on your lips and inner cheek causing your mouth to fall agape
And just ask as quickly as it started it ended he kissed your forehead stood up and stuffed his hands in his pockets shooting you a smirk before wandering off
PLEASE DONT REBLOG OR STEAL
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thefisherqueen · 7 months
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Some notes on Black Peter, the Letters from Watson story I'm now catching up on:
"The first positive sign which he gave me of the direction which his investigation was taking was an extraordinary one. He had gone out before breakfast, and I had sat down to mine, when he strode into the room, his hat upon his head and a huge barbed-headed spear tucked like an umbrella under his arm." Please tell me there's a Granada episode of story. Or at least an illustration
"He chuckled as he poured out the coffee. "If you could have looked into Allardyce's back shop you would have seen a dead pig swung from a hook in the ceiling, and a gentleman in his shirt-sleeves furiously stabbing at it with this weapon. I was that energetic person, and I have satisfied myself that by no exertion of my strength can I transfix the pig with a single blow." Laughing so hard over this. At least it gave Holmes an appetite?
"He was a most daring and successful seal and whale fisher. In 1883 he commanded the steam sealer Sea Unicorn, of Dundee. He had then had several successful voyages in succession, and in the following year, 1884, he retired." Just learnt a lot about the history of whaling. The only way to get rich by whaling and sealing was to be either a captain or an investor. No chance otherwise.
"The man was an intermittent drunkard, and when he had the fit on him he was a perfect fiend. He has been known to drive his wife and his daughter out of doors in the middle of the night, and flog them through the park until the whole village outside the gates was aroused by their screams." Pardon, he did what now??
I love the stories that are like, the person murdered was a dick and nobody cared but we're investigating anyway. Saves the drama.
Harpoon murder! Ok, maybe some drama after all. Good!
"I understand, however, from the inquest that there were some objects which you failed to overlook?” Holmes really is a special kind of rude sassy towards Hopkins
Old ore mines and large wild forests seem like good places for murderers to hide. How did an old sea captain ever end up here? No wonder he felt the need for some larping
"With her was her daughter, a pale, fair-haired girl, whose eyes blazed defiantly at us as she told us that she was glad that her father was dead, and that she blessed the hand which had struck him down." I love this fiesty girl
" Well, well, I can do nothing more. Let us walk in these beautiful woods, Watson, and give a few hours to the birds and the flowers. We shall meet you here later, Hopkins, and see if we can come to closer quarters with the gentleman who has paid this visit in the night.” Holmes sneaking off alone with Watson. How are we supposed to read this, Doyle? Especially because of Watson's lack of comment after. I don't know what would be funnier, Watson and Holmes having a romp between the flowers, or the both of them actually going flower and bird spotting while Hopkins is all going ^_^
"It was a long and melancholy vigil, and yet brought with it something of the thrill which the hunter feels when he lies beside the water pool and waits for the coming of the thirsty beast of prey. What savage creature was it which might steal upon us out of the darkness? Was it a fierce tiger of crime, which could only be taken fighting hard with flashing fang and claw, or would it prove to be some skulking jackal, dangerous only to the weak and unguarded?" Watson what novels have you been reading
What are knickerbockers? *googles* Ok, I love them
“What are you doing here?” “Can I speak confidentially?” “No, certainly not.” Not the answer I expected. Why is this so funny
"Well, Mr. Holmes, I am very much obliged to you and to your friend for coming down to help me. As it turns out your presence was unnecessary, and I would have brought the case to this successful issue without you; but none the less I am very grateful." Hopkins picking up on Holmes' sass, I love it. Yet... poor boy, have you not spoken too soon?
"The young detective was in high spirits at his success. “You really think that your solution must be correct?” asked Holmes. Ooooh! Danger! Hopkins, better get some ointment for that upcoming burn
"a little ribston-pippin of a man" Victorian insults are the best
“Your name?” asked Holmes. “Patrick Cairns.” “Harpooner?” “Yes, sir. Twenty-six voyages.” Of course a harpooner from Black Peter's crew would be the murderer. He was literally captain of a whaling ship. I feel rather stupid
You were so absorbed in young Neligan that you could not spare a thought to Patrick Cairns, the true murderer of Peter Carey.” Same initials. That was a clever detail from Doyle.
"He was a man of such gigantic strength that, even with the handcuffs which Holmes had so deftly fastened upon his wrists, he would have very quickly overpowered my friend had Hopkins and I not rushed to his rescue. Only when I pressed the cold muzzle of the revolver to his temple did he at last understand that resistance was vain." Watson once more to the rescue! I wanted to say that the days of arresting a suspect under threat of a weapon are over. Then I reconsidered. Ehm... pretty sure this is still allowed, even here in europe, especially under cover of 'resisting arrest' and 'suspect is posing threat'. The power cops are allowed to wield is really quite terrifying
"That's all I know, and I say again that if I killed Black Peter the law should give me thanks, for I saved them the price of a hempen rope.” This murderer is pretty funny
“Mr. Holmes,” said Hopkins, “I do not know how to express my gratitude. Even now I do not understand how you attained this result.” “Simply by having the good fortune to get the right clue from the beginning. It is very possible if I had known about this note-book it might have led away my thoughts, as it did yours." That is quite nice and humble of you, Holmes *surprised pickachu face*
"If you want me for the trial, my address and that of Watson will be somewhere in Norway—I'll send particulars later.” The boys are really going on that arctic expedition?! Exciting!
This was a fun story! Still giggling about Hopkin's face when he was once again outdeduced (?) by Holmes. And about the birds and flowers. It's good to be back!
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slushyseals · 3 years
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This video is a completely different experience with audio.  Unmute for goblin sounds!
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fanmoose12 · 3 years
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the devil you know
Сharacters: Hange Zoe, Levi, Moblit Berner, Zeke Yeagar, Armin Arlert
Genres: Action / Drama
Summary: Can you still miss a person, if everything you knew about them was a lie?
He was wasting precious time. His primary object was Eren and getting to him before the last hope of humanity had his ass kicked by Marleyan tech or another shifter. His second no less important task was finding Eren's brother and playing a little shit show for his Marleyan superiors.
Eren was already being taking care of and Levi had Zeke in his line of sight. All he had to do was swoop in and get the bearded bastard.
Still, the time was of the essence. Every second wasted meant another useless death. And he had enough of this massacre already.
He had to be focused, had to remain vigilant. But as he flew through the burning city his focus began to slip and his attention was occupied by things of no importance to his goal. He couldn't help but wonder - that small cafe that was just exploded by a thunder spear, did she use to frequent it? And that alley to his left, maybe it had led to her house? Did she even have a house here, in the inner city? Or did she live somewhere else, maybe, in barracks with her fellow warriors? Or, maybe, in a little house in the middle of a forest she used to tell him about?
It didn’t matter, he told himself, none of it ever did.
What mattered right now was the plan and following through with it. Everything else was meaningless.
Keep your head in the game, Levi reminded himself, gritting his teeth. He directed his gaze to the ground, where a chaos was unraveling at a more rapid speed that he had expected.
The swirl of people in white uniforms danced around the city. Some of them, armed with guns and rifles, attempted to fight back, others, less courageous ones - ran for their lives.
Each time one of them fell, receiving a bullet to the head, or getting buried under debris from blown up buildings, his heart stopped. Despite his insistent thoughts - she wouldn't care about you, she never did - he still looked for a mess of brown hair in the crowd.
He wasn't sure if his heart would be able to take it if he saw her there - amongst dozens of dead bodies.
She wouldn't care about you, she never did - and yet, he still couldn't treat her with the same indifference.
Keeping Zeke in his line of sight, Levi landed in the nearby alley. He took out his pocket watch, checking the time. His ride would arrive soon, and that meant—
Showtime, he thought grimly, releasing his cables and readying his blades.
It didn't lessen the pain hidden in the depth of his soul, but hurting Zeke, cutting and hitting him gave the catharsis he was waiting for ever since their last meeting.
First he cut off his left arm - that's for all the scouts that lost their lives because of you.
Then he went for the right arm - that's for Nanaba.
He moved to the right leg, cutting it down and making the beast fall on one knee - that's for Mike.
And that's - he thought - as he slashed through his left leg - that's for Erwin, you fucking dipshit.
The beast collapsed, plummeting face-first into the ground. Levi landed on top of him, taking out a grenade.
He plunged his blade into beast's body, afflicting the final wound. He removed the pin, thinking - that's for taking her away from me too.
The crowd around them swayed, the masses stood terrified in a face of their biggest defender losing so easily to a devil from Paradise. Levi would have even smirked, if this whole farce didn't disgust him so much. He would have enjoyed injuring the beast, if it wasn't a part of Zeke's own, carefully orchestrated plan.
The airship was fast approaching, and so Levi pulled Zeke's body out, scowling at the sight of his hideous face.
"You truly are one of a kind, asshole," Levi whispered to him. "I have never seen anyone uglier than you."
"There are some who enjoy my looks, Levi," the fucking monkey managed to say, despite half of his face missing. "One of my admirers used to be your friend once. Tell me, Captain, do you still miss her?"
Fucker.
Levi shoved his blade into bastard's stomach, going as deep as he could. God, he wanted another round with him. He wanted to beat the shithead until there was no sass left in him.
"I would shut up if I were you, beast. Or I'll be busy cutting your tongue during the whole trip back to the island."
"Careful with your language," Zeke advised with a disgustingly sweet smile. "Someone's watching."
Instinctively, Levi looked up. Immediately, he felt his throat close up because there, on top of the building he saw—
Messy brown hair, those stupid, too big glasses—
His limbs moved on his own accord.
"Take him," he instructed Moblit, kicking Zeke's half formed body to him.
"Captain, the airship—"
"One minute," he promised and soared into the air.
***
Goddamnit, but she didn't age a day. The same proud posture, the same determined expression.
She stood on top of a rooftop, a rifle in her hands. Not far behind her Levi could see the Cart Titan.
Was Hange the one who advised the shifter to use the hard machinery? Most probably. She was the one who knew about scouts’ fighting style the most. Knew their advantages, knew how to exploit their weaknesses.
No surprise in that, she was a scout for almost five years too, after all.
All these times she begged him to show his tricks, to explain how he could move so differently from the others, was it with a malicious intent too? Not to satisfy her abnormal curiosity, but to simply gather more intel?
Was there any moment out of thousands, where she wasn’t pretending?
The rifle in her hands trembled, as she saw him appear.
"Levi," she murmured, and his knees almost gave up under him.
Damn her, damn her to hell and back, but even after all the pain she had inflicted on him, after all these lies and betrayals she was still able to set his heart ablaze.
She was the only one who ever could.
"Hange," he said, swallowing down 'shitty four-eyes'. That wasn't her. Not anymore. He lost his four-eyes four years ago, the night before they've ventured to Shiganshina.
Before him now stood a stranger. A stranger he was still reluctant to harm.
"You knew this was going to happen," he told her.
"I guess this is it." Hange nodded.
She didn't try to shoot at him, didn't call for help.
She knew it would only delay the inevitable. She was always too smart for her own good. Apparently that part of her wasn't a lie.
But everything else was. That's why he did what he had to do.
With a heavy heart, Levi took a step forward.
***
"Ah, and here I was worried it'd be a boring trip with only Captain Brooding as my companion." Zeke tilted his head, offering the most charming of his smiles. "Professor Hange, seeing you is always a pleasure. I'd shake your hand, but," he shrugged, pointing at his tied hands. "I'm in a rather unfortunate predicament."
"Zeke," she chocked out, shifting her gaze from him to Levi. A heartbeat later, her eyes widened in realization.
Too smart for her own good, Levi thought, watching Hange deliver a vicious kick to Zeke's thigh, fiery despite the bindings on her own arms and legs.
Watching that was almost satisfying.
"Asshole!" she raged, kicking him again. "Scheming, pathetic betrayer!"
"You're the one to talk," Levi noted dryly.
At the sound of his voice, Hange froze. She calmed down immediately, bowing her head.
Zeke observed the two of them, a malicious spark in his eyes.
"So my earlier guess was right, Captain? You do miss—"
"Shut the fuck up," Levi warned in a low voice. "Or my previous threat would become a reality."
Zeke curled his lips in a smile, and, maintaining direct eye contact with Levi, he had the audacity to wink at him. “My lips are sealed.”
Levi reached to his blade.
"What is going on here?” Jean walked onto the deck, stopping Levi from using his very sharp weapon on their very precious charge. Jean looked around, frowning in confusion. His eyes widened, as they landed on Hange. "What is she doing here?" his face changed, jaw tightening.
"None of your business," Levi muttered, sheathing his blade and pushing Jean away.
"None of my business?" Jean repeated, glaring at him. "I think it is my goddamn business, when you go against the plan without discussing it with us first."
"Careful, Kirshtein," Levi narrowed his eyes. "Despite the stupid democracy, I'm still your superior. Meaning you will do as I say."
"Captain," Jean grabbed his elbow. "I know how you feel about—"
"You know shit," Levi hissed, his low voice almost getting lost amongst the celebration around them. Stupid Floch and his band of fanatical idiots. "This has nothing to do with my so called feelings. But we need to question her. In case you forgot, she is one of Marley's best engineers."
"Exactly," Jean retorted. "She's valuable to them. That's why you had to kill her. Without her they'd be lost."
Without her - I'd be lost too.
The ruckus around them had been growing louder and louder. It was getting hard to concentrate, even without the added distraction of Hange's eyes boring into the back of his head.
He swept his gaze across the deck, looking for Moblit. He needed someone to put an end to that merry festivity, he would have done so himself, but the way Floch and his friends shouted and cheered made him doubt that he'd be able to calm them down without throwing some mouth-breather the fuck out of the airship.
He motioned for Moblit to come closer, ignoring Jean’s enraged gaze, when suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard a sharp cry, the still familiar voice shouting,
"Gabi, no!"
Levi whipped his head around, his eyes widening as he saw Hange - somehow freed from all bonds - launching herself at Sasha.
He rushed there, the malicious voice in his head chanting - this is all your fault, all of it is your fault, it's your inability to let go that is going to-
He stopped when the thundering, earsplitting sound shook the previously cheerful atmosphere.
He froze, staring at the scene with dumb confusion. The smoke rising from a rifle clutched in child's hands, the bullet flying, soaring through the spot where Sasha was standing seconds ago.
She didn’t try to—
He allowed himself to take a breath.
She saved Sasha, he realized, staring at Hange, who wore the same perplexed expression as he did.
"What is going on here?" Armin's soft voice cut through the air, making every head turn in his direction.
"The Marleyans got onto our ship!" one of the soldiers reported.
"Should we throw them out now or—”
"They're just children," Hange spoke up. "They don't know what they're doing."
"Hange-san..." Armin gasped. "What are you—" he turned to Levi. "Captain, what is the meaning of this?"
"She's Marleyan engineer and strategist. I decided it'd be wise to capture her."
"Alright, we'll deal with this later..." Armin muttered, rubbing his forehead. "And about those children..."
"The girl almost killed Sasha," Jean said, coming to stand at Armin’s side.
"Don't touch her!" Hange cried out, covering both kids with her body.
"Don't order me." Jean spat. "You're not my superior officer. Not anymore."
"And yet I still know you, Jean," Hange stared him in the eyes. "I know you're not capable of harming a child. Think of what your mother is going to say."
"You know nothing about me!" he growled, his fists trembling and his face reddening in anger. "You lying, deceiving—”
"That's enough," Levi sharply interrupted. "Moblit, help me deal with our prisoners. There are a lot more of them than we’ve expected."
Moblit nodded readily, obeying his command without a question. As he led Hange back to her place, his grip on her was gentle and his eyes were sad.
Approaching the two children, Levi stared them down, silently ordering the girl to put down the rifle. She surrendered with an annoyed huff.
Her demeanor changed, however, as soon as Levi's gaze turned to her friend.
"Don't hurt Falco, please," she whispered, sniffling. "He isn't guilty, he's not like me."
"No one is going to hurt you or your friend," Levi rolled his eyes, scoffing. "We're not that much of devils."
Putting his arms around their shoulders, he led kids to the back of the airship.
As they were passing Zeke, the girl - Gabi, Hange had called her - stopped in her tracks.
Her lip trembled, as she gawked at the shifter. "M-mister Yeager? You're here too? B-but why?"
What a goddamn circus, Levi cursed.
He sighed, pushing them forward before the beast could even open his mouth and feed the poor kids a lie, or, worse, reveal the truth about his betrayal.
Once he tied the girl and a boy down, he closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath.
Two angry Marleyan children, the bearded beast and Hange fucking Zoe, a person he dreamt about every night he slept for more than two hours. And all of them were aboard one damned airship.
There was one thing Levi was sure of - one hell of a fucking trip was awaiting them.
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gladdygirl18 · 3 years
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An Emerald Surprise
Summary: While watching a movie at Jotaro’s, Kakyoin decides to annoy his friend. Jotaro saw this as a challenge and ran with it. He just wasn’t expecting Kakyoin to giggle when he poked his side.
Word Count: 2132
⚠️Warning⚠️: Mild swearing (from you know who)
Let’s get one thing straight. Jotaro Kujo is by far the most serious young man you will ever meet. His calm demeanor towards tough situations is honorable and acknowledgeable. To his enemies, it’s scary as hell. They could never tell what he’s thinking. No one can, for that matter. The only one who really knows him is his ever-so-sweet, happy-go-lucky mother, Holly. Holly is the only one who can see past her son’s cold attitude.
It was a warm, summer afternoon in Japan, and school was out for everyone. Kakyoin had come over to Jotaro’s house to hang out. Luckily for them, they didn’t have any work to do over the summer. Holly and Kakyoin’s mother were close friends, so they didn’t mind their sons visiting one another every now and then.
“What movie do you wanna see?” Jotaro asked.
“Any movie is fine, JoJo.” Kakyoin said from the couch.
Jotaro hummed as he scanned through the movies. He soon picked up a VHS tape that read “Never Cry Wolf,” his favorite film. Sliding the film in the player, he walked back to the couch and plopped down next to Kakyoin. The black-haired teen picked up the remote and started the movie. Even though Jotaro had seen this movie a thousand times, he still enjoyed watching it. Kakyoin eventually found enjoyment in the film once he got a grasp of the plot.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Jotaro asked suddenly.
“Some water would be nice, thank you.” Kakyoin said with a genuine grin.
Standing up, the black-haired teen patted his friend’s shoulder before heading into the kitchen. Kakyoin slumped into the couch as he let out a content sigh, watching the men move across the screen. The redhead soon sat up when he came up with a cheeky idea. It’d probably cost him his life, but it would be worth it.
“Let’s see how much it takes to really annoy the shit out of JoJo...” Kakyoin though, a sly smirk forming on his.
Jotaro soon came back and handed Kakyoin a cup with ice water.
“I didn’t know if you wanted ice or not.” Jotaro said as he sat down.
“It’s fine,” Kakyoin said with a kind smile, “Thank you!”
Jotaro gave his friend a small grin before turning back to the movie. Kakyoin waited a few minutes before putting his plan into action. The redhead let out a dramatic yawn and rested his feet across Jotato’s lap. The black-haired teen glanced at his friend before looking back at the TV. Kakyoin often forgets that Jotaro is a patient, young man, and it doesn’t take a lot to piss him off. Kakyoin knew this and used it to his advantage. Kakyoin pretended to stretch and dramatically crossed his legs. Jotaro continued to watch the movie as if nothing happened.
“Yeah, this is gonna harder than I thought...” Kakyoin thought, “No matter. He’ll crack soon.”
What Kakyoin didn’t know was that Jotaro had caught on to his intentions to annoy him. He knew his redheaded friend like the back of his hand, and if he was going to annoy him, he at least wants to give him a run for his money. Kakyoin sighed and placed his heels and Jotaro’s shoulder, playfully tapping the side of his head with the tip of his shoe. No reaction. Now, Kakyoin was getting frustrated. Jotaro noticed this and let the corners of his lip curve upwards.
“Is something wrong, Kakyoin?” Jotaro asked casually, allowing his grin to fade to mask the facade.
“No, no. Nothing’s wrong,” Kakyoin lied, “Nothing at all...”
Jotaro nodded and his attention back to the TV.
“Don’t worry, Kakyoin. I’ll annoy you when you least expect it and see how you like it...” Jotaro thought, glancing at the redhead.
After a few minutes of trying to annoy the crap out of Jotaro, Kakyoin let out a defeated sigh and sat upright. Jotaro smirked when he did this. Leaning back into the couch, Jotaro glanced over at Kakyoin to see his annoyed and defeated look.
“He annoyed himself.” Jotaro thought, “Let’s help him with that...”
Jotaro sat up and saw that Kakyoin was completely engulfed in the movie; it almost looked like he was sleeping. Making sure, the black-haired teen poked the redhead’s side, causing him to flinch away with a giggle. The two teens glanced at one another and Kakyoin’s cheeks turned red.
“What was that?” Jotaro asked.
“N-Nothing! It was nothing!” Kakyoin said quickly, “Nothing to worry about!”
Jotaro knew exactly what was going on and Kakyoin was praying that he didn’t. The black-haired teen shrugged his shoulders and went back to the movie. Kakyoin breathed out a sigh of relief and placed a hand on his side where Jotaro poked him. That’s when Jotaro pounced on top of him, causing Kakyoin to let out a surprised yelp. The two wrestled on the floor until Jotaro was finally on top.
“What the hell, Jotaro!?” Kakyoin asked, “What the hell was that for?”
“Good grief, Kakyoin. You really thought you could hide your secret from me?” Jotaro asked, raising a brow.
Kakyoin swallowed hard and looked away from his friend.
“W-What secret...?” Kakyoin asked with a nervous smile.
Jotaro groaned and shook his head. Not wasting any time, Jotaro raked his fingers up and down Kakyoin’s ribs and sides. Kakyoin let out a giggly yelp before dissolving into adorable giggles.
