#he really threw that guy and skewered him

[rain-coat-killer]

I really wouldn't call Afo born evil either. All the things he did make sense from a child's point of view.

He drinks from his mothers corpse because he needs to eat. He kills because the world was dangerous, and they had no parent to protect them or home to live in.

He kicks his brother because his brother threw a can at him. It's just a response.

Someone hits, a child hits back.

No parent to tell him, 'use your words' or restrain him. Honestly, I don't know if anyone could in the time period. He had skewering spike powers from birth. That kinda makes it tough for people to pick a baby up. 😂

But still, he doesn't do these things with willful, self concious purpose. He was just a child afterall.

He developed in this setting, in this environment. Just constant fending for himself and his brother.

So it makes sense he would like the demon lord in the comic Yoichi found. That guy would appear to be doing all the things he was.

#afo bnha #all for one #my hero academia #bnha #mha #bnha spoilers #yoichi shigaraki #bnha 407

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : his hand on his ankle (12)

one piece x male reader

i think we're like fire and water. 

i think we're like the wind and sea.

you're burnin' up

and i'm coolin' down 

『 prev 』

“oi, pervy cook, stop harassing women!” [name] shouted from across the market stalls, “look this guy has a good deal, give me the bag of beri nami gave you!!”

sanji’s eyebrow quirked up in annoyance, new angry tick marks spawning all over his forehead as well. due to [name]’s shouts, the two beautiful women in front of him ran off.

he didn’t pick up on the fact they just ran away from sanji as a person, not because of [name].

grumbling under his breath about skewering [name] alive, he walked over to the stall and looked at their selection of ingredients. pretty quickly, sanji got over his anger and began bargaining with the sales rep.

[name] looked around as sanji took care of collecting all the ingredients, sighing as he felt himself grow immensely hot at the island’s weather. he had already stripped off his shirt, now donning a pair of knee length shorts while his torso was exposed.

he should get some more breathable clothing soon because the looks the townspeople were giving him were obviously laced with disapproval.

“i really can’t take you anywhere, your manners are nonexistent,” sanji said, backtracking to how [name] yelled earlier.

“they weren’t gonna get with you anyway,” [name] teased, throwing an arm around sanji’s shoulder. sanji easily shrugged the heavy limb off, scowling as [name] got too up close and personal.

the two continued on shopping and as soon as things began piling up, [name] looked around in wonder, “where’s chopper?” he asked, mentally hoping that the chef kept an eye on their newest crewmate.

“ah, i thought he was with you?” sanji said mindlessly, browsing through more selections of clothing for nami and vivi.

“hm, he probably is fine- hey! sanji, don’t buy those clothes, that’s not appropriate attire for the desert, idiot,” [name] said, slapping sanji in the head to rid him of his sudden heart eyes.

the blonde was looking at a beautiful piece of clothing that was definitely not actually made for the desert heat. “get them something more…not flashy,”

“flashy is the best!” sanji cried out, making [name] slap him on the head once more.

“idiot!”

[name] took care of buying actual clothing for the women, and the men — since sanji definitely wouldn’t care about them enough to spend beri on them, and made sure he snagged the whole bag of beri away from sanji. he didn’t need the chef wasting any more money on useless things.

after what felt like hours of shopping, the two rejoined with their group that was in hiding.

“huh? where’s chopper?” nami asked, noticing their missing reindeer.

“well, we don’t know, but!!! before you hit me, he’ll be able to find us with that strong nose of his, if anything we just lost him in the crowd,” [name] said, not really putting nami at ease, but it did stop her from hitting him on the head.

sanji quickly threw food at zoro and usopp, who jumped at it to ravenously eat it since they were starving. then he politely handed the share to vivi and nami. lastly, he didn’t even think twice in throwing a skewer at [name] — who easily swallowed it in one second.

“at least savor it, [name],” vivi said, worried as she saw [name] spit out the wooden stick that went through the meat skewer without a care in the world.

“i did savor it, your country’s food is yummy, vivi,” [name] approved, a thumbs up given to the princess who could only hum in delight.

“and, nami-san and vivi-chan, please put on the gowns i bought you!” sanji said, once again love struck as he spun his way over to nami and vivi. at that cue, [name] rummaged through their newly bought goods and brought the actual clothes out.

he laid them out to zoro and usopp first, the two nodding quickly in thanks before going back to devouring their share of meat. and then he walked over to nami and vivi, giving them an apologetic smile.

“here's some more clothes if you want to change into this instead,” vivi didn’t seem to hesitate in grabbing the cloths. she saved him a thankful look, patting him on the head as well. nami kept sanji’s choice of clothing, telling [name] to put the other robes into the bag for safe keeping in case.

everyone changed into their new outfits, [name] gagging as he felt it become even more suffocating with the layers he put on. the moment he emerged from behind the wall where he was changing, they all stopped and stared at him.

“does it really look that bad? because i feel like shit right now,” he said, not thinking much of their stares.

and there was nothing to make of it anyway as they all erupted with their own comments.

“yeah, you fit the part of a bandit,” sanji insulted, taking a drag of his cigarette.

”don’t have such a pathetic look on your face, [name], it makes you seriously look miserable,” nami advised, sweatdropping as [name] dropped in front of them in exhaustion from the heat.

“you’re gonna eat shit in the desert, aren’t you?! haha!!” zoro laughed at [name]’s personal hell.

“come on, [name], get serious! you need to be in tip-top shape in order to protect us, this isn’t a joke!!!” usopp cried, shaking [name] back and forth by his collar.

meanwhile, [name] was slumped over right next to chopper as they were both suffering immensely from the heat.

“[name], are you going to be alright? you look really, really…” vivi trailed off, seeing the sweat that was practically soaking into [name]’s headpiece. “hot.”

“i’m terrible with hot weather! first we go to drum island, as fucking cold as it was, then we end up in the middle of the desert! i might as well jump into a boiling tub of hot water!” [name] shouted, kicking into the sand in frustration, “i can’t deal with this!”

“you’re awfully affected by the weather, just make sure you pack some water,” nami huffed, shrugging her shoulders, “or take off a couple of layers.”

[name] easily did as told, eager to get the suffocating clothes off of his person. he kept the headpiece on, tying the arms of the robe around his waist to leave his torso bare. he threw the sword over his person to rest on his back, breathing a sigh of relief.

with his muscular back and torso exposed, nami eyed him in interest. something had caught her eye on [name]’s back and she stopped him from moving around when she finally made out what it was.

”you have a tattoo, [name]?”

[name] turned around to look at his back, grinning when he saw the ink that permanently was etched into his skin.

“yeah, you like?”

it was a big tattoo, honestly. the crew was surprised they’d never seen it before. a pair of wings were running the expanse of [name]’s wide shoulders, going on until the ending tips of the wings were a little bit exposed to his deltoids.

“what’s it mean?” nami asked, gently trailing a finger over [name]’s inked skin, flinching back when she felt that the skin was slightly raised as well, “wait…what’s this?”

her hand flattened against [name]’s back, making sanji seethe where he stood, to get a better feel. [name] sighed in content feeling her cool palm cool him down, but then perked up at her actual question.

“what?”

“it’s like, you’ve got a map…of scars,” she breathed out, eyes widening in realization. just as she said, there were linear scars that were trailing over [name]’s back. she looked down and realized that they continued on until his hip, which was as far as her eye could see.

she abruptly turned him around, shock gracing her features as she saw that [name] was thoroughly scarred all over. the lines of his raised marks were very, very thin, and small. very precise work, it looked like.

but no doubt, it was there.

“how have we never seen?”

“well, they’re small, so it only really noticeable when you’re up close,”

in intrigue, usopp leaned in closer and was shocked to see that there really were marks all over [name]’s torso, “woah, they kind of look badass, how far do they go?”

“from my face, all the way down to my feet,” [name] said, shooting a look to chopper, as if a warning to not say anything. the reindeer dropped his head and obediently stayed quiet.

before nami could ask any more questions regarding the scarring, vivi abruptly asked about the tattoo on his back.

“so what is the significance of the tattoo?” she asked, feeling a sense of pressure put on [name] to explain the scarring that even made her uncomfortable. the marks themselves weren’t making her uncomfortable, but rather the incessant questions that [name] may not have wanted to answer.

nami and usopp probably didn’t mean for it to come off as invasive, but either way that was what it felt like, to vivi at least.

“to make me fly!” [name] childishly grinned. his smile was purely innocent, as if he truly believed he could. it was a smile that could easily mirror that of their captain. he looked so carefree as he referenced the large tattoo. and it was easy to miss the longing look in his eyes as he smiled, but a certain few picked up on it.

vivi smiled sadly at [name], sensing there was a deeper meaning to it than just that, but she left it alone. as did everyone else on the crew.

“sounds stupid, humans can’t fly idiot,” everyone besides zoro, as he was always eager to rile up [name]. and it worked as he knocked the swordsman on the head.

“but are you sure you want to walk around like that, [name]? the sun might get to you even more with your skin exposed,” vivi said worriedly, but [name] shot them down instantly.

“i’ll be fine,” [name] said, waving off the worries. “if anything, i’ll put the clothes back on if its really getting too much,”

“put them back on now, no one wants to see it,” sanji and zoro said in a monotonous voice, making another fight between the three of them break out. nami and usopp could only sigh at their antics, chopper watched on in admiration, and vivi couldn’t help but feel secure.

she had such strong people on her side.

well, she still had to ask them to assist her…she swallowed the lump in her throat, looking up with a fierce glint in her eyes.

“everyone, please, i want to save this country. and the journey is going to be treacherous, especially across the desert, there’s no saying what will happen. but, please!! if you could lend me your help, please!”

it was silent for a couple of seconds. nami was the one to break it with her mischievous giggle, “you finally said it! we were waiting for you, of course we’ll help you!”

[name] grinned along with her, throwing an arm around vivi’s shoulder, “you remember my promise, don’t you?” he asked, mindlessly leaning into her. she felt flustered at the close contact with the half naked [name] that her ears and cheeks started burning almost instantly.

sanji took care of her “problem” by kicking [name] down on the head. and with his foot still resting on top of [name]’s head, he grinned at vivi, trying to look charming, “of course, we will help you, vivi-chan! anything to help you my beautiful princess.”

“pervy cook,” [name] said in a strained voice in unison with zoro’s bored one.

“we gotta go through yuba first, right?” usopp checked, earning a hum of confirmation from [name] and nami.

chopper, despite feeling the heat most sensitively, was more than excited to see the vast desert.

everyone raised their marked arms into the air, ready to set themselves out for adventure. but then they all faltered as they realized they were missing someone…their captain.

“where the fuck is that idiot?!”

the only resolution they had to their missing captain issue was searching in the nearest town.

“i’m gonna go check the restaurant,” [name] said, his head held down. just as he was about to walk off, nami grabbed ahold of his ear.

“only to look for luffy!!! do not, i repeat do not!!!, go in there to eat for your own appetite. we have a whole country to save, [name]! don’t even think about getting distracted now!”

“i won’t, now let me go!” [name] whined, running in his spot as nami had a hold on his ear. when she finally let go, he mimicked a rocket taking off with how fast he made a beeline to the restaurant up ahead.

‘coffee!! meat!!! sorry, nami!!!’ he thought in his head as he ran into the restaurant. not waiting a second, he took a seat at the bar’s counter and got ready to be served.

“cup of coffee and three plates of meat, please!” [name] said, grinning from ear to ear at eating a proper meal. he had only eaten that one skewer sanji had secured for him, that piss blonde didn’t pity [name]’s endless stomach one bit!

“[name], we gotta stop meeting like this, it’s feeling a little bizarre,” a voice said from next to him.

[name] turned his head to the side, tears coming into his eyes as he recognized that grin from anywhere, “ace!!!”

he jumped out of his seat, completely tackling ace out from his seat. this landed them both on the floor. he peppered kisses all over ace’s face, whose cheeks dusted pink very quickly at the action, “my ace!!!”

“alright, alright, i get it,” ace said, holding onto [name]’s shoulders to push him back a little from his suffocating attitude. “i missed you too,”

[name] broke free from ace’s grip on his shoulder, leaning back down to press his forehead against ace’s, nudging the freckled nose with his own. even if he was already burning up from the climate outside, he couldn’t help but press himself further into ace’s warm chest.

“we saw each other a couple months ago, [name], get ahold of yourself!” ace said, tired of fighting against [name]’s need to be pressed against him. [name] was stubborn and didn’t let up his pushing at all.

“come on, ace, i never knew when i’d see you again!” [name] said, nuzzling into ace’s neck, a devious grin on his face, “i can be selfish on the affections,”

“i think you were plenty selfish last time we saw each other,” ace mumbled with red dusting his face.

the two got up, or rather, ace sat up and since [name] had all of his limbs wrapped around ace, he too came up with him. ace sat back down on the barstool, [name] sitting on his lap.

it was definitely a sight to see for everyone in the restaurant. [name] wasn’t some small guy, he was tall and imposing with his strong build. to see him so childishly (trying to) fit himself onto ace’s lap, who was significantly smaller than him, made the customers blink a couple of times to make sure they were seeing right.

”i can’t eat with you on me like this!”

“hm, i’ll just feed you,”

ace looked at him in annoyance, “that’s not my point, idiot,”

rolling his eyes, [name] propped himself up on the bar counter, off the side of ace so that the man could eat his food perfectly fine. [name] kept his legs resting in between ace’s, squeezing every now and then around ace’s thigh to keep the skinship.

“you’re oddly clingy,” ace grumbled, not flinching backwards when [name] pressed their faces close to one another again, “you act too young, man up a little,”

“i think we both know you wouldn’t prefer the cold shoulder, though,” [name] smirked, referencing the last time the duo had seen each other, “weren’t you the one who almost started crying when-”

ace shoved a spoonful of rice into [name]’s mouth, “shut up.”

[name] happily ate the food and grinned in utmost pleasure, “say, ace, join luffy’s crew!”

“no.”

“you always were so heartless,” [name] sighed.

“i think it’s obvious why i can’t join,” ace said, scarfing down more food. one of his hands wrapped around [name]’s ankle, the one that wasn’t in between his legs, and he squeezed it gently.

