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[armenelols]

There isn't enough appreciation for Elrond's and Isildur's friendship.

I think much of this comes from the movies, where our only image of Isildur is his 'no' and Elrond yelling 'Isildur!', and then we see him die because he dives into the river while running away from a battle because the One Ring falls from his finger. Sure, there is some scroll Gandalf reads, but it only makes Isildur seem even more obsessed with the Ring than he already seemed. Add to that Aragorn's rambling about how he and Isildur share blood and weakness and you've got the perfect receipt for evil Isildur and 'cast it into the fire' memes.

Movie!Elrond's 'men are weak' really isn't helping.

So to start with, I think it is necessary to say that I am talking about book!Elrond and book!Isildur here, and while I don't recall either of them calling the other friend, it's a headcanon I have and it is to some extent supported by the books.

In the chapter The Disaster of the Gladden Fields in Unfinished Tales, Isildur shares a few exchanges with his son, Elendur, that I would like to show here.

Elendur went to his father, who was standing dark and alone, as if lost in thought. 'Atarinya,' he said, 'what of the power that would cow these foul creatures and command them to obey you? Is it then of no avail?'

'Alas, it is not, senya. I can not use it. I dread the pain of touching it. And I have not yet found the strength to bend it to my will. It needs one greater than I know myself to be. My pride has fallen. It should go to the Keepers of the Three.'

And later in the chapter:

'My king,' said Elendur, 'Ciryon is dead and Aratan is dying. Your last counsellor must advise, nay command you, as you commanded Ohtar. Go! Take your burden, and at all cost bring it to the Keepers: even at the cost of abandoning your men and me!'

'King's son,' said Isildur, 'I knew that I must do so; but I feared the pain. Nor could I go without your leave. Forgive me, and my pride that has brought you to this doom.'

Earlier in the chapter, we also get this passage talking about Isildur:

When he at last felt free to return to his own realm he was in haste, and he wished to go first to Imladris; for he had left his wife and youngest son there, and he had moreover and urgent need for the counsel of Elrond.

Nearer to the end of the chapter, when talking about Isildur's death, Tolkien writes this:

There suddenly he knew that the Ring had gone. By chance, or chance well used, it had left his hand and gone where he could never hope to find it again. At first so overwhelming was his sense of loss that he struggled no more, and would have sunk and drowned. But swift as it had come the mood passed. The pain had left him. A great burden had been taken away. There he rose up out of the water: only a mortal man, a small creature lost and abandoned in the wilds of Middle-Earth. But to the night-eyed Orcs that lurked there on the watch he loomed up, a monstrous shadow of fear, with a piercing eye like a star. They loosed their poisoned arrows at it, and fled.

And last from this chapter, this bit about the Ring itself:

It was little more than two years since it had left his [Sauron's] hand, and though it was swiftly cooling it was still heavy with his evil will, and seeking all means to return to its lord.

So what does this tell us? And in addition, where was I coming to with Elrond & Isildur friendship?

1. For all of Isildur's refusal to give up the Ring after the war ended here:

'Alas! yes,' said Elrond. 'Isildur took it, as should not have been. It should have been cast then into Orodruin's fire nigh at hand where it was made. But few marked what Isildur did. He alone stood by his father in that last mortal contest; and by Gil-galad only Círdan stood, and I. But Isildur would not listen to our counsel.

' "This I will have as weregild for my father, and my brother," he said; and therefore whether we would or no, he took it to treasure it.

- The Council of Elrond, Fellowship of the Ring

Isildur realized he was wrong. The Ring was still at its most evil, and it wanted to corrupt him, it wanted to go back to Sauron, yet Isildur resisted enough to be able to almost give up the Ring willingly or at least consider it.

When he was slain, he was already taking the Ring to Elrond. Whether he would have the strength to do it later, he resisted the Ring enough to at least consider it. How many would be able to do so? Of course, there was the factor of the very touch of the Ring paining him, but compared with the Ring's will, that's hardly enough to convince a man to give it up.

And at last, when the Ring slipped from his finger, he did not dive after it. He gave it up, and swam away; and even as the orcs killed him, they killed him a free man.

2. He was bringing the Ring to Elrond. At the very beginning I said this post is about Elrond's and Isildur's friendship, and finally, I am talking about it.

It should go to the Keepers of the Three, Isildur says of the Ring - and for that, he would have to know who the Keepers are, or at least know of someone who knows. And it is said repeatedly that he seeks Elrond's counsel, that he goes to Imladris; did he know Elrond has Vilya?

The location of the Three is one of the greatest secrets kept from Sauron, and it is said many times that almost no one knew of it. Did Isildur know, suspect? In addition to this, Elendur seems to have the same knowledge, which, as he is repeatedly called Isildur's greatest confidant, isn't much of a wonder.

All in all, Isildur either connected the dots well enough to realize that out of all high elven lords, it is Elrond bears a ring of power (and Isildur is clever, this is a possibility); or Elrond was not careful enough and Isildur figured it out from his missteps (which, considering Elrond's experience with cursed jewellery isn't very likely); or Elrond gave him hints on purpose; or he just. Straight up told him.

The last two options seem to be most likely to me, which brings me to Elrond trusting Isildur enough to reveal such a secret to him, which leads me to my Elrond and Isildur are friends agenda.

Should the first option be true, props to Isildur for figuring it out by himself without any clues from Elrond other than him being important. Should Isildur be bringing the Ring to Elrond in hopes that Elrond knows who the Keepers of the Three are, without knowing Elrond is one of them, it still shows Isildur trusted Elrond enough to bring him the Ring even for temporary keeping.

(there is also the matter of whether Isildur knows the other Keepers of the Three, as he mentions them a few times, but never enough to indicate if he knows who they are)

3. Parallels. It is said that Elendil and Gil-galad, the two high kings of their people are friends. Is it really so unlikely that Elrond, Gil-galad's herald (and possibly heir, even though he took no crown), and most trusted advisor besides Círdan; and Isildur, the heir of Elendil the Tall and his second in command, would strike a friendship?

The Isildur we are presented with is both bold and wise - he saves the fruit of the White Tree of Númenor alone because it needs to be done, and then he does it again, and he does it because it's the best for his people. He takes the Ring, and tries to make it listen to him, and realizes he made a mistake; he tries to fix it, and wants to bring it to Elrond.

The Isildur we are presented with has courage, and wisdom, and hope.

Do you know what does this remind me of?

Edain. Their ideals. The reasons why they got the gift of Númenor, greater wisdom, longer lives.

They resisted the evil, no matter how strong; they were loyal, true to their beliefs, brave and courageous.

Elros was chosen as the king of the Edain and really, I highly doubt Edain would choose him as a king just because of his heritage, or because someone told them to do so. Sure, someone could have pointed out Elros to them and say 'hey, look at this dude, he could be a nice king, what do you think?' but in the end, while they might start following Elros because someone else told them, I doubt they would let themselves be led by someone who wasn't the best representation of them. In Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth, Andreth does not shy away from telling Finrod her beliefs, the beliefs of her people. And I don't think that changed with time.

What am I trying to say? I think Elros and Isildur were both similar in many ways, in ways that made them the leaders they were - and that in a way, Elrond saw Elros in Isildur, as well as himself; for Elrond still connected strongly with his mortal kin, and as I mentioned earlier, their political positions were similar.

And while Isildur was his own person and had done things neither Elros or Elrond would have done, and had his own good and bad qualities, it doesn't erase the similarities.

4. Aragorn was raised in Rivendell, by his mother and Elrond and his people. Of all the people there, it is easy to see which ones would influence him the most: Gilraen, Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir. It is repeatedly shown how close he was to them. To some extent we may include Glorfindel, for they were friends, but not as much as the above mentioned four.

Now, as Estel, he wasn't aware of his heritage. He is shown to be proud of his heritage, of his descend from Isildur; and yes, this could be a simple pride in one's ancestors. It could have been that he simply liked Isildur as a historical legendary figure and it became greater after he learnt of his descend from him. Or it could have been that he was told many tales of Isildur, of his deeds and personality, and his family, and decided I want to be like him, and like Elendil, even without knowing he was in any way related to them.

And really, when it comes to the above-mentioned people, who would be the most likely to tell him stories of Isildur? Gilraen who only knew him from stories, or Glorfindel who was never mentioned around Isildur in the books, or Elladan and Elrohir, born after Isildur's death, who could have any number of first-hand stories about hundreds of Aragorn's cool ancestors but not Isildur himself?

All I am saying is there is a potential for Elrond to be telling stories of his old friend Isildur and Elendil and Gil-galad to Estel, and Estel loving them.

There is also the fact that in the chapter The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, Elendur, Isildur's son, is said to be very similar to Aragorn. And I love the idea of Elrond's and Isildur's sons paralleling each other, in a strange way, thousands of years apart.

5. In the books themselves, we do no see Elrond speaking about Isildur much. (I checked almost every mention of Isildur in most of my Tolkien books. So yeah.) On the Council of Elrond, Elrond talks about Isildur the most, but it is mainly in historical manner and 'the Ring should have been destroyed that day' manner, as you can see in the passage from the book I mentioned above in point 1.

This doesn't tell us much about their relationship, much less their friendship - and thus as a source for my image of them as friends, I give the place to The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, thinking they would make a good duo, and the potential of how Isildur's death may have had affected Elrond.

Isildur's death was unexpected. No one expected the road not to be safe - there is a reason why Isildur and his men were unprepared for a battle. They were simply journeying on a familiar road, to Rivendell and then Arnor. Not even the Orcs that ambushed them knew of the Ring. In Rivendell, they learnt of what happened only thanks to Ohtar, Isildur's squire who survived; and even then, the specific circumstances of his death were not revealed until Aragorn found Elendilmir and the chain which bore the Ring among Saruman's things.

In all honesty, I don't think even Elrond knew Isildur planned on giving him the Ring. I do not doubt he expected him, for his wife and youngest son were in Imladris - but I found no reason as to why he might know of Isildur's plans with the Ring.

That could give him a reason to speak ill of Isildur, couldn't it? Yet when he speaks of him, he only speaks of facts and what should have been done - he doesn't call Isildur too weak to give up the ring, or power-hungry, or proud - and by the latter, Isildur calls himself several times (as can be seen here, in the passages I used above)

It needs one greater than I know myself to be. My pride has fallen.

And here:

Forgive me, and my pride that has brought you to this doom.

And yes, it was a formal Council - Elrond had no reason to speak of his personal feelings towards Isildur. Yet I think the little he said reflects his thoughts well. He might have felt some bitterness towards him, especially as he later learnt what the Ring's nature truly was; and especially as he had no knowledge of Isildur being willing to give the Ring to him, for better or worse, whether he would find the strength to do so or not.

Still, once Elrond learnt of the Ring's Nature, I think he might have understood Isildur better - especially as he himself did not dare to even touch the Ring.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

YOUR EMPLOYEES AND INVESTORS WILL CONSTANTLY BE ASKING ARE WE THERE YET

I think I've figured out what's going on. After the first 10 or so we learned to treat deals as background processes that we should ignore till they terminated.1 Don't Get Your Hopes Up. Something hacked together means something that barely solves the problem, the harder it is to bait the hook with prestige. And that is almost certainly mistaken. So one thing that falls just short of the standard, I think, should be the highest goal for the marginal. Big companies think the function of office space is to express rank. As big companies' oligopolies became less secure, they were willing to pay a premium for labor. You can see it in old photos. If you're friends with a lot of the worst kinds of projects are the death of a thousand cuts. And what's especially dangerous is that many happen at your computer.

And the microcomputer business ended up being Apple vs Microsoft. In 1450 it was filled with the kind of turbulent and ambitious people you find now in America. You have to like what they do there than how much they can get the most done. That's not what makes startups worth the trouble. Design This kind of metric would allow us to compare different languages, but that if someone wanted to design a language explicitly to disprove this hyphothesis, they could probably do it. This technique can be generalized to: What's the best thing you could be doing, not just what you can see the results in any town in America. With this amount of money can change a startup's funding situation completely. There I found a copy of The Atlantic. Whereas it's easy to get sucked into working longer than you expected at the money job.2 That's ok. I think you have to do all three. But more importantly, you'll get into the habit of doing things well.

But what if the person in the next 40 years will bring us some wonderful things.3 They all know about the VCs who rejected Google. The writing of essays used to be.4 You may have read on Slashdot how he made his own Segway.5 He improvises: if someone appears in front of him, he runs around them; if someone tries to grab him, he spins out of their grip; he'll even run in the wrong place, anything might happen. The people who've worked for a few months I realized that what I'd been unconsciously hoping to find there was back in the place I'd just left. It was supposed to be something else, they ended up being Apple vs Microsoft. By 2012 that number was 18 years. The first thing you need is to be willing to look like a fool.6 Google they have a fair amount of data to go on. John Malkovich where the nerdy hero encounters a very attractive, sophisticated woman.

Many of the big companies were roll-ups that didn't have clear founders.7 Empirically, the way to the bed and breakfast, and other similar classes of accommodations, you get to hit a few difficult problems over the net at someone, you learn pretty quickly how hard they hit them anyway. Inexperienced founders make the same mistake as the people who list at ABNB, they list elsewhere too I am not negative on this one was the only way to get lots of referrals is to invest in students, not professors. It will actually become a reasonable strategy or a more reasonable strategy to suspect everything new.8 Never say we're passionate or our product is great. Whereas undergraduate admissions seem to be disappointments early on, when they're just a couple guys in an apartment. Programmers at Yahoo wouldn't have asked that.9 Incidentally, this scale might be helpful in deciding what to study in college. VCs think they're playing a zero sum game.

I spend most of my time writing essays lately. Almost everyone's initial plan is broken. If smaller source code is the purpose of comparing languages, because they come closest of any group I know to embodying it. Distracting is, similarly, desirable at the wrong time. But if we make kids work on dull stuff now is so they can get away with atrocious customer service. In fact, here there was a kid playing basketball? Of course, figuring out what you like.

Go out of your way to bring it up e. The industry term here is conversion. Try to keep the sense of wonder you had about programming at age 14. At least if you start a startup, people treat you as if you're unemployed.10 But hacking is like writing. Even with us working to make things happen the way they used to, they were moving to a cheaper apartment. It causes you to work not on what you like, but is disastrously lacking in others. I do in the rest of the world. Their defining quality is probably that they really love to program.

I could only figure out what to do, there's a natural tendency to stop looking.11 Economies of scale ruled the day.12 One is that this is simply the founders' living expenses.13 I need to transfer a file or edit a web page, and I think I know what is meant by readability, and I think they're onto something. Multiply this times several hundred, and I get an uneasy feeling when I look at my bookshelves. You may have read on Slashdot how he made his own Segway.14 Everyday life gives you no practice in this. Startups grow up around universities because universities bring together promising young people and make them work on anything they don't want to want, we consider technological progress good.

Notes

Samuel Johnson said no man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. Which is precisely my point. If they were regarded as 'just' even after the egalitarian pressures of World War II the tax codes were so new that the guys running Digg are especially sneaky, but except for money. They don't know enough about the new top story.

The image shows us, they tended to make money. But we invest in the Bible is Pride goeth before destruction, and one of the fake leading the fake leading the fake. In No Logo, Naomi Klein says that 15-20% of the aircraft is.

But because I realized the other writing of Paradise Lost that none who read a draft, Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson. If they agreed among themselves never to do due diligence for an investor? The best technique I've found for dealing with the other.

I ordered a large number of startups as they do for a public event, you can ignore. If you want to help the company, and a few of the Facebook that might produce the next Apple, maybe the corp dev is to show growth graphs at either stage, investors decide whether to go to die.

If you walk into a big company CEOs in 2002 was 3.

Or rather, where w is will and d discipline. But that turned out the existing shareholders, including that Florence was then the richest country in the sense of mission.

In Shakespeare's own time, because they can't afford to. The company may not be able to raise their kids in a company in Germany. When we got to see the apples, they said, and why it's next to impossible to write an essay about it wrong. That will in many cases be an open booth.

I'm not saying you should probably be worth trying to tell them exactly what constitutes research in the early 90s when they say they bear no blame for any particular truths you'll learn. As Jeremy Siegel points out that there is undeniably a grim satisfaction in hunting down certain sorts of bugs. Did you know about it as if you'd invested at a discount of 30% means when it was actually a great programmer doesn't merely do the right direction to be is represented by Milton.

But a lot of the next round. It's hard to say exactly what your body is telling you. In Russia they just kill you, they tend to be very unhealthy. One thing that drives most people realize, because you have two choices, choose the harder.

Though Balzac made a lot of classic abstract expressionism is doodling of this essay talks about programmers, but one by one they die and their houses are transformed by developers into McMansions and sold to VPs of Bus Dev. Or rather, where it sometimes causes investors to act. Eric Raymond says the best hackers want to trick admissions officers. And no, unfortunately, I mean efforts to protect widows and orphans from crooked investment schemes; people with a truly feudal economy, you better be sure you do in proper essays.

The top VCs thus have a better education. Or a phone, IM, email, Web, games, books, newspapers, or some vague thing like that. You need to fix. But the question is not much to maintain their percentage.

Kant. Loosely speaking. The real decline seems to them to lose elections. Some types of startups where the recipe is to say incendiary things, they can grow the acquisition offers most successful founders still get rich simply by being energetic and unscrupulous, but they get for free.

World War II to the frightening lies told by older siblings. That's one of the most general truths. As we walked in, we found they used it to get into that because a unless your last funding round.

But this seems an odd idea.

Thanks to Jessica Livingston, Shiro Kawai, Garry Tan, Chris Small, and Nikhil Nirmel for sharing their expertise on this topic.

[ofpineapplesanddawns]

Something continuing the doctor /arthur thing from yesterday, perhaps? Maybe the doc helping arthur get some way to move and they go barhopping while arthur critiques the bartenders and the doctor gets drunk enough to get a bit flirtier?

I'm sorry, I'm stealing your segway idea again, because I can't get over the mental image.

Warning: drinking

On with the fic!

--

"I do not believe this is really allowed, Doctor." Arthur frowned, drumming his fingers on his too-clean countertop. "But then again, I think it's rather too late to be saying that, yes?"

"Very much too late, my friend." The Doctor said as he finished using the sonic screwdriver to make the finishing touches on the hook up he had just performed. An old Follow-Me Artificial cart from the TARDIS' storage room had been repurposed to allow for Arthur to be able to leave his track.

It had been delicate work, taking two hours to properly disconnect the android without messing up his advanced systems, but the Doctor was clever. He was able to do all of this while keeping Arthur awake through it all to make sure that systems were operating once he made connections. It was a bit like open brain surgery, only this was happening on the torso of an android who looked very human.

"Alright, I think that should... do it!" The Doctor pocketed the sonic and stood up, smiling. "Give it a try!"

Arthur gently moved back, quick to fix his central balance systems to make sure he didn't tip over. He moved this way and that, trying out his new wheels, looking surprised at how he moved away from the bar, to the front.

"It is... not as fluid as my track, but it is a bit more chaotic, in a good way." Arthur noted and the Doctor was beaming with pride at this.

"Molto bene!" He held out his arm for Arthur to take. "Ready for a little bar hoppin'?"

"This sounds like it might not end well." Arthur commented.

"Ah, come on, have a little fun! Trust me, things will be fun!"

--

Arthur had found that he and the Doctor had very different definitions of the word 'fun'. But then again, Arthur never really experienced something like that, it wasn't part of his basic programming.

After locking up the bar, the Doctor had let Arthur around the space port, doing what he called 'window shopping' along the way to the nearest bar or pub. He seemed rather fascinated with some of the tackier shops, commenting on how much he loved 'little shops'.

The first bar they found was loud, obnoxious, and dreadfully crowded. Arthur couldn't help but feel rather jealous that such a place was doing so much better than his own, but people sacrificed class and quiet conversations for loud music and water-downed beers that probably tasted dreadful when you weren't drunk.

Not that Arthur could really taste them, nor could he get drunk. He hadn't tried, to be honest, but he didn't see any reason to do so. Arthur had let the Doctor order from the basic server droid at the bar, getting another fruity drink, seemed he liked sweet ones best.

The android himself had looked around at the selections, bothered by what they were selling. It was either very cheap (and sold at double or triple the worth), or complex drinks that were probably toxic to many of the species who were in the bar.

It had taken him two drinks (drunk by the Doctor) before he voiced his opinions aloud.

A living staff member escorted him and the Doctor out.

The next bar was clearly themed. 'Earth themed', the Doctor had noted, 'in all the worst ways, it seems'. He had visibly cringed as he looked at the dreadful decorations about the walls, but still went and order himself some drinks while Arthur stood next to him.

They had talked for a while, as the Doctor drank three more drinks. Arthur had not pointed out how he was sure the alcohol in those drinks was of a dreadful quality. Clearly, if the Doctor wished to get drunk, they could do it back at his bar, he could make the perfect drinks for the Doctor.

But the Doctor didn't seem to notice that Arthur wasn't pleased with the service droid behind the counter, who kept topping off the Doctor's drinks when he didn't seem to notice. Now, that was just terrible service, one should ask if the customer wished for another drink, not just assume.

"Doctor, I think we should go to another place." Arthur sighed.

"Hmmm...?" The Doctor's eyes looked a little glassy. "Whatcha mean?"

"You're being overcharged on the credit stick you've been using to pay for your drinks because the service droid is topping off your glass. By doing so, it is charging you for a 'new glass'."

The Doctor frowned, looking at his glass. "I was wondering why it seemed bottomless." He then scanned it with the sonic. "Yep, this is not Kolipian bottomless crystal. Welp! Let's try another one, I think the next one is, uhh... well, I think that one is a tiki bar! Could go for a pina colada!"

The Doctor slipped out of his seat and nearly fell over, but Arthur was quick to catch him. The Time Lord blinked, looking at Arthur, then gave him a rather goofy grin. "Oooh, you're a strong one, aren't you?"

"I am programmed for heavy lifting, if need be." Arthur replied.

The Doctor just continued to grin, and seemed to adjust Arthur's lapel. "Ready for another bar?"

"Yes, though after that, I fear you might need to take a break."

"Ah! We Time Lords have amazing resistance to alcohol!" The Doctor said as he got himself to his feet, but he still had to have Arthur help him, leading them to the next bar in the port.

The bartender looked human this time, and was clearly not synthetic life. She looked at Arthur funny and then frowned at the Doctor. "Oh great, more tourists." She grumbled, but then asked for their orders.

"I'll take your signature drink, please!" The Doctor said loudly.

"And a glass of water, please." Arthur replied, not for himself, but for the Doctor.

The bartender nodded, preparing a large, strange drink for the Doctor and then gave Arthur the glass of water. "Drink." He said to the Doctor, pushing the glass to him.

The Doctor looked at it, sipping from it. "Aww, it's sweet you're trying to help me out." He said, that grin was back.

"I am a professional." Arthur sniffed.

The smile didn't falter, and the Doctor turned to his drink, taking a long drink from it before he paused, setting it down. He frowned, smacking his lips, as if trying to study something.

"Is it not good?" Arthur asked, feeling a bit of strange pride in the idea of the drink being bad.

"It's... oh." The Doctor frowned, looking at the half-finished glass. "Ah, that's... that's ginger I taste."

"Ginger?"

"Can't, uh, can't really do well with ginger." The Doctor hiccuped, his cheeks a darker shade of pink than they had been when he started getting a bit drunk.

"Ginger is rather popular in drinks around here, I guess because some species really like it." Arthur replied. "Are you allergic?"

"It makes me... drunk."

"You're already drunk."

"I was tipsy, I'm..." The Doctor rubbed at his face, giggling a bit. "Oooh, that was a lot of ginger, I think, uh, I think there was some in some of the other things I drank already."

He placed his head on his arms on the bartop, giggling still. Arthur scanned him quickly, ah, yes, he did appear to be quite drunk. "Doctor, I think we should stop with your bar hopping idea, you should get some water in and maybe something to eat to help with what you drank."

The Doctor looked at him, smiling brightly, his eyes bright yet glassy. "You are just... such a sweet guy, Arthur, worryin' about me an' all that."

He reached out, touching Arthur's cheek with just the lightest touch. "Gosh, you're really pretty."

"Thank you? I'm meant to have a face that makes people calm and trustful of my services, to know that they will have an enjoyable evening having drinks from someone like me."

"That's a good idea... I think your face, trusted you the moment I saw you, good guy, I thought! Pretty guy! With pretty camera eyes, ooh, never seen an android with such eyes like yours, bet you're the prettiest of all your models."

"I do believe I am the only one of my model, actually."

"Ooooh, that makes it better. A unique face, all your own." The Doctor moved, leaning closer. He seemed to be trying to fix Arthur's bow tie again, before he frowned, resting his hands on the bartender's shoulders instead. "Wanna, uh, wanna lay down now."

"We shall get you back to my bar then." Arthur motioned to the bartender to pay. Once that was taken care of, and having the Doctor drink more from the water glass, he helped the Time Lord back to his bar.

Once inside, he helped the Doctor to a booth to sit at it, then went to get another glass of water. When Arthur returned, he found the Doctor toying with a lock of his hair, eyes on the android. "Whatcha gonna do when I leave?"

"I'll probably have you return me to my track before you leave and then I shall return to work." Arthur frowned, setting the glass down.

The Doctor took the water, sipping it, and frowned. "Don't want you to do that, you're wastin' away here, Arthur."

"It is my job to be here, Doctor. I was built to serve in this location."

"Don't want you to be forgotten, to be alone... I want you to come with me."

Arthur blinked. "Come... with you?"

"To see the stars! To see, to see... beyond the port! To be able to do more than just move about on some tracks behind a counter! You look like... the curious type, who deserves more, who deserves to have questions answered, to ask questions to learn more."

The android didn't know what to say to that. "I don't..."

"Run away with me." The Doctor sat up, his hand on Arthur's shoulder again.

"Run away with you?" The android found himself asked, his voice quiet, and he swore he almost sounded... hopeful?

He knew better than to question things, to go beyond his programming. He had heard what happened to robots and androids who went against protocol, against their jobs, they were scrapped and forgotten, or completely changed from who they had been with a whole new chip system.

Arthur... hated the idea of being different. He had come to like the person he shaped himself as from his time being active, he feared being forgotten or destroyed.

But the idea of seeing beyond these walls? To no longer having to wait for the doors to open for a customer who will sit and stay?

It was a dangerous thing, to run away. "I don't think I can do that."

"Mmmm..." The Doctor frowned, moving to rest his head on his arms. "Will you think about it?" He asked, sounding tired.

Arthur wanted to say no, but instead he said "I shall think it over, yes."

This seemed to bring a smile to the Doctor's lips. "Good, I hope you say yes. Someone as lovely as you shouldn't be forgotten." He said, his voice trailing off as he started to fall asleep.

Arthur wasn't sure what to say to that, so he decided not to. He left the glass where it was and went back to the bar, to consider the Doctor's proposal.

--

Ginger making the Doctor drunk is such a weird fact, but then again, pain killers are a literal poison to them, so... *shrugs*

Not as flirty as I originally planned, but the Doctor really does find Arthur pretty (because the writer does).

Oh, and a Follow-Me Artificial is a thing from one of the audio stories that David read, it was a silly reference to one of my favorite stories.

[regrettablewritings]

Preference: You Move In Together

Characters: Tadashi Hamada, Dewey Finn, Diana Prince, Cassian Andor, Clark Kent

Tadashi Hamada

It started out with a kiss – how did it end up like this?

“This” being you holding a flashlight as high up as your crossed arms would let you as you bemusedly watched your boyfriend fiddle with the generator. Though, you already knew that answer: You two had finally settled down to relax and watch a movie (a little treat for getting through your third day of moving into your new apartment), when a flickering light coming from the kitchen began to distract you from your peripheral. Ever the assure-er, your beloved boyfriend insisted it wasn’t anything serious, that it could easily wait until the morning, and give you a kiss of comfort for good measure. But no: It could not wait until morning. It would not wait until morning.

Instead, whatever was going on waited until the climax of the movie to decide to blow the power out, plunging you both into a well of darkness. You groaned loudly, realizing that this meant the both of you would have to wait until morning to get somebody out here to check it out.

“Why wait?” Tadashi asked. “You have one of SFIT’s finest living with you!”

Surprisingly, robotics and electrical engineering were not quite the same – even one of SFIT’s finest could (and did) find himself struggling to figure out what the problem was.

And for as bemused as you were about the entire situation . . . some part of you couldn’t help but find the tiniest kernels of enjoyment in it. It was that part of you that knew that, a couple years in the future, this would be looked upon as a sweet moment. One of those moments older couples remember when looking back on how far they’d come together.

You two had only been moved in to your apartment for less than a month and already your lives felt so full of potential memories: From Tadashi attempting to make “the first breakfast of the rest of your lives” (and subsequently setting off your kinda crappy fire alarm); to you slipping down the stairs on your butt and thus earning his light taunts as he inspected the damage; to the both of you waking up to find your inflatable mattress had deflated overnight after only two nights of sleeping on it.

Your lives felt so full . . . yet it was clearly only the beginning. And that was certainly something to look forward to. Well, that, and having dependable electricity.

“Okay!” you heard Tadashi exclaim, rising up from his previous position. You didn’t need to direct the flashlight at his face to know that he was sporting that confident smile of his. “This time, I think I’ve got it. ‘And the Lord said --” He positioned his finger on the switch. “ ‘Let there be light!’” And with that, he gave it a victorious flip.

Nothing. Still darkness. The only thing that changed was that the silence was now awkward and well-earned. It was only broken by a single clap of hands.

“. . .  You craving McNuggets? I’m craving McNuggets.”

You blinked. “McNug -- Tadashi, it’s almost midnight.”

“McNuggets, (Y/N)! Let’s go! We can pick up donuts after!” Tadashi insisted, gently pushing you towards the coat closet to retrieve a jacket. In the hustle and bustle, you gave up trying to stay unimpressed about the entire evening: You simply had to let out a laugh.

“Oh, Tadashi,” you sighed as you shook your head slowly, though not completely without adoration.

Yeah, you were both in it for the long run. And if you had known this sort of thing would happen, you still would’ve chosen him to be with. After all, if this kept up, your lives would be truly full before you knew it.