“Jotarohohohohoho! Stohohohop!” Kakayoin giggled out, “What are you dohohoihihihing?!”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Jotaro asked casually.
Kakyoin twisted from side to side, giggling his heart out.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t catch onto what you were doing?” Jotaro asked, “Trying to annoy me the shit outta me, huh? Well, now I’m gonna tickle the shit outta you!”
“How are they relevaahahahahahant?” Kakyoin asked.
Jotaro shrugged his shoulders and moved his hands down to Kakyoin’s belly and hips, moving one of his thumbs in a circular motion on the bone itself and the other vibrating on his belly. Kakyoin bucked upwards, sat up, and latched onto Jotaro’s wrists to make him stop, all while giggling wildly.
“Nohohoho! Don’t do thahahahat!” Kakyoin cried, shaking his head, and trying to pry Jotaro’s hands off him.
“Why? Too much for ya?” Jotaro asked.
The black-haired teen then started vibrating his hands all over his friend’s belly. Kakyoin wheezed before falling back to the ground, letting out louder giggles.
“Oh, my Gohohohohod!” Kakyoin cried, “Stahahaaaaap!”
The redhead flopped around like a fish out of water, his giggles gradually getting louder.
“Stahahahap! Jotaro, plehehehehease!” Kakyoin pleaded, trying to wriggle away.
“You’re not going anywhere...” Jotaro said.
That’s when the black-haired teen manifested his Stand and had it hold down Kakyoin’s hands above his head. Kakyoin’s struggling soon started into frantic thrashing, but he wasn’t getting out of Star Platinum’s titanium grip anytime soon.
“Nohohoho! Let me gohohohoho!” Kakyoin cried.
“Quit your bitchin’ and just take it.” Jotaro said in an annoyed tone.
Kakyoin could barely move. With Jotaro straddling his waist and Star Platinum holding down, he was practically bolted to the ground, and he couldn’t do anything but laugh and plead for mercy that probably wouldn’t be coming anytime soon.
“Jotaro, plehehehease! Stop ihihihit!” Kakyoin cried.
“Good, fucking grief,” Jotaro sighed, “You’re too ticklish for your own good, ya know that, right?”
Kakyoin could barely form a proper word. When Kakyoin didn’t answer his question, Jotaro groaned in mock annoyance and reached a hand behind him to squeeze his friend’s inner thigh. The redhead squealed and kicked his legs out.
“NOT THERE! NOT THEHEHEHEHERE!” Kakyoin cried.
“Weak spot?” Jotaro asked.
When Kakyoin didn’t answer, Jotaro sighed and used his other hand to squeeze his friend’s other thigh. Kakyoin wheezed and shook his head in defiance, the only part of his body he could move beside his legs.
“Next time, you better fucking answer me, understand?” Jotaro asked, “Is this a weak spot?”
“OBVIOUSLY! WHAT DO YOU THIHIHIHIHINK!?” Kakyoin asked.
Jotaro didn’t like Kakyoin’s sass, and to punish him, he started massaging one of his thumbs into his friend’s hipbone again, causing the redhead to give a wild buck and let out a new stream of laughter.
“Ya better watch it,” Jotaro said in a low voice, “Do you have any other weak spots you’d wish to share?”
“LIKE HEHEHEHELL I’D TELL YOHOHOHOHOHOU, YOU AHAHAHAHASSHOHOHOHOLE!” Kakyoin laughed.
Now, this was the sentence that sealed Noriaki Kakyoin’s fate. Jotaro stopped his attack and glared down at his panting friend.
“Thank... Thank you...” Kakyoin panted.
“Who said I was done...?” Jotaro asked.
Kakyoin looked up at his friend and felt helpless the minute he looked into Jotaro’s eyes. He was already shorter than him in height, but now, having Jotaro loom over him like this, Kakyoin felt as small as a mouse.
“I don’t appreciate your shit-talk, Kakyoin. So, until you’ve learned your lesson about not being a shitty bitch, you’ll just have to take your punishment,” Jotaro said, “Now, are you gonna tell me where your weak spot is, or are you gonna be a bitch about it?”
Kakyoin scoffed and rolled his amethyst eyes.
“You don’t scare me anymore, JoJo,” Kakyoin lied, hoping his voice wasn’t too shaky, “I have no other weak spots than my thighs, so good luck, JoJo.”
Kakyoin was just digging a deeper grave for himself. Jotaro chuckled and grinned down at his friend.
“Was hoping you’d say that ‘cause I already know where your other weak spot is.” Jotaro said.
Kakyoin stared up at his friend with wide eyes.
“How...? That’s impossible! H-He’s just bluffing! He’s gotta be...!” Kakyoin panicked.
Kakyoin prayed that Jotaro was bluffing. One thing about Jotaro Kujo that Kakyoin has forgotten in this kind of situation: Jotaro rarely ever bluffs, and at this moment, he isn’t! Jotaro started squeezing his friend’s thighs to get him laughing.
“NOHOHO! JOJOHOHOHOHO!” Kakyoin laughed.
After a while, Jotaro shot his hands into Kakyoin’s armpits. Kakyoin literally screamed with laughter, thrashing in Star Platinum’s unrelenting grip.
“NOOOHOHOHOHOOO! ANYWHERE BUT THEHEHEHEHEHERE!” Kakyoin cried.
“Thought so. I figured this would be your weak spot.” Jotaro said casually.
What Jotaro said startled the redhead.
“YOU MEHEHEHEAN YOHOHOHOU DIDN’T KNOHOHOHOHOHOW?!” Kakyoin asked, “HOHOHOW DID YOU FIHIHIHIND OHOHOHOHOUT?!”
“Pretty simple, actually. I tested every other part of your body except here,” Jotaro deadpanned, “Truth speaks for itself if you ask me.”
Kakyoin was laughing like a lunatic. Kakyoin could barely move his upper body, and to have one of his worsts spots tickled, you can imagine how torturous it must be for him.
“JAHAHAHAHAHAAAAH! JOJO! PLEASE, STAHAHAHAHAP!” Kakyoin cried.
“Have you learned your lesson about not shit-talking towards me?” Jotaro asked.
Kakyoin let out a new stream of laughter at that question.
“YOU DO IT AHAHAHALL THE TIHIHIHIME TO MEHEHEHE! WHY CAN’T IHIHIHIHI DO IT TO YOHOHOHOHOU!?” Kakyoin asked honestly.
“’Cause it’s fucking annoying.” Jotaro answered.
Kakyoin was able to growl through his gales of laughter.
“YOU DOHOHOHON’T THINK I DON’T GEHEHEHEHEHET ANNOHOHOHOHOYED!?” Kakyoin asked.
“You never say anything.” Jotaro said nonchalantly.
Kakyoin threw his head back and let out a louder stream of handsome laughter.
“OH, MY GAHAHAHAHAHAD! YOU’RE FUHUHUHUHUCKING RIDICULOHOHOHOHOUS!” Kakyoin laughed.
“What was that?” Jotaro asked, moving one hand down to squeeze Kakyoin’s thigh.
Kakyoin fell limp with laughter. He felt tears of mirth streaming down his cheeks.
“OKAY, OKAHAHAHAHAY! I’M SAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! I’M SOHOHOHORRY!” Kakyoin cried, “PLEASE STAHAHAHAHAP!”
“Did you learn you’re fucking lesson?” Jotaro asked.
Kakyoin threw his head back when Jotaro hit a sensitive part of his armpit, causing the redhead to squeal once more.
“YEHEHEHEHES! OH, GAHAHAHAHAD YEHEHEHEHES!” Kakyoin laughed, “JUST STAHAHAHAHAP!”
Staying true to his word, Jotaro stopped the ticking and called back his Stand. Kakyoin panted underneath Jotaro, sweat, and tears dripping from his face.
“You suck... so hard...” Kakyoin panted.
“Watch it, jackass.” Jotaro said pointing a finger at him.
Kakyoin rolled his eyes with a wide grin on his face. Jotaro did the same and proceeded to place a kiss on Kakyoin’s quivering lips. The black-haired teen got off the now flustered redhead and offered a hand to him. Kakyoin wanted to question the action displayed upon him, instead, he took Jotaro’s hand and stood up.
“Never tickle me like that again...” Kakyoin said, even though his cheeks were redder than before.
“What are you gonna do about it?” Jotaro asked, “I’m not ticklish.”
Kakyoin glared at his boyfriend and poked his side. Jotaro didn’t even flinch.
“Shit...” Kakyoin muttered.
Jotaro chuckled and pulled his lover into his chest.
“Don’t worry. You’ll have the whole summer to try and get me back.” Jotaro said.
Emphasis on try. And try Kakyoin will. He didn’t care if his boyfriend was built like a brick wall. After all, every wall has a weak point, and Kakyoin was determined to find Jotaro’s.
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moonlit-mizukage · 3 years
Text
Chapter four: The Deal 
Summary: Y/l/n Y/n, a third year at Sakura High School, is just a girl with a bad attitude towards anyone outside her small circle. When y/n’s younger sister starts first year, she gains a lot of attention. Unfortunately for everyone in school, the Y/l/n household has one rule, No dating till y/n does. Some people become just desperate enough to pay the leader of the “Monsters”, the trouble making group on campus, to date y/n. What will happen when she finds out? (All characters aged up to third year unless otherwise stated)
TW Swearing, mentions of sex, mentions of using women, sexualizing woman, smoking, aggressive behavior, mentions of violence. 
AN: Please let me know if I missed anything in the TW. Sorry this is also almost two hours late. I got super invested in this anime I was watching and forgot to finish it up. 
Taglist Open!! Send an ask or dm to be added! 
Word count: 1k (Just a little over) 
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Third Person POV 
Oikawa waited by his locker for his closest friends.
“Where are we going?” Kuroo asked Oikawa.
“You will see when we get there.” He responded with a smirk. The two had waited for the rest to come up to them before he shut his locker. “Ready for mission Mei?” He asked. 
“I’m ready for this whole thing to blow up in your face so I can laugh again shittykawa.” Iwaizumi said. 
“You’re so mean Iwa-chan!” With that the five guys exited the school. Outside the crossed over the field as they approached the bleachers, Bokuto suddenly stopped in the middle of the field, 
“Oikawa, you must be joking.” 
“Who else do you know who isn’t afraid of anything?” He said back with a sly smirk. Bokuto nodded his head to show he agreed with Oikawa’s thought. 
Entering the underneath of the bleachers, Terushima was seen smoking next to Matsukawa. 
“What the hell are you doing here?” Matsukawa said, anger dripping from his words. Terushima pulled out his phone and sent off a few short texts. 
“We have a proposition for Terushima.” Oikawa said.  
Before anyone could say anything else, Kyotani busted in and shoved Atsumu out of his way. 
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING HERE! GET THE FUCK OUT ASSHOLES BEFORE I MAKE YOU.” He yelled aggressively, now standing in front of Matsukawa and Terushima like some kind of protective beast. 
“Down dog.” The voice came from behind them as they all turned to see Tendou walking up with Hanamaki behind him. “So why are you bastards in our spot?” He said pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up. 
“We came to make a proposition to Terushima.” Oikawa spoke up again. 
“What kind of proposition?” Terushima asked, looking unamused.  
“I want to take Mei out, but you see I can’t do that without someone dating her older sister.” 
“And how does that concern me?” Terushima asked as sass dripped off his words. 
“Well, you are known as Ladies Monster... so I was thinking you could take out her sister, just like once or twice a week till I get bored or get what I am after.” 
“Who is it?” 
“Y/n.” 
“Ah hell no man! I went into the café she used to work at and she dumped my entire milkshake over my head.” 
“Dude, you grabbed her ass when she set mine down.” Matsukawa butted in. 
“Yeah but any chick who makes me work that much, ain’t it. I like my girls easy. Besides, not like I’d get anything out of it anyways. You’d get sex with her sister and I’d get 50 maybe 70 cups of milkshake on my head fow what? One date and no sex. Hell to the no bro.” You could see gears turn in Oikawa’s eyes. 
“What if I paid you?” He asked Terushima. 
“How much?” Tendou butted in, regaining his interest in what Oikawa was saying once again. 
“$100 a date.”
“For just one date? You know that’s way too low.” Hanamaki now joined the conversation. 
“Okay how about $300?” Oikawa offered. 
“$300 is less than we all make individually in a week.” Matsukawa said. 
“$1000 a week and you have yourself a deal.” Tendou said. 
“And you will be the one to get her to date you?” Oikawa sounded shocked by Tendou’s offer. 
“For $1000, I can. Anything less I don’t see how it’s possible.” 
Oikawa looked back at his friends. 
“Dude $1000 is way too much for a date with someone like Mei.” Iwaizumi said. Oikawa turned back around facing Tendou again. Extending his arm out towards Tendou. 
“Deal.” Tendou gave a sly smirk as he shook his hand to seal the deal. 
“I can write you a cheque now.” He reached down to his pocket for what was thought to be his wallet. Tendou raised his hand to stop him. 
“No. I want cash.” 
“Cash!?!?!” Bokuto yelled up from behind Oikawa. 
“Bring cash tomorrow or the deals off.” 
“See you tomorrow then.” With that Oikawa walked out, followed by his friends. 
“If I knew he’d offer $1000 for one date I would have done it.” Hanamaki said. 
“To bad y/n wouldn’t give you the time of day.” Matsukawa laughed. 
“I wonder what this Mei girl looks like to be worth that kind of cash.” Terushima spoke up. 
“Why don’t we go find out. We can browse the first year locker hall and find her ourselves.” Hanamaki suggested. 
“I’ll come too. I want to scare some people into giving me their lunch money anyways.” Kyotani said. 
“You really are a wild one Mad Monster.” Matsukawa said, as he patted him on the back.
The guys smoked a little more and bothered Tendou what he would do with his new income. After they finished up they headed inside to find this girl worth so much money. Back inside the school already, Oikawa and his friends were standing in the washroom while a few of them splashed water in their faces. 
“That was so scary what Kyotani busted in. I thought I was gonna piss myself.” Bokuto said as he stood fully up from the sink. “Dude he pushed me outta the way. I thought he was going to punch me or some shit.” Atsumu replied back.  
“I think the scariest thing is how Oikawa is about to drop a grand weekly to get pussy.” Kuroo said with a chuckle. 
“It’s not even my full allowance. I don’t think I will need over three weeks at most anyways.” 
“Dude.. That's $3 grand!!” 
“Yeah and that’s just a little over my one weeks allowance.” Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. 
“You’re such a spoiled brat Shittykawa.” Oikawa just laughed at him. 
“Don’t be jealous Iwa-chan!” On that note, the group left the bathroom as they walked down to their classes. 
“Hey Shirabu!!” Bokuto yelled, waving at him.
He turned and gave him a disgusted look. 
“I see you already are best friends with him.” Kuroo joked. 
Oikawa felt a hand push him from behind, as he quickly turned he noticed it was y/n.
“Watch where you are going bitch!” He spoke up. 
“Shut the fuck up asshole. You were the one taking over the hallway with your flat assed self.” 
I can’t wait to take you down a few y/n. Oikawa thought to himself. 
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phoenixyfriend · 3 years
Text
Madara and Obito... In SPACE
So the preface to this mess: I don’t know jackshit about Star Wars, so a lot of this went through friends who do know Star Wars (the primary of which does not have a tumblr).
(I have watched Episodes 7&8, and Rogue One. Of the first six movies, I remember watching maybe an hour total. I have not seen more than snatches of Clone Wars. Beyond that, nothing but fic.)
Anyway! Let’s go:
As y’all probably know by now, my favorite form of crossover is what I call “intrusive,” so... I'm enjoying the mental concept of "dump Madara on Coruscant and watch him go." (Prequels, probably.)
Does Madara know what's going on? No. Can he understand a word that's being said? No! Is he going to fight the first person to aim a weapon at him, and every person after that? Yes.
Is Madara fighting fit?
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Nnnnnnnnnnnnnno, not really, he’s old as balls. This is "I was on cave life support but I'm getting back up to kick ass out of pure spite" Madara.
[Image description: A screenshot of a panel of the Naruto Manga. Uchiha Madara is old and visibly ‘decrepit,’ with spiky white hair and an amorphous black robe. He is sitting on a pale throne, and there is a scythe visible to the side. He has a speech bubble saying “I am... a ghost of the Uchiha.” End Description]
Two wrinkly old guys, staring each other down: There ain't enough room in this universe for the two of us. [Palpatine and Madara start fighting to the death]
Congrats, Palpatine! Your ass is getting kicked by a geriatric malcontent who doesn't speak any language you've ever heard or feel like literally anything in the Force. You may have Sith lightning, but do you have decades of frontline experiences and over half a century of cave-dwelling bitterness?
Both of them, simultaneously, in completely different languages: Get off my lawn, whipper-snapper.
Palpatine: Behold my mastery of the Dark Side, Foolish old man! Palpatine: [shoots lightning] Madara: Oh hey, you're like the seventeenth most dangerous person who can shoot lightning I've fought. Telekinesis? Fought that. Combat precognition? Fought that, have that, and let me tell you hwat, it doesn't help if you're opponent is just that much faster than you.
Now, I’ll take a step back and acknowledge that several people advised me that Palpatine would stand a chance against Madara, likely even win, if Madara just got hacked off of his life support and is down to one eye.
But. I want a shitpost, and also to clown on Palpatine, so Madara wins easily.
Madara also deserves to be clowned on, but the entire situation is clowning on him because he’s not in his cave anymore, and he really wants to go back to his Gedou Mazou statue.
Maybe Madara and Palpatine go Old Man Fight and then Obito just pulls a Ninja Move and kills Palpatine that way. Madara was ranting and Obito just. Ninjas behind Palpatine and slits his throat like “okay, you’re obviously evil so like... bye.”
(I just love causing "Wait what" reactions in characters that are used to having total control. Like. Have you read "Unexpected Guests"? The Bleach fic? Everything that happens in Hueco Mundo and after. That energy. I want that energy.)
Madara waves his scythe around like a cane. Obito just trails after like “Gramps, no” because it’s still pre-Sanbi, so he’s Mostly Innocent (you know, on the scale of how fucked up Obito is as a person), and just wants Madara to like. Stop.
Palpatine dies but nobody's sure what to charge Madara with since he did kind of expose a Sith? And Palpatine attacked first for [handwave] reasons?
Jedi: Well sir, in lieu of charging you with assassination of the emperor, we have decided to ask you politely to return to the elderly person's retirement home from whence you came. Please leave immediately. You are frightening the senate. Madara: [incomprehensible raving] Jedi: Yes yes, very interesting. Jedi, whispering: Does anyone know his caretaker???
Obito looks increasingly put-upon as events progress. You need Obito there to... well, not translate. Nobody can translate. But to at least poke Madara into being Slightly Less Homicidal.
Anakin seems sad about his friend dying and being evil so Obito challenges him to a spar. Madara and Obito get pulled into the Jedi Temple to help train Padawans? My first thought was "they wouldn't trust someone so obviously Weird, Crazy, and Incomprehensible around the younglings" and my second thought was "well they let Yoda do it and he's all those things so I mean? YEAH."
What if they put Madara in the bacta tank and he just freshened up like a daisy because of hand-wave Hashirama cell reasons (Blame Sir Tiddyface).
From “Decrepit and Reliant on Cave Tube Life Support” to “Will Call Down Meteors With Ease”
How many eyes does he have? Whatever’s funniest. Let’s say one Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and one Rinnegan, for maximum chaos.
Would "half my body is missing" Obito freak out if Bacta regrew his eye? Can bacta regrow something like that? When characters lose limbs they usually just get cybernetic replacements, but  the person I spoke with said that apparently they saw somewhere that that kind of thing can grow back it just takes a really long time.
I want to imagine bacta would help Obito with the Zetsu integration.
Anyway! Yes. Have Madara help train people despite being... Madara about it. You know... kind of a dick.
(I’d put example gifs but I don’t feel up to it. Y’all know what Madara’s “weakness disgusts me” ass is like.)
Obito had to get his "these fools could never make me sweat" sass from somewhere, after all.
Do you think Obito could fight the baby Jedi that are around his age while recovering? I have no idea what their skill level is at fourteen, but I want to imagine Obito sparring the Padawans.
Obito + Zetsu + Bacta = he still needs physical therapy but he can spar again!
Madara is delighted to have a baby ninja to bully. He's too old to not bully baby ninjas, and Obito is the only baby ninja. TBH Madara just makes Obito his assistant teacher.
Obito: What are we even doing here and how do we get home? Madara: I'm still working on that. Obito: But I want to go home and see Rin and Kakashi! Madara, who was like two days away from triggering the Sanbi plan: I'm working on it.
Something sticking in my mind rn is Ahsoka&Obito, since Obito is still Baby.
I think Obito would be excited to have someone his age that thought he was Cool and Talented for being able to do Chakra Things instead of writing him off as "the dead-last." Like, Rin is friends with him, but she doesn't look up to him as someone more/differently talented.  He'd be excited to get to be "The Mysterious Cool Big Bro" for once.
I feel I also just like the idea of Anakin not knowing what to do with someone Several Years Younger that is also. Ninja Skill.
Miscellaneous thoughts:
Madara is a grouchy old man even AFTER he gets effectively de-aged via bacta dunk, for the record. He's back in his prime and the Jedi have no idea how. They're all concerned about tiddyface*. (When are people not concerned about Sir Tiddyface, really.) The mokuton is a problem.
*Sir Tiddyface is that random Hashirama face that Madara had growing out of his pecs for like... convoluted bullshit reasons.
(Madara doesn't have mokuton, but he has enough Hashirama cells that it interacted very, VERY weirdly with the bacta.)
Obito spends the intervening weeks trying to learn the local language. He's very eager. Not particularly fast. Still doing it though!
