#and what the forest looks like in rain and dew and sunlight

[starlight-starfury]

Under Starlit Boughs

Book: Blades of Light and Shadow

Characters: (F!Elf!MC) Raine Nightbloom x Tyril Starfury

Rating: General

Warnings: None, but I’ll warn you it’s unapologetically sappy 😅

Length: 2k

Summary: After talking about the old parties of legend, the Fae realise they finally have cause to throw one of their own.

Tags: @liviusofpella @watatsumi-island @inlocusmads @lilyoffandoms @brycesgirl @sophie-summer @lancelotsimp @megas-choices @princess-geek @julia-highstorms @citrusdarling @mavidraws @lover-also-fighter-also @otakudreamer @stars-are-within-me @mari-lwyd-fannibal-blog @camillyohfreire @mindlesschicca @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @choicesficwriterscreations (tagging everyone who interacted with this post, if anyone wants to be added to the tag-list permanently please let me know! I’ll be making a post about it in a few days as well 💜)

A/N: Because we deserved a cute Whimsywood date 🫶

A song of laughter echoed in the air as everyone sat crowded together under the shade of the pearl petal tree, telling stories and sharing fruits that tasted of sweet mallow and fine dew.

Even the forest seemed to find wonder in the joyous occasion as the trees sent forth a gentle breeze, causing the flowering boughs above to sway and the soft petals to cascade down around the storytellers like light rainfall.

As the Fae reminisced over tales passed down from their ancestors about the Light realm, questions began to arise, and Tyril spoke. “Stories of your parties have become legend in our world. What were they really like?”

“That was long before I sprouted,” the Fae Elder answered, silent throughout the conversation but now smiling fondly at the memory. “But I heard the tales from my elders. They spoke of intricate fashion, delectable foods and wine that tasted of Light.”

“You mean to say, you’ve never thrown one yourselves?” Raine asked.

Willow shook their head. “Very few of us remain, and we’ve no cause to celebrate of late. Not with Shadow lurking so close.”

“Of course you do!” She said. “You’ve been trapped in the shadow realm for centuries, isn’t returning to your homeland worth celebrating?”

The Fae whispered and hummed amongst themselves for a moment, their murmurs like the faint rustling of leaves amid the forest undergrowth before they leapt to their feet enthusiastically.

“Raine is right!” Willow declared, beaming. “Let us all rejoice. To returning to the realm of Light, and to honour our new friends who will help ward our forest from the Shadow!”

The glade seemed to thrum with excitement as everyone stood and the Fae began making their preparations. Raine made her way over to Tyril, who had leant against one of the ancient trees and was gazing around at the magical clearing, awestruck.

“I see some things never change,” she grinned. “I’m glad you finally got to meet the Fae, Tyril.”

A smile touched his lips as she reached his side. “I suppose I have you to thank for that.”

He nodded back to the forest, where multicoloured orbs of light drifted through the air like fireflies. “It’s incredible that a place so vibrant and full of life can exist in a world such as this.”

Raine looked towards the enchanted scenery, admiring how the trees seemed to bend and dip their branches in greeting to the Fae as they walked past, and how the glowing flowers bloomed in clusters like starlit nebulae below. It made her mind drift back to the Deadwood, the decayed forest merely remnants of a distant memory compared to the magical sight before her.

“Well,” she said at last, “if all this travelling has taught me anything, it’s that beauty often thrives in chaos.”

Tyril’s eyes softened as his gaze shifted to her new attire. She looked like a forest nymph or woodland goddess in the sylvan dress, woven of emerald silk and flowing gossamer that shimmered like dappled sunlight alongside the entwined branches climbing across her fair skin. A crown of leaves was nestled in her hair, and her eyes shone violet as the wisteria blossoms above.

“It does, indeed.” His smile was tender as he reached up to gently cup her cheek and she swayed into his touch, his words a faint whisper against her skin. “Even the stars envy the brightness at which you shine.”

His sentiments were proven true as she beamed under his praise, but before she could answer him the Fae returned to the clearing all at once, and the moment was disturbed like ripples spreading across the surface of a tranquil pond.

“Come, come!” Willow beckoned, and the group reconvened beneath the pearl petal tree once more.

Raine noticed some of the Fae were holding instruments, elegant wooden flutes with budding sprouts that appeared to have been carved from the branches of a fallen tree.

“Is this one of your traditions?” She asked.

“Yes!” Tansy clapped. “The Fae Circle is one of our oldest celebrations, with much music and dancing!”

“Hang on, a Fae Circle?” Mal said before turning to the rest of the group, voice hushed. “Are you sure this isn’t just a trick to keep us here forever?”

“Mal!” Nia scolded. “Don’t be rude!”

“What, haven’t you heard the legends? Mortals who entered a Fae circle were never seen again.”

Imtura followed his gaze pointedly towards where a series of petrified faces were engraved in the bark of a large tree. “…Those aren’t just carvings, are they?”

Willow’s large eyes saddened, a swirling mist shimmering within the dark pupils. “They came to harm our forest, but the trees are our home and family. They would have plucked us from the soil one by one and uprooted everything!”

Raine leant in to whisper to Tyril. “Is all of this true?”

He nodded slowly. “I’ve said before that the Fae are made of magic down to their very essence. That power can become wild and unrestrained if provoked, and it sounds as though they’ve been a target in the shadow realm for some time.”

The nearby Fae’s ears began to droop as Willow continued speaking. “We try to strengthen our roots and bloom despite our hardships, but the trees cast a heavy shadow, and our numbers grow smaller still.”

Raine frowned. “You won’t have to worry about that in the Light realm, we’ll make sure no one harms your forest.”

Willow’s eyes brightened once more at her encouragement. “We cannot thank you enough! Please understand, the Fae Circle is an act of joy and all will be safe. And since you have come to help us, the forest will always remember you as friends.”

Tansy nodded. “The trees also like it when we play music to them, their boughs are always lighter and their leaves shine bright.”

“How does the Fae Circle start?” Tyril asked, and those holding instruments sat themselves upon the grass, lifting their flutes as they began playing a delicate yet jubilant tune.

“Everyone must stand in a circle around the tree and hold hands!” Willow said cheerfully, and Raine smiled as Tyril entwined his fingers with hers.

The rest of the Fae were the ones who began leading the dance, and the others quickly picked up the unfamiliar steps. It wasn’t long before everyone found themselves spinning and twirling around the pearl petal tree in unison.

Laughter filled the air once more, and the sweet petals drifted down around them as though joining in the dance as well until everyone was rosy-cheeked and breathless.

The celebration carried on through brief respites, sharing refreshing drinks between dances and telling stories both old and new. For once, both the realms were united in their joy, and together they could help the Fae create a brighter future for their people, and for each other.

When all the air had escaped her lungs, Raine wandered towards the edge of the glade to catch her breath. It wasn’t long until Tyril found his way to her side, and together they both sat down on a fallen, moss-covered log.

She looked up to where the branches of the great trees parted to reveal the vast night sky, an expanse of darkness that seemed impenetrable by even the brightest light, unusually empty and bare.

“There are no stars here,” she murmured. Without them, the sky felt hollow, like a canvas lying blank. No famed hero’s legacies lied etched across the surface, no constellations adorned the sky shimmering with stories still untold, no glimmer of hope was to be found in the endless dark that stretched on eternal.

“Then we make our own.” Tyril said, before he cupped his hands and little motes of starlight drifted from his fingers into the air. The colourful specks hovered there for a moment, emitting a soft glow that pulsed in unison with the rhythm of their beating hearts before rising up to settle themselves among the lush branches.

“They’re beautiful.” She smiled and they both sat quietly for a moment, feeling more at ease in a realm full of chaos and uncertainty while in each other’s presence, watching as the lights twinkled softly above.

“Do you find it strange? Seeing a sky without them?” Raine asked.

He nodded slowly. “In Undermount we revere the stars, our very existence is mirrored in their being. The history of our people is written among them, with each great victory and tragedy carved into the constellations like a woven tapestry to display all we have been through, and all that is to come.”

Tyril lifted his gaze past the tree branches. “To imagine a place without their existence feels…wrong.”

She looked down, subconsciously beginning to rub her wrist. The skin where her bindings had been was red and raw, another reminder that she had allowed herself to be captured, that she had been weak.

A frown creased his expression as he glanced at her hands, but his voice was gentle when he spoke. “None of us blame you for what happened.”

“And what if I blame myself?” She whispered, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. “Everyone went through so much because of me, especially you…”

Raine trailed off as he slowly lifted her hand to his mouth, pressing soft kisses to the inside of her wrist, each brush of his lips lighter than a butterfly’s wings.

She dipped her head as her cheeks flushed light pink, warming under his gaze before he pulled her into his arms and she leant her head to rest against his shoulder.

He murmured into her hair. “I couldn’t protect you last time and I…I blamed myself every day you were gone because of it.”

“Tyril…” she frowned. “None of that was your fault.”

“I know, but that does not change the fact that I failed you.” His eyes filled with sorrow as he traced a finger along her jaw, tilting her chin to look at him. “Every day my heart ached for your return. To see you again, even if you were but a fragment of a dream…”

She let the tears fall as she pressed her lips softly to his, overcome by emotion as she ran her fingers through his raven hair, longer than she remembered. His kiss held all his heartache and remorse from that painful year before he leant back, resting his forehead against her own.

They stayed that way until a softer tune began to play from the more lively part of the forest, and Raine threaded her fingers through his. “May I?”

“Always,” he smiled as she led him to his feet, the two of them alone in their own section of the woods. “Do you remember the first time we did this?”

“Danced?” She asked, and a pleasant night breeze surrounded them as Tyril guided her into position. “You mean at the masquerade?”

He nodded. “Sometimes that feels like a lifetime ago, as though everything has changed since then.”

“And yet, nothing at all.” She said, her voice quiet and tinged with sorrow.

His gaze was far away for a moment before he looked back towards her once more. “Never mind that now, all that matters is having you back in my arms.”

“And there's no place I'd rather be,” she smiled.

He spun her into a graceful twirl before pulling her back in close, and they swayed together gently as the song slowly faded into the next.

They danced until Raine found herself backed against one of the grand oak trees, and when she looked up she could still see the little stars Tyril had summoned earlier hovering among the branches, some of them twinkling as though they were shooting across the sky.

“I like having our own little universe,” she said, and the bark was rough against her fingertips as he leaned in for a kiss once again, like a blazing star that would sooner collapse than part from her touch.

“The night sky is ours,” he assured, and the rest of the forest seemed to melt away under his embrace, until it was just the two of them dancing beneath their stars above.

#may i provide some fluff in these trying times (ch18 aftermath) #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #blades of light and shadow #tyril starfury #tyril x mc #raine nightbloom #tyril x raine #playchoices #playchoices fanfic #choices stories you play

[fieldofdaisiies]

azriel x eris | 3k words | warnings: none | masterlist

Skarlet leaves, glimmering in the sunlight that filters through the tree tops, dance in the wind, swirling and doing barrel rolls in the breeze that blows through the forest. 

His booted feet are planted in a stance atop the yellow-ish, brown grass, Eris exhales a long breath and then fills his lungs with a deep inhale of the crisp morning air. 

Large, looming trees rise out of the earth all around him and brush against the sky. The sun-dappled leaves create flickering shadows that remind him of a male, but he doesn’t want to dwell on thoughts about the shadowsinger, he has no time for such idiotic things, not when the future of the Autumn Court is at stake. He shoves the thoughts away, until there is just nothingness within his mind. 

He leans his head to the sound, listening to sounds around him – the chirping of birds and wind brushing through the leaves. The cool air is like balm to his soul, to his skin and his aching, heavy heart. In moments like this he allows himself to forget about everything – Beron, Koschei, Azriel. 

The light breeze blowing through the forest this morning sends a shudder of movement through the branches, making him even more aware of the peace that surrounds him deep within the forest. When Eris lowers his head, he can see animal trails crisscrossing beneath him. He smiles to himself – nature has always been able to calm his mind and heart. To make him feel fully at ease. To allow him to rest for a few minutes. 

It is what he needs right now. He turns his head to look around – light dances on the fern fronds, glittering off of morning dew and then the corners of his mouth kick up when howling and barking fills his ears. He closes his eyes for a second, reveling in the noises that get louder and louder by the second, and when he opens his lids again, he sees them.

Almost like a wild hunt, his hounds, twelve of them, grey and sleek like smoke, race through the forest as fast as the wind, heading for their owner who is patiently waiting for them. He set a prey, winnowed away, let them race there, and winnowed away one again – training for his precious pets. 

“Good boys!” The laugh that leaves Eris is honest, his heart feeling a little lighter now that he spends time outside with his precious animals. He inhales a deep breath of the crisp and fresh morning air, smelling so wonderful right after it had been raining almost the whole night. He fills his lungs to the brim, holding eye-contact with his oldest and most loyal dog who eagerly wiggles his tail.

“Another round.” Eris tilts his chin at the hounds and earns himself a loud snort from Cerberus, his most precious and beloved pet. Eris only winks at him and is gone in the next moment, leaving nothing but swirling pine needles and leaves behind. 

It continues like this for a while, until only after many hours, they return to the Forest House. Eris sends his hounds inside to get their breakfast which only chosen sentries are allowed to feed them, providing them only with food that Eris allows them too – his previous hounds only deserve the best. 

In the meantime the prince strips out of his sweat-drenched shirt, and his loose pants. He washes and then he is gone again, before either of his parents can question where he is heading to. 

Hunting, he will say when he returns. It is a good face-saver, the best he can come up with. He used to go hunting a lot when he was younger, it had gotten less when he and his brothers, his hunting companions, started to drift apart. 

Eris is heading to stables after collecting two freshly baked rolls from the kitchen and eating them up in a few big bites; after hours of training his hungry, but he can’t waste any time on a proper meal. 

“Lord Eris,” Margot, the masterchef greets him, showing him a reproachful look. She doesn’t like it when he hurries when it comes to food, she always wants him to eat slowly, and enjoy it. Eris flashes her a polite smile and then he slips out of the door and is gone before she can stop him and force him to eat something else, or more. 

His steps tread rather lightly on the straw-covered ground when he enters the stables, heading for his horse – the large, black horse one of his sentries has already put a saddle on for him, now handing him the reins. 

“Good hunting, my lord,” the sentry says and bows his head. Eris dips his chin in thanks and goodbye. 

With practiced ease, Eris hoists himself onto the horse's back, and with  a gentle nudge of his heel, he urges the horse forward. They begin to move, at a rather leisurely pace, but it is important to keep his lie up. It shouldn’t look like something is rushing him, if Beron should watch him depart (which he often does, always keeping his eyes on everything that happens in his court.)

Eris doesn’t mind the slow space, not when he actually wants and needs a few moments just for himself, to prepare. 

He hasn’t really spoken much to Kallax, his younger brother, in the past years. Not alone, that be it, but only in his father’s presence. Kallax, just like Eris’ other brothers, distanced himself a lot from both Eris and Beron, as well as the Forest House. The last time they all were together was probably the High Lord’s meeting…

Eris releases a deep sigh, hands not holding the reins too tightly, his horse as obedient as every other horse in this court. 

He has always been closest with Kallax; safe for the time where he and Lucien were an inseparable team… 

Kallax and him are only eight years apart, most of their life they have spent with each other (safe for the time where Kallax, Geras and Merat joined the war camps and didn’t come home that often). Even before Under the Mountain, distance started to stretch out between them. Nothing happened to harm their closeness, it just happened, subtly and over a longer expanse of time. And after Amarantha’s reign, it had fully spread out, almost like a plague, the time in Amarantha’s grasp probably having left their toll on everyone. 

His little brother is in many ways very similar to him – he loves the hounds, and he loves hunting and nature, but he is a born warrior. Not a leader. Not a High Lord. Kallax has always liked combat, preferred fighting over talking, and has mostly spoken with his hands instead of his mouth. When it comes to females, he also shares a different opinion than Eris. Not only concerning preferences where Eris most definitely favours males, but in terms of how females should be treated. Eris knows that his little brother is now often seen with a Forest Nymph, if Kallax changes his misogynistic beliefs for her, is yet to be seen, though. 

The Forest Nymph is a well-hidden secret, since the second-oldest Vanserra brother knows exactly what would happen if he found himself a lover that is a lesser fae. He saw what was done to Lucien’s…Jesminda. He was there that day. He held Lucien, made him watch…and that is something Eris will never forgive him for.