[name] looked up at the action, ace’s firm and warm grip around his foot knocking him out of his daydream. he was greeted by a smirk from the freckled man, “why don’t you join the whitebeard pirates? they’re more in your league anyway,”

“nope,” [name] grinned, putting his fingers in front of his face to form an ‘x’ shape.

“see, that’s what i thought,” ace said, rubbing his thumb up and down [name]’s ankle as he spoke. neither of them paid the action no mind. ace did it to reassure himself [name] was really in front of him and [name] always welcomed skinship with ace, so he definitely didn’t mind.

“well-”

then ace’s grip on his ankle became loose and a loud slamming onto the table made everyone in the restaurant look their way.

“he died mid-chew!?” they cried out, looking at the ravenette who collapsed.

[name] sighed, taking ace’s hat off and placing it on his own head. he buried his hand in ace’s hair, happily taking more food off of his plate and eating to his heart’s content.

“he doesn’t even care!!!”

“eh? he’s not dead,” [name] simply said, looking at the crowd as if they were crazy, “how’d you guys come up with that conclusion?”

“he obviously looks dead, don’t play dumb!” the crowd shouted in unison once more.

suddenly, ace shot up again, looking dazed. wordlessly, he snatched his plate back up from [name] and continued eating.

“he didn’t die?!”

“i told you he didn’t!”

“ah, [name], my hat looks good on you,” ace said cheerfully, a stunning smile on his face.

“ew, ace, you’ve got food in your mouth still,” [name] grimaced, “also around your entire face, hold on,”

[name] grabbed a stray napkin and wiped ace’s face clean, the man presenting himself prettily to [name]. that made him laugh, gently tap his cheek at his obvious posing, and ruffle his hair.

“all clean.”

“you’re so reliable [name], that’s why you should join old man’s crew,” ace said, once again slipping an invitation into the conversation.

“nope!”

ace’s warm hand went back to resting on [name]’s ankle, continuing to finish plate after plate.

”you two are bold to be eating out in the open like that,” a voice said behind ace, making [name] look up in interest.

he saw a man with two thick cigars resting on the corner of his mouth, eye twitching at the sight. the man continued on, “second division commander of the whitebeard pirates, portgas d. ace.” his eyes then trailed onto [name], looking even more angered, “and you, cursed orphan [name]. are you aware that your bounty had shot up?”

[name] sweatdropped, “but i didn’t even do anything,” he said in exasperation, nudging ace, “these guys hate me for no reason, i swear,” this made the freckled man burst out laughing.

“you’re a wanted man, a bounty of 250,000,000 million,” the man announced, making [name] pout, “that’s not even much higher,” and that was enough to send the entire place into an uproar.

“whitebeard pirates?! over 200 million bounty?!” they all shouted in fear and realization. these two men that were casually cuddling up with each other in the middle of the restaurant were fearless, deadly, and intimidating pirates.

“what are you two low lives doing in this country in the first place?”

as ace turned around, [name] leaned his entire body against ace’s, resting his chin on his shoulder. the two grinned devilishly, and the occupants in the restaurant genuinely did fear for their lives. the two answered easily, “i’m looking for my little brother / i’m here to kick some warlord’s ass,”

the marine, [name] assumed, flinched at their confessions, averting his eyes to [name], “you, what did you just say?”

[name] grinned proudly, twirling the ends of ace’s hair with his finger, “i’m gonna beat up some asshole,” he grinned, enjoying the confused look on the marine’s face and laughing in delight.

tension in the room seemed to only fill, almost at its brim.

“so? what do you want from me?” ace asked, biting back laughter as he felt [name] attach to his back as if he were a backpack. if [name] wasn’t sitting on the bar counter, ace would have had to uphold all the weight of him on his back. his legs were wrapped around his torso and his arms were lazily thrown over ace’s front.

[name]’s chin was resting on ace’s head, the orange hat still on top of his h/c hair.

the two looked so casual and comfortable, not to mention smug, for smoker’s liking.

“to capture the both of you quietly,”

“nope, i think i’ll pass. how about you, [name]?”

“i just said i have important business, marine man, i got places to be so no can do!”

“well, i figured,” he sighed, a puff of smoke trailing out of his mouth, “i’m busy trying to find another pirate at the moment. to be honest i have no interest in taking either of you in,”

[name] gave a thumbs up, “great, so leave us alone!”

”can’t,” the marine said in a strained voice, “so long as you’re a pirate and i’m a marine, i can’t let either of you out of my sights,” smoke began to erupt at a much faster pace, this time coming from his fist and [name] already knew that the man in front of him had some sort of devil fruit power.

“that sounded too much like a confession,” [name] hummed in disinterest, leaning into ace’s back even further.

“that’s a pretty bland reason,” ace said, hands turning into clenched fists, “don’t go threatening us, either. you should know - i like showing off in front of [name], so i won’t go easy on you,” ace leaned back a little, raising an eyebrow as he felt nothing but completely relaxed, “so let’s have some fun!”

[name] squinted, seeing past smoker and sensing something very, very, very rapidly approaching. unfortunately, his innate abilities weren’t even fast enough to dodge, so he only took a tight hold on ace, acting as the man’s human shield and braced for impact.

in a second, the front door of the restaurant welcomed a crashing figure — who was shouting about food. ace and smoker were knocked off of their feet, [name] as ace’s backpack, as the mystery person crashed into both of them.

[name] felt several walls break down behind him from the impact, making him grit his teeth in annoyance. he’d kill luffy for sure! moving the rubble surrounding them aside, [name] sat upright with a frown on his face.

“you alright, ace?”

“yeah, just pissed off, who the hell is causing all that trouble?”

”i think we both know the answer…” [name]’s voice trailed off as he stood up and began walking through the many holes his captain caused inside people’s homes and establishments.

as he walked ahead, he could only think of so many ways to make luffy understand he was dead meat.

as [name] and ace came to the restaurant, ace’s eyes widening as he realized who it was, they were about to rush forward, but were slapped down to the ground by the marine that was pestering them earlier.

“you’re fucking with me right now,” [name] cursed into the bricks he got a face full of, feeling nothing but annoyance seep into his bones. “i’ll kill the both of you bastards!”

“straw hat!!!” the marine called out, rushing forward and chasing luffy out of the restaurant.

in a second, luffy was running out of the place, followed by smoker, who was then followed by [name] and ace.

“wait, luffy! it’s me!!! wait up, luffy!!!” ace desperately shouted, running after luffy’s fast figure.

”luffy, come back here so i can kill your dumbass! i’ll send you flying!”

the chase happened for much longer than it needed, but eventually [name] caught up to his captain. and the first thing he did was sucker punch him. ace disconnected from him to stop smoker, who was very close to actually catching luffy.

when luffy finally got up from being punched, he looked up at the scene in wonder.

“ace?!”

“that’s what we’ve been trying to tell you, idiot, idiot, idiot!!” [name] said, knocking some more sense into his captain, “we’ve been running after you like mad men, don’t you have ears to listen!?”

“[name], i was running from that guy there, give me a break!” luffy whined, holding onto his head in fear of getting hit once more.

“luffy, you really never change, do you?” ace asked, smirking at the sight of his little brother and the crew he acquired.

“ace, did you eat a devil fruit?! you have powers now?!” luffy asked in astonishment.

“yep, the mera-mera no mi,” ace easily answered, the smirk on his face not going away for even a second as he stared at the marines ahead, “anyways, we can’t chat like this! i’ll catch up! you guys run!”

that was enough for [name], as he still wanted to knock some sense into luffy, who dragged their captain by his ear and ran off.

”aren’t you a bit too ready to run away from a fight?!” usopp shouted, never seeing [name] so eager to get away.

“come on, don’t fall behind now!!” [name] shouted, smirking at the still crew, “ace’s got it all handled, let’s run now!!!”

“is he an acquaintance of yours, luffy?! [name]?!”

luffy laughed happily, looking back at his crew with that notoriously troublesome smile, “yeah!! he’s my brother!”

the crew would’ve stopped running in shock, but seeing as the marines were hot on their tail they had no other option but to continue rushing forward. the looks on their faces said it all though.

they thought that learning [name] and luffy grew up on the same island was shocking, it still was, honestly but just now finding out luffy had a brother? and the fact luffy and [name] were so casual on the fact, made their faces freeze in shock.

what else was their captain hiding?

[ miniature : BONUS ]

“why are you protecting those two, fire fist?” smoker snarled, watching as the entire strawhat crew got away from him.

“it’s normal for an older brother to worry about his bungling little brother,” ace smirked, the heat that was dancing on his skin becoming flames.

”your brother-? then you mean to say…” smoker’s voice trailed off, but before he could delve too deep into the new information, he demanded ace move once more.

“i’m afraid that’s a no can do,” ace said, the flames growing stronger with each passing second, “i did warn you though, i said i like to show off in front of [name]. so you understand where i’m coming from even more, right?”

“hardly,” smoker grunted, still not understanding how ace was related to both [name] and luffy.

“come on, you wouldn’t wanna put in some extra effort in impressing your lover?”

『 prev 』 ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🌊 ꒱ 『 next 』

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[intoxicated-chan]

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 ✾ ❝𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝❜𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝❞

© 2023 Intoxicated-Chan, I do not allow my work to be copied, translated, modified, adapted, or put on any other platform without permission. Any photos used do not belong to me!

(A/n) ➳ What do guys think of the first chapter? I’m hoping that you guys enjoy it and feedback is greatly appreciated!!

Word Count ➳ 1.1k

Content Warnings ➳ Alcohol use, small use of force, mentions of smoking…

Series Masterlist

You engulfed your brother in a tight hug as he easily lifted you off the ground, giving a little spin as well. The two of you laugh together as it has been years since you two saw each other, and since you both have different kinds of lives.

“Thanks for the invite!” Shanks smiled as he let you down, “Didn’t think you chose to give up being a pirate.”

“Eh… Well, I found this-” Gesturing to the island you both stand on, “More fun.”

“You’re not wrong about that.” He chuckled and followed you into town where the rest of the crew were sitting inside a bar.

All of them were chattering amongst themselves, enjoying the food and drinks, “I was also surprised to hear from you. Didn’t think inviting a pirate crew was a good choice.”

“I thought this festival would be a good way to catch up.” You take a seat at the bar, next to your brother who is ordering his food and drink, “This island is known for its partying.”

Shanks lifted an eyebrow at your statement, “Really?”

“Yep, just a couple of days ago, we just finished up a party that lasted half a year.”

“Were there any special occasions?”

You shake your head, “The people just like partying.” You said it with a wide smile, your eyes lighting up with joy as you remember the endless partying.

“Seems you haven’t changed.” Shanks smiled as well, thanking the bartender for being his meal, “It’s been a while since we were able to let loose.” He takes a swing of his ale, “Think I could crash at your place?”

If your smile couldn’t get any wider… “I’ll set up your room.” You hopped off the barstool and hurried back to your little home. It was probably big enough to fit a group of four, maybe five.

Shanks sets down his drink and turns to the crew, his gaze fixed on his crew, “Listen up men!” He began. His usually fun tone was gone and all that was left was a deep and commanding voice that was rarely used, “I’ve got something to say.”

He paused, giving his crew a moment to calm down and become quiet, “Everyone here knows my sister, I, of course, talked about her. She’s family and during our stay…” He took another glance, his eyes connecting with his right-hand man’s, “No matter who you are, not a single one of you is allowed to do anything to her. No expectations.”

Everyone exchanged looks, they all knew one thing, not to say anything back, no excuses, nothing.

“Now…” Shanks lifted his mug in the air and his usual smile returned to his face, “Let’s party until we drop!”

It wasn’t hours later until drinks were poured, music played, and laughter was heard. No matter how many times the island threw parties, they never seemed to tire from it.

The sun wasn’t even down yet and people were already drinking heavily.

Various smells of different kinds of foods filled your nostrils, and you dragged your drunk brother around the stalls, trying the food to keep him happy and still standing on his feet.

“Try this!” You bring the food to his lips, letting him take a bite.

He chewed a couple of times before swallowing, “Not bad.” He slurred, taking the meat skewer from your hands.

You grab another one for yourself, “See?” A single skewer of the delicious meat and devouring it in a couple of bites.

You couldn’t help but watch Shanks as he was drunk but he was enjoying himself. His stupidly infectious drunken laughter as he tried even more dishes.

“You and your crew sure know how to party.” You comment, looking towards his crew where all of them are crowded together, singing to the music being played, “And you haven’t lost your appetite.”

Shanks grinned, “What can I say? Food is life’s greatest pleasure.” He takes a large bite from the skewer. Once he finished, he tossed the wooden pick in the nearest trash can.

A playful shout caught his ears, Shanks turned to see a group of children engaged in a game of chase or a game of tag. With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he nudged your arm, “Care to play a game, sis?”

And you see where’s pointing with his only hand, “You’re on!”

Instantly, you ran away, not before smacking his arm. You dashed through the crowds, carefully not to bump or hit people on the way.

You could hear your brother laughing along. You took various turns to lose him as excitement filled your body. You finally felt relaxed as it felt like you both were back to being children before the two of you decided to split ways.

And even after he decided to form his crew, the two of you rarely saw each other…

You sprinted around a corner, looking over your shoulder to see if Shanks was behind you. You collided with a tall figure, you stumbled back and the stranger grabbed your arm.

Startled and heavily breathing, you found yourself against the wall with your heart racing, “Easy there.” Benn’s voice was focused and low, “And who are you running from?”

“B-Benn! It’s me.” You quickly whispered, hearing your brother’s giggles running past the alleyway.

It was lightened up by a touch hanging off the wall. At the end of the wall, there were some stairs leading up to the second floor.

You could see his eyes soften and his grip loosens immediately as he recognizes your voice, “(Y/n)...” Benn tilts his head slightly, his eyes squinting in the dim light, “What are you doing far from the party?”

You let out a sigh of relief as Benn took a couple of steps back, “Well…” Unsure how to explain.

The tense silence was in the air, so thick that you could cut it with a knife. The joyful festival was pushed to the back of your head as it felt awkward.

