#i talk to Mio more but again the trust between her and I are broken

[nerdyfangirl67]

Lean On Me - Criminal Minds Reader Insert

Pairing: Emily x reader (platonic - best friends), Rossi x reader (platonic, almost fatherly relationship)

Warnings: Emily’s death, feelings of sorrow, anger, and denial, angst, includes headcanon thoughts about Emily and Morgan gaming duo, generally dark and kinda angsty.

Word count: 1238

The reader doesn’t know how to process Emily’s death and a mysterious friend online just might be the answer.

A/N: The URL , hotzzforHotch, from the story belongs to the reader, with the other URL, vonnEgutgrouPi70, belonging to the “myserious” stranger. Hope you guys like the story! If y’all want to see something written, let me know and I’d gladly give it a go!

“Everybody needs somebody to lean on.” She had told you that once and you had found out quickly that you always had her to lean on. She was easily your best friend and the person you trusted most in the world. You hadn’t known each other exceptionally long, only four years. But the two of you had hit it off the moment you met and ever since then, you spent much of your free time together, quickly becoming the closest pair on the team. But, she was gone now, leaving you broken, lost, and angry. 

You couldn’t find relief from the pain. Everywhere you went reminded you of her. The bullpen held the whispers of past conversations carried on long into the night. Clinging to the walls of your apartment were secrets passed between close friends after a few too many glasses of wine. Lingering in the dark recesses of your favorite bar were the intoxicated giggles that followed stolen glances at attractive bar patrons. 

Despite your knowledge that every other member of the team was hurting just like you, you couldn’t bring yourself to reach out to them. The only one you had been in contact with since her death was Rossi. Somehow he knew how hard it would be for you to go back to your apartment and he had gently insisted you stay with him. He had even had someone go to your apartment and gather some of your things. 

Even though you had spent days in his mansion, which he conservatively called a house, you hadn’t stepped foot outside the bedroom. He had made sure to leave meals outside your door two times a day, many of which you left untouched. He had even tried to talk to you and get you to leave the room, and as much as you didn’t want to be a burden to Rossi, you couldn’t bring yourself to reenter reality. 

In fact, you had pulled further away from reality in the little cave you had created out of blankets and pillows in the constantly dark room. You spent much of your time either sleeping or playing the online video game you’d heard Morgan and Emily talk about animatedly several times on the jet. For some reason, playing that ridiculous game helped you feel closer to her and became the sole focus of your time. 

Rossi, however, was not a fan of your self-isolation and after over a week of being secluded in one of his guest rooms, he had apparently had enough. After sharply knocking on your door three times, he pushes it open, earning a half-attempted protest from you. 

“Alright, bella, I’ve been patient enough. You can’t live the rest of your life like this. I don’t want this for you and Emily certainly wouldn’t have wanted this for you.” His words, although gentle, serve as a harsh wake-up call to you. You let out a harsh breath before a sob seizes in your chest. And just like that, the dam holding back all of your intense sadness breaks and you are crying uncontrollably. 

A guilty expression takes hold of Rossi’s face as he steps forward, kneeling next to the bed and grabbing you in a tight embrace. You cling to his expensive button-down, unable to properly catch a breath through the hysterical crying. You are unsure of how long you weep in Rossi’s arms, but when you are finally able to stop the sobs, you utter a soft “Thank you.”

“Mio caro, you have nothing to apologize for.” He whispers, one hand moving to brush a strand of hair away from your eyes. “Come join me for dinner. We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. You can get intoxicated if that’s what you want or you can simply sit there and we can enjoy one another’s presence.” His voice betrays the worry he is feeling. You let out a simple nod, afraid that you’d start crying again if you spoke. He presses a soft kiss to your temple, before leaving you to get cleaned up for dinner.

Rossi makes an intricate pasta dish, with steamed veggies and freshly made garlic bread for dinner. You help set the table, choosing one of your favorite wines from Rossi’s extensive collection to go with the meal. After each of you dish up your plates, you settle into a comfortable silence. Neither of you speaks through the entire main course, aside from simple questions of “Can you pass the salt?” and “Would you like more wine?” When Rossi spends the entire dessert portion of the meal stealing glances at you, you know he is more than worried. 

“Rossi, I’ll be okay. It will take me a while, but I’ll get there.” You murmur, laying down your fork on your dessert plate. 

“I know, mio caro, I know. We all will, at least as best we can.” He responds, moving one of his hands to rest on yours. 

The two of you lapse into silence, only speaking again when Rossi suggests going to sit out on the balcony with a glass of wine. You agree and as the sun slowly sets, one glass of wine becomes two, which in turn becomes three.

By the time the two of you come in from the balcony, you were closer to intoxication than a light buzz. Rossi assists you in stumbling back to your room, getting you a clean shirt and sleep pants, and even getting you a fresh towel for you to wash your face with. After pulling on fresh clothes and wiping off your makeup, you clumsily crawl into bed.

You don’t expect to be awake for long but after half an hour of tossing and turning, you can’t fall asleep. Letting out a long sigh, you pull out your laptop and open up the game you had quite quickly become obsessed with.

Usually, you play the game solely with the goal of defeating the various levels. Tonight is different. You don’t know if it’s because of the wine or because you were tired of feeling so lonely, but when a random individual reaches out, you respond.

vonnEgutgrouPi70: OMG! I <3 ur URL

hotzzforHotch: thnks. 

vonnEgutgrouPi70: howd you come up w/ it

hotzzforHotch: i’ve been crushing on my boss for ages. we call him Hotch at work

vonnEgutgrouPi70: cUtE! ;) im guessing he doesn’t play?

hotzzforHotch: oh no! I’d be sooo embarrassed :0 if he did

hotzzforHotch: i’ve actually nvr told anyone else that b4. Just my best friend.

vonnEgutgrouPi70: well im honored, thnks for sharing 

hotzzforHotch: i’m guessing u r a vonnegut fan?

vonnEgutgrouPi70: :)) yes! Huge nerd, i am 

vonnEgutgrouPi70: wanna partner up and play in team mode?

-----

Days pass and for some reason or another, vonnEgutgrouPi70 finds an excuse to talk to you. And something in you always has you responding. You and the Vonnegut loving, cyber individual become friends. Somehow this individual manages to distract you from the pain you had been feeling since Emily’s death. The more you learned about them, the more you found out that the two of you had a lot in common. And although you weren’t looking to replace Emily, you soon came to the realization that you could easily become close friends with vonnEgutgrouPi70, maybe even best friends. 

What you couldn’t shake though, was the feeling that this person gave you, a feeling you’d only ever felt once before. With Emily.

[lostinfantasies38]

Ten Favorite Dialogues from 2020

I picked 10 dialogue exchanges that I loved from the stories I posted this year. A few of them are from the same stories, since I spent a good chunk of the year working on long fics instead of one shots or shorter stories. Under the cut bc they are lengthy.

I also realized that most of my zingers tend to be in my descriptions and don’t always make it into my character’s dialogue. I might have to change that. 

In no particular order:

1.

