#and then my teacher moves on and i don't realise. teaching something else new.
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Summary: Forced to be sociable by his so called friends, Laxus finds himself attending a five week cooking class. An insulting and stupid idea, and one he resents them for doing. He would have thrown it in their faces, if it weren’t for the smug prick teaching the class, with his handsome face, delectable body, and annoyingly enticing way of keeping Laxus on his toes. [Fraxus One Shot]
Notes: Hi. I wrote this on my phone while sitting on the beach, so who knows how it’ll turn out. But it’s got them both being cocky, both being flirty, and both being in love, so what else could you want. Hope you all enjoy it.
Links: FFN, Ao3
Set To Boil
Or: 4 Times Freed taught Laxus a recipe, & 1 time Laxus returned the favour
Week One - Pizza
"Laxus, you need to get out more."
"Laxus, there's no reason for you not to give it a try."
"Laxus, you're an antisocial brat and you need to get out more."
Fuck them all. Fuck Evergreen for her haughty sense of self belief. Fuck Bickslow for having no tact and being and coming up with good points. Fuck Makarov in particular, for being a rude old coot who threatened to change the damn lock. And when Laxus found out which of the interfering bastards had been the one to come up with this stupid idea, then fuck them too.
It was ridiculous. Yes, perhaps Laxus had become somewhat insular as of late. Maybe his friends had been putting in more effort than him as of late, but it was important. He was newly hired in his sports journalism career, and he needed to focus on his writing.
What he did not need was a five week cooking course!
Why the hell did cooking courses even exist anymore? If you wanted to learn to cook, there was this brilliant new invention called a computer. They had hundreds of step by step recipes, none of which required Laxus to trudge through a damn rec-centre at eight at night!
Seriously, fuck them all.
He was late, too. The bus had missed his stop, and as such he was now ten damn minutes late. He was half-tempted to leave the rec-centre before he found his classroom - Ever, Bicks and Makarov wouldn't find out if he didn't use the damn voucher, after all - but then he would have to spend the next five weeks thinking of ways to pass the time every Thursday night. He really needed to move out of Makarov's damn apartment; the old bastard apparently had nothing better to do than to keep tabs on him. Bastard.
He was in front of the classroom door before he knew it, and he faulted. Dammit, why had he agreed to do this? Why couldn't the bus have gotten him there on time? Why was he nervous about this?
No; he was a grown man dammit. Fuck his nerves,
With false confidence, he walked into the classroom. Eight benches, all with sinks, ovens, cooktops, an array of cutlery and equipment, and a basket of ingredients filled the space. Five people stood behind some of the benches, and Laxus somewhat guilty slinked towards the nearest bench, at the back of the classroom.
"Mr Dreyar, I presume," A voice, deliciously smooth with underlying authority, made Laxus pause.
He looked up to see a man standing at the front of the room, behind a larger and more professional looking cooking worktop, and Laxus paused. If you were to encapsulate all of Laxus' ideal qualities in a man, his new teacher was apparently as close a person could come. Tall, obviously with some muscle, tight and sharp facial features, a little pale, and with long hair. He wore a button up shirt that hugged his form, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off a near-indecent amount of his forearms. He was quirking his eyebrow towards Laxus, and he felt ensnared by the expression.
Dammit, of course. Almost every other cooking class in the country would inevitable be taught by a homely housewife or a tedious Ramsay wannabe, but not his. He gets a stud with veiny forearms, high cheekbones, and narrowed eyes that made Laxus shiver.
He couldn't justify it, but Laxus was inclined to blame his grandfather for that.
"There's a bench up here, if you'd like to take it," The teacher said, motioning towards one of the cooking stations at the front of the room. Laxus cringed; even in school, he'd been one of the kids who sat at the back. That wasn't a habit he was ready to lose.
"I'd rather stay here, if it's all the same to you," Laxus mumbled, annoyed at himself for not speaking clearly. There was something about teachers that just… what did you call someone who intimidated you but also kind of excited you at the same time?
God, this was going to be awful.
"And I prefer it if my students arrived to my lessons on time," The teacher smirked a little, and Laxus almost stuttered in search of a reply. "And, as tends to happen with a student who shows up late on the first day, you'll likely act out further. As such, I want you close by so I can keep you on the straight and narrow," He tapped his finger on the surface twice. "This counter, please."
Though only a few steps, the walk to the counter at the front of the room was humiliating, it served to make the asshole teacher appear less hot, if nothing else. Because Laxus definitely did not like a man who knew how to be firm with him.
This was going to be hell, wasn't it?
At his assigned counter, Laxus felt a little lost. Nestled in the ingredients was a recipie - they were making pizza, apparently - and Laxus slightly found himself floundering. The cooking lessons weren't just to make him more sociable; he had no idea how to cook.
The teacher, who was looking at him from behind his work surface, sighed and approached Laxus. In his hand, he held a chopping board with what appeared to be a large mound of dough. He placed it before Laxus, who drowned down at it.
"Normally I would have taught you how to make dough yourself, but my plan's require the full hour," The teacher said, as if that was an explanation. "Rather than you lagging behind and not getting the whole experience, you should start from the same point everyone else is at. So put yourself to work and start to kneed this. It'll require a few more minutes to get to the right consistency."
Laxus looked down at the dough, grinding his teeth. Kneeding was rubbing it, right? And occasionally you punch it? That didn't sound right.
"Like this," The teacher said, pulling the chopping board towards him. He started to kneed the dough - it wasn't what Laxus thought it was - and the attraction came back with a sudden force. God dammit, why did his sleeves have to hug his biceps like that? That just wasn't fair.
The dough was pushed towards him again, and Laxus rolled up his sleeves and started to emulate what the teacher had done. The teacher didn't leave, and Laxus squirmed a little under, and found himself speaking to fill the silence.
"I ain't gonna learn, y'know," His mouth said before his brain could intercept. "Don't give a shit about cooking."
That a'boy Laxus. Turn up late, fail at a basic thing, and insult the guy's career. Real classy.
"You will." The teacher said, as if it were undeniable.
"I will?" Laxus scoffed.
"You will," The teacher repeated, smirking, "Once you realise what a good home cooked meal taste like, you'll be desperate to learn what else you can do."
"You seem awfully confident about that…" He drifted off; he didn't even know the damn guys name,
"Freed," The teacher supplied. "And I am confident. You'll love cooking by the end of it. I'm sure."
"You talk a big game," Laxus chuckled a little. He almost forgot he was kneeding the dough, but Freed looked down at his hands and grinned a little, which got Laxus to pause. Just because he was kneeding dough it didn't mean he cared; it was basically a workout. That was all, and Freed needed to know that. "If you're that sure, then I'm gonna insist you eat everything I make, no matter how shitty it turns out to be."
"So long as you don't sabotage yourself on purpose, I can agree to that."
Well, Laxus had slightly wanted to make Freed eat combinations of food that tasted like crap, but this could work. Laxus really was that bad of a cook, Freed might not be able to know the difference.
"Deal," Laxus nodded, offering Freed a hand to shake. The chef did so immediately, with a firm squeeze and… oh damn, those veins!
——
Week Two - Curry
Laxus had been right. Even putting in the effort and following the recipie as best he could, he was still a shitty cook. Unless, of course, a curry was meant to be accompanied by a waft of dark, burning smoke when you opened up the oven. Laxus coughed a little as he removed the dish from the oven, placing it on the counter top while shutting the oven door with his foot,
Freed was storming over immediately, flapping at the smoke with a dish towel and immediately turnoff the extractor fan on to suck up the smoke before it reached the detector. He had previously been working with a pink haired bastard, who was snickering at Laxus' failure. Asshole.
"What on earth did you do to it?" Freed demanded, more confused than angry.
"I followed her recipe," Laxus retorted indignantly. "Can't blame me."
"Everyone else has the same recipe and they've managed fine," Freed muttered under his breath. "Explain to me what happened."
Laxus bit down the instinct to tell Freed to choke on something, patronising ass that he was. He had made a deal with Freed the week prior that he would do what he could to make the most of the lessons, and he would enjoy knowing how to make a few meals, so admitting his mistakes was something that he would have to do. Even if it was to a smug, ego-centred teacher who Laxus could definitely take in a fight without breaking a sweat,
Maybe he should suggest some boxing lessons. Laxus had given up pro fighting the year before, but kept it up for fun. If Freed was acting like Laxus was stupid for not knowing the basics of cooking, Laxus would act like Freed was stupid when he didn't understand how to box.
Fantasising about punching Freed in the stomach - which was no doubt toned and sexy as hell - made talking through the process easier. Freed wore a slight frown, apparently not seeing anything wrong with what he had done. Laxus was about to boast that he was right, and that it was Freed's instructions that had gotten the burned pile of mush that filled the room with smoke, but Freed's expression turned to one of understanding when he looked at the oven,
"These work on Celsius, you set it as though you were using Fahrenheit," Freed explained. "You essentially nuked it."
Fuck. God-fucking-dammit!
He could have dealt with it if he was unable to do some cooking thing he'd never had to use before. But this? Misreading a piece of paper and setting the wrong temperature on the damn oven, how the hell had he managed to do that? It was humiliating! He was a grown ass adult, a retired sportsman who was forging a career to be respected. But an oven had made him look like an idiot who couldn't do anything for himself. Fucking brilliant.
