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jeongyunhoed · 5 days

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As seen on my FF.net

Following the events of fifth year, a new adventure awaits for Norah Lee. Boys, exams, school events, common room parties, and old foes outside of Hogwarts. Even battling pensieve guardians was easier than this.

Main Pair: OC/? Genre: Adventure/Angst/Fluff (it's a little of everything, tbh)

KEEP IN MIND: Characters are aged up (even if the story's got them in sixth year) to make it more appropriate. Time period is leaning towards the modern day so in case you might find anachronisms in the dialogue or references, this is why. This may also be quite a lengthy fic too.

BE WARNED: Social anxiety, mentions of blood and injury, grief, drinking, kissing but nothing more than that, death (this is Hogwarts Legacy, after all)

P.P.S: Another terrible attempt at poetry ahead, but the last note, the poem in that one is from Perry Poetry. Emotional rollercoaster 2.0. Any guesses as to who "Nick" is? HEHEHEHE

Masterlist

Chapter 8

"For today's lesson, we're tackling a few things," Professor Hecat told the class the next day. "Cursed barrier spells, the imperturbable jinx, and the sea urchin jinx," She explained, the latter inciting chuckles from the students. "But before we get onto that, I'd like to commend you all for finishing what I will definitely describe as a long and time-consuming essay on banshees, flesh-eating slugs, and kappas."

Professor Hecat moved the tables to the side once again. "We've got quite a few hours on us today, so a review is also in order. Miss Lee, please step forward," She looked at Norah.

Norah was met with nudges from Natty and Leander, and knowing looks from Sebastian and Ominis as she went to the middle of the room. Professor Hecat conjured the training dummy in front of her, pushing the boggart closet close by. "Bloody hell, Hecat's going to unleash a boggart on Norah," Leander muttered.

"I wonder what form it's going to take in front of her," The Gryffindor Cressida Blume, whispered.

Norah felt her heart pound upon seeing the possibility of the boggart closet. She wondered what was going to come out from there. "Yes, Professor?" She said.

"Since you have undoubtedly some, or may I say, the most experience among your peers in this room, think of the training dummy as an inferi. Begin," Professor Hecat gestured. "Non-verbally, of course."

Norah nodded, glancing at Sebastian and Ominis, who were giving her knowing nods. One, incendio, two, confringo, three, incendio, four, confringo, with the fifth being diffindo. The rest of them clapped when she stepped back, and Professor Hecat looked proud. "10 house points if you can all identify which spells Miss Lee used."

"Show-off," Sebastian teased, making her laugh.

Several of them raised their hands. Professor Hecat ended up calling on Leander, who answered all three spells correctly. "10 points to Gryffindor, thank you Mr. Prewett," Professor Hecat nodded.

Norah gave him a thumbs up. "Merlin, how did you get around to learning confringo?" The tall Gryffindor whispered. She tilted her head toward Sebastian, who grinned. "Ah, figures," He chuckled, stepping aside.

"Well done, next up, the boggart, if you remember what to do when facing a boggart, do so non-verbally," Professor Hecat instructed, even when Norah was asked to return to the middle.

She felt an increasing feeling of anxiety, when the closet was pushed forward, the training dummy vanishing with a quick evanesco. The closet burst open, and Norah could feel her heart pounding.

The figure of Professor Fig emerged, and the room had gone quiet. Sebastian's expression fell, as did Natty's, watching Norah face the boggart in the form of their late professor.

"R-" Norah mumbled, trying her hardest to shake off the sudden fear and sadness that came from seeing Fig's dark expression, trying to walk up to her. She swallowed hard, and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. Riddikulus. Riddikulus. Riddikulus!

The boggart form of Fig turned into a puffskein that rolled around the closet. Norah fell to her knees, looking quite shaken, tears rolling down her cheeks. Sebastian quickly helped her up, and it was then she was made aware that everyone in the room was staring at her, all of whom looked concerned, some sad. Professor Hecat looked just as concerned. "I guess we'll have to move along, but well done, Miss Lee. Mr. Sallow, will you mind accompanying her outside for some fresh air?"

Sebastian nodded, leading her outside the classroom while Professor Hecat continued with the review. "Are you alright?" He said, trying to wipe her tears with his sleeve. "You did well in there, with that boggart."

The floodgates opened, and Norah burst into tears, hiding her face in his shoulder as she sobbed. Sebastian held her, rubbing her back in an effort to calm her down. He could feel how much pain she held inside, masked behind a calm and confident facade. He knew what happened will spread throughout the school, and he wasn't sure if Norah wanted to know. Not that she cared, but this was one of those rare moments when he saw the kind of person she really was.

If anything, it just made him fall harder for her.

"I'm sorry," Norah slowly pulled away, wiping her eyes and sniffling. Sebastian continued to wipe her eyes. "Oh this is great, this is embarrassing," She tried to laugh it off, her eyes still red. "I'm sorry."

Sebastian shook his head. "It's alright. You were just scared, it was a boggart, it would've scared anyone," He assured her, wiping some more tears away with his thumb, his hand resting on her cheek, as if wanting her to lean into it.

Norah sniffled and shook her head. "It's just...what would they think of me now? Cowering at the sight of Fig?" She whispered, not wanting to go on about how she felt when she knew the freckled brunette was aware.

"They didn't know Fig the way you did. What was it about Fig that terrified you?" He said softly.

"Just-" Norah looked down, still too embarrassed. "I just remember those last moments I had with him. He wasn't sure about my decision to open the repository down there, and me taking the power to build on what Isidora worked on, knowing what I know. But Ranrok arrived, with Miriam's wand, he revealed he killed her, and when Fig got angry at him, the stone pillars fell, even more when Ranrok forced it open anyway," She said.

Sebastian wasn't sure what else he could say, and instead accompanied her to the restroom where she quickly washed her face. When she stepped out of the bathroom, that was when Sebastian found the words to what he wanted to ask. "Do you blame yourself for him dying? It seemed like Ranrok is the one who sent that stone down and killed him, not you."

"It certainly feels like it was my fault," Norah swallowed hard. "That's why I plan to do what I'm going to do to make up for it. Even if it's too late."

It made Sebastian think of his own situation, of his own uncle Solomon. Even if Solomon harbored a lot of resentment towards him because of Anne getting cursed and their parents' death, it didn't justify the use of avada kedavra. Even when the truth was revealed, Sebastian had now understood that it wasn't as simple as harboring hatred for goblins. He knew he fully deserved to be locked up, yet they didn't turn him in.

He knew he had the rest of his life to make up for what he did. Norah's words seemed to give him some assurance that he could only make things right even if it's too late.

They returned to the classroom just in time for Professor Hecat to introduce the new spells they were set to learn. When she stood beside Ominis, no longer wanting to draw further attention, the blonde reached out to her, gently patting her wrist. "Are you alright?" He whispered.

Norah hummed. "I will be, I'm sorry. That was embarrassing wasn't it?"

"Of course it wasn't," He said. Even if he couldn't see what happened, he felt how shaken she had become. All the while hoping that maybe he should've been the one who also stepped up to help her get some air. His hand moved down from patting her wrist to gently tugging on her fingers, as if to further assure her that everything was going to be okay. And it was, as Ominis firmly decided from then on, that he would try and protect her no matter what.

To Norah Lee,

I see without seeing, To me, darkness is as clear as daylight. Answer this riddle to get to me, For I plan to wipe your tears, hopefully I hope this note puts a smile on your face, And to remind you that everything will be okay. Whisper the answer to a close friend, You'll know who I am by the week's end.

You will know if you are right, Wait for my note tomorrow night.

Your Nick

Norah read the note over and over again during lunch. The gears in her mind were already turning, full of suspicions as to who "Nick" was. She was a step closer to figuring out who it was from this note. There was that feeling of anticipation, that maybe, perhaps, "Nick" was the very person she was starting to have feelings for. Then again, it could've been any sixth-year boy at this point. It was possible that any of her friends told "Nick" things about her, what she liked, what she didn't like.

Since the moment she started feeling like she was beginning to care more for this person, Norah also regretted trying to keep things as they are. When all she wanted was to maybe, spend more time with him. Maybe talk to him more, break the ice a little more until there was nothing left.

But, at least what Norah thought, he might feel like they were out of each other's leagues. If things worked out, people might be in for a surprise, that much she knew. She knew that a potential relationship with him would lead to some backlash, but she was prepared either way. Norah sighed and put the note down. It was too early to think like things were already working out between them.

She looked around, hearing faint whispers of possibly what happened to her during Defense Against the Dark Arts. The embarrassment crept in once again, and she had the urge to just head down to the nearest creature lair and take out a few. But she knew she couldn't. That kind of activity no longer happened as much.

Norah got up, clutching the note as she left the Great Hall, wanting to spend the rest of the lunch period in the Room of Requirement, where she could get back to studying. Deek could always summon food from the kitchens if she asked. As she was about to head up the main staircase, she was stopped by an owl that dropped a letter in front of her.

It was from "Nick" again, she was certain, from how the owl went straight to her. There was a sense of urgency about the owl, and she quickly gave it a treat before it flew off. "Another letter from "Nick" ?"

Natty was coming down the stairs with Nellie Oggspire when they saw her. "Yeah," Norah nodded, looking at her name written on the envelope. "Hi Nellie" She said.

"Hey Norah!" Nellie waved. "I heard you're taking part in Summoner's Court again this year."

She eyed her friend, who tried to avert her gaze, then laughed. "Yes, unfortunately. I would gladly relinquish my title as Summoner's Court champion but Natty here doesn't want me going easy on the boy who could be her summoner."

Natty side-eyed her, while the two of them laughed. "The whole school's been on about who could be your summoner, Norah," Nellie pointed out. "I heard there are bets being placed, but if you ask me, they might be wrong."

"Bets? They're taking bets? Who do they think it is anyway?" Norah was curious. It was a way to narrow down her suspicions as to who it was.

Her question made the two Gryffindor girls grin. "Well, one of them is betting on Garreth, which isn't surprising since they always mention your escapade in Hogsmeade for him," Nellie explained, raising a brow. "They're also betting on Prewett, since the two of you studied together in the Astronomy wing too."

Norah chuckled. "That was only one time with Garreth, and I actually get a lot of homework done whenever I have the chance to study with Leander," She shrugged. "Did they bet on others?"

They nodded. "Well, look no further for the other two," Nellie said.

"No further? You mean-?" Norah stared at them.

"Yeah, Sebastian and Ominis." Natty said. "I heard the fifth years saying that the two of them seem to be the most likely ones, since you spend time with them the most."

Interesting, she thought. "Anyone else?" Norah asked.

"Well," Nellie and Natty exchanged looks. "Someone's apparently betting that it's Amit even," Nellie said.

Norah looked at them incredulously. "But how can he be the summoner when his own name was taken down?" She said.

"That's what I was wondering too," Natty chuckled. "But Amit seems unlikely. He doesn't flirt with you, he's just a really nice guy."

"Yeah," She agreed. "Well, at least that kind of narrowed it down, I guess. He did say I'll know who he is by the week's end," She held up the other note.

"Good for him. Quite brave of him to ask the Hogwarts hero, I must say," Nellie teased, and Norah shook her head. "Face it, Lee. All the boys would want you to be their date to the Yule Ball, even more so at the common room parties. Everyone will be anticipating who that will be."

"I don't know, after my embarrassing reaction during Defense Against the Dark Arts, I might have put off a lot of them," Norah looked around, catching the gaze of some fifth-years who immediately averted their stares and kept walking.

"That's not true, don't say that," Natty frowned, as did Nellie. "You reacted like everybody else probably would. That is nothing to be embarrassed about. It was a boggart after all."

Norah bid them goodbye, telling Natty that she'll go ahead to Hogsmeade after class to grab a butterbeer before their next astronomy table hunt. She was determined to shake off what happened to her in class. When she arrived at the entrance of the Room of Requirement and stepped inside once the door opened.

Deek had appeared at the same time, tidying up the entrances of the vivariums. He stood up when he saw Norah come in. "The thestral and unicorn offsprings have grown up now, Miss," He said.

"Do you think it might be time to release them?" Norah asked, slipping on dragonhide gloves to carefully harvest some of the mandrakes and chomping cabbages. "Do you think you can summon some food from the kitchens?"

Deek smiled and with a snap of his fingers, they heard a table of food emerged in the other room. "Anything else?" He asked.

When Norah took off the gloves, she shook her head. "Come and eat with me. You've been keeping an eye on everything whenever I'm not here, you need a break too."

"Oh, Deek has already eaten," The house elf replied with a smile. "But I can call your friends to come in and join you if you'd like?"

She shook her head, realizing there was no use trying to convince him otherwise. "How is his Lordship?"

"Doing very well," Deek said. "He's very happy being surrounded by company."

Norah looked up at the vivarium where the graphorn was housed. It made her think of the boys Natty and Nellie mentioned. Sebastian and Ominis were likely in the Undercroft or back in the common room. As for Garreth and Leander, she didn't know much about where they might be other than the Great Hall.

"I'll be right back. I might have to drag a certain Ravenclaw boy from his telescope to eat something," She said, almost sprinting out of the room and up the spiral staircase. Norah skidded to a halt when she saw Amit, busy peering through his telescope while taking notes for his star charts. "Thakkar!" She called out to him.

"Why the last name all of a sudden?" Amit was quick to retort, getting up from the floor. "Are you okay? I heard about what happened in Hecat's class."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've got a spread in the room and I can't finish all of the food. Take a break from the stargazing during the day and have a meal," She suggested.

Amit nodded a little embarrassed with Norah's remark about stargazing during the day. "Alright, let's go. We'll be going for another astronomy table hunt, right? Further into the Forbidden Forest," He said, quickly putting his things together to follow her down to the room. "Do you mind if I brew some of the potions in the room?"

They returned to the room, where Deek seemed to be standing by and waiting for them. "Hello, Deek!" The Ravenclaw was quick to greet, before they went down the little staircase to where the spread was laid out. "House elves always tend to outdo themselves."

They sat down and immediately helped themselves to the nearest servings of food on the table. Norah chuckled, remembering what she told Natty and Poppy the other day. She was glad that Amit became her friend. Even after the ordeal at the mine, they remained friends and became even better friends by the end of fifth year and to this day. She always appreciated his love for astronomy and ambition to write a memoir and even an account of what she went through.

It was probably because of his focus on astronomy and even learning gobbledegook that Amit had a calming presence in their little group. His head was in the clouds, while the rest of them were stuck with the chaos that took place everyday on the ground.

"Got any idea of who summoned you?" Norah thought to tease, curious as to how he had been doing since Ronen started the assignment. "Natty and Poppy already know who took their names."

Amit nearly dropped his fork and knife, flustered with her question. "I have no idea what you mean, Norah Lee," was all he could say.

She raised a brow. "You're not terrible at charms either. In fact, you're rather good at Charms, so you were either summoned or you did the summoning, hmm?"

Amit shook his head. "A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

She laughed. "Did you kiss your summoner?! Amit! Bloody hell!"

Her question made the Ravenclaw laugh as well. "No, I did not, but if you really want to know, it was Samantha who summoned me. She told me not long after Ronen announced the assignment," He admitted.

"Well she is good at Summoner's Court after all," Norah agreed. "She seems to really like you, though. Just as much as we do."

"She does," He said quietly, pausing to take a sip of pumpkin juice. "Who has summoned the Hogwarts hero, then?"

"No idea, really," She shook her head. "I only found out that my name was summoned after Sebastian told me. After I told them I haven't had a go at the board. I've been getting letters from a boy who calls himself "Nick" with riddles," She took out the note she had already opened. "The answer to this is a bat."

"A bat? Hmm," Amit hummed in thought. Even he was aware that there were bets being placed on who took Norah's name from Ronen's board.

Norah suddenly took out the new envelope that she received before coming to the room. As if like last time, there were confetti hearts that spilled out on her place setting. Taking out the green card, she saw the silver ink that had the all-too-familiar message.

To Norah Lee,

It was you, It was me, It was the silence underneath the stars That understand my heartbeat and its racing. You told me nothing, I believed everything, In that moment I found life In that moment I found you.

It would be an honor to have a moment of your time, To see your eyes maybe looking into mine. They come out at night without being seen, And are lost in the day without being stolen. Answer this riddle to get to me, Whisper this in a close friend's ear.

You will know if you are right, Wait for my note tomorow night.

Your Nick

"This note is a long one," Norah said quietly, reading it again when she had a second serving of chicken. "But he's quite a poet, it seems. Now I'm even more curious as to who this 'Nick' is after sending me all these notes with riddles and poems."

Amit looked intrigued. "Nick and Norah, I shall look forward to seeing the two of you together." He said, grinning as he finished his meal.

"That's not even his real name, at least I think it isn't," She said. Amit shrugged. "Nicholas Carrow is a fifth year. He's the only Nicholas I know in this school, well, aside from Nearly Headless Nick."

The mention of the ghost made the two of them laugh out loud. "Then I must admit, Nearly Headless Nick knows a good one when he sees them," Amit teased.

Norah read the note again, staring at the riddle portion. "Stars. The riddle is stars," She said. "At least I think the answer is stars," She showed him the note.

Amit took a quick glance and nodded. "Indeed it is. Are you sure you're not really a Ravenclaw?" He teased.

"Despite blue being my favorite color, I'm afraid not," She shook her head, putting the note down to finish her plate of food.

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy angst #hogwarts legacy fluff #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #garreth weasley #amit thakkar #leander prewett #andrew larson #natsai onai #poppy sweeting #imelda reyes

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wondersbeyondcompare · 2 years

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Juro’s Extended Profile!

…which was long overdue (^◇^;)

Tbh this is more for my reference than anything else; that’s why I included these 2 drawings of Juro that you can look at before my rambling under the cut 🥺

*btw!! Juro uses she/he/they pronouns, so I use them interchangeablely down below! Just as an example that using any of these options are ok for them! In other writings for Juro, tho, I tend towards one or the other to eliminate confusion.*

Full Name: Juro Parva

Name Meaning: Taken from the scientific name “Jorunna parva”; The sea bunny/slug Juro is based off of was popularized on/by JPN Twitter in 2015, so their first name is Japanese.

Dorm: Octavinelle

Year: 3rd year

Birthday: October 6

Age: 18 years

Height: 5’4”/161.5cm

Place of Origin: Coral Sea

Voice Headcanon: Igarashi Hiromi

Personality:

The very definition of a “social butterfly” and a picture perfect example of networking, Juro is almost never seen by themself. He thrives in social environments, flitting from one conversation to the next in her tireless search for gossip at Night Raven College. They don’t mind small talk, but can get visibly antsy if a meaningless conversation drags on for too long. He’s one of the central hubs for controversy, after all, if she’s not doing something useful with her time then it’s all just a waste.

And although they were born blind, Juro seems to have a heightened spatial awareness due to the sea bunny blood running through their veins. So while she still has some trouble navigating new environments, she has a general sense of whatever’s within 5 feet (or less) of her, so he doesn’t bump into or fumble around with things as often as some people would assume he would. He also takes a tremendous amount of care into their appearance, as they were often the test subject of their parents’ (a photographer and a journalist respectively) photographs and exorbitant praise. So although they can’t see themselves, it always fills Juro with delight at being told that they look cute today. It wouldn’t be too far off to describe them as vain, as Juro is often seen enlisting the help of her peers or siblings when it comes to things like outfit coordination or making sure no accessory is out of place.

Likes: Socializing, Gossip, Cute things, Their siblings, Good food, Research, Music (tries to keep up with whatever’s trending, surprisingly likes listening to hard rock + heavy metal when alone for stress relief), Pleasant smelling perfumes/aromas, Podcasts, Their bunny eared headband

Dislikes: Boring people, loud and unexpected noises, experimentally prepared food, extremely crowded locations, not looking cute, being ignored

Background:

Juro was adopted at five years old by his fathers. They don’t remember much of what happened before then. One of his dads is a professional photographer while his other dad is a journalist. Juro remembers having to travel a lot during his younger years while his parents were still both relatively new in their professions, trying to break into their fields as quickly as they could by seizing any opportunity they could find. Most of his siblings (all of whom are younger than him) were adopted a little bit later, once their family became more financially stable.

She loves her family dearly, and her family loves her, often shown in the amount of praise she received when she was younger, especially when it came to her appearance. Although she couldn’t see it for herself, she adored the attention that came with it and continues to take great care of her looks to the present day. Their siblings sometimes get tired of being used as a “magic mirror” everyday by Juro (and sometimes mess with him by occasionally lying about him looking ok; they get their asses handed to them as soon as Juro finds out lol), but they depend on him a lot. He gets told that he shouldn’t stress too much over them, but with how free-spirited his parents are, he can’t help but be a little concerned.

Her penchant for sticking her nose into other people’s businesses may have stemmed from her parents as well. She never became too intrusive though. He always makes sure to take care of both his physical image as well as his figurative one. It would be a shame if everybody stopped paying attention to him because of a tarnished reputation, so he always does thorough research and makes sure to build up/fortify his social standing before spreading word of some of the more weightier scandals around campus. And even if the information given to her wasn’t entirely true, Juro might be able to work her way around it, either through the use of her unique magic or by leaning heavily into half truths that make things appear worse than they actually are. As long as everything continues to work out in their favor, Juro doesn’t really mind who they have to tear down to get what they want.

Powers:

Toxic Glamour (Unique Magic): Allows Juro to verbally or subconsciously “push” a thought into people’s heads, forcing them to believe it’s true. Those more deeply rooted in their convictions are harder to ensnare, but not impossible. Can be used on multiple people at once.

Mild Toxins from Touch: Allows Juro to temporarily numb a body part through direct touch; can try to numb more body parts or the whole body but the victim may experience major bouts of nausea if Juro chooses to do so. This ability provides a protection against toxins as well, but only for Juro.

Trivia

They’re a part of the light music club but only drops by once and while. If begged to, Juro normally joins in on the keyboard or as vocals. They know some guitar due to being taught by Cater and Lilia, but this is less frequented by them.

Her dislike of experimentally prepared food stems from Jade feeding her some strange dishes without telling her what it was beforehand. It was only halfway through her meal did he reveal that he slipped in some poisonous herbs + mushrooms in order to test her immunity to certain toxins. Juro was fine afterwards, but now she refuses to eat anything prepared by Jade.

They also really don’t like Floyd on that matter, still resenting the time he shifted everything in their dorm room slightly to the right without telling them. Juro temporarily numbed Floyd out of anger but became even more upset upon seeing him become delighted at the weird feeling their ability brought him.

Juro likes Azul slightly more than the tweels but knows not to enter into any contracts with him. They often exchange pleasantries as they pass by each other in the hallways or during slow days in the lounge. Their quid pro quo views on life are pretty similar, so it’s not uncommon for them to do small favors for one another as well.

As reference to the sea sponges sea bunnies typically eat, Juro “absorbs” information almost obsessively. Whether it be what he’s learning in class or whatever he can glean from the people around him, he can’t go one day without learning something new. The sponges sea bunnies eat are also toxic which alludes to his “toxic” personality as well.

I do have a vague concept of one of her siblings in my head! He’s gonna be a 1st year Octavinelle student (my… 3rd… octavinelle… oc… oh god) who often checks in on Juro. He helps run Juro’s social media accounts as well, acting as Juro’s personal photographer.

Juro’s never seen without their bunny eared headbands. To draw Juro without one is sacrilegious idk what else to tell you :/

As for pronouns, Juro doesn’t really care which ones you use for them. They themselves tend to change the way they refer to themselves depending on the situation (cycling between “boku (僕)”, “watashi(私)”, “atashi(私)”; rarely uses “ore (俺)” unless they become angry/upset, but even then Juro tries to keep up their facade as best they can.

Juro’s blindness is also due to irl sea bunnies not having any eyes or visual systems to rely on (or maybe they do idk some sources say otherwise), so their fur and ears are used to navigate their surroundings instead. I could’ve gone for the full “no eyes” route, but (*´-`) coloring in the eyes is my favorite part of drawing, even if they’re faded.

#if anybodys curious yes toxic is the 1st song listed in juros playlist #i wanted it to be the only song too for jokes and giggles but sadly 😔 i was inspired by other songs too #making octa ocs is so fun for no reason #literally take any sea creature and 👀✨ ‘i can make an oc out of that’ ITS SO FUN #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #art #twisted wonderland #my art #my post #my writing #Juro #Trey #Lilia #also juros obssession w/ attention alludes to actual bunnies needing a friend to keep them company #or a lot of attention from their owner otherwise they get depressed #and juro has abandonment issues but most of my ocs do so 😟 ig its not worth noting huh

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liliesoftherain · 4 years

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Ocean Eyes, or Something More?

