#they’re siblings of course they’d have silly and or mean names for each other on their phones
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They’ve been ✨Reunited✨
*insert shenanigans*
#they’re siblings of course they’d have silly and or mean names for each other on their phones#Pokémon#Pokémon emmet#Pokémon ingo#joltik#my art
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The Vessel Project - Sociable [Heket 1]
(read on Ao3 here)
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So it’s my turn to recount events now? Sure, why not.
The younger me would have been jumping for joy at this opportunity--and that’s not to say I dislike doing this, not at all! It’s just…
Well, my feelings aren’t particularly relevant at the moment. Let’s get back to the point.
So, Narinder left us off right when we had all first met, okay.
If I recall correctly, after he had introduced himself…
------------------------
“Narinder? Ooooh, that’s such a cool name!” I gasped, unable to keep myself from clapping my hands a little. “Well, it’s nice to meet you--All of you, actually!”
I looked to the other three with my usual big smile, oblivious to the fact nobody was really returning it. But I didn’t really care.
As a child, socializing was just second nature to me. I had many siblings, and no shortage of conversation partners or playmates. The concept of ‘restraint’ just wasn’t in my best interest.
The other four certainly seemed various levels of reserved, too, so I sort of hoped by expressing my energy a bit more, they’d lighten up. After all, we had each been selected for what was obviously a big deal in our orders. We should be happy!
“Can’t say the sentiment is shared, considering after tonight, we will be on different sides of the battlefield.” Shamura said, rolling all four of their eyes--That was a cool trick! Could all spiders do that? I recall wishing I had four eyes in the moment, because I wanted to do that as well.
“Why, though?” Leshy suddenly asked, taking everyone else by surprise again. He sure did a lot of staring and not much talking, but when he did talk, it was when nobody expected him to!
“I mean… All of the sects--Chaos, Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death, they’re all lumped under the ‘Old Faith.’” He continued. “If they’re all different parts of the same thing, why don’t they get along?”
“That’s a good question.” Narinder said quietly from his spot, and I nodded along, seeing Leshy’s point.
“Perhaps they were, once,” Shamura spat. “But when things are compartmentalized, it is their nature to branch off and become their own thing. It is a natural progression.”
“Compart… Mental…?” Leshy asked with a tilt of his head.
Shamura sighed and rubbed their face.
“I hate talking to children.”
“Um, but you’re a kid, too?” I couldn’t help but laugh.
“A teen, actually.” They corrected, squinting at me, which only made me laugh more. It was silly, how much they seemed like their bishop.
“Whatever you say, I guess.” I snorted, before turning back to Narinder. “Say, I gotta ask… What’s the Death sect like?”
“Huh?” Narinder’s ears stood up straight, which I found quite cute. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not an evil cult that sacrifices young and old alike, is it?” I pressed. I had heard all manner of haunting stories from adults in my village, who spoke of Michael as an omen of destruction. Some had even told me he drank the blood of naughty froglings who didn’t go to bed on time! Though… That one may have just been to get me to behave.
“Of course it isn’t!” He stammered, fur standing on end as he frowned. “Nobody dies of anything but natural occurrences. Sacrifice is forbidden.”
“Forbidden?” I echoed. “Why would it be forbidden?”
“Lord Michael said that…” Narinder began, voice starting to shake as everyone fixed their eyes on him. “To give up one’s life just to prove your devotion was an affront to Death itself. You can only die once, and it is much more meaningful to accept what fate has in store for you than to claim you know better.”
We were all quiet for a moment, unsure what to make of his logic. I certainly didn’t understand it at the time, because sacrifice was commonplace in Phanuel’s order, and from what I had heard, was a practice in the other sects as well.
“Michael’s wrong.” I finally said, having uncharacteristically considered my words for a moment. “Sacrifice is probably the ultimate way to prove yourself.”
“Under Lord Raziel’s domain, traitors are sacrificed without hesitation.” Shamura said matter-of-factly. “If they shed their loyalty, then we take it back by force, with their last breath. Death is the ultimate punishment.”
“Um… Lord Verchiel says there’s a certain splendor in death.” Kallamar said slowly. “And when sickness crops up, if we show him a death that meets his standards, he heals us. Death is an amusement, really, to him, at least.”
“We see all deaths as sacrifice in the Darkwood.” Leshy mumbled. “Death could happen at any moment. We just don’t know.”
“And as for Lord Phanuel, He…” I started, looking at where my hands rested on the table. “He says that even when dead, bodies have use. The meat feeds creatures, the bones feed the earth. By sacrificing yourself, you open yourself up to become much more useful than you could have been alive. Giving up one’s body is the highest form of devotion.”
We all sat in silence after sharing these perspectives, looking to Narinder, who had shrunk down into his shoulders as we spoke. I wonder how it felt, to be told just how wrong your teachings were.
I could certainly see the perspectives from the others, though the idea of death being a ‘punishment’ didn’t exactly sit right with me either. But at least they all agreed that sacrifice was a natural part of worship.
It made me a bit concerned for Narinder, really. He definitely didn’t seem like a normal kid, and Michael’s teachings must have been giving him a really skewed perspective of the world.
“Anyway,” I then said, not wanting to dwell on that topic and make the cat feel any worse about his faulty logic, “Could you at least tell us a bit more about this temple, Mury?”
“What did you just say?” Shamura’s flabbergasted face made me grin. Had they never had a nickname before?
“You know, Mury! It’s a nickname for Shamura, ‘cause that’s a bit of a mouthful. And Kallamar, I could call you Kal if you want!”
“Lord Verchiel says nicknames obscure the beauty of one’s full name.”
“And yet he calls you ‘Opal’ when your real name is-”
“Like I said!” Kallamar interrupted. “He does it for everyone in the upper ranks, and it’s the rules, so I’m fine with it, really. R-Really, please stop calling me Kallamar. Opal is fine…”
He stared down at the table, starting to fiddle with his robe as bright red shimmered onto his skin.
“I say go along with what Opal wants.” Shamura huffed. “Lest you get accused of trying to convert him.”
Oh dear, I didn’t want to do that! For starters, that wasn’t my job, and who knows how angry Verchiel would get if he thought I was trying to take away his disciple on Lord Phanuel’s behalf!
“Sure, Opal! Whatever you want.” I said with a smile.
“As for the temple,” Shamura said, “I’m not letting any of you step away from this table. Who knows what sort of sabotage and subterfuge you all could get up to in the library!”
“Well, if this place is a library, I’d probably find a dictionary, so I can know what ‘subterhuge’ means.” Leshy mumbled.
“Subter fuge. ” Shamura hissed. “There’s an F in it! It’s spelled S-U-B-T-E-R-F-U-G-E.”
“Then why isn’t it pronounced, ‘sub-ter-fudge?’” Kallamar asked.
As Shamura started to tremble with anger, I looked back to Narinder, only to deflate a bit when I caught sight of him.
He was crying. He held his arms like he was giving himself a hug, and stared down at the ground as tears wet his cheeks. From what I could tell, he was doing his best not to make any noise, as he shook now and then with silent sobs.
“Hey…” I managed, moving over to him, though he recoiled away.
I left the other three to their squabbling as I focused on Narinder. Guilt was already lumping up in my throat, and I hated it when people were upset… Especially because of me.
“I didn’t mean to…” I started, but was unable to think of what I didn’t mean to do.
‘To tell you your bishop is wrong’? No, I still believed Michael was wrong about sacrifice. But… that was the only thing I could think of that Narinder might have been upset about.
“You all think I’m weird.” He managed, making me freeze up a bit. “Don’t you?”
“Of course not!” I insisted, clenching my fists. While he certainly wasn’t a typical kid, I didn’t think that was weird. I knew all sorts of kids! Not all of them are gonna be the same!
“I do.” Shamura said from the other side of the table. “I’ve never heard of any kid following Michael, that’s for sure.”
“Hey, don’t-” I started, only to be cut off.
“You really look up to him, it seems like.” Leshy commented. “Defending his views on sacrifice, and all. But worshiping Death itself… Isn’t normal.”
“I don’t worship it!” Narinder insisted, raising his head to show his reddened eyes. “I respect it! That’s what Lord Michael told me from the start, it’s not something to be worshiped, it’s-”
“Then why even have a sect at all?” Shamura probed. “Why be part of the Faith, and why involve himself in the business of the other bishops? Lord Raziel says Michael thinks he knows better than the other bishops, always telling them what to do and calling their ideas stupid, well-”
“ CUT IT OUT! ” I bellowed, stomping my foot so hard the table rattled. My loud voice probably hurt everyone’s ears--No! No, I didn’t care at that moment, because they weren’t cutting Narinder any slack!
“Can’t you see he’s crying? He doesn’t need any more of your dumb questions, Shamura!”
“All I’m doing is pointing out the inconsistency in his faith!” Shamura growled in return. “Lord Raziel says to think critically of outside information, and--”
“ ‘Lord Raziel says’ this, ‘Lord Raziel says’ that, are there any thoughts of your own in that brain of yours, or is it all--” I started to shout back, anger overtaking me. My retort didn’t get to finish, however, as I was cut off by a noise from the door to the main temple chamber.
A horrific screech, like shattering glass mixed with a dying owl, sounded from past the doorway, making all of us freeze. Though most of us hesitated to move, I could see out of the corner of my eye that Kallamar had gone sheet white.
“L-Lord Verchiel!” He managed, finally bringing himself to move to the door.
As he hurried, another scream, this one more guttural and ragged, let loose. It was Narinder’s turn to realize who it belonged to, as his fur stood on end before he darted after Kallamar.
Shamura, Leshy, and I remained where we were, both unsure if we should follow and worried we may hear the sounds of our own bishops. Finally, curiosity overcame me, and I began to move as well, hearing Shamura and Leshy’s footsteps close behind me.
The first thing I saw was blood on the floor. The crimson color was off-putting in the pale light of the moon, and I desperately looked around the scene for details to distract me.
The trail of red was distinct, forming a clear traced line from Verchiel’s taloned feet to Michael’s hunched form. The bishop of Pestilence looked absolutely livid , tense as if prepared to make another strike.
None of the other bishops looked surprised, or even interested in what was happening before them, let alone enough to intervene. They merely looked down at where Michael kneeled, waiting for his response.
Michael was on his knees, neck drooping so his head lay on the ground. The Red Crown had been knocked from his brow, laying a few inches away from his head, the eye staring up at the bright moon. I could see him breathing heavily, but it took me a moment to realize that some of the red on his robe was not, in fact, part of the usual design.
Verchiel had struck him in the neck, sending a spray of blood down to stain his robe and the floor. I could hear his haggard breathing from where I stopped, halfway between the door and the perimeter of the moonlight. Narinder stood just a bit in front of me, frozen in shock and horror.
“You dare mock my decisions as a bishop, when you can hardly call yourself one! I will not let such insults stand.” Verchiel hissed, oblivious to our arrival.
“Hah… You’re angry because I’m correct, though.” Michael responded, voice twisted into a hard to decipher croak.
“ I should kill you right now. ” Verchiel said, voice so venomous it sent chills up my spine.
“I’m not afraid of empty threats.” Michael managed, before he started to move. Slowly, with everyone’s eyes locked on him, he pulled himself to his feet, standing straight despite the ghastly wound. He picked up the crown, setting it on his head as if nothing had happened.
“You won’t kill me.”
“And just how do you know that?” Verchiel asked with a tilt of his head. “The strike just was a warning. But I could go further.”
“Because,” Michael replied, head now turning so he looked into the shadows, right where Narinder and I were standing. “I know how I am going to die.”
He then turned around, ignoring Verchiel’s enraged growl.
“Come, Narinder. We’re leaving now.”
Narinder twitched upon hearing his name, but took a moment to actually hurry after Michael, scampering as fast as he could. Before the pair stepped out of the large temple doors, I saw Narinder clutching worriedly to Michael’s robe, looking up to him and asking a question I could not hear.
And then they were gone.
“That serpent…” Verchiel grumbled after a moment of silence had passed. He turned his attention downward, immediately set on smoothing out any wrinkles in his robe. “Forcing me to get my talons dirty with his blood. This will be hell to wash off.”
“The children are back.” Raziel noted indifferently, having seen where Michael had looked and catching sight of the rest of us. “I suppose with that little outburst, along with how late it is, we should probably disperse as well.”
“Fine by me.” Lord Phanuel huffed, not needing to be told twice. “Heket.”
I jumped to attention when I heard my name, and began to stride after Lord Phanuel as He went to the door. I risked a glance back, but didn’t see much else aside from the other disciples heading towards their bishops.
“If I may ask, My Lord,” I began, looking back to Lord Phanuel. “What did Michael say?”
“The truth.” Lord Phanuel responded casually. I liked that about Him. He didn’t beat around the bush, and was honest about things when you asked. He kept no complicated secrets.
“Michael had said Verchiel was self-obsessed to the point of being so far up his ass, he couldn’t see the ruin Anchordeep was falling to. Verchiel didn’t like that, of course, so he, well…”
“Will Michael be okay? N-Not that I care, but that kind of wound…”
Okay, the caring thing was a bit of a lie. Even if I didn’t agree with his views on death, I didn’t want Narinder to be without a bishop, that’s all.
“The crowns impart abilities to the wearer that can prove beneficial, though it varies with each crown.” He explained. “The Red Crown allows its wearer to endure much more than would otherwise be possible.”
Wow…
“Unfortunately, there was not much to glean from tonight’s discussion.” He then scoffed. “The others bickered, as usual, and it was mainly Raziel who was focused on the project.”
“Do you know what’s out there, past the border of the Old Lands?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Lord Phanuel was quiet as was continued to walk. Normally, He would have opened a portal by now, but we were already out of sight of the temple, and still moving on foot.
“Wouldn’t that be something for you to find out?” He finally asked, glancing at me.
“Oh, um… I suppose that makes sense.” I apologized.
Right, if I were to be His chosen disciple, I’d be the one going out to explore and claim new land for Him, just like He had explained when He had first selected me.
But thinking on things, I was just so amazed by how big the world was. As a toddler, Anura seemed to sprawling and vast. Then I learned of the other territories of the Old Lands, and it all seemed so overwhelming. To hear there was probably even more out there, well…
“Speaking of you finding things out.” Lord Phanuel said, stopping in His tracks to look at me. “What did you learn of the other children?”
“Hm? Well…” I stopped beside Him, putting a hand to my chin as I thought. I had definitely learned a lot about each of the others, but I knew Lord Phanuel well enough to know not everything was going to be to His interest.
“Raziel’s disciple, Shamura, is very loyal. They were saying a lot of stuff Raziel had told them, and wouldn’t let us look around the room we were waiting in.”
“Figured that much.” He said with a roll of His eyes. “Kid’ll probably tear out their own heart if she told them to.”
“Seemed like it…” I said, doing my best to block out the disturbing imagery. “I wasn’t sure what to make of Zuriel’s disciple, Leshy. He was very quiet. But as for Kalla-er.. I mean, Opal…”
“Go ahead, say his real name.”
“Kallamar… I tried calling him that for a bit, but eventually he wanted me to go back to calling him Opal, ‘cause it was the ‘rules’ or something…”
Phanuel let out a loud snort at this, a brief instance of amusement on His face. He quickly suppressed it, however, and returned to His typical deadpan expression.
“Verchiel sees others as little more than toys. You no doubt saw the results of xer explosive temper. This ‘Opal’ likely fears that.”
“Probably…” I agreed quietly.
“What about the cat?” He then asked, making me pause.
“Narinder?”
“Michael called him that as well, so I’m assuming that’s his name. Yes, I mean him. Michael never said anything about taking on a disciple. It was a surprise for all of us to see the boy there in the temple.” Lord Phanuel explained.
“Well…” I thought a bit, wondering what I should pass along to Lord Phanuel. “Honestly, I’m… Worried about him.”
“How so?”
“He was talking about how sacrifice is an affront to Death itself. Whatever Michael is teaching him, it’s giving him such a backwards view of the world. He wasn’t really like any of the other kids, either. While Leshy didn't talk much to begin with, what little he said was at least appropriate. Narinder, meanwhile…”
Lord Phanuel remained quiet, staring down the craggy path that lay before us. After a few moments, He finally raised His head, making a motion with His beak so an angular black hole appeared before us.
He stepped into it, dropping downwards as if descending a staircase, and I quickly followed suit.
“Michael is a dangerous one, to be sure. I’ve no idea what his plans are for that boy, but they cannot be good. If things get too bad, perhaps we can intervene.”
“Really?” I asked. I certainly liked the idea of helping Narinder… He seemed like a kind boy, warped views aside.
“It is a mere consideration.” He insisted, tone firm, though not overly so. “For now, we will leave them to their devices. When we return to the temple, you are to go straight to your sleeping quarters. Tomorrow, we will formally begin your training.”
“Yes, My Lord. Thank you, My Lord.”
#usurper au#ch5#blood cw#(no seriously quite a bit and there's a single image dedicated to it)#violence cw#michael#verchiel#raziel#phanuel#shamura#leshy#kallamar#heket#narinder
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Sometimes my silly little thoughts at 1 am abt redacted characters get me excited, so here’s what I’ve been thinking: Morgan’s listener (bc I think they have SO MUCH potential), Angel, and Freelancer edition
Morgan’s listener, Angel, and Freelancer are all siblings. Angel and Freelancer share the same parents while Morgan’s listener has a different Dad.
Morgan’s listener came from a very short-lived relationship between their mom and dad, hence why (headcanon they’re the eldest of the 3) there’s such a large age gap between them like I’m talking they were 11-12 when Angel was born and 16-17 when Freelancer was born.
Morgan’s listener skipped town the day after their 18th birthday and hasn’t spoken to their family since for “unknown reasons” (cough ‘seer’ cough). Angel doesn’t really remember them but doesn’t ask abt them bc the family obviously pretends they don’t exist and BECAUSE of that, Freelancer has no idea that Morgan’s listener was even alive.
They came back after several years (and after learning more abt their powers) and found a job at a small coffee shop. This just so happens to be the same coffee shop where Angel and David met, and guess who just so happened to be working that same day the 2 introduced themselves to each other! Yup, Morgan’s listener!! Imagine their shock seeing their little sibling fully grown now, (bc it’s just been that long), and now horrendously?? flirting?? With?? Someone??
That same month guess who stops by for a drink with one too many shots of espresso? Yea you guessed it, Freelancer! And guess who takes their order? Yup! You know who. Morgan’s listener takes a while to recognize them (I mean, the last time they saw FL was when they were a literal infant) until they ask for a name for the order. Here’s what I think happened within 60 seconds.
“Can I get a name for that order?”
“Yea, of course!” *FL drops very familiar name and ML’s heart sinks*
A couple seconds go by:
FL: “Hey I know I don’t know you but you look a lot like my sibling and I…kinda like our mom too…..super weird! We should take a picture, I think they’d love it.”
ML: “….Yea, uh, super weird. Um, I don’t know abt the photo man, sorry. Let me get your order for you though.”
And before FL can say anything, there goes ML running off into the back. It’s odd and leaves FL with a sour taste in their mouth but they can’t just help but think they’ve met this person before. And what’s worse, is that FL feels like this is the second time they’re letting them down.
And for the first time ever, Morgan’s listener regrets leaving.
#redacted asmr#redacted headcanons#redacted listener#redacted angel#redacted freelancer#redacted morgan#UMMM LOL#IDK WHAT THIS TURNED INTO AT THE END BUT I LIKE IT ALOT#please please oleaseeeee feel free to expand
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Headcanons about each of the lords (+the Duke if you're writing about him) if they ever happen to adopt a little child?
THANK YOU ANON MY THE UNIVERSE BLESS YOU WITH PILLOWS THAT ARE COLD ON BOTH SIDES
okay okay okay okay this has definitely been on my mind so lets get into the thick of it
Alcina Dimitrescu
(im starting off with alcina for obvious reasons)
Alcina would be on the way to the church with the slimy moron, the demented doll, that disgusting manthing and Mother Miranda
She'd kiss her daughters goodbye and head off through the snow, quietly muttering about how cold her ankles were
while Moreau is literally up to his chin in snow but its fine
as she gets closer to the church she keeps hearing this. thing. it sounded familiar but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it.
she strays from the path to find it because it was just so familiar
as she weaves her way through the snow, her dress gets caught on something. she leans down to get her dress unstuck when she realises its this tiny basket.
like seriously. just a little woven basket in the middle of the snow. and it doesn't look like its been there for that long- there's hardly any snow on it
when she tugs at her skirts again, the basket makes the same noise she's been hearing
she stands back up to her full height, staring down at the basket with narrowed eyes
this cannot be a good idea, can it? opening a strange basket in the woods after being lured out here. it's probably some village manthing's trap.
she's about to step away when she hears the sound again- much more intense and much more clear
Alcina leans down and opens the lid of the basket
inside is this tiny thing- all soft and warm in a padding of blankets
a baby
she stands and looks around
who on earth would be so moronic as to leave their baby in the snow? it's much too cold for a baby to survive-
oh
she sighs, getting onto her knees to pull the baby from the blanketed basket
the meeting will have to wait. it's too cold even in the church for this tiny thing.
when she finally makes it back home, she's greeted by her daughters in a swarm of buzzing flies.
as they manifest in their true forms, they're asking what- or who, rather- their mother brought for dinner
Alcina smiles and shakes her head, unwrapping the small bundle clinging to her breast
"this... is your new sibling" she announces, "they'll be staying with us from now on."
and the sisters are ecstatic. a new sibling!
Daniela especially is happy that she is no longer the youngest. she usually is the one to parade around the castle with her sibling on her shoulders, showing them the coolest hiding spots for hide-n-seek and the windows with the best views
Bela is incredibly protective. like. incredibly.
she smelt blood from across the castle and when she found her little sibling sniffling about a skinned knee earned from a game of tag with Angie, she lost her shit and almost broke the damned thing with her sickle
And Cassandra has been caught reading bedtime stories by nightlight multiple times. she tries to play it off but everyone knows that she loves- absolutely adores- her newest sibling
we all know Alcina is such a wonderful mother to the girls so adding another baby to the mix was a guaranteed success
she's so doting and careful (a little overprotective at times but she means well) as she is with her girls
as the child grows into a teen, she panics a bit because "my beautiful baby is growing into such a beautiful, talented adult" so expect a lot of late night visits when she just sits on the edge of her bed and just admires how much you've grown
Salvatore Moreau:
now this one is an easy one too if i'm 100% honest
think Moses type beat
(if you don't know, Moses was found in the riverbank in a little basket)
apparently i really like baskets
anyways
Moreau was so out of his element when he found this tiny, screaming, writhing piece of soft flesh
the first few weeks were rough
but he eventually got the hang of it (with Alcina's help of course)
he would take his child fishing every now and then- just the two of them out on a boat for a few hours
the kid would literally swim more than walk and that little fact would make Moreau so freakin proud
also this kid would be so well-versed in movie and film history it's stupid
like expect this little 4 or 5 year old babbling not about toys or snow or how many sticks they found but instead about the copyright war over the film Nosferatu and the destruction of its copies
Moreau, as the child gets older (like 11 or 12) would have just a tad of trouble trying to keep the kid out of the village
he'd wake up one day and go out onto the lake, expecting his child to be swinging their legs off the dock and watching the sun rise over the water
and when he finds that they were not, in fact, swinging their legs off the dock and watching the sun rise over the water, he p a n i c s
i mean, full blown red alert
all of the lords are summoned to help Moreau look for his missing kid, the lycans are given an article of clothing to help find the scent, Mother Miranda goes to search the village herself- the whole shebang
and when the kid is found playing with the village children, Moreau bursts into tears
needless to say, the kid isn't allowed to go to the village anymore
until they're fifty (Moreau's words, of course)
but the kid sneaks off more and more as they get older, using Alcina or Donna or Karl as an excuse to be away
and Moreau knows but he never says a word
seeing his child happy and free with the kids their age makes him happy, even if he is a tad, a tad, a tad bit nervous
Donna Beneviento:
when Donna found this child huddled up against the base of the stairs leading up to her front door, she at first thought it was a doll of hers
it was only when she actually walked outside that she realised it was this shaking, shriveled child in tattered clothes
she spent a good five minutes just staring, wondering how on earth she's supposed to react
that's when Angie jumped in and pulled at her skirt, telling her to "let the kid inside, already!"