Dorian chuckled. “Honestly, you two are disgraceful. You can’t come to a club looking like sex on legs when you aren’t single. You’re going to give people a heart attack.”

“Jealous, Dorian?” Alistair needled.

“Insanely,” he replied smoothly. “Aside from myself and Zevran,”—he saluted the elf who shot him a saucy wink—“you’re the most attractive men here. And to add insult to injury, you’re together,” he sighed dramatically.

Accidental Alliance, a oneshot modern Cullistair AU 

2. 

“Step two of the pie liberation was to avoid suspicion of the adults.” Evan giggled at Connor’s phrasing and thought he heard Alex snort in amusement, too. “Zoe’s job was to act as a distraction, which wasn’t hard to accomplish because Cynthia decked her out in this frilly monstrosity that every woman within a five-mile radius oohed and aahed over. She fucking hated it, of course, but it worked in our favor for The Plan. And yes, those are honest to God capitals, babe. Think Mission Impossible: Thanksgiving 2010.”

“Alternate title: Pie Larceny,” Evan quipped, overjoyed by Connor’s rich laughter. Alex definitely chuckled at that.

“Yes! Oh my God, that’s amazing. I’m totally renaming it Pie Larceny.”

Save Me From Myself - part 3 of my DEH series, Connor Murphy/Evan Hansen

3.

“It makes me want to wrap you in blankets and bubble wrap and smother you with attention until you’re sick of looking at me, though.”

A broken laugh tumbled out of Evan’s mouth. “Well, there’s a mental picture. What are you gonna do? Roll me down the street?”

“I’m working out the logistics, but rolling you around does sound kinda fun,” Connor teased.

Snorting, Evan retorted, “I mean, you do have practice rolling joints. Guess a bundled up boyfriend isn’t much difference.”

Connor’s borderline hysterical laughter almost drowned out Evan’s airy chuckles. “Jesus Christ, Evan,” he wheezed, shakily wiping away tears. 

Save Me From Myself - part 3 of my DEH series, Connor Murphy/Evan Hansen 

4.

Returning his head to the shadows, he hissed, “Sister Agnes is milling around. I need a distraction so I can reach our room.”

Kai grinned and pulled a dehydrated pepper from his pocket. “Down the hatch.”

Gavin stopped him with a concern expression. “Are you sure about this?”

He snorted softly. “Please, I grew up eating these. My mum sends them because she knows I love them. They’re like candy. I’ll be shitting fire for a week, but they don’t hurt my mouth. I’ll burn hot and sweat like crazy though. Trust me, it’ll work.”

The redhead arched an eyebrow. “So you carry them in your pocket at all times?”

“No,” Kai answered irritably. “That’s why I needed Easton earlier. To act as a distraction for me so I could get it out of my room.”

Gavin sighed. “If you’re sure. I mean, we could brawl in the hallway, that would work, too.”

Alistair glanced around the corner. “Hurry up and choose. I’m not waiting forever.” Kai smirked and popped the pepper in his mouth.

“Well, that decides it,” Gavin groaned. Alistair tried not to laugh as over the course of a few minutes, Kai’s face visibly flushed in response to the spicy heat and sweat pooled under his hair, running in rivulets across his face.

“How do I look?” he asked.

“Like you’ve got the sweat,” Gavin replied sardonically.

“Perfect,” he retorted. “Right, good luck, Alistair. If I fail to distract everyone, Gavin’s got you covered.”

Find Me Well Within Your Grace - young Cullistair prequel fic - excerpt from Ch 11 featuring a few of my OCs and Alistair 

5.

Wrapping his arms around her as she hummed at the stove, he said, “Sirra and Alistair either just left my apartment or she only now deigned to tell me they’re gone.”

Eowyn grinned wickedly at him, checking the clock on the dining room wall. “My, my! Four hours later! Scandalous.”

“I wish you could have seen them. The magnetism! It was instant.”

She giggled. “I saw the photos. That’s more of Alistair’s almost-O face than I ever want to see again, thanks very much.”

He snorted. “Fair enough.” After a pause, Zevran chuckled, “I give them a month.”

Rounding on him in horror, Eowyn stared at him with wide mossy eyes. “You just said they were perfect together! Do you think we made a mistake?”

“No, amore mio. I mean, I give them a month before they elope. I might have been party to their engagement shoot today.”

She blinked slowly as the giggles built until she was clutching the kitchen counter in a fit of uncontrolled mirth. “Okay, that may be accurate knowing Alistair!”

“I’m thinking of changing my business cards. Should I add ‘Matchmaker Extraordinaire’ or ‘Signor Soulmate’?” he asked cheekily.

Shot In The Dark - Sirra Brosca/Alistair modern AU oneshot [dialogue shown is between Zevran/OC]

6.

Cullen grinned with him. “Me either. Maybe we can improve your chess skills enough for you to graduate from mediocre.”

“Oh, ha ha. You and the others can have fun with that, thanks very much. Here I was hoping we could spend more time in bed,” he teased, sliding a hand into his curls.

Rolling his eyes playfully, the blonde retorted, “Of course, count on you to think how often we can sleep together instead of improving our skills.”

“That is how we improve our skills.”

“Training skills, you fiend.”

Heaving a melodramatic sigh, Alistair quipped, “Well, one of us has to be the boring one in the relationship. Glad it’s not me.” Cullen elbowed him gently in the ribs, chuckling along with his lover’s bright laughter.

Find Me Well Within Your Grace - young Cullistair prequel fic, excerpt from Ch 12 

7.

“You’re not worthless,” Alistair whispered. The breath she’d been holding passed her lips with a tiny mewl of surprise. Still unable to look at one other, Alistair kept his hand on her wrist and she resisted the urge to scoot further away.

Sirra murmured, “You don’t know me, Alistair. You can’t say that.”

“I can,” he insisted firmly, his fingers pressing just a bit harder on her flesh. “It doesn’t matter who you were. When you join the Grey Wardens, all that matters is who you are. I may not know who you used to be in Orzammar, but I have a pretty good idea who you are in the sun.”

Sun Touched - excerpt from Ch 4

8.

“I’m sorry, Alistair, I wanted to surprise you. Most dwarves in Orzammar, caste and casteless alike, have genital piercings. It’s cultural and unrelated to murder.”

His eyebrows climbed into his hair. “Even the men? How in the Maker’s name does that work?” Sirra opened her mouth to explain, but he hastily held up a hand and shivered. “Rhetorical question. Please do not answer that.”  

Sun Touched - excerpt from Ch 14

9.

“I love you, too,” she murmured, gracing him with a watery smile. “If I had known you were up here, I would have left Orzammar years ago and tracked you down,” Sirra mused, only half joking. 

“Oh, really?” he quirked an eyebrow in amusement. “I can just imagine you sneaking into the droll monastery and breaking me out. I would have assumed you were a figment of my imagination, a desire demon, or Maker-sent. Regardless, I doubt I could have resisted the mischievous glint in your eyes as you crept in to find me in my smalls, surrounded by thirty other recruits, and told me to run away with you.” 

