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yandere-daydreams · 3 years

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Title: Palliate.

Pairing: Yandere!Witch/Reader.

Word Count: 3.7k.

TW: Emotional Manipulation, Amnesia, Obsessive Mindsets, Mentions of Violence, Blood and Bruising, Mentions of Death.

Mint, to settle your nerves.

That was the first thing he’d taught you, before you were strong enough to do anything more than sit on the edge of your bed and listen. Three leaves if you were desperate, two if you weren’t, and one if you just needed something to focus on, to take your mind off your own hazy thoughts and the places they tended to lead, when you let them wander freely. He said that was normal, that it should be expected. You’d spent so long incapacitated, it was only natural you’d be a little unsteady, once you finally got back on your feet. He said that it’d get better, over time, but you’d have to fight through it. You’d have to give yourself time to let it get better, even if there were little things you both could do to help.

The mint helped. Most of the time, at least. More than most little things did.

You tried to concentrate on the flavor, now, letting it distract you from the sun beating down on the back of your neck, from small bruises forming on your knees as you kneeled between rows of rue and sage and rosemary just far enough apart to let you tug at the weeds invading his otherwise pristine garden. It was a little odd to be outside the small cottage you’d become so closely acquainted with, even if you were only a few paces away, still hesitant to venture beyond the clearing you’d spent so much time observing while you were bedridden. You were still injured, technically, and you’d been told time and time again not to test your own limits. He said you should… You were sure you should be doing something, but—

“Didn't I ask you to rest?”

Right. That made sense.

You weren't supposed to get out of bed, just yet.

A hand came to settle on your shoulder, and reflexively, you glanced towards the man now lingering behind you. You really didn’t need to, though. His voice would’ve been enough, a calm drawl strung out into something playful, fondness coming easily and anger still a long ways off. He’d never gotten mad at you before, but the threat persisted. You didn’t want to be more of a nuisance than absolutely necessary, especially after he’d been so kind to you.

“There’s only so much sleep I can take,” You replied. You didn’t want to be a nuisance, but you didn’t want to spend the rest of your life in bed, either. “I’m starting to think that’s your only trick, uh...”

“Eden, love. Just Eden.” There was a pause, his sly smile turning sympathetic. “Is your memory acting up again?”

“It’s not as bad as it used to be.” You were telling the truth. For weeks, you’d barely been able to hold onto your own name, let alone anything about your eternally patient host. But, Eden (you tried to remind yourself of that, to make a note of it, Eden) was kind enough to give you time. You needed time. You needed patience. “I found the door, didn’t I?”

“And it’s nearly been a week since the last time you wandered into the forest,” He noted as he crouched at your side, earning a small, offended noise and an elbow to his bicep, just forceful enough to warrant a hum, a slight pout, something between a whine and a chuckle. You didn’t want to stare, but you let yourself watch as his expression softened, as his gazed flickered towards the sprout of basil at your feet and a shock of white hair fell over his eyes. He looked like he was going to reach towards you, like he was going to touch you, but he stopped himself, letting his hand slip down to the satchel at his waist, instead, calloused fingers running over the well-worn leather.

You wondered what he kept in it, sometimes. You’d never seen him without it, not willingly, and he spent so long in the forest every day, he kept himself so busy with so many traps and snares and spots of ink littered across hand-drawn maps, it would’ve been impossibly to guess what he thought was worth keeping by his side. He brought enough of it back, bundles of assorted feathers and glass jars full of golden pollen and other things, stranger things, things you could barely catch a glimpse of before they were shoved to the backs of cabinets and forgotten about, on your end, at least. Eden didn’t forget about such important things as quickly as you did.

“It’ll get better,” He went on, finally, just when you thought he’d stopped talking altogether. “And, if it doesn’t, we’ll find a way to make it better.”

He sounded so sure of himself. You wanted to believe him, when he sounded like that. You did believe him.

You couldn’t remember a time when you hadn’t.

Ginger, to alleviate migraines.

It wasn’t for you, luckily. Of all the ailments you suffered from, you’d been left mercifully exempt from headaches and vertigo and all those minor, awful things that would make your life just a little harder than it had to be. If anything, your head was always a little too light, a little too empty, especially after so many hours of following the same unpaved road with nothing to think about but the passing scenery and Eden’s vague instructions, little more than a list of names and goods. Little to go off of, despite his insistence that you be the one to go.

You’d asked why he didn’t just go himself the first time he sent you on your way with a basket of herbs and roots, but Eden had only frowned, shaking his head. He said he wasn’t welcome, not in the marketplace, not in a village that’d already come to know him by name. He said that, if you cared for him at all, you wouldn’t subject him to a full day of haggling in hushed tones with women who refuse to sell mediocre incense for anything less than a small fortune.

And since you did (foolishly) care for him, you went. Not that you were anymore wanted in the marketplace than he was.

You hated it, compared to the cozy isolation of Eden’s home. You hated how crowded it was, how alien it felt to have to navigate the cramped stalls, how the merchant in front of you scowled as he weighed small bags of the exotic, colorful spices Eden was so fond of, the ones that you could never seem to taste the way you were supposed to, judgingly by how liberally Eden used them. He didn’t try to hide the disdain in his voice as he spoke, aged weariness mixed with a self-righteous reluctant. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t used to it, that constant trepidation from people who didn't understand you, from people who didn't care for Eden. At least he was kind enough not to hide it. “Running errands for the witch hermit, again?”

“Eden’s not a hermit.” You tried to smile, to brush it off as if was just another misconception. He wasn’t. You weren’t sure what he was, but he liked people, he liked having someone else around. Or, he liked having you around, at least. He didn’t seem to care much about company, beyond that. “He just enjoys his privacy. We both do.”

“Only a witch, then.” There was a pause, a gruff laugh that didn’t match his grim disposition. Something in the back of your throat tightened, and silently, you wished he’d be a bit more wary of you. Just enough to keep him from speaking so openly. “I’d take what you can and go, if I were you. He takes after his father, and that man spent his whole life makin’ a monster of himself, playing with things no one should. His son ain’t much different.”

It was your turn to laugh, now. “He cries whenever he finds fawns separated from their mothers. He takes in tadpoles he finds puddles. I don’t think Eden is capable of cruelty.” He was a kind man. You’d never seen him be anything but kind. If he had an ulterior motive, if he had a single sadistic bone in his body, you had yet to find it. “He took me in, too, when I was injured. He might be the only reason I have a roof over my head, now. That’s not a kindness I can say very many people have showed me.”

His lips pursed, the barest hints of confusion crossing his expression. It was gone in an instant, and you tried not to linger on it. He thought poorly of Eden, but the mere fact that you were alive – walking and breathing and alive – was enough to earn him your gratitude. Regardless of what a merchant and a marketplace worth of gossip thought. You knew what you believed, you knew what was true, and you wouldn’t let a few rumors convince you otherwise.

Although, you’d be lying if you said that belief didn’t waver, as he went on. “Cruelty isn’t all you have to worry about.”

You opened your mouth. Then, you closed it again, keeping your eyes on the basket still hanging limply on your arm. He wasn’t done yet, not with the spices, not with his poorly veiled warnings, but you didn’t want to listen. You could listen, you would listen, but you didn’t want to. You didn’t want to believe anything you heard in such a crowded place, in such an awful place.

You just wanted to get back to Eden.

Willow bark, to take the pain away.

It’s more of a comfort than a necessity, by now. You used to need it, rely on it, and you still liked to keep a bundle nearby, just in case, for days where the soreness was worse than it should be and you needed something to take the edge off, to suppress that overwhelming ache back into a steady throb. But, you never needed it, not like you used to. Not like you had when your injury was a defining feature rather than an afterthought and Eden’s medical expertise was more of a experimental artform than a practiced skill.

His hands didn’t shake, anymore, as his fingers skirted over your bare skin, following along the outline of your wound, the trail of stitches that stretched from the bottom of your shoulder bone to the center of your rib cage and repeated itself, carrying over again and again and again, forming neat rows of tender flesh and scar tissue that refused to stop any higher than your hip bone. He wasn’t hesitant, not with the needle, not as he pushed it through the long-suffering spots where he’d first messily laid your stitches months ago, and he didn’t have to look at you to recognize the way you shifted, the soft string of expletives you let out, to notice your little attempts to turn your head at just the right angle, flinch at just the right time to—

“Eyes on the ceiling,” He demanded. With a small huff, you obeyed, turning back towards the furthest wall. “It’ll only get worse, if you look.”

You knew that. He’d said as much as thousand times before, once for every day he'd tended to your lasting wounds. You were tempted to try, to insist it was only fair that you got to know what was going on with your own body, but you trusted Eden, and it was easier to tilt your head back than to argue, to search the cluttered room for something more interesting than the boy sitting at your side and your own, nagging discomfort.

You were in his workshop, now, an area separated from the rest of the cottage and filled to the brim with the tools of Eden’s trade – blooming flowers permanently encased in blocks of amber, the shells of insects hollowed out and ground into a fine powder, pots, everywhere, some empty and some not, the largest placed over a smoldering hearth that never seemed to grow dimmer, despite how often Eden forgot to tend to it. There was something inside, a substance you didn’t recognize, bubbling and black as a starless sky. It was already solidifying around the edges of its cauldron, crystallizing into rows of jagged, silvery edges slowly creeping along the coaction's surface like an infection. Like a parasite. Like something that shouldn’t have existed but continued to, regardless.

Eden must’ve caught you staring. The needle stilled, and instead, he took to dabbing something cool and smooth around the edges of your scars. A rag, or a balm, or a dozen other possible remedies. You didn't try to look. “It’s for you,” He explained, as if that made it any better. “One of my father’s incomplete recipes. He never figured out how to stop it from hardening once it’s exposed to open air.” Eden clicked his tongue, pulling the thread he was working with taut, and you cringed, tying to ignore the slight pinch. It didn’t hurt, not really, not like it used to. It didn’t hurt at all, if you were being honest, but it felt like it should’ve. “The color isn’t right, either. And I’ve already fed enough dye into the damn thing to poison a small village.”

You should’ve laughed. You wanted to, you knew it was the reaction he was looking for, but it was all you could do to avert your stare, to let your fingers curl around the edge of the table he’d perched you on. "They really don’t like you.”

“I’ve noticed.” A blunt response, not abrasive, but not encouraging, either. Not as dismissive as you would’ve preferred. “And yet, they manage to stomach my cures regardless. It’s funny how quickly pain softens the heart, isn’t it?”

“They say it’s unnatural.” You were pushing, now. You should know better than to push. You never found out anything good, when you tried to push. “They say your father used to dabble in things that shouldn’t be.”

Eden sighed, pushing himself to his feet. There was a short silence, interrupted only by the sound of glass knocking against glass before he dropped what he was holding, stepping in front of you and cupping your face with both hands, instead, forcing you to face him, to meet his dark eyes. Black eyes. Lightless eyes. A contradiction when compared his tanned skin and warm smile. A contradiction you tried to overlook as he bent down, kissing the top of your head so gently, you could almost bring yourself to ignore it altogether.

“My father was a toymaker and a healer. My mother died in childbirth. He did what he could to take care of me, and there is nothing unnatural about that.” He took a moment to laugh, to hold you, and you couldn’t be help but be thankful for it. Only weeks ago, he’d been afraid to touch you, afraid to watch you break all over again. Now, it was all he could do to let you go long enough for his arms to fall to your waist, for your face to find his chest, his tunic, a place to hide yourself away from the rest of the world. You didn’t want to go back, not to the village, not to the marketplace, not to the lonely, hurtful, desolate world outside his cottage. You didn’t want to go back to a place filled with so many people so determined to separate you from Eden. You didn’t want to return to a life you couldn’t remember, one where you wouldn’t have the man who’d saved you by your side. “He loved his family, just as I love you.”

For once, you didn’t have to convince yourself to believe him.

Witch hazel, to stop the bleeding.

You’d need it. You’d need a lot of it, more than you should for such a small cut, a jagged line drawn from the corner of your eye to your opposite check, thin but deep and bleeding, pouring out, washing over your hands as you tried to clutch at your face and rub away the damage, like a child trying to blink away a bad dream. Your legs might’ve been bleeding, too, the sides of your ankles, the backs of your thighs, your skin scraped raw in all the places you’d hit the ground as you tripped, falling over your own feet at your stumbled backward, but you didn’t check, you didn’t want to check, you didn’t want to see how bad it was. You didn’t want to take your eyes off the man in front of you, his towering stature, his grim expression.

His sword, silver and unsheathed and pointed at your heart, as it had been from the moment he first caught sight of you.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. No one was supposed to be here, in Eden’s forest, only minutes away from the cottage you’d come to think of as your safe haven. He hadn’t asked for your name, he hadn’t mentioned Eden, he hadn’t said a word to you, not before there was a dagger flashing across your line of sight, a weapon quickly discarded for something more intimidating, something that’d let him stay at arm’s length while he approached you, his stare holding yours, his lips pulled into a thin frown. “I—” You tried, but your voice gave out quickly. You couldn’t remember the last time someone had threatened your life. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been so scared. “Please, I didn’t mean to get in your—”

“Stop talking.” His tone was flat, apathetic, the barest hints of rage seeping through a weathered veil of neutrality. Immediately, you fell silent. “Who said you had the right to use that voice?”

You opened your mouth, but you thought better of it, biting down on the inside of your cheek as you bowed your head. You wanted to get back to Eden, back to his cottage. You wanted to be anywhere but here. You wanted to run, but you wanted to get out of this with your head on your shoulders, too. “Are you going to kill me?”

“It will not be a true death.” There was a pause, a reluctant hesitation. You pulled your knees into your chest, your hand still pressed to your wound, but the gesture didn’t seem to earn you any pity. “But, I am going to make this—”

He stopped, abruptly, his head attention towards something behind you. You heard it a moment later – measured footsteps, barely making a sound against the dead leaves and branches that littered the forest floor. You didn’t turn around. You didn’t have to.

Not when there was only one person who’d ever bother to save you.

“Adam,” Eden called, already positioning himself at your side. His hand was already on his satchel, toying with the buckle. Like he’d done this, before. Like he already knew it wouldn’t resolve itself peacefully. “There are easier ways to introduce yourself. If you put that sword away, I’m sure (Y/n) could still find a way to forgive—”

“Do not call it by that name.” He was focused on Eden, now, leaving you to fade into the background, to observe as his hands began to shake and he glared, baring his teeth, as Eden had done more than try to play peacekeeper. “That is not (Y/n). It doesn’t deserve to pretend it is, none of your abominations do. It won't bring— It can't—” He trailed off, his sword falling back to his side, his eyes clenching shut. You almost felt bad for him, your would-be murderer, but Eden’s expression remained cold, unbothered. Slowly, almost idly, he reached down, taking you by the arm and helping you to your feet, letting you tuck yourself against him as Adam finally found his voice.

“(Y/n) is dead. Nothing you do can change that.”

A moment passed in silence, still, deathly, frigid silence.

Then, Eden spoke.

“I can handle this on my own.” He didn’t deny it. He wasn’t denying it. Why wasn’t he denying it? “I need you to brew tea, Chamomile. Gather as much lavender as you can on your way home, until your pockets are full and you can’t carry anymore. Can you do that for me, love?”

You nodded, but you were still shaking, still unsure, still so, so confused. You weren’t dead. You could breathe, and you could think, and you ate and you slept and you weren’t dead. “I’m not.” You didn’t know who you were talking to – Adam, still clutching his sword, still ready to behead whoever his blade could reach or Eden, your Eden, the gentle protector who hadn’t looked at you once since his arrival. You just wanted someone to say it wasn’t true. You just needed someone to say it wasn’t true. “I’m not. I’m alive. I’m not de—”

“I’m in love,” Eden said, his voice soft. As if he hadn’t heard you at all. “Why does everyone act as if that’s so monstrous?”

You didn’t want to hear Adam’s response. You didn’t want to hear anything, not from him, not from Eden, and certainly not from your own frenzied thoughts, racing and only growing louder as you ran, sprinting, stumbling through the forest in any direction your legs would carry you. A crooked sob racked over your chest, and reflexively, you moved to brush away the tears blurring your vision, but you couldn’t feel yourself when you should’ve, it wasn’t flesh that met your cheek. Your eyes darted to your hand, a sneer already playing at your lips for whatever mud or decaying foliage had plastered itself against your skin, but…

But, you found a small trail of crystals, instead, silvery-glass that coated your palm, rows of jagged edges that hadn’t been there before, that shouldn’t have been there, where your blood had stained your skin only minutes ago. Or, where you thought your blood should’ve stained your skin. You hadn’t looked.

You hadn’t looked.

You froze dead in your tracks.

Slowly, our raised a hand to your face, to the cut carved into it, to what should’ve been a bloody, bloody wound. Something jagged met your fingertips, but you ignored the slight sting. It didn’t hurt. Not as much as it should’ve. Not as much as you wanted it to.

By the time you pulled away, your hand was covered with it. Thick, cool, forming webs between your fingers as you spread them apart. Dark. A kind of dark you’d only seen once.

As black as a starless sky.

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datawyrms · 3 years

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Ghostly Mystery Tour

For Phic Fight 2021! dey’s lovely prompt c:

On Ao3

Maddie and Jack had fully prepared for their adventure into the Ghost Zone—or so they thought. The fuel on Specter Speeder had fizzled out about a mile in. They're stuck. At least, until Phantom comes by, offering help.

“I just don’t understand it Maddie, I swear I charged it just this morning!” Jack’s voice managed to be louder than his frantic jabbing at the fuel gauge in the enclosed space, the sickly green glow outside making him look ill instead of agitated.

“I’m sure you did honey, but we need to think of a plan.” Maddie was already trying to think of what they could use. They weren’t too far away from the portal home, with how quickly the Speeder ran out of power. They had plenty of gear and weaponry packed in for their research trip, but the Specter Speeder wasn’t powered with something they could just toss in a gas can and bring along. “Maybe we can hook some of the ropes to the floating land masses and tow it?”

“Oh! Great idea!” Jack brightened, shoving the previous problem aside, hands now occupied with measuring the distance of the nearby rocks. “The sooner we get moving, the sooner we can get back to work!”

The problem about how safe it actually was to breathe in the air when in the realm of the dead had been accounted for, but if they had to waste the air tanks just to get back- well they wouldn’t get to have nearly the amount of time to actually explore on foot, let alone gathering samples. They could learn so much about the ectoplasmic terrors from the world they clawed out of, weaknesses they didn’t need to fear on Earth even! So to have their expedition, a trip that had been months in the making derailed like this in mere moments hurt. At least Jack could keep his eyes forward, his positive attitude the only thing keeping her from screaming from the absolute unfairness of it all. “Just run the best options past me before you open the hatch, okay darling?”

“You betcha!”

She was still going to enable the Fenton Child Safety Lock as a precaution, he could get a little over eager when he saw an opportunity. It was just a matter of what tools could be repurposed into a makeshift claw or skewer to actually keep hold of the rocks. What would be the smallest loss?

The sound of something hitting the roof of the speeder halted her thoughts, turning to look out of the windows, drawing up her hood in case they’d be fighting so soon. Even Jack had stopped with his mental calculations, pulling a weapon from under the seat. “Company already? Guess we’ll show em what for, eh honey?”

“Well it is the Ghost Zone, they’re probably braver here. Not that it’ll be any problem.” A little boasting could help keep morale up, even if the situation was less than ideal. Stranded with a ghost already trying to take advantage, typical.

“Well one little zap with this baby and it’ll scoot right on back!”

If the ghost could hear them, maybe it would be frightened off just by their voices. Whatever had hit them hadn’t shown itself near the window, or hit their vehicle again. It didn’t feel right. There might be no evidence for whatever it was lurking around, but sometimes you had to follow your intuition. Jack was inquisitive, but didn’t ask out loud as his wife stood to knock the ceiling herself.

“Sooo are we doing knock knock jokes, or do you need a tow?”

She should have known. Of all the ghosts, it would have to be the one that always managed to get her hackles up, pretending to be helpful so people trusted him. A ghost that even tried to have a human name to fit in, not that she’d ever call this thing ‘Danny’. It was an insult to her baby boy, quite frankly. “What are you up to now?”

“Asking you if you need this thing moved. Duh,” the ghost snorted, the metal clanking as he knocked it again. “Talking at you from the roof feels dumb, you gonna shoot if I go to the front?”

“Depends on what you do, ghost scum!” Jack had looked pensive for a moment, but spoke up quickly on spotting Maddie reaching for a notebook. He just had to give her time to think it over, and he was great at distractions.

“Is scum what you call all people who help you out, or am I just your favourite?” A white haired head appeared at the top of their window, looking down with an amused smirk at the pair. Still playing innocent when they were at a disadvantage.

“You’re a ghost ‘claiming’ to want to help.”

That earned a frown, though the ghost stopped half hiding to float in front of their stranded speeder. “Riiiight. Put it that way, whatever,” he paused, as if studying their faces. His green eyes lingered on the weapon, notably so even as he went back to jabbering. “I’ve got some stuff to do, but I can drag the s-that thing back to the portal. So?”

The hunters shared a glance, unsure how to handle it. Phantom liked to claim he liked humans and protecting them, but he was a ghost. There had to be something he wanted out of them in return. Or might get violent if refused in the wrong way. At least he shouldn’t be able to see the quickly scrawled message to Jack. ‘You play the doubtful one, I’ll pretend to trust him- it’ll underestimate us’

“As if, spooky! Jack Fenton doesn’t need any ghost’s help!”

The ghost bought the open hostility without a second thought, eyes rolling to a sky that wasn’t here. “Really? I heard tow trucks were expensive out of state! Can’t imagine the out of dimension costs.”

It was going to be difficult to stay civil when it would be so much easier to just demand the ghost stop playing around. “We’re listening. So what do you want?”

“Awwww Mads, we don’t need this punk’s help! He doesn’t even have toes!”

The passion Jack had put into his moping managed to baffle the ghost. “Wait, what? Of course I do! No, stop, why does that matter? I know tows and toes are different things! I’m not that bad of a student, sheesh.” He seemed quite thrown, which was good. If the ghost forgot what the plan had been he might just get lost.

