#it is however going to snow in a few days so. hmmm. the cold might stop me then actually
the nutcracker AU is going great*
[*narrator voice: it was not, in fact, going great]
and the thrilling conclusion to it all
featuring a terrible idea:
0 notes
The Idiot ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
In which the reader is the last Russian princess from our contemporary times and Fyodor is there to watch, observe, analyse and write a novel while being the reader’s sort of guardian/mentor, all while reader finds herself in an impossible, almost-Anna Karenina-like situation that drives her to desperate decisions.
And yes, I’m very much basing this story Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot” novel, Tolstyi’s “Anna Karenina” and Katyusha, both the Russian song, and the “Resurrection” novel from Tolstoy that has Katyusha as an unfortunate, yet important character.
Also, a little nod to our dear Ana Lesko for her song “Anicyka Maya”, which will serve as a cute little nickname for our dear reader, although the song is Romanian, and it’s about a seductive woman.
Other nicknames will include:
Kiska ( kitten ), Zaika ( bunny ), Kroshka ( little one ), Krasotka ( gorgeous ).
I’m not Russian, I don’t know about Russia’s culture, history and language as much as I know about my own, obviously, but as ex-commie & ex-USSR, we still have a shit ton of similarities. Nevertheless, I will try not to get into too many details that will compromise authenticity.
Luxury, glamour, wealth, gold, jewellery, diamonds, class, facades, masks, masquerades, social gatherings, lies, marriages, politics, horses, deals, gambling...
These represent some of the few words people from everywhere around would describe the royal family.
Why do some still exist, anyway? Shouldn’t they have just completely disappeared at the same time with the Romanov family? ...Stupid cartoon movies and their resurrection of Anastasia...
Nobody truly cares about these rich rats who worked naught for their wealth, and would never understand the struggle and poverty of the normal citizens of Russia...They just live in their abnormally huge palace, having more servants than the population of Moscow and eat at one meal more than normal people do in one week altogether.
How utterly ridiculous.
Their lives are all perfect, they marry themselves to keep that ridiculous purity and their infinite wealth in the family...How atrocious!
What about charity? Kindness? Altruism? Helping out the common folk?
All these thoughts, and you’d think a very bitter and vindictive, very poor and malicious person came up with, and yet, the reality was rather distorted.
From the top stair of the palace, in a dark room, sitting on the windowpane, a gorgeous young woman cast her dull eyes over the snowy city and the people hurrying down the roads, hoping to go home before it got too late and cold.
Maybe they were poor and hateful, and rightfully so, she’d say, but perhaps they can also be deemed happier, if they can take into account their freedom...As much as the government provides them, at least - Yet even so, even the poorest person held more freedom than this caged bird, forever trapped and shackled by fate from the second she was born...As if she had any choice, that is.
Perhaps she deserves this treatment, this hatred, this...Manipulation from her own family, who only see her as a political and financial pawn, planning her marriage from the second she first cried into this world...
Like a martyr, she will accept all torture and live on, never knowing what ‘living’ truly means, only imagining it by reading all day and all night long, or when she plays the piano one of the many songs she learnt.
As the grandfather clock rang to 7 times to announce dinner time, Y/N dressed in a simple, yet elegant dress, put on a pair of classy black stiletto shoes, and went down to the luxurious dining room, sitting in her usual seat, only for a brunet stranger dressed in white to grace the sight with his unexpected presence.
She didn’t dare speak to him, yet her eyes couldn’t leave his form, no matter how her meek demeanour made her hung her head to avoid showing anything other than her demure expression.
Thankfully, her parents arrived, along with the waiters that served the food, so it saved some of the awkwardness of the unknown.
“Y/N, darling, this man here is Fyodor Dostoevsky. He is here as a writer, wanting to learn more about us and about people in general. As a compromise, he agreed to be your personal guard...Considering the other one was a sacrilege to our dear daughter...What a lecherous man, making advances on you...But, anyway, let us toast to the success of this young man’s writing career!” the mother raised her champagne, and the four of them clinked glasses.
“I thank you for the unique opportunity to learn and understand society and people better. May you live a long and prosperous life.” this new stranger held a charming smile on his face, trying to impress and buy everyone’s trust.
“Do you have yet any idea about the theme of your novel? Or, perhaps an idea for a title?” the father asked, making the brunet shake his head softly.
“No, not yet, unfortunately. I prefer to study hard, and only then, when I am educated enough, to allow the flow of creation to take over me.” this Fyodor nodded in acknowledgement, while the girl kept completely silent for the duration of the dinner, waiting for everything to be over so she could escape back to the little faux haven she created and called ‘safe’.
“Y/N, show Mr. Fyodor to your room, he will be sleeping there for now on. The butlers already brought a spare bed there, so it’s alright.” the mother waved her hand dismissively, and the girl could only bow quickly and go back to her room, making sure to point out what each of the rooms represent, before reluctantly inviting him to her bedroom.
“Please, make yourself at home, Mr. Dostoevsky. I hope it will be comfortable and to your liking. Should you need anything, please do not hesitate to tell me so we can make your stay as great as possible.” she spoke to him in a soft, meek voice, not daring to make eye contact in any way.
“Call me Fyodor, no need for formalities. We are going to room together, might as well become friendly. What don’t you tell me about yourself? Your hobbies, your interests, your dreams, your aspirations.” the brunet paced around the room, observing all of her personal objects, which, turned out, except for jewellery, books, a small, pink Gloxinia, and a pickup with 1920s British vinyls, there was nothing to represent her...Which was, in its own way, an intriguing peculiarity.
“I...Like reading, flowers, music...And I wish I could get a dog and learn how to play the violin too. There aren’t many interesting things about me...I’m not special or anything out of the ordinary. I am not allowed to put myself out there in any way, so this is the little I could do to express who I am.” so tried to be as vague as possible, fidgeting on her feet uncomfortably, knowing that the punishment for embarrassing the family would be grave, should it be known.
“Hmmm...I see, I see...Ah, you’re a Tolstoy reader, I see. Anna Karenina...Very interesting, yet tragic, wouldn’t you say?” he asked, picking up a book that was supposed to be hidden.
“N-No! Don’t take that out of there...Nobody can know I have it. I was strictly forbidden from reading it...Please don’t tell anyone I have this book.” the princess snatched the book from his hands, hiding it further back in the bookshelf.
“Ohh~? Why would you not be allowed to read a Russian book? You’d think the Russian princess would be urged to read Russian literature.” he stepped in front of her, picking her chin and raising her head slightly to allow him to look deep into her fawn-like eyes.
“Because of the ending...And the controversial decisions Anna made, some of them even contradictory to her own beliefs, and yet, she made her own decisions, at some point in her life. When your fate is decided from before you are born, having opinions is the worst enemy of a puppeteer...Wouldn’t you agree?” she muttered, walking away from him, taking her nightgown and walking towards her bathroom.
This made the man think more about how dysfunctional this supposed perfect royal family actually was. The illusion of a flawless individual, living together, forming a flawless family, a flawless life, in a flawless palace.
Perhaps facades aren’t as obvious to see through, or understand, for while the parents are completely bland...This girl...So much potential locked away in a timid chest of massive oak wood, embellished with overly expensive jewellery, clearly unwanted. She could be a genius, shining in her happiness, glowing like her dazzling smile, and yet, there she is, eclipsed by chaff, when she could be burning brighter than the morning Sun.
Those parents of hers think he wants to be here and get dazzled by the infinite stream of diamonds that keep flowing around the whole place - And yet, perhaps they are the ones living in mental poverty, considering they believe financial wealth and fame is the sole reason for being alive - To uphold a certain kind of status that they worked naught for, but received hereditary, from one lazy deadbeat to yet another generation of useless people for this society.
They truly are like the plague, incredibly rare nowadays, but completely fatal once you fall grasp to their dark claws that drag you to hell to succumb to their completely fictional utopian world that they create only amongst themselves, as if whatever lives beyond these golden walls is putrid and deserves to rot to pieces.
As his mind wandered farther and farther away down the country, snowy roads he created with his own imagination of thoughts, he heard the bathroom door softly open, and the angelic creature garbed in a thin - Possibly silk, snow white nightgown - Stepped back into their now shared room, and just as before, her demeanour resembled that of a small, frightened fawn, or a bunny.
When you have to deal with such a pure being that could completely shatter, it’s difficult not to impulsively break down all walls around and snatch her away - It’s close to impossible not to attempt to test all existing boundaries and see the limits where she would break...Or, almost, at least.
However, abstinence makes for a great suspense and greed...You want more...And more...And the more you wait, the harder it is to resist, but the satisfaction you get when the frail creature trusts you enough to eat from your own palm, and you finally claim it as yours...
It’s Heavenly.
“Sweet Dreams, Fyodor.” she spoke softly, putting on a Tchaikovsky vinyl and picking up a book, getting in bed and reading it, the only light still open being a dim lantern on her nightstand.
“How would you like to show me around the city tomorrow?” the brunet asked so casually that it shocked the girl enough to drop her book on her lap.
“O-Oh...U-Uhmm...I’m not exactly to go out of this place unless it’s for Christmas shopping...I’m sorry I can’t properly do as you wish...” she quickly took her book back, hiding her face to hide her embarrassment and disappointment.
“Well, then, what a gorgeous coincidence, isn’t it? In barely two months, Christmas shall come, and then, you can properly show me around, correct?” the man mused, the ghost of a smirk playing on his face.
“..You’re right! My, you’ll get to see the beautiful fairy light and Christmas decorations all around the city! I can’t believe it, you truly chose the perfect time to come here. Oh, and, the ballet, the opera and the national orchestra are going to perform...I believe The Nutcracker is going to play this year...And Traviata. It should be beautiful, don’t you agree?” Y/N asked with a soft smile on her face, sparks gleaming in her eyes, and for the first time since he’s met her, it felt like she was finally alive.
“Yes, yes, I would have to agree. And if you are there with me, the experience will be even better.” he hummed, teasing the poor girl who had no idea what else to say to such bold affirmations.
“O-Oh...W-Well...Th-Thank you...I-I think...Your presence there will also make the going out more interesting...And nice.” she offered a comeback that pleased the man well enough.
“Good night to you as well, Printsessa.”
What a lovely young woman, he thought, as he closed his eyes and let his mind fly at different aspects of life and of humanity, trying to decipher each and every person he met that day and wondering if his assumptions were correct, as they always are.
Morning came by faster than expected as a shy ray of of Sun creeped inside the room through the window, but Fyodor was already awake, writing at the desk rather rapidly - Most likely, he had some inspiration hitting him, so he proceeded to pour out his conflicting thoughts on the paper, all while stealing a peek from time to time at the girl sleeping peacefully, almost as if she was a Disney Princess.
The way the soft light caressed her face had him take the stray streak of h/c hair and pull it back so it won’t tickle her awake, while also being allowed to watch her peacefully inhale and exhale, a small smile on her face...Perhaps she was having a beautiful dream? Was that why she told him to have sweet dreams? Were her dreams her only lovely escape from this horrible reality she was forced to live in?
There were so many mysteries yet to be unveiled, but all in due time, as Fyodor noticed the gentle flutter of her lashes, and with a grace only reserved to a Swan Princess, she raised and stretched with a sweet hum, and the brunet man watched as his eyes felt absolutely blessed seeing such a beauty...
If people complained that Disney Princesses weren’t relatable, since they have messy hair when they wake up, just like Anna, they clearly haven’t seen how perfect Y/N looks, even as she blinks her sleepiness away.
“I see you slept well, Printsessa. Good morning.” she heard him speak, and she noticed it wasn’t as en garde and...It almost seemed...Pleased to see her.
“Fyodor...You woke up before me. You should have woke me up. Please wake me up next time, I wouldn’t want you to feel lonely or upset. This place is like a piranha tank...Thread carefully, otherwise, you’re like a little animal who fell in.” she quickly got up, rushing through her daily routine so she could be by his side, not only because her parents assigned her to that, but also because this Dostoevsky man is the only little thing that could rip her out of her completely dull routine and show her a little bit of insight into what could be something out of her imagination entirely.
“Aww, the little songbird wishes to spend time with me, how adorable. Very well, Printsessa, what is it that you want to do today? My job here is to observe and write, after all.” he asked, crossing one leg over the other, resting his chin on his fist, watching her with intense interest.
“Oh, well, I have to practice the piano today, but other than that, I have nothing in my schedule.” she explained, guiding him to the music room that very much resembled a whole orchestra surrounding a place - Not too small, yet not too big either - Meant for ballroom dancing.
“I bet the national orchestra isn’t as fancy as this place is.” he mused, walking up to the cello and tracing his fingertips across the chords.
“...Do you know how to play it?” she asked, walking up to him, having the curiosity of a baby fawn exploring the world.
“Would you like to hear?” he asked, sitting on the chair and expertly hugging the cello, he grabbed the bow and teased the girl with a mischievous look in his gleaming purple eyes.
“Oh, yes, please, if it’s not too much to ask! It would be absolutely splendid.” Y/N clasped her hands together, grinning widely as she stepped a few feet away to give him enough space so he could start playing.
“It would be my pleasure, Printsessa.” and with the nod of his head, he started playing the famous Sugar plum fairy song, making the girl gasp in surprise at how gorgeous it sounded.
She crouched to reach the perfect eye view of the bow gliding along the chords, her mouth slightly agape and she gazed with absolute wonder, not even realising when the song was over, for she was much too mesmerised.
“Well, Printsessa, how did you like it?” he rested his arms on the curves of the cello, leaning forwards for a better look at her.
“That was better than even our national cello player! It was absolutely stunning, woaw...Just...You left me speechless! You’re...You’re...You are...Perfectly splendid!” she clapped for him rapidly and incredibly enthusiastic, making him chuckle in amusement at her cuteness.
“Why, thank you, Printsessa. How about you entertain me now, little Anicyka Maya?” he carefully put the Cello in its place, stepping in front of her and caressing her porcelain skin, quenching his thirst for discovery by seeing her rosy cheeks.
“Well...I can’t say I’m anywhere as great as you are...But, sure. I hope you will like it.” she looked down, fidgeting with her fingers as she hurried timidly to the piano, and taking a deep breath, cracking her fingers, she liter her fingers skillfully dance over the keys, as her voice followed every word of the song called “Katyusha”. However, she wasn’t expecting him to applaud and whistle to her, congratulating her for being such a beautiful nightingale.
“You clearly underestimate your hard work and talent. Perhaps we should play together one day. I’m sure it would put a smile on your parents’ faces.” Fyodor bowed to kiss Y/N’s hand, only to hear the door opening.
“Yes, Mr. Fyodor, we would quite like to hear the two of you dueting together. Since Y/N will have to perform both dance and a song at the piano, as a Christmas tradition, it will show how much she’s improved...If at all. I have to tell you the truth, Mr. Fyodor, over the past few years, she has been exceptionally disappointing...Well, perhaps you coming here will prove to give her a jolt in the right direction.” Y/N’s mother came out of nowhere in the music room, almost as if she was stalking the pair, and Fyodor could see how the Princess’ behaviour changed 180 degrees, and from the excitable and lively young girl, she went back to hide in her guarded shell, trying to protect herself from the numerous blows everyone throws her way.
And just as he expected, once they started playing, despite throwing in one or two intentional mistakes, while she had none of her own, the mother reprimanded her daughter, while praising him.
He thought, at first, this was going to be some kind of tough love encouragement and determination she was trying to give the girl, but truly, it was nothing more than unrealistic dreams of an already flawless performance.
This family was nowhere close to being the perfect, or the most loving one, that was without a doubt.
But being so horrible to your own daughter, humiliating her in front of a complete stranger, making her tremble softly while trying her best to keep herself from bursting into sobbing fits, was a whole different kind of cruel and unnecessary malice.
For some reason, Fyodor felt a certain kind of warmth in his chest...But not the same kind of warmth he feels when he is around Y/N, but something...Similar to fury. To rage. He was sure he never felt such a personal sort of offense, despite not being him that was belittled.
A terrifying sort of justice bubbled inside him, and he smirked, thinking about just one sole thing.
Crime and Punishment.
Fyodor hoped dearly that it would be only the maternal figure that was the problem, yet it seemed to be much worse, and the toxicity levels that kept vibing all over the place seemed to be equivalent to that of Chernobyl at the time of the explosion.
All throughout the week, he noticed the dirty looks all the staff was giving the Princess, possibly because she was being a shy and quiet pushover...But it went completely beyond his understanding how these servants would even dare be so rude to her, considering she is always so sweet to them, always forgives their mistakes and shares her whole allowance with them in equal parts...
But they complain it’s not enough. They complain others get more, or less, but clearly, they don’t care about that, they just want more and more money...They are greedy jackals who don’t care about the life or soul of a poor little lady who just wants to be happy...
But perhaps happiness isn’t meant for royalty.
A week until Christmas, and Fyodor was ready with the quick draft, and he left it on the desk for Y/N to read, and he couldn’t help but admire and drink in each and every emotion she would express on her lovely face with every word she read, every action, every chapter that stirred more and more conflicting feelings and thoughts battling together - Conflicts that she was trying so hard to hide, no doubt feeling his burning, hawk-like stare on her, analysing her as if she was a new specimen under a microscope.
She was great at hiding what she truly felt, yet her eyes betrayed her inner self, the sparkling of nostalgia and sadness crawling out, shrieking at the top of her lungs to be discovered and taken out of this well of darkness she was drowning in - She wanted to be saved, she was at her breaking point, and clearly, she was afraid.
Afraid of life. Afraid of people. Afraid of her family. Afraid of this society. Afraid her own self. Afraid of her actions.
And most of all.
She was afraid of spiritual, mental and emotional imprisonment.
As Christmas approached with rapid footsteps, Fyodor could notice how Y/N stiffer, more silent, flinching more, keeping herself in check, alone, barely speaking to anyone...Clearly, she was being stressed out and afraid of the consequences of screwing up anything.
Perhaps, the problem here was the fatalist and completely out of her control destiny she was thrown in, and she knew from the very beginning that, no matter how flawless her performance was, she would still be reprimanded and punished, so she resigned herself to this kind of treatment...The same as every year.
“It’s so beautiful outside...And it’s snowing...! So soft and cold...It’s almost numbing you entirely, but the beauty of Christmas still melts down even the most frozen of hearts.” she spoke with such sadness dripping from her tongue, that Fyodor felt the need to take his fur hat and put it on her head before taking a hold of both of her hands, rubbing them together and kissing her knuckles.
“It’s not the day or the decorations that are supposed to move a person, but the kindness and altruism of people. From what I’ve seen in the past weeks, the only consistency in this place is the beauty of your heart and the cruelty of everyone else that keep eclipsing you. You deserve better than this, kroshka.” the man spoke simply, waiting to see the way she’d react.
“...I didn’t choose this life, nor did it choose me, yet here I am, trying to keep my head above the water in a whirlpool. I have all my life planned and written ahead of me, and there’s nothing I can do about it. From the very beginning, since before I was even born, they knew they will sell me out to some old, rich man, just so they could benefit, but they cared naught about my well-being, as long as I could keep him entertained in any way possible. The least I can do is try to enjoy the little things...Even if they are nothing more than just that...Little things.” she admits to him, taking away her hands and holding them to her chest, too afraid to trust her own heart.
“You let the servants make a mockery out of your kindness. You let your family humiliate you in front of everyone. You let common folk bash you, even if you tip them greatly...Tell me, krasotka, have you read the draft to my book yet?” they continued to stroll down the cobbled streets, looking up at the snowflakes gently dancing in the light of the lamposts, as Fyodor carried most of her shopping bags that held Christmas gifts for everyone but herself.
“Yes...I did...But I did not finish it. I was much too afraid to read the ending of it.” she nodded to him, biting her lip nervously.
“Afraid? Why ever would you be afraid of reading some words made of ink on a piece of paper?” the man frowned in confusion and interest, hearing such a peculiarity of an answer.
“Because...Because I know that Prince Myshkin actually represents me...And how life treats me...So I’m afraid the ending will hint to Anna Karenina’s ending...And I don’t want that. I don’t...That’s why I’m afraid...I’m scared that...I’m scared that I won’t be able to endure this madness anymore, and sooner, rather than later, I will shatter into an unrecognisable version of myself that not even I will decipher...And I will do scary things that I would otherwise be afraid of even thinking about. You know I read the book, I wouldn’t put it past you to tease me like that.” she smiled ironically, shaking her head to stop herself from shuddering at such a dreadful thought.
“Congratulations, Printsessa, you are surely insightful. However, I must advise you to read it, and keep in mind that you are not entirely wrong in your thinking. While the ending isn’t identical to Tolstoy’s novel, it isn’t on the complete opposite spectrum either. What you read is one of the possible outcomes of your life, should you choose to remain a passive onlooker and let everyone control you, like a little, pretty doll. Should you, however, choose to take fate into your own hands and finally make your first choice of your life...I can promise you, you are going to be much happier.” Fyodor kissed her forehead before leading her back to the palace so she could take the day off...For tomorrow, she must perform.
But the author wasn’t lying, Y/N realised as she spent the last hours past curfew to finish the book, and she realised that while Myshkin didn’t kill himself, he was still dead inside, and just like the catatonic state he was stuck into, she has been living a life of complete comatose herself.
Fyodor was right all along - A life without choices is not a life, nor is it one without freedom and happiness - And maybe, for the first time in her life, she would make the most difficult decision the universe threw at her, and that was to choose between Duty and Happiness, something every royal member, especially women all over the world, who were seen as nothing more than political and decorative objects meant to create heirs and nothing more, had to pick, and dutifully chose to sacrifice themselves to keep the family and the nobility going.
But not anymore....
“You look beautiful today, my little zaika. This velvet colour of your dress, the way it highlights you stunning silhouette...And this jewellery...And your hair and make up...You are above and beyond the most beautiful person to ever grace this life. How are you going to enchant us today?” Fyodor pat down his white suit so he would look completely impeccable...Or, perfectly splendid, as Y/N would say.
“Does it truly matter, in the end? Nobody but you will pay attention, and at the end of the day, I will only hear critiques. It’s the same every year, so there is no point in bothering to stand out, have any particularity or give a name. It just...Is. So...Let me get this over with so I can go to my room and pretend this day never happened...Again.” she muttered, hooking her arm to his, entering the big ballroom together.
A ton of people were there, not only family, but enough family ‘friends’, all of them incredibly rich, with a combined fortune great enough to buy the whole Russia somehow...And all eyes were on her. She didn’t mind. She was used to the nervousness and the either critical or lustful stares she received - But only during these kinds of events, and because she was a Princess, otherwise nobody would have cared about her existence or her feelings...
Nobody...Except for Fyodor.
Until the time of his arrival, nobody cared about her, nor did they bother trying to understand or talk to her, and yet, here he was, always by her side, and frankly, she fell in love with him. She, for the first time in her life, cared naught about everything surrounding her, and she thought solely about him and their time spent together. That is all that mattered to her.
So, with that in mind, and a warm heart, she performed the Waltz of Flowers flawlessly at the piano, along with a few other songs, adding some festive ones. Fyodor was absolutely captivated by the spells she put on people whenever she radiated with such pure gentleness, just like Christmas’ true angel.
Her fingers glided so gracefully over the keys, as she hummed along the music, not even bothering to look at the sheet, for she new everything by heart - But somehow, it all sounded even more magical than before, and nobody could tell why.
But Fyodor knew, and he smiled, figuring out her trick. And he was going to call her out for that when this whole charade was over.
But for now, he allowed himself to enjoy bathing in her radiating warmth, for she was shining brighter than the Sun itself.
By the time she finished her little repertoire, she did a pretty courtesy and walked to the man in the white suit, taking a glass of red wine and sipping from it, that gentle smile never leaving her face.
They exchanged no words, but there was no need for that, as the look in their eyes spoke more than anything else, and they danced the night away, together, in graceful and intimate waltzes, or swaying together, keeping their hearts glued together, beating in sync and feeling each other’s heat.
She might not have wanted to end up like Karenina, but she wasn’t too far away from her situation, and she knew very well, should she leave with this man, she was going to break down every rule, and find an identity for herself, after all these years.
But happiness is emphemeral in the life of a Princess, and just before the Christmas Ball ended, her parents dragged her to the table of this old man, so they would share gifts. This old man, who so happened to be the man chosen to be her future husband, and had fewer hairs on his head and teeth in his mouth than her age.
Most of the gifts were pretty basic - Jewellery for women, cigars, fedoras, watches for men...But for her...She received some of he oddest gifts so far - And yet, she thought life couldn’t surprise her anymore.
Several little outfits, fit for babies, were neatly folded in all boxes, sans one - The sole box being a small, velvet box, which revealed a sapphire ring that expressed the definite bond of marriage that must be officiated very soon, through papers and a church ceremony.
Frozen was the clock, frozen was the time, and frozen was life itself, for the shock was great - Being put on the spot is scarier than the anticipation and fear of venturing into the unknown - Yet here she was, with her supposed fossil of a husband, with several babies promised to be born, and a very angry author, watching the disgusting exchange of pleasantries between the elder people.
He noticed Y/N doing a little courtesy, excusing herself with a nervous smile, and rushing out of the ballroom, the clicks of her elegant heels giving away her location at all time.
Following her, he saw her on the edge of the rood, barefoot, her back to the empty space, as she hummed, looking up at the clouds pouring snow, and swaying to her tippy toes occasionally.
“You sure like the feeling of being alive, don’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t be staying there after being faced with such a disgusting situation.” he pointed out, clasping his hands behind his back and carefully stepped towards her.
“Life is full of surprises. But it is not called life, unless you have a say in the paths that you go down by. Today, I realised what I have to do in order to achieve true bliss and happiness...Something ethereal, although utopian in its quintessence. I have to make a choice. And right now, I’m making it.” she smiled, extending her arms to the side, resembling a Goddess, as a few stray tears streamed down her face - But they were tears of relief, not of fear, anxiety of depression. She was happy.
“You said you didn’t want to choose the path of Karenina, nor of Myshkin, and yet, there you are, on the brink of death, as the way to show that you are no longer a caged bird. Is it truly worth it, in the end?” Fyodor asked, frowning at the delusional words she was spewing.
“Death is but the beginning of a new adventure, and with me falling, I will find out what freedom is, unlike all the other Princesses before me. It is not death I’m choosing, nor will I regret it as soon as I step into this free fall hazard, like Karenina, and, as you can see, I chose to wake up from my catatonic state, unlike Myshkin. I know what awaits me as soon as I reach the ground...But do you?” Y/N hummed in amusement, watching the conflict painted all over his face - And it was for the first time that Fyodor showed such confusion and inner turmoil, that much was obvious to her.
“Stop this, Y/N, I don’t understand your reasoning, but don’t kill yourse- “ but he couldn’t finish his sentence, for the girl uttered just a few words - Words that changed even the rotation of the Earth around the Sun - And as she pushed herself on the tips of her toes, she embraced the cold wind of Winter being her guide down to the ground, as she watched the snowflakes following her down.
And she smiled.
Because love won, and life won, and she knew she chose correct - These weren’t the times to choose everyone else over herself anymore, and nor is she a saint, a martyr, an angel, or some perfect Christian role model.
She was just a woman thirsting for happiness and for the tangible sensation of life and of flying, and with this jump, she got completely wasted.
The secure embrace of a white angel made sure she lived for another day, but not quite, for her guardian angel jumped to save her, yet had no idea himself that he wasn’t the only special one, after all, and just as they were going to reach the ground, time seemed to stop, and they reached the ground gracefully and softly, like two linked feathers.
She lay down on the crystal blanket of snow, laughing mirthfully, almost with a childlike charm, as her long hair was sprawled all over her, and Fyodor’s arms were fiercely holding her, and he looked down at her, his eyes wide in understanding.
“I didn’t choose death. I chose life. I chose love...I chose you, and I chose me. I knew you had an ability too, and that you were confident in it, so I was sure that, should you choose to, you could jump from the roof of the palace to save me - Which you did. I never really have the opportunity to use my ability, but it’s rather useful in some situations, if I can say so myself. So, by the way you’d respond to my feelings and actions, I’d know whether I chose right or not...I think we both know the answer now, don’t we?” she grinned mischievously, extending a hand to his face to caress it gently.
“That’s the most idiotic, most reckless thing anyone has ever one...And yet, you strategised everything, as if we were pieces in a game of chess. How did you get the courage to reach such a conclusion?” his voice was low, like a murmur, trying to understand her impossible, labyrinthine mind.
“Life offered me a Christmas gift today, and that was serendipity, so, I used it. Everything else was a perfect strategy of a game of chess I played myself - The White King versus the Black King - And, was far as my luck and the universe brought about, I believe I won. But you must still answer back, otherwise, the magic will vanish.” Fyodor noticed a smirk growing on her face - One that somehow resembled his, and he almost felt conflicted seeing her mimicking him in his demeanour, in a way...But he also felt incredibly proud.
“I cannot take you with me, Y/N. The part I walk is dangerous, it could even be fatal, and I would rather you not walk down a boulevard of broken dreams. You just now achieved happiness, don’t throw it out of the window. It a world full of crimes, I choose to be both the justiciar and the executioner of the unworthy. In a world of crime, I shall inflict punishment upon the evil-doers and paint this world red with the blood of the guilty.” he wanted her, he truly didn’t want to leave without her, nor did he want to leave her alone, here, with these hyenas, but could he really have it in his heart to endanger her so?
“Fyodor, my darling, it matters naught for me whether I live or die, as long as the journey is by your side, and I’m not shackled anymore. I want to see, I want to hear, I want to touch, I want to taste, I want to smell, I want to learn. Everything. Without exception. There is a whole world out there, open, waiting to be explored and unveiled, and I shall be its explorer. As long as I have you by my side, I will surely be fearless. Being a hero, being a villain, or anything in between is of no concern for me...However, I cannot deny that I would be rather...Interested in seeing you deliver the sentence down to...Some specific people.” she giggled, winking at him, as she obviously hinted towards her kin and the unlimited amount of gossips she has heard about so many people, over the years.
With a wide smirk on his face, Fyodor Dostoevsky helped Princess Y/N on her feet and gave her a passionate, fire-like kiss, before picking her up bridal style and making their way to her room, so she would start packing and leave at the earliest convenience.
There may still be a bit of official work to do at the palace, and as his ability is called, there is no crime without punishment, he was going to make sure of that. Until then, there was one thing certain, and one alone, that was going to guide the both of them to a path of exciting uncertainty and thrill.
“I love you, my dear Y/N.”
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20 more asks! ♡٩(●ᴗ●)۶♡
Well.. I don’t know, there’s plenty of kinds of candy that I’ve never liked.
I don’t like butterfingers, I don’t like snickers, jelly beans or most licorice.. But if I had to come out and say one specifically, I really don’t like butter fingers. The taste is fine, its the nasty texture that gets to me. ( >﹏<;)
I asked around to a few family members and got 9s and 10s out of 10. I myself think I go above and beyond to imagine and build up every little tiny detail to my stories so.. 10/10 I suppose? <:D
Hmm.. I think I’m going to put this ask into 3 category's.
1. Who likes candy corn?
U.M.Dragster
Jeepy
White Truck
Green Truck
2. Who would eat some of it if it was given to them, but would not buy it with their own money?
Brown Suburban
Beluga
Ranger
Miata
Escort
Vega
3. Doesn’t like candy corn.
Red Van
A.T.Dragster
Suburban
Honda
Unique category's.
Volvo doesn’t eat candy and has never tried it. But he would like it if he did.
Bash Buggy also doesn’t eat candy. But if he tried it he probably wouldn’t like it too much.. He’d eat some of it if someone offered it to him though.
1. I’ve watched all the Bayverse movies and the Bumblebee movie. I liked them a lot. :} However I am not into, nor have I seen any other adaptions other than Prime..
2. Hoo boy, here we go. XD
Suburban is a literal beast in the snow. The best of the best. The snow is no trouble at all and the cold never bothered him anyway. He may not like the snow all that much because it makes him wet and a little cold.. but he certainly doesn’t hate it and will play in it with the kids if they want him too. He also never passes up the opportunity to have a snowball fight or build a snowman.
