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theunbonded · 1 year ago

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Chradh, Garrick’s brown scorpiontail, slammed into the clearing. Garrick was on the ground within a heartbeat and rushed to my side.

“Capplynger, are you alright? What happened?”

Lifting the sword above my head, I forced it down into the ox-looking cadet’s chest again, another blood vessel bursting over my face and hands. When I slid the sword out of the mess of the corpse and raised it above my head to repeat the motion, Garrick wrapped his hands around mine, halting the movement.

“Damnit! Beatrice!” His eyes were wild as he bent his head to try and meet mine. I looked for a second before flicking them away, unable to hold eye contact with him. “He’s dead. It’s okay, you’re okay. He’s dead. Just let go of the sword.”

His fingers slowly picked mine from the hilt, tentative as if I would wield the blade against him. When he had the sole grip on the sword, he threw it far into the woods and gently led me away from the demolished body.

“You’re okay now, I promise. What happened?” Garrick looked up and down my body, assessing for injuries. His hands flexed at his sides, like he was resisting the urge to touch and make certain. My mouth felt like it was filled with cotton and I kept my head towards the ground. There was nothing inside me to answer him with; I was hollow, a husk of a person. “Beatrice. Answer me. Please.”

Silence.

“Fuck, Beatrice. What the fuck happened?”

Silence.

Both hands were in his hair, pulling at his curls. “I’m getting you out of here. Are you able to fly?”

Silence.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

He ushered me towards Chradh, who bent on his forelegs to allow me to climb up. It was a kind gesture for a wounded cadet. From behind me, Garrick sucked in a breath, and I could feel the soft touch of his fingers as they grazed the skin next to the knife jutting out of my shoulder. Garrick positioned me to sit behind him, and as if he didn’t trust me to hold on, he grabbed both of my arms and wrapped them around his torso, one of his hands gripping both of mine to keep them secured.

Chradh lifted into the air and I found myself folding into Garrick’s back. My forehead pressed into the space between his shoulder blades, the leather cool from flying through the night air. The scent of eucalyptus wrapped around me in a warm embrace. I closed my eyes without fear of what I would see when I opened them for the first time since stepping foot in Basgiath.

The brown dragon’s landing was so gentle I didn’t realize we had made it until Garrick patted my hands. I had expected to be flown back to the giant stone structures of Basigiath, but instead I found myself on the edge of a lake. The crystal blue water ebbed in time to the beat of Chradh’s wings, and the light of the moon projected across the entire sleek surface.

I tried to climb down the dragon’s back, but my muscles gave out half-way down and I started to slide. Garrick caught me before I could crash and carefully placed me on my feet. He kept a hand on my waist as he guided us towards a large cropping of rocks overlooking the water. His fingers kept twitching and he glanced down at me every other second, like he expected me to tell him to get off and he was concerned why I wasn’t saying anything.

“Sit down here.” He led me to a spot amongst the rocks that was smooth and helped me sit. I couldn’t muster up the energy to be upset that I needed assistance. My thigh felt like it was on fire and I could no longer feel my shoulder, which was scarier than pain.

Garrick knelt in front of me, holding my chin in between his fingers. His grip was soft but there would be no breaking it if I tried to avoid his gaze. “I am going to dress your wounds. That means you’re going to have to take your leathers off. Is that okay? I need you to answer me, Beatrice.”

For a moment there was silence, and then I nodded a single yes.

He dropped my chin and moved to my back. The ties on the back of my leathers pulled tight as he undid the knot, and then loosened as he undid each section one-by-one until it fell off my back. The portion that got stuck around the knife in my shoulder was quickly chopped away with his own blade.

Then the back of my shirt was cut open. A chill went up my spine at the sudden vulnerability.

“I am going to take the knife out now.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Like cutting through butter, the blade was taken out of my shoulder slowly and smoothly. When its jagged point was finally gone, pain finally erupted through my shoulder.

A cry escaped my lips, and Garrick immediately lifted my arm up to begin wrapping the wound. “It’s okay,” he soothed. “It’s almost done.”

Pressure helped subdue the pain and I was grateful that Garrick seemed to know what he was doing. My shoulder was wrapped in no time.

He came back around towards my front and looked meaningfully down at the cut at my thigh. I nodded again, and he reached for the button at the top of my waistband. I lifted my hips for him and he slid the material down my thighs, stopping just at the bottom of my wound. I felt no embarrassment to only be wearing my black rider’s underwear in front of this man. Maybe I had stopped caring.

Garrick lifted my leg into his lap. The blunt edge of his nails traced the line of my thigh before he began wrapping it in cloth. Around and around it went. Memorized, I watched his long fingers quickly work the cloth around my thigh and tie it in a neat knot. They were the hands of a soldier, a warrior, yet they were so careful.

“What happened out there, Beatrice?” My leg was still in his lap. His hand was slowly rubbing up and down my ankle, leaving a trail of warmth. Another shiver racked my spine.

My tongue darted out and licked moisture onto my lips. They felt too dry. “Do I look that bad?” I croaked out.

Relief flooded his features as he gave me a small smile. “No. You’ve never looked bad.”

I held my hands out in front of me. Still shaking, they were a mixture of brown and red. I couldn’t see my skin through the grime that covered them. “My pants.”

“What about your pants?” He asked.

“Can you get them off?”

Garrick seemed to stop breathing for a second, but then he grabbed my left ankle and unlaced my boot, sliding it off and setting it beside him. He moved on to my right ankle and repeated the process. Then he slid his forefingers into the waistband of my pants and slipped them down my legs.

Clad in only underwear and a shirt barely hanging onto my shoulders, I watched him fold my pants and place them next to my boots. Then I staggered to my feet, gripping his shoulders to support myself when I swayed.

“What are you doing?” He grabbed my waist to steady me, but dropped it when I let go of his shoulders. I walked past him and went to the edge of the rock. The water rippled below in small waves below me.

I stepped off the edge.

The water rushed above my head, the force of my fall pulling my shirt away from my body. The lake was cold and shocked my system awake. I allowed myself to float underneath the surface until my chest began to compress upon itself. Then I pushed myself up and broke the water’s surface.

“You’re fucking crazy. I hope you know that!” Garrick yelled. He had climbed down to a rock that was directly above the water and was crouching to be near my level. It was like we were back in the sparring gym.

I untied my hair from its braid and ran my fingers through it, letting it flow free. Popping my head back under the water, I scrubbed my face until I couldn’t feel any more dirt or blood on my skin. When I came back up, Garrick had taken off his boots, rolled up his pants, and placed his feet in the water.

I swam toward Garrick and treaded water in front of him.

“Am I crazy?” I asked. It was meant to come out as snarky, but I couldn’t hide the vulnerability in my voice.

“No,” he said. “I didn’t mean that.”

“But I must have been.” I swam towards him, resting my hands on the rock between his legs. “You saw it. Everyone saw it. I was so obsessed with myself for what? I can’t show my face at Basgiath tomorrow. I can never go home.”

“There is nothing wrong with being Unbonded. You will try again next year and-”

I rose up on my arms so we were face-to-face. My hair covered my breasts, but his eyes still glanced down quickly before coming back to mine. His thighs, on either side of my hips, applied a tiny bit of pressure. “Do you ever just listen instead of trying to solve my problems?”

His throat bobbed. “I can work on that.”

“My father always said there were two types of people in the world: the ones that won, and everyone else. I have always been a winner. What am I supposed to do now that I… well, now that I have failed him? He’ll know when I don’t send him a letter after graduation. I don’t know what to do, I-” I choked on the words.

The side of his palm brushed the side of my cheek and I leaned into the warmth. “You asked what happened during Threshing? I was turned away by every dragon. And when I thought nothing could go worse, those three boys tried to kill me, so I killed them first.”

“I’m glad you did,” Garrick murmured. “You protected yourself.”

“Garrick, what am I supposed to do?”

“You deal with it tomorrow. Tonight, you can let your emotions out. There is no one here but you and me. Scream, cry, break whatever you need. But when we get back to Basgiath, you make a game plan, because the Beatrice I know wouldn’t let this define her.”

Our eyes locked. There was a promise in his, something I couldn’t read into at that moment, but I knew that he was right. I had to let all of this out right here.

His palms slid into mine as I lowered myself back into the water, anchoring me to him, and once my head was submerged I stayed until the water filled my lungs and blackened my vision.

Masterlist

#fourth wing #iron flame #the empyrean #garrick tavis #garrick fourth wing #xaden riorson #violet sorrengail #fanfiction #fourth wing fanfic

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darkandlightdance · 15 days ago

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Going through the Endwalker Alliance Raid quests is like: hello suspicious person yes we will follow you into the unknown because I am surrounded by scholars who apparently had caution removed when they decided to go for their Archon mark. And I'm a cat with 8 extra doses of curiosity and more uncertainty about if I can die than is remotely healthy. (also my outsourced common sense isn't available today (G'raha is just adding 2 more doses of curiosity))

Well, we've fought every other "god" we've heard of why not have our time in Eorzea end with us fighting the Twelve.

I call bullshit on the true divinity stuff. Might be very powerful but if they did shit when all our previous end of the world shit went down then they don't deserve to simply claim rulership because Hydaelyn committed suicide by us.

Guide dude just stood there, nothing to show any kind of shock or surprise. Not sure if this entire thing was created to test that mankind is old enough to rule itself or not.

So now we're going to follow suspicious dude into a series of "challenges." Right [eyeroll], we're going to fight for our lives, just like every other time.

So now we're going to try to queue at 9pm on a Wednesday for an EW raid…I have no idea how long it's going to take (I'm betting 20min?). Duty Finder says "More than 30m"…I don't want to wait for the weekend :(. It was about 58min. But I got in and only died once! Have no idea what happend or the mechanics but I did the raid!

I love Azeyma's outfit! And this is one of those "higher powers test humans to see if they can survive on their own without self-destructing" tests isn't it.

Damnit Emet-Selch why are you giving me homework from beyond the grave (exasperated affection). Everything we've done in this patch has been something Emet-Selch prodded us with there at the End.

And there it is, stated outright a non-interference policy. So what do they need to obliquely interfere with? Is this man has grown enough to no longer need the guidance we've been providing or something is fucked and we can't fix it personally so we're testing you to see if you can fix it for us?

And another Sharlayan scholar who forgets to eat and sleep. The CUL quests show just how bad they are about that. And now back to Krile. Last bit of the quest before I have to wait to get to the 6.3 MSQ to continue the quest chain. (my slightly ocd playing style)

#ffxiv #ffxiv liveblog #ffxiv endwalker

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kalinara · 4 years ago

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As sympathetic as I am to Nate, there’s one idea that I immediately and categorically reject, which is that Ted is in any way at fault for Nate’s downward spiral or what Nate did to him.

I understand where Nate is coming from, in a sense. Initially, he had a lot of Ted’s warm and nurturing attention. Eventually, he didn’t have as much attention anymore and he felt abandoned.

Now of course, Ted had a lot of things occupying him in season two. Particularly his own mental health. But even if he hadn’t, Ted never “abandoned” Nate. Nate grew up.

Or at least, he was supposed to.

When Higgins talked to Keeley, he had that great line about “a good mentor hopes you will move on, a great mentor knows you will.”

And that’s true for Nate and Ted as well. As far as Ted knew, Nate HAD moved on. He became a coach rather than a kit man. He’s one of the folks in charge now. He’d grown. And even if Nate is a little more heavy handed than Ted is, (we saw Ted gently intervene to give Will the afternoon off, and his nonplussed reaction to “we could show him his paycheck”), that doesn’t mean that Nate is having a hard time. People are different. And well, as Make Rebecca Great Again showed us, sometimes Ted wants/needs Nate to be the hardass that Ted can’t be.

We talk about Ted’s “microaggressions” against Nate, and I think the show did a good job of showing how and why they got to Nate. But it’s important to remember that Ted doesn’t know what we know.

Ted’s laughter at Nate volunteering to be the “big dog” wasn’t meant maliciously. Ted would have laughed the same way if Nate had suggested Ted himself be the “big dog”. From Ted’s perspective, of course, there’s nothing wrong with not being a big dog. This is a guy who is very happy to be a panda among lions. He doesn’t know that Nate wants desperately to be a lion. And he looks like he feels terrible when he realizes.

The other microaggressions are simply normal things that people do. Sometimes thoughtlessly. Ted didn’t hug Beard when Jamie made that kick in the Signal either, because Roy was the one who made the call. (Nate probably WOULD have gotten a hug after park the bus, if Ted wasn’t in really bad shape.) And well, we KNOW where Nate’s picture is.

Ted never told anyone what he was going through. If he did, maybe they’d understand. But Nate never told anyone what HE was going through either. Keeley knew about the restaurant, but only as an isolated incident. Beard knew about the Colin situation, but again, only as an isolated incident. There was no reason for anyone to know how deeply Nate was spiralling.

Nate’s fall does not represent ANY kind of failure on Ted’s part, whether personally or philosophically. It happened because people are people, and they have their own issues and pain that unfortunately sometimes intersect in really awful ways.

I know we’re all kind of doomsaying Nate’s time as head coach of West Ham, but maybe it will be an opportunity for growth instead. Maybe without the constant reminder of having been weak, bullied and dismissed, he’ll actually shine. Maybe without that history, he can be the mentor and guide to his new players in the way he couldn’t at Richmond.

Either way, it’s still not Ted’s fault, damnit.

#ted lasso #theodore lasso #nate shelley #ted lasso spoilers

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sleezeboss · 2 years ago

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2022 Art Summary and Thoughts

stealing this from a mutual- just wanted to reflect on the art I’ve made this year, what I’ve learned, and where I’d like to see myself go from here.

The end of the year is weird for me, artistically. I always slow down with art and get really immersed in family, holidays, and my life outside of art. And because I’m not cranking out art 7 days a week, it skews my view of my output and self worth, and it makes me end the year feeling like I’ve quit art, like I haven’t made anything, like it’s time to hang up my hat and move on or something.

But! When I stop being dramatic for like 5 seconds, I can see that that’s not true at ALL, and in actuality, in the last year, I’ve made some incredibly profound strides with my art that I am so excited to carry into the next year.

I’m hoping that sitting down and contemplating these strides will help solidify them and make them more tangible to me.

So let’s dive in!

At the beginning of 2022, I had a LOT of fun reacquainting myself with Ren and Stimpy. I started rewatching it on a whim while working out one day, having not watched the show since I was.... 6? and was instantly transported to a world of inspiration and love for my art and art-making that I hadn’t experienced for some time. The expressions, dynamism, and sheer energy of that show reminded me a lot about what I love most about my art. I felt encouraged to pursue my strengths, rather than constantly focusing on what I need to improve or need to change about my art. And I felt it blossom. I made some pieces I really loved in 2022, and I hope to continue with that energy and love for my own work that keeps art-making enjoyable and meditative for me.

These were all expression studies of screencaps from Ren and Stimpy episodes. I got ADDICTED to seeing my boys with these big, bold expressions.

This is the screenshot that kicked it all off lmao. This unlocked something so crazy in me.

This was me taking a stab at pulling expressions from my head, no reference.

After that, during the summer, I took a 6 week animation course through Animation Mentor, an online school. I loved it so much, that as soon as it finished, I immediately signed up for a second course that started not even 2 weeks after. Not to be dramatic, but no joke? For the first time in my artistic journey, I felt capable and confident about animating. It was the first time in my life that 2D animation was actually presented to me in an accessible (and achievable!!) manner. I have ALWAYS struggled with animating. I love it so much! I am a cartoon fanatic and Disney animation enthusiast at heart, and to love something so deeply and to only be mediocre at it at best can really be hurtful and demoralizing, but! These two animation courses really helped rewrite that narrative for me.

This was my second-to-last assignment, the floursack test.

This was my final assignment for my first course, 2D animation for beginners. A head-turn.

Moving into the new year, I would really like to see myself animate more. Making several small, 2-3 second animations and getting the practice in, building up a personal portfolio of animation is something I really want to see for myself. I want to see my characters live and breath, god damnit!!

Animating inspired me to make some style guides for my boys, rather than ref-sheets. I think ref sheets can become outdated quickly as your style adapts and changes, but a style guide, one typically used by animators, is a great guideline for keeping characters consistent. I thought that would be very useful for me, so I made one for Rex and Bub, naturally.

In the fall, I finally finished a mini comic I had started earlier in the year, Belphi’s New Pussy.

(cropped for NSFW material)

Comic-making was admittedly hard for me last year. I think graduating from my iPad to a new tablet set-up and learning CSP from scratch really shook my artistic confidence and motivation for comic making. All last year, I was beating myself up about not working on chapter 5 of Badbeat, so I am amazed and proud that I was able to get BNP out. Not only did I get it out, but it ended up being one of the most successful posts of my twitter career lmao. I’m really happy with how it looks, but I think it’s becoming clear to me that that level of comic polish is not sustainable for more than 1 chapter a year. If I want to finish Badbeat in my life time, I’m gonna need to simplify my process. Maybe even keep it to my iPad. Something about drawing and sketching is easier on my iPad, whereas the actual comic formatting can be done in CSP. I’m obviously still trying to learn my optimal workflow for efficiency, speed, and sanity haha.

In the comic year, I really would like to get chapter 5 out. That is my comic goal for the new year.

All and all, it has been a really productive year artistically. I feel like quantity-wise I have produced less than maybe the year prior, but I think the things I DID produce have been profound. Pushing Bub and Rex’s designs and expressions has been profound. Taking the steps to learn animation has been profound. Making a comic entirely in a new program that I have owned for less than a year is profound.

I am very proud of myself and can’t wait to see what the new year has in store!

#2022 art wrap #2022 art summary #blog #art blogging

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a-dauntless-daffodil · 2 years ago

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Rational Thought: You don’t even watch that show!

