#he described today his fireball as 'if i think Really Hard and Point... i can make Big Things happen' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yukina-otome · 4 years

Text

Otome game MC’S

Hello everyone ! Today i am gonna tell you about my opinion on the mc’s of the otome games i played ! Again this is just my opinion so feel free to share yours or complete with your opinion on mc’s of otome games i didnt include !

This is not a ranking btw !

MLQC MC: Youran

Job: Producer | Queen

Age : 22 year old

Good points : 1-Brave and take risks 2-Never give up 3-Smoll bean (seriously she's so cute) 4-Really nice and helpfull (walk around the city for hours every week to help anyone in need) 5-Hardworking 6-Tell whats on her mind and doesnt hide her feelings 7-Can play piano

Bad points: 1-Bad decision making 2-Rely on the boys too much 3-Mary sue 4-Clumsy AF 5-Sneez\ stomach noises when boy is about to kiss her

Mystic messenger mc:

Age and Job: Depends

Depend on the route 1-Yoosung : Super patient and mature 2-Jaehee: Supportive 3-Jumin : God levels of patience but also kinda always have to agree with jumin which i hate 4-Seven : Happy go lucky and clueless about her whole situation (Seven : There is a BOMB | MC:LOL OK) 5-Another story : Guillible but also very patient. (i would take none of that s**t) Common to all routes : Have no eyes

My candy love MC: Lyn Darcy AKA Candy

Age : 17 during 1st season \ 23 during 2nd season \ 25 during 3rd season

Job : High schooler\ college student\ coffee owner

Good points: 1-Friendly 2-Helpful 3-Open minded 4-Pretty 5-Very strong mentally (during the highschool part) 6-Appearance can be customized 7-Energetic 8-Can get angry and speak her mind (depend on your choices)

Bad points: 1-Nosy AF 2-Mary sue 3-Play terapist with literally anyone she meet even if that mean getting herself in trouble and ignoring her own love life 4-Paranoid 5-Childish (even for a highschooler and even more in campus life)

7hotties MC AKA the worst mc (No pic for her cause tumblr says only 10 pic per post)

Job : Freelance designer Age : middle 20′s

Good points :

1-None

2-Nothing

3-Absolutely nothing

Bad points: 1-Weak 2-Useless 3-Doormat 4-Almost jobless (never seen her work aside from keita's route because he is the one who gave her the job) 5-Bland AF 6-Forgive everything a guy do to her (even rape) 7-Never actually get mad (even after a guy sleep with her and dump her literally right after she's like "pls don't abandon me! Tell me if i did anything wrong ! I'll fix it")

SSS MC:

Job: Concierge at the royal shining

Age : Early 20′s

Good points: 1-Sassy 2-Have a goal in her life and a dream she will not abandon no matter what 3-Can solve mental illness with love (because otome game power) 4-Described as extra pretty (All the boys at her workplace like her) 5-Doesnt give up easily 6-Actually got some backstory 7-Thirsty AF 8-Relatable

Bad points: 1-Forgive too easily (Minami's route !!) 2-Always get caught when spying or listening on someone's conversation 3-Clumsy AF 4-Can't brew coffee even after two weeks of trying (toma's route) 5-Actually not so good at her job but she's trying really hard

Le secret d'henri\Henri's secret MC: Lyla (Actually not an otome game, more like a visual novel but i wanted to include it because i absolutely love the mc and also because it's getting a remake and i wanted to promote it a bit)

Job : Highschooler

Age: 17 then 18

Good points: 1-Strong 2-Naive in all the right ways (she know how naïve she is but still choose to be naïve because she'd rather get backstabbed because she trusted than miss the opportunity to know a good person because she didn't trust)

3-Very pretty (Said to be the prettiest girl in all the high school and literally every boy she met aside from her brother and clement her bestie want to date her.)

4-Very popular 5-She is so nice even Henri call her a saint 6-Have the best family 7-Have the best friends 8-Supportive 9-Likes to play detective and solve people's problem 10-You really get attached to her by the end of the story you are almost sad because you wont get to see her again

Bad points: 1-Overreact 2-Drama queen (I understand tho as she is still a highschooler so she get emotional and depressed quite easily specially when it comes to a certain someone)

3-A bit too perfect sometime : Pretty girl, nice , friendly, cool, like nailpolish and fashion but also manga and video games, smart etc etc 4-MARY SUE 5-Nosy but not in an annoying way

Ikevamp MC:

Job: Travel agent and blogger | Housemaid

Age: Early to middle twenties

Good points : 1-She's said to be very beautiful (leo's route) 2-Speak many languages and seem to have a wide board of interests 3-Adapt fast to her new environment (depend on the routes) 4-Mentally strong (specially in napoleon's route) 5-Kinda mature (sometimes and depend on the route) Bad points: 1-Inconsistent personality even in the same route 2-Mary sue 3-Can be very weak and submissive (depend on the route) 4-Have no reason to stay aside for the boy she loves (what I mean is that by the end of the route the only thing she have in 19th century France is her boyfriend, in some routes she doesn't even meet or talk to most of the other resident and she have no job aside from cleaning the mansion with Sebastian)

5-Also get kidnapped every route (don't know yet for Theo) 6-Always wear the same clothes

Ikerev MC : Alice

Job: Help at a bakery ?

Age: Early twenties (saw somewhere that she was the same age as ray, not sure tho)

Good points : 1-Like food 2-Foodie 3-Enjoy food 4-Food = Happiness 5-More seriously she's super positive and optimistic and adapt really fast to her environment 6-Friendly and happy go lucky 7-Have the power to repel magic and protect herself and sometime her suitor to some degrees

Bad points: 1-Clueless 2-Dumb AF 3-Bad decision making 4-Get kidnapped almost every route 5-Zero observation and deduction skills (Oliver's route) 6-Technically squat at the black\red army headquarter\Oliver and Blanc's house or Harr and Loki's house

Ikesen MC : Mai AKA the queen AKA the fireball AKA the little mouse AKA The godess AKA the wild boar

Job: Seamstress

Age: around 25

Good points : 1-Strong AF 2-Take no sh*t (Kenshin's route\ Nobunaga's route...) 3-Adapt quite fast to her new and very dangerous environement (if i was her i would not leave my room for the next 3 months) 4-Fireball 5-Saved her suitor in many routes (Kenshin, Ieyasu, Shingen...) 6-Sass Queen 7-Have a life in sengoku era aside from her suitor (kinda the opposite of ikevamp mc as i said in bad point 4) 8-Have a dream and a goal 9-Very beautiful (even kenshin said so outside of his route and he was not in love with her!) 10-A lot of chemistry with all of the boys even outside of their routes.

Bad points : 1-Mary Sue 2-In some routes she is weaker but it never really disturbed me as it suited the love interest of the route(Sasuke and mitsuhide's route) 3-Kidnapping

Midcin MC:

Job : Princess

Age: Heard somewhere that she is 19 but not sure about it

Good points : 1-Adapt fast to her new situation 2-Try her best to learn everything 3-Try to take responsibility as the new princess 4-Can't think of anything else for her...

Bad points : 1-Weak 2-Bland 3-Doesnt speak up when she actually need to (The dumpster fire that is Alyn's ever after) 4-Kidnapping sometime twice in the same route 5-Submissive depending on the suitor

Okko's games MC'S : Honestly they r all the same so reunited them all in one

Job and age : Depend on the game

Good points: 1-Hard working 2-Have goals and dreams 3-Usually have a backstory 4-Some of them are sassy 5-Pretty but doesn't take care of herself 6-Always have a very fashionable bestie with a lot of experience with dating that help her and listen to her problems

Bad points: 1-Emotional maturity of a middle school girl 2-Doesnt want to admit her feelings and keep denying them even when there is no reason to 3-Self sabotage 4-Blame herself for every bad thing that happens 5-Some of them are very weak and submissive

And that’s pretty much it ! Thank you for reading until the end ! Pls feel free to reblog and add on those with your opinion !

223 notes · View notes

official-weasley · 3 years

Text

The Irreplaceable Charlie Weasley: Pt. 8, Ch. 9

PART 8: WHERE IT ALL ENDS

Chapter 9 - The Invitation

Charlie

1 year later...

“Easy there, boy!” I held up my hand at the Swedish Short-Snout, my wand ready in the other one. “We talked about this, Thor. One day without breathing fire at me and we'll call it progress.”

I started working with Thor again last month. I have to admit I needed quite some time to even go and see him. He was the one that burnt Nova and even though I knew it wasn't his fault and he was in pain, I made the mistake of blaming him.

—

After more than a year of her being gone, I think it's safe to say I am getting back on my feet. As much as I can, anyway. I am regularly corresponding with all my family as I promised Bill on his last visit. Nobody talks about my feelings or how am I feeling anymore and I am grateful for that. Things are back to normal.

That doesn't mean that I forgot about her. That I don't miss her. That I don't think about her because I do. Every. Single. Day. But it's easier than it was, I have to admit. It's bearable now. And between how busy we are in the Sanctuary, me working for the Order and recruiting new Wizards, and listening to the Wireless about people going missing every day, I think it's safe to say I am doing okay.

I got used to coming home to an empty house. Pip is in a better mood as well and he is keeping me company when he's not out delivering letters. I started talking to my co-workers again and I have to say that it has been one of the best decisions. They make me feel less lonely.

I am also sleeping better. There are still nights when I wake up to Nova screaming or from a nightmare, reliving what happened but it's getting rarer and I am so happy about that.

It might sound harsh but Bill was right when he said that the tragedy that happened here that night made so many Wizards wanting to join. We get new letters and recruits daily.

So many who I've known have died or been murdered that I have to say I am getting used to it, no matter how it sounds. Everything is getting more serious with every new day and we have to be prepared for the worst. I am just happy to hear my family and friends are okay. That's all I can ask for after what happened over a year ago.

I try to think of the whole thing from a positive note. Nova was such a loved person and when I try to get someone to fight for our cause they mostly join because of her. She had so many connections but nothing we did ever worked when we tried getting people on our side while she was alive.

Death does bring people closer together and if they needed a reason to see that this is everyone's fight, I have come to terms with it that the attack needed to happen.

I am not going to deny that I would leave everything behind if it meant she could come back but no matter how I beat myself about it or how guilty I feel, it won't bring her back. I can be as content with what happened as I possibly can be. I promised her I will continue doing what I love and I came so far, even with Thor.

I also promised her to be happy but as much as I am trying, I still feel the burden of her death on my shoulders. I still think it should have been me and I will never be as happy as I was with her no matter how much I laugh at my co-worker’s stupid jokes. It's simply not the same and I know it never will be but I don't mind.

I came to the conclusion that I was lucky to get to experience what I had with her. Not many people do and some search their entire life for it. I had it, even though it was cut short, I can't complain. Before I met her, I knew what I wanted to do with my life and if I can't be with her, I can at least do what I love and that counts for something.

It helps if I try to stay as positive as I can. So many things remind me of her that it's hard to keep my mind off her. But instead of being miserable about it, I try to look on the bright side.

Just yesterday, I was having dinner with Andrei and some of the others and we started debating whether Norbet is a he or a she.

He has been acting strange for years now and Nova was the first to bet that he is actually Norberta. We can't do a gender check-up on him because he is too vicious which only proves that she was right. When Andrei asked what we are going to name him I said that we should call him Norberta as Nova called him the first time she observed that he might be a female.

It used to pain me thinking of things she liked and did and I couldn't even imagine doing something like that a year ago but I am pushing myself to try harder. I promised her I will be happy and I am trying to do my best to make her proud.

—

“There you go!” I beamed as I levitated a steak in front of him and he didn't try to kill me before eating it. Thor has been hurt more than any other Dragon in the Sanctuary when the Death Eaters attacked us and he has been having trust issues ever since. Who could blame him really, I was just glad he was okay. It took the Healers months before they mended all his wounds and his left leg is still not completely healed and perhaps it never will be.

“You're a good boy, Thor!” He breathed smoke out of his nostrils and I knew he was proud of himself even though he probably wanted to eat me for dinner.

“Steaks taste good, Charlie tastes bad.” I laughed at my joke, knowing full well I was talking to a Dragon.

“Charlie, there you are!” I stepped backward, carefully, and turned around to see Andrei panting. “We have been looking all over for you! I thought you were with Arto today.” He tried his best to catch his breath.

“I decided to give Thor another chance at keeping me alive.” I smiled.

“At least you're wearing your protective gear this time.” I looked behind Andrei and saw my brother step cautiously from behind a boulder.

“Bill!” I walked to him and gave him a hug. “What a surprise! What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” I frowned, suddenly remembering that we are at war.

“Everything's fine.” He grinned, showing his white teeth. “I was just in the neighborhood and decided to visit you.”