With clenched fists, he rested against the workbench and leant on it with closed eyes. This was why he didn't do shit like this; he needed to keep in his lane and do what he was good at. Not cook, not have this weird hate-boner for his teacher. None of this.
"How soon after the class do you need to leave?" Freed asked, cutting through Laxus' spiralling thoughts. He frowned, but answered.
"Don't have any plans after."
"If we start again, we can have you finished ten minutes after class. That way it won't be an act of futility," Freed said, and rolled his damn sleeves up again. Thankfully he was moving around the counter, turning the oven down and fiddling with appliances fast enough to stop Laxus' eyes from lingering. "I can teach you how to spice things to your own tastes, as well. Normally that's next week, but I can advance you for your troubles."
"Advance me?" Laxus frowned. "Kinda need to be good at the basics first."
"You are, everything you said was correct. You made a small mistake that I should have noticed," Freed shrugged, walking to the counter he taught from and taking a box of ingredients to place on Laxus' desk. "I thought you'd learn better left to your own devices, and while I expect that was true, I shouldn't have left you alone. That was my mistake and as such, I'll amend it. We'll make a curry suited towards your tastes."
This was an olive branch, Laxus was sure of it. Freed had apparently noticed Laxus' shift of mood, and took the blame for Laxus' mistake. He was thankful of it, but it was still embarrassing.
Thankfully, a way of saving face had presented itself.
"I don't know if I can believe ya," He said with a small, somewhat forced smirk. "I mean, you don't have a record for keeping promises, do ya?"
"Don't I?"
"You told me you'd eat some of everything I made," Laxus shrugged, looking towards his pot of 'curry' that lay stagnant in the pot. It was grey, somehow. Food shouldn't be grey. "That was a lie."
Freed sighed, but didn't back down. He pulled a dessert spoon from one of the drawers, carefully scooped up some of the ruined mush and brought it towards his lips; damn they were pretty. He openly winced at the smell, swallowing preemptively as it got closer to his mouth. He glanced towards Laxus for a split second, who was watching him with crossed arms expectantly, and let out a resigned sigh. He opened his mouth, took in the spoon, then ate.
First he gagged, then he coughed, then he struggled to swallow. Even though Laxus had worked hard, and a small part of him thought Freed was exaggerating, he laughed at the reaction. Freed was fighting to keep the burned, disgusting food down. Once completely swallowed, he turned to Laxus with a wince.
"Delicious," He lied, trying to hide how thoroughly unhappy he was.
"If that's the case, there's plenty more," Laxus smirked, and Freed actually winced. That, of course, spurred Laxus on further. This was more fun than cooking. "Eat up, I don't mind."
Freed seemed to think for a moment, before standing up straight, rolling his back, and doing something Laxus never would have expected. He pulled out a plate and a ladle, scooped a portion large enough to fill two fully grown adults would struggle to finish no matter what the taste, and placed it on the countertop as if it was something to be proud of.
"A deal," Freed proposed. "I want to teach you one on one for the rest of the session. No distractions, no changing the subject, simply me telling you how to cook. Essentially, until you've cooked something successfully, I want your full attention."
Laxus nearly scoffed, Freed already had that. Instead, he said: "What's my 'delicious' curry got to do with that."
"If you make an attempt to distract me, to get out of lessons in some way, or continue with the mindset that this course is not suited to you, then for the rest of your time learning under me, you'll stay after class and clean everyone's dishes until I'm satisfied with the result."
Laxus winced a little. "And if I don't do any of that."
"I'll eat all of this," He motioned to the plate of ruined food. "And you may watch me do it."
Thinking for a moment, Laxus grinned. "Your funeral," He then glances at the food and winced. "Possibly literally."
Freed waved off the comment, stood beside Laxus with his new range of ingredients, and began explaining the basics of how to get a flavour you desired from your ingredients. On instinct Laxus wanted to taunt the man, suggesting the best way to get a flavour was with a take-out menu, but he managed to stop himself before the words slipped out. Mainly it was to avoid four weeks of dish washing, but also because he hasn't seen Freed like this. He was passionate when he spoke about cooking, and Laxus didn't want to ruin that.
And when Freed's arm slid against Laxus' as they moved, somehow at the same moment Freed looked at him with a genuine smile, Laxus felt shivers roll over him. This was… there were worse ways to spend a Thursday evening.
——
Week Three - Chicken Soup
"Y'know, if you're gonna make such a big deal about-" Laxus cut himself off. Holy shit.
He had been ready to blast into Freed about puntuality. Laxus had gotten to the class on time, only to see that Freed was not there. Eight minutes into the lesson, the door had opened, and Laxus was fully intending to lambast Freed about how much of a big deal it was when Laxus was late, and yet Freed was just as bad. He only stopped when he saw the state Freed was in. Because dammit, the man was drenched to the bone.
What the hell had happened to him? Sure it was raining, but Laxus knew he had a car, and surely the walk from the parking lot to the building hadn't been that bad. He looked like he'd gotten into a fight with a lake and lost.
"Everyone to your work stations please," Freed instructed, removing his coat as he walked to the front of the class. "I apologise for being late, but it shouldn't be too much of an imposition if we all focus."
Laxus was focusing. Focusing on the fact Freed's white shirt was clinging to his chest, showing off strong pecs and the taunting glimpse of a six-pack. It was a temp tight sight, and far too indecent for a classroom setting.
He shook his thoughts away. He needed to focus, because last week's lesson had proved a lot of things. One: Freed was willing to eat a whole plate full of disgusting food to prove a point, which wasn't relevant but Laxus still thought funny to think about him gagging and going green. Two: Freed was actually a damn good teacher, he just apparently hadn't know what Laxus needed from him until the latter half of the class. Three: Laxus actually could cook, if taught well. Because the second curry he'd made was indescribable, and it had tasted just as good when Laxus had cooked it two nights prior.
So, the lessons were actually working, and Laxus decided he was going to fully allow himself to be a student. Groping the teacher with his eyes wasn't going to help that, so Laxus remained quiet and let Freed explain the lesson.
To learn how to flavour things correct, they would all be making a series of different soups throughout the hour. Five basic recipes has been placed on their workspaces, and an entire array of spices, ingredients and flavourings had been scattered through the room. The point of the exercise was to follow the recipes, but also put other ingredients into their soups while doing it so that they can experiment with flavours. It was pretty smart, and Laxus felt like he had an advantage given Freed's impromptu lesson with spices the week before.
Once Freed stopped talking, they began cooking, and Laxus felt oddly confident in himself.
About ten minutes into the exercise, Freed made his way to Laxus' workstation. Wordlessly, he picked up a plastic ladle and scooped out a small amount of the soup Laxus had cooking. Laxus watched with only a small amount of anticipation as Freed brought the soup to his lips and swallowed it, and didn't focus on the flipping of his stomach as Freed smiled at him.
"It's very good," he praised, and Laxus did not preen at the words.
"Thanks," He muttered instead. "Any advice?"
Freed smiled a little at the request, placing the ladle in the small sink. "I'd use sea salt from now on, it'll bring out the flavour of the chicken more. But your instincts have served you well, it works very well together."
"Oh, thanks," Laxus mumbled awkwardly, and Freed didn't help by leaning over the table to look at Laxus' recipe, bring their faces far too close. Thank god the heat of the room has fixed the slight transparency of Freed's shirt, because knowing about the body below the clothes was tempting enough with him this close. If he could see the man's body, he might explode.
"You've put everything you've added onto this, haven't you?" Freed asked, tapping the recipe that had Laxus notes covering it. Laxus nodded weakly. "Then, if you can recreate it as it is now,I then it's time to experiment. Pick something at random to add and see what it tastes like. If it's bad, remake what you've already done."
"Anything huh?" Laxus quirked a brow. "You know you have to eat it, right? You wanna give me this much freedom after last week?"
"So long as you choose your ingredients thinking it will taste good, I'll uphold my agreement," Freed shrugged. "Though I must admit, I'd prefer not to spend the night with stomach cramps and a bucket beside my bed again, if avoidable."
Laxus barked out a laugh. "Kinda thought I'd killed ya when you didn't show up on time. What happened?"
"My car's broken down," Freed explained, looking over the herbs Laxus had added. "It took longer to get here than I expected."
"You walked in this?" Laxus glanced towards the heavy rainfall beating down on the windows.
"Indeed," Freed nodded. "Not my smartest decision."
Laxus winced a little at a roll of thunder exploded outside, apparently trying to make sure Freed knew just how stupid his decision had been. Freed didn't seem too bothered by it, though, and instead walked towards the old woman who worked behind Laxus, tasting her version of tomato soup and giving her advice on how to give it an extra kick.
The rest of the lesson continued on like that. Freed would work his way around the room, helping where he could. Laxus experimented on his soup, finding parmasean to be the missing ingredient.
Freed actually licked his damn lips after trying that. Did he know what he was doing to Laxus?
Once the lesson was over, the storm still lighting up the sky, Laxus walked to the door of the rec-centre. Freed was lingering there, wrapped up in a large red coat and clearly not looking forward to his walk home. Laxus understood that; the rain was so hard it probably would hurt to be under it.
"I'll drive ya home," Laxus said, his tone not leaving room to argue.
"What?" Freed asked. "No, that's not-"
"Didn't give you a choice, did I?" Laxus crossed his arms.
"You intend to kidnap me?" Freed joked.
