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luimagines · 2 years ago

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*walks in tiredly, offers you a mug of tea, downs my own like a shot, makes it like the Wild 100 years ago* Hey there, hope you're doing well today ^^

Probably long ask so uh, warning and apologies in advance. I'm glad the Lustrous ask was seemingly well received? XD It's just a snippet of a bigger thing, I'm writing a full thing for them when I have the time (along with a series for the Fairy Tale prompts, which I also have snippets of if anyone's interested?) which I'll post later and tag you if you're interested, plus you listened to me basically just come into your little corner of the internet and ramble about a crossover of a series you're not familiar with and LU, so it's only fair since it basically inspired me to keep going, so thank you ^^. Although, uh, Citrine/Little Link won't have a good time, apologies in advance, I blame the evil moon people. Yeah sorry he's probably going to pull a Time or Sky in the bad sense. That was an exchange from a draft of chapter 4 and English is not my first language even though I've been using it more for years, so that's likely why it's off, I apologize for that. Also I promised I'd come here and scream about how much I adore your writing of the boys (and once again, thank you for posting, great pick me up after a rough week that really does make me want to walk right into a Guardian beam, so here we go while I can even if I may need to split this in two if I hit the word limit.

Also the small family with Warriors and Wind is so wholesome, I think I went under from cavities alone (or maybe it’s the sleep deprivation, eh), please let the Link’s have parents and parental figures who stick around and don’t contribute to their trauma universe and Wind and Aryll are definitely up there in both deserving and needing it a lot, had to say I laughed at Warriors not being as thrilled by the crab as someone who makes friends with them and seagulls every time I’m near the ocean, they’re neat little fellas ^^, Poor Legend probably ain’t gonna be thrilled to find one on his clothes though, I know I wasn’t before figuring out how to keep them out, also, Reader comforting Aryll- just yes, also Wind’s grandma is the best I don’t make the rules. Sick Reader is such a mood, the boy's reactions hurt to read though it's really heartwarming how much they care, perfectly in character, 10/10, would definitly die over it again. Reader being good with a bow made me chuckle and smile because the irony of being familiar with a bow and seeing Reader and Wild excited of it reminds me of when I first picked it up, sweet and humorous and I adore it. Four getting a taste of his own medicine- *cackles hard in current Minish Cap player and Manga reader of it and Four Swords* That's what you get for your canonical flirting boy! He was as bad as Warriors and look where it got him XD Also he's so gone for Reader's Colors and Reader in general, it's sweet and just really good, I love it so much, plus the Reader’s colors have so much personality and it’s great. The Fear Room, goodness THE FEAR ROOM. I'm going to need to save it in for another ask because there are so many little details that I adore and I am a sucker for horror and it's too good- 20/10, would scare my poor dog again over my pain and elation.

Reader accidentally spilling who’s their favorite (and suffering as a result) also makes me cackle and smile a lot, it’s soft and sweet and each Link being so elated by it is literally so sweet (though Time, Wild, and Twilight literally murdered me during that segment, not a bad cause of death all things considered, but how dare all Link’s be so sweet? Like I’m already dead here, shoveled dirt into my box and everything, no need to try finishing me off), na interesting detail is how Hyrule and Legend both have the almost immediate reaction of asking why, dunno if it’s intentional or not but it’s a very neat touch, like you don’t have to elaborate but either way they’d happy if you did decide to which reflects really well with their characters. Four overreacting the second Reader takes it back (be smothe, smithy boy, specially so you don’t plot), Sky being sweet but oh so oblivious and basically killing Reader and Warriors being flattered, Wind just being triumphant in general and wanting to make Reader smile, Wild basically getting a critical hit in, Twilight and Time existing, it’s just so nice and I am soft. Plus the consistent and cackle worthy betting always makes me wheeze.

Speaking of betting, the Link’s being so gone for a tall S/O is both hilarious, consistency I greatly appreciate and a mood, plus the lines where definitely on point for sudden hilarity (“They got family?” “They took all your height” “And ours too-“ “Twilight wondering why he got none of that” absolutely sent me, great pick me up after a generally bad time existing), and all of them being soft and just so happy their S/O is in their lives and how they can show them off when meeting in each Hyrule is really wholesome, plus the consistent betting and friendly teasing which really sells how they are as close as brothers is really nice to see.

Soft Fierce Deity, honestly the main thing I can say coherently is that if the favorite scenario, and then the meeting scenarios slayed me, then this man came into my house and stole all my bones before killing me again in a good way because I am too soft, I have a really soft spot for the Fierce Deity, and the way you write for him is great and we usually don’t see much for him in any corner of the Zelda (or adjacent) Fandoms, it’s in character sure because Nintendo has a tendency of mentioning deities in Zelda or Link variants and then just refusing to elaborate, but it always makes me happy to see people write stuff for him among other things, 50/10.

How to Be a Heartbreaker delights me, always nice to see Warriors being the flustered one instead and his and Reader’s banter (and Twilight cameo) gives me life, I could probably write a small essay on why it delights me so much, but again word limit so let’s move on, maybe during another ask or something.

... Actually maybe I should save the oneshots for another individual ask, more organized that way.

Anyway, onto there’s only one bed! Also know as, Wild killing me with cackling that had my dog nuzzling me with concern and being my spirit animal all in one go, never change Wild Child, knew there was a reason you managed to bring me back to the Zelda fandom, me trying and failing not to be soft for Warriors, soldier boy deserves good things and it’s really sweet how much he cherishes reader, and me and Legend having the same trauma (aka KOHOLINT, if I could I’d fistfight the Windfish, I can’t go to the beach without a seagull being nearby and remembering Marin, specially with the friendly ones who actually come by just to stare and chirp for a while and it hurts), the fact he doesn’t want Reader to look down on him, because he doesn’t want them to leave him like how he basically lost or was left by most people in his life, the correlation with when he was stranded at sea, Reader comforting him- Just yes, bless the veteran. Flustered Reader is also my spirit animal, and cat Reader delights me to no end, thank you once more for the wonderful contente and all your work in the fandom!

Also, while the urge to nap has not yet claimed me yet (and with hopefully the Tumblr wordcount not vibe checking me), I saw an ask about Time/Mask/Sprite with a resistance leader s/o? May I raise an idea/au of this au that’s been haunting me every second when I’m not doing anything much? Resistant Leader in the pre-timeskip timeline (aka The Child Timeline) started out as a Terminan Thief, that’s why Mask didn’t run into them when first going to get the Master Sword, they haven’t left Termina yet. The first contact Mask had with them after the timeskip was when they stole his wallet as a Deku Scrub, ran from him on the second day and then vanished on the third day. After the loop starts Thief/would be Resistant Leader Reader is somehow always just there, stealing random stuff from him and generally making his life harder (he would like to know how they snatched the Bunny Hood from his head and the Gilded Sword without him noticing, please? But Thief Reader definitely ain’t going to start divulging tricks of the trade) but always vanish on the third day before he can really stop them to talk, so honestly done and just really wanting to know why someone he remembers as this really amazing, confidente and badass leader would be acting like this (because it honestly doesn’t seem in character, given they were fighting Ganon for so long and stalled him several times on his search for Link) and just really missing a friend and being tired of these loops, he manages to follow them, maybe Reader was in a spot of trouble with other thieves and couldn’t get out of it unless they stole a certain quantity of rupees or rare items, and by the final day they snap and that’s why Link doesn’t see them (maybe the Gorman Brothers? If Reader spoke out and maybe tried using one of his stolen weapons to have a go at them for attacking Cremia and Romani if they’re close, although it’s generally ambigous, maybe it could be someone from Ganon’s former band of thieves who ran to Termina, and that’s why they became a Rebellion Leader in the timeskip? They couldn’t leave, saw what Ganon was going to do to Hyurle went, “Hm. Don’t really like that!” and probably fought their way out, maybe getting other thieves to speak up and rally together as well and it just escalated?) Either way, Mask sees what’s happening and that they probably can’t get out of it alone like usual and helps them because that’s HIS friend lord darn it he hasn’t seem them in forever and thought he wouldn’t ever see them again, the first familiar face since maybe Lullaby and Malon he’s seen in a while, he isn’t leaving them behind (casually raising my headcanon of Fae possesiviness being Time’s fault in the bloodline if we want to figure out where Hyrule’s came from, because the Kokiri are basically another branch of Fae and have fairies near them), and as thanks they not only give him his items of whichever loop his in back but maybe something of their own as well to remember, and help him out with the rest of the tasks or a temple (probably by somehow getting him the dungeon item, or a few dubiously acquired potions ahead of time), but if he had to reset they get caught up in it and actually remember the previous loop, given the way they just SPRINTED through Clock Town on the first day and instead of being subtle like always to steal something, they just bowl him over in a glomp and start checking him over, breaking the pattern.

Cue a bit of panic, several explanations and either an ear pull, cursing or stealing of rupees and holding masks hostage as revenge (and the threat of leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back if he tries stopping them from helping, oh you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve done this now? And don’t want me to get hurt? Well too bad I am not letting you do this alone, News flash, technically I’ve already been hurt I’m not losing the one person who bothered to help me), and now he has an impromptu loop buddy to help him out even if it’s through questionable means after they usually deal with whichever other thief is around first. Maybe if after he defeats Majora and goes to leave he doesn’t tell Thief Reader, assuming they don’t want to come with since he’s caused them a lot of trouble and they’re technically free to do as they please now, only he can’t, because Thief Reader absconded with two more things of him: One of his earring’s, and the Fierce Deity Mask, which they are cheekily waving to show off to him atop Clocktower, the earring on their own ears. (And seriously? HOW?!) Shenanigans ensue, maybe a chase or two, and Mask acquires himself a travel companion on top of Epona, Tatl and Tael on his search for Navi.

And honestly? Chaotic and bullheaded as they are and probably something of a magpie to boot, he wouldn’t have picked anyone else. You can hold your own and you’ve been ride or die with him twice over now, if that isn’t a sign you’re sticking around he doesn’t know what is.

Or something, idk, I’m running on three hours of sleep, maybe someone with more energy can expand on this into the War of Ages later or I’ll do it myself (Wind would have the best/worse role model ever, given ya know, Pirate and really light footed, feather touched and chaotic thief, Warriors is having heart attacks every five seconds even if he has to admit that when Thief Reader is going for soldier’s who talked badly about him, Mask, Wind, Ravio or Zelda is the most hilarious thing he’s ever seen and that one time they stole Cia's staff and were going to bash her over the head, Ravio is probably side eying them the whole time or seeing a business opportunity, Artemis and them trade tips due to her Sheik alter ego and both Mask and Warriors have to drag them away from one another, the possibilities are endless). I just find the idea of the Link’s with any morally dubious, but clearly cares a lot and wouldn’t hesitate to cut or bite someone for them amusing. Gives way for some interesting dynamics, like say Twilight and cattle raider reader (aka the cowboy/wild west themed rivalry au that I will not elaborate on), or Warriors with an Assassin Reader, or Wild with a mercenary reader, the possibilities are infinite folks.

Also also, if for some reason Mask and Thief Reader got separated before LU, and they reunite as Time and Still a Thief but much closer to their Rebellion Couterpart Reader. And their reunion basically goes like that one Puss in Boots, or the Lion King one scene: Thief Reader: *Holding dagger to throat, teeth bared as they just managed to steal the Fierce Deity Mask for the 10987th time from this strange man they don’t recognize after he gave chase, pauses for a couple of seconds in disbelieving, shocked recognition, dropping the blade*... Link?

Time: *Also in fight mode and ready to kick the attacker off of him and getting the mask back, actually takes a good look at their face and pauses in shock, long dead hope suddenly burning again, hesitant* (... Reader)? Thief Reader: *Not even hesitating to throw themselves at him in a hug with a slightly teary laugh* LINK! Time: *hugging them back just as tight, still somewhat in disbelief* (Reader).

Thief Reader: *pausing as they notice the Fierce Deity’s marks, flashbacks to all the times they told Mask not to over do it on the battlefield with it because they saw how much it hurt and affected him even if the Deity is pretty chill with them, chillingly livid as they level the tone at him, you know the one, pulling at one of his ears* ...Link.

Time, Knowing he is in danger as he recognizes that tone: ... (Reader). *wisely stays silent as they smack him hard on the shoulder and starting the lecture of a lifetime, silently glad Malon also isn’t here because she’d probably join you, but also just glad you’re even here to lecture and get mad at him in the first place after so long* The Chain, watching all this drama and telepathy display go down and who just wanted their stolen stuff back: I can just imagine the sheer confusion and bewilderment as to how Time knows this seemingly random thief who stole their stuff and would have probably dipped sucessfully if not by somehow getting Wild’s Slate, the Fierce Deity Mask and almost all of Legend’s rings at the same time and why they’re arguing like an old married couple about self care of all things. Most amusing reactions probably going for Twilight, Wild, Legend, Warriors and Wind. Or something, i’m probably not making much sense.

Anyway, I’ve probably bothered you with my rambling enough for one day xD Thank you once again for all your work in the fandom, maybe I’ll have more stuff on Lustrous reader or even Vessel reader next I’m by but until then, thank you ^^.

-Signed, Just a Tired Anon on A Stroll 🐚.

Anon!!! Hello again!!

NOT MY BOY LUCKY DX NOT LITTLE LINK!!!!! WHAT DO MEAN BAD TIME LIKE TIME AND SKY?!?!?!

But also, please tag in anything. I'm so intrigued and I want more fairytale stuff. Go ahead. XD

I'm glad you like the oneshots! Please tell me more of your thoughts on the Fear Room o.o I'm not big on horror so I'm glad it got the terror across ^.^*

And Fierce Deity and How to be a Heartbreaker and other because I want to hear all your thoughts. XD

And what do you mean Twilight- wild west au- rivalry?!?!? Hello!!?!??! You can't just drop that and say you won't elaborate!!!!

But this idea with theif! Reader is a good one :D

Clearly, you put a lot of thought into it and there's just so much potential.

The boys are all awkward and shuffling in the background as Time gets scolded because they're not sued to the leader cower back like that and even then he's not even trying to defend himself at this point and they're just staring. "....Who is this person?"

"No clue, but the Old Man finally got what was coming to him."

"I feel like my parents are fighting."

"I know them..." Warrior sighs. "I guess they haven't change at all."

Multiple heads turn to look at him.

He puts his hands up. "I'm not saying anything."

#pinky replies

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zintranslations · 4 years ago

Text

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 70

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Link to ongoing Taida Translations

Chapter 70: Appetite

Can't help it anymore. When he heard Qin Budai say this, Lin Qiushi felt a chill deep in his bones. The person before him wore fresh blood on his lips, and stared at him with a pair of silent, red-veined eyes. The look that was so clearly stifling something lifted a light layer of goosebumps along Lin Qiushi's arms. All of Lin Qiushi's instincts were ringing the alarm—that the person in front of him was very, very dangerous.

Qin Budai gradually got closer and closer. His footsteps finally halted before Lin Qiushi, and he slowly called out Lin Qiushi's name. His tone was both cloying and cold, sending very mixed signals.

At that moment, Lin Qiushi wanted to turn and run. But he also felt that the instant he left his back open, something completely out of his control would happen. So he thoroughly smothered that urge to escape and hide, and instead said, "Qin Budai, are you alright?"

Qin Budai smiled eerily at Lin Qiushi. "I'm fine." It probably would've been better if he hadn't smiled at all; it only made his expression seem more twisted.

Just as the two stood in stalemate, Chen Fei's voice came warily from outside the kitchen. "What are you two doing?"

Chen Fei reached and flipped the light switch on the wall. The entire kitchen lit up, and he got a good look at the scene before him.

"Qin Budai— What are you doing?" His gaze fell on that slab of meat Qin Budai had been chewing on, and the moment after he asked this question, he seemed to comprehend exactly what Qin Budai had done. There was a brief hitch in his breath. "You just came out of a door?"

Qin Budai slowly nodded.

"Hungry?" Chen Fei sounded very calm, like he saw nothing wrong at all with the scene before him. "Let me cook you something to eat."

Qin Budai didn't speak, just turned and left.

Watching him go, Chen Fei didn't stop him, just sighed lightly.

"What in the world happened?" Lin Qiushi wasn't as experienced as Chen Fei, and couldn't understand what was going on with Qin Budai. Honestly, Qin Budai’s current state reminded Lin Qiushi of the monsters inside the doors.

"He's probably been affected by the door world." Chen Fei went to the fridge, and pulled out a steak. He really was planning to cook it for Qin Budai. "The human psyche is a fragile thing. After a strong shock, it can be prone to disorder." After saying this, he glanced over at Lin Qiushi. "Not everyone can accept things as calmly as you can."

Lin Qiushi didn't know what to say.

"The worst situation is when everybody else is dead, but the door and the key haven't appeared." Chen Fei lit the stove, heated the oil, and set the steak into the pan with a sizzle. "You're trapped alone inside the door, not knowing how long you'll be stuck there…"

His voice got lower and lower.

It was indeed nightmarish.

To be trapped inside alone. Just the thought of it sent chills throughout the body. Lin Qiushi leaned against the threshold. "Qin Budai… will be okay, right?"

Chen Fei shook his head. "I don't know."

Lin Qiushi, "what do you mean you don't know?"

Chen Fei, "I mean that I don't know if he'll get better, if he can separate reality from the world of the doors."

Lin Qiushi frowned. "If he can't?"

Chen Fei's motions paused, and a self-mocking smile appeared across his face. "If he can't? If he can't… Then he's done for."

Killing people inside the door was fine, but in reality, there were laws and sanctions in place.

Plus, people like this became very dangerous. They may not murder, but they still may commit some other drastic crime. People who could not distinguish between the inside and outside could not continue staying at the mansion. Of course, this wasn't something Chen Fei told Lin Qiushi, because he didn't think it necessary.

The steak was done. Chen Fei plated and brought it to the dining table outside, handing it to Qin Budai.

Qin Budai cut the steak apart with a fork and knife, but his peripherals lingered on Lin Qiushi. He still felt hungry, and the steak before him was incapable of satiating that full-body, anxious gluttony he felt. But he didn't dare make it apparent—could only keep his head down, pretending to be happily chowing down.

Chen Fei watched from the side. Lin Qiushi noticed his brow furrowed in a knot, and a certain scrutiny in his eyes, like he was in the middle of diagnosing Qin Budai's condition.

Chen Fei asked, "what did you see inside the door?"

At the mention of the door, Qin Budai couldn't help a whole-body shiver. He opened his mouth, but said nothing even after a moment, like words couldn't possibly describe the world he'd seen.

Chen Fei, "hm?"

Qin Budai's reply was vague. "It was a very scary world. There wasn't much to eat. I was hungry the whole time."

Chen Fei didn't speak, sinking into thought.

Qin Budai finished the steak, and very politely bid them good night, returning upstairs to sleep.

Lin Qiushi stayed where he was, watching him go. He still felt there was something off with Qin Budai, but he couldn’t concretely say what it was.

Chen Fei said, "I'll ask Ruan-ge tomorrow."

Lin Qiushi, "ask him what?"

Chen Fei sighed, "which world Qin Budai went into, of course." Qin Budai was a newbie, still entering the first round of doors right now. He didn't have Lin Qiushi's luck—the group only took him through a couple of doors, and left him on his own for the most recent one.

Lin Qiushi nodded his agreement.

That night, Lin Qiushi didn't sleep very well. His mind, as he tossed and turned, was filled with the image of Qin Budai eating that raw meat. To tell the truth, after seeing that scene, even his sense of distinction between reality and the world of the doors felt blurred. It was an awful feeling, and left him filled with unease.

The next day, Lin Qiushi went downstairs sporting twin bags under his eyes.

Cheng Qianli had just come back from walking Toast, and Toast was twitching its fat little butt around, chasing and playing with Chestnut.

Cheng Qianli saw Lin Qiushi's severe lack of sleep, and said, "what happened? You look like you haven't woken up yet."

Lin Qiushi yawned. "It's nothing. I stayed up too late last night."

Cheng Qianli, "oh. Come eat breakfast then. My brother just cooked."

Cheng Yixie made porridge, along with a few small dishes. He was sitting and slowly eating at the table. Lin Qiushi went over to say good morning. Then he also grabbed a bowl to eat.

The people inside the mansion all began to gradually wake. Lin Qiushi saw Chen Fei. Then he also saw Qin Budai.

Qin Budai no longer had that scary aura from last night about him. He'd changed into a fresh outfit, and wore a smile. He approached Lin Qiushi and said, "good morning."

Lin Qiushi, "good morning."

"Sorry to scare you last night," Qin Budai said. "I'd just come out a door, and hadn't quite gotten myself together." He smiled, eyes rainbowing in a friendly expression. "I really am sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Lin Qiushi said. "You've… gotten yourself together now?"

Qin Budai nodded, indicating he has.

Chen Fei sat next to them, watching the two interact. He was examining Qin Budai without giving anything away, clearly not completely believing Qin Budai's excuse.

Not long after Ruan Nanzhu also came down. He maintained his typical aloofness, and made to head out after eating, before Chen Fei stopped him.

"Ruan-ge," Chen Fei said. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

Ruan Nanzhu nodded, and the two went off into a corner.

Lin Qiushi knew Chen Fei was likely telling Ruan Nanzhu about what happened with Qin Budai. To tell the truth, the current Qin Budai didn't seem off at all. It was difficult to link him to the person manically consuming raw meat the night before. But however his psyche was actually doing, if he'd gotten better, Lin Qiushi couldn't be the judge. So he thought this matter was better left to Chen Fei.

Lin Qiushi finished eating, and returned to his room.

Spring had just ripened. Sunlight spilled in brilliance, a cool breeze caressed, and Lin Qiushi sat at his window, turning on his computer to browse that forum open only to people who'd been inside the doors.

There were lots of interesting posts on this forum. Lin Qiushi had already developed the habit of reading through them daily. Casually, he plucked a piece of candy from his table and popped it in his mouth. He moved the mouse and began browsing the posts.