“Yeah, and you don’t have either Phantom!” Her husband managed to keep from laughing, but the shake in his shoulders showed it was a near thing.

Phantom glanced down at the black wispy tail that made up his legs, muttering something. “Well okay I don’t right now, but I normally do!”

It was a bit fascinating that Jack had distracted the ghost from his goal so completely. They’d have to think about an invention that could replicate the effect. “Can we focus please? I already said I’d listen to what you wanted.”

“Oh! Right, sorry,” he coughed, a strangely human expression of embarrassment. “I don’t actually need anything? I just have some stuff to do so you’d need to wait a bit.”

Oh right. Sure, the most dangerous ghost in town wanted to help the ghost hunters that wanted to destroy him ‘just because’. Just wait here while he goes to get some friends to attack them! Honestly, did ghosts think they were stupid? “Then why not tell us when you’re done? We’re not moving very quickly.”

“Cus he wants to make us think we’re safe before WHAM! Outnumbered by cowardly ghosts!” Jack expressed her true feelings effortlessly. “Not that it’d help em!”

“No way, you think I’d leave you guys here where anyone can try something?” The ghost still seemed confused, eyebrows raised and arms crossed. “You guys are here to study or whatever anyway, right? So you can look around while I get my errands done. And you know, you don’t get attacked. Most of the little guys leave me alone.”

As if that was a surprise! A ghost of Phantom’s strength could destroy smaller and weaker entities without effort. Perhaps it was a subtle threat slipping through his mask of ‘helpful child’. The idea of going deeper into the Ghost Zone, completely at his mercy was...well absolutely idiotic. Even if they could probably overcome him...being able to still get some studies done would make it not a complete waste of a trip. “So you think it’s likely we’ll be attacked here, so close to the portal?”

“Yeah, by him!” Jack looked tempted to grab his weapon, but refrained. “So what if we say no, huh?”

“Then I guess you can float here? Up to you, I guess.”

It was strange, to see the cocky ghost a bit hesitant. Even if there was an obvious threat he wasn’t mentioning. “Well if you could pull the Speeder, you could take it even if we don’t want you to.”

“I think that’s called kidnapping.” Phantom’s cocky smirk returned “Which is weird, you’re not kids! Adultnapping? Nah, that sounds dumb.”

“Ah cut the innocent act, we’re not falling for it!”

“Hey, I said it’s up to you! Either you agree to come along and I get you back home, or I just leave you guys to do whatever you plan to do. Even if yes, I could totally just drag the ship anyway. I’m not, because I’m trying to help, remember?” A hint of frustration slid past the confidence at ‘remember’, but the ghost folding his arms behind his head as if kicking back to relax did defang most of the threat. “I don’t have all day here.”

“We don’t have all day either Phantom. We have family to get back to, and no idea how long you plan to be ‘on errands’.” Maddie pointed out, still unsure what they should do. Trusting him was stupid, but he had showed his hand. Refusal might be met with the same result anyway, but ‘agreeing’ might trick the ghost into thinking they fell for his ‘trustworthy’ act.

“Like an hour or two? Not too long.”

“Well I’d use my Fenton Stopwatch! So don’t think you can pretend it’s a shorter time than it is, ghost!”

“Yeah yeah, you do that D-Jack,” he stumbled over the ghost hunter’s name, but otherwise didn’t move from relaxing. “It’s not gonna kill you to trust me for a bit.”

Even though it very much could kill them. He really was a smug bit of ectoplasm, thinking he blended in with humans well enough to be considered one. “So only a few hours, and you won’t stop us from researching or taking samples? Or lead us to a trap?”

“If I wanted people to get threatened by ghosts, I could just take some days off. No trouble, cross my heart. I’d swear to die but I got the jump on that bit,” he snorted at his own joke, but otherwise left the family to consider.

It was just safer to say ‘yes’ so the ghost thought they were fools. It had nothing to do with wanting to salvage something out of this disaster of an expedition. “Yes. We’ll accept your help, this time.”

“And you aren’t getting any thanks until we’re home, got it?” Good, ghost hunter, bad ghost hunter. An easy enough trick. Even if she wished Jack was the ‘trusting’ one. Yelling would feel nice.

“Yeeeah, kinda expected that too. Rude.” The ghost only shrugged before flying up and out of sight. She half expected to hear the ghost grab the Speeder, but they only really noticed when they started moving. Moving very, very quickly.

She couldn’t help it, her curiosity tamped down some of the fear she should be feeling, pointing out interesting landmasses as they passed, Jack just as enthusiastic to discuss what caused them, if the ghost built them or they were simply generated when a ghost squirmed into existence. A great castle that seemed familiar, an island with some sort of skull as a decoration and thousands of doors. Most ghosts they only could get sparing glimpses at, even when carrying an entire vehicle the ghost boy was fast. Ridiculously so. She thought it was his small figure that contributed to how quickly the pest could move- how the ghost could just vanish out of range in moments. That most of the power behind his physical attacks came from the speed they were delivered with instead of raw strength. Clearly that was an incorrect hypothesis, moving this quickly and carrying so much extra weight without any real difficulty. They slowed near what seemed to be another castle, though it was much less foreboding looking then the other one.

That sinking dread returned after they landed. She had some landmarks, but this much distance would be a big ask to get back. That, and this castle seemed more...occupied, judging by some humanoid ghosts loitering near the gates. One even waved. To them, or the ghost carrying them?

“Okayyy so. Ground rules? Don’t shoot anyone. None of these guys even go through the portal, they’re not the fighting type. Other than that? Have fun, I guess?” He’d stopped floating, standing on the ground beside their stalled craft. He didn’t look as if preparing to fight, which is what she’d assumed the ghost meant by ‘errands’. So what was he up to?

“We won’t do anything if they don’t.” A lie, honestly, but the ghost nodded.

“Wait, what’s that stuff for?” White gloves pointed at the masks the ghost hunters were pulling from under the seats. “Like you can hear me, there’s air out here.”

“It might be safe for ghosts, but we aren’t ghosts.”

Phantom opened his mouth as if to protest before shutting it with a frown. Strange, it was hard to get him to shut up most of the time.

“Nice try, we’re not gonna choke on ghost air today, Phantom!” Jack chuckled, adjusting his mask before popping open the hatch.

“I wasn’t expecting you to- oh whatever. Just don’t embarrass me,” he sounded like a sulking kid, only glancing at them for a moment before kicking off the ground to fly closer to the castle. Off to fight whoever ‘owned’ this area, perhaps?

“Well look at that! Regular plants!” Jack shook her from her pondering, crouched over what looked like a tended to flower bed near the walls. “Well, ghost plants that aren’t trying to attack. Think we should sketch em for the kids?”

“Well Jazz has been more interested in ghosts lately, I suppose.” It was interesting, but she was more curious about the ghost meandering past the walls. They seemed docile, almost like people just walking and apparently talking with one another. Not attempting to fight for territory or resources. Perhaps they were just repeating the memories of their lives over and over? Yet none of them had reacted badly to Phantom zipping past either. A different breed of ghost, perhaps? Or ghosts often had ‘kings’ that kept the lesser ones from squabbling. The large brute of a ghost that stole the town had claimed to be a king of sorts, and this was another castle...but she didn’t want to test anything by getting their attention. They might only act savagely towards humans, being jealous of those still alive after all.

“Yeah, she has! Danno might not like em, but that goth chick he’s eyeing might like em too!” He was already sketching away, quickly getting the basics. He’d fill in the details from memory back home. “You want to try seeing if those ones talk? Not sure how the ghost kid thinks we could embarrass him, ha!”

“Oh he was probably just trying to insult us. He likes to pretend to be a teenager,” she waved that question away, double checking her weapon was easy to reach in case of an emergency. No reason to make their predicament worse by being unprepared. While still considering to go near those ghosts instead of safely observing from a distance. Jack’s enthusiasm was too infectious, really, but that’s how they made so many discoveries!

The ghosts didn’t object to her moving closer, but she kept off the busier paths to be safe. So many stalls of what seemed to be goods, clothing and paintings, rugs and nick knacks. Well, the ghosts didn’t need anything to live, so it would make sense for them to prioritize other items first, but the art was strange. What did the dead know of creativity? Were these all recreations of something found in life? No, some of the paintings had the green skies of the Ghost Zone, implying at least some ‘new’ thought. They were strange, very unlike the wild animals that often attacked the town, or the showy inhuman mimics that tried to claim world domination. They just looked like greener, more transparent people. Barely any of them even floated much. They’d need new categories, they broke too many rules that stayed true on Earth.

“Oh that’s a lovely shade of blue! I wish I could make something like it.” The voice echoed, but it wasn’t growling or mocking. In fact, the ghost woman who had paused beside the hunter was smiling warmly, despite the dead red eyes. “Are you just visiting for a bit?”

“We’re mostly stuck going wherever the ghost boy is taking us, our ship broke down,” Maddie struggled not to frown, her natural inclination to get away from the still potentially dangerous ghost strong with so many fights. She could tell it the truth, in a sense. Phantom was far more likely to be dangerous then this waif of a woman. How she could move in so many ruffles was baffling.

“Oh dear! Well if he’s any trouble you can let Dorthea know, she’s a caring ruler. A human helped her get her rightful throne back, so I’m sure she’d be happy to help!” The ghost tittered a little, as if expecting that to be obvious.

So the ghost did know she was human? Far more alarming was the idea some other human had been dragged this far from home, possibly trapped. Maybe this would turn into a rescue mission. Unless it was too late for them, a distinct possibility. “Oh really? How did that happen?”

“Oh I don’t really know the details, but it was a human that inspired our good Queen that she didn’t need to fear that tyrant and she could fight back. I wish I’d seen it!”

It was disquieting how human the ghost sounded, a friendly sort of gossip. If only she had a way to record it. “The human got back home after helping, right?”

“Well I assume so, she had no intentions of staying here very long, that’s for sure!” She laughed easily, apparently blind to Maddie’s confusion and apprehension, or just unable to see it past the mask and goggles. “I’m fairly sure Sir Phantom took her back, you could ask him.”

Sir? That town terrorizing scoundrel was respected around here? And had been taking humans out of the ghost zone? Probably because he made whoever it was get here in the first place, just to rescue them. Was that why he was here? To stage some new act with this ghost queen? “Right, I might do that.” Would she? This morning she hadn’t expected to talk to ghosts, let alone multiple.

“Oh! If you see any of those angry blobs you can just run back towards the guards and they’ll deal with it. It’s their job, and they’re quite good at it. I actually considered doing that job for a bit, but I like looking after the plants more. Maybe I’ll switch in a decade or two!” The ghost kept talking, apparently taking Maddie’s lack of further questions as permission to keep chattering.

“Can’t you deal with them yourself?” Attacking ghost blobs was something she knew about, and if this ghost was strong enough to mimic humans, shouldn’t it be able to deal with the much less sophisticated tactics of blobs?

“Me? Oh no, I’m not not trained. Do you still have lions on the other side? It would be like trying to fight one of those with a stick!” She laughed, but not unkindly.

“You’re both ghosts though, aren’t you?” Perhaps they differentiated themselves by name in the Ghost Zone? It would lend some evidence to the ‘different breeds’ of ghost hypothesis she was rapidly stringing together.

She tapped at her chin for a moment at the question. “I suppose we are, but they’re more like animals. They might have always been animals, or never alive at all! It’s perfectly safe here though, they usually fight more among themselves.”

Well that was fascinating. Some ghosts didn’t instinctively know how to fight and had to be taught? Yet didn’t consider themselves completely separated from the more animalistic ectoplasmic terrors. Perhaps the more ‘domestic’ setting here made the ghosts less feral and more reliant on their previous memories. Well, the ghost could be lying, but she couldn’t see the benefit she’d gain from deception here. “So you’re kind of stuck here then? We saw a lot of those outside of this place.”

“No no, we’ve got safer ways to travel than just flying around! Not all of us are that brave, dear. Though I don’t think I’d want to stay somewhere else very long anyway. Here it’s safe, all my friends are here and we have one of the largest markets in the whole Ghost Zone. Other ghosts come to us!” There was a hint of pride as she spoke about her ‘home’, gesturing over to some of the stalls Maddie hadn't had time to look at before getting interrupted. “I was really hoping to get something from the seven armed bloke over there, but he’s not very interested in my clothing. Maybe next time.”

Said ‘bloke’ had far too many eyes to go with the arms, and a collection of honestly terrifying little statues with strange designs that made her head hurt if she looked at it too long. A clear outsider to the more human ones, but not causing a stir. So much for constantly fighting out groups, but they barely had anything in common either! Not to mention engaging in some kind of simplistic trading. “So this happens often?”

“Pretty much. It’s fun to make new things, but you get bored of just your own stuff after a few centuries you know? So we swap and find new things.”

Well of course, it’s not like the ghosts needed to trade for something vital to existence. Swapping ‘things’ made more sense in that context. So why weren’t any trying to trade strength or favours? Or simply taking what they wanted? Was it related to having a queen? She had so many questions that knowing what ones needed to be asked was next to impossible. “I suppose you would. How can you tell if a ghost that comes is peaceful?”

“Asking!” She laughed again, apparently finding the question funny. So they didn’t deal with constant attacks from spectres like Phantom trying to ‘take over?’ Why?

“Oh geeze, I’m so sorry if she said anything about trying to-” Phantom’s voice interrupted her thoughts, the ghost suddenly floating beside the other ghost and sputtering.

“Sorry? She’s been perfectly lovely! Haven’t you- oh I’m so rude, I didn’t even get your name!” the ghost tisked at herself, once again strangely apologetic.

“Wait, she has?” His doubtful tone made the ghost hunter scowl. As if he had any room to judge them.

“We’re scientists, not uncontrollable monsters.” Like him. She was fairly sure he caught the implication when the boy muttered something she couldn’t hear.

“Cool. Anyway, got another stop, then I’ll get you two back home.” He still hovered, glancing between the two of them a few times. “Oh. Maddie, that’s her name.”

“Lovely speaking with you Maddie! Had a good trip back, I’m Guenivier if you’re ever in the area again,” she smiled and gave another wave before somehow drifting back into the crowd without displacing even a bit of that dress.

“Who said you can give out my name?” Maddie hissed, once certain the other ghost was out of earshot.

He leaned back on teenager mannerisms, scoffing and heading away. “Because she wanted to know and thinks you aren’t a total ghost hater? It’s not gonna hurt anything.”

“How can I know you don’t have a way to locate people by name?”

He was rolling his eyes again as if she was being ridiculous. “You live in a house with a giant glowing sign. Not exactly subtle.”

“That isn’t in the ghost zone.”

“It’s attached to the ghost zone, it totally counts.”

It really was like arguing with a teenager when he bantered on like this. “Just don’t do it again.”

“Yes ma’am. Sheesh.” He hopped on top of the speeder, kicking his heels against the side. “Hey Jack, you coming?”

“Coming!” he bellowed back, jogging over from the patch of plants she’d left him at. However, he wasn’t just carrying his notebook, but a folded glowing bit of cloth. Some sort of tapestry judging by all the stitching? “Just wanted to get a few more lines done-” he broke off after spotting his wife, apparently reminded that he shouldn’t be so chummy with the ghost. “I mean I leave when I want to, you can’t boss Fentons around!”

“Oh come onnn, can you pretend you don’t hate me for like five minutes? I’m not even doing anything!” Phantom complained, flopping backwards onto the Speeder. “You were totally having a good time”.

“How did you get that, dear?” Maddie chose to ignore their sulking captor and instead look at what Jack managed to gather besides sketches.

“Oh, one of the ghosties liked my pictures and asked to trade for one! So I gave em a page for this! We can study how they made it back home, neat huh?”

Apparently he hadn’t been too worried about it being a trap, but a picture he’d just sketched wasn’t a big ask for something that could teach them a lot about the ghosts in here, so it was a good trade nonetheless. “You did great sweetie. Just make sure to store it safely, just in case.”

“Already on it sweet cheeks!” He was indeed, already pulling out a large sample bag to store their find before opening the hatch again.

“Ew. I changed my mind, go back to threatening me. Sappy is worse.”

Well, at least the ghost regretted his actions a bit. He’d be more sorry if he tried anything, but this did just seem to be something to sooth that hero complex it had. So far, anyway. She was tempted to ask the ghost what it had been up to at the castle, but it didn’t really matter. He’d just lie anyway, he clearly wasn’t the same sort of ghost as the weaker ones back there.

“Ha, he crumples in the face of our love Madds!” Jack laughed, hugging his wife and they got comfortable back in the speeder. “You think he’d take us back home if I said how much I love ya?”

“I so don’t need to hear this.” He was muffled, apparently still flopped on the speeder. He didn’t add anything before the Speeder lifted from the ground and resumed speeding through the strange green expanse.

“Clearly he buys his own teenager delusion.” Maddie mused, content to rest against Jack and look through his sketches. “Did they seem strangely lifelike to you too?”

“Oh sure! They just talked and didn’t even seem interested in going to the human world! Even though one was very jealous of how bright my jumpsuit is.” He leaned a bit to flick a few pages forward. “I sketched a couple and got their names, so we can see if we can look em up. See if they’re similar to their old selves according to history and all.”

“That’s a good idea. I didn’t get a complete name, but apparently they have jobs? Not like the wilder ghosts, and they do have a queen…” she paused, remembering the ‘human’ Phantom apparently ‘helped home. “Hey! You did help someone home from the ghost zone before, did you?”

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, she’s back safe. Wasn’t even a whole day.” He sounded distracted, or at least surprised by the question.

It could be a valuable lead. That, and the human might need help after such an experience. Who knew how ecto contaminated they might be! “Who was it?”

“How should I know? Just because I’m in town a lot doesn’t mean I know everyone’s name.”

She frowned, glancing at Jack who only shrugged. So he hadn’t heard that story, only her. “You know ours.”

“Because you shout them at me and shoot at me a lot? Pretty easy to remember!”

“Ghost kid’s got a point.” Jack admitted, patting her on the shoulder. “We’ll just find who it is ourselves! Just an extra project.”

“What, and just make their life weird again by bringing up ghost stuff? Leave em alone.”

Well now they absolutely had to look into it, if Phantom wasn’t keen on the idea. Better to let him think they agreed though. “True, it could just lead you back to them.”

“Hey! This is all you, not me!”

Jack chuckled. “You’re really good at riling him up. Almost sounds like our Danny like that, getting all touchy about fun family activities!”

“Well he probably copies behaviour from local teenagers,” she didn't like that comparison though. Their children were nothing like life destroying ghosts. It was better to turn her attention to the passing green and how the amount of doors seemed to dwindle as masses of ice started to become the most prominent detail. That made more sense, actually. Phantom had started using ice in addition to ectoblasts, if he came from somewhere with this sort of climate it seemed less out of place with his other abilities. Even if he was otherwise ill suited to snow and ice with how he insisted on looking like a kid.

The next stop felt more like a mistake, with only hills of untouched white powder and ice to see, but the crunch of snow below confirmed they were no longer moving. Good thing they came prepared with heated coats!

“Not a whole lot around here! If it wasn’t for all the green we could pretend we were in Alaska.” Jack chattered as he shrugged a coat on, still apparently too excited to look around to keep his suspicion up. “They don’t all like castles, or maybe it’s a hidden one!”

He better not be thinking Santa had an ice castle. That was probably what he was thinking of, but she didn’t really want to bring up their annual argument at the moment. He could be wrong today, there were more important things to do. “You do realize it’s a frozen wasteland you’ve stranded us on?”

“It’s not that cold.” Phantom objected, circling the Speeder idly.

“Easy for a ghost to say, you’re always cold ghost kid!”

He stopped at that, glancing back at Jack. “It's not that bad, is it?”

“Only because we brought warm clothing. Jumpsuits aren’t enough for the living.” Maddie huffed, looking at the snowfields to find anything worth looking at. The structures of ice were somewhat interesting, but not inherently ghostly.

“Well you guys can stay here, I guess.” The ghost bit at his lip, playing up the concern now that they pointed out a frozen wasteland was cold. Honestly, how did anyone fall for Phantom’s act if he made mistakes like this? “I don’t think Frostbite’s people come out this far…”

“Oh, are they dangerous? We can take any of your little ghostly pals!”

Phantom looked as if Jack suggested exploding a building. “No! Don’t fight any of them! They just look scary, okay? Just ignore them, if any show up.” He didn’t wait for a response before flying off this time, apparently in much more of a hurry this time.

“Sounds like he’s worried about what we can do to his little pals, huh?” Jack elbowed his wife with a grin. “Well, maybe we can find something weird about the ice here!”

It was better to try getting some of the ghost ice instead of doing nothing, though she doubted it would be very different from regular ice, beyond the ectocontamination. Now what would a ghost think is ‘scary looking’? He hadn’t given such a warning when close to all of the other ghosts, after all. It was a bit of a mystery, and none of the ice here had any identifying marks or hints of another odd little ghost ‘civilization’. ‘Frostbite’ wasn’t much of a name either, perhaps they were more like the wild sort that came to Amity?

“Oh hoh! Look at this!” Jack yelled out, pointing to something below him as he waved her over.

A large, clawed footprint left in the snow, and fairly deep. So something monstrous after all, as expected. “Maybe we can get a cast of it?” They had supplies for it, but she wasn’t certain if it would work in the ice correctly. The tracks didn’t go for long, but following them wasn’t a very tantalizing idea. Better to keep a distance and be well armed if they wanted to tangle with whatever left this. It wasn’t as distracting as the previous stop, but the sound of crunches increasing in volume had the couple back on edge and wary.

“Seriously, we should just go-”

It sounded like the ghost boy was near wherever the crunches were coming from, which didn’t improve her mood one iota.

“Nonsense! I have been asking to meet them for how long?” A deep, growling and carrying voice came in response as Maddie readied a weapon.

“Yeah, that’s the problem. You don’t want to, trust me.”

“Seems he doesn’t have a very high opinion of ghost hunters, eh Mads?” Jack was less noticeably readied, still half crouched near the footprint, but his hand hovered where a weapon was concealed. She focused on her breathing as the sound grew louder, eyes narrowed as she spotted a large figure cresting the nearby hill. With the little white haired ghost boy completely at ease near it. Nothing like his regular behaviour, let alone the talking. Why would this huge beast know of them?

