#i'm literally at the point where if i fail another class
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wandering heart
For @phantomphangphucker for phic phight!
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The needle was bronze.
The copper alloy stood out better against ectoplasmic flesh than it would have against red blood. It dipped in and out of Danny's skin with machine-like precision, drawing a slender purple string in its wake. Appropriate. Clockwork was at least partly mechanical.
“You're getting close to my liver,” said Danny. “Careful.”
“You are aware that these facsimile organs are not at all essential to the function of your body.”
“Sure they are,” said Danny. He leaned his head back on the cushion Clockwork had provided him. “That's why you're sewing me up.”
Clockwork's tower wasn't Danny's usual post-battle stop, but the fight had been nasty and it had been close. His other choices had been flying an hour to reach the Far Frozen and leaving an ectoplasm trail through the mad science lab dedicated to dissecting ghosts. The decision had been easy.
Clockwork had complained, of course. Ninety percent of the time spent stitching had doubled as time spent snarking. It was fun.
“You have more than fake human organs in here, and losing that much ectoplasm is unhealthy for a ghost regardless. You are friends with the doctors of the Far Frozen. Perhaps you should avail yourself of their knowledge more frequently.”
“I already have one health class I'm failing. Don't need another.”
“You are not failing your health class.”
Danny peeled back an eyelid that had fallen shut at some point during the exchange. “Are you using your time powers to spy on my grades?”
“Hardly.” Clockwork picked up a pair of ornate scissors and snipped the string he'd been stitching Danny up with. “But even so, I doubt you would notice if I removed one of your so-called organs.”
“You could try,” said Danny. He closed his eyes again and leaned to the side until he was slumped over on Clockwork, who made an offended noise. “You’re trapped now. Stuck.”
“I am a shapeshifter,” said Clockwork. “You cannot ‘trap’ me simply by leaning on me.”
“Can too.”
Danny was tired. Sometimes, he could shrug off both fights and injuries like they were nothing, but unicorns were vicious and Technus was mean. Electricity always took a lot out of him.
Clockwork sighed heavily. Danny smiled.
“You aren’t nearly as charming as you think,” said Clockwork.
“And yet, you are neither kicking me out nor stealing my pancreas or lower intestine or anything like that.”
“I could.”
“But you haven’t.” Danny tucked his feet underneath him and snuggled more heavily into Clockwork’s side.
The ghost groaned, but obligingly made room for Danny. Yes, yes, exactly according to plan. The evil one, where he made friends with Clockwork. He figured he was already halfway there, if Clockwork was willing to sew him up, but with this it was definitely closer to three quarters.
Having thought this, Danny promptly fell asleep.
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The front doors of Clockwork’s tower were not made to slam open, but Danny, fingers of one hand clenched over his chest and still wearing a Far Frozen medical gown, managed anyway. He was resourceful like that.
“Clockwork?” he called. “Clockwork!” He flew from room to room, only sticking his head in long enough to assess them for Clockwork's presence.
Finally, he found him.
“Clockwork!” he shouted, re-energized by the sight. “Did you steal my heart? My heart? My actual heart from my actual chest?”
Clockwork stared blankly at Danny for long enough that his panicked doubled and doubled again. This was, quite literally, his only lead.
“No,” said Clockwork, finally. “I stole the replica of your actual heart. From your chest.”
“That’s the same thing!”
“Is it?” asked Clockwork, smugly. “After all, you didn’t even notice this one was gone.”
“Oh my god, I cannot believe you did this.” Friendship plan canceled. Or something.
“I cannot imagine why,” said Clockwork. “After all, I told you exactly what I was going to do. You even gave me permission.”
“I thought you were joking. Who’s going to think that you’re serious about stealing a friend’s organs? That’s a joke. A joke. Banter, if you would. Not an invitation to steal my literal heart.”
“Even so, it has been done.”
“Well, can you undo it? Put it back in? You didn’t, I don’t know, toss it out with last week’s eggshells or something? Stick it in the back of the kitchen junk drawer.”
“No, I know exactly where I put it,” said Clockwork.
“And you can undo it, right? It’s not, like, expired?”
“It is difficult to get more expired than a ghost’s heart.”
Danny stared at Clockwork expectantly.
“Yes, I can undo it. It will be the work of a moment to return it to its proper place.”
“Great, so… Lead on.” Danny made a forward sweeping motion with both hands.
Clockwork’s eyes slid back towards his time screen. “Can it wait?”
“No!”
“You haven’t had it for weeks. You won’t miss it for a few more minutes.”
“Uh, yes, I will! You can time travel. Whatever you’re doing, you can do it later.”
“I suppose,” said Clockwork. “Very well. Follow me.”
Clockwork led him back, through narrow halls, into a towering closet with spiral shelves. It was full of what could only be collectively referred to as stuff.
“Wow, I wasn’t serious about the junk drawer thing.”
“Oh, please,” said Clockwork. “This is hardly junk.”
“You’re a hoarder.”
“I resent that appellation,” said Clockwork, flying up and rotating slightly. Danny kept his feet on the ground, slightly intimidated.
“The only reason you aren’t drowning in all this is because your house doesn’t have to exist in Euclidean space.”
“And yet, I am not drowning in it.” Clockwork continued to float upwards, a faint frown on his face.
“You do remember where you put it, right?”
“Yes, Daniel,” said Clockwork, visibly rolling his eyes. “I put it right– Ah. Interesting.”
“Interesting? What do you mean interesting?” demanded Danny. He flew up to hover near Clockwork's shoulder. “Did something happen to it? Is it– It's not there? You said you knew where it was!”
“I said I knew where I put it, which is rather a different thing altogether.”
“No, it isn't! It's not like it has legs! It couldn't have wandered off on its oooohhhhhhhh my God, it could have wandered off on its own. That thing had more ectoplasm in it than a Christmas turkey.”
“It is, in fact,” said Clockwork, “entirely made out of ectoplasm.”
“If it’s moving around like that, can we put it back in? Would it– Would it try to escape? Like, escape my chest? Is that a thing?”
“Unlikely.”
“As unlikely as it starting to move around in the first place?”
“Unlikely,” repeated Clockwork.
“Where even is it? Do you know? Can you tell? Obviously, your whole ‘I know everything’ shtick is a lie, but can you, like, rewind things so that it’s here?”
“No,” said Clockwork. “We will just have to look for it.”
“In your hoarder cave?”
“It is not a cave.”
“Ah, but you don't dispute the hoarder part?” He spun, head over heels, trying and failing to see the entirety of the not-really-a-closet. “What if there are things in here? Like, living things? Could it have been eaten? By, like… Clockroaches? Do you have clockroaches here?”
“Media tends to grossly exaggerate both the aggression and size of temporal boggles–”
“They’re real?”
“Why would you ask about them if you didn’t think they were real?”
“I don’t know. It turns out I don’t think through the things I say to you very well.”
“Clearly.”
Danny arrested his motion. “Where do we even start? This place is huge!”
“That statement assumes that it is still in this particular room.”
“Oh my God.”
“Although, if we are to search this room, it would make the most sense to start from either end and work towards the middle.”
Danny flipped over. “I can’t even see the other end.” This was only barely an exaggeration.
“Then we had best get started soon.”
Danny rubbed his face. “Am I even going to recognize it? What will it look like?”
“Like the organ it was imitating, of course,” said Clockwork. “Oh, and don’t touch anything.”
Danny groaned.
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There was something quivering and green huddled behind a bank of jars. Was that… it couldn’t be… He formed a stick out of ice and went to poke it.
“What are you doing to that poor frog?” asked Clockwork.
“Holy– It’s a frog?”
“Yes.”
Danny stared. Clockwork was covered in splatters and streaks of ectoplasm from head to tail.
“Why do you– I don’t even want to know. Did you find it?”
“Yes,” said Clockwork, holding up a jar. There was… Well. It was a heart. “Are you sure you want it back? Surely, the sentimental value cannot be that great.”
“Wh– It’s not about the sentimental value. Open it up, put it back in!”
Clockwork’s sigh was incredibly put-upon. “Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He unscrewed the lid of the jar, and the heart, which had up until that point, laid quiescent on the bottom of the jar, flew out, smacking Danny in the face.
“Augh!”
“Grab it!”
Danny managed to get a hand around a ventricle, but ectoplasm and ectoplasmic muscle was slippery. It escaped his grip. It flopped-flew its way down to the bottom of the genuinely-not-a-closet and made for the door. Danny dove at it, only to get a faceful of ectoplasm from an artery for his trouble.
Danny wondered if this was what Skulker felt like. He let ectoplasm dribble out of his mouth.
“That, bleh, that tastes like my ectoplasm,” he said.
“That’s because it is,” said Clockwork, tiredly. “I will refrain from asking you to elaborate on your ectoplasm-tasting experiences.”
“Look, when nature gives you a weapon, and afterlife gives you enemies, you use the weapon.” He peered cautiously out of the door, wary of being sprayed with what was essentially his own blood once again. “Where do you think it–”
He got another mouthful of ectoplasm.
“Bleh,” he said.
“I don’t suppose you saw it?” asked Clockwork. “Which way it went, etcetera, etcetera?”
“No,” said Danny.
“Then this will be a long night.”
“Can’t you just, like, stop time or something? So it won’t move around while we look”
Clockwork gave him a look.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
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“I think,” said Danny, from where he was dangling from the ceiling, a tangle of clock chains wrapped around his ankle, “that we need help.”
“Unfortunately, I must concur,” said Clockwork, who was underneath a pair of couches even he’d been surprised at owning.
“Unless you want to use your totally awesome time powers to find it.”
“No.”
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“I’m sorry,” said Sam. “What did you lose?”
“My heart,” said Danny. “And I didn’t lose it. Clockwork stole it.”
“Is this some kind of Ice Queen situation here?” asked Sam. “Are you going to lose all empathy and care for other people?”
“No,” said Danny. “It’s just the, um, physical thing. And only my ghost half’s physical thing. Apparently. Apparently, the ‘human organs’ I have in my ghost form aren’t functional, unless the functionality is, like, the functionality of being incredibly annoying and spraying ectoplasm everywhere.”
“So, what should we bring for this thing?” asked Tucker. “Butterfly nets? Bow and arrow? Guns? What’s the endgame?”
“You want to shoot my heart?”
“I don’t know what you want here, dude. I’m still kind of reeling over the fact that the guy you were hanging out with literally stole your heart. Do you need someone to give him a stern talking to, make sure he gets you home before curfew?”
“That’s disgusting. He could probably be my great-great-great-great-great-great–”
In ghost form, Danny didn’t have to breathe all that much, so he was able to go on like that until Sam and Tucker joined forces to stuff socks in his mouth.
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“How in the world did things escalate to Clockwork stealing your literal heart?” asked Jazz.
“Okay, yeah, I see how that’d seem bad, out of context, but you see, it isn’t actually my literal heart–”
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Danny glared at Clockwork’s idea of ‘help.’ “I bring three completely reasonable and competent people, and you bring them?”
“From my point of view, I am the one with the reasonable and competent people,” said Clockwork, gesturing at the combined forces of Nocturne, Ghost Writer, and Skulker. “You, meanwhile, have brought three teenagers.”
“Are you really calling Skulker competent?”
“If not, he at least has experience in being outsmarted by you.”
“Hey!”
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“Alas,” said Tucker, “the heart wants what the heart wants, and what it wants is freedom.”
“Where,” said Sam, kicking at a puddle, “is all this ectoplasm even coming from?”
“Around,” said Danny.
“Ooh,” said Jazz, “it’s condensing it from the atmosphere?” She paused. “What are you all looking at me like that for? I can have scientific curiosity!”
“I think it’s more because of what’s happened to your hair,” said Ghost Writer.
“What’s happened to my hair?”
“You don’t want to know.”
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“Danny, I think I hate you,” said Sam. They were sitting on one of Clockwork’s couches. Clockwork had a lot of couches. A fact that Clockwork seemed both bemused and distressed by.
“Oh, trust me, the feeling is mutual. As in, I hate me too.”
Clockwork sat down on the couch next to Danny. “Daniel, I must tell you that while hate is beneath me, I am seriously regretting my earlier decisions.”
“Does that mean that you’re going to time travel back to–”
“Absolutely not.”
Tucker ran past them with a butterfly net, chasing down a green blur.
“That’s a blob ghost, isn’t it?” asked Sam.
“I do believe so,” said Clockwork.
“Well,” said Danny. “At least this all makes us friends, yeah? Can’t go through something like this without being friends.” At least he’d get something accomplished with all this insanity.
“I wouldn’t call myself friends with Skulker. Or Nocturne. Acquaintances, more like.”
“I notice you didn’t say anything about Ghost Writer.”
Clockwork shrugged. “He’s somewhat more tolerable.”
“And me?”
“I suppose.”
The heart fell straight down, into Danny’s lap.
“Are you serious–”
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10:55 AM — 「 "BEST FRIEND" 」
gender!neutral reader. platonic-ish romantic
these are thoroughly self-indulgent and are what the author personally experienced in her life 👍🏻
"best friend!ace" who would throw you nrc's basketball team banner with no context. he'd just smirk and salute at you before jogging back to the court while you're left to stare at the small banner in question. you'd bring the banner with you before the game starts, placing it around your shoulders (since it's made out of cloth) with the logo displayed across your back and it just unintentionally gives him a boost. you look like you're bragging the team to anyone you walk by and it just feeds his ego.
"best friend!ace" who'd disturb you while you're helping with prop making during class like he'd: (1) randomly play with a ribbon then wrap it around your neck to playfully choke you (he didn't literally choke you), (2) clip random materials to your hair without you knowing until you find out and just know he's the culprit, and (3) talk a lot but not help, he's just sitting there while leaning on his arms until you throw something at him and he just does his part with a small grumble.
"best friend!ace" who's willing to lend you his lab coat after you left yours back at the dorm. sir crewel doesn't let anyone work without a lab coat and since you both have different alchemy schedules, you messaged ace about needing one (you were so worried you'd fail you nearly BEGGED). if he also left his lab coat, he's running back to heartslabyul to get it then he's by your classroom in a few minutes. he'd be playfully asking for a compensation after lending it to you but when he saw you smile – as cliche as it is – he felt like a hero.
"best friend!ace" who'd always message you asking if you already got home after you (impulsively) travelled/commuted on your own. he knows how unfamiliar you are with twisted wonderland's map so, deep down, he's worried. he'd also spam you with "where are you" if you haven't replied for a while or he's forcing you to turn on your location and send it to him.
if you ever did send your location, he'd be looking at it from time to time and if he saw that you're in an unfamiliar area, he's messaging you with "WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE???" or just straight up spam you with calls. he'd stay in the call until you're at your destination.
"best friend!ace" who'd, similar to previous one, ask if you already ate if you sound stupid while chatting with him. randomly saying "huh?" or something that just doesn't make sense AT ALL then he'd respond with, "have you even ate you sound dumb rn ngl" and when you admit you haven't, he'd use it as a chance to eat with you (your treat lowkey). he'd even say it's to "bring back my original y/n"
"best friend!ace" who'd trash talk you with you around (he has a loud voice let's be fr) to deuce to annoy you knowing very well you'd trash talk him back indirectly while deuce is forced to just nod and facepalm. until it's you two bickering with one another until he just squeezes/pinches your cheek and you're smacking at him endlessly.
"best friend!ace" who could sense if you're not in the mood (even through chat) and ask what's wrong out of nowhere. he'd be willing to listen and – let's be honest, he's good at giving out advice because he doesn't sugarcoat unless he needs to. he'd go straight to the point and make sure you're back to your usual self again. at this point, quality time is his love language and he'd tug you around town to keep your mind off of whatever's bugging you.
"best friend!ace" who has a reputation with you as an 'old married couple' with how much you two bicker back and forth. your friends would be laughing and teasing you both each time you 'argue' and how they'd go "there they go again" or "i just left for a second and you both are fighting again". he enjoys it so much he couldn't last a day without seeing a scowl on your face. when he leaves his group of friends he'd say "i'm off to piss off y/n."