The posts were a mess, and full of strange tales.

Some discussed the world inside the doors, others mentioned urban legends. Others still organized same-city meet-ups.

Lin Qiushi read through them with fascination.

Because they'd just come from a door, Ruan Nanzhu hadn't organized any activities for Lin Qiushi, just letting him rest.

Lin Qiushi thought that wasting away a day like this actually felt quite comfortable. He ate lunch, took a nap, and let the day pass by just like that.

After Chen Fei spoke to Ruan Nanzhu that morning, the two left the mansion. Nobody knew where they'd gone off to.

But Lin Qiushi was already used to them appearing and disappearing at will, and wasn't curious at all.

Cheng Qianli and Cheng Yixie though, were gone as well. Lin Qiushi guessed Cheng Yixie had brought Cheng Qianli into some lower level doors for training.

There was still Yi Manman, Lu Yanxue, and Qin Budai inside the mansion. The four of them ate a simple dinner, and Lin Qiushi retired to his room to rest.

After a shower, Lin Qiushi lied on his bed playing sudoku. This inconsequential game was always quick to calm his mood, and also had the benefit of making him sleepy.

As he gradually filled the boxes, however, he heard a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" Lin Qiushi went to door and pulled it open, to find Qin Budai standing there.

Qin Budai said, "hi. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Lin Qiushi blinked. "Right now?"

Qin Budai nodded.

Lin Qiushi hesitated. "Sure… Let's go talk in the study. Give me a second, I'll come over after I change." He was in his pajamas after all.

Qin Budai quietly watched Lin Qiushi. Currently, Lin Qiushi was dressed in white cotton pajamas, and his long elegant neck and his pretty collarbones were all on display. Lin Qiushi was handsome, with a gentle temperament. He looked instantly easy to get along with. He also looked… tasty.

Qin Budai suddenly licked his lips.

Lin Qiushi eyed him warily. "Qin Budai?" He felt there was something off about the person in front of him.

Qin Budai said, "I only need five minutes. I'll be quick." As he spoke, he squeezed his way through Lin Qiushi's bedroom door.

Lin Qiushi noticed his motions, and took a step back, moving into a defensive position. "Do you need something?"

Qin Budai watched Lin Qiushi. In his eyes surfaced an indescribable hunger.

Goosebumps. Lin Qiushi, "Qin Budai?"

Qin Budai, "I…"

But before he'd finished speaking, he was already lunging at Lin Qiushi.

Though Lin Qiushi had been prepared, Qin Budai still ran into him straight on with great force, knocking Lin Qiushi flat onto the bed.

Lin Qiushi, "Qin—"

Just as the name left his lips, Qin Budai's fingers gripped tight over his mouth. This wasn't the strength of a human at all—Qin Budai could force down all of Lin Qiushi's struggling with a single hand. Lin Qiushi's eyes widened, watching Qin Budai's covetous gaze fixate on his neck.

"Just one taste," Qin Budai spoke lightly. "I'll just have one taste…" He bent down, and began lapping along Lin Qiushi's chin.

Lin Qiushi remembered the slab of meat that Qin Budai tore apart the night before, and began struggling anew with all his strength. But Qin Budai's strength made his efforts seem like a mayfly throwing itself against the trunk of a tree.

Qin Budai, staring at Lin Qiushi's throat, swallowed. He parted his lips, revealing the white rows of teeth, and went to bite…

"Mmph…" Lin Qiushi continued to fight.

Just as he felt the cold touch of Qin Budai's teeth, there came knocking at the door. Fear peering through his expression, Qin Budai glanced at the door.

Dong, dong, dong. The knocks continued.

Lin Qiushi met Qin Budai's gaze. He'd thought that now somebody was here, Qin Budai would release him—but instead, there was resolution in Qin Budai's eyes.

"Sorry," Qin Budai spoke lowly right next to Lin Qiushi's ear. "You look too appetizing. I really… can't help it anymore. Even if I'm discovered, I don't want to let go…" His teeth remained on Lin Qiushi's neck, and began to apply pressure.

Lin Qiushi's eyes shot wide open as he felt the dull pain spread along his skin. He didn't think Qin Budai would actually bite.

With a loud bang!, the locked door was kicked open.

Qin Budai, lying over Lin Qiushi's body, was seized by a pair of hands, lifted up, and brutally thrown against the wall. Qin Budai shouted in pain, while Lin Qiushi fumbled to sit up in bed. He saw Ruan Nanzhu, with a chilly expression.

Ruan Nanzhu didn't speak. He approached Qin Budai, taking a green bronze ornament off a side table as he went, then grabbed Qin Budai's chin to pry his mouth open.

Terrified, Qin Budai was trembling all over.

Ruan Nanzhu's tone dipped to cold frost. He said, "if you like eating so much, have at it." Then he shoved the thing right into Qin Budai's mouth, breaking off two of Qin Budai's teeth along the way.

Qin Budai completely fainted from the pain. It was only then that Ruan Nanzhu released his hand, and returned to Lin Qiushi. There was a deep furrow in his brow, and he seemed to be in a terrible mood.

"Alright?"

Lin Qiushi, "I'm fine."

He said, "I was careless."

He hadn't thought that Qin Budai would attack him under circumstances like this. Though Chen Fei had already warned Lin Qiushi, he'd still underestimated the effect the door had on Qin Budai.

Ruan Nanzhu stared at Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi was made horribly self-conscious by his gaze. He noticed it was fixed on his neck, and so reached to touch. It was only then that he noticed the teeth mark Qin Budai left on his throat… Though no skin had been broken, it still hurt.

Did this need a tetanus shot or what… As Lin Qiushi was thinking this, Ruan Nanzhu suddenly bent down over him.

Startled by Ruan Nanzhu's motions, Lin Qiushi was just about to ask what he was doing, when he caught Lin Qiushi firmly by the arms—the next moment, the spot where he'd been bitten was being roughly rubbed at. Lin Qiushi's first reaction was that Ruan Nanzhu had somehow been infected by Qin Budai's abnormal condition, and so shoved hard and shouted in pain: "Ruan Nanzhu—calm down!! It's me, it's Lin Qiushi!!"

Ruan Nanzhu bit. Only after staying there for a handful of seconds did he release the bite, looking down with satisfaction at the mark that was now covered over by his mark on Lin Qiushi's neck. Likely because he'd heard Lin Qiushi's shouts, he spoke evenly, "I know you're Lin Qiushi."

"Were you contaminated?" Lin Qiushi clasped his neck, hissing at the pain. "What did you bite me for?!"

Ruan Nanzhu spat out a single word: "Disinfection."

Lin Qiushi, "…" What the hell was wrong with Ruan Nanzhu.

After saying this, Ruan Nanzhu dragged off the fainted Qin Budai and left. Lin Qiushi looked over the mess of his room and the broken door, and for a moment didn't know what to do at all.

Qin Budai's bite hadn't torn skin, but Ruan Nanzhu's had. Lin Qiushi inspected his wound, warily wondering he needed to go get a rabies shot or something. He'd never been bitten by a person before, and so searched online for what to do.

Turned out he should've left it alone. The search left Lin Qiushi scared out of his wits, thinking he was likely going to kick it that very night.

And so bright and early the next morning Lin Qiushi rushed to the hospital. After taking a look at his wound, the doctor said, with meaning, "you youngsters need to control yourselves."

Lin Qiushi, "…" Control what, control their diets?

The doctor said, "you don't need a vaccine, just a disinfection should be fine. As long as the person who bit you doesn't have any infectious diseases there shouldn't be any problems."

Lin Qiushi, "but the search engine said…"

The doctor slapped the table. "Can you all stop going to the search engine when you're sick? Don't you just feel more terminal the more you use it?" The doctor looked maybe thirty-one, thirty-two—still quite young. He prescribed Lin Qiushi some bit of medicine, and waved him off in disgust.

Lin Qiushi returned to the mansion.

After Qin Budai was taken away last night, Lin Qiushi didn't ask what would be done with him. Today, he was nowhere to be seen. Lin Qiushi didn't see Ruan Nanzhu either, and so went to ask Chen Fei in private.

Chen Fei looked at the wound on Lin Qiushi's neck, and sighed: "It was my fault, I shouldn't have left him on his own. I thought he'd at least be able to bear it, but who knew his self-control would be so awful?"

Lin Qiushi, "so where is he now?" The way Ruan Nanzhu dragged him off last night looked like he was being taken straight to the crematorium.

"He's been sent somewhere else," Chen Fei said. "There's a place dedicated to people like him. After being affected by the doors, the way he acts in reality will be off, so he needs counseling."

Whether or not the counseling would work was another story. But this sort of person was dangerous wherever they put him. Had Ruan Nanzhu not shown up last night, Qin Budai might have straight up bitten Lin Qiushi to death.

Lin Qiushi, "oh…" He thought for a bit, before asking quietly, "and Nanzhu? How come I haven't seen him around?"

Chen Fei, "I think he went out for an errand."

Then he asked, "is your wound alright though? He broke skin. Did you get it checked out at the hospital?"

Lin Qiushi thought that no skin would've been broken had Ruan Nanzhu not given him that extra bite. And he'd claimed it was disinfection, but his bite was way harsher—it was ridiculous. Not that Lin Qiushi said any of this out loud. He only shook his head to indicate he was alright, and that he'd already been to the hospital.

After that, Qin Budai disappeared from the mansion.

With great synchronicity, nobody asked where he'd gone. Even Cheng Qianli, who was least capable of reading people, didn't mention him again.

They all seemed already prepared for sudden goodbyes.

Only three days after the incident did Lin Qiushi see Ruan Nanzhu again. At that point his wound had scabbed over. He came in from walking Toast with Cheng Qianli, and saw Ruan Nanzhu sitting in the living room eating some fruit.

Hearing their footsteps, Ruan Nanzhu only glanced up, looking them over with a placid gaze.

"Ruan-ge, you're back," Cheng Qianli greeted happily.

"Mh," Ruan Nanzhu replied. Then he looked at Lin Qiushi.

For some reason, Lin Qiushi felt a bit self-conscious. He'd felt that Ruan Nanzhu had been off that night, and was still a bit strange today.

"It's healed?" Ruan Nanzhu spoke.

Lin Qiushi knew Ruan Nanzhu was asking after his wound, and nodded. "It's healed."

"Oh," Ruan Nanzhu said.

Maybe Lin Qiushi was overthinking it, but he thought he heard a hint of disappointment in Ruan Nanzhu's tone.

Lin Qiushi continued, "thank you for that night…" Had it not been for Ruan Nanzhu, he would likely be dead already.

Ruan Nanzhu, "don't worry about it."

Lin Qiushi hesitated. "Qin Budai, will he get better?"

Ruan Nanzhu slowly chewed the fruit in his mouth, swallowed, and then answered Lin Qiushi's question: "I don't know. He determines his own fortune."

Lin Qiushi, "things like this had happened before?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "like clockwork."

Lin Qiushi didn't think he'd get this sort of answer.

"Out of a hundred newbies, ninety-nine will develop mental conditions." Ruan Nanzhu stood. "The last one is Cheng Qianli."

Hearing this off to the side, Cheng Qianli looked confused, and asked, "what do you mean the last one is Cheng Qianli?"

Affectionately, Lin Qiushi petted Cheng Qianli's head. "Nothing, Ruan-ge's just complimenting you."

Cheng Qianli, "oh. Heheheh."

Lin Qiushi thought that to be on the same level of foolish as Cheng Qianli was actually not so easy…

"Prepare yourself," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Cheng Yixie's ninth door is opening soon."

Lin Qiushi's heart jolted. "I'm going too?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "you don't want to go?"

Lin Qiushi, "I… I don't know…"

But Ruan Nanzhu didn't force it, only spoke evenly, "it's fine if you don't want to. You have three days to think about it."

Lin Qiushi nodded in acceptance.

Once he'd said this, Ruan Nanzhu turned and left. Watching him go, Cheng Qianli said he didn't know why, but he felt that recently, the feeling Ruan-ge gave off was different than before.

Lin Qiushi asked, "what's different about it?" To tell the truth, after going through the Qin Budai incident, he realized he was too complacent in the real world. Had this been inside the doors, he'd have never let Qin Budai in.

"I don't know." Cheng Qianli scratched at his foolish head. "I can't really say…"

Lin Qiushi eyed Cheng Qianli, and for a moment fretted how the boy before him was supposed to pass through the rest of those doors. He could too easily imagine Cheng Yixie, with his heart completely broken with worry for his foolish younger brother.

Author's Note:

I'm taking advantage of the good weather today to wash my cat. Everybody wish blessings of peace upon me.

[Ch. 69] | [Ch. 71]

#kaleidoscope of death #xi zixu #cnovel #chinese translation #死亡萬花筒 #this is mido food

175 notes · View notes

cosmic-goddess-leo · 5 years ago

Text

Familiar Face - Ukai Keishin x Reader

Summary: Ukai catches up with an old friend who has returned to Miyagi after being gone for 7 years.

Word Count: 4469

Warnings: SMUT. If you are uncomfortable with sex then DON’T READ THIS.

Author’s Note: I like dropping hints that I like older men... I like older men. Also, special thanks to the Haiku Writer’s Chat for helping me with this fic!

Tagging: @cmllnc @haik-whoo

“And look at this picture! He totally went bald, it’s only been a couple years and he’s completely bald!”

Ukai sighed deeply, trying to tune out Shimada’s and Takinoue’s gossip as he flipped through a magazine at the store counter.

Shimada had recently made it a point to friend all their old classmates on FaceBook, claiming it would be good to ‘get in touch’ with everyone and set up a reunion.

Ukai was sure it was an attempt to rekindle old flames with their female classmates.

“Why haven’t you joined FaceBook, Ukai? If you join and you friend me, I’ll only be a couple more people away from having our whole class on here!” Shimada exclaimed, continuing to scroll through his feed while Takinoue looked over his shoulder.

“I don’t need a bunch of strangers to know my business,” Ukai replied, not bothering to glance up at them from his magazine, “If they matter, they’ll already know.”

Shimada huffed before returning to his recommended friends list.

A chirp from the phone followed by an excited gasp caused Ukai to give another irritated sigh.

“(Y/n) friended me back!” Shimada said excitedly.

Ukai finally looked up from the reading material, resisting the urge to completely set it aside and attempt to snatch the phone from his friend’s hands.

“Woah! She looks totally different- she messaged me!”

Well, that was enough for Ukai to toss the magazine aside and try to get a look at the phone.

“What? What’d she say?”

“Oh nowww you’re interested!” Shimada huffed, shielding the phone from Ukai’s eyes. “She said she’s moving back to town for work. She wants to meet for dinner and drinks tonight.”

Ukai would never admit to it, but that made his heart drop. He hadn’t seen or heard from (Y/n) in 7 years.

She decided to go to college in the city, meaning she left everything behind. Including Ukai. After being best friends since middle school (and boyfriend and girlfriend their third year of high school) she just left.

It wasn’t like Ukai didn’t understand. He totally understood why she wanted to go. That didn’t make their breakup any easier though.

“Lucky for you, she’s asking me to invite you and Takinoue.” Shimada smiled, typing out his reply to her.

“What are you saying?” Ukai asked, crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair.

“That we’ll see her at 7 at our old spot.” Shimada replied, sending the message before any of them could object. Not that Ukai would.

He would have to haul ass back to the shop from Karasuno, get changed into something presentable, then haul ass to the restaurant. But he would do it if it meant seeing (Y/n) again.

And that is exactly what he did.

He rushed his last words to the team before sprinting out of the gym, leaving the the boys confused and Takeda scrambling to come up with words of encouragement on the spot.

Once Ukai arrived at the restaurant, he was showered and dressed in jeans and a casual button-up. Something to show he tried but not really.

Shimada and Takinoue had seated themselves to face the door, meaning (Y/n)’s back was to Ukai when he arrived. Once the two started to wave Ukai over, (Y/n) turned to look at him and smiled.

Ukai was suddenly 18 years old again; palms sweaty and knees weak from that familiar smile.

“Keishin!” (Y/n) got up from her spot and leapt into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight embrace he wasn’t expecting. “It’s been so long!”

He quickly returned the hug, lifting her off her tip-toes for a moment. “Too long.”

Ukai set her back down, pulling out of the embrace and repressing the blush he had felt creeping up his neck.

The two sat down, all while (Y/n) continued staring at Ukai. “You look so different, look at this hair!” she beamed, lightly tugging on a blonde strand of hair. “You got your ears pierced too!”

“Yeah,” Ukai smiled, scratching at the back of his head, “I went a little overboard after graduation but I think it fits me...” More like after you left...

“Well I love it. It definitely fits you.” (Y/n) smiled, her gaze lingering on him before turning back to her drink.

“Well, let’s toast! To rekindling old friendships!” Takinoue held up his glass, clinking it against the other three.

Ukai watched (Y/n) from the corner of his eye as he sipped at his beer. It was almost room temperature since they ordered it before he arrived, but his thoughts were wandering elsewhere.

It would be way too forward to tell her how beautiful she had gotten in the years she was gone. When they finally got together their third year, she was a budding flower, still beautiful in her own right as a young woman. Now she was fully bloomed, radiant and flawless. A woman.

Rather than spilling his guts to her about how much he missed her and how these past 7 years were agony, Ukai spent the night laughing about old times while also catching up on more recent events.

“You’re really coaching at Karasuno huh? And to think you gave your gramps all that shit for sticking around like that...” (Y/n) smirked, downing the last of her drink.

“This is different, they really needed it.” Ukai smiled, tapping his fingers against his glass.

“You guys really needed it too, though.” she quipped, earning a laugh from Shimada and Takinoue.

“And what about you? You said you came back for work. What work?” Ukai asked, lightly nudging (Y/n) with his elbow.

(Y/n) shrugged, “I’m an athletic trainer and physical therapist. I’m interviewing for a job tomorrow. That’s all I’ll say about it because I don’t want to jinx it.” There was a coy smile playing on her lips. Either it was the alcohol or she was up to something.

“Well good lu-” Ukai was cut off by (Y/n) covering his mouth.

“No! You’ll jinx it!” (Y/n) giggled, keeping her palm firmly against his lips.

Ukai responded in kind by dragging his tongue along her palm, earning a squeal of disgust from (Y/n) as she pulled back.

“Sick! Keep your bodily fluids to yourself!” (Y/n) groaned, wiping her hand on his shirt.

“Need I remind you there was a time when you didn’t mind my spit.” Ukai smirked, looking away from her to hide his slight blush.

“Oh I don’t need any reminders there.” (Y/n) replied, rolling her eyes at him.

“I can’t believe you two dated.” Takinoue sighed, resting his chin on his palm.

Ukai sent a small glare his way.

“N-not as in you two weren’t a good fit! It’s more like... we all kind of expected you both to get together, when it finally happened it was like a dream!” he explained.

“He’s right,” Shimada added, slowly nodding. “No more tip-toeing around each other. No more cat and mouse. Just boom! Ukai and (Y/n)! They’re like an elephant! When they walk into a room it’s like, okay! They’re in there!”

Now there was no hiding the blush on Ukai’s cheeks. He looked down at (Y/n), who had started shuffling in her spot.

“O-okay, judging from his volume I think it’s time to call it a night.” (Y/n) said, checking her phone for the time. “I need to get to bed soonish anyway. Interview’s in the afternoon but I still want time to get ready.”

“I can get him home.” Takinoue said, dropping cash on the table and helping Shimada up. “We’ll catch up again soon.”

Ukai and (Y/n) bid them goodbye as they began fishing for their wallets.

“You back home home? Or have you found a place?” Ukai asked, helping (Y/n) onto her feet once she paid her fair share of the tab.

She shook her head, “Im in a hotel kinda nearby. Thought it would be weird going back to my parents’ place as a 26 year old...”

Ukai chuckled, following her out of the restaurant. “I don’t blame you.”

The two went silent for a bit, shuffling their feet and hesitating to make eye contact.

“...Shimada never could hold his liquor, huh?” Ukai asked, earning a giggle from (Y/n).

“You’d think after all these years he would have learned...” she mused, running a hand through her hair.

They both went silent again until (Y/n) spoke up, her tone conveying an inkling of hope.

“I have to get up early and all but even then... I’m still kind of thirsty...”

Ukai gave her a small smile, “We can get some beer on the house from the shop...?”

(Y/n) smiled back, “I’d like that.”

He offered (Y/n) his arm, hiding his excitement when she linked their arms and began walking with him in the direction of the shop.

He was sure to lock the door behind them, keeping the lights off so they wouldn’t be disturbed. Even though the shop sign read ‘closed,’ some of the Karasuno boys would still try to get in if the lights were on.

“Do we get to drink in the dark the rest of the night?” (Y/n) asked, taking a swig of her drink.

“We can go upstairs... sit in the living room and talk.” Ukai offered, his palms getting sweaty all over again.

Once (Y/n) accepted, he lead her up the staircase in the back of the store, unlocking the door to his flat and letting her enter first.

“Ooooo, bachelor pad.” She teased, looking around the room. It was surprisingly clean, except for the clothes trail towards the shower he had left earlier.

“Nothing to see here!” he shouted, swiping his boxer briefs from off the floor and throwing them into his bedroom.

(Y/n) giggled, turning away to look at the wall decorations he had strung up. Some movie posters, one karasuno poster, and a couple pictures of their friend group in high school.

She paused at a particular photo of the two of them at graduation, smiling fondly at the memory. “Bring a lot of women up here?”

Ukai had been gathering the rest of the clothes on the floor, pausing at the question. “None that are really noteworthy...”

(Y/n) hummed to herself, tearing her eyes away from the picture and making her way to the couch.

“It’s kind of awkward since the town is small... so I’ve kinda stopped doing that.” he explained, retrieving his beer and sitting beside her.

“Kinda?” she asked.

Ukai shrugged, “I’m only human... I slip up and break my own rules every now and then.”