“What did I say about not shooting people?” Phantom actually seemed to blush on seeing her holding the weapon, smacking his face. “Okay, you saw them, bye now!”

The large furred creature ignored how the smaller ghost pushed at their shoulder, instead waving with a horrific ice claw, bones gleaming from within as it seemed to rip at the very air. “Well our first meeting was hardly perfect either, I can manage.”

“Yeah but I can’t just pull a ‘won’t shoot a big yeti’ icicle out of their jumpsuits!”

For a human loving ghost, Phantom was certainly very concerned about this giant horned monster being harmed by ‘mere humans’. More proof of his act, at least. Though the large creature did have a cloak of some sort and clothing. He spoke well, if you ignored the fanged mouth and growls. A strange contradiction of appearance and intent. That wasn’t a normal thing for ghosts either, you could gather a decent amount about one by how they looked. So why was this one chatting and apparently interested in seeing two humans? “So, you’re the ‘Frostbite’ he mentioned?” She hazarded a guess, but wasn’t going to put the gun away.

It showed its fangs, maw wide and unnerving. “Yes, I am! It is an honour to meet you” The furry head bowed slightly, as if trying a sort of nod of respect. “Your work assisted the Great One in vanquishing Pariah Dark, we all owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“Please don’t call me that. Especially in front of them!” the green eyed ghost practically squawked, somehow flushing even harder when he didn’t even have blood.

Maddie’s mind almost flipped over from the sheer confusion of what this terrifying ghost said. They had ‘helped’ vanquish something? More likely, Phantom had stolen something. So why did this ghost still give them credit? That wasn’t even starting to touch why the ghost boy would be considered great in any aspect. “Assisted him? Do you mean with that ghost who took our town into the Ghost Zone?” She wasn’t sure if that was what the ‘king’ ghost was called, but it made more sense than anything else she could think of.

“Indeed. The King of All Ghosts would have sent the infinite realms into chaos and conflict. Of course we are grateful for your help in preventing that.”

“That’s when you stole the Ecto Skeleton!” Jack spoke up, no longer tense. “You never brought it back.”

“That’s not my fault, that thing almost wasted me! It was gone once I woke up!” The boy objected, but seemed to settle down when the larger ghost ruffled his hair. “I wanted to bring it back.”

“I’m sure now they understand how vitally important that technology was, for your world and ours.” The ghost’s yellow eyes watched them expectantly, the unnerving void of pointed daggers thankfully closed now.

“Well it did get Amity back where it belonged.” Losing the Ecto Skeleton had been a blow, but an acceptable one to get back to normal. The fact that more ghosts seemed to know and care about their part of it was somewhat unnerving. She very much doubted Phantom just ‘lost’ it either. Jack suffered from the demands of the suit, but the ghost was just ectoplasm and electricity. Quite unlikely he could be drained that much, it wasn’t meant for ghosts to use in the first place.

“Your world? Doesn’t the kid live here?” Jack asked, making his wife blink. She hadn’t noticed that odd phrasing.

“No, no. The Great One prefers the human world and his friends. How are they doing?”

He froze up, eyes flicking to the hunters and back to the yeti. “Fine. They’re great.” He darted closer to the two hunters, gesturing at them to move. “Okay let’s go.”

How much interacting was this ghost doing with humans to have ‘friends’ it told other ghosts about? They could be in danger, or used as targets! “No no, we’d love to hear about your friends.”

“Nope, you don’t, gotta get home right? Big hurry, don’t trust me, remember?” He was practically pleading with them.

Frostbite’s ears twitched as he tilted his head. “Don’t trust you? Surely they’re the ones who taught your friends how to drive that craft of yours?”

Phantom had the gall to turn invisible.

“We were unaware anyone other than us was using it, actually.” Maddie didn’t bother to keep the frost from her voice.

“Ah, well at least the good news is I already knew how to make a replacement battery for it when the Great One came asking for help.” His tail twitched, as one of the great claws scratched at his furry chest. “It should be good as new once you can install it.”

So not only was this ghost stealing technology and bringing humans to the ghost zone, it was teaching other ghosts how it worked! The second that ghost was in their grasp, he’d have some serious answering to do. “Do all of you call him that?” It was the only question she could ask without wishing to spit acid, quite frankly.

“All of the Far Frozen recognize him as such, but not all ghosts are the same. He should be proud of the title, a savour of two worlds.”

“Frostbite I’m begging you, stop! It’s embarrassing!” The ghost dropped his invisibility, still looking more like a flustered kid instead of the heroics seeking fame junkie he was.

“Well if it helps your relationship with these ghost hunters, I think it is important that they know.”

“Yeah no. Let’s not.”

It felt like there was something the two ghosts weren’t saying. That, and the fact Phantom didn’t seem to like being hailed as a hero here in the Ghost Zone didn’t make sense. Why all the grandstanding in Amity then?

“Well we’ll be glad for the lift home. You shouldn’t steal from us, kid.” Jack tried a stern approach, and the ghost actually flinched from the rebuke.

“You’re not the only ones who want to map this place out, that’s all,” he didn’t really seem to be answering them, more talking to himself before launching himself at the Speeder again. “You can shoot at me about it back home or whatever.”

“Travel safely! Do try and explore your other half more often, Great one. You’re always welcome here.” His great furry head watched them all easily, seeking out the ghost hunters eyes as well. "I understand you are less interested, but you are welcome to see the realities of my home as well. It may surprise you, in a good way."

She desperately wanted to ask what that monster of a ghost meant by that, but managed to hold her tongue. If all the ghosts here saw Phantom as some sort of godlike hero, chewing him out here wasn’t safe. Jack’s small nod of agreement and warm hug helped, but it couldn’t stop her mind churning. They’d seen and hurt so much, and none of it made any sense! This Frostbite just threw in several more wrenches in the works with only a few sentences, but with how agitated Phantom was getting now wasn’t the time to push their luck. Perhaps when the shoe was on the other foot, and the boy needed their assistance.

He didn’t speak up or grumble this time as they left the frozen land behind. Though that might be them as well,m sitting close together and considering the notes and samples they had taken. That and the huge list of questions Jack had scrawled down in the margins of a sketch of Frostbite. How could a ghost like Phantom truly manage to stay in the human world most of the time? Did it have to do with this ‘other half’ that ghost had mentioned? Would knowing what it was reveal a weakness in the ghost? So many questions, but no answers. Why had Phantom even let them speak to any ghosts, considering how badly he’d reacted to some of the information given? He couldn’t genuinely be wanting to help.

The inviting glow of the portal appeared sooner than either of them could expect, the ghost dropping the ship on the lab floor with a loud clunk.

“See? Home. No ‘evil plan’” he floated into view, and she was fairly sure he only did so to make those air quotes with his hands.

“So you say, ghost kid. Don’t think we won’t be checking for tricks!”

“Yeah sure,” he shrugged, grinning after a moment. “Oh hey, by the way, you do know what the Speeder is powered with, right?”

Maddie didn’t actually know how to take that question. “Of course we do, we built it!”

“Uh huh.” His grin widened as he kicked back, legs vanishing into that strange tail. “All you had to do was take the cover off. It’s the Ghost Zone! There’s ectoplasm everywhere! I just had Frostbite make a backup.”

...Had they really- They had. They’d been dragged around by a ghost for no reason at all! “Why you little-”

He kept laughing before turning and getting out of the way. “Thanks for flying with Phantom Zone Tours! I’m out.” A jaunty wave and he was gone, leaving two baffled ghost hunters behind.

“I think some fudge is in order after that!”

She couldn’t say he was wrong. Maybe fudge could make sense of that whole affair. All that for a prank? It didn’t add up. They’d have a lot of work to do.

#Danny Phantom #phic fight 2021 #Maddie Fenton #jack fenton #hey look a fun one!#tho they are kinda mean about poor danny-boy #but hey minimal angst! woo!#Team Ghost

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hazelcephalopod · 2 years

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The Eye of the World Ch 8-11

Disclaimer: this is my first read thru but I’ve watched the first 4 episodes of the show and been spoiled on some things. So… I’m going to lean into that. Enjoy figuring out what I know and what I think in know and what I don’t. Also s/x I add commentary when I edit.

Spoilers for the first book under the cut.

Previews:

Ch 9, “the real beginning”.

ch 10, Have I been spelling Moiraine wrong? Don’t worry about it. It’s fine now.

Immediate impression: This was a tense section! Really gets across that yes they need to go and go quickly and they take it very seriously. Aka “yes we have to run. No, we are not stopping.”

Ch 8

Dude I know you’re going thru it. But he raised you for your entire however many years of life. He’s your dad.

Damn Rand does not like magic. Honestly… I’m interpreting it it as an even greater foreboding than the average person in his case

Jordan: did you notice this thing? Are you sure? Just to be clear you got that right?

… and I’m not even mad honestly I’m still having fun with it. Like, it’s kinda endearing

Oh so Ravens are literally kinda on the side of evil here. Ok. (Or at least even Moiraine thinks so)

Also. Moraine just being the best. She does want to help!

Yup. Doesn’t matter if you walk in the Light. Or not. That tracks. (Certainly helps to not walk directly into the darkness, I imagine.)

Cool. Magic items!

Oh shit. Eyeless! I mean I knew but now I know. And even Lan is afraid of them.

Oof. ‘Well I healed you dad now… uh you’re going to have to leave the only home you’ve ever known and never planned on leaving forever’

Ah yes that Two River stubbornness. Argue and deny until there’s no room left to do so at all

Lol. ‘Yea uh come to the city of the magic women you and everyone else don’t really trust’

Also Moraine is for sure being a bit sly here.

Really? Well you are young

“He had to trust the Aes Sedai” -eotw (Rand). Mmm bad vibes

Yes I’m sure she doesn’t notice any of those looks Mayor

Yes! Get more confirmation.

I trust Moraine. That does not meant Rand should

Yup. Sleep. Glad we finally got there

Yes! What did I say? Hmm? We got there too! He’s your dad!

Ch 9

What? Fast forward? Dream? My moneys on dream

Oh no, this is a nightmare

I’d make a pithy comment about Shai’tan but I know enough of the lore of this world. Like… yup like the real world. Hint hint.

Oh… uh a better dream?

Nope. Not that much better after all!

Ok so… “He could not remember the face, except as terror.” Rand’s dream, I have thoughts. I’ll place them here and elsewhere. I’m the show… I don’t hate the design of scary dream guy but… like I don’t think I’d have shown his face at all? Instead focus on the dreamers face in horror and fear whenever anyone looks at it, lean into the inability of the human mind to look upon it. That’s it. Could be worse but there’s my 2 cents.

And the dream shifts again.

Trap. It’s trying to keep him. So, trap

Ok maybe not the trap I thought but still a trap. Destiny is a cage

Oh no I was right the first time. Trap trap. Always trust your instincts!

Destiny is still a cage tho

And he’s actually awake. No not inception jokes. Eff that

Night falls. Time to go!

“Apparently he had slept with the sword hilt jabbing him in the ribs.” Oww. I know it’s the blunt end but still (&…)

Food!

He actually gets to talk to his dad!? Yes! I’m so happy for them!

“We’re luckier than some…” -Rand to Tam about the farm. And it’s genuinely optimistic too. Which is nice

Right? Remember exact words? No. Absolutely not

Tam always with the good advice honestly. Dude be careful around everyone tho

Yes! Tam also nails that one. Be careful.

Maybe just a friend. Ya know. That’s all some people want. A friend, with a sword.

Oh no. Mat…

But yay May?! At least he’s here. Where’s Perrin?

Ah. Scared people trouble.

Mayor Bran continues to be the best

‘Al’ does mean either ‘son of’ then!

If you wanted the deep lore look no further. (I do want the deep lore!)

“This was the real beginning…” it’s chapter nine I remind you

Ch 10

Have I been spelling Moiraine wrong? Don’t worry about it. It’s fine now.

I’m told it’s the real beginning. Once again.

Btw. Im really curious to see how Egwene and Nynaeve get in on this trip. I’m guessing to go after them and bring them back

Perrin!

Ohhh! I’m wrong -on one account. Of course Egwene knows. She listens in! I’m proud of her

Thoms coming too! Oh yesss. I did like him, despite his flaws

And I’m continuing to like him by the minute

Oh right Bela!

“We will look after each other.” -Egwene. It’s what people need to do

Just a militia

Oh scary bird thing.

No immediate explanation on whatever a Draghkar is? That’s honestly one of the scarier things that has happened! Like… it’s that bad and things are that dangerous? No three page explaination of it’s entire history (for the record I am a bit disappointed. I like the lore)

Ch 11

Egwene not important?!

Also he seems nearly as worried about Bela (a horse) as Egwene lol

Food! Also a village. No not to stop at!

Idk seems like Tar Valon is a long way. Probably gonna have to rest somewhere at some point

Creepy fog becomes friendly mist!

Oh Taren Ferry is like a whole town here! Cool

Oh that ferry is going tonight

Fear and money go a long way

Oh lol. He has to get everyone up. Idk if everyone is people or horses but all the same.

Also all the horrifying screams throughout the chapter and barking dogs.

#the wheel of time #wheel of time #wot #many thoughts on twot teotw #< block or filter to stop seeing these posts #the eye of the world #eotw spoilers #twot book #twot book spoilers

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sk1fanfiction · 3 years

Text

the many faces of tom riddle, part 4

-attachment, orphanages, and yet more child psych: time to add yet another voice to the void-

FULL DISCLAIMER THAT THIS IS JUST MY OPINION OF A CHARACTER WHO DOESN’T HAVE THE STRONGEST CANON CHARACTERIZATION, AND THUS ALL THIS IS BASED ON MY CONCEPTUALIZATION.

I'm going to be super biased, because my favorite portrayal of Tom Riddle is actually Hero Fiennes-Tiffin as eleven-year-old Tom Riddle, in HBP and I get to chat about child psych in this one, sooo here we go.

First of all, I’m just so impressed that a kid could bring that much depth to such a complex character.

This is the portrayal, I feel, that brings us closest to Tom’s character. Yes, Coulson’s brought us pretty close, but by fifth year, the mask was on.

We don't really get to see Tom looking afraid very often, but it's fear that rules his life, so it's really poignant in our first (chronologically) introduction, he looks absolutely terrified.

The void being the fandom's loud opinions on a certain headmaster. I wouldn't call myself pro-Dumbledore, but I'm certainly not anti-Dumbledore, either. (Agnostic-Dumbledore??)

Since I'm not of the anti-Dumbledore persuasion, I decided to poke around in the tags and see what the arguments were, so I don't make comments out of ignorance.

Most of the tag seems to be more directed towards his treatment of Harry and Sirius, but a few people mentioned that Dumbledore should have treated Tom with ‘exceptional kindness’ and tried to ‘rehabilitate’ him.

As I said in Parts 2 and 3, I am 100% in favor of helping a traumatized kid learn to cope, and I don’t think Tom Riddle was solidly on the Path to Evil (TM) at birth, or even at eleven. Not even at fifteen.

Could unconditional love and kindness have helped Tom Riddle enough for the rise of Lord Voldemort to never happen? Possibly, but...

Yes, I'm about to drag up that Carl Jung quote, again.

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”

The problem with this is that if you’re going to blame Dumbledore for this, you also have to blame every other adult in Tom’s life: his headmaster, Dippet, his Head of House, Slughorn, his ‘caretakers’ at the orphanage, Mrs. Cole and Martha, and possibly more. In fact, if we're going to blame any adult, let's blame Merope for r*ping and abusing Tom Riddle Senior, and having a kid she wasn't intending to take care of.

Furthermore, you cannot possibly hold anyone but Tom accountable for the murders he committed. (I should not have to sit here and explain why cold-blooded murder is wrong.) And if you like Tom Riddle's character, insinuating that his actions are completely at the whim of others is just a bit condescending towards him. He's not an automaton or a marionette, he's a very intelligent human being with a functioning brain, and at sixteen is fully capable of moral reasoning and critical analysis.

I've heard the theories about Dumbledore setting the Potters up to die, and I'm not going to discuss their validity right now; but he didn't put a wand in Tom's hand and force him to kill anyone. Tom did it all of his own accord.

And while yes, I have enormous sympathy for what happened to Tom as a child, at some point, he decided to murder Myrtle Warren, and that is where I lose my sympathy. Experiencing trauma does not give you the right to inflict harm on others. Yes, Tom was failed, but then, he spectacularly failed himself.

We also have no idea how Dumbledore treated Tom as a student.

In the movies, it’s Dumbledore who tells Tom he has to go back to the orphanage, but in the books, it’s Dippet. We know that Slughorn spent a lot of time around Tom at Slug Club and such, yet I don’t really see people clamoring for his head.

I regard the sentiment that Dumbledore turned Tom Riddle into Lord Voldemort with a lot of skepticism.

But let's hear from the character himself -- his impression of eleven-year-old Tom Riddle.

“Did I know that I had just met the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time?” said Dumbledore. “No, I had no idea that he was to grow up to be what he is. However, I was certainly intrigued by him. I returned to Hogwarts intending to keep an eye upon him, something I should have done in any case, given that he was alone and friendless, but which, already, I felt I ought to do for others’ sake as much as his."

Now, assuming that Dumbledore's telling the truth, I'm not seeing something glaringly wrong with this. No, he hasn't pigeonholed Tom as evil, yes, I'd be intrigued, too, and it's a very good idea to keep an eye on Tom, for his own sake.

“At Hogwarts,” Dumbledore went on, “we teach you not only to use magic, but to control it. You have — inadvertently, I am sure — been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school."

Again, it seems like he's at least somewhat sympathetic towards Tom, and is willing to at least give him a chance.

More evidence (again, assuming Dumbledore is a reliable narrator):

Harry: “Didn’t you tell them [the other professors], sir, what he’d been like when you met him at the orphanage?” Dumbledore: “No, I did not. Though he had shown no hint of remorse, it was possible that he felt sorry for how he had behaved before and was resolved to turn over a fresh leaf. I chose to give him that chance.”

Now, I think Dumbledore is pretty awful with kids, but I don't think that's malicious. Yeah, it's a flaw, but perfect people don't exist, and perfect characters are dead boring. I am not saying that he definitely handled Tom's case well, I'm just saying that there's little evidence that Dumbledore, however shaken and scandalized, wrote him off as 'evil snake boy.'

It's also worth taking into account that it's 1938, and the attitudes towards mental health back then.

Why is Tom looking at Dumbledore like that, anyway? Why is he so scared? What has he possibly been threatened with or heard whispers of?

"'Professor'?" repeated Riddle. He looked wary. "Is that like 'doctor'? What are you here for? Did she get you in to have a look at me?"

"I don't believe you," said Riddle. "She wants me looked at, doesn't she? Tell the truth!"

"You can't kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it? 'Professor,' yes, of course -- well, I'm not going, see? That old cat's the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they'll tell you!

Tom keeps insisting he's not mad until Dumbledore finally manages to calm him down.

I'm really upset this wasn't in the movie, because it's important context. Instead we got these throwaway cutscenes of some knick-knacks relating to the Cave he's got lying around, but I just would have preferred to see him freaking out like he does in the book.

There was extreme stigma and prejudice towards mental illness.

'Lunatic asylums,' as they were called in Tom's time, were terrible places. In the 1930s and 40s, he could look forward to being 'treated' with induced convulsions, via metrazol, insulin, electroshock, and malaria injections. And if he stuck around long enough, he could even look forward to a lobotomy!

So, if you think Dumbledore was judgmental towards Tom, imagine how flat-out prejudiced whatever doctors or 'experts' Mrs. Cole might have gotten in to 'look at him' must have been!

Moving on to the next few shots, he is sitting down and hunched over as if expecting punishment or at least some kind of bad news, Dumbledore is mostly out of the frame. He’s trapped visually, by Dumbledore on one side, and a wall on the other, because he’s still very much afraid. uncomfortable, as he tells Dumbledore a secret that he fears could get him committed to an asylum (which were fucking horrible places, as I said).

It brings to the scene that miserable sense of isolation and loneliness to that has defined Tom’s entire life up to that point (and, partially due to his own bad choices, continues to define it).

And, when Dumbledore accepts it, his posture changes. he becomes more confident and more at ease, as he describes the... utilities of his magical abilities.

"All sorts," breathed Riddle. A flush of excitement was rising up his neck into his hollow cheeks; he looked fevered. "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to."

Riddle lifted his head. His face was transfigured: There was a wild happiness upon it, yet for some reason it did not make him better looking; on the contrary, his finely carved features seemed somehow rougher, his expression almost bestial.

I do think Harry, our narrator, is being a tad bit judgmental here. Magic is probably the only thing that brings Tom happiness in his grey, lonely world, and when I was Tom's age and being bullied, if I had magic powers, you'd better believe that I'd (a) be bloody ecstatic about it (b) use them. And, like Tom, I can't honestly say that I can't imagine getting a bit carried-away with it. Unfortunately, we can't all be as inherently good and kindhearted as Harry.

Reading HBP again, as a 'mature' person, it almost seems like the reader is being prompted to see Tom as evil just because he's got 'weird' facial expressions.

So... uh...

Nope, let's judge Tom on his actions, not looks of 'wild happiness.'

To his great surprise, however, Dumbledore drew his wand from an inside pocket of his suit jacket, pointed it at the shabby wardrobe in the corner, and gave the wand a casual flick. The wardrobe burst into flames. Riddle jumped to his feet; Harry could hardly blame him for howling in shock and rage; all his worldly possessions must be in there. But even as Riddle rounded on Dumbledore, the flames vanished, leaving the wardrobe completely undamaged.

Okay, one thing I dislike is Tom's lack of emotional affect when Dumbledore burned the wardrobe, in the books, he jumped up and started screaming, instead of looking passively (in shock, perhaps?) at the fire. Incidentally, I can't really tell if he's impressed or in shock, to be honest. I think they really tried to make Tom 'creepier' in the movie.

This is one of the incidents where Dumbledore's inability to deal with children crops up.