A/N: Lowkey hate this, I rushed the ending and ijfbvfvbf, I wanna rewrite it! But I hope you enjoy this anyways. I’ll be posting more soon promise.

However! Enjoy another beautiful server prompt for mha & readers discord server! I’ll be posting the masterlist later today, so keep a watch for that!!

Pairing: Commodore!aka Officer!Bakugou Katsuki x Pirate!Fem!Reader

The spray of the sea landed upon your face; licking your lips at the assault, you were pleased to find the bitter sting of salt because of it. The smell of the water contradicted its taste, the sweet aroma of the waves still one of many that you haven’t gone nose blind to. The never ending blue surrounding you above and below was an almost blinding sight, yet there was never another sight you would rather gaze at. Never could another place hold itself so dearly in your heart such as this. This was your life; a life of freedom and honor, as much honor as a born and bred pirate could scrape together anyways.

The winds that blew against the durable sails urged your beauty of a ship forward, closer to the destination you were seeking. You kept your excitement at bay, knowing that this mission you’ve taken upon yourself was that of great importance.

“Cap’n, we be close to the shores of Sinehpor, the rest await yer orders.” Your right hand breaks your thoughts, and you glance over at him.

Kirishima was a fine second mate, brave and upheld your honor more than anyone else ever had. A true man you trusted by your side, trusted with your life. You granted his presence with a nod, eyes going back to scan your crew.

“Thank ye, Kirishima. Have everyone prepare for shore, tis will be a night o’ drinkin’ for em all.”

“Aye, already done, Cap’n.” He grinned, motioning to the members preparing the sails and locking up some of the more precious items below deck.

“Good,” you glance over the waters to spot the shoreline approaching the distance, “Ye already know why we be here, Kirishima.”

“Aye, the true reason. We be sure to get that map from the scoundrel. This be one of the biggest hauls yet, Cap’n.”

“So it shall,” you laugh heartily before raising your voice for everyone to hear, “Avast! All hands hoay me hearties, we be sailin’ into the docks of Sinehpor. Ye be knowin’ what that means!”

The cheers and happiness was contagious, goodwill spreading all along the ship. You nod at Kirishima as he went below to help the rest.

Tonight your men would be destroying their livers on the finest rum they could get a hold of, reaping the benefits of land after their time on the ship without rest. You had finished up a job, and were now without much purpose other than sailing. With your mates growing antsy for more work, and you itching for a new conquest, you figured it’d be beneficial to kill two birds with one stone.

Sinehpor was a well known trading dock that many came to for more than just their merchant carts; Sinehpor was also known to have some of the finest taverns and festivals, seen as more of a party district than one of trading. However, that title was swept under the rug, trading as a front to stay out of too much trouble from the royal navy and their annoying habits to shut down anything that was deemed fun. You've had your run in with the royal navy more than once, nothing more than a capture, since you always managed to escape before they could do anything more than that.

You maneuvered your ship to a bare part of the port, docking your ship as you prepared to descend the ship. Making sure to give your crew a knowing look, silently commanding them to not seek out too much trouble, before letting them depart. You were the last to walk down the plank board, Kirishima waiting faithfully at the bottom for you. Your sea legs were noticeable as you walked towards the keeper, putting on an indifferent face as he gaped at your figure.

You understood, receiving this look on more than one account, while female pirates were rare they were still a thing; a female captain on the other hand was almost unthinkable to most.

“It’s one shilling to dock, uh, ma’am.”

You reach for your cloth bag while maintaining eye contact, pulling out more than what was asked for, throwing the shillings onto his record book. You tip your head slowly, captain hat proudly atop your head as it followed your motions. You stroll away, smirk taking over as you hear him mumble a random name for the records.

Your name wasn’t something you gave away so freely, not even your given name;

Diablo.

The legendary devil who roams the waters with ‘his’ crew born straight from hell. Well, that’s what they say anyways. There was not a man alive who hadn’t heard the tale of Diablo and ‘his’ deadly crew, who always got away with the fastest ship there was. Your ship, Hell Born Serpent, wasn’t given names on false pretenses. It was the fastest ship you have ever encountered, it’s shape helped its speed and agility in the water, ‘snaking’ through the water before disappearing from view. There was no one alive who wanted to go head to head with your crew, not a sane one anyways. You yourself had fought tooth and nail to gain your own title of legend, and you would continue fighting to your death.

Speaking of legends, you focused your mind on your purpose here. You had heard prior that an old acquaintance, of yours would still be here by this time. That he’d be taking residence for a short time before moving on again, sneaky old rouge. With these rumors around of his whereabouts, you were sure he could be gone any day, so you had to make sure you caught him before he did. He had what you wanted, what would give you work and make an even bigger name for you and your crew.

The map to Eazam Island itself, the one and only island of bone that was foretold to be full of riches beyond a man's wildest dreams. They say it’s just one of legend, a story for weary sailors, but what is another legend under your belt? If there was to be anyone to snatch the gold and live to boast of the easy capture, well that would only be your crew of course.

You both reached a bar you knew well, hidden among other buildings but still one of quite busy, the dim lights and smells of food and drink bringing back memories of past adventures.

A wild set of raven hair quickly catches your attention, and your smirk widens. You wave off Kirishima, allowing him to wander off to a table and relax with a pint; although you were sure he would do no such thing, opting to watch over the interaction in case of foul play. You dearly hope a barmaid will draw his attention away and let him have some fun, what good would it be to have come here if he didn’t.

Another catches your attention, making eye contact with one of your crew mates as he lifts a mug in salute to you, drowning it in one go. His eyes grow hazy and face flush before he barks out a laugh, pulling two barmaids closer to his side with a giggle in his voice, their faces heating up while they fall for his charms. That was your very own Denki of the Dames, a hit with the ladies sure, but as you take one final glance to see his slurred words and wobbly stature…

You knew he should have been called lightweight instead, he was always three sheets to the wind after two measly grogs.

You see a few others sitting together, their names definitely matching: Abyss eyed Ashido, the bat of her eyes said to hypnotize anyone she wishes, and Quick Slip Sero, who you did trust wholeheartedly to get out of any sticky situation. You merely called them their names, not out of disrespect but for that of fondness. Each member was your family, and you made it known to them all.

You turn away from them, licking your lips in anticipation as you keep your sights locked onto your main target. You saunter towards your prey, taking the spot directly next to him at the bar.

“I was wonderin’ when you’d show, doll. Your lackies aren’t the most subtle, ya know.”

“Sorry to keep ye waitin’, inferno.” You tap the bar for a drink, ignoring the way your company clicks his tongue at the name. You nod at the bartender, slugging back a few gulps before peering over the rim of the mug to see blue eyes piercing into your soul. Blue like your beloved waters, but these were nothing in comparison to the beauty you saw daily.

“How many times will ya insist on calling me that wretched name, Diablo.”

“I think it suits ye pretty well, don’t ye think?”

“I never asked to be called-”

“Neither did I mine, yet here we be. Two ol salts drinkin’ in a measly pub together, wit names neither wan. So cut the hostility, Dabi, an jus drink yer rum before I do.”

He hummed, voice cutting deep and reminding you of forbidden nights shared together, before taking a drink of his own cup.

The noises of the rowdy bar infiltrated your ears, however silence between the two of you louder than that. You weren’t one to beat around the bush, so you broke the silence and went in for the kill.

“Now, why don’ ye be nice an’ help me get me hands on that map, ha?”

“What map is that, doll.”

“Map to Eazam, what else.”

“Hm, now, what kind of place would that be.”

You sent a glare through the corner of your eye, deadly (e/c) meeting haughty blue.

“Don’ be testing me now, Dabi. Best ye spill it before I grow angry.”

The tension was thick, neither stare wavering as you both tried to win a silent match. Stormy seas and cannon fire filled a single share look, till Dabi grunted and looked down into his drink.

“Who even says I have it to give it to ya, Diablo.”

“Ye always have what i’m lookin’ for, Inferno.”

“Oh,” his smirk grew, tongue trailing between parted lips, “I do, ay? Maybe you can give me what I always be looking for, then.”

“We ended that a long time ago, don’ be startin’ things ye know is impossible.” You hiss, annoyed at his diversion.

“This could also be something considered impossible, ya know.” Dabi chuckled, finishing his drink before throwing enough for the tab.

“Ye know me crew and I are the impossible, Inferno. You’ll get yer cut for the map, of course. I’m not cruel.” You grin wickedly, spilling your own pockets for the rum as you drown the rest, slamming the cup atop the counter.

His eyes rolled at yoru dramatics, glaring at the redhead across the bar.

“I see ol’ second rate still watches you like a lost seadog searching for land.”

You raise your chin, telling Kirishima to stay put as he glared at the man beside you. He nodded at your request, staying put as you both made your way to the back entrance of the pub.

“Watch the way ye be talkin’ about my right hand, Inferno.”

“Aye, of course Cap’n.” He mocks, the back door closing behind him as you both walk down the empty alley.

Dabi takes you a few ways away, back towards the docks as he heads towards his own ship-nothing as extravagant as your own. As soon as you both are to board the ship, a whistle puts you both on guard.

You glance behind you to see two naval sailors, both men watching the two of you.

“Pardon the intrusion, all docks are to be cleared until ship inspection is over.” The one with dark hair speaks up, a formal voice for a formal guard.

“Sirs, ship inspection? There is no such thing, if I may be so bold.” Dabi speaks out, voice taut as his hands itch to grab his pistol.

You send him a sharp glare, knowing any wrong moves could blow this whole situation out of the waters. The men take in both of your attire, and you hold back a scoff at the judgment in their eyes. All naval personnel were the same, there was only one man who granted you a judgment free stare. You haven’t seen him in years, and you hoped you never would. He was the best commanding officer they had, if you were to be caught by him it was over.

“We are inspecting to make sure all ships that are documented are present, and there are none without the proper paperwork. That is all.” The cool voice of the second sailor spoke out, his scar on his left eye giving hint that these men were no pushovers.

“There will be no trouble, we were just leaving.” Your voice commanded, motioning Dabi to follow as you attempted to walk past the two men.

They seemed to also want no trouble, letting you walk by until a booming voice halted all movement.

“Who are these people walking along the docks, can you two do your jobs properly?!” The snarling tone captivated you, yet you felt all of that leave as soon as a hand grabbed your upper arm.

You were quickly spun, red hot gaze burning into your own. You couldn’t help your eye twitching in annoyance, and that only seemed to set him off. He looked you up and down, gaze still on you as he spoke out to the others.

“You were just about to let a couple of pirates walk off, you imbeciles.”

“Pirates? Ye must be mistaken,” you say coolly, trying to remove his hold on you, “We be here for the fine tradin’ posts, of course.”

Strong jaw clenches, and his warm hands grab at you harder till he forcefully moves your sleeve up. The two scars that circled your wrist and branded you as a pirate were now in plain view, your tattoo resting right above it. You sigh, annoyed more than anything with all of the manhandling.

“Trading posts, of course.” His snide and mocking tone pissed you off more.

Guns were drawn, and you knew there was no way you could ever dodge those.

“Come now gentlemen, we don’t want any unnecessary blood spilling, do we?” A cool smirk came from your companion, and the man holding you quickly grabbed Dabi’s arm to check for his pirate mark as well.

“Seems you’re not one of them. I suggest you leave before I charge you as an accomplice.”

Dabi mock bowed before stepping away, hands up in false surrender as he did.

You expected nothing more from the coward, the man may not be considered a pirate but he surely acts as one.

However, he was more shady than he was worth.

“Ye rat bastard-”

“I would be quiet now, pirate. I hereby arrest you on accounts of treason against the crown.”

“If ye shall be adressin’ me, ye shall do it properly. It be Cap’n to the likes of ya.” You huff, glaring at the guns still pointed at your head.

You had no chance of taking 3 men on alone, especially now that Dabi had left. You’d just have to wait it out, see what these men were capable of and then escape accordingly.

“Captain?” The sailor with glasses gaped, and you turn with a smug smile.

“Aye, ye have never seen a woman cap’n before, ha?”

“Woman or not, a pirate is a pirate. Captain…” The blonde holding onto you gazed at your tattoo, only to have his eyes widen.

“What is it, Bakugou.” The one with the scar spoke out, causing this Bakugou to stare at you.

“You’re el Diablo.”

It was a statement rather than a question, and you shrug indifferently before pulling your arm from his hold. Instantly feeling the breeze cooling the warm skin he once held.

“Diablo? He’s said to be well, a man.”

“Does she look like a man to you?” Bakugou snarled, annoyed as he tugged cuffs from his waist.

“Oh,” your eyes scan the item, “Commodore, I don’ think this be the best time for ye to try anything like that out on me. Not until i get a couple o’ grogs in me system first.”

You speak suggestively, wincing as he clamps on the cuffs tight. The dug into your skin painfully, cold metal feeling like flames on your wrist.

“Watch your tongue, Captain. I may just cut it off.”

You were then dragged by the man to the naval ship, a large one with the name ‘Queens Jewel’ painted along the side. Forced up on the deck, you felt the stares of different official sailors. You keep a smirk on your lips, not trying to give more than needed.

A hand dug itself into your shoulder as you were forced below, a row of cell blocks coming into view. You glance for keys, or any sort of escape, but red meets your wandering (e/c).

“You wont find anything in here, my crew isn’t as stupid as you might believe.”

“On the contrary, I don’ believe yer crew is stupid. I believe that to be all ye, commodore.”

He growled, grabbing you by the front of your coat as he raised you closer to his face.

“I believe you have no room to talk here, pirate.”

This was the first time you had gotten a close look at the man, he was large and burly, truly someone worthy of his title. Light battle scars littered his face, very faint and from probably nothing more than just training. His blond hair was the opposite of what you assumed a proper commodore should have; instead of neat and kept, it was wild and untamed-as was the apparent temper he had. His eyes intrigued you the most, the opposite of your calming blue seas, this man's eyes were a storming red. There was a feel of harshness, yet justice. Anger, yet levelheadedness. His eyes were contradicting, the color of a sunset reflecting off the blue shores below.

What a sight indeed.

“Now now, best ye be not doin’ anything ye shall regret, ay.”

“I will regret nothing, it’s my personal joy to watch the scum of the seas get what they deserve.”

He tossed you harshly into the cell, locking it up before scrunching his nose at you. You return the sentiment, your playful facade dropped as a menacing scowl appears.

“Scum of the seas? Ye be one to talk, all ye be is a pawn of the queen. We ‘scum’ have morals, ye do not.”

“Hah? Morals, in a pirate?” He scoffs.

“Aye, a pirate lives by the code of which their forefathers have written with their own blood and souls. Ye follow the deranged orders of a madwoman who cares nothing about the people below ‘er.” You scoot back, leaning your back against the wall of the cell.

You fully expected the man, who was called Bakugou if you remembered correctly, to up and leave. To call you a dirty pirate before storming away from the cell. You felt the ship move beneath you as it began to sail off, so surely they needed him to call out commands to his crew of misfits. However, to your surprise he had sat on a crate by the bars, watching you intently. You meet his gaze, unafraid to look into his cool-hellfire eyes.

“The queen is a woman who does what she can for the people. It’s you pirates who pillage and kill, not us. We follow orders because they keep commoners safe.”

“Who do ya think we be, monsters!? We may be lookin’ out for our own, but if ye give a snake a reason to strike, strike it shall. Ye leave it be, it shall grant ye the same respect of that which it be given. Pirates respect those who be deserving.”

“And we don’t.”

“No.”

The waves brushing along the sides of the ship and the creaking of the motions soothed your temper, you closed your eyes and let your head fall back against the wall. Hoping this conversation was over. There was no navy sailor who you have ever come across who was worthy of your respect, this man was not going to be one of them either it seemed. Although, the brash attitude from early looked to be faded, a blunt yet calm one in its place. Contradicting once again, just like his eyes.

Your own snapped opened as you heard him stand, watching as he narrowed his gaze in thought.

“Tch. For a pirate who makes claims they sail the open waters, you appear to be sheltered. Where has your false sense come from.”

“It not be false,” you whisper, eyes closing once more as memories surface, “it be real, whether ye believe me or not is none of my business. I don’ trust ye to keep your mouth shut anyways.”

“Fair enough, however it is a pirate you cannot trust. I will never forget my lessons. You have your own reasons, and I have mine. I know first hand of the damage you pirates can do, I won’t stand for it.” You heard him speak through clenched teeth.

“Then sit, yer head be full of lies”

“It is you whose words are false and based on only personal gain.”

“A man of the queen may not keep their word, but a man of the sea shall, commodore.”

“Well, you can believe I shall keep my word on this: your end is soon, Captain Diablo. You have nowhere to run, and you shall be put to death for your crimes.”

His footsteps begin to fade, his voice echoing in your head as he leaves.

“Soon enough the one who be telling the truth will be laughin’. Dead men tell no tales, Commodore. Yet neither will a lost man, ya see.” You laugh to yourself, not hearing a reply as he leaves the room.

A few hours go by and you are visited once more by the intriguing man, a tray of food in his hands. You make no move to go towards it as he slides it in, eyes still closed and body still in the same position as he left.

He sighed in annoyance, and you could only help but smirk.

“What’s with the look, you halfwit.”

The seas rock with more force, the boat swaying more as if a storm was coming forth. Then it happened, the sounds of fighting happening above, causing Bakugou to curse out in question.

“Ye see commodore,” Your eyes flutter open, grinning evilly as he stared back with anger and confusion, “tis as i said, a lost man will tell no tales. I am to be lost, ye have no hopes of finding me.”

Then the door leading to the cellar room burst open, and you promised yourself you would never forget that look of terror and hatred in those bright sea-ruby eyes. You have never cared for another color other than your seas, often trying to find replacements, with no luck. Yet, while they weren’t as pretty as your blue ocean below you, they were just good enough that you’ve found yourself hoping to see them again.

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roselightfairy · 4 years

Text

Based on my latest pet obsession, and conversations with @katajainen and @deheerkonijn about what it must be like for elves to have bad hair days. I had to write a little unorthodox Legolas/Gimli h/c. :) Be warned for some kind of graphic descriptions of hair discomfort (which sounds really silly, but could be uncomfortable to read.)

...

When Legolas blinked into wakefulness after his first night of true sleep in Minas Tirith, he wished immediately that he could sink back into oblivion.

He felt it before anything else: the lank strands of his hair resting over his forehead like dead things, thin films of oil like slug trails over his face and down his neck, surely coating his scalp. Something twitched against his head, and he knew – he knew – it was only in his mind, that its source was nothing of the kind, but he could not help feeling it as insect legs crawling their way across his scalp.

He clenched his fists so hard his nails bit into his palm, tried desperately to steady his breathing. He did not know how mortals handled such things, but from what he had seen of Gimli it was more an annoyance to them than anything else, not the soul-deep discomfort that indicated a disharmony of the spirit.

It was not a surprise. It had happened to him more and more of late, since the onset of the sea-longing – that it would creep up on him after a night of true sleep, when he had let down the fierce guard of his thoughts, when instead of the waking dreams that tossed him among the waves, the dis-ease crawled its way deeper into his body and soul. But it had never grown any easier to bear.

The only way to react was to keep the utmost control over his hands and body. Very slowly he let his hand rise to his forehead – and then he could not stop himself; he flicked the clumps of hair off of his face in a single swift motion.

But that solved nothing; now he could feel where they had flipped upside down, exposing the greasy underside to the air in a way that only worsened the itch; the tingling crawling feeling moved back from his forehead to the top of his head, and he shuddered.

The motion jostled the bed, and then – then at last – he became aware of the other sensations around him – particularly the warm weight of the body lying beside him in bed.

Gimli. The wave of relief that washed over Legolas was nearly enough to make him forget his discomfort. Gimli could help him stop this.

Another prickle ran down the back of his head, and he bit back a groan with effort. “Gimli,” he said.

His voice sounded taut and strained even to his own ears, and he cringed. Gimli mumbled beside him, then stretched and blinked. “Good morning,” he said with a soft smile – one which quickly sharpened into concern when he twisted around. Legolas could only imagine how he looked. “Legolas? Do you need something from me?”

“Yes.” Legolas did not know what he would say, and to his surprise what came out was, “I need you to stop me from tearing my hair out of my skull.”

His voice had not lost the stretched, haunted quality, and Gimli flinched, then sat up fully. Legolas did not dare move from his position, for fear of sending his hair cascading around his face, so he merely lay there as Gimli gazed down at him. “An elf, tear out his own hair?” Gimli said gently. “Surely you would regret such a rash action.”

“I would.” He swallowed hard. “That is why I need your help.”

“And you shall have it.” Gimli took up Legolas’s hands in his own. “But you must help me understand. Why do you wish to tear your hair out?”

“Can you not see?” Legolas hated the edge of petulant wail that had found its way into his voice, but he could not banish it. “It is unbearable, Gimli.”

Gimli gazed down at him. “Perhaps it is not as perfect as I usually see it in the mornings,” he said. “But it hardly warrants such cruel treatment.”

“I assure you,” said Legolas bitterly, “it feels worse than it looks.”

Gimli squeezed his hands. “I believe you,” he said. “Will you tell me what I may do to ease the discomfort? What do you typically do when this happens?”

“I braid it back,” Legolas said, “as tightly as I can. But that is not – it is only enough to keep me from ripping it out.” His lip trembled, and he despised himself. “I know it seems such a small thing, but it is – it has been like this more in the last months than ever before. I cannot bear it for much longer.”

“Tell me what you feel,” Gimli said. “I am no elf, but I know the discomfort of hair that has not been cleaned in too long. Will it help if I wash it?”

“A bit, perhaps, but it is” – Legolas hesitated. “I have told you much of elves’ bodily discomforts are a result of sickness of the soul. This cannot be cured – only endured until it fades of its own accord.”

“We will see about that,” said Gimli stoutly. “Here, move over.” He pulled himself up and leaned back against the headboard of their bed, seating himself cozily on his pillow. Then he pulled Legolas’s head – pillow and all – into his own lap. “Tell me how this feels.”

And then, before Legolas could respond, there were blunt fingertips against his head, stroking his hair all the way back from his forehead, scrubbing at his scalp. Legolas cringed at first – not only at the feeling of his hair moving against his head, but also at the thought of the oil coating Gimli’s fingers, the flakes of dead skin that he knew would begin to shower down onto the pillow and Gimli’s thighs. But to his surprise, the feeling also eased something in him – not only the itch against his scalp, but also the one in his stomach, the gnawing anxiety engendered by the profound wrongness of his unkempt hair. It was more than physical, he knew, but he felt that Gimli’s fingers were cleansing something, that the misery might leave him if Gimli merely did not stop. He let out a hissing breath.

Gimli stopped immediately. “No?”

“No – I mean, yes,” Legolas said. “I mean, continue. Please.”

“One moment,” Gimli said gently. “I think it will help if we wash it.” He eased himself out from under Legolas’s head, his fingers leaving Legolas’s hair, and Legolas could not quite restrain a groan.

“No,” he said, knowing he sounded like a petulant child – but the crawling sensation had started up again, and he felt panic rising in his chest. “Do not leave” –

“I will be right back,” Gimli said. “I promise. I am going to put the kettle on to boil so we can have a warm bath.”

“I do not need” –

“Not usually,” Gimli corrected. “Today you need it. It will take only moments to put the water on. Can you last until I return?”

“Yes,” Legolas whispered. He always had before, after all.

Gimli looked down at him, and his eyes were full of compassion and concern – not even a hint of the skepticism or amusement Legolas had feared. “Moments,” he repeated. “I promise.” He took Legolas’s hands into his and placed a kiss into each palm, one after the other, closing Legolas’s fingers as he did so. “Hold onto those,” he said. “Those, instead of your hair. I will be back before you know it. Yes?”

“Yes,” Legolas whispered, squeezing his fingers tightly around the imprints of Gimli’s lips.

The prickling returned immediately, stronger than before, but Legolas held onto his own hands to keep from fisting them in his hair. He felt that he was holding onto Gimli, though his husband had left the room – holding onto his promise, onto the faith that somehow Gimli might ease his body and soul enough to banish the discomfort – for now, if not for good.

And to his surprise, that thought did make it easier to endure.

