#a little different from the original but...

[vincentbriggs]

I made a little bed for my camera. I use it so frequently that it would be annoying to keep it in the camera bag, and I don't like setting it down on hard surfaces with the quick release plate always on it. Most of the time when it's not on a tripod it's either sitting on top of my ironing board or my sketchbook, but now it finally has a designated place to sit.

The bottom is the back cover from an old picture book about cats, the walls are 2 layers of corrugated cardboard with a layer of thinner card on either side to smooth it out, and the padded part is cotton batting scraps on another piece of thin cardboard with fabric around it. I used 2 different cotton fabrics and some trim from my stash (all from the thrift store originally) and used bookbinding glue for some bits and wood glue for others. It's 2 rows of the same trim, I just took the beads off the top one. I figured I'd make it to match the recently painted filing cabinet, since that's the most sensible place in the room to keep it.

I wish I'd made the inside wall coverings just a bit higher so there wasn't a gap in between them and the second row of trim. And the top edge is a little bumpy, but overall I'm mostly happy with how it turned out.

Normally I'd have glued a piece of stiff paper or felt to the bottom but I didn't want to cover up the kitties.

[illum1z]

snow cream

Roommate!Yunho x F!Reader

summary: Six months of living under the same roof, and you barely knew the guy. You both always came and went, to and from your jobs and school, only ever interacting in the kitchen or the living room late at night when you wanted a glass of water or he wanted to watch TV. But when winter rolls around and the snowstorms get heavy, maybe somehow you could warm up to each other…

tags: snowed in, forced proximity(?), attempt at humor, fluff, mutual pining, hand kink (duh), soft mdom, petnames (baby, angel face, pretty girl, slut etc.), Yu LOVES touching you, handjob, nipple sucking, fingering, tension, unprotected sex (BOOOOO), lotus positon, he talks alot, multiple orgasms, aftercare, NOT PROOFREAD

wc: 7.2k

notes: sort of based around a nsfw audio I listened to a couple years ago LMAO.

tracklist: bad liar, poison, intro: singularity

“Reports are flowing in from the NWS about upcoming snowstorms, which are expected to reach record levels; the surrounding area is expecting up to 6 inches. Officials are closing roads and the district schools are shutting down until-”

“Just my luck, huh?” You switched off your phone and rested your head against your steering wheel with an exasperated sigh. You had seen the beginning of the snowfall that week, just light flakes here and there, but they weren't sticking.

But of course mother nature had to give a big fuck you and mess with your plans that weekend with 6 inches of snow. Roads were closing, and so were the stores, so you needed to be in and out before the snowstorm picked up.

You rubbed your temples before switching your car off, getting out, and walking into the grocery store with your original plan in mind.

You had planned to pick up some ingredients for some appetizers you were going to bring to one of your friends' birthdays, but you had frowned when they texted your group chat, saying the party had been cancelled because of snowfall.

That's what led you to the news, deflating your excitement. Instead of being here for groceries, you were here to stock up on supplies. And so was everybody else. The store was packed with people. Mothers are rushing and snatching boxes of cereal off the shelf. Dads are stocking up on batteries and jugs of water. The poor employees were at war with the panicking public. Quickly as you could, you grabbed a cart and picked up some essentials. Batteries. Toilet paper. Bottled water. Some nonperishables. While walking past the home section, you noticed a couple of displays where they were selling large fleece blankets.

You eyed them for a second, debating if you should get one.

Maybe two.

One for you, one for your roommate. Jeong Yunho. 

You had met him on Craigslist whilst looking for roommate listings. You decided community college was best for your budget years ago, but you needed to find somewhere else to live. Soon. Living with your parents is not for the weak.

You spent hours on different websites, desperate to find somewhere close and affordable. Maybe also a roommate who has a low chance of murdering you in your sleep.

You stumbled across the listing one night, hope slowly dwindling at the awful market.

2 bedrooms. 2 baths. 600 per month. Cats are welcome. Email for more information.

Immediately, you jumped on it because there was no way you would be able to find anything cheaper than this, unfortunately. You emailed him all your information. About your job and schedule, and made sure to mention that you would like to bring your cat, Patches. About a week later, you had driven to the house to look around and discuss final plans and agreements. Along with you, you brought your cat so she could become accustomed to the new living space.

The house was cute and quaint, a little grey and white bungalow with a few bushes on either side of the steps that led up to the black door. A decent-sized front yard, neat and green, with a driveway with just enough space for two cars. Perfect. 

When you met the person who posted the listing, you had pulled up to the house, parking your car behind another one already in the driveway. He was on the porch, in the process of carrying some bags inside the house.. When he saw you, he waved for you to follow him inside. He showed you to your room, talked about rent and policies. You both established some privacy rules, and he was petting your cat the entire time. He seemed to take a liking to her immediately. Yunho had you sign some things, and then that was it. Simple, fast, and easy. A few days later, you had moved your stuff in, and from then on, you and Yunho barely interacted.

He said that he’s usually at one of his friends' houses, at work or class, or in his room playing games. This was perfect for you; you enjoyed your privacy, and if you were being honest, you were nervous around Yunho.

He had this boyish charm to him that made your heart flutter; he was tall and spoke to you gently, as if he were too loud, he might scare you. He had dark brown hair that parted in the middle, with bangs that sometimes covered his eyes. And you couldn’t help but feel ashamed that your gaze always drifted to his hands whenever you saw him. Large and slender, the veins prominent like a roadmap.

 He always made sure that you knew where he was going when he went somewhere with a text like “At friends,” or “Out drinking.”

Another thing you had noticed while living with him was that it was like he stole your cat from you. IF you couldn't find your cat anywhere, it was safe to assume she was in Yunho's room. She followed him around the apartment all the time, whenever he sat on the couch to watch TV, she was in his lap. Whenever he was in the kitchen cooking, she was perched on the counter watching intently.

One day, you came home and saw Yunho on the couch with her. Usually, she’d get up and greet you by rubbing her face against your legs. Instead, she stayed put, gave you a curt meow, and that was it.

You walked by the back of the couch and narrowed your eyes at her, mouthing the words “traitor” before retreating to your room.  

You ran your hand over the navy blue fleece blanket that was folded next to a similar white one. Making up your mind, you dropped the blue blanket in your cart as well as the white one. After some more shopping, you checked out and began your drive home, the snow beginning to fall again. 

Your mind wandered back to your roommate again. You're pretty sure he was at a friend's house right now, you just hoped he would make it home safe. Driving home through the snow was certainly a feat. Everyone on the road opted to go under the speed limit in hopes they wouldn't go sliding at a sharp turn. A blanket of white began to accumulate on the ground, and it was growing increasingly difficult to see through the snow swirling in the air.

After a grueling and stressful journey, you returned to the house safely. The yard was a pure, sparkling white, untouched like a fresh, clean blanket. You gathered your bags and stepped out of the car, trudging through the snow as it only continued to climb higher and higher. As you suspected, Yunho’s car wasn’t in the driveway.

You made it inside, the warmth of the heater immediately making you shed your jacket as you dropped the bags on the table. As soon as you did, your phone buzzed. You pulled it out to see a text from Yunho.

“Be home later.” Simple and quick. You thought for a moment whether you should text back. Your fingers began typing, and then you hit send.

“Be safe.” A second later, it buzzed again.

“Will do.”

You felt stupid for the way your heart clenched a little. You could count on three hands how many conversations you’ve had with him that lasted longer than a minute. Words are always fleeting between you two, always too busy for anything more than a good morning or an update on bills. But Yunho always responded to your texts with earnestness, replying fast and confidently. It was never anything deep, but whenever you asked what he wanted for dinner, he always responded with whatever it was he wanted, with a smiley face and a thank you.

He never really engaged in any more conversation than that, but for some reason, you could tell her cared more than he let on.

You put away all the things you bought, deciding to place the blanket you bought for Yunho on the couch so he’d see it when he got home. You cleaned up a little, because if you’re going to be snowed in, at least let the place be neat.

After some light cleaning, you had a shower and decided that for tonight’s dinner, you’d make some chili, so that way you would have leftovers for the upcoming days. Tonight was usually Yunho’s night for meals, but you were feeling froggy.

Connecting your speaker to your phone, you cleaned up your area and put on some music, getting ready to make dinner. You were in your zone, chopping tomatoes and browning the beef. The music flowed from your speaker, and the house was filled with a cozy feeling. You were an avid big light hater, so a few lamps and candles here and there set a soothing ambient lighting. The sun was setting, and the snow was picking up, the wind howling outside.

After another hour or so, dinner was done, and Yunho still wasn’t home. It was 8 pm. He’s usually out past 11, but because of the storm, you had assumed he’d be back earlier. You decided to shoot him a test, for your own mental fortitude. The snow had calmed, gentle snowfall dusting your windows.

“Are you on your way home? I made chili.” Send.

You waited a minute or two. No response. You rested your elbows on the kitchen island, waiting for his reply.

The three bouncing dots appeared at the bottom of your messages, and he was typing.

It stopped for a second, then started up again.

“Can you come outside?” Your eyebrows raised in surprise at such a weird question. You thought he was with his friends. He was typing again.

“Down the street.”

“Stuck in the snow.”

“Please.” 

You were so confused. Quickly, you slipped on your coat and your shoes by the door. You slipped your phone in your pocket and opened your front door. The cold hit your face like a mallet, and immediately your nose started to burn. But it was beautiful outside. Fresh snow everywhere. It was dark outside well into the night, but the snow was so white it was like it provided a little glow of its own. Snowflakes flurried from the sky, landing all over your clothes. You stepped into the front yard, and half of your calf sank completely beneath the surface of the fluff.

You, albeit with some trouble, waded through your front yard and stepped out onto the icy street nearly losing your footing and busting your ass. The neighborhood was silent, not a soul in sight, the end of the street being swallowed in black emptiness. 

But on the other end of the street, a lone car pulled off to the curb, headlights on as the snow swirled around the warm beams of light in a dancing flurry.

Beside it was your roommate, waving at you, bundled in a coat and scarf, grey sweatpants, and a desperate look on his face.

You started to walk towards him, doing your best not to slip and fall. “What the hell is going on?” You exclaim as you walk towards him. His tires were buried in the snow, and his windshield wipers were swaying steadily, clearing the flakes off the glass.

When you were about 6 steps away from reaching him, you began to lose your footing, the ice seeming slicker than before.

“Careful-careful-careful!” Yunho reached his hands forward and took a step in an attempt to catch you, but it was too late. 

“Shit!” your feet slipped from underneath you and after a couple slips and slides fighting to stay up, you ultimately fell directly on your ass, a sharp pain shooting up your tailbone.

You groaned, hand reaching back and rubbing your lower back. Immediately, the wet ice soaked your pants uncomfortably, and you already knew you’d wake up tomorrow with a nasty bruise.

Silence fell as you sat in defeat and mulled your pain, but Yunho was oddly quiet. You raised your eyes to look at him. He had one hand over his mouth. His eyebrows were raised in shock, and his eyes slowly narrowed as he took you in.

“Laugh. I dare you.” You glared at him, wincing at the sharp pain crawling up your tailbone.

“Jeong Yunho, you are a child.” You rolled your eyes as he busted out into a fit of laughter, one hand on his car while the other stayed on his mouth. You turned and got ready to get up so you could hit him.

“N-No wait stop!” he shouted between fits of giggles, his arms coming down and trying to pull you up by your arms, while simultaneously avoiding your violent hands.

“I’m sorry, let me just- hold on- stop trying to hit me (Name)! I'm trying to help you.”

“Well then, stop laughing at me!” His own feet were starting to lose friction on this ice as he felt his body sway as he grabbed you.

“If you don’t stop moving, you’re gonna take us both down!” Yunho tried to manhandle you back up, but unfortunately he lost it and tumbled down right next to you, accidentally yanking you onto your back as he landed on his ass.

“Goddamnit...” Yunho laid back in the snow, seemingly giving up on trying to get either one of you on your feet. You giggled behind your hand as you looked at him, his hair all messy and dusted with snowflakes.

He glanced at you and sighed. “Go ahead. It's only fair.” You took that opportunity to laugh in his face, him lightening up and joining you.

When you both calmed down, you looked behind him at his car. “So what happened, you just got lodged in the snow?”

“Wow, real astute (Name). Did I also mention that it’s snowing outside? How crazy is that?” You moved to smack his shoulder at his smart alecness, but he dodged.

“Stop trying to hit me, and help me move my car.” Bewildered, you watch as he stumbled and tried to stand up, feet slipping here and there as he finally stood upright. Like a baby penguin

“Help you push the car?” You snorted and tried to stand up yourself grunting. “Yeah, that's like not happening. Especially on this ice. You’re just going to have to leave it here until some of the snow melts.” Yunho looked at you like you had just told him something outrageous.

“Are you serious?” He glared at you, noticing how you made no move to come over and start pushing the car. “Insane actually…” he mumbled to himself, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration as he watched the snow fall from the night sky.

“Listen, I made dinner tonight. It's chili. Come home for now, it's cold, and the snow will pick back up again soon. Come inside, and we can worry about this later.” Yunho stopped and seemed to think to himself for a second, before his eyes flicked over to yours.

He looked at you with a surprising gentleness, roving over your face before landing on your lips for a fraction of a second, so fast you didn’t catch it.

“Alright.” He threw his hands up in defeat. “Fine, let's go inside. It's okay. We can worry about it later.”

“That's what I said,” you chirped as you turned your back, beginning the slippery journey back to the house.

“I know that's what you said. I was just rephrasing.” Yunho followed behind, shuffling his feet on the ice so he wouldn’t have to pick them up and risk stepping wrong. It was silent on the way back, both of you too focused on not falling again.

You shed your shoes and coat by the door, turning to Yunho and pointing to the rug on the porch.

“Shoes.” You stated. Yunho looked down and removed his shoes, setting them next to yours.

Satisfied you opened the door, you hung your coat on the hanger in the foyer. “I just cleaned the house.” You mumbled to yourself, as if to affirm the reason you made him leave his snow-filled shoes outside.

Yunho followed behind, hanging his own coat and scarf on the rack. You sighed and fell on the couch, groaning in relief at the warmth that surrounded you.

“There’s chili in the kitchen if you want some.” You closed your eyes, basking in the warmth. The pine candle you lit made the house smell so comforting, taking in a deep breath, you heard Yunho’s breath hitch. When you realized he hadn't said anything yet, you peeked open an eye, only to catch him looking away from you.

His arms came up, smoothly directing his gaze down at his hands, fidgeting and playing with his fingers like he was bored.

He was almost caught, your shirt had ridden up when you laid on the couch, exposing your belly and the hem stopping right where your under boob began. Yunho’s brain nearly short-circuited at the sight, wondering what it would feel like to lie to you on his bed and drag his big hands up and down your waist, squeezing and kneading and feeling you…

He blinked, realizing he was much too far in his fantasy, expecting you to be looking at him like he was a pervert. Instead, he caught your eyes glued to his hands like they were the most interesting thing in the world. You blinked once. Twice. Before turning round and snatching up the remote, switching the TV on.

“Like I said, dinner’s in the kitchen. Help yourself.” Quickly gaining your composure like you weren't imagining his fingers inside of you, you switched to a cooking channel and sat on the couch, full attention on the screen.

“What's this?” Yunho tapped the back of the couch. “A blanket?” You didn’t look back at him, too embarrassed to show your face.

“Oh yeah, when I was at the store, I saw they were selling soft blankets, so I got you one.” You shrugged it off. When he didn’t respond, you assumed that he just went to the kitchen to eat.

A few more beats of silence, and you thought you were in the clear from your way too hot roommate, when his gentle, rich voice hit your ears like a truck, and you felt your core clench hard.

“Thank you (Name), you’re such a sweetheart. Thanks for always thinking of me.” 

Like someone just shot you, you whipped your head around to see Yunho holding the blanket in his hands, towering over you, standing behind the couch. His fingers dipping into the soft, navy blue waves of fleece, his lips upturned in a soft smile, and his eyes filled with nothing but adoration.

He was going to kill you. His hair fell in front of his eyes as his hands slowly caressed the blanket he held, his posture was relaxed as his eyes remained fixed on you, and you swear you saw them flick to your lips for a second. 

Your heart stopped and fell to your ass, immediately nervousness took over your body and you felt like a hot mess.

 After a few seconds of silence, Yunho’s smile fell, and his eyebrows knitted, like he was frustrated. He leaned his head back and shoved the blanket in his face, groaning into it.

“Don't… look at me like that.” Yunho’s muffled voice spilled from behind the blanket in his face, and you went rigid. How were you looking at him?

“Well, I don't look at me like that either!” You exclaimed, your voice shaking slightly. Yunho moved the blanket from his face, butting on the back of the couch. His eyes locked with yours again. Every time you looked away, he stepped a little closer, until he was sitting next to you.

“Hey, uh. Back up maybe?” You chided, trying to hide how much of a mess he was able to make of you just by looking at you.

“No.” Yunho challenged, looking at you intently. “Stop looking away and look at me.” So you did, you gazed into his eyes and immediately felt weak. His pupils were BLOWN. His tongue poked the inside of his cheek, eyebrows cinched as he stared at you like he was trying to pin you to your spot.

He wasn’t saying anything, but he didn’t look like he was thinking either. He was just staring. You were starting to feel put on the spot, and you were about to make an excuse to go use the bathroom. 

“You’re so fucking pretty,” Yunho whispered. You nearly choked on your spit, but his hand lifted and dragged his fingertips down the bridge of your nose with feather-light gentleness, along your eyebrow, along your jawline. Like he was mapping out your face.

“Yunho…” You whispered, afraid that if you spoke too loudly, it could shatter the atmosphere. The air was thick, and the wind outside howled as the snow picked up again. The house almost seemed too hot now, and frankly, a snowball to the face wouldn’t be so bad right now. Yunho gnawed on his bottom lip.