"best friend!ace" who'd really annoy you to the point that, while you're in something like a symposium and you fell asleep, he'd shake you so aggressively with a false panicked voice. of course, you'd wake up so abruptly that you'd get so pissed you start attacking him and he's just laughing. the moment you give him a cold shoulder he's already pouting and saying he's sorry while poking your sides.
"best friend!ace" who'd also grab your shoes out of nowhere or any of your stuff to annoy you as well.
"best friend!ace" who, in the end, is still protective of you when needed. got hit on the head by a basketball by he's team mate? he's calling them out and throwing the ball back at them twice as hard before rubbing your head despite saying you're fine. he'd also glare and call out people who's staring if ever you're wearing shorts or something. he's willing to give his jacket too if you need it.
the question is, does he like you as a friend or more than that? you will never know the tricks up ace trappola's sleeves.
#twisted wonderland x reader#twst x reader#ace trappola x reader#heartslabyul#heartslabyul x reader#twisted wonderland scenarios#ANOTHER DUMP AT THE RAW MORNING OF 2 AM#I HAVE A QUIZ TOMORROW FFS BUT HEAD EMPTY ONLY ACE#yes these all happened to me help#i'm literally kicking my feet rn
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Wait I think I missed the part of the game where it says all the characters (like Catnap and Dogday) are kids and when I looked it up all I'm finding is theories?? (This has nothing to do with the sexualizing them conversation)
Before the release of chapter 3, we received an arg from mob entertainment games- the makers of poppy playtime. In said ARG you can learn about an orphan child named Theodore Grambell.
Through this arg you learn that Theodore has been seeing and interacting with The Prototype- and The Prototype supposedly was trying to save Theo from playcare before he was experimented on, but it failed when the workers of Playtime co severely injured Theo, and the prototype basically came back with theo to make sure he could receive the help he needed to survive- leading to the prototypes capture. Theo views this event as The Prototype giving up his own freedom to save him- and as such, when the workers of playtime co turn Theo into Catnap after he's returned, Catnap worships the prototype as a savior. This is then all doubled down on when the chapter actually released, because you can find a tape of a doctor speaking to catnap, but referring to him as "Theodore" and wouldn't you know it, Theo is the only one ever to have that name in lore.
Kissy Missy can be found in Chapter 3 looking longingly at a picture of a little girl who is believed to be her from before-
and even FURTHER back many MANY people believe that poppy herself is the founder of playtime co's adoptive daughter.
Its also said over and over and OVER again that playtime co would be nothing without the kids. Many people believe this to be very literal. Without the kids- their toys wouldn't be successful.
There's also other tapes in Chapter three, one is about a kid being pulled from class because hes been "selected", one is about a woman and man (presumably a couple) crying because the orphan they wanted to adopt is no longer available as hes been taken for "testing", and in another we hear a doctor have to turn a kid away because he's trying to "fix" his friend who is "sick".
The toys are not always kids, but a lot of them are as that was the WHOLE POINT of playcare, the onsite orphanage. It's why in my AU i am trying to save them- because they are just that. Kids. Who have been traumatized beyond any understanding of the word. It is horrific- grotesque- and honestly stupid because where does playtime co even GET that many orphans.
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ello!!!! may I request some sort of coffee shop au with Miranda and female reader? Either we work there and she's the customer who always brightens our day, or we just continue to run into (not necessarily literally, but also what is some spilled coffee if we get Miranda in exchange?) each other all the time? It's really up to you, I'm just asking for some cozy coffee romance :) <3 tysmmm!
Coffee, tea, or could I offer you me?
Working at a coffee shop wasn’t nearly as quaint and romantic as the books you’d read while growing up described. However, instead of accepting the dull reality and focusing on working to pay for college, you decided to make a difference, and be the cupid of the establishment. If you couldn’t live your coffee shop romance, you would help other people do so.
That was before you witnessed the most beautiful girl you’d ever seen get stood up by her date.
Word count: 7.1k (oops)
As the cupid of the Rainbow Roast Café, your life mission was to provide ordinary people with the ristretto-like love experience of their life. Or at least give clients a funny story to tell their grandchildren one day.
Your co-worker Maggy had even a bet going on that you would pair off at least one more duo or group of individuals until the end of the month, to which Dave — your other co-worker — betted against, saying you had already struck twice this month and it was virtually impossible for you to get another success in just ten days.
You didn’t see it as a competition though. It was the closest you thought you could get to experiencing a coffee shop romance. Patrons who flirted with you often acted like creeps and it was very rare for one of them to be a woman. So, you decided that giving other people the chance at a nice and soft meet cute and possible love story was your best shot.
At first, you thought it would be a horrible breach of boundaries to tell a client that you saw someone eyeing them from the other side of the café, so you kept your cool and inwardly itched watching people nurturing crushes and not telling the other person about it. Until the day of your breaking point.
There was this girl that always came at eight-twenty and ordered a white chocolate mocha. She had a favourite table by the windows to the side and near the back, and she sat there every day without fail to people-watch and write in a journal-like notebook. That was until a month in on your job, another person arrived at eight and ordered a simple iced and bee-lined to the very table.
When the girl got her order that morning, she was stuck for a bit, watching the intruder of her sacred spot. You thought she felt pestered at having to choose another seat, but over the next few days it kept happening, and the looks she shot at the brooding figure at her table started to appear more like pining than cursing.
You, being nosy and lacking several social filters, approached her on a slow day with the biggest double chocolate chip cookie you could find and tried to strike up a conversation. She turned out to be just as nice as you thought she was, and two days later you finally asked if she liked the mysterious customer at her former table. She timidly admitted to having a crush and asked you to keep quiet about it. The next day you wrote into their cup about the cute girl in a cardigan and how she thought they looked cool.
Lysa and Rae are still customers, but they sit at the same table for four months now.
The following ones were easier. You would write in a piece that customer x told you they liked customer y and see where things went. You always befriended the customer first and then offered to help, and when they said yes you felt over-the-roof-happy. You were always social, but you never thought you’d have such an enormous amount of friends, all of whom were dating while you were still painfully single. It was nice though.
Everything was going great that particular day at the café. Andre had paid a visit to get Mina her usual smoked latte before class and invited you to a movie night at the weekend in her dorm. You had bonded with Mina through your shared guilty pleasure of watching cheesy love triangle dramas when you were sad, and her taste in movies was as close to yours as that of a soul buddy. You wished you had attended uni with them, it would have been so much fun.
But, however good the day was, there was still time for that to change. An hour before the end of your shift, a stupefying figure entered the coffee shop. A woman, so tall she could reach the 8’3 door head if she raised her hand, walked in and settled at one of the front window seats. Judging by her slightly nervous aura, you assumed she was waiting for a date.
There wasn’t much movement that time in the afternoon. Most people were working and the few customers around already had their orders, so you decided to go ask the recent arrival if she wanted something while she waited.
Getting closer, you noticed her whitish-blond hair looked very soft, as did her milky skin and overall presence. If it wasn’t for her height, you could say she would look very plain or unremarkable. A white woman, with blond hair and average proportions. That was before you rounded a table and saw her closer from the front. She had a very remarkable face. It was a combination of gentle eyebrows, high cheekbones and a sharp jawline that somehow managed to not be threatening but disarmingly inviting.
“Excuse me,” you cleared your throat, hoping you didn’t sound as breathless as you felt, “Would you like to order?”
When she looked up from her phone, bright pools of arctic blue glued you to where you stood. If you walked, you were quite sure your legs would give out. She was nothing but exquisite, and suddenly you wished she was waiting for you, and that just this once you were the protagonist of the story.
“I’m sorry?” she prompted, and her voice, for everything that is good in the world, her voice sent chills through your skin even though it was an unusually hot autumn day.
“I just asked if you would like to order something.” You took out your notepad for something to look at other than the gorgeous stranger. “I can bring you something while you wait for…” it was quite shameless, but of course, you were fishing for information, “whatever you are waiting for,” you hoped she wouldn’t feel offended by your less-than-professional approach.
“I’m just waiting for a friend.” She gave you a small, timid smile, and gazed at the table, confirming she very much wasn’t waiting for a friend. “He won’t take long, so I’ll order when he arrives.”
You only nodded, instantaneously slaughtered of all hope and happiness at the kind dismissal. You returned to your place behind the counter and started cleaning already clean coffee machines and the spotless counter.
She was waiting for a he. Of course, that didn’t mean she was straight, and she was so beautiful you’d feel personally attacked if she was. Maggy noticed your state and tsked from the kitchen door.
“What is it? Someone didn’t want to chat?” you usually felt disappointed when some people gave you hints they wanted to be left alone. You wouldn’t annoy a customer for the life of you, but it did make you pout.
When she approached the counter to look at you, however, her eyebrow arched, and a smug smirk twisted her face.
“Ooh, am I seeing a rejected puppy?” her pretentious tone made your lips twitch. She was teasing you, but you wouldn't give her the satisfaction of making you laugh.
"Not rejected. You know I don't flirt with clients, it's creepy enough when they do it to me."
"Oh, so what would you call it then? Friendly banter?" you snorted ungracefully. It was true you were comfortable with teasing, flirting and sometimes even catcalling your friends. What could you say? You loved embarrassing and complimenting them, it was just the perfect means.
"Yes, friendly banter. Not everyone is smoking hot like you to be able to flirt and be taken seriously, you know," you arched an eyebrow and she threw a napkin at you.
"You're impossible!" she kissed you on the cheek before returning to the kitchen for more goods.
Half an hour had passed and the woman's date still hadn't arrived. You pondered going back there and offering something again, but you imagined she'd feel uncomfortable with you noticing she was possibly being stood up. Your bones hurt with the want to go strike up a conversation and distract her from the douchebag that was making her wait, but at the same time, your heart raced in panic at the thought of talking to her.
It was some time since you'd had a crush on a person. Even being a hopeless romantic, you didn't have many opportunities to find anyone attractive in your day-to-day life. You lived close to the campus, so taking the subway to work wasn't necessary. You spent your day at the coffee shop and it always felt like breaching an unspoken rule to fancy a client (even though you admitted some were very aesthetically pleasing), and all your friends were spoken for and their friends were usually on college so a few years younger and that didn't do it for you. So it was very curious to finally feel it again, and for a client to make matters worse.
"Ok, stop ogling her, you'll bore a hole on her neck like this" Maggy mused, bringing the rest of the pastries.
You let out a defeated breath. "You're right, I have work to do and no time for this kind of thing."
"Woah there, you seem to have thought a lot of things in the five minutes it took me to get back, huh?"
You did, and she might not have the knowledge of what went on in your head, but you knew she understood your conclusion. How did she come to know you so well was beyond you, but you guessed five months of friendship and almost uninterrupted proximity did that.
"You know it's not for me." You shrugged and noting she was about to object you excused yourself saying you'd get more excelsa beans.
When your shift was close to end, the woman was still there. She wasn't waiting anymore, you noticed. She was idly taking notes on a small pad and listening to music. She didn't look too affected by the guy not showing up. Maybe she suspected it would happen, or it wasn't the first time, you didn't know but her nonchalance about it made your chest tighten.
Before you could change your mind, you chose one of the biggest triple chocolate ganache palm-sized cookies from the display case and prepared an iced vanilla latte to go. You put the two in a paper tray and fake-power-walked to her, willing yourself to feel the smallest amount of confidence. You were the chatty one of the group, why was it so difficult to act normal with her too?
"Hey, hello..." great start, "Ahem, my shift is almost ending and since I couldn't help you earlier with your order I thought I would bring this to you." You smiled and were almost sure you did ok.
Until she looked up from her notepad with shimmery eyes, and your smile fell. She had not been so nonchalant then.
"Oh, I'm sorry, do I have to order to stay here?" she seemed confused while looking between you and the tray you placed in front of her.
"No! No, I just thought you'd like something sweet," you were nervous like you haven't been for a long time, "I don't know... you just seemed like the type..."
"That likes sweets?" her small voice made sent shivers through your arms, she sounded so fragile, looking at your offer with something akin to wonder.
"Yes. Sorry. When you work here for a while you pick up on these things. If you don't though, I can take it back-"
"No!" she interrupted you, briskly circling a hand to your pulse when you made it to take the tray away and looked at you with a bewildered expression. "Sorry! I do like sweets." She let you go as rapidly as she touched you, chest flaring red, she avoided your eyes and cleared her throat. "Thank you, it is very nice of you," with that, she smiled, almost beamed, and you could only nod and get the hell away from her as fast as you could.
While desperately changing into your own clothes, you jumped at the sound of Dave entering the locker room.
"Shit, sorry!" he exclaimed, looking at you from head to toe. He was a quieter friend, but very perceptive, "So Maggy wasn't joking," he smiled.
"Please, not you too."
He laughed, "I won't tease you for being human. Everyone has a crush from time to time."
"Shut up! I don't have a crush." You finished tying your shoe. "And even if I do, she's probably straight or has a boyfriend."
"So you thought about it."
"SHUT UP!" you couldn't help but laugh and as you closed the back door to the alley you heard him laughing too.
You didn't pay too much mind to your thoughts of the beautiful stranger in the following days. She would likely never go back to the shop and if she did it would take a while and your attraction would have died down.
When she came not three days after, you cursed and ran to the kitchen.
"What are you doing, we need you outside," Maggy furrowed her brow softly.
"Could you please go there for a few minutes? I can finish icing," you pleaded, already taking the bag from her hand; she gave you a strange look but said fine.
Not a moment after she entered the kitchen again with a pleased smile. "Y/n you insufferably adorable idiot, go back out there and serve your customer!" she pointed at the door, and you made a show of slumping your shoulders and pouting while you made your way out front.
The woman was at the counter, she had a light frown, as if a bit confused with something, and startled when you said, "Good morning, how may I serve you?" in your best impression of a customer-service-friendly tone.
"Oh! Hi," she beamed at you, "Nice seeing you again!" Fuck she was gorgeous, "I would like the drink you gave me the other time, I really liked it."
You didn't know if the swell of pride in your ribcage was for being such a kick-ass barista or because of the happiness on her face from your accurate assumption.
"Coming right up!" you started making her drink, pleased with yourself, "Will you want anything to eat, as well?"
"No, if I do my co-workers will want it too," she chuckled and you got a to-go cup. When you handed it to her, she looked puzzled. "How did you know...?"
"The time," you filled in when she didn't elaborate, "Lots of people come before work and the ones that stay are usually students."
She hummed, eyebrows going up with a soft smile, "What about elders?" she handed you payment, exact change with an extra A$2,00 coin. Hot and a good tipper? This woman has no shame.
"We have only one couple and they come a bit later in the day," you smiled, accepting the money.
"Well, thank you then," she awkwardly lifted the cup and gave you one last, sheepish smile, before leaving.
You were so very screwed.
She kept coming. Day after day, she came in at the same hour and asked for the same drink. You offered some variations a few times, but she always went back to the first you made her. You stopped pretending you weren't smug for getting it so right.
Today was raining softly, autumn was settling in finally and cold afternoons were now a guarantee rather than a wish. You heard the doorbell and looked up to see Mina skipping to the counter with a scarf-hidden smile. Her nose was rosy as well as her cheeks which turned her eyes into thin joyful lines.
"Hey, lover! I missed you this weekend." She fake-pouted and you began making her usual.
"Sorry, I worked Dave's shift on Saturday and forgot to let you know."
"It's fine, but only if you go to the next one. If you don't, I'll stop being your friend!" she joked, sitting on one of the stools to watch you make her drink.
"Ok, dear 8-year-old cousin," she laughed and you changed topics to what movies they watched and how you regretted losing Toni's shock-filled eyes at New Moon's 'hot vampire royalty' as Mina said he put it. For someone who said they hated Twilight, you were happy for their growth.