"Yeah," Laxus nodded. "If you walk out in that, you're gonna get sick for no reason other than your own stubbornness. If that happens, the. Eat I can do for you is give you the recipe for this," he patted the container of chicken soup he held, "but I kinda think driving you might make more sense."
Freed considerd before speaking. "I insist on paying for gas, at least."
"Course you will, I ain't a cheap date."
The words came before Laxus could stop himself, and a flush of worry spread through him. Freed simply laughed, murmured a teasing "I expect not," and walked towards the door. He held it open for Laxus to walk through, and with a small grin, Laxus did so, with Freed by his side.
When the rain hit them, Laxus didn't care, and it certainly didn't diminish the silly smile that he hoped Freed couldn't see.
——
Week Four - Meringues
"What are you looking at, Laxus?"
Freed seemed amused as he spoke, and he walked towards Laxus' working area. Laxus had been trying to catch his teacher's eye for around a minute, with probably a stupid little grin on his face. He couldn't find it in himself to be embarrassed about being caught out.
The drive home with Freed has been a long one - thirty minutes in the car; how long would it have been if he'd walked! - and they'd talked throughout. Laxus had learned that, until recently, Freed had been a professional chef for the TV show 'Sabertooth Chefs', a cooking competition watched by millions. He was off camera, making the meals that the celebrity judges claimed they had cooked to use as an example for their contestants. Apparently he quit because of a lack of passion.
That, and apparently Rufus Lore - the judge he cooked for - was obnoxious and could barely bake a loaf of bread if left on his own.
Laxus spoke about his own life. How he'd felt obligated to quit his pro-boxing career after a nasty head wound that resulted in his scar. How he was now a freelance writer who did sports analysis for some of the sports magazines and websites. Freed had seemed impressed, and claimed he'd watch out for his work.
They were closer now, and as such Laxus felt comfortable joking with him.
"I've got a question," he said when Freed was close. "You said you'd taste everything I cook, right? Well, for food, tasting something means you're experiencing it, right?"
"I suppose," Freed agreed, though seemed to know he was walking into a trap.
"Well, with meringues, you showed us that trick, right," Laxus smirked. "Where if you've made it correctly, you can turn the bowl over and the mixture won't fall out."
"Yes," Freed was wary now.
"Well, you also said for the best experience," he put emphasis on the word, "then you tip it up over your head. If you've done it right, it stays in the bowl. If you ain't, it covers ya."
"I did say that," Freed muttered.
"Well, if you're gonna experience everything I make, surely you should do it." He smirked; and pushed the bowel of mixture towards him.
Freed looked down, resignedly.
Then he perked up and reached into his pocket, pulling out a coin. He flipped it with flair and caught it, covering it before either of them could see the result.
"Heads or tails?" He requested, and Laxus chuckled.
"Heads."
Freed removed his hand, and Laxus let out a cry of triumph. He nudged the bowel towards Freed, grinning wide and ridiculous as Freed openly sighed. Laxus crossed his arms to hurry the man up, and it seemed to work.
With quick, resigned movements, Freed lifted the bowel. The thick white mixture jiggled slightly, and Freed turned it upside down above his head before he could stop himself.
And… it stayed in place.
For a moment, Freed seemed to be wincing in anticipation, before a look of triumph flooded onto his face. He turned the bowel back over and placed it on the counter.
"Kinda anticlimactic," Laxus said, picking up a spoon.
"But it means you did it correctly," Freed smiled. "You can take solace in that."
"Guess so," Laxus nodded. "Or I could do this."
With neither showmanship nor hesitation, Laxus used the spoon so scoop a dollop of the mixture up and flicked it towards Freed's face. For a moment, all Freed could do was blink, and Laxus burst into stifled laughter.
It had splattered over his lips, nose, and left cheek. Equal parts ridiculous and oddly attractive.
"Mister Dreyar," Freed spoke calmly, but he was trying to hide a smile. "I will be seeing you after class."
He turned away. Laxus snickered.
Although it was tempting to be a dick for the rest of the lesson, Laxus behaved himself. This was the only lesson that they did on desserts, and Laxus wanted to learn. That, and he felt Freed wasn't going to take his little prank lying down, so he probably shouldn't piss him off further.
When everyone else was gone, and Laxus was left alone with Freed, there was a moment of quiet. He motioned for Laxus to approach the desk. Laxus did so.
He was hit in the face by a spurt of ketchup.
It continued, splattering across his face. He gasped, and Freed apparently aimed for his mouth at the moment. It was a stupid moment, not helped by the noise the bottle was making, and eventually the spray died out.
Neither man spoke for a moment.
They both started laughing at the same time, and Freed handed Laxus a napkin to clean himself with.
"You're an asshole, you know that right?" Laxus said with mirth in his voice. "You still got the balls to want a ride from me again?"
"Is the offer still available?" Freed chuckled.
"Sure, just as long as you don't mind me getting some glue and those decorative feather things from a store on the way back," Laxus smirked. "There's a smug asshole who needs to be tarred and fathered."
"Perhaps I'll get the bus," Freed grinned, then frowned a little. Perhaps without thinking, he reached up and stroked Laxus' cheek to rid it of a remaking fleck of sauce.
They both halted, frozen for a moment, and Laxus' mind was set alight. In that moment he knew one thing for sure; he couldn't let Freed go.
——
Week Five - Solyanka
"That will be all for our time together," Freed said, standing at the front of the class. "I hope you all enjoyed your time together, and that you've all learned something. At the risk of promoting myself, I have other courses available that last longer and offer more flexibility with what you'll cook, if you want to further your culinary pursuits. If not, then it was a pleasure working with you all, and I wish you well in your endeavours."
It was weird seeing Freed using his teaching voice; the things he said weren't Freed-like. It was kind of funny.
Laxus hung back when the rest of the class funnelled out. Some of them spoke to Freed before leaving, orbits just left, but Laxus decided to hang back and wait. As he did, he pulled out a small plastic tub from a bag he'd brought with him, waiting for Freed to take note. Once everyone was gone, Freed saw him still standing at the end of his cooking surface.
"Laxus," He said, and he seemed pleased Laxus was still there. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, just wasn't ready to leave yet," Laxus passed it off as a joke, but the stopped himself. "I, Erm, well, there's this recipe my family's been making for years. Generations, actually. Just wanted to know what you think."
"You want me to critique a family recipe?" Freed frowned.
No. No he didn't. He wanted to share something with Freed that was important to Freed. It was ridiculous to think, but this old Russian dish was something he had loved for his life, and he wanted Freed to love it too. It seemed stupid now he was thinking about it, but they only really had food in common right now, and Laxus felt like it was his turn to add something to the conversation.
"It's called Solyanka," Laxus said instead of answering the question. "It's a soup. For sausages, olives, cabbage. A lot of things, really."
Laxus didn't say anything else, and picked out a pot from the cupboards to place on the stove. He emptied the contents of the container into the pot and stated to bear it up.
"It tastes better when it's not been reheated but-"
"It smells beautiful," Freed said, cutting through Laxus' backtracking. "And I'm sure it will taste just as good."
"Thanks," Laxus mumbled a little.
As they waited for the soup to heat, there was a comfortable quiet between them both. Freed seemed engrossed in the cooking - the growing scent, the occasional stirring - and it gave Laxus the chance to watch him. He had known Freed was hot from the moment he'd seen him, but he was also fucking beautiful. His hair was pulled out and flowing over his shoulders, and his expression was calm and relaxed.
Laxus was glad he had done this, suddenly. He would have regretted it. This couldn't be the end of his relationship with Freed; it just couldn't.
He went to speak, but Freed went first.
"I think it's time to take it off the heat," He said gently, as if wanting to avoid offending Laxus by telling him how to cook his meal. Laxus quickly removed the pot from the heat.
With now familiar movements, Laxus pulled out two bowls and poured them both a portion. Laxus sat on one of the stools, waiting a little nervously as he saw Freed spoon some of the soup up and take it into his mouth.
"Wow," Freed whispered. "It's incredible."
Pride bloomed inside Laxus, and he didn't tamper it down. This piece of Laxus had pleased Freed. It had made Freed smile such a brilliant smile that it was like a shot to the heart. He was speechless, and Freed spoke again.
"You're incredible, Laxus," he said with equal sincerity.
"What?" Laxus frowned slightly.
"You're incredible, Laxus," Freed repeated, smiling now. "You've made these five weeks remarkably fun for me, and I'm sad to see you go."
"I'm sad to be going," Laxus mumbled, unused to speaking honestly about these kinds of things. "These have been… the best part of my week."
"Mine too," Freed admitted, and the words sent lighting throughout him.
There had been a small part of Laxus that had thought it had been in his head. He felt like he and Freed had been steadily growing closer and closer, in a way that couldn't exactly be called platonic. It felt like this was the moment where a choice had to be made. Laxus could either hide from his feelings, as he had often done in his life, or he could take the dive. Just like he'd done when he had quit his job. Just like he'd done when he'd come to the class in the first place. Just like he should have been doing all his life.
Freed was going to speak, but the urge to act overtook Laxus and he moved before it could dwindle. He launched himself toward, took Freed by the back of the neck, and kissed him.
It wasn't perfect, but the imperfection made it better.
The feeling of the desk jutting into his hip might have been a bother, but it was nothing compared the the brilliance of soft lips moving against his own.