Me: gwitch final mirroring the first ep but ariel bodyswaps, and suletta ‘dies’, and miorine gets a giant mecha robot wife

Gay Thoughts: … go on

Me: ok so-

Big battle going on. Aerial has been infected and is in the process of being corrupted/controlled by The Bads (who are the bads? idk. i don't watch this show argh). Suletta is forcibly removed from her sister’s cockpit, leaving it blood splattered, while trying to go save her friends.

The Bads are about to shoot her in the head when Miorine (off doing emergency sabotage) manages to block the corruption of Aerial for a split second.

Aerial breaks free, literally, breaching the hanger doors and sending everyone tumbling out into space. She tries to reach for her little sister, but the virus takes hold again, and Suletta is left drifting away, leaking air and blood from the shot that will probably still kill her anyways.

Miorine suits up and goes out after the thrashing Aerial, pleading “Aerial, can you hear me? We’re running out of time! The download is almost complete, you’ll be out of that body and away from the virus soon, but before that- You’re the only one who can do this! You have to, please-”

Aerial notices the person clinging to the outside hull and goes for a hand smack- Miorine braces herself, screaming

“-save her!”

Smash cut. Aerial’s hand is cupped over the hunched down Miorine, spasming. Jerkily but carefully Aerial gathers Miorine up in her palm and brings her to open cockpit. The lights inside are flickering frantically, sparks shooting out here and there. A desperate Miorine asks “What am I supposed to do?”.

Two words appear on the screens. HELP ME.

Static as the screens bring up a view of Suletta’s prone form, drifting amid the battle. The screens cut to black, taken over by Aerial new master’s logo. A recoding of Miorine plays. “SAVE HER!”.

Then static. The Gundamn’s lights go red.

“Aerial? Aerial!” Miorine, frantic, jostling the unresponsive controls. “I can’t! Suletta is the only one who- I don’t know how! Tell me how to-!” The touch pad flickers to life with the outline of a hand. Miorine looks down at her palm. It’s red. Wet with blood.

“This is…hers…?”

(irony)

Miorine clenches her hand into a fist and then slams it, palm down, on the panel. New pilot accepted. Green light bleeds through the red, glowing lines crawling up Miorine’s arms, framing her face. Static and then low, ragged breathing.

“Ah, she feels better now… though it’s a bit weird being so small… thank you… miss Miorine…”

“SULETTA?!”

Relief panic fury. Miorine moves the controls and the Gundam shoots forward, into the battle. “Don’t waste air, we’re coming, just-” An explosion knocks the Gundam off course. “-damnit, BASTARDS!”

A faint laugh over the coms line.

“Aerial says sorry. She’s losing her connection to her old body already… and… our friends… They need help. I can’t do anything… sorry, but… it’s up to you now.”

“What are you saying, idiot? Don’t you remember my only duel?!”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll talk you through it. Like you do for me, in practice…”

“Talk? TALK!? You’re losing air! You’ll-”

“Please… I don’t want our friends to die…Miorine… please?”

A war raging outside as Miorine slumps forward, trembling, red with her groom’s blood.

“…we’re coming to get you, Suletta,” a promise, “but we’ll do what we can on the way. So. Tell me.”

A blur of destruction as Suletta guides her through it- shoot there, cut here, Chuchu needs help- it’s a trap, go around the other side- let Aerial handle the weapons for a second, she thinks she can hold on enough for that…it’s okay, just focus….Keep moving forward ….

People dying all around them and Suletta’s voice is dying away too.

Miorine, screaming in rage, terror, tearing away from the fight, lines of light on her skin blazing- Until there she is, drifting at the end of a sparkling tail of oxygen and blood droplets. An echo of the day they met.

Miorine dragging her into the cockpick, pulling Suletta close.

“-wake up, you have to wake up, Suletta, open your eyes-” trying to close the hole in her suit, trying to slow the bleeding.

Suletta covering Miorine’s shaking, bloody hand with her own.

“You did it.” Suletta smiling weakly, eyes unfocused. “Aerial’s all back on the station now, but she says she’s impressed. Good job….”

“Press down on this.” Miorine, clinging to her, clinging to hope, letting go to reach for the controls. “I’ll get us back in a second and you’ll be fine.”

“Mm hmm.” Suletta limp in her lap, head slumped on Miorine’s shoulder. “This is nice…”

“Don’t fall asleep! Are you pressing on the wound, idiot?”

“I’m trying ‘m trying…. hey Miorine… guess what…”

“What? I’m a little busy-”

“Today’s my birthday...”

“Great, wonderful. I’ll get you a cake later I promise. Throw a party, wrap presents- the whole normal birthday experience, I promise okay? Just don’t-”

“… we could get married now, if you wanted to.”

“Eh?”

“Right now. If you wanted…”

“NOW? Suletta, can you see where we are? How much blood have you lost!?”

“Well… a lot, probably.”

“And you want to talk about weddings?!”

“..eheh… silly right..”

“I’m not discussing this here, we can talk after you- Suletta? Suletta!”

….

“Don’t- don’t you DARE- Aerial she’s- I need help! I can’t, I can’t hold the wound and pilot- I KNOW YOU’RE IN A DIFFERENT BODY NOW, I’M SORRY OKAY!? Just help me get her back, the bleeding, we have to stop-”

_ _ _ _

“… what? I don’t understand..”

_ _ __ _

“… no…”

_ _

“No, no you’re wrong, she just needs- She’ll be fine.”

_ _ _ _ __ _ ___

“But that’s not possible- no one has ever-”

_ _ ___ _ _ _

“… you?”

_ ___

“…”

_ _ __ __

“…will it, still be her? Will she remember… no, it doesn’t matter.”

“I said it doesn’t matter.”

__ -

“Aerial! Just tell me how.”

_ __ _

“I’m sure, so hurry! Please!”

_ _____ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _

….

“…Suletta..?”

…

(Ten Years Later)

Earth from a distances, small, bright, fragile.

A continent smudged with green. A field, dotted with launchpads and runways, shuttles and ships arriving and departing like clockwork. There at the edge, a forest, a set of apartment housing.

A rooftop garden. A greenhouse.

A small redhaired child with bushy eyebrows, couching in front of a tomato plant, frowning in concentration.

“This big one? Or maybe… this really red one over here?” She tilts her head and the small robot hovering next to her tilts too, humming.

“Ah!” Laughter. “Look look, that one at the back’s got a weird shape! It looks like a BUTT!”

The robot jerks in shock.

“Heh, sorry auntie.” Rubbing the back of her neck the child grins. “But you know… it really does…”

“Aer?”

Miorine, older, not much taller, pokes her head around the door.

“Are you in here?”

“Heeeere!”

Aer rocks backwards, dirty hands on scraped knees, upside down and beaming, twigs in her messy hair.

“Honestly...” Miorine groans. “I told you to try staying clean today.”

“Booo.”

Nose in the air, Aer huffs, haughty and unabashed.

“All the fun stuff is in dirt. And you were busy all day! It was boring…”

“Well I’m not busy now. Here.” Edging the door open a bit more, Miorine waves a hand, the rest of her still hidden. “I have a surprise.”

Aer cringes. “It’s not a bath is it…?”

“It will be later.” Miorine rolls her eyes. “Unless you intend to major in collecting your own personal asteroid belt of orbiting filth, but no. This is something fun.”

Her daughter perks up. “Fun? What kind-”

Smiling, Miorine holds up a small helmet.

Aer bounces to her feet with a shriek, the robot next to her beeping gleefully. “SPACE? SPACE FUN? You mean-”

“Yes.” Miorine steps into view already suited up, her own helmet under one arm. “There’s an opening. Let’s go.”

“I’m ready I’m ready!” Aer squeaked, running forward try pushing her mom out the door. “Let’s go go go- Ah! Wait! Tomato…”

Miorine glanced at the plants. “You want to bring-?”

“Can I?” Aer pushed out her lower lip. “Mom? Pleeeease?”

Laughing Miorine handed her the smaller helmet. “When do I ever say no? Here. Put them in this for now.”

“’kay!”

Hurrying back to the plants Aer hesitated, deliberating, Aerial hovering at her shoulder.

“Don’t take too long.” Miorine warned. “You know how quick schedules change.”

“Right.” Nodding firmly Aer looked at her aunt. “The big one and the red one, maybe?”

Aerial beeped agreement.

Aer picked them carefully, then paused. “And…” Reached to the back of the plant she plucked one more. “… she’ll like this one, right?”

Aerial sagged midair but beeped affirmative again.

Grinning, Aer held the third tomato up to the light.

“….. butt tomato…”

“Aer!” Her mom called, already half way across the garden. “Hurry!”

“Three two one LAUNCH!” Aer cried, racing after her. “Last one in outer space is a butt tomato!”

“A what? Aer? What is- Aerial, just what have you been teaching her?!”

BEEEP ;

(Meanwhile, in outer space.)

A station still under reconstruction. Shuttles and suited workers easing along it’s scaffolded ruins, a steady hive of controlled chaos.

Or, mostly controlled.

A leaking cloud of sparkling gas. Arms waving as a suited space walker points to a nearing shuttle. The scrap of impact on a piece of debris, the shuttles lights flicking out, the shuttle itself now drifting dangerously towards another group of tethered workers….

A giant hand, forged of scratched metal, reaching gently out to scoop them safely away.

-Ah Please Remain Calm-

Tiny shuttle cradled against an armored giant, broadcasting in an anxious tone.

-You’ll Be Back Station Side In A Moment_ _ _ Um-

Hesitancy from a machine built for war.

-Would It Be Okay If I Dropped You Off At Hanger C Though_ ? _ _ _ It’s Just _ _ I’m Supposed To Be Meeting Someone-

A head crowning with iconic razor sharp fins, bending to peer through the small shuttle windows.

Even smaller silhouettes wave eagerly, giving a thumbs up.

-It’s Okay_?_ Really_?_ _ _ Oh Thank You Very Much_!-

Burners pulsing gently, the giant Gundam weaving it’s way cautiously through the other shuttles and half rebuilt structures.

-I’m So Excited-

The Gundam admits for anyone to hear.

-It’s Hard To Get Free Time On Three Different Timetables And Calls Just Aren’t The Same You Know_?-

A synthetic voice, somehow utterly bursting with happiness.

-She’s Been Growing So Much I Wonder If She Can Reach The Controls On Her Own Now-

Swinging gracefully over a collection rubble, the Gundam tucks it’s cargo closer as the hanger doors come into sight.

-And Miorine_ _ _ She Gets Prettier Every Time I See Her_ _ _-

-Ah We're Here-

Nudging the shuttle inside the Gundam drifted back to let another ship pass.

-I Especially Like The New Little Wrinkles At The Corners Of Her Eyes _ ! _ _ _Oh But Don’t Tell Her I Said That-

“Too late, idiot.”

-M_Miorine_?_!-

Lights flickered in surprise as the Gundam turned, looking down at the side of the station nearest it.

Three figures drifted there, holding onto an access ladder. One small. One smaller.

And one floating robot.

“Mooooom…! Don’t call mom and idiot! It’s rude! She’s been working hard rebuilding the station!”

Beep.

“Yes yes, you’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll try to hold back.”

-Ahaha It’d Be Strange If She Suddenly Stopped Though-

“Just what are you implying with that?”

-Nothing_!-

“Well then mom should at least say it all lovely dovey like they do in the manga!”

-Um-

“With the floating hearts and stuff. ‘My idiot~’ like that!”

-Er-

“Her taste in books is entirely your fault, not mine.”

-A_ Anyway_!_ You’re Early_! _ I Thought We Were Supposed To Meet _/_Inside_/_ The Hanger_?-

“We got bored.”

“Bored! In! SPAAAAACE!”

“So we thought we’d come meet you. Now. Suletta.”

-Yes_ _?-

“Catch.”

Laughing, and beeping, three figures launch themselves off the station and into open space.

-UWAH-

The Gundam chased after them, reaching out and reeling them in as carefully as if they were soap bubbles.

-Why Every Time_!-

Beep beep Beep.

-It’s Not That Funny At All_!_!-

“Older sister always wins, older sister always wins!”

“Aer, you just say that because someday you’ll be one.”

“I WILL??”

-She Will_?_?_?-

“An older cousin at the very least. I’m sure someday soon, Ariel will meet a nice AI of her own, and then-”

BEEEEEEEEEP! BEEP BEEP BEEEEP!

-Ah Eri_! _ _ _ Not In Front Of Aer Please_!-

“Mom, mom- D’you wanna see a butt tomato?”

-A Butt _ _ _-

“Butt tomato.”

-_ _ Tomato_?-

“Butt tomato!”

-But How Can A Tomato_ _ -

“It’s a tomato that looks like a BUTT!”

“My god you two stop saying it.”

“BEHOLD THE BUTT TOMATO!!!”

-OH-

“Oh no.”

-OH WOW IT REALLY IS A-

“Suletta NO you’re still broadcasting on all channels-”

-BUTT TOMATO_!_!-

All work on the station paused for a moment. A long, long, very awkward moment.

The giant Gundam that had just overridden all their communication lines was too busy looking at the clear plastic tomato terrarium her daughter was showing her, though, and didn’t notice.

Miorine sighs. Mostly fondly.

“Unbelievable.”

Beeep.

“Well at least I only married her. You’re the one who’s related.”

Beep beep beep.

“Aer doesn’t count. She has my genes too, she’s purely a result of nurture, not nature.”

Beep boop….

“Oh hush and take a picture of us all already.”

Beep!

roll credits THE END

#gwitch #sulemio #suletta #miorine rembran #gundam aerial #au #fanfic?#idea thing whatever #canon typical violence #idk i have golden hour epic ver by vincent lee on loop & my brain is mush

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devilstruly · 4 years ago

Text

new manager

slight kuroo x reader and sugawara x reader but mainly just the reader being Yachi's savior

to sum it up: Yachi joins Karasuno and there she meets their second year manager, who practically becomes her big sister

-------------------------------------------------------

Karasuno's boys volleyball team was having a practice when Kiyoko entered the gym with a short blonde girl shyly trailing behind her.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP SCREAMING!"

"WATCH OUT!"

Kiyoko was quick to dodge the ball coming her way, thanks to Tanaka and Nishinoya torturing her for the past year she had pretty good reflexes, but the other girl didn't know what to do. She was panicking, but before she could do anything a girl came in front of her and received the ball.

"ARE YOU ALL CRAZY OR SOMETHING?! SHE COULD'VE GOTTEN HURT DAMNIT!"

"Sorry Y/N..."

The girl sighed and turned around to face Yachi.

"I am so sorry about them. Are you okay?"

"P...pretty...girl...saved...the...b...b...ball..."

"Hey, hey it's okay. I'm Y/L/N Y/N! You must be the new manager right?"

The poor girl could only rapidly nod, which caused Y/N to send her a sympathetic look.

"So what's your name?"

"Yachi Hitoka Y/L/N-san!"

"SHE'S A SECOND YEAR! YOU SHOULD CALL HER SENPAI!"

"SHUT UP BEFORE I BEAT YOUR ASS! ENNOSHITA CAN YOU PLEASE DO SOMETHING?!"

"Yeah yeah..."

The girl sighed and turned to the blonde once again.

"Okay. First of all - don't call me Y/L/N, it's Y/N; second of all - no honorifics, you can call me Y/N-chan if you want but no -san and CERTAINLY NO -senpai, I hate those. So just Y/N is perfectly fine. And please don't bow, it's unnecessary, at least in my opinion."

Yachi just looked at Y/N confused. Does she allow everyone to call her by her first name? And no honorifics and bowing? She's weird. And kinda cool. And energetic. And she's pretty. I wanna be like that. Maybe some people already think I'm weird. But not good weird. That's-

"Hey! Hey! Yachi!"

"Oh! Huh?"

"You good? You seemed like you zoned out for a bit there."

"Oh no no I'm good Y/L-uh Y/N. Heh."

"All right then! Wanna meat the team?!"

"S..sure..."

"My condolences..."

The second year slung an arm around Yachi's shoulders, which were shaking, and guided her to a group of boys and Kiyoko.

"Yachi, this is the Karasuno boys volleyball team. Guys this is our new manager Yachi Hitoka. Y'all better be normal to her she's too precious."

"Coach! Y/N's tormenting us again!"

"YOU DESERVE IT! LISTEN TO THE LITTLE MISSY!"

"THANKS COACH! You heard the man."

"Hmph. It's not fair, you're his favorite."

"Well I'm just better than you so deal with it~"

"Okay that's enough. Hi. Nice to meet you, I'm the captain, Sawamura Daichi."

"N...nice...t...to...meet...you...too"

"Yachi, hon, relax he won't kill you."

Y/N smiled brightly at the girl and introduced the rest of the team. It went well, generally speaking. If we exclude how she was terrified of Asahi, Tanaka and Noya being dumbasses, Tsukishima being a salty ass, and we're not even gonna mention Kageyama and Hinata...

~~~

It was tutoring day, which wasn't easy for Y/N at all. In the morning she teaches math to Tanaka and Nishinoya and then in the afternoon she tutors english to Kageyama and Hinata. It's lovely.

"NO NOYA! YOU GOTTA FIND THE X FIRST IF YOU WANNA MAKE OUT WHAT THE ANGLE IS! NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!"

"Snacky timee~"

Y/N and Ennoshita looked at each other and the girl sighed.

"You know what? Fine. I need a break from you two anyway..."

~~~

"Hey Y/N?"

"Hm?"

"What does flustered mean?"

"Oh it's like when you get embarrassed you know, or someone makes you blush."

"Oh! So like Kuroo-san did to you at the practice game?!"

"I...Hinata...that's...ahh...Yes. Just like that. Kuroo made me flustered."

"Pff. Our little senpai is getting flustered by a cat."

