#gus got so excited over flags!!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kukuandkookie · 27 days

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People keep claiming Chinese BL manhua really only have stories featuring toxic male leads, so I offered to give recommendations with green flags... Someone finally said yes, so here's what I typed up in response!:

I Ship My Rival x Me:

One of my personal favourites!

Based on the hilarious novel, commonly known as I Ship My Adversary x Me and also has an audio drama adaptation on MaoEr FM. Basically a story about two actors who are seen as complete rivals by everyone except the actors themselves, which annoys the main character (Wei Yanzi) enough that when he discovers there are actual fans who ship them instead of pit them against one another, he’s so excited he sort of starts shipping them too (in like, an abstract, theoretical manner lmao). This of course causes shenanigans as he actually gets to know the person who people ship him with/pit him against, Gu Yiliang.

Gu Yiliang is a true sweetheart and the greenest of green flags. He’s a complete puppy and I love him. And this means, naturally, the only misunderstandings in this story are of the hilarious kind (you’ll know what I mean if you read it lol). 😂

This one actually used to be available officially in English on the Bilibili manhua’s international app before it got shut down, but it recently got picked up by Seven Seas, the company behind a lot of official English translations of danmei (Chinese BL)!

Touch Your World:

A literally colour-blind boy (as in, he cannot see colour at all and only sees things in black and white) discovers someone who he can see colour on. This person is a designer who has suffered past betrayal and trauma that has caused him to shut himself up and grow much more on edge, but this chance meeting draws both parties out of their shells.

Pixiu’s Eatery, No Way Out:

Not a green flag top in the traditional sense, but here we meet the mythical Pixiu: an ancient Chinese mythical creature who now runs a restaurant. While he’s a penny-pincher with a temper and he doesn’t get along with his love interest at first (a ghost named Wen Xi who he finds suspicious due to Wen Xi’s ties to a past rival of his named Taotie), Pixiu and Wen Xi eventually grow, quite naturally—and hilariously!—into a found family.

The Wife Is First:

Based on a novel of pretty much the same name (and is written by the same author as the popular manhua and donghua, No Doubt in Us (a heterosexual body-swap romance, which also has a subtle gay side ship)). Here we meet Jing Shao just as he’s about to lose everything: once a royal and a powerful general, he has been betrayed by all those around him…except the husband he has never treated well.

As such, when we first meet him, we actually witness his—and his husband’s—deaths. But then he awakens and finds himself back in time to the night right after he was forced to wed this husband of his, and Jing Shao vows to treat him well from now on because he stuck with him through thick and thin despite everything.

Don’t Say You Love Me:

A high school romance with a supernatural twist: Lin Yutong was confessed to by his best friend, Qin Weiyun, at their graduation party. When he drunkenly freaked out and ran away, Qin Weiyun was hit by a car during the chase…

Devastated by his loss, Lin Yutong quickly wakes up to find himself back at the start of his high school journey, right before he meets Qin Weiyun… And this time, he wants to keep Qin Weiyun safe.

But his overly familiar attitude at first gets the wary Qin Weiyun a tad suspicious, because he’s actually quite an aloof person.

The author and artist of this one is also behind another popular manhua titled Your Dream Is Delicious, which is about a demon named Yi Kui who discovers he enjoys eating the nightmares of Lin You. This eventually leads to them—you guessed it—falling in love.

It’s Not That I Want to Wear Women’s Clothing:

Our main character is hired to crossdress to help this CEO get over his gynophobia (fear of touching women) without him knowing. Naturally, this leads to an awkward romantic journey of both identities of our main character getting close to this CEO…who at first glance seems like the typical cold and aloof CEO type, except he’s actually quite a sweetheart.

Salt Friend:

A slice-of-life high school story about the “school bully” named Tong Yang who’s actually a crybaby and the aloof person named Xiao Zhen who discovers him crying. While the two don’t seem like they’d get along at first glance, this quickly becomes a friends-to-lovers story that navigates family drama alongside the romance.

How’d I Get a Heroine’s Script?:

A transmigration story with a twist. Chao Yi is wheelchair-bound but finds himself eventually as a young lord in what is basically a palace drama (court politics, intrigue, family drama, all that good stuff). His System, Qin Que, tasks him with wooing the difficult 7th prince, Gu Yunheng, who smiles on the surface but is quite cold in actuality.

Despite the two getting off on the wrong foot—mostly because Gu Yunheng is really hard to get close to—they soon end up as unlikely allies…especially since there’s a lot of secrets, such as regarding the death of the body Chao Yi’s occupying, the scheming princes, and even Gu Yunheng himself.

See You My King:

Zhang Li, a student interested in what is basically ancient Egypt, goes on an expedition to the ruined civilization and nearly loses his life. Except at the same time, he discovers an ancient tomb with a statue that actually comes to life and saves him…

And this statue even follows him home. This statue is sweet and loving despite its inability to speak, and Zhang Li grows attached to it (or him)… But then the statue falls apart and Zhang Li is devastated.

In wishing for a miracle to bring them back together, the statue’s stone heart sends Zhang Li back in time…to when this ancient civilization is still present. And that’s how he discovers his stone statue is the “tyrant king” of this region, and as cruel as he seems at first glance, both this king and Zhang Li eventually grow close and unfold the different sides to one another that makes them inseparable in the face of all kinds of threats.

Trapping the Foxy Doctor:

A doctor and a psychiatrist meet…except it doesn’t seem like a perfect love story at first glance. Not because the doctor is traditionally foxy (seductive and/or cunning), but because he’s so silly and on-the-nose that he initially kind of rubs the psychiatrist the wrong way. Except, of course, with the kind of sunny sincerity displayed by our doctor Zhi Banyi, you can’t resist him for long…

And the psychiatrist, Lin Li, is himself quite a polite soul despite his complex upbringing. As such, the two end up together through a series of cases where they have to collaborate and help clients, with a lot of shenanigans sprinkled in between (including the fact Lin Li has a side-job live-streaming as a woman—and “she” just so happens to be Zhi Banyi’s favourite streamer lol).

Pirouette Into My Heart aka Salad Days:

You know the “he was a skater boy and she did ballet” kind of set-up? Well here we have a boxer and a ballet dancer…and hey, “can I make it any more obvious”?

This one is basically a feel-good story of the century. It’s childhood friends to lovers, and it’s soft and cuddly and encouraging, as we follow the main character, Jiang Shen, in achieving his ballet dreams. And on every step of the way, he’s accompanied by the boxer Bai Jinyi, who’s also chasing his own dreams.

The draw of this one is that while there’s obviously conflict to drive the plot along, it’s ultimately a comforting story, so you get all warm and squishy inside reading it. Bai Jinyi and Jiang Shen are very supportive of one another, as is everyone around them.

There’s even extras at the very end that swap the classes of the two main characters, which makes for a similarly compelling AU. 🤭

Beryl and Sapphire:

Not always BL but often is. What do I mean by that? Well it’s a story that can switch to any universe even as the characters stay the same, and some worlds are just one-off gags while some are whole story arcs. The original manhua features stick figures, so if you really want to experience this one, I’d recommend the donghua. The first season also cleverly shows the main characters as actors in the OP, which explains all the world-switching pretty easily haha.

Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin:

Unfortunately I’m not sure the manhua for this one is still ongoing, but the original novel (all about transmigration and hopping multiple worlds) 100% features a green flag top.

The Guy Inside Me:

I know the title sounds sexual lol but it’s actually a joke about how it’s a body-swap story. 😆

The original Chinese title is “This Question Is Too Difficult”) and of course, the author also wrote Fake Slackers, which has two very smart students act like terrible ones due to not wanting trouble.

Falling to Where I Belong:

The thing about this one is that the top is 100% a total green flag... It's the main character that's more of a red flag, in the sense he at first only asks the top out to humiliate him due to a misunderstanding.

But it's still a heartfelt story filled with regret and growth, and I did really like the portrayal of Cheng Feichi. Personally I think the manhua humanizes him a bit more than the novel since we didn't really get his POV in the novel that often, but I did hope for even more emotion in the ending... Still, it was a satisfying read, and while I would like to comfort the main character, Zhen Yeming, over his regrets, I really want to just give all the good things to Cheng Feichi, who definitely deserves it after everything he went through.

More Than Brothers:

For the "non-freaks" out there, they're not actual brothers, don’t worry; not adopted brothers either. Just a guy who saw his younger friend as his bro…until this friend disappeared from his life and apparently got into a bad crowd… Except in reality he is being harassed and is struggling to leave his abusive family.

The Protagonist Just Wants to Fall in Love:

Kind of a classic in the transmigration genre, except now we get multiple worlds in multiple arcs. Our protagonists are Systems on their final mission, aiming to become human by the end of it, and their task is to guide their protagonists away from the path of "darkening" (essentially corruption).

And each and every one of these systems do so by getting their protagonist to fall in love with them lol.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite arc so far—in the manhua at least!—is the historical one between the advisor and the emperor, but the third—and currently ongoing as the time of me writing this—world between two university students who started getting close during military training and by playing games is also quite cute.

And okay, man I could really keep going, especially with the manhua that are based on novels, but this post is already really long asjakfl. It was, in fact, so fucking long YouTube wouldn't even let me post it at first until I cut it down AMFKGSJDFGS.

But I still want to at least give a shout out to some of the manhua with pretty healthy, green flag tops/gongs!:

Like Han Yuan, despite the characters not getting along at first and Yu Han being rather aloof to the spoiled Luo Linyuan, is still quite sweet at its core. Lovely Allergen is as well, even with their "brotherly" relationship being the forefront of the conflict between Song Yu and Yue Zishi.

Another kind I wanted to bring up is the ones where their worlds or stories are dark, but the characters aren't necessarily. Like The Film Emperor, He Insisted on Being My Patron has a very green flag gong (he's such a puppy!), but he and the main character are up against the reddest of red flags of a villain LMDFKGSJFD.

It's also not a manhua I think people who want green flag leads would necessarily enjoy, given that beyond being "darker," it also goes into the territory of fan service-y and "problematic" nsfw content, but again, the male lead is really quite sweet to the main character despite the shitty situation they're in.

And I thought of Bu Chonghua from Tunhai aka Swallowing the Seas (another one based on a novel), since the main character there, Wu Yu, comes to see Bu Chonghua as so good and just that he pushes him away because he feels like he can't dirty such a man with his own darkness, both in his past and personality. It's a trope I really enjoy.

I'll briefly mention some ⚠️ spoilers ⚠️but the reason I wanted to highlight it is because: the latest chapter of the manhua has Bu Chonghua overhear Wu Yu saying he likes Bu Chonghua, and this is after Wu Yu disappeared and Bu Chonghua is worried he skipped town for good. He follows Wu Yu, all while wondering if the like Wu Yu holds for him is the same as his liking of Wu Yu, and when Wu Yu is about to be gravely injured in an underground fighting ring, Bu Chonghua steps in to save him... The chapter ends with Wu Yu holding him back pleading with him to stop because it's not worth dirtying his hands with such a man as his opponent, and that's such a delicious flavour of angst because like...Wu Yu thinks it's fine for he himself to fight against such a person, but he doesn't want Bu Chonghua to. ;-;

Oops. I didn't mean for this to become a deeper ramble of Tunhai KMSGFKGHSJ. It's just interesting to me since Tunhai and its prequel, Poyun aka Breaking Through the Clouds, may not have what the people who prefer green flag tops want in terms of content, but its tops are technically not that much of a red flag either.

Which also get us to the kind of stories where plot can also sort of outweigh whether a top/gong is a green flag or not. Like No Arguing With Mr. Mo has two characters who struggle greatly in their relationship, with the question of "are they in love?" being an overarching issue for them, meaning it's not exactly healthy, and prevents them from being fully either green or red flags.

I also didn't bring up a lot of historical/xianxia manhua, which I'm sure some people may disagree with... Like the leads in Tianbao Fuyao Lu are arguably quite good, and while I haven't read Dinghai Fusheng Lu yet, I assume it's in a similar boat as something set in the same world.

And then there's the ones that develop into green flags... Like Mo Ran starts off awful, yes, but he does become much better later on!! But I don't think that's what those people after green flags want to hear lol. Plus I'd argue Erha is best experienced in novel (or audio drama) form over the manhua anyway—the manhua feels more like something made for established fans in my opinion.

Regardless, I hope this shows that with so many listed above, many manhua actually feature male leads who really do care for their love interests in a healthy, respectful way, whether they're 100% green flags or they develop into green flags or they're not even complete green flags. ^^

Edit: Oh I forgot to link my full list of danmei/baihe manhua recs HMSKFJSKS. I currently don’t have any summaries, tags, or content warnings in this list though, but there’s quite the range of stories!:

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avatarmerida · 10 months

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Alliance

A short thing I found in my drafts that I forget about. I wrote it when I was overthinking the huntlow pinkie hold. It consumes me to this day. 💚💛

—-

When the scouts ran drills, none of them ever wanted to team up with Hunter. It was quite the opposite, in fact. You’d think that they’d be fighting over the honor of having the head of the coven and the Emperor’s nephew on their team, but no. Rather, they’d jump at the chance to gang up on him and Hunter couldn’t help but feel like they enjoyed getting to exclude him.

But he worked better alone, anyway. It made him work harder.

“All right team, line up!” announced Willow. “Gus is gonna rig up some illusions to test our reflexes! Let’s see if we can sniff out the real Gus and snatch some flags!”

The Entrails cheered in agreement as they ran to take their places on the field. Willow smiled at their excitement and followed suit, setting up beside Hunter who had managed to sneak away for a few hours to help run drills.

“Hey Hunter! Wanna be my partner?”

“Y-your partner?” he repeated, confused.

“Yeah!” she said with a mischievous smile. “You take the left, I take the right. If we work together, I bet we can do it in record time.”

“But we don’t... have to work together,” he said, in case she had forgotten her own instructions. “You don’t have to work with me.”

“I know I don’t have to,” she chuckled. “I want to, if you want to. You’re good at strategy; it’ll be fun.”

“Oh, yeah sure.” He said, warming up to the fact that she was serious. “I’d... like that.”

“Awesome!” Willow said with a bright smile, extending her pinky out to him. “Alliance?”

He looked at her gesture with confusion and the raised his hand to mirror hers and touched his pinky to hers. “Alliance.” He confirmed. Willow tugged his pinky, completing the promise as Gus and his illusions took to the skies and beckoned the team to come after him.

He was new, that’s why she picked him.

——

Amity took game night very seriously. The only person who took it more seriously was Hunter. Before they could begin any game, they each had to have the instructions memorized. Every dice roll, every moment, every turn has to be by the book. They prided themselves in knowing every technicality which only fueled their competitive nature even more.

“Go back four spaces and take three additional cards, Hunter!” Amity ordered, taking far too much delight in delivering the blow.

“No! I was so close to the jackpot space!” Hunter exclaimed in utter dismay as he took his punishment cards from the deck on the table.

“Amity please!” Gus groaned in desperation. “We were so close to being done! Why??”

“Because if anyone’s gonna be the champ it’s gonna be me!” She declared, furiously shaking the dice to power up her revenge roll.

“What’s up Gus? I thought you liked silly human board games.” Lus said.

“I do! But these two and their love of rules make it so hard to cheat!” Gus sighed. “Deception is half the fun.”

“Don’t worry Gus, Hunter is still the closest the victory circle,” assured Willow. “When we’re done we can go watch the clothes spin around in the dryer, that usually makes you feel better.”

“But I don’t have enough tokens to make it past the trick space!” Hunter said in a panic.

“Where did you guys even find this game?” Luz said under her breath, looking at the box.

“Hey, I’ve got plenty,” said Willow, putting the plastic coins in a pile. “You can use some of mine!”

“Oh no Willow, I couldn’t,” Hunter insisted, knowing she had worked hard for her collection. “You earned those.”

“We can share them,” she said with a shrug, having worked hard to earn them mostly to aggravate Amity. “We can work together.”

“Really? Uh, hold on lemme check the rule book I know know if it says that’s allowed...”

“Well, it doesn’t say it’s noooot,” she pointed out playfully, gathering her pieces and scooting closer to him to combine their loot. “Alliance?” She asked, sticking out her pinky. Her face donned a devious smile as Amity waited in suspense for Hunter to confirm or deny, certain their team up would dismantle everything she worked for.

“Alliance.” Hunter confirmed, grabbing her pinky with his own and furrowing his brow in determination, ready to make Amity pay for playing as the piece he wanted to play as.

She wanted to end the game, that’s why she picked him.

—-

“… and then there’s supposed to be punch there too! It’s like all the flavors mixed together, so it’s looks kinda gross but trust me it’s actually really good!” Vee continued to happily explain as the group walked down the sidewalk to her friend’s house. They had all been invited to a party and Vee and Luz were trying to cram as much information about human realm parties to their friends as possible before they arrived. For the most part, they were all excited. They had been working hard and could use a break, and of course Gus had brought his notebook to take down as much as he could. But Willow couldn’t help but notice how quiet Hunter was as he dragged his feet beside her.

“You okay, Hunter?” Willow whispered and he flinched, as though he had been so zoned out he forget where he was. “You look… sick?”

“Sick?”

“I mean, you still look really nice,” she said quickly, knowing how much time he had spent making the jean jacket he was wearing. He looked more than just nice, if she was being honest, but she had a feeling that wasn’t what was plaguing his mind. “But you look nervous.”

“I mean… maybe I am, a little,” he admitted, hoping the others couldn’t hear. “I’ve just… never been to a party before, let alone a human one. I-I don’t know what I’m supposed to say or when I’m supposed to say something or if there’s a certain place I’m supposed to sit or-.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” she assured him with a gentle giggle. “I’ve never really been to a party before either.”

“You? Really?” He practically gasped. “But you’d be so fun at parties!”

“Aw, thanks,” she blushed, subconsciously adjusting her hair clip. “But yeah, I’ve never been to a party that wasn’t a birthday party, and even then it was only me and Gus. But this sounds like it’ll be fun.”

“Really? It sounds terrifying to me,” Hunter gulped, feeling like her was turning paler.

“Well, I’m really glad you’re going,” she said sweetly, knowing he hardly had a choice in the matter. He had just gotten on better terms with Vee and turning down an invitation didn’t seem like a good way to keep that positive momentum going. His heart leapt at Willow’s words, though he was sure it was just her being nice. He hardly expected to see much of her after they arrived.

He was sure the moment they walked in, everyone would be drawn to Willow. How could they not be? She was kind, funny, charismatic and not that he noticed but she looked absolutely stunning in the green sweater she had just bought, the way it made her eyes pop even in the dim moonlight. She was interesting and fun, they’d probably form a line for the chance to talk to her. He assumed he would gravitate to a spot in the shadows, maybe see if there were any books to read. Luz had mentioned that parties where the perfect time to impress someone and while Hunter pretended not to know what she was implying, he couldn’t imagine him being impressive in this type of social setting.

“I’m actually a little nervous too,” Willow said softly and Hunter looked at her in surprise once again. “I mean, I don’t know anyone there.”

“Well, you know me,” he said simply.

“That’s true,” she smiled, glancing up at him illuminated by the streetlights. “Um, would you wanna… hang out at the party?”

“Me? A-are you sure?” Hunter said, clearing his throat. She had plenty of other options.

“Yeah,” she said. “If it’s boring or awkward we can at least talk to each other. I like talking to you.”

“Oh… I like talking to you too,” he said, stopping at the edge of the driveway as the others walked in the front door. Vee greeted her friends with open arms and proceed to introduce Luz, diving into their story about being distant cousins or something. He sighed, his chest felt tight all of a sudden imaging all the people in the house. “I just…”

Willow sensed his discomfort.

“Hey, no worries,” she said. “How about if one us wants to leave early, we walk home together?”

“Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not,” she said. “We can always think of an excuse to leave. I’d rather be walking with you than at a party without you.”

“Oh.”

“And Luz mentioned there might be games and we’ve always been a great team at games,” she smiled. She did not bring up one game Luz had mentioned in particular, mostly as a joke, where two people spend seven minutes together. She didn’t necessary plan on participating, but if she did she’d want Hunter as her partner. “Or if someone talks to one of us and we don’t know what to say we can help each other out.”

“I’d really like that,” Hunter said with a sigh of relief, his hands fidgeting at his sides. Willow smiled, happy to see he was okay with her idea. She brought up her pinkie and offered it to him with a bright smile.

“Alliance?”

He looked at her, still confused as to how she was so content to spend the whole night with him. But he couldn’t say it wasn’t an ideal situation for him.

“Alliance.” He said, linking his pinkie to hers. But this time instead of releasing it after they sealed the promise, she brought their hands down to their sides and used it to lead him inside. He knew everyone who saw them would assume they were together but he did not remove himself from her grasp.

She didn’t want to talk to strangers, that’s what she did it.

She didn’t want to get lost, that’s what she did it.

She knew he would hide in a dark corner without her, that’s why she did it.

She was was worried he’d say something dumb and blow their cover, that’s why she did it.

Hunter’s mind flooded with excuses for why she did not drop his hand and stood so close to him without hesitation. Because he couldn’t fathom the reason for their alliance was because she wanted him on her side because she just wanted to be with him. She could pick anyone, but she kept picking him.

#huntlow #huntlow fanfiction #winter toh #toh fanfiction #the owl house #toh #Willow park #Hunter toh

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greynatomy · 2 years

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WHAT?!