Laughing, Sirra raked her short nails down his toned chest. “A naked teenage version of you? I would have taken you on the spot, letting the recruits feast their eyes on us, before dashing out the front door with your bare ass in tow.” 

He closed his eyes with a lusty moan, and swallowed hard, his voice strained when he replied. “Definitely Maker-sent then. To think, we could have been on the lam for the last few years, making mad love wherever we went.” 

Sighing melodramatically, Alistair smirked and playfully bopped the tip of her nose with his. “Ah, well, at least I have you now and that’s all that matters.”

Sun Touched - excerpt from Ch 17

10.

“Stop it,” Morrigan mumbled irritably.

Alistair feigned innocence. “Stop what? I’m sitting here like a good patient. I wasn’t even talking until right now.”

Yellow eyes bored into hazel as the subtle light faded around them, his shoulder apparently healed. “You know very well what. Stop staring at my hands. ‘Tis most distracting.”

“And here I thought it was my hands distracting you during the fight,” he smirked. “Not where my eyes happened to land. How could you have known that I might have been paying attention, if you weren’t observing me, too, hmm?”

Scoffing, Morrigan took a large step back and crossed her arms haughtily over her chest. “You are insufferable.”

Sheathing his sword, Alistair shrugged with affected boredom. “I may be insufferable, Morrigan, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Deny it all you want, but we both know the truth.” 

Snagging his shield from where it fell on the ground, he slung it over his back and murmured for her ears alone. “Besides, for a cranky witch who grew up in a swamp, they’re surprisingly soft and gentle… when they want to be, that is.” 

You Give Me That Lovin’ Feelin’ - ch 2. Part 1 of 3 of Morristair written for @scharoux 14 Days of DA Lovers 

[hotpotrandomfics]

Future AU: A Promise Never Broken

Summary: Merula, Penny, Rowan, and Tulip have been on the run for weeks as they have been chased by Death Eaters. The former classmates would have been killed hadn’t someone came to their rescues.

Word Count: 2,907

"Come on, this way Penny!" Merula shouted, running and casting spells behind her as the Death Eaters chased her and her friends. "Rowan! Tulip! Come on!"

Three friends ran past Merula, covering her from behind, after making it into the abandoned house behind them. They shut the door and barracked it before looking for a way to get out.

"This has got to be the worst day ever!" Rowan said panting and wiping the sweat off his glasses. "What are gonna do now? I don't see any exits, and that door won't hold them back!"

"Khanna, shut up and let me think for a second," Merula replied.

"Look, I have at least one dung bomb left. We use Lumos to blind them last minute then make a break for it," Tulip responded.

"I have two more fire-breathing potions, and one wiggleweed potion left. I could use one on them before escaping too," Penny offered her idea to them.

"Okay, then let's go with that. Penny, drink up. Tulip, prep the bomb, and Rowan, have your wand ready," Merula replied prepping her wand.

Ever since Voldemort's resurrection, the wizarding world has been thrown into chaos. Dark wizards and many other creatures had joined his cause, whether out of pure loyalty or fear. Even the one they thought would never be corrupted, Jason Piscius Aurelius De Leone. Jason had been gone for months after being recruited by his brother, Jacob, and has been one of Voldemort's topmen in assassinations. Ismelda. Barnaby. Tonks. Andre. Ben. Jae. Diego. Liz. All killed by Jason. Merula was the most heartbroken out of all his friends. Over the years, they had been enemies turned friends, to lovers. The biggest betrayal she had ever felt in her life, was by the one she loved the most.

"It's still so hard to believe this though, Jason," Rowan muttered. "How are we going to fight this? Fight him?"

Merula stomped over to Rowan gripping him by his collar, tears creeping down her cheeks. She had bags under her eyes, revealing her lack of sleep for the past few days. Tulip and Penny tried to pry her off him as he squirmed.

"We have no choice, dammit! He betrayed us!" Merula shouted angrily. "I don't want to fight him, but our lives and the information we got from those bastards will help save at least the wizarding world!"

"Snyde, enough! Let him go!" Tulip said pulling at him. "We don't have time for this!"

"Merula, stop! Please!" Penny asked pleading her to let Rowan go.

She obliged her friends and let Rowan go. She was stressed by the emotional turmoil she was facing. Everyone was, and they needed to focus or be killed by their once friend.

There were murmurs outside and then complete silence.

BOOM

"Well well," one death eater said as he walked in smirking at the group of young wizards. "Four little wizards. Make your choice now. Join the Dark Lord or die?"

"Interesting, here's our counter-offer," Tulip replied throwing her dung bomb at the Death Eaters disorienting them temporarily. "Penny, now!"

On cue, Penny spewed fire on the Death Eaters, setting two ablaze and causing the others to jump out of the way. Merula and Rowan cast Lumos to blind the other Death Eaters before all four of them ran out of the building, following through the alleys till they met a dead end.

"Dammit! What now?" Merula spouted.

"End of the road, little Snyde and friends," said an all too familiar voice. Fenrir Greyback in his werewolf form followed by a group of Death Eaters. "Try as you might, you will fail as you did in Hogwarts."

Fenrir had caused many grievances for Merula. He turned Jason into a werewolf when they searched for the vaults during their time at Hogwarts. It was under him that Jason served, as well as Jacob.

"Time for payback you, you little twit!", as one of the Greybacks, Death Eaters cast Petrificus Totalus, binding all four of the weary wizards.

"It must be horrifying knowing you failed in protecting your friends and knowing the ones you couldn't save were by the one who loved you the most. Ah, I was surprised how far Jason would go to show his loyalty to the Dark Lord. But alas, I will be the one to kill you all."

Merula couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her face now. Was this how she'd die? Is this how her friends will die? All because of Jason, the man she grew to love through the years, corrupted to serve Voldemort.

Just as Greyback was raising his claws to kill Merula, a shout of a few voices came from nowhere.

"Incendio,"  shouted a large man setting one Death Eater ablaze.

"Bombarda," shouted two feminine voices sending half of the enemy into a wall.

"What is going on?!" shouted Greyback.

"A rescue. Configro," said a man, landing between Greyback and Merula. A man in a black coat. "Diego, free them!"

"On it Aurelius," said Diego as he cast Finite Incantium, freeing the four paralyzed wizards.

"Jason?!" shouted Rowan as he stood up surprised.

"Hey amigo, we can talk later," said the man, turning to look back on them. "I'll take a slap from you later il mio amore," Jason said as he winked at Merula.

"Get them Bean!," said Barnaby flying down on the back of griffin as it grabbed a Death Eater and tossed him over the roofs of a nearby building.

"Hey guys, sorry we're late," said Ismelda appearing behind a few Death Eaters and stunning them. "Baubillious!"

One by one, the Death Eaters were taken down, and with them, all of Merula friends appeared. Ismelda. Barnaby. Tonks. Andre. Ben. Jae. Diego. Liz. Even the Weasleys, Bill, and Charlie accompanied by a baby dragon that was setting some Death Eaters rear ablaze. Badeea had caused a few to be trapped in a small sketchbook. She couldn't believe the sight as their pursuers were being beaten while Jason was busy handling Greyback.