(Y/n) smiled slightly, shaking her head and taking another drink. “Some things never change...” she mumbled against the bottle.

He kept his eyes on her the whole time, tapping his thumb against the glass. “Did you...?”

(Y/n) bit her lip, unwilling to meet his gaze before taking a big swig of her drink.

“You seemed so sure you would before you left... but it still feels like the same (Y/n).” Ukai continued, slowly looking her over.

“Is it bad if I didn’t change?” she asked, staring at a random corner of the room.

“Not at all...” Ukai paused, unable to hold back a sigh before continuing. “It just makes me wonder... why break up if the only thing that really changed was your zip code...”

“I mean- I did change. I grew up, you did too. I just didn’t want it to end badly because of those growing pains.” (Y/n) explained. “Did... did you think it ended badly?”

“N-no, no I didn’t. I’m grateful it ended the way it did, rather than you falling out of love with me or something... Not that you still love me now- I’m just- Ugh! Bottom line, I’m fine with how things happened. It just... stings...”

(Y/n) chewed at her lip, something Ukai knew she did when she was anxious. He just made things super weird, all cuz he wanted closure.

“Do you have any regrets?” she suddenly asked, finally looking up at him.

Ukai sighed softly, slowly nodding his head. “Yeah... just one... I didn’t go after you.... Do you...?”

(Y/n) chuckled softly, turning back to her bottle. “Yeah actually... I didn’t stay with you.”

The two went silent. Ukai hadn’t meant for the conversation to take this turn. He wasn’t even drunk and he was still spilling his guts over a breakup from 7 years ago.

(Y/n) downed the last of her beer, setting the empty bottle on the coffee table before fully facing Ukai. “Can we try something?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, setting his bottle on the coffee table before turning to her.

“You’re going to kiss me. And if we don’t feel anything, I’ll leave and act like it never happened...” (Y/n) explained. It was a simple set of instructions but it had Ukai’s heart ready to jump out of his chest.

“And if we feel something?” He asked.

(Y/n) shrugged. “I dunno. But I won’t leave...”

Ukai took a deep breath, closing his eyes momentarily to regain his confidence.

“Okay,” he opened his eyes, “I’m ready.”

“You’re kissing your ex-girlfriend, not disarming a bomb.” (Y/n) quipped.

“Well, now I have to take another deep breath because you broke my concentration.” Ukai complained.

“Will you just hurry-”

Without warning, Ukai cupped (Y/n)’s cheeks and pulled her into a gentle, passionate kiss.

He told himself to keep it simple, but 7 years of repressed feelings suddenly began pouring out into this one intimate moment. Before he knew it, (Y/n) was kissing him back, hands clinging to his shirt and pulling him closer.

(Y/n) brushed her tongue over his lip, earning a moan from Ukai as he pulled her body flush against his.

(Y/n) pulled away for a moment, lightly pushed Ukai to lay on his back, then moved between his legs and flush against him.

Ukai breathlessly pulled her into another kiss, sighing shakily against her lips as his hands roamed her body. He was beginning to regret wearing jeans instead of his usual sweat pants.

(Y/n) tossed his hairband aside and began running her fingers through his hair, causing another moan to bubble from his lips.

No other women made him moan like this. But this was (Y/n). (Y/n) who knew him inside and out. (Y/n) who he knew inside and out.

He brushed his hand through her hair, lightly gripping it and pulling her away, tugging her head to the side and dragging his tongue up her throat. She moaned shakily, gripping his shirt so tight that Ukai thought the buttons might pop off.

The sudden feeling of (Y/n) grinding her hips against Ukai’s had him tugging her hair harder and biting her neck.

(Y/n) whined and began shakily unbuttoning his shirt.

He parted from her neck and moved her to sit up, taking off the button-up and his undershirt.

(Y/n) had gotten busy trying to take off her dress, she almost didn’t notice Ukai’s shirtless body.

She went hot, looking over his amazing physique. He looked nothing like this when they were last together. Something special caught her eye, causing her to smirk once her dress was tossed aside.

“When’d you do this?” she asked, brushing her fingers over one of his pierced nipples. Ukai shivered at her touch. He retaliated by reaching around her and unclasping her bra, tossing it away.

“I told you I went overboard after you left...” he mumbled, kneading her breasts.

(Y/n) moaned shakily, peppering needy kisses against Ukai’s lips. “Take me right here...” she murmured between kisses.

Ukai suddenly flipped their position, getting (Y/n) on her back and straddling her. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket, beginning to take a condom out until (Y/n) stopped him.

“Nuh-uh, I’m on the pill. I’m clean. I want you raw.” She panted, hastily unbuckling his belt.

This was a dream come true.

Ukai threw the wallet aside and tugged off (Y/n)’s panties, stuffing them in the pocket of his jeans before tugging his pants halfway down his thighs.

(Y/n)’s eyes went wide at the sight of him. She gripped the couch cushion as he rubbed his tip against her slit, sighing shakily.

“Maybe I should have stretched first...” (Y/n) breathed, hips twitching as Ukai eased the tip inside of her.

“You’ll get a good stretch from this, angel...” he grunted, her old nickname adding onto the pleasure they were both experiencing.

Ukai eased in deeper, his hips stuttering as (Y/n) dug her nails into his arms. His teeth dug into his bottom lip and his eyes screwed shut. They moaned in unison once he was fully inside of her.

“Kei, if you don’t move...” (Y/n) whined, rolling her hips to gain some friction.

Ukai moaned shakily, slowly rocking his hips against her’s. “Y-you’re as tight as the first time we fucked...”

(Y/n) gasped as Ukai suddenly hit her g-spot, prompting him to thrust faster into that spot he instantly recognized. “Has my angel been waiting for me this whole time?”

She moaned louder, dragging her nails down his arms, earning a symphony of moans from him as well.

Ukai hooked one arm under her leg, spreading her legs wider as he continued plowing into her. He struggled to keep himself propped up with the other hand, shaking hard as (Y/n) began to tighten around him.

He pressed his forehead to hers, growling as she stared into his eyes and clawed at his shoulders.

“Keiiii pleaaaase!” she shrieked, squirming against him.

“T-that’s it, angel. Let me have it...” he groaned, brushing his lips against hers.

(Y/n) screamed shakily, burying her face in Ukai’s neck and biting him.

Ukai came after a few more thrusts, emptying himself inside her while he moaned wildly.

They both panted hard, a wave of euphoria crashing into them in the wake of their orgasms.

(Y/n) tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him into a sloppy kiss.

Once they parted, he stood straight and took off his jeans, standing completely bare in front of (Y/n).

She was slightly confused until he lifted her off the couch and took her to his bedroom. He carefully laid her down before flopping onto the bed beside her.

(Y/n) let out a tired giggle, looking Ukai over as he still struggled to catch his breath.

“I think I have a cramp in my leg...” he groaned.

“Want me to rub it out?” (Y/n) teased, reaching towards him and brushing a strand of hair out of his face.

He slowly shook his head before taking her hand and kissing the tip of her middle finger. “Anymore friction from you and my soul will ascend into heaven.”

(Y/n) sighed softly, relaxing into the mattress and closing her eyes. “I shouldn’t stay... I have my job interview tomorrow.”

Ukai moved closer to her, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. “I have to open the shop up early tomorrow. I’ll wake you up so you have time to go to your hotel and make sure you’re ready... okay?”

(Y/n) slowly nodded, leaning up and kissing him once more.

“I guess this means we still feel something, huh?” Ukai asked, pulling the covers over their bodies.

“I guess so...” (Y/n) smiled, gently hugging his waist. “Maybe you can take me on a proper date tomorrow night... then it can be official.”

He chuckled softly, the need to sleep overcoming his need to say something clever. “Goodnight, (Y/n)...”

“Goodnight, Kei...”

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

The next day went by like a breeze for Ukai. He got one last kiss from (Y/n) when she left that morning, along with her new phone number. She didn’t even ask for her panties back.

Ukai wore a hoodie that easily covered the bite mark (Y/n) left him, meaning he wouldn’t have to deal with stupid questions from the boys at Karasuno.

Speaking of the boys, they were responding well to the new drills he and Takeda drew up. They were already showing improvement with their spikes and their serves. It was a perfect day.

Ukai was in the process of taking a swig of water when he heard the gym doors open, followed by a “HEADS UP!” from Noya.

The sound of a volleyball smacking against someone’s arm’s made the gym go silent. Hinata caught the stray ball, looking helplessly at Ukai.

The coach turned to see who had entered and blocked the ball.

He snorted, keeled over, and spat up the water he had been drinking onto the gym floor.

Takeda began slapping his back to help clear his airway as the school’s principal thanked (Y/n) profusely.

Ukai figured she had sidestepped in front of the principal and blocked the ball from smacking him right in the family jewels. She never joined Karasuno’s girl’s team, but she had helped Ukai practice enough to know how to receive a ball.

The principal cleared his throat, regained his composure, and led (Y/n) towards the coaches.

Ukai stood up straight, still struggling to breath as he looked her over. She was wearing a button-up shirt, a pencil skirt and heels. She was like an image out of a sexy librarian fantasy... only this was the real world. This was really happening.

“Coach Ukai, Coach Takeda, I would like to introduce your new athletic trainer!” the principal announced, beaming as Takeda and (Y/n) bowed to one another.

“It’s wonderful to meet-”

“What are you doing here?” Ukai coughed, interrupting Takeda.

(Y/n) smiled bashfully, giving him a small shrug of her shoulders. “I told you at dinner I didn’t want to say more about the job... I coulda jinxed it...”

“Ohhh!” the principal exclaimed, “I don’t know how I didn’t realize you two were classmates! What a wonderful reunion!”

“I did tell you we needed a trainer to come in and help before nationals...” Takeda murmured, nervously shifting where he stood.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. Her first official day is tomorrow.” The principal left with that, Ukai realizing how silent the gym was as his footsteps got further and further away.

“H-Hey! What are you doing?! Get back to your drills!” he shouted at the team.

The boys got their asses back in gear, stealing glances at the coaches and their new trainer every now and then.

“I’m going to... go... over there...” Takeda stuttered. He quickly bowed to (Y/n) before running to the opposite side of the court.

“Are you really that upset?” (Y/n) frowned.

Ukai sighed softly rubbing at his temples. “No... I just really wish you told me...”

“Well... I didn’t exactly plan on last night-” (Y/n) paused when she noticed one of the boys, Hinata, slowly sidestepping closer to them to listen in on what was happening.

“Get back to spiking or you’ll be on towel duty for a month.” Ukai grumbled.

Hinata squeaked before running back onto the court.

“I didn’t plan on last night to go the way it did. I thought we’d get dinner, go our separate ways, then surprise! I’m here and we get to live out some slowburn fantasy where we fall for each other again.” (Y/n) explained, keeping her voice low.

Ukai sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

He felt (Y/n) slowly place her hand on his arm, wandering until she took his hand in hers. “Please just give me a chance? I want to help you get them to nationals...”

He slowly opens his eyes, groaning at the way she batted her eyes at him.

“Fine.”

(Y/n) smiled wide and hugged him tightly, snickering when he completely flushed red. “This is gonna be so much fun... now introduce me to the team.”

Once their current drill was complete, Ukai called the team over, noting the way the boys eyed (Y/n) with a mix of curiosity and confusion.

“Alright, this is (Y/n). She’s an old friend and she’s going to be our new athletic trainer. She’s gonna do everything in her power to whip you into shape for nationals. So do as she says and we won’t have any issues.”

A couple of the boys raised their hands high.

“Wow, there are questions about that... Tanaka.” Ukai pointed at the redhead.

“Is she your girlfriend?” he asked, no hesitation or shame in his words.

Ukai tensed. (Y/n) snickered.

“N-Not relevant!”

“Is she our Coach Mom now?” Noya piped up.

“No!”

“So you're not our Coach Dad?” Noya asked.

“Of course not!”

“I have a question not having to do with Coach Mom at all!” Hinata shouted.

Ukai breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank god. What’s your question?”

“What’s on your neck?”

Ukai went completely red again as (Y/n) tried to stifle her laughter.

“Is that from Coach Mom?” Noya shrieked, grabbing Asahi’s arms and shaking him wildly. “That’s from Coach Mom!”

“It totally is from Coach Mom...” Suga mumbled.

“Don’t encourage them.” Daichi said, nudging Suga.

“THE NEXT PERSON TO CALL (Y/n) COACH MOM HAS TO RUN 50 LAPS!” Ukai yelled, finally silencing the boys.

“L-lets just get back to our drills!” Takeda shouted, ushering the boys back onto the court.

“I just wanted to know what was on his neck...” Hinata pouted, “Did Coach Mom really do that-”

“50 laps Hinata!”

“Awwww! Do I have to, Coach Mom?!”

“100 LAPS!”

“No!” (Y/n) barked, lightly pushing Ukai before turning to Hinata. “That’s absurd, you don’t have to.”

Ukai adjusted his hoodie, glancing at (Y/n) as she crossed her arms. “You’d think you’d be a little less tense after last night-”

“Please just go home.” Ukai sighed, taking the keys to his flat from his pocket and placing them in her hand.

She blinked down at the keys in shock.

“I don’t want you in some hotel room when I have a perfectly good bed at my place... I’ll help you get your things from the hotel once practice is over...” He explained, scratching at the back of his head while keeping his eyes on the team.

“Guess you are my boyfriend then...” (Y/n) smiled. She quickly pressed a kiss to Ukai’s cheek before turning on her heels to leave. “See you at home, Coach Dad...”

Ukai turned to watch her leave, a small smile on his face. It wasn’t such a bad nickname when she said it...

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #coach ukai #ukai keishin #ukai x reader #haikyuu ukai #oneshot #smut

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silenteyes · 4 years ago

Text

30 Days of Luke Oneshots based off songs in his playlist I made

If you want day 1, here it is. And this is the link to the playlist

Day 2: Come Little Children

This is very much inspired by this oneshot by @asmo-ds , please do read it! Also heads up, I have no memory or clue what Barbatos calls Lucifer so I’m just gonna let Barbs call him by his name

Warnings: Angst (There is comfort though! I just couldn’t follow Hocus Pocus’ interpretation of the song)

---

Simeon’s cries felt distant as he fell from the realm he once called ‘home’. Why? Why did it have to turn out this way? What did he do wrong? Was he that... useless? Even Michael couldn’t believe his ears when he heard that Luke was going to be banished. He had done nothing, and could even rival what angels higher in the hierarchy are capable of. Useless was anything but what Luke is.

He was told by Simeon to go straight to the brothers, or at least Diavolo and Barbatos. Oh gosh, Simeon’s face... Luke had never seen it before. It was so void of the happiness he was used to seeing. Right then, it was so full of grief and despair, and Luke felt so sorry that he was the cause of it. The face that once gave Luke hope was now shattered, and the only thing he could hold onto was the comfort Simeon’s eyes revealed - telling him that everything was going to be alright. Luke disliked the demons, but even he had to admit he could tolerate them and in this situation, it would be best to trust them.

He was expecting to hit the ground when he was caught by arms that felt so strong and warm.

“Luke, what are you doing here? Why did you fall fro-” Lucifer asked the younger before cutting himself off, his realization hitting him. Luke’s wails gave away that he was in deep agony and although Lucifer didn’t really like him that much, those wails felt like stabs, so wrong coming from this child who used to be so pure.

Luke held onto Lucifer as if his life depended on him, which it probably did considering that if Lucifer wasn’t there he might’ve already been gone. Lucifer adjusted Luke’s position into a more comfortable one, comforting him the way he used to comfort his brothers when they fell from the Celestial Realm. He tucked Luke’s head into the crook of his neck and rushed to the Demon Lord’s castle.

He woke up with a cry as pain shot up his back and he was hurriedly laid back down by a pair of arms. He opened his eyes slightly to see the person before he let out another sob.

“Lu...ci..fer?” he croaked out.

“Yes, it’s me, Luke,” Lucifer sighed out in relief. He wouldn’t admit it, but he’d been worried sick Luke might not wake up. “You’re in one of the bedrooms in Lord Diavolo’s castle right now. Barbatos will be coming in soon to check in on you.”

Luke let out a strangled noise as he tried to nod. Lucifer shushed him and checked over Luke once more and his breath caught in his throat. Where his back was once bare now grew tattered and dark feathers, indicating that his wings were going to grow sooner or later. His horns might grow then as well.

As he was looking over Luke, Barbatos came in as if he was in a rush, and it seems as if he was.

“Oh, Luke,” Barbatos whispered is horror. The butler had taken a liking to Luke, and when the exchange program ended, the younger didn’t hold back any tears as he hung onto Barbatos.

The butler then brought in his signature cake and Luke lightened up a bit, which made both the older demons smile sadly. Barbatos gave Luke a slice of the cake and offered one to Lucifer as well, which he accepted when he glanced at Luke.

“Ugh, I missed your cake, Barbatos! I kept trying to make it but it wouldn’t taste the same!” Luke groaned and made Barbatos chuckle slightly. He and Lucifer then exchanged eye contact.

“Lord Diavolo suggests that Luke stays at the House of Lamentation, if you don’t mind,” Barbatos told Lucifer to which he sighed in response.

“I’ve thought so, my brothers are already making a room ready for you,” he said as he looked at Luke and he widened his eyes.

“If it’s fine. I really don’t want to burden any of you! I’m already doing so by-”

“Luke, they’ve already made a room for you. You won’t be burdening us,” chastised Lucifer.

Luke stared at Lucifer before giggling softly. “I now see why MC used to call you an over-bearing mother.”

Lucifer pulled a face at the thought of that as he sighed in exasperation.

“Lucifer, can you give me and Luke some time alone, please?’

Lucifer looked between the two and nodded as he sat up and left. He could guess that Luke still wasn’t alright, and he wouldn’t be the best at that. Besides, Luke and Barbatos had a bond much stronger.

As Lucifer left, the tears he had been holding in started falling from his eyes. Barbatos then slowly took the plate of cake and placed it on the table and sat down on the bed, and ever so gently he lead the boy forward until Luke was pressed up against his side and wrapped up in his arms. The sobs Luke let out were heart-breaking and his small chest was heaving heavily, struggling to breathe. Barbatos then suddenly had an idea, and he the placed Luke’s head on his chest.

“ Come Little Children,

I'll take thee away,

Into a land of enchantment.”

The butler’s calm and low voice quieted Luke, but he was still hiccuping and tears were still running down his face. “Come Little Children,

Times come to play,

Here in my garden of shadows.” Barbatos has never despised the angels more than this moment (except maybe Simeon). Rest assured, this “garden of shadow” would be the safest place Luke can live without being banished just because some angel thought he was weak and useless. “Follow sweet children,

I'll show thee the way,

Through all the pain and the sorrows.” The butler is sure that in time, the brothers and the young Lord will be able to help Luke through all this. He’s too young after all, and this will impact him forever. “Weep not poor children,

For life is this way,

Murdering Beauty and Passions.” Alas, out of all the realities he’s seen this one may have been the most unpredictable of all. But - he guesses, life isn’t always about beauty and happiness. “Hush now my children,

It must be this way,

Too wary of life and deception.” Luke was never really deceived in a way so cruel, so harsh for beings who live in the Celestial Realm. So maybe it was because of that even though he distrusts easily, he places his confidence and kindness in many people, the young Lord can confirm that. “Rest now my children,

For soon we'll away,

Into the calm and the quiet.” Barbatos finally felt Luke slump against him and he brushed his lips against the younger one’s hair.

“Do not worry, Simeon. We will take care of Luke and one day you two will be reunited again. This is a reality I am going to make happen.”

The End

---

Oh my heavens the way it took me 3-4 fucking hours to make this MY BRAIN LITERALLY WENT BLANK AFTER THE FIRST FIVE PARAGRAPHS. Anyways hope you enjoyed this! Thank you, lads, for reading this!

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jaxsteamblog · 4 years ago

Text

Ice Queen

Click here to read the full fic on AO3!

After the borders were tacked down, and things returned slowly back to normal, the mundane aspects of life started to bubble back up. Thuy was off with her group, still working on the brand new world that opened in seemingly random points around the world. The Earth Empire was restructuring, a delightful task full of awkward meetings and forgotten names on Katara’s end, and so they were all expecting new ambassadors.

Zuko had to return to the palace for that. They had discussed for days what to do about Izumi, wondering what the best course of action was. Katara decided to meet her appointment in the new central palace in Republic City, figuring that Izumi could more easily spend time with her father should the need arise.

Not that they could figure out what was going on with their five-year-old since the news broke.

“Auntie!” Kya bellowed as she ran through the wide entry hall. Her small voice bounced off the cool marble and echoed in the empty space. Sokka and Suki followed; Sokka’s arm was thrown nervously over Suki’s shoulders.

“Hello dear one.” Katara murmured as Kya ran into her, putting her small arms around Katara’s hips. Her niece was the spitting image of Sokka, with only the faint reddish hue in her hair linking her to Suki. It made her heart ache sometimes, seeing the South Pole face and saying her mother’s name.

It was in these moments that she was relieved Kya had been born first, securing Sokka’s claim to the name.

“Can we practice now?” Kya asked excitedly.

“Don’t you want to see Izumi?” Katara asked curiously, too quick to think.

Kya’s face smoothed and she stepped back.

“Oh. Right. Sure.” She said and darted past Katara into the palace.

“She’s been really excited about this trip.” Suki said, looking after her daughter’s retreating form.

“Should we really be doing all this formal stuff so soon?” Sokka interjected and Suki sighed heavily.

“She’s a Waterbender. Everyone knows it and they’re asking questions.” Katara answered.

“I seem to recall someone being extremely pissed off about forced expectations and public announcements.” Sokka countered.

Katara gave him a stern look but he didn’t budge.

“I’m not taking her away or anything. She’ll just have to come for training sometimes, which of course means you both will be staying.” Katara glanced over at Suki, who smiled. “And if she chooses not to be my heir later on, then we figure something else out. It’s up to her.”