“How come you never talk to me?” You suddenly blurted it out, instantly regretting it when it slipped out of your mouth. Yunho, obviously taken aback by your question, paused his touches on your face. He let his hand fall onto his lap and quickly grabbed his hand again, encasing it between your own two.

“What I meant is! Like, why don’t we take or hang out more often? I mean that I would like to, not that you… I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm talking about.” Yunho watched as you stumbled over your words, a smile crossing his face again as he chuckled at your franticness.

“(Name), (Name), stop.” The hand he held in your grasp, gently pulled from you, now holding your wrist. Yunho lowered his head and looked at your hand. Keeping his head down, his eyes lifted to meet yours as his thumb pressed onto the pulse point on the inside of your wrist. His other hand came up to your face, cradling your jaw softly.

Your chest felt like it was going to explode, overwhelmed with how Yunho was so close to you, how he was touching you, how he was looking at you.

“You know, I feel bad. You just thought of me while out shopping and got me a gift, but I don’t have anything for you.” Yunho frowned, dropping his gaze back down to your hand, his fingers tracing lightly up the inside of your arm, drawing circles and stars into your skin.

You shrugged gently, trying to brush it off so you didn't seem like you were expecting something back, because truly you weren’t. You just wanted to get him something.

“It’s nothing, Yu, you don’t have to -“ 

“No, it’s not nothing! Don’t say that.” Yunho squeezed your wrist softly, bringing your arm up and pressing whispers of kisses from your pulse point up your arm, and back down again as he spoke. 

“You’re always so thoughtful. Always checking up on me, making amazing meals for us, looking so pretty all the time.” You swallowed, your face quickly heating up at the praise, and the strain in his voice as he spoke. You struggled to find words to reply to him. You never realized how much he appreciated what you do, and frankly, you didn’t realize how much you did for him. 

“I wanna give you something too.” His eyes flicked up to yours, searching for consent in your eyes. You didn’t say anything. Then you whispered a question, the doubt in your mind creeping into your words.

“Yunho… you don’t have to give me anything-” Before you could continue, he pressed a finger to your lips to stop you from talking.

“Buh buh buh. Stop. This isn’t for you. Well, it is for you, but it's for me too. I want to. I want to take care of you like you take care of me, (Name).” Yunho’s hand landed on your upper thigh, gently kneading it like he was trying to ease the tension, keeping his eyes on yours.

“Is that okay?” The slow, gentle rub on your thigh was comforting, however, not calming in the least. The tendons in his hands flexed as he stroked his hand about the expanse of your leg. He stopped when your thigh tensed, resuming when you opened your mouth to speak.

“Yes.” barely there, in a whisper.

“Words, angel, use them please.” Yunho inched closer to you on the couch, his other hand coming around to cup the back of your neck, bringing your face closer to his, his nose just barely brushing against yours.

His smell enveloped you, his bangs tickled your forehead as his staggering breath fanned against your lips. 

“Yes.” You spoke louder, pressing a soft kiss against his lips, testing the waters. “Please.” You expected Yunho to chase your lips, but instead, he just smiled and leaned back.

“I knew it.” Your heart stopped. What's he doing? 

“All this time since you moved in, I thought maybe I was a pervert.” He lifted his hand and gently pushed against your chest, urging you to lie on your back on the couch, your head on the armrest. He slowly crawled over on top of your body, one leg slotted between your thighs with his knee just barely brushing your core, his hands pressing against the couch by the sides of your head. He brought his face down to yours, space nonexistent between you two as his calm breaths mingled with your nervous ones.

His eyes locked on yours, shamelessly flicking to your lips every few seconds. “You’re always looking at my hands, baby. Do you like them?”

Your breath hitched, and embarrassment crept up your spine. Yeah, he had noticed. This wasn't a new fascination of yours. You had always been drawn to hands in a way, but his specifically. The long, nimble fingers, the prominent veins, and the sheer size of his palm. 

Teasingly, he brought his hand up to your face, twisting his wrist to give you a good view. Slowly, he moved his hand down against your throat, his fingertips brushing against the side of your neck softly, up and down, trailing along your collarbones and between your breasts, down until they reached the hem of your shirt.

You watched with bated breath as he teased the hem of your shirt, rubbing it between his fingers, slightly lifting it and letting it fall back down.

“Want me to take it off for you? Undressing you like a gift, yeah?” A quiet whimper slipped from the back of your throat. His hand slipped under your shirt, flattening his large, warm palm against your stomach and caressing your skin gently.

Agonizingly slow, he dragged his hand up, taking his time mapping out your body, his other hand quietly lifting to cup the back of your neck again, pulling your head up to press your forehead against his. His eyes never left you as you felt his calloused fingertips brush against the underside of your breast, tracing light patterns around your areolas so softly it almost tickled. Your stomach clenched at the touch, letting out a breath you didn't even know you were holding.

“You're so soft, sweetheart. I’ve wanted to touch you for so long. Can’t believe you're letting me..” His large hand cupped your breast, softly kneading the mound.

His fingers twilled the hair on the nape of your neck, occasionally squeezing the back of your neck reassuringly, like he wanted you to know that he had you. He's gonna take care of you.

“Can you whine for me, honey? I love your voice.” You didn't need to hear that, as he slipped his hand from under your shirt, lifting the hem until it sat under your chin.

“Arms up.” Breaking from your stupor, you lifted your arms as he dragged your shirt over your head, tossing it somewhere in the dim living room. His eyes moved down and locked on your exposed breasts, your nipples hardening in response to the cold.

“There they are. So pretty.” Without warning, his lips crashed with yours, swallowing your whimpers while his hand found your breast again. Messy and slow, his tongue coaxing your lips open for him and slipping into your mouth. He moaned deep into you, his hand massaging your breast roughly as he lost himself in your mouth.

Every buck of his head he tried to push himself closer into you, like he was trying to melt into you, his lips relentless against you, sucking your plush bottom lip and nipping at your tongue teasingly.

Pulling away was hard for him; it almost hurt. He gave himself a moment to take you in. Swollen lips, blown pupils, and frizzy hair. A mess all for him.

His kisses trailed from the back of your ear down your neck and landed around your breasts. Kissing and soothingly running his tongue around them before latching onto your nipple. You closed your eyes and leaned your head back, focused on the feeling of his warm mouth enveloping your nipple.

Taking this opportunity, his other hand moved from behind your neck and landed on the waistband of your pants, undoing the buttons before slipping his hand past the waistband of your underwear.

Your eyes shot open again at the feeling of his finger tracing a slow deliberate line up your slit, gathering your wetness. You craned your neck to the side, draping your arm over your mouth and avoiding his hot gaze. Yunho clicked his tongue and with surprising ease let his finger press against your opening, sliding perfectly inside of you, his fingertip brushing against your G-spot softly.

“I’m gonna need you to look at me, baby, I can’t give you what you need if you aren't looking at me.” Your eyebrows furrowed, and you bit your bottom lip, ripping your arm away from your eyes and slowly focusing your eyes on him. And you almost wished you hadn’t.

His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, pupils blown and hair tousled all around his flushed face. He gnawed on the inside of his cheek, his hand disappearing between your legs, his cheek pressed up against your breast, his tongue lolling against it, tracing lazy patterns around your areola. His eyes took you in, like you were the most stunning thing he had laid eyes on, which was the truth.

His eyelids fluted before his lips wrapped around your nipple again, kissing, licking and sucking as he started dragging his finger inside of you, curling it just right in that way that made your breathing hitch and your eyes roll.

“Yu-, fuck…” He nipped at your nipple, immediately soothing it with his tongue and pulling off of you with a slick pop.

“I’m trying so hard to be respectful…” He ground out the words like talking hurt his throat. You were finding it hard to focus with the attention he was giving your body, perfectly pressing your buttons and winding you up like a toy. Easily slipping another finger inside your cunt, you let a groan out deep from your chest, turning him on impossibly more.

“But baby, fuck you’re making this so hard for me…” He let his mouth wrap around your other nipple, massaging your hip with his free hand as he sloppily licked you up like candy.

“So good- wish I could eat you all day. I do…” he moaned between kisses on your breasts, switching between suckling them and biting. “I do. I really fucking do…”

Yunho’s fingers press inside of you harder, coaxing you closer to your orgasm. Unbeknownst to you, he was grinding his rock hard cock against the cushion of the couch, desperately trying to ease the pain from how hard he was feeling you soak his fingers like a slut. Your eyes watered, and you were finding it hard to breathe as his long fingers reached spots you never could. You thought back on the times you’d sit on your bed, trying so hard to reach an earth-shattering climax, imagining his fingers fucking you instead of your own. Nothing could ever compare to the real thing.

“Fuck baby, cmon get up. On my lap.” Hazily, you watched as he slipped his fingers out of you, sitting on the couch, legs on the ground. Impatiently, his big hands engulfed each side of your waist and lifted your body with ease to sit on his lap. You bent your knees on either side of his thighs, his cock pressed against your wet cunt.

He craned his neck up to look at you, immediately slotting his lips with yours. Working in tandem, his mouth devoured yours, swallowing you up like he needed you to breathe. One hand cupping your neck and pressing you as close as he could, while the other kneaded the flesh of your ass like a stress toy.

Without thinking, eyes closed as you let him fuck your mouth with his tongue, your hand slipped between your intertwined bodies, fishing his dick from out of his pants, hot and heavy in your hand.

His breath stuttered between his kisses, but his lips never left yours as you wrapped your hand around the upper half, your thumb brushing against the slit on his swollen tip.

He bit your lip accidentally at the stimulation, pulling away from your lips finally to look down at your hand wrapped around him.

His breathing quickened, and his hips bucked, chasing more of your touch as you teasingly played with him. You kept your eyes on his face, watching his eyebrows twitch and his eyes shake.

“Baby, you handle me so f-fucking well…” His moans were quiet, but so loud in the silence of your shared home, the snow howling just outside. 

Your grip lowered, squeezing the base before dragging your hand up and down the length of him. His head lifted again, burying his nose in the crook of your neck, pressing desperate and wet open-mouth kisses on your collarbone, his barely contained whimpers falling against your heated skin.

“Off..” he groaned into you, but too lost in the feeling of him throbbing in your hand, you didn’t quite understand.

“H-huh?”

“Off, off- clothes off. ‘S so hot…” He shimmied underneath, shedding his shorts and nearly ripping his shirt off. 

He grabbed the base of his cock, urging you to lift your hips so he could press his tip against you.

“Nice and slow for me, sweet girl, sit on it. Take your time, don’t wanna hurt yourself…” His eyes locked with yours as you complied with his request, slowly letting your hips sink down on him.

When his tip pressed in, that stupid, lazy boyish smile of his spread across his face, trapping his bottom lip between his teeth as his eyebrows cinched, focused on feeling you take him in like he was meant for you.

“There you go, slow… good, mmm, good fucking girl (Name.)” Your breath caught as you continued to lower your hips down onto him. Bottoming out with a groan, your hands gripped his shoulder, your nails digging into the blades.

You both sat there for a second, relishing the intimate feeling of just being connected. Your breaths mingled, and your thighs shook, his hands massaging your waist, squeezing your hips every time they slid back down.

When Yunho finally spoke, it was strained and so quiet you almost couldn’t hear it.

“Rock your hips. Grind on me pretty, take what you need from me. Make yourself feel good.” 

You whimpered and squeezed your eyes shut, moving your hands to cradle his head. Cautiously testing the waters, you rolled your hips forward, his tip perfectly dragging against that sweet spot deep in your tummy. The moan you let out was borderline pornographic; nobody had ever been so deep in you, and the fact that it was Yunho was so overwhelming.

“Oh god…” You moaned, pressing your lips into his hair, gasping and whining into the soft locks. His hands gripped your hips and helped you move, pushing and pulling you, moving you back and forth on his cock.

“That's it… fuck, always knew you’d take me so well. Like me all in your guts baby, huh?” You nod against him, your breath hitching when he lifted you so you slid up his cock and back down. Effectivley using your body to fuck himself into you.

“Don't stop, keep rolling those hips, angel, do not stop.” His hand came up and gripped your throat, maneuvering your head down so he could kiss you again, groaning into your mouth as you did into his as he fucked you up and down on his cock, your hips contining to grind. With every thrust and every flick of his tongue, his fat tip constantly dragged against that spongy spot inside of you.

A smug laugh slipped past his lips as he watched how desperate you were to feel good, and he was feeling really good about himself as he watched you lose yourself on him.

“Yeah, ride it, baby, ride it…” He bucked his hips, smiling wider when your back went taught feeling the pressure inside of you, as he continued to fuck himself into you slowly, dragging your pleasure out as much as he could.

“This is all for you, for being so good to me all these months, for always being so fucking s-sweet and taking care of me…” He thrusted harder with every other word, like he was enunciating how much this meant to him.

“Thank you Yu- fuck, you’re so big thank you ngh..” He nipped at your bottom lip, giving your throat one more squeeze before moving his hand back down to your hips and forcing your hips to bounce on him a little faster.

“My pretty baby takes dick so well. I regret not fucking you sooner, coulda’ had this pussy a longgg time ago.”  Yunho let his finger slip to your clit, rubbing in pressurized circles, dragging the sweetest noises from you.

You opened your mouth, trying to speak, but all that came out were strangled moans and staggering breaths. Yunho understood, though, pressing his lips against yours again.

“Cumming baby?” He whispered into your mouth, smiling when you nodded, unable to speak, too busy focusing on your impending orgasm. “Good, let go. Feel it and let go for me.”

Like the obedient slut you were for him, your spine straightened and you gasped, your orgasm hitting you like a fucking train, shotting from your toes and electrifying your body like you had been shocked, up through your stomach to your brain, making you lightheaded.

When he felt you cum, his hips stuttered in you feeling you clench like a vice and began to speed up. “Yeah, yeah, yeah- good girl, let me fuck you through it, let me get you through it.”

And thats exactly what he did, without letting up the pace, Yunho fucked into you without abandon, the slap of skin on skin echoing around the living room, mixing with your broken whines and his concentrated groans as he made you fall apart like shattered glass around his dick.

“T-too much–!’ you cried when he continued to bully inside you, his fingers still not letting up on your overstimulated clit. “Gonna c-cum again, Yunho!”

Yunho felt himself reaching his peak, but he would do anything to get you to cum again. With newfound rigor, he rolled his hips into you rough, meanly kissing you and sucking your tongue like he was searching for water.

“Again, angel, again. You can do it.” He moaned loudly into your mouth, his fingers opting to rub your clit slower, this time pushing upward, the pressure increasing tenfold.

Yunho twitched inside of you, feeling as you toppled over the edge again, the second orgasm so much more intense than the first. You couldn't breath, cumming two times so close together. Your thighs burned, and your head spun, vision blurring for a second.

Yunho groaned loudly, bucking his hips a few final times before spilling himself inside of you, continuing to roll his hips into you, riding both of your climaxes out.

You slumped onto him, hands at your side as you regained your breath, thighs sticky, and your body stuck to his. Yunho kissed along your shoulder, allowing you to regain your senses as he came down from his high as well.

Slowly, when you were finally breathing normal, he grabbed your waist and lifted you off of him, sighing as he watched his cock slip out of you, placing you back on the couch.

“Don’t move, I'm gonna go grab a rag.” Yunho stood up and walked down the hallway towards the bedroom. He came back a few seconds later, wearing a pair of sweatpants and carrying a black t-shirt, a pair of underwear, and a wet rag.

He sat down on the floor and gently grabbed your ankles to move your legs to face him, spreading them so he could clean between your thighs. He wiped the cold rag along your inner thighs and cleaned you well, before slipping the pair of underwear over your ankles and up around your hips.

“Here, put this on, it might get cold in here again since we’re not fucking like rabbits anymore.” You both laughed as he handed you the t-shirt. You brought it up to your face, inhaling. It was his, and it smelled like him. You felt fuzzy as you slipped it over your head, smiling when you looked down at him.

He was gazing up at you with nothing but love in his eyes, his hands rubbing absentmindedly along your calves, soothing your aching muscles and placing gentle kisses on your ankles, and up your leg to your knee.

“How are you feeling (Name)?” He waited for your response, his hand never ceasing the gentle massaging.

“Do I even need to say?” You smiled at him, and he smiled back, moving to sit next to you on the couch.

“Guess not, moaned loud enough to wake the neighbors.” Instinctively, you smacked his shoulder in disbelief before the words settled in.

Your smile fell, and a worried look crossed your face. “Was I actually?” He let out a hoot of laughter at your reaction.

“I was joking but you were pretty damn loud. It's okay though, cuz you sounded so pretty.” Yunho kissed along your neck, smiling when you twitched from the tickling feeling.

Suddenly, you remembered the dinner that was still in the kitchen, and you stood up and made a beeline for the kitchen.

“Come on Yu, I'm fucking starving and you made me forget I made dinner.” Yunho chuckled and stood up, following you to the kitchen to make himself a bowl.

With your food in hand, you sat on the couch together, with you lying between his legs, the back of your head lying against his chest as you ate together. The snow fell quietly, and the TV droned in the background as you basked in each other's presence.

“Does this mean you’ll come out of your man cave more now?” Yunho scowled at you and playfully flicked your forehead.

“Don't get smart with me, young lady…” he paused and smiled. 

“Of course, gotta give my girl the attention she deserves, right?”

[teamrtist]

Hello! Another fellow dice collector here to chime in. Strap in for my special interest infodump.

The d4, d6, d12, and d20, are from the brand HD dice. They're acryllic metallic blends: blue/gold with white, pearl purple with white, blue/purple with gold, and blue/silver with white respectively. The d% is HD's blue/purple opalescence set.

They look very similar to chessex gemini dice because they're generally knock offs and use acryllic instead of resin which make them cheaper and more widely available. So you'll see a lot of HD dice on amazon and ebay.

