#Although I suppose this could apply to any of her siblings

[eternally6pm]

On a scale of 1 to Bordering on Inappropriate, how much does Camilla love Xander?

[lecsainz]

Sister's Support

pairings: daniel ricciardo x sister!reader / charles leclerc x ricciardo!reader / max verstappen x ricciardo!reader / lando norris x ricciardo!reader / carlos sainz x ricciardo!reader

warnings: a day in the paddock with the ricciardo’s siblings, daniel being an annoying and funny brother, 2022 grid.

authors note: i think i don't need to say BUT I LOVED WRITING THIS VERY MUCH, apparently i love writing them all 😅 and i just miss ricc 😭 well, i hope you all like it.

word count: 1.7K

Y/N had always been too busy with college to attend her brother's races, and she never wanted to be in the public eye. As a result, she chose not to accompany Daniel through the paddock, opting instead to stay in a reserved family room or in the grandstands.

But one day, something shifted inside her. She woke up and realized that she wanted to experience a race in all its glory - to walk through the paddock, meet the drivers, and feel the energy of formula 1. And so she made the decision to join Daniel at a race, fully immersing herself in the world of motorsport.

And here she was stood in front of the mirror, smoothing down her dress and adjusting her hair. Today was the day of the race, and she was excited to be joining Daniel in the paddock.

She had flown in from Australia to Monaco just for this event, and she was determined to make the most of it.

As she finished applying her makeup, there was a knock on the door.

"Hey sis, you ready?" Daniel called out.

Y/N opened the door to find her brother grinning at her. "Ready as I'll ever be," she said, rolling her eyes.

Daniel laughed. "You look great. Although, maybe a little too great," he teased.

Y/N scowled at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Daniel just grinned. "Nothing, nothing. I just don't want any of the other drivers to get distracted by my little sister."

Y/N rolled her eyes again. "Please, as if."

As they walked through the hotel lobby, Y/N couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious. She was wearing a tight dress and heels, while Daniel was dressed in his usual casual attire.

But as they stepped outside and made their way to the paddock, Y/N started to relax. There was a buzz in the air, a sense of excitement that was contagious.

And as they walked through the paddock, Y/N felt her spirits lift even higher. There were so many people, all dressed in team colors and milling about, chatting and laughing.

Daniel introduced her to some of his colleagues, and Y/N tried her best to keep up with the racing lingo. She was a little intimidated by all the technical jargon, but she could tell that everyone was impressed by her enthusiasm.

She watched in amazement as her older brother Daniel climbed out of his race car, his face beaming with excitement. It was the first time she had ever come to a race with him, and the atmosphere was electric. Everywhere she looked, there were people milling about, mechanics tweaking engines, and drivers zipping around on their scooters. It was a world unlike any she had ever seen.

"Come on, sis!" Daniel called, grinning from ear to ear. "Let's go check out the paddock!"

Y/N followed him eagerly, taking in all the sights and sounds around her. As they walked, Daniel waved to other drivers, slapped high fives with mechanics, and generally acted like he owned the place.

"Hey, there's Max!" he said excitedly, pointing out the Red Bull driver as he walked by. "Hey, Max, over here!"

Max turned to look at them and raised an eyebrow in greeting. "Hey, Daniel. Who's your friend?"

"This is my sister, Y/N," Daniel said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "She's a bit of a newbie to all this, but I'm showing her the ropes."

Max nodded, giving Y/N a polite smile. "Nice to meet you, Y/N. You should come hang out with me and the guys later. We'll show you how to party properly."

Y/N felt a blush creeping up her neck. She had never been good at handling attention from guys, and Max was one of the most handsome drivers on the circuit.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she stammered, hoping she didn't sound too eager.

Daniel chuckled, ruffling her hair. "Don't mind her, Max. She's still a bit star-struck. Come on, let's go find some food."

They made their way to the hospitality area, where teams had set up tents and tables for their guests. As they approached the McLaren tent, Daniel saw a group of his teammates sitting together, laughing and joking.

"Hey, guys!" he called out, striding up to them. "Mind if I introduce you to my sister?"

The guys looked up, their eyes widening as they saw Y/N. She was wearing a tight-fitting dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, and her makeup was immaculate. They had never seen Daniel with a girl like her before.

"Hey, Y/N," Lando Norris said, grinning widely. "Welcome to the crazy world of Formula 1."

"Thanks," Y/N said, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the attention. "It's amazing to be here."

They chatted for a few minutes, with Daniel teasing Y/N mercilessly about her lack of knowledge about the sport. "She doesn't even know what DRS stands for," he told his friends, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

Y/N rolled her eyes, feeling a little embarrassed. "I'm learning," she protested. “And I know what it is DRS stands for Drag Reduction System, it's a...”

Daniel interrupts his sister “Or... DRS could stand for Daniel Ricciardo Supremacy. I mean, let's be real, that's what it's all about, right?”

Just then, they heard a voice calling out from across the paddock. "Hey, Dan! Over here!"

It was Carlos Sainz, the Ferrari driver, waving them over. Daniel grinned, giving Y/N a quick hug before leading the way.

"Hey, man!" he said, clapping Carlos on the back. "What's up?"

"Not much, just hanging out," Carlos said, grinning at Y/N. "And who's this lovely lady?"

"This is my sister, Y/N," Daniel said, proudly introducing her. "She's come to watch me race."

"Ah, I see," Carlos said, winking at her. "Well, you're welcome to hang out with us if you want, Y/N. We could use a bit of glamour in the Ferrari garage."

Y/N felt her cheeks flush again at the attention. "Sure, that sounds great," she said, trying to act cool.

For the rest of the day, Y/N found herself in the middle of a whirlwind of activity. She watched as Daniel went through his pre-race routine, making sure that everything was in place for a successful day on the track. As she stood by his side, Daniel made sure to include her in every step of the process, explaining things to her and answering any questions she had.

During the race itself, Y/N watched from the pit wall as Daniel battled it out with the other drivers on the track. She felt a thrill of excitement as he made daring overtakes and defended his position against his rivals.

And while Daniel didn't end up winning the race, Y/N still felt a sense of pride and excitement as she watched him climb out of the car, sweaty and exhilarated.

As the celebrations wound down, Y/N found herself wandering around the paddock, feeling a little lost. That was when she saw him.

Charles Leclerc was standing a few feet away, talking to some of his mechanics. He looked up and caught her eye, and Y/N felt her heart skip a beat. She had always had a bit of a crush on Charles, with his charming smile and piercing green eyes.

"Hey," he said, walking over to her. "You're Daniel's sister, right?"

Y/N nodded, feeling a little shy. "Yeah, that's me."

Charles smiled at her, looking genuinely interested. "So, what do you think of all this?"

"It's amazing," Y/N said, feeling a little more at ease now. "I've never seen anything like it."

Charles nodded, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Yeah, it can be pretty overwhelming at first. But once you get used to it, it's just another day at the office."

They chatted for a few more minutes, with Charles asking Y/N about her life and interests. Y/N found herself relaxing more and more, feeling like she could actually be herself around him.

"Hey, would you like to grab a drink later?" Charles asked, sounding a little hesitant. "I know this great little bar down the road."

Y/N's heart skipped a beat. She had never expected something like this to happen.

"Yeah, that sounds great," she said, feeling a little giddy.

Charles smiled at her, and Y/N felt a flutter in her stomach.

As Y/N and Charles walked away, Daniel spotted them from across the paddock. He jogged over, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, what are you two up to?" he asked, nudging Y/N in the side.

Y/N rolled her eyes at her brother's teasing. "Just hanging out," she said, trying not to sound too excited.

Daniel turned to Charles, giving him a playful punch on the arm. "Watch out, mate," he said, grinning. "Y/N's a bit of a heartbreaker."

Charles laughed, looking a little embarrassed. "Is that right?"

Daniel nodded, his eyes twinkling. "Yeah, you better keep an eye on her. She's trouble, I tell you."

Y/N groaned, feeling herself turn red. "Daniel, stop it," she said, swatting him on the arm.

"Charles, did you know that Y/N has a crush on a certain number 16 driver?" he said, grinning at his younger sister.

Y/N felt her cheeks turn bright red.

"Daniel, please." she hissed.

"Really?" Charles started teasing her. "Maybe I have a crush on her too."

She looked surprised at the monegasque and he gave her a wink. Y/N was sure she was redder than ferrari.

But despite her embarrassment, Y/N couldn't help feeling grateful to have her brother there. He might tease her relentlessly, but she knew he had her back no matter what.

As they continued chatting, Daniel made sure to include Y/N in the conversation, joking and teasing with both her and Charles. Y/N felt herself relaxing more and more, enjoying the company of her brother and this charming young driver.

And as she looked over at her brother, grinning from ear to ear, Y/N felt a sense of happiness that she had never felt before. Maybe, just maybe, she had found her place in the crazy, wonderful world of formula 1 after all.

[libraincarnate]

astrology notes: 11 🌊

quick note: i'm absolutely not an astrologer. these are just a collection of some observations, thoughts, theories, and personal experiences. above all this is just for fun. lastly, these may or may not apply to you but you might find something to be true about your friends, family, or lover. enjoy!

✿ aquarius in the 1st house (composite): people may be surprised to you see two together as a couple. this can be because you don’t look like you’d be attracted to each other or because your personalities are different. maybe you guys have been friends before so your families/mutual friends didn’t see it coming. and perhaps you & your partner didn’t expect it either and it came as a surprise, something unexpected. a friends to lovers type of relationship. and although people may be surprised at your relationship they may see that the two of you get along really well, probably always laughing and talking to each other.

✿ neptune in the 2nd house: these natives may have recurring moments where they lose money or it just suddenly disappears even though they’re certain they remember exactly where they put it. may also experience money missing from their financial accounts.

✿ lilith in the 2nd house: can indicate someone who is sneaky, stealthy, & sly like a fox, good at stealing things and rarely getting caught. probably have a history of stealing and could have been doing this since they were young.

✿ lilith in the 3rd house: may have road rage and can be someone who doesn’t respect the traffic signs nor traffic lights. the type to make a u-turn when they’re not supposed to, run a red light, or go above the speeding limit. possibly the types that got into fights in their earlier years in school.

✿ lilith in the 4th house: may be embarrassed or ashamed of their family or their mother in particular. they may not like it when people come over their house and especially do not feel comfortable inviting their friends/partner over. their family may be overbearing, lacking social awareness, vulgar, messy, etc. this placement kind of reminds me of elizabeth and her family, the Bennets, from the movie pride and prejudice (2005 version).

✿ there are so many factors to look at considering your appearance in astrology. i have the features of my rising sign and although im not a libra rising, i’m very libra/venus dominant. i’m a libra sun/venus, my sun is at 7° (libra degree), i also have a libra stellium in my natal chart and in multiple persona charts, it just goes on and on. with that being said, i have dimples and so many freckles, beauty marks, and birth marks all over my body and basically on every body part. so don’t just look to your rising sign. check your dominant planet/sign, your venus sign, the degree of your rising/venus sign, your ascendant/venus persona chart, along with any planets in your 1st house because they can all have an influence on your appearance.

✿ when it comes to words, i’ve noticed that gemini tends to double check the definitions of words to make sure they're using it correctly. they like to expand their vocabulary and using that vocabulary in their day to day speech or to appear smart & they talk a lot, more extroverted. virgo tends to be more pedantic, correcting others for an error in pronunciation/spelling, there’s an emphasis on on grammar and they may flash their impressive vocabulary to show you how stupid you sound, at work/business meetings, or when they’re being sarcastic. they're both ruled by mercury, but i think geminis like to talk more than virgos. virgos appear bashful and quiet/introverted but they have their moments when they are feeling talkative.

✿ sun in the 4th house: these natives may stand out in their family in some way. their skin tone may be lighter than the rest, may be the smartest one, the tallest one, the popular one.

if you have siblings with sun in the 4th you might get compared to them a lot, people/your family highlights the qualities that your sibling has which are the ones you don’t have or maybe they point out how they’re better than you at certain things.

✿ chiron in the 4th house: may have felt like an ugly duckling, an outcast in your family, like you don’t fit in. omg just thought of meg from family guy as i was typing this. could have been treated like cinderella was by her stepfamily.

✿ aquarius moon: may enjoy or find comfort in watching wholesome videos or reading/listening to wholesome stories or news reports. the ones with acts of kindness & generosity, humans treating each other the way they should, the ones that “restore your faith in humanity.”

✿ people with gemini or aries placements tend to be impulsive or quick to react, especially with aries who can be intense & temperamental, or someone who is uranus dominant who can be quite unpredictable and capricious. but if you have pluto in the 1st house you may have great self control. you might be livid or scared on the inside but you have a poker face on the outside. this doesn’t mean you don’t react but you delay the reaction, you wait a little longer to see how things develop and decide whether a reaction is warranted or not.

✿ libras appreciate manners & respectful people so they may not be a fan of cursing and vulgar language. this is contrary to their sister/opposite sign aries who probably curses often and uses indecent words when talking. for libras it makes them cringe, for aries it can be a form of verbal, emotional, and self-expression.

✿ pisces love it when it rains. they find it soothing & dulcet. the change in atmosphere is something they can really feel & it’s comforting. they’re the types to listen to sad music when they’re sad, so the gray skies & dark clouds only makes everything better. taking a walk or being outside on the porch or balcony as it rains can be refreshing & purifying for pisces. laying in bed cuddling or falling asleep to the raindrops feels like bliss.

^ meanwhile sun dominants may hate it when it rains because the atmosphere looks too gloomy & dismal to them. and things could get windy, muddy & messy which makes them want to avoid going outside altogether.

✿ lilith in gemini: these individuals are quick thinkers & are good with words, they know how to be persuasive which makes them good liars, they can create clever lies on the spot. while this can make them appear untrustworthy, for these natives lying could have been a surviving mechanism. they may have been subject to tense, controlling, and traumatic environments & people and this could have made them feel like they couldn’t be themselves nor speak their truth. doing so may have resulted in more pain and suffering and to avoid or at least reduce that, they turned to lying to protect themselves.

✿ netpune in the 8th house: probably aren’t afraid of death and may even look forward to going to the other side (i’m not talking about suicidal thoughts). or they might wish to die in their sleep when the time has come. they may have a tendency to imagine gruesome things like strange/dark creatures & they might experience vivid nightmares that feel real. would probably be really good at creating morbid art.

✿ scorpio mars/venus: may be mean to their partner, not really in a serious way but in a teasing way. but trust me, underneath the little attitudes & the teasing they are in loveee. they care for their partners so deeply and just want to drown in them.

✿ moon in the 7th house: they don’t like when people are mad at them or when there’s strife in their relationships. it makes them feel emotionally uncomfortable which can lead to the native worrying and obsessively thinking about what went wrong. they’ll try to talk it out, perform acts of kindness, or other things to get the person to forgive them or to resolve any issues. this is another placement that may be too forgiving or tolerant in relationships as well.

✿ cancer: may be a very patriotic individual and so they may have the desire to go to war or fight for their homeland/country in some way like getting into politics for the sake of their country. they may feel a strong connection to their family, their background/history, and the land their family came from. could be the type to rep their flag and culture loud and proud. may want to give back to their country or the people there. tradition is important and they plan on keeping family/cultural traditions alive and/or even creating some of their own.

✿ 6th house synastry: gather around the fireplace my loves, were gunna talk about this synastry because often times it’s either disregarded, underappreciated, or seen as ominous. because of this i’ll mainly be talking about the positives and the favorable possibilities. warning, this is section is lowkey long af.   with 6th house synastry you get a feel for how well a person can fit into your life. because the 6th house has to do with daily life, routines, and schedules, this is such an important aspect in a relationship. the person you have 6th house synastry with could possibly think you make their daily life so much better. and if you are apart of their daily life, then there’s potential for you to be a big part of their life or to be in their life for many years. this doesn’t automatically mean this person will be a co-worker, employee, or employer, but if you can see, interact with, and develop relationships with the people you work with on a pretty daily basis for years, even 10+, then the same can apply to the those who aren’t co-workers, etc. but you still have 6th house synastry with them.

who knows, animals may bring you two together. could meet at the dog park, the vet, at an animal shelter or pet store. you guys may get pets together and it could feel like that pet is apart of your relationship/family. perhaps you two met at the hospital/doctor’s office, or when you happened to visit their place of work.

this person may look forward to seeing or speaking to you everyday. you can become apart of their routine, your presence can feel so natural that it feels like something is missing or different when you’re not around, when they haven’t heard from you, when you didn’t go out for your daily coffee together, when you miss dinner, when you’re traveling or away from home they can really feel it and miss you.

schedules are also important, such as work schedules. with unfavorable planets and aspects they might work a night shift but you may work a morning shift, or somehow your schedules clash. or sleeping schedules which can determine the rest of your day. for example they may be a night owl and you may be an early bird which means you may not get to sleep with each other often, can eat breakfast at different times, while you feel the most productive and energized they may feel the least productive or they’re just trying to unwind. almost functioning on different time zones.

but with favorable planets and aspects and such, this can bring so much harmony, connection, and understanding to the relationship. things flow. those moments when you’re sleeping together, get to just spend hours in bed, cuddling, making/having breaskfast together, knowing exactly what they like to eat, doing your morning/night routines together. a lot of the things are in the details but they’re still significant and can contribute to forming a bond. there’s more time to spend together and wanting to be near each other either doing something together or on your own but still next to each other. there’s a sense of familiarity and comfort.

there’s so much care and attention in 6th house synastry. your partner wants to put you at ease, making sure you’re okay, that you’ve eaten, you’re in a good mood. they’re supportive. they remember the important and little things about you. your likes and dislikes. you know those games where you and your partner answer questions about each other/your relationship? you guys would probably be good at that. when you’re sick they wanna do anything they can to help and alleviate your pain & discomfort. the type to never wanna leave your side until you’re well again. your well-being is a priority for them.

the 6th house is ruled by virgo which is ruled by mercury and the 6th house relates to the conscious mind as well. so with 6th house synastry, you may be someone that’s always on their mind, they find themselves thinking about you throughout the day. wondering what you’re doing, how you’re doing, the next time you’ll hang out, how much they love you, etc.

if i’m not mistaken, the 6th house also considers the physical body. so if positive placements and aspects in the 1st house can indicate good physical attraction and sexual tension/chemistry because of physical appearance, then why can’t this apply to the 6th house if it relates to the physical body? i’m not saying the 1st and 6th house are the same, but different houses do have similar themes. with that being said, sex can also be a big part of your relationship. for a lot couples, sex is important and even a deal breaker. this doesn’t necessarily have to do with one’s performance in bed but rather the sexual experience as a whole and how they connect with each other during the act. for a lot of people sex is more than just sex and in the 6th house this can be a daily/frequent thing. might like showering together. and because 6th house is the house of service, depending on the signs/planets in the 6th house there can be a dom/sub type of dynamic, not just in sex though. your partner may be more dominant or have submissive traits in the way they approach life and go about doing things.

going back to the physical body, there’s exercising, may together & perhaps helping each other stay healthy and on top things. there’s self-improvement here but in synastry there can be improvement and progress within the relationship too. creating common goals, creating plans with each other and if you’re doing these things together, surely you must see them in your life in the future. 6th house also talks about habits and you might be a good habit, something that is so good for them and their life, possibly even addicting or healing. with taurus in the 6th you can make them feel grounded and you bring stability to their life. with leo in the 6th you can bring fun, a burst of energy or happiness to their everyday life.

if they’re headed out to the store, food shopping, running errands or whatever, they might want you to come with them and you guys can have fun doing simple things like that. the type of partner that might be sitting with you or watching you while you put your makeup on/get dressed, helping you choose an outfit. don’t forget, acts of service is considered a love language for a reason! and relationships don't only consist of romance, going on dates all the time, staring in each other's eyes saying i love you every 4 seconds (hey scorpio 😘😂), but there's a more realistic & practical side as well.

mars in the 6th can bring passion, sex, desire, and determination. your partner can be a source of motivation. and i get that mars is a malefic planet, but every planet/sign can come with pros and cons whether it be benefic or malefic, and there are also favorable/unfavorable aspects, retrograde planets, etc.

venus in the 6th can bring affection, beauty, attention, love/romance, and pleasure. they may also help you with your self-love. acts of service may be a primary love language but remember signs matters to. with taurus venus it may be acts of service + physical touch.

or with gemini venus it may be acts of service + words of affirmation.

moon in the 6th here can bring an emotional connection, considering their feelings and what’s meaningful to your partner, someone who relieves your stress. may help you cope with your emotions in better ways.

plus, the 6th house won’t be the only house with planets in it. so having a synastry chart with 6th house energy coupled with that 8th house synastry ya’ll love, or even 5th house or 7th house energy may be really nice to have.

i see 6th house synastry described as unromantic and while i agree that the themes of the 6th house aren’t related to love, i still see it as a house with themes that can establish a very good foundation for a relationship and it can help develop a bond, and greatly contribute to intimacy and a close connection.

if you read the whole 6th house synastry section here’s an extra heart for you ♥︎, because you really read all that lol. i appreciate you! but hopefully this was helpful, encouraging, and i hope this brought a sweet & supportive perspective to this synastry.

if you read this until the end i hope you enjoyed it & thank you so much for reading. ♥︎♥︎♥︎, those hearts are for you.

