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xe-n4 · 7 months

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love in learning

feat. oliver, nagi & sae note: i wrote this ages ago (reupload) contains: i don't remember & i'm not rereading it total: 1,303

—OLIVER

He knew he shouldn’t. But it was right there. The blue notebook you’ve been scribbling in for the last few weeks. It seemed like you were researching something because you had your laptop with you. But you never let Oliver know the contents of it, slamming both the book and laptop shut whenever you saw him.

He was curious.

Oliver’s fingers danced around the notebook. He debated with himself. Open it or leave it alone. He may never know what’s inside that book. But you would tell when you were ready, right?

So he opened it.

Oliver flicked through the pages, eyes scanning the words. He didn’t understand what he was looking at until he saw the word ‘centre-back’. A grin crept onto his face when he noticed the little doodle of himself next to it.

You filled the pages with information about football and his favourite players. His heart swelled with joy as he continued to peruse through it. The rules, the positions and their purposes. He couldn’t believe it.

“Hey, Oli, have you seen—”

You cut yourself off upon seeing your boyfriend with your notebook. Wave after wave of embarrassment hit you with no mercy, not allowing you time to breathe. Heat spread from your chest to your neck and your hands balled into fists at your sides.

Oliver stared—you stared as well. The silence was killing you, but the smirk that played on his lips made it worse. You wanted the floor to swallow you whole. Maybe living underground wouldn’t be so bad.

“Care to explain?” he teased as he gestured to the book.

You shook your head.

“No? Okay then, let’s read from it, shall we?” His eyes glinted as he flipped to the next page. “If the score is equal—”

Something went off in you and you went over to cover his mouth, snatching the book away. Oliver moved your hand off of his face and laughed at your pouting face.

He wrapped his arms around your torso and leaned in. “Aw, my baby’s so cute,” he spoke as if he was talking to a child.

“Shut up, old man.” You buried your face in his neck to run away from his teasing.

“Are you embarrassed?” Oliver leaned back and his hands caressed your chin. His grip was firm but gentle and the feeling brought you a sense of familiarity. But it couldn’t get rid of how humiliated you felt.

“Y/n, thank you,” Oliver said with a smile. Not one to tease you with, but a genuine smile from a place of happiness.

Confusion plastered itself all over your features. “What... did I do?”

“The book.” Your eyes widened, and he hurried to clear the air. “Thank you for trying to understand me and the sport I love. You didn’t have to, going to the games is enough.”

“The games are kinda boring when you don’t know what’s happening,” you mumbled.

“Maybe. But thank you anyway.” Oliver planted a kiss on your forehead.

—NAGI

Nagi was lying on his stomach with his phone in hand. He was watching video compilations of traps and other defensive moves. Normally, you’d have no interest in it. Football was Nagi’s thing. But you felt different about it today.

Once you crawled onto the bed next to him, you rested your head on his shoulder. “Hey, Sei?” He hummed. “What’s a trap?”

He answered without looking away from the screen. “It’s a move to keep control of the ball.”

“Cool.”

This was going nowhere.

You didn’t know how to ask him, but he also didn’t seem interested. Maybe I’ll try later. You moved off the bed to leave when a hand gripped your wrist tightly. Nagi pulled you back effortlessly. You landed on his chest and he kept you there, putting one arm encompassing you. His other hand still held his phone and resumed the video.

“Where’re you going?” he mumbled. Nagi didn’t really want an answer. “Stay.”

“I thought you were busy—”

“I can multitask.” Nagi nuzzled into you. “What d’you wanna know?”

“Um... I guess I didn’t really think this through,” you chuckled nervously and Nagi pinched your side in response.

“So unprepared,” he jokingly scolded.

Nagi clicked through his phone before setting it in front of you. The video began with the camera scanning through the crowd. People of all different backgrounds cheering from the sidelines with flags, banners and some even had face paint on them.

The camera then showed the players walking on the field in their flashy uniforms, and the crowd cheered and screamed even louder. The bright lights above the stadium made the grass look lighter than it was.