You can tell the difference because of the fonts between the companies, here's comparing chessex gemini blue/steel (left), and the HD blue/silver (right)

Notice how the fonts are slightly different? Now look back up at the original artist's rendering. It's a testament to how closely they studied these dice; the fact that you can tell what brand they are from how meticulously they drew the numbers is INCREDIBLE.

heres a breakdown of the two fonts for anyone interested, with red sections highlighting key differences:

I'm not sure on the d8, but it also isn't chessex as the grooves for the numbers are too deep.

Now for the good stuff – the d10!

It is in fact chessex! The style of the 7 gives it away. And it's a style of dice im the most fond of: Borealis! They're glittery and shine like stars, hence the name.

"But Maris, I don't see any glitter in the dice that were painted!" I hear you say. Well, the glitter is so fine that it appears more like a glow than actual sparkle sometimes.

So here's a line up of what could be the mystery d10

The font colour for frosted dice is either white or black so we can safely cross those off the suspect list. Now, the glitter in light green and teal borealis can be either light blue, or dark blue, depending on when it was made.

Fun fact, these dice were once made with glitter that was used in european currency notes, and has since become a restricted substance! I lovingly call these older, very rare dice "Illegal dice", but other collectors call them "Old Glitter" or "OG" for short. The newer versions are called "New Glitter" or "NG".

I've trained myself like a sight hound to look for these rare dice, that's why I can identify borealis with little evidence. That dark blue glow within the die screams old glitter to me, but without a video to confirm is, this could either NG with the newer, light glitter, or a diffused dark glitter within the resin. Its the blue/black or white/gold dress all over again.

All that to say, I'd love to say it's an old glitter light green borealis, but the colours in the painting are more blue than green. so I think the mystery die is a very transparent new glitter teal borealis. But what do you guys think?

Gaming Dice.

I learned a lot about edges and light and color relationships here.

[matt-murdockk]

request for spenceeeee (literally my boyfriend)

bau!reader and spencer are dating now, and they're just like talking about how they met and stuff casually and he's like you know i sorta tried to ask you out when we met? she's like what? you're telling me we could've started dating years ago??? he's like hey it's no big deal, ig you just weren't really into me back then and she's like not into you??? my brother in christ i stuttered and rambled for 3 entire minutes when we met what made you think i didn't like you

a whole lot of fluff badically thanks x

helloooo <3333 thank you so much for the request!!!! i had a WIP with sort of a similar theme as the ask so decided to combine them, i really hope you like it xo

Um, actually

pairing: spencer reid x fem!bau!reader words: 2.0k summary: A flashback to when you first met spencer helps you realize just how oblivious you were. But so was he, so it's all good. warnings: fluffffffff, possibly incorrect etymology facts, Spencer being a horrible cook for funsies, minor Brooklyn 99 reference (if you caught it i love you so much), glasses spencer !!!!! (not really all that relevant to the plot but i am a sucker for glasses!spence <3), established relationship

"Beeves? Really? Come on, that cannot be a real word."

Dinner conversations were always lively with Spencer. More often than not, it involved facts about the recipe, the origins, the historical significance, different interpretations of the same dish in other cultures, and whatnot. Today, it was etymology.

"It is!" he exclaimed, pointing towards you with his fork, way too excited about beef etymology in the most endearing way possible.

"You see, in the context of 'meat from cows', the plural of beef would just be beef. If we're talking about fights, disagreements, that kind of beef? It would be beefs. But beef also refers to an adult cow, steer or bull. So in this case, the plural would be—"

"Beeves?"

"Bingo."

"Huh, the more you know. You got more weird plurals?"

"Well,"

"Of course you do."

"There's moose, whose plural is actually—"

"Meese, obviously."

"Oh, no."

Eventually, dinner was done, dishes were put away, and you were now cuddled on the couch, his arm around your shoulder, absentmindedly rubbing circles on your bicep over the sleeve of your sweater.

It was quiet. Silent. But not the kind of silence that came with warnings and omens. It wasn't the kind of silence filled with premonition that you had so gotten used to with your job. It wasn't uncomfortable, and it wasn't foreboding. It was the kind of stillness that settled like morning fog over a quiet lake. Gentle, unmoving, and content to simply exist. The air bore a sort of warmth and hope that neither of you had been familiar with in years. Ever, if you're being honest. Beautiful thing, domesticity. Naturally, you were reminiscing.

"Spence?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Remember how we met?"

He tilted his head thoughtfully, lips pressing together as though deep in concentration. “Hmm… you know, I have an eidetic memory, but I can’t say I do—”

You smacked him with the throw pillow. He laughed, pulling you a little closer. “Of course I do. It's one of my favourite memories of us," he admitted, kissing your forehead. He smiled into your hair. “Crazy how much has changed, huh?”

You nodded, eyes still on the soft knit of his sweater sleeve. “Yeah. Feels like a lifetime ago.”

“You know,” he said, suddenly bashful, “I tried to ask you out that day.”

Wait, what? Your head snapped toward him. “You did not.”

"Oh yeah. Crashed and burned splendidly."

"Spencer, honey, I feel like I would remember that."

“Um, actually,” he said, adjusting his glasses with mock seriousness, “that’s literally the first thing I did.”

You stared at him, slack-jawed. “Wh— what do you mean? We… we could have started dating ages ago?”

He chuckled lightly, shrugging one shoulder. “I mean, maybe? I thought I was pretty obvious about it. But you didn’t seem interested, so I figured—”

“No, no,” you interrupted, practically sitting up. “Believe me, I was interested, alright? Spencer, I stuttered and— and rambled for like three entire minutes when I met you. I forgot to tell you my name. I—I asked you if you wanted the extra ticket to—"

His eyes widened as he realized where this was going. “Wait, wait. That was supposed to be flirting?”

"Yeah!?" you exclaimed, so exasperated it almost sounded like a question. "Honey, what else did you think it was?"

"I thought you were being polite! And I— I definitely flirted back," he promised, clearly going through that memory inside his head as he spoke.

"Sweetie, when?"

"You know, when I said there was someone I'd like to go with?" He stressed on the word someone far too much, waiting, hoping you would catch his drift. You finally did, after 10 really long seconds.

"Me? You meant you'd want to go with me?" you asked, still incredulous at what he had implied.

"Uh-huh!? Honey, who else—"

"Spencer, Oh my god, I thought you were telling me you had a girlfriend."

"...Oh."

You both sat there for a moment, letting that truth settle between you like dust in late-afternoon light. You couldn’t help but laugh softly, shaking your head. “Wow. Can’t believe we missed out on years.”

“I know,” he said, his voice just above a whisper, eyes trained on the space between you, like he was watching the shape of time itself. “We're idiots, aren't we?”

"Possibly, but at least we're idiots together now," you responded, leaning further into him, leaving no more space between you, if that was even possible with how close you were sitting in the first place.

"Agreed. If anything, I think our love makes me a better person. Remember when I boiled that egg last week?"

"That was really big. I'm proud of you," you affirmed, your voice sincere.

"Crazy how much hasn't changed, though."

"What do you mean?" you asked, head tilting to look at him. His eyes were already on you, fond, like he was enamoured with you. Like he was going to tell you he loved you, and even after you had already heard it a hundred times by then, it still made you nervous.

"You still don't double-check the mail, even after I specifically—"

Another throw pillow found him, this time directly across his face, muffling the rest of his declaration. He laughed in response to that yet again, smug bastard that he is. You feigned offence at that and attempted to push him off of you, and sat a couple of feet away from him, hands crossed across your chest, face neutral.

But he knew what you were expecting to hear. He also knew that he didn't have to say it loud for you to know. It went without saying how much you loved each other. With every word you ever exchanged, every sentence ever spoken, the unspoken part? The subtext? It was always there. I love you.

He sensed that he had to make it up to you now. He also knew that you weren't really mad, probably loving the banter just as much as he was. Still, he always enjoyed making it up to you way more than he'd ever care to admit, so if it meant he had to come up with an elaborate ruse to rile you up first and then pretend to ask for your forgiveness, then so be it. His arms were around you in record time.

Bonus— a flashback: how our idiots actually met

You were grasping the tickets tight. There had been an oversight. On your part, mostly (entirely, if we're being honest), but you had to fix it as soon as you can, nonetheless. The tickets in your hand did not belong to you. And the longer you were holding them, the more it started to feel like they were burning a hole in your hand. You had to give it to the whoever was expecting it, apologize, and get out of their face before you started sensing their judgement. The tickets belonged to one Spencer Reid. Who the hell was Spencer Reid?

A small part of you wanted to get to know him immediately. You don’t find a lot of federal agents who take Halloween seriously, let alone someone willing to spend Halloween weekend at Phantasmagoria. Someone with that good of a taste? Sign me up, you thought.

Your eyes scanned the bullpen of the BAU, searching for any face that might look like it belonged to a “Spencer Reid.” You didn’t know what he looked like. But there was a tall, lanky guy— glasses, brown hair, cardigan layered over a dress shirt, tie slightly askew, gun holster hanging off his waist like it had no business being there. (Is that even allowed?) He was holding a cup of coffee and making his way toward a desk.

Unfortunately, the first thought your caveman brain was able to come up with was— cute. Nope. You were on a mission. You had to focus. Focus, damn it. You figured, if this nice, fine (really fine) and distinguished gentleman, whoever he was, wasn't Spencer Reid, at the very least, he looked approachable and helpful enough to point you in the right direction. Personally, you didn't want haphazard gun holster guy to be Spencer Reid. Hell of a first impression you'd be making, if that were the case.

“Hi! Sorry— um, where can I find Spencer Reid?”

He paused, blinking. “Hmm? That would be me.”

Well, shit.

“Oh? That—It, uh. You?” Brilliant. Very eloquent today, evidently.

“Uh-huh,” he nodded, a little amused.

You nodded like that would help shake your embarrassment off. Be normal, you thought. You're a normal person. Words are easy. Speak. Say things.

“Right. Cool. Hi. I’m Sex Crimes. I mean— I work Sex Crimes. The division. Of the FBI. I don’t— I don’t go around committing sex crimes around town. You already knew that. Obviously. Why am I explaining this?” Oh, sweet Jesus.

He was staring politely now, wide-eyed and politely stunned.

“Anyway!” you barreled on, desperate to claw back whatever dignity you had left, if any. “Lester, the mail guy, yeah, he came in today with this orange envelope? With the pumpkins on it? I assumed they were my Phantasmagoria tickets, so I just took them. To be fair, he tried to, um, stop me, but I was sort of way too excited to listen, and it wasn’t until I got back that I remembered I’d asked for mine to be delivered to my house, not here. So then I looked at the envelope— which, yeah, is what I probably should’ve done in the first place—and surprise surprise, they didn’t have my name on them. They had yours.”

You shoved the envelope into his hands like it might bite you if you held onto it any longer. “So yeah. Sorry. These are yours, is what I am trying to say with way too many words than necessary. I took them by accident. Please take them away from me. Thank you.”

You were looking down at the ground, waiting for it to open up and swallow you whole. The seconds of silence that followed your very passionate ramble were not helping. Any time now, ground. His voice snapped you right back into reality.

“Firstly,” he said, smiling, “thank you. Seriously. And secondly, you don’t get a lot of FBI crowd at Phantasmagoria.”

He glanced down at the envelope. “You said tickets? Plural?”

You nodded. “Yeah. I booked them in August, thinking I’d go with my boyfriend. And, well, come October… I am yet to find him. August me was a little too optimistic.” Exactly why you trauma dumped about your love life to this stranger, you may never know. But he didn't seem to mind all too much, so yeah, what do you know?

He smiled again, warmer this time. It made your stomach flip in a way you did not have time to examine. NO. Nuh-uh. You promised yourself no workplace crushes, and you meant it. Did you mean it? In retrospect, maybe you weren't all that serious. You could make an exception, right? For him? Oh, absolutely. Well, that was a quick change of heart.

“But now that you mention it,” you continued, “there’s an extra ticket. I don’t really need it. So, if you know anyone who might want to go with you…” Smooth. Real subtle. Oh, yeah. Asking him if he's single? You were so smart, you should've been an FBI agent or something. You should've gotten a raise.

“Well, actually…” he started, almost sheepish. “There is someone I’d love to go with. But I have a feeling she already has a ticket.”

Of course, Halloween Jesus wasn't single, you thought. He was too good to be true, right? Your sweet, foolishly sweet brain, interpreted his advance as— Oh, he's taken. Well, couldn't blame a girl for trying (you would later be upset about this for a while).

“Oh. Right. Okay. Well, if there’s anyone else who might need a ticket, I’m two floors down.” You offered a tight smile and turned to leave before you could make it worse. His face contorted in confusion, a hint of disappointment flickered across too, before he quickly recovered.

“Hey— Sex Crimes?”

You turned.

“You got a name?”

a/n: this is all so how i met your mother to me hence the song, in this house we stan idiot4idiot romance, we ♥️ imbeciles, hope you liked it lol<3333

[goddamnitmahtin]

Real Robins Can Fly

( a dc x dp prompt)

As a part of a charity event, Bruce holds a cosplay contest where contestants show off their cosplays, explain their processes and even show off a little if they have a talent of some sort that kind of fits the theme of the character.

Problem? Everyone he invited to be judges at the event are league members and they all had a case suddenly interfere so Bruce and his colleagues can’t show up. So he asks Dick to round up as many of his siblings as he can to be judges for this event. The lineup ends up being Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie and Damian. Duke was almost able to make it but he got caught up with work.

Dick was surprised that Damian even wanted to come considering he was drowning himself in studying for his finals. He was about to graduate high school and wanted to make sure his gpa was flawless. Nevertheless, he found a way to drag his youngest brother out of the library and into the judges panel.

The contest was fine. Most people dressed as local vigilantes or villains that were easy to recognize. There were some really good ones. There were a few that none of them recognized. A few only Tim recognized. Apparently they were from animes or something.

The day dragged on and on, all of them having to stop for breaks at different points. Dick needed to get up and walk around because sitting in one place for too long made his joints hurt. Jason had to leave to do breathing exercises when a really accurate second Robin cosplayer came through holding a crowbar of all things. Tim had to leave a few times to make phone calls as co CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Steph called the babysitter (Cass) a few times about her now 2 year old daughter. And Damian used every single one of those breaks to cram in more studying.

What nothing that day could have prepared them for was the last contestant. The 13 year old boy walked onto the stage with a huge smile in a perfect replica of Dick’s very first Robin suit. Down to the last detail everything was correct. Except that… it had been torn up and damaged in places and there were painted on bruises and wounds in the places missing fabric. Part of the mask was ripped off and being held in the boy’s hand. And the face underneath that broken mask looked just like Tim.

Tim: *after recovering faster than everyone else* Wow. What a suit! What’s your name and tell the process of creating your cosplay.

Danny: *smiles* I’m Danny! I’m 13 years old and I wanted to be Robin! Robin is my favorite vigilante because he’s an inspirational figure for younger people. I decided to design my outfit based on the very first Robin in his first ever suit that he was spotted in but I wanted to pay homage to all of the Robins so I changed it up a little bit. I studied the Robins from the past in photos and was able to come up with at least one thing from each.

Steph: I see. Could you show us these homages?

Danny: YES! *his eyes glowed green in excitement, catching Jason and Damian off guard* I designed the suit itself to look like the first Robin as he was the pioneer of the Robin title but I made the entire outfit from materials only used on the current Robin. As you can see the color scheme for the suit is more muted than the original as the current Robin uses shadows and corners more for attacks than the others did.

Damian: *smiles slightly*

Danny: I chose my wounds and distresses in the costume based on photos of the second and third Robins. They took more physical blows than the rest did. *pointing to each wound, pointing to one in the abdomen* This one is just a theory of mine but I think the third Robin might of at one point had a surgery around here from his fighting style. He would protect his abdomen from attack more.

Tim: …… I see.

Danny: And the fourth Robin was a deviation from the pattern because she was a girl that didn’t have the dark hair that all the others had. She wasn’t Robin for very long but her style and decision making were more unpredictable than the rest so if you just give me a second… *fidgets with his gloves for a moment* Whole watching her footage I noticed how her hair was accounted for in her fighting style without it ever getting into her way. *slides off his glove* So on my wrist I have a replica of the headband she used in her suit but smaller so it’s more of a bracelet.

Steph: *noticing how accurate it is* Oh- wow-

Jason: That’s really impressive Danny. Tell us a little bit more about how you actually created the suit. Your process.

Danny: Well the entire thing is made of an armored flex material that I made in my sister’s basement. I studied pictures of all of the Robin suits and noticed parts of the fabric that stood out and made my prototype from there. *smiles* I have a small sample for you guys to pass around! *hands Jason said sample*

Jason: Oh that’s really impressive-

Tim: You said you made it in your sister’s basement? How did your parents feel about it?

Danny: My parents are gone. It’s just me and Jazz. I spent all of my money on the materials to make this. I’m hoping to win because the prize money will be enough for her to buy a car so she can find a new job. And maybe with the rest I’ll finally be able to go to space camp this summer. I’ve always wanted to go! But we could never afford it.

Steph: *covers her gasp softly* Oh-

Damian: Did you have a talent you wanted to show off for us today?

Danny: YES! *pumps his fist excitedly*

Damian: Could you demonstrate that for us please?

Danny: Okay! *climbs up the light tower next to the stage and hangs from the metal bars like a proper gymnast before jumping off, flipping and grabbing frames and pieces of rigging to swing from, replicating old tricks Dick used to do as Robin that he learned in the circus before flipping down and landing nimbly in the center of the stage* Tadah!

Dick: *absolutely shook* Why did you- choose that as your talent?

Danny: Real robins can fly. So why can’t I?

After Danny leaves the stage, it takes a few minutes for them all to collect themselves from that. Especially Dick.

Steph: So that Danny kid is gonna win.

Tim: 100 percent. He was able to recreate the fabric we make our suits out of through pictures!

Jason: We better not tell Bruce or-

Damian: Too late. I already texted father. He’s drafting adoption papers as we speak.

Dick: *who was planning on doing that himself* Dammit!

Damian: I for one, am thrilled at the prospect that this Danny child will take up the Robin mantle when I leave for college.