I think he was trying to teach Tom that magic can be dangerous, and he wouldn't like it to be used against him, but burning the wardrobe that contains everything he owns was a terrible move on Dumbledore's part. Tom already has very limited trust in other people, and now, he's not going to trust Dumbledore at all -- now, he's put Tom on the defensive/offensive for the rest of their interaction, and perhaps for the rest of their teacher-student relationship.

Riddle stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore; then, his expression greedy, he pointed at the wand. "Where can I get one of them?"

"Where do you buy spellbooks?" interrupted Riddle, who had taken the heavy money bag without thanking Dumbledore, and was now examining a fat gold Galleon.

But I'm not surprised Tom is 'greedy.' He's grown up in an environment where if he wants something, whether that's affection, food, money, toys, he's got to take it. There's no one looking after his needs specifically. I'm not surprised that he's a thief and a hoarder, and I don't think that counts as a moral failing necessarily, and more of a maladaptive way of seeking comfort. It would be bizarre if he came out of Wool's Orphanage a complete saint.

Additionally, I think given that the Gaunt family has a history of 'mental instability,' Tom is a sensitive child, and the trauma of growing up institutionalized and possibly being treated badly due to his magical abilities or personality disorder deeply affected him.

And there are points where it seems that Dumbledore is quick to judge Tom.

"He was already using magic against other people, to frighten, to punish, to control."

"Yes, indeed; a rare ability, and one supposedly connected with the Dark Arts, although as we know, there are Parselmouths among the great and the good too. In fact, his ability to speak to serpents did not make me nearly as uneasy as his obvious instincts for cruelty, secrecy, and domination."

"I trust that you also noticed that Tom Riddle was already highly self-sufficient, secretive, and, apparently, friendless?..."

And while this is all empirically true, these are (a) a product of Tom's harsh environment, and (b) do not necessarily make him evil. But the point remains that child psych didn't exist as a field of its own, and psychology as a proper science was in its infancy, so I'd be shocked if Dumbledore was insightful about Tom's situation.

But I've gone a ton of paragraphs without citing anything, so I've got to rectify that.

Let's talk about Harry Harlow's monkey experiments in the 1950-70s.

If you're not a fan of animal research, since I know some people are uncomfortable with it, feel free to scroll past.

Here's the TL;DR: Children need to be hugged and shown affection too, not just fed and clothed, please don't leave babies to 'cry out' and ignore their needs because it's backwards and fucking inhumane. HUG AND COMFORT AND CODDLE CHILDREN AND SPOIL THEM WITH AFFECTION!

I will put more red writing when the section is over.

This is still an interesting experiment to have in mind while we explore the whole 'no one taught Tom Riddle how to love' thing and whether or not it's actually a good argument.

Andddd let's go all the way back to the initial 1958 experiment, featured in Harlow's paper, the Nature of Love. (If you're familiar with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, him and Harlow actually collaborated for a time).

To give you an idea of our starting point, until Harlow's experiment, which happened twenty years after Dumbledore meets Tom for the first time, no one in science had really been interested in studying love and affection.

"Psychologists, at least psychologists who write textbooks, not only show no interest in the origin and development of love or affection, but they seem to be unaware of its very existence."

I'm going to link some videos of Harry Harlow showing the actual experiment, which animal rights activists would probably consider 'horrifying.' It's nothing gory or anything, but if you are particularly soft-hearted (and I do not mean that as an insult), be warned. It's mostly just baby monkeys being very upset and Harlow discussing it in a callous manner. Yes, today it would be considered unethical, but it's still incredibly important work and if you think you can handle it, I would recommend watching at least the first one to get an idea of how dramatic this effect is.

Dependency when frightened

The full experiment

The TL;DW:

This experiment was conducted with rhesus macaques; they're still used in psychology/neuroscience research when you want very human-like subjects, because they are very intelligent (unnervingly so, actually). I'd say that adult ones remind me of a three-year old child.

Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers, and cared for their physical needs. They had ample nutrition, bedding, warmth, et cetera. However, the researchers noticed that the monkeys:

(a) were absolutely miserable. And not just that, but although all their physical needs were taken care of, they weren't surviving well past the first few days of life. (This has also been documented in human babies, and it's called failure to thrive and I'll talk about it a bit later).

(b) showed a strong attachment to the gauze pads used to cover the floor, and decided to investigate.

So, they decided to provide a surrogate 'mother.' Two, actually. Mother #1 was basically a heated fuzzy doll that was nice for the monkeys to cuddle with. Mother #2 was the same, but not fuzzy and made of wire. Both provided milk. The result? The monkeys spent all their time cuddling and feeding from the fuzzy 'mother.' Perhaps not surprising.

What Harlow decided next, is that one of the hallmarks being attached to your caregiver is seeking hugs and reassurance from them when frightened. So, when the monkeys were presented with something scary, they'd go straight to the cloth mother and ignore the wire one. Not only that, but when placed in an unfamiliar environment, if the cloth mother was present, the monkeys would be much calmer.

In a follow-up experiment, Harlow decided to see if there was some sort of sensitive period by introducing both 'mothers' to monkeys who had been raised in isolation for 250 days. Guess what?

The initial reaction of the monkeys to the alterations was one of extreme disturbance. All the infants screamed violently and made repeated attempts to escape the cage whenever the door was opened. They kept a maximum distance from the mother surrogates and exhibited a considerable amount of rocking and crouching behavior, indicative of emotionality.

Yikes. So, at first Harlow thought that they'd passed some kind of sensitive period for socialization. But after a day or two they calmed down and started chilling out with the cloth mother like the other monkeys did. But here's a weird thing:

That the control monkeys develop affection or love for the cloth mother when she is introduced into the cage at 250 days of age cannot be questioned. There is every reason to believe, however, that this interval of delay depresses the intensity of the affectional response below that of the infant monkeys that were surrogate-mothered from birth onward

All these things... attachment, affection, love, seeking comfort ... are mostly learned behaviours.

Over.

Orphanages, institutionalized childcare, and why affection is a need, not an extra.

His face is lit the exact same was as Coulson’s was in COS (half-light, half-dark), and I said I was going to talk about this in Part 3. I think perhaps it's intended to make Fiennes-Tiffin look more evil or menacing, but I'm going to quite deliberately misinterpret it.

Now, for some context, Dumbledore has just (kind of) burned his wardrobe, ratted out his stealing habit, and (in the books only, they really took a pair of scissors to this scene) told him he needs to go apologize and return everything and Dumbledore will know if he doesn't, and, well, Tom's not exactly a happy bugger about it.

But interestingly, in the books, this is when we start to see Tom's 'persona,' aka his mask, start to come into play. Whereas before, he was screaming, howling, and generally freaking out, here, he starts to hide his emotions -- in essence, obscure his true self under a shadow. So this scene is really the reverse of Coulson's in COS.

And perhaps I'm reading wayyy too much into this, but I can't help but notice that Coulson's hair is parted opposite to Fiennes-Tiffin's, and the opposite sides of their faces are shadowed, too.

Riddle threw Dumbledore a long, clear, calculating look. "Yes, I suppose so, sir," he said finally, in an expressionless voice.

Riddle did not look remotely abashed; he was still staring coldly and appraisingly at Dumbledore. At last he said in a colorless voice, "Yes, sir."

Here's an article from The Atlantic on Romanian orphanages in the 1980s, when the dictator, Ceausescu, basically forced people to have as many children as possible and funnel them into institutionalized 'childcare', and it's absolutely heartbreaking.

There's not a whole lot of information out there on British orphanages in the 30s' and 40s', but given that people back then thought you just had to keep children on a strict schedule and feed them, it wouldn't have a whole lot better.

The only thing I've found is this, and it's not super promising.

The most important study informing the criteria for contemporary nosologies, was a study by Barbara Tizard and her colleagues of young children being raised in residential nurseries in London (Tizard, 1977). These nurseries had lower child to caregiver ratios than many previous studies of institutionalized children. Also, the children were raised in mixed aged groups and had adequate books and toys available. Nevertheless, caregivers were explicitly discouraged from forming attachments to the children in their care.

Here's a fairly recent paper that I think gives a good summary: Link

Here, they describe the responses to the Strange Situation test (which tests a child's attachment to their caregiver).

We found that 100% of the community sample received a score of “5,” indicating fully formed attachments, whereas only 3% of the infants living in institutions demonstrated fully formed attachments. The remaining 97% showed absent, incomplete, or odd and abnormal attachment behaviors.

Bowlby and Ainsworth, who did the initial study, thought that children would always attach to their caregivers, regardless of neglect or abuse. But some infants don't attach (discussed along with RAD in Part 2).

Here's a really good review paper on attachment disorders in currently or formerly institutionalized children : Link

Core features of RAD in young children include the absence of focused attachment behaviors directed towards a preferred caregiver, failure to seek and respond to comforting when distressed, reduced social and emotional reciprocity, and disturbances of emotion regulation, including reduced positive affect and unexplained fearfulness or irritability.

Which all sounds a lot like Tom in this scene. The paper also discusses neurological effects, like atypical EEG power distribution (aka brain waves), which can correlate with 'indiscriminate' behavior and poor inhibitory control; which makes sense for a kid who, oh, I don't know, hung another kid's rabbit because they were angry.

Furthermore...

...those children with more prolonged institutional rearing showed reduced amygdala discrimination and more indiscriminate behavior.

This again, makes a ton of sense for Tom's psychological profile, because the amygdala (which is part of the limbic system, which regulates emotions) plays a major role in fear, anger, anxiety, and aggression, especially with respect to learning, motivation and memory.

So, I agree completely that Tom needed a lot of help, especially given the fact that he spent eleven years in an orphanage (longer than the Bucharest study I was referring to), and Dumbledore wasn't exactly understanding of his situation, and probably didn't realise what a dramatic effect the orphanage had on Tom, and given the way he talks to Tom, probably treated him as if he were a kid who grew up in a healthy environment.

In case you are still unconvinced that hugging is that important, there's a famous 1944 study conducted on 40 newborn human infants to see what would happen if their physical needs (fed, bathed, diapers changed) were provided for with no affection. The study had to be stopped because half the babies died after four months. Affection leads to the production of hormones and boosts the immune system, which increases survival, and that is why we hug children and babies should not be in orphanages. They are supposed to be hugged, all the time. I can't find the citation right now, I'll add it later if I find it.

But I think it's vastly unrealistic to say that Dumbledore, who grew up during the Victorian Era, would have any grasp of this and I don't think he was actively malicious towards Tom.

Was Tom Riddle failed by institutional childcare? Absolutely.

Were the adults in his life oblivious to his situation? Probably.

Do the shitty things that happened to Tom excuse the murders he committed, and are they anyone's fault but his own? No. At the end of the day, Tom made all the wrong choices.

And, for what it's worth, I think (film) Dumbledore (although he expresses the same sentiment in more words in the books) wishes he could go back in time and have helped Tom.

"Draco. Years ago, I knew a boy, who made all the wrong choices. Please, let me help you."

#tom riddle #the many faces of #tom marvolo riddle #character analysis #character study #albus dumbledore

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noyasboxdye · 3 years

Text

Waiting- Tanaka Ryunosuke

Notes: I can't really say to much with out telling the story so just have fun reading.

Pairing: Tanaka Ryunosuke x Male! Reader

WARNINGS: none it’s fluff

You and Tanaka have been best friends since you were in about second grade. He's always been there for you didn't matter what the situation was. He was your life line and you were his. So when you started distancing yourself from him he took it really hard. It's not like you were trying to hurt him you thought it was the best option for him. He was focusing on volleyball and his grades so he could get into his dream school and you were a 'distraction'.

But after two painfully slow and extremely boring weeks he had, had enough. He decided that he was going to find you and talk to you and get you to talk back since the last time he tried to talk to you, you didn't say anything you only stared at the floor while trying to move around him.

He was over it. Yes he had his friends like Noya, Hinata, and the others but it just wasn't the same. He needs you, you're his best friend the longest you guys have gone with out seeing each other was three and a half days because he went on a family bonding camping trip but even then he still called everyday.

Tanaka was fidgeting around in his seat staring at the clock as if it'll somehow magically move faster. The seconds felt like minutes and the minutes felt like hours. But finally after 50 minutes of listening to his Spanish teacher explain the rules for his assignment the bell finally rang for lunch, he could finally try and talk to you and see why you've been avoiding him. He thought you just needed space but usually that only last like a school day and then you both FaceTime or text all night after finishing homework.

Quickly standing up putting his books in his next class so he doesn't have to rush getting his things out of his locker he finally makes it down the flights of stairs and speed walks to the doors of the lunch room waiting for you to pass by him.

Finally seeing you be quickly grabs your arm takes you under the stair case and traps you into the corner not giving you a chance to escape. You know you can't but you try anyways.

'jeez dude really don't want to see me that bad'

"Could you move please" you mumble while looking at the floor. "No. " he says while crossing his arms. "What?" you say as you look up. "No, I'm not leaving until you tell me why you're avoiding me !" he says with an annoyingly determined look on his face. "I'm not avoiding you... " you mumble looking back down. "Yes you are dude we literally haven't talked in or out of school in two weeks" he says holding up his fingers showing you the number two. "Well -... I've.. been busy more or less. " you say looking down again. "No you haven't I know your schedule like the back of my hand and you know mines! You're avoiding me so tell me why and no lying!" he says like a parent scolding their kid. He waits for you to reply and you just stand there and don't say anything. You thought maybe if you just waited for the bell to ring everything would be fine like last time. But Tanaka wouldn't let you do that again, he was going to get you to talk one way or another even if that meant following you home and staying there.

"You can't just stand here and not say anything. I'm gonna get you to talk whether you like it or not. " You can tell that he's not going to let you go so you just decide to tell him. "...go- fine..." " Yes " he says doing a little victory dance. "Well...what...?" you say trying to stall because you really didn't want him to know that you liked him and what not, you thought it was embarrassing because not only did you not know how to control yourself around him but he was straight. You felt like an idiot but now's not really the time for sulking with your huge math test coming up. " Why are you avoiding me" he asked getting straight to the point. You knew it was coming but you were still kind of thrown off by it. Slightly rolling your eyes you say "I told you I've been -" he cuts you off, "Busy yeah yeah. Now what's actually going on, are you like mad at me or something what did I do? " he said getting a little sad at the thought of his best friend being mad at him for unknown reasons. "No, not at all I could never be mad at you bubs." you say feeling guilty. "So then what?" he says. He was getting impatient there was only so much time before you both had to go to class and he didn't know if he would get an opportunity to talk to you like this again any time soon. "Uhm- I'm giving you space because you said that you we're trying to get in to that volleyball program for your college application (idk if it's actually called that I just pulled that out of my ass lol) I didn't want to be a distraction." you said regretting telling him the truth. "You're not a distraction (M/N) I don't know why you thought that." he said getting closer. "Well didn't you bomb your test because of me..." you said like it was obvious. "What-... no. I bombed my test because I didn't study and I ended up falling asleep, but that was because I was binge watching assassination classroom with Noya. We gave up on studying so I wasn't prepared either way.

You were relieved. I mean you still were going to avoid him because you're like head over heals for this boy but still at least you know that him failing wasn't your fault. Well now we have to think of another excuse instead of you liking him, maybe you'll try out for a sport. Maybe swim that seemed like a good sport ran from 3:40- 6:00 then your schedule would be full and then Tanaka would leave you alone.

"So can we hang out today? You don't have anything to do." he says with a hopeful glint in his eye. You couldn't say no not while he was looking at you like that and you just cleared things up... kind of. "Yeah sure! Where do you want to go the movies maybe? I don't have any homework today." you say while thinking about how much you missed him. "Yeah sure and we can get food after!" Tanaka says jumping a little while you giggled at his movements. "Ok meet me outside after school we can drop off our bookbags at my house and then we'll go." he says while smiling with the faintest blush on his cheeks. "Ok see you after science.

••time skip>••

The school day was over and you were at your locker grabbing the things that you need to take home. You grabbed your things and walked out to the front of the school to meet up with Tanaka. You really didn't know how you were going to make it through this afternoon and probably evening with him. "(M/N)" you turned your head towards Tanaka and smiled. He really did make you happy. You hated that you couldn't be around him with out blushing, getting flustered, or over thinking. He was perfect. He really could do everything and flawlessly.

"Hey Tanaka!" you say while running up to him. "So where do you want to go? Still want to do the movies?" he asks looking at you. "Yeah sure I'm up up for the movies. You want to eat before or after?" you ask. "Uhm-... I don't really care we can do what you want to." he says rubbing the back of his neck. "Ok maybe we can eat before and then watch the movie. What do you want to watch?" you say kind of unsure about yourself. "Maybe we can go see (F/M)?" he asks while you guys turn down his street. "Oh yeah sure."

It had felt like so long since you both hung out. It was refreshing being with him again he was like a breath of fresh air for you after stressing about homework, grades, projects, and things like that- basically school as a whole- he was like reminder that everything was going to be ok and that its fine to take breaks (you tend to over work yourself). It was one of the reasons you liked him.

"Come on!" he says as he turns on to his lawn. You hum in acknowledgement as you follow him. "You can put your stuff in my room. Do you want or need anything before we go?" he asks opening his door and walking towards his closet. "No, thanks though." you say putting your bag down next to his bed. "Ok well I'm gonna change my shirt and grab a jacket." he says taking his shirt off and you blushing like a mad man. "Take one of my hoodies if you want I know how easily you get cold and how cold it can get in the movie theatres." he says looking for a new shirt. "Oh ok thanks dude." you say walking towards his closet and going through it finding one that you liked. "He should we pack a bag? Like with blankets and our own snacks and stuff." he says putting on his signature cologne and grabbing his jacket. "Yeah I think we should. I don't want to pay 20 dollars for 3 boxes of candy when I can get them for four at dollar tree." you say while finally finding a hoodie that you liked and putting it on.

You were going insane while packing the bag. every time you moved his hoodie scent made its way into your nose, you absolutely loved it. The nice smooth vanilla scent with hints of honey and mint it was paradise for you. You were seconds away from loosing it and squealing. I mean like you wouldn't because you would probably never be able to look at him again but still you get the point. He dumped a whole bunch of candy on the bed and said "there now we don't need to buy candy" while looking proud of himself. "Holy crap dude where'd you get this?!" his mom never let him eat a lot of candy so him having this much surprised you. "Secret stash. I've been saving it and buy it then not eating it. Specifically for occasions like this so I don't have to spend as much money.

You put the candy at the bottom of the bag then blankets, your chargers, and water bottles for the both of you. He walks up to the door and sticks his head out of it "SAEKO!!" you flinched slightly being caught off guard. "WHAT" you didn't even know she was home. "TAKE ME AND (M/N) TO THE MOVIES" he says sticking his head back in the room. "Are we sure that's the safest option?" you say feeling unsure about being in the same car as her while it's on and she's in the drivers seat. "I mean no it's not but like it'll be fine and plus would you really rather walk almost twenty minutes with this bag than let her drive us?" he says while zipping up the bag and and putting it on his arm. "Yes. Yes I would rather walk than be in a car with her driving have you seen her drive?" you say while laughing a bit. "Um no slandering my driving its immaculate." she says walking in. "Shawty bae... now you know that that's a damn lie." you say holding in laughter. "Well I think her driving is fine" Tanaka says grabbing you and Saeko's hand and walking out of his room into the kitchen to fill up the water bottle's.

Time skip

After telling Saeko thank for taking you too to the mall you both get out of the car and go inside. You still had time before the movie and were both really hungry you went to (F/R) waited for the waiters to take you to your seat. "So what are you gonna get?" Tanaka says finally breaking the silence. "Oh um I don't know maybe (F/F) still trying to decide." you say looking up at him from your phone putting it away from texting your (P/F) that you might bee home later than usual since it was already starting to get a little dark out. "Hello, I can take you to your table now" the waiter says as Tanaka goes to stand next to you an grab your hand. "Ok thank you." you say blush at the contact, it seemed like he was blushing but you brushed it off as the lighting of the restaurants lighting. You sit in your seat and say a quick thank you to the waiter as he handed you your menu. "Hi my name is Mafuyu and I'll be your waiter today, can I start you off with some drinks or do you need a minute?" the waiter says smiling and pulling out his notepad. "You can go first." Tanaka says putting his menu down with a small smile and a hint of blush on his cheeks.

Tanaka's POV

I'm going to confess to them tonight. I was suppose to a while back but I chickened out and then they started avoiding me so that made it harder, but I'm for sure going to do it tonight no matter what. I told Noya so he knows, he said that if they rejected me that he had ice cream, candy, and Attack on Titan ready for me to come over all I had to do was be there.

I think they like me back I could be wrong though they don't really talk about there emotions and stuff. But I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at reading them. They said yes to hanging out which I thought they were going to say no to but didn't which is good so phase one of the plan is complete. Next phase is to make them get that happy glow that they get when they're really happy and comfortable around someone. I really like when that happens they're like-...ok you know those super cute, calming and aesthetic cottage core videos on tiktok where they like wear the pretty dresses and the elf ears and are really pretty and they make you feel fuzzy and warm on the inside? Yeah that's what they're like but better.

The waiter guy is flirting with them you can tell. (M/N) probably just doesn't care or isn't thinking of it in that way. "-naka, Tanaka! Jeez dude you were like super zoned out, anyways what do you want to drink?" (M/N) says while giggling. "Oh sorry a loganberry will be fine." I'm literally so freaking embarrassed right now what the fuck.

"Would you like bread while you wait?" Mafuyu says looking up from his notepad. "Do you want bread" (M/N) asks looking down from the waiter to me. "Yeah we can get bread I don't really care" I say as I shrug my shoulders. "Ok then yea we'll get bread." (M/N) smiles at the waiter as he says that, god they're so pretty what the fuck. "Alrighty~... I'm gonna go get your drinks and bread and I'll be right back. "Ok thank you." (M/N) says going to look back at me. I look up from the table and see them blushing. I wonder if they think that Mafuyu guy is cute, maybe I mean he wasn't ugly he was pretty good looking and it did seem like he had a bit of muscle not a lot but enough to be able to throw a good punch. I notice (M/N) look up at me and "Thank you..." he said. What. "Why're you saying thank you" this really wasn't making sense I didn't even do anything for them to say thanks... well not that I know of. "For following me around and not letting me avoid you. I appreciate it, didn't know how much I missed you." I'm going to combust. Holy shat! They- He- I- HFRNJRSBRB!!! I probably look like a fire hydrant right now. "Oh- um you're welcome! It no big deal really I just missed you and didn't know what was going on hahah." I sound so awkward oh my god I'm embarrassing myself. Ok Noya said be fresh cut swag.