[sweetblinginrose]

𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗻𝘂𝘁,

(Billy Hargrove x fem¡OCMayfield)

Samantha Danielle Mayfield finally decides to move to Hawkins with her sister and mother, as well as her mother's new husband and his arrogant son, William "Billy" Hargrove. What they are unaware of is that, gradually, these step-siblings will discover that the line between contempt and passion is more fragile than they supposed, and what begins as shared hostility turns into an intense and undeniable attraction that both find themselves unable to reject.

warnings: read at your own risk, as it includes a continuous sexual environment, profanity, mention of death and suicide, stepsibling relationship, sex, and all its derivatives.

autor’s note: this work is entirely my own creation. that is to say, i have not based it on anyone else, so any resemblance to any other work is purely coincidental, as i have been using this format for all my stories since 2019. i hope you enjoy the story. if you find any translation errors, something you don't understand, or similar, please let me know :p

masterlist

Chapter one Chapter two Chapter three

━━ ✧♡✧ ━━ ✧♡✧ ━━ ✧♡✧ ━━

Chapter four: Private Dancer - Tina Turner

The rain hit the windshield with a constant rhythm, as if marking the beat of Billy's anger. The windshield wipers moved from side to side, trying to clear the view, but the storm was persistent.

Inside the car, the radio played a hard song, almost drowned out by the sound of the rain. Billy adjusted the volume, letting the strong melody fill the space. The dashboard lights shone dimly, creating an intimate atmosphere in which he was alone with his thoughts.

The air smelled of wet earth, a scent that mixed with the perfume he had chosen for the occasion. Every red light was a pause in his internal monologue, a moment to catch his breath and rehearse in his mind what he would say when he saw the girl he had charmed that night. As he drove, the deserted streets and blurry buildings became the backdrop of his adventure. The city seemed different in the rain, more mysterious, as if it held secrets that were only revealed to those who dared to explore it under the veil of water.

Billy finally arrived, parked the car, and remained silent for a moment, watching the drops slide down the window. He forgot about his date and began to brood over the bad day he had had and how his relationship with his stepsister was getting worse, feeling a slight feeling of sadness that dissipated instantly when a teenager opened the door as his neon lights pointed. She wore only red lace panties that delicately hugged her curves, along with a short lace nightgown that completely exposed her breasts. The reason for their meeting that night was evident. Billy immediately forgot about what had happened during the day, allowing a mischievous smile to form on his face.

Hurriedly, he turned the key and stepped out of the car to avoid getting wet in the rain, although it was futile, since it was impossible, but it was worth it "Who would have thought that all that heat would be in that body today?" he purred with a deep voice, wrapping his arm around the girl's waist and pushing her hips towards his so she could feel his erection, which was already present before seeing his companion that night but she had further fueled his desire

"You did well to let me know your parents wouldn't be home. You needed a babysitter, right?"

The girl simply laughed at his comment, grabbing Billy's denim jacket and pulling him into the house, closing the door behind them.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the noisy night was accompanied by the soft sound of a brush against skin. Sam stood in front of the mirror, her movements reflected in the polished surface as she meticulously applied her makeup. The dim light in the room barely revealed her figure, but her eyes reflected a fierce determination. It was the calm before the storm, the preparation for an escape that promised to be as exciting as it was dangerous.

Max watched from the slightly open door, her silhouette barely visible in the threshold "Are you sure about this?" she asked, her voice a whisper that mingled with the darkness.

Sam did not respond immediately, her unwavering concentration as she carefully traced the last eyeliner stroke "Of course, it's easy. You just have to tell them I'm sleeping and not to come into my room", she finally said, her voice full of a confidence that needed no more words.

With one last look in the mirror, Sam stood up, her straight posture defying any doubts that may have existed.

Less than half an hour later, the sound of a familiar engine began to be heard in the distance, a sign that her plan could begin. With high heels in one hand and an umbrella in the other, she carefully opened the window, trying not to make noise. Just as they opened the front door, Sam closed it.

The cold night breeze caressed her face, and a shiver ran down her spine. Despite her careful planning, she couldn't help but sigh in frustration as she felt the mud splash against her bare feet.

Around the corner, Vicki's car came into view, an oasis of fun in the midst of the rainy night. The lights inside illuminated their conspiratorial smiles. "Sammy, get in quickly!" Vicki exclaimed, while Nicole nodded enthusiastically. Sam slid into the backseat, closing the door just as a laugh escaped her lips.

"You have no idea what we have in store for tonight" Nicole began, with her typical annoying girl accent, chewing gum while the car pulled away, leaving behind Samantha's silhouette "Last year's Halloween party was epic, and Tina promised to surpass herself this year".

The excitement for the start of vacations was palpable in the air, almost as dense as the rain that had pounded the streets minutes earlier. But now, the storm had calmed, leaving a trail of shiny drops on the asphalt that reflected the lights of the town.

The three friends, enveloped in a bubble of laughter and plans, talked non-stop. Between confessions and promises of an unforgettable night, the conversation turned to how they would let themselves be carried away by the euphoria of the moment, how they would dance without inhibitions and perhaps flirt with boys under the starry sky that was beginning to appear.

The night promised to be one of those stories that would be told over and over again, each time with more details and more color, as if time embellished the memories. And as Vicki's car slid down the road, the three friends plunged into the anticipation of what was to come, a summer that could be the best of their lives.

They drove through a neighborhood adjacent to Tina's, where a residence stood out, the only one lit on the entire street. The young women chose to pass by without paying attention, absorbed in their conversation about what cassette to play next. In that same residence, Billy was immersed in a difficult task.

Everything went smoothly from the start, but preconceived notions about his stepsister resurfaced in his mind, stopping him at key moments and deeply unsettling the young man. The blonde clenched his eyelids tightly to avoid thinking about it, while executing intense movements that resonated throughout the house.

The girl called the boy, imploring him to look at her and utter words of misconduct at the same time.

(These kids these days and their strange tastes... (≖᷆︵︣≖))

Billy thought it was a good idea, but as he opened his eyes, he thought he saw his stepsister's face in the girl, moving away precipitously, rubbing his eyes fiercely to confirm her identity.

"I have to go..." he announced suddenly, adjusting his pants while his excitement persisted. It could be said that even more... The girl was stunned, not knowing what to do or say.

Hargrove, still panting and sweat-drenched, tried to adjust his bulge, but his tight jeans didn't cooperate in those moments.

Before the girl could react completely, the boy slipped out, closing the door of the residence in her face, hurrying to his car, where anger took hold of him, hitting the steering wheel repeatedly and repeatedly honking the horn, scaring the stray cats that wandered the wet street. Seconds later, a smile returned to his face as he looked at himself in the mirror, running his fingers through his hair and checking the time again, remembering that a girl, whose name he barely remembered, was hosting a party his friends were attending. He quickly forgot about the girl and set off towards the address written on a piece of paper, located among used condom wrappers and cassettes.

He left confident, confident that he would find numerous attractive girls who had come to town for the summer, and that he could seduce with his charming rebel surfer's charm, and enjoy the company of his equally uninhibited friends.

The tires slid on the deserted streets. The engine of his car murmured softly in the quiet night. The streetlights blinked as he passed, reflecting on the hood like shooting stars. As he approached Tina's house, the music grew louder, a persistent bass that throbbed in his chest. Upon arrival , he parked with a loud screech and stepped out of the car. The house was lit up like a lighthouse, laughter and chatter floated in the air. In the front yard, his friends were huddled together, dancing shadows against the warm light emanating from the house.

"Billy, Billy!" they shouted in unison, their voices rising above the music. The bottles in their hands glistened in the moonlight as they raised their arms in a jubilant greeting. "Billy, Billy, Billy!" they sang, again and again, their words becoming a welcome anthem, a cheerful and unrestrained melody that celebrated his arrival.

The blonde responded with a smile, the warmth of the welcome mixing with the coolness of the night. These were his people, his moment, and the night had only just begun.

With a triumphant smile, Billy made his way through his friends and took the bottle of Jack Daniel's from Tommy's hands. He lifted it in a bold gesture and, without hesitation, tilted his head back, letting the amber liquid flow freely. The whiskey slipped down his throat, a warm current that promised euphoria and uninhibition. When he finished, he let out a triumphant shout, a roar that resounded with the energy of the night. A few rogue drops of Jack Daniel's escaped from the corners of his mouth, tracing a damp path down his neck and disappearing under the fabric of his t-shirt. His friends burst into laughter, the sound of their joy mixing with the music inside and the shouts of jubilation.

One of them, still laughing, handed him a cold beer. "To finish off, champ!" they encouraged him, as Billy accepted the bottle with a knowing smile. He opened it with a snap and brought the edge to his lips, ready to continue the celebration. The party was in full swing and, in just a few seconds, Billy was the undisputed protagonist of the night.

The atmosphere was electric, charged with laughter and the murmur of animated conversations. The notes of a soft and seductive song floated in the air, mingling with the bittersweet aroma of beer. They had spent an hour talking about their conquests and academic failures, each anecdote more hilarious than the last. The night was young and the possibilities, endless.

With high spirits fueled by alcohol and camaraderie, they decided to venture into the heart of the party. The house, lit up with dim lights and decorated with colorful garlands, vibrated to the rhythm of the music. As they entered, their bodies began to move almost instinctively, letting themselves be carried away by the melody that promised more than just a dance. That's when he saw her. A silhouette that immediately captured his attention, a girl who danced with the same passion and grace as the slow and sensual song that played. Her hair moved in waves to the rhythm of the music, and although he could only see her back, there was something about her posture that irresistibly drew him in. Surrounded by friends, she was the center of a whirlwind of laughter and fluid movements. With determined but gentle steps, he began to approach. Every step was a beat of the song, every movement a line of the story that was about to be written. The distance shortened and the anticipation grew; he was about to enter the orbit of the unknown, ready to join the dance and discover where the night would take them.

With determined steps, he approached the brunette, letting the music envelop them in its seductive melody. His compliments flowed naturally, expressing his admiration for her skillful movements. With a bold gesture, he slipped his arm smoothly around the girl's waist, feeling the curve of her back under his touch as he pulled her closer to him. The closeness was intoxicating; Billy's hips fit perfectly against the girl's back, forming an intimate connection that moved to the hypnotic rhythm of the song. Every movement was a sensual dance, an improvised choreography that enveloped them in an aura of irresistible attraction. Initially, the girl seemed to tense up, ready to push him away abruptly, but as she felt Billy's firm grip and noticed his athletic physique pressing against her, her reaction changed. Although she still couldn't see him, the sensation of his muscled arm clinging to her, his toned torso against her stomach, and his deep voice resonating in her ear, sparked a spark of intrigue and excitement in her. Moreover, the effect of alcohol clouded her inhibitions, causing worries and doubts to fade into the mist of the party. In that state of disregard and euphoria, she decided to go with the flow, allowing the chemistry of the moment to envelop them in a dance of desire and mutual attraction.

Through the haze of the drink, one of her friends watched every move, although their minds were not entirely clear. The other, with a playful smile, leaned against the other and murmured something unintelligible, but clearly amused. The friend turned and laughed, completely oblivious to her friend's confusion. The stranger with whom she was dancing led her with confidence. The friends, in their alcoholic state, began to speculate with knowing looks and comments between laughs. "Who is that hunk?" one asked, while another replied with an exaggerated shrug. Finally, when the song ended, the expressions of the friends went from amusement to astonishment. "It's Billy!" they exclaimed in unison, their voices rising above the music.

With every move, Billy drew closer to the unknown girl. His hands, skillful and determined, gently roamed the contours of her body as his lips delicately explored the exposed skin of her neck. The touch of his lips sent shivers down the girl's spine, who let herself be carried away by the exhilarating sensation of the moment.

Without warning, Hargrove took the initiative and spun the girl around, pulling her towards him with a fiery impulse. Their kiss was like a spark that ignited desire in both of them, a fire that threatened to consume them completely. Billy's hand slid firmly to rest on the curve of the girl's hip, while his other hand gently clung to her nape, intensifying the contact between their bodies. The sound of the girl's laughter whispered in Billy's ear, causing a mischievous smile to form on his lips. They separated briefly, but their gazes remained connected, charged with complicity and desire. However, when they finally recognized each other, a mix of surprise and complication took hold of their faces, breaking the spell of the magical moment they had shared.

"Sam!?"

[thissliceofnonsense]

Some Donnie Headcannons

Donnie learned everything by memorizing it in song form. This is because Splinter would put on shows for the each of them so he could just... rest for a little bit. Donnie would always want to put on a science show with song and dance numbers and always loved things like that. (Also, I think the Atomic Lass character was a side character in some of the Jupiter Jim movies and that is probably his favorite of all time...and she probably had song and dance numbers of some sort... maybe... that's the head cannon)

My siblings will sometimes ask me a question as if I'm the encyclopedia. I think the others would do the same to Donnie.

Mikey: Hey Donnie! Do you think I could do a *insert ridiculously difficult skateboard trick*

Donnie: Well, you'd have a 12% chance in perfect conditions, given your center of gravity and your average rate of acceleration... but these are less than optimal conditions Angelo, so my conclusion would be: not reccomend-

Mikey: *proceeds to do it*

Donnie likes to infodump to Mikey as he's drawing. Mikey specifically - although he will infodump to anyone and everyone - because Mikey is somewhat listening, and it's nice to get thoughts into words without having to worry about criticism or being blatantly ignored.

(Mikey will pop in with random questions about if his art looks right, and sometimes gives Donnie wild suggestions that Donnie takes and runs with.)

Tried to research the supernatural after discovering the hidden city, that's why he was able to get his goggles to work with the crystal, but he got frustrated after figuring out there aren't much rules with that.

ALSO ALSO: He doesn't like quantum physics, or chemistry (I don't remember any evidence to the contrary) because there are some blockages to what can be known, and he wants all the variables.

And he's so bad at history. Like ridiculously bad. He often has dreams of going to school and being with his 'intellectual peers who can actually have a conversation with me' but he would fail history.

He has made an 'evolving bio' for all of his brothers and his dad, and all of the recordings go into filtering out necessary information to go into digital files for all of them. Definite plot points and concrete evidence to predict their future patterns and any consistent weaknesses.

This is the info he used to make his gifts with.

Donnie would sit with April as she explains her homework and how to do it, and he would obsess over finding the information to solve the problem and be useful to her. April never had THAT much motivation to do homework, and Donnie had way more energy re-explaining it than her teachers.

Donnie also loved being right.

Has made simulations trying to model social interactions before they happen so he can figure out how to communicate before the day starts.

(Basically pre-defining the variables he will need to call upon throughout the day so he doesn't get an error message.)

Everything can be explained with science or coding or engineering. Everything.

(He has tried to formulate the science for fashion and dancing... in essence applying science logic to those things.)

He may deny that he is wrong on the surface, and he will apologize for being wrong - as long as it isn't mystic beings that are replacing him-

But being wrong eats at him.

Donnie, the tech one, the one who is supposed to be smart, the one who has a subset that he is great at. This is his use, this is his value...

and he was wrong.

[electrical-communication]

Truthfully (wip)

Truthfully, walking was never as convenient as teleporting; when you’ve spent years as a rogue robot in hiding, however, you got used to not having the privilege of accessible teleport spots. Truthfully, Blues quite liked these little nature walks. Rock and Roll did too, but they weren’t as fond of thoughtful silence as their older brother was. The duo walked ahead of Blues, chatting away with each other about something or other. Truthfully, Blues was too distracted by the view of the vibrant sunset and distant calls of birds to eavesdrop on his siblings’ conversation, although he appreciated the background noise of the two talking all the same. And (perhaps a little vainly, he thought to himself) he was just a tad bit mesmerized by the way the sun rays glistened on his new plating. It was odd, really, to think he had spent so long avoiding this place yet now he found himself with an absentminded, contented smile on his face while on his way back to Light Labs. Truthfully, Blues could hardly remember the last time he smiled before he came home.

Blues was snapped out of his daydreaming by a rather strange sound. It was like… distressed squeaking. It was then that he noticed his siblings had stopped in their tracks, hunched over like they were examining something on the ground.

“Hey- oh,” Rock turned to catch Blues’s attention, but was shocked to see the older robot was already behind him, peering at what had the other two so interested.

It was a cat. Well, a kitten to be more precise. Truthfully, Blues was not expecting that, though luckily his surprise didn’t show on his face.

“What is a kitten doing all the way out here?” Roll asked. True, the little scamp was less like the young of a highly successful species of predators and more like an orange clump of fur hardly larger than a finger nor wider than one either. It was tucked away in some bushes, as if that would work to conceal its location when it was practically mewling its little head off earlier. Truthfully, it probably would have been mistaken for a really orange dandelion or something had it not been the noise.

“We should leave it alone. The mother is probably around here,” Blues suggested, already beginning to step back. He had enough encounters with wild animals as a runaway to know better than to get involved with situations like this. Of course, Rock didn’t have that kind of experience, so Blues expected it when the younger shot him a sad look, even if it didn’t make it sting any less.

“Aw, but it’s prolly so sad by itself. Can’t we play with it a little or something?” Rock probably would not have appreciated being told he was pouting, but he was totally pouting. Blues eyebrows lowered, and for the umpteenth time today he was thankful for the visor obscuring his eyes. What Rock was doing was dangerous, but Blues supposed he couldn’t blame him. Most of Rock’s interactions with animals were the companions built for him; and even if Tango could imitate the fickle nature of a real cat, he was nowhere near close to having the— for lack of a more flattering term— primitive mind of the real thing. Dr. Light and Dr. Cossack had done plenty of anthropomorphizing Rush, Tango, and Beat’s behavior— which is fine, because they are robots— but applying that expectation to organic animals was a dangerous thing. But Blues didn’t have the time to explain all of that to Rock.

“We might scare it,” Blues offered instead. Truthfully, Blues felt a bit pleased with himself when he saw Rock’s expression change from one of pouting to understanding. Blues turned to Roll, waiting to see her face change too, but instead he saw her thoughtful gaze examining the bush.

“I don’t see any other kittens here… I don’t think mama cats leave their babies far from each other,” Roll stated, but when that didn’t cause much of a reaction she added, “Plus this kitten is really friendly.” Roll gestured down to her feet as she said that, and it was then that the boys noticed the kitten had nuzzled up against her.

