#perhaps I might make a she ra/the boys AU

[fifiophobia]

Idk why but smug Adora from the first episode of season 5 gives me billy butcher energy

#adora she ra #she ra princess of power #she ra #adora #the boys #billy butcher #perhaps I might make a she ra/the boys AU #considering glimmer and kimiko share the same actress #but who knows lol

[yzeltia]

Closer to You

Chapter 1 Characters: Natus Obinata, @driftward 's Zoisstte Vauban, Y'zel Tia Rating: T for angsT Notes: N/A

Natsu brushed at her skirt as she watched the Elezen weakly sit upright. She wasn’t sure what to make of the woman, especially after the fuss that had been made over her over the weeks the Au Ra had spent doing odd jobs for Gage Acquisitions. Mixed emotions seemed to be thrown about in regards to the woman landing somewhere between anger and relief. Still, Echo after Echo put Y’zel in proximity to her. 

“Thank you for meeting with me, Ser Vauban. I’m sorry to interrupt you during your recovery but I believe you are the best chance of helping me find my big brother,” Natsu said, bowing deeply before taking a seat with her legs crossed, debutante training kicking in. 

The Elezen looked up, eyes narrowing as she made out Natsu’s features.

“Ser Vauban? You do not seem of Ishgard…nevertheless. I know few Au Ra, and you do not seem related to any of them. If you are making a records request, Yesuntei…” Zoissette trailed off, “...I have no idea if Yesuntei still handles that kind of thing. Well. Dark certainly should.”

Natsu shook her head, “Apologies again. Leonnioux referred to you as such. He, and many others, said you might have a better idea where Y’zel Tia might be. As for Miss Autumn and Miss Kagon, I’ve already made my inquiries there.”

Zoissette sat up, eyes widening in surprise as she said, “Wait. Y’zel?”

The woman looked to the foot of her bed, then back to the Au Ra with an odd look.

“You said you were searching for a brother.”

“Yes, it was a surprise to me too. Perhaps he’s mentioned his adopted father, Raiden Obinata? I am apparently his daughter and in my search for him, I found out he raised a Miqo’te boy: your protege.”

Zoissette lowered her head and frowned.

 “Oh. Ah. Well…this is…unfortunate.”

Natsu frowned in turn, silence slowly creeping up between them as the Elezen collected her thoughts.

“But Leonnioux sent you to me? That is most unusual. Are they - are they still together?”

“As far as I know. He was rather…offput by my arrival,” Natsu explained before going quiet.

She had struck the man when she’d Echoed off of him. She had felt all of his boyhood resentment of her father, the superiority, the loathing. The act had come out of shock on her end. Even hit, the man was deeply apologetic for his actions as a young man. She shivered as she tried to shake the memory of it off.

“I mean to say, it was a bit of a shock to him. Afterward, he was more than amenable in making sure I was settled in. He says Y’zel’s work takes him from here quite often; however, it seems his usual points of contact have not heard from him directly, though others have witnessed him around. Since he does not appear to be in apparent danger, there doesn’t seem to be a need to follow up with him. Still, I wish to meet him. I have many questions, and something for him,” she explained, hand resting on her pocket before pulling out a letter with the royal Doman seal, “this needs to be placed in his hands.”

Zoissette sat back a little, thinking for a moment. A groan escaped her as she recognized the seal, eyes returning to the edge of her bed where she’d seen Y’zel resting in her bouts of lucidity during her early recovery.

“I am…unfit for the duty that would call for at this point. Y’zel has been here…up until recently, fairly often. I assumed he was finally looking after himself rather than me.”

Natsu blinked at the reaction, and as she put the letter away she followed the woman’s eyes to the edge of the bed again.

“Is something amiss?”

“Many things, I begin to suspect. I should have noticed the change in pattern,” Zoissette explained before moving to the edge of the bed, “...give me a hand, will you? I wish to stand up for a moment.”

Natsu nodded, happy for a chance to get close. “I’ll do my best. I’ve noticed that my stature gets in the way of assisting with these sorts of things.”

Standing, she moved to the woman’s side, letting her use her small frame as leverage. On contact, she closed her eyes, letting her Echo kick in.

Natsu found herself in an office she recognized as her own, feeling a strong sense of togetherness about her, but also, that it was somehow fragile. A layer of self-doubt between her solid exterior and a willful core. Across her desk a strange Miqo’te stood, bowing politely. 

“Did you..um, were we scheduled for an appointment?” she sounded out, breath bitter with tea.

“No, Ser Vauban. I was instructed to make myself useful to you by Mr. Gage. Where my talents lie in curation, it does make me an excellent researcher. I believe that was what the boss intended, sending me to you. I am Y’zel Tia.”

Natsu felt her heart skip a beat for just a moment, looking over the young man but dismissing whatever notion of familiarity came over her. It felt important that Y’zel’s hair was pink and not white. Her hands folded on her lap as she watched the young man’s tail swish behind him, eyes wide upon her.

“So… you are going to be my paralegal.”

“It seems that way, Ser Vauban.”

She hesitated to accept. There was an earnestness about the Miqo’te; however, in her experience, Miqo’te were often trouble.

“Please, just Zoissette. I do not need to be addressed like an Ishgardian.”

“Ah. I’m sorry. I’m from Isghard myself, you see-”

“When did you start looking for him?”

Natsu found herself mechanically leading a wobbling Zoissette toward one of the Allagan terminals as the woman pulled her out of the vision. She furrowed her brow, having not gathered anything useful. 

“A week or so. I apparently came through a day after he’d left for whatever business he went on. Lennioux has let me room behind the Final Pillar thinking my stay would be brief, but days have become sennights. Y’zel has not returned, or if he did, I have been unable to intercept him. I’ve reached out to his other partner, Claudien? I’ve not received a formal response but his assistant did write to say that I’d be notified as soon as there was news.”

“That would be Claudien. Well…it is reassuring to know his relationships yet survive. Less reassuring that they do not know where he is. Though everyone is right - it is not unusual for us to just disappear for sennights or even moons at a time. Adventurer lifestyle. But most people tell someone where they are going, and Zel does not tend towards secretive…” Zoissette said, fingers playing along the controls as she looked up her care rotation spreadsheet to see when Y’zel was last in, “Perhaps Ioh-juhn. Or- have you talked with his cousins?”

“His family did not seem to have regular visits in Sharlayan, and did not spare words on telling me how they felt about that. As for Archon Y'shtola; I did not want to bother her. She seemed rather transfixed upon her care of you and did not permit me to visit until recently.”

Zoissette smiled, just for a moment, before sobering back up.

“It is unlikely, but she may have been the only one he checked with before leaving. I will survive five minutes without a nursemaid…though, since you are already speaking with me, I will ask her. Do you have a linkpearl?”

Natsu shook her head as she led Zoissette back to her sickbed, huffing in frustration as she failed to pick up another Echo off of her. The Elezen settled back into bed, her attention upon the young Au Ra.

“I did not mean to come here and give you the third degree. I do not yet have a linkpearl. Honestly though, I just hoped to be pointed in a meaningful direction.”

“This is fine. You are concerned for a lost family member, and now I am a little concerned as well. On your way out, check in with Silent Coeurl - that is the front desk manservant you should have had to speak to to get down here. Tell him I asked for you to be placed on rotation, and for a linkpearl. It would be prudent to be able to contact you should I or anyone else find anything.”

Natsu nodded, unsure how she felt about nursemaid being added to her growing resume under the strange company. Her attention returned to Zoissette as she continued to speak.

“As for meaningful direction…I am sorry. I was only dimly aware of Zel’s presence while I was in my early recovery. I do not think we spoke meaningfully before he left. Last I saw him was there…,” she trailed, gesturing to the end of her bed, “...probably.”

“I shall speak with Mr. Coeurl when he is available then,” she answered, looking to the spot in confusion, “As for direction, well, I was just hoping you might know where he would go. Anywhere that isn't expected.”

“Well. It is not often in the nature of our work to really have any regularity. We go where we are needed, or from whither the siren song of adventure calls!...to be poetic about the matter. Hmn. I am thinking…he was most often near me, when we were still peers in the legal office. Frequent trips to Sharlayan, for business and personal reasons. I know he would frequent the Great Gubal Library…” Zoissette said before reflecting a moment, before murmuring, “...but Doma?”

The girl laughed, “How unfortunate that we’d be ships passing. As I understand it, he would not easily be awayed to my side of the world. Why would you think for me to check back there?”

Zoissette shook her head, “I apologise. I was unclear. I do not think you should check there, I was just thinking of the seal on that letter you showed me. Exceedingly unusual. I mean, he serves extraordinarily well- served, anyroad- in his role as our curator. He has a knack for identifying counterfeits and determining authenticity. But typically the artifacts come to us or we go to them in the field less frequently.”

“That is…a nicer description than what Mr. Gage gave me of his work.”

 Zoissette’s face didn’t crack as she continued to reflect, “well some things do not change. Anyroad, if someone in Doma had such business, why, I think they would come here rather than ask him to go there….Ah! I am being foolish. I even asked if you had a linkpearl which means one avenue is closed to you- let us try the simple thing, shall we?”

Zoissette pressed a linkpearl into her ear, then after a moment shook her head and set it aside.

“He is not responding.”

“The same as the rest then. He did not answer for Leonnioux either.”

“Hmh. That is…that is so unlike what I remember of him. From what everyone has said, he has been one of my near constant companions since I returned. Why would he suddenly disappear, and without a word to even his paramours?”

“Yes. In passing the Lady Archon referred to him as a erm…hanger on or something of that ilk? It seems I’m back to square one again though. I suppose I should confront…Claudien, directly.”

Zoissette sighed and laughed, placing her hand in her palm, “Oh, Shto-”

Natsu raised her brow at the woman.

“Uhm. Yes. The Archon can be a bit, uh, Well! You always know where you stand with her, for she will speak nothing that is not her truth.”

“I see. I should let you rest. Though, if you think of anywhere else I should look I’d request you send word,” Natsu answered, giving a deep bow.

“I shall certainly do so. And if you find Zel, kindly ask him to check in with the people he cares about and who care about him….I think we have had enough of…,” Zoissette started before shaking her head, “ …nevermind. Just tell him. It was a pleasure to meet you- oh. What did you say your name was, again?”

“Natsu Obinata.”

“Of course. A pleasure to meet you, Natsu Obinata. And you may call me Zoissette.”

Natsu smiled, “I shall. I hope we can work together in the future once I’ve found Y’zel.”

“...ah. Yes. Perhaps we might. Good luck.”

Natsu nodded then went to take her leave before hesitating. “Oh! Should I need to break the ice with my brother. Is there something in particular I might offer him? It’s just a question I’ve come to make a habit of asking. To mildly amusing results.”

Zoisstte smiled softly, “Fish or storytales. Preferably both.”

“Thank you. I shall leave you and your little friend to rest,” she laughed, nodding to Lavender before heading out, not noticing as the letter fell from her pocket.

Zoissette glanced to where her armature was laying, then sighed before settling back down to drift off to sleep. 

—

In the dark, light footsteps lightly echoed through the infirmary. Almost luminescent, a gloved hand turned on the orchestration, letting Painted Skies quietly mask their movement as they entered Zoissette’s chamber. Quietly, Y’zel sat down at the edge of the bed, sad blue eyes on Zoissette as her breathing labored in her sleep.

“I never talked about her with you did I? My sister…She was brilliant…though I imagine you figured that out for yourself. She wasn’t always that…ephemeral being with her eyes hazed with the past. I suppose I might have developed my romantic side along with hers.”

The Miqo’te closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he remained balanced at the edge of the bed, careful not to rouse the other. There was an aetheric quality about him, though perhaps it was the ambient aether radiating off him. 

“Sometimes I feel like you two are a lot alike…though there isn’t a particular reason I could put my tail on. Maybe my natural inclination to follow orders… You know, it’s funny. I was a year her senior but I always looked up to her as my big sister. I think maybe that’s why I’ve come to cling to you as I do.

“When I was trying to reach you…I felt her with me…I couldn’t bear to…to think that you might be lost too. I called out with every bit of aether in me…I don’t know, for a moment I felt as if you could hear us calling out to you… that you’d come back with Cousin as an Anchor.”

The Miqo’te let out a little laugh and shook his head.

“If you were awake you’d probably stammer and tell me I was being a romantic again. You’d probably say as much if you read what I had published. No, I think you’d probably have had a similar reaction as Thancred did. No, you’d have reviewed it and have prevented all of this from happening.”

Y’zel exhaled then stood up, tail swaying as he moved to an Allagan terminal and began to access the company’s database. 

“It will be okay though. I can clean up my own mess. I was the one who stubbornly refused to listen…not that it’s particularly easy for me to do so as of late. …There,” he said while entering random passwords into the system until it locked up and requested a password change from an admin.

“I’m sorry I cannot stay longer. I fear that you’d ask me too many questions if you were awake. Things that I don’t have answers to myself…,” he said softly, moving to take his leave, “I will though. Rest well…sister.”

#final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #ffxiv #ff14 #ffxiv oc #ff xiv #ffxiv miqo'te #y'zel tia #natsu obinata #zoisette vauban #closer to you

[rennivere]

0.2 Unlikely Reunion

"Greetings, adventurer! Did I not say we would meet again?"

Yue thought she had recognized the voice - smooth, a bit deep, familiar - that coaxed her along in her little quest for aethersand, but never would she have guessed that it would actually be G'raha Tia.

And yet, there he stood: Pale ruby hair pulled partially back into a thin braid, ensuring that she could see the Archon mark on his throat. His mismatched eyes peered at her with the mischievous glee of a man who felt as though he'd just pulled off the greatest prank - and perhaps, in a way, he had. He watched the Au Ra for her reaction, and surely wasn't disappointed.

"G'raha!" She exclaimed, reminding herself of their company as she fought the urge to rush to the familiar face.

"I wasn't aware you two were already acquainted," Rammbroes hummed, a thick hand lifting to massage through the white peaks of his beard in consideration as he peered between the pair. "G'raha Tia has been assigned to the project as an observer. I worried you might not welcome him as one of our own... but perhaps those worries were unfounded."

Yue was dumbfounded with glee, pressing her lips together as she tried not to smile too bright, though the twinkle in her eyes surely gave away her delight. The Miqo'te across from her seemed to similarly fight against a smile, though he let his slip as he nodded towards the Roegadyn.

"Yue and I hail both from Sharlayan. We shared classes and interests, as well as a complete inability to stay in one place long enough to make any sort of plans to meet," he said with a rather cheeky grin that had Yue giggling, her head ducking sheepishly as if it were something to be ashamed of.

Rammbroes seemed unimpressed, but Yue thought she heard Cid chuckle beside her, the man giving a little hum of amusement as he glanced back and forth between the childhood would-be-friends.

"Right then!" G'raha chimed before the moment drew on too long, "I believe we all stand ready to step into the unknown! Three cheers for NOAH!"

Nominated Observers of Artifacts Historical. Yue would have accepted the acronym at face-value, but the Miqo'te's further explanation on the name drawing from that of a vaunted Allagan archmagus had Yue grinning, stifling another soft giggle as her and G'raha shared a brief, knowing glance.

Given the Miqo'te's passion for the subject in his youth, perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised to encounter him here, of all places. Frankly, it made perfect sense.

Had Rammbroes not been quite so keen on coaxing them along in their investigation, Yue might have lingered longer to catch up with the Miqo'te, but she was granted only enough time to fall into step beside him as they strode towards camp, her hands clasped behind her, tail swinging side-to-side as she peeked slightly up at the boy-turned-man.

"It's good to see you again, G'raha," she said warmly, the Miqo'te's smile enough to bring a slight pink tinge to her pale cheeks.

"And you, Yue. I have to admit, this was the last place I expected to run into you... though, given your recent endeavors, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that you'd be involved in the investigation somehow. You've made quite a name for yourself recently. A Scion of the Seventh Dawn, and feller of Primals and all other sorts of foul creatures to boot," the Miqo'te hummed, ears giving a curious flick in her direction as the girl sighed in response.

"You make it sound so... spectacular," she said timidly, fingers wringing together behind her back, her gaze turning forward as they neared the central campsite.

She missed the way the Miqo'te stared at her in interest bordering on awe.

"Given the tales I've heard, I'd say you've become more than just spectacular... but I'd love to hear the stories from your own lips, if you'd indulge me. Perhaps tonight, before bed? Given our track record, I say we make use of how our current quests have aligned and make up for lost time, if you will."

Yue didn't catch the hopefulness in his eyes, still far too bashful to look his way as he spoke, only turning towards the Miqo'te as they stopped in camp, her body turning towards his as she gave a timid nod.