“How is Izumi taking it?” Suki asked.

Katara looked back over her shoulder, as if her daughter would appear.

“Zuko thinks she’s a late bloomer, but I know. I don’t know if that makes things worse or not.” She said and then sighed, turning back. “She’s not really talking about it.”

“And Lu Ten?” Suki inquired.

“He’s definitely a Firebender, but no fire yet. Which is a blessing I think.” Katara shook her head and shrugged.

“We’re doing the best we can.” She added.

“You think this would be easy, since we saved the world twice.” Sokka muttered.

“It is what it is.” Katara said, waving her hand in an attempt to dispel the lingering mood. “I’ve got some tea waiting.”

Kya, having forgotten her earlier disappointment, ran screaming through the halls with Izumi, two Swamp Tribe children, and a North Pole boy. Katara kept her amusement to herself as she watched the flinching security guards as something crashed in their earpieces. With the carnage, she assumed the younger brother of the Swamp Tribe matriarch was babysitting this time.

“So I assume I’m keeping my appointment?” Sokka asked as he plucked a red bean bun from the platter. Now deeply in their thirties, Katara had hoped he would stop eating like a child but half of the bun was shoved unceremoniously into his mouth.

“Nepotism at its finest.” Katara said as an answer. “No one else really wanted to go, seeing how Zuko spends most of his time here and the Prime Minister is kind of…”

“Dull.” Suki finished for her and Katara pointed back at her.

“I really liked that other guy.” Sokka said, taking a drink from his mug.

“Sato? Very nice man. His son Hiroshi always played so well with Izumi. Maybe next time.” Katara said and sat back. The banality relaxed her, and she wished her work would go no further than this. “I’ve finalized my schedule with Dong-Lee and dad, and nothing has really changed.” Katara continued.

“Still ignoring him?” Sokka asked.

“I’m not ignoring him.” Katara snapped. “I just think he needs to spend a little more time at the South Pole. With the people he actually represents.”

“Malina really isn't all that bad.” Sokka said and Katara glared at him. He responded by shoving the other half of the bun into his mouth.

“Look, the point is, the Earth Empire has finally selected their ambassador and he’s arriving tomorrow. There’s going to be a big, fancy dinner and I’ll introduce Kya as my heir.” Katara said.

“So where’s dad?” Sokka asked, his mouth still mostly full.

Katara slammed a hand on the table. “This isn’t about dad!”

“He’s on the triumvirate.” Suki said gently.

“And I am the head.” Katara retorted. Shaking her head, she deflated. “He’s flying up this evening. I figured he would’ve told you.”

“We haven’t caught up in a bit. Did you see what’s happening in the news right now?” Sokka replied and Katara snorted. For weeks there had been almost nothing talked about that wasn’t related to the spirits.

A knock at the door made them all turn.

“Come in.” Katara called. The door opened and a guard poked her head in.

“Excuse me, your Majesty, but Prince Lu Ten has woken up from his nap.” She said.

Sokka jumped up, shoving the back of Suki’s chair as he moved.

“Hey!” Suki exclaimed with a laugh. “You can’t monopolize all of the baby time!”

“Those freaky twins aren’t here, so I’m taking what I can get.” Sokka yelled back, sliding past the flustered guard to run into the hall.

After everyone was unpacked, and had a proper lunch, Sokka and Suki took Izumi and Lu Ten out into the gardens for a walk. Katara and Kya then made their way down to the practice grounds. The talk of her dad and growing stress of the next few days weighed on Katara and she hoped that this moment with her niece would cheer her.

The sun was shining, and it was a crisp day that she cherished in the early spring. The sea was a few miles away from the palace, but the building was situated atop a bending made hill so Katara could see ripples of blue-gray between the skyscrapers. A particularly strong breeze would occasionally bring the scent of salt water to her doorstep.

Kya held Katara’s hand as they walked over the small footbridge to the flat square. The training ground was covered in soft gravel and bordered by channels of water. It was a place they could all practice together, though more recently it was used to smooth out Toph’s plans for her new sport.

“Auntie?” Kya asked as they walked onto the gravel.

“Yes dear?”

“Is Uncle going to teach Izumi firebending?”

Anxiety plucked at a tendon in the back of Katara’s neck.

“Izumi isn’t a Firebender, sweetie.”

“Uncle says you don’t know yet.”

“Well…” Katara drifted, letting go of Kya’s hand and looking off into the empty air. “Your uncle didn’t have a strong spark at Izumi’s age, but he still had one. Izumi doesn’t, and that’s okay.”

“But how do you know? Is it because you’re a Waterbender?”

“I think so.”

“Will you teach me?”

“In time.”

“Auntie?”

“Yes dear?”

“Who taught you waterbending?”

Katara’s entire neck spasmed and her shoulders shot up to her ears. Muttering nonsense under her breath, she called some of the water from the channels and smoothed out the knots in her muscles.

Kya, her mother, had been there when Katara found her first instructor. It was Kya’s blood that Katara used in her final test with Hama.

“An elder taught me.” Katara said, using a truth to blur the unsaid horror. “She lives in a village somewhere in the South Pole now.”

It went against everything she had ever been taught to even consider killing Hama. Revenge took more than it gave, and Hama was not only an elder, but the only other South Pole Waterbender alive. She had returned Hama to the South Pole under heavy guard and with charms a Kyoshi Warrior had picked up from a guru in the Earth Kingdom. Hama had promised no further violence, being overcome with the promise of going home. She did not return to her village, to Katara’s village, but she was taken back home.

Kya had been buried at the prison, with hopes that she would be returned as well.

They were still waiting.

“Auntie?” Kya asked cautiously.

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Katara said brightly. “Did you say something?”

“Were you thinking about the war?” Kya asked and Katara flinched.

“Why do you say that?” She questioned.

“Papa looks like that too sometimes.” Kya answered.

“I’m fine sweetie.” Katara forced a smile and juggled three balls made of water. “Ready to practice?”

They practiced for a couple of hours before Kya inevitably got tired and asked to get a drink. By then, Sokka and Suki returned and Katara had to finish business of her own. Dong-Lee, the Swamp Tribe matriarch, was waiting for her with a dense looking folder.

The afternoon wound down that way, with Sokka making a call to Zuko about their next meeting. Suki took charge of all the children currently in the palace, telling stories and generally keeping the chaos relegated to one room. By dinner, most of them had calmed. Just in time for Hakoda to arrive.

Although completely expected, Katara still grumbled as Malina stepped into the main hall.

“Gran-Gran!” Kya and Izumi both yelled and Malina knelt down to hug them both.

“You’re going to pull something Tara.” Sokka said, keeping his voice low, and patting her upper back firmly.

“Shut up.” Katara grumbled, idly twisting the anchor bead of one hair loop.

“Oh look-” Sokka started just as Katara registered the third figure coming into view.

“Bato!” Katara said, her voice amplified by surprise.

Bato dropped his shoulder bag and strode forward, his arms open. Katara met him and they embraced each other tightly.

“What are you doing here?” Katara asked as they stepped apart.

“Can I not come pay homage to my queen?” Bato said with feigned shock. Katara laughed and swatted at him.

“If your father insists on sending me all over the frozen blue yonder doing his dirty work, I deserve the perk of visiting the High Queen in her fancy new palace in Republic City.” He explained.

“Good to see you Bato.” Sokka said and the two men hugged with the same type of loving force.

“Young man, fatherhood looks good on you.” Bato said, holding the back of Sokka’s head and pressing their foreheads together.

Sokka smiled, his eyes squeezing shut and a pin prick of water poked out the corner.

“Is Zuko not here?” Hakoda asked from behind them.

“His court is in session to approve the new Earth Empire ambassador.” Sokka said, moving off to the side. He stood between Katara and Malina, but that still put her in Hakoda’s line of sight.

“Daddy is going to bring me a present when he comes back.” Izumi interjected and Hakoda chuckled as he bent down.

“Oh is he now? I guess I better give you my present first!” He huffed as he stood up, swinging Izumi into the air.

“How are you Katara?” Malina asked softly. Katara watched her father carry Izumi, with Kya hopping at his side.

“I’m fine.” She said tersely and started walking. “Dinner is nearly ready.”

“That was ice cold.” Sokka said, jogging up to walk with her. Katara snapped sharply, sending sparks of frost into the air.

“Don’t you forget it.” She retorted.

“It’s okay that she’s not mom.” Sokka said.

“No Sokka, it’s not.” Katara replied, her words clipped short.

Despite their political positions, they took their dinner in the private family room, away from the other tribal members. Even with the separation, politics still dominated the table conversation.

“Who is the Fire Nation sending out?” Bato asked. Katara settled in her chair with Lu Ten wriggling in her lap. He had begun refusing the high chair, but was still too small for a booster. So Katara had to feed him while her own food cooled just out of reach.

“Zuko has made his appointments but the ministers have to approve them as well. I like the lady he sent to Ba Sing Se though, so I don’t see that changing.” She replied.

“Ugh, remember the ambassador last year? What a piece of work.” Sokka grunted, reaching over to cut Kya’s food. She fussed, insisting that she could do it herself, while Izumi smiled demurely with her chopsticks in hand. The mixed menu was always a struggle, and Izumi was leaning more toward Fire Nation fare while Kya was used to the knives and spoons of the South Pole.

“Who is going from us to Ba Sing Se?” Malina asked, of no one in particular.

“I have always wanted to do some proper travelling.” Bato said. “More than just the horrible marching in the war.”

“That might be pushing it.” Katara said. “Dong-Lee’s sister is going to Ba Sing Se, and I’m sending Hahn to Omashu.”

“HAHN?” Sokka cut hard and the knife in his hand went skidding across the plate. With a huff, Kya pulled her plate back and started sawing the meat with her own knife.

“Two ambassadors?” Suki asked.

“Omashu is the largest seat of power in the south, and it makes sense to have people in both places. Kuei won’t let the Fire Nation send more than one though.” Katara said.

“But why Hahn?” Sokka demanded.

“He’s grown up a lot, Sokka.” Katara said, sounding tired. “And no one could accuse me of favoritism since you hate his guts.”

“Fine.” Sokka said forcefully. Suki leaned over and rubbed his upper back.

“Paw-Paw, look what Auntie taught me!” Kya said suddenly. Everyone looked just as Kya levitated the tea from her cup, pushing it high above her head.

“Careful!” Katara warned.

“Mo-om! Kya shouldn’t play with her food!” Izumi said.

“I’m not playing, it’s waterbending.” Kya stated.

“That’s very nice Kya.” Hakoda said carefully. “But let’s make sure not to drop it.”

“I won’t!” Kya fussed.

“Even if I do-” Sokka took a finger and moved it toward Kya. “This?”

Cold tea fell on Kya’s head, causing her to burst into tears and Izumi started pummeling Sokka’s arm.

“Izumi! We don’t hit!” Katara jostled Lu Ten, who was still eating peacefully, as she tried to get up.

“Don’t be mean to Kya!” Izumi yelled while Sokka chuckled. Suki bit her trembling lip as she used her napkin to mop up as much tea as she could.

“That’s enough!” Katara said, keeping one hand on Lu Ten - who was starting to fuss - and using the other to bend away the tea.

“Izumi, go to your room!” Katara said.

“Katara, it’s fine.” Sokka said.

“Don’t tell me how to parent!” She snapped.

Sokka leaned back, holding up his hand.

Izumi, sniffling, stomped out of the room.

“I didn’t mean to get her in trouble.” Kya murmured.

“You didn’t.” Katara sighed.

“Kat, how about I take Lu Ten so you can eat?” Hakoda, suddenly at her side, asked.

Katara whirled around, grabbing hold of Lu Ten with both hands.

“I certainly don’t need your help.” She said sharply.

Hakoda’s eyes went hard but he didn’t move.

“I raised two children, Katara, I know what I’m doing.” He said.

“When? When mom was still alive and Gran-Gran lived with us? Or after you went off to fight, taking mom with you and leaving us behind? Or was it after mom died and you decided to stay in the North Pole to court a new woman?” Katara shot back. “Because it certainly seems like Gran-Gran raised two more children after you abandoned yours.”

“And where’s your husband then? He’s not here to raise them himself.” Hakoda said darkly.

“Zuko is the Fire Lord! And, if you really want to get technical about it, dad, he’s a five hour flight from here to the middle of the spirits be-damned palace!” Katara shouted. “Now sit down before I decide to make Bato the new chief of the South Pole and kick you out of my home.”

Turning on her heel, Katara shifted Lu Ten onto her hip and walked out the dining room. Ice crunched under her feet, grinding into her soles like diamonds. Goosebumps rippled on Lu Ten’s arms and Katara let out a worried breath as she moved down the hall to the bedrooms.

“I’m sorry baby-boo.” She whispered, kissing Lu Ten’s chubby cheek. “Let’s go call daddy.”

Katara grabbed a phone and went into Izumi’s room, letting her talk to Zuko first. Izumi immediately related what had happened at dinner, telling him all about Katara’s unfairness and tyrannical rule. Then, letting Izumi go back to dinner, Katara stayed in her daughter’s bedroom, letting Lu Ten play on the floor beside her while she talked.

“So what else happened?” Zuko asked.

“I got into a fight with my dad.” Katara answered.

“I know all about that.” Zuko said and she snorted.

“I just don’t get him.” Katara said with a sigh.

“Well of course. You lived with him for the first six of years of your life, while only being conscious of it for two, three years tops. Then he went off to fight when he was younger than you are now. He came back to his children being adults, and one of them bonded to the ocean spirit.” Zuko replied. Katara patted Lu Ten’s diapered backside while she listened. They were nearly done potty training, but it was a busy time and accidents happen. Lu Ten grumbled at the attention, pushing himself up to rummage through Izumi’s things.

“So you’re saying I should just forgive him?” Katara asked.

“I am the last person to ask about forgiving fathers.” Zuko quipped. “But more I’m just trying to break through your stubborn insistence to be mad at him.”

“I want to be mad at him?”

“Yes.”

“Zuko!”

“Katara, you know this. We’ve talked about it in therapy. If you feel like you’re justified in being mad at someone, it means you can get away with being mean to them.” Zuko replied calmly.

“I do have a right to be mad!” Katara countered.

“I agree. But do you think Dr. Matsuzawa would think you’re handling this in a healthy and loving manner?” He questioned.

“Mmmmm.” Katara rolled her discontent in the back of her throat. Lu Ten repeated the noise, bouncing up and down as he did.

“Let’s talk about Izumi.” Zuko said, his tone shifting.

“What do you mean?” Katara asked.

“You don’t normally blow up at the kids.” He clarified.

“Yeah.” The pit of her stomach twisted, shooting sour bile into her throat.

Zuko kept quiet, giving her space to process her words.

“I’m just worried about her.” Katara said.

“Why?”

“Why?” She repeated, incredulous.

“Yeah, why are you worried about her? Has she said anything?” Zuko asked.

“Well, no. Not yet.” Katara admitted.

“Izumi and Kya adore each other. I don’t think she’s jealous.” Zuko said.

“I don’t know.” Katara said.

“Are you jealous?” Zuko questioned gently.

Katara sat up, her stomach wrenching horribly.

“What?” She asked.

Zuko didn’t reply right away, but sighed.

“I’ve been trying to find a way to talk to you about this, and now probably isn’t the best time to bring it up.” He said.

“Well you brought it up!” Katara said sharply.

“Katara.”

“You think I’m jealous that Sokka had a Waterbender and I didn’t?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? You’re weird about Kya.”

“How am I weird about her?”

“You nearly never say her name!” Zuko stated. “Maybe you’re not jealous but maybe you want Izumi to be, so you can have an excuse.”

“How can you say that?” Katara gasped.

“Katara, this isn’t an accusation. I think you’re hurting, a lot. The spirit world thing got us away from it all, but now we’re back. And there’s a little girl named after your mom, needing to learn waterbending, when you don’t really have the best experiences in your own instruction.” Zuko explained carefully. “I went through something similar with my firebending.”

“Zuko…” Katara whispered. Her throat tightened as her nose went numb and started to run.

“I’m coming home.” Zuko said softly.

“No, Zuko, you have things to do.” Katara said.

“I’ve already approved the ambassador, the ministers can handle the next part.” Zuko said dismissively.

“You can’t keep running from the palace. It’s pissing a lot of people off.” Katara said, sniffing and rubbing her weeping eyes with the heel of her hand.

“So what? What are they gonna do, depose me? None of these governors want to go up against me, my father is rattling around in a prison, Azula is quite happy in rehab, and Iroh is convalescent. Unless they want to go on a search for Ursa on their own, they’ve got no one to replace me.” Zuko scoffed. “Plus, Thuy likes me.”

“Having the Avatar in your pocket sure is handy.” Katara murmured.

“Thuy?” Lu Ten chirped, tottling back with his arms full of Izumi’s dolls. He held out one hand, dropping most of the dolls, and reached for the phone.

“Thuy?” He repeated and Katara laughed.

“It’s daddy.” She said.

“Daddy!” Lu Ten said excitedly, dropping all the dolls, and starting to bounce again.

“May I talk to my beloved youngest child?” Zuko asked. Katara laughed again and handed the phone over. Lu Ten took it with both hands, pressing it to the side of his face. A couple of the buttons beeped.

“Daddy coming home?” Lu Ten asked. Pushing herself back to lean against Izumi’s bed, Katara watched as Lu Ten babbled into the phone.

She wasn’t looking forward to their time apart.

With the call done, Katara gave Lu Ten a bath and put him to bed. Assigning a guard to act as a baby monitor, she then went in search of Izumi.

The residential wing of the palace was small compared to the rooms she kept in the North Pole and in the Fire Nation, but it was still much bigger than what she had grown up with. Being back in Republic City, Katara almost wondered if she was expecting her old college dorm. She hadn’t even returned to the campus, though they were certainly bothering her about it, but her mind kept returning to the uniform, beige buildings, relics of the war.

This palace was made with snow white marble, iron colored lumber from the Fire Nation, and miles of Omashu crystal to remind her of ice. The rooms were a mix of styles, some with low furniture and some with the more modern style of ornate desks and heavy pieces meant to be dusted, not moved.

Going through the rooms on the main floor, Katara found them all empty.

Not wanting to try the other bedrooms, she descended into the basement. This was the space Sokka had designed, and sure enough, it was where everyone important was hiding.

Sokka had built a pillow fort in the theater, a trail of popcorn leading to the draped blankets. An animated movie Katara vaguely remembered played on the large screen and she could hear both Izumi and Kya giggling. Deciding to leave them to it, Katara retreated.

With Zuko’s flight still hours away, Katara puttered around. She made more tea, put on a hoodie, and meandered out to the main courtyard to look at the stars. The sky was different here than the North Pole, and neither was at all like the sky in the South Pole.

Pulling her legs up higher on the lounge chair, Katara reached underneath for a folded blanket. She often spent nights out here and the staff was good about leaving cushions and blankets about for her. Folding herself over the arm was difficult with her tea in her other hand and Katara strained to reach.

“Let me.” A man’s voice said and the mug left her grip.

“Thanks.” She muttered, leaning further over and finally grabbing the blanket. As her hand folded over the fabric, the voice registered, and Katara looked down while she spread the blanket over her legs.

“Here you go.” Bato said, handing back her mug. Katara took it, holding it in her lap with both hands wrapped around it.

“Did you come to scold me?” Katara asked.

“You’re a grown woman.” Bato said with a grunt, sitting down in the grass beside her. “I want to make sure you still know your stars.”

Tilting her head back, Katara gazed at the stars.

“I’d rather you scold me.” She groaned.

“Really?”

“No.”

“I’ve already yelled at Hakoda.”

Katara rolled her head to the side to look at Bato, but he was still looking up at the sky himself.

“At dad?” She asked.

“You weren’t totally wrong Katara. He wasn’t around, even if he hated being away from you and Sokka, it doesn’t change the truth. Trying to pretend that he was still a dad is his way of telling you that he didn’t want to leave in the first place.” Bato explained. “But it doesn’t fix anything.”

“But I shouldn’t have said what I said.” Katara admitted.

“Sure, but where do you think you got your temper? It wasn’t your mother.” Bato scoffed.

“I never asked you about her.” Katara said softly, rolling onto her side to look at him better.

“Sokka did, but I wasn’t sure you would.” He replied.

“Will you tell me?” Katara asked.

“Of course.”

Banging rattled the thin door frame and Bato jolted upright, still tangled in his blankets and furs. As the banging continued, he clawed his way to freedom and shoved his arms back into the longjohns he was wearing. Moving from his bedroom in the back, he paused for a moment to put his feet into his unlaced boots before heading to the front door.

He yanked the shuttering door open, swearing in the bright summer sun.

“May you and your namesakes drown for a thousand cycles.” Bato growled.

“Oh come on Bato, too much sleep is bad for your health!” Hakoda said briskly.

“Did Kanna kick you out again?” Bato asked. He moved sleepily back to his bedroom, letting Hakoda close the door and follow. Kicking off his shoes, Bato began picking through the pile next to his bed while Hakoda leaned in the open door frame.

“She was up late for a birth.” Hakoda said, avoiding the truth. Bato found his pants, pulled them on, and then searched for his parka. When he found it, he shook it out sharply.

“Is Kya up yet?” Bato inquired, pulling the parka over his head.

“That’s why I’m getting you. You know her father hates me.” Hakoda said.

Bato straightened his parka and avoided his friend’s gaze.

He couldn’t put into words what his life was like at the time. His parents had died last winter when there was another outbreak of tuberculosis. There were relatives he could have stayed with, or even gone to live with Hakoda and Kanna. Instead he chose to stay in his family’s house. They weren’t adults yet, but life on the ice and a blockade cutting them off from the rest of the world, it wasn’t like there was enough room for a childhood.

Hakoda was trying, and so was Kya. They had grown up together; all of the children in the village had grown up together, but it was different for the three of them. Bato had known they all loved each other, but two summers ago, he found out that Hakoda loved Kya differently, and it made him feel strange.