The lingering spice on Freed's tongue could have been a distraction, but it only added to the searing sensation flying through him.
The scent of Laxus' Solyanka might have drawn focus, but instead it nudged with Freed's cologne and created a beautiful feeling of mingled familiarity and uniqueness.
This was the type of kiss that was unforgettable.
Freed's hand was grazing the back of Laxus' neck, scratching at the usually untouched skin in a way Laxus was tempted to put at. He smiled a dopey smile, leaning further into the kiss.
When they pulled apart, breathless and smiling, they couldn't look away from each other.
"Don't know how this works with a chef," Laxus began in a whisper. "Don't wanna offend your sense of pride, but d'you maybe wanna get a bite to eat some place?"
For a stagnant second, that felt like an eternity to Laxus, Freed didn't say anything.
"I'd love that," Freed nodded a little, though his head still rested against Laxus'. "So long as you don't mind me critiquing everything?"
The joke was trumped by the honesty in his voice. Freed really wanted it!
"I can deal with that."
They shared a quiet, private smile. One that promised excitement, passion, and if Laxus allowed himself to be optimistic, perhaps a future as well.
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'Lonely ghost serie'
Proposition and Accord-part VII
"Ghoooost! Good noon!"
"Hello!"
You opened your eyes slowly, barely awake from the deep sleep you had. The grogginess in your voice shadowed by the abnormal deepness of the voice changer.
"Hey, ghost."
"Corpse! Always pleased to hear you."
"Always ,ey?" Toast picked what you said in a more suggestive tone, teasing you with it.
"Cut it ,man."
You didn't bite on the trap however.
" Anyway, mind if I bring a friend?"
"Of course!"
"Sure why not."
"Okay,brb."
"So ,Corpse..."
"To early for that ,Toast."
Near the white astronaut Ghost had, a new little one came. It was black with a pair of headphones and a Wall-e companion. On top the name Charon was displayed.
The others started circling the new mate as Corpse's pink character stood unmoved by your side.
"Good evening!" A low and mature voice came from a woman. It didn't had a mechanical effect to it so it was coming in naturally.
"Hiiiii!"
"Hello!"
"Guys this is Andreea, Andreea this is the Peanut gallery."
"Ha,nice. Good to meet you all."
"Likewise."
"You too."
"Your robot is cute." Corpse remarked.
You smirked when your phone immediately lighted up. A message from Andreea written in big bold letters: 'HIS VOICE IS HOT!'
'I know :)))'
"Andreea , you know how to play this game?"
"Y-Yeah ummm..."
"Sykkuno."
"Sykkuno! Yeah, I know me and Y- I mean ghost sometimes play it. "
"You play together?"
"Well yeah, we play Fallout together, sometimes Minecraft even Eyes the horror game. Speaking of which ghost?"
"Yeah?"
"My place tonight?"
You smirked knowing what's to come.
"Time to corrupt another soul?"
You laughed was intentionally made to be interpreted by the others as evil and dark. In the inside you cringed, you sounded so stupid.
"Umm,guys?" Sykkuno asked for clarification, to which he will not receive.
"YOU GUYS LIVE IN THE SAME CITY?" Pooki asked all excited for some reason.
"Yeah?"
"Same city? We leave in the same apartment building." Andreea told ,a pleasant hiss rang as her long nailed hands opened a Pepsi can.
'Cola is better'
'Fuck off, Y/n'
':))🖕'
"That's so cute!"
"I guess,but she's a pain."
"A pain? Moi? Please, I am only in pain not one."
The others chuckled at your shenanigans, the humour between you and Andreea being based in play fighting, cursing each other and bumping as hard as you can into each. Considering how much of a height difference is between you two, everything just gets more interesting.
"Maan,I want to stay in the same building with you guys also." Corpse pouted.
You two sounded really nice to be with, especially you. You were fun to talk witg and your natural voice was a godsend to his anxiety and insomnia. It made him sometimes slip into a blissful sleep,especially when you began reading to him Doom lore in the late hours of the night.
' "The Maykrs' need for the Essence is prime. Without it they must suffer the monstrous fate of Transfiguration, and see their wisdom and faculties slither from their twisted forms. By bidding of the Khan Maykr herself, the Order of the Deag has devised a method to improve and accelerate the production of the Hell aura. What once took eons for the savage beasts to attai...oof. Wait."
Corpse heard you move in the bed, your body getting its pressure off it before settling back in.
He wanted to start to ask you to read again when he was interrupted by the sound of smooching ? You were kissing somebody?
You puffed and smiled as Sergiu bombarded you with another waves of kisses, a tradition in your group. You all were touched starved creatures so you showed your platonic affections through hand holding, sudden hugging, cuddling- sometimes propping your cold feet on the other person's back just to be dickish- and rains of kisses.
Sergiu was the most affectionate out of all of you, the rain of kisses being something that his mother used to do before she left to work. 'A kiss on the forehead to brighten your thinking, two on the cheeks so no one is lonely and one wherever you want.'
"Alright! Alright! I get it, you are leaving!"
You laughed as you pushed the cuddly golden retriver of a man away.
His chains attached to his black leather belt with grey 3d rombes running all over it clicked as it bounced. His hair smudged on the worn out black leather jacket and his face all but a smile. He was happy and you love to see it.
-Vrei ceva? ("You want something?")
-Umm...PIZZA PĂTRATĂ DE LA DEDEMAN ȘI MOUNTAIN DEW.("Um...SQUARE SHAPED PIZZA FROM DEDEMAN AND MOUNTAIN DEW.")
The man laughed at your antics, roughing up your freshly washed hair and closing the door as he left.
"Corpse? You still there buddy?"
Corpse felt a pang in his chest, you sounded like you have much more fun with the other person. He knew it was stupid but he couldn't help feel jealous and worried at the same time. He wanted to be the reason to make you sound so happy and he didn't want to be worried of being replaced anytime soon.
"Corpse? My petit orchid? Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah,I am fine."
It came out shaky and too abrupt for your liking. Something's wrong and you didn't want to overstep your boundaries but you couldn't let him go about his day while having something munching on his good mood.
"Hey,hey Corpse."
"Yes?"
"Wanna see my cat?"
"YOU HAVE A CAT?"
"Yes,so do you..."
"Hell yeah. I mean...sure I am cool with that."
You shook your head and became giggling, it's good to know you weren't the only one who didn't know how to cover their slip ups.'
"Trust me Corpse. You don't want to live with this anxiety filled owl."
"HEY! My anxiety adds spice."
"Oh my god!"
"Guys, guys. Can we start the game please?"
"Oh for sure."
————————————————————
"Watch out for the wall, ghost. Watch out for--GHOST! Oh shit ,I lost her guys! Ghost, where are you?"
His character ran in desperate search to find you. When it left the snowy environment from outside , it stopped abruptly. You were there in the office with Sykkuno ripped apart body in front of you.
"Oh shit! Sykkuno!"
His thoughts ran wilde as they hurried to reach a consensus. He knew that you will probably kill him also as you waited for those 10 seconds to pass.
His premonition was proven true went you shut the doors of the office , your character moving slowly towards him.
"Ahhh! Guys ,what the hell do I do?"
His eyes clenched shut as his finger hovered the report button.
The sound of a meeting went off,forcing him to let out the breath he's been withholding. His hands shook as he relaxed himself when his friends started discussing aka screaming at each other.
Someone else called in another body.
You held your fingernails between your lips, leg bouncing from the nerves. You knew Corpse will snitch you out,after all you did killed Sykkuno.
I am so fucked...
Your body covered in a white and black hoodie contorted itself into a smaller position.You ignored the pain that your dead thighs were trying to emit while being in a cross position. Head to busy with anxious thoughts of what Corpse may do.
"Phew, Jesus. I am too nervous for this game."
Andreea's words caught you off guard. She nervous? It's more likely than you think.
Your feelings long forgotten as your protective nature sprung out of the shell.
"You? Nervous? Andreea you are a freaking talented tattoo artist."
"It doesn't matter, my hands are sweating like they are the Danube river."
"Wait ,are you a tattoo artist?"
"Yeah ,I am. I started tatto--"
Mission accomplished! Your goal wasn't to comfort, you knew you sucked at that but to distract. To take her mind away from whatever cause her pain ,then to secretly totally not obviously attack the shit of whatever upset her even bad vibes. Fuck them bad vibes! You and your friends are bad bitches not second hand embarrassments.
"It will be nice if I could do henna also but this hoarding gremlin was only calm enough when she did them. So basically it became her summer job."
Ah. Your mind realised she was telling them how you two met.
You wanted to get some henna tattoos, see if you liked the way the look at you. Andrea was just a beginner when you entered the tattoo shop and her life.
You weren't always an anxious person,the situation changed when your math teacher decided to be a bitch and humiliate you for not knowing geometry. Since then you were always out of breath when you spoke in public, always bouncing your leg when stressed , biting off your nails and having a constant dread when it came socialising with others. And when you are a big girl that amplifies considerably.
People are just shallow like that and you learned a long time ago that their intolerance towards you was a THEY problem rather than a YOU problem.
It's hard thought, sometimes their words and disgusted glares burn you from inside out. Make you feel inhuman ,that your anger,sadness and your passion don't mean anything ,that they are not valid, that you cannot be yourself and liked at the same time nevermind seen as a romantic interest.
