#going to add a nice ground cover eventually :>

[beif-weaves]

I've been so busy but I finally made some time to warp a new project today :> it's very silly but my smoker was the best spot to warp off of

[7seas-of-ryy]

I Need You | Part 7

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 8

Author’s Note: I am LOVING all of your comments on each part. So many of them either brought a smile to my face or made me actually laugh out loud, so thank you!!

Summary: You can't hide your emotions anymore and some things aren't what they seem to be.

Pairing: Azriel x Reader

Warnings: angst, talks of torture, let me know if I need to add any others :)

Azriel and Rhys came running into your room.

"What happened?" Rhys shouted as you stood there crying

Both of the Illyrians looked over to where the shattered glass laid, realizing what had happened. The shadowsinger gave Rhys a look letting him know he would fix this.

Rhys had everyone leave the house and stayed close by in case Az needed help.

"Hey, sunshine, let me help you" he barely whispered while taking steps towards you.

"You!" you screamed at him "You left me. You didn't care enough to let me know you weren't coming. And you didn't care enough to save me. I needed you and you were gone."

You took a deep breath and continued

"When they showed up to take me, I looked around for you. Thinking you would show up and save me. Now that I think about it, maybe I'm the stupid one. For believing you would choose to spend time with me instead of her for once. How stupid could I be? When I was being tortured all I wanted was to let go, to die. And not because the pain was too much, but because I knew that coming back and seeing the pity on your face would be so much worse. Seeing you finally 'care' about me because you feel guilty would break me beyond fixing." you took steps toward him as you yelled

His back was now against the wall.

"And now I'm broken! Nothing can fix this. And Cassian, poor Cassian was forced to watch while they rid me of my clothes and beat me. Why couldn't you just love me back? I needed you" You were pounding on his chest with your fists and he let you.

You could barely see through the tears. It felt nice to get some of it out. You collapsed into his chest, still yelling and crying. His arms wrapped around you, holding you to him and you both sank down to the ground. You were now resting on his lap and he held you while he cried.

"I needed you, I needed you." you cried "I need you"

"I know, I'm right here. I promise I'm not going anywhere." He spoke with his lips on your head. His own tears falling faster.

You eventually fell asleep on his lap and he carried you to his room. He laid you down on his bed and was about to go clean up the mess when you grabbed his arm.

"Please don't go" you spoke

"You want me to stay?" he wanted to make sure he heard you right.

"Yes" you stated, you couldn't keep the act up anymore. You needed your best friend back for right now. He could explain himself later.

He pulled up a chair next to his bed as you got comfortable under his covers. It was silent for a few minutes, your head was pounding from all the crying you had been doing.

"I always hoped that my mom had got away somehow and was out there looking for me." you whispered, barely audible

"Every time I went somewhere on a mission, I sent my shadows out to look for her, just in case." Azriel confessed just as soft

A small smile grew on your face, and with a million thoughts swirling through your head, you went to sleep.

You woke up the next morning and saw Az sleeping on the chair next to you. As quietly as you could, you slipped out of bed and went to your room. Everything had already been cleaned up and the guilt from the night before started to creep in.

Feyre was sitting on the edge of your bed, holding the note from Elain.

"I promise Elain truly meant well with the flowers." your High Lady told you

"I don't know why I did what I did last night, I'm sorry-" you started but she stopped you before you could finish.

"No, I would have probably done the same thing. Her note was, well, pathetic. But you have to understand that she wanted to apologize to you but was embarrassed. So, she thought the flowers would have been good for now." Feyre explained

"I was tortured and she's embarrassed?" you couldn't understand.

"When you're ready, maybe try talking to Elain? You deserve a true apology but only when you are ready. And while you're at, try talking to Cassian too. You both went through a lot together and it might help you. He won't say it but he's struggling." Feyre spoke while standing and walking over to you.

She pulled you into a hug and you let her. You leaned into her and she hugged you tighter. You were ready to accept help from your family.

You got dressed after she left and were going to head down to the kitchen to see if anyone else was up.

As you left your room, you heard a few voices coming out of Azriel's. You couldn't help but pause and listen.

"And why have you been so quiet? You were there, you saw what she went through. You should be trying to help her. Instead you've been avoiding her" Az spoke

"Alright lets stop-" Rhys started to say

"Why have I been so quiet?" Cassian asked sarcastically "Hmm let me think? Maybe it's because I stood there completely helpless while I had to watch Y/N be stabbed over and over again, dragged by her hair, relentlessly beat?!" His voice rose with every word

"And did you know, on top of all that, as she was about to be tortured in front of me, she comforted me? She told me that it was ok, that she could take it, told me to not worry about her?! He had the knife raised in his hand about to stab her, and all she could think of was to comfort me? I do not deserve her kindness and friendship. None of us do."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." the shadowsinger told his friend

"It's fine. It's just so hard to look at her and not see the fear and pain in her eyes. I failed her and I don't know how to make that up to her." Cass responded

"Listen, she just needs us to be us right now. She needs love and support. All we can do is be there for her." Rhys told them

"I'm just happy she showed emotion last night. Having her scream at me is so much better than her pretending she's ok." Az said

So Cass wasn't disgusted with you, he just felt guilty?

You opened Azriel's bedroom door and walked straight to Cassian.

"Y/N" the male stuttered, not knowing what else to say

You wrapped your arms around him and after a moment he embraced you too. You stood like that for a couple of minutes before separating, still keeping your hands on his arms.

"If you weren't with me in that dungeon, I would've given up. I wouldn't have had the strength to keep fighting. You were there for me, and that was all I needed." you told Cass

Azriel flinched at that last sentence. He knew you didn't say it to hurt him but he will never forgive himself for what he did.

Cassian sniffled, "Well, I think I could use a drink after these past few days, shall we crack open the most expensive bottles Rhys owns?"

"Seeing as it is still morning, I think we should save the drinking until later." Rhys chuckled

The four of you laughed and it felt good. You missed this so much.

"I'll take you up on that offer, but how about after dinner?" you offered

"Sounds perfect" "I'm in" Rhys and Cass responded at the same time

The three of you looked at Az and the male smiled and nodded.

You were looking forward to hopefully having a simple night just sitting with your family and enjoying their company. But right now, you needed to find Elain.

You were exhausted pretending everything was ok, and you figured talking to her could help.

After checking the kitchen with no success, you headed to your second guess of where she was at. The garden. You spotted her immediately, bent over some beautiful flowers.

"Hello, Elain" You started

"Oh! Y/N, I wasn't expecting to talk to you so soon. Um- I need to tell you, I...well I really didn't know...." the girl choked out

She seemed so nervous and upset.

"Elain, I'm here to apologize" you spoke softly and took a seat next to her. Her eyes growing wide at your words.

"What?? No, you were kidnapped and tortured and all because I was jealous of you? No I need to apologize. I didn't know the extent of what happened to you until after I sent the flowers. I was told that you were hurt but it wasn't until last night that Rhys showed me what you went through.. I am deeply sorry" she told you

"You were jealous of me?" you questioned

"It's stupid.. after everything that occurred with Graysen, I was scared to feel that pain again. When I first got here, Azriel was so kind to me. I started to get that feeling again and was terrified of being hurt. Az was so close to you so I convinced him to stay with me. I was embarrassed that I let myself act like this over a male. I am appalled with myself." Elain admitted

"You couldn't have known those men were after me. Am I hurt that you tried to keep my closest friend from me? Yes, but you should not carry the burden and guilt of my trauma because of that... and the flowers did come off as a little insensitive" you elbowed her playfully as you spoke the last part, hoping she would see it as a sort of truce.

She looked up at you with embarrassment on her face.

"In my defense, Nesta helped me write the card, and you know she's not very good at emotional apologies" Elain said and you both giggled

After a moment, the air seemed to turn serious again.

"He couldn't have known either," she gently added, "have you talked to him yet?"

"Well, I screamed at him and blamed him for a lot of it last night but besides that, no I haven't talked to him. The problem isn't just that he stood me up that night, which led to all of this. He started drifting away from me long before that and it hurt like hell." you admitted to her

"Ask him why. Be straight forward with him and perhaps he will do the same with you." she advised you

You gave the middle Archeron sister a genuine smile and went back inside.

That wasn't as hard as you thought it would be. You felt lighter after all that clarification but there was still something big weighing you down.

You needed to find Azriel next and you had a feeling this conversation wouldn't be as easy as the last.

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[oneweirdbookaddict]

Brother: [bruv-er] noun. an annoying creature who is loyal, sometimes funny and sarcastic, but will always look out for you.

Wow guys, been a hot minute! Sorry about that, its been a crazy summer! Glad to be back with something, though :)

Summary: Five times Sky looks after Four, and one time Four looks out for Sky.

4333 words, warnings for violence, blood, mentions of surgery, cauterization, and impalement. Let me know if I should add anything!

~~~~~

“I’ll grab some firewood.” Four says as he stands, catching Time’s nod and starting down the trail. 

“Want any help?” Sky asks, glancing up from his seat on a tree stump. 

“I’m good.” Four says easily, waving for him to sit back. 

“You shouldn’t go alone.” Time agrees with a frown, and Four smiles as if something funny had been said. 

“I won’t go far. Besides, we haven’t run into anything all day.” 

Time frowns deeper, and Four smiles again. 

“Come on, old man, you sound like my grandpa.” Four teases. “I’ve got my sword.” 

Time sighs. “Don’t stray too far.” 

Four laughs softly. “Yes, Pops.” 

Laughter spreads through the group, and Time smiles as he rolls his eye. 

He scoots closer to Time, brushing his sailcloth off. “He’s really independent, do you ever worry about that?” 

Time glances at him, leaning back. “I think it’s what he’s used to. He needs his alone time.” 

He nods, not entirely satisfied but not sure if he’s worried enough to press the issue. 

Turns out- he is. 

“He rarely accepts help, have you noticed?” 

Time raises an eyebrow at him. “I suppose I haven’t. What do you mean?” 

“You know, like… this. I asked if he wanted help, he said no. He goes to town by himself, he just… does things alone that you wouldn’t think he’d do alone.” He shrugs awkwardly. 

Time smiles softly. “You look out for him, don’t you?” 

He flushes slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Wind’s got Wars, Wild’s got Twi, Rulie has Legend… I guess I’ve got Four.” 

Time smiles again. 

“I think Four’s just independent, Sky. But, like you said, you look after him. If you’re worried… talk to him.” Time shrugs.

He nods. He’s got a bit of a soft spot for the smith, an urge to look out for him that Four probably wouldn’t appreciate. 

He watches Time watch Twi, a soft smile on the old man’s face, then gets distracted by Four returning, carrying an armful of sticks. 

“No trouble?” He asks, and Four laughs. 

“Sky, not you too. I can handle myself.” 

The smith drops the sticks off by the fire, stretching out on the ground. 

“Just making sure.” He shrugs. “I worry. Sue me.” 

Four smiles, shaking his head. “Nice that I got several more parents now, but I’m fine.” 

He laughs, settling back down. “Alright, alright. If you say so.” 

Four gives him a smile before cracking open a book. 

~~~~

Something’s wrong with Four. 

It’s small- he doesn’t notice until lunch when Four’s sitting next to him- but he’s squinting, rubbing his eyes, jaw clenched. 

“You alright?” He asks, and Four nods. 

“Yep. Why, what’s up?” 

“Nothing, just… nothing.” 

Four gives another nod, but winces ever so slightly. 

He sticks by Four when they start walking again, watching carefully. 

Nothing changes, but… something’s wrong. 

He can feel it. 

“Old Man, what’s the time?” He asks, eventually, his arm jumping out to steady Four when the smith stumbles over a root. 

“Almost three bells.” Time answers immediately, not even looking at the sun. 

“There is no way you possibly know that.” Legend challenges, looking amused. “We haven’t been near civilization in days.” 

“I always know the time.” The old man shrugs, mysterious as ever. 

“Right, Hero of Time, huh.” Legend scoffs. 

Time smirks right back. “Test it.” 

Legend shoots Time an untrusting glance. 

“You’re so confident I’m wrong, test it.” 

Legend raises his hand, squinting at the sun, then whirls to Time. “How did you know that?” The veteran demands. 

Next to him, Four winces and covers his ears. 

Time only smiles. 

“Come on, you don’t have a sundial, and you didn’t even look at the sun. Is it the shadows? I know there’s a way to do it using the shadows, but you need to know the length…” 

Four whimpers next to him, eyes squeezed shut. 

“Hey, Smithy, you ok?” He asks softly, unsure if Four can hear him with his ears covered. 

Taps the teenager lightly when he doesn’t get a response. 

“You ok?” He signs when Four doesn’t uncover his ears. 

“Headache.” Four groans out, obediently following him when he moves to get out of earshot of the others.

Four drops his hands when they’re in the silence of the woods, opting to cover his face rather than his ears. 

Rubs at his temples, breathing deeply. 

“This isn’t just a headache.” He says softly, worried. 

“Migraine.” Four whispers, and he nods. 

Offers an arm, Four leaning into his side and burying his face into his shoulder. 

He was gonna tell the others that they’re done walking for the day, but now he’s kinda stuck. 

Ah, well. Their friends will come to find them. Four’s more important. 