Emily Sonnett x Fem!Reader

I decided to split this into multiple parts because I didn’t want it to be too long. Hope you enjoy! Feedback is appreciated :)

masterlist

“Come on Sonny.” Kelly whined. “You need to get laid. It’ll help with your grumpiness.”

“Kelly, I don’t need to get laid!” Sonny exclaimed, walking into the meal room.

“Who needs to get laid?”

“Sonny does!” Screamed Kelly, jumping up and down around Emily.

Hums and nods of agreements are heard throughout the whole room.

“Fuck you guys!” Sonnett yelled, throwing up the middle finger while grabbing some food.

“Nah! Someone need to fuck you— OW!” Kelly rubs the back of her head.

“KELLEY!”

Oh, are they in for a treat.

———

Getting ready, you decided to take a shower with your daughter because you’d been running around the backyard and she’s been playing with your dog, Gus, in the dirt.

“What do you wanna wear bubs?” You ask your four year old daughter, Isabella.

“Be like Mommy and wear Mama jersey?”

“We can do that.” You grab some black joggers, your guys’ Sonnett jersey, and a blue beanie for the both of you. “Let’s take a picture for Mama bubs.” You both stand in front of the mirror taking a picture, Isabella being silly, she puts up peace signs and sticks her tongue out.

Me: Ready to watch you play.

Superstar: You guys look so cute. Can’t wait to see you both. I gotta go. I love you!

Me: Good luck out there! I love you more!

Superstar: Not possible.

You had just arrived at the stadium where the USWNT game was being played. Giving your ticket to be scanned, you make your way to your seats, front row, behind the U.S. bench, carrying your daughter on your waist.

“You ready to see Mama play bubs?” You say, putting some ear muffs over her ears.

“YEAH!” Isabella screams as loud as she could.

The game was about to start, the person they were here for was sitting on the bench. Emily sees both you and Bella, giving a subtle wink.

��——

“OH MY GOD! Look at that baby!” Rose yelled excitedly, smacking Sonnett’s arm repeatedly.

“Ow—ow—OW! Stop hitting me!”

“But the baby is so cute!”

“You know who else is cute?” Kelly asks, joining the conversation. “The person holding the baby.”

Emily glares at Kelley. “Don’t say that.”

“Why? You want her all to yourself?” Emily stays silent. “Oh my god! You do want her all to yourself!”

“Shut Up! No I don’t! And she’s probably not even single.”

“But if she was… you would totally hit that— OW!”

“KELLEY!”

———

“Mommy, Mommy! Mama goin’ in! Mama gonna play!” Bella yells excitedly, but drops her mini flag over the railing and onto the ground. “Mommy, I drop.”

“Oh, no bubs. That’s okay. Maybe you can get another one.” You say, holding onto her so she doesn’t fall over the railing like her flag.

“I think you dropped something.” You hear someone say. You look down, over the railing to see Pinoe holding the mini flag.

“Yeah, sorry. She got way too excited.”

“We all get a little excited when Sonnettt goes in.”

“Yeah, we do.”

“Why don’t you guys come down after the game to meet Sonnettt?”

“What do you think bubs? Should we go down there after?” You feel her nod against your side, getting shy when she sees new people talking to her. “Alright, we’ll see you down there.

———

The final whistle blows. The crowd cheers loudly for the 3-0 win for the U.S.

“YEAH! Mommy, Mama won! Mama won!”

“She did!” You said with the same enthusiasm as Isabella.

A couple minutes later, a security guard comes to get you and escort you on the field. You carry Isabella on your hip so she doesn’t get lost in the crowd.

———

After greeting a couple fans, Emily starts walking towards the tunnel with Kelley, Rose, and Mal.

“MAMA!” They all hear.

Emily looks towards the voice and sees Isabella running towards her. She crouches down to her height and Bella crashes into her, making them both fall back.

“Hi, Bubs.” Emily gets up with Bella in her arms.

“WHAT?!” Multiple voices ask.

“Wait wait wait. That baby just called Sonny Mommy.”

“I not baby!” Bella told Kelley sternly.

“But you’re mine and Mommy’s baby.”

“…fine.”

Feeling arms wrap around the both of making Sonnettt relax in them.

“You did so amazing superstar.” You whisper in her ear, kissing it lightly.

“Nooo, my Mama.” Bella wined, pushing her Mommy away.

“But she was mine first.” You said, jutting your bottom lip out.

“You guys can share.” Your wife said, kissing your lips and Bella’s forehead.

People clearing their throat interrupts you little family moment. You and Emily turn around to see the whole team standing. Some staring in shock, others in confusion.

“I think you got some explaining to do Sonny.”

“Alright, fine. Can we wait until later? Little miss here needs to take a nap soon. Everyone can just meet in my room.”

“How about everyone freshens up and we all meet at our place in like… 4 hours? We can have a late lunch, early dinner. I can cook.” You suggest.

“Oh, you don’t have to. We can all bring some things.” Alex says.

“No, no. I insist.”

“It’s settled then, Bye everyone!” Emily said, walking away with a sleepy Bella in her arms.

“See y’all soon.”

Dropping both your wife and daughter at home, you go to the grocery store to buy some ingredients for the dinner.

Couple hours later, all the food is cooked and laid out around the kitchen, buffet style. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it.” You wife shouts from the living room.

“Hey, guys. Welcome to my home. Come in. Come in. Let’s go to the kitchen. Babe they’re here!”

“Hey, guys. Welcome. Before we start getting to know each other, let me just tell you what I made so that’s out of the way.” You walk further in the kitchen with them following not far behind. “Okay so for starters, I just made a basic caesar salad. For the main, I made some seafood paella and roast chicken. And mac and cheese. Simple.” Walking to the other side of the island, “Over here, I made another caesar salad, but it’s vegan. Uh, this is some bolognese with high-protein mushroom and lentils mixed in with some hand cut pasta. And some butternut squash curry. All vegan. And dessert, we have peanut butter cookie bars and a chocolate cake with light mousse frosting. Again, all vegan.” You turn towards Alex. “Emily mentioned you were vegan and I wanted to make sure you had options that isn’t basically just leaves.”

“You made all this? From scratch?”

“Yeah, so, dig in everyone!”

Once everyone is settled in the backyard, Ashlyn asked the important question, “How’d you guys get together?”

“It’s a really funny story actually…”

#emily sonnett x reader #woso #woso imagine #woso x reader #uswnt #uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #emily sonnet imagine #uswnt one shot #nwsl #washington spirit

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fandomsandflyingstingrays · 2 years

Text

I got inspired to write this after seeing posts about the bi pride flag on Luz’s dad’s (?) guitar and remembering there was likely more to her coming out than we got to see in the montage. I know the show does not have space to go into it, so here’s my take.

The night after Lumity Studios made its debut, Luz slipped out of her room and made her way down to the kitchen. It had become a habit on the nights she couldn’t sleep— more of them than not— and it wasn’t just her habit, either. She was just as likely to make herself a snack in the darkened kitchen as she was to find Hunter staring out the window or Gus examining the pantry or Amity sweeping the floors. So she wasn’t surprised to find the light on in the kitchen— right up until she came through the doorway.

Luz’s mom looked up from her cup of tea and blinked at her, startled. “What are you doing up, mija?”

Luz just stood frozen in the doorway. She was used to the other kids wandering the house at night, all of them worried sick about the isles, but she’d never seen her mom up before. But now that she thought about it, it wasn’t that surprising that she’d be having trouble sleeping, too, because she was the one keeping all these worried kids in clothes and food and—

“Luz?”

Luz blinked to find that her mom had half-risen from the table, concern painting her face. Quickly, she tried to erase the worry from her expression.

“Oh, I was just hungry.”

Camila looked at her for a long time, clearly not buying it. But she let it go, standing up to rustle through the bread box and put a slice in the toaster before sitting back down.

Luz grabbed a plate, a knife, and a jar of peanut butter from the pantry before sitting across from her. “Why are you up, Mamá?”

Her mom smiled. “Well, it was an exciting day. I suppose I just couldn’t get tired.”

Luz returned the smile, but the ache behind her eyes that had driven her from bed in the first place returned in full force. She tried to busy herself, grabbing her toast and slathering it in peanut butter, but it tasted like dust in her mouth and lodged against the lump in her throat on the way down.

“Luz,” her mom said gently, putting a hand over hers. “What’s the matter? Did I… did I do something wrong? Today?”

“No, of course not. It was perfect.” Luz had never been nervous about coming out to her mom— Camila had made no secret of her own bisexuality, or Luz’s dad’s, and how proud they were of it. She’d been a little nervous about introducing her to Amity, maybe, but her mom’s warmth had completely erased those fears. With Gus’s help, it had literally been sunshine and rainbows, and it had left a spark in her stomach that only dwindled in the quiet moments when her mind began to seek out what was missing.

“Then what is it?”

Luz tried to keep her voice steady, but she choked on that lump as soon as she opened her mouth, and that pain behind her eyes blurred her vision and turned to tears that streaked down her cheeks. “I just wish I’d gotten to tell Dad.”

Her mom’s face crumpled and she pushed back her chair, striding over to Luz and gathering her in her arms. Luz buried her face in her mom’s shoulder, no longer able to keep the tears at bay, and felt her mom shake with her own sobs.

They sat like that for a long moment until both of their breaths evened and Luz’s mom began to stroke her hair. “He would have been delighted,” she said softly, her voice wavering. “He would have been so proud.” She sniffled, and added with a warbling laugh, “you’re carrying on the family tradition, you know.”

Luz tried to smile, but her lips trembled too much for it to hold. “I know,” she whispered. “That’s why it hurts so much. Because knowing he would have been happy for me isn’t enough. I want to hear him say it. I want to have him give me a hug, like you did, and I— I want him to meet Amity—“ her voice dissolved again, and her mom held her tighter.

“I want the same things,” Camila said. “Every day I ache inside, wanting him to see what a wonderful woman you’ve become. How proud you are, how strong. What wonderful people you’ve come to love. He would love them too, mija. I know it. And I know me telling you that instead of him will never be enough.”

The pain didn’t lessen, but something in Luz’s chest unwound to have the acknowledgement. It seemed to provide a release for her mom, too, whose voice was steadier when she spoke again.

“You’ve known for a long time that this pain will always be with you, in so many different ways. I never want to understate that. But we’ll survive it together, Luz. We always have.”

That they had. Moment by moment, flower by flower. And as her mom held her, Luz’s memories drifted from the ways the two of them had gotten by to the ways she’d gotten by recently. To the note of encouragement Vee had left at her place at the table, to Willow watching her and Amity’s video again and again to make sure it was perfect, to Amity squeezing her hand as Camila wrapped her arms around them both, to Gus filling the kitchen with pride flags, to Hunter giving her and Amity the world’s most awkward high five when all was said and done.

It would never be the moment she would have wanted. Not being able to see her dad’s reaction or hear King’s cheer of approval or tell Eda about the whole thing would always tint it with a haze of pain. But the pain and the love could go hand-in-hand, just as they had for so much of Luz’s life. And they would get through it, together.

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity #camila noceda #gus porter #agustus porter #willow park #toh vee #toh hunter #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #grief #ray rambles #ray writes

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violetjedisylveon · 1 year

Text

Dark Green Skies

Summary: After successfully finding new recruits for the coven, Hunter is bewildered by his new friends and sister's attitudes about the situation. His sister clearly knows something he doesn't.

Word count: 4.2k

Warnings: Fighting, violence, implied child abuse, fear.

A/N: Enjoy the chapter!

Blue Guard AU link here.

________________________________________________________________________________

Hunter grabbed the crow phone off the nest pole, he was sweaty and dirty but he felt great! Flyer Derby practice was awesome! These witches really were the best and brightest! They had the makings of great coven members!

"Call Darius." He ordered the phone.

It beeped and dialed.

"Darius, it's me!" He shouted

"What the- How did you get this number?" Darius shouted.

"Silver gave it to me."

"How did she get it?" Darius grumbled.

"Doesn't matter. I've found some incredible recruits at Hexside. I'm earning my place, just like you told me!" He said excitedly.

Darius said something he couldn't pick up.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Caleb! Waiting on you, buddy!" Captain called to him.

"I gotta go, but you'll meet them soon." He hung up and ran over to his team.

Opposite to them was another team, lead by an abominations professor by the looks of it, some other witch ran up, excited to play.

"Thanks for asking me to join, guys! I think we're gonna have a-" he broke off mid sentence with a gasp, eyes on Viney.

"Jerbo?" Viney made a cut throat gesture, "Traitor." She hissed.

"Oh, drama, this game will be way more interesting." Argi said from the sidelines where she was munching on a snack, Palistrom twigs if he had to guess.

Hunter got onto Flapjack in the line up, ready to play.

"All you got to do is fly high and snag some flags." Captain instructed.

Hunter nodded, ready for the game.

"Let's see what you can do, Captain." The professor captain said.

The abomination blew a whistle, abomination goo shot out, blocked. The game had begun.

Hunter teleported to a nearby kid and stole their flag, holding it out for Gus. The younger boy snatched it up and whizzed towards the pole and hung the flag.

"Gus, that was amazing!" Hunter cheered.

Gus smiled back at him, then jerked up to evade a shot of abomination goo, it headed straight for Skara and hit her legs, causing her to crash.

The whistle blew so she could be collected from the field, Hunter noticed her left leg was acting weird, it wasn't moving naturally, it was almost mechanical movement. Argi was focused on the same thing.

The enemy had a point now.

A tie.

Viney went down next, crashing into Jerbo, the professor was frustrated at his team.

"She's right there! Can't you see?" The professor shouted, pointing to the captain.

Hunter teleported next to him and snatched his flag.

"Boo." He teleported away.

The captain yelped, he looked down, she was falling, somehow she'd lost grip, she had flags, the professor had cheated.

Hunter made a nosedive straight for the captain. She reached out her hands, the flags with them, it was clear what she wanted him to do. He grabbed the flags and shot up, glancing down relieved to see her safe on a flower cushion. Gus gave him a shove, kinda the way Argi would.

"Go, go, go!" He shouted.

Hunter shot towards the pole, ignoring the sounds of a crash behind him, he was so close to victory. He swung around, hanging all the flags.

He did it.

He did it!

He won!

He won for his team!

He landed, and something wet and red was poured over his head. He thought it might have been blood, but it wasn't thick enough. Everyone on his team started cheering.

He won!

He won for them!

They were proud of him!

"May I please have your team name?" The professor asked.

It went silent.

"Shoot. We never thought of a name." Captain said.

"The... Emerald Entrails!" Hunter blurted out.

His teammates stared at him, he felt put on the spot.

"You know, because... we're green, and there's... more to us... than you think?" He said, smiling awkwardly and fearing rejection.

They were quiet for a second, thsb started chanting enthusiastically.

"Entrails! Entrails! Entrails! Entrails!" They all shouted.

"Entrails team photo! We're number one!" Captain shouted.

She pulled out her scroll to take the picture. Hunter didn't quite know what he was supposed to do, he put how he was feeling into his face and let that happen. He hoped he didn't ruin their first photo.

Captain snapped the photo and looked pleased with it.

Hunter felt an exhilarating rush of adrenalin and the tingling hadn't stopped, he was so excited he was shaking a bit. He'd never had this much fun before with anyone who wasn't Argi, and he'd almost walked out, he needed to thank her later for convincing him to stick around.

"You should apologize to them too." Flapjack pointed to his team.

He gave his Palisman a nod and made his way over to them.

"I can't believe I almost bailed on you guys. Today was amazing! Thanks for giving me another shot." He told them, unable to truly express how grateful he was to them in words.

"Always nice making a new friend. I had an opening for one." Viney gave Jerbo a glare, he winced and edged away.

Captain walked closer, she looked happy with him.

"We wouldn't have gotten here without you." She told him.

"Yeah, I shouldn't have been so suspicious." Gus admitted.

This is the time!

"We can forget all about that when we play next time... as a part of the Emperor's Coven!" He shouted.

All of his teammates looked at him like he was crazy. Then Gus turned angry.

"The what?!" He yelled.

"Caleb, what are you talking about?" Skara asked nervously, her arms were shaking.

"My name isn't Caleb. It's Hunter! And I'm the Emperor's right-hand man. The Golden Guard!" Hunter told them excitedly.

Surprisingly, they didn't seem any more keen on it than before. Argi popped up beside him, and they all shrieked.

"This is Silver, she's my sister and the Blue Guard." He introduced her.

"Hey." She waved and tilted her helmet up to shove another leafy twig in her mouth.

Captain edged away from them, staying in front of her team, she was giggling nervously.

"...Y-Y-Y-You can't be serious? You're not the one Luz... told us about, right?" She asked timidly.

Her eyes flicked to Argi, widened upon seeing her helmet.

"And you! You're the one who was at the coven day parade!" She stated.

"Yep, that's us alright!" Hunter nodded to Flapjack

He flew upwards and transformed into his staff. Hunter grabbed it and waved, changing back into his standard uniform. He put the mask on last. Argi gave him a sarcastic clap.

"Yeah, this would usually look cooler with the cloak, but... I don't have it at the moment. Long story." He shrugged.

His ears twitched, someone was coming. He glanced at Argi, she was calm, so it wasn't trouble. The entrails gasped in alarm as multiple coven scouts appeared and surrounded them. I didn't order this…

"Whoa there, scouts. I didn't give you orders to come here." He told them.

"Darius sent us to collect your recruits, sir." Steve informed him.

That was very smart of Darius.

"Ah, okay. Very good. Then there won't be any delay in branding you with coven sigils and taking you away from your friends and family forever. Hooray!" He spun his staff around while he talked.

"Way to sell it Hunter." Argi said sarcastically.

He ignored her comment, Captain, Gus and Viney all looked angry, while Skara looked overwhelmed, tears at the corner of her eyes, heavy breathing too. She suddenly started crying.

"Alright, time to go." Steve said.

Skara whipped around on Steve and punched him in the helmet, which dented from the force of the punch. He was sent to the ground, Hunter winced.

"Yikes, that'll leave a mark." He commented.

XXX

"Here."

A brute guard dropped Skara's prosthetic near Argi, she barely caught it before it hit the ground. The 'recruits' were being disarmed, apparently a leg counted as a weapon.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked.

"You work for Nazik, you've worked on prosthetics before, you can fix it, no one else knows how." The guard explained.

Argi grumbled but didn't say anything else. Instead, she watched the group be placed into the holding cell, like criminals almost. Skara was being supported by her captain on the way in, Willow. She's a good, kind leader, that's for sure. She set the leg down and got to work fixing it.

It was like a bit Miss Nazik's, it was made of metal on the outside, and used a specialized oracle-abomination system to function, the oracle aspect of it connected it with the body and mind so it would respond, and that triggered the abomination goo to move the leg around the way it was supposed. This kind of prosthetic was fairly expensive, most people just used the abomination limb from Blight Industries.

Her fingers brushed on chipped paint, the leg had been colored and textured to match Skara's skin, the paint had chipped recently. Seeing as Skara was an above the knee amputee, if her surgical scar was any indication, some accident had happened. Maybe it was a while ago, and her parents had money, so, logically, they'd want to keep this sort of thing in the family and out of their social and business circles.

She started cleaning out the knee joint, excess debris would make the leg malfunction. Her ear flicked back as the group's Palisman staffs were leaned against the wall.

"Okay, listen, I'm sorry about this whole cell thing, but did you really have to punch Steve, Skara?" Hunter was talking to his former teammates.

"I get it. Emotions are running high. Ice pack for Steve." Steve said.

"Well, I don't get it. You're joining the best coven there is. You can keep all your magic, you get free room and board, you can even play Flyer Derby on your day off! Well, this year's day has already passed, but next year's only 52 weeks away!" Hunter was saying.

Argi stopped, it was as clean as she could get it with what she had here, and turned to see Hunter looking at his friends with confusion on his face.

Argi understood the apprehension they had towards joining the coven. Some methods were… questionable and sometimes coven members did shady things. So it was logically understandable to her. Maybe not to Hunter, she dealt with the nitty gritty dirty stuff, and he was the Golden Guard. The covens, Uncle, was infallible to him.

"We don't care! None of us want this!" Skara shouted.

Argi got up with the leg in hand.

"You will eventually. Trust me, I'm your friend now." Hunter said confidently.

"Friends don't stab each other in the back!" Gus growled.

"Sure they do. The Coven Heads do it all the time back at the castle," Hunter paused as Argi came up.

"C'mon Sil, back me up here." He nudged her.

She raised an eyebrow at him. This was your idea.

"I don't think the coven heads are friends, they tolerate each other at best." She shrugged.

She didn't have a strong concept of adult friendships and relationships, but a few of the coven heads definitely cared about each other beyond a strictly professional level. She teleported herself into the cage. They all edged away from her, she ignored it and went to where Skara was sitting on the cell bed.

"I've got your leg as clean as I can get it here, I don't have the right tools. Sorry." She apologized.

She knelt down and helped get the leg reattached.

"How do you know what to do?" Skara asked, there was less anger and more curiosity in her voice.

"My mentor's got an arm like it, I help her when she's too busy to do it herself." Argi explained with a shrug.

A sour, bitter scent hit her nose, her head snapped towards the source. Willow. She was sitting with her back facing everyone, Argi glanced at Hunter, he was looking at her too.