"FOR FUCKS SAKES TSUKISHIMA!"

~~~

"Y/N...um...are you okay?"

"I'm okay Yachi thanks. I'm just not a morning person that's all."

"Oh. Okay! You can sleep while we ride though!"

"Yeah. That was my plan."

Y/N yawned and climbed onto the bus taking a seat besides Sugawara.

"Hi Suga."

"Hi Y/N. You look sleepy."

The grey haired setter chuckled upon seeing Y/N in such a tired state.

"Mhm. I am..."

"Well you should rest before we arive then."

"Yeah. Thanks Suga."

"No problem."

Sugawara smiled and Y/N closed her eyes falling asleep momentarily. After some time, they were both asleep, with Y/N's head on Suga's shoulder and Suga's head on top of hers.

"Aww! They look so cute!"

"Shhh. You're gonna wake them up!"

"Both of you shut up! Someone please take a picture of them!"

~~~

Upon arrival Y/N and Suga woke up, both a little flustered but brushed it off nevertheless. Kiyoko and Yachi were walking towards the gym when they were met with Nekoma's ace.

"OH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! KARASUNO HAS THREE MANAGERS NOW?! AND ONE'S THE HOT KIND AND ONE'S THE CUTE KIND?! AND THE OTHER ONE IS BOTH?! LIFE ISN'T FAIR AHHHH!"

"Hey. Isn't that the other Karasuno manager over there?"

"Hm?"

Kuroo looked to where Kenma was pointing and saw the girl that caught his eye the last time, talking with the rest of Karasuno.

"Yeah. Looks like it."

Kuroo was looking at Y/N, but was snapped out of it when a loud voice was heard near him.