Miata really struggles with handling the cold physically, because she’s so small, light, and rear wheel drive.. but she really does enjoy it. She likes to help the kids build giant snow men and loves making snow angels, she doesn’t mind the cold or snow at all.
Escort? Uhg. The cold isn’t enough to shut him down, but it sure darn FEELS like it. I mean sure, okay, he’s front wheel drive so actually driving in the snow and cold is fine.. buuut, if he stops moving? Its game over. He’ll start shaking and sputtering and pretty soon he’ll shut down. He does like to hang out with the kids sometimes, although normally the cold nips at him enough that he doesn’t go outside.
Brown Suburban isn’t a big fan of snow because his body struggles to start up enough already, having the cold on top of it makes it just that much harder. But honestly its not too bad. He’s heavy enough that he can drive through snow decently so that’s a plus. However, his starting up issues with snow aside, he does actually like snowball fights. One time, it was Jeepy, Wheeljack, Suburban and Bulkhead vs Brown Suburban. Brown Suburban won. The goal was to knock your opponent down.
U.M.Dragster and his sister H A T E the cold with a burning passion... heh, burning, anyway. They just.. cant handle it at all. Like, not at all. Their joints lock up and they just shut down. One time, they both sat at the entrance of the base huddled up together and watching everyone else.. When A.T suddenly froze up and just fell over. They’re sad that they cant join everyone else. But they’re just too thin, the cold gets right under their plating and freezes their cores. <:{
Green Truck struggles with cold and snow, he really does. He’s old and has a bad shivering problem. His alt form is also a truck, meaning he’s light and doesn't get good traction in the snow and ice. Now if the kiddos want him to, he’ll go out and play with them. But otherwise he really isn’t a fan and would rather be cooped up in the base where its warm and dry.
Vega? Heck nah he don’t like the cold or snow! You kidding?? Vega is a total base hermit. Because of his age, his body really doesn't handle cold well at all, despite the size of his engine. He normally doesn’t leave the base when its cold. But in all honesty? He’s a big ol’ softie when it comes to kids. If they catch him in a decent mood he’ll go outside and endure the conditions to hang out with them.
Red Van would usually be pretty good all around when it comes to handling the cold and snow.. if it wasn't for her knees. Because of the damage they have sustained, she cant really go out in the snow all that much. The internal wiring in her knees is mostly exposed and it doesn’t react to cold well, making her sore and achy. She usually just spends her time huddled up in the base with heated straps wrapped around her legs.. <:{
White Truck is, well, a not-so-strong truck. So driving in the snow is pretty difficult. He’s decent with handling the cold and doesn’t mind goofing around with the kiddos in the cold, but I don't think he’d really want to go out on his own in it.
Beluga is pretty good at handling both and likes to goof around in the snow with the kids. She doesn't mind the cold or the wetness so honestly the winter months are no problem for her. She actually probably enjoys the winter months more than any of the others do.
Honda is mostly fine handling the cold and snow, but she’s not exactly a fan. She’ll goof around in the snow if the kids want her too, but she won’t go out on her own.
Ranger can handle the cold just fine, but being a truck an all.. driving through the snow is a little difficult at times. She’s a softie at her core but is usually not persuaded to go outside and play unless a lot of older bots are out there too. She doesn’t like to go out in the snow but she likes to keep an eye on her team when a lot of them are out in cold conditions.
Volvo can handle the cold very well because he’s so dense. His arms, legs, chest, back and every where else has many, many layers of metal. That doesn’t mean he likes it though. Driving wise he’s fine and temperature wise he’s fine, but he just doesn't like getting wet. He also has no time for “snowball fights” and “building snowmen” and what not. He’s a base hermit when it snow comes to that’s for sure.
The cold nips at Jeepy a little bit, but boy is the snow fun. Drivin, slidin, ridin, all of it is just a blast for him. He doesn’t mind the cold one bit while he’s ripping around and having fun.
Bash Buggy might just be the worst in the snow. Bash is basically 100% blind because snow screws up all 3 of his vision modes. Everything and everyone is cold and wet, so thermal doesn’t work. Grid cant latch on to the shapes around him because everything is round and the same color. And then Night vision doesn't work in the day time anyway, but the snow makes it worse none the less. His body is so severely stripped of his armor and insulation, that the cold just... uhhg, it just eats him up. His body tries so hard to keep him warm that he looses all of his energy being in it. He hates this. All of it. He just wants to be outside and hang out with his buddies, but.. he just cant. It’d probably kill him to be out there too long, so he’s stuck just being a base hermit all winter. <:{
♡♡Winterrrr~~~~♡♡ mmmm snooooowww ♡♡~~~ ♡(*´ o `*)♡ The season I was born in~~♡♡
Sadly it doesn’t snow much where I live, and when it does its only around for like 3 days. ╥﹏╥
And yes it makes me happy! I love getting asks, of all kinds! (excluding mean ones of course XD)
I like Alfred Pennyworth more, but Batman is cool too. :}
WHEEZE I-- BRuH, this is the best thing ever! XD I don’t know how quickly Doritos burst into flames but lets just pretend its pretty fast.
Escort and Vega are huddled up in a corner of the base in front of the only tiny space heater they have. They’re both shivering and quietly chatting when, I feel like Jeepy, comes up to them with this giant box.
“Is that heater helping at all?“ Jeepy asks genuinely and worried.
They pause for a moment, but then Vega shrugs and Escort makes a face and shakes his head. Jeepy then grins from ear to ear.
“WELL!“ He says kicking the heater aside and pouring out the contents of the box into the floor in front of them. Out of the box came several hundred bags of Dorito chips.
“What are..“ Escort starts. But Jeepy is already grabbing a blowtorch out of no where and attempting to light the Doritos on fire. The Doritos quickly burst into flames, causing immediate panic.
Escort quickly pulls Vega up from the ground and they dip. Ratchet and the other medics start freaking out. Everyone scatters and are scrambling to find the kids and a way to put out the fire. Brown suburban scoops up Jeepy and gets him away from the fire while other bots manage to find all three kids.
Someone manages to stomp out the fire, maybe Ranger. After assuring no one was hurt and everyone is okay, they just look at Jeepy like?? WhY did you do that?? Jeepy’s like a clueless kid and was like, “Well they were cold and I heard these things were flammable soo...?”
Sigh, Jeepy’s got a few screws loose but they love him anyway. XD
Replace “Blue Suburban’s” with “my” and you just quoted Suburban.
Hmmm... Well lets see.. maybe like, if they wore clothes, what you be their iconic clothing of choice? Hmm..
Miata would have a lanyard of some kind, not sure what design it would have but I think it would be black and grey.
Escort would probably have a thin black jacket that doesn’t have a zipper. He’d wear all the time, even in summer. Its just enough to keep the chill off of him but not enough to make him overheat.
Brown Suburban would have a poorly made bracelet made of pony beads that he wears everywhere. He never talks about it and no one knows where he got it. As far as anyone knows, he doesn’t have any children..
U.M.Dragster and his sister would probably have bracelets too. Mostly likely matching ones that are souvenirs from the races.
Vega would have an old black leather baseball cap that he wears everywhere.
White Truck would have a pair of black flip flops that he wears all the time.
Beluga wouldn’t have an article of clothing, she’d have a galaxy print backpack that she takes with her when ever she has the chance.
Honda doesn’t have an article of clothing that she wears all year round. But she does have a scarf that she wears every day of winter and fall
Jeepy would have some kind of beanie that he wears all year round.
Bash Buggy might have some really small article of clothing. Like a small piece of torn fabric that he keeps in his wallet. It would be a piece of a shirt or something that he had a sentimental connection to before it was destroyed. He keeps it with him at all times, its his way of coping with the past and keeping a piece of his memories with him.
I’m not sure about the rest of them. They may have something too but I cant really think of anything..
Cat people?
Escort
Brown Suburban
A.T.Dragster
Honda
Beluga
Dog People?
Green Truck
Suburban
U.M.Dragster
Red Van
White Truck
Bash Buggy
Jeepy
Doesn’t like animals?
Volvo
Vega
Bird people?
Miata.
Fish people?
Ranger
It would probably be Suburban. He’s very gentle with humans and would be very careful if he picked me up.
I’d probably freak out a little being that high up in the air, but I know that Suburban would keep me safe.
For some reason, that felt super weird to type out.
Hmm.. lets say you said you loved him romantically.
If you managed to convince him, he’d go pretty quiet. Just looking from side to side and thinking.. He’d be fidgeting with his hands and look like he’s trying to say something but cant form the words.
“D-Do you really?“ He’d ask. If you said yes with certainty.. he’d begin to tear up.
“..Y-You can do better.. you c-can so much better than me..”
He’d probably begin to cry. “You d-deserve so much better than me..”
Hmm... a certain funny or weird ask?.. Hm.. Well, I’m not sure about funny or weird, but this ask? 👇
Was very well worded and S T U N G. I’ve been thinking about it recently. I really need to replace those windows, Suburban didn’t deserve that.
Yeah, they’ve both lost a lot and unfortunately relate to each other in that regard. Miata has a big heart, and seeing someone so sad and alone just really made her sad. She wanted to talk to him to try and make him feel better, but she ended up actually becoming good friends with him. He’s even her mentor now actually. :}
You missed it? :} Its about time I backed away from the red and eased my way into the blue~
I figure I should probably clear this up real quick. Miata is single too, but I said she isn’t because she just got out of a relationship with the Decepticon Zippy. So she’s not looking for love at the moment.
As for Volvo, good luck. Legit, even I don’t know what it would take to woo him, and I MADE him for crying out loud!!
Ah my name, Factual Fantasy. I was wondering when I’d get this question. Fair warning, long explanation pending.
So you see, I have this thing I like to do with my drawings and stories. I like to incorporate truths and facts into them. I like things to function realistically, and have an explanation for everything. I’ll give you some examples.
Lets say there’s this show, and due to the storyline there's a polar bear guy that spends most of his time in warm water and in the sun. The show never addresses the fact that this would kill the polar bear due to his blubber and two layers of fur making him overheat and die.
So, how can I make this work? How can a polar bear survive comfortably in warm climates? How about this, he shaves his fur down as short as he can possibly go. So that way his winter coat is thinned out greatly and he can at least decently handle most warm weather? That’s a good explanation for something that doesn't make sense.
How about another example?
I want Gaster to be Sans and Papyrus’s dad in my AU, but there’s a lot that needs explaining. Why does Sans and Papyrus look so extremely different in so many different ways if they’re brothers? How could they have been born if there are no other skeletons to speak of in the game? Well, how about this.
Gaster wanted kids, but no longer had his wife. So he turned to science and cut a hole out of his left hand to take its DNA. He does lots of experiments on the bone piece and manages to make Sans from it. Unfortunately a lot of mistakes happened along the way which messed up Sans’s body pretty bad. Sans’s growth was messed up and he stopped growing at age 15. His magic is unstable and comes out in strong bursts when he attempts to use it.
After Sans was successful he tried again with the other hand and made Papyrus. Papyrus was made with way fewer mistakes and thus, Papyrus grew up normally and resembles his father.
This would explain where they came from and how Gaster could be their dad without the presence of a mom. This would explain why Sans looks so different from Paps and Gaster as well. It could also be the reason why Sans never usually uses his powers much. Not just because he’s lazy, but because its dangerous too.
How about one more example.. just in case..
Okay. Lets say I want to make an AU where Stanley has Bills powers but doesn't know it. How can I make that make sense? How can Stan have powers but not know it?
So I think okay, first, the powers. I want him to have Bills powers but I want Bill to be dead, So, Instead of Bill being erased, I make it that the memory gun shattered him. Making Bill dead, but his pieces remain. Giving Stanley his powers. That’s reasonable, that makes sense.
Now, how can he not know that he has these powers? Well, perhaps he only has some of Bills pieces. Maybe Bill was shattered so severely that most of him is just dust, while some of his pieces remain mostly intact. So this could mean his powers aren’t as strong and don’t really show up. So if he cant really see or feel his powers, he wouldn't know he has them.
Okay. Now of course, sooner or later Stan is going to accidentally use them right? How can he still not know he has them after he uses them? Well what if Bills activated powers + Stanley’s Human mind = black outs? Like, his mind cant handle the power so the power just takes over him, making him black out. So he uses his power, blacks out and then comes back to himself and doesn't remember anything.
Well what about Ford? Ford would surly be around Stan when he uses his powers and remember them right? Well, what if the only times that Stan’s power has flared up strong enough to become visible was when Ford has been attacked and knocked unconscious? That way, both twins black out when the powers are used and neither of them remember it. Simple!
I took a crazy unreasonable world and made it all makes sense. It all has an explanation, an answer, facts that connect it to a realistic build. I always build my worlds on facts and reasons. Another good example is my Transformer OCs. Nearly everything about them is something related to the real cars, just shifted a little bit. Vega’s overheating, Red Vans knees, Escorts heart attack, Green Trucks leg, Bash Buggy’s blindness, the Dragsters being siblings, etc, etc, etc.
Do you get the picture..? I like to explain things. Put facts into my fiction. Make things and characters feel more real and connected to reality on a different level.
I like to, and always have, added reasoning and facts to my fantasies.
Factual, Fantasy.
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Despite rivalry...we’ll always be friends...even if neither of us know it
Characters: Dazai Osamu (main character); Chuya Nakahara (main character); Mori Ougai; OC-Asahi Ruki; Port Mafia
Warnings: slight mentions of torture (just mentions of how dazai was a torturer in his PM days); dark themes; tsundereness; cursing (of course it’s Chuya)
Notes: Hi everyone! I apologize for not posting in a while. I just needed to rest my tired brain after the exams for a few days. So here, have some platonic soukoku content i’ve written. This can also be found on AO3 on my account name: xXxNoLongerHumanXxX. Also, sorry about not doing an event for my 100 followers milestone yet. I’ll get that done as soon as I have time for it.
_______________________________________________________
The city lights of Yokohama shine brightly like stars. It looks beautiful against the back-drop of the midnight sky. The snow white moon illuminates the much darker parts of Yokohama. But the darkest place of all, was none other than the Port Mafia. Even though you can see lights on from the outside decorating the jet black buildings, it's sinister and might I say bloody secrets is what made it much more darker than any other place in the city.
But there was something, no someone much more sinister than everyone else who worked in the mafia. He was feared immensely not only by civilians and enemies, but by his very own colleagues as well. Torture was his specialty. Whether it's for interrogation or punishment, he'll do it with a sadistic smile and enjoy the pained expressions that his victims make.
His pitch black suit and coat as well as the white bandage over his right eye made him all the more intimidating, His wavy, somewhat unruly hair was a dark chocolate brown. The eyes belonging to this man were a mocha brown but ever so darkened to match his cold expression when giving commands or in the presence of an enemy. This Port Mafia Executive's name was Dazai Osamu, also known as the 'Demonic Prodigy'. There's a saying in the Port Mafia, "The biggest misfortune for Dazai's enemies, is that they're Dazai's enemies."
But as much as he might seem cold, he acts like a little child as well. This can be seen when he's with two of his 'friends' that he goes drinking with to Bar Lupin. He'll even joke about his suicidal tendencies and experiment with little things such as cooking, much like a kid does. Only to have his friends try his dish and end up with twisting stomachs in the morning.
His childish antics can also be seen with another mafia executive, his name being Chuya Nakahara. A rather bit shorter than average height for his age. He had graceful ginger locks in his hair with a longer section falling over his left shoulder. His formal attire was red and black, his signature colors. And of course his beloved fedora topped his head much like a sundae that's topped off with a red cherry.
Dazai and Chuya, despite being partners often bickered, regardless their age of eighteen, they never seemed to stop fighting like children who can't stand each other. But maybe for just one night, they might actually stop bickering for once.
________________________________________
One of the members of the Port Mafia thought of an idea but started regretting it when he thought of the boss. A party? At the Port Mafia? There's no way Mori would ever agree to such a thing. But the thought had good intentions. The Port Mafia had just finished off a rival gang and it surely was a tedious job. But they succeeded in executing them. This one member wanted to celebrate the fact they're all still alive and their victory.
He decides to take the chance one morning and head to Mori Ougai's office. Once reaching the doors of the office after getting through security, he hesitantly places his hands on the door knobs and pauses. He takes a deep breath and opens the doors, closing them behind him. He turns back around to find Mori playing dress up with Elise, she didn't seem happy to try anything on though. He clears his throat and makes his appearance known, "Boss, it's Asahi Ruki I have come to propose an idea that I hope you approve of." he says trying to sound confident.
Mori shifts himself in the chair towards his left to see who has entered and then gives his signature sickeningly sweet smile, "Ah yes Asahi-kun. What is this idea you have in mind?"
Asahi stands with his hands behind his back and holds a professional upright posture, "Yes, my idea is..." "Go on, spill it out, I'm listening." Mori teases when Asahi pauses mid sentence. "My idea is...that we...throw a party, not necessarily extravagant, to celebrate our victory against the vile rival gang that we have just gotten rid off. And the fact that everyone's still alive. I've discussed this with a few fellow colleagues and they seem to be excited for such an event." he continues, cursing himself for stuttering the first few words. "...very well then, it would be a good idea, after all, why not some fun after such a tedious and stressful job?" Mori chuckles as he nods. "A party! Finally something exciting around this crappy place!" exclaims Elise.
A bead of sweat rolls down the side of Asahi's temple as he gulps when he hears Elise's words. "Thank you Boss, should I make the arrangements?" "No, leave that to me and the executives, thank you, you may be excused now if there's nothing else." replies Mori yet again with that sick smile. Asahi bows and turns around to leave, silently cheering that his idea was approved of and most of all, his head didn't get chopped off. Back in the office, Elise starts putting on her normal attire and starts contemplating all the possible party ideas. Mori just looks on with a pout on his lips.
"...do you really think this place is "crappy" my dear Elise-chan?"
___________________________________________
A week later or so, the demonic prodigy walks through the red velvet halls of the Port Mafia to get to his rather "boring" office as he calls it. He notices people a tad bit busier than usual today. It seemed as if he was oblivious to the fact that that day was the day of the party approved by the Boss and proposed by a mafioso named Asahi. But he wasn't. He just didn't like the idea of parties. Too noisy, too rowdy, too many people for his liking.
Mori had called him numerous times on his cellphone to get him to come to his office to plan this event, but before he would even bother about picking up the call, he knew what is was about already. He finally makes it to his "boring" office and shuts the door behind him with the heel of his shoe. He takes his hands out of his pockets and settles down at his desk. Tons of paperwork lay on his desk and there were at least four more piles of paperwork to be done on the floor. He groans at the sight of them, all that is unnecessary and too much of a tedious job to do.
He spins around in his chair in endless circles and finally stops when he hears a knock at his door. 'Great, which fool is here to bother me now.' he grumbles internally. "Come in" he says hiding his annoyance behind an expressionless voice. The door opens and the last person he wants to see steps in. "Hey suicidal maniac. There's a party this evening at about 9 til' late. You weren't in Mori's office to plan the damn thing, where the heck where you!? Goofing off?" says Chuya with annoyance lacing his voice. "I don't care for such things. It's so useless to waste time on such a stupid event." Dazai replies nonchalantly. "And yes, I wasn't exactly goofing off...I was trying out this new method of suicide! You see this is how you do it, first you..." "Shut up Mackerel I don't want to hear your stupid attempts of ending your life, are coming to the party or what?"
"Hmmm, how about no. Parties are so annoying." Dazai whines while slumping his upper body over his desk. "Fine by me, finally I can be free of you and actually have a good time and..." "Blah-blah-blah, I don't wanna hear how much you're going to enjoy your time acting like the fool you are, Slug." Dazai smirks. "Bastard!" Chuya grimaces and leaves shutting the door with a bang behind him. Dazai doesn't even wince at the annoyingly loud noise and goes back to spinning in his chair. He stops again but not because there's someone at the door, but at his own thoughts intruding his mind.
He sighs heavily and displays an empty and solemn look on his face, which he'll never show anyone.
___________________________________________
It was currently 9:00 pm and most of the Port Mafia members like Higuchi, Tachihara, Gin and others helped with the decorations earlier that day. And they got it done fast too, without hassles, except for Tachihara who slipped off a ladder while hanging decorations and fell. Akutagawa of course wasn't going to be at such a 'hideous' event as he called such unnecessary gatherings.
Dazai was at Bar Lupin, tonight however he was alone, no Odasaku, no Ango. He takes a sip of the amber whiskey in front of him and sighs out of relief as well as boredom. He ran out of suicide methods to try. A man wearing a fedora and crimson red button up shirt with coal black formal pants makes his way to the bar and enters. Dazai doesn't seem to notice at all. At this point he's too lost in his fog of thoughts to bother about anyone else. "Hey suicidal maniac!" calls Chuya as he comes down the steps in the bar with a fine bottle of one of the most expensive wines he's ever bought in his gloved hand.
Dazai turns his attention towards the ginger and for once in his life he's genuinely surprised not expecting Chuya to be here. "What are you doing here Chuya? I thought you'd be drunk out of your mind by now." Dazai snickers. "So early? The party only started half an hour ago!" "Knowing you, you'd go there half drunk." Dazai laughs. "Hey shut that mouth of yours you stupid Mackerel, I was bored and decided to come here instead!" "Since when do you come to Bar Lupin? And did you decide to come here because you were bored, or did you come here knowing I'd be here?" Dazai smirks.
"Shut up already will you!" Chuya yells angrily at Dazai's teasing and takes a seat next to him and places down his wine. "So answer which is it!" Dazai exclaims. "Bastard, I came here because I was bored of course! And besides you weren't at the party either. Perhaps it got boring because I wasn't constantly running around after you trying to stop you from causing havoc!"
Dazai chuckles, "Are my antics that entertaining?" "Hey, don't act all smug! All I'm saying is that I've gotten so used to your annoying and bizarre antics that other things seem somewhat boring." "Ah, I see." Dazai says and leans forward to take a sip of his drink. Chuya was lying though, the party wasn't boring at all, he felt bad that Dazai wasn't there, and decided not to go because of the suicidal maniac. As much as Chuya hates him, he still enjoys his company nonetheless, even if he doesn't know it.
"Ugh, it's getting boring here too!" exclaims Chuya out of frustration. "Yeah, it got boring since you arrived." Dazai remarks. "Why you!..." Chuya aims to kick at Dazai's calf but fails miserably as Dazai casually got up before Chuya could even graze him. "Since it's boring here, let's get outta here then hmm?" Dazai suggests. "...idiot, fine." he gets up makes his way out of the bar with Dazai, of course taking his precious wine with him. "How come you don't like parties? You're already an animal, I'm sure you wouldn't have trouble fitting in with a bunch of party animals." Chuya smirks.
"I already told you earlier you stupid Slug, it's useless and a waste of time!" Dazai replies. "But why is what I'm asking you!!!" "I just don't." "...don't be vague Mackerel." "...fine, they're too noisy and rowdy for my liking, besides there's too many annoying people like you there."
"Do you seriously have to insult me in everything you say!?" exclaims a frustrated Chuya. "Yes, yes I do." Dazai says nonchalantly not evening glancing at the short ginger walking beside him. "...stupid Mackerel." grumbles the ginger. "Hey why don't we go on the rooftop of that building and just chill there for a while hmm?" suggests the demonic prodigy. "...fine." The two mafia executives make their way to the very top of a building, Chuya silently curses Dazai because he doesn't have an ability that will take him to the rooftop in a just a few seconds. Chuya thought he could have just used his ability but Dazai's would only nullify it.
"Finally!" Chuya exclaims in excitement after climbing stairs after stairs to reach the rooftop. "We survived! Great job petite mafioso." Dazai snickers and walks passed him to go to the very edge of the rooftop. "Don't you dare even think about jumping you bastard!" Chuya yells from where he is. "Already thought about it!" Dazai replies and sits down letting his legs dangle off the building. He pats the place next to him motioning for Chuya to sit. The ginger makes his way over and reluctantly sits next to the person he supposedly despises the most. "That's some expensive wine you've got there." Dazai remarks. "Yeah, it is to you." the ginger says as he takes it in his hands and pops open the bottle with his ability. "I thought you only open such expensive wines on special occasions?" "If I'm hanging out with you, it must be a special occasion." "Chuya! You're such a wonderful human being!" "Go to hell, I'll probably regret it in the morning." "You're such a tsundere." "I SAID GO TO HELL!" shouts Chuya before taking a big gulp of the wine straight from the bottle.
"How am I supposed to go to hell, if I'm already there?" Dazai smiles sickeningly sweet. "Tsk, what kind of philosophy is that!?" "Ugh, nevermind I'm surprised you use such a big word as 'philosophy'." "For the last time today, SHUT UP!" "Aww, is the petite mafioso getting all upset?" Dazai teases. Chuya swings a fist at him but of course Dazai dodges it with ease. "Bastard." The ginger then offers the wine bottle to the brunette begrudgingly. "Uh, I don't drink wine but since there's nothing else..." Dazai takes the bottle and drinks almost half the bottle one time. "Hey easy! I want some too!" Chuya say trying to stop his partner in crime.
"Mmm, this is some sweet wine." says Dazai giving back the half empty wine bottle to Chuya. "Geez, how greedy." "Hey hatrack." "What do you want!?" "What's the real reason you didn't go to the party?" asks Dazai as he looks at the midnight black sky. "...ugh, the real reason...I didn't want you to feel alone or left out and besides it would have been much more boring there anyway." "Not so much of a tsundere now huh?" Chuya says teasing Dazai. "Oh keep quiet will you!? Be grateful that I chose to hang out with the person I despise the most in the world!" "Yeah yeah sure." Dazai leans back and lays down on the rooftop with his hands behind his neck. Chuya glances at him and then does the same. "Why do you constantly annoy me all the time?" asks Chuya and this time, he doesn't sound annoyed or angry but rather calm.
"I dunno, it's entertaining I guess?" "You seriously use me for your entertainment? Tsk, you always use people for your personal needs anyway." and he takes another swig of the wine again. "...I don't use you...not all the time" "Idiot" and he yet again takes another swig of the wine. "No wonder why you don't have friends Mackerel." "Who says I need friends?" "I say you need friends." "...why?" "So that you're not lonely all the time and trying to constantly kill yourself."
"...why would you care about such a thing?" Dazai figures Chuya's almost drunk by now. "Oh see. now who's being a tsundere!?" "...whatever..." he still gazes up at the sky as if searching for something. Chuya realizes what Dazai's doing and does the same, "Here have some more before I finish the bottle." Dazai glances at the bottle in Chuya's hand and takes it drinking all of it. "Hey! I was supposed to finish it! Stupid Mackerel!" but he doesn't sound all too disappointed this time when he shouts at Dazai.
"Hey Chuya?" “Finally you call me by my name...what do you want Dazai?" "Thanks for hanging out with me tonight, didn't know you cared that much about me." he tries to tease towards the end of his sentence. "It's nothing, just thought you might need a friend to keep you company." Chuya says, eyes droopy hinting he was tired and drunk. Dazai's eyes widen when he heard Chuya say that, he glanced over at the ginger and sees him trying to fight his sleep. Dazai gets up and shoves his hands into his pockets. "Let's go home now Chuya, I knew you'd get drunk out of your mind." "Tsk" Chuya gets up slowly and leaves with Dazai, leaving behind the empty wine bottle they shared. Despite their rivalry, they're friends...even if neither of them know it.
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The Twilight Baby
The sun shone brightly down on the magnificent castle of Hyrule. Just as the day was starting, the calm winds changed as portal opened up in one of the hall ways. From there, a small child plopped out. The little boy’s eyes blinked, and he closed his eyes from the light of this world. Finally, it hurt so much that he let out a wail for help.
~
“Deer. I-I really must be going to work.” Ocax panted as his lover had him pinned, breath heavy.
"No, you're going to stay with me." Seer had gotten frisky during breakfast. There was something sexy about the way Ocax smelled right after a shower. He was clean, his scent was more potent and... dreadfully lacking of any of Seer's personal scent. Someone might get the wrong idea during mating season and attempt a move on his lover. That was unacceptable. The orca Direnor had started with little kisses down Ocax's throat before turning into nibbles. The dining room table was left unattended with breakfast getting cold, as Seer had promptly picked up the Twili, threw him on the bed, and started to make love to him... albeit, a touch rough since his instincts were getting the best of him. "Kanisa doesn't need you right now, you can wait until after lunch. Or after dinner. Maybe tomorrow morning."
“I-I must protest. I can’t lose another weekend of work. What would she think?” Ocax blushed blue as he felt his lovers shaft push tightly in him.
"That you are rather preoccupied..." Seer purred into Ocax's ear as he held tightly to his lover's hips, giving a teasing, harsh, thrust. "With being filled by me."
Ocax screamed aloud with a shrill voice and cam. Afterwards, he mumbled with a pout. “I just had a shower too...”
"What if I want you to smell like me today?" Seer asked the Twili with a smug tone to his voice. "Leave my mark..." He was certain there were a few love bites on Ocax's throat. Not to mention, his scent was now mingled with his lover's, so there would be no mistaking. "You can always top me too, you know. I'm not stingy that way. Though, I do enjoy feeling you wriggle beneath me."
“You little brat.” Ocax did so, quickly pushing his lover over the bed.
~
Rinku, first princess of and hero of Hyrule, sometimes really hated the snow. Trekking up to Kanisa’s door, she glanced down at the bundle she was carrying once again before knocking.
Kanisa, too, was at the mercy of her husband's loving. However, Vidar was currently occupied with training some rookies, so she had a break for the time being. Her legs still felt like jelly. When she heard the knock on the door, the princess wobbly walked to answer it. Surprised to see her elder sister, the princess then had a look of panic across her face. "Rinku?! Oh gods, is it Mama?! Papa?!"
“What?” Rinku was shocked that was the first jump Kanisa went to. “Not at all. Didn’t realize I was the arbiter for doom and gloom. Give me a hug and let me in from the cold?”
"It's not like you to come without announcement so of course I assumed the worst! You scared me!" Kanisa ushered Rinku inside, out of the cold. "But I am glad that our parents are all right and you're okay. To what do I owe the visit?"
After a hug, Rinku pulled her winter coat off to reveal a nice green tunic. She didn’t like to wear the hat. Placing the cradle down, she opened it up to reveal a sleeping Twili toddler boy. “Well, I got a problem I’m hoping you can help solve.”
"...?!?!?!" Kanisa's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. "You have a kid?!"
“It’s not my kid Kanisa. Look closely. This remind you of anyone?”
"I thought you adopted, but... this... wait." Kanisa gently moved the blanket out of the way a touch more. She sat down with a loud thud, shocked. "This is a Twili. How in the world did you get your hands on a Twili?"
“It suddenly appeared at the castle a week ago. After speculation on what to do, I looked into records of any Twili who might be present in our realm. Imagine my surprise when I found one working with you off all people. Made a quick visit to my baby little darling sister to find this Twili named Ocax. Maybe I can dig some answers from him.”
"Oh goodness..." Kanisa felt terribly sorry for the poor little thing. It was just a baby, how in the world could it survive in this world without care? Not to mention, she thought the parents had to be worried sick. "Ocax fell through a portal, so maybe this little one did too. He has not had any luck on finding a way back to the Twilight Realm as far as I know. Or if he has, he doesn't want to. You can ask him what you wish, but, I"m not sure if he'll have all the answers."
“Alright.” Rinku plopped her hand in her palm. “Where does he live? I’ll go see him.”
"On top of the hill, near the lake." Kanisa pointed out the window to the landmark. "It's the only house with a multiple stone pathways, and one even leading to the water. Seer is blind, so he uses that to help him find his way around."
“Great. Shouldn’t be a problem.” Rinku smiled at Kanisa, looking around. “Where’s Wolfe and the kids?”
"Vidar is training the rookies today and the kids are doing chores." Kanisa told Rinku, "And I'm here doing paperwork for the king and queen. You ought to return for dinner. I'm fixing roasted duck."
Rinku picked up the cradle and nodded. “Love to.” The blonde hero walked away, waving goodbye for the moment. “Let’s hope Wolfe can behave long enough to keep his hands off you.”