"I... thought I... could be good at this." Willow muttered.

Argi smelled disappointment, regret, dislike, loathing that bordered on hate coming from the witchlet. Hunter's smile vanished.

"But we're here because... I made a bad call…" her voice transitioned into a small sob.

"i-I'm just... half-a-witch Willow! I can't do anything right!" Willow grabbed her head, covering her ears in a way that was too familiar.

Argi glanced at Hunter again, he was completely out of his field here. He could handle her emotions well enough, sometimes, but this, it was new to both of them. Argi approached carefully, gently tapping on Willow's shoulder with a tail.

"Hey, you are good at this. You got him to pull the stick out of his ass and have a bit of fun for once, and you're a good, strong, caring leader. What happened, this, it isn't your fault, it's just wrong place, and wrong time. Stuff like that happens more often than you think, no need to feel bad over it." Argi told her, trying to mend the situation with her limited comforting and social skills. Most of them were phrases she'd heard from Miss Nazik.

"And, I think you guys can get off the hook, you're too young, gotta be fifteen." Argi dropped her voice into a whisper.

Hunter watched his sister from outside the cage, a bright yellow showed out of her eye slits. She was better at talking to people than he was, he already knew that, but it hadn't occurred to him that she was such a convincing liar. Nothing, not her posture, her eyes, nor body language gave away she was lying. She was, the coven took in recruits as young Gus, those usually dropped out, or died, too young for it.

How many times has she lied to me like that? He couldn't stop the thought from forming. It was a good question, logically, he should have a way to know if she was lying to him, but she wouldn't lie to him, right? Course not.

She was his sister, she wouldn't lie to him. Without a good reason.

The cage door shutting brought him out of his thoughts. Argi stared at him, the bright yellow was changing to a light red.

"Hunter, I think we should-" She broke off as the team collectively shouted.

Abomination goo came from nowhere and wrapped around the team completely and they vanished. A scout was taking the Palisman, now caged, outside.

Darius is here! I can show him I've earned my place! Excitement coursed through him.

Hunter ran out the door, Darius's ship was floating outside the precinct.

"Darius, I did it! I found recruits!" He shouted up to the coven head.

"Yep, and you're making me work on my day off. Take this and quit bugging me." Darius sounded grumpy.

Hunter's cloak was summoned and flicked towards him. It landed on his head, he pulled it down, the Guard's sigil stared out at him, he touched it, his fingers brushing on the patch he'd sewn there.

"I can... wear this proudly now. Right?" Hunter looked up hopefully to Darius.

"Can you?" Darius asked.

Yes, of course I can! He thought, though the thought wasn't convincing.

"See you at the castle, Golden Guard." Darius waved him goodbye and his ship took off.

The door opened. It was Steve, Argi too.

"I do not envy those kids, man." Steve sighed.

"Me neither." Argi agreed.

"What do you guys mean? They just have to go through basic training before becoming scouts. It's not too bad." Hunter said, shrugging.

"Dude, do you even remember what we had to do? The duels. The mazes with the traps. That time we were left alone on a mountain?!" Steve said.

"Classic." Hunter laughed.

"Uh huh. 'Classic'." Argi scoffed.

What's her problem today?

"And of course Belos likes to collect everyone's palisman." Steve reminded him.

Hunter remembered the many times he'd seen Belos crack open a Palisman and consume the wild magic essence inside. His gaze found Argi's, and Phoebe's. The old Palisman was staring at him with an uncomfortable intensity.

"Oh, right. He does that…" Hunter muttered nervously.

He'll take their Palisman too. He takes everyone's. Those Palisman are already dead.

"Steve is beginning to regret his choices." Steve grunted as he walked off.

Hunter stared after Darius's ship in the distance, he glanced down at the cloak in his hands.

"I think Hunter is too." He whispered.

Argi tapped his shoulder, he looked over to her.

"Well then, what are you gonna do about it?" She prompted.

Hunter turned back to the ship in the distance.

"Something stupid."

He mounted Flapjack's staff and took off for Darius's ship, Argi right on his heels.

She teleported ahead of him.

"We'll need to hurry if we want to catch up to them." She shouted, the wind carrying her voice back to him.

Argi teleported again once Hunter reached her position. She could feel Hunter's conflicted desperation, his mind was a whirlpool right now, and it was taking a lot to keep herself from getting sucked in.

"You got a plan?" She asked.

"Convince Darius to let them go." Hunter answered.

"And how are you going to do that?" She pressed.

"I… don't know… I'll figure something out."

"Well you better hurry, we're almost there." She advised her brother.

The flying ship was within teleporting distance for her. She made the jump and her feet hit the floor of the airship. She picked up the faint glow of an illusion being cast, the illusions prodigy trying to fool them. I can play this game too. She went invisible.

"Darius!" Hunter shouted as he appeared next to the startled coven head.

"Now!" Willow shouted.

The illusion team ran to the side of the ship and jumped off. The real team was heading for the controls, going up onto the ship's frame. Argi got there first and knocked the illusion caster off the beam, she made sure he didn't hit the ground too hard. She deactivated her spell.

"Hi~" She waved as the rest of the team dropped down.

"Viney, Gus! Land the ship! Skara, help me!" Willow ordered, distracting Darius with a flurry of plants.

Argi glanced at Hunter and Darius, they were distracted by Willow and the Bard. They wouldn't see her going easy on these guys.

Argi smirked and traced a false smile over her mask. The metal bent and shifted away from her mouth, showing off her fangs in a threatening display.

"Be careful, I bite." She warned.

She ducked and blocked as the witch tried to take a whack at her with her reclaimed Palisman staff. Clearly, they hadn't been trained in staff based combat like she was. Another clumsy swing brought the witch's arm within biting distance, Argi snapped and, at the last second, withdrew her fangs in a false bite. She dodged a jab and blocked Gus's attempt to reach the controls. He made a spell circle and suddenly became her.

Argi stopped, only for a moment, Uncle had trained her to deal with such tactics, but the first time she'd seen her enemy take her form… had left scars, said scars tingled with the memory. Instead of the helmeted version standing in front of her, she saw a scared face, her own scared face. She composed herself quickly, and slashed through the illusion.

She could see through it clearly anyway.

"Are you trying to trick me?" She asked, closing the space between herself and her opponents.

"Cause I've got a trick for you." She pulled abomination goo from the pilot and splashed it over everyone.

She heard Darius curse as she masked her voice.

"Now's your chance, don't waste it." She hissed to Viney.

She nodded towards the controls and the weakened abomination that was left. Viney understood, if a bit confused, and did as told. Argi took control of some of Willow's plants to form a protective ball around Hunter for the ensuing crash. Without thinking, she made some vines wrap around Gus to protect him from the crash too.

"This'll be rough, try not to throw up." She advised Gus.

He looked thoroughly confused with her.

The ship went down seconds later, the impact tossed Argi into the air and she landed with a heavy thud against the deck.

With their enemies temporarily incapacitated, the time to leave was now.

"Let's get going, team!" Willow ordered.

Viney and Gus quickly made their way through the debris, Willow turned back to find Skara struggling with her leg. The prosthetic wasn't functioning properly, whether it was debris, left over abomination goo, or the drastic altitude change that was messing with it didn't matter.

Willow snagged Skara with a pair of vines and carried her off the ship, surprising her teammate in a way that reminded Willow of Amity when Luz would pick her up. It was a cute little blush.

"I, uh… sorry Willow…" Skara apologized with a self conscious glance at her leg.

"Don't be, it's not your fault." Willow told her.

She jumped off the ship and splashed into the warm wet sands of the beach, her team was already on the dry sand. She ran over to meet them and escape, but an abomination blocked their exit path. Willow glanced back at the green fires of the air ship, Darius rose out of the debris, an abomination shield had protected him.

"Did you really think you could get away with endangering a Coven Head? Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?!" His right arm transformed into a scythe.

Willow cast a quick spell circle as she passed Skara off to Viney behind her. The vines were sliced through effortlessly. Willow made a hardened vine shield around her team to protect them, but that was easily cut through too. He glared at her and raised his scythe arm, Willow winced and put herself forwards, bracing for the pain that was sure to come.

"WAIT!" Hunter rushed in between them and Darius, panting, out of breath.

Willow glared at the back of his head, he'd lied to them and tried to betray them, she felt it right to be sceptical of his intentions.

"Out of my way, little prince." Darius hissed sternly.

Hunter's hands shook, but he held his ground.

"No! I was mistaken. These four are insolent agitators who aren't fit for the Emperor's Coven." He stated, glancing down in shame.

"And I'm unfit to wear the sigil of the Golden Guard." He dropped the cloak to the ground.

He looked to the Emerald Entrails gathered behind him.

"You can go." He told them.

Willow raised her staff, preparing to fight. A shine behind Darius caught her attention, the Blue Guard was standing behind Darius with a sword in hand. Tears stung in Willow's eyes.

"Please, captain." Hunter urged.

Hesitantly, Willow lowered her staff and turned away. She took Skara from Viney and let her teammate lean on her for support.

"Let's move, team. We need to find a replacement." She said as she started walking away.

Hunter felt a familiar dread churn in his gut.

"After all, it'll be 52 weeks before Caleb's next day off."

His head shot up in the direction of the Captain. He felt warm and bubbly inside, Flapjack nudged him gently.

"You... befriended them? And then you disobeyed me to protect them?!" Darius shouted.

He raised his arm, Hunter flinched.

Shit! He's angry! He's mad at me now! He's gonna hit me! Gonna hit me! Gonna-

A gentle hand patted his head. Hunter peeked an eye open.

"I'm not going to hurt him, little thorn, you can drop the sword." Darius said over his shoulder.

Argi sheathed her sword and stood down.

"I'm impressed. I had you all wrong." Darius was smiling, at him.

"Huh?"

"You're what? Sixteen? It's about time you made connections outside the castle." Darius said.

Hunter scowled.

Darius summoned a scroll and handed it to him, it opened to a penstagram sign up page.

"I was just gonna drop them off at Hexside. We have more than enough recruits, in my opinion." Darius shrugged.

"We can talk to each other without uncle knowing now!" Argi said excitedly, summoning a scroll of her own.

"You said you didn't have a scroll this morning." Darius pointed out.

"I lied. Jayr gave it to me." Argi explained.

Hunter looked from her to Darius and the scroll in his hands. What would Uncle think?

"Are you... gonna tell Belos about this?" He asked wearily.

Shock and fear flashed through Argi's eyes and she was eyeing Darius with mistrust in a heartbeat. He simply smiled, eyes on Flapjack.

"Are you going to tell him about your secret Palisman?"

Hunter protectively reached for Flapjack.

"Magic or not, I think you'll make your predecessors proud." Darius started leaving.

Hunter's cloak was flung back at him. He turned it over as the patch was properly stitched in place.

"But you could still use a sewing lesson, little prince."

Hunter stared after Darius, then looked down at his new scroll.

"C'mon, let's find your friends!" Argi urged him with a shove.

"I might need some help, never used one before." He paused, "and you seem to be staying up all night on these." He teased.

Argi stuck her tongue out, he shoved her playfully and ruffled her hair, scattering it around and watching it fall over her eyes.

"Hunter! Stop!" She whined, pushing his hand away from her head.

"Nah, you look better like this." He told her.

"I can't fucking see for star's sake! How is this an improvement?" She huffed, blowing the hair out of her face for a moment.

Hunter just ruffled it up again, ignoring his sister's complaints.

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I ended it with some sibling fluff.

Skara's an amputee, I saw a post/headcanon about it back when ASIAS came out and liked it so, here you go, Skara is an above the knee amputee and has been since her early childhood.

Darius calls Argi things like thorn and little thorn cause she was a pain as a baby and her horns are sharp and pokey. Plus she's stabby with her sword.

Argi is a lot more aware of the world than Hunter is, she hears lots of things and knows lots of things with her whole being a spy/usually being invisible thing, so she understands some complex situations a bit more and how to handle them, she also hangs out with an old lady who's job is to deal with this sort of relations stuff, she's picked up a few things. Also as a frickin child assassin, she's just a little skeptical.

I hope you all have a good day, whatever that is for you!

VJS Out!

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atomic-sludge · 2 years

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Just watched the new Owl House ep. First thoughts. Warnings for Major spoilers and A lot of Incoherent Rambling(and yelling. And cursing)

I'm gonna have to update the designs on Normal Human Boyfriends. Messed up that was my first thought.

And- IF GOD HATES GAYS WHY DO WE KEEP WINNING. Luz coming out. Another nonbinarie. The little PRIDE FLAGS thruout the episode.

(Btw FUCK YOU DISNEY. The creators worked so hard to give us our representation despite everything. I love the owl house but Fuck Disney, fuck megacorporations, fuck censorship, remember to support independent queer creators)

Lowhunt hasn't been canonized but the once negligible signs of Hunter having a crush have been escalated. Crossing my fingers they dont get together. Nothing against it, just dont want it to be canon.

Hunter being excited over wolves... i knew it... he just like me fr 😭

Also LUZ AND HUNTER BOTH NOT TALKING TO THEIR FRIENDS. GUS TRYING TO HINT THAT HE KNOWS ABOUT HUNTER WITHOUT SCARING HIM. CAMILA BACKSTORY, HER FINDING LUZ'S VLOG. THEM FINDING OUT ABOUT LUZ HELPING PHILIP AND HUNTER BEING A GRIMWALKER AT THE WORST POSSIBLE MOMENT I am so fucking normal about all this

I'm going to KILL that crunchy old man. I will find a way to isekai myself into the show so I can STRANGLE that crusty, musty, fucked up fuckin deer guy. FUCK.

He got in through the CUT on Hunters FINGER I knew that shit was gonna be important

Also we didnt get any actual flashbacks. We didnt really see Philip and caleb but. We got the story. They were orphans. The witch's name was Evelen... pretty name... now I now what name Caleb gets to say with his dying breath :)

Also Jacob yanking off Gus's headset to reveal his pointy ears and getting immediately tackled by human adults. LMAO get fucked weirdo. "These children are DEMONS!!" "NOBODY CARES"

Flapjack... 😭 "was I a good palismen?" "No. You were the best"

"Did you get the hair noodle back?" Yes... "what did it cost?" Everything...

My boy... my baby... god. He stood up to Belos. Good for him but Oh my god did it have to happen that way. Dana did it HAVE TO HAPPEN THAT WAY!?

Camila went to the demon realm with them. Called it.

Ugh I dont want to wait more months... I want to see the others. I want to know what happen next...

Anyway time for fanart qwq-b (<- tearful thumbs up)

#also hii zackie(brother) yes i watched it without you its on youtube. i had to bc i accidentally spoiled myself going into the for you tab #hhhrg #help me #the owl house #the owl house spoilers #thanks to them spoilers

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somebodycallixii · 2 years

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10 Characters I fell in love with in 2021

got tagged by @braceletofteeth to list my 10 favorite characters for 2021!! this year was the Year of Kdramas for me, i had such a fun time getting into them and i cant believe it took me so long to get into the genre!! what has my life been before this??

I'm so excited to do this thank u for tagging me!! (in no particular order, ranking them would require too much pain)

1. Seo Moonjo (Strangers From Hell)

What is there to say? Inventor of bad bitchery. Master of stares. Doctor of teeth. Owner of our hearts. Love him for his toxicity and his hair <3 Hope jongwoo texts you back soon!

2. So Mun (The Uncanny Counter)

I haven't finished Uncanny Counter yet but GOD he is everything. He loves his friends so much, he wears his emotions on his sleeve, he has such a strong sense of justice, i just love so much about him.

3. Wen Kexing (Word of Honor)

insp for basically all of my web weaving posts, this man made me understand the term poor little meow meow. His character development is one of my favorites that i've ever seen, and i genuinely envy his shamelessness. remember kids, even tough women cant resist clingy men!

4. Cho Sang-Gu (Move to Heaven)

made smoking cool again. He wins the prize for making me cry more than damn near anything else in my entire life! His backstory......... literally if i think about this too long im going to lose it. Lee Je Hoon your hand in marriage pls.

5. Cao Weining (Word of Honor)

idc if the term is out of fashion but he's truest embodiment of "cinnamon roll too good for this world, too pure." not that good at fighting but he respects women and u know his bills are paid. (Whoever is responsible for episode 34 i just want to talk. with my fists)

6. Pat Napat (Bad Buddy)

HELLO LOML the walking green flag himself!!!! Pat made me realize the type of person I want to be in my relationships (platonic or romantic) with other people. He is physically unable to resist showing affection to those he loves and its the most admirable trait ever. He is the blueprint.

7. Jesse Pinkman (Breaking Bad)

I watched brba before this last year but i rewatched it in 2021 and it made me fall in love with him again. he is also the definition of poor little meow meow. Someone give this man a break and a spa day PLEASE,

8. Kang Seokyoon (Strangers From Hell)

has anyone ever spit realness like "fuck mother fuck father fuck money" in the history of rap??? unlikely. the supportive friend everyone needs, deserved better. unfortunately looks very good covered in blood :/

9. Nadja of Antipaxos (What We Do in the Shadows)

I started WWDITS with my parents and it was such a fun show to watch with them. all of the characters are amazing, but Nadja is a legend in her own right. the owner of the 6 total braincells in that house. she is everything a girl can dream of being <3

10. Wang Xie (Word of Honor)

Scorpion king? no. king of my heart. can turn a look like his life depends on it. one glance will kill ur friends and family. has hot friends and the worst father figure on the planet, hes serving relatable content on the daily. I serve as president for both his protection squad and the zhao jing hate campaign (we meet on saturday evenings and braid each others hair. currently accepting applications!)

is it obvious word of honor has taken over my life?? not mad about it.

I loved doing this omg. I wanna tag @sofarraway, @forgive-and-take, @surajmukhis, @gr33kg0ds, @hotel-and-casino, and @saintmilky <3 (only if you want to of course!)

#word of honor #bad buddy #kdramas #dramas #text

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thegoodgayshit · 3 years

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Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Thirty-Six: I Have the Best Summer Ever

The rest of Luz’s summer was a total blur of the best kind of amazing, fantastic, demigod-ness a kid could even imagine.

Luz’s days were filled with training in the arena, playing capture the flag, and hanging out with her friends. Every morning that she woke up and put on one of her orange t-shirts was another reminder that as of right now, she really had it good.

Sometimes in the mornings she and Eda would head out into the arena and spar while King took his usual sunbathing position a few feet away. Eda would parry and block her strikes, give her dirty tricks to use in upcoming games or events, and sometimes Luz would even get lucky enough to disarm her or pull something new she wasn’t expecting.

“I swear kid, one of these days you’re going to be even better than me,” she’d say, reaching down to ruffle her hair and switch her weapon and get ready for another round.

More than once, she and her siblings in the Hermes cabin had banded together to play some light-hearted pranks on the other cabins. Viney and Jerbo were a mischievous force to be reckoned with, and while Luz liked to participate she never really got lucky in the “getting away” part. More than once, Lilith had caught her in the act while she was placing a prank and turned a blind eye, and Luz always felt a rush of affection for the daughter of Zeus. It was asking a lot for her to not snitch, especially since she was a stickler for rules.

Luz made it up to her once or twice by pranking Eda on her behalf with a little bit of help from Edric and Emira. When her mentor showed up to the dining pavilion once with her hair sticking straight up in the air thanks to some magic hair gel, the laugh that came out of Lilith’s mouth made it all worth it.

At nights, Luz and Amity would sneak out of their cabins and hide from the harpies, sitting with their sketchbooks in the strawberry fields. They would laugh, and talk, and kiss, and enjoy each other’s company until one of them inevitably almost fell asleep and they decided to head back.

The wall of Luz’s bunk was soon tacked to the max with drawings, some of them of her quest, and some of them with fond memories of camp. She always did her best to text one to her Mami once in a while, and let her know how she was doing.

Luz made sure her cabin would try and team up with Gus and Willow’s whenever they could. The three of them were officially a force to be reckoned with during capture the flag. Their combinations and chemistry in battle often resulted in very easy and very early wins, and some of the other cabins were quick to point out they had an “unfair quest experience advantage”. While Eda had just shrugged, Willow did her best to make sure the teams would sometimes even out a little better after that.

Gods kept visiting camp here and there, usually to come by and say hello to their kids. Aphrodite had the habit of showing up unannounced and snapping her fingers, giving everybody an unrealistically fashionable outfit and hairdo, while the clothes they’d been wearing got snapped back to their bunks freshly washed and laundered. While some of the campers hated it, Luz didn’t mind. Aphrodite certainly had her style down to perfection, and pocketing another free outfit was always nice. Amity had other opinions on the matter.

“I just don’t get why she has to do this!” She complained, adjusting the pink t-shirt Aphrodite had magically slapped onto her. “It’s so weird!”

“I think that really suits you,” Luz shrugged while pointing to the leather jacket slung over Amity’s arm. “And your shirt says Hexside! How cool is that!”

Amity rolled her eyes as Luz did a spin, showing off her new green jacket and beanie to Gus and Willow. “She gave me new shoes too! My old ones are torn to bits from the quest.”

“You have to admit Amity, it’s nice getting free stuff,” Willow said while examining her own yellow jacket. “And she’s not the goddess of beauty for nothing. These are nice clothes.”

“My clothes look exactly like the ones I already own!” Gus complained, looking down at his simple navy button-up and jeans.