“Sei, what’s this?”

“Football game,” he replied. “I’ll talk you through it.”

“I like that you want to know more. It made me feel something inside. I liked it.”

You laughed at his simplistic way of describing his emotions, then he shushed you when the game started. Nagi pointed to each of the players when he talked about their positions. He explained the moves they did and why someone got a yellow card.

His soft voice brought you comfort, which made it easier to concentrate on the sport, though you barely understood it.

After the game ended, Nagi stared at you expectantly, silently asking for your opinion. “It was fun.” was your only response.

It was. Maybe your judgement before was biased, but now you had a better understanding of why your boyfriend loved it so much.

—SAE

“I thought you didn’t like football,” Sae said with a straight face, looking up from his laptop

“Well... I thought it would be fun if you taught me some stuff,” you replied, rubbing the back of your neck. His stare made your heart race and your ears sting. Not in a good way.

“What’s the point if you don’t care about it,” he grumbled as he went back to what he was doing. A very obvious tell that he didn’t want the conversation to continue.

You sat down in the chair next to him and interlocked your pinkies. “I care about you though.”

Sae’s eyes flicked from your joined hands to your face a few times before he sighed. A small smile made its way onto his face. He properly intertwined your hands and leaned down to kiss them.

“Get changed, we’re going out.” was the only instruction he gave. Though he implied that wearing anything fancy would be a terrible idea.

And he was right.

Sae took you to the nearest football centre and rented out a small field. Goals stood tall and mighty on each side, and white lines ran across the grass. The sun was still beaming down, and you wished that you’d just kept it to yourself.

“Is this really necessary?” you whined before walking onto the grass.

Your boyfriend was ahead, holding a ball against his hip. “This is the only way you’ll learn, Y/n.”

“Or is it the only way you can teach?” you mocked under your breath as you followed behind him.

And with your horrible luck, he heard every word. Sae turned around once he got to the centre and set down the ball. “Four laps.”

“Huh?”

“What’d you mean ‘huh’?” He settled his hands on his hips with a—fake—frown. “Fine then. Five laps. Hurry!”

During that ‘warm up’, you gained a stitch in your side and sweat soaked through your clothes. After that Sae, showed you how to dribble and tackle. The first time you successfully stole the ball from him made his heart full as he watched you celebrate, then collapse, demanding a break.

“Dumbass.” He booped your nose before shoving a water bottle into your face. Wordlessly you took it and started chugging its content as if you’ve never had a drink of it before. Sae grinned. “Dumbass.”

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nessaandoliver · 1 year

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otp scribble for all u oliness enthusiasts

#nessa and oliver #art #mine #nessa belle trevelyan #oliver kenton #oliness

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megabuild · 2 months

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for my american followers, this is like if hamburger was separated from everyone he ever knew and loved and woke up in a completely different world surrounded by strangers who share his old friends' faces but none of their memories

#mine #oli #theorionsound #empires #empires smp #scribbles #i would say this is a doodle. and it is. but then it also took me like an hour because i got too into it .

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incorrect-esmp-quotes · 3 months

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Katherine: I need you to explain it like a normal person.

Pixlriffs: Oli seems to get it.

Oli: *scribbling in a notebook*

Katherine: Oli is drawing stick figures.

#incorrect empires smp quotes #incorrect empires quotes #incorrect empires smp #incorrect empires #incorrect quotes #empires smp #empires smp season 2 #empires season 2 #empires s2 #katherine elizabeth gaming #katherine elizabeth #pixlriffs #orionsound #source: she ra

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lilyrizzy · 5 months

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day 3 of 12 days of the maxiel advent calendar lol. this one is sad in a bittersweet way. content warning for a discussion focused around the loss of a newborn child. Please don't read if that is something too upsetting to you <3 set in the same universe as this.

Underneath the apple tree in their garden, there’s a patch of daffodils.