"Only if you promise to tell me what you've been up to as well, Archon"

The man gave her a grin, his tail flicking happily behind him as he nodded.

"Gladly. It seems like we both have our own stories to tell. I'll look forward to hearing yours."

#ffxiv #ffxiv gpose #au ra #ff14 #ffxiv wol #raen #warrior of light #final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #g'raha #g'raha tia #shadowbringers #a realm reborn #wol: yue #writing

[last-flight-of-fancy]

Backstory exploration time for WoL~

WoL: Hallima, he/they Au Ra

Timeline: Heavensward up to Dark Knight Level 50 (Wages of Mercy)

Hallima thought he was some sort of mutation his whole life. There might be some trauma around that.

Hallima was an orphan.

Well, he is an orphan. It's not like this fact has changed- he may have gained some troublesome pseudo-siblings recently, but the fact remains that Hallima spent a great deal of his life until recently hopping from town to town taking odd jobs from whoever would hire him to get by.

He considers himself lucky, in a way. He's hardier than the average eorzean, covered in scales and thick skin, and most illnesses seem to pass him by. It offered him advantages most wandering urchin's simply don't have. That said however, he is not immune to things like exhaustion and hunger, and it was not without the ocassional helping hand that he had made it to adulthood.

He considers himself lucky to have made it to adulthood at all.

People rarely ask him about his past, a fact he is quietly grateful for. The calamity had rendered so many with lost loved ones that it has become considered somewhat gouche to ask after such things unless needed. Perhaps that's why it surprised him so much when Alphinaud- prim, proper, polite, Alphinaud- had done exactly that late one night as they rested in the Fortemps residence.

"Does anyone worry for you?" He asks, laying on his back in his cot and staring at the darkned ceilings. Hallima looks up from the weapon he's doing some maintenance on, lit by only a dim candle on a nearby table.

"Why?" A practiced evasion, though it feels somewhat wrong to use on Alphinaud in particular. To say he's come to care about the kid would be something of an understatement.

"Ah, that was rude, wasn't it? I'm sorry. I just... started thinking about Alisaie and wondering what she's doing... if the Crystal Braves had targeted her too..."

Hallima hums softly to indicate he's listening. A thought spiral, common to these sorts of late hours, and considering everything that has happened... He gets it.

"Then I wondered if she worries for us in turn... And then I realised how silly that was. She sent the carraige for us, of course she worries. Not that she would admit it, mind."

That tracks from what Hallima has seen of the girl. Stubborn and independant, but fiercly loyal besides. He's met the type before.

"Anyroad, the thought crossed my mind and it left my mouth before I could consider it. Forgive me."

"It's fine." The darkness within writhes at the lie, but is mollified with a glance towards Alphinaud's contrition, mixed with his own fear and anxiety hidden just beneath the surface. "... No. No one worries for me."

"I see." Alphinaud sits up then, and the candlelight makes the bags under his eyes all the more distinct, but it does not lessen the earnestness of his gaze. "Well. You may increase that number by at least one."

Hallima doesn't really know how to react in the face of Alphinaud's sincerity, so he gives a generic smile and a thank you before encouraging the boy to try and sleep once more. It's only after Alphinaud's breathing slows into a steady snore that Hallima smothers the candle with a bare hand and lets the mask drop.

-

Hallima grew up thinking he was some form of monster with ideas above its station. Or perhaps a Mi'quote who's fur turned hard and rough instead of soft and downy. Or any number of things that might occur to a child who has never met anyone quite like them. By the time he hit adulthood, Hallima thought that he had come to terms with the reality that he would probably never know.

And then he'd met Yugiri, who kept her face covered at all times, but there was no mistaking the rough texture of her tail or the shape of things beneath her hood which are too stiff and improperly placed to be even the strangest of mi'quote ears.

Hallima had not asked.

She had stared at him, long and hard, and in the end she hadn't asked either.

(or maybe she had, in her own surreptious way. She was an expert ninja and infiltrator after all)

Why hadn't Hallima asked, despite his suspicions? He's still not sure.

He can imagine the scoffing his companions would give if he told them it was fear.

He has no other words for it, though.

-

Hallima looks into Fray's face- their face- and feels at once rage and grief. His face, their face, and one both familiar and not. It tugs at memories long buried, and Hallima doesn't want them.

Reality has never cared much for such things, however.

Fray- or rather, Esteem- falls defeated, and two become one once more.

-

Hallima's earliest memories are of horrible, biting cold and numb fingers that he cannot bend.

-

There's no time for that, not with the war between Ishgard and the Dragons looming ever present.

-

Midgardsormer had called them kin.

-

Meeting Sidurgu was like looking into an inverted mirror, and after their experiance with Esteem there is an undeniable moment where Hallima is sure that their other has somehow made their own form somehow.

This is not the case.

Sidurgu asks their help with Rielle -the girl soft and familiar in ways that Hallima can't quite pinpoint- and they quickly agree. They see the bond between the two easily, one simultaneously fireforged and silk-web delicate, and want to protect it.

(They do not say this. Sidurgu would probably hate the sentiment. but still the sentiment remains).

But then Sidurgu tells them of his people's arrival in Ishgard, fleeing the Empire and seeking refuge, only to be cut down by fearful Ishgardians who assumed them in league with the dragons.

"Everyone." Sidurgu stresses. "Man, woman, child. None escaped the slaughter."

Hallima's earliest memories are of freezing cold, staggering through snow drifts and desperately alone.

They do not ask.

#was gonna do more wrt like. family stuff cause the dark knight questline got me FEELIN things #but the write juice dried up so have this rambling backstory exploration disguised as minific #fanfic #ff14 #ff14 dark knight #ff14 dark knight spoilers #ff14 heavensward #flight's making things again #also boy howdy i do not remember timeline details anymore dsjkfjkk #being deliberately vague ftw

[yunkiwii]

—potions gone wrong—

☆ hogwarts au ☆

pairing: bsf!hyunjin x gn!reader | ft. jeongin and mentions of minho

supportive oc: angela, female

genre: sfw. comedic and chaotic, may be considered fluff by some people

wc: 2.4k

warnings: hints of jealousy, mentions of illegal (magical world wise) actions, potion-induced obsession

a/n: i'm pretty sure that in the harry potter series amortentia doesn't work the way i described here, but let's just ignore that shall we? ♡

summary: two boys decide to make a love potion to conquer the crush of one of them. unfortunately, something seems to have gone wrong and y/n needs to step in..

shout out to: ficscafe prompt dialogue event ♡

↳ "I'll give you 20 bucks if you kiss me."

↳ "I don't think that's legal, but we can work around it."

↳ "Shut up, this isn't a wattpad fanfic"

Completely imersed in the pile of books you gathered in the library in order to try and understand more about potions, you get startled when a boy throws himself into the chair next to you, a yellow stripped tie hitting your head in the process.

"I'll give you 20 bucks if you kiss me."

"What? No!", you give him a disgusted and confused look before digging your head into the old dusty pages again.

"Come on!! Angela keeps coming to me trying to snuggle and kiss me and-", as dramatic as he is, Hyunjin pretends he is going to be sick, exaggerating on the nasty sounds way too close to your ear.

"What? Why?", your bestfriend finally caught your full attention as you turn to face him, "Wait, Angela as in like, Angela your major crush perfect-Angela? Weren't you supposed to like, I don't know, enjoy the attention?" But then the face he makes, his cheeks turning shades of pink as his gaze drifts away from you and he sinks down in his chair in embarrassment, realization hits you, "No! No you did not! Are you like what, dumb?", you flick is head inducing a loud squeal to come out his mouth.

"It was Jeongin's idea!", his voice three pitches higher than before, "And I can't be that dumb if I managed to make that stupid love potion work. But that's beside the point, will you do it or not?"

"Do what? Kiss you? And how will that help you dimwit?", you went to flick his head again because, to be fair, he deserved it, but Hyunjin knew you too well and held your hand in time to stop you from hurting his pretty face, as he likes to state.

"To break the curse! Make her give up on me by making her think we're together or something!"

"What curse? There is no curse! And she isn't even thinking right now, she might just kill me out of jealousy!", at this point you're pratically yelling at each other and are forced to leave the library, resuming this odd conversation on your way to Ravenclaw's common room.

"I still can't believe you let yourself go with what Jeongin tells you. He's evil you know?"

"Should've guessed by the green scarf huh?", you slap his arm lightly, not very fond of the jokes made regarding the fact your other best friend is a Slytherin.

"So, how do I solve this?", he basically pleas at you as you sit down on the desk next to the fireplace, as far away as possible from your housemates. Every two in three students has made, or attempted to make, some sort of potion or spell to have something in their advantage. However, amortentia wasn't just "some potion", and if some were to find out that Hwang - head in space - Hyunjin succeded at his attempt they would never leave his poor ass alone, so for now your plan was to keep this subject as low-key as possible.

"Marry her." you say nonchalantly while, without his knowledge, already looking up all about amortentia, its possible side effects and how long it would take to wear off - if ever-, receiving a whine in return.

"It was really fun at first, you know? The flirting was cute, the smooches were great," and boy he put some emphasis on that adjective,"but now it's like she's obsessed with me! She's clingy and talks with that annoying voice and I can't seem to get rid of her!" Hyunjin throws himself face down into the old couch and whines again, words muffled by the pillow where he burried his face. "She's probably standing right outside the door just now!"

"Wait, what do you mean it was fun at first? How long has this been going on Hwang Hyunjin? And why am I only knowing of this now?", you turn around in your chair way too fast, hitting with your knee on the other chair next to you before facing the mop of brown hair all spread around the blue pillow.

"Well, I barely ever saw you all week!", the boy turns his head just the minimum amount to look at you, "You're either with your nose buried in those old books, or with your hands all over Lee Minho! Not my fault you no longer have time for your friends..."

"First of all," you pull out the pillow he's laying on, his face falling on the black cushion as a few curses leave his lips, "lower your tone! I did not spend the week with my hands all over Minho, I am tutoring him in potions!"

"Which you're not that good at, that's why you walk everywhere with those fat books..." Hyunjin rolls his eyes at you as he recovers the pillow from your hands again, "Don't deny it (y/n), you've got the hots for him!"

"Oh sweetie, I sense jealousy in your tone... is that why you gave Angela a poorly made potion?", you show him the page you've been reading between the backs and forths of your not so relevent argument, only for him to realize the potion should've worn off two days ago. Instead, it only got worse. "Perhaps you could use some reading too huh?"

The boy rips the book from your hands, grunting between his teeth sounds you doubted to be words as he makes his way out, only to shut the door as soon as he opens it, squealing loudly when his eyes meet the ones from the Gryffindor's brunette standing right in the middle of the hallway.

"I'm telling you (y/n), she won't leave me alone! It's like she's obsessed!", Hyunjin keeps his back against the door, afraid the girl could open it by some miracle driven by her potion induced feelings, hence she doesn't have the password.

"Well, you see Hyunjin... that's because she is! And it's your fault, you should simply face it..."

"Oh I'm going the kill Jeongin...", the boy grunts ignoring your words completely as the whines coming from the other side of the door overlapped them, "Can you go get him? Or get rid of her?"

You make your way to the door Hyunjin refuses to unblock and, when words and pushes didn't make the tall boy move, you had to resort to your wand, although the simple threat was more than enough for him to make way for you. He stayed hidden in the corner as you parted the door slightly to tell the girl her beloved had disapparated from there, and she should probably look at the quidditch court. The fact she believed you only proved how strongly she was affected by the potion, since everyone knew Hyunjin would never go to a sports court by his free will and disapparating into and out Hogwarts wasn't possible at all.

As soon as the path got clear you both made your way to the shrieking shack through the whomping willow everyone was so afraid of, but that was exactly why the three of you claimed it as your secret meeting place.

Jeongin was already waiting as you sent him a message through your magic notepad when you got rid of Angela, and you had to secure Hyunjin to not throw the book at the Slytherin boy who only laughed in return. The laughter didn't last long though, because you only stopped Hyunjin so you would be the one scolding the younger one, flicking his head the same way you did to the lover boy earlier.

"Hey! What did you do that for?", the boy frowned at you rubbing his forehead.

"To bring you back to reality, so you can both fix the mess you made!"

"But what's the problem?" Jeongin looked at you with honest confusion on his face, "Is this about the potion? You know that thing wears off in like a week or so right?"

"Exactly... do the math now genius..." Hyunjin rolls his eyes before leaning his back against the spiderweb covered walls.

The three of you spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out what went wrong in the first place, you analyzing every single detail of the procedure, and the boys trying to recreate every step they took to reach the final product. But, after hours of research and theories nothing seemed to have gone wrong, well except for the exaggerated and long-lasting effect of the potion.

"We should just obliviate the poor girl..." suggested Jeongin at one point, head in his hands as a sing of withdrawal.

“I don’t think that’s legal, but we can work around it...” You agree with him closing the book you were now reading for the fifth time.

"Are you guys serious? Because that sounds great! Can we get away with it?" Hyunjin's eyes were sparkling in hope as he shifted in his seat to a more straight up position, ready to do whatever it took to get to walk in peace around the school, without being unexpectedly smooched in the cheek and squezeed into a hug every time the girl spotted him.

"No, it's a joke!" You both sigh at your friend's desperation before calling it a day, deciding to resume your research first thing in the morning.

As per usual, you met with the boys for breakfast at the dining hall, though this time they weren't alone and you couldn't help out a giggle when Angela, as glued to Hyunjin as possible while feeding him something funny looking with a spoon, winked at you as soon as you sat in front of her and next to Jeongin. The latter looked almost as horrified as the pampered boy, and you had to focus to try and keep yourself from bursting into laughter before the scene that was unfolding in front of you.

Hyunjin looked like an annoyed pouty baby slumped in his chair - as an attempt to go unnoticed -, while the smiley girl, - one that seemed to have way too much energy in the morning -, pulled some strands of the boy's hair behind his ear before kissing his cheek, "You're so pretty Hyunnie-jin, and I hate to leave you," the girl pouts as she pinches his cheeks rather aggressively, "but don't worry sugarplum, I'll be waiting for you in the astronomy tower when you leave class." This time the kiss is aimed at his lips, but Hyunjin antecipates her intentions and dodges his head with a slick move, just not fast enough to be fully free of her, ending up with her lips awkwardly attached half to his jaw, half to the corner of his lip.

"So you decided to give in?" You couldn't help the grin that was forming on your face, finding it hilarious how the universe always had a way to keep things balanced.

"Shut up. I had to if I didn't want to starve myself, it was one sacrafice I was willing to take." Hyunjin furiously rubs his face with a napkin, as if it would erase the memory of the previous demonstration of affection.

"I say it's the karma, you were basically playing and manipulating her the moment you gave her the potion, now you face the consequences."

"It's like she's taking revenge..." Jeongin mumbles more to himself than to his friends, but he was still heard, and had now two pairs of eyes locked on him waiting for a further explanation to what seemed to be a pretty plausable theory. "We already concluded we didn't do anything wrong, right?"

"Yes, it's still hard to believe though..." you take a sip of your pumpking juice with a raise eybrow, honestly still impressed at how they pulled that off.

"So what if she got aware that Hyunjin gave-"

"We, Jeongin, we!! This wasn't just me okay? I just got the, uh, benefits?"

"Ok, sure, whatever... What if she became aware that we," emphasis on the pronoun as he glanced at Hyunjin, "gave her a potion and now that it wore off she is pulling this act as a pay back? Because, according to our lover boy, if it was nice at first then why would she suddenly start acting all obsessively?"

Both you and Hyunjin took a moment to reflect on this new theory, one Jeongin was really proud of as showed by his smug grin when he crossed his arms and relaxed back in his chair.

"I hate to admit it, but that makes a lot of sense... and explains why she winked at me when I got here..."

"Okay yes, she is faking it... why else would she wink at (y/n) when I'm the one she's supposed to be focused on?", the boy threw his arms up with a questionting - and slightly offended - look.

"Time for confrontation!" you were already standing up with Hyunjin following the lead, but you held yourselves back when you realized Jeongin wasn't moving, looking between the both of you still grinning.

"I've got a better idea..."

It was a terrible idea, you thought, and wanted no part in it at all so you let the boys discuss the details while you just sat there judging their poor life decisions.

The plan was for Hyunjin, instead of confronting her and get it over with as you suggested, to play along as if he too was deeply in love with her, and see who would break out of character first. As much as you tried to explain how childish and stupid the plan was, the boys simply wouldn't listen to you, convinced this was the best idea they've ever had.