Kallax hides his Forest-Nymph, but Eris knows everything, has his ears and eyes everywhere, but of course, his brother’s secret is safe with him. He couldn’t protect Lucien and Jesminda – this time he won’t fail one of his brothers. The crisp air kisses his face when he rides deeper into the forest, already getting closer to the border, the earthy scent of fallen leaves mingling with the smell of damp soil. Sunlight peaks through the tree tops, making the colours of the leaves around him appear just a little richer. 

A feeling of trepidation blooms within his chest, making his heart feel just a little heavier. He shifts uncomfortably atop his horse, fiddling with the reins. Eris is normally not one to be nervous, but something about this meeting makes him feel a little tense. What will Kallax say? Will he have his trust? Does he have to earn it first?

Kallax is proud and ambitious, cruel in some ways, and ignorant about many things. He can be egostic and only agree to things that really concern himself and sometimes all of these traits combined get the best of him. When he was a young male, he always wanted to prove something to their father (maybe still does) and tried to be the perfect son over and over again, which formed his heart cruel in a way that Eris finds shocking, but not surprising. 

His own heart has been wrenched and wrecked by his father, destroyed and left in pieces. Beron tried to turn him into a monster, but he wants to be stronger. And he also hopes that Kallax wants to be stronger. Wants to be a better male than what Beron tried to turn them into, wants to try to be good. 

Normally, when approaching people Eris who needs to talk to about something, he is confident, not once was he nervous or unsure when talking to the Lord of Bloodshed, or the other High Lords. But with his brother it is different. 

A unique sense of anxiousness takes root inside of him the moment he spots his brother in the distance, casually leaning against a tree, one ankle crossed over the other, head tipped back, sunlight falling upon his pale face. Behind him, there are only towering ruins, stone covered in ivy and moss.

The tension doesn’t fade until he is only a short distance away from his brother.

He drags in a deep inhale, blows it out through his nose. He gently pulls on the reins, signaling his horse to halt. Sliding effortlessly out of the saddle, he lands on the forest ground with a soft thud. He pats the horse on the back, whispering some words to it and it trots away (where to, only Eris and the horse know).

Kallax’ eyes open, and a snort leaves him. 

“Eris.” Cool boredom laces his expression when Kallax pushes off the tree, sauntering casually towards his older brother. 

Out of everyone, Kallax resembles Eris the most. He is equally tall, with slighter broader shoulders, nothing but swagger in his demeanour when his eyes scan the surroundings. His hands are stuffed into the pockets of his beige breeches, his jacket made of luxurious dark green fabric, adorned with golden embroidery, and his long auburn hair is tied back into a low bun.

“Interesting choice of place, I must say.” Kallax keeps one hand in the pocket of his breeches, the other he uses to brush back a few strands of loose hair when he stops in front of Eris, letting his eyes run over his older brother. His brow kicks up a little, curiosity shining brightly within his eyes. 

“We used to come here a lot when we were younger.” Eris turns his gaze away from the younger Vanserra brother, observing the old ruins and large trees. They are at the edge of an old forest, as far away from the Forest House as possible, and quite close to the Spring Court border, near an outpost of the Autumn Court war camps. The war camps Kallax lives in.

Time-worn remnants of what once used to be a castle surround them. The ruins are covered in moss and ivy, and when they used to go there when they were younger they always pretended to be in an ancient fortress full of secrets and mysteries.

Secrets…

Towering, weathered trees surround them, shielding them completely from the outside world. No preying eyes having a chance to catch them. 

“What do you want, Eris?” Kallax exhales a long breath, then rolls back his shoulders. He looks at Eris, then directs his gaze skywards. Eris has no idea what caught his attention there, but he decides to deliberately ignore it. 

“Zen and two Autumn Court war bands are stationed at the border to Summer now. For protection against Summer and also Night.”

“I know.” Eris‘ younger brother shrugs his shoulders, ignorance etched on his face. He seems like he couldn’t care any less, like this talk with Eris is the greatest waste of his time possible. “That’s not why you wanted to talk to me, right?”

Kallax takes a few steps to the side, resting his back against the weathered stone walls, then crosses one ankle over the other. He observes Eris, gaze slowly running over his older brother, assessing him. 

Kallax is truly a born-warrior, and once Eris is High Lord he will make him his general. If it ever gets to that point. 

Eris doesn’t really know why his father never made him general of the Autumn Court armies – Kallax is perfect for this position.

“I think you can imagine why I asked you to come here.” Eris takes a few steps forward, kicking away a branch, hands clasped behind his back. 

Kallax smirks. “Beron.”

Eris doesn’t let his surprise show about his brother not using “father” but Beron‘s name. It seems odd, Kallax has always been fond of their father, or was this also just a mask? One similar to the one Eris is wearing daily? Could it be that just like he himself, Kallax also resents their father?

Eris veils his face in indifference, holding eye contact with his brother. “Yes.”

Kallax raises a brow, almost in a mocking, pitiful way. “He isn’t telling you much lately, huh?”

Eris bristles and shakes his head. There is no need for lying now, it would get him nowhere. He needs to have all the information he can get, and if he isn’t honest to Kallax now, when should he be? 

If he wants the Autumn Court to change for the better he needs the support of his brothers, only together can they make it work. Kallax as his general, Zen as Kallax’s second in command, and Geras…in some other important position. Maybe. 

“No, he isn’t, but that’s not why I asked you to come here.” Eris is right in front of Kallax by then, the tips of their shoes almost touching. 

“Oh?” Kallax raises a neatly trimmed brow.

“You know what I have to do.”

A wildfire erupts in Kallax‘s amber eyes, the corner of his mouth kicking up to form a vicious grin and then he drags his thumb across his throat.

Eris huffs and lowers his chin to his chest. Then he nods. 

“And you need my help for it?” The question is posed without any kind of emotion, but still lethality laces every word.

Dread coils in Eris‘ gut. Never, never in the world, would he ever pull someone else into this with him. It is too dangerous. He quickly shakes his head. 

“I need you to—” He cuts himself off and clears his throat. “If things go wrong, I need you to leave.”

Kallax’s brow knits. “What?”

“If things go wrong, you can’t stay here. Neither can Zen, or Geras. Beron will suspect you supporting me or following in my footsteps and I can’t risk it. He is already driven by fear — his sanity, if he ever had one, left him long ago.”

“I can’t leave. I—”

Eris grabs his younger brother by the shoulder, then pins him with a look. “You and your sweet little Forest Nymph leave the moment word about my death reaches you. You will head to Spring, with Zen and Geras. You are gone before Beron can only as much as think about going after you.”

Surprise passes over Kallax’s face, but is soon replaced by an emotion Eris has barely ever seen on his younger brother’s face. Worry.

“You won’t die,” Kallax says and his voice sounds so much younger, almost boyish and vulnerable. In this moment, Kallax reminds him of the young boy he used to be who came running to Eris, crying tears and snot, after Beron beat bloody about stupid mistakes or accidents. 

Kallax’s lips open and close a few times, then he says, “You are going to be the next High Lord, Eris. You are—”

“If things go wrong, you leave.” Eris grows impatient and shakes his brother by the shoulder.

“What about mother?”

“I will take care of her.” Their gazes are still locked, and Eris lets his brother see the honesty in them. “She will be safe.”

“You promise?”

Eris‘ gaze flicks to the ground, shoulders and chest heaving with a deep inhale. “I promise.”

Slowly, tentatively, his eyes lift and he removes his hand from his brother’s shoulder. His jaw clenches and for a moment they only look at each other, no conversation passing between them, but it is all in their eyes. The silent trust, the brotherly bond though weakened but still manifested in their hearts, and the secret promises — the prosperity of a better future.

“I can trust you, Kallax.” A statement, not a question.

Kallax steps away from the weathered ruins, finger dragging over the in ivy covered stone before he moves further away, towards the large trees looming behind them. “You are my brother, Eris. You are my family.” Kallax turns away.

“Beron is also your family.”

Kallax snorts, shakes his head and in the next moment he is gone. He winnowed away.

“Bastard,” Eris growls and fights the urge to show a vulgare to the empty place where his brother stood.

He calms himself and then a split second later mist, almost like shadows, curls around his body, and his feet leave the ground and when his eyes open he finds himself in a wholly different surrounding, large trees looming around him, birds chirping and flowers of all colours blooming wherever he looks.

And there he is, the tall shadowy figure – a stark contrast to all the bright colours, causally leaning against a tree full of lush green leaves, his eyes closed, his expression somehow peaceful. 

In a polished, velvety voice Eris makes himself known, “Shadowsinger.”

tag list for ACOCD @hnyclover @honeysuckle-daydreams13 @a-frog-with-a-laptop @queercontrarian @fandomsmultiverse @acourtofbatboydreams @chunkypossum @baileybird71 @beckkthewreck @hells-sluttiest-new-arrival @owllover123 @acotarobsessed @goldenmagnolias @honeysuckle-daydreams13 @v3lv3tf0x @talibunny30 @allyhill @popjunkie42 @skyesayshi @going-through-shit @mybestfriendmademe

general Azris tag list: @azrielsbabyg @lady-riel @moonlightazriel @aayo-whatt @brekkershadowsinger @ladyelain @banasheefan56 @a-frog-with-a-laptop @ofduskanddreams

#acotar #acosf #azriel #azriel x eris #azris #eris vanserra

[lorei-writes]

Letters: From: Me ; To: You

(And Some of What Happened In-Between)

Clavis Lelouch & OC (OC Chart: Laura) Summary: A letter sent out in desperation, and how -- or whether -- it manages to rescue Laura from an arranged marriage. Word Count Estimate: 1k Other chapters: Masterlist

Content Warnings: animal attack

Leaves hummed above their heads, swayed by a warm summer gale. Dirty with mud and stricken with sweat, Cyran ran his hand down his face, thus smudging the stains left over his features even further. He did not appear to care much, however, or not any more than about the cause behind his concern, Clavis merrily treading a path for them through the mountainous forest.

Leaves hummed above their heads, swayed by a warm summer gale. Dirty with mud and stricken with sweat, Cyran ran his hand down his face, thus smudging the stains left over his features even further. He did not appear to care much, however, or not any more than about the cause behind his concern, Clavis merrily treading a path for them through the mountainous forest.

“Attracting bears… really?” the knight sighed.

“No. Attracting male bears in dire need of mating. That is quite a serious oversight for my most trusted man,” Clavis chuckled quietly, a single (the smallest one of the lot) crease easing out from between Cyran’s brows.

“I am glad you are mindful of keeping your voice down, my lord. Your laughter could cause an avalanche, I swear.”

Clavis held back a snort. He brushed his damp hair away from his face, eyes set on the marks left in the bark. He walked to them slowly, and took off one of his gloves before running his fingers through the uneven welts.

“Ha! Would you look at that, it’s still fresh. Lucky, aren’t we?” he laughed, the crease returning with double the previous depth.

“An avalanche, Prince Clavis.”

Clavis crouched down, a jar nearly falling out of the inner pocket of his cape. He caught it in time, however, his companion growing a few more grey hairs just regardless.

“Now, that’d be delightful, but alas – you could search the entire mountain for snow, and not find even a single flake.” A brush in his hand, he begun to paint the tree with… whatever the translucent solution the jar contained.

“A landslide then,” Cyran sighed.

“Hahaha, now, now, that’d be unfortunate. Do you have the time to complain, though? Unless you want to meet more bears, of course.”

Cyran lifted a brush as well. Why, oh why… Although he had technically chosen this fate for himself.

It was a lovely day; if heavens could design for a weather to be perfect for a wedding, they did it then, and actualised their plan. Despite days of rain, not a cloud hung in the sky, the greenery surrounding the path sparkling in fresh dew suits as if it too was invited to celebrate the soon-to-be-husband-and-wife. Laura curled her fists into the skirt of her gown, her veil shaking whenever carriage wheels rippled any of the puddles ahead of them. She stifled a groan, the singing birds having her head throb. She glanced from her mother to her father, and then back at the floor, not a word leading itself into the web of silence entangling them all. If anything, the harder Laura struggled to come up with a suitable thought, the worse she got stuck, eventually losing all desire to talk.

Laura turned her head towards the window, the steep walls of the gorge staring back at her emptily. They had probably seen many women like myself, she considered, her stomach churning at the thought. The road widened, however, a valley spreading far bellow them seemingly aiming to ease her mind, blinding sunlight reflecting off the surface of the lake nestled within it…

Magpies warbled.

The carriage shook. It came to a halt.

“Dear? Were we supposed to stop now?” her mother asked. Laura turned her face towards them, her father’s uneasy grunt leading her to believe that much was not a part of their journey plan.

“I’ll inquire the coachman —”

Lord Sonne did not have a chance to finish the reply, low guttural growls turning his face pale and twisting his features into a frown. The sound grew in volume, multiplied and shifted as if to encircle them, each animalistic scream a reply to another of its kind. Hailstorm of roars fell over them, and so came a command:

“Fire! Fire! Fire at the bears!”

Laura pulled her veil back, her father pushing the carriage door open.

“Stay back,” he ordered, rushing out at once.

“Mother…?”

Magpies warbled again, distant howling colliding with roars just outside the thin wooden walls, followed shortly by man-made thunderstorm. Laura watched, her mother staring back at her, glass-like sheen having come over her eyes. The woman reached forward, old hands clasping around the much younger ones.

“Sweetheart… If you go now… I will not say a word, no matter what means they employ…” she whispered out, terrified eyes darting towards the coach-box window.

Laura opened her mouth, but her mother shook her head vigorously.

“There is no time. Go, or I may change my mind.”

Laura rose from the seat.

Distant cries chased after her as she rushed down the slick mountainside, raspberry bushes outstretching thorny hands towards the pristine muslin, disregarded berries dyeing the white in splashes of red. Laura threw off the veil, hair falling over her face the moment she ripped out the few pins holding it in place. She stumbled over her feet, continued to tumble through the dirt – and then rose to break into a limping dash The world made itself narrow in her eyes, compressed itself only to two things: the fury of screams and roars behind her back, and the lake, the shimmering promise of safety in Benitoite. There was no “her” for her mind, no pain nor cuts, nor bruises, nor soil on her hands, and most definitely, not a trace of concern for her torn dress.

Laura fell again, her feet catching onto a protruding root. Newly emerged barking crept up her back, and so she turned to look around, hounds closing in on her. Her hand trembled as she pushed it into the front of her corset, panicked fingers searching for a small glass flask. She closed her eyes, dogs lurching forward, and —

The bottle slipped out of her grasp.

Laura coughed.

Her ears rung, but refused to hear. Not that her mind would listen.

Too beaten up to get up, she crawled. Fear robbed her of what vision she had, but she refused to give up for as long as there was even a single sense that could provide her with guidance. She stopped, however, or was made to stop, her weight lifting off the ground. Klara stared at the blue sky above, and found herself mesmerised by the twin suns gazing down at her in turn. She smiled, positively convinced she had just seen violet clouds, and closed her eyes. Surely, she had reached Benitoite.

#letters from me to you #clavis lelouch #ikepri clavis #ikemen prince clavis #ikepri #ikemen prince #ikemen series

[jcryptid]

Finding A True Name

The woods are quiet at this time of morning, when the sun is barely peeking over the horizon and the forest be thick with mists and glittering with morning dew. At the base of an old oak I pick up an acorn and fashion its cap smooth like a bowl, carving down the stem into a base before I toss the seed high between a fork in the tree's upper branches.

I miss of course, but that's hardly the point. I have no offering for the little or hidden people, hardly believe in them besides an idle fascination with little rituals like these, a bowl of morning dew I'd carved but moments before and set aside between then twisting roots of the old tree, and a mandarin in my hand that I begin to peel as I lean against it and try to listen to the morning sounds of birds.

I hear a voice beside me ask what I am doing there, and I give a little shrug. It's a public forest, and I figured a morning walk would be nice, no need for the inquisition.

"You ever thought about climbing it?" they say, and I tilt my head. "When I was younger," I tell them, "I could climb a smooth pole if I wanted to, but no… not anymore. Maybe… maybe someday, but I'm not as sure those branches will hold me as I am,"

"This tree is special," they tell me, "It is old and it is tired, but it is a home to anyone who might seek its shade, for a price of course"

"Maybe," I tell them, "It's not like I didn't leave anything though,"

"So I see," they say, "but trees get water every time it rains, every night when the cool settles on their leaves, what could make them want some in a little bowl they can't even drink from?"