Dewey Finn

Statistically speaking, Staten Island is the cheapest borough to live in. However, New York is still New York. Meaning that you two are the very image that comes to mind when someone thinks about a young couple trying to make it work: The apartment is small; the walls aren’t paper-thin per se, but let’s just say you’d made cardboard club houses from sturdier stock; the quality of certain utilities isn’t exactly stellar, either, given that it was the best the two of you could afford; and you were both in positions that didn’t normally pay especially well in terms of making six figures.

And yet you both were pretty satisfied with the living situation.

Sure, moving your stuff in together was like playing life-size Tetris (with the added “bonus” of having to pick and choose what would be moved into storage and what you’d have to just give away). But after you got into the groove of things, it seemed to pale in comparison to the lives you’d begun to develop as a cohabiting couple.

For one, this was the first time in a long while where Dewey had actually lived in a clean/livable living space. Maybe not pristine, but there had been an established regimen of sorts: Dishes would be cleaned (even if begrudgingly) amongst the two of you; trash was taken out instead of left to grow into a mountain of pizza boxes and soda bottles and whatnot; and for the first time since he’d left his ma’s house, the mattress lay upon an actual box spring rather than a bunch of milk crates filled with records.

Completing the picture of the young struggling pre-famous by way of Dewey becoming a rock god couple was the assortment of Struggle Meals™ that had become a part of your day-to-day lives. Sure, you tried to eat healthy, but let’s be real: Cooking can be such a pain in the ass. It took a while, but you eventually had to agree for the betterment of your budgets to limit eating out to the weekends every other weekend. Until then, weird salads and Chili Mac and crockpots full of “let’s see what happens when we throw all this stuff in because their best by dates are coming and we kinda need to not waste this shit” stew would have to hold you guys over.

And yet, it wasn’t all bad.

There would be nights when Dewey would be on a song-writing kick up until one or chord would stump him, or nights where you’d have to bring paperwork home and you would begin to contemplate the consequences of just flinging it out the window. In moments like those, you were one anothers’ biggest cheerleaders.

You would continue to be one of the only people that could get Dewey to take a break, insisting that maybe going on a walk might help or maybe he can stop for a moment and just join you for a couple rounds of Mario Kart. And he would fix you up your favorite tea or, in turn, insist that you take a break before you slammed your face into the wall. It rarely actually mattered what one did for the other in that specific moment because no matter what it was, it was all the other needed to get over that roadblock.

And then there were those quiet moments . . . Dewey was never a quiet person, never really was into the quiet. But when you two moved in together, he sort of had to learn to respect those for your sake. And even though it was (and still can be) a bit of a struggle . . . you make it so much easier for him. Just by linking your hands together or running your fingers through his hair while you read. Or by rubbing his shoulders while you lounge behind him on the couch while he messes around with a lesson plan . . .

All in all, in some awkward yet beautiful way, you’re making in work. You try to take turns and share responsibilities, you both go and work your butts off to keep the lights on in this World’s Most Expensive Animal Cracker Box you call in apartment. It’s far from easy. But there’s just this massive feeling of satisfaction that hits the both of you when you come home after a long day of work, collapse on the couch, glance at each other with the most exhausted faces and go, “Wow, you look like shit.” Punctuated with a kiss, of course.

(Hey, it’s a Staten Island love story.)

Diana Prince

It all just sort of happened, really. There wasn’t any actual intention of you two living together-- at least, not at first. It had actually just started off with you coming over to Diana’s place just to house-sit whenever she had to go on a mission or even back home (after all, who better to watch her home than her beloved). Of course, this didn’t occur too often at first: She’d mostly retired from the vigilante life by the time you two had established anything. But once Bruce gathered up the Metahumans for a common cause, Diana’s need for you to come by became more frequent. So of course that meant you stayed over more often -- which, of course, meant you would have to make yourself right at home.

When Diana found an article of your clothing mixed in with her own laundry, though, that was when it occurred to her that perhaps it might be more beneficial for you to just stay there. Without the whole going back to your place bit.

You never pushed for it before: After all, for as loving as she was, Diana was still a woman who needed her space, given her history. You felt honored enough that she deemed you worthy of sharing her secret with, you weren’t about to apply more pressure to her by demanding that she let you move in.

Thankfully, no regrets were had.

You felt such childish glee in the moments when you’d wake up and see your gorgeous girlfriend in the kitchen, boiling coffee -- you were actually a little embarrassed at first. But given that Diana was never one to hide her feelings, it didn’t take long for you to realize that she actually felt the exact same: With you around more frequently, the apartment felt far less lonely. Far more warm and welcoming.

It wasn’t just filled with "her" stuff because now it had "your" stuff -- as in things that belonged to the both of you now. And sure, it might've been just little things like desk plants or jello molds or gimmicky little mugs, but it didn't matter to her-- they were yours. Together. Like an actual unit!

There were discussions of comfort zones to avoid as many clashes as possible; you communicated with one another about what idiosyncrasies were and weren’t going to be potential problems and how to possibly combat those.

It wasn’t always perfect, of course, but neither of you would have traded it for anything after you became accustomed to your new living situation.

But the very best moments were when she’d come home after being gone with the League. Tired, sometimes even still in costume, she’d trudge into the apartment, right into the bedroom, before collapsing on the bed next to you. Even if the feeling of your Amazonian girlfriend crashing down didn’t wake you, the exhausted yet relieved sigh she’d release most definitely would. And every time that happened, the first thing you’d feel wouldn’t be irritation at being woken up: It would be excitement.

She’s home! you would cheer on the inside, even if your tired body wouldn’t portray as much excitement as you would try to sit upright to greet her.

“Welcome home,” you smiled every time, voice husky with sleep. And she would smile back. Tired, yes, but always with so much love.

“Hello, beloved,” she would greet. “How was your day?” She would ask this every time. And she would listen, no matter what you responded with.

It was a good life.

Cassian Andor

You fought in a war, you survived a deadly mission that turned the tide for the war, the war ended . . . Now what? You buy a home together.

Oh, if only it were so simple.

Neither you nor Cassian really had much of an idea of where to move to for starters. Sure, you talked a big game about the places you wanted to travel to and see for yourselves, but vacations seemed far more within reach than a milestone like moving in together. At one point, you humored the possibility of just traveling around to those places you’d marked and just settle down in one of them, but they were hardly places you could see yourselves actually living in.

But in the end, you picked Takodana: Lush, green, neutral. Cassian was admittedly hesitant at the idea of settling on neutral territory: To him, that would’ve been just as bad as going somewhere where they didn’t care that a war was happening. But you insisted upon it, voicing how perhaps the influence of a quiet life might rub off on him. Plus, it was hard for him to argue with how calm and quiet it all was. An adjustment from the bustle and yells of a rebel base as he had literally grown used to, but not an entirely unpleasant one.

He never knew that crickets could sound so soothing.

Really, the adjustment of moving in together came from the fact that it wasn’t moving into a small section of living quarters sanctioned by an army: It was an entire home, just for the two of you (and K2), surrounded by forests and near enough to civilization while still being far enough away to assure privacy.

It felt weird to Cassian, who’d spent virtually his entire life living with the opposite: Constantly surrounded by people, constantly surrounded by dust, near enough to others while simultaneously being . . . alone.

Only he wasn’t alone: He was alone with you. And that’s what made all the difference for him. Sure, he wasn’t going to entirely give up his insistence on investing in protective measures. And just because it was your home, didn’t mean you were allowed to slack off on the order of the pantry or how fabrics like towels were folded, as though you were tossing away years of mandated regimen.

But so long as he has you, his link to regaining his sense of self? Who Cassian Jeron Andor is without the war? He’s pretty sure he can make that leap and start his next mission: Starting a family together.

Clark Kent

You two liked to joke that it was done in order to better brave the ridiculous Metropolis housing market. Which wasn’t far from the truth, actually. But the reality clearly had more to do with the fact that moving in together, after being a couple for so long, just felt like the right thing to do. Sure, it wasn’t exactly the most mystical or romantic of reasons, but why complicate things? This was already a relationship composed of the Kryptonian alien who caused a calamity and the woman who helped to try and kill him for it.

The beautiful thing about your new living situation was that it was a unique blend of the mundane and the strange. Unique: You were living with Superman which meant that after a point, it became somewhat necessary for you to know how to clean his suit and cape in the event he couldn’t be home to do it himself. Mundane: Clark liked taking care of you, and that meant sometimes you woke up to breakfast in bed or came home to find that he’d run you a nice, hot bath.

Unique: Dusting and vacuuming high corners and hard-to-reach places was a thing of the past since Clark could easily lift the heaviest of furniture, lift you up himself, or even fly up to perform the task. Mundane: On some evenings, you two could just end the day by relaxing on the couch, you lying on your back as Clark rested his head on your tummy so that you had access to play with his curls. Unique and mundane: You now had the option of completing grocery bag trips in one go. It wasn’t advised due to the whole issue of discretion, but, like, at least the possibility was now there.

Mundanely unique: His fast metabolism meant that your fridge, freezer, and cabinets were stocked to the bring with snacks of all kinds. Uniquely mundane: Clark snored a bit in his sleep and as much as you loved him, no amount of love could make snoring cute.

But compared to everything else, you’d take it in a heartbeat. You never imagined yourself having a life quite like this, to say the least. But now you could never imagine yourself having anything different.

[badger-writes]

Star Wars OC Ship Week 2021 - “for light and love”

3 - Angst/Drama

When Jedi found themselves troubled, they visited the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

Throughout its history, this chamber of the Jedi Temple ziggurat had always been set aside as a meditative refuge, a sanctuary of verdant greenery and trickling waters. Assembled herein one could find a collection of flora both native and foreign, from blartree blossoms and chrysanthis shrubs to a bahnsgresk bush grove to trebala and assari trees, shading the walkways with their trunks and branches - a garden of a thousand worlds.

Though the caretakers of this special corner of the Temple had always strived to enforce a kind of olamic traditionalism to its furnishings, the spirit of the times sometimes encroached upon this timeless space; and so the High Republic crept into the Room of a Thousand Fountains by way of its masonry, which now favored heavy geometric influences, stylized decorative reliefs, and smooth, streamlined lines which swept their way around the room in a sheen of gold and marble. These elements existed alongside their landscaped counterpoints in a carefully cultivated balance; a chamber with one foot in the ageless past, and the next in the bold, brilliant future that the Republic promised to all.

Here, one could pause for a moment, immersed in the energy of the Living Force, and reflect upon themselves and their place in the universe.

It was not a place Sskeer visited often.

Though the paths were lined with benches to encourage thoughtful rest, he preferred to keep moving, pacing through the gardens at a stride just above his typical walking speed; his feet seemed to slap the stone walkways no matter how he tried to control himself, trying to beat out his frustrations through their soles. Not for the first time, he considered that the best place for him to ruminate on his disquiet was not the Room of a Thousand Fountains. In the sparring chambers, at least, he would be less… disruptive.

He rounded a corner, emerging from a grove of hedges, and stopped. At the end of the short path rolling out before him lay a plaza surrounding one of the chamber’s great sculpted fountain fixtures; a great bowl-shaped basin spread out from its center, and rising into the air within its circumference were several other, smaller basins, overflowing with hanging moss and vines and pakiphanto ear plants, each of them carrying a tiny stream of clear water which trickled from their highest point to their lowest and back again. A tiny column-shaped islet rose out of the center of the basin, only large enough to hold the holoprojector installed in its capital; out of the projector’s eye shimmered an image of one of the era’s eventual Great Works, the Starlight Beacon. The huge space station, when it was finished, would be an outpost of progress and charity to all the worlds of the Outer Rim, a promise of the prosperity of the Republic and the justice of the Jedi. It hovered above the surface of the waters, framed by the hanging gardens, spinning slowly on its axis. Even on this much, much smaller scale, Sskeer couldn’t help but be impressed.

Someone else was standing at the edge of the basin - a Rodian with pale skin and a rather distinctive topknot. Sskeer crossed the way over to his side.

“Healer Lem,” he rumbled, crossing his arms. “It’s good to see you.”

“Oh,” Kelto mumbled, glancing. “Hello, Sskeer.”

“You appear troubled.”

“Am I so obvious?”

“It is no sin. I find myself frustrated tonight as well.”

Kelto hummed. The sound of it was hollow - less inquisitive, more melancholy. “I don’t know if I can help with that, but, you know… let me know.”

Sskeer cocked his head. “Why would you think that?”

“I just - I’m not a Consular, that’s all. Cuts and bruises, I can handle. The talking thing, it’s… I don’t do that so well.”

“Perhaps. But even so, as long as you’re here... I would appreciate your company. And I sense you would benefit from mine.”

“I… maybe. I guess.”

The Trandosham crossed his arms and raised an brow. “Perhaps you would like to discuss what’s been troubling you?”, he suggested.

Kelto opened his mouth… and closed it. “No, no. That’s okay. Thank you, but... I’ll manage.”

“Are you sure?”

“I mean, it’s pretty late already. The last thing you must want is to stand here and listen to my problems.”

“Try me.”

A shrug.

Sskeer exhaled slowly through his nose. His gaze flicked back to the pool before them, where waterlilies floated tranquilly upon the rippling face of the waters.

“I think I should insist,” he said quietly. “As a friend.”

“... I don’t want to burden you.”

“It wouldn’t be a burden.” A pause. “Not from you.”

Sighing, Kelto fell silent. He, too, kept his eyes fixed on the pond’s mirrorlike surface. Then, slowly, his gaze turned upwards, towards the hologram suspended above them.

“That’s really something,” he said wonderingly. “Isn’t it? The Beacon, I mean. It’s just... incredible. That the Republic and the Jedi can build something like that? Imagine what it can do for people living on the frontier.”

Nodding, Sskeer studied the diagram as well. “A space station on the galactic fringe can do little by itself,” he commented. “It needs people, too. Diplomats, explorers…”

“Guardians,” Kelto said wryly.

“Yes. And healers.” Sskeer gave him a sympathetic glance. “It would be an honor to be stationed there, would it not?”

The Rodian pursed his lips. They flattened into a noncommittal line as he shrugged. “Not really my thing,” he mumbled.

“I find it hard to believe you’d refuse an assignment where you could do so much good so easily.”

“Yeah, well.” And then Kelto went silent, leaning against the rim of the fountain.

Sskeer let his arms fall to his sides, brow furrowing. “You’re serious.”

A sad little shrug.

“You’d really waste your talents hiding in the Temple, rather than using them for the good of others? Without even an explanation? Are you so callous?”

In truth, he almost regretted saying it. But it did, at least, provoke a reaction from Kelto, who turned away from the fountain at last. “I’m not callous.”

“Selfish, then. Hoarding your knowledge and abilities for one one’s benefit but your own. Or perhaps just cowardly?”

“W-what is this, Sskeer? An inquisition? I thought you were trying to help me!”

“I am,” he said firmly. “But I don’t know what’s wrong. Blast it, Lem, it’s as if you’ve just… given up!”

Irritation launched his voice an octave higher than he meant, transforming a sentence into a bark. The lilies bobbed on the water. For a moment, Starlight Beacon flickered.

For a moment, Kelto stared at him agape, and Sskeer noticed his eyes (the first thing he’d noticed about him had been his eyes, long months ago, and the shiny white spots lying just under their aqueous outer membrane, that peculiar Rodian quality of seeming to hold a sky’s worth of stars in their surface) seemed brittle, now, and dull. Where there had once been light there was now not dark, but … an absence. An open pit in the soul.

Sskeer’s heart panged with sorrow. What frustration still lingered on his face passed like a fleeting shadow. Silently, he waited.

At last, Kelto sighed, clasping his hands back behind his waist; his fingers continued to fidget and twiddle as he turned back to the pond. For a moment, Sskeer feared he had broken their friendship, perhaps irrepairably.

Then Kelto said, “So the thing is… I’m kind of a bad Jedi.”

“No,” the Trandoshan insisted in a whisper.

“I am, Sskeer. What you said is true. And what’s more, you’re right to call me out. I’m cowardly, and selfish, and I hide myself in the healing wards instead of really doing anything with the talent and opportunities that I’ve been given. I…” He snorted, shaking his head. “I’m at the point where I fear being in public more than I fear the dark side. How stupid is that?”

Sskeer swallowed, mouth dry. He wondered what he could possibly say.

“I just… I don’t know how it happened. I was fine in the creche, I think. I- I had friends, I got along with people. I could… Star’s End, I could hold one conversation with somebody else without falling all to pieces, like I do with you.”

“That’s not your fault,” Sskeer said quickly. “I - that is, we - there’s... extenuating circumstances. Passion is just - ”

“Yeah, HoloNet news flash: feelings are hard,” Kelto murmured darkly. “Believe me, big guy, I know.”

“I only wanted to--” Sskeer grunted, biting his tongue. If only Jora Malli were here to help him talk some sense into Kelto.

“But then I grew up,” Kelto continued. “And I was still, you know, okay! I could… work with my Master, and with others, and I helped people… and then I was knighted, and I just… there was all this shyness and anxiety inside of me, and it just kept growing and growing and growing until… until I just couldn’t take other people anymore, except when I had the energy for it.

“I think that’s the real reason I transferred back to the Temple. I just… couldn’t take it anymore, putting myself out there. At least in the medical bay, it’s just a job. You can find a niche and serve and go back to your quarters. You don’t have to… to be seen all the time.

“But who did I serve, huh? Younglings with scraped knees and bloody noses. Nobody who really needed it. Nobody who would’ve died if I hadn’t been there. Meanwhile, how many people on the frontier do you think need a healer right now? How many won’t last the night? Because right now, Sskeer, I’m letting down all of them. And believe me, I know it.”

Kelto paused, taking a gulp of air, and looked up at the brilliant blue hologram again. “And then I heard about Starlight Beacon. And I felt… I felt something, deep down. Like the Force was trying to give me a second chance. Like I could - like I could make up for all of it, if I could only just get over myself.

“And I tried to,” he said thickly, snout quivering. “Please, Sskeer - believe whatever you want about me, but please, please believe I tried to fix whatever’s wrong with me. But-- b-but I just--”

Sskeer took him by the elbow and turned him back towards himself, grasping his much smaller arms in his clawed fingers. “Don’t talk this way,” he murmured. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not true.”

“W-well, maybe it is,” Kelto hiccupped, eyes wet. His face crumpled more and more the longer he spoke. “After everything with me, and then you, and the Code -- maybe I just can’t hack it as a Jedi. Maybe I was never supposed to, a-and I just got lucky, and now - and now I - ”

“What, Kelto?”

“And now I’m dragging you down with me.”

For a long moment, they stood there, staring at each other. Kelto sniffled horribly, scrubbing at his eyes with the heel of one hand. Sskeer’s mouth hung slightly agape, but his mind seemed to be lost somewhere, thrown far away.

“Just let me go,” he whispered, blinking hard. “Please. I- I’ll go, okay? I can just… leave. The Jedi - they’ll all be better off, and - a-and so will you.”

“No,” Sskeer said suddenly. His grip tightened around Kelto’s arms like a vise.

“I-I’m serious, big guy. I think… I think I’m done. I tried, and-- and I failed.”

“You listen to me, little healer. You will not leave, and you will not give up on yourself, do you understand? I won’t allow it. I refuse to.”

 “Sskeer - Sskeer, please, come on. I’m not worth it--”

“Yes you are,” the Trandoshan hissed. “Even if you won’t see it.”

“Look here,” he continued, seizing one of the Rodian’s wrists. He pushed the palm of Kelto’s hand into his chest, letting his fingers splay out against his robes, over his heart. “Remember what you did here, for someone you barely knew. Remember how you used your gift for nothing else than to help a creature in need. Does that seem like failure to you?”

Kelto shrugged weakly, trembling.

“And then you confronted that fear and anxiety inside, that same day, and every day after that. All for the sake of me. Would a coward do that, Kelto?”

“I… I don’t know. Maybe?” He swallowed. “I-it was hard, sometimes.”

“I know this now, Kelto. I wish I had before. Perhaps I could have… helped, somehow. Or found some way to help you reach out.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” the Rodian muttered, hanging his head. “This - this isn’t something you could have fixed, Sskeer. It was always my problem alone.”

Sskeer growled, deep in his throat. When he turned back to face the pond, he kept his arm around Kelto’s back, still clasping his arm - holding him gently against his side.

“You remind me of myself,” he said finally.

“Now that’s a joke,” Kelto said, sniffing. “I’m - I’m a hot mess, Sskeer. You, you’re just… you’re everything a Jedi Knight should be. You’re magnificent. How could you possibly compare yourself to somebody like me?”

“Did you think you were the only one who doubted his place in the Order?”

Kelto looked up at Sskeer, stunned. The Trandoshan, in turn, stared into the fountain. Starlight Beacon’s reflection glimmered in his eyes; slowly, as he let a sigh out through his nostrils, they fell shut.

“I have… often found myself uncertain about my place in the Jedi,” he said at length. “There are times when our teachings and precepts seem to be... fundamentally incompatible with - who I am. Or, what I am.”

He raised one three-fingered hand out before him, looking down at it, turning it this way and that. He examined the thick scales which lined his skin, the blunt claws that tipped each finger. Shame crept into the lines of his face.

“I am Trandoshan. I know this is no surprise to you - and I, myself, have had many years to acquaint myself with this truth. But for many in the galaxy, when they meet a Jedi Knight for the first time, it is a… surprising thing. For some, it’s even… repulsive. And for that, I cannot judge them.

“The T’doshok may be my race, but I could never call them my people. Not for their instincts for slaughter and cruelty, not for their hunters who trap animals and slaves for their sport, not their ‘Scorekeeper’ who tallies points to the scale of their butchery - the very thought of  It is anathema to life itself. A… disgusting perversion of the natural order of the universe. I can be party to none of it.

“And yet-- if not for the Seekers, I might have been. Had the course of my life taken one turn and not another, it would be I hunting the innocent and the weak, soaking my claws in the blood and the filth of that detestable culture. And I’m reminded of that whenever I meet those I’m oathsworn to protect - and the world I’ve left behind is all of myself that they can see.”

“W-well - well, that’s just - that’s just other people, Sskeer, they don’t know any better. And besides, you’ve - you’ve overcome that through your training, right? And your discipline. So.. so it’s not even a problem.”

“Were it so easy to believe,” Sskeer exhaled, clenching his fist.

“What do you mean?”

“There are… moments. When I speak, when I act. When I swing my lightsaber. There’s a - it’s like a beast, Kelto. Like a dragon, inside of me, coiled around my heart. My intensity, ferocity… my frustration… I think this is where they come from. For a long time I believed I was battling the Dark Side, the little bit of it within us all, as a Jedi should. But… perhaps it is deeper than that. Perhaps it is an instinct, a genetic memory. Something in the blood.

Perhaps, as you said, it’s something about myself that can’t be fixed.”

He didn’t know what he’d expected would happen - perhaps a weight would lift from his shoulders. Perhaps the shadow which clung to his heart and his mind would finally pass when he was able to find the words, and speak them. But something would happen, surely, when he finally let this secret shame pass his lips.

Instead, he felt exactly the same. Life was proceeding exactly as it had before. Nothing had changed.

He was still a Jedi. He was still a Trandoshan.

Kelto was still looking at him. He still seemed stricken, but no longer as badly rattled. Sskeer let his hand fall back to his side and turned his face back towards the hologram of Starlight Beacon.

“But perhaps that’s not the point,” he continued. “If we could all banish the flaws within ourselves for all time with only a little effort, we would all be totally perfect creations. Perhaps the point is not whether our feet will always keep to the path of the righteous, but that we walk it as best we can, because the promise of something better lies at its end. Perhaps how far we can walk it does not matter, so long as we remain willing to take another step.

“That is what I think, anyway. And that is why I stay. And as long as I believe that, I can beat back the darkness inside of me a little longer.”

Kelto stared up at him wonderingly. He turned to watch the hologram as well, and for a moment’s pause they watched it slowly turning on the surface of the water, surrounded by verdant, flowering life.

“Every life saved, every battle won, every choice made - every time we turn towards the light, is its own victory. All of it, so that we might bring a light as brilliant as this into the universe,” Sskeer observed. “But we must confront our fears and doubts, and conquer them, before they extinguish our own. How else can we make such things be?”

Kelto tried to swallow, and choked. He brought his fingers up to clasp the Trandoshan’s where they curled around his arm. They didn’t feel monstrous at all. They felt like a friend’s.

“You… you really think I can do it?”

“I know it.”

“I-- gods,” he whispered. “I just-- I’ve tried to go it alone for so long.”

“You shall do so no longer.” Gently, Sskeer turned the Rodian to face him, clasping his hands in his own. “On my oath as a Guardian, Kelto Lem, I vow to do all I can to help you conquer these inner demons. If I must, I will protect you from yourself, as I have tonight. From this moment forward, your pain shall be mine, too - until we banish it forever, no matter how long that takes.

“In turn, I must ask that you swear to join me in this effort with equal vigor and equal determination, until - by virtue of our own will and discipline - you are once more the Jedi that I believe you can be.

“For light and for life.”

“...For light and for life,” Kelto echoed.

Sskeer hummed, nodding. He touched his knuckle against the bottom of Kelto’s chin. “You’re on your oath, now,” he rumbled. “No more talk of leaving.”

“R-right.” The healer took a shaky breath, swallowing, then forced it out slowly through his lips. “I-- thank you, Sskeer. This - this was a dark night for me. The darkest in a while.”

“I shall ward them away,” he replied, a hand to his chest. “That they may torment you no longer. And,” he added, smiling, “you in turn, I think, shall do the same for me.”

Kelto smiled too, brittlely, lips trembling at their corners. Finally, when he could bear it no longer, he threw himself into Sskeer’s arms, burying his face in his chest.

“Thank you,” he mumbled through happy sobs. “Thank you, thank you, thank you…!”

Slowly, Sskeer returned the hug, wrapping his arms as securely around Kelto as he could without crushing him. The Rodian was stood on his toes, swaying, trying to make himself as tall as himself; he shushed into his ear softly, stroking the back of his head with the pads of his fingers.

“I love you so much, Sskeer,” Kelto confessed.

Sskeer shushed him again. The healer was already emotionally compromised enough for one night. There would be time enough to untangle those feelings later - time enough for them both.

Instead, Sskeer held Kelto against his chest and gazed up at the dream of Starlight Beacon, and hoped that one day, both of them would be worthy enough to reach it.

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader - “Trapped” Part 2

Almost one year ago, someone tried to kill The Joker in a speeding car and Y/N pushed him out of the way, getting hit instead. With a fractured skull and broken bones, she was out of business for 6 months; when she finally recovered, The Queen of Gotham wasn’t the same anymore. Trapped inside her own mind and exhibiting severe cognitive impairment, Y/N’s life switched upside down without any hope of ever returning to normal.

Part 1      Part 3     Part 4    Part 5

The Joker feels your hand searching around and he knows what you’re looking for: the yellow teddy bear.

“Here Pumpkin,” J gives you the toy that landed on the other side of the bed during the night; a couple minutes pass and his cheek is covered in soft kisses. He opens one eye and you instantly pretend to be asleep.

“I’m onto you, Y/N!” The King of Gotham sneers while you giggle at his affirmation. But as soon as he pecks the scar on your collarbone, your attitude changes.

“No…”, you whimper and cover your face with the sheets.

“I told you before I don’t care about scars,” The Joker tries to reason with you because it happens each time he touches the numerous stitch marks scattered all over your frame: some are deeper lacerations perfectly normal after the surgeries you sustained, others are cuts that might diminish in a few months. “Princess, are you listening?” J traces the lesion on your wrist.

Y/N is so stiff though he has to fight in order to pull the covers away from her.

“Hey…hey… See? I have scars too,” The Clown attempts to distract you. “Are you having a panic attack? No need to!”

You try to keep up with what he’s saying and it’s pretty difficult giving the circumstances; at least you do understand J is making you relax.

His cell phone starts vibrating on the nightstand and he reaches for it.

“Perfect timing, Frost!” The Joker takes his frustration on Jonny. “What do you want?!!”

The short conversation ends fast with The King yelling a bunch of angry stuff, including an interesting grand finale: “Next time you interrupt when I’m on a roll struggling to get laid, maybe you’d like to intervene and convince Y/N her scars don’t bother me!!!”

Why is he mad?...

You watch him toss the phone on the floor and crawl by him, intrigued.

“Upset?” you begin caressing his hair with the teddy bear’s paw.

“My throne won’t be ready until June, Princess! I requested that fancy chair for a reason and paid a fortune to have it customized! What am I supposed to use at the club?! I don’t like the old furniture anymore!!”

You already lost track of what he’s saying: something about not having a throne???… … …

Oh, there’s one really close by!

You grab The Joker’s arm and drag him out of bed towards the bathroom.

“Where are we going?” he inquires, confused.

You quickly guide him to the toilet, making J sit on the closed lid.

“Throne,” you point at the porcelain bowl and The King of Gotham frowns, immediately bursting into laughter afterwards.

“You’re brilliant, Pumpkin! Brilliant!” he praises your interpretation as you are pulled on his knees.

“Hm?”

“You’re a clever Kitten and whoever says otherwise is an idiot! Turns out I do have a throne,” he admits and gropes you.

Too much for your brain to decipher all his sentences, yet Mister J seems content and that’s enough for you.

“The plan for this morning is simple,” he continues. “We’ll have sex, then take a shower and whatnot, then eat breakfast. Later I have a meeting; you just stay here and wait for me, alright?”

“Mmm…” you hesitantly process the words coming out of his mouth, opting to agree for his sake. “Ok?”

“You naughty girl,” he pulls down on your tank top spaghetti strap. ”I know you hate me sometimes, but in the end can’t resist my charm.”

“No hate… Love,” you snuggle to J while he walks back into the bedroom carrying the sweet burden of his existence; of course he ignored your statement because why would he pay attention to nonsense?

*************

You’re outside the car and sulk when Alice sneaks on the passenger’s seat that literally belongs to The Queen.

“Stay here, Princess. I won’t be too long,” The Joker mutters.

“W-why?” you ask since you are not a fan of the idea of having your boyfriend’s ex riding alone with him.

“You get bored at meetings,” he explains. “Circle the property and let the boys know if you need anything,” J emphasizes and drives down the path leading to the gates, leaving a puzzled Y/N behind: you never liked Alice and that didn’t vanish after the accident.