Benn looked over at the stairs at the end of the alleyway, he then looked back at you.

“...Care to join me for a smoke?”

» » YOU’RE HERE « « ⊰ Next Part ⊰

#x reader #x female reader #fluff #benn beckman #benn beckman x reader #one piece x reader #one piece x female reader #one piece x y/n #shanks #akagami no shanks #red haired pirates #red hair shanks

[invisibleraven]

Person A & Person B meet at a Halloween Bonfire Party on the beach / Peterpatter

To Luke, fourteen was a stupid age, especially at Halloween. He was too old to go trick or treating, and too young to get into the good parties, so he wasn't sure what to do with himself. But he knew if he didn't he'd be stuck answering the door with his mom while Hocus Pocus played on the TV.

Hard Pass.

What was worse was that Alex was stuck at some church function and Bobby wanted to spend the evening with his lola watching corny specials and stealing snack sized candy bars while waiting for kids. Leaving Luke with no plans and no friends to pass the time with.

That's when he heard of a Halloween Bonfire Party happening out at Silver Lake. Open to all as long as you brought your own drinks and s'mores supplies. That sounded way better than suffering through his fiftieth showing of The Great Pumpkin.

So Halloween night, Luke threw a bag of marshmallows and some skewers into a bag, plus a six pack of soda. He grabbed his wooly flannel jacket and his guitar last second; the first to stay warm, the second to woo any cute people he met, or maybe jam with some fellow musicians.

A few bus stops later, Luke was at Silver Lake, seeing various fires dot the beach, the smell of smoke and something skunky thick in the air. Luke weaved through the piles of people, avoiding those who looked a little too into partying or outside his age range.

But then, further up the beach he came across a smaller fire with a few teens around it. A guy with long dark hair, angular features, and wearing a crop top. A pretty Latina girl who was locking lips with a girl with insanely long braids. A blonde looking kind of bored as she poked the fire with a long stick.

And there-sitting with an acoustic guitar and sporting a cool leather jacket-was the cutest guy Luke had ever seen.

His skin was pale in the glowing firelight, but Luke could see a few spots of colour blooming on his cheeks as he laughed. He had a mouth full of shiny metal, but it didn't detract from his crooked grin that was devastating even with the braces. Then he noticed Luke and grinned even wider, waving him over.

"Hey! Finally someone else to play with!" The guys said, gesturing to Luke's guitar. "I'm Reggie. This is Willie, Carrie, Flynn, and Julie."

"Luke," he said, sitting next to Reggie and waving to the others. "How'd you guys hear about this?"

"I live right over there," Reggie said, gesturing to the small strip of houses across from the beach. "So I see it every year, figured this year I'd check it out. Invited my friends so I'd have someone to hang with, but it's cool to meet someone new!"

"Yeah," Luke replied, nudging Reggie's shoulder with his own. "It really is. So you wanna play?"

Reggie beamed as he nodded. Luke pulled out his bag of marshmallows and handed them around to the crew as he and Reggie discussed what song to play.

"No Wonderwall," Carrie threatened.

"Or John Denver," Flynn piped up.

"Not even Country Roads?' Reggie pouted.

"Especially Country Roads," Flynn replied.

"When I Come Around?" Luke suggested.

"I'm down with some Green Day," Reggie agreed, strumming his guitar. Willie pulled out a harmonica, with the girls patting their laps to make a beat, and soon enough the group of them were singing song after song as the fire burned low and Luke's bag full of confections emptied.

Luke glanced at his watch and scowled. "Shoot, I gotta go, the last bus home will be here any minute now."

Reggie pouted again and Luke had the strongest urge to kiss it off his lips but restrained himself. "Maybe we could so this again next year? And meet up before then to do a few more songs?"

"I'd like that," Reggie admitted, blushing. He pulled out a notebook and scrawled his number on a page, handing it to Luke. "Call me maybe?"

"Definitely," Luke nodded, rushing off, before doubling back, pressing a fleeting kiss to Reggie's cheek then dashing off again.

Luke was sure he was smiling the entire way home, given how much his face was aching from it by the time he went to bed. But one thing was for sure, he might have a new favourite holiday!

#filled prompts #ficlet #ruke #peterpatter #julie and the phantoms

[lamardeuse]

buried my hands in saffron

911  |    Buck/Eddie   |    Rated E    |    c. 4600 words

@911bingo prompt: Mutual Masturbation

The thing was, Eddie should have been ecstatic.

Three months ago, he had ended things with Marisol and sworn off dating again – because what was the point when you were never going to get over the big, beautiful gringo you'd been stupidly in love with for years? Four weeks ago, Buck had broken up with Natalia. And last week, after a marathon therapy session with Frank and a painful kick in the ass from Hen, Eddie had finally told Buck how he felt about him. He'd confessed, put his heart on the line. And Buck – well. Buck had been a little shocked at first.

“I wasn't shocked,” Buck said, looking to Hen and Karen for support. “You make it sound like I was some fainting Victorian lady with my corset laced too tight.”

“Fine, we'll pretend I didn't have to scrape your jaw off the floor,” Eddie said, skewering Buck with a look and grinning when he blushed.

“I wasn't shocked,” Buck insisted. “I've done stuff with guys before.”

“A lot's changed in the last decade, Buck,” Hen drawled, taking a sip of her wine.

Eddie's eyebrows shot up. “A decade, really? Also, how do you know it's been that long for him?”

Hen chuckled. “I keep forgetting you never met Buck 1.0. The day he found out I was a lesbian, he made a point of letting me know he'd kissed two guys in college and gone down on this really hot truck driver when he was hitching a ride to Montana, said it was – and I quote – ‘some Jack Kerouac shit'. I threw up in my mouth a little.”

Karen covered her face with her hands to muffle her laughter. “Geez,” Buck muttered, “see if I ever open up to you again. And it's been nine years, not that I'm counting.”

“If I never hear about your blowjobs again it'll be too soon,” Hen said. Pointing a finger at both of them, she added, “Fair warning.”

“Oh, hell no,” Eddie said, “you do not need to worry about that.” Even the thought of sharing graphic details of his sex life with his friends was horrifying.

“Not that we've –” Buck started, and Eddie glared him into silence.

Karen leaned forward. “Okay, so after the shock wore off, what happened?”

Hen raised her eyebrows at her wife. “Look who's nosy.”

“Listen, they're family now,” Karen said simply.

“And that means they don't owe us the details.”

Karen rested her chin on her hand and batted her eyelashes at Eddie and Buck. “No, you're right, they absolutely don't.”

Eddie glanced at Buck, who was biting his lip to keep from smiling. “You want to know who kissed who first,” Eddie said, mouth curving.

“I mean,” Karen said, “we might have a whole five dollars riding on it, so that would be –”

“Oh please, we do not, I thought you were joking –”

“I never joke about probability,” Karen retorted. “And the odds are definitely in my favor here –”

“Uh,” Buck said, raising a hand, “I think you're both gonna end up winning. Or losing, depending on how you look at it.”

read the rest at the AO3

#my stuff #911 bingo #buddie fic #buddie

[foxingpeculiar]

Lies of P blogging (Spoilers up through Rose Isabella Street or w/e).

Most of what I remember about the second part of the cathedral level is trying not to walk in the decay swamp before burning it off. I did do Cecile’s little questline and got the record from her, though (and it’s my favorite so far). Father What’s-His-Nuts wasn’t that bad. With the Specter to break aggro, I just gave him a wide berth and did my best to parry his spinning attacks when I got close. The second health bar kinda threw me, but didn’t change the fight too much. Got it on the third try, no muss, no fuss.

So then I was in the Malum District and ran into the Fox and Cat again. In fact, we even ran part of the level together! That was fun. And it was nice having backup for once. But then, of course, they fucked off.

I think I might’ve fucked up here, though. There was a zombie guy trapped behind a grate just past the Stargazer, and I just kind of reacted and killed him before he could pop out at me. But then, when I died later, it didn’t respawn. So now I’m like “shit, I shouldn’t have done that.” I don’t know what it’s going to affect, but it feels significant.

The District itself wasn’t too bad. The only tricky bit was the big guy wandering around the fire in the plaza. He’s guarding some treasure I still haven’t managed to nick, but I’ll head back for it.

Then there was the Black Rabbit Brotherhood fight JFC that main guy hits like a truck! And you’d think somebody with that kind of power would be slow, but no! I never for a minute felt in control of this fight, but somehow managed to squeak by on the third try (and I do mean squeak—no pulse charges and within one hit of being killed). Most of the fights so far I feel confident about, but this one I don’t know if I could do again, cos I’m not sure how I managed it.

So now I’m in Rose Isabella Street getting skewered by The White Lady. This bitch is fast, AND she can parry me, which I sure don’t love.

Story-wise it still hasn’t really come into focus. That the Alchemists are up to something seems more and more evident, but I don’t know what. It has something to do with the Golden Coin Fruit, I think, or maybe being cut off from it by Antonia? Also, I found that portrait of the boy who looks like me and now I’m pretty convinced that Geppetto remade his dead son into me, and that makes me not trust him, in like a Pet Sematary, “sometimes, dead is better” kind of way.

I also got the record from the merchant in the Lobster Inn, and I found the old lady who wants a “tipple” (what a delightful word) of wine. I like her style.

But yeah, further updates once I figure out how to not get turned into shish-kabob on this lady’s rapier.

#personal #video games #lies of p #gameblogging

[dianamoth]

Hello are you going to make another Naurto fanfic. I love all the ones you done so far

Hello,

I'm glad you like them. Thank you for letting me know. ♥

I'm currently low on writing juice, but I started a new project some time ago. It's about a disabled OC!Senju potentially paired with Minato and Shikaku.

I might as well share an excerpt here to see if it interests people and in turn motivates me to write more, otherwise, it will just stay in my drafts uselessly...

Follow the Minato by clicking on the "keep reading", and don't forget to leave feedback if you want more!

Inoichi threw himself on the free chair more than he sat, the wooden legs squeaking on the pavement.

“Did you hear?” he asked his friends with an excited face which meant he had a juicy piece of gossip to share.

The three jounin looked at him with amusement for his antics.

“Some of us barely woke up yet,” Shikaku drawled from his place against the wall, his chin propped up in his palm. To his credit, he had come back from a mission in the middle of the night and it was just noon.

“Do share, Inoichi, it looks like good news,” Minato added, smiling.

“And we certainly do need more of those,” Chouza agreed while serving himself generously among the dishes spread on the table.

“The Senju are organizing a courting trial!”

Shikaku deigned to look up from his food to stare at Inoichi in disbelief. “That old tradition? People still do that?”

Inoichi glanced surreptitiously around them to make sure that no one was paying too much attention to them, but the restaurant was depressingly empty (an ongoing war would do that to businesses).

“I heard from a reliable source that it’s done to, let’s say, deter a few unsavory characters from the courted party.”

“Damn it, Inoichi, just drop the names already,” Shikaku muttered.

“Fine! You really have no taste for mystery, Shikaku. I’m saying that Senju Airin claimed she wanted a courting trial when Danzou tried to arrange her marriage with his nephew.”

“Ew,” Chouza said. “Shimura Daiki? What a nasty piece. I wouldn’t wish him on any of my clanswomen… nor the sweet Airin. Well played if she dodged that bullet.”

“He could still complete the trial,” Minato pointed out.

Chouza sniffed in disdain. “I don’t pretend to know Airin-san very well, but she’s smart enough to find some trials too difficult for him to complete. Probably something that requires more than two neurons rubbed together.”

“Wow, tell us what you think of the guy, Chouza, would you?” Inoichi laughed. “As a matter of fact, the first trial is a game of go against the lady herself.” He wiggled his eyebrows toward Shikaku, to the others’ amusement and Shikaku’s exasperation.

“No, I’m not entering a courting trial just because it involves go,” Shikaku groused, throwing a wooden pick at his friend. “But back up would you? Why does Danzou want his nephew to marry that girl?”

“She’s two years older than us,” Chouza provided helpfully in between two bites.

“Alright, fine. Woman. What makes her so special?”

“Apart from being the only Senju woman of childbearing age left in Konoha, you mean?” Inoichi asked, finally realizing he was hungry and grabbing a plate of skewers.

“Yes, apart from that.”

“The Senju clan has been declared endangered,” Minato piped up while Inoichi was busy finally eating. “It means that any new member of the clan, spouse or children, receives financial aid.”

“And…” Inoichi adds with a shit-eating grin. “There are rumors…”

“Of course, there are,” Shikaku muttered.

“... that Senju Airin has got Mokuton abilities!”

“Bullshit,” Shikaku immediately denied, throwing his hands up. “Rumors? If she had Mokuton abilities, she would have been heralded as the Shodai’s reincarnation or something. Everyone would know about it.”

“The decision to keep it secret could have been made to protect her,” Minato suggested, always ready to play the devil’s advocate. 

“She wasn’t the best fighter, even before being injured in combat,” Chouza admitted. “You don’t put a target on the back of someone who can't handle it.”

“How injured?”

“Her ankle was smashed by an Iwa nin. The articulation was so badly injured that not even Tsunade-hime could completely heal it. I saw her recently in the streets, she walks with a terrible limp. She uses a cane, most often.”

Shikaku hummed. “Well, I never heard of her. What does she even look like? Compared to Tsunade-hime, how—”

Minato kicked him under the table so sharply that Shikaku hissed in pain, scowling at his friend before following his eyes to the door. A young woman was stepping in, walking with a limp and a cane. 

“Are you kidding—” Shikaku whispered under his breath before quieting when it became clear the woman was walking toward their table.

She had the same doe eyes as Tsunade-hime, but that’s where the likeness stopped. Her long wavy hair was light brown. Her skin was tanned, far from the blond’s fair skin. Where Tsunade was slim and relatively short, this one was plump and tall. Their chest size might compare, but with the modest layers she wore, it was hard to tell. Also, she wore pink, and she had freckles. He would have never imagined they were related.

“For the record, the window is open, and you have the discretion of Jiraiya-san near an onsen.”

To all his friends’ relief and bafflement, Chouza burst into laughter and stood up to greet the newcomer, breaking the awkwardness that had descended upon them.