After some more gossip, Mina grabbed her coffee and fled to class with a kiss on your cheek.
It was past mid-afternoon; your shift was slowly nearing its end and you were grateful for bringing an umbrella. It would probably be still raining when you got out.
When she walked through the door half an hour later, though, you wished you had more time. Her hair was a bit damp, and she had a sports jacket on. Maybe she left work around that hour because it was close to the one, she came to the shop the first time.
Try not to be a stalker, you weirdo, you thought to yourself while she approached.
"Hello there," she had her usual easy smile on. So beautiful.
"Hey, what will it be?" you could almost act normal now, the result of prolonged exposure, you assumed.
"You know," she shrugged, leaning on the counter lazily.
You started preparing her drink with a small smile and Maggy shook her head at you, rolling her eyes dramatically before leaving for the kitchen. She had nothing to do in there anymore.
"Tough day at work?"
"Oh, the usual. Paperwork mostly, it's been a while since there's been any excitement." She shrugged, but soon fixed her posture and shook her head frowning. "Not that I want anything to happen. If paperwork is the price, it's fine by me."
Curious comment. You didn't know what she did, you realized you didn't even know her name. You fantasized about leaning over the counter and kissing her silly but could not say who she was. How could it be that through an entire week, you hadn't even caught her name; usually it took you one conversation and the next you would set her up with someone from the shop. Of course, you weren't inclined to do that with her particularly, because of reasons.... but it was rather odd.
"Sorry, I don't think I ever asked your name," you turned to place her order on the counter, not on a to-go cup this time.
"Oh my god, that's true! I only know yours from your tag, it never crossed my mind I didn't have mine on!"
So her work requires wearing tags... Fuck, I'm a creep.
"I'm Miranda." She extended her hand for you to shake, it was just as soft as it looked. You imagined what being caressed by it would feel like... or a massage... or other things.
Shaking your head, you leaned to kiss her hand, rather than shake it. Out of your control, really. You simply could not lose the opportunity.
She looked to the floor, biting her smile. You could not see the red in her chest this time, but her ears were blazing.
"I'll just-" she took the cup, looking at you and rapidly away again, "Thank you. I'll go sit now." You only nodded, amused and slightly euphoric but trying to keep it down, as you saw her go.
She sat on one of the front window tables, leaning on her elbow and pointedly looking at the rain.
Two days passed after that. It was almost the end of the month, and you didn't even find another potential couple to help. You were too busy daydreaming on the job to pay attention to the customers. Maggy would lose her bet, the poor baby.
It was the middle of your shift, so it took you by surprise when you saw the blond owner of your thoughts walking in.
“Hey!” Miranda approached the counter, her smile making quick work of warming your whole being. She was the best part of your day no matter what happened. You thought seeing her smile at you was worth more than winning the lottery. You could live without the money any day.
“Hello, there,” you smiled back, with your usual cheekiness. “Your usual, I presume?” You were almost beginning her latte when she interrupted you.
“No! No, today I’ll be having a cold brew and an espresso. Robin needs her caffeine.” At that, she pointed at a brunette walking slowly in. She looked waspish and you could easily believe she was one of those people who were very grumpy before their first cup of coffee. “I’m her partner,” she leant over the counter and whispered to you like it was an exciting secret. She looked so proud you felt nauseous.
So she had a partner; a week after being stood up. It was understandable, she was a smoke show, funny and adorable all at once. How could she not have a mile-long line of people waiting for a chance? It still disappointed you that you weren’t the choice.
“Do you want me to grind?” you asked, absentmindedly leaning down to search for the good beans. At the silence, you turned to see her. She was turning red very fast, then you realised what you said and almost dropped the bean’s package on the floor, “The beans! Do you want me to grind the beans? You know… so the shots are nice and fresh.” Jesus, good one.
“Yes…” she gazed at the floor for a second and shook her head before looking back at you. “Sorry, I was just distracted… by stuff…" she pressed her lips in a thin line and looked in any other direction than yours. “I’ll just- I’ll just sit there.”
And off she was.
“Could you be less of a flirt? Not everyone can pull girls like a magnet and it’s offensive,” your co-worker’s voice woke you from your trance. Maggy was coming with a tray of fresh cakes.
“Shut up… it was her.” You tried to recompose yourself, your week’s worth of daydreams turning sour as you saw her walk to the back table where her “partner” was. Miranda liked the front window, why did that woman seat in the only corner with no view of the street and the farthest possible from the door?
“Ooh, so you’re finally admitting it.” She began to arrange the sweets in flower-like patterns on the display case, still smiling to herself.
“You only listened to my screw-up. She has a girlfriend,” you didn’t mean to sound so snippy, but you felt angry tears forming in your eyes and couldn’t stop tapping your left foot faster and faster.
Maggy noticed it in your tense posture and tight face, and before you knew it she was shoving you into the kitchen and asking Dave to cover outside.
Incredible. Just magnificent. She had a girlfriend, because of course she did, and you foolishly invested time and hope planning to ask her out and imagining all the stupid little dates you wanted to take her to and all the stupid little things you would do to make her smile. Great.
“Hey, come here…” Mag’s voice was no more than a whisper, bringing you to her chest while you very pointedly didn’t cry.
Your chest was rising and falling erratically with your half-swallowed sobs and your face hurt from all the muscles you strained to keep from letting it all out.
Maggy knew you wouldn’t cry. You were too stubborn for that, too chagrined with yourself to allow release. After less than a minute, you pushed yourself out of her arms, face sullen and voice hoarse.
“They ordered a cold brew and an expresso. I feel suddenly sick, can I go home?” you didn’t feel sick, she knew it too, but she only said:
“Yeah… yeah, I’ll cover for you.”
You nodded, never meeting her eyes, perpetually looking at the ground as you walked to the staff changing rooms and then home.
While walking home that afternoon, you caught the rain. You’d seen the weather report, but you left in such a hurry that you forgot your umbrella and didn't feel like going back to get it.
You got actually sick. The next morning you woke up sweating, feeling every muscle in your body hurting. It was nine, so you were already late. You called your boss to tell him you had a fever and he said Mag had already told him you didn’t feel very well the day before. He gave you the weekend off and ended with a kind “get better soon”; he was a nice boss.
You spent said weekend in bed. When you felt less horrible you took a shower and changed the sheets, prepared some soup and ate on the sofa while watching the news.
Apparently, there was a gang targeting young girls from the university near the Rainbow. All the police could tell at the moment was that they were being abducted after hours when leaving the campus for a night out. What they did to them after was a mystery you felt like throwing up just thinking about. You texted Mina to know if the group was safe; they were, but also very scared.
“The police detective in charge of the case, Robin Griffin, couldn’t disclose any more information,” the anchor’s voice sounded while a picture of a sulking brunette appeared on your screen.
It was her: Miranda’s partner. A police detective of all things.
Of course, Miranda would date some mysterious, grumpy detective that fought for the innocent and had a secret soft side she never showed anyone except for Miranda. It was the perfect ray of sunshine/rainy cloud couple half of the young adult fantasies had.
You wondered what Miranda did for work. You shouldn't be thinking about her, but you couldn't help it. All you knew was that she used a tag, and that didn't reduce your options all that much. You had to get her out of your brain.
After finishing eating and taking another shower, you went to bed early to get some healthy twelve hours of sleep before returning to work. With any luck, Miranda wouldn't come so soon.
You weren't very lucky, as proven by the relationship status of the person you madly wanted.
Miranda came again the next morning, accompanied by her detective girlfriend, Robin Griffin.
"Morning!" she was cherry as all the other times she greeted you but now it caused you physical pain to see her smile and attribute her happiness to the sulking jackass at the back booth.
Maybe you were being too harsh if Miranda was dating the woman she had probably a reason but you chose to ignore it as an outlet for all your negative thoughts and feelings.
"Good morning, how may I serve you today?" you said in a practised monotone, customer smile on your face.
A little line formed between her eyebrows and your fingers itched to smooth it away.
"Hum, I'll accept a suggestion today." she observed herself drum her fingers on the counter, "And Robin wants a cold brew again."
You nodded, starting with a white chocolate mocha and ignoring the figure leaning her weight on the counter.
"You can grind-" you heard her start and stop for a few seconds, "the beans for Robin's, she never commented on coffee before but last time you made it she said it was really good."
"Last time I made it?" you cursed your curiosity, "Someone else made you two coffee?"
Technically, the only time you made coffee for them you only started the grinder and fled, so Maggy was the one to finish it.
"Yeah... we came on Saturday to straighten some things. I like the atmosphere here and Robin didn't mind coming again."
Straighten some things? Were they having fights? None of your business in any case but... were they? You only hummed in response.
You placed her drink on the counter and started the second. Noticing you wouldn't start talking again, Miranda cleared her throat and looked to the side. Why couldn't she look you in the face today? It was normal for her to blush and avert her eyes sometimes when you talked but she seemed incapable of keeping eye contact for five seconds today.
"I like your shirt," she commented, out of nowhere.
"It's my uniform? But thanks?" what in the seven hells?
You finished the second drink and thanked whoever listening for her silent departure. Her awkward nod still made your chest constrict though.
This time there was no Maggy to witness your suffering, instead, it was Dave who was bringing the new arrivals and decided to lean against the door and watch.
"Shut up," you breathed as soon as you saw his smirk.
"I didn't say anything."
"But you were thinking."
"Oh, come on, she was obviously flirting with you!" you hated that you agreed with him, it felt like flirting — hesitant and weird but flirting.
"Her girlfriend is sitting right there, she was not flirting with me just five meters away from her," if you said it out loud one more time maybe you could convince yourself.
"Well, or she's very clueless, or devilishly smart." He shrugged and started putting away some gourmet-looking packages underneath the counter.
Later that day you were still thinking of Miranda's strange behaviour. Dave wasn't one for gossip, but this time he opted to completely ignore that and conspire with Maggy about what were Miranda's intentions with you, quite loudly, just a few feet away. They were insufferable sometimes.
After a few hours of little giggles and middle school singsongs, you mistrusted the sudden silence. Dave, oddly enough, was cleaning the expresso machine serenely while Mag was nowhere to be seen.
"Where did Maggy go?" you asked, walking to the kitchen door and peering through the circle window. She was on her back having a phone call.
"Her boyfriend called, don't know what's about but she looked strange when she came in."
A few moments after, Maggy slowly opened the door and peeked from it, "Y/n, can I talk to you for a sec?" she asked, an uncertain tinge in her voice.
"Sure..." you followed her in.
Once inside, you heard her let out a long breath, "Ok, so I know I only covered for you days ago and that it sounds opportunistic as shit, but could you cover the end shift for me? Markus had an accident playing basketball and needs me to get him at the hospital" her tortured face was the cherry on top of your hellish day.
"Of course, I'll cover for you! What happened?"
"He fractured his ankle, that's why I need to get him; he probably won't be able to walk around the house very well too."
"You're fine, go get him. I don't have anything better to do anyway, bug." You kissed her cheek and rushed her into the staff rooms.
Closing wasn't so bad. Today was raining again but you had your umbrella and wouldn't forget it this time. After swiping the floor and checking the kitchen for stoves on and the like, you closed everything and went home.
Every day it got darker and darker around this time. You didn't notice before because you usually were at home, but now you wished you had charged your phone for some extra light. The rain was thick, and you couldn't even hear your steps. The umbrella didn't do much to shield your legs, which were drenched up to the knees.
After a few blocks, the streetlights got dimmer, the shops and public spaces being substituted by tall apartment buildings. You decided to hurry a bit and ignore the shiver on the back of your neck; soon you would reach home.
Well, not really. You felt before you saw the group of four people nearing you. When you thought of sprinting, one of them caught up to you and held you back with strong arms around your middle and one hand covering your mouth. You trashed, trying to free yourself, but they only shushed you sounding amused. The other three joined and they led you to one of the corridors between brick buildings. You couldn't see a thing, only feel rough fingers in your face and the prickly feeling of days-old facial hair on your ear as a hoarse voice breathed on your ear.
"Be a good girl and stay quiet. It'll be a lot less painful for you."
You felt overwhelmed by panic, gagging in bile and trembling like a baby dear. You didn't know where the strength came from, but you freed your face desperately and screamed your lungs out for help. You didn't know if anyone would listen with the rain, you could barely hear yourself, but it could have something to do with the buzzing on your ears muffling all sound around you.
You stepped on his feet, kicked him and bit his arm but he wouldn't budge. He managed to put his hand over your mouth again, but you bit it until you heard him scream and tasted iron in your mouth. However, that only made him hold you tighter, hurting your ribcage, and the rest of the group came to aid him.
What they did was each try to get you under control, which meant none had a full grip on you, and throwing yourself against one worked for you to start running for your life in the direction of the streetlights. You didn't know if your screams were intelligible of even if they were loud enough to be screams, you couldn't hear, had no frame of reference.
You thought you saw the lights of a car turning the corner, but you didn't have the time to see. The same guy who had you before was jumping at you, crashing you against the asphalt with his body weight. You felt your skin burn. Arms and face glued to the street with the impact. Your head was ringing, and you only saw spots of light and unfocused shouting and around you, a very loud noise was the last thing you heard before it was all black.
You woke up feeling warm. There were quiet noises of clicking porcelain and muffled conversation to your left.
The sterile smell was what hinted at where you were, opening your eyes to bright white ceilings and empty beds around you. You were the only one in the room apart from the three people around the door.
Miranda, her girlfriend and a nurse. Oddly enough, Miranda was dressed as a police officer. What she was doing there you had no idea, in fact, you didn't even know why you were there.
You tried to sit, and all three looked at you. The nurse came over quickly and fussed around you, helping you sit, and asking how you felt. You didn't feel too bad, but there were some friction burns on your elbows and forearms that you could do without. Mostly it was just your head buzzing faintly.
"She said you might have a concussion," Miranda joined in, timidly placing her hand over one of yours resting beside you in the bed. You turned it so she could hold it if she wanted. You felt a pang when she did.
"The detective asked if you would be willing to answer some questions. I told her you might not be feeling well enough right now, but if you do I can tell her so." The nurse didn't seem too pleased talking about 'the detective', which reminded you of the movie hospital staff and made you smile.
"I don't know how much use I'd be," your voice was croaky as you looked from the nurse to Miranda, "I don't really know why I'm here."
She understood the question you didn't make and asked the nurse if she could talk with you alone. She seemed only partially agreeable but left anyway.
"You were attacked last night near the university," she said immediately, even if trying to sound softer, and her hand tighten around yours. "Why were you even out at that time in the rain?"
"I don't know... I worked the end shift?" you remembered Maggy asking you to and remembered closing and going out in the rain. Not much more than that.
"You were so lucky we decided to patrol the area, Jesus Christ," she was talking faster than normal, and you furrowed your brows, "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"
"Why are you here? You aren't asking me any questions..." your head hurt too much to think at that moment. You just wanted some peace and not to have to stare at Miranda's face because your head and arms were enough things hurting.
"What? Because I care about you! Because I saw what those sick men were trying to do and I know how it'd end-" she choked in her hurried whisper. Was she about to cry? "You have no idea the terror I felt when I realized it was you the one on the floor. You weren't responding and all I could do was scream at Robin who somehow arrested three men on her own and still managed to call an ambulance."
Wow, there really was a reason Miranda dated her, then.
You felt exhausted all of a sudden. Emotionally and physically, you just needed some sleep and a hug and you leaned against Miranda for just that.
She took you in her arms, surprised but seemingly not against it. You sighed and swallowed the knot in your throat. It didn't help much. Why did you have to like her so much? Why was she so kind and caring even after knowing you for only two weeks? It was so unfair she was taken, the one person with whom you could envision making it work.