Blues waited for her to elaborate more, but it seemed Rock had already guessed what she was alluding to. “You’re saying you think they were abandoned?” Rock gasped. Blues mulled it over. It did make some sense. Truthfully, Blues had seen more than a few stray cats in the cities, and though he didn’t know too much about them, he knew enough to know they were quite skittish creatures who didn’t tend to approach humans (or in their case, human-like beings) without being accustomed to their presence first.

“I think she’s saying she thinks they were abandoned by a human,” Blues said, and at Roll’s confirmatory nod he heard Rock let out a sad little “oh”. “It probably wasn’t that long ago either. With as loud as he is, he would’ve been-“ Blues cut himself off, remembering the rather sensitive hearts (figuratively) of his siblings. “He wouldn’t still be here,” he quietly finished. A part of him felt guilty, as if he were to blame for the way nature worked and he wasn’t simply relaying that knowledge to his more naive siblings.

“Do you think maybe we just missed whoever dropped them off here?” Roll asked, having now squatted down to pet behind the kitten’s ears. Truthfully, they had crossed paths with a few humans on their walk— fortunately, none of them could match the robots’ child-like base appearances with their much more (in)famous armored forms, and Roll wasn’t very recognizable to the public outside of roboticist nerds— and all of three of them would have been none the wiser to any human’s foul feline-related motives. “If we search, we might be able to find them before they get away,” Roll half-heartedly suggested.

“They’ll just throw it back out again,” truthfully, Blues was a bit startled by the harshness of his own tone. It seemed to spur Rock on though.

“We can’t just leave them here without help!” he said, looking between the both of them for agreement. When Rock met Roll’s eyes, though, he stopped and the two both smirked as they reached some sort of mutual understanding.

“No, no. No way, Rock!” Roll gesticulated x’s with her hands, but the venomless tone and mischievous glint in her eye gave away her excitement for whatever idea the boy had.

“We should adopt the kitten,” Rock blurted out anyway, finally clueing Blues in on their disagreement. “You know you want to, Roll!”

“I know! But… You know it’s just..” Roll kept trailing off and interrupting herself, seemingly struggling to find the right words. “It’s just not the responsible thing to do,” she finally settled on saying. “Right, Blues?”

Truthfully, Blues felt a little warmed that Roll turned to him as the “responsible” one. Sometimes, Blues felt like his life was a series of terrible, impulsive decisions that he lived on with pride—fine for him, but awful for a role model. Still, if his sister thought he was someone to look up to, then that must mean maybe he was doing something right. He couldn’t let her down!

Blues looked back to the kitten, and already he felt his resolve weaken. Logically, he knew that picking this kitten up off the ground and bringing it to home was irresponsible and impulsive, but he also logically knew that this kitten would die in an hour or so without their intervention. Truthfully, looking at the raggedy orange thing— worn down already from its abandonment but with nobody to turn to care for it as it needs to be— he found that he was overcome with the urge to take care of it. Hell, if Dr. Light didn’t let them keep it at home, then Blues knew he would care for the kitten in secret at that point.

“We can take them to Dr. Light and ask him,” Blues compromised, already scooping the kitten into his hands before the other two could react. He began walking off toward Light Labs again, but halted when he realized he didn’t hear the thudding of his siblings behind him. He turned his head to see the two were stunned were they stood at his switch-up. “Well? Aren’t you two coming or do I have to ask him myself?” Blues playfully asked, and that seemed to snap the duo out of their stupor.

“I want to be the one to ask! I got to see his face when he sees them!” “Nuh-uh! I should ask him first!” The two raced forward, seemingly unaware that Blues was still the one holding the kitten. He shook his head with a fond smirk, and continued after them at a much slower, steadier pace than they traveled. Truthfully, Blues quite liked this whole “being an older sibling” thing.

—————————

Dr. Light knew better than to fret, he really did, but he couldn’t help feeling just a twinge concerned that his children weren’t home yet. Of course he knew that whatever the world threw at them, the combined force of his triplets would be more than capable of handling it. Still, they were supposed to be here by now… His finger twitched by the communicator—

“C’mon, Light! Ain’t you supposed to be gettin’ work done instead of bein’ a worrywart?” Auto’s crass voice interrupted his thoughts. The good doctor let out a sigh.

“You’re right,” Dr. Light relented, turning back to the project on his table. Besides, he knew if he sent Rock or Roll a message, the kids would teleport back to the lab immediately and stay by his side— which kinda ruined the whole point of them spending time out to explore themselves. Normally Auto was quite nosy too, but ever since Roll had— rather firmly— given him orders to keep Light on track when she wasn’t around, he did his best to follow them. It just wasn’t in his little mechanical heart to disappoint her (nor was it in his heart to tank the scolding afterward).

[maryellencarter]

so i don't actually know where i'm going with this one. it's oh-dark-thirty in the morning and i have work in an obnoxiously brief period of time, but i just washed my hair and i'm waiting for it to dry and having complicated thoughts vaguely related to gender shit.

so to start where i think i started this evening, there was a post on my dash linking lupin iii to watership down, the "prince of a thousand enemies" quote. which is a perfectly reasonable and in fact excellent quote to apply to him. lupin is not in fact relevant here, at least for now.

i read watership down when i was eight. this is because, as any of y'all who have picked up enough about my childhood will know, the stupidity of people who think all books about bunnies are for children is far stronger than any attempted point-making by an author trying to write a book about rabbits that people are not supposed to think is for children.

(not, to be clear, *my* stupidity. i was a very obedient right-wing child. i only read Approved books. this goes to show that censorship is fundamentally impossible, because nobody can actually read every book themselves, and the kinds of content and ideas that sneak in when you're sharing around lists of Approved books will vary wildly. especially, but not only, when the person masterminding the censorship is an idiot with no judgment of their own.)

i was an extremely sensitive eight-year-old. i did not behead barbies or hold witch's sabbaths. mostly i did my schoolwork, endured my mother's constant attempts at shipping me with her friends' sons, tried not to smile or cry because unauthorized emotions got me in trouble, and read a lot, because if you teach your two-year-old to read as a flex, you continue to have a child that can and will read. i hadn't quite had the reading level to make sense of jane eyre at four, but i could follow watership down at eight just fine.

being a very sensitive child, i did not enjoy watership down. i had nightmares about the black rabbit of inlé. being a child who was also being forced to memorize poetry at a great rate (another parental flex), i recognized that it was an extraordinarily well-written book on a prosody level -- as we may notice, the "prince with a thousand enemies" bit has stuck with me for decades. every so often i ponder rereading it, as i would probably enjoy it a lot more now, and almost certainly discover some shit about the roots of my ongoing thing for psychopomps.

the reason i haven't reread it yet, and this is where gender and also possibly the point of the rest of the post comes in, if it's going to have a point, is -- and this bugged me as a kid too, although i didn't have the words to express it until much later -- two linked facts. (1) the protagonists, the group of rabbits who escape the destruction of their warren, are all male. this on its own was very normal to me. boys have adventures. when girls are protagonists you get "jane eyre". this much was obvious to eight-year-old me.

(2) the second half of the book is about the quest of the male rabbits to find lady rabbits with whom to populate a new warren. fine, whatever, i had multiple younger siblings and a reasonably accurate idea of where they had come from (and that i myself was required to produce grandchildren as soon as i was deemed old enough and could be paired off with a suitable young man). what bugged me, though, is that the main plot of the second half of the book revolves around a weird cultlike warren where all the female rabbits are kept as... well, sex slaves, to be a little less than dainty about it... and around the basically guerrilla/spy strategies the protagonist rabbits use against the male cult leaders/guards to try to acquire the macguffin, which is the lady rabbits. i don't remember if any of the lady rabbits even had names. if they had opinions on being acquired by a different warren, none of those stuck with me.

what stuck with me was that, a little more obviously than most of the things i was reading where female characters merely didn't exist, to be female was to be a non-character. a baby-making machine on wheels.

so that's that for when i was eight. the rest of this is more recently. i've tried, a few times, especially when i've been female, to read books that do have female protagonists having adventures, or that were formative for cis female friends, or whatever. i bounce off them hard. because what i've found, and i'm not saying this is all that's out there, but what i've found is that being a female adventure protagonist keeps trying to address the whole overcoming misogyny thing. you're the first female whatever to have this sort of adventure, or you're tomboyish and bad at handicrafts because that's how the author explains that you're brave enough or badass enough to be allowed to have an adventure, or some other explanation of why An Girl is allowed to be an adventure protagonist After All. you can't ever just get to the friggin adventure like every single male adventure protagonist ever.

and i just. i don't even know if this fucking exists. i'm aromantic. i don't want a love interest. and i don't want a story that has to remind me i'm considered lesser. i want the kind of stories i can have when i'm a boy. but nobody writes those for girls, that i know of, because if you're not adding a girl to say something about romance or misogyny, there's no point in making the protagonist a girl. :P

(do real girls even want those? i don't fucking know. one thing that eats at me a *lot* about being aromantic is that even when i want to be a girl, i just feel really outcast from everything girls are supposed to be about, because romance is basically a requirement. off the top of my head, mary friggin poppins is still the only adult female protagonist i can think of who doesn't get a love interest inflicted on her.)

(of course my mother ships mary/bert. she is Wrong. she is categorically wrong about everything but some things are wronger than others.)

where the fuck was i? i don't know. mass effect. take mass effect, where 99% of the dialogue and story is the same if your player character is male or female, just reskinned. still goes out of its way to put a few choice bits of Overcoming Misogyny in hard-to-avoid story places if you play female. (also here's an entire species of hot blue chicks that's described in text as wise revered politicians and portrayed almost exclusively as strippers and hookers. but that's... like, that's practically background radiation for scifi at this point. it's the parts where they visibly went to extra work to remind me a girl player character can't just have the same respect as a guy that get to me.)

do i have a point here? probably not entirely. it's god-fuck-why in the morning and i haven't slept. but... i mean. you know. i'm genderfluid. a lot of the time i'm a guy. sometimes i'm a girl. a LOT more often than i actually manage to call myself a girl, i'm... sort of sitting on the steps looking over there, kinda wishing maybe i was, but feeling like -- like why the hell would i even *want* to be something that, in all the personal experience i've got, only exists to make stories be about people i don't want to be.

[tenebris-indutis]

FFXIV LFRP – Kuuta Noykin

Master trainers of the wild horses which populate the majority of Steppe. It is said that the horsewives of the Noykin can break any beast if given but a week.

Be sure to read the momma’s rules and detailed about too! I rp in multi-para/novella style on Tumblr and Discord. I’m willing to discuss the possibility of rping in-game, too, but it’s not my preferred medium.

This is a sideblog to avaritia-ffxiv.

THE BASICS

Name: Kuuta Noykin

Age: Early forties

Nameday: 3rd Sun of the 1st Astral Moon

Race: Au Ra, Xaela

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual, biromantic

Marital Status: Happily single, never married

Server: Adamantoise, Aether DC

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hair: Black with silver highlights, shoulder length

Eyes: Light grey, pale blue limbal rings

Height: 155 cm

Build: Fit but not particularly toned. Approximate hourglass figure.

Distinguishing Marks: Additional smaller scales on her forehead and lower cheeks. Generally wears lightly applied black eyeshadow.

Common Accessories: Nothing of note

PERSONAL

Profession: Adventurer

Hobbies: Hiking, various crafts

Languages: Speaks common

Birthplace: Azim Steppe

Residence: Ishgard

Religion: Worships Nhaama

Patron Deity: For the sake of Eorzeans she will say Halone, the Fury

Fears: Solitude and loneliness, failing at her duty to protect, watching someone be harmed without the ability to do anything about it. Being unable to fight back.

RELATIONSHIPS

Spouse: None

Children: Kaidun Noykin (son)

Parents: Yeguldai Noykin (father), Tueren Noykin (mother)

Siblings: Quidul Noykin (older sister), Jagadi Noykin (older sister), Sarkadul Noykin (older sister)

Other relatives: Cousins, aunts, uncles, the usual

Pets: None

TRAITS

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

HABITS

Smoking Habit: Every once in a while

Drugs: No

Alcohol: In moderation

CHARACTER HOOKS

A Sight in Ishgard: Making her home in the snowy city, Kuuta can be met going about her daily business on the city streets, as well as stumbled upon during her more... Under the table activities. Nothing like chance encounters, and it could be she stands out a little among all the Elezen and Hyur.

Adventurer of the Land: Although her base of operations is up north, she spends great amounts of time traveling Eorzea, letting the problems of others take her to new locales when she sets about solving them—for a price, of course; a person needs to make a living somehow. That’s how it’s supposed to go, anyway.

Gifted: She doesn’t advertise her Echo, but with her visions coming and going as they please, it is possible for one to put two and two together based on her strange lapses. Would that happen to be of interest to you?

Of the Noykin: Of course, she is a Steppe raised Xaela that left her homeland without grudges. Always eager to see others of her kind, she’s glad to reminisce about shared backgrounds with other Steppe-born, or to answer questions about her upbringing for anyone curious.

Friend of the Animals: Horses are in short supply in Eorzea, but Kuuta has put her animal expertise and experience to use with the local chocobos—and other creatures as well, occasionally. If you need a hand with your companion of any sort, she will happily share her thoughts if so requested, or simply appreciate the chance to make an acquaintance out of a new critter.

Blackblood: Does she come across as the traditional Dark Knight? In some ways yes, in others, no, but a Dark Knight and student of the Abyss she nevertheless is. Should you share that brand of dark arts, she’s always looking to learn more, or to teach others if it happens she knows more despite how in-progress her own training is.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Mun is located in Northern Europe.

Discord is available if we’re planning to rp together.

As a general rule there’s nothing I'm entirely unwilling to write, but let’s discuss everything and make sure we’re on the same page. I’m also cognizant of in-character consequences and might refuse to rp something as a result.

Should IC events lead to it, I am open to ERP, and if there’s chemistry between the characters, I’m open to shipping. Neither are my or the muse’s goals, though, so expect both to be unlikely.

I mostly write in a single timeline, but I’m not completely opposed to canon-compliant AUs.

[thearchivistsjournal]

Day 217,

Last night’s nightmare was not as bad as the previous.  Merely severely uncomfortable and nerve-wrackingly frustrating rather than agonizingly painful and mind-breakingly terrifying.  The body of my dream self (I swear one day that won’t sound ridiculous to me) was still in bad shape and the usual compulsion toward movement was still present, but there was no malevolent other to be felt and the embrace of the artifact blanket persisted through the whole night.  I was able to pace myself enough that my fractured and malunioned frame never reached much worse than a dull, fully-body ache.  There was the constant sense of wanting to go faster (tied to the urge to movement I suppose), hence the frustration, but I managed to at least sort of balance that with not pushing myself to the point of injury again.

Strangely, for some reason I recall making a conscious (if that word even applies there) decision to actively try to go deeper.  I think I might have been following the logic of “if that place won’t let me go up, then at least I might find answers going down.”  Reasonable enough at first, but upon waking the possibility of that being what that place, or some thing that inhabits it wants and is trying to drive me toward a grisly fate I’d otherwise avoid seems apparent.

Increasingly I find myself thinking of these wanderings of the Catacomb Depths not merely as a dream but as an actual place that I am sending a part of myself to.  I would have scoffed at the notion at one time, and still find a rational part of my mind objecting to the idea, but - as I so often seem to tell myself - with everything else I’ve experienced and heard of, is it really that unbelievable?  And besides, if it is a real place (for some certain value of “real”) then that means it has rules, however esoteric or malleable.  And if there are rules they can be learned and used to my advantage.

Hopefully.

But I’ve gone on too long now.  I’m going to need to hurry to get ready and meet James and family if I want to ride with them into town this morning.  I’ll also need to remember to remind Maiko that I won’t be back this evening.  She’s probably figured that out already, but it seems polite to actually say it.

*******

Exciting news: The boat is ready.

I had figured I’d be writing about the ride into town, Cass asking how I was doing, reassuring her I was much better this time, talking to James about the boat trip, him telling Cass to stop lording it over her siblings, looking forward to actually being useful in unloading at the market again, and starting on another round of detailed examination of the cathedral chant transcriptions, but BOAT.

It was a bit past noon, Cass and I had just finished our break for lunch and gotten back into the aforementioned transcription examinations when one of the fishermen I’d talked to the other week came in to give us the good news.  I’ll admit, I wound up embarrassing myself a little bit by not recognizing him right away and asking what I could help him find in the archive like any other visitor.  He laughed it off and said that he’d already found it (me).

When he offered to take us to show their handiwork, Cass volunteered to go track down Lin and Vernon so they could see it too since they both had an interest in joining in on the expedition.  Thus, she went running off one way while I locked up the archive and followed my guide down to the docks.

Along the way he apologized that it took so long, explaining that they’d realized shortly after talking to me last time that they were short on materials for plugging leaks and had to wait until the next market day (a week ago) to obtain it.  After that, they’d actually finished two days ago, but I’d already left for the evening by that time and then yesterday we had the mists.  I accepted the apology although I assured him that the minor delay was no big deal.  Like I’d said before, this trip might be for my health, but it’s not like I’m dying without it.

Even if I was winded by the time we reached the pier where they had the boat tied.

There was a small crowd of fishers when we got there.  The repairs had been a group effort and everyone was eager to see their work pay off.  To my surprise, Marva was there too.  She’d not been in the original group I’d talked to, but word gets around and she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to help out her little sister-in-law.

By the time said little sister-in law arrived with Lin and Vernon in tow I still hadn’t actually gotten in the boat.  Too much time spent thanking everyone and excitedly gushing over it from the side of the dock.  

It seems Marva’s involvement was a surprise to Cass as well, but not an unwelcome one.  Marva’s always treated her as a little more mature than Cass’s blood-siblings tend to and never really engaged in filial teasing.  I daresay Cass gets along better with her than any of her actual sisters.

But, back to the boat! Lin and I were the first ones on as the two that would be officially and necessarily going on the expedition.  Cass came next, indignantly declining offers to be lowered down (it was at low tide, so there was a bit of a drop) in favor of climbing down herself.  Unfortunately, after that, it became clear that Vernon wasn’t going to fit and still leave room for supplies.  We still got him in for this initial test run though.  It was cramped and hard to maneuver with all of us in there, but we had fun with it, and if nothing else it was a stress test for buoyancy and stability as we rowed (or is it paddled?) out past the end of the docks and out onto the (relatively) open water for a short bit before turning around and coming back.

After tying up the boat and another round of excitedly thanking everyone for their hard work, the four of us headed back to the archive to further plan.

The overall result of said planning session  is as follows:

Vernon will not be coming with us.  As much as we’d all like to have him along, we just couldn’t come up with a good explanation about how we’d accommodate him without bringing up Maiko and her boat.

We’ll spend the next few days getting together any last-minute supplies we haven’t already stockpiled for the trip.  We’ve all been putting aside a little bit already and we’re still planning on foraging as we go to supplement our supplies so we should be mostly good to go in short order.

Tomorrow Lin will be taking Cass and I out on the water for more practice with the boat.  We’re not going to have her do all the paddling (rowing?) afterall.

Tomorrow evening I’ll fill in Maiko

The day after that, I’ll make that long-procrastinated outskirts trip to visit Tristan and get his account of his meeting with Iole.  Going to skip the visit to the glassmaker for now.

The day after that, Cass and I will head into the Village, meet Lin down at the docks, take the boat and head out.  Vernon will try to be there to see us off at least.

Once we have the boat, we’ll stop at Maiko’s cove to meet up with her, transfer Cass and some of the supplies to her boat, and then head out for real.

We’re trusting in Maiko for the actual route.  Last we talked it over with her, she predicted four or five days to get to the island with the healing spring, depending on our pace, stopping on an island each night.