"Rinku, as much as I'd love to assure you that is a possible outcome, we both know it isn't." Kanisa laughed. "I'd have more kids if my pregnancy was not so rough with Audlin, but Vidar did not want to take the chance."
~
Ocax was deep into giving Seer head when a knock came at the door. “Hoosh izh ish?”
Seer was enjoying the oral administrations when a rude knock was heard. "Just ignore them and they'll go away." Seer said, irritated at the interruption.
“Open the damn door! Order from the top authority!” Ocax pulled out, panting loudly for a moment. “Who... company?”
"Damn it all to fucking hell." Seer growled under his breath, quickly feeling for his robe. "I'll handle this, love." The orca Direnor kissed Ocax's cheek. "Give me one moment and I'll be back." Tromping to the front door, Seer yanked the front door open with the nastiest glare he could muster. "Someone either be dead or dying, or you must be here to give me Adda's head on a plate, because you have interrupted a most critical mating season ritual and I. Am. Not. Happy."
“Hey blind man. Long time no see.” Rinku snickered. “You gonna pull up your pants?”
"...?" Seer sniffed the air a couple of times. Adjusting his robe, he had very little modesty during mating season, but did not want to continue to flash the poor woman. "... oh. What are you doing here, Rinku?"
“I have problem you and Ocax can solve for me.”
The Twili man ran forward, fixing his appearance. “I’m so, so, so sorry for his behaviour. What can we do for you?”
“I’m here to ask you a few questions about the Twili. And to deliver this child.”
"I'm not sorry." Seer huffed, still annoyed that his lovey time with Ocax was paused. "And if this is another one of Adda's brats, you're out of luck, I haven't seen her in years, therefore there is reasoning this kid can't be mine---ow!" Seer jolted when he felt Ocax's elbow hit his side, warning him to be nice.
Rinku revealed the kid, and Ocax gasped. “A Twili child?!”
"...?! A what?!" Seer's jaw almost dropped. "... I swear to Rotar and Handeh, if Towa is playing a prank on us, I will boot her ass into the lake."
Ocax was careful to examine the child. “It’s a boy. It’s a Twili boy.”
"Should I even ask where you found him?" Seer felt a confused, and most of all, slightly worried. Caring for two human girls was one thing, but another species might be out of his grasp. "And... who left him?"
“We don’t know who left him. But we just found him wandering around the castle.”
Ocax frowned, remembering his own detail. “It could have been either an accident or they could have been thrown away.”
"Is he healthy from what you can tell?" Seer carefully bent down on one knee, feeling of the baby carrier. Gently, he found the blanket and then the kid's cheek. He was sleeping, and had... the Direnor almost gushed. The kid had those adorable curved ears... just like his lover! "Is he hungry? Does he need changing?"
Rinku took a whiff and plugged her nose. “Yeah. You want me to clean him?”
Ocax was puzzled, trying to figure out this baby. “Perhaps we can send it down to the orphanage for now.”
"What? The orphanage? No, no, Seija already has too many kids there, she doesn't have time for this little guy." Seer simply picked up the carrier and took the kid inside of the house. Mating season also brought out the drive to protect and nurture the young. This little one was like his lover and would have proper care. "I'll change him. Ocax, please get Rinku a snack if she's hungry. There's some leftover cheese and grapes if she wants some."
“But Seer. Surely we need to think this over.”
"It's just until Rinku gets some answers, right?" Seer downplayed Ocax's worry. "I mean, surely his parents are looking for him. They're probably in Hyrule right now or maybe looking for him. If Twili are anything like Abyssians, they'll have that link to their offspring and be here soon, probably within a fortnight or so." He assured his lover. "Don't worry, it's just for a night. Rinku needs her questions answered and a place to stay, and the little one needs a bit of care. Nothing much."
“Well, can I stay anywhere where Direnor’s aren’t in heat?”
“I know this will have my attention for a while.”
"Considering that Direnors are in mating season right now, your best bet would be to stay at the local inn if you don't want to interrupt anymore sex." Seer then suggested. "Besides, this is just for a night until we reach a conclusion on what to do."
“Hmmm. You know, I always wanted to take a deeper look into the old abandoned castle now that it’s king is gone.” Rinku smiled, petting Seer’s head. “Good luck with the baby.”
Seer took the little one into Liz's and Lex's old room to change his diaper. The tiny boy was fussing something fierce, but Seer shushed him. He seemed healthy, had a head full of hair, and a set of lungs to rival a shrieking lady. After swaddling him, Seer simply placed the boy into a sling he made. Then, he returned to the living area where Ocax was waiting.
"It's just for a night. He'd probably feel better around someone like him." Seer then asked once more, "Didn't you tell me that Twili are more at ease around their own species?"
“Anyone is more at ease with their own species. But I don’t like babies. They poo, they crawl over the place and-“ Right on the dot, the little toddler started to cry some more. “And they do that.”
"Heh, if you don't like kids, then you would have had a time with Liz and Lex when they were small. They cried a lot." Seer bounced the little one to try to soothe him. "It was worth it though. I've missed having a little one in the house, but it will be good for Rinku to have a break before she comes back to get him. I'm sure his parents have to be looking for him. If my Liz and Lex suddenly disappeared, I'd search for them."
“Well, it’s a possibility they could have thrown the baby away.”
"...?! They would... do that?" Seer looked disturbed. "Why? From what I can tell, the kid is healthy."
“Because it can be a form of execution.” Ocax sat down, fiddling with a pin on his shirt collar. “If Twili don’t have gateway stones, they can never return to the twilight realm. So with that in mind, we have ripples our people can open up to fling undesirables through your come here in the world of light. We can also adjust where we throw a Twili to, be that an ocean to drown or a burning desert. Sometimes though accidents happen near these ripples and one can accidentally be sent through. I’m imaging someone didn’t want to be a parent and just sent their baby to a nice castle.”
"Poor thing." Seer frowned when Ocax explained how easily a baby could be tossed away like trash. It made him think of how slaves were treated, how he was treated in the brothel all those years ago. The thought made him shiver slightly. "Do you really think we should take him to Seija? Or should we try to find Towa?"
The mention of Towa made Ocax visibly sad. “No. Towa can’t help us.” Sighing, he grabbed his glasses and cleaned them with a soft rubbing cloth. “I don’t know how to take care of a baby, I’ll be honest Seer. I’m going to go to work, so we can figure out what to do. Tomorrow, we can head to Seija’s.”
"All right." Seer stood, carefully putting the baby back into the small carrier. "I'll make it up to you tonight." He nuzzled Ocax, sliding his hands down his lover's sides. "I'll do that thing you like with my tongue..."
The boy cried again, and Ocax used that as an excuse to leave. “I’m running behind on work anyways. Have fun Seer.” Walking about, the little Twili made his way to the kitchen, reaching for some pans.
Seer heard the tiny kid moving around and gently scooped him up from the floor. The Direnor had this pet peeve about others messing around in his kitchen. It was not safe for a little one to be near all of his utensils anyhow. "I can't just keep calling you kid..." Seer mused as the baby fussed, still wanting the pans. Seer decided to occupy him with a snack. Luckily, he always kept fresh fruit peeled and ready thanks to Ocax. He heard the child munching on the apple and then suggested, "You need a name. How about... Echo?"
The little toddler threw the apple to the floor, the bouncing echoing on the wooden planks.
"I guess not. I could call you grumpy if you tempt me enough." Seer wondered if the child still needed a bottle.
The toddler babbled as it looked around for something important to it.
"If you're looking for your parents, I'm afraid they're not here, little one." Seer had a habit of talking to kids normally, just as he did when Liz and Lex were little. "Evidently, you either fell through a portal or they didn't..." He paused not finishing that thought. "So, you're going to stay with me for tonight until we find a better candidate to take care of you."
Falling back, the baby caught itself, wanting to crawl away again.
"I suppose you need a bit of a distraction, don't you?" Seer considered it was pure luck that he still had a few of his daughters' old baby toys. Little Val still played with them from time to time, but she preferred to be outside. He fetched a few of the toys from the closet and set them out in front of the child to entertain him. Blocks were always a good choice, there were some stuffed animals, and even a few carved wooden figures.
The toddler grabbed the stuffed wolf closely, babbling something once more. It sounded worried, yet comforted by the wolf.
"I'm sorry that you're sad, little one. I promise I'll take care of you while you're here with me though." Seer assured the little kid the best he could. He tried to entertain the child by moving around another stuffed animal, imitating a form of play. "You're safe. I just wish I knew your name."
“Papa.” The little Twili looked at Seer in the eyes and said the same thing again. “Pa-pa.”
Seer just wanted to melt when he heard the adorable voice. It was not right to encourage the name. He was not the boy's father. Yet, Ocax did not like children but... Seer absolutely loved little ones. "Oh... you're such a cutie pie." Seer tickled the kid's belly. "Yes, you can call me Papa."
“Papa!” The little Twili said it more enthusiastically and laughed as Seer tickled him.
"I... got you!" Seer scooped up the little boy and blew raspberries on his tummy. He loved to play with little ones. It reminded him of how he used to play hide and seek with Liz and Lex around the house, pretending he could not hear them from the other room. "On nom nom."
~
Ocax returned from a long day of work. It was harder with Kanisa more or less held captive by her husbands love making, but he was able to meet all the requirements for the day. Finished, he was about to open the door when he heard laughter coming from inside. Was that Lex?
“Aren’t you adorable? I’m Lex. Alexandria the great! You’re a beautiful little guy aren’t you?”
"And watch this, Lex, watch this, he's so smart!" Seer tapped his shadow. The little one had nearly made him shit a brick when he disappeared for five minutes. He then realized the child was hiding in his shadow and drew the curtains. "Come on. You can do it."
Ocax walked in without the adults noticing. He was astonished when he saw the toddler hide into Seer’s shadow.
"Give him a minute... and now..." Seer gently tapped the floor in front of him, signaling for the child to come back.
The baby popped out and Lex screeched with joy. “Oooooooo that’s so neat! When did Ocax pop out the little guy?”
“I did no such thing.” Ocax announced his presence.
"Lex, you know Ocax is male, and as far as I know, male Twilis cannot give birth." Seer praised the little boy, offering a sweet strawberry for a reward. "Who's so smart? You are, yes, you are!"
“I’m thinking of delivering the kid to Seija tomorrow. Should be a good day for her.”
"I... yes, I guess it will be a good day." Seer halfheartedly agreed as he set the kid in his lap, giving him the tiny stuff wolf.
“Oh no. You bonded with him, didn’t you?”
“How could he not?” Lex went to grab a bottle of breast milk from the fridge. “He’s a little mini you!”
"And those... ears..." Seer was gushing. "Look at how cute! Reminds me of how Ocax's ears twitch when I kiss him." He then took the bottle from Lex. "Thank you for bringing this over. He seems to be very picky about some solid foods."
“I’m here to please.”
Ocax took a seat, rubbing his temple. “Seer. A baby is a lot of work. And you’re not as young as you used to be.”
"I'm wounded, Ocax, you think I'm old?" Seer had a cheeky grin on his face. "Says the man who has trouble keeping up with me?"
“Can you even look after this child’s needs? It seems you like to act like one yourself from time to time.”
Now that hurt and it was uncalled for. The blind man had raised two lovely daughters and was always helping out from time to time with his grandchildren. Seer had a look of annoyance on his face. Even if Ocax did not want the child around, there was no need to insult him.
"Lex, would you mind helping me prep the carrier tonight?" He decided to ignore his lover's foul mood for the moment and focus on the little one. "I don't have a crib and he'll need somewhere to sleep until tomorrow."
“Course dad.”
Ocax saw the baby crawl towards him. Raising an eyebrow, he picked the toddler up to have an eye staring contest with the boy. It babbled a bit before burping. “You have thick blankets for him? I don’t think he’ll like the cold of Uskar.”
"I have Liz's and Lex's old baby blankets that are made of wool. They should serve perfectly." Seer stated as Ocax picked up the child. He was not sure what was going through his lover's mind, but there was no reason to be discourteous. As Lex helped him make up the carrier, Seer was sure to place the little wolf with the child.
Ocax brushed his hair back, opening the current up so the moonlight shone on the toddler. It seemed to sooth him enough to calm down and sleep. “Perfect amount of shadow and light. We’ll have to wake up early to close the blinds before the sun hits him.”
"I'll be up anyhow to fix breakfast." Seer heard the little one yawn. "What do you think we should call him? We can't keep calling him kid."
“Fyrir the unknown. How about that?”
"What do you think?" Seer asked the wee one who was dozing off. "You like it, Fyrir?"
Little Fyrir said nothing as he dozed off.
“That’s what I’m calling him.”
"I think Lex and I do agree on one thing," Seer stated. "If he was tossed out, then whoever it was made a grave mistake."
“Just tell me straight if you want to keep him.”
"... you don't like kids." Seer stated, letting the insinuation hang in the air.
“But I love you. And I want to see you happy. I work hard to see you happy... would having the kid around make you happy?” The little charm in his voice, Ocax let his own insinuation counter Seer’s.
"I love you as well, and I am happy. I just..." Seer sighed, bending down as stroking the little Twili's hair. "I feel so sorry for him. You and Towa were cut off from your home. He was... either tossed aside or fell through a portal. I can only imagine how lonely he'd be without someone to care for him."
Ocax placed his hand on Seer’s back, pretending to be nonchalant. “We’ll, I suppose we have no choice but to look after him then and give him the care he needs right now.”
"... are you sure? I don't want you to be miserable. I love kids, and I wish I had more, but... you are my lover. My husband." Seer kissed Ocax's forehead. "Are you happy too?"
“You want me to change my mind? Could always throw the brat out in the cold.”
"No!" Seer huffed at his lover's teasing. "He's staying."
Ocax folded his arms. “Then good. That’s that.”
~
"Come on, little one, that's it! You're doing so good!" Seer praised Fyrir as he heard the tiny footsteps stumble in his direction. He was down on his knees, coaxing the boy to come to him. "You're walking so well now! Soon, I'll teach you how to swim."
“Swim. Swim.”
Ocax shook his head, looking outside at the snow fall. Had it really been a month since they adopted Fyrir? “Seer. The waters will be freezing cold. He’s only just starting to get adjusted to direct sunlight.”
"Well... maybe a little later for the lake, but for now, you can practice in the tub." Seer picked up Fyrir and held him above his head, earning giggles from the boy. "He's a smart one like you, love. Imagine, he might be helping you with your work one day. What do you say, Fyrir? You want to help Daddy with papers?"
“Pa-“ the little Twili paused for ten seconds, then. “-per!”
Ocax’s heart melted at the enthusiasm.
"Yes! Yes, that's right! Paper! Pa-per." Seer repeated for the boy, kissing his cheek. "So smart! You're learning so fast. What is Papa going to do when he can't keep up with you anymore? I suppose you'll have to wait on him, right?" He then set the Twili back down on his feet, turning him in Ocax's direction. "Walk to Daddy. Come on, you can do it."
“Seer. I don’t think-“
Ocax stopped as he looked down to see Fyrir pull on his leg. “Da. Da.”
"See? He knows who you are already." Seer chuckled as Fyrir insisted on Ocax picking him up, hearing his little arms wave. "Are you hungry? I could fix you something to eat while I heat up Fyrir's milk."
“Feel bad taking from Alexandria so much. We really should start moving him to store bought.”
"I do too, but when we tried that last mixture, he barfed for a whole hour straight." Seer made a small crinkle of disgust with his nose. "Maybe I should try some pureed foods..."
“Or water perhaps.” Ocax patted Fyrir on the head as he finished off some documents for a Kanisa. “That should do it.”
"Do you think it's too early to teach him how to read?" Seer asked as he started taking some plates from the cabinets to prepare lunch for his lover and child. Fyrir had learned fairly quickly that the kitchen was a no-no. After dropping a pan on his own foot, the little one was more cautious. "He seems to like looking at picture books."
“I think we’ll have to wait for a while on words Seer. But picture books are fine.”
Ocax got up, picking up his son with him. “I have to go to work now, but daddy is here to look after you.”
"We'll have fun, won't we, Fyrir?" Seer took the boy from his husband. "And we will have fun later tonight." The Direnor purred at Ocax. "The silk ties I ordered came in from Hyrule and we should put them to good use."
Ocax lightly smiled. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
"You're irresistible, if anything, it's your own fault." Seer gave Ocax a kiss. "Take a jacket. It's supposed to snow later today. I can feel it."
“I’ll dress appropriately for any coming storm.”
~
Hyrule castle was preparing for another beautiful morning when a storm rang in. In the armoury it was quiet as a mouse. Suddenly, breaking that silence came a ripple in space. With a screech, two shadowy figures dropped down.
Unfortunately, the rookie was completing his rounds when the two monsters suddenly appeared. Startled, he started shouting, "INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!"
The Twili mother whirled her hair. Her dreadlocks flung out, grabbing the soldier by the hands and throat.
The guard struggled wildly, trying to cut at her hair with his dagger, but she had his hands tied.
“Rwak Trei Kal Wry?!!”
"I..." The guard coughed, hardly able to speak. "Don't... understand!"
The Twili’s cold mask didn’t give away a change of pace. “Where is my child?!!”
"... child?!" The guard was beginning to see spots. "It... Uskar!!!" He was starting to panic. "It's in... Uskar!!!"
The Twili turned to her companion. “Uskar?”
The Abyssian was blending in with the shadows. The minimal sunlight peeking through the windows would scorch him if he was not careful. "A country of shapeshifters... to the North."
The Twili frightening mask turned back to the soldier she held captive. “World map. Or I pop you.”
"In... library!" The guard managed to rasp, starting to lose consciousness.
"I can smell him here. The scent is faint." The husband murmured to his wife. "We must find the one who took him."
“Go to library. Say nothing.” The Twili forcibly hid in the guards shadow. “Unless you wish to die.”
"I will ensure he says nothing." The Abyssian father then slipped into the guard's body, entering his mind. "I can see the world map from in here, my mate. It seems to get to Uskar, we will have to board a ship. It is sea locked."
“Too long. Too LONG!” This mother felt that even a day was too long in catching up to her son. “Give me coordinates.”
"There are three different ports. Our best guess for answers would be in the largest." The Abyssian started reading off the coordinates to his mate. "I do not know of these 'Direnors' that live there. They could be hostile."
“We are hostile. We are enough.” The Twili took the guard to an open tower area. Leaving him, she raised a sphere to the sky and started an enchantment.
Down below, Rinku happened to be wondering by, when her eyes caught the shadowy figures. “By Nayru.”
Before she could reach them, the Twili opened a portal in the sky. With that, herself and her husband broke apart into shadow particles and flew high into the portal above.
Reaching the guard, Link shook him awake. “Young man. Status report!”
"Urgh..." The guard held his throbbing head, feeling like he had drank one too many beers. "Princess Rinku?" He blinked a few times before stammering. "They... I swear, it was Midna here! I swear it! I'm not drunk, my head is just killing me! I must have been hallucinating!"
“More like Shadow Beast. I felt an Abyssian was here too. Do you know where they are going?”
"They said something about that strange kid you found a while back." The guard stood on his feet. "Wanting to find it."
Rinku’s adrenaline kicked in more than it already did. Kanisa. “Get up. Go tell Zarazu an Abyssian and Twili have broken through into Hyrule. I’m heading to Uskar immediately.”
"Y-Yes, m'am!" The guard hurried to find the reagent queen and hoped to the goddesses above another war was not coming.
~
“Kanisa. Do you have any idea how nice it is to not have your husband ravage you when he has a baby to look after?” Ocax was in an odd mode, actually enjoying the cold winter air for once.
Kanisa blushed slightly, trying to keep a composed face. The topic of intercourse still made her feel embarrassed, even after all these years. At least here in Uskar, it was normal to talk about sex like any other topic. "Well, I don't mind Vidar's... affections." She cleared her throat. "Why? Seer draining you of energy? All you have to do is just say no, you know."
“He has. But having a baby keeps him focused. Which lets me be focused on my work.”
"Ah, so you're saying that he needed a distraction. From you." Kanisa actually giggled. "Dare I say that you are finding it hard to concentrate?"
“You don’t? We have our duties you know. Our husbands can’t just use us and steal us away whenever they get a rut.”
"Oh, I think King Torbjorn would beg to differ whenever Queen Brigritta is in a rut." Kanisa sipped her tea. "Last time it was three days behind on paperwork I think."
“It’s insane how we have to try and keep up with their freakish nature at times.” From behind them, twelve feet to their left, a group of deer scampered away. “Huh. Wonder who lost their catch.”
"From the way I see it, the desire can be flattering, but also... occupying." Kanisa had to agree with Ocax. "It is hard to get a few things done when Vidar is demanding my attention. Yet, at least Seer seems very happy with you and little one. He always wanted more kids." As the deer ran away, Kanisa shrugged. "I suppose someone was being too loud."
“I feel like being a father is something Seer is simply naturally good at.” Ocax smiled, giving a sigh. “I wonder if he ever had any help in raising Lex and Liz. I’m glad I can give him help now.”
Above them, the clouds started to shift around, expanding to blot out the suns light.
"Seer had his family and friends helping from time to time, but mainly, it was just him." Kanisa told Ocax. "He was crushed when he found out that Lex and Liz were not biologically his. Yet, he still loved them the same. There was a lot of strife for a long while between them, I think, because of that reason. Seer hid it from them because he didn't want to hurt them, and it just blew up in his face. Though now, I think everything is good."
“How’d you feel finding two little Gerudo when you came here? Must have been nice, no?”
"Oh, I met them before they came here. Orana is my sister, and Corsaire's husband." Kanisa told Ocax with a smile. "They were adorable as babies. Lex refused to be put down and Liz wanted to explore everything. Seer had his hands full, that's for sure."
“Not to mention that Revy girl. Has she always been rambunctious?” Ocax laughed at the thought.
"I have no clue where she gets that energy from." Kanisa shook her head. "It was nearly impossible for Rat to keep her in one spot for long. She cannot sit still."
“Well, she is an electric-“ Ocax stopped, the colour in his face draining away. His feet felt cemented into the ground as he saw the war mask of a Twili. Behind that Twili was a massive shadow.
“Found you.”
“Oh. Oh no.”
As soon as the mask appeared, Kanisa released a shrill scream, stomping on it. She then yanked Ocax to his feet, and started to run.
Bursting from the snow, the Twili made her physical form known. With a spear in hand she stabbed at Ocax’s leg, catching him through the thigh. With a grunt he fell to the ground. “Kanisa! Run!”
As soon as Ocax fell, the male Abyssian pinned him and roared, "Where is he?!" "Ocax!!!" Kanisa skidded in the snow, nearly losing her balance when the Twili was suddenly pierced. She was in disbelief. It was... a Twili! And an Abyssian to boot! How in the seven hells did they get here?! There was nothing she could do right now. The princess had a dagger, but she doubted it would be useful against a creature of shadow. There was no textbook on how to fight a Twili... except for sunlight. Any kind of light. With gritted teeth, she shot a burst of concentrated lightning at the Twili... only to have it blocked by the Abyssian with a blast of darkness.
“Who?!” Ocax was terrified. He’d never met an Abyssian before, and being pinned and injured he was as helpless as a child.
The Twili presented her spear at Ocax’s throat. “MY SON!!!”
Seer has sensed the commotion before any of the others. His lack of sight aided him in perceiving what was happening, even if he was not close to the event. Ocax was in trouble. Releasing a series of whistles and clicks, Seer allowed his family to know there were intruders before handing Fyrir to Bjarke. He was visiting his friend so Naira could give Fyrir a checkup when he heard his lover's distress.
"...?! You're looking for Fyrir?!" Kanisa held her dagger tightly, trying to think of what to do. Abyssians, she could not let him get near her shadow. He'd possess her. For now, she had to buy time. "How did you get through the portal?!"
“Gate stone.” Ocax muttered out.
The Twili mother looked to Kanisa, pressing a hand on the ground. Lifting her hand up she drew a spear of darkness. With it, she chucked it towards the Princess. “Give us our son!!!”
Kanisa managed to avoid the spear, thanking the goddesses that she kept up with her exercises. "I don't have your son!"
"Lies!" The Abyssian snarled. "We can smell him on this filth," He shoved Ocax's face into the snow. "And you."
"He's not here!"
"Where is he?!"
She had to think. Seer would come. He would know. He had that creepy sense of knowing when something was wrong. Yet, he could not fight them well on land. The lake... it was still covered with snow. If she led them in that direction... "Please, don't hurt Ocax further." Kanisa assured the Twili and Abyssian. "I'll take you there if you follow me."
The Twili screamed in agony as a light arrow struck her directly in the back. Another was fired at the Abyssian within a second so that Ocax could have chance to crawl away. Their attacker was Rinku, who was wearing her green garb and drawing a Hylian shield and the Master Sword. The Blade hummed lightly in the presence of the Abyssian. “Get away from them you monsters.”
Kanisa quickly yanked Ocax away from the intruders as the Abyssian snatched his lover and descended into the shadows of the ground. "Rinku!" Kanisa exclaimed. "They're here for the kid!"
Rinku saw a shadow creep towards her, and stabbed the Master Sword into it. Never again would she be possessed. As the Twili and Abyssian fled from the ground, the mother snarled. “She’s mine. Go after the man before he can flee with our son!” Ocax was already hopping along with Kanisa to the lake.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were heavier than my brother." Kanisa struggled to help Ocax along the lake. She had to be careful with her footsteps. The ice could give at anytime. "How does Seer lift you?" Suddenly, the male Abyssian appeared in front of them with a growl. "I'll give you one last chance before I rip you to shreds." He warned the pair, tentacles of darkness appearing at his sides. "Where is my son?!"
Seer, however, was already in the water, swimming in the direction of the princess and his lover. He could feel their footsteps on the ice above him. Then... there was the intruder. His scent was faint, but it was there. It was as if he could move through air. That wouldn't save him. With a mighty swing of his tail, Seer busted through the air, jaws wide. He managed to take the Abyssian by surprise and dragged him under by his leg.
Ocax fell back, shock on multiple levels taking him.
Rinku and the Twili hunter danced in combat for a moment, with hair tendrils and spear lunges trying to take the hero down. Wise beyond her years, and not wanting to prolong this conflict when she could go assist her sister, Rinku ended the conflict. With a shield bash to the Twili’s face to stun her, Rinku leapt into the air with spin of her body, lashing in a saw motion at the Twili’s head. Her blade cut the helmet clean in half, and the Twili fell to the ground with a light gash in her face. Spinning around, Rinku pointed her sword at the woman’s throat. This wasn’t Midna. This was a threat to her family. “Who are you? No lies.”
Rinku saw panic and fear that was hard to fake. “I’m here for my son. Nothing more. He became lost to this world. We’re here to take him back. I just want my Seikro back.”
The Abyssian male struggled under the water within Seer's grasp. His leg was crushed by the whale's jaws. Finally, he managed to get free when he whacked Seer across the face with one of his tentacles, the spikes digging into the orca's flesh. Seer shook his head to be rid of the pain and the Abyssian hurriedly swam to the surface, crawling through the hole in the ice. Kanisa had managed to drag Ocax to land, away from the breakage.
Rinku’s eyes gleamed at the Twili, her fingers tapping the hilt of the Master Sword. Reading the woman’s face and recalling features of the child she delivered she called out for her sister to come to her. “Kanisa!”
"...?!" Kanisa's attention jerked to Rinku. "What?! I'm kind of occupied here!" She gestured to the wounded Ocax, trying to bind his leg with her scarf, and tied it tight. Just as she finished, the Abyssian male caught her eye. Yelping, the princess held out her dagger. "Go away!" Seer, however, was not far behind. The ice was thicker near the land. With a loud squeal, he surfaced, trying to wiggle his way to the Abyssian to end him. "By Mracni, call your whale off! We're here for our son! You kidnapped him! We want him back!"
“Where’s the toddler Kanisa?” Rinku kept her blade at the Twili’s neck. Her mind was on the Abyssisn not to far away though.
"I... I think Seer took him to Bjarke's house to see Naira." Kanisa gulped, watching the Abyssian closely. "For a checkup. He wanted to make sure he was adjusting okay to the cold weather here."
Seer, however, had shifted back on the ice. "What's going on?" He demanded. "Why are you attacking my husband?!" He sniffed, smelling Ocax's blood. "I'll have both of your heads for this!"
"Seer, please! Calm down!" Kanisa implored the Direnor. "They're here for Fyrir!"
"...?!?! What?!"
“Give us back our son!” The Twili mother said once more, however, this time with fear in her voice. Rinku shook her head in disappointment. She should have known this was a possibility. For Ocax, he had his own feelings. None too happy.
"What do you mean 'your son'?!" Seer snapped angrily. "You threw him away! He's ours now, we're taking care of him!"
"Seer, I have a feeling that Fyrir might have accidently found a portal... either that, or someone tossed him to get back at the parents." Kanisa was trying to remain level-headed throughout this incident. "Otherwise, why would they risk being stranded here to find him?"
"We've been searching for him for nearly a whole day!" The Abyssian exclaimed. "And we found his scent through the portal!"
"A whole day? He's been with us for over a month!"
“You lie!” The mother shouted furiously at Seer. Ocax, wincing the stand up, walked over to the Twili mother. It saddened him, but he spoke to her in his native tongue. “Hunter. Do you know of the Zalant clan?”
She was surprised for a moment, but nodded. “I do.”
“Do you remember Ocax and Towa?”
“... Yes. I-“ the moment she realized who she was talking to, she gasped. “You’ve almost been gone for over two years!”
“Lady. It’s been over 30 years.” Ocax sighed, his scientific discovery disturbing him. “Time must be different for our realms.”
Ocax had taught Seer a little of his native tongue. He was able to understand a few pieces here and there, mainly the mention of Towa and his lover. And something about time. "I'm not lying!" Seer growled, "We've been taking care of him ever since Rinku brought him here! He's safe, happy, and talking non-stop!"
The Abyssian felt a bit nauseated by the fact of how time flowed differently. Any longer, anymore struggles to find a rip to get here, and their son would have been grown.
“Where he is? Where is my son?” Ocax watched the desperation leave the Twili mom, being replaced by a tired tone. Maybe it was hopelessness. Maybe it was the blood loss. Either way, he sighed. “Kanisa, can you go find Fyrir?”
"I can---"
"No!" Seer interrupted Kanisa almost immediately. "Ocax, they want to take him away! What are you saying?!"
"Seer, it's their kid."
"I know that!"
"You can't keep---"
"But he's ours now." Seer now looked desperate, almost panicked at the thought of having to give up the little one. "I don't want to lose him!"
"Seer, be rational!" Kanisa wanted to kick some sense into the Direnor. "These are Fyrir's parents who came looking for him. Don't be the bad guy. You even said yourself that they might come looking for him."
"I was hoping they wouldn't."
Ocax walked up to Seer, placing his hands to grip his shoulders. “Seer. Do you want to be like Adda?” A low blow, but the truth. “I won’t be complicit in kidnapping. Let’s... let’s just see Fyrir’s reaction.”
"... no." Seer finally spoke after taking a breath. He had grown attached to Fyrir. His fists clenched; he did not want to let him go. Once Fyrir was brought to group by Kanisa, the little one was fussing at being woken from his nap.
Fyrir was yawning, but the instant he saw his mother, a light filled his eyes. “Mama! Mama!” The Twili held her hands out for her son as he excitedly turned into shadows through Kanisa’s grip and into her mothers. “Oh Seikro! Oh my baby boy!” She squeezed and held him tightly, never wanting to let go again.
Seer felt so heavy. He heard the excitement in Fyrir's voice. So, it was time then. His parents came for him. It was if a wave of sadness had washed over the Direnor. "Seikro!" The Abyssian limped to his son with a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right. We looked everywhere for you!"
“Papa!”
And that made him feel worse. He was Papa, not that... that... other one.
"We... apologize for any misunderstandings." Kanisa spoke to the Abyssian and Twili, still a little guarded. "Seer and Ocax were caring for Fyrir... I mean, Seikro, in your absence."