"Wasn't so much for the tree," I say, a small smile building on my lips as I pull free another piece of the mandarin and stick it in my mouth, "More for any hidden folk, should they want it," I swallow the piece of fruit down, "This oak gets plenty of what it needs, water, sunlight, nutrients from the soul, the freedom to grow, I figured all more it could want was some company, so that's what I offer it in exchange for shade,"

The other gives me an odd look, something of a little gleam in their emerald green eyes as they tilt their head a little to the side, blink twice, and ask me a question.

"Can I have your name, at least?" it asks, and I tell them of course. I give it readily enough.

The green eyed stranger frowns at me, "That's not your name," they say plainly.

"It is though," I say, "The one of my birth at least,"

"But it is not your name,"

"It is a name," I say, "they've never really seemed to stick to me, especially when I came out,"

"So what is your name?" they ask again.

"I already told you didn't I?"

They pout harder, "That's just a name, an empty name," they say, "It's not yours,"

By now I've caught on, whether fact or fiction or something in between,

"I suppose it's right to say I haven't one yet, I'm still trying to find it,"

"Was it taken?" they implore me, "No, that can't make sense if you could still give it freely,"

"I think it just died," I say, with another bite of the fruit in my hand, "It faded, with that part of me that didn't really consider anything else, or maybe it never really was mine to begin with," I swallow it down again, "I've been rotating between nicknames for now, but nothing quite feels right."

"I can feel them," it says, "Nameless, what an interesting thing you are, to be nameless and whole all at once, oh the fair folk would hate you and I would too, had I not the pleasure of your earnestness."

I give a little nod, despite the small swell of unease in my chest.

"Would you like some fruit?" I say, offering the other half, yet untouched but picked clean of skin and grit. It isn't often I can peel a mandarin without piercing it's flesh and spilling it's juices.

The Faerie smiles at me, a mouth full of needle like teeth and eyes that glimmer with gold flecked inside it's too bright eyes.

"I would like that," it says to me, and takes it readily. Popping some of the pulps in its mouth, one after another, and licking the juice from its lips as it chews. Turning over what remains in its hands and smiling a little to itself as it does so.

"What are you here for?" I ask it sweetly, pulling free a knife and idly making another bowl from a nearby acorn.

"I had wanted to steal you away," it says, and I stop a little at the declaration, "It's always fun to have better company in Faerie, with your name I might have been still able to leave something behind that would have others none the wiser,"

"And now?"

"I couldn't charge you if I wanted to," it giggles a little under its breath, "I haven't your name nor your thanks, instead I have two gifts freely given, and nothing but the utmost pleasantries from you on my and our friend's account, so I'll tell you what," they say, "I owe you a boon, and so meet with me whenever you are able, and I shall help you find your name, and it shall be all your own,"

"And yours?" I ask coyly, "May I have yours?"

They flick a finger by my ear and I laugh.

"Cheeky," they say, "but you may call me a friend,"

#been thinking about fae rules and my own relationship with names #just posting this on a whim #make of it what you will #for all my trans friends #short story #creative writing #transgender #trans pride #coming out as nonbinary #nonbinary #queer #enby #fae folk #faecore #fairytales #faerie #faerycore #fey #faery folk #coming out #dead name #choosing names #trans experience

[sanctificetur]

ulvemyt ☀️ vali lokison :

athelstan is continuing to walk in the park, listening to jack savoretti’s only you, and reflecting how proud he was of his son, alfred.

he was thinking his son’s body was more than a carcass and one both ; it all to be embraced. what you think is weak and conflicted are brave traits, as he remembers hearing him sing, to find you,

you were staring at your bedroom wall with only ghosts beside you… I was on my way to find you

when looking above from heaven. for everything, there is a season ; and you are your own family of seasons.

savoretti’s singing was beautifully calming, speaking his raw emotion haunted within the hollows of him.

with your courage, I escaped my fears, as he trails his fingers on the ivory piano keys,

only you know where to go to get to me, the cymbals accentuating a tempo.

as the song continues on, he being a little lost in reminiscence, he sudden found himself collide with another.

he says, ‘ sorry ‘ to the person he bumped into, the earbuds falling to the ground. they were airbuds. savoretti’s calm croons emanated from them as they lay on the pavement.

vali notes the walkman was coloured an ocean blue, remembering he didn’t like water as he could not swim. ‘ it’s alright, ‘ he says, not sure why athelstan was apologising.

he had been walking in the park, enjoying the forest feel to it — remembering a innocent time he ran as a wolf with his fellow brother narfi… ( liking the morning dew smell of the grass ).

he reached to the earbuds on the ground, glad it didn’t land on the puddle of water pooling on the pavement. it had rained last night and now had stopped.

he was walking a time where the ultraviolet was quite low ( below five ). sunlight rather weakened him when too strong, as per his upbringing in jotunheim. and he wore a cap on his head just in case the rays shone brighter again.

he says, ‘ I quite like written in scars. ‘

#athelstan ic. #writing. #vali ic. #;written ❄️ in scars.

[asfdhgsdkjhgb]

songs that feel like home and what kind of home i mean

on my way by alex lahey is a road trip at sunset. im sitting in the back, my feet up on the seat next to me, and im sharing a blanket with a friend. two more friends are up front, one driving and one in the passenger seat. we’re laughing. im not sure what we’re laughing at, maybe someone did something silly or maybe it was an inside joke. maybe we’re just happy to be there.

welcome home, son by radical face is summer camp. the air is slightly humid but not quite hot, and i can see stars above me. loads of them. the area im in is lit by long strings of warm fairy lights and im surrounded by people. im sitting on top of a picnic table. the sounds of laughter and conversation and cricket chirps fill the air around me. i smell like outdoors and campfire and bug spray.

since i saw vienna by wilbur is a train carriage. one of those trains thats meant to travel long distances. its golden hour/sunset and the sun is shining in right from the window next to me. im just sitting. watching the scenery change. im not sure whats out the window. maybe its a city, maybe its the country, maybe its a forest. im not sure what my destination is, i just know that im leaving.

see the day by the altogether is a morning in late summer, when the air is just starting to turn crisp. im up earlier than i normally would be, just looking out a window. i think im in a kitchen. theres a bit of fog on the glass and the grass outside is shiny with dew. the light is painting my face and the room around me in a very pretty shade of orange. i can hear the birds starting to wake up outside.

air so sweet by dodie is a suburban area, at midnight. its just cleared up after pouring rain and the pavement is still a bit damp under my bare feet. the street is empty as i walk and the only light is the streetlights out in front of each house. small rubbery rocks from the road stick to the bottoms of my feet and i breath in the slightly humid air.

five by sleeping at last is an aquarium after hours. im the only one there. i wander through different rooms, all of which are only lit by the blue light reflecting from the tanks. the way the water ripples makes the light look like its dancing around me. i watch a shark swim by, or a jellyfish. press my hands to the cool glass. and just watch.

everything is temporary by cavetown is a forest, when the sun comes back just after a summer rainstorm. i can hear everything beginning to come out of hiding. birds are singing. a butterfly lands on a nearby flower. the earth still smells like rain, and some of the trees are still dripping a bit. dappled sunlight shines on a ground covered in dirt and moss. everything looks green.

#HOLY SHIT THIS POST HAS BEEN IN MY DRAFTS FOR SO LONG AND IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT LETS GO I FOUND IT #just me rambling again #<3 #brain brbrbrbrbrbrbr

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 1: Drooping Raindrops

Narrated by Arionus.

Narrator: A refreshing tranquility filled the air of the rain-washed forest. The dew on the petals slipped onto the leaves and landed on the soil.

Narrator: A couple of deer gathered under the waterfall with their heads down, sipping the sweet spring water from the clear pool.

Narrator: Tiny droplets sent splashing by the waterfall created a rainbow under the sunlight.

Narrator: In this quiet and peaceful valley, you could look up and see the Tree of Life not far away.

Narrator: It stood quietly on the hillside, its intertwined roots reaching deep into the soil, its lush canopy blocking the sunlight.

Narrator: Lying deep where the roots ended was the "Source Spring." That's where the "Seeds" of the elves were stored, the origin of the elven power.

Narrator: But I was never permitted to set foot there.

Gentle Voice: Arionus!

Narrator: I turned my head and was greeted by a familiar golden-red radiance. At the center of the radiance was young Fire Elf Hephaes.

Narrator: The barefoot Hephaes walked toward me. The corners of the white robe and transparent wings were burning with fierce flames, making Hephaes bright and brilliant.

Hephaes: What are you doing out here alone?

Narrator: Hephaes curled a finger, and a golden-red butterfly wrapped in fire flew off from my shoulder.

Narrator: Then I noticed that a few more butterflies like that one were perking on my body.

Hephaes: With that rain you just sent down, those little guys were having a hard time keeping their fire burning. They almost lost you.

Narrator: All the little butterflies flew back to Hephaes' fingertip and merged into a small fireball. Looking at the fireball, Hephaes let out a sly smile.

Hephaes: That wasn't my best shot. But I've learned a new trick. Wanna see it?

Narrator: The fireball at Hephaes' fingertip grew bigger and bigger, radiating a fiery brilliance that sent nearby birds scattering in a panic.

Narrator: The fireball collided with my jet of water with a sizzle, producing a rising cloud of white vapor. Through the vapor, Hephaes' frustration was visible.

Hephaes: Alright, you win, again.

Arionus: No, I didn't notice your butterflies back there, so you won the first round.

Narrator: Hephaes' frustration came and went quickly. Hearing what I said, Hephaes' usual bright smile quickly returned.

Hephaes: Yea, I suppose. I'm getting better anyway, thanks to all the practice we did together.

Hephaes: So, Arionus, what were you doing out here alone?

Arionus: I like it here.

Narrator: I turned to look at the Tree of Life not far away. Its branches and leaves formed a tapestry of fate that dictated the life and death of all beings.

Narrator: Anyone laying eyes on the Tree of Life would be awestruck by its overwhelming power of life and lose themselves in its peaceful, holy aura.

Narrator: Suddenly, a force laced with a dark desire threatened to burst through my chest and hurtle toward the Tree of Life in front of me.

Narrator: I pressed my hand against my chest.

Hephaes: What's wrong, Arionus? Is it... that power again?

Narrator: Hephaes held me, looking at me with genuine concern.

Arionus: I'm fine.

Narrator: I looked down toward the calm sea. Hephaes' golden-red radiance accentuated my gloom, surrounded by the play of light cast by the waves.

Narrator: Unlike Hephaes and other elves, I was born not in this continent, but in the deepest trench of the sea.

Narrator: I came to this world bearing the Abyssal Power, which gave me unparalleled strength as well as unbearable pain.

Narrator: Unless I grew strong enough, the Abyssal Power might one day take over me and make me a slave to the dark force.

Narrator: The rain resumed. I stretched out my hand and watched raindrops merge into a small puddle in my palm, running through my fingers and vanishing into the ground.

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

#arionus #shining nikki #chapter 1 #transcript #drooping raindrops #tides and flames #water #tree of life #butterfly #friend #game #ur designer #pain #chronic pain #abyss

[pink-tiled-bathroom]

thoughts of july/juliet, 2022/07/31, 23:59

the petrichor starts to choke me more and more star-crossed lovers bound under the covers of a romeo-and-juliet paperback we kissed for hours in silence, only the moonlight guiding us through lace curtains we stood near the rain, both afraid to get wet, finding warmth within eachother i stare at the sky in the mornings and wish it was her instead i see beautiful things and she is the only thought that follows crying late nights over distance; over fear, over fear, over fear, the days have gotten repetitive now and the only change is us we were all over eachother like autumn leaves on forest floors father told me i was just like you we become entirely new every seven years, and i wait for the day that i never knew you i sit in silence every night attempting to gather the ache in my chest into a tangible item and every night i get absolutely nowhere im learning how to drive just so i can get out of this shitty god-forsaken town staring at the cracks along my ceiling and i see college and i see success and i see her i am terrified of my mother's words to me through her drunk honesty i am terrified that my father is right refusing to be bound to some four-hundred year old paperback just because of worn opinions she kisses me as if i am fragile and not meant to be broken i kiss her in the hopes that it could heal even the smallest wounds of her own self-doubt, for i know she is only meant for the best and it tears me in threes whenever she pours hurt from a beaten cup lost in overthinking intentions and confused over gentle touches not meant for my kind icarus only understood once he had been scattered in the sun's ashes that the most dangerous thing is to love to lust icarus was blind, and it only left him destroyed and left for dead icarus, in his dumbfounded blindness, did not understand that he was being burnt all along you are a danger to yourself and just a liability to all the bloody shards of personified sunlight you've left behind i sit for hours staring at a screen vomiting word after word until i throw up nothing but the scraps of yesterday's hunger i cannot look my father in the eyes anymore she looks at me through eyes of morning dew, soft and with the whispered benevolence of early mornings the fear grips me by the throat yet the tepid comfort of it all peppers kisses on my cheeks and allows me to forget about everything, even for just a moment mental poker tables of all the versions of myself argue over whether or not i deserve to allow myself to be vulnerable, to let the coffin open he stares at me through midnight eyes and tangles me in smoke once again and i keep waking up dizzy praying i grant myself the right to forget i am not icarus anymore and i fucking refuse to be juliet i refuse to be bound to books of past mistakes the insatiable desire to unclench my throat to the sky paralyzes me day after day i seem to have this carnal instinct to crave what hurts me and i am finally learning to ignore it--if this is healing then it is all i will ever want she is the growing calm within my chest skin-to-skin and heart-to-heart hand-in-hand and mind-to-mind the moon knows we are in love. 'till 25 we lay staring at the stars, tied beautifully with red string around our pinkies and sealed with a kiss on the thumb

#poem #poetry #poets on tumblr #poems on tumblr #thoughts #thinking #july 2022 #romeo and juliet #prose #prose writing #dark prose #poet #wlw #wlw poetry #wlw poem

[dapper-wings]

Sometimes I get a little annoyed by comments like ‘well if the eagles just took them to mordor everything would’ve been over so much faster’

but then I read the books and realize I’m this far through Fellowship and Frodo, Merry, Sam, and Pippin have literally just left the Shire and they haven’t even meet Aragorn yet and then I have just the tiniest bit of understanding for those comments. 

Just the tiniest, mind you. I still wouldn’t change a thing about this series. 

#lord of the rings #jrr tolkien #fellowship of the ring #look #the guy likes his landscape descriptions #songs #and characterizations okay #sure lets have pages of songs about water and trees and roads #and what the forest looks like in rain and dew and sunlight #why not #enjoy the little things #and that's really what matters #even if we still haven't left the shire #at least we're looking at the borders of bree #we're moving #and it doesn't really matter how fast

[mr-styles]

Hello, I’m Harry Styles and tonight I’m going to help you drift off to sleep with some soothing words and calming music. A sleep story, just for you. With all the busyness of your day, I know how hard it can be to get to sleep. So I thank you for choosing this story, and me to help you. I wish you a wonderful night’s sleep. So make yourself comfortable. Take a deep breath in, and then out. In, and then out. And when you’re ready, close your eyes.

[Listen]

Have you ever wondered what happens when you sleep? Where you go and what you feel. The places that you seek.  When you start to drift away, your mind becomes a book that writes itself, then fades away before you wake to look.

Tonight we’re gong to think about anything you’d like. So first let’s visualise some scenes to see us through the night. Settle back and clear your mind. We’re heading somewhere special, beyond the world of consciousness, to places more celestial.

I’d like you to imagine now, you’re there beneath the stars, which, when you pause to think about it, actually you are. As you focus on the darkness, right before your eyes, fill the scene with glinting lights to emulate night skies.

Think about the things you cherish most and those you love. And then allow yourself to be embraced from up above. The power of the universe, meanders through your mind. So come with me and let’s see what the two of us can find.

Let’s travel now to moonlit valleys, blanketed with heather. The kind of landscape you and i could dream about forever. Imagine lazing on the ground, succumbing to the charms of blades of grass we now caress with fingertips and palms. A gentle scent of cedar wood is floating on the breeze, a gift from mother nature and her nearby cedar trees. We’re gazing at the night sky now, marveling at infinity. So allow your mind to wander to a peaceful new vicinity.