They bloom every springtime, the vibrant shades of sunshine yellow enough to light up whatever room they are put into. The first bunch, Max always likes to arrange in the vase Grace and Joe gave them as a wedding gift, the second, third and fourth into each of the babies rooms. The air of the ranch becomes sweet with their scent, and at lunchtimes when Livia and Oli are called inside from playing, sticky pollen covers their fingertips.

“Papa,” Livia says to him on one of these September days, and Max knows to brace himself for a question by the curiosity laced in her voice. Like always, she does not disappoint.

“What happened to our big brother?”

The breath catches in Max’s throat.

He and Daniel had always agreed they would never keep their first son’s existence a secret from their children, no matter how hard it might be to help them understand. The idea of Theo becoming something that could only be spoken about in hushed whispers at convenient times was too painful when every day they felt his loss. The absence of a fourth pitch of giggles to hear playing from the next room every day, a second curly head for them to tuck safely into bed each night.

But this is the first time Livia has ever mused the ‘why’, of that out loud.

She is drawing a picture titled my family, her ‘homework’ for nursery. Max can see their flattering stick figure portraits, her and Oli almost as big as he and Daniel are, while Toni resembles an earthworm on the ground beside the four of them. In the top right-hand corner, just underneath the sun, she has drawn her eldest brother, complete with a set of pink angel wings.

“Me and Daddy told you, remember?” Max reminds her, but gently. His patience for his children is endless in a way it never was for racing. “Theo is in heaven.”

Max isn’t sure he believes in heaven, knows for a fact Daniel doesn’t, but he also knows how important it is for children to have good things to have faith in and to hope for, like the tooth fairy or Santa Clause. A source of comfort, the way his mum lighting candles used to be for him.

Livia nods seriously, busy scribbling what Max guesses is supposed to be Daniel’s hair if the twisting lines are anything to go by. Then, seemingly no longer satisfied with this answer she asks, “Why is he not with us?”

Daniel is out with Oli and Toni at the aquarium. The only reason Max and Livia aren’t with them is because in thirty minutes, they have to leave for the under 5’s football training Livia loves so much.

She get’s that from her Papa, Daniel likes to remind him, as though mashing keys on FIFA is comparable to the overexcited way their daughter squeals when she scores a goal.

Alone, Max feels totally unprepared for this. Daniel is so much better at wrapping the world up into words their children can understand and make peace with. For a moment, he almost asks her for a cuddle, the selfish reassurance of her warmth and the rise and fall of her chest as he holds her, but he doesn’t want to clue her into how hard this is for him.

He is her Papa, one of the two people who are meant to stand between her and all the bad in the world. Instead, he reaches to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she continues to draw and thinks back to how Theo’s little tuft had been all brown.

“When he was born, he was very poorly,” Max explains, and though it has been a very long time, it is as easy as anything to remember him in his hospital bed, tubes, wires and needles all protruding from his skin, tinged a sickly grey. “He wasn’t strong, like you, Oli and Toni.”

“Because he didn’t eat his carrots?” Livia asks, looking up at Max with owlish eyes, and Max has to laugh, charmed by her childish logic, her belief in everything he and Daniel tell her. He knows this phase won’t last forever, that they’ll soon be replaced with teachers and google, but for now he lets himself enjoy it.

“No,” he promises, shaking his head. “No, because something went wrong, when he was inside the tummy. Remember like me and Daddy told you that you used to be, also?”

She nods, enthusiastic suddenly to show off her knowledge.

“You had to find a lady to keep us in their belly so we could be borned,” she recites, and Max smiles. It feels like yesterday she was as small as Theo, and now she is big and smart, and her own little person, the way all of his babies got to be except for one.

“Exactly,” he encourages. “Well, when Theo was in the belly, something bad happened, so that when he was born he was sick. It made him very tired, and so he had to go to sleep forever, in heaven.”

Livia chews her lip like that still might not be enough to appease her. Max is just thinking about how to reword it, when-

“Will I ever get to see him?” She asks, like this has been the real reason for her line of questioning all along.