His name wasn't Seikro, it was Fyrir. Seer was angry, upset, and above all, just wondering why he was granted another little touch of love for it to be gone once more.
Ocax saw the Twili mother take out a gate stone. A small part of his core twinged in agony. Before meeting Seer, this was all he wanted. The mother was activated the stone with magic and it flew into the air, changing shape. They were going to leave so quickly. “Tell me. How is Towa? Is she happy?”
“Towa?”
“Yes. She left sometime ago to find a way home. I assume she made it.”
“Towa does not live among us.” The stone cracked open a portal directly to the Twilight Realm. “Thank you. For taking care of our son.”
"Please, wait!" Seer called out before the parents took off. "Please, just... let me say goodbye?"
Little ‘Fyrir’ looked towards Seer, giggling with a laugh and waving a tiny hand. Then just like that, particle after particle they disappeared into the portal.
Fyrir was gone. Seer would probably never hear him again. Direnors, Hylians, no one except kin of Interlopers were welcome in the Twilight Realm. The blind man just looked defeated.
Rinku finally put away her weapons, sighing as she walked towards the couple and her sister. “Look. Part of me feels responsible for this outcome. I probably could have let you avoid the hassle had I saw this as a possibility first hand.”
Seer said nothing, still reeling over the fact that Fyrir was taken away so easily. It brought back unpleasant memories of when Adda tried to kidnap the twins. That feeling of... of failure, of loss, of desperation to do anything to protect those little ones filled his being. Why did they have to come looking for him? Couldn't he had loved Fyrir just the same? Was he horrible for wanting to keep the little one?
"You could not have anticipated them attacking us, Rinku." Kanisa told her sister. "We all thought he was simply tossed aside."
“Well... none of you got killed. I’ll call that a better defeat then my last one at the interlopers.” Pulling out an Ocarina, she sighed. “Should be getting back home. Teleportation is not easy to do in a pinch. Think I might give myself a heart attack with all the adrenaline.”
Ocax looked to his husband, holding him close. “We can get through this.”
"I... want to go home." Seer stated quietly. "I need to rest after a sudden shift like that."
“Ok...”
~
The rest of the day and night Ocax stayed up in inner turmoil. To be honest, losing a son like that affected him too. He was just opening up to the idea of being a father. And Towa... was she dead? He never gave it much thought. Why had she never come back all these years to visit if she had failed in her quest? These depressing thoughts were too much. It was best he sorted them out. The next day, he forced Seer to go on a walk with him. “Quit your belly aching. You’ve brooded enough in the last 24 hours.”
"I have the right to brood, Fyrir was yanked from us without warning." Seer snapped at his lover, not in the mood for a lecture, still sour. "We did not get to say goodbye, that damn Twili woman attacked you, and the Abyssian tried to hurt Kanisa."
“I know. I know. But, if you trust me, I think we’ll have a situation.” Opening a door, Ocax lead Seer inside. “Seija! We’re here.”
"Oh! Good timing, Ocax! We're just about to---" Seija was interrupted by a loud noise upstairs.
CRASH!
She winced, groaning slightly. "... bake cookies... and we could use the help of an experienced cook."
“Yes. We’d like to help, but I brought Seer and myself to discuss the matter of adoption.”
"...?!" Seer was surprised by Ocax's statement. Adoption? He thought Ocax had no desire to raise any children. His lover did not seem too keen on Fyrir being with them at first. What changed his mind? "Oh, really?! That's wonderful!" Seija puffed up, her feathers standing highly on top of her head from happiness. "I'm sure you will love any of the kids. They're all wonderful really, just a little... rambunctious."
“I’m certain we can handle any challenge. May we meet the children?”
"Of course! Just... don't mention 'adoption' in front of them." Seija told the Twili and fellow Direnor. "I hate to put it this way, but I don't like them feeling like potential parents are 'window-shopping' if you know what I mean. If you find a child you just click with, great, but I hate getting the others' hopes up." "... are you sure?" Seer asked Ocax, now feeling slightly nervous.
“I am.” Ocax took his glasses to rub them clean. “I don’t like the idea of you being unhappy. I also don’t like having my work be taken away just as I was getting started. The idea of being a parent was exciting. I want to continue that. With you.”
"I wasn't that bad..." Seer was mildly flustered at Ocax's indication of the Direnor being rather demanding during mating season. "I do miss having little ones around the house. As much as I love our grandkids, it would be nice to have one that is... well... ours."
“I know.” Ocax nuzzled Seer close. “Will you be a father with me?”
"You know I will." Seer kissed the Twili affectionately, running his hands through the man's hair. "But that's not always going to save you from mating season."
“Well, you need to learn how to deal with blue balls in a while.” Ocax waved his horny mind away. “We have to be serious. For the children.”
"Serious as balls?" Seer teased with a grin, knowing just how to vex his lover. "Very well. Though, when the kid is asleep, all bets are off."
“Very well. Let’s get to be good parents.”
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Emma’s never cared about holidays or cliched traditions like kissing someone at midnight on New Year’s Eve. What she would like, however, is for her boyfriend to at least be in the same city so she could have the option.
found on ao3 | here | ; word count: ~ 2,700
-/-
“Twenty.”
“That’s what you’re going with? An even twenty?”
“Aye.”
“When has it ever been an even number? That’s too neat.”
“I’m a neat man.”
“You’re a stupid man is what you are.”
“Now, Swan, you’re supposed to kill people with kindness, not insults.”
Emma huffs and grabs her beanie off of her desk and tugs it down over her ears, adjusting her bun so that it doesn’t tug at her head. “You don’t get to say that when you were an asshole to me last night.”
“I was not an asshole.”
“You were.”
“Love, you call me asshole more than you call me by my own name.”
“That’s because I’m a romantic.”
Killian chuckles, and Emma doesn’t fight the urge to roll of her eyes. Of course he would laugh at that. Of course. But she doesn’t blame him. She’s not a romantic. It’s not that she’s never tried or doesn’t want to be one – though some days she really doesn’t – but she doesn’t know how to do it. It’s not in her DNA, and her version of romantic is nothing more than eating the meal Killian wants and then cuddling on the couch or listening to him tell her some story she’s already heard at least two times. It never feels like enough, but he always tells her that it is.
He’s much better at things like planning date nights and picking out perfect gifts and romantic gestures, both grand and small, and her being good at those things is probably never going to be in the cards.
“So twenty calls asking you to come check out the illegal fireworks because people can’t seem to wait for the city-approved show over the harbor?”
“I’m going to go with thirty-three,” Emma finally says, grabbing her gloves and tugging them onto her hands. “It was twenty-nine last year.”
“Ah, yes, and people have become crazier this year then?”
“Exactly.”
There’s a moment of silence and then another, and Emma drops down into her desk chair, flopping on the leather. She should really go and meet David and get ready to do patrol, but she doesn’t want to, not yet.
“Swan?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you,” Killian says, his voice soft and quiet as it comes over her phone’s speaker. “Please be safe out there tonight.”
“Always, KJ,” she promises just like she does before every shift. “I love you, too. Happy New Year. I hope you have fun at Robin’s party while you guys stay inside to watch the ball drop when you’re twenty minutes away from Time’s Square.”
He breathes out through his nose with his laugh. “I’m sure I’ll be home and in bed before the clock strikes midnight. It’s too cold to be out like that.”
“That’s because you’re the oldest twenty-eight-year-old in the world.”
“No, it’s because I have to be up in the morning for my rounds. I’m starting in a new department, remember?”
“I know, I know.”
“Emma,” David calls out, and she snaps her head up to look at David across the bullpen, “it’s time to go.”
“I’ll be right there,” she says to David before standing from her seat. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year, love.”
“That your big, fancy New York boyfriend?”
“Shut it, Scarlet,” Emma mumbles, ignoring Will and his teasing smirk to walk toward David.
“So it was him?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Tell him to bring some more of those bagels next time he comes to visit. That was a real thoughtful gesture.”
Emma huffs and keeps ignoring Will to walk toward David, pushing past him to go out the front doors of the station so she can start her patrol shift and get this night over with.
Happy New Year and all that.
-/-
“What number call is that?”
“Nine.”
“That’s pretty low for the night.”
“Yeah, well, it is only eight. We’ve still got hours to go and several people who don’t care to follow the fireworks law.”
David hums and turns the wheel of the SUV so they can get out of downtown Boston and move toward North End. Holidays are always the craziest nights of the years for them. It’s triple the regular crazy, especially with the amount of drunk drivers they pull over, but all in all, holidays are some of Emma’s favorite nights of the year, even if she has to work through them. And she’s worked pretty much every holiday for the past five years. She’s not married, doesn’t have kids, doesn’t have parents, and there’s no reason for her to not offer to take a shift so that someone who wants to spend time with their family can have the day off.
(She can take her days off on other days where stores are actually open and she can get delivery without feeling guilty that the delivery guy is working.)
Emma’s never had a reason to want to spend holidays with people or to want to have the day off, but then she met Killian last year at the Nolan’s fourth of July barbecue (which actually happened on the sixth, but whatever), and she wants to have a day off to spend time with him.
But that doesn’t work anyways. She’s in Boston, he’s in New York, and their schedules don’t match up for holidays. Random weekends and Emma using her vacation days in the middle of the week, sure, but holidays, not so much.
God, she misses him.
“Why are you staring out the window?”
“Hmmm?”
“Why are you staring out the window?” David repeats. “You’re looking all starry eyed and such.”
Emma snaps out of her thoughts and adjusts her position in her seat until she’s turning the sound of David’s podcast down. He’s listening to one on how to keep your rooftop garden intact, and of all of his podcasts, this is the one she’s least interested in.
“Nothing. I think I’m just tired. Can we stop for a coffee next time we pass a shop?”
“Sure. No problem.”
David doesn’t question her more or bother her for the rest of her shift. Either he knows she doesn’t want to talk about it or is so damn oblivious that he doesn’t realize there’s something she might want to talk about, but Emma isn’t going to complain, not when the shift keeps going by as quickly as humanly possible.
They make traffic stops and deal with phone calls about loud music and illegal fireworks (they’re at twenty-one now) and drink copious amounts of coffee as Emma keeps yawning.
(She also eats two giant bear claws, but she doesn’t really like falling into the stereotype of cops simply sitting around drinking coffee and eating donuts.)
At two minutes until midnight, the world quiets for a bit, everyone captivated by watching the ball drop on television or settling around the harbor for city-approved fireworks that knock your socks off with the view. Or maybe they’re all too busy drinking or finding someone to kiss. That’s what David is doing. The kiss part. Not the drinking on the job. That’d get him fired.
Mary Margaret meets them in the parking lot of a gas station, and she and David stand close together in the cold, flakes of snow falling down around them as they talk and laugh until fireworks go off at midnight so they can kiss like the cheesy, sentimental fools that they are.
The sentimental fools who are in love enough that Mary Margaret would come out in the cold just to kiss her husband at midnight when she could kiss him when he got home.
Emma’s cheeks heat with blush when she realizes that she’s watching them, and she quickly turns away and looks down at her phone to open up her texts. Killian hasn’t texted her back for an hour or so now, and she knows that he’s asleep. He’s always falling asleep early in order to wake up early, whether he has work or not, and it kind of drives her crazy.
“I like to watch the sun rise, love. It’s a beautiful beginning to my day every time, but not as beautiful as you.”
“I can’t tell if that was cheesy or romantic.”
“Both. Definitely both.”
He may not see it, but she texts him anyways.
Emma: Happy New Year! 😘
“Happy New Year, Emma,” Mary Margaret says, popping up next to Emma’s window and scaring the absolute shit out of her. “I brought you guys some grilled cheese sandwiches to keep you warm.”
“You’re an actual saint.”
“That’s the goal.”
Emma laughs, and it’s not a fake one despite the heavy pit in her stomach, and accepts the foil wrapped sandwiches from Mary Margaret. “Thank you, Marg. Now go home and be safe, okay?”
“The same to you guys. Enjoy the sandwiches.”
-/-
It’s a quarter until five when she walks in the front door of her apartment. The lights are dimmed, her black-out curtains pulled in preparation for the sun rising, and after a night that never seemed to end toward the last few hours of her shift, she’s finally home and ready to go to sleep.
She didn’t wear makeup today, so that means she can go to sleep without washing her face and brushing her teeth, right?
(Emma knows that it’s gross, but she doesn’t care.
She’ll brush her teeth three times tomorrow.)
Toeing her shoes off and dropping her keys and her wallet onto the entryway table, Emma starts moving in her apartment only to hear the creaking of footsteps on the other side of her place.
Shit.
Quickly, she turns on her heels and moves to find something, anything to use as a weapon. Her police-issued gun is in her locker at the precinct and the one she keeps at home is in her bedside drawer. All she can see that would be of any use is a knife she left on the counter, so she grabs that and walks toward the sound, praying and hoping it was her imagination but knowing it wasn’t.
Then the lights in the hallway flicker on.
“Swan.”
And suddenly Killian is standing in front of her in nothing other than a pair of low-slung gray sweatpants, his hipbones showing and the little trail of hair she knows so well disappearing beneath the material. He blinks, and so does she. This can’t be real. It can’t. He should be in his shitty apartment in Queens with his obnoxious roommate, and he should be fast asleep so he can be up early for his first day in his new rotation for his residency.
He shouldn’t be here.
He can’t be here.
But he is.
After placing the knife down, Emma practically catapults herself forward until she’s running into him and slamming her lips into his. Her hands quickly move from his shoulders up into his hair, and while Killian still seems to still be in shock from her jumping on him.
He’s in her apartment when he’s not supposed to be. What did he expect?
But then his mouth is warmly moving over hers, minty toothpaste she was going to avoid invading her senses, and his arm is wrapping over her entire back until his hand is in her hair, tugging her closer and pulling her body flush against his. Everything about him is warm, from his hips to his chest to his lips, and she doesn’t want to leave him. She can’t. It’s been five weeks since she last saw him, five weeks since she last got to feel the softness of his lips and the scratchy roughness of his beard, and she’s consumed by him.
All she wants is him, always.
(And he’s a damn good kisser, so that’s a definite plus.)
“How are you here?” she giggles out, pressing her lips into his cheek.
“I traded shifts around, worked a million graveyards and doubles and worked my ass off until I could get a few days off.”
“I mean,” she laughs, brushing her lips against his left cheek now while her hands trail down over his back, scratching into his skin. He smells so much like him and the body wash that he left a bottle of in her apartment. “What?”
“I lied about my schedule to surprise you. I – ”
She kisses him again. Her entire body is alight with happiness, all of the tiredness fading away and being replaced by the energy of a two-year-old on a sugar high, and she absolutely cannot believe this.
“I don’t care how. Just that you are.”
Killian chuckles and pulls back from the kiss to press his forehead against hers, his nose squishing into her cheek while his prosthetic rubs over her back. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a kiss at midnight. My plan couldn’t quite figure that out.”
“Please, they’re overrated. Five in the morning is much better.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely. I love you, you know?”
“I do know, Swan. I’m absolutely in love with you too.” His lips move over hers, slow and thorough until a heat is curling deep in her belly and until her skin is covered in goosebumps. “Hey, how many calls did you get about illegal fireworks tonight?”
“Thirty-seven.”
“Ah, so we were both wrong.”
“Yeah, but I was a hell of a lot closer.”
Killian leans his head back with laughter, and Emma moves to nuzzle herself there, running her lips across his skin in hot, open-mouthed kisses. She might not feel tired, but she probably needs to go to sleep. Killian likely does too, but right now, she can’t think of anything other than stripping him out of his clothes and straddling his lap.
It’s exactly what she does, what they both do. Neither of them can stop laughing, joy and excitement still overflowing, but they do manage to strip each other out of their clothes until there’s a pile at her bedroom down. Killian’s lips leave warm marks against her jaw, her collarbone, her breasts, and her nails scratch down his back until they’re stumbling onto the bed and Emma is crawling over Killian.
He stretches her when he enters hers, and she sighs at the fullness of having him inside of her again. This isn’t a feeling that can be replicated, and seeing the look on Killian’s face – a mixture of pure bliss and desire for more – is priceless. Absolutely priceless.
She cannot believe he’s here.
That he did this to see her.
Stupid, wonderful man.
Emma controls the strokes at first, keeping the slow and deep so that Killian’s nails are digging into the her hip and his brows are pinched together in pleasure, but it doesn’t stay that way for long. It’s too slow, and as slow and careful as some of their reunions can be, what she needs now is fast and desperate, a quick coming together so that her heartbeat is elevated and her body is humming in pleasure.
Killian gives all of that to her more.
Afterwards, when the sweat is cooling on their skin and the night sky is fading away into the barest hints of sunlight outside, Emma kisses Killian’s chest over the small smattering of bird tattoos that reside there. He had them before they met, and Killian jokes about it being some kind of sign that he either had to fall in love with a woman with the last name of a bird or give up being a doctor to go off and study ornithology.
(The tattoos are for his mother, but he rarely likes to talk about that.)
“I’m sorry I didn’t come up with a grand romantic gesture for you,” Emma whispers while running her hands through the thick tufts of hair in his chest.
“Yeah, well,” Killian whispers, pulling her closer in his arms before he tucks her hair behind her ear, “you’re all I need anyways.”
-/-
His placement for his fellowship the next year is in Boston, and both of them have off for New Year’s. It’s practically a miracle.
They’re both asleep before midnight.
It’s okay. Kisses at five in the morning are better.
They’re also far more frequent since they now live together.
(Finally.)
-/-
-/-
Happy New Year, everyone ❤️🎉
one-shot tag list: @shardminds @stahlop @captainsjedi @galaxyzxstark @thejollyroger-writer @kmomof4 @tiganasummertree @xellewoods @idristardis @karenfrommisthaven @shireness-says @scientificapricot @captswanis4vr @a-faekindagirl @ultimiflos @jamif @dreameronarooftop15 @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @teamhook @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog @superchocovian @ultraluckycatnd @cs-forlife @andiirivera @qualitycoffeethings @jonirobinson64 @mariakov81 @spartanguard @carpedzem
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the rest... of... book 4..... through chapter 225
i sad.
“He was lying to himself and lying to others! All nothing but deceit!
No matter what, it was impossible to pretend nothing had ever happened, and it was impossible to return to before!!!” - i know :(
“Before Feng Xin went, he was afraid. Now that Feng Xin had gone, he wasn’t scared any longer.
But, even though he wasn’t afraid anymore, he was in deeper agony.” - ah yes. being afraid of your friends leaving so you do things to drive them away so you can have something to point to and say that you were the one who made the choice and you dont have to fear it anymore. except that has never once worked out ever and turns out losing people just means you lost them and it still hurts. not that i would know or anything.....
“He saw upon the table there were a few plates of horrid-looking dishes that were now cold. They were what he made the queen take away without eating a single bite the night before. Now, he pulled them over absent-mindedly, and ate everything, not daring to leave behind a single leaf, afraid to miss a single grain of rice. After he ate he started puking.” - this broke me and the bad cooking isnt funny anymore :(
all this happens after they have money again. no further commentary on this chapter
i know for a lot of book 3 i just wanted hua cheng to go away but now i would give anything for wuming to come and interrupt these interactions with white no-face
“Lang Ying, a brute commoner, led an army and destroyed Xianle. With the aura of the king enveloping his body, ordinary evil wouldn’t be able to come close to his person. However, at this moment, what Xie Lian brought with him were millions of souls of those who died on the battlefield!” - interesting to think about this story from lang ying’s point of view. the bit about his wife and child... oh my god... the things we carry with us...
“Will it really be alright to leave him like this? How about, I give him a cup of water?” - cup of water motif is back... ouch
“One person. Just one.
Really.
Just one person was enough!” - for like 20 minutes after reading this i really was just sitting here thinking about every time a stranger did me a small a kindness and the times i did the same it just made me cry harder i love people and they really can be awful and choose to be cold and cruel but it means that when they choose to be kind..... it doesnt negate the cruelty but its still indescribable.. and being able to see that and remember that even after all the pain.....
ugh still just thinking about the times ive gone through something that changed me and having the cold numb fear that i would never be the same as i was before that i would lose some precious part of me forever and wondering if this would be the thing that finally did it... i dont know if ive ever actually experienced a piece of media that really make me think about that tbh
“Stop thinking so highly of yourself! I don’t need you to teach me anything, I can learn on my own. If you represent heaven’s will, then something like heaven’s will should be destroyed!” - why is defying the heavens so sexy.... keep it up (edit after white no-face identity reveal: HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!)
the fact that xie lian went through what he did and got nothing out of it and in fact lost everything he had left due to the trauma,,,,, but just one person is enough for him to willingly offer to do it again, even if all he could save is one person,,,,,, crying again.... and who it is who takes it all on instead... ok...
“After all, everyone knew that Mu Qing ascended because he cleaned up all the remaining stubborn resentful spirits in the old capital of Xianle, so to understand it as “generous and kind” wasn’t unreasonable. In any case, everyone in the old capital of Xianle were all very grateful for him.” - its not unreasonable at all!!! this boy picks cherries for his mom and the neighborhood kids leave him alone
“Shaking his head, Xie Lian contemplated, then he ladled two large bowls of rice, one offered inside the Temple of Ju Yang, the other inside the Temple of Xuan Zhen. Finally, feeling that everything served its purpose, he clapped his hands close, completely satisfied.” - please i just want them to be friends again
ruoye........ xie lian bidding farewell to the tiny red flower.... ok i feel a totally normal amount about all these things
book 5 time!!!
xie lian king of taking a third option.. no one dies in the kiln at all we’re just leaving bitch
“Xie Lian didn’t know why he had to use his hands to cup Hua Cheng’s cheeks, but he did so subconsciously, probably so he could comfort him, but also because Xie Lian was afraid Hua Cheng’s face would be frostbitten by the snowstorm.” - gay people.....
“This giant stone divine statue must’ve been sculpted when Hua Cheng was trapped inside the Kiln, when he was severely beaten down and in intense suffering.” - ohhhh my god. okay. okay. look. i get it....
“The divine statue obeyed his command and took off with a gigantic, wide step, going along with the rolling current of snow. One slide was several miles, and the snow waves it created crashed around its body. Because both its arms were open, even though it was a body of a million tons, it still maintained good balance.” - HELL YEAH!! HELL YEAH LETS FUCKING GO LETS GOOOOO
the statue that requires transfers of spiritual energy... statue of make you kiss me i see how it is.....
“Hearing this, Hua Cheng raised his brows, his expression seeming to say, please have them beat each other to death, that’d be great.” - when you dont like your SO’s friends and they dont like you
“With a sharp sword in hand, Xie Lian was like a tiger with wings added, his might increasing exponentially, and he struck out!” - YES!!! GET EM!!!!
“No one could blame him for not knowing what was going on. Perhaps, he was confused the entire way: Why was he beaten? Why was he buried inside a wall? Why was he turned into a daruma doll? And why did he have to turn into a sword, too? There was not a single point where he’d figured out what was happening.” its okay qyz its okay i know honey me too
HELLO?? SQX IS BACK???? omg what a development omg omg okay okay interesting... okay so shi wudu would have rather died than lose everything but shi qingxuan is still trucking
“Hua Cheng responded lazily, “Oh? So you mean to say, beggars can’t save the world? Is it because they don’t have the ability to, or because they’re not worthy?” - KING okay i know this is a motivational tactic but also... who was it who took on all the souls for the human face disease and did in fact save the world back then hmmm?
absolutely enthralled by the fact that in chapter 207 we find out that the guoshi is in fact just. still here. and the name of the chapter is "Seeking Affection; Ghost King Fakes Displeasure” which i mean that happens too but fjasdlkfajsld
bruh okay. okay. okay. everything is happening okay. okay. chaos in the heavens okay. ling wen is still invited to kiss me on the mouth tho idc
“Indeed Yin Yu didn’t have enough confidence, and said weakly, “Chengzhu has shown me grace, he saved me…”
“I know,” Jun Wu said. “He even helped you pacify and send off the resentful spirit of Jian Yu, who died during banishment, am I right?” - awww im glad they resolved that bit that whole situation was awful also give me the forbidden hua cheng ghost king lore...
“Yin Yu finally couldn’t take it anymore. He clenched his fists tight, his knuckles cracking, and he whipped around. “I DO RESENT HIM! I DO HATE HIM!!! BUT, SO WHAT??” - yin yu kiss me on the mouth right now
“Xie Lian hugged him. “It’s alright, it’s alright. These are all small matters, really. Your Highness Yin Yu, just live in this world for another few hundred years and you’ll know that none of that really matters. Either driven to madness or really wishing someone would die, whichever. Who in the world has never had such thoughts? I’ve even thought of massacring all in the world who had wronged me, it’s true, and no lie, I’d almost done it. But look at me, haven’t I shamelessly lived until now? You haven’t actually done anything in the end, and that’s the most important thing.” - he’s right im crying again
“But…in the end, I…still think…it’s so unfair,” Yin Yu sobbed. “If I was already destined to be no one remarkable, then at the very least, I…wanted to be a kind and perfect person. But…I couldn’t even do that. It’s really…so unfair. And truth to be told, even in this moment, just thinking that I’m dying for Yizhen, this little dummy, I still can’t get over it. I can’t even let go and die with a heart with no resentment and no regrets, what is that.” - YIN YU YOU CANT DIE NOOOOOOO youre the only man in this whole book i would kiss why does this always happen im actually really sad ;_;
“If the Rain Master was killed directly, and a better heavenly official couldn’t be found to replace her, the people put food above all else; if agriculture isn’t running smoothly, the world will be thrown into chaos. You don’t let people eat, people won’t give you a job. Besides being displeased with the Rain Master, the people of the world might also begin to be dissatisfied with the great god above Rain Master’s head. Which means, if he isn’t careful, the fire can burn all the way onto him. If things aren’t controlled adequately, it might incur riots to topple gods.” - rain master my friend rain master... also yes!!!!! food production!!!! critical!!!!!!! theres a lot you can get by without but food is not one of them!!!!!
“Feng Xin was Xie Lian’s servant, his good friend, but not his slave. He could’ve built his own home, had his own family. And he had actually already met those people, but the encounter just had to be during Xie Lian’s first banishment, the toughest days they suffered back then.” i am very sad about all of this
hua cheng in the palace of ling wen looking for the brocade immortal while the heavens are in complete chaos as the world turns on its head and STILL taking the time to beg for kisses is making me lose it fjalkdfjlsd
oh my god the guoshi and the cards thing..... hmmmm
delighted that mount tong’lu has such great significance beyond just being the kiln or whatever
hmmm crown prince of wuyong... its truly sad... but dude.....
the way that the heavenly capital is literally built out of previous gods... wow
the outright attempt to continue to cycle of trauma that failed simply bc 1. xie lian is his own person and 2. xie lian recieved kindness and gave it back to the world even to the people who refused to help him im ;_;
the absolute mess of xuan ji/rong guang/pei su/banyue/ke mo going down in the palace of ming guang... entertainment
okay i think im to a point where i dont have any possible spoiler knowledge in my brain about what happens next (only thing i have is theres a joke about he xuan eating that i dont understand yet and i think we might get like an emily corpse bride moment but if we do i dont know why) but oh my god things have escalated
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i am curious about numbers 14, 17 and 18
Sorry this took a while, I meant to write this earlier today but I had to come to some hard decisions (which “paid scene” to describe since I am writing a story on AO3 about these two).
14. Describe a “paid scene” with your character and their LI
This was hard to choose. Especially since I am writing my own version of Julian’s route and anything I write here might be prone to changing. But I will choose something.
It was the first time Odelia had ever seen or experienced snow. Vesuvia has a warm climate year round, only slightly cooling during the winter months with how short the days could get. She had read about snow, but to see it, to feel it, to experience it.
It was marvelous.
She was still marveling at how it blanketed the woods around them when it happened
Bam!
A flurry of cold white exploded a part upon impact
She shrieked in surprise, leapt a bit into the air as she spun about
Were they being attacked?!
Julian’s laughter warmed her heart as her eyes landed on him and then his smile made her insides do flips.
That unadulterated smile. That adorable laugh!
She wanted to see it everyday for the rest of their lives
Then it struck her that he had thrown that orb of snow
Oho ho? So he wanted to play? Two could play this game.
In fact, he challenged her to a snowball (snowball- that’s what it’s called) fight, winner gets a wish granted
He was on.
Odelia is competitive and Julian quickly finds out that he’d have to get serious if he didn’t want to lose right out of the gate.
Shenanigans ensue
A few stunts are pulled that are dubbed as ‘cheating’ by the victim
A dramatic death scene plays out after Odelia throws a magic infused snowball to create the perfect curve shot right to Julian’s face
Odelia, in return, laments the death of her darling man
Pounces on him while he’s too busy guffawing on the ground at the delivery of her monologue to protect himself
Squeals and writhes when she shoves snow down his shirt
In fact, just outright scoops the snow from around them on top of him
Grabs her arms to keep her from burying him any further
“Serves you right for unbuttoning your shirt all the time!”
“But I hate how stuffy it gets! Let me be free to choose a life of unbuttoned shirts, nah, a life without buttons at all!” He dramatically drapes an arm over his face. So Dramatic. She loves it.
“Seems like my darling man likes his tiddies on display at all times. Foul tempter. How dare you, hmmm, tease me- distract me- so.”
Sits on his lap and kisses him stupid
After a good long while, she concedes to letting him up, only because he’s starting to shiver from the snow
Climbs onto his back, pronounces him her steed as her boon, and, with a squeeze, beckons him forwards
“Come my majestic steed! Go forth! To reclaim my magic realm!”
He had to lean against a tree to prevent himself from falling over as he just lost it. It took him a while to recover from all the laughing, but Odelia didn’t mind the time lost. It was nice to see him so happy and carefree.
She promised herself that she’d make sure there would be more days like this after all was said and done.
17. Describe the wedding
Ahaha, this is a loaded ask. To be honest, they can’t describe the original wedding to anyone. Not because they wouldn’t like to, but, uh, they, um… can’t remember. They may have been sorta, kinda, very, extremely inebriated. Like, woke up in their inn with wedding bands on after a drinking binge while on a trip to Praka to get their licenses (His doctor’s licenses finally and the various licenses that Nadia told her she now needed to have to run her various businesses). At first, Julian panicked because, honestly, this was not how he had wanted to ask her. Besides that, they had only been courting for two-three months by this point. He knows he’s prone to leaping over a ton of important steps (breaking up with people he’s not even dating), but this? This was not how he wanted to do it.
It took Odelia a good while to calm him down from his hysterics. However, when Julian suggested going to get the marriage annulled- Odelia shot him down with a ‘Why? Then I’ll just have to get my name changed on all my licenses when we do get married again. No thanks.’ His heart just about melted at the word ‘again’. Besides that, if they got married in Vesuvia, Odelia was a hundred percent certain that everything would be overtaken by the others. It would be expensive and stressful for one dumb day where they had a huge party that they would never be allow to properly participate in because they would be on display and expected to behave a certain way. He agreed that didn’t sound fun. Later, though, he comes to find out that the rings they were wearing were made by Odelia and she had been waiting for him to ask shortly after he moved in, already certain that she wasn’t going to change her mind about him.
Sweet, yes? Well, these two knew they come back married that there was going to be hell on earth with their family. Portia especially would be angry because there was no wedding and she didn’t get to be a part of it at all. Also, they really didn’t want to hear about making such a big decision drunk (’typical Julian’ they could hear almost everyone say and Odelia wasn’t really up to hearing it either since she said yes, thankyouverymuch), so they just didn’t tell anyone that they got married… for three years. It came out on accident. In fact, it was after Nadia and Portia had gotten married and signatures for a land purchase had to be written in their legal names and… well… busted.
So their vow renewal that they were forced into was loud, excessive, stressful and completely planned by Nadia and Portia and the two of them were merely dragged around, like Odelia had foreseen. Julian did like her dress though and loved taking the garter off, but for the most part would have rather just had a wild celebration at the Rowdy Raven with the scoundrels there. Odelia would have preferred to just keep going like they had been, but she will admit, Nadia has an excellent eye for men’s lingerie.