But I digress, when it came with Andreea ,everything when abnormally smooth, you joked and laughed, bitch about people and so on. You hit off immediately.
So when you wanted to make a bit of cash ,Andreea didn't hesitate to teach you how to do temporary tattooing.
"That's so nice guys,the body was in specimen room by the way." Dave said.
The others for some reason started blaming Rae , you didn't said nothing as you were still waiting with your breath tight for Corpse to rat you out.
"Corpse? Where were you by the way?"
Here comes the expose.
"I ..uh...wait. I was in the storage then I met Sykkuno in the office but left with ghost."
What?
"Ghost? Can you collaborate his story?"
"Yeah , me and him left Sykkuno. I think orange was with him last time we saw. I am done with my tasks by the way."
"What?"
"LUDWIG! HOW DARE YOU KILL SYKKUNO?!" Corpse growled.
You muted yourself as you squealed. You couldn't believe him. He really took your side!
You took a sip of your green tea, patting yourself on the back for being calm and getting back in the game.
———————————���————————
"How could you ,Corpse? I trusted you and you stab me behind my back." Sykkuno exclaimed, pout evident in his voice.
"I am sorry Sykkuno..i-it's just...I...uhh.."
Your microphone was not muted this time so when you burst in laughter you dominated the whole discussion. You laughed ugly but happy as you always did, holding your lower abdomen as it clenched muscle you didn't know you have.
"It's NOT funny, ghost!"
"It'S nOt FuNnY, GhOsT! Bwahaha..."
Despite laughing ,deep down you worried you may have offended your new friends? Nah, too early to call them that.
"I think I know why Corpse did what he did." Grease started in a dramatic sober voice.
"You mean cheated on Sykkuno."
Ludwig ignited couple of laughter from the group.
"Yeah. He did it....drumb rolls please. "
Sean provided the suspenseful roll.
"Because he is a SIMP."
"WHAT?"
"No way..."
"You heard me."
The group went wilde. You didn't know what you could say, your mind crazy yet also numb. Poor Corpse.
"Hey, hey. Guys, please calm down. If you want to come for someone, come for my neck."
Your hands flared up into a peaceful backing sign, you knew of Corpse's bad anxiety and you didn't want to cause him distress by bringing the limelight into his face.
"It's alright, ghost. I am a big boy, I can take it."
You tried to keep it short, you really did but your mind wanted to say one more thing.
"Just like you can open foil?"
You heard a breath intake. You lowered your volume, thinking of what he may do.
"I FUCKING HATE FOIL!"
————————————————————
"Tonight was fun." Corpse said after taking a sip of water.
"Yeah, it was."
You watched your dark hair moving in the air as you played with your toes.
"Sorry again for bringing all the...uh...attention on you."
"It's fine,ghost. I know you didn't mean it."
"Y/n."
"What?"
"My name is Y/n."
Ah!
His heart jumped a bit ,you told him your name that means you trust him right. Lily doesn't know your name so he is the first to know. The first to guard this special information.
"Ghost was kinda wearing down,you know?"
"Y-yeah,...uhh..I mean no! Yes? No? Fuck...It's a pretty name,um...Y/n."
You haulted, getting used to him saying your name will take a while.
"Heh,thanks Corpsie."
"Mhmmm, did you have time to think about what I told you?"
Couple of nights ago,Corpse proposed the idea of starting your own Youtube channel. You were hesitant.
"Corpse, I told I don't think people really like me. I think they just like the voice."
"Non sense. You watched our stream?"
"Noo...? Sorry,I didn't really have time to..."
"Hey, it's okay goofball. Anyway,they were asking more videos with you. Maybe some of them like you because of your voice but most of them like you because they like your personality, gh- Y/n."
"Yeah, I guess..."
"Look you don't have to do it if you don't want to. I just feel bad for all the fans that want to talk with you or sometimes I found something funny and I want to send you or tag you. It's stupid I know."
You didn't like the sad tone of his, your heart tightened and your worries worsened.
"I think I am going to sleep. Goodnight, ghost."
"'Night,Corpse."
You were left in the darkness of your room, at the end of the bed with your long fingers reaching towards your knife, your personal fidget spinner. You chew your nail as you moved the blade unconsciously.
Corpse's account:
.ghost added you. Add them back?
————————————————————
Hey,guys!💖💖
Hope you like the seventh part of the serie. I almost went into a writing block with this one.
Anyway, have a nice day!💗💗
Tagged💖💖: @moolujk @magenta-skyline @yikesyikesyikes95 @mythicalamphitrite @yoyoanaria @simonsbluee @cherry-piee @gaysludge @softboiicorpse @heavenly3308
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Chapter 16
Angels and Immortality
After resolving the issue, Jace and Alec went in search of others and found them in the library, reading the history of parabatai.
"So, how does this procedure work exactly?" Jace spoke.
Izzy and Clary exchanged a look, then looked at Alec and smiled widely. "Finally, Jace! Glad to know you got back into senses." Izzy commented.
"I had my own worries, okay? Don't look at me like that!" He eyed both women.
"Okay, enough!" Alec said. "I'll call Cat and let her know!"
They all nodded and Alec left the room to call Catarina. After 15 minutes Catarina came with the book held in her hands with the help of her magic and met them in the library, she kept the book on the circular table placed in the library and looked at Alec worriedly.
"Alec, can I talk to you privately?" She asked, her tone visibly worried.
"Yeah, sure." He frowned but followed her outside.
They were standing in the hallway outside the library when Catarina voiced her concern.
"Alec, did you talk to Magnus today?"
"Yeah, in the evening. He seemed fine. Why, what's wrong?"
"Alec, I got a call from Miss Rose, she's Madzie's teacher here at NY, they've organised a world tour for all the warlock children, she was in Alicante to take Madzie. She left with her around half an hour ago. Alec, Magnus-"
"He's alone..." He said with concern dipped in his voice, instantly getting worried for his husband.
"Alec, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm calling Magnus to check up on him, you go inside and explain Clary her part." He said. Catarina nodded and left.
Alec sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose, then took out his phone from his pants pocket and dialled Magnus's number.
__________________
Magnus kept refilling his glass of Dry Martini, trying to wash away the emptiness and disappointment residing inside him. He was standing by the bar counter, eyeing the dance floor and ordering a new refill when his phone buzzed, he saw the caller ID and gulped. He quickly took the glass from the counter then put a sound barrier spell around himself blocking all the noise of the bar around him then received the call.
"Alexander, thought you wouldn't call. How was your day?" He said trying to sound cheerful.
"Hey, love. It was fine. What are you doing?"
"Oh, n.. nothing, just tucked Madzie into the bed, she's really stubborn and mischievous, didn't want to go to sleep. She finally slept just now. It was such a tiring day running around her. She's a sweetheart though. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, I'm thinking of teaching her some new tricks." He gulped, hating lying to him but he didn't want him to worry.
Alec clenched his fist tightly, anger seeping through his body after hearing a clear white lie from his husband. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, not wanting to yell at him, remembering the state he could be in. "Magnus! Seriously!" He said coldly instead.
"Alexander, what? What happened?"
"Really Magnus!?"
Magnus was about to say something when realisation dawned on him. 'Shit! How can I be such an idiot! Catarina is with him in New York, she must have told him, and I lied to him right now. Damn you, Magnus!' he cursed himself.
"A... Alexander, I.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lie to you, I just didn't want you to get worried, that's all. I'm really sorry."
Alec sighed heavily. "Magnus, if you keep lying to me like this, how can you expect me to not get worried?"
"I... I understand and I'm really sorry, Alexander. I just-"
"Are you drinking?" Alec asked sternly, cutting him mid-sentence.
"What!?" Magnus was shocked by his sudden question.
"Are you drinking, Magnus?" He asked again.
Magnus looked down at the glass he held in his hand of Lilith knows what number of refills, and gulped nervously. "N..No. No, I'm not drinking, Alexander. I was just about to go to bed. Don't worry, I'm fine."
Alec rubbed his temples in frustration. He could clearly hear his hoarse and rough voice, the voice he always gets after infinite no. of drinking. But is still oblivious to the fact that his husband is at a bar in Germany and not at home. "Fine, Magnus. Just take care of yourself, love. I'll try to be back as soon as I can."
"Hey, do your job, shadowhunter, I'm fine, okay. I'll go to bed now."
Alec sighed. "Okay, I love you, bye."
"I love you too, darling."
Magnus sighed heavily when he cut the call and removed the barrier around him. He looked at the glass in his hand, rubbing his finger around the rim of the glass, he closed his eyes, thinking about the lies he just said to his shadowhunter, then opened his eyes and swallowed the content of the glass in one big gulp. He then paid the bartender and left, completely oblivious to the deep black pair of eyes watching his every move.
"Oh my love, so vulnerable, Magnus. It's going to be so much fun." The woman gave a vile smirk and disappeared into the crowd of people.
___________________
Alec sighed frustratingly. 'Why Magnus! Why do you lie to me so much? Why hide your pain? Why don't you talk to me? Just why?' he thought as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He stood in the hallway for sometime, calming his nerves then walked inside the library, noticing everyone's eyes were on him.
"Are you okay, big brother?" Izzy asked, voice filled with concern.
Alec nodded in response.
"Alec is Magnus," Catarina started, but Alec cut her mid-sentence.