"THAT'S RIGHT! BEHOLD THE POWER OF KARASUNO! WE HAVE THREE GIRL MANAGERS! TAKE THAT CITY BOIS!"

~~~

It was the last day of the camp and everyone was at the barbeque. Y/N was just going all over the place and talking to everyone. Mainly Bokuto because they were practicaly best friends by now and were stealing meat together from everyone. She was about to go distract Kuroo so Bokuto could take his food when she noticed Yachi being in a crowd of guys, looking absolutely terrified.

"Hey wait up a little. I'll be right back."

"Okay!"

She approached Yachi with a soft smile.

"Yachi. Hey. It's okay. Listen guys, thank you for your concern, but she's not really a crowd person. I'll take it from here."

Y/N lead Yachi to Kiyoko and the rest of managers and gave her some food.

"You good now?"

"Yeah! Thanks Y/N!"

"Don't mention it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to steal food from a certain Rooster. Bye bye~"

"Bye!"

Y/N met with Bokuto again now ready to get Kuroo's attention.

"Ready?"

"I was born ready Bokuto."

"Okay then! Let's do this!"

"Heeey Kuroo~"

"What's up chibi-chan?"

"Well the sky is. I thought you would know that, nerd."

"Ha ha. Sooo funny-BOKUTO YOU BASTARD GET BACK HERE! EVERYONE NEEDS TO EAT SOMETHING!"

And so it begins...

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #yachi x reader platonic #karasuno x reader #training camp

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imaginewarehouse · 4 years ago

Text

Various Males x Fem!ExModel!Reader || Oneshot

Plot: You, a retired model get hired at Cloud 9 and, not-at-all-surprisingly, you get harassed by every allegeable (According to them) bachelor in the place- but god fucking damnit! You’re just here to get a paycheck??!

“You can’t knock ‘em out, you cant walk away,

Try desperately to think about the politest way to say,

“Just get out of my face,”, “Just leave me alone,”

“And no you cant have my number,”,

“Why?”

“Cuz I lost my phone.”

(Inspired by Lily Allen’s Knock ‘Em Out)

Includes (In order of appearance after the introduction bit): Sal Kazlauskas, Garret McNeil, Tate Staskiewicz, Isaac (And I think my favouritism here definitely bleeds through*Cough*), Elias Greene, Cory, Jonah Simms, and Marcus White.

Warnings: Sal, harassment (They leave after you say no though. Just to be sure)

🔆 🔆 🔆

“And uh, yeah one last thing before we all hop off to work! We have a new Cloud 9 family member. Y/N! Would you like to stand up?” Glenn, the lovely man who took your interview a week ago and then went out of his way today to look for you out front in the morning to show you around quickly and guide you through clocking in, finds you in the crowd of workers and gestures for you to stand.

Oh, uh- uhh, okay! Up we get, then, you think as you stand up like he said and take a look around at all the judging eyes, which normally wouldn’t phase you but here is a lot scarier than what you’re used to. This an entirely different environment to getting up at a modelling gig- you know nothing about working this kind of job! You’ve never done it, so, you’re afraid they’ll judge you right off the bat and make it difficult for you to ask questions. And you can’t keep bothering Glenn- he has more important things to do.

Oh god, you hear whispering. You peer around. Where is that coming from?-

“This is Y/N L/N! She’ll be working with Go back’s today,” Right, Go Back’s Easy enough; Glenn explained them earlier before the meeting started. “So if you see her in your area- be sure to say hello and see if she needs some help, K? Good. We’re jazzed to have you with us Y/N.”

“Thank you!” You quip quickly, then sit down and focus on Glenn again, hoping dearly at the same time that attention disperses from you immediately.

Glenn smiles, glancing down at his clipboard for any last-minute messages. “Okay! I think that’s it, so- “

The whispering from before suddenly cuts off. “Uh yeah, question?” Glenn stops short when a man in the back kind of rudely cuts him off, but sighs out a ‘Yes, Marcus?’ as the woman beside him - Dina, - rolls her eyes severely. Oh, you let a tiny ghost of a smirk slip over your lips. That’s kind of a reaction, isn’t it? “Yo- new girl.” What- me- w h y- You immediately get awkward again and twist around in your chair, but don’t really know who to look at. Luckily the tall brunette in the warehouse uniform is pointing, so you figure it out pretty quick that that’s who you’re looking for, and calm down. Mostly.

Yeah? You raise one eyebrow. “Hi?”

He grins back to the right and the left of him, to his equally pleased buddies and pals, before raising a Vogue magazine- and it’s the issue on which you scored the front page. Jeez, that was months ago! “Is this you?”

A chorus of ‘Ohhhhh’ and general excitement travels around the room and for the first time ever, you’re half ashamed to admit that yes that is you. In your usual circle this is something to be proud of… but you get that it isn’t really like that, in non-modelling circles. In fact, it could be something to be embarrassed about.

Especially seeing that oh dude and his gang of Michael Myers fashion wannabes look like a hungry, dim-witted, wolves rather than plainly interested about your modelling career.

But, still, you smile politely and nod. Hopefully it’ll be forgotten before the afternoon, at least. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Nice.”

Hmm… you really, really hope that it’s forgotten soon, at least, as you turn back around to face the front again as Glenn sends everyone off to work. Because if not, then these boys are going to learn the hard way that models take self-defence classes religiously.

Or at least you are going to have a very uncomfortable day, which is just great. You groan inwardly at the thought, as you gather up your coffee from the table beside you and drop it in the trash can on the way out.

You’re just doing your own thing and someone

Comes out of the blue,

They’re like,

“Alright”

But he’s saying

“Yeah can I take your digits?”

And you’re like, “No, not in a million years, you’re nasty.

Please leave me alone.”

There’s already so many Go Back’s! You think excitedly, as you get to work looking for where things should be. You’re glad to have something to do- at your first job with Chuck E Cheese, before you got into the modelling thing, you were basically useless the first day because you weren’t allowed to grill yet, you didn’t know how to assemble, and they didn’t want you out on the floor for the birthday party that was happening, in fear that you would mess up royally. So you just sat around trying not bother anyone, and that felt terrible. So, wandering the aisles of Cloud 9 with a full shopping trolley searching for products and neatening things up? Sounds like a good deal to you. Yes please.

“Uhh, hi.”

You practically jump entirely out of your skin, hearing the voice right beside you and whip your head around to see a balding guy in a blue Cloud 9 jacket. Is this man licking his fingers!?

“Uh,” You step back with your brightest, most polite smile, picking something up from the Go Back’s cart and rounding it to put it between you and the man, before acting like you’re stupid enough to be putting barbecue sauce in the Barbie section, and then… “Oh, oops! Silly me!” You flash the guy a nervous look. “I’m still working things out… “

Well? Better to look like an absolute idiot, then be standing within grabbing radius of the creepy man licking his fingers that you’re all alone in the middle of an empty aisle with. “Um… so, what’s up? Did someone send you to find me, or… am I doing something wrong? You know better than me, after all!”

“No… “His gaze licks up your form and if it weren’t for all your ‘training’ in staying still and not feeling this kind of thing- you absolutely would have wigged out. “You’re doing fine… Just wanted to see you.”

Boy- if anyone else could see your face right at this moment, full of disgust and mild horror, you’re sure you would be YouTubes next hit. Or a meme. “Oh… “You nervously chuckle. “Um, well, I’m gonna… go… “You pull the trolley around so that you can back up out the back of the aisle and escape through stuffed toys, into the open but his hand comes down on the other end of the trolley- stopping it. Before you can stop yourself, verbal diarrhoea spews from your lips. “Glenn has my resume- there’s a photo on there you can have.”

“That’s okay I prefer them to be breathing.” Both his hands are on the end of your trolley now, tight so his knuckles turn white, and he’s breathing unnecessarily heavy. He’s even leaning over the trolley some like his body really can’t handle whatever terrible heat is plaguing it right now. Oh god, oh god oh god oh god… this is so gross.

“Well, that’s… u-understandable...”

He looks up into your eyes, now, and doesn’t blink. Who the hell is this guy?! “Say… “ Oh no, oh no- he’s coming around the trolley-he’s coming around-he’s close-too close-too close-mayday-MAYDAY- Slowly, in your face, he licks up his thumb, makes an ‘Mm,’ sound, and you deeply wince; So much so in fact that one of your eyes completely closes. “Could I take your phone number?”

You absolutely couldn’t have helped what happened next if you had wanted to.

“Eeeeuuuwwwwwwww no not in a million years, your nasty, please leave me alone!!” You exclaim in a high voice before abandoning the trolley and rushing off to customer service.

“No you cant have my number,”

“Why?”

“Cuz I lost my phone.”

By the time you got to the front desk, you had basically calmed down and were mostly just stressed that you left the Go Back’s behind- but still must look troubled as the guy manning the front desk makes a confused, half-concerned but mostly intrigued kind of face at you as you stop there. You’re about to explain your appearance - that or just shrug, not too bothered about reporting whatever mess that was. Not on your first day, at least. No way. - when his face relaxes, and he nods. “Ohhh. Damn, Sal got to you?”

Sal? Was that the guy’s name? You didn’t check. “Oh, was that his name? I was a bit too preoccupied by his eyeballs sucking out my soul, to notice his name tag.” Now that you’re thinking about it, though, you glance at this man’s name tag. Garret.

“Yep, that’s Sal. That’s just one of the wonderful things involved in working here that you’ll just have to get used to.” Garret grins, offering you a chill perspective with a side of cynicism. You sigh, truly feeling relieved that you’ve found a normal person and relax your back against the taller part of the desk.

“Brilliant.” The sarcasm drips off the tip of your tongue.

“You’ll have to deal with a lotta that here, though, looking like you do.” You turn your head to the side to look already exhausted just by the idea, at him. He shrugs. “Hey, I don’t make the rules. I just speak the truth.”

“God- I feel sorry for the other women working here.”

“Oh, no. They’re in a completely different wheelhouse to you. Sorry.” Garret leans on his forearms on the desk, and you roll over to lean on your shoulder and pay attention. “See, you’re a model- “

“I was a model,”

“You were a model- which through primitive male thought process makes you prime real estate. Whoever manages to ‘bag’ you, for lack of a better word I apologise, gets some serious bragging rights.” He shrugs, and looks vaguely apologetic but still some how shameless as this utter bullshit slips out of his mouth. “We can’t help it- some of us don’t even know we’re doing that, but we are. Actually, I’m probably the only one who’ll admit it… which… kinda makes me your best option. Self-awareness, and all that.”

Oh. A dry laugh comes out of you as you feel a text come through in your back pocket and pull out your phone. As you see that its not an urgent message, you immediately put the phone back and glance around for any supervisors before returning to your conversation with Garret. “Oh- of course it does.”

“Exactly!” He grins, and you can’t tell through his expression at all whether he’s genuinely this clueless or if he’s just shooting his shot. “So- “

“No, you can’t have my number.”

“Why?”

Deadass, in a very monotone voice, you say: “I lost my phone.”

Then the two of you just have a stare off for a minute. Garret because he just saw you use your phone, and you because you wont back down.

“Oh yeah, actually yeah I’m, I’m pregnant. I’m having a baby in like 6 months, so no. Yeah, yeah… “

“You know,” The chemist pipes up from behind the Pharmacy desk as you put back some pill boxes he said were fine to return to the shelves, and you glance over at him to show you’re listening, and check his name tag. “I myself considered a career in modelling, before this. People even say, now, that I could model.”

Oh boy. You think, fighting not roll your eyes. And how old are you? Early 30’s? I don’t think so buddy.

“Oh, well, I wouldn’t recommend it.” You flash him a nervous grin before returning to your shelving. “You’re good for, like, 3 years. But then you hit 22 and unless you look like Victoria Justice shared with you whatever youth fountain she got chucked into, then you have to find something else to do with your life- despite having nothing to fall back on.” Okay… so… I might be a bit bitter.

Tate chuckles - and oh boy, he sounds just like your old manager. Totally fake, -, hiding his hands in his lab coat pockets. “Yeah, you’re probably right… Besides, I got the better end of the deal, anyway. Doctor for the doctors, they call us.” They call Pharmacists that? Who? That’s news to you. “Ahhh, yeah… I’m doing pretty well for myself.”

“Yep.” Forcing a fake smile his way, you leave the shelf you were stocking and get closer to the desk to stock another, as Tate’s eyes follow you waiting for encouragement of some kind. Doesn’t he have a job to do?? “You chose well!”

“Yeah, thanks. I know.” Ffffff-f a r out. This guy! “You know, you and me, we’d make a good couple.”

Oh? Dear god? You pause your shelving in surprise at the bomb this man has just dropped so casually, fish oil tablets paused on their journey to the shelf mid-air. Could Garret’s crazy-pants theory have been right?

“Ohh,” You giggle nervously, returning to work a bit faster now. “I don’t know. I think for a pharmacist like you, I would envision, like… “An actual doctor? No, I can’t say that. “A personal trainer, or something. Keep you both healthy all-round, you know? Now that’s a power team.” As long as that personal trainer has humility enough for the both of them, at least.

“Mergh,” He makes a face, like ‘What the heck are you talking about??’, before shaking his head of the things you just said and leaning over the desk towards you. You keep packing, even faster now. Like the Flash. Go! Go! Go! Death Con 5!! “So, whadaya say? I could pick you up Friday after work, and we could head up to one of my timeshares?” He says that like it’s such a selling point! You think, fighting off the powerful urge to laugh but still feeling the panic deep in the pits of your soul. “Stake it out together for the weekend? Get to know each other?”

“Uhh… “Excuses! What are they? You slowly stop stocking, turning around to face him and crossing your arms. The man deserves to at least be faced as he’s rejected; You’re kind enough to give him that, at least. “I’d love to! But, the thing is… “Chewing your bottom lip, you think hard.

Ding Ding Ding!!

“The thing is, Tate… “You fake some nerves, now. “I’m actually, uh… “You look up, face relaxing. “Pregnant.”

Oh boy, the way that man recoils at that word, like a terrified, disgruntled, blonde hedgehog. You’re going to laugh so hard about it, later!! “Oh.”

“Yeah! Oh, I mean, yeah… I’m gonna be having a baby, in like, 6 months so… yeah… Yep.“ You shrug to him, as if its just so unfortunate. “Shame.”

She looks in her bag, takes out a fag, tries to get away from the guy on a blag,

Can’t find a light.

‘’Here, use mine.’’

‘’See the thing is I just don’t have the time.’’

Ahh, lunch. Now you can check your texts! Hmm, you look through your notifications and gradually lose excitement. Mum… mum… mum… phone bill company… friend… mum again…

Ah, the glamorous life of the famous.

You roll your eyes, and get to responding to your mothers texts about dinner and when you’ll be home and how your first day is going, not noticing the not-so-jolly, not-so-green-(unless-you-meant-pot) giant approaching you. When you finally finish responding to both your mum and your friend, you put your phone away and start unwrapping your lunch- a typical ham sandwich that you’re actually pretty excited about. That’s one good thing about your sudden drop in financial status; You can put in your damn sandwich as many pieces of ham and cheese as you like. Grinning excitedly, you pick it up and have it halfway to your mouth before another person - a very heavy, large person, - drops down beside you on the bench you’ve commandeered behind the store. You close your mouth without any delicious lunch inside it and look up, politely to the person who’s joined you.

And all you can think, is wow.

He could put you in a suitcase and walk off with you right now and have no problems.

That’s wow.

“Hi! I’m Y/N,” You introduce yourself, offering a hand for him to shake.

“I know.” Oh, well yeah okay that’s understandable. Glenn did introduce you to everyone this morning. Despite the man’s less-then-excited response, he takes your hand in his and shakes. It makes you all giddy inside, honestly. So b i g. “Names Isaac.”

Do you remember Isaac in the breakroom this morning? You wrack your brain for him, because surely if he was there you noticed him-

Oh. Yep, you remember him. He was one of that Marcus-Dude’s pals chuckling and whispering behind him. He was one of the men that had the magazine with you on the front, and if there’s one thing you know about men who carry Vogue in their locker’s it’s that they fit into only 2 groups- interested in fashion, obviously… and interested in the women. And this man clearly is not interested in fashion. Immediately, on this realisation, you feel disappointed- you really could have liked this man right off the bat…

But it looks like he’s just going to be another of the men at this store you have to get to know, before becoming friendly with.

“So,” He starts, and you fight off a wince. Hopefully, you don’t know what’s coming. But… the likeliness of that is not high. “You wanna go out, some time? I’m a big fan of your work.” He smirks.

“Oh, ha ha.” You laugh sarcastically, shaking your head and returning to your sandwich. You take a bite and- Ahhhhhh, so worth the wait. Oh my god. Food orgasm. “At least you’re honest!”

“Yeah, so is that a yes?” His face brightens a smidgeon, which is a lot seeing as he doesn’t seem to be totally all there, in the first place.

You look up at Isaac, and look apologetic. He was honest with you so its only fair that you’re genuine with him. “Sorry… “

“Ah- actually, I don’t know if this’ll change your mind, but I have 2 weeks to live, so… “

Never mind on that honesty thing, then.

Dull-eyed, you stare up at him. “… Uh-huh.”

“Its true! I have, uh, cancer.” He insists, nodding his head and forcing his eyebrows up his forehead all serious-like.

“Cancer.” Right.

“Yep.”

Right, time to look in the bag... You start to wrap up your lunch again - sadly, as now you’ll have to wait until the end of the day and the bus ride home to eat it, - and plop it back away in your bag, getting up and pulling out a cigarette instead- that should hold you over until the end of the day. “My lunch break is actually over, so I should go- Damn, where’s my light?“

Isaac rifles through his pockets until he pulls out an old looking neon orange lighter, and offers it to you. “Here, use mine.”

Oh, no. You stare at it like a deer in headlights. If you accept that, like you really want to right now because it’s been a month since your last smoke, then you have obligations to sit with him for another couple minutes, at least.

Aghh… You groan and whine on the inside, before making up your mind and flinging the cigarette into a puddle. “See the thing is, I don’t actually have the time-”

“Go away now, let me go.”

“Are you stupid? Or just a little slow?”

“Ughhh… “This one has been giving you looks all day, but had no courage until now to speak to you- but the thing is? He didn’t have the smarts, either, to take off his wedding ring at least before he decided to be a bastard and bother you. So you feel absolutely no regret about being exactly as dismissive or plain rude, as you feel. “Elias? Go away now.”

The nervous man, who’s been ringing his hands this whole time and stuttering through failed date requests that you pretended you didn’t understand because of his struggle, gets panicked. “Just let me ask!- Will, will you go out with me?”

“No.” You yawn, dropping a piglet toy into a basket.

“But!- “

Turning away, you start pushing your trolley along to get to the next aisle. “Let me go.”

“We can go wherever you like!”

Sighhhhhhhhh. You turn around and grant him an audience, putting your hands on your hips and raising you brows at the wedding band on his left hand.

“Are you stupid? Or just a little slow?”

“Please fuck off.”

Oh good god in heaven, they’re going bigger with their proposals.

“Y/N! Will you go out with me?”

This man, Corey, has grabbed the announcement phone now that you’re walking away, making you freeze like the dad possum in Over The hedge and seriously consider playing dead, too, as you slowly turn around to look at him again.

Oh, if only looks could kill- he would be so dead that even Vlad the Impaler’s victims would laugh.

This is your first day, and the fact that you’re being harassed by multiple stupid men is bad enough but now he’s calling attention to you like this? Glenn’s going to think you’re a troublemaker!! Jesus fucking Christ- you need this job! Corey continues to talk into the speaker phone, even as he looks into your eyes and sees his death. “And… now… you’re looking at me like that, so uh… I’m just gonna… say please?”

… “’Please’ fuck off.”

“Yes ma’am-“

“Go away now, I’ve made myself clear.

I don’t think so.

Nah its not gonna happen.

Not in a million years.”

Since the run-in with Corey and the following spike in your blood pressure, you’ve calmed down again. But now you’re looking into the two faces of a ‘Mateo’, who you apparently work with, and a ‘Castor’ who does not work here and is not shopping but is still in your face and is t h i s close to feeding that ugly tie to his cousin.

But, still, you’re going to stay graceful, because Castor constantly looks like he’s 3 seconds from pooing himself. “Now please go away, now… I think I’ve made myself clear.” By explaining, politely, that you aren’t looking for a man but thank you for the offer, Castor.

“Oh, but you haven’t heard what Castor does for a living! He’s in insurance,” Mateo explains to you, like this is some huge game changer. When you don’t react, he adds that there’s good money, insurance.

You almost laugh. Does this boy really think you’re such a gold digger? Boy- if I wanted riches then I could’ve easily become a C-Class actor who has no skills in the area, but is pretty so gets praised like she does- like a lotta my model friends.

Instead I’m here, at Cloud 9.

Come to your own conclusions.

But instead of saying that, though, you just shake your head nervously. “I don’t think so… “

“But!- “

“Nah… sorry, its… not gonna happen… “

“But Castor is- “

“Not in a million years… “

“Aw, no. I gotta go. My house is on fire.”

Now, at least this one is respectful, you think, listening to him talk about the products you’re shelving together. He had come over and offered to give you a hand when you looked confused, as a ‘Cheyanne’ had handed you a scanner earlier and then promptly ran off, despite your utter incompetence. You were so relieved that this guy turned up!!

“… so, you just punch in reduce .50, and scan! Its pretty easy, if you have it properly explained to you. I- I was actually in the same situation, as you! When I first started here, except I ended up, uh, reducing all the items in electronics to 15 cense rather than discounting it all 15 percent.” A grin spreads across your lips at the story, and thank god that Jonah had turned up before that happened to you and, with your luck, you got fired for it.

“Oh no!”

“Yeah- Amy, our uh, floor supervisor, was pretty cranky with me about that… “He laughs himself, resting his hands on his hips; Still looking nervous at the memory.

You look back down at the scanner you’re holding and shake your head. “Well at least you know, now! And thank you so much for coming to my aid, haha. I was so lost- you’ve been a huge help! A life saver, truly.”

“Yeah… “ He gives a cute little, reserved smile. “So, uh, its basically the end of the day! Hope you’re first day hasn’t been too strenuous. At the end of my first day, I know I was tired. But I got to go out with a couple of the other employees and have a drink, to destress. If-If you were free, we could… do something. Together.” Your eyebrows slowly raise up your forehead at that, and you turn to look up Jonah, sceptical. What was that? You sure have had a long day, and its about to get a lot longer if this boy is asking what you think he is. “Sorry! Sorry, that sounded weird. Um, I guess what I’m really asking, is… would you like to, I dunno, go out with me sometime? I know some great places.”

Oh, noooooo! You cry, on the inside. You thought you found a normal one!

Still, he is being so nice… The least you could do is let him down easily.

“Oh, Jonah, I actually… oh- sorry.” Your phone beeps in your pocket and you take it out quickly to have a glance - its just your mother… again, - … and suddenly get an idea. Feigning shock, you quickly put the phone away and put down the scanner. It’s time to clock out and go home, anyway, thank god. “I have to go! That was my mum, uh- I really have to go!”

“Wow, wow, wow, what’s wrong?? Can I help with anything?”

Oh… he looks so concerned. He’s sweet.

But before you can rethink your words, this living horror slips out. “My-my house is on fire.”

Oh god, you’re a horrible person.