I want Obito juggling kunai as physical therapy while he's waiting for Mads to get out of the bacta tank and just gains himself the adoration of a gaggle of small baby Jedi children.
Madara comes out of the bacta tank looking like he did in his prime (which I mentioned earlier but whatever), and it absolutely incites a yelling match of an argument that draws way too much attention.
Someone tries to teach Obito how to access the Force, just to see what happens. He almost turns into a statue because the philosophy behind Force meditation is only a few steps away from Sage Mode Meditation.
Anyway, Madara smacks him with a stick like Fukasaku to make sure Obito doesn't turn into stone.
Madara grumps about the lack of paper and brushes and ink. Bitches about it until someone hits up an antique store or something to get them for him. The day before he and Obito are dispatched on a mission with someone, probably Anakin for plot reasons, Madara very publicly seals things into a scroll and then tells them that no, they can't learn it, because the Force isn't chakra so fuuinjutsu won't work for them, so There.
Obito practices some Teen Rebellion (tm) and like, tries to teach the Padawan friends he's made how to do Chakra Things... but he's so bad at explaining things that nobody can get it to work even if it were possible.
In Obito's defense, language barriers. Not in Obito's defense, he's just really bad at words sometimes.
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aros001 · 3 years
Text
First time read through light novel vol. 18. Random thoughts.
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I somewhat suspect the author was hungry while writing this volume.
Also, wow, I knew Kizuna was short but the prior artworks never gave me the full idea of how short. She
is only chest-high compared to Naofumi and Glass (I suppose that could make Glass happy, though; ease of access for Kizuna and whatnot).
Given that, outside of the natural gluttons like Filo, S’yne, and the killer whale sisters, the only person on Naofumi's side with the "Eat food for EXP" matter is Itsuki, I think this is him falling dangerously close to thinking only in terms of game mechanics instead of reality, much like the other three heroes had been early on. Theoretically, yes, if you can gain levels and strength just by eating, why wouldn't you do a lot of it? But he's almost outright ignoring the physical discomfort and pain it's causing his allies and seeing only the numbers. Not to mention that he himself doesn't appear to be eating nearly as much, as he's focus on the cooking.
That said, it is cute that this is the first time in her life Filo is starting to feel full.
Chapter One: Sloth
OH SHI-! Oh, wait. Wrong franchise. We're good. I did not want to have to imagine Kizuna biting her fingers off (Kizuna: "My brain trembles!!!).
If Kizuna is indeed suffering under the curse of Sloth, I'm curious what triggered that specific sin for her. We only have the four heroes of Raphtalia's world to go off of but each sin applied to that specific hero for a reason. Naofumi: Wrath because of his hatred of what Witch and Trash put him through. Ren: Greed because he wanted more EXP, levels, and loot; a toxic extreme of his solo-adventuring. Itsuki: Pride because he believed only in his view of justice. And Motoyasu: lust and envy because of his obsession with Filo and being kept away from her. Kizuna's obsession with fishing, even when there's other important matters that need to be dealt with, I suppose could be considered lazy and thus lead to sloth as its extreme, but it feels a little bit like a stretch.
As he did so, the books from a nearby shelf whirled up into the air, forming . . . a dinosaur . . . perhaps. No, a dragon. The monster’s name was “Magical Tome Dragon.” Now things were really getting a bit crazy. A dragon created from books! Was this some kind of joke?
I want a Yu-Gi-Oh card of that.
“Don’t tell me, Glass is like the Raphtalia of this world? Could we really get that lucky?”
I mean, that's what the fandom likes to joke when it comes to her and Kizuna.
Breaking the sloth curse through Kizuna's love of fishing was about what I expected. Not complaining, of course. Again though, I'm just wonder what about her coincides with Sloth. She prefers talking it out and making allies as opposed to fighting but I wouldn't exactly call that lazy or slothful either.
Kizuna had a lot of folks like this among her allies—people who had started out as enemies but then became allies. If I fought someone as an enemy, there was generally no coming back—there were exceptions, like Sadeena and Shildina, so it was probably better not to generalize.
Glass and L'Arc are literally standing right next to Naofumi as he thinks this and Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki all tried to murder him at one point or another. S'yne was part of the gladiator fights too, now that I think about it, and while they never fought he and Trash were definitely enemies for a while. This dude turns more enemies into friends than freakin' Naruto. Being kind of oblivious is part of Naofumi's character but I suppose this could be seen as an interesting look as to how exactly he considers someone an enemy. If they fought him for reasons he eventually came to understand and sympathize with, then he perhaps doesn't consider them as ever having been a "true" enemy.
Aww, Glass is jealous of Tsugumi being close to Kizuna. And unlike Raphtalia with Naofumi, Kizuna doesn't have any kind of tragedy that keeps her opposed to relationship and would require Glass to be patient. I suppose Glass could simply be afraid of hurting their friendship by proposing romance or even that Kizuna doesn't swing that way. And this is from Naofumi's perspective, so Glass being gay could be completely off the mark. Still, it'd be nice to get a solid landing one way or another. Even Eclair unknowingly rejecting Ren at least give solid confirmation that he's into her and why they're not together.
“What! I’m the Hunting Hero! I don’t handle the cooking part!” Kizuna complained.
“And I’m the Shield Hero!” I retorted. Not the Stewpot Hero! If anyone called me that, I would kill them with cookery!
And technically, you're not even that right now. Not with that mirror on your arm. The mirror is cool and all but I am looking forward to Naofumi eventually getting his shield back. He just feels incomplete without it.
“Almost feeding time!” one of them said. Others proceeded to chime in.
“Yes . . . the time we’ve all been waiting for.”
“The moment we live for, basically!”
“Even if I only get to eat one mouthful . . . that is the fuel that will keep me alive!”
“I’ll never eat anything but his cooking ever again!”
“I think the schweiz is the best! It has to be!”
“No! The stietz!”
“Hey! No fighting! We’ve been warned about fighting!”
Did they stumble across a food cult?
“It isn’t bad,” Filo said. “It just isn’t as nice as yours, Master.”
“Well, okay . . .” I replied.
“All of the heroes have cooked in the village, Mr. Naofumi, but Filo and everyone else all feel the same way,” Raphtalia told me.
Filo also grew up with Naofumi's cooking since birth, so while he's already a good cook you get the added taste of home for her. I've said it before but out of everyone I consider Filo to be the most like Naofumi's daughter.
“Then you wish to settle the bill,” she replied. I thought it was free. As my suspicions intensified, the girl spread both of her hands and continued. “How was the food at Seya’s restaurant? It was so delicious, wasn’t it? If you wish to become a member, please leave all of your assets or hand over anything that can be turned into money. If you leave some personal items as collateral, you can have some time to go and fetch some offerings.”
Yep, that's a cult alright.
“Master’s food!” Filo said.
“They’ll get a surprise when they taste what you’re cooking, kiddo,” L’Arc said.
“Indeed. Your victory is assured, if that’s the best they can do,” Glass agreed. I was still concerned about how aggressive they were being. Were they hopped up on endorphins or something? They weren’t acting in character at all.
My first thought was that the OOC behavior was some side effect Naofumi didn't realize came with the Mirror weapon's power-up method, but then why wouldn't Raphtalia or Kizuna be effected when they have been eating the food too? Then I thought maybe they were more used to eating Naofumi's food in general and would have a tolerance to any addictive effects, but then why is Filo still effected?
“That’s the best dish Seya’s restaurant has to offer! Seya’s curry bag! And it’s Fifth Floor too!” one of the MCs shouted. I barely stopped myself from tipping over onto the ground. He really was just reheating a premade curry in a bag! So he was allowed to heat and serve already finished dishes? I mean, that might give me some ideas myself . . .
“The flavors that are normally lost in reheating have been sealed in the bag using proprietary technology! Now you get the maximized flavor from the moment you open the bag! This truly is the ultimate culinary technique! Everyone, watch this kitchen miracle closely as it unfolds before your astounded eyes!” The MCs continued their diatribe, but it just made it harder for me to keep a straight face. It was all a matter of perspective. Capturing the flavor in a bag was certainly a worse approach than making it on the spot.
“Naofumi . . . am I imagining things? It looks to me like he’s just adding or warming up instant ingredients using hot water,” Kizuna said.
So, like most other antagonists in this series lately, Seya is just an arrogant, entitled fraud high on his own stolen power. Why am I not surprised? Though he is giving me a bit of a Kazuma from Konosuba vibe with how he managed to figure out how to recreate items the old heroes would have talked about from Japan. It's odd to say he doesn't have nearly the same level of charisma as Kazuma give...well...it's Kazuma and he's deliberately written to be a massive scumbag.
I do like with his magic powers and awesome cape, Naofumi is basically the little muddy boy meeting a superhero, one who will save the day through cooking.
As for Kizuna . . . I handed her some of the fish we had brought in and had her cut it up. She’d finished with the poisonous fish already. Her life as a fishing fool was paying off now. She knew her way around a fish. The blood had been skillfully drained, and overall, she was a step ahead when it came to gutting and cleaning.
...You think the Hunting Tool can turn into something like the Wunder Boner
?
I explained pointedly, looking at Seya, Trash III, and the other MC. Trash III responded by flipping me off. I could taunt with the best of them, and I mouthed some swear words back.
I mean, one of my favorite scenes in Isekai Quartet was Naofumi and Shalltear sassing each other, so I can agree with that.
“Pollution?” Kizuna asked, looking puzzled.
“You didn’t notice that?” I replied. “Well, just watch.” She wasn’t the brightest bulb, that was for sure.
“Hmmm, I think I need to go wash up,” the rotund noble said. “I’ll be right back.” The judges proceeded to take turns visiting the washroom. Once they had all returned, it was time to eat Seya’s food.
“Huh?” Kizuna, L’Arc, and Therese were looking puzzled. The other diners around us too. I guess there was cause for a little suspicion.
...Did Naofumi give them laxatives?
“Ah!” Kizuna finally cottoned on. “So that’s why you used so many medicinal herbs in your dishes!”
“Exactly. The reason they all wanted to go to the washroom after eating was to expel the toxins. I also used other herbs to bolster the lethargic feeling that would bring on,” I explained.
He gave the judges f**king laxatives! That's hilarious! I get the actual explanation he gives is more complicated than that, relating to purifying and digestion and getting them to finally take notice of the toxins in Seya's food now that they're free from its hold, but it's funny to think that's basically what he did. He won a cooking competition through dishes that encouraged the judges to take a sh*t (or a p*ss, I suppose).
“Hey . . . you’ve been reading too many cooking manga. It’s an illusion that delicious and good things will be evaluated highly. What you need is popularity and demand,” I said. Of course, it had to taste good, but putting the emphasis on that as a bare requirement was also a problem. If you were planning on selling food in a restaurant, of course it had to taste good. Customers came because of other elements, because of popularity. If Seya’s restaurant collapsed here, it would cause trouble for all the judges. That was why I’d created an escape for them. In order to realize the future that boy wanted.
While we don't see Naofumi selling his wares so much anymore because he has far less of a need to, it is nice we do still get that cynical and merchant side of him. All that time didn't just go to waste and it's still a key part of his character.
“What, then? What do you want?” Seya asked.
“There’s someone behind all of this, correct? Someone pulling the strings. If you tell us all about that, we’ll let you go. Hey, I have an idea. Write it down on this piece of paper here. I want a record of this.” I said and passed a piece of paper to him. Seya’s expression immediately brightened.
“That’s all you want? Fine, I can—” But the rest of that sentence vanished into an awful grunt. The moment Seya tried to write a single word, his head simply crumpled in on itself. He managed a brief scream, and then his entire melon exploded. I didn’t want to traumatize my allies, so I quickly threw up a cage and blocked out the grisly scene. Then I gave a sigh.
Well...that was kind of f**ked up for Naofumi to do. Don't get me wrong, after what they had to do to get Takt to be willing to confess, this is much less horrific. But Naofumi did basically just give Seya false hope and then trick him into executing himself. I get why he did it and how dangerous the vanguards are, but it is interesting to think that while ROTSH isn't the darkest of the light novel series I've been reading, Naofumi, save for Ainz Ooal Gown, is definitely the most morally grey of the protagonists compared to Kazuma, Subaru, and Goblin Slayer.
“No matter how delicious the food is, if you eat the same thing every time, you’ll start to get sick of it. Once you get sick of it, you won’t overeat simply because you won’t want to. I’ve been applying that concept to my food,”
That is better than what I was thinking with Naofumi getting too into the game mechanics. And boy do I feel for his friends. It's the same thing that killed me off of soda for a few years. Obviously it's worse to starve than be overstuffed but it's still not a pleasant experience.
We were talking about the primary reason why Kizuna was summoned here in the first place. To put it simply, the idea was to revive the Demon Dragon.
YYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
And they Tanya'd him too; reborn as an infant of the opposite gender. So does that make Kizuna or Naofumi Being X?
“Seriously . . . it brings dragon tears to my dragon eyes to see you, the great Shield Hero who defeated me, now reduced to this.” The Demon Dragon placed her front paws against her head and muttered sadly to herself.
“I hope you aren’t looking for sympathy,” I said harshly.
“Just think about it for a moment. The same bunch who shouted about defeating me and saving the world are now back, having screwed everything up, relying on me—their sworn enemy—to save them! Take a look around. Does this world look like it’s at peace to you? Well?” the dragon said, really coming for me now. What was worse, I didn’t really have a reply. This world was still plagued by humans fighting each other and had been ravaged by the vanguards of the waves. Everything the dragon had said so far had been so on the money that Kizuna and Glass probably didn’t have any response either. “Can you see how this might feel like something from your own past? Having been chased as a criminal, and then having to clean up after those very weaklings who were chasing you after they had been beaten down by the waves and people from another world?” That punch really landed hard. I wanted to call it a low blow, but she was basically providing a stunningly succinct summary of my life in these other worlds.
Seriously though, after Kyo, Takt, and the various other vanguards, it is so refreshing to have a villain who speaks with some dignity and can actually make a decent point or two, rather than "I'm strong so I can do whatever I want! Losers!" In my vol. 16 random thoughts I compared Takt to All For One from My Hero Academia and I still feel the same way. The two are not that much different goal-wise. They wanted the world and had the power to make it theirs, thus their actions. It is an immature goal when you think about it but AFO did not act anywhere near as immature as Takt and it made him feel so much more intimating. He would sometimes mock his enemy but when he did they were deep cuts that he knew would get under the skin of someone he truly hated, like All Might, rather than just throwing out insults and acting like a brat. And the Demon Dragon is the same (the High Priest too, now that I remember him, even if I don't talk about him as much). I liked Glass as an antagonist because she was intimidating, spoke only as much as she needed to, and was very powerful compared to the protagonists at that time, getting Naofumi to fear facing her again and giving her weight to the story and for the audience. Finding out later her motivations gave her some depth and added grey to the situation. The Demon Dragon is not nearly as sympathetic, but he still works for a lot of the reasons she did. There's presence to him, er, her. It's not a brat who needs to be knocked off their high horse but a genuine threat.
And being able to work with the heroes weirdly makes that even better. The Demon Dragon calls a 100 year truce, not because she's on the side of good, but because she wants there to still be a world around for her to take over. She's completely open about her goal, which ironically makes it easier to trust her.
“That should do for now,” the dragon said. “Hmmm, and this is a female body. Excellent. Shield Hero, under the condition that you will ultimately mate with me, I shall provide even greater cooperation.” So that was how long it took for things to take a crazy turn.
Still a little weird that she wants to f**k Naofumi though. And when the anime gets to this part there is almost definitely going to be a fanfic or doujin. Actually, now that I think about it, there are going to be creators getting some mileage out of when the Demon Dragon tried to take Naofumi over earlier in the series.
“Can’t you make do with Kizuna? She’s one of the four holies from this world. You’ll just have to overcome the gender barrier,” I said.
“Why me?!” Kizuna exclaimed.
“What are you planning on doing to Kizuna?” Now Glass turned a hostile gaze on me too.
Ahh, Naofumi's such a d*ck, I love it. Also, now that's two rivals in one book for Glass. She's almost caught up with Raphtalia.
It would have suited us better if the enemy was a bunch of morons. It was annoying that life never worked out quite so easily. We had no idea how bad it was going to get with the waves, so we had to plan our moves carefully and move to prevent this “fusion of the worlds,” whatever that meant.
Wouldn't that be a heck of a comeback to my bitching about the villains? The ones behind the vanguards have been sending out their idiots first, the ones arrogant and drunk off their power, to soften up the heroes first and cause a bunch of damage but that they know will ultimately just get killed. Takt and the others getting offered up as sacrificial lambs basically because those like S'yne's sister don't like them either.
“I’m starting to feel sorry for Naofumi,” Kizuna agreed.
“He probably thinks you two are in the ‘harem,’” I told them.
“I really don’t like that,” Glass responded. “No, I don’t. I don’t like that at all.” I wasn’t sure why she said it three times, but I didn’t like it either. Just for the record.
“Naofumi is a friend and a comrade, but we’re not like that!” Kizuna retorted. I wondered if she really understood the situation. She was the type who needed things to be said directly to her face.
“A shame we don’t have Fohl here. Even L’Arc would have worked,” I said. Just a few guys mixed in might have broken the group up a bit and prevented it from looking like a harem.
“Naofumi . . . even if we did have some guys, it would probably just give them some different ideas. Like . . . boys love?” Kizuna said. It sounded like, whatever the composition of the party, they would presume a lewd relationship with me at the center.
You know, you never hear about this kind of thing with Ren and Itsuki. Motoyasu went out of his way to have a harem and he still doesn't get it thrown at him as much as Naofumi does. Maybe it's one of those "He protest too much" kind of mindsets, where the more Naofumi denies it the more people think it's true.
“You got lucky. If a wave had occurred with the world of our illustrious leader, we were planning on shattering you. That’s the problem with this system; that’s the only way to get the reward for destroying a world,” the sister explained. I’d heard this talk about rewards for destroying worlds before, I vaguely recalled. I had no idea where that reward came from.
So there's a third world mixed up in all this. Obviously there already was the implication of multiple universes with S'yne and such but now there's a big spotlight on somewhere besides Raphtalia and Kizuna's worlds, where the big bad supposedly lives.
“That’s pretty much what I was expecting. Shield Hero, let me tell you something interesting,” the Demon Dragon began. Then she looked at the Artificial Behemoth’s chest again. “That part there houses a corrupted holy weapon from this world, which has artificially turned the monster into one of the four holy heroes and has allowed it all the power-up methods. It’s basically the monster version of a holy hero.”
I'm somewhat suspecting it's the Blunt Force Holy Weapon, given how easily that beast is smashing through barriers.
The soul that Raphtalia had pulled from the vanguard of the waves was not much like the body it had come from. Instead, it was a gloomy, Japanese-looking guy who was probably in his thirties.
...
“The vanguards of the waves are people who have been reborn or transferred over here after being selected by the one who assumes the name of God. They are given all sorts of abilities, such as the power to steal holy weapons or seven star weapons. They come into these worlds and start causing chaos,” I explained.
“Reborn? You mean like having spare bodies, like Kyo?” Raphtalia asked.
“No, something else. Just their souls were led to this world from Japan, and then they were reborn here as someone from this world. With their memories of the past,” I said. For example, they are people who died in unfortunate accidents—people like Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu. This “god” would whisper to them that they had died an untimely death and offer to reincarnate them in any world they liked. They were already dead and so had no reason to reject such an offer. If they did, the “god” probably claimed to be taken with their resolve and promised to give them additional cheat powers, basically forcing them to accept. In some cases, maybe they were just forced to be reborn, no matter what they felt. I’d read books like that, loads of them. Now that they knew being summoned to another world was actually a thing, why not getting reborn or transferred over?
So I was right about Takt being some OC f**kboy! They're all OCs! They're people from Japan who died and now are getting to live out their sh*tty power fantasy fanfiction as their equally sh*tty original character! As a source of useful but disposable minions, that's actually kind of brilliant. We saw how bad Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki had been at the beginning (with Naofumi himself potentially on that path as well before he was betrayed) and they were chosen by weapons that actually have the world's best interest at heart. Take those same people and have a malevolent entity constantly feeding their egos and pushing them to do terrible things because "it's their right to do so" and "they're the real heroes" and you've got an near endless source of wrenches to throw into the works of those trying to stop you.
Of course, now I just have this image in my head that the World Eater is Aqua from Konosuba. Which would actually be kind of amazing, not gonna lie. A godly being reincarnating otakus from Japan into a new fantasy-based world for a singular purpose and giving them special powers and tools in exchange.
“What if . . . and just hear me out . . . what if this one who assumes the name of a god is somehow responsible for my game knowledge?” Itsuki quietly suggested. That sounded possible to me now. Even if being summoned was the correct process, having some prior knowledge would change your actions once you arrived.
Before, when the Shield Spirit had explained to Naofumi that he was a first pick choice and the other three heroes were their weapons' third picks, I'd theorized as to why and how the final selection ended up. Assuming the weapons were telling the truth about being able to grant any wish once the waves were over, it could be assumed they have some power over reality even in the four's home universe. So I'd theorized the weapons set up a window to snag their picks, with the shield getting Naofumi and the other weapons, by sheer unfortunance, had their picks keep missing the window and thus they became more desperate, thus why their third picks had to die in order to reincarnate because the weapons couldn't leave things to chance anymore.
Now, with the new speculation and info, we can assume the World Eater has some influence over other universes too, including the heroes' original ones. So two new theories come to mind.
The first, and one I find most likely, is that the World Eater is causing video games that are similar to the worlds impacted by the waves to appear in the original worlds of the heroes. In theory, the butterfly effect could cause a chain of events that'd lead to such games existing, so it's not like the World Eater is just dropping them into each reality. It would just need to nudge things in the right direction. If video game knowledge is actually detrimental to the heroes, then that leaves less choices for the Holy Weapons (at least in regards to what their ideal candidates would be) and opens up more choices for the World Eater, since it wants arrogant and know-it-alls like that for vanguards.