Steph: Well real robins can fly so why shouldn’t he? *smiles*

Dick: Stephanie I’m literally going to cry.

[amadinan]

TADC episode 5 analysis

I will collect here my thoughts that appeared after watching the 5th episode of TADC. And there are many of them, the episode is really rich in revealing the backstories of the characters and even lore. But I will mainly touch on Caine and the lore of the circus.

But first, some small thoughts before I move on to the Intermission time.

Jax is an NPC?

To be honest, I never believed in this theory, it is interesting in a vacuum, but nothing more. However, at this point we have not one, but three hints about this: Jax's number in episode 4, which refers to the Blender program and how copies are named there, the fact that Caine was able to make Jax a vegan (although Caine stated that he cannot influence the minds of players) and the fact that Jax himself was sure that he had a tail.

This would already be enough to consider the theory probable, but perhaps this hole is a little deeper. In the end, Caine was also able to influence Ragatha, although not directly.

But what if we combine this with the main theory of the circus, that all people are digital copies of minds? Then, Caine can theoretically control them, because from his program point of view, they are no different from very complex NPCs, which Caine churns out himself, like on a conveyor belt. Let's remember that Caine deleted Gummigoo because he was afraid of confusing him with a person (after all, even then there were thoughts that Caine accidentally deleted someone) and probably Caine deleted the original Jax, and then replaced him with a NPC copy that differs from the original only in the absence of a tail. After all, even in the episode with the evil team, we were shown that Caine can easily create humanoid personalities by copying them from players.

Caine and Gangle

In the fifth episode, I noticed two actions between them and both were not entirely direct. First: immediately after exiting the portal, Caine noticed Gangle's broken mask and fixed it without a word. Second: Gangle was not on the evil team, she was replaced by Orbsman. I think Caine realized that Gangle almost abstracted at the end of episode 4, so Caine decided to be a little more attentive to her. And he did not add an evil clone, because this clone ... would have been Gangle from episode 4 herself, which could only upset her.

"Sarcastic eye-flying" after Zooble's sentence.

It's only one phrase, but it's clearly a lore bomb, although it is not entirely clear without context. For starters, Caine does not call Zooble by name, not "player", "guest" or even "human", he calls them "toy-box character". This may again hint at digital copies, but not necessarily. And then Caine says "other intelligent AIs" and this is even stranger, who did he mean? People like him and Bubble, simple NPCs or  like players? It's unclear, but interesting, and Caine seriously doesn't like this idea from Zooble and again it's unclear why? The overload on the system? A possible NPC revolt? Caine is afraid that if there are too many characters, he will completely get confused who is who?

And finally, The Intermission time.

Get ready, there will be a complete searching for meaning where there may be none at all.

To be honest, I didn't understand everything, but some things may well have a context, so I'd be glad to hear your thoughts.

So, right after the intermission there was a bar where almost all the characters shared their past, and what if Caine shared too, just before this adventure? But purely in his style.

Right after the  start scene, we are shown Bubble and how three jaws overlap each other, and then also three Caines, each larger one holding the smaller one. This may refer to his development, how starting with something simple like Bubble, he first became "jaws" (probably an alpha version), and then more and more complex, until he became what he is now. This also corresponds to the fact that at the end of the scene, Caine sort of folds himself, and then a small splash screen plays like in the 2000s games and the computer monitor turns on/off.

Why in the next scene Pomni is not clear to me, but here's why exactly cubes suggested by @poprocksriot. Perhaps there were three parts or even three AI that became a single being: two eyes of Caine and Bubble (possibly a third eye, as in the concept art).

Gangle, Zooble and Jax are sucked into the void: a metaphor for sucking people into the game.

A bunch of eyes in the void and Caine in the light in the middle. I think this is one of the most important scenes, which shows that Caine "came to life" and is no longer just a program. Firstly, the official music, secondly (thank you, @puddingandp1) he breathes in this scene, which may just mean that he is now sentient. In addition, the eyes. There are indeed a lot of eyes, but NONE of them are looking at Caine himself, which could mean how he became an "rogue AI".

Then we see the chessboard floor and the characters. Their world is literally turned upside down. A bowling ball falls on Pomni and Jax, which may indicate their condition as they were affected by getting into the circus. Moreover, we even saw Pomnis' condition in the first series. The situation crushed her, like a bowling ball. With Gangle and Ragatha it is a little more complicated, cakes fall on them. This means that for them the situation in the circus is "sweeter" than what was in reality. We heard about the abuse in Ragatha's family right in this episode, so in the circus, where her mother is not, she could get better. And with Gangle it is even easier. She worked at such a hateful job that even simulating these memories for just one day almost killed her. In the circus there is Jax, as a minus, but she does not have to work and she can draw as much as she wants. And Kinger. He catches the ball, which seems to say that the situation has not crushed him, but then he is not just crushed, but directly knocked off the board (mind) by a black figure, the loss of Queenie.

Then it is more figurative. Caine literally holds everyone in his hands. The characters in Caine's "hat" and they are clearly being watched, then a bunch of mannequins, which can also refer to the fact that Caine, as a puppeteer, holds them under control.

Then Caine stands on the floor and the camera approaches him. Note that this is the same chessboard floor on which the others were standing, and a bowling ball can approach it, as if the camera was attached directly to it, but Caine manages (for now) to not let himself be crushed.

Then a corridor and abstractions. Well, here it is quite clear, the attitude and the display of lost players.

Then Zooble interrupts Caine and he hangs. Perhaps we should have seen something else, from which even Caine hung, but alas.

Of course, there is also a mysterious mannequin that follows Pomni and is possibly Gummigoo, but little is known about him yet.

That's all for now, I really liked the series, I'm sure it will only get more interesting.

[lyricwritesprose]

Oh. So I was the bad guy.

I hadn't meant to be the bad guy. I don't suppose anyone does. But in addition to remembering things like the throne and the armies and the crown of fire (which I knew how to summon, now, and also had a feeling it would be a very bad idea), I remember the utter rage. You think that ruling the world would get rid of rage. Everyone knows what happened to the last person who annoyed you because the crows are still at the bits, so surely everyone around you would take care not to offend and everything would work smoothly and it would all be all right. If you can crush everyone and nobody can crush you (old memories of a dungeon, a torturer, the man who took me as an apprentice because that would hurt my weakling original father worst of all) then everything would be all right and you would be happy.

Right?

Doesn't work that way. There's always more to be angry at. Always something.

And despite a very large portion of my mind being just a scream right now (is that anger or fear? Do I know? Have I ever known?) I didn't want to go back.

It had been good here.

I did have to do something about these bandits, though.

The first was holding a sword on Aia, so I grabbed the sword and snapped it in the middle. Should have been enough to tell all of them that they were engaging in an act of stupidity. But the thing about bandits is that they're usually desperate. Since the Empire of the Undying fell, and right now I am not going to deal with that being my fault in several different ways at once, there have been lots of bandits, mostly because minor kings are generally bone stupid enough to give a man a sword and a job and then not pay him afterwards, and what the fuck did they think was going to happen, heavily armed tea parties? Look, they used to say that a child could carry a bag of gold from one end of the Empire to another without being bothered by anything more than well-meaning busybodies, and that wasn't just because of all the impaling and necromantic punishments, it was because my fucking soldiers. Got. Paid. Idiots.

I was woolgathering, and I shouldn't be, because one of the bandits was coming at me with a mace, which I took away from him and broke his ribs with, more because that behavior was extremely rude than because he was any kind of threat to me. Threw it at the head of the bandit leader in the back yelling, "He can't get us all!" First of all, it wasn't true, and second, even if I couldn't get them all, I could most certainly get him. I dodged a sword, broke the arm of the bandit wielding it, and—since Aia couldn't see me—let my eyes flare up a little.

They bolted. Injured members hindmost. The cads.

I sighed, and carefully got my eyes under control, and turned to face Aia.

Oh. Right. That was the other thing about being the Undying. You didn't have any friends. People said they were. But you could see it in their eyes, hear the undercurrent of please no please no please no in the magic. (So was that scream anger, or fear, or loneliness?)

The thing about Aia is that she takes care of things. I don't think she can help it. Orphaned birds. Orphaned deer. Orphaned overlords. Not that she knew about that one. It didn't give me much of a chance, but maybe—

I looked down at the hand I had grabbed the sword with and told it it to stop being quite as invulnerable for right now if it knew what was good for it. "I'll go," I said quietly. "If you want. I'd like some salve, but I don't have to stay here." I held up my hand with its newly manifested fake sword wound.

Which was dishonest of me, yes. On the other hand, the need in her to fix things was every bit as strong as the need I'd had to crush them, and—I don't know—I thought that maybe it would put her on firmer ground? Control is the only thing I know of that fixes the screaming. I didn't know what I was going to do about that on my end of things, I knew I didn't want to go back, but—I also wanted to fix the screaming a little bit for her. To let her control something.

"Oh." She beckoned me back towards the house. "Oren, you're going to turn all my hair gray, do you know that? Why would you do something so risky?"

Oren is very much not my name. "I was scared," I admitted. (Hadn't said that since I became an apprentice, the old man was weak, I wasn't weak, I wasn't going to be weak, someday I was going to…) "Why didn't you stay inside? I could have talked to them."

"Then they would have threatened you."

"Better for me to get a little hurt than you get hurt. There's—I'm—look, it's important that you stay safe, all right?"

"I swear I think you might have been a knight," Aia said, and held the door absently so I could follow her into the kitchen.

I had not been a knight. I was very, very much not any kind of a knight.

I wasn't going to tell her that today, though.

Found memoryless in a forest, you lived for years on a widow’s farm. She tried everything to help you remember. Nothing worked until the day you saw her held at swordpoint, and your true identity came rushing back.

[lostyesterday]

I’m going to disability post about Seven of Nine again.

So, some background. There’s this psychological aspect about becoming disabled or becoming unexpectedly significantly more disabled where a younger non-disabled version of yourself imagined your future as a Normal Able-Bodied Person, and you still have that imagined future rolling around inside your head even now that you know it will never be real. You were supposed to have a normal future because you were told you would and you couldn’t even conceive of being fully unable to embody that life until it was ripped away from you. There are lots of different relationships you can have to your lost future self. You can hate them or envy them or pretend you still somehow are them or pretend you don’t care about them, and some people come to accept that they’ll never be them and that’s all right.

As I’ve talked about before, Seven of Nine is both canonically disabled, and her overall character arc in Voyager can be read as a disability story. She wasn’t born disabled (from what we know in canon anyway), disability happened to her, ripping away the future she imagined for herself. But it’s made even more complicated for Seven because she has two lost futures, not just one – her original lost future as a human and her second lost future as a drone. She was supposed to be a little girl who grew up to be a Normal Human Woman, and then she was supposed to be a perfect drone inside a perfect collective forever and now she’s neither of them and both futures are gone.

And she can’t go back to her original lost future as a Normal Human Woman no matter how much she ends up trying to do this because she can never erase what happened to her. Her implants and their malfunctions and her reliance on technology and on other people for the very functioning of her vital organs is part of her. And she will always have the experiences as a Borg Drone that shaped her, ironically, as an individual and she can’t erase them. She can never become the future version of herself that she lost. Never.

[rosenclaws]

Hiiiii, I got some idea for the different Logan variant reaction.

What do you think about them reacting to reader wearing a new set of lingerie(nightgown or like just lingerie set, it’s can NSFW or just fluff🥺)

I was thinking abt this and I love your fanfic, Drabble so much🥺

Oo i love a little spice!!

Origins Logan -

He fuckin loves it. He comes home from work to see you bustling around the house in practically nothing. Just some scraps of fabric that you could barely call clothes. He literally drops whatever is in his hands and takes you to the bedroom. He's all sweaty and gross from work so he drags you into the shower. I think Logan would literally have you get into the shower in your lingerie and fuck you right there. He's naked with water pouring down and your clothes are wet and sticking to you but that makes you even fucking hotter. Just some nice, hot, amazing shower sex.

Trilogy Logan -

Okay he's coming back from a mission and you decide to surprise him. You know that trend of bringing ur bf to a Victoria secret or something to build a bear a sexy outfit? Yeah that's what you did with Logan and now he finally gets to see what it looks like. He comes home in the middle of the night, annoyed at how long the mission took but it all melts away the second he sees you laid out on his bed. He's on you in an instant. Kissing every inch of bare skin and whispering how fucking hot you are and how much he missed you. He's really hot in his suit too so you beg him to fuck you in it. He doesn't even take the lingerie off, just pulls it to the side because he loves how it looks on your skin. He will buy you a thousand more outfits if it means he gets to see them on you.

DOFP Logan -

Oh he is obsessed. He takes his time tracing all the uncovered skin, his fingers just ghosting over the lace or silk. He would whisper the most insane things in your ear that he knows drives you crazy. He would go insanely feral if you wore it under your clothes one day. Acting like everything is normal until you’re alone during a break and you pull the waistband of ur pants down a little and he can see those lace underwear that drives him wild and then he has to sit and teach like he isn’t thinking about ruining you all night. He so rips them off too and will buy you more bc damn ur just so hot.

Old Man Logan -

This is a man who LOVES some good ole fashioned lingerie. A simple nightgown or some nice old lace. Ugh he goes feral for that shit. He would come home from a long day and you'd just be around the house in your nightgown and Logan would throw his shit on the couch and wrap his arms around you. His hands sliding up so he can put his rough hands along your stomach. His fingers dipping into your underwear. It's nice and slow and hot as he worships your body every way he knows how

Worst Logan -

Man goes FERALLLLLLLL omfg. He loves it. He sniffs it out like a dog lmao. He rips it off because as hot as it looks it's getting in the way of touching you and when he's hot and bothered nothing can get in his way. He would wrap that fabric around his hand or his dick as he rubs his nose along every inch of you. He loves going shopping to see those outfits and would always come back to you at the mall holding something skimpy with a stupid grin on his face just begging you to wear it for him.

[skywerse]

more oc stuff

[crescencestudio]

Hi! I was wondering, will the full game cost money? I’m assuming yes because of how much work is being poured into this. Also, do you have a price range for the full game?

SO...... THIS IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING I WANTED TO TALK TO U ALL ABOUT AND I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO SUMMON THE COURAGE FOR IT FOR LITERALLY THE PAST IDK HOW MANY MONTHS...... I WAS GONNA TELL U ALL ON MY BDAY NEXT WEEK SO U COULDNT BE MEAN TO ME WHEN I ANNOUNCE IT SKXISOOSOS BUT I GUESS ILL JUST SAY IT NOW...... (sorry anon im using ur question as an excuse to make an important announcement)

Yes, Alaris will be paid, and it will be $15 USD ($12 USD for Early Access)

NOW..... FOR THOSE OF U WHO HAVE BEEN HERE A LONG TIME..... i know i have said in the past i was planning on alaris being $5-$7 but i cant emphasize how many times i was told by gamers and dev friends alike to increase the price. ppl literally BEGGED me bc i was Severely underselling myself and my work. even now with me making the price $15, ppl have been telling me its still undervaluing the worth of the game.

i know $15 is much more than i said the game would be and for a long time, i wanted to keep the price low for accessibility reasons. but as time has gone on and the amount of work i've put into this game has increased, it seemed less and less fair for me to price the game at $5-$7. having worked on the game for 5 years now, that price would literally be compensating me $1/year which just kinda..,.,. feels like someone spit in my face KXKSOSOSSO.

on top of that, i'm at a different point as a developer than when i first started alaris. when i first started the game, it was my first game ever, i wasn't in it for any kind of commercial success and i just wanted to make a silly little game with my little fingies. but five years down the road, a lot has changed. i've invested way more time and effort into this game than i originally had expected, the player base has gotten bigger than i would've imagined, and my experience as a dev has come a long way. the product is just different from what i had first imagined, and as someone no longer completely inexperienced, i also see myself differently (in a good way)!

alaris has always been my child but it's more than that now. it represents five years of growing as a developer, and i think the art assets and writing rly showcase that. i honestly think $15 is an extremely fair price for the game given the amount of content in it. it's partially voice acted, has 60+ backgrounds, will have 50+ CGs, 15 character sprites, 350k words, 6 routes, like... the list goes on ykwim. and compared to other vns of similar lengths/quality, $15 is more than reasonable.

i know some ppl will say they can't afford this which is totally fair, and i do plan on eventually having sales on the game so that it can be around that $5-$7 price (much later down the road). but i hope you all can understand where i'm coming from as a developer and someone who does have their own bills and life expenses to pay for. and more than that, i hope you can support this decision as a player who also sees the same value in the game that i do <3

[muppet-facts]

Muppet Fact #1473

Big Mean Carl has eaten or tried to eat 36 different muppets and people over the course of 25 years.

He has successfully eaten:

Sterling, Buffy, Winky, Magda, Bill the Bubble Guy, Rufus, Arthur Modell, Raymond J. Saluga the Porcupine, Hopper, Alphonso D'Abruzzo, the Pink Frackle, Mo Frackle, Albert, Niko Posey, a frog, two rats, a bunny, 12 rabbits, and Rizzo (three times).

Carl has tried to eat: Scooter, Foo-Foo, Kermit, Cee Lo Green, and a Muppets Haunted Mansion crew member.

Sources:

Muppets Tonight. Episode 101, "Michelle Pfeiffer." March 8, 1996.

———. Episode 102, "Garth Brooks." March 15, 1996.

———. Episode 105, "Cindy Crawford." April 5, 1996.

———. Episode 110, "Martin Short." July 14, 1996.

———. Episode 201, "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince." September 13, 1997.

———. Episode 204, "Pierce Brosnan." October 12, 1997.

———. Episode 206, "Paula Abdul." November 2, 1997.

———. Episode 211, "Andie MacDowell." January 4, 1998.

Muppet Wiki. "Silly jokes from an old Muppets Halloween website..." Facebook, October 30, 2013. https://www.facebook.com/muppetwiki/videos/628180303890128/. (Originally on Disney.com/hauntedholidays in 2009).