But it was difficult not to love Kya, in one form or another.

Bato punished Hakoda by forcing him to wait as he got ready. Bato dressed properly, shaved, and put together a meager breakfast. Ever the spoiled one, Hakoda bemoaned the bland food, which got Bato in for whatever Kanna had bubbling away on her stove that day.

Being back at Kanna’s wasted another hour and finally, finally, they were out on their own.

Bato was sent to get Kya and he grinned weakly under her father’s glare. Whatever he had against Hakoda, Bato was sure it was both misunderstood and completely deserved.

“Ah Bato, I wish we were children again.” Kya said, hanging off of his shoulder. “I miss penguin sledding.”

“You know, I think there’s an old canoe out back of my house. My dad and I were supposed to mend it this summer.” Bato said.

“We can’t go fishing in a broken canoe.” Hakoda stated.

“But we might be able to go sledding.” Bato countered.

The sledding worked, but somehow Hakoda decided that what they really ought to do was hitch a polar bear dog to the sled and really get going. Figuring they wouldn’t even get close to a den, Bato agreed.

This resulted in them running full-tilt through the snow away from a pack of polar bear pups with their milk teeth still in.

Wanting to hide their injuries, Hakoda then decided it would be a good idea to sift through Kanna’s unguents while she was sleeping.

That turned into Hakoda and Bato being temporarily blinded and Kya laughing so hard she fell into a slush pit at the coast line.

From there, they all piled into Bato’s bathroom, sectioning off the shower stall for Kya while he and Hakoda squeezed into the tub.

The room was covered in clean, but cracked, white tile squares. Steam filled the space, making their vision foggy even after clearing away the odd unguents.

This was the pair he had done his ice dodging with. All of their parents had been alive and watched proudly as they completed the ritual. Hakoda was the brave, Kya was the wise, and he was the trusted. It felt like their fate had been sealed then, and Bato relaxed into the grip of it. When Hakoda’s father died in a fishing accident, he went right back into the sea to make sure he was taking care of his mother. Kya always knew how to draw Bato out when he was pulling away. It was how they would always be.

“What do you think will happen in the future?” Bato asked, watching the steam curl within itself.

“How far are we talking?” Hakoda asked in reply.

“Ten years.” Bato answered.

“Hopefully this war will be over.” Kya remarked. The sound of the water hitting her skin sounded different than the tile. It was a sound Bato hadn’t heard in his house for many months.

“I hope to have children.” Hakoda said.

“Oh?” Kya intoned, turning off the faucets. She stayed behind her curtain, and Bato heard the splash of water as she wrung out her hair.

Hakoda looked away and Bato chuckled.

“What if the war is still going on?” Bato asked.

“Well, we’ll have to fight in it I suppose.” Kya said dreamily.

“How do you figure?” Hakoda asked sharply, sitting up so quickly the water sloshed over the side.

“If you want to have children, you’re okay raising them in a world like this? Where we can’t even trade up north anymore for fresh food?” Kya asked. “No one’s buying our fish, the Waterbenders have already gone off to fight and none of them have come back, and we don’t even have a local hospital.”

“But there’s so much to lose if we enlist. There’s no guarantee it’ll turn out in our favor.” Hakoda said.

“And here I thought you earned the mark of the brave.” Kya chided.

“So are you not having children until the war is done?” Bato asked.

“I think if I married the right man, I’d have to win a war for my children.” She answered.

Hakoda, sinking back into the tub, sighed happily with a smile.

Katara looked at the cold remains of her tea as Bato’s words swirled in her head. She didn’t see any of her mother in Malina, and she couldn’t work out if that made her happy or not. Perhaps Malina was the type of woman Kya would have picked out for Hakoda herself, someone to comfort him, not challenge him.

“Losing Kya is different for your father and me. We all got separated, so I keep thinking Kya’s just waiting in an Earth Kingdom city somewhere, waiting for us to find her.” Bato added.

“I know where she is.” Katara murmured.

“I know. And it kills me that you do.” Bato said. “Your mother didn’t deserve any of this. She deserved to see her children grow up and to meet her grandchildren. She shouldn’t have a namesake yet.”

“So what about dad?” Katara asked.

“Hakoda deserves peace. If you hadn’t gone through what you did, I would say he deserves to reunite with his children and live comfortably to grow old and fat. But you also deserve a father not blunted by years of imprisonment.” Bato shook his head, now looking at the ground. “You both deserve better but there is no substitution.”

Briefly, Katara thought about Noriko, but banished the seed before it could plant itself in her mind.

“What do I do then?” She questioned.

“My advice? Start over. Your father is a good man, and he loves you very much. We went away because we really thought we were going to protect you, to save you. He never wants to be far from you.” Bato said.

“Then why does he only ever stay with Malina? He was barely in the South Pole until I ordered him to go back.” Katara said sharply, her anger returning faster than she expected.

“You were supposed to be in the North Pole more than you were, remember? But someone decided they were better off traveling with the Avatar, or hiding out in the Fire Nation. Places your father couldn’t easily get to.” Bato said. “And how often did you want to see Malina when you were home?”

“Mmmm.” Katara grumbled, assenting to his point.

“Zuko is coming, correct?” Bato asked.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be glad to see him again. I haven’t had the chance to really talk to him.” Bato stood and stretched his back. Katara could hear the succession of pops from his joints.

“I think you’ll like him.” Katara said.

“Really? The son of the man who slaughtered my people? Who kept medicine from our village and killed my parents? You think I’ll like the Fire Lord, hmm?” Bato asked casually. Katara sat up, alarmed, and tried to see Bato’s face in the dark.

“Most of all, Katara, I think you need to understand just how much Hakoda is willing to deal with because of how much he loves you.” Bato said. “I hear that your husband is a good man, and I trust that you wouldn’t marry an evil person. But we have suffered differently, you and I. And I don’t have love to help me forgive as easily.”

Without another word, Bato turned and walked back to the palace, leaving Katara alone in the dark. Revenge was not sought in their tribe. Harming another person meant weakening the community. But there was still the matter of justice. Bato would not hold Zuko accountable for the sins of his father, but politics changed things. Katara understood that, and she understood Bato knew the difference as well. His hostility toward the Fire Lord was not the neutral friendliness he used to talk about her husband.

Hakoda had only ever fought with her about politics when he learned of her relationship with Zuko.

Heading back inside herself, Katara went straight to her private rooms. She showered and took extra care with her routine, wasting more of her time before Zuko arrived. Brushing out her hair, Katara’s shoulders sank seeing the wide swaths of black in her normal brown. The past two years had been exhausting beyond a physical way and had tapped into her spiritual reserves. So much had changed, but there was still that feeling of loss over what had been left behind or broken.

Very similar to how she felt at the end of the war.

While smoothing lotion into her arms and legs, Katara took a moment to examine the scars. She remembered Zuko’s fingers tracing them years ago, his pale skin somehow paler than the raised lines on her body.

Standing in the mirror, Katara saw the other scars that sank into her body. The stretch marks that rippled over her stomach and down her thighs. Ebony threads were like embroidery over her dark skin making no pattern but beautiful still.

Pulling on a robe, Katara tied the belt and walked silently to the bed. Purple sheets, made of silk to protect her hair and cool to the touch. There were places in the midlands of the Earth Empire that considered purple dye to belong to the royals. Apparently King Bumi was fond of it, mixing it with the typical green attire of Earth Kingdom citizens.

Katara just loved the blend of red and blue.

Sliding into bed, she shivered as her damp and lotioned legs brushed against the sheets. Tucking herself in, Katara shuddered deeply once and then relaxed. She thought for a moment that she was jealous, but not about Sokka or Kya specifically. Katara had hated everything she and Zuko had to go through in order to even have this place. She hated the schedule and the weeks away from her children and husband, or missing just Zuko.

If the world hadn’t been placed in peril yet again, they may never have won this small victory in the first place.

So in a way, Katara was bitter that she hadn’t earned any sort of simple ending. Her father, Sokka, even Thuy were uncomplicated by their relationships. Either no one was high enough or, as it was for Thuy, the Avatar was someone who could simply do whatever they wished.

A life where she graduated from medical school, became a doctor, and lived with her little family back in the South Pole would never happen. Instead, she had to worry about her daughter’s inheritance, take on her niece as her heir, and run three different nations while also sitting as the lady of another ruler.

And Thuy. Of course, she always had a duty to her Avatar.

Picking up her phone, Katara scrolled through the messages to see if there was any update from Zuko. The flight app showed his plane still in the air, but near enough to Republic City. With almost a decade of ruling as a monarch, her social media was limited, but it was still nice to see what her friends were up to.

Jinora’s daughter Bumi was in elementary school and had bonded with her Sky Bison. Ikki had adopted another flying lemur, bringing her total up to four. Meelo, while not specifically posting about it, was still living near the rehab center where Azula was staying. He was actually incredibly helpful, despite the strange stories Rohan had told her. Meelo seemed to care a lot about Azula and brought his trained, monastic calmness with him when he visited her.

Rohan was on radio silence, again, as they were doing something mysterious out at the Eastern Air Temple.

Thuy’s new account for “the family” was called The Dream Tweem, tweaking the pronunciation of Thuy’s name for the pun. It made Katara snort every time she saw it.

The Dream Tweem was heading to a remote village tucked somewhere in the Xishaan mountains. Jae-hwan, despite his numerous trips with Thuy, was still not a fan of the cold and there were plenty of pictures of him dealing with snow.

Just as Katara was flicking through the album, she got a video call.

“Good evening Auntie!” Thuy said cheerfully.

“Is that Lady Katara?” Suzu’s voice came from behind Thuy and Katara watched her push her shoulder back.

“The kids are in bed!” Thuy said sharply.

“You’re lying!” Suzu retorted and shoved Thuy’s face aside. Katara laughed as she watched the excitement drain from Sula’s face.

“Hello Fire Lady.” Suzu said sadly.

“I’m sorry Suzu, had I known Thuy was going to call, I’d have collected the children.”

“It’s fine.” Suzu replied, dragging the last word out on a sigh while she slunk of view.

“Have you met the ambassador yet?” Thuy asked, her face returning to the screen.

“He comes in tomorrow.” Katara said, shaking her head.

“Oh, Zuko got his then right?”

“Blazes, how can you just call him that?” Zula asked.

“Because my parents weren’t crazy Fire Nation royalists?” Thuy asked, annoyed and confused.

“Are you talking to Auntie?” Jae-hwan came from over Thuy, pushing down on her head.

“Auntie, it’s cold!” He whined.

“I’m not you’re Auntie.” Katara said. “And your mother would lose her mind if she heard you whine like that.”

“Don’t tell mom.” Jae-hwan said quickly.

“I have Toph on speed dial.” Katara warned.

Thuy shoved Jae-hwan off her and sat up, looking at him offscreen.

“You know, sifu says you can’t be cold if you’re practicing.” She said and then laughed as Jae-hwan made an unseen gesture.

“Am I going to hear from Aktuk or Tashi?” Katara asked.

“They’ve gone on ahead to scout since they can handle the cold better.” Thuy said.

“Excuse me?” Zula interjected and Thuy rolled her eyes.

“My apologies madam inner fire.” She said sarcastically.

“Did you call for a reason Thuy?” Katara asked.

“Oh, right. I was wondering if you’ve done any more research on the energybending thing. Tashi and I were talking about it, after that spirit debacle, but we don’t know if we should try again.” Thuy said.

Katara was silent for a moment and Thuy was also still, looking perfectly innocent.

“Where in the mountains are you going Thuy?” She asked.

“A village.”

“What village?”

“A…. mountainous one?”

“Thuy, are you looking for the guardians?”

“Okay so, remember, you can’t really tell me what to do anymore now that I’m a fully awakened Avatar!”

“Thuy! We were all going to go once Iroh recovered!”

“I am so close Auntie! Tashi and I feel really good about this one.” Thuy began but stopped as Katara sat up.

“We don’t know anything about the lion turtles. It could be dangerous!” Katara said.

“Mister Whiskers isn’t even freaking out a little.” Thuy said, trying to calm her down.

“That’s probably because she’s brumating, let’s be real.” Jae-hwan muttered.

“Oh, big word from the street urchin.” Suzu said with what passed for friendly mocking between them.

“I am a Beifong you horrendous little bit-” Jae-hwan’s voice was cut off as Thuy stepped away.

“Are any of you taking this seriously?” Katara asked.

“Auntie, we just came off a world saving mission. We know the stakes. I don’t think anyone else expects to find anything, so they’re doing, whatever. But Tashi and I can feel something out here.” Thuy said.

“Well, don’t poke around there for too long. We’ll go to Ember Island this summer. You and I already know something is out there and we can go as a family.” Katara urged gently.

Thuy smiled and nodded.

“You know, my parents are getting kind of jealous.” She said.

Katara’s breath slowed from the coincidence.

“Oh?” She asked.

“It’s not a big deal, considering how we view family in the Swamp. But it is weird for them to have me be so distant.” Thuy said.

“Comes with being the Avatar I suppose.” Katara agreed.

“We all have things to deal with. Good thing they had other kids.” Thuy said jokingly.

Remembering what Bato said about substitutions, Katara stayed quiet.

“We won’t stay long. I promise.” Thuy said, taking her silence as a reproach.

“Be safe.” Katara said.

“We will Auntie. I love you.” Thuy said.

“I love you. Give the others my love as well.” Katara said.

“Of course Auntie. Good night!” Thuy said.

Before she ended the call, Katara could hear the chorus of other voices wishing her goodnight.

Laying back, Katara held her phone to her chest.

Thuy called her Auntie, but she had become more like a little sister. Thuy had picked her from the very beginning and nothing over the years could change her mind. From every bad mood to times of no communication, Thuy never wavered in her loyalty to Katara.

Her family was such a complex thing.

Katara found a video channel about an unseen man who made knives from all sorts of materials. Hours in, and in the middle of a video about making a knife from smoke, her bedroom door opened slowly.

“Katara?” Zuko called out softly.

Half-asleep, Katara roused and sat up. Her body was warmer now and her robe slipped off one shoulder from her movement. Zuko paused as he stepped in, light burning in his palm.

“Well.” He said with enough interest that Katara felt her pulse quicken. She laughed and straightened out her robe.

“Oh don’t go through the trouble on my account.” Zuko said, walking to the bed.

“Did you just get in?” Katara asked.

Zuko extinguished his flame as he put a knee on the bed, propelling himself into her arms.

“Yes. I went to check on the children first.” He said, his voice muffled as he pressed his face into the dip of her shoulder.

“Are they asleep?” She asked. She felt him begin to untie the belt and she chuckled.

“They were when I left.” Zuko said, sitting back now to properly attend the knot.

“I thought we were going to have a big talk.” Katara said as Zuko loosened the knot and undid the belt. He slid his hands through the small gap of the robe and around to her waist.

“You distracted me.” He said.

“By sitting here?” Katara asked and giggled as Zuko pulled her closer.

“Exactly. You know how beautiful you are, how dare you be visible when we have serious things to discuss?”

“You’re impossible.” There was laughter in her voice and Katara knew Zuko was smiling in the dark.

“I’m not sitting here flaunting such allure as if it weren’t enough to declare war.”

“War, sir?”

“War, my lady, and while I shall put up an earnest fight,” Zuko moved her, laying her back down as he straddled her and began unbuttoning his shirt. “I do believe you will best me yet again.”

“Oh but darling,” Katara said demurely, her fingers plucking at his belt buckle. “You may certainly try.”

And while she wished for light to see him, there had been enough years between them that she knew his body by heart.

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#zutara #fanfiction #jax writes #modern au #the fic that prompts built #i wrote 24 pages and none of it works for the prompt

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hemmoangel · 4 years ago

Text

Dr. Gay Dreamboat Pt. 2

AN: Hiiii, tysm for reading the first part to this! I’m sorry that the chapters are so short, but the next one is going to be longer and the best yet!

Your support means the world to me, and I really hope every enjoys these silly little one shots, during this lashton drought...

Warnings: There will be smut and mentions of smut throughout the series! Bottom! Luke and top! Ashton, of course. DO NOT READ IF YOU HATE GAY STUFF! Also, be sure to like a reblog if you enjoy!

Be sure to follow me on here and on wattpad and ao3 @ twinkylukey

Here’s the link for ao3 if you prefer to read it there :) :

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210262/chapters/71751150

"That's for when we're alone in the break room"

It replayed over in Luke's head a million times— and distracted him from every patient. In fact, it was all the dumb blonde could think about. Ashton was informing one of the mothers about the vaccination their child was about to receive; Luke was supposed to be prepping the needle, but he started daydreaming again and ended up dropping the syringe onto the contaminated floor. This meant that he would have to leave Ashton's side and go all the way to the supply room— which, was much too far away from his dreamy doctor (the supply room was ten feet away from their current location).

The mother gave Luke an odd look, as if she were worried to see someone so dense working in the medical field. Luke couldn't blame her.

Ashton covered for him, "Ah, forgive Nurse Luke, here. He's afraid of needles too," He told the mum and her young son. The little boy looked up at Luke with wide eyes. Luke giggled awkwardly, flashing Ashton a grateful look.

"Yeah, that's true. Adults can be afraid of needles too!" Luke told the little boy. The little boy smiled.

"Just squeeze your mum's hand really tight. That's what I do, Nurse Luke," The boy explained, obviously feeling better about his own fear. Luke could even see his tears drying up.

"But, I don't have anyone's hand to squeeze. My mum's not here," Luke teased, mostly so Ashton would get the subtle hint. He wanted Ashton to hold his hand. He wanted Ashton to hold his hair while he took his cock down his throat.

"Don't worry, Luke. I'm a professional. I've given thousands of shots, so I'm pretty good at it. In fact, if you're ever in need of one, just call me," Ashton winked. Luke stared back, blinking. Did that mean what Luke thought it meant?

He quickly left the room, distracting himself with preparing the new needle.

This sort of office flirting was beginning to get out of hand.

On a normal Wednesday, Ashton would make comments about Luke's choice of scrubs. He would say things like:

"Oh, that's a nice shade of blue. I really like the pinks scrubs though. It's nice that you take pride in how you look, even if you have to dress professionally for the office"

And Luke would forget how to breathe. It would leave the poor boy so flustered and confused. Him. The master, seductress, twink nurse would forget how to attract men. Perhaps, it was because this particular man was a bit older, and Luke knew he had a full bank account and a palace for a house. Maybe it was how his voice melted like honey or how he always seemed genuinely interested in everything Luke had to say. Either way, it was intoxicating, and it would always lead to fantasies of being taken care of.

Ashton had to be a dom after all. Ashton had to be interested after all. He wouldn't say all those flirty things if he weren't.

And of course, there were the days that kept Luke awake at night.

The blonde nurse would be making his daily iced coffee with way too much cream and sugar, and Ashton would let his hand rest on some part of his body as he reached around him to do the same. Usually, it was just his arm. Sometimes, it would be his shoulder. And then, it was his lower back, and Luke had to bite his lip to keep a moan restrained.

"You know, Lu, you're going to rot your teeth with all that sugar," Ashton smirked, peering over glasses that he had recently started wearing to work (another thing Luke had to look forward to). He had also taken up the habit of calling him Lu. Only close friends and ex-boyfriends called him that. It was different to hear it coming out of Ashton's mouth. It was as if it were meant to be there.

"Yeah, but the cream balances it out. It has like calcium or something. I like cream," Luke giggled, realizing the innuendo. Suddenly, he felt the newly familiar, warm hand over the small of his back. It was dangerously close to his bum. He was glad too because those scrubs were two sizes too small around his curvy waist and barely-there panties. They were (just like him) itching for the older man's attention.

"I don't really take cream...in my coffee," His hand was still firmly placed as he reached for the coffee pot diagonal from the nurse, "No sugar either. I get my sweets elsewhere."

Ashton's fingers burned hot, and for a split second—Luke could feel them beginning to circle. It was if they wanted to grab something. Luke squeezed his eyes shut, biting down hard to conceal a whiny moan that was threatening to escape.

"I, uh, I uh..." Luke flushed, desperate to find words.

"Hmm?" Ashton asked sweetly, as if he were degrading Luke, "Don't tell me that you don't like cream...all in your coffee. You must, considering those tight little scrubs you're wearing and how you basically throw yourself on me. You must be wanting something, huh Lu? Something...extra..."

"What?" Luke's mind hadn't caught up all the way. He was under the impression that he had fallen asleep during his lunch break. He stared at Ashton with big eyes, never wanting him to move his hands off of him. He gulped, finding that he was always fighting the urge to just sink to his knees and beg in the break room again.

"Mm, don't be coy. With your lollipop stealing and your constant glazed-over eyes," Ashton tsked. He ghosted his hand over Luke's hip, "But, I got work to do today, baby. It's real busy. You're gonna be busy too. You can come prove me right some time after work, hmm?"

"Y-Yes," Luke mewled instantly. There was nothing in his life that he had been more sure of.

"Good. I'll text you my address," Ashton smirked, "All you had to do was say, Lu. How do you think you got the job?" He asked rhetorically as he left the room with his coffee.

Luke gasped softly, lingering in the heat that Ashton left in his wake.

He couldn't be so flustered every time they were alone. He had to prove to Ashton that he was the perfect twink for him, and he knew just how he could finally seduce the handsome doctor.

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kidofthekat · 5 years ago

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Salty Outcasts chapter 4 - Juleka

(link to masterpost).

“Hi Kagami!” Marinette called as she jogged up to the other girl and pulled out a seat next to her.

“I have already ordered your juice.”

“Thank you.” They lapsed into a comfortable silence as they waited for someone to bring them their drinks. They were sitting in a small juice bar close to the Eiffel Tower that the two had discovered a couple weeks ago. The interior was a cool relief to the burning heat outside, and although not that large, it had a selection of juices that satisfied even their very different tastes. A dark haired server brought them their juices as the girls began to talk.

“I know we normally have juice only once a week, but this is super fun. Thank you for inviting me Kagami!”