So he holds his friend close, happy to offer whatever relief he can. 

~~~

“So much for simple patrol.” Four says, a small smile on his face as he draws the Foursword. 

He has to laugh, drawing Fi and feeling her familiar warmth in his hand. “Never is with us, is it?” 

“At least it keeps things interesting.” Four says, standing at his back. 

The monsters surrounding them grow closer, growling softly. 

“Two in front of me, one to my left.” Four murmurs. 

“Three in front of me.” He says in reply, feeling more than seeing Four give a nod. “Know what these are?” 

“Wolfos, I think. They look similar to my-” 

Four cuts off, moving quickly and swinging his sword in a high arc as one leaps. 

“They like to jump!” Four shouts, and their clearing breaks into chaos. 

Two leap at him at once, and he opts to dodge. 

Swings at one that turns and snarls at him, getting a good gash in its neck. 

Black blood spills out of the wound. 

“They’re infected!” He calls to Four, who hisses in pain and gives an affirmative response of some sort. 

Another wolfo jumps at him, and he slices up its belly. The creature falls and doesn’t move again. He can’t help but feel sorry for it- it's almost cute. 

He dodges the next wolfo’s attack, Fi killing it easily, and then the one he’d wounded already. 

Quickly glances at Four, who’s cleaning his sword already. 

Blood- red, his own- trickles slowly down his arm. 

He pulls water and clean bandages out of his bag before Four even puts his sword away, the smith glancing at him in amusement when he notices. 

“Just a scratch, Sky.”

“Infection is nothing to joke about, Four.” He teases right back, gesturing for the teen to roll up his sleeve. 

Four rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling. 

It really is just a scratch, but it’s bleeding steadily, so he bandages it after cleaning it out. 

Four sighs as they walk back to camp, blood already showing through the bandages. 

“Might wanna have a potion for that one.” He admits, and Four laughs. 

“Whatever you say, Pa.” 

He lets out an offended squawk. “I’m not that old!” 

Four cackles, dodging his lunge at him. “Old! Old!” The kid taunts, and he tackles the smithy to the ground. 

Harder than he intended, Four hitting the ground with a ‘oomph.’

The rest of the group jolts in surprise as they tumble into view, Four still snickering. 

“Don’t hurt your old man joints.” The smith teases as he helps the teen to his feet. 

He yanks his hand away, letting Four tumble back to the dirt with a betrayed yelp, grin splitting both of their faces.

~~

The smithy isn’t exactly social, and it’s obvious in the way he stands awkwardly in the corner of the pub they’re in to ‘gather information.’ 

There are a lot of people around, and it’s noisy. 

Someone’s playing music, people are dancing, and it’s warm in the building. 

Through the chaos, he watches Four to the best of his ability. 

Four’s getting overwhelmed, he can tell. 

Wild, Hyrule, and Wind are talking rowdily, Wars and Twi are laughing with Time at something, and Legend’s at the table with him, looking bored. 

He stands, pausing to get the veteran’s attention. “I’m getting Four out of here!” He practically yells into Legend’s ear, who gives a nod. 

Fighting through the crowd, he catches Four’s eyes and nods his head to the exit. 

Four looks relieved and follows him quickly, relaxing the moment they’re outside. 

“Too loud?” He asks, watching Four rub his ears. 

“Yes.” Four breathes, sitting on a bench down the street a few steps. 

Leg bouncing up and down and up and down.  

“Don’t like crowds?” He asks softly.

“Not really.” Four mumbles, fingers raking through his hair. “Just… too much going on. Music, everyone yelling…” 

“Yeah.” He nods, sitting next to his friend. “I get it.” 

Four smiles softly. 

“Want to go back to the inn?” 

Four slumps slightly, shrugging. 

Yes, he decides, they’re going back to the inn. “I’ll let Time know.” He pats Four’s shoulder, standing. 

“I- I’m fine.” Four says softly, unconvincing. 

“You don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be here, it’s perfect. You can be my excuse.” He teases, getting a real smile from the teenager this time. 

“I don’t want to be a bother to anyone.” Four still argues. 

“You’re not a bother, kiddo, not to anyone.” He promises softly. 

Four scoffs. “I’m not a kid, you know.” The smith says before he can insist Four’s not once been a bother to anyone.  

“Sure, sure.” He smiles, relieved. “You’re that short for fun.” 

Four gives an offended squeak and jumps up on the bench. “You’re all just freakishly tall!” 

He laughs. “I dunno, Four, one out of nine… the odds aren’t looking good for you.” 

“I’m an average height!” 

“Of a seven year old.” He teases, and promptly regrets it when he gets kicked in the knee. “Ah!” 

“Deserved.” Four mutters, following him back to the building, hovering outside while he tells Time that Four’s got a headache and he’s taking him back to the inn, and they continue their argument on the walk back to the inn. 

He can’t help but tease one last time as he goes into his room, peeking out into the hallway with a grin. “Short.” 

Four kicks him in the shin, laughing.

~

It was an uneventful watch. 

He chips away slowly at a wood carving, humming softly to himself. 

And jumps out of his skin when Four sits up quickly, hand pressed to his chest. 

Two deep breaths, and the smithy looks around. 

Catches his eye, offering a wobbly smile. 

“Hey, kiddo.” He says softly. 

“Not a kid.” Four offers weakly, standing and slowly making his way to the fire next to him. 

He gently squeezes Four’s shoulder, grabbing the kettle from Wild’s bag and starting a pot of tea. 

“Want to talk about it?” He asks quietly, and Four shakes his head. 

Takes a deep breath, forcing a smile. “I’m fine.” 

He nods, wrapping an arm around the smith. 

Four leans into him, face nuzzling into his shoulder. 

He wraps his sailcloth around the kid, feeling him shake against him. 

He takes the kettle off, not wanting it to wake the others, pouring some into a cup and pressing it gently into Four’s shaking hands. 

“Thanks.” Four mumbles. 

“Anytime.” He says softly, letting Four lean back into his side. 

The kid sips his tea, taking a deep breath as he stares blankly into the woods.

“Sure you don’t wanna talk about it?” He asks. 

Four nods, swallowing thickly. 

He nods, too, going back to humming. 

The song Zel plays on her harp when he can’t sleep. 

He’s not surprised when Four relaxes, slowly setting his cup down to lean into his side entirely. 

Eyes closed, a small smile finding its way to the kid’s face. 

“You know I love you like a brother, right?” He whispers, feeling Four nod. 

“Love you too.” The kid mumbles, half asleep. 

He smiles, rubbing his back, humming again until the kid is asleep against him.

He has to throw a rock at Legend to wake him up once his watch is over, Legend jolting awake and shooting him a scowl before it vanishes. 

“Sorry,” He whispers, carefully gathering Four into his arms. “Didn’t want to wake him.” 

“He ok?” Legend yawns, and he nods as he stands. 

Four hums and nestles into him, fingers clinging to his tunic. 

He laughs softly, lying back carefully on his bedroll and condemning himself to having an aching back and Four clinging to him when he wakes up. 

~~

Count- six. Six monsters, not ones he knew. 

One’s freaking massive, towering over him. 

His heart pounds, stepping out and swinging his sword. 

He manages the two smaller monsters; they charge at him, he dodges one swing, another, stabs one, slashes at the other, and they both fall. 

He can hear Four fighting next to him, risking a quick glance. He’s overwhelmed, too, dodging and parrying way more than he’s attacking. 

“Guys!” He screams, praying to Hylia they’re not out of earshot. 

He’s kicked in the back, tumbling to the ground and rolling. 

Fi flew out of his hands at some point, leaving him unarmed. 

“Sky!” Four cries, stabbing one of the things through the stomach and shoving away. 

He sits up, throwing himself to the side as the same thing that had kicked him throws a spear at where he’d been lying just a moment ago. 

Four’s over him in a moment, standing in front of him in a defensive position. 

“Time!” He shouts, scrambling to find Fi in the chaos of their battlefield. They could use some backup right about now. 

“Sky!” Someone screams back, and he breathes a quick prayer of thanks. 

“Here!” He yells, swooping to grab Fi. 

“Sky!” A familiar voice shouts behind him, and he whips around. A spear flies right at him. A multi-color clad person intercepts. Four gasps.

His eyes widen. 

A spear sticks out of Four. 

Right through his abdomen. 

He swings Fi and decapitates whatever horrid thing had been nearing them, fury burning white hot in him. 

His exhaustion is forgotten. 

He raises Fi to the sky, clouds gathering overhead in response to his fury. 

Lightning cackles, and he screams as he slices his sword through the air, blasting back every monster in the clearing. 

“Wars!” He howls, stumbling to Four as fast as he can, dropping to his knees next to the smith, who’d taken a seat on the ground. 

“The others are coming,” He gasps, vision going dark for a long moment. “Just… hold… on.” 

“You ok?” Four asks weakly, bloodstained hand reaching out to him. 

“I’m fine, just my… little trick… takes a lot out… of me.” He manages, shaking his head as if it’ll clear the exhaustion. 

“Sky!” Wars’ voice says behind him, and he could sob.

“It’s all the way through, he’s lost about half a pint of blood-” 

“Wild! Fire! Now! Hyrule! Potions, as many as you've got.” Wars dashes to him, crouching next to them both. 

“Sky needs a potion.” Four reports weakly, and Wars gives a little laugh. 

“You taken a look at yourself, recently, kid?” 

Four grins weakly, giving a ragged breath. “Not a kid.”

“Yeah, I know. We’re gonna have to pull this out, ok?” 

Four grimaces, but nods. 

He grabs his knife, offering it to the captain. 

Wars nods his thanks, cutting through the wooden spear handle. 

“We’re gonna push it through. If we pull it out we may cause more damage.” 

“Worse than this?” Four jokes, head leaning back against the tree. He’s pale. 

Too pale. 

Wars manages a smile, getting through the spear. 

Tosses the knife to the side, pulling out a piece of cloth for Four to bite down on. 

“Alright, kid. This is gonna hurt. It’s ok to pass out- in fact, it might be better for us if you do, considering…” 

“You’re cauterizing.” Four groans, hand fumbling weakly for him. 

“Yeah,” Wars says quietly. 

He takes Four’s hand and squeezes. 

“Alright, kid. One, two-” Wars grabs the part of the spear behind the kid and pulls it out without saying three.

~~~

Four’s head lies in his lap, chest heaving either in pain or in panic; he's unsure. Blood pools around his body, despite his best efforts to stop it. 

He stares numbly at the teenager, hands pressed against the two wounds. One in the front, one in the back. 

“Keep pressure on it! Don’t move!” Wars demands, and he nods weakly. 

“Twi- get a knife and put it in the fire, we’re gonna have to cauterize it.” The captain continues, Wind paling. 

“Cauterize?” 

“Stitches aren’t going to help this; he’ll keep bleeding from the inside.” Wars says grimly. 

Twi does as instructed, putting a knife in the fire carefully. 

“Time, get some water and as much of it as you can. Rulie- potions?” 

“Here.” The traveller says, hovering nervously. 

“I- I’m sorry, I…”

“Rulie, we had a big fight earlier, you’re exhausted, it’s not your fault.” He says softly. 

Hyrule’s eyes fill with tears. “I have this spell, and both times someone’s been hurt, I’ve been useless.” 

“No.” Four grits out weakly, startling all of them. His grey eyes are locked on Rulie. “Not… useless.” The kid gives a pained groan, taking a breath.

“He’s right. You’re not useless.” Wars agrees, taking Rulie’s hand. “You saved all of our lives earlier with your spell- no one knew this was going to happen. We have potions, Wild said it’s about two hours to town, Four is going to be fine. Look at me. You are not useless.”

Hyrule breathes shakily, nodding. 

Wars nods, too, then lets Hyrule go. 

“Twi- knife?” 

“Ready.”

It's passed over carefully, towel wrapped around the hilt.

Cloth placed back between Four’s teeth, who’s squeezed his eyes shut already. 

Time drags Wind away, into the woods somewhere as Wars takes the knife, nearly red hot, taking a slow breath and holding it carefully over the smith. 

“Sky, hold him still.”

He nods weakly, looking away. 

Wars takes a potion, pouring it over the wound, dabbing up the blood there, and pressing the knife to the wound. 

Four twitches, face screwing up. He winces, brushing his fingers through the smith’s hair. 

Uselessly tries to provide any comfort he can. 

A weak sob, the kid trying uselessly to pull away. 

“Shh…” he says softly. “Wars.” 

“Almost done.” Wars says, moving as fast as he’s able to with Four’s safety in mind. 

The teenager on his lap gives these sharp, labored gasps as tears stream down his face. 

Then moves to the other side, the exit wound, doing the same. 

The kid hardly reacts to this one.

Wars moves, setting the knife down, inspecting the wound before cleaning it carefully. 

Four’s sharp, ragged breathing is loud in the suddenly silent evening. He’s completely limp. 

“Passed out.” He reports softly, the captain nodding.

They take a minute to stare. 

“Pack your things up, we need to get him to town.” Wars says finally. 

“Time,” Twi calls softly, in the direction he and the sailor had gone. “All good. Captain wants to get to town.” 

He stays with Four as the others go to grab their stuff from the campsite they’d set up, getting a moment to break down.

He takes a shaking breath, fighting back tears, fingers trembling. “Please be ok.” He whispers to Four. 

The kid on his lap gives no response. 

~~~~

The trek in the dark isn’t fun. 

They’re tired, worried, already on edge, and most of them are in an unfamiliar world. 

Twi carries Four, the kid semi-conscious, as if trying to wake up and failing. 

He leans on Wars, barely able to stay on his feet. 

“Easy there, god slayer.” Wars says softly, steadying him when he nearly blacks out for the third time. “You sure you’re not hurt?” 

“I’m fine.” He repeats for the third time. “Used… magic. Drains me.” 

“Alright.” Wars says softly, tightening his grip. 

Silence for a while. No chatter from the others. 

“He took that spear for me.” He whispers, breaking it. 

Wars is shaking his head before he’s finished talking. “It’s not your fault, Sky.” 

“I’m supposed to look out for him.” He manages, cutting Wars off. “And he took that spear for me.  I… why would he do that?” 

“He loves you, Sky.” Wars says gently. “You love him, that’s obvious, and he loves you right back.” 

“But…” Wars smiles softly. “Sky, you’d take that spear for him, right?” “Of course! But that’s different! I… I look after him, you know? Like you do Wind.” 

“You think for a second Wind wouldn’t take a spear in my place?” Wars asks, and he falters. 

“Well…” Wars smiles genly, steadying him again. 

He gives an exhausted groan, head resting on the captain’s shoulders. 

“Almost there.” Wild promises from the front of the group, glancing back worridly. 

True to his word, the entrance of the town comes into view about fifteen minutes later, and five minutes after that Legend is pounding on the door to the medic office. 

The poor medic is clearly disgruntled, but rushes them in when he sees Four. 

“Took a spear, impaled all the way through, we cauterized it to make it here since we couldn’t carry him here with a spear in his stomach and he was losing so much blood…” Wars trails off slightly, then shakes his head. “I estimate he lost a quart or so of blood. He’s been in and out, opening his eyes on the way here a few times but falling back asleep quickly each time.” 

The medic looks up from inspecting Four’s wounds, nodding appreciatively. “I’m going to put him in surgery, I need to take a look at internal damage. I don’t know how long this will take, as it’ll depend on the damage. I will also be sedating him, is there anything he’s allergic to?” 

They glance at each other, all shaking their heads. “Nothing we know of.” Wars reports, and the medic nods. 

“Alright. I’m going to prepare the back room, I’ll be back in five minutes to take him back. You’ll have to stay here, for the sake of sterilization.” They nod, and the medic leaves. He moves to Four, lying on a cushioned table, reaching his bloodstained hand out to squeeze Four’s similarly bloodstained hand. 

“Come back to me.” He whispers, brushing the hair out of the kid’s face. 

The kid shifts, expression tightening, but relaxes again as he falls still. Eyes still closed.

“I refuse to tell your grandfather and Dot what happened.” He manages, tear slipping down his face. He scrubs it away, taking a deep breath. 

Wars squeezes his shoulder gently, and he steps back as the medic gently wheels Four away from him.

~~~~~

He sits outside, the cool air making the band around his lungs feel larger. 

Wars sits with him, hand on his shoulder. 

Counts the seconds, all nine thousand three hundred sixty seven of them, until Legend steps out and says Four’s out of surgery.

The medic assures them Four’s gonna be ok, the internal damage was thankfully minimal, nothing a few special sutures couldn’t fix. They’d have to watch carefuly for infection, especially with the cauterization, but Four would be ok. 

His knees give out in pure relief, crashing into a chair and putting his head in his still bloody hands. 

Listens to the other’s relief, Wars squeezing his shoulder with a smile, and the medic says one or two of them can stay with Four. 

Time sends the rest to bed at the inn Wild shows them to, but he stays with Four. No one even argues, just offers him silent support as they leave. 

Which leaves him in a dimly lit room, dozing on and off, sitting on a chair next to the bed Four’s lying on. 

He jolts awake when Four shifts and groans. 

He sits up frantically, able to see Four’s eyes open. 

A soft flutter, confused and dazed. 

He scrambles to the smith's side. Confused, grey eyes find him, weakly mouthing his name. 

“Four, hey, how you feeling? You feeling alright? What can I get for you? Want water?” 

A weak nod, eyes fluttering. 

“Water?” He repeats, getting another nod. 

“Ok… can you sit up a little bit? I’ll help, that ok?” 

Another nod. 

He gently props Four up, wincing at the groan the teenager gives, helping him take a few shaky sips of water. 

“Think you can stomach a potion?” He asks softly, Four weakly leaning against his chest. 

The potions, despite their cheerful pink appearance, tasted awful. 

A weak shrug. 

“It might help you feel better.” He pushes gently, grabbing the bottle. 

Another shrug, but Four accepts the potion when he tugs the cork out and nudges it into shaking hands. 

Takes a hesitant sip, then another, shudders, but finishes the potion. 

A weak shiver, Four nestling into him. 

He wraps his sailcloth around the teen, letting him cling to his tunic. 

“You’re ok…” he says softly. “You’re gonna be ok. You can get some rest, you’ll be ok.” 

“You… rest.” Four mumbles, and he wants to laugh. 

“You’re the one that just got stabbed.” He tries to joke, but his voice quivers. 

Four squeezes his hand weakly. “Glad it was me, not you.” He says softly.

He brushes a strand of hair behind the kid’s ear. 

“Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me?” 

Four smiles weakly, shaking his head. “You always… look out for me. Le’me… look after you just this once.” 

He has to smile, giving into Four’s weak tugging and laying next to him on the bed against his better judgement. “As long as it’s just once. Never again, hear me?” 

Four smiles, nodding and nestling into him. 

He wraps his arms gently around his smithy, taking a deep breath. 

“Sleep.” Four instructs, and now he laughs. 

“Bossy.” He teases softly. 

But he closes his eyes, letting himself relax. 