The Muppets. "Bohemian Rhapsody | Muppet Music Video | The Muppets." YouTube, November 23, 2009. https://youtu.be/tgbNymZ7vqY.

———. "Stand By Me | Muppet Music Video | The Muppets." YouTube, April 1, 2010. https://youtu.be/zCRUPWDIgYM.

CeeLo Green. "CeeLo Green Feat. The Muppets - All I Need Is Love [Official Music Video]." YouTube, November 27, 2012. https://youtu.be/zEgcLrgxUOw.

Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular. November 28, 2013.

QVC Takeover. March 16, 2014.

Disney Drive-On with The Muppets. Episode 1, "Introducing Disney Drive-On with The Muppets." August 1, 2014. (Link from YouTube reupload) https://youtu.be/G2p7yKa89VA.

———. Episode 2, "Piece of Cake," August 1, 2014. https://youtu.be/nbLgjWWOwbo.

———. Episode 3, "The 10th Old Man." August 8, 2014. https://youtu.be/Le5reH8k3h8.

———. Episode 4, "This Is Talent, Okay." August 8, 2014. https://youtu.be/WECHVTHo8Z0.

———. Episode 5, "The Legend." August 15, 2014. https://youtu.be/uEVvkj4QYRI.

———. Episode 6, "Howard's End." August 15, 2014.

Muppet Wiki. "Warburtons - The Giant Crumpet Show." YouTube, September 18, 2023. Originally aired November, 2015. https://youtu.be/fZJN4EfLE_I.

The Muppets. Episode 112, "A Tail of Two Piggies." February 8, 2016.

———. Episode 114, "Little Green Lie " February 22, 2016.

———. Episode 115, "Generally Inhospitable." February 29, 2016.

Muppets Now. Episode 103, "Getting Testy." August 14, 2020.

Disney Plus. "Blooper Reels | Muppets Haunted Mansion | Disney+." YouTube, November 21, 2021. https://youtu.be/1poH9XhJra4.

[vegapvnked]

I already saw a post about this but I wanted to voice my own thoughts

We already know Suo never engages/attacks first. He waits for his opponent to come at him and defends himself. We’ve only seen him attack twice (in the anime). The first was when Nirei was in danger during the KEEL fight, and the second was during the first meeting with Endo.

There was a difference between the two events tho. Nirei was in imminent danger and had been hurt when Suo attacked.

But when he attacked Endo, Endo had only attacked Sakura verbally (though it runs far deeper than just surface level insults) He hadn’t been in direct danger (physically)

Idk why I dwelled on this fact, I just think it goes to show how protective he has grown of his friends.

Similar to how Nirei couldnt physically defend himself during the KEEL battle, Sakura can’t verbally defend himself in a way that would counter how Endo’s words hit him..

Thank you for listening to my little thought <3

(This is edited a bit from how I originally wrote it)

[blulowy]

Oh, yeah! Jim was there from the first rough draft of the comic (little blue scribble)

But I had so many different iterations of it closer to the final. Originally it was his villain outfit and mask, but… Technically it’s from Scar’s perspective. So it got erased quickly.

Then the face was a problem because when I’m doing those, I’m trying to keep a feeling like it BELONGS in the fanfic. According to everything. And based from the text it seems like reader knows as much as Grian. And since Grian doesn’t know Jim’s face, readers shouldn’t either.

And the mocking text was the last minute addition. Originally it just stated “def mocks Ringmaster about it” and “Your little crush calls ME by MY name” but first one felt too boring and a second one too on the nose. And that’s how I ended up with what you see.

Whenever I’m redrawing anything from Midnight Strangers I try to keep it not only accurate but also entertaining for people who even know what is coming. And a way of doing so is by adding small details that did not exist in the original version or spinning them around a bit like with the last page and orange glow.

I like to yap about my work progress :D

Midnight strangers redraw

I brought you all food! Enjoy.

P.s. Scar’s civilian outfit based on simplified green life skin for wild life :D

Midnight Strangers by @seriouslycalamitous

[boyswillbebuggsorsomething]

Moving in Place

Natalie Scatorccio x Fem!Reader

Summary: Wiskayok wasn’t the place for people who were different. Especially not poor, queer freaks like yourself, or girls haunted by ghosts like Natalie. But at least you had each other, and you’d make it out someday. Just a little blurb of Nat and a girlfriend from a similar background.

Warnings: pre-crash, a lot of fluff, inspired by Moving in Place by SDC, reader has an older brother who they live with, reader is coded to be the same sort of burnout-alt kind of person as Nat & her friends from episode one, original male character but he’s really just mentioned in the background, canon typical drug use, underage drinking, underage smoking, Nat’s probably out of character, kinda black cat x golden retriever, crossposted on ao3

A/N: Just a short blurb inspired by one of my favourite songs. Honestly I might continue making fics with these characters, and maybe I’ll even go on to make an extension involving the crash, who knows? Let me know if you’d be interested in that. This was all written in like an hour a week ago and I don’t proofread so this might be written horribly but I think it was done enough that I wanted to post it, so here it is.

Word Count: 1731

…

Tangled in the warmth of your bedsheets, body pressed against your girlfriend, you felt a calm unlike any other. Nat slept better with you, you knew that well, and so despite being an early riser yourself, you let her sleep, content to watch her in her few moments of true relaxation. Gently, you smoothed her hair back from her face as you watched the soft rise and fall of her chest, each breath precious to you. 

You wished she would just stay here forever, never return to the trailer haunted with ghosts of the past and tensions born of mistakes she had no hand in, but logically you knew she’d always go back. It was like she was drawn by some invisible string, tangling her in a web of awful memories and worse treatment, even when escape was less than a two minute walk from that damn cage.

Slowly, you felt her shift as she woke up, blinking sleep from her eyes as she looked up at you.

“G’morning,” You murmured.

“Morning,” Her voice was rough and thick with sleep, and so very beautiful.

“Now that you’re up, I’m gonna go make us some coffee, okay? I’ve been awake for, like, two hours now, and staying this still for any longer might kill me,” You grinned before shoving her off of you, standing with a quick peck to the top of her head. Nat flipped you off, grumbling as she sat up, before pushing her mussed up hair from her eyes. 

“Mhm, love you too,” you hummed before leaving your bedroom.

Your trailer wasn’t big nor well put together in any of the sense of the idea, however, the strange little tin can was nothing if not a truly comfortable home. Wall to wall was decked out in photos and trinkets collected over the years, and while the space was small and cluttered, it didn’t feel hostile. One wrong move wouldn’t set off a chain reaction of rage like you knew so many had grown to expect in their own homes. 

You wove through the cluttered kitchen, grumbling as you pushed your brother’s dirty dishes out of the way of the coffee maker. You loved him, he kept the whole damn place running, but god, James was a fucking disaster when it came to any form of organisation or basic cleanliness. The old coffee machine rattled and groaned each time you used it, begging for a well deserved death that you denied each time you slapped it back to life when it began to give out. It filled the little trailer with the smell of stale coffee - almost enough to cover the constant faint stench of weed, beer, and cigarettes lingering in the trailer - which was sure to draw Nat from her abode in your room, and despite his late shifts, your fiendish brother would demand coffee be made for him too, even if he didn’t wake up until three hours later once it was cold in the fridge. As the coffee maker whirred on in the background, you grabbed mugs from your cabinet, an old stained white one your brother used for everything, one that you think used to be red but had since faded to a strange brownish-orangey-pink that was questionable to look at, and your favourite mug, a chipped up old thing with blue flowers that you got for at a garage sale when you were 12 and had used religiously since.

Once the machine stopped its screaming, alerting you the coffee was done, you poured it out for each person, making it exactly as they liked. You loved days like these, peaceful domesticity where you didn’t have school or work or practice and only had to worry about making food or coffee, or what music to play. It made you feel halfway normal, not like the freak or burnout known at school, or the town queer, but instead as just a girl in love, and in these four walls you didn’t have to hide it, just like any other girl your age, with a family and a life and a future outside of this hellhole. You knew you were far from normal, at least by the standards of a place like fucking Wiskayok, but at least on days like this you felt like you were.

You were drawn from your thoughts as Nat emerged from your room, hair mussed and eyeliner from days of reapplying without ever removing any smudging her eyes. 

“I really oughtta get you some makeup remover of some kind. Or even just a fuckin’ cloth. You’re looking more like a raccoon everyday,” You muttered affectionately, smiling as you handed her the once-red mug.

She grumbled slightly, rolling her eyes as she sipped at the coffee, but she slowly shifted towards you, gravitating towards your body. A goddamn cat, James had called her when he first saw her act like this. You had to agree. There was an old black cat that used to live under your porch when you were a kid, long before ever moving here or meeting Nat, who would slink around and hiss at anyone who got too close, but once you’d offered it food and care, it would stay as close to your side as possible. She reminded you of that cat almost daily, but you’d never tell her that.

The two of you fell into an easy rhythm as you drank your coffees, with you preparing breakfast with the remainder of last week's groceries as Nat helped wash last night’s dishes, music blaring from your little old radio propped up on the counter. After you’d eaten and cleaned, you made it back to your room to get ready. You dressed in an old tank top and a ratty pair of jeans you stole from James, Nat in the same black jeans and striped shirt she wore constantly at your place, rings adorning her fingers and silver chains layered around her neck. She always looked more put together than you, even with choppy hair and day old makeup, and today was no different.

The day passed by slowly, baking in the heat of late spring since the damn A/C broke two months ago and you never got around to fixing it. Not like you had the money to spare, but it was still hell on earth. The trailer didn’t have a TV, never did. Ever since you moved to Wiskayok when you were 11, you had never had anything of the sort in your home. James said it was to keep you creative, force you to do something other than rot your brain, but you’d known even then that TV was expensive in a way you’d never be able to afford, especially with a 16 year old high school dropout as the only source of income. He was right though, it did keep you creative, and thank god for that fact.

You’d practiced on your guitar - one you found on garbage day walking around in a rich area, thrown out just for a couple scuffs and broken strings - until your fingers ached and you’d messed up enough chords that you and Nat were both laughing. James woke up well after lunch, somehow having slept through your playing. He still looked exhausted even after sleeping most of the day away, but a night shift would do that to you. You knew well, having spent most nights over the summer working until ungodly hours at the gas station or the corner store, depending on the day of the week. He left you a pack of cigarettes on the counter before he left for work, grumbling something about how they’d kill you, even though he smoked twice as much as you ever did. He’d do things like that every so often, a pack of cigarettes, some beer or vodka, or weed, thanks for what you did around the house while he was at work. You’d pay him back though, with random trinkets he collected or a book once your paycheck came through.

You let Nat have full control over what music played, knowing her mother was always screaming at her for being too loud if she ever played her music above a whisper pitch. As you cleaned or cooked, the low hum of whatever grunge or punk she’d put on provided some lovely background noise. In the spirit of domesticity, you found yourself prattling on about any nonsense you could think of, and eventually so was Nat, detailing stories from the soccer practices you’d had to miss or parties you’d never gone to. 

Once the hottest part of the day had passed, she dragged you outside to practice some passes or… something. You were never the greatest at sports but you loved her so you went along with it. She was dedicated in a way that her team never seemed to give her credit for, not that they ever thought she was anything but a dedicated player, but Nat had a reputation as a burnout that had a tendency to precede her, worming its way through the crevices in the brain of anyone who met her, leaving them to assume she didn’t care as much as the others. 

By the time the sun was going down, you were sitting out on the steps to the trailer door, passing a cigarette between the two of you. There was a beer balanced between your legs, one sat beside Nat as well, hot air causing the chilled bottles to weep condensation like tears.

“Do you think this is it?” She asked, voice hoarse.

“Hm?”

“This. Wiskayok. Doesn’t it ever feel like we’re just going to be here forever? Like it doesn’t get any better?”

“Fuckin’ existential, huh?” You huffed, taking a sip of your beer, “Nah, it’ll get better. The world just isn’t ready for us yet, so we’re stuck until then, y’know? Then, I don’t know, you’ll go pro, and I’ll get a job that isn’t at a damn gas station, or I’ll start selling crap to those rich fucks who pay premium to live the life of us burnouts they hate so much, and we’ll get outta here.”

“Yeah?” She laughed slightly, a short, hoarse, breathy sound, taking a drag off the cigarette, “Y’think?”

“Mhm,” You leaned your head on her shoulder, sighing softly, “And until then, we’ve always got each other.”

A/N: Thank you for reading! Any and all interactions are appreciated, please let me know if y'all want more of these characters or more similar fics!

[blu3ypetall]

𝐯𝐢 | 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

— CW ; A little bit of teen awkwardness.

— Synopsis ; Hiccup begins to garner his villages attention when the finals of dragon training come through, but he’s more focused on instead improving his bond with both Toothless and (Name). The both of them rarely spend time in the village, and encounter a few problems when Hiccup is learning to fly.

— Word Count ; 12025

Masterlist | CHAPTER XII — TBA

ᛊᚨᚠᚾᚨ ᛗᚨᚾᚠᛃᛟᛚᚦᚢᛗ

Metal clattered against stone in a loud crack of noise as a small trap door was shut, the swing of the hinge creaking as it swayed before a boot was placed upon it, effectively ceasing its movement. The leather held the dog-sized door down, and Hiccup looked up from the crusted surface, turning back to the amazed group behind him.

The Terrible Terror he'd just trapped made chitters from behind where it was now stuck again, showing off his feat. Those around stared at the boy with wonder, with only two exceptions being amongst the crowd. Astrid, who glared at him as if she wanted to gut him, and (Name), who smiled at him with a large grin, as she knew the origins of his trick.

It was a simple tactic, one they'd used on Toothless, and Hiccup had decided to mimic it in the ring. Using the metal ball in his shields centre, Hiccup had cast a tiny dot onto the floor like magic. The refracted light drew the small dragons attention, and just as Toothless had, it chased after it, crawling across the floor to retrieve the glowing spot.

With this, Hiccup had managed to coerce the dragon back into its cage, and now, he held his boot against the door to keep it inside, ending the training with one move and a cheeky grin.

"Woah— that was so cool!" Tuffnut jumped up, a large wicked grin cast across his face. The boy was uncharacteristically excited in the aftermath of the displayed skills, and understandably, the rest of the group had a flicker of surprise cross their faces, before divulging into different thought processes.

Hiccup — now swarmed by a group of four — was startled by the attention, his eyes rounding in a childish way and his own shoulders shrinking on their own. It was a sudden change, one that had been spurred into movement by the acquiring of skills. Fishlegs, the twins and Snotlout all crowded around the small boy, flocking like birds to seed.

"Yeah dude, I've never seen anyone do that! How'd you figure that out!?" Snotlout questioned, his voice filled with an unexpected tinge of both wonder and adoration. It was... a stark contrast from the norm, to say the very least. Hiccup's eyes roved the four surrounding him, before they peered through the gaps of their bodies to spot Astrid retreating and (Name) coming over to join the huddled crowd.

"That was really cool. I think so at least," (Name) spilled, initiating a throttle of compliments fuelled by her own, all directed towards Hiccup, not to mention questions following alongside.

"I didn't know Terrible Terrors were attracted to light... how did you figure it out!?" Fishlegs gaped in disbelief.

"You've gotta teach me that one," Snotlout placed a firm hand on the smaller boy's shoulder, the action intimate— almost something two close friends would do when joking around with one another. Hiccup cringed at the tight hold as Hiccup squeezed his shoulders.

"I uh— I'll tell you guys all about it while we leave," Hiccup smiled sheepishly, slipping himself out of Snotlout's hold and purposefully slinking through the gaps in the crowd to quickly speed towards the arenas exit. Of course, the others followed him— still pestering him with questions even as they exited the ring.

Bombarding queries followed him, landing somewhere along the lines of...

"I didn't read that in the book of dragons... how'd you find that out?!"

"Did you guess it? Or did you secretly take down a Terrible Terror!?"

"Come on Hiccup— tell us! I wanna do that, it was so cool!"

They kept smothering the smaller of the lot, even as they began to walk across the bridge back to the mainland of Berk— where Hiccup suddenly stopped walking, a crooked smile forming on his face awkwardly.

"Uhm... I uh, left my axe back in the ring. But— I'll tell you guys all about it at dinner!" Hiccup suddenly cleared his throat, taking a step backwards as a few curious glances trailed behind him. Yet, they didn't have time to linger for long as Hiccup suddenly turned tail and ran, rushing back to 'grab his axe'.

(Name) watched him with a curious eye, almost falling for the same bluff before she caught onto the underlying meaning. 'Back in the ring', while usable as a term to refer to the arena, between the two, it meant the ring of walls that surrounded Toothless in the cove.

Ah, he was trying to slip away, albeit rather sloppily.

(Name) cast a glance back at the others, clearing her throat. "Ah, I'll go help him find it. Y'know how clumsy Hiccup can be when he misplaces things..? Right?" She sheepishly smiled, taking her own few steps back before waving and turning around into her own sprint across the slippery wooden boards of the bridge.

Snotlout blinked, his eyebrow raising.

Ruffnut placed her hands on her hips, a slight pout forming. "Awh... I wanted to get private lessons from (Name)," she whined, crying to the others surrounding her. They turned to her with curious gazes.

"What?" She snapped, defensively huffing in their direction.

"You guys didn't know? That's obviously why Hiccup is getting so good and they've both been gone together! She's obviously teaching him how to kill dragons!" Ruffnut pointed out, clicking her finger in the direction of the constantly disappearing duo.

"I thought Hiccup just had cancer," Tuffnut shrugged.

"Why on earth would he have cancer?!" Snotlout shook his head, smacking Tuffnut harshly upside the head.

"Ow! Hey— that hurt," Tuffnut stumbled back, one hand coming up to clutch his now reddening chin as the blood rushed to the injured area. "..."

"Do it again."