“If it isn’t broken don’t fix it!” Luz teased with a smile, patting him on the back. Amity groaned in embarrassment, slapping her hands to her face.

When Hermes showed up the first few times to visit the camp, Luz said hello to him, but also made sure that her other siblings got to spend some one-on-one time with their dad. As he was leaving the third time he visited, he pulled Luz aside for a quick chat.

“I just want to let you know that the gods have talked about adding an additional reward for you and your friends after what you’ve done for Olympus,” he said quietly, and Luz’s jaw dropped.

“I… I don’t need another reward dad. The way you guys have been showing up at camp is more than enough.”

Hermes tilted his head, smiling softly. “Perhaps you don’t need one, but the gods want to give it to you anyway. You have no idea the gravity of the situation that Belos had created upon Olympus. He almost destroyed us all.”

He looked around to make sure nobody was listening, and then leaned in to whisper.

“As the god of messengers, I was responsible for delivering a package to your mother and the rest of your companion's parents. You should hear from them shortly.”

Luz gaped. “What? What do you mean…”

Hermes reached over and gripped her shoulders. “I am proud of you, Luz. And trust me when I say I will make good on my promise and be there more for you and your siblings.” He winced rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “And… don’t be the first one to use the shower this evening. Your siblings and I might have set up a bit of a cruel prank.”

With a flash of wind, leaving behind a thoroughly confused Luz, Hermes was gone.

Luz didn’t have to wait long to find out what exactly the gods had done, because her Mami was calling her on her cellphone almost immediately after.

“Luz! You’ll never guess what showed up in the mail today! You’ve been accepted for a full ride to a boarding school downtown…”

And she wasn’t the only one.

“I can’t believe this!” Gus had exclaimed while the four of them were sitting on the beach just after dinner. “We’re all going to the same school next year!”

“It really does seem too good to be true,” Willow grinned, handing Luz one of the illicit cans of Sprite that Viney had managed to sneak from out of camp in celebration. “My dads are sad that I won’t be staying at home in Wisconsin, but they had to admit it is a great opportunity.”

“I’m just excited to go to a school where I finally have real friends.” Luz had never been so happy to think about the start of a new school year before. “We’ll get to go see Olympus on the weekends! Working alongside the actual gods!” Luz turned to Amity, who was watching Luz with her own soft smile. “Are your parents… okay with this? After everything that happened…”

“Oh trust me, they’re more than pleased. They see this whole internship program to create a bridge between the gods and their mortal kids as a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity'. They’re even talking about paying for Edric and Emira to go with me and hope that my ‘success’ rubs off on them. They don’t love that you guys are also a part of it though…” Amity’s expression darkened for a moment, and Luz reached across the beach to squeeze her hand.

“I’m sorry,” Luz started, but Amity just shrugged her shoulders.

“Don’t apologize, this is a good thing. I’m going to get to stay here in New York full time.”

“We all get too!” Gus grinned, digging his hands in the sand like he was holding back a squeal. “Luz you’ve got to show us all your favorite moral spots in the city.”

Luz’s smile had stretched wide, already imaging the kinds of shenanigans she and her friends would get up to running loose in Manhattan. “Obviously! The city’s huge; we could do something new every night!”

“You’ll never be able to get away from us now,” Willow teased, passing Amity an amused look as she sipped from her Sprite. Amity tilted her head back and laughed.

“Oh gods, I better stock up on Advil. Between you three and the twins I’m going to have a constant headache…”

As it started to fade to late August, Luz’s days just kept getting better. Thanks to Eda and her training paired with the other camp activities, she was faster than she’d ever been, she could scale up the rock wall in record times, and her sword skills had gotten incredibly good.

So good, that when the annual sparring tournament came up in the arena towards the end of the summer, she’d been able to knock Boscha into the dirt with the pommel of Aletheia, leaving the red-faced daughter of Ares extremely bitter and her final opponent being none other than her girlfriend.

“No chance you’re going to go easy on me?” Luz asked at the campfire that night, really only half-joking.

“Nope,” Amity replied with a little smirk. “I’ve won this tournament two years in a row. I’m about to make it three.”

To say the camp was buzzing with excitement would be an understatement. The whole camp had watched as Luz the newbie quest hero and Amity Blight had grown obviously closer, and in the three days leading up to the final tournament match, the discussion of which girlfriend would be the winner was as common as asking what the harpies would serve for dessert that night.

“Come on, kid, this is what we trained for!” Eda said, smacking her shoulders encouragingly the night before the match. “I don’t care if she’s you’re little girlfriend, she won’t be going easy on you so you shouldn’t either!”

“Knock her into the dirt!” King screeched from his napping spot on the ground.

While they were only trying to help, it wasn’t the most reassuring advice she’d ever received.

Luz tried to turn a blind eye to the gossip leading up to the fight, but it was hard to ignore Emira and Willow exchange a bet right in front of her at breakfast right before the right.

“Seriously?” Luz scoffed, crossing her arms.

“Sorry Luz, but Mittens has years of training under her belt, and I’m out of allowance,” Emira shrugged while she shook Willow’s hand.

“You don’t see the way Amity acts around her,” Willow retorted. “If she’s like that today, Luz has a good chance.”

Emira hummed, “Shoot. I didn’t think of that.”

“Oh my gods,” Luz groaned, slapping both hands to her face, sinking into the bench of the table, mortified.

Once Luz had been fitted into a set of finally well-fitting bronze armor, she drew Aletheia and met Amity in the center of the field, where Eda and Lilith were standing to referee the match. As she approached, she watched Amity coming from the other side, armor almost identical to Luz’s strapped over an orange camp shirt, the crowd of campers cheering in excitement. As her gaze flitted up to Amity’s eyes, there was a glint that reminded Luz that Amity was not the person she wanted to be on the bad side of.

It was too easy to forget weeks after their quest that Amity was a demigod force to be reckoned with and not the kind of enemy you wanted to have.

As the crowd quieted to an anticipated hum, Lilith raised her hand. Her mouth was cocked in an uncharacteristically juvenile smirk. It made Luz wonder if the campers hadn’t been the only folks at camp to place bets. When Eda shot Luz a cartoonish smile with two thumbs up, before patting her pocket knowingly, it confirmed her suspicions.

Gods. Now she really couldn’t lose. Eda would never forgive her.

“Amity! Luz! Are you ready?”

With a single touch to her own wrist, Dike sprung into its full form, lifted just high enough to cover the grin that was spreading across Amity’s face. She swung her sword experimentally in her hand, the little flecks of a glinting in the sun. “Yep.”

Luz took a deep breath and raised her own blade nodding once. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“No holding back, right?” Even though Amity had phrased it as a question, Luz knew better. It was a challenge. The nerves in her stomach faded, and a laugh escaped her lips.

“Since when have I ever held back? ”

She smirked, “good point.”

“Alright your adorable banter is literally making me sick,” Eda scoffed, “let’s just do this already.”

Lilith rolled her eyes, dropping her hand. “Begin!”

Without wasting another beat, Amity charged and swung, and Luz lifted Aletheia to deflect it. A loud metallic clang echoed around the arena, and the watching campers erupted into cheers.

It was Luz’s toughest match yet.

The two of them traded blow for blow, each pushing the other to their limit. Amity was, inarguably, better trained, with mastered precision and skill that left Luz reeling with each strike. But Luz was more creative. She was able to flick her sword at the right angle to push her off balance and shove, she was able to dodge and weave without the extra weight of a shield, and she was crazy enough to take steps closer to her and press into her personal space, forcing her to recalculate moves.

As the fight went on for some time, the cheering got louder, their arms got heavier as they began to slow down, and the fighting got dirtier.

Luz did it first, though it was kind of an accident. Amity went to swing when she’d knocked Luz off balance, and she knew she wasn’t going to be able to stop it before it cut into her armor. Amity would have taken it out on herself later if she’d seriously hurt Luz, so it came out as more of an instinctual shout.

“Too low!”

She closed her eyes bracing for impact, but it never came. With a woosh, the sword went right over her head. She opened her eyes and saw Amity’s misty eyes clearing, before changing to a completely indignant look.

“Did you just use your Hermes bartering on me?”

She smiled sheepishly and swung Aletheia towards her, and Amity barely had time to raise her shield to deflect it.

She could hear the snorts and chuckles from both Eda and the crowd, but Luz barely had time to be proud of herself. Within the next two swings back and forth, Amity got her revenge.

Luz swung upwards, flicking the blade and finally getting a decent move that knocked her off balance. But as Luz went to disarm her, Amity’s eyes flashed and a curled smile crept up her face right as Luz brought her weapon forward.

“Don’t!”

And for a moment, all Luz could feel was the thrum of her heartbeat in her head as her vision went blurry. There was an overwhelming urge to get rid of Aletheia, back away, stop herself from getting any closer to Amity. All she could think about was how she couldn’t hurt her, wouldn’t even try. When her vision cleared, she had backed up five feet, and her sword slipped from her hand and clattered in the dirt.

She blinked, trying to figure out what had just happened before it dawned on her that she’d seen Amity do this once before. Aphrodite’s passion.

Luz looked down at the sword, then up at Amity, scowling. “Really?”

Despite the smirk on her face, Amity’s eyes were sparkling with humor and affection. “You started it.”

Luz barely had time to leap out of the way from another swing, doing her best to make a grab for the sword, but Amity wasn’t coming to play. She stepped right over it, and for a couple of moments, all Luz had was her speed. She ducked and dodged and weaved between swings, doing nothing but buying herself a tiny bit of time.

It wasn’t enough. Luz tried to make one last grab for the sword and Amity reached out with her hand, grabbing Luz by the arm and honest-to-gods judo flipping Luz over her shoulder. With a comically loud “oomph!” Luz was thrown onto her back, looking up at Amity as she grinned, her sword lifted in a faux-threatening position just below her chin.

“Alright,” Luz groaned, slapping her hand against the dirt. “Mercy.”

As Luz heard Eda groaning behind her and Lilith’s positively gleeful “and the winner is Amity Blight!” Amity sheathed her sword, reaching down with one hand and pulling Luz up to her feet.

And yeah, it was a tiny bit embarrassing to lose to Amity. But as her girlfriend lifted her fist to the roaring crowd of campers and grinned, her own hand wrapped tightly around Luz’s, she couldn’t find it in her to care.

The following night was Luz’s last night at camp before her first summer as a camper was over. She sat at the dining hall for hours with her siblings, joking, laughing, promising to stay in touch over the school year. Viney ruffled her hair and passed her an emergency pouch of Hermes tricks, while Jerbo reminded her not to be too close to this one when it exploded.

Edric and Emira snuck up on Luz at the table and informed them their parents did in fact enroll them in the same boarding school come the fall, and while Luz loved Amity’s twin siblings, the devious grin on her face did make her a bit nervous.

Right after dinner, Luz made a point to go find Eda and King, who were in their usual spot at the arena.

“Kid!” Eda said as she approached. “That was some great swordplay today.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t win, I know Lilith is probably giving you a hard time…” Luz said immediately, but Eda just held up a hand.

“Gross, sympathy. You’ve accomplished more than most first-timers this summer, and you’ve… made me proud.” There was a crooked smile on her face as Luz looked up at her, and she realized that Eda really was going to miss training with her. “Don’t be slacking while you’re gone. Keep your skills sharp. Stay out of the bad trouble, but in the good trouble. Don’t die. Oh, and if you’re getting chased by another empousai and need a quick getaway, there’s a great alley on sixty-second street-”

Luz rushed in, pulling Eda into a tight hug. While Eda huffed out a little groan at Luz’s overwhelming need to be touchy, Luz felt a rush of affection as the daughter of Zeus leaned into it anyway.

“Thanks, Eda,” Luz muttered into her shoulder.

A hand came up to pat into her hair. “No problem, kid. If Lili and I are ever heading to Mount Olympus, I’ll make sure we stop by that fancy new school of yours and say hello.”

“You better.”

"Can I come too?" King called out from at their feet, and Luz bent down to pick up the tiny hellhound scratching behind his ears.

"Yeah, can he?" Luz pleaded, and Eda rolled her eyes.

"Gods, you two are just the cutest things ever. Fine, whatever, the next time I go to Olympus I'll let him tag along."

After a chorus of excited cheering from Luz and King, it was time for the last campfire of the year. Luz finally got the true Camp Half-Blood experience. As Eda was leading the campers in a final last hurrah of songs and games, she walked over to Luz and reached out, handing her a leather necklace.

“As you all know, per tradition, every year we give our campers a bead to celebrate another year at camp. This year, the Hermes cabin designed the beads, and there is someone very special they wanted to honor.”

Luz blinked at it, taking it gingerly, and as she did Viney stood up, the twisted smile on her face visible through the crackling orange, magical, campfire.

“Luz, not only are you our newest sibling, but you helped lead a quest that not only saved Camp Half-Blood but all of Olympus. So with permission from the councilors from all the cabins, we dedicate this year’s bead to you and your quest!”

There was a whooping of applause as the beads were passed out, and when Luz took a look at it her heart clenched, affection and gratitude washing over her in a whirl.

It was a beautiful deep purple bead with a very familiar-looking sword and shield, and as she turned it in the light of the campfire, the glint of the light made it glow a beautiful magical bronze.

“So, did we nail it?” Viney asked as Luz was left speechless. Willow and Gus were grinning over at her with knowing smiles. Next to her, Amity squeezed her hand, looking just as emotional as Luz felt.

Luz leaned over and threw herself into the embrace of her half-sister, and the campfire erupted into more whoops and cheers. And yeah, Luz might have teared up a bit as she sat back down next to her friends, but if anybody noticed they didn’t comment on it.

That morning as she packed up what few belongings she actually had, electing to leave a majority of the items she’d bought for next summer, she was digging through her backpack when her fingers touched something soft. She pulled out a stiff, slick, feather, and immediately broke into a smile. Carefully sliding it across the leather to dangle right next to her bead, she clipped the necklace on and slung her backpack over her shoulder. Saying one final goodbye to the Hermes cabin, she walked out the door to go meet Willow and Gus in the strawberry fields.

When she got there, she couldn’t help but grin. Around the growing collection of beads on their necklaces, five and four respectively, a single matching feather was dangling from the middle. While none of them said anything about it at first, Luz watched as both Willow and Gus glanced down, their eyes softening with affection.

“Well?” Willow asked as she reached them, gesturing towards the now distant Camp Half-Blood. “Give us the verdict. What did you think of your first year at camp?”

“I…” Luz didn’t even know what to say. Sure, there had been the lows. The hungry belly as she traveled across the Midwest, the sword slashes, the monsters, the horrible villain who’d threatened to destroy the world. But right now as Luz looked between her friends and her new home, she felt nothing but love for her new life. The mischievous half-siblings, the rivals between the cabins, the eccentric camp directing duo that was the daughters of Zeus, Gus, Willow, Amity…

Luz couldn’t ever recall a time in her entire life that she’d felt so full.

“All I can think right now is that I don’t want it to end,” Luz finally said, and Willow and Gus stepped forward to pull her into a group hug.

“It won’t end, at least, not really,” Gus promised, his voice muffled as he was shoved into Luz’s bicep.

“Yeah, it’s just a short break,” Willow nodded, leaning her head against Luz’s shoulder and wrapping her other arm around Gus. “And in two weeks, we’ll all be together again on a new adventure.”

Luz laughed, “yeah, because the life of a half-blood is never really quiet, is it?”

“Well, that’s half the fun of it,” Amity said from behind her, and when Luz turned her head she saw her girlfriend walking through the field to join them. Her own backpack was swung over her shoulder, and she had a genuine, at peace, smile on her face.

“Spoken like a true Blight,” Willow chuckled from next to Luz, and Amity laughed.

“Well, maybe I’ll get lucky and this year away from my parents will shake some of that out of me.”

“You’re sure you’re mom and dad are okay with you staying at my Mami’s for two weeks?” Luz asked for what felt like the sixth time that week, and Amity shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m back to being their number one, despite all the… drama, that happened the last time we saw them. Edric and Emira will pack my things for school for me. Honestly… it’s kind of nice not going back to Colorado.”

After getting a first-hand glimpse into how uptight and uncomfortable the Blight Manor was, Luz couldn’t help but agree.

“Don’t have too much fun you two,” Willow teased, and Amity flushed over the sound of Gus’ laugher while Luz bumped her with her shoulder.

Whatever retort Luz would have come up with died in her throat as she looked down towards the pine tree. There, a few parents were already waiting at the border, with some campers joining them and saying hello. Among the waiting ones, Luz saw a man almost identical to Gus, and two other men standing together with their hands interlinked.

“We better not keep them waiting,” Gus said slowly, but he looked back up at Luz with a frown. Willow was standing there as well, and for just another moment Luz felt that same rush of love.

“No, you shouldn’t. Amity and I will meet you at grand central in two weeks, okay?”

“Two weeks,” Willow affirmed, and Luz pulled the four of them into one last group hug before Willow and Gus grabbed their things and went to go join their parents at the pine tree.

It wasn’t a real goodbye, nowhere near it. But Luz couldn’t help but feel her throat close up at the sight of them reuniting with their parents. Gus’ dad scooped him up into the biggest hug, and one of Willow’s dads immediately took her backpack while the other one kissed her cheek.

She felt Amity’s warm hand close around hers, and when she looked back, the daughter of Aphrodite was smiling softly.

“It’s going to be okay.”

“I know,” Luz said, and she meant it. She squeezed her own hand around Amity’s, taking a moment to really let the gratitude she had for this camp, for these people, sink in.

It wasn’t long until she saw another familiar person join the other parents near the pine tree. Luz perked up immediately at the sight of her Mami, still dressed in her scrubs. She’d probably gotten off of a shift at the hospital and rushed all the way down to Long Island just to meet her and was looking around anxiously at the other gathering parents and campers.

“Is that her?” Amity sounded nervous, and when she looked over, she was reaching up with her other hand to self-consciously adjust her mint green hair.

“She’s going to love you,” Luz promised, giving her a reassuring kiss on the cheek. “She’s been talking about how excited she’s been to meet you for like, three weeks.”

“That… somehow makes me even more nervous,” Amity breathed out. Luz chuckled, adjusting the straps of her backpack over her shoulder as her Mami finally looked up and noticed them. She beamed so widely Luz could see it from all the way up in the strawberry hills, waving towards them.

“Well, then let’s do this together.”

Amity looked back at her one more time, taking a deep breath. “Alright. Together.”

And as they walked through the fields hand in hand, slowly getting farther and farther away from camp, Luz felt her anxieties about the coming months slowly begin to fade. That was part of the magic of Camp Half-Blood. The place wasn’t just a training ground for young demigods. It was a safe haven. A family. A place that, even miles and miles away from it, you always knew it would have your back. It would be there for you, whenever you wanted to return. So leaving it didn’t feel like a goodbye, not really.

Instead, it was the promise of another new beginning as a child of the gods.

#the owl house #percy jackson au #lumity #luz x amity #shelby speaks

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rohad93 · 4 years

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Moonlit Masquerade: ch 4

It didn’t really occur to Luz until Friday morning as she was approaching the school that she had no clue how to ‘romance’ anyone, much less someone like Amity Blight.

At least this was only just now making itself known to her, rather than while she was trying to sleep last night. She’d slept pretty good too, despite waking up to Eda and Lillith screaming at each other about something stupid in the kitchen.

She decided to forego breakfast rather than walk into the kitchen where the sounds of things crashing and breaking was echoing through the entire house.

She sighed to herself, scratching her head tiredly as she walked down the dirt path that led to Hexside. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do or say when she was finally face to face with Amity.

She’d read her fair share of romance novels with all kinds of fantastical stories about people in daring situations and finally getting the girl, but she knew that the characters in her books never acted or looked like her, she wasn’t sure she could really apply much from them to her current situation.

The closer she got to school the clammier her hands got and the more her stomach twisted up into knots.

She thought it was gonna come out of her throat the minute the school came into view and she immediately spotted Amity, standing out front, talking to Gus and Willow.

She stopped cold and felt the intense desire to turn around and run back home and hide under her blankets.

Luz shook herself.

No, confidence! She had to be confident! She faced down the Emperor, she could talk to a pretty girl!

Fac now set in stony determination Luz started forward again making a beeline for Amity, whose back was to her. Willow looked up and saw the human barreling toward them with her eyes locked on Amity, and couldn’t help but grin at the look on Luz’s face as she walked up behind the unsuspecting witch.

“Hey, guys!” Luz called with a confident grin she didn’t really feel as she stopped beside Amity, throwing an arm around the mint haired girl's shoulders.

Willow had to give it to Luz, she was bold.

Amity froze solid at the arm suddenly hanging around her shoulders and clutched her books so tightly she could feel her nails digging into their leatherbound covers, leaving crescent shaped divots in it. Her head jerked to the side, looking at Luz and felt her face heat up at their sudden close proximity.

“Hey, Amity.” She smiled brightly.

“Hi!” it came out much louder then she meant and mentally slapped herself as Luz flinched back at the sudden volume of her voice. “H-hi, Luz.” She managed to spit out at more normal volume, shoulders tensing.

She had accomplished her first step… or rather a fraction of a step and now Luz was at a loss for what to do, her palms were sweaty and she felt tense, she could also feel how tense Amity was under her arm. She had kind of surprised her though, which made two of them.