“I’ve, I’ve got herpes. No- Syphilis!”

Oh thank god the day is over. Rolling your shoulders back, you kneel down at your bottom locker, open it up and take out your bag. Now you can go home and put on Gotham on Netflix, wear no pants and eat thin mints until you fall asleep.

When you get up, you aren’t watching out for a man to be standing barely half a foot away from you - Your mistake, obviously, - so you jolt right out of your skin when you see him and curse. What is wrong with these men? Does Cloud 9 offer complimentary staff ninja classes along with their lack of health insurance? Man, classy company. “Sorry!” You look up past the coveralls after stepping a safe distance back from him, and immediately feel dread deep in your chest. “Oh, hi. Marcus, was it?”

“That’s me! How was your first day?” He asks, seeming polite enough despite the fact that you’re cornered between tall boy and the lockers. And you’re too tired to try and slip away- this boy will get out of your way.

“It was good! Thanks for asking. I’m ready to go home and collapse, though.” You admit, shoulders dropping and a tired smile on your lips. Mmm… thin mints… bed… blankets… Cory Michael Smith… I can taste it… Marcus just needs to get out of my way.

“I hear that.” Evidently not quite as deeply, though, as he moves on pretty fast. “Listen- I was thinking if you’re into it we could… go out, some time.” He tilts his head forward to clarify, “On a date,”, in case that part hadn’t translated, and chuckles. “We could see a movie or get drinks, or something, I don’t know. How about tonight?”

T-tonight? The word nearly slips from your lips; All disbelief and tears and exhaustion, included. You’re so tired. “Um… you know, tempting offer, but um… “He looks so hopeful. It nearly changes your mind. “Not tonight.”

“OH! So like, tomorrow?” Oh christ- “Cuz I’m supposed to watch Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here with my mum, but… no, I can blow that off! So, tomorrow?”

You take a deep breath, not really knowing what you can say. “Marcus… “He raises his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. “… I have herpes.”

“Wait, what??” He steps back, nearly tripping over a table in his fear that just being near you will cause him to contract the disease, and you let your guard down in relief. Yep, for sure, definitely. If it makes him back off, then yes- you have herpes. You have a raging, festering case of herpes.

“Yeah! Or-“ Squinting, you pretend to sift through your brain. “Was it Syphilis?” This boys eyes basically bulge out of his head and you’re totally going to laugh about it later, but right now you have to get out of there. You waive your hand dismissively and walk on by him towards the door like you don’t have a care in the world. Before you leave though, you turn around a flash Marcus a big smile. “Either way, ew, right? Well, see you tomorrow buddy! Gotta go! Enjoy I’m A Celebrity with your mum.” Then you’re gone.

Tomorrow is going to be a much better day, once that rumour is properly spread.

135 notes · View notes

snowdice · 4 years ago

Text

Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 67]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30

Got many things to do today, though I do have a meeting in a bit over an hours, so there will be a break.

Chapter 31

Logan waited for a while after Patton left to check on Virgil, but the two never resurfaced. It was odd, Patton would usually remember to come back and get Logan or at least tell them where they were. With a sigh, Logan climbed to his feet to go find them. It took him a while to weave his way through the maze of bushes to them especially because they were suspiciously quiet (Well, suspicious for Patton. Virgil was often unnervingly quiet when alone.) Luckily, he knew the bushes enough after all of these years not to get lost and managed to find the two after a few minutes.

“Ah,” he said, immediately identifying the reason for Patton disappearing.

“Logan!” Patton said, his voice excited, but also quieter than normal. “We found a kitty!”

“I can see that,” Logan responded, taking a step closer. The cat hissed at him in response. The hissing was so intense and wild that he’d suspect the thing was feral if it wasn’t happily on Virgil’s lap having had it’s head in Patton’s lap before Logan had approached.

“No,” Virgil told the animal as though it could understand words. “That’s Logan. Be nice.”

The cat still glared at him and swished it’s tail back and forth threateningly. Virgil pet the top of it’s head and it broke eye contact with Logan to purr.

Patton seemed delighted by the purring, reaching to stroke under the thing’s chin carefully. “We should give her a name!” Patton said.

Virgil frowned. “I thought her name was Ghost Kitty.”

“That is ‘Ghost Kitty’?” Logan asked skeptically. From what Patton had said about that cat, it was terrified of people and no one could ever get near it, even him. Now it was in Virgil’s lap?

“But that was a temporary name,” Patton said, “for before we officially met her. Now we have to give her a real name.”

“Do not give it a name,” Logan said. “You will get attached.”

“How do you name a cat?” Virgil asked.

“Do not name it,” Logan said.

“You give them names based on their personalities, how they look, or even just because it’s a cute name,” Patton explained. “Like, remember Mittens? I named her Mittens because she has white fur and black paws!”

Virgil looked at the cat. “She’s completely black,” he said.

Patton hummed. “So, we could give her a name based on that like Midnight or Shadow.”

“Those are fine,” Virgil said.

“No, no,” Patton said. “I’m just giving you examples. You get to name her yourself.”

“This is a bad idea,” Logan said.

“Just throw out some names,” Patton said. “Anything you can think of.”

“Uh,” Virgil said. “Knife.”

“…Just Knife?” Patton asked.

“Nightmare.” Virgil seemed to think about it. “No, that’s mean.”

“How about things you like?” Patton suggested.

“Alfredo?”

Oh no, Logan thought, he was worse than Patton at cat naming.

“Good start,” Patton said. “Logan, do you have any suggestions.”

“Cat,” Logan said.

“Real suggestions,” Patton scolded.

Logan sighed and thought for a moment. “Aphrodite.”

“Catphrodite!”

Logan glared at him. “Helena.”

“Helenpaw.”

“Claudia.”

“Clawdia.”

“Persephone.”

Patton smiled at him, cheerfully.

“…Damnit!”

Patton turned to Virgil again. “Like that! They don’t even have to be serious. Like, uh, you could name her Madam Fluffywuffykins the Great!”

“Do not name her that,” Logan said, scrunching up his nose.

Logan sat on the ground, the cat eyeing him, but no longer hissing. Logan gently guided them towards more sensible names despite Patton trying his hardest to drag them into stupidity.

Virgil still didn’t quite get it. He mostly tried to name it after foodstuff, and often not even appropriate foodstuff such as “Corn” and “Acorn Squash” and “Sandwich” and occasionally would drop in semi violent ones such as “Razor,” “Nightshade” and “Void.” Patton suggested names like “Fluffers,” “Bobette” and “Darling” as well as some that were puns. Logan tried to direct them towards more sensible ones like “Salem” and even went so low as to suggest the contrary “Snowball.”

It quickly seemed to become less about actually naming the cat and more of a game. Patton had taught Virgil about playing with cats and had even gotten out a ball of yarn he cared around for his crafts. Both Virgil and the cat seemed to find endless entertainment with that. Logan hoped Patton had another ball of yarn that color because, he was never going to get that ball back.

The barrage of names fizzled out into naming things around them like “Leaf” and “Bush” until they stopped suggesting names altogether. Patton and Logan sat back and watched Virgil play with the cat.

Logan watched as they stopped playing suddenly and Virgil and the cat squinted at each other. “Marisol,” Virgil said, pulling the name out of nowhere. “That’s her name.” He said it with a certainty that was surprising considering how he’d treated the naming process with confusion and caution earlier. If Logan did not know better, his tone of voice would indicate that the cat, or Marisol he guessed, had gotten bored of them coming up with stupid names and decided to tell him her actual name herself.

The cat made a sound and batted at Virgil’s face without claws to grab back his attention.

He turned back to it and bopped its face with a finger in kind. It attacked his finger, but in a clearly playful matter as it still did not extend it’s claws and its teeth did not draw blood.

“That’s a great name, Virgil,” Patton said.

“Much more pleasant than any that Patton suggested all afternoon,” Logan said. He received an elbow to the side for his quip.

“A pretty name for a pretty kitty,” Patton said, scooting over to where Virgil was sat and attempting to pet Marisol’s head. Marisol, however, was too keyed up and batted at the hand.

“I love you too!” Patton said.

Logan rolled his eyes, but he had long since resigned himself to watching the two of them play with and coo over the cat for the rest of the day.

Eventually, though, it started to get darker. Even after Logan pointed this out, it still took over an hour for them to relent and leave the bush maze to go to the door. The problem was of course, that the cat had managed to grow very attached to Virgil in the last few hours and she followed them all the way to the door with manipulatively heart breaking mews.

“You’ve got to stay out here,” Virgil said, when they got to the castle door. He pet her ear softly and she shoved her head into his hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anywhere to put you.” He sounded horribly sad about that fact and Logan felt himself shift uncomfortably. “I basically live in a closet and Logan doesn’t like cats in his room anyway.”

Logan immediately felt unreasonably guilty, probably more so because Logan did not think Virgil was trying to make him feel guilty. “…Bring the dammed thing inside.”

Virgil blinked up at him. “What?”

“It will get cold soon anyway,” Logan said.

He frowned at Logan from where he was crouched. “But you don’t like fur in your room…”

“I will have to find a potion that works,” he said with a sigh, “and we’ll have to say it’s mine to the guards and Father since it will be staying in my room, but it is yours in every other way. That means you are going to feed it, clean it, and clean up after it.”

Virgil nodded immediately and swooped Marisol up in his arms. The cat went without complaint. “Thank you!” he said. “I love her.”

“I know you do,” Logan said, already regretting it already. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to even consider recanting the offer considering how happy Virgil seemed to be. They had a cat now, he guessed.

Chapter 32

“What are you doing?” Helen asked a few minutes after her son walked into the kitchen and started looking around as though he were trying to find something. It was a few hours into the afternoon, and she and a few workers were already prepping for dinner.

“Uh,” Patton said. “Have you seen Virgil?”

“No,” Helen said. “Why.”

“Er… Logan and I sorta, lost him,” Patton said. He was wringing his hands anxiously. Helen put down the knife in her hand.

“What do you mean you lost him?” she asked.

“Well, see, we were trying to teach him how to play hide and seek, um, but then we didn’t think to tell him that he eventually had to come out if we didn’t find him, and now we haven’t seen him since breakfast.”

“He didn’t know what tag is?” she asked. That was just one more thing to add to the list of why Helen worried about Virgil and where he came from. Every morsel of information she’d managed to wring from Patton despite his evasions made her lists of concerns grow larger, even little things like him not knowing about simple childhood games. Actually, thinking of concerning things having to do with Virgil. “Wait, so he hasn’t eaten lunch.”

“Um, we don’t know that,” Patton’s mouth said while his eyes said ‘no.’

“He needs to be on a consistent diet, especially when he’s still taking the malnutrition potion,” she scolded.

“I know, Mama, I know,” Patton said. “I’m trying to find him. I’d kinda hoped he’d gotten hungry and snuck down here. He probably wouldn’t want to risk being caught stealing food though.”

Helen grimaced. Yet another concerning thing.

“Wait! I have an idea, I’ll be right back.” Patton turned and ran out of the room. Helen frowned at the space he’d been and finished chopping the carrot on the cutting board in front of her. If it had been any other person in the castle missing, Helen wouldn’t have worried, but she had literally never seen Virgil without Patton and/or Logan by his side. Even when he’d gone to help Jeff can some fruit, Logan had reportedly hung around to read a book.

Considering that Logan had never exactly been clingy even with Patton, she imagined that either Virgil asked, or Logan thought he should stay with him for his comfort. So, she was surprised that he was apparently hidden away somewhere in the castle where neither of the other kids could find him.

Still thinking about this, she walked over to the entrance to the cellar below the kitchen where they stored most of the vegetables, planning to grab some more carrots. She was confused for a moment when she heard movement from deeper in the pantry. She reached over and touched the panel near the door that controlled the magic lights.

The newly illuminated figure startled as the lights came on, whipping around to stare at her with wide eyes.

“Virgil?” she asked.

“Sorry,” he said immediately, taking a step back.

“It’s fine,” she said immediately, “but what are you doing here?”

He considered her for a long moment, but apparently, she passed some sort of mental test, because he relaxed, at least as much as he’d ever relaxed in her presence. “Where are we?” he asked.

Her brow knit together. “The cellar under the kitchen,” she said, “You don’t know that?”

He shook his head.

“The only entrance is from the kitchen.” Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him go through the kitchen at any point.

“No, it’s not,” Virgil said. “There’s a tunnel.”

“A-a tunnel?” she asked. Actually, taking a closer look at him, he seemed a bit grimy. He had dust all over his front and dirt on his nose. She thought he might even have a couple of cobwebs in his hair.

“Yep,” he said.

“Where’s the tunnel?” she asked.

“It’s right over here,” he said. He took a couple of steps and pointed to the ground. There was an open square hole there that clearly had been made a long time ago but which she had never noticed in all of her time working here.

“How did you find this?” she asked.

“We were playing hide and seek,” Virgil explained. “Logan said I could hide anywhere inside the castle. I hid on top of a dresser upstairs in some unused sitting room. There was a hole in the wall above it, so I climbed into it. Then, I crawled a little bit and it let out into a hidden passage in the walls. I wandered around in it until I found another hole in one of the walls. I thought it was a way out, so I squeezed into it, but it took me to a different hallway where I found an old room. There was a different hole in that room that had probably been covered by something because it was in the floor but whatever it was had rotted away. I crawled though it into a tunnel and came out here.”

She couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his explanation. “Well, it sounds like you went on an adventure,” she said, “but Patton and Logan have been trying to find you. You missed lunch.”

He tilted his head at her. “I know. I was supposed to hide.”

“Yes,” she explained, “but you are supposed to come out at some point if they can’t find you for things like food.”

“Oh,” he said.

“They probably should have explained,” she said. “For now, why don’t we get you something to eat? You must be hungry.”

Virgil frowned. “But I missed lunch.”

“You can still eat even though it’s not in normal hours,” she said. “You could even if you had made it to lunch.”

“Really?” he asked, he looked tragically confused by this offer.

“Of course, sweetie,” she said. “In fact, I insist you get something good to eat right now. How about I made you a grilled ham and cheese sandwich? Maybe some cookies too!”

Virgil titled his head. “You are Patton’s mother,” he stated.

Helen laughed softly. “He gets its all from me,” she said. “We should probably go find him and tell him you’re okay. He was worried.”

“I didn’t mean to worry him,” Virgil said with a frown.

“I know,” Helen said. “It’s okay. He’ll probably laugh when he figures out where you’ve been, and Logan will interrogate you all about the secret passageways.” He seemed happy about the prospect of seeing his friends. “Come on, let’s go upstairs for a bit,” she said.

Chapter 33

Patton’s mom had already made Virgil sit down at the small table in the corner of the kitchen and had handed him a sandwich by the time Patton barreled into the kitchen, Logan coming after him at a more sedate pace.

“Virgil!” he said, sounding surprised and relieved.

“Patton,” Patton’s mom scolded. “No cats in the kitchen.” Patton had brought Marisol in with him and had let her go as soon as he’d seen Virgil. She immediately plodded over to him and hoped onto the table to sniff at his face in greeting.

“But she’s the princess!” Patton argued.

“No,” Logan said.

“Yes, she is!” Patton said.

“The stupid cat is not a princess.”

“Don’t be mean to your little sister, Logan.”

“I regret every life decision that has led me to this point.”

While Logan and Patton were distracted squabbling and Patton’s mom was distracted watching them squabble, Virgil tore off a bit of the ham in his sandwich and offered it to Marisol. Marisol gracefully took it from his grip and ate it.

“So, this is Logan’s new cat I’ve been hearing about?” Patton’s mom asked.

“Indeed,” Logan said, his lips thinned. He and Marisol were mostly amicable when alone with just them and Virgil, but Patton had a habit of cooing over the kitten and needling Logan into being irritated.

“Mmm, yeah,” Patton’s mom said. She glanced over at Virgil right as Marisol basically slammed her face into his chin in a bid to get pets. “Your cat.” She shook her head. “But Princess Kitten or not, I do not want fur in dinner,” she said.

“Sorry,” Patton said, honestly not sounding sorry at all. Virgil was always a bit surprised when the insolent shrug garnered nothing more that a scowl that did not reach Patton’s mom’s eyes. “I thought she could help me find Virgil, but you already found him.” He turned to Virgil. “Where have you been all day?”

“Found a tunnel,” Virgil said. He had to use one hand to hold Marisol back from his sandwich as he took another bite, but then gave her a bite of cheese.

“You found what?” Logan asked.

“There’s a tunnel under the cellar,” Virgil said. “It goes to an old closed up room and also to a set of secret passageways.” It was a bit of a security risk honestly, though clearly no one had used it in years by how dirty it was. He did plan to go back into it and make sure the sprawling tunnels didn’t go to anywhere more dangerous like the royal wing.

“A closed-up room?” Logan said. He could see a bit of curiosity already building in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Virgil said. “Where the door used to be seemed like it had been bricked over.”

“Really? Can you show me.”

“Sure,” Virgil answered.

“Ah, perhaps we should be a bit more cautious about climbing through random tunnels we don’t know the stability of,” Patton’s mom said.

Logan’s frown edged on a pout.

“Talk to your father,” she said. “I’m sure he can get someone who understands these things so you can safely investigate.”

“It was safe enough for Virgil,” Logan pointed out.

“No, Logan.”

He sighed but seemed to concede. That was another strange thing about living here. By all rights Logan didn’t have to obey anyone except the king, but he often listened to those around him, not just the adults but Patton as well. It was interesting though it sometimes made the hierarchy hard to figure out. Virgil did sometimes stress out about the hypothetical situation where he got conflicting orders from two people, and he wouldn’t know which one to obey. So far it hadn’t been a problem luckily. They always seemed to work it out amongst themselves in some give and take social interaction that was a bit too complex for him to understand.

Patton walked over to where Virgil was sitting. “I’m glad your safe,” he said. “We should probably put a time limit on hide and seek in the future, so you know when to come out.”

“Did I win?” Virgil asked. He’d honestly forgotten they’d been playing a game until Patton’s mom had asked how he’d found his way into the cellar.

Patton laughed. “I’d say so, yeah,” he replied. He leaned over to kiss Virgil’s forehead, but drew back immediately with a pinched expression. “You are… very dirty,” he said, rubbing his mouth.

Virgil nodded. “Your mom made me sit on a tablecloth,” he said gesturing to the fabric she’d laid over the chair.

Patton snorted out a laugh. “We’ll get you into the bath when you’re done eating and you can tell us all about your little adventure.”

“I would also like to hear about your discoveries,” Logan said. “Though you are not allowed to sit on the bed until you do not have spider webs in your hair.”

Patton’s eyes widened and he jumped away from Virgil, startling both Virgil and Marisol. The latter hopped from the table onto Virgil’s lap. “Spiders?!”

Virgil tilted his head at him in confusion.

“He isn’t a fan of spiders,” Logan informed him, his voice amused at Patton’s reaction.

Apparently deciding that she was no longer startled, but more confused by the noises Patton had just made, Marisol jumped out of Virgil’s lap to investigate, wrapping her way around Patton’s legs. He bent down to pat her back, though he still looked a bit startled.

“Your cat, huh?” Patton’s mom asked Logan once again. Virgil studied her. She had apparently missed Logan mentioning that he allowed Virgil on the bed. Or perhaps Logan was correct in his insistence that it wasn’t actually that big of a deal here. Virgil would rather not test that assumption, however, so was glad that it had been distracted from by Patton’s outburst.

“Creepy, crawly death dealers,” Patton mumbled into Marisol’s fur, having picked her back up. Virgil made a note to not inform Patton of all of the different types of spiders he’d seen skittering around in the castle walls today. Maybe he’d talk about them with Logan once Patton left. He’d probably be interested. Virgil had seen some he’d never seen before! Logan probably could even help him figure out what their names were. “You’ll protect me, won’t you kitty?” Patton asked Marisol.

She made a little ‘burrrr’ sound in response, which Patton seemed to take a confirmation.

“Aw thank you, baby! Such a good baby.”

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Virgil popped the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. Patton’s mom turned away and grabbed a plate stacked with cookies. She handed it to Logan. “Take these, and please get the health hazards out of my kitchen,” she requested.

Logan took them without complaint. “Come on, Virgil,” he said. “Let’s go get you clean.”

“We’re going to need so much soap,” Patton said.

Virgil looked down at himself. “I can go outside and get most of it off if you get me a bucket of water,” he offered.

“Virgil, it’s below freezing,” Logan said as though that had a baring on what he’d just said. Logan sighed. “No. Bathtub.” Virgil shrugged. “Honestly,” Logan said. He turned with the plate of cookies in his hand, clearly expecting to be followed. “You’re not going to catch your death pouring a bucket of water over yourself in the cold when there are literally over a hundred perfectly good bathtubs in this castle. For goodness sakes.” And well, Virgil wasn’t going to complain.

Chapter 34

Patton, to be completely honest, was not all that interested in the room that Virgil had found. Beyond just the fact that it would definitely have creepy crawly death dealers in it, he really did not understand the intrigue. If it had just been him, he probably would have just let a castle worker deal with it, but it was not just him. Logan was ecstatic with the prospect of investigating a secret in the castle. People who didn’t know him well may not believe it considering he spent most of his time with his nose in a book, but he was an adventurer at heart.

Thomas had been easily swayed into finding someone to help tear down part of the wall into the secret tunnel near the room (so no one would have to crawl through the kitchen cellar like Virgil). It had taken a few days, however, and Logan was practically bouncing off the walls waiting. Virgil, despite having already seen the room before, also seemed excited, though if that was because of his own curiosity or because he was just excited that Logan seemed so exited remained to be seen.

“They are silly, aren’t they,” Patton asked Princess Marisol. He was laying on his stomach on Logan’s bed and Princess Marisol had just put her little paw on his nose.

“Yes, I agree,” he said. “Don’t they know that we’re literally going to be 2 feet away from the normal hallway?”

“It is not silly,” Logan defended himself. “Any number of things could go wrong.” He sounded far too excited about the prospect of something going terribly wrong. “The tunnels could cave in and block off the exit or there could be some unknown pathogen in the air.”

Patton did not ruin his fun by mentioning that Logan’s dad had definitely basically baby proofed the tunnels for them ahead of time. Instead, he just said, “Don’t let Virgil hear you say that sort of thing. It will just stress him out.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” he said, waving off Patton’s concerns as he mulled over two different weird green planty things (potion ingredients, Patton assumed) before setting one aside and sticking the other in his bag.

“So silly,” Patton cooed at the cat. Logan let out a huff but did not choose to say anything about it this time.