Donna went immediately to work on some clothes- why on earth were they wearing such ragged things?! it's freezing outside!- while Angie entertained in the parlour
honestly, it didn't go well
the kid was a little bit unsettled by the floating doll that moved and spoke on its own FOR GOOD REASON
and when Donna walked back in with her measurement tape and some fabric, the kid backed themselves into a corner of the room with their gangly legs tucked into their chest
Angie sighs from the opposite side of the room, letting her little feet fidget as she gestures to the kid. "they're no fun" she pouts, "wouldn't even let me know their name"
Donna puts her materials down slowly and lifts her veil back before attempting a small smile
it takes a while but upon the offer of food, the kid finally lets Donna make them some clothes while Angie makes conversation
she works in silence, only offering small awkward smiles
Angie finally brings up the topic of where their parents are when the kid's clothes are done
when the child goes silent, Donna nods in understanding before hurrying off to make a room for them
as Angie helped tug the blankets up to the child's ears, they promised they'd be gone in the morning
Angie was the one to tell them off.
"You'll stay as long as you need, you silly goose!"
and the child did
Donna would let them tag along for meetings so long as they promised to keep quiet and help keep Angie out of trouble
most of the time, it didn't work and they both would end up in trouble but Donna let them come nonetheless
and when the other Lords question where on earth this little kid came from- all dressed in black fabric that matched Donna's dress, she just shook her head and let Angie chase them off verbally
she'd spend literal HOURS locked in that workshop making new little friends for her child and when they were old enough, she'd let them into the workshop
and when they were even older, she'd walk them through making their very first doll on their own
she'd just watch with pride as they carefully painted the freckles with a shaky hand while Angie danced around their ankles singing of how excited she was to have another friend
The Duke:
he would be setting up shop near the base of the Dimitrescu castle when he catches a kid trying to steal some his wares
he wouldn't be terribly upset, more concerned
it wasn't something shiny or expensive that they were trying to steal
it was some of the steaming-hot food he had left to cool in the wintry air
he confronted the child gently and with a warm smile
"That's cordon bleu," he says, gesturing to the steaming plate. "I can make you some if you'd like"
and as the child eats, the Duke continues tidying up his shop for any future customers
the child, through a mouthful of food, points to different items and asks their purpose, their price, their possible enhancements
the Duke answers each question with patience, happy for the company
but he doesn't just let the questions go one-way
"How about a trade?" he asks as the child asks about the strange-looking bottle of green liquid. "An answer for an answer."
the child agrees and the Duke starts to peel back layers of why the child was here looking for food
they had been orphaned by the last lycan attack, only barely making it out by fleeing into the woods
they tried to forage off of berry bushes and successfully managed to kill a pig- only for the blood to attract lycans before they could properly eat it
the Duke nods and continues busying himself with his shop, feeding the horse that pulls the wagon
the thought had hit him when he watched the child petting his horse
that horse hated everyone. including him at times.
maybe...
when he offered to take the child in, the kid nearly burst into tears and thanked him repeatedly, swearing to earn their keep
and they did, seven times over
what started off as a purely business venture morphed into something more as time went on
when the child would come back from selling smaller household items like gasoline and the occasional package of bullets, the Duke would have them climb onto the roof of the wagon and watch the sun set together with a plate of food
speaking of which, like Moreau, the Duke would raise the most cultured child
this kid would know how to prepare and identify different dishes and their ingredients just by looking at them or smelling them
and their palate would be far more sophisticated than most adults
the Duke, as the child gets older, would eventually allow them to choose destinations to set up shop- even outside of the village
wherever his child wants, the shop would go
it allows them to see the world and its earthly wares together- something the Duke had lacked in his life before the child was brought into the picture
Karl Heisenberg:
listen to me very very carefully
this man would be the most chaotic father ever to walk this earthly realm
when he finds this kid in the elevator of his factory, he's kinda standing there like 🧍 "what the hell-"
and when the kid starts spamming the button while maintaining eye contact, he kinda snaps out of it and starts chasing after them as they drop down to a different floor
it goes on for a solid twenty minutes before he finally managed to track them down in the corner of his office
and when i say this man is confused, i freaking mean it
i mean
why the HELL would some random kid be in his factory? don't they like... play with ponies or something at this age?
to be fair, this man literally has never been allowed a childhood so
obviously he starts scolding the kid ("what the hell are you doin' in here? it's dangerous and there's some really freaky shit here, kid"), dragging them to a nearby sink because "holy shit kid, you're filthy"
the kid is silent essentially the whole time, just kinda staring into his eyes
and of course Karl's gonna be like "...the fuck're you doin'?"
the kid's face is cleaned off and Karl sends them back out towards the village with a scratchy blanket he pulled out of the bottom of his desk drawer
he's working on his 'equipment' one day when he starts reaching for a wrench, keeping his focus on the body on the table
when i say this man jumps skyhigh at the kid asking a question, i mean it
he drags the kid back out, yelling about how dangerous it is and how "you shouldn't do that! you're gonna get yourself killed! go back home!"
the kid doesn't listen
it becomes a regular thing- Karl finds the kid wandering around the factory, Karl brings the kid out of danger, Karl tells them to get lost
eventually (day thirteen of this) he asks why the child keeps coming back
and he hates the answer he gets
it was something along the lines of "it's warm and there's nowhere else for me to go"
so Karl reluctantly eagerly lets them stay
it's a lot of rules at first (a kid shouldn't be allowed to just wander around a bunch of mindless cyborg killers, let alone a factory) but eventually the child learns to mind Sturm and the others
doesn't mean Karl does not have a fullblown heart attack when he walks into his workspace to find the kid tracing their finger along the center of the battery for the Soldats
after a very long talk (and some deep breathing) Karl reluctantly eagerly lets them sit against the very far wall to watch him work on the machinery- not, under any circumstances, the actual bodies
as the child blossoms into a young adult, they start to help out with certain aspects of Karl's work
exclusively machinery because Karl could not physically handle having his kid watch him get elbow-deep into a corpse
and Karl is so freaking proud of it
when the Soldat is kicked to life, he's got his kid in his arms and cackling like the proud dad he is
yeah. paternal Heisenberg>>>
#anon ask#anon#karl heisenberg#alcina dimitrescu#donna beneviento#salvatore moreau#re8#resident evil 8#the duke#resident evil village#resident evil#resident evil village fanfiction#gender neutral#headcanons#re8 headcanons#resident evil headcanons#resident evil village headcanons#yeah i had a lot of fun with this#thank you again anon
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Rumours
Also on AO3.
Pairing: Gaara/Sakura.
Summary: Sakura overhears a spicy rumour about her relationship with Gaara and their friendship will never be the same again. GaaSaku. Canonish.
Prompt: Week 1: Dating.
Rated: T.
Words: 4,433.
Status: Complete.
Author note: My first of the weekly prompts for the tumblr GaaSaku Events. *Cross your fingers that I can do all of the ones I'm trying to finish.* Enjoy. ^_^
Warnings/tags: Just some mild angst and mentions of ShikaTema.
This is for the 2021 GaaSaku Event @gaasaku-fanfests. I seem to be posting for events late or barely on time this year. Sorry. :)
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“Sometimes your heart sees what your eyes can’t.”
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It was supposed to be just another harmless outing. Sakura often took Gaara with her when she went shopping for presents. He was so hopeless at remembering birthdays and holidays like Christmas that she was doing him a favour by dragging him around with her.
And picking out gifts from both of them.
She hadn’t really thought there was anything wrong with that. Or that anyone would read more into it than it really was. Of course, the Kazekage spending time with a foreign kunoichi would get everyone’s attention, but like all exciting new things it would get old, and they’d soon move onto other things.
This was why, all these months on from their first public shopping outing, Sakura was still brushing off the curious glances as she pulled Gaara along, by the sleeve of his work robes. Twelve months she’d been in Suna. Six were spent aiding in a joint training of medical personnel as a part of a healing exchange program to further relations, and then eight weeks as the head of the hospital because Gaara was adamant nobody was doing it better. The last four months had been her lazy months, which consisted of her usual physical training regimen but also acting like a tourist and dragging Gaara along for the ride. So just what she’d been doing before, minus the teaching and hospital visits. Sakura had already achieved what she’d set out to do in this mission, but it hadn’t even crossed her mind to cut her time here short.
And she was finally used to being a constant source of scrutiny for the people of Wind. So here she was, for the second time this week, dragging Gaara out of his office on the rare occasion that he didn’t have either a shit load of paperwork or overdue training of his own to do.
The retailer looked up at them as they stepped into her shop, then smiled and bowed lightly.
“Welcome, Lord Kazekage. Haruno-san.”
“Kitana-san,” Sakura addressed her quickly before tugging on Gaara. He obediently followed and as usual, she did not notice the knowing smile of the elderly woman as she led the redhead around. Her eyes perused the rows of trinkets instead. They were supposed to be getting an engagement present for Temari and Shikamaru. It had been three weeks since the date for their party had been announced and nothing seemed to be good enough.
“Maybe we should get them each a present,” she thought out loud. “What do you think, Gaara?”
His eyes widened slightly. “One from each of us?”
“No, I mean one each from both of us.” He still looked confused. “A total of two presents,” she added, and he nodded. She didn’t remark on how he had stiffened and then relaxed at her words. Gaara was just weird like that.
“Ino got them a weird sex toy,” she said, rubbing her cheek with her finger as Gaara’s face turned pink. “Uh, and I think Hinata said she wanted to get her some wind scrolls.” Her friends’ letters had been all over the place. Everyone was excited that Temari and Shikamaru had finally gotten official and were moving their relationship forward.
“I…uh.” He crossed his arms over his chest, which was actually more of a nervous habit for him these days. “Well… we can do better.”
She giggled and locked arms with him. “Of course. I was thinking,” she said as they moved through the shop slowly. “Temari’s always gotta pretend to be this tough, warrior woman. But I’ve smelled the candles coming from her room. I was thinking of bath salts, but it isn’t a good gift for Shikamaru. But that was before this whole individual gift idea.”
Gaara thought that Shikamaru could use a decent salt bath. They could use it together. The idea of it made him blush and he pointedly avoided eye contact with Sakura as she babbled on about clothes accessories. Apparently, Shikamaru had once confessed to her that he thought belts were interesting.
“Maybe bath salts and candles.” Gaara said, interrupted her gushing about the embroidery on a handmade belt. “His & Hers style.”
Sakura squeezed his arm affectionately. “Brilliant idea.”
She pulled him along gently, not needing to tug too hard because he was fine with following her lead. This shop was mostly popular among young women and older couples. Their wares ranged from scented candles to antique dolls and handmade clothes.
“What do you think about this one?” Sakura asked, taking a strange bust off a shelf. Maybe his mind just went to stationery too quickly, but it just looked like an oversized paper weight to him.
“No good?” She asked when Gaara didn’t respond. He sighed and she tossed it aside. “Okay, next odd little smelly thing.”
He let out a light chuckle at that. Gaara pointed out a few more ideas and they half-heartedly argued over them. They picked up a few bath salts anyway, since Sakura was interested in some for herself, before leaving the story without a present for his sister and future brother-in-law.
“We’ll just have to keep looking,” Sakura said, nodding to herself as they made their way through the crowds of the downtown market. She was oblivious to the interested stares and giggling children.
Truth be told, Gaara was fine with letting Sakura make the decision for him. He hadn’t had to worry about choosing gifts for almost a year and he was happy with that. Growing up with no childhood had ensured he had little experience in the matter, but she was a good teacher when it came to social situations.
They agreed their last chance for a good gift would be the ninja resource store on the edge of the market. Such a place would normally not be in the civilian district, but the proprietors were very good at preventing civilians from buying shinobi utensils. Gaara bought an ornate spear from them two years ago that had been imported from the Land of Iron. He’d started collecting special weapons and suggested to Sakura that they have something ordered in.
It would solve the problem and save time. Not that he wasn’t enjoying himself. Gaara looked forward to these outings more than he was willing to admit out loud.
“Geez.” She hip-butted him. “You’re full of great suggestions today.”
Sakura watched as he blushed and mumbled about looking for something for himself in the shop and as he wandered away, this gave her the perfect time to sneak away. She knew full well he was collecting unique weapons and had one in mind for him. It wasn’t a gift for any special occasion, and she didn’t bother guying things for his siblings unless it was for something in particular, but Sakura couldn’t help herself with Gaara. Her friendship with him was on another level compared with Kankuro and Temari.
When it came to birthdays, Christmas, or just her wanting him to have something special, she’d long ago stopped agonising over the “what does one even buy a kage who doesn’t seem to want anything?” question. Personal gifts that showed she knew him were always well-received. He still had the katana shaped candlestick ornament that she’d bought him for his birthday, sitting in his study. Temari said he never lit it up, which to anyone who knew him, meant he loved it. It would never get used and therefore last.
Sakura kept one eye on where Gaara was in the shop at all times, and the other on the aisle of antique weapons as she perused. That was how she ended up standing in an aisle listening to two gossiping kunoichi. She’d just been minding her own business, looking over a row of ornamental kunai, when the voices carried over to her from the other side of the shelf she was leaning toward.
When she heard her own name being uttered, Sakura peered through the gaps in the shelf. They were a couple of chunin and either had below average sensory skills and didn’t notice her or didn’t care that she was eavesdropping. Sakura didn’t recognise them, so they definitely weren’t a part of the medical units she’d trained, nor did they frequent the hospital. They were also both staring off in the direction that Sakura knew Gaara to be.
The blonde giggled. "Lord Kazekage dotes on Sakura-san, it’s so cute! They just have to be dating!"
The brunette nodded. “Of course. But why haven’t they announced it?”
“Because they’re shy, silly.”
“Yeah right.”
“I’m serious. Minamo said everyone’s talking about it.”
“He’s probably still innocent I bet.”
Sakura rolled her eyes. It was so weird to hear people claiming she had a romantic relationship with Gaara while discussing whether or not he had sexual experience. But it was just a couple of awe struck chunin (and the claim of some random friend of theirs). She decided to turn away but stilled at the next line out of the blonde’s mouth.
“Maybe Sakura-san took his v-card,” the girl snickered, much to the appreciation of the other chunin. “Can you just imagine?”
Sakura flushed from head to toe, struggling to hold her composure. She didn’t want to imagine that. Her heart might just explode. Sure, Gaara was… attractive. But would she have sex with him? He was her friend. They’d never been anything other than friends.
Not that I would want more, she told herself, holding a hand to her chest.
“I bet he’d be a tender lover,” the other girl said, sighing deeply. “Haruno-san is so lucky.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” the blonde said, a devious look on her face. “I think Lord Gaara’s hit the jackpot too. Sakura-san has all that medical knowledge about the body. Imagine what she could do with it.”
“Like what?”
“Get his blood pumping. Warm him up. You know,” the blonde waggled her eyebrows and they both giggled. “She’d have him hard in no time!”
They giggled again and the brunette snorted before covering her mouth, mortified at herself.
Sakura stood there like a stunned mullet as they turned away from watching Gaara and started giggling and whispering among themselves. What the hell had she just heard?
“Sakura.”
She spun on the spot, startled. She hadn’t noticed his approaching chakra, engrossed in the conversation she was overhearing. Sakura turned beet red. He looked concerned when she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. When he made to move toward her, Sakura went into panic mode, charging at him and grabbing his arm. She ushered Gaara away, hoping he hadn’t heard any of that conversation. Knowing him, he wouldn’t even realise what they were talking about.
Gaara leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I found something special for you” and Sakura let out an involuntary sound she’d never heard before.
“Are you okay?”
Am I okay?
Two random chunin had just inserted mental images of her having sex with Gaara into her head. She was not okay. But she nodded anyway, not wanting to explain why her heart was now thumping. Blood rushing to her head. His hand fell to the small of her back. The warmth of his touch had never been more prominent than it was right now as he added a slight pressure to steer her toward the front counter. He wasn’t pushing her. Gaara never pushed her. He was always kind to her. It was so stimulating when he did that.
Feelings she’d kept buried for almost twelve months started bubbling to the surface and Sakura wasn’t prepared for the onslaught. How could she have forgotten this? Suddenly, she remembered the first time his touch had affected her. They’d known each other for years and two weeks into her long-term mission to Suna, she’d been lonely and exhausted when quite suddenly, Sakura realised those warm and fuzzies she’d been feeling were directed at a certain Kazekage. Her twenty-first birthday had come and gone, and she didn’t have any life goals other than revolutionising the medical world. It was a great goal. Professionally.
But after an innocent comment from Hinata about her love life, her birthday had gone from celebrations of “I have my whole life ahead of me” to morose “I’m going to die alone” thoughts, which were reflected in her spending the rest of the night drunk and being shadowed by Ino who was worried she might bring down a building or two, in her destructive angst.
Gaara continued to watch her as she worked through her mental problems but said nothing. He didn’t need to tell her he was concerned. It was written all over his face. It was just another thing she loved about him.
“Let me take you home,” he said. That deep voice of his made her shiver. Sakura felt her body flush again when she heard giggling behind her. (Were those girls following them now?) There was no way they hadn’t heard that.
After a few moments, he started rubbing her back in what he obviously thought was a soothing manner and she blinked heavily at him. Right. She needed to get out of here.
She cleared her throat. “Sure,” she said, her voice a little strained. Out of habit, she wrapped her arm around his. He was a lifeline as she tried to sort out her dysfunctional thoughts. The chunin girls’ conversation had opened a can of worms and she didn’t know how to put them back in.
Sakura glanced backwards in time to catch the women whispering behind their hands and staring at her and Gaara unabashedly. When had her outings with Gaara started such salacious rumours?
And more importantly: why did these people think they were dating?
.:.
“Gimme a screaming orgasm!”
Kankuro took the seat next to Sakura as she made her order to the bartender and chuckled.
“You might want to tone that drink down a little,” Kankuro said with a wink. “Gaara might get jealous.”
“Ugh!” Sakura groaned. “Not you too!”
“Whatever do you mean?”
She pointed a finger at him. “You all are talking about me behind my back. Starting rumours and talking about my sex.”
Kankuro snorted. “Your what?”
“I’m a joke, Kankuro-chan.”
“Please don’t call me that.” He grimaced.
She sighed. “What are you doing here?”
Kankuro waved a hand at the bartender. “Another screaming orgasm, please.”
Sakura snorted. “You’re getting more than I am, then.”
He chuckled. “Never delved into the local cuisine since you got here?”
Well, there was this one guy she danced and flirted with the first weekend after she started this mission, but her burgeoning feelings for the Kazekage wouldn’t let her do anything more. She wasn’t a slut and she appreciated that Gaara wasn’t one of those guys that slept around and used their testosterone to excuse it, either. So, she’d been able to settle into routine with him. Friends who gravitated toward each other. Friends who had dinner with each other (alone) quite often. Friends who decided important decisions together instead of alone. Friends who rarely had eyes for anyone else. Friends who didn’t have lives outside of each other...
She groaned and dropped her head on the bar. The awareness of her situation was painful. She wished she could go back to being oblivious. Because it was clear now that Sakura had been accidentally dating Gaara for almost twelve months. Did he know? Or was he as oblivious as her? Everyone had noticed apparently, according to two chunin and their friend. Did Kankuro and Temari know.
“I’m secretly but not secretly dating Gaara,” she mumbled. “And I didn’t know.”
Apparently, even though her face was pressed into the bar, Kankuro had heard her.
“I didn’t know it was supposed to be a secret.”
Sakura groaned again. “We’re not dating!”
“Uh-huh.” He clearly didn’t believe her. “Going back and forth then. You’re in denial.”
“Why are you here?” He didn’t respond and Sakura lifted her head up slowly. “Kankuro?”
“He’s lonely,” he said, staring into his drink thoughtfully. “I know everyone thinks Gaara’s put together and doesn’t need anything more in life than family and friends. But I know that under that oblivious and calm exterior that he’s a romantic at heart. He wants what you two have. But he just doesn’t know how to go about getting it.”
She frowned at him. His seriousness was giving her a bad feeling. Everything had come together so quickly, and she wasn’t even sure what to do with her feelings yet, let alone whatever Gaara might be feeling.
“He’s a bit clueless.”
That was an understatement. Sakura used to think he wasn’t clueless, since he often said things with such confidence that she believed he was more aware than he let on. But then moments like that day in the shop with the chunin girls and Gaara seemed completely oblivious to what was going on. She had no idea what to think of him anymore.
It was why she’d been ignoring him. She couldn’t handle the idea that he might actually return her feelings. She was a coward.
Kankuro put his drink down and patted her on the back. “Just… don’t hurt him, okay?”
Right. Easier said than done.
.:.
There were many things Gaara was good at. And so many things he sucked at.
He was proficient with multiple types of weapons and political nuances. But in matters of the heart, he found that he still hadn’t learned anything. He had no idea why Sakura was avoiding him and why his siblings were being more careful about how they talk to him. It felt like it had been back when he housed Shukaku and went on rampages.
The knock on his door startled him and Gaara debated ignoring that chakra signature out of spite but gave in and called her in.
“Gaara?”
He looked up and the slight drop in her smile told him that she’d seen the hurt in his eyes. She’d been avoiding him, and they both knew it.
“I need to tell you something.”
Gaara swallowed heavily and braced himself. Her contract in Suna had only a few weeks left but since the particulars of the mission had already been fulfilled, she was free to leave at any time, if she wanted to. This made his hear race. More than anything he didn’t want her to go. He enjoyed her company and valued her friendship. What he truly wanted from her was more than that and it had taken him months of going along with her intrusion into his life for him to realise what that “more than that” meant for him.
Gaara wanted to date her. He wanted to be doing all the things with her that Temari did with Shikamaru and that Kankuro was currently trying to do with Matsuri. And for that to happen, she had to stay in Suna.
Temari and Shikamaru are dating and he’s still living in Konoha, he begrudgingly reminded himself.
But he didn’t care.
Gaara sat back in his office chair as Sakura closed the door behind herself and shuffled her feet, twiddling her thumbs. She was nervous. And worried about his reaction. He attempted to smile and shift his body language to put her at ease. It seemed to work and before he knew it, she was approaching him with a sad smile and sitting down across the table from him.
“Gaara…”
“Does this have something to do with why you’ve been avoiding me?”
She nodded, biting her bottom lip. “I, uh… found out something. And kind of overreacted to it, got drunk, and took it out on Kankuro.”
Gaara couldn’t help the snort that accompanied a chuckle. “Story of my life.”
She smiled a little wider now. “It does seem easy to do that.”
“Did you hit him?”
“A little. In the training grounds,” she added quickly. “He’ll be fine.”
“Okay.”
She went back to twiddling her thumbs.
“You wanted to tell me something.”
Sakura nodded. “There’s no easy way to say this so I’ll just come right out and say it. The whole village thinks we’re dating.” She paused to see his reaction, but he just stared, stone faced at her. “And uh… we kind of have been.”