Picture this: a rich green forest, damp with morning dew. Inhale the morning air as we explore, just me and you. Leaves create mosaics in every shade of green, as gentle birds son mingles with the babbling of a stream.

Dappled sepia sunlight cuts through branches overhead, as dew drops fall from leaf to leaf like glistening strands of thread. The dew drops finally coalesce, forming satin beads. Occasionally they kiss our cheeks. Small pleasures, quenching needs.

Holding hands, we stroll until we chance upon a brook. It’s cool clear water, mirroring our faces as we look. The shimmering reflection shows us smiling from above. The word we think but dare not speak is l-o-v-e. Love.

Now we snuggle on a raft, and drift for endless hours. As willow trees sway in the breeze and blossoms fall in showers. Gently swaying to and fro, we look up at the sky and watch the clouds above us forming shapes as they pass by.

The wisps of cloud swirl slowly, tinged with tangerine and pink. And as they fade, the sunset gives us cause to muse and think, of places we should visit and oceans we could cross. For some who wander through this world, there’s grace in being lost.

Passing by a waterfall, our thoughts sway to and fro. And time begins to fade and blur. Beneath the moon’s pale glow, a symphony of tumbling water loves and mesmerizes. Nature’s soundtrack to our dreams, assume so many guises.

Strolling on a sidewalk now, as rain begins to fall. Its gentle pitter-patter holds us deep within its thrall. The raindrops rhythm briefly slows, then intensifies. Peaceful and benevolent. A gift from moonlit skies. The fragrance that the rain creates upon the concrete surface inspires yet relaxes, and focuses our purpose. To shift our minds to neutral and allow our thoughts to drift. And recognise the rainfall as a mesmerising gift.

Sheltering beneath a porch, we watch the rain pour down. Though now the time has come to leave this moonlit town. A gentle breeze wafts through the trees. It causes leaves to stir. And then the rain relents and fades, as time begins to blur.

We find ourselves upon a shoreline, lounging by a lake. While crickets chirp in nearby reeds, it’s hard to stay awake. The scene feels like a watercolour - soft diluted tones. As looking down we see each other. Laughing, skimming stones. The stones skip on the gleaming lake and ripples start to form. And though the sun has dipped from view, we feel content and warm. Herons drift on thermals, high above a sun bleached pier. And in the trees beyond the lake, we glimpse a passing deer.

Strands of cloud unfurl like ribbons in the orange sky. Mirrored on the lake now, like a painted butterfly. In the distance, mountains beckon, capped with pristine snow. The kind of sight that dreams evoke when hearts and minds let go.

Contemplating nothingness. A scene takes shape before us, and as it sharpens in our thoughts, we hear a distant chorus. The dampened sound of silence that only snow can bring, surrounds us with its calming vibes and touches us within.

Glistening snowflakes fall in flourish, mountain rivers freeze. The powdery slopes look beautiful and fresh snow dusts the trees. Somehow now, we’re in a cabin, taking in this view. As a fire crackles in the corner, just for me and you. We linger for a moment, or maybe it’s been hours. For when we blink and look again, our vistas waft in flowers. Another destination lulls us. Closer now it seems. Perhaps it’s real, or just another chapter in our dreams.

Drifting in and out of sleep, our thoughts take us elsewhere. To an island fringed by swaying palms. Lush beyond compare. A path winds through the mangroves towards a distant beach, that underlines the turquoise ocean, now within our reach.

Eventually, we feel the powdery sand right beneath our feet. The sun above now blessing us with gentle, soothing heat. We hear the lilting sound of surf breaking up ahead. While spiral shells and pearly shards determine where we tread.

Finally, a lapping wave engulfs our sandy feet. It seems to pause and ruminate, then gradually retreat. We dig our toes in cool, wet sand, then sit and face the sea. And let the sand wash over us. Alone, just you, and me. Staring at the nothingness that stretches on forever, our thoughts dovetail and unify in tune, two minds together. As minutes turn to hours, we drift off somewhere new. And visualize a stay away, to a door we now walk through.

Imagine now a meadow on a balmy afternoon. Birds, and bees, and rustling trees create a summer tune. Flanked by fields of sunflowers, hand in hand we walk. As the gentle sounds of nature surrounds us while we talk. The sunflowers give the scenery a warm and golden hue, while hazy sunshine softens our idyllic, rustic view. As we roam past hedgerows, a farmhouse sits alone. Its open shutters pressed against uneven walls of stone. A garden winds around the house, and daisies poke through grass. A bench that’s lived through countless summers creaks as we walk past. We wonder if the house is empty. Once loved - but no longer. The thought of passing time inspires a feeling that grows stronger.

This feeling washes over us, lost between a sigh. And as the sun begins to set, we stop and wonder why. Gravity caresses us and pulls you close to me. Then the scene begins to fade, our new reality.

Deeper, gradually deeper, we drift and now transcend to unfamiliar places too surreal to comprehend. Slowly we capitulate, as sleep begins to call. Entwined in dreams and shifting scenes, we drift and gently fall.

Friendly faces, glorious places. Things we hope to do intertwine with snapshots. Some of me, and some of you. Moonlit valleys, verdant forests, gazing at the ocean. Summer meadows, tranquil sunsets, steeped in pure emotion. The tenderness we feel when we are close, two minds as one, surrounds us and connects us, but we’ve only just begun. For now, we dream together of all that is to follow. And know that sleep will keep us safe, from now until tomorrow.

Maybe all the memories that we’ve gathered here tonight, are all dreams now remembered, or wishes in plain sight. No matter what, they’re with us now, for this night and forever. And every time we close our eyes, they’re yours and mine to treasure.

Goodnight and sleep well.

#harry styles #calm

[positivityfortoday]

☀ PositivityForToday’s 10K Celebration ☀

There are SO many things worth living for and reasons to smile and be happy! With the help of my lovely followers/friends, I have compiled a list of 1,000 things that make people happy, for my 10,000 amazing followers! Hopefully, this list is able to help you, make you feel better, or give you a reason to smile today! 

☀ 1,000 Happy Things ☀

Seeing cows while driving

Moss on really old fallen trees 

Seeing a lil baby you don't know in public, and they smile at you!!!

Parents doing their kids hair or just people doing someone they care about’s hair

Really ragged old and well-loved stuffed animals 

When the dandelions start blooming

Spring blossom

Daffodils

Bluebells

Sharks

When you're sitting outside your house or something and people passing by wave and say hi

That feeling in the summer when you have your window open and you're listening to your favorite music

When someone does a hobby just because they enjoy it even if they aren't the best at it

Comfort shows and books

People speaking their native languages

When my brother gets something to eat and always gets me something he knows I like

When I finish a crossword 

When I see something that reminds me of someone I care about

Paintings

My best friend (I love her so much shhhh don't tell her)

My dog! I love him 

My little sisters! Adorable, creative, and very witty. I love them

Music! I get the happy shaky feelings and just,,, y e a h/listening to songs

Singing! Especially for band practice!

Sunlight beams in the morning

The moon

Eagles

That feeling when you’re with friends and you’re all laughing so loudly, and you just feel complete

Talking to my favorite people/talking to my best friend

Sunrises and sunsets

Seeing the stars

Cats

Butterflies/Moths

Snails

Warm sunshine

Purple gel pens

Hugs

My children

Sunny days

Beautiful views

Spending time with my family and friends

Playing badminton

Cycling

Playing with little kids

Playing with dogs

Whales

Animals doing daft things 

Talks and walks with my son 

Morning breakfast and coffee 

A good spicy lunch

Laying in my bed at night and just checking on current affairs and news

My boyfriend

My friends 

Art

Owls

Minecraft

Voice acting

Petting my dog

Smelling Flowers 

Feeling a cold thing when I’m warm or a warm thing when I’m cold 

Giving and getting kisses

Random texts from friends

Coffee flavored chocolate 

Singing

Moths with big white wings

Underdone scrambled eggs

A rainy night

Bubbles

That first warm day of spring

Going on hikes

Being outdoors

Candy

Chocolate 

The smell of playdoh 

Taking photos

Getting new clothing 

Candles

Birdwatching

Going on picnics

Writing poetry

Reading books

The holidays

Making people smile/laugh

Coffee

A nice warm blanket

Eating ice cream

Snow globes

Lightning bugs

Flowers after the snow melts

The smell of rain

Sitting on the steps early in the morning

Being the first to wake up

The feeling I get after running

The comfort of a favorite shirt

My girlfriend 

Family

Random acts of kindness

Babies

When I play with my dog by pretending to run at her and she goes crazy with excitement 

My cat 

Rain

Baking

Piano (playing or listening)

Small flowers

Flowy skirts/dresses

Wholesome romances

Hearing a song for the first time and loving it immediately 

Playing my flute

Horses

Listening to vinyls on a record player

When someone remembers a little detail about you

Painting my nails

Doing yoga

Doing exercise

Beating a personal record

Rainbows

Making crafts

Taking a shower after a long day

Going to the zoo

Going on vacation

Being at the beach or near water

Watching Netflix

Going to the movie theatre

Watching a live play at a theatre

Learning something new

Teaching someone how to do something 

Toasting marshmallows and eating S’mores 

Cupcakes

Seeing a shooting star

Taking a nap

When someone compliments me

Decorating my room

Picnics

My favorite band

My favorite celebrities

My favorite actors

Setting a new goal

Collecting rocks

Putting on fresh clean sheets

Seeing Christmas lights

Listening to birds chirping

Giraffes

Camping

Sitting by a bonfire

Eating mashed potatoes

Bullet journaling

Driving in the car with the windows down

Dancing

Looking at pretty pictures

Concerts

Funny jokes/puns/memes

Fireworks

Sparklers

Pretty clouds

My favorite shoes

Getting new art supplies

Making photo edits

Making gifts for my friends and family

Getting gifts from people 

Balloons

Succulents 

Playing an instrument

Drinking a nice cup of tea

Iced tea on a summer day

Eating fresh fruit

Getting my hair braided 

Eating at a restaurant 

Being on a boat

Swimming

Making new friends

Finding an animal in nature 

Pumpkins and pumpkin patches

Carving pumpkins 

Autumn and all the beautiful colors

Acting for theatre

Making video edits

Wearing a costume for Halloween

Dressing fancy

Finding four leaf clovers

Pressing flowers

Scrap booking

Handwritten letters

Stickers

Hummingbirds

Elephants

Eating breakfast 

Gardens

Inspirational quotes

Wearing my favorite necklace 

Baby animals 

Little streams and ponds

Foxes

Sun shining through trees

When it’s foggy out and you can see dew drops on plants and spider webs

Being on a swing

Finally accomplishing a goal you’ve been working on 

When a new season of your favorite show comes out

Doing my makeup

Cleaning and organizing 

Daydreaming 

Taking a bath

Christmas 

Watching funny videos

Wearing sweaters and hoodies

Fuzzy socks

Helping people 

Little figurines and objects

Popcorn 

Brownies

Looking out the window 

Wolves

Opening a window for fresh air

The smell of coffee 

Watching YouTube videos 

Getting a haircut 

Seeing a deer in the woods 

Watching birds fly

Finding shapes and objects in the clouds 

The smell of fresh laundry

When someone tells me something reminded them of me

Stepping on crunchy leaves

Animal crossing

My switch

Softball/baseball

Basketball

Soccer

Seeing cool cars/old cars

Rollerblading

Drawing with chalk on a sidewalk

Going to bed early

Stargazing

Making progress

Checking things off my to-do list

Taking Polaroid pictures

Going for walks

Jogging

Going to the library

Starting a new book

Finishing a good book

Playing board games

Koalas

Slippers

Big trees

Sunlight coming through the windows

Waking up on Christmas morning

Getting book, song, movie, etc. recommendations from my friends

Making music playlists

Finally receiving packages I ordered in the mail 

Baking desserts

When my favorite song comes on

When people make playlists for each other

Finding new characters to ship

Having free time

Sticky notes

Sunbathing

Traveling

Peace and quietness

Alone time

Meeting my step/exercise goal for the day

The people who love me

Soup

Coloring books

Getting into bed after a long day

Pillows

Fandoms

How unique and different everyone is

Getting a lot of work done

Looking forward to my future dream job

Playing video games

Being on Tumblr

Taking time for myself

Practicing self-care

Face masks

Finding money you forgot about

Holding hands

The smell of apple pie

Starting a new tv show

Getting letters in the mail

When the seasons change

Summer

Mugs and teacups

Smoothies

Breakfast food

Disney

Going into the woods/forest

Trying new creative outlets

The smell of sunscreen

Eating the food you’ve been craving

Knowing and feeling that people care

Telling a good story

Laughing so hard can’t stop and your stomach hurts

Late summer nights

Late night drives

Sparkles

Glitter

Listening to people I love talk about their favorite things and what they’re passionate about

Listening to podcasts

Turning up the volume of my music

Putting my headphones in

Blasting my favorite songs through my speaker

People accepting and supporting others for who they truly are

Wearing something cozy

Soft light

Love

Warm weather

A well-rested night

Waking up in the morning and feeling refreshed

Knowing that every day is a fresh start

Well written characters

A book I can get lost in

Sloths

My parents

My siblings

My grandparents

The feeling of sand beneath your feet

Heated blankets

Bagels

Toast

Getting something for free

Samples

Constellations 

Mason jars

Practicing a new skill

Finding a new hobby

Lazy weekends

Mac n cheese

French fries

Having deep conversations with my best friend

New jeans

Going to IKEA

Skirts 

Dresses

Doodling

When other people are happy (especially people I know and love)

Marching band

Sleeping in

Having the day off

Getting new books

Playing guitar

Playing ukulele 

Random compliments

A change of scenery

Cuddling

Waking before the sun is up

Reading old letters

Zebras

Exploring

Building Lego sets

Using photoshop to make edits

Journaling

Walking along the seafront and breathing in time with the waves

A good rom-com or nostalgic show

Writing lists

Pinterest boards

Looking back at my accomplishments

Talking on the phone with a friend or family member

Wrapping presents

A blue sky

Loving someone 

Waterfalls

Washi tape

Penguins

Donuts

The color yellow

Sleepovers

Cooking dinner

Kind gestures

Trust

Inside jokes

Songs that make you feel nostalgic

Seeing other people’s art

Comfy clothes

Wearing pajamas

Calligraphy

When someone calls you by your nickname

Going to Target

The first sunburn of the summer

Ramen noodles

Chinese food

Thrift shopping

Flower fields

Flowers growing in random places, like through a crack in the sidewalk

Writing

Sparkly snowflakes

When it snows on Christmas

Mixing paint colors together

Perfectly shaven legs

Puddles

The color red

Thunderstorms 

The smell of flowers

The ocean 

Adult sized onesies

Driving a golf cart

Fairytales

Cartoons

The color blue

Pasta

AO3

Crickets chirping

Seeing everyone’s houses decorated for the holidays, especially Christmas

Other people sharing what makes them happy

Monkeys

Being understood

When someone texts to make sure I got home safely

Iced coffee

Becoming better at communicating with others

Seeing a friend for the first time in a while

Good morning and good night texts

Drinking a cold glass of water

Deep conversations in the middle of the night

Collecting sea shells

Building blanket forts

Tan lines

Being under lots of blankets

Making better health and money choices

Getting chills from a song even after hearing it countless times 

Liking how I look

Hot chocolate

Finding new music

Buying cute things

Wearing an outfit I really like

When someone tells you how glad they are to be your friend

Gardening

Watching raindrops race down a window 

Trying new food

Finding exactly what I was looking for 

Planning my future

Finding a song that perfectly fits my mood or describes how I’m feeling

Writing little notes to people

When someone tells me I did something good

Eating ice cream on a hot day

Making friends with animals

Going to football games

Seeing people genuinely interested in something

Snow days

The last day of school

Winter break

Spring break

Thanksgiving

New Year’s Eve

Turtles

Sitting outside on a cool summer day

Watching rain

Watching the ocean waves come in

Netflix binges

A new movie release I really want to watch

Driving with a window down for the first time in the spring 

Taking a cruise

Giving helpful advice

Getting helpful advice

Doing a favor for someone who needs it

Someone referencing one of my fandoms or something I love out of no where

Learning and knowing stuff

Doing something physically challenging or scary

Listening to my bedroom fan while I fall asleep

Coming up with a new creative idea 

Finding something I wanted at the store on sale for a good deal

Finishing all my assignments on time or even early

Hugging my dog

Taking my dog for a walk

Teaching my dog a new trick

When strangers stop to say hi to my dog

Listening to audiobooks

The weekend

Finding a new flavor of chapstick

Drinking Kool-Aid, it makes me feel so nostalgic

Watching nature shows on a weekend morning

Watching cartoon shows on a Sunday morning

A good TV show, most likely something I've watched before because that way I know it ends well