"Here are your drinks, bread, and butter. Are you ready to order or do you need a minute?" the waiters back I really don't like him. He keeps flirting with (M/N) and I mean like its not like (M/N) knows, and they would probably say no if he just asked like randomly and (M/N) isn't like prepared or anything or like doesn't know he's flirting with him. "-and what would you like to order sir?" I look up at the waiter, I mean if (M/N) did date him I could see why he's pretty cute and seems nice but that's also his job as a waiter so- "can I get a bacon cheese burger with a side of fries, Please." I smile at him as he writes my order down. "Is there anything else you'd like" Mafuyu asks looking in-between the both of us. "Yes, please instead of putting the pickles on the sandwich can you put them in a little container please. Oh- and can I get blue cheese with my burger. If it's not to much." I say. "Oh absolutely no problem, is that all?" he says writing in his notepad.

"Is that all?" Mafuyu says looking at (M/N). "No I don't want anything else, thank you though!" (M/N) says smiling and going to take a sip out of his drink. Mafuyu walks away putting his notepad in his pocket. "So what time does the movie start?" (M/N) says going to grab a biscuit and put butter on it. (sorry if you don't eat bread lol) "It starts at 9:30... it's 7:00 now so we should have enough time to walk around a little before the movies if you want." I say while eating my bread. "Ok." its kind of awkward right now... I'm just going to- "I'm washing me and clothes" I say while looking down. "To put a fucking story short I shoved a whole bag a jelly beans up my ass, an' it's 24 hours later an' I ain't find nun yet" He said looking up at me grinning widely. "You think those jelly beans ever come outta her ass?" I say looking back at him. "I don't know but I'm finna try and find out" (M/N) grabs his phone and sits there for like five minutes. "So- I can't find anything on it but I think she did...because she could like shat them out or like go to the doctors... I don't know- anyways...-" he says looking up from his phone.

Mafuyu comes up to the table asks if we want more bread and gives something to (M/N) smiles and walks away. "Oh my fucking god what fuck-... uhm... shit." (M/N) says with a panicked look on his face as he turns to I'm assuming look for Mafuyu. "What- what's wrong?!" I say worried. "Uhm- fuck-... he gave me his number! And I like someone!...What the fuck do I do with this?!" he says whispering a little. " I mean I don't fucking know give it back maybe...? You could always throw it away if you don't want to tell him." I say trying not to think about how I'm basically fuming at the fact that 1.) Mafuyu FUCKING hit on him!! 2.) he likes someone and I'm like 85% sure it's not me ugghhh. "Well obviously I can't do that, that's like mean! I'll just tell him- yeah it'll be fine just- tell him." he says starting to calm down and get blush a little. "Yeah and plus if he's a douche I can always fight him.." I say starting to feel a little better about the situation.

Time skip about 15 minutes

"Hello! Here is your (F/F) and here, is your burger with... the.. sides." he says sticking his tongue out looking determined. "Hey um thank you so much for the meal and stuff, but I'm... not interested so... take your number back." (M/N) says while slightly cringing and flinching when Mafuyu chuckles to himself. " oh my god no- please this is so embarrassing crap. Uhm I wasn't trying to flirt I just wanted to be your friend but didn't know how to ask shit- I should've put context- fuck-... I have a boyfriend.. plus I'm not a home wrecker I wouldn't try to ruin your date with your boyfriend please I feel so stupid. I'm sorry jesus christ I'm dumb." Oh- well it's fine... sorry haheh. And we aren't dating he's straight." (M/N) says smile getting smaller a bit. "Oh I'm so sorry jeez you both just were looking at each other like you were in love and he was holding your hand when you first walked in so I just assumed sorry-...! "Oh no it's fine we get it a lot anyways it's kind of funny to me.

Damn, that shit hurt. Yeah I'm totally going to tell him when the night's over because friend zoning dude really ?

After everything cleared up with Mafuyu we ate our food and left. We were walking around the mall going into different stores and getting things. "You want it?" Tanaka says noticing (M/N) looking at a vinyl by (F/S). "Oh umm yeah, but I don't have the money for it." you say looking down and going to look at different clothes. "Okay." he says going to look for new beanies. After walking around for about 15 minutes you both decided that you were ready to leave and start walking towards the movie theatre. You and Tanaka walked up to the cash register. Putting your things on the counter while the cashier scans your stuff. After the cashier finishes ringing your stuff up and Tanaka put his things down he did a awkward speed walk straight towards the section of vinyl's grabbed the one he was looking for and ran back.

"Sorry just had to grab one more thing." he says putting the vinyl you were telling him about earlier on the counter and pulling out his wallet. "No problem sir" the cashier says continuing to scan his things. Putting the clothes, vinyl's, and other random things in bags Tanaka grabs his bags off of the counter and bids a good day and farewell to the cashier, grabbing your hand and practically skipping out of the store. Getting on the escalader and rummaging in his bag he grabs the vinyl and pushes it towards you. "What?" you say confused on what to do with the 1931 edition of a CD. "Here. Take it. It's yours, you were saying how you wanted it but didn't have the money so... I got it for you. So take it." he says pushing the vinyl further towards you.

"You really shouldn't have. It was honestly no big deal like I would've been fine without it, I would've just bought it another time honestly-." you say rambling a bit. "Hey it's fine! I wanted to so don't worry about it too much." he says rubbing the back of his neck with a faint blush on cheeks. "Oh um ok... thanks then..!" you say looking at the floor while feeling your cheeks warm up. "Yeah it's no problem!" he says as you two step off of the escalator, walking towards the theatre.

While standing in line to get your tickets you say "which vinyl did you get?" Tanaka turns towards you while stepping forward and says "I got Tyler's flower boy and cherry bomb albums" hearing this your eyes light up and you reply with "dude we got to listen to them when you get home oh my god!" Tyler was one of the main reasons you and Tanaka were best friends. Well Tyler and the banana fish manga. (if you don't like tyler the creator then pick another artist this is just a head canon lol)

Flash Back

"Hey do you know where the manga section is?" you say walking up to the blond haired boy. You were new to the school and didn't know where anything was. The school was like a maze and everything seemed so far from each other. "Yeah, follow me!" the boy says practically skipping and running on his way there. The library was bigger than you thought it would be, your old schools library was nothing compared to this one. "So you like anime huh..." the tan skin boy says. "Yeah it's really cool." you say looking down the aisles for the yellow book with bold black letters.

"So what you looking for, I might be able to help you find it." he says walking closer next to you. "Oh no it's fine you don't have to!" you shaking your hands in front of you. "No really I want to plus your new your going to need help with stuff anyways!" he says in a semi hyper tone. "Okay well it's called banana fish and it has a yellow cover-" you say before getting cut off. "You sure that you want that book." he says looking at you with wide eyes. "Yeah, I got books 1 through 10 but I can't find the others." you say continuing to scan the shelves. "Well the books are over here... I don't know if they have 11 though it might be being used." he says walking to the next aisle as you follow him looking at all the other books they had. "Ummm yeah. Here!" he says holding books 11 and 12 in his hands shoving them towards you. "Oh thanks!... well I have to start heading to my next class so uhm... bye! Have a nice day!" you say walking towards the lady at the front desk to check out the books that you had been searching for, for what felt like like all of eternity.

"Hey, I can take you to your class if you'd like." the newly met male says while you both walk out of the library doors together. "Well I mean I wouldn't want you to be late because of me." you say continuing to walk. "Its fine and we're going in the same direction anyways- well I'm assuming." he says both of you turning the corner. "So what class do you have?" the blond hair male says turning his head towards you.

"Um I have chem." you say looking at your schedule to be sure. "Same! Which teacher?" he says smiling. "Oh I have Mr. McGill." you say hesitantly while checking your schedule once again. "I have him too, I can totally show you if you want." he says perking up a bit. "Yeah sure! Also, what's your name? I never got it." you say stopping in front of the classroom door and resting your hand on the handle. "Oh sorry heheh I'm Tanaka... and you are..." he says nodding his head your way. "I'm (M/N) nice to officially meet you, Tanaka." you say smiling. "Yeah, nice to meet you too." Tanaka says staring into your eyes.

Real Time

"-(/N)! (M/N)!... you zoned out there for a sec, come on." Tanaka says reaching for your hand and pulling you towards the doors that lead you to the lobby and the usher who's waiting to take peoples tickets. "Sorry, I just got lost in thought you explain as you look for (F/C) as Tanaka tried to decide on which ICEE flavour to get.

Walking up to the counter Tanaka asks "hey which flavour should I get?" replying you say "Well your going to get coca cola and cherry mix anyways so why ask?" "You know-... you're right. And why do I ask...? I do it every time we go to the movies." he says you both waiting for the woman in front of you to finish ordering her stuff. "I honestly don't know. But which should I get?" you say watching the lady leave letting Tanaka order for the both of you. Ordering your own food was never really for you.

After ordering snacks paying for them (obviously) and going to meet the usher so you can watch the movie, you both walk into the theatre noticing that there were very few people in the theatre. "You would think that that there would be more people considering its new." you say whispering to Tanaka while trying to find your seats. "Yeah but maybe we're just early." he says sitting in his seat and getting comfortable. "Dude... the previews are over now people just aren't watching the movie." you say going for the big container of popcorn. "I missed this... like hanging out with you like this." he says smiling at you. You becoming grateful that you both are in the dark at the feeling of your face heating up and a fierce blush going across your cheeks. (sorry if you're dark skin I know people can't really tell when you're blushing.)

The movie started and you were about 30 minutes into it. Getting some more popcorn you and Tanaka both reach in at the same feeling your hands caress one another. Blushing for what felt like the millionth time you grab the popcorn and shove it in your mouth. Tanaka blushes and mutters a quick sorry. "It's fine." you say grabbing your slushie and taking a sip.

After a while the movie got to the best part and that's when Tanaka decided to be a little bold.

Tanaka's Pov

I'm finally going to make a move. Then hopefully I can have more of a chance with (M/N). Deciding that now would be a good time to act on my idea I grab (M/N)'s hand in one swift movement and intertwining my fingers with theirs rubbing my thumb across the back side of their hand.

They seem a bit- "You okay? Do you want me to let your hand go?" I whispered in a questioning tone worried that they didn't like me holding his hand. "No you're fine. But can I have some of the Twizzlers and sweet tart ropes?" (M/N) whispered. "Yeah here." I state handing him the candy.

I think I might have a pretty good chance with him. But we've always had a touchy relationship so its hard to tell. I really hope that they do though. It would be so fucking embarrassing if I took all his kindness and touchiness the wrong way.

20 Minute Time Skip

Getting our garbage and heading towards the door as the movie plays the credits and closing song. Walking out of the theatre, missing the contact of (M/N)'s soft chubby/slender hands I go to grab (M/N)'s hand. Feeling a chill go up my spine while feeling my face progressively get warmer I ask "You want to spend the night? It's getting late." looking at him. "Yeah it is pretty late I tell my (P/F) that I'm staying the night."

Third Person POV

"They said okay." you say putting your phone in your pocket. "Okay, I texted Saeko and she said she's on her way. She's supposed to be no longer than 15 minutes away." he says checking his phone and going to sit on the bench waiting for the blond haired woman and you following in his footsteps. "Hey so can I talk to you about something..." the usually loud and hyper boy says you barley able to hear him. "Yeah sure what's up?" you say going to face him. "So um I'm Bisexual..." he says neevously playing with his thumbs and avoiding eye contact. "That's so cool dude! I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me!" you say a soft smile on your cheeks.

'Maybe I have more of a chance now... nah prolly not he's fucking whipped for Kiyoko' you think as Tanaka smiles giving you a hug and you doing the same to him. "Thanks dude." he says as his phone notifications goes off and reading the message saying that his older sister is outside waiting for you both. "Hai (M/N)! So how was the date~?" she says a huge smile on her face. "HUH- a date what no- he doesn't like me like that we're friends." you say giggling a bit feeling a slight pain in your chest. You really didn't want to be friends with him but as long as he's in your life you feel s though you'll be fine. "Saeko shut up and take us home." he says rolling his eyes playfully with a small smile as he grabs your hand, once again making you blush.

Arriving home and walking through the door you get a smell of fresh baked cookies. "What's that smell it smell so fucking good oh my god!" you say as you and Tanaka basically sprint into the kitchen. (On a Usain bolt type beat.) "Holy shit they smell so good." Tanaka says mouth watering and going to get a plate to put some on for you both. "Hey- nuh uh no- these aren't for you! Make your own I still have some cookie dough left use that." Saeko says snatching the plate from Tanaka and putting it back in the cabinet after slapping his hand away from the cookies.

"What you making them for cAoCh uKaI~" Tanaka says in a mocking tone. "As a matter of fact yes I did. I owe him and he told me to make him cookies." she says sticking her head up and crossing her arms. "Bleh! Saeko could you please not flirt with him he's my coach dude I thought we agreed people like that were off limits!" Tanaka says in a whiney type voice practically throwing a temper tantrum.

"Oh shut up it's just cookies and plus I'm the older one here so you can't tell me what to do!" Saeko says sticking her tongue out, Tanaka doing the same. "Come on (M/N) we're going up stairs. She's about to start fawning over him" Tanaka says fake gagging while you giggle making your way up the stairs.

After going up stairs you take a shower remembering you didn't have any clothes. "TANAKA~!" you yell opening the door to the bathroom and wrapping your towel around your body and walking towards his room. "Yeah?!" he says opening he door and peaking out of it. "Do you have any clothes?" you say grabbing your leave in conditioner and combing/picking out your hair. "Yeah just pick something out. Anyways I'm gonna go take a shower." he says grabbing his clothes towel and walking out the door.

Coming back in Tanaka flops on his bed scooting next to you resting his head on your shoulder. "What you watching?" he mumbles snuggling more into you. "Twitch." you say resting your head on his. "Oh. Who's that?" he says looking up at you. "Quackity and Corpse." you said. "Oh they're cool." he says. Silence filling the room.

"Hey can we talk?" Tanaka says sounding a bit to serious for your liking. "Uh yeah sure." you say taking your headphone out and sitting up facing him. "So we've been friends for a while now and we're like super close, obviously, and I really like being around you and spending time with you and stuff..." Tanaka says playing with his fingers and hesitating slightly. "Tanaka what's going on? You okay, you bouta like die or something." you say jokingly trying to lighten to mood.

"Okay wait no- so um-... I kind of like... you... romanitcally-" he says avoiding eye contact. "Huh?" you said thinking you miss heard him. "If you don't like me back that's fine. We can pretend I never said anything, I'll just get over it-" he said before you cut him off with a kiss on the cheek, practically looking like a rose. "Um I like you too." you say smiling at him. "Really" the short haired boy looks up at you practically glowing. "Yeah. You wan to go on a date?" you say gushing hard as ever. "Yes!!- I mean yeah sure..." he says scolding himself for not being cool. "Okay." you say smiling at yourself and going to lay back down trying to calm yourself.

"You want to watch something?" he says laying down next to you putting his head back to the spot it was at before. "Yeah... what you want to watch?" you say hugging him. "Wait so I found this girl on Youtube and I know you don't really watch content like hers but she cool as hell. Her Youtube name is liyah li." he says grabbing his remote and opening youtube.

After watching the recommended channel you both went down a rabbit hole watching her videos for a while, finally deciding that you wanted to go to sleep you both put on a random show him holding you in his chest kissing you on the nose and falling asleep with a smile on your faces.

#noyas.works #tanaka ryunosuke #tanaka x male reader #fluff #haikyuu!!#haikyu fluff #haikyu fic #tanaka fluff #hq fluff #pre timeskip

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obae-me · 4 years

Text

Devil Kart

Fire. Still-burning flakes of ash floated down from the now smoke suffocated sky. Rubble laid down at their feet. Splintered wood. Glinting shards from broken windows. Bricks and foundations of pieces of their home, the House of Lamentation, scattered amidst the yard like abandoned tombstones. For but a moment, all of the residents and their invited company stood still, gazing at the pillar of fumes pouring out from the enormous gap that had been blown out from the sturdy mansion wall. They took in its destructive beauty, taking note of it as the result for their horrendous mistake. One that would not be made lightly again. Suffice it to say, this hadn’t been the first nor the last time this building would be torn asunder. It’s beloved owners were demons after all. However, this fact did not bring comfort to those soaking in the situation at hand. Although for some it did bring great amusement.

“Well…” MC sighed. “This definitely ended worse than Uno.”

Our favorite demon brothers along with MC, invited Diavolo, Barbatos, and the residents of Purgatory Hall to invite them in a fun game night. Who knew Mario Kart could be such a deadly game?

Lucifer

Character: King Boo

He offered the character with the title “King” in it to Diavolo first, but when Diavolo chose someone else, he didn’t hesitate to pick the ruler of...whatever these specter-like creatures were.

He plays ruthlessly, constantly throwing bananas, hiding fake boxes in the real ones, whatever devilishly sneaky trap he can lay, he’ll have it done. Even if he doesn’t win, he’s going to take whoever threw that red shell and drag them down to the last in line with him. More often than not, he finds himself winning anyway. He’s not a huge fan of playing games that he deems...childish and illogical, but secretly he deeply enjoyed it. Even for only the value of all his brother’s various expressions when he’s the cause of their suffering.

The destruction wasn’t quite his fault...fully. He’d never do something so idiotic in front of the Prince of Demons, but in his anger and desperation to stop the fight to save face, it was more figurative fuel for the eventual literal fire.

Mammon

Character: Roy Koopa

He really wanted Bowser, desperately so, but Diavolo had picked him already. He almost had an idea to fight Diavolo for the right to play him, but one look at Lucifer’s expression, now sporting a very angry vein in his forehead, and he settled for someone else. Roy Koopa, whatever he was...with his sunglasses and spikes, was a decent second choice.

He’s not quite sure what the goal is, to be completely honest. He’s seen racing before, even gambled on it, but this one has a lot more rules and...weapons than he’s used to. Is he supposed to be killing people? Is he supposed to have the most money? He’s more focused on collecting items and coins rather than making sure he’s the first in line. Unfortunately for him, he’s often the one targeted for bombs and bananas.

He ended up being one of the main suspects of the destruction. He didn’t start it, but once he got involved, he made everything so much worse. Why did everyone always go right to him to accuse him of something, eh? Why was Satan spouting off that all of this might as well be his fault? He’s upset over his constant losing too.

Levi

Character: Mario

If you think he’s choosing anyone else other than the popular main character, you’d be comically wrong. He considered maybe taking Princess Peach, but someone already chose her.

He knows too much about this game. After all, it was a special gift MC had given him. A game from the Human Realm. He did want to explain and rant about all the things it was lacking, but he had played much worse before. So, like he did in most-if not all-of his games, he quickly learned all the ins and outs. He’s a master at drifting, finding the secret shortcuts, and dodging items. However, anything can happen in this game, and for all his talents, his brothers are experts in misfortune. He almost rages more than the demon of Wrath himself.

It’s possible a lot of this is his fault. He couldn’t help it, when it came to video games, no one should be able to beat him so easily. He couldn’t contain his anger. He had been AT the finish line when someone unleashed a blue shell. He ended up getting hit with such a bombardment of items after he’d been stunned, he ended up last place. Dead last. People were going to pay.

Satan

Character: Dry Bones

Honestly he chose the character that looked the least annoying and cartoony, that was his only motivation. So a skeletal Koopa with glowing yellow eyes seemed a decent enough choice.

How did he get roped into such a childish game? He’s not exactly sure himself. It might’ve had something to do with MC’s begging eyes or even just the thought of digitally torturing his brothers. He’s even more brutal than Lucifer. While Lucifer puts all his tricks into sneaky items, Satan will not hesitate to be brash and use all his items on one person. Is three red shells a bit overkill? Probably, but he doesn’t care. He’ll also bump people off edges, and of course, somehow he always gets the blue shell. Does he typically win? No. Does he always make everyone else scream in anger and openly love it? Yes.

For once, he didn’t throw the blue shell, but right after Mammon, Levi figured it was him. Accusing him of always sabotaging people, always stirring up people just to tick them off. Levi hadn’t been wrong, but he didn’t like being compared to Mammon, it insulted his intelligence. Also he just had a lot of pent up anger he needed to release. This game for all it’s merits was starting to drive him mad. He and Levi kicked things off, Mammon joining in soon after.

Asmo

Character: Princess Peach

He has no idea who these characters are but you know he has to go with the pink princess. And with a name like Peach? He had no other choice. She’s almost as cute, flirty, and pink as he is. Almost.

He doesn’t really care for this game or the idea of winning it either. The thing he specializes in is drama. He adores messing with the other player’s feelings. He’ll randomly make alliances for the sake of spicing things up, but he won’t hesitate to quickly switch sides if it makes for a good match. Oh yay, he’s almost helped Solomon past the finish line, how beautifully heartbreaking would it be if he used the red shell he’s been holding onto? The only person he’ll truly team up with to help them win is MC. Or will he?

Oh he is loving this. The fighting, the drama, he was hoping for something to this scale. Leave it to his family to always be causing trouble. The whole video of what happened is now on Devilgram, and it is blowing up. Almost like that wall did.

Beel

Character: Yoshi

He’ll admit, he wasn’t even fully aware they all would be playing a game. All he heard was that everyone would be hanging out together, having a fun time, eating snacks. He’d go anywhere if there were snacks. When he shrugged and asked Levi to choose a character for him, Levi suggested Yoshi, the adorable and iron stomached dinosaur. Beel enjoys him.

He’s the only person who doesn’t stir things up on purpose. He doesn’t like being aggressive, and honestly, he’ll brake his digital vehicle and let someone else pass him if they’re being chased by a shell so he can take it instead. The only time he sabotaged a match was when they played on a tasty looking map and he subsequently tried to eat the TV. If he ends up winning it’s just because no one has the heart to throw anything at him. That or they’re too focused on targeting someone else.