“All the outings and joint gift giving.” Not to mention how he treated her so preciously in public.
Sakura frowned. There was no question in his voice, just his usual factual tone. He wasn’t surprised. “You knew?”
Slowly, he nodded.
“Why… why didn’t you say anything?”
He blinked heavily and lowered his gaze to the table. Parchments were lined neatly across it as he rarely let them fall out of place. The only matter in his life that Gaara let get messy were his relationships. They were inherently messy, so he had no problem dealing with them as such. Which was why he was so anal about everything else.
“Gaara?”
Gaara didn't seem to want to explain himself.
He didn’t want to deny or confirm that he may or may not be dating the Fifth Hokage's protégé, to the public. He let the rumours spread and did nothing to quell them. Gaara had even played up to them which he’d known was wrong but couldn’t help himself. There was no way that admitting this to Sakura would go well for him. Perhaps he could inform her over time, but right now the realisation of what had been going on was too raw for her.
And she could see his hesitation for what it was. Avoidance of setting the record straight. Sakura frowned. Was it because of appearances? Or something more personal? It could be embarrassment. She knew he’d grown up with little human contact, none of which would’ve prepared him for adult relationships. It left him in the lurch for so many important social interactions.
But why wouldn’t he want to fix this? It would look bad for the village if the Kazekage was pretending to date someone. Especially since she was going home in a few weeks. Her heart clenched at that, and she had to close her eyes to stop herself from losing control. Sakura had only just allowed herself to remember and acknowledge that she’d developed feelings for Gaara months ago, she didn’t want to break down in front of him now.
Why didn’t he tell me?
What was he playing at?
Maybe it was because he liked her? Sakura felt her skin flush at that. No. It was probably pride or indolence. Likely, he didn’t fully understand the ramifications.
“He’s a bit clueless.”
Had Kankuro meant that romantically? Or sexually? Or perhaps socially? She bit her bottom lip as Gaara turned his head away. The skin along his neck was tinged pink and his face looked slightly flushed.
All of the above, then.
Maybe he really was too embarrassed to push back at the rumours. Gossip was a poison though. In order to successfully rebuke it, you had to do so fast. And with the truth, not silence or denial on their own. Sakura knew this from experience back when she was still listening to Ino’s ramblings about Sasuke. This rumour had run its full course and nothing short of a very public breakup would get them out of it.
“Is it…” he started slowly, breaking her out of her thoughts. Gaara looked up to catch her gaze. “Is it really so bad?”
Is the idea of us really so horrible?
She heard that unsaid question loud and clear.
Sakura stood up and circled the table to stand in front of him as he swivelled on his chair to face her. “No.”
Gaara smiled. But it didn’t reach his eyes.
“You want this?” She asked.
This was the moment of truth. He could lie and revert their relationship to the way it was before, except with them being more conscious about not appearing to be a couple. Or he could take a hold of her and ask for the one thing that had been plaguing him for months. He swallowed heavily and she watched the way his Adam’s apple bobbed. Was it weird to be turned on by that?
“Yes,” he said huskily.
Desperately, yes.
She didn’t react for a moment, just scanning his face. He held his breath, waiting. Then Sakura leant forward, closing her eyes as his widened. But he didn’t pull away as she pressed her lips to his gently. His hands went to her hips as she rested hers on the arms of his chair, caging him in.
Gaara deepened the kiss, making her gasp and then plundered her mouth. He’d never done this before, that much was obvious to her. So, she took control, slowing their pace and sucking on his lips gently when he tried to hasten her. Sakura fell into his lap, her hands tugging at his hair as he wrapped his arms around her waist. As she straddled him, she lost herself to the feel of his body beneath hers and Sakura moaned.
The sound broke their reverie and the Kazekage bit her lip. Without pulling out of their kiss, he sent his sand out to lock the door and knocked everything from his desk with no concern for their wellbeing. Fuck caring about that right now.
Sakura grinned into their kiss as he pushed her back onto the table. This had been the right choice after all.
.:.
Sometime later, Sakura emerged from the Kazekage's office to find his siblings nearby, like they’d been waiting to find out the result of her talk with Gaara. She knew she needed to reprimand them, but she was too happy right now to care.
Kankuro raised an eyebrow at her. She looked dishevelled. Like someone had snogged the crap out of her. He fought to keep himself from grinning like an idiot.
“Sakura?”
She cleared her throat and stared down at him. “You’ll be interested to know that Gaara is no longer clueless.”
Temari groaned as the Leaf kunoichi sauntered out of hallway. Kankuro waited until Sakura was out of earshot and gave his sister a shit eating grin then stuck his hand out expectantly.
“I won,” he said.
She scoffed. “No, you didn’t.”
“Hey! I said they’d end up dating!”
Temari shook her head and took a sip of her drink to hide her smirk, then said, “you said they’d sleep together within an hour of resolving this. They clearly just made out.”
“Temari!” Kankuro pouted.
“Not paying up,” she sung, before following Sakura’s lead and sauntering off.
He huffed. Siblings were evil.
.:.
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Hey! could I have headcanons of nagito, hajime and fuyuhiko as older brothers and one day their sibling goes missing to play with their friends but doesnt tell anyone but they come back unharmed and their brothers were worried
i love this sm! thank you for the lovely request anon <3
i’m not good with headcanons, so i will refrain from doing them for now.
sorry if this annoys you!
Y/n: your name
F/n: friends name
•~•~•~•~•~~•~•~•~•
Nagito, Hajime & Fuyuhiko looking for their sibling!reader
warnings: slight swearing
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Nagito ~
“Hey, Ko!”
Nagito turned around when he heard your voice call out his name, smiling at you. “Yes, Y/n? How can I help you?” You chuckled slightly, shaking your head. You were used to him being quite formal with you, and while it did annoy you at times, he was still your brother and you love him.
“Well i was going to-” You were interrupted by your friend, F/n, swinging an arm around your shoulder with a grin. “Cmon! We gotta go school!” You stood there for a second, debating if you should ask Nagito for a lift instead of taking the bus. “Would you like a ride?” Nagito asked, almost as if he was reading your mind.
“No, we’re okay!” F/n said, before dragging you away when you were about to give your brother a goodbye hug. “Have fun at school!” You heard him shout as you ran to meet with the rest of your friends, before going to the bus.
Nagito noticed that you were giggling, but of course he would never suspect you of doing anything. He was happy if you were happy.
Just as you was about to get off the bus, one of your friends pulled you back into your seat, making you let out a small yelp. “Guys, we gotta get off or we are gonna miss school!” F/n laughed and rolled their eyes, grinning cheekily. “We aren’t going to school, silly.”
“B-but-!?” They brought a finger to your lips and winked, making you blush from embarrassment. Your other friend stood up and laughed loudly. “We’re going shopping!”
“With what money?” You spat out, making F/n shake their head. “Togami-chan’s money, what else?” Togami-chan, Byakuya Togami’s adopted sister (even though they act more like coworkers) stared at you intensely.
“Oh, boy. I have no idea why I’m hanging out with you fools. And why are we on this dirty bus? I did not agree to thi-”
“We love you too Togami-chan!”
—————
5:30pm. You should’ve returned from school an hour ago.
Since he always gets home later than you, you would usually call him or even text him to let him know you were home.
Nagito put down his phone with a sigh, he wasn’t the type of person to worry. It was extremely rare for him, but this time- something felt... off.
Had you ran away? No, you were so cheerful this morning.
He wouldn’t be surprised if you did though, he doesn’t deserve to talk to you.
Maybe you had gone out to a friends house. He could call F/n’s mom?
No, trash like him shouldn’t worry that nice woman with his problems.
“Nagito, you’re spacing out again.” Chiaki waved a hand in front of his face, making Hajime mumble something along the lines of ‘you’re one to talk’ under his breath.
There was no point lying this time, if something did happen to you, he was sure his classmates could help.
“H-hey N-nagito?” He turned his head to Mikan and gave her a warm smile. “What is it?”
“W-well, I don’t know i-if you know.. but I saw Y/n on the bus with their friends earlier, i-it was way past their stop as well..”
Nagito’s mind suddenly went blank.
“No they didn’t tell me. But I doubt they’d tell trash like me their business anyway...”
“We should go look for them,” Hajime stood up abruptly, Chiaki following not long after. “They could be in trouble.”
“I have hope that they’ll be oka-”
Chiaki pulled him up and Mikan bowed and walked away quickly, going back to her original seat. “But we don’t know for sure.”
8:17pm.
“Did you find anything?” Akane shook her head regretfully, making the whole class groan.
“Maybe we should call the police..” Sonia said, glancing at Nagito, who hadn’t stopped looking around. “I don’t know.... Nagito wouldn’t want them to interfere.” Chiaki sighed, looking at her feet.
“Can you guys hear that?” Ibuki suddenly said, surprising everyone since she was being quiet this whole time. “Hear what?” Hajime said, making Nagito run over to them, a desperate look in his eyes. “People laughing.... this way!” Ibuki suddenly took off, Nagito following close behind her. As they were racing ahead of the whole class, Nagito saw a familiar shadow in the distance.
“Y/n.”
Ibuki stood still and told everyone to back down as Nagito watched you playing on the swings with your friends, laughing.
This makes sense. You had been very stressed recently.
Nagito suddenly clutched his head and laughed loudly, almost as if he was having a psychotic breakdown.
That wasn’t the case though, he was simply laughing at how foolish he had been for making a big deal out of something so minor. He even got his whole class to help.
You heard the laughing and stopped smiling, looking over to the road to see Nagito laughing hysterically. You ran over to him and slowed down as you got closer, feeling guilty.
“N-nagito?”
He looked up at you with a blank face. “I’m sorry that trash like me disturbed your time with your friends, Y/n.” You leant down and smiled at him. “No, I’m sorry for not telling you.”
Hajime ~
“How’ve your exams been lately?” Your dad asked from across the table, looking at you. In all honesty, your grades had dropped significantly. Hajime coughed from next to you, earning everyone’s attention. “They’ve been good. Me and Y/n haven’t had any problems with them.” His blatant lie seemed to have slipped past your parents, making you glance to him and send him a small smile, thanking him.
After dinner, you had both gone to your room, and Hajime flopped on his bed. You fell next to him, both of you staring at the ceiling. “So... I saw you talking to Nagito and Chiaki earlier at school~”
“S-shut up! You didn’t see anything.”
A small laugh escaped your lips.
—————
You had snuck out of school to meet up with your friends. It was hard trying to avoid Hajime, but Nagito seemed to be a great distraction as he bombarded him with his hope rant.
When you was about to walk out of the school, you noticed your classmate, Kokichi, sitting on the steps outside. “Nishishi~ took you long enough Y/n!”
Your friendly smile quickly turned into a frown as you tilted your head in confusion. “I’m sorry, you’re coming too?”
“Duh! Why else would I wait for you?” You didn’t know if that was a lie or not, but went along with it either way.
You both walked to the riverbank in a peaceful silence, which was surprising since you never really got to see Kokichi worn out.
“Hey guys!” F/n greeted you both as they stood with Rantaro. “Rantaro? Wait- how do you all know each other?” You exclaimed, “Except for Rantaro and Kokichi knowing each other... since we are in the same class~”
“Instagram.” They all said in unison as they looked over the bridge and into the water.
The sunset was beautiful.
Since the barrier was quite low and wide enough to sit on, with the help of Rantaro, you sat on it, your legs dangling over the edge, the rest of your friends did the same thing, except F/n, who leant on their elbows as they put their hands under their chin.
You all sat like that for hours, and Kokichi even fell asleep on you.
You didn’t realise how late it had gotten until Rantaro had a call from his sisters, and said he had to go home.
6pm.
They all went one by one, with you having to wake Kokichi up at 7pm, since his phone kept ringing.
You sat on there alone, listening to music as you stared at the river underneath you. This was amazing. “Y/n?” You heard from behind you, making you turn and take out your earphones.
“I’ve been looking for you for hours!” He said exhaustedly, frowning as he leant on the barrier just like F/n did before. “I-I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want your ‘sorry’.”
“...”
“Do you even know what time it is?”
“No...”
“10 o’clock.”
“O-oh, I didn’t mean to worry you Hajime..”
He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I thought you had gone missing... or worse.” You went silent.
Hajime was always protective of you, and you slightly envied him. He was only 3 years older, but he was able to do so much.
“I just... I needed a break. This was nice.”
He smiled at you, calming down. “So this is where you went, huh?” He mumbled, looking at the river.
You yawned and stretched your arms, making Hajime chuckle and pull you off the barrier. “Can I have a piggyback ride home?” You asked, giving him puppy dog eyes. “Whatever.”
He leaned down and you jumped on his back, grinning as you leant down and fell asleep.
Fuyuhiko ~
You were walking to Hope’s Peak with Peko and Fuyuhiko, excitedly showing them your new designs.
“Peko!! What do you think?” You showed her the designs for your clothing brand and she smiled, nodding approvingly. “I think they’re lovely, Y/n!” You grinned and thanked her, before running over to Fuyuhiko. “Hey Fuyu~!” He grumbled and turned around, slowing his pace when he realised he was walking in front of you and Peko. “Do you like it?” He nodded and looked forward again, his eyebrows furrowed. “It looks cool.” You nodded and went back to Peko.
“Any plans soon, Y/n? I’m still up for teaching you some more self defence, if you don’t mind.” Peko asked you, a warm smile on her face. Peko never really smiled at other people, so everyone was always baffled when they saw how gentle she was when she spoke to you, almost like a mom.
As she patiently waited for your response, you tapped your chin. You had made plans to go out shopping with F/n and a couple others today, but you were planning to sneak out of school to do it. “I can do tomorrow, if you’re free?” You replied, earning a nod from her. “You gonna join, Fuyu?” You shouted, making him crane his neck to look at you. “I learned everything when I was younger. You’re just too damn lazy and now you have to do the classes for an extra year.”
You rolled your eyes at his lecture, sticking your tongue out at him.
—————
You ran down the stairs, going past many people you knew. Hopefully no one would strike up a conversation.
“Y/nnnnn!” You sighed as Kaede gave you a big hug, and you hugged her back, waving to Shuichi - who was standing next to her. “Are you planning on skipping class, Y/n?” Shuichi teased as you froze. “Maybe. But if Fuyu or Peko ask anything, you didn’t see me, okay?” They both nodded. “Be safe though, we wouldn’t want to attend a funeral anytime soon.” Kaede giggled, and you let out an uncomfortable laugh.
How did Kaede out of all people, make such a dark joke?
You brushed it off and ran past them into an empty classroom, before opening the window and slipping out - slipping as your feet made contact with the grass.
It wasn’t a graceful landing, but you brushed off your skirt and went to the school gate, to see F/n and a couple others standing there. “Hey! You got the money?” You nodded and gave them ¥150,000 and they thanked you and split it with everyone.
On your way to the bus station, you couldn’t help but think about how worried Fuyu would be, but you really didn’t want a bodyguard following you around while you was with your friends.
5:52PM.
Fuyuhiko growled and slammed his phone down. Where were you? Why wasn’t you answering his calls? Why did you sneak out of school?
Hundreds of questions raced around in his mind and he never had an answer to a single one.
“Master, I’m sure that they are fine-”
Fuyuhiko stood up,breathing heavily. “They could be dead for all we fucking know!” Peko stayed silent, he was right.
Another hour passed, then two hours... everyone was getting frustrated.
Fuyuhiko sat down on a bench and slammed his hand against it in anger. “Master, listen to me.” He looked up at Peko, not bothering to say anything.
“If she snuck out of school on purpose, she’s probably hanging out with her friends. She’s not that irresponsible.”
“She’s right.” You said, walking up to them. “I don’t need a bodyguard everywhere I go, I’m capable of looking after myself.”
“Y/n-” You shook your head, putting a hand up. “Wait, hear me out. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to worry you but I also wanted to prove I can look after myself.”
He didn’t say anything. He just brought you into a tight hug, almost crushing your insides. “Fu-Fuyu, ca-n’t brea-!” He let go, holding on to your shoulders, a stern look in his eyes. “If you don’t want a bodyguard, then I’ll go with you.”
“But that means you’re technically a bodyguard!” You complained, and he walked away, smirking. “Don’t care.”
#fuyuhiko kuzuryu x reader#danganronpa fanfiction#super danganronpa goodbye despair#sdr2#sdr2 gundham#hajime hinata#hajime x reader#nagito x reader#siblings#anime fanfic#fanfic#hajime imagine#fuyuhiko imagine#nagito komaeda#nagito imagines#danganronpa imagines#sdr2 komaeda
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A Bench (and A Bunch) of Confessions
My first dialogue-only story. A meet-cute modern AU Bagginshield, hope you like it :3 You can also read this fic on AO3.
“Fíli! Remember not to push Kíli on the swing too hard!”
“I know!”
“Frodo, be careful on the slide!”
“Yes, uncle!”
...
“Good morning.”
“Hello.”
“I’m sorry to bother you but... your sons seem to have made friends with my nephew.”
“They’re my nephews.”
“Oh, forgive me, they look like they’re yours.”
“I get that a lot.”
“You’re not offended, I hope?”
“No, I don’t mind.”
“Good, good. Should we sit? There aren’t many free benches left.”
“Good idea.”
“Maybe that one?”
“Yeah.”
....
“I heard you call your nephew Frodo. Interesting name.”
“Well, thank you, I suppose. My family has a history of... interesting names. I’m Bilbo.”
“I’m Thorin.”
“Nice to meet you, Thorin.”
“You too, Bilbo.”
“Your nephews are Fíli and Kíli if I heard that correctly?”
“Yes. Fíli is the older one, with blond hair. Kíli is the little dark-haired terror.”
“How old are they?”
“Fíli is seven, Kíli is four.”
“Little terrors indeed.”
“How old is Frodo?”
“He’s six. Not that much of a little terror but still mischievous.”
....
“By the way, Fíli and Kíi are lovely names, I think.”
“Their father’s name was Víli, the boy’s names are derived from his. Family tradition.”
“His name... was?”
“Yes... car crash.”
“O-oh goodness, I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you. It was a few years ago, my sister and the boys are better now.”
“They’re your sister’s sons, then?”
“Yes. She’s a single mum but I try to help her as much as I can.”
“How lovely of you, Thorin.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Hah, I don’t think so, but let’s leave it at that.”
...
“What about you, Bilbo?”
“What about me?”
“You’re helping a sibling too?”
“Oh, no, actually. Frodo is the son of my cousins, Primula and Drogo but... they’re gone.”
“My condolences.”
“Thank you.”
“He calls you uncle, though.”
“It’s easier this way.”
....
“Uncle Bilbo, uncle Bilbo!”
“What is it, my dear boy?”
“I’m hungry!”
“Well then, let’s go home. Say goodbye to your friends.”
“Bye Fili! Bye Kili!”
“Bye Frodo!”
“Bye Frodo!”
“Goodbye, Thorin. It was lovely meeting you.”
“You too, Bilbo. I will see you around?”
“I should hope so, yes. Have a nice day.”
“You too.”
***
“Good morning, Thorin.”
“Hello, Bilbo.”
“Can I sit with you?”
“Sure.”
“Go play with Fíli and Kíli, Frodo.”
“Yayyy!”
“He seems excited.”
“If only you knew, Thorin. He refused to stop talking about Fíli and Kíli for the past week. He dragged me here every day because he wanted to see them again but you weren’t here. We slowly were losing hope.”
“Fíli and Kíli talked about Frodo a lot too but I couldn’t take them here. Work was busy.”
“Oh? What do you do? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”
“I run a jeweller store, we sell the jewellery we make. I had three commissions for engagement rings only this past week. The clients had vague ideas about how they’d like them to look, so we spent a lot of time on each project. At least I started making the first one.”
“That sounds fascinating.”
“Just the family business I took over.”
“I think you’re far too humble, Thorin.”
“Indeed?”
“Well, that’s what I think about you.”
“You barely know me, Bilbo.”
“We could... we could change that, i-if... if you’d like?”
“Okay.”
“What? I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“I said, okay. I’d like that.”
“Oh. That’s wonderful.”
...
“So, Bilbo, what do you do?”
“Nothing as exciting as making jewellery, I’m afraid. I’m a literary translation professor at Rivendell University. Oh, and a landlord. That takes much more work than you’d think.”
“A professor? That’s something.”
“Why, thank you.”
“You look young for a professor.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“If you want it to be.”
“Are you –”
“Uncle Thoriiiiiiin!”
“What is it, Kíli?”
“I want to pee.”
“Okay. Fíli, come, we’re going home! Kíli, have you said goodbye to Frodo?”
“Goodbye, Frodo!”
“Good. There you are, Fíli. You’ve said goodbye to Frodo, have you? Good lad. Come on, you two.”
“Thorin?”
“Yes?”
“Same time next week?”
“Sounds good. Have a good day, Bilbo.”
“You too, Thorin.”
***
“Is this seat taken?”
“Oh, hello, Thorin!”
“Hello.”
“Please sit down. Frodo is already waiting for you on the playground, boys.”
“Woohoo!”
“Goodness, Thorin, look at that. They really like each other, don’t they?”
“Yeah. I think we should exchange numbers.”
“Oh?”
“We could arrange a play date some time. The boys do like Frodo.”
“That’s a lovely idea. Could you give me your phone, please? I’ll add my numbers to your contacts.”
“Sure.”
“Now add your number to mine.”
“There you go.”
“Wait. Thorin Durin? The Durin?”
“No other Durins in Eriador.”
“Wow. You mentioned a jewellery business but I’d have never thought you meant the biggest jewellery company in the area.”
“Now you know.”
“Indeed.”
“Does it intimidate you?”
“Not particularly, no. I think you should learn that it takes much more to intimidate me, Thorin.”
“Good.”
...
“Bilbo Baggins?”
“That’s me.”
“I recall a famous travel writer whose name was Belladonna Baggins.”
“That would be my mum. Goodness, I can tell you all about her. Actually, are you free this weekend? Because I am, so I thought –”
“Me and Dís are taking the boys on a hiking trip.”
“Oh, all right–”
“You and Frodo can come. I’m sure Dís won’t mind.”
“If you say so.”
“She wants to meet you anyway.”
“Does she?”
“The boys talk about mister Boggins a lot. She’s curious.”
“Mister Boggins? Oh goodness me.”
“Yeah – Bilbo. Your laugh’s beautiful.”
“O-oh, um. Thank you... Well, but look at the time! It’s getting late. Frodo! Time to go!”
“But uncle!”
“No buts, my dear boy! We’ll be late.”
“But!”
“You’ll see Fíli and Kíli on the weekend.”
“I will?”
“He will, Mister Boggins?
“Yes, Fíli, me and Thorin are taking you three on a trip!”
“YAYYY!”
“YAYYY!”
“YAYYY!”
“My ears.”
“Indeed, Thorin, indeed. Well, then. See you soon?”
“See you soon, Bilbo.”
***
“Thorin!”
“Bilbo.”
“Long time no see!”
“We saw each other three days ago.”
“It’s called a joke, Thorin.”
“You didn’t make it clear.”
“Oh, hush. Our bench is free, let’s go.”
“Fíli, Kíli, don’t get Frodo into trouble!”
“They won’t listen to you if they don’t want to.”
“Thank you, Bilbo.”
“Glad to be of service.”
....
“Saturday was fun.”
“It was. Dís likes you.”
“Really? Here I thought she only tolerated me.”
“She just likes being scary. She’s a hell of a woman.”
“Oh, yes. She reminds me of my dear Primula. It’s a shame they could've never met.”
“Yeah.”
...