“In the neighborhood, huh?” I crossed my arms on my chest and lifted my eyebrows in disbelief. He was a bad liar and even worst at making jokes.

“I'll tell you everything when you're done.” He beamed at me. He looked like he couldn't wait to talk to me about something and he looked so happy. Well, he looked like that most of the time since he met this girl Fleur at work.

Bill, Andrei, and I made our way down to the village and we said goodbye to my boss.

“Want to grab something to eat or want me to cook for you?” I winked at him.

“What put you in a good enough mood to cook?” He asked surprised. I rarely did. It's not the same if you have to cook only for one person. The only time I ever really put the effort in was when it was my day off and I made pancakes for myself.

Nova and I ate pancakes for breakfast every time we had a free day. It became our tradition and it was the one thing that I could keep going.

“Thor, the Dragon you just saw, didn't try to eat me today instead of his steak for the first time since we were attacked.” I said proudly.

“Wow, what an achievement.” Bill laughed, trying to understand my situation.

“And he didn't try to burn me alive, another first!” I continued. I knew he couldn't understand how big this was as I never understood what all the treasure he kept describing in his letters was worth.

“I'm glad you're alive, brother.” He tapped my back as we stopped in front of my cottage, me unlocking the door.

“So what delicious meal will I be served today?” He mocked.

“Steak or meat pie?” I scanned my fridge for ingredients.

“Steak!” I laughed at his enthusiasm.

“I was hoping you would say that. It's easier to make.” I grinned.

“How are you, Charlie?” I winced at his question. I was doing okay but I still didn't like it because I never knew what the question was going to lead to. Bill was the only one I talked and wrote about Nova. I was happy when he came to visit me last year when I completely shut myself away from everybody. I might be corresponding with all my family and friends again, but I only share my feelings and thoughts with Bill.

“I'm fine. Pretty busy this time of year.” I took a frying pan out of one of my counters and a pot to cook the vegetables. “We're getting another Welsh Green tomorrow and our Chinese Fireball's eggs are hatching any day now!” I heard Bill chuckle at my excitement. He was the only one I could talk to about this, besides Tonks. They were the ones who didn't look at me like I was mental when I talked about Dragons as if they were baby Crups.

“I wish I could stay.” Bill said while pouring some Firewhiskey in the glass I gave him. “I would love to see baby Dragons hatch.”

“If you're prepared to stay awake day and night and keep your eyes on 3 crimson eggs for 8 hours straight, be my guest.” I laughed and poured myself a glass as well while waiting for the pan to heat up. There was something about Muggle cooking that I found soothing and I burnt fewer things than if I were to use magic.

“On the second thought, just send me a picture, will you.” We both laughed.

“How are you, Bill? How is Fleur?” I teased him. Nothing made me happier than seeing him blush whenever I mentioned her name.

“I'm good. Great actually.” He cleared his throat. “She's the reason I'm here today.” He looked like he was going to explode from excitement any moment now.

“Oh, Bill. You didn't come here for love advice, did you?” I frowned. “Because I am the last person to give you advice on that.”

“No.” He grinned. “But I am here to ask you something.” His smile grew even larger.

“Well spit it out, will you!” I quickly put the steak in the saucepan and sat back next to him. My head leaning on my hands, staring at him. At this point, I reminded myself of Penny who used to stare at us whenever one of us was about to tell the others a secret.

“I asked Fleur to marry me.” He said, shyly.

“I think my heart just skipped a beat!” I said and stood up. “This is the best news I have heard in a while!” I pulled him into a hug. Nova was right, he was going to find someone just right for him.

“At least someone's excited.” He sighed. “Mum's reaction wasn't even close to yours.”

“She'll warm up to her.” I tapped his shoulder in reassurance and then went to check on the steak and turned off the boiling water with vegetables.

“Yeah. She thinks we are rushing it with everything that's going on.” He rolled his eyes.

“Bill, I think you're old enough to make your own decisions.” I turned the steak around.

“Tell that to her.” He laughed. “I know she's the right one for me, Charlie. I have never felt this way about anyone.” I glanced at him and seeing his cheeks match his hair was simply adorable. Nova would've loved teasing him.

“She will see how happy you two are and she'll come around.” I brought the plate with food to him. “And besides...” I put the second one into the pan. “When did mum ever stop you from doing something?” He laughed at my question.

“Whatever do you mean, Charlie?” He looked amused.

“Piercing your ear, letting your hair grow out, becoming a Curse Breaker, wearing nothing but leather...” I looked down at his boots.

“Don't give me that judgemental look, get over the fact that I have Dragonhide boots!” He rolled his eyes playfully at me.

“I don't judge your look.” I lifted my hands in my defense. “But those...” I shook my head, looking at his feet again. If I was close enough he would've punched me in my arm.

“So what did you come here to ask me?” I said when I finally sat down, placing my plate in front of me. I cut my steak, waiting for him to stop chewing so he could speak.

“I want you to be my best man.” He said so quickly that I needed a second to realize what he just asked me. I looked at him and he looked nervous. I hated the fact that he did, I knew exactly what was going through his mind.

“I don't know how you feel about this, giving the fact that you asked me first and then...you know...” He started blabbering. “But I can't imagine anyone else standing by my side on my wedding day and if it wouldn't be too much for...”

“Oh, shut it, Bill.” I stood up and hugged him so tightly that he couldn't continue speaking. “I would be honored.” I tapped him twice on the back and pulled away.

“Are you sure?” He asked, looking a bit less worried.

“Yes. Just because I didn't have a happy ending doesn't mean I am going to be bitter about someone else's. Especially yours!” I pointed my fork at him. “So stop blabbering like a baboon and eat your steak!”

“You sound just like mum.” He laughed and couldn't help but join him.

It was great having him here. I missed my family and now more than ever it wasn't safe for me to go home and visit. I was glad I will be able to see everyone at his wedding and I was nothing but excited for them to get married.

I already met Fleur. I visited Bill a few months after they started dating and when she came into his office, he introduced us. She was so polite and as nice as I remembered her from the first Triwizard Tournament task. I thought they looked fantastic together and seeing Bill happy and looking at her, being so in love, how could I not be excited for them.

I didn't care what mum thought about them getting married so soon. I just wanted him to be happy and in these uncertain times, who wouldn't want to celebrate love. Seeing him exchange vows with Fleur and seeing all my other siblings be happy and in love was my purpose now. I can be the fun uncle in the family, everyone knows I have the best sense of humor anyway.

Sometimes, I surprised myself how okay I was with everything after such a short amount of time. But I have made my peace with what happened to me and knowing I can't do anything about it, I can at least be supportive of others. I know how it feels to be loved unconditionally and I hope all my siblings get to experience that.

Just because I don't have it anymore, doesn't mean I have to be angry about it. I would never try to ruin that for anybody else. It's beautiful and I am grateful I have the memories of it and I am trying as hard as I can to keep them alive. It's all I have and all I will ever need. I have amazing family and friends and my dream job and that's enough for me now.

18 notes · View notes

grimoire-of-thirst · 4 years

Text

Tulips

Requested by @eri-chan-likes-apples

Genre&Warnings: Fluff (?)

Tags: none

Summary: Langris confessing to you. Or at least trying to.

✩:✩:✩

It was already far too late for him to realize that it was a dangerous territory he was getting into. The Black Bulls’s base was dark, tall, and intimidating, it also gave him some spooky feeling, but upon remembering the reason why he was there a new feeling of confidence boosted into him. He was there to finally ask you out. And he planned everything, from the bouquet of red tulips to the speech in which he’ll declare his love for you.

Four months ago, he didn’t know of your existence, partially due to his lack of interest in meeting new people and because he always thought of your squad as the lowest of the lowest. However, now that he was finally, kind of, getting along with his brother, he had the pleasure to meet you, someone who was way too kind and powerful to be in such squad, or at least, that’s what he thought. Slowly but surely, Langris began to see the Black Bulls members as almost equals, and he slowly fell in love with you. Surprisingly, Finnes was supportive of his new love interest, and she was the one that suggested him to give you some flowers.

Even from the outside of the base, he could hear all the ruckus that your friends were making, and it only served to make his insecurities resurface. His brother’s squad members were known for being reckless, free-spirited, and way too energetic, and some could even be as rude as a human can be. He didn’t see all the them in a good light, only Asta and his brother where the ones that he acknowledge, well, and you of course.

Hesitantly, he knocked on the door while a lump formed inside his throat. He was nervous, that much was clear, yet, he hoped that nobody would notice it.

After standing for several minutes, he was quick to understand that nobody will answer, probably because of all the noise and screams that were echoing not only inside the castle, but also into the forest that surrounded the place.

Taking in a deep breath, patience running thin as seconds passed, he finally pushed the door open. What he was expecting, he had no idea but surely not this.

One of their female members was sprawled on the couch half-naked surrounded by bottles of alcoholic drinks; two guys were fighting, sparks of electricity and fireballs destroying the walls; Asta was also dragged into the fight, sword swinging into the air cutting through their magic to save the base from being totally and utterly ruined; another man was having a river of blood pouring out of his nose looking at a picture – to which Langris grimaced in disgust thinking of whatever obscenity the man was gushing on; lastly there were two small girls and a creepy looking guy whispering to each other.

Overall, Langris was kind of concerned. He would never admit that aloud, but the Black Bulls were intimidating, especially to someone who had zero knowledge of them. Individually, they were like pests to him, however, when in group, their presence was… heavy, to say the least.

Now, Langris wasn’t a scaredy-cat, nor someone who could be easily intimidated, but knowing that that particular squad treated each other like a real family, it meant that he will probably have to get along -or at least be tolerated- by them in order to have a chance you.

Luckily, nobody seemed to notice his presence, probably because they were far too busy fooling around, yet, upon taking a better look at the room, his brother was nowhere to be found, nor you nor the captain of the Black Bulls. Even if the doors were now wide open, and he was standing there with that vibrant bouquet of red tulips that would catch anyone’s eyes, none of your squad members seemed to pay any mind to him. Either they were ignoring him, or they really didn’t see him.

He debated with himself if he should just speak up, but they all looked like thugs and if he thought about everything that happened in the past and how close he was to kill his brother (in front of all of them) and how defensive they all got, he doubted they will welcome him with warm smiles.

“Yo!” the sudden hand placed on his shoulder, and the breath that grazed his ear startled him. For a second the color in his cheeks drained, fearing the worst, but when he turned around seeing you, widely smiling at him -the kind of smile that can melt his heart-, his shoulders relaxed.

“What’s up with his nobility visiting outlaws like us? Looking for Finral?” you asked, tone easy and carefree while making your way inside. Langris bit his inner cheek, heat spreading up his neck, reaching his cheeks. He hated how you identified as a thug despite coming from a noble family, and it always made him wonder why you did that.

“You’re a noble too.” He said. Langris really hope that this will get to make you at least slip some information, but you just shrugged, as if that small bit about you was not important. You gave him a cheeky smile before running off toward a small child that was eating. Your quietness, and how you always avoided telling him different aspects of your life, was bothersome to him. But one day, when he’ll finally get closer to you, and gain your trust, he really hoped to at least get a small bit of your backstory.

Yet… Why was he here?

He didn’t have a good enough reason to be here, not at all, he could’ve have waited and asked you out on another day when stumbling on you around town, but his stupid heart wanted to confess his stupid ass feelings, today. He wanted to say many things to you, especially how much he liked you, yet no words would come out of his mouth. He was too proud to be weak, and showing his feelings was far too close to what he defined as ‘weakness’. However, backing out now, after he went all the way to buy flowers and fly to your base to confess, was out of the question.

He opened his mouth, ready to get over with his insecurities and let off his chest all the things he wanted to say, you spoke.

“Finral will be here shortly. He’s been training with Cap, give him a couple of minutes!’” you shouted from across the room. But while shouting those things, it gained all the attention of the people that were inside the inside, everyone turning around to see who was their sudden guest. Langris didn’t know if it was a good or a bad sign, but from the scowls that were plastered on their faces, it was probably worse.

The first one that approached him was a guy with weird glasses and dual-colored hair. Now, that was the embodiment of a delinquent, at least to him. As the young man made his way toward him, Langris just stared, wondering what could he possibly want from him.

“What does a Golden Dawn knight do in here? Hah?” he asked, growling into his face. Langris however, was unbothered by his approach, if anything, it was annoying him. He wasn’t there to chit-chat with your squad, let alone fight with one of your friends.

“I’m here to ask Y/n out on a date”

After seeing how the place suddenly went dead, and everyone just stared at him in shock, Langris thought that maybe he said something he wasn’t supposed to. Beating around the bush wasn’t his style, and he was a man that preferred to be straightforward with everything.

“Huh?”