“Airin-san! It has been too long!” He opened his arms, and Airin accepted the bear hug more gracefully than any other non-Akimichi. 

Shikaku sighed as he caught up. Between Airin's coloring and body shape, and Chouza’s familiarity with her, they had to be related.

“Chouza-kun. How are you?”

“I’m fine, all fine! Let me introduce you to my friends. This is Namikaze Minato, a dear friend, and brilliant jounin.” 

Minato stood up to bow. Airin greeted him with a “Pleased to meet you.”

“And these here, are my teammates, Yamanaka Inoichi and Nara Shikaku.”

Both nodded in greeting, foregoing the standing that Minato insisted on as a non-clan member. It was old school, but some idiot classists insisted on the practice.

“Let me guess, Chouza; she’s a cousin?” Inoichi asked, voicing Shikaku’s thoughts.

“That’s right! Her mom was my dad's cousin,” Chouza confirmed, laughing. He knew his family tree by heart.

“I take after her, obviously. I hope you aren’t too disappointed by the dissimilarity with Tsunade.” She said while gesturing from her chest to her toes. “She took after great-uncle Tobirama, I’m told.”

Shikaku rubbed his brow. This was on him, he knew. “How much did you hear?”

She shrugged. “Enough.”

“I apologize if I was rude.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t heard before.”

#my writing #naruto #naruto fanfiction #answered ask

[bouncingkadachi]

Silvered in the Moonlight

Summary: Kyle's spoiling for a fight, except they’ve already fought. He’s said his piece already. He’s said more than his fair share of his piece, truth be told, but then so had Astrea, and look where it got them. He should let it go now.

Too bad he was categorically awful at letting things go.

Word Count: 4,676

Note(s): that night flying scene from HTTYD but make it MonHun. Set post-game with gratuitous descriptions of Pomore Gardens. Getting kidnapped by a Rathalos and then accidentally unlocking a heart-to-heart.

Also available on AO3!

Dinner is a tense and angry affair.

It’s a shame, really. There’s a bubbling pot of tomato soup hanging over the fire, sweet and fragrant from the fatty tomatoes used. There’s fish, skewered and set to roasting in a ring around the flames with a generous sprinkling of salt, until the skin turns crispy and the flesh flakes off with minimal resistance. And there were donuts, obviously—piled high on waxed paper and drizzled liberally with warmed Lamure honey. It had all the trappings of a picturesque dinner for a picturesque campsite, given how nice Pomore Gardens was at this time of day, when everything was washed in soft sunset orange, the breeze wafting in from the sea carrying just the slightest tinge of salt. It had everything, except for the air of tranquility that it so desperately deserved.

Kyle snaps another twig and pokes at the embers. He is stuck on the previous hunt, fury still thrumming hot and heavy in his veins. He keeps a firm grasp on that anger, because the alternative is to open up the floodgates to worry, to fear. Anger is easier, even if it clawed at his chest like heartburn.

Across the camp, Astrea scrapes a whetstone along the edge of a blade with such ferocity that it screeches under her hands. They’d argued the entire way back from the hunting grounds, spat vicious words at each other all throughout the search for a suitable campsite, and had dissolved into stony silence only when they had split up to actually pitch camp. Both fire and meal had been prepared with brutal efficiency, accompanied only by chewing from the donuts that Tsukino had hastily stuffed into Navirou’s mouth when the Felyne had attempted to make the grievous mistake of intervening.

Kyle stabs his stick deeper into the flames. He’s spoiling for a fight, except they’ve already fought. He’s said his piece already. He’s said more than his fair share of his piece, truth be told, but then so had Astrea, and look where it got them. He should let it go now.

Except that he was categorically awful at letting things go. He tosses the burning twig into the fire and stands up. Instantly, Astrea’s eyes are on him, hard as flint and colder than steel. “If you didn’t have Ratha,” Kyle starts, stalking around the fire, “would you even pause once to use your brain in a fight?” The words are familiar, because the problem with picking a fight when you’ve already fought less than an hour ago is that there is often no new material to fire with. Thankfully, Astrea was too angry to care. Whatever she sees on Kyle’s face when he parks himself right in front of her has her curling her lip in answering disdain.

“You have no right to say that to me,” she hisses. Her hand is shaking around the whetstone, as though she can’t decide whether she wants to crush it in her grip or chuck it at Kyle’s head. “I told you we should’ve retreated when that Qurupeco started calling. You never know what kind of monster will be called, and guess what happened!?” She throws up her hands in exasperation, sending both sword and whetstone flying. “A Boltreaver! BOOM! And what were you doing then? Nothing!”

“I was absolutely doing something!” Kyle yells, incensed. “You have to target the throat sac and break the beak for those guys! What did you think the sonic bomb was for? And who was the one who threw themselves at the blasted Boltreaver’s tail and got shot way to the back!?” 

“I wouldn’t have had to if you were actually paying attention when I told you it was calling for help!” Then, immediately after: “Actually, you know what? I don’t have to stand here and listen to this. No, really! I don’t!” She spins on her heel and marches over to Ratha, who perks up at her approach but otherwise doesn’t move.

“You can’t just leave!” Kyle shouts back, stomping after her. “We’re in the middle of the Gardens and you’re—what—gonna navigate all the way in the dark to the Shelter?”

She rolls her eyes, and Kyle only catches it because she’s had to angle her body towards him as she hauls herself onto Ratha’s back. “Please. You’re annoying but not nearly annoying enough to kick me all the way back to the Shelter. And it’s still light out,” she scoffs, settling in as the Monstie experimentally stretches out his wings. “I am going to go and enjoy my evening with Ratha—maybe catch the full sunset from somewhere peaceful and quiet. You are going to stay here and calm down or whatever it is that Hunters do when they try to return to being more pleasant company. Do some self reflection or something. I don’t care anymore.”

The color floods hot and angry onto Kyle’s face. He goes to snarl something—she can see his mouth moving—but Ratha’s already spread his wings and is lifting off, clearing the ground and the spluttering boy with ease. She sighs as he gains altitude, scrubbing a hand down her face as he climbs up in lazy circles.

“He didn’t have to be so rude about everything,” she grumbles through her fingers. Ratha tips his head back towards her and she huffs, leaning forward and patting the warm scales protecting his neck. “Maybe I should take Orgo up on his old catfight suggestion. What do you think my chances are, Ratha?” Her Monstie only gives a snort and a shake of his head, and she laughs in faux offense. “Oh, please, I should be able to get at least one good—”

Anything else she’s about to say is cut off with a scream, as Ratha twists and dives towards the ground with no warning. With no saddle to grab onto, she���s left with bracing herself against the rigid spines on Ratha’s back. Like this, dive-bombing towards the ground, she can see the exact moment when Kyle looks up and all the color rapidly drains from his face. His eyes are huge, and for one delirious moment she wonders if Ratha is using the blue as a target for which to lock onto. The next thing she knows, Ratha is shifting in mid-air, and then there’s a thud as they crash into Kyle. The momentum would have sent him straight into the campfire had Ratha’s claws not curled around his shoulders, finding purchase in the pauldrons of his armor, wings beating rapidly as he shoots back up into the air on a near-vertical take-off. There’s screaming coming from underneath them—at first, she just thinks that it’s Tsukino and Navirou who are doing all the yelling, until she realizes that the screams don’t diminish in volume no matter how high they go.

She leans over Ratha’s shoulder and gapes. Kyle is actively clutching at one of Ratha’s legs, his own kicking madly where they’re dangling in mid-air. He turns wild eyes to her when he belatedly notices that she’s staring at him. They narrow impressively even as he clings harder, scrabbling against Ratha’s rough scales.

“What the fuck!?” he shouts, which is frankly a sentiment that she can get behind. “Get me down from here this instant!”

“Uh,” she says, making a pointed glance to the ground a good terrifying distance below them. Kyle makes the mistake of looking down as well, and goes even paler. She didn’t even know such a thing was possible, and now she’s starting to get a little concerned. “Yeah—um—we’re going to wait on the whole dropping thing—”

Ratha chooses that instant to roll into a spinning dive, because of course he would. They hurtle through the air, weaving wildly through the trees, muffled unintelligible shouting coming from Kyle every time they brush past the tops of the branches—sometimes so close that Kyle has to curl up to avoid smashing his knees into them, oftentimes with so little warning that they do so anyway. When his shouts start becoming clear enough that they could make out individual words—Hunters truly had a some colorful vocabulary—Ratha actually drags him even closer to the trees, like Kyle was a battering ram to be used solely for kicking up huge showers of blossoms.

He emerges from their latest tree coughing, leaves and twigs and blossoms practically glued to his armor and hair, wheezing and out of breath. His eyes are screwed shut and he’s just about plastered his face against Ratha’s leg, as though he might stick there through sheer determination alone. “I give up,” he croaks, voice cracking with strain. “Please, I’m begging you—put me back down on the ground.”

Ratha does not put him down on the ground, despite Astrea’s very spirited attempts to get him to do so. Instead, he circles for a bit until he locates the largest tree in the area, and drops Kyle none-too-gently onto one of the topmost branches. He looks a bit green now as he dangles miserably there, which really doesn’t look very good in the light of the sunset. Eventually, he collects himself enough that he can wobble precariously up onto the swinging branch while Ratha hovers in the air nearby. All three of them are silent for the longest time, broken only by the regular beating of Ratha’s wings and the heave of Kyle’s chest as he pulls air back into his lungs.

“OK,” he says eventually, after trying and failing to get a word out several times in a row. “OK, fine—I’m sorry. I was out of line earlier. You’ve proved your point.”

“I really wasn’t trying to prove a point,” Astrea protests, though the words sputter and die when he glares weakly at her. Petals and leaves slake off of him with every sway of the branch.

“For what it’s worth, I really am sorry,” she tries again, shifting uncomfortably. She had truly—genuinely—just wanted to get up in the air and take a breather, before the indignation that Kyle was so good at stoking up in her got the better of her and she tackled them both off a cliff. Nowhere in her evening plans had she factored in Ratha swooping down and yanking him into the air for the world’s worst joyride. 

Kyle straightens into a wobbly bristle, though the uncertain look he gives to the distant ground really undermines how intimidating he looks. He seems to be wavering on how to best clamor down on his own, and she’d have probably let him take his sweet time to figure it out if only he hadn’t just pitifully screamed himself hoarse. Currently, he looked like he’d sooner fall out of the tree than do anything as coordinated as climb it.

She also had genuinely no idea where Ratha had taken them in the Gardens anymore. They’d hit so many trees and done so many spins since unceremoniously grabbing Kyle up from their campsite that just navigating back in the dying light was going to take some time, even from the air. She liked to think that she wasn’t that mean.

Decision made, she extends a hand, wiggling her fingers a little in the way that she does when she wants to call Fish to her. Kyle eyes it warily. Several long minutes pass before, looking supremely unhappy, he starts edging along the branch towards them. Thankfully, Ratha obligingly drops a couple inches down, and Kyle clamors on with little difficulty. He does, however, spitefully refuse her hand which results in a rather awkward scrabble, but there’s so little real estate on Ratha’s back that she can still feel him trembling behind her.

“I don’t know where we are,” he confesses quietly once he’s settled. 

“Ratha’ll get us back,” she reassures him, paying no mind to the incredulous little snort that escapes his mouth. To her unrepentant Rathalos, she says: “C’mon, Ratha. You got us into this mess, the least you can do is get us out.”

With a sound that can only be described as a laugh, Ratha twists, clearing the tree in a few easy beats of his wings. It’s not the smoothest of lifts, which has her frowning because she knows that Ratha can do better, and then she’s yelping as Kyle’s hands latch white-knuckled onto her shoulders. Ratha—the insufferable, ungrateful reptile—doesn’t even spare her a single glance backwards as he accelerates with no warning. 

What are you going to do if he actually strangles me, she thinks sourly, grumpily digging one of her thumbs into the base of one of his larger scales, pressing underneath to the tough leathery skin. Ratha just gives a good-natured flick of his tail and banks into a wide turn. Grumbling, she reaches up to pat at the back of one of Kyle’s hands in an effort to get him to loosen his grip. It works, but barely.

The wind’s picked up some now, rolling in cold and brisk. Ratha takes them out to sea in a rocky path that has Kyle groaning miserably, head dropping between her shoulders and sending with it another puff of leftover petals. She sneezes as they whip past, but otherwise, it is quiet for a long time, with Ratha picking every draft of air he can find and running headlong into it. It’s enough to make even her feel faintly nauseous, though she grits her teeth and weathers stubbornly through it. 

“I’m reflecting,” Kyle finally mumbles into her back, although she’s not sure if he’s addressing her or Ratha or both of them. “We were both careless in the last hunt despite having legitimate concerns for each other's safety. I should have addressed them better though.”

“Yes, you should have,” she answers hotly, irritation flaring up briefly in time with a particular bit of turbulence before they both fizzled down to nothing. She heaves a sigh. “I’m sorry, too. It was unfair of me to say you weren’t doing anything when you were already trying to deal with the Qurupeco.” They’d had a flexible enough plan going in, and the reality of the matter was that she’d gotten flustered when the second monster had descended in a rage much faster than anticipated. She’d opened them both up to attack, and so had been reckless in trying to rectify her mistake. Getting blasted back by the Boltreaver’s electricity had hurt just as much as the flood of relief when one of Kyle’s arrows had sailed over her head to fend off a second strike.

She chews nervously at her bottom lip. By now, they’ve completely cleared the Pomore coast, and all that was spread before them was a wide expanse of glimmering surf, stained in all manner of oranges and pinks and reds. “I just thought that you were there, and you’d definitely cover for me one way or another,” she confesses in a small voice that tapers off into a joyless laugh. “Sorry. Should’ve known that eventually you’d get tired of carrying all the weight around here.”

Kyle goes uncharacteristically stiff, then peels himself off of her. She can feel him frowning at the back of her head, and so stubbornly keeps looking straight ahead, even if that means having the light reflecting right into her eyes. “I’ve never felt that,” he says, confused and angry all at once. After a moment of judgemental silence, he amends: “I haven’t felt that for a while.”