“Dís’s scariness reminds me of her brother.”
“I don’t like being scary.”
“True, you just are.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t be so grumpy about it. I’m sure there’re many who would definitely consider your scary looks appealing. I definitely do see the appeal.”
“Bilbo, what–”
“Do you want a cupcake?”
“A what?”
“I’ve brought cupcakes. My dad’s secret recipe. Here. Help yourself, please.”
“It’s... it’s really good, Bilbo.”
“Thank you. I’m a good cook, if I do say so myself. I love cooking and baking. I like food in general, I... well. I think it shows.”
“I like it.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“I like it. I like the way you look.”
“That’s... really nice of you to say, Thorin, but –”
“Bilbo.”
“Yes?”
“We could cook something together.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t cook often, I don’t have time for it. You could teach me, though.”
“Teach you?”
“We could meet at my place. We would cook together, then have dinner, talk or watch something –”
“But Frodo... I don’t have anyone to babysit him.”
“Dís said she could.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She said that I’m an idiot because... Bilbo, listen. I’ve been smiling for the past few weeks more than I had been for the past years of my life. Your text brighten my day and–”
“Thorin–”
“I want to date you, Bilbo.”
“Oh.”
“I understand if you don’t want that–”
“Thorin, you silly man. There’s nothing I want more.”
“Truly?”
“Yes.
....
“Thorin, your smile is breathtaking.”
“Look who’s talking–”
“UNCLE BILBO!”
“UNCLE THORIN!”
“Goodness, Frodo!”
“Kíli! What happened?”
“Fíli jumped from the swing and he fell and...”
“Let me look... It’s just a scraped knee.”
“But he’s crying, mister Thorin!”
“It’s because it hurts, Frodo.”
“Oh.”
“I think we should all go home.”
“Good idea, Bilbo. Let’s go, boys.”
“Come on, Frodo.”
“Bilbo?”
“Yes, Thorin?”
“I’ll see you at the weekend?”
“Of course.”
***
“Bilbo.”
“Good morning, Thorin.”
“Now it is.”
“Goodness, Thorin my dear, just sit down and don’t say such things.”
“You didn’t mind it two days ago.”
“Sunday was different.”
“Indeed?”
“Yes.”
“Thorin.”
“What is it, Bilbo?”
“Don’t look at me like that. Just kiss me, damn you.”
...
“YUCK, UNCLE!”
“EW, MISTER BILBO!”
“Hey, Fí, Kí, you know what? We can do whatever we want while uncle Bilbo and misterThorin are being gross!”
“Yes!”
“YES!”
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TSMC ch. 3
I’m back with chapter 3! In this chapter: Everything goes horribly wrong, but something good comes out of it. Or does it...?
Here’s chapter 1 on AO3 and on tumblr, here’s chapter 2 on AO3 and on tumblr, and here is this chapter on AO3! Let me know by comment, reblog, or tags if you want to be added to the tag list for this story, and please let me know what you thought because I really appreciate it!!
The Sibling Matchmakers Club
Chapter 3: By the Angel
Mina was happy to say that she was enjoying her time at camp. After two weeks she’d made a great friend, figured out she was good at soccer, learned how to do origami, and started a prank war.
Ah, right. The prank war. Now Mina enjoyed pranks as much as the next person -ok, maybe a little bit more, and she would blame Kit for that- but Lucie and James had made it a little too personal. Mina had arranged the first prank because she thought they’d all be able to laugh about it and become better friends afterwards, but instead James and Lucie had gotten fired up and started fighting for real. At this point, it had gotten way out of Mina’s control.
Not that she had tried stopping it in the first place. While she’d tried talking with James and Lucie separately about how they could prank each other and still be friends, neither of them had wanted to listen. Mina quickly gave up, but decided that it wouldn’t stop her from having fun and helping Lucie out.
Though for once, Mina wasn’t doing a prank. Today was Saturday, and every Saturday the kids got to call their family back home. Mina actually owned a cell phone, a small model that her dad had been very hesitant to give her. He had thought she was too young for one for the longest time, but had rethought it after an incident where she got lost at the mall and couldn’t find him. Kit had promised to make sure Mina wouldn’t have any bad social media or weird apps if she got one, and so Mina was given the phone a week before heading out to Camp Clover. The camp’s policy was no electronics though, so Mina hadn’t used it much. Even before camp, she really only used it for calling her family and her friend Tavvy.
On Saturdays, she used it to call her dad. Jem always made sure to make time to answer Mina’s call, and Kit usually liked to make loud comments in the background. At the end, they’d both tell her they missed her and say I love you and their goodbyes. Mina was having a lot of fun with Lucie and James and the Lightwoods, but she looked forward to Saturdays the most.
Mina was startled when the phone in her hand started to ring before she even pressed the call button. It was usually her dad who called, but this time it was Kit’s name and picture that flashed across the screen. “Hello?”
“Min-Min!” Kit’s voice rang loud and clear, and Mina smiled widely without even thinking about it. “I thought I’d try to catch you before you called Dad, since you usually call around this time.” His voice lost some of its energy, and she could picture the strained look on his face. “There was an emergency at the hospital and he couldn’t leave, so he can’t call today Mina. I’m sorry.”
Mina sighed, her smile quickly fading. Her dad loved them both and always tried to make time to spend with his children, but she knew that being a doctor was a demanding job and he couldn’t always be there. Growing up, they were often babysat by different family friends until Kit was old enough to look after them both on his own.
“It’s ok,” Mina said, telling herself that at least she got to talk with her brother. “I’m happy I can still talk to you.”
There was a slight pause, and when Kit spoke she could tell he was smiling. “A smooth talker as always, Mina. So, how’s that prank war going? Did you and Lucie finally win?”
Mina perked up, and spent the next few minutes recounting her most recent successes and failures. Recently they had managed to get help and put the boys’ beds outside of their cabin, but then they had snuck a whole handful of fake spiders into Mina and Lucie’s beds. Grace and Paige hadn’t been very happy about Mina and Lucie’s sudden screams, and neither did the other side of the cabin. Mina had a feeling they were slowly getting fed up with the prank war going on, but Mina had no plans to stop anytime soon. If there was anything her dad had taught her, it was to not give up.
If there was anything Kit had taught her, it was that when it came to pranks you had to start small and work your way up to the big stuff. For Mina, the big stuff was only just beginning.
“We already have our next prank planned out,” she told Kit proudly. “It’ll be like the first prank we did, but better. There’s going to be maple syrup and-”
Mina’s cabin counselor Jessamine, who had been standing at the corner supervising the phone call, gave her a look.
Mina cleared her throat. “I mean, nothing. We’re not going to do any pranks or anything with maple syrup, because that would be bad.” She heard Kit snort.
The counselor sighed and checked her watch. “Hurry it up,” she said, nodding to the door. “The lunch bell is going to ring soon.”
“Sorry, I’ll have to end the call soon.” Mina said. “How is Dad doing?”
Kit sighed. “He’s still overworking himself at the hospital, so basically what he’s been doing since you went to camp. Then of course there’s that horrible-” Kit gasped suddenly. “Mina,” he whispered in a low tone. “You have no idea, I totally forgot he hasn’t told you yet. I know he wanted to wait to tell you in person, but you have to know. There’s this woman named-”
The lunch bell rang, and Mina heard shouts from outside her cabin about how excited they were for today’s lunch. Apparently, today they had hotdogs and hamburgers. Mina jumped up from where she had been leaning against the wall.
“I have to go!” She interrupted, and felt a little bad about it, but it was hotdogs and hamburgers today. Plus, Lucie and Mina had to finish eating early in order for today’s prank to work. There was no way she could be late. “It’s lunchtime, sorry. Bye, love you!”
“Wait, Mina-” Kit’s voice cut off as Mina quickly hung up the phone before handing it to Jessamine and rushing out the door. Normally she’d try to find Lucie first, but she bet that Lucie was already on her way to the dining hall.
Kit had mentioned a woman. Her dad had actually talked about someone that he wanted Mina to meet when she got back to camp, but Mina hadn’t known it was a lady. It was probably normal for Mina to be worried, to think that maybe her dad was seeing someone, but that was silly.
Mina’s dad never dated, so Mina wasn’t concerned at all. As she ran to the dining hall and caught sight of Lucie, her spirits only lifted.
----------------------------------------------------------------
“We have to finish quickly,” Lucie told Mina quietly, slathering ketchup on her hotdog. She ignored Mina trying to hide her wince at the amount. The dining hall had been mostly out of ketchup, but they’d gotten there early enough for Lucie to snatch some off of the other tables undetected. “You said yourself that the key for the prank was time.”
Mina nodded silently, having just taken a bite of her hamburger. She swallowed and coughed for a second before taking a sip of her apple juice. “I might be eating too fast.” she said sheepishly. “Though as long as we finish before James and Thomas and Christopher get here, we’re fine.”
The two of them ate at a faster pace than usual so that they could get back to their cabin and prepare their prank, though Lucie noticed that she didn’t see James or the Lightwoods anywhere. They’re just late, Lucie thought. Christopher probably exploded something again and they’re cleaning it up. Christopher Lightwood might be a genius, but his experiments often caused something to catch on fire.
Mina stood up with her empty plate, and Lucie did the same. The two of them grinned at each other in excitement as they put their plates onto the dirty dishes cart and walked out of the dining hall.
“You remember the plan?” Mina asked, and Lucie gave an enthusiastic nod.
They were going to sneak into the boys’ cabin while they were still eating lunch, and cover their entire side with maple syrup and mustard. An odd combination, but today at lunch Lucie had remembered that James hated mustard. Mina had thought it was a brilliant addition, and a step up from only using the maple syrup Mina had taken at breakfast. If any of the food workers noticed their disappearances, they didn’t say anything.
“Lucie,” Mina said suddenly, and Lucie snapped out of her thoughts to look at her.
“What?” she asked, and Mina pointed to their cabin where Grace and Paige were about to enter. “What, that they’re here? You know they like to wait and have lunch later.”
Mina quickly shook her head. “The bushes,” she said hurriedly. “Do you see them?”
Lucie looked at the bushes next to their cabin and her face paled. “Oh no,” she whispered, and both she and Lucie started running to the door.
James and the Lightwoods were sitting in the bushes, mostly hidden by the thick leaves. They didn’t seem to notice Grace and Paige’s approach.
“Wait!” Lucie called out to the two girls. “Hey, wait a second!” They ignored her, as per usual.
James glanced over, and his eyes widened as he saw Grace grab the door handle. He quickly jumped out of his hiding spot and reached towards her. “Hey, don’t open-”
It was too late. Grace opened the door and her and Paige walked through. For a split second Lucie thought that maybe nothing bad would happen after all, but the second ended quickly. A huge bucket full of a thick, red substance, tipped over and onto both girls’ heads. Lucie, Mina, and James looked at each other in horror. There had been an unspoken agreement not to get the others into it, and now they had gotten the worst people possible involved.
Grace and Paige screamed, and James immediately ran up to them. “I’m so sorry,” he said frantically, trying to wipe some of the substance out of Grace’s hair. He just smeared it in more. “I am so sorry, please don’t tell on us.”
Thomas and Christopher stumbled out of the bush, their faces shocked as they surveyed the scene. “Do you think they like ketchup?” Christopher pondered.
So that’s why the dining hall was out of ketchup, Lucie thought, and had the urge to laugh.
“Hey!” a voice yelled, and Lucie turned around to see her camp counselor storming over to them. “What happened here?!” Jessamine demanded.
James looked terrified. “Uh, I-” he stuttered. “It’s not what it looks like, we were just-”
“Just what?” Jessamine spit out. “Look at what you’ve done!” she gestured to Grace and Paige. Paige was bawling her eyes out, and Grace was glaring at them all with an intense hatred that made Lucie unconsciously take a step back.
“We didn’t mean to,” Lucie spoke up, feeling brave. She and Mina were the ones who started the prank war, after all. It wasn’t fair for James to be the only one yelled at, even if his prank was the one that got them caught. “We were just trying to have some fun.”
Jessamine turned to look at her. “Oh, I know all about your fun.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, and Lucie exchanged nervous glances with Mina. James tried to help Grace get the ketchup off again, but she slapped his hand away and he stepped back. “We’ve all been letting it slide because it wasn’t hurting anyone and you always cleaned up your own messes, but this has gone too far.”
“But-” Mina tried.
“Save it,” her counselor said, then her gaze moved to the three boys. “Now which one of you did this?”
There was a short moment of silence before James raised his hand. “Me,” he said. “I planned it and set it all up.”
“Hey, wait a minute!” Thomas protested. James gave him a look, and Thomas stopped talking.
“I did all of them myself, all of the pranks,” James announced. “Christopher and Thomas were just here to watch.”
Jessamine sighed. “Come on, then,” she said as she started to walk in the direction of the main building. She stopped to look at Lucie and Mina. “You too. All three of you are in trouble.”
Lucie slowly started to walk with them. “This isn’t good,” she mumbled to herself. This wasn’t good at all.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
All James wanted was for them not to call his mom. Please, he thought, as he imagined the disappointment in her voice. Anything but that.
The three of them were now being led to an older cabin that was a ways off from the main cabin area, having stopped the main building and then their own cabins to get all of their stuff first. Thomas had looked guilty and both he and Christopher had apologized, but James had told them it was ok. James wasn’t looking forward to the punishment, but he was happy that he was at least able to save his friends from getting trouble.
James looked at the girls nervously. Originally they had tried to avoid talking to him, but Lucie had quickly given up and started making comments under her breath to them both.
“Is she taking us to an abandoned cabin to kill us?” Lucie whispered, kicking at some grass.
“No,” James argued quietly. “Our parents would never let them.”
Mina frowned and adjusted her ponytail. “She wouldn’t do that in the first place,” she said, but James saw her put her hands behind her back to hide the fidgeting.
“Alright!” Jessamine announced, stopping as they reached the front door. “I discussed it with the other counselors, and your punishment is to stay here for the next week.”
“Here?” Mina asked, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat. “I mean, isn’t it too old? What if it collapses or something?”
“It won’t,” the counselor said confidently, but Mina didn’t look satisfied. “The three of you are going to stay here all week, only coming out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
Lucie gasped. “We can’t stay in here all week, what are we supposed to do for fun?”
Jessamine gave her a look. “Talk to each other without fighting or pranking each other, maybe? Just a thought.”
“Hold on,” James said slowly, processing her words. “All three of us?”
“Yes, that’s what I said. All three of you, together, with only each other for company.” She paused, as to let the information sink in. “Well, you better get inside and start putting your things away! A counselor will come to escort you to dinner once the time comes, but other than that you shouldn’t be leaving the cabin.”
“But-”
“No buts!”
The three of them were pushed inside the old cabin, and the door creaked as it shut in their faces.
James looked around at the inside of their living space for the week, frowning at all the dust. “This place looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in a year.”
Lucie sighed and walked over to the right bunk bed, flopping herself down dramatically on the bottom bunk. She didn’t seem to mind the dust getting onto her clothes.
“Probably because it hasn’t.” Mina pointed out, and sat next to Lucie. James sat down on the bottom bunk of the left bunk bed, making sure to wipe off the dust first.
“I guess we should start putting things away,” he muttered glumly.
Mina looked around the cabin and fiddled with her shirt again. “You don’t… You don’t think this place is haunted, do you?” she asked in a small voice.
With the way they’d been fighting recently, James would’ve normally made a joke or snarky comment, but Mina looked genuinely scared. He found that he couldn’t help but want to make her feel better.
“It’s ok,” James assured her. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, it’s definitely not haunted.”
Mina gave him a nervous smile, and they all started unpacking their things. Once James had his bedsheets on and his clothes put away into the tallest drawers, he sat on his bed to take a break.
He turned to Mina, who had finished putting away her things first and was now watching Lucie struggle to fit all of her clothes in her designated drawers. “Hey,” James said, and Mina looked up. “Why did you start the pranks, anyway? Wasn’t it you that had the idea?” At this point he wasn’t mad, just curious.
“Yup, it was me,” Mina said proudly. “My older brother likes pranks, so I already knew a few and what to do for them.” She paused and then stood up suddenly, her face bright. “Oh wait, I have a picture of him I can show you!”
James leaned forward in interest as Mina picked up her bag then sat back down and began to dig through it. Lucie had given up messing with her clothes and moved to join Mina on the bed.
“Aha!” Mina exclaimed, and she pulled out a picture and showed it to Lucie. She gestured at James to join them, and he carefully walked over and sat down next to them on the bed.
Mina handed the picture to him. There was a teenage boy with bright blond hair and light blue eyes smiling at the camera. “That’s Kit,” Mina said. “His full first name is actually Christopher, but no one ever calls him that.” Kit was sitting next to Mina by a big pool, and they were both smiling without a care in the world.
“I wish I had an older brother,” Lucie said wistfully, and James nodded in agreement. He wished that he had an older brother, but really he just wished he had any sibling at all.
“My dad took the picture, that’s why he’s not in it.” Mina explained. “I don’t think I have --oh wait, I do!” She went back to her bag, and after a minute took out another picture.
It was a strange picture. The ink was messed up a bit in places and it seemed a little old, but the weirdest thing about it was that it was ripped on one side. Ripped on one side, James thought, and an idea popped into his head. He rejected it immediately. No, that would be crazy.
“It’s him on his wedding day,” Mina said, and turned the picture over so they could see. The man himself didn’t look familiar, but the flower bushes in the background did.
There’s no way, James told himself. It has to be a coincidence.
Lucie was suspiciously quiet, and James turned to face her. “Mina,” she said, her face oddly serious. “Do you… Do you know who your other parent is?”
Mina looked surprised at the question. “No,” she said. “My dad never wanted to tell me. Look, he even ripped them out of the picture.”
“Huh,” Lucie said, looking like she was about to faint. “Mina, I have that same picture, but of my papa and ripped on the other side.”
“What?” James asked incredulously, his heart beating in his chest. “But that’s- I have the same picture but of my mom and ripped on both sides!”
Mina and Lucie looked at him and each other for a moment, and he knew his face must be mirroring theirs of shock.
“I have it!” Lucie suddenly shouted, then lowered her voice and looked at them. “I have the picture,” she blurted out, and dove for her bag.
“There’s no way,” James breathed as he reached to grab his own bag from his bed. “It can’t be!”
He and Lucie hastily pulled out their own pictures, holding them close to their chest. “On three?” Mina suggested quietly, her eyes filled with excitement and something that James thought might be hope. She put her picture down gently on the bed, face up.
“One.”
“Two…”
“Three!”
James and Lucie slammed their pictures down next to Mina’s, and James felt like bursting into tears.
The pictures fit together perfectly, like pieces of the most finely crafted puzzle. James’s mom was there in her wedding gown, two handsome men in suits standing next to her and on each arm. All three of the adults were grinning, and they all had on the same ring.
“By the angel,” Lucie whispered, and James didn’t even question the odd saying that he’d previously thought was something only he and his mother said.
“Are we siblings?” James asked, and he pinched himself just in case this was all a dream so that he could wake up. It didn’t work.
“This is impossible!” Mina said, putting a hand on her forehead. “I’m so confused.”
As James looked at how neatly the pictures all combined into one, he couldn’t help but agree.
---------------
Thank you reading, let me know if you enjoyed!
Tag List: @idontgetit-whydoihavetosaymyname @zafirafox4636 @nolu @ghostjessesgirl @girlwhohatesstuff @anxiousbookenthusiast @ineedadrinkorsleep @lucieblckthorn @themostawesomehuman @hands-dripping-ink @panicatwallmaria @immortal-enemies @booklovingelephants @bookishgeekygirl @thenameskarr-parkerkarr @livia-dovehallow @cortqnq @christophers-lemon-tarts
#mina carstairs#kit herondale#lucie herondale#james herondale#jem carstairs#will herondale#tessa gray#jessamine lovelace#grace blackthorn#thomas lightwood#christopher lightwood#herongraystairs#the last hours#tlh#chain of gold#chog#cog2#chain of iron#choi#the infernal devices#tid#the darkest artifices#tda#the shadowhunter chronicles#tsc#tuser-ellie#my fanfic#my writing#fanfic#The Sibling Matchmakers Club
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Live Capture.
Arón Piper x Reader
Request by anon: would you be able to do an Aron Piper imagine where his girlfriend is a YouTuber but she’s very shy to show him on her channel as a way of protection even though he’s used to the public & then they go out in public & a fan starts to record them...you can take it on from there :) hope you’re staying safe xx
Gif is not my own
Requests are open 🤍
“On your left, on your left!” You call through your microphone, “Yes, downed him, another team coming up behind us.”
Your friend speaks through your headset and updates you on his own progress as both of you were midway through a game on Warzone. You took a moment to glance at the chat on your livestream to YouTube and smiled at a few of the messages before turning back to focus on the game.
“Alright we’ve got enough for a loadout,” You comment, “Cover me.”
He follows your advice and does exactly that, only moments before you’re shot at from another direction and both of you are killed.
“Shit man,” You groan, “I really wasn’t on it that game.”
“Still top ten though,” Your friend points out, “Alright, Imma head off for the night. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”
You say your goodbyes and turn back to your chat, reading a few of the comments you’d missed, “I think I’m going to turn in for the night too, thank you guys so much for watching this livestream. And I’ll be uploading a video tomorrow at 6pm so keep your eyes peeled for that one. Good night guys!”
You turn off your stream and shut down everything on your PC, the true sign that you’d be turning in for the night. You grab the empty plate from where your dinner had been and the empty drinks from over the course of the hours that you’d been on stream.
“Hey honey, any luck?” Arón asks from the couch, where he lay with his arm tucked under his head, turned to watch the TV screen.
“We got a couple of wins,” You nod, “Nothing great. I didn’t know you’d still be up.”
“And go to bed without you? Would I ever?” He laughs, “C’mhere.”
You yawn and walk over until you’re close enough that he can reach out and pull you down to lay with him, letting you rest on top of his chest, “What are you watching?”
“One of your videos,” He chuckles, “There was nothing on TV and I didn’t want to watch any of that series without you, so I’m watching your channel.”
“Why?” You smile, looking at which video he’d chosen.
“This is from that day we went to the beach and you were teaching me how to surf. I dont know how you managed to keep me out of the whole video!” He exclaims, “Genuinely there’s not even a glimpse of me.”
“Because I spent about four hours rewatching it and re-editing it to make sure. I’m very secretive when I need to be,” You remind him, leaning up to kiss at his jaw, “They all still ask questions.”
He hums in response, “Do you want to go to bed darling?”
Your eyes are already fluttering shut as he asks the question and he somehow has to figure out how to get you from the couch to your bed without disturbing you too much. It was a regular occurrence after you streamed late at night, and he’d grown to be very good at taking care of you after you’d drained yourself after a long day.
You’d been dating for a little under a year now but it felt like you’d loved him for a lifetime. He’d quickly become everything you could ask for in a boyfriend and the two of you somehow became the perfect match for each other. With him as an actor, and you as a YouTuber, both of you lived very unconventional lives at times - but that’s what made it work so well. You’d kept your relationship away from the public for this entire time, not wanting to risk it ending up like the majority of YouTube relationships nowadays. You liked the fact that your relationship still felt like your own, and you didn’t have to fear the audience response to seeing you with a boyfriend. They’d never seen that side of your life, and truth be told, you were fearful of showing them. For now, it felt so much more comfortable to keep Arón separate. Like it still meant you had him all to yourself.