We’ll stay on that island with the spring for a couple of days and then move on to Iole’s island.  Maiko estimates about a day or two for that.  The island with the spring is actually the further of the two, but my arguments for seeing Iole first were shot down in favor of the others wanting me back in good health.  Even Maiko had said as much back when she, Lin, and I talked about it last at the house.

We’ll stay on Iole’s island until the next mist night at least.  We’ll probably be close to one by the time we get there and surely she won’t deny us shelter (another case for going to her island second).  Worst case scenario though, we spend the night on the boats.

Once we’re done on Iole’s island (however long that ends up being), we’ll head back to this main island, stop briefly at the cove to switch Cass back over to our boat, and head back to the Village.  Fond as I am of the idea of us all meeting back at the house afterward to celebrate, I didn’t voice that suggestion.  I imagine Lin’s and Cass’s families will be wanting to be with them.

After that planning session, Lin and Vernon went home and I joined Cass at Norman and Marva’s for dinner.  As one might expect, there was a fair bit of congratulating and well-wishing.  And filling James in on our preparations and itinerary (leaving out the parts about Maiko and Iole) to assure him I wasn’t taking his daughter out to drown at sea or shipwreck and starve.  Not that there was much concern of that happening, but still.

And now I’m back in the archive staying up too late once again, tired as I am.  Excitement balancing out the drowsiness I suppose.  Also, I saw the floating island passing by on my way back to the library after dinner, so that was neat.  I’d lost track of that thing’s schedule and hadn’t seen it in a while, having stayed indoors all rainy season.  It’s a sight, all silhouetted by the stars like that.

One more thing though before I head to bed.  Before I started writing, I got to thinking about Maiko and yesterday’s conversation and in a moment of curiosity and nostalgia I pulled the first volume of my journal and took a look back at what I wrote the first time she told me about her mother.  The part that caught my eye though and is bugging me now was a bit after that exchange.  I offered to give her one of the crystals that I’d been using to light the house and said that I didn’t mind her having it because I could use the cracked one from the trip to the cavern as a replacement, but somehow she ended up with the cracked one herself.  How did that discrepancy happen?  Flipping through the journal, I never found anywhere that I described actually giving her either crystal, just that the next time the crystal I gave her is mentioned is when she was showing me the contents of her pouch during our little heart to heart on the edge of Priscilla’s island.

I trust the accuracy of what I wrote down.  I have to, for my own sanity.  It’s the parts that I don’t write down that find myself questioning my memory.  Because I don’t really remember either way in this case.  Maybe I offered her the whole one and she took the cracked one anyway?  Maybe she switched them later for some reason?

This is going to bother me until I ask her about it, isn’t it?

Or until I find something else to distract me and I forget about this too.

<==Previous          Next==>

[imissdeath]

Let me take you on path my brain just walked.

I'm supposed to be applying for jobs right now but Twitter dinged so I got on Twitter and found this:

Now my brain has been programmed to now associate anything goose with @guqin-and-flute 's The Untamed Goose Game au so I had to send it to her (them?).

BUT my brain couldn't remember if it was her or another person or what the goose's name was because my bad memory is a pain so I looked it up.

WHICH sent me through her tags of The Untamed Goose Game and I found/refound certain things.

1) I had forgotten that Moyu was JGYs murder swan.

2) Moyu and Hundan where together and had Swooshes.

3) Swooshes exist at ALL.

4) In one of her tags her brother gave Wen Ning a duck.

My brain then decided no, Wen Ning doesn't get a duck, he gets a swoosh. Here's the headcannon (sorry for any misspellings, I'm an American with barely an associates degree):

(gender of the swoosh undetermined just running with the shorter one to type)

The swoosh finds his way into the "murder lab" in Jinlintai. After he runs from XY and JGY he finds his way into a cell/storage space where he finds this...thing. It looks like a human but it smells weird and isn't breathing. It's not scary per se just...sad? Lonely?

Well the rats are keeping away from it (rats are mean to the swoosh) and the humans aren't able to find it. The swoosh decides to sleep here after his little adventure. After a bit and some sibling rivalry (sister/brother should NOT have stolen the shiny head thing from him! He worked hard to take that from the mean golden lady that always yelled at Mom's human!) the Swoosh decides to make a new treasure trove in the room with the not-exactly-human human. Maybe he'll like it too.

Mom's human found it eventually but after Mom helped him protect his trove the human stopped taking stuff from his trove. JGY saw his mom in Moyus protection of the swoosh's treasure and it's not like a few trinkets really matter...even if they were mostly Madam Jin's favorite pieces...

One day the not-exactly-human woke up and start moving. Swoosh thought the chains where ugly and mean anyway so he helped pick at the moorings so his not-exactly-human friend could break out. When the not-exactly-human left the swoosh decides to follow him and after loosing him a few times he finally finds him again (after the temple) and keeps following him around.

The swoosh also likes one of the smaller white and blue humans that his not-exactly-human friend is traveling with. His voice is sweet and he gives the best pets.

The red and black normal sized human one is allowed because he gives him treats.

He really likes the smaller loud blue and white one because he's loud. No other reason.

He (as he always has done) still picks fights with the smaller gold one although his bites aren't as hard because Mom's human doesn't like the smaller gold ones cries.

The dog is afraid of him because he bit his tail when he was a pup. The swoosh still bullies the dog (new incentive to do so because he'll get pets and treats from the red and black one...and the tall blue and white one who is...ok I guess? He's just there in the swoosh's eyes).

But yeah that's what my brain did! Enjoy I guess? I should be getting back to job applications now...

[celinolesunshine]

Eyes Colored Sun, Mouth Like The Moon

A SUN/MOON X GN! READER FANFIC

CHAPTER ONE: such a big little friend

chap. 1 || chap. 2 || chap. 3 || chap. 4 || chap. 5

~~~~~~~~~~

'Bright like the sun', they said. That's when they decided to call you 'sunflower', because they couldn't read your nametag. He called you 'starlight', because of how you shone in his eyes.

It didn't take long to warm up to the dual persona of the daycare attendant, and somehow you found yourself.. drawn to them? You weren't sure, but you had the feeling you would be in it for the long haul.

It was only after months of working alongside them, however, you began to notice a change in Moon. he was... different. More distant, perhaps; and a shorter fuse to boot. They had you invested, and you were determined to figure out what was wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~

YES, It's a romance. slow-burned, but three installments of ten chapters each are planned so bear with me.

~~~~~~~~~~

Today, you're welcomed at your new job by a blonde in white slacks, and.. turns out you have an assistant (rather, you are their assistant.)

..What could go wrong?

such a big little friend

--

Your first day of work.

You had applied as a temporary daycare worker while you were in between jobs. You got the job for your experience with siblings, and the occasional babysitting gig. You hadn’t exactly expected to get the call confirming the start of your first shift, but surprisingly you took it anyways.

So here you stood, in front of the largest appropriation of Toy Story’s Pizza Palace you had ever seen, mouth agape at the bright lights and neon colours that decorated that outside of what a large, yellow-tinted neon sign informed you was Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex. 

As you walked inside, you found your eyes temporarily assaulted as the colours and decorum srang out into your vision. You took it all in for a moment, glancing at the tiling on the floor, the ultraviolet lights strung to the ceiling, and the stage that gleamed in the centre of a giant open-diner setting.

This was potentially any child’s favourite place to be. Your mind spun at the entirety of this new, overstimulating environment.

“Hey, you! There you are; I was wondering when you’d show up!” A voice wormed its way to your attention; you snapped yourself around to find the source.

To your immediate left stood a young woman, likely in her mid-20s, towing over your small frame. She had a head full of honey-blonde hair, swept up into a neat ponytail, and piercing blue eyes. She seemed kind, although you found yourself wary of the stranger. 

“Hello.” you spoke, treading cautiously. You didn’t recognize her uniform from any of the articles of the Pizzaplex you had hastily looked up in order to better understand the place – then again, you had just walked in –, and you couldn’t tell how she stood in comparison to you. Was she a higher-up? A fellow co-worker? You couldn’t quite figure it out.

The young woman seemed to sense your unease, because she smiled lightly, pointing to a gleaming white nametag on her chest. 

“I’m Vanessa. We won’t be working together, but we’ll still be seeing plenty of each other, I’m sure.”

Vanessa looked to you expectantly, as if you were supposed to say something. 

“Oh, right. Well, it seems you already know who I am. It’s nice to meet you.” You answer, straying towards a more diplomatic conversation for the sake of your position.

“I’m a security worker here. I’m on the graveyard shift, though; so we’ll basically tag-team, since we’re some of the only human employees around here.” She said.

You felt your brain blank for a split second.

“This place is massive! How can we be the only people running it? Plus,” You ass, prying into Vanessa’s thought-invoking choice of words, “–what exactly do you mean by ‘human employees’? We’re not working with Frankenstein’s monster or anything, are we?”

Vanessa snickered. “No, nothing like that. I suppose for an adult, you wouldn’t know much about the rise of this place. Well, maybe; – What was your previous job?” 

You scratch the back of your neck. “I was a sketch artist for a local film company.” 

With a sigh, you remember receiving the email – on an off day, no less – that the founder of the company had died. He was a sweet old man who had been making old-fashioned sketch cartoons for decades now, showing them off in a little 20-seat theater two blocks from where you lived. You had picked up the job when you were younger, staying with the company through all of the turmoil that It had faced, and were upset to see it go as it did. Still, you had to move on.

Vanessa makes a resolute noise.

“Yeah, no chance.” With a clack of her toes against the hard ground, she states,

“We work alongside robots.” 

Oh.

It wasn’t exactly what you were expecting, but all things considered? It was actually pretty cool. Not every day did you get the opportunity to work alongside advanced technology. You could recall building little land-rover type robots in primary school, peering at all of the little cogs and gears and crevices in the metal. You smiled. 

“Actually, they’re called animatronics, formally, but there’s truly not much of a difference. Mostly the S.T.A.F.F bots are the ones hanging around, doing all of the things that normal employees would. Watch out for the map bots, though; Those buggers are scary as shit.” Vanessa said, her eyebrows scrunching up in disgust. 

“Oh, and the Pat-Pats.” She said, smiling. 

Upon a raised eyebrow, Vanessa clarifies, “Little yellow guys about yay-high–” She puts her hand at about knee level; “They stand on the floor when it’s been mopped, and then beep at you when they suspect you’re stepping into something wet.” 

“Huh. That’s pretty cool.” You say.

“Yep. Well, before I go, I’ve been instructed to show you your placement, so if you’d follow me, I’ll go ahead and fill you in a bit more on the details of this place.”

You followed Vanessa through the long, glowing halls of the Pizzaplex, having her explain to you the mechanics of the place. It didn’t take you long to grow fond of the neons and the padding flooring; You already could tell that you would really like it here.

You both had reached the second floor now, towards what you trusted was the general direction of the Daycare you’d be working in.

“You probably won’t see any of the Glamrocks anytime soon, unless you need to grab someone from Parts & Services. Actually, you may see them sooner than you think. Sun’s a hell of a klutz.” Vanessa said, about three strides ahead of you. You began to sweat along your temples as you tried to keep up.

Confused, you started to ask who this ‘Sun’ character was, but you put curiosity first and asked about the Glamrocks. 

“Who… are they?” 

“Oh, the Glamrocks? Right, I forgot you don’t know much about the place.” Vanessa pointed down, towards the shining black stage in the middle of the first floor. From up here, it looked so much wider than it did standing in front of the entrance. 

“They perform there a few times a day. They’re all animatronics, as well, but you won’t be working with em’, so I’ll spare introductions for another day. All of them are brand-new, as well; re-vamped versions of old mechanical concepts. I’ll have to show you the maintenance storage room where we keep all of the old parts of decommissioned animatronics; It’s freaky as fuck.” 

You ran your hand along the guardrail overlooking the main stage. “I didn’t know there were older ones.”

Vanessa laughed lightly. “Well, yeah. It’s not really something of our generation, so I couldn’t expect you to know. Regardless, this whole ‘Freddy Fazbear’ franchise has been around for quite a while. It’s fascinating, really, how much everything’s changed. It’s probably the only reason I’ve really stuck around for so long.”

With a sigh, Vanessa rolls her shoulders back and takes her own hands off of the balcony guardrail. “Well, newbie, enough chit-chat. I’ll go ahead and show you to your post, and then I’ll be off. With enough luck, I’ll end up seeing you again before you leave.” 

She led you to a pair of large, wooden doors that looked as if they were from a fairytale. They stood probably ten feet tall, and were a rich, chocolatey-brown color. Ornate patterns swirled and dipped into the lacquered surface, creating hidden nooks and crevices that must have taken ages to carve with such precision. You took hold of the large brass handle on the door, the cold metal pressing into your palms as you dragged it open.

You gasped. 

Instead of sharp, dazzling colors, this room was full of light, subdued pastels. Greens and blues and soft pink colors washed the walls, polka-dots dappling the floor in carpeted bubbles of color. A check-in desk stood to the far left of the room, and tables with chairs were littered all over the main floor. Stairs twisted downward beyond the desk, likely towards the main daycare section, and a slide stood about five meters to the right of the stairs. A bright mantle above it said, “Slide Into Fun!”, and was where you suspected the children preferred to enter the daycare.

A bright golden statue stood in the middle of the daycare lobby, happy and inviting. It looked as if the character in the middle of the statue was a humanized version of the sun. It was odd, you admit, but interesting as well. You felt your lips tug into a grin.

“Welcome to the Superstar Daycare, newbie.” Vanessa called, approaching from behind you. 

You pointed to the figure in the golden statue. “Is this the mascot? For the daycare, I mean – Not the whole place.” 

Vanessa shrugged her shoulders slightly, raising her hands up as if to say, ‘so-so’. 

“Sort of. It would actually be easier if I just showed you.”

Giving you no time to properly respond, Vanessa cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, 

“Hey, Sun! Get up here; I’ve found your new helper!” 

All Vanessa did was smirk at you in the wake of your confusion, and you returned her gaze with one of perplexed insanity. What the hell was shouting into the abyss going to lead to? 

“Newbie, meet your new assistant.” Vanessa said, still grinding broadly. It amused her greatly to see you so surprised at meeting the daycare attendant. 

You were greeted by none other than the larger-than-life, full-color version of the figure in the statue. The animatronic stood easily at six and a half feet tall, towering over you in all of their glory. They had a bright yellowish-orange complexion, with a sun as a face. A gray crescent moon helped to shape their defining features, their nose and a bit of their mouth shaped from oddly-angled strips of moon. Their eyes glowed a luminescent white, bright in contrast to the sharp colors of their face. Seven orange triangles jutted out from the undersides of their face panel, simulating the rays of the sun. 

You couldn’t help but smile at the funny-looking daycare worker, who seemed to be vibrating out of excitement. 

“Okay; You can introduce yourself now, Sun.” Vanessa said. You had forgotten she was even there.

And that was all it took. 

They pounced on you, scooping you easily up and into their arms, spinning and spinning and– 

“Ohhh, a new friend! Oh, my! I’m soooo excited!” They exclaimed, spinning on a heel and stopping to set you down, winded. 

“Wow! Quite the welcome, I see.” You begin, putting your hands on your knees. 

“Oh, my- did I hurt you?!” They seem apologetic, but assume the same bubbly stature as before when you shake your head ‘no’. They continue. 

“I pick up all of my new friends so that I can make a physical profile of them as they enter the daycare! You know, so in case somebody is being a little rule-breaker and tries to sneak into the daycare after-hours! I can tell their height, their weight, their health, and little things like what they smell like! That way, I’ll know if someone is here that should not be!” They state, smiling proudly.

Dipping down, the sun-shaped animatronic sprung into a goofy little pose, eyes gleaming happily; it set you off into a plethora of little giggles. Their exuberant energy was contagious.

“On that note – It’s absolutely wonderful to meet you, new helper-friend! I’m Sunnydrop, but you can call me Sun, if you’d like! Or whatever you want– I’m over the whole entire world that you’re here!” 

You laughed again. This gangly array of metal and plastic was adorable. 

“I’ll be helping out around here with you. And here – this is my nametag. So you know what to call me.” You handed Sun your little pin-on tag (which you had received in a little care package on the front desk once you arrived that also included a Faz-watch and some ride passes), where you had written your name in the blank spot.

They peer at it curiously, before taking it with careful hands. 

They hold it up to their eyes, an odd little clicking sound emitting from their chest as they attempt to decipher what it says. 

“Well, goodness! I can’t understand a single letter! I guess I’ll have to make up something fun to call you instead!” They hand you back your tag. 

Of course. It’s in cursive. 

Sun begins to descend the stairs directly in front of you, beckoning with a happy hand to follow. So you do. 

When you reach the bottom, you’re struck again with amazement. Large, boldly-colored softplay structures cover the majority of the daycare floor, with slides and tunnels and ladders on every side. Interlocking foam mats cover the ground – to protect children from injury, you presume –, and little tables stand to the far right of what looks to be a desk of some sort. 

And it’s all in impeccable shape. Sparkling and clean, just as if it were all brand-new. You were thoroughly impressed. 

“You’re very bright, new friend! Bright and oh-so happy. You shine, shine, shine like a star, friend! What should your name be?” Sun rambled, pacing the floors like an overexcited puppy dog.

“–Oh, oh, I know! Sunflower! Bright, happy-shiny like the sun, pretty as flower petals – It’s perfect, isn’t it, new friend?” They continue.

Grinning broadly, you agree, “Yes, it is. I like it a lot, Sun, thank you! I’m really happy we’re working together. You’re fascinating.”

A funny little chirp emits from their voice box as you look up to them. 

“Oh-ho, big words! Thank you, thank you – I am very, very happy to have a helper like you, too! I like it so-so-very much!” 

Sighing, you ask, “Okay, so what should we do first to get ready for the day?” 

“Well, little Sunflower, we need crafting things for the day! Glitter glue, crayons, colorful paper – do you like glitter glue? I do, oh, yes I do!” 

You can’t help but nod. “I do. I haven’t used any in forever, but I have to admit, I like glitter, and funny socks, and little eyeballs that bounce around – they’re all really entertaining!” 

Sun looks to you happily; contentedly, as if they were satisfied with your answer. Opening the door to a storage room, you gaped at the height of the doorframe, which was likely custom-built to accommodate for Sun’s height. They shuffled right through, their voice box crackling as they hummed a garbled tune. 

You begin to pile boxes of crayons in your arms, but you must have collected one too many, because as you make your way to exit the room, you manage to lose your balance and tumble to the ground, crayons of all colors spilling and rolling every which way. But suddenly, there is Sun – bending down to help. He looks concerned.

“Are you alright, sunflower?! Oh, no, this is such a mess, yes it is! We’ve got to clean all of this up! Not to worry, not to worry - we’ll have it all picked up in no time!” They proceeded to lift you up by the armpits and pull you back to your feet. 

“I was wrong! You’re not very little, no-no. Haha, such a big little friend! Though not as tall as me, yes! You are still small.” 

Shaking your head, you begin to help pick up the spilt stationery on the floor, but Sun pushed you back with a hand, his other hand seamlessly gathering crayons between his nimble fingers as you struggle, puzzled. 

“Nope! Hurt friends don’t have to help clean up! Not this time!”

Sighing, you accepted your fate and stepped away. At least they cared for your well-being. 

Of all the places that you could have worked, you were coming to the stunning conclusion that this place wasn’t going to be all that awful. In fact, you thought that it wasn't even going to feel much like work at all.

[quietlyimplode]

(I’m going to preface this by saying, Natasha x Reader is not my preferred style of writing, (and I think I’ve read like 2) nor have I ever done it before, but I did have fun with it. You can all thank @vancityfire13 for it, and the randomised challenge prompts at the bottom)

Hard Luck

1/

You’re born into bad luck, and you think that she might just know how that feels. Like attracts like and the draw is magnetic.