“Exactly what you heard, insect”

“Name’s Magna, you punk!” he screeched, swinging his flame baseball bat up in the air. Asta was quick to calm his senior down, putting himself in between them and avoid another imminent fight. Langris looked to his side, feeling somewhat embarrassed. It was hard to look at all those people in the eyes, especially when his past was still heavy on his shoulders. He couldn’t find it within himself to ask for forgiveness, especially when he wasn’t that close with all those people, and to him, it was enough knowing that Finral already forgave him.

The Black Bulls began to babble among themselves, voicing their thoughts about what he said earlier, yet Langris was not listening to them, far too focused on mentally repeating the speech he had prepared for you. But only when Vanessa pointed at the bouquet he was holding, did the others finally calm down. And Gauche was the first one to comment on them.

“I too gave Marie those flowers, that old hag said it meant something like first love. Fitting for my sweet Marie!” again, blood began to drop out of his nostrils while his eyes were glazed with adoration upon remembering his little sister holding said flowers. Everyone blinked, unfazed by his words, while Magna was the only one that breathed out a “Gross”, soon receiving a glare from Gauche.

“I’m wasting time with you. Like I said, I’m here for Y/n, don’t get in my way” he said, pushing past the Black Bulls and heading toward the same room you disappeared in. After all, he came here to confess his… feelings, not to get all buddy with your squad. To him, it was pretty clear that none of them liked him, and the feelings were reciprocated.

Once you were again in his line of view, Langris confidently approach you. However, it soon dissipated, replacing it with something he could describe as nervousness. It wasn’t necessarily the idea of talking to you that was making him all giddy, but never in his life had he ever expressed his liking toward someone. He was good at expressing his distaste, just like he did for several years with his brother -and everyone else-, but telling out loud someone that he likes them? Never happened before.

Once again, Langris found himself lost in his own thoughts, completely forgetting that he was now standing in front of you, staring at you but not really.

“Langris? Are you constipated?” you asked, slightly concerned by the sudden lack of color on his cheeks. He was pale and looked as if he just saw a ghost, he looked exactly like Captain Yami when he needed to urgently take a dump.

Langris blinked a couple of times, sight focusing on you munching on some cupcakes.

“What?”

You had never, not even once, witnessed a Langris that could muster the face of a lost puppy, and oddly enough, it was quite cute.

“You’re extremely pale, do you need to poo? I can show you where the bathroom is” you said, offering him a pitiful smile, as if you actually believed that he was in need of a chunky dunky. Those were the times when Langris questioned his taste in women.

“No, I actually need to tell you something.” He started. You perked, eyes meeting his own ready to listen to whatever he wanted to tell you. If he had the guts to come all the way to your squad’s base, then it must be something really important.

“You… You’re less useless than the others.”

. . .

Now… You had some expectations. When you saw him taking in a couple of deep breaths, you really thought that it must be something serious, and the fact that he looked so solemn, as if he was going to tell you a capital secret, anticipation, curiosity and wonder, bubbled inside of you. Yet, he said… something to which you didn’t know how to react to.

“…Excuse me?”

Langris fucked up. Well... not entirely. He knew that the speech he had carefully prepared won’t come out as perfect as he envisioned, but from the complicated love confession to… that was a total U-turn. But, to his surprise, you didn’t look remotely mad, if anything, you were close to burst into laughter.

“That's… That’s not what I’ve been meaning to say” he said, voice slowly lowering while he turned his face to look at the wall, embarrassed by his mistake. You smiled, leaning on the back of the chair while folding your arms in front of your chest, a cheeky smile blooming on your lips.

“Langris, don’t you know that when you want to get the girl a simple ‘I like you’ can do the trick?” your voice was taunting, and saying that Langris was taken aback was an understatement.

“You knew?”

“Let’s just say that a small little bird whispered it to me. But why don’t you try again?” you suggested, wiggling a bit your eyebrows. His eyes narrowed into slits, bothered by the fact that you already knew about his feelings and acted as if nothing happened. If he knew that you knew that he liked you, then everything could have been much easier, instead of him spending three nights in a row to write down a stupid, almost diabetic speech, that now was fruitless.

He slammed both of his palms on the table, right in front of you, while the stems of the tulips got crushed against the table, finally catching your attention.

“And why didn’t you say anything?” he wasn’t necessarily mad, and you knew, but it could’ve at least avoided him this embarrassing outcome.

“I was waiting for you to confess first because I wasn’t 100% sure if you actually liked me romantically. Also, you have a really unfiltered mouth when turning down someone. I’ll let you know that at the dark market there’s this lady that sells a magic soap called ‘Go-Away-Filthy-Mouth’. I heard it’s pretty good and effective, you should definitely try it!” you said, still smiling at him and completely unbothered by the sudden proximity.

“I’ll be back tomorrow at six sharp. We’re going on a date.”

“Not unless you say the magic words.”

Langris cocked an eyebrow, as if you weren’t really asking him to do it.

“Either you say them, or go home. You can’t get the milk if you don’t get the whole cow first.”

“Did you just compare yourself to a cow?”

“Wha-No! I’m the milk and the cow are the magic words!”

“That doesn’t make sense, there’s no reason to get the cow if I can buy the milk.”

“But you can’t buy my love~”

At this Langris just sighed, yet, an amused smile had been present on his face since the beginning of the ‘conversation’. That was the reason why he liked you; the nonsensical stuff that could pour out of your mouth was always pleasant to him.

“I like you” he started, finally giving you the tulips that he had been holding the entire time. “Would you consider going on a date with me?”

“See? It wasn’t that hard! And yes, I’ll gladly enlighten your tomorrow with my presence!”

Langris just rolled his eyes before turning around and finally exiting the Black Bulls base, with a stupidly foolish smile plastered on his face. The whole confession didn’t necessarily go as he initially planned, but it turned out better than he hoped.

✩:✩:✩

A/n: So, this took longer to do -two whole weeks- because I had little to no details/ideas to work on. Please, when requesting, read the rules, If you just send me a request like “character x reader fluff” I can’t do much, and it will take me longer to actually get it done. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed reading this shot, and thank you for taking the time to read it!

Hope you’ll have a wonderful day/night!

#langris x reader #Langris Vaude #langris vaude x reader #black clover langris #Black Clover #black clover scenarios #black clover x reader #fluff

224 notes · View notes

aithne · 5 years

Text

(Illume) June 19th - July 1st, 1583: Strange Bedfellows

From Lady Yukiko's Journal

6/19/1583

On our way to Akita and then Sapporo. I appear to have been given charge of a ship cat with a broken leg; Reiko splinted it and then carried it around with her for a couple of days, but every time she set it down, it came running--well, limping--to me.

It's a very pretty cat, white with patches of striped red. It's only got half a tail, but almost all of the ship cats have tails like that, so I assume it's normal.

6/21/1583

There really hasn't been much going on for the last couple of days, other than drilling with Haku and Panda.

Was awoken early this solstice morning by Thomas' voice, rousing Funitsu out of bed. Evidently, there was some sort of disturbance on deck that...had called Funitsu's name? Odd. I dressed swiftly and then came up on deck; the rest of my retinue had also heard the summons and were also up.

On deck, I saw a man lying on the boards, breathing very slowly. Tadaki had gone through his pockets and found a few items of the librarian trade, so to speak--poisoned throwing stars, to be exact. He was dressed in black that had definitely seen better days.

Funitsu said, "There were two of them, the other is dead. They were rowing towards us in that little boat down there. This one's almost dead, but there's no mark on him. I've healed him a bit, but it only served to rouse him a little."

Reiko kneeled by the man, touching his shoulder and then his heart. "He's been drained, his life energy's been pulled from him. It doesn't quite feel like a kitsune feeding, though. He's got a couple of magical things on him--the amulet around his neck and his little fingernail, oddly enough."

I heard Panda mutter, "What the hell..."

The man lying on deck roused and opened his eyes. He looked at Funitsu and said, "My task is done." He then closed his eyes and his chest stilled.

Reiko said, "He's dead." Mistress of the obvious, she is.

Funitsu unfastened the amulet from around the dead man's neck, and an illusion began playing; I recognized the person speaking as Funitsu's brother, Soshi Kaigen. The message, for message it was, was very informative. He made reference to dire trouble happening within the Scorpion Clan, and the same trouble seemed to be occurring in all the clans except Unicorn. Funitsu's father is incapacitated, making his brother head of the family (and head of the clan? Soshi has come up in the world since last I looked). He said that the librarian is our contact with the Black Hand--Panda started at that--and that Funitsu's stepmother had been sent to Yukiko's family in Hokkaido, which Funitsu's brother now thought might have been a mistake.

While we were listening to the message, I saw the librarian remove the magical fingernail from the dead man's hand with the point of a dagger. (Will we never stop mutilating the dead? Ugh.) Tomika attempted to make the corpse of the dead man speak, trying to find out what killed him, but after casting the spell, she looked up, a frustrated look on her face. "There isn't anything to work with. There has to be just a little residual life left in the body to have it speak, and there isn't anything at all."

We retrieved the other body, which Panda had thrown into the ocean. (Rather, Gryphon swam down after it.) The corpse described a killing mist that had drained their life from them--and said that they believed that it had been sent after one of us.

The sun was beginning to rise by this time, and to the south we could see a mist moving faster than the wind was towards us. Reiko, Panda, and Tadaki put their heads together and figured out what it was--a Breathdrinker, one of the number of creatures in the world that live on the life energy of others. The only thing that could really hurt it was fire, or enchanted swords.

We did have a fireball potion, which Reiko used to make the mist back off. We decided to not let it get away. Tadaki and Gryphon flew above the mist, and Tadaki dove through it, pulling out some things that were evidently held within the creature--some potions and a dark-bound book.

Hiroshi and Tadaki created makeshift exploding devices with lamp oil and the black powder that we carry. Funitsu decided that we were not about to let it get away and recover and come back to kill us once it was healed, considering that we'd already spent our last fireball.

Gryphon, Haku, and Tadaki harried the Breathdrinker back to shore with our little makeshift devices, and then Funitsu carved a door in reality with his wakizashi and stepped over to the shore with a torch. Haku followed, and Reiko hesitated but in the end decided to go, muttering something about a surprise.

The rest of the battle took place out of sight of the ship, but from the sound of explosions, I assumed it was going well. Panda stood next to me at the rail, watching the forest intently.

Finally, my retinue returned to the ship. Funitsu was somewhat scorched; evidently, one of those explosions had been Haku dropping a small cask of oil and gunpowder right next to him when the Breathdrinker attacked him. He was not much the worse for wear after Reiko got through with him, though he may need to cut his hair a bit--it's singed on one side.

Since we were all up, we figured we might as well stay up. Panda was looking at the librarian suspiciously, since he had taken the fingernail and hadn't said anything about what it did. I attempted to distract her and allay her worry somewhat; she does do what she can to keep from herself the knowledge of what he is, but I fear the message and the nail were a little *too* obvious. I drew Panda gently away, and over her shoulder I saw Funitsu and the librarian exchange a significant look. I reassured the samurai that I had every confidence that he would tell me all he knew when he found it out, but her demeanor remained stormy for the rest of the day.

From the Breathdrinker, we got a few useful items, including a war fan, a ninja-to, a sai, and five potions that Tomika has volunteered to identify for us. I find myself liking the Crane despite myself. I still don't trust her, but she's generally making herself useful, and I have to admit that I find her sparring with Funitsu to be entertaining.

The Breathdrinker was quite enough excitement for one day. I'm occupying myself, as I have been for the past few days, by learning the art of sailing a ship from Thomas and a few of the other sailors.

6/22/1583

Clear sailing today. Only excitement was Panda insisting that the librarian tell me whatever he knows--it turns out that he hadn't figured out what the nail does yet.

We covered tacking today during sailing lessons. It's suprisingly complicated, with three masts to worry about.

I finally named the cat whose leg Reiko splinted, and who I've been keeping with me ever since. Her name is Miu, though Haku was seriously lobbying for "Gimpy" on account of her leg.

She sleeps by my head, and purrs. And she's soft.

However, she also stares at me when I'm bathing. Most unnerving.

6/23/1583

The kitsune is being annoying. I think she's bored. She's wandering up and down the length of the ship, talking loudly with one or more of her spirits about something.

Still covering tacking. Much, much more complicated than it looks, but there's a logic that underlies all of it that I'm beginning to grasp.

6/24/1583

The librarian's making himself quite scarce today. I wonder what he's up to?

He hs yet to bring to me whatever he knows. He refuses to let me corner him. I finally sent Funitsu to talk to him, and all Funitsu brought back to me was that the librarian hadn't figured out what the fingernail did yet, other than possibly allow contact with Funitsu's brother.

I am beginning to grow suspicious. Panda might be influencing me, but I have not come so far in the world by ignoring my own instincts and that of my samurai. Something is wrong, and until the librarian comes clean with what he knows, i doubt I will sleep soundly.