“A while—”

“No, listen,” he says. She tells herself that it’s only the tight urgency in his voice that has her compelled to turn towards him. He’s looking at her like he does one of his monsters, gaze sharp and clear and utterly focused. It’s a little unnerving, actually—even now that they’re friends, smug annoyance was still generally his go-to expression whenever their eyes met. “Sometimes I want to shake you because I have no idea what you’re thinking, but you generally tend to know what you’re doing and you have fairly good instincts—”

“Are you trying to insult me or—?”

“Not the point!” Kyle snaps harshly. “The point is that it’s the same for me, alright? It’s not like everything works out exactly the way I want it to all the time, even if we have instinct in droves and work ourselves to the bone. But I still trust you. I trust you even if you mess up, because I know you do the same for me. I’ll pick up the slack if you need to drop back, even if it’s annoying at the time of, because you’ll do the same with the same amount of complaining. This is a two-way street. Don’t you ever act like it isn’t.”

She stares at him. Blinks in baffled confusion. Stares some more, before finally tearing her gaze away, looking embarrassed. “Wow,” she mutters. “Wow—just—wow. You’ve clearly been putting some thought into this.”

“Shut up,” Kyle hisses, face flaming. “This is all your fault for putting me in this position in the first place. Are you happy now? Can we please get back to camp so that I can forget this ever happened in the first place?”

This manages to pull a laugh out of her. “No, no, no,” she says, any timidity fleeing her voice and being replaced only with teasing amusement. “This is now going to be one of my most treasured memories. I need to keep this for when I am old and gray.”

“You are the worst,” Kyle declares loftily. She just tosses him a cheeky little grin over her shoulder and turns back around. 

Night creeps up on them as Ratha, no longer up to his petty mischief, catches a thermal and climbs into the sky in graceful spirals. As the moon climbs and brightens with them, Pomore Gardens is transformed into something spectacular far beneath their feet. The multitude of blossoming trees are silver in the moonlight, not a sliver of pink remaining, and so bright that they seemed to glow all on their own, soft and inviting. In the dark patches between them, dotted here and there, were monster dens that Kyle could just about make out if he squinted. And if he had to take his eyes off the ground, finding the whole thing too dizzying, it was only to see more stars than he’d ever seen before in his life. The waves breaking on the rocky cliffsides sent up silver spray, while further out to sea, the horizon took on a warm purple tinge.

For one brief moment, he wondered if there were any monsters out. There had to be—plenty of monsters were nocturnal by nature—and he’s just about to voice his concerns when he sees the bubbles rising. The alarm is immediate, rising only higher when Ratha tops out of the thermal and starts dropping, slowly but steadily, towards an open patch of clifftop with a lazy beat of his wings. There’s a Mizutsune rolling around there, doing some sort of mesmerizingly complicated dance amidst a veritable swath of shimmering bubbles.

His attention is dragged away from the dance by a gasp of delight from in front of him: “Look, over there!” Hidden beneath the heavy branches of the nearest blossoming tree was another Mizutsune, rather drab compared to the first, and keenly interested in the display in the clearing. 

Very quietly, Ratha climbs back up into the air, skirting around the bubble show. For one terrifying moment, Kyle swears that the dancing Mizutsune spots them. When it rears back its head, Kyle is convinced that they’re going to be blasted out of the sky with a pressurized jet of water. Instead, the one hiding underneath the tree chooses that moment to come bounding out, accompanied by a shower of silver petals. The first one blows out a continuous stream of little bubbles as its partner dances over. They catch on the petals, capturing them like how Kyle’s seen aggressive Mizutsune try to corner prey and Hunters alike, only far gentler. The contrast in their behavior now from anything that Kyle knows is astounding. He keeps his eyes on the dancing figures even as they grow smaller and smaller, until finally Ratha sweeps back inland and the pair are swallowed up by the night to dance away in peace.

“They’re prettier than I ever imagined they could be,” Astrea confesses quietly, tone colored with awe. “Everything’s prettier than I ever thought it could be, actually.”

“Hard not to be when the Gardens are touted as spring eternal,” Kyle manages after a moment of startled surprise. With nothing but the moon and the stars to provide light, the lightly-colored highlights in her hair were as silver as the trees they were flying past. Kyle had never noticed that before.

She chooses to ignore his snarky quip. “I don’t think I had the time or the means to appreciate it the first time around,” she says instead. “And we didn’t really get to fly at night then. Pity, really—it’s my favorite time to do so.” Her voice is wistful and faraway. “It feels like there are hundreds more stars than you’ll ever be able to see on the ground. And when you go out over the sea, it feels like you could go anywhere. Alwin says that that’s what Grandpa liked best about it, too.”

Kyle hums quietly. He can just about place a person with the name, though what he remembers most clearly is just an unfairly handsome Wyverian face pulled into a tight frown as sharp eyes looked Kyle up and down and found him lacking. He distracts himself with a glittering golden rare den off in the distance, winking like a beacon. “Did your gramps also see the Mizutsune dance?” 

“Who knows. I know Alwin went at least once with him, because he had quite a few stories about the Gardens, but I’ve never heard anything particularly about Mizutsune before.”

“If he hadn’t, he’d probably have liked to see them. He’s got that Legiana too, right? Could’ve flown besides Ratha and all that.” Kyle is trying for casual, though he’s pretty sure he misses by a wide mile and lands solidly in something bitter instead.

“Mm, Shaulk would look pretty in this landscape,” comes the dreamy response, which only exacerbates the bitterness. The worst thing, Kyle thinks, is that he can’t even refute it—a Legiana would look absolutely beautiful amidst all the soft silver blossoms, bright markings standing out even more starkly against a velvety backdrop pinpricked with stars. Meanwhile, Kyle had probably woken up half the neighborhood earlier with his screaming. The contrast in the two images is disheartening.

“But it’s better like this. I want to have this all to myself.”

“Oh,” says Kyle, a little dumbly, and still very disheartened. “Sorry I’m here, then.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she laughs, although her tone softens into something wobbly when she reaches back to squeeze his hand apologetically. “I meant that I want to go to all the places that my grandfather did and see them with my own eyes, only this time without his ghost taking over. I want to carve out something that’s wholly mine.”

Kyle turns the words over in his head. He gets it, he thinks. His ghosts were all still alive and kicking, thankfully, but the shadows they cast were equally long. Sometimes Kyle would look back on himself from the past year and wonder at how he ever managed to start stepping out from them. Then he’d have spats with Astrea and her continually baffling Rider ways that were so vicious that he’d wonder if he ever did.

“It’s all very confusing, isn’t it?” Astrea asks, when Kyle fails to come up with something to say in a timely manner. In his defense, he’s a bit distracted—she’d turned back around to address him again, and it’s with a certain amount of despair that he realizes that it’s not just her hair that’s silvered in the moonlight. So are her eyes, looking rather uncertain. “We can drop it if you’d like. I just figured that you’re the only friend I have that would get me, even if just a little. I mean—I like Ena and Alwin a lot, but it’s hard to talk about separating myself from Grandpa with them. Same with Kayna. As for Cheval, he gets antsy about discussing the past because he thinks that he has to reciprocate. And I’m still paying back Avinia for what happened before so it would just feel awkward, you know? So that leaves only you.”

“I’m flattered,” Kyle says dryly. He instantly wants to kick himself when her face falls. “No, really—I am. I’m not good at this.”

“Clearly.”

He grumbles, poking at her cheek until she turns back towards the front. “I’ve got four older brothers. And my dad, obviously. I get trying to chase after a legacy. When you mess up it feels like you’ll never get it right. If you do something right it feels like there’s immediately something else that you have to live up to. So I get it—I get wanting to have something that’s entirely your own.” He swallows, focusing intently on the steady beating of Ratha’s wings.

“No one in my family’s ever ridden on a Rathalos, you know? No one’s got a Rider best friend. I’m sure they’ve come to the Gardens before but no one’s ever been rammed through the trees or seen dancing Mizutsune from the air. I like that—having this just for myself. It’s no problem to share it with you.”

“No problem to share—” Astrea repeats, flabbergasted. “You’re really something, you know that? Absolutely horrid. I can’t believe I’m friends with you.” But she’s lost the uncertain slump in her shoulders, which was the most important thing. “Fine then. Two can play at this game. You’re decent enough company when you keep your mouth shut.”

“Yeah, because it takes one to know one,” Kyle mutters without heat. Ratha does a cheeky little shimmy at that, causing him to clutch back onto Astrea’s shoulders. “Fine! Fine! You’re the greatest company I’ve ever known.” He pokes his head out from around Astrea’s shaking figure to glower at the back of Ratha’s head: “Does that please you, you great big menace?”

Astrea bursts into laughter, the force of it nearly knocking her head right into Kyle’s. “You’re the best, Ratha,” she says fondly, to which the overgrown lizard answers with a pleased rumble. Then, quieter: “And you’re actually decent company even when you’re infuriating, Kyle.”

He scowls, although he’s surprised to find that he’s largely unbothered. “I let you treat me like a battering ram and I’m still only decent company?” 

“Maybe you should try not being a major jerk beforehand, then,” Astrea replies dryly. “It’s fine, though. I liked being pleasantly surprised when you made it up to me later.” A pause, then: “I like knowing that I have you at my back, even when you are being insufferable.”

Kyle buries his face in his hands with a mortified groan. “You can’t just say stuff like that.”

“I’m sure one day you’ll learn to accept truths with grace,” Astrea says mildly. “Next time, let’s go night flying in Loloska. There aren’t many trees to run you through there. We can do some other stupid thing, like try to catch the aurora.”

“Planning ahead, are we?” Kyle asks. “Sure, why not. You can suffer through some Hot Drinks too, while you’re at it, since you’re always spraying the mist in my face.” 

“Maybe I’ll just invite Avinia instead.”

“You won’t,” Kyle says with a confident grin. “We’re carving something new for ourselves out from other peoples’ shadows, aren’t we? You’re stuck with me now.”

“How awful,” Astrea says, even though she doesn’t bother to hide her answering grin. The faint light of their camp flickers through a distant break in the trees. “Guess I’ll just have to make the most of it, then.”

#WOW I am on a roll lately #monster hunter stories 2 #monster hunter kyle #Monster Rider Astrea #Annie writes #this has also been in my drafts forever so I am glad it is finished now #Have some lighthearted shenanigens after what happened last time

[tomorrow-we-try-again]

A Swedish guy, a Chilean guy, a Japanese guy, and an American guy walk into a pork skewer restaurant...

My new Swedish friend, Philip, is one of those people who is friends with literally everyone, and he introduced me yesterday to a guy from Chile (Pablo) that's here on an extended visa to attend a Japanese language school, and then this afternoon he introduced me to a Japanese developer (Shou) that also uses the working space here.

Dinner rolled around, and he started inviting everyone to dinner, so it ended up the four of us going. Pablo speaks excellent English, so while Philip and Shou steered us through the backstreets of Sanjo in search of a restaurant, we talked in English for a bit, but once we got to the restaurant, everybody switched to Japanese, which, in retrospect, was kinda ridiculous, because all 3 of the 4 of us (1) aren't Japanese and (2) probably speak better English than Japanese. 🙃

At one point, the waitress was waiting for our second order, and Philip looks to Shou, points at words on the menus, and asks "What's this?" Shou, without hesitation, turns to the waitress, and repeats the exact same "What's this?" 😂

Oh, and of all the coincidences, while we were debating what to do outside the first place that was full, there were two non-Japanese girls milling around, speaking to each other in a romance language that I couldn't make heads or tails of, when all of a sudden, Pablo (who was _just_ telling me that he also speaks French) starts drifting towards them, and I hear him ask something that sounds like "Chile" in another language. They both look at him shocked, and after a couple minutes, he comes back over and says they were also from Chile. What are the odds? He said Chilean Spanish has a distinct sound, and he picked up on it right away. ... That's Kyoto for you.

This was my first time really conversing at any length in Japanese with non-Japanese people, so that was interesting. Was also strange talking with Philip in Japanese, when I've been talking to him in English all this time. I'd say his English is basically native-level, with an accent. I called him an "audiophile" earlier, and then worried that might be a little too obscure vocab-wise, but then he used the word correctly in conversation himself shortly thereafter, so yeah, pretty much native.

Speaking of obscure, on the way back we got talking about a game Philip is playing, Sekiro, which he's playing in Japanese, and he got talking about the funny archaic Japanese they use, like:

御意 (ぎょい) (n) (1) (hon) your will; your pleasure; your wish; (int) (2) certainly; as you say; you are quite right;

Fortunately for me, I recently learned this word via Demon Slayer, so I was able to follow along. Hilariously, Shou said that _he_ had only learned the word himself a couple years ago! So we continued our walk back to the hotel muttering "gyoi" to each other nonsensically about everything. 🥷

Pablo went home, and Philip & Shou came up to get their stuff, and as they were departing we all exchanged "otsukaresama"s (aside: just now realizing that's the first time I've ever done that in earnest...), and then, after a pause, I let loose another "gyoi", which, of course, makes no sense at all. In fact, Shou looked over his shoulder laughing, and said something like "That doesn't make sense but..."

A few minutes later, I decided to go get ice cream and headed to the bathroom first. As I opened the door, I almost bumped into Shou on his way out. We each excused ourselves, and then as he was leaving the bathroom, _he_ threw a "gyoi" back at me, followed again by "Not that that makes any sense...", and I just stood there laughing to myself for a good while. 😂

Another funny thing was that I asked about what the kanji for "Sekiro" (the game's title) was, and we guessed the "ro" was "rou" for wolf, but couldn't come up with the other. After much deliberation with the Japanese staff behind the desk, they arrived at a conclusion, which Shou showed me on his phone, saying it was a kind of weird kanji. I responded "Oh, so, like 'ship'?", and he was like "Yes... You know this one? It's kind of rare." Well, thanks to Heisig's _Remembering the Kanji_ (RTK) and countless hours of spaced-repetition flashcards (https://kanji.koohii.com/) over a decade ago, I apparently still do!