The second, which could still work with the first, is that the World Eater is aware of humans the Holy Weapons have their eyes on and is actively sabotaging them. A weapon has a first choice, so the World Eater throws the game or other things in their path to turn them into a less desirable option, possibly even vanguard material.
After all my comments about the recent antagonists, S'yne's sister is starting to grow on me. She's filling a similar role as Witch; manipulating and using people before ultimately tossing them aside. But like the Demon Dragon and High Priest, there is more of an air of dignity about her than with Witch. With the exception of her sister, she's not really talking down and belittling anyone to try and promote her own strength. Like Glass she feels like someone who is genuinely powerful and doesn't need to prove it. How she's using the enemies of the week is curious and perhaps even a little scary because it does feel like she's testing and experimenting and these losses are not really a loss for her. And there's the added mystery Sadeena threw in over what she really wants. Whether bad guy with a bigger agenda or a secret good guy, she's more enjoyable to read about, as opposed to the vanguards where the biggest enjoyment they offer is watching them get taken down, and even that's not much with all the whining and tantrums they have after they're beaten. She's different from Witch and Kyo. She's not completely high off her own power and doesn't refuse to recognize her enemies' strength. Her casually teleporting away for a bit when she realized the battle was turning in the heroes' favor gave a ton to her character.
I'm just looking forward to when she gets a name other than S'yne's sister or Moron Woman. I appreciate Naofumi's completely lack of caring for learning the names of people who don't deserve it, but if she's going to be a serious antagonist or secret ally, a name would help.
Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/shieldbro/comments/kdwai7/first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_18_random/
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Learning a Lesson Chapter 9
iLearning a Lesson Chapter 8
Part 1 Here, Part 2 Here, Part 3 Here, Part 4 Here, Part 5 Here, Part 6 Here, Part 7 Here, Part 8 Here
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Young Actor Tom Hiddleston/OFC
Rated E -Smut, Angst, Complicated Relationship - Teacher/Actor Posing as Student, Feels, Flirting, Fluff, Oral Sex, Sex, Shower Sex, Threats, Breakups, Angst…
ANGST IN THIS CHAPTER! (but don’t worry… I’m a hopeless romantic)
Summary: It’s your first day as a teacher and things are going well. That is, until a tall, gorgeous boy with blond curls and dramatic ways saunters into your last class. When he ignores all the swooning girls to flirt outrageously with you, it is secretly thrilling. Even more so is when he tries to steal a kiss after class ends. How long will you be able to keep your defenses up?
Up and Coming actor Tom is under cover in high school for  research for a movie, but the pretty drama teacher is making the long assignment so much more enjoyable
@arch-venus25​, @caffiend-queen​ @ciaodarknessmyheart​ @frostbitten-written​ @just-the-hiddles​ @kellatron55​ @myoxisbroken​ @nonsensicalobsessions​ @poetic-fiasco​ @shiningloki​ @shae-annelore​ @thecutestlittlebunbunfairy​ @hiddlesholic​ @yespolkadotkitty​ @vodka-and-some-sass​ @wolfsmom1​ @tom-hlover​ @toozmanykids​ @delightfulheartdream​ @whyispistashanuttaken​ @hopelessromanticspoonie​; @loki-yoursaviourishere​ @is-it-madness​
The Monday morning walk to school was the longest of Emily's life. With every step she took she was tempted to turn around and run the other way, hiding under her blankets and weeping rather than going on. Only a deep seated stubborn streak kept her from giving in to her fears and doing just that.
She needn't have worried. Tom was true to his word. There was no sign of him to be found in school. No infectious laugh ringing through the hallway, no tousled halo of blond hair floating above the shorter students amidst a throng of admirers, and no ice blue eyes seeking hers for a secret wink or speaking glance.
Emily told herself it was for the best. She hoped she would eventually believe it.
The other god-send was that Jim Howard seemed to have called in sick. A substitute was in his classroom when she got there, and never had she been so glad to see the old woman than she was that day. She assumed that it was his pride that kept him from walking into the building with a black eye and a swollen jaw, and took evil delight in the fact that Tom had so thoroughly trounced him.
Tom. There he was again. She could not go five minutes without calling him to mind. It was going to be a long day. Hell, it was going to be a long forever as far as she knew. How long would it take to get over the golden boy who had so completely won her heart?
Half a day was how long it took for the news of his exit to hit the school grapevine. Emily began hearing his name whispered during her fourth period class. By the time that class ended and she made her way to the staff lounge it was all anyone was talking about. Ada, Janis, and Mike were gossiping about it when she came in, a pathetic lunch of coffee and a banana in her hand.
"Well, anyone with eyes could have seen that that boy should be a movie star," Janis was opining. "It doesn't surprise me one bit."
"Oh, come on Janis," Mike laughed, skepticism showing, "he was handsome, sure, but there's no way you saw this coming!"
"I'm not saying that," Janis sniffed. "Obviously I didn't know he was an actor. But if anyone in this school was destined for greatness it was Martinsson."
"Hiddleston," Mike corrected her. "Apparently that's his real name. You're awfully quiet, Emily. You were close with the boy, weren't you? Tutoring him after hours and all?"
"Not that close," she said with a half shrug. "He claimed to want help with an audition monologue, but that was obviously for show. We never actually worked on it. Just class."
The words were true enough as far they went, even if the meaning behind them was an all out lie.
"Still, he clearly preferred you," Ada said, giving her a probing look. "I heard all sorts of chatter about how he always flirted with you, volunteering to read romantic scenes with you. I was a little jealous, to tell the truth. I mean, and I can say it now that I know he's a genuine adult - what I wouldn't have given for a chance to sculpt a nude of that boy!"
"No wonder Howard hated him so much," Mike laughed good naturedly. "It seems it's not just the high school girls who had a thing for him."
Emily did her best to tune them out after that, and took to eating in her classroom. The days blended into each other, with no end of the day secret to make them stand out as special.
The kids in her drama class were all excited of course. The thought that they had read scenes with an honest to goodness actor, one who was going to be starring in a movie, made them practically giddy. Kate began recirculating the lie that the two of them had been involved, and no one dared to correct her. Emily was angry on his behalf, offended that anyone would believe he would fool around with a student, until she realized the implications of that thought.
It was that guilt that was the worst. Well, along with the loneliness. Even if he had been an adult, she hadn't known that. She had thought him no different than Kate or Zack or Jamie, and she had slept with him anyway. She deserved all the pain she was feeling. Deserved more than that; to loose her job and never be hired again, even. More and more she slipped into a depression.
It was nine days after she had thrown him out of her apartment and her life that the first letter arrived. She grabbed her mail from the small slot inside the door and rifled through it on the way up the stairs as she always did, expecting nothing more than bills and solicitations. When she turned over an envelope addressed in an instantly recognizable hand, she felt as though she had been punched in the gut. Hands shaking, she opened the seal, afraid that if she didn't do it at once she would never find the courage, and unfolded a letter.
"My Darling Emily," it began in Tom's loopy mess of long hand, "I know I have no right to write to you, having broken your trust in the most caddish way possible. I only hope that you will allow me the opportunity to once more take advantage of your goodness of heart and kindness of disposition, that I may try to explain why I orchestrated such a hurtful charade.
"As you are patently aware now, I am an actor of both stage and screen. I take my profession very seriously, perhaps more so than it deserves, though I like to believe that you among all women will understand why. If I can peel away the layers of a character enough to expose the beating heart within, allowing my audience to sees even a piece of the truth of humanity in my portrayal, then I truly believe that I am contributing something to this shared experience we all are living. Pretentious as that sounds, it is my goal every time I assume a role, be it Iago or a soldier, or even Mr. Toad.
"When I was cast as a student from the States, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I was educated, I blush to say my love, in the best schools in England: Eton, Cambridge, and RADA. My good fortune has been quite excessive, I know, though no teacher I encountered in all of my tutelage could hold a candle to you, my darling. In any case, I was woefully unprepared to know the struggle such a young man was going through. My director came up with the idea to have me pose in a small town school, and I admit I leapt at the chance.
"Never in a million years would I have guessed that I would meet the woman of my dreams in such a situation.
"I confess that in the beginning I flirted with you to amuse myself. You are quite breathtakingly beautiful, my sweet, and I was bored beyond belief. As the days went on, however, I began to uncover the woman underneath the starched blouses and pencil skirts. A woman with a mind that soared and a soul that sung. One who shared my passion for stage poetry, and did not back down from a challenge.
"In short, my darling Emily, I fell in love with you.
"I should have told you the moment our relation crossed over the line. Alas my love, I fear that it is a coward who worships you. I was afraid that if you learned the truth you would be angry, and I wanted to collect as many precious moments with you as I could before your warm eyes turned cold. My sin is great, I know. I do not deserve to be forgiven. Nonetheless, I place my heart at your feet in hope that you will take it up, take pity on me, and not stomp it beneath your shoe.
"The film I am working on seized the opportunity afforded by my early matriculation to begin shooting. I am relocated to New York City to start principal photography. I know it is a mere two hours from you, and yet it feels the length of the world. Knowing I will not see you each day, hold you at night, is a weight on my soul that I know I have only myself to blame for.
"I ask nothing of you, my dearest Emily, but that you allow me to write to you. I do not expect you to write back, although I live in hope that one day you will. The distance keeps us apart, but perhaps that need not be all bad. Perhaps it can give you time to heal and to trust me once more. Let me write to you, to tell you about myself - my real self - and try to win your friendship back if nothing else. It has been the most important of my life.
"I do not flatter myself that I will ever hold you again, kiss your soft lips, feel you beneath me as you gasp in passion. I have too great a mark against me to hope for such grace. I would die to have it, but will not impose it on you. Just let me try to heal the hurt I have done, and I will be content.
"If you cannot find it within you to accept my offer of friendship in the form of epistles, simply write me with one word. 'Stop' and I will cease. You are in control, my heart. I will bow to your wishes.
"Please take good care of yourself, my Emily. I wish I could be their to tend to you myself. Be warry of the dread maths teacher. I know it is no longer my place, but I would ask you to not be alone around him.
"Enough of that. I will end for now. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.
"My heart is yours.
All my love,
Tom."
Emily read the letter through, barley able to make out the words through the tears welling in her eyes. When she had finished, she collapsed onto the bed and read it through again, openly weeping this time. All of the pain and guilt she had been holding in came flooding out. In the end, she had to put the letter aside so that the deluge of her tears didn't permanently mar the ink composing the lines. By then she knew it by heart, but she still loved to see his strong hand scrawled out over the page.
She did not for a moment consider writing him to stop. Perhaps she should have. There was no future she could see for the two of them. Her trust had been shattered, along with her mental image of herself, by the situation. On top of that, he was away, filming a movie in the big city that she rarely went to. When this movie was ended, who knew where he would be? Jetting off to exotic countries? Treading the boards in London? His life was exciting and adventurous, and she was a little mouse of a school teacher from a small town. How could they hope to make a relationship work, even without their drama?
The letters came far more frequently than she had expected. While it was not every day, Tom was clearly grasping every spare moment he had to pour out his heart to her. He told her all about the filming process. She felt as though she knew his costars, so vividly did he depict them. Against her will, Emily would find herself laughing at ridiculous anecdotes, or groaning in commiseration at delays in the shooting.
In the midst of all of these tales of misadventures and productivity, Tom made clear to he still hoped to win Emily back. He never missed an opportunity to praise her, calling her darling, his sweet, his dear, his love. He mentioned how he had suggested that one of the teachers should be young, smart, and sexy as an homage to her, though no one could possibly do her justice. He let slip that he had been making his costars groan with his continual referencing her, to the point where they teased him any time her name arose.
At the end of each letter he dropped all pretense, stating plainly that he loved her and would do anything to win her back. He insisted that he would wait, that the decision was entirely hers, but that he lived in hope that one day she would write him back, telling him she forgave him. Until that day, he would soldier on and try to deserve her.
Several times Emily found herself sitting down, trying to pen a reply to him. She wanted, desperately wanted, to do so. But each time, the fear would come crashing down and she would end up tearing the letter to shreds.
About two months after the letters started, there was a longer than usual gap between arrivals. Emily began to think that he had given up on her, and a panic she had never felt gripped her. She had not realized the extent to which she had been living for his words.
When an envelope finally arrived, it was in an international envelope, and the return address was London, England. That was it, then. He was out of the country. All of the stories of his homecoming, complete with welcoming family, were a dagger to her. He still professed his love, but now an actual ocean separated them along with the sea of emotion.
Their were two more letters, spread over a month and a half, and then nothing for three weeks. Depression returned. She had all but given up when a card shaped envelope, gilded on the edges, arrived in her box.
***
"Alright, out with it!"
Emily looked up from the pile of papers she was grading to see Ada standing in her classroom door, arms crossed over her paint splattered apron and a determined look on her face.
"Out with what?" Emily asked, confusion genuine.
"It's been four months, Emily," the older woman said, shutting the door behind her as she walked in and sat at one of the student desks. The same desk, Emily couldn't help but note, that had once been Tom's.
"Sorry?"
"Four months that you have been moping around! Barely showing your face in the teacher's lounge, looking like someone stole your dog and kicked your kitten. This, from the girl who was such a spark of joy when she was hired that she even ignited passion for teaching in an old war horse like me!"
"I'm sorry," Emily mumbled.
"Don't be sorry, girl! Tell me what's wrong!"
"It's nothing."
"Emily, do you think I'm blind?" Ada asked with a sigh.
"No..."
"Or that I'm stupid?"
"Of course not!"
"Good," Ada snorted. "As I am neither. Four months ago, a certain long-legged boy with more looks than are good for anyone swaggered out of this school, and you have been a ghost ever since. It's not hard to put the pieces together."
Emily gaped at her, all color draining from her face. If Ada knew, or strongly suspected, was it then general knowledge? Was her shame a joke amongst the faculty, or a cause of scorn?
"Don't worry, hun," Ada said, as though reading her mind. "Most of the people around here are blind and stupid. No one else has any idea. Well, maybe Jim, but that's a whole other can of worms that I am not too keen on digging around in. So, you fell for the boy, huh?"
"You must despise me," Emily said, voice hardly above a whisper.
"So you're failing is that you're deaf," Ada shook her head. "How many times did you hear me rhapsodize about him? Hell, I was undressing him with my eyes every damn day!"
"But you never took it farther than that."
"No, I didn't. But then I am decades older than either one of you and was not given the opportunity. Who knows what I might have done if he had batted those long golden lashes at me and flashed a dimple."
"You wouldn't have slept with a student," Emily said doggedly.
"Is that what this is? That you feel guilty? Tell me something, Emily: would you ever even consider anything inappropriate with say... Jack Simmons, or Zach Lewis, or Dan Fielding? Would it even occur to you?"
"No," Emily said at once, repulsed by the very idea.
"Of course not. Because they are children. The Simmons boy is a hulking child, true, but even though he is big, he is still an adolescent. You can easily tell in a moment he is not an adult. Now, compare that to Tom. He has a baby face, and is all gangly, but there was something about him that flatly identified him as a man. You knew that, instinctively. That is why you let things play out the way you did."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because I know you," Ada said simply. "You are a good person, with a moral compass. Was it a stupid thing to do? Of course! It could have ended horribly for you, and thank god it didn't! But don't beat yourself up for listening to your intuition when it turned out to be right! Even if the boy did end up being a snake."
"What if he wasn't?" Emily asked carefully.
"I just assumed... he left, and you didn't seem happy about it... Emily, what did happen?"
Emily looked at her friend, chewing on her lip as she decided what to say. Ada already knew the worst; what harm could it do to let her in on the rest? In a rush it all came out. The clandestine affair, the trouble with Mr. Howard, seeing Tom on Nicholas Nickleby, their disastrous fallout, all of it. Ada sat there rapt as Emily spilled the whole sordid story.
"He really punched Jim?" Ada asked when she had finished, a huge grin spread over her face.
"Twice," Emily confirmed, answering smile on her own mouth. "Hard. Knocked him flat onto the ground."
"Oh, would I have loved to have seen that."
"I could have lived without it, honestly."
"Oh, hun, I don't know what to tell you," Ada shook her head. "I don't even know whether to feel jealous of you sorry for you. Both, I suppose. Ah, to be young again."
"He's been writing me letters," Emily confessed, face reddening. "Ever since he left."
"What does he say?" Ada's eyes were huge.
"Different things. How his day is going. About the filming. That he loves me and wants to be with me."
"Well what the hell are you doing here then?" Ada stood from the desk to stare at her.
"Ada..."
"Girl, if that young man wanted me, you can bet that nothing would keep me away!"
"He's in London," she muttered.
"Did something happen to all the airplanes?"
"No... In fact..."
"In fact what, Emily? Spill it? Give a woman something to live vicariously through!"
With a sigh, Emily dug through her bag and pulled out the card she had received the day before. It was an invitation to a movie premiere in New York City. Folded along with that was a train ticket, prepaid first class, and a small note:
    "I would not wish Any companion in the world but you,      Nor can imagination form a shape, Besides yourself, to like of.
     Tom (with all thanks to Miranda in The Tempest)"
"Well," Ada smiled at her, "when shall we go shopping? You, my dear, are going to need a dress!"
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sapphira-mydnyte · 2 years
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Yugioh fandom gonna take October over...like what is Inktober anymore? HELL NAW!! We doin Kaibatober over here cuz Priest Seto/Seto Kaiba's birthday is October 25th! He is our pride, sass, rich bad boy & King of Halloween when it comes to being terrifying.
Think about it for 2 seconds...Seto Kaiba is the most feared man in Domino...he brings in the most money & has the #1 company in the world that everybody wants to work for & he pays the best of any company. Money = Power & nothing in Domino goes on without his notice. No mismanagement of money is allowed in Domino b/c he funds everything from paying the most in taxes & he pays more than his fair share for good reason. The kids must always come first in anything they plan on doing & nobody gets to get out of it. Roads stay fixed, schools are constantly updated & everything in Domino gets some of his best tech for business usage. Yes, even Yugi's grandpa gets in on the Kaiba tech to keep track of everything as far as the game shop business goes, but it's also the most heavily watched by the brash CEO.
As priest & eventually Pharaoh in the past, he was a force to be reckoned with & feared for his unbiased rage when he unleashed it, but he was also the most loved for his strong sense of justice & unwavering heart to keep the country safe. Kisara stole his heart, but because of his kindness, she gave herself to save him & gave him her power of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He kept her by his side in every battle & after Atem gave himself to lock Zorc away, he did his absolute best to not summon the Gods unless another situation like that came up. Instead of the Gods, he used the White Dragon as it had power that was dangerously close to the 3 hGods & she was enough to keep their would-be foes away. Before he died, he had all the Millennium Items sealed away with Atem & Kisara's tablet of the dragon sealed away with him so she'd be with him for good. When he died, he was buried next to Kisara & her dragon tablet was moved to tower over their graves forever. Her name is lost to him in the present, but his love for her still flows & although it's seen as obsession, there's no doubt that she remains his.
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feastofcadavers · 3 years
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Even in the most comfortable of beds, Mint couldn't seem to catch a break when it came to resting well. Though it didn't exactly help when the lights in his place of rest were flickering rapidly. Just barely opening his eyes, Mint looked into the blurry darkness that would seem to set itself alight for brief moments. It was through this haze that the musician would slowly process that this flickering was... Not normal. Blinking a few times to attempt to get some of the sleep out of his eyes, the emerald-eyed man would realize that these lights were flashing too sporadically to be caused by someone messing with the light switch. "Wha..." He'd tiredly start to speak, though soon had his eyes shoot open as he heard a distant yell. That- that sounded like someone was in excruciating pain.
Whipping himself out of bed- and nearly falling over due to the imbalance of just waking up- Mint looked around for where the sound could have come from. Aloe was in the room with him, sleeping peacefully and holding some sort of doll. He couldn't exactly make it out since the lighting was so inconsistent, but it at least wasn't the source of distress. There was a split-second idea of waking Aloe up, just in case, but... As the shrieking of pain caught in his ears again, he decided against such and just focused on the sound itself... Which seemed to be coming from outside.  There was a window in the space between the beds that the two resided in that also held a window, clear of dust and whatever else. There seemed to be sparks flying past it, coinciding with the screaming. So, what else was Mint to do? He'd approach the window, looking out into the world that wouldn't break into dawn for at least a few more hours.
And to the violinist's surprise, or rather, his shock... There was a yellow glow far beneath the window. And looking into that glow, there was... Someone. Too familiar with someone with electrical abilities, Mint could feel a weight on his heart as he heard the voice cry out again, barely recognizing the voice now that he had a visual. Lemon?! What was he doing all the way out here? Mint's expression furrowed into one of deep distress. What was causing that much pain? Screaming out into the darkness, the agony held in his voice, it... If it was something that even someone like Lemon couldn't stifle, it must've been excruciating. As the latest scream died down, the concerned onlooker could make out some sort of bag next to the sparking victim. That was-
Another scream-! This one was far louder than the others. One that sounded more like a screech that almost gave the impression that Lemon's vocal cords were tearing themselves apart. The horrific sound rang itself in Mint's ears, and he was met with the sight of... Oh- Oh for the love of- Mint could feel a similar pain shoot through his back as he saw the sight of wings tear out of Lemon's flesh. Despite the darkness, the red of blood was kept visible with the yellow glow that was speckled throughout it, highlighting the horrors and agony that one as cold as him couldn't help but fall apart under. Lemon was curling in on himself, wings seeming to glimmer as if it was some sort of newborn blessing.