A good, delicious comfort meal on a Friday night by myself 

A café in the city centre at noon when it's not filled with the morning rush or afternoon coffee breakers

The stars from my childhood bedroom because they're the brightest here

Listening to my favorite playlist really loud on a long road trip and singing to myself loudly in my car

Having an entire day to myself without interruptions from anyone

Opening the curtains first thing in the morning 

A new jacket

Going to the cinema on a first release day because it's always super exciting and full of people anxious to see a movie they've been waiting for forever

Listening to live music

Riding roller coasters

Going to amusement parks

Lizards

Seahorses

Starfish

Eating fair food

Feeling an instrument vibrate when you’re playing it

Hearing my dog snore

When my dog dreams in his sleep 

Wearing a new piece of clothing for the first time

Feeling the sun on you

Eyes in the sunlight

Seeing city lights

Singing in the shower at the top of my lungs

Looking at someone and them knowing exactly what they’re going to say

Laughing till you cry

Being under a blanket

Going to craft stores

Watching boats

The idea of traveling the world

When my dogs let me lay my head on them

Listening to an old song and having it bring back memories

Candy corn

Crazy socks

Quotes

Fall and the leaves changing color and the crisp feeling in the air

Making snowmen

Making gingerbread houses for Christmas

Making videos with family

Burning a candle

Booping a dog’s nose

Getting letters/notes from people; writing them

Snow globes

Dr. Pepper

Doc martens

Fortune cookies

Potatoes

Easter

Finishing something

Skipping rocks

Warm rain

When someone opens up to you

Finding the right words to say exactly what you wanted

Animal footprints

Eating outside

Fairy lights

The smell of a hotel

Windows

Meeting a new dog

Dolphins

Getting magazines in the mail

Being in the woods as the sun starts to rise and the animals wake up

Warm days

Adirondack chairs

A warm breeze

Clothes and blankets hanging outside to dry

Feeding birds

Aquariums

The color green

Tie dying things

Going to art museums

Going to science museums

New albums from my favorite artists 

Seeing moss in nature

Finding cute little mushrooms 

When a dog wags its tail a bunch and is excited to see me

Playing fetch with my dog

Obsessing over something and having someone to talk about it with

Going on a walk with my best friend and talking about life

Looking at old pictures and reminiscing on good memories

Reading a book that's so good your brain wants to read faster than it can

Laughing with friends about the weirdest things

Being appreciated for doing small things you wouldn't even have thought about yourself because it's something you *just do*

Being creative

Watching animals

A story I can't put down

Stretching

The moment when you listen to a new song/album by your favourite artist

When you're at a concert and anticipating the moment before the band comes out

When at a concert and they play your favourite song live

The moment when someone compliments your outfit 

When you see someone wearing merch of something you like 

Seeing the sunrise/sunset 

Watching the sun rise out of the water or sink down into it as it’s setting

This ecstatic feeling in general when you're just living in the moment with people who love something as much as you do

Hugging my cat and smelling his fur

Listening to my music by myself and singing to it 

Making edits I’m really proud of 

Losing hours in a good book or fanfiction

Writing sentences that I actually like 

My siblings and my parents when they're being chill and funny

Watching my favorite tv shows and movies and yelling about them into the void 

Finding a new good song 

Fresh out of the shower + fresh clean sheets feeling when you go to bed

When I come downstairs in the morning and my dog greets me right at the bottom step with her lil’ tail wagging

Knowing that if I ever needed someone to chat with, someone would be there to lend an ear

Tigers

Lions

When you shuffle your music and the exact song you want to hear plays

When all my family is around the outdoor fire on a summer’s evening

When my nieces and nephews give me squishy kid hugs

Being home alone and being able to cook or bake in the kitchen without disruption

Driving around with a friend in the evenings and just belting our favorite songs

Seaside walks

Disney World

Seeing live theatre

The sun shining on leaves and stone buildings

Dancing when I'm alone

Color-coordinating my outfit

Floating on my back in the sea

The smell of summer nights

The smell of winter mornings

Colorful things/environments

Bunnies

Walking along lakes/rivers/the sea

Spending time in nature

Taking care of my plants

Giving affection to my loved ones

Listening to other people's stories

Reading about people I've never met before or places I've never visited before (especially if they are now just a part of history)

Embroidering

Pandas

Swimming in a river or the sea

Stargazing (my favorite moments usually happen an hour before sunrise)

White-caged-bird

Feeling the breeze when I spin and my heartbeat when I dance for an hour at a time

All the wonderful smells of flowers and colours that nature has to offer

Sharing good laughter with someone

Feeling like I belong

Travelling and discovering new customs of different cultures

Hiking or foraging

That feeling when I'm approaching the end of a really good book and I let myself be engulfed by the fact that it's a unique experience, that I'll never experience as the first time again

Observing my local fauna

Petting and taking care of an animal (double the joy if it is friendly with strangers)

Drinking a good cup of honey tea

Finding a perfume that suits me

Eating something sweet

Enjoying a meal with others

Cat paws tapping on the floor

Dipping a biscuit into tea

Trying to catch leaves falling from the tree

Having sunlight hit your face when you’re napping

Objects that cast a rainbow when the sun shines through them

Seeing patterned shadows

Ambient mood lighting

Sleeping

Wearing jewelry 

Cheese

Playing chess

Fresh air

Going somewhere new

My Mom’s cooking

Being inspired

When someone holding your hand rubs their thumb lovingly in circles

Picking strawberries

Otters

Painting the walls of my room

Wind chimes

Seeing that your favorite people are active online

Finally understanding something you were struggling with

The excitement you get when someone reblogs your writing or art

Getting a new notebook or journal

Appreciation

Validation

When someone tells you they love you and mean it

The smell of freshly baked bread

When my dog falls asleep on me

Making new online friends

Found family

Finishing cleaning my room

When someone lays their head on your shoulder

Doing something right on the first try

Finally sitting down after standing for a long time

Getting goosebumps from hearing or seeing something you love

Seeing a gorgeous view

Loving someone and them loving you back

Freshly baked gooey cookies

When a song comes on and everyone starts singing

When I’m out for a run and it’s hot and it starts raining. Nothing makes me feel more like a human than getting caught in the rain on a run

Swimming in the ocean

When people are talking about something they really love and get carried away trying to explain it all to you

Puppies

Being in the middle of nowhere and actually getting to see the whole sky of stars that you never get to see in a city

Finding people that love the same things you do

 When something silly reminds you of someone you love; like every time I see an orange and green gummy worm I think of my sister

When you’re hugging someone and they squeeze you a little bit before they let go

Weather where you can leave all the windows open in your house

Trampolines

Driving with no destination in mind

Falling asleep to the sound of rain

Hearing other people laugh

Laughing only because you hear someone else laugh and it's just so contagious

The first snowfall of the year

Disney movies

Listening to someone tell stories and they have like 15 side stories in between the main one

Romantic movies

Bubble baths

Smiling between kisses

Wearing sweatpants

A clean house

Pizza

My computer

Cheesy pickup lines

When people tell me they miss me

Cool spring mornings after a storm

My job

Butterflies

New shoes

Oversized shoes

Caramel apples

Volunteering

Meditating

Running my blog

Finding sea glass at the beach

Getting my nails done 

Planning vacation

Hot cider

Telling people I love them

Writing in my gratitude journal

Eating homegrown vegetables, fruit, and herbs

Remembering a good dream I had

Happy endings

Colored pens

Decorating for the holidays

Finishing a really good tv show

Leopards

Summer rain

Thunderstorms where I can just open my window to the full extent and just watch and listen

Calls with my best friend

Seeing a meme and sending it to my friends

Getting an email from AO3

That moment when you get an idea for creating something

Walking barefoot on the grass

Sending thank you notes

Writing events I’m looking forward to on my calendar

Dippin' Dots

Spicy food

Seeing a full moon

Eating cookie dough

Eating seasonal food

Bubble wrap

Going to the car wash and getting rainbow soap

Dark chocolate

Soft blankets

Weighted blankets

Soft drinks with crushed ice

When I get an unexpected phone call from someone I love

Wearing flip flops

Longer daylight hours

Having a BBQ

Frosting cookies

Making cupcakes in the microwave

Watching the Hallmark channel during the holidays

Taking selfies or photos with people I love

Putting on lotion

The smell of a baby’s head

The Office

Online shopping

The smell of freshly cut grass

Surprising my family or friends

Looking at the clock when it’s 11:11

Being productive

Quilts

Doing good on an exam

Someone doing a favor for me (especially when I didn’t ask)

Eating pancakes with syrup

Origami

Sprinkles

Confetti

Waving at people

Giving high fives

Complicated Handshakes between you and your best friend

Naps/feeling well-rested

Eating one of my favorite foods

Hearing good news from/about a friend or family member

Looking at nature (these days it's seeing squirrels in my neighbour's garden and looking at my plants and trees)

When make someone happy or feel like I made a difference (including a satisfied client)

Success (good grades, a gifset that does well)

Hugs from my mom

Learning new things

Chatting with my friends because they’re all amazing people

Group watches of my favorite tv show or movie

That feeling when the house has just been cleaned/when I’m freshly showered

Making jokes/laughing with people

Reading fluffy fanfics

Driving on the road to a destination far away, I love the trip as much as (if not more than) arriving at the actual place

Reading affirmations

Green tea

Getting breakfast or lunch from a nice restaurant 

Learning about topics that won’t benefit me; like Chinese history, geography, ancient flora and fauna, etc. just things that I find cool 

The jokes my girlfriend makes, especially when they’re the same ones she always makes

Stories from the past! Stories from history from people who actually lived through it

Stories in general, just hearing the life experiences of people in completely different positions from me. I love hearing people’s stories

Drawing intricate things, like old buildings, landscapes, and plants

Cooking a nice meal

Grocery shopping and farmers markets especially 

My cat! All of her weird little habits too, like how she stands in front of my feet so I’ll push her where she wants to go 

Botanical gardens

State parks

Museums

Art galleries

Listening to stories my grandparents tell

When people tell me about their life goals and dreams

Being surrounded by the people I love 

Living the best life I can

Partying hard the night away

Daydreaming

Sunflowers always make me smile

Warm tea

Big fluffy clouds in a blue sky

Friendly babies

Hearing a past favorite song

Singing karaoke 

Biking riding

Helping others

Chocolate milk

Sweets and fruits

Having fun doing things I love

Dragons

Video games

My favorite things

Writing

Affection

Exercising

Being on Tumblr

Pinterest

Looking at flowers and plants

Playing with my cats

Chatting with my friends (at the moment it’s through zoom, of course)

Finding new ways to decorate my room

Window shopping

Spending time with my boyfriend

Wearing my favorite outfit/accessory

Eating something delicious

The cool side of my pillow 

Tears of joy

Woodpeckers

Reading poems

Hugging trees

Tree houses

Airstreams/campers

Playing frisbee

Making sculptures

Puppy ears

The first day of spring

The first day of summer

Sending silly photos to my friends

Building sand castles

Winning prizes at the fair or arcade

Marbles

Cacti

Scrolling through my phone

Writing fanfiction

Seeing someone you haven't seen for a really long time

Putting together collages

Printing out photos I love

DIY projects

Sewing 

Crocheting 

Listening to steel drums

Haunted houses

Going through a corn maze

Picking fresh fruit or vegetables

Bubble tea

Starbucks

Dunkin donuts

Disneyland

Disney Princesses

Climbing trees

Finishing errands

Rewatching my favorite episodes

Scrunchies

Milkshakes

Ice cream blizzards

Listening to acoustic versions of songs

Hot tubs

Rubber ducks

Coconut flavored food

Dipping fries in ice cream

Discovering a new type of animal

Seeing hot air balloons

Frogs/toads

Splashing in puddles 

Having plants inside my house

Teddy bears

Iridescent/holographic things

Bird houses

Breakfast in bed

Crystals/gemstones

Ziplining 

Dew drops

Glow sticks

Flower crowns (especially handmade ones)

Spring rain 

Watching other people make art

Lighthouses

Finding heart shaped things in nature

Thinking of getting my own apartment

Coming up with a new recipe for food

Cookbook recipes passed down through families

Bookshelves

Making pretty yogurt bowls

Seaside houses

Flying on planes and being in/above the clouds

Flower bouquets

Looking at and learning about the planets

Fruit snacks

Palm trees

Weeping willow trees

Cherry blossoms

Eating cake

Decorating cakes with eccentric icing designs and colors

Whipped cream

Having snowball fights

Hearing Christmas music

Tattoos

Wearing rings

Green grass

A tidy organized desk with cute desk supplies

My craft room

Hammocks

Little cottages

Cotton candy (and cotton candy flavored things)

Looking at all the paint pallet colors in paint stores

Stamps

Taking silly photos in photobooths

Going to the mall

Making jam, especially strawberry jam

Reading outside

Finding a bird nest and watching eggs hatch

Looking at photos of my family and friends 

Finding old flora and art books

Eating fresh corn on the cob with butter on a summer day

Lily Pads

Icicles

Inner peace

Sitting under a tree

Not having to turn on the light in your room when the sun is shining through

When restaurants have patios you can dine at

Fishing on a pier

Seeing old couples in public

Making gifs

Trees swaying in the wind

Anime

Dying Easter eggs

Laying in the trunk of a car and watching the clouds or stars

Night lights

Flower shops 

Outer space

Kitchens

PB&J sandwiches

Toasted Cheese

LoFi music

Listening to/watching ambience videos

Turtle necks

Peaches

Looking at old maps

Figurines of the earth/globe

Honey and bees

Cheesecake

Seeing footprints in sand and watching them be washed away by waves

Anything related to the moon, stars, and sun

Reading my horoscope (even if I know it’s not real)

Archways decorated with hanging flowers

Yogurt

Pudding

Knowing that I’m not alone

Ancient roman sculptures

Macarons

When someone tells me they care about me

Weddings

Watercolour

Birthday parties 

My brother

My sister

When my dog leaves his bed to lay in the sunlight

Doing mini photoshoots with my friends

Hand making bracelets/necklaces (friendship bracelets)

When someone calls me darling or honey

Love letters

Game night

Skateboarding

Stress balls and squishy toys

Starting something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time

Playing cards

Doing puzzles

Word searches

Kittens

Ordering takeout

Stepping out into the fresh air

Creating vision boards

Getting a massage

Writing positive affirmations

Lunch dates

Standup comedy

Listening to classical music

Nature/animal documentaries

Having someone there to listen to me

Listening to someone when they need it

Accepting myself for who I am

Looking back and seeing how far I’ve come and all the progress I've made

Doing something my future self will be thankful for

Speaking up for myself

Being near loved ones

Finding time for my hobbies

Giving myself time to rest

Saturday mornings

Marrying the one I love

Discovering new things

Going to new cities

My idols

Pastries

Feeling the wind on my face on a car ride

The sensation of music in my ears and like nothing else matters

People who have my best interest in mind

Simplicity

Fulfilling my dreams

Discovering a new ice cream flavor

Knitting

Making myself a priority

Knowing that I am important, and I matter

Thank you all so much for following me and supporting my blog! It means a TON! I never expected for this blog to become popular, especially because I originally started it to help myself get through some mental health issues. I am so happy to be able to share my journey of healing with you all! It means the world to me to help or make a positive impact on even just one person’s life! Each and every single one of you is amazing!! You matter and you are SO important! Thanks again for your everything! Have a great day!!! Sending sunshine your way!! 