When you parted, Miranda still had her arms around you. She was searching for something on your face, staring earnestly into your eyes as if willing you to understand her. You could not for the life of you understand anything about that woman anymore. Here she was, holding you and comforting you after flirting with you at your place of work. Sending you all these mixed signals and expecting you not to fall for them.
She looked almost frustrated with your lack of understanding, then her eyes snapped to your lips for one second then looked back at you; brows furrowed and eyes pleading. Why did this have to be so complicated? You matched her look, gazing wantonly at her lips, just to torture yourself at not meeting them.
However, at your lack of action and obvious wish, Miranda made the decision and leaned in. You weren't expecting it, suddenly woke from your daydream to a very real pressure on your lips. She had strawberry lip balm on and tasted of tea. Hospital tea, the ones at the reception for people staying the night. She smelled of nothing other than her, no soap or sweat or anything, just her after a long night and possibly long morning of dealing with whatever resulted from the last night's occurrence. She felt like home, her arms around you bringing you close delicately, the pressing of her lips long and slow as if she was trying to convey this ineffable thing you couldn't understand when she looked at you. It was beautiful and sweet and so painful you had to stop.
"But what about Robin?" you whispered against her lips.
"What about Robin?"
"I'm so confused, aren't you dating Robin? Your detective 'partner'?" and as you said it, everything clicked together "Oh, no-" You hid your face in Miranda's chest, feeling silly for all the bitterness and jealousy you indulged for the last week, but also hating yourself for all the unnecessary heartache. "You and Robin are partners, as in you work together on cases, correct?"
"Yes... I thought that was rather obvious..." Her arms tightened around you and she made soothing circles between your shoulders. "I think we even discussed the case in the coffee shop. I thought you heard us."
"I might have misunderstood," your voice was muffled by your face pressed onto her uncomfortable, bumpy, vest. You heard her chuckle, and she took a step back, with her index under your chin prompting you to look at her. She had a mischievous grin and an arched brow.
"Did you think we were together?" you only nodded, "And were you jealous?" at that, her grin went from mischievous to an earnest, excited smile. She was too pure for this world.
You didn't respond, only looked to the side screwing your face up to avoid the relieved smile.
"No, c'mon, I want to hear it," her voice carried a note of amusement, but she only looked kind when tilting your face to look at her again.
"I might have..." she huffed a small laugh "No! Shut up! Listen-" you could not control your smile at her looking so delighted "It's your fault that you were so adorable that first day and accepted my coffee like it was the best thing ever! It was just coffee and a cookie, and you looked unreasonably happy! And after that you kept coming and coming more frequently to my god-blessed queer café and flirting and looking shy and beautiful, what did you expect me to feel? Are you kidding me? This was all your fault, you menace! So, of course, I was jealous when you appeared with a dark and mysterious stranger and sat in the most private corner possible to whisper to each other like teenagers thinking they’re being subtle!"
"Ok, I realize you are very passionate about this," she laughed softly, bringing you to a hug again. "But you forgot that you were flirting mercilessly with me and that I never asked you to stop." She had a point, but again there were people who liked being flirted with, even when they were in relationships. You didn't think Miranda was like that, though.
"I know, but I'm allowed to be a bit irrational about this..." your volume decreased as you finished the sentence.
"You're pouting," she whispered to match you, "Why?"
Taking a deep breath, you locked eyes with her. Here goes nothing. "Because you're my coffee shop romance," you said trying to sound confident. At her lack of response for more than five seconds, you backtracked, "That is if you'd like to be. I shouldn't have assumed, you-"
"Jesus, shut up-" she said and smashed your lips together.
The kiss wasn't too dextrous, both of you smiling too much and too eager for it to work properly, but it was the best thing in the world.
"Not Jesus, but I'll let it pass this time," you murmured against her lip when you slowed down. She was peppering chaste, slightly long kisses on your lips and face.
"Shut up," you heard her smile before feeling it in your skin.
"You'll have to make me," you breathed back.
Decided to put notes at the end. I posted this one here because of the ask, but I hope you liked it and that I lived up to your expectations! I had a lot of fun writing this one, so thank you so much and sorry for the long post 💛
#miranda hilmarson#miranda hilmarson x reader#fluff#coffee shops & cafés#coffee shop au#top of the lake#gwendoline christie
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So... turns out the whole "discovering my autism later in life" wasn't entirely correct for me. I don't know what to say, it's all confusing as hell (confused rant ahead)
I found 2 neurospyc reports, one from when I was 10 and another when I was 16/17 that list traits and test results consistent with what, today, would be considered level 2 autism and ADHD. but then they both turn around and say the neurospyc chose not to diagnose...
The first one had at least a good reason. From my understanding, at that point in time, autism couldn't be diagnosed unless all other possibilities had been ruled out, and the neurospyc says that these traits could also come from brain damage from meningococcol (the illness that caused my physical disability). Meningococcol's effects on a developing brain weren't well understood back then, so I guess I get it. It does, however, lay out some further testing that could be done by other specilists to rule it out, as well as mention what we should expect to see as I grow if it is autism. I met all the autism points, and I have the other specialists' reports ruling out meningococcol side effect theory. I likely still couldn't have been diagnosed at the time, though, because autism and ADHD were considered conflicting diagnoses, but the fact they were still considering it is a big positive to me.
The second one though... doesn't acknowledge any of this. It lists all the same traits (plus the new ones I developed that the other report predicted), talks about their severity and then... turns around and says it's actually not that bad and I don't need a diagnosis 😑. It doesn't say it explicitly, but the second report talks a lot about how friendly I was, how I was doing well in school (I really wasn't, I had like, one class I did well in because it aligned with my special interest, and the rest I was bearly scraping by) how I maintained eye contact and number of other things. It concluded that a diagnosis wasn't needed.
It's worth mentioning that when the second report was done, not only was I only doing high school part-time (3 days a week) because the 5 day week lead to burnout constantly, but I was also receiving the most support I'd ever had because my school recognised something was up and got me extra help (they didn't need a diagnosis because of my physical disability). I literally had someone who's job it was to come find me at lunch and remind me to eat and use the toilet, as well as to help me with assignments because in both yr 10 and yr 11 I almost failed so bad i came close to needing to repeat (i'd already repeated once). Not necessarily because I couldn't do the assignments, though some i definitely needed support on that front too, but because I just forgot they existed and never did them/handed them in. I was also in detention pretty much every day in yrs 7-10 because the same thing happened with regular homework. I either forgot to do it, or refused because I was so burned out, i just couldn't do it. This was all mentioned in the report, and it mentions that the school even provided letters to back the claims up (though i dont have those) and this doctor was like "hmmm, yes, this seems like a person who is well adjusted and in need of no further support! These traits definitely won't cause issues for them in adult life, especially in a country where we make disabled people do time-sensitive paperwork on every single aspect of their lives and have to update said paperwork constantly"
(what no, I'm not salty about something specific to do with government agencies in the Aus disability sector, what are you talking about...)
And shockingly once those supports were gone I nosedived. I've been in pretty much constant burnout since 2019, it was so bad in 2021 I had to stop working (which gutted me, I LOVED my job), and when burnout lasts that long it can do permanent damage.
There's even a report that was with the neurospyc report from one of my pediatric amputee rehab specilists that states I can not go unsupported into the adult sector, I will not cope. I will not be able to communicate my needs effectively. My health will decline. It was backed up by the senior peds. orthopaedic surgeon and the senior peds. plastics surgeon (who all knew me my entire life). The report says they had to bring me back into to the pediatric hospital for a few checkups even after I was 18 because the transition was so overwhelming I just stopped seeking medical treatment. I remember that. I remember trying to talk to the adult sector specilists and them just not understanding me and not understanding what the problem is. I remember the issue at hand (issues with my knee) getting so bad, but not knowing what else to do. I stopped going because i didnt want to be told my issue wasnt that bad. I still don't understand what I did or said wrong, and it's still happening today. My whole pediatric team was right, i needed help, but sure, I don't need extra supports because the neurospyc said "I was friendly".
Just FYI, when they finally did an MRI of the knee it was literally falling apart. The pain I was complaining about was constant dislocation and a bone infection. That knee had to be amputated. It was serious.
My therapist asked me to find these neurospyc reports if I could. I knew I had them but not what they said, and she hoped that there would be something in them that would allow her to make a case to the NDIS that even though we "don't know the reason" because there's no official diagnosis, it's clear I need more support, and theres been proof of it for years. And now I've read through them... Just knowing how well documented it all was, knowing that my pediatric care team, my doctors, my specilists, my parents, my teachers etc all knew I was struggling and tried to get me help, but one person decided "nah" has me just... confused beyond belief. I have a binder full of everything I can find that I'm going to bring to my therapist. I hope we can do something with it now.
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Hi i love your MC's man bun lolol
but i was wondering if i could request a male mc ravenclaw piece where he is trying to work through trauma caused from ranrok? also could you use me/i perspective cause i've never seen that written for HL on here
the longer the better!
First off, thank you! Second, this was a great first ask as I myself am a male Ravenclaw/Slytherin who has dealt with trauma ✌️I HOPE ITS NOT TOO LONG 😂
RAVENCLAW M!MC DEALING WITH THE AFTER EFFECTS OF RANROK
!Warning! - insomnia, nightmares, grieving over death, loved ones dying, PTSD.
4,257. That's how many stars were on my Ravenclaw dormitory ceiling. I had long memorized the constellations before all of this, and I quite wished I hadn't. It would be another wonderful way to pass the time. I sat up on my bunk, and let out a large, dramatic exhale. I looked down at Amit, and chuckled as I saw him drooling into his pillow. It was a wonder that he was able to sleep with the dragon that was Everett snoring in the bunk on the other side of the room. I always managed before, but not now. Not anymore. I usually don't dream, and if I did it was something ridiculous like Sebastian turning into a Runespoor. It started the night of Ranrok. The night he attacked Hogwarts. The night Professor Fig...left.
It had been six months since the events underneath the school. Six months since the nightmares began. The first time it happened, I thought I was awake. I was in Hogsmeade, but it was...different. There was a low fog covering everything. From out of it walked Victor Rookwood. "Impossible. You're dead!" I screamed at him. He let out a low, cruel chuckle. "Arrogant child. Thinking death is the end." He grabbed my shoulder and we disappeared into a writhing black mess of flames. I dropped onto the floor of the Final Repository, right in front of the demonic dragon that was Ranrok. I barely could stand before I was incinerated by a massive black wave of heat, death and pain. Then I woke up. They all started like this, for the first week or so. Then they got worse. I could handle those ones. I couldn't handle the ones that came after. The ones with my friends. At first it was Professor Fig, and I had hope. I thought he would save me, just as he had so many times before. I was foolish to think that. Ranrok eviscerated him. I was left to grieve again, crying over his body as the ghostly forms of Rookwood and Ranrok cackled over me, telling me how I will always fail. Of course it got worse after that. It was no longer Fig, but my friends. Sebastian, Ominis, Amit, Poppy, Samantha...all dying horrible and painful deaths, while the ghosts of my enemies laughed at my failure to protect them. It was easier to just stay awake. Brewed several wakefullness potions in the room every day, so it wasn't hard to keep myself up. It was dreadfully boring though.
Eventually the morning caught up with my thoughts and it was luckily time to head to class. Classes were easy. Like Fig always said, I had an affinity for magic, which meant I seemed to absorb everything and didn't have much struggle with anything. Unfortunately, I seemed to always drift off into my own thoughts, which would always lead me back to Fig. How he gave his all, literally to his death, to help me seal the repository. I hadn't been down there since. As soon I decided to pay a visit tonight, Professor Hecat called on me. "And MC, could you tell us the difference between a Lethifold and a Dementor?" She looked at me with that knowing look she always had, like she was fully aware of everything I was thinking. "A Lethifold is classified as a Beast, and eats its victims, whereas a Dementor is a non-being and sucks out the soul of its prey." I effortlessly answered. "Correct, and how do we repel them both should they cross our path?" She knew that I knew this. Why did she ask? "A patronus charm." I'd never cast a patronus before. Quite frankly I'm unsure if I'd be able to. "Correct again. Points to Ravenclaw." she beamed. "We must remember that happiness is subjective, and often finds itself accompanied by other emotions, even sadness." Again she looked deeply at me, almost studying my very thoughts. "That is all for today, class dismissed!" I couldn't help but feel her piercing eyes follow me out of class.
"MC!" I heard from behind me. It was Samantha Dale, one of my closest friends. "Hey, Sammy. How are you?' I asked. "Doing well, thank you. I was wondering if you'd join me in the gardens? I'd like to ask you something about..uh...nature." she seemed to stumble over the last mouthful. "Oh, sure. I'd think you wouldn't need any assistance in that area, you're an expert." Something seemed a bit out of place, but I didn't press for more. Turns out she needed help identifying a beehive, and if Glumbumbles had infested it. They hadn't. Once we had concluded, I turned to head out of the gardens and on to Charms. I was called back by Samantha. "You are stronger than you know." she said. That was what Fig said before I summoned everything within me to seal the repository. Why did she say that? I abruptly turned, confused. "Thank you." I managed to get out. The thought barraged my brain...why did she say that?
The rest of the day was uneventful. I visited Hogsmeade with Natty, and helped Poppy with some Kneazle trouble. Darkness fell, and after I was certain everyone was asleep, I headed down to the Map Chamber with the assistance of a disillusionment charm. When I reached the large sleeping dragon statue, I was startled to see someone there. Professor Hecat. "Welcome." she said. I removed my charm. No doubt her years as an Unspeakable had fine tuned her senses. It was useless to try and pass. "Lovely night, isn't it?" she said, rather gently. "If one can avoid Peeves and his flaming pins, I'd say so." I replied. She laughed. "Yes, well I suspect you have something and someone to attend to. I'll leave you to it." This lady will always astound and confuse me. "I suppose so, Professor." I responded, trying to keep the confusion out of my voice. Who was she talking about? The portraits? She was there for the battle of the repository, so I knew that she had met the Keepers. I picked my brain as to any other hidden meanings she may have been trying to allude to as I made my way down the spiraling stone stairs. I decided she must have meant the Keepers and they must have some new knowledge or task for me. I was wrong.
Once I entered the Map Chamber, I was greeted by four very empty portraits. "Strange." I muttered to myself. I pushed Professor Hecat's cryptic words to the back of my head and meandered down to the repository. Sealed, blue and glowing, as it should be. I could feel the power emanating from it. So much pain. literally, went into it. So much loss...and luckily, so much more prevented. I shuddered at the thought of Ranrok gaining that power. It would be my nightmares come to life. Right as I sat in front of it, a warm, familiar voice rang through the cold air.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" I turned with a start, wand drawn. Once I saw who was speaking to me, it clattered to the floor. "Professor Fig?" I croaked. His pale ghostly form stood just a few feet in front of me. Well, hovered, not stood. "Yes, my young friend." I apologize I didn't present myself to you sooner, but I wanted to speak to you here. I enlisted the help of some friends to get you here." His voice was just as comforting as I remembered. Suddenly, Samantha and Professor Hecat's words all made sense. "I'm sorry, Professor." I tried to force down the lump in my throat. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you." I fell to the ground, and six months of emotions poured out of my eyes. I felt him kneel beside me. Even as a ghost, he felt warm. "Do not burden yourself with this shame my friend. It is not your fault." His tone was reassuring. "But if I did more, if I tried harder.." I choked through sobs. "Maybe you'd still be here." I looked at him, and saw him smile. "My dear, young friend. You are stronger than you know. You saved so many souls. Do you know why some of us become ghosts?" He mused. I gathered myself. "Yes, when we have unfinished things that our souls cling to after death. Like that poor chap who has to run away from his wife, the one with the ax." I couldn't help but chuckle. "Precisely, and do you know why it is that I am here before you?" He asked, in that very professor-ly tone. "I can't say I do sir." He responded before I could even get the words out. "You, my dear MC." he said lovingly. "Me?" I sniffed. "Yes." he chuckled. "I never told you how much you meant to me. I had may students over many years. None like you." "What none of them could wield an ancient and powerful magic?" I joked. "Of course not, but that's not what I mean. You were more than just a student to me. You were my friend, and my adventure companion. You constantly were impressing me, not only with your magical abilities, but your kindness, cleverness, and incredible sense of love for the world." He stopped abruptly, as though he was swallowing his own lump in his throat. "Miriam's death left me devastated and alone. This pain I shoved deep down, but it still seemed to leave me a tad bitter. Once you came along, however, I found myself laughing and smiling once again. Miriam truly would have loved you, my friend. As I did." I looked at his face, and saw tears streaming down his cheeks. "If I may, you were a son to me. And I am beyond proud of you. You will change the world." As soon as he ended his sentence, a brilliant yellow light filled the room. I shielded my eyes, and saw a figure emerging out of the brilliant golden aura. A short, older witch with a straw hat and half-moon glasses. She had an infectious smile and the kindest eyes I'd ever seen. Miriam. I saw Professor Fig rise to meet her, and take her hand. "I have said what I needed to say. Good luck, my young, capable friend." with that, he turned and entered the light, hand in hand with his beloved. "Now I shall rest." The light faded. I laughed to myself, and wiped the dried tears from my cheeks. "Yeah, me too Professor." and rest I did. The best sleep I'd had in a very long time.