“It is my plea-”

“And you know I’ve had quite the week,” Kagami settled into her chair, awaiting the rambled rant that was coming, “Did you know that all the stores within a one mile radius from my house get delivered bananas early Saturday, today, which means they are all out on Friday’s? And that dried fruit is super expensive and only sold in whole food stores near me? Like why don’t normal supermarkets sell dried fruit?”

“They normally do, it must just be your area.” Mari-chan really went to a lot of effort for on banana.

“I know! It’s like the world is out to get me. Honestly I blame Plagg, his bad luck seems to transfer to me for no good reason, like excuse me Tikki, aren’t I meant to have good lu-ow” A harsh pinch on Marinette’s thigh snapped her out of her rant. She immediately went wide eyed at what she had said, realisation having come a little too late.

“Are you okay Mari-chan?”

Staring at Kagami for a second Marinette nodded and reached for her orange juice, hoping with her whole heart that she wouldn’t be questioned about her rant. Don’t know whether it was lucky I stopped when I did , or unlucky I started talking in the first place.

Kagami was at a loss, nothing Marinette had said made sense, but none of it had been about school either. Marinette usually wore her heart on her sleeves so why wasn’t she upset about this? She ended up deciding that for some reason or another Marinette must be too distracted to have noticed the world falling apart around her, but she wasn’t going to question what was distracting her friend as it made her job of keeping Marinette’s spirits up much easier.

“So… how is fencing recently? You have that big competition that Adrien is helping you with right?”

“Yes, it is in a months’ time from now in London, I must admit that the extra time with - ” Kagami was cut off by the ringing of Marinette’s phone playing a tune she was unfamiliar with. Apologising, Marinette picked it up and answered.

“Juleka?” Kagami put down her juice, Juleka was fake bluenette’s sister, right? “Woah, slow down. Okay. Hold on, we’ll be there in 10. Oh yeah, I’m with Kagami, she’s Adrien’s girlfriend,” oof that kinda hurt to say, Marinette shook her head and resumed speaking, “can she come? Thank you, take care!”

“That was Luka’s sister, no?”

“Yeah it was,” Marinette was already walking to the counter to pay, “She recently went through a break up, yesterday actually.” Paying the server, she pulled Kagami out of the café, “She is currently really hurt by it, and she has a right to be, so I’m gonna go and cheer her up, oh!”

Marinette suddenly stopped, causing Kagami to bump into her, “I’m sorry, I forgot to even ask if you wanted to come!”

“I will help Mari-chan, girl code and all that.” Kagami’s dead serious tone caused her friend to burst into laughter confusing her deeply. Though she shrugged it off in favour of enjoying the designers change in mood from the past few weeks, maybe their statement had been freeing to her? Those sheep definitely held Mari-chan back.

Juleka lay in her room on The Liberty feeling more alone than she could remember. Her mum had gone on the mundane task of grocery shopping and Luka had gone to find a song ‘in need’ that he had heard earlier that day.

The houseboat being unusually quiet had freaked her out a little, recently, more often than not, she had friends or kitty section over, livening the whole place up. But now, they were gone, and she didn’t think they were coming back, no matter how thought out the plan could be.

Pulling herself off the floor, Juleka trudged up from the lower deck to be greeted with the morning sun and a light breeze blowing her fringe into her eyes. Huffing, she made her way to the edge and sat on the low wall surrounding the deck with her feet dangling above the water.

Tuning out from the city noises, Juleka focused on the steady rhythm of the water below her and the swirling patterns created by passing boats. She took a deep breath and finally let herself cry, no longer holding in her hurt, knowing her friends were nearby.

Each sob was more heart-wrenching than the last to Marinette, she and Kagami had just reached the Liberty and climbed on board, their conversation drowned out by the broken goth. Kagami held back as Marinette sat beside Juleka, pulling her into a tight hug and whispering soothing words.

After a few minutes, Juleka’s sobs became small sniffles and Kagami had joined them by the boats edge.

“Thank you Marinette.”

“Please don’t thank me, just know I’ll be here whenever you need me, as will your brother and many others.”

“I don’t know, since we had the same friendship group, everyone would be torn on who to comfort anyway, and this whole Lila thing…” Juleka trailed off, her head hung low as she leaned into Marinette, looking over the river she had always called home.

Marinette had long ago realised that being Ladybug changed her ‘aura’, or, as Pollen had once put it, ‘you’re like a silent walking lullaby, everyone calms down in your presence whether or not they want to’. She also figured out that she could direct her ‘aura’, so that’s exactly what she did, focusing on the invisible mist that surrounded her and navigating it towards Juleka, though it seemed to have been a bit too strong as a yawn broke the silence.

“It’s gonna be okay, you just gotta push through and we will help you, you did nothing wrong.” As Marinette continued to encourage Juleka, Kagami got increasingly confused until she decided to speak her mind.

“I do not understand.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you upset? Surely this is a good thing.”

“Uh, Kagami? Her girlfriend just broke up with her.”

“Yes, but her girlfriend did so because she believed a liar over her. Juleka, I believe she has done you a favour as she clearly didn’t trust you enough and trust, or so I have been told, is very important in a relationship. She saved you from wasting more ti- oh I see, you are upset that you didn’t see who she truly was earlier on.” Kagami nodded her head as if to show understanding, oblivious to the other two girls silent giggles.

“I don’t think that’s quite it.” Marinette ventured.

“But thank you Kagami.” She released herself from Marinette’s hold and gave the fencer a quick yet fierce hug.

Smiling, Marinette stood up, “come on, lets go somewhere and do something to cheer you up.”

“Juleka I’m assuming you skipped breakfast, typical of your blood type when going through a break-up, and since Marinette and I haven’t eaten either, brunch at the bakery seems good.” Kagami led them off the boat as Juleka looked to Marinette curiously.

“Blood type?”

She giggled a little as she answered, “Yeah, it’s kinda like a horoscope in Japanese culture.”

“How does she know my blood type though?”

“Vampire?”

“Maybe, another time though, your parents’ macarons sound like heaven right about now.”

Thanks for reading. Sorry it took a while but in the bright side I have finally figured out how I’m gonna write the rest of the story! Also thanks @flufflepuffle296 for proof reading, don’t know what I would do without you! Masterpost.

Taglist:

@kanamexzeroyaoifangirl

@lilkymilky

@shippernaturalsanderspjoandscifi

@mythogaychic

@aestheticnpoetic

#mlb #miraculous ladybug #juleka couffaine #kagami tsurugi #marinette dupain cheng #rose lavillant salt #lila salt

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doyouever-daydream · 5 years ago

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Birthday wishes

A/N Hello lovely humans! The Alvez family, Luke, Penelope, Luna, Roxy and Sergio, are back! Honestly I have a bunch of little cousins and have worked with many children so much of my inspiration comes from witnessing their imagination, so I think there’ll be a Luna series with oneshots/drabbles about this little girl’s adventures with her parents, that being said I’m sure someday I’ll come up with an idea for when Luna was a baby or something so the timeline will be crazy. Enjoy! (Also I finished writing/queuing this at almost 3am so probably more typos than usual)

Pairing: Penelope Garcia x Luke Alvez

Wordcount: 1706 (And I thought this was gonna be a drabble)

Masterlist

It was Saturday and in an unexpected turn of events, Penelope had been called to work but only for a couple hours, in the meantime Luke stayed home with Luna and they both attempted to bathe Roxy, the result of that was all three of them wet as Roxy escaped from them and ran around the house, Sergio looked at them from a safe distance not wanting to get involved in the mess, Luke was convinced their cat was judging him.

After they finally succeeded in bathing Roxy, Luke made lunch for all of them and Penelope arrived to see her family sitting in the living room eating sandwiches and drinking lemonade they had made using their own lemons from the tree in their backyard.

“Mommy, you’re home!” Luna quickly ran to her mom and she received her with open arms.

“I am, baby, how was your morning? Did you guys have a good time?” Penelope lifted Luna in her arms and kissed her cheek.

“It was great, we bathed Roxy and we played in the garden” She replied with a big smile on her face as Penelope walked to couch and sat in it, sitting Luna in her lap.

“I’m happy to hear that, now finish your lunch, Lu” Luke offered her a glass of lemonade, she had texted earlier letting him know that she had lunch during her work meeting.

“Hello babe, how was work? Was there a problem?” Luke questioned slightly worried as to why she was called on a Saturday.

Penelope shook her head “It was just an impromptu meeting we needed to have with one of the big bosses because he was in town, they reassured us it was a one time occasion and I hope they’re not lying” She sipped on her lemonade “Wow, you guys, the lemonade is delicious”

“There’s more in the fridge if you want, mommy” Luna offered as she hurried to eat her lunch.

“Slow down there, Luna” Luke asked her and though the little girl slowed down, she still seemed anxious to finish her sandwich.

“What’s got you in a hurry, miss?” Penelope asked as she stole a frie from Luke’s plate.

“I want to tell you something” Penelope looked at her husband with narrowed eyes to what he shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what their daughter was talking about.

“I’m done! Can I show you now?” She pleaded with big eyes.

“Go and brush your teeth and then you can show us” Luna nodded and hopped through the hallway with Roxy following closely behind, the two were inseparable since Luna had been born.

Penelope turned to see Luke with wide eyes and a smirk “What do you think it’s going on that little mind of hers?”

“I don’t know but I’m scared” He finally leaned closer to her and pecked her lips.

She sighed “I just hope she hasn’t changed her mind about her birthday party, after begging us to throw a Roxy themed party I would hate to not use all the stuff we already got”

“You insisted on printing a million stickers with Roxy’s face” Luke joked and threw his arm around her.

“I can’t believe she’s turning five already! I’m so emotional” Penelope confessed to him and he kissed her temple.

Luke sighed “I know, I can’t believe how big she is” As if on cue Luna and Roxy came back and to both, she looked five feet tall.

“I talked to my friend Kelly and she told me about the Birthday fairy” Both of her parents looked confused but not that shocked, sometimes Luna and her friends came up with the funniest ideas.

“What did she say about the Birthday fairy?” Penelope signaled her to come closer to them and then they noticed Luna was holding something, Luke placed his almost five year old on his lap.

“That you can ask for a birthday wish, it’s like Santa” Luke was starting to get nervous as to what she was gonna ask, mostly because he knew he would do everything and anything to get it for her.

“Oh, and what’s that you got here?” He asked Luna and she showed a piece of paper folded in half.

“I made a letter like I do for Santa” She opened it and gave it to him, there were random letters, a drawing and her name because she had learned to write it recently.

Penelope tried to guess what her daughter asked for but failed to decipher her letter “Can you read it for us, baby?”

“Dear Birthday fairy, I hope you are doing okay, I’m turning five next month” She looked hesitantly to her parents as if asking if she had that part correct.

“Go on, princess” Luke winked and Penelope took another sip of her lemonade and listened to her daughter.

“And I would like a baby brother” Her mom almost choked on her drink and her dad’s eyes shot open but laughed soundly “Mommy, are you ok?”

“Yes, Lu, I’m fine” Before her parents knew what to say she continued “reading”

“I love all my cousins so much but I really like to play with Michael but he’s not my brother, he is Henry’s little brother and I want one too so I can play all the time with him, thank you very much, Luna Grace Alvez” She finished and Luke had a huge grin on his face while Penelope looked terrified.

Luke decided to have the conversation seeing his wife was still figuring out what to say “Lune, sweetheart, baby brothers take more than a month to arrive” Luna scrunched her nose and looked exactly like her mom whenever she did that.

“It’s ok, I can wait two months, you can help me mark down the days like we do for my birthday and Christmas” When she finished, she yawned as she was used to take an afternoon nap and that’s when Penelope saw her way out of the subject.

“Baby, it’s time to take a nap, come on” Luna didn’t fight her mom and quickly linked her arms around her daddy’s neck so he could carry her to her bedroom.

A good twenty minutes later Luke returned to find Penelope sitting in the same exact spot with the same worried look on her face.

“I really wasn’t expecting that” She confessed as she removed her glasses and leaned her head on the couch.

“I was surprised for a second but kind of saw it coming” Penelope glared at him with suspicion in her eyes.

“Did you put her up to this, Alvez?” He laughed and shook his head.

“No, I mean I didn’t expect it today but all of her cousins have siblings, I thought the idea would appear in her head sooner or later” She massaged her temples “Wow, is it that bad to have my children?” Once again Penelope glared at him and he swore she would throw him something “I’m kidding, I’m honestly kidding, what do you think?”

“I don’t know, I always pictured her as an only child, us as a party of five, dad, mom, daughter of our dreams, dog child, cat child” She extended her hand so Luke would sit beside her.

“Ok, then we’ll talk to her about it, we’ll find a way” As ever Luke was supportive of her and Penelope felt both thankful but also uncertain, he had a say in the decisions of their family as well.

“What do you want?” She looked at him and saw a hint of worry in his eyes “Come on, babe, be honest”

“Well I wouldn’t mind becoming a party of six but I wouldn’t even think about it if it’s something you don’t truly want” He shot her a smile, Penelope placed a hand on his cheek and he leaned into her touch “I mean it, Pen”

Penelope sighed “The truth is I’m scared, I’m just getting the hang of being a mom of one, and she’s almost five” Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were wide open.

“Babe, it’s about learning, I don’t know how to be a dad of two either, I mean, remember how much we called JJ, Matt and Derek because we had no idea of what we were doing? And now, look at us, she’s turning into a wonderful tiny human who cares for people and animals and insects and plants, you should’ve seen her talking to the lemon tree about how we were taking the lemons so he could grow more” Luke recalled the moment and held Penelope’s hand, and Penelope thought that her daughter would make an amazing big sister.

“She cares for non living objects as well, the other day you were in Phoenix, she accidently stepped on one of my pens and cried because she had broke it” Luna’s ability to care for others was always something that amazed everyone who knew her and it made both of them really proud.

“So are you gonna think about it?” Luke asked wishing she’d say yes.

“I don’t think I have to think about it” She saw his face fell and explained herself “I mean, you’re right, I remember how scared I felt when our sweet Luna was born, and I still get scared, I mean she keeps growing up and the next thing we know we’ll be parents to a teenager and as sweet as she can be, she’s also stubborn and determined, just imagine…” Luke cut her off as he looked pale now.

“Please, don’t go there, she’s my sweet little girl who asks permission to pick flowers not to go on dates or parties and I’d like to think that’s the way it will always be” She smiled seeing him so reluctant about thinking what the future would look like in another ten years.

“Ok but if I agree can we already start talking about names? I love talking about baby names” She wondered with excitement on her voice.

“I’d rather go straight into baby making” He suggested as he eyed her in a very suggestive way.

“Hmmm, you always have the best ideas, after all Luna’s nap just started” She smiled and let him lead both of them to their bedroom.

#penelope garcia #luke alvez #garvez #garvez imagine #garvez fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds fanfiction #luna alvez series #luke x penelope #garcia x alvez

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ordonianhero · 5 years ago

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Blood on your Hands-Lu fan fic

This story, got inspired by a scene in a show I was watching. It slightly talks about some deeply personal topics. that may be uncomfortable for some. The main one being that Twilight has issues with the knights of his Hyrule. which comes up after Warriors pushes the subject. Twilight is far to nice and Warriors happened to be the nearest thing to lash out. There is mention of Blood. No injuries though, just the blood of bad guys. Talk of miss use of alcohol. and now sobriety. Twilight is clean. anyways. Felt like getting that info out.

Other wise, this sort of a angst and Fluff. Lot of group bonding moment really. also learning a bit more about Twilight. I hope you enjoy it. I wrote most of this at 2am in the morning and now the rest at 3pm. I have a learning disability so the grammar is not all that great. just yet another emotional piece.

word count: 3,299

(Character creation is from: @linkeduniverse )

As the nine entered castle town In twilight’s Hyrule, the markets were hustle and bustling. So lively. “Okay away with y’all’s. Go find what you need. I am off to go say hello to a very old friend of mine.” Twilight said with a warm smile. “Meet back at the fountain- hm- in a few hours.” They all nodded and then split up. Time and wild however stuck by Twilight. He kept his head down as if he didn’t want to be seen. Which was strange to Time. Wild was to focused on the winding ally ways they ducked into. Why is he hiding like as of expecting to run into some unwanted company? Time wondered. He shook off the thought as they made another turn. Twilight seemingly walking faster till he jogged his way down some stairs to a place that had a sign that read “Telma’s bar”. Uh oh. Is he going to break his sobriety. Time worried. Twilight give time a look. “Old friend works here. Come along if you want. I want to give her a check in that I am okay.” Time let out a sigh. Wild looked at Time. Time followed. Wild not far behind. The room of the bar was cozy, the patrons all happy. Being well fed and drinks all around. Time watched a well curvy woman came out from behind the bar and gave Twilight a tight hug. Her voice carried across the room. “LINK, oh honey! I am so glad to see you!” Time smiles and shook his head. Wild stood beside Time and chuckled. “He looks nearly squished by her. Also first to see him allow anyone that close to him. Old friend indeed. But what had you worried back there?” He asked Time. Times one good eye looks down at wild as he crossed his arms and moved out of the way so to let people leave to building. Wild quickly following. “Hm, to be honest wild. I think that’s for him to tell. However, cause it you. Twilight had a drinking problem. After saving his world, he was in a world of hurt. He didn’t know how to handle it. He did what most of us did. Did things to try and cope with what they went through- instead of facing it. It got nasty. He became unrecognizable.” Time spoke softly. Keeping and eyes one Twilight. The situation was not far from his own. He got a handle on his own devices, as did Twilight. “He’s been sober since then. I fear though he is having to face many of his own demons again. When he does- who know how he will handle it.” Wild looked back at twilight as the woman seem to look at the two of them.

Time gave a slight awkward wave. Telma walked over to the two. Twilight heading off to a back area where a group was sitting around a map it seems with some books. “So you are his crew these days. I get a few letters from him. You must be Time and you cutie is Wild. Oooh look at you.” She said placing a gentle hand on Wilds face. “So sorry any of you had to go through what you have.” She states then looking at Time. He softly smiled at her. “you must be the famous Telma then. Keeping the boy out of trouble.” Telma chuckled and swatted at Time. “What trouble, the boy was no trouble. He was brave and courageous. I am so proud of him.” She stated. “Any ways, come in, come in. We have things other than alcohol here. Got food and drinks. Good company.” Time chuckles at her. “We are fine. However thank you for your offer.” She nodded, "you're welcome. Link is just catching up with the group that helped him. More than welcome to join him.” They both nodded and made their way towards where twilight was. Where he was happily chatting up the scholarly looking youth. “Oh there is so much I have seen now. Stuff that sort of fit to your father’s writings.” Time placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight nearly jumping out of his own tunic. “Ah, what secrets are you telling these friends of yours pup?” Twilight blushes and brushed Times hand off. “Just filling them in on the few things we experienced to sort of help fill in some of the work this fellow is working on.” Twilight stood up crossing his arms and giving Time a smirk. “That’s nice-“ Time paused and recognized an old friend. Also swordsman from Ordon Village. “Rusl?” The now much older gentleman rose to his feet and came over to Time as they soon broke into an animated greeting and hug between the two “been so Long since that day!”

“Oh I know, so good to see you are still kicking.”

“Oi! Don’t be calling me old, look at you! My-my! Never thought I would see you again.” Twilight shook his head and chuckled. “Pup! You didn’t tell me he was in this motley crew you spoke of.” Time said ruffling the young Hylian’s hair. Twilight smirked and shoved Time away. “Join our table, we got room. Ah you got to be Wild then. Good to see another knight at our table. Sure Ashei won’t mind sharing some pointers with you.” Rusl states scooting past to grab some extra chairs and patting Wild’s back. Wild flinched and sort of stood shyly closer to Twilight. Chairs where then brought and set up. Time took a chair and so did wild. He watched as Twilight however didn’t. Interesting. He thought to himself. Twilight how did manage to snag a bit of the bread and snacked on it. As there was chatter among the Time and the others. A bit about what Twilight and the group they were in we doing. To showing So places to check out. Twilight chiming in a bit. Otherwise. Quiet. Twilight smiled though. Telma bring over a few cups of Tea and also joining in the conversation or teasing Twilight.

After some time the three said their goodbyes. Rusl gabbing Twilight a good long hug and remind him to not be a stranger and write some time. Keep in touch and all. Twilight going “okay, okay. I will Try.” And away they went. Twilight seem to have a much different energy buzzing around him. As he lead them down the ally towards the castle town central. Where the fountain could be seen and the Castle in the at the foot. Wild following behind twilight quietly. Time processing a bit of information they were given about some enemies in some parts of Twilight’s Hyrule. Places to possibly to gather information. As well help the locals out. He saw why Twilight had a bit of distrust for the knights. Though relatively peaceful, there were many Hylian knights getting plastered. They had let down Hyrule in its greatest time of need and even now making fools of themselves. Cowards! They had them managed to meet up with the rest. “So we got some Intel on some camps we should take out. Locals have a few enemies in the area.” Twilight spoke. Taking lead. Time, smiled seeing Twilight willingness to take charge. He wasn’t a bad leader, just rarely felt like he was good one though. However this was his world. He knew what to do.