#my fic #legolas x gimli #elves #bad hair days

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chaoskirin · 4 years

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The Seven Seas--Chapter Two

Fandom: Queen Genre: Sci-fi/Gen Rating: PG Chapter 2 Word Count: 1965

To John, nothing was more important than the cool rationale of logic. Therefore, he found it a constant source of unfortunance that nothing logical ever happened around the other three members of Queen. He'd come to accept it, which is why--he thought with smug affection--he always came to expect the most illogical outcome of even the most mundane situations.

Hence, aliens.

John was and had always been an I-Told-You-So type of fellow, with the advantage that he never had to speak the actual words. Case in point, he merely arched his eyebrows and Roger said, "Oh, shut up, John!"

It saved John many hours of gloating.

He shrugged and smirked, nodding at the tiny aliens, which now had tiny little weapons drawn in the most adorable display of force anyone on earth had ever seen.

"I think you might just want to get back into your ship and go back to Denmark," Freddie said. "Earth--er. Rhye, I mean. Rhye is pretty happy without alien overlords. I think. You guys think?"

He looked at the others. Roger and Brian nodded their assent.

John agreed with the others. The last thing earth needed was another set of conquerors, considering all the world leaders currently vying for control. The planet had plenty of problems already without adding aliens into the mix, and while aliens running things might be interesting, it would ultimately be more of the same.

However. He'd come to expect the most absurd, most inane outcome of anything. And while an alien invasion by toenail-sized creatures was absurd enough, even more absurd would be if they could follow through on their threat. Outright rejecting their tiny takeover might do more harm than good as far as John was concerned. Not that he expected that they could refuse anyway. It would be just be their luck if the tiny aliens were also inexplicably deadly.

In the end, he shrugged.

"You want," Roger began, pausing for ineffect. "You want alien overlords?"

"I think," John said, pausing for actual effect as he nodded to the gun-brandishing Denmarkians, "that we should hear what they have to say."

"WE," said the leader, and John was getting tired of all this needless pausing, "DEMAND RHYE'S UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER! IMMEDIATELY!"

"You'd said," John remarked, kneeling so he was closer to the aliens. No longer impassive, they were scowling with a most ferocious sort of ultra-frown, which involved an almost ninety degree bend to their stalk-eyes. They meant business. "How about if you tell us what surrender means. To you."

The diplomat hopped off the walkway and jammed his tiny gun into John's knee. He probably should have been afraid--at least a little--but it was hard to drum up the proper amount of respect for a weapon the size of a pushpin.

As a side-note, John was beginning to think that the diplomat was less of a diplomat and more of a strong-armer. In any case, he certainly didn't have diplomacy on his mind and seemed very content with just murdering everyone and blowing up the planet without pausing for any pleasant negotiations whatsoever. Seemed like a positively primeval method of conducting interstellar business, but what did John know? He'd never actually conducted any interstellar business, and had, until today, been unsure as to the existence of life outside of earth. For all he knew, this was exactly proper.

"SURRENDER!" the diplomat/strong-armer screamed again.

Despite the weapon pressed to his knee, John dared again to respond, "we've never actually surrendered before. It's not that we're being difficult. It's just that we don't know how."

"YOU WILL SUMMON ALL THE PEOPLE OF EARTH TO THIS LOCATION," the leader said. "AT THAT POINT THEY WILL BE DESTROYED HUMANELY AND QUICKLY, WITH MINIMAL SPLATTER."

The pause that followed lasted several preposterous seconds.

"Right," Roger said, grabbing their ship and lifting it out of the barn's floor. Several terrified voices screamed from inside as the leader and the glasses-wearer pointed their tiny weapons at him. Unintimidated, Roger spun the ship on one finger, like a basketball or a top.

John thought that was a bit excessive.

"I don't mean to be rude," Freddie said, obviously meaning to be rude. "But I'm not sure your weapons would do even the least amount of damage. Are you sure it was earth--er. Rhye--you wanted to invade, and not a planet with a much tinier population? Someone more your size?"

In response, the diplomat aimed his tiny laser at a passing chicken, and the chicken exploded in a cloud of feathers and assorted gore.

Freddie yelped. Brian wobbled a little on unsteady feet before sinking to the floor. Roger put their ship down. Carefully.

"I THINK OUR WEAPONS WILL DO JUST FINE," the leader said.

He did have a point. If one tiny gun could destroy a chicken so thoroughly, it would probably do a similar amount of damage to something larger. If nothing else, the little weapons were interesting, and John wondered whether it would breach surrender protocol if he asked to take one apart to see how it worked.

"Did he just explode that cock?" Freddie asked.

"It was a hen and you know it," Brian replied. "You just wanted to say 'cock.'"

"I don't need an excuse to say 'cock,' darling," Freddie said, at the same time Roger sighed, "can we all stop saying 'cock,' please!"

The point still stood, so John asked, "would your weapons do the same to a human, do you think?"

"OF COURSE THEY WOULD," the leader shouted, full of his own pride. "THEY ARE SPECIFICALLY CALIBRATED TO OBLITERATE ALL LIFE ON THE PLANET."

John scratched his head. "Then why not just nuke us from orbit?"

"John!" Roger hissed. "That is not the question you should be asking!"

It was of interest, though! If they had these powerful weapons capable of destroying all life on earth, one would think it would be easier--if not more efficient--to just point and shoot from a couple hundred miles away. It would probably be more painless, too, what with all the people on earth simply not expecting to be destroyed on this rather pleasant Tuesday morning. And at least most people would die doing what they loved--or at least doing what they tolerated. John did suppose some people were working, and most people didn't love their jobs.

What a sad fact of reality.

And at this point, dear readers, I will spare you a whole paragraph of aliens screaming in capslock and simply summarize their answer: They didn't nuke the planet from orbit for several reasons: first that chasing humans was just too exhausting. They'd tried chasing the sapient species on the last planet they conquered, and they were still mopping up that mess even a hundred zorgits later. Roger asked what a zorgit was, to which the aliens replied: a roundabout loop in space-time wherein all intelligent species could measure time without the use of a star. Brian thought that made sense.

The second reason was that their weapons were just slightly out-of-tune with the universe, and if they blasted an entire planet, they could open up a hole in reality, into which all realities would be sucked, destroying the entire space-time continuum. In theory.

John asked why they didn't test that theory. Roger smacked him with a newspaper.

John then asked why the aliens had a pronounceable word for "zorgit," but not a pronounceable word for their own planet. This question was cut from the story entirely for being a god-damned plothole that the author didn't want to explain.

"I guess," Brian said after the rather long-winded explanation, "my only question would be why?"

"AH!" the leader said. "RHYE SHALL BE OUR RESORT PLANET! A BEAUTIFUL GEM IN THE MILKY WAY GALAXY WHERE OUR PEOPLE MAY RELAX AND ENJOY THEMSELVES!"

John, preferring that no more of his questions be cut from the story, resisted asking how the aliens found a name for the Milky Way and not a name for the planet. Perhaps radio chatter was selective.

"AND!" the diplomat went on, jamming his adorable weapon into John's knee again, "WE SHALL BUILD A HYPERSPACE WARP TO OUR NEW RESORT PLANET SO THAT IT ONLY TAKES SECONDS TO REACH IT, AND NOT A WHOLE YEAR!"

"SHOW THEM," the leader said, waving a tentacle or two at the alien with the glasses.

The glasses-alien pulled another folded document from another skin fold and spread it out on the barn floor. It showed the planet, now adorned with a whole lot of strange structures and attractions, none of which made the remotest amount of sense. Australia had simply been removed for whatever reason, while another land mass had been created halfway between Africa and South America.

What must have been the hyperspace warp circled just outside the planet. The aliens had drawn a smiley face on it.

"Impressive," said Freddie. "I really, truly mean that. Can't you do this somewhere else?"

"NO," the leader replied. "THIS IS THE PLACE. I CAN TELL."

"Well then you must give us a chance to save our planet. A... show of force," Freddie said.

"A SHOW!" the aliens sang all at once. The leader continued: "A SHOW! YES! TO WELCOME YOUR NEW OVERLORDS AND BOW TO YOUR OWN DESTRUCTION. I ACCEPT. HOW MANY ZORGITS WILL IT TAKE TO PREPARE?"

"Not a show--" Roger started.

Freddie elbowed him. "Uh, how many Rhye days is a zorgit?"

The aliens conferred, then the leader said, "WE CAN GIVE YOU FIVE RHYE DAYS. WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR SHOW. THANK YOU FOR FREEING OUR SHIP FROM YOUR FLOOR."

As John, Freddie, and Brian all gave Roger a dirty look for allowing the aliens their freedom, the three slug-like creatures climbed back onto their ship and flew it out through the hole in the roof, leaving both the star map and the recreation plans behind.

Dazed, everyone stared upward at the sky until Brian said, "Well, now what do we do?"

John had a few ideas, none of which involved putting on a show. He wondered if NASA had any mass transport shuttles prepared to just whisk everyone on the planet to a safer location, then he remembered that NASA was funded by the American government and had a good chuckle.

"Well," Freddie said. "I think I have an idea. It'll be risky, but I'm absolutely sure we're up to the task. The alien said--"

"Which one?" Roger asked.

"Does it matter?" Freddie returned.

"Yes! Look, we can't just call them all 'alien,'" Roger said. "Gets confusing."

"It's not like we exchanged pleasantries," Freddie scoffed, hand to his chest in a rather affronted manner. "They said they were here to exchange pleasantries before everything went weird. I should have liked to."

John very strongly felt that if none of them could pronounce the name of the alien planet--despite Roger's good ol' college try--they probably wouldn't be able to pronounce the aliens' individual names. He could have said so, but listening to Freddie go on about how rude the little beings were for not introducing themselves was entertaining at the very least.

Brian said, "We can just assign them names. For our own purposes."

"All right. Well the tallest one was the leader, so I say we call him 'Freddie,'" Freddie said.

Roger grabbed a handful of sawdust from the floor and rubbed it into Freddie's hair. "You're not our leader. You're just a git."

"Let's call him 'Leader,'" Brian suggested diplomatically, as Roger and Freddie slap-fought like children. "And the one with the maps. We can call him Glasses."

"Fine, fine," Roger said. And the other one was more of a git than Freddie, so we can call him Arsehole."

No one had any objections.

#queen #queen band #fanfic #freddie mercury #EVIL john deacon #roger taylor #brian may #ck writes #not bestiary

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italian-sides · 4 years

Text

“Ombre e Bastoni”, ch. 2

Here I am with the second chapter! Again, a huge thank you to both @misslilidelaney on Tumblr for writing this and @watcher-from-the-heights for being my beta! I also tag @ts-italian-gang, just in case. One last thing: if you want to support the ff, it’s on AO3 too! Thank you if you’re gonna step by! Enjoy!

Whenever Emilio Picani walked into the Dolce&Remì, all heads turned.

And when all heads turned, Giuda Schiavon's only instinct was to turn away.

To avoid imploding.

At the exact moment the young man crossed the threshold, Giuda understood that he was Patrizio's famous "psychologist cousin".

And at the exact moment he saw his face, only one sentence echoed in his brain:

- Sò ciavà. - [1]

The newcomer sat down at the counter, while Remo looked illuminated with immense light and Romolo seemed to be having a heart attack.

"Patrì. Are you kidding? You should at least have said that your cousin was so beautiful!"

"What are you saying, Romolo? C'mon, you're embarrassing him!"

"Orco can, Pati [2], take it easy! Trust me, it takes much more to embarrass me.", the interested party replied, giving Romolo, who just laughed like a twelve year old, a benevolent smile.

- Nice, exactly what I needed, even the competition with the Stellina. -

Giuda glanced at Remo, who had been wiping the same glass for three minutes.

-Ah, well. Both the Stelline. [3] -

He just looked at the newcomer from behind the counter, through the mirror in front of which the liquors were placed.

Of course both twins already came out swinging, while Virgilio and Luca simply looked at him with the gaze of two hungry lions.

And obviously Patrizio noticed the looks that the Trentine guy - that is Luca - launched at his blood relative, and Giuda shook his head after seeing the Emilian's eyes getting a little bleary.

-If I end up like this too, I'll set myself on fire.-

"You're quiet, Giudino [4].", Tommaso, the only one who seemed immune to the charm of the newcomer, chirped.

Giuda merely smiled slyly, pointing to the group behind him with a nod:

"I'm enjoying the vultures."

"Pffftt, they're terribleee!", the pastry chef whispered, biting his lip from laughing, which made Giuda smile even further and then continue:

"They look like they haven't seen a man for ages, eh? And Patrizio has the face of someone who repented 'a sbrega'."

"At what?"

"Someone who regretted it very much. I’ll have to teach you Venetian sooner or later, boss."

Tommaso nodded, and Giuda decided to get defensive even before anyone could attack him.

"Plus, like... He's not even that cool. He's pretty, don't get me wrong, but c'mon, to the point of making all four of them lose their heads?"

Tommaso nodded, shrugging:

"Agreed. And I hope Luca will soon get over this thing before Patrizio goes on a killing spree."

"Patrizio should also get a move on, however; Luca is too much of a wimp to realize he's drooling like a slug. If he doesn't get moving, someone else will take him and I’d like to remind you that the last time Patrizio got drunk, he got a sad hangover."

"Don't remind me, please."

"Ao, regà!" [5], Remo sneaked in and took them both by the arm, smiling like the idiot he was.

"Come and meet the newcomer!"

- Oh, no, please. -

"Boss, at least let me take off my dishwashing gloves!"

"No no, you have to keep them, I want him to understand who's in charge!", the 'older' brother of the Stella twins laughed at the request of his dishwasher.

- Curses.-

With a movement worthy of the worst drunks in Caracas, he brought Tommaso and Giuda in front of the newcomer, who had a smile capable of melting Giuda's heart in an instant.

And it did.

"Emilio, here's my co-partner and pastry-chef Tommaso Sandero, and my all-rounder, dishwasher, whatever-you-want, Giuda."

"I have a surname too, you know, old man.", with an eyeroll worthy of a Hollywood star, Giuda turned to Emilio.

Shit, he was even more beautiful, up close.

"Giuda Schiavon. I would shake your hand but I have gloves on."

"Schiavon?", Emilio asked, lighting up.

How beautiful a human being could be? Was he even legal?

"Ahah, his name is Schiavon. Which is perfect, since he's ours... [6]", Remo started, but Emilio dreamily clasped his hands in front of his face and asked, interrupting him:

"Are you from Veneto too? I'm from Verona!"

Giuda just shrugged, nodding immediately after:

"Par tera, par mar, Sammarco. [7]"

"Can del porco, un Venexian! Beaaa! [8]"

Having said that, Emilio approached him, pretending to speak in great secrecy - which was impossible, since everyone was still staring at him as if he was a wonderful thing, except perhaps Romolo, who was just looking at Giuda as if he was the worst thing that ever happened in this world:

"Cossa go da far pa aver na bona ombra de vin qua? [9]"

Was he trying to speak Venetian?

Was there a limit to how cute he could be?

"Ask Remo. I only wash the glasses, I don't fill them."

Having said that, he turned to the owner, making a superhuman effort to take his eyes off Emilio, who seemed quite dazzled by the answer.

"Can I go back? I have to go to the kitchen to finish washing the dishes before other people arrive for happy hour."

Then he turned back to Emilio, waving at him with half a smile:

"Fellow countryman, enjoy your stay in Bologna."

And then he left, without giving him time to answer.

Three years passed since their first meeting.

Three years in which Romolo made the funniest epic fail with Emilio, in which Patrizio decided to stick his tongue down Luca's mouth, and Virgilio pretended to be drunk to touch Romolo's ass, whom he said he'd forgotten, but Giuda knew that was bullshit.

Because he, being a chronic liar, could basically smell the lies.

In fact, not even for a second did he let anyone remotely suspect of his mind-blowing crush on the psychologist, especially the above mentioned, given that he was probably now convinced he hated his guts.

Which was the intention of the Venetian, since he took for granted that the thirty-year-old was far beyond what someone like him could afford.

After the disastrous relationship with one of his university buddies, Giuda indeed decided that being single was far better than being heartbroken.

Even though his heart wasn't too good.

Treating Emilio badly was making him lose sleep, at times he risked forgetting to put on his contact lenses due to tiredness, and even Virgilio took the piss out of him for the bags under his eyes.

And now he was there. Gloves in one hand and a broom in the other.

With Remo looking at him with a Cheshire Cat's smile on his face.

"You little snake. I get it, you know? You like the Veronese."

"You're speaking nonsense. I’d rather kill him right now. I dropped the glasses because of him."

"Don’t fuck with me. Tommy and I yell at you all the time and you’ve never jumped like this. Yo, Coso [10], I can smell lies too, you're not the only one. You’re being a little shit because you like him."

Giuda kept looking the bar owner in the eye, trying to deny it with all of his body language.

"I. Don't. Like. Emilio. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but Mr. Psychoanalysis isn’t exactly my cup of tea, okay?"

"Giuda..."

There was something in Remo’s voice, something that for a moment opened a breach in the Venetian's heart.

Maybe... Maybe he could trust someone.

"...From the first day he walked in here. You all got over it. But me? Never. I don’t have a crush on Emilio, Remo. I’m in love with Emilio. But I’ve suffered enough in the past to know that I’m better off alone. What if it goes wrong? How am I gonna look at him? How...?"

"You don't know that. I mean, I don't know either even if I live with him, how can you, if you run away every time you see him?"

"I personally believe that what you don’t know can’t hurt you."

"If Luca were here he would scream 'Boiate' [11]. Giuda... I..."

"Welp. It's too late now, the damage is done, right? He’s probably convinced I hate him even more after today's crap."

With a bitter laugh, Giuda surpassed the roman, continuing:

"I blew every chance, amen..."

"Giuda."

"But surely he won’t stop coming, we’re his favorite bar and you’re his roommate..."

"Giuda, shut up."

"I'm sure he'll find someone else pretty quickly, he just needs to breathe and someone always comes along."

"Giuda!"

The dishwasher turned again towards Remo, biting his lip as the stupid tears began to stream down his face.

"I can’t do this, okay? After Mattia, I don’t know what to do, with a man. Besides, I’m kind of a mess. Emilio will never appreciate someone like me."

Remo remained silent for a moment, before moving forward... and hugging? Giuda.

The Venetian was baffled, usually it was Tommaso, the one with whom he sometimes allowed himself affectionate gestures.

"Shut your mouth, you’re not that bad. And I swear on Totti [12], I’ll help you get the therapist, whether you want it or not."

Giuda laughed bitterly, his face stuck in the chest of his tallest peer.

"Yeah, sure. And how are you gonna do that?"

Remo let him go and asked, very seriously:

"Do you know how to play briscola [13]?"

[1]: transl. "I'm fucked" [2]: "Holy crap" + Pati = a nickname for Patrizio [3]: this is a pun with Romolo and Remo's surname, "Stella" = "Star", that here is referred as "Stellina/Stelline" = "Little Star/Little Stars" [4]: a nickname for Giuda, a diminutive of his name [5]: a Romanesco dialect exclamation that means more or less "Hey, guys!" [6]: it's a pun with Giuda's surname, Schiavon, that in italian, without the "n" at the end, is "Schiavo" = "Slave" [7]: it's a Venetian saying that literally means "on land, on sea, San Marco", but more broadly it means the power of the Venice Republic that reigned both on the land and on the sea [8]: "Good heavens, a Venetian! Niiice!" [9]: "What can I do to have a good glass of wine around here?"; in Venetian dialect, "ombra" means both "shadow" and "glass of wine" [10]: "coso" is the italian version of "thingy" and/or "dude/dingus" [11]: yes, "boiate" is the italian term for "falsehood", in this case [12]: a famous Italian soccer player, specifically from Rome [13]: a very popular Italian card game

1 - 2 - ?

see ya next time, ciao!

Quando Emilio Picani entrava al Dolce&Remì, tutte le teste si giravano. E quando tutte le teste si giravano, l'unico istinto di Giuda Schiavon era di girarsi dalla parte opposta.

Per evitare di implodere.

Nel momento esatto in cui il giovane aveva oltrepassato la soglia, Giuda aveva capito che era lui il famoso "cugino psicologo" di Patrizio.

E nel momento esatto in cui aveva visto il suo volto, solo una frase gli aveva rimbombato nel cervello:

- Sò ciavà.-

Il nuovo arrivato si era seduto al bancone, Remo che sembrava illuminato d'immenso, e Romolo che sembrava stesse per avere un infarto.

"Patrì. Ma stiamo a scherzare? Ce lo dovevi minimo minimo dire che tuo cugino era così bello!"

"Ma cosa stai dicendo, Romolo? Mo' dai guarda, che lo metti in imbarazzo!”

"Orco can Pati, stai calmo! Guarda che ci vuole molto di più per imbarazzarmi." aveva risposto il diretto interessato, scoccando un sorriso benevolo a Romolo, che si era limitato a ridere come una dodicenne.

- Ben ciò, perché mi mancava la competizione con la Stellina.-

Giuda aveva lanciato uno sguardo a Remo, che stava strofinando lo stesso bicchiere da tre minuti.

-Ah beo. Entrambe, le Stelline.-

E si era limitato a guardare il nuovo arrivato da dietro il bancone, attraverso lo specchio davanti al quale erano sistemati gli alcolici.

Ovviamente entrambi i gemelli erano già partiti all'attacco, e Virgilio e Luca si limitavano a guardarlo con lo sguardo di due leoni affamati.

Ovviamente, Patrizio si era accorto degli sguardi che il trentino lanciava al proprio consanguineo, e Giuda aveva scosso la testa vedendo i suoi occhi velarsi un po’.

- Se finisco anche io così mi do fuoco.-

"Sei silenzioso, Giudino." Aveva cinguettato Tommaso, l'unico a sembrare immune al fascino del nuovo arrivato.

Giuda si era limitato a sorridere sornione, indicando il gruppetto alle sue spalle con un cenno del capo.

"Mi sto godendo gli avvoltoi."

"PFFFF sono tremendiii!" Aveva sussurrato il pasticciere mordendosi il labbro dal ridere, cosa che aveva fatto sorridere ulteriormente Giuda che quindi aveva continuato:

"Sembra non vedano un uomo da millenni eh. Veramente. E Patrizio ha la faccia di uno che si è pentito a sbrega."

"A cosa?

"Pentito molto. Devo insegnarti il veneziano prima o poi, Boss."

Tommaso aveva annuito, e Giuda aveva deciso di mettersi sulla difensiva ancora prima che qualcuno potesse partire all'attacco.

"Che poi... Neanche fosse così figo. Bellino eh. Ma insomma, da far andare fuori di testa tutti e quattro?"

Tommaso aveva annuito, facendo spallucce.

"Ti do ragione. E spero che a Luca questa cosa passi presto prima che Patrizio faccia una strage."

"Patrizio dovrebbe anche darsi una mossa però eh, Luca è troppo impedito per accorgersi di quanto stia sbavando come una lumaca. Se non si muove finisce che se lo prende qualcun altro e ti ricordo che l'ultima volta è andato di sbronza triste."

"Non ricordamelo, ti prego..."

"Ao, regà!" Remo era arrivato di soppiatto e li aveva presi entrambi sottobraccio, sorridendo come lo scemo che era.

"Venite a conoscere il nuovo arrivato!"

- Oh, no, ti prego.-

"Capo fammi almeno togliere i guanti da piatti!"

"No no, li devi tenè, voglio che capisca chi comanda!" Aveva riso il maggiore dei gemelli Stella alla richiesta del suo lavapiatti.

Maledetto.

Con un movimento degno dei peggiori ubriachi di Caracas, aveva portato Tommaso e Giuda al cospetto del nuovo arrivato, che aveva addosso un sorriso capace di sciogliere il cuore di Giuda in un istante.

E lo aveva fatto.

"Emilio, ecco il mio socio e pasticcere Tommaso Sandero, e il mio lavapiatti tuttofare quello-che-vuoi, Giuda."

"Ho un cognome anche io sai, vecchio." con un eyerolling degno di una star holliwoodiana, Giuda si era voltato verso Emilio.

Merda, era ancora più bello, da vicino.

"Giuda Schiavon. Ti darei la mano ma ho i guanti."

"Schiavon?" Aveva chiesto Emilio illuminandosi.

Ma quanto poteva essere bello un essere umano? Ma era legale?

"Ahah, si chiama Schiavon. Il che è perfetto visto che è il nostro..." Aveva iniziato Remo, ma Emilio aveva stretto le mani davanti al viso con aria sognante ed aveva chiesto, interrompendolo:

"Ma sei veneto anche tu? Io sono di Verona!"