And he wakes up with an aching back, a still-sleeping Four clinging to him. 

~~~~

[fanfics4all]

Sparkling Snow

Request: Yes / No Fluffcember Day 8!

Don’t be shy, request things! <3 Have a nice day/night

Derk Morgan x Daughter!Reader 

Word count: 463

Warnings: Just sweet cute fluff!

Y/N: Your Name 

Y/N/N: Your Nickname

Prompt(s): Sparkling Snow

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK! 

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you! 

Masterlist 

If you enjoy my work, you could also show support by buying me a coffee! 

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

*Derek’s POV*

I was looking out the window, finning as I watched snowflakes tumble down in thick, shimmering waves, covering the year in a sparkling white blanket. It was the first heavy snowfall of the year, and I’ve been waiting for this day just as eagerly as my little girl, Y/N. She was bundled up in her coat, scarf, and mittens, practically vibrating with excitement as she waited by the door. 

“Daddy, come on!” She squealed, tugging at my hand. 

“Alright, alright, let’s go!” I laughed, slipping on my gloves and opening the door. Y/N bounded outside, her small boots sinking into the fresh snow as she spun around in pure delight. I followed her, taking a moment to breathe in the crisp winter air, the world around us quiet and still, with only our laughter echoing across the yard. 

Y/N immediately dropped to her knees, starting to gather handfuls of snow into a pile. I joined her, kneeling down in the soft snow and helping her pack it into a ball.

“Snowman?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head, giggling mischievously. 

“Snow castle.” She corrected, her voice filled with that earnest determination kids tend to have. 

“Well then, Princess, let’s build the best snow castle anyone’s ever seen!” I said, earning a bright smile from her as we worked together to pile the snow. I showed her how to pat it down, how to shape little walls and a tower that soon became a fortress of snow. 

As we worked, I would flick small handfuls of snow at her, and she’d squeal with laughter, packing her own snowballs and tossing them back at me. Her aim was surprisingly good for someone so small. Snow sparkled in her hair, her cheeks red from the cold, but her smile never faded. 

Eventually, we stepped back to admire the castle. It was a little lopsided, but Y/N’s eyes shone with pride as she gazed at it. 

“Look at that, kiddo.” I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“I’d say that’s one of the finest snow castles in the whole neighborhood.” Y/N looked up at me, her expression softening, and gave me a big hug. 

“Thanks, Daddy, this was the best snow day ever!” She said into my shoulder. I pressed a gentle kiss to her cold, rosy cheek. 

“You’re welcome, Y/N/N. I’d build you a hundred snow castles if you asked.” We laughed as we lay down on the ground to make snow angels side by side, our giggles echoing into the evening. I watched my little girl wave her arms up and down, the sky growing dark above us, I felt a warmth in my heart that only Y/N could make me feel. 

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs-blog1 @lover-of-books-and-tea @nerdygaloresposts @teenwolfbitches28 @kmc1989 @drw0301bieber @lady-of-lies @ravenmoore14 @ravenempress101 @cillianchamp @rowanthomasknapp @rachelxwayne @ready-4-fanfiction @madammarvellous-blog1 @pettyjayy @bruisedfists-and-splitlips @answer-the-sirens @andreasworlsboring101 @liz-owl

[in1-nutshell]

I know request are closed so just add this to the bottom of the list for whenever you see it.

TFP Megatron's daughter with MTMTE Megatron.

this feels like the kinda thing that would hurt him, knowing that in one universe he was lucky enough to have a daughter as smart and kind as buddy and he hurt her.

have a nice day hope you drink water

This is a pair that I have thought about if they ever met. Buddy is now going to have to meet another Megatron. But don't worry she's not alone!

Hope you enjoy!

Megatron's daughter with the opposite personality meeting MTMTE Megatron

SFW, Platonic, Familial, slight angst, Cybertronain reader

TFP/MTMTE

In MTMTE…

Brainstorm was bored.

So, he started to work on one of the projects he had been putting off for a while.

A dimension to an alternate universe, even different than theirs!

He was just about to turn it on when Perceptor came in.

“Brainstorm have you seen Nautica? I have her data—what in Primus’s name are you doing?!”--Perceptor

Brainstorm hanging upside down trying to reach a button to turn on the machine that was slightly smoking.

“Oh! Percy! You’re just in time! I was going to push the button—”--Brainstorm

Perceptor trying to reach Brainstorm.

“There will be no pushing—”--Perceptor

Brainstorm pushes the button.

“BOOP!”—Brainstorm

Machine starts whirling up.

“It’s working!”--Brainstorm

In TFP…

Buddy was walking with Miko on her shoulder.

They had gone to go get some arts and crafts from one of the empty rooms in the base.

Something about a human holiday coming up.

When the portal opened.

“OH, PRIMUS NOT AGAIN!”--Buddy

Buddy dropping the boxes trying to grab Miko and something else to not go into the portal.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN AGAIN?!”--Miko

“EXPLAIN LATER! BULKHEAD! OPTIMUS! ULTRA MAGNUS! RATCHET!”--Buddy

Miko slips through Buddy’s grip.

“BUDDY!”--Miko

Buddy jumps at Miko, covering her entire body as they both get swallowed by the portal.

In MTMTE…

Brainstorm was wrestling with Perceptor when two figures came out of the portal.

The portal shut leaving the machine slightly smoking.

There was no way anyone was going to turn that thing on and not have it potentially exploding in their faces.

Miko groaning a bit t the rough landing.

She is on a lab table.

Buddy is hanging upside down tangled up in a bunch of wires.

“Oh! Hello!”--Brainstorm

Brainstorm lightly pokes Miko who just looks at these two new bots.

“Hey! Leave her alone!”--Buddy

Buddy is struggling to get out of the wires to get to Miko.

“Relax!”--Brainstorm

Brainstorm presses a button to release the wires.

Buddy falls face first on the floor.

Brainstorm, Miko, and Perceptor wince hearing the sudden noise.

Perceptor helps Buddy up.

“My apologies. I know you two may have some questions in where—”--Perceptor

“We’re a different universe or dimension.”--Buddy

Brainstorm’s wings go up.

“Have you done that before?!”--Brainstorm

“Against my will, yes. This is Miko’s first time.”--Buddy

“Who are you guys?”--Miko

“My name is Brainstorm! I’m actually the mech who brought you two here with my machine. This is my partner Perceptor! Don’t mind him, he’s more of a mood killer.”--Brainstorm

Percepor sends him a glare.

“So, you’re the bot who brought us here? What about getting us back?”--Buddy

“Haven’t gotten to that part yet, but eventually we’ll get there!”--Brainstorm

Perceptor offers his servo for Miko to climb on.

She does and gets passed to Buddy.

Buddy refuses to let her down on the ground.

The two scientists briefly explain where the pair had ended up as they go to the med bay for any internal injuries.

Ratchet nearly has a stroke seeing a human and new bot in the med bay.

Buddy and Miko know immediately who Ratchet is. He isn’t too far from the Ratchet they were used to.

Brainstorm and Perceptor had to leave the pair with Ratchet while they went back to the lab to see if the machine was all right after a warning alert came online.

After explaining how the pair got there and nearly putting Ratchet in cardiac arrest, they get a clean bill of health.

“Hey Ratchet. Brainstorm and Percy over there said the war was over in this universe. Is that true?”--Miko

“Yes. Thankfully its been over for a bit. Has…”-Ratchet

“Our’s isn’t over yet…”--Buddy

Ratchet gives them an sympathetic smile.

Someone slams the door open.

Buddy grabs Miko and keeps her close to her chassis.

“Hey Doc-bot! I need you to settle an argue—”--Whirl

Whirl looks at Buddy and Miko.

“…”--Everyone

Whirl looks at Ratchet.

“Brainstorm?”--Whirl

“Brainstorm.”--Ratchet

Whirl steps closer slightly menacing to the pair.

Buddy straightens up, and tightens grip on Miko.

“So what do we have here? Another minibot and a fleshy.”--Whirl

“If you call me fleshy, can I call you a computer?”--Miko

Buddy wants to scream at Miko for trying to antagonize the larger mech.

Whirl blinks and steps closer.

Buddy glares at him hard.

Don’t. touch. Her.”--Buddy

“…All right! I have to give it to you both. Steal bearings.”--Whirl

Whirl scoops both Buddy and Miko up to his chassis.

“I’ll give you two the Lost Light tour with all the helpful commentary.”--Whirl

Buddy looks over at Ratchet who looks very tired but gives a ‘Your-safe-with-him’ smile.

Buddy can only hope so.

By the time Whirl gets to Swerve, Miko and him have already made a blood pact and have several ideas on overthrowing those who have wronged them.

Whirl swears he has found his Amica from another dimension.

Buddy is just trying to take everything in while also accessing any and all dangers onboard this ship.

It was much bigger than anything she had ever seen back home.

Even bigger than the Nemesis.

“—Then Megs and him nearly—”--Whirl

Buddy turns to him so fast he thinks she might have broken her neck cables.

“Megs? As in Megatron? He is here? On this ship!?”--Buddy

“Yeah? Oh yeah you two mentioned something about your war still going on.”--Whirl

“Yeah.”--Miko

“How come you two haven’t talked about it?”--Whirl

“Its better to tell a whole group so we don’t have to go through the whole story again and again.”--Buddy

“Kinda like your name?”--Miko

Buddy sighing heavily.

“Yep.”--Buddy

“Wait what is your designation, Tiny?”--Buddy

“Buddy.”--Buddy

Whirl stops momentarily.

“Buddy? What kind of name is that? Did your Caregivers want you to get picked on?”--Whirl

Buddy winces a bit while Miko flicks his armor a bit.

“Oh! Soft spot. Got it, but you might as well tell now before anyone else knows.”--Whirl

Buddy gives him a dead glare.

“All right, all right, no spoilers.”--Whirl

“But back to Megatron—”--Buddy

“Hey look we’re here.”--Whirl

It was after hours, meaning not many mechs were in.

Just most of the mech whirl associated himself with.

As usual, Whirl made his grand entrance in the bar.

Not many bots paid attention to him thinking he was just being Whirl.

Buddy’s anxiety was going up seeing all the energon out.

She worried for Miko’s safety and kept her close.

Miko didn’t object to the closeness, remembering what happened to Raf.

Hopefully this universe didn’t have a variant of dark energon.

“Hey Swerve! Look who I got.”--Whirl

Swerve turning around.

“Whirl if its Rewind and Tailgate—”--Swerve

His optics land on Buddy and Miko in his cockpit.

“H-How—what—huh?”--Swerve

Buddy is trying to ease the tension as Whirl places her and Miko on one of the bar stools and takes a seat himself.

“Hi, I’m Buddy and this is Miko. We are from another dimension and—”--Buddy

Swerve proceeds to fanboy about humans to Miko and asks a thousand questions where the two are trying to answer.

Swerve’s increase in chatter brought attention to the rest of the bars patrons to the new guest.

Some even comm in their friends to come and see the new commers from another dimension.

Buddy seemed to have relaxed a bit at all the friendly bots around her and Miko.

Miko was having the time of her life.

She let some of the more curious bots who had never seen a human before holding her on the condition that they tell her goofy stories.

Whirl had offered to take her to the gun range, which Buddy immediately shot down.

Eventually Ultra Magnus came in with Rodimus following behind.

The pair had heard from Ratchet, Brainstorm and Perceptor about their new visitors and had to meet them.

Magnus had messaged Megatron to come as soon as his evening class was done.

Magnus had never seen a human or a bot so happy to see him before.

What is this feeling?

They were excited… to see him?

Not Rodimus… just him?

That’s when Megatron came in with the rest of the Rod Squad.

Buddy felt her entire world come to a halt.

She knew well that this Megatron was not hers.

She knew that she should have any harsh feelings for the mech that she barely knew.

…that didn’t stop her servos from shaking and everything start to blur.

Miko was quick to recognize that Buddy was starting to freak out and saw why.

And she wouldn’t blame Buddy for freaking out.

This Megatron was a whole category by himself, easily.

Their Megatron wouldn’t stand a chance against this giant mech.

Miko went to grab Buddy’s servo when she noticed something in her pocket.

The Apex Armor!

How did she even forget this!?

Miko activates the armor and jumps off the counter causing multiple mechs to scream and try to grab her.

She activates the armor now standing roughly average height in front of Buddy.

“DID THE FLESHY CYBERFORM?!”--Brainstorm

“WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?”--Tailgate

“THAT’S MY FURTURE AMICA!”--Whirl

Miko stares straight at Megatron as if daring him to make the first move.

Rodimus comes between her and Megatron.

“Woah, woah, woah. First nice form and all that needs explaining. Two I heard about your war still going on, but this Megatron here, he’s reformed.”--Rodimus

Buddy pats Miko on the shoulder from the bar.

They both look at each other, having an in-depth understanding.

Buddy gets down on the floor and walks towards the hulking giant, staring at the red Autobot badge.

She takes out her servo.

“My name is Buddy. Its… its good to see you Megatron.”—Buddy

Miko was silently cheering for Buddy’s bravery.

She even managed to get Megatron to sit down with the rest of the patrons.

That’s when the two of them agree to finally, fully, talk about their universe.

Starting with Buddy’s origins.

Just hearing about Buddy being Pre-war Megatron’s daughter floored everyone.

Megatron exe. Has stopped working please try again later.

He… he has a sparkling in another universe?

That’s great—wait… they were still at war…

Something was wrong…

The story started out with much understanding about the Senate’s power-hungry ideas and how hard it was to keep a sparkling.

Everyone, despite knowing what happens generally with the Senate meeting, is on edge.

Everyone is quiet when Buddy starts to describe her life on the Nemesis.

There are some glares to Megatron, but then they remember its other dimension Megatron that they need to get angry at.

Megatron has a neutral face while Buddy describes her time on the Nemesis.

Miko grabs her servo when the worst bits come up.

Several bots get up to give Buddy a hug during the explanation.

Some just stay there hugging.

Miko eventually tells her position with meeting Team Prime to try and make things as chronological as they could.

Once the pair is done, it’s silent.

Megatron looks over at Buddy.

“Buddy… I know that you are not my sparkling. But at the same time, you are. I want to tell you that the actions of my counterpart do not speak for other alternatives. I am sorry that you were hurt this way by him. I know that may not—”--Megatron

Buddy dives in and hugs his waist.

Megatron freezes before slowly placing his servo on Buddy’s back.

“You don’t need to apologize. You’re not him. You have a chance at peace and to make something great out of it. I am so proud of you for that Megatron. He… he would take peace and spit in your face. The point I’m trying to say is… thanks dad.”—Buddy

Buddy looks back at him.

She gives a small smile.

He gives a weak one back.

Miko is cheering in the background.

For the next several days the duo stays on the Lost Light waiting for the machine to get fixed.

Swerve thankfully got his servos on some human necessities for Miko while she stayed.

They had a blast with everyone on the ship.

Megatron and Buddy were nearly inseparable.

Megatron silently swears if he sees his counterpart that caused so much pain to this sparkling, he is going to meet his end. Or at least get the beating of a lifetime.

Soon enough it’s time for the two to leave.

The goodbyes are long and tearful.

Miko hugs Whirl’s neck as he tries his best to not tear up.

“If you ever end up in my universe you know who to call, okay?”--Miko

“Got that right Fleshy.”--Whirl

“I’m gonna miss you, you oversized can opener.”--Miko

Buddy and Megatron exchanging some words before giving one last hug.

“Bye everyone!”—Buddy and Miko

Buddy and Miko, in the Apex armor, go through the portal.

Menawhile in TFP…

Buddy shoots out the portal and straight into the wall.

“Why… I swear its every single time…”--Buddy

Miko lands doing a back flip.

“That was fun!”--Miko

Buddy falling back on the floor.

“Speak for yourself.”--Buddy

“MIKO!? BUDDY?!”--Bulkhead

Thunderous pedes start coming their way.

“Miko how do you feel about house arrest?”--Buddy

“…You think if we contact the Lost Light again, we’ll escape it?”--Miko

Pedesteps are getting louder.

“Not likely. Do what I do. Accept your fate without resistance.”--Buddy

The door gets torn off its hinges as Tema Prime comes pouring in.

“Nice knowing you Miko.”--Buddy

“Same to you Buddy.”--Miko

[sweetscene]

pensees tranquilles

PAIRING. oikawa tooru x f!reader　SONG. pensees tranquilles by hoyomix (LOL dont flame me)　TAG. fluff.

NOTES. its my first time writing self insert and 2nd pov pls bear with me lol (i also have no clue how to work tumblr oops). the first sentence was all i had when i decided to write this (1am😓). to those who write without a specific plot in mind, i seriously applaud you!

Honey drips from Oikawa Toorus golden lips every time he speaks.

Surely the gods from above crafted him with delicacy, drenching every corner of his body in that sweet substance knowing that one day, he will be the arms you run to. At least, that’s what you think as he runs his calloused fingers against your hands. His unconscious habit has his thumb and index finger roaming your palm, tracing each line you have as if he knew what they all meant.

A burning, crimson sunset is the backdrop of your cherry blossom viewing date with Toru. In a cage of cherry trees, petals cascade from above, swaying as a cool breeze passes by. Eventually, the petals touch the ground, creating a pool of pink at your feet.

“Hey, are you listening?” He asks, voice with a hint of loneliness.

You pull your head away from his shoulder to take one look at him, and sure enough, he’s pouting. You stifle a laugh, smiling just bright enough with a hum convincing him that you were. “Go on,” you say. “Iwaizumi during practice, was it?”

Suddenly, his caressing stops and his brows furrow. “You know, I really don’t like it when you say his name.”

Your brows rise with amusement. “Why? Does it sound weird?”

He throws a disgusted glance at you. This time, you let out a giggle. “Not funny,” he frowns. “Your lips are suited for something more sweet. Iwa-chans name is too…”

You think about Iwaizumis last name. Iwa meaning ‘rock’, and izumi meaning ‘fountain.’

Like a dashing knight in battle, Toorus name means to ‘pierce’. You can see it when he sets the ball, body overflowing with passion and focus. But right now, in this moment where serenity casts upon you two like a soft blanket, he is merely a boy. Only Oikawa Tooru who’s selfishly in love with you.

“How about when I say ‘Tooru?’” You ask teasingly, running your hands through his caramel hair. “Tooru, Tooru, Tooru,” you repeat his name like a mantra, letting the syllables escape your lips slowly.

He’s quick to place his hands over you lips. “Okay, I get it,” he says frantically. His ears are visibly red—cheeks too, but you’ve always loved that hidden confession of his. Even when he did his best to cover his face in a moment of embarrassment, the tip of his ears were always ready to rat him out. “You sound so nice when you say my name. In love too, might I add.”