Thinking about the patch of daffodils where he and Daniel scattered the ashes of their first born’s, Max considers telling her that she sees him every spring, when Daniel goes out to collect a bunch to place in vases all around their home. That in a way, Theo has watched over her every year from his spot on their dresser, bringing added sunshine into their bedroom.

She is too little now though to truly understand. In time she will, but for now he wants to hold onto all the ways she is still his baby for just a little while longer. He is in no hurry for her to grow up.

“I don’t think so,” he says honestly, with an apologetic smile. “But I think he see’s you, watches you and your brother and sister play from the sky.”

Livia pauses, like maybe she has more questions and again Max braces himself.

“Okay,” is all she says though, and then she is picking up her crayons again. Max can’t help but lean over to kiss the top of her head, then tickle her side until she giggles, and swats him away telling him seriously, “Papa, you will make my drawing wonky.”

“Sorry, liefje,” he says, matching her tone, and then reaches for his phone.

Livy just asked me about Theo, he texts to Daniel. The last thing in their message thread is a photo of Oli, nose and palms pressed against the shark tank, and beneath it four words, our brave little fucker.

Unsurprisingly it’s only a few seconds before Daniel is typing a response.

its normal for her to have questions, and Max resists the urge to roll his eyes fondly, because of course, Max knows this.

Then, big kiss coming your way in approx 78 minutes, Mr Verstappen-Ricciardo.

Then, I love you.

I love you too, Max texts back, pocketing his phone. There isn’t much to be said over text, or even in person maybe, other than an repeat of what Livia asked, what Max explained to her. Everything else has already been said and these days can the pain can be shared with a simple kiss, and an evening holding each other as they watch their children play.

Turning his attention back to Livia now, her little hands clenched tightly in fists around a black crayon, he notices the strange circle shapes she is drawing over angel Theo’s eyes.

“What are these?” He asks bemused, pointing to them.

“Glasses Papa,” she says, like she thinks this should be very obvious. “Theo needs them to see us, if he is so high up.”

#sad but like also happy in a weird way?#cw child death #cw child loss #max/daniel #fic

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blouisparadise · 7 months

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Here are some of the amazing bottom Louis fics that were posted or completed during the month of September. We hope you enjoy this list. Happy reading!

1) Like Sweat Dripping Down Our Dirty Laundry | Explicit | 1,460 words

Note: This fic has mentions of BH.

Harry has a thing for Louis' armpits. Louis wears a tank-top. You get the picture.

2) The Beat Of Your Heart, The Devil's Arcade | Mature | 3,567 words

“Louis Tomlinson, shortstop to the Cardinals, marries pitcher for their rival team, the Chicago Cubs,” Oli says in a fake announcer voice. He shakes his head. “One day someone will make a movie about it."

3) Make Dreams Come True | Explicit | 3,883 words

“You’re saying, I’ve met him?” he asked hopefully. “Yeah, mate, you’ve probably seen him somewhere, found him attractive and bam… he’s in your dreams -” Zayn chuckled, “Our brains are a mysterious place”. That was it. He had met him before, which meant that he could meet again. “I'm going to find him”, Louis said happily, humming contently. “It can’t be that hard right?”

4) Good And Bad And Right And Wrong | Explicit | 5,113 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

Louis angrily threw a pillow at his head, but Harry avoided it, laughing loudly as he slammed the door behind him. Louis bit his lip, grumpy and flushed and hard again, tension and arguments like this with his dear husband always a huge turn on. He knew it was his toxic trait, but at the same time, it was so good to let the tension build until it exploded under the sheets. So instead of pouting and groaning in bed, waiting for Harry to leave the house without him like he first intended to do, Louis kicked the sheets of his legs, stripped off his boxers –and gave his cock a few nice quick strokes, before getting dressed for the gym. Harry smiled widely when he joined him in the kitchen. Louis flipped him off. He promised himself he would have his revenge.

5) Harmony | Explicit | 6,175 words

Alpha Harry and Omega Louis don’t have the most amicable relationship at work. When they get stuck together in an elevator, Harry scents Louis after nothing else works to bring him out of his panicked state. Their time trapped in the elevator together brings to light some misunderstandings, and maybe some feelings for each other, too.