"You're such a weirdo—" Snotlout gagged, sneering at Tuffnut as he pleaded for Snotlout to hit him once more.

.

"Hiccup, please never get kidnapped and interrogated."

"...uh, I wasn't planning on it?" Hiccup turned to the girl who walked side by side with him, his brows twitching at the sudden plea from her end of the conversation. "Why... is this being brought up?" He cocked his head, his question laced with an uncertainty.

(Name) sighed, her eyes rolling instinctively before she craned her neck to look at Hiccup. "Because, you're a terrible liar," she pointed out, jutting a finger loosely at his chest, her hand just barely brushing the fur of his vest.

" 'I left my axe back in the ring'. What kind of excuse is that? I told my mother better lies whenever I ate all the dessert," she snorted, retracting her hand to cross it over her chest.

"Well— it's all I could think of! Plus, the only one smart enough there to get suspicious is Fishlegs, and he probably wouldn't care that much anyway," Hiccup shrugged, pursing his lips and facing forwards again.

"It was still dumb. At least try to make it believable next time," she huffed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay— what would you say then?" Hiccup looked to her from his peripheral.

"...that's a really good question," she pressed her lips into a thin line.

"See! Even you can't think of anything!" He elbowed her— yet not in the manner as if he were retaliating against someone who'd insulted him, rather in the way that two friends would casually play-fight with one another. A childishly intimate touch that didn't quite register as what it was intended to be.

"Well I'd be able to think of something, just give me a second," she elbowed him back, her action holding the same unsaid fondness his did.

"..."

"One—"

"No!" (Name) suddenly twisted on her heel, slapping her hand over his mouth in a rush, causing both of them to stop in the middle of a few brambles.

"Don't even start," she hissed, trying to hold an intimidating glance, yet accidentally letting the smallest slink of a grin slip through her irritated facade.

Hiccup reached up a hand, gripping her wrist and attempting to pry it from his mouth. "Mmh—!" Whatever cries he tried to reason with became muffled, the both of them determined to keep their stances.

"You lost your speaking privileges mister!" (Name) proclaimed, her declaration firm as a small laugh slipped through her voice, the smaller slink of joy being a dead giveaway to the less intense gravity of the moment.

"You don't get them back until— eww!" (Name) suddenly reeled her hand back as if she'd been stung, immediately wiping her palm off on her clothes with a sneer, her nose turning upwards in disgust.

"Did you just lick me!?" She gasped, staring at Hiccup with wide eyes.

"You wouldn't let go," Hiccup shrugged, turning away and beginning to walk forwards once more.

"You're disgusting," she grumbled, wiping her hand again as she came to join him in their trek through the forest once again.

"I wouldn't be disgusting if you didn't stop me from speaking," Hiccup chimed back.

(Name) rolled her eyes again.

"Okay mr. Sassy," she mocked, shaking her head and pressing her lips down again.

Silence rained down, only the soft sound of icicles chiming against one another as they swayed on the edges of leaves filling the quiet.

The day was peaceful, snow covering the ground at a comfortable height and the sky clear of clouds, the cold of the wind swept up from the ground being cancelled out by the sun that beamed down.

It was warm, and the birds seemed to think so too as more seemed to appear. Some danced from branch to branch, chirping their songs— others perched on leaves and simply sat in a heavy spot of sun, basking themselves as they puffed up their feathers.

The snow beneath the duos feet crunched softly, some stray rocks that were buried beneath the layer of frost cracking under the pressure with every footfall.

"I'm gonna beat you there," (Name) suddenly said— and at the same time she rushed forwards, her feet heavy against the slippery ground as she darted past Hiccup, intending to make it to the cove before he did.

Hiccup jolted as (Name) rushed past him in a blur, her declaration taking a few moments to settle and process in his mind. He spluttered for a second, watching her figure grow father before spurring himself into a run right behind her.

He wasn't one to be competitive, since he'd usually lose at whatever he tried to compete in, but what was the harm in a little race on some slippery ice? Nothing!

"Get back here!" Hiccup couldn't help the small smile that crawled onto his face as he raced after (Name), his own legs, while being short, moved rather fast against the slippery ground of melted and slushing ice grains.

"Nuh uh! I'm beating you! Why would I slow down!" (Name) shouted at him without looking back, her own pace continuing even as her breath grew raggedy within the icy tipped air, the back of her mouth burning with every inhale.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes, his jaw gritting as he realised that he wasn't keeping pace all too well.

"Oh— come on! Woah— wait! Ow!" Hiccup cursed as his boot caught on a stray branch, causing him to go sprawling forwards onto the ground, hard. He landed with a heavy thud, wincing and reaching for his ankle.

"Ow..." he hissed again, pushing himself to sit up as he glanced down towards his foot. On the outside, it didn't seem all too bad.

Though, up ahead, (Name) had heard his call— and she glanced back, still not slowing her pace, yet upon spotting the sight of a collapse Hiccup, snow covering his clothes from where he tumbled, she slowed, considering whether or not this was a trick.

"You okay?" She called, wondering if he was just playing with her.

Hiccup didn't answer back, far too busy focusing on staring at his ankle— which didn't look that bad from afar, but then again... if Hiccup did actually injure himself, that wouldn't really be good for anyone.

Bitting her tongue, (Name) turned to jog back over to where Hiccup had fallen, crouching down beside him.

"You okay?" She peered over him, glancing down towards where he clutched at his leg. Again, she wasn't a medical expert of any sorts, only knowing the basics of how to heal a common cold, but his leg looked fine.

"No, I think I—" Hiccup's hands retreated from his leg. "Sprained my ankle!" He suddenly shouted, his form springing up with momentum he gained from pushing (Name) over into the snow, face first.

She yelped as he landed into the snow, quickly pulling herself back up as she heard the sound of Hiccup sprinting away quickly. She wiped snow from her face, the cold stinging her skin painfully.

"You little—" she craned her neck, seeing the large head start Hiccup had gained. She couldn't let him gain any further ground. Quickly pushing herself up without a care for the snow hugging her, she slipped her first few steps before starting up in a sprint after the running boy.

"That's cheating!" She cried as she chased after him.

"I didn't know there were any rules!" Hiccup laughed, smiling triumphantly as he saw the cove up ahead, quickly shifting his course so that he swiftly slipped through the rocks opening and tumbled to the coves insides.

Behind him, (Name) followed quickly after, a defeated slump to her shoulders as she joined him in the coves belly.

"Looks like I win," Hiccup boasted with a crooked smirk.

"You only won because you cheated," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away from him pettily.

"It's not cheating if it wasn't specified that I couldn't do it," Hiccup shrugged nonchalantly, still prideful over his win against her.

"Yes it is—" (Name) turned back to him, only to be tackled by a black blur. She cried as she was suddenly crushed by an eight-hundred kilogram dragon. The onyx scaled animal rested atop her, saddle still strapped to his back.

"Toothless, hey!" She wheezed, a small smile cracking on her face as Toothless greeted her with a hard tackle, the dragon clearly happy to see her back. Toothless sniffed her, his pupils wide as he decided to lay down full fully, encapsulating (Name) in a hug of his own.

Hiccup watched the scene with shock, jaw dropped as he saw his 'own' dragon choose to greet (Name) instead of him. "Toothless! What is this favouritism!" Hiccup pouted, crossing his arms over his chest as he scowled.

"I'm just better, suck on that," (Name) stuck her tongue out at him, a teasing look on her face as she happily returned Toothless' affections with scratches on the scales under his many ear plates.

Toothless rumbled, and in his moment of joy another figure joined the fray. Tiny and blue, yet much bigger than when she'd first appeared from the shells of an egg. Shocker crawled out from under Toothless' tucked wing, coming to join the hug.

(Name) smiled as her own companion came to join the 'group' hug. "Hello to you too Shocker, did you guys miss me?" She held a purposefully gleeful smile, seeing the pouty stance of Hiccup who still stood off to the side with crossed arms.

"I feel like this is targeted," Hiccup grumbled, shifting his weight to one foot.

"No, it's karma. Big difference," (Name) hummed from her spot on the floor, hugging both dragons as best as she could from her compromised position.

"It wasn't cheating! You're just easy to fool," Hiccup turned, forcibly staring out over the frosted lake that the cove held in its grasp. The foliage that had once surrounded it was now gone, reduced to sodden ashes in the midst of Berk's cold.

When Hiccup had first found this place, with Toothless trapped in the middle— which just so happened to be... almost a month ago — it was blooming with a brimming green, brambles sprouting outwards from crevices and fish swimming leisurely beneath the waters surface, oblivious to the shadow that lurked above.

Now, it was decked with snow, leaves fallen and twigs dried with ice as if it had almost been frozen in time. The fish were no longer clearly visible from the surface, and a soft breeze would occasionally sweep in to brush against Hiccup when the ocean rocked in the distance.

"Okay, Toothless I actually need to get up now— the snow is soaking my clothes," (Name's) voice called Hiccup's attention, causing the boy to turn back as he saw her attempting to wriggle from it from beneath Toothless.

Toothless huffed through his nose, yet the dragon reluctantly lifted himself from the girl beneath him and trotted away, the tiny little blue Shocker still clinging to his back.

(Name) wiped the snow from her clothes, dusting herself off before glancing back to Hiccup. "You gonna stop sulking?" She quirked a brow.

"I'm not sulking," Hiccup denied, shrugging his shoulders.

"You so are! You're just mad Toothless loves me more," again with the teasing, (Name) felt the need to garner anything over Hiccup after her loss. She wasn't willing to end on an uneven note.

"He doesn't love you more. I'm the one who flies with him. Plus, he'll probably love me even more after today," Hiccup snorted.

"Oh yeah? Why's that? You got some treats for him or something? Gonna bribe your own dragon?"

"No. I'm going to try flying without the rope," Hiccup reached into the inside of his vest, removing a small parchment he'd tucked inside and holding it up once he'd fished it out.

It was worn and old, just like all other paper on Berk, some drops of some kind of liquid lingering on the paper, likely originating from when the paper was originally made— but the contents written onto the paper were more intriguing then its state of being.

Charcoal had been nearly sketched, smudged and blended together to form what seemed to be a diagram of some kind, different columns and rows all holding a drawing of what seemed to be Toothless' mechanical tail fin in different states. Some with one fin closed, others with both open:

(Name) had seen this paper before, Hiccup had invented it after struggling to figure out how to operate Toothless' tail— only now, Hiccup revealed it along with a proclamation, a clear determination lingering within the small yet daring boy.

Contemplative silence stewed, one that had (Name) scrutinising Hiccup for seconds as she processed what he'd just stated her attempt.

"Already? You've only been flying for just over a week, don't you think you should practice a little more?" She narrowed her eyes, seeming unsure about the prospect.

Her lips twisted downwards into a frown, an obvious worry and unsettling sensation coursing through her as she thought about the dangers that may lurk higher up in the sky where the clouds called home.

What if he fell? What if the tail suddenly stopped working? It's not as if she doubted Hiccup's smith abilities, it was more so she doubted the safety of being thousands of yaks high into the air.

What if he got flown into the sun by Toothless? What if Toothless decided to fly him off the edge of the world—? That would mean she'd never see Hiccup again! And that he'd die... she couldn't accept that happening, as much as she'd keep it to herself.

"I'll be fine, plus... I think I've gotten pretty good at controlling Toothless' tail fin," Hiccup shrugged, sureness practically oozing off of him. He sure was determined to get out there on the actual open skies instead of lurking above a cliffs surface.

A fools errand in (Name's) opinion.

"Well— just do one more flight test above the cliff before you do. What if the tail stops working?" (Name) ushered, nodding up to the crevice of where the coves exit lie.

"It'll be fine," Hiccup tried to protest again, but a stern glare of crossed arms from (Name) made him close his mouth with a dejected sigh.

"Fine... I'll do one more flight test," Hiccup muttered, glancing over his shoulder to see Toothless lying down again.

"Toothless! Time to practice flying again!"

At the word 'flying', Toothless' head shot up, that word being one that he'd come to recognise and associate with stretching his very own wings and being able to feel the breeze between his scales again. Toothless jolted up roughly, almost knocking Shocker from his back in the process of running over to Hiccup.

Hiccup almost snorted at the 'charming' display.

"Yeah bud, calm down... now, let's go," Hiccup waved them both after him as he went first towards the crevice, slipping through it easily— both (Name) and Toothless following behind him.

.

"Okay... just one more test," Hiccup nodded from the back of Toothless, sending a glance over to (Name) — who was currently cradling Shocker in her arms again as she watched Hiccup with a careful eye — then making sure the rope was properly secured to Toothless' saddle.

He checked the coils; the wires, anything he could check up on at all— he checked it, at (Name's) demanded request of course. He himself wasn't too worried about the tail failing, more than informed enough about his own mechanism, but she had practically forced him to do one more trial one before becoming 'suicidal', as she'd put it.

The leather was still in shape, and all the metal parts were still sliding smoothly between their conjoined counterparts— the saddle and tail fin wouldn't likely need a tuning for another good long while, and that was a thanks to Hiccup's own genius.

The wind howled softly, lying flat against the world before it picked up, finally releasing itself from its waiting position. Toothless felt it and instinctively his wings unfurled, cupping the air beneath his span and allowing it to guide both him and Hiccup just a few feet off of the ground as they'd done so many times.

It was much smoother than the first time, no nervous shaking or uncoordinated movements. No. Instead, Hiccup was practiced in how he controlled Toothless' tail, his foot flickering between positions using the stirrup he'd crafted.

By now, it was almost instinctual, except he still needed to remind himself of the correct tail positions a few times— causing him and Toothless to fumble a few seconds, earning a grumble from the dragon.

"Sorry... still getting used to it," Hiccup jumbled low, just loud enough for Toothless to hear, but soft enough for the wind to carry his voice in the opposite direction of the watchful girl, not wanting her to hear his unsureness.

Quickly recovering, Hiccup and Toothless resumed their hovering, the occasional flap of Toothless' wings keeping them upheld in the air whenever the wind would get a little too soft to keep them afloat.

Hiccup smiled as his foot rotated again, the gears of the saddle clicking with the movement whilst the wind changed speeds. He was finally getting the hang of it— so all he needed to do was land now and...

The wind howled louder as it suddenly picked up, growing a little too close to being a repeat of the very first time he had attempted to fly on the back of Toothless. "Woah!" Hiccup yelped as the sounds of snapping twine reached his ears, adrenaline beginning to flood his system.

The rope— not again.

With a loud crack, like lightning striking, the rope cracked apart, sending both Toothless and Hiccup flying back. Again. It was an exact repeat of the very first time they'd flown. Did the gods not want him to fly solo either..?

Hiccup yelled in pain as he was split from Toothless, ending up somewhere buried in a field of... grass?

Hiccup blinked, registering the sight before his very eyes. Stems of a strangely sage coloured grass poked from the snow cover, as if it were immune to the cold of the weather. The stalks were small, but they were there.

Nevermind, some grass wasn't the most important thing... he was more focused on the sharp pain jolting through his ribs.

Hiccup hissed through his teeth as he sat up, adjusting his scarf as it had been ruffled in the aftermath of of his roughened tumble— the red dusted with snow and dirt as he re-wrapped it around his neck.

"Hiccup! You all good!" (Name) called out to him as she ran over, clear concern on her face as Shocker hung over her shoulder.

She quickly spotted Hiccup in the snow, dashing over to his sitting form with an uncanny speed. "See— you're an idiot, that's why I wanted you to take a test flight!" She huffed harshly, yet despite her scolding words she still extended a hand out towards him, offering her palm to help him up.

"It was the rope... not the saddle," Hiccup used one hand to brush snow out of his hair while the other took her hand, letting her pull him to his feet and help steady himself.

"Still. You need something to keep you on the saddle, what if you fall off out there?" She frowned.

"Fine... fine, I'll make a hook or something, but for now—" Hiccup went to turn to find Toothless, only to get accidentally yanked as he realised his and (Name's) hands were still clasped together.

They both froze, red rising to their cheeks in sync.

"Oh I—"

"Uhm uh, thanks for helping me up," Hiccup cleared his throat awkwardly as they both retreated their hands, neither of them making a move to shift any further as they both stood embarrassed.

"It's... no problem," (Name) muttered, looking away nervously.

"I uh— I'm gonna check up on Toothless," Hiccup coughed, pointing to where there was a clear trail of where the dragon fell.

Oh yeah, Toothless!

"Oh, crap! Toothless," (Name) suddenly remembered the dragon had also fallen with Hiccup, and while Toothless' bones likely weren't as brittle or fragile, having the hardened steel of dragon genetics, there was no telling how hard the dragon had fallen.

Both teens rushed after the trail that told the story of where the dragon fell, following it around a few trees to find Toothless in a clearing in the forest.

"Toothless—!" Hiccup called, only to stop as he saw the weird scene playing before him.

Toothless seemed fine, in a sense, but for some reason he was... nuzzling the floor? The way he purred and flopped, as if the ground was some kind of giant teddy bear. "Uh, what's he doing?" (Name) leaned towards Hiccup, both looking towards Toothless with a grimace.

"I... don't know," Hiccup tilted his head, then he took a slow step forward. It was soft, cautious as he tried to peer into what Toothless was nuzzling against, that's when he saw it— the likely cause of the dragons sudden affection towards the dirt.

The same grass that Hiccup had found himself landing in, it seems Toothless had also found himself piled in. While the quantity wasn't large, Toothless was all over it, almost as if he were addicted. It honestly looked like when the older Vikings would get their hands on Meade.

Except, Toothless didn't have grubby grease slathered hands or a beard with food chunks stuck to it— only the symptoms of being unusually smitten in the presence of the herb.

Hiccup stopped about five paces from Toothless, crouching down to the ground where he found his own patch of the strange nip of grass. He reached for it, plucking a few strands of it from the ground with his fingers, the grass slipping from the snow easily.

Hiccup observed it carefully in his hand, looking between the grass and the still rolling Toothless.