I don't mind intrigue. I just want to know about it.

Akita tomorrow, thankfully. I spend too much time quiet and I start worrying--about Akechi, the child, our mission, everything.

6/25/1583

It's been a very long time since I've seen a town as badly in need of a good typhoon to level everything as Akita is. It was nothing but bar fights and whores as far as the eye could see. Reiko asked one of the prostitutes where she could find the general of the armies, and was promptly pointed towards a tavern called the Green Dragon, down the street a ways.

The tavern was quite rowdy, but Haku and Panda's forbidding presences allowed us to pass through the crowd unmolested. Tadaki motioned for us to stay back a bit, and went up to a man sitting alone at a table in the back, with several empty sake bottles in front of him.

Tadaki perched on a chair next to him, and said, "Nibori, where that's ten gold you owe me?"

The man looked up with bleary eyes, and asked, "Tadaki? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were dead."

He shrugged. "Looking for you. And my ten gold. Are you going to pay up, or what?"

Nibori was a solidly built man with that thin-bladed nose so common to Sparrows, who looked to be perhaps ten years older than Tadaki. He might have been a bit younger than that, but either way it looked like the last few years had used him hard. He shrugged and reached into his pocket, handing over money to Tadaki without more than a grumble of protest. Tadaki motioned the rest of us over, and the general rubbed his eyes. "Friends, eh?"

Tadaki cocked his head and said, "Traveling companions. So, you're a general now?"

"Much good as it does me. At least I managed to send the army off in two different directions. The wine drowns out the voices, the town falls farther into disarray." He snagged a passing serving girl. "More sake. Enough for them. And some more for me."

I saw Haku pouring a carefully measured dose of the true source into a cup, which he then offered to the general. "Here, try some of this."

Nibori took it and downed the contents of the cup in one gulp, and then coughed and looked at Haku suspiciously. "Monk? Was that...water?"

Haku shrugged. "Sorry. More sake?"

He shook his head. "No, I...I'll be right back." I could see what looked like sweat and smelled quite a bit like pure alcohol begin to roll down the sides of his face. He stumbled from the table. We waited, and about ten minutes later he returned. "All right, what the hell was in that stuff?"

Nobody spoke. Finally, Panda dropped into the sudden silence, "Freedom, of a sort."

"Who the hell are you people, anyway? And why are you here?"

Panda stood. "This is a discussion better suited for a more private location." Nibori nodded and led us to his rooms, above yet another tavern.

We settled ourselves around his receiving room, and Nibori asked, "All right, could someone please explain what's going on?"

Reiko said, "We're in the employ of Akechi, who's currently a prisoner of Hideyoshi. It was suggested that if we managed to free you, you might be amenable to helping us. We were told that you were not a willing conscript in the army. We need a spy, basically, and thought you might make a decent one."

"And who told you that, pray tell?"

"Hirohito. He was our source, and he's been compromised."

Nibori muttered, "I did always wonder about him."

Reiko smiled at Nibori. She wasn't exactly flirting, but there was something... "You have a piece of crystal embedded in the back of your neck. It holds a piece of the spirit which currently controls Hideyoshi--and it was trying to control you. What we gave you broke that control."

"I know. It's only implanted in those who are rebellious. Rebellious, he says, when he orders atrocities and expects us to carry them out. I was able to resist his commands; that was what all the sake was for. So, if I'm your spy, you'll use what I know to hurt Hideyoshi?"

"To kill him, we hope. Some day soon."

"Then, yes, I agree. My life hasn't been my own for years, and it's his and that damn wu jen's fault."

Tadaki asked about Emi, the wu jen that my brother-in-law had said was my father's advisor. Nibori told us that she was doing something to my father and to all other around her, and noted that she was guarded by a Jade Warrior, a summoned guardian. Tadaki asked, in a low voice, "Do they know you're a Sparrow?"

"They don't have the slightest clue. Hey, did you ever find that sister of mine you had a crush on? If you could find me, maybe you could find her, too."

Tadaki shook his head and said that he hadn't seen her.

Panda broke in. "Nibori, if we are done here, might I have a word? In private?"

What was my much-loved but sometimes very odd samurai up to now? I only hoped it wasn't what I thought...

...except that after about fifteen minutes, Panda and Nibori emerged, Panda looking satisfied with herself and the Sparrow looking as if someone had hit him over the head with something heavy. The samurai asked Funitsu, "Shujenja, may we use your services? I and Nibori have agreed to be married."

I reminded myself to shut my mouth, which was hanging open. I was startled, and I had some indication of Panda's worries about her bloodline's continuance. I imagine the rest of my retinue was quite a bit more surprised than I. Funitsu searched for words, and settled on, "Er. Congratulations. Yes, of course."

"Can we perform the ceremony here? I see no reason for delay."

And so Nibori and Panda were married, and we went back to the ship, Panda promising to return to Nibori's rooms that night. On the way back, Reiko fell in walking next to Panda. "You do realize that's not how it's customarily done, right? I imagine you've scared the man out of a year's growth."

She shrugged. "It might not be customary, but i see no reason for complicating something that should be a reasonably straightforward alliance. I need my bloodline to continue, and he seemed to be amenable."

Tadaki broke in. "Besides, that's really much how it works among our people. You build a nice nest, and when you're chosen by a female, she comes along and tears it apart for you. You didn't disarrange his nest, so he's probably rather smitten."

Panda's voice was distant. "I don't need him to be smitten. I just needed him to agree." I could see Reiko shaking her head, muttering to herself.

The librarian, overhearing our conversation, actually blushed. Fancy that, the librarian blushing. Almost as surprising as Panda blushing would be.

We stay here tonight and let the samurai keep her appointment with the general. Tomorrow morning, We'll restock, and then we're off to Hokkaido.

Off for home.

I confess to some nervousness about what I may find there.

6/26/1583

The only comment Panda had about her tryst last night was, "Most educational." I didn't pry, and she didn't volunteer any details.

I rather hope that she doesn't fall pregnant just yet. After all, it would be good for her to discover just how much fun relations between husband and wife can be.

We weighed anchor about noon, and headed north. There's not much wind, which will slow us, so I'm not sure when we'll reach Sapporo.

Yet more sailing lessons today.

6/27/1583

Reiko woke screaming from what was apparently a nightmare early this morning. When Haku and I came into her cabin, Gryphon was butting her with his head, trying to wake her up.

All she would say, after she was finally coherent, was a...name? "Demonbane." Whoever--or whatever--that is. She either wouldn't, or couldn't, explain any more.

Weather holds fair but the winds remain scarce. Perhaps five more days to Sapporo.

Miu has taken to sitting next to my table as I write, occasionally batting at the end of the pen or the brush, whichever I happen to be using at the time. Irritating, but also adorable.

Haku is still calling the cat Gimpy. Of course, that may not be as bad as the fact that Reiko has taken to calling Gryphon "Kittycat".

6/28/1583

So very bored. Bearing up well, if I do say so myself, even if the child is expressing impatience with fists and feet.

I expect this boy to be quite the fighter straight out of the womb, at this rate. He seems to be taking lessons from Haku.

Ah, I miss Akechi badly tonight. The closer we get to the place I grew up, the more I feel that what we will find there is not going to be pleasant.

6/29/1583

Still bored.

The wind is picking up. Perhaps two more days to Sapporo, now.

The librarian is still unforthcoming, the shaman is still acting strangely, Panda is still calm as a forest on a windless day. Statu quo, one and all.

6/30/1583

Rereading the work of Sei Shonagon today. I fear I am but a dabbler in letters, compared to her genius.

We grow near, and I grow more afraid.

"Why so silent?" said Her Majesty. "Say something. It is sad when you do not speak." "I am gazing into the autumn moon," I replied. "Ah yes," she remarked. "That is just what you should have said."

7/1/1583

Hokkaido, today. How my heart aches tonight.

Compared to Akita, and compared to my memories of it, Sapporo was sterile and nearly deserted. The few people who were out sand about seemed to be beggars, each of them looking quite mad. Reiko nudged Funitsu and said, "Scorpion, can you see what I see? Tomika?"

He nodded. "Those tendrils...are they feeding on the beggars somehow?"

I whispered my own spell to see magic, and what they were talking about was revealed to me. There were tendrils of magic reaching out from my father's palace, twisting in the streets, diving through the beggars. They seemed to almost be policing the streets. I grew very still, and very afraid.

We walked together to my father's palace, the house I grew up in. But it was so quiet, so strange, so different. We had sent the librarian in the back way, but the rest of us were going to brazen it out--for, after all, it was my house and I belonged there. The guards at the door let us in without argument, looking for all the world as if they were asleep on their feet, and on the second floor I asked directions of some more alert-looking guards, asking them where my father was. I could see that the magic tendrils avoided them, and there was a glow on the sides of their necks, a sigil inscribed there. They told me that my father was in the library.

As we walked down the corridor, Reiko caught my eye--for a moment, with my magical sight, i could see odd designs covering her body. But there was no time for a good look, as we reached the library doors and I burst in.

My father! But how changed, how strange, the vital man I remember from scarcely a year ago now withered and old, as if something were eating him from the inside. He raised his head and looked at me as I dropped to my knees beside his chair. All he said was, "Daughter..."

I put my hand on his, looking into his eyes. Then I stood, my world narrowed down to one thing only. "Emi."

I flew out of the library and back to the guards, demanding in my best Lady voice to see Emi. They pointed up the stairs and then got the hell out of my way as I nearly ran them down in my haste. Ahead of us, I could hear two women talking. Almost at the same time, Tadaki said, "That's Emi" and Funitsu said, "It's Karasuko, my stepmother."

There were another pair of guards at the door, these with no intentions of letting us through. The samurai and Gryphon took care of them without a fuss. We burst in and there was a small woman with light brown hair holding a knife to the throat of a slightly taller woman who looked in equal parts afraid and angry. The Jade Warrior we'd been told about was attacking the librarian, who had come in through the window.

A heartbeat later, Reiko shimmered into view from her invisibility as she attempted to pull the knife away from Karasuko's throat. There was no time to wonder at this sudden display of bravery on the shaman's part, as the Jade Warrior immediately turned and slashed at the kitsune, who howled as the katana connected twice, opening great wounds in her back. The Warrior also slashed at her with his wakizashi, edged with jade, and seemed to miss. But I could hear Reiko screaming a name I'd never heard before. "JIN!"

Emi pulled out a crystal and stepped on it, releasing lightning into the room. I ducked, but the shaman had no chance--and when my eyes were no longer dazzled, I saw her lying on the floor, bleeding onto the wood.

But there was no time for anything but battle, at that point. Gryphon disposed of the Jade Warrior and Panda and Tadaki did the same for Emi. Funitsu healed Reiko enough that she came back to consciousness, and pointed at the wakizashi that the jade Warrior had left behind. "That thing has part of Arenro's spirit in it. And it's got Jin now, too." It turned out that Jin as one of Reiko's spirits, and she was beside herself with worry and making even less sense than usual.

We broke the sword, releasing both the spirits. A moment of silence, and then Reiko sobbed, "He's gone, Jin's gone, he didn't come back to me. He's lost forever."

Panda, her usual comforting self, said, "I would think you'd be happy to be rid of them. don't they make your life miserable?"

The shaman stared at her, those odd eyes of hers grief-stricken. "I love them. All of them. Even Lin, I loved. And they love me--that's why they stay with me. They are my family. Jin was with me for centuries, and now...he's just gone."

Panda just shook her head.

With Emi's death, my father suddenly looked much better, and has been gaining in strength all through the afternoon. We have decided that we will spend the night in Sapporo, on the ship, and decide on the morrow where we are off to next. I believe we may travel to visit the Soshi family, to see what their so dire need may be.

Oddly enough, I caught Reiko staring at my father a few minutes ago. Her eyes were puzzled, but I could see a fear behind the confusion. Why would the kitsune fear my father?

I have made the acquaintance of Karasuko, and have found her to be a most beguiling woman. Funitsu seems to get along well with her, and on the strength of his love for her I find myself predisposed to like her.

Had we arrived a week later...I do not know what we might have found. I am beginning to gain an appreciation for the scope of the forces arrayed against us. If my retinue knew...but they do not. Not yet. And they have no idea how important each of them is.

How do we find those orbs? They are perhaps the most precious things in the world right now, and two of them are in, one assumes, unfriendly hands. Though Hideyoshi must not have the correct one, else my husband would be dead already.

If we are not victorious...

But we will be.

We must be.

Everything depends on it.

I hear voices raised in the next room. I and Haku are going to go investigate.