Though Amity was just as panicked as surprised.

'She's so close and warm!' All of Amity's other thoughts had flat-lined the moment she registered Luz's arm around her shoulders. 'Stars, she smells nice…' Even the tips of her ears grew hot at that thought.

Willow managed to cover her laugh with a cough behind her fist at the blank look on the other witch’s face.

If Gus noticed them acting weird he gave no indication as he picked the conversation back up talking about how he had finally been allowed back into the human appreciation society.

"Do you think you could come by the club on Monday and explain 'automobiles', he pronounced it with all the wrong sounds and Luz chuckled momentarily forgetting about her position slung over Amity and not at all noticing how flushed and quiet she was.

"Cars? Yea, sure." She nodded.

"No, no, automobiles," He stressed the word."

"They're the same thing."

"Fascinating…" He nodded and pulled out a notebook and jotted that down. The bell chose that time to alert them that it was time to get to class.

Willow and Gus waved before hurrying inside and reluctantly Luz dropped her arm from the tense girl’s shoulders, but Amity didn’t move, frozen.

“Hey, you okay?”

Amity jerked, coming back into the present and realizing the bell had rung already and everyone else was moving inside.

“Oh… yea.” she nodded, not looking Luz in the eyes, she was still reeling from their earlier physical contact. “I should get to class,” Amity mumbled under her breath before shooting off toward the doors.

“Wait a sec, Amity!" She called but the girl was gone, all but sprinting into the building without a single backward glance.

"Maybe she has a test today?" Luz blinked before hurrying along to her construction classes.

~ ~ ~

Similar attempts to get closer to Amity at lunch and after school ended in much the same way, including but not limited to the other girl all but tossing her lunch into the air when Luz came up behind her in the cafeteria and set a hand on her shoulder.

Luz would initiate some mild physical contact in an effort to be closer to her and Amity would turn a bright shade of red and end up running in the other direction, spouting off some excuse before Luz could get even a handful of words out.

Willow shook her head as she watched her childhood friend take off down the path that led away from the school like she was being chased by a pack of wild demons, leaving Luz standing there, arms hanging at her sides as she watched the witch run off with a disappointed look.

"You ok?" Willow asked as she walked up to her, Gus following.

“I don’t understand, what am I doing wrong?” Luz asked desperately. “She runs off before I can get a word in!” She held up her hands.

“What’s going on?” Gus looked between the two and Willow shot Luz a questioning glance before she nodded.

“Luz has a crush on Amity and wants to ask her out,” Willow explained.

“Oh!” his eyes grew wide at that as he turned to Luz, pink dusting her cheeks. She still wasn’t used to hearing that out loud. “So… you’re trying to ask her out?”

“No...well, I mean, I want to eventually yeah…, but I gotta win her over first! She… likes someone else,” she grumbled the last part, rubbing her arm.

“She does?” Gus blinked and Luz nodded glumly.

“There was someone she wanted to ask to grom… if I knew who it was at least I would know what kind of chances I had…” She frowned, crossing her arms.

“Don’t worry about that Luz, you shouldn’t worry about comparing yourself to someone else, just focus on being yourself,” Willow assured and Gus nodded eagerly in agreement. “That being said…” she started slowly making her and Gus look at her. “I think you’re coming off a little strong…” That was putting it mildly.

Everytime Willow had seen her today the girl had been as red as a cup of apple blood and she couldn’t totally pin that on Luz, despite how touchy feely she was, Amity was rather sensitive to any attention from Luz.

“What do you mean?” Luz didn’t seem insulted, just curious. She really wasn’t in a position to be turning down any advice considering she had barely gotten two sentences out to Amity today.

For once she was glad they hadn’t had any classes together today.

“Well, you were very… touchy, and I know that’s just you, but it might be a little too much too quickly. From what I remember, Amity’s family aren’t the most… affectionate.” she finally settled on.

Gus nodded sagely, crossing his arms.

“You’re freaking her out,” he said, picking up on what Willow was saying.

Luz suddenly remembered every time she and Amity had been in close proximity and how fidgety and red she had been and moaned to herself. She had been making her uncomfortable all this time without knowing.

“I’m not trying to!” Luz groaned, holding her head in her hands. “I just… I don’t know how else to express myself!”

“Maybe give her flowers?” Gus suggested with a shrug, not having any better ideas then Luz.

“No!” Willow shot down immediately, knowing the consequences with Amity’s current state of smitten. Total meltdown. This was going to require a more delicate touch. “That might freak her out, coming from Luz…”

“What, why?” Luz questioned with a frown and Willow had to think fast.

“Right now, Amity only sees you as a friend, coming at her with romantic feelings out of the blue would also freak her out.” she shook her head. Not a lie.

“What am I supposed to do then?” Luz sighed, plopping down onto the school steps with a quiet thump.

Willow scratched her chin thoughtfully. It was a problem, she knew that any romantic attention from Luz, physical or otherwise would send Amity into a conniption.

“What if… she didn’t know it was you?” she suggested.

“Huh?” Luz blinked up at her.

“I mean, what if you could get Amity to fall for you without even knowing it’s you at first?” She suggested.

“Like… a secret admirer?” she asked, straightening up.

“Yeah! Like, you could leave gifts or notes in her locker or places you know she’d find them.”

Immediately she could see the gears in Luz’s head beignig to spin and slowly a grin began to split her face before she jumped up.

“Willow, that’s a great idea!” Luz was beaming from ear to ear as she wrapped the plant witch up in a bone crushing hug that made her squeak.

“Of course”, she wheezed from her friend's grip.

“It's just like in one of my books…,” Luz squealed, finally letting go and bouncing excitedly on her toes. “Plan secret romance is a go!” she held up a fist with a determined grin.

“Yes!” Gus pulled out his flags and waved them excitedly.

“I need to go start planning!”

Willow giggled at Luz’s excitement.

“Um.. would you guys help me?” she asked with a sheepish grin.

Willow and Gus shared a knowing look before turning back to her.

“Of course, Luz.”

“Sweet, let’s go!” She took off down the path toward the owl house with Gus and Willow trailing behind.

#Lumity #Luz Noceda #Amity Blight #Willow Park #Gus Porter #Eda Clawthorne #Lillith Clawthorne

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brightwanderer · 4 years

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Untitled Stardew Omens Fic (4)

(Index)

Spring 13

There's bunting. There's actual tiny flags hanging all over the town square. There's children shrieking and running around. Crowley is hungover and confused and he just wanted to stop by the general store for a few supplies, but the general store is closed and Pierre is manning a twee little stand that appears to mostly sell tubs of flowers.

This is not the Saturday morning Crowley was expecting and he's pretty sure he hates everything about it.

He goes looking for Aziraphale, mostly because he figures they'll at least be in the same boat with the hangover business, but to his dismay, Aziraphale's as chipper as ever and shows no signs of having overindulged the night before. Crowley wonders if he's got some secret doctor remedy, and pushes his sunglasses up higher to hide his eyes.

"Oh, it's the Egg Festival," Aziraphale explains when Crowley manages to get something out that approximates a question. "Happens every year, didn't Lewis send you a note? He's usually good about that."

Crowley thinks guiltily of the postbox that he keeps forgetting to check.

"Must've missed it," he mumbles. "What happens?"

"Well, it's mostly just an excuse for a little bit of a celebration, there's some nice things to eat and drink." Aziraphale glances around conspiratorially then lowers his voice. "Just, er, watch out for the punch. It's sometimes a bit... exciting, if Pam gets to it before Gus notices."

Crowley has no intention of drinking anything but water and caffeinated beverages for the next 12 hours. He's not sure food is a great idea either. He nods anyway, and prepares to slope on back to the farm to dig out some more rocks, or maybe just go back to bed and let the blasted place rot for a day.

"And there's the egg hunt, of course!" Aziraphale goes on cheerfully. "You should have a go at that, it's jolly good fun."

"The what?"

"Egg hunt. Painted eggs, hidden all over the place. Whoever collects the most wins a prize."

Crowley shoots him an incredulous look, which Aziraphale somehow manages to detect even behind the sunglasses. His smile turns sheepish.

"It's for the children really," he admits, "but no-one minds if you join in. I almost won last year."

"Yeah? Got beaten by a six-year-old, did you?"

"Well..." Aziraphale fidgets with his pocket watch. He really does dress like he fell out of the previous century, and Crowley can't help finding it ridiculously charming. "I had a bit of a mishap. Tripped at the last minute, arms full of eggs... I'm sure you can imagine. My favourite waistcoat was never the same afterwards. So I think I'll sit it out this time."

Despite the headache, despite his sour mood, despite the fact that the last thing he wants right now is to be stuck in the middle of some small-town festival, Crowley laughs.

"Don't suppose they have coffee over at that buffet table do they?" he asks.

"No," Aziraphale replies, "but I can nip into my place and put some on, if you like? Easy enough, they won't be starting for a while yet."

Crowley hesitates, because if he says yes, he's dooming himself to staying longer in the middle of all this brightness and chatter. But he's not sure he wants to see Aziraphale's face fall if he says no.

"I've some alka-seltzer on hand too, if you like," Aziraphale adds with a knowing smile.

Crowley grumbles and grimaces and sticks his hands in his pockets, and says, "Yeah, okay, fine. Thanks."

#untitled stardew omens fic #stardew omens #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #fanfic #my fic

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coeurdastronaute · 5 years

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Essays in Existentialism: Nerd 8

Previously on Nerd

Once again, the school was full of students again. The rain was intermittent and the chill in the air made everyone want to run inside despite the fact that they were running towards classes and teachers again. The stately brick building, ancient for its ninety or so years, half updated, and half reticent of a John Hughes movie, it welcomed the returning students for the second half the year.

The week and a half that Lexa spent with her family had been lovely and needed, though it came at quite an inopportune time. Normally, she would relish the chance to get out of town and travel, as her parents were always busy with work. But now they were trying and coming back to life, which meant a trip across the world to Iceland for the holidays. It meant, however, that Lexa was just getting somewhere with Clarke, just starting to feel comfortable, just starting to hope and feel and want, and going away was a pause on it.

Walking back into the halls and weaving her way toward her locker, Lexa felt weird, like time hadn’t passed there, but she was different. It was an eerie feeling she couldn’t quite place, but didn’t want to spend too much time trying. Instead, she twisted the dial on her locker and wondered if she’d see Clarke before lunch.

“Hey, stranger.”

Lexa smiled slightly as she finished digging her book out of her locker and turned to find a smiling girl with pretty blue eyes and a dimple on one cheek. Leaning against the locker next to Lexa’s, Clarke grinned and held her books, her bag slung on a shoulder, her hair perfectly wavy and dreamy.

For a moment, Lexa gulped again, though she was relieved.

She couldn’t really help it. Not when Clarke was there, in her baggy sweater, with barely any makeup and lips that did that.

“Hey. How are you?”

“I’m surviving. How was your trip?”

“Long,” Lexa sighed, closing her locker and leaning against it. “It was a lot of fun, but weird. We haven’t had a family vacation since Aden… Maybe we needed it.”

“Did you get lots of footage?”

“Yeah. I’m going to try to put it together for my parents.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” Clarke promised, leaning near Lexa, their shoulders touching. “The pictures looked amazing. It made me almost want to hike a glacier.”

The adventurer just shrugged and shuffled her feet slightly. They’d texted nearly the entirety of winter break, and now, Lexa wasn’t sure how much of it still applied. It was a weird thing, to be able to text someone random thoughts and string together a conversation, but it was hard to figure out how to be the same in person.

“How about you? Good time with the family?”

“It actually wasn’t terrible.” The bell interrupted their reunion and Clarke grumbled slightly. “Walk me to class?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Without thinking about it, Lexa held out her hand and reached for Clarke’s books. She looked at her arm and wondered how it happened, how it could betray and embarrass her like that, and more importantly, how she was going to recover from it.

The panic lasted just an instant though, because Clarke took Lexa’s hand and held it in her own, not thinking twice about the action.

“You have track after school, don’t you?” Clarke asked, adjusting her hand slightly, tugging the hand a little and keeping it tight in her own.

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to hang out after?”

“Um,” Lexa furrowed and went through a mental checklist, hoping that nothing would put up a red flag. She definitely wanted to hang out with Clarke, and she definitely wanted to keep holding her hand, even if that meant never going to class again. “I have a tutoring session with Gus. Getting ready for his SAT next month.”

“Okay, maybe another day.”

“After?”

“After tutoring?” Clarke asked, pausing in front of her classroom.

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be for long, but we could… I don’t know… Just hang out. Even for a little bit. That’d be nice.”

“It would.” Clarke waited for more, watching Lexa debate how to do it. “Or we could hang out now.”

“Now?” Lexa cocked her head, confused but still smiling.

Clarke looked around at the hall as it began to clear before the second bell. She tugged on Lexa’s hand and met some resistance. No one else really noticed that they were lingering. Everyone was still feeling a certain freedom, or loss of it, as the winter break ended and the grind began again.

“Just one time.”

“I have calculus,” she furrowed.

“Haven’t you ever skipped before?” Naturally, Clarke was met with a shake of a head and a look of moderate panic. “Do you want to skip once in your life?”

“I’ve never thought about it.”

“You’ve got about a minute to decide.”

“Can we do that?” Lexa wondered. “Just leave?”

“It’s the first day back. You know we’re not going to go over anything important.”

“Are you actually serious?”

“Yeah. I could use a day off.”

“We just had like twelve days.”

“I spent most of them with family and hanging out with my dad or working. I’m kind of over taking care of people and paying attention.”

Clarke said things like that so succinctly, so purposefully, that it reminded Lea of the words she’d read once that said something about being brave and quiet, so that no one else sees or realizes you’re suffering. No one would guess Clarke suffered so much under such heavy burdens. No one would guess that she had them to begin with, and Lexa was learning Clarke liked it that way, to keep things to herself.

But she caught herself saying those things, and Clarke cleared her throat and put her hand on her hip, taunting and waiting.

“I have to be back in time for practice,” Lexa finally gave in.

“You won’t regret it,” Clarke squealed and kissed Lexa’s cheek before tugging her toward the door as the bell rang again and the halls were completely empty.

“I hate the mall,” Lexa grimaced as she hopped out of Clarke’s truck and stared up at the monstrosity that was the Edgewood Mall.

Two towns over from their school and everything familiar, Lexa only knew the rival area because of track meets or soccer games, and once, an academic decathlon tournament, though she never left the hotel or the school. There wasn’t much in the sleepy suburb, but it had the benefit of being forty five minutes away from any adult that would notice them.

“Yes, but do you hate it when it’s empty on a Monday?”

“I don’t know. Probably.”

Clarke rolled her eyes and grabbed Lexa’s hand again, tugging her along once again into the great unknown. The clouds trudged along while the rain stopped, but neither pulled down their hoods until they made it inside.

“Have I steered you wrong yet?”

“Not yet.”

“So trust me.”

There wasn’t really an option to it, and in all fairness, Lexa did trust Clarke. She just wanted to spend time near her because near her, time seemed to stop stressing her out, and the minutes were just… happier.

And so Lexa followed, still vaguely aware that she should technically be leaving first period and heading to Physics. Instead, she felt Clarke’s hand and pulled down her hood as they walked into the near empty mall.

“What are we going to do first?” Lexa wondered out loud.

“I have decided to dress you.”

“You don’t like how I dress?”

For a second, Lexa paused and looked down at her coat, and beneath that, the simple shirt and jeans she was wearing. It did the job, and it kept her dressed. She never really considered clothes often.

“I do. I’ve just kind of always wanted to see you in a few different outfits.”

“No funny business, Griffin.”

“Scouts honor,” Clarke promised.

The joy was contagious, as much as she wanted to resist, Lexa followed into a store and held out her arms as new items were added to them. When she asked Clarke if this was her idea of a good time, she got a smile and shrug, and she decided this was what she had to do now. To her credit, Clarke mulled over everything she picked, carefully pairing together things, continually shuffling Lexa’s arms, occasionally standing closer.

At least once, Lexa looked down at Clarke and smiled, distracted by the way her eyes looked, and how she bit her lip when she debated a choice. Lexa liked the debating part. She liked the lip part too. She liked the biting part even more for some reason.

The first few outfits were met with excitement. And to her own credit, Lexa found it to be tolerable because she got to see Clarke light up and fret over her, adjusting her clothes and smiling at the results.

The fourth outfit though.

“This is what you like?” Lexa furrowed, tugging at the collar of the shirt, buttoned the whole way up to her chin.

“I have a thing for well put together types.”

“I kind of like it.”

The part that Lexa missed, while she looked at herself in the mirror and adjusted the roll of the sleeves, was the look Clarke gave her from her spot in a chair, happy to watch the spinning and enjoyment on Lexa’s face.

“You look good.”

“Yeah?” Lexa asked, oddly hopeful.

“You always look good.”

“Yeah?”

“Like you don’t know how cute you are,” Clarke scoffed.

“I don’t-- um… well. Sometimes I-- I mean I don’t usually think about it.”

With a final look at herself in the mirror, Lexa blushed and went to tug on her old clothes in the dressing room, making a note of what she might like to wear in the future.

“That was way more fun than even I anticipated,” Clarke held out her hand as Lexa walked out of the dressing room. “Next up, date number two.”

“We’re having multiple dates in one day?”

“Definitely.”

At eleven in the morning, the selection of movies wasn’t the best. Just beginning to show within the hour, Lexa agonized over which of her two options would be the best before finally deciding on a cartoon feature meant for much younger audiences. But it felt like a good choice because she liked the director and thought it was going to be absolutely beautiful.

“I don’t think this is a very balanced diet you’ve got here,” Clarke chided as she stole a twizzler from the pack in Lexa’s lap as they lazed on the mildly uncomfortable chairs.

“You have to have snacks for a movie.”

They settled fairly close, smiling and happy and alone, so very alone in the movie that they hoped no one else might show up. Lexa wasn’t sure what to do, and so she was grateful for the candy and the quiet. Clarke was just too cute and too nice, and she smelled good. Lexa always forgot how she smelled. And how warm she felt. And that little crackling feeling deep in her own chest when Clarke laughed and was close. Lexa forgot these things until they were back.

Clarke slid her arm around Lexa’s bicep and sighed with her cheek on her shoulder.

“You’re like an escape, you know?” Clarke whispered. “Thank you for ditching with me today. I promise I won’t make a habit of it.”

“Are you okay? I mean… with everything?”

“I am.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not really.”

Lexa couldn’t help but smile at the honesty. It was the charm Clarke had to her, that she just said things, she was in the moment. And each moment was occupied by this constant dialectical problem, where she really was happy, and she really was sad, and she really was all of it, blown back and forth by a breeze and whatever thoughts her brain decided to pick up.

“It’s all going to be okay,” Lexa offered, feeling as if she had to say, as if she had something that Clarke needed. Rarely were those words actually comforting, but she wanted to try, and she wasn’t sure how they came out of her mouth.

“I don’t know about that.”

“Yeah, but you still just kind of have to live anyway.”

“My dad isn’t getting any better. It was a long break,” Clarke confessed. “And now SATs and work and school. It’s just a lot.”

“Yeah. It’s always a lot.”

“I like this though,” she smiled, referencing them together.

“Not to be, you know, that person, but, um. What exactly are we?”

“You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“I don’t like to assume.”

Lexa felt her heart beating very quickly. Her palms felt sweaty and she wiped them against the thigh of her pants. She just wanted to look like she wasn’t dreading the answer. She didn’t want to think it was all in her head.

“For a genius, you’re kind of dumb.”

“Yeah,” Lexa nodded earnestly. “I get that a lot.”

“What do you think we should be?”

“Um, friends, friends that--- kiss?” she attempted before really thinking about it. “I don’t know how to do this. I guess I just kind of want to be on your team, if that makes sense. Kiss and root for you.”

“Yeah, I’d like that a lot.”

“Okay, cool.”

Somehow Lexa let herself look at Clarke. It was a mistake because she was so pretty, and the lights were just starting to dim in time for the movie to start. It might have only been the second time Lexa leaned forward first, but she did, turning her body slightly. She really liked the kissing part.

Clarke tasted better than she smelled and she smelled so good. Gentle and warm, her lips moved against Lexa’s, and both forgot how to breathe. It didn’t matter that the noise from the previews started. It didn’t matter that they were the only ones, minus the usher who walked in to do a count and paused for a moment before hurrying back down the ramp.

“You and me, huh?” Clarke finally whispered when they separated.

Lexa just smiled and nodded, her cheeks painfully pink and her heart all but stopping completely.

“I promise, it’ll be well worth it,” Clarke swore, tugging Lexa toward the old truck that waited in the parking lot.

“I’m sure it will be, but I have to run very far today and ice cream isn’t the best pre-practice snack,” Lexa complained half-heartedly.

“You’re a pre practice snack.”

“Is this still flirting? Does this still happen?”

“Oh yeah,” Clarke nodded standing very close, pressing her girlfriend against her truck. “All of the time. If anything even more often.”

“Fantastic,” Lexa beamed.

The rain was just a drizzle, but the chill had somewhat worn off. While they should have been in sixth period, instead they were fresh out of a day bumming around the mall, locked away from the real world. Clarke leaned up and kissed Lexa’s smile because it was there and because she could.

“Will you just tell me how to do all of this?”

“All of what?” Clarke smiled.

“Dating.”