6) Smile for the Camera for It Knows Everything, Hollywood Star | Mature | 6,676 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

Prompt 132- The story of Nancy Reagan being called the blowjob queen of Hollywood but it's Louis.

7) It's All My Love (You Got All My Love) | Teen & Up | 8,002 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Sometimes, he realized how he truly didn’t deserve an alpha this good and patient and understanding and loving. He had no clue how Louis had bagged him, how Harry had wanted to mate with him, let alone raise pups together. Still, here they were, with Harry being the perfect lover and Louis crying in the streets about a little pumpkin. The fact Eli had baked little cakes in the shape of pumpkins that morning didn’t make anything better for Louis’ emotional state, but at the very least he got to sit down with Harry for a minute and devour one together, mumbling his apologies into the alpha’s neck.

8) To A Higher Place | Explicit | 8,118 words

Louis arrives home during his break from tour just in time for Harry’s rut.

9) Cold Spring | Explicit | 8,260 words

Note: The main pairing is Louis/Pedro Pascal. This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

Life went on as normal at Cold Spring Café. Sam’s scribbles remained indiscernible, Jake persisted on his idea of getting more pots for the shop, and Pedro…Pedro continued coming to drink his moderately-caffeinated americano, to write furiously in that notebook of his, and to captivate Louis to no end.

10) My Fire, My Heart | Not Rated | 9,600 words

One look at his face and there's worry all over him. "Baby? What's going on?" "Nothing, just drive." Louis replies, turning to look outside the window. "Lou-" "I said drive, Harry. Just take me home." He says in frustration. He was not ready to have the conversation yet, needing time to think, to clear his head. Harry doesn't say anything again, just starts the car to leave.

11) I (Don’t) Really Care For You | Mature | 11,367 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

“There’s always the worst-case scenario,” Zayn said while the subway pulled to a stop. “Get your heart broken. Then you can write through experience.” “Yeah, right,” Louis called after him while Zayn hopped off of the train. “You try falling in love in New York City.”

12) Fight For Us | Explicit | 11,133 words

Louis isn’t okay. It’s beyond wrong, the way they’re held in a cage waiting to be chosen for mating. It’s the way it’s been all Louis’ life, but he never wanted to end up like this. He’d hoped against hope that he’d present as a beta since they don’t have these same restrictions on them. They don’t have to adhere to their biology. And one dark night, long after all of the other omegas in the pen have fallen asleep, biology comes calling for Louis.

13) The Wild Night to Memory Loss to Soul Mates Pipeline | Explicit | 17,628 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

“What the fuck are you on—holy shit,” Louis gasps, looking down at his own hand to see a white gold band wrapped his left ring finger. “Wh-what is going on?” “Sure is a conundrum,” the man muses, realization flashing in his green eyes. “I-I’m not married, I can’t be married,” Louis mumbles to himself, staring wide-eyed at the ring, heart racing a mile a minute.

14) There's A Hole In My Heart (And It's Got Your Name On It) | Explicit | 19,502 words

The four scream from the stands as the team huddles together, pulling their helmets and gloves off and slapping each other's backs as they celebrate their win. Louis had stolen a pom-pom from Mal earlier and he shakes it vigorously. His breath hitches when Harry looks up and their eyes meet. The hockey player smirks at him but looks away quickly. “Did he just-” “No.” Louis quickly stops Jade from even finishing that sentence because he’s about to lose his damn mind.

15) Ties That Binds Us | Explicit | 21,117 words

A tale as long as time Where A King who didn’t have any intentions of loving someone falls for the boy who was a hopeless romantic, tying them in a union neither could escape.

16) Love Is Pain, Pain Is Pleasure | Explicit | 25,288 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

After a series of disturbing events threaten his safety, Louis has no choice but to hire a new bodyguard. Enter Harry, an incredibly attractive, judgmental asshole who hates Louis’ guts.