- - - - - -
The next day, after waking up a little too late, you make sure to post your video on time and read through the comments as soon as it reaches your audience. It had been a fitness challenge that you’d had to ask Arón to help you film when you were at the gym. He’d spent half the time zooming into your face far too close or stopping filming because you’d made him laugh and you could hear him on the recording. Somehow, you’d still managed to avoid showing him in the footage and made sure that he couldn’t be heard too much through the microphone.
“What do you fancy for dinner, darling?” Arón asks as he steps into your filming room and sees you sat at your desk in your gaming chair.
“I’m just reading through the response to the video,” You explain as he comes up behind you and wraps his arms around your shoulders, you run your hands along his arms as they encase you.
“Are they all talking about my brilliant filming skills?” He grins, kissing your cheek.
You point out one comment that questions in all capital letters ‘who does she have filming this? Y’all seriously can’t tell me she’s still single!!!!!’
Arón laughs and clicks to read the responses to the comment, pausing on one that is a timestamp from the video. A specific second in the footage that you find yourself skipping to on the video timeline to find exactly what one of your fans was talking about. Quite rightly so, at that exact second, you can just about make out Arón in the reflection of one of the mirrors in the gym. His face isn’t visible but his distinctive curls are obvious enough.
“Shit, do you think they know it’s you?” You ask, sitting more upright in your chair as you look through the rest of the comments about that exact moment.
Some people were suggesting different names, different people that could take the face of that curly hair - but only a few had actually suggested Arón. Someone mentioned the fact that you’d been at the Élite premiere and pointed out that you could’ve been going as his date rather than just a guest at the event - that was, in fact, the truth. Someone else mentioned how Omar followed you on Instagram - the initial way you’d met Arón.
“Oh come on, look, they’re saying loads of names,” He points out, “Theyre all just guessing, my name was bound to be in there at some point.”
“I’m so sorry, I had no idea that they’d be able to see y-“
“Hey,” Arón turns your chair around so you’re facing him, “It’s fine, honestly. I don’t care, okay?”
“Are you sure?” You sigh, smiling as he cups your face in his hands.
“Positive,” He nods, leaning in and kissing you, “I say we just order in for dinner.”
You laugh and let him pull you up to stand, “Good idea.”
- - - - - -
The following day, you and Arón are on your way to your parents place for your father’s birthday. You manage to get up at a semi-acceptable time and keep yourself away from social media to avoid all of the questions about your mystery boyfriend. You step into the taxi and try to keep yourself relaxed.
“Hey! I know you!” The taxi driver speaks up, glancing in the mirror at Arón, “You’re on Netflix. My daughter watches your show all the time!”
“Thanks man, that means a lot,” Arón smiles politely, glancing at you for a second.
The man rambles on a little more about the show and how much he’d learnt about it from his daughter, laughing at how jealous she’d be that he’d met Arón.
“And is this your girlfriend?” The taxi driver asks, glancing at you in the mirror too.
“No, just a friend,” Arón nods, forcing a little smile in your direction, “So, have you been busy today?”
You’re relieved that he steers the topic away from you and tries to keep some level of awkward small talk with the driver as you eventually pull up in town.
“You can just drop us here, buddy, thank you,” Arón comments, getting out of the car and waiting for you.
“That’s a sign! That’s a sign, people know about us,” You state simply as you step out of the car, “I’m certain.”
“(Y/n)!” Arón laughs, “It’s fine! We have no certainty that people know we’re together, and we’ll let it stay that way. Stop worrying honey, you’ll give yourself a heart attack.”
You sigh and try to relax under the influence of his words.
“You’re cute when you get stressed,” He chuckles, reaching for your hand and squeezing it, “Really cute.”
You cock a brow, “You know, maybe I should tell everyone about us - feed you to the lions type of attitude.”
Arón laughs, “They’ll fucking love me!”
He cups your jaw with his free hand and dips his head to press a kiss to your waiting lips. It’s soft and it gives the sincerity to his words that his tone hadn’t done. You were so worried about everyone finding out about you, mainly because you were terrified of it ruining a time in your life where you were happier than you’d ever been. It was silly but you liked the idea of preventing your relationship from being strained by the public view. For now, it felt so much easier to keep this between you. When it had first started, you wanted to keep things private until you knew that this was something real and something you were sure of. But when you’d started to feel that way, it felt even more important to keep that private - knowing that you cared too much about Arón to jeopardise anything.
“Come on, lets go grab some food,” He encourages, locking his hand with yours before swinging an arm over your shoulder so that your interlocked hands rested just over your heart, “What are the odds that the taxi driver was actually a fan? I bet he doesn’t even have a daughter!” Arón jokes and yet again manages to say exactly what you needed to hear to ease your stress.
- - - - - -
A little later, as you’re sat at your parents house with your parents and your siblings, Arón comes walking through from the kitchen with your nephew in his arms.
“There she is!” He grins when he sees you, letting your nephew run over until he jumps into your arms.
“Where have you two been?” You laugh, looking at his disheveled Arón appeared.
“We’ve been on the trampoline,” Arón groans, flopping down beside you, “I think I’m too old for that now.”
“You think?” You smirk, “You’re a mess!”
He grabs your phone from the side and checks his appearance in the black screen. Your nephew giggles and reaches over to grab at his messy curls. Arón smiles and goes to tickle him, only glancing away when he sees your phone ping in his hand.
“Jeez, you’re popular today,” He comments, showing you the endless list of notifications on your phone.
“Probably just the boys asking about playing later, can you open it for me?” You ask, shifting your nephew so he was now stood on your thighs facing you as you make silly faces at him to keep him occupied.
“Oh shit...” Arón mumbles.
“Arón!” You hiss, making wide eyes in the direction of your nephew.
“Sorry, babe, but you need to see this,” You set your nephew down and he runs off to his own mother before you take your phone from Arón.
His reaction now seemed completely justified. In a group chat with a bunch of your friends from YouTube, you’re being bombarded with messages. Some of them are accompanied by photos but the majority are accompanied by laughing emojis. Quite rightly so as the photos show clear shots of you and Arón from earlier. The images had clearly been taken from across the street when you’d first got out of the taxi. One of you laughing at something he’d said, one of you kissing, another of you kissing, and a few of you walking away with his arm around you.
“Who took those?!” You exclaim, “I didn’t even see anybody... or hear anybody...”
“Hey, hey, look,” Arón nudges you, handing you his own phone that showed all of his mentions on Instagram.
You’d already been tagged in a flurry of posts about the situation - 100% of them being purely positive and excited for both of you. People saying how perfect you were for each other. Some pointing out moments from your streams and from YouTube where it was obvious you were talking to someone behind the camera - who they now understood to be Arón.
“They’re all so excited,” You half-laugh, “Look, theres even a fucking video of us!”
You show him a video a fan had taken of you two together that’s accompanied by the caption - ‘I wanted to speak to them but they’re just so fricking cute I didn’t want to disturb them!!!’
You smile at all of the supportive messages from your fans, commenting on how happy they were for you, though some were jealous of you being Arón’s girlfriend.
“Well, looks like that turned out better than we expected,” Arón comments, “Should we say anything?”
You look at him and grin, flicking your Instagram camera on as you pose for the photo. He wraps an arm around your shoulder and rests his head against yours as you both smile at the screen.
You type out a quick caption ‘You got us...’ and post it to your story. Though you lock your phone before you can become too bombarded by replies to the image.
“Shit, does this mean I can play Warzone with you now?!”
“You’re still terrible, maybe when you get a bit better,” You laugh, kissing him quickly.
#aron#aron piper#aron x reader#aron x you#aron x y/n#aron piper x reader#aron piper x you#aron piper x y/n#aron imagine#aron one shot#aron drabble#aron blurb#aron fanfiction#aron writing#aron request#aron piper imagine#aron piper one shot#aron piper drabble#aron piper blurb#aron piper fanfiction#aron piper writing#aron piper request#elite#elite fanfiction#elite imagine#elite one shot#elite drabble#elite blurb#elite writing#elite request
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All in the Family
Chapter 29: The Dueling Club
Peter found it a genuine relief, once his head stopped ringing, to find themselves not in Hogwarts for now. There was just too much going on in their school that was giving him the creeps, too much trouble Harry kept getting into that they somehow managed to follow.
His confusion still rose of where exactly they were. There were glass cases lined all along the walls and a metal bar protruding from the wall in front of all that as if it were any kind of deterrent, and it took a few moments before he could get to his feet and peak into the nearest one, prepared to dart away the second another dangerous thing lunged out. Instead he found a strange, very tiny little creature with rough brown skin and buggering blue eyes. There were three prongs coming out the back of its head, but four legs that seemed webbed in appearance and a flat tail. His eyes swept down further and he saw a plaque reading Axolotl- Ambystoma mexicanum, with some description of the beast. Looking more properly now along the way again he saw the same type of thing in front of every display. They were in a reptile house.
He'd been to the zoo a few times in his youth, but his mum being a seamstress meant they hadn't much money and it had been a treat. As far as they knew Harry had only been the one time, but that didn't explain why they were here now. Up until this point they'd been following Harry along, this seemed rather out of the way.
"Hey, I think I found the boa Harry was talking to," Frank said as he eyed a great mound of green coils snoozing away.
"I don't think so," Alice corrected. "I distinctly recall that one being brown, and a Brazilian boa. The Emerald's are from Brazil, but not the right species."
"Maybe they don't have it on display anymore," Lily muttered, thinking that whether it had escaped captivity or been caught, someone likely wouldn't want it on sight anymore.*
"Oi, I found a door that opened!" Sirius whooped in triumph, keeping the book loosely under his arm as he sucked in the fresh air. "How about we put this nasty business on hold lads and get some space, I've never been to a zoo before!"
"That was just sad," Remus told him at once, and Peter was more than happy to follow them out of this place. Too many things in here would find him a snack, in both bodies he could assume.
"I want to see the Dudley gorilla," James agreed as he darted past, coming almost at once to a fork in the road. He didn't even hesitate, high on pure energy he darted right and took off at full speed still shouting about all the animals he wanted to see.
"I vote Wormtail fetches him," Remus smirked.
"You literally just used a Padfoot joke on me, I can't decide if I'm offended or flattered," Peter rolled his eyes as he strolled past the two, who were clearly enjoying the clear skies and shady foliage more.
"Go with flattered and do what he says," Sirius suggested.
Peter was already doing so, scoffing about the two turning into layabouts, but turning into a jog to keep James in sight as he took a left. He finally caught up to him as he was bouncing in place and reading the plaque of a reindeer. "Look, look it Wormie! My distant cousins!"
"Prongs, you know just because you can turn into one doesn't mean-"
"Shhh! Don't spoil my fun, think I can get in there with them? Bet I can be king of the herd!"
"James, I really wouldn't recommend-"
He was being ignored, he'd already slipped under the wooden boards and was standing in the space in between, fingers pressed into the mesh gate, eyeing the top as if he could gauge how far the jump was. "Wonder why they only have males in there," he said absently as he tried to fit a trainer into the metal.
"This is one of the few species of deer where females can grow prongs to, I'm sure they're in there," Peter said in resignation as he managed to get both feet off the ground, but stayed there for a moment rather than lifting himself higher.
James hesitated, trying to stretch his arm up higher to get more purchase without toppling over, but couldn't get his feet in well enough to manage such a thing. "Where's Sirius?" He demanded as he wobbled dangerously, looking for more backup than Peter's silent unsupport.
"He and Moony were taking their sweet time while you ran off."
"Been noticing that a lot lately," James groused as he let himself loose and hit the ground, deciding to focus on this. Of course he could have made the climb if he wanted to...it just would have been easier if he'd had his broom.
"Yeah," Peter agreed, keeping the bitterness entirely out of his voice as James acknowledged this as well.
"Probably just catching each other up on every mundane detail Pads missed the past month," James sighed, even as he did gaze back curiously.
"Wasn't much to miss," Peter reminded.
James ignored this, no need to go back and reminisce how quiet their life had somehow gotten with one of their numbers not on speaking terms, so grabbed hold of Peter and began towing him further on. "Oh well, they'll catch up. I saw an exhibit for meerkats isn't far off, let's go see your cousins Pete!"
"I think this place got the sign for this one wrong," Frank told Alice as he inspected the odd creature before him. "That's clearly some kind of zebra."
"Says here an Okapi is a subspecies of giraffes and zebras," Alice agreed. Shrugging at how odd Muggels were for their many sciences, especially in naming creatures. The two moved on, stopping with increasing frequency and more than happy to have Lily around whenever they ran across something odd, like a cart full of bobble-heads.
She seemed to be in a radiant mood, having tied her hair up and was all but skipping ahead of them and only rounded back when they called out a question to her. When curiosity had gotten the better of her and Alice had finally asked why, she'd just smiled and admitted, "the peace and quiet is nice."
It was true they hadn't heard a word of the book yet, which was rather odd, and they wondered if distance had finally pulled the magic too far and they didn't even know if the Marauders were continuing the story somewhere else. Only Frank seemed disappointed in this prospect, the mystery of that monster at Hogwarts still on his mind, they could be missing clues. He was having far too much fun though to really offer the complaint, and didn't dare suggest actually hunting the lot down, bringing the girls moods with this.
"Let's go find the birdhouse," Lily suggested, her eyes sparkling with excitement. They spotted a huge dome like structure in the distance which must have been what caught her eye and easily kept pace with her as she kept up a happy babble. Alice suddenly realized this was really the most she'd heard her talk since this began. "I love birds, did you know their bones are hollow, but still incredibly strong. You can't just snap them in half like a chicken bone."
"Do you own an owl?" Frank asked kindly, but to his surprise the smile dropped from her face.
"No, ah, my parents won't allow it." Her answer sounded very diplomatic, but Frank still regretted asking, having brought her mood back so low.
"My sister, really," she tacked on defensively, her tone edging harder every word now. "She, err, I've asked, but she hates animals, and my parents, err, I mean I have to respect her wishes too."
"Must be hard having siblings," Alice offered.
"Yeah," she agreed, her hand trailing up to catch strands of her hair now and playing with it, walking along at a much calmer pace so to stay even with them now. "She, ah, doesn't like that I can do magic but she can't. It's, been hard to talk to her lately. Last time we really did was our last trip to the zoo, first summer back from Hogwarts. It's like she forgot where I'd been gone all year, and we just talked and had fun all day. Even though she took no interest in the animals, we played games watching Muggles pass by and mum and dad let us even go off ahead of them a bit to show they trusted us being bigger. Then we went to the birdhouse, and I saw the most beautiful owl in there! I started telling her about all the ones at school, and -" She stopped there, both in speech and walking, staying frozen on the spot in front of a cart advertising plushies for all sorts of critters to see in this zoo.
Then she blinked as if coming back to reality and gave them a very guilty look. "Sorry, looks like I'm always putting my foot in my mouth no matter the company. I'll just let you two-"
"Don't be silly," Alice said at once, reaching out and taking her hand with the best smile she could offer. "As if we're going to let you off on your own after spilling your guts like that. Your sister's a twat for not wanting to hear about your life, but we'd love to."
Frank gave an encouraging smile as well, thinking the poor girl needed some fun in her life. Between such a home life and someone like Snape for a friend, she probably didn't get much. "We don't have to go to the bird house, how about we find the food court?"
"No, I want to," she insisted, her eyes lighting with some spark again. "I really did love the place, it's so exotic and probably as close as I'll ever get to seeing the rain forest. Err, it's also on the way to the restaurants," she offered herself.
"Sounds perfect," Alice agreed, now the one dragging both of them along.
Remus and Sirius were unintentionally taking turns watching each other. It was a miracle they'd managed to keep their school bags on them all this time, but when Sirius realized he had, he'd slipped the book into it without a second glance yet, and that had been almost an hour ago now. Finally he could just enjoy some time out, and some alone time with Remus.
The two had already stopped and had a good snog once already, before the sound of something had drawn their startled attention. It didn't sound particularly threatening, and in fact it turned out to be a lion attempting to mimic a roar, though it more sounded like a giant cat hacking up a hairball. Remus had dragged Sirius over and began mocking the beast, and the proud cat actually responded in kind. Sirius nearly fell to the ground laughing as the two kept 'roaring' at each other for a good few minutes.
Then the two had taken off to actually find their mates, looking first in the gorilla house where they'd expected to find them. They did indeed spot the apes, but in the very back hiding in the shaded trees and various equipment they had available to play in. Then they'd been sidetracked at where the warthogs were rummaging about, Sirius being genuinely amazed how tough they looked compared to the bacon he was craving.
Remus had to drag Sirius away from the anteater, while Padfoot still insisted he wanted a closer look at such an odd creature and surely it wouldn't run if he turned into a friendlier dog. They had another good pass at each other before they realized they had an audience in front of the lemurs, and still red faced and fixing their clothes from that, they finally stumbled across their friends gazing at some naked mole-rats.
"There you two are, we been looking all over!" James called in excitement.
"What's with you two, you look all hot and bothered," Peter agreed. There was an odd look in his eye as he saw the pair and then looked back at James, but both ignored him and the question.
"Probably walked right past each other in a place this size," Sirius said off hand. "Let's go find that place Harry mentioned, where we can get some ice cream around here."
They all stopped and had some fun in front of the tigers, each bidding how far they could get in before the big cat realized they were there. Peter insisted he'd make it the farthest, without becoming a meal. Then they came across a bear enclosure, two huge beasts tossing each other about inside. It seemed in good fun, for the animals.
"Come on, we run around with a werewolf once a month, I'll bet I can take them!" James insisted, now more than willing to levitate himself into the enclosure and give it a go.
"Prongs, you are literally something they'd have a joy eating," Peter tried to protest.
"Not if he has backup!" Sirius insisted, bouncing on his heels in preparation.
"You two idiots are going to be murdered and then we're going to be zapped around with corpses," Remus pleasantly informed them. "Please, let's go have some lunch, and then we can come back," he quickly pacified.
They were still happily bickering about it when they found a good sized restaurant and went into the cool air with gratitude, raiding the kitchens for the sweet treats and each making their own scoop before Sirius finally took a grateful seat at a table and digging into the bag for the book.
"So you weren't reading that this whole time?" Peter asked with interest.
"Nah," Remus shrugged, "was just having some jollies about the place like you two."
"I'd been wondering if we'd just get yanked out of here before we'd find you two," James rolled his eyes.
Sirius ignored him too as he finally got started reading the chapter title.
"Glory Black, we could hear you outside, can you yell that any louder," Smith said as she poked her head inside, her face flushed from heat as well but looking almost grateful to have found them.
"You just getting started on that?" Longbottom asked as he came inside as well along with Evans, all three clutching stuffed parrots.
"Yep, glad you could join us," James smiled and very obviously moved himself over to make room for them, her, nearly pushing Peter out of his seat in the process.
Peter scowled and shoved him back just as hard, James nearly face planting his ice cream.
Ignoring the two making snipping comments at each other now, the three sat around comfortably, though not nearly as far away as they could. James still beamed at the proximity, wishing they could spend the rest of this reading adventure here, it was clearly putting Evans in a good mood, she was even smiling as Sirius started off and it didn't even dim that much as the Muggleborns in the school were described during this monster fear.
Regulus spent the entire time staring at penguins. They were funny little things, he'd instantly decided, and had been captivated at once by the flightless birds zooming through the water at such speeds. For a moment he'd even tried to see if he could run faster and been amazed the bird swam the length of it's glass before he could do any such thing. Smiling as the one he'd locked eyes on darted away, he tried to circle around and follow it, finding a nice large tree he could sit under and observe the whole area.
He was sure if a Muggle were to come along he'd be terribly scolded, he'd had to clamber over a large ridge right into the enclosure and several of the birds came up to him within reach, clicking their beaks and eyeing him for food. When he offered nothing they lost interest and began preening each other, the splash of water as the bodies leaped free of their miniature ocean the only noise he heard until Sirius finally began reading the next part of the chapter.
His voice had been so clear Regulus had startled, scattering all the webbed critters that had gone near him back into the water, but when he looked around, there was still no one in sight. Sighing and inching himself further a bit more so that his feet nearly touched the clear surface, he relaxed again and let himself enjoy the tale from a distance for once. He couldn't hear the commentary going along, to which he was grateful for. He could almost imagine it all anyways, his idiot of a brother and his friends laughing about the Potter kid causing trouble in Snape's class, Smith and Longbottom being happy about everything and chatting about the good merits of a dueling club. By the time the chapter even got to the part of Harry attending it Regulus was so relaxed he'd even slipped his shoes off and dipped his feet in the water, surprised by how pleasantly warm it was.
Hearing of Harry actively speaking Parseltongue was of great interest to him, his fascination with Potters child growing all the more as he took control of the situation and spoke the language he'd only heard rumor the Dark Lord could as well. Knowing the child could and actively hearing him do it twice now was enthralling, what his family would give if he could do such a thing as well! Potter and his friends treated it like some bad thing, and Regulus just had to scoff, those kids didn't know how good their life could be if they'd just be a bit smarter, instead all three reminded him of his idiotic brother.
The idea of something happening to a ghost did get his attention, a chill sweeping through him that had nothing to do with the warm sun still beating down. He couldn't blame that Ernie fellow for thinking Harry had done it given the circumstances, but a pureblood should be smarter than that! He should realize you should always look at more options available than just blaming the obvious source, shouldn't he? He was really starting to question that, considering that Hermione friend of Potter's obviously knew better but so many purebloods didn't. Then he swallowed and looked around again, waiting for his mother or one of his friends from school to spot him having such traitorous thoughts-
He cursed and jumped straight out of the enclosure in surprise, not because Potter was going to see the headmaster, but a penguin had taken a nip at his foot, apparently under the delusion it was a snack rather than toes. He drew his wand and took aim at the pestilent bird, but lowered it at the last second as he conceded he had been asking for such a thing to be happening. Then he was pulled away altogether.