When stuff goes down, he’s just trying to keep MC out of this. He went to work scooping up the humans and the tiny angel and brought them to safety. It was a good thing he did too, who knows what would’ve happened to all of them had they stayed in the room. He does now have a craving for roasting marshmallows, though.

Belphie

Character: Rosalina

He really didn’t care who he played, he barely had the energy to play in the first place. He eventually settled on Rosalina because she looked like a soft character, surrounded by stars. He liked stars.

He didn’t even realize that Beel had carried him to everyone while he was asleep. When he woke up, MC had asked him kindly if he wanted to play, and even though he had coldly said no, he grabbed a controller anyway. If he can even manage to stay awake enough to start the race, he’ll put no effort into anything. He’ll just shrug anytime he falls off the course or gets hit by someone. No one knows he’s actually quietly seething. Part of his struggles might be due to the fact he’s trying to play while he’s laying down. Once he started sitting up, eyes laser focused on the screen, MC knew it was starting to spell trouble.

It was him, he did it. He threw the blue shell. Why? Curiosity maybe, mixed with a hint of spite and laced with some sweet revenge. He was sick of seeing everyone win when he hadn’t won a race himself. He was ready to cause some problems, they always ended up being entertaining.

Diavolo

Character: Bowser

He had a hard time choosing at first, he’s just so excited to actually be playing a game, with friends! It’s a very youthful thing to do. He eventually settles on Bowser, appreciating his features, big and menacing, and they both have the same red hair! He finds it immensely enjoyable.

He also has absolutely no idea what he’s doing. He always has to ask what the buttons do, even if he’s already asked three times already. Admittedly, he’s just happy to be doing anything other than work. Corruption, torture, and ruling his kingdom of demons can wait. He never really has the chance for this ever, and he’s playing with a bunch of friends. He’s extremely elated. The only one who really dares to even attempt to sabotage Diavolo is Lucifer. It’s possible the eldest brother is taking this game a bit too seriously. Diavolo ends up winning a few times purely out of respect for his royal status, and the little gold trophy brings such a smile to his face.

He could’ve done without the destruction part. He does love a good explosion from time to time, but his fun adventure with his friends has now gone up in flames, and right after he had been neck and neck with Lucifer. He does prefer that his student council uphold an image, but he had been having too much fun to worry about it now. He’ll look over it this time.

Barbatos

Character: Shy Guy

He’s not sure who to choose, so he might as well pick the little...creature with the mask and mysterious aura. But, to be fair, he chose mostly at random.

He was very grateful to have been invited to play along with his Lord and his friends. He can’t remember the time he was allowed to just...play something...for fun. However, all he really knows is his duty and his job to serve Diavolo at every turn. His main goal in this game is to make sure Diavolo wins. He’s surprisingly on par with Levi at this game despite having never touched it before, and he can single-handedly force the match to go in Diavolo’s favor.

He helps Beel in escorting people to safety, and already he’s made preparations to put out the fire and get to work fixing the damage. Again. Now he has to change his ‘Days Since The House Of Lamentation Was Damaged’ sign in his room back to zero. To think they had almost made a new record.

Simeon

Character: Random

He can’t just decide on one character, not when they all look like so much fun. He doesn’t want to leave any of them out, and so each match he’ll choose a new character. He wants everyone to have a chance.

He’s the same as Diavolo in the case that he has no idea how to control this thing. He’s still learning how to use a D.D.D. for heaven's sake. Which button is ‘go’ again? Once he thought he almost won, when in reality, he ended up doing three laps going in the opposite direction. He did actually win once, but no one knew for the life of them how, when he had been holding the controller backwards the entire time. He won’t throw anything at anyone ever. Mostly because he’s an angel, but also because he has no idea how to even use items.

He was a little confused and disappointed when the fighting started. He mostly just worried for MC’s safety. He was disheartened to hear how casually they were reacting to this. He made sure to promise to invite them over sometime for a nice calm game that wouldn’t end in inevitable chaos.

Solomon

Character: Waluigi

He’s a human, he’s been on the internet, he knows the memes. He doesn’t need to say anything more on the subject.

Like Asmo, he’s almost more focused on the people playing the game than the actual game itself. He might even help Asmo in secret alliances. He’s just incredibly amused with how the demons are acting. He also might have set his phone to record audio during all the matches. He now has several amusing phrases from multiple demons such as ‘you’ll take my banana and like it or choke’, ‘I would’ve finished first if you hadn’t rammed me so hard’, ‘I’ve been covered in goo’, and many more. The recordings ended up being mostly cussing, sadly, but those few gems he’ll be keeping for the foreseeable future.

He was prepared for something like this. MC had recounted the many stories of games that met unfortunate ends. He’s got a spell prepared to at least attempt to mitigate some of the harm.

Luke

Character: Toad

His main motivation for picking Toad was because he thought he was some kind of muffin. Apparently there’s a popular Celestial world treat that looks shockingly similar, much to Solomon and MC’s silent distress.

He keeps trying to tell anyone that he’s not a child so he’s not enjoying this. Everyone can tell he’s lying due to how wide-eyed he is about it. He’s honestly having the time of his life until all the demons keep cussing so badly he feels like his ears are going to literally bleed. After Luke started to question exactly where Satan meant when he said Lucifer should shove his shells somewhere, MC and Simeon decided to take turns covering his ears to preserve his innocence.

He’s going to do his best to act like he didn’t cry when all the fighting and explosions started. After his shock, he focused on making sure MC is extra safe. He insisted that MC stay at Purgatory Hall until things were fixed.

Note: I am so behind on finishing headcanons and yet... despite having strange writer’s block I managed to come up with this at 3 am...I have no some regrets.

Based off of:

MILD LESSON 24 SPOILERS

Hi, but um, why did I see no one talk about how the strict and grumpy Lucifer played Mario Kart with the Prince of Hell?!

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me imagines #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me simeon #obey me solomon #obey me luke

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ohhoworiginalrfaheadcanons · 4 years

Note

How would Jumin and MC's first kiss play out if Sarah had just taken the hint and left/got escorted out by bodyguards so the canon kiss never happened?

Alternate Jumin/MC first kiss

He's wanted to kiss her since he first saw her. He, more than anyone else, knows how ridiculous and absurd that urge is. It's intensely difficult to explain even to himself exactly how he feels about her, so maybe it's just the silly soap operas he's been watching recently, but seeing her...he wanted to gather her up in his arms and kiss her right there at the door.

It's a bizarre urge, because he's never had any particular urge to kiss anyone at all before. Even his father, he'd never felt any particular compunction to give a familial kiss as he'd seen others do for their family. A hug conveyed warm affection just fine and was far less...dirty, for all involved. It's not as if he doesn't understand why people kiss, it's merely that he's never himself had the urge to do so.

Thus, it's so much more confusing when his gaze keeps trailing down to look at her beautiful, cherry red lips. He tries to be polite and gentlemanly, but whenever he looks at her, he finds his gaze inevitably falling there before he can correct himself. Zen speaks nonsense more than he speaks anything approaching comprehensible language, but...for once he isn't completely wrong.

Wild, unfair, inappropriate thoughts flash through his mind whenever he looks over and sees her near him, when she speaks to him and he's suddenly reminded by the sound of her voice breaking the silence that he isn't alone in his penthouse, and when she smiles and he can't help looking at her lips.

Unlike what Zen thinks, he's completely in control of himself. Mostly. Well enough. But most pressing, most urgent and repeating of those unfair thoughts is gathering her up and kissing her.

Not just one way, not just in one instance. He thinks of kissing her in so many different ways. Over the first cup of coffee, while she looks so cute and groggy in the morning, gaze flickering between the pancakes he's made and him - he wants to lean in and press his lips to hers, to see if she tastes like the sweet cream she's drinking. When he turns the corner and she's there, looking up in surprise and a sparkle of excitement, he wants to pull her in gently with his hands on her jaw and tenderly place a kiss on her cute expression. When he reaches over to brush hair from her face as she's reading something and she looks up at him with laughter in her eyes, he wants to close the distance right then and kiss her in that utterly theatrical and steamy way he's seen on television.

It's somewhat disturbing, in all honesty, the fact that he can't keep his mind off it. Even after Elizabeth the 3rd ran away, when his mind should be focused on the cat, it keeps drifting back to her, back to kissing her, without his permission.

The daydream he's living with this wonderful woman at his side is interrupted by that Sarah. The irritating one who invaded his privacy in the past. She's mouthy and loud, and the sound of her voice sets him on edge. She'd learned of the missing Elizabeth, and in a pathetic attempt to either curry favor or trap him, she'd arrived with the picture of...a stock image of a cat, obviously found on google.

Perhaps more insulting than intruding on his life to lie to him about his cat, she harangues and harasses the woman beside him, insulting her in a pathetic display of misplaced jealousy.

She kept reassuring Sarah that they were only friends, and that she was simply visiting because she worried for him.

It's...true...but he finds he doesn't like it. It makes him feel restless, and the need to kiss her, to make his intentions and his feelings about her known clearly and unambiguously only becomes greater. A part of him really just wants to kiss her right there in front of Sarah. To take the pressure of a first kiss off somewhat by redirecting it into pettiness by expressing in no uncertain terms that the woman he's chosen to love forever is not Sarah, but this one.

Sarah storms out flustered and angry before he can commit to actually doing it, and the woman he loves - he certainly loves her, of that he has no doubt nor question - smiles up at him nervous and awkward, and he nearly kisses her then and there anyway.

It's honestly annoying how much he can't stop thinking about kissing her. He's noticeably distracted, as he turns over in his mind the different ways it could happen, whether it should be a surprise of passion, an almost awkward and uncertain slow descent to give her opportunity to reject him, or an over the top romantic moment at the end of some...romance movie in the candlelight.

All he knows for sure is that he absolutely, definitely, must kiss this woman. He'll go mad if he doesn't, and frankly it's starting to hurt his heart not making it clear that what he feels for her isn't simply an innocent friendship. He's quite sure she feels the same, but even if she were not to, it's better to be honest and straightforward than bury it and hide it away. Especially from her. Somehow, it feels like she can already see and accept so much of him, it's an insult to suggest even in his mind that she can't accept all of him, even if she doesn't return those feelings.

It doesn't happen that night, but he can't sleep at all. He reads a story for her - that story - to help her fall asleep, and he can't take his eyes off her while she sleeps. He's never slept alongside anyone. As long as he can remember, even in his earliest memories, he's always been alone in bed, alone in his room, save for Elizabeth who would usually sleep in her bed on the other side of the room. It's not like he's never seen a human sleep before, or anything. Obviously.

But...to be trusted to share this quiet time, someone at their most peaceful and vulnerable...he's never experienced. It's strange. She looks magical. Like Sleeping Beauty, lips slightly parted in breath, eyes flicking this way and that in her dreams. She's so still besides that, he almost believes that she might never wake up on her own, like with the morning light he'll have to kiss her just to wake her up from her dreams.

He's entranced. Enchanted. There can't be anything more beautiful in the world than what he sees, and he's afraid to look away or close his eyes in fear that it will be gone when he opens his eyes.

He doesn't kiss her, but she wakes up just as beautifully as Snow White, groggy and messy haired, rubbing the back of her hand at bleary eyes.

Is this really what love feels like?

How does anyone concentrate like this?

He makes her pancakes again, and she lights up in such a cute and happy smile once more, commenting on the strawberries from last time, that he has the sudden urge to hire that one chef to teach him how to make everything, just so he can make her food every day, every meal, and watch her smile like that each time.

He still manages to resist the urge to lean over the counter and kiss her, only because he doesn't want to make the smile go away.

She tears into the food like a wild beast. It's both impressive and adorable. Hers is gone long before his, but that might have more to do with the way his gaze keeps turning from his food to her instead, sitting across from him, so close and yet so far, within reach if he only reaches out to touch her, but still so far away that a part of his heart aches and he doesn't know why.

When she finishes, there's strawberry jam smeared across her lips, just a little bit collected in the corner of her mouth as well.

She tastes like strawberries and cream.

Before he'd really committed to it or decided on it for certain, he'd leaned across the table and pressed his lips to hers, body taking the excuse of helping her to clean her lips even before he realizes that's what he's going to do. Perhaps it's not the most dramatic or romantic of kisses. Strawberries, whipped cream, and the sweet taste of pancakes all blended with the taste of her lips on his, and he gently reaches up with one hand to hold her in place just a little longer, savoring the taste of her, the experience of their first kiss.

The sound that vibrates from her throat, escaping her lips against his when he unconsciously attempts to taste her lips more directly, makes him feel light-headed.

Perhaps the table between them is for the best, because he's so close to being overwhelmed and swept away with the magic of flesh on flesh that there's no telling what would happen if not for the slightly painful press of wood cutting into his abdomen and shielding her against anything he might think to do.

When he finally manages to pull away, her cheeks are flushed so beautifully that it takes his breath away all over again.

Much as he would like to make perfect sense and make it seem logical, he fears that his hurried explanation doesn't actually make sense at all. And still, she doesn't look worried or upset...only shy, smiling bashfully up at him from across the table.

Of course, as she says, there truly are more pressing concerns just now, but still...

Somehow...it's easier to think again, now that he's finally managed to kiss her. Those suffocating threads around his heart loosen, just a little, and when her hand gently settles over his on the table, he can't help but notice that it's finally been given enough room to race.

#jumin han #jumin x mc #mysme #mystic messenger #rfa headcanons #you know how I said in the blog header #that these are probably also just fic prompts #some ones like this are basically just fics #oh well it still counts #Anonymous

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syeko · 3 years

Text

MariChat May: Day 3 - Dirt

@marichatmay

Read on AO3

Marinette was going to kill him.

Though he would argue that it wasn’t his fault the pot just so happened to be perched in a perfect position for him to knock it over. The rather tidy balcony was now a mess of clay shards amongst a pile of dirt and stems. Staring at the mess that he made, Chat knew that he should definitely be feeling sorry for the jostled flowers, but at the moment all he could feel was a resound itch that simply would not leave him.

His claws twitched, eyes falling on another one of Marinette’s flower pots, the clay just begging him to reach out and swipe at it. He was on all fours, interest fully captured by the flower pot as he traced patterns swirling across the clay with his eyes. It was only slightly bigger than the last one (no doubt making for a very satisfying fall), the bright red flowers overflowing its edges taunting him silently. Chat blinked, one leather clad hand slowly inching towards the pot, wondering how mad Marinette would be if he actually-

“Chat Noir?”

He yelped, scrambling backwards as he heard her behind him, her voice breaking whatever spell he had been trapped under. When had she gotten there? Eyes widening as his actions finally registered, he swallowed before turning around to face his imminent doom.

“Oh hey Princess, what are you doing here?” he threw her his best awkward smile while he attempted to block her view as she came up from the trapdoor, one eyebrow raised quizzically at him.

“I live here, kitty,” her eyebrows furrowed, and Chat felt himself sweating suddenly.

“O-oh, really? I hadn’t noticed- didn’t even realize this was your lovely balcony actually, would you believe?” he chuckled, shoving a shard of clay away with his boot.

“Really?” She crossed her arms, narrowed blue eyes settling on the absolute dirty mess around Chat’s feet and the feline hero felt himself inevitably blush in embarrassment. “Because I’m pretty sure my lovely balcony is now covered in dirt. Care to explain what happened?”

Chat’s cheeks burned even more, ears drooping as he twisted his ring around his finger - a habit he’d accidentally picked up to calm himself. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he suddenly took intense interest in his boots as he racked his brain for a plausible explanation, because truth be told- he didn’t really have one. And judging by Marinette’s demeanor, he wasn’t entirely certain if the truth would be welcome either. What would he say?

Hey I saw some pots on your pretty balcony and I had the inexplicable urge to knock them all over even though I know you probably wouldn’t like that.

He shook his head, embarrassment sitting heavy and warm in the pit of his stomach. He himself wasn’t entirely sure what came over him, but the longer he went on as Chat Noir the more unexplainable urges and behaviours he found himself experiencing. It was frustrating, particularly when he’d tried to question Plagg about it. The kwami had simply spewed some random nonsense about ‘inevitable quirks of the trade’ (whatever that meant) before busying himself once again with his Camembert. Chat entertained the idea of seeking Ladybug's help, but eventually forgoing the idea in favour of keeping some form of dignity around his Lady. He couldn’t have her thinking he was more incapable than he probably already was.

Which left him to deal with whatever changes his body was going through alone, trying and failing to figure out exactly what was going on. All he knew was that he was starting to feel increasingly fidgety as the days went by, an itch building up underneath his skin, crawling all over him until his body was forced to move and act without his permission to seek some sort of relief. Unfortunately, that relief happened to come at the expense of Marinette’s rather lovely flowers, now strewn about haphazardly across her balcony. The guilt that seared through him was almost as bad as the itch that had been driving him (quite literally) up the wall.

“Chat..? Are you..purring?”

His head snapped up at the question, eyes wide. He was what now?

“Am I...I’m sorry what?”

Gone was the borderline glare Marinette was sending him earlier, replaced instead with worry as her beautiful blues searched his face. She took a few, careful steps towards him, mouth twisted slightly as she stopped right in front of him. He felt jittery as he watched her move, muscles taught as she approached, which confused him. On the few occasions that he’d run into her, he’d never once felt as tense and stiff as he did then. He’d always felt somewhat at ease around his classmate, considering usually he only ran into her whenever there was an akuma around.

Now the first non-akuma related impression of him would be tainted with dirt, broken pots, and one trespassing idiot, his mind helpfully supplied, serving only to sour his mood further. He shoved the thought aside.

Slender, warm, fingers carefully touched his arm, cutting off his thoughts and calming him marginally, the buzzing of his skin lessening ever so slightly at her touch. Chat briefly wondered how those fingers would feel carding through his hair, scratching him, finally relieving him of this horrible, horrible itch-

“You were purring,” she repeated, gently, “are you okay?”

Chat silently pleaded for the floor to open up and swallow him whole right then and there.

Marinette’s eyes captured his, brilliant blue boring into green, and he could see the worry and confusion swimming in her gaze. Chat wondered how much of a silly, embarrassing mess he probably looked. He twisted his ring some more, ears flickering as his stomach did somersaults, making him all the more unsteady. He cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” he mumbled, not finding it in himself to put more energy into his words. He still hadn’t thought of a plausible excuse for how or why her balcony was now such a mess. “I’ll buy you another pot, and clean up the mess-”

“Hey, hey,” Marinette’s voice, sweet and soothing against his fraying nerves, “don’t worry about it, I wanted to declutter anyways,” she smiled at him, reassuring and so kind. Chat knew in the back of his mind that she was only trying to make him feel better, but the fact that she was covering for him only served to make the guilty pit in his gut grow heavier.

He shook his head, opening his mouth, hesitating, and then closing it.

“It’s just a silly pot, I shouldn’t have been so aggressive with you,” she winced and Chat was quick to correct her.

“No, Princess! If anything I shouldn’t have even been on your balcony but I was just-” he cut himself off, cheeks heating up once more at the reminder of how utterly silly he probably sounded- will sound - if he told her the truth.

“Just..?” Marinette prompted gently, “Come on, kitty, you can tell me what happened. You look like you could use some cheering up,”

Chat saw nothing but patience and genuine concern in her gaze, and he instantly berated himself for thinking that Marinette would be anything other than sweet and understanding. The feline hero let out a small sigh, shoulders slumping as his eyes inevitably found the floor once again.

“Honestly, there’s not too much to tell,” he shrugged a little, self-conscious, “I don’t even know if this would make much sense to you- not that I’m doubting you or a-anything! But lately I’ve been having these uh...urges,” he grimaced at the word.

Marinette hummed, head tilting a little as she frowned a little, “Urges? What do you mean?”

He pointed helplessly at the broken clay shards about them, giving up all hope of regaining whatever remaining dignity he had in front of Marinette.

“This is going to sound absolutely ridiculous, and I don’t know why but I saw your pots, and they were lined up so nicely, I just had to knock them down,”

“Chat-”

He kept going, on a roll now that he’d started, “And there’s this- this itch that only keeps getting worse and I’ve tried to scratch at it but it’s all over,” he fidgeted, still not able to meet her eyes “and now apparently I’m purring too. Everything is so uncomfortable and it’s so embarrassing- you don’t need to see me like this.”

He felt his eyes prickle, blurring the edges of his boots.

“Kitty, look at me,” Marinette spoke after a moment, and Chat wondered how someone could be so calm and gentle after being subjected to such rambling. He blinked harshly to dispel the extra moisture in his eyes before hesitantly lifting his head. He figured that he owed her that much at least.

Her eyes seemed to brighten, or maybe it was just a trick of the afternoon sun, but his heart skipped a beat all the same as deep shades of blue washed over him. A rush of warmth and calm washed over him.

“First off, there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she smiled a little, a hint of pink dusting her nose and cheeks, “It sounds to me, and I’m guessing here really,” she let out an odd chuckle, and Chat didn’t have time to think too much of it before she was speaking again, “that somehow it’s a side effect of your Miraculous powers, which isn’t your fault. I’m really glad you told me, though,”

At that, Chat blinked, confusion making his brows furrow as he replayed her words.

“You are?”

“Yes! It means that you trust me enough to tell me, and I’m honoured, Chat,” she gently rubbed circles into his arm, her touch making him want to melt, until he was nothing more than a puddle in her hands. He wasn’t sure why Marinette was having such a profound effect on him, but strangely enough, he couldn’t find it in himself to be bothered. If there was anyone he wouldn’t mind turning into putty for(other than his lovely Lady of course), it would be Marinette.

“And I think, I might even know how to help,”

Now that surprised him, and he didn’t doubt the various capabilities he’d seen his classmate exhibit, but he was at a loss for how a civilian would be able to help with what appeared to be magical side effects. He was weary as much as he was suddenly extremely curious.

Her laugh brought him out of his reverie, and he twitched underneath her touch. She waved a hand, giggles dying down.

“Your face,” she grinned, reaching up to smoothen out the crease of his brow beneath the mask and he shivered, “don’t worry Chat, I think I know what I’m doing.”