Hyunjin got oddly excited about this and ran to astronomy class, already antecipating the act he would pull off when he'd see the girl waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs when he'd get out, leaving you and Jeongin alone in the dining all. The contrast of your opinions on this was pretty clear in your faces, Jeongin laughing loudly, you furrowing your brows and shaking your head in disapproval.

Then, all of a sudden, the boy stops laughing and looks at you, "What if they actually end up falling in love after all this?"

He sounded seriously concerned yet amused at the same time, while you only rolled your eyes at him before collecting your books and leaving for class as well.

"Shut up, this isn't a wattpad fanfic."

networks: @ficscafe @k-library @k-dinernet @districtninewriters

taglist: @dreamwrld @su-lix @bobateastay @leihey @serialee @hyunsluvv

⇢ let me know if you want to be added to the taglist ♡

#ficscafe dpe #klibrary #kdiner #districtninewriters #hyunjin imagine #hyunjin fluff #hyunjin x reader #stray kids scenarios #lovestaynet #hyunjin fanfic #hyunjin sfw #hyunjin crack #hyunjin hogwarts au #stray kids hogwarts au

[pumpkinmagekupo]

Another late one. I'm literally writing these on the day T_T

I like the idea that not all knights of the high houses would be good at dancing..I mean...they're knights.. swords first and all that.

Day 3: Touch/Dance

“No! Absolutely not.” Mizuki said defitanly, clinging to a chair like a petulant child “I can just get out of it. I cannot dance.” she clung with all her might as Edmont tried to reason with her. Haurchefant had returned to such an intriguing scene as a stewart tried to pry Mizuki from the chair but she was an immovable force, one with the chair.

“What happened?” Haurchefant asked quietly, appearing at his father’s side.

“Mizuki heard about the upcoming ball in her honour for all she has done for Ishgard and well-” Edmont presented the stubborn Xaela digging her heels into the floor. “She has been like this for the past bell.”

Haurchefant couldn’t help but laugh and he laughed loudly. “It is only a spot of dancing, what do you have to worry about?�� he teased, Edmont cleared his throat.

“I recall you jumping out of a window to go play Knights rather than learning your social graces.” Edmont recalled, which caused Emmanellain and Mizuki to chuckle in response. Haurchefant felt his ears burn with embarrassment.

“Yes well I can dance somewhat better now.” he retorted “but not -'' his words fell silent in his mouth. There was one way to coercase Mizuki into dancing at the ball. “Ser Aymeric is renowned for dancing..” he saw Mizuki tense and looked away shyly, a smile tugging at his lips. She is ever weak to him. “Perhaps I should ask him to come assist you with-”

“No!” She screeched “no..it’s fine. I..can’t..I don’t need to dance.” she grumbled stubbornly. Haurchefant let his shoulders slump in faux defeat as he walked over to the orange haired Au Ra “you would prefer he dance with the other ladies?” He saw her trying to make herself appear smaller. “I know he would prefer to dance with you.” gingerly Haurchefant reached to touch her hand, slowly prying it from the chair “come now. I don’t think it is possible for you to dance worse than I or Estinien…” Mizuki’s head whipped up at him, her mouth ajar.

“Estinien can’t dance?” she questioned, poorly trying to hide her amusement.

“Two left feet.” He laughed, finally pulling Mizuki up onto her feet. “Now then.” Haurchefant looked towards Artoirel who sat at their piano looking bored out of his mind.

“Finally ready are we?” he huffed, turning to the keys and playing a soft melody. Haurchefant was no expert dancer but he knew some dances but it seemed as though Mizuki was far better than she had let on, almost leading him around the room. “I thought you couldn't dance?” he questioned, as he twirled her around. She pouted and looked away.

“She can.” Emmanellain announced, watching smugly from the chairs. “Mistress Krile told me-”

“By the Fury boy!” Edmont snapped “And you let this silly facade play out?” Emmanellain shrugged.

“Nobody asked me.” he mumbled back.

“Ow!” Haurchefant grimaced and looked down at Mizuki who was playfully frowning at him. “Apparently you’re the one who could do with more lessons.” She laughed, pulling Haurchefant along with her.

“I shall have to apologise to Aymeric for stealing a dance from you first.” This time Mizuki stamped down as hard as she could onto his foot. “That was uncalled for.” Haurchefant moved to spin Mizuki but tripped over his own feet, sending both of them careening onto the floor. “It would seem I have two left feet as well.”

“Good heavens…” Edmont sighed.

“This is my time to shine!” Emmanellain announced proudly placing his hands on his hips. Haurchefant helped Mizuki up onto her feet, “That might be for the best lest I crush you again.” he laughed sheepishly and moved to the edge of the room only for Mizuki and Emmanellain to promptly march back over to him.

“Oh no dear brother, you shall be taking lessons too. You are coming to the ball too.” Emmanellain said, hooking one arm.

“If I have to suffer. So do you.” Mizuki added, hooking his other arm and dragged him back to the dance floor.

I should have kept my mouth shut.

#pumpkin writes #haurchefantweek2021 #ffxiv #haurchefant greystone #oc: Mizuki #dancing #dancing poorly

[the-13th-rose]

F/O relationship song prompts that came up while I was listening to character playlists on youtube part 1

Asajj + Harry - Baby Hotline ~ Jack Stauber - idek this just seems like a cute and mildly twisted song for them

Asajj + Hassan - Yr The Best! ~ Carpetgarden - Yeah I feel like they’d be kinda toxic, this fits.

Asajj + Horned King - Devil Town ~ Cavetown - I imagine them in a modern human au for this one and it kinda fits. Honestly if they could have grown up together they probably would have been very close

Asajj + Kurogiri - Sports ~ Beach Bunny - Again, in a modern human school au this works really well

Asajj + Licorice - Can Ghosts Be Gay? ~ Carpetgarden - She thinks this lil guy is just so cute

Asajj + Shen - Bugbear ~ Chloe Moriondo - Again, in a modern human school au this works really well

Asajj + Ozzie - Sweet Tooth ~ Cavetown - They got together casually a few times and now that pesky puppy love’s rearing its ugly head

Asajj + Yorktown - Mamma Mia ~ Austin Weber - I can’t even really explain why I want to see these two together, I just do. 

Asajj + Anubis - Hug All Your Friends ~ Cavetown - Honestly I could see them getting along really well together. Just vibing late at night. Him allowing her to have some fun that doesn’t involve decapitating someone. Well, for real, anyway. They might be playing a video game that lets her do that.

Asterios + Christine - Hayloft ~ Mother Mother - Bad barnyard babes

Asterios + Anubis - Wait A Minute! ~ Willow Smith - These two seem like they’d be a cute and fun pair

Beast + Yorktown - Despair ~ Leo - I feel like she’s someone who could get to his better nature, if he even has one.

Christine + Scorpion - My Strange Addiction ~ Billie Eilish - Just seems fitting

Demongo + Horned King - Corpse Dance ~ Kikuo - Wow, what a coincidence that this one wound up playing for them too

Grievous + Striker - The Fine Print ~ The Stupendium

- The snake-eyes are talking shit about rich people and politicians together lol

Grievous + Yorktown - Oh No! ~ Marina and the Diamonds - Qymaen standing by and listening + nodding in agreement while Yorktown drunkenly vents about how being a war machine sucks

Grievous + Demongo - GRRRLS ~ AViVA - There’s a resounding feeling of “these masters ain’t loyal” between these two

Harry + NOS - Lemon Boy ~ Cavetown - Harry befriends the guest that lives in the nightmare realm

Harry + Future - I Can’t Handle Change ~ Roar - The Miner is plagued by visions of the future and doesn’t know how to improve anything. Future stands by, watching him cry. 

Harry + Asajj - Line Without A Hook ~ Ricky Montgomery - Harry’s a hopeless romantic and Asajj might be either taking advantage of this or trying to ignore it

Harry + Beast - Pompeii ~ Bastille - Harry reliving his trauma while Beast sings to him, perhaps trying to calm him instead

Harry + Christine - Cloud 9 ~ Beach Bunny - Christine loves taking broken-up losers and making them confident. Harry’s got a lot of love to give, so she gets plenty of attention and affection out of the deal as a succubus.

Harry + Demongo - Freaks ~ Surf Curse - Harry’s initially frightened of Demongo, but they gradually come to an understanding

Hassan + Horned King - As The World Caves In ~ Matt Maltese - Two old men depression nap in the castle gardens under the stars and it’s maybe a little gay?

Hassan + Yorktown - Lovely ~ Billie Eilish, Khalid - Very anime style final tragic battle with Hassan and Yorktown both trying to defend each other

Horned King + NOS-4-A2 - Panic Room ~ Au/Ra - When the Horned King gets sent to the nightmare realm

Horned King + Anubis - Can You Feel My Heart ~ Bring Me The Horizon - HK and Nuby fighting side-by-side to escape the nightmare realm

Horned King + Beast - Soldier, Poet, King ~ The Oh Hellos - Just two horned villains vibing in the woods, singing old ballads

Licorice Cookie + Horned King - Corpse Dance ~ Kikuo - Two necromancers vibing over the Black Cauldron

Lord Shen + Asajj Ventress - Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time ~ Panic! At the Disco - The pale bitches getting wild

Lord Shen + Demongo - Burning Pile ~ Mother Mother - "Maybe we should just burn"

Millennial Tree Cookie + Green Mage - Crimewave ~ Crystal Castles - Millie showed Green some cool mushrooms and they whip up a song based on the mushrooms. Millie’s like “idk anything about new music but thank you green very cool”

NOS-4-A2 + Lord Shen - Won’t Bite ~ Doja Cat - The vamp is flirting with the troubled bird...or is he just threatening him. I don’t think his programming knows how to distinguish between the two.

Asmodeus + Rattlesnake Jake - Red Roses ~ Laundry Day - Rooster has a crush on snake cowboy, more at 8

Asmodeus + Asajj Ventress - LED Blues ~ Sterling Monett - He’s lonely and she’s pretty, what of it?

Future + Kurogiri - FNaF 2 Song ~ The Living Tombstone - This is moreso a “just Kurogiri” song but yeah mist dad wants to see his son immediately

Future + NOS-4-A2 - Michelle ~ Sir Chloe - I don’t really have a specific scenario I just. I did not ship these two but this song coming on during their turn almost makes me want to. Frostbitten bone cradling a cold metal face

#the gang's all here #f/o relationship prompts

[kitsuneudon743]

DamiRae week 2020 Day 2: Royalty AU

Well this took longer than expected and I’m not super happy about it, I had planned on doing a second part of my last one but changed my mind last minute...

but I hope you enjoy it anyway :)  Let’s hope tomorrow’s prompt will go smoother!

-

Raven would be lying if she had said she was excited for her eighteenth birthday.

Luckily for her, she had never said such a thing.

“Ow!” she gasped, throwing her hands in front of her to take hold of the desk that was there. Hecate, her chambermaid, ignored her whimper of pain and pulled even tighter at the corset; making Raven feel as though she were about to break in two. “Is this...really necessary?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, princess.” She muttered her voice almost snakelike, which wasn’t surprising considering her appearance.  Pale, scaly skin. Jet black eyes with little to no sclera. Jagged, pointed teeth and not one trace of hair. If she hadn’t been with Raven since the day she was born, she might have been enough to evoke nightmares.

But this was the demon realm; there were plenty of nightmare worthy characters walking about.

“Your father expects you to look nothing less than perfect for today. This could be the most important event of your life, and for the realm.”

“I can’t imagine why...they’re just humans.” Raven spoke with discontent. Years of tradition were coming to an end; her father had made a truce with a powerful clan in the human world, and unfortunately she was an asset. Today wasn’t just her birthday; it was the day she was to meet the human she had been promised to as part of the alliance. She would be the first one in the realm to be married to an immortal, even her father who had courted a human to conceive Raven hadn’t followed through with matrimony.

Hecate finished tying the corset and gave Raven a rough slap on the back of the shoulder. “Don’t you do anything that will displease your father today, you hear me! These humans are necessary to his plan, and so is this wedding. For the good of our kind.”

Quickly rushing over to Raven’s bed, the chambermaid grabbed a large black lace dress and brought it over to the girl and placed it over her head. Raven brought her arms up and snaked them through the long sleeves, allowing the dress to fall down her body, giving Hecate better access to adjust it.

Raven looked up at the mirror that hung over the desk, her eyes meeting the gaze of a young woman she barely recognized. Lips painted the colour of dried blood, obsidian hair pulled up elegantly to match her feminine attire; a black Victorian-esque gown that showed off just a bit more chest than she was used to. She was a stranger to herself and it made her uncomfortable, especially because she was to introduce herself to her...possible, future groom.

How was she to introduce herself to someone if she didn’t feel herself?

Not that she cared about meeting the mortal. In fact, she was dreading it. She wanted no part in whatever plan her father of devising with his human accomplice, and she didn’t want to get married.

“There,” Hecate huffed with a nod, giving one final pat down to the bottom of Raven’s gown. “All ready.”

She took a step back and looked the teenager over once more before grabbing her arm, pulling her around and heading out of the room. Raven stumbled behind her as she pulled her swiftly down the stone hallway of her father’s palace. Her mind was beginning to reel with possibilities.

Would this human be like everything she had read about in novels or like what she had heard from fairytales?

Would he be weak? Unintelligent?

Why was her father so determined to band together with these humans when he was never interested in them before?

Nothing made sense.

When they reached the main hall, Hecate pulled Raven in front of her and slowed her pace, following the princess into the hall where hundreds of demons were sitting, waiting. The empath felt her heart spike.

Everyone turned their gaze to her, including her father who sat across from her on a large, thorn thrown. His red eyes shot daggers at her as she confidently walked over as quickly and carefully as she could.

“You’re late...”he growled as she took the slightly smaller throne beside him. “The humans arrived minutes ago.”

Quickly, her eyes jotted around the room, looking for them but from what she could see there were only demons and ghouls. Trigon watched her with a scowl before turning to face the aisle in front of him, giving his large horned head a single nod.

Two stumpy looking creatures at the opposite side of the aisle pulled open the doors, and in walked two humans, as confidently and as comfortable as someone who had lived their wholes lives amongst the dammed.

The older one, a dangerous looking man with silvering hair, a sharp nose and a well groomed goatee, walked a few steps ahead, his green eyes locked onto Trigon.

The younger one, who Raven assumed was her betrothed, walked slightly behind him but caught her eyes nonetheless.

He was a handsome man, much more than she had expected him to be. His eyes were the same as the old man’s in colour, but he held no other resemblance to him. His dark hair was parted neatly and combed back, showing off his perfectly structured features, though his expression held a strong resemblance to how Raven felt.

Uninterested in this arrangement.

When the two mortals reached Trigon and his daughter, they both bowed slightly.

“My liege.” The older one spoke first, his Cheshire cat grin causing Raven to feel uneasy. She already didn’t like this man, he reminded her far too much of her father. “I am Ra’s al Ghul. My grandson and I thank you for allowing us passage into your-” he looked around quickly. “-lovely underworld, and agreeing to meet with us for this arrangement. Coming to Hell has been a long time interest of mine...entirely for research purposes, so I thank you.”

Trigon grunted. “Research as much as you want once the nuptials is complete. As long as we still have a deal.”

The man nodded. “Certainly.” He turned for the first time to look at Raven, and once again she felt strange. Her father hadn’t told her anything about the deal, other than an alliance must be made, an alliance that included her getting married. She wanted to know what was going on. “A beauty.”

“This is my daughter, Raven. Her mother was born of blood and bone in your world. She is half mortal, half god. She has the power to destroy worlds, blacken hearts.”

Ra’s smiled wickedly and turned to motion to the boy. He stepped forward. “This is Damian, my prodigy. Trained since birth to be a cold hearted plague. Biologically modified to be the perfect weapon.”

This time, Trigon smiled as his eyes landed on the boy. Raven looked at him too; it was hard to believe that he was the perfect weapon. He looked so, fragile; he was mortal after all. And he was handsome. He looked too good to be so bad.

“I think we should let the children get acquainted.” Ra’s continued after a moment, and Trigon nodded.

After giving her permission to go, Raven stood from her throne and swallowed a lump that had been stuck in her throat. Damian looked at her before holding his arm out to her. Her eyes dropped down to it and her heart began to race, but she took it without hesitation.

The room remained quiet until the two of them had left and were halfway down the hallway, then she heard her father’s booming voice continue.

She had no idea what to do, what to talk about. She had never before spoken to a human, in fact, she barely every spoke to anyone. Raven enjoyed being alone for the most part, reading her books, taking a quiet stroll along the river Styx, meditating in the peace of her own room. Those were the kinds of things she would rather be doing than being social.