It’s only been a week but you recognise her bad days like she recognises yours, and although no words are spoken, you notice it in her subtle movements that aren’t all aligned.

You pull out a chair for her, and she doesn’t even notice; drawn into her own world that tells you the demons are in full force.

You wonder idly if, like you, when it gets bad it’s emotional flashbacks, or if the visceral feeling of trauma is backing her into a corner. She doesn’t eat but clutches the coffee you pass to her like it’s a lifeline.

You think perhaps it is.

You’d like to think that this is all by chance, that you’re stuck in this safe house together, that this trauma bonding is kismet, but you know it’s not.

It’s loss.

Clint’s been missing for a month, and Natasha is losing hope by the day.

2/

You and Clint met in foster homes in your late teens, all damage done. He had a saviour complex and you didn’t care any more. There was more to life, he told you, than just making it through the day.

You didn’t quite believe him, but when you joined the army together, they kept you together and you became something like siblings; watching each other’s six.

Clint could hit anything, and they used that to their full advantage, you were ruthless, reckless and they called you brave. They didn’t know it was your lack of self preservation.

Shield came for you both, he accepted; you didn’t.

You freelanced, kept up with him in your own way, and when aliens ravaged New York, you were proud that you knew him.

When you met up together afterwards, you knew something was amiss. Natasha told you the full story, slowly, choosing her words carefully and kindly.

She explained that, at times, his lost look gave his eyes a blue lilt that was dangerous and mean. She didn’t say more on it, but you know it affected her more than she extrapolated on.

You gave her your number then, said that if she ever needed help, that you would come, she hadn’t used it, until now.

3/

It’s been a particularly rough day.

Clint is alive. There’s a time stamped video, sent directly to Natasha, the warning clear, come alone or he dies.

She’s tried every avenue of tracing, and you’re impressed at her skills on the computer. You don’t suppose that it’s something that’s publicised, why would it?

She’s been on the cover of magazines, her body selling more copies than Steve Rogers ever could, who cares that she might have a brain behind all that sex appeal. You admire her though, as she sits at the computer and sorts through the meta data.

You’d watched the video over and over, taken stock of Clint’s bruised face, blinking Morse Code warning them off.

You both know it’s a trap.

You both don’t care.

You prepare for an assault, counting your guns, knives, grenades and making calls to freelancers you could say you trust, but that would be a lie.

Trust is a fleeting thing, perhaps only occurring in moments of time.

You trust Natasha today, but in a week, a month, a year, that may not be the case. They give some intel, and ask if you need help. You decline.

It’s personal, you explain, you can’t be the reason Clint dies.

You can’t be the reason your bad luck passes to Natasha.

She walks in on you with your head in your hands and you tell her you’re sorry, that your bad luck affects everyone, you never wanted it to touch Clint.

She laughs, humourlessly, and rebukes you.

Luck, she says, has rules; and those rules had never applied to her. You’re not sure what it means. You shrug and bid her goodnight. Tomorrow, you go to war.

There’s a reoccurring nightmare that plagues you.

Time won’t fly, in these moments, and you’re paralysed by it. You’re stuck in moments that take your breath away, and you wonder who you were before the trauma and the torture.

It’s coming again, you can feel it, the curse of bad luck. If there was an old self to get back to, you wonder if you would. You don’t know who you are without these curses.

Time ticks backwards as all you can do is breathe and count. The concern at the pit of your stomach is visceral. You want to cry and tell someone how you feel but it only comes out as shaky breaths.

You sit up at a noise, and notice Natasha at the door.

“I heard…” she starts, but you never will know what she heard, because she turns around and leaves. At least it makes the time start again and the rotation of your world begin anew.

4/

Natasha is smart.

You know this, but you didn’t expect her to be this dangerous. The name the Black Widow should have tipped you off, the fact that she can hold her own with the other avengers, and Clint’s reverent descriptions of her and their missions should have been a give away.

In hindsight, you think you’re an idiot. Clint certainly tells you as such when he’s lucid enough to join words together.

You think your worry may have clouded your judgment of Natasha’s mission parameters and planning of the mission but you’d gone with it; knowing she was better placed to do so.

You split up and she draws their attention, taking out fully armed men with sharp shooting and skill.

You get Clint out, his legs giving out from underneath him, as you push him into the car.

Go, Natasha tells you, I’ll meet you at the safe house.

It’s a lie.

The earbud cuts out, and Clint’s bruised face looks dolefully at you as you attempt a smile and do what Natasha tells you.

He could be worse, you think, as you heave him into the bath, strip him down and set up an IV of fluids in one arm, and antibiotics in another.

Being in the bath is easier for the inevitable fluids that will come, vomit, blood, sweat and everything else that feels unmentionable.

Your military medical training allows you to assess him and patch up what you can. Time needs to do the rest. You’re torn between your concern for Natasha and your worry for Clint; so you’re stuck in limbo with doing nothing for either.

You watch, wait and panic silently, thinking you know exactly what she’s done.

Turns out Bad Luck is calculating and she’s bent the rules to make sure it applies to everyone around you.

It’s hours. Clint heaves breaths, and you think his broken ribs may have punctured a lung. So you fix that too, bandage what you can and drain everything else, and hope the antibiotics work miracles.

She’s still not back at midnight and even Clint, in his drugged state knows something is amiss. He sees you pacing, the furtive glances at the door, and the checking of your watch.

It’s almost 3am before he has the energy to tell you to go.

“She’s traded herself for me,” he states, and it’s obvious. She’s not coming back. It’s why it was so easy to get to Clint, and get back out again with no one following, they didn’t even care about the two of you.

You feel bile rise in your throat.

You thought you were self sacrificing but as it turns out, Natasha is one step ahead of you. You wish you’d thought of it first.

You give him pain pills, place water by his side and apologise. Making one more phone call, you leave your phone by his side and go.

5/

You’re not going back without her, you vow as you commandeer a motorbike and race back to the compound.

You hope they’re idiots, she may have given herself freely but you know she’s got the ability to get out if she wanted.

The bike hits the highest speed, and you think that whilst you have no loyalty to Natasha, you owe her greatly for keeping Clint safe.

Someone who saved you so long ago, you need to save his someone too.

You feel protective over her and know this mistake is your fault.

Climbing in the way you left, you sneak in, quickly and quietly. The silencer on your gun still makes noise, and your revert to your throwing knives.

You’re possessed by the thought that if you’re plagued by bad luck, then the bad people who stole dignity and life from Clint and Natasha deserve it too.

It’s the least you can do.

You dole your bad luck out ruthlessly and as quickly as possible before reaching the same holding cells she found Clint in.

She’s lucky that these people are fucking idiots and didn’t even bother to move sites.

That they thought she’d come alone; or without the team.

Or, and the thought drops heavily on you, they thought no one would come back for her.

There’s a guard with a grin and blood on his shoes as you roundhouse him in the head, the kick stunning him, as you take your knife and hold it to his throat.

“Take me to her,” you tell him, your low growl dangerous. The second knife appears at his groin as he bucks away, and all of a sudden he’s compliant.

It makes for awkward movement but he leads the way down the hall where he opens the freezer container with a swipe pass and voice command.

She being held, arms above her head, by butcher hooks holding her the cuffs around her wrists and her toes barely touching the ground.

You slit his femoral artery and then his throat as you rush towards her to release her from the stress position.

Collapsing onto you, her skin is icy.

“Sorry,” she says ruefully, and you don’t think it’s because she’s leaning her weight into you.

.

6/

“What do you know of the Red Room?” Clint asks, handing you a drink. He had wanted to know your opinion and you hadn’t seen each other in months.

He’d said something about a mission and mandatory supervision but his haunted look as you’d entered through the door had made you stop short and joke.

“Who died?” You’d asked insensitively.

He’d explained about going after The Black Widow, someone who had been on shield’s radar for a long time.

With his head bowed he’d told you that she was a victim of circumstance and that he couldn’t kill her. You hadn’t realised that Shield had made him into their killing boy, but his prowess with a bullseye had made it unsurprising.

You’d shrugged at his question. You didn’t really know anything about the Red Room except they built assassins from the ground up.

“They take girls,” he explains, “off the street, from their parents if they owe money, if they see potential in them, and they train them. They break them down and build them up into good little soldiers.”

You nod slowly.

There’s a misplaced feeling in your chest, that may just be jealousy. You know it shouldn’t be there; because who’s jealous of children taken from their families?

Except, you do, you wish that had been you. He misses the look because you guard it well, and you don’t even flinch when he tells you of their ceremonies and ways of culling girls down to twenty eight graduated students.

To you, it doesn’t sound like the worst thing, and you don’t know what that says about you as a person.

The haunted look stays with him, as he looks to you.

“I couldn’t kill her,” he admits, “but I’m not sure I’ve done the right thing in bringing her to shield.”

You wish you could say that you had a part in convincing Clint that it was the right thing to do, but you hadn’t.

You’d just listened to his words and nodded, gave sage advice that didn’t really mean anything but seemed to help in the moment.

You wonder now, if it was veiled plea for help, whether he was actually asking if Natasha could stay with you.

You wonder if you’d known that then, if his words hadn’t been lost in translation, how differently life would have turned out.

.

As you hold on tight to her cold body, you know with all your heart that he’d done the right thing in saving her.

The compound explodes and the heat washes over both of you. You take a small amount of pleasure from destroying the place that has hurt your friends, as you turn your attention back to the one in front of you.

She’s not as bad as Clint, physically at least. Cuts and bruises that you can see, but definitely not life threatening.

Natasha mutters something, and you catch the end of it, as her eyes grow wide at the fire. Perhaps they had been more brutal with her mind more than anything.

She seems to recognise you but it’s fleeting and drugged in a way that you don’t understand just yet. You wish you hadn’t taken a bike, because as you heave her legs either side and sit in front of her she slides.

She makes you do the one thing you were putting off, and the one thing that’s become necessary.

Adrenaline.

Sliding it into her arm, it’s instantaneous and volatile.

“Look at me,” you command, and bruised eyes stare straight through you as you can almost hear her heart strain. You wish you knew what else they gave her.

“Hold on,” you speak. She understands and does as you say.

.

7/

She hasn’t left Clint’s side and you haven’t left hers.

His face is one relief as he notices you both by his side, and whispers both your names. Natasha clutches his hand, bowing over it as she speaks words that are foreign to your ears.

It sounds vaguely like prayer but as you get closer you hear the cadence and familiarity of poetry. Clint seems to know what she’s saying and he finishes the stanza; you make a note to google it later, curiosity tugging at you.

Standing at the doorway and watching the exchange, a thrum runs through you that feels oddly like happiness. You’re not sure what to do with it, so you pull up a chair and wait.

Clint is stable, you suspect she is not. She hides it well in front of Clint though.

You offer to patch her cuts and she accepts, eyes still on Clint as he nods assuringly, unspoken words drifting between them.

The butterfly strips close the cuts on her face and you ask if she has anything else she needs. She can’t seem to stop the tremors passing through her as she shakes her head in a lie.

.

Clint passes out first. Natasha looks like she’s hanging on by a thread as you suggest bed, holding out your hand.

It feels strange to be putting someone into bed when it’s daylight but it’s what you end up doing, offering her water and promising to wake her if anything changes.

You check both your friends and notice that neither look like killers, their stillness - it reminded you of innocence.

Sipping coffee, you watch them both carefully, fatigue hitting you strangely, and force of will keeping you conscious.

You’re glad though, because it means you’re awake for when Natasha’s nightmares hit.

You try and stop her arms flailing by catching her arms, but it’s the wrong move. She punches you straight in the face as you reel back, you should know better.

Your nightmares are similar and it’s only been in a panic that you’d done the wrong thing.

“Natasha,” you try, voice clear.

“Natasha, listen to my voice,” you stop, thinking what to say next as her eyes open, but don’t orient to you, still lost in whatever dream her mind had chosen.

“You’re safe, you’re with me and Clint,” and it’s as though Clint knows because he appears at the door behind you, making his presence known as he gently lays a hand on your shoulder.

“Natasha,” he tries, the soft rumble of his voice draws both of you to look at him.

She bites down heavily of her lip as she sits up; the movement perhaps disorienting as she gags and then vomits down her front.

She hacks a cough, her body shaking in what almost looks like a seizure; and puts a hand to her mouth as you leave to get a bowl and a cloth.

Clint sits on the bed, his movements slow and tentative as he doesn’t shy away from her gagging again, as you arrive back just in time to catch more vomit as you squat in front of her. Clint places a hand on her back.

Firm movements (for you anyway), are far more grounding than someone rubbing your back, and it seems that way for her too.

You lift her chin and wipe her face, the glazed look and hooded eyes, tell you that she’s still not wholly present but not in whatever dreamscape she left. You worry about whatever drugs they used as you wipe away the bile that’s on her front and then hand the cloth to Clint.

Taking the bowl away and emptying it into the toilet; you wash your hands and avoid looking at yourself in the mirror.

He’s laying her back down, his voice repeating the same words over and over, and you know by the way she sinks into him, they’ve practiced this before.

He lays down with her as you take your perch on the chair, eyes heavy, as you all fall back asleep together.

8/

You all know you need to part ways.

It’s been just over 48 hours since the rescue, and you’ve been called on another job.

They’ve got each other and you know they’re both in good hands. You think this should be more awkward that what it is but it’s not.

“We’re a good team, you know?” Clint says, and you smile.

You do know.

You don’t want to admit it because in this moment you feel lucky.

They’re both going to be ok, live another day and anything you do might jinx it. Who are you to be blessed with friends like this?

People that understand you, despite your flaws. You need to leave because you want to hold onto this luck.

Natasha stands at the door, leaning on it heavily and looking solemn as she bites her lip then recites the digits of your phone number.

You nod, holding back emotion as Clint grabs your hand and squeezes in a series of dashes and dots. You know what he’s saying, and you nod to them both, exiting through the back door.

As you take the motorbike and ride away, you know that even though you’re born into bad luck, it’s like waves that don’t dominate your life; not all the time anyway.

There’s good in there too. Your friends. Your own bravery survival. Natasha might just be right, luck has it’s own rules, applying them differently to everyone.

And if the events of this last month has shown you anything, you’re not powerless in affecting it.

.

Prompts:

(A quote from this list by @sadprosed )

1/ Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it

I'd like to be my old self again

But I'm still trying to find it

2/ it  reminds  you  of  innocence. 

From this list by @50-item-writing-prompts

Pulling a chair out for them to sit down at the table.

From this list:

“We’re a good team, you know. “

<3

(All my other fic)

[shihalyfie]

The relationship between the Yagami siblings

The above line is possibly one of the most vital lines in contextualizing the relationship between the Yagami siblings, but is all too often omitted, and so it can lead to a lot of other questions about whether Hikari has dependency problems or whether Taichi has a natural tendency to be overprotective (also not helped by the fact that Hikari’s own voice actress, Araki Kae, was very fond of joking about Hikari having a brother complex). Once the proper context is applied, however, the relationship between the two ends up saying a lot about both individually!

That's the kind of girl she is! She's always thinking about other people before herself, and she'll never tell anyone that she's in pain or having a hard time, even if it kills her! The thing is, she might not have even wanted to come to this stupid world at all...But when people tell her that the fate of the world is in her hands or something, she could never refuse!... ...That's why...That's why I'm supposed to look after her and protect her...

The summary of everything going on between the two siblings at the time of Adventure has to do with the following:

Hikari is “always thinking of other people before herself” (i.e. she “doesn’t want to be a burden”, a very common sentiment among these very selfless kids in Adventure and 02), and therefore will accept massive burdens or pain on herself because she doesn’t want to trouble others. Because of that, she also will not speak out about her pain, simply suppressing it and pretending that everything is fine, while working for others’ sake.

Even Taichi has no idea what she’s thinking, because she’s so bad at vocalizing what she wants or is actually feeling that he has to guess. While he’s obviously emotionally compromised and thinking the worst of everything at the time of the above incident in Adventure episode 48, he also states that “that’s the kind of girl she is,” which implies that the above incident where Hikari got pneumonia was not an isolated incident, and therefore that Hikari has a repeated pattern of behaving like this. Hence, why Taichi has to keep stepping in -- he has to constantly assume the worst and go overboard, because Hikari will not do anything for herself if left to her own devices.

Both siblings are characterized as “dangerously self-sacrificial”; Taichi will recklessly risk his own welfare if it’s for the sake of others not getting hurt, whereas, as just indicated here, Hikari will refuse to burden other people even if it leads to her own personal destruction. This is not the only time Adventure has portrayed the negative aspects of being too selfless (it’s also a huge theme of Sora’s character arc), and it’s also why Hikari so easily offers herself up at the end of Adventure episode 36; it’s not just about Taichi! Hikari just puts others before herself by default to the extent that, while doing something for herself is hard to do, doing things for others is a no-brainer.

This is also why Hikari’s actions of “clinging” to Taichi in Adventure episode 21 shouldn’t be contextualized as her being clingy to him and wanting him there for her own sake -- remember, the point that was made is that Hikari thinks so little about what she wants that she doesn’t even consider her own wishes as an object, so the reason she bids for them to “stay” in this episode is because she knows he’s been in another world, a potentially dangerous one, and is about to go back and risk his own welfare for it. Since her attitude revolves around “other people’s sake”, it’s natural that she’s not going to be very enthusiastic about her brother and their new friend heading back to the unknown like that. (Remember, she seemed to be fine with him being out at camp and being away from her for prolonged periods of time in general.)

Which is especially enhanced when we see the context of why Taichi has his massive freakout in Adventure episode 48, and the way Hikari behaves in both the episode and the flashback:

The conflict in the episode was kicked off by, once again, Taichi being unable to tell what Hikari was thinking or feeling, and underestimating how much pain she was in, while Hikari had been suppressing it because of her selflessness. As Taichi says, he can’t tell if Hikari had wanted to come, or if she had simply come out of “obligation” regardless of how she’d felt.

And, in the flashback depicted, again: Taichi hadn’t insensitively dragged Hikari out, he had legitimately thought she was fine and misjudged her condition, and Hikari had agreed to go out without protest, only for that to be very much not the case. And when Hikari returned, she had no blame for him and only continued to blame herself for ruining his fun. So, again: Hikari doesn’t even think of herself, and only thinks about how much of a burden she’s being on others, and the incident (and presumably others) had brought Taichi into the understanding that he cannot use what Hikari says about herself as an accurate bar for how she’s doing.

The Character Complete File gives us a bit of an interesting tidbit about Taichi and Hikari’s home lives, in that, if you pay attention, you’ll notice that the Yagami siblings don’t share a room anymore by the time of 02. According to both Taichi and Hikari’s testimonies, Hikari had “constructively” kicked him out by hint-hinting that she was actually not very fond of sharing a room with him and was embarrassed by it! She does eventually admit that it’s a bit lonely without the second person around, but she’s very happy to claim her room as “my own little castle”, and, moreover, with the above context, you can imagine that she, once again, might have been self-conscious about being a “burden” on him due to both of their spaces intersecting too much.

So when we do get to 02...

The line from the second screenshot is the most commonly cited line about Hikari’s attitude regarding her brother in 02, but recall that this is from Hikari basically doing her own version of rambling incoherently. The actual context clue required to decipher this comes from earlier in the episode, when, drowning in the negative atmosphere and impact the Dark Ocean is having on her, Hikari has a vision/flashback of saying “I’m sorry” to her brother. Remembering that the Dark Ocean is heavily associated with “negative emotions”: what does “I’m sorry” mean? “I’m sorry” -- or, in other words, “I caused you more trouble again.” So when Hikari says that “my brother always protected me”, she’s basically saying “I’ve been burdening my brother by making him protect me all of the time,” and the fact that she pairs this with a statement “the next time they call me, I may end up there” is one about inevitability -- she does not like the idea of continuing to burden him, and is letting horrible things happen to her because she would rather not keep doing this to him.