That was peculiar to me, but what's not peculiar to me was that he thought it was crazy that I knew which readings for kanji were onyomi (Chinese-origin) and which were kunyomi (Japanese-origin). This is hilarious, because I'm pretty sure every non-Japanese learner of Japanese is painfully aware of the distinction. ... I guess that one honestly could just be my weird brain too, but I don't think so.

So, that was my evening. Just a really nice time. 🙂

[grayintogreen]

WIP WEDNESDAY

It is so hard to find good scenes that aren't super spoilery in what I've written so far, so here's an itty bitty scene from Chapter Two featuring Nott and Caleb (and Twiggy).

In the relatively short and yet agonizingly long period of time Caleb had been in this happy fun ball, he had ascertained a handful of things.

The first, and most obvious, was that this object was no friend to magic-users.

The second, and less obvious, was that the owner had been out of house for quite some time- the jungle’s overgrowth would have attested to that if not the derelict state of the next chamber the Nein found themselves in. A blessing to be certain, but the traps they had left behind were arguably worse. Traps were unpredictable. Wizards were not.

The third was that he did not know what the fuck to do with Twiggy.

He didn’t trust her blindly as Nott and Jester did, though Nott had started to grumble at him as she coughed and retched and shook water out of her hair like a dog the second the pool dropped away into an open hexagonal chamber with several halls that twisted at knockturn angles that prevented anyone from simply peering down them to see what lay beyond without stepping through the (potentially trapped) threshold.

“Did you see her? She’s sneaky! And she uses a bow! And she does magic! Just like I do. This is Otis all over again.” She plucked a stray bit of algae out of her hair and threw it upon the floor with disgust.

Feeling logic needed to prevail, he said, gently, “That is a shortbow she has- not a gun or a crossbow.”

“It’s the principle!”

“I know, I know.” He helped her adjust her waterlogged cloak and remove some of the algae that she had missed. “But try not to kill her. You would make Jester sad.”

Nott’s ears flattened to her skull. “Do you not trust her?”

“Not in the same way Beauregard, Fjord, and Cree distrust her. I am… Wary of things that come upon us without warning.”

At that moment, Twiggy popped up between the two of them with mischief in her eyes and Caleb, at the moment kneeling, toppled backwards onto his ass, blinking back shock. “Why’s everyone so serious?” She pouted- more playful than anything. She was like the most intense traits of Molly and Jester combined into one sugar high woman-child-person. “We survived!”

“Were those… frog things there when you showed up?” Beau was squinting dangerously. The remains of her staff clutched in her hand like she was waiting for an excuse to skewer Twiggy with them.

“I didn’t see ‘em, but I stayed up in the trees. I like trees!” She plucked a twig from her hair as proof. “They remind me of home… Well, I think they do? I don’t really remember my home a whole lot. I just remember Port Damali.”

“That’s where Fjord’s from!” Jester pointed out, ignoring Fjord’s cutthroat gestures to avoid giving too much away to a potential threat.

Twiggy’s eyes lit up. “Well howdy neighbor!” She might have filed that away or she might have immediately forgotten it- Caleb couldn’t read behind her eyes, and when they turned to him, he felt deeply uncomfortable.

“Annnyway, like I said before! You don’t have to be so serious! D’you wanna hear a joke?”

He heard Nott sharply inhale, but he was a damned fool, shaken to his core and he awkwardly mumbled, “Ja… Yes?”

She placed her hands on his knee and leaned in closer- he leaned back in kind. “What’s a cat’s favorite dessert?” She paused for effect and then exclaimed “Chocolate mouse!”

He felt the pull of arcane magic threaten to overwhelm his mind and pull him into a reaction and he had to tamp down on a surge of panic, lest Nott- hands curled into menacing claws- tried to throttle her for casting on him. He knew the spell was harmless outside of combat. Just a little prank.

It didn’t work. The magic eased back, spent and useless, and he gave the most pitiful excuse for a laugh ever. “Hah… Hah. I am… Not a very funny guy.”

“Molly’s the only one who’s any good at making him laugh,” Jester hiss-whispered loud enough to be heard by all. Caleb’s ears grew hot.

Molly shrugged. “That’s very true.”

His ears still burning, Caleb coughed and gestured to Molly. “And it took me a great deal of time to understand that colorful bastard there. In time, perhaps.”

#wip wednesday #cr fic #you can't deny high noon

[talesofsonicasura]

LMK Characters with a Comic Artist s/o

What's with everyone flooding the LMK tags in angst and spoilers? People are waiting for Season 3 to come out in English Dub so please either tag spoilers or put them under the :readmore: tag. Anyway, here's some fluff. Can be read as gender neutral or preferred gender.

MK

This man is an artist with a childlike soul. So he's the type to indulge in cartoons than just the Monkey King series.

He first met you at a local Comic Con. You were setting up a booth for autographs when the two of you bumped into each other.

Your cartoons fell in the good ol rubber hose style, the characters always getting into whacky situations that ended silly or wholesome.

Anyways, your sketchbook went flying alongside his which sent drawings everyone. All it took was you two brushing hands and look into the other's eyes to begin your relationship.

MK was honestly grateful ever since that fateful day. Being a delivery boy and the Monkie Kid is stressful but you were there to help him.

Drawing comics with each other, listen to him vent out his frustrations in understanding or give him a hug when it felt like the world was crashing onto his head.

You were always there to keep him grounded so MK did his absolute best to keep you away from the dangers of him being Sun Wukong's successor.

It worked until DBK went on another city wide assault. He had bolted straight to your comic shop ready to protect you. Imagine his surprise that you weren't as helpless as he thought.

Why? Cause you were firing blasts of smoke from your hands and became actual smoke when dodging the Bull Clones.

MK's jaw practically dropped once you launched yourself high into the air before crashing down like a makeshift smoke bomb. Literally exploded into smoke taking every duplicate out in your wake.

He hugged you once you nonchalantly reformed like nothing even happened. Who knew that his partner had typhokinesis, the ability to manipulate smoke? No wonder why you gave warm hugs and kisses.

Mei

She's a streamer that indulges in all sorts of stuff. Mei often showcases her favorite comic books, your comics being her absolute favorite.

So imagine her surprise meeting you one day at the arcade. All it took was a game of Monkey Mech to start your relationship.

To Mei, you were one of the best things to happen in her life. As much as she liked to go on adventures with MK, there were times that she prefer to chill.

Playing videogames, watch bad horror movies, and stream together. You guys even have your own short cartoon series. Couldn't forget the amazing cuddle sessions either.

Mei was immediately worried about your safety when Spider Queen attacked the city. She just wanted a good Lunar Year date!

She was about to protect you only to find out that you weren't so helpless. Especially when you literally turned into paper and threw paper knives capable of tearing through steel.

Apparently you had papyrokinesis, the ability to manipulate paper. It made you even more badass in Mei's eyes, especially when you skewered a bunch of Spider Bots with paper dragons!

She's definitely going to ask for a paper dragon later once you guys get out of this mess.

Red Son

Comics are something he rarely indulges in. They have to be really good to grab his attention.

You met each other at a small restaurant. You were working on your latest comic only to hear a small commotion.

Apparently the waitress made a mistake and gave away the Bull King heir's table to someone else. Sharing your table with Red Son was what lead to the future relationship.

To him, you were a breath of fresh air. An escape from the expectations of his family and weight of his failures.

You didn't care about his heritage or that he's the 'bad guy'. You stuck by his side, always gave him unconditional love and encouragement despite everything.

Red Son often found some doodles you made in his pocket. Every single one always made the heir smile as he could feel your love.

When his father went berserk, he was deeply worried. The worry turning to fear when you came out of nowhere to protect him from his father.

Imagine Red Son's shock as a familiar glitchy shield shoved DBK away. It was a design from his blueprints... You had the power of video manipulation.

He watched in awe as you effortlessly fought his (possessed) father with bolts of data or creating constructs of his different inventions.

Red Son practically hugged you once the whole fiasco was done. You sure gave him a scare but the surprise had been welcomed. Although the conversation with his parents is gonna be a bit awkward.

Macaque

He indulges in stuff like comics more than Red Son but not much. Your comics were a guilty pleasure in all honesty.

The two of you met in his theatre. You were doing a few drawings as you waited for his show to begin.

Macaque was honestly surprised that you were here as your respective arts greatly differed. It was when you caught him staring that the relationship between the both of you began.

For someone who mostly kept to himself, Macaque loved being in your presence. You didn't care about him being a yaoguai or his misdeeds.

Both of you shared your love for art and surprisingly, theatrics. Being able to indulge in grooming and pure affection is something Macaque secretly craved.

Your relationship only made the comics he had feel even more special. That the feelings and thoughts conveyed were more clear.

When Not Mayor had showed up at his theatre, he secretly hoped that you would be safe. Macaque rather not lose the only person he loves.

So imagine his surprise when a blast of hot pink light slammed into the ominous man. The attack had been from you, streaks of that same light around your body like angry serpents, neokinesis or the ability to manipulate neon light.

He couldn't help but watch in amazement as you drove off the fake mayor with consecutive blasts and exploding bubbles of neon light. Or how you grabbed and took him halfway across the city in mere seconds.

Guess that's another reason why Macaque had been drawn to you. Even shadows must have a light.

Sun Wukong

This man indulges in various media, mostly tv shows and comic books. Your comics were his absolute favorite as they never failed to entertain him.

The two of you met at a local comic book store. He wanted to get the latest issue of your comic series signed. It was only when you bump into each other by accident did everything start.

Despite being the Great Sage Equal To Heaven, you treated Sun Wukong like a normal person. Not an almighty god, powerful yaoguai or great enemy but an equal.

Always there when he needed it most. Whether it was movie marathons, help care for the monkeys of his kingdom or comfort him at his lowest, you gave him kindness and love.

He has many enemies so when he got captured by Spider Queen, Sun Wukong prayed you didn't get caught up in the mess.

The Monkey King nearly choked once he saw you run up to his web prison. He was about to tell you to hide or leave only to become silent when something broke his bindings... Concrete.

Concrete shards were circling around your arms in rings. You had the power of betokinesis, the ability to manipulate concrete.

Sun Wukong was impressed at your skill as you continue to cut the bindings of SQ's prisoners. Even formed slides or steps so the trapped yaoguai who were held too high could get down safely.

He couldn't help but chuckle when the two of you led everyone to safety. Guess the Monkey King wasn't wrong about you being his rock.

Have a great Valentine's day and I'll see you back at Megapolis!

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk #self insert #six eared macaque #sun wukong #qi xiaotian #lego monkie kid mei #red son #mk x reader #sun wukong x reader #red son x reader #mei x reader #macaque x reader #sonicasura #tales of sonicasura #lego monkie kid imagines

[astaroth1357]

The MC is a Valkyrie

Demigod MC Series: Intro

Greek: Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena, Hades Pt. 2, Poseidon, Ares, Hestia, Nyx

Norse: Valkyrie

A bit of a change of pace this time! No worries, I'm not done with the Greeks or anything. I just had this idea and wanted to get it out. 

Valkyries aren't really demigods, but are a part of Norse myth as the minor divinities that help choose and deliver fallen warriors to Valhalla to join the ranks of the einherjar (the souls who will fight when Ragnarok comes). Valkyries are depicted as women who are fierce warriors in their own right. Despite their place as the gatekeepers of the Chosen, they've been said to sometimes take heroes and mortals as lovers or take residence in Midgard posing as daughters of royals/nobility. 

Lucifer 

At first, they thought they grabbed an heiress - which would have been bad enough - but then the MC grew wings, drew a spear, and asked who among them wanted a glorious death...

How hard is it to find ONE damn human on Earth? Isn't that realm supposed to be full of them??

Diavolo was thankfully able to talk their winged friend down from skewering Asmo and accepting the exchange on behalf of the human wo-… Midgard. 

Living with a Valkyrie is different for sure. The MC is a proud woman who takes her role very seriously and she's seemingly deemed him and his brothers as candidates for einherjar (despite being demons).

He's tried many, many times to explain to her that they're not interested, but she's unconvinced. Now the MC watches his brothers like a hawk waiting to cart one of them off to Valhalla! Any mortal wound could be an excuse...

He's had to save Beel and Satan twice from getting dragged to that infernal palace… For whatever reason, she seems to have taken to them the most. Is it old Norse culture to favor the brash and strong? He has no idea...

At the very least, she knows better than to try to drag him into her little plans. Though he's sure he could qualify for the einherjar (obviously, why wouldn't he?) he has no interest in leaving his life here behind.

To think he'd actually have to put surveillance on his own brothers for their safety… But they're not going to get drafted into some ancient Norse war, not if he can help it.

Mammon 

She’s an heiress… An heiress!!

Well, her human world identity is an heiress to a well-respected (and rather magical) rich family but that still technically counts! She’s crazy loaded back there! He’s in love!!

The only problem is that in the Devildom she doesn’t have a cent.

… and the fact that she keeps trying to get him killed. That’s also a problem.

In a way, things are not as bad and exactly as bad as that sounds. The MC apparently wants him to go to Valhalla (dope) but she can’t just take him there… He technically has to die in some kind of “vallent battle” first.

Her solution? Pick fights with nearly anything that moves and drag him into it!

Honestly, it’s pretty annoying… Sometimes he just wants to have a fun night out without getting into a barfight, you know??

At least the MC can handle herself… Hell, he was her "babysitter" but she barely even needed him. A lesser demon once made the bad idea of trying to cup her ass and lost a hand for his trouble…

Though, what this amounts to is the MC starting something then fighting alongside him like back-to-back badasses while looking for any excuse to scoop him up and fly him to Asgard!

Why does he put up with this? Well for starters human world rich is still rich, all he has to do is get himself a portal then he's living the high life! And secondly, well… what's the harm?

Sure, she technically wants him dead but he's the secondborn! The list of people who can take him down is so slim that it's not like he's in any danger. She even fights with him so things are a piece of cake!

Is this a case where he's 100% more forgiving because she's rich? Yes. Absolutely. But a golddigger's gotta eat somehow, right?

Leviathan 

Is it weird to be jealous over someone not wanting you to die...?

Okay, that's an oversimplification but Levi can’t help but feel snubbed that the MC doesn’t have any interest in taking him to Asgard. Like, none! And why not??