Sheepishly, Lexa gulped before looking at Clarke’s lips again and then back to her eyes. Both were incredibly difficult things to face.

“It’s not that hard. You’re doing great. But you’d do even better if you bought me my favorite ice cream.”

“Fine, but I’m only getting a little bit.”

“You say that now, until you try it.”

With another innocent kiss, Clarke pushed forward and freed herself before hopping into the cab of her truck.

Winter break had been a lot for her to handle. It’d been a lot of her mother, and it’d been a lot of her father. She worked just to get away from the misery and the nagging thought that it might have been the last holiday together as a family. Clarke decided she needed something good, and she needed to escape. Lexa was both of those things and more. She was real and honest, and she didn’t sugar coat anything. She said what she thought and she did what she wanted.

Most importantly, however, Lexa was normal, and she was the vacation Clarke allowed herself from real life, even if it was in tiny doses at a a time.

“I definitely liked making out in the movie,” Lexa decided as she put on her seatbelt.

“Me too.”

“Cool.”

“But I’m guessing I wouldn’t be too successful if it were a movie you wanted to watch.”

Again, Lexa blushed slightly, the tips of her ears growing red as she tucked stray hair behind them.

“Maybe,” she shrugged.

With just over an hour left in their freedom before Lexa was due back for practice and Clarke was due back for work, they drove toward ice cream and Clarke felt this ease about her. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew she made the right decision to put her chips down on Lexa Woods.

Clarke wasn’t sure what made her take a second look at the car across the lot from them as they pulled into the small mom and pop ice cream shop she’d grown up going to, nor was she certain how her brain put the pieces of information together.

“Okay, I might have lied,” Lexa decided. “I think I want rocky road.”

But Clarke didn’t move when they parked, but rather squinted at the familiar car and furrowed as her brain worked in overtime. Lexa said something about ice cream and running and how she was excited to tell her sister she ditched.

“Hey, you okay?”

Still, silence.

Lexa tried to follow Clarke’s glance and stared at the car.

“Clarke?”

She only half heard it. Instead, Clarke watched it happen, right there in the gas station parking lot across the street. Her mother got out of the car and Clarke hated that the windshield wiper did its job and put everything into clear viewing.

“What’s wrong?” Lexa tried again. “Who is that?”

Clarke just watched as the women she knew for her entire life got out of her car and hugged the man who got out of the passenger side. Up until that moment, it was just a dread that existed deep in her gut; it was unconfirmed. And then the women, the stranger, she smiled, happy and big and in the middle of a laugh, and she kissed the vaguely familiar man.

“That’s my mother,” Clarke muttered through grit teeth.

Unsure of what to do and the fact that this was very bad, Lexa looked between the mother and the daughter a few times before attempting to see some kind of resemblance.

“Oh.”

“I just wanted ice cream.”

Neither moved, neither breathed, it felt like. Instead, they watched the display of giddy love happening between Clarke’s mother and a man that was distinctly not her father. Clarke sat in the driver’s seat even more defeated than normal. Nothing made sense, because she was certain there was no way her life could get worse, and then the universe decided to put a little more shit on top.

Lexa shifted only to take Clarke’s hand in her own and hold it there while the clandestine lovers said their goodbyes.

“It’s going to be okay,” Lexa whispered.

“How?”

There wasn’t an answer to be had.

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trailmafia · 5 years

Text

R2R2R - trip report

4/20/2019

I didn’t sleep at all. After rolling around in my tent aimlessly for a few hours I decided it was time to get going. At about 4am, after a quick coffee and a couple of avocados, I left Mather Campground and drove toward the grand canyon visitor center to park. From there I ran a quick 1.5 miles or so to the South Kaibob TH.

I decided on the South Kaibob > North Kaibob > Bright Angel Route. First, because it gave me a chance to see more of the canyon, and even though it was 2-3 miles longer, it was a “less steep” ascent out of the canyon when I would need the relief most - I knew I would be feeling the hurt at that point. As a bonus, parking at the visitor center, about halfway between both trailheads, would let me tick off an extra couple miles to get me as close to my goal of 50 miles as I could bear, having to run to the South Kaibob TH from my car and possibly back to my car from the Bright Angel TH if my legs were still functional.

One of the most difficult parts of the day was just getting out of Mather Campground. I drove around for about 20+ minutes trying to find my way out. After flagging a family in a minivan down to ask for help escaping the campground, they laughed and told me to follow them out. Finally making it to the visitor center, I parked, stretched, ran to the South Kaibob TH, and descended into the abyss.

The weather was perfect - 55 degrees F at the TH and about 65 degrees F down at skeleton point - clear skies and crisp, clean air with this deep hypnotic purple and crimson red glow permeating down into the steep corkscrew below.

I was only at Cedar Ridge (1.5 miles in) when I knew that the stairs were going to be a major problem for my left knee that had been having some IT Band issues. I’m not a fan of stairs on any trail really as they force you into an unnatural rhythm and create a very awkward angle on your joints. Luckily though, I didn’t hit any mule trains on the way down and I knew that would save me some time.

When I finally made it down for my first glimpse of the Colorado River, I submitted to the pain, even though my knee was in a full blown rebellion against me, hinting for me to abort while I still could.

It was normal for the joints in my knees to start rubbing at that time, before I discovered how to stretch, strengthen, and foam roll properly, but usually only after about 25 miles in. I was only 9 miles in and knew I had about 40 something miles to go. This would be the going back point if I decided to give into the growing discomfort, but I dug in, and decided there was no way in hell I was going back, even if it meant not walking for a couple days. I was hell-bent.

After my first crossing of the Colorado, the terrain flattens out into one of the most exotic, single-track, slot-canyon trails I have ever been on. Or at least for the next 8 miles from Phantom Ranch to Manzanita Creek. The latter I knew was my only water stop on the entire north side of the canyon because the north rim would be closed for another couple of weeks.

I was in a nice groove, running about a 9 min/mile pace, listening to boulders crack into each other beneath the Bright Angel Creek beside me, crossing small suspension bridges, smelling the prehistoric red dust that came up with each step, becoming more and more comfortable with the pain in my left knee as my world above the rim began to melt away. I began to settle into this lush, Sonoran canyon-land.

I had only passed a handful of hikers at this point, but was more interested in catching up to the two running shoe prints that I had been seeing since I dropped in. At Manzanita Creek I bumped into two Canadian girls in full running gear who seemed super happy to see another runner planning on completing the same route. They confirmed they had left the trail head 45 minutes before me so I was convinced it was the two prints that I had been chasing all morning. This gave me some closure that I was making decent time, being right on schedule with the splits I had calculated beforehand. We talked for a few minutes while filling up on water, all of us thrilled about being on this epic run. I pressed on ahead though and told them I would see them on my way back down from the north rim. Off I went.

Passing Roaring Springs was another cool rush and a well needed distraction from the ever sharpening pain in my knee. I could feel the vibration of this massive waterfall thundering down into the canyon, reminding me how small I was. Farther up the trail I began to hear what sounded like helicopter blades, echoing louder and louder as I passed over and under misty bridges and aqua blue waterfalls. Finally, about 3/4 of the way up, I came around the corner to the source of loud echoing blades. It was a helicopter lowering what looked like a generator to two workers harnessed onto the side of the sheer canyon wall. I was stunned that these two guys were just hanging onto the side of a cliff going about their work like it was normal, grabbing onto the slowly repelling machine, giving the helicopter pilot a thumbs up that they had control of it. I remember wanting to say something to them but I didn’t know what to say because I was so perplexed, so I just kept running up the trail smiling in wonder, smh.

At this point, I had passed a couple of runners who were on their way down. This surprised me because I hadn’t really seen any other fresh tracks earlier on the South Kaibob besides those of the two girls I just bumped into, so I assumed they probably just came down Bright Angel. I over-enthusiastically exchanged high fives with them, being so excited again to encounter other people on the same run as me. I noticed that none of them were wearing packs though which made me question if I was the only one wearing one, but then it dawned on me later on that most of them had probably stashed them at Manzanita to cut down unnecessary weight for the 5,000′ climb up the rim. Next time.

When I finally made it up to the north rim there was nobody. Just a bunch of left over snow. I had pictured this moment in my head, but I couldn’t have imagined how much peace and happiness I would feel as I rested my legs for the first time and slowly ate a bag of dried cranberries and some trail mix. I was as far away from safety as I had ever been and I had never felt better. What a strange and enlightening moment that was.

After about a 10 minute rest, my mind was back to the 24 mile challenge ahead of me with a blown out knee. The water spigot was dry which I knew was going to be the case reading every nps report I could, but nonetheless I was hoping to fill up at the slight chance the spigots were back on for the season. I also decided that on this rare occasion I would take some Ibuprofen I had packed, attempting to numb the increasingly sharp pain I was feeling. So I threw some pills in my mouth and a big handful of snow to wash them down. I packed some snow into the knee brace I was wearing as well as my hydration bladder to cool down and supplement whatever water I had left. Regardless, I felt amazing as these hardy calories coursed through body. I had only been eating gels up to this point (about 8 GU’s). The temperature had dropped to about 43 degrees F on the north rim so I put some layers back on, covered my neck and face with a buff, and dropped back into the gorge with an incredible sense of refreshment and vitality.

About 3 switchbacks down from the trail head or 400 yards or so I turned around the corner to hear a “Cack cack cack cack” of branches snapping in half that I will NEVER forget. I turned to respond with my eyes to see what my ears just heard.

I’m not sure exactly what it was, but it was big, and as quickly as my head could turn, whatever it was disappeared back up towards where I had just come from. I had read several reports of cougars being spotted in this particular area this time of year but I’ll never really know what it was. I was officially spooked though and started running like hell. All pain in my body disappeared as the adrenaline took over.

Shortly after this encounter I bumped into the Canadian girls again who were on their way up. I was coming at them fast and when I finally got to them I told them what had just happened. They immediately stopped in their tracks and turned around to come back down with me. I didn’t want to discourage them from missing the north rim but I think they could tell that I was genuinely spooked and that was enough for them. They followed me pretty closely for about a mile down until they were feeling a little more at ease, and they finally stopped to rest. I kept going, and this was the last I would see them. I was genuinely spooked, but as my downhill pace picked up and the endorphins started flooding through my veins, that fear transformed into exhilaration like I have never felt. This was now a true adventure.

Then, as quickly as my high surged to its highest point, the pain began to set in again. This time with a ferocity that still sends shivers down my spine thinking about it. I was now unable to control the limp that had been developing as my knee was almost completely locked.

At this point the temperature started spiking again as I made my return to the canyon floor. I was burning through water quickly and ran out about 2 miles before hitting Manzanita again. Water never tasted this good. There was a guy lying on the bench there getting some rest. He had his hat resting over his face but kept one eye peeking out at me, watching me nervously, gulping water into my mouth faster than I could swallow it.

I knew this upcoming section from Manzanita to Bright Angel campground would be the easiest and the perfect opportunity to make up some time that I had begun to lose from my slowing pace. It was about 8 miles of slightly downhill running. I went into autopilot, grinding my teeth, and wincing in pain at every uneven step I was forced to take. Somewhere around Cottonwood campground I found a nice river crossing and soaked my legs in the rushing cold water for a few minutes.

Throughout the day, I had this growing realization that even though I was in pain, all things were fair somehow. Nature provided as much as it could for me. It gave me snow to stuff in my knee brace and in my pack when I ran out of water. It gave me a gentle breeze when I was burning up, and a nice cool river to soak my legs in when they began to swell. Ultimately though, nature is impartial. It’s not there to soothe your pain. It’s not there to comfort you when things get bad. Nature is there to give you a glimpse into yourself. It’s there to remind you that you are alive. Each moment your heart is still pumping blood throughout your body is a good moment.

My legs still slightly numb from the ice cold soak in the river, I flew through the rest of the narrow canyon, past Phantom Ranch and back to the Colorado.

I had been contemplating going back up the South Kaibob knowing it was the shorter route, but I was determined to stick with the plan, knowing I would be seeing one of the most beautiful trails on earth, and finishing what I set out to do.

The sun was blazing down as I crossed the Silver Bridge during the hottest part of the day and ran the sandy banks of the Colorado River toward the bottom of the trail. I knew the hardest part of the trip lie ahead. They say the Bright Angel is the safest trail in the canyon, but 40 miles in, nothing seemed safe. Beautiful streams and lush gardens taunted me to stop and enjoy like all the other hikers and leisure seekers, but I knew I had to keep going. Surprisingly, I was still passing people on the trail pretty quickly and began to develop the feeling that I was on the other side of my fears, confident I would make it out. I knew looking up to the top was a big mistake and would check my growing confidence if I did. I could see it out of the corner of my eye, but I tried to keep a balanced approach, staying focused on the moment and each next step, but not forgetting to appreciate the desert paradise surrounding me.

At this point, I was helplessly tripping over rocks and smashing the tips of my toes harder and harder as I became more fatigued. I couldn’t lift my legs high enough to step over them anymore. I knew that my left and right big toenails were probably going to fall off. I couldn’t feel them anymore though. I knew this was pretty common with ultra runners and it used to gross me out quite a bit. Now, it was a sign that I was progressing. It was an initiation, a marker on my path to running long distance ultra marathons.

I made my final water refill at Indian Garden. Using the last of my salt tablets and the rest of my food, I felt like I had planned my nutrition pretty well, and now that the sun was beginning to set below the rim I was really bouncing back from a mental low. This was the most beautiful portion of the trip I thought. The final switchbacks were long and steep and took everything I had, but I felt good and really took in the beauty of the trail for the last few miles as I reflected on my day.

As my ears began to pop, I knew I was close. If I stopped at all at this point though my knee would completely lock up, so I kept a steady pace most of the way back up. With the help of some positive vibes from a hiker, my spirits were lifted just high enough to get me out with a smile. As I slowly and haggardly made my way past her, she asked if I was ok. Apparently I didn’t look so good, but I smiled, coughed, and nodded my head up and down in exhaustion. We had a couple quick laughs at my expense, questioning my sanity and the dirt covering my face, and then before I knew it, she was gone, several switchbacks below as I maintained course. I was still so focused on the end.

Seeing camera clad tourists with no hiking gear on was my sign that I was close. They had no idea what I had just done, and that was comforting to me, knowing that I had this little secret. They would probably never see what I saw or experience what I experienced that day. This was my moment of self-transcendence. This is what I had been searching for my whole life. Just over 12 hours and 49.2 miles later, I reached the Bright Angel trail head.

#r2r2r

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littlecrookedheart · 5 years

Text

Atlas and his Moon • Fluffy Friday no.2 vol.2

Prompt (s) : 20 and 29 ; "Why are you looking at me like that?" / "matching tattoos" • Requested by @nyastarlight

Pairing : Jax x Kellen

Rating : None, only fluff.

Author’s Note : I...may have cried kinda at the ending. As for the song, I thought of it right after writing the ending, some of the lyrics running through my head. I hope you enjoy!

Word Count : 2,842

Inspiration found in this song : I Swear This Time I Mean It | Mayday Parade

"And I'll be your memories, your lullaby for all the times, hoping that my voice could get it right."

The ground was frozen, a thick layer of ice having formed over the concrete above, the soil as hard as an iceberg. Late night air crept in through the steel rimmed doorways, every brick shifting slightly with the drop in temperature. To the naked eye, you'd never notice a difference. For a human, that is.

Jax Matsuo lay with one arm under his head, the other tracing the shape of the bricks, breathing in the coolness wafting through the Shadow Den. Kellen shivered next to him, goosebumps scattering across her shoulders. Reaching an arm across her, he drew her body closer to his, tucking the blankets under her side. She hardly stirred at all, to his surprise. He nestled his cheek against her neck, holding her closely, his senses overwhelmed with the current of her bloodstream. Not hunger, no, but affection, building in his chest, the profound desire to step into her skin, protect her, feel her, love her.

It was as if this evening, she was a faint seafoam gleam, like a twinkle of light inside a kaleidoscope. Jax wanted to soak in the glow, he craved the warmth against him more than anything he'd ever desired before. For now, he closed his eyes, the nightlife of the city bustling to life above them, distant fragrance of the den awakening.

Swiping his thumb back and forth across her arm, he lulled himself to relaxation, not quite asleep but not entirely awake, either. Kellen turned over, facing him, her hands sleepily guided to his face. She trailed her fingers drowsily along his lips, eyes still closed, smiling softly before touching her lips to his, slowly pecking her way to fuller kisses. His hand found the small of her back, holding her fiercely, drinking her kiss before she pulled away, breathless with a smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, hiding her face as she stretched.

"You look like the sun."

"Oh, obviously," she giggled, narrowing her eyes at him while tousling her already messy hair.

"Mm, obviously. And you smell like it, too."

Kellen loved this, Jax's descriptions of the way she smelled, sounded, felt. He experienced everything so intensely, and as much as she didn't understand it, she absolutely adored it.

"Yeah?"

"Today you're light," he said, enveloping her in an embrace.

"Yesterday I was the ripple of the river."

"You were."

It changed daily, but one thing was constant. Kellen could be covered in sweat and grime, or return from the core of the earth, and to Jax, she'd always smell like the most magnificent thing in existence : life.

Which for him, was the epitome of desire, the twinge of tangerine, the thrill of adrenaline, the flight of an arrow. It was the hurl of a cyclone, the rush of the tide, the sound of stars being brought to existence and the moment they burned out. Kellen was, perhaps, life itself, and Jax couldn't get enough.

"You're beautiful."

"Speak for yourself, hot stuff," Kellen whispered before nipping at his ear, the sound of voices in the hall distracting her.

Jax pulled away, irises red with lust, and blinked a few times as he grounded himself. After a deep breath, he looked back to her, the twinkle of hanging ivory lights shone against the chestnut warmth that had returned to his eyes. Kellen kissed his cheek, sighing.

"Are you hungry? I can fix you something," he said, fingertips brushing the skin on her jaw.

"Hmm...Fruit salad?"

"I think I can manage that."

"With mango?"

"Oh, sorry, fresh out."

Kellen smirked, pouting up at him with her eyes wide.

Jax chuckled, and in one swift movement, he planted a kiss to her nose and was across the room, washing a mango before slicing it.

"Need help?" Kellen beckoned, sitting up on the bed.

Jax shook his head, tossing fruit into a bowl, mixing it together with a glass spoon. He poured it into a bowl, turning to set it on the counter as Kellen drug her feet over the floor The friction from her socks was electric, making miniscule hairs stand up on the back of his neck.

"Warm enough?" He asked, drawing a throw around her shoulders as she nodded, hunched over her breakfast, fighting off a yawn.

"Babe, you should eat too," Kellen said, mouth full of berries.

"I did, just before you woke up. I'd just gotten back."

Jax wandered around the space, blowing out candles, savoring the crackle in his ears as they extinguished.

"God, I love that smell. They need a candle that smells like that," Kellen chirped, inhaling wafts of smoke from nearby.

"That would be kind of gross," he laughed, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You're kind of gross."

"You love it," he said, flopping back onto his mattress.

Kellen finished her meal, running the bowl under hot water before washing it, hanging on a drying rack. She stretched her arms over her head again, dropping onto the bed, landing half way on Jax's body.

"Oof!" Jax muttered, tossing his limbs in the air for dramatic effect. "You've killed me. I'm dead now."

"I'm so proud," Kellen smiled, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "I'd like to thank my beautiful moms, and I'd like to thank the academy..."

Jax scrunched his face at her, pulling her down to him. He tickled her ribs, making her squeal and writhe.

"I surrender!" She yelped, giggling profusely.

"You're so easy!"

"You're just good at making me throw up the white flag. Don't give me all the credit, now."

"What do you feel like doing tonight?" He asked, rolling onto his stomach. He rested his head in the crook of his bent elbow, looking at her.

Kellen sighed, her eyes looking at the ceiling while she pondered.

Jax's fingertips moved to her cheek, pressing gently on two loose eyelashes. He held them up to her face, saying, "Make a wish."

"I wish for-"

"Can't tell me or it won't come true."

Kellen rolled her eyes, blowing away the lashes. He pulled her close to him, kissing just above her brow.

She glanced up at him and took his cheeks in her palms, the silkiness of his skin always taking her just a little aback.

"Is it cheesy to say I have what I wished for?" She smiled, meeting her forehead with his.

"Incredibly. But I happen to have a thing for cheese."

"It's my lucky day, then."

Jax gathered her in his arms, raining kisses all over her face. She wrapped her arms around him, softly giggling.

"You're so perfect," he whispered, pulling her in for a brief, yet somehow desirous kiss.

Kellen pulled away and smirked at him, saying, "Let's get matching tattoos."

Jax raised an eyebrow at her and nodded, sitting up. He pulled his day old pair of black jeans on and fastened his boots.

"Wait, I was kidding!"

"Nope, it's happening."

Kellen shrugged and got dressed as well, lacing her fingers with his before making their way through the darkened tunnels, heading out to the street.

Approaching a small tattoo parlor called 'Atomic Footprint,' Jax took Kellen by the waist and stopped her in her tracks.

"You're sure?"

"Well, yeah. I'm not a wimp."

"It wouldn't mean you're a wimp, Kellen. I just want to make sure this is what you want."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and grinned at him, walking ahead of him and into the tattoo shop.