Speaking of silly, Virgil came back from Logan’s bathroom then, and Patton tried not to giggle. “Is this right?” Virgil asked, sounding and looking confused. Logan, in his overexcitement about adventure had commissioned Virgil an outfit that actually fit. Said outfit, however, very much made it look more like Virgil was going on a safari instead of a two-foot detour from the normal castle hallway.

“Almost,” Logan said, “Here, let me.” Logan started straightening everything out and flattening the collar, reminding Patton of an overbearing parent on picture day. Virgil accepted the fussing without protest. It was adorable. Well, the outfit was ridiculous, but still, adorable. “There,” Logan said. “I think we’re ready to go now.”

It was about time. Patton was sure people were already waiting for them downstairs. Patton got up and patted Princess Marisol on the head. She looked up at them with interest.

“You can stay here, sweetie,” Patton told here. She seemed to consider it and then hopped down from the bed to go rub up against Virgil.

Patton guessed she was coming. It didn’t matter too much since Logan had given her a magical collar that allowed her to open most doors in the castle and everyone knew she was the royal cat now, so if she decided she wanted to come back to the room and nap, she could. (She was very aware of the power she held.)

She pranced happily by Virgil’s side all the way down the steps to the first floor of the castle. She was such a good kitty.

Well, she did hiss angrily at everyone who came too close to them, but still, a very good kitty.

Patton did lean down and pick her up so they could actually talk to the man waiting for them at the large hole in the wall. Logan went to talk to the castle worker while Virgil half hid behind Patton. He was clearly listening very intently to the conversation however, at least more intently than Patton was. Patton was busy shaking his head fondly.

“Yes, yes, Princess,” he said to the cat. “I know we do not trust the strangers, but I promise this stranger is perfectly safe.”

“How do you know?” Virgil asked.

“His name is Chester and I’ve known him since I was 9.”

This seemed to slightly alleviate Virgil’s suspicion, but Princess Marisol still seemed antsy. Patton really needed to start slowly introducing the both of them to more people.

Logan finished talking with Chester after a few moments and it was time to climb through the hole in the wall. He wished he saw in the tunnel whatever Logan with his excited eyes and bounce to his step obviously saw. Or even that was more comfortable in the dark closed in space as Virgil obviously was. As it was, Patton’s nose scrunched up at the thought off all of the spiders that could be living everywhere in the secret tunnel, but he pushed through.

The entrance to the tunnel had been made only a little bit from the room Virgil had mentioned and Chester had led them through it after only a couple of seconds. As Patton had suspected, the room was already lit up and probably cleaned a little bit by the people who had cut into the wall, not that he was complaining.

Virgil was still clinging a bit to Patton’s shirt, though it seemed to be less out of anxiety at this point and more out of a desire to stick close. He was peering around curiously at the lit-up space. He probably hadn’t seen much of it in the dark when he’d been here before.

Yet, his curiosity was nothing compared to how excited Logan seemed to be. Now Patton may have not been interested in the room itself, but he was entertained by how interested Logan was and was happy to encourage that.

“What do you think this place is?” he asked Logan.

Logan hummed contemplatively, eyes looking around. “Well,” he said. “It’s a bedroom clearly, and old. Considering the location it is in in the castle, the size, the decorations, and it’s likely age, I’d imagine it was a bedroom of a royal family member. This used to be the royal wing three royal lines ago.”

“Bearing that in mind, there are a couple of likely possibilities for the origin of the room as well as the reason it was sealed up, but we will need to investigate more in order to come to an actual conclusion.” He had already placed the bag he’d brought on the ground and was going through it, pulling out things that Patton did not recognize. He also got a piece of paper and sat on the floor to start to sketch.

“What are you doing?” Virgil asked.

“I’m sketching the floorplan of the room,” Logan said. “I will then put a grid on it so we can investigate while being sure that we aren’t missing anything.”

Virgil seemed uninterested in this part of the adventure, instead electing to go poking around by himself. Princess Marisol squirmed out of Patton’s arms to go follow him. Patton swore that he only looked away from those two for 5 seconds, but the next thing he knew he heard metal clicking against metal.

“Oh,” Patton said, eyes wide when he saw what Virgil was fiddling with. “Honey, you probably shouldn’t touch…”

The old but fancy looking chest that had been at the end of the remains of the bed creaked open. Virgil sneezed as a cloud of dust puffed out of it. “Huh,” he said studying the contents. “There’s a skull in here.”

“Oh, I don’t like this adventure anymore,” Patton commented.

Logan was on his feet within moments. “Let me see,” he said eagerly.

“What if it’s cursed?” Patton pointed out.

“Then I’ll just break the curse,” Logan waved him off. “Oh, it’s just a horse skull,” Logan said, sounding disappointed. “And also what seemed to be potion ingredients. Though they seem very fresh considering the state of the room.”

“Maybe we should get someone else to…”

Logan already had both arms inside the chest and was pulling things out of it. “This chest must have some sort of stasis effect to it.”

He started pulling things out to look at them before setting them on the floor with no caution. “Well,” he said, “that answers the question of what this room is.”

“It does?” Patton asked.

“Ah, yes, between the horse skull and the potion ingredients, this is obviously the bedroom of Princess Marianne Elicia. She was the third child of King Simon IV and was quite the fan of horses.”

“…So she kept a horse skull in a stasis chest in her bedroom?” Patton asked.

“Of course,” Logan said. “Back when her family was in power, magic was outlawed and had quite the stigma against it, but she ended up learning magic and become quite proficient.”

“It’s debated what exactly happened when her father found out about her activities. Some sources say that she was executed silently by her father, but others say she managed to escape with the head of the stables but not before putting a curse on the country of Prijaznia. That is until she or one of her bloodline sits on the throne, every royal line will end in madness and blood by the 5th seated monarch before an heir is born.”

“Isn’t that something you should be worried about?” Virgil asked.

Logan shrugged. “It’s just a myth,” he said. “Besides I’m 6th in the line, so there really isn’t any concern.”

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“There are a lot of interesting things in here,” Logan said, still focused on the chest. “Not to mention the books. We’ll have to be careful with those though since they don’t appear to be in stasis.”

Logan pulled the horse skull out and set it on the floor making Patton wince.

“Marisol no!” he said as Princess Marisol immediately went to go sniff at it. He swooped her up in his arms. “How long are we staying in this creepy room?” Patton asked.

“Patton, we just got here,” Logan said.

“We just got here and already found a skull!”

“Yes! Exactly!”

Patton groaned into Princess Marisol’s fur even as she tried wiggle away to go back and investigate the skull. This was going to be a long day.

Chapter 35

Logan was surprised when he woke up alone in bed. He’d grown to anticipate waking to a smaller body unrelentingly clinging to his in the past couple of weeks. Confused he sat up and peered around his bedroom. He wouldn’t have seen Virgil with the way he melted into the darkness if it he hadn’t heard the sound of purring coming from near the window. He could just barely make out a dark blob shifting up and down at the cat kneaded at a different blob sitting mostly hidden behind the thick curtain.

“Virgil?” Logan questioned. “What are you doing?”

“It’s snowing,” was the answer.

“That is not an answer,” Logan grumbled at the ceiling. With a sigh, he pulled himself out of bed. It was a bit chilly in here, he thought. The temperature must have dipped suddenly and intensely enough that the runes keeping the castle at a warm enough temperature hadn’t caught up yet. He pulled one of the blankets off of the top of his bed to wrap around his shoulders as he approached the window. There wasn’t much light outside, the stars and moon covered by clouds, but there were some lanterns lit for the night guard who patrolled the outside. “Oh,” he said in surprise. “It’s really snowing.”

It had been colder but not quite cold enough for snow to stick the day before, so it came as a surprise when he saw snow was piling up quite high to the point where familiar paths outside his window had disappeared.

“I don’t like it,” Virgil informed him.

“Why not?” Logan asked.

“It’s cold,” Virgil answered. It was clear in his tone that in Virgil’s opinion ‘cold’ was a horrible insult to the concept of snow. Logan quirked a half smile and his attention was drawn to the fact that it was quite cold right here close to the window.

Frowning, he pulled at the blanket around his shoulder so he could wrap it and his arm around the lump that was Virgil. He brushed the boy’s hand when he did so and found it was like ice.

“You’re freezing!” Logan said. “How long have you been by the window?”

“I dunno,” he replied.

Logan was already tugging at him. “You need to get back in bed,” he said.

Virgil obeyed the pulling at his arms even as he frowned. “I’ve been colder than this before,” he said.

“That actually doesn’t make me feel better,” Logan replied dryly as he shooed him towards the bed.

He took the thicker blanket that usually stayed folded at the end of the bed and pulled it up over Virgil before climbing into bed beside him.

“There,” Logan said, rubbing Virgil’s arms through the fabric of the sweater he wore to bed. He was glad he wasn’t wearing a t-shirt at least. “The runes for heating the castle should catch up within a few hours, but until then this should do. Assuming we don’t sit by the freezing window for an undetermined amount of time.”

“I don’t like the cold,” Virgil told him.

Logan sighed. “Then why did you sit by the window?”

Virgil shrugged and ducked his head a bit. Logan reached out to grab his hands to help him warm more but was surprised when one of the hands was much warmer than the other. He found his fingers were clutching a crescent shaped stone: the protection charm they’d made. Logan knew that he kept it in his pocket most of the time, but he didn’t normally see him holding it like this. It was warm to the touch, of course, indicating the safety of the room around them.

Logan looked over his face. “Are you…” he said. “Scared of the snow?”

“I don’t like the cold,” he said once again.

“You’re scared of the winter,” Logan concluded. He looked at Virgil who was far too small for his age and seemed surprised at every casual act of kindness. It was clear that his basic needs were far from being met before he came here. Logan had to wonder what winter usually meant for him. His experiences were doubtlessly very different from Logan’s own. “That makes sense,” he acknowledged, “but you don’t need to be scared of it here. The castle is always perfectly warm and safe in the winter and Mr. Deknis and Ms. Heart work hard during the other seasons to make sure we have plenty of food. There is nothing to fear here.”

He did not seem convinced.

“You don’t even have to go outside if you don’t want to,” Logan promised. “The castle is plenty big if you’d like to stay inside all winter long. It was made for the winter even without the magic devices that keep it warm. We have fireplaces and well insulated rooms even if those that ends up failing.” Logan pulled open the hand that had the protection charm just to transfer it to his other hand to warm it. “Though, while no one would force you to go outside, the snow isn’t always bad.”

“Yes it is,” Virgil said, his voice sure.

“Not all the time,” Logan insisted. “Some people love the snow.”

“They’re stupid.”

Logan laughed. “It can be fun for a while with the right equipment if you have someplace to get warm again afterwards. Royal duties slow down during the winter and Patton tends to come up with all sorts of games for both the inside and the outside to pass the time. He’s particularly proficient at snowball fights, at least against me.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Play fighting,” Logan answered. “Like pillow fights, but snow.”

“I’ll stick with the pillows,” he replied.

“And then there’s a hill to sled down on the western side of the castle, and people like to build snowmen along the path.”

“What are snowmen?” Virgil asked.

They’re temporary statues made out of packed snow,” Logan explained. “Typically, they’re made of three different sized balls of snow: the largest being the base and the smallest the ‘head’ though there are some variations. After building them one typically decorates them with different articles of clothing and objects found lying around. It’s usually sticks and rocks for the face and then things like extra hats and scarfs for decoration.” He smiled softly. “When my Pa was alive, we used to steal my Dad’s crown and fanciest robes. Sometimes Pa would steal it right off of Dad’s head and we’d run away. We’d find a secluded area of the castle yards and build the biggest snowman we could as quickly as we could before we got caught. He’d usually end up letting us keep the robes, but we’d have to give the crown back since some of the metals in it would rust when wet.”

“That sounds…” Virgil’s nose twitched. “fun if you take away the touching snow part.”

Logan laughed. “It is fun,” he said. “Even with the touching snow part. Though, I admit that some of the ability for it to be entertaining does come from the fact that we could warm up afterwards with ease. You’ll enjoy Patton’s mother’s constant offering of hot chocolate during the season even if you never go outside, I’m sure.”

“Hot chocolate?” Virgil asked intrigued. His dark eyes shone brightly in the little light coming through the window. It was clear he could guess something about the drink just by the name and enjoyed the implications.

Logan smiled fondly. “It is a hot drink,” he explained. “It’s a warm drink made out of milk and chocolate. I can get you some to try in the morning.”

Virgil nodded, eyes still wide with interest.

“For now, we should sleep though,” Logan said. “Are you warm enough? I can get more blankets.”

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Good,” Logan said, reaching up and adjusting the blanket over them once more, tucking it around Virgil a little bit for good measure. “Goodnight Virgil,” he said.

“Goodnight,” he replied softly. Logan reached under the blankets to grab the hand that was still slightly chilly from the window between his own. Virgil’s eyes slipped closed after a moment as he nuzzle his face into the pillow. At some point they both drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 36

Thomas had already been well aware that winter was on the way, but he and the rest of the castle occupants had been surprised at how intensely and suddenly it had come on. Most things were ready for the winter, but not all of them had been initiated. The fireplaces that took some pressure off the castle heating runes were cleaned out and ready, but they hadn’t been started yet. The stables for different animals on the grounds had been checked over and staff assignments had been made, but most were still in far out fields. Staff that went home for the winter months had been dismissed, but there were a few stragglers that would have to be helped home before things got worse.

He’d gone out to the main stable to talk to the three workers that were the heads of different areas of animal husbandry to make sure a plan to get everything to where it needed to be soon was in place. It took a while to figure out considering that they’d expected a little more time before the first major snowfall. Thomas also asked them to make sure all of the workers’ homes were in good enough condition for the weather. Ranch hands typically had homes on castle grounds but not in the castle themselves since they needed to be close to the animals. Thomas knew at least half a dozen of those who spent most of their times out in the fields were the type to forgot to maintain their homes because they preferred camping amongst the animals in the summer months and then would be in for a bad time when snow began to fall.

There should be enough extra rooms in the castle if they needed a place to stay until repairs could be done.

Those conversations took a good couple of hours, before Thomas was satisfied. Before trudging back to the castle through the still falling snow, he made a point to stop at one specific horse stall in the main stable. The horse turned his head to see Thomas when he stopped in front of his stall and puffed out a rather disaffected snort before sticking his head over the gate so Thomas could pat his nose. “Hello, Mr. Apples,” Thomas said.

The horse seemed to conclude he’d tolerated Thomas’s petting enough and ducked his head to nudge at his torso. Thomas rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes,” he said. “I brought you an apple. Some things never change.” He reached into his pocket to grab the red apple he’d brought the white Arabian. “At least you don’t bite me anymore.” He paused, apple slice in hand and eyed the horse’s nose suspiciously. “Do not bite me,” he said even though he hadn’t felt the animal’s teeth in a decade. It would be just like Mr. Apples to wait until his guard was down.

After a bit of scrutiny, he offered an apple slice. It was snatched out of his hand and there was a loud crunch as it was bit into.

“It’s snowing out,” he told the horse. The horse seemed to roll his eyes at the statement of the obvious. “I’ll remind again that if you run out in a snowstorm, I’m not running after you, so you’d be out of luck.”

Mr. Apples snorted.

“You’re old now. You’d probably not survive long enough for people to find you. Besides, you blend in with that white fur of yours. They’d probably walk right past you a few times.”

He went back to nosing for treats as soon as he finished his first and Thomas sighed, pulling out another apple slice. “What are they not feeding you enough?” The gusto with which the horse snatched the apple slice was a very clear answer. “Well, we both know that’s not true.” Thomas fed the horse a third slice of apple when he was done with his second. “I have to get back to the castle now. Don’t be a devil horse.”

Mr. Apples threw his head a bit, splattering apple smelling foamy spittle all over Thomas’s front.

“Understood. Have a nice afternoon.”

He left Mr. Apples in his stall then, knowing he’d be well cared for no matter how ill-tempered he could be at times. He’d been a king’s horse once, after all, no matter that said king had been dead for more than a decade now.

Winters were hard.

Winters were the times when things always slowed down at the castle, where royal duties were often thin. There were a lot of memories in winter.

The trip back to the castle was not particularly long, but it was also not particularly pleasant. The snow had not been cleared away considering it was still snowing which meant his feet and legs were wet and cold by the time he made it to the nearest castle door.

He wasn’t sure if, when he entered, the castle heating runes had started to work in earnest or if he’d just been so cold that any measure of warmth was appreciated, but he was relieved to be out of the snow either way.

He decided to check up on the progress of the castle staff lighting the fireplaces. With any luck, they’d be lit already, and he could warm up even more. That in mind, he headed towards the main foyer where the largest fireplace in the castle sat to take off the chill brought in by the large front doors.

The main foyer was bustling with activity when he snuck in along the sides, giving the guards stationed around nods as he passed. The main fire in the room was burning brightly, though only one of the two smaller ones near the side exits from the room was lit. The other one was still being set up with safety mechanisms. It was good progress and assuming other areas of the castle were being set up as efficiently, he assumed they’d all be set up by nightfall.

He’d need to go check around to be sure, but for now, he walked up to the main fireplace to warm his hands.

He’d gotten into the habit when he was younger to every so often glance upwards. There had been a certain stable boy who had a propensity for climbing trees. These days, he usually found nothing when he did so, often not even consciously noticing that he’d turned his gaze momentarily skywards. Yet, today, he was startled out of his own idleness by dark brown eyes looking back at him from a small ledge in the shadows high above him.

He froze as he met the young boy’s gaze. Virgil seemed as surprised to be caught as Thomas was to have caught him.

Slowly Thomas raised one hand and waved to the boy. He slunk back into the shadows at the acknowledgment. If Thomas peered hard enough, he could see a shadow stretch up towards the third-floor balcony in the darkness and disappear over the railing.

Interesting boy.

Thomas found himself smiling despite the oddity. They still had not found out much about Virgil. He would speak to Jeffers about many things apparently, but often could not be redirected to invasive topics and he was still a bit skittish around Helen. He hadn’t willingly existed in a room with Thomas. Thomas hoped that changed at some point. There was something about him that made Thomas like him.

Chapter 37

Virgil had not spent a lot of time out of Logan’s room. What little time he had spent outside of it was either with Patton and/or Logan or tucked away in secret corridors he found in the walls where no one would stumble upon him. Yet, here he was willingly in a, well, not public by any means place, but one that was still more exposed than he was used to being in. Somehow, he was managing to not care at all.

It was helped by the fact that both Logan and Patton had been in the room at the start, but they had gone off to go… somewhere. Food sounded like it might have been the reason.

He liked food, and usually he would have been all for going to get some, but between them promising to bring him back some and the fact that he was never going to move ever again, he’d decided to stay.

Princess Marisol seemed to be the only other rational being in the whole castle because she had also not moved since discovering the contents of this room. She was currently laying on his chest purring happily.

The fireplace was a wonderful invention. Now, Virgil had, of course, warmed up by a fire before when it was cold, but this was much different. There was a grate that blocked off the fire a bit keeping it from burning the person in front of it and there was a plush rug right by it, perfect for laying down on. Someone had known what they were doing when designing this room.

He didn’t even care that the king had access to this sitting room as well as Logan.

…

Okay, so he did care a little bit, but he was ignoring that. He was probably busy this time of day anyway, right?

…

He really didn’t want to run into him after being caught watching the castle workers set up the bigger fireplaces. Kings probably didn’t like people sneaking around watching things from the shadows even when they didn’t know that the person sneaking around was literally sent to kill them.

Princess Marisol must have had a sixth sense for his anxieties (or he’d just started breathing faster and disturbed her) because she stirred a bit.

#proofread stories #not writing

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kkeidawrites · 4 years ago

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That Night

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Loki x African!goddess reader

I see that there is not a lot of Loki x reader stories which I think is weird, so I decided to write a couple of my own. And nobody is gone stop me either. So enjoy this first chapter to an upcoming mini series!

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A party was perhaps always being held in Asgard. Whether it was Thor returning home, another battle won, or Hell they had a party just because. It was quite a bore with the constant partying and the people that would attend made things even more boring.

The dancers would shake their hips the same way and the dishes the servants would serve were always be the same. Nothing was new. Nothing peaked my interest.

The whispers about me never ceased, being the adopted son of Odin, the infamous Loki, God of Mischief, still chasing his father’s tailcoats for the throne. Loki, the forgotten son. The son with no legacy. Bah, it was all the same. I should turn everyone here in the hall into gremlins.

I sat on a plush sofa, pretty much on my own, since nobody would want to sit by the trickster Loki. It’s fine, not like I had that many friends anyway.

A jester preformed a trick making the crowds express gasps of excitement and claps rang out in the hall. I rolled my eyes, I will never understand how people can be so interested in this.

I did not want to attend this worthless banquet in the first place, but my mother bless her soul, is a very persuasive woman and I unfortunately fall for it every time. Now, here I was, dressed in green almost black robes and armor that had some pieces of gold imbedded into it.

Swirling the wine in my cup, the familiar sound of heels clacking against the polished marbled floor made my eyes look up.