18. Any babies?
For the longest time, when people asked these two about if they were going to have a baby, Odelia would look at them and tell them ‘Julian’s the baby’. And, to be fair, when people asked Julian, he had no shame telling them ‘I’m the baby’. Or they would just defer to their multitude of pets as their ‘babies’. No intention of actually having children. However, because Odelia’s tribe are a close knit community, when a baby girl was born with some serious health issues that the mother couldn’t keep up with due to her own weakened state after the birth; it was the Devoraks to the rescue. The two of them were there for that baby’s every need until her mother was capable of taking care of her again.
The whole thing changed their thoughts on their current lifestyle. Without getting too into it, the two of them decided that if they had a baby, then they had a baby. They weren’t going to try for it, but they happy if it happened. They ended up with two boys pretty close together and got a huge surprise way down the line with a little girl. Dimitri, Nikolai, and Odette.
Though the two of them have taken other children, plucked out of the streets usually by Julian, into their homes and called them their own. And fostered a few children too. There were also a few newborns they adopted from Odelia’s tribe when the mothers died from complications in child birth. Julian loves babies, so even years down the line, when Odelia and him are too old to be having or raising an infant, he goes and helps babysit babies when their parents need some rest.
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Arafef: kisses in the snow
The chilly December wind blew through the alpine forest, as giant footsteps crunched through the snow. The 156 foot tall redblood smiled gently as she cradled her seadweller matesprite Feferi in her palm.
Feferi: Aradia im glubbing FR-EEZING!!!! Why did you want to go on a date in the middle of now)(ere 38T!
Aradia: don’t you think it's gorgeous out here? the ice covered trees, the snow in your hair?
Feferi: It’s absolutely beautiful glub, but my fins are turning into icicles!!!
Aradia: hmmm... do you think some kisses would warm you up 0u0 ?
Feferi: Yes, I t)(ink that would do just the trick! 38D
Aradia slowly moved her palm up to her face, careful not to jostle her tiny lover. With Aradia's palm flush with her lips, Feferi ran forward to embrace them, as Aradia's fingers cupped around her to protect her from falling. Feferi realized that Aradia's lips were unbelievably soft as she pressed her face and hands into them. It felt like falling into a warm, freshly made bed after a long day out in the cold, and laying your head on an incredibly plush pillow. Aradia puckered her lips around Feferi's head for an even more intense kiss. Feferi's cheeks were flushed with fuchsia as she buried her face deeper between aradia's lips.
As Feferi was savoring her kiss from Aradia, Aradia accidentally ended up savoring Feferi. She carelessly allowed her tongue to pass between her lips, unintentionally giving Feferi's face a small lick.
Feferi: )(e)(e, look out Aradia, you got my face all covered in saliva! 38P
Under normal kissing circumstances, getting some small tongue kisses might be expected, but things are very different when that tongue is roughly the size of a bus. Still, Feferi seemed to take it in stride, and the way she chuckled and smiled made aradia suspect that she enjoyed it. Despite this Aradia was careful to not let her tongue slip again, despite the fact that she really wanted to. As much as she didnt want to admit it to herself, Fef tasted absolutely delicious.
We all know the typical 4 flavors foods come in- salty, sour, sweet, and bitter. But Feferi was best described by a flavor often forgotten, umami- the flavor of mushrooms, tomatoes, and seafood. Umami detecting tastebuds cover a larger section of the tongue than all other flavors combined, making umami one of the most powerful flavors as a result.
With Aradia introduced to Feferi's delicious umami flavor she couldn't help but crave another taste of her small matesprite. Her mouth flooded with saliva as her mind flooded with thoughts of getting another lick. However, Aradia feared indulging her cravings could frighten her girlfriend. She held herself back, though her cheeks still flushed as deep red as her feelings for Feferi.
After Feferi enjoyed her giant kiss a bit longer she pulled back, sat down on Aradia's massive palm, and gave her a big smile. Aradia smiled back, and the two silently communicated their love for each other as they gazed into each other's eyes. The red blooded giantess began strolling through the snow once again, leaving footprints the size of a small house behind her. Aradia gently cupped Feferi to her chest in a loving embrace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Aradia strolled through the alpine landscape, she desperately tried to push the thought of how delectable Feferi was out of her head. Deep down, aradia was terrified of scaring her lover. Even though being god tier meant she could swallow Feferi and cough her up later without causing her any harm, Aradia knew she would never forgive herself if she frightened Feferi.
When Aradia first met her other friends in person in SGRUB all those years ago, and they discovered the secret of her size, many of them became afraid of her, even if they tried not to show it. Aradia could recount by memory every night she stayed up crying after that, fearing that her friends thought that she was a monster. Until the fateful night on the meteor that feferi found her sobbing in her room. The sound of Aradia's cries had apparently traveled through the vents of the meteor and reached Feferi's ears. Feferi had consoled Aradia, showed her that she wasn't afraid of her, that she didn't think she was a monster! The friendship between Aradia and Feferi deepened over those three years on the meteor and blossomed into a matespriteship. When they finally arrived on Earth-c they promised each other they would spend the rest of their lives together, but Aradia often feared that she would make a careless mistake and Feferi would think she was a monster just like Aradia thought all the others did.
Aradia held Feferi a little closer to her chest as these thoughts passed through her head.
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After roughly 30 minutes of walking through the winter landscape Feferi called out to Aradia.
Feferi: Aradia, i'm cold again!! 38I
Aradia: how? I've been holding you to my chest for the past half hour!
Feferi: Ok, i'll admit, it's warm. But I want WARMER, glub!
Aradia: would some more kisses interest you?
Feferi: T)(at sounds nice...
Feferi: But I think i )(ave a better idea, glub!
Aradia Awaited Feferi's idea but only received a plethora of eyebrow wiggles. She stared at fef for a few minutes confused until fef opened her mouth and pointed in. The eyebrow wiggles intensified.
Aradia: uh.. wha..i..um
Feferi: Oh come on, don't bother playing coy, i know you liked it when you got a taste of me earlier, and )(onestly who could blame you? 38P
Aradia's heart was pounding out of her chest, and yet she really didn't know why. Feferi had just told her that WANTED to indulge her craving, but Aradia still felt scared and embarrassed.
Feferi: Aradia, I know already. You've been jittery and blus)(ing constantly since you got that lick! Also, giving you a better taste would double as a nice way to keep warm and cozy!
Aradia: i...i.. alright
Aradia: you caught me, you taste delicious and i've been craving another taste since when I gave you kisses earlier.
Aradia: i... was just really afraid of scaring you.
Feferi: Aradia! you don't have to worry about stuff like that! Were both god tier and you know i am afraid of glubing NOT)(ing!!!
Aradia: i know, .. i just get so nervous.
Feferi: Aradia, i will always trust you, there is no reason to be nervous!!
Aradia:.. thank you, that.. that means a lot to me.
Aradia: alright, are you sure about this?
Feferi: YEA)(!!!!
Aradia brought her palm up to her lips once again, and opened wide.
Feferi stood before her lovers gargantuan maw, as fearless as ever.
Aradia slowly outstretched her tongue, giving Feferi a massive lick in the process. As saliva coated fef's face she laughed and gave Aradia a gleeful smile.
Truth be told, fef was enjoying this just as much as Aradia. Earlier that day when Aradia had licked her on accident Fef had realized how soft and warm Aradia's tongue was, and wondered what it would be like inside her mouth. She was absolutely loving this.
Aradia lowered her tongue onto her palm to allow Feferi to climb on. The tiny seadweller stepped onto her lovers outstretched tongue and laid down on it, sinking into the warm grey muscle. Feferi gently massaged Aradia's tongue as she rested her head onto it.
Aradia was in heaven.
She gently pulled her tongue back into her mouth, curling it up a bit to cradle feferi.
For Feferi, if getting those kisses earlier was like falling into bed, being pulled into Aradia's mouth was like climbing under the deliciously cozy sheets. The tongue was so plush and warm, saliva soaked her entire body, and Aradia's throat slowly pulsed as her warm breath swept through her mouth. With feferi entirely inside her mouth, Aradia closed her teeth together with a click, sealing Fef in the darkness of the expansive maw. But Feferi's seadweller eyes allowed her to see perfectly in the dark.
Aradia began to gently slosh Feferi around inside her mouth, savoring her delicious umami flavor. Occasionally Fef would give her tongue a massage and it was one of the best feelings in the world.
Inside the mouth Feferi was extremely relaxed despite being slohed around and tasted. It was like a full body massage, working out all the tension within her muscles. After a while the sloshing stopped and Aradia opened her mouth, a gust of cold winter air mingled with her warm, steamy breath.
Aradia: are you ready to be swallowed?
Feferi: Go a)(ead!
Aradia clicked her mouth closed once again, and Feferi shuffled around and dangled her legs into Aradia's throat, her head brushing against the uvula. Aradia's tongue rose up like a massive wave, pushing fef deeper into the throat. Aradia gulped a few times until fef slipped fully into her throat and the muscles of her escoughgas began to pull her down. The giantess traced the bulge Fef made on the way down with her finger.
Inside Aradia’s esophagus, the seadweller received an even more intense massage as she descended deeper into Aradia's body. After a while she arrived at the sphincter which opened to drop her into the stomach.
To Fef, Aradia's stomach was like a massive aquarium. Due to the conjunction of her unique biology and being godteir, Aradia's stomach contained only warm water. Feferi swam around playfully, jumping in and out of the water like a dolphin before getting tired and drifting off to sleep in the back float position.
With Feferi safe inside her stomach Aradia sat down on a nearby rock ledge and patted her stomach. She could feel Feferi playfully swimming around inside her. Aradia closed her eyes and fell asleep, satiated with the knowledge that Feferi would always love and trust her.
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Could we get more headcanons on the clans from you? Like if each one has their own tradition, myths, apprentice tests, or anything else?
Hmmm. I’ll try and dump some, lol - my headcanons fluctuate and change but I really do like the Clan focus headcanons I came up with yesterday so here’s some stuff to go along with that. Not every Clan has an equal amount of headcanons since… there’s five of them, lol; it’s hard at times to come up with distinct stuff.
This is very long! I am sorry!
WindClan
They chart the stars! WindClan cats have named constellations and have their own personal “zodiac”, believing cats born under certain stars will behave as those stars command.
WindClan boasts a great number of significant ancient cats - Moth Wing, Gray Wing, Windstar, etc - so they take great pride in their faith and history! They see the moor as the birthplace of the Clans, and WindClan as the first real Clan (SkyClan disagrees, lol). To them, Gray Wing was the first cat to walk Silverpelt, and may be Silverpelt itself.
WindClan cats are the closest to the Tribe in their traditions - they carry over the casting of stones and the sharing of prey, along with always having a sharp-eyed Clanmate in a patrol to keep an eye out for hawks.
They value sight! A cat’s ability to see great distances is key in WindClan, and its part of a cat’s warrior assessment to pick out and describe objects that are far away (shown in Tallstar’s Revenge).
WindClan cats sleep under the stars in all but the worst weather - their camp is very small and open. It’s said that Shattered Ice, the first tunneler, connected all the tunnels underneath WindClan’s camp in order to keep cats warm in leaf-bare - all that remains now are the very beginnings of those tunnels, which serve as the WindClan cats’ dens.
Though tunneling is outlawed, some young WindClan cats, full of elder’s stories, sometimes venture into the old tunnels, claiming to hear a voice calling to them. Sometimes they are never heard from again. This still occurs by the lake, and Jayfeather of ThunderClan suspects that it is Rock, calling for young cats to prove themselves.
I base WindClan cats off of long-legged, lean breeds - most notably Oriental Shorthairs. They have an “otherworldly” beauty to them.
RiverClan
It’s said that drowning under ice traps a spirit under the water for eternity. Queens tell kits not to wander near the river before they’re too old to swim or else one of these water-lost cats will drag them under. It’s likely just a cautionary story, but who knows?
RiverClan cats know the most about herb-lore and caring for plants. Living so close to the river makes it easy for RiverClan medicine cats to grow their own gardens, and plants grow lush in their soil. RiverClan medicine cats brought the idea of gardens to other Clans, but the method only really worked well in ThunderClan, whose soil conditions were similar to RiverClan’s.
RiverClan cats collect stones and shells and things that wash up from the river. They decorate their nests, but most importantly, RiverClan cats give these items as gifts to good friends or mates in order to help seal their bond.
RiverClan carries over the casting of stones from the Tribe, though its only used in dire straits. RiverClan has only one set of casting stones, said to have been chosen by Gray Wing and Riverstar themselves.
RiverClan cats, valuing knowledge, are always quite curious. It tends to get them into trouble - more RiverClan cats tends to get carried away by Twolegs than even ThunderClanners; but who’s to say they hadn’t wanted to go, just to see what it was like?
RiverClan apprentices usually compete in swimming competitions in newleaf and greenleaf, and the winner always gets the fattest fish on the fresh-kill pile.
Being overweight in RiverClan is not seen as a bad thing, especially in winter, when the cats don’t swim for fear of catching cold (and drowning). RiverClan cats tend to huddle around the fattest of their number in order to keep warm in the leaf-bare, and they pack their dens with snow in order to trap heat even further.
RiverClan cats are large and thick, mainly Maine Coons but there are Ragdolls and Ragamuffins in there as well. They are considered the most attractive of all the Clan cats.
ShadowClan
ShadowClan cats love to pick fights, especially young ones. They’ll often argue over borders for only the pure pleasure of the argument, much to the annoyance of the other Clans. An antsy ShadowClan cat is very easy to whip into a fighting frenzy. ShadowClan apprentices do not become warriors until they can fend off two warriors at once.
Scars are hugely honored in ShadowClan! Cats with the most scars have seen the most fights, and survived to fight on. An apprentice with a very scarred mentor is almost always looked at to be the best fighter in that generation of apprentices.
ShadowClan cats don’t have webbed paws, but they do have the widest paws of all the Clan cats - which makes it easy not to sink in their boggy territory.
Cats often fight one another over the last scraps of prey - the only exceptions are the elders, queens, kits, and medicine cats. To the winner goes the spoils! It’s not uncommon to see even the best of friends quarrel over prey, only to share it when all’s said and done.
Mates will often battle one another to keep themselves sharp. It’s a romantic sort of thing that none of the other Clans understand at all. Sometimes courtship even involves the two potential mates fighting one another - it’s always in good fun, and many ShadowClan cats know exactly which scars came from their mates.
ShadowClan cats are often considered the “ugliest” of the Clan cats, especially by WindClan and ThunderClan. Their long, protruding fangs don’t help. They are also the most isolated Clan besides SkyClan, sharing no borders with any other Clan. Their humor is crass and mean where other Clans are concerned, and their attitudes hardly endear them to others, meaning that not many other Clans have ShadowClan blood.
ShadowClan’s very nature makes it susceptible to rebellion. ShadowClan leaders have to be strong-willed in order to control their boisterous Clanmates.
WindClan legends state that Shadowstar was a brutish fighter like all other ShadowClan cats - that she was banished beyond the Thunderpath to keep the other Clans safe from ShadowClan’s brutal nature. ShadowClan cats, however, believe that Shadowstar just thought the other Clans were nosy and annoying.
Like SkyClan and RiverClan, ShadowClan does occasionally pick up outsiders from Twolegplace to bolster their ranks.
ShadowClan cats invented pawspeak - mostly as a means to silently plan ambushes or their night-hunting, but it has evolved into an aid for deaf cats of all Clans.
ShadowClan medicine cats are trained as warriors alongside their medicine cat training. They’re not trained as extensively as a warrior would be, but they keep their skills sharp.
ShadowClan cats are short, with wide paws and faces, and nearly all boast flattened muzzles - I base them off of British Shorthairs and Persian-style cats.
ThunderClan
ThunderClan apprentices don’t earn their warrior names until they prove their hunting prowess. Some notable cats back in the day earned their warrior names by hunting the adders at Snakerocks, a practice which was stopped by an old leader, as it lead to many kittens losing their lives.
ThunderClan cats value warrior blood - it was extremely taboo to take mates from outside the Clans. Cats with parents from two Clans at least had two Clanborn parents! This idea slowly faded with time, and Firestar helped eliminate it completely.
Often, when two cats go hunting alone together, it’s assumed they’re courting, or very good friends. It’s not uncommon to be teased for only asking one warrior to come hunting!
RiverClan might have the knowledge and the fertile soil, but ThunderClan boasts the widest variety of herbs on their land.
ThunderClan cats have the deepest respect for their elders, and the stories that they tell. ThunderClan elders often come up with epic Aesop stories to keep the apprentices in line! They’re one of the few Clans that speak of the Dark Forest.
ThunderClan often has the largest population of all the Clans - this is often tested in leaf-bare, however. ThunderClan always has cases of greencough that thins their numbers.
ThunderClan cats are various short-haired breeds, but Maine Coons can sneak their way in. They are considered conventionally attractive.
ThunderClan, for some reason, is proving really hard to create headcanons for? Maybe it’s because they’re so oversaturated and fleshed out in the main series, idk.
SkyClan (old and modern)
Thanks to SkyClan’s isolation in both eras, their humor is nearly indecipherable. Think boomers trying to understand millennial or gen-z humor. The other Clans have given up at this point.
Old SkyClan kept to themselves, thus a lot of their traditions were unknown - however, other Clans often reported seeing lone apprentices wandering the woods, looking hungry and tired. They’d be seen again with their warrior names at the next Gathering. SkyClan apprentices would often spend days out alone in the forest - no warrior or other member of SkyClan were allowed to interact with them.
Though ShadowClan loved battles, no Clan was more fierce in defending their borders than SkyClan - SkyClan borders were almost always fully closed to the other Clans, unless medicine cats got involved. It made SkyClan seem selfish and a nightmare to deal with, so most Clans didn’t bother asking for favors. This lead to the lack of favor that put SkyClan out of their territory when the Twolegs came.
Modern SkyClan is not so isolated - but they do have a hard time adjusting to so many cats.
Modern SkyClan’s warrior assessment is nowhere near as harsh as the old SkyClan’s - their apprentices only spend a full day and night out alone in the forest, and all apprentices of their generation can work together if they choose.
Modern SkyClan celebrates family - newborn kits are always worthy of a celebrations and feasting. Modern SkyClan leaders never fail to greet new kits.
Loners, rogues, and kittypets who join SkyClan nowadays are assigned “kin” to help them in their transitional period. These “kin” act like littermates or even parents, and ensure the new cats are acclimated. More often than not these “kin” become just as good as blood kin to these new cats.
Modern SkyClan families remain constantly close. Alongside warriors and apprentice’s dens, SkyClan has family dens - dens that families create with one another and live in. It’s not uncommon for apprentices to stay in a family den with their parents until they become warriors.
Old SkyClan’s isolation made the prone to inbreeding - to combat this, SkyClan cats would recruit kittypets, loners, or rogues from Twolegplace into their Clan. This practice made SkyClan even more alien to the other Clans and widened the gulf between them.
Both old and modern SkyClan cats cast stones to make important decisions, like whether or not to ask for help from other Clans or find the Clans by the lake.
Like ShadowClan, SkyClan medicine cats were often trained as warriors as well, in order to help better heal and defend their Clan. It was one of the few things SkyClan had in common with ShadowClan.
SkyClan cats have the distinctive trait of back legs that are longer than their front legs. This trait has lessened over time, but some modern SkyClan cats do boast slightly longer back legs. They are often always short-haired breeds. There were hardly long-haired SkyClan cats, but now they’re starting to crop up.
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Wind and Fire: Fire and Ice - Prologue
Read on Ao3
The distinguishment between a good decision and a bad one is often a hard one to make, especially if one doesn’t have much experience with being forced into a situation where they must decide whether they would do something life-altering, or leave the idea to die and crumble away.
It could be argued that some ideas, especially big ones, never die, and it is up to whoever it is in question that must make such a bold decision whether the idea is dead if it is never acted upon.
While being able to find the difference between a good and a bad decision may seem something that symbolizes wiseness in someone, there was the argument of, “who is to decide where the line between these two opposites lie?”
In reality, this line was fuzzy- perhaps something could be done, and although it has an outrageously good response, there might be someone who is affected negatively by whatever is done, even if is from sort of a long line of reactions, and, truthfully, it isn’t much of the entity in question’s fault if they don’t guess someone completely unrelated to the issue will be affected badly. If one were to bring up the idea that someone who has no relation whatsoever to the issue at hand might be tossed into some disastrous spiral, they would be seen as paranoid.
But in the moment where one must make the decision of taking that risk, all the details enlarge themselves, all the “what-ifs” and the “but-then-whats” become a tree in the eyes of a termite.
Oh, and guess what? There is a troubled soul traversing a snowy moor, accompanied by his friend, with this entire storm of questions raging in his mind.
The tom in question, an average-sized, scruffy grey one, kept glancing over nervously at his friend, a skinny and lean black tom.
He had agreed to help out his friend, but at what cost? How would he explain his friend’s sudden absence? Would he have to say that the young tom had perished in a border skirmish? It seemed likely that he would have to do something of that nature if he wanted to keep the whole situation a secret.
But keeping that secret would mean lying- lying to both his friends and his superiors. And what for? The unproven hunch that his friend so persistently insisted on?
Even then, if he did go through with lying, saying it was a border skirmish would result in unwanted tension, perhaps even a need for unnecessary vengeance amongst his Clanmates.
But now it was too late.
The grey tom had already agreed to help out his friend, and there was no going back.
Not if he wanted to stay loyal to one of his few friends in his Clan.
But then- would rumors spread? Would the blame be placed solely on the grey tom for the small, meek apprentice suddenly vanishing?
In the eyes of his Clanmates, all they’d know is that the grey tom and his friend had left camp, gone out hunting, and suddenly the grey tom arrived back alone, claiming that his friend was killed, without having any proof to show that such a thing had happened in the first place.
But it was too late.
Much too late.
And the grey tom knew that.
So, really, what was the bother of panicking over it?
Should he give in, accept the possibility that something bad would happen, and he could do nothing to change it or reverse his actions if such a thing were to happen?
It seemed the wisest decision in that moment.
“They must have been gone for awhile,” the grey tom spoke up, finally, after a long, tense silence between the two that had lasted for most of their journey. “I can hardly smell WindClan here at all.”
“Hmmm…” The black tom was quiet, seeming in a daze from all the recent events. “One can only hope that nothing awful happened.”
“More awful than what we already know happened, you mean?”
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
The silence returned, and one of the two were grateful for this.
That is, this silence lasted till the black tom spotted a shape in the distance.
“Greypaw,” he said airily to get the grey tom’s attention.
“Hm?” Greypaw asked, following the black tom’s gaze to see the shape he was looking at.
“What do you think that is?”
Greypaw squinted. If memory served him right… “I saw that barn on my way back from the Moonstone. The cat who lives there saved us from some trouble with rats. He seemed friendly.”
The black tom frowned. “Is it worth checking out?”
Greypaw shrugged. “I suppose. There’s plenty of food there, and it’s fairly warm.” When his friend didn’t respond, he continued. “Hey… maybe you could stay there.”
This caught the black tom’s attention. “You think the cat who lives there would let me?”
“No harm in checking to see. I doubt he’d try to attack us.”
And so, that was how the two decided to check out the abandoned barn.
The two trekked the final lengths of the field, until they were just outside WindClan territory, and the barn was right up in front of the two.
While the black tom seemed more hesitant to enter, Greypaw easily padded in, somewhat relieved for the lack of snow and cold weather inside of the barn. His friend followed a bit more tentatively. Greypaw was instantly relieved of how warm it was inside, and as he shot a glance at his friend, it seemed that Ravenpaw thought the same thing.
The two quickly spotted the cat they were looking for; he was fairly plump, chewing on a mouse atop a pile of hay in the corner of the barn. He was mostly white, with some faded black spots and splats on his unruly and dirt-filled fur.
The cat in question also spotted them quickly.
The black-and-white cat seemed to briefly tense, getting up, before recognition flashed in his eyes. “You- your names… I’ve met you two before, right?”
Greypaw nodded. “I’m Greypaw, and this is Ravenpaw. You helped the two of us, Tigerclaw, and our leader, Bluestar, when we were attacked by rats. I believe your name is Barley, correct?”
Barley nodded, jumping down from his perch atop the stack of hay. “Well, what brings you two here? Is there anything Bluestar needs help with?”
Greypaw glanced at Ravenpaw, lifting a brow. He assumed that the small black tom would want to tell his own story.
After a brief moment of encouragement from Greypaw, Ravenpaw began to explain his predicament.
“Well, as you know, I’m an apprentice in ThunderClan. My mentor, Tigerclaw- you’ve met him before- well, I saw him do something. Something… really bad. I think I saw him- he- well, he killed someone. No one believes me, of course, since he’s a senior warrior and really respected… but- but he did do it. And I know he knows that I know he did it. I think he’s planning to do something to me- no, I don’t think, I know.” Ravenpaw paused to breathe. “I think he’s going to kill me if he thinks I’m going to say anything, so I felt… unsafe. Please understand. I… I hate to ask this of you… but I really need to get out of ThunderClan…” he trailed off.
Barley digested this information, before blinking. “You’re asking to stay here?”
Ravenpaw hung his head low, before nodding guiltily.
Barley chuckled at Ravenpaw’s embarrassment, before shaking his head. “No need for the sour look. Of course you can stay here. I have more food than I’ll ever need in this barn, so there's no harm in sharing it with someone. Maybe it’ll mean days will be less boring, too.”
Ravenpaw gaped, seeming confused. “Wait, really? Is- are there any special terms I need to agree to?”
Barley seemed to think to himself, before shrugging. “Yeah, really. And other than, y’know, not hurting me, I can’t think of any sort of terms I’d like you to agree to. This place is plenty big to have more than me living in it.”
Ravenpaw let out a gasp of relief, before nodding. “Thank you, thank you so much. I was worried I’d have to live in the forest as a rogue or something…”
“No need to thank me. Feel free to go and catch something to eat, or find a place to sleep. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Ravenpaw nodded, thanking Barley again, before heading deeper into the barn.
“Now, you, Greypaw.” Barley turned his gaze to the grey tom in question.
“Huh?”
“Why are you here? Would you like to eat something?” Barley sat down, giving Greypaw a curious look.
“Oh. Oh! No, no. I just came here to escort Ravenpaw. I really have to go, actually.”
“Where, if I may ask?”
Greypaw shifted in the spot where he sat. “Brokenstar- the leader of ShadowClan- drove out WindClan. I’m heading to retrieve them and bring them back.”
Barley seemed momentarily shocked, before letting out a sad sigh. “I was wondering why the moors have been so empty. But… you’re going alone?”
Greypaw nodded. “I left without a word to anyone. Bluestar doesn’t know I’m doing this.”
Barley nodded. “Very well. I’m guessing that’s a no to the meal?”
Greypaw dipped his head. “Yeah, I want to head away as soon as possible.”
“Understandable. However… I believe I can be of at least a bit of help.”
“Hm?”
Barley padded out of the barn, and Greypaw followed curiously. “I saw them leaving. I thought it was just a large patrol, but I suppose it must’ve been them.” The tom lifted his tail to point in a particular direction. “They went that way. All of them were deathly terrified. I considered checking if they were okay, but they were all gone before I could even approach them.”
Greypaw dipped his head in respect. “Thank you. And… thank you for taking in Ravenpaw, too. He needed it.”
"Of course," Barley replied. "And good luck on your mission to bring WindClan back. You'll definitely need it."
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The Rose & The Brute || CH.2
Snow swirled up and around them as bitter winds dug into them with icy nails reaching the bone. It had been a month, Gabriel had waited until the last minute to give up his son, to take the freedom his son so greatly deserved away from him. What surprised him most was how willingly Kit had come with all the talk of wanting to someday travel, see the world, to have him go to what would likely be the rest of his life was terrifying for Gabriel. The fact that there was a likely chance he would never see the boy he had raised gripped at his heart. Standing before the great gates of the palace he looked to the young man feeling a swell of pride in his chest but also that fear rising again. Was it too late? Could he possibly by him time to run for it? Tell him to flee away from here, live out his life elsewhere? Surely this Beast wouldn’t search out the whole world for this? Perhaps in time his Son would be let free? Why would this beast only want his son and not him?
Entering the palace gave Gabriel a familiar yet unfamiliar sight, the darkened castle now stood illuminated and the whole place looked much better kept than the last time. Gabriel looked around, “Well this is where he said you shall live and stay my son.”
Kit looked to his Father then the finery around them, he could imagine worse places to live, a cage however gilded was still a cage though. It was different from the village though, it was away from Drake. Though there was others he was leaving behind that brought sorrow to him. “I’ll be alright Father,” He told him. Trying to assure through smiles and words that all seemed hollow as the sound of encroaching footsteps beyond in the palace.
“The master of the palace approaches,” Gabriel told him. “Whatever you see my Son know that I am sorry, he gave his word that you would not become his meal.”
“If this is the only way to ensure your safety Father I’ll live out my days here.” Kit smiled softly.
“You say that sweet boy,” Gabriel reached up and cupped the gentle cheek searching those green eyes for what he feared was the last time. He wanted to remember the young man he had raised. “But you have not seen him, you have not seen them.”
Kit was going to ask but his eyes caught the movement of their approaching Host and the sight was more than most would bear. A lesser man would have called out many would have screamed at the sight. The being stood at eight feet at the very least, horns came twisting from its head beneath which swirled and burned two great orbs that served for its eyes. Hair the color of fire flowed down from the head and seemed to move with an energy all it’s own. When it opened it’s mouth fangs that easily tore flesh were revealed, and when one looked longer one realized that fire was barely contained within the beast. Scars littered the hide beneath a shirt that had been placed upon it Kit swallowed and made a bow. “Your Grace.”
“Manners,” The Beast brusquely. “How unusual, my last visitor was in need of them.”
“You get many visitors my Lord?” Kit asked standing fixing the Beast with those eyes, like a garden lush with life.
The Beast let out a terrible laugh moving between them, “No, but then again not many would live to visit again.”
“You gave me your word that he would live here,” Gabriel said not liking the tone the conversation had taken.
“So I did, not that you will remain here to find out just how he will live.” The Beast opened the door as unseen forces grasped Gabriel dragging him from the palace.
“Wait!” Kit helplessly moved towards his Father. “Please!”
The Beast looked at Kit and what one could only view as an eyebrow raised silently bid him speak.
“If I’m not to see my Father again, might I at least say goodbye?” Kit asked.
“Have you not spent the last month saying such things?” The Beast asked him.
“Please,” Kit’s eyes filled with tears as the force that pulled Gabriel away ceased moving. Kit took the moment and ran to his Father pulling him into his arms and holding him.
“My Son, my Son, be brave,” Gabriel ran his hand through the curls as he had all those years ago when soothing the little one when a bad dream had woken him. “Be brave.”
“I will be Father, because you raised me that way.” Kit murmured. “I love you.”
“I love you Kit.” Gabriel hugged him. “I love you.” The force began pulling him away again.
Kit followed until the door closed between them keeping them apart as he sank to his knees his hand pressed to the door shoulders heaving with heavy sobs. When the sobbing had ceased Kit looked up at The Beast seeing that it watched him inquisitively he stood running a hand over his cheeks to brush the tears away. “So that’s it then? I’m here to be your play thing until you have no further use of me?”
“In ways yes,” The Beast walked to him cupping Kit’s chin with a claw clearly examining him. “A pretty face such as yours shouldn’t be marred with tears.”
Kit resisted the urge to move from The Beast’s touch. “Then perhaps you shouldn’t cause the need for them.”
“Hmmm,” The Beast mused but said nothing more turning from him and making it’s way to where it had come from.
Kit watched it leave not daring to move, should he follow? What would happen if he did?
The Beast turned and looked at him, “If you wish to sleep by the door then by all means stay there, but I think you will find it more comfortable to rest in the room prepared for your stay.”
“You make it sound temporary,” Kit swallowed not moving. “You promised I would live.”
“And how you live is up to you so long as you stay here in the palace or on the grounds.” The Beast waved dismissively. “I grow tired of waiting, are you following or not? My patience only wears so thin.”