"Get clear guys," as Jason raised his wand. "Auguamenti!" sending a stream of water through the alley, chucking Greyback and his Death Eaters down. "Charlie! Where is the big guy?!"

As if on cue a large dragon flew down and grabbed Tulip, Rowan, and Penny. Charlie and Bill jumped on the dragon as the beast flew off with them. Ismelda flew off on her broom, along with Diego and Badeea. Barnaby and Liz flew away on Bean the griffin. Jason grabbed Merula before casting Baubillious on the drenched Death Eaters, knocking them all out.

"Let's go," Jason said as he flew off on his broom holding Merula in his arms.

"Aurelius, you better explain now, or I'll throw you off your broom!" she shouted as they soared behind their friends.

"Well, I would appreciate a thank you or a kiss but I know I'm in the doghouse," he said laughing softly. "I will explain everything once we get to the hideout, I promise."

"You better or I am casting the killing curse on you," she stated holding tightly to him to prevent falling off.

The gang had flown for what felt like hours till they landed in the garden of the estate that appeared to look abandoned. They fell as everyone jumped off their essential mode of transportation.

"Jason!" said Rowan and Penny as they ran at him ready to hug him but stopped midway as Merula slapped him.

"Why?!" she shouted angrily. "Why go and join Voldemort? How is everyone alive?!" she kept shouting as she repeatedly slapped him harder and harder.

He gestured for everyone to stay back as she kept hitting. Jason pulled her close as she began to sob and tried to fight out of his embrace. He gently stroked her hair as she wept into him.

"I'm sorry," he stated, "I was given orders by the Ministry and worked with Professor Snape to uncover some plans and hidden locations for Voldemort's top subordinates. But to win their trust, I had to act as an assassin."

"Orders?" she looked at him stunned. "You did all this stop Voldemort?"

"Yes, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Merula. I did all I could to protect you and everyone," he said wiping her tears from her eyes. "I wouldn't betray them, and I wouldn't betray you. I said I'd protect you no matter what."

"Even throughout all this time you kept your promises, huh?" she said and flicked his nose. "I thought I told you I'd protect you too based on our promise, jerk."

"Ow! Well, I am stubborn as you fairly know. Again, I'm sorry I had to deceive you," he looked at his friends, "all of you. I did what I had to do. I don't expect forgiveness. And if you need to, go ahead and slap or punch me if it will ease your anger."

"Jason, we couldn't hate you but what you did was reckless," stated Rowan. "But you are our troublemaker mate." He said and smiled.

"To think you'd break a bunch of laws for the sake of stopping all this madness? I am impressed Aurelius," Tulip said walking to him and slapping him. "But if you're gonna break rules then let me help."

"It's good to know you're not evil Jason but please never do that again," Penny said as she hugged his side, and Merula looking up at him pouting.

"Haywood, you have three seconds to let go of my boyfriend," Merula said as she stared at Penny menacingly.

"Merula, at least one group hug we've been through a lot in the past few weeks," Penny wined.

"Fine, one time," Merula muttered.

All of the gang got together to commemorate their reunion as the vault solvers. They were happy to see their family was along again as a whole. After a moment of embracing, they made their way into the manner as Jason showed them the way in.

"Who's house is this?" asked Tulip.

"That crest, wait a moment. Jason, is this?" asked Rowan surprised.

"Welcome to the Aurelius manor. The United Kingdom manor anyhow," Jason stated embarrassed. "I got plenty of room so you all can have your own space to rest."

Jason gave everyone a tour of the manor and explained all the exits should they be attacked. By the time he finished all his friends had followed him to the dining area. They sat and ate as he explained more of the mission as one of Voldemort's minions and where the final battle would take place. Afterward, his friends went to their assigned rooms to get some much-needed rest. Jason went to his living room and stood by the fireplace lost in thought.

"You know, I am still quite angry with you. Yes?" Merula said as she walked to him.

"Well given how many times I was slapped I would have no idea," he said turning to face her. "But I wanted to keep you safe. Merula, I don't know how many times I have to say, but I'm-" Jason was cut off by her lips against his.

"Shut up, and I heard enough. I forgive you, but you're going never to do something this reckless again," she said placing a hand on his chest. "Am I clear Aurelius?"

"I promise," he said taking her hand into his kissing it. "My cover was blown anyway to save you, and I don't regret it." Jason caressed her cheek and smiled down at her. "I missed you Merula."

"I missed you too Jason," Merula replied stepping up to kiss him again.

"I won't leave you ever again," he said as he renewed their kiss.

"You better or you're gonna be in a world of trouble beloved," Merula said smirking up at him.

"I would never dream of crossing you," he said kissing her forehead. "I had seven years of that already amore."

"Well, I am the most powerful witch in the world."

"And the most beautiful witch in the world," he responded.

"How I miss your flattery," she said leaning into his chest.

"Ready to win a war?" he asked her smirking down.

"With you? Believe it." Merula said holding tightly as if he'd vanish.

Jason was one to take the necessary risk for those he loved. Merula knew that all too well. Putting his life on the line while saving her and protect her from the likes of many dangers before. Together, they will help put this world right and keep it from the likes of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

[izaswritings]

Could you write a fic where Mio is down and Hyakkimaru notices (from the flicker of her soul) and so he holds her? And it's a bunch of cuddles and she has trouble sleeping and Hyakkimaru just goes to cuddle her. And then she notices he's the first guy to hold her non sexually and it's cute. ❤️ EPISODE 5 GAVE ME THE FEELS LIKE HYAKKI DID AFTER HE KILLED BANDAI. 😭😭😭 BBYS MUST BE PROTECTED AT COSTS

!!!! i don’t usually take requests because jhsdgjhfgh free time who but this was TOO CUTE!! thank u so much for the prompt!!! 💖 Mio deserves the world!!!

Ahhh, sorry in advance, if the story doesn’t really match up!! I know the prompt was for cuddles, but… I couldn’t really see Mio trusting Hyakkimaru that much, not yet, if that makes sense? I also couldn’t see Hyakkimaru being so tactile—  he also has some touch-issues, I think, though I’d say he’s more touch-starved than traumatized by it. So… I know this isn’t exactly according to the prompt, but I hope this fic delivers regardless!

AO3 Link is here!!

-

Hyakkimaru opens his eyes with the sense that something is wrong.

It takes him a moment to reorient—sleep is strange now, with sound added to the mix; there’s a definite shift between waking and dreaming that before existed only in Hyakkimaru’s head. It’s as if his consciousness simply disconnects—and with it, even hearing is distant, right up until Hyakkimaru opens his eyes and finds the world thrust back into vivid sound without warning.

He winces at the now-customary headache from the noise and turns the side of his head against the pillow, trying to puzzle out what’s woken him. It’s day, he thinks—the air is warm and dry against his skin—but the house is devoid the usual scuffling sounds Dororo and the other children make when they play. Have they gone out?