Quotes:

"Graham is...huffing gingersnaps." (Laura)

"I like how when you suck on them, they go hard." (Graham)

"Sometimes, weenie is the better part of valor." (Laura)

"Gryphon, are you smart?" "I'm VERY smart! Why are you all laughing?" (Reiko and Gryphon)

"How rare it is that any of us marry for love." (Funitsu)

#so queued #gaming recaps: illume #D&D recap

1 note · View note

lostatsea303 · 6 years

Text

Annual Delivery

@zutaramonth

Zutara Month 2017 Day 1: Amongst the Fire Lilies

“Oh, Tara, delivery for you!”

The joyful coo of a young monk the world knew as their hero echoed through the place he and the woman he was looking for called home. He continued to glide, almost literally, through the halls, that ever-present grin plastered on his face. As he made his way closer and closer to where he knew she would be, he finally got a response:

“Ok Aang, give me a minute. I need to finish changing Bumi.”

The echoes of a small whining child made for punctuation on the already understood point.

The bald monk soon found himself standing in the door frame of the room that had become the place of rest for their new toddler, though rest wasn’t something they often got. Still, as he stood there his eyes trapped on the beautiful busy waterbender, his smile changed from its usual goofy, toothy, grin to something smaller and warm. It was sometimes hard to believe that this was the way fate had turned out: Aang the once over-energetic goof ball (Ok those traits hadn’t really changed) who could barely form a fireball was now a tall, handsome, powerful bender married to the always kind and serene daughter of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe; Katara. He thanked the spirits for providing him with such an infallible and just woman such as Katara.

She was perfect.

Letting out a long sigh, the waterbending master used the back of her hand to wipe some sweat from her brow before standing up straight and slightly pushing her hips forward to stretch her lower back. She had just spent the past half hour struggling with her newborn Bumi as he had started whining just MINUTES after he had been put down for one of his daily rests. Of course, the culprit behind the whining had been a dirty diaper that, for all the discomfort it seemed to be causing him, Bumi just didn’t want to get out of. Alas, the women who had become the most talented bender of all time finally conquered another foe in her day-to-day life.

Every time Katara had to change a diaper, which was every time, a small part of her wished for nothing more than to wake up and find herself back in a time where it was her and the gang against the world. At least back then the babies on the team could change themselves. Alas, Katara couldn’t even begin to regret what she had; she knew better than most the love of a mother was greater than the darkest most chaotic storm. She knew that love was nearly incomprehensible to anyone else. That love, real love, had no requirements, it kept no record of wrong, it accepted and loved through grace and mess in equal measure. It admired imperfection and strove for in tune dissonance.

“Sorry about that Aang, you know how Bumi can be sometimes.” She voiced gently with a smile.

“So, what did we get?”

“Not we.” The monk signaled to himself “You.” He finished pointing at her.

“Me? What do you mean?” The dark-haired woman asked clearly confused.”

Aang signaled for her to follow him into the other room, gently making their way through the house trying not make any sort of sound to agitate young Bumi.

Finally making it to the front of their home, their mail cage was currently occupied by a proudly perched messenger hawk one that, to Katara at least, seemed very familiar.

Reaching towards the proud creature, Aang tried to receive the letter currently scrolled away in its beak but the bird simply reared back quickly before pecking his hand stoically.

“Ouch! See it won’t let me take the letter so I assumed it was for you.” Aang cursed through his teeth as he wagged his hand in an exaggerated manner after the nip from the hawk.

Letting out a long sigh and with a gentle roll of her eyes Katara took off her gloves before speaking in her usual motherly tone: “Alright dear, I’ll get it.”

Reaching out slowly Katara’s blue eyes meeting with the hawk’s strangely familiar liquid gold. The raptor gently leaned forward before dropping the noticeably light parchment in her hands.

With a small smile and a gentle scratch on the head, the winged carrier was off without a sound.

“Soooooooooo, what is it?” Cooed the air nomad, once again sounding like the nosey kid he had been all those years ago.

Turning her shoulder in a slightly playful manner, she slowly opened the scroll while keeping her eyes locked with her husband’s: “I don’t know let’s find…out.”

The waterbender’s thoughts derailed a fractured glacier as the scroll revealed only one thing: a small pressed fire lily and nothing more.

“A fire lily?” They echoed in unison, one, however, a little more perplexed at the odd delivery than the other.

A long silence sat between them as neither knew what to think, both for different reasons. Who would send just one flower? It didn’t seem romantic in nature, most people sent bouquets and poems, not just a single pressed flower. But the messenger hawk’s dedication to only giving it to Katara seemed out of place too. This was just plain odd and random, at least to Aang.

A small strange silence overcame Katara as she focused only on the flower now sitting in the palm of her hand. This had been happening for ten years now, on the exact same day, at the exact same time, with the exact same delivery. She didn’t understand; why did she keep getting this flower now? Five days prior, the day Aang defeated Ozai and the Hundred Year War ended? Yeah totally would have made sense, but now? What was special about now?

Sitting in her speculation only one thing came to mind:

It was the day they had left.

Somewhere in the Royal Palace of the Fire Nation a man with long dark hair and a crown sometimes too heavy to bare sat comfortably in a garden; surrounded by a small patch of fire lilies.

The red flower just a few shades brighter than the simple yet elegant robes worn by nature’s guest. The man sat with a small smile on his face, staring at the simple yet elegant flora. His liquid gold eyes seemed to wash over them like the gentle waves of an ocean, a clarity and appreciation added with its wash.

The man known as Fire Lord had spent most of his day in the garden, the week of Ozai’s defeat was often filled with a cacophony of chaos, both good and bad. Between the parties and the riots, sometimes one leading to the other, Zuko needed to get away from it all.

Today was a special day anyway.

Ten years ago, today, his destiny had been locked into place.

With only having been made Fire Lord days earlier, Zuko didn’t have much time for any celebrating; everything was in an uproar. But today would be his last chance, the only one he would probably get to finally speak the words he had found only days earlier.

He asked her to meet him in the garden when it was easiest for her of course, he rose with the sun after all. His hair was down in the shaggy style he had worn it on the journey that had changed his life so much. He lacked the fine fire regalia instead choosing a more comfortable and breathable tunic and pants. He didn’t look like the Fire Lord.

No, he looked like the man only she saw, flaws and all.

He made his way to the place he had missed most on his journey, he could feel his heart pounding and blood in his body getting hotter by the seconds. Still, goosebumps covered his skin. He was terrified. This would be the only chance he had left, when he saw the lightning he knew the truth that had been alluding him for longer than he would’ve like to admit. He wanted to tell her then, to finally admit to those incredible blue eyes that she meant everything to him, however as they watched the broken pieces that had become his sister it seemed inappropriate. The coronation had not given them anytime before or since. Now with her and the others heading to their homes, he knew he only had one chance to continue to dance between fire and water he never knew he needed.

However, as the formerly banished prince arrived at his destination, his blood seemed to go cold.

She was there, of course, she was there, she was always where people needed her to be. But she wasn’t alone. Holding her hand, so very close to her, was the boy he had come to know as his spiritual brother. Before she spotted him, the younger boy had leaned in for a kiss which she easily obliged.

Their eyes met for a second, and she couldn’t see it- he had become so good at hiding the pain even her life bringing touch couldn’t see - but his heart shattered into the pits of his stomach.

She would wave him over and they, the three of them, would speak. He didn’t remember much of the conversation. All he would remember would be stealing as many glances as fate would allow of the waterbender he had fallen in love with, who had been fated to another. He memorized every detail of her face and eyes, he would never forget how much she truly was the daughter of the moon; he could see the sea within her. Like she was element she controlled manifested in human form. Smooth and strong, beautiful and coursing.

He would say goodbye to them not too much later.

The blind earth bender who had become one of his closest friends had asked why his heart was all weird, but he would only be able to pat her on the shoulder and tell her he was sure she understood.

He watched those blue eyes until they were out of sight.

Lost to the breeze.

A sad smile sat on the man’s lips as he stared into the garden he had almost made the beginning of his greatest journey in. Instead, it had become the place he would learn to live with peaceful regret.

The soft whines of a child echoed in a nearby room, along with the almost silent steps and the sigh of a shadow he had settled for long ago.

The whines brought him great joy, it had been a lesson he failed to understand time and time again. However, when he saw those bright orange eyes for the first time, he knew the love he had been so desperate for. It was a love he could not describe with words adequately. It was a love that would have no requirements, it would keep no record of wrong, it would accept and love through grace and mess in equal measure. It would appreciate the imperfections and love being in the off-key.

It was a love he had only known twice before.

Once he knew he still had much time to make up for, and the other he would never know.

He would simply remember the day he had almost found what he was looking for as he picked another flower, year after year, amongst the fire lilies.

#zutara #zutara month #zuko #katara

33 notes · View notes

susumus-spook-zone · 6 years

Text

Damn It Azamir: The Movie- Act 6, Scene 5: The Shout In The Dark

So this was it.

Eight districts, eight bosses. It had been a long and difficult journey, but now it was finally at its end. Susumu made her way down the main street of New Lumos, where Azamir and Reina were waiting at the end.

“We’re here, Azamir,” Susumu said. “You said Reina had something she wanted to say?”

Reina was standing behind Azamir, looking very forlorn. She stepped out, and looked around. “Go on then, Reina,” Azamir said. “What did you need to tell us?”

Reina turned to face Azamir. “Azamir… I… Want to thank you,” she began. “And, Susumu… Thank you too. If it wasn’t for the both of you, and Martcha… I wouldn’t have become what I am today.”

Susumu seemed confused. “Reina, what do you…?”

Reina turned around to continue. “Well… How shall I say this? When Martcha tried to purify that shadow… It actually worked. Well, sort of. A small speck of light began to form inside the shadow. It ignored it, thinking the light would fade out soon. But it didn’t. The light only grew, until eventually… The light completely overtook the shadow, and… I was free.”

“Free…?” Azamir asked. “Reina… Does that mean you…?"

Reina nodded. "Once I was free from the darkness, I… Started to change. Into… Well, the form you see now. But something was wrong. As soon as I was free, I felt no emotion. At all. I left Neksdor, thinking there was something wrong with me. Thinking I would never be a normal person, until… I ran into someone in the desert who needed help. I didn’t know what I could do, but I helped them get to the town, to find someone who did. And that’s when it happened. When I started to feel something. It was small at first, but… The more people I helped, the more I started to feel, until… Until I became REAL. That was when I knew what to do. To make up for what I did… I went to find Azamir. I wanted to help him rebuild his life, and maybe build one of my own.”

It took Azamir a minute to realize what Reina was saying, but when he did his eyes opened for a split second. “Reina… That shadow… Was you? And you came back here because you wanted to help me?” He was having a hard time believing what he was hearing. This little girl who looked up to him so much…

She looked back up at him, with tears starting to fill her eyes. “I know, I don’t expect you to forgive me, especially after I possessed both you and Martcha,” she said. “But… I just… Want to thank you. For… Not just destroying me when you had the chance. For giving me another chance to make things right again.”

“Reina…” Azamir wasn’t sure how to react to this. He’d never heard of anything like this before. A spirit becoming a person was strange enough, but she actually wanted to make up for everything? Without another word, he picked her up and gave her a hug. “Reina. It’s true that you did a lot of bad things before, but… You truly did want to change, didn’t you? Look at you now. You’ve changed so much since then, and… I’m so glad you did.”

“Azamir… Thank you,” Reina said. “I’m going to start doing a lot better from now on, I promise. I… I’m gonna make you proud!”

“…Hey, yeah!” Sachio suddenly remembered something. “Azamir, didn’t you say Reina had something to show us?”

“Oh yes, that’s right!” Azamir put Reina back down. “Reina, why don’t you show them what you can do now?”

Reina nodded, then turned to Susumu. “Susumu, remember how I said I had a place I could show you?” she asked. “Well… You’ve cleared out all the boss monsters in New Lumos, right? Well, now that we’re all here, it’s time to show you what I can really do!”

Reina closed her eyes, and held her arms out in front of her. “Ancient tower, I call upon you. Rise from the darkness, and show these travelers the way!” She then opened her eyes, and raised her arms above her head. When she opened her eyes, however, they seemed to be completely black, save for a thin purple iris glowing between the dark patches. There was a loud rumbling nearby, and a tower began to rise from the ground, right before the group’s eyes.

Once the tower had finished rising, Reina’s eyes returned to normal. “This is the Tower of Dread,” she explained. “In that tower… You will find the most fearsome and powerful monsters in all of New Lumos. I wish you all the best of luck.”

Azamir then turned back to Reina. “Now then, Reina…” he began. “You’re going to be a wondeful banana merchant someday. But only if we get back to your training.”

“Right!” Reina declared. “It’s only Day 17 of my training, after all! See you all later!” And with that, the two disappeared into the city.

“The Tower of Dread…” Susumu mumbled. Boy, this place sure did live up to its name. “Dread” was the only way Susumu could describe how she was feeling, and she hadn’t even stepped inside yet.