He’s strong! He’s tough! He’s part snake too! Don’t the Nords have a thing about that? Like, there’s a giant snake they’re all worried about?? Maybe he could communicate with it!

Logically, Levi knows that he really shouldn’t press her on this… MC is pretty much a Grim Reaper with a Norse coat of paint and Asgard doesn’t really sound like his speed. No anime, no video games, not even cable! It’s just eat, train, and drink all day… Ew.

But still… What makes him an odd one out? 

At best, she just knows he wouldn't be happy there. At worst, she's underestimating his skill… or maybe she's gauged him just right? He's always known he was weak!! 😫

Oh well... at least she's not a bore to be around. Far from it. She treats EVERYTHING like a life or death trial - he's pretty sure that if he challenged her to rock, paper, scissors she'd commend him for his bravery and swear on her sisters that she won't lose.

He once made the mistake of inviting her and Simeon for a game of Devil Party and they both got so into it that they nearly had a duel to the death as a tiebreaker… 

Thank Devil that the game had a pre-programmed minigame for that kind of thing… It would have gotten messy otherwise.

Well, even if his other brothers go to Asgard, he can just chill out here with Lucifer and Asmo… right…? Actually, no, that sounds horrible! MC, he changes his mind!! Take him too!!! 😭

Satan 

How many times does he have to say that he doesn’t want to go to Asgard?!?

Well, okay that’s not entirely true. Out of scientific curiosity, seeing the godly realm of the old Nords would be fascinating but he doesn’t want to stay, which the MC seems to have trouble understanding…

He’s not even sure why she's singled him out for einherjar status… Any one of his brothers are powerful beings in their own right and he’s not particularly, uh, “even-tempered” himself...

His best guess is she saw him wipe out a handful of lesser demons at some point and declared him Ragnarok material. He always ends up throwing around at least three of those idiots a week so checks out… 

If he's being honest, her very existence raises so many questions… Does this mean that Ragnarok is real? Will the human world be swallowed up by the sea? Will the gods of Asgard fight and die as a new world is established? When??

Unfortunately, the MC won't tell him when it all will come to pass (he suspects even she doesn't know) just that Loki will trigger it… Someone keep tabs on that guy.

Until then, he just has to put up with her attempts to convince him but his patience is wearing thin… He's pretty sure he threw a bookshelf at her once but she caught it anyway so yeah...

He did challenge her to a proper duel too but… well let's say she's a Valkyrie for a reason and leave it at that. (Being saved by Lucifer was so humiliating… He's done here, move on already!!)

Asmodeus

First things first, she's gorgeous. Beautiful! Divine! (Literally 🤭)

Now that that's out of the way… She may also have a screw or two loose.

Like, he gets it. She's a Valkyrie and snapping up strong souls is her thing but come on… Mammon? Really? Why would he get into Valhalla instead of him, huh??

Why can't he get to go to the beautiful afterlife of the old Norse with all their strapping warriors, lovely maidens, and endless partying?? It's not fair!!

Ugh… and now she's got him sounding like LEVI! How frustrating…

Well, it may not be that bad. According to MC, he'd have to do battle training in Valhalla and that wouldn't really agree with his beauty routine. Like dirt, sweat, blood, and muscles? No thanks! Not for him.

He asked MC if he could get some kind of pass, but no dice… Maybe he could still convince her to let him vacation there… Or go for a visit? Just one? Surely that couldn't be so bad right?? He's heard that Thor looks NOTHING like people think he does and he's so curious!!

The closest he's ever gotten was challenging the MC to a fashion contest for a visit, but he dropped that idea quick when she proposed that they somehow include a wrestling match in the dressing room (and he knows she didn't mean the fun kind...)

As much as he'd love to get skin-to-skin with MC, the idea of getting locked in a chokehold was less appealing for some reason. 🤔

Ah well, he'll just have to make due admiring her wonderful body clothed for the time being… There's something to be said about muscular ladies, no?

Beelzebub 

So she’s almost convinced him to join the einherjar like twice now…

He’s not the best at making decisions when he’s hungry and the MC keeps hyping up the food… Apparently it’s really good up there and MC says that she’s never seen an empty platter... Just thinking about it makes his stomach do backflips.

Thankfully for him, Lucifer usually steps in before Beel can sign his soul away and reminds him that he can’t just abandon the family for a meal, even if it is a feast.

You'd think he'd be annoyed but Beel isn't really bothered by her habit of trying to bring everyone to Asgard. At least not on a personal level.

Like Lucifer, he doesn't want to see his family broken up so he'd rather she wouldn't… But she's a Valkyrie right? It's what she does. It's not like she can help it.

In a weird way, he also thinks she means well. She just respects them and wants them to have a good afterlife. It would be kind of sweet if they didn't have to die for it first…

If he's being honest, he's not that worried about it anyway. His family is pretty tough, not a lot in the Devildom can take them down. As long as they're careful, everybody should be alright. 🙂

Maybe he could get MC to make some Valhallan food for them in the Devildom… Or he could get one of those immortality apples?? Though those would extend his life wouldn't they…? Oh well...

Belphegor 

Belphie's attempt to kill the MC went something like this:

Belphie: *switches to his demon form* "I can't believe you actually trusted me!"

MC: *blinks* "Oh. So you want to challenge me then?"

Belphie: "What?"

MC: "Ah, now I see! You want to fight to prove your valor then die by my hand??"

Belphie: "What are yo-??"

MC: *summons wings and golden spear* "I like your spunk, demon!! Fight me with all you have and perhaps I'll take you to Valhalla! May you join us in our fight as a brother!!"

Belphie: "What the hell are you talking about!?!"

To his credit, he put up a good fight and probably would have gotten into Asgard if Lucifer hadn't intervened to save his life.

It can be said that the MC's Valkyrie-hood took Belphie completely by surprise. Sure, he thought she was a little weird for a "human" but challenging him to a duel to the death? That came out of nowhere!

His uneasiness about her only grew after he found out that she's been literally trying to get Beel killed! How in the world were his brothers so relaxed about this?? She's insane!!

So say what you will about the MC, but she's managed to do the impossible. She got Lucifer and Belphie to make up and work together on something! (i.e. making sure she doesn't send them all to their deaths)

Between Lucifer monitoring his brothers and Belphie watching the MC, they'll keep everybody in the Devildom where they belong. That's a promise!

#obey me #obey me shall we date #shall-we-date-obey-me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me headcanons #obey me demigods

[muffindaddystyles]

Can you write one where Harry and reader going bazar for festive shopping. I love all your imagines and desi one are prolly my fav.

WE ALL DESIS KNOW THAT DUDE WOULDNT LAST A SECOND IN OUR BAZARS, HE MIGHT CRY.

When Y/N slid a shy invitation towards Harry to come along her back her homeland to celebrate Diwali with her and her family that guy didn’t waste a second and jumped on the opportunity.

Being with his girlfriend and getting to see where she was born, grew up and spent half of her life? It couldn’t be better.

Though the moment they landed at Udaipur where her family booked a hotel in great love for the beauty of city Harry was dragged away from his lovie and was warmly welcomed by her family.

Anytime they'd get to spend time together and sneak into eachother’s room someone would become their proper enemy and interrupt them.

So, now when Y/N pried him away from her Dadi who’s giving the poor boy a lecture of how the British colonised the South Asia and took half of her gold bricks away from her Haveli (mansion) Harry sincerely apologised from their behalf.

He wolf whistles at her when they’re out of everyone’s sight, she’s wearing a short kurta with flared pants the deep v-neckline of it giving a pretty view of her cleavage and Harry really just wants to kiss her so bad.

He couldn’t though— else he’ll be banned from the city itself.

“Where are we going missy?” He smiles as Y/N unlocks the car and is caught by surprise when she leans in to buckle her belt and Harry quickly steals a chaste kiss from her, “Oops had a little stumble right there..”

“You really trying to be in trouble.” Y/N chuckles, face heating up when she struggled to keep the Chunri dupatta draping on her body from slipping down her shoulders again and again but Harry came to her rescue – gentle fingers tucking it back, “Thank you.” She says softly pulling the roof of convertible down. It’s quite a bingo if you got a rich uncle who loves you very much.

“We're going to bazar for some shopping, don’t leave my hand okay? You might get lost.” She grins teasingly and Harry rolls his eyes pulling his Ray-ban down from the mess of his curls the change in atmosphere has quite got to them.

“’kay mommy.” He mutters jamming his fingers already to play something on radio and it’s back to back romantic songs from Sharukh Khan’s movies, he felt like the proper main character.

.

He’s like a literal excited puppy roaming around the narrow streets of bazar with Y/N. Everything around vividly colourful as if he’s watching it with pink heart glasses.

It’s rushy. People bumping in him. Some shopkeepers almost dragging him inside their shops and showing him Sarris with their top-tier famous comment of, “Brother buy it for your misses if you really actually love her.” How Harry couldn’t? when they were such lovely with him and Y/N was just shaking her head at him standing near one of the stalls of handmade shoes as he stepped out and showed her the bag with a sheepish shrug.

“You sure you don’t need me to fan you?” She giggles, swiping the lasts of spicy Imli from the plastic paper and sucks it off her thumb, “I’m gonna have pregnant tonsils in morning that’s sure.” His nose skewers up when his throat becomes all tingly from licking his fingers clean and feeling his tongue all funky from the tangy taste of it.

His silk blouse’s getting sweaty from his back and armpits but for Y/N’s sake and to enjoy all of this he doesn’t give in to her polite offers to return back.

“Oye Harry! Come here, help me choose!” Y/N yells from far wiggling the prettily jewelled jhumkas up infront of him, whilst he’s too lost and acting a proper damn Brit refusing to come out from the shop of spices.

He threw the same tantrum when Y/N lugged him away from the group of teenager boys showing him how to make kites and play with marbles.

“Which one?” She bounces on her toes excitedly and he giggles stealing her Kachori from where she put it in her line of sight, “Buhkad!” She pouts because he had two already and a bowl of Falooda all to himself.

“Definitely this one, Lovie.” He smirks through a mouthful pointing the crimson cut earnings and Y/N smiles timidly forgetting that he’s her food thief when he reaches over and takes it from her hand making her wear it himself.

“So pretty..” He breathes out stroking her wrist in fond strokes and takes the tiny mirror from the women seller showing her that his statement’s infact true.

She giggles as he wiggles the mirror purposely to annoy her with the rainbow streaks melting on her face.

They parked the car to an isolated spot and moved to backseat clumsily to watch the beautiful sunset of her homeland, the serenity and warmth of tangerine pink sunshine melting Y/N into Harry’s chest as he cuddles her into him.

“You had fun?” She asks with hopeful bright eyes.

“Absolutely.” He grins lazily and tiredly petting her hair, his chest vibrating with his rasp.

“Now I know what they meant with ‘homeland is where you always want to be’,” He whispers. Sunlight dancing along the golden glow of city lights that bounces of the crystal lakes.

“You. Your heart. Is my homeland.” Y/N feels her heart racing in her ears. The intimacy of his words seeping in each of her bones and igniting it to a radiant spark – they’ve never felt this happy without eachother.

His lips loves every tiny soft detail of her face and couldn’t resist but to stop him and give a big fat benevolent smooch to his pretty mouth.

#the first picture is mine in a khusa shop #my peak y/n moment #harry styles #harry styles fanfics #harry styles one shot #harry styles blurb #harry styles fluffy imagines #harry styles imagines #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry angst

[hpalways]

Surprises || Childe

a/n: i swear i’ll get to the requests soon akjdhfjfj sorry for the wait dudes. 

BUT YEAHHHHHH ITS CHILDES BIRTHDAY I LOVE U DADDY HAVE A NICE ONE 

THROWING a surprise party for Childe was more difficult than one could imagine. He didn't fully admit it, but he was obviously hurt when no one wished him a happy birthday today. And while everyone went on to set the scene for when you would all surprise him, you were given the role to distract him. As the two of you strolled through the streets of Liyue Harbor, his sea blue eyes darted everywhere agitatedly. Repeatedly letting out a sigh, he combed his gloved hand through his ginger locks. You stifled a giggle at his discomfort, sensing that he was too prideful to outwardly question why his birthday wishes were practically nonexistent this year. 

He peered at you with disappointment, for he wished to hear those words from you more than anyone else. Wondering if his birthday was really that forgettable, he thought back to the day you asked when his birthday was. The two of you shared the dates and he remembered how elated he was on your birthday, buying gifts and spoiling you with his dirty earned mora. He could still see the grin that was stuck to your face the entire day. 

"Thanks for joining me on some errands. I'm almost done," you told him, smiling. Guilt continued to pour into your chest at the sight of him. 

He nodded and forced out a smile, coloring his face with his usual facade. "Anything for you, comrade," he chuckled, ruffling your hair in a habit. "I was bored anyway. It almost feels like there should be something important today, but I suppose there's truly nothing."

You wanted to burst out laughing. He was trying so hard to be discreet about it, but you could easily read behind the lines. "Oh? Nah. There's nothing important today."

"Nothing at all?" he responded, voice hollow. "That's strange. Are you sure?"

"I keep all my important dates on my calendar. It was blank for today."

His flingers curled around his shirt, gripping so tightly they shook. You were very organized, but his birthday wasn't on there. Did he mean nothing to you? Did he care for you more than you did him? He was beginning to feel idiotic -- foolish even. Falling silent as he followed you to the next stall, he watched you buy daily groceries, picking out the biggest fish in the pile and bright fruits from the baskets. He numbly carried the bags, groaning to himself. Maybe he should leave the city and hunt down some hilichurls, skewer them so he could release some of his pent up frustration. 

While he was lost in his head, too busy thinking about his bottled up emotions, you noticed Hu Tao in the distance, making wide signals. She was dramatic as per usual and you glared at her, urging her to hide within the shadows. Quickly turning away from the merchant, you were relieved to know that Childe had not detect anything suspicious. It was showtime. 

"Okay. One more stop," you informed him. 

"I... think I should to go," he responded. "I'll drop your bags back home."