Giuda si era limitato a fare spallucce, annuendo subito dopo.

"Par tera, par mar, Sammarco."

"Can del porco un Venexian! Beaaa!"

Detto questo, si era avvicinato facendo finta di parlare in gran segreto - cosa impossibile visto che tutti lo stavano ancora fissando come se fosse una cosa meravigliosa, tranne forse Romolo che stava guardando proprio Giuda come se fosse la peggiore delle cose mai capitate a questo mondo:

"Cossa go da far pa aver na bona ombra de vin qua?"

Stava cercando di parlare in veneziano?

Ma c'era un limite a quanto potesse essere carino?

"Domandarghe a Remo. Io lavo i bicchieri, non li riempio mica."

Detto questo si era girato verso il titolare, compiendo uno sforzo sovrumano per distogliere lo sguardo da Emilio, che sembrava parecchio abbacchiato dalla risposta.

"Posso tornare di là? Devo andare in cucina a finire i piatti prima che arrivi altra gente per l'happy hour."

Si era quindi girato di nuovo verso Emilio, facendogli un cenno di saluto con un mezzo sorriso.

"Conterraneo, buona permanenza a Bologna."

E se n'era andato, senza lasciargli il tempo di rispondere.

Erano passati tre anni, da quel loro primo incontro.

Tre anni nei quali Romolo aveva fatto il più divertente degli epic fail con Emilio, nei quali Patrizio si era deciso a ficcare la lingua in bocca a Luca, e Virgilio aveva fatto finta di essere ubriaco per toccare il culo di Romolo, che diceva di aver dimenticato, ma Giuda sapeva essere una balla.

Perché lui, le balle, le subodorava, essendo un bugiardo cronico.

Infatti, nemmeno per un secondo aveva lasciato che qualcuno sospettasse minimamente della sua cotta allucinante per lo psicologo, specialmente il suddetto, visto che si era probabilmente ormai convinto di stargli sullo stomaco.

Il che era l'intento del veneziano, visto che dava per scontato che il trentenne fosse ben oltre quello che uno come lui potesse permettersi.

Dopo la disastrosa relazione col suo compagno di facoltà, Giuda aveva infatti deciso che single era decisamente meglio che col cuore a pezzi.

Anche se il suo cuore non stava troppo bene.

Trattare male Emilio gli stava facendo ormai perdere il sonno, a volte rischiava di dimenticare le lenti dalla stanchezza, e persino Virgilio lo prendeva per il culo per le occhiaie.

Ed ora era lì. I guanti in una mano ed una scopa nell'altra.

Con Remo che lo guardava con il sorriso dello Stregatto dipinto in faccia.

"A serpentino. L'ho capito eh. Te piace er veronese."

"Tu stai vaneggiando. Ora come ora lo ammazzerei. Ho fatto volare i bicchieri per colpa sua."

"Nun me piglià per il culo. Io e Tommy ti gridiamo contro in continuazione e non hai mai saltato così. Senti Coso, pure io le subodoro le stronzate, non sei mica l'unico. Fai il merda perché ti piace."

Giuda continuava a guardare il titolare negli occhi, cercando di negare con tutto il linguaggio del corpo.

"Non. Mi. Piace. Emilio. Non so cosa ti sei messo in testa, ma Mister Psicanalisi non è esattamente di mio gradimento okay?"

"Giuda..."

C'era qualcosa nel tono di Remo, qualcosa che per un attimo, aveva aperto una breccia nel cuore del veneziano.

Forse... Forse poteva fidarsi, di qualcuno.

"...Dal primo giorno in cui è entrato qui dentro. A voi tutti è passata. Ma a me mai. Non ho una cotta per Emilio, Remo. Io sono innamorato, di Emilio. Ma ho sofferto abbastanza in passato da sapere che sto meglio da solo. E se poi va male? Con che faccia lo guardo? Come..."

"Non puoi saperlo. Voglio dire, non posso saperlo io che ci vivo assieme, come puoi farlo tu se scappi ogni volta che lo vedi?"

"Sono del parere che ciò che non sai non può farti del male."

"Fosse qua Luca urlerebbe 'Boiate'. Giuda... io..."

"Beh. Ormai il danno è fatto, no? Si sarà convinto che lo odio dopo la stronzata di oggi."

Con una risata amara, Giuda aveva superato il romano, continuando:

"Mi sono bruciato ogni possibilità, amen..."

"Giuda."

"... Però di sicuro mica smette di venire, siamo il suo bar preferito e tu sei il suo coinquilino..."

"Giuda piantala."

"Di sicuro troverà subito qualcuno, gli basta respirare e arriva sempre qualcuno..."

"Giuda!"

Il lavapiatti si era girato di nuovo verso Remo, mordendosi il labbro mentre le stupidissime lacrime iniziavano a scendere.

"Io non ce la posso fare okay? Dopo Mattia non so più come comportarmi, con un uomo. E poi sono un casino. Emilio non potrà mai apprezzare uno come me."

Remo era rimasto in silenzio per un attimo, prima di avanzare ed... abbracciare? Giuda.

Il veneziano era basito, di solito era Tommaso, quello con cui a volte si permetteva gesti affettuosi.

"Ti devi de sta zitto. Non fai così schifo. E te lo giuro su Totti, io ti aiuterò a prenderti lo psicologo, che tu lo voglia o no."

Giuda aveva riso amaramente, la faccia ficcata nel petto dell'altissimo coetaneo.

"Seh, vabbè. E come credi di fare?"

Remo lo aveva lasciato andare ed aveva sentenziato, serissimo.

"Sai giocare a briscola?"

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blueishfood · 4 years

Text

Wind in our sails (Chapter 5)

Fandom/Ship: Maraudrer era in a Pirates of the Caribbean au! Jily, Dobby x Winky, Alice x Frank,

Summary:

“Lily Evans, a young Lady of El Puerto Del Rey, meets Lucius Malfoy for the first time as she is promised to him. Malfoy is one of the few counts of Slytherin Island, a persuasive and revolting man. Miss Evans sees no way out of the nightmare her parents has landed her in.

That is until the infamous Marauder, a known and feared pirate ship sailed by Captain James Potter, attacks The Serpent on their way to her wedding. Lily sees and escape and grabs on tight.

Set sail with Lily Evans as she joins Captain James Potter and his mates in swashbuckling adventures of romance, mystery and lionhearted bravery.”

Warning(s): Fighting

Words: 2,5 K

A/N: Now this is the plot I was talking about!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

The captain was drunk.

His first mate was avoiding the cabin, that was the first sign. Then, when Winky was shouted out of his cabin for bringing food, Lily really understood what was going on.

This drinking had been going on for some while now. Apparently, according to the other pirates, it wasn’t normal when it came to captain Potter. It had only started after the attack on Malfoy’s ship, but this day was particularly bad. She had heard bottles breaking every time she walked past his door.

Lily had been trying to find a secure location to fix up her bindings, which came loose every now and then, when Potter opened his door to see her standing outside. He reeked of rum, and his eyes were unfocused. She watched as he swayed with the waves in his doorframe. He lent forward, grabbed her jaw so that she would look at him and sighed.

“Right,” he poked her nose, “It’s you, Runt.” Lily frowned at the nickname and took a step away. He reeked of rum.

Potter looked like he had forgotten what he was supposed to do and walked back into his cabin. Right before the door swung shut, he turned around with a finger in the air. He stopped the door with a surprisingly steady foot and put a hand on Lily’s shoulder.

“Will you please get me another bottle of rum?” His words slurred, but Lily nodded to him with wide eyes.

“Yes, captain.” She turned around, stopped, and glanced back at the intoxicated man, “sit tight.”, she commanded, before she sprinted down the hall.

Lily returned with two green bottles. Sirius had opened the rum cellar for her and stuffed the two bottles in her arms before she could object. “He’s better off sleeping,” the first mate muttered and walked away. Seemed he didn’t like the drunk version of his best friend.

Potter was fiddling with the papers on his desk when Lily walked in. She didn’t manage to see what they held, but it seemed awfully important to him. Perhaps she could manage sneaking back when he was sleeping off the booze.

“Thank you…” -he picked one bottle out of her grip and popped it open- “very much.”

Lily nodded, placing the other bottle on the edge of his desk. When she was about to leave, however, a hand stopped her.

“Boy,” the Captain was still looking at his new bottle, pulling her back to his desk at the same time. “Tell me, did you see the knife?” Lily frowned.

“Knife?” She knew of many knifes on this ship but had no idea what the Captain was on about. She could see him frowning at his own sentence and waited as he gathered his thoughts.

“Not knife,” he gestured to the papers on his desk, “wife. The wife.”

Lily froze. Did he know? How could he have known?

Had he seen her somewhere? Did someone let the secret slip, and if so, why hadn’t he already killed her? Slowly she lifted her eyes, they were like lead in her sockets. After an eternity she was able to see the captain again. She hoped beyond hope that the tears in her eyes weren’t visible.

But the captain wasn’t looking at her. He had turned around. Potter took another swig of the bottle and muttered a few curses.

“The wife of that serpent… slug eating… man hunting savage… bloody death eater… disgusting rat,” it was impossible to hear every word, but from the looks of it, James Potter hated Malfoy more than he let on. Which meant that his hatred for Lily would be just as great. If not worse.

He turned back to her and gestured to the papers again. Lily had not dared look at them yet, but now he was encouraging her to.

“Have you seen her? Anywhere?”

Lily’s eyes landed on her own face. Younger than she was now. Happier. She had never seen that drawing before. It was drawn in simple coal, and it featured a ten-year-old Lily Evans, grinning with flowers in her hair.

She let out a small gasp. Potter didn’t seem to hear.

“She is older now. In her twentieth winter or something.” Lily was not able to respond. Her head was full of questions. How had he gotten that drawing? Why did he need to find her? Who was this man?

“She was getting married to that rat… that, that snake. And he works for…” he trailed off, completely forgetting what he was talking about and starting a new conversation. Lily tried listening carefully to his drunken ranting, but it was hard to catch the words.

“If he gets hold of the girl… the girl.” He turned around suddenly, as if seeing Lily for the first time, and said, “This war, I don’t want a war, runt.” She could see the dull glint in his eyes, and knew he wasn’t entirely gone.

This talk couldn’t be just rubbish, but war? There had not been war, real war in this region for years now. Pirate squabbles and attacks happened, yes, but never all out war.

“Boy!” His hair was wild. Lily had not seen it before now, but it stuck out in all angles.

“Did you see her?” His voice hit the damp wooden walls like crashing waves, his eyes were darker than when she had brought him the rum. They seemed more focused, but also a lot angrier. She could count the drops of sweat on his forehead.

“I didn’t see her, sir. As I said, no woman was picked up, Captain.” The sentence sounded forced, the lump in her throat was becoming hard to keep down.

The Captain’s shoulders slumped. He sighed heavily and sat down on the wooden chair beside his desk. His grip on the rum was loose. Lily decided to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room, not knowing if she was dismissed or not.

“Can I ask why you are looking for her, Captain?” she muttered after a while, his heavy breathing becoming too much and too little for her to listen to. His anger was gone now, and when he looked at her Lily could only see defeat. He swallowed heavily, pushing a few strands of dark hair from his sweat-covered forehead.

“I knew her.” Potter was stopped by the door busting open. Lily straightened her back like a plank and turned to the intruder. The growl that slipped from Sirius lips told Lily to get out. She didn’t hesitate.

She did not know James Potter, a pirate from the seven seas. She had almost never been allowed to travel by the ocean, and she had certainly never been acquainted with pirates. The Captain was lying, that was certain, but why would he feel the need to lye to a young sailor? Lily had always thought people tended to be more truthful when they were drunk, but this clearly wasn’t the case with Potter. Whatever he was hiding, Lily was going to figure it out.

When dinner was served, Lily was about to collapse from exhaustion. The sun had been shining harshly today, hitting them like a whip whether they worked or not. But with the shining ball dipping into the ocean, light red clouds coloring the horizon, the crew placed themselves all over the deck. Bowls in their lap, they lent on the railing or sat on barrels in the welcome shade.

When Lily had gotten her share of food, she sat down next to Alice and Frank.

Frank Longbottom was one of the larger men in the crew, he seemed like the exact opposite of quaint Alice Prewitt, but somehow, they fit perfectly. They were apparently a thing; Lily just hadn’t had the time to notice.

Frank was poking his bit of salted beef while Alice gnawed at her ship biscuit. Lily took a bite of the meat and frowned.

“This tastes like-” Lily stopped and glanced up at Alice who was lifting an eyebrow. She re phrased the sentence; “It’s edible.”

Frank snorted.

“Barely,” he coughed heavily behind a large hand and Alice punched his shoulder. They laughed for a moment while Dobby and Winky joined them.

“Shut up,” Alice rolled her eyes at Frank’s grinning, “it’s all I can work with at the moment.” Lily didn’t miss the scowl Alice directed at the oblivious Captain.

Thankfully he had slept off the liquor and was now back to working his load. Apparently, no one knew what it was about, but the crew weren’t happy.

“Have you heard about the recruiting?” Lily looked at Dobby who was currently speaking through a mouthful of food. It didn’t seem like he minded the slight aroma of mould. Alice looked pleased.

“Recruiting?” Lily asked while Winky was scolding her husband for the indecency. Dobby nodded, leaning forward to spill the gossip.

“Someone is collecting votes to become captain.” Dobby looked at each one of them individually, hunting for reaction. Frank laughed, arms stretching to the light blue sky.

“Potter has been captain for years,” -he stabbed his knife in the table as if it was normal- “he’s well liked.”

There was a short silence broken by Winky.

“It has been a while since his last successful raid.”

“You think that’s enough?” Lily asked, still new to this pirate life. Winky shrugged in response. They once again ate in silence.

“Who is it?” Lily’s question was directed at Dobby. He grabbed a hold of the railing he was sitting on, and leaned back, balancing on the wood.

“Well who do you think?” he asked, swinging one leg over the railing. Lily looked for answers in the group, but they all avoided her gaze. She shrugged. Dobby rolled his eyes like it was obvious.

“Black.”

Lily frowned. That didn’t seem believable.

“He’s the Captain’s best friend, is he not?” Alice sighed at Lily’s guess, picking up her plate.

“They often are,” she said before leaving. Winky had started picking on her sleeve nervously.

“They say you only get to know the identity of the recruiter after you have claimed Prongs to be an unfit Captain,” Dobby stated, and picked an uneaten piece of meat from Winky’s plate, chewing on in thoughtfully. “But Padfoot is the only one who could gather enough votes, the only one with enough experience and trust...”

Black called for Dobby from the quarterdeck, and Dobby shrugged at Lily before he left,

“It’s only logic.”

And he was right. It was only logic, but for some reason this logic seemed off. Lily didn’t know yet how or why.

Before Lily could place her dishes in water, she was slammed to the mast. She felt her back pop in several places and howled.

“What the hell!” she shouted, looking up, only to stare into the eyes of her Captain. Potter was looking all sorts of furious; she could see the veins in his neck on the verge of popping.

“You lying son of a whore!” he roared, looking like he wanted to carve her up and feed her to the sharks.

While trying to push down her fear, Lily glared at him. She felt her eyes well up at the pain against her wishes. She respected Potter as a Captain, but this was taking it a step too far.

The crew had gathered around them quickly when discovering the commotion. Lily saw Winky shooting up from her seat, hands over her mouth in shock.

“What are you playing at, Potter?” she spat his last name out like filth, but he didn’t seem to be able to grow any angrier. Dobby shot forward, trying to pry the captain away from her, but the rest of the crew pulled him back.

“You told me you didn’t pick her up!” he shouted, his hands tightening on her shirt. Lily tried saying something, but her words seemed stuck to her throat. Her stuttering was drowned in the noise of the crowd. “So why is this snake,” he violently shoved a man standing beside him to the ground, “telling me you did?” She recognized the man, his name was Mikey, he taught her a knife trick while on board Malfoy’s ship. But alas, he had not recognized her.

“Lying to the Captain is breaking the code.” The voice of Sirius Black sounded darker than she had heard it before. His gaze when he broke from the crowd burned like liquid fire. They were all watching her, scrutinizing her, Lily felt like screaming.

“And breaking the code means…” he trailed off, Lily watched as Frank growled at the mere suggestion while she still didn’t understand, “death.” Lily flinched.

“Take off your hat,” -The Captain fished up a knife, lightly pressing the cold metal right under her chin- “so I can look into your eyes when I slit your throat.”

“Back off, Potter, or you’ll be dead before you can touch a hair on my head.” Without him noticing, Lily had managed to press a knife to his side. They were locked tight, the crew gasped, and Lily drew only the slightest amount of blood. Potter hissed but didn’t move an inch. Neither were ready to back down.

“Who are you, huh? One of Voldy’s?” Sirius asked, moving closer, probably to grab her knife.

“Stop it!”, her voice turned an octave higher, and Sirius froze, “I’ll kill him, I swear to you I will.”

“Don’t.” She turned to Winky sharply, who had just stepped into the ring. “Just tell him.”

“Shut it.” Lily growled; her eyes once again locked with Potter’s. She spotted a glimmer of confusion in his dark irises, but it was drowned by the anger.

“Tell him or I will!”

“Fine!” Lily spit, clenching and loosening her fist rhythmically. “But first you drop your weapon.” James watched her for a second, eyes jumping form back and forth over her face, but she already knew he was going to refuse.

“Lower yours.” The ocean breeze seemed to favor him, Lily thought, where it stroked his hair instead of slapping him in the face.

Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes at the mere suggestion. “Then you’ll just kill me.” she stated, pushing her dagger a bit further in a warning.

“Do I have a guarantee you won’t kill me?” His eyes were unflinching, but now maybe a bit softer, she couldn’t be certain.

“My word.” Lily lifted her chin proudly. Her word was something to trust… most of the time. She was lady after all, but Potter wouldn’t know that. He laughed mockingly. The sound was so forced it was painful to listen to.

“The word of a traitor.” His mouth curled in a snarl. His glare was toxic, she wanted to flinch, but she didn’t, she couldn’t.

“Lower your weapon, Potter.” She hissed through clenched teeth. The sun turned the sea to a ferocious red as they stood there without blinking, locked in a silent fight that could only end in death.

“She is Lily Evans.”

#jily pirate fanfic #jily fanfiction #potc #marauders fanfiction #the marauders #james potter #lily evans #siruis black #remus lupin #alice longbottom #frank longbottom

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bi-bi-want-dragon · 5 years

Text

Brothers

(link to read it at ff.net if you prefer that)

Daddy was nervous. Daddy was very nervous. Zephyr didn’t completely understand why, but she knew. He wasn’t pacing like Momma did when she was nervous. He was trying to be happy and play with Zephyr, but his hands were doing that thing Momma made fun of him for. He never stopped moving, and his arms and hands were flailing around constantly trying to find something to do. He kept looking at the stairs that led to Momma and Daddy’s bedroom.

Zephyr knew enough to understand her little baby brother or sister was on the way. But everyone always said it would be a very happy day when the baby came. Today was not a very happy day in Zephyr’s eyes. Momma had been very scared, and she told Daddy something was wrong. And before Zephyr knew it, Daddy was trying to distract Zephyr and Grandma was taking Momma upstairs. Daddy had sent someone for Aunt Ruffnut, but she wasn’t here yet. So Daddy was sitting downstairs with Zephyr. Daddy was trying really hard to be strong and happy, but Zephyr still knew.

Zephyr was sitting on Daddy’s lap, playing with her stuffed Night Fury that Daddy had given her for her name-day celebration. He looked back up the stairs again with his eyebrows pinched together. He tried to be sly, but Zephyr still saw it and she knew what it meant. She was a very fast learner; Daddy told her so a lot.

“Daddy, what’s wrong with Momma?” she asked, focused on her Night Fury.

She felt him shift but kept her focus on her toy. “With Momma? Nothing’s wrong, Zeph, she’s okay.”

“Daddy,” she said, dropping her toy and looking up at him with a sigh, quite annoyed with her father. Hiccup chuckled internally at the sass that coated her tone; she may look like him, but that attitude was all Astrid. “I’m a big girl. How come Grandma took Momma upstairs? Momma looked scared…” Zephyr let the nervousness show in her eyes now, afraid that she was losing her mother.

Hiccup saw the sudden shift and held her close, kissing her hair. “Hey, little warrior, she’s okay. Momma’s going to be just fine. The baby just… Is coming a little early, that’s all.”

Zephyr’s voice was small. “Is that bad?”

“Hopefully not,” he muttered. Zephyr didn’t like the sound of that.

She wanted to ask more, but then the front door swung open. “Alright Haddock, I’m here. What was so urgent?” Ruffnut said, sounding almost annoyed as she stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

Hiccup stood up immediately, carrying Zephyr with him over to Ruffnut. “Astrid.”

Ruffnut’s face softened, as did her tone. Her arms dropped to her side and she gave a short nod. “‘Nuff said. Come here, Zephyr, Daddy’s uh… Gotta go help your mom.” She reached out her arms to Zephyr who hesitated, glancing up at her father.

He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. “It’s okay, stay with Aunt Ruff.” Hiccup tried not to laugh at Ruffnut, who scrunched her nose at the word “aunt.” He forgot the twins didn’t like how “adult” the titles sounded. “Momma’s going to be just fine. I’ll come get you as soon as you can see her, okay?”

Zephyr still didn’t like what was happening, but she nodded and leaned over into Aunt Ruffnut’s arms. She lifted Zephyr out of Daddy’s grasp and set her on her hip. Zephyr leaned her head on her aunt’s shoulder and popped her thumb into her mouth. Daddy saw and gently pulled her hand down. “It’s okay, little warrior,” he said softly, nodding to Aunt Ruffnut before running up the stairs.

Aunt Ruffnut sat down on the couch with Zephyr in her lap. Zephyr played with her fingers nervously, sucking on her lower lip as she glanced around the room.

“Aw, you can put that thumb back in there, kid, I won’t tell your dad,” Aunt Ruff said. Zephyr gladly did so before leaning against Aunt Ruff’s chest, curling herself into a ball. Aunt Ruff seemed to stiffen for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around Zephyr and relaxed.

The room was quiet for a while as Zephyr cuddled with her Aunt Ruffnut. Neither knew quite what to say, but Zephyr was glad she had someone to hold her. But eventually she had to ask. “Aunt Ruffie?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“Am I gonna lose my Momma?” The question was almost a squeak.

Ruffnut was caught off guard. Zephyr seemed genuinely scared, and she wasn’t sure how to handle that. “Your mom? Astrid? Heck no! She’s the strongest person I know!”

Zephyr was quiet for another moment, but her next question was almost whispered. “Am I gonna lose my baby brother or sister?”

Ruffnut bit her lip. That one wasn’t so easy. “I hope not.”

Zephyr sighed. “That’s what Daddy said too.”

Ruffnut felt bad. Should she have lied? Normally she had absolutely no qualms about lying to anyone, but Zephyr was different. She was too innocent, and even the Thorston twins had enough of a heart to realize that. “Hey, look, I’m sure he’ll be okay. Or she.”

Zephyr didn’t seem very convinced, but Ruffnut didn’t know what else to say, so she just sat in the quiet trying to comfort the small girl in her lap as best as she could.

Zephyr’s mind was racing though, and she didn’t like that. “Aunt Ruffie?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you like having a brother?”

Ruffnut chuckled. “Yeah, I do. I mean, he’s a pain in my a- uh, butt, sometimes, but he’s my brother. I’d do anything for him.”

“Anything?” Zephyr asked.

“Anything.” Ruffnut said, sneaking a glance up the stairs. “Wanna know the craziest one?” she asked with a devious smile.

Zephyr nodded curiously.

“One time, Snotlout convinced Tuffnut that he was turning into a dragon after something bit him in the woods. So, I dragged Snotlout into the forest to got a bunch of dragons and sea slugs and all kinds of crazy stuff to bite him. Then I’d drag him back and compare the bite marks to Tuffnut’s to figure out what bit him.”

Zephyr giggled. “Really?”

“Really. Your dad was mad for a second there when I brought Snotlout back with the first round of bite samples, but when I explained what I was doing he just let me go. Best day of my life. He totally had it coming.” Ruffnut chuckled, remembering the look on Snotlout’s face.

“Does Uncle Tuffnut still think he’s a dragon?” Zephyr asked, thoroughly entertained by the silliness of her uncle.