Mint was finally able to pry himself away from the window, pupils trembling and his body tense as he tried to process what he just saw. His eyes wouldn't deceive him, would they? Putting a hand over his heart, he would breathlessly try to tell it to be still. He'd retract it a second later, knowing what his words implied. "Just... Just calm down... I-I... I need to..." Shutting his eyes tight and shaking his head, he'd turn away from the window and make a break out the door. What way was the exit to this place? He couldn't let Lemon suffer alone out there- Not when he had personal experience as to how painful it was and how weak one could become afterward!
Turning a corner, Mint would accidentally collide with Truffle, narrowly falling back but catching himself. "I'm- I'm sorry, I just-" "You are going to look for the source of all that screaming and these flickering lights, aren't you?" "Well, yes, but you- you see-" Mint would pause in his words, trying to properly get himself to speak. In which that effort was... marginally successful. "That- Out there is an acquaintance- Lemon, he... He just sprouted wings! I need to go and- and make sure he's taken care of!" "Ah, I see. Well then," Truffle began as she turned from Mint, softly smiling back at him, "how about we go pay him a visit and I will ensure that he is cared for? It would be rude to keep him waiting." As much as the violinist felt unease about the situation, at least Truffle was there to help- her and those spiders. He didn't question where the spiders were at this time, just... Instead focusing on making sure the two of them would get to Lemon as fast as possible.
Despite only being able to see some spindly portions of what Mint assumed to be the guide's dress, Truffle was very quick on her feet and brought the two out in no time flat. "This way-" Mint would quickly state, heading around the perimeter of the mansion. Past the graves and whatever else the Hallow's Eve addict had for decorations, Lemon was in sight, glowing bright and sparks flying from his wounds like frayed wires amidst the dark, wooded atmosphere. "Wait a moment," Truffle would interject, putting a hand on Mint's shoulder to stop them both from barging in. "There is someone in front of him- the one clad in reddish-purple, see?" The worried one would squint into the dark, and yes, there was someone else there. Someone... With a crossbow. Truffle would gently bring Mint behind a nearby tree, hiding him away from possible sight.
Mint would watch cautiously, attempting to get a better view of the one that seemed to be focused on Lemon. They were shorter than most he'd seen, but clearly not one to be messed with if the tattered cloak that covered them were any indication.
"So... You finally fucked up big time." The figure would speak, prominently irritated in tone. The voice was feminine, but held a gravelly undertone. "First Carrot, and now this? I should have shot you down the moment you decided to go after Caramel." There was a growl, the crossbow being tampered with in her hands. Mint almost brought himself out, but Truffle held onto his shoulder. "And where is he now, huh? Did your little prison break go well? I wouldn't say so, considering you're... Well... One of them now." Some mix of a scoff and a dry laugh came from the figure as she raised her crossbow and gestured idly over Lemon's body, as if deciding where to shoot. Lemon's body was visibly trembling. Not from the threat before him, but from the pain.
"I always thought you were a rebel, a dishonorable one at that. I can't believe you couldn't even stick with us hunters just because... Just because of some bitch that can't hold his own." And for once, Lemon would retort back. "You'd- you'd do the same for Carrot, Beet. Or should I call you... A hypocrite?" "Oh, shut your fucking mouth." Beet would take a step forward, aiming her weapon at Lemon's chest. Even if the sparking insect was stuck against the side of the mansion, bloodied and depleted of energy, he still had some sass in him it seemed. "At least I was able to save- to rescue someone that I care for, unlike you." "I said, shut your fucking MOUTH!"
Beet would let a bolt out of their weapon, but... It narrowly missed Lemon's head. Probably a warning shot. Probably. And at that point, Mint gave the impulse decision to run out and stand in front of Lemon- defending him. "L-listen here!" Mint would try to speak with confidence as they spread their arms to further cover Lemon- or more accurately- his wings. Though the tone of 'confident' was lacking naturally- so in a time such as this-? "I'm- I'm not going to let you kill him, who-whoever you are!" "Oooh, so now the one who nearly killed their own assistant is going to lecture me?" Mint's mouth opened, but no sound came out at such a remark. "Yeah, you heard me right. I know who you are. Most hunters do... Except for the one that ran out on us at the drop of a hat." Beet scowled, taking little time to reload her weapon and aim it once more. "I don't have time for either of you. Violin boy, if you step out of the way, I'll make your death painless. If not, then... it won't be. Simple as that." "You-” Mint’s perseverance wavered, but... “I won't let you kill either of us!" There was a pause between the two as Beet looked on inquisitively. She almost seemed mildly entertained, but that didn't stop her from raising her crossbow. "...So be it, bastard."
Three sounds were let out at once: A crossbow firing and clattering to the floor, a yip of pain, and a 'shnk' of an arrow through flesh. Beet would soon be wailing with a shower of swears to accompany it. While she had her moment, holding her arm and quickly finding that there would be more bites to come- Mint had his own ordeal. The upper part of his arm, though in the least pain of the three, had been pierced by Beet's weapon. He gasped and whined, leaning forward as his one arm gripped the other. "Ow ow ow-" He'd hiss out, eyes sealed shut as tears welled at the corners of his eyes. "W-worth it-"
After letting the pain course through him, Mint would wipe away the tears and open his eyes. To his surprise, where Beet previously stood was now a... Large white cocoon. A chill sent itself over the violinist's spine as he didn't wish to think about what could have happened in such a short time. Blink and one will miss it, he guessed. "Are you stable enough to bring yourself inside?" Truffle would gently ask, and Mint barely registered that the question was not for him. He opened his mouth to answer, but thankfully didn't embarrass himself by noticing that Truffle was behind him, helping Lemon to his feet. The poor newly cursed was forced to lean against the elder, who was stronger than she looked. Seems like the answer was no. "Well, you can't eat me anymore... so what the Hell else do I have left to lose?" He'd murmur in irritation. "Your dignity, the ones you care for, your life... There is plenty that you still have, young one." A mirthless laugh came from the elder as she would gingerly carry Lemon away, with the one being carried obviously miffed by the retort. Though Mint wasn't left unacknowledged, as Truffle would give him a motion to follow. He did so, and desperately tried to ignore the large sack of a body that he... Had a feeling wouldn't be alive for much longer, considering it was surprisingly still whilst being carried by spiders.
...At least Lemon was okay, even if there were some- Mint will guiltily admit- avoidable casualties...
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mka1098 · 3 years
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I Ask For Your Hand In Marriage - A PJO Fanfic
A Percy Jackson Royal AU Fanfiction 
Description: Percy is a prince, Annabeth is a royal overseer and they both are idiots who don’t realize they are in love. 
Hear it read aloud here ! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LY0R0M8ZiE&t=17s 
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Chapter One
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing…” 
In fact, Percy was not doing ‘nothing’. He was basically planking on a wooden stool; he had stolen it from the kitchens. “This  isn’t nothing.” Annabeth said with a pointed tone. Percy looked at her with big innocent seal eyes. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”
 Technically, he wasn’t. He was just laying on the wooden stool, swimming in the air like a normal person. Because normal people did that right? Yeahh… they totally did. 
“Where on earth did you get that?” She asked, walking over to him and crossing her arms. Her eyes were on the stool and Percy smirked up at her.
 “Oh this old thing? It’s always been here; nice to see you taking note in my decorations.” He said sarcastically. 
Annabeth frowned. “Why is this in your room.” She said tiredly. She muttered, ``I'm so tired of this, under her breath. Percy ignored it.
 “Kitchens. I wanted to teach the kids how to swim but since they have to stay by their parents, it has to be in the air. And I’ve never swam in the air so I’m practicing.” He explained.
 The corner of Annabeth’s lips raised; she was holding back a smile. “You’re a dork.” She said affectionately. Percy practically flopped around the stool; his abs were hurting from trying to stay up.
 “I’m doing good.” Percy defended himself. Annabeth ruffled his hair, making it more messy than it already was. 
“You’re always trying too.” She said with a smile. “But get up, you have other duties to perform; those that pertain to more than just the children in the kitchens.” Annabeth dragged him up and off of the stool by the front of his sleep shirt. 
“Awww.” He whined but stood up straight, reveling in the visible cringe on Annabeth's face as he stood taller than her. 
“Get that smirk off your face and get dressed. We’re meeting with the King and Queen.” Annabeth said, picking up the stool to probably go put it back. 
Percy rolled his eyes. “Those are my parents. They’ve seen me as a naked baby. I don’t think they care about me in Pjs.” He said snarkily. Annabeth narrowed her grey eyes at him. 
“It’s good to get ready anyways.” She told him, pinching the fabric of his seas themed fleece PJ pants. 
Percy stuck his tongue out at her. “Just for you.” Percy said sassily, tearing off his shirt and shrugging on a ‘nicer’ sweatshirt. It was nicer because unlike the former, it had no holes in it. Annabeth scoffed and turned around to leave the room. 
“You don’t wanna be here when I change into jeans?” Percy called after her with a devilish laugh. 
”You wish, Jackson.” Annabeth threw behind her shoulder.
Percy chuckled to himself. Not only was Annabeth his best friend, but she was also his royal overseer; it was an uproar when they announced it. The past 3 kings had the same royal overseer so it had been a shock to everyone when a randam, non-noble teenage girl had been chosen by the crown prince to take that role. But truly, she was the best option. 
For one, Percy did not listen to anyone but Annabeth. There was no way even wise old Chiron could get him to follow the old traditions that he needed too. Annabeth was able to make Percy begrudgingly put on the formal suits and perform speeches. Not only that, she was responsible, smart and organized; all things a royal overseer needed to be. Percy was so happy to have her in his life. She was the best friend ever; she dealt with him and organized everything. And she was funny and caring and never let him get away with being an idiot. They had been friends for years, 12 to be exact. Annabeth knew him better than he knew himself. 
“That took far too long.” Annabeth deadpanned when Percy stepped out of his bedroom. He stuck his tongue out at her, as all adults do. 
“No big deal.” He said, throwing an arm around Annabeth's shoulders. She shoved it off with a frown. 
“You should still look your best and be on time. Nevermind the fact that they are your parents.” She chastised. 
Percy rolled his eyes but didn’t object or talk back. “Good morning!’ He chimed to the staff; they smiled widely and greeted him with optimistic remarks. Percy had always made it a goal to make all the staff feel welcome and seen. Maybe times in the past, they were regarded as tools and Percy resented that past. 
“I overheard your father has a huge proclamation for you.” One of the staff members said with a smirk.
 Percy tilted his head to the side? “Really? They just said they wanna talk to me.” He thought out loud. 
The staff member sent him a tense smile. “Hopefully you don’t mind his proclamation.” Percy’s eyebrows crinkled together in confusion. What? Why wouldn’t he like what his father had to say? At most, it would be oh add this class to your studies, retake this class, help the general with his plans, do more royal duties. He looked over to Annabeth who was scribbling in her journal; it held all her secrets, tasks and everything. He knew this because he had stolen it once and got judo flipped in return. 
“Do you know anything?” He asked curiously. She looked up to him. “No idea.” She said drily. 
Percy couldn’t tell if she was serious or not. Either way, he had no time to figure it out because Annabeth had pushed open the throne room doors. “Ah, you’re up.” His father said with mirth in his eyes. Percy rolled his eyes like an angsty teenager. 
“No, dad I’m sleepwalking.” He replied. His father turned to his mother. 
“He gets the sass from you.” Poseidon said. 
Sally laughed. “Don’t act like you didn't contribute.” She said in a sing-song voice. Poseidon ignored that. 
“My king and queen.” Annabeth said solemnly, bowing her head
. The entire family rolled their eyes; it was ridiculous that Annabeth still felt as if she needed to bow to them or say your highness. She had practically grown up running around their halls and spoke casually to Percy. Despite all their efforts, she always used royalty manners. Poseidon cleared his throat and looked at Percy.
 “Son.” He said curtly. “Father.” Percy replied with snark; Poseidon stifled a laugh. “You are 18 now. You are an adult-” The king started. Annabeth snorted halfway through muttering, I beg to differ, your highness. Snickering, he continued. “You are going to begin to take more pressing and complex royal duties when you are 25. Starting now as a legal adult, it is important you begin to take on roles for the public to see.” Percy nodded. His parents exchanged a look. “You must find a queen.”
Percy stumbled backwards… what? He needed to what? “Now?” Percy asked in an incredulous manner. He was met with serious nods and stares. “Why now?” He practically whined. 
Percy knew he was being a brat but… they telling him he needed to find the person he’d rule next to, have children with and spend the rest of his life with… now. At age 18! He couldn’t even figure out his favorite movie, much less his permanently future wife. 
“Perseus, you of all people know how difficult it is for power exchanges to occur. Especially for Princesses from outer and different kingdom. They are deliberate and must take time. Lot’s of time, as we must start now. You need a queen. Our subjects must not be led to believe you’re underqualified to be their king.” Poseidon said strictly. He was definitely thinking of the gossiping nobles. 
Percy sighed but nodded. “I get that.” He moped. His father nodded. “But why do I need to find a queen now? I’m not taking the throne for years, I don’t need to have an heir anytime soon.” He protested.
 This time, his mother spoke. “Percy, when you start managing all of your royal duties, you work in tandem with your future queen. It wouldn’t make sense to leave that space blank. A new king and queen won’t be able to handle an entire kingdom. You need to begin your interlocking duties in the next year, so that by the time you ascent; it’s as if you’ve been ruling for years. We can’t just thrust a new queen in the middle of that entire complicated and delicate situation. Your queen will be giving her input on most all of the pressing situations and you’ll have to work on covering each other's biases. You can’t do it all alone.” Sally said with a gentle smile. 
Still Percy frowned. 
“Can’t Annabeth take over the queen’s duties and input for the time being? I don’t want to rush a relationship. She already knows what to do. She knows me well and can cover the biases or my weak areas. The royal overseer already performs duties like this. We can do it until I find a queen.” Percy tried to convince his parents but they shook their heads. 
“No, Percy. That could cause a slew of drama. You’re not going to want that and nor will your future queen.” The king said. 
“She’s my best friend and she’s fit for the role!” Percy objected. 
This time, Annabeth told him to hush. “The future queen must never be a person to be deliberated over. She must be certain. Listen to what your father is saying, there was already an uproar when I became your overseer; I do not want to even imagine the outcome of me taking on queenly duties without taking that title in the future. And more so importantly than gossip… you must marry someone of Royal status. It would be beneficial for our kingdom to have another truce. No royal-blooded Princess would want a husband who has his ‘best friend’ take over her royal duties. Must less, a commoner.” Annabeth said firmly. 
The king nodded in agreement. Percy sighed in defeat. “I don’t like this. But fine. What am I even supposed to do though?” He asked. 
Sally smiled at Annabeth. “Annabeth has lovingly and painstakingly created a plan to help you.” Percy snorted. When did she not have a plan? “She has a list of Princesses from good reputation kingdoms and has invited them to spend a day with you.” Percy sputtered. 
“Whoa so this is like speed dating or something?” 
Annabeth rolled her eyes. “No, you idiot. It’s not speed dating; who do you think I am? Each week, you will meet with one Princess for a day. If you find that you’re extremely compatible with one of them; she will be your queen.” Annabeth explained, shoving her blonde curls behind her ears.
 Percy made a silent O with his mouth. Seaweed brain, she mouthed at him. “I’d say even though it’s rather untraditional; it is a plan that has a high probability of working.” His father said.
 Annabeth nodded. “It was created with Percy in mind, your highness. Which I will admit made it difficult.” She said with a smirk. Percy squawked offendedly. “And we thank you for the plan, Annabeth dear.” His mother said kindly.
 “No one else knows him well enough.” The blonde smiled politely and bowed her head. “That is all. You two can brief on it if you’d like.” Poseidon said. Percy left after telling his parents `I love you` and kissing his mother’s cheek; Annabeth bowed, said `thank you, my king and queen` and followed Percy out the door.
That’s Chapter One! I just had an idea and ran with it. 
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btssavedmylifeblr · 5 years
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Euphoria (M)
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Jungkook x reader
angst • fluff • smut 
established relationship, time travel au
Word count: 6k
At the end of your life, you are given one day to live again with the man you loved. A lifetime’s love story told in a single day. 
Part of the Love Yourself collab
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Warnings: major character death, ambiguous ending, explicit sexual  content, and a lot of existential angst.
A/N: I cried while writing this. Several of my beta readers cried. If you don't want to think about your own mortality today, maybe sit this one out. But I think the ending is uplifting. One of my beta readers described it as "so lovely and so sad and so happy."
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If you could live one day again, which day would you choose?
Warm sunlight hits your face. You blink up into a bright light. The pain is gone. You are lighter, thinner, longer.  You hold your hand up to block the bright sun and the skin of your hand is smooth. Un-bent fingers dance across the light before your eyes. They don’t look anything like the wrinkled, calloused hands that had held your daughter’s hands only moments ago. 
You stretch, enjoying the feeling of soft cotton sheets against the smooth skin of your legs. You’re so much taller than you were moments ago, hunched over in your deathbed. Your spine is straighter. It’s joyous. A breeze blows in from the open window behind you. 
This was May. Your college apartment had no air conditioning, so you left the windows open from April to September. The air was just beginning to warm up, not yet the oppressive heat of the summer. The breeze from the window cools you. The day is as beautiful as you remember it was. It’s your twenty-first birthday. 
A groan comes from beside you, the bed shifting, and you’re afraid to look. Is this real? Will he be there? You close your eyes, afraid that when you open them again, you’ll be back in your hospital bed, forced back into the body riddled with disease, age and exhaustion.
But nothing changes. The sunlight continues to play across your young skin. The breeze stirs wisps of your hair. 
You open your eyes to find him splayed out beside you, covers tossed to the side because he always got warmer than you did. Your boyfriend, your husband, the father of your children, and companion for the rest of his life. He died in your arms five years ago, a small wrinkled old man whose eyes sparkled with mischief and whose face crinkled with laughter in the same way it did all his eighty-one years. 
But he’s not eighty-one now. Today he’s twenty-one again. And he’s beautiful. His dark hair spreads across the pillow. This was the phase where he was experimenting with growing it out, letting it get longer and longer until you finally took him in for a haircut at the insistence of his mother. His young testosterone-filled body is hard and firm, his pectoral muscles rising and falling as he sleeps beside you. 
Both of you are naked. There’s a tenderness in your lower half that makes you remember how frequently the two of you had sex at this point in your relationship. You’d been dating for six months, but had only gotten good at sex in the last month or so after a lot of awkward fumbling, figuring out what you were doing, together. 
Is this a dream? The last figments of your dying mind as your body shut down? You’re afraid to touch him, afraid your hand will pass right through him and this whole beautiful world will vanish. The voice in your head as you died had promised you one day of your choosing. And you had picked this day. One of the few days of your life you still remembered perfectly, even at eighty-six. This was the day you knew you would marry him. 
Did everyone get one last day? What day had your husband chosen when it was his time to go? You wish you could ask him. You’ve missed him every day you’ve been apart. This boy beside you won’t know though. He’s only lived a tiny fraction of the life you two will have together.
As much as you want to watch him sleep for a hundred years, you can’t bear to be apart for a second longer. You bury your face in his chest, wrapping your arms around his waist and nuzzling into his warm, slightly damp skin. 
The smell of him is overwhelming. Young and boyish, with just a hint of the cologne he use to wear. He thought it made him smell manly and you hadn’t yet told him how much you disliked it. It was still too early in your relationship for those kinds of harsh truths. But underneath the garish fake musk, is the undercurrent that is entirely Jungkook. The scent of your best friend, your lover, your children, your family, and your home. 
Tears well in your eyes. You manage to wipe them away just as he stirs awake. 
He wraps one arm around you and kisses the top of your head. His embrace is so casual compared to yours. He doesn’t feel the weight of all those years apart. You grip him like he might vanish at any moment and he just lightly strokes your arm. 
“Hey,” he murmurs, kissing you softly on the forehead and you finally look into his eyes. Dark and full of warmth, the beginnings of a smile tightening around them. His eyes are too much. They made you feel so loved, so at peace. The way he always gave you his full attention, focused entirely on you. The tears creep back in at the edges of your eyes and you lunge forward to kiss him. 
He starts to kiss you but then stops, grunting and turning his head away. 
“What’s the matter?” you ask. “Kiss me.” You grip his waist tighter, insistently pressing your lips against his.
He shakes his head, lips closed tight in an impenetrable line. “I haven’t brushed my teeth.” His words are muffled by his tightly sealed mouth. 
“I don’t care about that,” you insist, peppering his cheeks and nose with kisses as he stubbornly refuses to open his mouth. If only you could explain to him that you haven’t seen him in five years and a little morning breath was not going to stop you from getting the kisses you so desperately needed. But you’re not going to waste the precious time you have trying to convince him you’re his eighty-six year old wife from the future.
“I care!” He laughs and kisses your cheek and your forehead.
“Fine,” you huff, deciding to kiss every other part of him you can reach instead. You seek out each little mole that you know so well and kiss each one. Below his lower lip. Right cheek. Tip of his nose. Right earlobe. Left side of his neck. Scattered across his chest. Clustered around his belly button. 
His young body is so sensitive, so responsive, and you know exactly what buttons to push to rile him up the most. It’s delightful. You lick his nipple and then blow across it, just to watch him laugh and squirm. 
He’s already hard and ready to go. He always was at this age, waking up every morning with a raging hard-on that he would rub against you, hoping you would take the hint and do something about it for him. On particularly stressful work days in your twenties, you used to sneak out of bed without waking him so you had time to work before he was insisting you fuck him. You never could resist when he asked, so you had to sneak away while he was still asleep. 
But today you want to savor it. You close your eyes and breathe in the smell of him. But that’s too much of a pause for your impatient boy. 
“Hey,” he grins down at you, wiggling his erection. “Don’t leave me hanging.”
“Nope,” you tease, kissing across his belly instead of putting your lips where he really wants them. “Not until you kiss me.”