Raya’s tail was wagging furiously. “There’s gotta be something cool at the top!” he declared. “Come on, let’s go in!”

“Well, let’s get going then.” Raya rolled through the doorway of the tower, followed by his fellow dog Vinny. Susumu and Konade, however, hung back, as Susumu stared at the tower, shaking slightly. “Susumu, it’s going to be okay,” Konade tried to comfort her. “We’ve fought a lot tougher, haven’t we? If we can beat the Ultra Dark Lord… We can beat anything we’ll find in here.”

Susumu sighed. “You know… You’re right, Konade,” she replied with a smile. “We shouldn’t have any trouble in here, right? Anyway, we should go help Raya and Vinny before they get mowed down.”

Once the girls stepped inside the tower, they saw that Raya and Vinny were already fighting some sort of minotaur. “Hey, that looks like the minotaur we fought in the first district,” Susumu pointed out.

“And it’s a lot stronger too!” Raya stated, firing a cannon shot at the minotaur. “You girls keep an eye out!”

And then Susumu got an idea. She remembered that Junpei had given her something to try out once she went back to New Lumos. Reaching into her back, she produced a small bottle of purple flakes. “Hey, guys!” she called to the others. “Let’s all try some of this! Junpei gave these to me before we left. He called them ‘hype sprinkles’. I wonder what they do.”

The party took a few flakes into their hands, and sprinkled some into their mouths. It took a minute for anything to happen, but… Susumu slowly felt herself getting more energy. “I-Is anyone else starting to feel-”

“HOOO-WAH!” Raya suddenly charged at the minotaur, swinging his cannon with full force. “COME ON, EVERYONE!! LET’S TAKE THIS THING DOWN!!”

Susumu swung her microphone wildly, Konade was flinging petals everywhere, and Vinny slammed the minotaur with his frying pan several times. The minotaur wasn’t done with them, however. It raised its hammer and smashed it into Susumu.

…But she didn’t feel any pain! It was weird, very weird, but the strike didn’t hurt her at all! She was able to continue swinging, and eventually, the party took the minotaur down.

“We… Did it!” Susumu gasped. Her hype sprinkles were starting to wear off, and her entire body was beginning to feel sore. “Now the next floor is…”

The group slumped onto the ground, and Susumu pulled the bottle of hype sprinkles out of her bag again. They ate a bit more, and continued up to the next floor.

The next few floors were a breeze for the group, thanks to the hype sprinkles. They fought a computer head who could summon robots, a couple of frogs like they fought in the Realm Of The Fey, and even a dragon on the fourth floor! But as time went on, hype sprinkles began to run out, and the group’s injuries were beginning to catch up with them.

On the fifth floor, however, things were beginning to turn around. The group trudged up the stairs, bruised, bleeding in some places, and feeling VERY exhausted. The boss of this floor was a Cerberus as well. What Susumu didn’t know was that this would be difficult.

Susumu reached back into her bag for another dash of hype sprinkles, but something was wrong. “T-the jar…” She groaned. “It’s…” The group had ended up using all their hype sprinkles, and had completely emptied the jar already. How were they going to win now?

They weren’t.

Before the group could even do anything, the Cerberus snapped at Susumu, flung a fireball at Konade, and tried to freeze the entire group with ice breath. This thing was fast, and it had every intention of wiping them out.

“W-what do we do now…?” Raya asked. “We’re… Gonna die like this…”

“No… No, we’re not…” Konade picked up Vinny, took Susumu’s hand, and carried them towards the stairs. “Come on. We’re getting out…”

Fortunately for Raya, his armor allowed him to roll away with ease. They managed to escape back to the fourth floor, and the cerberus was unable to fit through the door follow them. With the cerberus barking at snapping at the stairwell, the group collapsed in the center of the floor to rest. “We… Made it…”

They weren’t completely home yet, but once they were strong enough to walk again they could go back to the inn. Maybe they would return to the Tower of Dread another day.

But not for now…

#damn it azamir: the movie #the story so far...(diatm)#FINAL PART EVERYONE

2 notes · View notes

chroniclesofawkwardness · 4 years

Text

Hurricane

For years, I was a night owl. When I started my second stint with the company I work for today, I worked a 1:30 PM to 10 PM shift as one of many people answering the phone if you called the number on the back of your debit card. I didn’t much care for the constant what-happened-this-time beep in my ear that meant another call had come through, but some days were better than others.

I enjoyed helping customers as long as what they asked me to do was within my power, but there were times I didn’t feel like listening to strangers’ life stories or treating their self-inflicted financial wounds. My schedule wasn’t ideal because I had to work one weekend day. Having a day off during the week wasn’t without its advantages, but it also meant trouble might find me at an unexpected time or place.

The first time I saw Kathy, I thought she looked like life had taken a lot out of her from behind the counter of the Circle K, but she was easy to talk to. She was blonde, thin but not sickly, and wore shoes that suggested she was accustomed to being on her feet most of the time. I guessed she was in her mid-forties. She was a nice departure from a lot of the women I saw at work every day. Of course, I couldn’t know exactly what was going on in a given woman’s life just by looking at her any more than she could know what was going on in mine. Still, it was hard to appreciate an individual woman’s beauty when most of them I saw towered over me in their high heels, flaunted legs that kept going until next Tuesday, and looked like they had trained with a Bloodsport-era, badass Jean-Claude van Damme, not the one content with starring in Tostitos commercials breaking chips instead of bones, and taking your place in your circle of friends. Kathy was different.

Maybe we got along because we were both night owls. Maybe it was because we both found ourselves doing things we never imagined doing when our parents asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Kathy told me she’d previously been a waitress at the Olive Garden. I told her how I was rebuilding my life and had had a literal pregnant pause between jobs once I’d come back from overseas.

Some nights, we’d talk long after she’d rang up my Combos and/or beef jerky. I’d offer general descriptions of the craziest recent customer interactions I’d experienced:

While working overtime one Saturday (a day I wasn’t even supposed to be there), I heard the beep of an incoming call in my ear, introduced myself, and offered to help, as was standard procedure. The guy on the other end of the line immediately started pulling his cheek back and forth. I could tell he’d moistened the inside of his cheek with spit (probably while listening to the preceding hold music) as an act of premeditation. His vagina song was broadcast directly into my ears and left no doubt he’d been watching too much porn and studying how to replicate the anatomical musical score with himself. Why he decided to share his concert with me, I’ll never know. Some things are best left unsaid.

When I asked Kathy what the strangest thing she’d ever sold someone was, she replied without hesitation: “I once had a guy come in here at three o’clock in the morning who bought condoms and bleach.”

I was left wondering why I’d even asked.

As much as I enjoyed conversations with Kathy, much briefer exchanges were the norm. The place was usually dead when I’d get there around 10:30 PM, but my arrival always seemed to trigger an avalanche of customers who urgently needed gas, cigarettes, or lottery tickets. I usually took the onslaught of humanity as my cue to exit stage right.

That’s how it went for us. That was our routine.

The first time I saw Ashley, she was telling Kathy about how much she missed. Kayla. Kathy introduced us and told me she used to work at the Olive Garden with Ashley. I was instantly glad I hadn’t earlier ridiculed the wardrobe of white shirts and solid, brightly-colored ties that waitstaff of the Olive Garden in required to wear, though I’d wanted to badly. Ashley talked about how she’d recently had an argument with her mother, whom she hated, and how her son’s father, then serving in the U.S. Navy aboard a ship somewhere off the coast of Greece, was an asshole.

I’m not sure if Ashley interpreted the fact that I asked her questions as a sign of genuine interest, or if I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. As luck would have it, this was not one those nights when we were interrupted by strangers seeking swizzle sticks. She went on and on about how she missed Kayla. I just kept nodding, unsure of what else to do. I could have left at any time, but I was overcome with curiosity, as if I’d passed a really bad car accident, one that when you see it, you instantly ask yourself if somebody died. You feel bad for staring, but you can’t look away.

This carnage involved conversation instead of cars.

After an eternity of my unanswered prayers to be interrupted by a customer, Ashley suggested I join her for a drink. It was a Friday night and I didn’t have to work the next day, so against my better judgement, I agreed to go with her. She must have had to use the bathroom before we left; once Ashley was out of earshot, Kathy leaned over the counter and told me to be careful because Ashley may have already been drunk, high, or both. When we finally got into her car and pulled away from Circle K, I caught a glimpse of Kathy through the window, motioning to me with her hands as if putting on a seatbelt, reminding to me to do the same. She was trying to keep me safe with (or from) a woman I’d known for all of three hours.

Our first stop was a sports bar called The Crown, merely feet away from Circle K. Ashley ordered a Blue Mojito. I don’t remember drinking anything, but I do remember her taking my tie off without really asking if she could, and putting it around her neck as she continued to drone on about Kayla, her bitch of a mother, and her son.

Next, we went to a bar called the Keystone Pub and Patio. It had to have been around 2 AM; chairs were already turned upside down on top of tables when we walked in. Ashley must have known the bartender, who poured us shots of something that looked like Fireball. I don’t remember either one of us paying for them.

We were supposed to go to Waffle House after this, but that’s when shit got really weird. Ashley drove us there, but we sat in the parking lot for what felt like forever. We never made it inside. At one point, she just lost it:

Her: ”I miss KAYYYYYYLLLLLLAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

Me: “Um…. I’m sorry for your loss. I can tell she meant a lot to you.

Her: “I wish I could just crawl down into her grave any lie beside HEEEEEERRRR!!!! Oh Gawd!!!”

Me: “Okay.”

Her: “Put your hand on my chest and feel me sing.”

Me: “Ashley, I don’t know if that’s such a good…”

Before I could finish my sentence, she grabbed one of my hands, placed it just above her breasts and held it there. The next song was I Believe You Liar by Australian singer/songwriter Washington. It started with a hauntingly beautiful piano intro, the kind that made me stop (despite the awkward position of my hand) and listen. The first verse is:

All the things you've said And things you've done I remember, in memoriam You said that you did But you did not Oh, you ache for something God knows what

I’d never heard the song before. Even now, I still can’t listen to it without thinking of that moment in Ashley’s car. The piano part still gives me goosebumps, the kind you get when a song truly captures your attention, the kind that form long before you’ve heard a song 500 times thanks to Top-40 radio, TV dramas, and being a resident of planet Earth. I haven’t heard I Believe You Liar anywhere near 500 times. I don’t want to. For some reason, I don’t want to spoil it despite the ridiculousness surrounding when I first heard it.

Once it became clear that we wouldn’t be going inside Waffle House, I was slightly pissed off. I was hungry, dammit. We'd been drinking, so the conditions were perfect; I’d heard most people only go there when they’re drunk anyway. But I wonder now if listening to Washington’s song wasn’t a better fit than intoxicated waffle consumption for what Ashley was going through. It’s easy for me to describe the absurdity of our encounter, but there may have been more to it. However demonstratively, Ashley was grieving, aching. for her friend who died unexpectedly. I just happened to meet her that night.

Ashley had been in my life for about eight hours when we pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex. The sky was starting to change color, signaling the beginning of a new day. I thought of a video game I used to play as a kid, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. One of the most annoying aspects of which is that you never knew when night was going to transition to day or vice versa.

If you were in a town when a transition to night happened, all the townspeople vanished, and you were faced with zombies that moved like rejects from Michael Jackson’s Thriller, plus bats you couldn’t even see coming because they blended in almost perfectly with the nighttime screen. When the lights went down in the city, you, Simon Belmont, the next in a long line of heroic vampire slayers, were reduced to jumping around whipping at shit in your 8-bit leotard while a soundtrack played that didn’t exactly inspire fear in, or of the undead.

Whether you were in town or out and about in the blocky wilderness, your only salvation from the darkness was another seemingly randomly timed pop-up box like this, which meant it was about to be daytime again:

I hated not knowing when day or night would come next. Even as a ten-year-old, the unpredictability made me nervous. You might say it was my first encounter with a pop-up ad, long before the modern incarnation those annoying little fuckers (or the option to skip ads) existed. This might be why I hate most ads to this day. Still, that night with Ashley, I actually prayed for the first time in my life that a Castlevania II pop-up would appear in the sky overhead, vanquish the horrible night, and send her back to wherever she’d come from.

Only that’s not what happened

II.

“Do you mind if I stay here tonight,” she asked.

“Not at all (this night couldn’t possibly get any weirder),” I said.

We went upstairs and went straight to bed. I couldn’t sleep, and my occasional attempts to kiss Ashley didn’t escalate into anything more. I just tossed and turned, unable to sleep thanks to the alcohol and the stranger in my bed. Ashley didn't have any such problems.