#hogwarts legacy#hogwarts legacy oc#professor fig#x reader#y/n#male mc#wizarding world#ravenclaw#gryffindor#hufflepuff#slytherin#harry potter#hogwarts#hogwarts houses#harry potter universe
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can you tell us more about Grayer and their relationship with JD?
Of course!! I love talking about my boys :)
I'm gonna do this in bullet points so I can easily edit it as I go lol. These details pertain to both my Feral Branch AU, mentions of my my troll reproduction PowerPoint world building, and it's just his character in general :)
My playlist for them
Rest of the post is UTC to save everyone from chunky TL
To start off, some background about Grayer: he is alt rock/pop rock. His father is a rock troll and his mother is a pop troll who is one of many to escape the troll tree about ten years before the beginning of Trolls 1 (I can do a whole thing on them). The two fell in love, got married, and ran off to the Never Glade Trail to have Grayer. His dad carried him, so he's more like his dad (Granite and Flora are their names)
Grayer is the same age as Bruce, so a few years younger than JD. He grew up on the trail and takes care of the family's garden (which is basically a mini farm). He and his parents are big survivalists, so he knows how to survive pretty much on his own with just a backpack on his back full of a few items. He's rather quiet with patience, but with a quick ignition to fight at things he's passionate about; being raised by a very passive rock troll who is peace and love then pretty much the most metal head pop troll you'll ever meet. His mom's a spitfire with the heat of a thousand suns. But she's very sweet <3
Back then, he actually dressed in alt style; wearing a ton of baggy ripped black cargo pants, t-shirts of rock groups his dad gave him, some crop tops with fistnet tops underneath, the whole works. Eyeliner. Black stuffed bracelets and a choker. Troll's version of Docs (but the older, better quality ones y'know?). Now days, he's just plain Jane because he's older and doesn't have as much energy to keep up with it
Within John Dory's first few years, he struggled a lot. He traveled through Trolltopia and met a ton of people. They weren't the kindest, but understood the situation with Pop. So they would help and send him on his way towards Never Glade.
When he finally got there, he basically fell face first down. He lost half of his equipment and got horribly lost. He was optimistic and trying to act brave about being lost with not as many supplies. He realized he was way in over his head; he was some boy band dude who had a dream without much training. Dude is doomed by the narrative
Grayer, while out, found John Dory. He saw JD's fire in the distance and went to investigate it. He saw JD, who was different than the other trolls who would stop by his family's home. Normally he saw various Rock, Country, or random sub genre trolls come through either for the underground cross genre clubs or for hiking.
He actually watched JD for a bit. He was nervous to approach him at first. But after watching JD fail miserably to do a ton of very basic survival things, he decided to step in. He faked them running into each other and was like "you don't look too good! Let me help you :)"
JD automatically accepted it. This dude was doing BAD. The dude was debating on finding his way back to the Troll Tree. It was that bad. He'd rather be eaten by a Bergen than die out there where nobody would know what happened to him.
He also was amazed by some random troll about his age living out here.
So Grayer taught JD how to survive out there. JD learned how to properly get drinking water, patch wounds, make basic things, garden and gather food. The works! Literally he gave him survival classes-
JD was welcomed into the home by the parents. Grayer's mom was shocked to see another pop troll and she let him stay. She couldn't let the poor kid die out there or go back. She knew what that meant
Grayer and JD slowly grew close; bonding over music. JD would perform BroZone songs for him, to which Grayer would watch with the biggest dopey grin on his face
During this time, Grayer got into a nasty fight with one of the spider things. His hair got caught and he had to cut it off. He spends nights crying about his hair, but then styles it down. That's why it's short and looks like that. He keeps it short due to him living like that for so long.
Eventually, Grayer started to bring JD to the underground clubs that existed on the Trail. They were ran by outcasts and trolls who basically got ran out of their respected kingdoms for different reasons. Some where rebellious trolls looking for fun; or they just liked the scene. The two became prominent on the scene as "the love birds". Everyone knew them and some recognized JD from BroZone
Grayer's parents actually helped establish these clubs and underground community. They make clubs out of old hollow dead trees and then undergrown tunnel systems. They helped make the first few, since Grayer's dad was in construction. He doesn't run any of them. He just did the manual labor and helped perform multiple times. Grayer's family is just respected in the scene. There's about five families they're in kahoots with (I can expand on this if anyone wants).
Plus, they help trolls in need on the trail so people tend to know about the random trolls who help save people from death in the wild
Eventually, they ran into Floyd. Floyd was running with the alt/emo/grunge trolls. Some metalheads also. He was also running with a young Riff, who was only two years younger than Floyd. Floyd also has an underground career by now and has a mini indie grunge rock band suprisingly. (Riff's parents run one of the clubs and Riff lives with his grandad and little sister in the Rock Kingdom. Riff is Floyd's drummer and companion. They met in a grunge club in the Rock Kingdom. Floyd was gray for a while and passed as Rock). Floyd is excited to see his brother and he bonds with Grayer automatically
Floyd and Grayer have a heart to heart; talking about how Grayer is in love with JD. Floyd said that if Spruce and Grandma was there, they'd give their blessing. But since they're not and he is, he gave him his blessing.
Floyd 🤝 Grayer: being in love with their companion (past Riff/Floyd moment. They're just besties now y'know??)
JD and Grayer party a LOT during these years
Queue up JD punching some jerk for trying to come onto Grayer and then getting into a brawl outside of a club with the dude. Riff pulls strings to get them not banned from every club on the trail. Part of it is Grayer's parents being staples for making a safe underground scene on the Trail, but Grayer gives Riff the credit.
Around the eight year mark, Grayer finds baby Rhonda. She was abandoned by her mom so Grayer took her in. He gave her to JD as a birthday gift! That's how they know Rhonda so well. She's basically their baby :)
Grayer, at the ten year mark, confesses his love to JD. JD looks flabbergasted before saying he wanted to ask Grayer that. He was waiting for the right moment to ask Grayer if they could commit to one another. They were practically dating
So, they get married :)
JD braids Grayer's hair into the back of his hair, just in case one day he goes back to BroZone; so from the front you can't see it but the back you can. Grayer braids JD's hair more visibly in the front and wears it with pride.
The two are a grumpy old couple. They're very sarcastic but loving to each other, especially after marriage.
Did I mention that earlier? The two are a sarcastic and sassy power couple. They don't take shit and behind the scenes are very loving.
As the years go on, they don't have any eggs surprisingly. Everyone is shocked, but the two are perfectly fine with it. It happens sometimes; not every troll produces the viable eggs.
Grayer's parents die by the fifteen year mark, and they leave everything to Grayer and JD. They are pretty much set for life. So they're pretty much domestic besides when JD wants to go on adventures.
Speaking of which; JD goes on adventures sometimes, which leaves Grayer alone for a few weeks at most. The two are fine with it as long as JD tells Grayer about it. Normally it'll be in the form of the little bat dudes, like Queen Barb's bat Debbie. They have a flock of them that live around them. They feed them, so three or four will follow John Dory sometimes when he goes on adventures. They will basically bring communication back and forth
So, to the Trolls 3 plot
Riff comes back after World Tour to tell them about Branch!! He's alive and saved everyone!! Plus the pop trolls are free :)
JD sends a letter out to Floyd, who doesn't respond. He gets worried and decides to go try the Troll Tree, thinking that's where Floyd went. He tells Grayer he'll be back in a week and Grayer kisses him bye
That week turns into a month.
Grayer is worried sick and he can tell a ton of things are happening (because of the marriage stuff. If you don't read the PowerPoint then ignore this detail). JD doesn't respond to any of his messages, as they never get to him
Like, he's convinced JD is either dying or something bad has happened. He's hoping that JD isn't abandoning him.
He goes from being worried sick to being pissed because what the fuck his husband up and left and is clearly okay and alive!!! HE CAN TELL! JD CAN FEEL HIS DISTRESS!!
Grayer gets pissed, especially when Riff comes back to tell him about BroZone. He was happy for JD, but SEND YOUR HUSBAND A LETTER TO TELL HIM YOURE ALIVE!!!
So what does he do?
He throws JD's clothing out of the window in a fit of rage. Like. The dude is PISSED. He is what, in his 30's and his husband disappeared and could have been dead! He's having a moment. Let him be angry for the first time towards his husband
JD comes home during this.
JD stares in horror at the sight of his clothing being tossed out the window and he starts to scramble to grab them and get into the pod
Grayer sobs his little heart out to JD, who holds him and apologizes. JD explains everything. Grayer feels kinda dumb but vocalizes his feelings. The two come to an understanding
And eventually, he would meet BroZone and they'd enjoy him :)
#trolls#dreamworks trolls#john dory#trolls john dory#john dory trolls#trollsona#trolls oc#john dory x oc#anon ask#ask#feral branch au#feral au
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hello, hope ure doing well :D may i please request an akaashi fic where the reader is going thru grief of the passing of their mother and can’t focus in class leading onto low grades for their semester exam making them feel even worse bc that’s not what their mom wants (reader always gets good grades) and reader feels like a disappointment and just breaks down one day?? i’m so sorry if this is too specific, just finding it hard to cope and no one understands!! thank you so much <3
ANON I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, but I have literally been dealing with exactly what you requested (still am, but now I'm on reading week so :P). And since I'm literally writing this immediately after a rough grieving session of my own, I feel like now I can tackle it and do it justice. bc... as someone who also used to get good grades before my mom died then started almost failing everything after... this hits hard!!
And just another little side note, I'm so sorry for your loss. if you ever want to reach out to talk to someone who's going through the same thing, my inbox or my messages are always open <3 dead mom club solidarity !! thank you so much for your request, anon and again i'm SO sorry this took so long.
{Grades and Grief- Akaashi}
warnings: death of mother (mentioned and focused on, no descriptive details), depression/grief, anxiety, this counts as hurt/comfort right? fluff and lots of support from akaashi. university life needs to be a warning tbh so its here.
gn!reader, timeskip!akaashi (except it's more like, in between the time skip cause it's university)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
your heart dropped as you opened your emails and saw that the grades for your midterms had been posted.
on one hand you were hopeful. maybe you did better than you expected? maybe you would open up the online portal and see that you passed. just a pass, that's all you were hoping for at this point.
you ignored the way your stomach twisted at the fact that all you wanted was a pass. you used to be at the top of your classes in high school, and now you were barely scraping by.
but deep down you knew it would be a failing grade. it was getting impossible to hope for anything better. you could barely find it in yourself to go to class some days, let alone actually study. it required more brain power than you could expend.
and on the days you did go to class, you felt like a zombie. mindless, lethargic, stupid. definitely not in any condition to take notes that were good enough to aid you.
you opened the email and sighed. another fail. you tried to convince yourself that you'd do better next time. that you'd start studying earlier, you'd go to your professor's office hours and ask questions, you'd do the work that needed to be done.
your future was at stake, why couldn't you just put in the the work-
this was one test in one class. there would be other chances to raise your grade.
breathe.
how many times can I keep telling myself that before I stop believing it? before it becomes an empty promise?
breathe. you'll be okay.
it's self-sabotage, how much longer can I just stay like this? mom wouldn't have wanted this for me. she'd want to see me succeed. I'm such a-
breathe.
you tried to do exactly what your boyfriend kept telling you: be kind to yourself. "you're grieving the death of someone who was supposed to be there your whole life. the one person you never thought would leave. it's completely natural to be struggling with your mental health right now. don't be mean to yourself." is what he had said. "take the time to feel what you need to feel, bottling it up will only make it worse."
you sighed and curled yourself into a ball on your bed. you were finding it hard to breathe.
feel what you need to feel, huh? when was the last time you had a good cry session, anyway?
the tightness in your chest only grew as you started to tear up. you tried to keep the thoughts of being a disappointment to your mother away, but you glanced at the picture of her smiling face on your nightstand and winced.
if she could see you know, you wondered if she would be angry or comforting.
grieving was one of the loneliest experiences anyone could ever deal with. unique to each person, not one person to share the same memories with, becoming acutely aware of your own timeline. and not something that happens often to young people. none of your friends understood. they could try, but they'd never get it. and sometimes you felt like they didn't even care enough to attempt it.
you've never felt more alone and you've never been more aware of it.
"and if you ever need comfort, I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'm always here to listen. it's never going to be too much."
so instead of dwelling on it, you picked up your phone and called the one person who would.
it took three rings for akaashi to pick up.
the smile in his voice immediately soothed you. anything related to your boyfriend felt like a blanket to you. comforting, warm and soft. "hello, my love, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
you sniffed and tried to get some words out without choking up. "keiji," his name came out pitifully.
"oh sweetheart, what's wrong?"
"can you come over, please? I need you."
"of course I can, I'll be right there. I love you."
"I love you, please be careful."
the second you hung up the phone, you let more tears fall freely. you didn't even know what you were crying about anymore, there were so many emotions mixed up inside you. but for some reason you didn't want to fully let loose while you were alone. you wanted comfort when you were at your most vulnerable- comfort and validation you weren't capable of giving yourself in that moment. there was only one other person who could give you that now.
while you waited, you thought more about your mother. it really wasn't fair that you had to lose her, why did she have to go? it didn't matter how long it had been since she passed, this type of pain will be everlasting, you thought.
ten minutes later you heard the door to your apartment unlock and you got up to greet him. he had a bunch of bags in his arms that he set down the minute he saw you walk out of your room.
he held his arms open and you crashed into him immediately. finally you felt safe enough to let the dam break. akaashi shushed you as you sobbed into his chest, rubbing your back gently and whispering soft affirmations into your ears.
"what happened, my love?"
"I- I failed another test," you hiccupped. "and I don't know what to do to help myself get out of this hole."
"oh dear... it's going to be okay."
he tenderly picked you up and carried you to the bedroom and you continued to cry into his shoulder. his heart broke at the sound of your whimpers.
once you were both settled comfortably on your bed, you took one of his hands and played with his fingers. "keiji, am I a disappointment?"
he shook his head before you could even finish speaking. "never."
"I just feel like I'm letting so many people down, myself included, but mainly my mom... her one request throughout my whole life was that I do my best in school. and now I'm failing and I can't help but think-" your voice cracked and he cupped your cheek with his other hand.
"baby, look at me. you are not a disappointment, okay? you are so far from that ever even being a possibility. and she would be so proud of you."
you looked up at him and your eyes widened. "but I'm not living up to her expectations-"
"you're doing your best. she would understand that."