17) The Wounds That Scarred Our Souls | Explicit | 35910 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

Forever was nothing but a lie, Forever was just a ruse for the human heart, it gave you hope and then killed you. Forever was just a myth.

18) Always An Angel, Never A God | Explicit | 39,518 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

To understand the level of deep water Louis was in, one first needed to know he has had the same best friend since he was five. Ethan Astor was family to him—a friend who he loved deeply despite their differences. A friend he would do almost anything for. So when Ethan came to him with the plan, no matter how he felt about it, Louis accepted it. At first, it was simple, he just had to flutter his eyelashes at any of the boys that showed interest in Ethan, and if they fell for it, he just dumped them without telling them the reason. Somehow, the rumors spread around campus that Ethan had an insufferable friend they had to somehow win over to reach him. Like a final monster before getting the princess.

19) Love Me If You Dare | Explicit | 54,721 words

Note: This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

Harry and Louis’ friendship starts with a game, after a simple dare. The two little boys quickly become the best of friends and referees of their own game. Unfortunately, as they grow up, they sometimes become the victims of it too. With them, everything is possible. They are capable of daring each other to do anything. But will they dare confess their feelings for each other?

20) Sink Into Your Sunlight | Explicit | 79,601 words

Louis hadn’t forgotten about Harry as much as he tried. It wasn’t due to the strange nature of their meeting, more so the magnetic pull he somehow had on Louis. He couldn’t fathom why this complete stranger stayed in his mind as much as he tried to stop it. Any time his phone sounded his heart skipped a beat at the thought of it possibly being Harry. In all honesty, it made him feel sort of pathetic. Gay guy falls for straight guy, what a cliche he had become.

21) Three Men And A Baby | Explicit | 122,978 words

Note: There is a BH mention. This fic was written for the Bottom Louis Fic Fest. Check out the full collection here.

Louis' life had been going along just fine. Until one morning when his entire world changes when he steps on a piece of lego belonging to a young boy who has randomly appeared in his flat. And with that boy comes his gorgeous father. His flatmate Zayn has some explaining to do but he's definitely not complaining, instantly feeling connected to these new additions. Over the span of a year, life gets crazy, frustrating, surprising and most importantly...filled with love.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

You can find other monthly roundup fic rec lists here.

#bottom louis #top harry #larry #blp #monthly fic recs #blp fic recs

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cydanite · 1 year

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The Scientific Method

Ao3 link:

Pix's fellow emperors weren't sure what to make of their friend flinging himself back into his work after the tea party. They were happy, of course, that the consequences of his strange death hadn't deterred him from his work. Pix loved what he did, it was clear to see. Uncovering mysteries big and small, learning of what had once been lost. None of the standard doom and gloom associated with ghosts had accompanied Pix's change. He was still the same old archaeologist, joyously engrossing himself in his empire's ruins.

But, that was strange too, right? Most people, upon dying and coming back a specter, would not immediately be so content. They would need time to process what had happened, to grieve what they have lost, to right themselves and prepare for the future. And Pix should be no different. He never struck them as a particularly resilient man. He was wise, certainly. But not so emotionally hardened as to let undeath roll right off his back. Right?

Yet as Oli flew over the capital's tallest hill, Pix was hard at work below him, taking careful measurements of stone foundations. He banked to land, circling in tight motions to slow his descent.

"My boy! My sweet history boy!"

Pix looked up, a smile breaking through the confusion on his face, and chuckled.

"Oli! Ahoy there!" he waved as Oli landed, skidded a few meters, kicking up dirt before coming to a complete halt. Safely grounded, he turned back to Pix with a grin. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Oh Pix, always a charmer." Oli waved him off in mock embarrassment. "Can't a guy check in on his buddy? His cool history friend? We're pals, we hang out! Y'know." He bounced with each sentence, shuffling his feet and waving his arms. "Not to distract you from your work, of course. Just for company!"