Hyakkimaru tilts back his head, trying to listen; even with the haze of fever, he’s getting better at picking through noises. No, he doesn’t think Dororo or the other small souls are here—can’t hear a thing that might suggest their presence.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the house is quiet, either: the creak of the trees, the whistling wind… these are becoming fast constants. Hyakkimaru sighs through his teeth and turns to his side. It was probably the trees, then. They are certainly loud enough to wake him most times—

He is just about to roll over and slip back into sleep when he hears it.

Hyakkimaru freezes, mind gone abruptly sharp. The sound comes again, muffled but clear to his sensitive ears. A soft cry, broken and thin, catching on the edges, rubbed raw by emotion. It’s… what is that? What is this sound? There’s something horribly familiar about it, something he cannot place.

Again, he hears it— and this time, Hyakkimaru climbs slowly to his feet. Never mind the trees. This must be what woke him: this quiet, shattered sound, muffled and bitter.

He’s heard this before, Hyakkimaru realizes with a sudden chill. Louder, then, more like a wail—but he recognizes this cry. He discovered it the night his hearing returned. The first experience with sound Hyakkimaru has ever had, after the thunder and the rain. A quiet breaking wail that rose above even the storm.

He’s moving before he can convince himself otherwise, nearly tripping in his haste. He follows the sound best he can, mismatched feet knocking on the floorboards. The clatter of his footsteps makes him wince, but they must be quiet enough, because the breaking sound doesn’t shutter or shut off the way it sometimes does when souls notice Hyakkimaru is there. He’s getting closer—he can tell, because the noise is only growing louder.

There— he’s close, he’s here. Close enough that volume is starting to grate on his hearing. The sound is coming from—  

Hyakkimaru reaches out, and his prosthetic bumps into a wall of green. Behind here. This is where that awful sound is coming from.

He slides his hands along the wood, looking for the catch. He knows it’s there, even if he can’t see it; Jukai’s home had the same trick, walls that could be slid open when you needed them too. He can’t find it, though, and that sound is still going, and—

His panic makes him sloppy. Hyakkimaru’s usual pinpoint control slips in his restlessness, and he realizes this too late to catch himself. The spring in his prosthetic wrist pulls and catches, and his hand slams awkwardly against the wooden wall.

The noise stops.

Oh, damn it, Hyakkimaru thinks, and then the wall slides open with a bang.

He blinks rapidly, even though it makes no difference to his sight. There is a soul now, instead of the green wall—pale white and flickering badly. A human soul. Mio.

Mio was making that wailing noise? The thought bothers him, for reasons he can’t figure. Worse still, Mio isn’t moving—just staring at him, oddly quiet, their shoulders curled in like they’re trying to hide.

Hyakkimaru hesitates. There’s something wrong, he thinks. Something in the way Mio’s soul shakes. Something… drawn, tired. And, and that sound…

Hyakkimaru feels an uncomfortable pang near his heart and shuffles on his feet, uncertain. He cannot help but think of his own restless sleep, looking at Mio now. That endless exhaustion and bitter understanding that no matter how tired he felt, Hyakkimaru couldn’t stop, just couldn’t. What does it matter, if sound won’t let Hyakkimaru sleep, if he’s too tired to fight? The demons won’t let him rest. The monsters will always come. Not fighting has never been an option, and while usually Hyakkimaru doesn’t mind…

Sometimes— sometimes, most times, Hyakkimaru just wishes he could stop.

And to see—to see that, to feel that, when looking at Mio… to have this horrible dawning sense that Mio might feel the same way… Hyakkimaru isn’t sure what to think about that. It just—hurts. It hurts. It hurts because it’s awful, Mio doesn’t deserve that, and Hyakkimaru doesn’t know what to do now that he’s found that out.

But Mio is still standing there, hunched in on themself, shoulders stiff like they’re trying to be brave— their soul, wavering like it’s about to break— and all Hyakkimaru knows is that whatever he does, he can’t just stand here and do nothing.

He hesitates, again. Hyakkimaru’s only done this once before, with Jukai, who knew to look for the writing. But there’s no dirt here, and — and Mio still isn’t moving, or speaking, or anything. The only thing he can hear from them is their breathing.

Nothing else for it— Hyakkimaru will simply have to hope they understand.

Decision made, Hyakkimaru lifts a hand and reaches out hesitantly for Mio’s face. Mio doesn’t move away, but when his fingers touch their cheek they flinch. Hyakkimaru flinches too. There’s an awful knot of something in his gut, something terrible thing coiling around his heart. It makes the back of his eyes itch.

Mio flinches, but they don’t move away, and that— that’s enough. Hyakkimaru takes a quiet breath, drawing on all his lessons with Jukai, and slowly shapes the question with his hand, taking care as he traces the word against Mio’s cheek.

Okay?

They don’t seem to understand—they’re so still—so Hyakkimaru tries again, tracing the word over and over, until he’s surprised and a little startled to find his fingers are shaking, too. There’s an awful heat in his cheeks, a lump in his throat. He abruptly feels like hiding, oddly small under Mio’s unflinching regard.

But then Mio makes a sound, a stifled gasp, and they straighten very suddenly. Their voice is quiet, hushed; too small for Hyakkimaru to parse out the words, the language unfamiliar to him.

He tries to traces the word again, hesitant, but Mio lifts a hand and curls their fingers around his before he can finish. Hyakkimaru freezes mid-motion, blinking at them. Mio’s soul flickers.

Mio speaks again, but there’s something different about them now— their voice steadier and stronger, still soft but now with a warmth in their words. They’re no longer so still. Their shoulders are shaking, light and thin, and the fingers they’ve curled around his are trembling.

Hyakkimaru tries to trace that question one more time, because he doesn’t know what else to ask, and Mio makes a noise deep in their throat, a weepy sort of laugh. They take his hand and tug lightly on the prosthetic; Hyakkimaru steps forward on instinct. Mio steps in to meet him. Their head tucks underneath his chin, against his shoulder; their arms press against his back.

Realization sinks in. Mio— Mio is hugging him.

Hyakkimaru holds himself still, a little dazed, unsure of how to react. Mio is warm, their hair soft against his cheek. For how slight their soul looks, the hug is secure, their arms betraying a secret strength. They’re so warm.

Mio is still shaking, but their tremors are calming now, easing away. They squeeze his middle and he can feel them sigh against his collar.

Mio is talking, Hyakkimaru realizes. Soft and whispery, muffled against his shoulder. The words are so faint he can hardly hear them at all. They press their head against his shoulder and take a deep breath, as if drawing strength from it, then finally step back from the hug.

To Hyakkimaru’s eyes, Mio’s soul shines.

Mio’s hand rises, touches his face. Hyakkimaru holds himself still. Their fingers are cold against his skin. Mio makes that whisper-laugh again and clumsily traces something back—the same symbol, affirmative, assurance.

I am okay.

Mio doesn’t wait for a response— as soon as Hyakkimaru blinks, recognizing the symbol for what it is, Mio’s soul flares with brightness and their fingers pat his cheek, light and fond. Before Hyakkimaru can respond, Mio takes his hand again and moves past him, leading him back into the heart of the house.