You look at him with eyes so telling. What about my name in yours? You ponder.

Suddenly, like he’d read your mind, your name slips from his lips. He says your name with ease, his tone low yet full of affection. His hands cup your cheeks, and he begins to plant kisses all over your face. From your forehead to your eyelids; to your nose and eventually to your lips—your name uttered in between. “How do I sound?” He jokingly asks, a smirk on his lips.

The suns glow paints the side of his face a beautiful golden color. The moment he said your name, you practically melted. Your mind returns to your initial thoughts, and your thumb reaches for his lips in search of answers. “You sound like honey is dripping from your lips.”

He laughs, slow and steady, pulling you closer by your waist. “Do I now?” He asks, sounding cocky. “Does this mean my kisses taste sweet?”

You smirk, holding his chin up to meet your gaze. “Hm, not too sure. Want to give it another try?”

[marzzthehuman]

some wxs physical touch headcanons.. i guess!!

okay so before we begin fyi i headcanon all of them aroace~

Tsukasa:

okay i feel like. he would like patting people on the back/hand on shoulder. big brother gesture or something i don’t know. (it makes sense in my head okay) he’ll do this with anyone.

he likes hugs! i dont have much to say about this except he does.

he’ll also kiss saki and toya on the forehead as a ‘big brother’ thing!

Emu:

she is really big on hugs. loves giving people hugs. if she hugs you she likes you! (she always asks before hugging though!) i also feel like she is able to have have strong hugs if she’s especially excited (her hugging rui and hearing 1133889 pops.)

for people she is closer with she’ll kiss them on the cheek! with people she really cares about she gets really excited and full of love and kissing them on the cheek is how she shows them that! (besides already acting excited and probably hugging them already but! sometimes shes so excited that hugs won’t cut it. ) before she started kissing wxs on the cheek she made sure to ask if it was alright with them!

also i want to add that eventually with wxs she wouldn’t have to ask before touching them. because thats like a level of trust to me. if that makes sense?

Nene:

pretty much the only member of wxs that doesn’t favor physical touch. this obviously doesn’t work out for her. (wxs group hugs and she’s squished in the middle. she’s gotten used to them now and has come to really appreciate them.)

when she finally started getting used to wxs (emu and tsukasa mostly) she would start resting her head on their shoulders if she was tired. (sign of trust!)

basically what i’m saying is that she only lets people who are close to her touch her. when she was younger she would pretty much only let her parents and (eventually) rui touch her.** but even though sometimes she is not comfortable with touch at all, so she always prefers if someone asks before touching her.

Rui:

when you first meet him he doesn’t seem like he would be big into physical touch. but he so is. he mostly shows it with people he is close with. he won’t hug someone he’s only been friends with for a few weeks. (+ it really depends on the person)

during elementary he would give friends that he wasn’t super close with hugs, but this eventually led to them calling him clingy. (i could go on and on ab this. basically its about how he would consider people his ‘best friends’ and those feelings being reciprocated almost never.) now he’s self-conscious about this and doesn’t share physical touch as much as he would like. this also led to him only being affectionate with people he is close-close with. example being wxs! wxs is probably the only people you will see him hugging besides his parents.**

saying this, he likes hugs! a lot! he does those big hugs where he squeezes you. (like those hugs where you go ‘uuuhfffff’)

i feel like he would also like holding hands with certain people. it can help ground him. it helps let him know that they are real and there and aren’t leaving. he knows this now but it’s still nice sometimes

~

**after rui cut nene out in middle school they both had to get used to each other again. but it was quicker than it would be with a new person, if you get what im saying

———

okay thats the end but i just wanted to add how i love how wxs has gotten closer over time. i know that’s how friendship works but like. its just so cool that you go from people that wouldn’t touch eachother at all to people that hug every time they see each other.

also this wasn’t all types of physical touch but it’s almost 3am so. i covered the ones that you would see most of the time.

[sweetiesicheng]

wooyoung - star player

word count : 979

i need it on record that i know absolutely nothing about soccer besides this one player who was on a cover on a magazine okay thanks bye

-

"don't let them past you! you're breaking formation!" you hear your coach yell as you and your team run through practice. your team had previously made it into the semi-finals for a tournament in your district. all of you have been practicing like crazy for the game that is at the end of next week.

after awhile, your team is given a break. practice would last for at least another two hours, but the boys soccer team also had to get on the field with your team to practice for a match they’re in.

"you look like someone ran over you.”

you look up while drinking from your water bottle to see the captain of the boys's team, jung wooyoung.

"what do you want, jung?" you ask him as he drops his bags down on the grass in front of you.

"just messing with you," he says and crouches down so he can peck your lips, "you're doing great, babe."

you smile at him, "thanks."

"hey, coach has to talk to someone. you guys take a break while we warm up," one of the guys says to your team.

"i'll take it."

"yea, i'm beat."

"thanks."

some of the guys start practicing on the field while your team took a much needed break. wooyoung sits down across from you, digging in his backpack before pulling out a container.

"here, my mom made this," wooyoung says to you and starts feeding you snacks that he has in the small container. “good?” you nod your head.

"captain! you're gonna have to practice eventually!" you hear one of his teammates yell from the field.

wooyoung turns around, "shut up!" he yells and turns back to you. "have the rest," he offers, "i have another box," he adds before kissing your cheek.

wooyoung gets up and hurries to the field, immediately starting to practice with his team.

"your boyfriend is so head over heels for you," one of your teammates says as she undos her hair to redo it.

"he's only being like this because we got into semis this year," you reply, "we still bicker like an old married couple."

"you two are so cute," another teammate says before sighing, "if only i could find a guy like him."

"there's a whole team of lunatics right there."

"didn't you like—?"

"shh!"

your coach comes back after a few minutes, and your team starts practicing again. you run through your usual formations with a few player changes just to try new things out.

"woah!"

"sorry!"

it's trial and error as new players are changed. usually, your team is pretty cohesive, but the pressure is way too tense.

"okay, you two switch again, and you two switch," your coach instructs, making more player changes.

you continue practicing and run across the field. someone passes you the ball, and you start running toward the goal.

"come on y/n!" you hear wooyoung cheer for you. you kick the ball and watch it fly into the net. the goalkeeper misses the ball and falls to the ground. "that's my girl!"

"hey, jung. keep it down," you hear your coach say to the captain.

"nice one, y/n," one of your teammates says to you.

"thanks," you reply.

"let's keep this up," another teammate says, "the other teams won't have a chance against us," she says with a grin.

"alright, ladies, let's run this again," your coach says to all of you.

—

practice ends as the sun starts to set. it’s evident that everyone is beyond tired and hungry at this point.

you sit with your teammates by a set of bleachers. most of them are getting ready to leave while the rest of you take a break before going home. the guys are also hanging out, praising all of you for doing well.

"y/n, want to grab dinner with us?" one of your teammates asks.

"nah, maybe lunch or something else tomorrow," you reply as you take your cleats off.

"suit yourself."

"see you guys!"

people from both teams start trickling off the field. as you get ready to leave, you notice wooyoung talking to some of the players on the bleachers higher up.

you whistle, warning a look from everyone. wooyoung smiles at you before saying his goodbyes and walking over to you, climbing over a few bleachers to get down to you.

"you can stay. i'm going home," you say to him while putting your regular sneakers on.

"no, i'll take you home," he says. "i already called your dad and told him i'd bring you home when coach said practice was gonna be longer," he mentions.

wooyoung picks up his bags before reaching over to grab yours. you try to stop him, but he takes your duffel.

"i got it," he says to you. "hand me your backpack."

"i'll carry it," you say to him, backing away from him when he tries to grab your backpack from you. you stick your tongue out at him and he does the same. "are you staying for dinner?" you ask as you two start walking towards the parking lot.

"i need to go home. my brother went on a field trip and brought me a souvenir," he replies. you continue walking through the parking lot and make it to his car. both of you throw everything into the trunk before getting into the car.

you see wooyoung smiling as he starts his car up.

"what's with that face?" you ask him.

"just admiring how sweaty you look," he replies, earning a glare from you. he laughs for a second. "i'm kidding," he admits. "you're adorable."

"you're not half bad either," you reply.

wooyoung suddenly leans over the center console and kisses you on the lips. "you're doing great out there," he says to you afterwards.

you smile, "thanks, babe."

"anything for my star player."

[the-offside-rule]

Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri) - It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Prompt: It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Warnings: nope

The snow fell delicately to the ground in Woking as the Ricciardo children  ran around, gawking into each and every toy shop window and their parents Daniel and Y/n walking right behind them. "Mummy! Look at that one!" The oldest child, Gracey gasped, pointing in at a huge doll. "Isn't she so lovely? You could write to Santa and ask for it maybe?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Or daddy could buy it for me now! He has loads of money! He drives cars mummy!" Both Daniel and Y/n's mouth hung open. "Where did you get the cheek, Gracey Ricciardo?" Daniel asked, picking her up in his arms. "Mummy says I'm just like you so maybe you?" He laughed at her witty response. "Come on,

"Gracey? Can you be careful with Joey please?" Y/n asked as she took the little boy from his pram. "I will mummy. I'm his big sister now!" She announced proudly, taking his mittne covered hands and leading him out a bit to teach him how to make snowballs. Daniel and Y/n walked behind them, smiling on. "Don't you just love the Christmas holidays?" Y/n asked as she linked arms with her husband. He let out a sigh. "I just can't wait for school to start again." Daniel whispered. Y/n slapped his chest lightly. "I'm messing with you." Daniel laughed. "You better be! I hate seeing them going every morning." Daniel pulled a face. "And why is that?" he asked."I don't know, it means I'm all alone because you're either at the factory or at races."

Daniel looked at her worried. Back before they had two kids, they were always free to do whatever they wanted. She always had Friday to Sunday off work so they could always go to races together but now they had the kids, they had a life built for them in England so to bring them to different places every week could mess with them but maybe, just maybe, it was time to bring them along for once. "Do you think you should start going back to races then?" She looked up at him. "Well, I'm not sure. I-" Y/n was interrupted by her husband yelping as he felt a snowball hit the back of his head, the water trickling down his back. She giggled as she saw his face all scrunched up. "Which one of you threw that?!" The two children began laughing and before they could answer, Daniel was chasing after them.

Y/n sat on the bench, with the pram. She watched her little family running around, laughing. Their laughs reached up to the heavens and filled the skies. It was a truly merry sound. She spotted her little boy, Joey waddling towards her in his blue coat and mittens. "Aw, what's wrong my baby?" she asked, picking him and hugging him. "Th-now." He replied. He meant to say snow but he had a slight lispe. "Aw, does my baby not like the snow?" he shook his head. "Aw. Poor baby." she cradled him before looking back to Gracey and Daniel. He began rolling a lump of snow, presumably to make a snowman. "Look at that! Daddy and Gracey are going to make a snowman!" Joey looked over and blinked a few times before excitedly pulling away from his mother to run and join in building the snowman.

"Having fun?" she called over. Daniel showed her a mischievous grin. "Oh no, don't you dare!" She warned. Then, Daniel, Gracey and Joey charged at her with huge snowballs in hand. She began sprinting like her life depended on it but eventually, she got tired and Daniel caught up to her. "No Daniel! No-" She shrieked as the snow slammed onto her head and drizzled trickled her back and to add insult to injury, she felt two mini snowballs attack her legs. "Daniel." she whined. "That wasn't nice." He helped her shake the snow off. "You're alright, you're alright. We're sorry." She shook her head. "That was shocking behaviour Daniel Ricciardo." she said. "Come on, we'll go home. It's freezing." Daniel suggested, picking up Joey and putting him in the pram and Y/n taking Gracey's hand to start their walk home.

Once they finally did reach home, Daniel and Y/n closed the door and felt at ease at the warmth of the house made them feel better already. "You look quite handsome in that coat." Y/n said, pulling him in by the collar of the black funnel neck coat. "I might wear this coat more often then darling." He grinned as his lips met hers in a soft kiss. "Aren't you just so considerate?" Daniel hummed in response. "I'm pretending to be Santa." She pecked his lips again. "That would make me Mrs Clause, wouldn't it?" He thought for a moment. "I don't know, I like the sound of Mrs Ricciardo better." Her heart rate quickened. "That was smooth." she chuckled. "It was. I had to think about it too." The pair burst into laughter.

"Come to the first race of the season with me." She let out a sigh. "What about the kids?" she asked. "Bring them too." She looked at him. "Are you sure?" He nodded and curled his arms around her waist. "Of course I am. There's nothing I'd love more." "Okay, we'll go." He smiled, still holding her close. "Oh look." He pointed up, showing off a piece of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. "You know what that means." She nodded and slowly but surely leaned in further until their lips met. "I love you." Daniel whispered.

"I love you too."

[number-8-thewriter]

Umbrella Academy Rewrite

Episode one: The World We Knew (Over and Over)

Part 2: The Power of a Little Sparkle

Summary: The Hargreeves siblings get used to their normal lives, living life without powers in a brand-new timeline. Meanwhile, Five investigates a group known as the “Keepers.”

CW: Mentions of death (and actual death), harsh language (cursing), alcohol/drugs, angst, blood (Please tell me if I need to add more) Author’s notes: My rewrite of TUA season 4! I’ve added my OCs for fun, but the main focus is the siblings. I’ve also brought Fei back because…I like her. She’s my favorite character. Click here for more links to see the OC’s mentioned!

April 5th, 2019

The Hargreeves family have just arrived in the brand new timeline. They argue on where to go, with Viktor saying they should try to stay together. The siblings eventually all go their separate ways and the camera fades to black with text appearing on screen saying February 17th, 2028…9 years later.

The camera pans over the city and then shows the siblings living their daily lives with “The World We Knew (Over and Over)” by Frank Sinatra playing.

Luther has a closeup shot when a pencil floats past his face. As the camera pulls away and turns around, he is shown to be floating upside down and wearing a blue suit with a NASA symbol.

A closeup shot of a police badge moving back and forth. The camera zooms out to show Diego running in a police uniform. He then catches up to a criminal and he tackles him to the ground. He places his hands behind his back and handcuffs him. Diego forces the criminal up and puts him into the back of a police car.

Allison is shown on a red carpet, flashing lights everywhere. She then turns and faces the camera, holding a bottle of laundry detergent. She puts on a fake smile and starts talking, doing an ad read.

Klaus walks out of a room and the camera focuses on a plaque that says “Dr. Ryans, psychologist.” It cuts back to Klaus putting on a new pair of blue surgical gloves and a new face mask. He then walks down the street and into another building where the camera leaves him to focus on a sign saying “Alcoholics Anonymous.”

Five is sitting in a car, fixing up his suit and tossing a folder into the glove box. The folder is shown to say “CIA: Confidential” written on the front. He picks up a picture of his husband and three kids. He smiles and puts the picture into his coat pocket. He gets out of the car.

Ben is wearing an orange jumpsuit and sitting down at a table with other inmates, playing cards.

Viktor is playing the violin in a bar called “White Violin.” The song fades out into a violin cover and then stops.Viktor sets the violin down and thanks the patrons for coming tonight. Viktor gets down from the stage and goes over to the bar where his wife, Bella, serves him a small glass of whiskey.

——————————————————————���————

Bella: Good job tonight, babe. Everyone’s so happy..

———————————————————————————

She smiles as Viktor chuckles

———————————————————————————

Viktor: Yeah..it feels good seeing everyone smile..thanks for..encouraging me to play again. I kind of missed it..

Bella: Well, of course..you needed something to take your mind off everything else for a bit.

Viktor: “Everything else?”

Bella: Yeah..I see you staring at the picture of you and your family when we went to Five’s wedding. I know you miss them..

Viktor: Yeah..I guess I do. We just don’t see each other as often as we should..we all live in different places and we’re always so busy. But…as long as they’re happy. I think we deserve it after everything..

———————————————————————————

A phone on the bar started to ring. Viktor gets up and heads over to the phone. He answers.

———————————————————————————

Viktor: Hello?

Luther: Hey, Vik! I was wondering if you were gonna head down here for Grace’s birthday party…I know you’re all the way in Canada but…It’s been awhile since the family got together. It..It would be nice if you came.

Viktor: Oh..I-I don’t know if I can, Luther. I mean, I’ve got the bar, we’re still cleaning up after Valentine’s Day..I don’t think I’ll be able—

———————————————————————————