#Harry Potter#fanfiction#Marauders#CoS#Wolfstar#reading the books#zoo#Regulus Black#Regulus Black and Penguins#Sirius Black#Remus Lupin#Peter Pettigrew#James Potter#Lily Evans#Frank Longbottom#Alice Smith
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maggie i’ve been trying to suss out the plot of ur bug lesbians for so long please tell me abt them. somehow it got into my head that they were?? like jaeger pilots? please confirm or deny
i can’t do a read more on mobile so i’m sorry in advance (coming back here after i’ve written this: it makes no sense. it’s all rambling. sorry. and i just put things everywhere randomly so this won’t even be typed chronologically)
yeah there’s giant fun robots! most of them are normal and fine but like a few of them are very fucked up
so there’s four pov characters and at the start of the story three of them are on the same ship and the fourth is the target they’re chasing? only one of them knows they even HAVE a target and is trying her best to stall because she and the target were roommates in fucked up robot catholic school. the other two are playing crazy 8s and being romantic and also terrified all the time but also doing a lot of theorizing about things because they know SOMETHING is up they just don’t know what’s going on. Bc you know. their commander won’t give them any information. and also avoids them because she hates narrative parallelism
also the one stalling is also having her blood drunk by her giant robot. and maybe being mildly possessed by it? so it’s maybe The most fucked up robot. it’s also a giant dog and a good boy. and an heirloom of a fucked up family. which may explain some stuff but honestly i think nisa’s mom was just a bitch and it didn’t have anything to do with the robot she’s just like that.
and she’s stalling bc she Knows she won’t turn perovskia in she knows she wouldn’t let her get hurt she Knows it’ll change her life forever if she finds her and she’s just not ready to face that. but yknow she has to so it was all just very silly of her but when something will change your life dramatically it’s terrifying even if you know that things currently Suck.
somewhere in here Arkansas’s family is threatened and it’s. upsetting. and i’m not sure what direction to go in with it but it will be important because her family means a Lot to her. she has two very good kind dads and a little sister named Tinsel. basically she has the only functional biological family out of all the characters and they make me :’) I also think they eventually meet Idabel and ADORE her and since she grew up without parents it’s just a very strange and emotional experience and. h. they r Wives. and the Trust family is all very sweet and kind even if Arkansas struggles a lot w gifted kid syndrome like i think her dads did their best even if they fucked up sometimes yknow. idabel goes fucking wild at the arcade like legitimately bloodthirsty and arkansas is just like i love my furious and powerful wife
anyway there’s some (a lot of) homoerotic space fighting (which perovskia usually wins BECAUSE she remembers when she and nisa used to spar and can predict what she’ll do. nisa ALSO remembers this bc. ofc she does. but perovskia had to learn how to adapt after Events bc her physical health changed a lot and she had to learn to be more careful about overexerting herself and also now knows how to swordfight. and moves more fluidly and confidently. so what nisa expects to happen often doesn’t bc perovskia’s fighting style has changed so much while nisa hasn’t really bothered to refine hers. anyway) perovskia (the gay little target that does a gay little crime and makes fun of you to piss you off) is like hey. what if you all committed treason it’s really fun and sexy. and then her adoptive mechanic mom gives everyone spinal surgery so their bodies don’t shut down and they won’t die :) that’s a thing by the way i won’t elaborate bc uhh :( but it is why perovskia has all the. nerve damage and chronic pain. i can elaborate on the actual Pre-story perovskia stuff later bc i think about it A Lot and it has a lot of bearing on her character but it’s also. before all this. but anyway if she hadn’t been bleeding out on Slice’s front lawn specifically she Would be dead. and there’s some fun narrative foil character shifts that happen four years before the main storyline but i will not say bc i’m tired
after this is Vague in my mind but a lot of it is Perovskia and Nisa reconnecting and just. talking. but being weird and repressed and deflective about anything Meaningful. And I have written a Lot about this so there’s more than I can condense but it’s very fucking good and. Idk. it’s a big shift in the narrative at this point and they’re just Agonizing about their dumb little feelings and it’s good. and P doing some work to make their giant fucking spaceship more stealthy. and Idabel and Arkansas being really cute and also going THROUGH it because i mean. a lot is happening. And it’s nothing either of them ever expected to happen but they’re like. hopeful for the future or whatever don’t look at me. It’s just like. put all of these characters on a spaceship in the middle of nowhere in transit and they all Have to have conversations even if they don’t want to because it’s HARD. nisa is forced by slice to learn how to make pancakes
Slice makes stew. They’re good at stew and contraptions and having a mild new england accent somehow. also canonically back in the scrapyard they would make things like the knife wielding tentacle constantly and perovskia would just stumble upon them. slice changed the live laugh love sign to say die cry hate because perovskia made fun of it. they r her mom.
so now they do some fun fun robberies and various crimes and it’s so sexy and i don’t think N and P are like. fully caught up at this point or know where they stand, so there’s a lot of very fun banter and having to work together despite really being afraid but also yearning to get to know each other again and just connect with one another honestly and openly after four fuckin years apart. because they’re both so different now but also very much the same. horse staring out into sea MAN. the thing is there’s no direct like. reason for them to avoid each other (at first P was shocked and overwhelmed and felt a little bit betrayed when she found out who was chasing her until she found out WHY. oh i forgot to mention Nisa BEGGED to be assigned commander for this mission bc she knew anyone else wouldn’t hesitate to get Perovskia killed. Forgot to mention that it’s IMPORTANT she fucking loves her so much god DAMMIT) but it’s just. tense and there’s a lot happening and it’s just. Ghhhdhbnm and ofc I and A have picked up on it since P showed up but it’s like. ok so what is Happening here. OH AND ONCE THEY START WORKING THINGS OUT IDABEL DOES START BEHAVING LIKE NISA’S SHITTY LITTLE SIBLING AND ACTING FUCKING DISGUSTED BY THEM ITS VERY FUNNY. they’re like perovskia you’re pretty cool what’s up with this. nisa sucks and also is a bitch. and perovskia says SHE CAN GET IT. and idabel says GET WHAT? BANNED FROM OLIVE GARDEN? and perovskia fans herself and is like yeah~ and idabel was just joking around but now is debating between mercilessly making fun of her and hitting her with a cricket bat. but god when P and N just get to hold each other in silence and security and just be. it’s . they. god. fuck. man.
oh i know this is a space story but perovskia just straight up has a sword (and some knives and maybe a gun idk) don’t ask me why idk but it’s very lesbian of her and she does gay little flourishes and is just. very annoying and i like her a lot. she’s very dramatic like her alias was madame revenant when she was living in the scrapyard and just doing some petty crimes like. she embroidered that jacket herself nobody calls her that she’s just a goofball. also warrior cats exist and she makes warrior cat fan animations. that just has to be true so warriors has been preserved for centuries. also she was presumed dead for a while uhh don’t think abt it too much but she likes that aesthetic.
Idabel takes the best to this new life of crime they are fucking FOR it she gets a FLAMETHROWER and Arkansas is like. wrow honestly my favorite thing abt them is that they’re both fucking INCREDIBLE pilots. like they know what they’re doing. and nisa is really really bad at it btw she cannot pilot a mech well. but this block of text isn’t about her i’m talking about THEM. Their chemistry is so good they r just. 🥺. and they both become Fast friends with perovskia because she’s just pretty likeable?? and ofc nisa’s jealous bc a) you guys don’t even like me :( but also b) that’s MY friend. it’s very funny. honey of course they didn’t like you you were being very unpleasant to be around. but arkansas does rlly wanna be friends with her and she and idabel have so much sibling energy it’s insane. i think they’d abel and cain each other for a scooby snack but also kill for each other. because they’re tiny girls who will growl at you solidarity and also probably hang out and just destroy things with bats sometimes. they all become closer and get a rlly sweet found family dynamic it just takes a While. oh also idabel is basically the chosen one and can set things on fire with her hands but it’s barely touched on because i think that’s a really funny thing to just ignore. but i also think it does become important because it’s largely fueled by anger and emotion and. h. i think idabel has a lot of feelings ok. Arkansas and Perovskia bond over having fucking anxiety disorders and have caprisun drinking competitions. i think it’s just like. these people all have similar trauma and need people to lean on when things are hard so they stick with each other once they have the option to split apart because by then they’re friends and work well together and Care. auto tuned baby crying mp3.
Alia and Agent Variety show up somewhere around here? They’re Slice’s very cool wives and Alia has a Vechicle Collection and own fucking stupid race cars and stuff and I love her. perovskia is afraid of being in vechiles so she has to take a fucking benadryl every time they have to make a getaway. Variety isn’t actually an Agent anymore and I also love HER because she’s very fucking good. they started out as just contacts slice had but it turns out they’re all in love <3 alia is also actually a sports car racer like. unprofessionally. illegally. which is just very cool of them.
Also i don’t think it has. a very BIG end, yknow? it’s like, they’re doing very good things and are up against a lot, and I don’t think they like.. singlehandedly take down the government or anything because they’re only a few people. but i think they get a happy ending and get to grow old while making positive changes to the world around them. like i don’t think they’ll be able to solve everything but they’re sure as hell gonna do what they can. But idk maybe they actually do get like. some good shit done. but again they’re not. an army. they’re a bunch of 20-somethings and their rube-goldberg-machine-creating chaperone. but i think they should get a fun climactic moment so i guess this is all to say i don’t. have an ending planned. but there should probably be one at some point.
OH AND the giant evil blood sucking dog vineyard vines robot Definitely almost kills Nisa (or at least fully destroys her in some way) and. it’s very narrowly avoided and she’s very very weak for a while because it took a lot out of her. also the dog robot does make grape vines grow and uhhhh any grapes that show up are 100% full of the pilot’s siphoned blood. also i think there’s still some remnants of that bitch in nisa’s mind afterwards bc an old mechanical god is hard to get rid of. but it’s mostly ok.
Also the bug people are just. a thing. like every person in the most recent generation in this specific society are at least a little bit genetically experimented on because. it sucks there. and i think if your parents bribe the government you can be a little Less fucked up but yknow. everyone’s a little weird. this was an excuse to put bug ppl in here they’re just the folks who were probably the most fucked with and i have many bug people here because i think bugs are cool and i want them to look like weird little bugs. This was all also an excuse to give the main characters fangs bc i’m gay. i don’t think randomly fucking with your genetics will make you a bug in real life so do not try this at home or at all PSA
SPEAKING of the society ok it’s very much obsessed with earth nostalgia and stuff and very yknow. basic cyperpunk shitty capitalism you know the drill you’ve seen space operas whatever but it’s also weirdly oligarchical? and like? it’s weird and bad and kind of a corporatocracy?? and. fuck. idk man they’re a fucked up space catgirl greeble-y amazon with catholic imagery. The Academy is also a thing but. idk how to describe it more than i already have it’s just kinda shitty boarding school. And after a certain point ppl can get sent on like. missions and stuff? in their fucking robots? but again i’m not sure what For. an option could be that there’s nearby Shit and nobody can tell if it’s safe because space is weird? also it’s only about 3200 so i’d say like. whole societies out in space is a relatively new thing and there’s some weird shit going on. so they sometimes send teenagers out in robots to see what’s up and that ends SUPER well for EVERYONE. hmm something SHOULD be going on actually there should be some weird eldritch space stuff. it should be connected to the more fucked up robots. it should also be Core’s fault somehow because uhhh capitalism and lack of foresight? anyway here’s women kissing i don’t know things. WAIT FUCK I FORGOT TO MENTION HOW SHADY SOME OF THE STUFF GOING ON IS LIKE THE DEATHS OF THE CREW PEROVSKIA WAS ON UHHH JUST TRUST ME DUDE like they are NOT afraid to get kids killed which was IMPLIED but also like it goes a little deeper than that and uhh i don’t know exactly what’s happening. but i’m sure it’ll all fall into place eventually. basically it’s very fatt shitty faction vibes idk how else to describe it. man it‘s like. just. there’s stuff happening they have goals and ideals and there’s probably more to it than i know so far bc stuff happens but i don’t KNOW what i’m tired and have been typing this for a year i don’t want to talk abt the bad capitalists i want to talk about tenderness and girls but unfortunately the ways in which the girls are tender are deeply informed by the environment they grew up in so i do have to think about it even if they all deserved better.
i think they all get a cat or a dog or something eventually. like they all deserve it. i think the final home they build together is actually pretty reminiscent of the scrapyard house. i think they get to live there for the rest of their lives and. just build something small and wonderful for themselves :’)
also i forgot to put men in the story they exist i just forgot about them. there’s nisa’s one ex i already forgot his name but he’s mentioned i think.
#IM SO SORRY FOR HOW INCOMPREHENSIBLE THIS IS I DONT HAVEA PLOT I HAVE CONCEPTS#ocs#long post#LONG FUCKING POST I CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH#death ment#body horror cw#maybe#catholicism ment#again just to be safe#injury ment#possession tw
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Wherever You’re Going (I’m Going Your Way) [3/6]
Summary: 1952. A lost boy without a home, Killian Jones rides America’s back roads on his motorcycle, searching for a purpose that’s just out of reach. This pit stop was only supposed to be a few days, a couple of weeks at most, but a pretty blonde waitress just might be his salvation. Is he brave enough to let her? Rated T for language. ~3.6K. Also on AO3. Ch. 1 Ch. 2
~~~~~
Killian spends the next day kicking himself for the way things ended in the diner. The simple thing would be to go back to the diner the next day — to prove with his presence alone that it’s alright, that he didn’t mean to stop the conversation entirely, even if he wasn’t willing to follow that one particular thread.
He doesn’t.
He spends a lot of time lying awake, replaying the moment he brought things to a screeching halt over and over again. It’s a form of self-flagellation, for certain, but it’s still better than the nightmares his mind conjures up night after night. There’s only so much the stars can do to calm him when he sees the same flames and crushing waves night after night. Reveling in his shame and recriminations is much preferable.
(The sensible thing, of course, would be to stop lying awake in the dark and to just go to the diner for a pot of tea and a distraction. It’d give him a chance to make up for his own stupidity.)
(Killian Jones is not nearly that sensible.)
What really gets him is that he felt like there was a genuine connection between the two of them. It’s been a long while since Killian has felt so comfortable talking to another person, able to leave some of his regular self-consciousness behind. It had seemed to go both ways, too — like she understood him on some level, and wanted to hear what he had to say. Maybe if he hadn’t been so curt; maybe if he had been willing to open himself up more… but it’s no use. What’s done is done, and besides, Killian can’t truly regret not sharing more, even if he does regret what that meant for whatever was shared between him and Emma in those moments. He’s not ready, or willing, to talk about all the reasons he fled — not yet. Not even with blonde angels who make him feel like a man again.
It’s an unspeakable surprise — not to mention, relief — when Emma shows up at the garage with a sack lunch from Granny’s two days after their unceremonious parting. His pulse picks up the moment she walks in the open garage door with paper bags in each hand, evidently not feeling any of the same anxieties he is.
“Anyone hungry?” she calls lightly, smiling at Killian like any awkwardness is forgotten. Maybe it is. He’d be a fool to bring it up again.
“Is that you, Emma?” David hollers from across the shop where he’s camped out under the hood of a truck, replacing one of its radiators.
“Sure is,” she responds easily. “I’ve got a tuna salad sandwich here with your name on it, too. Unless you’d rather knock around under the hood…”
“Don’t be silly,” David responds with a fond tone to his voice as he wipes his hands on a spare rag to get rid of the worst of the grease. “You know I’ll never say no to food, especially not Granny’s tuna salad. Fries?”
“Of course, I know how this works.”
Killian looks back and forth between the two of them in confusion; there’s a level of familiarity here that he hadn’t expected. “I’m sorry, do you two know each other?” It’s a bit of a silly question, considering the interaction he just witnessed, but truthfully, he’s a little lost. This was not remotely what he expected to happen. Then again, Storybrooke is a small town; it stands to reason that everyone knows everyone. He’s still stuck in that big-city mentality, he supposes.
“Emma’s like a little sister to me,” David explains as he slings his arm around her shoulders.
“Am I little, or are you just old?” she jabs back. The familiarity of that exchange sends a brief jab of pain shooting through Killian’s heart; it’s so reminiscent of the way he and Liam used to poke at each other, the way Killian constantly had to insist that he was younger, not little.
(He’ll never have that again, and it hurts. He’d put up with all matters of teasing, if it meant he could have his brother back.)
“We’ve known each other since we were, what, teenagers?” David continues, obviously ignoring Emma’s teasing. “Ever since she came up from Portland to stay with Miss Ingrid, God rest her soul.”
“Twelve years now,” Emma nods. “And he’s been insufferable ever since.”
(There’s more of a story there, Killian thinks, but he knows not to push. He’s got things he’s not willing to share either, after all, as they more than proved the night before last.)
“Anyways, I brought you lunch, too, Killian,” Emma says. “I didn’t know what else you’d like, so it’s just ham and cheese again.”
“Again?” David butts in. Killian can practically see the other man’s big brother instincts kick in, which has rarely meant good things for him. People say he’s a bad influence, after all, and Killian isn’t sure he disagrees. “You two have already met?”
“At the diner, you pest. Stand down, soldier, or… something.” Emma rolls her eyes, but the affection is still obvious between the two of them. That’s not something you can mask, even if one is exasperated and the other’s an arse. That’s siblings, really — you love them, even when they grate on your nerves. Even when they’re just connected by love, rather than blood. “Anyways, I just wanted to make sure you were both fed. I’ve got to get back to the lunch rush, actually. I’ll see you later?”
She must be talking to David — she must. Nothing else makes sense. That doesn’t change the fact that she makes eye contact with Killian as she speaks, holding his stare until he gives a small nod in the affirmative. David says something in the background — probably agreeing, if Killian had to guess — but he’s not listening in the least, far more interested in anything Emma is doing. It’s because of that single-minded attention that Killian can see the small smile she offers him in return, just large enough to begin to round her cheeks and crinkle her eyes. Maybe she did mean to say it to him after all; why else would she smile at him like that? Killian is left with so many questions, but at least he knows she wants so see him again — that he hasn’t mucked things up beyond any repair.
“So were you going to mention that you knew Emma?” David asks, taking a hearty bite of his sandwich.
“I didn’t know I needed to, mate. I didn’t realize you two even knew each other, let alone so well, until just now.” His own sandwich is just the way he likes it, and the fries somehow still nice and warm. It’s astounding to him that Emma would think to bring him lunch as well; he’s a lucky man, to have earned her kindness.
“Hmph.” David picks a few fries of his own out of the bag. “I don’t need to give a warning talk or anything, do I?”
“No,” Killian answers immediately — perhaps too hastily. “I mean, she’s a lovely girl — sweet and beautiful and… Maybe under other circumstances, if I wasn’t just passing through…” If I was a different, better man, he thinks — just another thing he can’t say.
David huffs again. “Well, just… be careful.”
“Aye. I will.”
———
He’d promised David he’d be careful, but he never promised he’d stay away — even if he maybe should have. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s 7pm, and while he ought to stay away, he’s back sitting in Granny’s booth yet again.
Emma doesn’t even ask tonight — just brings him a pot of tea, their own little routine that Killian hadn’t realized that they’d fallen into.
“What else can I get you?” she asks, pen poised and ready to take his order.
He hasn’t even looked at the menu, truthfully, and it seems foolish to frantically scan now. “What would you recommend?” he asks instead.
“Granny makes a mean lasagna.”
“I’ll take that then,” he replies with a smile, tucking the menu back away behind the napkin holders from where it had been resting on the table.
“Can I get you anything else?” She smiles back.
Just that little gesture makes him bold, gives him the courage to ask a little more. “I wouldn’t be opposed to the company, if you’ve got the time.” Just as soon as he speaks the words, his bravery flees again. “Only if you’d like to, of course, I’d never presume — ”
“Yeah, that sounds nice,” she replies with a laugh. “I’m off in an hour, we can chat a little after that.”
The lasagna is just as good as promised, but Killian doesn’t remember most of the taste, spending an anxious hour anticipating Emma sliding into the booth. It’s still hard to believe his eyes when she finally does, slipping across the vinyl with a small plate of pie so casually like it’s a habit of theirs. Killian feels like his heart is about to thunder out of his ears, but she looks undisturbed — happy and confident and calm. God, he envies her for that calm right now.
“So, we meet again,” she teases, nudging the plate his way. Chocolate meringue tonight — an excellent choice in Killian’s opinion, not that that matters for much of anything. What’s more, there’s two dessert forks propped against the edge of the ceramic saucer. Clearly, and for some reason Killian can’t begin to imagine, she intends for them to share — and damn if that doesn’t put a nervous flutter in his stomach to match his frantic pulse.
“We meet again,” he echoes. “You’re off for the evening, then?” It’s a stupid question, something he realizes as soon as the words leave his mouth; she’d said she’d join him once she was off work for the night, and now here she is. It doesn’t take an idiot to connect the dots… and yet here he sits.
Angel that she is, she thankfully doesn’t hold it against him. “Yep. No more night shift until Monday. No book tonight?”
“I tucked it away before you came back,” he admits. Lord, he’s even blushing to talk to her — can already feel the heat in his ears. “If I didn’t say it earlier, thank you for lunch today. I’ll pay up tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Emma says, waving her fork through the air in dismissal. “David’s got a tab, I just tucked it on there. Trust me, a ham sandwich is not going to put him into financial straits.”
“Thank David, then,” he grins cheekily, in a burst of confidence. As he and Emma settle into conversation, speaking becomes easier, some of his old surety trickling back into his voice.
“Oh, we’ll be sure to,” she grins right back. He’d almost say she looks a little mischievous, and though he probably should have expected that from a younger sibling, that doesn’t mean he expected it from Emma Swan.
(He likes it — the way it makes her a little less perfect and a little more real.)
“I had assumed you were born and raised in Storybrooke,” he comments as he swipes a bite of pie with his fork. “So when you said you hadn’t been any further than Portland…”
“It’s because I grew up there, yeah,” she nods.
“So how did you end up in Storybrooke, then?”
The smile is less happy this time. “It’s not exactly a happy story,” she tells him.
“I’ve got time and rum,” Killian offers, earning a disbelieving look in return.
“Seriously?”
Quickly, he pulls the flask out of the inner pocket of his coat. It’s a terrible habit, and he knows he shouldn’t, but on nights when nothing else helps, sometimes the alcohol can help relax him enough to find sleep.
“You’re a regular pirate, aren’t you?” she teases as she plucks the flask from his hand.
“Can’t say I’ve been accused of that before.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” She punctuates the statement with a swig from the flask, pulling a face as the alcohol hits her throat. “Whoo, that’s got a kick.”
“Well, it is rum, darling,” he teases back. “If you wanted something gentle, you should have asked for tea.”
“Hot chocolate,” she mumbles. Really, Emma looks quite fetching with her cheeks tinged blush pink. Not that it makes her mumblings make more sense.
“Come again?”
“Hot chocolate,” she repeats more clearly. “That’s my preferred drink. I like sweet stuff.”
You’re the only ‘sweet stuff’ I see here. The quip is on the tip of his tongue; he could just let it slip off. But that would be flirting, and it wouldn’t be fair to her to open that box. Besides, he promised David that nothing would happen. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he says instead. “But I think you might be deflecting, love.”
“I know,” she sighs.
“You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to —”
“That’s not the issue,” she interrupts. “I’ve got rum, you’re a good guy, it’s completely common knowledge… it’s fine. Just hard to get started.” She takes another swig of the rum; maybe he should order her one of her precious hot chocolates to temper it. “The gist is, I grew up in an orphanage in Portland. I was left at a church as a baby and stayed in the orphanage until I was fostered out when I was fourteen. Someone knew someone who knew Ingrid, who was willing to take in a teenager to help her out, and I ended up in Storybrooke.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you, Swan.” And he is; it’s not just pretty words. He’s been through similar, and it’s not something he’d wish on anyone.
She shrugs. “It’s fine. I mean… it’s not, but it got me here, which was the best case scenario. And Ingrid was… amazing. Just this no-nonsense woman who owned a little ice cream shop. She was soft-spoken, but you didn’t mess with her. She only died two years ago now.”
“You must miss her.”
“I do. She was… really good to me. I was really lucky that she took me in.” Emma smiles softly at the memories. “I met Mary Margaret at school — she was Blanchard, then, not Nolan — and David… I don’t even know how. He’s a year older than us. In this town, though, you get to know everyone without even trying, and sometime around when Mary Margaret and David started dating, he started treating me like his little sister. It’s kind of annoying, honestly.”
“But nice,” Killian points out. He knows that from experience.
The barest hint of a laugh joins the fond smile Emma’s worn the whole time she’s spoken of the Nolans. “Yeah. Nice too.”
“I was in a… not dissimilar situation,” Killian says as casually as he can, twiddling his leftover tea spoon just for something to do with his hands. “My mother died when I was about eight, and my father wasn’t much interested in playing that role. Just took off. After that, my brother and I got shuttled off to a never-ending series of great-aunts and distant cousins and the like.”
“At least you had family to start with,” Emma comments mournfully.
“True. But at least you ended up with one in the end.”
That brings the smile back. “I did. I take it that it wasn’t the same for you? What about your brother?”
Killian makes a conscious effort not to freeze up again, to relax the tension from his body and answer her. She’s revealed a lot of herself to him, here at this booth; it’s only right that he be willing to do the same.
“He’s gone, I’m afraid,” he manages to say, even mustering a sad smile and tilt of the head to try and show that it’s alright. It’s not, but Emma doesn’t deserve to feel like he’s angry about telling her. “Joined the Navy when the war started up and died in a German submarine attack.”