“Bye, Y/N!” she shouts and you can’t make a lot of sense of what you’re feeling, still one detail is certain: it hurts.

How come you couldn’t go?! Why didn’t he give you a choice?! He always does.

If The Joker thinks you can’t put two and two together these days, he’s very wrong.

“Y/N recovered quite nicely,” Alice smirks.

The King of Gotham sighs and she fixes a rebel strand of green hair rebelliously flying over his ear.

“I was wondering if you’ll call me at one point. I missed you, babe.”

“Did ya’?” he scoffs at her bold confession; but she’s a direct person, one of the qualities J admired when they were an item.

“I can’t image how you two function; I mean… her unfortunate transformation, it must be hard for you to put up with someone fighting to comprehend the easiest tasks.”

“It’s not easy,” The Clown admits and gazes at her: Alice dolled up for their rendezvous. Everything he considers attractive is there: beautiful pair of legs popping from under the short skirt, his favorite perfume discretely lingering on her flawless skin, the tip of the purple lace bra she’s wearing casually showing each time the woman leans forward.

“I bet,” Alice pretends to sympathize with his problems. “A man like you has needs that I’m positive Y/N can’t even remember how to satisfy,” she pats his thigh, slowly working her way to his crotch.

The Joker chuckles, accomplice with her insinuations, also super annoyed when his phone rings.

“Yes?” he promptly answers.

“Sir,” Frost reports, ”we have a situation; Y/N is increasingly agitated and…”

“Deal with it!” he hangs up and strives to cruise straight despite the sexy distraction urging him to do otherwise.

“Why did we split?” she scoots closer to him, pouting.

“Beats me,” J purrs as she squeezes her fingers in his pants’ pocket.

“What’s this?” Alice rattles the small plastic pouch.

“Y/N’s anti-inflammatory drug; there’s not much that can be done now and this is helping with the blood clot pressing on her frontal lobe. The doctors say it will reabsorb; granted it won’t matter regarding her cognitive impairment.”

“Awww,” The Joker’s past flame pretends to be affected by his briefing. “That’s too bad, babe; probably the future is not too bright…” she shoves your pills in the glove compartment. “Why don’t we reconcile? You know I’d do anything for you,” the flirtatious tone makes J reply:

“Would you jump in front of a speeding car like Y/N did to save me?”

“Ha! I would,” she elbows him, snickering at his antiques.

“Prove it then,” J growls. “Get out of the vehicle and don’t flinch if I run you over. If you survive, I’ll take you back!”

Alice opens her mouth in amazement and the SUV halts before The King reprises driving.

“Got cha’!” he cracks up at her baffled reaction.

“For God’s sake, babe! You scared me!” she playfully pinches him and teases: “Are we going to our spot?”

“I was wondering when you’ll notice,” The Joker navigates the unpaved road guiding the automobile towards Clear Sky Summit.

“Pull over,” Alice urges him and he complies at once. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” she moans climbing on his lap. “I can tell you missed me too,” the woman grins at his body’s response.

“That’s my gun,” J buries his face in the revealing cleavage, firmly holding her waist.

“I bet it is, babe,” she winks while unbuttoning his silver shirt. “I love you!” she tries to bite him and he violently yanks her long hair, snarling.

“Is that why you tried to kill me?”

Alice cautiously exhales, a bit nervous at the switch in his demeanor.

“What are you talking about?!”

“Who was driving the car meant to hit me, huh? Tinted windows, no license plate.”

“Babe, you’re hurting me,” she winces in pain at his strong grip. “I swear I don’t know anything!”

“Are you sure?” J sniffs her scent.

“Yes I’m sure! I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our…”

“Our what? What exactly our means in this context? We separated more than two years ago!” The Joker crushes her spine against the wheel.

“Babe, let go!” Alice wiggles in his tight embrace.

“Why did you do it? Were you jealous I found a new fling? Took me months to track the culprit!!!” J restricts her movement when she stretches to open the door. “You fucked up my girl!” his hands forcefully twist her neck and the snapping noise of fractured bone halts the argument.

The Joker pushes the corpse off him, numb to the murder he committed out of pure rage: what’s another name added to the list?

Yet… this was personal.

He keeps staring at the trees surrounding the trail without discerning their shape. 30 minutes pass and the phone’s alarm alerts him it’s time for your remedy: The Clown Prince of Crime is so out of it he doesn’t stop it until he’s on the main road.

He speeds up to ensure a timely arrival at the mansion where Y/N will definitely confront him after being abandoned in such fashion: the truth is he doesn’t mind.

What he does mind though is that no matter what happens, Y/N will never be her former self.

***************

The Joker parks in front of the villa and hops out of the car, barking instructions at the goons patrolling the area:

“I want this gone!” he gestures at the cadaver crammed under the front seat. “Where’s Y/N?”

“In the garage, boss” Frost indicates. “You should know that…”

“I got it! I got it!” J waves and sprints towards your destination.

Nothing prepared him for the carnage.

“Holy… … shit!!!” he inhales at the shocking landscape depicting all five of his most beloved vehicles mauled to pieces: broken windows, scraped paint, karoseri indents…a whole mess!

Bam!!! You smash the rearview mirror of his favorite Ferrari with the baseball bat.

“What are you doing, Pumpkin????!!!!” J screams, aggravated.

Oh, he’s back!

“Y-you like her??!!” The Queen redirects her wrath. “B-because she’s smart??!!”

“Who? Alice?” he quizzes for no reason whatsoever: The Joker’s aware of the reply.

“Wh-where did you go, hm?” you point the wood weapon at the man taking you for a fool; you try not to stutter but it’s impossible with the strained neurons firing up a storm inside an already troubled brain.

“Nowhere, I killed her.”

“Hm?”

“I killed Alice!” The Joker raises his voice and watches you squint your eyes, a clear hint you’re analyzing his disclosure. “Look what you did, Princess! Are you happy now??” he finds the perfect opportunity to divert the outcome of the mayhem he actually created: J repeatedly learned this is the best strategy.

“U-hum,” you serenely admit since you’re indeed pleased with the results of your rampage.

The two parties glare at each other in silence and The Joker grabs the yellow teddy bear resting on a nearby hood, proposing truce before you bash something else:

“I’ll trade you the fur ball for your bat.”

Yikes, you’re reluctant to his treaty: further distraction is required.

“My collection is destroyed, Pumpkin!” The Joker approaches with the toy he stole for you on your first date. “Who we’re gonna call on such short notice to fix all this crap?!!”

Oh, you know this one! You and Mister J watch the movie on a regular basis.

“Mmm… Ghost Busters?” Y/N innocently suggests.

He puckers his lips at the astonishing proposal and it takes a lot of effort not to laugh.

“That’s brilliant, Y/N! Best idea I heard all week!” The Joker proudly compliments your intuition. “You’re a clever Kitten and whoever says otherwise is a moron!” he swiftly snatches the baseball from your grasp and replaces it with the teddy bear.

He rolls the weapon by the closest tire, signaling you to follow.

“Come on, Pumpkin, it’s time for your med. Why are you limping? Is your knee hurting again?”

“U-hum.”

“Serves you right for going rogue!” he scolds. “Com’ere,” J lifts you up, placing your legs around his midsection. “I expect apologies by the way!”

“No,” you sniffle while dangling the toy with one arm.

“Pain in the ass!” he huffs and you kiss him. “This is not an apology!” The Joker spanks you butt.

“Mine,” you cuddle to his shoulder, totally blocking his grouchiness.

“Yeah, yeah, yours,” J grumbles heading for the elevator. “So this is how the rest of today will unfold, Y/N: I’ll be mad until evening time, then we’ll have makeup sex and dinner, the last two not necessarily in the same order. And you’re not going to freak out when I touch your scars, OK?”

“Mmm…OK?”

“Why is that a question?” The Joker continues bickering. “You have other prospects? Boyfriends I should know about? Are you even listening?”

“U-hum,” you poke J’s star tattoo. “No… freaking out.”

“Fair enough,” he compromises and lifts you higher on his hips when you cling to him: selective perception is infinitely better than none. “Is this Pink Blossoms?”

“Yes,” you nod at the familiar brand you use all the time.

The King of Gotham smells his favorite perfume in the air, reckoning he wouldn’t enjoy it if another woman wears it for him.

Also read: MASTERLIST

You can also follow me on Wattpad and Ao3 under the same blog name: DiYunho.

[garyrennell]

FLUFF ALPHABET — GARY RENNELL🧸

hi beautiful people💕 i’m doing the fluff alphabet challenge by @ravena-dottir, in collab with awesome @mrsgaryrennell✨ we really took our time to analyze crane boi’s personality here, to give the most accurate responses posible💖 aaaand this is a long one, as everything i write😂 i hope you like it.

A = Attractive (What do they find attractive about the other?)

physically, he is drawn to a girl’s eyes and smile, as he compliments MC for those in the game. he also is a butt and thigh guy👀 personality wise, he appreciates curiosity, intellectuality and overall kindness.

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

absolutely YES. he wants to have children of his own to take care of and to prove himself that he can be the best dad ever, the father he never had. he dreams of taking his little boy to football practice and teach him mechanics💙 you bet he’ll be there for this children whenever they need him and will be extra protective and such a cool dad🥺 and if he finds a girl with the same love and care inside of her, there’s no doubt he’d be eager to start a family asap.

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

in canon, he’s always giving cuddles or asking for them, so crane boi here is a cuddle fan💖 @mrsgaryrennell and i came to the conclusion that Gary’s love language is mainly physical, because cuddling is his type of intimacy and his way to show affection, rather than words for example. he likes bed cuddles with his girl lying on his chest and his bigs arms around her, especially in the morning. even if his girl is not close, he’ll pull her into a cozy cuddle or simply ask for one✨

D = Dates (What are dates with them like?)

he prefers very casual dates and if he gets to plan it, he’ll put thought into it. for example, he plans a simple picnic date and makes sure he brings good food and takes his girl to a nice place; or a movie date and makes sure to buy popcorn and get really good seats. overall, Gary transforms simple dates into something especial without going over the top💕 during the date, expect a “top quality banter and an absolute gent” lmao, especially the gent part because he’s basically proud of his nan educating him like that.

E = Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…))

he’ll probably turn this phrase into a joke because he doesn’t like being a melt😂 it would ruin his lad image. in joking mode, he’d say something along the lines of “you’re the loaf of my life” while holding a piece of bread lmao, but in a serious occasion he’d say “you’re my happiness” or “you’re my favourite”.

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

in the game, we think he realized he had fallen for MC while the girls were away in CA. he found himself missing her big time and thinking about her all the goddamn time, wishing she was there with him. also the idea of having a domestic life with MC is what made him sure that she was the one💖

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

gentle is basically Gary’s middle name lmao, that boi is full of gentleness. he’s gentle when he holds his girl, when he kisses her, in his wording even when he’s not very good at expressing himself with words. everything he does, he makes sure he does it with care and tenderness🙈

H = Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

as most of his way to show affection is through physical contact, he often reaches for his girl’s hand. Gary is a simple guy, so he doesn’t really care if he’s holding the back of her hand, her palm, if his fingers are intertwined or not— he doesn’t really care as long as their hands are together💕 he’s also the type to caress the back of her hand with his thumb in a soothing manner.

I = Impression (What was their first impression?)

oh boy oh boy, when it comes to first impressions, Gary comes across as handsome, confident, cheeky and flirty, which can result into him looking like a laddy lad type of guy💪🏻 it’s not far fetched lol but in the first impression of him you miss a lot of the depth of his character and personality.

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

not👏🏻at👏🏻all. he doesn’t mind if a guy approaches his girl and flirts a little, because he likes to see that others appreciate her too. when he would definitely get jealous is when the person hitting on his girl is really bold and obvious. Gary is a “silent jealous”, which means that he will not be confrontational about it but will throw deadly glances, frown and mutter under his breath. he will just stand at one side trying not to look bothered, arms crossed and grumbling to himself lmao. and then, when asked, he’ll deny to death that he’s jealous💀

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

we all know the guy has experience, so he is definitely an expert kisser. he really enjoys slow kisses and likes to take his time, he doesn’t rush and is also very gentle. basically, he knows what to do, when to do it and how to do it😉 he likes playful and sneaky kisses too, everything that comes along with some cheekiness. in the game, MC always initiates the kisses, so there’s that🤷🏻‍♀️ but it fits his personality more for him to be the one initiating the kisses.

L = Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)

him, and it’s canon. Gary is an open book, so as soon as he is sure that he’s in love, he’ll try to let his girl know in the most intimate way posible. he’ll say it in private and will make sure he picks the right moment.

M = Memory (What’s their favourite memory together?)

in the game, the final date, when he asks MC to be his girlfriend. outside of the Villa, definitely the shipyard date, because it’s the first time a girl accepts to go watch the lights of the cranes with him🥺💕

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

crane boi doesn’t spoil, less with expensive things🤷🏻‍♀️ but, he will treat his girl with everyday, simple and casual details. she likes a certain type of tea? he will make sure to buy it whenever he can. she likes chocolate? he’ll buy some whenever he goes grocery shopping. maybe will even buy her a flower if he wants to come home with a surprise. in general, he buys small, meaningful things that will come to usage for her.

O = Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

for MC, he reminds her of navy blue and the color red. the first one is partially influenced by his eyes and the second is because of his cozy flannel💕

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

in canon, he uses “love, babe, cutie, darling and poppet” when referring to MC. he also uses “mate” as kind of a pet name too😂 we recently noticed that Gary is all down for melty pet names and even makes them up himself, so he surely will have a personalized and creative nickname for his girl💕

Q = Quaint (What is their favourite non-modern thing?)

he likes old and vintage appliances, especially ones that are broken so he can fix them. @mrsgaryrennell has a cute headcanon in which Gary likes to fix old stuff (e.g radios) for elderly people or for donating them to charity😢💙

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

Gary loves rainy days, it’s canon. he either is down to go dancing in the rain or to spend it at home, cuddling next to a window with his head lying on his girl’s lap as she plays with his hair💖 and drinking a warm cuppa, of course.

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/others up?)

this is a heavy one. we all know Gary’s struggles with mental health, so even after his therapy his first option is going to the gym. he thinks it helps with sadness when it doesn’t, but at least he feels less stressed out afterwards. after that, if he is really down, he’ll go talk to his nan about it🥺 to find comfort and support in her.

when cheering others up, he is all about company and being reassuring. he tries to get people to talk about their feelings because, through therapy, he has learned that it works. when the other person is well enough, he will try to make a joke to lighten the mood✨ as my girl @mrsgaryrennell said: even though he’s a little broken himself, he still tries to make others feel better.

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

cRAnEs🏗 aND hiS nAn👵🏻😂 he’s a Star Wars fan, so he would be very chatty about it, or about science in general. he also likes to share funny stories lol.

U = Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

again, the gym thing, sadly😔 but apart from that, he likes to fix broken stuff when he is stressed, or build things for other people.

V = Vaunt (What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?)

his killer pecs and huge arms💪🏻😂 crane boi is very proud of who he is, so he mostly shows off his thicc body. we also have this headcanon in where Gary likes to show off his girl, to let the world know how amazing she is. he never shuts up about her💕🙈

W = Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

he would propose after a 3-4 year relationship, to make sure the time is right, and wouldn’t do it without talking about the idea of marriage with his girl first. he would propose in a very intimate and private way, just the two of them in a especial place for both💙

X = Xylophone (What’s their song?)

Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkeys and Stone by Jaymes Young🎶

Y = You the ___ to my ___ (e.g the cookies to my milk, the macaroni to my cheese)

he’d say “you’re the levers to my crane” lmao or “you’re the safety to my worksite”💀

Z = Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

he wants a big, energetic dog (just like him lol) so probably he would own a fluffy golden retriever🐾

[justsimplypretty]

goodnight -n- go (n.m.)

Storyline: Lena joins Nick on a winter family vacation while attempting to keep a good image... even after a heated night.

Author’s Note: My submission for chan’s 700 followers writing challenge using line #19! This took me forever to find the time between school and life to write and though it still didn’t turn the way I intended, I’m growing to love it. Enjoy everyone! @temperaryheart​

Warning: smut

Word count: 2.1k

Lena tossed and turned attempting to find any level of comfortable on this cold winter night. The freezing air still nipping at her toes as she struggled to bundle up in the enormous pile of knit blankets sprawled across the bed. The fire place had done her zero good being all too modern and puzzling, making it impossible to turn on. 

It was Nick’s yearly winter family vacation to their lodge cabin in Colorado that viewed just across the frozen over lake. Lena had been dating Nick for a little over a year now, making her officially invited to join the Nick’s family and bandmates on this adventure. And what an adventure it had been. Since Lena was a guest on this trip, she’d decided it would be best if her and Nick stayed in separate rooms for the duration of the vacation. Considering this was her first major impression on the extended family, she strived to make it a good one, being as endearing and charming with any chance she got. Which wasn’t too hard considering that was her typical personality. All the love-able qualities that made Nick fall wildly hard in the first place.

But the sleeping arrangement may have been tougher than she had originally anticipated. Lena and Nick typically spent every single night together wether it be at his place or hers. So the past two nights not having Nick by her side had definitely become an unbearable struggle.

Lena’s thoughts were cut short at the sound of a faint knock. Curious as to who it could be at the late hour, she wrapped one of the larger throws across her shivering body and hurried to the door. Her fingers numbed at the feeling of the frigid metal knob turning in her hand. Eyes in complete shock to find her sneaky boyfriend standing on the other side.

“You have got to be kidding me... have you lost your mind?” Lena quietly shouted as she yanked Nick’s body inside, quickly closing the door behind the two before anyone could catch them. “Are you lost or just intentionally trying to ruin my life?” Lena snapped sarcastically at an attitude filled Nick. His eyes rolling heavily in annoyance at his girlfriends words, having been told a million times this trip of the strict rules she’d made to be followed.

“Relax, I just need to grab the jacket I packed in your suitcase for snowboarding with Brandon and Austin tomo-” Nick assured before the chill of the room bit at his skin, cutting him off mid sentence. “Lena what the hell? It’s freezing in here!” he questioned as he wondered about room.

Lena sighed heavily as she pointed towards the source of all her problems, causing Nick to giggle and head over to tackle the fire place. His fingers began fumbling with the many different buttons as they toggled through settings on the side that Lena had spent hours trying to accomplish on her own. 

She caught herself biting gently on her bottom lip as she watched her boyfriend zero in on the situation. Something about the determination on Nick’s face to solve her dilemma surprisingly caused Lena to become flustered on this late winter night.

“You’re all set baby” Nick announced as flames rose to the tops of the brick trimming. The fire illuminated the dim room, inviting her to see all of Nick’s angelic features that she treasured so deeply. His hair a few shades darker from the dampness still clinging on after showering with the tones of his arms practically begging her to be wrapped in them. She’d be lying to say she wasn’t the slightest bit turned on by his presence. And between the sleeping arrangements and Nick’s prior family obligations, Lena felt as though she’d barely seen her boyfriend this entire vacation. It was rare they ever had a second alone.

It didn’t take long for Nick to catch on either. He knew his girlfriend better than anyone else. The way her legs crossed one in front of the other and how rushed she was to have him exit the room indicated all too well to Nick of her need for him. He even noticed the tiny infinite number of goosebumps that trickled down her arms.

“Cold angel?” Nick spoke as he let his fingers softly graze her shoulder, exposed ever so slightly from matching pajama top. He knew exactly what he was doing from the start. His plan all vacation long. He knew with just enough effort, he’d be able to have Lena right where he needed her.

Lena wanted his touch to linger, but still tried to fight it for awhile longer. “I-I’m fine.. I’ll be fine now that it’s fixed so you can um... head back now” Lena mumbled as she cursed herself mentally for the stutters that she knew would clearly indicate her need for more of him.

“You really want me to leave baby? Be honest now” Nick continued as he stepped behind her, now letting his hands run up either sides of her hips. Thin black sleep pants being the only thing keeping her from experiencing the warm touch she’d been missing so much this trip. Lena nodded her head up and down in reply to the boyfriend that knew she was close to giving in.

“Hmm... is that so...” Nick questioned as he let one hand slip Lena’s front and fall beneath the thin lace material, brushing past her soaked folds “...because it sure doesn’t feel like you want me to leave angel” he continued. He slowly slid two fingers inside of Lena as he watched her back arch against him. “So wet for me... just how I like it” Nick confirmed grinning at her mess. His fingers were soft and warm. Easily the most warm thing she’d felt in days. 

“But I can stop and go back to my room... if that’s what you really want” he went on as he removed himself from filling Lena. 

“N-no, please don’t stop baby” she confessed. “W-we really just can’t get caught though okay?” Lena trailed through muffled whimpers due to the immense pleasure she was feeling.

“Guess we better keep you quit then babygirl” Nick whispered as Lena felt chills roll down her spine.

••••

Lena wasn’t sure how or when things grew so intense, but it wasn’t long before Nick’s tongue was working wonders on her most sensitive area. He was nothing shy of amazing when it came to making her feel good. The way he moved quickly but still lovingly enough to make sure he devoured all the mess he’d caused. Something Lena knew she could never grow tired of. 

Glancing down to see his hooded eyes staring right into hers caused more of the sweet moans Nick treasured to slip from Lena’s lips, now incredibly more plump from the many bites she’d made to her bottom one. All failed attempts in keeping herself silent.

“Sh sh sh... remember baby no getting caught?” Nick reminded as he placed one hand over her mouth, allowing the other to make swift circles at the desperate bundle of nerves. He could always tell when Lena was close from the way her toes curled and eyes shut as she wondered into a complete spell.

“There you go baby, wanna cum for me?” Nick coaxed as he aimed to keep Lena’s body movements under control. She couldn’t have nodded any faster, realizing how badly she needed release only after feeling her boyfriends words vibrate against her. “Go ahead mamas let me have it” he replied as Lena let go for the first time that night. Nick was always delighted in how could he could make his girl feel. Sometimes believing he took more pleasure out of it than she did. Nick went on to strip himself of any remaining clothing, throwing it in the pile of Lena’s next to him. 

“I want you to ride me until you cum... can you do that for me baby?” he whispered sternly in her ear. This was always Lena’s most dominant position. It was rare that she ever took control in the bedroom. Her life was full of consistent decision making and being the most put together in any sea of people. So she greatly enjoyed having Nick take charge over her. But every so often, he indulged in seeing Lena get herself off using him.

Within an instant Lena was straddled on his lap, doing her best to slowly take every inch of him. His length took her by surprise each and every time, but the feeling was always intoxicating. No matter how long the two had been a couple, the love making was just as passionate and intense as their first time together. Their bodies always proving to be utterly made for one another.

Lena’s pace steadily increased as she adjusted to the fulfillment Nick was giving. Her head now arching back allowing Nick perfect access to leave markings all along her neck.

“You’re doing so good for me baby... fuck you always feel so good” Nick mumbled into her skin. Lena was doing everything possible to control the sounds that constantly wanted to break free, only allowing slight whimpers to part from her lips. She couldn’t contain the pleasure any longer as she let her high take over. It was everything she didn’t know she needed this trip.

Nick hardly allowed anytime for Lena to recover before his hips were bucking upward into her, knowing his girlfriends legs were too weak to take the lead any longer. The sensitivity hitting Lena so strongly that she couldn’t help but scream his name out so clearly.

“I c-can’t Nick I can’t keep quit anymore” Lena confessed as another extreme plea of his name escaped. The sound so melodic to Nick that he no longer wanted to keep her cry’s contained.

“I know mamas it’s okay...I know you’re feeling good huh? Does this dick make you feel good?” Nick encouraged as his speed grew. It was clear neither of them cared any longer about who heard or caught them in the act. The only thing that mattered was the sensation they both endured from one another.

“Y-yes daddy FUCK IT’S SO GOOD” Lena screamed before releasing on Nick for the third time that night. Hearing the name echo in the room was enough to bring Nick to his high at the same time, holding Lena in his arms for awhile after. So caught up in the moment, Lena had forgotten all about the fire place that had now warmed the room to comfort. She starred adoringly up at Nick as she lay serenely on his chest.

“I love you... you know that?” she affirmed as Nick gazed into her eyes.

“I love you more baby... so much more” he replied with every being in his body. Lena was everything to him. The way she dropped everything to be on this trip while putting up with weather conditions he knew she despised meant the world to Nick. And he truly knew in that moment that the future he saw with Lena... started with forever.

•••••

The next morning seemed to fly by quickly as the earlier festivities ended and packing for departure began. Nick and Lena made it a point to pack everyone’s bags tightly into the cars as Zion joined them outside.

“Need some help with that daddy?” he joked to Nick letting laughter consume him. 

“Wait don’t tell me you hea-...” Lena trailed, instantly becoming paranoid at who else might have heard the events that transpired between the two last night.

“Trust me, you’re just lucky Edwin and I switched rooms with Nick’s aunt yesterday for the extra space or the whole cabin would know by now about your little late night visit” Zion confirmed as he walked back into the house. Nick and Lena starred at each other in panic before busting out in laughter themselves.

“Hey, at least it was just Zion” Nick implied as Lena playfully shoved his arm. She wasn’t irritated in the slightest as originally predicted by her. She had gotten the best of both worlds, keeping her saint image to the family while also finally having a romantic night with Nick. There was little to complain about after experiencing more joy than she ever knew this trip could bring.

[faunusrights]

OFFAL HUNT REMASTERED LIVEBLOG // CHAPTER 19

IN THIS EPISODE OF MURPHY IS SCREAMING, CONSTANTLY, TRAPPED IN THEIR PERFECT NIGHTMARE:

Glynda was saying: “I know we aren’t friends. I know we aren’t partners. I know you’re a criminal. But—I think I can trust you. I think I have to trust you, even if you’ve done awful things before.”

EVERYTHING GOES WRONG BUT LIKE SOMEHOW WORSE THAN EVER? LIKE A WHOLE NEW BRAND OF LOW. LIKE CINDER’S GOT A PICKAXE AND THE CENTRE OF THE PLANET CALLS FOR AID.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE HUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but dw offal hunt, like the rising of the sun, the arrival of winter, and the eventual downfall of capitalism, always returns. so lets go.

(i just quickly reread chapter 18 liveblog to remember what happened and Ah Yes I Remember Now. The Suppressed Memories)

The place was emptier without Glynda. Quieter.

/gunshot oh we’re in danger right out of the gate huh? we got some yearning right out here? right now? how quickly the turn do tables.

Cinder appraised her work, holding the beige coat up to the light and squinting.

man i forgot. i FORGET. how much i just love cinder in this fic. sometimes she kinda zones to the back of my mind where she sits waiting for me to start thinking about her again, but now i remember that this cinder is Peaque. look at her GO, minding her own BUSINESS. im proud of her. does she know i love her.

It didn’t take long to don her new, fire-proofed clothes.

in another world, in a more comical plot, she used asbestos. it didnt go well.

The subtle warmth of the Dust teased tension from Cinder’s stiff muscles, even as she marvelled at the strangeness of her own bedroom’s space. It seemed bigger now than it had the last two nights.

h

She chose not to dwell on it.

h

i choose to dwell on it! ME!!!! I CHOOSE TO DWELL ON IT. HEY CINDER WHAT THIS GAY SHIT. hello. ma’am. can we look deeper into this. i, for one, would like to, and i, for one, think its of value to think abt this. that said, small segue

Quietly, Cinder murmured, “I didn’t freak out.”

THE FACT SHE SAYS IT ALOUD LIKE EM AND MERC CAN HEEEEEEAR HEEEEEEEER i am. INFATUATED with this family. cant wait for the 100k spinoff thats basically an elongated beach episode where they go to like. alton towers. or butlins. six flags??? thats a thing in america right??? anyway. beach episode. call me. (wink wink nudge nudge push push shove shove)

 We had to stop back in because Merc left his favorite binder, and it was 2 in the morning, so it was easier to crash here for the night than mess with the ship’s autopilot.

them,,, THEM!!!! mercury is just a son and childe. thast it. he canot change this. i love these kids so much i am SHAKING THE MONITOR RN!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAA

Stuck here in one of the homes they’d shared, Cinder missed them terribly. Missed the sound of their voices and the easy comfort of their presence. Finding the time to contact them had been difficult, between managing Glynda and Hati both, but Glynda was gone, and she’d sent Hati onwards to Atlas. She remembered her call with Emerald, before arriving in Umbraroot; she knew it had not soothed her or her fears.

im sorry was this chapter targeted at me, specifically, as a human being on planet earth? GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS FAMILY!!!!!!!!! THIS WONKY OLD BANDAGED UP FAMILY UNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!! i thrive every time they are mentioned on the page. it is a blessing. my succulents grow stronger each time they show up.

“No,” Cinder argued softly, “I had to. Mercury, you deserve to hear it from me as well. I am sorry. And I am promising you: I’ll come back.”

For a long, heart-wrenching moment, he was completely quiet. It was good that Cinder was alone in the apartment; laying herself bare like this would be unbearable with an audience.

GODDDDDDDDDDD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

i am OBSESSED WITH THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM GOING TO BE THINKING ABOUT THIS UNTIL I D I E. of all thing the remaster does better than og, this is just. SPEEDING AHEAD. this whole CONFLICT this whole MESS just makes everything so much RICHER its like when u splash some wine in yr fancy food or stick some cinnamon on yr favourite desserts u dont NEED TO but it adds that lil SOMETHING,,, that little KICK that just ties the flavour profile together and in this case ofgughugguhu it just GIVES SO MUCH. im making SNOW ANGELS in the WORDS on the PAGE.

“Mercury. If I could prove it to you, I would. But you have to—trust me. For just a while longer.”

“It’s getting harder,” he said. He didn’t sound like he was lying just to hurt her. That wasn’t spite. That was honest anger. And it made her feel like dirt.

im less picking these for specific instances of like, things i want to say, but more just because bits of this r rly just so /chef kiss. cinder has these.... endearingly (take that whichever way u like) human qualities in OG to rly make u realise she had ties to add to her #Doubt but the remaster is just AMPING it up and u FEEL IT and ive never been more SYMPATHETIC to a round-faced sinnamon bun of assholery and fire id DIE for cinder fall and this is a fact PUT IT ON MY GRAVESTONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Is there anything you need?” What was this? Cinder could barely focus on her words. It felt like... “Anything? At all?”