“Is that why this palace is so empty?” Kit asked. “Is that what happens to those that try your patience?”
The Beast studied him for a while. “There are many reasons as to why this palace is so empty, that is one of them.” He admitted. “Now come or stay, I no longer care.” He turned.
Kit stayed only a moment more looking back at the door as worry for his Father’s travels came to mind. He looked to the beast then took a steeling breath of courage and followed after The beast. He had no desire to sleep on the cold floor of the entrance of a castle let alone deny the Host further. The palace was gorgeous filigree of gold added opulence, marble stateliness, and mahogany an air of luxury. How a Beast had come by such trappings was beyond what Kit could comprehend. He had been to many palaces when helping his Father but none, absolutely none were like this.
Above in the ceiling was painted various constellations, planets, and other celestial bodies of the night. Plush rugs carefully made by those who lived thousands of miles from here crushed under his feet softening the padding of his steps. Paintings decorated the walls, busts of various men and women lined a few of the halls as they moved deeper and deeper into the interior. Winding up a great stair case and passed many doors all of which begged to be opened and their contents known. How the Beast managed to know their way through without getting lost Kit doubted he would only know in time.
The Beast had noticed the silence in his guest, at last he paused and looked noticing how easily distracted Kit was. He couldn’t help but feel a tug of amusement as he watched Kit turn around examining his new surroundings. “This is just a meager palace.” Hades told him.
“A meager palace?” Kit’s voice was incredulous. “This is grander than any palace I have ever seen!”
The Beast couldn’t help his tone of disbelief, “You’ve seen many palaces?”
“My Father, he-” Kit’s voice cut out as the realization hit him again that he would never see the man again.
“He?” The Beast intoned.
“He has dressed many nobles, royals, and the like. Our fabrics are demanded by many.”
“Merchants?” The company he had to keep, it was better than none, but nothing like the Pashas, the Emperors, and Czars of the days of yore.
“Yes, we earn our money by selling fine silks, cottons, and the like, though.” Kit started then shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“Indeed,” The Beast watched him a moment more, when Kit didn’t continue he gestured to a door producing a key and holding it out to Kit. “Your apartments.”
Kit looked to the key held out to him then took it unlocking the door and pushing it forward he was greeted with a similar sight of luxury as that which he had seen before the theme of these apartments though were a soft cream and pastel green. Entering Kit spun staring at that which was his to live in, There was a room beyond with a bed, another room to dress in, a room that could easily be a study. “This is! Amazing!” Kit couldn’t help the smile. “I- Thank you.” Kit said calming down a bit. “This is lovelier than any place I have ever lived.”
The Beast would be denying the truth to say that smile wasn’t already lovelier than anything he had ever seen. “Well I would hate for you to be disappointed.” A breath of silence, “Dinner will be at sundown.”
“Dinner?” Kit raised a brow.
“Yes dinner,” The Beast said. “Be there or you shall not eat at all.” With that the Beast left.
Kit frowned, “I see.” He studied his new place to live as he felt a wave of exhaustion he fell back on the bed only to realize his eyes had been closed far longer as he awoke to darkness. Sitting up sharply Kit hurried down the stairs only to realize he had no idea where he was going. He felt fear and panic as he turned and looked around. He was lost, lost, LOST! He fell back against a wall and sobbed softly.
A soft chiming sound filled his ear and he could have sworn a kind voice was heard too.“Try not to fret too much dear boy.”
Kit looked up and nearly cried out as he saw the clock at his feet. “Who?” He moved to pick up the clock.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, he’s very peculiar about anyone touching him.” A voice slithered into his ear.
“Wh-”
“Oh Crowley you’re frightening him.” The kinder voice chided.
“No more than you are,” The second voice crooned.
“Oh hush! Now then dear boy why are you crying?”
“I’m lost,” Kit said. “He-he said to be there for dinner at sundown, it is passed sundown, and I realized that even if it weren’t I wouldn’t know how to find where dinner was being held.”
“Oh now that is quite the problem.” The kind voice chimed again.
“One we can give a solution too!”
Kit looked at the candelabra and the clock and could have sworn that they were the sources of the voices. “Are you both a clock and a candelabra?”
“Yes, well not really, you see it all started with-”
“Aziraphale!”
“Yes Crowley I’m trying to tell this charming young-oh right.”
“So I’m not hallucinating?”
“No dear boy,” The clock named Aziraphale said.
“But we understand why you’d think that,” Crowley the Candelabra added. “Now then why don’t we tempt you to a bite to eat?”
“He said I won’t if I don’t show up for dinner.” Kit told them.
“What he doesn’t know won’t do any harm.” Crowley said the candelabra slithering down from the mantel place taking the clock with it.
“Though we should be quiet about it, the Master is rather ill tempered.”
“Besides how I see it if he wanted you to show up for dinner, he ought to have specified where dinner was, not just when.” Crowley continued as he moved along.
“But if he finds out-” Kit began.
“That we were eating and invited you to join us? Well he knows if anyone it is rude to refuse something offered to you.” Crowley smiled. “You are our guest.”
The clock moved as well, “Indeed you are right Crowley I think with not having had a guest in so long the Master has forgotten how to host. He’ll get better in no time. Now then won’t you be our guest?”
-
“MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMA!” Juliet a tiny teacup called out. “MAMA! MAMA! Look there’s a pretty boy here!” She was now heard to be giggling.
“Not so loud my love, you’ll wake the Master and then we’ll get the night of our lives if we haven’t already.” Jane was heard softly chiding the small cup from her tea pot form.
“Aww but Mama! He is pretty!”
“Yes pretty indeed, pretty brave,” Jane corrected. “Not just pretty on the eyes.”
“Brave?” Kit asked.
“Yes it takes a bold person to just give up their life they’ve known and jump into a new way of living. Let alone standing tall to the Master, I know he’s not what anyone would be expecting but after you look at him long enough you may come to realize his appearance isn’t completely disarming.”
“Just his attitude.” Kit said. “Forgive me.”
“No it serves saying, Will would often remark as such.”
“Will?”
“My husband, he-he’s probably forgotten....” Jane admitted.
“Papa forgot us?” Juliet sniffed.
Jane remembered, “Oh no dear I think he just got lost getting to the palace. Probably found a flower and started making a bouquet around it for us. When he is finished he’ll be here.” She couldn’t let her loss of hope reach her daughter.
“Oh!” Juliet said.
“This wouldn’t be Will of the Village just on the other side of the woods?”
“The Bookshop keeper?”
“Yes,” Kit said.
“Oh that’s my William!” Jane would have grinned.
“You know Papa!” Juliet asked Kit.
“Why yes I do,” Kit answered the tiny cup.
“That makes us friends! Mama! I made a friend!”
“That is wonderful dear!” Jane cooed encouragingly to Juliet. “I suppose you are hungry?”
“Famished.”
“Well then this should help fill you,” Aziraphale said besides Crowley standing at the door way to the dining chamber.
Kit stood from where he had been waiting with Jane and Juliet, walking into the very well lit room he was greeted with the sight of more food than he had ever seen in his life. “This is enough to feed the whole village for a feast!”
“We thought we’d pull out all the stops.” Aziraphale smiled.
“Aziraphale couldn’t decide what you would want to eat so he decided a bit of everything would do well enough.” Crowley added.
Kit’s eyes widened as he walked along the table wondering where he should start? There was tarts filled with various fruits, creams, and even savory fillings. Cakes with multiple layers, trifles too, other desert delicacies were arrayed on trays. Roasts of various animals trimmed up, A great trout in a cream sauce, a dish of gravy to pour over whatever he desired. Kit’s eyes widened further, how had all this come to be in this room? “I don’t know where to begin.”
“Oh!” Aziraphale said getting up where he could see. “Try that! The lobster, it is in a lemon butter sauce! Delicious. Oh the grapes are absolutely scrummy!” So he continued on and on giving Kit ideas till Kit’s stomach ached from how much food he had consumed.
“How about a cup of tea to see you off to bed?” Jane asked as she neared him in her tea pot form. “Something warm for the dreams to come.”
Juliet came up to him next, “It’s herbal sweet cinnamon, mama says that it gives good dreams!”
Kit smiled and took a sip. “Oh that is delightful! Thank you little Juliet and thank you Jane. All of you really, I think that this has really helped me this first night.” He felt sleepy. “I think I’ll turn in!”
“Mind how you go,” Aziraphale called.
“Don’t let the demons bite!”
“If you need more tea you know where to find us dear!”
“Night, night! Sleep well! Mama, did you see he looks like a Fairytale!”
“He does my darling,” Jane told her daughter. “Now it is off to bed, with you and I, sleep is a wonderful idea!”
“Yes Mama,” Juliet followed.
Dreams came to Kit, pleasant perhaps that tea was something to drink before bed more often!
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TCSE AU Chapter 12:
Waking up early was something Ruby was never a fan of. Especially when the freezing temps of winter arrive. Ruby woke up with her blankets scrunched up at her toes, leaving the rest of her exposed to the cold air in the room. It was still pitch black, no light in anywhere in the room other than a slight red hue. She checked the clock down below on the bookcase, the red numbers almost too dull to be legible. They really needed to change the batteries.
“It’s only 2? Then why on Remnant did I wake up so early?” she mumbled to herself.
Grabbing the blankets at her feet, she pulled them over her body. The sheets were freezing cold, causing Ruby to shiver furiously. It didn’t take long for her to warm up, her semblance being able to speed up the process. However, she couldn’t go back to sleep. Try as she might, her mind was wide awake.
There was no use in trying, so she might as well plan out the day. Glynda had announced a few days ago that the newbies would join their sparring class today. Ruby wished she’d go against Neptune to teach him a lesson. But what are the odds of that happening?
Speaking of Neptune, she was glad she now knew the location of his living quarters. The dance was one day away, the plan her friends had come up with would soon be put into action. Jaune and Pyrrha were assigned to watch the dance. Ren and Nora would watch above the nearest street to Beacon. Blake and Sun would watch the apartment complex entrance. Yang was assigned to keep Ruby company until it was time to go.
She wasn’t sure how it was to go down, especially since she didn’t make the plan—which she was very used to doing. There was one thing that really stuck in Ruby’s mind however, a word of advice Sun had told her after their plan was devised.
“You’re gonna have to wait it out. Go in too early and Weiss might not trust you the way she did.”
She understood this clearly. If she had gone with Neptune doing absolutely nothing, Weiss would inevitably take Neptune’s side and most likely never end up with her. Because the dance pushed curfew back to 10:30, Ruby would have to wait until after that. Weiss always knows about curfew, never staying out even one second after it hits. So if things go wrong that night, everyone would know immediately.
Or at least those who helped Ruby.
Suddenly, she felt waves of drowsiness come to rescue her. Her eyes felt droopy, slowly closing all by themselves. Her mind was now calmer, soon there was absolutely nothing to think about. And just like that, she had fallen asleep.
————
When the alarm started going off, Ruby sat up, stretching her arms and legs. She felt quite refreshed, although still a little sleepy. She had just woken up, the sleep had not yet been shaken off. Lifting the white privacy blanket that covered her bed, she jumped down below, landing in the same spot she had always been landing on. She remembered during the first few days of Beacon, she would nearly land on Weiss because of their lack of communication. Both of them had learned which side would be occupied during wake up hour. Weiss would scoot to her left, closer to the bookcase, while Ruby would land on the right, closer to their desks on the wall.
As her feet touched the ground, she immediately heard the groans of her sister, who absolutelt hated mornings.
“Right on que,” Ruby said quietly. She thought no one else had heard it until she noticed Blake’s smile.
“You’re most definitely right about that, Ruby.”
The four girls began their morning routine, Ruby taking the first shower today. The other three ironed their uniforms, ironing Ruby’s in the process.
Within a few more minutes, the young leader was out of the bathroom with a towel to cover her body. Her hair was still slightly wet, but shook her head like a dog to dry it. Weiss entered the bathroom next, Blake to be the following.
About half an hour later, the team of huntresses were ready for class. Grimm Biology with Professor Port, one of the worst professors in Beacon. Although there were important lessons in his stories on encountering Grimm, he merely spoke of himself and how he always barely escaped with a toothbrush and a stick for his weapons. None of the students bought it, for obvious reasons, but that didn’t stop him.
Sparring class would come after that. Ruby was excited for that, ready to show the newbies the true Ruby Rose that the whole world has apparently been rumoring about.
“So are we all ready to go? Weapons sharpened and such?” Ruby asked, repeating the same question since the beginning of Beacon.
They all replied with a hasty ‘yes ma’am’ and proceeded to their first class of the day. Of course they’d have to have their breakfast first. Team JNPR had decided to join them, exchanging morning greetings amongst each other. Ruby was positive this day would be a good one until—
“Hey Snow Angel.”
Ruby immediately felt disturbed as she watched the blue-headed dumbass snaked his arm around Weiss’ waist. Yang rubbed Ruby’s shoulders as if she was preparing Ruby for a fight.
“You’ll get your chance, Tiger. Just take it easy for now.”
With a sigh, she knew her sister was right. She shouldn’t let these emotions out. Not just yet anyway.
“What am I supposed to do about them then? I hate seeing him. Absolutely hate it.” Ruby said, crossing her arms.
“Hmmm...I guess you could keep thinking he’s an ass. Bottle up the feelings and save it for him. That’s what I tend to do.” Yang replied.
“But i don’t just think he’s an ass. He is an ass.”
“Valid. But isn’t that just another reason to save the emotions? Let him have it when he deserves it?”
Blake tapped Ruby’s shoulder, the younger girl turning her head to meet the gaze of her book-loving friend. “I suggest proving your point without exposing yourself. Do it subtly.”
“How would I do that?”
“You’ve seen that one movie, right? I can’t remember the name, but it was about a dad who wanted to see his kids but had to dress up as their nanny?”
Yang snapped her fingers as a sign of recognition. “Oh, I know what you’re talking about! Gosh, I don’t remember the name either, but Ruby and I have most definitely seen it.”
“Great. So you remember that one scene where he throws a lime at the boyfriend’s head? Do something like that and play it out.” If there was one thing Blake enjoyed doing other than reading, it would be helping Ruby. She saw Ruby as the younger sister she never had, wanting to love and cherish her like an older sister would. But of course she’d be more mature than Yang while doing so.
“I think it’s a great idea!” Yang said with a grin. “He won’t have a clue, especially with your sneakiness.”
Ruby thought about what Blake had recommended. She was great at lying if she did say so herself. She’s hidden the real burden of the silver eye thing from Yang for ages, but then again, Yang was pretty gullible. Regardless, there was no harm in trying. No harm to herself at least.
Now that they were out of the dorm building, they were out on the paved area of Beacon. Blake reaches down to grab a small rock, handing it to Ruby with a nod.
Raising her arm and bringing it back, she readied herself and took a deep breath, something she always did when she prepared to take a shot with her sniper. Her arm followed through, the rock now released and hurtling towards Neptune’s head.
The rock hit its intended destination, the blue-head turning around while the back of his head. Ruby quickly looked for someone to blame, immediately turning to Yang.
“Yang, why would you throw that? Apologize to Neptune!”
Neptune shook his head and faced forward. Clearly he didn’t buy it, and Ruby could tell. But that didn’t bother her. She hit him in the head, which was all she cared for. Weiss turned her head around shortly after Neptune had turned his, glaring at the three girls behind her.
Yang sighed, her shoulders slumping as she held her sibling’s shoulder. “Whelp, you’re a lost cause. Good luck with that.”
“What do you mean good luck with that? You’re supposed to help me!”
“You’re acting is still as bad as Little Red Riding Hood. You’re trying too hard.”
“Hey, I thought we were never to speak of that again!”
Blake let out a little giggle. The sisters placed their attention on the giggling Faunus.
“Blake? I’ve never heard you laugh before,” Ruby pointed out. “Did we do something wrong?”
The bowed girl continued to laugh. “No, you did nothing wrong. I just thought that it was completely like you to be Little Red Riding Hood.”
Ruby groaned in annoyance, hitting her sister in dread. “Yaaaaang, look what you made her do! I’ll never live without teasing thanks to you!”
“Sorry Sis, that’s what older sisters do!” Yang ruffled Ruby’s hair playfully, eliciting another groan.
Before long, the two teams and Neptune were at the mess hall, getting their trays of food and claiming their seats. Ruby used to enjoy eating with her friends, but she absolutely abhorred it. Her friends had noticed and also felt uncomfortable. It wasn’t the food, the meals weren’t that bad. They were decent and provided a sufficient amount of nutrients. Yang or Ren’s cooking was better.
But meals were no longer enjoyable with Neptune around. Weiss kept gushing over him, only sat with him, and refused to look st anyone that wasn’t him. Ruby truly hated this, her hatred for Neptune burning stronger each minute.
Yang rubbed her sister’s shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much, Rubes. You’ll get your victory.”
Ruby have a small smile as she took a bite of her cookie. She will have her victory. Patience was the key to that.
Within about fifteen minutes, the two teams were off to their first class. Ruby had taken her usual seat, Blake and Yang to her right. Typically, Weiss would sit beside her on the left. But Neptune was in the way. He sat comfortably between Ruby and Weiss, but Ruby was cramped between him and Blake.
“Neptune, do you think you can move a bit? I’d prefer enough room to work, and I’m sure Weiss would too,” Ruby added a hint of venom in her voice.
“Hmmm, how about...no.” he replied. His smirk truly pissed Ruby off.
“Dickhead,” Ruby muttered under her breath, not caring if Neptune heard or not.
Class passed quickly, it was now sparring class with the newbies. Glynda was swiftly explaining how their sparring matches worked and instructed the students to focus on attack today. A few moments of silence go by as she scans the auditorium, recounting the students above in the seats.
With her riding crop, she pointed at two students. “Miss Rose and Mr. Vasilias, would you two like to go first?”
Ruby grinned. Now was her moment. She stood and kept her composure, nodding at the woman down below. “With pleasure, Professor.”
Neptune stood and popped his neck. “It’s about time I actually got to do something interesting here.”
They both proceeded downstairs and to the preparation room. Ruby readied her scythe, preparing her dust rounds and sharpening the giant blade she wielded. She changed out of her uniform and into her combat attire. With everything set, she glanced at her opponent. He was still preparing his weapon while putting on his red jacket.
“Hey Jackass,” she called out, “if I win this, you leave Weiss alone.”
He scoffed. “As if I should listen to a dyke like you. Now listen here, Rudy,” he started strutting towards the younger girl. “You guys may have your little rules here about holding back when your aura runs low or some crap, but you’re going against me. No mercy, especially for a stupid dyke like you. Make note of that.”
“My name is Ruby!”
“Like I care.” Neptune walked out onto the arena.
Ruby took a moment to sit down. She still had a couple more minutes before her match began, which gave her plenty of time to think of her strategies.
I don’t know his fighting style. I don’t even know what his weapon is. Just take him down. As hastily and painfully as possible. He needs to know who he’s dealing with. I am Ruby Rose, daughter of the great Summer Rose! I am the greatest future huntress to walk the face of Remnant! I refuse to disappoint Weiss!
It was now about time to get out on the arena. Ruby took her place as Neptune took his. They faced each other, not more than a dozen paces away from each other. Their gazes at one another were sharper than knives, the atmosphere beginning to change. The tension was thickening quickly.
“Ready your weapons!” Glynda called out, her voice echoing throughout the auditorium.
They both pulled out their weapons, surging into their fullest forms. Ruby’s scythe drew attention from the newbies, many of them surprised to see such a small girl use such a bulky weapon. Neptune’s weapon was a trident, fitting with his name.
A trident, huh? Never seen one of those before. It’s pretty much a spear though, so just trap the weapon under the scythe and strike. This should be easy.
With both students ready to begin, Glynda withdrew her arm.
“Begin!”
Using the tactic she does nearly every time when facing a spear-wielder, she rushed in and pointed her scythe blade down, the gun muzzle facing Neptune. With the way Neptune was holding his weapon, Ruby’s strategy was made easier. The center tip of the trident was now lodged into Ruby’s muzzle, exactly how Ruby had wanted it.
With a grin, she fired her first round, shattering the center blade and sending Neptune flying backwards. Of course, this tactic was made for spears, but it seemed to work well for the trident. There were still two others, but neither of them were nearly as long as the center. His reach was now more limited.
She continued to do her typical combat strategies, deploying every single one that came to mind. Dust rounds, a little bit of hand-to-hand combat, lots of swift swings of the blade. Each one proving effective in the battle.
Isn’t he going a little too easy? Is he holding back? This doesn’t feel quite right.
He paused. Ruby took it as an opening, rushing in with the blade to strike. As soon as she lifted her arms, Neptune jabbed the two blades into Ruby, her aura badly damaged from that. She was now at around 60%, surprised that she had taken heavy damage from one hit. She fell to the ground, and suddenly she felt unable to get up. She couldn’t move, no matter how hard she tried.
Then she noticed the the sparks of electricity coming off of the two blades. Paralysis shock properties from lightning dust. His blades were clearly infused with tons of it. And he was only using them now.
Ruby couldn’t move, and the students above were starting to whisper among each other. She tried and tried to move something, but was only met with pain in the process. Neptune was shooting from a distance, her aura quickly decreasing.
“Ruby, get up!”
Silver eyes raced to find the one who shouted out to her. It was her sister, waving her arm around to get attention. “You need to get up!”
She pushed herself harder, starting to feel the paralysis wear off. She could move her fingers, her feet could now move, and soon her whole body was back in commission. Swing her scythe around, she managed to block a few more shots Neptune fired, retaliating quickly.
Neptune was much more skilled than Ruby had anticipated. The battle went on, their auras at equal level. But with another strike, Ruby’s was only one hit away from being completely depleted. She refused to lose and would stop at nothing to claim her victory.
But then she felt a pang in her chest. She looked up to see Neptune holding his ranged weapon pointed at her.
“Match set!”
And that was the end of the match. Ruby couldn’t believe it. She lost the match.
But it wasn’t over. In a flash of blue, she felt a searing pain in her waist, many gasps heard from above in the auditorium. Ruby placed her hand on her waist, pulling it back immediately when she felt the pain. There was blood. A lot of it. And she was losing it quickly.
“Neptune Vasilias, that was completely unnecessary! The match was already ended, proceeding any further is strictly prohibited!” Glynda shouted.
“I’m sorry,” he said, clearly not apologetic for anything. “At Haven, they taught us to show no mercy.”
“I will have you know that you are at Beacon currently. You abide by our rules. You may have been taught that, but our hunters and huntresses show restraint under any circumstances. Have I made myself clear?” Glynda’s voice was louder and more serious than it had ever been, it was actually starting to scare many of the students there.
Yang and Blake rushed to get to Ruby. Paramedics blocked Ruby’s view of anything else, and before she knew it, she was already on a stretcher. Her final glance at Weiss was with Neptune, not even turning once to see Ruby.
Weiss...
Please come back...
To us, team RWBY...
And to me, your partner...
~~~~
What a wonderful Sunday to post another chapter! If you’re all wondering why Neptune is an antagonist in this story, it’s simply one reason: I don’t like Neptune. I just thought he got in the way of Whiterose in Volume 2, and I was really annoyed by him. So I decided that because I hate him (nothing against those who actually like him), I’d make the sensible characters hate him and everyone oblivious to what lies beneath. How cliche.
I dunno, it made more sense in my head.
Until next chatper!
-Scarlet
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Waiting for the Sun - Chapter 2
Rating: Teen and Up Audience should easily cover all bases here
Summary Chapter 2: Dante comes home at last.
Warning: Heart- and teeth-melting fluff in the second chapter. Oh, two child OCs snuck in here, too, I do love me some fluffy moments with kids. And Rodin is possibly a bit OOC, but I enjoyed writing him a lot.
Read it on AO3
Read Chapter 1 on tumblr.
_________________________________________________________
Seeing his shop ablaze with light even from afar was both a distinctly unusual and a reliving thing for Dante when he turned the last corner.
It just meant his mood had not been taken the worst way possible.
“Who knows how long they are still gonna be there?”
He slowed down to a walk while he tugged his coat more snuggly around himself, a sad barrier against the wind that had started to pick up, smelling like snow. He was not yet close enough to see through the merrily lit windows, but he spotted Lady’s motorcycle near the stairs and Nico’s van opposite the building – without any tree strapped to the roof – so he figured they had just decided to wait out his return.
Which was… a lot. More than a large part of him had expected, jogging – alright, maybe running – the way back here.
The thought managed to warm him more than his too-thin clothes.
Caught up in his musings as he was, he was already halfway up the steps to the front door when he noticed someone leaning against the wall next to it, almost vanishing in the shadows of the doorframe. He slowed, faltering in his steps, before he shrugged it off and greeted the younger. “Isn’t it a bit too cold to stay outside like that, V?”
“Says he who stayed outside for hours,” V’s smile was nearly as pale as its owner, but genuine. He shifted enough that the light from inside illuminated him, leaning heavily on his cane. “And who is the reason I am out here in the first place.”
“Oh? You were looking for me?”
“Griffon was… supposed to do that.”
“Hey now, I don’t like that tone of voice,” Griffon protested as he fluttered out from the shadows above them, dark feathers fluffing up in protest. Nestling on V’s shoulder, he grumbled, “I found him. He just outran me on the way back here.”
“Supposed to,” V repeated evenly, ignoring the indignant squawk from his shoulder. His gaze wandered over the dark streets until it returned to Dante, green eyes scanning him. “You… worried a few people, it might seem.”
Dante nearly grimaced at that. Nearly. He had more control over his expressions than that, and he was not about to let Griffon tease him for his laps in control “Who else went looking?”
“Nero was out looking for you. Griffon informed him on the way back here” V tilted his head towards the demon bird, who nodded in return. “But everyone else is still inside.”
Dante hummed in understanding. It didn’t sit right with him that he had started such a commotion, but there was no way to change anything about that now. He would just have to make sure it didn’t happen again.
He continued on towards the door, looking forward to warming up and finally relaxing a bit. Only that V made no move to follow him, giving him pause. “V?”
The younger was frowning down at his cane, twirling it between his hands while he seemed to ponder something.
Finally, just when Dante was ready to just go inside and leave it be, he spoke up.
“Should I leave?”
It took a moment for Dante to process what he had just heard, and when he did, he directed a questioning gaze upwards to the low hanging clouds. “Why does everyone ask me that today?”
“Well, maybe…” Griffon started out, sharp sarcasm tinging every word, but fell silent again – thankfully - when Dante cut him off with a hand gesture.
“Right, feather-face, I get the why for the first time. Why do you ask, though?”
The question was directed at V, who now showed a keen interest in his cane, long hair shielding most of his expression but the wry smile tugging at his lips.
A squeeze of sharp claws digging into his shoulder that could have been warning or encouragement or both, and the young man sighed faintly before answering. “I did attempt to kill you once, Dante.”
Waiting a beat to see if anything was going to be added to that, Dante was almost perplexed when that didn’t happen. He flapped a hand at V, but turned to his winged companion as he spoke, “Is he going to say anything else? Something that I don’t already know, perhaps?”
“Tried to tell him that he couldn’t expect you to take that seriously,” Griffon spread his wings in what seemed to be his kind of a shrug. “But does he ever listen to me? No.”
“Most people might not react kindly… to someone who almost murdered them,” V spoke up, voice and expression void of all emotions.
Or at least they would have been, if the younger hadn’t gone through Hell and back together with all of them. By now, Dante was pretty sure he could pick out the slightest hitch in the words, the tiniest of tremors, giving him away.
Oh, for crying out loud…
Not sure if to laugh or to roll his eyes, Dante shook his head and clapped his hand down onto V’s free shoulder, making him jump. “Nah, kid, you’re missing the part where half of the people in this very shop have already tried to kill me before you even came along.”
One quick look to the side, and he added brightly, “And yes, the birds present are included.”
Griffon let out his grating laugh, which sounded like a scratching caw.
The tiniest shift, and V looked carefully up at him, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You are saying that as if there is nothing unusual about it.”
“Eh. It’s old news. Actually surprised when there’s no bullets or swords involved in any greeting at this point,” Dante smirked when V huffed a quiet laugh at that, before using his grip on the younger to steer him towards the door. “And now stop standing on my doorstep like a sad lost puppy, I want to get inside and get something to eat.”
“Hear hear, best plan I’ve heard all day.”
Pushing the heavy door open lead to warm air and light enveloping them as they stepped inside, and Dante quietly appreciated being able to close the door and seal the cold out behind himself. No way he was gonna step outside again this evening.
He wasn’t really sure what he had expected upon his return. An empty shop had been the worst case scenario, if he was fully honest with himself. Having everything ready for a party, as if he hadn’t stormed out, had also been somewhere up there on the list.
What greeted him now was neither of those options, and he was both glad and a bit confused for it. There was no crowd of his friends occupying his shop, nor any decoration that Patty had all but threatened him with. Only a fir tree, still half wrapped in plastic, was leaning against the wall in the far corner, an array of colorful packages shoved next to it on one side, a few plain carton boxes on the other side.
And Morrison and Patty were seated on the couch, looking up when they heard the door. Patty’s face brightened, eyes glittering with joy, as she spotted them entering. “There you are, Dante!”
“Hey there, kid,” he couldn’t help but smile back, truly smile, (still here, still here, because they were too stubborn to leave him, didn’t want to leave him) and she all but beamed at him in answer.
When her gaze wandered past him, however, the smile fell, morphing into a frown. “V, did you go outside in that outfit again?”
V cast a quick look down himself – sleeveless, coat hanging open over his shoulders, sandals – before looking up with a wary expression, already dreading what was to come. “Only for a moment?”
Patty’s eye-roll was remarkably expressive, just as the sharp look that followed. “And you absolutely didn’t freeze your ass off, of course.”
“Uhoh, here comes the lecture,” Griffon announced, flapping his wings to lift off his friend’s shoulder. His silhouette wavered, becoming blurry as feathers turned to liquid and flesh became ink. “Every man and bird for himself now, boys, I’m out.”
“You…!” V muttered a curse under his breath that was uncharacteristically vicious. It made Dante actually snicker out loud while he stepped away, clear out of the line of fire.
“Language. I just don’t wanna get dragged into this, Shakespeare,” was the last thing the demon had to say before his very being turned into new lines of ink on V’s skin and his voice drifted off.
“What is it with you people and not taking care of yourself?” Patty sighed deeply, climbing over the backrest of the couch. Determinedly strutting over to the Christmas tree shoved into the corner, she crouched, dragging one of the presents out from under the lowest branches. “Here, open this one, V. There’s a blanket in it.”
Even with his reflexes, V barely managed to catch the light package as she threw it his way. “… Thank you? But I cannot simply…”
“It’s yours, you dork. I was going to give it to you, anyway. Now open it.”
“I did not…”
“V, open it, before I do it myself and smother you with the blanket while I’m at it.”
Dante chuckled, shaking his head as the squabbling continued and the two of them completely forgot about him in the meantime. He ducked past them, directing his steps over to the couch where Morrison was still sitting, looking as comfortable as one could be.
The broker tilted his head back to smile at the younger when Dante threw his coat over the backrest, holding out an already opened beer for him. “Took you a while.”
Dante accepted the bottle with a nod, hiding his grin behind it. He was not really surprised by how matter-of-fact that had sounded. Someone who could wait for him for years while still running his shop in his absence, could easily wait for him for a few hours to come around. “You didn’t even put the decorations up while I was gone?”
“Hmmm,” Morrison took the bottle back when Dante handed it over, following the hint to the empty Christmas tree. There was a smile hidden in the corner of his mouth when he turned back. “Couldn’t be sure what would happen if we put too many festive things up.”
“What - did you expect me to come back and burn it down on a rampage?”
“That, or Lady doing the same if we overdid it with the clichés.��
The chuckle bursting out of Dante was wholly unexpected even for himself, and he coughed for a moment, faltering, before he managed to swallow and then breathe again. “Fair enough. The others?”
“Nero’s still out, Trish is doing who-knows-what as usual. Most of the others are in the kitchen, making dinner,” Morrison’s eyes crinkled as he nodded over to the kitchen door, something in his gaze saying Go on.
Dante hummed in understanding, already turning away.