“I’m sorry, Killian.” She reaches across the table to squeeze his hand in comfort.
“It’s alright.” It’s still not, but that’s what you say to such things. “That just means I’m all on my own.”
Emma squeezes his hand one more time before releasing it. “I’m sure you’ll find a family some day, even if you have to make your own.”
And Lord, he hopes that she’s right.
———
“You’re not still sleeping on that bench, are you?” David asks, startling Killian. He had been, actually; in fact, David had woken him up. Most days, Killian is up and waiting by the time David gets to the garage, but he’d had a good night’s sleep for once, and apparently not woken up in time. Either that, or David has arrived early. Either way, he’s been caught in the proverbial act.
“Where else would I be?” Killian retorts as he hurriedly puts himself back together, slipping his leather jacket back on and grabbing his bag from where it’d been serving as a make-shift pillow.
“Settle down, Jones,” the other man soothes, lifting his hands in surrender. “No need to get defensive. I just figured you would have checked into one of the rooms at Granny’s Inn.”
Killian tries to settle some of his instinctive snappish reaction; he knows it’s just from embarrassment at being caught like this. “Ah, well, if the weather turns foul, I will. As long as the nights are pleasant, though, I’d rather save the money, I don’t have that much on me.”
“You should have said something,” David scolds. “You could have slept on the couch in the garage. I’ve got a spare key you could use.”
Killian stares at him in bewilderment for a moment. “You’d trust me to do that?”
David shrugs. “Of course. Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”
“I mean, most wouldn’t. It’s no offense to you mate, it’s just… folks don’t usually trust a stranger who looks the way I do in small towns like yours.”
“The way I see it, there’s been plenty of opportunities for you to rob me blind already. Especially since I’ve trusted you with the cash register. And you haven’t. Will that change if I let you sleep on something inside and cushioned?” David asks with a knowing look on his face.
“Of course not.”
“That’s what I thought. You’ve been here on that bench for nearly a week, and I don’t want to think about how long you’d been doing the same before that. Besides, if you’re working for me, I’ll get better work from you well-rested,” he winks.
“I’d hate to be a bother —”
“I can grab the spare key from the house over lunch. Let me do a nice thing for you, Killian.”
And Lord help him, he accepts.
It’s more than just a couch, too — it’s pillows and several crocheted afghans and a volume of detective stories, all courtesy of Mrs. Nolan, when David comes back from lunch with the key. He feels welcomed in a way that he didn’t expect when he went to sleep last night — let alone at this time last week.
Killian goes through the day with… if not happiness in his heart, then something close. He and David were able to finish a major repair this afternoon, he’s got a place to sleep, and he’d spent a lovely evening at the diner with Emma, where she’d brought him a pot of tea without him even asking and later a serving of meatloaf to go with it. They’d talked until after eleven at night about anything they could think of — favorite novels, stories of David as a teenager, places they’ve always wanted to see, until Killian couldn’t justify loitering any longer as Emma worked the night shift. It’s perfect, even if he has to ignore the flutter of feelings growing in his heart.
He should have known, though, that things were just a little too good to last.
Killian walks back to the garage with a feeling he might almost call hope rushing through his veins. Hope for what, he’s not sure; he certainly can’t think of any reason that should warrant it. Hope, maybe, that there are still people out there capable of seeing past what they believe of him: the loner, the tramp, the ungrateful bastard who won’t just take their pretty words. Hope that someone thinks he might still be a good man, an ordinary man.
(The voice in his brain whispers that maybe he just hopes that Emma sees him that way, the first person in what feels like ages not to look at him with suspicion for even a moment and to treat him with kindness just for the simple sake of being kind.)
(It’s amazing, the way a perfectly uneventful night can sink into his soul.)
In retrospect, perhaps that was the folly — an overabundance of happiness and hope. He should know better than to think that everything can go his way in more than a momentary way.
The problem comes when he attempts to get back into the garage. He has a key, of course, thanks to David, but that doesn’t change just how dark it gets in this corner of Maine, every single star visible but not the deadbolt. There’s a streetlight on the corner, but that doesn’t do much good when Killian’s own body is casting a shadow over the lock and he just can’t fit the key to the lock. He’s nearly got it, has got the edge of the key into the slot, when —
Gravel crunches behind him and a sudden beam of light casts right over his silhouette. “Step away from the door, please, and hands in the air.”
~~~~~
Whoops, sorry. Not really. Let me know what you think!
Tagging: @kmomof4, @aerica13, @thisonesatellite, @searchingwardrobes, @let-it-raines, @teamhook, @ohmightydevviepuu, @optomisticgirl, @winterbaby89, @spartanguard, @scientificapricot, @snowbellewells, @welllpthisishappening, @tiganasummertree, @captainswanbigbang, @snidgetsafan, @thejollyroger-writer, @profdanglaisstuff
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Happy Birthday to Me Pt 7
Knowing it was pointless, I turned away to try and mop up my face. Save a little of my dignity at least.
“Maybe now the gift will be overkill if that’s his reaction to the cake,” someone… MianMian maybe? Whispered. It was hard to tell with my ears still plugged from my crying session still in progress.
It worked as a good distraction though! I’d already been given so much I couldn’t accept any more! “No! After all that no one is allowed to give me any gifts! As king I forbid it!” I cried.
And then Jin Ling, in his best and clearest 3 year old voice, chimed in.
“No! /I/ am king!” he declared. “Gift for uncle!”
To which SangSang responded with a hearty laugh before stating that Jin Ling was his favorite.
“But you guys!” I protested, but Jiang Cheng cut me off by shoving me back into my chair in front of the cake.
Everyone sat back down and stared at me.
I looked back at the cake. To the three figures on the pier. The tallest one was me. I could tell she’d spend the most time on that figure.
I poked it a couple of times, jealous for a moment that it got to live in the past that was forever lost to me, only to be scalded by the candles that were still burning down to the quick.
I know I was supposed to make a wish but that felt too greedy. What could I have the nerve to wish for after all that had been given to me?
I tried not to start crying again when DaGe suggested I blow out the candles. That was probably a good idea before I burned down the whole establishment or ruined Shijie’s masterpiece. It took me a couple of tries but I managed to get them all out.
Apparently I’d been watched closer than I thought because Qin Su noticed I hadn’t paused to make a wish.
“I already have everything I could ever ask for right now. How could I wish for more?”
I must have said something right because I got a lot of loving smiles instead of looks of admonishment for once.
In a clear attempt to keep me from conveniently forgetting about the present (MianMian said as much. I swear they’re all out to get me.), everyone decided to have me open it before they would cut the cake, which was sure to be as delicious as it was beautiful.
Jin Ling demanded he be the one to give the gift to me. Jin Zixuan held onto him to keep him steady as he leaned over to try to get the heavy gift while still on his dad’s lap.
A-Yuan, who is just such a good, sweet boy, asked if he could help when he saw Jin Ling struggling. A-Ling looked at him for a loooong moment before he finally nodded. Lan Zhan moved out of his chair so that A-Yuan could stand on it to reach the bag. Between the two of them they managed to nearly topple it in front of me, but due to my own lightning fast ninja reflexes I managed to catch it and them before they could crash into anything.
Through the bag I could feel…
“You guys bought me a book?” I asked. I mean I like reading but it’s an odd present. There wasn’t anything I was particularly craving to read and especially not something as thick as this felt.
Everyone just grinned and chattered at me excitedly. “Open your gift, Kid,” DaGe said, just as excited as everyone else.
Well I’m not gonna say no to DaGe. I opened the bag and pulled out what did indeed turn out to be a book. But not just a book.
“What…. Is this..?” I asked, even though the answer was more than obvious.
“Open it up, Idiot,” Jiang Cheng said, though I don’t think he’s ever spoken to me in a more gentle tone before. I still stuck my tongue out at him as is my noble duty as the elder brother.
I opened the cover carefully and was met with a picture of my parents. They were smiling at the camera with a little black-haired baby that could only be me held safely in their arms.
I’d seen this photo before at Gamby’s house but oh… I wasn’t able to process it fully then. I’m not sure I was able to process it fully now. I’ll have to go through the album again when I’m alone. I’m tired of crying in front of other people. I flipped through the pages. A timeline of my life.
In the beginning it showed me slowly getting bigger with my mom and dad and gamby. A few pictures featured other children I didn’t know. We seemed so happy.
And then, of course, all too soon in the timeline my parents were no longer featured.
A photo of Gamby with Aunty Yi smiled up at me between the last of the photos that had clearly been supplied by them and the next ones that showed the further progression of my life.
Of course there was a large gap in between the last photo with Gamby and the first with my siblings. A ten year old me grinned, holding up a large fish while Jiang Cheng pouted next to me with a much smaller catch. Shijie had insisted on the photo even though she hadn’t particularly liked fishing.
Another picture of the three of us playing on the pier. It must have been a reference photo for the cake because we were all dressed in the same clothing. There was even one Jiang Cheng must have taken once of Shijie brushing my hair for me after a bath.
I watched the three of us grow up, though through the following 8 years the pictures clearly grew more scarce.
Then another gap in time. Much more recent pictures now featured me with my new siblings. Wen Qing had insisted on a ‘family photo’ after I learned how to smile again. I hated for Lan Zhan to see me there. I hadn’t quite recovered and even I can tell I was way too thin. Still the Wen siblings were at my sides and A-Yuan was in my lap while Granny Wen stood happily behind us. Uncle Four had taken the photo. I can still see his doofy grins as he tried to get A-Yuan to smile. The best we managed was to get him to look mildly puzzled. Still adorable. It must have been from a birthday of past because there were Halloween decorations all over in the background.
Oh yes that’s right. I’d let it slip that it was my birthday and was soundly scolded for not telling them sooner. I remember.
There were more pictures of the Wens. Just us all being silly together. Wen Ning agreeing to drink with me for once. That time I planted A-Yuan in the mud. (Wen Qing scolded me soundly for that too and made me do laundry for a month straight.)
Oh yes. We caught that scolding on camera too. Wen Ning snickered the whole time it’s a miracle he was able to hold the camera steady at all.
Then came SangSang’s section. Selfies taken from our phone that we then sent to each other. Fake bar fights. Goofy smiles.
It’s so good to have someone that I can just be silly with. Thank you for giving me that, Huaisang. I know I give you a lot of crap. You helped me out of a dark place by becoming my friend. I can’t thank you enough for that.
Just like Gamby and Aunty Yi’s section, the Nie section ended with a selfie taken of DaGe and SangSang. They’d taped a little note next to it in what must have been DaGe’s handwriting promising that I’d get to know him soon enough.
When I mentioned how threatening that sounded, DaGe grinned at me and told me to blame Huaisang for that one. “He’s the one who wanted that written.”
I think SangSang stomped on his brother’s foot but it’s hard to tell because DaGe didn’t even flinch.
I laughed a little and kept going.
Lan Zhan.
Of course the picture he would have first would be of the bunnies.
I say first picture.
I mean first couple pages of pictures.
All bunnies. So. Many. Bunnies.
I couldn’t help but coo at Suibian though. I know you’re not supposed to have favorites, but she’s my favorite. I can’t help it. She's so cuuuuuuuuuuute.
Eventually I made it through the sea of bunbuns and found people again!
Qin Su and MianMian were pressing their cheeks against mine in a dark room. The theater!
Oh I never told you guys about the theater!! I’ll give you a short rundown
So Lan Zhan had gone out with Nie Huaisang I think and I was apparently moping. So the girls decided that it was time we all went out as friends. We had to wait until closing time so we couldn’t go out until it was rather late. Qin Su had leaned on the counter in front of me and slid her phone over for me to look at. She’d pulled up the showtimes for the theater nearby and told me to pick one.
I must have looked as confused as I felt because MianMian had told me we were going out for drinks and a movie after work and told me again to pick one.
“Newbie’s choice,” they’d insisted in sync when I tried to tell them anything was fine. In the end we went with the sappiest looking romantic comedy we could find. (It was the off season so there really weren’t any winners. May as well go for broke right?).
We grabbed a couple of drinks at the bar while we waited for the time and had a wonderful time getting to know each other. MianMian had told me her actual name again but I still can’t for the life of me ever remember it. Sorry MianMian. I told her she could call me Yuandao to make it even. She looked confused until Qin Su snorted with laughter. She got it then and looked positively aghast.
“Who yearns for you??
“I am HAPPILY married I’ll have you know!” she said indignantly while firmly grasping Qin Su’s hand. Qin Su just kept laughing.
After that we spent a grand time watching what turned out to be a gloriously shitty movie while snickering and snarking to each other in careful whispers so as not to disturb the 4 other people in the theater.
We’d taken a selfie on the way out to commemorate the evening and the formation of new friendships. <3
After that, to my delighted horror, was pictures of Lan Zhan and myself on our spa day. I’m amazed he was willing to show those to others. He even included the one of us with those ridiculous face masks!
“I can’t believe you had them printed!”
“There were no other pictures,” Lan Zhan pointed out.
Fuck! He was right! I told him we’d have to fix that by spending at least an hour in the photo booth. Lan Zhan looked like he wanted to say something but Jiang Cheng interrupted by telling me to keep going.
There were a couple of pictures of Qin Su and MianMian looking adorable together.
And then.
A picture of Xichen smiling at the camera followed by a picture of Lan Zhan staring stoically ahead as he played his guqin. Well not stoic so much as completely absorbed by the music he was playing. It was in a room I didn’t recognize. He looked a bit younger though unfortunately it didn’t have long hair in it so it couldn’t have been from THAT long ago.
He looked quietly peaceful.
I nearly traced his face with my finger but caught myself before my hand actually made contact. I covered the movement by turning the page instead. I hope my face wasn’t as red as it felt.
There wasn’t really anything after that. Just a few empty pages so I could keep adding new photos - something I will absolutely do. I started to close the book but SangSang stopped me. He told me to keep going.
Why? Was there a secret message at the end?
Turns out rather than a secret message, there was an envelope taped to the inside of the back cover.
Oh fuck I’m still sick just thinking about it.
It was full of checks. Like the money kind! Lots of them!
And Cash on top of it!
I pulled out the first one and screamed (which I still feel bad for because poor little A-Lian started to cry because I startled her). I didn’t mean to but FUCK!
“$3,000????? Huaisang are you f--CRAZY????”
I managed to remember just in time that there were, in fact, children present and stopped myself from exploding in expletives.
He said it was also half from DaGe. As if that made it better.
“Great. Then you’re BOTH crazy! Who gives $3000 as a birthday gift????????”
The golden peacock decided to chirp then and told me to keep counting because there was more.
I nearly passed out then. More. MORE???
Yes more!
$7.5K more!
I’m pretty sure my voice reached decibels no human could hear
“You’re all crazy! I’m NOT keeping this!” I said. How could I possibly? That’s WAY WAY TOO MUCH.
Ghosty I’m sorry I ever said you were extra after going through this my eyes have been opened to the true meaning of excess. (NO this is NOT an offer to give me more money!!!!!!!!!!)
“Yes you will,” Jiang Cheng said with the most punchable smirk I’d ever seen. “Accept it now with grace or you’ll see it in your bank account tomorrow anyway.”
“You wouldn’t!” I said. He wouldn’t even know how.
“Oh yes I would. It’s as easy to get into your bank account as it is to get into your bl--”
For the second time in an evening I felt my palm getting viciously licked as I slapped my hand over Jiang Cheng’s mouth to keep him from fucking talking.
We do NOT need people at that party
Asking about this blog.
Fuck you JC.
And SangSang, don’t you DARE tell people either!
Let me save SOME face. I don’t know if I’d be able to face anyone again if they read this shit other than you two assholes.
Rather than risk another slip of the tongue I thanked everyone kindly for their contributions.
“You really really didn’t have to though! My boss is very generous and pays me quite well!”
I winked at Lan Zhan for fun.
But I promised to cherish that photo album forever. And I will. I held it to my heart and tried not to cry againnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
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Yay for little fic prompts!! Can you do a Malec human au one where they knew each other back in like High school, and one of them is a famous singer/actor and this happens? “you’re famous and just got asked if you were ever in love this should be good– WAIT WHAT” Thanks!!
“Can you turn that off?”, Alec asks, annoyed. On the radio, an uncomfortably familiar voice is crooning on and on about missed opportunities and what-ifs. It’s a good song, he can admit that much, for anyone not prone to getting sucked into unfortunate spirals of treacherous, futile daydreams of things that might have been different if only he’d been braver, once upon a time.
He tries to slap her hand away, but Izzy won’t budge. Instead, she turns up the volume.
“What happened to our ‘the driver picks the music’ rule?”
Izzy pretends to be blissfully unaware of his bad temper. “Doesn’t apply when it’s good music from one of your former classmates.”
“Not my classmate,” Alec points out, fingers clenching on the steering wheel.
Izzy shrugs. “Close enough. How often to people from our school get famous?Especially people in our age range? I mean, you shared a couple of classes, he was only grade above you, so don’t pretend to be all high and mighty about this.”
Alec sighs and resigns himself to his fate. In the passenger seat, Izzy sings along at the top of her lungs, as if she knows what it feels like, to love someone and not be able to connect to them, to be with them the way you want to. As if that’s ever happened to her, as if anyone ever turned her down or broke her heart. Usually she was the one responsible for other people’s heartbreak.
Maybe he’s just bitter because for him, the song hits painfully close to home.
Finally, mercifully, the songs fades out and is replaced by the grating voice of the radio host. “Wow, what a rollercoaster this song was! That was Symptoms by everybody’s sweetheart and all around mega-star Magnus Bane, the brand new single taken from his new album Lose Your Breath, who is here with me, in this studio right. now! Magnus, it’s a pleasure to have you here.”
“Pleasure to be here.”
His voice is just as smooth and melodious as Alec remembers. If he closes his eyes, he can pretend he’s back in some dingy basement, watching the party around him, his siblings having fun, Magnus whispering in his ear. He exhales shakily, his fingers clenching around the steering wheel.
“Seriously, can we put on some good music now?” he asks.
Izzy, of course, ignores him. “Shut up. I wanna hear what he’s saying.”
“He’s not writing songs about you, you know that, right?”
“Shhh!!!”
“Now, Magnus, this album as a whole is a lot more introspective than your previous work, and this song in particular has a kind of…melancholy feel to it. Do you wanna walk us through the process of writing it, and what it is about?”
Don’t, Alec thinks, wildly. Please, don’t. Just -
“Sure,” Magnus replies. He sounds mostly cheerful, but there is a note of hesitation in his voice that makes Alec’s heart clench.
It’s stupid, he knows this. They weren’t ever - anything. There wasn’t ever any chance of them being anything. This song isn’t about him. Magnus probably left High School and never thought of him again, wouldn’t even remember his name is someone asked him about him. This song is about Camille, or Imasu, or Etta, or any of the other people who lusted after him. Alec doesn’t get songs written about him.
He just likes to pretend he does, because, as Izzy and Jace tell him frequently, he’s a bit of a masochist.
Well,maybe this interview will dispel of his silly notions once and for all. Magnus will confirm what he already knows to be true - it’s about Camille,Magnus’ on-and-off-and-on-again girlfriend since Junior Year - and Alec can stop torturing himself. Finally move on, and look at other boys with the same kind of longing that’s still reserved for Magnus, even six years later.
“I - actually, I started writing this song quite a while ago, it just never seemed to work, “ Magnus says with a self-deprecating laugh.
“How long ago?”
“Oh, I was fresh out of High School and - well, as is obvious when you pay attention to the lyrics - pining after someone I’d lost my window of opportunity with.”
“Ohhh, so this is was a High School romance?” The interviewer seems delighted.
Another pained laugh. “I….don’t think you can call it a romance when it never took off,” Magnus replies.
The interviewer gasps, over-exaggerated and fake. “But who would ever refuse you?”
“Well, as far-fetched as it seems, it happens quite often. And - well, I can’t blame him. Sometimes circumstances just work against you.”
“Him?” The interviewer sounds, Alec muses, like a big cat that was just presented with a particularly juicy and big piece of fresh meat. As if it’s not common knowledge that Magnus Bane is bi, has always been bi, will always be bi.
Magnus clears his throat. “Yes.”
“Tell us more!”
Alec can almost hear Magnus’ shrug. He’s clearly uncomfortable now, and Alec tries to ignore the white-hot flair of protectiveness surging through him. “There’s not much to tell. He was a bit younger than me - not in my grade - and well, between a …let’s say conservative upbringing and the general school policy on anything even slightly straying from the norm, he was…not out. It never went anywhere.”
“Alec?”, Izzy asks, suddenly concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he croaks.
He’s not okay. He can’t breathe.
“But this was six years ago. Why bring it up now? Surely that’s ancient history?” the interviewer asks.
“Not to me,” Magnus says. “I loved him. And - you know how sometimes, you meet a person and you just….you just know?”
“Like love at first sight?”
“I don’t believe in love at first sight,” Magnus says. “But - potential, yes. Sometimes you meet someone and you just know that they’re going to be important to you. That even if you don’t love them yet, it’s inevitable that you will. And it doesn’t matter how much time passes, these people - you can’t just purge them from your mind. They’ll always own a piece of your soul.” Magnus sighs. “I suppose I should live more in the present than in the past but - well. Sometimes your mind just can’t stop going over the what-ifs and might-have-beens. I think everybody feels that way sometimes.”
“Alec,” Izzy says, her voice clipped, urgent. “Pull over.”
“I’m fine.”
“You shaking and - hyperventilating - just - pull over!”
He does. Izzy rubs her hand between his shoulderblades in soothing circles, muttering nonsense, until he stops gasping on every single intake of breath, and for a long time after that.
“You need to tell him,” she says, her face uncharacteristically serious, into the silence that follows his kind- of panic attack.
“Right.” Alec scoffs. “Let me just get out the phone number of world-famous rock star Magnus Bane, which I obviously have on speed dial, and say, hey, remember when I broke your fucking heart into a million tiny pieces, wanna catch up with this trainwreck of a person I am now?”
“Alec, that’s not true.”
“Yes, it is,” Alec says, swallowing down the bitterness on his tongue. “It’s way in the past, and even if I could contact him, which I can’t - he wouldn’t want to hear from me.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He doesn’t like the determined look on her face one bit.
“Izzy what are you -” he asks as she pulls out her phone, quickly dialing a number.
“We’re still here with Magnus Bane, ready to answer your questions,” the interviewer announces cheerfully.
Alec blanches. “Izzy, no -”
Even from the distance, he hears the call connect. He makes a strangled sound and lunges for the phone, but Izzy his too fast for him, evading his grabbing hands easily.
“Hello, this is Izzy.”
“Hello, Izzy,” Magnus says, all pleasant and polite. “What do you want to know?”
“I just wanted to let you know I love your music. But - I don’t have a question. Sorry, I don’t think I’m the person you want to talk to.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I think you should talk to my brother Alec,” she says, putting the call on speaker.
“Izzy, stop, don’t -” he squeaks.
His voice is played back at him through the speakers, and Alec wants to die.
There’s a moment of heavy silence and then -
“Alexander?” Magnus asks. He sounds cautious and almost- hopeful?
“I - yeah.” He clears his throat awkwardly.
“Hi,” Magnus breathes and he sounds - overwhelmed, and joyous, and Alec can’t help but smile.
“Hi.”
“Hi - no, I said that already.”
He’s making charming, suave, confident Magnus Bane stammer on live radio. What the hell is going on?