"Not fine. He lied to me again. He's drinking, even when I've warned him not to." He looked at Cat, noticing her worried filled eyes for her best friend.
"Can we just please get this over with!" Alec said in a low voice, everyone nodded knowing talking about Magnus will only worsen Alec's worries. Jace put his hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed it gently.
The book was placed in the center of the table, and everyone took their places beside it, giving Alec one final look of reassurance.
"Clary? You know what to do, right?" Catarina asked, and Clary nodded.
Clary closed her eyes and focused her attention on calling Angel Ithuriel.
"I calleth upon thee, Angel Ithuriel. Prithee hark to mine plea." She repeated it like a chant several times but she frowned and opened her eyes when it didn't work.
"It's not working..."
"Is there something written in the book on how to call upon him?" Alec asked Cat, rubbing his hands over his face in frustration.
"No, there's nothing in this book for that. I've gone through it many times already. Sorry, Alec."
"Try something else, Clary. Maybe say it in your mind instead of saying it out loud. Don't stress yourself, just relax first then try again." Izzy suggested she saw the look on her brother's face and hated seeing him like this. She wanted to do anything she could to make her brothers happy.
Clary nodded as she took a few deep breaths to relax herself, then closed her eyes again and concentrated.
"The light to the darkness, the creator of our kind, the one we pray to. I calleth upon thee. Prithee hark to mine cries for thee. I plea for thy presence." She said in her mind, then started repeating it like a chant, just when she thought it's not working again, her body became stiff, she felt cold and felt like she's falling down from an infinite spiral of darkness, the world around her completely gone.
Everyone looked at Clary in shock when her body became stiff like a statue. Her skin became pale and she looked really peaceful like that.
"Guys, her skin is really cold." Izzy said when she touched her.
"Clary? Are you okay? Clairebear?" Jace asked, worried filled in his voice for his girlfriend.
"What's happening?" Alec asked.
Izzy was about to touch her again when Catarina stopped her. "I think it worked, we can just wait for now." She said and looked at the others. They all nodded and looked at Clary's stiff form.
Clary felt like she got stuck in an infinity loop when she finally felt ground beneath her. She got up and opened her eyes. When she did, she saw bright white light all around her. When her eyes adjusted to her surroundings she realized that she was in a forest completely covered in mist. There was the rustle of winds and whispers of distant forest creatures. The forest seemed like it was enchanted.
"Why did you call upon me Clarissa?" A heavenly voice echoed in the whole forest.
"Angel Ithuriel!" She looked around to find him, but there was no one.
"I'll only appear when you give me the reason for your visit." The voice echoed again.
"I need your help, Angel Ithuriel. My friends need your help. He has a request for you."
"What is that, Clarissa?" The voice was soft this time but still had the heavenly essence in it.
Clary explained to him all about Magnus and Alec and the situation they were in, and Alec's request to get an immortality spell from him. When she was done she saw Angel Ithuriel standing in front of her in all his glory. She smiled helplessly.
"Immortality is not something to gain, Clarissa. This spell was removed from existence because of the consequential damages it wreaked upon the mortal lives. I've only provided to those who have proven their worth that they'll cherish and respect it, not regret and waste it."
"Alec won't disappoint, Angel Ithuriel. He'll respect it till his death."
"I'm not risking it until I see it for myself, Clarissa. I want to see from his eyes why becoming immortal means so much to him."
Clary's eyes widened. "But, how?"
"Is that person sitting near you?"
"Yes."
"Then hold his hand and don't remove it until I ask you to." He said and put his right hand over her head.
Everyone was tense with Clary's state, she hadn't moved in the last 15 minutes. They all started to get worried when Clary moved her right hand.
"Clary?" Jace asked.
"Looks like she's searching for something! Clary? What is it?" Izzy asked.
"Alec!" She whispered, sounding completely different from her own self.
Everyone looked at Alec, and Alec moved his right hand forward and held her hand. He didn't feel anything at first, but after some time he felt a wave of energy flowing inside him and invading his mind and memories. He closed his eyes to block the sudden brightness which appeared in front of his eyes. After what felt like an eternity but were just ten minutes, he felt the energy withdrawing from him. He opened his eyes and saw that everyone except Clary was looking at him with shock written on their faces. Not long after, Clary withdrew her hand and went back into her trance state.
"Okay, that was weird!" Alec stated.
The angel removed his hand from Clary's head when he was done going through Alec's memories. Clary looked at him expectantly, desperately wanting to help Magnus if this was the only solution left.
"I see, that boy is really determined and strong. His passion and protective nature will make him even stronger. His intentions and heart are really pure. I'm ready to help him, Clarissa."
"Thank you, Angel Ithuriel."
The angel put his hand forward and a light golden colored ball appeared in it. "These are the spells, Clarissa. I'm giving it to you now."
He absorbed the energy in his hand and put his thumb on Clary's forehead.
They were all confused and shocked after what happened a few minutes ago. Alec was feeling restless, and others were looking at Clary and waiting for her to get out of her never-ending trance. Suddenly, Clary's forehead started glowing with bright golden lights.
"Clary! What the.." Jace exclaimed.
"Paper! Pen! Fast!" Clary whispered.
Catarina quickly summoned a pen in her hand and a piece of paper in front of her. As soon as Clary felt the pen around her fingers she started scribbling on the paper. Once she was done, the glow on her forehead stopped and she got out of her trance-like state with a loud gasp. She blinked a few times to adjust to the surroundings.
"Clary! Claire Bear! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Jace." She said softly but suddenly widened her eyes at Jace. "Did you just called me...?"
Jace blushed, not realizing he called her by the nickname they decided not to say in front of others. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, didn't realize I said it." He pleaded with his eyes not to be mad at him.
"Aww.. as much as this is fun seeing you both like that, we need to know what happened." Izzy said mockingly, earning a glare from Jace.
"I got the spells!" Clary exclaimed while holding the paper in her hands. Everyone sighed with relief and she handed the paper to Catarina when she asked for it.
"So, what's next?" Jace asked.
As soon as he asked, a copper bowl with intricate designs over it, and a metallic dagger laced with emeralds and diamonds on its handle appeared on the table.
"Next is," Catarina said, "Clary, you're going to cut your palm with the help of this dagger and pour your blood in this bowl, then I'll perform the spell on it and keep it in the moonlight. Alec, I'll let you know when you have to reach the forest, I'll be present there already."
Alec nodded in response. Clary went ahead with the procedure, after filling the bowl to its brim, she felt exhausted. Izzy helped her by activating her iratze, healing her cut instantly. Catarina vanished the bowl and the book into her apartment then took her leave and left.
"So, you're going to drink my girlfriend's blood, I didn't say it before, but it's disturbing, Alec."
Alec glared at him. "Shut up! Jace!"
"Come on, people. Let's get some rest." Izzy said while dragging everyone out of the library and into their rooms.
*************************
*Next day at the early stage of dawn*
Alec stepped out of the portal into a jungle, where Catarina was already there completing the pentagram. The copper bowl with the blood already turned into golden white was kept on the ground. He looked around, it was dead silent, the stars were gone and the sky had started turning into light shades of blue. He could see the moon vanishing into the clouds.
"Alec, on time. You need to remove your shirt and step in the center of the pentagram. You have to handle me your stele and your pho-"
"I've already given it to Jace." He handed her the stele, then stepped inside the silver pentagram drawn on the ground. Then she handed him a bowl of blood.
Alec looked at the bowl in his hand and sighed heavily. 'I love you, Magnus. Always and forever.' he thought to himself, then looked at Catarina and nodded.
He took the bowl and placed it on his lips and started sipping on it, as on cue Catarina started performing the spell simultaneously.
With each sip, he felt a tingling sensation in every part of his body. He could feel the smallest of the sensation, the gentle wind touching his skin felt like millions of sharp needles poking on his skin. His blood rushing through his veins, the slow rhythmic beating of his heart, he was able to feel everything. By the time he was done drinking, he noticed that his whole body was glowing.
Catarina waited till he stopped glowing, then she stepped into the pentagram, stood in front of him, and placed the immortality rune right above his heart to seal the spell. Once she was done she stepped out of the pentagram.
"I have completed the procedure, Alec. Your awakening will start in some time and I can't stay here for that. It will be really powerful, so I'll leave now."
"Thank you, Cat. Your help meant a lot."
She nodded and smiled at him then created a portal for herself and left.
After sometime Alec felt pain surging throughout his body, he screamed and fell on the ground.
"It's not easy to turn into an immortal, Alec." A heavenly voice said.
Alec looked around and saw a man standing by the woods who was slowly walking towards him.
"A.. Angel Ithuriel!?" He gaped at the man who was looking glorious, a huge pair of white wings were fluttering by his sides and was in ancient clothing.
"Yes, it's me, Alec. You're really brave, but it's not going to be easy, child."
"I'll d...do my best, A... Angel Ithuriel! I.. I want this." He managed to say while gritting his teeth because of the immense pain surging in his body, especially on his spine and shoulders.
He screamed in pain and fisted his hands in the grass beneath him as all his pain got centered around his spine and shoulder blades and he felt his skin and muscles getting ripped and something crawling out of it.
He fell on the ground and screamed as loudly as he could, his eyes becoming watery when all the pain got focused on his ripped skin and his shoulders and back started getting heavy. He felt the blood oozing out of it and flowing down on his back.