"I'm not, though!" a flash of red hot anger ran through you. "I'm not doing my best! If I were doing my best, I'd be passing. I'd be studying, paying attention in my classes and not just staying in bed. not just staring at the ceiling and dissociating for hours when I need to be working on assignments. I'm not doing my best and I don't know how to fix it!" instead of getting upset at you for blowing up, he just listened to what you were saying.
as you got up to pace the room, you kept ranting. "I know something needs to change, I can't keep going on like this, but it's like I'm stuck, keiji, I don't know what to do and I'm so angry. and I'm tired, exhausted, actually. I hate this, I feel useless. I'm in limbo. I don't know why I can't force myself to change, but I'm absolutely not doing my best."
true anger wasn't an emotion you felt often before your mom died, but now you were well acquainted with it. you thanked your lucky stars you scored a partner as patient as akaashi.
"have you considered that you're doing the best with what you have right now?"
you paused and looked at him. "what?"
he shifted and took your hand. "my love, you've been through something extremely traumatic. you've told me before that you've been in survival mode for a very long time now. that's not your fault. you can't control it on your own. keeping that in mind, you absolutely are doing your best. you get up and keep going everyday. even though it scares you. you're still kind, and actively striving to be a good person. this rough patch is temporary, everything will be okay. she would be proud of you for everything you've overcome so far."
you bit your lip and looked down, shaking your head. "what if this is 'my best' forever? what if I'm not capable of changing anymore?"
"anyone is capable of change at any given time, my love, you're the one who told me that. I promise you, everything will be okay. and besides," he tugged your hand to guide you onto his lap. "the willingness to change and not just refuse to heal is there."
"but what if it takes too long?"
"it won't. there's no such thing as too long, everyone's healing process is different. and you have me by your side as well, ready to help however you need." he finished his speech with a kiss to your nose and you smiled a bit.
"...thank you, keiji. I love you."
"I love you too, dear. I'll be here as long as you'll let me."
"forever, if that's alright with you?"
"of course, my love." his arms tightened around you.
"can we stay like this for a bit longer?"
"mhmm, you've had a big day. we can cuddle for as long as you need."
you buried your face into the crook of his neck and planted a few kisses. "I love you,"
he kissed the top of your head. "I love you too, sweetheart."
you repeated the phrase over and over again, smiling a little wider each time he returned the sentiment with a kiss to your face.
"can I ask you one more thing?"
"go ahead."
"are you proud of me despite me failing so much this year?"
"I'm so proud of you, baby. nothing would ever change that."
looking up at him with wide eyes, he just smiled and leaned down to kiss your lips. "so proud of my baby. always trying their best. so sweet, so kind, just needs to be loved on a little extra sometimes. all mine."
a happy sigh was released, and with it, most of the tension in your body, so you rested against your boyfriend. "all yours."
you felt a lot better now. not perfect, and still uncertain about some things, but at least with akaashi there you knew you didn't have to go it alone.
~BONUS SCENE~
after a while of cuddling in bed, a thought hit you and you shot up, obviously in a clearer, less fuzzy state of mind.
"love, what were all those bags you had earlier? did you stop somewhere before you came?"
his eyes widened a bit and a blush spread over his cheeks. "yes and no. uh... before you called, I was actually picking us up some food and other things for a stay-in date night. I was planning on surprising you today."
you could have burst into tears again at how cute his confession was. "keijiiiii, you're so sweet!" you ran your fingers through his hair a bit and he melted into the touch. "what a sweet boy I have," you cooed.
he made a noise of protest and you giggled. "can we go see what you bought? please?"
he nodded and smiled at you. he was so glad you seemed to be in better spirits now. there wasn't anything akaashi keiji wouldn't do to see you happy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
this was literally just me projecting holy shit. that was really a look inside my brain, wow. but anon I hope you enjoyed it!! and I hope it was worth the wait, I'm so so so so sorry it took so long. this is the first thing I've managed to write in a while (and I wrote this all in one sitting!!). But the ask was very therapeutic for me, I really need this type of validation :'D
#akaashi x reader#akaashi keiji x reader#akaashi keiji fluff#akaashi x reader fluff#akaashi x reader angst#akaashi keiji angst#haikyuu fluff#haikyuu x reader fluff#haikyuu x reader angst
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34 34 34 34 !!!
i don't care which pairing but I need to read this!!
love and kisses, immy! x
I had to go and take a deep dive for this, but the prompt here is: There's a ghost here and I'm going to date it.
I hope this is kind of what you were looking for. Piarles because it's us, Immy.
Charles is 17 when he finds out he has magic running through his veins and he fights it until he's 19 and he's failing out of university trying to control it himself before he accepts that he needs training and calls the number on that card that he stuffed in the bottom drawer in the nightstand.
And then his life turns upside down - rapidly and without any real direction.
He trades his architecture texts for books about The Warlock Rebellion of 1589 and his cell phone never works in this pocket realm where this ancient castle is. When he's not running across the campus to get to his fucking potions lessons, he's attempting to integrate himself into this magical world that he doesn't understand with people who have been friends since literal infancy and he's just.
Well, he's exhausted by it.
He's exhausted by the lying to his normal friends and trying to make nice with the magical classmates that might be his friend someday.
He's exhausted by the way the potions professor obviously thinks less of him because he's in a beginner's class.
And he's exhausted by the library not allowing him to get into the transfiguration section like it's got some personal vendetta against him.
That's probably why he snaps. It is why he snaps. Well past midnight when the librarians have left for the night and he should be at home, in the mortal world, sleeping before he has to take an exam the next afternoon, but he's here, leaning his head against a wall of wind asking to be let down one specific aisle.
"You have to ask nicely." A voice from behind says to him and Charles startles, turning to look at the...the ghost leaning against the opposite bookshelf.
He's got that transparent static look to him that all the ghosts have and he's grinning at Charles easily unlike some of the more haunted ghosts.
"It's Lucius." The ghost points behind Charles - presumably at the wall of wind. "He was a librarian in the 1800's. Big on manners. He got himself popped into another realm on accident playing with a transmutation book down that aisle so now he's a bit protective of it with new students."
Charles is blinking fast because none of the other ghosts have ever chosen to speak to him before. None of them have ever so much as looked at him.
"Lucius," the ghost says, "I've got it from here. I won't let him get eaten by anything."
Charles feels the wall of wind disappear from behind him and he blinks again. "Thank you?"
The ghost straightens up, looks Charles up and down and then kind of shoos him down the aisle. "My name is Pierre. And you can thank me by not getting eaten. You don't have to spend eternity with that overbearing asshole and I will never hear the end of it."
"I'm not going to get eaten." Charles bristles because he doesn't need the ghosts treating him like an idiot, but then Pierre starts to laugh - the sound of it electric in Charles' bones - the sound of it making the lanterns ahead flicker.
"Stick with me, new kid. I'm going to save you from yourself." And then he does some kind of flip of his wrist and the exact book Charles had written down in his notes floats down from the top shelf and into his hands. "It's been a long time since a cute boy who wasn't boring was rushing about in this place, so I'd like to savor it."
Charles feels himself blush - the ghost, making him blush - but he sits down and opens the book before the pages start to blow around and they land on again, the correct page.
"Like I said," Pierre, the cute ghost, sits down in the chair next to him, head tilted to the side, "Stick with me and I'll save you from yourself."
"Okay," Charles whispers and when Pierre starts to laugh again, the lights do that thing and he wonders just want he's getting himself into.
#this is less of a love story and more of a oh no they are idiots story#there is a lot of late night chatting and angst and charles finds out how Pierre died#and then there's a very long talk about emotions#anyway they're idiots#piarles
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Idk how related to the blog this is but I have a workplace horror story that literally just happened I'd like to share w the class, hope thats okay 🙇
Small context: NB but biologically female. I work overnights for a large-ish company. Majority of my shifts are graveyard, like this one in particular, and I park my car in the multistory carpark access the street from work.
I think I was almost carjacked just now?? Idk honestly. Just finished work, it's like 4am and as I'm crossing the street to the parking lot I get that feeling you get when u feel as tho ur being watched. Think it's odd, because I've never gotten this feeling when walking out of work before and I jokingly think 'haha maybe I'm being followed' but am on high alert regardless. Make it to my car on second floor and get in so all is g for now.
Locked my doors and started my car the moment I got in -that's just what I usually do anyway- and am getting my phone's Bluetooth ready when I notice movement in car side mirror out of my peripheral. Don't see much beside a head (they're on the first floor at this point) so figure it's another worker n don't think much of it, but keep the entry ramp in view and put car in reverse just incase.
Next thing I know this small group of like 3/4 guys are walking up said ramp, a couple of which have their shirts pulled over their heads. Immediately I'm thinking 'ah, so this probably isn't good' and start reversing. They fan out, one goes around the back, another stays in the middle of the ramp and third guy is approaching my car yelling "hey, hey". I move to leave and he tries to get infront of my car all the while I'm like 'man I will literally run you over before I even consider stopping, one of us is gonna flinch and it ain't gonna be the one in the fucking car w it's big ass bull bar ong' as I move to go around him.
Speed over to the exit ramp and watch as the guys are attempting to jump over the guardrails to get onto my ramp in either an attempt to stop me again or leg it knowing they failed whatever they were trying to do.
I have literally no idea what they were attempting. The area my work is in isn't particularly sketchy, but it's not great either. The fact that they only had their shirts pulled over their heads and not full on masks or anything, and that I felt watched coming out from work (and the direction I first saw them coming from in my side mirrors would've meant they came from the same way I did, only I took the stairwell meanwhile they went through the 1st floor carpark) leads me to believe this was a very spur of the moment thing, whatever it was, but they had to have watched me walk out of work and somehow knew which floor I was on and where to look?
I'm on a set roster at work, meaning I always finish at basically the exact same times with the same work days week to week. I'm half wondering if this was cased out beforehand. Thoughts? :/
@staff I HATE the new text editor!
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Another request before i sleep, i hope I'm not bothering you💀😭
BUT! this is your post to share any headcanons about literally anyone from dol😌 just a space for you to put stuff youve been thinking about but not knowing where to organise your thoughts. Hit me with anything abt anything bro let's fucking GO
(and i ask this just before heading to bed so goodnight😩🤌)
You are not bothering me at all!!! I love getting asks and requests, and getting to write for people, it's genuinely really helpful and inspiring. Gimme all the asks! I want them all!! Sometimes I do sit on them a bit though, they need to incubate. Marinate, if you will, for maximum flavor and tenderness.
Alrighty, headcanon time. I've got some headcanons for both Bailey and Mason. (Mason is fantastic and I love them so much)
Bailey:
Bailey was a good person once.
Not anymore, certainly—that ship sailed a long fuckin’ time ago, and he doesn’t even bother to pretend that he wants what’s best for the orphans under his care, regardless of age—they aren’t quite livestock to him, but they’re close. When he’s doing the accounting for the orphanage, the younger ones are labeled “investments,” and the ones that have hit eighteen are moved into the “assets” list. It’s cold and brutal of him, and he knows it. But that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? No matter what he does, he knows it’s immoral as shit, that it’s fucked up and evil of him, and he keeps doing it anyway.
He wouldn’t call himself tormented about his actions, or his lifestyle, but something has him showing up to the hookah parlor regularly, huffing sweet smoke and doing his best to forget.
He wasn’t born here. Sometimes he wishes that he was, so the effects of the town didn’t hit him like a fucking truck, unwinding all of the baser impulses he’d stashed away and accumulated over the years. And sometimes he’s glad he wasn’t, because he still has at least some control over himself, and he’s sharper than the rest of the idiots trying and failing to run the place. There was a point in time where he’d wanted to be a good person. When he’d gotten a degree in developmental psyche, and was bright eyed and pursuing the advertisements in the local paper. When he’d seen a job opening in a small town that he’d never heard of before, for a caretaker at an orphanage, and something inside him had compelled him to take it, even though the pay was shit.
Sometimes he feels like two different people stuffed into the same skin suit, and the person that he used to be is clawing at the edges of his mind, begging to be let out. That’s when he sighs, rolls back his ostentatious leather-backed office chair from his desk, and heads down to Barb Street.
He needs another pipe.
Mason:
Mason is a virgin.
He has no idea how he managed to get past his twenty-first birthday in this town without having been forced to have—intercourse—with someone, and maybe it’s the fact that he can’t even think about sex without flushing like it’s his very first health class, and maybe it's the fact that he’s been swimming since before he could walk. His parents were big on physical fitness, before they—he still doesn’t know exactly what happened to them. Maybe they died, maybe they left, he doesn’t know and he can’t quite remember. He can’t muster up any feelings of regret or abandonment, so at least there’s that. They must have told him where they were going, or he must have known what happened to them, but he just can’t remember, no matter how hard he tries.
He thinks about teaching a self-defense class sometimes. God knows there’s plenty of kids—he doesn’t know why he calls them kids, they’re barely that much younger than he is—in this town who could use them. And then he spends all day getting leered at by them, and he remembers exactly why he doesn’t do that.
At least the lake is always there for him. It’s the only place in this town where he feels like he can breathe. Even if it’s raining and the sheets of water from above and below surround him, and there’s barely any air at all. It’s like flying.
It’s like freedom.
#dol#degrees of lewdity#bailey the caretaker#dol bailey#mason the swimming teacher#dol mason#craving a merperson!mason au rn#selkie!mason would also be good#lotsa fucked up potential there#he is so sexy to me
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Cross my Heart, I hope you die || Heimdall (GoW) X Reader
Found - Chapter 2
I hated this, I hated every part of the last three years. I was being trained restlessly by my mother, she wanted me to be able to use a sword so we found one off a dead body, it was horrible craftsmanship and it wasn't sharp at all so I, not my mother, sharpened the blade for hours. My mother was also training me in magic more, that was my weakest point. I could do simple healing spells but they took a lot of effort, I could blast someone backwards a little bit, and I could help plants grow. I couldn't do the things she wanted me too, I was becoming even more of a failure.
My mother had also regained her ability to hurt people and now she was taking every chance she got when it came to Atreus and Kratos.
My mother, after my failure, was able to convince the mortals about Kratos causing Fimbulwinter but, like I thought, they were still alive. I was always waiting in the wings aiming arrows and daggers at them, I quite literally couldn't miss a shot. I used to think it was a good thing, now I'm clearly wrong.
I had skimmed Atreus cheek with an arrow and hit Kratos in the shoulder, this distracted them and allowed my mother to plunge her sword into his chest. This didn't cause fatal damage, I was conflicted on whether to be dissapointed or not, I wanted this to end but I didn't want either of them dead, they didnt deserve it.
I had found out from Atreus when he tried to make me drop my weapons that Baldur attempted to kill my mother for his 'enchantment', it was more like a curse, and that Kratos killed him to save her life. I had tried my best to convince my mother to spare them, she wouldn't listen. She was too overcome by emotions to listen to reason. That was a normal for her now, she refused to listen to anything I have to say.
Before this, I had only fought people once, it was necessary, a do or die situation. This was unfair, unnecessary. They weren't our enemy, Asgard was.
The Aesir destroyed our family, killed my father, cursed my mother, Odin probably helped turn Baldur against my mother, fed him lies. I know my mother hurt him but knowing how deep Odin's evil runs, there mustve been something else to make him that angry.
My mother was left in the snow, she sent a destructive avalanche their way in hopes to end their lives. I hope she failed. She failed
~
I was eating a rabbit when I heard the light footsteps of Atreus approaching. My mother paused her work on Thrungva, hopefully this doesn't class as him getting in the way.
"Freya - ." He exclaims, vines wraps around his body, what do I do here? Do I try my best to cut him out or hope that my mother releases him? I get my dagger out ready. "You should've stayed with Sindri." He was struggling even more, a vine wrapped around his neck and I made my decision.
I got up to go free him from the vines but before i take a step forward my mother wraps one round both my ankles and waist, shit. "Wait! Stop!" The boy shouts, his voice broken from the vines strangling him. "Your father- where is he?"