As they walked out into the courtyard, Raven looked at the man beside her through her peripherals. He was holding himself well for it being his first time to Hell; unfazed by the grotesque beings, rivers of molten lava, dusty air and lack of flora. His strong gaze was glued to the path ahead of them, though every once in a while his eyes dipped down to look at something, Raven assumed, he found unusual.

“You must find it strange here.” She said after a moment, her voice quiet.

“It’s a bit different than I expected, but not much.” Damain responded.

Another silence fell around them.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask him about the human world, about their father’s alliance. Perhaps he knew something.

Raven stopped walking and allowed her arm to drop from his. He stopped immediately and looked around at her, his thick brows furrowed as though she had offended him. She stared at him; he really was handsome.

“Why did you agree to this?” she questioned suddenly. “You left your own world to come here and meet...me, a half demon, to talk about marriage. Why would you do that?”

Looking down for a moment, Damian stayed quiet. Raven could feel the cogs in his mind working, trying to think of a way to word his answer. Much like she did herself.

“I need to do my part for this alliance.” He said finally. “It’s important for my people.”

“But why?”

Raven was a bit annoyed at being stuck in the dark. Her father had told her nothing. Hecate had told her nothing. And now this man was telling her nothing.

“Why is it important? And how will we benefit from it?”

Damian looked at her, his green eyes bright. She hadn’t realized just how green they were until now, and she soon found herself lost in them a little. He gave her a look.

“Your father told you nothing.” It wasn’t a question, but a jested statement.  Raven’s eyebrows narrowed slightly.

“My father doesn’t exactly deem me as important enough to share the fine details with.” It almost hurt her to say it, but she was becoming numb at the thought. Raven wasn’t her father’s favourite child; she was a tool that he could use whenever it suited him.

And this wedding suited him.

Damian’s look softened but his eyes once again dropped to the ground. “I know the feeling.”

Another silence.

This boy was not what Raven had expected at all. Yes, he was a bit awkward and she could tell that he was slightly uncomfortable, as was she. But she could tell from his tone and feel his energy, his emotions. She could tell that he was indeed much deeper than she had thought humans to be.

Perhaps his grandfather was just as insufferable as Trigon and he too had the slightest bit of hope that something good would come from the relationship. Perhaps he too wanted someone to care, for once.

Raven looked over her shoulder at the bubbling pools of lava that sat behind them, watching as steam escaped with each pop.

She cleared her throat. “Do you like to read?”

Damian raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”

“I love reading books from the human world. I have a whole library of them...did you want to see it?”

Damian hesitated only for a moment before nodding. “That would be very nice.”

Raven took hold of his arm once again and began to walk back to the castle doors, leading him as she went. And as they went inside, she couldn’t help but feel that maybe, just maybe, something wonderful would come from them being together.

#damirae #damian wayne #raven #batman #teen titans #demonbirds #damirae week 2020 #day 2 #fanfic #royalty au

[dato-potato]

The Lost Son pt. 5

How about that, another part. AU where Talia leaves Damian in an orphanage when he’s five. Bruce and Damian don’t know about the other.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

——————————

Bruce continued to stare at the paper, “Master Bruce, do you perhaps recall your partners from thirteen years ago?” Alfred asked carefully.

Bruce thought for a moment before shaking his head. “I can’t think of anyone who I had relations with that wouldn’t have said something, anything,” as the past day’s events returned to him, his blood began to boil, “Or anyone who would do something like that to a child.”

Alfred turned curiously to Bruce, “I beg your pardon, sir, but what exactly is that?”

Bruce sighed heavily, rubbing his face roughly with his hands. “He had scars, Alfred.” the butler stared incredulously, “He had so many scars… When I asked him about it, he told me his mother had given them to him.”

When Bruce finally looked up at Alfred, the poor man was in complete shock. “Why?” Alfred asked simply.

Bruce shook his head. “The boy said it was from training.”

“Training?” the butler repeated, appalled.

Bruce looked down at the paper again, as if the answers to their question would suddenly appear. His thoughts were a whirlpool, rushing around him as he tried to grasp at them, trying to figure out who this boy was and where he came from. 

“What do you suggest we do now, sir?” Alfred asked softly, pulling Bruce’s attention back.

Bruce tossed the paper in front of him, considering Alfred’s question. What would be the best course of action? Should he wait and investigate further into the boy’s history before he says anything? Did Damian even know that he was his father? Bruce took a deep breath. “I’ve no clue. Do you think the boy knows? That I’m his father?”

Alfred thought for a moment before shaking his head, “No, sir. I don’t believe he does. He’s said before he doesn’t know who his father is and I don’t believe he was lying.”

They were both silent for a long moment, both considering the situation, but neither one able to make any sense of it. “I just don’t get it. He’s using a fake name, whether he’s using it knowing it’s fake isn’t clear, but he obviously knows who his mother is,” Bruce paused, contemplating for a moment. “Is he afraid of getting her in trouble?” Bruce continued to speak his thoughts aloud, hoping something might stick out that could point them in the right direction.

“Master Bruce,” Alfred spoke hesitantly, catching Bruce’s attention, “I don’t think he’s worried about getting his mother in trouble, he told me she has already died.”

Bruce waved his hands out in front of himself, the exhaustion from the day finally catching up with him. “Then what? Why not tell someone?”

Alfred set his lips in a thin line, “What if the boy’s not afraid of his mother getting in trouble, but instead he’s afraid of getting himself into trouble?”

Bruce let that ruminate, looking back at the abandoned document in front of him before closing his eyes in an attempt to concentrate. He tried to think of what Damian, a child, could have done that would get him in any type of trouble. Nothing was coming up, draining Bruce even more as he did his best to keep his mind focused.

Alfred huffed, Bruce raised a tired brow up at the man, keeping his eyes closed. “But honestly, sir,” Bruce opened his eyes and looked up at the older man, “did you really have no idea that he was your son? None at all?”

Bruce furrowed his brows, “Of course not, if I had I would’ve said or done something. Besides, how was I supposed to know?”

Alfred raised a judgemental eyebrow. “Honestly, Master Bruce, and you call yourself the world’s greatest detective.”

——————————

It had been a week since Damian had gotten into trouble with the two meatheads from Mrs. Williams’ store, giving Damian some time to recover from the concussion they gave him. Or rather, Damian was forced to stay on bed rest for a week, minimum, or else Janet was going to restrain him and put an ankle monitor on him. He had no choice but to concede, allowing mostly Janet and Aurora to care for him, which they both thoroughly enjoyed. Damian, however, found it utterly excruciating. Or at least, that’s what he told them every chance he got.

After the one week, Damian was finally allowed out of bed, with the exception that he remain in the house at all times. The kids had just been put to bed, Damian started the kettle to boil some water.

“Making some tea, kiddo?” Janet asked as she slumped into one of the wooden chairs.

“Yeah, you want any?” Damian offered, glancing behind him to Janet.

She thought for a moment and then nodded, “But make sure it’s—”

“Sweet?” Damian finished, flashing a cheeky smile at the older woman.

Janet chuckled, “You know me so well.”

Damian nodded, adding an ungodly amount of sugar to her tea. He set it down in front of Janet and she took a long sip, humming her satisfaction. Damian sat down across from her, fidgeting in his seat. Janet raised an eyebrow at him, “So?”

Damian pursed his lips and looked away from Janet, idly fiddling with the mug in front of him. His heart was racing and he did his best to calm it with a deep breath. “So, I was thinking we should talk.”

Janet took another sip, waiting for Damian to continue. When he didn’t, she rolled her eyes, “Well, go on then.”

Damian cleared his throat, “Right.” His throat seemed to immediately seize up and dry out, a lump forming that he tried to desperately swallow down. Janet was beginning to look more concerned than the mild annoyance she wore before.

Janet reached out her hand to grasp Damian’s, attempting to comfort him. “Damian, what’s wrong? You’re shaking like a leaf, child.”

Damian didn’t like how tight his chest felt, it felt as if it was trying to collapse in on itself. He couldn’t breathe properly but forced himself on, this is exactly the type of thing that had been drilled into him since birth. He grasped Janet’s hand back. “I just, I wanted you to know, I didn’t want you to find out from someone else. If anyone should know, it’s you,” he said, but it was more for himself, a poor attempt at convincing himself that this was what he should do. Janet had more than earned it through their years together.

Janet’s lips twitched in a nervous smile when Damian didn’t elaborate further. “You’re making me anxious here, dear.”

Damian nodded, he was making himself feel anxious as well, that’s what that feeling was: anxiety. Ridiculous, he was trained since birth to become the perfect assassin, the perfect fighter, the perfect leader, and here he was, getting anxious over this? Damian couldn’t stop the dry, humourless laugh that escaped.

“Damian, my boy,” Janet smoothed her other hand over Damian’s that still held hers, “Whatever it is, it’s ok. You don’t need to tell me if it’s making you so worked up. You’re still recovering, can’t have you back on bed rest, Rory won’t leave you alone,” she tried to joke in order to lighten the tension.

He considered her offer for a moment but then shook his head, taking his hand out of her grasp and placing it in his lap. He felt jittery from the adrenaline now coursing through him and he hoped it would give him the courage he needed. “No,” he said firmly, voice no longer shaking, “I want you to know.”

Janet took her hands back as well, her face was still riddled with concern, but she kept it to herself as she sent Damian a small, reassuring smile and nodded. 

Damian took a deep breath, steeling himself, “I wanted to tell you about my mother,” Damian said, his entire being letting out a massive breath. Like even just the act of saying he was going to tell her was enough, though, he knew that wasn’t the case. 

Janet nodded solemnly, preparing for whatever he would tell her. “My real name is Damian al Ghul,” Damian watched Janet’s face carefully, searching for something. What he was trying to find, he didn’t know. He watched as the more time that passed, the more confused Janet looked and Damian berated himself. Why did he assume Janet would know who the al Ghul’s were, what they did? 

Damian sighed softly, hands fiddling restlessly in his lap. “My mother was Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, who was the leader of a very,” Damian paused, worrying his bottom lip in his teeth, trying to figure out the best way to say it. His heart picked up its pace, hammering inside his chest and Damian briefly considered that Janet could probably hear it too. “It’s a very dangerous organization.”

When Janet didn’t respond, Damian tried again, rubbing a hand down his face. “Janet,” the lump was back in his throat, attempting to stop him from saying anything more. Damian distantly wondered if that was some type of defence mechanism the League implemented on all members so no one could talk about it. He shook his head, ridding himself of such useless thoughts and focusing in front of him on the table before raising his gaze to Janet. “You do know I’m not exactly a normal child, right?”

Janet scoffed, her concern faltering for a moment, comforting Damian in an odd way. “Child, how many others have you seen come through this house? Out of the oddest of odd kids that have come here, you are by far the most abnormal.”

Damian chuckled softly at that, his breathing and heart rate slowing slightly with the feeling of normalcy, the feeling of home that Janet exuded. “Right. Well, there’s a reason for that. I was trained since I was young to succeed my grandfather as the head of this group,” Janet nodded and he continued, “I was taught a wide range of things, from general studies, to advanced studies, to more… unpleasant things.”

Janet raised her brows, seeming to understand the meaning of Damian’s words. “What do you mean by unpleasant, Damian?”

Damian closed his eyes for a moment before focusing back on Janet. He let himself worry, if only for one moment, that Janet may not accept him after this. That she might even go so far as calling the police and tell them what he’d said and he’d either be arrested or sent to Arkham Asylum. If she didn’t want him around anymore, he’d deal with that, he could get by on his own. Probably. 

“I was taught how to hurt people, in the worst and most permanent ways.”

Janet took that in, sipping thoughtfully at her tea. Damian couldn’t hold her gaze any longer, his anxieties getting to him, she didn’t want him around her or the children anymore, she knew and she was going to kick him out for good. He thought about how much time he had, what he could fit into his backpack before the cops or whoever else Janet would call got there. Rory’s smiling face crossed his mind, making him wince. He probably wouldn’t have time to say goodbye to her. Would she be upset? Surely she would, she’d probably kick up a fuss and go out on her own to find him. A small smile fought its way to Damian’s lips at the thought of her.

“All right,” Janet spoke clearly, no hesitation in her voice, dragging Damian back from his thoughts of running.

Damian felt like he had whiplash from how quickly his head snapped up to search her face. “All right?”

Janet nodded, “Yeah. That was before, right?” she asked and Damian nodded his head slowly, still trying to wrap his head around her words. Janet nodded back, a smile growing on her face. “Good. And you don’t plan on going back there, do you?” Damian shook his head. There was no way he’d ever go back. “Then we’re fine.”

Damian just breathed for a long minute as Janet took a sip at her quickly cooling tea.

“You’re just, fine? With me?” Damian spoke quietly, surprising Janet and himself with how small and young he sounded. “You’re just accepting the things I’ve done, things you don’t even truly understand?”

Janet set her mug down and sighed gently, “Damian,” she started, as if he were a small child who couldn’t understand why the sky was blue or why one plus one equals two. “You have no intention of harming the children, do you?”

“Of course not,” Damian said, a little more harshly than he meant, but he was a bit offended she would even ask if he’d ever hurt them.

Janet only smiled triumphantly and picked up her tea. “Exactly.” Damian stared wide-eyed at the old woman. “Damian, you are not who you were when you were with your mother. You are not who you were when you first began living here, hell, you aren’t even who you were a few months ago.”

Damian felt his entire body relax, releasing a tension he wasn’t even aware he had as his eyes searched for a hint of doubt in Janet. When he couldn’t find it, he looked around the room, for what, he wasn’t sure, but he had no idea what else to do. 

Janet chuckled and then smiled tenderly at him, her eyes softening and taking Damian’s hand back in her own. “My child, you are an astonishing young man who has been through so much more than most people three, four times your own age. It’s all right. I’m very happy you’ve decided to share this with me, but it doesn’t change who you are in the now, who you were before is not an issue.”

Damian was stunned into silence, words completely abandoning him as Janet rose from her seat to make her way around the table. She pulled Damian’s arms up and he obeyed, standing facing her and Janet pulled him to her in a tight hug. He had been hugged by Janet before, but that was different. That was the type of hug a mother gives, the type of hug Damian had never received. His heart seemed to drop as he released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding as he wrapped his arms around Janet.

“You silly, stupid boy,” Janet sniffled, “You’ve never been whatever you thought you are, whatever you’ve managed to convince yourself you are, never,” Janet brought her hands up to his head to move him back so she could look at him, “You have something great within you, something no one could ever teach or take away from you, and it drives you to be great, to be good.”

Damian felt like his entire body began to shut down, everything malfunctioning as this woman in front of him, who he had come to think of as a sort of mother figure, told him every single thing he had yearned to hear for so long but had long abandoned any hope of actually hearing.

Janet laughed wetly, tears flowing like steady streams down her face, “For how much you boast that you’re some sorta boy genius, you sure look dumbfounded now.”

Damian couldn’t do anything more than stare at Janet and ask why, why hadn’t he been given a mother like her? Someone who would love him unconditionally, no matter what. No matter how he was raised and what he was told was right and wrong, no matter what kind of monster he had convinced himself he was.

“Thank you,” he whispered as Janet tugged him into another hug which he gladly accepted.

Damian took his now abandoned tea to the sink, Janet close behind with her own mug. She stopped in the doorway of the kitchen, wiping a stray tear away as she spoke, “So you lived with your mother until you came here?”

Damian nodded, hesitantly, still unsure if he wanted Janet knowing everything. “Yes. Well, for the most part. I was training all the time so I didn’t see too much of her outside of that.”

Janet hummed. “And your father?”

Damian’s gaze found the floor. “I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know. Mother said she’d tell me when the time was right, when I was ready, but she died before the time came.”

Janet stood still for another moment and then shooed Damian out of the kitchen before he could wash their dishes, chiding him for stressing himself while he’s supposed to be recovering.

Damian felt impossibly light like he was about to float away, into the night if he opened his window too much. It felt strange, but it felt like something he could get used to. Damian smiled softly to himself as he climbed into bed, closing his eyes and for once, feeling only peace as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

——————————

Aurora yawned as she stepped carefully down the stairs, seeing the light still on in the dining room, and heading towards it. She scrunched her nose as she stepped off the last stair, her throat feeling impossibly dry. Before she could round the corner and ask Janet for a glass of water, the voices stopped her in her tracks.

The voices were hushed as if speaking about secrets that could only be told during the night like she did with her stuffed giraffe, Giraffery. Aurora could tell that it was Dami and Janet talking, though about what exactly, she didn’t quite catch. She caught one or two words, here and there. One thing stuck out to her.