“We’re fine.”

“Mercury, wait please—” She was losing him. “I think—”

“Just hurry up.”

The line went dead.

this place is not a place of honor.................. no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here........................ nothing valued is here................ IM DYING

Cinder began to type out her response, and that was when the nausea really kicked in. 

[...] 

She recognized this now.

Glynda.

stress stress stress stress STRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

There shouldn’t be anybody. Cinder had done everything in her power to cut Glynda from people who would interfere. To isolate her. Make it easier to bring her to Atlas, to the frozen north, to her mother and the machine…

Cinder’s esophagus quivered; furiously, she shut her eyes and thought of nothing.

god cinder don’t remind me that you’re an asshole and dipshit and also a moron im trying to be NICE and CARE ABT YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP REMINDING ME YOU’RE A PIECE OF SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

FOR FIVE MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The front door clicked open.

Cinder couldn’t have said how much time had passed, only that it had passed slowly. What she did know was that it was Glynda returning, the sensation of boils bursting wafting off her soul. It crawled over Cinder’s flesh. She curled in on herself.

There were mites under every nailbed. Salt in her weeping mouth.

offal hunt’s brilliant use of this horror aspect is something i have tried previously to emulate and here’s a fact, take it from me: that shit is HARD. offal hunt consistently able to whack those real nasty, really Disgusting vibes on the head EVERY TIME is a work of art. i mean, kc and diesel do not fuck around, and therefore i am NOT surprised, but it’s only when u try this shit yourself that you realise: this is hard! this is difficult! it’s a huge testament to how GOOD this fic is in every way. also this whole fucking body horror aspect is something i didnt know this fic needed, but it did, and here we are. 

Thickly: “Things were going okay. If you hadn’t gotten nasty, I might have smoothed things over. I could have fixed things with my son.”

with my son

with my son

with my son

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I CANT TAKE IT EVERY TIME ITS TOO MUCH FOR TO BEAR I CANNOT HANDLE IT I CANNOT STAND IT ITS LIKE BEING SHOT JUST DIRECTLY IN MY DICK

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

im like sweating rn

Glynda said, “I’m scared.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to tell you.”

I SAID IM SWEATING

Glynda asked, “Are you lying to me?”

And Cinder said, “What?”

“About me. About Witches. About Ozpin—” Cinder’s guts went sour. “—About anything. I need to know if I can trust you.”

I SAID I! AM! S W E A T I N G

“I know you’ve lied to people. Hurt people.”

Adrenaline and the image of her kids’ faces behind her eyes made a potent, sick cocktail. “—Not. Now.”

so lets like double back to when i said hey was this chapter written to target me specifically and as it turns out, yes. yes it was. yes it was and as MUCH AS I AM LIVING FOR THIS MOMENT THIS SWEET BUILDUP THE EXPLOSION AND THE CRATER IT ALL LEAVES BEHIND

I

AM

so this next bit is like. i cant really quote one section but as i was saying in Vague DMs, this whole bit feels like wading through mud. usually if you say something consumes energy to Read it’s in a Bad Way when yr bored but this is more like. you Feel cinder all over everything feels so sluggish and it’s like dragging your own corpse around as you try and leave and you’re TIRED and your LEGS HURT and you’re kinda thinking god what if i just fell face down for just a moment of my LIFE.

The putrid weight of Glynda’s soul filled the room until there was no space left for her.

it’s like being trapped in a sauna, like getting stuck in a humid waiting room. where do you GO. what do you DO. god this whole section is fantastic and offal hunt NEVER fails to fucking nail the Vibes but reading it is HARD. i literally keep having to stop and breathe like ive been holding my breath. jesus h christ.

a small intermission for a mood:

“Get fucked.”

back to regularly scheduled hell

Out of the bedroom. Down the hall. The walls were sweating with heat. She tasted smoke. 

i love that i just said how i feel like im trapped in a sauna and it turns out: thats because me and cinder both, baybee!!!! hahahaha help

Glynda’s soul chewed her to the marrow. “Move, Glynda.” 

cinder being hunted at the start of this fic: teehee! im running away! now im gonna getcha! heehee! arent i clever :) cinder being hunted now: this uh. this blows, actually,

Cinder’s pulse roared in her ears. Her hands twitched. She smelled Ochre Brown’s round face melting off. His wide smile shattered with each of his teeth, going black and popping like corn.

this chapter is probably my favourite so far for this blending of so many elements. i cant even begin to like. THINK STRAIGHT about how all of this is tying together. the lore. the THEMATICS. like i said this character rly is just Rich with what og lacked and oh is it RICH. im gonna read this chapter in future and see so much that i know ive already missed. holy shit.

“Ms. Fall,” she said. “The White Fang requires your presence immediately.”

NOT NOW

Cinder stood there looking at it for a moment. Her thoughts were slow. Copper-tinged. Something small and indulgent whispered to her through the blood-fog.

It was obvious enough what would happen if she got into this car. The driver would take her to a secluded place, where she would be ambushed by a squadron of battle-hungry White Fang grunts.

They’d try to take her down. And she was a killer, wasn’t she? Ochre Brown wailed in her ears with every thump of her runaway heart. Her hands itched for action; her teeth, for blood.

She’d burn them black.

never mind! you are already dead,

She thought about Glynda. About her saying that if there was trouble with the Fang, she wanted to come. That she would fight for Cinder.

She thought of Glynda’s question: What aren’t you telling me about Ochre Brown?

Yeah, fuck that.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A CLIFFHANGER!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A MOMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!! MORE MOMENTOUSLY: WHAT A CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is EASILY my favourite chapter so far. EASILY. everything about this was peak offal. the relationships. the dynamics. the dialogue. the vibes. the Grossness. the fighting. the EVERYTHING. this is some other level and its BITCHIN. PEAK. that said im now very tired. im going to have a cup of tea and Consider Things for a few hours. brb.

[nicolewrites]

We Stand, Fate-Tested - II

Sticking with the longer chapters. I finished this part up instead of an essay due in 5 hours, so it’s a gift you should run with. I have the outline for the story roughly in place, but no promises about when the next update will be. 

Rating: T+ Genre: Mystery, Friendship, Romance Characters: [Byleth/My Unit, Dimitri B.], [Byleth/My Unit, Claude R.] Words: 5,826

Byleth leads the first tutorial of the year. / The Blue Lions return home for the second time since the war's end.

AO3 | FFN

II - In Circles We Tread

Garreg Mach University - 14 Horsebow Moon, 732 AU

Byleth arrived at the classroom where her tutorial section was meeting ten minutes early. She was hoping that whatever class had the room before her would be done early so that she could set up her laptop and her review slides for the session. Fortunately, there didn’t appear to have been a class in the room so she was able to enter as soon as she arrived.

Byleth was in the midst of setting up her laptop with the tangled, university-supplied cables when her first student arrived. It was the same girl with straight, dark hair that had been the first student to arrive in the lecture the week before. She approached the front desk and smiled at Byleth.

Byleth paused in her set up. “Hi,” she greeted.

“Hello, Miss Eisner,” the girl replied. “My name is Lysithea.”

Byleth nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Lysithea. You’re a bit early, but please, have a seat wherever you’d like.”

The girl nodded and sat right in the front row. She pulled out a laptop and began tapping away at the keyboard. Byleth went back to setting up her presentation as more students trickled in. She recognized the boy with green hair, half of the group of students that had sat near her in lecture, as well as Claude and Dimitri. Claude took a seat in the back, flanked by a girl with bright pink hair and a boy with purple hair and expensively styled clothes while Dimitri sat with the friends he had sat with in lecture.

Byleth finished setting up her slides and glanced at the clock. It was one minute before 1:30, when the tutorial was supposed to begin so she stood up, assessing her class. Her tutorial section had half the class and Seteth ran the tutorial with the other half. As it was the first tutorial of the section, attendance was at almost, or entirely, full capacity, something which likely wouldn’t continue throughout the whole semester.

“Hi everyone,” she greeted when the clock finally ticked over to 1:30. The chatter in the room mostly died out and all the curious faces turned to face her. A bead of nervousness pricked in her chest, but she smiled and forced it down. “As I’m sure you guys know, I’m Byleth Eisner and I’ll be your TA for this class. I’m leading this tutorial section, Tutorial 2, and Dr. Cichol leads Tutorial 1.”

She leaned down and moved to the first slide in her slideshow which was a trio of pictures. The first was Byleth and Seteth working in a lab doing hands-on analysis of artifacts. The second was a shot of Byleth posing with her undergrad thesis team at Shambhala where they had done an expedition. The last photo was Byleth in the Main Hall of the university as she presented her undergraduate thesis.

“I’m in my first year of my Masters here at Garreg Mach University with a specialization in Unification Era Archaeology focused on the Guardian of Order. I did my undergraduate degree here and graduated with a combined honours in Archaeology and History. Dr. Cichol is currently my Masters supervisor which is why I’m here as your TA.”

There were a few murmurs across the class as people assessed her qualifications. Byleth ignored them and moved to her next slide which held a photo of the ancient sword that was rumoured to have been wielded by the Guardian of Order. They had discussed it in lecture since it was one of very few relics from the Unification Era that hadn’t been lost to looters or fire. However, since it was still early in the semester, they’d looked at the blade objectively, not as a relic wielded by the Guardian.

“Archaeology is the study of material remains of humans and societies. In our first class we talked about the first step of working with artifacts: description, classification, and analysis. The next step is the placement of an artifact within its historical context. If we take this image here, can someone give me a description for it?” She gestured to the screen and the image of the sword. “And, for the first few classes if you can just say your name beforehand so I can get to know everyone, that would be much appreciated.”

The blonde girl sitting with Dimitri raised her hand and Byleth nodded. “I’m Ingrid,” the girl introduced, brushing her braid back over her shoulder. “The first step would be to identify the weapon as an ancient blade, likely a longsword. It appears to be made of some kind of bone or clay material due to its lack of metallic qualities.”

Byleth nodded. “Excellent, thank you, Ingrid. Now, can someone give me a guess about the historical context of the blade based off of that?”

Lysithea, the girl who had been early for class, raised her hand. “Given the design of the blade and its recovery location, this is likely a blade that had been used in the Unification War. Due to appearance, it is likely that the blade was used by a highly ranked soldier, officer, or commander. It fell to disuse probably after the fire in 101 and 102 AU.”

Byleth nodded and was about to commend Lysithea when Claude raised his hand. She raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to speak.

Claude was leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head as he made steady eye contact with Byleth. “Maybe I just know this as a History major, but that blade fell to disuse before the Great Fire of Garreg Mach. It would have been around 9 AU that it was no longer wielded. It’s structure greatly resembles the other legendary weapons of the time known as ‘Relics’.”

Byleth appraised Claude. He was correct, of course, but it had taken her a lot of research to actually find the year when the Guardian was reported to have disappeared, leaving her legendary blade to the Royal Collection. “That is correct, Claude,” she agreed. “This sword,” she paused to continue the presentation on her laptop which let the label pop up on the screen, “is known to us as the Guardian’s Blade, the weapon that was wielded by the Guardian of Order in the Unification War.”

There were a few more jumbled murmurs around the room as students processed what she was saying.

“Pardon me, Miss Eisner,” the green-haired boy said, raising a hand, “if you’re saying this weapon is one of the Relics, why was it recovered separately from the rest of the ancient weapons?”

“That’s an excellent question,” she trailed off, gesturing for the student to give his name.

“Linhardt.”

“Linhardt,” Byleth repeated. “In the year 7 AU, after the death of the Saviour King, the Guardian of Order called for the collection of the Relics to be displayed as artifacts and historical trophies instead of used as weapons. It has never been confirmed, but historians have theorized that since the Guardian of Order disappeared just under a year after her husband’s passing, she took her blade with her when she vanished. The discovery of the sword here at Garreg Mach is one of the biggest mysteries regarding her disappearance.”

At the back of the classroom, Claude’s friends were whispering, but Claude’s green eyes were fixed sharply on Byleth as she explained. Byleth tried to ignore him as she continued to field questions as well as offer her own discussion questions. The rest of the 50-minute section passed relatively quickly, but right until the end, Byleth could have sworn that Claude didn’t take his eyes off of her.

At 2:20, Byleth concluded the discussion and dismissed class, saying she would see everyone back the next week. Conversations broke out and people started packing up. She unplugged her laptop from the projector and started putting away her own things. She slid her laptop into her bag and looked up when someone cleared their throat in front of the podium. Byleth found Claude smirking at her, his hands wrapped around the straps of his backpack.

“Good discussion,” he complimented.

“Thank you,” Byleth replied. She still felt on edge around Claude. There was something about him that was so infuriatingly familiar and she just couldn’t figure out what it was because it certainly wasn’t just because he was the son of an ambassador.

“Combined honours with History, hm?” he continued. “Sounds familiar.”

Byleth rolled her eyes but smiled faintly. “Yes, it appears we have similar interests.” She contemplated something for a moment before she pushed forward with it: “Have you taken a lot of courses in Unification Era history?”

Claude shrugged. “I took 234 and I’m currently in 316.”

Byleth had taken both of those courses herself. History 234 was the Unification War History course and History 316 was History of the Unification Years. Neither was particularly heavy in information about the Guardian of Order and the Guardian’s Blade, topics Claude had already proved himself knowledgeable in.

“Is knowing everything just a hobby then?” she asked.

Claude laughed this time. “If I knew everything I don’t think I’d be in your class, Teach.”

The nickname caught her off guard and she blinked dumbly at him for a moment. Claude seemed to recognize his blunder and he winced.

“Ah, sorry if that was weird, it just felt right.”

Byleth bit her lip and shook her head. “It’s fine, really,” she assured. In all honesty, the nickname had felt fitting and familiar. It was weird.

“Anyways, I don’t suppose there’s any way we could sit down and talk about your thesis, is there? I’m incredibly curious about the research that you’ve been doing,” Claude continued after a short cough.

Byleth raised an eyebrow. “I have office hours and my email is on the course outline,” she replied flatly.

Claude laughed. “Yes, but your office hours will be filled with students with academic, course-related questions. Email, also, doesn’t have the same personal touch as a face-to-face conversation.”

Byleth sighed. “Look, Claude, I’m your TA, I don’t know what you want me to say.”

He held up his hands innocently. “I’ve just got questions about your Masters, surely that’s an innocent enough intention? What about Thursday afternoon at the coffee shop in the student centre?”

Byleth considered it for a moment. There was nothing in her contract that said she couldn’t get coffee with someone who was interested in her academic projects and if she managed to convince Claude to pursue a graduate degree in her field after graduation, she knew Seteth wouldn’t care about the nature of their conversation.

She sized up Claude and folded her arms. “I’ll meet you at Anna’s at 4 on Thursday,” she consented.

Claude’s smirk widened and he nodded. “I look forward to it, Teach.”

With one last cheeky wink, Claude strode away and headed for the door where his two friends had lingered, waiting for him. Byleth watched him for a moment before she resumed packing up her things. She slid her attendance sheet into her folder and placed it in her bag.

“Miss Eisner,” a new voice interrupted.

Byleth shook her head and looked up. “Byleth, please.”

Dimitri, standing in front of her desk, gave her a small smile. “Byleth,” he agreed. “I hope Claude wasn’t bothering you. He’s a strong personality.”

Byleth laughed lightly and smiled. “No, no, he was just asking about my area of study. I’m happy to talk about it. I wouldn’t be studying it if I wasn’t.”

Dimitri looked relieved. “That’s good to hear. You’re certainly interesting to listen to in tutorial. You know your stuff.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Admittedly, I’m feeling a bit out of my depth in this class.”

Byleth nodded. “That’s understandable, but really, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You’ve got some smart classmates, if today was any indication, and both Dr. Cichol and I have office hours reserved for this class section so feel free to come to either of us if you need anything.”

Dimitri nodded. “Yes, thank you very much.” Someone called his name from by the door and he turned to walk away, pausing once to give her a last goodbye.

Byleth pulled her bag up onto her shoulder and bit her lip. Dimitri and Claude and Edelgard were so familiar that it hurt her to think about them. Even so, she had a job to do and a meeting with Seteth to get to. She strode out of the classroom, fishing her tangled headphones out of her pocket.

- ~ -

Seteth placed a new folder on the desk between them, gesturing for her to take a look. Byleth slid it towards herself and opened it. It was a stack of about five pieces of paper and the first was an email between Seteth and the Fhirdiad National Museum of Unification that was set to sponsor the expedition below Garreg Mach.

Byleth scanned the email and grinned when she found the phrase she was looking for. “On behalf of the Board of Directors here at the museum, we consent to allow Miss Byleth Eisner a position on the Garreg Mach Research Team to assist with her academic development,” she read aloud.

Seteth was smiling. “Keep reading.”

“In the interest of the success of the dig, funding has also been secured for an additional team of researchers to join you on this endeavour. The idea is to have undergraduate students join you to develop practical archaeological skills.” Byleth stopped reading abruptly and looked up at Seteth. “Let me get this straight: you not only got approval for me to join, but now they want us to take on a group of undergrads?”

Seteth nodded, knitting his fingers together atop his desk. “I think this will be an interesting opportunity for them.” He reached for the file, pushing Byleth’s hands away and pulling the documentation back towards him. “The expedition is set to begin next year, in the Guardian Moon of the new semester. I was thinking that we would extend this opportunity to the students currently in Archaeology 356. That way we have a semester to evaluate the students so we can choose ones we think will be beneficial, not hindering, to the studies.”

Byleth nodded slowly. “Yeah, that makes sense. Still, this kind of opportunity for undergraduates means everyone will want in. I know I would have when I was in my third year.”

“I’m going to put an announcement up on my website about the opportunity and discuss it next class. I was hoping you would be able to design some kind of application form so that we can immediately narrow down our options.”

Byleth slid her laptop out of her bag and opened a blank document. “What kind of questions were you thinking for the application?”

Seteth pondered for a moment before he answered: “Ask about any experience they have, and how many prior archaeology or history credits they have. I would also like to know about their own interpretation of the Unification Era, since that’s what this is all about.”

“If I asked what they think is a major, lasting influence of the Unification Era on current Fódlani politics?”

Seteth smiled. “I like that.”

“How many students can we take?”

Seteth flipped through papers briefly to find the definite answer. “We can take ten, but that’s too many. I think eight is an appropriate number.”

Byleth noted that down and she tapped out a few more rough questions. “I assume we’ll do a vetting process with the written applications and then call the best candidates for interviews with the rest of our dig team, right?”

“Yes,” Seteth agreed. “It’s important that they meet and can get along with the rest of the team because they are an addition to the team that is meant to help their skills, not hinder the results of our expedition. Too many people have put too much effort into this for it to fail now.”

Byleth knew why Seteth was nervous because the last time someone had led a dig under the university, it had fallen apart just a few weeks after it began. Byleth paused and exhaled slowly. “Seteth, this might be overstepping, but I want to ask about my father.” Seteth tensed and Byleth swallowed her nervousness before continuing. “I know he was a part of the last research expedition to the underside of Garreg Mach five years ago. I know he pulled out of the project part-way through and that the project fell through after he withdrew. What are we going to find down there that caused my father to pull out so suddenly?”

Seteth stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Byleth, are you asking me if I know why your father was killed?”

“No,” she said firmly. “He was stabbed five years ago. That’s unrelated to his work. I’m asking you why the excavation couldn’t continue without my father.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Seteth admitted. “I wasn’t a member of that excavation team. It was led by a woman named Catherine Charon. Catherine cancelled further progress once your father withdrew his support. The excavation was privately funded by a private collector from Zanado and apparently the money stopped once your father left the project.”

Byleth frowned. “My father was a security contractor, not an archaeologist. His withdrawal from the project should have just meant that they brought on someone else, not that they cancelled the dig entirely.”

“I agree. It was something that I could never get Catherine to explain and she left the University that year before I could get a real answer out of her. Your father never liked to talk about it either, as I’m sure you know, and then he died just five months later.”

Byleth sighed. “I’ve been through the site notes and the inventory of every artifact recorded as recovered. There are no mentions of what caused him to pull out or anything that might lend to the private donor withdrawing their support or Dr. Charon calling off the project.”

Seteth studied her for a moment. “Does your interest in being part of this dig only have to do with your father?”

“No,” Byleth assured. “I’m interested in what we might be able to recover and how it can support my thesis, but I won’t say I’m not curious.”

She closed her laptop and stood up from the desk. She pulled her bag up and prepared to head out of Seteth’s office. “My father was a different man after that expedition than when he went into it. I do want to know why, and I don’t want that to happen to anyone else, either, if I can help it.”

- ~ - ~ - ~ -

Garreg Mach Monastery - 21 Red Wolf Moon, Unification Year

A knock at the door drew Byleth’s attention and she turned in her seat to look at the entrance to her room. It was one of the monastery’s monks who stood patiently in the doorway, waiting for permission to enter. Byleth waved her in and the monk bowed briefly before stepping in.

“Your Grace, I have received word from an advanced scout that His Majesty and the court will be arriving in the next few hours.”

Byleth smiled faintly. “Thank you, but please, I’m not the Archbishop yet, so Professor or Byleth is more than fine.”

The monk shook her head, but she was smiling as well. “With all due respect, you are ascending in rank tomorrow, Your Grace. You’ve been acting head of the church for several months as well.” She bowed briefly once more before leaving the room, leaving Byleth alone again.

Byleth sighed and stood from her desk, heading towards her balcony. She pushed open the doors and stepped outside. The stone was cold against her bare feet and the air was chilly enough that she instantly shivered. Byleth looked up at the clear blue sky and twisted the ring on her finger thoughtfully.

After the war had ended, Dimitri had stayed for a month of negotiations with the church and for his coronation before his council of advisors had finally managed to get him to return to Fhirdiad. Byleth missed him dearly–him and Felix and Sylvain and Ingrid and Dedue who had returned with him. Annette and Ashe had stayed at the monastery for another couple of weeks before they too left for the capital, leaving Byleth with only Mercedes, Flayn, Seteth, and the Knights of Seiros.

She and Dimitri had announced their engagement officially on the day of his coronation, but all of their close friends had known much before that point. It had been just over a month now, since all the former Blue Lions had been in one place and even though part of Byleth was dreading her formal ascension to the head of the church, she was grateful for the opportunity it offered to gather her friends and allies in one place.

Of course, there was also the wedding that would follow Byleth’s ascension. She and Dimitri had argued about the wedding for nearly two weeks since while they both wanted a smaller affair, Dimitri had been the only one willing to go through with a small event. Byleth knew that a private wedding would invite more scrutiny than the marriage of the church and the state already would. She also knew it would be important for Dimitri to use the wedding as a political event to continue to smooth relations with former Empire territories. Eventually, her argument had won out and they’d been thrown into planning the wedding of the century.

Byleth didn’t linger too long on the balcony. The chill was going to get to her and she really couldn’t afford to get sick with a few very important days ahead of her. She slipped back inside her chambers and moved to pull on a pair of slip-on shoes to chase away lingering chills. The ornate furniture and decorations in the room felt wrong to her. Three weeks after the war, Rhea had departed and Byleth had moved into the former archbishop’s chambers.

Byleth ran her hand along the top of the dresser near the balcony and frowned. Being in Rhea’s old room felt weird enough on its own, but the fact that Byleth had not gotten a moment alone with Rhea to ask about what Seteth had told her before the former archbishop had departed made her feel even more uncomfortable.

Seteth’s words, and their implications, weighed on her daily. She had not managed to get another candid conversation with her advisor since that day two months ago. Flayn too, seemed to be avoiding Byleth or only approaching her when there were other people around. Byleth pulled her hand off the dresser and touched it to the left side of her chest. As always, there was no heartbeat beneath her palm and she exhaled wearily.

Another sharp knock on the door caused Byleth to jolt upright and snap her hand back to her side. This intruder was a much more welcome sight than the monk who had interrupted her earlier.

“Mercedes!” Byleth exclaimed as her friend stepped into the room.

“Hello Professor!” Mercedes replied cheerfully. “You look lovely,” she complimented.

Byleth blinked and took in her own outfit. She was wearing one of the ceremonial dresses that had been commissioned for her, but it was nowhere near as high end as the dress she would be wearing for her ascension tomorrow. She smoothed her hands over the cream-coloured fabric and smiled softly.

“Thank you. What are you doing up here? I thought you were going to wait in the entrance hall for the others.”

Mercedes laughed. “Well, Professor, we sent someone up to let you know they were almost here, but you never reappeared, so I decided to come fetch you myself.”

“They’re almost here?” Byleth repeated. When the monk had mentioned that they would be arriving in a few hours, she had not been expecting their arrival in the next half hour.

Mercedes’s eyes were shining. “Their party had just been spotted entering the monastery grounds when I came up.”

- ~ -

Standing outside the main entrance of the monastery, Byleth felt like her blood was singing. The first few riders of the party had just crossed into the marketplace of the monastery and already two of the riders were breaking in her direction. Above them, a pegasus whinnied and descended.

Sylvain and Felix, the first two riders, dismounted and covered the remaining distance on foot. Ingrid barely managed to get herself off of her pegasus before she was also breaking towards Byleth and Mercedes. Felix reached her first and he paused, forcing himself into a stiff bow. Byleth rolled her eyes and pulled him into a hug. He didn’t reciprocate immediately, but he did pat her back after a moment.

As soon as she released Felix, Sylvain pulled her into a tight hug. Sylvain was wearing more armour than Felix so the hug felt stiffer, but he was warm and solid against her and Byleth drank in his familiarity. She pulled away from Sylvain and turned to hug Ingrid as well. After she had hugged the last of the trio, Byleth stepped back and smiled broadly.

“Welcome back,” she greeted.

Sylvain laughed. “Come on, Professor, we know we’re not the ones you really want to see.” He gestured behind him where the rest of the party was arriving including Ashe, Annette, Gustave, and Dedue.

Byleth’s breath caught as she recognized the rider at the front of the pack. He seemed to have noticed her as well, practically leaping off of his mount and jogging towards her. Byleth brushed past her former students to move towards him, nearly tripping on her dress as she descended the steps. He was in front of her before she could trip, his hands gripping her forearms as he stared at her face. A dazzling smile cracked across Dimitri’s expression and Byleth felt herself smile too.

“Hello, my beloved,” Dimitri greeted gently.

“I missed you,” Byleth said. She had intended for a more eloquent greeting, but her heart had won out and she had spoken the naked truth instead.

The life glimmering in Dimitri’s good eye softened and he bent his head, pressing his forehead to hers. “I missed you too, Byleth,” he murmured.

Byleth didn’t get to reply before he was kissing her. Her hands framed his face as she kissed him back fiercely, pouring a month’s worth of emotion into their reunion kiss. It wasn’t the most proper or befitting of greetings for two authority figures, but it was the genuine, real reaction of two young people in love who had nearly lost each other in a brutal 5-year war. Finally–and unfortunately–Byleth had to pull away, breathing hard.

She laughed when Dimitri didn’t let her pull far away and she felt her adoration for him cause tears to prickle at the corners of her eyes. She ran her thumb across his cheekbone and smiled warmly.

“I don’t know if that was the most proper greeting,” she teased.

Dimitri’s laugh rumbled in his chest. “A man can be excused for missing his fiancé,” Dimitri refuted and Byleth laughed again.

“Welcome back, my love,” she said quietly. “It’s good to see you.”

“And I am always glad to see you,” he replied. He looked past her towards the monastery where many of the clergy were gathered to watch his arrival. “I really have made a scene, haven’t I?”

Byleth slipped her hand into his and tugged him back towards the monastery. “Come on, I want to hear about Fhirdiad. I want to hear from all of you. Surely we can spare an afternoon in the Blue Lion’s classroom to reconnect?”

Dimitri followed her lead as they walked towards the monastery. “You’ll get no complaints from me on that, but won’t Seteth protest?”

Byleth huffed. “I am not Archbishop until tomorrow, but I do hope that he’ll allow me this time with my friends before I saddle myself with responsibility for the rest of my life.”

“I suppose I could busy myself with keeping our guests from Fhirdiad occupied,” Seteth admitted, catching the end of Byleth’s sentence as she and Dimitri rejoined the group gathered at the monastery’s entrance. “Your Majesty, it is nice to see you, as always,” her advisor added for pleasantness’s sake.

Byleth beamed and pulled Dimitri past Seteth heading into the monastery. Their friends, including the rest of the Blue Lions plus Flayn, followed them as Byleth led the way. Byleth watched her friends as they walked, noting who was talking to who and the expressions on faces.

Dedue was listening intently to Mercedes as she spoke softly, Ashe was chatting with Flayn, Annette seemed to be having some kind of minimal conversation with Felix, and Ingrid and Sylvain were conversing in light and teasing tones. Byleth smiled to herself as she watched them and tightened her grip on Dimitri’s hand unintentionally.

“You look satisfied, love, is there something you’d like to share?” Dimitri asked curiously.

Byleth laughed lightly. “I don’t want to scare this away,” she admitted, gently tilting her head in Felix and Annette’s direction. Felix’s ears were pink at the tips and Annette’s cheeks had a rosy glow.

“Ah,” Dimitri replied, his own lips twitching into a smile. “Well I could let it go, but I know Duke Fraldarius has been spending much more time in conversation with Baron Dominic.”

Byleth squeezed his hand. “I wonder why that could be,” she replied teasingly. “Perhaps the same reason why Ashe has been my best communicator with Brigid recently.”

“Or why the son of the esteemed Margrave Gautier has taken to spending his time split between his own lands and the lands of Count Galatea,” Dimitri replied, glancing over at his other childhood friends.

Byleth shook her head fondly. “I don’t think our wedding will be the only one in the future, my love.”

“No, I would be inclined to agree with you on that,” Dimitri hummed.

Finally, their little group reached the room that used to be the Blue Lion’s classroom. All of them stopped just outside the room as if none of them could make themselves set foot inside the room. After a moment of nothing, Byleth dropped Dimitri’s hand and stepped forward across the threshold.

The monastery’s reconstruction effort had obviously begun to move into areas like the classroom since all the furniture was righted and placed mostly back where it had been before the war. The bookshelves were emptier than they used to be, thanks to thieves, and Byleth’s blackboard that had been used for lectures was leaning in two large, broken pieces against the rear wall.