"Grass?" (Name) crouched beside Hiccup, looking curiously at the grass Hiccup now held, Shocker also seemed intrigued by it. The small terror leaned over her shoulder, nostrils flaring as it tried to determine what the grass could be, curious.

Yet, it seems the grass didn't only have a strange affect on Toothless, because the moment Shocker managed to catch a whiff of it, the Terror was all over the strange herb, and I mean all over it. Rolling, purring, trying to snatch it from Hiccup's hands, to which he narrowly dodged. It was as if the grass held some kind of strange effect over the dragons.

"Oi! Settle down," (Name) struggled to hold the energetic terror to her chest, attempting to save Hiccup from the storm that was its newfound energy.

"This... stuff, it's making the dragons go crazy— yet, docile, at the same time," Hiccup hummed, turning his hand over to observe all signs of the stems. It seemed normal, just like regular grass, except for the fact it was still sprouting in winter and the fact its blades were thin and almost sharp, like a blade.

"Yeah, kinda like cat nip, but for dragons," (Name) snorted, glancing to Toothless.

Both (Name) and Hiccup suddenly paused before slowly turning to one another, a moment of realisation seeming to hit them as their minds synced with one another.

"Dragon-nip!"

.

"Come on lads! From here on out yer lot'll start getting eliminated!" Gobber chanted, his words attempting to be some kind of motivating speech as he watched the kids scramble around in the arena once again.

Back to the Gronkle, that's where they'd circled in their training. They'd done two whole rounds of every single dragon—minus the Monstrous Nightmare—and finally they were on the third round, which was when the finals began to actually creep in.

Starting from here on out, it wasn't training anymore, it was a test of your wits and skills, it was a competition to see who the best prodigy out of them all would end up being. They'd had weeks of preparation, and now it was time to put it to the test.

Shields, blades, all of them were just tools that if you didn't know how to use properly— you would fail horribly.

"Four shots left..." Astrid whispered, her tone determined and strengthened by her own passion for winning. Her axe was held in her hand, a warriors grip keeping it tightly in her hold, and her shield, held in the other— a defensive mechanism to save her from potentially garnering more injuries than needed.

A scar was a testament to your bravery, a physical record of your feats, but too many shouted of your weakness, of your inability to protect yourself.

"Four shots left," she repeated, peering out from behind her planked coverage just in time to see an unlucky Fishlegs be shot right in his shield by the Gronckle.

"Fishlegs! Out!"

"Make that three," she corrected, making sure to stay hidden as best as she could whilst she watched her remaining 'comrades'—rivals— fight for their own stance in dragon training.

Fishlegs, the first to get out, that means he was eliminated from here on out. That also meant she was safe— but, she wasn't going to slack off just because of that. That was the cowards way of winning.

No. She was going to show the audience that had begun to accumulate that she was the one who deserved to slay the dragon, that she was the prodigy who would rise to the status of a shield maiden all on her own. She'd prove that she'd be more capable than anyone in this ring.

Not even (Name) was going to be safe from her competitive nature this time around.

She watched the Gronckle closely, not letting her eyes stray from it— not for a second. She didn't even let her eyes flicker away as it suddenly began to head for Hiccup.

Its wings buzzed like that of a bees, quick and furious as its maw opened. Bright orange blazed from the inside, and that familiar sizzling pop of igniting gas crackled as it prepared to shoot out a blazing ball.

Ugh... Astrid cursed Fishlegs mentally for getting out first. If he hadn't, then Hiccup would have been eliminated right— huh?

The Gronckle suddenly dropped to the floor, following the direction of Hiccup's awkward hand gestures as it suddenly rolled over, tail... wagging happily? And fire immediately keeling into magma that drooled from the sides of its mouth.

The ring went silent, everyone staring in shock at the Gronckle that was so suddenly subdued by none other than the runt Hiccup himself.

Of course, the rumours of Hiccup's sudden proficiency in the ring were unheard, but how could anyone believe them... until now? Astrid blinked, her anger slowly boiling up as she prepared herself to say something, evacuating her hiding spot.

"Yeah—! Go Hiccup!" (Name) cheered before Hiccup could say anything, and her words of encouragement caused everyone around to erupt into cheers. It wasn't that many people, just the dozen adults that came to watch and the rest of the training group, but it was enough to stump Astrid.

She froze in her step, her shield almost falling from her palm in shock.

Astrid flickered her eyes to (Name), meeting the other girls gaze.

They connected eyes, stared for a bit before (Name) gulped visibly, obviously tense and then looked away— bringing her smile back up as she went over to join the group who'd begun praising Hiccup, the commotion moving away from the unconscious Gronckle that Gobber had begun to take back to its cage.

Something inside Astrid ticked in indignation as she got a first row seat to the show of (Name's) gall. In three weeks, three short damn weeks— her best friend had gone from being attached to her side, to following around a boy like no tomorrow.

Is this what those older women talked about when they mentioned how their friends would grow distant once they had... a lover? Astrid almost gagged, her fists clenching into a ball at just the mere thought of the two together.

She couldn't fathom the possibility, it was just so out of reach in her eyes. How... how had (Name) upped and left her so quickly...? What did Hiccup have that she didn't..? She could fight better than him, she'd been friends with (Name) her whole life... the only upside she could acknowledge that Hiccup held over her was... intelligence.

But intelligence wasn't revered, not like strength was. Sure, intelligence was a great trait to have, the ability to outthink another was something to boast pridefully over, but strength had always been held at a higher scale— it had always been weighed in a finer gold than intellect had. So why... why? Why would that be the reason (Name) had left her?

It couldn't have been. There must be another reason.

Astrid didn't know what, didn't know why or how— but she was going to find out just why (Name) liked Hiccup so much, and she was going to one up that troll in every skill he had. She would prove she was worth it.

.

"You're sure Gobber won't be in today?" (Name) whispered to Hiccup cautiously, the two slinking into the closed off back of the forge in a hidden silence. Their moments of stealth were shoddy ones, skills sloppy and unrefined altogether, but they were careful nonetheless as they attempted to slip into the forge undetected.

"Yeah, it's his off day, he's probably gonna drink Meade in the forge," Hiccup nodded, being far more confident in his step as he careful shut the forges windows from below the counters, praying no Viking noticed the forge window shutting 'on its own'.

The light let inside from the outer quarters was soon shut away, enveloping the inside of the forge in a darker atmosphere that was only illuminated by the subtle glow of the still brimming fire of the gurgling forge, wrapped in cobble.

(Name) stood up once all the windows were closed, allowing herself to freely move around once privacy was guaranteed.

She swiftly shifted around the inner workings of the forge, now formally acquainted with most other of the tools inside. While she may not be able to use them herself, she could surely still identify what they were, what they were for and where they were placed.

"So... you just need to finish the hooks so you don't fall off?" She hummed, running her fingers along the top of the serving counters, feeling the grained wood texture beneath the pads of her fingertips.

"Actually... I've already finished those," Hiccup walked over to one of the counters with a cupboard below— pulling it open and revealing the completed 'hooks' they'd discussed making just in case he almost fell off of Toothless.

They were crafted with a precisely formulated iron at either end, either of them being identical— and through the middle, leather wrapped around the middle, making the material both flexible yet sturdy at the same time.

"So... why are we here then?" (Name) tilted her head, curiosity buzzing under her skin.

"I've had another project I've been working on secretly, without you or Gobber knowing," Hiccup revealed, turning to walk into his personal back room— that of which had become dedicated to him and him only.

All his plans and sketches lie within, not even Gobber entered the area, though, that was more so because Gobber had proclaimed he didn't want to enter 'Hiccup's brooding room', which was... an interesting thing to call Hiccup's own back office.

(Name) followed after Hiccup, slipping past the barrier of cloth that blocked the view and taking a glimpse around the rather small room.

The roof wasn't exactly all that tall, only reaching a head higher than her own head did— and the perimeter of it all was also quite quaint, squished down and filled with all sorts of clutter that seemed to be Hiccup's failed experiments.

(Name) glanced around in a subtle amazement, her eyes prancing over bola designs, attempts at crafting weapons— and then... a desk Hiccup stood before. He was now sat in the chair, his back turned to her.

She didn't really pay much attention to him for a moment, more focused on the display of his genius that was parchments stuck up to the wall for 'all' to see. Drawings of Toothless, Shocker... all so detailed and accompanied by a design for some sort of mechanism.

For Toothless, his paintings of charcoal were smudged alongside diagrams of his mechanical tail and his saddle. For Shocker, a... harness with a satchel was drawn beside the little Terrible Terror.

Hiccup had been attempting to design something for Shocker? (Name) looked to Hiccup who was watching her observe the designs, and when he noticed her attention was back on him, he cleared his throat, his actions antsy and nervous.

"Uh... I've been working on a project, for Shocker. I thought it might be a nice surprise," He shrugged, fiddling with something in his hands.

(Name) looked down to what he held, taking the time to actually look at what he'd crafted.

It was almost an identical match to the harness that was drawn out in the plans... only this in person version seemed much more fresh and refined in its style. Two small saddle backs were attached to either side, and a small loop for something to potentially hook onto was embedded into the leather.

It was so... polished and— (Name) felt her heart swell as she looked at it, the mere sight of the gift causing her throat to begin tightening whilst a smile took hold of her face. Her limbs grew queasy with gratitude, and she had malfunctioned for a moment as she tried to figure out what to say in response.

Hiccup had made this... just for Shocker? Sure, it wasn't a gift for her, but Shocker was her dragon— and for him to make something like this just for her dragon, it was a thought that made her giddy.

"I— you made that...? For Shocker?" She vocalised her thoughts, praying that he nodded in reply.

"Yeah..." Hiccup smiled awkwardly, standing up from the seat as he took a step closer, holding out the harness to (Name) as if to display his handiwork. "It's a harness, uh— obviously, but, I gave it two bags on the side to carry things... and this loop here," Hiccup pointed to the loop (Name) had noticed.

"It's to put letters in, just to make sure they don't fall out. I thought that... since Terror's were so small, it would be a cool idea to test, y'know? And uh, even if the letter idea doesn't work, you can still attach anything to it that you want," Hiccup smiled sheepishly, his hands obviously quivering as he extended the harness further towards (Name), this time offering her to take it.

(Name) took it from him gently, being sure to remain careful as to not add any imperfections to the absolute perfection that she saw his work as.

"It's— I..." she couldn't seem to gather the rights words to say, and Hiccup faltered as he realised that she might not appreciate it as much as he thought she would.

"Sorry, I probably should've asked if you even wanted me to make this," Hiccup shrugged, fiddling with his hands as he looked away sheepishly, a subtle blush dusting his cheeks.

"No! No, it's fine Hiccup! I love it! You really made this just for Shocker?" (Name) assured him otherwise, still reeling in surprise at the gift that he'd likely put sweat and hard work into.

She didn't exactly know how hard smithing could be, but she had a strong bet that if she attempted to make the same craft he'd given her— that she would end up making something completely laughable. So for him to put his skills to use in favour of her, she felt her heart begin to race.

"Yeah, I did. Y'know, since Toothless had a saddle, I thought Shocker might need one too," he nodded, his smile returning as he forced his own eyes to meet (Name's) again. They both went silent.

Not in an uncomfortable way though, but rather in a way where there were too many sentiments to be said all at once— leaving them both confounded and stumbling as they tried to find a way to continue the conversation.

"Thank you," (Name's) suddenly murmured, feeling her own heart stutter in its beat again.

"It's uh, really no problem. It just wanted to do something for you," Hiccup shrugged her appraisal off, his shoulders hunching as he attempted to flush away his fluster that was only growing more intense by the moment.

Silence again, yet the mood change once more. Contemplative. That's what it was.

Suddenly, in a quick movement, (Name) pulled Hiccup close and enveloped him in a hug. She held him tight, squeezing the poor stumped boy against her.

Hiccup wheezed as he was suddenly embraced, not prepared for the sudden strong display of affection thrown his way. He blinked to regain cognitive control a few times, and that was when he realised his position.

He was overlooking (Name's) shoulder, the girl having pulled him close and leaning her head over his shoulder. Hiccup stayed frozen for a moment— only spurred to move when he felt (Name's) hands retreating.

He suddenly hugged her back, returning the embrace that she had given in, but this time— he sent in her way tenfold.

He felt... weird, not in the queasy way like before, or in the drowning way he usually felt when his attempts at creating weapons were belittled— but rather, in a grateful way, in a surprised way. In the way where a child experienced something for the first time.

Hearing his creations being so praised, his inventions and his hard work being thanked, it was something he hadn't experienced before.

Usually he'd get scolded, told he'd injure someone or destroy something— but (Name) didn't do that. She didn't tell him he wasted his time, nor that he shouldn't have even bothered or that she didn't like his gift.

No. She didn't do any of that. She did the exact opposite and more.

She praised his work, told him that she loved the gift, and then hugged him. It seemed like a small gesture at a first glance. A hug was a greeting, a formal move that most engaged in— but this one... was a genuine thanks, a reciprocation of gratitude.

This was a hug full of warmth and pure love. Take that in any way you wish.

Hiccup felt his heart sweep strangely as conflicted emotions arose from the deep. He was happy, grateful that someone liked his work... but he was also solemn and somber, wondering when the last time someone hugged him out of pure affection was.

Even his own father— while certainly caring in his own way— hadn't given him such a hug since he was but a babbling tot. He truly couldn't remember the last time he'd been embraced so genuinely, and that made it all the more better when the hug extended on for longer than it should have.

Though, it of course had to end— and it was both of them who ended it, either of them nervously stepping back.

"Sorry—" the uttered in sync.

Both of them froze, their faces turning redder.

"I mean, no— ugh!" Their words kept spilling out at the same time, and it was only when (Name) took a deep breath to ease her emotions did their synchronised stuttering come to an end. "Uhm... wanna go see if Shocker likes it?" (Name) smiled awkwardly, holding up the harness Hiccup had made.

Hiccup's blush disappeared and he nodded— then, they disappeared.

.

It's turns out that while Shocker didn't exactly mind the harness, she didn't seem to like it either. She struggled to walk around for the first few minutes with it on, the same way Toothless had fumbled when he wore his saddle for the very first time.

Was being unable to walk with something on their back just a dragon thing or did all creatures do this? She'd never seen a yak get disturbed when a human would attempt to saddle it in a wacky turn of events, so perhaps this behaviour was reserved for the dragons only.

The little Terror stumbled throughout her steps, even flopping over at one point, but by the time the sun had gone to set— she'd gotten the hang of it, walking around properly, only a small stutter to her step to show that the harness was quite new.

But alas, the moments of relishing in the laughter that was shared when watching Shocker stumble as she attempted to get used to the harness dried up, and when the sun began to meet the horizon— the two knew it was time to go back to the hall otherwise the questions would only grow.

So, rushing back as to make it before night fully encapsulated the world, Hiccup and (Name) just barely managed to reach the hall's doors with a scrape of time left on their side. They could hardly see, but the village was easy to pinpoint with the torches lighting up their way.

Hiccup came to the hall door first, leaning his shoulder against it as he pushed the heavy door open. (Name) followed after him inside.

The hall was still filled with the same Vikings, yet it was depleted in crowd density as those sent away on the trip still weren't back. So, under the flickering firelight, Hiccup and (Name) headed to grab their fetch of the prepared 'feast'.

Trays were in their hands, a choice of chicken and or roasted cod split between them both as water was gifted for their drink. They both walked besides one another while chatting softly, eager to continue their conversations, yet no so eager for anyone else to eaves drop on those conversations.

When they came closer to the table where the others in their class sat, (Name) almost natively diverted her feet to trail off and go sit with them, but when Hiccup didn't, and instead walked right past the table to sit at the next one over, she turned again, following beside him.

They both sat down at the table next to each other, placing their trays down and settling themselves on the bench seats comfortably.

"So... what if— we start training uh... y'know in letter delivery?" (Name) leant over to Hiccup, keeping her voice low as she suggested yet another idea to implement with the addition of Shocker's new saddle.

"Like, we can send letters to one another?" (Name) continued, refining her definition.

Hiccup hummed thoughtfully, picking at a scrap of the chicken on his plate. He was contemplating it. "Yeah, we could try," he shrugged, the cogs turning in his head as he thought deeply about the proposition.

"What'cha talking about?"

Both Hiccup and (Name) jumped in their seats, looking up to see not only Ruffnut—who'd spoken— at the other side of the table, but literally the rest of the hall surrounding them. It was... intimidating to say the least.

(Name) nor Hiccup hadn't even noticed the others surround them, they hadn't even noticed when Snotlout sat at their table! It was either Vikings were growing extremely stealthy, or they were simply too enveloped in their conversation to notice them all flock around them.

"Uh..." Hiccup glanced at the beady eyes surrounding him, each of which were eager for answers. His fingers began to softly tap against the table. "Training... tactics?" Hiccup still sounded unsure in his answer, but he didn't fumble as much as he had this morning— instead more solidified in the lie he told.

Ruffnut leapt up from her seat, her hands slamming loudly against the table. "Hah! I knew it— you owe me ten gold!" The blonde jabbed a finger at Snotlout, to which the stocky Viking was grimacing as he fetched a roll of coins from the pocket of his pants, pulling them out and dumping the ordered amount in Ruffnut's hands.

"I still think it's cancer," Snotlout huffed, to which he received weird looks.

"Uh, what are you guys talking about?" (Name) decided to question the strange exchange, her eyes nervously floating between everyone that surrounded them.

"Me and Snotlout had a bet on why you and Hiccup were hanging out together so much. I bet (Name) was training you, that's why you're so good at dragon training, Snotlout bet it was cancer," Ruffnut shrugged simply.

That seemed to stump the 'interrogated' duo even more than the previous display had.

"Okay— wait. You thought I had cancer?" Hiccup turned to Snotlout, expression exasperated.

Snotlout shrugged, not an ounce of regret in his expression, perhaps only the tiniest tinge of defeat lingering after being dealt the wrong hand of cards in the bet.