“My mother was Talia al Ghul,” she heard Dami say and Aurora felt like she had been punched in the gut. Dami had never told anyone about his mother or father, or anything from before. Aurora had asked on multiple occasions, trying to catch him off guard so he might let something slip, but she had never succeeded. Why was he talking about his mother now? Was he going back? Would he leave her? 

Aurora’s feet shuffled backwards, the only sound she could hear was her own heartbeat and the rush of blood in her ears. Dami couldn’t leave, he wouldn’t, right? They weren’t related but he was still her big brother, he wasn’t allowed to leave her, just like she would never leave him. She had to stay with Dami. If Aurora ever left, he would always come to find her, just like he had that one time with the bad guys.

If Dami left, Aurora would find him too, even if he was taken by bad guys, she’d... she’d fight them off and protect him, just like he had done. She could do it, Dami made sure she knew how to protect herself if anything happened. Aurora just needed Dami to stay. That’s where they both belonged, together with Janet and Giraffery. They were a family, and families stick together. 

Aurora had made it back to her room and slipped back into bed, hugging Giraffery as she squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to sleep, forgetting all about her thirst. 

——————————

Janet walked about in the kitchen gathering the various ingredients she needed for pancakes. She figured after the emotional night she and Damian had last night, it’d be nice to have some of her special cinnamon pancakes Damian had grown to like. She smiled to herself at the thought of the boy. He had been so closed off when he had arrived on her doorstep, like he was unaffected by anything, showing little to no emotion.

The first night he was there, she had given him clothes to sleep in and that was the first time she had seen such scars, on anyone. He was so young, yet it was glaringly obvious that the poor child had suffered greatly. Janet hadn’t known what to do for the first while, he didn’t play with the kids, and when they had managed to convince him to join, he didn’t know any games. He tended to drift off to the sidelines, watching them play as he pretended to read, but kept watch as if to keep them safe from something. After their talk, she supposed that may not have been too far off. 

Hearing what Damian told her the previous night had been a shocker but it wasn’t as if she hadn’t made guesses as to his past, she just never thought he’d ever be open to talking about it. She was fine with that too, if he didn’t want to talk about it, she would support him for as long as he stayed with her. Through the time he had spent at the orphanage in Janet’s care, he’d grown into a fine young man. One that Janet was more than proud to call her own, even if it was only as his temporary guardian. She only wished for Damian to continue to grow and find his happiness, perhaps even finally accept someone’s proposal for adoption.

The phone rang, forcing Janet back to the present as she checked the analog clock. It was still early, none of the kids had woken up yet. She cautiously made her way over to the phone, picking it up off the hook and placing it on her shoulder to continue stirring the pancake batter, “Hello? This is Happy Home Orphanage, Janet speaking.”

“Good morning, Mrs. Norwell,” the voice sounded familiar but she couldn’t immediately place who it was, “my apologies for calling so early in the morning, it’s Alfred Pennyworth of the Wayne household.”

Janet paused stirring the batter as she switched the phone to her other ear, her brows furrowing. “Yes, of course, Mr. Pennyworth, what can I do for you this morning?”

“Master Bruce wanted to request an appointment,” the old man stated, leaving no room for debate.

Janet thought for a moment and then returned to stirring, “Right, well I will let Damian know when he gets up and I’ll have him call you right back,” she spoke in the same tone as he had, letting the butler know she wouldn’t set the boy up without his consent. Damian was weird enough around the billionaire, she wouldn’t force him to meet with the man if Damian hated it that much, whether he happened to sponsor their orphanage or not didn’t matter, her kids were her top priority. 

The butler cleared his throat on the other end of the line before Janet had prepared herself to hang up on him. “He requested to meet with you, Mrs. Norwell, without the young sir.”

Janet stopped stirring again. “Mr. Wayne requested to meet with me. Just me,” she stated more than asked him.

“That is correct.”

Janet considered asking the butler why but ultimately decided against it. “All right, Damian will be out of the house this afternoon, please tell Mr. Wayne he’s welcome to stop by then.” Without waiting for a response from the butler, Janet hung the phone back up and stared into the batter before taking a deep breath and calming her racing heart.

She wasn’t sure exactly how she was going to handle the meeting, it all depended on what Mr. Wayne wanted.

—————————— 

After breakfast, the kids took off to the playroom, arguing who got the first turn with which toy. Aurora had been acting weird since the morning, sticking even closer to Damian than she usually did, and after eating, she excused herself from the table to go up to her room. 

Damian stepped into the kitchen, carrying the dishes from the table to the sink. He tried to be as unassuming as possible, knowing if Janet noticed him doing things, she’d tell him to go rest even though he was pretty much completely healed. Janet sighed as she looked out of the window by the sink.

“What’s wrong?” Damian asked and Janet smiled kindly at him before raising an eyebrow at the dishes he was carrying.

Janet sighed and shook her head, still smiling. “Was it just me or was Aurora acting a bit weird?”

Damian pursed his lips and nodded, placing the dishes in the sink. “It’s not just you.”

Janet nodded and sighed again, clearly that wasn’t all she had been thinking about. 

“Did you want to take the kids to the park in the afternoon?” She asked finally.

Damian grinned back at her, “You want me to take them to the park? I can go outside?”

She rolled her eyes and shoved him out of the way of the sink, “Yes, so don’t make me regret it.”

Damian nodded and headed up the stairs. He made his way to Aurora’s room, knocking softly on the door and waiting. When there was no answer, he carefully pushed the door open.

“Hey, Rory,” Damian spoke softly to the small girl who looked up at him with her round, brown eyes. “Did you want to come with me and the others to the park?”

She looked away for a moment and then shook her head, focusing back on the book she had in front of her. It was easy to forget that she was growing up, already reading and writing. 

Damian sat carefully on the edge of her bed, placing his hand on her forehead, “Are you ok, little one?” He asked her gently. “You seem a bit out of it.”

Aurora shook her head again, “’m fine. Just a stomach ache.”

Damian nodded, not totally convinced, but understanding she clearly wanted to spend some time alone. He stood from her bed, “All right, well, the offer still stands. We’ll be leaving after lunch.”

——————————

Damian told Janet that Aurora wasn’t feeling well and would likely be staying home that afternoon. Janet nodded and said she’d get Grace to bring up some stomach medicine to her. 

After lunch, Damian slipped his shoes on and guided the kids to the park with Grace who did indeed still work at the orphanage, but only on some weekends since the decrease in kids. Between that, and Damian helping out, the need to employ others to help out dwindled and Janet only ended up keeping Grace for a few weekends. 

The kids waved goodbye to Janet as she waved back, waiting until they were out of sight before returning inside and putting the kettle on as she waited.

Not ten minutes later, a sleek black car pulled up to the orphanage, Janet taking a deep breath as she opened the door and prepared for Bruce Wayne.

——————————

sorry if this one wasn’t as exciting or anything. 

Also if anyone is wondering, Grace isn’t as old as Janet (who’s in her mid to late 50′s by the way, I don’t think I’ve mentioned that yet...) but she’s in her late 40′s and was a good friend to Janet when she lost her husband. I actually have quite a bit of background for Janet and Aurora and some small points for some other smaller characters but they haven’t fit into the story as of yet and I didn’t want to force it in. Anyway, if anyone’s curious about any of the characters, feel free to comment or something and I will 100% be there to answer.

Thanks again for reading <3

#damian wayne #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #fanfic #batman #batfam #batfamily #its getting serious now #sorry if its bad #my fic

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #15: Thunderous

thunderous – relating to or giving warning of thunder, very loud, powerful, or intense

It had been something of an eventful few days for the Warriors of Light. A cure for tempering, found. A civil war within Limsa Lominsa, averted. The first step towards peace with a beast tribe, taken. Had it not been for the strange towers appearing all across the star, not to mention Fandaniel introducing them all to his new version of Bahamut, it might have actually been called a good few days.

It was all of these events that had brought them to Gridania on this day. Kan-E-Senna and her subordinates within the Twin Adder needed to be briefed on all that had occurred, so they could begin making plans for how best to use their soon-to-be arriving flock of porxies. Privately, Rheika thought it would be hilarious to just let them all arrive and watch the chaos unfold as the Elder Seedseer and the Hearers of Stillglade Fane attempted to figure out just why there was a sudden mass of flying pigs in their city, but alas, getting their beastmen neighbors untempered and beginning overtures of peace was too important.

They’d spent the past few bells getting her up to speed on all that had transpired, explaining how the porxies actually functioned, how to route any communications that needed to be passed to the Scions concerning the towers, describing the appearance and capabilities of this “Lunar Bahamut”, and the like. Many had offered to make the report in their stead, but for now there was little for the Warriors of Light to actually do at the moment, and since they’d been present firsthand, they felt themselves the logical choice to inform the remaining Alliance leader who’d not yet been apprised of recent events.

As they left the Lotus Stand, emerging from the path that led to the Seedseer’s private altar into Gridania proper, Rheika gave a brief nod to both the Serpent Officer and the Conjurer stationed there, and briefly looked around. As usual, there were plenty of blue-robed conjurers going about the business of dealing with the many bureaucratic matters Stillglade Fane was responsible for. Petitioners asking for blessings for their harvest, permission to sell new wares within the city, a few asking for healing. Rheika fought to keep a sneer from her face. Gridania was for all intents and purposes a theocracy, nothing allowed to be done without the blessings of the Elementals.

She didn’t particularly trust the Elementals. She might have been born here, but her community of Keepers of the Moon generally paid them no mind. They’d lived there for generations without so much as a thank you to the elementals outside of simply taking care of the place they lived in, not over hunting or despoiling the land, and no nature spirits or treants had ever so much as bothered them. Any talk she’d ever heard of the Elementals had long since come to resemble talk of Primals rather than some benevolent forest Gods that allowed people to dwell within their boughs.

Learning how Stillglade Fane actually functioned had made it far worse. The “Hearers”, the blue robed conjurers that made up the staff of Stillglade Fane, were barely able to actually  hear the voices of the Elementals. Mastery of that particular skill was unique only to the small population of horned humanoids known as the Padjals. Their small numbers meant they were spread out through the Shroud dealing with major problems, with the only two permanently in Gridania being E-Sumi-Yan (who was permanently needed within the Conjurer’s Guild as head teacher) and the Elder Seedseer herself. Both were endlessly busy, far too much so to handle all of the requests from the citizens that needed to be answered. Thus the Hearers had developed a series of rites and rituals to attempt to divine the Elementals’ will, which they utilized in answering the day-to-day petitions brought to their doors.

Rheika had never known what exactly these rituals consisted of, but Dahkar had attended a small class on them as part of his training as a Conjurer. As an adventurer, he was not expected to serve as an official part of the Fane, but the Hearers made the class open to all students of the guild, in case they perhaps wished to utilize them in their travels through the Shroud. He’d told her what he’d learned in the quick lesson, most of the rituals consisted of what was essentially the casting of lots using leaves and sticks, and using their best interpretation the patterns that emerged. It had all seemed utterly foolish to her, and she’d seen more than one instance of a Hearer going rogue and forcing his own interpretations of the Elementals’ will onto others, only to be revealed as incorrect later on.

Rheika hated this place. She wanted to get out of here and head back home to the Rising Stones as quickly as she could. Her fellow Warriors of Light were following behind her, chatting amicably about dinner plans. They had a few other matters to discuss, but outside the guild was a poor place to do it, the Hearers did not care for loitering without official business. She traipsed forward, making for the aetheryte shard placed not far from the Guild’s entrance, already envisioning her destination, the city’s main aetheryte plaza, in her mind’s eye. She’d almost reached the shard when a series of voices reached her sensitive ears.

“-please, you must do something!”

“The girl’s only seen twelve summers!” “I’m sorry, but such is the will of the forest.” “But that’s not right!”

Rheika stopped, her hand inches away from attuning range. The words played over in her head. “Twelve summers”. “Will of the forest”. “Not right!”. She turned to look in the direction they’d come from. An elezen, a hyur, and a lalafell, all similarly garbed with upset expressions on their faces were speaking with a Hearer. The Hearer, a hyur man, was making a series of exaggerated gestures as if talking to children.  Rheika wasn’t entirely certain what to make of the petitioners, perhaps a blended family or workers at an orphanage, but it was clear that a girl in their care was needing help, and their cries were falling on deaf ears.

Few things enraged the Warriors of Light more than the inflicting of suffering on children.

She turned to the others, who had noticed her change, and looked to her with anticipatory expressions on their faces. She held up her palm, then tilted her fingers away from herself twice, a clear back up and wait signal. The others immediately backed off and stood away, near the treeline. She nodded, and turned to walk up behind the Hearer. She tried to keep the anger bubbling within her down as she spoke, only mostly successfully. “Excuse me, but what is going on here?”

The hearer didn’t even turn around, simply sighed and waved his hands in a dismissive gesture. “Move along, outsider, if you’ve business with Stillglade Fane, you must wait, not interrupt-”

“Listen up, you moss-addled twat! First of all, I was BORN in this forest. Second of all, turn your ass around and LOOK at who you are talking to!” Rheika thundered.

The hearer turned “How dare you? If you really-”. His words cut off with a gasp. “Y-you’re Rheika Aliapoh. One of th-the Warriors of Light!”

“Good boy.” she replied sarcastically, crossing her arms and giving him a disapproving look. “Unfortunately for you, you used your turn to piss me off. So now, I’m talking to them.” She looked over to the trio of petitioners, her face more sympathetic. “Hi, I’m Rheika. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

The hyur woman wiped away tears falling down her face. “H-hi. My name is Lina….my daughter Dani is sick. We think it’s Greenrot. She’s holding strong now, but it’s getting worse. We came to the Conjurer’s guild for healing but…they’re saying it’s the Elementals’ will that she die!”, Lina said as she burst into tears. The Elezen male put his hands on her shoulders and looked at Rheika. “We’ve been friends with Lina for years, and we all moved in together when times got tough for us all. Mani’s like a niece to us. Please, can you….” he trailed off.

Rheika nodded to him and turned back to the hearer, absolute fury in her face. “And you’re just going to let that girl die?”

“I-it’s not like I WANT to, but-”

“It’s a fairly simple fix, hearer. One quick Esuna cast. Hell, I’ve only had rudimentary conjury training and I know it. Surely a big bad hearer like yourself ought to be familiar with it” she said, venom dripping from her voice. “Less than a few minutes of your time, and that girl gets to live. And you’re gonna sit there and let her suffer and probably die. A CHILD.”

His face contorted into an ugly sneer. “Look, I wouldn’t expect a keeper of the moon like you to understand, given how much your kind seems inclined to just take whatever they want from the forest without-”

Rheika reached back towards the gunblade she carried strapped to her back, stopping just short of actually grabbing the hilt. “You keep talking. Give me a reason.”

“You come here to this place and try to tell ME, who has trained to hear the Elemental’s voice for years, how to do my job? You can’t POSSIBLY understand-”

“And what about me, Hearer?” intoned Dahkar’s steely voice as he stepped towards them, coming from behind Rheika. “Surely you’re not such a tremendous idiot as to believe I cannot understand, correct?”

The Hearer spun to regard him, anger on his face immediately vanishing as he blanched. Dahkar was over seven fulms of very angry looking Au Ra, clad in the pristine white robes that the Hearer had only ever witnessed the Padjals wear. “Y….you’re…you’re the one the Padjals trained in the White? But…you’re not even of the forest!”

“Wrong answer. The correct response is ‘No, Dahkar of the White, Warrior of Light, I know you understand. Also I’m going to apologize to Rheika and throw myself at her mercy before going to heal the diseased child’. Do you see the difference?”

“I….I will not be spoken to this way!” the man said, stamping his feet. “I am a Hearer, charged with listening to the wills of the Elementals and ensuring the people of Gridania live according to their will, lest we awaken the Greenwrath! Who are you, a man clearly of the Far East, to question how-”

“Gonna stop you right there.” Dahkar growled. “First of all, you really should stop making judgements about where someone is from based on what they look like. I might have been born in the Far East, that’s true, but I’ve lived in the Shroud since I was a babe, just like Rheika here.”

Rheika smiled innocently.

“Secondly, I’ve been through Conjurer training, clearly. I’ve seen how the Hearers work. The only people who can directly hear the Elementals, much less communicate with them, have horns on their head, and I don’t mean this kind” he continued, tapping the large black-scaled horn on his own head. “You and I both know a lot of being a Hearer is using your own good judgement and hoping the rituals you’ve devised over the years give you the correct result. Lot of room for error there.”