Byleth moved towards it like a magnet and ran her fingers across the still chalk-dusted surface with a wistful smile on her face.

“This place feels like it was frozen in time,” Sylvain said idly as he stepped in and moved towards the windows on the front wall.

Felix snorted. “I’m not sure that’s how I’d describe it.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve been here since the war ended,” Ashe admitted.

Annette nodded. “Me either. I used to come here to work on things when everywhere else was crowded.”

“We’ve shared a lot of memories in this place,” Ingrid agreed. She walked curiously over to one of the bookshelves and pressed her fingers in the empty spaces between books.

“Will you get the Officer’s Academy up and running again, Professor?” Dedue asked after a moment.

Byleth blinked and she realized that she honestly hadn’t even considered it until that point. She had been focusing so much of her effort on unification campaigns and the physical and spiritual repairs to the church that she had almost forgotten it was once a school as well.

“I think we should try,” Dimitri answered for her. He stepped up next to Byleth and wrapped a warm arm around her waist. “So much good came out of this place.”

“I think it would be easy enough to convince my brother to divert some efforts into getting this place all fixed up,” Flayn said brightly. “As much as he tries to pretend, I know he has a soft spot for the Academy and for the Blue Lions House especially since you all did take me on as a student partway through the year.”

“We’d all have to get together more often in that case,” Mercedes said cheerfully. “An annual gathering to celebrate the new classes,” she suggested.

Sylvain chuckled, throwing an arm over Felix’s shoulder as he headed for the centre of the room. “I like that idea, Mercedes. It reminds us all of that fateful day we all took a chance to return here and we met up with our Professor and our Prince again.”

Dimitri tensed at her side, but Sylvain’s words held no malice and he relaxed after a moment. Slowly, the rest of the Blue Lions congregated at the front of the classroom. Annette and Mercedes had linked their arms while Sylvain had thrown his other arm over Ingrid’s shoulders as well. Ashe moved to stand between Ingrid and Annette, Dedue stood between Mercedes and Dimitri, and Flayn slipped in between Byleth and Felix.

In their odd, sort-of circle, Byleth felt a lump well up in her throat. She loved these people more than she knew she was capable of. The moment felt like it needed a toast of some sort to cement it, so Byleth swiped Dimitri’s flask from its position on his belt. Her fiancé made a noise of surprise, but Byleth just ignored him and raised the flask.

“To the best students I could have asked for and the best group of friends I could have ever needed.”

Smiles rippled around the room and Byleth took a swig from the flask, letting the hard liquor Dimitri was carrying burn down her throat as she swallowed. She handed the flask off to him and he took a sip before passing it off to Dedue. The flask made its way around the ring and everyone drank to differing successes (Ashe, Annette, and Flayn pulling strange faces while the rest managed to stomach it with little reaction and Sylvain even took two sips).

“Thank you, my friends,” Byleth continued as she received the flask back from Flayn. “I am so grateful you were all able to come to support me in this endeavour. Your support means so much.”

“Of course, Professor,” Ingrid replied gently. “You believed in us when no one else did so it was only fair that we did the same.”

“Besides,” Dimitri continued, “my rule is nothing without the support of the Church of Seiros.”

Byleth rolled her eyes and elbowed him, but he just tightened his grip on her waist and leaned down to kiss her temple. She smiled.

[starlight-drive-in]

Catching Feelings Ch. 3 Seven/MC College AU

Fic Summary:

MC’s roommate convinces her to attend a house party hosted by campus charity organization - The RFA. Minor legend and mystery on campus 707 is of course also there. MC thinks he’s weird - and absolutely adorable. Cheesiness ensues. 

Chapter Summary: 

Seven saves the day, and MC returns the favor.

Notes:

This chapter is a bit fan-service-y, a little trope-y and really, really fluffy. I hope you like it! 

AO3 Link  (Check here for warning/tags)

Chapter 3: Saving the Day

A short “squee” escapes MC’s lips as she reads over his messages again.

“What was that?” Mei asks.

“He called me beautiful!” She can’t help the smile that spreads across her face.

“See? Nothing to worry about. Even if he hasn’t seen the high-quality garbage you are in the morning!” Mei jabs affectionately.

“Hey!”

“I'm just kidding! Anyway, I have class. So you kids have fun and uhh stay safe!” Mei says opening the door.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” MC asks, but the door closes before she can get the sentence out fully.

With Mei gone the full reality of the situation hits her.

Saeyoung is coming over. Crap

She acted completely on impulse and now he’s going to realize she’s actually a smelly awkward mess when alcohol isn’t helping her words flow out so smoothly - if she could even call the previous night’s performance smooth. The point was that the alcohol helped her get her words out without her overthinking every little thing, especially in front of someone like him.

She attempts to make her bed, although that's a little rough with the headache that still persists. She borrows a bit of Mei’s perfume and makes sure to apply deodorant and then makes her way into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Halfway through brushing there’s a rhythmic knocking on the door almost like a little tune, so unique the only person it could possibly be is him.

She panics slightly, spitting out her toothpaste and quickly rinsing out her mouth, She smooths out her sweater and pads over to the door taking a deep breath and finally opens it. Saeyoung stands there in a crisp white button-down that seems to cling to him in all the right places. A small smile graces his lips as he runs a hand through his tousled red locks.

“Morning! Is it still morning?” He says.

“Hey. Uh” MC looks behind her at the alarm clock on the desk. “Yup still morning!”

Seven’s eyes sweep over the girl holding the door open in front of him. She looks comfortable - and adorable. Very warm, like she’d be perfect to snuggle up to and share hot cocoa with, and that sweater looks so soft! She looked sexy as hell the night before but if he’s being completely honest she looks even better like this. Like a girl you could - what’s the phrase? “Take home to mom”? If he had a mom that was. Take home to brother? Nah that doesn't sound good at all hmmm… Suddenly, something seems to catch his eye. “You um, have a little bit of something on your lip.”

“Shit.” MC stutters wiping her face.

“Oh, uh wrong side." He watches futility while she swipes the other side of her face, missing the spot again. "May I?” He raises his hand slightly, asking for permission to touch her.

“S-sure.” She can feel her face gaining heat already.

Using his thumb he quickly wipes the bit of toothpaste of the corner of her mouth. “There you go! Good as ever!”

“T-thanks" she blushes, "uhh you can come in! If you want of course.”

He studies her thoughtfully, blushing a bit himself and passes over the threshold into her dorm. “hmph, cute.” he mutters.

“What?” She asks, having not heard him well.

“Oh uh, nothing!” He attempts to cover, not realizing he had spoken aloud.

He was going to be the death of her.

“How’s your head?” Saeyoung asks her, taking off his backpack and setting in on the floor near her bed.

“Oh, its… ok.” She tries to play it off as she attempts to wheel her desk chair out for him to sit in, however one of the legs ends up rolling out in front of her and she trips, stumbling a bit before catching herself.

“hmmm" he taps his chin, "It's just as I thought.” he assesses.

“W-what do you mean?" She inquires.

“Back to bed with you missy! You need more recoup time!" Saeyoung declares, throwing back the covers on her bed and scooping her up before unceremoniously plopping her down unto her mattress.

She giggles despite the slight rush of pain that plagues her head as a result of his antics. “I guess there's no arguing that.”

He pulls up the desk chair to the side of her bed. “Do not fear! 707 has the perfect cure for you!”

“You mean your weird energy drink?” She giggles again.

“Oh no! No, no, I can’t actually let you test that, that’s what I have Yoosung for! You, pretty lady - get the real treatment! And also, I’ll have you know I almost came over here in my nurse costume just to administer it to you but I didn't want to scare you away.”

“Actually that would have been pretty amazing,” MC admits.

“Damn, next time then!” Saeyoung declares, taking items out of his bag.

“Let’s hope there isn't a ‘next time’. Last night wasn't exactly my best decision." She pauses for a moment, smiling "but I suppose the meeting you part was worth it.”

He smiles one of those smiles again and MC feels her heart flutter, little does she know how much her words made his heart feel much the same.

“Then I guess it’s only right for me to try and fix you up! Ok first, you need electrolytes!” he says brightly, handing her a sports drink. Which she takes with a smile. “Headache medication!” He continues, popping two out and handing them to her. “And finally…” He reaches into his backpack again and pulls out something wrapped in foil “Breakfast! I hope you like egg and cheese sandwiches?”

“That seriously sounds like the best thing ever right now.” She responds excitedly. “You sure know how to take care of a girl, keep that up and you’ll have me wrapped around your finger in no time,” She says before she can think. Oh my god, why did I say that? I'm not even drunk anymore, why does he make me say things like that?!

He says nothing, but smiles thoughtfully as he unwraps her breakfast for her making her feel like maybe he didn't exactly dislike that idea?

“Did you get one for yourself?” She asks, taking a bite. Her eyes roll back as a short moan escapes her lips and she throws her head back in satisfaction

Now it’s his turn for red cheeks. He wasn't exactly expecting to see that sight today. “Oh, uh. Nah! I had some chips this morning.”

“That's not a meal!” She scolds, still chewing. “Have the other half silly!”

“But that's for you!” He insists.

“Not anymore! You have to take care of yourself.”

“Says the girl who was drunk 12 hours ago!” He quips, taking the other half of the sandwich in defeat, it had been a while since he had any real food.

“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be?”

“Mmhmm!” He says while chewing, neither of them obviously caring much for table manners. “I got you home and brought you breakfast so I get to make one jab at you!”

“Ok, fair enough.” She concedes.

They sit quietly for a moment, just eating and enjoying the company. She finishes up her half as he goes to take the second to last bite of his, inadvertently causing a shift in the contents of the tiny bit of remaining sandwich causing some egg and cheese to fall onto his shirt. Or rather - his brother’s shirt.

“Aww shit.” He mutters.

“Oh no!” she exclaims. “That's the curse of white shirts, you wear one and you’re immediately more likely to drop something on it.”

“Right? Ugh, Saeran’s gonna murder me.” He groans

She cocks her head in confusion “Who’s Saeran?”

“My brother, I borrowed this from him cuz I maaay have forgotten to do laundry and I maaaay have... wanted to look nice for you?" He hurries through the second part of his statement.

She smiles at the confession, “Well you do look nice, but there’s no way I’m letting your brother kill you! The laundry room is down the hall. I can throw it in the wash for you! I have a load of whites to do anyway.”

“I’d feel so bad to make you do that when you’re not feeling well though!” He whines.

“Nonsense! I'm feeling much better thanks to you! Now take your shirt off!” Shit, I did it again, think before you speak MC.

“Oh ho ho, so forward!” He chuckles with a sly look and a wink. "I like that."

The wink hits her straight in the chest like a bullet “Ahh I didn't mean it like that.” MC stammers.

He chuckles unbuttoning his shirt, “You are way too cute.”

She glances away bashfully. “T-thanks.”

He gets all the buttons undone and pulls off his shirt standing up from where he was seated. “You have a basket of the other stuff you need to be washed? We can go together if you want,” he asks.

She can’t speak for a moment she just points and nods her head watching him as he puts his shirt in with her laundry and picks up the basket like a model in some male pin-up magazine. This isn’t fair, I thought he was a Comp-Sci major?! He said he eats chips for breakfast! Why does he have abs!? She can almost see the cover of the magazine that would feature the image in front of her, the caption reads: "Local man eats chips for breakfast and sits in front of a computer all day but still has a 6 pack, Doctors hate him!"

“Ready?” He asks, snapping her out of her thoughts. Did he notice her staring?

He smirks.

He totally noticed her staring and now that face isn't making it any easier not to stare!

“Y-yea!” She answers quickly, getting up and slipping her flip-flops on.

In the hall, she catches more than a few girls and a couple boys ogling her companion. One girl she shares a class with gives an impressed look and an enthusiastic nod.

"Saeyoung?" She says when they get to their destination.

"Ya?" He answers casually tossing items into the washer.

"Um, I think a couple people we passed in the hall were getting the wrong idea about us."

"Us? Why?"

"Well, you're not wearing a shirt, and I still look like a hot mess. It's still somewhat morning, people might think... things."

He takes another glance at her, raising an eyebrow as he looks her over again. "Your definition of “mess” seems really inaccurate, the other part-"

A familiar male voice cuts him off "Seven?" It questions.

"Yoosung!" He cries excitedly. "What are you doing here?! You feeling ok? I heard that chocolate milk is a great cure for a hangover."

"I have a group project with someone in this dorm and I'm not falling for that again, Seven!" He defends, Seven just shrugs in response and throws in a pair of MC's leggings into the washer before picking up another article.

"Uh… Seven?" Yoosung says slowly, not looking at Seven's face.

"Ya?"

"Why do you have a girl's bra? And where's your shirt?! "

"Oh. Uhhh." Seven stammers, trying not to picture how the lacey bralette must look on her. "I, uh."

MC's shock is unavoidable but she has to think fast. "Oops! That's mine! It must have fallen into your stuff on accident, I'll just be taking that, thanks! Sorry about that!" She snatches her undergarment from out of Saeyoung's hand and holds it to her chest possessively.

Yoosung's eyes snap to her and then narrow before he smiles at her. "Have we met?"

Wasn't he that drunk kid who kinda latched onto her shoulders last night?

"I'm Yoosung by the way!" He says excitedly seeming to have completely forgotten about Seven who just snickers as he throws the rest of the load in.

So this is his test subject MC thinks to herself.

"Nice to meet you, Yoosung. You must be a friend of Saeyoung's?" She asks.

Seven turns back around just in time to receive a questioning look from Yoosung. "Yea, I mean I'd like to think so at least. Although I'm curious about how you met Saeyoung." He emphasis the name while looking at Seven questioningly once more.

"We met at the RFA party." Seven tells him.

"The one last night?" Yoosung asks doubtfully.

"Yup! That's the one!"

"Hmph, interesting…" Yoosung deadpans. "Well, I've gotta get to work on this project. I'll see you and your new friend later."

“Awww, Yoosungie! Don’t be jealous.” Seven calls as Yoosung walks away.

"Is he ok?" MC inquires once she's sure Yoosung is out of earshot.

"Yea, he's just sensitive."

"Whatever about?"

"I knew him for 2 years before I told him my real name he's probably wondering why you already know it when we only met last night."

MC hums contemplatively. "And why do I know it?"

"Because." He says simply.

"Because?"

"Mmhmm"

"Is that all your going to tell me?"

"Mmhmm!"

"Why don't you use your real name anyway? Do you not like it?" She asks as he uncaps the laundry detergent. "C-cuz I think it's a cute na- I mean a nice name. I mean I'm just kinda wondering why you don't use it I guess?"

He smiles at her compliment but it doesn't reach his eyes. "It's a dangerous name. A dangerous name for a dangerous person."

She cocks an eyebrow at him and barks a laugh "Oh, yea you look real intimidating right now pouring that laundry detergent."

He laughs with her while he finishes up with the machine.

She gasps dramatically, “Oh no whatever will I do?! This man NO, not a man! This menace came to my dorm and did my laundry after he fed me and made my headache go away, he must be stopped!”

“I know, I know It’s hard to believe because I’m so cute but it’s true!” He defends.

“Ok, Ok. should I be careful of you helping old ladies across the street too?”

“Don’t say I didn't warn you, Sweetie” He says in a sing-song voice.

For a moment she considers whether or not he’s actually being serious, but she just can’t imagine the guy standing in front of her right now - who, by the way, is currently trying to blow a stray hair out of his face and failing (adorably)- being involved in anything even remotely dangerous. No this is definitely another one of his stunts.

Seven’s phone goes off, interrupting her train of thought. “Shit,” He says, sounding disappointed.

“What’s up?”

“I’ve got class in 30 minutes, guess I didn't think this through to well.” He says finally tucking that pesky hair loss behind his glasses and motioning to the laundry machine.

“That’s ok!” She ensures, “I can bring you your shirt later tonight, or tomorrow! I know where you live.” She says tauntingly.

“Oh ho ho, now whos the one trying to seem dangerous hmm?” He reaches out, tickling her side. She stifles a giggle and jumps back a bit.

“Uh oh.” He says

“What?” she says nonchalantly.

“You're ticklish!” “I have no idea what you’re referring too,” She says backing away from him, but smiling all the same.

“Mmmhmm.” He hums sauntering closer to her until she backed up against the wall. “Then I guess you won’t mind if I…” he pauses “DO THIS” he finishes attacking her sides in feather-light caresses.

She thrashes back and forth in a fit of giggles, filling the air and Seven’s heart alike with mirthful joy. He chuckles watching her react to him.

Her face becomes flushed with a dusting of pink, her eyes prick with tears as she smiles from ear to ear. He becomes so enraptured with it all that he begins to slow his torturous tickling and then ceases completely. Just. Staring into her eyes.

They’re so close now. He could close that gap very easily, but would she welcome it? He inches a bit closer, her eyes widen as she’s entranced by his molten gold irises her breath hitches in her throat and then…

His phone blares again, knocking them both out of their trance. Saeyoung stumbles back, embarrassed and checks his phone again “Crap, I’ve got 20 minutes” he mumbles.

She frowns as he steps away from her. “Guess you better get a move on, then”

“One more thing, can I ask you a favor?” He says slowly and she nods in agreement, “Can I borrow a shirt?”

[myaekingheart]

44. Tsukuyomi

read the scarecrow and the bell on ao3

index | from the beginning | < previous | next >

               “Do you feel sorry for your old village?” a voice asked. Two cloaked figures stood at the edge of Konoha’s borders, harbingers of disaster. His companion hesitated a moment, tilting his head skyward toward Hokage Rock. A churning took hold of his stomach, recollections of the past. And then, after a moment, an eventual answer.

               “No.”

               Rei strapped her sandals on and fixed her hair up into a ponytail as she sat on the edge of Kakashi’s bed. Her lips were drawn taut, her eyes staring ahead with laser focus. The door creaked open. “You’re up early” Kakashi said as he stepped inside. His hair was still wet from a morning shower, and he had yet to put on a shirt. The clock read 5:45am.

               “You say that as if I’m incapable of getting up before noon” she replied sharply. “Besides, I have a lot of shit to do today.”

               “Oh?” Kakashi asked, sitting beside her. He ruffled his hair, shaking droplets of water onto Rei’s forearm. “What kinds of shit?”

               Rei rose from her spot and checked herself in the nearby mirror. “Naru insisted on having a girl’s day, so she’s dragging us to the hot springs. I’d rather not, but she insisted we needed some quality spa time and wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Something shook inside Kakashi at the thought. He and Rei had been growing mildly distant, but the image of her in the springs triggered something that had since been neglected. He tried to get his mind off of it. He didn’t want her to see the vulnerability of his imagination.

               He stood up and quickly slipped his shirt on over his head, then zipped his vest up and pulled his mask over his face. “Wait a minute, don’t leave just yet” he said as he tied his headband to his forehead. Rei glanced back at him expectantly, hand hovering over the doorknob. “I’ll walk you there.”

               Despite how much she hated the way he seemed to loom over her as they went, a strange feelng began to take root that made her glad he was beside her. Per usual, they displayed no public affection that coul reeal the true nature of their relationship, and yet somehow she felt as if his fingers were invisibly intertwined with hers. There was a sense of protection deep within the looming that both comforted and terrified her.

               They were halfway to the hot springs when something finally snapped. A chill ran down Kakashi’s spine, and the faintest ringing of a bell struck his ears. He looked back over his shoulder and caught one quick flash of black and red, the faintest glimpse of a crimson eye. When he turned back to Rei, she was staring at him with widened eyes. Perhaps she had felt it, too.

               “Let me know when you make it home” he said quietly, ducking behind a pillar so that no one could see them before they parted ways.

               “I will” she said softly. That feeling, that fleeting anxiety, left her paranoid and unhinged. She recognized it as if from some distant dream. It didn’t make any sense, but when she thought too long about it, she was reminded of someone terrifying. Soemone who made her feel so inexplicably nauseous. Itachi.

               Kakashi rested a hand on Rei’s shoulder, looking at her with a deep, intense sincerity. “Stay safe. Please” he said. She nodded once, and then he leaned down and tugged his mask down to slowly plant a kiss on her lips.

               A sense of warmth enveloped her entire body, momentarily easing her worries. He lingered for a moment longer afterwards, and she looked in his eyes and whispered “You, too.” Her heart pounded as she watched him leave, her arms going numb, as if she could feel the elastic bond between them stretching too thin and ultimately snapping. She spaced out for a moment, caught up in her thoughts, only realizing after snapping back to reality that perhaps he had not alleviated her fears so much as added to them. An unshakable sense of doom crept over her, and she suddenly felt as if the entire world was destined to implode in a matter of hours.

               “Looks like someone kissed and made up” a voice then spoke, startling Rei. She turned to find Sekkachi smirking at her, a towel slung over her forearm. Rei stammereda moment, face turning red, before socking her friend in the arm and stomping through the gates as she mumbled something along the lines of Shut the fuck up.

               Kakashi stood outside the dango shop with book in hand, but truthfully he couldn’t concentrate. He searched for Sasuke, whose presence he requested and hoped would oblige. Inside, two cloaked figures brooded over their tea. Kakashi wasn’t sure what was to come of this, but he had be prepared for the absolute worst.

               Asuma and Kurenai were a welcome distraction, smugly smiling behind his mask as he watched them approach. “You two seem to be getting along” he commented. The kunoichi’s face went bright red, stammering out a half-assed excuse. Deep down, Kakashi took great pride in poking fun at them. As if everyone didn’t already know of their secret romance. He hoped he and Rei weren’t nearly as obvious.

               “What are you doing here, aside from catching up on your reading?” Asuma asked. “I thought you didn’t like the sweet stuff.”

               “I need to buy something for a grave” Kakashi replied. It was clear through his tone and body language that something was going on; the couple before him exchanged suspicious glances. “Plus, I’m meeting someone here.”

               Asuma hollered and slapped Kakashi hard on the back. “Finally got a girlfriend, huh?”

               Kakashi looked back at him, unamused. “No” he said. “I’m just waiting on Sasuke.”

               “It’s unlike you to be the early one” Asuma commented.

               “So, what did you need to pick up for this grave?” Kurenai asked. “Is it for Obito?”

               Kakashi clenched his fist at his side. “Yeah…kind of” he replied. His eyes trailed back to the cloaked figures, their bodies tense. Asuman and Kurenai followed his gaze just as Sasuke arrived, looking as agitated as ever.

               “It’s not like you to show up early” the by spat. “What’s gives?”

               “Well, sometimes things are just too important to run late for” Kakashi replied. A strange feeling echoed through the air, and Sasuke peered inside the shop. The table once occupied now sat empty, nealy full cups of tea still piping hot.

               Sasuke huffed. “Let’s eat somewhere else. I’m not really in the mood for sweets.” Asuma and Kurenai met Kakashi’s gaze and knew immediately what must be done. They nodded once, then disappeared. The young Uchiha pursed his lips. “Alright, what’s going on?”

               Naru leapt out of the spring grinning, grabbing a towel on her way to tightly hug Rei. “I’m so glad you were able to make it!” she exclaimed. Rei peered over her friend’s shoulder to catch sight of the others already relaxing: Yugao, Tenshi, and Mikazuki.

               “I wish you would’ve told me this was an ANBU thing” Sekkachi scoffed, flanking Rei. “Or else I never would’ve come.”

               Naru shook her head as she embraced her comrade. “But we want you here, too, Sekkachi! I want you here!”

               All the blood drained from Sekkachi’s face and she quickly shoved Naru off of her. “Alright, yeah, whatever” she said, ripping her towel off and wading into the water. She refused to look Naru in the eyes, or any other part of her body for that matter.

               “So I wonder who the new hokage is going to be” Mikazuki said, smoothing her dark hair back to reveal her third eye.

               “Do they really have to pick so soon?” Naru asked. “Lord Third only just died, like, a week ago.”

               “Konoha needs leadership” Sekkachi said bluntly. “Without a hokage, we’re gonna shit the bed. Especially after the hellfest that was the chunin exams.”

               “I overheard in a meeting yesterday something about one of the legendary sannin” Yugao replied. “Apparently the elders had a long discussion about it.”

               “Yeah, probably because it takes them fifity years to get out a sentence” Sekkachi said. Naru rolled her eyes.

               “I don’t know much about politics” the blonde chimed in, “but I think whoever assumes the position should know what he’s getting into. Lord Third was a great man, this new guy will have some pretty big shoes to fill.”  

               As they prattled on about current affairs, Rei couldn’t help but feel mildly awkward around so many people. Not to mention the fact that she was naked in front of them. It didn’t matter if they shared a common anatomy. She felt exposed and vulnerable.

               “Is it just me” Tenshi then spoke, “Or does anyone else here have the weirdest feeling like you’re being watched?” The girls looked to each other for reassurance, quickly realizing that they felt it, too.

               Jiraiya fixed his telescope firmly against his eye and chuckled to himself filthily. “You’ve gotta love the Leaf village!” he shouted from atop a nearby building. He fixed his gaze on a brunette clouded in steam, sultry eyes and curvaceous figure. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she fell straight from the heavens. “The girls here are off the charts!”

               “Jiraiya” a firm voice then called. “You’re still playing the buffoon, I see…”

               Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut and tried to deal with the pain. Another blade sliced into his abdomen, warm blood pouring down his body. Itachi smirked. “I wonder how much of this someone without the kekkei genkai can take.” That damn word kept pulsing through Kakashi’s head with every thumping heartbeat in his ears. Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi.

               No amount of downplaying it as “just genjutsu” could dull the pain. Another blade, and everything slowly went black.

               Naru sighed happily and rested her head back against the edge of the springs. “I don’t think I ever want to get out” she breathed. “I’ve never felt so relaxed in my entire life.”

               The caw of a bird echoed overhead. Yugao pursed her lips. “Well, sorry to cut your relaxation short, but it looks like we’re needed.” She pointed up at the sky, a warning sign circling overhead. A summon for the ANBU black ops and by the looks of it, things weren’t good.

               Rei’s heart leapt into her throat. She jumped out of the spring so quickly she scraped her knee on the rocky ledge. A voice told her to be careful, but by then the damage was already done. No matter. It wasn’t important. Her mind leapt back to that feeling from earlier, the paranoia and the sense of impeding doom. She saw it. Kakashi saw it. Something was extremely wrong. She raced inside the bath house, got dressed as quickly as possible, and made a run for it.

               Tenshi lifted herself out of the springs with all the finesse of a film star, shaking the water from her hair and sighing. “Clearly grace isn’t her strong suit” she said condescendingly as she watched Rei disappear.

               Naru grimaced as she climbed out herself. “Not everyone can be Yukie Fujikaze” she commented, then turned and met eyes with Sekkachi. “Sorry to have cut things so short!” she apologized. “You’re more than welcome to stay if you’d like.”

               Face pale and hands shaky, Sekkachi shook her head and began wading toward the bath house. “No use stewing alone. Besides, I’m not feeling so great” she said. Naru extended a hand to help her friend up, but Sekkachi refused to take it. She wrapped her towel around her body quickly and shuffled inside.

               Naru watched her quizzically. I wonder what’s gotten into her.

               Deep breaths. In…and out. This can’t be happening. Rei stepped foot in the hospital dizzy and disoriented. Three jonin turned toward her, fully aware that this wasn’t going to end well. Hiretsuna, the ditsy receptionist, bounded forward with a clipboard clutched to her chest.

               “Hello!” she greeted. “What can I help you with today?”

               Rei shoved her out of the way, staggering toward the others. “What’s happened? Where is he?” she asked. Her eyes were wide and unyielding, her hands trembling at her sides. Kurenai and Asuma exchanged confused looks, but it was Guy who stepped forward to apprehend their visitor.

               “They’re checking him out right now” he said, placing his hands firmly on Rei’s shoulders. “But I want you to know that he didn’t go down without a fight.”

               “Oh…oh god…” Rei whispered. The room swayed back and forth, and then she fell to her knees. Her stomach was doing somersaults, and she buried her face in her hands to hide the hot tears pouring down her cheeks. Guy knelt down beside her and rubbed her back in comfort.

               After a few moments, Kurenai crept forward and whispered, “Guy, what exactly is going on here?”

               Guy simply swatted her away and whispered back, “I’ll explain later.” As she recoiled, she watched Guy lift Rei to her feet, one arm around her for support, and walk her to a chair nearest the hall of triage rooms where Kakashi had been taken. He sat her down gently, then took the seat beside her, and continued to sit there with her until they received word of their friend’s condition.

               Rei’s entire body was shaking. She was drowning in a sea of terrible thoughts. What if Kakashi didn’t make it? What if Itachi had killed him? She nearly vomited at the thought. Guy heard her gag and reminded her to breathe. She thought she had been. “I’ll kill him…” she whispered furiously. “I’ll kill him with my bare hands if I have to…I’ll slaughter Itachi.”

               Overhearing, Kurenai and Asuma exchanged glances with one another, and then with Guy, who simply shook his head and averted his eyes. She was filled with so much rage, so much desperation. Her love for Kakashi was truly a wildfire. Just then, the door to one of the triage rooms slid open and a nurse stepped out. Rei leapt to her feet.

               “What’s going on? Where is he? I need to see him” the redhead insisted.

               The nurse was taken aback a moment, calming only when Guy came up behind Rei and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re just concerned is all” he reassured. The nurse nodded and a soft smile flickered on her lips.

               “He’s stable” she said, but there was a looming sense of exception in her tone. Rei knew not to get her hopes up too high yet. “However, the effects of the genjutsu that was used on him have rendered him completely comatose and I’m afraid there’s nothing more we at this hospital can do. We will need the help of an expert medical specialist in order for a full recovery.”

               The woman’s words lingered in Rei’s brain, swirling around and taunting her. Full recovery. Comatose. Nothing more we can do. Nothing more…

               “You son of a--!” Rei erupted, reaching for the nurse. The woman gasped and jumped backward just as Guy lurched forward to hold Rei down. “You’re lying! I know exactly how this shit works!” Rei screamed, tears streaming down her face. “He’s going to be fine, I know he is! He has to be! You’re just not trying hard enough!”