“Nah, we found the wolf that bit him.” Ruffnut though back for a moment. “Then again, he was kind of convinced again when Hiccup gave him that flight suit…”

Zephyr giggled again. But then she heard her mother shout from upstairs. She sounded like she was in pain, and that scared Zephyr.

Ruffnut felt the little girl in her lap start to shake at Astrid’s scream. Why did Hiccup have to call her of all people? Ruffnut was not exactly the comforting type!

But then she saw how her little hands gripped the black plush dragon until her knuckles went white. How the tears began to bead at the corners of her eyes as she stared at the staircase leading up to her parent’s bedroom. How her small lip quivered and her breathing began to hitch when she inhaled.

“Hey… It’s okay, that’s pretty normal. I think,” Ruffnut said. She hadn’t had kids of her own yet (though Fishlegs seemed pretty determined to change that relatively soon) and she wasn’t exactly someone who would jump at helping another woman through something like that.

“Really?” Zephyr asked, still looking at the stairs and clutching her toy.

“Yeah! Same thing probably happened when your mom had you!”

Zephyr’s eyes grew even wider somehow. “I hurt Momma?!”

Whoops. “No! Well, I mean, I guess technically, but no!” This did not calm Zephyr whatsoever. Ruffnut sighed. She was unintentionally destroying this poor girl. She decided she would blame it on Hiccup. “It happens with everybody, not just your mom. It’s just… How this stuff works, she knew that before she even knew you were coming. She wanted you anyway. She knows you didn’t mean to hurt her.”

Zephyr calmed down a little, but still cringed every time she heard Astrid cry out. Ruffnut prayed to the gods that they were almost done before she ruined the Chief’s daughter any more than she already had.

After awhile more of silence between the two (Ruffnut decided it was probably best to keep her mouth shut), Zephyr leaned back against Ruffnut’s chest. She popped her thumb back in her mouth and used her free hand to play with one of Ruffnut’s braids hanging in front of her. Ruffnut wrapped her arms around Zephyr and gave her a little squeeze. Astrid’s cries were growing more frequent, making Zephyr more and more uneasy. She was fidgety and jumpy, and Ruffnut couldn’t figure out how to make her feel better. So she just tried to hold her tight, laying her head on top of Zephyr’s when her neck got tired.

When Astrid’s cries stopped suddenly, Zephyr’s head whipped up so she could stare at the stairs. Ruffnut snapped her head up as well, startled by the sudden movement of her quasi-niece. “Woah, I’m up,” Ruffnut said, blinking and trying to reorient herself to her surroundings. She found Zephyr looking up at her with her eyebrows pinched together.

“I don’t hear Momma anymore,” she whispered, eyes brimming with tears.

Gods, I can’t keep doing this, Ruffnut thought to herself. “Well, hey, that’s good! Maybe that means it’s all over!”

Zephyr’s lips pursed in thought like her father’s always did as she looked back to the stairs. It almost gave Ruffnut whiplash; the blue eyes were just about the only thing that reminded her she was Zephyr and not Hiccup.

“If it’s all over… Does that mean Momma’s okay?” she asked slowly.

“Well, yeah, sure. Astrid’s totally fine. She’s the strongest person I know, remember?”

The tears in Zephyr’s eyes didn’t disappear, but she looked back to Ruffnut. She careful stood up on the chair next to Ruffnut’s legs with her thumb back in her mouth.

Ruffnut grabbed onto her little waist, not wanting to have to explain to Hiccup why his daughter fell off a chair on her watch (quite honestly terrified of how Daddy Hiccup would react). “What is it, Zephyr?” she asked the girl.

Zephyr didn’t say a word; she simply laid her head on Ruffnut’s shoulder, thumb still in her mouth, and wrapped her free arm around Ruffnut’s neck. Ruffnut froze, surprised by the embrace, before slowly wrapping her arms around her. She tried rubbing Zephyr’s back like she’d seen Astrid do hundreds of times, hoping it would make her feel better. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“Thanks Aunt Ruffie.” Zephyr spoke around her thumb.

“For what?”

“For sitting with me.”

“Oh, well… You know I’m always here for you, kid.”

“Aunt Ruffie?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Ruffnut’s eyes widened just slightly as she hesitated out of surprise. Huh. Maybe she wasn’t doing so bad after all. “I love you too, Zephyr,” she said, giving the girl a small squeeze. She lifted Zephyr up and set her back down to straddle her aunt’s lap, letting Zephyr face her still so she could lay her head on Ruffnut’s chest. Zephyr settled easily against her aunt, who began to gently rock her side to side. Ruffnut wasn’t sure why she did any of it, but it just sort of felt right. And as long as Zephyr wanted to stay there, Ruffnut would hold her tight and rock her if it meant she felt better.

Ruffnut and Zephyr froze as they heard slow footsteps down the stairs. Zephyr recognized the alternating pattern of boot and metal and knew it was her father. She didn’t look up at him, but Ruffnut did. He looked exhausted despite Astrid’s labor lasting less than a day. Which means he had been more worried and stressed than he let on. And he let on that he was incredibly worried and stress as it was. He sighed as his not-leg leg stepped on the floor, making Ruffnut second guess if everything was okay.

“Zephyr?” Hiccup said gently, kneeling next to her and Ruffnut. Zephyr’s heart raced, worried about her mother. But Hiccup lifted her chin with his finger and asked, “Would you like to meet your baby brother?”

The smile that lit up Zephyr’s face melted Hiccup’s heart in an instant. She nodded shyly, reaching out to her father. “Come here, little warrior,” he said softly, lifting her from Ruffnut’s lap. He nodded to Ruffnut as he settled Zephyr against his chest, a silent thank you for giving his little girl company. She smiled back as Hiccup carried Zephyr up the stairs.

Eh. Maybe she could do the whole mom thing.

You know. If Fishlegs wants it so bad.

#httyd #hiccup #hiccup haddock #zephyr #zephyr haddock #dadcup #ruffnut #ruffnut thorston #aunt ruffnut #fanfic #Haddock family #post httyd 3 #life after they left #randis fics

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catnip-smuggler-radio · 4 years

Text

A Ship of His Own: Part 1

Tray was sitting by the docks of the Kugane bay, letting the time just float away from early morning into late morning. He was resting on a bench with his pipe in his mouth and a book in his hands. The leather-bound book looked simple, almost as if it was a journal, but inside it was just a trashy romance novel by his favorite author. Tray often disguised his romance novels as something less obvious, but that didn’t change the fact that he enjoyed them. Though, for the last bell or so, he really hadn’t been reading. Though he was looking at the words on the page, he wasn’t seeing them. Rather his mind was wandering over yesterday’s events. After meeting with Jak’s twin Vynnie, the red-head had taken it upon himself to help try to heal the rift between them. At the time, it seemed the right thing to do. But why? Jak had commented he hadn’t known either long. In fact, he’d only met Vynnie for a bell or so by pure accident. He had answered because you helped folks you cared for. But, now, he wondered if it was more self-serving than that. Certainly the murderous trash-catte was a fan of happy endings. Most of the books he read ended in ‘Happily Ever Afters’ after all, mostly because life seemed so stingy with giving anyone a real, true happy ending. But part of him realized that he wanted to see if he could patch this rift between the twins not just for them, which he did want, but also because he wanted to see if it was in him to even be able to heal familial relations. He was curious if he would have been able to heal the relationship between him and his son. If there would have been hope for them had Yimir had not been slain. “Well, scupper me, you really are alive.” Tray perked his pierced ears as he turned from the book towards a large, Roegadyn woman with a mane of wild, shoulder-length grey hair that was walking towards him; a smile creased the wrinkles around her eyes. She was dressed in a white, cotton shirts and black trousers that were tucked into knee-high, brown boots. Over her shoulders was draped a thigh-length, green jacket with black lapels and buttons of solid gold. ((Rest under cut cause loooong))

“Ye didn’t think teh rumors of meh death were really real did ye?” Tray chuckled, tipping his pipe over and dumping the last of his moko onto the dock as he rose to his feet. He put the pipe and book away as he went to offer his hand to the roe. Instead of taking the hand, he woman came in and wrapped Tray in a strong hug, squeezing him hard. Tray wheezed as he heard his back popping when she lifted him off the ground. “I did actually.” she laughed. She popped a view more vertebrae as she squeezed and then returned Tray to the earth. The red-head took a moment to regain himself before he gazed up at her broad face and gave her a fanged smile. Dennlona Nedyrthota was probably the oldest friend Tray still had in the world. She had been his first captain almost twenty years ago when he’d shown up in Limsa seeking a life of adventure upon the seas. She’d taken him aboard her ship as a cabin boy and then, she’d eventually allowed him to rise to become first harpoon of her whaler. Tray had sailed on several of her whaling expeditions during the ten years he’d been a sailor and his nautical knowledge all stemmed from this woman. In a very real way, she was a second mother to him. Shortly before Tray had retired from whaling to raise turnips with his mate, Denn had transitioned from captaining vessels to running her own shipping company and eventually into the business of purchasing and selling ships. If you needed a ship, she could find you something for the right price. And right now Tray was in the market for a new one. “Ye know meh better den dat, Denn.” Tray snorted. “You think I would.” the roe replied, pausing to nod at his covered eye. “What happened there?” “Made a bad deal.” Tray answered and Denn raised a grey eyebrow as she fixed him with her golded eyes. “Way I hear it, you made a lot of bad deals. And a lot of enemies, Tray. Yer name’s on a lot of black lists back in Limsa and Ul’dah.” The red-haired miqo’te grunted. “So I’ve heard.” he flicked his pierced tail. “Trust meh, I didn’t want to go to ye but I need a ship to start makin’ gil again an; I don’t have a whole lot of contacts on dis side of teh sea.” Denn looked at him and then, slugged him in the chest hard enough to knock him onto his ass. “Oi!” he protested. “I taught you better then that, Tray.” Denn muttered. “I mean, the garleans -and- the monetarists? Did you really think pissing them all off was a good idea? And trying to establish a triad to boot? You’re a sailor, not a business miqo’te.” “Hey, I saw how much money ye was makin’ on land and wanted to give it a go.” Tray grunted, picking himself up. Denn paused and then laughed. “You’re still that same little shit kit I hired on all those years ago. Eyes, well eye now, bigger than your stomach.” She crossed her huge arms. “Suppose I actually did bring a ship all the way out here like you requested in your letter? Suppose I sell it to you today? What do you do with the ship? Way I see it, you’re blacklisted from most other companies and I’m risking tarnishing my reputation by selling to you.” “I use it to make money. Keep provin’ I’m teh best smuggler dis world ever seen.” he grinned before sticking his pierced tongue out at her. Quick as a viper, Denn caught his tongue in her fingers. Old as she was, she was still fast as lighting and Tray blinked at his former captain in alarm. “That comes out of your mouth again, I keep it, savvy?” Denn commented calmly as she let go. Tray flexed his jaw and nodded. “Look, Denn, I need dis ship. For me, okay? I lost everythin’ when teh garleans came down on meh. Everythin’. An’ I tryin’ to rebuild mehself. I’m working for a new company an’ need to carry meh weight. I need to be on teh sea, provin’ to mehself and dem I’m worth a damn, aight? I ain’t trying to rebuild meh criminal empire here. I’m just trying to make a livin’, feel teh sea spray on meh face, and maybe murder a few garleans in exchange for what deh did to meh and meh son.” Denn ground her teeth, clearly thinking as she studied her red-headed, -almost- adopted son. She had watched Tray go from a wild, rambunctious youth full of fire to a power-hungry criminal drenched in blood. She hadn’t enjoyed seeing it, even if she had been selling him trade galleons before it all came crashing down on Tray. Her relationship with him had actually hurt her business in the aftermath of Tray’s fall and she’d taken moons proving she’d distanced herself from him. Her business was still hurting from that. Yet, despite the personal financial loss, she still had a fondness for him, as if she couldn't help but see him as a young kit laughing in the rigging as he saw his first whale spouting off on the horizon. “You aren’t planning on rebuilding?” Tray shook his head. “Not to that degree. I been at teh top and fell. Saw a few spots on teh way down I’d rather set up shop instead.” he chuckled and wagged his pierced tail. Denn was silent. “I hear one word, one tale, of you making a bid to the top, I’ll sink you myself.” Denn grunted. “Cause I am not having you bring me, or anyone else you tie yourself too, down.” Tray spat into his had and offered it to Denn. She spat into hers and they shook. “Deal.” Tray agreed. “Alright then. I did bring a vessel all this way.” Denn explained as she freed her hand. “It’s not much, but your letter made it sound like this was exactly what you were looking for. Come on.” The tall woman turned and began walking towards the docks, weaving through sailors and merchants alike. Tray followed, taking two strides for every one of hers. “Still can’t believe you’re alive.” Denn chuckled after a few moments of awkward silence. “I -almost- didn’t come but I had to see if it was true.” “Glad ye did.” Tray answered as they turned to one of the smaller piers. They began passing moored vessels as they came to the end of a dock. “There she is.” Denn commented as they came around a large trade galleon to see the ship that rested in the galleon’s shadows. A two-masted brigantine lay moored alongside the docks. At just short of seventy feet in length, she was smaller than most of the ships Tray had sailed on in recent years but she was sleek and her bow was sharp. Speed had been the intent when her designers had laid down her hull and that was both a blessing and a curse. She was a bit more narrow than the average brigantine, which would reduce the amount of cargo she could carry. And, at only seventy feet, he’d only be able to mount ten guns so her bite would be minimal at best unless he went with twenty-four pound canons and that was a lot of extra weight he’d need to factor in when trying to stuff her full of wares. “So what do you think?” Denn commented as the pair climbed the gangplank and boarded the ship. “She was a prize back when she was made.” Tray said, running his hands over some of her rigging lines and feeling the crusted mildew eating away at the sinews. “She ain’t been well cared for, Denn.” Tray walked to her foremast and pressed his ear to it. He knocked several times. No stressed fractures inside the mast could be heard at least. “Her lines are rottin’, she’s got barnacles, and I can only imagine what her sails look like.” He looked up at the rolls of canvas overhead. “She wasn’t one of mine till recently.” Denn explained, leaning on the railing. “Picked her up a moon ago. Was going to do a rework in the drydocks but, you seemed to be in the market for something fast and she -is- that. Quick as silver she is.” Tray leaned back and looked up towards the helm. As he walked he stomped his boots, listening to her deck. She was made of solid wood that had aged well despite her former owner’s neglect. “I trust ye’ll be knockin’ down teh price since I’mma need to re-rig her, buy new sails, and scrape her clean.” He went over to the railing and peered at her hull. “Probably re-coat her too.” Denn pulled out a slip of paper and handed it too him. The miqo’te took it, read the quote, and snorted. “Ye can’t be serious, Denn! For dis price I could buy mehself a new sloop or even an ol’ galleon back in Limsa.” “Aye, you could, but this isn’t Limsa, and you have limited people that will see to you. Plus, I had to have a crew sail her out her for you, and they’ve got to ride back on my galleon when I leave.” Tray flicked his tail, looking around. “For this price, least ye could do would be leave me a dozen hands to help get her sea-worthy again.” he commented. “I’d be willing to spare some if you promise to get them back to me in Limsa once she’s back at sea.” Denn offered. “I can’t pay in full now.” Tray said. “I’ll need to take it on credit.” “If it was anyone else but you, I’d tell ‘them to walk a plank. I’ll take that offer, at ten percent interest.” “Five.” “Eight, final offer.” Tray chewed his lower lip as he explored the ship further. Denn watch him wander and explore for about half a bell before Tray approached her and nodded. “Alright. I’ll take her, with yer promise of some hands to help.” It was Denn’s turn to spit into her hand and offer it to Tray. He reciprocate the gesture. “Congratulations on your new ship, Captain.” Denn remarked with an amused grin. Tray felt his own face smiling, that title sounding good in his ears. ((Tray got a ship but now has to work on. Huzzah projects! Mentions of @miqojak and @miqo-vynnie ‘s characters based on rps cause that’s on his mind too!))

#Tray'ju #'Captain' Tray'ju #He's got a ship again!#even if it does need some work #plus he's got things to think about witht eh twins #[Brimestone and Blood]#rp #Balmung #Ship of His Own #long post #tray writes

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l1ana · 5 years

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Imagine you and Spiderman being like Adrien and Bridget from ML

Summary: Incase y'all don't know wtf this prompt is— Basically it's [Name] with a crazy crush on Peter but he's either totally oblivious to it, un-purposefully ignore her, or is focusing on another girl. Meanwhile, he -as both spiderman and peter- completely falls in love with her hero alter ego albeit she shows no interest in Spiderman whatsoever. I got this idea after watching a bit of the Miraculous Ladybug original concept video and just had a sort of breakthrough. Anyways, on with the story.

———

“Hey, Peter...” You scrambled to navigate through the sea of fellow classmen, desperate to catch up to your object of interest. He just wasn't hearing you, and that deeply plummeted your mood. Before you knew it, he was gone— Disappearing into the crowd probably never to be seen again until lunch classes.

Peter Parker, biggest geek in highschool. Always bullied, always harassed in ways you thought were impossible. He seemed like the type to keep his head low and live an honest normal life, but little did anyone have clue on about his contrasting alter ego— Spiderman. As said hero of Queens, Peter could do everything he couldn't do as an average teenager. Who knew red and blue spandex was the key to becoming famous?

You sighed as thoughts of Peter bubbled into your head and revolved without signs of stopping. His nerdish and oh-so dorky quirks were the center of your attention aside from his baby face. Not to admit it, but you were in love with the charmer like a mad puppy. But the thing is— He never took notice of you. Hell, he probably doesn't even know that you exist. The only time you two ever met gazes was during class switches, before school, in the middle of lunch, or after school. Other than that, you were a ghost pretty much.

Today was no different from the rest; besides there being the fact that a pair of tickets were in your left hands hold. They crumpled up when your grip increased tenfold, tears threatening to pour down your eyes. ‘This is so unfair.’ You thought to yourself. ‘Why is it that whenever I try to start something with him... Fate just doesn't allow it?’ Your heart fell heavy into your chest. People would call you callow or petty for thinking what you did, but the thing of the matter is that your crush has been the same since elementary school years and continued from there. There was no doubt in your mind that Peter Parker was the one for you.

But, then again, he doesn't even know who you are.

Thankfully, you had a way to change that.

“Hey, Peter!” This morning, you wasted no time in dashing and shoving anyone who dared to get in your way out of eyesight and tracked the chocolate haired boy to a more secluded part of the hallways. The both of you were panting a bit, tired from all of the post-exercise. “P-Peter... Parker...” You breathed out, hands on your knees. “I am... I'm...” Before you could continue on and let him know who you were, the bell rang. Whoopdy-effing-doo. Oh how you wanted to pummel your bad luck into a pulp. “Sorry, I gotta go... Maybe later?” He cringed a bit, aware of how inconsiderate he was being towards you.

With those words left in his wake on your mind, he hurried off to his next class. It took some moments to pass by until a more than visible red hue formed on your face in a horitonzal fashion. Your pair of hands raised to slap your cheeks and squish them in multiple different ways, meanwhile you wore the most lovesick expression you swore you could make without seeming like you were on drugs.

‘Maybe later, he said..’ You recited his words in your head over and over like a song. Small yelps and cheers of joy escaped your lips as the thought didn't cease to fade away. Step one to getting acknowledged was complete. Now if only you could—

“[Name], there's a robbery down at the city bank.” A robotisized voice rang through your left ear. You sighed heavily. “Uggghh. That's not my problem, Stein. Let the police handle it.” Your hand waved through the air. “It seems to be another one of Electro's heists.” “.... UGGGGHHH.” Getting to the city and back would put your last two periods to waste no doubt and you'd also lose a chance to go out and establish a bond with the apple of your eye. But after hearing that Electro was involved, you found that there was no other choice but to go out and do this. Besides, the cops wouldn't stand a chance against him.

‘I'm sorry Peter, you'll have to talk to me sometime later.’ You silently apologized to your crush in your mind, hoping that he would telepathically get your message. Afterwards, you ran into the nearest bathroom and then was seen jumping out the window into the street, except your attire had changed completely. Instead of being dressed down in the usual ‘[Name] wear’, a skin-tight bodysuit overtook you, a half of a face mask covering your face whilst a horn headband was slapped atop of your shimmering hair.

You hopped and skipped from building to building, the voice in your left earring continuing to speak. “There seems to be several hostages under his clutches. He seems to be anticipating the arrival of somebody... My bet is on you, [Name].” He hypothesized. “Oh put a damn sock in it.” You huffed.

After a few more leaps into the air, you skidded off the edge of a shop building and landed directly in the open circle of crowding people. They had instantly moved out of your way at your arrival, going into a state of indistinctive chattering. “I-It's Queen!” A man exclaimed, noticing you right away as you began to talk to a nearby police officer to get the scoop on what's going on.

Queen— Your alter ego hero self, affiliated with the avengers as a late bloomer type. Your powers consisted of shifting into anything solid along with a side of light generation from your hands. The shifting part of your ability allowed you to increase the speed of your cells, making your body seem as though it were gas, and slipping through solids without a problem. The other part is self-explanatory. To be quite frank, Queen was a alias that your supporting fans had made and you just went along with it, that name eventually sticking to you like glue and becoming your permanent hero name. Funny thing, really, cuz you were the Queen of Queens New York.

“I see,” You nodded at the information the cop divulged with you. “Thank you. Now please, stand back, it may get too hectic alright?” At your words the cop nodded, giving orders to back the people who crowded the front of the bank up. You jumped onto the top of the building, holding your breath and phasing through the roof. It took naught but a few seconds later for you to be landing perfectly on your feet, an all-too familiar laugh echoing from far away. The floors were wet. Oh how you've been through this song and dance one too many times before. “Stein, I need a heat signature scan all around if you don't mind.” You whispered into your earpiece.

“7 of them, each of them with their pulses fulctuating at rapid speeds.” The AI spoke. “He must've already pulled a stunt on them before the police arrived.” The first priority before moving on to Electro was to evacuate the premises of any remaininf victims. And that's exactly what you did. It was hard since most of them were all in different and difficult to reach places of the bank but the number was instantly knocked down to one left.

You scratched your head and thought aloud. “Where's the last one at...?”

“You mean, this body right here?” A menacing cackle interrupted, you turning your direction to whence it came from only to witness Electro standing a few feet away from you, hostage in a chokehold on his left arm. In the other arm was the occasional sack of cash that you were sure he wouldn't get away with. Your eyes rolled, unintentionally getting a glimpse of a familiar spandex wearing hero. He was new and all. Round of applause everyone, for the one and only Spiderman.

When he saw that you were staring directly at him, he waved, then making various hand motions that you somehow in god understood. Basically he was going to shoot a string of web at the hostage and hoist them up, stealing them from Electros grip and giving you chance to take the preemptive and just go wild— But also take caution into not destroying the place.

As Electro went on and on with his planned monologue, Spiderman used the chance for when his eyes were closed to not only shoot some web in his face as a stunning effect, but also managed to snag the hostage in one fell swoop. Two birds with one stone— Neat. “What is this substance on my face!?” Electro screamed, trying to claw it off but to no avail. You laughed at this scene. For some reason, Spiderman had the oddest feeling that he had recognized your voice from somewhere. After the fit of chuckles faded, you made sure to give your target such a hard two-piece, that Spiderman swore he saw some teeth flew out of his mouth.

‘Whoa...’ Was the only thing that crossed his mind. Despite your petite figure, you were strong enough to knock a grown man unconscious with just one slug? “You can take it from here, Spider-guy. I've got better things to do besides turning him in. You can do that on my behalf, right?” You yawned, making your way towards the south exit, away from the mob. “O-of course, miss Queen!” He hopped off the ceiling and landed to the ground, ensuring to web the now knocked out cold ‘threat’ up real good and give the police to bust in finally. Once they did, he trailed right after where he saw you leave, only to catch you flipping and twirling in the air with such haste.

Even behind the mask anyone could see the smile forming as his eyes lit up just from seeing you. Needless to say here, but he was all over you. A complete and utter fanboy who joined the wave after witnessing some viral videos of you committing deeds that he would usually perform.

“H-hey, wait up!” He called after you, tailing the direction you went. “Huh?” Feeling that call be directed to you, your head clocked round to see the same spiderboy from before, flipping onto a pipe in front of you. “Oh, you again.” Your expression deflated a slight bit at his presence. “What is it?” You asked, hoping to get him out of your hair quickly. “Oh, well, I-I, uhm...” He stammered over his words, taking in the beauty of yourself in whole as something to beheld. “Queen, your last period is almost closing. Be sure to wrap this up quickly.” Stein reminded you, causing a shrill screech to release from your parted lips. “CRAAAAPPP!!!!” You instantly turned your back towards Peter and took off without another word, disappearing into the city.