This is what threads the apparent “contradiction” between Hikari supposedly being so “quiet” about certain things yet so assertive about others -- Hikari has never shown any hesitation about putting her foot down assertively when it’s about other people’s sake, but it’s always about her own sake and her own feelings when she suddenly clams up. Tailmon even alludes to it herself in the episode:

Hikari is “strong”, and she’s shown it many times -- she’s assertive, brave, and heck, in this very same episode, the moment she realizes the “Hangyomon” need help, she doesn’t even hesitate to do her best to help them even at the risk of pain to herself! But she’s not going to make it until she can accept the help of others instead of denying everything out of worry for being a burden, which is why the issue starts to resolve a little when Hikari finally breaks down and admits that she wants others to help her, including Takeru, whom she had spurned earlier during the episode.

Hence, this is why the “follow-up” to this episode, 02 episode 31, doesn’t involve Taichi at all -- but it does involve a continuation of the same thing about Hikari’s problem, and she even confirms what Taichi had said about her back in Adventure episode 48, that she won’t vocalize her own problems. On top of that, she adds another layer to it: Hikari compulsively suppresses her own problems to the point she’s outright jealous of Miyako for being able to vocalize them. Hikari’s “selflessness” problem is so bad and self-destructive that even she realizes it’s a problem and wants to do something about it, but literally cannot. This is how bad her problem is, and why none of her actions to this point can really accurately be read as her being clingy or wanting to do anything for truly selfish reasons; this problem of “self-destructive selflessness” was so bad that even she didn’t like this about herself. And, hence, why she felt like she was “burdening” her own brother while she was at it -- it was a problem she did with everyone, but since he was one of the people she knew and trusted the most (having literally grown up with him, and all), it had been the worst with him.

Therefore, Miyako is able to address this issue even without Taichi being involved at all, because the problem wasn’t really about Taichi -- but 02 is a series about the importance of relationships and accepting a need to grow with the help of other people, and therefore, Miyako addressing Hikari’s issue of being so closed-in, and encouraging her to seek help and stop accepting her own destruction just to not “burden” others, is likely to help her have a better relationship with her brother in the future.

...although, by this point in 02, this really was more of Hikari’s own issue than it was Taichi’s by this point, because Taichi treats his sister pretty “neutrally” over the course of the series -- when Hikari’s stranded in the Digital World in 02 episode 7, Iori’s the one more panicked than he is, and he’s mostly just concentrated on having an alibi for her to come back with. And he has zero problem with her flinging herself into dangerous situations over the course of the year, including the stakeout trip started in 02 episode 18 (and for what it’s worth, Hikari herself clearly had no issue flinging herself into such a situation). And when he discusses the issue of the new kids in the 02 group having to accept that killing an enemy will soon become an inevitability in 02 episode 43, it’s a pretty serious conversation with him advising her the way he would have advised any of his other juniors.

This is why context is so important! Taichi had said, back in Adventure episode 48, that he’d hovered over her because he’d had no clue what she was thinking, and would have to take extra precautions because she could easily get herself killed like that. But in 02, it’s not like she was constantly suffering a cold, and it’s a lot more obvious that her actions throughout the series were because it was what she wanted to do, regardless of the risks, so it’s her right to do whatever she wants, and therefore he leaves her to it; she’s clearly doing a much better job taking care of herself, so there’s no reason for him to step in.

Hikari also takes his advice at face value and doesn’t have any particular weirdness about it; she’d never put him on a pedestal or anything, she just still happened to have very self-destructive tendencies that were ultimately resolved with the help of the rest of the 02 group. Often submitted as Hikari having proof of putting him on some kind of weird pedestal is her reaction in 02 episode 4, when she gets angry at Daisuke for being disrespectful about an older sibling, but this omits the fact that Yamato (being a very offended older sibling) got in on it too; the point was more about the disparity between Daisuke and Jun’s more vitriolic relationship compared to the more mutual-esteem relationships between the Ishida-Takaishi and Yagami siblings, plus the fact that, even if the perspective was different, Daisuke was being pretty harsh about his wording (he outright says he hates his sister...).

This is also presumably why, when everyone is presented with illusions regarding their personal worries in 02 episode 49, Hikari’s is the only one that has no relation to her family or home life whatsoever. She has nothing to really worry about with her home life, and Taichi seems to be fine and she has no particular interest in what he does as long as she’s not burdening him further. Rather, again, her character was largely about “doing more for other people than doing anything for herself,” so of course, her “dream” ends up being about everyone else in the world being happy.

In the end, it was more about her larger issues of her relationship to “other people” versus her relationship to “herself” than anything else -- it was just impacting the siblings the most since they were, well, siblings.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Tedious Joys 

 - Chapter 1/8 - Ao3 link -

By the time Lao Nie wrote to Lan Qiren under personal cover to ask for his assistance, they hadn’t spoken in nearly seven years.

Oh, they’d spoken – it was rather impossible to avoid speaking, acting sect leader to sect leader. They attended the same discussion conferences, and of course the Lan and Nie sects were close allies, insofar as the Great Sects were anything to each other; their alliance, martial and moral, tended to balance out the riches and clever tricks brought to bear by the Jin and Jiang sects, and of course the Wen sect was large and powerful enough that it didn’t need or want any allies that it couldn’t subject to its dominion. An alliance meant constant contact, checking in, and ideally would call for a good relationship between the leaders of the two sects, which they had once had.

They had once been very close, even.

Lan Qiren had idolized Lao Nie from a young age, admiring his fierceness and his passion for life, his ruthless logic and his practicality and his thoughtful sense of judgment, all the more admirable given that he was from a sect known for being a bunch of hotheads. When Lan Qiren’s older brother – older by nearly ten years, with a middle brother that had died before Lan Qiren’s birth and several miscarriages in between as his parents struggled to provide the sect with the requisite spare – had continuously tried to leave his irritating younger sibling at home when going on night-hunts, Lao Nie had cheerfully interjected himself more than once, volunteering that he would be happy to take him along, and at that point Lan Qiren’s brother, who admired the older man nearly as much as Lan Qiren did, would generally yield, even if he grumbled about it.

Unlike Qingheng-jun, who ought to have been more considerate for his own family, Lao Nie had never minded having to slow down the pace of his hunts in order to accommodate a sickly child, a pedantic one that needed to understand things thoroughly before he was comfortable trying something new. He had often allowed Qingheng-jun to rush ahead and win glory that ought in all fairness to have been his, something Lan Qiren only discovered when he reviewed his history in retrospect.

Lao Nie hadn’t minded how clumsy Lan Qiren was, or how picky he was, refusing to eat even common foods if the texture didn’t appeal to him; he had only laughed at his excessive formality, the harshness of his tone, his tendency to repeat himself or to become caught on little details. He’d indulged him, wasting copious amounts of his time listening to Lan Qiren talk enthusiastically about the Lan sect rules, which he’d fallen in love with at an early age and, when young, rarely missed the chance to bring into any given conversation no matter how irrelevant.

He’d always been very kind to him.

If you had asked Lan Qiren ten years ago, he would have confidently asserted that Lao Nie was one of his dearest friends.

And yet – it had been Lan Qiren, who was short on friends, and not Lao Nie, who had many, that had cut off their relationship. Lan Qiren hadn’t truly spoken to Lao Nie in seven years, limiting their conversations to the subject of sect business and keeping their meetings as short as could be allowed by etiquette, ignoring the way Lao Nie looked at him with sadness and regret in his eyes. Even when Lan Qiren’s anger had finally died down from a raging flame to a simmering anger he suspected would never leave him entirely, he had thought to himself that it was too late, that the fire had burnt everything out, that there were only ashes left behind.

And yet – on the seventh year, apparently apropos of nothing, Lao Nie wrote to him, requesting his presence.

As a friend, he wrote. Come as a friend, or not at all. I have no use for a sect leader.

Lan Qiren struggled with the request, which did not obey any of the unwritten rules he had forced himself to learn on top of the many that were written. He did not know if he was still enough of a friend to Lao Nie to answer such a request.

He did not know himself whether he would go until the moment that he went.

Lao Nie met him at the gateway to the Unclean Realm, relief written in every line of him.

“Thank you,” he said, and Lan Qiren shifted uncomfortably from side to side.

“I didn’t even do anything yet,” he said stiffly, instinctively reaching up to stroke his beard. It was a more acceptable social tic than others that he had been discouraged from employing; losing access to it, however temporarily, had been one of the reasons he had been so upset with Cangse Sanren when she’d shaved it off while he was asleep. She’d tracked him down later to apologize when she’d realized how badly he’d taken it, serious for perhaps the only time he’d known her, and they’d ended up as something almost like friends out of the whole debacle. He hadn’t heard from her in years, either, but that was no breach; it was only that she was busy with her husband and the little child she had once shoved into his arms with that deep, echoing laugh of hers. “Don’t thank me until I’ve determined if I can do anything for you, or will.”

Lao Nie nodded and showed him inside, leading him to his private chambers rather than the sect leader’s study. This suggested that the issue was private, although Lan Qiren supposed he’d already known that, based on the letter.

They sat in silence while Lao Nie personally served the tea, his brow still creased in concern, and Lan Qiren stared at him – too intently, as always – and wondered what private issue could have caused such an upset, and moreover what he could possibly need Lan Qiren for. Lao Nie was a private man, in the custom of his clan and sect; Lan Qiren didn’t know his birthdate or even his age, only the approximates, and many of the details of his life escaped him. It made it difficult to guess what the matter might be, if it were personal and not political.

Although…

“My condolences regarding your second wife,” he said, watching, and Lao Nie jerked his head in a tight nod, acknowledging the loss. Lao Nie’s first wife had been a mysterious figure, appearing and disappearing as suddenly as an unexpected burst of rain on a sunny day – the stories in Qinghe enthusiastically claimed she was a goddess that descended from the heavens to dally with moral race, who’d ended up marrying Lao Nie to legitimize the child he’d unexpectedly planted in her belly, only to be summoned back to the heavens on important duties, although of course it was commonly understood that she was more than likely just some powerful rogue cultivator who had decided after a short interval that being married was not for her. Lan Qiren had never met her, although he had had the fortune to meet Lao Nie’s second wife, who had been much more down-to-earth, an innkeeper’s daughter.

(Lan Qiren had rather liked her the few times they’d met. She was a little self-absorbed, in a harmless sort of way. She liked beautiful things and good food and talking about them, and was happy to carry on entire conversations while he responded only with nods and grunts; to his relief, she had never expected anything more from him. She was very beautiful herself, both delicate and seductive with her fox’s face and long and narrow eyes; some cruel people spread rumors that she was a demon or a yao in disguise, sent to wreak havoc through the seduction of men. She had never tried anything like that on Lan Qiren, unless her attempt at seduction consistent of sharing a plate of snacks and occupying him enough to prevent him from having to listen to the more boring parts of the social parts of certain discussion conference meetings. At any rate, he’d been truly saddened to hear that she had died.)

Still, Lao Nie had not yet begun to speak.

That meant that the problem was not in relation to that aspect of his life, which in all honesty was a relief. Lan Qiren could not imagine a world in which Lao Nie confided his marital problems in a prematurely old bachelor like him.

Perhaps…

“Your sons?” he asked, and this time Lao Nie flinched, so he’d guessed right. “Ah. The younger one?”

The younger one would be about A-Zhan’s age, surely, or even younger. Little more than a toddler, not yet quite old enough to be taken away from the mother – or nurse, in the case of Lao Nie’s second son – and they were so terribly fragile at that age…

“No,” Lao Nie said, and sighed, a long exhale. “Forgive me, it’s a difficult subject. A-Sang is fine. The issue is with A-Jue.”

Nie Mingjue would now be around eight or nine years old, Lan Qiren thought, or perhaps even older – it was so hard to tell with these secretive Nie, and he only knew enough to make the guess at all because of their former friendship. Most sects were only vaguely aware that there were heirs to the Nie sect, and had certainly never seen hide nor hair of Nie Mingjue, during discussion conferences or otherwise.

He’d been a toddler the last time Lan Qiren had seen him, young and energetic, running around anywhere, but he had something of his father’s kindness – he’d actually listened to Lan Qiren telling him about rules that didn’t apply to him, and even proudly repeated some of them back to his father, much to Lan Qiren’s embarrassment – without having yet grown into his father’s occasional callous ruthlessness.

Perhaps it made a certain amount of sense that Lao Nie would ask for help with his children. Since his life plans had been irrevocably altered, Lan Qiren had taken over teaching at the Cloud Recesses, and to his surprise, was apparently making something of a name for himself.

It hadn’t been intentional: he’d been desperate for something to do with himself that wasn’t just for the sect, so much of his time consumed by the business of sect leadership, and he’d always planned to become a teacher eventually, although he’d always assumed it would be much later in life. He’d volunteered to teach, only to look at the small handful of obedient, well-trained Lan sect disciples that he would be in charge of instructing and quickly realized that such ‘teaching’ wouldn’t occupy his time at all.

Accordingly, he had demanded that the sect elders allow him to accept disciples from other sects as well. The request was highly irregular, but strictly abided by all Lan sect rules on the subject – it was Lan Qiren putting together the proposal, after all – and the elders had granted it with surprisingly little debate. To this day, Lan Qiren wasn’t sure if it was pity for his circumstances or simply an assumption that no outside students would bother attending, but he would not let the approval, once granted, be so easily retracted: he had sent out letters asking for students at once, and to everyone’s surprise but his own they actually came.

(He’d been clever about it, at the start. He’d reached out first to those smaller sects that would not have access to resources even a quarter as good as the Cloud Recesses, asking specifically for those children that seemed troublesome – the ones it took time and attention to teach, the ones who didn’t seem to be getting what they were supposed to learn. The slow, the stupid, the angry, the ones who disappointed their parents most of all. Lan Qiren might not have answers for those children, but at least he could give them his time and attention and he found, for most of them, that was all they wanted.)

Recently, though, they’d started getting more requests to join from the slightly larger subsidiary sects, more people, even murmurs about sending him their sect heirs rather than their burdens – people were saying that his teaching could make a gentleman even out of a waste, which Lan Qiren didn’t really understand. After all, putting aside a few students that were too arrogant to be willing to learn anything, he hadn’t encountered a single one he’d characterize as a waste.

“How can I help A-Jue?” he asked, expecting Lao Nie to finally give in and explain.

But Lao Nie shook his head.

“There’s some background I need to tell you first,” he said. “Without which the problem won’t make much sense. You have one of the finest analytical minds I’ve ever met, Qiren, and a way of thinking that doesn’t match up to conventional wisdom – I’m hoping you can help me where expertise has failed.”

Lan Qiren frowned, embarrassed. “I can try,” he said, already mentally rearranging his plans to account for a longer stay. He disliked sudden changes and had planned out three possible lengths of time for his visit – one short, one medium, one long – so that he would be able to select whichever one would be most appropriate. He hoped that the issue would not require any more time than the longest period he had allotted. “What is the subject?”

“Saber,” Lao Nie said, and smiled at Lan Qiren’s confusion. “My sect’s cultivation style. Let me explain…”

Lao Nie’s explanation was fascinating.

The cultivation style of the Nie sect – and the Nie clan in particular, especially the main branch – was unlike anything Lan Qiren had ever heard before, completely different in both substance and philosophy. It was a rough trade, a difficult road, heartbreaking in its sacrifice, impressive in its results…

It wasn’t the road for everybody, but one couldn’t help but admire those that walked it.

“Doesn’t it get close to demonic cultivation, using resentful energy like that?” he asked at one point, and Lao Nie had explained to him how they had drawn the distinction – using beasts, never humans, and channeling the worst of the effects into their sabers rather than themselves. How much they strived to cultivate morality into their sabers as well as power.

Lan Qiren thought that it was a fine line, but after some thought concluded that they fell on the right side of it, if just barely. The primary dangers of demonic cultivation were in the way it increased the amount of evil in the world, whether through the inevitable madness and violent rampages of its wielders or through the simple side effects of using other people’s corpses as your playthings, increasing their own resentment, breaking the hearts of their loved ones, and causing their ancestors to curse you; that sort of vile conduct was an offense to the Heavens. The Nie sect’s cultivation avoided that, and if through their sabers they added a little bit of evil to the world then it could not be denied that they took much, much more of it out.

“I think I understand now,” he said, brushing his fingers along his beard. “But…why tell me? Isn’t it one of your clan secrets?”

“It is,” Lao Nie agreed. “As a general principle, we do not tell outsiders unless we must.”

The Nie sect preferred principles over rules, which Lan Qiren begrudgingly accepted even if he himself preferred having rules, clear and precise and equal even if they sometimes weren’t quite fair. But situation-dependent or not, the Nie held to those principles just as tightly as any Lan did to their sect rules, and that was worthy of respect.

“So you felt that you must,” Lan Qiren observed. “But why? And what does it have to do with A-Jue? Is he not taking to your sect’s teachings…?”

“I would almost prefer that,” Lao Nie said, and rubbed his eyes. “We’ve always had those that didn’t follow our ways – those that refused to train the saber, or refused to cultivate a spirit despite all their training. No. It’s actually…A-Jue’s very good.”

Lan Qiren had been a teacher for seven years. He was accustomed to parents who needed to praise their child before getting to the point, though he wouldn’t have expected it of Lao Nie. He waited.

“He’s too good,” Lao Nie said, and abruptly covered his face with his hands. “He’s already cultivated a spirit in Baxia.”

Lan Qiren’s whole body jerked. “Lao Nie!” he exclaimed. “You’ve already given him a saber? He’s too young!”

Under the age of ten, Nie Mingjue should still be building his strength, shaping the muscles that would serve him in the future; he should be wielding only a practice saber made of wood, heavy and slow as he etched the forms of his sect style into his bones. Even if he was a true prodigy, a once-in-a-generation genius, he should at most bear a weapon of dulled steel, and never an actual spiritual weapon, much less the one that would be the companion of his future life.

“He took it himself,” Lao Nie said. “A little over a year ago – we had a surprise attack, right in the middle of the summer hunts. Supposedly bandits, but actually mercenaries, supported by traitors from the inside; they had a map to lead them straight inside our home, and attacked at the moment when most of us were gone. When everyone else ran for cover, A-Jue went to the armory and picked up a saber, freshly forged, and he took his first blood the same day. What was I supposed to do? Take it away from him?”

Lan Qiren felt a stab of sympathy for Lao Nie’s impossible dilemma.

Taking the saber away just when A-Jue had started bonding with it, right after he’d shed blood with it for the first time – yes, that would have been far worse. It might have crippled his confidence, introduced hesitation that would damage his cultivation forever, hinder his future growth…

“And he already developed a saber spirit?” he said instead. “Within a year?”

That wasn’t genius. That was insane.

“I know,” Lao Nie said. “The faster we cultivate, the sooner we die, but how am I supposed to say that to a child? And there’s how fast he’s picked up our cultivation style, how fast he’s going – what if he introduces some flaw into it and it sinks in before anyone notices? Even a minor disruption to his qi, at this age –”

Lan Qiren scowled. “Stop panicking,” he ordered. “That won’t help anyone at all, least of all him.”

Unexpectedly, Lao Nie smiled at him, although the smile was full of regret.

“It’s easy to say and hard to do,” he said. “Don’t you know I always lose my head when it comes to love?”

Lan Qiren knew.

Lao Nie had always been reckless in matters of the heart, as seen by his decision to marry some stranger for his first wife and a nobody for his second, and to thereafter refuse a third, more sensible arrangement with some sect leader’s daughter or sister that could care for the children as a mother while acting as a useful political tool, even if no other children were forthcoming. Even though his life had been beset with later tragedy, he had been happy with his wives – happy and in love, and unwilling to trade a single moment with them for anything.

Lan Qiren knew this. He even understood it.

He just had trouble excusing it.