The phone gets ripped away from Viktor.

———————————————————————————

Bella: We would love to come, Luther. Send us the details and we’ll be there. See you soon, big guy. Bella hangs up the phone.

Viktor: Bella!

Bella: What? It’s been 9 years, Vik. Your family wants to see you…and I’m sure Grace wouldn’t complain about seeing her Uncle Vik, hm?

Viktor: I-I guess not. I mean, I don’t think she remembers me. Diego probably doesn’t talk about me a lot.

Bella: Quit being cynical and go start packing. I’ll close for the night.

———————————————————————————

Viktor sighs

———————————————————————————

Viktor:…Alright. I’ll trust you on this, Bella.

———————————————————————————

We cut to the outside of an arcade when a white minivan pulls up. Lila gets out of the car and opens the trunk. Another car pulls up behind her and starts honking. Lila freezes in place. She marches over to the car and knocks on the window. As the woman rolls the window down, Lila leans in and looks her directly in the eyes.

———————————————————————————

Lila: If you touch that horn one more time, I’ll disconnect your brain stem.

———————————————————————————

Lila then reaches into her pocket and pulls out a party hat. She puts it on the lady’s head and says with a strained smile “It’s my daughter's birthday. Have fun.”

———————————————————————————

She goes back to her car and pulls out some grocery bags and a cooler. Her eldest daughter, Grace, gets out of the car with her younger twin sisters and an older Stanley, who is on his phone. They all run into the arcade. Lila struggles to close the trunk but manages to do so. She walks inside and sets the groceries on a table. At that moment, Diego walks in, still in uniform. He walks up to Lila and goes to hug her.

———————————————————————————

Lila: Woah, Daddy Pig, Why’re you still in uniform? I thought you said you were going to be in “civie” clothes.

Diego: Sorry, a 10-31 came up..Dude kept running but I caught him. I had to drop him off at the station..I didn’t have time to change over. But hey, I look cooler in the uniform.

Lila: Yeah, well, your fly is down, cool guy.

———————————————————————————

Diego looks down only to see it is in fact, not down.

———————————————————————————

Diego: Hey—

Lila: Made you look.

———————————————————————————

Lila chuckles

———————————————————————————

Diego: Oh, whatever, you.

———————————————————————————

He chuckles and shakes his head.

———————————————————————————

Diego: Say, did you get the piñata? No party is complete without one.

Lila: Yes, I got the damn piñata..it’s over there, I haven’t hung it yet..

———————————————————————————

Diego looks over. That isn’t the piñata from the store he had asked earlier.

———————————————————————————

Diego:…Is that the one from the east side store? I told you the ones on the west side are better…that one is basically impossible to destroy.

Lila: well…the east side store was closer. It’s fine, it’ll still get the job done.

———————————————————————————

Lila walks off.

At that moment, Luther walks in with his wife, Mallie, and their five kids. Luther walks up to Diego and they bro hug.

———————————————————————————

Diego: Hey, bro! Good to see you again, glad you could make it.

Luther: Oh, yeah! We were really excited to come here. Y’know, Dimitri loves hanging out with Grace so..we wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Diego: I can’t remember all of your kids, man. You need to lay off Mallie. I turn around for a second and suddenly there’s two more kids.

———————————————————————————

Luther smiles happily.

———————————————————————————

Luther: Well..What can I say? We’re happy. Maybe we should have two more…bring up the next Umbrella Academy.

Diego: Oh, god…an Umbrella Academy full of Luther’s. I think I had a nightmare about that once.

Luther: Shut up. Anyway…Look who I got out on a day pass.

———————————————————————————

The camera panned over to Ben leaning against the wall, as far from the party as he could.

———————————————————————————

Diego: Dude…you brought that asshole to my kids birthday party? He’s a criminal! He’s…He’s not even our Ben. He’s like the..shitty knock off Ben.

Luther: Hey, Hey..Dad—

Diego: Luther. Don’t.

Luther:…A certain man adopted all of us. Even if it's a different timeline…He’s our brother, in a way. He deserves a chance. Plus…it’s not like he killed someone. He got arrested for doing what you used to do.

Diego: What I did was different. I actually trained. I was an actual hero. Not some diva thinking I was.

Luther: Diego, come on. Let him. Lila was a crazy spy..yet here she is.

———————————————————————————

Diego sighs and rubs his eyes.

———————————————————————————

Diego: Fine. But he stays away from my kids. And the alcohol. It’s my booze. I paid for it with my legal money.

———————————————————————————

Diego walks away. Luther heads over to Ben and hands him a canned soda.

———————————————————————————

Luther: Hey, Buddy. Having fun?

Ben:…Don’t talk to me like I’m a child.

Luther: Sorry…you kinda get used to it after doing it for so long. But, seriously…you having fun?

Ben: Prison is more fun than this.

Luther: Well..tomorrow, you get to go back.

Ben: Either way, you’ll still find a way to bother me.

Luther: Of course, I’m your brother..it’s what we do.

Ben: You’re not my brother. My brothers are dead. The only one here is Jackson and it’s not even him.

Luther: well..yeah. I get it…you’re not our Ben either…but you’re still our brother.

———————————————————————————

Ben scoffs and rolls his eyes.

———————————————————————————

Ben: Whatever…

———————————————————————————

Ben walks away and the camera cuts over to Five walking in with his family.

———————————————————————————

Five: I’ll try to stay as long as I can, Jack…I just got a lead in my case.

Jackson: I know, but your niece doesn’t see you that often and I’m sure she’d be happy to. Also…these are your siblings.

Five: I know, I know.

———————————————————————————

Five kisses his cheek and walks over to Diego. He leans over a railing.

———————————————————————————

Diego: Five, good you could make it…hey, did your boss get my resume?

Five: Uh…I wouldn’t know. I’m not his file keeper.

Diego: I’m telling you, he’s not gonna regret it. I’ve been awesome as a cop.

Five: Yup…so I’ve heard. Y’know how the others have been?

Diego: Well…I’ve seen Allison on tv. Seems like she isn’t doing too bad. Klaus…Jesus, that guys rough. He was an alcoholic druggie…an alcoholic druggie cult leader…a sober idiot…now he’s a massive germaphobe.

Five: A germaphobe?

Diego: Yeah, big time. He lives in Allison’s basement…I don’t know how Beatriz handles it. He’s got a kid now, too.

Five: I’m sure that kid will be just as sane.

———————————————————————————

The camera cuts to Klaus walking in, pushing a stroller. Next to him are Beatriz and Claire. Klaus stops and looks around. He takes out a box of gloves and masks and replaces the ones he’s wearing.

———————————————————————————

Klaus: Hang on, Claire-bear, let uncle Klaus get situated…arcades are known to be the filthiest places on earth..next to dive bars and movie theaters.

Claire: I..don’t know where you get your info from, Uncle Klaus. It’s gonna be alright…I’m…sure your brother knows how weird you are. So he’s prepared.

Klaus: yeah, I suppose so…here, don’t forget your hand sanitizer..and your mask. And gloves! And remember, stay and arms length—

Claire: —away from everyone, I got it..don’t worry.

———————————————————————————

Claire walks away and goes over to Grace and gives her a hug. Klaus panics a little bit but Beatriz pats his back and tells him it’s okay.

Theon walks in with Emme, the Swedes and Fei. The Swedes set some gifts onto a table and Emme walks off, going over to Stanley.

Viktor walks in with Bella. Viktor gives Diego a hug and they start chatting away about life.

A montage starts playing of everyone having a good time at the party.

Stanley and Emme put mentos into peoples sodas, running off and laughing.

Lila goes outside to get something from the car. She notices Allison and heads over, noticing her smoking. She takes it from her and takes a smoke, smiling. They talk a bit before going inside.

Luther helps the kids hit the piñata.

Ben is still standing against the wall, but Five joins him and they have a small talk.

Klaus is happily talking with Lila and Theon’s family, with Theon sitting next to them, clearly embarrassed.

Diego brings out the cake but Luther accidentally bumps into him, causing him to drop the cake. Diego looks up at Luther and stares at him. As Grace lets out a scream of “MY CAKE!”, Lila appears, holding another cake.

———————————————————————————

Lila:…What? This family is a disaster, I planned for this.

———————————————————————————

Diego laughs and he takes the cake from her, setting it on a table. He puts candles on it and Grace blows it out. He helps Grace cut into cake to give everyone slices.

As the night goes on, the party slowly comes to an end, with everyone saying their goodbyes and giving hugs.

Five goes over to Jackson.

———————————————————————————

Five: Hey…sorry, but I can’t head home after this. Something came up with the case…

Jackson: Alright…just be careful, Five. I don’t want you to die in your god awful disguise.

Five: What’s wrong with my disguise?

Jackson:…the fake mustache. The name. “Jerome”…come on, anything is better than that.

Five: I’ll run it by you next time, then. I’ll see you later tonight, okay?

———————————————————————————

Five kisses him and walks out to his car. He gets in and he puts on his disguise. He drives to a building and walks in, looking around.

A woman walks up to him and grabs his shoulder.

———————————————————————————

Lila: Hey, big boy.

Five: Li—

———————————————————————————

He noticed her name tag, “Nancy.”

———————————————————————————

Five:…What are you doing here?

Lila: I’m interested in what they have to say. Aren’t you?

Five: Whatever. Just…stay out of the way.

———————————————————————————

Five leans in and whispers.

———————————————————————————

Five: I don’t need you compromising my mission.

———————————————————————————

Lila leans in too, whispering.

———————————————————————————

Lila: Nor do I.

———————————————————————————

She smirks and takes him over to some seats. They sit down and the lights dim. A projection appears on a screen, showing a picture of an open upside down umbrella being held by a sparrow.

Five looks at the screen, slightly confused. How do they know about the sparrows? The umbrellas?

As he ponders, a man and woman walk onto a small stage and stands in front of a podium.

———————————————————————————

Woman: Welcome to our weekly meeting…it’s so good to see all of you here. We’ve got some old faces…and we have some new ones. For the new friends, my name is Jean…and my husband is Gene Thibadaeu. We study various possible timelines. Now, please, give a round of applause to our newest members, Nancy and Jerome.

———————————————————————————

Applause fills the room and then dies down.

———————————————————————————

Jean: Lovely to meet you both..

———————————————————————————

She gives a warm smile. Lila leans over to Five and whispers.

———————————————————————————

Lila: She seems like a sweet old lady.

Five: So did the handler.

Lila: Touchè…

———————————————————————————

Gene clicks a button on a remote, changing the slide.

———————————————————————————

Jean: As many of you know…we have been collecting relics for a very long time. Relics of other timelines. Most people don’t believe us…they think we’re crazy. But as you see here…Carriages with umbrellas and birds. Little figures wearing similar uniforms and masks, one of which has tentacles coming out of his chest. Two masks, a blue bear and a pink dog.

———————————————————————————

Five whispers to himself

———————————————————————————

Five: Hazel and Cha-Cha…

———————————————————————————

Gene presses the button again.

———————————————————————————

Jean: There have been no records of any of these existing. Anywhere. But today…me and my husband bought a new piece. Some of you may know the movie “Love on Loan.” A romantic comedy, nothing special..but the one we bought stars a different actress. A woman named “Allison Hargreeves.”

Gene: You heard her right. The very same Hargreeves who owns half of this city. We checked all official records…this man has no known children or family, nor does his wife. And this Allison woman doesn’t exist either. So…who is she? Why was she replaced?

Jean: Good question, Gene. We believe…she was from another timeline. One that was destroyed in “the cleanse.”

———————————————————————————

Gasps are heard around the room. Five and Lila look at each other. Five whispers to Lila.

———————————————————————————

Five: what’s “the cleanse”?

Lila: hell if I know, I just got here.

———————————————————————————

Jean coughs and looks at Five and Lila.

———————————————————————————

Jean: Very chatty, Nancy and Jerome. Perhaps you’d like to share?

———————————————————————————

Five stands up.

———————————————————————————

Five: Yes, actually. I’d like to know what this “cleanse” is. I’ve never heard of it.

Jean: why…it’s the very cornerstone of our little group here. We believe that at some point, every timeline that exists…is destroyed. And each timeline will collapse until we are left with the perfect one.

Five: And what is the perfect timeline?

Gene: Not this one, if that’s what you’re getting at. You and I won’t be around to see it…but our other versions will be. They are. They’re living their lives right now, not a care in the world.

Five: How do you know?

Gene: We’ve seen it, boy. Visions…we can’t deny it. And the cleanse is coming…and it’s coming soon.

Five: I..see.

———————————————————————————

Five slowly sits down again. Jean and Gene continue their presentation. As time passes by, the presentation ends and everyone begins to leave the room. Lila and Five look at each other and get up to leave. Gene steps in front of them.

———————————————————————————

Gene: Good to have you two here. So..inquisitive. That’s good around here. Questions give you answers and answers give you satisfaction. I hope we’ll be seeing you at the next meeting…

Five: You will. Don’t worry.

———————————————————————————

Five walks past with Lila and goes to his car. He sighs and gets in. Lila gets into the passenger seat. Five looks over.

———————————————————————————

Five: What are you doing?

Lila: Hitching a ride. I walked here, y’know. Ooh, let’s go to a cafe, I’m starved. There’s a good one just up the road.

Five: No. I need to go home, Jackson’s probably worried…

Lila: It’ll be fine. Just go!

———————————————————————————

Five sighs and says “Fine.” He drives to the cafe and they go inside, order food and sit down.

———————————————————————————

Five: so..wanna say why you’re really here?

———————————————————————————

Lila has her mouth full.

———————————————————————————

Lila:…because I’m hungry?

Five: No! Why you were at the meeting. You’re…a mom.

Lila:…and you’re a dad? What’s the difference?

Five: Just answer the damn question.

Lila: I was bored, alright? Can’t just “be a mom”…I was something before…at the commission. It’s hard now…I’ve got to do everything for my family…I’ve got no time to myself.

Five: So…you're using it as an escape. I see…well…you should stop. This mission is bigger than you. I’ve got the resources…this is my actual job. You’re playing pretend. You should go back home before this all falls apart..

Lila: Says you. You’ve got your kids and Jackson..

Five: I know. Sometimes I regret taking the job…but it ensures he lives the life he wanted. And that’s all that matters.

Lila: I guess. Well, I’m done…perhaps I’ll see you next week, hm?

———————————————————————————

She smirks and gets up. Five watches as she leaves. The camera pans out to reveal Diego parked in front of the cafe, watching Lila. He narrows his eyes, angry. At Lila. At Five.

Five gets up and walks out to his car. He noticed a little note on his windshield with the number 5 on it. He takes it and opens it. Written on the note are two numbers. What could it mean?

End of episode one

[cranjournals]

#003: SnowBugs Sequence 040 Shot 0040

Date finalized: September 29, 2024

Program: Autodesk Maya

Rig: Kate McNeely Textures: Clarisse Chiang Lighting: Sarah Putka

This is one of the shots I animated on SnowBugs, an indie short film I was animation lead on! In my initial shot assignments, this was one I had to wait until later to work on as the rig was prepared, and I spent spent months mulling it over in my head on how to approach this from a technical standpoint.

Watch the full film here!

Notes:

The first choice was keeping the character and camera relatively stationary in space while moving the snow slope instead. It's supposed to be a very large distance she's covering, so this let me control the animation better. Setting the translation tool to "Object" mode makes this easy peasy!

Next, I needed a system that kept the rotations and translations separate for easy editing. This is the system I eventually came to.

rolyTrans_grp stores the translation keyframes of Rolypoly and everything that attaches to her body through the shot

rolyRot_grp stores the rotation keyframes, parented to that group node are the clumps of snow that pile onto her body (and their deformers), the rig itself, and the snowball model for the switch that happens once she's fully a snowball

ffd5Lattice and sculptor1 are both deformers, and needed to be parented to the translation group to move with the rig

There probably wouldn't have been an issue keeping the translations and rotations on the same control because animating in stepped rarely allows keyframes to be mismatched and she's only rotating on one axis, but keeping these separate was good for my sanity and would be good practice in spline to add another layer of control.

All snow accumulation on her body was accomplished using the basic snowball model and lattice deformers to morph into place around her body, and a sculpt deformer inside of her body to push her geometry out when needed to touch the snow. The snow scatter is that same snowball model scaled and translated around, with a parent constraint to the ground.

Most of the shot is animated on 2's, with two exceptions: the squashed contact pose which lasts for one frame then her hangtime in the air afterwards is extended by one frame. This adds texture to the animation timing. Having her be completely still for three frames would make her feel stuck, however, so her rotation/translation is offset by one frame so that she still has the feeling of moving on 2's.

It was important to pay attention to screen space so that her forward movement would read properly. In the beginning when she's rolling down, she's advanced forward in space slightly to show her picking up speed. Then when she hits the rock and bounces, I made sure she maintains a nice arc while appearing to hit the ground with some force.

To show how fast she was rolling without motion blur, she rotates basically 180 degrees with slight variations each keyframe, except when she hangs in the air. You can see it in the 32-40 area of the graph editor! Otherwise, the steps are all similarly sized.

Overall, I'm still pretty happy with this even if it's deceptively simple. It's basically a ball rolling down a hill, but I felt like I did well to keep the shot organized and want to maintain this level of thought going forward!

[firststrikerr]

22 and 49 for both marion/chen and marion/daniel? 👀

22. What reminds each of their partner?