Panic seeped into your expression, your eyes growing wide. Oh no -- this couldn't get any worse. You had to stop him before he could leave, because who knew where he would go next? He was such an unpredictable guy, free to roam wherever he liked with that reputation of his. "It's just one more place," you pointed out, knitting your brows together. "Come on, Childe. It will be really quick. Please?" You gave him the best puppy eyes and slipped a hand in his, squeezing it tightly to feel tingles erupt at the contact.

His head leveled slightly at the feeling of your hand, so he slowly nodded. "Fine. But I'll have to go right afterwards. I have some business to do with the Fatui."

That was a lie. The both of you knew that, but Childe didn't want to seem so lame in front of you. He already felt that enough today to last a lifetime.

You pulled him through the crowds of people lingering on the roads beside buildings, making a beeline to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. You ignored the furrow of his forehead when he saw the building looming ahead of him. Before he could voice out any inquiries, you pushed the dark oaken doors open, stepping into the darkness. He stayed by your side loyally, his muscles strained, ready to protect you from the weird atmosphere of the room. 

The curtains dropped, golden sunlight spilling through the windows to reveal the secret. "Happy birthday Childe!" the entire group called out. There stood in the room were dozens of people, including Teucer, Zhongli, Hu Tao, traveler, Paimon, and fellow Liyue citizens. Tables were set up in the Parlor, banners were hung up on the wall, and food were lined up, including a birthday cake. You turned to look at the red haired man, whose irises took it all in, his mouth parting openly. 

"Teucer. You're here!" he gasped, opening his arms wide when his little brother ran up to him. He hugged the boy tenderly, thanking everyone for the throwing the party. They all began to surround Childe, while others mingled and conversed, for the party was starting. 

You faded into the background, leaning against the cool wall and feeling grateful that it was a success. It was a lot of work, but with everyone contributing, it went very well, which was a little strange, considering you half expected it to fall apart.

Footsteps sounded, so you turned to the left to see him approaching you. He looked breathless, his cheeks rosy, and his dimples showing. "The party was your idea, wasn't it?" he stated, rather than in question form. 

Nodding silently, you took something out from your pockets. "Happy birthday, Childe."

You handed it to him and he took it with a softened expression. Unwrapping the gold, shiny wrapping of the small box, he opened it up to find a keychain in it, blue and twinkling. It was carved into a hydro vision, the details exactly aligned to the vision that sat on his torso. 

He kissed you then, crashing his lips upon yours. Hands faltering to the sides, you clenched your fingers around his forgotten present and returned the kiss. He tasted of seasalt and apples, as well as a scent that no doubt came from his homeland. His warmth brushed over to you, spreading through your system and to the tip of your fingers. Your cheeks burned at the contact and your chest pounded, but eventually, you pulled away, embarrassed by the chance of any onlookers.

"There are too many people here," you said, shaking your head, still feeling flustered by the way he looked at you -- as if you were the only thing he could see in this world. He was so unashamed, willing to do anything to grapple at the goal he sought after. He had always been like that. And always will be. 

He raised a brow, the corner of his lips curving up mischievously. "Are you suggesting we get out of here and find a vacant room?"

You hit his arm and he pouted, laughing at your reaction. "How rude," you sniffed. "I threw this entire party for you and you're already willing to ditch it. Don't think I'll forget how desperate you were this entire day."

Embarrassed, he averted his gaze from you, scratching his head with an awkward chuckle. "I didn't care for a party, [Y/N]. All I wanted was to hear a birthday wish from you. I was scared you forgot it."

"I would never forget it. Not in a million years."

His cheeks grew red and he seemed content at your answer. Swinging an arm around you, he lugged you towards the food. Then he rambled on and on about something regarding stuffing himself so he could slay a bunch of enemies. Sitting down at a table, he declared a rematch with traveler. On the other end of the table was Zhongli, going on long tangents to the poor victim who was forced to listen in. Hu Tao was scaring off another customer, suggesting deals like the sales woman she was and suddenly talking about the afterlife. 

Everyone here was so distinct and peculiar, but in a good way. Grateful to be surrounded by such people, you knew that not a day goes by without an adventure. 

"Hey Tuecer," you said to the boy beside you. He was in the middle of playing with Mr. Cyclops, making sound effects with his mouth. "How are you doing, little guy?"

"Hi [Y/N]!" he giggled. "I'm good. Mr. Cyclops is doing good too. He wants to say happy birthday to my big bro too!"

Childe returned from his conversation with traveler and Paimon, on time to ruffle his brother's head like he did with you earlier. "Thank you Mr. Cyclops," he cooed, petting the top of the toy endearingly. You laughed at the scene and he locked eyes with you. "Hey, don't hurt Mr. Cyclops' feelings like that. Right, Teucer?"

"Right," Teucer nodded somberly, growing real serious. 

Ugh, these brothers. You rolled your eyes and tossed food into your mouth. Childe's head abruptly dropped to your ear, his breath hovering upon your lobes. You shivered at his close proximity. "I love you, [Y/N]. You know that, right?" he whispered into your ear. 

Heart hammering for the millionth time this day, you paused with your chopsticks in the air. "I love you too, dumb birthday boy."

#Genshin #gender neutral reader #genshin impact #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact scenarios #oneshot #reader #x reader #tartaglia x reader #reader insert #childe x reader #childe x you #childe x y/n #romance #fluff #cute #genshin impact oneshot #Childe #Tartaglia #zhongli

[lamardeuse]

fuck it Friday

since this is the last day of Pride month, have a little teaser for my next 911 bingo fic, since what I hoped would be a straightforward PWP is predictably ballooning out of control and there’s no hope it’ll be finished today :D 

“I wasn't shocked,” Buck said two nights later at Hen and Karen's. “You make it sound like I was some fainting Victorian lady with my corset laced too tight.”

“Fine, we'll pretend I didn't have to scrape your jaw off the floor,” Eddie said, skewering Buck with a look and feeling a little smug when he blushed.

“I wasn't shocked,” Buck insisted. “I've done stuff with guys before.”

“A lot's changed in the last decade, Buck,” Hen drawled.

Eddie's eyebrows shot up. “A decade, really? Also, how do you know it's been that long for him?”

Hen chuckled. “I keep forgetting you never met Buck 1.0. The day he found out I was a lesbian, he made a point of letting me know he'd kissed two guys in college and gone down on this really hot truck driver when he was hitching a ride to Montana, said it was some 'Jack Kerouac shit'. I threw up in my mouth a little.”

Karen covered her face with her hands to muffle her laughter. “Geez,” Buck said, “see if I ever open up to you again. And it's been nine years, not that I'm counting.”

“If I never hear about your blowjobs again it'll be too soon,” Hen said. Pointing a finger at both of them, she added, “Fair warning.”

“Oh, hell no,” Eddie said, “you do not need to worry about that.” Even the thought of sharing graphic details of his sex life with his friends was horrifying.

“Not that we've –” Buck started, and Eddie glared him into silence.

Karen leaned forward. “Okay, so after the shock wore off, what happened?”

Hen raised her eyebrows at her wife. “Look who's nosy.”

“Listen, they're family now,” Karen said simply.

“And that means they don't owe us the details.”

Karen rested her chin on her hand and batted her eyelashes at Eddie and Buck. “No, you're right, they absolutely don't.”

Eddie glanced at Buck, who was biting his lip to keep from smiling. “You want to know who kissed who first,” Eddie said, mouth curving.

“I mean,” Karen said, “we might have a whole five dollars riding on it, so that would be –”

“Oh please, we do not, I thought you were joking –”

“I never joke about probability,” Karen retorted. “And the odds are definitely in my favor here –”

“Uh,” Buck said, raising a hand, “I think you're both gonna end up winning. Or losing, depending on how you look at it.”

#my stuff #911 fic #buddie fic

[officialscaramouche]

Omg I love the angst of "did you at least think of me when you were having sex with her?" Can you please make a part 2? Thank you very muchhh

Thank you so much for waiting, anon!!! I like where this is going, but since I’ve been making u wait for so long, I’ll have to end it there. If u want a part three, let me know and I’ll write one but for now, here u go!

pairing: gn!reader x Scaramouche

word count: 1,342

tw: none. Maybe language, I don’t remember

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He should’ve been happy. Maybe he just couldn’t be satisfied, even when he got everything he wanted. It was what he wanted, anyway. Back then, his confidence in his desires was unbreakable. But now as he looked back on it, he could see the naïveté in his eyes. He realized that in his heart he was blindly believing that this is what happiness was and that he’d forever be happy. All he had to do was throw away what he’d worked so hard on for many years. He had to throw away you.

The way you looked at him didn’t bother him at the moment, but as the palm of his hand made contact with your cheek and remembering your quivering lips, your glassy eyes, and the flush of red across your face, it was as if you drove a knife right through his heart.

Archons, how could he be so stupid? He treated you like shit. He never appreciated the things you did for him and he always found your presence annoying. He savored every moment he had alone because you just wouldn’t leave his side. He wanted so badly to shove you away and tell you to fuck off, but he hesitated every time you smiled at him. He should’ve known then that there was a reason— a reason why he couldn’t get rid of you. A reason why he didn’t want to get rid of you. But the new and exciting adventure that Mona had laid out for him was too tempting to realize that you were all he wanted. All he needed.

It had been years since he last saw you. He had been fine living with and loving someone else all this time until he woke with tears in his eyes, having a dream of being yours. Dreaming that he woke up next to you. Dreaming that he came home to you. Dreaming that all these years, instead of wasting it with Mona, he was spending it with you.

When he woke and it wasn’t you who he held in his arms, he had a nasty attitude the whole week. He always had an ugly personality, but he was exceptionally unfathomable today. None of his cohorts wanted to be assigned to missions with him, so he went alone. Mona didn’t appreciate his lack of respect for her, and she threw his stuff out. The Tsaritsa told him he needed to do some soul searching and figure out what he needed to move forward. The answer was as clear as day. He needed to find you.

It wasn’t hard figuring out where you had been all this time. Having been very intimate with the Harbinger, the Fatui brought you protection. His subordinates monitored your every move to make sure that no harm would befall you no matter where you went. It only took a few questions to figure out that you had been staying in Liyue. The apartment you lived in was in Tartaglia’s name. If anyone else were doing the investigation, they would’ve never found you. But with Scaramouche’s money on the line, it was only a matter of time until he found you.

When he arrived, Scaramouche was quite obviously not from Liyue. Word spread quickly of an “intricately dressed fellow with a strikingly large hat.” When word finally reached you, you pushed your plate of skewers aside and rested your chin in your hand as you pouted.

One of your friends, Signora, sat beside you and leaned in to look at your face. “What’s wrong? Not gonna eat your skewers?” The one sitting across from you asked, reaching for it.

“No, I lost my appetite. The two of you can have it.”

The skewer was snatched from your plate in an instant.

Signora glared, and put one of her skewers on your plate. “Try to be a little more sympathetic, Tartaglia.”

“It’s just Scaramouche,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

You folded your arms on the table and laid your head in them. “Yeah. But please don’t get involved guys, it’s already bad enough that he cut ties with him,” you emphasized, jutting your thumb out at Tartaglia. “You guys haven’t worked together in, what, like four months?”

“More like six,” Tartaglia corrected with his mouth full of chicken. “He really thinks we’re dating.”

“Give him more credit than that, will you?” She snickered. “I’m sure his little entourage has been spying on us. And I don’t doubt that he’s only here for you, [Y/N].”

“Please Rex Lapis in heaven, make him go away,” you plea, clasping your hands together in prayer. The other two laughed, but you weren’t joking.

Tartaglia slid the key into the lock and opened the door for you, letting you walk inside. “See,” he said with a smug look on his face. “He’s not here, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Don’t say that,” you sobbed. “You’re gonna jinx it.” You both kicked off your shoes and wandered inside, plopping onto the couch with a long and dramatic sigh. “I really don’t know what I’m going to do,” you said with worry. “I don’t want to see him.”

Tartaglia pulled you in for a hug, something he did often. He and Scaramouche were often paired together for work, so he knew the ins and outs of your relationship very well. You were another victim of Scaramouche’s abuse just like everyone else. But you were the only one to actually care about him. Tartaglia felt bad for you. But he also cared about you, so his sympathy wasn’t artificial at all.

“I’d say I’d stay to protect you but today’s my last day off.”

“That’s okay, I know. None of us expected him to be in town.”

Tartaglia kissed the top of your head then stood. “Okay, I gotta meal prep so I’m gonna go to Second Life then go home. Are you gonna be okay?”

You smile and wave your friend bye. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Write me letters from Fontaine!”

You picked up the tea bag from your cup and tossed it in the trash, leaving the mug in the sink before heading off to work. Tartaglia wasn’t going to pay your rent forever. You picked up a job at a restaurant and started saving money. Living with Scaramouche, he didn’t ask you to pay for anything so long as you took care of him and the house. He gave you allowances every other week that you could entertain yourself, but it wasn’t enough to rent an apartment all alone.

You slipped on your shoes, grabbed your keys and swung the door open to step outside, when you’re met face to face with the one person you didn’t want to meet. He smiled, looking up at you from halfway up the stairs, and waved. “Good morning, [Y/N]. I’m glad I’ve caught you before you ran off somewhere.” He raised his hand and dismissed the agents with him, all of them scurrying away to give the two of you privacy. “How have you been?”

“I’m sorry, Scaramouche, I need to go to work.” You quickly locked the door and ducked to go around the balladeer, but he grabbed your arm and held you back.

“Oh, you work now? Where?”

“It’s none of your business. Please let me go.”

“No, I want to spend time with you. How much money would you be losing? Let me pay you for your time.”

“No, Scaramouche. I don’t want to meet with you. I need you to please leave.”

“[Y/N], don’t be stupid. I’ve come here on my own time. Using my sick days to see you.”

“I’m sorry, but I do not want to see you. Now I really have to go to work.”

You brush past him and hurry on to work, hoping that it will serve as a good distraction from today’s events. If you shut him down enough, he’s bound to get the hint. But he’s a stubborn man, and you don’t know just how stubborn he can get.

#writing #request #Scaramouche #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche genshin #genshin impact #part two: prompt one