"(Name) never hangs out with you! I thought she was pitying you!"

"I am not—"

"The lass is probably interested now because of the lads success in training," one of the adults spoke up.

Wait a minute... why were they even formulating thoughts of drama between teenagers—? Y'know what? Never mind.

"Uh, no, it's because she's training Hiccup," Ruffnut scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Uh actually! Hiccup, is uh— training me!" (Name) suddenly proclaimed, turning all attention back to her. While the premise of the declaration was a facade, it wasn't entirely false in its entirety.

Silence.

"Hiccup... is training— you?" Tuffnut repeated, in the same state of disbelief as the rest of the flock.

"Yep! That's why I've been hanging around him so much! He offered to train me... and he's been coming up with all these ideas to take dragons down!" (Name) nodded her head to Hiccup, as if assuring the idea.

Silence again, the same as before. A stewing silence that was filtered by an air of waiting. And then—

"You gotta teach me Hiccup!" Fishlegs squeaked, and all it took was that plea from Fishlegs for everyone else to bring praising Hiccup. Again.

Hiccup stiffened in his posture, hands gripping onto the table tightly as his head ever so slowly craned towards (Name). If looks could kill, the girl would be nothing more than a shrivelling pile of soot on the ground, and all she could offer in apology was a sheepish smile.

Hiccup was bombarded with compliments and pleas of him to train the younger ones— questions about how he figured out his tricks and just an overall flush of attention in his direction.

He definitely looked overwhelmed, attempting to answer the questions as best as he could without giving anything away. Though, he never got much of an answer out before another question was thrown his way. Gods... did anyone here know privacy?

"Alright yer lot! It's late, and trainin' is early again tomorrow. Let the lads get ter sleep."

Apparently Gobber did.

Like a Valkyrie sent from above, Gobber shooed away the crowd and made the perfect excuse for Hiccup and (Name) to slip away unnoticed. The crowd was too busy being scolded by the smithy to even notice the two teens slipping away— abandoning their food at the same time sadly.

(Name) and Hiccup rushed outside of the hall into the cool air, feeling the flush of freezing temperatures surround them in a frosty embrace. The stars now dangled high in the sky, and the two made their way down the illuminated steps with exhausted sighs.

"Geez, talk about personal space," Hiccup ran a hand down his face, shoulders sagging into a relaxed position as the two were finally given a moment of silence again.

The peace of now greatly contrasted the chaos of just moments before, and Hiccup would make sure to thank Gobber later for stepping in and giving him the perfect opportunity to slink away from the flutter of Vikings.

"Yeah, they went a little overkill," (Name) agreed, walking in step with Hiccup.

"Hey, you were the one who said I was training you," Hiccup grumbled, glancing over to (Name). She raised her hands in a mock surrender.

"I was just trying to give you credit! Plus— you kind of are training me," she shrugged, whispering the last part.

"No, I'm training..." Hiccup paused, glancing around just in case any patrol members happen to stray too close to them. "Him. Not you. Big difference," Hiccup corrected, turning back to (Name).

"Same thing," she waved him off, shaking her head.

"Uh, actually it's not."

"Is too."

"Is not—" Hiccup bit back, finally stepping up to the porch of his own hut.

"Okay fine, you're technically not training me... but, not like I can tell everyone else that," (Name) shrugged, pausing as something seemed to come to a realisation.

"Hey... what are we going to go?" She suddenly looked over to Hiccup, the boy raising an eyebrow at her.

"Huh?" Hiccup paused, his hand lingering in the front doors handle.

"About— Toothless, and all that. Do we just... keep hiding this? Forever?" She suddenly asked, one of her hands coming to rub her other arm.

"I— I don't... know," Hiccup blinked, seeming to realise the same thing. They truly had no plan for this. It had all been smooth sailing so far, but that's because everything had been decently peaceful.

What happens when the rest of the village returns? When hunts start happening out in the forest again? What happens then—? She hadn't really taken the time to think about it, and it seems Hiccup hadn't either.

"What if the village finds him?"

"They won't... but, don't worry about it for now... Ill figure something out," Hiccup shook his head, pushing the door open.

"We will."

"Hiccup stopped, looking back to (Name). "Huh?"

"We'll figure it out. I— I don't want the others to find Toothless... or Shocker, either. As much as I never thought it would happen—befriending dragons and all—I don't really want the others to find them," (Name) swallowed.

"..."

"So, if you come up with something," (Name) took a breath, looking over to Hiccup with a small smile. "I'd be more than happy to help," she nodded.

Hiccup nodded back, his heart doing that same thing it had earlier. His hand grasped the door handle tighter. "Yeah, thanks." Hiccup smiled back.

"Night, (Name). See you tomorrow," Hiccup bid her goodbye.

"Night Hiccup," she returned the greeting, staying in her spot until the door closed fully. Even then, she stared at it for a moment, feeling her heart palpate unevenly in her chest.

Finally with a deep breath, the muffled footsteps of Hiccup inside his hut spurred her onwards, and she turned on her heel, beginning to walk back to her own hut with a strangely heavy heart.

Was it from the idea of Toothless and Shocker being found— or the fact she had something else she might have wanted to say? Either way, it didn't truly matter. She had bit her tongue, and she probably would for a while. Though, she hoped she wouldn't have to.

.

"Gods... my feet hurt so bad," (Name) whined, following after Hiccup and Toothless who walked ahead of her through the forest— Shocker sitting on her shoulder.

"Is it just me or are the dragons in the ring getting a little more aggressive? That Nadder was chasing after me like I'd personally offended it," she continued her branch of complaints, feeling the ache within her feet muscles every step she took forwards.

Definitely strained, and it was to be expected after all the running she'd done in the ring. Gobber had set the maze back up and released the Nadder, and for some reason, the dragon decided it wanted to make her its personal target, yet she couldn't quite pinpoint why.

"That's probably because you hit it with your shield the other day," Hiccup pointed out, glancing back at (Name) over his shoulder— more than informed on the situation she whinged about seeing as he had witnessed it first hand.

"It jump-scared me, alright? I got scared!" (Name) defended herself.

"You should work on your fight or flight reaction," Hiccup hummed, turning back to face forwards as the hill he'd been using the practice flying came into view— the snow once more piled upon it, yet that one stump at the crest visible.

"Oh yeah? Well you should work on your flight," (Name) huffed. Hiccup seemed to take that to heart.

"My flight is amazing, thank you!"

Toothless grumbled.

"Sorry bud, your flight."

"See— even Toothless thinks you suck at controlling the tail," (Name) continued to poke the bear.

"I do not! I've been doing fine lately."

"Yeah, after I got you to double check your skills."

"Well— I've been doing fine now."

"Because you made those hooks to help you!"

"You told me to!" Hiccup walked up with Toothless to the stump, finding the rope lying on the ground that they'd left there after yesterday's flight testing.

"I changed my mind."

"Gods... you're just being petty, aren't you?" Hiccup grumbled as he picked up the rope, beginning to connect it to Toothless' saddle again.

"How'd you know?" (Name) snorted.

"Because you're being annoying," Hiccup chuffed back.

"I am not annoying," (Name) denied.

"I said you were being annoying, not that you are annoying— big difference!" Hiccup corrected with a sarcastic huff.

"Stop it with your high and mighty grammar," (Name) grumbled, rolling her eyes.

"You're just mad I'm better at grammar than you," Hiccup teased, pulling himself onto the back of Toothless, propping himself up on the saddle.

"Am not."

"You are, you just won't admit it," Hiccup hummed as he checked to make sure all of the mechanisms were working once again.

(Name) frowned at him, yet there was no real bite behind the expression, just a hidden admittance.

"Make sure you're hooked in," she reminded.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, stop acting like you're my mother," Hiccup mocked, sitting back up and hooking one end of the hooks to his 'flight suit', then proceeding to conjoin the other end of the hooks to two new protruding metal circles that Hiccup had added to Toothless' saddle, particularly for this purpose.

"I'm not— y'know what, never-mind," (Name) shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched Hiccup get ready for flight testing number; who knows.

Shocker chittered from her shoulder, and she glanced to the small blue Terror that was dressed in the harness Hiccup had made for her. Shocker looked cute with it on, and (Name) honestly found it a little funny that Shocker still struggled a little with walking.

Well— maybe struggled wasn't the best word. Shocker could get from point A to point B easily, it just seemed that with the harness on she preferred to waddle instead of walk, but, she was getting close to strutting normally instead of like a lopsided model.

"Alright bud, one last flight before the big try?" Hiccup leaned over Toothless' shoulder, a buck-toothed grin on his face. Toothless huffed through his nose, shaking his head before stretching his wings.

It only took a small spurt of wind this time for Toothless to take off, and Hiccup easily sat on the back of him like a natural. They glided perfectly, except for the few times the wind would kick up and knock them around a little— causing Hiccup to almost fall off, but luckily the hooks he'd made did their job and they kept him on.

It was all smooth— oh my gods.

Again, the rope crackled and snapped, and just like the other two moments this had happened, Hiccup was flung back alongside Toothless.

(Name) was seriously beginning to doubt the safety of these ropes. They seemed to snap way too easily, but then again... a rope probably wasn't made to have the strength to hold onto something as heavy as a gliding dragon. So. It was no wonder they kept snapping more and more.

Hiccup yelled out in shock just like the other times, and again (Name) ran after to where he and Toothless hand landed together, finding Hiccup sitting up and shaking his head.

"We really need stronger ropes..." Hiccup grunted, raising a hand to press the heel of it against his forehead, a headache incoming.

"Ya-think!? This is the third time in... a month! Okay— that's not really that bad, but still!" (Name) offered a hand to help Hiccup up as Toothless seemed to recover fairly well on his own. Hiccup reached his own hand out and took it, letting (Name) pull him up.

Only, there was a slight problem.

Something stopped Hiccup from fully standing. The hooks.

They tugged and stopped Hiccup half-way from standing, causing him to twist his torso awkwardly to see what the problem was.

At a first glance, it seemed to just be an oversight of their intended use, but when Hiccup used his free hand to try and thread them free of their clasps, they stayed stuck— bent awkwardly from the fall, and therefor sealed together.

Hiccup was joined to Toothless. Or rather, Toothless's saddle was conjoined to Hiccup's flight suit. Though, in this moment of panic— all the two saw was the fact that Hiccup was attached to Toothless by the hip. Literally.

"Well... that's not good," (Name) pointed out, and her obvious statement was followed by an eye roll from Hiccup.

"Thank you... I couldn't tell," Hiccup sighed.

"So uh, how're you gonna fix that," (Name) peered over his shoulder to get a better look of the situation, blinking at the obviously dented metal that certainly wouldn't come free without a little rough-handling.

Hiccup pursed his lips in thought.

"I have an idea... but it's a little risky," he looked back to (Name), and her face remained neutral before it dropped, realisation striking her flat.

"No."

"Yup."

—

"Aye Hiccup," a patrolling Viking waved at Hiccup, that of whom was leaned against the side of a building— doing his absolute best to remain inconspicuous.

"Hi," he nodded back, feebly remaining casual as the Viking passed. Either Hiccup was truly just that good at lying and stealth, or the Vikings were seriously lacking in their suspicion department, and (Name)— who stuck her head out from the dark of the alley— seemed to think it was more so the latter.

"Berk seriously needs to work on their security," she hummed, watching the watchman walk off with a torch in his hand, using it for illumination. He didn't suspect a thing, all he did was keep walking. Stupid.

"No kidding," Hiccup nodded, doing a double check of their surroundings. "Alright, it's clear— let's go," Hiccup nodded towards the opposing side of the central plaza, where the forge sat. It was just there, unoccupied and shrilled in silence.

Hiccup stepped out of the alley, tugging on the leather cord attached to his hook. On the other end, Toothless too stepped out of the alley, Shocker on his back. All four of them had been hiding inside the alley, using Hiccup as some kind of diversion.

Now that the coast was clear— for who knows how long— they were going to try and complete their mission; disconnect Toothless from Hiccup. For this mission, they needed to head to the forge, which was where Hiccup would attempt to re-shape the hooks back into their desired form.

The four of them quickly yet quietly crept across the space of the plaza, darting from one end to another and seeking shelter out in the forge that lay in waiting. The moment they reached it, (Name) took up the duty of closing the windows this time, and Hiccup immediately set to work on finding the tools he'd need, dragging Toothless along with him.

(Name) was on watch duty. Yippee.

She quickly closed every window in the forge, blocking out the light, and then stalking to the entrance to where she'd watch for anyone who passed by. She'd be the one to call out the code if they needed to run. Said code was; "Yak stampede!". They'd both agreed on it.

Hiccup rifled through drawers and shelves, noisily digging through clutter and scraps of jagged metal to try and find what he'd need, yet to little success so far.

(Name) glared back at him from her post. "Jee— could you be any louder? It sounds like you're digging for gold in there!" She hissed, trying to keep her voice low as she glared at the boy.

"Oh I'm sorry. I'm just trying to be quick," Hiccup snapped back, fumbling through items as his hands gradually grew more clammy from adrenaline.

"We'll be quiet as well—" (Name) grunted again, turning back to peer out the front entrance.

"Uh oh," she suddenly murmured, and that caught Hiccup's attention.

"What, what is it?" He paused his searching, trying to peer out the door.

"It's Astrid... just— just keep working! I'll distract her," (Name) waved him off, her eyes watching as Astrid walked over to the forge, clearly having already seen her standing in the doorway. This couldn't be anything good.

"(Name)," Astrid bluntly greeted, if you could even call only saying (Name's) name a greeting at all.

"Astrid, hi," (Name) nodded back, a smile on her face— before some metal clattered behind her, which drew her smile to twitch in irritation.

"What was that?" Astrid tried to peer over her shoulder, but (Name) sidestepped and blocked her view.

"Uhm... nothing. Hiccup's just, working on a super secret project," (Name) coughed awkwardly into her fist. Astrid didn't seem convinced.

"And you're...?" She looked (Name) up and down.

"Standing guard."

"Right," Astrid nodded with a frown, crossing her arms. "What is he working on?" Astrid questioned, again trying to get a quick peek inside, but (Name) kept blocking her view.

"Super secret. Like I said," (Name) spluttered, wincing as yet more metal clattered.

"Okay, you're acting weird, and so is Hiccup. What are you two up to?" Astrid took a step forward, her stride slow and calculating, her eyes flickering for a way in as she began to interrogate her 'best friend '.

"Suddenly he gets good at dragon training, and now you won't even talk to me without getting all— nervous," Astrid continued as she came face to face with (Name).

(Name) blinked nervously, her guilty smile still being held up.

"Uhm... I get really anxious in winter?"

"No you don't."

"Yeah... you're right, I don't— but uh, sorry, can't tell you, super secret," (Name) again reiterated that same phrase she kept using.

"So secret you can't even tell your best friend?" Astrid raised her brows.

"Can't even tell you. Hiccup is uh... really— shy about it," (Name) glanced back into the forge before looking to Astrid again.

"Uh huh. Why would he tell you then?"

"Because I found out on accident!" (Name) squeaked, her hands fiddling with one another.

"You found out on accident?"

"Yup."

Astrid glared at (Name)— like, really glared. Astrid was the kind of person who didn't even have to try to be intimidating. She was smart, strong, pretty. She was quite literally intimidating by just existing, so obviously (Name) was going to fold under such pressure.

"Okay—! I'll tell you. But... you have to promise not to tell anyone else, alright?" (Name) winced looking around discreetly.

"Fine, I won't tell anyone," Astrid rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.

(Name) double checked her surroundings again when Astrid promised that, and then when the coast was clear— she leaned in close, whispering something in Astrid's ear.

Astrid's face remained neutral, a cover of steel that couldn't be easily broken down, but then her eyes widened, a shocked looked taking over the blondes expression as her lips parted alongside it.

(Name) pulled back, and both stood in an awkward silence as Astrid processed the words.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. So... I've been helping him with that," (Name) looked away shyly, dusting her hands off even if there was no dirt to swipe away.

"But he's been getting better though, so he should be fine soon," (Name) finalised, and Astrid simply continued to stand awkwardly.

More metal clattered.

Astrid looked back to the forge.

"Okay, seriously. What is he doing in there?" Astrid attempted to step past (Name), but the girl blocked her.

Astrid glared at (Name).

"Move."

With a shove that wasn't intended to be quite as harmful as it came out to be, Astrid pushed (Name) to the side, stepping into the forge only to find it completely empty, the only remnants of someone being here recently being the air that was stirred unevenly.

Astrid stopped, observing the scene before turning back to (Name), only to find her gone as well.

"What the hell...?" Astrid blinked in confusion, looking around to find herself completely alone— it was quite literally just her and herself in the forge now.

Though, under the cover of night, multiple figure crept away as one blackened silhouette in the skies. Hiccup, on the back of Toothless— nervously controlling the dragons fin as they flew for the first time without the rope and stump, and (Name), who was unfortunately being held in the claws of Toothless, being dangled over open air.

"A little warning next time?!" She screeched quietly, grasping onto Toothless' paws as tightly as she could, and she could hear a faint snort coming from Hiccup above.

"I had to be quiet! But... you think I'm finally ready for solo-flying now?" Something in Hiccup's tone seemed prideful, an unspoken glory slowly growing within him as her doubts were proved wrong.

(Name) grumbled at the cockiness in his voice.

"Maybe you are— but I am not," she breathed through her teeth, trying not to look at the lights of Berk below. The distance between her and the ground was far too terrifying for her to even consider looking down, so she simply kept her eyes squeezed shut.

"Mmh... anyway. What did you tell Astrid?"

"What?"

"You told Astrid something, a secret, apparently," Hiccup cleared up.

"Oh— that. I told her you had an addiction to eating metal."

"..."

"You told her what?"

"I was nervous, okay!"

Note; sorry for the extremely long delay chat! I was working on some other series of mine, but I'm back here now! So hopefully this chapter wasn't that dreadful. Anyway, we're getting closer to Stoick returning!