Spiderman just stood there, processing what had just transpired. This was rare. Well, him getting all tounge tied while underneath the mask he called Spiderman. Seemed like your charismatic charms overpowered his. Not like that wasn't to be expected — You were pretty cute if he'd have to agree with your thousands of rowdied fanboys and girls. Jeesh, he felt himself falling head over heels for you instantly.

“I'm here!” You exhaled, busting the door to your last period classroom. There was no reason for you to give a damn about all the eyes laid on you when you performed such an action. After all, “[Name] Stark. Just on time before the bell rings.” You were the daughter of the most famous idol in all of New York, so school imaging meant nothing.

As soon as the bell rang, you were in the hallways being swamped with the rest of your classmates. In the middle of all the traffic, a shoulder bumped into yours. “H-hey, what the hell—” Turns out, it was the absolute love of your life once again— Walking out of your eyesight and never to be seen again until tomorrow morning.

‘Dammit. I still had time and couldn't give him the tickets.’ You mentally pouted with that curse.

———

Idfk if y'all want me to tag y'all in pt.2, but I'm making a part.2 just for your information

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jolienjoyswriting · 5 years

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Mortem In Contumeliam FFVI, Ch. I

Chapter 1 of "Mortem In Contumeliam Final Fantasy VI," a Final Fantasy VI fan fiction story.

Did'ja like the recap of the events leading into this chapter? I thought that'd be a good way to open it, considering how much of the game's plot the story actually skips. Plus, you get some idea of how the soldiers are! Hee hee.

That said, here's where the plot truly begins.

Word count: 3,257 – Character count: 19,017 Originally written: July 15th, 2019

Following a failed mission, Wedge and Biggs find themselves in hot water with their commanding officer only to be rescued by a timely intervention by an unexpected source.

Final Fantasy VI, Wedge, Biggs, and related characters, scenarios, and properties created by Square Soft, Inc. and © Square Enix Co, Ltd.

[ ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → ]

“How’s the soup treating you, now, partner?” “You shut the he– blargh!!” Biggs grinned to himself. “Serves you right for gorging yourself on good will.”

Two Imperal soldiers, Wedge and Biggs, had been assigned to a mission in Narshe. After failing their mission – and, somehow, losing their armor and equipment – they found their way to the House of New Beginnings and scrounged together some simple clothing, such as jackets and slacks. Once they’d left the snowy plains, they trekked across the neighboring desert, made their way through a cave that cuts through the mountains, and found themselves in South Figaro. In that small port town, Wedge unsuccessfully attempted to strongarm a ship’s captain to ferry them to Alburg… only for his more sensible partner to intervene and ask if any shipments were heading there. A week later, a cargo freighter headed out to sea, the two soldiers working as part of its crew.

“I’ll have you know…” Wedge paused to groan, then straightened up after emptying his stomach’s contents over the ship’s rail. “I’ll have you know,” he started again, “that it wasn’t the soup. I’m just seasick.” “Yeah, and you probably wouldn’t be as seasick if you hadn’t eaten twice your weight in gysahl green soup.” “Ugh, don’t remind– ah… hwargh!!” Biggs crossed his arms, scowling as his partner tossed his cookies overboard, again. “Nice, Wedge… Real nice.” “Hey, Biggs… got somethin’ for ya.” The taller of the two men narrowed his eyes. Wedge had reached into his coat pocket. “If it’s what I assume it is…” The shorter man grinned… then, pulled his hand out, making a rude gesture at Biggs. “Yeah… keep that to yourself.” “Heh… hoo-hoo-nooo– gwaugh!!”

Wedge and Biggs worked hard for the ship’s captain, helping to move cargo, fix leaks in the holds of the cargo ship, and even managed to parlay for some extra supplies with a ship going the other way. Despite his seasickness, Wedge made sure to work the hardest, not wanting to let “some dumb thing like an upset stomach” keep him from earning his way. Ironically, he did manage to get his sea legs… though, only an hour before the ship arrived at Alburg.

After docking, every member of the ship’s crew helped unload the cargo. When a pair of Magitek Armor units came in with a large wagon, the two soldiers-in-disguise decided they should take their leave. “Well, boys… I was skeptical, but you two really proved your worth, and then some!” The ship’s captain stroked his beard, smiling at the two as they clambered into the wagon. “It’s a shame you two have somewhere to be! I could use some reliable seamen like you on every trip!” “Yeah, well…” Wedge chuckled with a laugh.

“If we’re ever in need of ferry back to Figaro and happen to cross paths,” Biggs told the captain, “we’ll be happy to help, again.” “I’ll keep that in mind!” the captain laughed. He grinned at Wedge, then, as he said, “Remember, salty crackers are good for a queazy stomach, mate.” “Yeah, yeah…” the shorter man said with a wave of his hand and a grin of his own. “Well… I have to get back to my crew and I imagine you two have your own business, here. Take care, gents!” “See ya, Captain! Thanks for having us!” “Until the wind brings us seaward, once more,” Biggs added. With that, the captain returned to the dock.

“Boy… the commander is gonna be thrilled to see you two.” At the sound of a new voice, both Biggs and Wedge leaned out from inside the wagon. Standing at the back was a soldier wearing the green armor denoting the rank of “cadet.” “Pierre,” Biggs greeted. “Pierre? Pierre!” Wedge brightly smiled. “What a coincidence! You’re a courier, now, huh? Man, I didn’t think you could get demoted any harder!” Pierre scowled at the two… which just made Wedge smirk. “You know, I’d normally tell you what to shove and where, but…” The cadet smugly smiled. “I’m in a puh-retty good mood, today.” “Is that so?” “Yup. As I said, the commander is going to be thrilled to see you two. Out-of-uniform. Two weeks late to report back. No Magitek Armor. No Eidolon. No witch.” “Hold on…” Biggs leaned down wearing a look of genuine interest. “‘Eidolon?’ ‘Witch?’” “Oh, don’t play dumb! It’s all over the Imperial Castle! You blew it!” “What’d we do?” Wedge casually asked, much to Pierre’s continued frustration. “You two idiots were assigned to a simple task: go to Narshe… retrieve the reported Eidolon from wherever it was… come back. It was a mission that even you two couldn’t screw up – or, so we thought! Kind’a wonder why they gave you that fire witch to play with, though…”

“We were supposed to retrieve an Eidolon from Narshe…?” Biggs asked, sounding genuinely confused. “What did I just say?” was Pierre’s short response. “Hey, Biggs…” The soldier looked to his companion. “I think… yeah, I remember something about some… magic thingy… Didn’t we find some sort of ugly turkey frozen in ice?” “‘Ugly turkey…?’” Biggs paused… then, he asked, “Wait, are you talking about Valigarmanda, the Bird of Disaster?” “I have no damn idea what you’re talking about, partner,” Wedge chuckled. “All I remember was some ugly bird… then, I think… a bright light? Next thing I know, we were tied up and left-for-dead in some gods-forsaken mineshaft!” “Sounds like the witch gave you the slip… So much for that Slave Crown! Hah!”

Both Biggs and Wedge turned their attention back to Pierre. He had his arms crossed over his chest and wore another smirk. “What do you mean, ‘Slave Crown?’” the former asked. “Oh, hey! That’s right!” He blinked as Wedge suddenly spoke up, then looked right at him. “That girl that supposedly toasted fifty cadets riding Magitek Armor… She was with us! And, she was wearing a Slave Crown!” “‘Slave Crown…’” Biggs repeated before asking, “Do you two mean the ‘Puppeteer’s Wheel’ that General Palazzo had Doctor Marquez make?” “Yeah,” his partner replied. “Most of us just call it a ‘Slave Crown,’ though, ‘cause–” “Because, it makes the wearer your slave,” his partner finished. “Except, this time…” Pierre interjected, drawing their attention back his way, “it didn’t work and she gave you the slip!” The cadet grinned from-ear-to-ear, wringing his hands together. “I can’t wait to see what the commander has to say about this!”

Before either soldier could respond, they felt the wagon lurch, its cargo shift, and the whole unit begin to move. It wasn’t long before the familiar clank of metallic feet on rocky dirt and green grass could be heard echoing in their ears. They were on the move. As they left the town, the soldiers noticed Pierre giving them a farewell wave… or, making a certain gesture – they weren’t quite sure but, either way, it didn’t matter. After hearing that he had to say… they had quite a few other things to think about.

“We were sent to Narshe…” Biggs said from a seated position on a random box of weapons, “and… we were supposed to retrieve that Eidolon.” “If… it was there,” Wedge added as he watched the countryside roll by, backward. “I remember, now: we were there to investigate, first, and reclaim, if it was actually there.” The taller soldier crossed his arms and hummed… “Do you really think the Puppeteer’s Wheel failed and that… witch… attacked us?” “Seems pretty unlikely, partner,” Wedge replied. “Before we left, I did some reading on the Slave Crown and, from what I understand, it not only blocks thought, emotion, and memory… but, it’s been known to actually erase the wearer’s mind if they wear it for too long!” “So, what you’re saying is… that witch could never have turned against us.” “Pretty much!” He turned around, leaning against the wagon’s tailgate. “Even if the Crown broke, she would’ve been too dazed-and-confused to attack. Hell, even if she did…” He grinned, then he ran his thumb across his throat with a gurgling croak.

“So, then…” The other soldier looked up with a worried expression. “What was that light? And… how did she get away from us? Where did our powered armor go? Where did our equipment go, for that matter?” “I guess it’s possible that we didn’t kill that big-ass slug thing… Maybe, it woke up and zapped us, good? That much electricity could’ve blown up our Magitek Armor…” “I… do remember hearing some sort of explosion, now that you mention it…” Both soldiers looked down at the metallic floor of the wagon and hummed. “This… is going to be hard to explain to the commander.” –––––

“Boobs! Idiots! Clods!!”

Not long after the wagon arrived at Vector, the two errant soldiers made their way to the barracks. Before they could even think of slipping back into the standard-issue brown armor of their rank… they found themselves confronted by a very angry, somewhat-round man wearing black commander’s armor.

“I should have you court marshaled…” he ranted as the two soldiers stood at attention. “I should have you strung up! I should have you shot out of a cannon and into the sun!!” “Doc Cid finally made that ‘Sun Cannon,’ eh…?” “Siiiiilence!!” Wedge jolted with a “yip.” The commander was right in his face… so close that he could smell the tuna salad he’d been eating for lunch. After a minute of intense staring, though, he leaned back and returned to pacing in front of them.

“How-the-hell did you two imbeciles manage to bungle this mission up so badly…?” “We… don’t know, sir,” Biggs cautiously told him. “What? What?!” Just like before, the commander was pressing his face up against his soldier’s face. “What do you mean, ‘we don’t know?’” he asked in a mocking tone. “Explain!!” “Well, sir…” Wedge started, getting another faceful of the black helmet and fish-and-onion smell as he spoke, “the thing of it is… we were ambushed!” “Great, just great!” the round man shouted and he stepped away. “Two highly-trained soldiers, equipped with the most state-of-the-art weapons in the world, got ‘ambushed…’ and, they don’t remember how or by who! Furthermore…!” For no apparent reason, he got back in Biggs’ face. “Where. The hell. Is the witch you were assigned?!” “We… uh… don’t know, sir,” Biggs answered. “You don’t– heh… Heh-heh. Ha ha hah! Oooh, good golly, Miss Molly…” Both soldiers blinked, glancing at each other as their C.O. stepped back and started laughing. Before long, it became awkwardly infectious. However… “Stooooop laughing!!” Biggs and Wedge straightened up, going stiff as boards! The commander had drawn his blade and was threateningly waving it at them. His face was red and, even with the helmet hiding his eyes, the two could tell that he was boiling over with rage!

“You two…! Do you have any idea what General Palazzo is going to do to you once he hears you lost his pet project?!” The commander paused… then, he started rubbing his neck before nervously asking, “D-do you know what he’s going to do to me…?” “No, but I’m always open to suggestion!” “What? Oh… sh–”

Suddenly, all color left the commander’s face. Both he and the soldiers had heard the familiar, shrill voice of someone that none of them wanted to cross… much less, interact with. Unfortunately… the owner of that voice was walking right toward them.

By all rights… the tall, slender man looked like a cross between a nobleman and a clown. From his unusual, white face with black eyeshadow and red circling his mouth, to the garish, striped collar hanging around his shoulders over his puffy, crimson tunic, and the pointy, oddly-colored boots he wore that matched the sun-colored cloak on his back, he really didn’t seem like someone you'd expect to see in the military. Even the way he acted, always laughing and smiling in a most-deranged way, made it seem like he should have been a performer… or, as some thought, locked away. But, all three enlisted men… in fact, the entire Gestahlian Empire… knew that this man… General Kefka Palazzo… was no laughing matter.

“Gr-r-r-reetings, peons!” the clown-like figure trilled. “What’s new?” “G-G-G-General Palazzo!” The man in the black armor spun around, immediately kneeling before his superior officer. Both Biggs and Wedge followed suit. “W-w-what a surprise to see you in the barracks!!” he continued. “I-I-I– what brings you down from your tower…?!” “What brings me down? Bad news, mostly!” Kefka told him as he took ginger, almost-feminine steps in a circle around the man. “I certainly do hate bad news! Why… anytime someone brings me bad news, I just come apart at the seams!” He squeezed his arms, hugging himself tight and giving a little whimper. “You would never give me any bad news…” Kefka had leaned down, his mouth right next to the other man’s covered ear and his body practically pressing against his black armor. A second later, he whispered… “Would you…?” “I… I… I…” “Good!”

All-at-once, Kefka spun away… once… twice… three times, before coming to a stop and putting his hands behind his back. He took a simple standing position, looking ready to take things seriously, then.

“Sooo…?” He offered a friendly smile to the commander. “Rise, Commander, and tell… did your men find anything of worth in that block of ice on the Figaro region?” The commander gave a hard swallow as he got to his feet. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he said… “M-m-my men can tell you what they found, Sir!” Neither Wedge not Biggs looked forward to that, and the former was especially annoyed at being thrown under the carriage like that. However… “I’d much rather hear it from yooou…” Kefka batted his eyes and continued to smile at the commander, which just made him feel even more uncomfortable. “Th… they haven’t told me everything,” the unnerved officer admitted. “But–” “Then, just tell me what you know, so far! If there are any gaps…” He narrowed his eyes and flashed a wicked grin. “We’ll make a bridge to cross them.” From anyone else… that wouldn’t have sounded like a threat.

“W-well, Sir…” the commander started. “A-according to my men – who are two weeks overdue, by the way!!” Biggs and Wedge jolted on their feet. “Narshe did, indeed, have a frozen Eidolon. A–” “Spleeendid!!” the general said with a smile and a clap of his hands. “Go on, go on!” “A… and, Sir… they, uh… failed to capture it?” “Oh?” Kefka relaxed his stature, then casually walked over to the commander. “What happened?” he asked in an innocent tone while leaning in. “Tell me, tell me!” “They… uh… were… ambushed, according to their report?” “Oh, dear!!” The man with the white face suddenly whipped back, clasping his open hands against his cheeks and looking aghast! “What happened, next?!” “Y… yes, well,” the commander continued, “this is where things get a little… gap-y.” Kefka crossed his arms, though raised a hand under his chin as he nodded. “A-after they were ambushed… they, uh… woke up without any of their gear, nor their Magitek Armor… A-and…” “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm? Go on?” He paused to take a deep breath… then, he quietly confessed, “Th-the witch was gone.” “Crafty she-devil!”

The brightly-dressed man hopped away, then he pulled his arms around his back before pacing along the alleyway between rows of beds. “Clearly, something went wrong with the Slave Crown!” he surmised aloud. “See, even General Kefka calls it that!” Wedge whispered to his companion. Biggs just flustered and hushed him before looking tense. “Ooh, I knew Cid wasn’t up to the task, the buffoon! Although…” Kefka spun around, looking at the commander with his head on one hand, again. “The device worked fine when I made her kill all those soldiers…” The one soldier went wide-eyed. “So, it is true…!” he whispered. “Sh-shut up, Wedge…!” his companion excitedly murmured. “Then, when I was teaching her how to operate the Magitek Armor,” the general continued, “she seemed to catch on, lickety-split! Maybe, the crown was damaged in combat?” He brought a hand down, slapping his fist into it and wearing a wide-eyed expression. “Yes, yes, that must be what happened!” Suddenly, he did a forward-flip and landed right in front of the commander, startling him. “I know a thing or two about ‘broken crowns,’” he said, unironically, “and, if that toy Doctor Cid cooked up did, indeed, break… then…” He gestured at the two soldiers, causing them to wince. “She could have attacked these poor, unfortunate souls and left them behind! Kefka clasped his hands together, resting them next to his tilted head and giving the soldiers a sympathetic look. “So sad!”

“S… so, uh, General Palazzo…?” Slowly… much too slowly… Kefka turned his attention back to the commander… There was an unsettling look on the general’s face… one that was almost murderous… “E’yeeeees…?” he said as his expression dramatically brightened. “What… uh… what do we do? I mean, where do we go from here, Sir?” “Well!” Kefka took a step back, then adjusted his cloak. “Li’l ol’ me is going to go tell the big boss what happened, then I guess he’ll start a search for our little toy where you idiots lost her! But, as for you?” The wicked grin from earlier found its way back onto his face. “I have plans, my dear commander… such marvelous plans, indeed!” After saying that, Kefka just stood there, not moving and not saying a word for the longest time. The enlisted men wanted to say something… but, not-a-one of them dared to.

“Well?!” Everyone jumped as Kefka suddenly stomped his feet and threw his arms out. “Aren’t any of you morons curious about my wonderful plans?!” “I-I kind of am…” Wedge said before Biggs could stop him. And, just like that… “You! What’s your name?!” Biggs, to his complete shock, found his view obscured by a face with a huge smile.

“Sir!” he alertly called. “Biggs Da–” “‘Sir Biggsda,’ my lad!” He winced as Kefka quickly pulled him into a one-armed side-hug. “How would you like to be known as…” He waved a hand in front of them. “‘The Soldier Who Conquered Doma?!’” “I… Th-that’s…” Biggs stiffly said with a stammer. “I-it would be an honor, S-Sir…?” “Perfect! Commander!!” As Kefka left him to walk back over to his C.O, Biggs practically deflated with relief… “Get all the troops you can! Eight, twelve, twenty – whatever! Tell ‘em, tonight…” He shimmied with excitement. “We’re gonna paint the castle red! Red with the blood of those Doma dopes, that is!” “Er… uh… yeh– yes, Sir!” the commander responded with a salute. “Good, good!” He rubbed his hands together. Then, suddenly… “Well, it’s been fun!” He spun around, then casually walked out of the barracks. “But, I’ve got to fly, boys…” he told the trio. “Ready the troops, then wait for my word! I’ve got plans – oh, yes, such plans – plans the likes of which you wouldn’t even believe! Ooh, just thinking about it makes me tingle! Hee-hee… ha-ha-haaah!!” With that… he was gone.

“W… well?! You heard him!!” Wedge and Biggs both jolted. Just like that, the commander was back to his confident, blustering, temperamental self. “Get your asses in gear – literally – and, round up some troops! Tonight… we attack Doma Castle! I guess? Hell, I don’t know – j-just get everyone ready!” And, before long… the two were left alone in the barracks.

#fan fiction #Final Fantasy VI #Mortem In Contumeliam #commercial characters #Imperial Soldier #Wedge #Biggs #Imperial Cadet #Pierre #Imperial Commander #Kefka Palazzo #fantasy #slice of life

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booksarelife-stuff · 3 years

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i’m only seventeen, i don’t know anything- Chapter 8

James Potter/ Lily Evans (Jily), minor Remus Lupin/ Sirius Black (wolfstar)

Co-authored with the amazing @queen-isabelle-writes :)

It's seventh year for the Marauders and Lily Evans. Lily and James are dealing with their feelings for each other while the war with Voldemort brews in the wings.

Canon Divergence. Angst, fluff, falling in love.

Word Count: 3,385

Read on AO3 Next Chapter Series Master List Master List

Chapter 8

and my words shoot to kill when i'm mad ~this is me trying, taylor swift

James always got up early on days where there was a Quidditch match. He got so anxious, he could hardly sleep. So when the sun finally broke through the window and filled James’s bed through the crack in his curtains, he knew it was time to get up.

He pulled on his Quidditch gear, knowing that he wasn’t going to be back at the dorms before the game started. He grabbed his notebook and pen—Remus had picked them up from a Muggle store over the summer so James didn’t have to juggle various pieces of parchment and quills for his Quidditch plays.

James quietly descended the stairs to the Common Room. He was expecting the room to be empty, as it typically was at this time in the morning, but there was a sleepy Lily, sitting on the arm of the couch.

She yawned before smiling at him. She was wearing her pajamas, Muggle ones that looked soft and worn. Her normally neat hair was sticking up with flyaways and the sunlight caught them, making a golden halo around her.

The butterflies erupted in his stomach, as they had every time he saw her since fifth year.

“I don’t know what kind of loon you are to be up this early on a match day,” she said.

“You look beautiful,” James said, the words she had spoken not registering in his brain.

Lily smiled and rolled her eyes as she stood up and crossed the room to James.

“I wanted to wish you luck, but I wasn’t sure if I would see you before the game,” she said. “Sirius told me that you get up early on match days.”

He nodded as he stuck his hand out. Lily placed her hand in his and pulled her towards him. She released his hand and wrapped her arms around his middle, her head coming to rest right under James’s chin. His heart was pounding in his chest, so loudly he wondered if Lily could hear it. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek on the side of her head.

Being with Lily had been a wonder to James, so much so he would pinch himself every so often to make sure he wasn’t dreaming up the whole thing.

Lily seemed to speak a language that James had quickly caught on to. They didn’t become the couple that snogged in the corridors between classes or made a scene in the Great Hall or Common Room, which all their friends had expected from them.

There were brushes and quick touches. Stolen smiles and glances. They would walk beside each other to class, their arms brushing up against each other. They would look at each other in the classroom when someone said something stupid. At mealtime, Lily would sit across from him, smiling and laughing at their friends' antics while her ankle was touching his under the table.

In the Common Room, they touched more often and openly. Their fingers laced together, hugs, and James resting his head on Lily’s lap when they grouped together around the fire.

Everything with Lily felt so exciting but at the same time, there was this feeling that James couldn’t quite place. The only thing that came close to it in James’s mind was the feeling of when he hopped off his broom after flying for hours. It felt solid.

“How are you feeling about the match today? It’s against Ravenclaw, right?” she asked, adjusting her hands on his back slightly.

“Yeah. I’m feeling pretty good. They have a new seeker so I’m confident Alice will get the snitch. Their chasers are still pretty good, especially Benjy, but I think we’ll be okay.”

Lily hummed as she pulled away. James instantly missed her.

She eyed the notebook in James’s hand, gently grabbing it.

“Where did you get this? I haven’t seen one of these since primary,” she said, eyeing it.

James pulled the pen out from behind his ear and clicked it. Lily’s eyes sparkled with delight.

“Remus. He was tired of having parchment everywhere before a game. He picked these up from a Muggle store,” James explained. “Dad fell in love with the pens. He has one in every color imaginable after he saw mine.”

“I should ask my mum to send him the special glittery ones I have,” Lily mused.

James laughed at the image of his father writing with Muggle pens with glitter. Fleamont Potter would be over the moon if he got his hands on pens that had glitter in it.

Lily yawned as she handed his notebook back.

“Well, Captain, good luck. You better win so you aren’t in a foul mood at the Christmas party.”

James groaned a little, thinking of the dreaded Slug Club Christmas party that was supposed to take place this evening. The only good thing James could think about it was the school sanctioned drinking and the fact that Lily would be his date tonight.

Lily pulled him close once and again and stood on her toes. James smiled before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

James was happy that Ravenclaw didn’t want to show the Gryffindor team any mercy. In the first few plays of the match, James could tell that Captain Benjy Fenwick had instructed them to play their hardest.

The thing was though, like Ravenclaws, they had strategy, a carefully laid out plan for their games. They had an expectation of how the game was going to go, and they would do everything they could to get their plans to come to life.

They never seemed to remember that Gryffindors thrived when plans went sideways.