Lao Nie had been friend to Lan Qiren’s brother long before he’d been friend to him, and so when Qingheng-jun had fallen in love in that sudden, shocking, irrevocable manner that the Lan sect had, Lao Nie had been the first to support him in it, delighted to think that his friend would find the same happiness he had himself found. He’d encouraged him not to be shy in presenting his courtship, in presenting himself as a possible match; he’d reassured him that some disinterest to begin with was reasonable, given that they were still strangers, and advised him to enjoy the feeling of falling in love, to be reckless and bold and daring with it…and he did it all in writing, from a distance.  

Lao Nie had been occupied at the time with issues in his own sect – probably the scandals relating to his first wife, in retrospect, though of course he said nothing of it back then – and had unwisely trusted in Qingheng-jun’s description of the events, rather than seeing the circumstances for himself.  It was understandable that he would not comprehend how fiercely his friend’s heart had been gripped by love, or how truly disinterested He Kexin was in her ardent suitor, not when Qingheng-jun described her resistance as mere coquetry. It was impossible for Lao Nie to have predicted that his well-meant advice that love was worth anything, even defiance of sect rules and the counsels of the elders, would be interpreted in such a terrible way.

Still less, of course, could he have predicted what happened next, the tragedy of He Kexin and the friend that deceived her, that tried to use her and Qingheng-jun through her through false rumors and twisted stories, and in so doing underestimated how unbridled He Kexin could be when pressed. It was all part and parcel of the same underlying calamity: if Qingheng-jun had not been so persistent in his courtship, He Kexin wouldn’t have had such a bad impression of the Lan sect; if she hadn’t had such a bad impression of the Lan sect, she might not have been so ready to believe her friend’s lies about their teacher’s conduct, to allow herself to be indirectly used to manipulate Qingheng-jun’s love-madness to the advantage of another sect; if He Kexin had been a little less arrogant or a little less blindly trusting or had bothered to ask a single question before taking upon herself the duty of executioner as well as judge, if she’d only held back her sword and not gone so far as to kill a man over baseless rumor – if only – if only – if, if, if –

If Qingheng-jun had not decided that his love mattered more to him than his sect.

There was no way Lao Nie could have known what would happen.

It was understandable.

One might even say that it was forgivable, except Lan Qiren had not yet gotten around to forgiving him.

Lan Qiren had dreamed of travel, not teaching; he’d wanted to play music in all the forgotten places, to learn all the things that could not be simply deduced from inside the safety of the Cloud Recesses. He’d wanted to help people, to use that vast store of knowledge that seemed irrevocably stuck in his brain to solve problems and suggest solutions. But the Lan sect needed a leader, and with Qingheng-jun in permanent seclusion, disinterested in sect matters, choosing instead to obsess endlessly over his broken heart…

The duty had fallen to Lan Qiren instead.

(He Kexin had eventually grown rather fond of her husband, even if love wasn’t the word for it. Lan Qiren didn’t know if she was simply salvaging what she could out of an unsalvageable situation or if she just enjoyed the exercise, but he had two nephews now, to raise as if they were his own. Because that was just what he needed, another chain binding him to his home, another duty that shouldn’t have been his – he loved his nephews more than anything, so he couldn’t be angry at them, couldn’t blame them for being born, and so he had to be angry at everyone else instead.)

Lan Qiren lowered his head and pursed his lips. He knew Lao Nie wanted his forgiveness. He even knew, according to the sect rules he valued so highly, that he should grant it. Seven years was surely long enough to pay for any innocent mistake, wasn’t it?

Come as a friend, or not at all.

That was the invitation Lao Nie had extended, and Lan Qiren had come. That was very nearly a decision, if he wanted it to be.

“Let me see him,” Lan Qiren proposed, and Lao Nie’s smile warmed at once.

[marshmallow-phd]

Healing Touch

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Yixing x Reader

Summary: Medical school abroad was the last line on your to-do list before starting the rest of your life. Everything was going according to plan. Everything, that is, until tragedy strikes your campus. In the wake of a professor’s untimely death, you’re partnered with the cute boy with a breathtaking smile in the newly combined labs. You find yourself unable to resist the dimples and shy glances, but his life is here with no plans of leaving. Will you continue on as planned or will you accept the hand that Fate had dealt you?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Final

**

The smell had not changed in all the years that you used to call this place home. Pinecone potpourri mixed with traditional cooking spices and a hint of citrus from the constant dusting. Your aunt had always been a bit eccentric, a bit off beat. It had made being raised by her both adventurous and anxiety-inducing.

In the privacy of your home, her random dance parties and unfiltered way of speaking made you laugh. But when you were in public and she was pretending to be a mannequin in a window display, you ran away to the food court to hide behind a cup of boba. The explanation was always the same no matter what antics she was pulling: she wanted to break you out of your shell. It seemed like a lost cause. You were comfortable in your shell. It protected you and kept you warm.

“I don’t see how you expect to go trialing off to a place you’ve never been before,” your aunt had complained when you first told her about applying to the far away college.

“They’re two entirely different situations,” you had argued. “I can go to class and go back home without any issues.” These days there was your phone if you ever got lost or in need of food but didn’t want to leave the comfort of your apartment. Modern conveniences only enabled your shut-in ways.

“But what about, you know, friends?” She looked at you over her stylish, cat-eye glasses that she had no use for with her perfect vision.

“I have those,” you insisted. So, you might not have had a best friend, but you had people that you occasionally hung out with and collaborated on. Then there was Victoria and Amber from high school. You still spoke to them regularly, despite them going to different colleges out of the area. Your aunt didn’t realize that not everyone needed multiple circles of friends to bounce between.

Pushing her glasses back up her nose, your aunt pouted. “I just worry about you, that’s all. You still don’t like getting into cars, especially by yourself, and if you happen to be studying late….”

“I don’t mind taking the bus.” A bit of a stretch. You did mind but would still take it if the situation were dire enough. Walking was good exercise. And better for the environment. Someone had to look out for the little bunnies.

“Alright,” your aunt huffed as she sipped on her now lukewarm tea. “It is your life. I’m just a spectator of it.”

“At least you have premium seating,” you teased.

That had made your aunt laugh. She was back to her more carefree self.

“Is that my favorite niece?”

“No, it’s your least favorite nephew.”

Your aunt poked her head out of the hallway, the edge of her pink fuzzy robe telling you that she was getting ready to go out.

That was the exchange the two of you always had when you came to visit. The first time around, you had rolled your eyes and given the sarcastic answer for the cliché greeting. As your mother and aunt were the only siblings in their family and your father was the single offspring from his parents, there were no other nieces or nephews to put above or below you.

Without prompt, your aunt passed through the living room and onto the kitchen. When she came back, she had two wine glasses filled with bubble pink liquid. After handing you the lesser filled glass, she sat down on the couch while you opted for the loveseat, letting your purse drop to the hardwood floor by your feet. Your aunt leaned back on the arm rest with one elbow as she sipped on the wine. “It’s watermelon,” she informed you when you hadn’t taken a drink. “Try it.”

Shaking your head, you did as she asked. Oh, no. It was delicious. That was dangerous. You took another, larger swig before putting the glass down on the coffee table.

Growing up, you’d felt bad for your aunt. Sometimes you still did, though not as much after her many lectures as to why you shouldn’t.

She’d always been the carefree one. As a marketing consultant, she was constantly flying all over the globe, having adventures in between work meetings and bringing those experiences back to you in the form of expensive souvenirs. When your parents volunteered to go help a poorer nation with their health crisis, your aunt was quick to lend her babysitting services. It was only supposed to be temporary, after all. Then tragedy struck

Your parents never came back and suddenly your aunt was now your permanent guardian. The carefree spirit took it in stride. She shifted her strategy to more web-based conferences until you were in high school and able to be on your own for longer periods of time. She never turned into your mother; she never wanted to. For that, you were even more thankful. She was still the spontaneous, forever young aunt that you had always known. That stability in her personality was exactly what you needed. Too much had changed in your world on a dime, the less that was altered the better.

“What prompted this little visit?” she asked, a curious half smile on her lips.

You shrugged. “I hadn’t seen you in a while, so I thought I’d stop by and say hi. It looks like you’re getting ready to go out, though.”

Your aunt waved her hand limply. “Not for a few hours. Besides, anything can wait for you.”

Shifting in your seat, you smiled at the affection she had for you. “I finally heard from the university,” you told her.

Her eyebrows shot up. “You did? They finally decided to stop dangling the carrot and just give it to you, did they?”

“Not exactly,” you cringed. “They said they wanted to see how this semester went and then they would let me know.”

Your aunts face fell into a scowl as if something awful smelling had made its way into her nose. “What sense does that make?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. But at least it’s not an outright no.”

Clicking her tongue, your aunt leaned forward so she was now balancing her elbows on her knees. “You know, there are still other options. Closer options.”

“I know,” you said with a monotone voice. “But Plan A is my focus. I’ll look to other options if that falls through.”

That knowing look you were all too familiar with formed on her face. A long, reminiscing sigh blew out from her lungs. “You are so much like your mother. It’s scary sometimes.”

You never knew how to respond when she said things like that. Should you be happy at the comparison? Sad because your mother wasn’t here to tell you herself? You were a child when your parents passed away. You remembered vague moments, birthday parties and movie nights. But when you’re that young, you don’t get a good idea of your parents’ personalities. You don’t learn what they like or don’t like, how they act in crowds versus a small group of people. You have to rely on the memories of those left behind.

You stayed at your aunt’s house for another hour or so, talking to her about her latest clients and nights out with the girls. You told her how your days were going and how you were adjusting to the new routine with the combined class. The news of Yixing sat on the tip of your tongue, but you couldn’t bring yourself to mention him. Her reaction would have been too predictable.  She’d ask when the two of you were going to go out and when you explained that it wasn’t like that, she would ask why not. For that, you didn’t have an answer.

While you wanted to say that the two of you were just friends, it didn’t feel like the truth.

You saw more of Yixing than of anyone else, including Ran. He would walk you to class multiple times a day and the two of you would talk. Not about anything too deep. You weren’t at that level yet. He was funny and charming, never speaking a word that wasn’t kind. You learned that he lived in farmhouse in the woods with eight other people, all men. He swore it was never too crowded and that he actually enjoyed the company. He got lonely easily.

He also told you about how he took a few years off of college to figure out what he wanted to do. You’d asked him how he came to the path of becoming a doctor. He said he simply wanted to do something that would help people. He thought about opening a low-income clinic once he had his degree. Suddenly your heart was pumping under your sternum. When he asked why you went pre-med, you gave a shrug and said your parents and left it at that. These conversations were usually nice and lighthearted, you didn’t want to be the downer.

Yes, spending time with Yixing was nice, the highlight of your day, sometimes. But he also felt like a secret. One that you should keep to yourself for now. Good things didn’t always last. You wanted to see if this was a long-term investment for him before you invited anyone else in.

The next day, you needed some fresh air, so you decided to take a walk in the nature center on the edge of town. Although the woods would be a no-go area since they still hadn’t caught the animal terrorizing the area, the center would be full of people and should be quite safe. It couldn’t really be considered part of the woods given the infrastructure and the observation building, could it? Deciding to go anyway, you packed your bag with a few notes, snacks, and a water bottle. As your hand landed on the doorknob to leave, your eyes fell on the jacket lying on the back of the couch.

You hadn’t worn the comforting fabric since that day. The weather had been nice and putting it on would have seemed a bit obnoxious in your eyes. But this morning the weatherman had mentioned a chilly breeze. It wouldn’t hurt.

Arms through their designated holes, you left the apartment and started the walk to the outskirts of town. It wasn’t too far of a walk, maybe thirty, forty minutes at the most. You thanked yourself for wearing the jacket. A “chilly breeze” was an understatement. A few families and couples were dotted among the trails of the nature center that wound near and over the small creek. You passed by them all until you came to a spot that was deserted. Resting your legs, you sat on a bench with your back to the trees. The sun was shining up above. The only noise seemed to come from the rustling leaves and trickling creek. It was peaceful, just what you needed.

With your bag beside you, you took out a piece of paper with yesterday’s notes and started to review them. Some of the words were smudged and the edges were already crinkling, but you could make most of it out. The paper flopped in the wind. You thought you had a good enough grip on it, but a gust of air proved you wrong.

The paper went flying over your head and straight for the trees. Panic made you jump up, slinging your bag over your shoulder as you ran after it. The wind – now relentless – was enough to keep the paper continuously out of your reach.

It finally came to a stop when it caught on a tree root sticking out in the ground. You snatched the paper up and stuffed it into the bag to keep it from running away again. Straightening up again, your eyes settled on the horizon.

Then you screamed.

**

Yixing’s eyes snapped open.

He was no longer a wolf. He was human again. Sitting up, he brushed off the leaves from his arms. What time was it? Was it even the same day? He’d blacked out again. At this point, it was almost routine. His only consolation prize being the fact that he was alone. He still needed to figure out what was happening to him. He wasn’t ready to take this to his brothers. There was enough to worry about at the moment.

Getting on his feet, Yixing headed in the direction of where his things were stored. In order to avoid the others wanting to run with him, he’d entered the forest from a different area, storing his things in a bush to get back to later. He flicked his jeans to get the dirt off before pulling them on and then stuffing his feet in his shoes.

A piercing cry for cut through the air.

The hair on the back of Yixing’s neck stood up.

“Help! Somebody help!”

It was your voice.

He gasped. Then he took off. If anything happened to you-

Yixing skidded to a stop when he saw you kneeling in the grass. A body was laying in front of you, the clothes ripped and stained dark. It was lying face down, but Yixing could tell that it was a man and that he’d been attacked.

“(Y/n), what happened?”

You stared at him with wide, confused eyes. “Yixing? What are you doing here?”

He ignored your question, more worried about your own wellbeing. “What happened?” he repeated.

You shook your head as you dropped your eyes to the man lying on the ground. “I don’t know. I just found him like this. He’s still breathing but I’m not strong enough to move him.”

Yixing analyzed the situation. His car was only on the other side of the trees. The man was still alive. From Yixing’s point of view, he could make it, but they needed to act fast. Slipping his arms under the man while careful not to move him too much, he picked the man up and motioned with his head for you to follow.

He said nothing and you asked no questions as the tree line broke. Yixing scanned the parking lot of the nature center until he found his car. He rushed to the vehicle with a few glances over his shoulder to make sure you were keeping up with him.

“(y/n)?”

“Yeah?” You were huffing. Had he been running? He’d tried to go at a pace that you could keep up with.

“In my front right pocket are my keys. Can you fish them out and unlock the doors?”

You nodded. Yixing could feel your fingers trembling as they slipped into the denim opening. The shaking was even more obvious once the keys were free, the house and car keys clinking together as you searched for the fob to unlock the doors. Without prompt, you opened the back door to allow Yixing to slip the man into the bench seat. He told you to get in the front. You tossed him the keys and the two of you rushed to the hospital.

A pair of doctors rushed out of the automatic doors as soon as the car pulled into the emergency entrance.

“We found him in the woods,” Yixing explained. The doctors quickly examined the man as two more nurses came out with a stretcher.

“I think that animal attacked him,” you added.

Yixing’s eyes flickered over to you with worry. The doctors nodded in acknowledgement then helped the nurses move the man to the stretcher. The two of you followed closely but were forced to stay behind in the waiting room. Yixing sat next to you in the uncomfortable plastic chairs that were connected to the wall.

“You never answered the question.”

Yixing frowned. “What question?”

You turned to look at him with your eyebrows furrowed, making him want to reach out and smooth the creases they created. “What you were doing out in the woods.”

Yixing stiffened. He pressed his foot into the tile floor to keep it from bouncing. “I was… hiking.”

“Without a shirt?”

He looked down. Crap. He hadn’t even realized that he wasn’t finished getting dressed before he took off. “I get warm easily.”

Your eyes narrowed suspiciously. Yixing fought to keep his face neutral. It was a pathetic excuse, he knew it. But you didn’t call him out on it. Instead, you leaned forward, unzipping the polyester bomber that was easily recognizable as his own, taking it off, and holding it out to him.

“I’m fine,” Yixing said, ignoring the jacket.

“You really should put it on. I heard the front desk call the cops. They’ll be here soon, and it’ll look suspicious. What would you tell them the reason was for you not having a shirt?”

A cheeky answer came to mind. Yixing bit down to hold it back, even if it would have caused your face to heat up in an adorable fashion. The instinct of making sure his mate was okay was almost too great to ignore. You were the one who needed to stay warm, stay protected. But you had a valid point. And you were inside, out of the wind. So, he accepted the jacket and ran the zipper almost up to his neck to hide the lack of shirt underneath.

The police arrived about twenty minutes later. They separated you, making him anxious. Over the next hour or so, Yixing gave his side of the story to the officer. They took him at his word that he was strolling through the woods. The doctors had already informed the officers that the wounds were clearly animal made. While severe, they weren’t life threatening. That gave Yixing a small amount of relief.

“Would you two like to see him?” one of the nurses asked another hour later. You nodded eagerly. Yixing stayed a bit behind as the nurse led you through the halls to a large room that held several beds separated by plastic curtains.

The man was awake. Black stitches covered his arms. Three claw marks ran down the left cheek. From what Yixing knew of the other victims, this guy was lucky. He was talking to a nurse when he looked to see who his visitors were. As soon as his eyes landed on Yixing, the heart monitor spiked and his breathing quickened.

“Hey, it’s okay, these are the people who found you,” the nurse said to try and calm him down.

“Oh.” The man’s heart rate started to slow again. Each breath was deeper until they were back to normal. “I’m sorry.”

“How are you feeling?” you asked, taking a step forward. Yixing fought the urge to put himself between you and the man you’d rescued. He was probably harmless, but he had also been through a traumatic situation.

The man nodded. “I’m… alive, at least. Thank you.”

You gave a small smile. “I’m glad I came along when I did. Did you,” you bit your bottom lip nervously, “happen to see what attacked you?”

Yixing held his breath.

“It was a large gray wolf,” the man answered. “Huge. Like a mutated one you would see in the movies. He came from nowhere, knocked me down. I thought I was going to end up like the others as he clawed at me. Then he was gone.”

Yixing’s fist tightened at his side, his throat constricting. He forced down a swallow. He couldn’t panic. Not here.

You frowned. “I wonder what scared him off.”

“Maybe you did?” Yixing said with a slight tease. It was more to keep his own mental state calm than for the benefit of everyone else.

“I’m not that frightening.”

“Whatever it was,” the man shook his head, “I’m thankful.”

“He should really rest now,” the nurse said sternly. Yixing nodded in agreement and, after the goodbyes were given, led you away.

Once outside of the hospital, Yixing stopped you. “I can take you home.”

“That’s okay,” you countered, “I can walk.”

He didn’t like that one bit. Besides, he really needed you by his side right now. “Where do you live?”

“In an apartment near campus.”

No way. “That’s nearly halfway across the city. I can take you. It’s not a big deal.”

You shifted form foot to foot, refusing to meet his eye. “I don’t… really like cars.”

“You made it here alright.”

“That’s because I was too worried about him to think about it. The adrenaline blocked everything out.”

“I’m a safe driver, I promise.”

“I believe you. I just-” You blew air out between your lips, which ended in a growl. It was actually kind of cute. Yixing pushed back a grin. It wasn’t appropriate right now. “My parents were killed in a car crash, so they kind of freak me out.” You sucked in your lips as if you hadn’t meant to reveal that vital information.

Oh. That explained… a lot actually. At least, in terms of what you had been holding back from him. He never wanted to push, but he felt better knowing more about you.

“I understand,” he said sympathetically. “Can I walk you home then? I can come back for my car later.”

You shook your head. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Maybe so. But I need to make sure that you get home safe.”