Confidence twinkled in her eyes, and Chat had no doubt that he was in good hands.

#miraculous ladybug #marichatmay2021 #marichat #adrien agreste #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #ku writes

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fandomsnfluff · 3 years

Note

can you please do a lee reki and lers miya and langa drabble fic! (the setting being either a skatepark or one of they're houses) and reki just gets totally wrecked bc he was acting cocky and smugly you don't have to if you don't want to lol

sure anon, i’d be happy to!!

attitude (langa & miya/reki)

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

It was a rather warm Monday, and Reki, Langa, and Miya were off of school. They decided to meet up together at the skate park, just to have something to do on their day off rather than sit around and do nothing. What better than hanging with some of your closest friends doing things they all enjoyed on an off day with beautiful weather? It seemed perfect.

Reki and Langa had arrived first, and were waiting for Miya to show up for at least fifteen minutes. Reki decided to use the time wisely and do a little more coaching, helping Langa with his foot position on the board and with some of his balance issues. A shout of “hey!” from the entrance pulled Reki away from his focus on teaching, and he spotted Miya running towards them.

“Sorry I’m late,” the boy panted. “It took me a lot longer to finish the house chores than I anticipated.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Reki responded cheerfully, patting the boy’s head in a playful manner.

“Hey, don’t touch me, slime!” Miya hissed, but Reki could tell there was a hint of affection in the way the younger was looking at him. The redhead only chuckled, amused at his friend’s tone.

The boys spent a good hour skating together, showing each other tricks that they had been working on and sharing advice on how to improve their individual techniques. Miya, of course, had it all down, and his comments proved it; Reki’s kick flip had vastly improved after showing him an alternative way to move his front foot. It would also help to keep him safer and help him avoid falling as frequently as he did.

Then Reki, being the (somewhat of a) daredevil he was, decided to show it off, and to his surprise, it worked really well for him. Langa, of course, was inspired, so he figured that it would be very smart to attempt to copy Reki, even with the lack of coaching he had gotten on the same trick. Instead of nailing it, however, he ended up tripping over his board, resulting in him practically falling flat on his face.

“Are you all right?” Miya called, racing over to him as Reki laughed up a storm.

“He’s fine!” Reki assured him through his laughter. “He always gets up after falling, right, Langa?”

“Yeah, I’m good--” Langa assured the boy as he stood up.

However, Reki was still having some difficulty keeping together. As the three of them decided to take a bit of a break together, seeing as the weather was getting warmer and they had been at skateboarding nonstop for almost an hour, Reki still found himself giggling at how hysterical it was to see Langa practically facepalm from that. He had seen the taller teen go through many wipeouts, but the particular angle and nature of his fall was particularly funny.

“Could you stop it?” Miya snapped as Reki was still unable to control himself.

“S-sorry,” the redhead apologized. “Just-- the angle of Langa’s fall was so funny, I--” Then he broke into raucous laughter again.

Miya growled, glaring at the boy, but then Langa spoke up. “Don’t get mad, I’m not hurt. He reacts like this all the time.”

Miya, still glaring at Reki as he was trapped within another giggling fit, suddenly hatched an idea. If the redhead really wanted something to laugh at, something that was less harmful, he could have it.

“Oh, Reki?” Miya asked, his voice suddenly dropping in pitch, a frighteningly unfamiliar tone creeping into his speech as he addressed the older boy. “You really shouldn’t laugh when people get hurt.”

“That’s right.” Langa scooted closer to Reki, nearly cornering him against the bench, as Miya was trapping his other line of escape. “You shouldn’t laugh when people get hurt. It’s pretty insulting.” It was a bit contradictory considering his earlier comment to Miya. “It also isn’t very kind to brag, is it, now?”

“Look, I don’t know what’s gotten into you two,” Reki said, a note of unease creeping into his tone. “But I’m sorry, I’ll try not to laugh anymore.”

“You’ll try not to, or won’t you?” Miya was practically pinning Reki to the ground at this point, hands pressing his upper arms into the concrete. Beads of sweat began to appear on the boy’s forehead.

“Um, I won’t?” The statement came out as more of a question, and Miya smirked.

“Langa.” Miya gestured with his head, a signal for the older teen to move closer. “Do it.”

Without a single word, Langa grabbed Reki under the arms, the rest of his body on full display. The way their arms were locked together would make it impossible for the redhead to struggle free, as he was already trying to.

“What are you guys doing?” Reki asked, panic clearly in his voice as he squirmed in place, locked by Langa’s grip.

“Just teaching you a little lesson!” Miya suddenly cried, diving forward and digging his fingers into Reki’s sides. Of course, the gesture made the redhead scream, squirming around and attempting to bring his legs up to defend himself. However, Miya was too nimble, and he managed to pin his legs underneath him by sitting on his lap during the assault. The fingers dug into the spaces between his ribs and squeezed at the fleshy spots on his sides, making Reki jolt and howl with laughter.

“Oh my God,” Miya breathed out, struggling to contain his own laughter. “I figured you were ticklish, but this is, like, insane to me.” He then attempted to squeeze at the soft parts of his stomach, causing the redhead to jerk to the side with a squeal. Miya smirked; he would take his precious time with this, it was all too good.

“MIIIHIHIYAAHAHAHA STAHAHAP COHOME ON!!!” Reki screamed for like the fifth time when Miya decided to focus on his thighs, playfully squeezing at them, and occasionally scribbling his fingers along the backs of his knees, which made him squeal and attempt to kick. Then Reki screeched again, dissolving into another raucous flood of laughter as Langa tickled along his sides and stomach, all while keeping him in place. Miya was quite surprised by this; who knew that a stone-cold, at least on the outside, person could be so into something like tickling? Well, it was Reki, and anything that came to the redhead seemed to make Langa absolutely melt. He couldn’t help but wonder how much playful tussling they did in private with each other; there was no way that Langa didn’t know about this. Even though Langa was putting on one hell of a poker face, there was a glimmer pin his eyes that demonstrated nothing but admiration for the redhead. It was honestly lovely to see, but Miya would never say that aloud.

“PLEEEHEHEHEHEASE I’M SORRYYY!!!” Reki cried, his voice hoarse from all the laughing. Miya could see the tears trailing down his flushed cheeks, his chest heaving as he fought for breath through his laughter. But Miya decided that he was going to be a little shit, as if he wasn’t perfect in that area yet.

“You promise not to laugh when someone fails or wipes out like that?” Miya asked, drilling his thumbs into the creases of Reki’s hips, making him shriek until he lost his voice.

“YEEHEHEHES YESYESYESYES I PROMIHIHIHISE NOW GET OFF!!” Reki screamed.

“Good boy.” Miya stood up and plopped down next to Langa, watching the exhausted boy attempt to catch his breath as he leaned back against the taller teen. Now Miya couldn’t help but laugh himself.

“That was too funny! How are you that ticklish?” Miya doubled over, clutching his stomach as he attempted to stop laughing. “I swear, when the others hear about this--they just won’t stop!”

“Miya.”

The boy blinked up to meet the eyes of Langa, a protective emotion showing in his eyes. His grip on Reki had tightened, and he was now pulling the other teen closer to him.

Miya rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it, he’s yours. And you can have the slime.”

“Don’t you ‘slime’ me!” Reki snapped. “Not after all that you just did to me!”

“Well, you’ll always be a slime to me!” Miya hissed back. “You should be thanking me for teaching you a lesson.” “Lesson? That was your idea of a lesson? Sorry, but I prefer your flip kick lessons, thank you very much.”

Miya only snorted at the comment, but he blinked up to see Langa laughing quietly to himself. He felt a warmth spread to his cheeks at how lovely the sound was; part of him was a bit envious that Reki got to hear this sound as often as he did. Seriously, there was no way these two didn’t laugh together while they were alone.

But there was nothing that neither Miya nor Reki could do at hearing Langa’s laugh. The only thing that they could do was laugh themselves in response. Laughter truly was the language of the world.

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

wOW this literally turned into a full-on fic skjdhfskjdfhd (it’s a lil over 1k words but whatever). well, regardless, i hope you enjoy this (somewhat special gift) drabble anon!! <3

#sk8 the infinity #sk8 fanfic #fanfic #sk8 #anime tickling #my posts #ask #anonymous

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vs-redemption · 3 years

Text

Crime is Common. Logic is Rare. (Ch.28)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Holidays (HawksxGN!Reader)

Plot summary: As a quirk geneticist, you never really imagined yourself getting involved in hero work. Of course, you never imagined catching the eye of a pro hero either. What starts as a great career opportunity turns into a relationship built upon mutual secrets and trust.

Warnings:

⚠️This story contains spoilers from the manga.

⚠️Some events and plot points have been altered from the original manga

Tag List: @gayforkeigo @marshmallow-witch @redflannel @toyo-shiro @elsasshole @astronomyturtle @iambashfulperson @omiwashere

Chapter Guide

You had hoped the holidays would provide another much needed break from the stress of your everyday schedule, but going home for Christmas only ended up being a solid two days of downtime for you to sit and worry about everything going on in your life. Whether the Hero Commission really needed your boyfriend around for the weekend or the villains were subtly punishing you for refusing Dabi’s offer, Hawk ended up being far too busy to return to your hometown with you like you’d originally planned. So, you hopped on a train and made the journey home by yourself.

Visiting with your family was something you normally really looked forward to, but this time you found yourself in the awkward situation of dodging questions about your boyfriend that you yourself didn’t know the answers to, and giving vague replies to their inquiries about what you had been up to in the lab with Dr. Garaki. Your entire life and somehow become confidential, and you wondered if being around the people you loved had really been the smartest choice, especially given the threats Dabi had made the day you met him. The more you thought about it, the more your imagination tortured you with worst case scenarios.

Even stopping by your old lab did not provide a break from the interrogations. Instead of finding work to keep your mind off the troubles waiting for you back in Tokyo, you just ended up on the receiving end of a ton of gossip relating directly to the problems you’d been trying to avoid.

“Looks like all the top hero schools are doing an extra round of internships this year,” your boss says conversationally as you try to sort and put away the newest shipment of research journals she’d ordered. “I suppose with all the fuss about the League of Villains, not to mention the nomus, they’re trying to toughen up the next generation of heroes. It makes sense, but I’m a little surprised since UA has even required their first year students to get provisional licenses. Seems a bit much to me.”

“Yeah, I guess, but UA is known for pushing the envelope with the standards held for its students, you know?” you reply with a shrug. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either. Hero course students around the country weren’t just training themselves to face more dangerous villains. At the moment, they were being prepped for an outright battle that they had no idea was coming. The general public knew about the League and the nomus, but they had no clue about the Liberation army or the monster quirk guy that the commission was so worried about. Apparently, the current heroes weren’t expected to be enough to handle the magnitude of the threat, so the pressure of securing a victory would fall mostly on the students in the end. It was just another reason for your distaste with the Hero Commission to intensify.

“I noticed Hawks hasn’t been working with any interns this time around though,” Your boss had clearly been keeping a close eye on her favorite hero. Under normal circumstances you wouldn’t mind, but you really didn’t want her digging for information that would put her in danger if she got too close to the truth. “Even Endeavor has been patrolling with three students over the holidays.”

“Unfortunately, his plate has been a little full recently,” you hoped she would be satisfied with that answer. Although it was only natural, it made you feel anxious that she was asking so many questions. All the secrets were piling up and now that a plan for ending all this madness was falling into place, there was even more pressure for you to tread carefully with your actions and words. Even if you weren’t being monitored as carefully as Hawks, there was every possibility that the villains were keeping an eye on you too.

“Well, just as long as you two aren’t fighting or anything,” Your boss hums, eyeing you curiously. “I felt a bit concerned when he didn’t come here with you this time.”

“No, we’re both just busy,” you assure her. Fighting wasn’t the right word, but there had been a lot more intense discussions between you and your hero boyfriend recently. The thing with Dabi had, unfortunately, only been the tip of the iceberg. With the issue of giving up information about Hawks to the league basically resolved, now you were both having disagreements about where you’d be during the massive raid that would be taking place in just a couple of months.

Thanks to Hawks, the Commission knew exactly where the League of Villains and their army were hiding out. And thanks to you, they knew exactly where the high-end nomus were being created and kept. The plan was to attack both locations simultaneously before Shigaraki’s procedure could be completed in order to reduce the amount of damage and casualties in the attack. Even with the element of surprise though, it was sure to be a literal warzone. Hawks had been trying to convince you to take a day off from the lab once the date was set, but as usual you had to deny his request, fearing that you could somehow tip them off about the raid just by calling in. For the plan to work, the villains could absolutely not suspect anything.

Of course, it wasn’t like you wanted to be there when all hell broke loose. Actually, the more you thought about, it the more terrified you were. Any number of things could go wrong, and you had no way to defend yourself if you got caught up in the conflict. It scared you even more knowing that Hawks would not be there to protect you. He would most certainly be assigned to the Villain’s location so that he could play his role with them as long as possible. You would have to rely on the team assigned to the hospital to keep you safe. The only thought giving you any sort of comfort was that, as long as the Commission was able to finalize and prepare their plans in time, both Shigaraki and the nomus should remain in their dormant state until all the fighting was already over.

Thankfully, Hawks was an incredible boyfriend and had somehow managed to arrange to be at your apartment when you finally got home after the holiday was over. You honestly could have cried in relief when you opened the door to find him waiting for you with open arms.

“I missed you,” you sigh while tucking yourself into his chest and wrapping your arms around him tightly.

“I missed you too, love.” He smiles while leaning his cheek on the top of your head. “How’s your family? Do they think I’m the worst for not being there with you?”

“Not at all,” you smile and enjoy the warmth of his embrace for a moment longer. “They’re all fine, but my boss had a few things to say about it though.” Hawks lets out a dry laugh.

“Of course she did.” He didn’t seem to want to let go of you either. You weren’t looking forward to the novel he most likely had written for you to read and catch up on everything that had happened in the few days you’d been gone. When you finally step back and look up at his face, there’s a small smirk on his lips.

“What?” You narrow your eyes suspiciously.

“I may have set a little trap,” he glances up and you follow his eyes to see mistletoe hanging above the doorway. Some of the tension finally leaves you as a laugh escapes your mouth.

“Cheesy,” You shake your head at him. “You know I would’ve kissed you anyway.”

“Maybe, but this seemed like a fun idea anyway.” His smile chased away the last of your worries for a moment and you gladly kiss him back when he presses his lips to yours. The way his hands move to grip your sides and hold you closer hinted that he hadn’t enjoyed the time apart any more than you had. The fact that you only got to see each other for minutes at a time when you both were in town didn’t mean much since there was at least some comfort in knowing you were at least together in the same city.

“Mmm, you’re right.” You say breathlessly after he pulls away. “That was a fun idea.”

“But wait, there’s more!” He says in a bad impression of a TV commercial before chuckling at himself. “I also have a Christmas gift for you.”

“I may have gotten something for you too,” you admit. He takes your hand and leads you into the house so you can sit down. You’re surprised to see he’d put up a few decorations and even bought a small little Christmas tree to put by the window. “You know you didn’t have to do all this, bird-kun.”

He smiles almost shyly while taking a wrapped box from under the tree and handing it to you. “Sure,” he shrugs, “but this is our first holiday together and I felt bad I couldn’t spend more time with you. It only took me a few minutes to set it all up with my feathers anyway. I wish I’d had time to do more.”

“This is perfect,” you pull him down to sit next to you, leaning forward to give him another lingering kiss. “How about using those feathers to get the box on the top shelf of the closet?”

“You got it,” He nods as a couple red feathers shoot from his wings towards your bedroom, coming back just a few seconds later carrying the gift you’d hidden away for him. “This the one?”

“Yeah,” you confirm before looking down at the pretty wrapped box in your lap, wondering what was inside. You were so thankful that Hawks hadn’t bombarded you with too many questions about your trip home, or jumped straight to business with updates on the league. It was nice to come home to a normal life situation and have a few sweet moments as a regular couple celebrating Christmas together. Hopefully, after enduring the next few torturous months, you could have this kind of life full time with Hawks.

#Hawks x reader #keigo takami x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #Hawks #Keigo Takami #bnha #mha #Cindy's Writing

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yandere-daydreams · 4 years

Note

hi! i absolutely love your writing, and i fucking screamed when i saw that your requests were open. i was hoping you write something about the miya twins sharing a darling? yes, i am a simp and i am fucking proud of it

Atsumu is a bastard, and therefore, Osamu is bastardly by association. I refuse to respect them, but I see the appeal. Have your twins, but I’ll do my best not to let you enjoy them.

Title: Homecoming.

TW: Nonconsensual Touching and Implied Bullying.

Sometimes, you try to think about what your life would be like if you were born a year earlier.

Or a year later, you guessed. It didn’t matter. If you were just a bit older or months younger, you would never have met the Miya twins. You would’ve been at a safe distance from the pair all thoroughly Elementary School, free from their torment in Junior High, and they couldn’t have followed you into your teens, not if you’d never caught their eye in the first place. You weren’t special, nor were you afraid to admit that. You were a target, one that could and would be replaced as soon as you failed to serve your purpose.

You supposed it was your fault, then. You failed to break, so they failed to move on.

That didn’t make you feel any better about your current situation, though.

Atsumu and Osamu had been going to Inarizaki for two years. Four full semesters, as opposed to your measly handful of weeks. It made sense that they had a better grasp of the terrain, and thus, your shock was muted when a pale hand emerged from a storage closet you hadn’t known existed, latching onto your wrist and dragging you through the narrow entrance, the door left ajar just enough to allow you through without attracting the attention of your peers. You failed to resist, at first, stumbling forward out of blind stupor, but by the time you thought to fight or scream or do something, a palm was pressed against your mouth, your back flush against a familiar chest and your arms trapped under something heavy and strong, pinning you down with a force you wish you’d never grown accustomed to.

There were no windows, no lights, leaving your focus to shift around the small space desperately, searching for something to latch onto in the darkness. A phone was turned on, then off, illuminating a small section of the floor briefly before flickering into nonexistence. It was a passing hope, though. Your eyes were beginning to adjust, just enough to make out the apathetic, self-satisfied smirk you’d grown so accustomed to. Atsumu’s smirk. You could guess who was holding you, if he’d agreed to take such an idle role.

When Atsumu spoke, he did so impassively. As if you’d been the one to approach him, and he was just indulging you in a conversation he had no interest in. As if you were the one holding him hostage. “Look at this, ‘samu,” He started, scanning over your struggling form. He was less than an arm’s length away, the cramped closet only allowing for so much room between its occupants, but you could still feel him prying into you, his head bowed in an effort to better look down on you. “The brat’s all dressed in black ‘n white, tryin’ to blend in with the rest of us commoners.”

“Think Shiratorizawa was too much of a step up, ‘tsumu?” Osamu’s voice was neutral, uncaring when taken out of context, but you’d learned to pay more attention to what he said than how he said it. Beyond that, the arm now wrapped around your waist clenched down, squeezing for a moment as the hand covering your mouth dropped away entirely, giving you the option to answer but warning you against it, before you could. “It was probably just a break. I’d want some time away from that face of yours too, if I was ‘em.”

There was a hint of a snarl, a reflexive response to their brotherly teasing, but Atsumu quickly regained his composure, gritting his teeth and narrowing his gaze, although you weren’t sure which one of you the gesture was supposed to be directed towards. “Yours ain’t much better, y’know,” He countered, taking half a step closer. “Why did you come back, babydoll? My brother and I were so disappointed when you left without telling us, you don’t know how long the big guy back there spent tryin’ to find whatever hole you decided to hide in. Almost broke my heart, if I’m bein’ honest.”

You hesitated before answering. You’d left because of their treatment, their jeers and their jokes and their determination to make your life hell until you graduated. They must’ve known that, and you doubted they hadn’t managed to uncover the reason for your return, yet, either. They knew your scholarship ran out and you had to come back, they knew that. They just wanted to hear you say it.

It was the least you could do to deprive them of that small victory.

“I missed the scenery,” You muttered, your response almost too quiet to hear. “Everyone’s nice, at the Academy. I guess I was feeling nostalgic.”

Atsumu frowned. Osamu snickered. You let your confidence flare before reminding yourself not to let them have any effect on you, no matter how positive the shift seemed. Rather, you steeled yourself, squaring your shoulders as Atsumu reached forward, catching your jaw and tilting your head back. “I don’t really remember why we were missin’ you,” He said, forcing you to face him, his thumb biting into your jaw when you tried to twist away. “You’re always actin’ so stubborn, when you know ‘samu and I don’t mean any harm. If you just started behavin’ right, we wouldn’t have so many problems. We wouldn’t have to go to such great lengths to get your attention.” He paused, dropping your jaw, but freedom was a temporary comfort. Without warning, he took you by the hair, jerking you up by the scalp and earning a pathetic, whiny whimper for his efforts, the noise enough to spur him on, as he continued. “If you weren’t so cold, we wouldn’t have to be so mean.”

“Then what?” You’re talking before you can tell yourself not to, getting mad before you can tell yourself not to. It’s was instinct, to curl your hands into fists and drive your nails into your skin, to hate the men who currently surround you. Distance had spoiled you, given you time to grow content with the idea of a life that didn’t include the Miya twins. It seemed too soon to adjust to what you used to be complacent with. It seemed unfair. “You want your punching bag to smile and say ‘thank you’, and that’s great, that’s wonderful, but unless it gets you to screw off, I’m not interested. I don’t want anything to do with you or your--” You took the time to drive your heel into Osamu’s foot, only stopping when he let out a stifled, pained grunt. “-fucking brother, and there’s no amount of bullshit you can put me through to make me think otherwise.”

There was a beat of silence. Osamu looked towards Atsuma, Atsuma looked towards Osamu, and then they both looked towards you. You pursed your lips, your pride morphing into a hallow, jagged shape, one that came to rest at the back of your throat. You waited for the backlash, your anticipation mixing with that sense of impending dread, but the blow never came.

Instead, they laughed.