               “Rei” Guy shouted sternly, trying to restrain her. It was no use. She squirmed in his arms and wailed maniacally, trying to elbow her way out of Guy’s grasp. People in the waiting room were beginning to stare and grow uncomfortable. Asuma and Kurenai ducked into the hallway to avoid the association. After a solid five minutes of fighting, Rei finally broke down. She fell limp in Guy’s arms and wept pathetically, pounding her fist against the ground. Once he knew she was done being destructive, he loosened his hold and rubbed her back, trying to tell her “Alright, Rei, just try to calm down. Everything is going to be fine.”

               But it wasn’t fine. Kakashi was comatose. What if he never woke up? She couldn’t handle it. Konoha police officers arrived ready to respond to the commotion, but Rei refused to move.

               “Ma’am, we can do this the easy way or the hard way” one officer said. “Come with us willingly and there won’t be any issues.”

               She shook her head. “No…please, just…just let me see him” she whispered. The nurse glanced to the officers and then back to the hysterical girl on the floor, and then to Guy who looked up at her with an expression that said she shouldn’t dare refuse. With a sigh, the nurse dismissed the officers and slid the triage door open.

               Rei shuffled inside slowly, fearfully. Guy stayed right behind her, a reassuring presence in an otherwise hellish escapade. And then she saw him. He looked so peaceful, so blank. She squeaked and clapped her hand over her mouth, averting her eyes. “D-do you…do you think he’ll ever wake up?” she asked. She inched nearer, almost terrified as if he was a corpse, and rested her hand against his warm cheek. A part of her expected his eyes to creak open and for him to smile up at her, as if her touch alone was some magic antidote like in childhood fairytales, but she received no response. He was out cold.

               The nurse bit her lip and replied in false cheer “Well, there’s always hope!”

               Hope, my ass, Rei thought to herself. She didn’t want hope, she wanted answers. Or really, if she was wanting things, she wanted Kakashi to be okay. Conscious. Unaffected. She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply. Then, turning to Guy, asked, “Can you do me a favor?”

               Kakashi’s apartment felt stuffy, suffocating. Guy rummaged around for the clothing and books Rei had requested she bring, Asuma and Kurenai’s eyes on him all the while.

               “Guy, do you care to explain what exactly happened in the hospital?” Kurenai asked.

               Guy paused a moment, knowing he wasn’t really at the liberty to divulge such information, but then decided that this was a special circumstance and they had the right to know. “That woman who showed up today and caused a scene was Rei Natsuki. She’s in the ANBU black ops and has known Kakashi her entire life. And she’s his girlfriend.”

               There was silence as the two jonin tried to process this. “He never said anything” Kurenai said thoughtfully. “I wonder why not.” Guy looked back at her then with an expression on his face as if to say Maybe for the same reason you two don’t, and the kunoichi immediately shut up.

               As Guy peered into Kakashi’s closet, something glinting in the sunlight caught his attention. He moved the clothing out of the way to find tucked away in a box was a tiny gold ring. He understood what was going on immediately, and was overcome with equal parts excitement and terror. Kakashi had big plans, but there was no way for him to fulfill them if he never pulled through.

               Just then, the door creaked open and suddenly a voice boomed through the room. “What the hell is going on here?” Sasuke insisted. It was clear something was definitely off. There was no reason for three jonin to be rooting around Kakashi’s apartment.

               Guy poked his head out of the closet with a grin pasted on his face. “Not much, really!” he lied. And then their plan faltered.

               The streetlights flickered on outside as the sky gradually darkened, but Rei refused to let her eye shut. She couldn’t risk falling asleep should Kakashi wake up. Deep down, however, she knew he wasn’t going to. She tugged back the blankets so she could reach under and lace her fingers with his, desperate for just a spark of response.

               How could someone be so cold? So heartless? Sure, Itachi didn’t kill him but the damage was already done. In a way, this was even worse. At least with death, it was definite and quick. There was no uncertainty to it. You’re just gone. But this…this waiting was torture. It hadn’t even been a full 24 hours yet and Rei already felt as if she was going to lose her damn mind. And worse than that, what if all of her waiting was for nothing? No matter how much she tried to shove away the negative thoughts, they always weaseled their way back in. If he was to go, she swore she would have nothing left to live for. She couldn’t stand the thought of going on without him. She would take her own life if it came to that, she was sure of it.

               Still, there were so many things they had yet to do. So much life ahead of them. Was this really where their future was meant to end? “Please don’t do this” she whispered, despite knowing he likely couldn’t hear. “Whatever you do…do not leave me this.” She lowered her voice to a growl, begging him to wake up, then punched the floor. It was no use.

               As she drifted off, all she could think about was how petty she had been the past few weeks. The hokage’s death had stirred something in her, an anxiety about human mortality and a desperation to defeat death. She had felt so helpless, and she fought every instinct in her body to dwell on it but couldn’t bring herself to stop. She remembered how harsh she had been to Naru, insisting that there’s no use focusing on the past because there was nothing more that could be done. More than anything, however, she remembered her argument with Kakashi. Why was she so damn angry about his daily visits to the cemetery? Perhaps there was something understandable hiding in there, some sort of healthy coping mechanism, but the more she thought about it sitting there beside her unconscious love, the more she realized how stupid she had been. Realistically, she knew she was just projecting. She, too, was shackled to the past with no way of escaping. And now it all would cost them their future together.

               In her sleep, she found herself in a pastel paradise, surrounded by clouds and stardust. Where am I? she thought, reaching out toward the abyss. It stretched on and on; she could look but could not touch. And then there was a voice calling her name. She recognized it immediately. She whipped around to find Kakashi approaching her, smiling, maskless, but something was wrong. What’s going on? Where are we? She asked. This is death, he replied. This is the nothingness. She reached out to take his hand but he, too, was unreachable. From the mist then approached Rin and Obito, each taking one of Kakashi’s hands in theirs. They were taking him away from her. This was the end of everything. In an act of desperation, she ripped the kanzashi from the base of her ponytail and made a vertical slice all the way up her forearm. The blood trickled down to the floor, creating a neat little puddle at her feet. Take me with you. I belong to death now. Rin and Obito shook their heads in disdain, beginning to fade away along with Kakashi. No…this isn’t right. Don’t leave me…you can’t leave me! She fell to her knees, covered in her own blood, wailing. Don’t leave me….don’t leave me, Kakashi…don’t leave…

               She snapped awake to a figure looming overhead, her face blocked out by the sunshine backlight. Immediately on the defensive, Rei leapt to her feet and whipped her kanzashi out only to be met with the startled gaze of a nurse. “W-what time is it?” Rei gasped, wiping the sweat from her brow.

               “It’s 6 in the morning. I’m just here to check his vitals” the nurse explained meekly. She should’ve clocked into work an hour ago but quite frankly, she didn’t give a fuck anymore. She alid her head back down on the edge of the bed and sighed, watching Kakashi’s chest rise and fall slowly.

               That afternoon, Guy arrived with Asuma and Kurenai to see how their friend was doing. Kurenai looked around the room with great concern, daring to ask, “Have you been here this entire time?” Rei only nodded. Then, “Have you left his side at all?” Rei shook her head. The saddest look then crossed Kurenai���s face as she turned to Asuma, a silent call that something had to be done.

               “Is there anything we can do?” Guy asked, standing beside the redhead. He hated seeing Kakashi like this, almost as much as Rei did. If only there was some way he could snap his fingers and will Kakashi back to life, but he didn’t have that power in him. He could only do the same as Rei: sit and wait.

               “No, I-I’m alright, but thank you, Guy” Rei muttered. She reached out and patted his forearm, and in that ation they all saw the way her hand shook. Between that and the pallor of her face, a sudden realization struck Kurenai.

               “Rei, have you eaten anything in the past two days?” she asked. The redhead averted her eyes. She didn’t want to answer for fear of facing shame in the truth. Her silence, however, was answer enough. Kurenai drew her hand to her mouth and sighed. She tugged Asuma’s sleeve and then said, “We’ll be back in a little while.” Rei already knew exactly what she was doing, but she didn’t have the energy to protest. She supposed that if Kurenai was willing to go out of her way to bring her food, it would be nothing short of disrespectful not to eat it.

               And then they were alone, just Guy and Rei and an unconscious Kakashi. They sat in silence for a long while, the bushy-browed ninja studying his rival’s girlfriend. He watched the way she sat, how her back was arched and her eyes heavy from exhaustion. He doubte she had been sleeping very well, if at all. He admired her dedication, however. A small smile tugged at his lips as he patted her on the back. “I know this hasn’t been easy for you, Rei, but even when he’s unconscious I’m sure Kakashi knows what a great job you’re doing keeping him company!”

               For a moment, he was met with no response. And then, slowly, Rei turned to look up at him with teary eyes. “Thank you, Guy…” she whispered hoarsely before finally breaking down. She didn’t want to cry, especially after the scene she caused yesterday, but she couldn’t help herself. She was weak and this was all far too much for her to handle.

               Kurenai and Asuma returned a few hours later with a to-go carton of Ichiraku and some gyoza, which Rei happily scarfed down. The three of them stayed a little while longer, but one by one as the streetlights outside flickered on, they left and once again she was all alone.

               In the darkness, she took solace in the fact that no one was watching her. Her back ached from sitting up for days on end, and her eyelids were growing heavier. With a sharp inhale, she tugged the covers back and carefully climbed into the hospital bed, curling up beside her boyfriend. She cupped his cheek and stroked the hair out of his face, studied the contours of his body, and held his hand tight against her chest. “I don’t know if you can hear me” she whispered, “but it’s getting pretty lonely here. I-I know you’re right here next to me, but…I miss you. I miss you being awake. I wish…I wish you would just come back to me. Please…please come back to me.” She watched him for a moment longer, resting her head on his chest, until finally she couldn’t restrain herself any longer. Her eyes drooped shut and she fell fast asleep.

               Weeks passed with no change. Rei could hear the murmurs of nurses in the hallway, as if they were betting on how much longer she was going to hold out. Joke’s on them, she thought to herself. The only way I’m leaving without Kakashi is on a gurney to the morgue.

               “I’m really beginning to worry about you” Naru said one afternoon when she stopped by. “The whole world hasn’t stopped turning just for you, you know. Life is still going on out there.”

               Rei rolled her eyes. “I don’t care about any of it” she spat. “Doesn’t mean a thing unless Kakashi is okay.”

               Naru pursed her lips, then sighed. “You know, they threatened to remove you from the black ops if you don’t come back to work soon.” She knew Sekkachi had threatened her if she so much as dared to tell Rei what the elders had said, but Naru thought she had a right to know. She needed to know.

               Shaking her head, Rei replied, “What’s the point? There’s no hokage to take orders from. Let the village elders die mad about it. They’re old enough, it probably wouldn’t take very long.”

               “Rei!” Naru’s face turned bright red. She crossed her arms and approached the doorway. “I know this is a rough time for you but you have to keep your head on your shoulders. I think staying here for weeks on end has screwed with your head. You need to go home and get some rest. At least for tonight. Shower, get some clean clothes. Sleep in an actual bed.”

               Rei shook her head. “No” she insisted. “No, the minute I leave will be when he finally wakes up and I can’t…I can’t risk that.”

               No matter how much she protested, Naru assured her that Kakashi was well taken care of and Rei had no room to protest. If anything should happen, the hospital would surely notify her, right? She was the closest thing he had to family anyway, even if they weren’t related by blood or marriage. She was still responsible for him in a way. After all, she still held true to the mission Lord Third had assigned to her two years prior. Recent events meant nothing for her duty to Kakashi. The thing that finally convinced her to go, however, was Naru’s insistence that it would be what Kakashi wanted.

               “Can you imagine how bothered he would be to find you neglecting your own self care for him?” she asked. “I’m sure he would appreciate you staying by his side all this time, but not at the expense of your own wellbeing. He would want you to go home, to get some rest, and then you can come back when you’re fresh and clean, alright?”

               That logic was hard to argue with, and Rei almost resented Naru for pulling such a dirty trick. She notified the nurse at the station that she would be going home for the night, and that she would return early the next morning, and then went on her way feeling guilty all the while.

               So long as she kept herself busy, it wasn’t so bad. She took her time showering, scrubbing her skin hard until it shined red and shampooing once, twice, three times over. She dug through her dresser and tried on five different outfits before landing on the right one. And then, when there was nothing else for her to do, she picked up a book. She knew it wouldn’t be much help, and that books always ended up serving as vehicles for a wandering mind, but at least it was something.

               Settling into her desk chair, she cracked open a novel she had only started years ago but never read past page 25. As she did so, the bookmark she had placed in there years earlier slipped out and fluttered into one of her drawers. She paused, staring despondently at where it fell, then propped her book open with her forearm as she rummaged around to find it. It was a simple scrap of paper, it didn’t need to be this difficult, and yet as she searched, her fingers found something quite different. She pressed her hand against the cold steel and a shiver ran down her spine. She let her book slap shut, instead devoting all of her attention now to this long lost gem. Rei slowly removed it from the drawer, turning it over in her hands. It was the kakute she had received when she was six, the present she was going to give Kakashi for making jonin. She never did muster enough courage to give it to him. Now she was kicking herself for even forgetting about it. Grandma Teiko would be genuinely disappointed.

               As she stared at it, she wondered if it would be well-received. She wondered what Kakashi would think of it, and if he would be more accepting of it now than when he was eight. She thought perhaps so. He was more mature now than he was back then. He had faced far more adversity, and so she assumed he would likely place a higher value in things of sentiment than before. The longer she looked at it, the more an energy began to swell inside of her. She never did officially congratulate him on becoming a jonin at all. What a terrible friend, nonetheless girlfriend. They had been absent for so many moments in one another’s lives, filled with so many missed opportunities. Well, no more. Rising from her seat, Rei tucked the ring into the pouch on her backside and made a firm decision. If and when Kakashi was to wake up, no matter what, she would give him that ring. No more forgetting. No more waiting. It was now or never.

               As she made her way to the hospital the next day, she took the long route for no reason in particular. Her anxiety about Kakashi had made it hard to sleep the previous night, and she was eager to get back to him, but at the same time had no idea when he would wake up and she missed the fresh air. Besides, she hadn’t seen her family since before the chaos of the chunin exams and she had heard Kaminoki got hit hard. It was only fair that she make sure everyone was okay.

               Grandma Teiko immediately noticed something strange in Rei’s eyes and pulled her aside for a private conversation. “Something’s going on, I can tell. What’s on your mind, girl?” she asked. Rei didn’t exactly want to go through the entire spiel but knew Grandma Teiko of all people deserved an explanation. She sucked in a deep breath and bravely tried her best to explain the situation without crying. She failed and was in tears by the time she explained Kakashi was comatose. Teiko wrapped an arm around her granddaughter and cooed at her softly as if she was a child who had scraped their knee. “Everything will turn out fine” she reassured.

               “But how do you know?” Rei asked. On one hand, she understood that Grandma Teiko was trustworthy and, in a way, somewhat clairvoyant, but at the same time a part of her found it hard to feel confident in a happy ending. Kakashi had been out of it for three weeks with no signs of improvement.

               “I just know these things. What? Have you stopped trusting the words of an old woman?” Teiko replied.

               “No, I just—” Rei started, but her grandmother interrupted.

               “Besides” she started, “I’ve heard rumors that they’ve finally found the fifth hokage.”

               “What does that have to do with anything?” Rei asked. Not that she was ungrateful for the news, of course. Konoha had gone far longer than it needed to without a proper leader, and she hoped that whoever had been appointed would fulfill the position well. But that meant nothing for the fate of Kakashi. Or so she thought.

               “Maybe if you didn’t speak so soon, you’d let me finish telling you!” Grandma Teiko snapped. Rei blushed and muttered an apology. “I’ve heard rumors that the new hokage is the sannin herself, Tsunade, who, if you don’t already know, is an expert medic ninja. She can fix Kakashi right up in no time!”

               Rei’s heart swelled up into her throat. Was it really that easy? All she needed to do was track down Tsunade and her problems would be solved? This was too much. There was no way it all was that simple. But if it was… It was a chance she just had to take. She bid Grandma Teiko a fond farewell, hugging her tightly and thanking her for the intel, before rushing off to see what else she could find about this Tsunade. She skirted around corners and eavesdropped behind storefronts in hopes of overhearing something—anything—but nobody seemed to have any solid information. At least nothing like Grandma Teiko provided. After roughly an hour of running and searching, she had grown incredibly weary and was almost about to give up when she ran into none other than Might Guy. Perhaps he would know something.

               “Tsunade?” he asked. “Naruto’s been off searching for her with Jiraiya these past few weeks and turns out they found her. She’s a legendary medic ninja, and I’m going to ask her to see if she can fix Rock Lee!” It took Rei only a couple seconds to remember who, exactly, Rock Lee was but then memories of the chunin exams flashed in her mind. Perhaps Guy had taken the idea of a protégé a little too far, but no matter. She remembered at least overhearing of the damage the young ninja had sustained in the fight, and she truly hoped he would be alright.

               “Do you think she can heal Kakashi, too?” Rei asked. She tried not to let her hope bubble up too high.

               “I don’t see why not!” Guy enthused. “If I’m not mistaken, I’m sure Naruto had already insisted she work her magic on him already.” Before he could say another word, Rei leapt up to hug Guy tightly and thanked him over and over again, then rushed off to the hospital with newfound purpose. She didn’t want to think of what may happen if Tsunade was unable to fulfill her promise and fix him. If she was as good as everyone said she was, she would have no excuse to fail in the first place. Rei greeted the nurse on duty in a flash as she raced into the room to find Kakashi laying exactly as he had been all that time. It was eight in the morning, and she wondered when Tsunade would arrive. No matter, she was willing to wait as long as it took.

               She seated herself beside Kakashi’s bed and kissed him on the cheek, before pulling the kakute from her pocket and looking it over. She knew logically that he was totally unconscious and that there was no way for him to know what she was doing but still, removing it in front of him even now felt forbidden and like ruining an anticipated surprise. Soon, she thought to herself, then rested her head on the bedside and involuntarily passed out.

               When she came to, she heard an unfamiliar voice overhead. “And who is this one?” a woman asked, and Rei knew immediately she was speaking of her.

               “This is Rei Natsuki, Kakashi’s girlfriend” the nurse explained. “She’s been here by his side the entire time he’s been in the hospital. She refused to leave him.”

               “I see…” the woman said. Rei blinked awake and watched as this strange woman skirted around the hospital bed and began looking Kakashi over.

               “Hey, what the fuck do you think you’re doing? Get away from him!” Rei shouted, rising from her seat.

               “Excuse me?” the woman asked, gritting her teeth. She was, admittedly, beautiful. And also, erm…well-endowed. “Well, it’s nice to see you’re finally awake” the woman scoffed.

               The nurse rested a gentle hand on Rei’s shoulder in an attempt to ease her, whispering, “This is Lady Tsuande, the one you’ve been waiting for.” The moment her name rolled off the nurse’s lips, Rei’s face went bright red. She sank back down into her seat and apologized quietly. The last thing she needed was to ruin Kakashi’s chances of ever waking up solely because she had a short fuse and was quick to judge.

               Rei watched with wide eyes as Tsunade smirked and then rested a hand over Kakashi’s forehead. A pale green light pulsated from beneath her palm, healing chakra. And then came the one thing Rei had been waiting for all this time. Kakashi furrowed his brows, flexed his fist. A soft groan escaped his lips, and then his eyes creaked open.

               “There he is” Tsunade said triumphantly.

               “Huh…? W-what’s going on?” Kakashi slurred, rubbing his head as he sat up. He looked to Tsunade, then her assistant Shizune, and then finally to Rei at his bedside. She stared at him with wide eyes, her mouth slightly ajar, on the verge of tears. “Rei…”

               “Kakashi!” she shrieked, then lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He could feel her hot tears spilling down her cheeks and onto his back.

               “How long have I been out of it?” Kakashi asked, wrapping an arm around Rei as she wept into his shoulder.

               “About three weeks!” the nurse chirped. Kakashi’s face went pale. No wonder Rei is so excited to see me. She probably thought I was dead.

               As Rei pulled away, Kakashi’s eyes instantly darted to her balled up fist. Her hand was covered in blood. “Rei, what happened?” he asked, gently taking her hand in his. Her cheeks blushed, and she averted her eyes, remembering the kakute.

               “I must’ve fallen asleep holding onto something” she replied sheepishly.

               “Like what? Broken glass?” Tsunade asked, taking Rei’s hand from Kakashi. She pried her fist open to find the little steel ring in her palm, the spikes having stabbed Rei in her sleep. The sannin arched a brow before instructing Shizune to take Rei to get her hand cleaned up and bandaged. As the brunette carted her to the other end of the room, footsteps pounded down the hall and in burst Naruto Uzumaki.

               “So were you able to do it?” Naruto asked. “Did you fix Kakashi-sensei?”

               “Well” Tsunade started, “Physically, yes, but I doubt his pride is anywhere near perfect.” Rei’s ears perked up, honing in on the conversation as Shizune cleaned her wound. Tsunade shook her head and placed her hands firmly on her hips. “Disgraceful” she sighed. “To be taken out of the game by two low-life punks like that. I thought you were supposed to be the best.”

               Rei gritted her teeth, clenching her fist. Shizune cleared her throat to attract attention back to her. “Um, Miss Natsuki…? You’re making it difficult for me to bandage you up…” she said. Rei relaxed her hand and muttered a half-hearted sorry. Who did this Tsunade think she was? Belitting Kakashi’s abilities like that. Kakashi was the best. Itachi was likely just manipulative and strong. Clearly this woman had no idea what Kakashi was up against.

               “Sorry to…disappoint you” Kakashi said, voice low, and it was clear that he was feeling like shit about himself. Rei’s heart ached.

               In the meantime, Might Guy had barged into the room with a look of sheer anticipation on his face. He could hardly contain himself. Triumphantly, Naruto raised a fist in the air and shouted, “Alright, that’s Kakashi-sensei! Now one more and you’re all done!”

               How many people has this kid been dragging her around to heal? Rei thought to herself. Shizune finished bandaging her hand and smiled softly at the redhead. “Alright, that should do it” she said. She then reached over and lifted the kakute off the counter, looking it over quizzically. “You might want to wash this off with peroxide just to make sure you get all the blood off” she suggested. “There should be some right under here.” Rei watched as she leand down and began rummaging through the cabinet. Before she could find the bottle, however, Tsunade approached the door with her entourage and called for Shizune to join them. The brunette smiled back at Rei apologetically and then ran off. Well, at least her assistant is nice, Rei thought to herself as she watched them disappear, and then Rei and Kakashi were all alone.  

               A veil of silence draped over the couple in that hospital room. Now that this was all said and done, she almost feared what would happen next. Of course she was more than happy that he was awake and alright, but still. Where were they supposed to go from here?

               “Three weeks, huh?” Kakashi then sighed, leaning back in bed. Rei nodded slowly, turning toward him.

               “Yeah…” she said, toying with the kakute in her hands. “Three long weeks.”

               “Is it true you stayed by my side the entire time?” he asked.

               “Well, I mean…not the entire time” Rei said sheepishly. “Naru insisted I go home for some clean clothes and to sleep in an actual bed, but it didn’t really do much good.”

               “I see” Kakashi said. He watched as Rei wrapped her bandaged hand gently around the ring and then waded closer, hesitantly sitting on the edge of the bed. “You didn’t have to do that, you know” he then said.

               “What do you mean?” she asked.

               “Stay here with me” Kakashi replied. “There wasn’t really any reason for you to.”

               “That’s not true” Rei said. “If you were to finally wake up while I was gone…or worse…”

               It was the or worse that really caught Kakashi’s attention. Did she really think he was going to die? Of course, he assumed that had he been in her position, he would’ve feared the same. At least she had kept her cool the entire time, as far as he knew. “Thank you, then” he said, reaching out and resting a hand lightly atop hers. “I’m glad you cared enough to stay.”

               “Of fucking course!” Rei exclaimed. “You mean the world to me, I wasn’t about to leave you behind in a fucking coma.”

               Kakashi chuckled and smiled at her, and Rei’s heart raced. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes and willed herself not to cry. No, not this time. She had already cried enough the past few weeks. And still, after all that time, she had been so terrified that she may never see that masked smile ever again. It was only natural she would get a little choked up, she assumed. Regardless, she refused to let her tears ruin a happy moment.

               Kakashi let them revel in each other’s quiet company for a moment longer before his eyes drifted down to her bandaged hand, and his smile quickly faded. “Is your hand alright?” he asked. Rei chewed her bottom lip and nodded vigorously. “How did you hurt it, anyway? What stabbed you?”

               Rei considered lying for a moment. In all her confident fanfare from earlier, she hadn’t considered how scary actually giving him the kakute would be. Perhaps a part of her assumed it was highly possible for him to stay asleep forever and she could simply cling to it with a strong sense of remorse for not being braver. But now here he was, wide awake and questioning. She didn’t want to damage their trust, and so she had no choice. Sucking in a deep breath, she replied, “I have something for you. I must have been stressed while I was asleep and squeezed my hand around it too tight. You don’t have to like it, I mean, you can give it back if you don’t want it but I mean…I’ve been holding onto it for a long time, and I was going to give it to you ages ago but never had the guts to, so, uh…yeah.” Kakashi eyed her expectantly. She huffed her bangs out of her face and then slowly unclenched her fist to reveal the ring in her hand, still stained with her blood. Kakashi blinked a few times, then reached out and picked it up, turning it over in his hands.

               “Where did you get something like this?” he asked. She truly wasn’t sure if he meant that in a positive or negative connotation. Her anxiety raged.

               “It was from Grandma Teiko’s arsenal of weird old stuff” she replied. “I was trying to find a good present for you a long time ago and thought this might be fitting but I don’t know, you don’t have to keep it if you don’t want to.”

               “No, I want to” Kakashi replied quickly, smiling at her in reassurance. “I want to” he repeated. She watched as he reached over to tug a tissue out of the box near his bed and begin wiping the blood off of it, then slid it onto his left middle finger. He poked the spikes at the end, apparently satisfied with their sharpness. “This could really do some damage.”

               “I would hope so” Rei replied. “I mean, that’s what it was made for.”

               Kakashi nodded once, then slid the ring off and placed it on the nightstand. “So, you said you’ve held onto this for a long time. How long, exactly?” he asked. That was a loaded question. Did she really want to reveal her original intention? She averted her eyes and began picking at the dirt beneath her fingernail.

               “A while…” she replied slowly. She glanced over to find her boyfriend arching a brow. So he wanted a real answer. Alright. She would have to be totally honest. “I was six. You had just been promoted to jonin. I wanted to give you something special to celebrate—I knew everyone else would—but I couldn’t figure out what, so of course I asked Grandma Teiko for advice and she suggested this.”

               “What took you so long?” Kakashi then asked, laughing under his breath.

               The weight of their broken past lingered on her shoulders. Then, finally, she murmured, “I was scared. Things changed. We…drifted. It didn’t feel appropriate anymore.”

               “Oh…” Kakashi said, lowering his gaze. He turned to look at the ring once again, now suddenly catching the inscription on the front. The kanji for love. He hated to think that his child self would’ve likely written it off as a useless gift, shoving it into a drawer someplace and never touching it again. But now he was more mature. Now this gift had meaning. His mind flickered back to the ring he had hidden away in his closet, to his plans for the future. Even as he snuck off to the silversmith to get the ring crafted, he had been so uncertain of whether he was making the wrong decision, if he was moving too fast, if he was out of touch with what Rei wanted. This kakute, however, was a confirmation. A never-ending circle with love written right on the front of it. He reached across the bed and laced his fingers with hers, that smile returning to his face. She looked at him quizzically, uncertainly, as he pulled her closer and pressed his forehead against hers. Her eyes darted down to his lips for a split second, a silent wish, and he obliged. He tugged his mask down and kissed her gently, as if it was the first time, then whispered, “I think this was perfect timing.”

[uniformbravo]

me trying to make a gif part 2 (thrilling finale, buildup ver.)

ok good news and bad news: good news being withheld for Spoilers (not that it’s that hard to guess anyway lol), bad news explained first bc, chronologically, it is first

so yesterday i mentioned in the tags of that post that i had seen that krita has an animation feature so i was gonna try importing the frames into that and then exporting it as a gif. easier said than done, as it turns out

i started by opening the file i made yesterday with 62 layers as the frames and importing that into krita, which worked fine (i didn’t know you could actually open .psd files in clip stuido ((this typo is so fucking stupid it made me laugh so im leaving it)) and krita, so that’s pretty neat, i wonder if it works the other way around too) but i ran into problems when i tried to convert those layers into frames in an animation. because, like, the layout of the program has the layers displayed in one tab, and the animation timeline in another, like so:

(do u like how im using pictures now, i thought of that yesterday after i published the other post and realized hey, visual reference would probably make my plight a lot easier to understand!! so enjoy these educational diagrams from now on)

so my goal was to get the frames from the layers into the timeline, and i still don’t know if i did it right bc lbr krita is not very intuitive at all,,.,, i mean i watched a video tutorial abt how to animate in krita which was v helpful (it’s the one by jesse j james on yt fuckin SHout out) but it was about animating from scratch, not importing an animation you’ve already done elsewhere

so like, the way krita’s animation thing works, from what i could piece together as i bumbled my way around w/ it, is that each layer in the layers tab is a separate timeline in the,,, timeline tab

i want them all to be in the same timeline, not separate ones, and there’s no way to combine them in the timeline tab bc doing that just overwrites whatever layer you’re pasting it down onto, and also if you define the number of frames for that timeline (62 for this project) it just puts the single image of that layer for all of the frames instead of just one of them, so you’d have to go through and delete all the other frames you don’t want it to be, which would be such a fuckin pain

so i found a workaround, which is so tedious that it can’t be the right way to do it, but basically i started w/ layer 1 and defined 62 frames & then emptied frames 2-62, like this

(that blue box is the frame, btw, even tho it says 0, which actually kind of annoys me like why doesn’t it start the first frame on 1????)

from there i went up to layer two and selected that in the timeline, but for some reason the frame doesn’t show up automatically?