#10K Followers!!! #WOW!! #Thank you so much!! #Positivity #Happy List #Reasons to Smile #Happy #Happy Things #You are so amazing #You Matter #<3 #jkshdfka #this is the project I was working on #thanks everyone for the help #ilyasm #I loved reading all your submissions so much #you all are so sweet ahh #this was so fun to do #I hope you like this

[bitchwhoreofastorm]

(prompt fill for the tes writer’s discord)

I am a farmer's daughter. I am a god. I'm a tyrant. I'm an artist. I am irritating. I'm a warrior. I'm a charlatan. I'm undefeated in battle. I'm the rightful ruler of a small agricultural province in Morrowind. I'm a bard. I'm Kyne's chosen. I'm a genius. I am a liar. I’m lying face-down in a ditch.

This is my fault, it really is, because what else is going to happen when you lose an argument to an ehlnofey? And not only did I lose the argument, I got my ass handed to me on a platter: my fault, like I said, you don't usually meet earth-bones with a spine, but whoever makes up the light breeze that stirs on a Rain Hand's dawn takes her job very seriously, and I wasn't expecting her to call me out for the no-true-ada fallacy I've been using to sneak in and out of Apocrypha for the past... whatever.

Whatever. I'm a Tongue of such immense power that I've shouted myself off the mortal coil, I'm probably about a thousand years old if I knew how to read a calendar and I'm in the prime of my fetching life. And am I going to complain about being stuck on Nirn for a bit? Nirn ent so bad. Has its charm I guess. I was last in Silmora, which they call Cyrodiil now (like that guy from Hoag's song!), and I don't know if I'm still there, or whether I'd want to be stuck in Silmora which is now Cyrodiil at all, cause I know it's been a thousand years but old hatreds die hard and don't Alessians ban entertainment or something? Who wants that? What would I be without my singing?

Without my singing I'm just a woman face-down in a ditch.

But seriously, whatever. I'm not fussed by this. The thu'um is a debate, Ysmir taught me that once, it’s a debate and sometimes you lose. Sometimes you win, and if you're really good you win lots, but sometimes you meet a particularly stubborn earth-bone who makes up the light dawny breeze that blows on Rain's Hand and she hands you your ass on a platter. Such is life. I'm not going to wallow in it, I wont, so it's time for me to get up.

I manage to hoist myself up on my arms and peel my face out of the mud just fine, but it's not until I wipe the water from my eyes that I see it's early dawn. I'm in a forest, a proper old forest, like that on the slopes of Monahven, where the sunlight is thin and pale as wheat and stretches its wispy fingers through tall sharp crowns of mossy green. So maybe not Silmora, but I've been unceremoniously deposited next to some sort of road that's cobbled with stone in the Alessian way, and I've never heard of any Nords in the practice of digging ditches next to their roads, at least not in the time I’m from. 

Forget about the roads! The air is cold and crisp and sweet, uncomfortable given how drenched my clothes are but I like it. I climb to my feet, swaying a little like a morning drunkard, and look around me.

Sometimes I forget how beautiful Nirn is. If I stand here a moment longer I'll probably start crying over it.

I scramble up the side of the ditch, and when my feet hit the stones I stop to shake myself off vigorous like a soggy bear. Mud sprays everywhere-- excellent. Now, much refreshed, it’s time to do the important thing. I turn to face the forest-- I think best when there’s trees in my eyes-- I breathe in deep.The air smells thickly of resin, of dew, of ditchside dung. I bring my mind into the middle of myself, and, with the ground hard and cold beneath my bare feet, my toes curled into the cracks of the pavers, my eyes all ablaze with a world that’s pale like gold, I listen for the voices that makes up all that’s around me.

I’m talking about the spirits that make up everything. I’ve always been able to hear them. See, my father was Atmoran, and he raised me in the proper way, the old way, not like the Nords who cower in their cabins and flinch away from every voice-in-the-woods. That’s some of my earliest memories: climbing into bormahi and monahi’s bed, snuggling up between two big mounds of man-flesh, and monahi fussed over my cold feet and bormahi told me those whispers that scared me out of my own bed? Why, that’s just Kyne’s handmaidens poking along the seams of our roof, kindly telling us where we ought to do a better job at shodding it up. And those howls out in the plains? That’s Mara calling all the little girls home to do their evening chores (here he’d pinch my cheeks) so once you hear Mara howling you’d best run home to help monahiil do the milking, Barfok, or do you want to be the one Mara’s howling for? 

So I learned how to listen to them young, and I was never scared like the Nords get scared. When I’d go out kulning for the cows to come home and I heard other voices joining in with me I wasn’t scared. This world’s made of voices, bormahi would say, and why ought you be scared of them? It’d be like if you opened your eyes and were scared of the towering trees before you and the thin golden sunlight dappling the path. 

My father was also a great Tongue, like all Atmorans, which is why he could hear the voices, because all Tongues need to hear them. I hear them very clearly now, after not long at all spent meditating, but I take my sweet time in picking them out, with my feet planted firm on the ground and my eyes filling up with blurry colour, gold and green. 

What I hear is: 

They’ve ruined the soil here, sulks the earth-bone from who is made the top centimetre of soil which is rich in dead rotting things. The stones stop the water coming through.

The mortals flow like rivers along here, says the earth-bone from who is made the principle of places being connected to other places in spite of distance. It is only a small strip.

It doesn’t matter, hums the earth-bone from who is made the dandelions that only grow in this part of Tamriel, The path has cracks, has cracks, has cracks, and we can slip through, we’ll always slip through because we love the sun.

And if your seeds land on the stone? asks the earth-bone who makes up the breeze that travels low and slow along flat surfaces, often kicking itself into swirling eddies for the bumps it rolls across, Oh, let the rain move them, then, I’ll let them flow.

Here’s a secret for you. This is what creation is made of: these little arguments that are always happening all around us.

The earth-bones, or the qethsegolle in the Tongue’s tongue, or the ehlnofey if you’re using theirs, or nature or existence or being or whatever of the million other terms you could call it in anyone else’s; creation is just these arguments going to and fro forever. That’s the truth of it: this ‘world’ of ours isn’t static at all. It’s got to be made and remade all the time. If any one of these little beings stopped their arguing, the world would unravel like a ripped tapestry, it would start falling apart at the seams and become nothing but knots and disorder.

(It already has. Me and my comrades once used our teeth like languages, ripping up the weft and spitting out threads until the tapestry of our world lay in ugly soggy tatters. It’s a gruesome thing, this thu’um of ours.) 

No. I won’t dwell on that, and why should I? Why should I stop to think about what’s done and gone? It makes no sense, no more sense than crawling back down into the ditch and sticking my face right into the mud again. 

But ent it funny. For a moment there I forgot to pity myself, thinking like I was about the qethsegolle and their funny little argument about the pavers (I’m on the side of the soil myself, the path is an atrocious little invention, I wonder if I should tell them about Alessian construction techniques and if it would sway them?), but the sun has climbed higher and now it’s in my eyes and damn it, this is just between you and me, don’t tell anyone, I’ve got a reputation to upkeep-- I think I’m getting weepy about how beautiful it all is despite myself. 

So I sniffle and I wipe my eyes and I try to decide what I want to tell the world on this most beautiful and splendid of mornings while it’s busy arguing with itself. This forest is lovely, I’m getting sidetracked now, I’m trying to think of the words to let creation know that I love it so much. But it’s impossible. It’s just impossible. What do you say, when you’re a woman like me, when it’s a day like this? 

Hello, my name is Barfok? Won’t mean anything to them. 

Want to hear about what else the Alessians have done wrong? Maybe. I wonder what a qethsegol would think about an aquifer.

Your world is beautiful and I am so horrid that it shames me to stand before it? 

There’s something I need to say now that I hate myself for saying. I hate myself for saying it because I loved my father more than any girl has ever loved anything in the whole world, but I need to say it: he messed up with me. 

I don’t blame him for it, it wasn’t his fault at all! He was an Atmoran, he was a great man, a sensible man, he was a man that loved his sweet little daughter up until the last. He never wanted me to be a Tongue. He taught me to hear the voices of the world, but only out of love, only cause those voices are love, and this world is love, and he loved me so dear. It ent his fault. How could he have known-- how could he have ever guessed that I’d learn to speak to them, and that someone would speak back? How could he have thought to tell me about the other voices, voices that weren’t part of this creation? How would he have known his stupid little daughter would be so easily tricked? 

I told you before, remember?: I am a liar. And the thing is that I lied to him. I was a wicked child like that. When I climbed into bormahi and monahi’s bed I wasn’t scared of Kyne whistling through the walls and Mara howling out beyond the paddock, no, not at all-- what scared me the most, what scares me the most, was the big mass of green tentacles that came oozing out of the darkest corners of the ceiling and the big all-knowing eyes that never spoke at all, but only stared.

That’s another secret for you. I’m scared of anything without a voice.

The sun is hurting my eyes now, so I turn away from the woods. I still hear the earth-bones chattering away, which is reassuring, but it’s also giving me a headache, because gods, how they ever chatter! It’s times like this I really get why Jurgen wanted there to be no more of us, and why the best of us hole ourselves away in little shacks in the middle of nowhere. I was taught by Ysmir, who was the best of the best of us, and I wish I knew how he could stand it, all creation’s little bickering: I asked him once, was it easy for Shor, how did Shor stand all his companions arguing to and fro about soil permeability and rain-water paths and roads and cobbling and slate and oh-do-you-think-we-can-visit-the-ehlnofey-who-makes-up-the-quarry? And such nonsense?

How can you deal with it? I think you don’t-- you go mute or you go mad. Or you die in battle before that. Should that we all be so lucky. 

But here’s the thing: Ysmir never answers questions like that. He just looked at me, as if ought to already know. After bormahi and monahi died, when Olaf the dog came and burned down everything I ever cared about and the only way I survived was (this is between you and me, remember!) I hid in a barrel of apples while those gleaming tentacles writhed in the corner of my vision and their voice encouraged me to sing, sing, sing, after Ysmir found me in the smoldering wreckage, he treated it the same, since I survived. I already knew everything I had to. Or so he thought.

Yes, I asked him how he could stand it, once. I asked him lots of things like that. And he said this: Atmoran’s don’t grieve by wailing, how can you stand it. We don’t have to stand anything at all. If you hate it so much, he said, then change it. If you hate that there’s an ehlnofey who’s weeping over how her poor soil’s been cemented over and there’s another ehlnofey griping over what roots can’t penetrate, then you change it,

or otherwise you tell them to shut up. 

The sun is getting in my eyes, but I’ve decided what I ought to say.

So I take a deep breath and I sing.

What I sing is:

HERMA-MORA, MIIRAAD BEX, VUS DAAL DREM, VODAHMIN.

With the proper intonations, in the harmonies and notes that will make the coarse dragons language-of-imposing into something comprehensible to the spirits all around me, it translates to this: 

Hermaeus Mora, the doors to Apocrypha open, and I step through them. You, earth-bones, will let me through. Why, you ask, should you bend for me? Because you do not want me here, and if this path that covers the soil upsets you, know well I will only cause greater offense. How? Look at how I crushed the reeds there, down in that ditch. Do you think that is my greatest crime? The truth is, I’ve made my living bending your kin into uglier shapes, and I’m not trying to threaten you but I want to keep the peace as well as you do, and it’s best for me not to be here. It’s better if I’m not in this world. If you let me go to Apocrypha, Nirn will return to peace. Besides, Hermaeus Mora likes me, we have an agreement, so you see how everyone will win if you let me go there now. Now. Are we in agreement? Do not make me get on my knees and beg. Oh. Excellent! It was lovely to meet you all. And by the way, I don’t like the stones that are in this path either, I think they’re hideous, and don’t get me started on that fetching ditch!

There-- a pleasant discussion, not at all like the argument I had with that breezy son of a whore who threw me into a ditch in the first place. I close my eyes when I sing, old habit, always do, but I don’t need to open them to know I’ve won the argument, and that the greenish hue just in front of my closed lids isn’t a beautiful forest, and that the dankness clinging to my skin isn’t mere road-runoff any longer.

#first person barfok. bone apple teeth #fic #barfok

[warmau]

☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au taeyong  hbbd to our beloved leader! | find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil

mark is giving you a quizzical look from over the counter, fingers tapping against the register

“taeyong? no, i haven’t seen him. doesn’t he usually disappear during the summer?

mark is right

taeyong does tend to vanish just as the weather gets warmer and there isn’t an excuse of class or work for him to make his presence known

you heard rumors about how his parents send him abroad to some kind of family owned estate, vast and beautiful and far away from the mundane place you call home

everyone is always saying he’s hiding something. that something, everyone whispers is money 

he has to be rich, no one else has the kind of luxury of having a summer long holiday to the other side of the world

but you doubt it, if his family is so loaded, taeyong wouldn’t be spending the rest of the year sitting across from you in physics 

you’re sure wealthy kids can afford something better than public schools

“actually......”

you look up and mark takes of the uniform hat he’s supposed to wear for his job at the local burger joint, he scratches the top of his head and then snaps his fingers

“i did see him not too long ago, maybe - on monday? he was standing next to his bike in front of the trails.”

“as in the forest trails?”

mark nods, he looks like he wants to say something else but the voice of his manager makes him scurry to the back with a final a wave

you take the medium soda you ordered, the ice melted and the cup wet under your fingertips

whats taeyong doing going to the mountains all alone?

its getting dark by the time you make your way halfway through the trail, you know mark said he saw taeyong monday and its been three days since then

but you just wanted to make sure, even though you’re here and you haven’t seen one other person through the trees 

finally you think you should turn around and go back - but you look to the side and spot a bike leaned up against a mossy, large boulder

its off the trail - so its kind of creepy - but you inch just a bit closer, close enough to see taeyongs name scribbled on the middle bar, below the seat

the clouds are slowly and surely coming in over the light blue sky, so now its just going to get dark and rain

but you think just exploring for another five or so minutes cant hurt

you push past some bushes and wander until you finally pull back some branches from a sagging old willow and see the entrance to a small, but open meadow

in the middle of it - someone is splayed out and reaching up toward the sun

“t-taeyong?”

his hand drops and turns his head, the last droplets of sunlight flicker off his skin

he doesn’t say anything for a while and neither do you

until he sits up and asks you what you’re doing off the trail

you know you can ask him the same thing, but something stops you from stringing the sentence together

instead you feel the darker clouds grow heavy in the sky and soon enough you feel the drizzle

“i just got lost’

you lie and taeyong stands up from the meadow, pointing behind you

“we should go before the storm comes all the way in.”

taeyong leads the way back to the main path, grabbing his bike as you two make way back down to the opening of the forest

you sort of fall behind him, eyes on the broad of his back 

you want to make conversation - but you dont know what to say

once you reach the end, the rain has gotten stronger and you ask taeyong if he wants you to drive him back to his place

motioning shyly to your car

he smiles, and even through the darkening weather, it seems to make his face glow

“that’s alright, thanks.”

and then he hops on his bike, his figure smaller and smaller as he rides down the road

you watch it, getting drenched in the process, but something about seeing him makes the rain feel like nothing more than morning dew

you go back to the meadow the next day, earlier - closer to noon - and taeyong is there

at first you tell yourself: stop being weird, just turn around and leave him alone. you might have had classes with him but its not like you two were even friends! hes going to think you’re crazy for showing up here again!

but something inside you refuses to let you give up

you clear your throat and call out to him

taeyong doesn’t turn his head this time, in fact he doesn’t move from where he’s flat on his back in the middle of the grass and wild flowers

panic sets over you and you rush over, knees hitting the ground as you hover over him

his eyes are closed, but the corner of his mouth twitches a bit at the small sound that you make

he’s just sleeping.

you realize, tracing the godly lines that make up his almost impossibly handsome face

he manages to look magical even like this.

“hello?”

taeyong’s eyes are open now - lazily, amber browns staring up at you curiously

you jerk your head away and feel your shoulders stiffen

what do i say? what do i do? he must think im such a freak-

“are you lost again?”

his sits up, propping himself on his elbows and looking at you innocently

“n-no! i just - i um - since i know the way now. i mean i saw your bike again. i just - um-”

the words get tangled in your mouth and so you give up and taeyong doesn’t look as annoyed or as angry as you expect

he just smiles, the same smile he gave you when you two parted ways last night

“a-are you always here?”

you blurt out, trying to compensate for your lack of an answer to his original question

taeyong nods, “i am always here.”