The parlor smelled of cinder and patchouli, a fragrance that Jax remembered fondly. Several artists buzzed away at their stations, engaging in conversation with their clients, an indie folk tune playing lowly in the background.

Jax patted the space on his arm where he was already tattooed and nodded at the man sitting at the counter, gruff and tough looking, at least seven feet tall.

"Jax! Long time, no see."

"It's great to be back, Gus. This is my beautiful girlfriend, Kellen. Kellen," he took her hand and gestured to the man, "Gus is responsible for my tree."

"Well, I'm in good hands, then."

"I'd never take you anywhere untrustworthy."

"He's a good one, Jax. What can I do for you both?"

"Do you have time for two walk ins? Something small. Cheers to spontaneity," Jax smiled.

"For anyone other than you? Nope. Just be happy you're Jax Matsuo. Come fill out your info and we can get started."

Gus slid a tablet over to them, displaying an information form. Kellen tapped away, eyes bright with excitement. Jax guided her to the waiting area, sitting on a gothic inspired black bench.

"How do you know Gus?" She asked, swiping through the list of states to enter her address.

"He did my tattoo, as you know. But before that? He needed some help and we crossed paths."

"He's a vampire?" She said, voice too low for eavesdroppers.

"His partner is."

Kellen nodded, passing Jax the tablet after signing her digital signature.

Once they'd finished, Jax approached the counter, handing Gus the tablet.

"Perfect. So, what are you two thinking of?"

Kellen sidled over, the heavy click of her shoes on the old wooden floor. She slinked an arm around him, turning to say, "So...what if they don't match, but they go together? And they don't have to...link up, because they say that's a curse for relationships."

"Anything you want."

“Well what do you want?”

Jax’s voice was low, the calm look in his eyes reassuring and warm. “A moon. Because no matter who I am, what I become…you’ll always be my guiding light, Kellen. Maybe that’s a curse to our relationship, but I’m not leaving this life anytime soon, and I’d like to be with you for as much of that time that I’m able. A hundred years from now, wherever we are, I’m going to know…and everyone should know, you’re the glow that guides me home.”

Kellen sniffled, wiping one of her eyes. She let out a chuckle before saying, “For the strength you carry and being the one who holds my world in your hands… You’ve shown me a world I never knew, a life I never could have dreamed of. You’ve been everything, every single thing, even when I probably didn’t deserve it. For that, you’ll always be my rock. My anchor. My Atlas.”

Jax’s eyes glistened in the neon from the window light, softly closing as he kissed her, full of passion and love. “You’ve always deserved it, Kellen.”

“….So I’m doing a moon and an Atlas?”

Jax laughed, nodding. “Sorry, Gus.”

“No problem, buddy. Who’s going first?”

Jax began to take his jacket off, but Kellen’s hand went up to stop him.

“If it isn’t me, I’m afraid I’ll back out.”

She handed Jax her jacket, the buttons clanking against his own. Gus pulled over an additional stool for Jax and began to wash and shave the area on the back of her shoulder blade. Kellen’s hand reached back for Jax’s, squeezing it gently.

“You’ve got this.”

“Is it weird that I’m not that nervous?” She laughed.

The whir of the tattoo gun hummed in her ears, and she glanced sidelong at Jax, her eyes wide.

“Spoken too soon?”

“What does it feel like?”

“A tattoo. Take a deep breath,” Gus said, lowering the device. “You ready?”

She squeezed Jax’s hand harder and nodded, only to look over in confusion when he began.

“That is not at all what I was expecting.”

“It’s not so bad,” Jax smiled, “You’re taking it like a pro.”

“I do my best!” Kellen smiled, looking dreamily into his eyes. “You look so handsome.”

Before Jax could respond, Gus snorted and said, “You two are so corny. Reminds me of myself and Shanna.”

“Your wife?” Kellen asked.

“Yep, the very same. She’s running a bit behind but she should be here tonight, got a few bookings from tourists.”

“I didn’t know she was an artist too,” Jax said, brushing his hair from his eyes.

“She’s the one who got me started.”

As if on cue, a tall woman with lavender hair waltzed in through the door, a look of surprise on her face when she saw Jax. She quickly made her way over, throwing her arms around him.

When she spoke, she had a thick Scouse accent and she chomped her gum loudly, but Kellen found it weirdly relaxing.

“Jax! What brings you in? Been too long, babes.”

“My girl and I are getting something small tonight. Kellen, this is Shanna.”

Shanna extended an arm, shaking Kellen’s hand. “Just call me Shan, babes. All me friends do. I’d hug ya, but this brute’s in the way, isn’t he!” she playfully swatted the air near Gus’s head.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Kellen said, smiling up at her.

“Likewise!” She turned to Jax. “Now, no sense of waitin’ if I’m here and haven’t got a gun in me hands. Come here,” she patted the empty space next to Kellen’s. “What are we doin’ tonight?”

“I’ll give you artistic freedom, I just know I want the moon.”

“I can handle it, yeah. Okay babes, where?”

Jax lifted his shirt, pointing at the same spot Kellen had hers being done.

–

“Youse look so cutesy,” Shanna laughed, tossing away the paper towels she’d used to wipe his fresh tattoo clean, heading to the register. “What are ya waitin’ for? Have a look see.”

Kellen turned around, showing Jax her intricate piece of Atlas, no bigger than the size of a silver dollar, but full of detail.

“Whoa. How’d you do all of this in three hours?”

“Luck of the trade.”

Shanna craned her neck to see, smiling. “Nah, he’s lyin’. It’s a bit small, yeah? That’s how, he’s got extra time on his hands and makes it perfect.”

“I love it,” Kellen gasped, angling her body in the mirror.

“It’s amazing, babe.” Jax slid up behind her, turning to see his own.

Kellen gawked at the moon phases, accented with black details of a constellation.

“Youse like? I put in a bit of Taurus on there, Atlas layin’ within.”

Jax’s eyes flashed, turning a shade between brown and red.

“This is bizarre,” he said, unable to take his gaze away.

“These are more than either of us could have asked for,” Kellen said, sitting back down as Gus fastened a transparent bandage wrap over her skin, Jax following suit.

“How much do I owe you?” Jax asked, reaching for his wallet.

“Don’t you think of it,” Gus said, and Shanna winked in agreement.

“Consider it a thank ya,” she grinned, walking over to hug both of them goodbye.

“Thank you both so much, meeting you was so lovely. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so welcome so quickly.”

“You’re family to Jax, you’re family to us. Come back soon! Maybe we can have a bit of a drink next week,” Shanna laughed, popping a peppermint into her mouth.

–

Kellen met Jax at a bench in the park, handing him an insulated cup of cocoa.

“Before you say you don’t want it, that’s fine. It’s for me.”

“Two cups of cocoa? I wouldn’t expect any differently.”

“That’s right.”

His lips curved upward as he chuckled, leaning to kiss her. The fragrant chocolate on her lips, just beyond her always flavor of pine, delicate and subtle.

“You meant that stuff about the moon?” She asked as she nestled her head on his shoulder.

He pointed upward to the sky, a lowly drift of cloud surfacing over the moon.

“How do you see this every night and not see the same beauty within yourself?”

“Tell me a story about us, as our tattoos would have it.”

Jax sighed, playing with the ends of her hair.

“Atlas was always a dreamer, even with all of the weight on his shoulders. Sometimes he’d wander into the darkness, places in space that weren’t yet lit with streaks of comets or the gleam of constellations. And sometimes he’d forget how he got there, unsure how to make it back. So he’d search for something radiant. The sun was too bright, burning him before he could ask for help. The stars had such short lives, they’d flicker out before his heavy feet could carry him to them. But the moon, she glowed so ethereal, she called to him and asked for help, too.”

“What did she ask for?”

“That’s the best part. She said, ‘Atlas, if you’ll have me, I’d love to love you.’ And in that moment, he knew that she was everything he’d been searching for, despite never having known he’d find her.”

“Did he agree?”

“Indeed. He said, ’Kellen, I love you, and that’s the only thing I want my lips to say for the rest of eternity.’”

Kellen looked up at him, tears sparkling in her eyes. He met her gaze with the deepest of looks, the one that told her she was safe, she was serene, she was his.

“She said, 'I love you too, Jax. And I’ll say it until my tongue can no longer speak.”

#jax matsuo #jax x Kellen #jax x mc #Bloodbound #fluffy fridays #write things

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auburnfamilynews · 4 years

Link

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Gave it some time, here are some thoughts.

Isn’t it funny? Two weeks ago, we were all gloom and doom, sky is falling, chicken littles.

Gus Malzahn wasn’t going to be the guy, but there was nobody prepared to fork over the cash for the buyout. Everyone that figured Yella Fella would pony up a solid $25M to send Gus off to Arkansas or somewhere found out that rich businessmen get rich by not paying that kind of money on a gamble.

Then, there we were. Gus is still on the sideline, coaching against Alabama in a game that he absolutely could win, especially without Tua under center for the Tide.

So what happened?

Gus not only tricked the greatest coach of all time into blowing a gasket, but he tricked all of the Auburn fans that wanted him gone as well.

Auburn beat Alabama 48-45 in the 84th Iron Bowl, which turned out to be the most insane edition of the storied rivalry. At a high level, here are some of the things that stood out:

The win puts Auburn at 9-3 for the regular season, which turned out to be one of the toughest in school history. The Tigers’ only losses came by 11 at Florida, 3 at LSU, and 7 vs Georgia. Before the year began, if we’d said that Auburn would go 2-1 against Oregon, A&M, and Florida, and 1-2 against LSU, Georgia, and Alabama, you’d probably take that. We did it. Successful year. Auburn now has a chance to reach ten wins in a bowl game, which will likely take place on New Year’s Day in a sunny Florida location.

Alabama’s season is ruined. Imagine being so spoiled as to think that your season is ruined at 10-2, with both losses coming by fewer than ten total points. There will be no Playoff appearance for the Tide in 2019, which means they miss the Playoff for the first time since its inception. MUST BE TOUGH. Cry me a river. While they’ve had incredible longevity over the last decade, this is a bit of a different feel. The last three good teams that Alabama played put up 44, 46, and 48 points on Nick Saban’s vaunted defense. In 2020, they stand to lose the vast majority of their skill players, offensive line, and a ton of their defensive stalwarts as well...

You know, these kinds of defensive stalwarts...

...who knows what kind of coaching turnover happens in the meantime for them as well. The point is, the #decline seems a little more founded in reality than hope.

Gus Malzahn once again showed that he’s THE guy that can get Saban’s gourd. Nobody else has that ability. Sure, Dabo’s beaten him a couple times, but those were straight up one-on-one slugfests where Clemson was just better. Auburn was better in 2013 with the Kick Six, and they were better last night too, but when you roll out something new (pop pass/punter substitution trick) and it causes Saban to bitch about the rules, you know you’re doing something right. You’re putting mileage on that engine, and that’s a good thing.

As for the game itself, what a wild ride. We had 48 combined points in the second quarter, two pick sixes (including one that went for 100 yards), and so many elements that harkened back to the Kick Six and must’ve given Saban a feeling like he was Buckner walking back into Shea.

Let’s dive in.

Same energy. pic.twitter.com/937LkobgoJ

— SB Nation (@SBNation) December 1, 2019

I saw so many people (Auburn fans even) talking about how rushing the field was dumb. If it annoys Alabama then it can’t possibly be a bad idea.

Also, doing anything to entertain of the MVP of the 2017 Iron Bowl is fine by me.

Bama just put this this L in a little rice it’ll be okay in a couple days

— Kerryon Johnson (@AyeyoKEJO) December 1, 2019

Auburn University! Where LEGENDS are made!!! WAR EAGLE!!! pic.twitter.com/4fCEL3fvyi

— Coach T-Will (@T_WILL4REAL) December 1, 2019

One point of contention earlier in the year was the fan support at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn didn’t get to play any big games at home until Georgia, and while the crowd was unreal for that affair, we had to endure the “It was cold” excuses from the students after Ole Miss. Last night paid any sort of fan support debt in full.

Jordan Hare Stadium was ROCKIN tonight! BEST GAME EVER! #WarEagle #ironbowl pic.twitter.com/u7NvI8Qhn8

— Dana Spurlin (@dspurlin_tift) December 1, 2019

If you're wondering why Jordan-Hare Stadium was screaming "It's great to be an Auburn Tiger," it's because the Alabama section started a "Roll Tide" chant while Daniel Thomas was still down on the field injured.

— Nathan King (@byNathanKing) November 30, 2019

In the past, the Iron Bowl has always been a rivalry game that seems pretty clean on the field. Most of these guys grew up together, played against or with each other when they were younger, and so the bad blood on the field is kept to a minimum. It’s usually the idiots in the stands that can’t handle the tension and do things like “destroy historic landmarks”.

Yesterday, though, we got to see some real chippy play from both sides. Seth Williams got tagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (he is from Tuscaloosa, after all), and Boobee Whitlow was on the receiving end of a penalty after a helmet slap too.

All that an emotional ballgame means is that when it’s all said and done, you end up with a heck of a celebration... even if it is super goofy.

#WarEagle x #RidefortheBrand pic.twitter.com/JaVkHJEFnw

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) December 1, 2019

Gus has reason to be excited. His offensive line — much-maligned throughout the season — did something incredible when you put it up against what we’d seen earlier this year —

Auburn's O-Line did not allow a single sack today and only allowed 4 tackles for a loss. AUsome job, young men.

— Auburn Elvis (@AuburnElvis) December 1, 2019

We got a superhuman effort from Derrick Brown with 3.5 TFLs, we got 114 yards from Boobee Whitlow, a turnover free game from Bo Nix, and we got the effort you’d expect from our opposing kicking game voodoo.

if you told me Auburn mic'd the uprights for this game and hooked them up to the stadium speakers I would 100% believe you https://t.co/gAigjBOdCW

— BUM CHILLUPS (@edsbs) December 1, 2019

Alabama’s missed field goal at the end of the Iron Bowl pic.twitter.com/YF6QE3UN6u

— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) December 1, 2019

I took a video of Alabama’s missed field goal WAR DAMN EAGLE EVERYBODY!!!!! pic.twitter.com/YUiS5igudU

— Graham Brooks (@The_GBrooks) December 1, 2019

For real, though... Auburn somehow escaped that game with injuries galore. Anthony Schwartz played exactly one snap before going out with an ankle injury, and we saw tons of dudes laid out on the carpet at various times throughout the game. Honestly, with the receivers that Alabama put on the field (Waddle was their FOURTH OPTION), there’s no reason that the Tide should ever lose with Tua, Namath, Mac Jones, you, or me at quarterback. Auburn somehow also forced Alabama to only use Najee Harris in a semi-meaningless way. He got 146 yards on 27 carries, and scored, but in the grand scheme of the game, did his performance really matter? It didn’t.

For the first time all year, against a good opponent, I had confidence that the offense was going to do something. Driving late to take the lead for good, I didn’t really feel nervous in thinking that we’d need some other miracle to take place for us to win. We went right down the field and got a Classic Gus Wildcat call for the game-winning touchdown. It just so happened to clown a Bama defender and make a meme out of Xavier McKinney.

And how about the final play? Being at the game, it was wild to watch. Jaylen Waddle was out there about 40 yards deep the whole time, and he had no idea he needed to run off until the final moment, but he didn’t get off the field before the flag was there to greet him at the sideline. Bama’s hero all game long was the guy that got flagged in the end. It’s poetic. What’s also poetic is Gus’ ability to needle at Saban by doing something completely legal. Saban’s literally just mad that he couldn’t use it first. The way he described the entire ordeal as “unfair” makes it seem as though Auburn put some sort of a cloak on Arryn Sipposs and smuggled him into the formation. Instead, they trotted him out with the rest of the offense, stuck him at receiver, and five-star corner Patrick Surtain decided to cover him.

Maybe Saban should’ve known that Auburn wasn’t going to go for it when a failure has the Tide already in field goal range. Maybe his years of football knowledge should’ve taken over. They didn’t. He panicked. His staff panicked. His players panicked. The process failed, and the best collection of talent in the country folded when it mattered most.

Gus Malzahn bamboozled Nick Saban. He ‘boozled him hard, and that’s going to be the most satisfying thing to come out of this Iron Bowl. Auburn scored 48 points, but the number of Nick’s gray hairs that’ll resist Just For Men’s latest formula are far more numerous.

War Eagle, everyone. #WeBeatBama.

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/12/1/20991010/about-last-night-15-auburn-48-5-alabama-45

#IFTTT #Blogger #auburn #auburn fast #wareagle #AuburnFamilyNews #war eagle #sec #football news #aubu

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jungkookienoona · 7 years

Text

The Meme and His Tutor

Part 11: The Day The Tutor Had To Go Home

Recommended Song: As I Told You covered by BTS

|All Chapters|

Summary:

It was the day you had to leave and it was a day you would not forget.

Genre: Fluff, comedy

Pairing: Jungkook X Reader (Y/N)

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 5313

Length: 11/?

You had just finished re-packing your suitcases when you got a text from Jungkook saying he was waiting outside. There was a frown creasing your features since your plushies and Munui did not fit in any of your cases since they had already been stuffed to the brim. You text him that you're on your way and grab your coat from the back of a chair. Leaving your room, you spared a parting glance at the plushies and panda sat solemnly beside your luggage. They had to go home with you which meant either shipping them in boxes or buying another suitcase. The thought of shipping them seemed ridiculous so you made a mental note to ask Jungkook if he could take you somewhere to buy a suitcase.

The elevator seemed to take forever to reach you and then another eternity to get to the ground floor reception. You were surprised to see Jungkook sat on one of the black leather sofas. He hadn't noticed you yet so you took a moment to admire what he was wearing. A white mask with his usual pair of sunglasses donned his face while he wore a dark blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks held up by a belt which the shirt was tucked into. There was a twisting in your gut as you made your way over to him. The clock was ticking on your time left in Korea. With only hours left before you'd be saying goodbye for god knows how long, you told yourself to get a grip and make the most of the morning and afternoon with Jungkook.

Since his face was glued to his phone screen, you quickly jogged up behind him and covered his eyes with your hands. "Guess who?"

"Noona!"

You could tell by the sound of his voice that he was smiling.

You pulled your hands away, "Correct."

He hopped off the sofa and turned to face you.

"Is Noona ready for another awesome day together?"

"Ye. But I need to buy another suitcase while we're out, I don't have space for Munui and the others."

He chuckled, "We can't have you leaving them behind. Can we?"

You shook your head with a frown.

"How about we grab a suitcase and then go looking for souvenirs to fill it with."

"Sounds like a plan."

Jungkook grabbed your hand and started across the hotel lobby towards the exit.

"Where's the car?"

"With Jin-hyung. We'll be getting a taxi to the shopping district."

He successfully flagged down a taxi and opened the door for you. Once you were both inside he told the driver where to go. You giggled when you realised BTS was playing on the radio. His eye roll was just visible through the dark tint of his glasses and he knocked your elbow when you began humming along to 21st century girls under your breath.

"Stop it."

"What? I like this song."

He shook his head in mock annoyance and turned to look out the window. A few minutes later the taxi pulled up alongside a curb and Jungkook paid before getting out and holding the door for you. You took one look at your surroundings and felt your heart stop.curb and Jungkook paid before getting out and holding the door for you. You took one look at your surroundings and felt your heart stop.

"A- are we in Gangnam-gu?"

"Ye."

"But this is an expensive high-class district?! It's why PSY wrote the song Gangnam Style! Because this is where designer shit is!"

"You need an extra suitcase."

"Yes, a cheap suitcase that I can throw the plushies in and then either sell or store away as a spare when I get home."

You paused, staring at the glass storefronts ahead of you. The majority had security guards out front and what looked like gold door handles glinting in the morning sunlight. Jungkook took this pause as a sign to speak.

"Please don't throw the plushies. You'll hurt their heads."

"Is that all you care about? Not at all worried that your Noona is about to go bankrupt because you want her to buy an overly expensive suitcase."

"Who said anything about you paying for it?"

"It's my suitcase. Why wouldn't I pay for it?"

Jungkook shifted from one foot to the other. "I told you when you got here 'Jungkookie take care'. I will pay."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

He snatched your bag and took your purse from it, stuffing it into his trouser pocket.

"Now you can't pay."

He was right. You didn't want to risk accidentally grabbing somewhere inappropriate to get your money back.

"Give it back."

"No," Jungkook said with finality and turned to the street ahead of him. "We're wasting precious time arguing when we could be shopping. Let's go."

You huffed but relented and followed him when he started off in the direction of, hopefully, a shop that sold reasonably priced luggage. Even if Jungkook was paying you didn't want him to spend too much.

The shop Jungkook led you to did, in fact, sell reasonably priced luggage. But he seemed to gravitate to the more expensive cases. You had to physically drag him away from the designer items on display. Which was no easy feat.feat.

"But this one has a discreet pocket for important documents and a protective layer between the outer casing and inside lining to make it bulletproof."

"Jungkook, why do I need a bulletproof suitcase? Who's going to be shooting my plushies?"

"No one hopefully." He twirled the suitcase on its four wheels. "I think it gives peace of mind. These are the ones we have."

You palmed your face. "You're going to drive me insane Jungkook."

"And your precious plushie will be safe for it."

You sighed. There was no point in arguing with him. He was just going to continue being stubborn and the time you had left in Korea was ticking down.