His mouth falls open in protest, but before he can sass you, you give one long lick from the base to the tip that has him tilting his head back and groaning. But then you roll off of him and giggle. 
“What? Really?”
“Kisses before blowjobs.” 
“Fine, fine,” he sits up and climbs out of bed, picking his clothes from yesterday up off the floor. 
You sigh in exasperation. “Where are you going?”
“To brush my teeth!” 
You can’t bear the thought of him leaving you alone for even a minute. Not when you had so precious few of them. 
“Ugh, fine, you stubborn boy. Get back here.”
He grins and lets you tug him back to bed by his hips. He stands at the edge of the bed as you sit on the edge of the mattress. You take his erection in one hand and his balls in the other. 
“Holy fucking shit,” he swears as you rub your thumb along his frenulum.  He was still young enough that it was an unexpected surprise to him whenever you touched his dick. “Shit, goddamn,” he groans when you slide him into your mouth.
You’d forgotten how much he used to swear in bed. When did that stop?  Sometime around when your daughter were born perhaps. Difficult to fuck hard in a room with a sleeping baby in it. Then it was all whispered words and silent touches, on those rare moments you even could. You knew each other’s touch so well by that point, words were no longer necessary. 
But here at twenty-one, your boyfriend was good at letting you know exactly how much you turned him on. The two of you were so loud and enthusiastic in your enjoyment of each other that later this month your roommates will sit you down for one of the most uncomfortable talks of your life about how the sounds of your fucking are disrupting their studying. But that’s a conversation your past self has already lived through and not a thing you need to worry about today. Today your prissy roommates can listen to you enjoy every last moment you have to the fullest. 
Had you blown him that morning sixty-five years ago? Would it matter if you changed the day? It had already happened right? You have already lived it. But you wouldn’t want to change anything even if you could. 
You savor every noise he makes, how he feels, how he tastes and smells. It’s not a blowjob twenty-one-year-old you would have been capable of. You know his body so well. It all comes back to you so quickly. The way he shakes and trembles and whines. 
The man who could fuck you for hours isn’t here yet. The man who could dominate you, flip you over and spank you, call you a slut and fuck you into the mattress because you trusted him.  This is not that man. This is a boy so in love with you and so excited at his first long-term sexual relationship that his enthusiasm spills over almost instantly. It’s endearing. 
While you had quite enjoyed the man who would handcuff you to the bed and make you beg to suck his cock, the shy young man groaning and trying not to thrust too hard into your mouth is lovely too.  You pick up his hand that he is clasping by his side and place it on the back of your head, gently encouraging him to guide you up and down his cock. Something you know he’s dying to do but hasn’t fessed up to yet. And then he’s coming. 
“Fuck,” he groans, head thrown back, legs trembling, neck gleaming with sweat. He collapses next to you after you pull off and lets out a deep contented chuckle that shakes his whole body. “You sure it’s not my birthday?”
You laugh. “So you do remember?”
“Of course!” His eyes spring open as he huffs indignantly. “Been planning this day for months!” It would seem sarcastic coming from anyone but Jungkook, but you know it’s true. 
“Come on,” you smack his flank, enjoying the firm bounce of his muscular thigh. “Let’s go brush those teeth.”
You both toss on some clothes to stumble down the hall to the shared bathroom, giggling over nothing in that obnoxious brand-new couple way. As if the two of you have discovered some new secret that no other human has ever known before.
Your old bathroom is stuffy and dirty, neither you nor your roommates disciplined enough to maintain a regular bathroom cleaning schedule. But neither you nor your boyfriend care. 
It had been a big step when you’d bought him his own toothbrush for your place a few weeks ago, and he fishes it out the medicine cabinet now. 
You finish brushing your teeth long before he does his. He was always more thorough than you about it. You take the opportunity to tease him, sneaking your hands under his shirt and tickling him. Trying to get him to hurry the fuck up and kiss you already. 
He squirms away from you, laughing as you chase him around the bathroom. 
Finally he’s spitting into the sink, then he’s cupping your chin and pulling you in for a real kiss. 
Oh, to kiss him. It washes over you how desperately your body has missed this. While some physical aspects of your relationship had dwindled over the years, his kisses never lost their potency. They were always bright and fierce, immersive in a way nothing else ever could be. You are starved for it. Tears leak from the corners of your eyes unbidden as you drown in love for him. He spots them when he pulls back from you. 
“Hey, what’s wrong?” His eyebrows lift as he searches your face for explanation. 
“Nothing.” You wish you could communicate how right everything was with the world right now.  “Nothing is wrong.”
“Are you sure?” He wipes the tears from your cheeks. 
You bury your face in his chest so he doesn’t see you cry any more. “I love you so much.”
His chest shakes with laughter as he kisses the top of your head. He tilts your chin upward so you are looking into his dark eyes. “I love you too,” he says, though he has to murmur it against your lips because you couldn’t give him space enough to say it before kissing him again. “And I’m going to spoil you rotten today.”
“Yeah? What are you planning?” 
He shakes his head. “It’s a secret.”
You smile to yourself and don’t tell him you already know all his plans. Don’t want to ruin the surprise. 
“But first,” he says, pulling his shirt off over his head. “We need to take a shower.”
He strips out of his clothes quickly, never much embarrassed around you, even at this early stage of your relationship. He catches your eye as he removes his pants and wiggles his eyebrows encouragingly. Shameless. Probably because you were never good at hiding how into him you were. Or because you had been friends for so long before you started dating. 
You’d held off on dating him for as long as you could. You knew even then that if you ever got together, you’d never date anyone else. But it had only taken one drunken hook-up of him with some other girl (you can’t even remember her name now) to make you realize you were about to lose him. 
You smack his butt as he leans over the tub to turn on the water. You liked to tease him about his nonexistent ass, one of his few physical features that could be described as less than perfect. But you loved it anyways. It would only get flatter over the years as his muscle mass decreased with age, but you would never stop grabbing it whenever he gave you a chance. 
You’ve taken so many showers with Jungkook over the years. Hundreds, maybe thousands. Sensual slow make-out sessions where you couldn’t be parted from each other and quick ones where you were running late for work and had to double up to save time. There was a particularly cold one when you moved into your first home before the water heater was installed. You had shrieked and he laughed at you. There was a particularly tense one when the two of you hid in the bathroom and ran the water so your in-laws couldn’t hear you argue. 
This is a sexy shower. Your future husband is so ridiculously hot, especially when he’s all wet. You’d almost forgotten how much of a dreamboat he used to be. Long wet dark hair dripping into his eyes until he tilts his head and tosses his hair back. College was his peak gym rat days. How you ever got so lucky is something you’ll never understand. The way he eyes you up and down and is similarly enthralled by you is more that you can deal with. 
All you have to do is kiss him under water stream from the shower head and he is ready to go again. Pressing into you, crowding you up against the wall of the shower, spinning you around and pinning you into the wall so he can rutt against your buttocks. He’s so eager. He doesn’t know you’re going to do this thousands of more times together. It’s all brand new to him. It makes it feel brand new to you too. 
To your husband’s credit, despite 60 years together, he never did get bored of you. The way he would smile and laugh and kiss you and insist on fucking you whenever you gave him one too many kisses never changed. God, you love him so much. You drown yourself in his kiss again under the running water. 
You can’t keep your hands off of him. And you want his hands all over you. You squeeze his butt cheek in your hand and delight at how he giggles. His eyes crinkle when he smiles. At this young age, the lines disappear along with his smile, but you watched those laugh lines slowly etch their way on to his face over years and years of joy together. Your precious joyful boy. How much joy he has brought to your life. 
You don’t fuck in the shower today. The two of you had not yet figured out the miracles of waterproof lube. But you do slick him up with the conditioner and let him rut against your ass as he fondles your breasts. He comes across your ass well before you’ve reached your climax, but that is fine. 
He doesn’t notice that he’s gotten off twice while you’ve gotten off zero times. Twenty-year old you had been so inexperienced, what with Jungkook being your first real boyfriend, that you hadn’t even known you weren’t orgasming for another year until Jungkook bought you your first vibrator. But you have had plenty of orgasms by now. Watching him fall apart is rarer.
When the two of you get out of the shower and dry off, he finally asks “Don’t you want to know what I have planned for today?”
You laugh. “I assume you’ll tell me when you want to.” You already know though. There's a reason you came back to this specific day. But you play along though. “What should I wear?”
“Something casual,” he replies, removing the towel from his waist tossing it onto the bed. You will later have an argument about his habit of leaving wet towels on your bed so that your whole bed ends up damp, but it’s not important today. 
He finds what must be his clothes from last night - skinny jeans with holes in the knees, a white t-shirt and big bulky grey sweatshirt. You smile at the sweatshirt, pleased to see it in its prime again. Ever since you told him how much you liked to cuddle him in that sweatshirt, he’d worn it as frequently as he could get away with. Later in your life together, you would steal it when he was away on business. The two of you traded it back and forth for years, you always handing it back whenever it stopped smelling like him, wearing it until holes formed in the collar and wrists.  He kept it tucked into the back of his dresser for years even after he stopped wearing it. You found it again as you were emptying your house after he died, sniffing it for one last whiff of him. But he was gone. 
So as soon as he gets his sweatshirt over his head, you are tackling him to the bed, inhaling deeply and fighting back the tears that well in your eyes. You wonder what will happen to the sweatshirt now that you are also dead. Your children have no use for a holey sweatshirt. You won’t blame them for consigning it to the recycling pile.  
You leave the apartment and pile into his car. You make a big show of being surprised and delighted when the two of you pull into the zoo. The zoo was one of your favorite places and Jungkook would happily let you drag him from exhibit to exhibit, smiling at you while you watched the animals with delight. 
The weather is perfect today. You remembered it was but were worried your rose-colored memories of the day had fooled you into coming back to a rainy day. But no, it’s sunny and warm, with a slight breeze, winter’s chill just beginning to leave the air. 
Your first stop is the gorilla exhibit. They were your favorites.  And it wasn’t legal to keep gorillas in zoos anymore by the end of your life.
“Look!” Jungkook points at a big sign in front of the enclosure. “The gorilla has the same birthday!”
The big silverback gorilla, who was apparently named Quan, was sitting in front of a big ice sculpture shaped like a cake and filled with frozen fruit. A string of frozen blueberries traced out a big 30 on top of the ice cake. The gorilla was older than you. Sort of. 
Do gorillas know they are going to die? As Quan sits munching contentedly on a piece of watermelon and surveying his kingdom, he doesn’t seem too bothered about being a year closer to the end of his life. You wish you had taken turning thirty with as much grace. Perhaps it is better to not know that your time is limited. 
Jungkook squeezes your hand, grin spreading across his face. “So where should we go next, my love, my precious, the light of my life?”
The two of you had begun referring to each other in exaggeratedly grandiose ways after your friends criticized him for “dropping the L-bomb” too early and getting too serious too fast. Those goofy ironic nicknames would end up sticking with you for the rest of your life.
“What do you want to see, love of my life, my dearest sweetheart?” you tease, squeezing his hand back. 
He shrugs. “I just like watching you.” 
That was it. That moment where he turned to you, glowing in the warm sunlight, hair ruffled by the breeze, and looked at you like you were the most important thing in his whole universe. That was the moment you knew you were going to marry him. The world was perfect and you wanted it to be this way forever. 
Twenty-one-year old you was dumb, of course.  You both were. Dumb and in love, with no idea of the struggles coming for you. The arrogance of youth let you believe you could predict exactly how your life would go from here. 
Your life together wasn’t perfect, no lives ever are. There were ups and downs and moments you almost called it quits. But the good days out-numbered the bad and for that, you owe him your life. There’s still no one else you would have rather spent it with. 
You swallow down a lump in your throat and steer him over toward the marmosets. 
You drag him to every single exhibit, even the petting zoo where a goat tried to eat his camera, not wanting to leave until you absolutely had to, knowing that when you were done here, the day was nearly over. 
But all too soon, he’s checking his watch and tugging you toward the exit. “We have to get home and change if we’re going to be on time for dinner.”
“Wait, there’s more?” you ask, feigning surprise so that he grins mischievously. 
“Oh my love, we’re just beginning.”
He drops you at your apartment, promising to be back in thirty minutes.
You race inside to get ready for the night. You throw on the little black dress you bought for this occasion, picked out special with your girlfriends when he had told you you’d be going somewhere fancy on your birthday. It would hang in your closet for the next forty years, never worn again, but making you think of this night whenever you saw it. 
You examine your young body in the mirror of your college bedroom. When you were twenty, you saw yourself as full of flaws. You wanted to be thinner, prettier, with clearer skin and stronger arms and better hair. But now that you look at yourself with your eighty-six year old eyes, you can’t see those flaws at all. You were so young, healthy and strong, with a body doing everything bodies are supposed to do. How much time of your life had you wasted telling yourself you weren’t good enough?
You check your watch. 6 o’clock. Six hours left. If that. You don’t know when this last day ends. Are you the mortal equivalent of Cinderella, turning into a pumpkin at midnight?
You sink down on your bed, as you contemplate all your wasted time. What was the point of all those things you used to worry about? You look at the big wall calendar you kept on your desk, covered in deadlines that had caused you so much stress. Papers you should have written sooner, readings you shouldn't have skipped. Things you felt so much guilt and anxiety over. What was the point? 
 If you were going to die and Jungkook was going to die and all the gorillas are going to die and your children will die and your children’s children will die and the earth will dry and crack and fall into the sun and the universe will disperse into nothingness, what was the point of living at all?
Where is Jungkook? Why are you spending a moment away from him when these are the only moments you have left? You call him, counting each ring until he picks up. Your voice cracks when you ask where he is. 
He’s leaving his apartment now. He’ll be there soon. There’s no way to explain to him how precious these moments are. 
You are going to die. Or maybe you are already dead. Perhaps this fantasy is merely the death throes of your dying mind. Were you ready? To not exist? What did it feel like? 
You had thought you were ready. When you had been dying the day before, struggling for each breath, you were ready for the pain to end. But now you are losing everything all at once, all over again.
Jungkook calls when he is outside and you shake your head, racing to meet him at the front door. You pause at the top step of the stairs so he can see you come down them from where he waits at the bottom. The big grin that spread across his face drives the dark thoughts from your head as you hurry down the stairs. 
“You look gorgeous,” he says, leaning in to kiss you on the cheek. 
He looks gorgeous too, smartly dressed in the first suit he ever bought himself. 
He takes you to one of the most famous restaurants in town. Weird experimental food and a fancy fixed price menu. The first time he took you on this date 60 years ago, you had no idea how he could afford it. You didn’t find out until many years later that he had begged his parents for the money and spent his whole spring break repainting his uncle’s house in repayment. 
“Why are you so good to me?” you ask, taking his hand across the white linen table cloth and squeezing it. “You don’t have to try this hard.”  
He laughs. “I finally got you to go out with me! I’m not going to lose you by going half-assed.” 
You squeeze his hand again. “You’ll never lose me.” It might sound like an empty promise to the couple sitting at the next table over, but you know its the truth. You’ll be by his side from this day until the day he dies. It’s you who loses him in the end. You fight back tears as you tell him again how much you love him. You’re not sure why he loved you so much. But he did and you felt it every day. 
After dinner, Jungkook has one more surprise. A hotel room. 
“Is that weird?” he asks, rubbing the back of his neck. “Is it like I’m assuming we’re going to have sex?”
You laugh. “I had sex with you twice this morning. And twice yesterday.” 
“So it’s too much? We don’t have to.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You better rail me into that overpriced mattress, Jeon Jungkook.”
The view from the room is amazing and definitely too expensive for your boyfriend. The two of you make out on the bed with the view spread out before you. 
But then he is pausing and grimacing. “Weird food,” he groans as he rubs his belly. “I’ll be right back.” And then he heading for the bathroom, leaving you alone. Even on your last day on Earth, not everything can be perfect. 
You get up to look out the windows. You remember standing in this window 64 years ago. You had believed then that the two of you would conquer the world together. Change the whole universe. But the city below you and the world beyond look very much the same as they did decades later, unchanged by your existence. 
Some of your plans had been successful, some hadn't. Some of your dreams had come true, some had been set aside to make room for obstacles you never saw coming. Dreams of changing the world set aside for day-to-day happiness. 
And now there is no more life to live in front of you. This is the last of it. You begin to cry. 
Jungkook comes up behind you and wraps his arms around your waist, kissing your tear-stained cheek. “What’s wrong?”
“What if none of it works out?” You blubber, unable to stop yourself.
His forehead wrinkles in confusion. “None of what?”
You shake your head, unsure of what you are grieving exactly, but feeling the loss of all those possibilities. “What if it was all for nothing?”
Jungkook rests his chin on your shoulder. “Why are you worried about that today?” He squeezes you tighter. “Twenty-one isn’t old, you know.”
You contemplate the future of man next to you. Did you hold him back? Could he have done so much more without you?
“I decided I was going to marry you today.” You have to tell him. He has to know. It’s not like it changes anything. You’ll both still age and die. It’s already happened. But you need him to to know. “But what if I ruin your life?” 
Jungkook laughs. “You are my life, you ridiculous girl.” He grasps your chin and turns it away from the window to look into his eyes. Sympathetic tears well in his eyes too. Your sweet sensitive boy. “Worry about the future tomorrow, okay?” He kisses you with every ounce of feeling he has, scooping you up into his arms and carrying you over to the bed. “What can I do to make you feel better?”
You kiss him back desperately, fingers clinging to his shirt. You need to not think anymore, just a few minutes where the weight of the end of your life isn’t hanging over you. “I need you to fuck me like it’s our last night on Earth.”
He grins. “I can do that.”
You dive into him, desperate to lose yourself. The taste of his mouth. The warmth of his skin. You rip your clothes off as fast as you can, needing nothing between you. 
He dives into you, desperate to prove himself. You wrap your legs around him, welcoming him inside you. 
His touch lingers. His pace is slow. You want him to fuck you harder, but then it will be over sooner. Your breath and his synchronize. Your heartbeat slows to match his. 
You know his body so well. You know when he is reaching his end. You lead his hand downward, placing your fingers on top of his, showing him exactly how to touch you to bring you to your climax at the same time as his. 
It’s the first orgasm he’ll see from you and it’s your last. And for a moment, you forget you are going to die. 
He empties himself into you, gasping for breath, sweat trailing down his neck. He collapses on top of you and you hold him close. His heartbeat thumps through your body. A long still moment elapses, the two of you entwined in each other.
But then he is sliding out from inside you. He chuckles as he rolls over, sighing and folding his arms behind his head. “Well,” he says, yawning. “If this was my last night on Earth, I would die a happy man.”
You burst into sobs, wracking your whole frame. Your curl into his side and weep for everything you are losing. 
“Oh! Oh no!” He tries to sit up, but can’t with your tight grip on him. So he wraps his arms around you and kisses the top of your head, which is all he can reach. “What’s wrong? Was it not a good day?”
“No, Jungkook,” you whisper, finally looking up at him. “It was a good day. It was perfect. Thank you.” 
He nods, satisfied with himself, eyes drifting closed. "It was a good day."
You glance over at the clock. There’s only a few minutes left to midnight. 
Jungkook’s breathing softens as he falls asleep, unbothered by the ticking of the clock. He still has his whole life to live. Unlike you. You want to fall asleep in his arms, but you don’t know if you’ll wake up again. 
Maybe you could just never fall asleep. Maybe if the day never ends, then your life never has to be over. You can just watch him sleep, wrapped in his arms forever. 
But then the edges of the room begin to darken and blur. You hold on tighter to the man you love. A voice calls to you from the darkness that is closing in around you. It’s muffled, like from deep underwater.
It’s time to go.
You shake you head, squeezing the boy next to you tighter, but the world is already slipping between your fingers. “No, I don’t want to go. Please no.”
It’s okay. 
You cling to your husband, the love of your entire life, and can’t bear to part with him. “Please, just a little more time.”
It will be okay. 
“How do you know that? How do I know you’re not some figment of my imagination? What if there is nothing left beyond this?” You begin rising from the bed against your will, feeling the pull of the dark, more and more of the room beginning to disappear in a cloud of smoke. You cling to Jungkook’s hand where he sleeps on the bed.
The voice crystallizes, unmuffled and clear, ringing through the darkness. The voice of your husband.
I promise, my love. It’s all going to be okay. 
You take a deep breath. You let go. 
----
You are the sunlight that rose again in my life
A reincarnation of my childhood dreams
I don’t know what this emotion is
If this place is also inside a dream
This dream is a blue mirage in the desert
A priori deep inside of me
I’m so happy, I can’t breathe
My surroundings are getting more and more transparent
I hear the far-away ocean
Across the dream, over the horizon
I’m going to the place that’s getting clearer
Take my hands now
- BTS “Euphoria”
5K notes · View notes
avanalae · 4 years
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Hayden’s Cat
Here we go, all! Welcome to my fanfic for the glorious webcomic that is Hayden’s Notes! Please see the comic here on Tapas and check out the lovely creator, Yufei, here on Tumblr.
I warn you now that this is pretty much 5k words of pure self-indulgance. I wanted to write sass-baby Hayden with his reluctant softness taking care of something I made up so I could have a way of smothering and mothering the brat. So this is focused on Hayden and her, though Cat and Shy play a part, too, to varying extents.
So yeah, if that makes you interested at all, please enjoy! I’m not expecting many notes on this, but I didn’t write this for attention. I wrote it for myself and Yufei.
Fandom: Hayden’s Notes Characters: Hayden Carter, Cat, Shy, Original Female Creature Warnings: Mention of poaching and harm to creatures Rating: G Summary: Hayden is good at getting himself into messes and somehow coming out mostly alright in the end, sometimes even with a bonus! Things like a new artifact to examine, a riddle to solve, or a mystery to puzzle out. Or, sometimes, a new friend.