"Not here!" I was doing my best to break free, I had to help him. She hadn't tied my wrists so I brought my dagger to the vine and started cutting it away, as I cut through another one lashed around me. There was no hope of breaking free. "He sent you?"
"No. He doesn't know." As I lost hope of freedom the vine around my waist loosened and I eventually was set free. I stayed standing.
My mother gave me an apologetic look and I understood why she did it, she didn't trust them so she needed Atreus trapped. She stood and spoke turned to Atreus, "You shouldn't have come. He took my son, what makes you think I won't do the same?" She holds her blade to his throat and I run to hold her back, she tries to catch me in her vines but this time I saw it coming and they miss me. I grab onto her shoulder and remove her, making her stumble, she regains her bearings and she puts Thrungva back in her sheathe.
"Remember your promise to me! You swore he wouldn't be harmed if he didn't get in the way. This is not him getting in the way. Please mother, you're better than this, he's just a kid." She seems to calm down, her shoulders relax but then she sees something around Atreus' throat. I see it too. She puts her sword to his throat, cuts it off his neck and retrieves it. "What is that?"
"The tip of an arrow, that helped kill my son." How could Atreus be such an idiot? That's a great thing to bring when you come and talk to the woman whose son you helped murder.
This apparently helped his case, maybe she thinks he feels guilt over it. The vines around his neck loosen and fall to the ground.
"Thanks, I knew you wouldn't kill me."
"What do you know of me?"
"I know you haven't killed me yet, and I hope it's not just because of (Y/n), thanks by the way." I give him a curt nod. "So while you're thinking it over why don't you let me go and I can tell you why I came?"
"If you mean to plead for your father, save your breath. His fate is sealed."
"But you know who's to blame for everything..." At least I can agree with Atreus here, Odin is to blame and Odin has to die. "I cannot get to Odin. Nor do I need to. Ragnarok will take him." She feeds the fire with more wood and then Atreus says something which shakes me to my core,
"Yeah, well what if I told you that he came to Midgard." The rest of the vines trapping him fall. Odin was here, in Midgard. "He came to us, offered peace if we don't move against him." This was probably a lie, mother had told me how manipulative and deceptive Odin was. If I were to meet him, I wouldn't listen to a word he says. "He claims Ragnarok has already been averted." How could that happen? This was the world's fate wasn't it, the realms would be destroyed and everyone would die.
"He lies."
"Maybe. But if you know Groa's prophecy, you know it depends on an army of Giants." His voice was desperate, he didn't come here for his father, he came here to recruit us.
"The Giants wait for war in Jötunheim."
"No." This didn't sound good, "I've been there. There is no Giant army. There are no Giants at all." So Ragnarok has been averted, if there are no Giants then an army of Giants can't attack. It was nice to know we wouldn't all die but it was horrible to think Odin could still live. He deserves Ragnarok, to see everything he's gained be lost. "Just me." Atreus was a giant? "You..?" I asked, for a second I thought he couldn't be, he was too small and then I remembered that all Giants weren't actually giant.
He was completely released now and he walked towards us, "In Jötunheim we learned the truth, my mother was the last guardian of out people in Midgard. And that's not all, the Giants have prophecies about me. They know me as Loki." So Atreus was half-giant, half God? That was quite a heritage. When I found out he was also a demi-god I thought he was similar to me, but no, he was in fact better.
"I think maybe, I'm supposes to help stop Odin somehow." He can't think he can single handedly take on Odin, right? He was just a kid, where as Odin had armies, people, a stronghold. "But since all the Giants are dead, and you won't fight Odin, then he's already won." He sounded hopeless, I hated it. "Mother, we should help them." She didn't listen to me, of course she didn't.
"We should be working together? Now that you can fight again -"
"I am far from whole." That one hurt. I know the death of Baldur was horrible and I know I'm not the perfect child but I still was hers. It's been three years and until earlier she had grown so distant from me that it broke my heart. Why would I never be enough for her?
"Okay. But we found Tyr" so two half Giants who are against Odin exist. Still not an army. "Maybe if you spoke to him -"
"Tyr is alive?"
"Yeah, we broke him out of Svartalfheim." How could they get to Svartalfheim? Realm travel has been made impossible. "Impossible, the Nine Realms are closed to all." My mother states. "No, we opened up the way." How did that happen? "We just don't know where to go next, but if we all band together."
"Enough."
"He's right, mother."
"I said, enough!" She throws Atreus out of the courtyard and blocks his entry with a wall of thorns. "Mother!"
"Would you like to go with him?" I relented, I didn't want to leave her in the state she was in and besides that she was the most powerful being in Midgard right now, I was safe with her, I wouldn't be harmed if I was with her.
"Leave this place. Go and do not return. Go before I change my mind. Do not expect the same mercy for your father." I give a sweet smile to Atreus and he gives me an awkward one back.
~
"We should help them." I say as we return to our places by the fire. "No. I need to speak with Sigrun, find my wings then kill Kratos."
"How will your wings help you?"
"They will make me more whole and I'll also be able to fly." That was even more progress but then a thought came to my head. "Will I be left alone?" Her expression became the soft, loving one of my mother, "No, I'll speak to Sigrun, she'll help find my wings and then we will retrieve them." She removed a bit of my loose hair out of my eyes and I reveled in the touch. She seemed better when thinking of the idea, I was glad she was.
"Look, I know I haven't been the best mother to you and -" I didn't let her finish, I knew where it was going. I threw my arms around her and held her tightly to me, she wrapped her arms around me too and I was now the happiest I had been in years. She broke apart from me, "When I attack again, you will keep Atreus away, keep him safe. I will subdue Kratos and he will have a choice die, or with this new realm travel of theirs, help me regain my freedom." She'd come back to me, my mother was back. I nodded and I hugged her again, I was grateful I had my mother, the commander was gone.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reading my work. Also, be patient the man himself takes some time to appear, I want her built properly before her world goes upside down. 😉
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Deadlines
riddle × overworked!prefect
pronouns: they/them
type: angst
warnings: the reader is literally having a mental breakdown bc of academic stuff (damn they just like me for real)
masterlist<3
let's play a game, shall we? u just gotta answer the question with one of the possible answers below. easy enough, now let's see:
what do you think happens when you put an over-achieving, ex-gifted kid who needs academic validation in a world that they know something about? do they:
a) handle it rationally
b) give up
or c) overwork themselves to the point of neglecting their mental health in order to try and get good grades
if you guessed "c" then ding ding ding! congratulations! you were correct
you see, our beloved ramshackle prefect just so happened to be a gifted kid growing up. they grew up as the kid teachers wanted to have in their class. the kid who easily understood all the class material. the kid who never even got close to failing a test or an exam
they were an honors student in every way possible
which is why being transferred to a new world, completely different from theirs was less than ideal for them
a new world, new lessons, new teachers, new students, new everything. it was like a punch in the gut for them
they spent day in and day out with their nose in a school textbook, trying to understand the material, trying to be at the top of their class, trying to get that close-to-perfect grade on their paper
but it was impossible
you see, being in a new world really messes one up, everything they thought they knew was turned upside down
it was weird, and it sucked for them
but it's not all bad, you know, they made some friends here
like riddle rosehearts for example
with whom they got really close
who also happened to be very interested in their test results..
and just so happened to be dissatisfied with his friend's results..?
uh oh
"prefect I just believe that you could do better. I am aware of how clever you are, but I don't think you are trying enough for it to be shown"
two periods, they only needed around 5 seconds to leave one's mouth and reach the other's ears
but it was enough
oh trust me, it was enough
that was all the prefect needed for their self esteem to crumble. they felt like the earth had been lost from underneath their legs. the one thing they never wanted to hear was told to them , not only by someone they admired, but by a friend
and trust me, it was what broke the camel's back. it was all that was needed
now let's take a look at our prefect nowadays, shall we?
the prefect was in the library, in a more secluded part of it where almost no one went. there were textbooks and notebooks spread on the table in front if them, while others were laying on the floor and on some chairs next to them
in storms the housewarden of heartsylabyul, who was looking for his friend after they missed yet another unbirthday party
"prefect you are still here?" said riddle as he saw the hunched prefect. they didn't even look up at him when answering with a simple humm, a small way of saying "yeah"
"you should take a break. studying is very important, but you shouldn't overdo it" said riddle (you know, like a hypocrite, as if he hasn't been doing the same thing from the prime age of five)
"no no yeah, I just gotta finish this paper and then do a quick essay on mr trein's latest subject, I'll be done by curfew time, I promise"
"prefect, I really do think you should take a break"
"riddle it's fine" said the prefect and you could feel the annoyance starting to appear
"prefect" he replied coldly, it was more like a warning to be honest. they didn't reply, leaving him with only one option, take their books
"hey! what are you doing? give it back!" said the prefect, finally looking up to him. he could see the redness in their eyes and the dark circles under them, both signs of their sleepless nights, and they had more acne on their face, a zign of their anxiety
"prefect you need to take a break"
"no! give it back"
"I'm sorry prefect but it is better for you"
"give it back!" they yelled, slamming the table with the hand that was once peacefully rating on it, as the first tear started to roll down their cheek
"prefect..?" asked riddle in a low voice, slowly getting the book closer to its owner, who was now full on crying
"please give it back" they said quietly, taking shaky and loud breaths. "please"
the desperation in their voice was almost enough to let the so called "red rose tyrant" give the book to them, but he didnt
"prefect are you okay?" he asked, his voice laced with concerned as he slowly brought out his hand to put it on the prefect's shoulder. trey did that to him whenever he was crying, it brought him comfort. the prefect though, flinched, making him retreat
"I need the books" they started saying, rubbing their nose with one of their sleeves. "this is due to tomorrow, I still have ten more assignments to do and I can't understand what the fuck we do in crewel's class!" they said quickly, voice speeding up from how much they wanted to say
"and I don't understand even half of it! what are all these plants? we dont have all this back home!" they said, throwing their head back as they were speaking
"and, and it's my fault for not saying that I can't understand the material, but I'm scared!" they said. they were very lucky that the library was almost empty at this hour
"scared?" repeated riddle. "scared! I'll disappoint all the teachers! I'm supposed to be smart, I'm supposed to understand stuff like this very easily" they said, slapping their thigh while doing so, a bad habit of theirs that they had when they were very anxious
"and they all think I'm stupid!" they said, more tears falling down their face. this saying left riddle shocked. why would they think that? they were almost a genius from his prespective
"no you're not" he said. if you couldn't tell comforting isn't really his thing. "yeas I am. I get stuck in the simplest of exercises, I can't understand what I'm reading and I'm struggling to get even the most basic things!" they said
seeing his friend be so anxious was very sad for riddle, but seeing them cry so hard that they could barely breath because of something as simple as two or three numbers on a paper was what broke his heart
and the worst part?
he couldn't do anything to help them
they were drowning right in front of him, and he couldn't save them
the only thing he coukd do is watch them as they were crying and rambling about their stressful deadlines
idk might do a part two if I need comfort or if my next mental breakdown is soon enough
#phantom's writing#disney twisted wonderland#disney twst#twisted wonderland#twst#twst disney#twst fic#i just love angst#twst angst#angst#pure angst#riddle rosehearts#riddle twst#riddle twisted wonderland#twst prefect#heartslabyul#twst ramshackle#ramshackle#twst heartslabyul#twst fanfic#fuck school#i love this#riddle rosehearts angst#ramshackle dorm#divius crewel#mozus trein#night raven college#twst nrc#riddle rosehearts x reader#twst second years
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Welcome to the Hitori fucking Dies AU
Okay so I don't have pretty much anything plotted out yet but the concept is "hatoful boyfriend except hitori managed to save nageki in the fire and died in the process"
Tw for all the usual hatoful boyfriend topics (suicide, familial death and grief, medical malpractice, likeable characters making pretty awful choices)
Also spoilers for if I ever make this for real. I'd want it to be structured similarly to hatoful boyfriend where most major plot reveals happen late, so by explaining the ideas from the start of this AU I'd also kind of be spoiling every major plot twist. But I don't know how far I'll get into the project (I have had a REAL hard time focussing on writing recently) and I want to share all my ideas immediately lol
Obviously there are many logistical issues in this au that would need to be worked out- why bbl wouldn't just happen immediately if Nageki was alive, for instance. Bear with me pls
Also please note that I haven't consumed every single piece of hatoful media, mostly just the two games and sections of one of the manga. There may be some things I missed out on that.
But here are the ideas I have thus far
The first sticking point is that I think there's a high probability that if Hitori died in the fire Nageki would just attempt again because he still believes he needs to sacrifice himself and would just feel even guiltier. BUT I also think it could be equally in character for Nageki to refuse to let Hitori's sacrifice be in vain and find enough resolve to escape and keep living and find a better solution
But of course, Nageki could never have a normal life while infected with the charon virus, nor would he be content with one while he's aware of the Hawk party's plans
He'd have to go on the run, obviously. Here's where you get another interesting possible choice of Nageki somehow managing to join the Doves. But frankly I don't think an incredibly sick 15 year old with extremely limited life experience is going to be good at going on the run. I think he'd manage to stay hidden for long enough. For the purposes of this au he doesn't die from his sickness immediately but it was definitely a risk. (Let's assume that Shuu originally planned for Nageki to live much longer than he did in canon so he received some genuine medical care in between the experiments)
However. Nageki is homeless and unable to tell anyone about what was done to him or get help. He can't go to any birds because the Hawks are searching for him, and he can't warn any humans because they'd just die if he spoke to them
Surprise! This is where this also becomes a Kazuaki lives AU!
I think Nageki meets Kazuaki mostly by random chance in the street. Now, in canon I'm not sure if Kazuaki was kicked out of college at this point and that's why he was out there in the rain or if he was out there for some other reason (edit: been informed that he IS still in college when he meets Hitori in canon, which works great for me). I'm choosing to believe it's the latter for the purposes of making this au work- Kazuaki is living in a dorm at this point but is close to failing his classes and is out in the rain for some reason. Roll with me here.
Nageki stumbles across Kazuaki. He'd probably be hesitant to approach due to the aforementioned danger
But Kazuaki is obviously not in a good state, and if there's one thing Nageki hates its feeling like he can't do anything when people are struggling. And part of Nageki is purely running on What Would Hitori Do mode right now. So obviously Nageki tries to figure out what he can do to help
I think suddenly being shown kindness by some random kid who is clearly in a similarly awful state might draw Kazuaki out of his head enough that he could end up trying to help Nageki instead, out of genuine concern, a sense of understanding, and a desperate need to be important to literally anybirdie on earth
This is the first time Nageki has talked to anybirdie since Hitori's death, as well as the longest Kazuaki has talked to someone in weeks
Nageki needs a place to stay that no one would think to look for him and where he's slightly less likely to immediately die. Kazuaki needs to interact with another living being regularly, and has an empty dorm room and a meal plan he's barely been using
cue incredibly dysfunctional found family slowburn- They feel obligated to each other (which eventually becomes genuine care and protectiveness) and end up functioning better as a result
(This could possibly end up being very codependent, because what relationship in hatoful doesn't have a LITTLE unhealthy codependency. Staking the whole of your recovery on another person's wellbeing is NOT sustainable. But overall WAY healthier for both of them than Hitori and Kazuakis canon dynamic in that they both make it out alive with no deception necessary.)
Kazuaki starts attending classes again so that they can stay housed. He struggles and still can't thrive, but he just barely stays afloat with Nageki's support and renewed motivation. Nageki does what he can to make the dorm more habitable without leaving. Nageki's presence is a secret for obvious reasons, but it's a pretty easy one to keep since Kazuaki is so isolated to begin with. Nageki's trapped again in a different way, but Kazuaki's awful living space may honestly feel like a relief after the sterile lab. Months, maybe even a full year, pass
Eventually, Nageki trusts Kazuaki enough to tell him about everything- the charon virus, St. Pigeonations, Hitori's death, all of it. He tells him that one day, if he can live long enough, Nageki will find a way to expose what's going on at St. Pigeonations to the world and bring an end to it
Nageki likely tells him out of a sense of guilt- this is what he's gotten Kazuaki into, and he deserves better than all the extra trouble Nageki comes with.