The black dress reminded me of the stars in the galaxy, it caressed her dark skin and hugged all the curves on her figure. Her hair coily and I bet if I had the chance to touch it it would be as soft as a lamb’s wool. It covered the side of her face and I didn’t have the chance to get a good look at her, but, just from how she carried herself, I knew she had to be beautiful. Probably for the best I didn’t see what she looked like, who would turn their interests on the God of Mischief? She held her head up high as if she were the queen of Asgard herself.

As she walked into the banquet hall, her pace was quick as she approached my mother who was standing with her normal group of nobles and who in turn brought the beauty in a warm embrace. She smiled in greeting to the woman as she spoke to my mother. The way they spoke made it seem like they have known each other for years.

Taking a swig of my wine, I averted my eyes elsewhere. She was probably another noble that was only here to attend the banquet then return to wherever she had came from to brag about her time on Asgard. There were many of Gods and Goddesses who took advantage of our kingdom to try and take over. I scoffed at the thought, every time that someone would try and take Asgard would only return to their realm in pieces, how others think so little of Asgard when we indeed are the best.

The clacking of heels broke me from my thoughts and my mother calling my name made me look up to see both my mother and the mysterious woman. Damnit, I hated being right, she wasn’t just beautiful, she was gorgeous. A vision. I gulped at how beautiful she was and I saw my mother flick her wrist up to tell me to stand up and present myself. I stood up from the couch fixing the front of my robes.

I looked her over, shamelessly and my eyes lingered on her chest until my mother cleared her throat to avert my eyes to hers. She tilted her head towards the woman and I cleared my throat, placing a hand on my chest to bow my head in greeting.

“Good evening mother, as always you are the most beautiful in all of Asgard.” I say. My mother waves away my compliment, bashful of my words and puts a hand on the woman’s arm.

“This is Mawu, she is the Goddess of the night, of joy, and of motherhood as well as the ruler of Midgard’s wisdom and knowledge. You have met her mother, Nana Buluku a couple of times.” Frigga says.

I roll my eyes at that. I had met that woman thousands of years ago, I cannot remember what she looked like. The beauty, Mawu, looks me over then raises an eyebrow at me.

“He is your son?” She turns to mother.

“Yes, my youngest,” Frigga says with pride in her voice and I can’t help but, give a small smile.

“Mm, he is tiny.” She looks me over one more time.

“Need to eat something, these fruits and cheeses are not enough to help him grow.” She states and I became baffled at her declaration making my mother laugh and I frowned in annoyance. What is it with women and wanting their men big and muscled? I am plenty strong with my lean figure.

“Allow me to take him back to my realm and he will return with a stronger body,” Mawu tells mother. Frigga waves her hand in my direction.

“I tell him to eat more but, he only nibbles on the food we offer him.” She sighs and I roll my eyes once more, taking a large sip of my wine then using my magic to make my cup disappear.

“Mother, did you bring your friend over here just to spite me?” I asked her, putting my hands behind my back and a clench in my jaw.

“No, of course not, my love,” she smiles and then moved Mawu closer to my person. The woman took a few steps away from me.

“I wanted you two,” Frigga points between us as she continues, “to get to know each other better.” She says making both of our heads turn to look at one another in shock then back to Frigga’s grinning face.

“You cannot be serious.” I say as Mawu crosses her arms.

“Quite serious my son, Mawu will be staying here for a couple of weeks as her mother has asked me to oh, how do the midgardians phrase it? Ah, yes “get her ass out of the house”. And so, she will be staying in the royal quarters for the time being and I want the two of you,” she points between us again. “To get to know each other better. Have a pleasant evening.” Frigga finishes and turns to return back to her group of allies. Mawu scoffs in disbelief and leaves my side to leave through where she came in.

Subconsciously, I followed after her, her heels clicking quickly against the floor, she was clearly upset. She wasn’t the only one upset. Get to know me better? Just what is mother planning? And why was I following her?

Mawu’s POV

I had stopped in the middle of the long hallways of Odin’s castle and turned my head to an open door where a balcony was located. I laid my hands on the balustrade and looked at the cotten candy skyline, as it slowly turned to night. Here on Asgard was hard to tell if it was night or not, they had no moon to go off of and the stars that were apparent determined different coordinates.

I sighed and leaned my arms against the balustrade leaning my head on my wrists. A couple weeks of being in this realm will be challenging. I’m not used to taking such long breaks like this, I just hoped that the Earth will still be there for me when I return.

I was set up. Mother told me that it had been a while since I last been to Asgard, to see Lady Frigga especially and she thought that a visit would be nice. How easily I was tricked by her and Lady Frigga. Don’t get me wrong I loved Lady Frigga as a second mother, but, the thought of having to trick me into staying here for a long duration of time really unsettled me.

Sighing once more, I closed my eyes as I felt the wind blow into my face. The breeze blowing against my hair that resembled a cloud. Using my powers, I conjured up a small ball of light that allowed me to see the children of Earth. It was a particular group of children that I had been watching over for a while. Perhaps from their great grandparents up until the new generation, I think I’ve lost count.

I watched as all the children played and the adults that I once looked after when they were children tended to their own brood. I smiled sadly. These children were my children. Even if I didn’t birth them, they were mine. A child, a little boy named Abioye, smiled and I felt my bottom lip quiver.

Swiping away the image, I felt a few tears rush down my cheeks. Quickly wiping them away, I took a deep breath and then looked down at my shoes. They were beautiful but, so constricting, I pulled them off my feet and stretched my toes, sighing in bliss.

“Lady Mawu,” I looked up to see a male guard bowing before me. I straightened my back to address him.

“Yes,”

“Your quarters are ready for you.” He says. Nodding, I allowed him to lead me to my room. Peaking a look over my shoulder, I noticed a familiar pair of green eyes watching me. With a ‘hmph’ I turned my eyes forward and continued to follow the guard.

With Loki

That insufferable woman dare turn her nose up at me?! I scoffed in disbelief and used my powers to return to my mother in the banquet hall. Kissing her goodnight, I walked out another exit to my chambers.

Once I arrived at my room, I noticed the guard that guided the Goddess to her quarters and stretched my neck to see that he was leaving from the room right next to mine.

“You there!” I halt the guard as he immediately stopped and bowed to me.

“Did you just lead that moon Goddess into the room next to mines?” I ask.

“Yes, your majesty, it was specific instructions that your mother gave.” He says and I groan out in annoyance.

“Your majesty?”

“Begone. I have no more use of you.” I spat and the guard bows again, quickly leaving my sight.

Looking towards the closed door, I put my hands on my hips and nodded my head then entered my room with a slam to the doors.

Plopping down onto my bed, I placed my hands behind my head and sighed deeply. Mother was making things so difficult. What purpose did she need to give me someone to...bond with? I have managed to be on my own before what’s different now?

Sniff, sniff

Sob, whimper

I heard soft crying from the wall behind me and I got up from my bed and moved to the nearest wall, placing an ear towards it, to hear indeed crying on the other side.

I don’t know what it was but, her crying made my heart break a bit. Sighing, I removed myself from the wall and plopped back down onto my bed. Her sobs were slowly growing louder and I gritted my teeth.

Waving my hand, I allowed a small bunny to appear in my palm and allowed it to phase through the wall, I waited in anticipation of the small...I guess I will call it a gift.

With Mawu

She had changed into her silk nightgown and immediately her tears returned.

The sobs continued to fall from her lips as she laid across the large bed. Why she was crying? Unfortunately, Mawu has separation anxiety and the thought that she can’t be close to her ‘children’ broke her heart. Sniffling, she raised her head from the cradle of her arms and jumped when she saw a black lump sitting in front of her.

The large floppy ears twitched slightly as the pink nose sniffed. Sitting up, she got a closer look at the small being and she realized that it was indeed a black rabbit.

“Hello, there,” she coos as she reached a hand out to the rabbit. The cotton tailed furry snuggled into her awaiting hand and Mawu giggled at the feel of it’s nose.

“Where did you come from?” She asks as she picks up the rabbit and holds it in her lap. She scratched under its chin and felt the thump of the rabbits right foot popping her thigh in delight.

“I think I’ll call you, Irawo.” She tells the rabbit who thumps its right foot again in delight.

Giggling again, Mawu allowed the rabbit to play around on her bed and then caressed its head, liking the soft fur.

With Loki

The God of Mischief allowed a small grin to appear on his lips as he listened to the Moon Goddess’s giggles.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

######################{##{#{##{#{#{##

End of Ch.1

Ch. 2⬅️

Ch. 3⬅️

What is up with tumblr and other places where Loki doesn’t have a lot of fanfics? I don’t understand he just as fine as Thor. But, anyway, I hope you guys like this first chapter to this mini story I’m hooking y’all up with! I love me some Loki so be sure to expect more of him and a black reader as well! Thank you all for reading and be sure to like, comment and reblog!

#loki laufeyson x reader #Loki x black!reader #black!reader #black reader #marvel x reader #marvel x black!reader #fanfiction #my fanfiction #my writing #black oc #loki marvel #that night ch. 1

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chipper-smol · 5 years ago

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how did you learn to draw so well? I'm 19 and I feel like I'm way behind everyone else my age with my art, and it's really discouraging.

*rubs my hands* this is a complex question so you guys should prepare for another long wall of text cause here we go

So everyone is different. Everyone has a different drive and collection of feelings in their gut when they draw. We all have different backgrounds about why or how we started drawing. What works for me might not work for everyone else, but hopefully I can help guide you in the right direction.

That being said, i’ve always been an artist like it wasn’t even a decision I made when I was younger I just was. I had big ideas I needed to just GET OUT and so I drew massive stories of stick figures and horses and dragons on towering piles of printer paper. That hasn’t changed, but I can go for weeks without drawing a single thing because I have nothing sparking in my brain but im rambling here lemme get to my points

Everyone is an imposter: No one is ever 100% comfortable with their artistic ability and if they are they’re very likely to be an ass. Go look at the Dunning-Kruger Effect which is a pretty interesting psychological mindset. In a nutshell, the Dunning-Kruger Effect is where a person who has very little knowledge in a skill thinks they are a master at that skill, whereas a person who has is a master in that skill thinks that they aren’t good at all. I still recommend watching the whole thing when you get the chance, its only 10 minutes long.

So where you are right now is the most difficult part of the art process, lemme show you one of my favorite graphs which helped me when I was in spots like you are.

You have two parts to your artistic skill. One is the ability to draw itself and the other is the ability to perceive how good that drawing is! You know whats happening?

You’re growing! You’ve started the next step! You see your art and think it could be better because your brain is more skilled than your hand. So how do you get better?

I could say something like “look up tutorials” “challenge yourself” “do studies” but if i’m honest that advice never helped me, it just made me struggle more, so we’re going to go back to your mindset.

Accept your achievements!

It’s! Very! EasY! To compare yourselves to others! It’s! Very! Hard! To recognize how far you’ve come! Give yourself some credit! Praise yourself! Look at your art and point out what you like about it. We all have a little puppy inside our hearts that just wants to be called good boys/girls. If you don’t take care of that puppy and only give it negative feedback then you’re going to definitely struggle to get started.

When someone compliments you, take it! Don’t try to be polite or say “ah but my lines aren’t that great” or “my colors could be better,” accept it! Some stranger or friend saw how good you are and actually took the time to verbalize it because it meant so much to them! If some stranger on the internet thinks i’m good, then why can’t I feel the same way towards my own art? Trust me, you’ll start feeling more confident. You’ll go from “am I good? :(?” to “I AM good! >:D!”

Get good at what you want to get good at!

I love expressions, subtle moments that speak a thousand words, character flaws and drives, dynamic movement and DRAGONS!! So I drew and draw those things! They make my brain go brrrr

I used to hate drawing backgrounds, but recently I had an epiphany. I can make a background be its own character. It doesn’t make sense typed out but in my brain that association is key. I’ve connected the joy I have with drawing characters to a thing I normally avoid and now I feel a bit more inclined to put in the extra effort. Let the feelings you get when you draw the stuff you like leak into the stuff you don’t like to draw as much and you’ll find yourself growing even more.

What do you if you don’t want to do something in the process of drawing a picture? Say like, lineart?

Simple.

Don’t do it. Skip it. Do what you want instead. Many of my hollow knight art is just sketches, but you guys have seen my fully completed pieces. I cant make that shit every day hell no. I do what I want. I also discovered a new way of shading and lighting that is SOOO much easier than what I was doing before because I WANTED TO BE LAZY!! (put your colors down, select from opaque, new layer, make new layer a multiply layer, gradient tool, use the gradient tool to make one big shadow, erase where you want the light to come from, BAM! SHADING!)

Which leads me into my next point.

Just say Fuck it.

Do you want to draw Grimm in a dress? Fuck it. Do it. If someone has a problem with that then its their problem. They can unfollow you or block you but fuck ‘em. This is your life and damnit you are going to enjoy it. Remember when you were a kid and you just drew? Just draw. Have fun. It doesn’t matter if the hand doesn’t come out right, it’s there and it looks good enough.

Once you give yourself that much needed break, your interest in seeking ways to improve will come naturally. After drawing hands without caring, you might just want to know out of curiosity instead of frustration about how you can draw the knuckles right. It’s a very important mental shift from “I want to be good at art because I have to be” to “I want to be good at art because I want to be.”

Make your art about you and not because of someone else. Be selfish. Be careless. Do what you want and have fun again.

TL;DR Accept that you are better than you give yourself credit for. Your mental mindset is extremely important for your artistic growth. Make your art someone else’s problem and enjoy yourself.

#G muses #long post #ramble bamble #hopefully this helps <:)#Anonymous

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robininthelabyrinth · 5 years ago

Text

Complications - ao3 or part 1, part 2

Nie Mingjue brought his hand down on the desk with a little too much strength, causing an audible crack that sounded not unlike thunder.

Wei Wuxian, who’d been pacing in front of his desk for longer than Nie Mingjue cared to contemplate, froze in place.

“Your increasingly less subtle insinuations aside, Sect Leader Jiang is, to the best of my knowledge, fine,” Nie Mingjue growled. “Now I’m going to ask for the second time, and this time I want an actual answer – why are you making your family disputes my problem?”

“Family disputes?” Wei Wuxian squawked, reverting back to his usual arrogance in his irritation. “My sect leader is missing, and your Nie sect has taken over his position in battle –”

“Someone had to, since you didn’t,” Nie Mingjue said, and watched as Wei Wuxian flinched. “I’ve already told you that he requested that I do it. I don’t actually think you doubt my word, and it’s already been over two months since he retired from the battlefield – why are you making such a fuss now?”

Wei Wuxian’s lips tightened.

“Is it because of the prisoners of war you brought back?” Nie Mingjue asked.

Wei Wuxian tensed. “What makes you say that?”

“Wen Qing was once a very promising doctor,” Nie Mingjue said. “And you have been very obviously looking for someone, the way you’ve been tearing through the battlefields and visit all the prisoner of war camps afterwards – you were clearly looking for her. The only thing I don’t understand is why.”

Wei Wuxian crossed his arms over his chest. “You said it yourself; she’s a doctor.”

“I’ve never heard of her having that sort of specialization, but I suppose anything is possible,” Nie Mingjue said. “But at any rate, it’s rather besides the point now, isn’t it? I just received word from my brother that although it came early, the danger was passed without great difficulty –”

Wei Wuxian actually grabbed the letter off of Nie Mingjue’s desk in an action so mindbogglingly rude that Nie Mingjue’s brain took a few moments to process that he’d actually done that.

“Wei Wuxian!” he roared.

“This letter doesn’t make any sense,” Wei Wuxian said, as if that was the problem with what he’d just done. “Are the references to him having good hips supposed to be some sort of code – ah!”

The last one was due to Baxia whistling through the air as she tore towards his throat, stopping only a hair’s breadth away.

“Do you know what you did wrong?” Nie Mingjue growled.

“I read your mail without asking for permission,” Wei Wuxian said, his eyes wide and round as the moon. “I was rude, and insulted you, and, uh – am extremely irritating?”

Nie Mingjue waved his hand and Baxia returned to her place, though he didn’t bother pulling back her menacing aura.

“You’re not normally this disrespectful,” he growled. “Explain.”

Wei Wuxian’s shoulders were up by his ears. “You said there was a danger,” he mumbled. “I didn’t…was it really that serious?”

Nie Mingjue’s eyebrows went up. “Do you even know what the fatality rates involved are, especially when it comes as early as that? It was extremely dangerous. Luckily, it seems everyone is safe.”

“Everyone? Did he – were other people put at risk?” Wei Wuxian started pacing again, much to Nie Mingjue’s annoyance. “I don’t know how qi deviations work. Was anyone else hurt?”

“Qi deviations?” Nie Mingjue said blankly, and unfortunately he put together that Jiang Cheng had apparently not told Wei Wuxian at approximately the same moment that Wei Wuxian figured out that Jiang Cheng had (apparently) lied to his face about where he was going.

“He said that was why he was going to ground with the Nie sect!” Wei Wuxian was all but exploding, his face bright red in futile anger.

It occurred to Nie Mingjue that it was actually a relatively rare look on him, no matter how much people said things about the effects of demonic cultivation on the temperament. An interesting thought, to be followed up with at a later time.

“Because you had experience with – damnit! I can’t believe he – should have known – why did he go with you lot anyway? Sure, he likes Nie Huaisang well enough, but he could have gone to where shijie is, or with his grandmother, or – something!”

“Young Mistress Jiang is with the Jin sect; that would have been a disaster, and obviously there was no way to justify the risk of bringing her closer to battle just for his own comfort,” Nie Mingjue said, his own anger extinguished by the sheer amount by which he’d fucked this up. He hoped Jiang Cheng would forgive him. “And neither the Jiang sect or the Yu sect can spare doctors the way my Nie sect can.”

“What was wrong with him, then, if it wasn’t his qi or his golden core?” Wei Wuxian demanded. “Do you know? You do, don’t you? Why would he tell you and not me? Why –”

“Da-ge! Da-ge, are you here –”

Nie Mingjue closed his eyes briefly. That was the last thing he needed.

“Huaisang,” he said without opening his eyes. “Are you allowed in Heijan?”

“No,” his younger brother said without the slightest hint of shame as he came in through the opening to Nie Mingjue’s tent. “But it’s not like you’ve actually had any problems beating off the Wens for ages, and I hitched a ride on the post; I’ll go back first thing in the morning.”

“The post is for carrying mail, not idiots!”

“You say that, and yet – Wei-xiong! Hey! What’s gotten you in such a mood?”

Nie Mingjue opened his eyes and Baxia immediate began rattling a vicious warning. “Put my brother down this instant.”

“Sorry,” Wei Wuxian said, dropping his hands from Nie Huaisang’s robes with admirable speed. “But you wrote the letter – that means you were with Jiang Cheng, weren’t you? He’s all right?”

“He’s fine,” Nie Huaisang said, brightening. “The danger’s passed, and everyone’s healthy and loud. Incredibly loud. I’ve never heard such lungs.”

“Should you be mentioning that?” Nie Mingjue asked, eyes sliding towards Wei Wuxian. “If Sect Leader Jiang was planning on explaining himself…”

“Oh, no, he asked me to tell Wei-xiong about it,” Nie Huaisang assured him. “He said the conversation was the only thing he could think of that was likely to be more excruciating than what he’d just experienced, so I volunteered.”

“Excruciating? Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian’s voice was getting a bit dangerous. Also, shrill. “Nie-xiong, don’t keep me in suspense like this! What’s wrong with Jiang Cheng?”

“Nothing! He’s fine now, like I said,” Nie Huaisang said. “And your shizi is doing great, too. Like I said: lungs.”

“My…shizi?”

“So it’s a boy, then?” Nie Mingjue said, and held out his hand.

“I hate you personally, da-ge,” Nie Huaisang informed him, and put the promised scroll in his hand. “Why do I keep gambling against you? I always lose. At least I’ve smartened up and no longer bet saber training time…”

“Shizi,” Wei Wuxian repeatedly blankly, as if he’d never heard the term for martial nephew before. “Jiang Cheng – a shizi – but that means –”

Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang exchanged looks and went over to Wei Wuxian at once, Nie Mingjue catching him by the arms and guiding him down into a seated position while Nie Huaisang brought him a jar of fortified wine.

“We’ve been calling him A-Lian,” Nie Huaisang said helpfully. “Well, I have, anyway. Jiang Cheng’s just been calling him ‘brat’ the same way he did the entire pregnancy, but he smiles every time he does so I think it means he’s happy.”

Wei Wuxian was counting on his fingers, so Nie Mingjue reached out and grabbed his hand to make him stop.

“Yes,” he said, as kindly as he could manage. “It happened at that time. He got over it. Now you know, and now you have a shizi to help take care of. Dare we all hope that means that you are finally going to stop fucking around with demonic cultivation and get back to helping him the way you’re supposed to?”

He wasn’t expecting Wei Wuxian to break down into tears.

“Oh, no, I know that this is; it’s fine, I’ve got this,” Nie Huaisang said, and Nie Mingjue had never been happier to hear those (highly uncharacteristic) words. “Don’t worry, da-ge. This is the classic Yunmeng pre-confession bout of emotionality. I’ve seen it at least a dozen times with Jiang Cheng these past few months. Bring more wine and we’ll get him through it intact.”

Wei Wuxian’s sobbing just got worse.

Nie Mingjue decided to go get more wine. Possibly back-up assistance as well – someone Wei Wuxian liked who could help comfort him.

Wait.

Did Wei Wuxian like anyone?

“Sect Leader Nie,” Lan Wangji greeted politely – he was coming back from a patrol. “Is there any chance that you’ve seen Wei Ying?”

Nie Mingjue squinted at him. “You call each other by your given names?”

He hadn’t noticed that before. Though to judge from Lan Wangji’s taken aback expression, he might not have noticed it either.

“Never mind,” Nie Mingjue said. “You’ll do.”

#mdzs #nie mingjue #wei wuxian #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #my fic #my fics #complications #trans!JC

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alolowrites · 5 years ago

Text

Juice

Summary: Bakugou’s daughter demands juice, but he refuses.

Author’s Note: Story inspiration came from a video I saw on YouTube a few weeks ago. Video was about MHA/BNHA memes (lol), but please click here to watch it. The specific timestamp for the meme I used for inspiration is at the 1:38 minute mark. The joke originally came from Kevin Hart. All credit goes to the comedian and the person who made it into a MHA/BNHA meme.

Enjoy!