Marion/Chen: Whenever they're stuck on some kind of problem/conundrum, they both wish the other were around to bounce ideas off of. They don't always agree, but a voice of dissent is exactly what they need sometimes. When discussing ideas on a white board, Marion would always grab the green marker to set their notes apart, so Chen tends to leave the green one alone even when they're not around. Chess, xiangqi, and similar strategy games also make them think of each other. For chess, Chen has always preferred to play black, so Marion defaults to white out of habit even when they aren't playing with him.

Marion/Daniel: Sunsets remind both of them of each other but for very different reasons lol... Marion predictably associates Daniel with the sun in general, but sunsets specifically remind them that this nice thing they share can't last. Their conversation about Sunset No. 4 with him in their puppet also left quite an impression on them. As for Daniel, sunsets remind him of all the late afternoons the two spend together watching the sky change color. There's a specific warmth to ending the day with them. He also just thinks that the twilight sky really complements them. Eventually (sometime in Revelations surely...) the orange tattoos add onto his association.

49. Do either of them have a hard time being away from the other?

Marion/Chen: Chen struggles with his nerves when he doesn't hear from Marion for a while because it means either 1) they're up to something, or 2) something's wrong. His mind would go to all kinds of places until he hears back from them. What's funny is that they don't even leave him hanging for that long. In fact, they're pretty indulgent about how much time they spend with him (Daniel could NOT relate). He's just really intent on being there for them no matter what, whether it's to stop them from doing something they'd regret or making sure they're safe. Can't repeat his past mistake this time and all that. You know what, this is just the Neferrious Incident fic except I haven't written the chapters that actually highlight this yet because of all the ground to cover for the. Plot. Help

Marion/Daniel: Marion tends to feel Daniel's absence more than he does because he just... expects less from them? Before the villain reveal, Marion does an intentionally awful job at expressing just how much they actually like him, so he doesn't really understand why they hang out with him. Because of his insecurities he's like, half ready for them to ditch him eventually, so he's happy to make the most of the time he does get to spend with them. Meanwhile, Marion feels the temperature drop he's not around. It's like losing an emotional radiator if that makes sense. They crave his attention so bad but literally refuse to seek him out and will only get "dragged along" if he initiates. Overall does a pretty horrible job at keeping their distance as intended. How could this be.

thanks for the ask, these were actually so fun to think about! the questions are from here

answered: 1 2 3

[adrianasunderworld]

Papa Crowley, Raising Yuu au

Like in the Papa Crewel au, specifically this one where Crewel finds Yuu and rases them, this time it is Crowley.

Like in the other au, Yuu as small four or five year old child falls down the rabbit hole to Twisted Wonderland and gets plopped out onto Sages Island. As they wander aimlessly they find a small kitten Grim, and together they wander into town where one Dire Crowley is out doing some shopping.

In his oh so endless generosity, Dire helps the poor lost child and ask some questions so he may help find their parents or at least tell the authorities so they can help. But, as Dire ask these questions, nothing adds up. Yuu says they are from a town in a city he has never heard of from a country that does not exist. And like at the start of the game, pieces out rather quickly that Yuu is not from this world. With no idea of what to do, after all leaving a small child at the mercy of a system in a strange world felt wrong, Dire took Yuu back to Nrc with him until he can figure it out.

Thing is, Crowley was not sure how to figure it out. Though he knew about other worlds, there was no go to spell to send Yuu back. Nothing in the schools library had a straight answer for him. So he was left watching this small child until then.

Dire had never single parented before, and found it difficult to figure out how to make Yuu comfortable while they stayed with him. Trein was helpful in this time explaining what children may like and how best to make them comfortable. Dire struggles, but eventually fell into a routine and gave Yuu and Grim some much needed stability. He enrolled them in a local school and when they weren't there, was running around the grounds of NRC, happily playing with the students that were nice enough to. It hasn't hit the man how much he had grown to care for the child until a little over a year later, and Yuu had presented him with a Fathers Day card they had drawn in school and inside was a picture of them, Grim, and Dire. That's when he knew he was in this for the long run.

After that Yuu referred to Crowley as their dad and he accepted that role and referred to Yuu as his child. They had grown up the school grounds, often helping their father with small tasks, usually things like making copies or fetching office supplies. When Yuu was wrapping up middle school and would be of age to attend highschool, Crowley said they could attend NRC if they wished. Despite the fact they did not know magic, he offered to have Grim enrolled as well to cover the magic part of the classes. Yuu happily agreed. Even going so far as to clean out the old abandoned dorm to call home. Adamant they wanted the full experience of living in a dorm despite not having magic to be sorted into one.

They stood on the sidelines with Grim as they watched the mirror ceremony as the new students got sorted. They had wished it was them, but they had made their peace with that long ago. That didnt stop them from overhearing the whispers of students behind them, gossiping about them.

"Thats the Headmages adoptive kid."

"The magicless one?"

"Yeah, Daddy Dearest gave them a pass to attend. I heard he had that old dorm fixed up so they can paly Prefect."

"Talk about favoritism."

Yuu pretended not to hear, but even so the word hit their mark. Is that really what people think of me? This was going to be a long school year.

[rea-grimm]

My dragon warrior 6

When you finally got close enough to the next city, Hanzo descended to the ground, where he planned to change back into a human. However, when he changed, his body still showed the blue scales, horns, and tail he dragged behind him. 

Lately, he had been noticing how his complete transformation into a human was taking longer and longer. He used to change in the blink of an eye and that was it. Now he had to concentrate for a few extra minutes to change completely back. If it was just you, he wouldn't have minded, but since you were coming between humans, he had no choice.

As you walked down the path, Hanzo noticed the scales on his arms growing again. He concentrated and let them disappear. Worst of all, they reappeared a quarter of an hour later. He got tired of letting them keep disappearing and instead put on his kimono properly to cover it up.

By the time you entered the village, preparations for some sort of festival were already in full swing. Everything was decorated with balloons and streamers and live music was pouring from the firehouse. The villagers gave you a friendly welcome and immediately directed you to the pub where you could check in. 

Even now you had a room alone with Hanz. Just as you checked in, a couple of girls in matching dresses knocked on your door, inviting you to the firemen's ball. You could see in Hanzo that he wasn't too keen on that and saw it more as a potential risk. That's why you didn't promise anything, just that maybe you'd step up.

With that, the girls were satisfied and moved on.

About half an hour later, Hanzo decided it would be a shame for you not to go. Granted, you didn't have any clothes to go in, but that didn't stop you. You were most surprised when Hanzo went with you and didn't let Cole keep an eye on you.

You sat down at a small table overlooking the dance floor and Hanzo got you something to drink. You sipped and had a nice conversation with Cole, who came over to watch you. Otherwise, you saw him mostly at the bar, attracting ladies' attention.

After a while, the men's vote was called and Cole looked at you.

"May I please?" He asked, looking first at you and then at the dragon for his reaction. Hanzo, however, was calm and looked like he didn't mind.

You accepted the invitation to dance and the two of you crossed to the dance floor, which began to fill with couples. The music started and you started dancing. Cole wasn't a bad dancer and he was able to lead you well. 

Every chance you got you turned towards your table, you noticed how Hanzo kept his eyes on you the whole time. He watched you like a hawk. Only when your gazes met did he look away for a moment. Despite his stares, you enjoyed dancing with Cole.

Just as you finished that dance and returned to the table, a rather handsome young man came up to you. And even though he saw that you were in the company of two men, he was brave enough to ask you to dance. 

You were about to refuse him and at least take a song break when Hanzo stood up abruptly. He walked over to you, looking as if he was going to burn the young man to the ground. His gaze shifted to you, however, and he turned a little brighter.

"Shall we dance?" he asked, surprisingly pleasantly.

"I'd love to..." you were about to add something else when he took your hand and headed towards the dance floor with you. He wrapped one arm around your waist while still holding your hand with the other. You just stood there for a moment before you started dancing to the exact rhythm.

"I thought you didn't even want to come here originally," you said as you danced. Hanzo, who up until now had been throwing murderous glares at anyone who came near you, looked at you.

"You wanted to go," he finally said. "You absolutely lit up when we were invited."

"Thank you," you smiled at him. You snuggled closer to him and kissed him on the cheek to show your thanks.

One dance eventually became two and you ended up dancing until your feet started to hurt. Then you rested your head on his shoulder and he hugged you tighter. 

You waited until the music ended before he took you in his arms and carried you over to the table. There he took your things and made his way into the room with you still in his arms. As he carried you, you leaned your head against him and almost fell asleep.

You stayed in the village for two more days, when you bought the necessary supplies for your journey, before moving on.

This time you went much further. Even now Hanzo tried to shorten the journey by turning into a dragon and you flew. You passed village after village, but you didn't stay long. 

At most, you spent the night there and moved on. You had no idea where the two of them were going, but somehow you didn't care. Now you felt like a real adventurer.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

[banannabethchase]

Now (Is the Perfect Timing) - also on AO3

~

They did it. The Bad Kids graduated. Kristen graduated. So why doesn't she feel more excited about it?

~

Thank you, second full watch through of the entire Fantasy High series, for forcing me to write yet another Trackerbees fic. O no. Title from Waking Up Dreaming by Shania Twain.

~

“This sucks.”

Kristen blinks awake and almost falls out of bed. “When the hell did you get here?!” she shrieks, ignoring the sore spot on her ass from where she crashed to the ground.

Fig stares over her. “Been here, like, an hour. Stole Jawbone’s coffee. Woke up Adaine by shaking her bunk bed, which was fun.” She sighs. “Didn’t expect Aelwyn to be there.”

“You’re terrible with boundaries,” Kristen says. She stands and wraps her arms around Fig, holding her as tightly as she can imagine. “I missed you.”

“Of course you did,” Fig says, patting her on the back. “I’m irreplaceable.”

“So, what sucks?” Kristen asks. And then she recognizes a very conspicuous absence. “Oh, Ayda didn’t –”

“Nah, she’s downstairs,” Fig says. “My mom wants her to try the pancakes she’s bringing to the brunch. What sucks is that you’re all graduating and because I love you guys I can’t nuke the stage.”

“She’s making a joke,” says Ayda, as she pokes her head in. “Fig, I thought we reviewed that interrupting Adaine while she slept didn’t go well.”

“Kirsten’s different,” Fig says. She reaches out and grabs at Kristen’s ponytail, and Kristen only slightly puts her in a headlock. “Hey!”

“Deal,” Kristen says. She adds a kiss to the top of Fig’s head, just for good measure. “You woke me up.”

“You love it,” Fig says, batting at Kristen. Eventually she lets Fig go, but not before ensuring that her hair was well and fully messed up.

“You deserved that,” Ayda says. “Kristen. It is good to see you.”

“You too, Ayda.” She opens her arms. “Hug?”

“I would prefer something with less contact.” Ayda comes up and bumps Kristen’s shoulder with hers, a wing extending to pat at Kristen’s back. It’s almost better than a hug. “Ah. That’s nice. Thank you.”

Kristen isn’t sure she’s ever been thanked for a hug before, but she’s got no problem with it.

They make their way downstairs where Ayda pronounces the pancakes the best she’s ever had, and Kristen grabs one as they dart out the door. They’re good, of course. But not quite the best she’s ever had.

“Kristen,” Ayda says, at her best attempt at a whisper. Luckily everyone in Mordred Manor is arguing about which of the Bad Kids is going to fuck up graduation. Kristen wishes her name was less frequently mentioned, but you win some you lose some. “Kristen, may I tell you something?”

“Yeah, Ayda, of course.” She leans in a little more.

“These are the best pancakes I’ve ever had because I have never had pancakes before,” Ayda says in a rushed whisper. Kristen turns to her and she looks genuinely concerned as they walk down the driveway. “Does that count as a lie? I’d hate to lie to my future mother in law.”

Kristen grins at her. “Not a lie. Also, you’re fucking adorable.”

A little flame sparks across Ayda’s cheeks. “Thank you. I will return to Fig now.”

“I’ve missed you like hell, Ayda,” Kristen chuckles.

Fig nearly kills all of them as she drives them to Fabian’s. They could hear Sandra Lynn from behind them yelling at her to slow down while she rode on Baxter, but it only made Fig gas it more.

“And be nice to Gilear,” she demands toward what Kristen hopes is the end of a rant. “When I got in last night he was covered in baby puke and had those little puff things stuck in his hair.”

“We can’t mention that?!” Kristen asks. Adaine whaps her gently in the arm. “Oh, come on.”

“He’s got a baby,” Adaine says. “He’s bound to be exhausted, especially since Fig’s been gone.”

“Hallariel still looks hot as fuck,” Kristen mutters.

Adaine hits her again on her arm, accompanied by an impressively flexible thwap on the forehead from Fig.

“Ow!” Kristen yells. “Pay attention to driving!”

“Stop hitting on my step mom!”

“You can’t hit on somebody who isn’t in the room,” Kristen retorts.

“Fine,” Fig hisses. She pulls into the driveway, already full with Gorgug’s van and Gilear’s car. “Stop being weirdly horny about my step mom.”

Kristen sighs. “Fine. God. Can I say it to Fabian though?”

“Actually?” Fig says, pausing as she opens the door. “Yes. Yes, you can. Once. Out of my earshot.”

“Hell yeah.”

They’re halfway into the house before Adaine dives away to go find Fig and Fabian’s baby sister.

“Let me kiss her!��� Kristen yells after Adaine. “You don’t get to hog her!”

“Try me!” Adaine calls back.

Fabian, looking bizarrely forlorn for a kid on the day of his graduation comes out. “Hi.”

“Who shit in your cereal?” Kristen asks.

“Nobody. I’m just miserable,” Fabian says. His battle sheet is draped over his shoulders. Kristen is pretty sure he still hasn’t showered.

“Why are you miserable?” Ayda asks. “Is there something we can help with?”

“Yeah,” Fig says. “Hey, what about a graduation party tomorrow night or something? The Maximum Legend’s major rager?”

“Yeah, Fabian,” says Kristen, and she swears she’s not trying to sound like a dick, “you love house parties.”

“I can’t have a house party!” Fabian says. “Those days are gone, Fig, because of her.”

Fig rolls her eyes. “She has a name.”

“Yes, and her name is my mortal enemy.”

“And your name is big fuckin’ baby,” Fig says.

“She is horrible!”

“Fiona is a baby,” Kirsten says, “and you are out of your mind.”

“Fiona is a demon!” Fabian says, and he throws his hands in the air. It’s more dramatic, now that he’s got a baby sister, the way he acts. Kristen likes to poke at it.

“She’s cuter than you,” Kristen muses. “Do you think you’re jealous she’s getting more of your mom’s attention?”

“Fucking hell, Kirsten,” Riz says, coming out from the kitchen. He shakes his head, the cap barely moving from where it sits between his ears.

Kristen is about to say the thing about Fabian’s hot mom but, before, she can say anything else, Fabian has her strung up, upside down from what seems to be some weird tangle with his battle sheet.

“Aha!” He says. “Take it back!”

“This is exactly what I was trying to do with that stupid ribbon in sophomore year,” Kristen says. She tries not to sound like all the blood rushing to her head is slightly screwing with her senses.

“Take it back,” Fabian says. If she squints, he may be smiling.

“Don’t take it back!” Adaine says in a squeaky little voice, and Kristen turns her head to see Fiona in Adaine’s arms.

“Oh, the baby is here,” Ayda says. Kirsten watches her expression catapult between multiple emotions. “Hello, Fig’s sister.”

Fiona replies somewhat favorably by giggling and wiggling the hand not held by Adaine.

“Oh,” Ayda says. Kristen can’t totally read her expression, but it’s unexpected. “The small baby waved at me.” She turns to Fig. “She is adorable. And much larger than last time. But not as adorable as you, of course. You are the most perfect.”

Kristen fake gags at the way Fig gazes at Ayda. It doesn’t go well. The sudden action makes her incredibly aware of the pressure in her head. “Alright, fine, I cave!” Kristen crunches up and grabs at the sheet, but it collapses as she tries to climb. “You suck, Fabian.”

“I don’t.” He reaches down to hold out a hand, and Kristen takes it. He hugs her quickly. “Now, up. We have a graduation brunch.”

They do, in fact. It’s fun and giggly, with Fig and Ayda sitting on either side of Fiona as she plays with her food. And Kristen allows herself to be just the tiniest bit jealous.

She and Fabian start tossing chunks of strawberry from the fruit salad into each other’s mouths, and they were on a 26 in a row record-setting run when someone walks in and smacks the strawberry slice out of the air.

“Damn, good aim,” Kristen says. She looks up at Adaine. “What’s up?”

“I need your help to make Fig do something other than the ponytail for graduation,” Adaine explains. “And, also…”

“Also you want me to do your hair,” Kristen guesses.

“Well if you insist.” Adaine grins, and it’s a level of relaxation in her eyes Kristen hasn’t seen in months. Finals took her through hell, and that was after midterms during their battles with the invisible armies of the dead. Her hair is longer now that she hasn’t cut it in months. “Come on.”

“Ah yes, I need to get ready too,” Fabian says. “Gorgug? Riz?”

“Are you asking us to come shower with you?” Gorgug asks. “Because I don’t know how Mary Ann will feel about that.”

Riz and Fabian laugh so hard that Fiona joins in, and it gives Adaine, Fig, and Kristen the cover to duck upstairs into Hallariel’s fancy bathroom.

Kristen twists and braids Adaine’s hair, pinning the braids up to mimic a crown.