___
It had been entirely unintentional.
Completely and utterly coincidental.
Honestly.
Alright, so maybe he has a problem sticking his nose into things but that’s not a bad quality. People are curious by nature, after all. But maybe in his case it leads to more problems than anything else.
But no matter how hard he tries, no matter his attempts to not get involved, what happens?
He gets involved.
_
Hayden had been on the hunt for a rare artifact making the rounds through the black market in town. Something like a monkey’s paw, according to the rumors, but rather more catastrophic. It sounded terribly interesting when he first heard of it, and he isn’t in the habit on denying himself. Day three into his investigation leads him to a warehouse. Obvious and so typical Hayden nearly feels his interest drop into nonexistence, but he plows on.
As it turns out, though, he’s going to have to reconsider the source this tip came from. Not only is the artifact not here, but he almost stumbles right into the middle of an illegal creature circus. Scrambling out of sight and cursing himself for not noticing the silencing wards sooner, he takes a moment to assess the situation.
He should leave.
In fact, he takes two whole steps back the way he came, fully intending to do just that.
But then there’s a crack of a whip and a pained trill from the stage. He looks back and seals his fate. This is going to be annoying.
After a heavy sigh and running his hands through his hair several times, he straightens and takes stock of himself. Not much in the way of supplies, unfortunately, just the standard things he takes when he leaves his house. Which, granted, is much more than the average person would have on hand, but is not nearly enough to easily take on this whole mess. So, he uses one of his emergency disillusion spells with a sigh at the cost of having to replace it.
He keeps them on hand because so many places, especially the not so legal ones, use detection spells for things like invisibility. However, because they are so often in use (usually in said illegal places), they often don’t check for most illusions.
He has only half an hour before it wears off, so he gets moving.
_
Hayden is very frustrated.
He swats at the shisa snapping at him from its cage once again, only making the lion-dog growl harder. While not actually part lion, they usually reflect similar mannerisms of them. However, they are dogs and are beasts meant to ward off evil spirits. A double whammy. At least the hellhound is only staring intently at him, pacing restlessly in its own cage. He’ll set their cages to release after he’s long gone.
The birds had been easy enough to free, and he sacrificed another item to send an illusion out to the stage for the daltokki he had already released. There aren’t many more creatures after that, and most of them don’t even acknowledge Hayden as they flee. Whatever, he’s not used to being thanked, anyway.
Finally, he gets to the last cage (aside from the dogs, of course). It’s a small one on top of a crate. Inside is a young cat, likely not quite a full adult yet. Its curled up, staring at him, and Hayden takes a closer look. Its fur is dark brown, almost black, with bright eyes that are fully blue. There’s a slight darker hue that follows his movements, hinting at a separate pupil or the like.
Its unhealthily skinny and shaggy, with- oh. He steps closer, not responding to the tensing and hiss he receives. He can see ragged stumps on its back.
A katzengeist, he thinks as he runs through what he knows. A very reclusive and relatively solitary species. Not necessarily malicious but most definitely mischievous, typically heavily distrustful of humans. Generally small shapeshifting spirits with coveted illusionary capabilities, relatively limited power over the elements, and other minor abilities. They are born as cats with wings, though they can take many shapes as they grow in age and ability, they often have a preferred form aside from that one.
As it is, this one should be able to use its abilities to heal itself, to mend its wings and escape. However, Hayden is quite sure it is currently unable to. He glances between the undernourished form, weak trembling, and the iron cage. Signs that it wouldn’t be able to escape, let alone survive on its own for now.
He sighs and mentally rolls his eyes at himself. He is going much too soft. None of the others had been in good shape either, but at least they could run away. “Hey, if I release you, will you allow me to take you home and treat you?”
The swishing tail stills, and the threatening rumble stops. It stares at him incredulously.
“Come on, we don’t have much time. I can show you my home and you can stay there until you recover.” Its tail flicks once but otherwise it remains still. “You won’t be alone, of course. Other creatures stay with me or tend to come and go.” There’s faint noise coming from the stage now, clapping, possibly.
Hayden gives it a moment, trying to be patient. It pays off when the katzengeist huffs and relaxes. He nods and opens the cage quickly, helping it out of the confined space. With the catlike creature in his arms, he takes one last once-over of the room and checks the cages with the growling shisa and the tense hellhound.
Then he’s gone, hurrying away so the dogs can escape in time. He may hate the beasts, but he hates abusive humans more.
_
The katzengeist is mostly limp in his hold, but the weight is hardly an issue with its unhealthy size. He gets some struggle when he maneuvers it to check for immediate injuries and barely dodges another scratch to the face when he checks for gender. “Sorry, sorry, just wanted to check. I didn’t think you’d be up for answering me right now, don’t give me that look.” He gets an annoyed huff in response. “Besides, I didn’t want to keep calling you ‘it’ in my head when there was an easy way to check. I imagine I won’t be getting your name anytime soon, so I guess I’ll call you ‘Little Lady’ for now, if that’s fine.”
He’s almost to the library when he finally gets a response. So long, in fact, that he doesn’t realize what it was a response to, at first. But she goes limp in his hold and whacks his arm with her tail. A reluctant agreement, but agreement, nonetheless. She stays compliant as he adjusts her to dig his key out of his pocket and open the door to his place.  
“Welcome to my humble abode!” Hayden says dramatically, spreading the arm that isn’t holding Little Lady with some flair as they enter. Tossing the keys aside he strides over to the stairs. “I’m sure you’ll like it here, for however long you end up staying. You’ll meet everyone in time, it’d take forever to try and introduce you, considering how often they all like to hide away or come and go.” When he reaches the bottom, it’s unusually quiet. Not very surprising, it often is when someone else comes in with him, let alone someone or something unknown.
“Everyone, this is Little Lady. We’re going to help her heal for a bit until she feels ready to go, alright?” Lady’s tail twitches at the shift in the aura of the room. It’s not benign, but it’s welcoming enough to assure Hayden that no one or nothing is going to jump out right now. “See, it’ll be okay. I’m sure you’ll all get along fine.”
Hayden carries Little Lady over to the small table he set aside for treating injuries. A little health station of sorts. Not that he usually needs it, but it’s handy to have in situations like this. The young katzengeist is docile as he treats her, cleaning her up the best he can before covering the wounds. He’ll assume for now that until she’s stronger things will be slower to heal.
“Alright,” he comes back to check on her, “I’ve set up a little corner for you that you can adjust to your liking.” He holds out his hands and she sighs before leaning into him so it’s easier to pick him up. He holds her gently and carries her over to the basket where he’d added several soft blankets, towels, and other scraps he could find. The basket is a large thing from an old job, so he thinks it’ll work fine if she decides to grow some more while she’s here. “I added what I could find on short notice. You can poke around later to see if there’s anything you’d like to add. I just ask that you leave anything that looks like it’s being used or is in the closet alone.”
She pokes around at the cloth as she settles in, nudging things around as she adjusts her new temporary nest. “I’m sure you’ll leave the artifacts and such alone. I’m not sure why anyone would want things like that in their beds, regardless of having seen the things I have.” He grimaces at the thought but is quickly distracted as she finishes curling up. She’s mostly buried under the blankets, but she seems quite comfortable. “Alright, I’ll leave you to get some rest. I’ll have some food for you in the morning, sorry that I don’t really have anything right now. There’s water for you here,” He gestures to a small bowl near the basket and stands to stretch.
He walks away to get ready to meet with his own bed at last. Once he’s tucked under the covers, he finds himself listening for the soft breathing of his new tenant. It’s soft, but not nearly as labored as it was, with the occasional sigh along with the rustle of the blankets when she shifts.
His fingers find a familiar scar to rest on.
“Humans truly are… the cruelest of species, aren’t they?”
_
The next week isn’t too unusual, even with his new visitor. Little Lady is rather quiet and hardly leaves her little nest except to eat, use the facilities (she’d nearly bit him when he suggested a litterbox so he just leaves the bathroom available for her), and sit near him on occasion when he’s working on a project.
Shy had come out the third day of her stay and they had hit it off surprisingly well. His familiar is the only one she’ll let close, though that’s not a surprise, considering how cute the shadow speck can be. She also seems to at least tolerate the calbri – an ancient spirit that takes the form of a hummingbird – that he had stolen from poachers to study before returning it home. It’ll flutter around her and occasionally she’ll let it rest on her head.
Like he thought, she was getting stronger quickly. She moved much better, often hopping up on the table to see what he’s working on, and her wings had almost fully reformed. She appeared to have wings similar to a blue morpho butterfly, and he was hoping that she’d let him take a look before she left. He’d not seen one with insect wings before, though really, he’d only seen two and that was on accident and didn’t end well for him, so he probably shouldn’t count it.
_
Two weeks in, he brings home a pod.
When Cat first blooms, Little Lady starts sitting by its pot more often. Cat grows more quickly than a regular plant, of course, but she hardly seems to leave its side before it is 3 feet tall and much more active. Hayden is already growing fond of the pretentious little plant. It has plenty of personality, that’s for sure, and seems to be quite happy with him.
Speaking of, however… He glances at Lady. She’s almost completely healed at this point. Her wings are fully formed again, large and glimmering. She has put on weight, looking much healthier and is moving without any issue. But something seems to be holding her back, something that is weighing on her. Perhaps she’s thinking about asking to stay.
Hayden rubs the back of his neck.
He guesses he wouldn’t mind. She’s not usually any trouble, at least not to him. She is quite the trickster and gives as good as she gets when the others prank or pester her, but she doesn’t usually go out of her way to do so unless she’s quite bored or has a reason. She seems to enjoy spending time with him quietly, as well, considering how often she sits with him as he works. She has also started greeting him at the door, of all things. Sure, it’s from a few feet away, but when he gets back, she’s there waiting. She’ll watch as he eventually makes his way downstairs before moving and leaping down to continue with whatever she’d presumably been doing before he’d returned.
It’s nice, in a way. The waiting and quiet company.
And Hayden was aware enough of his own selfishness that he understands he doesn’t want to give that up.
_
Three weeks later and Cat has continued to grow. Shy and Little Lady continue to grow closer, and really start involving Cat with things. It’s hilarious to watch, because Cat has a way of bringing Lady’s childish side out; he’ll find her leaping from vine to vine on Cat as Shy chases her or the other way around. Things like that. He smiles when he sees it, it’s good for such a young creature to start acting more her age.
To show that the fight hasn’t left her.
_
A month in, he notices Little Lady stares at him more frequently when she thinks he isn’t looking.
One night he spots her on the way to get a drink. She sits upstairs, looking at the door. Just sitting, staring at the door, almost completely still aside from the occasional twitch of her tail.
The next morning, he catches her looking at him again but this time she doesn’t look away. She stares at him intently, her tail flicking twice.
He quirks a smile and tilts his head at her but doesn’t say anything.
Guess there’s no getting rid of her now.
_
Several days after she had decided to stay, Hayden is working on a project. He’s focused intently on the sculpture in from of him, trying to decrypt the runes carved into the sides. His head is propped up against a fist while the other hand taps the pen he holds against the table. He’s aware of Little Lady being on the table with him, she’d been there for a while and was watching Cat when he last looked.
He blinks at a tap against his arm. He turns his head, not bothering to move otherwise, yet. He chokes a bit when he comes face-to-face with Little Lady. She is sitting right next to the arm he’s propped his head on, her tail tapping at him as it sways. He stills, watching her, and she… she noses at his hand.
Hardly daring to move much, he slowly lifts his head and turns his hand just a bit-
And she leans in, her head fitting easily into the curve of his fingers. He scratches absent-mindedly, eyes sharp as she closes hers, letting him pet her for several minutes. He indulges her, relaxing a bit more himself, and manages a laugh when she butts her head against his hand to stop him. She turns and hops off the table, then, and pads off to do who-knows-what.
Hayden rubs his thumb and forefingers together, smiling. He can’t help but be glad at this moment, the first where she approached him instead of allowing contact for any number of reasons. But he knows what this means.
He’s the only one around here with human hands, after all, and nobody gives better scritches.
_
The sock in his hands is just a regular sock, he thinks.
Hayden stretches the material again, trying to identify what happened. He’s sure he had discarded this sock and its twin when the holes had become too bothersome. They were one of his favorite pairs, so he’d been reluctant to part with them, but sentimentality doesn’t help with blisters. Yet here they are, in much better condition.
He squints harder at it and takes off the one he’d just put on before noticing this to look at as well. They’ve been mended, it looks like, with some skill. They aren’t perfectly fixed, having been used far too long and far too much, but they could definitely withstand some more wear. He can’t help but try and puzzle it out, running his fingers along the fabric to find that they’ve been darned with thread, the color an almost exact match.
What or who would be mending his clothes? And how? And, actually, the better question would be why?
He decides to keep an eye out for now.
_
Little things go missing, sometimes, though certain things reappear after a while. His clothes, specifically.
On one memorable occasion, he’d thought he’d misplaced a shirt he’d unfortunately be stabbed through on a job. But one morning as he was getting dressed, he found it hanging in his closet, as pristine as it could have been. Not a speck of blood or sign of the rip. Well, not quite, as he can feel the slight bump of the stitching when he looks for it, but close enough. Suddenly mad with curiosity, he throws himself into his closet. He doesn’t have much in the way of clothes, so it doesn’t take too long in comparison to some other things he’s done spur-of-the-moment.
Hayden finds that 3 of his shirts have been fixed aside from that one, along with half of his pants and most of his socks.
“What is…?” He narrows his eyes and thinks. There are only so many creatures in his apartment right now aside from him, and not all of them would be able to do things like this. And he’s not sure on how many of those would be willing to or want to do such a thing.
He thinks further, looking back on the last week as well as he can. He’d been out on RSS business for a few days and had come back quite annoyed, but with a new, exciting project successfully snatched out from right under Wolfe’s nose. He’d been rather absorbed in that, but now that he thinks about it…
He glances over to the table by his bed. The glass he’d left there last night is gone. Half-dressed, he jogs over to the sink, and spots it quickly – washed and placed on the shelf with the few other dishes he has. He makes his way around the rooms, finding little, innocuous things. The blanket draped over his favorite chair has been neatened, folded, and laid more purposefully.  The papers he’d scattered on the table in his search for a specific one are in neater piles, similarly to where they had been before his impatient search.
The chair at the worktable scrapes against the floor when Hayden falls into it. He hides his face in his hands, rubbing in sudden frustration. How, exactly, had he not noticed this? “Ugh,” he pulls on his own cheek in punishment, “I can’t believe this. Is this some sort of prank?” He sighs and slumps further. Cat prods him with a vine and he doesn’t bother to react to it, too caught up in thoughts of an invader or some sort of-
“Urk-“ he chokes as he’s yanked back, the chair almost tipping too far before it lets go and he manages to fumble for balance. “Cat!” He turns and glares, but Cat only whacks him on his forehead. He covers the stinging with one hand, “What in the world is going on with you?”
Suddenly Shy hops up from the table to his shoulder, making questioning noises.
“What, I,” Hayden blinks, “I, uh, I’m fine.” Cat raises another vine and he jumps back, almost sending the chair over again, “I am! I’m just, well.” He weakly waves a hand at the room at large. “Have you guys noticed the whole…” he waves some more, searching for the words, “cleaning, uh, fixing… thing?”
He trails off and waits for any response, but Shy blinks off his shoulder and Cat very obviously turns her attention to other things.
Huh.
Well, the fact that they blatantly know what’s going on is sort of encouraging. In its own way.
Kind of.
_
In the end, it takes an embarrassing week of trying to figure it out, one job from the RSS turned down (much to uninteresting), subtle and not-so-subtle interrogation of his “flat mates,” and rather more spells than he thought he’d have to use, he finally gets it.
In the end, all it took was just paying more attention. Which is so much harder than people think or say it is, Hayden swears.
He started paying more attention to the things that appear around him. A fruit or other easy to prepare and eat snacks happen to appear on the table when he gets caught up in something and misses meals. Sometimes things he’s quite sure he didn’t get on the last grocery run will appear, which is even more interesting. Things he’s searching for, like his chisel or a dropped screw, will be easier to find or will show up in places he thought he’d already looked. However, it’s usually just small things, but that might also be because it’s typically harder to lose something large.
All these little things start adding up and eventually Lady Luck pokes him at just the right moment.
_
It’s the middle of the night when it happens, and since Hayden’s been a bit more high-strung recently due to the mystery, he wakes when he hears a subtle noise. He blinks sleepily, but registers another noise before he moves, so he plays dead while trying to look around as best he can. There’s a bit of a shimmer in the corner and he blinks away the last little bit of sleep.
There’s a little ball of faelight floating just above a small figure, sitting on the cabinet in the corner. It’s rather humanoid, and Hayden wishes he had his glasses on, but he does his best. It looks a bit childlike, but another minute makes him tentatively decide on female, at least in mannerisms. Dark brown hair curls around her shoulders and luminescent blue eyes focus on what in front of her. She’s wearing a simple cover, possibly some plain tunic that is sleeveless and covers her down to the knee. He looks for the ears but can’t see them from this distance or through her hair.
He suddenly notices she’s holding a sewing needle, one that is probably as big as her arm, and Hayden realizes it’s a standard needle. He didn’t realize he had any outside of the ones used for stitching wounds. Unless that’s what it was, but he can clearly see fabric around her once he looks. She fumbles with the large (comparatively) implement for a moment before focusing and running the needle through the cloth.
It’s certainly an odd thing to see and he doesn’t realize what exactly he’s watching until she shifts, and little wings furl out to help her lift off the table as she pulls the stitch tighter.
He chokes and she startles, dropping the needle and darting into the shadow of the cabinet’s shelves.
Bolting upright, Hayden does his best not to fall off the bed, “W-Wait!” He stands, but falters in his first step forward. Swallowing, he stops, scratching at his cheek. There’s no noise or movement, all but the two of them fast asleep, though Cat seems to be stirring at his quiet outburst. He looks over, a bit closer and at a better angle now that he’s standing and sees the familiar bundle of his coat.
“That’s…” he sighs, and his hand rises to run through his hair. “Sorry for startling you like that, Little Lady.”
She doesn’t respond, but there’s a slight shift in the shadow.
After a minute of the quiet, he steps back and sits on the edge of his bed. “You don’t have to come out, but can I talk?” No response. “You’re sneakier than I gave you credit for, that’s for sure. I didn’t notice until about two weeks ago that something was up. Who knows how long you’d been doing it! It’s quite impressive.
“It really threw me for a loop, you know. I never bother with such things, myself, and haven’t really had anyone to do those kinds of things for me… well, let’s just say a long time since I’d even thought about it.” He looks over to Cat, who is definitely awake, and has little tendrils creeping towards the both of them. He doesn’t know for what, though, so he keeps on guard. “And I’m sure you’ve been going out to get things, like the fruit and nuts I’m positive I’ve never gotten before. And the mending…” He looks back over to the jacket, and then back at the shadow she’s hiding in. “Thanks, Little Lady.”
The shadow brightens, just a bit, with a soft blue glow before dimming quickly.
Hayden sighs, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have surprised you like this. I certainly didn’t intend too. I’ll leave you be.” One of Cat’s vines tickles his ankle and he lifts his foot away, bringing his legs up onto the bed. “I bet you knew about this, didn’t you, Cat?” It’s a rhetorical question, but Cat’s rumble is evidence enough.
He turns and pulls the covers back up, trying to let go of the surprise and other, lingering emotions so he can get back to sleep. He can see a faint light through his closed eyes at some point, but he lets himself just fall into sleep that had quickly started tugging at him.
_
The next day, his coat is hanging on the rack and Lady is nowhere to be found in any form.
_
Hayden starts growing concerned when a week passes and he still hasn’t seen her. The little things keep happening, especially the snacks when he gets distracted, but they aren’t as frequent. He’s a bit of a talker anyway, so he’ll occasionally mention something like he would if she were there or will say thanks for the snacks when they appear. Unfortunately, Wolfe decides to drag him out one day for a case and it takes a few days before he can escape back home. He doesn’t have any new toys, but he does have some interesting information to mull over for a while.
He lets out a gusty sigh when he closes the door behind himself, tossing his keys aside and his coat in the direction of the rack. He stumbles down the stairs, half tired and half annoyed at Wolfe, straight to the kitchen area for a drink. “I’m home,” he manages after a long draft of water, patting Cat’s head when it curls around him.
Wandering over to his bed, he sits on the edge, contemplating going to sleep for the night this early when he catches something. He blinks and looks over to the bed-side table and sees Little Lady. She’s sitting on the edge of it, looking up at him with those big, blue eyes. The cup he’d set down on the table is full of water once more and there’s a damp cloth next to it.
She watches him closely as he reaches out and takes the cloth, surprisingly warm and damp, though not wet enough to drip. He cleans his face of the dust and grime, feeling better for it. He keeps it in his hands as they drop to his lap and he looks at her, taking in more of the details. Her thick hair is has bit of a curved cut, falling to the just to the base of her neck in the back and to her clavicle in the front. It curls slightly at the ends, the newer, shorter hairs by her face curl cutely against her cheeks. The tunic is as plain as he thought it was and is a bit ragged. He doesn’t want to ask where it came from, having a bit of an idea already.
“Hey, Little Lady, good to see you.” She looks down and kicks her bare feet a little. Her wings are lax, drooping against the table and he hopes that means she’s not about to dart away. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
She looks up at him again, still kicking her feet. He stares when she opens her mouth.
“Lia.”
Her voice is a bit bell-like, though still a soft tone. He wonders if that was always her name, but it doesn’t matter, does it?
“Nice to meet you properly, then, Little Lia.”
He can’t help but chuckle when she huffs and looks down again, a bit of a blush on her cheeks despite her frown. Cat shoves him a bit, but it’s not aggressive, so he lets himself laugh a bit more.
Little Lady.
Lia.