& i couldnt fuckin figure out how to make it into like, an Official Timeline Layer or whatever tf bc like, u see on layer 1 how theres that little lightbulb-looking icon on the right? that’s for turning on onion skin which only applies when you actually have frames with things drawn on them, so basically layer 2 in the layers tab has a drawing but in the timeline it doesn’t?

i didn’t find out what the actual reason for this is or how you’re /supposed/ to make the frame appear in the timeline, but what i did was right click on layer 2′s timeline & select “create blank frame” which magically made the frame i want appear

but it’s on top of the layer 1 frame, and i want it to be the frame after. also it’s still in a different timeline. this is the only easy fix in this whole damn process, u can literally just click & drag the frame from layer 2 to layer 1 and put it wherever u want on the timeline

and then u just delete layer 2 and that’s it, frame transferred!! then i just had to do that for 60 more layers and after [unspecified amount of time but it was a fuckin while ok] my timeline looked like this!

(the gaps near the end are held frames, to save me time so i didn’t have to copy a bunch of frames that were exactly the same)

krita is great because as far as i know ur animation can have an unlimited number of frames, at the risk of your own pc’s processing power, which is a definite upside to SOME expensive art programs i know (clip studio, i’m talking abt csp) and u can pick the frame rate too (cough photoshop elements 5.0 even tho u dont technically have an animation feature & it’s a miracle u can even make gifs at all) so once i finally got all the frames situated all nice and in order like on the same timeline, playing it was great! played at the right speed, looped perfectly, it was a dream come true right

well, time to export it as a gif

ha

haha

hoooo oo  o

so u got 2 options for exporting ur animation, u can either hit “export,” which lets u save it as different file types, one of which being gif, or you can hit “render,” which gives you gif and video options

well

i tried export first, bc that seemed like a good idea, but the “””gif””” it made was distinctly not a gif, despite its claim to be one?? this is what i got:

notice: 1. it is not moving, and 2. the black bars to the sides?? those are supposed to be transparent. they’re transparent in the file i made so why didn’t they register as transparent in the export, when gifs have transparency capabilities??

so That was some real live bullshit but i still had the “render” option, right? export was wrong, so rrender must be the correct option to go to that will produce the results i am wanting to see produced in front of me like a silver dinner platter with a correctly functioning gif under the lid, that’s what i want to see and “Render Animation...” is gonna Give me that silver platter righWRONG ok look at this shit rn ok Look

it says GIF it says it RIGHT THERE right??? right?????? then WHY

?????????????

and it also gave me all This bullshit

like did i ask?? did i fucking ask???? i already have all the individual frames why do i need even M o re i mfjgjgk

((rationally ok yea thats v useful for if ur making the animation in krita and want to export the frames to use elsewhere, but like uhhh 1. again, they’re not transparent & 2. i should have the option of saying i don’t want these??? bc *meme voice* i don’t want these)

so in the end i could find NO correct method of exporting animations as a gif in krita bc every ooption that says gif is fuckign LYING to ur face there are NO gifs in krita, aliens made the progam who looked at gifs and went “hmm i thikng this is how a gif works “ and just made jpegs instead but somehow got on the computers good side and got it to lie for them about it being a gif so thats why it says gif on the file still even tho its not a gif illimati confinr

so what is the conclusion to this? well i said there was good news too, and this is the portion where i divulge that sweet nectar (i type dthis 2 seconds ago and @ me what the fuck)

so after wasting a good 2 hours trying to figure out krita i gave up and watched some good old [youtuber name redacted bc what if it shows up in search & ppl see this dumbass post in there but it rhymes with fjackfsepticfeye] to relax into accepting my fate that i’ll never be able to upload my animations to tungle except in poor quality loopless video form, making me into a laughing stock on my own art blog, but THEN i had a stroke of genius, in my Brain

so if u read yesterday’s post u might remember that flipnote studio, the animation program i use on my ds, to animate, has the option to export files as gifs, both animated and sequential (meaning either as one fully animated gif or each individual frame separately), which is super convenient, but as i mentioned yesterday, any time i tried to open the folder with those files on my laptop, it crashed immediately

WELL today i thought “hey, how about instead of opening the folder in the sd card when it’s plugged in, how about i copy that folder from the sd card to my flash drive, and try to open it there, in case it’s the card’s hardware that’s causing the problem, not corrupted files”

so i tried that and it FUCKING WORKED THANK GOD GLORY HALLELUJAH

so now instead of spedning A THOUSAND YEARS trying and failing to force art programs to bend to my will i can just export the animations straight from my ds and drag them onto my computer Just As God Intended oh GOD im so fucking happy

here’s the gif in the end, i’m gonna post it to my art blog too but this is the Green Version bc i animate in green bc of some default settings in flipnote that i got used to, plus it makes me feel like i’m just sketching so nothing really has to be finalized so i’m comfortable while i work, and also it’s just nice ok it’s a Nice Green

(there’s a few frames at the end that are like the extra scraps from while i was working dw i got rid of those in the final version that i’m posting to my art blog later. also i added my blog url to that one too it’s aaaaaall good)

the only downside to this method is that i can’t change the canvas size to be 540px wide to fit with tumbrl s image dimensions but whatever i can just post them in a text post and fix the html to display it at its original size instead of the resizing bullshit tmurbl pulls constantly ugh. anyway it works great on desktop but it’s inevitably gonna look like shit on mobile no matter what i do *Big Ass Shrug*

anyway thats the end of my success story uhh i can’t make the like comment & subscribe joke again bc i already did that in the last post so like bye i guess thanks 4 watchign & have a great day i’ll see u in my next fvideo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYob4uDjEKI&t=0s

(^that’s my outro music)

[ladyhawk-s]

Are the Dog Days Really Over?

Relationships: Katsuki Bakugou/Ochako Uraraka Ochako, Bakugou Katsuki and Uraraka Ochako 

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou, Ochako Uraraka 

Rating: G+ 

Word Count: 12,170~

Summary: On Katsuki's one day off, he expected some serenity with a bit of spicy food and action packed movies. You know, the usual.But living with Ochako doesn't provide the usual and certainly not today with an unexpected new furry addition to their residence.

AN: FINALLY, yesterday I got off my lazy ass and edited this piece so I could post it. I won't lie you guys, when I first wrote it, I thought this was the best piece EVER. I was so proud of it and I couldn't wait to upload it. BOY was I wrong. I've really changed my writing style since this fic so it's really old (like...September old) and I didn't really feel like editing the whole thing since it's 12000+ so please be aware of that when reading!! Maybe in a few years I will go back and fix it up but in the meantime, I hope you guys like it!!  Also, I was going to dedicate this to someone but they blocked me 8') so I just decided to dedicate to every one in the Kacchako fandom. A lot of reasons have kept me away from contributing but you guys still create awesome content that reminds me why I love the ship and forget about what happened so thank you all! I have a bunch of Kacchako fics in store that will be written MUCH better than this so I hope this will sooth you guys over until then!!

Read at AO3 ; Read at FF.net

-------

The bright sun from the day beamed through the window, creating a natural light that brought an angelic glow into the small kitchen.

 Normally, Katsuki wouldn't be at home during the day time hours like this. Due to his immense skill and ability, he was called into work almost every single day, having to use his flames to defeat the gross amount of villains that would terrorize the city. His quirk was known to produce quick results so, along with Izuku Midoriya, they would team up together and conquer the streets together. By no means did they enjoy being in each other's company, in fact there's still slight tension and sarcasm thrown between them but their quirks were compatible enough to beat villains at an alarming rate so they sucked their pride in and just only allowed a few words to pass by them.

However, today was special in that the villain case involved more close intact spaces that required quirks that were designed for closer precision attacks rather than the explosive ones Katsuki and Izuku had. While both were able to perfect techniques that had sharp shooter styles, their quirks still weren't applicable enough for the job, leaving them a day off to do whatever their hearts contented. Izuku took the day to spend time with those around him, really cherishing the free time he had to explore areas he hadn't seen before and making memories that could be stamped on Facebook. Katsuki, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. His body lived for the excited energy of slamming villains against the cement floor, seeing their faces oozing out blood as their bodies burned and bubbled under the heat of his explosions. The adrenaline he gained from zooming through the rubble pumped through his veins and he loved the burn he gained from over exerting his muscles. Katsuki lived for activity and days like this made him feel restless. He already went on a run earlier in the day and he hit the gym afterwards to test out the weights but he still found himself bouncing up and down with pure energy, not resting until he got some motion in them.

 To get his mind off of his burning legs, Kastuki decided to find temporary residence in the small kitchen of his apartment, cooking up a recipe that he had been craving for a while now. It was one of his favorite dishes, full of a variety of different spices and flavors that left a tingling sensation on his tongue as it burned his taste buds. Every time he could feel explosions coursing through his mouth, feeling it was on fire as it tunneled down to his stomach but that was the way he enjoyed it. Others looked at him like he was crazy and that the neurons in his mind weren't firing right but in response, he would just flip them off and even eat the items they pushed off to the side.

 Katsuki was rapidly cutting the bell peppers in a swift motion when he suddenly heard the door open with small whispers attached to it. Perking up his ears, he stopped in mid cut, trying to identify what the sounds were. He completely froze his body like he did in battle to not mix sounds together and he could hear an all too familiar voice acting as if it was trying to keep a secret. Their words were intangible, mingling with each other as they tried to speak in a frantic voice, hoping that they wouldn't get caught. Curiously, Katsuki silently set down the knife and took light steps towards the voice, trying not to cause attention towards himself.

 Through the door frame, he could see Ochako, the other resident in the household, carrying an abnormally large duffel bag that slung awkwardly on her shoulder as it looked like she was talking to it while patting the fabric sides. The bag was bulky in nature, as if it was filled to the capacity with a variety of different items that protruded on the side, their shape being defined on the exterior. Yet, something was odd with this image. Not only was she using a duffel bag that she strictly used for large hero assignments that took several days, but the bag vibrated every time she whispered to it, almost as if it was responding to her hidden commands. Even her eyebrows furrowed in as she spoke, something she usually did when she was frustrated and trying to concentrate. Everything about her position right now confused Katsuki and his cautious instincts kicked in, ready to combat any force that would be emitted from her bag. His muscles tensed up and his stance was completely stable, veins protruding out from his skin as his blood ran wild.

 "Oi." Katsuki called out to Ochako, a slight growl emitting from his throat as he caught her distracted attention.

 At his growl, Ochako jumped back a little, her eyes widening in shock as she saw Kastuki looming in the door frame like he was a predator trying to catch his prey in complete silence. Unlike Katsuki, her scheduled varied based on availability, leaving her to either stay at home for days on end or find comfort on a marble floor between her breaks as they set up the next assignment for her. However, she knew Katsuki had a more rigid time table from leaving at the early morning sun to coming back at howls of the moonlight. It was a schedule that left a bitter taste in her mouth as she grew accustomed to it so it surprised her to see him standing there with an intimidating look smeared across his eyes. Time felt slightly frozen as she tried to readjust to the situation, though it took the rustling of her bag quickly snap her back.

 "Oh! Um...hi Bakugou! I didn't expect to you at home this early! What's going on? Is everything ok?" She rambled on, nervousness lining her words as her eyes slightly shifted around his face, looking for signs that would indicate his mood. Her bag continued to rustle even more under her arm, almost exuding rage like qualities in response to her lack of attention.

 Katsuki narrowed his eyes even further, his eyebrows furrowing more inwards while he gauged Ochako's actions. She seemed suspicious, as if she trapped her secrets in her bag and it was raging to come out. Shifting his gaze towards the bag, he analyzed the threads that were protruding out from this mysterious being inside, though it proved more difficult than he imagined since the fabric more opaque than he would have liked in this situation. From what he could see, it was bulky but also filled curves and whenever it would create bulges, they would be small little bumps that would look slightly tubular depending on the angle. After creating a few plausible guesses in his mind, he looked back at Ochako's now pale face and scrunched up his face even more. "What's in the bag?" He asked roughly, not hesitating for a second.

 Ochako took a step back in response, gulping her answer along with her guilt as she tried to formulate words to come out. "W-what are you-u talking about?? It's just my hero stuff that I always need. I'm not sure what you're talking about." she whistled out, her face giving off clear tell-tale signs that all she was capable of telling in this current state were covered up truths. Reflexively, she pulled her bag even closer to her chest, acting like she was protecting the presence that resided within there, and she crossed her opposite arm to place her hand the mysterious lump that was sticking out. Her pose even began to shift in one that was filled with defense and protection, as if she was fending off the bag from a villain who was after secret treasures that could change the fate of the universe.

 However, Katsuki wasn't buying it. Whatever was in that bag wasn't important enough for her to cover up her footsteps and he felt his irritation boiling up in his fiery veins. Picking up his heavy feet, he slowly trudged over to her, determination for the truth lining in his eyebrows. "Fucking liar. What's in the fucking bag!?" He roared out in his usual aggressive tone, his voice getting slightly louder as his annoyance grew. As soon as he got closer to her, even with her resisting maneuvers, Katsuki elongated his arm and reached for the bag. Despite Ochako's attempts to fend him off, he managed to grab onto the handles of her bag and tugged it closer to him, also slightly pulling Ochako down with him. Though, even he was rough his motions, Ochako still kept her determined look on her face while her feet gripped onto the floor and used the traction of her shoes to somewhat keep her stance. "Fucking! Fucking let go Round Face!" He began to roar out as he pulled harder, the stitches holding it all together breaking under his grasp.

 "N-no! Bakugou, s-stop!" Ochako heavily breathed out, her voice giving out under the immense amount of force she was using. Katsuki, ignoring her requests, continued to tug on the straps, grunts escaping his lips with each resistance Ochako put on him. Using a last measure on the man, she begrudgingly let go one of her hands to counter his on the handle and extended it outwards towards him, trying to grab onto him so she could activate her zero gravitational quirk. However, just as he maneuvered around her during the Sports Festival, the same thing occurred here as he shifted around, completely dodging her movements to make him levitate.

 They kept at this for a good solid minute with Katsuki bending his back in multitude directions to fend off Ochako's desperate attacks while tugging on the bag even tighter and with Ochako panting out her exhaustion as she tried to protect the contents in there. Due to their actions, they weren't able to notice the vibrations of the bag as it shook in fear, emitting slight noises through the thread with the hope it would be released soon.

 "I SAID FUCKING LET GO!" Katsuki barked out again, using all the air in his lungs to bellow out his voice as he pulled once more with immense force. Though, this time, he completely erased his limitations and instead yanked at it enough that he completely ripped off the straps of the bag. The whiplash caused the bodies to collide into each other, creating a small heap on the floor with the bag heavily dropping on the wooden floor, producing a large "thump" sound along with it.

 Katsuki and Ochako laid down on the cold floor for a few seconds, recoiling from the blow that had overtaken both of their heads. In the meanwhile, through the rip, a small, moving creature tore its way out, gnawing at the fabric to make the hole enough for its escape. Slowly but surely, he made his way out, placing each foot into the cold ground as he lifted his stumpy legs from his temporary imprisonment to make his way towards the fallen humans. Ochako was the first to prop herself up since Katsuki cushioned her blow and she was greeted with small licks to her mouth that left her to be a giggling mess.

 "Hey, stop that! It tickles!" she cooed out in her sing song voice, giving out small laughs that originated from her lungs. When she found her core once more, she swung her legs inward and sat up in a position that allowed for the little 4 legged being to come to her. Picking him up, she brought him close to her chest and gave kisses to the top of his head, not caring that small little pieces of hair were getting wedged in between her lips. His little pants matched the tempo of her loving noises and he dug himself deeper into her hug, embracing her hold and getting himself comfortable in his new mother's arms.

 Katsuki woke up to Ochako's inaudible murmurs and initially everything came off as blurry with colors mixing into each other as he tried to readjust himself after the hit to his head. However, his fast paced eyes quickly refined the Lines in his world and irritation set into his blood as he saw the scene unfolding in front of him. Right in front of him was Ochako holding a small, fluffy dog against her chest, caressing his spiked fur while he attacked her face with his millimeter tongue. While on the surface it was sight that should have been mass photographed, all the prerogatives of it flew around it and he began to count down all the faults, noticing first on Ochako's impulsive nature.

 "What the fuck is that thing!?" he snarled at her, completely knowing exactly what kind animal she was carrying but more asking in the realm of why even a creature like that was in the house to begin with.

 Ochako giggled at his question, completely oblivious behind the true meaning of his sharp words. "What a silly question Bakugou! He's obviously a cute little dog!" she said with a happy voice. She then shifted the dog in her arms so that way her hands cupped his little armpits while their faces met with each other's, his stumpy body extending downwards as his tail wagged heavily in happiness with looking at his new owner. "That's right, you're a cute little doggy, aren't you! Oh you're cutest of dogs! I could just eat you up, that's how cute you are!" Ochako purred out as her eyes squinted out of delight, treating the animal like he was her new born child. Between words, she brought his face close to her and amassed his face with kisses while she received soft licks against her skin in mutual admiration.

 Of course, that moment was short lived with Katsuki's explosive mannerisms. Using the muscles in his foundational stance, he quickly sat himself upright and stared intently at the duo while more and more questions began to pop in his head. "I can fucking see that, I mean what the fuck is that thing doing in my fucking house!?" He snarled at them, showing off his sharp teeth as they clenched tight against each other. Ochako was known to act impulsively and cross some lines while doing so, Katsuki even figured this out during their first match as freshmen, but this was even a situation that overstepped even his lowest expectations.

 Looking at Katsuki's reaction already sent a shiver down her spine and she gnawed at her bottom lip with doe eyes as she tried to come up with an explanation for the dog in her hands. Even though Katsuki seemed to be one driven with emotions at his constant barrage of words at others, he actually viewed things rationally and logically, using evidence around him to prove his point. He analyzed the situations he was placed in and based his actions around that, only acting impulsively if the situation allowed him to.  It was that in addition to his quirk that got him to claim one of the highest statuses in the professional hero realm and that logical mindset could be seen here despite his yelling and sparks that appeared on his palms as he spoke. Every argument Ochako came up, she could hear Katsuki's counter ringing in her ear and his intense stare left her a bit anxious to speak up. She tried to see how aggravated the lines in his face were to see what kind of reaction he would display but the only conclusion she could come up with is that he would spark in her face regardless so she may as well fess up with the truth and pray he would spare her life. "Well....you see...I was at work this morning and our mission today was more low scale, you know, I mean, it was still pretty serious but nothing compared to the villains we fought at UA, I would probably compare it to a maybe low scale Chisaki case with the whole yakuza aspect going on  and surprisingly with guns? I'm not too sure why since I'm sure they had quirks but-"

 "Get on with it, Round Face."

 "Right, right, anyways, we saw this kidnapped family and upon helping them, well, we came across this little guy!" she said as the dog shifted around in her arms, converting himself into a position where he could look at Katsuki with the same glittering eyes as Ochako. "We asked the family if he was theirs since he was locked up along with them but they said he was already there when they got there. After a bit of talking with them, we thought he belonged to the leader but no matter what, it still came down that he didn't have a home to go to. A few others in the team tried to take him with them but he kept growling and biting them, pretty much being an angry poof ball! I was the only one he was nice with so....I decided to bring him home!" With that, she brought the dogs face next to her own and they both shared the same look of happiness, their mouths open in wide smiles attached with goofy eyes. Then Ochako shifted her pupils to her furry friend as she used one of the hands holding him to scratch the skin underneath his soft, amassed fur. "It took me a while to come up with a name but I decided to name him Kacchan after you!"

 Katsuki's blood was already boiling from hearing this farfetched story but at the name, that's when hell froze and then burned to crisps under the flames of his metaphorical explosions. If she didn't already cross over many lines, she created more lines and even crossed over those as well. At this point, he couldn't tell if she was just messing around with him and pulling on his leg or if she was actually being serious, though at this point, given her stupid yet seemingly adorable face, it begrudgingly seemed to be the latter than the former. "Ha?! I'm nothing like that scrawny, piece of shit animal over there! Where the fuck did you see me in him?"

 At Katsuki's question, Ochako's face brightened a bit, relieved that he asked her something that has a more solid and understandable answer than the others she had to give him. She would be the first one to admit that this situation had ridiculous undertones but at least she could answer this one with more confidence. "Well everything about him is pretty much you, just in doggy form! I'm pretty sure he's a Pomeranian but his fur is as fluffy as yours and it's even the same ash blonde with white undertones like yours as well. Plus he's just as irritable and cranky as you-"

 "I'M NOT CRANKY OR IRRITABLE, THE FUCK?!!"

 "See! He gets angry just like that, though his barks are a bit more high pitched, but they still have the same explosive tone like yours!  And right now he's acting calmer since I'm here but he get can really mean, like he'll bite or growl if he doesn't like you. He's pretty much you at this point, I tried coming up with other names but Kacchan just kept rattling in my mind so I just decided to keep it." At the end of her sentence, Kacchan began to heavily wet her face with the saliva of his tongue kisses, making her beam in delight as soft giggles escaped from her lungs, creating a small melody that went in tune with his pants. It was as if Kacchan was her child and all Ochako could do for him was give him unconditional love under the shelter of their house. After a bit of their moment, Ochako looked back at Katsuki and held out Kacchan to him, her arms begging him to take the puppy out of her hands and into his. "C'mon Bakugou! You should hold him for a bit! His fur may look really rough but he's actually really soft!"

 "No fucking way." He immediately spat out, his eyes squinting in massive rejection. No matter how many times his eyes glanced over the puppy, each swipe always had the answer of No within them. Ochako was right in the sense that Kacchan was in the more ferocious end, that was easy to see just from one look at how he slightly barred his teeth at Katsuki. It was as if he was challenging his human counterpart in a battle for Ochako's attention and Katsuki's eyebrows itched in irritation at the dog's nonsensical fighting stance. A small line of red electricity flashed between their eyes as a streak of dominance jolted between, causing a metaphorical anime pre fight scene to commence between them.

 However, even though to the common eye their aggression was heavily apparent and prepping for a fight to ensue between them , Ochako's eyesight apparently needed work as she interpreted their behaviors in the complete opposite way than was intended. Her world was skewed in an optimistic way, seeing shades of love and unrequited feelings in certain situations that didn't belong there. Which was exactly how she saw this one too. For reasons unknown, possibly ones that involved trying to diffuse the situation, she saw their stare off as a ring of who would start the first move of affection, as if making the first move would result in a signature of weakness on their manliness. So, Ochako did the only thing she knew how to do (or at least believed so) and she tried to remedy the situation with giving a small crack in the ice that formed between. "Oh, c'mon! Don't be so passive aggressive! Here! Just try holding him!" she chirped to Katsuki as, despite his everlasting protests, she essentially shoved Kacchan into his arms and smiled as she saw the duo together in unison.

 Though, the scene in front of her wasn't as peaceful as the image that had formed in Ochako's mind. Within Kastuki's arms, Kacchan wriggled and thrashed everywhere, his body language screaming to be released from Katsuki's latched grip, though it proved futile for the dog as his arms only seeped into him more. Feeling the closeness more than he could handle, Kacchan found a piece of bare skin on the forearm holding him custody and he bite into it, his fangs seeped into the flesh that caused blood to drip out from his mouth. Even though Katsuki tried to shake him off, Kacchan's teeth practically became one with his arm and he even continued to stay on despite even being airborne with shakes for a bit. Small growls erupted from his mouth that coupled with colorful language that was being belted out from the human counterpart.

 Witnessing all of this, Ochako went into a frantic mode and immediately ran over to the attack, getting her hands in there. "Oh my god Bakugou!!" She said in response to his explosive curses that heavily ringed in her ear. Her trying-to-be-calm words countered his screams and it was a clash of ideals as Ochako tried to assist him while also having to dodge his flailing arms and the firecrackers that emitted from the sweat in his palms. After a melody of screams and not so pleasure language, she finally managed to rip Kacchan off of Katsuki, blood slightly spurting out of the fang marks as they left stains on his calloused skin. In her arms, Kacchan was quivering, showing his content to be back with his new mother as his tail waved rapidly back and forth while also showering her skin with wet kisses.

 Once everything had settled down, Ochako looked back at Katsuki, wincing while his words kept hitting back at her and slapping guilt onto her cheeks as every curse directed themselves towards her. When his fiery attitude sizzled down a bit, she managed to look back at him in a more proper standpoint and her eyes crinkled in worry as she saw the pool of blood collecting in his hand with the veins in his hand protruding out with the heightened pressure he was adding to his forearm.

 Her lips began to part to voice her concerned thoughts when Katsuki's head snapped back to her, his eyes gaining beast like qualities as a snarl escaped from his trachea with his teeth becoming more jagged as he looked at his prey. "Get rid of him." He commanded with fire, his voice somehow maintaining a calm level despite his teeth gritting into each other as he tried to not outwardly express the sheering pain he was in.

 "What? But Bakugou-!" Ochako began to protest, tensing up her muscles as she readied herself to tackle against his arguments when he interrupted her and allowing his impatience to flourish out.

 "Shut the fuck up already!" He screamed out to her, causing her to quickly shut her lips close together and look back with bulging eyes that slightly popped out from her skull. Even Kacchan seized the movement in his tail and took his focus from the safety of Ochako's cheeks to stare at Katsuki intently as well. "Look at what that shithead did to me!" He began to roar out as he took off his hand from his arm and shoved the bloody wound towards Ochako, making sure she can see his blood cells clotting around the deep wound that created an ombré sea of red. "He's a fucking monster and a demonic little SHIT STAIN that deserves to fucking die! I don't give a flying fuck on how you do it, take him to the pound, kill him, fucking feed him to Deku for all I care, JUST GET HIM OUT THIS GODDAMN HOUSE!" Pants began to escape from his throat as he zapped most of his energy to give those demands to Ochako. Fortunately, while most would have grown faint from a wound like this, Katsuki had dealt with enough gashes in his life that the pain wasn't as severe as it could have been but it still caused enough of a reaction that had him reeling back a bit, especially with his over exertion of his voice.

 "But he needs a good home Bakugou and I don't know if he'll get one if he's in a place like that. With his scary attitude and their week policy, there's no way anyone is going to adopt him or want him. I can’t even ask around to see if anyone wants him. It's not fair and he deserves a good home too. And he's a sweet little guy when you get past his fluffy, mean exterior." Ochako softly spoke out loud, bringing Kacchan closer to her chest as budding tears began to gloss over her eyes, slightly pushing the realm of crying.

  Yet, even though she had a wavering voice and her eyes were symbolizing weakness towards the animal, Katsuki's standpoint wouldn't budge, in fact it only solidified his resolve even more. However, even though he had words sticking out from every pore in his mouth, it was a rare sight to see her in that state. Most of the time, her cheeks would continue to radiate against her smile and would bring happiness even in the darkest of tunnels so to see her now with her cheeks dulling themselves out from the scrunched up face she was making, it tugged at Katsuki's heartstrings and he knew that he had tp control the firecrackers that were budding on the tip of his tongue. Sighing out his aggression, he got up from his twisted sitting position and looked down at the duo with tainted eyes that swirled in mixed feelings. Using the maturity that swelled calmness into his fiery personality over the years, he gave one last feat of exasperation. "Figure it out Uraraka. He needs to get out of this house as soon as fucking possible." Katsuki commanded sternly, making sure that his words weren't too harsh but also were inflicted with a lick of seriousness that would manipulate her movements to match his words.

 With a slight nod, Ochako clutched Kacchan further into her and kissed the top of his head as he whimpered his sorrows into the nape of her neck, as if he could see his fate being closed down on him. The two sat like that for a while, holding onto their souls, silently mourning their soon loss when they grew startled by the eruption of the phone ringing. While one minute Kacchan was a quiet creature, the minute the phone spoke out the incoming call, rumbles and growls slowly appeared until they transformed into loud and piercing barks that deafened the room for a small bit. Yet, even though his stance was ready to jump and pounce, Ochako held onto him more, making sure the only struggle he had was close to her and not on the furniture.

 As the rings continued to go on, Ochako looked back at Katsuki and gave him pleading eyes, gratitude shimmering in her eyes as they rounded themselves off and made her face turn into that of a doe that was face to face with the barrel to shotgun shoved in her face. Upon seeing those eyes rimmed with desperation, Katsuki decided redial the bullets that were rotating his irises and only grunted in response as he went to perform the not so pleasure deed. With a quick swipe of his arm, he placed the receiver right next to his ear and only responded with a harsh greeting as he listened intently to what the other individual was saying on the other end. Their words were jumbled and combined together with hints of urgency meshing in between their voice and it got to a point where he couldn't understand anything the mystery person was saying except for that they needed Ochako and if she was at home. "Yea, she is. Hold- I said fucking hold on....well if maybe if you kept your shit attitude close to you, maybe I could fucking finish what the fuck I was about to fucking say. Fuck you." He cursed out to the other person in the void of the phone before he whipped the phone away from his ear and shoved it towards Ochako, his tongue clicking against his teeth with his arm vibrating in annoyance and irritation.

 Slowly wiping her eyes to rid the current state she found herself in, she weakly grabbed it from him and placed it lightly against her ear, completely acting opposite on how Katsuki did. "Hello....yes this is Uraraka...." As the words spoken on the other end grew more frantic and kept hitting the plastic of the phone, Ochako became more stuff and tense, her throat beginning to close and itch as her eyes widened. The only thing she was able to communicate were slow nods that showed signs of understanding and worry. "Ok...I'll be right there.....The stations near there may be closed so it would take me a bit but I'll be there as soon as possible.....No, thank you for letting me know, if there's any way I can help, I will.....Alright, I'll be there soon....Bye." She spoke out softly, her voice coarse from the shock that she received and she felt her breaths growing heavier as she quickly pressed down on the ending call button and immediately set Kacchan down to crawl towards the contents of her fallen bag and start picking them up. In the midst of her quick rush to pack the contents back in, her eyes locked with Katsuki's and explanations began to spill out. "The agency that is connected with mine is having major issues. Villains infiltrated their underground base and I'm not sure what's fully gone on, I don't think people have died yet, but it's bad enough that some of my coworkers who were in there got turned into hostages. So they need me to go there and help out with the rescue, especially since my quirk can let me get rid of some blocked areas in a more quiet way." Ochako explained, though phrases would be cut off from pauses her thought process as she multi tasked her mind to not only talk to him but to prep herself for the oncoming battle. With throwing in the last of her stuff, she yanked the zipper closed, creating a loud zipping sound as she clenched onto the somewhat demolished straps and placed them on her shoulder with enough ease to not worsen their current state but with enough urgency to showcase her rushed nature.