After hours of restlessness, I gave up trying to sleep and decided to go about my normal Saturday routine, beginning with doing laundry. I tiptoed around to avoid waking Ashley, but this didn’t stop me from checking on her every few minutes to make sure she was still breathing. After she'd spoken so agonizingly about missing Kayla, I seriously believed Ashley could kill herself right there in my bed without a second thought.

She finally woke up in the middle of the afternoon. We sat on the couch and talked about books and what we wanted to do with our lives. I agreed to let her borrow my copy of Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and she said she let me borrow her copy of The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Notes from the Underground was one of those books I was supposed to read in college but never did. I was looking forward to reading it on my own time, when a requirement wasn’t hanging over my head. I’d read one of Mitch Albom’s other books, Tuesdays with Morrie, which heart-wrenching though it was, had been a fast read. I thought I could get through The Five People You Meet in Heaven quickly, and reasonably expect Ashley to finish Notes from the Underground in about the same amount of time. I figured we’d meet up after reading, give each other their book back, and that would be the end of it.

That’s not what happened either.

First, we drove to her mom’s house so she could pick up The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Ashley decided she was hungry, so we stopped at Wendy’s on the way back to my place. Eating fast food was a rare experience for me (but the whole night before had also been). Until 2017, I had no idea Wendy’s had a vanilla Frosty on their menu, an item that had already been around for more than a decade by the time I caught on. I’d had other things on my mind.

We went back to my place to exchange books and phone numbers. Ashley finally left at around 6:30 PM, capping a whirlwind twenty hours. I wasn’t sure what had just happened, or why, but it did happen.

I finished The Five People You Meet in Heaven in about a week, and texted Ashley to let her know I was looking forward to giving her back her book. I got a brief response like, “Hey” and something about her work schedule being crazy. At first I didn’t mind having her book (and not having mine), but as time passed, it started to bother me. Not a lot gets on my nerves, but two things that do are owing people money and having something that doesn’t belong to me. Every time I’d see Ashley’s book on my shelf, I’d think: “Man... I really should get that back to her.” Then a more basic thought would creep into my brain: “I hope she hasn’t made good on her desire to crawl down into the grave with Kayla. Fuck... I hope she’s still alive.”

Over time, my texts and her replies became more and more infrequent. I’d joke with Kathy that I was reaching out to Ashley once every season, just to prove to myself that I was still trying to do the right thing by returning her book. As the months passed, I started to just want my damn book back, and to give her hers so I wouldn’t have to think about it anymore.

That’s how it went for me. That was my routine. Until the day she just showed up in my parking lot.

By September 2013, I’d found a job in fraud prevention. I jumped at the chance to learn something new without subjecting my ears to incoming vagina songs. I was still a night owl, but struggling to work at a pace that met the expectations of my new department. To help me acclimate, management had me do a few days of side-by-side training with a more experienced specialist. This meant I also got to temporarily change my schedule to a more traditional 9 AM to 6 PM.

For some reason, after working my temporary shift one day, I decided to walk through the rear parking lot of the complex instead of the front one. Then I saw her. She was in a car I didn’t recognize, but she was with two guys I did, from Circle K. The driver’s side door was open so she'd gotten a bit of a head start towards me before I realized what was happening. She ran into my arms and hugged me like I was someone she truly missed:

“Hiiiiiiiiiii!!!! I am SO sorry!!!!” She was practically squealing.

You’d have thought it had been only a week instead of nearly a year since I’d wished for the morning sun to vanquish that horrible night. All I could think was, “Finally! Here’s my chance to return her book and be done with this shit once and for all.” I’d aged almost 365 days since the last time I saw her, but Ashley must have thought I was elderly and feeble. She took me by the arm and helped me up the stairs and into my apartment. Once inside, she helped me take off my shoes and put on house slippers though I never asked her to.

“Ashley, what about your friends? Aren’t they still down there with the car running?”

“Oh, they’ll be fine. They’re just down there smoking weed...”

’WHAAAAAAAAAA!?!?!?’

I have absolutely no problem with recreational marijuana use, but I also knew that if the cops showed up (seeing law enforcement officers driving up and down my street was not uncommon) and started asking Cheech and Chong questions about why they were there and who they were with, I wasn’t going down with them. Even in their intentionally altered state of consciousness, I was convinced they could still identify me.

I case you’re wondering, Ashley left before I had a chance to bring up the books. I think I’d pissed her off by talking shit about her to one of my neighbors that night without realizing she was close enough to hear me. I should have whispered like Kathy had the year before when she was sure Ashley was out of earshot.

Still got it.

I never heard from Ashley again. I haven’t reread The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and the piano in I Believe You Liar still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I’m okay with that. Why? Mitch’s book and Washington’s song make up the eye of Hurricane Ashley, a storm I won’t soon forget.

0 notes

overlycaffeinatedwarmage · 7 years

Text

RtS 21-24

These chapters should come with a trigger warning. They do feature some harsh scenes and some sexual assault, though it is from afar. I don’t dwell on those parts during my analysis. Some are mentioned in passing, but the focus is on Cassie’s doings. Each chapter is labeled with the type of trigger that it contains. I would add page numbers, but ebook page numbering is different from the print book so they wouldn’t match for everyone.

This is another long one!

Ch 21 *trigger warning, assault, slaver camp chapter*

We pick up directly after her battle with Gertie on the cart. And poor Cassie winds up right back where she started with the slavers. Last chapter, the power told her that the cart driver was supposed to die, but Cassie choose a different route and he ended up not dying. She considers the implications of that now. The power again didn’t flare or stop her from changing time. We know because there is a big ass battle coming up shortly that pretty well decimates the area and likely kills a whole bunch of people. Anything Cassie messes up now, can be taken care of later during that battle. She doesn’t know that yet for sure, but she’s starting to wonder now.

Now Cassie and Rosier make it to the actual slaver camp. Cassie sees what’s happening to all of the women and it’s finally too much for her. She starts to break away to help. Rosier calls her back and reminds her that all of this has happened 1500 years ago from her point of view. It’s all over and done with and all of the women and their children are dead now. He’s right and she knows that but she hates standing back and doing nothing. I wonder if she’s thinking of how this almost parallels her own life. People have been taking her, without her consent, her entire life. First Cassie was taken from her parents by Tony. Then Mircea took her from Tony, in a way. Next, after she finally thought she broke away from that life, she was taken from her chosen life by the Senate. Now Mircea’s trying to take her again. Jonas has been trying to steal her away too. Everyone wants a piece of Cassie and no one asks her opinion on the matter. I am so glad to see Cassie start to take back her power from all of these people and refuse to be taken anymore.

We meet the 6th century Witches. They remind me a lot of their 21st century counter parts. With some hair dye and some modern clothes, I bet you couldn’t even tell the difference. I love the “Come at me bro” attitude.

Cassie about the power’s lack of response even though she was actively participating in and screwing up the time line, “If I had to use a word to describe the overall response, it would have been “meh.” We’re going to have to work on our communication, I told it grimly.”

Ch22 Trigger warning, still in the slaver camp

Cassie chats with the coven witches. Their “man inside” is Pritkin, of course. We find out that the Green Fey are the ones behind the slave trade. We knew that, more or less, through some context clues, but actual confirmation is nice. Ah, it’s the Green Fey who are at war with the Dark. Baby!Pritkin has a seemingly good relationship with the Dark Fey. But it also seems he has a decent relationship with the Green (except Nimue) I wonder how that works with them being at odds with one another. It’s hard to tell his relationship with the Blue but it doesn’t seem awful. His relationship with the Svarestri is trash, but they hate half breeds so that makes sense. Interesting. This is something I need to consider further.

Anyway, the witches explain Nimue’s plan to steal more women to bring her numbers back up after her war with the Dark fey. (Side note does Nimue make it out of all of this alive?) As the Witches talk about their plan Cassie realizes that their boy is Pritkin, lol, she's getting pissed. And then he finds them.

I love the visual of him running into the tent, thrashing around like crazy, confused as shit, running out head whipping back and forth before he sees them. The Pritkin of today is so calm under pressure, having centuries of practice. This one is new and raw still. All his elements are there, we see it, they just aren't finished yet. I love that KC lets us see character development in this unique way. No other story line can give it quite like this.

Cassie slaps him, he acts hurt, she yells at him. "It's mostly my feelings-" I mean really, lol. In his mind it was perfectly logical to stash her with the slavers and tell her nothing. He's annoyed that she doesn't share the idea that it was a brilliant plan. I mean, on some level it makes sense I guess. But he simply cannot see it from her point of view either.

Then we have the Witches reactions.

W: “Friends?”

P: “Friends” C: “it's complicated.” And then they reverse it

W: “I've had friends like that”. They get the right idea all right.

Ch23, the fey assault Cassie scene

The bracelet is serving as magical weapons mule again. I love that the bracelet is seeing serious use this book after being sidelined for 2 books. It’s put to a good use too, not just used for killing. Since it always comes back to Cassie, both she and Pritkin use it with that property in mind. I also like the throwback to CbS, with Pritkin using it as a magical charm bracelet again (or for the first time, damn time travel).

According to HtM the Green Fey have thrown in with the gods. It seems the Svarestri have too. Jury’s still out on Blarestri. I can’t see the Dark turning to them, especially after the Fey Blessing Radella gave Cassie. More things to think about.

Pritkin and Cassie start to get personal here because Cassie is stalling for time. It’s interesting. Pritkin trusts her, even though no one else does. He doesn't know why he trusts her but he does implicitly and right away. Pritkin knows her even before he knows her. He just trusts her. Big difference from Mircea from EtN when Cassie shifts to the past, he didn't trust it was her at all. It took FOREVER for her to convince him. Even when Cassie accidentally shifted to Pritkin early in TtS he trusted her from the start. It was only after he checked the spell he placed on her that said she was upstairs that he just got suspicious. It took little convincing after the slamming that TtS Cassie was who she claimed to be. These two are damn soul mates. Their souls just know. (Side note soon after Cassie says she hates his fake eyes she talks out loud again accidentally).

Pritkin brings Cassie into the hall as his prisoner. The fey make her strip. Pritkin doesn't want to allow it but Cassie relents quickly, knowing it’s the least risky course of action. Then the fey turn even more asshold-ish Ugh, I hate the fey. Welcome to one of my triggers. Fuck you neighborhood boys who thought I was their play thing. Yuck yuck yuck. At least Pritkin comes to her rescue

Ch 24, Cassie Pritkin sex scene

Then we have a Casskin sex-scene, depending on your definition of sex. Even though the sex will get them out of trouble and Cassie is more or less willing, Pritkin is Not On Board. Not even a little. This is the first time the tables are turned. Usually Pritkin does oral for Cassie. Now it's switched. While this scene is coerced it doesn't bother me too much. They had other options and this is the path Cassie choose. She could have done a lot of other things. Plus, she admits she would have minded doing this under other circumstances. She loves and wants him (as she says later). The feedback loop kicks in and it saves their asses. She finally gets to see his O-face.

Pritkin uses the power and distraction to throw a fireball. And then we have chaos. It’s practically their signature style at this point. “Chaos by Casskin” available at all major department stores and Augustines. Awwwwww Pritkin learned the word “Shit” from Cassie. And he uses it in the proper context too! I’m almost as proud as when my 5-year-old learned the word “Fuck” from me and used it in the proper context. (He told me to “get those fuckers” while I was playing Zelda.)

The tapestry scene, omg. I should not read this at work....This the first time they have gotten close where they weren’t immediately pulled away. That's why we have this big after effect this time! Every other time they have been interrupted and taken away from each other. Interesting!

They agree doing this is a bad idea and do it anyway, lol. Yeah, been there, done that guys. He needs her name here so bad, he won't do it without her name, just in case. Sweet in its way. We find out why later.

TMI time, read at your own peril: I both loved and was frustrated by this scene. Loved it because it's hot as hell. Getting it on in the face of danger is hot!! In public, where you could get caught (and they do). Frustrated because I wanted penis in vagina goddammit! I mean I get that later, but still. Their angle of the action and the kissing sounds a bit awkward though. They are so close to the same height that it wouldn't work so well. I mean, ow! Not that I know from personal experience or anything. Shut up! I hear you snickering in the back.

Yeah, um yeah….

#cassie palmer #pritkin #karen chance #rts #triggers #casskin

12 notes · View notes

ofwolvesandshatteredshields · 7 years

Text

The High Seas

Here’s a little drabble about Isabela taking Hawke and Saravh (Aveline’s adopted daughter) out for a sail :’)

——

“Isabela!” Hawke grins at her. “You’ve…gone grey!”

“I know! Don’t I look dignified?” Isabela tosses her hair and grins back. She hasn’t gone grey, exactly, but there are thin silver strands weaving through those familiar waves of black.

“And you must be Saravh.” Isabela sidesteps Hawke. “I’m so glad to meet you. Can I give you a hug?”