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queenieloveswriting · 4 years
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The Fool and Her Temperance
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Before your parents split, you lived in the outerbanks,with your mum and dad, close to your cousin ,john b. Not long after Big John, your dad's brother, died your mum and dad split, your dad stayed in outer banks to watch over his brothers son and keep his steady job, your mum however took you back to her home country Italy, and you lived in a small but cosy house near your grandparents. Not having a choice as a 7 year old you had to leave outer banks behind. When you got older your mum let you have your dad's number and then eventually you got your cousins, and began to get extremely close.
John and your dad simultaneously kept you up to date on the news and gossip of the outer banks, you'd call each other and it became your Sunday night ritual. Being a call or facetime you'd talk about school, you talked him through a grieving process and eventually settled for his reason to not believe until there is physical evidence. You barely know his friends other than jj whose number you also had, but they knew the name ‘Luna D’Angelo.
It was a Sunday night and you'd just, finally, convinced your mother to let you visit your dad for the summer and soak in the sun while she moved for a promotion during the month in Portland, of all places. You are just about to call john and tell him the news. School was literally out as of Friday and you were sure he was partying like he told you he'd be on Saturday, which is why he called you earlier. After updating your dad, who you also talked to every Friday night after school, You got to john 
After repetitive buzzing he finally picked up, you heard some staticky music and slightly tipsy John b 
“Heyyy Luna you okay we calleddd yesterdayyy i thinkkkk”
“Heyy john yeah we did sorry i just had some really good news i wanted to tell you but i can ring you tomorrow if its better”
“Don't be silllyyy I've only had a few anyways, I'll remember what is it, please don't tell me your pregnant because uncle joe’ll be pisseddd” he chuckled
“No oh my god I just wanted to say that my mum gave me the all clear and I’m coming to live with dad for the summer and maybe longer i don't know but yeah”
The line went silent 
“WOOOHOOO she coming Back GUYS DID YOU HEAR THAT LUNA D’ANGELO IS COMING FOR THE SUMMER "he shouted 
“Woah man stop shouting "you heard from the other line
“Jj bro my cousin you remember my cousin Luna she just told me yeah that she's coming back for the summer and maybe longer if her mum lets her brooo this is going to be the best summer ever lulu I've missed you”
“Wait really bro as in uncle joe’s Luna?”he asked 
“Duh bro the only Luna we know dumbass you wanna say hi”
“What do you mean bro she's not here or is she waiting wha--?”
“She on the phone,ohhh actually you speak to her for a second I'm getting looks from over there”
“Oh wait John its fin--”
Next thing you heard was some shuffling and a deeper voice fill your speaker phone
“Luna you there? "he asked
“Shit yeah hey jj I was about to go anyways but well now you know I’m finally going to meet you and the guys well and girl but”
“yeah you areee” he slurred 
“Anyways I'll see you in about a week j”
“Soon beautiful gunna have the best summer, finally going to a legendary obx party "he laughed, tipsy
“Sounds good jay I'll see you soon bye "you hung up
after finally hanging up on the phone you mentally facepalmed yourself for being so awkward, you went to bed 
A slow week went by, and you had finally arrived in the outerbanks.Stepping of the boating docks you searched the crowd for you dad. Once you spotted him holding a sign that said “bentornato la mia bella figlia”welcoming you back in your second, most used language,italian.Running into your dad's arms,you both had a little cry eventually getting settled into a cosy shack. After catching up with your dad you told him about you and john b becoming close once he gave you his number. Deciding you should surprise him with his arrival, Your dad drove you in his pick up to a block away from the chateau you remember you uncle calling it.
Walking up to the porch you heard voices coming from the dock, followed by their matured bodies coming in from a boat, scrapping your original plan once you saw your cousin, you just screamed running to the completely oblivious family member
“Johnnnn I’m back” you giggled still running
.Catching his attention he turned around running towards you in complete shock “holy fucking shit your here I thought it was tomorrow "he shouted suffocating you with a hug ”oh my god john b i missed you “you giggled and he sent you a watery laugh in return "I wasn't expecting you back soon  wow you look so different from the scrawny little 7 year old in uncle joe’s photos "he cooed
Before you could argue you were aware of the three people sending you confused glares. The only girl there, assuming it was kiara not having seen pictured to put name to face, coughed. ”someone wanna tell me what the fucks going on “she addressed earning john to roll his eyes at the over sassed girl, who had looked slightly jealous ”Kie this is Luna D’Angelo uncle joes daughter I’ve mentioned her she's my cousin, I might have forgot to tell them you were coming “her attitude dropped when she realised it was you “ohmygod ”she physically facepalmed, causing you to laugh "I had no idea you were coming the fuck john dumbass ”she elbowed him walking towards giving you a hug. ”Nice to finally meet you and put a face to name, speaking of you are fucking gorgeous the fuck ”she giggled walking  back to the boys wo still hadn't said anything, causing you to break the silence "so that makes you pope "you pointed to the buff dark skinned boy who nodded ”yeah that's me Luna I had no idea you were coming he's useless” he stated walking up to you with a quick hug “that he is "you turned round to finally face the blonde who had a cheeky smirk on his face shamelessly checking you out you rolled your eyes. Facing him you looked up too him finally seeing what he looked like ,defiantly exceeding “cute", you opened you arms and he came towards you, similarly to john b engulfing you and spinning you in a quick hug “its crazy actually hearing you and seeing you in real life "he teased still hugging you. Aware of the confused gases from the rest you backed out of the hug, missing the slight disappointment on jj’s face. Rolling your eyes at his comment, you looked up into his mischievous eyes and innocently winked taking a second take on his Greek-caved body “I know good to finally see what you guys all look like definitely not what I was expecting though". Turning around to the others who’d been oddly silent "so what's now guys "you asked everyone "well we were just about to go to kiara family's restaurant and grab some free food you wanna come? "John b asked. Following your cousin who was walking down the dock you made conversation with kiara about her Restaurant and how they finally got paper straws, being an environmentalist, you enjoyed discussing this.
When you finally got to the wreck you had made and surprisingly gotten close quite quickly you had conversations with all of them except jj, who was next. After discussing what you think happened to bodies after you die with pope, what was cuter a bottlenose dolphin or a harbour seals with kiara, dolphins winning the argument, and just life with john b how he is coping with  everything including his dad, you wondered what you'd talk about with jj, having brief text conversations with him on the phone you don't know him that well however being the only one you'd actually heard from and the stories about him from john b had been quite funny an intrigued you on the boys with an adrenaline addiction.
Once you sat down ,purposefully next to jj, pope and john b in front of you and kiara walking around helping her dad close up.
“So jj ”you turned facing him "I hear you are quite the adrenaline junkie, correct? "you sassed .Smirking he replied “quite the risk taker princess why’d you ask”
“Well you see now you might have a bit of competition because in Italy I am known as principessa pazza translating to crazy princess so you better be watching yourself blondie” you teased "what's got you that rep princess crazy "he joked. Laughing at his tone you pulled out your phone to a video collage you friends in Italy made of all the things you'd done from surfing to vine swinging. Passing him the phone you studied his priceless face watching yourself, internally hoping he's not judging your body in your bikinis and just watching what you were actually doing “damn Luna that's so sick where are you in this one", he asked scrolling the the clip of you surfing doing a perfect spin in the waves ”oh there, that's actually really funny story you wanna hear? "you asked to which he nodded “so basically me and a bunch of my guy friends, because no girls wanna get there hand dirty over there "you laugh intaking a breath “we had a 4 hour trek to get there and not having a car we had to walk to the mains and hitch hike and walk for about an hour and a half to actually get there with our boards to because we had no money to pay for rentals it was difficult I remember having to sit in the back of this guys car and my friend Ricco say in the front and there was only space for two in the back so i had to sit on Ryan's lap and put my feet on Angelo’s lap so we could have our boards on the floor, anyways once we finally got there and i got the feeling in my legs back we surfed for hours the beach was so busy and we found this beautiful cove which is in the video and the waves were so much better ,best waves I've ever surfed, we all slept on the sand around a makeshift fire from my lighter and so i had to sleep in my bikini them in their shorts because we didn't want to go home covered in sand and anyways after about 6 hours we found our way home, I didn't realise my mum would be back but the 3 weeks of no phone or tv and grounding was totally worth it, and that is what happened in tuscany,italy,ragazzo Biondo "you took a deep breath reliving the memory for a short period of time. "your mum was always a bit melodramatic Lu “your cousins chimed in. You were oblivious to the fact they had been listening to you relive your memories. Rolling you eyed you nodded “want to hear melodramatic she found out that when i was grounded the boys still came through my window and we all were still hanging out when she told me I couldn't and I was grounded for the end of the  month and she took my door off "you rolled your eyes at one of your mums various punishment “why do you think I want to live with dad "you joked.
“Wait so you are moving back? I thought it was only the summer "pope questioned earning a glare from john 
“I am staying for the summer but I was going to ask my dad eventually if I enjoy it here if he wouldn't mind it it would take my mum loads of convincing though but I think I can convince her if I kept my grades solid and got a job  could probably ’be trusted” ”you and john both rolled your eyes at the comment
“So that means there is a 50/50 chance you could be staying? "john asked hopeful
“Most likely cuz I mean id say more 75 no/25 yes but whatever floats your boat ”“I hope you do it'd be so cool to have you here and plus i think your dad would love that, we talk about you a lot, he misses you "he sighed you sent him a smile
“So what do you all do round here, any adventures? "you smirked
John b rolled his eyes but continued to answer your question “its pretty chill and well the same we go out on the boat swim or fish for a bit come home and probably to a kegger on the beach get wasted fight with kooks the usually” he stated "that doesn't sound too bad could surf all day, one question though "you asked and john b hit you with ‘shoot’ "the fuck is a kook? ”you asked earning snickers from the group and an in depth conversation with the boys about the rich snobs on the other side of the island.
Checking your phone it was almost 10:00 and you figured you should probably head home. Saying your goodbyes jj offered to walk you home. Insisting you and your dad lived a block away from his anyway, which was true.
When you arrived at your front door you turned to him and thanked h for walking you home 
“Honestly it's no problem I just wanted to talk to you like one on one for a bit you know, it's good to put a face to Luna and i honestly really hope you can stay longer, we could get used to having you around "he said causing your face to slightly flush at the complement “thanks jay that mean a lot rea-”you were cut off by your dad opening the door “ahh right on time Luna, jj how you doing boy "he asked causing you to look between then a few times in confusion “yeah I'm good sir just walking Luna home we had food at the wreck with the others "he answered your dad “thank you for feeding her son I do my shop tomorrow and was worried "you dad laughed “it's fine anyways I better go before john b locks up or I'll be sleeping on the porch "he said "wait I thought you were going back you yours and that's why you walked here ”jj chuckled "not going back to mine tonight me and john b are going to go out tomorrow so it's just easier if i sleep there "he answered looking up to your dad sending a playful wink to you “goodnight guys catch you tomorrow lulu "he waved off "night jj ”followed by “night son" your dad replied.
When you got in you caught up with your dad for the night and headed to bed looking forward to your full day out tomorrow on the boat with everyone
Tagged-
@sguymon21
A/N 🤷🏽got boredddd,,name and kind of themed on the two tarot cards ‘the fool’ and ‘the temperance’ putting in a summary on my masterlist for the meanings of it . Let me know if you wanna be tagged and if you liked it. Feel free to message me always wanna make some frienddddddss,,thanks for the love on my other fics if your interested here’s my masterlist
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d-xs · 4 years
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Bruce Wayne & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Catherine Todd
Warning: implied/referenced child abuse.
Jason Todd makes no attempt to eat his burger or even take a sip from his soda, despite the loud rumbling of his stomach. He clutches the bag tightly, bringing it closer to his chest when he sees Bruce staring, like he's afraid Bruce would take offense and demand his food back.
Bruce Wayne does not understand him. His threadbare clothes do nothing to hide the skin stretched over bones. He can see the outline of the boy's ribs through his red hoodie. He is clearly very hungry and going by the way he can't seem to take his eyes off the bag of fast food or even how he keeps taking lungs full of the aroma wafting from it, like if he breathes deep enough, he will be filled. He would bet his entire fortune that this kid has not had a good meal in weeks, or even months. Even one as unhealthy as greasy fast food.
The child is clearly starving. Yet, he has not made any attempt to help himself.
Bruce does not have any experience with poverty or homelessness. Even at the lowest point of his life, he had access to basic human needs. Still, he knows enough about human behavior to know that Jason's behavior right now is not the norm. When he gives a clearly starving person food, they usually devour it immediately.
There are only a few reasons why he would not want to eat the food he had enthusiastically accepted from Bruce. Either he plans to use the food as payment for his safety, in which case, Bruce needs to start looking into gangs exploiting kids, or he has someone, most likely a younger sibling in his care. Considering the fact that Bruce had caught him trying to jack off the fourth tire of the batmobile, after successfully getting away with the other three, Bruce is not sure what is most likely to be the case.
"You going to turn me in now?" Jason asks him, once Bruce's burger is out of sight.
"I promised you I wouldn't," Bruce tells him as earnestly as he can manage.
It doesn't convince the child at all.
"Yeah, right," he scoffs. "That's what you all say."
"Don't you think it would be counter-productive to have you arrested for trying to survive? I'm trying to make Gotham safe for kids like you, Jason. Not put you in jail. I might take you somewhere safe, so you don't have to keep living on the streets, but--"
"I'm not on the streets," Jason cuts in defensively. The fear and worry in his expression is clear now. "I live with my mom and we're fine. If you're not going to arrest me, then I'll be on my way."
A mom. Bruce can't decide if it's a euphemism for Boss. He has seen some awful things since becoming Batman. He also knows some parents take advantage of their kids and force them into crimes as a way to 'earn their keep'.
Jason is most likely taking the food to this person, if he's not eating it, and Batman needs to separate them if the child is being exploited.
The child doesn't wait for Bruce's response before he starts his trek back to the Narrows.
Making a snap decision, Bruce calls out to him.
"Common, I'll drop you off wherever you want," he says, knowing Jason would never let Batman drop him off at home. The child is too suspicious, and rightfully so.
Jason stops in his tracks, but he makes no attempt to accept Bruce's offer.
"It will be morning before you make it all the way across town," Bruce points out. "That's <i>if</i> you don't get attacked for the food."
With that, Jason agrees to let Bruce give him a ride.
Even though he was quiet for the first couple of minutes, Bruce could see the wheels turning in the boy's head. Jason has a very expressive face that tells Bruce he is gearing up to say something, as he takes in the interior of the batmobile.
Jason doesn't take as long as Bruce thought he would.
"You're probably rich, huh?" Jason observes.
Oh God, Bruce hopes this kid is not about to proposition him.
"Not really." Bruce's answer is terse to discourage further probing.
"So it's true what they say?" Jason continues, either missing Bruce's reluctance to continue with this conversation or ignoring it. "That you're fucking Bruce Wayne for money?"
If Batman didn't have such a tight rein on his microexpressions, he would have choked. "That's not language suitable for a child."
Jason turns in his seat so that Bruce doesn't miss the elaborate eye-roll.
"I guess you've had to pay informants, huh?" Jason asks. "You know, like in the stories, where a dude is rewarded for giving the cops valuable information for solving a crime. You do that?"
"Sometimes." Bruce is invested in where Jason is going with his questioning. "Why? Do you have information to sell?"
"Depends on your going rate," the boy sasses.
"And how much do you want?" Bruce asks.
"I read in the papers that the FBI pay up to a hundred grand," Jason shrugs. "Shouldn't be too much for you to match, seeing as you have a rich boyfriend."
"One hundred thousand dollars?" The only reason Bruce doesn't laugh is because he doesn't want Jason to think he's being made fun of.
That, and the possibility that Jason may be trying to get free from his abuser, by having Batman go after them.
"You really think your information is worth that much?" Bruce asks.
"You tell me, Batman." Jason shrugs again. "It was worth enough to cause a war between Penguin and Scarecrow. Enough to make my dad disappear, not that that's a bad thing."
Bruce doesn't think he's supposed to hear the last part, as Jason mutters it under his breath. But the cowl picks up the words clearly.
A criminal and/or abusive mother and mob affiliated but now absentee father. Bruce is debating calling Social Services.
He's also aware of the war between Penguin and Scarecrow. A few months ago, there were rumors of a collaboration between the two factions to take over Gotham, before accusations of betrayal.
If it wasn't for the lives being lost, Bruce would be grateful for their misunderstanding.
Still, a hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money for someone like Jason, and is most likely to draw the wrong attention.
"I'll give you five thousand," Bruce tells him.
"Out of a hundred? Are you really that cheap?" Jason snorts. "You roll around in a ride like this and can't even pay for information? Okay, I'll do you a favor and take seventy."
"Ten," Bruce counters.
"All you rich assholes like taking advantage of poor people," Jason grumbles angrily. When Bruce doesn't budge, he relents. "Fifty."
"Fifteen."
"Fifty," Jason repeats firmly.
"Alright, twenty five thousand dollars and that's my final offer."
"Deal!" Jason agrees immediately.
Bruce watches him spit on his palm before extending it to Bruce for a handshake.
"Come on," he urges when Bruce makes no attempt to shake his hand. "We gotta shake on it to seal the deal."
In the face of that logical argument, Bruce spits in his own hand before clasping it to Jason's in a handshake.
If Jason believes he has information that can help, then twenty five thousand dollars is not too much to pay someone who clearly needs it. The cash in the batmobile isn't up to the amount, but it should be enough to buy the time he would need to get the rest from the manor.
"Alright." He follows Jason's directions on where to park. "What's this information?"
"Wait here," Jason instructs him, undoing the seat belt. "I'll bring it to you."
Bruce gives Jason a minute head-start before he takes to the rooftops, to trail the young boy.
After a few twists and turns, he comes to a stop in front of a dilapidated building. A woman rushes out and pulls Jason into a hug.
"I've been looking all over for you!" she scolds. "Where were you? Chris said some man took you. Is that true?"
She is rail thin, her threadbare clothes hanging off her body, but she sounds genuinely distressed as she checks him for injuries.
"I'm fine, Mom," Jason says in comfort before shoving the food at her. "Look, I got us food and I found a way to get away from the men looking for dad."
The woman -- Jason's mom -- shoves the food back at him, before pulling him into an apartment with the door barely hanging on a hinge.
It's hard not to notice the woman's limp, or the way Jason supports some of her weight as they go.
Bruce takes a second to process everything.
Judging by the environment and what he's seen and heard, Jason isn't being abused, but he's in even more danger.
Whether he plans to pay off his father's debt with the money or not, Bruce knows he has to get mother and son away from this place before they end up as victims of mob violence. Whether Jason really does have information to sell or not.
With that, Bruce hops down to the street from his perch on the roof.
Despite how mindful he is of the door, the moment his fist to connects with the door, it falls off the hinge holding it in place, exposing Jason and his mother having either a very late dinner or a very early breakfast in their one bedroom apartment.
They both jump at the sight of him, and once realization dawns on them, their reactions are wildly different.
Jason's mom cowers with fear, shrinking into herself while attempting to wrap herself around her son, but Jason won't have it. He is livid.
"What the fuck, Batman!" the child hisses angrily. "I told you to wait for me."
"Jason, stop," his mother pleads, pulling Jason behind her.
The boy is unmoved. His mother's frailness is no match for his strength.
"You broke our door! Why the fuck would you do that?"
Despite his obvious anger, they're both careful not to raise their voices. Bruce imagines that getting a visit from Batman isn't a good thing in this neighborhood.
"Calm down," Bruce growls.
Both mother and son freeze where they stand.
"We didn't do nothing wrong, Batman," the lady tells him in a trembling voice. "If you're looking for my husband, we don't know where he is."
"I'm here for Jason," Bruce tells her, registering her distress just before he turns to Jason. "You were taking too long," he lies. "I wanted to make sure you were fine."
This seems to placate the boy a bit, but not his mother, who demands to know what the hell is going on.
Bruce watches silently as Jason explains his plans to his mother.
Apparently, his plan is to sell the information his father stole from Scarecrow to Batman, in exchange for money that will get them out of Crime Alley.
His mom doesn't look thrilled, but she lets Jason climb into the ceiling to retrieve what her husband had hidden there.
"You won't arrest him when you have what you want, will you?" she asks with a fierce look.
Bruce can't help but admire that about her. Not a lot of people have that look about them when Batman is staring them down.
Must be where Jason gets his spunk.
"Jason is a good boy," she continues. "He did a bad thing, but it was for a good reason. His heart is in the right place, I swear."
"Mrs Todd--" Bruce starts, but she interrupts him.
"Catherine."
"Catherine," he repeats. "I don't plan to arrest your son," he continues as calmly as Batman's voice will let him. "We made a deal and I intend to uphold my end."
"So you're just going to hand Jason twenty-five grand?" Catherine asks suspiciously. "Just like that?"
"Yes," he tells her simply. "But I don't have twenty-five thousand dollars in cash right now. I can give you a thousand tonight, and a safe place for the night. Seeing as I broke your door. Tomorrow, you will get the rest of the money and I will call someone to fix your door."
As he talks, he pulls out the bills from his utility belt and hands it to her.
Of course, he has no plans of letting them return here. But if he has learned anything from being Batman, it's that, sometimes, all some people have left is their pride.
Poor people hate being treated as charity.
Siccing Alfred on her would be more productive. All he has to do is make sure they meet. Dick would probably appreciate having someone young in the manor, too.
"And you swear Jason will be safe?" Catherine stresses, eyes flickering between the money and Bruce's face.
"I swear," he vows solemnly. That much, he can promise.
A few minutes later, Jason returns from the ceiling, an envelope clutched in his hand.
"Jason," Catherine calls softly, pulling him into her arms before he can give Bruce the envelope. "Baby, there's something I have to tell you about…"
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