They started gathering up their gear when a seemingly drunken older man pushed through the group. Grabbing Twilight by his tunic and proceeded to yell at him. “It’s all your fault!” Twilight frozen in shock. Time and Warriors jumped in, pulling the guys off. “Hey! Let go of me! It’s all his fault.” They held him back. Twilight regaining his sense. “Let him go, it’s okay.” Twilight said calmly. The others looked at him confused. Time and Warriors let the man go. The main adjusted himself before pointing his finger at Twilight, “my son is dead because of you. You are no hero.” He spit at Twilight. “You got blood on your hands and you did NOTHING to save my son. Where were you when he needed you to save him. His platoon all died. While you went off on some fancy adventure. Not saving this kingdom.” The man shouted. It then occurred what he was speaking about. There was a time where he went through the twilight mirror and was in the twilight realm. Stuck. He couldn’t help. Not until Zant was taken down a peg and Midna had her throne again. Her land restored to its rightful state. Twilight’s brow Scrunched in sadness. I felt for the man. The eight then saw something they didn’t expect from someone being bashed. Twilight step forward and pulled the stranger into a hug. Time instinctively stepped forward out of fear what the man could do. However all the man did was sob into twilight’s chest. Twilight just holding this complete stranger. “I am sorry I was not able to save them. However your son fought bravely. Not all in vain. He helped save this world when I could at the time. I am no hero.” He pulled away from the man and looked him straight in the face. “Yes I may have failed him. However he did not fail this kingdom and is a hero in his own right. That is some good you should think of. He died protecting the land and people he care most about.” The man seem to sober up at those words. Realizing how right Twilight was. “Y-you are right. I never thought about it that way. Also sorry. My son’s death was not your fault. You are one person trying to do what others were unable to do. I am just-“ “Hurting? I get it. No need to apologize.” The man then wiped his tears away and then nodded. Twilight flashed the gentleman a smile and gave him a nod. “Thank you.” The man said, before scurrying off. Feeling foolish at the scene he made. Twilight looked as the man walked off.

Once the man was out of sight, he looked back at the group, who all looked in shock at what just happened. “Don’t.” He growled and lead them out of the castle town and back out to Hyrule field where Epona awaited them. Time stayed quiet. Wild stood close to time waiting to see if anyone would say anything. Legend and Warriors seem to both holding back their words. Sky, four and Hyrule all just without words. Warriors stepped forward as Twilight adjusted their packs a bit. “No hero Hu?! What IN HYLIA was that back there?!” Warriors angrily spat at Twilight. Getting In twilight’s personal space. 3.....2...... okay you are fine 1...twilight counted. “You saves your kingdom and the people thank you like that?! You are a Goddess damn hero!” Shut it warriors. Oh just shut it. “They should be thankful for all you did for this kingdom. You didn’t ask to be a part of a dispute between two worlds.” Warriors fumed. The anger raged in twilight’s blood. He then whipped around so quickly knocking Warriors to the ground. “You LOT are all the FUCKING SAME! The knights failed this kingdoms out of cowardice. When they were need. Where we they? Off getting drunk! Or running and hiding from THEIR duty!” Twilight barked at Warriors. Who was in utter shock at that point. Time rushed and stepped forward. Putting a barrier between the two. “Oi! Pup, back off. He had nothing in this. Your kingdom failed you pup. Warriors just sad to see how you seen by some. Warriors. Probably best not to touch on this right now.” Time sternly and calmly stated. Time pushed twilight back. “Back off.” He quietly said again. Looking at Twilight with disapproved look. Twilight backed down and took Epona’s reigns before leading her off towards their next destination. Time helped warriors up. Warriors brushed off the dirt and said nothing. The tension in the air was thick. It seem to be that way till they made their way, following Twilight. Time thinking to the time his own people had even judged him for his own failures. Time knew it all too well how that felt. He couldn’t be in all in one place and he knew that. Didn’t take away that guilt he felt. He was sure Twilight and many others felt that too.

They ended up camping out in a nearby woods. They were a few days from the nearest camp they would try and take down and see if there was any clues to the dark shadow that had seem to have taken over. Hyrule and Four helped set up. A fire. Wild, did some quick meal. Camp was quiet. Many still too shocked at the events that happened that afternoon. Time spotted twilight not eating, more so refusing to eat. Twilight feeling uncomfortable at everyone looking at him, grabbed his gear and went off to patrol the camp. When he was out of war shot, legend was the first to speak up, “okay, what the hell? I have Never seen Twilight snap like that.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this guys. It’s clear he is working through some things.” Sky spoke up.

“I get we all got secrets, however he is the most reserved guy and loose his cool that way...” legend then continued. “Guys....” Wild said softly.

“I mean...” Time sighed and just shook his head. “Quiet.” He then barked.

The group sat in attention. “We have all been where he is at. Show a bit of compassion. Eat your food and drop the subject. Once done with that, each go to bed. “ “Who will take second watch then.” Asked wild. “I will.” Time said coolly. They all nodded. They all did what Time said. Warriors couldn’t be angry at Twilight. Not with what had said. Twilight. He knew it had nothing to do with him. However he couldn’t rest. So as everyone else was asleep. He looked at Time who was sitting up, sipping on tea and keeping an eye out for the camp. Warriors could see Twilight had not returned. He sat up and gathered up a log and placed it on the fire, before taking a seat beside Time. “Any sight of him?” Warriors asked. Time stayed quiet. No. “Hope he is okay.” Warriors continued looking in the direction of the forest which Twilight left. Time was worried. Twilight was not known to be gone this long. Clear he wanted to work through this on his own. Twilight was a private person about his emotions. He did show them to anyone really. Snapping like he did came from all the built up hurt and emotions he is keeping stuff in. He talked to Time a bit. Otherwise, he didn’t let anyone know. The night grew on. Time was fighting sleep. Warriors still sitting up with him. “One of us should sleep. No point both of us being out of rest.” Said Time fighting off a yawn. Warriors nodded. He spotted wild having one of his nightmares. “I will sleep. Wake me in a few though. Then I will take your place. We got to be in shape for fighting the camp.” He said getting up and moving over to where Wild was. Taking where Twilight would of been and just laid beside the cub. Giving them comfort the best he could.

The night dragged on. Time tossed another log on the fire. Twilight nowhere in sight still. Where are you pup? Please be careful. He thought to himself. He let another sigh. He was going to sit up till he could no longer stay awake. However Warriors seem to also being unable to sleep again. After making sure Wild was no longer trembling from nightmare. He made his way over to Time again. whose eye looked as those they were to nearly close. He plopped beside him. "you should rest. I will keep watch." Warriors said. Time tiredly looked at Warriors and gave in. He slow got up and then went over and slept where Warriors had been. Warriors carefully watched over the group. He sat up waiting. All the way till daylight crept up. The cool Morning air was crisp. The fog was low on the field and bits of the woods. The morning birds starting to chatter away. Warriors, eye, spotted a shadow of what Looked like a wolf making its way through the fog. That can't be, wolfi- his thought was broken when Twilight broke through the Fog. He looked bloodied and exhausted. Warriors stood up quickly. He rushed over to Twilight. Twilight Raised a hand up. "I am okay." Sensing what warriors was going to say. "Sorry about the other day. I had no right to snap at you that way. You are a knight, you had not play in my world's dealing. Hope you can forgive me?" he then continued. Warrior's pulled Twilight in a Tight hug. he could care less how soaked Twilight was in what looked like the blackest blood that was coming out of many of the corrupted beasts.

"I am just glad you are alive and I now better understand you finally." Warriors said quietly, that only Twilight could hear. The rest of the camp was slowly waking. Warrior, broke the hug after some time. seeing how tense Twilight was. Twilight quickly wiped some blood coming from his mouth. Warriors crossed his arms. "goddess you will need a good wash after whatever trouble to got yourself into." Twilight chuckled and shook off and attempted to rub off some of the blood from his tunic. "well all I can say, we can explore the place safely. They too though seemed corrupted. However their leader was nowhere in sight." Warrior bought a hand to his own chin and went into deep though. Thinking about what twilight had said. Twilight was then bum rushed into a hug by both Wild and Wind, who seem both excited and worried. Twilight smiled, ruffling wind's hair. Then moving his hand to Wild's chin and giving a light tap of his forehead against wild’s.

Legend, Four and Hyrule sort of stayed back, still a little uncertain of the situation. Wind and Wild moved out of the way as Time grabbed Twilight into a tight hug. Twilight hands instinctively going up and resting on Times chest. As to put up some sort of barrier. He body just then relaxes. He was safe. This was someone he trusted. The stood like that for some time. The group watched. "I was so worried." Time said quietly.

"I'm sorry." his head sinking into Time's chest.

"don't ever do that again."

"I know."

Time pulls away and lifted Twilight’s chin to look his square in the face, "and stop saying sorry, you have done nothing wrong. Just had us all worried." giving the pup a concerned looked. Twilight gave him a smirk and Pulled away. "Also, don't pull a wild. we got one chaotic child, don't need two." Gaining Twilight the ever disapproval look from Time.

Twilight Chuckled. "fair. But no Guarantees" he then teased.

The group all chuckled. They went about packing camp up and making a quick breakfast. Before they were to head out to the camp which Twilight single handily in the night took down. "I swear I thought Wolfie was about to appear this morning, through the fog. Maybe he is reflecting you Twilight." Warriors stated as they quickly ate. Twilight said nothing and just smirked. Four, wild, Legend and Time all worriedly looking at twilight then at each other.

Hm, so he may. Twilight Thought to himself and continued to smile and say nothing. So he may.

-Fin.

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silverdragon-imagines-blog · 5 years ago

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Counter Clockwise - Chapter 1 - A Familiar Land

[This was originally done as a live-write on the LU discord server for Time Week. Warning: This fic, and this series of fics as a whole, will get quite dark. Not necessarily now, but it will get progressively more extreme.]

Read it on AO3

The clashing of swords and growls of monsters seemed to echo over the empty field. Time wasn't sure where he was, or where the rest of the group was. The land around him felt familiar, extremely unnervingly familiar. He moved forwards through the sparse trees, following the slowly growing louder shouts of fighting. He unsheathed his sword once he spotted the first monster ahead of him.

A familiar ugly looking chu-chu, a sickly-looking green color with a creepy grin, and were those teeth?

He ran the monster through, ending it quickly with his claymore. He glanced around, Twilight being the closest fighting off a Wolfos. They weren't anywhere near the woods, and as he looked around, something caught his eye. There, hanging in the sky above the tall walls of a small town, a tall clocktower visible from outside the town, was the moon.

Except, it wasn't just the moon. No, because Hylia forbid he gets that small mercy.

No.

It was that same terrifying grimacing face that had tormented his second and final quest.

He could feel himself start shaking, he could barely hear Twilight start calling out to him. At some point, he felt a hand rest on his arm, startling him out of his downward spiral.

"Time, we need to get out of here."

He could feel himself agree, nodding as Twilight grabbed his hand and started leading him to the town. It was funny in a way, being led around like a child by his decedent. He barely registered when they entered the town, barely noticed that he had been pulled towards a familiar building. The sign on the counter designating it as the "Stock Pot Inn".

He flinched when he heard the door slam behind them, once again being startled out of his thoughts and to take in the room around him. Wild was sitting on the bench in front of the reception desk, holding onto his left arm as if it pained him. Next to him was a dazed-looking Four, his eyes were subtly shifting as if the light from the lamp was altering the color of his eyes.

"What happened?" Time asked, looking between his protege and the two wounded boys.

"I think the portal separated us," Twilight spoke, moving towards Wild, red potion in hand. "I never saw any of the others, not even able to sense them with Wolfie."

'That's not a good sign.' Time thought, grimacing when Wild flinched at the potion that was applied to the large and deep fang-shaped gash on his arm.

"What happened anyway?"

"Four and I were fighting some of those ugly chu-chus, trying to get some distance and get to safety, when a pack of Wolfos came out of the woods behind us," Wild said, gesturing to the still dazed Four. "Intelligent bastards. One of them fucking latched onto my arm and shook me around by its teeth and threw me into Four. The only reason we got out of there without any terrible injuries was cuz Twi found us."

"Language, cub," Twilight mumbled, as he bandaged the others' arm.

Time sighed, shaking his head in vague amusement at the wild child. He looked over to the Reception Desk, expecting to see the lady that normally ran it, but instead, no one seemed to be there. He found himself approaching the desk, lightly hitting the bell on the desk. Then the door opened on the other side of the desk. His eyes widened.

"Sorry about that," the tall, blue-purple haired man spoke as he closed the door behind him, then froze upon seeing Time, "H-How may I help you... Link? Is that... you?"

Time felt his heartbeat loudly in his ears, seeing someone that was just so achingly familiar, despite how the years have slightly altered the man’s appearance. Grey peeked out from vibrant purple-blue hair, and the smallest hint of scruffle and smile lines were clear on the man’s face. He tried to push the emotions beginning to surface down, attempting to school his expression into a neutral one. But he found that he couldn’t fight them, and soon, he found words spilling out against his will.

“Kafei? That’s your name, right?”

The man’s eyes brightened, crinkling at the sides as his smile turned more genuine than the fake, customer-appeasing one he wore before.

“It’s been a long time, huh? You’ve grown up.” Kafei chuckled, and Time found himself smiling as well, “I can’t thank you enough for what you did all those years ago. Anju and I are so happy together, it’s really been the best years of my life.”

Time’s thoughts drifted at his words, thinking just how similarly he thought of his life with Malon. It was contagious, Kafei’s happiness and thankfulness, but he couldn’t bring himself to take all of the credit.

“You cannot thank me for everything, it was your decision to marry her in the first place after all.”

“Still, I want to thank you properly for all that you’ve done for us.”

Time found himself relaxing ever so slightly, shaking his head, not wanting to accept any repayment for something he had chosen to do. Though he wanted to continue to talk, to just have a normal conversation with someone who was so familiar to him, however short a time it was, he knew that the needs of the group came before his own desires, not to mention the quiet questioning glances he could tell Twilight and Wild were giving each other.

“Do you happen to have any rooms available? My companions and I need a place to stay for the night, or a few nights if you’ll allow us.”

"Of course, we have rooms with three beds, but no more than that. If you'd like, you could rent two rooms. It would cost you... maybe 250 rupees, though that’s just for one night." Kafei spoke, rifling through the guest book on the counter, only to pause for a bit before looking back at Time, “I think I could get you a room with three beds for 120 rupees for as long as you’d like. Just don’t tell Anju.”

Time smiled, agreeing to the single room and paying the fee. Kafei handed over the key and Time then turning to help Twilight gather Wild and Four up the stairs and down the hall towards the room they had gotten. Once inside, and Four was carefully situated in a bed, Twilight approached him.

“You spent quite a while talking with that man, I take it you know him?”

“Yes, I do. This is Termina, my second adventure… I had hoped that we would never need to step foot here.”

“Is this place dangerous?” Twilight asked, and Time thought for a moment.

“In a way… but we’ll find the others, of that I’m sure.”

Twilight gave him a look, worry evident on his face, but Time just chuckled, ruffling his protégé’s hair.

“Get some rest, pup. We have much to do in the morning.”

Twilight, though still unsure, nodded and headed towards the bed that Four was occupying. Shifting to Wolf form, he climbed on, settling himself near the smallest hero, keeping an eye on him. Wild was already asleep once he hit the mattress, and Time took the last one, though he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. Thoughts had begun to run rampant, worry gnawing away at the few positive thoughts he still had. The what-ifs and uncertainties kept him restless, tossing and turning as he tried to quiet his mind. It had been too long since he had felt like this… and it was obvious to him why of all times he was feeling this way.

'It just had to be here...'

#linkeduniverse #linked universe #Legend of Zelda AU #majora's mask #hero of time #hero of twilight #hero of the wild #Hero of the Four Sword #tw// injuries #Threatening Darkness #silver writes #counter clockwise fic

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enchanted-prose · 5 years ago

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#17 Blackberry Night ii

this wasn’t in my original outline for the series but here we are

Word count: 2,358

Characters: Tobias, Amarinda, Jaron, Imogen

Notes: huge shoutout to my darling beta, and also to my girl lu for being a tobias/amarinda stan

Enjoy!

Tobias didn’t always enjoy grand parties. They were too loud, too crowded. He picked at the color of his pale gold coat. Good thing he and Jaron decided to enter the great hall at different times, otherwise he’d be hearing comments about how poor he looked in the color he’d chosen.

Jaron’s leg caused too much pain to bear with talking to pompous nobles, Tobias and Harlowe both agreed to do the talking.

The more nobles Tobias spoke to, the more he realized how much he didn’t fit in.

It was easy to ignore the divide between Tobias and the other nobles when he wasn’t around them. He avoided speaking to them unless he absolutely had to. Typically it worked.

Some time ago, Roden explained how he was able to avoid unwanted conversation. He frowned slightly, lowered his brow, and always kept his posture straight. Nobody wanted to talk to somebody who had business to attend to.

However, Roden was far more intimidating than Tobias. It took several tries before Tobias was able to successfully avoid being cornered and questioned by a noble.

Too many people were at the Blackberry Night festivities, avoiding conversation was impossible.

When would he see Amarinda?

She was much more gracious at declining an invitation to tea from the eel eyed lord of Eberstein. When Tobias declined invitations, he felt rude, and was probably perceived as rude. He tried to avoid stepping on as many toes as he possibly could.

He was running out of excuses.

“I am so sorry Master Powys, my wife and I already have existing plans.”

“Ah! I can’t attend, I agreed to give medical attention to the poor in lower Drylliad!”

“Amarinda and I are going to be assisting the queen with washing her new cat, it’s been scheduled for months.”

“Unfortunately, Bymar holds a festival for their patron saint of cheese that day, and we can’t miss honoring him and risk ruining all of Bymar’s cheese product.”

There was no sign of Jaron or anybody else Tobias could talk to. He tugged at the sleeves of his coat. Glittering dust floated from the ceiling and was caught on the creases in Tobias’s coat. The dust clung to his lashes.

It was more of an annoyance than a pretty thing.

Tobias rubbed the glitter out of his eyes, and threw himself into the crowd of dancing guests. He’d find Roden near the sweets table, he was sure of it.

Though his confidence took a blow when he reached the table and found no sign of his friends.

Now lonely despite the sea of people, Tobias made his way back into the center of the room, hoping that by some fluke he could locate Jaron.

Both sides of the great hall were lined with trellises covered in plants; they formed tiny rooms complete with swinging trellis doors. One of them shifted ever so slightly. Jaron had to be hiding in there. He had to be.

Tobias wasn’t sure who he’d turn to if he was wrong again.

He’d almost managed to ignore the sudden wave of silence. Everything halted, from the dancers to the musicians. Nobody said a single word.

His wife was responsible for the sudden reverence in the great hall.

Amarinda walked down the stairs with her arm linked with Imogen’s. Her tardiness was easily excused; she captured the attention of everyone in the room.

One of the trellis walls wiggled, and Jaron’s head poked out from behind it.

The musicians began to play again, this time their piece started with a shy intro, playing with the softness a doe carried as she walked through the woods.

His face burned. You’d be a fool not to agree that Amarinda’s brilliance rivaled the legends of Carthya’s magical residents.

Her chestnut hair tumbled down her back, a gold net covering the top and sides of her head, framing her face in the process. The gown she wore boasted a high collar and wide, sweeping sleeves that threatened to brush the ground. White rosebuds clung to the hem, trailing up to bunch together at the edge of her gold bodice.

Jaron had forced his way over to Imogen; Tobias didn’t remember seeing him move.

Was it allowed?

Was he allowed to speak to such an ethereal-

Of course he was! Amarinda was his wife!

Tobias pulled up the collar of his coat, smoothed back his hair, and marched through the bowing crowd. He’d married her, it was allowed. He’d married her, it was allowed.

“Somebody will write a sonnet about the way you look tonight,” Tobias blurted once he’d finally reached Amarinda. “After I have, of course.”

“I do love poetry,” Amarinda’s moonbeam smile was all too intoxicating. “Especially if you wrote it.”

“You look- you look absolutely stunning. Not that you don’t already always look stunning, it’s just- ah, I don’t know. Not quite sure of what I can say. If I wrote stories of magic and enchantresses, you’d always be my heroine.”

“And you’d always be my hero, Tobias,” Amarinda countered. She reached for his hand. “Dance with me?”

He took her by the waist, “I thought you’d never ask.”

The music grew louder; other couples joined the dance. Jaron and Imogen, Kerwyn and Mistress Orlaine. Several other young nobles twirled along with the rest. Tobias bit his tongue, praying his cheeks would return to a normal shade.

“I heard you used Saints Brigge and Naoise as an excuse to not go hunting with Master Previn,” Amarinda said.

Ah, Saints. Tobias’s face only burned fiercer. “I couldn’t think of anyone else, and I know how important Bymarian cheese is to you, we can’t risk their anger.”

“You’re absolutely right we can’t. Cheese carries far more value than we give credit.”

“I hope you’re not angry about not going hunting, you weren’t with me, and I wasn’t sure what to do.”

Amarinda laughed, and clung to Tobias’s shoulder as he dipped her. “Hunting is fun with the right company, but Master Previn has outdated views. He probably wanted us to accompany him so he could tell me about why I need to stop promoting trousers for women.”

“Maybe we should go hunting so you can wear trousers to anger him.”

“As funny as that would be, I’d rather face anger because of a declined invitation than turn Master Previn away from the crown. There are better battles to fight.”

“Battles like forcing Jaron to sit down and rest?” Tobias nodded towards Imogen, who was limping Jaron to one of the trellis walled spaces.

She nodded, “Exactly like that.”

Tobias raised their clasped hands, and guided her in a circle around himself. He remembered the first time he’d danced with her; truly, genuinely danced. It wasn’t as grand as Blackberry Night, and it never would be. They’d danced around the fire while smuggling Amarinda to Bymar during the Avenian war. Fink served as their musician by drumming on a log.

She’d taught him the steps to a Bymarian barn dance.

He practiced them in the privacy of his chambers after the war ended, only to be caught by Roden, which led Tobias to teaching Roden the same steps and a silent pact between the two of them to never speak of the experience again.

Roden occasionally served as Tobias’s partner when he couldn’t get the steps right. Tobias led, but he didn’t feel like he could ever truly lead a dance when his partner’s size rivaled that of a war torn bear.

Every practice session paid off when Tobias had the chance to lead Amarinda across the floor into the sounds of Bymarian pipes and drums.

Although the same couldn’t be said for Roden, who’d practiced the woman’s part too long and couldn’t quite get the man’s steps.

He’d never forget the way Amarinda glided across the great hall’s stone floor after their wedding.