They’re talking again—soft, airy, as if nothing has happened. Cheerful and conversational. But they are still holding Hyakkimaru’s hand, and his cheek tingles from where they’d touched him. His mind is stuck on the embrace, on their answer, on the quiet whisper Mio had muffled into his shoulder.

Mio’s soul is still shaking, faintly. But that awful weeping sound is gone, and their soul is glowing brighter and stronger than before.

Hyakkimaru twitches his prosthetic fingers in his best attempt to hold their hand back. He’s smiling. He can feel it, on his face—a quiet curl at his lips, tugging at muscles long disused. And while Hyakkimaru has no real way to tell, he thinks—he thinks, maybe—  

He thinks perhaps Mio is smiling too.

[torisfeather]

Also on AO3

Svetlana had a lot of visits, during the first weeks of class. When students got too curious, accidents were fast to happen. Not that she complained. She liked her job with all her heart. Fortunately, the first days were supposed to be slow. It wasn’t cold enough for kids to be ill, and the older ones weren’t too careless with their capacities. As for the new ones, they were still finding them out and were mostly warry of them.

That’s why she was waiting calmly in her office, a good old-fashioned magazine on her laps and a bit of Tchaïkovski in the background. It was a peaceful morning. It was almost time for recess and, if she was lucky, her three adorable kids would come by, say hi and tell her about their first class of the year. History, if she remembered correctly. With that new teacher who looked, truth be told, quite charming…

Three knocks at the nursery door pulled her out of her thoughts. Oh? There couldn’t already be an injury after less than two hours of class, right? Ah, maybe one of the last years had sprained their ankle during PE, that was plausible. Intrigued, she set her magazine down, stood up and opened the door. She wasn’t expecting what she saw.

“Uh? Are you bringing me a corpse?” A line of students came in, carrying Antonio’s still body. He was a fourth year student if she remembered correctly. Luna was guiding them, holding up the poor boy’s head. Behind them, two students were helping around a small brunet uttering a stream of insults that grew more vulgar by the second. His right arm was covered in bruises. “Oh my… Luna, I know your methods are efficient but don’t you think this is getting a little bit out of hand?”

Luna gave her an uneasy sorry smile. Svetlana sighed but her nurse instinct quickly took over. She guided the troops so that they’d carefully set down their burden on one of the nursery’s beds. Feliciano and Kiku let go of Lovino on another one, next to the first. Then, the middle-aged blond woman shooed the entire class out with big waves of her arms, asking for space so she could work correctly. Only Luna was allowed to stay, and that was because she was a co-principle.

Svetlana took a stool and went to sit between the two boys. Lovino had lied down and wasn’t talking anymore but anyone could have noticed the way he kept glancing concerned looks at the Spanish boy. The nurse slightly peeled off Antonio’s shirt and carefully placed her hand on his stomach. Her eyes immediately widened with astonishment. “Two broken ribs and internal bleeding! Do you think I’m a magician?! I give diagnosis, I don’t make miracles! And Raivis is still in class… Havens, did you use this boy as a trampoline?!”

“That’s not at all what fucking happened!” Lovino exclaimed from the next bed.

Svetlana pouted and slapped him a little. Not very hard, just what was needed as a warning. “Watch your language, duckling,” she reproached.

Lovino blushed up to the roots of his hair but just grumbled about all those “fucking people that kept giving him stupid nicknames”. Svetlana sighed, took her hand away from Antonio’s stomach and raised his legs with a couple pillows. Then she started opening her patient’s shirt, without taking it completely off so that he wouldn’t move any more. She set the fabric apart, exposing the Spanish boy’s torso. Around the first ribs, there was a large purplish black zone, excessively swollen. Lovino’s eyes grew larger with horror and tried to look away, which caught the nurse’s attention.

“Nice work, huh?” she mocked. “Was that your fault?”

“What? No, it wasn’t my fucking fault!” the Italian yelled. “H-he’s the one who’s just so dumb he fucked up, damn i…”

He was interrupted with a slap. “I told you to mind your language, you wolf cub,” she scolded softly.

Vexed, Lovino tried to turn around and let out a pained yelp: he had forgotten about his own bruises. Svetlana raised an eyebrow and turned to him to examine the injuries. She let go with a relieved sigh: there was nothing too urgent. She started petting the rest of the Spanish boy’s body, making sure there was nothing else.

“You should have come and get me, it’s dangerous to move someone in that state! The bone could have moved and make even more damage and… Goodness, we really need to do something about the internal bleeding…”

“I’ve sent someone to get Raivis, he shouldn’t be long,” Luna assured as she read a magazine on her chair.

She had barely finished her sentence when the door bounced against the wall and a young blond boy rushed in, panicked, breathless and shaking like strawberry jellow. Peter was following behind. “I-I came as fast I possible!” he stuttered with a voice as frail and shaking as him. “P-Peter told me it was urgent! Who’s h-hurt? I-is it bad? Should I…”

“Stop! Raivis, calm down!” Svetlana ordered firmly. Raivis shut up immediately. “Good little sparrow…” she started again in a softer voice. “Antonio has internal damage that we imperatively need to stop. We’ll see the ribs next, if you can manage.”

The young boy nodded and came to sit next to the nurse. His gaze suddenly changed as soon as he saw Antonio’s purplish chest. From worried and hesitant, he seemed to gain confidence and carefully placed his hands were the bone was broken.

He stayed there, unmoving, for several minutes, focused on his task. Svetlana was monitoring what he was doing and guided him from time to time, whispering advice into his ear. Peter and Lovino couldn’t look away. It was fascinating. As for Luna, she… was doing crosswords. She seemed to trust the Lett.

Slowly, under the student’s captivated eyes, the swelling was reduced and paled until it was completely gone. Raivis blinked, took his hands back as well as a deep breath and slumped back into his chair. He looked like he had just ran a marathon but a relieved smile had settled on his lips. Svetlana checked his work with an expert hand. Her fingered barely touched the Spanish boy’s skin before a glad expression settled on her face. He immediately threw herself at the little Lett to strangle him… Ah, no, sorry, she was just hugging him.

“Good job, my little sparrow! You usually do quite well but that was perfect! I’m so glad I have such a good assistant!”

Lovino smiled mockingly at the poor boy whose lips were turning blue from the lack of air. Svetlana really seemed to love him. Raivis was only saved by the recess bell that reminded everyone time was still turning.

“Good job!” she said again as she let go of him. “You can go and rest now…”

“Ehi, aspetta!” Lovino cried out. “What about me?”

Svetlana turned to him with a large scary smile. “Raivis cannot heal continuously, he needs some time to rest,” she explained. “So you’ll stay here! You don’t have any more classes anyway for now, isn’t that right, Luna?”

The Lett send a poor smile at the Italian who started angrily cursing again before the blond woman started scolding him about his language again. He opened the nursery’s door to get out… cried out with terror, shut it closed again and rushed to hide under one of the beds. Svetlana didn’t payed the slightest bit of attention, but it did make Lovino shut up as he wondered what kind of scary monster could be behind that door.