Saravh nods shyly and they embrace.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" Hawke shades his eyes, squinting. The sun is brilliant, throwing its shattered-glass reflection over the choppy seas.

"It is lovely. And windy, too. I think we'll have fun out there." Isabela gestures. "Come on, I tied up over here."

Hawke follows her down the dinghy pier. To one side there's a small single-sail boat, half-rigged; the end of the boom rests on the floor of the boat next to the keel and rudder. He climbs in first, doing his best to stay low. Would be embarrassing if he managed to tip the thing over while they were still docked.

Isabela is next and helps Saravh board. "So, have you ever sailed before?"

"When I was really young. But not since—not since I came here."

"Then we'll just have to teach you."

"Hey, what about me?" Hawke says, mildly put out.

Isabela shrugs. "You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks."

"I'm not old—”

"Oh really? Because I'm not the only one going grey."

Hawke touches his beard self-consciously. It's not very apparent yet but she...isn't wrong.

“I don’t think you’re old, Uncle Hawke!” Saravh pipes up.

“Oh, please.” Isabela rolls her eyes. “There’s no need to flatter him, his ego’s big enough already. Now first we put in the rudder, then the keel..."

When they've done that Saravh hoists the mainsail, grasping the rope and yanking, the metal block squeaking as the sail and boom rise. "Perfect!" Isabela claps. "Hawke, untie us, would you?"

Hawke undoes the line from the pier and shoves them off, he and Saravh taking their seats with Isabela on the windward side of the boat. Isabela angles the tiller to point them out toward the open sea. "Oh—one very important thing," she says, pulling in the mainsheet. "When we turn through the wind, the boom's going to swing across the boat and you'll need to switch sides. And also duck."

Hawke eyes the boom. It might go over Saravh’s head, but it’ll never go over his. Well, it’s a good thing he’s still flexible.

Isabela takes them at a moderate speed, the boat bouncing a little on the chop. Her fingers are light on the rudder as she holds them on a line out of the harbor. She and Hawke have been exchanging letters but he’s sure there’s a few things she’s kept for today to be exercised through her own special brand of storytelling. “So,” Hawke says casually. “Anything interesting happen since your last letter?”

A devilish grin appears on her face. “Do you remember that woman I told you about? The one who goes by ‘the Bronto?’”

Hawke straightens quickly. “Er, let’s remember to try and keep things clean, Saravh’s only fourteen, after all.”

“Mm.” Isabela nods in thought. “Well, just a couple of days after I sent you that letter I persuaded her to join my crew and that very night she boarded my ship. Ever since then she’s been swabbing my decks—excellently, I might add, she’s got very strong arms—“

Hawke rests his head in his hands. He did try; if this gets back to Aveline he’ll at least be able to enter a plea of innocence with honesty. Isabela is still going. “—cleaning my cannons, plugging my breaches, scrubbing my keel…pumping my bilge…hm, that one’s not very good, is it—“

Hawke seizes the chance to interrupt. “Good! I’m glad she’s a—hard worker.” It’s too late, of course. Saravh is giggling madly.

But Isabela desists, having had her fun, and Saravh is wide-eyed at her stories of adventure on the high seas. Even Hawke is impressed; he’d heard Estwatch was nearly destroyed in a terrible storm last month but Isabela describes how she sailed through it to escape an Antivan nobleman’s fleet. Hawke sort of wishes he’d seen it. He’s not especially fond of the open sea but he is fond of Isabela, and it surely would have been something to watch her iron command bear her crew through a storm like that one.

"But how about you?" Isabela asks. They're out on the sound now, and the wind is good; she points them toward the Wounded Coast. "They teach you anything good at the...what do they call it now?"

"The College of Enchanters," Saravh says, and shrugs. "Some of it's good. They've hired a seer, I like her magic. The rest...I don't know. Everyone seems to be doing better than I am. I can't put together a decent fireball for the life of me."

Isabela waves a hand, the tail of the mainsheet flopping off it. "Fireballs are terribly obvious. Much better to stab your enemies in the dark and then slip away unnoticed."

Hawke nods, gazing off the stern. "Have no fear, I completely agree."

"Oh! Have you been teaching her to stab people!"

"Isabela, please. What sort of uncle would I be if I didn't?"

A guffaw. "Bet Aveline's thrilled about that one."

"She doesn't mind," Saravh says. "Well, the part about stabbing. Some of the other things..."

"Listen, pickpocketing has perfectly legitimate applications," Hawke asserts.

Isabela lets out a wistful sigh. "A cutpurse who can cast spells...say, Saravh, have you ever dreamt of sailing the high seas?"

Hawke feels he should say something but is too busy squinting past the stern. The presence of the boat isn't the problem, it's been gaining on them and is quite visible now; it's the colors he strains to see, if there are any. "Er—Isabela?"

She looks up. "Hm?"

"Are we expecting company?"

She swivels, a frown replacing the good humor on her face. “Hawke, hold this.”

She hands him the mainsheet, and he pulls it just a little tighter, their wind blowing past them just a little quicker. With one hand Isabela plucks the telescope from her belt and shunts it open, holding it up to her eye. Saravh sits gripping the gunwale, apprehensive.

“Shit,” Isabela mutters. “That evil little bastard.”

“What?” Hawke asks. “What’s happened?”

“D’you remember that Antivan noble I mentioned? The one I had to sail through a storm to escape from?”

“Yes?”

“Well, it seems I didn’t shake him after all. The skipper on that boat’s one of his officers. I’d recognize that mustache anywhere.”

Hawke heaves a sigh. “And now they’re after you. Us.”

“That they are. And we’re not going to outrun them, this thing’s a bit of a bathtub and anyways, they’ve got a jib.”

“Hm. Don’t suppose you’ve got a bow and arrow on board?”

Isabela snorts. “In this wind? Really?”

“Right,” he mumbles. Stupid idea. Already a stiff breeze over the water, and with the headwind…

“They’re catching up,” Saravh says quietly.

Isabela takes the mainsheet back, still holding it loosely, and pushes the tiller away, the boat swiveling until they’re almost perpendicular to the wind. “All right, you two. See that rope?” She points at the rope running along the floor of the boat. “Stick your feet under it and get ready to lean back as hard as you can.”

Hawke shoves his boots beneath the thick, woven braid, Saravh doing the same; then Isabela yanks the mainsheet in hard, dragging the boom to the center of the boat. The sail tautens, straining full of wind.

The boat rolls fast leeward, Hawke finding himself rising into the air. Reflexively he hurls his weight back, feet still anchored by the rope, body leaning out over the spray. Saravh is right beside him, and Isabela as well. The boat shoots forward, racing over the water, the three of them counterbalancing wind-taut sails.

“All right!” Isabela shouts. “I think I’ve got an idea!”

Peering back, Hawke sees their pursuers' boat also up nearly on its side, the crew hiking out just as they are. And still gaining. "Talk fast!"

"Well, we've got a mage on board, haven't we?"

Oh no. "She's fourteen!"

“Exactly! I’m not a kid anymore!“ Saravh shouts over the wind. "But—I don't know anything of use! Just hedge magic!"

Isabela is quiet for a moment, thinking. Then: "Hedge magic? Can you do illusions?"

"Er—yes?"

"Good. From how far?"

"Not far. Forty feet? Fifty?”

"Right. When they catch up to us, I want you to create an illusion that'll make their skipper drop his line and tiller. Can you do that?"

"I—the boat's moving, I—" She breaks off, frustrated, then nods. "Yes. I'll do it."

"That's my girl. Keep holding on, you two, we have to do this at speed."

The other boat is catching up. Hawke sees them, their dirty white sails tight with wind, slicing over the glittering water. He can feel it when Isabela lets up on the mainsheet to allow them to close, how he mustn't lean out quite so hard anymore over the spray. His shirt's going to be crusty with salt after this.

"I think they're close enough!" Saravh shouts. "I'm going to try!"

She reaches out.

Maybe a spot of turbulence in the headwind, maybe nothing; Hawke can't sense magic the way Fenris can. But her arms weave as if sifting sand. "Oh, bugger me," she mumbles. Whoops. Aveline wouldn't like hearing that. Their pursuers are closing fast. The skipper and two crewmen. One of them brandishes a spear.

"Anytime now, kitten!" Isabela calls.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying! Everything’s moving, it's hard—"

"Saravh." Hawke leans in. "Remember what we've talked about. Prepare, then attack."

"Yes. Right." She steels herself, dark eyes fixed on the second boat. The advice was really supposed to be about traps and assassinations and that sort of thing, but he hopes it's applicable here too. Hawke watches their pursuers and wishes there were literally anything he could do, but somehow his wide array of skills is useless here. Bloody infuriating. The distance is disappearing fast. Fifteen yards. Ten. The spearman, still hiking over the side of the boat, raises his weapon. Hawke gets ready to throw his body over Isabela’s.

Saravh appears on the enemy craft, wielding the black steel dagger Hawke gave her for her birthday. Swiftly she stabs it into the skipper’s chest. The man lets out a surprised squeal and releases the tiller and mainsheet, grabbing the wound—

With no tension on it the boom snaps out, the boat instantly crashing down and rolling hard windward. The gunwale plunges down below the surface, dumping the crew into the water. They come up a second later, gasping for air, but—Hawke grins—the boat is well and truly capsized, the sail laying flat on the choppy surface.

But something is wrong. He counts the heads vanishing fast behind them—one, two, three, four—

“Hawke, duck!” Isabela shouts as the boat swivels.

Hawke looks up just in time for the boom to clock him in the forehead. He flails back but manages to grab onto the gunwale and throw himself forward, scrambling to the other side of the boat.

Aveline’s really going to kill him.

She must have fallen while she was casting the illusion, her focus elsewhere. Hawke peers ahead of them, Isabela pointing them back in the direction they came. Saravh is there, trying to swim away from the Antivan crew; but they’re bigger than her, plain and simple, and she screams as the skipper grabs her ankle. Almost there. Hawke leans over the side, reaching.

He gets Saravh by the arm and grabs her so hard he’s sure it’ll bruise, heaving her with all his might back into the boat. But she only makes it halfway, her lower body still hanging off with the furious skipper still latched onto her ankle. Saravh shouts, “Get off me!” and kicks him in the face, but he holds on, cursing her in Antivan.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Hawke growls, and wraps one arm firmly around Saravh’s ribs, hugging her to him. Then, bracing himself against the gunwale, he lifts his heel and slams it down on the skipper’s nose.

A satisfying crunch under his boot. The skipper lets go and floats away behind them. Hawke drags Saravh all the way into the boat. She’s soaked and panting for breath.

Nobody says anything for a few moments, the only sound the hiss of sea-spray, the thudding of the boat over the chop. Hawke realizes he’s still squeezing Saravh’s ribs and lets her go. She slumps back against him. Cold water starts to bleed through his shirt.

“Well!” Isabela says brightly. “That was exciting!”

An unexpected giggle from the region of his chest. He looks down. Saravh is grinning. “Yeah, it was.”

Hawke groans. “You almost got taken hostage. Or drowned.”

“But I didn’t!”

Isabela guffaws. “Oh, I know who she got that from. And it’s not Aveline.”

“That reminds me,” Hawke says. “Saravh, please don’t tell your mother about this. I’m supposed to be responsible for your safety.”

She shrugs. “Well, you’ve done a shit job, ain’t you?”

Hawke sighs airily. That’s what he gets for teaching her swears.

They return along the coast, going at a more leisurely speed. Saravh is still soaked to the bone, and Hawke hugs her so the wind doesn’t chill her. There’s a goose-egg growing on his forehead where the boom got him.

“I’m sorry,” Isabela says finally. “That was supposed to be just my problem. But it turned into our problem.”

“It’s all right,” Saravh answers. “What am I learning magic for if I’m not going to use it to help people?”

Isabela grins. “Now that sounds like Aveline.”

“Not just her! Uncle Hawke and Uncle Fenris have helped a lot of people too. And so did you, they’ve told me stories.”

Isabela blinks, silent for a moment; then she smiles, stretching her legs out. “Well, I’m not robbing people all the time, it’s true.”

“Maybe I’ll be a pirate when I grow up—“

“No,” Hawke says.

Saravh pouts. “What about a good pirate?”

“No.”

“You’re no fun. You’re just like Mum.”

Isabela leans in and whispers, “If you ever want to sail the high seas, my ship always has space for stowaways.”

“Isabela.”

“It builds character!”

Hawke heaves a long sigh. “Fine. As long as you tell your mother I had nothing to do with it.”

“Thanks, Uncle Hawke!” Saravh wraps her arms around him and squeezes as they approach the port.

#dragon age fanfiction #isabela #hawke #da2 #dragon age 2

14 notes · View notes