James also had a strategy, one that he and his team knew well. But James had picked his team based on more than their ability to follow plays. In tryouts, James wanted to see what they would do in a pinch, how brave they were willing to get on the field to secure a win.

Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were tied for points, and the seekers were neck-in-neck, chasing after the snitch that remained just outside of their reach.

All of things happened at once, almost in slow motion for James.

He saw the Ravenclaw beater hit the bludger right at Alice, who was a hair away from the snitch. James did the only thing that made sense to him in the moment and sped right in the line of the bludger.

Pain bloomed on his side when he collided with it, while Gordon, the second best chaser on the team scored another ten points for Gryffindor and Alice caught the snitch.

The pain on James’s side was completely ignored as the announcer gave Gryffindor the victory.

A sea of red and gold flooded the field, zoning in on Alice, who just landed on the ground, and hoisting her up with cheers of delight.

James didn’t join the celebration and went to talk to Benjy.

“You lot are insane,” Benjy said, shaking James’s hand. He was James’s favorite out of all the other captains because he was always thrilled with the challenges of the game. “I can’t believe you took a bludger for it.”

“I did what I had to do,” James said with a smirk. Benjy clapped him on the back and ran to the locker rooms where his team was waiting for him.

The horde of Gryffindors were already making their way up to the Common Room, ready to throw a party to celebrate the win.

Sirius and Remus were hanging back, waiting for James.

It hit James that there was an absence. Peter had come to every game to cheer James on since he made the team in third year, just as James had always gone to his gobstones tournaments before he quit halfway through last year. It hurt worse the throbbing pain in his side.

But it was just Sirius and Remus, bundled up in their cloaks with Gryffindor scarves around their necks, their Wormtail missing.

Sirius gave an enthusiastic replay of the game, making it sound like the game was a life or death situation and giving James too much credit for the bludger, as James put his teammates brooms away, the pain in his side growing.

“Did Pete go up to the party?” James asked, locking the shed and turning to look at his friends.

Remus frowned as Sirius tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

“He said he was sick,” Remus said. “We walked him to the Hospital Wing. I was going to stay with him, but he insisted he was fine. He said not to worry.”

James frowned, worry filling his gut.

“Is he okay?” James asked, his eyebrows knitting together.

“Maybe he’ll come back before you have to go to old Sluggy’s party, get him get him to play a round of gobstones,” Sirius said, hopeful in the fourth member of their group.

The party in Gryffindor tower was more laid back than usual, but not any less fun. Lily had allowed the first and second years to join when no alcohol made an appearance, and the whole Common Room had been enthralled by an exploding snap game between two second years. The room was betting on which one would win.

Having seen enough, James pulled on his dress robes and tried to flatten his hair down. According to Lily, the Christmas party was when Slughorn invited the people who he deemed important.

James didn’t need to network, but he knew damn well that Lily would need to. James had read The Prophet, seeing that it was only getting harder and harder for Muggleborns out there, no matter how talented and qualified they were as wizards. If Lily was doing him the honor of being his date, he was going to look presentable and keep the mischief to a minimum.

James gave up and grabbed the comb, heading downstairs to see if Mary or Doe could do something. Doe was sitting in front of the fireplace, listening to Mary and Sirius argue about Muggle music.

“Doe, my only hope,” James said, interrupting the conversation. “Will you help me with my hair?”

“Hold on, what?” Sirius asked, turning away from Mary. “Your hair?”

Doe smiled and nodded. James handed her the comb and sat on the floor in front of her.

“If I want to look half way presentable, I need help,” James said.

Sirius blinked at James. Remus was smirking from behind his book. Doe started gently working on his hair, James wincing as she caught a knot.

“What has Evans done to you?” Sirius asked, lines appearing on his forehead. “Next thing you know, you’re going to say we need to stop throwing dung bombs in Filch’s office! This is sacrilege!”

“I think you’ll need divine intervention to get your hair to look presentable,” Mary added, watching Doe struggle to comb.

“You know, your father invented hair products for a reason,” Remus pointed out.

James groaned.

“It slicks my hair so much, I look like a brown Malfoy. I’ll pass,” James replied. The group laughed.

“You should try some Muggle products,” Mary said.

“We’ve tried,” Sirius said. “Couldn’t figure out why Muggles want moose in their hair though.”

James nodded in agreement but Mary started laughing, hard. A laugh joined her and immediately caught James’s attention.

Lily looked amazing as she walked up to the couch, so much so that James thought his heart was going to stop. Her long hair was curled and bouncy. James thought she was wearing make-up, but he wasn’t too sure. All he could focus on was the freckles that dotted her face and pretty green dress that hugged her.

If it wasn’t for the dull throb of his bruise from earlier today, James would think he was dreaming that she was his date for the night.

James didn’t even notice Alice, slightly standing behind Lily, also dressed up with a determined look in her eyes.

The spell was broken when there was snapping noise.

“Uh, James… your hair broke your comb,” Doe said.

James stood up and grabbed the broken piece from Doe.

“Too bad it’s Sirius’s comb,” he said.

Sirius let out a noise of outrage as James tossed the piece of comb at him and grabbed Lily’s hand, dashing from the common room. Lily laughed as the portrait swung shut behind them.

“Hey,” James said, looking at her.

“Hi,” she said, smiling. “You know I don’t care about what your hair looks like, right?”

James’s heart warmed.

“Yeah, I know,” he said with a smile. “But others might.”

Lily reached up and messed his hair, causing James to laugh. The portrait swung open and a dressed-up Alice stepped out.

“I would sleep with one eye open, James,” she said. “Sirius was plotting revenge.”

“He’s all talk,” James said. “You get into the Slug Club?”

She smiled and shook her head. “I’m Frank’s date.”

The group started off, talking and laughing. James and Lily walked arm in arm as they made their way to the dungeons. Frank was waiting at the staircase, his leg shaking.

He didn’t even say hi to James and Lily, just smiled brightly at Alice and offered her his arm. James and Lily exchanged a look, both excited for their friends. They walked down the corridor, faint hum of music and conversation getting louder with every step. Frank held the door open for all three of them. Lily straightened out her dress before they emerged into the party.

There were more people than James was expecting, milling about. There was a group of live musicians in the corner, quietly strumming away as conversation was the main point of Slughorn’s parties.

Slughorn appeared in front of them in bright, expensive-looking emerald dress robes.

“Lily, my dear!” he said, smiling brightly at her. “I’m so glad you could make it! There are some very important people I wish for you to meet!”

“I would love to meet them,” Lily said, smiling. Slughorn looked at James.

“Mr. Potter! Your parents couldn’t make it tonight. I don’t think Fleamont has accepted an invitation of mine for years, but I don’t take it personally. I know how persnickety he is. Euphemia is the one who always steals the show anyway.”

James smiled and nodded, highly doubting his parents were even invited. It’s not that Slughorn didn’t like his parents; he just had more acquaintances that he deemed more important than his parents that wouldn’t like the blood traitor Potters milling about. James was lucky he was even here.

Lily kept her arm in his as Slughorn led them to a group of people that he swore Lily needed to talk to. James couldn’t remember their names, but he knew they were skilled potioneers. James smiled and laughed. Interjected a few times about Lily’s excellent work in charms or potions that caused Lily to squeeze his arm, whether as a Stop embarrassing me or a Thank you, James couldn’t tell.

James took a moment to look around the room as one of the people started telling the group about their theoretical potions theory.

In the back corner, hiding in the shadows, was Severus Snape. James would have missed him except for the feeling of someone staring at James. It took him a moment to realize Snape wasn’t glaring at him, but rather Lily and James’s arms that were looped together.

Snape’s gaze flicked up to James’s, and James saw the anger flash in his eyes.

A large part of him wanted to walk over there and ask what his issue was, but the rational part of James’s brain knew that was asking for trouble. James did the smart thing and looked away.

Slughorn tapped James on the shoulder, telling him that a famous Quidditch team from Puddlemore United had arrived and that Slughorn thought James would love to talk to her.

Lily shot him a smile and released his arm, ushering him off.

James didn’t get to say much to the Quidditch player, but he listened to her talk about the different strategies Puddlemore had been practicing. He was particularly interested in the team training their players on riding their brooms upside down.

The conversation drew more into the perks of being a famous Quidditch player and James lost interest, not really caring about brand deals and salary. He looked around the room, looking for Lily.

He didn’t see a flash of red hair, but he did a double take at a figure across the room, thinking it was Sirius.

James thought it was eerie how much Regulus and Sirius looked like, down to the curl pattern of their smooth black hair. What was even more eerie was that Regulus was glancing at James, almost like he wanted to speak to him.

James excused himself from the conversation about Witch Weekly photoshoots and crossed the room towards Regulus. He knew it would be weird to directly approach him, seeing as how the room was crawling with Regulus’s Slytherin gang. James instead looked at him and then turned to the snack table.

Sirius was sure that Regulus was different from the crowd he hung out with, and James trusted Sirius, despite James having not seen any evidence otherwise.

James was picking up a snack at random when he saw something slide toward him at the table while a pale hand reached for a cucumber sandwich. James glanced down to see a sealed envelope with Sirius’s name on it.

“I’ll take it to him,” James whispered. Regulus quickly left.

James set his plate on the envelope and picked the letter back up with it. He placed it in his pocket as smoothly as he could.

He moved around the room, looking for Lily, and it wasn’t until he realized that Snape had left his corner that James cursed. He passed Alice and Frank and randomly handed them his plate of snacks. Frank looked at him questioningly, but James didn’t explain, just headed for the door.

When James walked out he heard the sound of voices coming from the left. He followed it.

“—can’t believe it! After everything he has done to me. To you!” James heard Snape’s hiss. “What about all the talk of how insufferable he was? Where is that Lily?”

“I changed. James changed,” Lily’s voice rang out. “It is none of your business to begin with!”

“He keeps dangerous company! And he can’t keep you safe, not like I can,” Snape pleaded.

James felt anger rise in his stomach as he continued to follow the voices.

“Keep me safe?” Lily repeated, her voice rising exponentially. “You think you’re keeping me safe by joining a group that wants to kill me?”

Lily hissed those last words and it made James freeze, just around the corner from where James thought they were talking.

“How fucking dare you!” Lily exploded. “How fucking dare you think for a second that supporting a cause like that is keeping me safe! You do nothing but help the movement that will only keep me in harm's way. How dare you think that I need help from you or him to keep me safe!”

Her voice was loud, thundering around the corridor.

“If any harm comes to me,” Lily started again. “It will be your fault because you chose to support You Know Who. I’m not fucking flattered that I’m the only exception to your sick ways.”

James decided now was the moment to step out from around the corner. Snape was standing there, slack jawed at Lily. Lily stood, her fists clenched at her sides.

Snape’s eyes flickered towards James. Lily whipped around, her eyes softening a hair when she saw James.

She started towards him. As she neared, James felt a change in the air, almost like it was crackling with electricity. As Lily grabbed his hand and pulled him away, his hair stood up on his body. He realized that Lily was radiating magic, and it was powerful.

Like he said, she could be vicious.

#jily #James Potter #Lily Evans #Lily Evans Potter #James Potter/Lily Evans #Marauders #hp #Harry Potter #minor wolfstar #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #inspired by taylor swift like always #jily fic #jily fanfic #marauders era #Harry Potter fanfic #James x Lily

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ravenstyx · 7 years

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Heartbreak Grows in the Garden Chapter 5: Don't sink because my heart's not heavy.

Rated M/A for sexual content, substance abuse and language Summary: She’s a stunner and a taker She’s amused; she’s a faker and you like it that way. (This is the story of all the hearts Cana has left in pieces.)

Also found HERE

The window behind her opened and Mira came out without invitation. She sat beside Cana, hip-to-hip without an inch of space between them like there was no trouble in paradise.

"Hey." Her voice was almost lost to the tempest.

"Hi," Cana said cautiously.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Watching the storm." Shouldn't that have been obvious? Of course it was, Mira was just trying to make conversation.

Mira settled back. Cana didn't hear the tinkling of the beads in her hair. She cast a sideways glance and saw that Mira had taken out the braid and stripped the green out of her hair, too. She felt a sick weight in her stomach and knew it was panic. She looked for Mira's piercings and was relieved to see that they were still there.

"Did you figure out which apartment is going to be yours?"

"Yeah," Cana mumbled and looked back out at Magnolia stretching below her, a web of lights and noise alive in the storm.

"You move your stuff in on Saturday?"

Two days from then. Cana grunted another affirmation.

"Well... do you want help?" Mira asked.

Cana almost said no. She took her sweet time getting her words out, they were stuck in her hot and small throat. When she finally managed, she said, "Sure."

"Alright." Mira took some time between subject matters. Picking up loose gravel on the roof and letting it fall, piece by piece. "I didn't see you in Mister Conbolt's office today."

"He canceled." He claimed it was a family emergency but Cana thought it more likely that he didn't want to deal with her. She stretched her legs out and sighed.

"Oh."

They sat in silence for another few moments, the rain, and Cana’s music—Metric tonight, saying help, I’m alive, in her ear—the only things to make what should have been easy—sitting on the roof with her best friend—not awkward. Mira was the first to shatter the thin layer of ice. She said, "You know, you don’t have to worry about moving out. We're still going to see each other." She was so much more perceptive now, getting to the heart of Cana's brooding without much effort. "Nothing's really going to change."

"Everything has already changed," Cana blurted, frustrated. "You're ditching me, I'm getting out of this place, I need to get a job—"

Mira's lips pursed. "I'm sorry I left the other night.”

“You just took off!” Cana said though Mira hadn’t denied it.

“I was just standing there and that guy was touching me and I just thought, is this how I want to live the rest of my life?"

"Wasted in the park, getting eaten out by some stranger. I know. Only sluts do that." Cana tried to say it scornfully and succeeded. Mira still heard the hurt in her voice.

"That's not what I meant."

"It's what it sounded like—"

Mira was still herself enough to speak over Cana sharply. "You know I don't like that fucking word, don't put it in my mouth." She stood. Cana expected her to storm off. Mira hesitated, her fingers clenching and unclenching, and said, "I'll be over early Saturday."

If that wasn't friendship, Cana didn't know what was. She hated Mira for it. She started to feel frustrated tears and drank that shit away.

The problem with getting wasted by yourself was that there was no one there to tell you that your dumb ideas were dumb. Cana didn’t want that voice of reason, either. She threw her umbrella off the tall roof and glanced over the edge to see it hit the soggy ground below. It wobbled in the wind, still open if not a little bent, a red blotch in a sea of green-black. Her heart sped looking at it down there, fluttering and broken. She never thought she was that kind of person before but for just a moment, she let her imagination run wild. What would it be like, she wondered, the fall down? She'd soar through the air less gracefully than her umbrella, definitely. Would she remember hitting the ground?

The umbrella started to tumble away, grabbed by a gust of wind and Cana realized, drunkenly, that she needed to go after it. She found the edge of the roof where the downspout was bolted into the brick with thin pieces of aluminum U’s and planned her route. It wasn’t very large or very sturdy; it squealed beneath her weight as she put one foot over the edge of the roof and then the other and used the U's as footholds. Rainwater made everything damp and slick. The fear of falling made her descent possible, she clung to the little piece of metal with everything she had. Five feet from the bottom, four of the bolts let go almost simultaneously and Cana figured out what it was to fly. She landed flat on her back with her arms outstretched, palms to the sky, and watched rain fall.

“Cana?”

Cana turned her head slowly and saw a huge figure come out of the darkness. She wasn’t scared, she was exasperated. “Elfman.”

“Did you just fall? Are you okay?” It had been days since he’d spoken to her but just then, that didn’t seem to matter. He came to her side and knelt, uncaring that his knees were getting soaked. Maybe that was because he, too, was soaked through. How long was he out in the rain for without anything to keep him dry? His T-shirt wasn't going to do the trick.

My umbrella! Cana suddenly remembered and rolled away from him. Her bones felt a little rattled but other than a few bruises here and there, she thought that tomorrow, she’d be just fine.

“Cana?”

“I’m fine, Elfman. Geesh.” She looked away well before she could see if she hurt him or not and spotted her umbrella at the edge of the treeline. She made a run for it and grabbed it just before it could disappear. When she turned back around, Elfman was no longer where she left him. She heard Fairy Hill’s door close. Good. She started for the street; one foot after the other sank into saturated grass. By the time she got to the road's gravel soft shoulder, she was like Elfman, totally soaked through, her feet in her ankle boots, her jeans, her tank top. It was a little cold. Cana lifted her umbrella again and considered her destination. Coffin Ridge? She didn't want to know if Juvia still lingered there, waiting for her to show up. The theater? It was a spot that she and Elfman shared and she was afraid of hearing, 'I love you,' in her head again and again, especially if there was no one there to distract her.

Where else was there to go in this shitty town?

Why do you have to stay here, to begin with?

The thought hit with startling clarity. What was holding her in Magnolia? Her years' stint at Fairy Hills was coming to an end, Mira was moving on, Cana was a coward. So... why was she there?

She whipped around on her heel and stuck her thumb out. A truck whizzed by and almost took her arm with it. The driver didn't slow. Then next car honked at her for too long, Cana flipped them off. The next four didn’t acknowledge her at all, like the first. Cana was annoyed but resolved. The next time lights crested the hill, she stepped out in front of the truck and stood her ground. The person was driving carefully enough that they saw her and eased out into the middle of the road, slowing.

Cana half expected the old Chevy Sierra to keep rolling by but it halted jerkily. She opened the squealing passenger’s door and peeked inside. The dome light ignited everything from fast food garbage to cigarette wrappers and the occasional piece of clothing—a sock, a sweater. The guy behind the wheel was her age or a couple years older. His blue eyes were red-rimmed and judging by the smell in the truck, it wasn’t because he was a sad boy. Cana smiled. “Hey.”

He didn’t return her grin. In fact, he was a little bit twitchy. A paranoid high. Great. “Where are you headed?”

He was also the only one that bothered to stop. “Anywhere,” Cana said.

“I’m on my way to the Patch.”

Magnolia’s assisted housing—colloquially known as the Patch. Of course, he was. Cana tapped the truck’s rusty frame. “You know what? Never mind.” She closed the door and after a moment, the truck started to roll away again. Another car was already coming over the hill. Cana turned her back on it and dug out the bottle of Jimmy Beam she’d convinced some poor old sod to buy for her at the liquor store. She didn’t just sip it now, she slugged it back and waited for her head to spin more.

It was already whirling at top-speed.

It took Cana a long time to realize that the car hadn’t passed her and that its lights were illuminating her way. She looked back over her shoulder and saw that she recognized the Crown Vic. She groaned aloud and walked faster. The car sped up beside her and the window rolled down.

“Hey there, Cana.”

“Go away.”

Did he listen? “I got a couple of complaints tonight about a drunk girl stumbling around into traffic on Route Seven. Know anything about that?”

“Should I?”

He'd finished all the games he was willing to play. “Get in.”

She peered through the window and saw that despite the cruiser, he’d changed out of his police uniform. “You’re not even on duty. You can’t boss me around.”

“I don’t think anyone can boss you around. Just please, get in before Mister Dreyar hears about this and—”

“Oh. What a threat.” She waved him off. “Who cares? I’m out of Fairy Hills in two days anyway.”

“That’s still two days you could spend with your friends before you make the big move.”

She scoffed more, though she didn’t know which was funnier: his assumption that she had a load of friends or the ‘big move’. The Patch was two kilometers from Fairy Hills, though on the rough side of town. “If you haven't noticed, I'm hitching out of this city,” she said as clearly as she could manage. “Now fuck off.”

He adopted his Police Man’s Voice and said, “Get in the car, Cana.”

“No. I’m not going back to Fairy Hills.” She felt like a brat and almost stomped her foot, too. She wasn’t too drunk to be prideful and refrained.

“Now.”

“I told you to fuck off.”

“I’m going to keep driving beside you, telling everyone that even thinks about stopping that you’re trouble with a capital T. Get in the fucking car.”

She squinted at him hard. “Are you allowed to swear at me?”

He quirked his mouth thoughtfully—sarcastically. “I just did.”

Cana walked faster. He sped the car up to match her, protecting her from passing traffic with his red and blue lights on and obliterating every chance she had at hitchhiking. Cana tried anyway, sticking her thumb out at every passing car. No luck.

They went on like that for half a kilometer before Cana got so frustrated, she screamed. "Seriously!"

"Seriously." He was so unapologetic. "Just get in."

She made a fist and imagined hitting him before opening the car’s door and dropping herself inside.

“Thank you.”

“Fuck off.”

He drove instead.

#another clusterfuck #cana alberona #mira strauss #elfman strauss #ft fanfiction #it's gross but i love it

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behindheremeraldeyes · 7 years

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SasuSaku Month 2016 Day 26- Us Against the World . Title: The People who Love You. . Summary: The Konoha council is discussing Sasuke’s sentence and the death penalty is the one thing the elders want the most. He needs to pay for his crimes, but killing the Uchiha won’t be that easy. Not while she’s around. . A/N: Ahh! I’ve finally finished this one! I was so excited to write this idea, and since I was traveling, I thought I wouldn’t have time to do so… BUT thanks to the dawn, I’ve managed to finish this theme XD I’ve tried making it more direct again, but this one ended up really long. I’ve added the details I wanted, and I’m reallyy happy with the results! I hope you also enjoy it, and please, leave me a comment! Tell me what you’re thinking about the themes so far! . . . “ You’re not touching Uchiha Sasuke.”

Her voice echoed around the room, crossing the entire wooden table until it reached the ears of the old woman standing some chairs away from her. Emerald eyes were burning in pure anger, as an uncomfortably dangerous silence was set. Tsunade was there, with her arms crossed and eyes closed, simply waiting for her student to solve things up.

People were looking at her. People were judging her words.

But Haruno Sakura couldn’t care less for all those things.

“ Excuse me…? Perhaps I didn’t quite understand your words, Ms. Haruno.”

Trembling were the words that left Koharu’s lips, as she looked shocked at the medic, who was simply sitting in that chair, with her hands forming a bridge in front of her lips. The elders who formed the Konoha Council were equally surprised- and equally annoyed at the pinkette's words, but not a single one of them dared raise their voices against the girl. They were more afraid of her than they were of her master, and thanks to previous experiences, the entire council remained quiet, leaving all the talking to the old woman in front of them.

That was exactly why they didn’t want that girl there.

Not when the matter was none other than Uchiha Sasuke’s judgement.

Even if the elders did their best to keep that meeting a secret from the ones close to the raven haired boy, there was no way to force the slug princess to stay quiet. They had successfully prevented the loud Uzumaki from joining, and even the future Hokage was left out of that assembly due to personal connections with the culprit. It was evident and infuriating to see that the council was blocking all their efforts on trying to have any say in the final decision, but in the end, there was nothing neither of them could do.

They were left out, but she was definitely in.

For being the pupil of the Godaime, Haruno Sakura has always had free access to many things around the village. From special books to some of the deepest secrets of the village, the girl knew it all, and even if her access to the judgement was also threatened, Tsunade herself- as the Hokage in charge of that trial- brought her pupil along as her right-hand-woman. There was no arguing with the blonde, and if it was already difficult for the elders to get their ideas approved with just the Hokage, with her miniature-self around, such thing would just be impossible.

Especially when the main idea was the execution of Uchiha Sasuke.

Her green eyes closed for a moment, as she breathed in calmly. “ Oh, I’m sure you did, though I don’t mind repeating myself…” She opened her eyes once more, the fire still burning inside them. “ You are not hurting Uchiha Sasuke.”

“ Hmph, don’t be such a fool, young lady. He needs to pay for his crimes, and I won’t allow you, a simple chunin, to do as you please with this judgment.”

Though it was possible to see that the old woman was carefully measuring her words, Sakura just couldn’t accept such sentence. She was not going to let him die by the hands of the village, and even if she was there just to keep her master some company, the girl was not going to hold back her actions.

She was ready to face them all from the start, and nothing would stop her from doing the right thing.

“ I understand that he deserves to pay for his crimes, however, such thing won’t be done by the means of taking his life. Be sure of that.”

“ You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her tired eyes were now glaring at Sakura, as the girl was still in the same place. The girl’s expression remained as cold as before, as if nothing that came out from that woman’s mouth affected her. And it didn’t, to be honest. "His actions are known all around, and he has broken several rules of our village. He has threatened to kill us all, and he even tried to kill you, Ms. Haruno. I will not allow you to put the village in danger because of your childish infatuation.”

At such words, Haruno Sakura remained in silence for a moment.

Childish infatuation, uh? So that was what that old lady thought of her love for the Uchiha.