If he reached over and squeezed Morrison’s shoulder in parting, as tightly as he dare to, then – well. The others were still occupied and thoroughly distracted, and the gesture went as unseen as the answering pat of the arm that Morrison gave him. Just as the smiles on both of their faces.
Entering the kitchen, Dante mused that he really hadn’t been in here all too often – he was actually surprised how many people and things fit into this room.
There was the muttering of voices mixed into the noise of someone cooking a right feast, but he ignored that for now, stopping right after his first step into the kitchen. Closing his eyes, he let all the sensations wash over him for a moment.
The sizzling of things frying in pans and the hiss of boiling water and the clatter of kitchenware. The smell of spices and sugar, oil and fat, roasted meat and self-made dough and freshly cut vegetables. The sound of talking and giggles and people bustling about.
He waited for a beat, expecting the memories to come rushing back, but it didn’t happen. They were still there, a notion of cinnamon-sugar-spice and everything connected to it, but he didn’t feel overwhelmed by it.
It was different enough to be new.
It was familiar enough to feel like home.
“Dante!”
He opened his eyes again, smile curling around his lips as he noticed he had been spotted.
Kyrie was holding her flour covered hands awkwardly to the side before realizing it, clapping them down against her apron to dust them off. “Oh, I’m glad you’re back, we were already starting to worry… not that you need any help, usually, so there’s that, of course. I hope you don’t mind we took over your kitchen? We figured, you know, celebrating or not, you wouldn’t say No to some dinner and perhaps it would cheer you up-….”
She was rambling. Dante supposed that had to do with how he had left, and the worry and guilt on her face when she had asked if they should leave.
It was understandable, but absolutely unnecessary.
He had already lost too much time with worrying over what to do.
Stepping forward, Dante huffed a laugh when Kyrie’s words tapered off in surprise, not exactly giving her time to recover before carefully but resolutely drawing her into a one-armed hug.
He more felt than saw her breath catch, her frame going stiff in surprise against him for the slightest bit – before she responded enthusiastically, throwing both of her arms around him to hold on tight.
“Welcome back.” The word were quiet yet fervently whispered against his shoulder. Making him tighten his grip just the slightest bit.
If there was a good way to tell her all the conflicting things he felt, all the gratitude laced through it, with few or no words at all, then he didn’t know it. So he did the only thing he knew to do - holding on, allowing himself to linger for a second.
Once she stepped back, clearing her throat and smiling at him, he pretended not to see the wet glistening in the corner of her eyes.
“D’awwww, you guys are really cute sometimes.”
Kyrie burst into laughter beside him, barely restraining herself with a hand covering her mouth. Dante, meanwhile, turned towards their audience at the kitchen table with his arms spread out wide. “Excuse me? Kyrie, perhaps, but I’m clearly too handsome to be cute.”
“Nope,” Nico shook her head, pointing with the fork in her hand for emphasis. “Cute and handsome doesn’t cancel each other out. No getting out of this one, mate.”
With a faked groan, Lady shoved the younger woman with her elbow. “Don’t encourage him any more, it’s a miracle his ego even fits through the door as it is.”
“I mean, does it matter anymore? He encourages himself anyway.”
“I do so hate when you’re right about things like that,” Lady grumbled, helping herself to something from one of the plates. Nico simply snorted, shrugging good naturedly before joining her.
The gesture drew Dante’s attention to the various plates and dishes standing around on every available surface, dishes among it that he hadn’t even seen or heard about before, and he whistled through his teeth. “You outdid yourself on these, Kyrie.”
“Oh, I didn’t do much,” the young woman waved it off while turning towards the stove again. “I had lots of help!”
“Yeah, we helped!” Angelo declared, looking up. He was kneeling before the oven, watching it intently. “Kyrie, I think it’s preheated now.”
“Thank you, Angelo. Careful, get away there, it’s hot!”
“Is that pizza I spot there?” Dante leaned over her shoulder as Kyrie balanced the gigantic tray past him.
“Right in one. We have pizza, roasted meat, vegetables, fries…,” she nodded at the kitchen as she put the pizza into the oven. “There should be more than enough for everyone, and for different tastes, too.”
“Well, I do know that this fits my taste,” he informed her with a smirk, reaching out to test some of the topping, cold or not.
Yet for all his superior reflexes, Kyrie proved herself to be fully capable of being faster than him when it counted. Like now, when she shut the oven door right in front of his nose, thwarting any further stealing attempts. All huffing noises didn’t help there. She laughed straight in his face when she turned and found him pouting at her. “Shoo, you! You will ruin your appetite like this!”
“Lady and Nico are eating, too,” Dante pointed accusingly over to the girls, who were indeed chewing on something. Nico waved at him, unrepentant, while Lady flipped him off with wicked glee written all over her face, muttering through a mouthful, “’Cause we helped make the food.”
“You just got an excuse for everything, don’t you.”
Still giggling, Kyrie patted Dante’s arm soothingly. “Don’t worry, you will get to eat as much as you want soon enough. Just a little while more.”
Shuffling sounded, and Angelo popped up between them, looking at them curiously. “Then, can we put up the Christmas tree in the meantime?”
“Tree!” Elisa joined her brother, peering over his shoulder.
“Well, I suppose,” Kyrie started hesitantly, looking from the children to Dante for approval. “If you get someone to help you with it…”
“Dante can help us!”
The conviction in that statement made Dante raise a questioning eyebrow. “Why, do I have to work for my food now?”
Angelo looked dumbfounded for a second, then flushed as he realized how he had made that sound. Shuffling his feet, the boy scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, that’s not what I…I mean…”
The awkward gesture reminded Dante strongly of a certain nephew of his, and it took quite a lot to hold back his laughter at the sight. He very barely managed and instead upheld the offended look just long enough to see Angelo waver some more, before he dropped the act and shrugged with a crooked grin. “Relax, I’m messing with ya. Sure, let’s do that.”
“Wait, really?!”
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.”
“Awesome!”
With loud cheers, the children stormed past him out the kitchen, leaving him behind with ringing ears and wondering how none of their caretakers had gone deaf by now.
“Are you alright with that?” Kyrie caught his raised eyebrow and added. “Decorating, I mean.”
“I will manage,” he shrugged again as he strolled towards the door. “I know the colorful stuff is supposed to go on the tree, the rest should be child’s play.”
“Not what she meant!” Nico called after him as he made to close the door behind himself.
“Oh, I think he knows-…”
The door fell closed, cutting the rest of that conversation off. They would figure it out, he was sure.
Elisa was already busy trying to drag one of the carton boxes from under tree. The thing was approximately her size… and seemingly also the same weight, if the fact that it didn’t budge an inch was anything to go by. Dante snorted as he caught sight of it. Two quick steps and he lifted the whole box up with one hand, laughing as she pouted up at him. “Woah, princess, let me do the heavy lifting. Where do I put this?”
“So we are putting up the tree now?” Patty stood from the couch and came over, appraising the tree as she went. “You will have to get this thing into the stand first before you can put anything on it.”
“Oh, Nero said we should leave that to the adults,” Angelo commented, looking up from the box he had ripped open, tinsel and garlands in his hands.
“You guys talking about me behind my back?”
Nero stepped into the shop, dragging a hand through his hair and kicking the door shut without even looking back. The hard lines of his mouth eased as his gaze swept over the people present and caught on Dante. Inclining his head in the barest nod, he carried on. “And you started without me, too. Rude.”
“I would say you’re late,” Dante replied, imitating a mocking salute with his free hand, “But then I would have admit that that was, a tiny bit, my fault, so I will keep my mouth shut.”
“Right, old man,” there was laughter in Nero’s eyes, even as he shook his head. “You don’t get to talk.”
“Ah, silence. Not my strong suit.”
“And don’t we know that all too well,” that dry comment earned Patty a glower, and she stuck out her tongue in return. “I’m right and you know it. And stop playing around with that box, you’re going to drop it.”
“What, this thing?” Throwing the box in his hand up, Dante caught it again with a smirk. “And me dropping it? Why, I would never… whoops.”
The box tilted while he was spinning it on one finger, tilting dangerously to the horrified gasps of the people close to it.
Before too much could happen, Dante caught it, easily balancing it out with a grin on his face and mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “See? As if I would drop it. Pffff.”
“You...!” Patty shot him a look so dark it could have made a higher demon take cover, before she snorted and burst out laughing. “Dork.”
“Okay kids, no more playing with the breakable things,” Morrison declared, walking up behind Dante to snatch the box from his grip, despite all his protests. “Work first, then the fun.”
“Yeah, let’s put the tree up already!” Angelo demanded. “We were waiting forever!”
“Right, right. V, get over here, help me with this thing.”
The order made the young man sitting on the couch jump under his new blanket. Blinking in surprise, he pointed at himself. “Me? I don’t know how to…”
“It’s easy, I will show you. Come on.”
“Alright…”
Considering Morrison distracted enough, Dante ducked to the side and peered into the nearest box of decoration. Jackpot –ornaments and more garlands and tinsel. That, he could surely work with.
“That grin only means trouble.”
“No idea what you mean,” Dante told Nero when the younger stepped up next to him, batting his eyelashes at him for good measure.
The younger snorted, the corner of his mouth twitching up as he crouched down beside him. “Right.”
Dante almost felt it coming, in the way the younger shifted next to him, tensing and relaxing as if preparing for something. So when Nero made to say something, he wasn’t even surprised.
“Don’t ask me if I’m alright now, Nero,” Dante interrupted him, low enough that nobody with human senses could hear it, his smile just softening the words enough to make it teasing. “That would be so out of character.”
Nero closed his mouth again, just looking at him for a moment. Then a flicker went over his face – the tiniest hint of a smile, something softening around his eyes – before he turned his head away, smirk in his voice as he spoke up. “Should I insult you instead?”
“I would be honored if you did,” he assured the younger, pressing a hand to his chest for emphasis. “Do your worst.”
“Ugh. Can you stop being weird for just five minutes-...”
“Kid, com’ on, do you really think I can?”
“Right, I forgot - that’s asking too much of you.”
“Uh-huh, see, you’re starting to understand me. There’s hope for you yet.”
The glare sent his way lacked any real seriousness due to the badly hidden smile: Nero did his best to cover it up by jabbing his elbow into the older man’s side, huffing a little in satisfaction when he got a pained grunt for his troubles.
Dante simply grinned into the box he was still digging through, content to work in companionable silence for a while.
Until he discovered a handful of tinsel strands that were just the exact same shade of silver Nero’s hair was in this lightning, and, in a burst of inspiration, held it up for inspection. “Hey, kid, look at that – I found your lost hair!”
Nero made a weirdly choked sound that could have been suppressed laughter or him gagging in disgust, spluttering, “Wha-…oh funny, old man. Haha.”
Dante started straight up cackling at the look on the younger’s face, flopping to the side not too gracefully. Still sniggering, he half-heartedly tried to shove Nero off of him when the other punched him in the shoulder – hard – and then pretended to shove him head-first into the nearest box.
He broke down in laughter all over again when he managed to throw some of the tinsel in Nero’s direction during the scuffle, considering the outcome of it a full success. “No, wait, hold on, let me put this stuff on you, you look so pretty with it!”
“You know what? Fuck you.”
“Aha, that’s one for the swear jar!”
“I don’t even care.”
Morrison sighed deeply, trying and failing to hide a smile as the silliness seemed to spread and infect the others – Patty dropped her work long enough to throw a garland around V’s shoulder, startling the young man, and Angelo held an bauble to his ear like an earring to see Elisa burst into giggles.
“Children, the whole lot of you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The tree was alright, Dante supposed.
Leaning just a bit too much to one side, maybe. And it was also possible that the garlands were to be put up first, not last so that they covered a few of the ornaments. Not to mention that ornaments were, perhaps, usually, supposed to fit together, not like these ones. Obviously someone out of the group had gone and bought them without checking for colors or if it fit together, so those that they had used were simple-colored in red, blue and violet, with a few sticking out with glitter and gaudy pictures on them
But it was a Christmas tree, and it was standing, and there were ornaments on it. Nothing had burned down, nothing had gone wrong like it happened so many times to all of them. Dante supposed that was as good as they could hope for.
And maybe, just maybe, there was also the fact that he was still breathless from laughing and arguing and bantering with the people who had helped set the tree up.
Nero carefully pushed one presents back under the tree after helping Angelo to try and figure out what was in it for the boy this Christmas. Patty was still teary-eyed from laughing over their antics the whole time. V somehow still had tinsel sticking to his clothes and hair because Patty plus the children had ganged up on him and decided he needed at least some decoration to brighten his looks – not his mood, per se, since he had spent the first few minutes glowering at them before cracking, joining in on their laughter with quiet chuckles on his own. Elisa looked ready to fall asleep on the spot where she was balanced on Morrison’s hip with Angelo ruffling her hair affectionately.
Dante himself had only just successfully managed to unwind most of the extra garlands that someone had tried to decorate him with (or strangle; he wasn’t too sure) from around his neck when loud laughter started up in his back.
“Did you guys try to decorate each other instead of the tree?”
Trish smirked at them, looking as put together and elegant as ever, especially in stark contrast to the mess they had made. A small white box balanced on her hips, she nodded towards those who still had glitter and more stuck to them, residue laughter dancing in her eyes as everyone starting patting themselves off with mixed mutters of defense and embarrassment.
Instead of trying to save his dignity, Dante sniffed archly and threw the last garland over his shoulder much like a fancy scarf. “What, you don’t think we look perfectly Christmas-y for the event?”
“More like perfectly idiotic. Blue isn’t your color, Dante,” she plucked the offending garland from his grasp and threw it carelessly over her shoulder. It landed neatly over the rack by the door. She assessed him one more time, eyes crinkling and lips quivering while she tried to look serious. “Hm. The glitter can stay, I think.”
“Huh. Didn’t notice the glitter.”
“Hardly believable – there is more than enough. Anyway,” she held up the box, balancing it on the tips of her fingers. “Where is this supposed to go?”
“Dessert?” Morrison asked, immediately taking a step forward when she nodded. “Let me…”
“Let me,” interrupted V quietly, stopping the older man with one outstretched arm. He nodded towards the dozing girl in his arms, smiling slightly. “You have your hands full.”
“True,” Morrison huffed a laugh, hosting the sleepy girl higher up in his grasp. “Hey, princess, wanna take a break until dinner is ready?”
“Mmmmmh,” Elisa muttered something unintelligible before turning, burrowing deeper into him.
“I will take that as a yes.”
“Say hello before you both fall asleep on me,” Trish gracefully handed the box over to V before pressing a peck to Morrison’s cheek, laughing. “There we go. Go take your nap now.”
“Like the old man I am.”
“That’s what you said.”
“No, that’s what my back is telling me,” Morrison grumbled while he stomped over to the couch, falling into it heavily while rubbing his lower back with his free hand. “Aw heck…”
Joining into the general bout of laughter that elicited, Dante reached for the kitchen door to hold it open for V when the younger passed by him with a muttered thanks.
There wasn’t even time to turn back around to the others before Trish was there, throwing an arm over his shoulders and humming thoughtfully while she leaned closer to scan his expression.
“Not that I’m against cuddling, mind you” Dante wrapped his own arm around her waist – the closest to a hug the two of them would probably get while being sober and unharmed – and smirked back at her “But did you want something specific?”
“You’re not going Ebenezer Scrooge on us?” Trish’s smile was teasing, eyebrow cocked questioningly. “I’m almost disappointed.”
“Do I even want to know why you’re familiar with that story? And I had my grouchy moment already. You missed it. Which is a shame, if you ask me - I was great.”
That answer didn’t satisfy her, frown tugging at her features. Of course it did not, he thought with no little amusement, because this was Trish, and if anyone had always seen right through his attempts of defending himself with sarcasm, it was her. Pot calling the kettle black, and all that.
So when understanding dawned on her face and her smirk turned into a wide smile, he mostly resigned himself to whatever was to come.
“And yet, you’re here. All Christmas-y,” patting over his hair and showing him the leftover glitter on her hand for good measure, she winked at him. “You’re starting to warm up to this.”
Dante wrinkled his nose at her. “Bah, humbug.”
Trish gave a laugh and shook her head. “I’m serious. I’m glad you’re enjoying this so much.”
“Serious, you? I think the whole Christmas cheer is getting to you.”
But it all didn’t help. She simply laughed even harder, pressing a peck to his cheek before slipping out of his hold with a last parting pat to his shoulder.
For once, he was actually glad she had left him alone instead of trying to get the last word. Else he would have probably ended up admitting out loud that he was, in fact, enjoying this, and there was absolutely no reason to affirm to her just how often she was right.
The kitchen door next to him opened up with an audible banging sound and Nico waltzed into the room, balancing a tray. “Out of the way, watch it, dinner is coming through!” She declared loudly while heading towards the pool table, holding her load high over her head as she went.
When she put down the tray – carrying a varieties of vegetables meant as a side dish – resolutely down on top of the table, Dante raised an eyebrow. “The pool table? Really?”
“You don’t exactly have any tables with space for more than two people,” Lady reminded him while pushing past him, carrying a plate of her own. “We are making due. Trish! There you are! Get over here, you need to try those thingies Nico brought. They are awesome. What are they called?”
“Latkes. After a receipt from my Grandma!” Nico informed her, grinning proudly. “A hit at every party.”
“Well, I can’t say No to that, can I,” Trish chuckled, moving over to the pool table where Lady waved one of the treats at her in a mocking replica of a Come hither motion.
That seemed to be the unspoken signal to take a seat for everyone, and the enticing smell of dinner made sure nobody even thought twice about it. In a joined effort, the entire collection of chairs in the shop and even the couch itself were dragged closer so everyone could sit. Plates were handed around, wishes for drinks were voiced, and seats were exchanged until everybody had found a place and a drink.
In retrospect, Dante couldn’t even tell how, but at some point he ended up in a chair between Lady and V, strategically placed nice and close to the pizza.
“Hey, scroogey McScrooge, mind handing me the Eggnog over there?” Lady elbowed him gently, chuckling when he rolled his eyes over her joke.
“Honestly, is everyone in on this joke?” Dante demanded, leaning forward to glance at Trish at the other end of the table. The woman had the gall to raise her glass at him, eyes dancing with laughter. He glowered at her, earning a pleased grin for it.
“Sure, did you expect anything else? Thanks,” Lady added when he topped off the Eggnog for her. “Have to say though, this is not bad.”
Following her gesture around the room, Dante had to say that, it really wasn’t. It was surprisingly… comfortable, with everyone being in high spirits, laughing and chatting.
“Hmhm, not bad at all,” quirking a grin, Dante raised his glass towards the head of the table where Kyrie was just taking her seat at last. “Kudos to the hostess, I have to say.”
“Oh, don’t be silly, it’s your shop,” Kyrie admonished, laughing.
“No, he’s right,” Morrison winked at Dante from the opposite side of the table. Raising his drink, he declared loud enough to be heard over the initial chatter. “People, I think it’s time to drink a toast to Kyrie, for having this idea in the first place and making it possible. Cheers!”
“Hear, hear!”
“To Kyrie, indeed!”
“Cheers!”
“Yeah, and thanks for the food!”
By the time the last cheering died down, Kyrie had her face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking with barely swallowed laughter. “You’re all so ridiculous,” she mumbled, voice quivering with giggles, earning herself another round of laughter.
“Kyrie, Nero? Can I give Uncle Dante his present now?”
The small voice speaking up effectively silenced the last bit of laughter, heads turning in surprise.
Elisa meet the baffled gazes with wide, questioning eyes, still looking a bit sleepy, but getting more and more awake by the second.
The group exchanged surprised and amazed gazes over her head. Nico mouthed a quiet You heard that? towards Patty, who nodded enthusiastically, eyes sparkling suspiciously. Dante raised an eyebrow at Kyrie and got a beaming smile for it.
Even now, quite some time since coming to the orphanage, it was rare for little Elisa to speak up in a group of people, and for her to do so audibly and to ask for something that she wanted was still new and precious.
When nobody answered her, Elisa frowned, reaching over to tug at Kyrie’s sleeve gently, as she had so often when speaking had been too much for her.
Kyrie exchanged a quick glance with Nero who shrugged, scratching his nose. Looking hesitant still, Kyrie turned back to her charge, starting, “Sweetie, didn’t we say we would wait until after dinner with the presents?”
Elisa’s expression fairly crumpled, her grip on the sleeve tightening.
“Oh, no, sweetie, I didn’t mean…”
“It’s just one present!” Angelo joined in, slipping from his seat to rush to the girl’s side. Planting both hands firmly on her small shoulders, he looked up at the adults pleadingly. “And we don’t mind waiting with dinner a bit longer, right?”
“Right,” Nico joined in. “And I’m curious now what the present is.”
“Yeah, can’t leave us hanging like that!” Lady added.
“We would all suffer from the curiosity,” V pointed out mildly, smirking when Nero rolled his eyes at him and murmured dramatic, dude.
“Fine, guys, I got it, it’s fine.” Kyrie shook her head with a wide, fond smile. “I don’t see a problem with one present being a little earlier than the others. Go ahead, Elisa.”
“Yes!” Angelo cheered at the same time as Elisa’s smile returned full-force. The girl turned and ran off towards the coatrack by the door, starting to dig through the bags that had been left at the foot of it with obvious glee.
The short pause in proceedings gave Dante time to flag Nero down, waving him over. The younger complied with a feigned sign, leaning in close to listen. “Yes?”
“What exactly do I got coming here?” Dante inquired, nodding towards Elisa.
“What, you nervous?”
“Kid,” Dante intoned, all jest gone from his voice. Nero straightened, smirk vanishing as he listened intently. “Nobody told me we’re supposed to have presents ready here.”
He nodded over to the girl who was still digging through the bags, looking to all the world as if she was on a very important mission. “I don’t have anything in return.”
The way Nero’s gaze softened at that didn’t sit all too well with Dante, but he ground his teeth together and stayed still instead of deflecting with more jokes.
“Dante, relax. This isn’t an obligation,” how Nero managed to make an eye-roll audible would always be a mystery to him. “The children already gave each other a bunch of presents, and we gave them something of our own. Elisa wanted to make something for you, too. That’s all there is to it.”
“Made it? Herself?”
“Well, yeah.” Now there was surely teasing in Nero’s voice. “Difficult work. Took hours. She was very excited to hear your opinion on it.”
“And you tell me to relax. You’re trying to make me nervous, you punk,” Dante groused under his breath, elbowing his chuckling nephew.
He had already been prepared to smile and be happy with whatever he got, since he hadn’t even suspected there would be presents for him. Hearing that there had been hours of work been put into this only made him more determined to love it no matter what.
He couldn’t help but reach up to pat Nero’s forearm reassuringly, rumbling lowly, “I’m going to be properly amazed.”
“You better be,” it might have been a threat, somewhere deep down, but Nero was smiling slightly while saying it.
Then the younger man was gone from his side, and instead Dante was faced with a little girl, flushed red and wide eyed in excitement, holding a roll of paper out to him with shaking hands.
Dante would forever deny that his hands weren’t quite steady either while unrolling the paper carefully, muttering. “Now, let’s see what we got here…”
There was rustling beside him, someone leaning over his shoulder to take a look as well, someone else gasping quietly before whispering “Aw so cute!”. He didn’t pay them any mind, occupied with starring at the drawing he had been handed.
It wasn’t too difficult to figure out what he was looking at, even for him - a portrait. The mop of hair drawn with silvery-gleaming colored pencil already giving away who he was looking at, the shoulders colored in red and the haphazardly drawn beard stubble in grey only topping it off.
It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but he would have personally thrown anyone who dared to point out any flaw into the flaming pits of Hell.
Blinking hard, Dante cleared his throat, hmm-ed for a moment, squinted at the drawing some more (more felt than saw Elisa vibrate in excitement next to him) before he made a surprised sound, holding the picture away from himself as if realization had only just struck him. “Hold on, this isn’t a photograph?! Could have fooled me!”
Elisa burst into giggles, flushing red, while Kyrie squeezed her shoulder, whispering none too quietly “Told you he would like it!”
“Absolutely captured my roguishly good looks,” Dante declared, generously ignoring the way Lady kicked his shin under the table or how loudly Trish snorted over that statement. “I will need this framed. This gets a place of honor on my desk.”
“Oh good, then that desk is finally going to be used for something else than sleeping on it,” Morrison retorted, grinning even when Dante shot him a mock-offended look. “Oh, don’t give me that, I’m gonna get you that frame, after all.”
“You’re only half right, though,” Patty piped up, pointing with her fork for emphasis, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “He was using it to stash his magazines, too.”
“Fair enough.”
“Bunch of cheeky smartasses,” Dante muttered under his breath, not quite seriously, earning nothing more than stifled giggles and snorts for it. He opted to ignore them, instead rolled his drawing carefully back up and turned back to Elisa. Making sure to lean down to her eyelevel as he spoke to her. “Thanks for the portrait, princess. Best present I ever got, I might say.”
The beaming smile that made her entire face lit had been expected. The way she surged forward, throwing thin arms around his neck to hug him tightly, however, was entirely unexpected. Dante all but froze in surprise for a second before he relaxed, patting the girl’s back gently. “Woah there, slow down a bit. Not going anywhere.”
“Love you, Uncle.”
The words were whispered against his neck so quietly, but fervently, he would have missed it where it not for his sharp hearing. It silenced him better than even a sword stabbed through his chest could have ever done. His heart seemed to miss several beats, lungs too tight to draw breath.
“Are you happy, Dante?”
Dante cleared his throat, willing his body to cooperate. Wrapping his second arm around the little girl, he squeezed her gently, whispering back. “Love you, too, princess.”
If he buried his face for a second longer than necessary in Elisa’s tousled hair, blinking hard, then heck, nobody could prove it to him afterwards.
Another loud clearing of his throat, and he gently put Elisa back down to her feet, releasing her while ruffling her hair. “Okay, that’s enough cuddling for an entire week. Go get the first slice of that tasty pizza now, princess, you get the honors.”
Elisa’s laughter rang out like bells as she chased around the table, jumping straight at Nero, who caught her easily and lifted her onto Kyrie’s lap.
“So, does that mean we can start eating now?”
“Sure!” Kyrie shifted Elisa in her lap, dropping a kiss to the crown of the girl’s head, before looking up, gesturing at the table. “Everyone, dig in!”
“Oh god, finally, I was starving.”
“You ate the whole time while we were cooking.”
“Sampling makes me only hungrier!”
“Nero, do you think Dante will like my present, too?”
“Sure he will, bud. No doubt about it.”
The conversations started up again, flowing easily as everyone helped themselves to their food or helped others out to reach certain dishes.
Dante stood up from the table while everyone was distracted, mumbling something about being right back. Some heads turned, some smiles were sent his way, but nobody really questioned it as he left the table and ambled over to his desk.
The rolled up drawing found a place behind the photograph’s frame, tucked in there neatly until he had a right frame for it, too. Dante paused, considering both of the pictures for a moment, before turning back towards the others.
Not yet joining them. Not yet. From over here, he had a nice view of them all, and he luxuriated in simply watching for a moment.
Just as he watched, Patty showed Morrison something on her phone, both of them smiling down at it fondly (the distinct feeling that they had managed to snap a picture of his hug with Elisa crept up on him. He would have to get a hold of that one later). Angelo was retelling a story to Nico and V with flailing arms, causing the mechanic to laugh loud and cheerful and slap V’s shoulder, the young man chuckling at her mirth. Nero used the distraction to press a gentle kiss to Kyrie’s forehead, making the young woman smile up at him brightly. Trish and Lady clinked their glasses together, faces alight with laughter.
They had given him so much. The thought caused warmth to course through him.
Although it was soon followed by the niggling realization that he didn’t even have a small present for them in return.
He could vividly imagine their reaction, should he decide to voice this thought out loud. Could see them telling him it was alright, or tease him for worrying over something silly like that. Perhaps point out how he didn’t even have money to buy presents for them – and anyway, shouldn’t he pay off his debts first before buying new stuff?
It would be anticipated, would be normal, having them tease rather than be bothered by it. A nice and easy way to drop the subject and forget about it.
Only that he didn’t want to forget about it. It bothered him. He wanted to give something in return, this time, now that there was a time where he could.
Caught up in his thoughts as he was, he belatedly registered a sound from the direction of the door – a scratching, a thump. The sound of a hoarse cough.
Then something or someone banged against the front door with such a strength that the whole house front seemed to shake with it, windows clinking and wood groaning.
The entire shop fell silent as if sound had been cut off.
Rising to his full height, ready to jump into action should their latest guest try to kick down the door and join the party, Dante waited. The banging didn’t repeat itself. In fact, everything had gone eerily quiet.
Shooting a quick look towards the table, where everyone either looking at him or the door, Dante make a quick hand motion – wait; stay – before reaching for the top drawer of his desk, retrieving Ebony and Ivory.
Cocking both guns, he crossed the space to the door soundlessly, paused, listened – still almost too quiet – before ripping the door open and raising his guns in one smooth motion.
Nobody there.
But just atop the stairs and right in front of the door, sat a jute bag that seemed ready to rip at the seams.
After a second of confusion, recognition hit, and Dante looked up abruptly to check his surroundings.
On the streets, the roofs - no one was in sight.
Especially not a stranger in an ill-fitting Santa Clause-costume.
Deeming it save for now, Dante holstered his guns and directed his attention to the found at his feet. He briefly considered the possibility of this being a trap, before he shrugged and crouched down, reaching out to tug the bag open.
Nothing for it, after all.
Instead of a writhing mass of tiny demons or an explosion or something similarly trap-like (he had been there before), what tumbled out of the bag and towards him was an array of presents. Different in size and shape, but all neatly wrapped in gleaming paper, with bows on top, each of them having name tags attached to them.
With the names of his friends, Dante realized, more and more speechless and reeling by the second. There was one for Patty, and Nero, and the kids, and…
There was a note, on top of it all, so small and unremarkable in contrast to the rest of the content that he hadn’t noticed it at first. He plucked it up before it could be blown away, turning it to discover a neat handwriting, lilac shimmering letters assembled in neat rows -
Don’t get bright ideas - this is a one-time reward for not running. And to pay off some old debts - R.
“Dante?”
He turned his head at the call, shooting a look over his shoulder.
Nero was standing, hand reaching for a weapon at his belt – his gun, most likely, since the sword had been left next to the door – one eyebrow raised in a silent question. Lady had her chair tilted backwards, gaze scanning the darkness behind Dante as if she was just looking for someone dumb enough to prove a worthy target for her. A spark flickered over Trish’s finger, reflecting on the cane V had suddenly in one hand, playing with it idly. Nico was clutching her fork just a tad too tightly to be comfortable, free hand creeping for the bag at her hips.
Even Kyrie had halted her movements while cutting the pizza in half, exchanging quick glances with Morrison, who was conveniently placed between the door and the kids, and Patty, who was fiddling with her amulet, frowning.
Dante took a moment to really appreciate the sight – appreciate the bunch of people who were be ready to leap into action for him, not even thinking about the fact that there wasn’t much he couldn’t take on alone.
Not giving a damn, since they considered it a fact that he didn’t have to take it on alone.
Nero’s eyebrow climbed up higher, and he relaxed – just like the others around him, chairs scrapping and weapons being slowly lowered – seemingly considering it safe now that Dante had been silent for so long. A smirk tugged at his lips, caused by whatever he saw on the older man’s face. “What?
Angelo’s curly head peeked around Morrison before Dante could answer, trying to look past the open door. “Who was at the door? What do you have there?”
Dante tried to answer with something witty, he really did. But there seemed to be something lodged in his throat, making it difficult to swallow or speak.
And he found that, for the first time this evening, he couldn’t recall the voices of his childhood echoing in his head, even if he tried. Albeit not eradicated, but effectively drowned out by this newfound appreciation for this gathering of people who had made themselves at home here, with him.
So instead, he lifted the bag inside – heavy fucking thing, he nodded absentmindedly, there must have been more than enough for all of them – and held it up for inspection, a bright, honest smile making its way on his face full-force.