“There,” she says, taking care of the last piece of hair. “Done.”

“Thank you,” Adaine says, beaming. She looks so happy that Kristen doesn’t even want to mention that this may be one of the last times that Adaine wants her to do her hair. “Now, let’s go get Fig up to snuff.”

Kristen fiddles with her collar as Adaine puts Fig’s hair in a pretty good set of French braids.

“You two match,” Kristen says. “It’s cute.”

“Are you going to wear your hair down for once?” Fig asks. “Because it’s about time you quit it with the ponytail.”

“It’s functional!” Kristen says. “And I wear it down all the time.”

Adaine rolls her eyes. “Two or three times a year isn’t all the time.”

Kristen immediately loses the battle, as Adaine knocks her out at the knees and Fig shoves her in a chair. She complains the whole time, just for good measure.

When Adaine is done, she takes a look at herself. Her hair is holding a soft wave. She looks different, she guesses. Her hair is neater than usual. It looks nice. It looks. Different.

“Guys, do I have curly hair?” she asks. She tugs at it. “Do – what do I do with my hair like this?”

“Deal with that crisis later,” Fig says, clapping Kristen on the back. “Come on. We have places to be.”

“Wouldn’t you rather make a big entrance and, like, interrupt things?” Kristen takes the jacket Fig is shoving into her hands. It goes on perfectly, and Kristen once again must acknowledge that Fabian was right about the tailoring idea. “That feels more your vibe.”

Fig shrugs. “Maybe I don’t want to be late for once.”

Kristen makes the executive decision not to think too far into that.

~

As she walks across the stage, she disconnects a little bit. She hears Cassandra and Ankarna cheering for her in her mind. She sees herself shake Arthur Aguefort’s hand. She feels the hard wood of the stage under her sneakers. She can smell Griffothy Andrews’ excess body spray. She can taste the mint that Adaine had given her to get her to shut up mid-rant in line right before she crossed the stage.

She is graduating, and the world did not end. She fought battles and defeated Helio and Sol and, hopefully, Galicaea and her general are about to take out the last of their soldiers in Fallinel.

She won’t think too hard about that general. It’s been long enough that missing her feels natural. And she has the crystal messages. When they come.

It’s okay.

She wipes a rogue tear or two from her cheeks as she catches Jawbone taking a photo of her and beaming.

“Good job, kid,” he says. “Oh, screw it.” He reaches out and yanks her into a hug, and Kristen lets herself cry, just the tiniest bit, onto his shoulder.

“Thanks, Dad,” she whispers.

“Goddamnit, Kristen, did you and Adaine plan that?” he chokes out. “I’m supposed to be professional here.”

He guides her out of the way and toward the steps as the next guy behind her goes up to get his diploma, and Kristen catches up to the line to get back to her seat. She’s fully settled and back in her own body once it’s Riz’s turn across the stage, and she finds herself incredibly grateful for the chance to do this with her best friends. She knows Fig and Ayda are in the audience, cheering her on. She hopes Bucky’s there, too, but she won’t hold too hard to that. Disappointment has no business here today.

It’s friends and acquaintances in between Fabian, Mary Ann, and Gorgug crossing the stage, and then it’s over. They stand. The throw their various hats in the air. They have graduated.

She didn’t expect to feel a little bit empty about it.

“Kristen!” Fig crashes into her from the crowd, and there’s a chance she threw a little magic into her trek through the giant number of people. “Kristen, over here!”

Kristen squeezes between where Gertie is hugging her dads and where Lucilla Lullaby is weeping over one of Fabian’s bard friends. She dives into Fig’s arms and lets Fig spin her. “You did it!”

“I did it!” Kristen replies. “I’m done! I graduated!”

Fig pulls back and glances over Kristen’s shoulder. “You did!”

“What are you looking at?” Kristen tries to glance behind her, but Fig yanks her into a hug again.

“Nothing,” Fig says. “Making sure nobody was trying to hex my president.” She winks, and Kristen realizes just how much she’s missed her over the past few months. Fighting next to each other in battle is very different from talking during dinner. “Let’s go find everybody else.”

Ayda pops up from behind Fig and grabs her hand without a second thought. “Yes, we have to make sure everyone is here.”

“Everyone is here,” Kristen corrects. “We were all either getting ready to graduate or in the crowd.”

Ayda’s expression goes confused for the briefest flash of a moment before Fig grabs her and kisses her so hard Kristen has to look away.

“Oh, my god, you two,” Kristen grumbles.

Fig pulls away, leaving Ayda a little dazed and looking a little less put together herself. “What? Like we didn’t have to suffer you doing this with Tracker for a year and a half?”

Kristen shakes her head and makes herself smile. “Alright, Bad Kids together. We’ve got to get some pictures.”

Ayda helps collect everyone by flying above the crowd, and it only takes a few minutes to wrangle the whole crew. They shove at each other and get into a terrible facsimiles of family photos, adults and kids alike. Kristen’s up on her toes to try and shove Fabian out of the way, but this might be the right way for the photo to be set up.

“Get here out of here!” Fabian snaps as Fig grabs Fiona.

“Nope!” she says. She places Fiona on her shoulders, and Adaine reaches out to settle a reassuring hand on Fiona’s back. “She’s a Bad Kid. A Bad Baby, maybe.”

“No,” Adaine says.

“Absolutely not,” Riz says. “Not when we have the other connotation for Bad Baby.”

Gorgug shudders, and Kristen is pretty sure he’s thinking about Fabian’s rager for Gorgug’s and Riz’s eighteenth birthdays. “Never again. No more bad baby milk.”

Fabian pouts through all of the pictures. But Kristen does catch him reach out and hold Fiona’s foot with the tiniest smile in between pictures.

“Alright, that should be enough,” Aelwyn says, sliding her phone into her pocket. “I’ve made a folder for all of us to share, in case there are other pictures.” She points to everyone. “It’s linked to everyone’s crystals with a notification triggered any time additional photos are added.”

“When did you become techy?” Gorgug asks.

Aelwyn raises an eyebrow and stares at Gorgug. Menacing is the wrong word, but it’s close. “When did you determine you were allowed to speak to me like that?”

Kristen opens her mouth to intervene, but another person steps to Aelwyn.

“Are you flirting with my boyfriend?” Mary Ann asks.

Kristen has to slap her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

“Excuse me?” Aelwyn asks, staring down at Mary Ann. “Who the fuck are you, pipsqueak?”

“It’s weird you think you’re cool,” Mary Ann says. “Gorgug, can I kick her ass?”

“She’s my sister,” Adaine explains. “I’ll do it.”

“What?!” Aelwyn says. “I’m sorry, I do you all a favor and somehow I’m the bad guy?”

“Let’s just go get – I don’t know, a water or something.” Adaine grabs Aelwyn’s arm and steers her away.

“What’s her deal?” Mary Ann asks. She takes a sip of her soda. Kristen doesn’t even know when she could have gotten it.

“Easy way to say it is she and Fabian had a thing two summers ago and it fucked both of them up,” Fig offers. “Hard way to say it is she was raised by the same people who raised Adaine except she’s still learning how to be a person about it.”

Mary Ann shrugs. “Cool. Gorgug, let’s go to the van.”

“The van?”

Kristen notices an expression cross Gorgug’s face. “Yes,” he says, a little too carefully. “The van.”

The two of them walk away, hand in hand.

“I still don’t get it,” Fig says, almost in awe. “I mean, I love it, but I don’t get it.”

“Philosophically or anatomically?” Ayda asks.

“Philosophically it makes perfect sense,” Fig says. “Anatomically…I have never been more confused.”

“Okay,” Kristen says. “Nope. Don’t need to hear it.”

“Unfortunately you now understand our feelings when you get naked around us.”

“Huh,” Kristen mutters. “Damn.”

Hallariel, Gilear, Fabian, and Fiona take some family pictures while Kristen waits. She decides not to look around. She knows nobody else is coming.

“Are you feeling uncomfortable?” Ayda asks.

Kristen shrugs. “A little. Kind of weird to be here with everybody’s parents.” She offers he best attempt at a smile.

Ayda’s expression goes a little weird for a second. “Oh. I understand, to a degree.” She reaches out and touches Kristen’s hand, just the littlest bit. “Figueroth and I had dinner with my father last night and it…it went alright. But I expressed to him that I would prefer space today in order to recover from the time we spent together.”

“Damn,” Kristen says. “Fair. Me and my parents can’t exactly have those conversations. Every time I talk to them it kind of feels like that battle in the Nekronomikron in March.”

Ayda nods sympathetically. “A losing fight against those who cannot lose.” She rests her forehead against the side of Kristen’s. “Never again, Kristen. We won.”

It’s a strange thing, her friendship with Ayda. Sometimes it feels like Ayda prefers Adaine. Sometimes it feels like she just talks to Kristen because Kristen is Fig’s friend. And sometimes it feels like this: family.

“I shouldn’t be sad today, right?” Kristen asks. “It’s supposed to be a happy day.”

Ayda pulls away and gets herself right in front of Kristen. “If there is anything I’ve learned, it’s that there is no right or wrong way to feel.”

Kristen opens her mouth to respond, but she and Ayda see the ball of excitement and strawberry blonde hair barreling toward them at the same time.

“Hey, Bucky!” Kristen wraps her arms around her little brother. “Where the hell did you come from?” She can’t stop herself from looking for their parents. Hope is strong, but doubt is stronger. Cassandra wraps herself around the thought like a hug, and Kristen comes back to what’s actually happening.

“Oh,” he says. “Oh, no. They, um. They aren’t here.”

Kristen won’t let herself be disappointed. She knew Mac and Donna wouldn’t be here. There was no doubt in that. Not even a little. “Right.” She nods and steps back. “You look great, Bucky. New suit?”

Bucky nods. “For church,” he says, rolling his eyes. “But I snuck out and brought it to wear today.” He adjusts the lapels. “Feels better like this.”

“I’m glad you feel good in it, Buck,” Kristen says. She gives him another squeeze. “Let’s get some pictures.”

“I can do that!” Ayda says. “Give me one moment.”

Ayda manages to come up with about two dozen poses until she determines she’s satisfied, and she gives Kristen’s phone back with a bit of a flourish.

“Bucky, you have a wonderful sister,” she says. “It’s good to see you again.”

Bucky beams at her. “Same, Ayda.”

Kristen squeezes him on the shoulder, another reminder that he’s here and this is really happening. “Do you want to come to dinner with all of us?”

“Oh,” Bucky says. “Oh, I’ve already – it’s been two hours. They’re going to start wondering where I am.”

“Right,” Kristen says. “Of course. I get it. Thank you for coming. It really means a lot.” She hugs him again. She hopes it’s enough. “Love you, Bucky.”

“Love you too, Kristen.”

One last squeeze and then Bucky is waving as he walks to the bike rack. He’ll bike home and change next to the trellis. Probably stores the bag under the shrubs by the window and throws it over his shoulder before he climbs back up the wall.

There’s a lot of things Kristen wishes she could have saved her brothers from. But at least they’re figuring out a little bit without her.

“You okay?” Fig asks. She reaches down and squeezes Kristen’s hand.

Gorgug bumps her other shoulder.

“I’m okay,” she says. “Bucky came. My parents and my other brothers didn’t.”

“Aw, Kristen.” Gorgug pulls her in and hugs her. She lets it go on longer than she usually likes. Gorgug will be gone for a few weeks in the summer at an artificer internship, and it could be a while before they get to do this again. If he likes it enough, he might be even longer.

She’s sick of missing people.

She’s sick of people leaving and not coming back.

Kristen sighs and pulls away from Gorgug. “It’s okay,” she says. “I mean. I have all of you, right?” It has to be enough.

Someone clears their throat, and Fig’s face lights up.

“Oh, no, Kristen,” she says, sounding in no way upset about the way she shoulder checks Kristen backward. Usually Kristen would be able to flatten her to the ground, but there’s something about this a little too weird for her to react in time. Kristen bumps into somebody. “So sorry for bumping into you.” It’s followed by a hilariously excessive wink. Ayda looks as baffled as Kristen feels, but then somebody puts their hand on her shoulder to steady her.

Kristen turns to a bouquet of flowers in front of her face. “Oh,” she says, a little confused. She takes them. “Thanks.” She sniffs, and almost falls over when she moves the bouquet from her face. “I – you’re here.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Tracker says. Her eyes a sparkling, just the tiniest bit. Kristen remembers that look. “I wouldn’t miss this if the world depended on it.”

“It kind of did,” Kristen says. She doesn’t know what to do with the way Tracker is looking at her. It’s poking at memories Kristen usually only pulls up when she’s alone. “How’d that war in Fallinel end?”

“It hasn’t,” Tracker says. “Almost. But Galicaea’s got it. Those Sol nutters are gonna cave any minute now.”

Kristen stares. “You left a war where you’re a general to come to my high school graduation?”

Tracker shrugs, and Kristen feels her heart do one of Fabian’s weird dances. “You’re worth it.”

Kristen has a million questions, all of them surely eloquent and smart or whatever, but what comes out of her mouth is, “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you come?” Kristen knows what she hopes for. She’s also done enough in her eighteen years in Spyre that she knows hope often isn’t enough.

Tracker’s face goes a little weird. “I figured it was obvious, Kristen.”

“The thing I think is obvious seems kind of impossible.”

Tracker sighs and looks a little frustrated, but it’s not exactly unexpected. “Fucking hell, Kristen.”

Before she can move, before she can think, Tracker’s grabbed her around the waist, yanked her in, and is planting a reality shattering kiss on Kristen’s lips.

Kristen swoons – actually fucking swoons – and has to throw her arms around Tracker’s neck to keep from falling over. Her brain is frying in the best way possible, familiarity and a strange flicker of novelty recalibrating her entire system. Tracker’s arms are bigger against Kristen’s back than they used to be, stronger than ever, and it strikes Kristen that, just maybe, she should be asking some questions about whatever is happening.

“What?” Kristen asks as she pulls away. Tracker’s hair has gotten longer. It looks good.

She has got to focus.

“Not – okay?” Tracker drops her immediately, and Kristen is fully considering a temper tantrum over the loss of the touch.

“I changed my mind about talking. Get back here,” Kristen says. Words can wait. She throws herself into Tracker’s arms again and gets an arm around Tracker’s waist. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed Tracker. She doesn’t think she let herself know how much she’d missed Tracker. She still kisses the same way – firm and determined, holding Kristen so tightly it’s like she’ll never let go. The desperation feels different now, though. It doesn’t feel as frantic. It feels more focused, more intentional.

Kristen will not swoon. Not again.

She pulls back again for the sheer sake of breathing, which seems like it doesn’t deserve priority right now, and stares at Tracker. “You’re here.”

“I’m here,” Tracker says. She tucks some hair behind Kristen’s ear. “I like your hair down,” she murmurs. “It’s cute.”

“Tracker!” Kristen turns around to see Adaine bounding toward the two of them away from Gorgug, Mary Ann, and Fabian. “You got here!”

“Thanks for helping me get here,” Tracker says, grinning.

Kristen blinks. “Helping?”

“Surprise!” Adaine says. She half dances in front of Kristen and Tracker. It’s kind of new, after all her time hanging out at Fabian’s house both with and without him, but Fiona has somehow shifted a lot of Adaine’s anxiety. And, Kristen assumes, being done with her advanced honors level Wizarding classes. That probably will do it.

“You knew?” Kristen asks. “How the hell did you know?”

“Tracker contacted me first,” Adaine says. One of her braids is threatening to break free of the bobby pin holding it to her head, and Kristen thinks that she’ll let it fall in revenge for Adaine not telling her.

“And you didn’t tell me.” Kristen sighs. “We live together, Adaine.”

“Which makes it even more impressive I was able to keep it from you for a month.” She leans in and kisses Kristen on the cheek. “We did it. We’re done. You deserve some celebration. Let yourself enjoy it.”

Kristen raises an eyebrow at her. “What are you letting yourself enjoy?”

Adaine shrugs. “Fig and Fabian actually did plan a rager at Seacaster, but tomorrow? Probably going to watch a movie with Aelwyn. Get ice cream from Basrar’s.” She sighs, looking impressively relaxed for a person surrounded by a couple hundred people. “A couple days without saving the world or studying sounds pretty great.” She squeezes Tracker’s shoulder. “It’s really good to see you again.”

Despite the noise and the chaos around them, Kristen wants to hold on to this moment for a while as she watches Adaine walk away, and memorizes the feeling of Tracker by her side again. “So,” Kristen says. She turns back to Tracker, a hand on her waist. “You left your war for my graduation.”

“It’s not that dramatic,” Tracker says. Kristen knows that tiny flicker of yellow in her eyes. There’s suddenly a wave of heat over her skin that has nothing to do with the setting sun. “Winning the war was a given. You graduating wasn’t.”

“Hey!”

“I meant that you almost die, like, twelve times a month,” Tracker says. “It’s not that I didn’t believe in you. It’s that the world is deadly.”

“The world is deadly and I graduated high school,” Kristen says.

Tracker nods and presses her lips together, eyes looking over Kristen’s shoulder.

“What?”

Tracker nods again toward where she’s looking. “Fabian’s holding a baby that makes me worry he’s about to throw it.”

“That’s Fiona,” Kristen explains.

“That’s Fiona?!” Tracker says. “Wasn’t she born, like, last week?”

“She was born back in November, but okay,” Kristen laughs. “I guess it has been a while since Christmas.”

“It has.” Tracker’s eyes flicker down to Kristen’s lips, then back up. “A long while.”

Kristen remembers what happened during Christmas. Tracker had been gone for weeks, after being back for an awkward summer of trying to be friends. And then – well, similarly to what happened right now, Tracker showed up out of nowhere. But it wasn’t in front of other people. It was in Kristen’s bedroom, in her bed, on what used to be the altar.

And then Tracker left again.

Kristen takes a step back. “Let’s – go talk,” she says. She can’t meet Tracker’s eyes.

“Yeah,” Tracker says. “Of course. Mordred Manor?”

Kristen nods. “I think everybody else will be busy here for a while. Pictures. Family stuff.”

Tracker’s lips part for the briefest of seconds. “Yeah,” she says quietly. “Yeah, I can – yeah.”

Kristen follows Tracker to a beat to shit sedan. Boxy, grey, probably ancient.

“New car?” Kristen asks as she slides into the passenger seat.

“Yeah, there’s not a lot of options last minute,” Tracker says. “Jawbone helped me find one. Been in that extra driveway at Mordred for a few months.”