"Well," Pix turned back to the expanse of stone laid out before him. The groundwork for the castle he was carefully reconstructing. "I'm taking some measurements to confirm what I have here is accurate. I wouldn't want to start building only to realize I'd mistaken where a wall should be. You're welcome to keep me company if that isn't too dull."

"No, no, I love history! Big history guy!" Oli peered over Pix's work area. A journal was open next to him, flipped open to a top-down sketch of the castle grounds. Every coordinate, horizontal measure, and corner angle was annotated. The lines were thin and precise, tiny penmanship making the most of the space and crowding the paper in a sea of numbers. Over them, though, a scattered few corrections stood out like a sore thumb. Large, messy scrawl with uneven pressure and several blotches where the pen had slipped from his hands. The pen sat disregarded, half-submerged in the inkwell.

Oli shuffled on his feet. "Do you need any help, king? I could take notes for you if you'd like?"

Pix followed his gaze and smiled. "Not a king anymore but- thanks, Oli. That would make my work a lot easier. I, uh, still haven't got the fine motor skills figured out." He flexed a transparent hand before him, wiggling his digits. Oli picked the pen out of the inkwell and wiped the excess ink off of its stem, before sitting on the ground and placing the journal on his lap. Pix turned back around and resumed his measurements.

"You can flip to a new page and just write the measurements in a list. I'll transfer them to the plans later."

"Can do." The bard watched intently as the archaeologist fell back into his work, taking careful measurements of the lines of stone on the ground. The conversation lulled into the occasional back and forth of information.

“West gate western wall. Four meters.”

Oli turned away from softly tuning his lute and scribbled the numbers down. “Gotcha… hey, Pix?”

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say: You’ve been pretty gung-ho with your work recently! Really got that ‘go get-em’ attitude, despite-uh, the… complications?”

Pix is too far away for Oli to make out his expression, but there’s a few seconds pause before he responds.

“There’s been some growing pains, sure. But I enjoy what I do.” He peers over his tape again. “West gate western wall inset. Eighty-seven point five centimeters.”

“Eighty-seven… point five. Okay.” He holds the page up to the breeze to dry the ink. “...About those growing pains, I’m just curious-”

“Oli, you can just say you’re concerned about me, you know.”

“I’m trying to be tactful, Pixlriffs! You know I don’t have tact! All I have are my looks and the speech pattern of a poor Victorian orphan boy!” He stopped flailing the journal in his hands and set it down beside him for the sake of not flinging it down the hill. “You crumbled into dust! Dust, Pix! And now we can see through you, for Christ’s sake!”

“No need to remind me.” He gets up from his kneeled position on the ground, wiping the dirt from his hands and turning to face his friend. “I appreciate your concern, I really do. You’re a good friend. But I’m handling the situation.”

Oli crossed his arms. “Not by throwing yourself into your work, no?”

“No-” The usual warmth in his voice is gone for just a second. Pix pauses before steadying his voice again. “I’m not avoiding the problem, or coping poorly elsewise. I’m just… treating it as I would any other mystery I come across.”

“How so?”

Pix fiddles with the measuring tape in his hand, winding the cord around his fingers like a snake. “Well… first I set a question. What is the use of this artifact I found? How old are these carvings? What does it mean now that I’m a ghost?”

Pix wakes up in his bed back home, gasping for a breath he couldn’t take until now, adrenaline still welling inside of him. Once he realizes where he is and what just happened he doesn’t hesitate to throw on a spare elytra and zip through his nether portal. Though his hands fumble with his rockets, the flight back to Glimmer Grove gives him a few moments to calm down and think about what just happened. Had he just been caught? Was it a hidden assassin’s attempt to claim his crown? Maybe Glimmer Grove’s curse had suddenly exhibited a new and deadly effect?

And then he arrives, cautiously rounding the corner to speak with his fellow emperors, all huddled in a group on the stairs he’d just succumbed under. And when their eyes finally settle upon him, the horror they’re filled with makes his blood run cold.

Oli listens intently. “Alright, then what?”

“Then I hypothesize. Think about what direction I should take my research in.”