“Does that whole rule about waiting for presents until after dinner still stand, or can we make an exception?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rodin was fairly sure that the fact that it had started to snow while he was still out and about was a bad prank with him as the poor victim.
Muttering curses in tongues long lost and forgotten under his breath, he tried without success to get anything out of the cigar stump hanging limply from the corner of his mouth. Finally conceding defeat, he tugged the offending thing from between his lips and threw it over his shoulders, not even turning to see it disappear in a flurry of sparks and ashes.
He was digging through his pockets for a new one when a blast of cold wind whipped the seam of his red coat around, tugging at it as insistently as tiny hands. All his renewed cursing and tugging it back didn’t help, wisps of wind tangling in his fake beard and trying to rip the hat straight from his head as if to purposefully annoy him.
“Dammit all to Inferno and back again- enough!” Thundering the words into the dark of the night, he ripped the hat off himself, crushing it in his fist. “Enough of makin’ me look a fool for one century at least, ‘m drawin’ a line here, fuck’s sake!”
Nobody answered. Nobody laughed at him, not even good naturedly.
For some reason, he almost wished it had been different.
(How long since somebody had stood up to him? That somebody had laughed at him not in malice, but all in the name of joke? That somebody had laughed with him?)
At least the wind died down a bit. Grumbling to himself, Rodin pulled out his cigar case, retrieving one to put between his teeth. Hand hovering at the unlit tip, he chewed on it, frowning thoughtfully into the dark.
(He had tried to assess the kid’s age during their “conversation”, but the aging process of mortals had always been a mystery to him. The white hair certainly didn’t help, either, and neither did all that frowning. But it should have been… well a few decades couldn’t be too far off, could they? Decades. For him, nothing more than a blink – so why did it feel so long right now?)
“He’s fine,” he said out loud, not sure himself if he was talking to himself, the wind or the sky or something beyond that.
Wasn’t even sure where he should have directed this to – he couldn’t imagine either of the two he was looking for going to Hell or Heaven. Neither Inferno nor Hell, Paradiso or Heaven had ever held a place for them go to, after it all ended.
(He certainly hadn’t found them on his many travels through the realms, and he was glad for it. He didn’t have any interest in stumbling upon their souls, being tortured for eternity in their death. As it was, he could shrug it off and pretend they had, somehow, managed to escape, find an Afterlife of their very own making. He certainly thought those two capable of doing just that, of defying all odds.)
Clicking his fingers until a spark danced on his fingertip, Rodin continued to mutter to himself, “Stubborn, distrustful and cocksure, just like the devil himself, that one. No manners at all.”
Pausing, he considered his statement again, taking the first few calming drags, feeling the smoke curl down his throat. “Eh, guess he got your soft heart at least, Eva. Woulda liked that, I bet.”
The wind picked up again, catching the thin plume of smoke he blew out and letting it dance merrily into the night sky.
Suddenly, he felt a laugh bubble up from deep in his chest. Laughing at the shitty weather, perhaps. Maybe at the world, fucked up as it was. Maybe at himself, for standing around in the cold in a crappy Santa costume and lamenting when he didn’t even know for sure what he was lamenting.
He didn’t really care about what or that he might have looked like a lunatic to anyone passing by. He laughed and laughed until it tapered off into chuckles, then died down completely.
Oh, what the hell, Rodin mused, taking great pleasure in letting the flames dance from his fingertips over to the material of the offending hat still clasped tightly in his fist. Just this once.
Even someone like him, as infinite as the universe, should be allowed to get a bit soft around this season that humans had declared a holiday long ago.
What better time to become a bit melancholic than now, where the veil between worlds became thin, when past, present and future couldn’t always be told apart, and magic infused the fabric of being so strongly that even an ordinary person was treated to a miracle every now and then?
Rodin watched with grim satisfaction as the Santa hat finally fell to ashes in his hand, shaking it off with a derisive gesture, sending the flakes tumbling into the wintery air. The garment had done its deed for this year. Just as he had – more then, considering old debts had been paid.
(Next time, perhaps in a few more decades from this point onwards, when things got quiet and memories got loud again, he would be able to remember his past companions with a laugh and an insult on his lips, rather than the feeling that there were things left open and unfinished.)
For now, though…
He snapped his fingers and the rest of the costume fell away, vanishing into thin air while his usual attire replaced it. A second snap, and he held a fresh cigar in one hand, lilac flame dancing on the tip of the thumb on his other hand.
A third snap, and the air tore open in front of him, reality shifting and distorting to form a portal back to his bar.
“Back to business we go!” Straightening his favorite jacket again, he squared his shoulders and bared his teeth in a wide grin that would have sent demons and angels alike running for their lives. The darkness swirling inside of the portal swallowed him up when he stepped right into it, still chuckling to himself.
Behind him, the portal collapsed into itself. The snowfall picked up, the flurry of white flakes magnifying and filling in the footprints he had left in the thin layer of snow.
Minutes later, it was as if he had never been there in the first place.
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A Long Time Coming | PT 3.
Word Count: 2942.
Genre: Fluff, romance.
Summary: After a run in with an old friend, y/n reflects on her youth and remembers a boy who used to have a crush on her, Jungkook.
Life knows when to give us what we truly need. That's always been a saying I tell myself whenever I'm feeling insecure about the future. But lately it feels as if everything’s gone wrong and whenever I catch a glimpse of hope, it gets removed from me far too easily. Like yesterday, when I spent all night going through job listings on the newspaper and online, and none of them seemed to fit me or my needs.
It was always either the pay was too bad, or I was under-qualified for it. Frustration took over my body even as I woke up from a not so peaceful sleep and rubbed my eyes to adjust to the light. My parents had to be at work early today so I was already home alone when I got out of the bathroom and went down downstairs to try to make something for dinner.
However, as soon as I stood in from of the kitchen, it was as if all of my body rebelled against me and yelled at me to go back to bed. All I wanted was to lay down and forget the fact that I was jobless and living with my parents, and not in some beautiful villa in Italy any more. And it's not that I'm lazy, I'm the opposite of that, and that's exactly what it's so frustrating to want something so bad and not being able to grasp it.
Huffing, I grabbed my coat from the hanger by the front door and put on my boots and decided to take the two-block walk towards my favorite coffee shop instead.
I got out of my house and I was hit with the cold air swirling around the grey sky, and I know soon enough it'll start snowing and we can kiss our good weather goodbye. As I'm opening up the small gate of the fence that surrounds my house, I hear my name being called from next door. I don't know why, but Jungkook is the first thing that comes to mind when I hear it, and I tell myself it's because I saw him yesterday for the first time in a while.
But the person jogging towards me isn't Jungkook. It's Junghyun. “y/n-ah!” he exclaims with a bright smile, looking down at me before pulling me in for a warm hug that I correspond quickly. “Jungkook told me he saw you yesterday at the supermarket. When did you get back?” he asked with curiosity in his wide brown eyes.
“Friday late at night, yesterday all I did was sleep and go to the store, I promise I was going to call you and Joosun.” I tell him, smiling up at him and feeling happy to be home once again.
“It’s okay, Jungkook slept for like twenty hours when he first got back here after tour, so I understand.” he tells me with a chuckle that I follow.
“It was nice talking to him, you know? It was nice to know he hasn't turned into some big-headed celebrity.” I reassured.
“I know, he's very much the same Kookie, even though he's all grown up now. He makes me so proud, that kid.” I hadn't noticed, but we’d started to walk together and I realized when he asked me. “Where were you headed?”
“The coffee shop. I didn't feel like making breakfast to be honest, I'm still too tired.” I tell him.
“Can I come with?” he asks, scratching the back of his neck and looking away from me and towards the street.
“Sure.”
Once upon a time, when we were teenagers, I used to have the most embarrassing crush on him, everyone knew it but I never made any sort of move because he was my friend, and because shortly after he began dating the girl he's now engaged too. As the years went by and the silly high school crush disappeared, she became my friend too. In fact, Joosun is now my best friend, and I couldn’t be happier for the both of them. I've never seen two people more in love than those two, and it's everything that they deserve.
“So, what's next for you?” he asks the dreaded question that nobody seemed to want to stop asking me. Was it really that hard to believe that a girl my age didn’t have her whole life figured out? Everywhere I’d traveled people didn’t seem too surprised about my situation, but I knew that in Korea there was a much bigger pressure being put on the youth to succeed and have their shit together as soon as they were out of college. Maybe I am weird, after all.
“I just got back home, Junghyun. I don’t know.” I tell him with a roll of my eyes that makes him chuckle. He was one of the few people in my life who knew me to a fault, I couldn’t really hide anything from him. Which is why I didn’t find it all that surprising when he spoke next.
“Don’t let the stress eat away at you, y/n-ah.” he said in a comforting way. “You’ll get to where you want to be eventually, it’s your life, don’t let others get in the way of what you want.”
I chuckle slightly at his somewhat cheesy words, even though I know that he means them and that deep down, he is right. “That’s easy for you to say because you have an uprising career as an illustrator and your brother is one of the seven most famous people in the whole damn country.” I laugh and he joins me, not denying anything I’m saying because he knows it’s the truth.
“I might be lucky but that doesn’t mean you won’t be too. You’re determined, you just panic a lot and you let it hold you back.” it’s his turn to roll his eyes as he says those words, probably thinking back to all the times him and Joosun have had to talk me out of panicking to death.
“I really hope you’re right. But unless I can find a job as substitute teacher, I’m going to have to find something else for now until the school year ends.” I explain, following Junghyun into the cafe as he opens up the door for me and another lady that was about to walk in at the same time as us.
He knows I don’t like coffee, so he orders an iced tea for me and an Americano for himself, taking my card when I pass it on to him so we can split the bill. Before typing in my password and thanking the lady behind the counter I busy myself finding a place to seat while my best friend waits for our order. And rather quickly, I find my usual spot, the place where so many of my high school memories were made with the only steady group of friends I’ve ever had. More than that, here’s where I had my first date ever, with a boy from my 8th grade class. He had excellent grades and he was also funny and what I at the time considered handsome. Here, was the place where a boy confessed his feelings towards me for the first time. But that wasn’t as pleasant of a memory.
Jungkookie. He was only thirteen at the time, and my fifteen year old self believed herself to be too mature to be dating a kid. Mainly because I had that horrible crush on the boy that is now my best friend and I would rather die than touch him in a non-friendly way. But still, I was very much fond of Jungkook, I saw him as a little brother, I wanted to protect him and make sure no one broke his heart, but I couldn’t lie to him either so I had to reject him. He didn’t react, like, at all. He shrugged, said ‘okay’, and then he excused himself and walked right out of the cafe. When he rounded the corner, I saw him wipe away a few tears through the window that faced the street and my own heart broke for the poor boy.
He got over it pretty fast, though, and I was glad for it. After all, I knew it was just a silly crush, the boy was thirteen, let’s be honest. He would awkwardly bow at me and go back to his room when I was over at his place, but that only lasted a week before he was back to normal and spent his days causing mischief around the house. I heard he had his first kiss about a month later, and that he went on a few dates with a classmate of his, a girl his age. Which made me feel relieved at the time and I was finally fully comfortable again in the presence of the little boy who no longer liked me in that way.
Looking around, I couldn’t help but smile. Those memories were still part of me, everything about this cafe, everything about this city, about my neighborhood and my friends. I belonged here. Suddenly, I get the urge to grab my phone and call my best friend, going straight for her name in my contact list and pressing call, hearing her voice greet me with a squeal only three seconds after.
“Oh my God you’re using your Korean number!” she exclaims, making me laugh intensely.
“Hello to you too, Joo!” I tease, hearing her chuckle from the other side of the line.
“How long have you been here?” she asks, and I see Junghyun beginning to walk over here with our drinks in his hands.
“I got here on Friday night, more like Saturday’s early morning, but you know.” I explain. “Yesterday I slept all the jetlag off, and now I’m in our cafe joined by your fiancé and of course I had to call my favorite girl to let her know I’m here. Are you free to join us?” I ask, looking over at Junghyun who is smiling brightly at the idea of Joosun showing up.
“I wish! They’ve asked me to stay at work longer, I’m covering for a colleague who called in sick. You called just in time, cause I’m on my break right now. But say hi to my baby, don’t let him eat too many sweet things, he has to take care of his health!” the girl commands, making me laugh at how bossy she it because I know she only gets like this with the people she really cares about. And that list isn’t too long, really, it’s just Joohyun, her mother, and myself.
“That sucks, I’m so sorry! But hey, when are you free? We should definitely have a girl’s day whenever that happens, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” I tell her honestly, and I hear her sigh and call me cute which makes me chuckle as I wait for an answer.
“Hmmm, let me check my weekly schedule.” she says and I can hear the sound of papers being flipped which means she’s probably looking for her schedule. “Here! Oh! I have Tuesday off! I think my mom is going out of town tomorrow for work, so you should come over to my house and we’ll watch movies and eat our body weight in chocolate.” she offers happily.
“What was that about taking care of your health?” I ask between laughter at how contradictory her words were, and I hear her chuckling too.
“What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him, unnie.” she finishes before saying that she has to go back to work because her break is over and we said our goodbyes and hung up.
“Is she coming?” he asks, taking a sip of his coffee and handing me my iced tea which I quickly sip as well.
I shake my head. “Nope, she had to stay a little longer at work today because one of her co-workers called in sick.”
“They always do that to her, it’s so unfair. Just because she’s new, all her seniors feel like they can just do whatever and she has to just endure.” he tells me, clearly upset by the treatment his girl got at her new job.
“Sadly that’s just how the Korean work culture works, but we all know how smart she is, and how qualified she is for that job. Soon enough she’ll be climbing ladders and nobody will be able to tell her anything because she’s gonna take all their jobs and become their bosses. We know she’s determined like that.” I laugh and he does too, nodding in agreement because it’s nothing but the truth. If there’s anyone in this world who can make it in such a sexist system, it’s her. I’ve always told her she’s gonna change the world one of these days and she won’t even realize it.
“You're right.” he said with no hesitation, and it was adorable to see how much he believed in her.
After about half an hour of catching up, with Junghyun telling me all about his job and how the wedding planning process was going, we walked back to our houses just sharing stories about our childhood. Somehow it felt like I'd been gone for way longer than just six months, when I knew that wasn't the case. But everything felt more nostalgic, and with my two best friends being engaged I couldn't help but feel like there was a lot of things I had missed.
As soon as we made it back to our houses, we were approached by the familiar face of Jungkook munching on the bag of chips that was held by one of his hands, his bunny smile on full display as he jogged towards us. Something about the situation felt a little bit like coming home, like we were standing in some alternate universe where none of us ever left Busan and we were still neighbors and hung out all the time. It felt like we were the exact same people we were all those years ago, even though I knew that was the furthest thing from the truth.
For one, I didn't even know Jungkook, he was a kid when he left, now he was 22 and I'd be stupid to think he hadn't changed at all. Even if his smile remained childish and his eyes were still as shiny, and his nose was still that of a little kid.
“Noona?” he asked with his big, pretty brown bambi eyes, snapping me back to reality and making me realize I'd been staring at him the whole time. Oh god, that's so creepy, well done y/n.
“Uh, sorry, I kinda spaced out.” I said, not entirely lying.
“It's okay, I do that all the time, hyungs always tease me about it.” he said with a bright smile as he took a bunch of chips from the bag and popped them inside his mouth, his cheeks puffing out with the contents of his food.
“He was just asking you if you wanted to come over and watch a movie, like old times.” Junghyun asked, but I could easily tell his eyes remained on me a little longer than usual, which told me he didn't buy the whole ‘I spaced out’ thing. He knew me too much, and he was sadly far too smart.
“So, what do you say?” the younger boy asked with enthusiasm.
“Uh, as long as your parents don't mind? I'm sure they want to spend time with you Jungkookie, I don't think they'd appreciate me intruding.” I say, trying to be sensible, I didn’t want to just barge in on the second day of their son being back, I knew how protective Korean moms could be with their babies. And to say that Jungkook was babied by his family was an understatement.
Junghyun and I had had one too many conversations about it in the past, how he felt that no one around him really allowed him to grow up because he was constantly spoiled by everyone since he’d always been the youngest, everywhere he went, even in his band.
His eyebrows were pulled together and a slight pout made his bottom lip stick out a little, oh no, here it comes. He used to do this when he was 15 as well, and it was deadly. His eyes widened just the right amount to make him look like a puppy who had just been kicked in the gut.
“But, mom said I could invite friends, she wants me to feel at home again. I don't have any friends here any more.” he says, and despite the fact that he's clearly being a whiny child on purpose to get me to say yes, I can also tell the realization hit him. None of his childhood friends are his friends any more. He doesn't really have much to attach him back to Busan besides his family. It's kind of sad, but also understandable, and I'm sure he wouldn't change it for the world. “You don't have to say yes if you don't want to…” he presses, knowing damn well that I'm going to give in, because apparently neither of us had changed all that much.
“I do want to, I just didn't want to be a bother.” I said rolling my eyes but smiling nevertheless. “But if you say it's okay, then I believe you.” I finish, putting my hand into his bag of chips and taking one out before following him and his brother into his house.
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Holidays, Part 2
Part 1 ― Part 2 (you are here)
Genos plans a romantic holiday evening for Saitama. However, as this is the One Punch Man universe, things quickly start going to shit when monsters attack.
The atmosphere at the banquet hall was relaxed and friendly, though one wouldn't think so based on Genos's expression. While Saitama was nearly halfway done with his food, the cyborg hadn't touched anything in his bowl. He was just... staring at it.
Oh god, not again, the hero thought to himself as he looked over to his date. He's over-anaylizing something again, isn't he?
Saitama knew the only way to snap Genos out of his current mood was to get him to say what was on his mind, much to the older hero's chagrin.
He really hoped it wouldn't be another ten-minute long essay this time.
“Uh, Genos? You haven't touched any of your food yet. It's going to get cold...”
“Oh?” Now that Genos had been brought back to reality, the only thing left to do was brace for whatever he had to say next.
“Sorry sensei, I was just thinking. I should have been able to detect those two monsters you defeated well before we actually saw them. Now I'm beginning to wonder if my sensors are faulty or monsters have developed some way of hiding from them...”
Saitama looked over at Genos. Or, more specifically, the crack in his head from when the hero mistakenly hit it like an alarm clock.
Hmmm...
That might be the reason why his system wasn't working properly.
But it was Christmas, and Genos shouldn't have to worry about something like that. If anything came along Saitama could handle it. Now all he had to do was convince the cyborg of such and get him to drop the subject.
“Ah, yeah, well don't worry about it. They're gone and if anything else shows up I can deal with it, no problem.” Saitama managed a smile to make what he said more genuine, which Genos seemed to begrudgingly buy.
“You're right,” he finally admitted. “I'll just have to make sure Doctor Kuseno checks it the next time I go in for repairs.”
For a brief moment Saitama was exceedingly glad the doctor didn't have any means to contact him – he probably would have gotten an earful from him over damaging Genos in such a stupid way.
With Genos's mind put at ease for now the pair could finally relax and enjoy their dinner in peace.
Except not really.
With Genos's sensors out of commission, everyone was taken completely by surprise when part of the roof and wall caved in and the shadows of a dozen monsters materialized in the swirling dust and snow.
Every single one of the workers fucked right out of the room at the very first sight of the monsters. They definitely weren't getting paid enough to deal with that kind of crap.
“Hm, hm! Well, isn't this a surprise,” one of the monsters said. “Someone who didn't run away for once. Are you too scared to move, or too stupid to know when to get out of the way?”
At the direction of the monster closest to the heroes, the entire group began to move forward well before the dust and snow had settled.
“Well, since you gave us such a warm welcome,” the same monster as before said, “please allow us to introduce ourselves.” Standing before them was what seemed to be an animated tree with two sets of stubby, gnarled legs and one pair of over-sized arms that ended hands with varying numbers of sharp claws. On what could be considered its torso was a giant number “1” while where its head would have most likely been was a circular robotic structure that held a bird within it. One of the bird's eyes and part of its head were robotic while a monocle was somehow held up against its other eye.
With a couple egotistical chuckles the bird spoke again. “We are The-”
“Hey look Genos, it's a cute little pigeon!” Saitama said, completely cutting off the monster. “Do you think they have any bread in the kitchen we can feed it? I wanna go check.”
“Sensei...” the cyborg whispered in what could be considered a pleading voice for him. He tried to grab onto his mentor to stop him, but the man was already out of his normal reach.
“Would you stop that!” the bird monster shouted, causing Saitama to freeze in his tracks. The tree it was positioned on top of lurched a huge step forward in response.
“Oh hey it talks!” Saitama smiled over his delayed realization. “Neat, a talking pigeon”
“I'M NOT A PIDGEON YOU IMBECILE!”
Now that Saitama's focus was solely on their newest adversaries, the hero finally took the time to look over each monster in the group. Thankfully for him, all but one were number-coded for easy identification.
1 – The talking pigeon (“I'M A PARTRIDGE YOU TWAT!!”) and animated tree.
2 – A bipedal, mostly white, turtle with unusually large claws. Saitama could see bursts of pink flames erupt from the limbs every so often. Its number was sewn onto a silver arm band.
3 – One of the most human-looking of the group, this monster had long, flowing silver hair and held a long cigarette marked with a “3” in a gloved hand. Her white boa provided a sharp contrast to her floor-length black dress.
“Oh hey, you look really nice!” Saitama couldn't help but compliment the monster.
“Oh? Tu es un charmeur,” she replied in a somehow italicized French accent.
4 – While the head of this monster was identical to that of a common sparrow, just enlarged to fit the rest of the body, everything from the neck down looked almost boringly human, even down to the black suit and polished shoes. A small “4” was monogrammed onto its pocket square. It might seem rather uninteresting, but this was definitely a high-class monster.
5 – A solid gold-colored, cartoonishly haute humanoid. He probably wasn't real gold; maybe 10k at max. He seemed to use psychic powers to continuously levitate and spin five circular gold blades at speeds fast enough to rip through flesh. Instead of telling time, his watch showed only the number 5 – honestly, there were some days where Saitama could get behind that sentiment.
6 – The only un-numbered one of the bunch, it was literally just a giant goose. Likely it had ripped its marker off.
7 – This monster seemed to have the head and upper body of a black-colored swan wearing a long, iridescent black feathered dress that trailed on the floor. Saitama couldn't tell if it had normal human legs, really long bird legs, or if it was just two swans standing on top of each other. He figured it would be too rude to ask. A black corset with a silver “7” jutting from it indicated where her place was in the group.
8 – This monster seemed... suspiciously human. A burly woman in a red and white maid's outfit, combat boots, and spiked punching gloves marked with one bright red “8” on each one seemed like something one would see at a cosplay convention than with a group of blatantly obvious monsters.
At this point Saitama wished there were fewer monsters because the descriptions of each individual one was becoming extremely tedious.
9 – Saitama had to admit, this monster looked surprisingly interesting. It was a ballet dancer made up of possibly millions of shards of crystal that seemed able to shift and reform its body at will, though most of the time was contorting its body in the approximate shape of the number 9.
10 – This monster seemed like it would again be more at home at a cosplay convention, or even a Renaissance festival. They looked like a ridiculously over-sized elf, aside from the mask over its eyes which turned them into a pair of glowing white dots. A belt held together with a “10” buckle stored numerous smithing tools and picks while the monster held a heavy mallet in each hand.
11 – A massive, completely mechanized hedgehog with a thick black sack for a belly and musical pipes as opposed to quills. Its number was engraved into large gears placed at the monster's hips.
12 – The final monster of the batch, and one of the few that looked like a monster to boot; a large demon drum with rows of spikes along both sides of its body. Based on how easily rubble was crushed into dust under its feet, it was safe to say this monster was notably heavier than it looked.
With each monster finally registered, Saitama had only one thing to say.
“You guys seriously take orders from a pigeon?”
“OH MY FUCKING GOD I AM NOT A PIDGEON!” the bird shouted as his wings slapped down onto the rim of his mechanical nest.
“He's an angry pigeon,” Saitama teased, which resulted in even Genos rolling his eyes. “Oh! Wait, I get it now! It's like the song! How's it go?”
“W...what?” the bird muttered in a perplexed voice.
“FIVE GOLDEN HENS!!” the hero bellowed at the top of his lungs, startling both Genos and the group of monsters. His student was the quickest to recover and pointed out his mentor's mistake.
“No, no, sensei. It's five golden rings. The hens are day three.”
“Are you sure? I thought they were golden hens...”
The pair spent an obscenely long time debating among themselves what item corresponded to each day and wildly failing, while the group of monsters that were very blatantly based off of the song stood. Directly. Across. From. Them.
“What shall we do?” the monster marked with a 3 asked.
“This is getting ridiculous,” the feathered ringleader of the group replied. Together they were no less than a Dragon-level threat, possibly bordering on that of God.
And they were being ignored by an over-literal cyborg and hoodie-wearing humanoid egg.
“Just kill them already!” the bird ordered with a wave of his wing, which triggered the monsters into launching forward – fangs, claws, fire, or tools bared – and bear down on the two heroes.
The sudden commotion was finally enough to break the pair from their discussion. Genos dropped down while his robotic body flared to life, while Saitama merely just turned his head.
“Don't you know it's rude,” he started while balling his left hand into a fist, “to interrupt other people's conversations?” He swung his fist in an arch, which made direct contact with the “1” on the sentient tree, causing the monster to disintegrate instantly. The shock wave from Saitama's punch completely destroyed the other monsters, causing their bodies to be torn to shreds and splatter in a wide arch around where they died. Only two monsters managed to survive the carnage by getting blown back and managing to avoid a fatal amount of damage.
“Get up Golde. We need to get out of here.”
“W... what happened?” The gold-colored monster rose shakily to an approximate sitting position and looked at the other monster. Hen looked pretty roughed up, to say the least. Her dress and boa had seen better days, and the cigarette she had gotten from Par as a gift for joining the Knights was long gone.
The pair had been knocked notably far away from their original spot and landed in a poorly-lit area far enough away from the heroes to escape their notice. A true lucky blessing for them if ever there was one.
“I don't know how, but we survived.” The made a long, pained sigh. “I think we're the only ones who did.”
“But- but you've got to be joking! We're notably weaker than some of those monsters! Heck, we're not even full-fledged monsters like they are-”
“Were.”
“...were... but you're saying we are the only ones that made it out alive?”
“Oui.”
Golde let out a dejected sigh and held his head in his hands. His partner stretched out her hand as a silent reminder for him that they needed to get up and get the heck out of there before reinforcements arrived. Or, even worse, those two heroes found them.
“How the hell did it end up like this,” he muttered to nobody in particular.
Neither Golde or Hen, his female co-patriot, were full-fledged monsters just yet, but were welcomed into the Demon Knights because they fit the rolls so well. Originally they had planned to just wait it out under the other monsters' protection until they had completely turned themselves, but now those plans had been completely shot to hell.
“Well, what now?” Golde asked as he wrapped one of Hen's arms around his shoulders.
“I have some items left in storage,” Hen replied. “If my contacts are still around I might be able to sell them and make enough money to open a store somewhere.”
“Hm? What kind of store?”
“I was thinking... a café or bistro maybe? I always enjoyed visiting those places as a child...”
“Ooh! Can I help?” Golde seemed to perk up at Hen's words, causing the woman to get knocked off-balance. “I've always had an eye for interior design and art.”
“Oui. But first,” Hen said as she readjusted herself, “let's focus on getting out of here.”
Golde had no choice but to nod dejectedly at the suggestion. Heartbroken over their loss but determined to make it out of the shitty situation they now found themselves in, the pair walked off into the night to piece their lives back together again.
On a positive note, the Demon Knights had been swiftly vanquished by Saitama. On a less positive note, about a third of the banquet hall had been demolished. That was a small problem for the heroes. The hall's owner probably wasn't going to be very thrilled over what they did.
As Genos called the owner and tried his best to explain what had happened over the other person's loud swearing, Saitama checked out what was salvageable from the food tables. It seemed only the fruit, vegetable, and one try of miniature cakes were, as those three were the only ones to still have a covering on them. Still, it was better than nothing. The hero picked up the three trays and walked over to a mildly frustrated Genos.
“I called the owner and they will be here shortly,” the cyborg said as he pulled out a Hero Association contact card and sandwiched it between a piece of rubble and one of the remaining tables. “I'll leave a card just in case he couldn't hear me over his own swearing.”
“Good thinking Genos,” Saitama commended his partner. He would have given a thumbs up, but his hands were full from the salvaged food. Genos turned around to thank his mentor for the compliment, but froze when he saw what the hero was carrying around.
“Sensei... why...”
“What? I don't wanna waste food if it's still good. This stuff's still covered so it's fine.”
“Yes, but...” Genos quickly realized any argument against taking the food would be futile, and let out a defeated sigh. “Fine,” he acquiesced, “but what now?”
“Hey, are you two OK?!” a familiar voice shouted from outside the newly “renovated” hall. The pair turned to find Mumen Rider in full uniform with a bag of groceries hanging from a handle bar.
“Oh, hey Mumen,” Saitama said before walking over to the other hero.
“I heard a loud explosion while I was out getting groceries, so I checked out and came as fast as I could. Looks like you took care of... everything... though,” he finished while looking around at the destruction.
“Yeah things got kinda messy,” Saitama nodded. “But, uh, we still managed to salvage some of the food, so that's good.” He hoisted up the trays in his arms to show off to the hero.
“Hmmm,” Mumen mused for a few seconds. “Hey, I have an idea!” He held up his pointer finger to emphasize the fact that he had an idea. “Why don't we stop off at the store so I can pick up a little more meat, and we can use it and those vegetables in a hot pot? I haven't had a chance to make that in ages!”
Saitama was on board almost immediately.
“Heck yeah!” the hero beamed. “That sounds great! You wanna do it, Genos?”
Even though the cyborg wasn't particularly thrilled about how the night had gone, he couldn't overlook the fact that Saitama seemed exceptionally happy over the suggestion.
“That's great,” Mumen smiled. “The store's right on the way home, so it won't take long at all to go in there, get what we need, and head back out.”
The group of three left the hall's parking lot with some light-hearted discussion, and completely ignored the owner of the establishment, who had just shown up. It was probably for the best that nobody was around him in the end; the string of expletives that spewed forth from his mouth could have made even Tiger-level monsters shrink back in horror.
“Alright, took a minute to put together, but here we are!” Mumen smiled as he set the hot pot assembly on the middle of the table. Finely-sliced pieces of beef along with vegetables had been carefully arranged in the bowl which was just now starting to heat up. It would be a little while before everything was ready, but even now the aroma was enough to make Saitama's mouth water.
“Hey, thanks for this,” Saitama said as they continued to sit around and wait for their food to be ready.
“It's no problem! Honestly, I was surprised to see you two out tonight of all nights.”
“Yeah,” the hero replied. “Funny enough, I almost overslept and forgot about it! Ha ha!”
Saitama's last sentence was enough to cause Genos to turn around and give him a mildly stone-faced look. The crack on his head was still very much visible, thank you very much.
In the end Genos couldn't deny that laughing off the incident was probably the best idea, despite the fact that it 100% was Saitama's fault in the first place. Tonight had turned out alright in light of their earlier setbacks, and nobody wanted to ruin it now. Genos merely waited silently for the hot pot to finish cooking as the other two heroes talked about everything and nothing at all.
“Is it done yet?” Saitama eventually asked, prompting Genos to pick up a pair of chopsticks and poke at the food.
“Seems so,” the cyborg replied.
“Aw sweet!” Saitama eagerly picked up his bowl and chopsticks, then pulled out a little bit of every item from the hot pot that was within his reach. Mumen and Genos quickly followed suit.
The pair didn't leave until nearly midnight, and to Mumen's delight cleaned out the hot pot bowl and all the dishes they had used. As the lone hero turned off the lights to his kitchen and living room, he couldn't help but let out a contented sigh. He had only planned on having dinner on his own tonight, but sheer chance had led to Saitama and Genos joining him for the evening. It wasn't anything fancy or extravagant, but he had a great time and hoped the two other heroes did as well.
Saitama woke up with a start the next morning.
They had left all of their food at Mumen's house!
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