Then the door opened again and Ivan came in with both his sisters.

Svetlana immediately stopped scolding Lovino so she could go hug her “baby bear”, her “little stork” and her “sweet dove”. Lovino briefly wondered why she kept giving nicknames to everyone but chose to give up when he realized the nurse was the mother of the Russian and his sisters.

“Skazi mne, mama?” Ivan said when he noticed the occupied beds. “What happened?”

“Nothing, just an accident during Luna’s lesson. Raivis just took care of it.”

“Oh, but where is he?”

At this point, Raivis had almost reached the door, crawling under the beds. Katyusha noticed him as he discreetly tried to reach the door handle. He made sure nobody was watching and quickly opened the panel so he could escape. Raivis gave her a thankful smile before running away as fast as he could.

Ivan looked for him for a few moments more before declaring he still had to congratulate him and left as well, followed by his two sisters.

When Antonio opened his eyes and felt the terrible headache starting to drill into his temples, his first reaction was to check if he still had his pants on. Because if we woke up with such a migraine, it had to mean he had drunk himself to sleep with the rest of the trio last night. And although he loved his friends, he knew from experience that when one of them was drunk, you had better watch your butt, both literally and figuratively.

When he was certain he was still a virgin, he could finally notice he was in a bed, at the nursery, and Lovino was watching him mockingly from the next bed. He was smirking, which was rather a bad omen, knowing that the only time the Spanish had seen him smile was when he smashed his own foot with a bowling ball two days ago. So he must have been in a very bad state. Antonio proceeded to check his body again, making sure everything was relatively normal and, apart from his headache, everything seemed in order. “What is it, Lovi?”

“Nothing. You looked like you’d lost something so I was wondering what it was, and then I realized you were still looking for your own brain, dumbass.”

“No, I was checking I still had my… Whatever. Why am I here?”

“Because you’re a fucking idiot and that’s still incurable.”

Antonio was going to ask for clarifications but when he opened his mouth he suddenly remembered everything that had happened. So he stayed still with his mouth open as his brain tried to take in the situation correctly, which make made him surprisingly alike to a fish agonizing on a rock under a scorching sun. A brown fish with very sexy green eyes, but still a fish. “Dios mio, Lovi! Are you hurt? Are you okay? Are you…”

“Shut up, bastard. Yes, I’m hurt, you shithead!” the Italian boy grumbled, pointing at his right arm and leg, covered in ice packs. “And because of you, we could have both gone down, idiot!”

Antonio blinked with a surprised look. “Because of me?”

“Are you being this dumb on purpose? First, you had to fucking scare me, which got me in deep shit in the first place, but then you were dumb enough to ran under me and break yourself two ribs! So yeah, damn it, it is your fault! What would I have looked like if you were dead, huh? You really are just a fucking bastar…” Lovino stopped. Antonio had placed a hand on his mouth and another one on his stomach, and was shaking like he was having an attack. The Italian boy thought he was about to throw up and was about to call for help from Svetlana, who was doing god-knows-what in the corridor, when he realized the Spanish was just laughing to death. “Mind sharing what’s so fucking funny, bastardo?!” he snapped.

Antonio needed a moment to answer, desperately catching his breath. But each time he would look at Lovino, he would start laughing again, which made the Italia really confused and really pissed off.

“Are you going to tell me what wrong with you, cazzo?”

“Hahahaha… Ho… S-sorry… Lovi…” he managed to say between two fits of laughter. He needed a few more minutes to calm down, and when that was over he explained : “I’m just so happy you are okay.”

Well, actually, that wasn’t the real reason but he wasn’t that keen on telling Lovino what he’d really think about! He had noticed that Lovino, as a perfect Italian, talked with his hands a lot. Except, because of his injuries, Lovi could now only move one arm when he wanted to tell something, which was extremely comical. What was worse was that he was moving twice as much when he was mad. And the icing on the cake: the Spanish had dared to wonder what would have happen if both his arms couldn’t move. Would he stop talking altogether? Or would he talk with his feet? To sum it up, it was difficult to stay serious when thinking about this!

Besides, he wasn’t lying when he said he was happy he was okay. He would have been really upset, had the younger boy been more hurt, not to mention he was the one to start everything with his prank. Well, he couldn’t know Lovino could make over fifteen feet jumps. But that wasn’t an excuse. At least, is explanation seemed to pass, which was good! Besides, now Lovino had gone quiet and kept blushing like a cute tomato. He cursed a lot but he was still so adorable, always being so shy!

There was a moment of silence before Antonio decided to spark the conversation again. “Did Bella come by while I was sleeping?”

Lovino send him a dirty look that you could easily translat with “Why are you talking about this now, bastard?” and answered with a blank tone: “She was there for like three seconds at recess, and then the nurse threw her out so that you’d rest because you looked like you went under a bus. She said something with “regeneration” in it, but that’s all I understood. Your girlfriend is a tough one though, she tried to get in through the window. I think she wanted to give you something.”

“Aw, that’s my Bella! So nice!” Antonio giggled, blushing with joy.

Lovino sent him a long glare that said a lot about what he thought about his love life. Then he looked away, bored. “Yeah, I guess she looks pretty good…” he commented half-heartedly.

“Doesn’t she?!”

“You two look so lovey-dovey together.” A slight smile peeked out from his lips as traces of amusement seemed to overgrow the annoyance. “Every time you guys are together you are so sweet it gives me fucking cavities!”

Antonio’s laughter grew a little less cheerful. “Right, we like to act like an adorable little couple…” You could almost hear the “but” at the end of his sentence. Which teased Lovino’s curiosity as he turned to him, waiting for him to continue. “Let’s just say it’s complicated!” Antonio eventually said with one of those dumb smiles that made Lovino want to stick his fist into his face.

The young man was lucky the younger boy couldn’t leave his bed. There was another moment of silence. “So, what time is it?” Antonio asked.

“No clue…” Lovino grumbled. “La signora Braginskaya said I could stay here until noon and I should feel better by then but there isn’t a fucking clock in this room…”

“Untill noon, huh?” Antonio repeated pensively. “Well then, I’ll keep you company!”

“No need to do this, asshole!” the little brunet immediately reacted.

“Of course there is, Lovi! I’m not going to leave you alone when I’m the reason we’re here in the first place, right?”

Lovino was red as a tomato and could find anything to say. Thankfully, an angel saved him : “Say, you little bull, do you think this is a hotel?”

The boys jumped when Svetlana raised in front of them. She didn’t look like it but she could be very sneaky. “You are awake, which means you rested enough! You are healthy so no way you are missing another lesson!”

“But…”

“T-t-t-t-t! No buts! Don’t tell me you were planning on skipping philosophy?”

“Uh…”

“Sorry, honey hen, but tricks don’t work on me! If you leave now, you’ll be there in time for the second hour. Come on, get up!”

And without listening to his protests, she threw the Spanish boy out of the nursery. Lovino wasn’t exactly sure how he should have felt when the blond woman turned to him with a huge smile.

“But since I know you might be lonely while waiting for your bruises to clear up, I found someone in the corridor that doesn’t have any lessons and who’ll keep you company for the time being!”