The tea party is decidedly over after this. Pix drifts away from the dispersing crowd, unease filling the empty space. It’s… he’s not gonna lie, it’s a lot. Sighing, he presses his palms to his temples, rubbing them. Something sharp makes him pull his hand away. Curiously, he feels around on his head and runs his hand over a few sharp points, and connecting those points is something shriveled and ashy. He traces the vines around his head, culminating at the sunflower he had placed in his hair. A petal falls into his hand, gray and withered. He goes back to the vines, feeling how they circle his scalp. The occasional larger thorn pointing upwards like a shark’s lower jaw. It’s almost as if… like it’s blocking him from… it would be impossible to wear the Crown like this, right?

The grave look he saw in Scott’s eyes replays in his mind.

Pix continues. “Next is research. Consulting my studies, my books.”

His floor is carpeted in scattered paper. Historical texts, maps, theses, investigative reports, legends, folktales. Anything that might mention the Crown in any capacity. A web of signs on the wall spout disjointed theories and leads. Several are dyed an approving green. Even more are dyed a discrediting red. He’s fairly certain that the Crown had killed him, though through what means he doesn’t know. An enchantment, perhaps? Or maybe a curse? Whatever it was, it did not want him putting it back on.

He hangs a sign on the wall. “Crown only allows those it deems worthy to wear it.” He steps back, thinks for a bit, and dyes the sign a cautious yellow.

Assuming the Crown had this effect before it was last sealed away in the Capital’s catacombs, what makes him different then its previous owners? After all, none of them wore it and withered away, as far as he knew. It would probably have to be something objective. Enchanting a crown meant to be transferred between owners with a subjective kill switch trigger would be incredibly dangerous. And if that was the intent, he’s surprised there isn’t any record of this curse in his books.

In that case, it would probably have to be that he isn’t royalty. He may be an emperor, i.e. the land he lives on gave him its blessing. And have the abilities that come with that, i.e. access to the magic of inventory, respawn, crafting. But being an emperor does not royalty make. He’s simply the caretaker of the Ancient Capital, one with no subjects to his name. Much like how Shelby acts as warden to The Evermoor, home to just her and a healthy population of frogs.

He places another sign on the wall. “Crown only allows royalty to wear it.” This one feels more solid. The crown was only meant to be worn by royalty, so a curse preventing non-royalty from wearing it doesn’t dissuade its purpose. It was extreme, yes, but so was the history of the Crown. A legacy of assassinations and betrayal. A well of dark emotions that stray magic could easily leech onto and, over a long enough period of time, solidify into a dangerous curse! It fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. The Crown is cursed to kill non-royalty. This curse wasn’t enchanted by a person, but by a pattern of events, so it isn’t deliberate or necessarily useful. Pix dyed the sign green.

Then a wire crosses in Pix’s brain. The curse isn’t deliberate. It’s crude, simple. If A, then B. If not royalty, then execute. Pix is both non-royalty and an emperor. He has access to the magic of an emperor. He can respawn.

The deathrattle curse of the Crown. An unstoppable force. The undying blessing of an emperor. An immovable object.

Both dead and alive. His breath hitches in his chest like a brick.

And so the logical conclusion.

Should he ever lose the Ancient Capital’s approval…

Oli sits back down, pulling his lute back into his arms and fiddling with the strings.

“Alright, I see where this is going. I’ve taken a science class before. Next is testing, right?”

Pix looked past him, staring down at something intangible behind Oli. He then turned back to his foundations, unspooling his measuring tape again.

“I’m in the middle of that now. West gate pillar footprint. One point two five meters squared.”

#fic about my headcanon for why the crown ghosted pix!#couldn't focus on much else until i wrote it down lmao #also i know i got the scientific method order wrong. it's 3am here im not rewriting anything #empires smp #esmp #empires smp spoilers #esmp spoilers #empires pix #empires pixl #empires pixlriffs #pixlriffs #empires oli #oli theorionsound #theorionsound #mcyt #mcytblr #not art

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