"Fine. Get the plushies a bulletproof suitcase to travel in. You're the one paying for it."

"You won't regret it Noona!"

Too late.

You stood to the side while Jungkook paid for the case. The man behind the counter was kind enough to offer to hold the item while you continued to shop so not to burden you with its awkwardness.

The two of you left the shop, hands swinging between you like children. Jungkook seemed oblivious that he was doing it and you couldn't help but brighten when you heard his low humming. You were going to miss this.

"Oh!"

Jungkook used your joined hands to drag you into a shop that had knick knacks in the window display.

"This shop sells great headphones and figurines."

You ducked under his arm which held the door open and greeted the cashier rearranging a display of Disney figurines.

Jungkook called to you from the other side of the shop after a few minutes of looking about and you went over and joined him.

"What have you found?"

"OVERWATCH FIGURES!"

"That's great for you but I thought we were buying souvenirs for me."

His face fell as he put the Widowmaker figuring back on the shelf along with her fellow characters. "Have you seen anything you like?"

"Not yet."

He grabbed your hand and dragged you over to another section of the shop to where different anime themed merch such a notepads and fanmade poker decks.

"I noticed some things like these in the background when we Skype and you're in your bedroom."

You picked up a Tokyo Ghoul themed pack of poker cards and turned the pack over in your hands, scanning the design.

"These are really cool."

"Sold!"

Your eyes went wide.

"Kookie- wait! These... these are the limited edition official ones! How did they end up in this shop?"

"Welcome to Gangnam where the suitcases are bulletproof and the poker cards limited edition."

As much as you knew you should tell him not to buy it (it was probably ridiculously expensive) you found yourself selfishly saying:

"Can you get that for me? Please~"

You stuck your bottom lip out, hands clasped together. It probably looked ridiculous but there was no harm in using aegyo to persuade him was there?

He stared at you for what felt like a full minute, eyes scanning your features. You're about to apologise for being so straightforward when one of his hands came to ruffle your hair. "Aigoo, I can't resist that face. Noona can have what she wishes."

"Thank you! Kamsahabnida!" Out of sheer happiness, you wrapped your arms around Jungkook in a hug and jumped up and down.

His arms came to engulf your waist and before you knew what was happening he had lifted you off the floor and was spinning you around.

"Jungkook!"

He put you down and you wobbled slightly.

"If my Noona is happy then I am happy."

You blushed as he led you to the counter.

"29,000 won"

"£20 for a pack of cards!"

"Noona. Gwenchanha."

The shopkeeper said something and Jungkook nodded in understanding and handed the money over.

“He said that it's because they are cards that could only be obtained in a contest but the original owner sold them to him."

"That's so cool!"

The man handed Jungkook his receipt and a little paper bag with the shop name embossed on the front. You thanked him once more before making your way out into the street, a grin plastered across your face. You let out an excited squeal. You had LIMITED EDITION pack of TG playing cards!

"Noona is acting like such a child."

"Says the maknae who gets excited whenever they spot any IronMan merch."

"IronMan is a true hero. He deserves to be celebrated whenever and wherever." You rolled your eyes and clutched the paper bag to your chest.

"I shall cherish these forever. Thank you Kookie."

"Good. Oh! A hat shop! Let's get matching beanies!"

"I think that's a bad idea. ARMYs will think we're a couple since... you know... couple outfits."

"They think we're a couple already."

"Exactly-" You're cut off when darkness invaded your vision. That little shit.

"Ya!" You peeled the floppy hat off your head and used it to smack his shoulder.

Jungkook pretended to be hurt by the hit and pouted.

"I want something that matches Noona to remember the time you spent here."

You had to admit that was pretty sweet but you didn't want dating rumours to start up.

"How about... matching phone cases?"

"Phone cases?"

"Ye."

The one you were using was a few months old and had started to fray at the edges. It would be nice to upgrade. And if he was paying...

"Okay."

He cheered, putting the hats back and pulled you out of the hat shop. He led you straight past a few clothes shops then turned a corner. Next thing you knew you were in a market looking area with merchants selling various things. Perfect for souvenir shopping.

Everything from clothes to whole fish hung from the metal rods above the stalls. There's a haziness to the air and when you licked your lips you tasted a smokiness that is only possible through barbeque. A look to your right confirmed this as there were queues forming in front of men and women grilling meats and vegetables. But you weren't here for food and Jungkook guided you through the crowd to the stalls selling the likes of knick-knacks and gifts.

"Ah! Here it is."

In front of you was a stall selling various device cases. They seemed to specialise in anime, cartoon and comic designs.

"Noona said she likes Marvel so let's both get Marvel cases."

He shuffled over to a rotating stand, spinning it slowly to analyse the styles and designs.

You come to look over his shoulder as he pulled one out of its slot.

"Noona! Look! I found IronMan!"

"You already have 2 IronMan phone cases. But there's an awesome Avengers one here."

You picked up the case and showed it to Jungkook. It was the Avengers as chibis doing cute things in little panels. Jungkook took it from you and looked it over. You worried he might find it too cutesy for a dude to have.

"Woah, this is so cool!" He turned to you, bunny teeth peeking between his lips. "Do you want this one?"

"Only if you're happy."

"I love it! They're adorable."

You both found the right case for your phone type, Jungkook handing over money to the vendor. Getting your phone out of your pocket, you popped it out of its old damaged case and put it in its new one. Jungkook copied your actions.

"Can we look around this market? I feel like I'll find awesome things to buy here."

Jungkook was more than happy to escort you around the market, pointing out to you certain stalls he had visited previously including a vendor selling lamb skewers.

"What does Noona want to buy to take back home?"

"I think I saw some cool looking chopsticks being sold. There was also some Hanji that I spotted and snacks."

Jungkook smiled taking you to the Hanji stall first where you picked out a beautiful fan that had a cherry blossom design.

"This is beautiful." You said running your fingers over the flowers. "It looks hand painted."

Jungkook put a hand on your shoulder as he peaked round from behind you to take a closer look.

"It is. You can see the brush strokes. It must've taken a long time to do."

You closed and then reopened the fan and waved it a little in front of your face. Jungkook droped his head to the crook of your neck. "Noona, stop! It's cold enough already!"droped his head to the crook of your neck. "Noona, stop! It's cold enough already!"

You froze, surprised by the contact. Your breathing hitched and your body stiffened due to the feel of his breath brushing against your sensitive skin through the mask he wore. He noticed your apparent discomfort, taking a step back with a sheepish expression, scratching the nape of his neck.

"S-s-sorry. I didn't mean to make Noona feel uncomfortable."

"I-i-its okay... I'll pay for the fan..."

"No!" He swiped the fan from your hand and made his way over to the cashier. "I'm paying. Stay here."

You stayed put and cursed yourself for being so awkward. Way to go Y/N. Things were going to be weird now and you only had a few hours until you were going home...

Jungkook appeared holding a little paper bag. "Here."

You took the bag from him and he was quick to grab your free hand. He led you through the maze-like market towards the chopsticks. On your way there you spotted a few cute or interesting things and tugged him over to them. You insisted on paying for your own souvenirs. Once you finally reached the chopsticks you spent some time looking at the designs and materials of them. You ended up choosing ones with roses painted on.

"Jin Hyung would approve," Jungkook said from beside you as the cashier put them in a box and wrapped it up in tissue paper. "He has a collection of chopsticks."

"That doesn't surprise me."

You took the bag, thanking the man, and added it to your growing collection. "Where to now?"

"I was thinking ramyeon then snacks."

"Last time I had ramyeon the bowl was so big, I couldn't finish it all."

He laughed, "If Noona can't finish it, I'll finish it for her. Now come on, I know a place that's awesome but hardly anyone knows about."

You followed him out of the market and across a few main streets until the people began to thin and the roads narrowed. "How come you know of all these secret places?"

"Idols value privacy. We search for places in quieter areas or where the demographic is older so we are less likely to run into fans."

"It seems very well thought out."

"The last thing any of us want is to be harassed when eating after a tiring day. "

"Fair enough."

He stopped outside of what you assumed to be the ramyeon restaurant, but outward appearances made you do a double take as it looked more like a bookstore to you. With its small windows and wooden door, it definitely didn't look like other restaurants you had been to which normally had huge windows to proudly show off customers.

Bookshelves lined the entrance hall and if it weren't for the little check in counter just ahead of you, it would have felt like you were intruding in someone's home. A lady appeared through a doorway to your left at the sound of the door shutting. Her face lit up at the sight of Jungkook.

"Ah, Jungkookie! Neo dol-a wass-eo! (Ah, Jungkookie! You're back!)" Her eyes rolled over to you, "Geurigo neoneun chingureul delyeowassda. Jebal deulleuseyo, neowa Namjoon-ui pyeongso sigtag-eun mulyo ya. (And you've brought a friend. Please come through, your and Namjoon's usual table is free.)"

"You and Namjoon-oppa normally come here?"

"I like the food. Namjoon-hyung likes the books."

You made a sound of understanding as you were led to a lone table situated in the corner. Jungkook pulled off his mask and sunglasses, allowing you to finally see his face properly that day. Once you were both seated the lady appeared once more with a single menu for you.

"Jungkookie-neun eonjena ttoggat-eun geos-eul jumunhayo. (Jungkookie always orders the same thing every time.)"

"Geuge mwoyo? (What's that?)"

"Kimchi ramyeon."

"Naneun ttoggat-eulgeoya. (I'll have the same then.)" You said glancing at Jungkook to see if that was alright.

He smiled and turned to the lady, "Hajiman kimchireul ileohge maeunmas-eulo mandeul suneun sueobs-seubnikka? Geunyeoui migag-eun ajig hangug gijun-e michiji mos haessda. (But can you not make the kimchi so spicy? Her taste buds aren't quite up to Korean standards yet.)"

"Dang-yeonhaji. (Of course.)" She took your menu and your drinks order before leaving the two of you alone.

"Not up to Korean standards yet?"

"Noona is my friend, so I want her to visit as often as possible."

"Jungkook-"

"And Noona wants to teach English. She can teach in Korea."

You let out a large exhale and propped your chin on your hand to stare at him. He didn't look at you, eyes watching his hands which fiddled with the elastic of his face mask.

When you finally spoke your voice was small, burdened by all the reasons keeping you based in the UK. "You know if I could I would."

His eyes snapped to yours, "I'll pay. I'll-"

"It's not about money Kookie. I've got exams coming up. Then after that, I have to prepare for uni. Then I'll actually be in uni. I won't have much free time."

He frowned.

"But I want to see my Noona."

"I know but that would only happen if by some miracle I manage to study over here."

Jungkook was silent for a moment before finally speaking, "I see."

"But we'll still Skype! And who knows, maybe next summer if I have enough money saved and I'm not working I can come visit." You spoke with hope but he only seemed to deflate further.

"That's over a year away."

"I know."

"I can't wait that long."

You hated seeing him like that. You wanted to see him smile again.

"How about... after exam season is over I come for another visit? I'll have to work my ass off to get enough money-"

"Noona doesn't have to pay. I want my Noona to visit so I'll pay."

His face had lit up like a child's on Christmas day. A child that had gotten exactly what they wanted.

"I'm not letting you pay!"

"Why not?!"

"Because I have no way of repaying you!" You said raising your voice a little. Thank God you were seated in a corner. Guilt filled you as Jungkook's eyes widened in shock. "I'm sorry."

You palmed your face in shame. Why did you have to shout?

"It's okay." He peeled your hands off your cheeks. "Noona, please don't be sad. It's okay."

"No, it's not. You've been kind enough to ask me to be your friend, send me merch then fly me out here. And what do I do? I shout at you."

"I did all those things because you're my friend. Friends do things for each other. You're teaching me English, which is a lot easier in person by the way, so I'm repaying you. You don't have to worry about paying me back."

"My English lessons have no monetary value."

"They allow me to talk to international ARMYs."

"But still..." You trailed off at the sight of the lady returning with a tray of food. She set it down on a spare table and took the two bowl off, placing them before the two of you.

"Hana maeun. Hananeun geuleohge maebji anhda. Jeulgyeo. (One spicy. One not so spicy. Enjoy.)"

"Thank you, we'll eat well!" Jungkook said picking up his chopsticks.

You picked up your own pair and had to admit you were a little intimidated by the size of the meal. Cautiously you used the chopsticks to grab a mouth full of the noodles, blowing on them before slurping them up. As much as the sound made you feel like a pig you knew that in countries like Korea it would be an insult not to be noisy while eating. You were delighted to find that the spice levels were just right. A hum slipped past your lips in appreciation.

"Good?" Jungkook asked between mouthfuls. "It's not too spicy?"

"It's perfect."

"This place is the best. It's why you have to come back if not for me for the ramyeon."

You laughed as you watched him eagerly shovel noodles into his mouth. At the rate he was going he would be finished in half the time it would take you.

"Tempting. I'll consider it."

You went back to eating your food and weren't surprised that you were correct in your assumption. He even ordered a second bowl, which the lady seemed to have prepared, as if expecting him to order more.

"Hungry?" You asked, taking a sip of your drink as you took a break to let the food in your tummy settle.

"I have a big appetite."

"I can see that." He was still a growing man after all. "I don't think I'll be able to finish all of mine. I'm not used to such huge portions."

"How big are your bowls in England?" He asked curiously.

You made a rough estimate with your hands. "About half size of this."

His eyes widened in shock, "How is that even remotely filling? Don't you feel starved?"

"There are big bowls but they tend to be used for cooking. When I was living with my mother she would make this delicious creamy soup. I loved it so much she had to find the biggest bowl in the house for my serving."

A wistful smile graced your lips and Jungkook gave a small chuckle.

"I'd like to see Noona eat a whole bowl of soup. Can your body even hold that much food?"

"Ya!" You shoved his shoulder causing the noodles to fall from his chopsticks. "I can eat big portions too! I just find noodles filling.”

Jungkook's phone went off and he quickly sent a reply.

"Eat as much as you can. We need to collect your suitcase and then Jin-hyung will meet us outside to pick us up and take us to the hotel to get your things. Namjoon-hyung, Yoongi-hyung and Jimin-hyung will be with him. Too many of us and we may be noticed in the airport."

Time was running out and when you eventually set your chopsticks down, physically unable to eat anymore, you felt as though you could stay in this little restaurant forever with Jungkook. Hidden away from all commitments waiting for you at home, from the members waiting to pick you up.

"Noona?" Jungkook was already stood with his coat on. "Are you coming?"

No, I want to stay. "Yes."

With a sigh you stood up, grabbing Jungkook's mask as you did then walked the short distance over to him. You couldn't help the small smirk appeared when you noticed the ramyeon broth that stained the corners of his lips and spilt over onto his cheeks ever so slightly.

"Are you always this messy?" You asked then licked the pad of your thumb, bringing it up to scrub away the orange that tainted caramel skin.

He didn't answer and you could feel his eyes on your face. Were you careless too?

You took a step back once he was clean and self-consciously wiped at the corners of your mouth. Why was he staring at you like that?

"Kookie?"

"You'd make a good eomma one day."

You blushed and looked at the ground, "My younger siblings call me mini mama."

He laughed and you looked back up at him. Remembering you still had his mask in your other hand, you went up onto your tiptoes and put it on for him. He took his sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on. The two of you went to pay. He insisted on paying for your last meal and you let him save another discussion about paying him back.

Jin was waiting for you outside the shop where you bought your suitcase and you climbed in while Jungkook put it in the back.

"Did you have a good day?"

"Ye. Second best day here. I really liked the market area Jungkook showed me."

Jungkook climbed into the car and sat next to you.

"Busan-eneun deo na-eun sijang-iissda. (Busan has better markets)." Jimin said with a polite smile.

"Busan sijang-eun saengseongwa sinseonhan haecho-e aju johseoyo. (Busan markets are great for fish and fresh seaweed)." Jungkook agreed.

"Geugeos-i geulibnayo? (Do you miss it?)"

Jungkook and Jimin looked at each other with small smiles. "Ye. Urineun hal su-iss-eul ttaemada doedol-a galyeogo nolyeog hajiman gyeolko chungbunhaji anh-eul geos-eoyo. (Yeah. We try to go back whenever we can but it'll never be enough.)"

Jimin nodded in agreement, "Naneun haebyeondeul-i geuliwo. Naneun hana-eseo iship bun-eul sal-assgo, jumal-eneun chingudeulgwa eoullyeo nol-assjiman, ijeneun naegahago sip-eoss deolamyeon hana sigan isang geollil geos-eoyo. (I miss the beaches. I used to live twenty minutes from one and would hang out there with friends on the weekend but now if I wanted to do that it would take over an hour.)"

The car pulled up outside of the hotel and you hopped out, Jungkook following you. He quickly popped the trunk and grabbed your new suitcase then went with you to collect your luggage.

It was adorable when the plushies were being packed. He insisted on being the one to do it, kissing each stuffed toys head before putting them into the bulletproof case and patting them gently.

"You be good for Noona."

You gave the room a final once-over and took your luggage down to reception, Jungkook insisting on wheeling the suitcase with the plushies in. Once you had checked out, you piled back in the car and tried not to let any of the members know how sad you were to be leaving. Jungkook on the other hand, did not care about hiding his disappointment, mainly speaking in English and confusing Yoongi and Jimin.

"I don't want Noona to go home. I only got to see her for three days! That's not enough!"

"Kookie, Y/N can't stay longer than she has. Her holiday is ending."

"You should've made her stay the night and look after me Hyung."

"That wouldn't have been appropriate. A single girl staying overnight with seven guys. Nope."

You picked up his hand, turning it over to look at his injury from every angle. "And you were fine. It's healing nicely."

Jungkook suddenly cried out in pain causing Yoongi and Jimin's heads to whip around in panic.

"Noona~ My finger! It hurts! You can't leave me in pain like this!"

"You're such a liar! Your finger has been fine all day."

He pouted, "I've been distracted all day."

You reached and ruffled his hair, "Then keep yourself busy and you won't remember it hurts."

"Only Noona can make it better since Noona hurt it."

You rolled your eyes, repeating the other night's actions by grabbing his hand and pressing your lips to his finger.

"There. Now stop moaning. You're not a baby."

"I'm the Maknae."

"Doesn't mean you can act like a baby."

Jin and Namjoon were idly chatting amongst themselves at the front while Jimin and Yoongi had their own conversation.

"Kookie... thank you... for everything."

"You're welcome, Noona." He gave your hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time with you."

"It's alright. I understand."

"Thank you too. For being my friend and teaching me English."

"We're here," Jin announced pulling into the parking lot.

It took a couple of minutes to find a space but eventually, you did and everyone got out. Your bags were taken from the car and given to you, Jungkook once again taking charge of those plushies like they were his own children. Everyone pulled a mask and either a hat or a pair of sunglasses on and led you to the lift that would take you into the airport.

Your heart was pounding in fear that someone would recognise the members and nervousness to be travelling back home.

"Hold hands and walk together," Namjoon said from behind you. "You look like a couple and will make people less suspicious."

You hesitantly reached out and grabbed Jungkook's free hand, careful of his finger. He was quick to intertwine your fingers. He must've heard Namjoon too.

Before you knew it you were at the departure gate and the members gathered around you. The first one to say farewell was Jin with a somewhat awkward hug, next was Jimin with a similarly awkward hug. Namjoon patted you on the head with a warm affectionate smile. Yoongi gave you a firm handshake.

Then finally it was Jungkook's turn. He pulled down his mask to show you a wobbly smile and spread his arms as if to hug you... but instead, he made a surprised sound and you were both staring into each other's eyes as his lips made contact with yours. Spicy. You stumbled backwards, breaking the kiss and slapped a hand over your mouth. What the fuck just happened?

"Y/N-"

"Ah, your mouth is so spicy!"

"M-m-mianhae. (Sorry)" he whipped round and pointed accusingly at Yoongi, "Hyung! Wae?! (Hyung! Why?!)"

Yoongi put up his hands, "Accident".

You were in shock. You and Jungkook had kissed. You weren't sure if the tingling sensation on your lips were from the kiss itself or the spice of the kimchi ramyeon broth that remain on his lips. A dark shade of crimson took over your face.

"He pushed you?"

"Ye! I didn't- I..." He trailed off, hand scratching the back of his neck. You stayed silent wanting to hear him out. "It was an accident..." It sounded like he had more to say but he went quiet, head hanging shamefully.

"It's okay."

You gave him the hug Yoongi had just declined you of.

You felt his arms wrap tightly around you, "Have a safe trip home Noona. And try to sleep while on the plane. Think of me."

Your blush deepened. With what had just happened you didn't think you couldn't NOT think of him.

"I really did enjoy my time here. I'll message you when I'm home."

He broke the hug and gave you one final smile before pulling his mask back into place. He handed over your case full of plushies.

"You better."

A lump formed in the back of your throat and you managed to swallow it down.

"Thank you, really."

"You're very welcome Noona."

"See you on Skype."

He waved to you and you returned it before finally turning around and making your way to the gate.

A/N: She’s gone! No! But at least she got an accidental parting gift. Don’t forget to scream at @tragicshadows and I. We’d love for you to talk to us!

#boop #JungGuk #jungkook #jeon jungguk #BTS jungkook #jeongguk #jeon jeongguk #jeon jungkook #jeon jeongkook #jungkook scenario #tmaht #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fluff #bangtan #bangtan sonyeondan #bangtan scenario

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