“I’ve been considering asking Jaron for a few days’ leave,” Tobias blurted as the music changed to a light reel. He tucked his left arm behind his back, and held his right as straight as he could while still holding onto Amarinda’s hand. “Just to escape to the countryside. Libeth, maybe.”

“Are you still thinking about the attack the Faola led against you?” Amarinda frowned.

“No, not really. A little, actually, but not often enough to put pressure on my work.”

It wasn’t quite a lie. Tobias had been in enough mishaps to understand when he was safe and when he wasn’t. The day after he’d been attacked had been-

Unpleasant.

He woke up the morning certain that somebody was watching him, only to find that Fink was waiting at the foot of his bed to deliver a message. Every creaking door reminded him of the way the Faola’s saber slipped from the scabbard.

But he’d been safe in the castle the entire time.

Eventually, he recognized that. Recognized that he was no longer in danger.

And then he was able to continue on with his schedule as he always did.

“Where would we go?” Amarinda asked, pausing with the music.

Tobias shrugged, “Anywhere. To the south, to Mendenwal. I’d even go to Eberstein, even if there’s not much to do there.”

All he needed was Amarinda and he’d be fine.

Although a book would be nice too.

There was nothing more pleasant than the summer sun lazily pushing its way through trees while Amarinda was curled up in the crook of his elbow, reading the old tales of knights and vengeful spirits.

“Mendenwal is always very nice this time of year,” Amarinda mused, reaching to cross arms with Tobias as the dance continued. “There’s a village I’ve heard of that plants fields and fields of tulips. I’ve always wanted to go see them.”

“Then we’ll go,” said Tobias.

“And leave Jaron to his own devices?”

“He has Mott, Roden, and Imogen.”

“I don’t- I don’t know if I’d be able to look at flowers and eat chocolates knowing those three don’t have your voice of reason. Especially not after this most recent attack,” Amarinda took several steps back, a frown tugging at her lips. “I don’t think I can dance any longer, Tobias, there’s a lot of things on my mind.”

Tobias held out his elbow for her to take, “Then tell me what they are.”

They’d spent many a late night discussing Feall. Discussing Mireldis Thay. Saints, they’d even discussed Jolly, but that conversation quickly turned into a debate about a mandolin’s superiority to a lute.

He hadn’t had the chance to ask her how she felt about Renlyn’s confinement.

Amarinda soon took the lead, bypassing the trellis rooms and heading straight for the gardens outside.

Distant music from the taverns fought for control against the uniform notes coming from the castle. The garden remained largely untouched, they were magnificent on their own with their immaculate shrubs and bursting vines.

And it was much less crowded than the great hall.

“I’ve been considering asking Feall about his relation to Mireldis Thay. He’s claimed so often that she wants to kill him, but perhaps he wants to kill her/ first,” Amarinda said. “Renlyn and Feall have been nothing but civil to each other. He accompanies her to lower Drylliad and when she wants to walk at night. Why wouldn’t she kill him during one of those outings?”

“To preserve her name so she can return to normal life once her goal has been reached,” Tobias shrugged.

“That’s what I thought. But why? Why does she want him dead so badly? And Renlyn never outright confessed to being Mireldis Thay, she was dancing around the question, almost like she was telling us what we wanted to hear rather than what we all needed.”

“We’ll speak with Feall when he can string together a coherent sentence, I promise,” said Tobias.

“I’d feel much more comfortable leaving knowing we’ve done all that we can to help.”

How could he argue against that?

Tobias just didn’t want to admit that he was afraid that maybe there wouldn’t be a clear end to the Thay’s mess.

People disappeared all the time, they stole names, became new people. Tobias was ready to move on. He didn’t want to waste time searching for ghosts.

Especially after Renlyn’s humiliatingly calm reaction to being accused of treason.

He’d been so sure that Jolly’s hints were true. But perhaps Jolly’s claim to love Mireldis Thay more than he feared any king carried more weight than Tobias expected. Fear changed a person. It made them say things they’d never dare to think of just to feel safe again.

Jolly’s inability to tell Tobias where Mireldis was hiding technically fell under treason. He was aiding an assaulter of the king.

Would he really risk his neck for a woman he’d never been seen with?

Jolly of Angelmarr, a troubadour.

Tobias looked at Amarinda. A slight frown tugged at her lips, and her nose was crinkling as it always did when she was deep in thought. Intelligence burst from her dark eyes. She was forming a plan. A quiet plan; one that would bring her the best outcome at the lowest cost.

He knew he loved her more than he feared any king.

“We’ll fix what we can and then we’ll go to the tulip fields in Mendenwal,” Tobias slipped his arm around Amarinda’s waist, pulling her nearer to him. “And we’ll eat chocolate and say we’re going to be calm and not get involved in some whirlwind adventure and do the exact opposite.”

“Can we bring Jaron and Imogen? And Mott? And Roden?” Amarinda asked.

“If that’s what you want. We can turn it into a grand party, I’d do whatever you asked.”

“Even grew out a moustache?”

The thought of a line of hair covering his top lip made Tobias snort. “I’ll draw the line at a mustache.”

“Good,” Amarinda smiled. She reached up, and trailed her pointer finger along Tobias’s chin. “Mustaches are incredibly unflattering, and I’d make you shave it immediately anyways.”

He’d think about mustaches over dark deeds done by dark ghosts of the past any day.

The distraction was a welcome one.

#rheyre in love #tobias/amarinda #the ascendance series #the streets of drylliad #this #made me happy

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floralelu · 5 years ago

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Le Fleuriste Episode II:

WARNING: MENTIONS OF SEX

Word Count: 3,261

Summary: Lucas yearns to talk to Eliott. But who is he? Will he meet Lucas’ expectations? Or break his heart on the spot?

[A/N] Hello!! Welcome to chapter 2 of Le Fleuriste!! We are excited for you to read this, and please check out chapter one in our masterlist in our bio.

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Lucas lied in bed that night scouring Instagram for this boy he met. Eliott is all he could think about. He thought about the veins that were visible on his hands and the way that they snaked and traveled along his arms. He contemplated what Pantone color would match his crisp blue eyes. He couldn’t get over the way Eliott’s once white apron was stained with dirt and mud from taking care of the flowers in the shop and how his hair was the perfect tousled mess that rested on top of his head. Could he be in love with this boy?

Lucas kept typing Eliott’s name into the search bar in different ways. Elliot? Nothing. Elliott? Nothing. Eliot? Once again, nothing. How many ways could he spell this boy's name and not get a single matching result?

Lucas threw his phone on the sofa cushion next to him. Lucas stood up from the pull out sofa and walked to the balcony wearing nothing but some boxer shorts and a baggy t-shirt. The entrance leading to the balcony sat in front of Lucas’ bed, also known as the couch. Lucas spent his restless nights staring out beyond the balcony staring at Annecy’s skyline.

Annecy is known for being “the Venice of the Alps”. Annecy is surrounded by mountains that are, for most of the year, dusted with snow on their peaks. Lucas loved the colorful buildings of pinks and yellows, as well as the canals and waterways that run through the town. Bridges connected streets together as if they were holding hands. Lucas especially adored Annecy during this time of year because of the greenery. Barrels full of flowers lined the street would bloom and flower, and the bees adored the new floral-filled environment just as much as Lucas did. It was always the fresh start that Lucas needed every coming year.

Lucas stood out on the balcony, it was late, 23:37. The boys were already in bed, sleeping off the Sunday blues. Lucas knew he wouldn’t sleep tonight, not with this boy racing through his mind.

Lucas looked at the streets below him. He could see some stray people walking about, mostly on their phones. He could hear quiet Italian music playing softly from the Italian restaurant down the street. Even though it was early spring, it was quite warm. The breeze brushed Lucas’ face and hair.

If only Eliott were here.

Why was Lucas thinking that? He doesn’t even know if this boy is gay, or any sexuality that involved loving someone like Lucas. Eliott was probably some straight guy who played with feelings of women, or possibly men too, Lucas already knew Eliott was toying with his feelings.

Lucas had never had a boyfriend. He did have one or two girlfriends in high school, but they felt neglected, especially since Lucas never felt the same way about them. Chloe was the last girl he was with, and the one who made him realize he was in fact gay.

He remembered when he first realized it, it sickened him. It happened during one of Emma’s “my mom is out on business so let’s have party” bashes. Lucas and Chloe had snuck off into one of the bedrooms and despite all the alcohol Lucas had drunk, he felt sober at this moment.

Lucas thought nothing of it, maybe it’ll make the sex more enjoyable. Chloe had started taking off her clothes and soon was completely bare. She walked over to Lucas and started kissing and biting his neck, then kneeled before him and started unbuttoning his jeans.

“Lucas, you’re not hard. Am I doing something wrong?” Chloe asked, gazing up at him.

“No, no, I…” Lucas started. “I think I’m gay.”

Chloe was angry at first, she thought he had been using and experimenting with her, but that wasn’t the case. He just didn’t know what he wanted, and he had finally figured it out. They did makeup in the end, but Lucas knew he had put Chloe through hell and back.

Lucas took a deep breath, smelling the fresh bellflower scents that came from the mountainside. It was calming, and he needed to calm down. Lucas soon returned to the pullout bed, and after hours of lying awake, he drifted off to sleep.

———————————————————————

“Arthur! You’re using all of the eggs! If you’re gonna take them all, at least make me some.” Basile screamed at Arthur as he took away the egg carton.

“Basile, hush. Lucas and the whole world is sleeping, and I know no one who wants to be greeted by your horrid voice this early in the morning,” Arthur whispered, taking the eggs back. “And I’m already making you eggs, idiot.”

“I bet Daphne would love to wake up to my so-called ‘horrid’ voice. She’s in love with me and I’m in love with her, we are in love Arthur,” Basile swooned. Arthur rolled his eyes.

“God, you guys are so loud,” Lucas mumbled, covering his ears with his pillow.

“I’m sorry, Lu, but Arthur here won’t shut up! I’ve been telling him that people are sleeping and he just won’t listen.” Basile persisted.

“Basile, I swear…” Arthur muttered under his breath.

Basile walked over to the pullout and sat next to Lucas, who was turned over onto his stomach with the pillow still covering his ears.

“Come on, Lucas. Have breakfast with us.” Basile said while shaking Lucas awake.

“I might as well, I’m sure as hell awake now.”

“Arthur! Do you hear that? Our boy Lucas is gonna have breakfast with his two best mates before they go off to work!” Basile shouted, jumping up and dragging Lucas to the table.

“Three best mates,” Yann corrected as he came out of his room. “Do you have any idea how loud you’re being, mate?”

“My sincerest apologies, I’m just so excited!” Basile danced over to the table while Lucas and Yann trailed behind him sluggishly.

Arthur brought over the feast that was considered breakfast. It consisted of all of the favorites, sausage, pancakes with maple syrup, bacon, and eggs served in many ways, each to the boys’ liking. This feast was a once a week type thing, usually, Arthur would prepare it with Basile occasionally helping on the side, although he didn’t provide much help at all. Arthur would give Basile little tasks to occupy him such as setting and placing the food on the table. It was one day a week where the gang would catch up with another and talk about their events that happened during the week. Lucas was fond of it because he didn’t get out very much, he didn’t really have a lot of spending money to go out and do things, but that might change in the coming weeks with this new boy who has caught his eye.

“Lucas, are these flowers...yours?” Yann questioned as he grabbed the glass filled with water that contained the bunches of blooms that Eliott had given him.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Who’s the lucky lad?” Arthur asked, chewing on a sausage link.

“Oh, I don’t really know him besides his name. He gave it to my mom and me when we visited the flower shop and I bought her a bouquet.”

“So you received two bouquets?” Basile chimed in.

“Yeah.”

“Well, Lucas, I don’t know about you but that sounds like flirting to me!” Basile laughed.

“Maybe.”

“Is he hot?” Yann asked, cutting up his pancake into smaller bite-sized pieces.

“Well, I would show you a picture, but I can’t find any of his social media,” Lucas sighed. “I’ve looked everywhere!” Lucas rested his head in his hand and played with his food with the end of his fork.

“Well, what’s his name?” Arthur inquired. “This is at Barney’s, yes?”

“Yeah, his name is Eliott.”

“Well, I don’t know anyone who works at Barney’s named Eliott. Are you sure it wasn’t Idriss? He’s been working there since Barney before Barney passed away.” Yann mentioned.

“No, it wasn’t him.”

“This Eliott guy must be new to the shop, maybe you could ask the girls who he is?” Basile suggested.

“Yeah, you know what I think I will,” Lucas smiled to himself in anticipation of his new plans.

“Our Lucas is gonna get a boyfriend!” Yann yelled and patted Lucas on the back.

“Okay, okay, let’s not get carried away.”

———————————————————————

Lucas stepped onto the cobblestone street of King’s Grove. It wasn’t busy today, only a few people milled in the streets. It was Monday after all. Lucas wished more people could enjoy a day like today. Birds were singing in choirs, the sun illuminated everything beneath it, and the sky was bright blue.

Like Eliott’s eyes.

Lucas thought about going to Barney’s first, but he knew he would only embarrass himself, and he couldn’t even ponder how awkward it would be asking for Eliott’s number.

In addition to never having a boyfriend, Lucas had never flirted with a guy either. He remembers the blush that flooded his cheeks after leaving Barney’s with two bouquets in hand. How could he prevent that from happening? Was Lucas even capable of acting cool and casual? He figured he better stick to the people he knew, the girls.

The first stop was The Disco Danish Cafe, only because they were opened first. They always opened at 6 AM bright and early to serve their famous breakfast danishes.

“Lucas! Back again!” Alexia called out as she wiped down the counter.

“No way! You’re here two days in a row?” Manon asked as she came out of the double doors that led to the kitchen.

“I know, I get it, I don’t see you guys enough,” Lucas laughed and rolled his eyes.

“What’s up? Do you want a danish, it’s on the house,” Alexia gestured to the many different flavors of danishes lined up like soldiers in the display case before her.

“Well, I just ate.”

“Too bad! I’m giving you one anyway,” Alexia selected a cheese danish from the display case and wrapped it in parchment paper, then placed it neatly in a bag, sealing it with a sticker of the cafe’s logo. “Here you go, bestie!” Alexia handed the danish to him.

“Thank you so much, by the way, I have a question to ask both of you,” Lucas sat down on one of the pink stools at the bar where milkshakes and other desserts were served. “Could you tell me who all works at Barney’s as of right now?”

“Oh god, Lucas if this is about a boy we aren’t stalking him. It could ruin our business,” Manon said, shaking her head.

“I’ll stalk a boy for you, Lucas,” Alexia said as she rested her head on her hand, smiling. “Especially if he’s cute!”

“He is. His name is Eliott, do you guys know anything about him? Such as his last name?” Lucas questioned.

“Well, I’ve seen a new guy there recently. I mean, Lucas, you have to keep in mind we don’t know our other shopkeeper neighbors that well. We’ve only been here, what? Two years?” Manon looked at Alexia for confirmation. “Yeah, only about two years, Lu.”

“Are you talking about the boy with the gorgeous golden hair? Kinda tall with lanky limbs? Like a spider monkey?” Alexia asked.

“Um, I guess you could describe him that way?”

“Yeah, he’s new. He just started working there in February. He and Idriss seem like great friends for only working there a month or so,” Alexia commented.

“Lucas, this is silly! Why don’t you just go over there and ask for the boy’s number?” Manon tried reasoning with Lucas.

“Manon, I want to avoid embarrassment as much as possible.”

“Come on, Lu! You’re attractive and sweet as honey! He wouldn’t question as to why you were asking for his number, in fact, I think he’d be thrilled to have a number from a boy like you,” Alexia said as she patted Lucas’ head.

“But what if he’s not gay?” Lucas frowned.

“I didn’t even think of that,” Alexia realized, looking quite shocked as to how she didn’t think of that.

“Maybe you could ask Emmy and Kenzie? They’ve worked at their shop longer than we have. Maybe they know who this Eliott boy is,” Manon suggested.

“Brilliant, Manon! I should get on my way then. Lovely seeing you beauties.” Lucas winked and Alexia blushed.

“Bye, Lu!” Alexia smiled and waved after him. “Oh, Manon, just look at how excited he is about this boy.”

“I’m worried he’ll get his heartbroken. You know how clueless boys can be, what if Eliott is the same? And with Eliott potentially being Lucas’ first boyfriend? That’s terrifying,” Manon sighed and shook her head as she switched out the day-old tray of cookies with brand new ones.

“Give it a chance.”

———————————————————————

“Emmy! Kenzie!” Lucas shouted, knocking on The Book Nook’s door. “I know you’re in there just stalling on opening up the store because you want to keep reading your pleasure reads!”

Kenzie finally opened the door.

“No need to call us out like that, Lucas,” Kenzie said as she flipped the sign from “closed” to “open”.

“This is urgent! I have a boy on my mind and I need information on him immediately!” Lucas demanded.

“Oh, do tell!” Emmy enthused.

“He works at the flower shop across the street, he has beautiful golden hair, and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen,” Lucas might have daydreamed about Eliott a little too much. “His name is Eliott.”

“Eliott Demaury?” Kenzie chimed in.

“Is that his last name?” Lucas perked up.

“Lu, that’s Barney’s grandson!” Emmy exclaimed.

“But, how come I’ve never seen him before?”

“Well, he only came back to work at Barney’s about a month or so ago. He used to work there all the time when he was younger, I’m not sure why he left,” Kenzie commented. “I heard he took his grandfather’s death pretty hard.”

Suddenly, it went quiet. Lucas frowned at that statement. He may not know a single thing about Eliott aside from his name, but he did know that he never wanted to see Eliott be depressed. If Lucas was going to try and be this man’s boyfriend, he wanted Eliott to be the happiest he’s ever been.

“D-Do you know if he’s gay?” Lucas stuttered out.

“Oh, Lu, I have no idea,” Kenzie frowned at Lucas and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. “I do have his Instagram though, in case you wanted to ‘slide into his DM’s’.”

Instantly, butterflies appeared and fluttered in Lucas’ stomach, he could finally talk to Eliott.

“Could you give it to me?” Lucas smiled in enthusiasm.

“Well, of course, my dear boy!” Kenzie and Emmy laughed.

Kenzie wrote down his Instagram username on a post-it note and handed it to Lucas.

“I owe you one,” Lucas clasped Kenzie’s hands and pulled her in for a hug. Lucas noticed the danish he had placed on the counter when he walked in and grabbed it. “Hey! Have this free danish!”

“No problem, Lucas,” Kenzie cracked the seal and opened the bag. “It smells divine! Alexia and Manon make the best danishes in the world, and that’s a fact.”

Lucas soon left the shop and started his walk back home. Lucas pulled the note out of his pocket. This was the key to the door of the unknown. He didn’t know what to expect. He avoided thinking of the possibility that Eliott was straight and had no interest in him, but that wouldn’t explain the extra bouquet he had received yesterday. Lucas folded the note and tucked it back into his pocket. As he walked, he looked ahead to admire the mountains and prayed that this boy would be the one to change his life.

———————————————————————

Lucas decided that going back home wouldn’t be the best option. The rest of the gang would already have already left for work so it would have been Lucas in an empty apartment. Instead, he headed for a park that was a few blocks from the gang’s building. The note with Eliott’s Instagram had been burning a hole in Lucas’s pocket the whole walk here. Now Lucas sat on a bench that overlooked a pond, the note waiting to be unfolded.

Kids laughed as their parents pushed them on the swings and birds whistled back and forth to one another, but Lucas wasn’t paying any attention to them. His focus was on the post-it note that now sat in his hands. Lucas wasn’t sure what to do. He could unfold the note, message Eliott, and everything could fall into place. Or, he could message him and Eliott could think he was a total weirdo and never speak to him again, leading Lucas to never show his face on King’s Grove to avoid a very awkward run-in.

It’s been less than 24 hours and you’re acting like a complete idiot. Pull it together, Luc. You never know unless you try.

Lucas took a deep breath, unfolded the note, and typed the username into the Instagram search bar.

plantjunkieeli

The loading circle just kept spinning and spinning. If this is some stupid sign, Lucas thought, I swear-

The profiles loaded. And there he was at the top.

Lucas scrolled through Eliott’s photos like he would any of his friends, but if he stared just a little longer at the ones that were just Eliott, no one had to know. Lucas went back to the top of Eliott’s profile, his finger hovering over the ‘message’ button.

Here goes nothing

Lucas hit the button and a new screen came up along with the keyboard. He wasn’t sure what to say, ‘Hey, thanks for the flowers, kiss me?’ Probably not. ‘Hi, I like you wanna go out?’ also a no. Lucas put his head into his hands, his phone twisting around as he did.

Why is this so hard? All I have to do is send a thank you, that’s it. Lucas took a deep breath before pulling his head back. He looked at his screen before his eyes went wide.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” he groaned. There in a little gray bubble sat a single ‘h’. That was it, absolutely nothing else. Lucas locked his phone and set it next to him on the bench, closing his eyes as he threw his head back. Lucas sat there for a few minutes, trying to figure out how he was going to fix this. What the hell is wrong with me-

Ping!

Lucas’ head shot up, eyes wide as he stared at his phone. His screen was facing down, making him unable to see the notification, but he had a feeling he knew what it was. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he picked up the phone and turned it over.

plantjunkieeli sent you a message!

Lucas slid his finger across the screen and unlocked his phone, opening up Instagram.

plantjunkieeli: h?

lucallemant: i meant to send hi but my fingers went a little too fast

lucallemant: but hi

plantjunkieeli: hi :)

Lucas’ hands were shaking. It didn’t seem like Eliott was completely weirded out by Lucas, that was a good sign, right?

lucallemant: thanks for the flowers, they’re beautiful

plantjunkieeli: no problem

Lucas sighed, not knowing how to carry on the conversation. He locked his phone and stuffed it in his pocket, standing up from the bench. He started walking in the direction of the apartment when his phone pinged again,

plantjunkieeli: beautiful people deserve beautiful flowers :)

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