Kristen nods. “I think I remember seeing it, but I thought it was just a pile of junk.” She throws a smile at Tracker, praying for one back. If there isn’t one, she might be done for.

Tracker, to Kristen’s relief, smiles and laughs, if a bit darker than she’d like. “Yeah. It looks better than it did when I first started driving it, though.”

Kristen nods, and the car falls into a strange silence. Tracker’s music starts playing, and Kristen recognizes the voice but not the song.

“Did The Growlers come out with a new album?” she asks.

Tracker nods. “Sort of. About a year ago.”

“Oh.” Kristen missed it, because they’ve barely talked in the past year and half. “Right.”

The silence grows uncomfortable, and Kristen feels like she’s about to crawl out of her skin. They pull into Mordred. Kristen doesn’t even wait for Tracker to throw the car in park before jumping out and half running to the door.

“Are you good?” Tracker asks. She’s far less frenetic than Kristen, which feels almost embarrassing. “You’re being weird.”

“I’m being weird?” Kristen asks. She fumbles with the key, incredibly aware of how close Tracker is behind her. “You showed up and didn’t tell me.”

“It was a surprise!” Tracker says as they walk through the door. Tracker pushes past Kristen, just a tiny bit, and starts walking toward Kristen’s bedroom. “You like surprises!”

“You don’t know that,” Kristen grumbles. It’s slightly annoying how Tracker knows exactly the path to Kristen’s bedroom, how to get there without stepping on creaky boards or tripping over unexpected dips in the old floor.

Tracker throws a grin over her shoulder as she pushes open Kristen’s bedroom door. “I don’t? Officer Kristen says differently.”

“Okay,” Kristen says. She kicks off her shoes and leaves them next to the door, and then pulls the door shut. “Officer Kristen says shut up.”

Tracker sits down on Kristen’s bed. “You gonna make me?”

There are two very clear paths in front of them right now. One leads to what happened over Christmas. One leads to a conversation about 3 years too late.

“Tracker,” Kristen says, as carefully as she can.

It doesn’t work. The hurt flashes across Tracker’s face before Kristen can say anything else. “Oh,” Tracker says. Her voice is tiny. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s – it’s not that,” Kristen says. She starts walking back and forth, pacing a familiar path in the floor of her bedroom. “You and I both know it’s not that I don’t want – this is a lot, okay? And I know I suck at dealing with things, but I’ve been working really hard on taking things seriously ever since you called me out that Christmas junior year about looking for the easy way out.” She yanks her hair back in a ponytail, about to start searching for a hair tie before Tracker hands her one from the bedside table drawer. “Thanks. Anyway, I’ve been doing the hard stuff. But that means I’ve had to look at why I didn’t want to do the hard stuff before, and that’s because it all goes away, no matter how hard I work.”

Tracker looks at her, blank. Kristen decides to wait, because maybe Tracker is processing and is worried Kristen will keep talking. But Tracker keeps looking.

“Kristen,” she says, after way too much time, “what do you mean, it all goes away?”

“What – first off, I was the chosen one for an idiot frat boy who then went on to try to literally enslave the world to follow his and his dad’s stupid rules,” Kristen says, ticking it off on her finger. “Then, because I decided to peace out on Helio, my parents decided I wasn’t worth the effort of parenting anymore. Two of my gods died. I’ve died twice trying to save the world.” She sits down on the bed, closer to Tracker than she means, but it’s muscle memory. Her body alone knows that the closer she is to Tracker, the more at home she’ll feel. “I’ve died twice saving the world, and it feels like it helped everyone but me.”

Tracker reaches out and Kristen automatically leans in. She probably shouldn’t have, but Tracker still smells like that apple hair mousse stuff and she always liked it. “Tell me more,” Tracker says quietly.

Kristen sighs and pulls back after the moment of indulgence. “The Bad Kids are going to the same college, but we’ll all be in different departments. We only get to see each other once a week on whichever day our Party Dynamics class meets.” She can’t meet Tracker’s eyes. “What if they find another person, a cleric who hasn’t killed two gods?”

“To be fair, you’re also a cleric who has resurrected two gods,” Tracker says.

“Okay, well, that was all of us,” Kristen says. She looks at Tracker. “What if they decide it’s not worth it and they leave?”

For the first time, Tracker looks fully confused. “What? Why would you think that?”

“Because everyone always leaves,” Kristen says. She feels more defeated than she should. She just graduated from high school. She did something big. Instead, she feels wrong. “Or they give up, like my parents.” She chokes back tears. “And I can’t do that again. I can’t be left behind again.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Tracker says. “Not unless I had to.”

“But you did. You left,” Kristen says. She has to stand up. It’s hard to resist the urge to drop and do twenty pushups, but she prevails. “Again. The first time, we both moved on. We figured it out. We tried –  and then this past – the summer.”

Tracker winces.

“Okay, good to know I’m not the only one who found those two months awful,” Kristen says. She begins pacing again, anxious energy building worse than lactic acid. “But you left again. After.” She looks up, and Tracker is sitting there on her bed, like she belongs there, like she’s always been there. And she does and she has, and she doesn’t and she hasn’t. “And you came back and – Christmas.”

It’s clear she’s trying to keep a more serious expression, but there’s a flash of yellow again in Tracker’s eyes and Kristen isn’t strong enough to keep resisting. She has to get it out now. “Christmas,” Tracker says gently, “was the first time in a long time that things felt right.”

“You can’t say that,” Kristen says. She leans against the door. She’s still in her graduation robes. She’s still dressed to leave high school and leave so many things she loves behind. “You can’t say it felt right when you left the next morning”

“I had to!” Tracker says. “We had a war on all fronts, and Helio had made his move. Galicaea needed me in Fallinel. You and I both know those elves weren’t prepared to lead themselves.”

“You could have stayed,” Kristen says. It comes out as barely more than a whisper. “You didn’t.” She can’t look at Tracker. Not right now.

It feels like a decade passes in the silence between them. Kristen won’t look first. She’s said her piece. It’s Tracker’s turn.

“I know,” Tracker says. “I wanted you to come with me. But it – it wasn’t fair.”

“You – what?” Kristen has to look at her now. “You wanted me to come with you?”

“I couldn’t stay, and you couldn’t leave,” Tracker says. “And – and if I didn’t go back to help, then there wouldn’t be a chance for whatever happened next.” She’s keeping her face very carefully blank, and Kristen hates it. “If I stayed, we were all dead. If I left, you would hate me. But if I asked you to leave everything, you’d hate me more.” She swallows. “I hate making those choices, Kristen. But when you’re here to save the world, sometimes the right choice for everybody is the wrong choice for you.”

“You should have asked,” Kristen says. “Tracker, if you had asked, I would have come with you.”

“And that’s the problem!” Tracker stands. “If I asked you to come, you would have dropped everything to do it. And then – and then you would have regretted it.” She exhales and runs her hand through her hair. “That’s why I didn’t ask. You deserved to graduate. You deserved to figure out who you are without me to, like, mirror or whatever.”

Kristen frowns. “You think I’m just your mirror?”

“No!” Tracker holds her hands up. “God, no. But we got together when we were really young and you were as inexperienced as they get, and I worried that I – that you were building too much around me without building anything around yourself.” To Kristen’s shock, the first tear drops down her cheek. “And you did, Kristen. Look at everything you did without me.” She laughs, a little staccato, and Kristen doesn’t know what this feeling is flooding her entire body. “Class president. Resurrecting a god – again. Building a pantheon of goddesses right in time to defeat Helio and Sol. Defending Elmville and, hell, Solace from all kinds of armies.” She rubs the tears from her cheeks. “You never needed me, Kristen. I didn’t want you to think you did.”

Kristen watches her. And watches. “Tracker,” she says quietly. “I never needed you. Not like that. But I always wanted – I always want you.” She forces herself to meet Tracker’s eyes. She wants Tracker to see her when she says this. Not matter what the outcome. “I always love you. But you’re the one who left.”

Tracker nods. “Yeah,” she says. “Yeah, I know. I’m not sorry, though.” Kristen doesn’t know what expression is on her face, but it makes Tracker panic. “No, not like that! I mean – if it meant you could find yourself and build your life without me, then it was all worth it.” She takes a shaky breath. “Every single night I woke up reaching for you was worth it.” She smiles. “Because look at you, Kristen. Look at everything you can do.”

“Are you going to leave again?” Kristen asks.

Tracker shrugs. “Maybe, for a little bit. To finish up in Fallinel. It should be quick, though.”

“Are you,” Kristen says, and she walks up to Tracker, “going to leave me again?” She gets right into Tracker’s space.

Tracker shakes her head slowly, eyes right on Kristen. “Never again,” she says, and it feels like a promise. “Not unless you ask me to.”

Falling into Tracker shouldn’t still feel this easy, this familiar, this right. It’s been months since the last time and a year since the time before that. It’s been lives and heartaches and exes and breakups and gods and monsters. And Tracker still feels like home.

They tangle the same blankets, touch the same skin, draw the same sighs. They curl together when they’re sated and exhausted, Kristen still desperate to feel the warmth of Tracker’s skin against her own.

“Not like last time, right?” Kristen asks. She traces I love you into the skin across Tracker’s ribs and wonders when she’s allowed to say it out loud again.

“Hmm?” Tracker looks at her, an arm behind her head and her gaze on Kristin.

“Christmas you left the next morning.” Kristen adjusts herself, props her head up on her elbow. “Is that what you’re going to do now?”

“What?” Tracker sits up. “No. No, I’m not leaving. We went over everything, like, half an hour ago.”

Kristen allows herself a smile. “Maybe you were just trying to get in my pants.”

Tracker snorts. “I always want to get into your pants.” She reaches out and brushes some hair from Kristen’s face. “But that was secondary to everything else.”

“Stop being romantic,” Kristen demands. “We just fucked.”

“Never stopped us before.”

Another ten minutes and the two of them are a giggling, boneless mess.

“Okay, people are absolutely going to realize we’ve been MIA by now,” Kristen mumbles. Her mouth feels a bit numb. Worth it. “We should get dressed at the very least.”

Kristen checks her phone when her clothes are back on, only to find half a dozen texts from various group chats. “Oh, we’re in trouble,” she says. The Mordred Manor Fam group chat in particular has two separate messages of Sandra Lynn texting variations of Kristen Applebees if you don’t show up at Krom’s in the next thirty minutes so help me god.

“We have, like, five minutes before Sandra Lynn sends out a search party for us,” Kristen says. She shows the text to Tracker.

“I can’t read that,” Tracker says, and she takes the phone to read while Kristen tries to find her shirt.

“Hey, Kristen?”

“Yeah?” Kristen asks. She knows her wallet is on the floor somewhere.

Tracker wiggles her phone. “Why’s Fig asking you when the wedding is?”

Kristen snatches the phone out of Tracker’s hands. “Why were you so desperate to see me you planned a whole surprise for my graduation, hmm?”

“Fair point.” Tracker leans in and kisses Kristen, soft and sweet. Like they used to every morning before Kristen would go to school. “To be fair, though, you were the one who said you wanted to marry me first.”

“I was sixteen and stupid,” Kristen retorts.

“And now you’re eighteen and…?”

“Shut up and get dressed,” Kristen says.

They manage to get to Krom’s just as Sandra Lynn is stomping out the door. Relief paints her face for the briefest of moments, but it’s quickly replaced by mild fury. “Kristen goddamn Applebees, where the fuck have you been?”

“Sorry, Sandra Lynn,” Tracker says, stepping in front of her. “It was my fault.”

“Damn right it was your fault.”

Kristen isn’t sure what she expected, but Sandra Lynn steps forward and yanks Tracker into a hug. “Hey, kiddo. I missed you.”

Tracker’s expression is a little baffled but she leans into it. “Hey, Sandy.”

“Don’t call me that,” Sandra Lynn laughs. She pulls back and takes Tracker in. “You got taller than me. I didn’t say that was okay.” She sighs deeply, then looks at Kristen. “Separate bedrooms. You hear me?”

“I mean, we’re legal adults.”

“Not under my goddamned roof,” Sandra Lynn says. But she is smiling, so that might be a good thing. “Come on in. Krom let us block off a whole group of tables.”

Tracker grabs her hand as they walk in behind Sandra Lynn. It feels like, to Kristen, like the beginning of the rest of her life. As she looks at everyone she realizes something so suddenly it hits like a brick.

No one here will leave her.

~

Shout out to my 1993 Volvo for being the model for Tracker's car here.

Also, I know this is generally my wrestlefic thing, but here have a mini playlist: In Too Deep - Sum 41 All to Myself - Marianas Trench The Mighty Fall - Fall Out Boy Down to You - Marianas Trench Ain't My Fault - Zara Larsson Waking Up Dreaming - Shania Twain

[lt-banks]

When Gold met Banks

Drabble I wrote on the plane. Not my best work but... SHRUG. Been wanting to humanise Darren for a while, make him likable other than being a catalyst for Holly's backstory and personal trauma. This is the man that eventually caused her to develop trust issues. Charming Mr Darren Gold! This is set during Holly's early to mid 20's.

In between spilt drinks and sweat covered bodies, Holly squeezed herself in between patrons of the nightclub, still managing to move on beat as if the DJ were playing her own personal soundtrack for the evening, stepping in time with every thump of the baseline.

Where had Wesley gone? They’d arrived together, taking a much needed weekend away from the concrete confines of the barracks, feeling themselves going absolutely stir crazy with the day to day monotony of life on base. However, in the midst of throwing all cares to the wind in the sea of dancers, they’d inevitably gotten separated. It was bound to happen - always did when they’d had a few Bacardi and cokes. 

Smoking area. That’s where they would always regroup eventually, one bumping into the other with a cigarette between their fingers. With her new mission in play, Holly made her way there—heels sticking to the floor with every bouncy on-beat step toward the door outside.

The cold hit her first—no thanks to her choice in attire—making her grasp at her upper arms as her shoes clacked against the pavement, green eyes darting around for Wesley. He would be easy to find; 6’6”, red hair and probably making friends with one group of smokers he’d inevitably add on Instagram and then never speak to again. 

But there was no towering presence of her friend, just groups of people huddled together, drinks in hand and chattering together, sharing laughs over plumes of smoke. In resignation, she leant against the wall - perhaps for a little stability too—rifling through her purse for her own cigarette pack. Filter met lip, flame met cigarette-

… Flame met cigarette?

……Flame met cigarette??????

“Fuck!” Her thumb, adorned in some cheap press ons from Superdrug, desperately fumbled the wheel, willing a flicker of embers to last longer than just a millisecond. “Dickhead!” Aware of the ridiculousness of calling an inanimate object a dickhead, she tilted her head backward in resignation, eyes closed as her hair met the brick wall.

Click.  

The gentle glow of fire from someone else’s lighter cast a subtle glow across her features, eyes following their arm until she met their face.

And oh boy, what a face. 

“Looked like you needed it, bab.” Brummie, just like her. Local then. Risky... She brought two fingers to the cigarette, sucking in the smoke whilst her eyes darted over his body for a split second. Shameless of her, really. She’ll blame the alcohol. 

Dark polo shirt—Tommy Hilfiger branded, lovely—A gold chain beneath it, designer shoes and a nice looking watch. Rough around the edges, her type to a T.

‘Ta.” She exhaled sideways as he lit his own cigarette, hand cupping the end as the end began to glow. He took a drag, exhaling downward between them with a smile on his face.

“… Why don’t I know you?”

She cackled. “You some kinda socialite? Know everyone do ya?”

“I know enough people. Feel like I’d remember if I saw you about, love.”

Her tongue pressed against her snaggled canine tooth, grinning. ”Charming, aren’t ya?” A quick tap to her cigarette made ash flutter to the ground. “I work away a lot.”

“Oh yeah?” He lit his own cigarette, one hand cupping around it, the motion making his biceps flex ever so slightly beneath his polo shirt. “What you do?” 

Her own snort left her lips, smoke circling her as she shook her head. “I’m a soldier, actually.”

“Fuck off.”

“Dead serious.”

His fingers pulled his cigarette away from his lips, brows raised. Impressed, surprised, it was a reaction Holly had grown used to at this point.

“Fuck me sideways. So you handle big fuck off guns and shit?”

Holly smirked, taking a short drag. 

“Yeah. AR’s, pistols, snipers.” Her hand rolled over and over, gesturing at an imaginary ongoing list of weapons.

“Fuuuuckin’ hell…” Mesmerised, he turned to her, shoulder meeting the wall as he tapped his thumb against his filter. A shake of his head, followed by a disbelieving laugh and a tilt of his chin. “What’s your name?”

She tilted her head, corner of her lips. “Holly. You?”

“Darren. Need more than that though, bab. Surname. How else am I gonna find you on socials, innit.”

“Hah. You wanna stay in contact? Be Facebook pen pals?” She grinned. This guy… “Holly Banks.”

He snorted, hands in his pockets as he leant forward. “Fuck off, your surname ain’t Banks.”

Her smile flattered, brows furrowing instantaneously as she turned to face him, tone no longer happy. “The fucks so funny about the surname Banks?” 

“No, nothing babe, it’s just… My surname is Gold.”

A grin slowly replaced her prior annoyance. “… Fuck off, no it isn’t.”

Darren's hand landed over his heart, leaning down slightly to her height. “I swear down, on me Mum's life, my surname is Gold.”

Holly laughed. Proper. 

“Fucks sake… Banks and Gold. That’s funny. Some jokes to be made, innit. Too tipsy to think of anything.” 

He flashed a grin, eyes glancing over her. “Match made in heaven. Think we’re destined to meet, y’know.”

She tilted her head, cigarette poised between her fingers. Her lips parted to speak but one of his friends began to pull him away back inside. 

“Fuck-Come find me, I wanna dance later. Don’t disappoint me, Banks!”

She raised her cigarette in a smoker's toast, laughing as he was pulled indoors.

---

When Wesley eventually found her, lost in her own world in the smoking area, she’d already been sent a friend request by one Darren Gold. 

Holly Banks has accepted your friend request.