Lovino raised an eyebrow and Svetlana pushed the nursery door once more. The Italian’s blood freezed.

“Ciao fratello!”

“Santa merda…”

“Language, baby chick!”

The rest of the week was spent with any really noticeable event.

Romulus made a scene at Luna when he learned what had happened to his son but she managed to calm him down. The fact Raivis had managed to get rid of his bruises before he left the nursery had helped a lot.

Lessons went by like normal lessons. Well, knowing the weird character of some students and teachers, there were some… troubling moments. Fortunately, most teachers were now used to making kids obey, and the new History teacher didn’t have that much trouble being listened to. Not to mention he behaved a lot better than he had before with his female students. Thing was there weren’t that many and most had either an older sibling or a protective boyfriend. Add to this very interesting powers and you could understand messing up with those women buds was not a good idea!

He had gotten the idea when the classroom floor literally turned into an ice rink after he complimented Katyusha on her good answers and her charm. He had slipped while trying to get back to the black board and Ivan had told him, with an absolutely terrifying smile, “is everything alright, professor?” generally, a good teacher doesn’t let himself be intimidated by his students. But Romulus had decided maybe it was best not to push it…

On Wednesday, during the two hours of personal time, Luna summoned some students in the PCD room. She wanted to make sure everyone would get to the same level as fast as possible, which meant she had to make it so everyone knew what they could do. She received complaints from the three students she had forgotten in the classroom on Monday, but she didn’t really care.

So, after a number of tries, she managed to scare Feliks bad enough that the white balls he was tasked with holding in his hands took dozens of different colors. The Polish boy thought that was “like totally cool”, to be able to change things’ color, and that same evening he trained with all the furniture in his room, much to Toris’s dismay, as he now had to sleep in a bed with red wood, green sheets and yellow blanket because his roomie still didn’t control his power well enough to choose the color he wanted to make. However, nobody else found anything.

Free time hours weren’t the most intense, that week. Clubs were waiting for the subscription day to start the annual projects. So they just did little workshops without any real importance. A lot of kids, as well as the new ones, just wanted to relax. The bravests took advantage of the remains of summer heat to use the outdoor sport facilities. Others were hanging out in the playground, the corridors, or even on the roof despite the fact it was strictly forbidden. That was the place you could be certain to find Francis, Antonio and Gilbert when they weren’t where they were supposed to be. The Bad Touch Trio, as they liked to call themselves, used that place as headquarters. And everybody knew. Even the principles had given up on keeping them away from there.

That Friday afternoon, the three young men had gotten up on the roof after starting the fourth best paper ball fight the history classroom had ever known, all without the teacher knowing where all the attacks were coming from. They were still laughing about it. They had perfect synchronicity, they all knew from instinct when to start and when to stop so that the teacher didn’t find them out.

“Did you see Vargas’s face when the bell rang?” Gilbert snickered as he dropped himself in his usual spot, in the shade of the staircase.

“He looked like he was about to strangle the whole class!” Francis laughed as well, gently brushing his fair locks with his fingers.

“Another éxito for the Bad Touch Trio!” Antonio sang as he grabbed the guitar hidden behind the electricity room.

He tried the strings and started to improvise a melody his two friends followed, clapping their hands and stomping their feet in a cheerful cacophony. They all invented lyrics in their own language, to the point it was impossible to figure out what one was saying out of all the powerful musical mess.

"Vargas, Vargas, t'es tombé sur la mauvaise classe~"

"Somos jóvenes y muy orgullosos, muy orgullosos!"

"Das Bad Touch Trio gewinnt! Denn wir sind genial!"

When none of them knew what to scream along anymore, Antonio finished with a solo that would have done wonders in a rock show and yelled “GRACIAS GENTE!” as France whistled and Gilbert pretended to be the delirious crowd. Then they threw a fit of laughter and couldn’t say anything for several minutes.

“We should try writing those songs down, sometime,” Gilbert finally commented when he managed to at least look a bit calmer.

“You’re the one in the music club, you can just take blank music sheets.”

“Real funny, you think Princess-Roddy would let me?”

The albino got up, circled his eyes with his fingers like he had glasses and took an offended face. Then he declared in a high-pitched voice in which you could make out a slight lisp: “The music room equipment is reserved for lessons and music club practice only! It is out of the question you will use it for personal projects such as a mere rock band! And I will ask you to cease your affectations, you poor fool!”

Francis and Antonio fell over from laughing at the perfect impersonation. Gilbert couldn’t hold it either and laughed with them.

“We could also buy some,” Antonio offered.

“Yeah, but that’s no fun.”

“Ah, fine then.”

Slowly, everyone started doing whatever then felt like. Antonio was taking care of his guitar, Gilbert was playing a game on his phone, and Francis was taking in the view, humming. It often happened that they were together without a real discussion. They just liked the company of the other two, but didn’t need them to put their noses were they didn’t belong.

“By the way, Cici, weren’t you supposed to be at the cooking club, right now?” Antonio said.

“Well weren’t you supposed to be at the sport club?”

The two principles, the Chrones sisters, gave almost as much importance to distractions as the did to studies. That was why every Saturday held a special event. It could be a party, a competition or a show the students put up.

This Saturday, though, was the club subscription day. The time to recruit new members and to show off how cool your club was compared to others. So of course there was a lot of work before the big day.

“Oh, you know, I don’t really feel like getting yelled at by Eliza. She wants a game tomorrow, fine, I’ll do it. But if I’m just here to put the stuff away, then I’ll pass, amigo.”

“That’s not very galant, Nini. A lady deserves…” Francis stopped. Gilbert was laughing at him.

“Sorry Don Juan, but Eliza isn’t what I call a lady.”

The blond boy didn’t know what to answer and gave up.

After several minutes of silence, gilbert paused his game. He looked thoughtful.

“Hey, guys, is there some sort of illness that makes you trip all the time?”

“Why are you asking that now?” Antonio said, absent-mindedly.

“I don’t know. Just been falling over nothing for several weeks. Well, it happened sometimes before, but not that much. So?”

“What do you want me to say, Gigi? You can’t move your feet right, that’s all!” France said with a fake dramatic sigh.

Gilbert laughed and furtively left the shade to give a friendly punch to the French boy mocking him. “No but really,” he pushed, putting his albino skin away from the deadly laser again. “Getting worried, guys.”

“Relax, amigo. You’re not sick, otherwise someone would have already told you. Remember where we are.”

“Yeah but… Oh well, I’m so awesome I can’t get sick anyway!”

“That’s the spirit!” Francis joked. “Besides, maybe you’re just being spied on by the invisible man!”

A noise caught their attention nearby. Close to the staircase door, a white teddy bear had just fallen on the ground and was vaguely protesting. The three young men stared at it for a few seconds, dumbfounded. Then it suddenly disappeared and quick footsteps could be heard tumbling down the stairs.

The silence was such that you could hear the jocks yelling from the football field, a good half mile from there. The trio shared a look. “Or you got a stalker,” Antonio finished.