The Hearer pondered that for a moment. “Well, yes, I suppose there are instances of Hearers being wrong. I do recall that kerfuffle with the animal exhibits outside the Leatherworker’s Guild…” He looked up in realization, then began delivering with the gusto of a professional orator.  “Ah, but even you must admit that if the people lose faith that the Hearer’s word is that of the Elementals, then chaos shall reign in the city! Every pronouncement we make will be endlessly questioned, or even ignored! The peaceful symbiosis we have achieved will be undone, and the Greenwrath will be upon us all! Yes, surely even you must agree to that?!”

Dahkar’s laughter drew the attention of other nearby Conjurers, who were suddenly very interested why their fellow was loudly arguing with a Warrior of Light and a White Mage, no less. “Or you could simply exercise better judgement and not leave the healing of the citizenry that are supposed to be in your care to blind chance, perhaps? Or are you going to seriously tell me you think the Elementals have an opinion on the health of a single member of the community?”

Rheika idly watched them continue to go back-and-forth with their arguments. In truth, she was hardly interested in the debate. She was more interested in keeping the count she’d quietly started running in her head ever since drawing the Hearer’s attention to herself.

Now, she reckoned, that count had gone on long enough. The Hearer was now going on a tangent about equilibrium in nature when she interrupted him. “Thanks for hopping in there, Dahk. I was afraid I was losing his attention”

Dahkar turned to her and smiled, crossing his arms. “Reckon we gave them enough time to get it done?”

Rheika turned towards the path that led from Stillglade Fane to the rest of Gridania. “Well, I can’t see any sign of them, so I’d say it’s definitely gotta be close enough.”

The Hearer sputtered. “What…what exactly are you two talking about?”

Rheika smiled ever so sweetly at him. “Aren’t you forgetting about someone, Hearer? Or rather, ‘someones’?”

The Hearer, shocked, spun around. The three petitioners were no longer there, and as he frantically looked around the area, he saw no sign of them. “What? Where…where did they go?”

Dahkar laughed again. “Well, if we timed this right, our companions have hopefully gotten them back to their dwelling by now and are using their own healing skills to cure the little girl! They might not know anything about Conjury, but they’re pretty good in their own right. Fearless is an expert in Sharlayan Astrology, and Franks has revived the teachings of the Scholars of ancient Nym!”

The Hearer was dumbfounded. He flailed about, as if he felt like he should do something, but had no idea what. “But…the Elementals…what if this angers them? What if…”

Rheika sighed through his abbreviated rant and cut in “If the Elementals get THAT upset over this, then I’m sure the Seedseer and the other padjals can calm them down, like they have to do entirely too often anyway. Given how little they seem to care about the million other things affecting the Shroud, I doubt they’ll even notice.”

She turned to regard the other assembled Hearers and other Conjurers. “But if they do? And Kan-E-Senna can’t get through to them?” She smiled. “Well, my friends, luckily for you, we’re the Warriors of Light. We have a fair amount of experience dealing with powerful beings made of aether that care little for the lives of the mortals around them.”

She crossed her arms and smiled happily. “So I wouldn’t worry. We’ll be here to protect the people of Gridania and the rest of the Shroud if it comes to that!”

She turned and walked out of the Fane. Dahkar gave a confident smile (which most non-Au Ra would agree looked more sinister than simply confident) and nodded to the assembled Hearers before turning and following her out.

The Hearers would spend several days debating their words and whether or not they should bring them before the Seedseer. In the end, they simply opted to wait and see what would come.

#FFXIV 2021 Writing Challenge #Final Fantasy XIV #Rheika Aliapoh #Dahkar Darkspear #oldmanfranks #Fearless Willow #I'm not a fan of the Hearers can you tell

[soulgave-archived]

His hand rubs over the other, ears twitch from the sound of her voice, a soft smile followed by a listening nod. " I would think that we can make it by dawn if we leave through the night, the others will meet us there, " slowly approaches, brushing strands of hair away from her face. " You appear tired though, should we rest prior to our departure? " / THROWS G'RAHA AT YOU

@scionitics

   There’s something in his words that softens the steeled look in her eyes. The way his voice lilts like a song meant just for her and her alone that makes the walls around her heart crumble with so little effort she hardly notices. Asa knows, she KNOWS, better than to fall for some boy. Some dewy eyed, eager boy who could potentially break her apart, for good this time.

   But she doesn’t care.

   For once, the Au Ra can’t stop the flood of emotion, the warmth wrapping her like a blanket in the winter. Losing him was still a possibility, one she feared, but she can’t walk away from this one before it starts as she’d done with any potential relationship since Javi.

   Maybe it was time to start again, to try again... and she couldn’t be more excited.

   “You would be worth losing sleep over thousands of nights. We can rest when we get there.” A barely used voice tries to contain her enthusiasm, hands ever so gently pressed to his chest to keep close move up to his hair, fingertips brushing along the base of those damnably adorable ears. It already feels so natural to lean her weight against him. Or perhaps not natural, but protected. Therein lie the difference between all before him ― he was a sanctuary among liars and cheaters. A safe haven for her to find a home in.

   “Unless you are perhaps tired. In which case, we can indeed rest first.” A smile pulls at the corner of her lips as she rests her chin on his chest, nary a thought to those who might be around them. Asa is tired. Tired of holding it together when all she wants to do is cry. Tired of staying strong or emotionally distant because she situation calls for a clear head not a rabid heart. She has fallen, HARD, and she doesn’t care who knows it.

#scionitics #✦ ― { moogle mail } asks #✦ ― ships { G’raha ♡ My Grandest Adventure } #✦ ― { Asa Maibito }

[thesilverdragoon]

The Musica Universalis

Previous: Tomorrow

Next: The Crystalline Mean

“If anyone is to ask you where you are from, and other...potentially difficult questions to answer, might I suggest feigning amnesia?

It wouldn’t be out of the realm of the pixies to potentially torment an unlucky (yet for whatever reason, perhaps deserving I admit, they are terribly fickle beings...) soul to the point where he hardly remembered where he came from.”

Ves moved his prosthetic arm in circles, wincing at every jolt that came through it and down his spine.

How it had potentially become damaged, or misaligned or something, was beyond him (not that it would have been surprising…)

“So, is there any reason why you decided not to come out and show yourself as you normally do??” He asked, seemingly to himself to any passerbys he stumbled across.

Every turn in this gigantic and winding city only introduced him to even more of its residents, who did not recognize him and made that much very obvious.

And now the stranger was talking to himself?

Oh what misfortune had to have befallen upon this poor soul? They quite possibly wondered.

Puffy groaned inside his coat. “Don’t remember.”

“What do you mean you don’t remember??”

“Nothin’. Not a thing. ZIP.”

“But I- ...Hmph, well… whatever the case. He has no idea what you are, I have no idea what you are, or whatever we were- and now, we’re stuck here, in this place,” Ves continued to mutter, more so to himself than to the worm.

He paused at a crossroads, unsure of where to wander off to next. In the center of the round room made of glass lied an enormous aetheryte crystal, not unlike the ones in the major cities back home.

Many things seemed rather similar to home...

Staying in the Crystal Tower too had been quite the experience, but he’d grown bored of the enormous amounts of blue and gilded metal and stone within a relatively short period of time. And as generous as the Exarch was, something about him that the Ishgardian couldn’t quite place… Something that unnerved him? No, not unnerved. Made uncomfortable? Possibly, but that didn’t feel like the right word either.

To the south he spotted gardens and dark green lawns and continued on in that direction, stepping out into another rather large series of decorated glass domes, with walkways high above the main path on the ground floor.

He’d never seen a city like this before. Nothing on Eorzea even came close. It was quite beautiful, to say the least.

He couldn’t marvel at the wonder for entirely long. Not without all the worry seeping back in.

How would he get home? If he could even go home at all?

Would he have to live here in this city for the rest of his life? However long that was??

The thought of not being able to see anyone ever again made him sick to his stomach, and gave him a rather dreary expression as he walked along the pathway and into what looked to be a marketplace.

Stalls upon stalls and little shops lined the outer rings of the dome, cram packed with merchants selling all sorts of things. Again, not unlike home… Just things from places he’d never been.

Puffy too peered out at their surroundings every now and again, keeping quiet and very still, almost as if the worm too were nervous. Maybe he was. Ves could only feel some of it, as the rest seemed to be blocked off from his mind somehow.

As they neared the center of the marketplace, Ves slowed to a stop, looking down at his boots.

He could ask himself what he was going to do all day long, and never be satisfied with the answer. And it gnawed at him.

This was real.

This place, these people- those monsters outside of the city limits?

All of it was real.

The realization made him dizzy, but not enough to make a fool of himself in public. Not yet.

He continued on. Maybe he could sit on the grass somewhere, and think.

Every so often he would catch glimpses of more of the soldiers. Unlike their counterparts that seemed to patrol the woods outside, the ones stationed at nearly every corner within the Crystarium donned scarves of crimson instead.

They were quite fetching, as a matter of fact. But he quickly pushed that aside, moving out further onto one of the lawns.

Off in the distance he could see children running around playing and screaming. It was probably ok to sit there.

Once he found a spot out of the way, he did.

Puffy came out of his collar, cautiously of course. “What a weird place.”

“I don’t know if weird is quite the word for it… Different maybe. Uncanny in some parts? Definitely… It’s like… being in a mirror. You know, where you see you but- but it’s not you, but it LOOKS like you- I don’t know how to explain it. That’s just the feeling I get.”

“...YOU’RE weird.”

“Ugh…

What would you understand.” He should have known.

Puffy hissed, “I’m STUCK here with YOU. I don’t know WHERE I AM- I DON’T KNOW ANY OF THESE FREAKS- AND I DUNNO WHAT WE’RE GONNA DO!!!” Ves didn’t answer, eyes half lidded as he carefully laid back onto the grass, sprawled out and with his eyes closed.

“THIS ISN’T THE TIME FOR A NAP!!”

He ignored him and instead focused on listening… on breathing…

The people noises remained. The clatter of daily life continued on without a care.

This was real.

“LOOK OUT!!!”

The leather ball hitting him square in the face was real too, he quickly found out.

Ves sat up and held his hands over his nose and mouth as both of them throbbed, tears welling in his eyes he squeezed shut. What in the world-

Beside himself he could hear several pairs of feet running right for him, and then slowing down.

“Sorry sir- Arval didn’t mean to kick so hard-”

“I didn’t see him!!”

The Ishgardian opened an eye carefully, spotting the children. One an elezen with dark hair, another a au ra child, and a miqo’te behind them both.

All positively adorable.

“Can we have our ball back?” The elezen boy seemed to be the leader of this small gang. “We’re sorry, honest!” He looked distressed over the whole thing.

Ves blinked a few times and looked to his side, picking up the ball with a hand and rolling it back. “Here- it’s all right- it was an accident-”

“Are you a Eulmoran??” The miqo’te girl asked, or squeaked rather.

“Huh?”

“That’s a very fancy coat,” She continued, coming forward with her tail swishing with interest behind her.

The au ra boy squinted critically before realizing that she was correct in that it was quite fancy. “It looks expensive.”

The elezen tilted his head, “It kind of does…? Are you?? Sir??”

“Wh-”

What in the world was a Eulmoran? A surge of panic welled up in Ves’ chest immediately, only to sink back down again once he realized that Puffy was no longer within sight.

That hardly helped him answer the question.

“I er…” The Exarch’s words circled in his head. “I don’t remember I’m afraid.”

“Don’t remember?”

“No, I’m afraid not. Someone told me that uh… pixies got to me.”

“Pixies!” The miqo’te almost chirped. “I’ve heard stories- they’re downright scary! Even if they are shiny and small and pretty-”

“Mostly scary.” The elezen rolled his eyes. “But they live in Il Mheg and they stay there. They wouldn’t leave for anything.”

“Come on, let’s go!” The au ra complained.

“Alright- fine!

Sorry again sir, we’ll try to be more careful.”

Without any further words, all three of them darted off to the same patch of grass they were playing on earlier, kicking the ball around just as recklessly.

The Ishgardian watched them for a few moments before getting to his feet again, groaning as another jolt ran down his arm and his back. It felt sharper that time.

“I need to do something about this...” The pains, albeit extremely short, were very troubling.

Maybe there was someone around who could at least take a look at it… Or perhaps he could find that secret compartment within it somewhere that held an extra manual in it. Or some other sort of convenient gadget that would solve the problem instantly. Was that wishful thinking? Absolutely.

As he moved his legs, another pain shot down his spine again and towards his toes on one side.

That one, in all likelihood, was just from being old.

#dovah writing #couldnt think of a title for this one

[softnow]

paracosm [ii/?]

msr | college au | this chapter: gen | words: 2.2k

she resents the idea that some boy who will no doubt be gone in another week’s time can ruffle her so much.

it’s dana’s turn, folks. necessary shoutout to @o6666666, champion of baby dana and all her emotions. also tagging @today-in-fic.

← last chapter. / ao3.

— — —

Dana has always been good with change. It comes with the territory of being a Navy brat. As a kid, she attended four different elementary schools, two middle schools, and she graduated high school with a class she’d only known for less than a year.

But there is a difference between moving with her family—keeping, if nothing else, the familiarity of her siblings, her parents, the old worn quilt on her old twin bed—and moving alone to the other side of the country, starting college (an exciting but daunting task on its own) nearly 3,000 miles away from everything and everyone she’s ever known.

Granted, she’s handling it better than some—better, for instance, than the girl who lives across the hall and cries on the phone to her parents every night, or the boy in her math class who comes only every third day and reeks of alcohol and pot when he does. Dana, at least, is making an effort.

She has gone to a few welcome mixers, to an underwhelming movie night hosted by her RAs, to a panel discussion on monoclonal antibodies with an audience of serious-looking grad students and old men in sweaters. She leaves her door open while she studies, just in case somebody should like to pop in. On two different weekends, she has allowed her roommate to take her out to parties filled with people who, even if they are new like her, seem to have known each other their whole lives. She has even formed a tentative working friendship with her bio lab partner, and she is frequently invited to have dinner in the dining hall with some of the girls on her floor (although, after a few nights of awkward small talk over rubbery pizza, she has stopped accepting).

But still. Despite the built-in camaraderie of the freshman experience, of being one of many sharing the same anxieties, excitements, and first-time hangovers, she feels…foreign. A little out of her depth.

She tells herself it doesn’t matter. College is, after all, simply a means to an end. But when she calls her parents on Sunday afternoons and her mother asks if she’s making friends, having fun, having the all-American college experience—the one she herself, married and pregnant right out of high school, was denied—well. Dana’s never enjoyed lying.

So she’s glad for the library. She may not know the difference between all the fraternities or where to find the best pizza in town or what a Jägerbomb tastes like, but she has the Dewey Decimal System down pat. She knows all the nicest reading nooks—even the ones the other freshman haven’t found yet—and she gets a startlingly large amount of satisfaction out of booting couples who think they’re sly enough to make out in the fifth-floor economics section. (In the three and a half weeks she’s been working here, she’s kicked out four couples. A rush, every time.)

She likes being the one who, at least for a few hours a day, gets to ask how can I help you? She likes that she has the answers. And she likes—perhaps better than anything—that here, it is perfectly fine to be alone. She doesn’t feel self-conscious behind the circulation desk the way she sometimes does sitting alone at a table meant for four in the student union. There’s nothing sad about it. There’s no pressure to socialize.

Or: there didn’t used to be.

Because now there’s a boy. A persistent boy. A persistent, irritating boy who is tall and lanky with a flop of dark hair and a collection of wrinkled t-shirts, who goes by his last name even though (in Dana’s opinion) his first is actually kind of nice, who, for some unknown reason, has set his sights on her and has made it his life’s mission to not give her a moment’s peace, who has decided that any day she is here, he will be too, hanging all over her desk, following her from floor to floor like a lost puppy, forcing her to listen to his questions and his stories and his inappropriate flirtations which, despite her best efforts, turn her pink as a cherry blossom, damn her Irish heritage.

Even when she tells him to get out—Mulder, I need to work—he will only grin and lean closer like he was never taught about personal space and say something completely disarming like, Dana, has anyone ever told you that you have Cassiopeia right…here? And then he will touch her little constellation of freckles so gently with the tip of his finger, like he’s really not touching her at all, and she will lose track of her filing or her faxing or whatever it was she was doing before he sauntered up, so cool and composed, to lean across her desk in the first place.

It would be easier, she thinks, if he wasn’t so nice. And clever. And handsome. If he was a dumb, ugly jerk, she would have no problem throwing him out (and she’d probably take an even greater amount of satisfaction in it than with the horny couples).

Because she’s not stupid. She knows that pretty, older boys with low, rumbly voices and plush, pink lips don’t seek out girls like her. Not with good intentions, at least. Boys—men, she corrects, because, god, he’s twenty-one—like him go for a different sort of girl. Taller. Older. Louder, funnier, sexier.