But Nageki also won't be talked out of his plan, and when Kazuaki realizes this, he's not going to let Nageki be in danger by himself, not when it means Kazuaki would be left completely alone again
Kazuaki hasn't dreamed about his future in years, had no plans past college for how his life could go. What difference would it make if he started working towards becoming a teacher?
Kazuaki had no significance to the Hawks whatsoever. And teaching is completely in character for Kazuaki when he's in a slightly better mental state (see: shrine au) so no one would likely question it. No one EVER pays attention to Kazuaki or takes him seriously- which could make him a very, very good information gatherer
(And Nageki IS still sick, and maybe, just maybe Kazuaki can find out if the doctor wasn't COMPLETELY lying about doing research into curing it– if only as a contingency plan to keep his bioweapon from getting out of his control. Maybe if Kazuaki poked around enough, he could find it and hand it over to a non-evil doctor. He doesnt tell Nageki about this idea though- Nageki would refuse it outright, and Kazuaki couldnt bear the dissappintment if he told him and then failed)
Nageki... is apprehensive about this plan. But it's the only one they have, the only influence he can possibly exert to try to stop the Hawks without walking immediately into their clutches. His need to do what's right overrules his need to do what's smart.
But he begs- Kazuaki can't do too much for him, can't sacrifice his own wellbeing to keep Nageki hidden, and he can't do ANYTHING that might get him caught. If Kazuaki ever doesn't come home, Nageki is flying in right after him. Nageki has lost three families now- he WON'T lose a fourth, no matter what.
Kazuaki promises. We'll see if he's able to keep it.
WOO okay that's the main part I had planned out. But here's a little more.
I haven't thought as much about ghost!Hitori yet but. Oh man. Ghost Hitori
I think he'd be a lot less bitter than canon Hitori since he achieved what he set out to do (save nageki) but I do think he'd still have regrets enough to not be able to move on (leaving Nageki completely alone, not rescuing him earlier, knowing that there's still danger and being able to do nothing to help it)
I think he'd be less detached from the world and more driven to help others- especially the students, the kids, who were being used unawares of the horrors of the school. If only, if ONLY one of them could hear his warnings
(eventually, years later, Hiyoko can hear his warnings)
I'm also curious about how Shuu's plans would change with Nageki alive- with a burnt medical center and no liver cells to work with, he doesn't have samples of the charon virus. Would he still plan on turning Ryouta into the new carrier when the original carrier was still out there and needed to be recaptured? Lots to think about.
How I'd want to present this, ideally is as a fan game of alternate routes based on these changes
In true hatoful boyfriend fashion all of this is just the backstory to get to where all the characters are at the start of the game. The main plot is about all of the butterfly effects that occur in Hiyoko's experience due to entirely new plot threads occurring
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Self Security~
Hello guys so today's topic is self security and how being secure within ourselves is so important. We always hear people say “I love myself ” “I don't need anyone else's validation” “ I don't care about what others think”. Well I have been there and heard that too, but do people who say all of these things really mean it? Well sometimes we just say all of these things and feel like yes it's true we don't need anyone else's opinion, however if we look at our actions they might say otherwise, because sometimes we don't even realise what we are doing and it's built within us through our subconscious. However it's important to break patterns.
Today I'm going to talk about how I used to quote all of these things and how my actions said other wise. I would literally always act like I'm a baddie and confident and I'm self secure until I started noticing my own actions, and when I realised that my actions don't meet my words I realised wait it was so easy for me to quote “love yourself ” but I don't do any of these. My therapist made me realise that and first it hurt and made me feel like I failed myself.
Now how did I actually started practicing self security in my life:
Firstly :Know yourself, your work, the energy you put through anything.
Now for example if you had to work on a project in your class and you poured your heart into it and worked extremely hard for it. However still you didn't get first prize or maybe you didn't even get the third prize or worse your work wasn't even acknowledged then obviously you guys might feel upset. However if you constantly think about why wasn't I validated even though I put so much effort then first of all you know how much hardwork you did in that project and how at some points you even faced certain small challenges ( challenges are challenges small or big) so you already know how much work you put in, then don't let yourself fall into this trap where you think that you are not enough.
Secondly: It's ok to not be chosen
You guys need to start realising that you are not for everyone, your energy is not for everyone and people have different opinions. Just because someone didn't acknowledge you for anything doesn't mean you guys are gonna think that omg! I'm not worth anything or omg! I'm never chosen or omg! I'm never validated.
Well it's ok if you aren't validated by people, people who validate you might even forget about you, start validating yourself.
Third thing is: detachment
I used to attach myself to situations, people, things etc and etc. We all need to start realising when we are attaching ourselves to anyone but ourselves, boom! It's over for us. Because when you are not the spotlight of your life or when we are constantly giving our energy to everyone but ourselves, we are going to be drained, it would be easy for us to get manipulated, cheated, betrayed and blah and blah. Because guys YOU ARE THE MAIN CHARACTER OF YOUR LIFE! When I say be detached I don't mean be mean or cold or heartless don't help anyone NO! I mean is give 80% of your energy to yourself and 20% of your energy to the people you love, who care about you and respect your boundaries. Another way to be attached to ourselves is by praying to god or meditating or talking to universe if you don't believe in god, it really helps not joking. One more thing we can do is spending time with ourselves by doing things we love. What do you guys love doing? Ask yourself that. Because when you enjoy doing an activity then even if you guys are under tough circumstances like being surrounded by toxic people you will immediately have something to come back to, you guys will be excited to do that hobby you love and your focus would be more on that hobby. And when you are focused on you then babeeee you won already!! Because then you don't give damns about anyone around you who doesn't adds up to your life!!!
Last thing is: do things for yourself
You guys also need to realise that we should always do things for ourselves, now it's easier said that done. And how do we actually do it first of all if you guys desire something For eg: Good grades. Then ask yourself or write it down that why do I desire good grades? is it to impress my teacher and then be validated by them? Or is it to be a better student and for myself? Now why did I say that ask yourself is because, sometimes we don't even know why are we doing something we might have this sudden desire to do something however it's not necessary that we are doing it for ourselves. Now if we continue with the good grades example and by chance you guys even got good grades and even your teacher recognised you, validated you, gave you a big ass trophy in front of the school. At that moment it's gonna be a big win!!!! However let me tell you guys something insaneeee even if you guys got validated by someone else it won't really matter to them and they're gonna forget about it after a year or two, however do you guys know it will matter a lot to you!!! And that's beautiful that people will forget you after validating you, however even if you make small achievements it will always matter to you. THEN WHY DON'T WE DO THINGS FOR US!!!! Also you will be the only person who is benefited, the other who is validating you won't get any benifits of your work they won't be able to feel the same energy or the same happiness as you do then why depend on someone else to make you feel validated? Or to do things for?
However guys I think I'm going to end this blog now and thankyou so much for reading I love you guys so much!!!!!!
Also guys I'm also a human being who's learning things in life if my blog doesn't match with your opinion I would recommend not to read! However even I'm learning, so thankyou guys again❤️❤️❤️
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"Theoretically what if I said 'yes'?" [Darren x Wirth Headcanons]
Taking a break from my OTP (Rinka x Orter) to focus on my first mashle oc aka Darren Randel (read more info here) ended up making me think they could be a potential ship over Darren x Rayne (I haven't even written out my ideas for them properly) so uhhh yah!
This is a long ass post and devolves into general ideas towards the end.
tyyy @golden-eye-ramblings with the idea making :D
_ _ _
First impressions? They hated each other bro. Darren legit made Wirth taste worthlessness to another dimension (lost his magic completely until sundown so about 5-7 hours) for insulting the fact she didn't use a wand at all (which she gets pretty pissed about if they try to make themselves seem better than her)
He hated this moment so much he started studying/practicing to get payback towards her whenever they encountered each other again
And that happened to be during a Labyrinth/Maze exercise in order to test their knowledge from their Advanced Magic Classes which gave out silver and bronze coins (Lang and Adler houses only)
Wirth put a lot of effort to track her down since she ran after getting stranded by her only buddy (Rayne) who SURF PARTISAN-ED OUT OF THE HEDGES--and then ambushed her whilst she was fighting a golem (man-made magic training doll nicer than Deadervants)
but Darren uses and manipulates Wirth's attacks to put down the golem and 2 silver coins spawned. At this point in time she doesn't get what the coin system is so she just splits the share and Wirth is like what in the generousness is this? Does she think he's that pitiful??? And they part ways from the thing.
Midterms arrived and Darren did pretty bad on them obviously. (she's legit only great at offensive magic)
Walkis although more competitive is really lenient with their passing marks (because the school staff are so corrupt for accepting so many bribes) which she barely achieved after fighting for no instant failing grades so she underestimated the strictness of Easton's grading.
Wahlberg and the teachers agreed that if she failed the next one/finals they might consider expelling her so she literally panics and ends up asking Rayne to help tutor her but this guy is 1) a bad teacher, 2) easily distracted by the bunnies-- they both are really distracted by the bunnies so she has no progress beyond taking remedial classes which she barely understands.
She tries to figure out where she went wrong but Wirth takes the textbook she wanted to take and like are they about to break out into another duel. Darren's about to raise her voice but Wirth shuts her up with a silencing spell (library has to be quiet or not the cursed silencer appears and does the unimaginable).
Girl explains her situation and Wirth hawks in superiority: oh my gawd I'm actually better than her! But he kind of wants to duel her again so when she gets emotional about getting expelled if she does really bad the next round he is like: "Well, Darren. You've come to the right guy! I'm great at all subjects, so what do you need help with?" Darren: "Everything else that's not Magic Geography and Magic Zoology" aka a lot of subjects.
And when I say Darren is bad she is BAD. Calls beakers, conical flasks and funnels "CUPS". She cannot tell the difference. "What did you even study?" because he is genuinely shocked at her stupidity. "The textbooks take so long to decipher and barely have pictures..."
So Wirth ends up making them study into the night and for a week straight they start drilling in the basics. Which she semi understood until he pulled out models and analogies with his mud magic.
Thus begins their mentor/mentee dynamic and Darren unironically calling him "Professor"
So when she improves and gets passing grades just before the summer they're like super duper happy
They both do summer internships at the Bureau of Magic's Power Administration and Darren like knows his whole worth-power-value mindset origin.
"Why not go for something more attainable?" "Like?" "Your... brother?" "Why my brother?" "Surely, you're close to him." "Not really, we've barely talked since he went to school. He's much older than me..." "What's his job?" "He's a Divine Visionary." "What's his name?" "Orter." Darren gets struck with the biggest WTF???? since that guy tried to like kill her.
No wonder Darren was in such a sour mood when she first saw Wirth, he was related to the guy who hated her guts and nearly beat the crap out of her during the questioning she had to do at the Bureau!
"How about we get an internship over the summer and meet him?" and he's like ok.
And thus, we are exposed to Darren's self-centered/self-interested personality and lack of communication skills (since she thinks she's easily readable, SHE'S NOT)
She manages to set up a meeting between them (Rinka and Orter) and completely destroys his self-esteem and confidence by getting straight to the point. "Do you know he has sever self-esteem issues because you're not giving him any attention?"
Orter's tryna understand what's happening but Wirth is like what the hell: "I didn't ask for you to butt into my own problems!" and he fumbles his anger/embarassment towards Orter but broski is just like: "Is that true?" regarding Darren's question.
Rinka makes the situation worse by tryna deescalate the situation with a soothing/calming spell. "There's no need to use additional violence, ruins the atmosphere more than needed." Rinka comments. "I've placed a sound barrier too. It's a safe space."
Wirth at Darren - "I CARE THAT SOMEONE'S TRYING TO JUST SHOVE THEMSELVES INTO MY PRIVACY LKKE THEY KNOW ME!!" The 3 of them just watch him pop off at Darren before it devolves into his insecurities: "Are you trying to make me feel even more worthless than I already did?!"
"I only agreed to help you with your studies! Not to get help with my own life!"
"You can't just FIX me! You can't just come in like that expecting that everything gets resolved in an instant and then you take all the credit as 'mY sAvIoR', do you have any idea how INANE OF AN IDEA THAT IS?! No! Of course you don't! Because you only ever look after yourself!!"
"Wirth. Is what you're saying true?" and bro leaves with no answer (on the verge of tears)
Their whole dynamic crumbles and Darren has some REFLECTION TIME YAYYYYYY. Some slow improvement on Darren's part with Rayne's help (blud shows his point through his actions that mimic her behaviour)
Rayne points out that Darren is not as easy to read as everyone believes her to be. Specifically, regarding her hatred for Orter and that she'd never even try to think about sabotaging Wirth. "It's only been a month since you've joined, you collected 1 whole gold coin already. I doubt it."
And then she would have apologised in person but like. Wirth is studying for the hardest attainable credit ever??? so she writes an apology letter and prays it gets read because yeh.
Dw blud read it becuz the letter ended up in Shuen's fangirl mail inbox and bro got motivated a bit more and like: oh-kay...
They're friends again yayyyy and the DV Candidate Exam is happening and they bicker through the entire ordeal until they arrive at the final round. The 1v1 battles and he gets obliterated by Rayne *whomp whomp whomp*
But surprise! His bro watched him struggle and decided to give him some affirmation and suggests replacing him (Wirth) for the winter break visit because he's kinda like disappointed that he didnt get into the next round (he wanted to do a rematch against Darren) and like the dad favouritism/worth shenanigans.
Darren gets 2nd place and enters the Trimagicathlon.
When Darren heard the match ups she got mad because she wouldn't be able to fight Wirth. (In terms of raw power, Rayne is just superior that she was lucky to be blessed with her crazy cheatcode magic to make the matchup work.)
They were in different brackets too so it just added salt to the insult bro.
So they're friends again and because Wirth doesn't have to go to his parents Darren is like: Let's intern again! But before that, mid-terms/finals!!
And that's when people start to catch whiff off seeing the two together more often.
"Have you heard? The 3rd fang is seeing that crazy wandless psycho!" "What!? Aren't they rivals or something?" "Didn't you see them at the library earlier? They were smiling at each other!"
The Magia Lupus were also kinda curious about this too so they asked him and bro's reaction is priceless because he was immersed in making a model/analogies to help Darren until they arrived. Lost his composure, literally screamed in their faces for ruining the models, and like he legit says: "Even if I did like her she's only interested in Rayne Ames"
Ain't no way in hell he's gonna become a simp for her you know?
"Theoretically, what would happen if I said I had feelings for you?"
"Then theoretically, what if I said 'yes'?"
"I doubt anything would change. We'd bicker, help each other out. Bicker more. Oh and you might be able to join us for board game night."
"Sounds fun but also boring at the same time because it just sounds like what friends do."
"I've never really had feelings for anyone so it's a bit new to me."
Wirth is dejected a bit.
Conflict of interest is she brings bro over to Rayne's BIGGEST SECRET—his bunnies and gets mad mad at her. Wirth wants to get involved but the two of them tell him to stay out of it. "This happened before you got into the picture."
But yuhh if Wirth ever confessed, he'd get friendzoned in a heartbeat because 2nd male lead syndrome!
Darren probably tried to get Rayne to join the Magia Lupus board game nights but he'd rather meet his bunnies over people so Darren gets comfy with them.
Criticizes their diets so hard (seriously why is wirth's favourite food fruit punch???), she literally is starting to become overworked as a 3rd year making nearly 15 lunchboxes every single day.
The main character syndrome it girl to overworked parent pipeline is so real for her.
She literally bonks their heads in s1 when she realises they did all that weird stuff. "I thought we were besties!" she shakes her head and penalties them to without magic for atleast 4 days.
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