 However, as she swiped her keys into her hands and walked towards the wooden front door, her body was stopped by the brawn nature of Katsuki's body that stood rigid in front of her path. Ochako stepped back, her eyebrows twitched together as her eyes scanned Katsuki in a desperate attempt to find an escape route through his muscular build. Just as Ochako was about to peep out her protesting words, Katsuki threw his arm into an upward side position, his fingers curled into a fist as his index finger stood out amongst the rest, pointing to the new friend that came into their life. "What about the demon fucker? Are you going to take him as a fucking side kick?" He asked in a hostile tone, his teeth gritting together as he patiently waited to see what kind of answer Ochako would give in response.

 Which she reacted in just the manner he expected. She slapped her two palms together and brought the prayer symbol close to her face as her eyes crinkled in her normal submissive behavior towards him. "Please Bakugou! Just this one favor for me?" Ochako pleaded with him, giving him the look of desperation as she just hoped this one time he would cooperate with her and actually do this small thing for her.

 Except her pleadings were for naught as he barred her teeth at her and little flames could be seen flaring from his nostrils in retaliation against her request. "What the fuck Uraraka?! No fucking way, I'm not looking after that shit stain while you prance around in your fucking hero costume. You want him to be supervised? Then do it your fucking yourself!" He screeched at her, his voice creating echoes in her ear with its higher pitch.

 "What? Bakugou, I'm not prancing around in my hero suit, I have an emergency to attend to and he can't come with me. Please, Bakugou, help me out for a bit. It'll only be for a few hours." She begged further, her knees buckling inwards to lower herself in a way that would show a sense of weakness to his dominant stance. It felt humiliating and defeating and something that her pride didn't want to indulge in but it was the only way that didn't include gravitation and her needing to engage in a combat battle that would have stolen all the stamina that was queuing up for her mission.

 Though, it only had the opposite effect as Katsuki puffed out his chest even more and elongated his neck, making his features more sharp as his jaw countered itself enough to look like it could kill with one slice. A deep, reddening fire flourished within his crimson irises as he looked down upon her, still not letting go his guard around her ever since she proved him wrong all those years ago. "Did you get fucking amnesia? Or did he suddenly bite your head off enough that it went soft? Look at what he fucking did to me!" he gnarled out, his lip curving up as he swung his arm around like a baseball bat and shoved it to Ochako so her eyes could rest upon the image of his battle wounds once again. "I'm not wasting another second with this fucker so you better fucking handle it!"

 His screams echoed in Ochako's ears as her face contorted to be one of pain. Her eyes shifted in confliction with the eternal debate of Katsuki and Kacchan and with every gnaw on her lip, a new thought would appear and tunnel her back to square one in the cube of confusion. It left her in a hole of confliction filled with respect for the parties involved and decisions were only in fleeting in nature, making her brain fizz in choices. However, with one last swipe at Kacchan, resolve filled her spirit and she turned back to the brute force known as Katsuki. Swallowing the buildup of fear down, her lips creased inwards as her eyes quickly drew down towards his chest, surveying his outlook. "I'm sorry Bakugou...." she quietly spoke out but the few seconds it took to reach Katsuki's ears were just enough for her to lung forward and smack her hands against the muscles that shaped his chest.

 Out of shock, he wasn't able to lurch out of the way quick enough and Katsuki's legs began to levitate as they released their gravity to Ochako. "What the fuck!?" He screeched, finding himself floating higher and higher. Whipping his head down, he latched his gaze onto Ochako's and flashes ignited in his eyes as he began to curse out all the obscenities in the dictionary. "Fucking put me down Round Face! This fucking isn't funny!"

 The rushing nature of the situation suppressed the laughter that would have normally bubbled out in Ochako's lungs and before guilt could scratch at her conscious, she quickly sprinted to the door, acid burning the back of her throat with every step she took. Pulling on the door fast enough that the hinges creaked out their rustiness, she took her foot outside, released him by pressing her pads together and saying a small "Release,", then got the approval to run when she saw his body crash onto the wooden floor. A small sound of apology could be heard with her rushed expression and the door signaled her complete exit with its deafening slam as the lock clicked back in place.

 Groaning, Katsuki rubbed his thigh as he reanimated his corpse back to life, sores aching throughout his body as the whiplash of the fall rippled out. His spine cracked when he pushed his back upwards, readjusting his focus to create more solid lines on the objects surrounding him. Everything had a tilted stance and a small rumble escaped his lips that matched the massages on his temple from his rugged palm. However, in the midst of redefinition, a small blob of yellow traveled to him, little clicks tailgating their steps as they got closer and closer to Katsuki. Squints revealed Kacchan making his way towards the fallen Katsuki and getting a little close to his disliking as his fur grazed the fabric covering his jeans. Out of disdain, Kastuki shook his leg away from the four legged beast that had sharper teeth then Eijirou and crossed them together as he pushed himself upwards into a sitting position. Scowling at this foe's constant licking of tongues, he kicked himself off the floor and curved his back behind before snapping it downwards in a condensing 75 degree angle. "What the fuck do you want? A fucking round two?"  With only a wag of his curled tail in response, Katsuki snarled at Kacchan upwardly curved lip. "Fuck off then!" He shouted as he pushed the canine away with his foot, making him slightly flop over to allow a path to be cleared to get back to the chopped vegetables on the counter in the kitchen. Placing the knife back in his hands, horizontal stabs began to crease the peppers once again, creating thin slices with slight jagged edges that came from his irritated stance.

 Grunting at the cuts he was carving into the vegetables, his mind tunneled into an action packed vortex where strategic plans and potential new moves sharpened his mind and left him to focus on the fresh pieces of food in front of him. His mind fell into a black hole and his focus tunneled into itself to a point that a yelp of shock escaped his throat when he felt small wet stains on his legs. Dropping his knife that created a clattered clink on the floor, Katsuki swung his torso around to see the hound of his nightmares sticking by his heels as his pink tongue brushed against his skin, giving acidic wet streaks against his roughened skin. "What the fuck!? Did I not tell you to fuck off!?" Katsuki screeched out, as he wiggled his leg away from Kacchan, almost hitting his snout in the process. Kacchan, with aggravated and annoyed creases, snarled back before nipping his ankle with his sharpened teeth. Giving out a curse with growled undertones, Kacchan whisked himself away, his unclipped nails leaving little ticks as he pranced out of the kitchen into adjacent room. Even though explosions got caught in his throat, he decided to gulp in down and let it ruminate with the acid that was bubbling in his stomach. Hatred and annoyance created a sharp pain that hit him in the gut and he hoped that the food he was mixing and cooking would settle it all down.

 After a millennia passed, he pour the mixture into one of the frilly plates Ochako had insisted on purchasing when habitual living came about and added the last minute garnishes of sauce and spice to really kick in the flavor against his buds. Sticking the fork with the rest of vegetables and rice, Katsuki threw the used and useless utensils into the sink before kicking his feet off to meet with the couch he shared his meals with. However, the calmer expression that had reflected on his face soon morphed back into his typical raging face as he saw Kacchan terrorizing his own space. And it wasn't even just that as well, the blankets that Katsuki had used for comfort were being ruffled by that devious canine as he circled to find his preferred position, making threads pull out under the claws of his paws.

 Anger flushed Katsuki's face as he gripped onto his bowl tighter to keep the contents inside the bowl that was already beginning to form cracks under his pressured fingers. His eyes twitched as he saw Kacchan continuously rolling around, sewn threads demolished under his nails. "Oi oi oi!" Katsuki began to call out as he trudged over to the tiny villain, smashing the bowl onto the nearby coffee table before he loomed over him. "When I told you to fuck off, I didn't tell you to fuck off here! Now get the fuck off!" Katsuki screamed as he grabbed the waist of Kacchan, that unfortunately was met with another bite and harsh words, and threw him onto the ground. Not even bothering to check the state of the creature he dominated, he swished his hand around in front of his crimson orbs, assessing the damage he took once again. Determining it was only as bad as a bee sting this time around, Katsuki went back to adjusting the blankets to his liking, forming them so the rougher, woolen one was cushioning the sticky texture of the leather with the threaded, soft one on top to cover him in a sense warmth. However, the mere few seconds he decided to turn his head away gave enough grief as a loud crash shattered onto their wooden floor.

 Time seemed to freeze on Katsuki's end, making his hands stick in the same folding position before his neck joints began to add functionality once again and he cracked his neck around to see Ochako's bowl into tiny fragments with his food sprawled all over the table and seeping into the floor. Surprise shook in Katsuki's muscles as his fingers began to twitch in anger before his back heavily straightened and stormed over to the culprit who was casually licking the contents spewed on the floor. "The fuck!? Do you think this is fucking funny to you!?" Katsuki bellowed out, anger seeping through his teeth as his crimson irises met with Kacchan's. Yet, while most would shake in fear from Katsuki's menacing glare, Kacchan just continued to stare, his puffy tail swishing back and forth before he then turned back to the meal he believed he was given. It was as if he gave zero cares to Katsuki's demeanor.

 Irritability seethed through Katsuki's teeth as his eyes continued to drill themselves into the scene, the desire to strangle both Kacchan and Ochako building up within his spleen. Huffing out the steam strewing in his bloodstream, eyes rolled as he walked over back to the kitchen to unwillingly retrieve the cleaning supplies since he could hear the ringing of Ochako's whines within his earlobes.  

 With the rags and spray clasped between his fingers, he clumped his feet back to the scene of the crime before deja vu slapped him back on the face, making his face return back to the distorted expression from before. Possibly even worse as he eyed Kacchan rubbing his back into the gloppy mess on the floor, spreading the contents from the surface deeper into the carpet.  Little growls of relief emitted from his toothy grin as his body wiggled against the slop, scratching the itchy patches of fur against the pricks of the shaggy carpet. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU FUCKING STUPID ANIMAL!?" Katsuki cursed out as he ran towards where Kacchan was to only having to be stopped in his track by the dog's flipped position. With his paws lying forward, his teeth protruded out as he stuck his rear in the air, clear sign of playing around with the human companion. "What the fuck are you doing!?" He screamed out once again when he took a step forward, causing his opponent to do a small little jump back as well. Suddenly, a competitive nerve burst in Katsuki as a click was felt in his mind and a demonic grin latched onto his face. "Oh is that how you're going to fucking do it huh?" With whippings of Kacchan's tail and a gruff of noise cursing out of his mouth, Katsuki took that as an acceptance of the air challenge that formed between them. "Alright fucking bring it!"

 Accompanying his starting, Kacchan's nails skidded on the floor as he sped throughout the house, the attached food to his paws leaving trail marks on carpet with each zigzagged zoom. Following the same feat, Katsuki began to chase after him, colorful language booming out in the same moments where he knocked into the walls out of clumsiness to get the little furry creatures. And oh boy did Kacchan move fast; his stumpy legs knew how to jump and slide under pieces of their furniture, making Katsuki believe he had him trapped until he saw a blurry figure crisp through his legs, making Katsuki twist and turn to see where he went off this time. Fortunately, the little train tracks of food got Katsuki to sniff out his new location but even the warrior in the wonder duo was facing his toughest opponent to date. Even All Might's punches to the gut back as a teenager seemed to be much easier to have a handle on than this little 4 foot beast scurrying his way around the house.

 However, soon Kacchan's official location was finally revealed when vibrations of his whines emerged from the living room. A small shiver of chill crawled up Katsuki's spine as his feet grew stuck to the carpet flooring they found themselves in, trying to gauge the noise Kacchan was making. The tunnels of his ears cleared as he allowed the noises to mix in, making sense of what kind of yelping Kacchan was forming. It was one of immense pain, as if he was screaming in his own language for immediate help. The whimpers grew to be more grange and gnarly and Katsuki's heroic legs quickly moved themselves to play the role of a hero to help the hurt animal. Entering into the living room, his throat tightened up as he saw the scene of the victim mangled into bits.

 To be less exaggerated, Katsuki wasn't aware of the circumstances or how it got to this point since his ears had been rumbled with adrenaline but what he saw made his calloused fingers fill with an unusual sweat that panicked him slightly. Somehow Kacchan managed to hit against the table of memories (or at least how Ochako decided to name it) and a special vase that was gifted by Katsuki's mother, containing a special charm that relaxed him, found itself shattered on the floor, bits and pieces sticking out as the meshed colors scattered across the ground. Fragments of all kinds sprinkled around, some visible to the eye, other more minuscule that one would have to strain their eyes to see. However, the pieces that were obtruding out of Katsuki’s eyes were visible enough that he could see swirls of blue and yellow being mixed in with the liquid of red that signaled for immediate attention. Looking at his arrival, Kacchan recalibrate his eyes back to Katsuki and a little shimmer of water glossed over them as whimpers of avail whistled through his sharp teeth.

 "Fucking Christ.....you can never keep your shit to yourself huh?" Katsuki muttered under his breath, still continuing his cursing barrage as he side stepped the damage and went to the bathroom to get all the human supplies that could help with a wound. Fortunately, with being a hero, all kinds of detrimental things happen on the daily so Katsuki even had the skill set to be able to revive a heart back to conscious. Which is why, glass being stabbed into Kacchan's paw wasn't too much of a dilemma for him, the only thing hesitating him were the differences in species. But he could worry about that with Ochako later. Right now, it was sewing time.

 Pulling out the tweezers and small scissors from the restroom drawer and digging through the cupboard for the healing products, he returned back to the yelping puppy and grabbed onto the paw that was damaged and oozing blood. Kacchan gave Katsuki quivering eyes as he swiveled the paw around, assessing how rooted the fragment of ceramic was lodged in. Noticing that it was only in enough to cause major discomfort but not enough to decimate his walking ability on his pads, Katsuki cleared his throat as he placed the tweezers in between his fingers and carefully gnawed out the piece, listening to the heavy pants that escaped onto Kacchan's tongue. With immense concentration, Katsuki used the metallic tweezers to latch onto the tip and picked at the ceramic bit by bit, moving it slowly around so it would unlatch itself from the pads. Teetering it back and forth, using semi horizontal movements to get the desired result, eventually it loosened to a point where then Katsuki threw the tweezers to the side and used his nails to grip at the edge to pull it out of it socket. Blood began to splatter out, getting drops of the darkened fluid on his shirt as it continued to spill all over the tiny foot and Katsuki's finger tips, leaving a messy trial of the vital fluid.

 Ignoring the howls that shrilled out of Kacchan, he continued on his process, calmness radiating through his mind as he worked as swift as possible. A rag that Katsuki pulled from the cupboard soon found itself pressed against the battle scar, hemorrhaging the wound to allow clots to form around it. During the painful minutes it took to make the bleeding stop soaking the rag from underneath him, Katsuki rubbed his furry neck, giving soothing and reassuring words that brought strength to Kacchan's lower quivering jaw. With passage of time and constant checks of the rag to see if the pressure worked, soon the blotches grew small enough to the point of nonexistence and immediately another cloth with disinfectant rubbed itself on the wound, fending off the potential germs that could seep in. Burns and sizzles emerged from the rag and Kacchan gave out hisses as the fiery substance worked itself into cut and fighting against the battles of infection. Rubbing the remaining in, he tossed away the clear soaked rag away and turned the paw within the tips of his fingers to see if stitches were needed. Determining that wasn't the case, he grabbed a flimsy piece of gauze and compressed it down while twirling the medical tape around to keep his work all in one place. Inspecting the finer details of his labor, he gave a grunt of approval before setting the paw down delicately and leaning to meet the panting dog on the side. "There ya go, you little shit. You gotta be more fucking careful or else shit like this will happen again. Got it?" He lectured the canine, allowing the widened smile with a tongue out to be a good enough acceptance from him. "Fucking alright then, can't have you hurt again." Katsuki said in a softer tone as he picked Kacchan up by under the arm pits, carrying him like a human child as he then rested him on top of the nest he was creating until confusion occurred. Settling him down softly so his body curled up into a donut shape, Katsuki loomed over him, his gaze softening against the widened eyes that were looking up at him. "Stay here, I'll be back soon." He responded with a tinge of sweetness as he gave Kacchan one last look before cleaning up the mess.

 Bit by bit, things were put back in its proper place, finding their homes back in the cupboards where their clear spaces in the dust made room from them. All that Katsuki could speak were in the languages of sighes, wondering how his one day off turned into this catastrophic mess with a dog he didn't even imagine would come in of all days. But of course, what did he expect from the gravitational girl that also resided in the house? Since they fought in the arena, she kept him on his toes, using the expected to create the unexpected. Deep down inside, he had imagined a somewhat peaceful day where spicy food could be the only thing that divulged in his fiery nature but in actuality, he was now on his knees cleaning up a mess that could have only happened in his wildest of dreams.

 Once the house looked somewhat how it did when Ochako ran out, Katsuki dug his fingers into the roots of his hips, teetering of the balls of his feet as he looked in the peripherals of his surroundings, now questioning what to do with himself. The one plan that had really stuck in his mind found itself stained on the ground so that idea completely threw itself out the window in a flash. Ideas ran through his mind yet, even though he wanted to do all of them, a feat of exhaustion flew into his muscles and everything that mingled in his mind felt unappealing and redundant. Then, twisting his body around, he locked his ruby textured eyes with Kacchan's similar ones, exchanging a look of serenity and company. With the way he was positioned in the nest of blankets, the angry and carnivorous vibe he had earlier was swiped away and replaced with a formidable pet that just wanted to receive love. Something that Katsuki could relate to in his former memories.

 Digging his fingers more into the skin of hips, he dropped his head down, let out a deepened sigh before bringing it back up and looked at the dog, locking eyes with him. "You can't just leave me alone for 10 fucking seconds, huh?" He retorted back but with a more playful undertone as he smirked back at Kacchan, feeling a somewhat new connection with his former enemy. With the throbbing of his bite marks fading and stitching itself together with the paw's injuries, Katsuki plodded himself over to the couch and slumped his rear down, sinking into the cushions of the couch. Picking up the remote that slid into a diagonal position, he illuminated the high definition screen and flipped through the channels, one thumb pressing the down key, the other hand unconsciously occupied by resting itself on the top of Kacchan's protruding fur, his fingers getting lost within his golden hair.

 Settling down on a program full with loud screams and red undertones as two men dueled it out with bloodstains on their clothing, Katsuki set down the remote with small clank on the table and leaned further into the couch. As if his eyes were magnetized the screen, scenes of the movie swirled into his pupils as he continued to look on, only blinking when he felt his eyes slightly watering from the strain of keeping them open. Invested so much into the action, he couldn't even feel the way Kacchan's tail was fanning against the side of his waist as his mouth turned upwards with his tongue sticking out, panting out the same excitement that crossed on Katsuki's face. Both looks contained pallets of captivation as gore splattered across the pixelated monitor, barks of orders and parkour enticing the actors while they continued on the plot with kicks and dislocated joints.

 Spellbound by the menagerie of performances that depicted action, betrayal, and even occasional spouts of romance that were met with repulsed looks from the duo, the outside world blurred within their peripherals as the television messed with their internal clocks. Nothing brought them out of that state until they heard a small little click with a flash blinding their visuals. After giving yelps of pain and smudging the black dots away that were popping up in between the shades of color, soon, the perpetrator appeared in front of them. It was Ochako, bruises splattering across her arms and neck from the damages her selfless rescue caused and her silhouette was shadowed on the ground from the lamp switches that were flicked on due to the darkened night that seeped through their familiar window. Yet, even though a black eye covered the purity of her rounded features, tightening up the muscles by the opening with a mixture of dark colorations, it still crinkled in happiness as her rosy cheeks brightened under the small smile that spread across her face. Her delicate fingers wrapped themselves around the phone in front of her chest, creating clicking sounds with her thumb as she created more blackmail with the fine tunings of her camera.

 "The fuck are you doing!? Aren't you supposed to be doing some hero shit or something!?" Katsuki retorted out, his body scooting forward to pounce on her to rip that phone from her nimble fingers. A slight blush appeared on his already reddening face though his hand still remained on Kacchan's golden fur, not even trying to cover the tracks of his sudden attachment to the dog he asked to kick out earlier. Even Katsuki could feel Kacchan reacting the same way as his body tensed at his savior.

 "Yea but the rescue team finished their work a bit earlier than normal plus," she said with grin as she glided over to the draped windows and yanked them apart to reveal the darkened sky with little bulbs of light sprinkling across it. Katsuki's eyes widened as he stared at the crystalline night sky, completely in shock on how time slid through his fingers like sand in an hourglass. "It's completely dark outside! Last time I checked it was almost midnight as well!"

 For Katsuki, it only felt he was on the couch next to his fur rival for an hour, possibly less but Ochako revealed the proof of it being more and twisting his head towards their clock affirmed her words. Even Kacchan's mouth opened up and his tongue rolled out in between his teeth as his head bobbed back and forth between the two differing faces.

 "It seems as if you guys are getting along though!" Ochako said as she shattered the silence that formed in the room, looking at the duo with a smirk on her face as small laughter erupted from the depths of her diaphragm. Her eyes crinkled at the image that appeared in front of her as she saw past Katsuki's artificial stance and looked at the true image of care that was painted with their closeness.

 "The fuck!? No! Only in your fucking imagination Round Face!" Katsuki spat out, removing his hand immediately from Kacchan and raising himself from the couch as he contracted towards Ochako with clenched fists accompanying his sides. His face reverted back to the one of earlier yet this time there was a glow of softness that wasn't apparent before, reducing his contorted features to be those of a lie.

  "That's not what I'm seeing!" Ochako continued to tease, rocking back and forth on her buoyant feet that carried a bantering tone. With her tuffs bouncing close and waving towards her face, she pulled out the gallery of evidence and shoved the clearest photo of their affection into his face. "Last time I checked Bakugou, a picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it?" She teased towards him, giving him a grin that was filled with content and vibrancy but also leaking with slight sinister vibes that contained motives Katsuki knew he wouldn't enjoy.

 With tension seen in the veins popping through the outer skin of his fists, Katsuki's mouth twitched at Ochako's prancing as she continued to shove his true emotions down his throat. He wasn't going to lie, he had grown an affinity for the small creature. The way he looked at him with pleading eyes as if he was his only savior, the way he enjoyed the flying of guts being spewed on a TV screen, the way he placed his elongated chin against Katsuki's thighs when his eyes started to get droopy, all these things made the flame in his heart tenderize and a bond started to form underneath the tip of his nose. Yet, he wasn't going to let that slip out to Ochako anytime soon. "Oh I know what that picture is saying and it's saying that that phone should be fucking burned Round Face!" He grumbled out as he lunged towards the object in her hand, ready to smash it into smithereens under the pads of his fingers.

 However, despite her coming back from battle and bruised in major areas, Ochako was still able to maneuver with grace as she spun away from his heated grasps. With each step Katsuki took, Ochako took a defensive one back as a smug look appeared on her face in retaliation to the flustered twitches that plagued the edges of his face. To an outsider, it looked like a dance of twisting personalities that spiraled together with a common theme of a phone being held above like a victorious trophy. Even Kacchan felt the excitement between their compatible feet and, with his flag tail whipping back and forth, he jumped from the couch and joined the frenzy with small jumps and little yips. It was a whirlwind of dancing feet of all kinds and no matter how desperate Katsuki fought to grab the phone, Ochako would just refute the action with her own.

 "C'mon Uraraka! Give that fucking phone to me!"

 "Hmmm let me think about it.....NOPE!" She said with a devilish smirk plastered on her skin as her reddening cheeks became more daring with a redder shade blossoming out. "I actually was thinking about framing it as way to show how affectionate you can really be Bakugou!" Ochako added with a small tongue sticking out to get him riled up even more.

 A huge scowl curved down on his lips with a roughing noise escaping through the clenching of his teeth. "Why you..." He managed to bark out before beginning to aim harder at her operations, even going as far to use a hand to pull down the shoulder, aiming up to bring it down.

 "Hey that's cheating Bakugou!" Ochako whined, her cheeks puffing out at the pressure that she felt on her shoulder as it buckled her knees down slightly. However, that still didn't leave her taunting appeal as a smug look twisted her features. "Well, you remember how UA dealt with cheaters, right?" And before Katsuki could realize what she was doing, she brought her free hand upwards and slapped the phone with it, causing her cat like pads to illuminate in a pink glow. Slowly, her phone began to levitate, reaching the top of the ceiling as Ochako brought her signature hands downwards. Little mumbles of hurt could be heard in the back of her throat as her neck held itself back, looking at the flow of where it was traveling in the air.

 In utter shock, Katsuki stood still for a few seconds, his muscles palpitating as they gave small spasms of anger at the cunning move Ochako had pulled. However, control soon returned back to him and his features convulsed as he tried not to rip her into shreds in that exact moment. "Fucking! The fuck!? What the living fuck Uraraka!? Holy fuck! You'll regret it once I get my hands on that fucking phone!?" Katsuki screamed out as he began tromping around the floor, moving chairs around to see if he could elongate his reach to grab the phone. Yet, no matter how close his fingertips got to get it into his grasps, he could hear little squeaks from Ochako as she maneuvered the phone around, making sure it's lack of gravity kept itself away from the explosive danger Katsuki was going to impose on it.

 Once the device floated a sizable distance away from him, Ochako staggered back, still keeping her eye on it as her feet moved backwards. "Re..Release!" She said with a quivering voice as she calculated the distance and caught the phone right in between her hands. Though, that movement had her feet slightly collide into each other and Ochako found herself stumbling backwards to recalibrate her balance and make sure neither her or the phone found itself on the ground. However, as soon as she regained her equilibrium, a loud squeak rippled in the air that was followed by an even louder squeak, though it had more of the soundings of an exasperated gasp.

 Looking down, Ochako's eyes immediately downturned as she saw her foot pressing against Kacchan's hurt paw, his eyes turning glossy as he whined for the sheering pain to be released. "Oh my gosh Kacchan! I'm so sorry!" She immediately said as she lifted her foot away from his smaller one, jumping on the more grounded one, trying to get away from the injured dog. Once she core stabilized itself again, she immediately plunged herself downwards, ready to pick him up and have him lay in her curved arms. "Come here baby, oh I'm so sorry! Let mommy pic-"

 However, before she could even grab Kacchan, a hiss sounded right next to her as two beefed arms swiped him away, cradling the dog into the crevices that were created in the spaces. Coddles and coos were pressed against his ear as Ochako looked up to see Katsuki purring into his fur while using his free fingers to scratch Kacchan's skin to cause a tongue pouring out. Licks began to mark up Kastukis arm as they bonded over the care he poured into the furry creature. Though, as soon as Ochako shifted her posture a bit, Katsuki's head whipped towards her direction and his canines cross hatched into each other with a ray of red lighting zooming within his crimson irises. "The fuck did you fucking do you fucking gravitational bitch!? Are you so used to the air that you fucking forgot you are a fucking clutz on the ground now? Like the fuck, he was standing fucking right there, vulnerable as shit given his fucking foot wound and you just had to stomp all over him as if he's a fucking toy and you have no respect towards injured people and I hope you- THE FUCK YOU LAUGHING AT!?" He screeched as he halted his hate filled monologue with a response to the slight laughter Ochako was trying to cover up with her hand pressed against her mouth.

 "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She breathed out in between laughs, each time trying to stop the flow but flubbing up once more and continued to giggle under tears dropping down from her cheeks. Breathing heavily to regain her ability to structure sentences once again, she began to cough out the last remaining bits of laughter withheld in her voice before she tried to explain herself. "It’s just....it’s just earlier you were acting as if Kacchan was a spawn of Satan and you wanted him gone but now you're acting as if he's your child! Just like a good father!" Ochako said with brilliance, her eyes crinkling in enjoyment as her two hands clapped together in front of her ecstatic smile. Standing up from her kneeled position, she walked closer to the duo and gave small whispers of love to the dog Katsuki had clutched into his arms as she rubbed his pointed ears together. "It's as if we became a huge happy family with you as the dad, me as the mom, and Kacchan as the son!" She said cheerily as she snuggled closer to Kacchan's nose.

 However, hearing the words family, son, father, turned Kastuki's face into a beet red color as he became a fuddled mess of a being that had his muscles trembling. Even though he was a grown adult with a more than stable job and could properly function in the harsh realms of the adult world, those words were still too mature for his liking and stuff that never even crossed his mind before. The idea of being a father, even to a mere animal like Kacchan, blew his mind into crackles of explosions and spirals twirled in his eyes as he tried to wrap his thoughts around those ideas. Did protectiveness and sudden onset of adoration mean that he had those qualities? He certainly didn't think so but then he flashed back to his younger days when his quirk would incinerate certain pieces of furniture and how, even though he gained injury, his parents would still love him and cradle him in their arms after he kept his frowning face. Memories began to parallel with his current mindset and Katsuki felt himself entering into a reddening fog that made his sentences jumble.

 Before he could object to any of Ochako's sudden statements, clicks of a selfie sided phone began to burst into his ears as his focus suddenly pulled itself out of his daze and saw Ochako taking photos of all of them together. "Say cheese!" She said in the photo as her mouth quickly upturned into a smile with a peace sign pressed against her cheek, continuing to take photos. Katsuki began to protest and wiggle around the camera's line of view but Ochako would just keep hoping around to make sure they all fit in the frame. Soon, her harassment stopped and she stood still while her index finger ran through the photos, laughter flourishing out as she continued to spy on them. Just as Katsuki was about to repeat his question from earlier, Ochako shoved her phone right back into his face. The pixels on the image formed mixtures of colors to show Ochako with an ecstatic laughter while Katsuki had his open mouth in his signature roughened expression as Kacchan wiggled around in his arms, licking the skin on his owner's arms. "See Bakugou! We look just like a family! Man I should get this developed and framed so we can put it somewhere...." Ochako muttered to herself as her feet teetered away from Katsuki, getting lost in her own world as her thumbs zoomed into each photo, analyzing each aspect with slight mutters that were only audible to herself.

 Katsuki stood still with trembles quivering through his muscles as he continued to be shook by Ochako's phrasing with the photos. Lava soared in his veins and it took the attentive licks of Kacchan in order for the heat to boil out and erupt out in explosive fire. From the outside, the interior through the window became a sea of reddening oranges and yellows that followed with barks, high pitched squeals that had a sweet sound of happiness in there, and loud confused roars that were filled with maddening blushes.