So there has to be some ulterior motive, has to, and it’s only a matter of time before his sweet exterior cracks to reveal whatever is really lurking beneath those puppy dog eyes and big smile and soft, gentle hands.

She hopes he just leaves her alone before then. It will be easier, really, for everyone involved.

—

It is a quarter past ten, and Dana lies curled on her lumpy twin bed, her phone cradled in both hands, her back to the wall. The cinderblocks are cool through her thin pajama top.

“He came in again today,” she says, low, like a secret.

“And?” Her sister’s voice is tinny and amused, two thousand-odd miles and a phone line away.

“He said I was beautiful,” she says. “He said I was going to win the Nobel Prize.”

Missy hmms. “For being beautiful?”

Dana shakes her head even though there’s nobody here to see it. Her roommate has been gone for three nights in a row.

“For curing cancer.”

Melissa snorts. “And what’d you say?”

Dana bites the inside of her cheek, the sore patch she’s nibbled raw.

“Nothing.” She draws the blankets tighter around herself. “I told him to leave.”

A pause. Dana thinks her sister might laugh at her, but Missy only sighs.

“Dana.”

“Yeah?”

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Don’t do that. This guy likes you. Why are you—”

“No, he doesn’t,” Dana says. She scrunches the phone cord between her fingers and releases it. Scrunches. Releases.

Melissa does laugh now. “Excuse me, what?”

“He doesn’t like me, Missy. He’s just…playing.”

“Just playing.” Melissa doesn’t sound convinced.

“The way guys do. You know. When they don’t mean it.”

“Oh, my god, Dane.” Melissa laughs again. “‘Just playing’ is calling you after midnight to ask what you’re wearing. It’s…it’s buying you a few drinks, taking you home, and not calling you the next day. This boy is not ‘just playing.’”

When Dana doesn’t say anything, Melissa continues: “Babe,” she says. “Do you honestly believe this guy would be spending that much time in the library if he was ‘just playing?’ Last week, you told me he was there until eleven o’clock on a Friday. Trust me. No guy is spending his Friday night in a library for a girl if he’s just playing.”

Dana bites her cheek again, licks her bottom lip. She thinks about last Friday. He’d shown up a little after eight, fresh from a shower, his hair still damp. She’d been in the fourth floor biology section, pulling books on tree frogs to fill a hold request, and he’d materialized behind her, smiling, with a cup of coffee and a packet of peanut M&Ms. The flip in her stomach had almost knocked her over.

“Hey,” he said. “I was looking for you. Here. Sustenance.”

And he’d thrust the coffee and the candy out at her with a dip of his chin, almost shy. She’d had a lab at eight that morning, and she’d been exhausted. The coffee smelled heavenly—rich and creamy. Exactly what she hadn’t even known she’d needed.

But instead of taking it, she’d folded the books about tree frogs to her chest, lifted her brow, and said, “Mulder, no. You can’t be doing this.”

“Why not?” He seemed genuinely curious. Concerned, maybe, that he was breaking some food-and-drink policy.

She tightened her grip on the books and said, “I don’t need it. I’m working. I need to focus.”

“Exactly,” he said. “Caffeine. Sugar. I only have your best interests at heart.”

Her cheeks flamed and she turned away, trying to seem like she was looking for the next book on her list even though all the titles blurred together.

“C’mon, Dana,” he said. “I come in peace.”

“I’m busy.” She didn’t turn around even as he came up behind her, so close she could feel the heat of him, could smell his foresty, manly soap.

“What are you looking for?”

And she’d relented. Something about his closeness, about the way he leaned over her just a little bit, made her weak. She’d shown him the list, and she’d accepted his help.

But she hadn’t accepted the coffee or the candy. Not even when he’d followed her back to the circulation desk and spent the next two hours shifting his weight from one foot to the other, asking her about class, her day, the best book she read that week, her last name, her phone number, and would she like to have dinner one night—any night—he was free any time?

“Good night, Mulder,” she said about ten times before he finally left—not without a few glances over his shoulder—so she could close up.

He’d left the coffee (cold) and the candy (unopened) on the desk. The coffee she poured out in the women’s room. The M&Ms… The M&Ms she ate later, one by one, while she called Melissa, sucking the candy coating off to make them last.

“Dana,” Melissa says now, breaking the silence. “You know he’s not going to wait forever, right?”

Dana frowns against the receiver. “What do you mean?”

“I mean this guy is clearly crazy about you. But if you keep playing hard to get—”

“I’m not!”

“—then he’s going to get bored, okay? It’s fun for a little while, but then it’s like…like running your head into a brick wall, over and over and over again. Eventually, if you keep telling him to get out, he will. And he won’t come back.”

“Good,” Dana says, even though the unexpected ache in her chest doesn’t necessarily agree. “That’s what I want.”

“Hmm.” On the other end of the line, Dana hears the flick of a lighter. “Well. If you really don’t want him, tell him you’ve got a sister in California who would be more than happy to entertain him.”

An image—brief, but not brief enough—flashes through her mind and her stomach clenches.

“I have to go, Missy,” she says. “Good night.”

She recradles the phone on her bedside table and turns out the light. She imagines walking into the library tomorrow, no Mulder. And the day after that, no Mulder. And next week, no Mulder.

She imagines that today was the last day. She imagines him never coming back to lean over the circulation desk and waggle his eyebrows at her, or stand too close to her in the stacks, or surprise her with a little treat ever again.

Maybe she’d spot him on the green one day and he’d point her out to his buddies and laugh. Hey, that’s the girl I messed with last semester. You know, the dumb one who really thought I liked her? Maybe he’d be too busy making puppy dog eyes at some other girl—some tall, willowy, interesting girl—to even notice her.

It would be for the best. This past week has just been a sort of…temporary universal insanity. A paracosm. A Dickensian glimpse into what her life could be if, perhaps, she lived in some alternate reality (which, let the record show, she does not believe in—but hypothetically).

Here, Missy’s voice interrupts, echoing in her head. This guy is clearly crazy about you. She frowns into the darkness. It sounds so simple when her sister says it, so reasonable.

And then there’s Mulder’s voice, too, low and intimate, asking her to coffee, to dinner, to a movie, to anything, really, anything at all. And not just one day. Every day. Several times a day, again and again and again, no matter how many times she says no, says Mulder, please, says I have work to do.

Dana tosses and turns and draws the covers up over her head, curling herself tight against the seductive pull of fantasy. She has always been the level-headed one, never a daydreamer, never impractical. She resents the idea that some boy who will no doubt be gone in another week’s time can ruffle her so much.

Huffing, she hugs a pillow tight to her chest and resolves to put Fox Mulder from her mind. It works, like most nights, only until she begins to dream.

#fox mulder #dana scully #msr #msr fanfic #myfic #paracosm #this chapter is some necessary expositiony stuff #which i hope you still find enjoyable #next chapter is very very fun #and will drop...idk next week sometime maybe #thank you to everyone who's been so enthusiastic and kind about this!!! #mulder #scully #txf

[lab-partners]

She-Ra/Pokémon AU

Note: While I started this right after season 3, it is VERY incomplete and I'd be super happy about help/suggestions!

Pokémon and She-Ra are my two favorite things ever so of course I had to make a crossover! I wouldn't be me if I hadn't.

In this AU, basically, humans/humanoids just don't exist. They aren't a thing. Everyone on Etheria is a Pokemon, this entire planet only has Pokemon that just evolved to the point where they do the same things humans would do with the only difference being that they are still Pokemon. Maybe it doesn't make too much sense, but we're not here for logic, we're here because Pokemon are great and so is She-Ra.

So without further ado, let me give you the basics:

• All the princesses are eeveelutions. This is because that way they can all be connected, yet separate; also elemental powers are a thing.

▪Adora: Shiny Eevee. She didn't know she was a princess, or that she was special, because nobody ever told her that's not what Eevees look like. It was only when she met Glimmer and Bow, and when she evolved, that she realized.

▪She-Ra is probably some "mash" of all types? I haven't fully figured this one out yet (ideas??) but I've been thinking either Adora evolves into a powerful being, or she evolves into some base-thing like a normal type or sth and can "mega-evolve" by choice into the actual She-Ra. I'm not quite sure on what they should look like though.

▪Glimmer: Espeon, psychic type

▪Perfuma: Leafeon, grass type

▪Mermista: Vaporeon, water type

▪Frosta: Glaceon, ice type

I think these are easy to understand and don't require further explanation, so moving on we have:

▪Spinerella: flying type eeveelution. None of the canon ones fit her, so I figured I'd bend the rules and add some fakemon here. For the sake of this AU we shall pretend that there is an evolution path for every type.

▪Netossa: Jolteon. Hear me out - I know electricity is not her thing, but Electroweb is a move that exists, and it is, in fact, a net. So she's a Jolteon with Electroweb as her signature move! (My friend pointed out that Jolteon might also fit Scorpia since she did acquire electric powers, but I made this AU after season 3 so I had no idea that would happen)

▪Entrapta: Sylveon. While the fairy type might not match her perfectly, I like to imagine her using those ribbons like she uses her hair in the human form! Also an adorable fairy type is a perfect match for Hordak lmao

Which brings us to:

▪Hordak: Mewtwo

Mewtwo is a clone of Mew, created to be the most powerful Pokemon in existence. I'm toying with the idea of having Hordak be unable to use psychic type moves, rendering him practically useless despite being created to be powerful (to represent his defect). I'll see how the defect is handled in the next season, whether it's just Prime's opinion or an actual thing that's wrong with him.

▪Horde Prime: Shiny Mewtwo

My original idea for him, before he was revealed, was Mew, because Mew is what Mewtwo was cloned from. But then we got to see him, and shiny Mewtwo is green, so now oh boy do I have an explanation for this!

Mewtwo was created by humans as a clone of Mew, but improved. It was intended to become the most powerful creature on earth - and they succeeded: Mewtwo was more powerful than they ever dreamed.

But, knowing it was stronger and smarter than any human, it destroyed the lab it was created in, and killed the scientists. That much happens in the canon anime, but let's take it further!

Mewtwo - Horde Prime - figured out how to use the clone machine he was created in, and started cloning himself. Creating an army of clones, until they had enough numbers to wipe out humanity and take over earth for themselves.

And once they were done with that, they moved on to other planets.

Remember how I mentioned humans are just not a thing on Pokemon-Etheria? Hordak is still an alien. He's from earth.

OTHERS

▪Catra: Maybe a Purrloin/Liepard? Looking at all feline Pokemon (she definitely has to be feline), that one fits her most imo. Well, maybe a fluffy Liepard, but still. Then again, please imagine Catra as a Galarian Meowth. You're welcome.

▪Double Trouble: Zoroark! I know Ditto would be funny but Zoroark just fits their personality much better. It's the illusion Pokemon, which is close enough to shapeshifting to work.

▪Since Scorpia is a princess too and I've dug my own grave with the eeveelutions thing, I can't make her a Drapion, even though that's the scorpion Pokemon and would make sense. Jolteon is taken, and I was thinking she might be a normal type? That would explain why she always thought she wasn't special (she's the only one whose type didn't change upon evolution). Of course if I do that, I can't make Adora a normal type. Perhaps Umbreon bc Horde = bad and dark = bad? (I love dark types but it's a common stereotype)

▪As for Bow, I'm undecided as well, although I've been considering Dartrix or Decidueye? Decidueye's signature move uses bow and arrow, also the "wise owl" stereotype would fit nicely with his parents' expectations. I mean, owls are usually used as librarians, right? I'd just prefer Dartrix because of his age.

▪Someone suggested Angella = Cresselia and I really like that!

#art coming soon #pokemon au #she ra #she ra and the princesses of power #netflix she ra #spop #pokemon

[glitradora]

AU where Catra found the sword and became She-Ra?

send me an AU and i’ll tell you my headcanons for it

more hc posts

((thanks for sending this I had a lot of fun with this one. It’s basically a reimagining of the first two episodes. So the Catradora angst is still very much there. Also, it’s half bullet points, half one-shot because I realized halfway through I was writing to much description))

Groundwork:

Adora and Catra still grew up together in the Horde,

Adora still is the favorite,

Adora still gets the force captain promotion and they still go out to the wood’s in the flying cart cause Adora sees Catra is sad they will be spending less time together.

Catra still takes control of the cart to go real fast cause this is fun zone no snoozes allowed Adora.

When Adora takes control back so they don’t hit a tree and possibly die Catra, who is not holding on to anything, falls off.

Adora screams after her while trying to turn the cart around that is now stuck and going like - really fast and forward. Montage of Adora being like miss fix it all while also being really worried about Catra.

Meanwhile, Catra (agility queen) manages to stop her fall enough on nearby trees (by kicking off them) to land pretty well. Though not fully on her feet - cause that would hurt like a fuck ton and She-Ra with 2 broken feet sounds? sad?

(just in case it’s not obvious - Catra is colorblind in this cause of the recent Noelle tweet.)

Catra is pretty sure Adora will come back for her sooner or later. So she’s not too worried about looking around and not seeing the cart. Adora never left her before - she’s been the only constant in Catra’s life really. So she waits for a few beats but that sounds boring and there’s definitely a buzzy sound coming from - somewhere. And it’s driving her a little insane. And it’s not like Adora Geotagged this place she can find her in the general vicinity

(Adora seems like the type of person to have 100% geotagged that place if they were cyborgs. Maybe even sent her a little pop-up message “I’ll be back at 1700 hours - keep position”. The thought made Catra laugh.)

So she started searching around making sure to not move too far away from the drop site and the buzzing kept getting worst while still coming from nowhere in particular. - like it was coming from Catra’s own brain. Like it was Catra’s brain reacting to something. She ears the voices then - they’re far enough away that she can’t see them which means they’re far enough away that they can’t ear her. The enhanced senses come in handy in these situations. She’s not sure who it is but there are only two possibilities.

It’s either rebel forces - in which case she’s screwed and they may have even already found Adora. Or it’s Horde forces - in which case she’s 100% dead. Shadow Weaver already loves punishing her for everything - but when she and Adora break actual rules? Catra doesn’t want to find out what would happen this time. So she hides better but continues moving forward to the voices. If she can see who they are maybe she can’t make sure they don’t find her and more importantly Adora.

What she finds is- weird.

They’re not Horde members - which is a relief. And that alone almost makes her turn back and just go to the drop site and wait for Adora there. But she doesn’t because - they don’t look like the rebel troops she’s heard about her whole life. They can’t be much older than her and Adora. There’s a girl, maybe about her own height cutting off the vegetation as she walks, rambling about something. And a boy, slightly taller than Adora if she had to guess, who has yet to look up from a little gadget.

At first, she’s sure that’s where the buzzing is coming from but neither seems to hear it and Catra later realizes it finally has a source. Somewhere on her right. The girl seems to notice it too - but it’s not the sound because just then something begins to shine, a blueish light that makes the woods look even weirder than they had been. But perhaps even weird is the light is - calling her?

Not calling her as she’s curious (which she is, Catra is plenty interested in shiny things in a regular basis. She would actually very much like to see the girl’s hair closer up, but that’s another thing). The buzzing is actually saying Catra. Softly at first and the closer she gets the more she can make it out.

“Bow! This is perfect! My mom is gonna be so impressed. It’s gotta be first one’s tech” - is the girl’s voice that snaps her out of her focus. So much so she hadn’t even realized she had stood up

“Uhm Glimmer” The boy is looking at her straight on a surprised yet mildly terrified look on his face. Right, mean bad Horde Soldier.

The girl makes a little turn and stars at her for a second before she’s screaming as if ready to attack. And then she’s on her face doing just that. Followed by a lot of pink sparkles. Even though she was just on the other side of a big ass clearing.

“You’re princesses” She realizes as she avoids the fight - jumping up on one of the nearby branches. She can’t afford to stay still because princess sparkles is hot on her toes. But she can’t concentrate on much more than the sword that keeps calling her names.

“What’s that? Do you know? How are you flying?”

“Bow get the sword!”

The boy half stumbles half runs to it, a little pitch-y sound making it’s way with him, and pulls the sword from the mount of leaves and rocks and dirt. And it’s louder now.

“No stop - that’s mine,” She said jumping from high above trying to grab the sword from Bow’s hand.

“We saw it first”

Glimmer had finally caught up to her and the 3 of them were tangled up together pulling this way and that as each tried to reach the sword. Until they’re not there anymore and Catra is standing up in front of a tall figure who looks made of glass. Around her are colors she’s never seen before and it takes a second for Catra’s breath to even out - it’s all so beautiful. She can see a vastness of nothing behind the figure but she’s pulled out of her head once more by her name being called.