“everyone thinks you go abroad during the summer, b-but you’re really here right?”

its weird that you pose it like a question, so you laugh it off in hopes he wont catch on

but taeyong turns his eyes back toward the sun and falls back against the pillow of flowers

“nope, i dont go abroad. im right here.”

you look up at the sky, nothing special about it, just bright and blinding like any summer days

you wonder how he doesnt get bored just ........... laying here and looking up at it 

“people in town like it though.”

he suddenly adds and you shift so instead of sitting back on your heels, you’re laying down beside him 

its the closest you’ve ever been to him and you have half a thought he might shift away uncomfortably when your elbows brush but ..... he doesnt

“like what?”

he pauses, a long pause and you almost think he isnt going to answer as your eyes trace the wings of a butterfly that pass by

“they like that i disappear. i think they like it better when im not around.”

you sit up, confused and look at taeyong

“but people are always talking about you-”

“right, but i dont think that means they like me.”

he follows the same butterfly you were just looking at and you try to think of a counterpoint to argue

but you cant

taeyong is the most talked about person in your town, from his statue like looks to the rumors circulating about his familys wealth

but

youve heard the jealousy-induced whispers too

you cant lie and say you havent

you carefully lay back down and take a second in the silence of the forest to think

“i like you.”

you hear taeyong turn his head but you’re nervous about saying it outloud and so you can’t bring yourself to read the expression he might be making

“i dont know much about you, but .......... i think i like you. we had one class together last semester, physics and you would always help me and other people. sometimes i wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me to go get lunch but i was-”

you’re rambling, your aware so you stop

but taeyong whispers,

“but you were?”

now you turn to look at him and you’re surprised to see the usual glassy far-off look in his eyes has turned serious

“i was sc-scared? i just thought you wouldnt care to ......... hang out with me?”

you think your palms are sweating and you hide them in your pockets, taeyong is looking at you - really looking at you - for the first time ever and it stirs a feeling youre not used to in the pit of your stomach

“i would have loved to.”

his voice is faint, but there’s no one else but you and him, so you hear him clearly

you giggle, a nervous habit, and then swallow it down

“well - now i know. ill invite you when- when the summer is over.”

he turns back and closes his eyes, the sun basks down on him like the grace of a goddess 

nothing else is said. when it starts to darken, and your hungry stomach makes a noise that keeps you embarrassed

you and taeyong walk back down the trail. you offer him a ride again, but he says now and rides off with a smile

you get into this habit now, you get to the meadow - earlier and earlier - hoping one day to beat taeyong to it

but he’s always there before you

you also start bringing lunch and when you first offer half of the sandwich you’ve made to taeyong he looks too shy to take it

but on the third try, he gives in

you also..................talk a lot more with him 

and realize you were right, taeyong is as kind as you had thought him to be

and his gentleness isnt lost on you from how he helps you up from the grassy meadow when its time to go - to how he talks in a small voice to forest creatures that scamper past you two

you never thought you’d end up spending your whole summer off the trail, laying around beside lee taeyong

but not a day of it feels wasted, even though you both do ultimately nothing

one evening, as you’re walking down the trail, you both come to a stop in front of the mossy rock that taeyong’s bike should be leaned up against

except that its gone

and for the first time - due to circumstance - taeyong accepts the ride back home

the car is quiet, as are the streets that you drive through to get to his house

suddenly, without any thought you ask taeyong;

“do you sometimes go up to the meadow because you want to disappear?”

you glance at him in the rearview mirror and see hes already looking at you

“not just because you think others want you too?”

his lips thin, but his eyes don’t flatter from yours

“yes.”

you nod, shoulders tightening a little as you focus your own gaze on the road

“a-are you ok with my company?”

you make a turn and are worried by the silence that follows. taeyong’s house is coming into view and you realize he could just get out without answering you

but when you come to a stop, neither of you moves a muscle

you let your hand drop from the wheel and just as it does, taeyong catches it

his fingers are warm and his palm is soft you let out a small gasp and turn to see he still has his eyes on you

“im fine with it.”

a dust of pink comes over the bridge of his nose and spreads down onto his cheeks

“im fine disappearing with you. no one said i had to do it alone.”

that feeling in the pit of your stomach that you get around him sometimes seems to bubble and burst into a flurry storm of wings and glitter inside you

your eyes move on their own, skimming down his face to his lips in an anxious line

holding his hand is different from all those times you’d lay elbow to elbow with him

and thinking about kissing him..................is a jump over a fence higher than just the thoughts youve had about getting to know him better

you think your shoulders shake and taeyong looks like he wants to lean in 

but the lights on his porch flicker on, and he says he’ll see you tomorrow

his warmth leaves your hand, but right as he steps out of the car, you scramble over to the passengers seat

one hand on the window and you look at him

“h-how will you get to the meadow, without your bike?”

he startles, but frowns

“right,i think i can walk ther-”

“i can pick you up.”

taeyong smiles, this smile - as soft and as sweet as the rest - is just a bit more......happy.

“ok - can you come by at around nine?”

“i promise to be here.”

he hesitates and you cant believe you’re about to say this, but you do

“want to seal it with a kiss?”

he looks over his shoulder, his front door hasnt opened yet

he leans down and its a little awkward and weird, but its cute and when you break away you wave goodnight to him 

and he trips over the sidewalk as he waves back

the next day, when you two are laying back in the flowers

you turn to him

“is it ok if we re-do our kiss?”

he laughs, “i wanted to ask too, kissing through a car window is a bit-”

you dont let him finish, rolling over to take his face in your own - you feel that smile of his on your lips

when summer comes to an end and taeyong shows back up in town, everyones gossip stirs back up

where’d he go this time, franc? italy? thailand? australia?

no, the only place he went - you want to tell them - is to the forest, and to that meadow, and to the center of your heart

you slip your hand into his when he comes to greet you outside one of the classroom 

and all of the gossip dies at the tip of peoples tongues

even now all these years later

when you and taeyong want to “disappear” for a little while

there’s a secret space, just for you two

let everyone else think you’re off in some other place - some other country - some other continent

disappearing together, is way better than disappearing alone. 

#taeyong scenarios #taeyong imagines #taeyong au #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct au #no i didnt think of this just because i literally ate up all of twilight today i literally already had this planned #nct 127 scenario #nct 127 au #nct 127 #lee taeyong #sfw

[i-am-arcana-trash]

Memories at the End

So a while ago I wrote about Laurel and Muriel as an old married couple. In that I said that Laurel would probably die first and in her older years she develops dementia.

This was written from the lens of someone who has personal experience with dementia and works extensively with individuals who have it. Your experience with it may be different.

TW: Death

Muriel groaned as he sat up in bed. Over the years, his joints ached more and more in the morning.

He looked over his shoulder as Laurel stirred.

"Morning love...how you feeling?"

Laurel sat up, pressing a kiss to his exposed back, leaning against him.

"The usual..."

Laurel pouted crawling out of bed to grab his salves from the little shelf below the window. She sat in front of him gently massaging the cream into his joints. Despite their advancing age she was as young and spry as ever, even as he began to feel the weight of years of hard living.

When she was done, she pulled his hair back into a low braid before finding his walking staff, handing it to him and helping him to stand. Muriel pulled his egg apron off the hook by the door, and filled a pail with chicken feed

It was still in the early hours of sunlight, dew coated the forest floor. It was spring, but rain from the night before had cleared the air, their footsteps softened by the rain soaked ground.

The chickens clucked softly in the front yard as Muriel set out for some eggs, spreading feed as he went. The girls following him, knowing he was their meal ticket.

Laurel set to their small garden, picking berries and other produce for breakfast and lunch. This had been the routine for years and Muriel had come to love the quiet sounds of them working together in the early light of day.

After 20 minutes, Muriel had his apron full of eggs, he turned to the garden, but found Laurel wasn't there.

"Laurel....?"

He called out to her, but no response. Normally he would have asked Inanna to go looking for her, but his sweet wonderful wolf had been laid to rest several years ago. They still had Volta of course...but Inanna's loss had been difficult to bear even surrounded by his loved ones.

"Laurel?!" Muriel's voice rang out again and he was ready to tear into the woods, when Laurel came stumbling out of the trees. She looked okay but when her eyes met his, there was something strange in her eyes."

"Sorry I went off for the supplies."

Muriel looked confused "Laurel don't joke around, where did you go?"

Laurel stopped, her face confused before looking into her bowl, realizing it was filled with various small sticks and dried leaves.

Suddenly Laurel blinked several times, before looking at Muriel again "Muriel..? I'm sorry...I thought we needed this apparently."

Muriel closed the gap between them, stroking her cheek, "Are you okay?"

"I feel okay.....but..."

She paused her sentence

"I don't know why I did that..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laurel wrung her hands out as Julian fretted over her. He had come into the forest after Laurel had stopped by his clinic a few days earlier.

"Laurel you need to tell me all you know?"

"Julian....Muriel and I told you everything. I don't know why it happened or why it keeps happening."

Julian sighed, rubbing the back of his head "I don't want to alarm you both.....but that is concerning"

Muriel looked over at Laurel, gently squeezing her hand as she spoke. "What can we do...."

Julian steepled his fingers "If it's what I think it is.....there isn't anything to do...."

"And what does that mean?"

Julian sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"It's not uncommon that as you get older you may have lapses in memory. However....what you're describing can be progressive. It starts as little lapses in memory, but...."

Julian sighed, he looked to be bracing himself "I'm not an expert, but it could lead to larger lapses, or complete loss of memories."

Muriel finally spoke up, his calm demeanor helping ease the tension in the room.

"If it can't be stopped, what can we do."

Julian smiled slightly "Enjoy your time together, make more memories, keep your brain active. Like I said, I'm not an expert, but I'll help you however I can if you need it."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the course of several years, Laurel began to lose more of her memory. She started out just placing things in random spots, her hairbrush in Muriel's egg apron, blankets tossed to the floor where she insisted they belonged. Sometimes coming in from the garden with nothing but rocks in her bowl.

Eventually she began to wander, deeper and deeper into the forest. On more than one occasion, Muriel had to enlist Volta's help to find her.

Standing in a stream, on the edge of a drop off. She had begun forgetting him more often. Once Asra came to visit, Faust swaying on his shoulders and Laurel had flinched back, too scared of the little snake to greet them.

Faust was devastated "But....friend."

She saw Julian once a month as things progressed. She began reading more, she would play solitaire as a way to try to keep her mind occupied. However, Laurel knew, when her mind would be clear, she was slowly losing her memories.

But despite this, she still applied his salves in the morning. And some days she seemed completely like her old self. She still loved to tell him bad jokes even if he knew all the punch lines now. Sometimes she would smile at him, kiss his lips and say his name.

Sometimes Laurel wanted stories.

"Tell me how we beat the Devil again."

"You were there."

"You know I can't remember."

She had spoken with her friends, told them how much she cared for them, even if she couldn't remember them. She made them all small trinkets, and she had a matching one, so they would be connected, even if she couldn't always remember them.

----------------------------------------------------------

In the last year of her life, Laurel no longer spoke, but she did hum. She would hum the same tune, that didn't seem to originate from any of the songs in Vesuvia, perhaps something she'd heard before her first death. She would wander the hut doing the same little tasks, specifically folding laundry and remaking their bed. She liked to pace the garden, attempting to corral the chickens. Julian came by to check on her and Asra would bring supplies. Trips to the city having become difficult as her condition worsened, for less stress Muriel kept them close to home.

----------------------------------------------------------

When she passed it was quick. She was so tired. Muriel's last memories with her, she held his hand and hummed her random tune, and he kept her comfortable.

Muriel stayed by her side to the end and upon her passing, buried her near Inanna. In a forest clearing, where she could see the stars.

#my writing #death tw #tw death #again this is based of my own unique experience with dementia and not in any way meant to portray how everyone experiences it #also this is what i wrote that ive been like nervous to post

[johaerys-writes]

Fandom: The Song of Achilles Pairing: Achilles/Patroclus

My final (and very late, ahem) entry for Day 8: Fluff for @patrochillesweek​ 2020! I hope you like kisses in the sun and flowers and their meanings as much as I do :)

Read here or on AO3!

~

The mountain wind whipped through the maple trees, making the leaves whisper. It was cold as it rushed past me, carrying with it the clean scent of winter. It was a bright day, the sun hanging high up above us, but the shadows still stretched towards me with icy claws. I gathered my buckskin pelt closer around me as I held back a shiver. I didn't much mind the cold. The pelts Chiron had taught us to make were thick enough to keep me warm, even as Achilles and I walked through the olive grove on the northern side of the mountain, where the chill wind blew the strongest.

As much as I liked the summer on Mount Pelion, I liked autumn best. The world was a little more quiet then, a little more withdrawn. The leaves on the trees turned to deep golds, reds, browns, rich and vibrant; when they swayed with the breeze, it was as if the entire forest was on fire.

I hopped over an upturned rock, and the soil, still damp from last night’s rain, retreated gently beneath my feet. I kept my eyes downward, peeled for the nettles and chamomile blossoms that Chiron had sent us to fetch for a poultice. More often than not, though, my gaze would stray away, towards this flower or the next, the movement of the tall grasses that framed the narrow path. More often than not, I would simply watch him.

Achilles was just a little way away. HIs pelt was draped over his shoulders, flowing down his back, leaving his legs bare. I could see the lean, strong muscles there, rising and falling under his skin. He hadn’t worn his sandals, so the soles of his feet flashed pink and sweetly brown as he walked ahead of me. There was an effortless grace to his movements, a precision, that seemed to belong to creatures of the wild. Fleet footed as a doe when he ran; when he stood motionless, his stillness was absolute, save for his breathing and his pulse. When we went hunting and he crouched beside me, holding his breath, not a muscle would move- only his eyes, his pupils enlarged like a cat’s, following his target.

There was no stillness to him now. He agilely stepped over rocks and roots, wove through the trees; the pouch that hung by his hip was overfull with herbs. A few strands had come free from their leather binding at the nape of his neck, brushing the sides of his face as he bent forward to pluck a chamomile blossom. His golden hair caught the sun that slithered through the pockets in the trees’ foliage when he straightened.

That was when he noticed me watching. It was as if he could feel my gaze on his skin. His lips, when he turned to look at me, widened in a smile.

I still wasn’t used to him looking at me like this, so fondly, so openly. I wasn’t used to my heart skipping in my chest as if it were drunk, or the warmth that readily crept up my neck whenever his eyes met mine. I smiled back, rather foolishly, and raised my hand to wave at him. He grinned at that, and my cheeks felt hotter still. I looked away, resuming my task. If I gazed any longer, my thoughts would inevitably go back to where they usually tended to drift these days; his slender fingers, when he’d threaded them through mine that morning. His breath on my skin, when he’d leaned close to whisper a sleepy ‘good morning’ in my ear. The softness of his lips when they closed over mine, only moments after I’d opened my eyes.

Sometimes, none of it seemed real. That night, when he’d drawn me to him, kissed me, held me; it was hazy and indistinct like a distant memory, at the same time that it was sharp and precise, like shards of broken glass. A fleeting dream, one of those that slip the mind upon waking. Yet, at that moment, as Achilles smiled at me, as his delicate feet carried him towards me, it was neither a dream or a memory. It was my present. My reality.

He stood before me, inspecting the herbs in my hand. “What have you got there?” he asked.

“Chamomile. Nettle. Feverfew.” I pulled a slender stem from the bunch, the petals of its tiny white flowers heavy with dew as I held it before him. “Myriophyllon.”

Achilles plucked it carefully from my fingers, twirling it in his own as he studied it. “What does it do?”

“It helps stem the bleeding, when someone is wounded. Wards off infection. The wounds heal faster with it.” I echoed Chiron’s teachings as I brought one of its blossoms under my nose. Its smell was sweet and heady, strong for such a small plant. It was plain, not particularly pretty. Unremarkable, one of those that bloom in open forests or by the side of the road, those that no one glances at twice. Surprisingly tenacious. Ever since I’d learned of its properties, I had come to admire it.

I took a deep breath, letting the smell of the flower fill my lungs.

“Does it do anything else?”

“Yes.” I looked up at him, then swiftly glanced away. His presence made my blood feel warm, unusually buoyant. “Some people,” I murmured, “think it to be a symbol of everlasting love.”

Fair, perfectly arched eyebrows lifted. “Is that so?”