The love that has consumed her soul and caused her to cry herself to sleep for several nights during the time he was away. The love that has made her who she is today and made her want to be so much more for both of them and for the village. Such love certainly made her wake up to the reality of the shinobi world, and for that, she will forever be grateful.

Her childish infatuation saved her, and it was also going to save him.

She was going to save him.

Not caring about the attention she was dragging towards herself, Sakura stood up from the chair, clenching her fists. The messy ponytail that was holding up her short, pink hair was already falling apart, as some locks were falling over her face. She looked tired and a little pissed, and at that moment, she didn’t feel like separating those things from her argumentation.

“ As a member of the Konoha council, I expected more from you, Koharu-baasama. Trying to use my own feelings against me won’t give you any kind of advantage, in fact…” Her eyes were now holding a deadly glare- quite similar to the Godaime's one- and it was almost possible to listen to all those hearts around her skipping a beat. “ You’ve just left me more pissed at this whole bullshit.”

“ Ms. Haruno, put yourself in your place. You’re just a ch-“

“ Just a chunin, I know. I’m still a chunin, who has helped save the world by punching a goddess in the face. I’m also the chunin who has mastered Senju Tsunade’s supreme technique, and the one chunin who fought side by side with Uchiha Sasuke and the entire ninja alliance to protect the world… But that’s not important, right?”

A smirk grew on both master and student’s lips, causing Koharu to grit her teeth in annoyance. The old woman remained in silence, allowing the pinkette to continue her speech. “ You see, I’m not denying any of his crimes, and we all agree he should pay for his choices. However, Sasuke is still a ninja from Konoha. He’s the last member of the Uchiha clan, which was one of the clans responsible for the village’s foundation. You won’t erase the sharingan from the world, and you will certainly not erase Uchiha Sasuke from this life.”

“ I couldn’t care less if he’s the last Uchiha! He will not put our villagers in danger! It’s our duty to keep them all safe!”

“ Oh, just like you did to the Uchiha clan?”

“ You insolent brat…”

“ Hn, the village went further than Sasuke ever will when you elders agreed that killing all those people would be a solution. You’ve destroyed his life and-“

“ It had to be done!”

“ It could’ve been different!” She raised her voice for the first time in order to match the old lady’s, making Koharu take one step back in retreat, as the distance created by that table suddenly felt too short in between them. Just like the Third, Haruno Sakura was showing herself to be a headstrong ninja. She simply wouldn’t accept orders, and that was exactly why she was in that room at that exact time. She was ready to find a new solution that didn't end up in a sea of blood like before.

Just like the Third, she wanted to protect the legacy of the Uchihas.

And just like the Fifth, she wouldn’t mind using her monstrous strength to get what she wanted.

“ You’re too young to understand this things, child.You shouldn’t even be here.”

“ Yes, you are right. I don’t and never will understand how the council actually allowed such thing. However, I do understand a few things regarding the new era of the shinobi world and Uchiha Sasuke. He’s not a threat, and I can say that if he wanted to do anything, he would have already done it by now. Also, don’t think that your decision of executing one of the strongest ninjas in the world won’t affect the other nations. We’re all connected by the alliance now, and I guarantee you that, as soon as the news spread, Konoha will be threatened.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! There will be no such thing as a threat because of his head! Konoha will be safer than ever without him around!”

“ Oh, are you sure?”

The two females exchanged challenging glares for a couple of moments, and the Haruno girl could clearly see the insecurity creeping over the elder’s features. Her lips were twitching, her hands were restlessly moving, and a drop of sweat was rolling down the side of her grizzled head. Koharu had no conviction in her words anymore, and the possibility of them being threatened never really crossed her mind.

The Uchiha and his kekkei genkai are certainly a valuable things for the world, and thanks to the alliance, killing the hero who saved the war- aka Uzumaki Naruto’s best friend, would be simply the biggest mistake anyone could ever make. Chaos would be spread around once more, a new war would start, and the Leaf would be completely unprotected, for all their most experienced ninjas, just like the girl herself, would team up with the Uchiha.

Konoha would be left alone, and as soon as the other elders that were gathered around the table realize such thing, they all knew the discussion was already over. And it was clear which of the girls was the winner.

Perhaps she would just need to make herself clearer with her last words.

“ If you don't want to believe a threat might befall on the village, I’ll give you one right now.” Her eyes turned cold and it was as if they were yearning for the old lady’s blood. Never before had those eyes showed so much hatred before. “ I, Haruno Sakura, in front of all of you, declare that if something happens to Uchiha Sasuke, you will regret it. If he’s hurt, I’ll go after you, Koharu-obaasama. If you kill him, I will crush Konoha with my own hands. “ She said, placing her index slowly over the wooden table, tapping once as if to emphasize her words.

A sadistic smile decorated her lips, and there was no hesitation coming from her at all. Her body language wasn’t lying, and her eyes were definitely telling the truth. Haaruno Sakura was really threatening Konoha because of Uchiha Sasuke, and never before had she felt so alive. She was defending her special person, and if she really had to, she would destroy her home with her own hands.

It was not like she didn’t have the power for that, right?

Worried expressions decorated almost all the faces around that room, and the drop of sweat rolling down Koharu’s head was enough to tell the Haruno girl the answer she needed after officially threatening her own village. The pinkette, then, simply left the table, walking towards the door as the click of her heels was the only sound resonating around that office. The elders’ hearts were apprehensive, and it was almost as if she could hear the old lady’s screaming internally, probably wanting to murder the petite pink haired girl.

Sakura would definitely not escape from the consequences that her supposed treason would bring upon her, but it was not as if she was worried about such trivial things at that moment, after all, her patients are waiting for her at the hospital.

“ H-Haruno Sakura!” She stopped one last time, not turning around. "L-Leave this room and your threat against the village will be registered in your records!" Koharu’s voice held a tint of despair, as she seemed to be trying her last resort to tame the girl.

Such thing in which no one will ever succeed.

Not bothering about giving the elder her attention, Sakura resumed her walk. Koharu just got even angrier, and it was possible to tell so just by the way her voice rose. “ You’re going to regret it! I wi-“

Much to everyone’s surprise, the big, mahogany table around which they were all gathered suddenly parted, each half falling on a side. The members of the council stood up in awe, as the Godaime was the only one who remained in her seat, proudly smirking due to her student’s actions.

In her eyes, Sakura had just grown a little more. Her student is a strong, mature and confident woman, who doesn’t close her eyes to the dangers in front of her anymore. She’s a beautiful flower, ready to heal and to fight, and the things she did in that conference room just showed how passionate she is about her friends. It’s true that the Uchiha has always held a special place in her heart, but she didn’t just threaten the village because it was him, no.

Sakura threatened her village because of her beliefs in justice and peace, and if her ideals were to be disrespected again, she would stand up against whoever stood in front of her. And for that, Tsunade is really proud of the girl who had just exited the room.

“ She’s just like you, Tsunade-hime.” Koharu said, trying to regain her breath.

“ I’ve trained her well.”

Her conscious couldn’t be clearer when she finally left the council room. Her legs weren't trembling, her heart wasn’t beating faster and she didn’t feel nervous at all as she walked down the hallways of the Hokage’s building.

That is, until she saw him.

His hand was hidden inside the pocket of his dark trousers, and his left foot was lifted, resting against the wall. His head was lowered, causing his dark locks to fall forward, as his eyes remained closed. Uchiha Sasuke was calm and focused, as he clearly seemed to be waiting for someone. And when he opened his eyes to glare at her, Sakura already knew she was the one for whom he had been waiting for.

And you bet she already knew what he was about to say.

As soon as he adjusted his posture to stand almost in the middle of the hallway, the pinkette already prepared herself for what he was about to throw at her. He would call her irresponsible and he would definitely shout at her for the words she had said, which, she knew, he had obviously heard.

Sasuke was going to scold her, for sure.

But she wouldn’t go back on her decision. Naruto would be mad at her if she did.

“ Sakura.” Her name sounded like poison coming out of his lips, as his dark pearls were connected to her emeralds. She had stopped about two meters away from him, and her hands were also clothed by her pockets. Sakura was trying to seem indifferent to his presence, but he could see perfectly through her. “ What the hell do you think you’re doing? Threatening Konoha is by far the stupidest thing you have ever done.”

“ It’s good to see you too, Sasuke-kun!" She started, a mocking tone in her voice. "And by the way, you’re welcome for what I just did to save your life.”

“ Don’t play dumb, Sakura! You shouldn’t have done that. They will go after you now, and you can bet they will make you pay for the things you’ve said.”

“ Well, I’m glad I won’t have to pay for the table, too, then.”

“ I’m serious here! You-“

“ And don’t you think I am?!” She glared at him, turning both of her hands into fists. Haruno Sakura was definitely not joking at that moment. “ I’m aware of everything I’ve said and done, and you’re not going to make me change my mind!”

The burning color of her eyes set on him made the Uchiha swallow dry for a moment. The girl was definitely serious about everything, and she was certainly not afraid of anything that could happen to her because of her actions. Sasuke knew she was more than simply capable of making her own choices, and more than anyone, he respected them. She chose to become a medic and save people, and she also chose to go through the chunin exam in the past so they could all participate as a team.

She chose to be a ninja, and he couldn’t tell how much the world has gained because of that.

But up until now, none of the consequences of her choices had threatened her life as a kunoichi.

None except for one: Falling in Love with him.

Even if she says that loving him was not a choice, the things she brought herself to do were definitely the consequences of her curse. She tried to run away with him, she knocked down her teammates, she lied to Naruto and right now she was threatening the entire village because of him. Sakura was going to pay for his mistakes, and that was the last thing he wanted from her.

She has nothing to do with his sins. In fact, she’s probably the only part of his life that isn’t corrupted by his blinding revenge.

Haruno Sakura was the only one who tried to bring him back by the means of love, therefore, he couldn’t let her fall into that hatred trap against the place she has always called home. He knew she would complain and she would definitely refuse his words, but he had already made up his mind.

Sakura was not getting involved in this. He would make sure she didn’t.

But it was already too late for that.

“ Tch, your stubbornness has taken you too far this time.” A sigh escaped his lips, as he ran a hand through his dark hair. “ You still have time to go back and apologize, Sakura. You don’t have to do this.”

“ Oh, I know I don’t. I’m doing this because I want to, and there’s just no way I’m apologizing to that old lady-shannarou.”

“ Stop trying to act so tough! Go back and apologize, now.”

The ordering tone in his voice annoyed her more than she thought it would. It felt as if he was underestimating her power, and as if he didn’t believe her words could make any difference. Sakura knew that she was probably overreacting, but at that exact moment, the pinkette didn’t want to hear him anymore.

Her calm expression changed abruptly, as anger could be found in her features. She walked up to him, standing close enough for their hot breaths to tickle their skins. For he’s taller than her, Sakura had to keep her head up. Her arms were placed on her hips, she was looking deep into his dark orbs, and the boy could tell she didn’t show any sign of retreating.

She took one last breath, and with a confident voice, she gave him a solid answer. “No. I’m not apologizing for what I’ve said, and there’s nothing you or anyone can do to convince me otherwise.” She blinked slowly, hiding her blazing emeralds for a couple of seconds just so they could return with even more intensity. “ Now, if that’s all you have to tell me, Uchiha Sasuke, then I’ll be taking my leave. If you'll excuse me.”

For as much as he wanted to admit how beautiful and how much she had just turned him on at that moment, Sasuke couldn’t simply allow her to do as she pleased. Sakura could be known as the princess of Konoha, and her temper could even be compared to her master’s, but there was just no way he would let her walk away like that. She was not going to do as she pleased, not while he was there.

Sasuke was not going to let her destroy her life for him. Even if he had to do it by force.

When the stubborn medic finally passed through him, her scent was the only thing that managed to continue the way down the hallway. With all his strength, the Uchiha pushed her against the wall, holding her in place with his forearm across her collarbone. His eyes were locked with hers, as their faces were mere inches away from one another. He was sending her a deadly glare, but as expected from the new Haruno Sakura standing in front of him; she didn’t flinch. Instead, she remained looking at him, waiting for the boy to try changing her mind once again.

She kept glaring at him, waiting for his next, unsuccessful try.

“ Why can't you just obey for once, Sakura?”

“ I could say the same. Why can’t you just accept that I’m trying to save your life!?”

“ The price is too high! If they go after you, what will be the point? Don’t throw it all away for a stupid reason!”

“ Stupid reason…? Do you even know why I’m doing this?”

“ Hn, I don’t, and I don’t care. I just want you not to get involved into more trouble. You deserve to be successful ninja, and I won’t let you throw your life away.”

Her head lowered down for the first time ever since they had met at the corridor. Slowly, her body stopped resisting his strength, and he watched as she bit her lower lip. Due to the proximity, he saw as her rosy lip turned white before regaining its color.

Apparently, his words had hit a delicate spot, for he could feel as she trembled under his gaze. Sakura was mad, and if she were a twelve year old girl, her eyes would be in tears at that exact moment. She just couldn’t accept his words, as he took his own life for granted. It was infuriating to see how he didn’t consider his own importance in her life, as he simply called her reasons stupid.

How much of an idiot could that boy be?

Didn’t he know how she cared for him? How she has always cared?

The pinkette couldn’t simply accept his way of thinking, and as her blood boiled inside her veins, all the words that had been stuck in her throat for the past years managed to find their way out. “ You idiot…” Her voice was low at first, but as she looked at him again, the Uchiha could see that the girl was on fire. “ Can't you see how important you are to me?! I don’t want you to die! Naruto, Kakashi-sensei… Don’t you think about them?”

“ Hn, you’ll be better off without me.”

“ Better off?!” She screamed in indignation, punching the wall behind them. Had she used chakra, the entire building would’ve fallen behind them. At that moment, the boy took a step back, but their distance remained almost the same thanks to the step she took forward. “ We care about you, Sasuke! Or do you think we would’ve chased you for all these years for nothing!?”

Her voice was louder than before, and her cheeks were growing hotter in anger. The girl was losing control over herself, and he knew he shouldn’t keep on pushing her like that.

He should’ve never pushed her that far.

And she would teach him exactly why.

“ Oi, Sakura… You don’t have to scream.”

“ You jerk!” Her fingers gripped firmly on his shirt, as he was trying to calm her down.

“ Hey, wait. Yo-“

Before he could even finish his sentence, his eyes widened and his mind went blank. The pinkette had boldly pulled him closer, and without hesitating, pressed her lips against his in order to shut his mouth. Her eyes were closed shut, and he could see how she just didn’t want to let go. Her expression grew longing, and for the first time, Uchiha Sasuke truly understood how people not related by blood could feel so deeply for one another.

With that kiss, she showed him how fury was consuming her soul, and how he was the target of such feeling. In the same way he could understand Naruto’s feelings simply by exchanging punches, Haruno Sakura was an open book when her emotions overflowed her. During these times, she doesn't think straight and he doubts she even listens to anyone who tries talking to her. The girl simply lets it all out in the most sincere, pure and intense way she knows.

Oh, and how beautiful she is like that.

After some good 40 seconds and after both of them had adjusted their bodies to a comfortable position, the girl finally pulled away. She kept on holding his shirt, and her forehead was now resting on his chest. Her cheeks were flushed, as they both regained their breath. They fell in a delicate silence for some moments, but her low voice was the first to break it.

“ Can't you see that… I-I can’t lose you…? Not again… Not again.”

“ Sakura…”

“ It’s been so long… Please, Sasuke-kun… don’t ask me to apologize for fighting for your life. As long as you survive, I-I know I can take it all. S-So please… Let me do this.”

Listening to her pleading made his heart skip a beat instantly. The woman who was all so strong and confident just minutes before was now almost begging him not to interfere with her plans. She was pouring her heart out for him, and after everything that happened in between them, there was just no way he could ignore her feelings.

Not anymore.

Not when that kiss managed to drive him insane by how strong their hearts were connected.

And so, for the second time that day, Haruno Sakura won an argument. And never before had he been so happy and thankful to lose.

“ Tch, you’re still as annoying as before, aren’t you?”

“ Eh? But I-”

“ I just hope you have a plan against the village, Sakura. Just the two of us won’t be enough against Konoha. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

As soon as his words left his mouth, Uchiha Sasuke turned his face away from her so he could hide the soft smile that was playing on his lips. She could feel how lighter the atmosphere around them felt, and even if they were basically agreeing on attacking their hometown, Haruno Sakura couldn’t be happier. In fact, she was so happy that the fact she had just kissed the raven hired boy didn’t even crossed her mind yet.

Sakura was relieved to have him fighting by her side, and she was thankful for his choice.

Together, they will, indeed, defeat the village.

But they won’t be alone. They will never be.

“ I’m sure they’re already thinking of something right now.”

“ They? Who are you talking about?”

“ Do you really think Naruto and the others would be out of this?” She smirked, feeling proud of herself and of her friends.

“ Tch, that dobe…”

“ Hn, It’s us against the world.”

#sasusaku #sasusaku fanfiction #sasusaku month 2016 #ssmonth16fanfiction #sasusaku month #myssfics

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itshummelswitch · 4 years

Text

KLAINE | Date.

WHEN: April 26th, 2020

WHERE: Riley Hummel’s house, back room.

WHO: Kurt Hummel & Blaine Anderson

EVENT: Kurt and Blaine are getting ready and discussing going on their first official date.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26.

After having his trustful guard, Max, escort Blaine to Riley's that night, Kurt hasn't wasted much time to pull the submissive into his arms. Engulfing him tightly, chin tucked over his shoulder as he just held him for a little while before pulling him to bed in a guest room. There'd be time to use Riley's bigger bed later, but right now Kurt just needed the closeness with just the two of them. And they had fallen asleep like that, tangled with each other under cool Egyptian Cotton sheets as they had a lot to tackle when they woke up. Kurt having woke up first, prepared a picnic basket for lunch before making both men in the house breakfast that consisted of Belgian waffles with cut up fruit drizzled in honey, eggs, and turkey bacon which he served them in bed. Both receiving a greeting kiss as he did so, before he's climbing back into bed with Blaine and going over his plans for the date. "I was thinking we check out the aquarium?" He asks, popping a grape into his mouth from his own plate where he's sitting beside Blaine. "After that, we can go for a walk, come back here, get the picnic basket, and head to the beach. And then there's an open time slot between then and dinner which I've already made reservations for. Afterwards, I'll be tying you up for the night." Turning mischievous eyes to the submissive, knocking shoulders lightly with a grin. "Is there anything you'd like to do in that empty time slot?"

The hug he received on first arrive caused Blaine to melt head to toe. He loved being close to Kurt like this and holding him. There was something so intimate about it. It wasn't just a friendly hug to say I've missed you, it was a hug that said 'I've been missing my other half and I need you.' Blaine stood there holding Kurt close to him as long as he could wanting to become one with the switch. He was mildly annoyed when the hug had ended but knowing where they were about to go next, Blaine could deal with it. Falling asleep should have been easy laying next to Kurt in an incredibly comfortable bed but it took Blaine at least an hour to fall asleep after Kurt had slipped soundly off. He spent most of that time drawing circles absentmindedly on Kurt's back as they lay in each others embrace. A couple of times Blaine hummed softly, humming whatever song came to mind. He could have stayed like this forever. He hadn't fallen this hard and this fast for someone before. Charlie didn't even compare to Kurt and he had all but left Blaine's mind. The following morning Blaine sat with his legs folded on the bed picking at the fruit on his gorgeous spread of food first. He listened quietly as Kurt went over all of the plans he had for them that day. Blaine would have just been happy to sit here and talk until the tying up thing happened, but getting out into the world would be good for them both. He grinned at Kurt, cutting a small piece of his waffle. There was entirely too much food her for him to eat, but he was sure going to try. "I think all of that sounds perfect." He said. "It's been years since I've been to an aquarium and it's a little disappointing I've been here like two months haven't gone to the beach yet. I thank you for correcting that grave error." He chuckled a little and popped the waffle piece into his mouth. He thought over what he'd like to do with that opening in the schedule. "Could we stay at the beach and watch the sunset before dinner?"

"I haven't sat on a beach to watch a sunset in..." Kurt has to take a moment, lips pursed as he thinks about it before shaking his head. "Ever! Because Dani and I were at the beach yesterday, but we didn't watch the sunset. So, yes, let's cross that off our laundry list." He grins, sucking honey off his thumb with a little wiggle of his hips on the bed, only to then use the provided napkin. It was such a romantic image. Watching a sunset. Very cliche, maybe, but Kurt was always living for the hopeless romantic aspect of life. It didn't matter if Sylvester would be side-eyeing him the entire time, he was going to make sure Blaine Anderson felt loved and cared for in every way possible. The submissive was learning his role so well, he deserved a time off from playing submissive the whole day and just be - Blaine. With Kurt. Not Sir. Just Kurt. Leaning over to press a kiss to the corner of Blaine's mouth, collecting some syrup as he does so before leaning away and carefully climbing off the bed to collect his empty plate. "Do you need anything else before I get dressed? Anything at all?"

Blaine smiled over Kurt blushing as the switch kissed him, catching him off guard. Maybe he could have a relationship with Kurt. Aside from the D/s relationship. That was already so strong for them anyway it couldn't hurt to add some deeper emotions to it. Blaine remembered the conversation he had had with Riley, he always went back to that conversation. But perhaps Riley was wrong. He didn't know how Blaine felt about Kurt, how he saw Kurt. "No. I don't need anything." He replied picking at the bacon on his plate. He was excited that he would be there with Kurt during his first beach sunset. Maybe this was the perfect time to tell Kurt how he felt. Everything about last night and today felt so...relationshipy, that Blaine figured Kurt must have liked him too in that way. "I'm just really excited for our date today."

"Well I hope you would be!" Kurt grins, kicking his foot up in excitement right as he exits the bedroom to carry the plates to the kitchen. Of course also checking in on Riley first, helping him select his outfit for the day, before returning to Blaine. Holding up the stolen blue cardigan, which he dances with in front of himself while approaching the bed. "We're adding a pop of blue to this outfit. Really feel at one with the aquatic life, so I blend in and the fishes may come toward us and we can get good view. That's always helpful right?" Locating the rest of his clothes, a simple pair of black pants from the previous night, an horizontal striped shirt, and of course the cardigan before he's climbing on the bed to steal one of his leftover fruit pieces, popping it in his mouth with a grin. "While I am very much a fan of you being without clothes, let's get you dressed so we can go."

In the time Kurt had left him and returned, Blaine finished what he could of the massive breakfast in front of him. He was busy fussing with his hair in the mirror trying to get it to stay down with the gel he brought with him when Kurt came back with a cardigan in hand. Blaine moved back to the bed and sat on the edge of it. He smiled as he watched Kurt went about getting dressed with fluid like movement. "I guess it can't hurt to try and blend in." He said with a little wrinkle of his nose. Kurt looked good in blue. Kurt looked good in, and out of, anything. "I brought an outfit I think Kurt Hummel would approve of." Blaine picked up his over night bag and rummaged through it to get to the neatly folded clothing at the bottom. Since they were to be outside and on the beach, he pulled out a pair of coral colored shorts and a blue short sleeved button down with small white anchors on it, foregoing the bowtie today. "We'll match." Blaine said with a large grin. "What do you think? Did I do good?"

Kurt's face lit up as he took in Blaine's chosen outfit. It was so fitting for the ocean themed date, and like Blaine had said - they would match. It wasn't even planned that way, it just happened. As if they knew what the other was thinking before a word was spoken. It was a nice feeling that was warm in his chest, that he didn't want to look too far into. Question. Analyze. But it felt amazing, and he held onto it. Refusing to let it go for as long as possible. "Oh, you definitely did good, Sweetheart." Kurt praises, stealing another kiss by invading the smaller man's space for a quick moment then pulls back as he gives a love tap against the submissive's ass, returning to his own outfit so he could change. Something that didn't take long. The styling of his hair was a different story, but they would be leaving Riley's after that and catching a ride to the aquarium at long last. Their first stop, Devil Keys Aquarium, wasn't a small space. Thankfully not many people were there, which would grant them the ability to not feel crowded and rushed to move from exhibit to exhibit. Kurt having no problem in holding Blaine's hand on their official entry, and taking to dragging him to the tide pool area first. There was more things that were in open space for them to interact with, and any excuse to encourage Blaine to hold a sea slug was fun. For this moment they felt normal. Like a proper date. Not as Dominant and submissive. But as Kurt and Blaine.

#[ baby penguin para ]#[ ship | oh there you are ]

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