It’s the sound the sword was making before - she can clearly tell that now. But it’s clearer. Crisp like morning air. Nice but with an edge to it.

“Hello Catra. My name is Light Hope. I have been waiting a long time for you, but I could not reach you until you forged your connection with the sword.”

“The sword- so I was right it was calling to me”

“The sword is meant for you. Etheria has need of you, Catra.”

“What? No - I’m no hero. That’s Adora’s job.”

“Will you answer it’s call? Will you fight for the Honor of Grayskull?”

“Didn’t you hear me lady? I can’t. You got the wrong girl. Maybe you meant to call Sparkly? Glimmer or what’s her face.”

“This is your job Catra”

“That makes no sense!”

“You will understand in time.”

When she came to her senses again Adora and the two kids from before are fighting. Well, fighting is a weird word for it. From Catra’s perspective, they mostly look like they’re playing catch. The sword, her sword, keeps flying around between the tree of them until one gets tackled and it goes flying. Plus all of them are screaming. It’s making her even dizzier than she already was. Unfortunately - the pretty colors went away again. The trees and the ground around her grey once more and just the sword shining its blue light on the ambient.

During the fight Glimmer and Bow manage to get the sword and get the fuck out of there. They hide in the ruins because Glimmer teleports them inside.

Adora and Catra agree they need to get that sword back - Adora because the rebel army can’t have that weapon because they’re “instigators” and Catra because it’s hers and she’s getting really anxious being so far away from it.

What they don’t agree on is how to do it.

Adora wants to go back - gather more forces and backup. Hunt down the princess and her accomplice.

Catra knows the second Shadow Weaver knows about that sword she will never have it again.

And Catra has begun hoping - just a little - that if she has that sword maybe she can protect her and Adora for good.

Something in her tells her that’s possible.

But it’s not like Adora would understand that- plus Adora never listens to any of her ideas.

So they split up Adora goes back and Catra follows Glimmer and Bow

In the ruins - that Catra walks into by reading first ones writing - Glimmer and Bow manage to capture her.

Follows the bug attack in which Catra saves them and proves that the sword is hers by transforming into She-Ra

They find further down the temple the She-Ra mural and Light Hope again.

The ruins start falling apart.

Glimmer teleports them out and passes out from overworking herself.

Bow saves the day with his rope-arrow

Glimmer, after waking up, asks Catra why she’s still there.

Catra isn’t sure herself, but so far, that sword is her only shot at finding out why she was always the odd one out.

Plus is not like anyone in the fright zone will miss her

Adora, the girl from before she explains, might notice but she’ll forget it in a day or two.

Bow is - concerned.

“Basically I’m here because I have nothing to lose”

Glimmer softens like .01 second. She felt for Catra. She knows what it’s like to want to prove herself.

Bow offers for her to stick with them - that Glimmer’s mom for sure can answer all her questions

Glimmer says there’s a town nearby so they can get a ride to Bright Moon

Catra’s eyes go really wide at that “A town? We need to evacuate them Adora went back to get back up”

“So you betrayed us? Already?” That’s Glimmer

“Adora the scary one?” That’s Bow

Catra helps Glimmer and Bow evacuate the town and then fight the Horde

After turning into She-Ra to help she asks Adora to join her in the rebellion.

“Catra - why? The princesses are evil instigators. They took you to a heavily fortified military base, they were likely going to use you as bait.”

“Fortified base? Adora this is a civilian town! There’s-” Catra looks around wide-eyed, “There were kids and elderly and”

“Do you think that matters to them?” That’s Glimmer somewhere from behind her. She’s right. They never cared when she was the kid.

“Adora cares. Right Adora?”

“Catra, I think you hit your head hard. Come back to the Horde”

“Ador-”

“That’s an order Catra”

That stops Catra in her spot. The Adora she knows and loves would never do this. If she just stops and listens. She will understand. She will-

Catra’s not sure how it happens but as Adora tries and shook her Glimmer zooms in and zooms them both out. “Catra we need to go.”

“But-”

“Catra!”

Catra looks ahead at Adora, frowning at her with a hatred she never saw before in her friends face.

“Bye Adora”

#she ra #spop #catradora #glitra #glitradora #catra #adora #glimmer #bow #mine: au #//@noelle hire me to make a spin off #anonymous #cat ra au #cleopcatra

[eirh]

It's been two months since the Calamity struck and the snow raged on Ishgard and it's nearby areas. A mysterious figure makes her way through the Coerthan lands. Her hare ears are lower held than usual, she did not dress to venture these lands.

She tried her absolute best, having found shelter in a ruin. But despite the efforts was soon too troubled to stay conscious. "Don't worry, Nova. Just a tiny break..." Leporine wearily told her familiar as she tugged on one of the Viera's ears. Leaving particles of faerie dust as she angrily shook her  head. This was not a place to sleep at all, what is to become of you! Nova knew she had to do something and quick. Not much was occupied in these areas, except for Falcon's nest. As fast as the falling snow let her, the faerie made her way towards people who can be of aid.

A book was closed quickly, puffing out a bit of dust. An adolescent Raen stuffed it into his briefcase before moving throwing his long hair into his hood. Breathing in the scent of books in the Scholasticate he stretched, it never smelled musty or unpleasant in here. It was about time he'd check on the situations out of Ishgard. Ever since the climate change he has been sheltering from the snow mainly, but one could say it will never seem to change. Might as well check it out! Eir tried not to show it much but he does like snow, maybe he could trick De Leusignac into coming with him... He'd also stay hot that way in ANY case. The idea of Charibert setting snow on fire kind of amused him a bit too much, making him awkwardly smile to himself. Not that anyone would be able to see it easily, due the nature of Ishgard Eir always kept himself fully covered when venturing through the city. Perhaps this snow filled wonderland did aid him, he no longer looks silly being fully robed. Darting through the streets, he makes his way towards falcon's nest. There was a bridge he really liked to climb and wondered how hard it would be to do so now, would it be more slippery?

The knights at the base were met with a quick wave from the boy as he moved about, he didn't really look in front of himself when a bird hits his head. It bounced off him but he caught it in his hands, trying to be mindful not to harm it's wings. ... A bird? No, that's a... sparkly bird. It was as big as an average sized book, upon closer inspection it did not resemble a bird in the slightest. A purple faerie, that's what it was. Eir stared in wonder, he did not guess for him to ever meet a fey creature. Pixie dust glittering all around due collision and even more so due Nova shaking her head to get her vision right. Once clear she looked up to the other, a confused stare grew into a happy smile. Perhaps this one can be of help! But how was she going to get the point across? Thinking for a second before flying up and aggressively pointing at the horizon, leaving Eir confused. "Is there anything amiss...?" he asked, furrowing his brows behind the mask. The question was met with quick nod before she pointed again. The Raen had allot of questions, but it seemed the faerie had no way of answering them with words. For now it's best to do what she may need, if he wanted answers. "Pray assist in my arrival to the conflict then, if you'd be willing."

Nearly losing sight of his new companion few times, Eir's gaze was met with the body of a girl. Around his age, he'd guess. Dark skin, strawberry blonde hair and... Bunny ears? This day kept getting more odd, did it not.

"I assume this is what you needed assistance with?" he turned to Nova who then nodded fast. Corsair's house was nearby, he did carry the keys since he meant to check it out anyway today. Opening his brown briefcase to take out a scarf, it was rolanberry red. A gift from his foster mother, Chaplain Corsair. She did not know allot about the Au Ra, but had seen some adults when Orl tribe arrived at The Gates of Judgement. Therefore the scarf was massive, perhaps a bit TOO much. Thankfully the girl was not exactly one of the smallest either, but it still covered a good bit of her.

He carefully picked her up, making her head rest on his chest. She was still breathing, thank the Fury. Squinting to see through the snow, directions were hard to deduct. Now is not the time to get lost at all he thought before starting his walk towards the house. With much of luck no misdirection had happened often and he could move in quickly. Two months since the last visit... Not much had changed. It was not easy to afford, but with a bunch of odd jobs here and there the inquisitor-in-making managed to take proper care of the house. His late mother left him some money but he wasn't too keen on using it yet, perhaps if he gets into trouble.

The Viera had been placed in the bed at the master bedroom, her previously troubled expression softened in the comfort of the load of cushions and sheets with the faerie sitting next to her. Everything still worked and he turned on the heating. He had replaced her clothes swiftly, as they were wet and could potentially harm her. Praying to Halone that he will not get his face smashed in for doing that and that her recovery will be swift, he has allot of questions for her after all. Sometimes he held her hands and blew on it, they were rather frozen but most of her body seemed to be in a fairly okay state. The clothes he gave her were his and they looked rather funny on her. Having sat down in the nearby chair he took watch of her for some time, she's rather endearing he thought to himself. Eir's stomach rumbled, he skipped lunch today and the clock was reaching 6. Time went by fast, he arrived at the house at 3. Going from the kitchen to the bedroom nonstop to check on the status of both his food and the girl, he managed to cook up something quick and decent. Pasta with tuna and tomato sauce , all ingredients that lasted fine through the time that the house was left in the open. There was plenty left, as per usual and he hoped to treat his guest nicely.

Eyes fluttered open, showing an icy blue colour. They appeared to be taking a moment to adjust, to scan the surroundings. Getting up hurt a bit, damned. "I would not move too hastily, were I you." Leporine had not heard this voice before, a rather low yet soft sounding one. Blue curious eyes meet light green ones, "How are you feeling in your current state?" Eir spoke as he moved over to sit on the edge of the bed. "Take your time to adjust as you may require." "I... Am not sure, it's hard to move around." the Viera tried to rub her arm a bit, rather slowly as she struggled. "Be sure to inform me immediately in the occurrence you feel like you are burning up."

Leporine's stare did not break off, she had enough of a right to keep staring in suspicion. A rather curious atmosphere turned into a tense one, it got onto Eir's nerves a tiny bit. Is she mad about the clothes change? He really wasn't feeling like getting punched right now and slightly lost the colour in his face. She took a deep breathe before speaking "Do you not think you are being suspicious? Why are you so overly dressed inside a warm house!" "... Ah,je vois" he coughed once "I have to admit I failed to consider the hostility my attire may have given you, my apologies" "Will you be taking them off then? I mean, you took mine off. At least let me see you!" the Viera huffed. "you got a mask on for fucks sake!" The comment startled Eir a little bit, so direct...

"Before so, the food I have prepared is getting cold." darting to the kitchen to fill a splendid looking plate and then returning to the room, leaving a huffy Viera behind for a bit. "I would have preferred to prepare a soup of some kind for you considering the situation but this house is in dire need of re-stocking." Slowly moving over to the bed to hand over the plate which she accepted, looking at the contents a bit wide eyed. Her strawberry mid-length hair leaned a bit too much forward, she barely was in the state to easily move yet considering the damage the frost had inflicted. Eir took the ribbon that he sometimes wears out of his pocket  "May I?" he asked. A lengthy silken ribbon, Leporine stared for a little bit before nodding causing Eir to lean in a bit closer and tying up her hair in a ponytail. Alike his clothes, he himself smelled of vanilla... Not an entirely expected smell for a guy, but pleasing regardless. "This may sound foolish.." he started "but are you capable of eating by yourself? " She was a little bit lost in the scent and comfort ending up off guard. " Oh!" she blinked before trying to lift up the fork, her hands felt quite a bit numb and it was hard to twirl the pasta around it. The expression on her face turned a bit embarrassed and troubled, really now. Eir patiently watched, not sure whether he should offer or not. After few minutes of struggle he tapped his foot on the floor a bit. Maybe he should just do it. "I do not think this is efficient, I will support you but you should keep trying to move as well." Moving his hand over hers and  slowly guiding it, they still felt cold. A slight blush overcame her face but it was not like she had much of a choice, stupid robed vanilla man.

The food was good alright, surprisingly so. The rich and thick tomato sauce with spicy tuna, it did warm up her core quite a bit. Nova slept through the entire ordeal, or did she? Maybe she pretended to be sleeping for the comfort of her master, do fey even need sleep? It's been a few minutes since he left the house again, she realized neither of them had introduced themselves yet. ... How awkward. Shifting under the sheets a bit, wondering to herself why she was acting so odd. Maybe it's because she feels sick? The sleeves on the blouse he put on her unrolled itself somehow, the Viera spend a little bit of time trying to roll them back up before smiling a bit satisfied.

She rolled to her side so she could look out of the window, so much snow. It was calming to watch, the house was in a nice spot just by itself and nothing directly threatening around it. The rooms were dead silent, only leaving the noise of a howling snow storm that slightly vibrated the windows. A solid exploration of the house was needed, but her current state led her unable to and the comfort of warmth led her to slowly drift off into a sleep.

Dear Halone, the Jeweled Crozier was as busy as ever. 1...2..3..4! 4 bags, this should be enough. Ingredients to make bread and pastries, bunch of canned soup and powder to make hot chocolate. That's it for the food, rest are things like soap and other requirements. This should last for a good while. His delighted walk was stopped for a second, why did he enjoy this so much? Maybe it's Corsair's habits rubbing off on him. He sure wished he could teleport, so many bags and still had to pick up some other belongings from the inn. Darting through the inn, swiftly thanking the inn keeper for his hospitality before moving out with 6 bags total. It looked rather silly and he could practically roll all the way as his mammet chases his steps.

The hands of time had moved three hours before he got back into the house again. Tips of his hair were frozen solid through the storm but the warmth of the house would soon de-freeze them.

Passing by the bedroom door, he put down his bags and slowly opened it to check on the Viera. Not trusting whether she's asleep or worse he quickly checked her pulse in case of rewarming collapse. It is an odd heartbeat still, he should probably try to get some warm drinks.

"Who is this?" Rose, the mammet asked. Hopping on the bed. "Someone in need of assistance, in simple terms." The question made Eir's gaze turn to his assistant. "... You let a complete stranger  in your house without asking who they are?" she replied to his answer in a robotic voice, nearly seeming mocking causing Eir to roll his eyes and return to his watch over the stranger. "She does not appear to be capable of any harm yet." "Yet? Are you projecting your adoration for animals onto her?", "I don't think any lady would appreciate such." The comment was met with silence and him moving out of the room. Little did they know the noise woke up Leporine a while ago, pretending to be sleeping afterwards. Not sure what kind of environment she ended up into.

Heating up milk while unpacking all that had been bought, placing it in the storage or cabinets required. The clock hit a quarter before eleven, the sun went down long ago and stars shone brightly outside. The heating was turned up even more, despite the storm having ceased for a while it will return soon. He finally took off his cloak freeing his face, it will get in the way while making dough after all. After having prepared the dough and stuffed it into the storage to rest, Eir mixed the cacao with the now ready milk. Pouring the hot chocolate into two cups before moving into the bed room trying his best not to spill, he always puts too much food into everything.

The words lingered in her head, "capable of any harm yet"? It did not quite sit her right, seeing how it was an odd thing to say. And that part of the projecting too! Whatever the mechanical voice was, it was at least right about something. The whole thing irritated her, if this guy is looking down on her she sure as hell will show him something when she's recovered. The whole thing left her grumpy covered in pillows and sheets.

She could care less about the footsteps approaching for now. In her grumpy mood she wiggled herself under the sheets fully, leaving her ears only to be stuck out. Eir entered the room full of focus, nearly spilling the drinks at the sight of her bunny ears. He thought it was rather amusing, seemingly. "Not the most efficient at playing hide and seek, are you?" he says when he successfully puts down both cups, they were way too hot. A muffled "hmp." could be heard from under the sheets. "One moment, if you will." the Raen darted through rooms yet again, in the search for some cinnamon and whipped cream that he bought. Scooping some into a small bowl before bringing it back into the room and putting the whipped cream on the hot chocolate. "Haven't piqued your interests yet?" , "It's hot chocolate~, not sure if you are able to smell it through that fortress of comfort." he playfully chirped. "Not everyone is a sweet tooth, you know." a soft reply sounded from the girl. In response he pouted slightly. "I'd suppose so, but it's here regardless." looking down as her ears moved a tiny bit. "Well, fine."  Leporine attempted to get the sheets off her, by the God they were heavy against her weakened body. The Au Ra silently made a smug face at the sight before helping her to get them off her. "I am informing you this is a poor attempt at hide and seek." The comment struck her nerves as she tried to shift herself up before she looks up into his now revealed face. "I am really not impressed by your--- .. Oh."

#leporine #eir #Is that a knife in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? #journal #i might continue it lol #long post #eir stop running ur gonna trip and fall #they're like 17 years old here #so it's before he got horribly fucked up