“This is why you shouldn’t be the one doin’ the talking, you make both of us sound like pricks.” Osamu’s chin came to rest on your shoulder, a chuckle still lacing the edges of his tone by the time he finished. He nuzzled into the crook of your neck affectionately, kissing the dip of your shoulder, adamantly ignoring your renewed attempts to squirm out of his hold. “The poor thing’s already shakin’. I think you scared ‘em, ‘tsumu.”

“No, no. If anything, our little mouse got too brave.” There was another tug to your hair, another string of smirks and glances between the two, and in the distance, a bell rang, but neither boy seemed to notice.

If anything, they were more concentrated on you than they’d ever been.

“I think someone needs a proper welcome home, don’t you?”

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fiftymilehighclub · 3 years

Text

Crash Course: Billy and Tommy

For the uninitiated who just found out about these two via WandaVision, here is the sequence of events that leads to a) why the boys have different last names and b) why Tommy has white hair:

Vision and the Scarlet Witch, 1985: Billy and Tommy are born while Wanda and Vision are living a ‘normal’ life in New Jersey. It is later established that Wanda’s pregnancy was, initially, only a psychosomatic ‘hysterical’ pregnancy due to jealousy over her brother’s marriage to Crystal Amaquelin (Inhuman) and birth of their daughter Luna.

It is also later established (in Young Avengers Presents: Wiccan and Speed) that Billy and Tommy were actually created by Wanda, using her reality-warping powers and the power of an eldritch god which had inhabited her body, using fragments of the soul of Mephisto, lord of Hell.

During a battle, Wanda momentarily loses the focus which keeps the souls attached to the twins’ bodies, and they vanish. However, the fragments of soul which created them were purified by her love, and instead of returning to Mephisto, were instead reborn in the bodies of two boys living in separate parts of New England: Billy Kaplan, in the Upper West Side (later Chelsea), New York, and Tommy Shepherd, in Springfield, New Jersey.

Though it has been considered dubiously canon now, early on it was hinted that both boys were adopted at the same time; Billy also mentions having two brothers who are never named and only mentioned once.

Young Avengers v1 issue 1-6, April 2005: After the events of Disassembled. The Avengers are defunct, due to Wanda’s mental breakdown over the loss of her children caused a causality chain-reaction that led to the deaths of several Avengers (including Jack of Hearts and Ant-Man, Scott Lang). A group of boys, led by a time-displaced youthful version of Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards, a distant descendant of both Tony Stark and Reed Richards) is determined to change his destiny as a supervillain by reforming the Avengers and being a hero called Iron Lad and leading a team consisting of Patriot (Eli Bradley, nephew of Captain America/Josiah X, America: Red, White and Black), Hulkling (Teddy Altman, son of Captain Marvel [Mar-Vell] and Princess Anelle of the Skrull Empire, who is unaware of his heritage at the start and believes himself to be a mutant), and Asgardian (Billy Kaplan, who aside from being a massive Avengers fanboy doesn’t have an immediately recognized connection to the Avengers). Cassie Lang, daughter of the late Ant-Man, demands to join the team, calling herself Stature (she has stolen Pym particles and can grow and shrink at will) and later, after rescuing her family from a hostage situation, Kate Bishop insinuates herself into the team as well and is, at the end, simply called Hawkeye.

House of M, August 2005: The Young Avengers are too new to be ‘involved’ in the event, but the twins (and their creepy ‘brother’ Tyler) are present as small children in Wanda’s delusion. She re-lives their birth, and re-traumatizes herself in their loss. It’s a whole thing. Her daughter with Nightcrawler (TJ) from another reality shows up. (Nocturne is an actual bean please read up on her).

Decimation, January 2006: “No More Mutants.” 198 mutants out of millions are all that remain after Wanda’s proclamation. Fortuitously, two of those who remain are Billy and Tommy (and TJ)

Young Avengers v1 issue 7-12: Teddy is caught in the middle of an intergalactic power struggle: both the Kree and Skrulls want him, as he has significant positions of power with both races, and his mother (who he discovers was really his nursemaid who spirited him away from the Skrull homeworld to protect him) is murdered by the Super-Skrull. In order to rescue him, the Young Avengers use the Vision’s programming (now stored in Iron Lad’s old suit, now named Jonas) to track down another potential linked mutant. They break Tommy out of a mutant-research facility his mother had remanded him to after a run-in with the law. Tommy is unstable and violent, but it’s immediately clear he and Billy are twins and there is More To The Story. Billy drops the Asgardian name, starts calling himself Wiccan, and accidentally outs himself as gay (and dating Teddy) to his parents.

Young Avengers Special: Wiccan and Speed: Billy and Tommy go back to Vision and Wanda’s home in New Jersey to look for clues to their past. The Mephisto connection is established and it is confirmed that they are, in fact, Wanda’s children.

Civil War, 2006: After the New Warriors cause Nitro to detonate in front of an elementary school, killing hundreds of innocents in the process (known as the Stamford Incident), the government pushes through the Mutant Registration Act, forcing all superpowered individuals to either register with the federal government or else be deemed a risk and placed under arrest. This divides the Young Avengers -- Cassie, Kate and Jonas believe it is for the greater good, since they could still work as superheroes, just with government oversight, but Billy, Tommy, Teddy and Eli join the faction led by Captain America, which deems it unconstitutional and just plain wrong. They have a run-in with the Runaways, where they are captured by a mad scientist using Noh-Varr (Marvel Boy) as a mind-controlled soldier. Wiccan’s ears are covered with sound-dampening devices to prevent him using his powers, and he is forced to watch as the scientist attempts to study Teddy via surgical means. (it’s a little gruesome, fair warning) Later, during a night patrol these four are caught, and though they are quickly rescued, after Wiccan and Cloak transport them to another location, it turns out to be a trap, and Billy is captured and imprisoned in an extra-dimensional prison called 42.

It is speculated that he was imprisoned for anywhere from one to six months. It is also speculated that during this time, due to the verbal component of his powers (he must speak his will into being, at this point) that he was either comatose or muzzled during this time.

After being freed, Billy spends several months in shock, sitting at a window in a near-catatonic state, unable to react as his friends and family try to bring him out of it. Eventually, Teddy approaches him, and lays down an ultimatum. He proposes marriage, on the condition that Billy gets out of that window. In the issue’s last panel, they share their first on-panel kiss.

Tiny queers all over the world rejoiced.

The Children’s Crusade, 2010: The Young Avengers work on the sidelines for a while, until Wiccan accidentally overloads his powers during a fight with the terrorist group Sons of the Serpent. The Avengers want to put him on lockdown until he can control his powers, but he knows that if he can find Wanda, she can teach him all he needs to know. After busting him out of his ‘suite’ at the Tower, the rest of the Young Avengers accompany him to Wanda’s last known location -- Latveria, specifically its capital Doomstadt, ruled by Dr. Doom. There, they meet Magneto, and learn that Wanda has no memory of her past, and is a guest of Dr. Doom in his palace -- in fact, she is his fiance, and they are due to be married! Billy can’t let this rest -- he knows there’s more to it, and sneaks out of the inn they are staying at, leaving an apology note for Teddy and striking out on his own to break her free. It is revealed that Doom was taking advantage of Wanda’s amnesia in order to get access to the Cthonic power she still possessed, but after taking it for himself, Wanda’s memories return, and with the help of Billy, the rest of the Young Avengers (and absolutely no help from the Avengers or X-Men, who both show up to try and fight it out). In the end, Wanda embraces her two sons, promising to be a greater presence in their lives.

Sometime during this time, both Tommy and Teddy have begun permanently residing with the Kaplan household in Chelsea, NY.

Young Avengers, vol2, 2013: In an attempt to bring Teddy some happiness, Billy browses all possible realities to find a version of his mother who had not been murdered by the Super-Skrull. He appears to find one, but she turns out to be an extradimensional parasite called Mother, who can influence adults (here meaning anyone over the age of 21). Loki (still in his 10-year-old form due to having died and been reborn it’s a long story) appears, claiming he can help them vanquish Mother if they trust him, but America Chavez also arrives to try to discourage them. Kate and Noh-Varr have some sort of friends-with-benefits thing going and arrive with a spaceship. Tommy works at a tech-assembly company as a temp, where David Alleyne (formerly Prodigy, who lost his powers on M-day) also works. I admit my memory of this series is spotty since I wasn’t a huge fan, but it establishes that Billy is an entity known as the Demiurge, who created the reality America Chavez was born from and may, possibly, be the most powerful entity in the Marvel universe.

New Avengers vol4, 2016: Post-Secret Wars, in which a Cosmic Cube broke the Marvel multiverse and Dr. Doom attempted to put it back together again, with varying degrees of success. Bobby Da Costa (Sunspot, formerly of the New Mutants) has inherited the vast wealth and criminal empire of the organization formerly called Advanced Idea Mechanics -- A.I.M. Now calling it Avengers Idea Mechanics, he gathers a team to protect the Earth from extradimensional foes who are, apparently, spawned from a hyperfuturistic alternate version of Reed Richards. Chimeras with floating crystals for heads are nullifying magic all over the globe, but Wiccan and Songbird figure out how to use her scream to shatter them. Then, a Cthulhu-like entity called Moridun infects Billy, and a future version of the Avengers arrive in the past to kill him, including a beardly, barbarian-looking version of Hulkling. Eventually, Billy figures out that Moridun feeds on negative emotions -- and well, I’ll let Billy’s words speak for him:

“”I know what poisoned thoughts are like, Moridun. I always have. I get anxiety. I don’t think I’m good enough. I don’t like myself, even though I know -- rationally -- I know -- doesn’t matter. I have bad days, bad thoughts. And sometimes... sometimes, yeah, they’re hard to fight. But I don’t let them win every day. And I’m damn sure not going to let you win today. You’re just a cheap little bully who likes breaking toys, Moridun --

and you shouldn’t have let me see you! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

I freaking love this comic okay you get to see future Teddy go back home to his husband who’s standing at the sink washing dishes and talking about their daughter Katie and I cried when I first read it.

Bobby also gifts the boys a SUPER SWANKY PENTHOUSE RIGHT OFF CENTRAL PARK.

At this point, there is also a Scarlet Witch solo series, which I highly recommend reading. She is shown owning her mental illness, cutting Pietro out of her life in order to maintain it, and coming to grips with the loss of Vision and reconnecting with her sons.

There is also the Death of Magic run, which establishes a lot of lore about Billy as the Demiurge. Unfortunately, during a lot of this era Tommy is nowhere to be seen.

However, at the start of the latest event, Empyre, we find out why: He’s moved out of the Kaplans’ and in with David, who he has been dating since the events of YAv2. He seems genuinely happy, which makes me happy.

Now: Billy and Teddy have finally gotten married. Billy is still working toward becoming the best damn sorcerer and potential pseudodeity he can be, Teddy has put down his destiny as the Great Unifier, and everybody’s just happy.

I don’t care what Marvel does in the comics anymore my sons are happy.

I’m sure I missed some details but this got WAY LONGER THAN I INTENDED IT TO.

OH YEAH THERE’S A WHOLE COMIC WHERE VISION TRIES TO ‘RECREATE’ THE FEELING OF BEING PART OF A FAMILY AND INSTEAD OF CONSULTING WITH HIS ACTUAL LIVING SONS HE BORROWS WANDA’S MENTAL ENGRAMS AND MAKES HIMSELF A CUTE LITTLE WIFE AND TWO CUTE LITTLE KIDS AND IT ALL GOES TITS-UP IN A HURRY GDI VISION

I don’t like 616 Vision he’s kind of a selfish prick

Viv Vision is a Gift though she doesn’t deserve half of what’s happened to her

#nonsims #uhhhhhh so yeah can y'all tell i'm adhd #all this was FROM MEMORY

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wide-eyedscottishlass · 3 years

Text

Scarlett and the Professor

[continued from]

“Then teach me, please. Give me the answer I need,” Scarlett insisted quietly. “It’s the real reason you brought me here tonight, isn’t it?”

“Yes...oh yes, Scarlett,” he murmured, laying just the fingertips of his right hand against her neck and softly tracing along her cheekbone with his thumb, “Although I think you might know the answer already---but it seems to me that you’ve buried the notion in the depths of your mind, for it defies rational thought.”

His eyes, like his voice, had gone utterly soft, as she barely shook her head in denial. Her brow creased with consternation, Scarlett parted her lips but words still seemed to fail her, “I...I don’t know what you mean, Professor...I swear that...that I don’t have a clue...”

“My dear little...hmmmm...” Hennessy’s lips were pressed together in an enigmatic smile that rivaled the Mona Lisa’s. “My little water nymph. Quiet your doubts and fears and simply listen. Trust what your heart already knows to be true.”

Scarlett closed her eyes, trying to do as her teacher bid, focusing on the steady sounds of the waves and on the soothing touch of his fingers, instead of the insistent voice of reason. Though she came from a culture rich in folk tales, myths, and legends, she was also a child of the 21st century, with access to the finest of educations and the most advanced technologies. Yet here he was---a brilliant, highly educated man---asking her to forsake reality and embrace the...fantastical. Alright then...I must call it what it is. Either I’ve gone quite mad, and none of this is real...or...or...

Her eyes shot open at the impossible conclusion. “It’s...magic?”

Hennessy was nodding and sounding pleased, “Of a sort, yes...”

“Magic is...real?”

“Real. And though as rare a hen’s teeth, older than civilization itself.”

Concerned that he was teasing her, playing upon her obvious naivete, taunting her as a fool, Scarlett studied his face carefully. She saw not a trace of irony, nor even the smallest hint of amusement at her expense. While her mind continued to revolt against the very notion, her heart---already entangled fathoms deep with everything he presented himself to be---insisted he was revealing a truth she was meant to learn eventually. The mysteries of her past suddenly made far more sense if the world allowed for the true existence of the paranormal.

“And there it is,” he observed, reading her reluctant acceptance as it stole across her face. “I knew you were bright enough to understand, m’dear. And I’ll wager something of the...supernatural...touched your life long before we met. Before you ever came to this place. Very likely before you even finished primary school.” Hennessy’s unwavering conviction and uncanny insight left a wave of relief washing over her. “I don’t need the slightest bit of magic to see that that is true.”

Hearing the long-held secret that he had guessed, goosebumps broke out across her skin. “Yes...yes...and heaven help me, yes,” she exclaimed in surprise, “But I’ve never shared that with a single soul in the world.” Well, only with my confessor, the Sea.

He nodded, having become the absolute picture of patience, while Scarlett felt the circle of water around them finally recede. “Come sit with me a while, love---I’ll tell you a bit of my experience if you’re willing to tell me a bit of yours.”

___________________________________________

“...of course, this is not ‘magic’...” Hennessy framed the word in air quotes, “...as it’s understood by the world at large. That is an illusion perpetrated by charlatans and con men and entertainers.” Scarlett was grateful for the clear sky, for the light of the waning gibbous moon allowed for her to read his face well enough to know he was being quite frank. “Like most practitioners of true magic, I come to it through a blood connection--though such powers are latent, and require active cultivation.” He paused for a couple of breaths, allowing her to digest the concept. “My mother is what we call an Elemental Sorceress---a fairly powerful one at that. Meaning that I, like her, have some control over the elements. Air, Fire, Earth. And as you have seen for yourself, Water.”

Having grown up in a household where ancient Celtic superstitions dwelled side by side with the tenants and strictures of Roman Catholicism, the very concept of sorcery raised her hackles as something to be feared for the sake of her immortal soul. And yet, it made sense to her, as though the existence of magic was one of several missing puzzle pieces that could offer a full explanation of her past.

Hennessy watched her, waiting as she wrapped her mind around such an astonishing truth, before continuing this strange, unlooked for lesson. “It shouldn’t surprise you that my strongest skill lies with Water---or that it’s my favorite.”

He bit his lip at that, looking so amused that a sudden warmth spread from her belly on down as she remembered what he’d done to her. “That’s...that’s an amazing skill, my jo,” she nearly whispered.

His hearty laugh warmed her as well, and he added, “And one that I’ve elevated to a fine art, don’t you agree, little lamb?”

Scarlett nodded, wide-eyed and solemn, so that he broke into his most wolfish grin. “But there’s even more to it, isn’t there?” Her instincts were awakened now, her need to know the truth of her own connection to the supernatural enough to override her incredulity.

“Much more,” he affirmed, “More than even I had imagined before I made this place my home.” He narrowed his exotic, ever-compelling eyes, probably reading her to decide if she was ready to hear more. “And Scarlett, I have a strong hunch that it’s a good part of the reason that you found your way here as well.”

‘Nah,” she scoffed, “Twas only that my Da thought a semester or two here might do me well...”

“Then perhaps your Da knows a thing or two he hasn’t told you yet,” he speculated---and then seeing the stubborn set of her brow, left off that topic for the moment. “Regardless, here you are in this very unique place, where elemental magic is just one of many extraordinary things to flourish.”

“One of...many,” Scarlett repeated, not yet completely convinced, “Just how many?”

Hennessy laid his long index finger across his lip, considering his reply carefully. “Well- almost as many as those who live on campus and in the community at large. You could say this island is a supernatural nexus of sorts...”

“Like the Bermuda Triangle?”

He grimaced, “ I suppose you might say that---but I wouldn’t. At least not in front of anyone native to the island...”

Scarlett nodded, choosing not to question that grim sounding assessment, so that he continued, “This place draws the preternatural and mysterious to it. Welcomes it, nurtures it, if you will---and makes all sorts of magic easier to wield...”

“Well, I’m no sorceress,” she protested, chewing her lip thoughtfully, “I mean, I have experienced moments of...crystal clarity...which seem to strike me out of the blue. Strong feelings about what is going to happen. And...well...I’ve always had a sort of...intuition...about...” Scarlett shrugged and finished with a sheepish smile, “...about...people...”

Hennessy took her hand and slowly ran his thumb back and forth across her knuckles, the soft regard in his eyes making her weak as it always did. “Qualities which I assure you, Scarlett dear, are both uncommon and extraordinary. Even in a place that plays host to descendants of creatures out of legends and myths.” He twined his long fingers through hers. “My intuition tells me that something of the supernatural has more than touched you.”

Scarlett looked out at the dark expanse of the ocean, its gentle swells so close to shore, and even it’s smallest ripples, glittering with moonlight. She closed her eyes and drew several deep breaths, simply listening. Listening for the whisper beyond the rhythm of the waves, searching for the quiet voice she had heard so often in her youth. In those days, the Sea had never failed to give her the answers she sought---but these days, wrapped up in the trappings of adulthood, she had convinced herself that those times were the imaginings of a child’s mind providing her with the simple comfort she could not find elsewhere.

Now she spoke aloud, though the words were far more for her own sake than to answer his theory. “When I was young...as a child and...in those awkward, teenage years...I always felt most comfortable and most at peace ...at the water’s edge. In those days, the Sea was almost...like a mother to me.” Despite the balmy, evening air, Scarlett was shivering as the truths she had hidden away in the past several years as mere childish fancies, came back to her at last. “But at the same time, I sometimes felt I could never go too far from the safety of the shore. That it...that if I went too deep, I might never find my way...” She shuddered with the realization, “my way home.”

Hennessy traced the shell of her ear with his free hand and then rested it against her neck. For once, his skin was warmer than hers, so that she looked to him with a sudden longing to have him hold her and warm her. Warm her through and through, and assure her that she was safe with him here, where the sand mingled with the surf. Scarlett’s eyes welled over with salty tears seeing the patience and understanding in Hennessy’s. “Can you imagine how it was for me as a child...to both love and fear such...such a huge, ever-present aspect of Nature? One that loomed so large in my little world?” Her floodgates had finally opened, for a single soul that had the vision to ask. “To find joy and comfort in the ocean’s embrace, to feel it was where I belonged---but also to understand at the age of five that it had the deadly power to steal my breath? My very life?”

How tenderly he thumbed her tears away, how gently he drew her to him---as though he had known her secrets already, and had only been waiting for her to share it out loud. “I can,” he told her, brushing a kiss on the crown of her head, still holding her close, “Our experiences are not so dissimilar, love---though I had a parent knowing enough to guide me through those growing pains.”

“You? You knew such fear?”

“Very like.” Hennessy drew a long sigh, answering so softly that Scarlett would wonder later if she’d imagined it. “Though I feared what lay within me more than I ever could the Sea...”

His warmth and solidity braced her well as her memories continued to engulf her reason. “There were awful, terrible dreams too,” she revealed, “As far back as I can remember. That there was something dark and sinister waiting for me out there in the depths. They only went away in the past few years.” That they had recently returned, Scarlett would not, could not, share with him just yet.

Hennessy hummed quietly as he considered her revelations. “I’m remembering all your sweet and saucy missives, from before we’d shared even a single kiss, little lamb. And how you’ve admitted that you were drawn to me from the moment you entered my classroom.” His voice remained calm and even, surely meant to further soothe her. “Given the many ties that also bind me to the Sea, this can be no coincidence.”

She nodded against him, too overcome by that implication to reply.

“Cleary, the roots of this mystery are what brought you to these shores.” He tightened his arms around her and she drew deep of his scent and strength and certainty. “And perhaps I can help you solve it one of these days. But for tonight, it’s best to let this rest---don’t you agree, my sweet jo?”

“Oh yes, please,” Scarlett answered, slipping her arms around his neck, her trust in his wisdom absolute. “Please,” she whispered as he lowered her onto her back, and loomed above her so that, fleetingly, the moon appeared to be a halo behind his head.

This time, the love he made to her was slow and sweet, their combined rhythm an exquisite counterpoint to the beat of the waves. In the end, Scarlett’s cries of pleasure rose full and shamelessly from her heart, to be caught upon the breeze and float their way out above the warm salt water---traces of which she now knew flowed through both their veins.

tagging: @strangelock221b @ravencatart @doctor-stephenstrange @splunge4me2art @ben-locked @ben-c-group-therapy @letterstosherlock @tsukuyomi011 @aeterna-auroral-avenger @frowerssx-world @humanbornarchangel @emilyinnj4real @losille2000 @groovyfluxie

#my writing #Scarlett and the Professor #magic #mystery #romance #Scarlett Campbell.#OFC #OMC #not my OMC and used with permission #(assuming permission is still granted)#Scarlett's Professor #Professor Hennessy #Hennessy

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