He composed himself and started getting up when he felt the pain fading away, but heaviness was still there. His mouth fell open when he realized the source of the heaviness.
He stood straight then looked around himself and found a pair of 8 foot long appendages on either side. Before he could react his body started glowing again, his runes glowing a brilliant shade of goldish silver, his beautiful hazel eyes turned into a mesmerizing pair of icy silver, and his wings fluttering beside him.
The angel looked at him in complete disbelief, his eyes never leaving the newly awakened angeled shadowhunter.
"A.. Angel Ithuriel? Is something wrong?" Alec asked the wide-eyed angel, once he stopped glowing and his eyes turned back to hazel.
The older angel stepped forward and ran his fingers through Alec's wings, each feather carved in three different colors, white on the base blending into brilliant silver-tipped with a light tint of gold.
"Silver!" The heavenly voice stated. "Silver is a rare color for angels to have, Alec. You might not have realized, but your eyes turned to icy silver for a fraction of the time. The angels possessing silver eyes and wings are very rare and really powerful. They are supposed to be great warriors and protectors of the earth."
The older angel looked at Alec with gleam and pride in his eyes. "You were destined to become an angel, Alec Lightwood. If you wouldn't have chosen for yourself, destiny would have caught you up in some other ways. You're brave, strong-willed, a leader, with a pure heart who wants to protect his loved ones by any means. You are one of your own kind, Alec."
Alec's jaw was dropped on the floor and he was left completely speechless by the older angel's confrontation. His wings fluttered and curled around his legs in excitement.
"Wha.. I.." He looked at the wings curled around himself in confusion.
Angel Ithuriel smiled. "Your wings are part of your body now, Alec. They will react to your emotions and feelings."
"Oh! But on my shoulders, it's still painful. And the heaviness.." he trailed off, still confused by the new abilities he gained.
"That's why I'm here, you're here, in the bed of nature, nature is the source of our energy, it's going to help you. Now, let's help you control your awakened powers."
Alec nodded and stepped out of the pentagram with his new pair of wings and a newly turned immortal. He smiled to himself knowing he's an immortal now. 'Only for you, Mags. I love you, always and forever.'
#asaab#angst with a happy ending#angst#fanfic authors#alec lightwood#fanfiction#lightwood bane family#malec forever#malec fic#fantasy#fanfic#happily married#magnus bane#malec
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Real talk..(needed to vent, feel free to not read this if you don't like long rants)
When i was 11 years old i had already been through my fair share of crap. Coming from a "broken" home with little money, a depressed mother and an absent father. At that time i remember being bullied as a biproduct of my sister stoping one of her classmates (a 13 year old girl) from traveling half accross the contry to meet her 19 year old boyfriend who she'd met online for the first time.. under the pretence that she was traveling to visit my dad with my big sister. This all ended with the police stoping the train and picking the girl up before she reached her destination and everyone didn't have to suffer through the ordeal with a minor being raped or worse by a yound adult in a strange city..anyway. when the summer ended and we (me and my two siblings) gor back home, all these rumors spread about us and school became tricky. I got used to it tho, i had my friends and i quickly learned to keep close to teachers whenever i was alone. At the home front my mom became sick and the kids got a lot of grown up responsibilities. It was okay too.. kids get used to a lot, and today im a wizz in the kitchen and i clean with the best of them.
My mother had a temper, and would hit us when we did something wrong. I remember trying to cover for my siblings as much as possible, trying to shield them from the worst of it. Don't get me wrong, i LOVE my mother. She's been through hell and her sroty is worse than anything i've ever heard of. I understand what happened when i grew up and i love her because she allways did her best.. but i haven't forgiven her for making my home unsafe. At 11 years old one of my teachets notised that i had a hard time with my schoolwork. They couldn't get me to focus on my work and i was distracted by anything. I remember the letters mixing up as i read, and it became impossible to do my homework because no one could see the letters moving like i could. The teached contacted my mom and my stepfather and told them he'd talk to a specialist about me maybe having ADHD. The next week my mom dropped me off at the specialist and i got tested in every subject known to man. As usuall i exelled at language, history and music. But everything else was a bit off, i remember hearing him telling my mom that it couldn't be HDHD because my memory was too good. But refered her to a doctor for more tests. The ordeal took another week before my mother came to pick me up at lunch one day and told me we had to go to the hospital.
I had a thyroid condition that firsly was almost non-exsistent, and secoundly was unheard of in someone my age. They took blood, and sent me to get an MR and CT. When all the tests came back, we got the good news that i wouldn't die if they treated it quickly. But since i was still waiting for normal bodyparts to arrive, and hadn't gone through puberty yet.. he had no idea where to start. I don't remember the name of the medication, but i remember taking 15 a day. 5 in the morning, 5 when i got home from school and 5 before bed. I took them and 39 minutes later i was sprinting to the bathroom puking my guts out. This obviously didn't work in the long run and by the end of it i was so skinny you could see my teeth through my cheeks. They changed my meds and i stopped with the hurling. Instead i gained about 30 kg in the first 6 months and looked like a beach ball on legs. And as a kid being bullied, this wasn't that fun. Let me remind you that this had been going on for a while and tho my mom did what she could.. the was depressed and didn't see how bad it got for me and all the responsibilities i had at home made me dissapear in the day-to-day of it all. Alone and scared as the bullying became physical I panicked and stoped taking my meds, and all my symptoms came back. I would sleep for 14 hours and wake up exhausted. I'd go full days without getting hungry and i'd get moodswings and get real clumsy. My family got used to this and the symptoms stoped being symptoms and started being "just me".
So now i'd wake up and have to care for my siblings, go to school without lunch for myself because i had to make it for my siblings, or forgetting to shower because i had to remind my brother to do it. I get off the buss and get my ass kicked on my way to the classroom. Some days i'd get through it and come home to start dinner for my family, and other times the bullying sent me to the ER to get stitched up (i didn't have to make dinner on those days). This happened often enough that the doctor knew me by my first name, and instead of "how did you hurt yourself?) I'd get "Again!? When the nurses came to get me. One day i slept for 16 hours and my mother confronted me about my weightloss and asked if i'd been taking my meds. I came clean and a few hours at the doctors office and one frustrating car ride later. I'd promissed to take my pills again, but by that point i had ruined my body enough to never get better. So at 15 years old the doctors decided that they'd treat my thyroid with radioactive iodine. This worked great and killed the thyroid gland, making me dependend on meds for the rest of my life.
For anyone who don't know, the thyroid gland is responsible for your bodys metabolism. This means everything... your metabolism is a part of every funktion of every organ in your entire body, tho we usually think about how fast you burn fat because this is what we see on the outside.
We did our best, and we got through it. I had a safe place with my best friend and his family. And i'd escape there as often as i could. His mother would remind me to take my meds, she'd let me shower at their place and when she realised that i never ate at school she started packing lunch for me to send with her son every day.
I don't think i'd survive and be the person i am today without them. I remember the day i finally told them what was going on at home when i grew up, at this point i had grown up and moved away from home. I had started opening up to people i trusted and understood the power of talking about my problems. i never ment it as a "why didn't you see".. im thankful for my life, even the bad pars, but i needed them to know how much they saved me. To understand how much i love them all. I'll keep their reactions to myself, but i'll tell you that i have never felt more treasured in my life.
I was 22 years old the first time someone told me that I never deserved the abuse at home. I was 25 years old when i told my mother i forgave her for the physical stuff, but that i couldn't forgive her for stealing my feeling of home and safety. And i was today years old when i wrote it down for anyone to see.
I've been taking my meds for about 17 years now, but I have yet to actually get a normal metabolism. My last stunt was that i suddenly didn't need that much medicine so my metabolism speed up to lifethreatening speed and i had to endure panic attacks, dizziness, lack of consentration and shaking so bad that i almost quit school and almost sent me into a brainfailure (yes thats a thing) over the summer. My doctors paniced and reduced my meds so much that i didn't get nearly enough. This ended with me loosing weight, not eating, shaking, being sick and passing out all over the place, and almost sent me into a life threatening coma as my body overcompensated for the loss of thyroid hormones. My dad said something i've never heard my family say before. We were eating dinner last weekend and i was having a bad day when he told me "its painful to watch you struggle like this". And i almost cried, this was the first time in forever that a parent told me that they see me. And now i'm finally starting to get back to where im used to.
I have skipped a lot of stuff that happened. Some things i don't think i'll ever talk about, and some things that are too personal or too painful or too stupid to write down. But i needed to work through the new stuff, to reflecr back and to realise how close i came to loosing my life again this year. How lucky i am that i not only held on for dear life, but that with all the crap i felt. All the sickness and panic and everything. I managed to finish this semester at school. I managed to survive again, and im 6 months away from reaching my goal of allways being able to help when im needed. I am so proud of myself for getting to where i am today. And im so thankful!!
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ahhhh I have so many questions about living in Japan bc I am seriously considering doing so! could you please tell us some general stuff? or what is the view on homosexuality? on anime fans? are they really frowned upon? how well would I get by speaking only English at first? is vegetarianism common? what about yoga? sorry you don't have to answer all of that pick whatever you like better! ty!!
I applaud your ideals of living in a new place! That’s always an exciting type of goal - and also a very difficult one. Moving to a new apartment is hard enough - moving to a different country is much more so.