He didn’t think they’d ever speak again. He didn’t think it would feel like this, like his whole world is tilting on its axis until it’s right side up again. He didn’t think his heart would ache like this, wanting to be known, wanting to never be let go again.
“I - I didn’t think I’d ever find you again,” Magnus says quietly.
“I wasn’t sure I’d want to be found,” Alec admits, his throat suddenly dry. How much pain has he caused Magnus, has he caused both of them?
“Do you -” Magnus starts, “do you want to be found now?”
Next to him, Izzy is flipping out. The interviewer is screeching in the background. None of it matters.
“Yeah,” he says, voice rough and trembling with nerves. “Yeah, I think I do.”
“Yeah?” Magnus’s exhales with shaky breath,
“You’re not the only one with regrets.”
“That’s- “ Magnus laughs wetly. “I was going to say that’s good, but that’s not true. Just - just don’t go anywhere, okay?”
“I won’t,” Alec promises. “Not this time.”
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morrigan + jules. ( @wildhcartcd. )
Jules visiting Morrigan at work should not have been as much of a surprise as it was for the witch and really, she should have been expecting this return to form sooner rather than later. Though she couldn’t pin exactly when, at some point in their friendship the pair had settled into a comfortable routine of sharing what time they could spare around their lunch breaks together during the week, spending nearly all of it griping about their respective issues with their jobs and shooting silly looks at Gale when he could stand to participate or listen in on their conversations. Morrigan would always say that she was entirely convinced that Julie had it much worse than she ever would (how could one compare a theatre teacher’s woes to that of a surgical intern’s?) and she’d state as much too before barreling into her fifty third recount of her stint in the hospital when she’d been a child and how terribly awful she’d acted toward the staff; she’d always end the story by declaring that she’d promised never to act quite so insufferably again, and by that very same evening she’d have broken that vow.
Jules never seemed to mind, however, and perhaps that was why Morrigan looked forward to their discussions the way that she did.
Well. Not quite. To say that she ‘looked forward’ to any time she could spend with Jules Wright was a gross understatement at best. One she’d come to terms with a long while ago and one she’d become (for the most part) particularly good at playing down. No one else needed to know about the way Morrigan’s chest liked to collapse in on itself when she caught the barest glimpse of the youngest Wright, nor the way her skin seared to life at an accidental brush of the hand. No one else needed to know, though the witch so very badly worried that they would each time she smiled too wide in Julie’s presence or laughed too hard at one of her jokes or stared too long at the dimples carved into her cheeks. With that in mind there was no reason today would be any different.
Though she’d never say so Morrigan Flores still found herself shocked to see the she-wolf so readily out and about in public, specifically braving the Thunderdome that was the high school she worked at, given the ordeal she’d been through in the last seven months or so. Jules, Gale, Marlo and the uncle to the Wrights, whose name repeatedly slipped her mind, had been through it and had been gone long enough for the witch to start fearing the worst though she’d made a stubborn point of not allowing anyone else to see just how distressed the kidnappings had made her. The Averys and the Wrights had suffered more than she ever could have, no matter how close she claimed to be to two of the victims in particular. As a result, she’d told exactly no one about the flashes of dream and reality alike that had filtered into her mind whilst she had slept, quietly cursing her still juvenile psychic abilities each morning afterward. She’d done just the same when she’d accidentally made contact, brief though it had been, with Gale, both unable to provide any useful information and unsure if it had even been real or simply her own subconscious showing her what she had most wanted to see.
Her fruitless attempts to make the connection again had been convincing enough for the witch to accept that it had been the latter.
She supposed none of that really mattered now, with Jules standing in front of her, alive, breathing, and looking as unfairly perfect as all the Wright siblings tended to. “Julie,” she managed to force out after realising that she’d possibly let her stare linger a moment too long, voice soft and playful in contrast to the rough yells that travelled through the halls into the empty classroom they were standing in-- and to the rather harsh giggles that came from the doorway. The witch immediately sighed at the sound and fixed her sternest gaze on the younger faces that poked in through the doorway. While she certainly wasn’t the most intimidating creature, Morrigan had managed to pick up a few tricks here and there, and her stare had become intense enough to cause the three girls to shrink back slightly. “Emily, Nicole, and Harper. Why am I not surprised?”
Another giggle bounced off of the walls, before Nicole spoke, and the other two, emboldened, chimed in as well:
“We’re going to class, Miss Flores, promise!”
“Yeah! We just wanted to say hi, is all.”
“Right, we’re definitely going. We’ll say hi to Mr. Beringer and Mr. Wri--” At that point, Harper made sure to roughly elbow Emily in the stomach, effectively silencing her while Morrigan resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
“Well, I don’t imagine Mr. Beringer much likes his students being late, and I don’t imagine any of you can afford to take your time getting there without a hall pass. All three of you, go. Quickly, or you’ll end up with a week’s detention.”
Enthusiastic nods were traded, though Nicole couldn’t seem to hold back one last remark, glancing over at Jules and grinning slyly: “Have a good afternoon, Miss Flores.” And then they were gone, their laughter echoing.
Morrigan was fairly sure she’d never blushed as hard as she did following that comment.
Clearing her throat and anxiously reaching a hand up to card through her hair, the witch slipped out of her teacher persona, trying very hard to seem as unperturbed by her students taking every available opportunity they had to mess with her in regards to Jules as she assumed the Wright wolf would be. How they’d managed to figure it out, she’d never know. It wasn’t as if she’d been public about her affections for the other woman. Had she? No, surely not. No one else seemed to know and if they did, they hadn’t said anything. “Sorry. They’re still less than pleased to be back at school. I’m sure you remember what it was like for us.” Morrigan did her best to appear unaffected and cool as she sauntered around to lean on her elbows against the desk in the front of the classroom, lightly tapping the toe of her shoe against the carpeted floor as she drew in another breath to speak.
“Can’t say I was expecting a visit today. Missed me something fierce, did you?” It certainly wasn’t helping, the way she encouraged herself by engaging in strange, quasi-flirting, but it seemed like the only safe option. Too serious and she’d lose her mind, the dam would break and she would let all of her feelings spill out. Too casual and she’d lose it just the same, going mad in forgoing the closeness with Jules she so treasured. The in-between was hardly much better, mind, but it worked for the time being.
Deep down Morrigan knew there’d always be a small part of her that longed for the day when the other’d freely say that yes, she had missed her, and mean in the way the witch wished she would. It was the sort of silly fantasy she found herself entertaining when the nights got quiet and her phone would light up with a text from the she-wolf; those were the moments when she felt so painfully certain that what she wanted was more real than it seemed, that she wasn’t imagining things and Jules had been staring back, she had meant to brush her fingers over the small of her back, and her racing thoughts hadn’t been unfounded. It all seemed to make such perfect sense in her head.
Except, of course, for the glaring fact that Gale would sooner eat glass than allow his best friend to corrupt his little sister.
And Gods knew it hurt to admit but frankly, Morrigan agreed with him.
#「 windham — communication 」 » starters.#「 morrigan — communication 」 » starters.#「 morrigan — general 」 » morrigan flores.#「 morrigan — communication 」 » interactions.#「 windham — residents 」 » jules wright.
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Jellicle-ho did this and now I also want to rank my favorite Cats. So I wrote this instead of writing about Sullivan.
Long Post Warning
To start with I don't hate/dislike any of them. The ones toward the bottom of the list tend to be ones I just think about less often, or don't feel like I connect to as well. Based on 1998 for simplicity's sake.
1) Munkustrap
My baby. Munk's always been my favorite from the very start. It's not just the hero thing, it's not just that Michael Gruber's a handsome mf, it's how he interacts with the others. He's so loving and protective, but at the same time so done with everyone's bullshit (when bullshittery occurs). And then there's the underlying anxiety issues we're all pretty sure he deals with that makes me just want to hug him. He just so clearly wants everyone to be happy and safe. It melts my heart how much joy he gets from seeing his tribe happy. Watch when Deuteronomy shows up in 1998, after he greets him himself (before which he steps aside so others can greet him first cuz he's a sweetheart), he spends most of the walk to the stairs soaking in how happy all the others are and being utterly overjoyed. Add to that his deep, devoted love for his father and how diligently he looks after him, his clear affection for his little brother Tugger despite being more done with his bullshit than anyone else's (Tugger don't touch the bagpip. Tugger no), his strong, tender bond with Alonzo and how smoothly they work together in a crisis, and his sometimes subtle, sometimes not-so-subtle crush on Demeter (notice that she's the only one other than Alonzo that HE approaches right before the Gumbie Cat and the only one he uses both hands to reach out to during that). Also his snark and sass, when he lets it out, is an utter joy. And I love the way he can assert his dominance with just a glance if the situation calls for it (watch him with Cassandra in Grizabella's first scene), but still rarely ever pulls rank like that. Overall he's a really fun character to watch for me, as well as to think about and (if I get around to it) write about.
2) Demeter
My other baby. (I'm so happy my two babies love each other). She's such a complex character. Her backstory of abuse and her current dealings with PTSD as a result are only the jumping off point. I love her moments of bravery, like jumping on Mac to protect the tribe despite everything she's been through. Courage isn't about not being afraid, it's about doing what needs to be done despite your fears. She's the most courageous member of the tribe and I love her so much. As for her relationships with the others, she has a much less subtle crush on Munk than he does on her, but she's so shy about it (and he's so damn polite) I doubt they'd ever get off the ground without a little help. She's so adorable in the way she looks at him, in 1998 she has a particular smile different from her other smiles that seems to be just for him. I also love her connection with Bomba, I feel like if she and Munk ever got off the ground it would be with Bomba's encouragement. Bomba is always there to hold her up when she feels small. While Munk makes her feel safe, Bomba makes her feel strong. So this is why Demelustrap is my OT3 thank you for coming to my TED talk.
3) Mungojerrie
Acts like a dumbass, is actually a genius. (Fight me). I love characters like this. Contradictions. Like brave strong Munk who is actually more emotionally vulnerable than he lets on, or nervous timid Demeter who bravely confronted the person she fears most. Mungo seems fundamentally clueless in most situations but I think he's just a carefree goofball, at least when the stakes are low. He and Teazer are both clever enough to get away with all sorts of mischief, and I don't think it's a "Teazer is the smart one" situation. I mean Teazer is probably smarter, but they need smarts on both sides. I also love how smoothly they work together as a team. Mungo ranks higher for those adorable "clueless" moments and for being a lovable goof.
4) Rumpleteazer
Acts like a bimbo, is actually a genius. To a lesser extent than Mungo in that she acts way less clueless than he does, and her antics are usually more obviously silliness rather than dumbassery. Would be higher but I just like Mungo's goofy aesthetic a bit more. I'd also like to take this time to note I do NOT think they are siblings. (Fight me. Again)
5) Mistoffolees
Another of those contradictions I love. He's simultaneously shy and showy, bold and insecure. He doesn't quite know who he is yet, but he knows who he wants to be. He's also adorable to watch, with his little hops and poses. His relationship with Tugger is adorable, whether you see them as mates or BFFs (both? both. both is good), and his obvious crush on Victoria is equally adorable (more NOT siblings!). The way he melts when she smiles at him toward the beginning of 1998 *sigh* so cute
6) Alonzo
Sorry @jellicle-ho I do love him lots, but he doesn't make the top five simply because I feel closer to Misto and the Chaos Twins (just an expression, not siblings!) on a spiritual level. He's still one of the best characters. He has his "contradiction" element of being cocky but somewhat insecure, and I especially love that he's just as serious as he is playful. He's also a slinky, sassy bastard and a blast to watch on stage.
7) Victoria
Woo boy. Okay first of all, since it seems to be a major factor, the contradiction element. She seems like a shy, reserved, almost demure young lady at first, but she's actually that quietly sassy serene girl at the Alpha bitch's lunch table, the one that's actually nice and doesn't participate in putting down the weird kid no one likes. But she's still gonna judge you. I love every moment of Victoria-sideeye in the 1998 video. And of course there's her whole side plot which basically revolves around her being extremely DTF, which is quite the opposite of "demure." Also her obvious crush on Misto is also adorable, the way she smiles at him, ugh like the only reason she danced with Plato instead is because Misto was too shy to approach her (also Plato has much better upper body strength so hey ho, hey hue, let's go Pas de Deux). She's also so very graceful and elegent and then there's her "omg why!?" flexibility which make her fascinating to watch.
8) Pouncival
Precious child. Precious little jackass brat. No but really I love him so much he's such a brat but also like he's tiny? And he wants to be cool sooo bad! The way he runs in for his "and bright!" all excited, I just can't. He has this sort of quiet, but enthusiastic demeaner of someone that knows he's not the star, but hopes to be, and he's bursting with energy in a pseudo-controlled way that I find more compelling than Etcetera's brand of enthusiasm. I love his acrobatics, whether they're super smooth, adorably clumsy, or straight up pratfalls. I love how 14-years-old he is. You can see him getting bored in that teenage "okay grampa you've told this story forty times already" kind of way during part of Gus's song. I love how adorably menacing he looks during the Naming of Cats. I just love the baby. He is very baby.
9) Bombalurina
She's beauty. She's grace. She'll smack you in the face. She's sexy and she knows it. She's such a confident, strong woman, and while she's the most overtly sexualized character, I kind of find it's even more empowering, you know? Like the idea that a woman can be both sexy and strong, she doesn't have to pick one. Bomba is walking proof that being strong, bold, and tough is not inherently "masculine," nor is protecting others. Don't get me wrong, I love strong female characters of all varieties, I'm not here to knock the tomboy trope, but when a strong female character is also sexually liberated it's just a different level of empowerment. Not just the deconstruction of "masculine/feminine" lines, but also in the "my body, my life, my choice" kind of way. Further, I absolutely love her relationship with Demeter. I personally support the mates, bffs, and siblings hcs because they honestly work so well as any of these (but as mentioned above, Demelustrap is my OT3, despite not always getting strong Bombastrap vibes). Her protectiveness and desire to comfort Demeter is so beautiful. Maybe it's the contradiction thing that I love so much. Strong, bold Bomba has her most tender moments when looking after Demeter. Idk. Moving on!
10) Rum Tum Tugger
He's beauty. He's… grace? He probably won't smack you in the face. He's sexy and he SO knows it. Tugger is walking proof that certain stereotyped "feminine" traits aren't inherently feminine, or to put it another way, he breaks down what it means to be "masculine." Think about it. Cares about his looks, beautiful luxurious long hair, wiggles his hips, wiggles his hips more, wiggles his hips when he walks, struts like a model on a runway, shakes his chest to be sexy, idolizes a cute boy, fashionable clothes (knee-bandana ftw!), all stereotypical "girly" traits, but would anyone describe Tugger as "girly"? Anyway, that's not even what I love most about him. I actually used to dislike him as a kid, but these days I can't get enough of him. Most of the time he just oozes positive vibes in one way or another, be it party vibes or laid back vibes. Most of his screentime in 1998 is such a good time because of that. He has such an energy and ferocity to him during his dance numbers, especially the second half of the Jellicle Ball in 1998. And then there's his quiet moments, especially the affection he shares with Munk while singing about their dad (omg the respect and affection he feels for both of them, coming from such a self-loving bastard it just ahhhhhh), and then after Deuteronomy comes back I just can't he's so sweet omg. Not to mention his whole relationship with Misto. Aside from the whole idolizing thing, which is adorable, he also is so supportive and encouraging. He just naturally bleeds confidence and good vibes, but he deliberately offers that confidence to Misto when he needs it. It's so beautiful and I'm gonna cry. I used to ship him with Bomba, but these days I hc them as friends with occasional benefits that like to place bets on how far interactions between Munk and Deme will go before one of them chickens out or gets awkward, and on which one will be the awkward chicken this time.
Wow I talked a lot about Tugger and he's only #10. Okay well, you folks ready to get controversial?
11) Macavity
I know I know, hear me out. I know most people interpret him as a total bastard with no redeeming qualities but like, I don't read him that way? Anyway I have complicated feelings about Mac but I'll get more into it in another post. As a character in the show I do really like him as a villain, I love his laugh, I love his "no look guys it's okay I brought him back see he's over there heheheh" gesture before he shows up in disguise, I love how show-boaty and "totally hyped for this" he is when he reveals himself, I love his "no wait please don't hurt me it's cool I'm leaving" gesture at Alonzo after the Jellicles start ganging up on him, he's just a blast of a character really, whether he's redemable or not.
12) Old Deuteronomy
Sweetest man you'll ever know. His compassion for the entire tribe is so sweet it hurts. He even feels love and understanding for Griz, and (futiley) tries to persuade the others to accept her, even subtley scolding them after the first "Memory" with his "Moments of Happiness." He loves his sons especially, and I adore every moment he interacts with either of them. He also can bring the sass, see his 'chin up' posture before Tugger bows to him, which I always read as them playfully teasing each other, or his little eye-roll when Munk gets a bit extra talking about the fire brigade. On that note, how into Munk's little play he is, even though it's going wrong. He keeps making encouraging gestures at Munk and reacting with surprise at the right moments (when Munk is looking at least lol). Anyway he's great moving on.
13) Jennyanydots
Jenny is that cool aunt that hangs out and has fun but also won't put up with your nonsense. She's so great I love her so much. She's honestly just a blast all the time I love her so much what can I say? I hc her as teaching Tumblebrutus how to sew. I don't know why.
14) Electra
Ah the "quiet" kitten. I read her as the tough tomboyish one of the girl kittens, and I hc her as sort of in training as a protector, and that's why she's more serious than the others. In 1998 she seems to look up to Munk, being the first to greet him before Gumbie Cat, and nuzzling him during Old Deuteronomy. 1998 Electra also has a lot of little adorable motions like licking her paws during Old Deuteronomy and retrieving the Peke paw from the middle of stage and than posing/playing with it during the Pekes and the Pollicles. I also love her freckles and her pink arm warmer. Massively underrated character.
15) Tumblebrutus
SPINNY. BALLET. BOI. Nuff said. But I'm gonna say more. He keeps up with Misto in ballet and exceeds Pounce in acrobatics, and as such is fascinating to watch. Also Brutus's struggle between his playful instincts and his desire to impress his elders is so adorable.
16) Admetus/George
First of all I first knew him as Admetus long long ago, and he will always be Admetus to me. Sorry. Second, omg this lovely, happy, wonderfully expressive boi. His face at literally any point in 1998 is such a gem.
17) Jemima
Speaking of great expressions, how bout Jemima? She's so cute and sweet! I love her whole deal of understanding Griz's pain and trying to get the rest of the tribe to understand. The only reason she's not higher up is because I somehow don't emotionally connect with her like I do some of the other kittens.
18) Coricopat
The more laid-back and playful half of the mystic twins. The twins in general are cool af, but Corico ranks higher for being more relatable.
19) Skimbleshanks
BUBBLY. TRAIN. DAD. Nuff said. Buttttt I'm gonna say more! Skimble is your best friend's dad that is always chaperoning on field trips but that's okay because he's actually pretty fun to be around most of the time. I love his cheerful expressions and his little jigs. His song is so much fun. And I love the relationship between him and Spara in 1998. More on that below
20) Asparagus
Okay so Spara is your other best friend's dad (or your best friend's other dad) who sometimes tries too hard to be cool and connect with the kids but that's okay because he's so nice and besides it's kind of adorable? What I find most adorable about Spara though is how hard he's crushing on Skimble. Like even if you hc them as already in a relationship, he really just can't get enough of Train Dad. Look at how Spara smiles at Skimble ALL THE DAMN TIME. He's practically blushing at multiple points during Skimble's song. And Skimble tends to gravitate towards Spara quite a bit, and omg that big grin he gives him during the line "sleeping car exprrrrreeesss!" I'm dead. In conclusion I need more Asparashanks content thank you for coming to my TED talk
21) Cassandra
I WANT to like Cassandra better than I do. I really really want to. But I feel like she's just so hard to get to know. I do enjoy her on stage, but as a character with backstory and motives she's a bit hard to work with. That being said she's by no means a flat character. I do hc her as one of the deputy protectors along with Alonzo, and more recently as part of the BFF power trio of her, Alonzo, and Munk, since Alonzo and much more subtley Munk are the only ones she shows any physical affection toward, aside from occasionally hanging out with T-brutus but we'll shelve that for now. I do really enjoy watching her though, she has some really interesting movements and expressions. And she does radiate a sort of "try me, I fucking dare you" vibe that I love a lot.
22) Tantomile
I have the same problem with Tanto that I do with Cass. I just don't feel like I know her very well. She is cool as a mystical psychic character, but that's part of what makes the twins in general cool. So far I haven't been able to connect to her as an individual without her brother, otherwise she would be much higher on this list. She's still cool though.
22) Plato
*Deep breath* okay. I don't dislike Plato. I just.. okay look out of the male kittens/young adults, he's my least favorite. He does have qualities that I really like, like how he's a shy reserved boy on the outside and a fiery passionate soul on the inside. That's cool. Also those intense expressions are pretty cool I guess. I guess I might have less positive feelings about him because everyone assumes Victoria's magically in love now because of the Pas de Deux even though they barely interact otherwise. Which is unfair of me to feel that way. I hc him as struggling with internalized anger and anxiety and having difficulty expressing himself.
23) Etcetera
I'll be honest, I used to find her annoying. This one's pretty much entirely on me, because she has a superficially similar demeanor to a girl that used to bully me in school. But since graduating Cety's grown on me a lot, not in small part due to her wonderful enthusiasm for literally everything. While less compelling to me than Pounce's quieter, more controlled flavor of energetic enthusiasm, her bouncy jubilance still makes me grin and giggle along with her, so that's a major plus.
24) Jellylorum
Jelly is your other cool aunt that worries too much about your safety but also has cool stories to tell and is always doing like art and stuff in her garage. I hc her as the tribe nurse. Would be higher if not for slight Karen-ness.
25) Gus
Only on stage for a short time but he shines. The way he starts out all helpless looking like he doesn't even know where he is and slowly blossoms into singing about his old days with enthusiasm, and then breaking down into tears. He's a great character for the scene that he's in, but unfortunately there's not a lot else to him, so he gets a low spot on the list
26) Grizabella
Oof. Okay so. I get it. She messed up. My hc is… well, complicated, but short version is she never planned on being a mom and has no idea how to be a mom, and so she just let Deut raise Munk and visited occasionally (ahem rarely), but she does end up later spending some time as his primary caregiver, and she fucks up royally, like massive neglect and mild emotional manipulation, and ends up emotionally damaging Munk more than if she'd left him alone. SO with this hc in mind, is she redemable? Idk. But the tribe forgave her so that's what matters. Do I feel sorry for her? Yes. Do I believe she honestly regrets her past actions? …kind of? Yes. Let's go with yes. Does any of this make her my favorite character? Not by a long shot. I have mixed feelings about Grizabella. I don't dislike her I just… don't know how to feel about her.
27) Bustopher Jones
Walking fat joke, but a pleasant walking fat joke. Wish we could have got to know him better than "that cultured fat guy all the toms want to impress." He's fun though. I love his expressions throughout his song, and that toodle-pip! is so adorable.
28) Exotica
Oh Exotica. Who even are you. We don't know you at all. I do like the moment in Old D's song when she's reaching from the outside of the crowd hoping to get to touch him, and he reaches out so she can, and immediately after touching him she drops her hand and backs away, which I read as shy fangirl overload flee the scene omg he touched me omgomgomg. So that was cute. Ummm. I wish she'd stop changing colors every three seconds so I could keep track of her. Other than that, I don't dislike her, I just don't know her well enough to like her.
Omg I made it to the end. Did I forget anybody? I don't think so... Phew, that was so hard! Thanks for reading if you made it this far! :)
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