I nodded, my pulse quickening under the intensity of his gaze. “Chiron told me that it takes time for it to bloom,” I explained quietly, “yet when it does, it grows roots strong enough to withstand the coldest winter. The orchid, the iris, the narcissus; they’re beautiful to behold, but the first signs of frost are enough to make them wilt. The myriophyllon, it endures. Like true love.” Before I could rightly say what I was doing, I reached up and carefully tucked a blossom behind Achilles’ ear. The tiny flowers, which had appeared so plain and ordinary to me only a moment before, looked bright and elegant amidst his golden strands, as if partaking in the light that seemed to naturally radiate from him. “True love,” I whispered, my fingers tracing the shell of his perfectly shaped ear as I pushed a silken lock of hair behind it, “can endure any hardship.”

Achilles tilted his head to the side, leaning into my touch. My skin prickled when his arm snaked around my waist, pulling me close. His lips were smooth and petal soft, only slightly chapped from the cold when they met my own. I closed my eyes, losing myself into our kiss, committing every detail forever in my mind. The bow of his upper lip. The gentle curve of his bottom lip, the dip in its middle. His tongue, pink and glistening, still sweet from the dried figs he’d had for breakfast. The warmth of his breath. The softness of his skin.

Gods, I prayed silently, clinging to him. Let this moment never end. Let it be like this, always, as long as he’ll let me.

Achilles drew back slightly, gazing at me from under heavy lids. His cheeks were flushed, just as his lips were. He ran his tongue over them, and I shivered despite myself- I wanted to lick that tongue. I wanted to taste it again, and again. I would never, could never get enough of it. Enough of him.

“Everlasting love?” he asked, tracing my bottom lip with his thumb. “Is that why you gave it to me?”

I swallowed, nodding slowly. “Yes,” I admitted in a whisper. “That’s why I gave it to you.”

I wasn’t sure what I expected right then. Perhaps a rebuke, a scornful laugh. I held my breath as I waited for the moment when he would draw away from me, repulsed by my openness, my obvious desire. I waited, but that moment never came.

Without a word, Achilles reached down into my pouch, picking a myriophyllon blossom. Then, carefully, with surgeon-like precision, he set it amidst my unruly curls.

“If I have a flower like this, then you should have one, too,” he told me, as serious as ever.

I laughed in surprise before I could stop myself. Achilles with flowers in his hair was as graceful as he was captivating, fearsome in his beauty; Boreas, the god of winter and the cold northern winds, would look upon him and grow envious of spring. I probably looked utterly ridiculous. I wondered at how little that bothered me right then.

“Everlasting,” he repeated, as if to himself. “I like that.”

“You do?”

He smiled, then leaned forward to press his nose against mine. From that close, I could see the points of golden sunlight in the jade green of his eyes. “I never want to be apart from you,” he whispered. “No matter what comes. No matter where we are, or what the gods plan for you and me-” He sighed softly, his breath warm as it touched my lips. “What we have is everlasting.”

His words flowed through me, curled over me like waves lapping against a sandy shore. It was warm and hypnotising, gliding through every vein like a flood of brilliant sunlight. I linked my arms behind his neck, pulled him close to me. Closer. So close, I could feel his heart through his chest, beating next to my own. In sync. As one.

“You and me,” I breathed, trembling as I kissed, and kissed, and kissed him. “Everlasting.”

#patrochillesweek2020 #the song of achilles #achilles/patroclus #patrochilles #patroclus #achilles #tsoa #memories and echoes #johaerys writes

[skyemak]

Hi Skye!! 👁️✨ May I request a first kiss scenario with Jade? I'm so soft and you said you want fluffy ideas so maybe a little hand h*lding too...? Haha jk... unless..??

Take a Hike

Yuu sat at her desk, absentmindedly poking the eraser head of her pencil on her cheek. Laid before her was her homework for the night, which was almost finished. She sat on her stiff chair with one leg crossed over the other. Her foot did not quite touch the ground, and she kicked it around as a means to fidget. The girl stared out the window, not because there was anything quite worth seeing outside, but due to the rain outside. Droplets of water hit her bedroom window, and occasional bursts of lightning would light up grounds through this dusk. From the other side of the room, she heard grumbling from her roommate. Most likely he was frustrated with the homework assigned to him. Yuu knew how to pace her homework over a period of time, but Grim was one to put off things until last minute.

Heaving a sigh, Yuu set down her pencil and grabbed for her phone. She lightly tapped the power button to turn the screen on. No new messages. No notifications. Nothing. Dejectedly, she set the phone back down on her desk, and leaned back in her chair. Of course Yuu wasn’t expecting any messages, but she felt disappointed, nonetheless. A few weeks ago, she had approached Jade, and confessed her feelings to him. The girl was doubtful he would reciprocate, but figured it’d be no skin off her nose. She’d just get it off her chest and move on with life. Unexpectedly, after a time to ponder to himself, Jade said it sounded interesting, and agreed to be in a romantic relationship with Yuu. At the time, the girl’s heart had leapt out of her chest, and she was all smiles for a week. Afterward, however, no matter what Yuu would try, he’d never be available to make time for her.

Go for a walk after class? He’d have plans.

Meet up before class started for the day? He’d have plans.

Eat together at lunch? He, too, rejected that idea, mentioning something about not wanting to make their relationship public.

“It doesn’t even exist in private…” Yuu muttered to herself. Did he not know what it means to humans to be in a relationship? Is it different underseas? She grabbed her pencil again and flipped threw a few pages of her textbook. After finding the page she searched for, Yuu looked toward the window again, contemplating the thought that, perhaps Jade was just trying to be nice. Perhaps he didn’t want to date but didn’t want to outright reject her. Maybe he was just avoiding her until she called it off?

“Maybe I’ll just call it off tomorrow,” Yuu mumbled, returning her focus to her notebook. “One more question, then bed… Then I’ll ask if he wants to cut it off tomorrow…”

The girl couldn’t deny the squeezing feeling in her chest upon that thought, but found she had no other means to approach the situation.

-----

“Hey—Grim! Wait up!” Yuu called.

“You’re the one being slow!” Grim called back, about five meters ahead of her.

“There’s mud puddles everywhere!” she complained.

The night before brought more rainfall than anticipated. Throughout the path to school were a series of puddles. Not wanting to slip and fall into a puddle, the girl was being very careful to watch her steps.

“You’re gonna be late at that rate!”

“Well some of us can’t fly!”

Grim only responded with a laugh and continued to get farther away. With luck on her side, Yuu found herself with a few minutes to spare before class. As she powerwalked through the hallway, she was surprised to see a certain figure standing by her classroom door.

“Jade?”

“Oh, there you are,” he smiled toward her, walking a few steps in her direction.

“What’re you doing here?” A bit embarrassingly, Yuu was panting due to the hurry she was in. She tried to hide it but—

“In a bit of a rush this morning?”

“Uh, well—kinda,” Yuu averted Jade’s gaze, and timidly tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Oya, there must have been quite a lot of rain last night,” he chuckled to himself. “Speaking of rain, this weekend I was considering going mushroom hunting. The next few days will be a bit cool as well, so I expect to find quite a few. Would you care to join me?”

Yuu shot a look of surprise toward Jade, “Wha—?”

“That is if you’re interested,” he grabbed his chin and looked a bit bashful. “We’d leave early morning and expect not to return until evening. It’s similar to that of an all-day hike. Oh—of course we’d have food and water to nourish ourselves throughout the day.” He glanced toward Yuu expectantly.

Was…Was he asking her out on a date!? Yuu was astonished. Until now, she thought he wasn’t that interested in dating and was ready to break things off. Now she found her heart beating loudly in her chest and her cheeks flush a light shade of pink. The girl’s hair bounced as he vigorously nodded towards Jade. “Yeah! I’ll go! I’d love to!”

The eel smiled elatedly, “I’m glad to hear it. I’ll send you some advice and resources later in preparation. Now then, class is about to start, and I must be on my way. Until then.” Jade turned to leave and strolled in the direction of his classroom. Yuu could hear her heartbeat ring through her eardrums as she watched him leave.

-----

True to his word, Jade had messaged Yuu some advice and helpful tips for the upcoming Saturday. Yuu was all smiles when she opened her phone to find new messages from him. The message did not stray from the plans they had made, but she was happy to finally have something to talk about with Jade. Before and after school, she’d ask him a few questions here and there related to what she should bring or wear. His face would always light up with a smile when Yuu’d ask. Seeing him so excited about his hobbies made him seem so precious. On top of that, Yuu felt special to be invited along his adventures.

“Tomorrow is the day~” the girl hummed to herself. She laid on her bed on her stomach, reading through a few sources on her phone relevant to the next day. Yuu eagerly kicked her feet in the air as she read her screen. Eventually, she called it a night and double checked her alarm for the next morning before putting her phone away.

-----

“Oya, you look more prepared than I was expecting,” Jade commented at the sight of Yuu. He wore long black pants, a lightweight jacket, and a set of hiking boots. Hung over his shoulders was a hiking bag, presumingly stored with their food and water for the day. Yuu’s outfit was similar, also with a lightweight jacket, dark gray pants, along with her own set of durable hiking boots. She made a grin and posed. “Yup! I listened to all your advice!”

Jade chuckled pleasingly. “I see. Then, shall we be off?” He turned toward the mountainous landscape before them. “Yeah!” Yuu scampered toward him.

With the sunrise being only a few hours prior, the air felt chill as it brushed over Yuu’s face. The wind was not too strong that morning, but the girl was grateful she wore a windbreaker jacket to keep the cold air from penetrating her deeper. The ground was vast with evergreen trees, moss-covered rocks, and what sounded to be a small stream nearby. As they stepped through the grass, tips of the blades of grass still held some morning dew, causing the tops of their hiking boots became damp. The ground underneath was still cold and moist too. Yuu had to be cautious while she walked, since the terrain was rougher than she least expected. The girl was careful to follow Jade’s lead; he seemed to be very experienced with the area, or at least was good at adapting to changes of the topography.

Jade was quite thrilled when they found their first batch of mushrooms at the trunk of a nearby tree. He sweetly hummed to himself as he pinched the cap from its stem and placed it into a mesh bag. Yuu noted in her research the reason for the mesh bag was to help spread spores from the mushrooms to encourage more growth.

The morning was spent 90% walking and 10% actually finding and picking mushrooms. Jade found a number of different fungi growing about, but Yuu only managed to spot one before he did. Unfortunately for Yuu, the mushrooms she did find, Jade had said they were inedible. Her heart sank when she found out, and her mood began to spiral downward. Hours had passed since they began the day and her feet began to feel sore. He had mentioned bringing along food but had only given her a water bottle. Yuu’s stomach felt like it was about to concave from hunger, and she was hoping he’d propose a break soon.

However, a break never came. About twenty minutes after her thought of taking a break, he only offered her two granola bars from his backpack and kept trudging along. Jade seemed to be excited about the plentiful findings of the day, but more and more Yuu began to feel ignored. He’d run away without warning when he saw a bundle of mushrooms growing from the ground. When Yuu caught up to him, Jade would already be done picking them and continue on his way. Her legs grew sorer and more exhausted. She already had to quicken her pace to keep up with his longer stride, but eventually she let herself fall behind, doubting he’d even notice.

At some point, in the middle of a small forest, Yuu found a dead log to sit on. The log felt hard against her bottom, but it was a great relief for her legs. She could feel what she could presume would develop into blisters ache around her feet. The sun was overhead at this time, and rays of sunlight lit up spots of the forest floor. The girl held her head in her hands and leaned her elbows on her knees. Her eyes traced Jade’s movements as he waved through the trees, north to south, south to west, west to east, etc. Occasionally she’d see him pause at a certain spot ten meters away to crouch down and pick from another finding.

Yuu sighed, dejectedly scraping the heels of her boots into the forest ground. She felt forgotten about and questioned if he’d even remembered inviting her out here. It’d be unfortunate for her, but she wouldn’t be shocked if he left her in that forest alone. She laid her palms down behind her and leaned back on top of the log. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come…” she mumbled. Yuu absently stared at her surroundings, admiring the forest and its beauty. At least it was a nice day out and she was getting fresh air…

Abruptly, Yuu felt a bug crawl over one of her hands on the log and yelped in surprise. She shook her hand furiously and turned around to see what the culprit may have been, but what actually caught her eyes was—

“Oh, a fairy ring,” Yuu said. From behind, she heard a set of footsteps approach. When she turned around, she saw Jade walking toward her.

“You shrieked earlier, Yuu. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Jade!” she excitedly called out to him, “Look at this! I’m surprised you didn’t see this!”

Yuu hopped off the log and walked a few meters. She approached a cluster of mushrooms in a circle formation. “There’s a fairy ring over here!” she smiled gleefully, crouching down beside it.

“A fairy ring?” he asked quizzically. Jade climbed over the log and walked toward her. “I only see a collection of mushrooms though?” The eel crouched down beside her. “Though I’m unfamiliar with this species…” He reached down to pick one, but Yuu pushed his hand away. “No, you’re not supposed to disturb the ring!”

Jade blinked toward her, astonished she had made that sudden movement. “Why?”

Yuu grinned ecstatically. “Heehee~ You don’t know?” she teased. “I just read about them last night. There’s a bunch of different beliefs surrounding them. Some say fairies will dance around the ring, or sit on the mushrooms to use for tables, or for umbrellas. The ring might also be a portal between the fairy world and this world—though we have fairies here so that may not be the case?”

“Ohhhh?” Jade smiled as he balanced his cheek on his fist. He was smiling toward her, but she did not notice.

“But don’t step into the ring!” Yuu continued. “You might die young, become invisible to the mortal world, or be unable to escape the ring. I don’t remember the details, but you’re also not supposed to disturb the ring.”

“I see. It’s a good thing I brought you here, otherwise I may have taken all these mushrooms and endangered myself to an early death,” Jade said.

Yuu giggled, “Well, I’m not sure how much of that is true though.” She stared down toward the mushrooms, absently holding out her finger as if too poke one. Jade smoothly grabbed her hand and used it as leverage to pull Yuu closer to him. Suddenly, she felt his warm lips over hers. He placed a hand on the side over her head to cradle and pull her in closer. Yuu’s eyes were wide in shock at first, and her chest felt like it was going to burst. Eventually, however, she found herself leaning into the kiss, and shut her eyes. His lips felt soft on hers, but as the kiss continued, he almost seemed…hungry.

After a few moments, Jade withdrew his lips, but Yuu found herself leaning closer toward him in a futile attempt to continue. Her eyes fluttered open as he lightly traced his fingertip down her jaw and to her chin. With a teasing smirk on his face, he whispered, “Don’t you disturb the ring either. I can’t let you be whisked away or see an early death.”

The girl’s face flushed red as she stared into Jade’s affectionate eyes. Yuu was so happy she decided to tag along.

“Now then, my dear,” Jade stood up and grabbed Yuu’s hand to help her up as well. “I must apologize for my behavior today. I was so entrapped by the numerous findings, I neglected you. You don’t have much experience with hiking around all day, so I’m sure your feet are sore.”

Yuu shook her head, “N-No! It’s fine! I’m fine!”

Jade made a bitter smile and shook his head this time. “Either way, thank you for coming with me today. I’ve already filled two bags in half a day, which must be a record. Yuu, you must be a good luck charm.” He beamed, and Yuu could feel her heart skip a beat. “Let’s call it a day here. I’ll cook you something with the mushrooms I found today as thanks.”

“Okay…” she mumbled, coyly twirling her hair.

Jade led Yuu on a path for the way back to Night Raven College. This time around, when Jade walked in front of her, he’d occasionally look back to make sure she was not too far behind him. When he saw she was a few meters away, he’d wait in his tracks for her to catch up before continuing on. Part of the path included a steep hill that made it difficult to descend. He had warned her to watch her step, but along the way, she lost her footing and fell on her behind.

“Ow ow ow…” Yuu groaned.

“Are you okay? You must have lost your footing,” Jade walked up to her and offered his hand. Yuu nodded and reached for his hand. The eel helped her to her feet and kept a hold of her hand. He guided her the rest of the way down the hill until a flatter area.

However, he did not let go of her hand. Jade’s finger’s were entwined with hers. Yuu glanced toward their hands then up toward him. He just smiled back at her, “This way you don’t fall again, or at least, I’ll use that as an excuse.” Yuu felt her heart pound and her face grow hot. She squeezed his hand a bit and felt a smile grow on her face.

The two continued to hold hands for the rest of the trip home.

 -----

There you are taku! 🥰

#twst imagines #twisted wonderland #twst #jade leech #twst jade