Before approaching any of your other questions, I’m gonna play devil’s advocate for a second and ask you - WHY?
Now, I know that this seems a bit rude. You might say “Look, Chekhov, it’s none of your business. I’m trying to ask you a question, that’s all. It’s my decision, after all.”
And you would be right. But let me explain my reasoning.... Ever since I started blogging about my experience in Japan, I’ve started to get MANY of these types of questions. SO MANY. If I had to guess, everyone and their brother wants to live in Japan. And a lot of times... they want to do so because they are informed by only the media and tourism sold to them by Japan - in the form of anime, or manga, or TV.
In other words... they’re misinformed, and they have a very narrow, warped view of the country, and they don’t really understand what they’re getting into.
Now... I’m not judging you - or anyone else. But I want to be as realistic as possible. Because if you’re going to uproot your life and move somewhere across the sea, you need to have as much HONEST and straightforward information as you can before you end up coming here and realising that you didn’t fully prepare yourself.
Still, you’re asking me questions now, so that’s great! It means that you’re seeking out the information and making an effort. That’s a great first step!
Let’s get started.
I would recommend, first and foremost, starting with my ‘#japan’ tag on this tumblr.
I have written lots about different topics - including LGBT discussions - from the perspective of someone who has lived in Japan a few years. Now, that is a disclaimer - a FEW YEARS! ONLY! I am not a Japanese native, I am not someone who has been here for a decade. I have lived here for 4 years, and no more. My point of view is limited, and my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt.
The rest of your questions I’m gonna answer very simply, and you can read more on the tag if you want details.
1. Homosexuality in Japan?
Basically, there’s almost no violence towards lgbt community. However, there’s heavy ostracizing and ignoring they exist. Coming out as homosexual might still cost you your job, especially if you work with children. The homophobia and transphobia on national television makes this monster problem fatter. Also be prepared for “What’s ‘gay’?” and “That’s something the foreigners invented. We don’t have ‘gay’ people here.”
2. Anime fans? In Japan? It’s more likely than you think.
I mean, I think this one is a little bit funny (sorry, I swear I’m not laughing at you). Anime is... it’s.... they’re cartoons! They’re cartoons, in Japan. Kids love cartoons no matter what country. Adults who like cartoons also exist in every country. How they’re treated usually depends on how they present themselves. Are you gonna get side-eye for wearing an anime-titties shirt to work? Hell yeah, don’t do that shit. But is someone going to bully you for having, idk, a Fullmetal Alchemist keychain on your backpack?? Hell no. Plenty of people like anime, especially the younger generation.
The key is - there’s a solid difference between liking anime and enjoying it in your freetime, and... idk... not being able to identify the situations in which anime should not be your priority.
3. "Can you speak English?”
Honestly, this one is something I’m gonna put my foot down on - as an immigrant myself, and as an English teacher, I say that.... If you are an immigrant that is WILLINGLY moving into a country, with plans to do so far in advance that you have a few years to prepare... you should study Japanese before you get here. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it doesn’t have to be a lot. But you should at least do your best to pick up the basics.
If you’re planning to go into a metropolitan area like Tokyo or Osaka, then sure, you can get by with only English. But why should you wait to study the language until you arrive there? There’s plenty of free resources to at least learn the basic alphabet and a few key phrases before you arrive. It’s a giant help when you’re first settling in, and it’s also way more respectful to the people around you. They will also respond more kindly to you, knowing that you’re doing your best to communicate on their terms.
4. “Do you have a vegetarian option?”
“Yes, sure, here’s a salad.“
“This has bacon bits on it...?”
“No, no, dear, that’s only for flavor. No meat.“
"Sorry, but I can’t eat meat.”
“Well, okay, let me get you one with chicken instead.”
Now, are you ready to have this conversation? I hope so, because I guarantee you, this WILL happen at least once. Probably more than once.
Well, I’ll let up. Sure, Japan is slowly coming into the vegetarian-options. However, by and large the vegetarian options are limited. Fish stock is so common that it’s added to everything without marking it as being an animal product.
It’s entirely possible to live as a happy vegetarian. I know many people that do! But I guarantee you it will be 200% harder if you don’t speak Japanese and can’t read food labels.
5. Yo.... ga?
Err, I’m not sure I get this one, actually. Like, is yoga popular? Is there a yoga studio? Sure, probably? Somewhere? I’m a bit lost on this one. I’m gonna say ‘yes, yoga.’
Some other points to consider:
Where do you want to live. In a big city like Tokyo? Prices are high, and apartments are tiny. Are you sure you can afford it? Often, getting an apartment involves paying something called Key Money AND a deposit. A deposit is one of your rent month’s worth of money. Key money is TWICE the amount of one month’s rent, and you don’t get it back. It’s just a gift to the person you’re renting from. Also, I don’t want to be even more depressing but many lenders don’t want to deal with foreigners and won’t rent to them as a rule unless they bring along a Japanese friend to translate for them. Sometimes not even then.
What job will you be supporting yourself with? If you’re limited to jobs that don’t need a knowledge of Japanese, this will definitely be harder. Many of the jobs that will take you on despite no Japanese knowledge are limited to ‘English teacher‘ positions. Can you teach English? Do you like kids?
Most of Japan isn’t like Tokyo. There’s a lot of countryside - where people speak even less English, and there’s no nearby shopping malls, and only one train station to take you out to a big city - that’s an hour away.
Sorry, I know this is kinda harsh and very negative. But moving to a different country isn’t something to be taken lightly, and you need to be realistic about your goals if you’re going to be aiming high.
If you want some alternatives, I would recommend checking out the JET Program. It’s a government funded Teach-English-In-Japan type deal that is very supportive with participants and helps them get living situations set up and gets them jobs. It’s probably the easiest way to get into Japan.... but it also requires you to become a teacher. It’s not a fun touristy trip. It’s also highly selective, and the application process takes about a year.
Either way, hope I wasn’t too discouraging! Good luck!
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If yku don't mind me asking, what degree did you for to he an animator/illustrator? I'm going to start looking for colleges soon, but dont know what kind of degree to go for. I don't have any experience with Photoshop or any kind of digital arts, abd would really like to learn, but dont know where to start.
I think this is a really old ask that I missed and I’m so sorry I didn’t get to it, but I suppose it may still be helpful to anyone.
My degree interview experience (+ is digital art required?)
I did a degree in animation. I don’t think you need a super amount of experience in digital art to go for illustration or animation, traditional animators exist still :) And a friend of mine got accepted into a games design degree for concept art and had never touched digital art in his life, he learnt it all in the course. I’d say it’s definitely helpful to have done some, it saves the sudden jump into it like he had to learn a lot very quickly, but I don’t think it’s required to join a course. It wasn’t for mine, at least. Mostly they want to see strong drawing skills and passion. For animation, it doesn’t need to be amazing drawing either if you’re more into crafting (for stop motion) or 3D art, what they may like to see is characterisation and storytelling. If you’ve ever drawn comics or story panels, expressions or characters, all that is good, and of course add in any animation you’ve done at all, even flip notes. I remember in my A Level course at high school, they made us make so much stuff on A1 boards, documenting research and artists and our projects (which was a selection of fine art, ceramics and sculpture), my teacher told me how important it was to take everything I did in the course to my interviews. In the end I remember my interviewer flicking through it quickly and being like ‘you got anything else?...’ and I showed him my crappy comics, character sketches and animation tests that I did all in my own time and he was way more enthusiastic about them because I was more passionate about it and there was a story to them.
What degree?
For a degree, just go with what you feel is right, if you’re interested in storytelling and characters and you like drawing a lot, maybe animation is for you. If you’re not an artist but you still like storytelling and film, maybe film-making or media. If you really like making beautiful art or cartoons for stories but aren’t interested in the film side or the movement, maybe go with illustration. If you’re more into games than movies and still want to make beautiful art, maybe it’s game design for a concept artist. It’s hard to work it out, I just knew I liked cartoons, liked animating movement, and liked coming up with characters and stories, but specifically I enjoy making them come to life with movement and preferred the storytelling format of storyboarding than I did of comic pages, so I know straight up what I wanted to do. But I also know people who started to do one thing, realised it wasn’t for them, and went onto something else, which is also totally okay to do! Go visit open days, research the courses, think about what you want to get out of it in the future, and just go with your heart, go with what feels fun and the most interesting to you and what you’d get the most out of.
Starting with digital art
There is no superior program in my opinion, amazing art can come out of any program, so I feel like it’s just whatever you find the most comfortable. I started on Photoshop them moved onto Paint Tools Sai (and still use PS sometimes for editing) and that just works for me. There are lots of great tutorials online that can teach you how to use an art program, and lots of programs have free 30 day trials on them, so you’ve got resources to experiment. If it’s good for you, you can buy a subscription or download free software, which there are good ones that don’t ask you to pay, it’s just about looking for them. I would say the best way to start is to try a free program or trial, purchase a cheap drawing tablet and just doodle around, see what comes out, see what works, what doesn’t, if you enjoy it, get frustrated with the program as you learn it, and when you’re a little more confident with it, try out a tutorial. These days I’m learning from Aaron Blaise, who does animation and concept art, he’s very welcoming to new and experienced artists and a lot of his stuff is free on youtube. But there’s also a whole community of youtube art tutors so find some that work for you :)
I hope your university search has gone well, and I wish you only the best for your future!!
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