~~~

“You’re gonna die, Shitty Hair!”

“We’ll see about that, Bakubro!” Kirishima challenged him with a shark-like grin, shifting into a defensive position with his sharp arms.

Bakugou mischievously gritted his teeth while he charged at the red hedgehog he grudgingly called his best friend. Although it was Bakugou’s day off from work, he wasn’t going to sit his ass down all day. Luckily for him, Kirishima was also free today and itching to spar with his longtime bro from U.A.

The two Pro Heroes never lost touch with each other after graduating from high school. While Bakugou would never admit this out loud, he really appreciated his friendship with the eccentric, jolly man. He respected him, and viewed him as an equal, but Bakugou would always strive to be better than him since no one else deserved to be the number one hero in Japan.

That coveted title was for Bakugou, and damnit, he’ll achieve it one day.

Bakugou flashed a feral smile at his opponent, his razor-sharp teeth menacing as he threw one powerful blast at the hero. The blonde-haired man rushed forward into the dark smoke to deliver the final blow at his unsuspecting spar partner, not holding back one bit since Bakugou knew he could handle it. He was a damn Pro Hero, after all.

As the dust settled, Kirishima tapped against the winner’s shoulder.

“Alright, alright, you win,” he groaned and Bakugou smirked. Standing on his two feet, Bakugou offered his hand to his friend and Kirishima graciously took it.

Bakugou threw a white towel at his friend. “Get clean, I’ll get us some drinks.”

“Yay, daddy!” A little girl screamed from the sidelines. She sprinted towards the sweaty man, snatching his hand while jumping up and down. Bakugou gave his daughter a victorious grin before scooping her in his arms.

Kaida Bakugou was the crown jewel in the Pro Hero’s life. You knew your daughter was the definition of a daddy’s little girl. The moment Bakugou laid his eyes on his newborn daughter at the hospital, it was over. He was whipped once Kaida yawned and opened her tiny, crimson eyes at him. It was one of those rare times when Bakugou actually had a genuine smile on his face.

As Kaida grew, she slowly developed her personality. Unsurprisingly, she was just like your jackass of a husband: determined, passionate and loud. In fact, she was the spitting image of him except for her hair; that was all you (and maybe your nose if you squint a little), but those eyes—they were definitely his.

Both men trudged their way to the kitchen. Kaida squirmed in her father’s arms, and Bakugou realized she wanted to be put down. The little girl darted to the refrigerator, eagerly pointing at the door.

“Daddy, juice,” Kaida requested, and Bakugou frowned.

“No,” he grunted at her. “You had enough juice. You’re gettin’ water.”

Kaida glared at her father. Standing up straighter, she curled her small fists and puffed out her chest in a bravado manner. The toddler aggressively babbled away, swinging her fists up and down as she argued for her juice. In her head, her reasoning sounded perfect, full-proof, a guarantee to win her request.

At the end of Kaida’s jibber-jabber, she demanded: “Juice!”

Bakugou was stunned at her behavior while Kirishima’s hand flew to his mouth to stifle his laughter at the sight unfolding. A large vein appeared on the father’s forehead.

“Who the fuck you think you talkin’ to?”

Kirishima lost it and banged on the counter. Bakugou fiercely jabbed his finger at his daughter’s direction.

“You are not gettin’ juice! You already had two pouches before lunch.”

“Juice!” Kaida stomped her foot for emphasis.

“No, brat,” Bakugou sneered. “You get juice when I say so. One more outburst and I won’t let you watch that annoying, pink British pig garbage you like so much.”

Now Kaida was a toddler, but she wasn’t stupid. She carefully thought through the pros and cons for a minute before deciding to surrender. Kaida scowled at her father and stormed out of the kitchen to who knows where in this house.

Bakugou pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Kirishima’s laughter echoed behind him, earning a snarl from the hot-headed father.

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

After Kirishima left, Bakugou went to find his daughter.

He knew where she would be, so he dragged himself upstairs to the second floor. Bakugou glanced at the various photos you hung on the walls. Some were from your wedding day; others captured the trips before Kaida was born. The remaining ones were of your daughter, either alone or with her parents.

Standing in front of her door, Bakugou sighed and knocked.

“Kaida, it’s me.” Not waiting another second, he pushed the door opened before walking inside. Bakugou shot himself in the foot by doing this when his eyes narrowed at his little girl’s body curled up on her bed.

Her back faced toward him, and she didn’t bother turning around when he knocked. Bakugou hauled himself to her bed and sat down. Kaida sensed the mattress sinking and shuffled away, clutching her mother’s pro hero plushy. Bakugou groaned as he saw his own tossed across the room.

He fucked up big time.

“Listen, Kaida, I know you’re angry at me,” he exhaled, shoving his fingers through his hair. “And I know you’re stubborn like your damn mother, which is a good thing, but not when it’s used against me.”

“Daddy, go away,” the toddler mumbled.

“Daddy ain’t going anywhere,” Bakugou retorted at the girl. “Kaida, I’m your father. That means you gotta put up with my shit because I’m the grown up here.”

No response.

“Oi, you know I hate seeing you like this.” Bakugou scooted closer to the toddler. She didn’t move away from him, so Bakugou laid down next her fetal position. “But you have to understand you can’t have everything whenever you want. There are limits and rules.”

“I want juice,” Kaida sniffed.

“You know you can’t have juice. Mommy said you can only have two juice pouches a day. That’s mommy’s rule. Do you want to break her rule?”

Kaida shook her head. “Hewo no bweak wules.”

“Exactly,” he answered. Kaida rolled around and faced her father; she hugged him, and Bakugou wrapped his arm around her tiny frame, pulling her closer to his inferno chest.

Parenting was no walk in the park. There were moments where Kaida tried to push his buttons and test the boundaries, but he needed to remain firm. He was responsible for guiding her down the right path with strong morals. That all began with her understanding certain things like ‘no means no.’ He wasn’t going to raise a selfish brat.

Sensing that Kaida was no longer angry, Bakugou gently shook her so she could look up at him.

“C’mon, let’s get you washed up so we can eat dinner.” Bakugou picked Kaida up, and carried her out the room. She snuggled her head near the crook of his neck. “Now, you’re gonna drink water with you food, but if you finish your dinner…I’ll give you ice cream.”

Kaida’s eyes lit up. “Ice cweam?!”

Bakugou kissed her forehead as a tiny smirk curled on his lips. “Yes, but we won’t tell mommy. It will be our little secret. Got it, squirt?”

Kaida adorably cupped her mouth and giggled, making a quiet ‘shush’ noise to keep her promise to her father.

To this day, you never found out about their ‘little secret.’

~~~

I figured I write a fluffy piece after my last short story *nervous laughter*

But thank you all for your incredible response on The Point of No Return. I am leaning towards writing a sequel for that story. Usually I don’t write sequels, but considering I did Toshinori dirty...I’ll see.

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yan-twst · 5 years ago

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Hi! Would you be alright with writing a HC with dorm leaders, when MC vents to them, sharing their fear for the future? Things like "I am able to return home? And if I regret returning?" or "If I don't get back, how will I survive here? What will I be after I graduate?", etc. Thank you and sorry for my English TwT

riddle rosehearts

riddle will hear his darling out, let them talk as much as they need

he can see why they’re so worried- crowley seems to make no progress on sending them back home, yet promises that it’ll happen, they’re considered half a student and no word on how their graduation would work has been spoken...

he feels a bit helpless- he desperately wishes he had the answers to his darling’s questions to help them calm down, but he doesn’t. there’s no clear cut answer for those questions and he knows it

all he can do is comfort them and promise them that he’ll guide them trough all he can- if they return home, he’s sure they’ll build an amazing life for themselves. if they stay, he’ll help them stand on their own two feet- he can’t promise that it’ll all be easy, but he can promise he’ll do his best to help

riddle’s entire childhood was spent in a rigid schedule, a direct paved way to a future that had already been planned out for him. while it was suffocating, it at least gave him an idea of what as to come; on the contrary, his darling’s future is nebulous, clouded and ever-changing... he can’t imagine how stressful it is for them

he’ll suggest attaching to a routine- sure, it won’t really fix anything in the big scheme, but... it’s the best advice he has; a routine can be grounding, something to at least let his darling feel like there’s a sense of familiarity in the passing days. it’s something he does himself: he hopes he can at least help his darling a little

leona kingscholar

leona worries over his darling, although he tries to not appear overly preoccupied while his darling talks. he doesn’t want them to feel like they are making him worry too much, or for them to stop talking. it’s good that they’re talking instead of bottling it up- he doesn’t want to make them stop

leona has long since given up on the only future he’d imagined- being the king- and he’s just living lazily, seeing where the flow takes him. he realizes he probably isn’t the best person to give advice, but... damnit, he’s not just gonna let his darling go back to living with all those anxieties inside of them

the future... well, it’s scary for everyone, but more for them, huh? he reminds them that, even if their memories from back home haven’t returned to them, that their life is their own; no matter what world they may return, they’ve already proved themselves to be an outstanding individual. and if they stay? if crowley can’t figure out how to let them return? then he’ll guide them through this world

he may feel useless as a second prince, but... well, he’s a prince- he can help them live a comfortable life, he can help them further their education at a school much more useful for a non-magic person... he makes it quite clear that as long as he has a say in it, their future isn’t something they must stress over

leona lives life as it goes by, rarely worrying over things to come; he knows that asking his darling to do that would be rather insensitive, considering their situation, but... hey, it’ll be ok- there, just nap with him... what comes tomorrow comes tomorrow; he’ll be there to do all he can, so there’s no point in overthinking it

azul ashengrotto

hearing his darling’s anxieties, their fears for the future... azul may not appear to be a very empathetic person, but it brings a tear to his eye; his darling, who’s been so strong for so long, who’s helped others... all while holding those worries...

just like he’s let down his walls and pretenses around them, he’ll encourage them to just let it all out; all their worries, their fears, voice them. he doesn’t think it’s “overreacting” or “exaggerating”- he knows how powerful and consuming dread can be

they’re scared and anxious, and he can see why- now, he wants to know how he can help. fearing regret from going home, fearing being here forever... he’ll do his best to express how strongly he believes his darling can thrive either way

the future is what they make of it, isn’t it? look at him- he was an useless crybaby octopus, and he’s come so far, hasn’t he? no matter what the future brings for his darling, he knows they can come out of it shining

of course, if for some reason they were to remain here in twisted wonderland, they have nothing to fear. he knows crowley will sort something out- he better- and it’s not like everyone has magic, there’s plenty of jobs and opportunities for people like them! they can count on azul’s charm and wit to open any door to any opportunity they may need; he swears he’ll do all he can to assure them a good life

kalim al-asim

kalim has rarely, if ever, worried over his future- it’s not as if he has his path set in stone, but... well, he lacks no resources to ruin his dreams, and he has a pretty good job set ahead as the heir of his family’s trading business. so hearing his darling vent their worries... he’s at a loss, at first

just because he’s a cheery and highly optimistic person doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to listen or be understanding of problems he might not relate to. kalim is known to listen to students’ problems and comfort them- of course he’ll do the same for his beloved!

it’s a very complex situation, and he knows as much; is a return to their home even possible? do they want to return home having no memories of how it is, or would they rather throw that all away and remain here? he won’t bluff and act as if he knows what the correct answer is, but he’ll be sincere: whatever they end up choosing, they’ll probably have regrets... as well as a lot of joy!

also... well, he doesn’t know when his darling will even have to make that choice (crowley sure seems to take his sweet time even researching where they came from)- but... they don’t have to worry about that part of the future, either. kalim has no problem providing for whatever they need- a house? somewhere to further their education?

it’s not like he’s telling them to depend on him, although he has no problem with that: he just wants them to know he’s more than happy to help them stand on their own two feet so they can build a life for themselves!

vil schoenheit

when his darling begins to spill their worries, vil doesn’t even hesitate to break out the scented candles, massage creams, and expensive spa-day supplies. if his darling is going to lay their heart bare, he at least wants them to feel relaxed and safe

vil won’t pretend like the situation isn’t difficult, or sugarcoat anything. his darling is... probably the first person in all of twisted wonderland to be faced with such a difficult future, and that’s coming from a land where prophecies and magic exists

everything vil believes in is achieved through hard work; and he believes this is no different. while being able to return or not isn’t a card they can chose to play or not, if the time comes to chose, both options will require work. he’s 100% sure they can thrive in both their world and here- if they put in the work he knows they can

vil will emphasize how much potential his darling holds. can the future be uncertain and messy? oh, certainly. but no matter what life throws at them, they can stand strong and move forward. he knows they can

he’ll also make it quite clear that graduation won’t be the end of the world, even if crowley is gonna have to work overtime to figure out how to give an NRC graduation certificate to someone who can’t use magic. after all, not all fields of work NRC prepares them for are related to magic- for example, nothing stops them from being outstanding at alchemy or history, correct? there’s many jobs that might not even care about magic skills if their other skills are high

and... of course he’ll be there with them for as long as he can. while he can’t promise his help if they were to return to their world, he’ll be with them as much as possible- he himself has a pretty good future set ahead, and he knows he can easily incorporate his beloved into it

idia shroud

idia suffers from many anxieties himself- he knows how he’d like to be treated when he vents his worries, and so he treats his darling that way. a gentle listener, making sure they know he’s paying attention, but not interrupting

he’ll put his darling in an oversized hoodie and give them a warm drink to help calm their nerves- does it help? he just wants them to not feel overwhelmed, after dumping all their anxieties like that...

honestly, idia can’t even imagine what he’d do if he was in his darling’s place. they’re quite strong, to be dealing with all that stuff and still be so nice to others around them, huh?

he feels a bit bad; he... doesn’t have any sort of deep philosophical advice to help guide them down the right path, or any personal story to help calm them down- hell, he can’t even say they won’t regret anything because he knows he’d be lying, but...

... well, he knows his darling is capable of many things. wherever they go, wherever the fates bring them... if they continue being as they are, he knows they’ll be ok- they’ll be able to build a life to themselves. he has no doubt of this

he doesn’t want to make his darling feel like he’s telling them to be with him forever- you know, just in case they... end up returning to their home, but... he’s gonna inherit a pretty giant house back at home- so... if they were to stay... well, he thinks it’d be nice to live there with them; help them set up their life, find a job...

malleus draconia

malleus has seen empires be born and then die, kings rise to power and fall down- to him, the future isn’t a scary concept as much as it is just another reality of life. he feels like a constant in a moving world- a world that’s moving rapidly for his darling

their future... to malleus, it feels like it could happen at any moment: for his darling, a year is a long time, while for him, he’s lived through so many of them he’s almost lost count...

he fears he might not be the best person for this; ancient beings are supposed to be wise, but in this moment, he feels about as wise as a small child as he hugs his darling close and strokes their hair, comforting them as he can

to stay here, to go home... the question of if it’s even possible to return hanging in the air, the fear of regret and making the wrong choice... oh, child of man- there’s no wrong choice, he believes. the fact they ended up here is a mystery in itself: to do what their heart tells them in this scenario won’t betray them

don’t they know? they have the powerful malleus draconia by their side; anything he can do for them, he will. his power is no joke, either; whether it’s magical to aid in a return home, or just the fact he’s royalty and he can assure a good life for them... he’ll do anything for them and their happiness

#twst #twisted wonderland #riddle rosehearts #leona kingscholar #azul ashengrotto #kalim al asim #vil shcoenheit #idia shroud #malleus draconia #Anonymous

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