You weighed his alternative for a minute or so. Yixing kept his patience. He refused to push you farther than you were willing to go. He just needed to see you walk safely into your building and then he would be okay until he saw you again.

“Okay,” you sighed. “You can drive me home.” He could have leapt with joy.

Yixing waited for you to get in the car before sliding behind the wheel himself. The death grip you had on the side handle didn’t escape his notice. He made sure to slow down easily and to take each turn with care. The only words you spoke were to give him directions. It wasn’t until the car was in park outside of your building did you finally relax.

“Thank you,” you told him in a strained voice.

“Any time.”

“I’m sorry if I was a little dramatic. I—” the growl of your empty stomach interrupted your speech. You groaned from embarrassment. Yixing couldn’t help his laugh.

Knock, knock, knock.

Leaning over and looking through the passenger window of his car was a strange girl Yixing had never seen before. He rolled down the window barely enough to be able hear what she was saying.

“How the hell did you get (y/n) into a car?” the girl gasped. You visibly cringed in the seat, sinking down a few inches.

Yixing blinked, unsure of how to respond. “Um, I—”

“Yixing, this is my roommate, Ran,” you interrupted, saving him. “Ran, this is Yixing. We have class together.”

“Oh!” The inclination behind her exclamation was more than obvious. And Yixing didn’t object to it. “I just ordered pizza and I know (y/n) usually gets hungry around this time. Do you want to join us?”

You flashed your roommate a panicked look, but Yixing couldn’t resist the opportunity. “That sounds great.” He caught you flinching, so he added, “As long as (y/n)’s okay with it.”

“Yeah,” you relented. “It’s the least I could do. For the ride.” You flashed an annoyed glare at Ran before getting out of the vehicle.

Yixing shouldn’t be this elated as he nearly sprung from the driver’s seat. He walked around the car slowly and let you and Ran lead the way, in case you changed your mind. You didn’t, thankfully, and Yixing walked up to your door with anticipation so great that he almost was able to forget what the man had said back at the hospital.

Almost.

[lesbianlotties]

five times Deena and Sam met in secret (and one time they didn’t) - Final Chapter

Chapters: 6/6 Fandom: Fear Street Trilogy (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Fraser/Deena Johnson Characters: Deena Johnson, Samantha "Sam" Fraser (Fear Street) Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon, High School, Cheerleaders, Band, Teenagers, Teen Romance, First Meetings, First Love, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Fluff, Happy Ending, Light Angst Words: 14470

Secrets.

Deena and Sam met by accident. They fell in love in secret.

But how long can they last together like that?

Chapter 6: no more secrets:

There were dreams. Afterward. When everything was over. Almost every night, all the survivors of the latest, and hopefully last, Shadyside tragedy, were plagued by dreams. Very often, the dreams were nightmares. Deena can’t wake Sam up after drowning her. Josh waits for Deena at the mall and his sister never returns. Sam kills her girlfriend, again and again. Simon takes Ruby Lane’s razorblade and kills himself. Kate’s stab wound doesn’t heal, something worse comes for her. Ziggy refuses to help and her sister haunts her decisions. Martin arrives at the mall in the morning and finds his new friends all dead. 

Nightmares. All of them. Terrible and cruel nightmares, but only dreams after all. It’s not easy to live with it, with all the trauma that this experience left them, but at least they get to live. It isn’t a comfortable title to carry, being a survivor. But, all things considered, they are all pretty fucking happy to be still alive.

However, it wasn’t just nightmares. 

After killing Nick Goode and ending the curse, everyone went back home so exhausted that nobody had any dreams at all. But, on the second night, Deena was blessed by dreams that were far from being nightmares. Sarah Fier’s reward to her, she guessed. And those dreams, those gifts from the girl that wasn’t a witch and put her entire story in Deena’s hand, they were as common as the nightmares, thankfully. Those dreams were blissful, sweet, comfortable, and just confusing enough. In those dreams, Deena was back in Sarah Fier’s story, sharing a simple meal with her brother, running through a field with her dog, dancing with her friends, sometimes doing nothing but staring at the love of her life, Hannah Miller. Or was that Sam’s face? When Deena woke up, it was never clear who was who. But the feeling of peace and safety and love remained, and often lasted throughout the day.

One night in particular, Deena was having the sweetest dream. It must have been summer, the woods were alive and the sun was a clear blue color, the breeze was gentle and the soft red moss under her feet made her feel like she was running on top of clouds. There was nobody chasing her, no dangers, no threats. Only Hannah Miller, holding her hand, running beside her, smiling the entire time and calling her name… 

Sarah.

Sarah…

“Deena!”

“What?!” Deena gasped, suddenly awake. Maybe her dreams weren’t always so bad, but the instinct to fight something evil at all times was sort of always there.

“Well, good morning,” Sam chuckled. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Deena sighed and fell back on her pillows. She covered her face with her hands and worked on slowing down her racing heart. “I’m okay, just…” she rubbed her eyes, and finally the image in front of her registered. “Sam? What are you doing here? What time is it?”

Sam’s grin only widened. She was sitting in Deena’s bed, dressed in some of her best clothes and looking a little too happy if such a thing was possible. “I was done a little early, so I decided to come help you get ready,” she said, “Wouldn’t want you to be late to your own graduation.”

“Right,” Deena smirked at her. She didn’t make any move to get up from her bed though, even less so considering now she had the perfect company.

Sam sent an unimpressed look her way and offered her a hand. “Come on, hurry up! Your dad’s making breakfast.”

“Wait, what?” Deena blurted out. That last sentence still sounded so wrong to her, even if it was true that she and Josh were seeing more and more of their father lately. “Hold on a minute,” Deena frowned at her girlfriend, “How did you get here? Did your…”

“My mom drove me,” Sam smiled, knowing exactly what was going through Deena’s mind.

The two girls couldn’t help but laugh at how absurd a little bit of happiness and normalcy felt after everything they had gone through. “This is messed up,” Deena chuckled.

“I know,” Sam agreed. “Don’t overthink it. Just… go get dressed so we can, you know, graduate.”

“I could… I guess I could do that,” Deena said slowly. She sat up in bed and moved closer to Sam. “Or… you know, we could do something else…” Deena whispered. She brushed Sam’s blonde hair off her shoulder and then simply rested her hand there. She didn’t miss the way Sam’s lips parted slightly, and the way those pretty blue eyes glanced at her lips.

“Deena…” Sam whispered her name in what probably was supposed to be a warning tone. But just as their lips brushed, she seemed to remember herself and she pulled back quickly. “Nope. No, no, no. I said I was going to help so you wouldn’t be late!”

“Come on!” Deena laughed and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. “We can be late together,” she added. She noticed Sam rolling her eyes at her, but she also knew exactly how to look and talk to her to get exactly what she wanted. “Just one kiss,” Deena whispered.

Inevitably, Sam leaned in. Perhaps she knew right from the start that this was a losing battle. Perhaps it had been her plan all along that both of them would arrive late to their graduation.

--

The two girls sat in the back of the car, while Deena’s father and brother were in the front. When they arrived at the school Deena’s father walked away quickly to find their seats, but Josh waited a moment longer beside the two girls.

“Hey, so, uh, congratulations, I guess,” he told them.

“Thanks, Josh,” Sam smiled brightly at him, delighted to receive one of his shy smiles in return.

Deena lightly hit his shoulder. “Just make sure to hurry up and get out of here soon too.”

Although her younger brother chuckled at her joke, Josh suddenly looked a little nervous too. “So, you guys… I mean, you don’t plan to, um, leave right away, do you?”

It was safe to say both girls were taken aback by his question. Deena exchanged a discreet look with her girlfriend and slowly replied. “No… We don’t have any concrete plans yet, I guess.” She paused, and studied the way Josh nodded, satisfied but still visibly uncomfortable. After being reassured by Sam’s hand in hers, Deena smiled and opted for lightening the mood. “What?” she asked him, “Are you saying you’ll miss me?”

“What? No!” Josh scoffed. The outraged look on his face nearly made Sam laugh affectionately at how similar the Johnson siblings could be. “Maybe I’d miss Sam a little, at least she can cook.”

“Hey! Shut up!” Deena shoved him with just a little more force this time. The three of them were laughing though. Sam actually threw her head back laughing.

“I’m just saying,” Josh raised his hands in defense, “There might be more evil stuff to fight in Shadyside, so…”

“Oh, that’d be so cool,” Sam said. Her blue eyes somehow managed to perfectly combine terror and curiosity.

“Hey, no, stop it, both of you,” Deena frowned, holding back her smile. “No more supernatural shit for any of us, okay? Josh go get your seat, we’ll be there in a minute.” She affectionately pushed her younger brother away, her heart warmed by the things he didn’t say out loud but she managed to hear loud and clear from his heart.

Afterward, Deena and Sam hesitated for one more moment outside the car.

“Are you ready?” Deena asked her girlfriend.

Sam replied with a perfect smile. For a second, she looked down, then she took Deena’s hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. “I’m ready,” she said at last.

Deena felt almost bashful as the two of them entered the school grounds hand in hand. There were frowns here and there, whispers in almost every corner, some surprised faces, and even the occasional smile. She’d dreamt of this moment pretty much since she first met Sam. Still, she reassured the blonde girl about a hundred times that they didn’t have to be public about their relationship at all. The only thing that mattered is that the two of them were together again. Seeing Sam fight against her possession using just the strength of her love for her, well, that helped Deena pretty much get over all her insecurities over their relationship. Still, Sam had made the choice to move in with her father, return to Shadyside, graduate in the old high school, return to the place she belonged to, and to the people she belonged with. However, seeing Sam walk the busy hallways with her head held high and her proud smile unwavering, Deena realized that this wasn’t just about her, or them as a couple, it was also about Sam. Sam coming to terms with every part of herself, being proud of herself and her heart, because it was her love one of the reasons that saved her life, Deena’s life, and maybe the entire town. 

Their cinematic moment of pride and bliss was abruptly interrupted by a head of messy blonde hair appearing between them and a pair of arms falling around them.

“My girls!” Simon exclaimed, hugging them tightly. “You’re late, ladies! I missed you!”

Deena shrugged his arm off her, but Simon only took that as an opportunity to wrap his arms around Sam’s waist and lift her up in a strong hug as he grunted happily.

“Hi!” Sam laughed openly and ruffled his already wild hair as he gently sent her back down on the floor. Neither of them could’ve looked happier if they tried.

“Now, Deena…” Simon smirked and extended his arms while his friend took a careful step back.

“Simon, don’t you fucking dare,” Deena warned him, “I’ll kick in the balls, I swear…”

While the two friends handled that sweet combination of an embrace and a fight, Kate showed up beside Sam.

“Looks like Shadyside’s hottest couple finally decided to join us,” she smirked, sharing a hug with Sam. “I’m not even going to ask why you guys are late. Because at least Sam looks gorgeous, and Deena… you’re here.” She playfully raised her eyebrows.

“Nice,” Deena rolled her eyes. She was fixing her clothes and in between lightly pushing Simon away from her, as he continued to laugh.

“You guys almost missed my valedictorian speech!” Kate complained. 

“Yeah, and it’s going to be awesome,” Simon jumped in, “I’ll put on my witch costume one last time and perform a musical number in the middle of it.”

His words were cut short when Kate tugged on the neck of his shirt to pull him down so she could look him in the eyes and say, “I would literally kill you on stage.” But it was undeniable that both of them were smiling the entire time. The four of them started walking together, with a brief pause for Kate to check on Sam’s makeup and the girls to convince Simon to tie his shoes for once.

Then there was the final ceremony. Kate’s speech was a success, Simon wasn’t completely joking about making one last appearance as the school’s mascot, and Sam was sitting right beside Deena the entire time. Deena, halfway through, realized she couldn’t stop smiling. It felt strange, and upon realizing it, she tried to fight against it, on instinct. But quickly realized there was no reason to fight it. Wherever she looked there was a good reason to smile. Her girlfriend was sitting beside her, sending lovely looks her way every couple of minutes. Her best friends were close by, alive and on their well-earned roads to a better life. Somewhere behind them was Josh, just like his sister, trying and failing to suppress a smile at the joyful occasion. Her father appeared to be sober for a day at least, and Sam’s father was there, awkwardly supportive if only to be better than his ex-wife, it all counted. Deena had affectionately rolled her eyes when Josh informed her that even Martin and Ziggy had made it to the ceremony as spectators, not wanting to miss a chance to celebrate a win for Shadyside, and their young friends. Even the rest of her school, her peers, people that were merely acquaintances, Deena found herself happy for them too. The curse was over. These people were safe from possessed killers. They were free to improve their lives and their town and be free. So, Deena didn’t care if some people were surprised to see that peaceful smile glued on her face the entire day. She had countless reasons to be happy, and she planned to cherish every single one of them. 

When it was all over, the crowd exploded in cheers. It was official. They were Shadyside graduates. They were free. They could go anywhere, be anyone, do anything they wanted to. Some people would run away from the town as soon as possible, and some of them would stay and put in the work to change the town. Some others were content to take their time to figure out what would come next. Taking life slowly and living their days one at a time was something especially valuable to kids that only narrowly avoided death just a few months ago. 

While their peers cheered and celebrated around them, Deena and Sam threw their arms around each other and held on tightly. Even under the thunderous noise of the crowd, Deena distinctly heard Sam’s sweet voice whisper against her ear, “Can I kiss you?”

Deena tightened her arms around her girlfriend for a moment before happily chuckling out, “Of course!”

A moment later, Sam’s lips were on her. 

It was perfect. It was joyful. It was everything they had been waiting for. They were right there in the middle of the crowd, and neither of them could’ve cared less. The rest of the world didn’t matter, it didn’t even exist. Deena felt invincible, but she also felt unburdened from the weight she’d grown accustomed to always carrying on her shoulders. She felt love. Sam sighed into the kiss, tasting freedom, love, and the relief of letting go of a lifetime of holding back, now it was time for her to get to enjoy her life, and she knew she had earned it. 

They were only forced to pull away when they heard an amused, “Get a room!” Kate was standing beside them, profusely rolling her eyes.

“Ready for tonight?” Simon proceeded to slap Deena’s back and earn a roll of her eyes.

“Full moon, witchy, drugs of the land, bonfire party, you know?” Kate added with a wicked smile.

Deena thought that she was almost getting tired of fondly rolling her eyes at her friends, but she didn’t mind it that much. “We’ll be there,” she said, taking Sam’s hand.

--

There were several graduation parties going around in Shadyside and Sunnyvale. A bonfire in the middle of the woods, close to a rock engraved with the words “Sarah Fier the first Shadysider,” wasn’t exactly the most popular spot, but that made it even better. In a town of outsiders, these were the worst, meaning the best, of them. The greatest thing about Shadyside was that even the strangest of their kids came from unexpected corners and fit in together surprisingly well. The perfect example was the group formed by the valedictorian and cheerleader captain, the school’s mascot and Grab n’ Bag employee of the month, Shadyside’s moodiest teenager and possible Sarah Fier’s reincarnation, and the previously possessed and recovering Sunnyvaler. In some ways, they couldn’t be more different from each other. But, if they had been best friends before, now they were something even stronger. It was the reward for fighting a three hundred years old curse together and making it out alive. They were free to dance, laugh, sing, and be as happy as possible, surrounded by friends all around a bonfire.

Deena took her time, as she promised herself, to appreciate the glory of celebrating among friends. However, after an entire day of Sam passionately proving time and time again that she was beyond ready to openly embrace who they really were, Deena was craving a moment of privacy with her girlfriend. There was no doubt that half of Shadyside at least was now aware of their relationship. It was a small town after all. Deena would be lying if she said she was a hundred percent comfortable with it, something she once confessed to Sam. But after practically facing the devil and coming out winners, there was little they were afraid of, especially as long as they were together.

So, when enough dancing and laughing with their friends was done, Deena took Sam’s hand in hers and led her away from the group as discreetly as possible. The music followed them, as well as the light from the bonfire that, in addition to the full moon shining above them, lit a path for them. It was almost a dance, moving around the woods together. Holding on to each other’s hands until it was only their fingertips brushing, rounding a tree, and coming back together in an embrace. They were all giddy laughs, secret touches, and wide smiles.

Eventually, Deena rested her back against a familiar rock. She was out of breath, and her smile was taking over her face. Sam had been following her closely behind. When she was just one step away from Deena, she stumbled a little, and Deena had to reach out to hold her so she wouldn’t fall facedown on the red moss covering the ground under their feet.

“Are you okay?” Deena asked, equal parts concerned and amused.

“Yeah, sorry,” Sam replied. She blew a strand of hair off her face and straightened her posture. When she looked at Deena though, she burst out laughing, and hid her face in the crook of Deena’s neck. 

Deena was happy to hold her girlfriend, but she tried to pull away enough to look at Sam’s face. “Sam…” she said, “Sam, did you take any of the shit Kate sells?”

“What?!” Sam exclaimed, just loud and high-pitched enough to expose herself. “No!” she insisted. She pulled back from Deena and attempted a serious expression while pushing her hair behind her ear. A second later she was back into a fit of giggles.

“Oh my God,” Deena looked away, biting her lip to keep herself from smiling too big. She was feeling a little dazed too.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Sam shook her head and took a deep breath. When she received an incredulous look from her girlfriend, she insisted, “Really!” She lightly pushed Deena’s shoulder. But all she earned was Deena’s hand on her waist pulling her closer. Not that she was complaining. 

Sam placed her hands on Deena’s cheeks, and pulled her in for a kiss. She got easily distracted, and moved to place kisses along Deena’s jaw and down her neck. Deena’s curls tickled her face and the feeling once again made her laugh softly.

“Well, I’m glad you’re having fun there,” Deena teased her.

Sam was nearly resting all her weight against Deena. But she was trying to compose herself enough for a conversation. She pulled back and this time looked just a little more serious as she asked, “Are you happy?”

The question took Deena by surprise. The earnest quality of Sam’s blue eyes let her know it was a real question, and her girlfriend expected an answer. “I am, yes,” Deena nodded, “Happier than I thought possible, really.”

“Hm, good,” Sam mumbled, leaning in closer to brush her nose against Deena. “Me too.” Then they simply rested their forehead together, basking in the blissful moment together. After a short while, Sam spoke up again. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Deena opened her eyes, confused.

Sam leaned back to stare at her. She licked her lips nervously and explained. “I’ve just been thinking… I realized I never apologized,” she said, “You know, for everything.” It was slightly unclear what everything meant anymore. Deena had a feeling that stabbing her while possessed and their breakup were the two prominent things on Sam’s mind.

“Hey, you have nothing to apologize for,” Deena replied softly. She moved a hand to Sam’s face, and caressed her cheek with the pad of her thumb. She waited until Sam smiled at her again to add, “And, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. For the other half of ‘everything’, you know?” Having to kill Sam even if it was to save her life and still, their breakup, were the main things on Deena’s mind. 

As if they could read each other’s thoughts, they understood at once. Just as they forgave each other instantly. They didn’t necessarily forget, because if this experience taught them anything, it was the value and wisdom and peace that’s found in the past. But there was nothing they could use against each other. The only thing left after their extraordinary experience was gratitude and a love big enough to fill centuries.

“I love you,” Sam said, staring deeply into perfect brown eyes.

“I love you too,” Deena replied with that easy smile of hers, waiting for the moment Sam would pull her face in for a kiss.

Afterward, all they had to worry about was coming up for air in between their kisses. Their hands were leisurely exploring each other’s bodies, and their kisses were reverent and unhurried, as they focused on nothing but enjoying each other’s company and love.

At one point, they thought they heard a rustle of leaves from somewhere behind them. Sam pulled back from the kiss with a small frown on her face, “Did you hear-”

“No, I didn’t,” Deena quickly replied with a chuckle. Then she dove back into a kiss, stealing Sam’s sweet laugh right off her lips. There was no reason to worry. It could be the actual Devil, it could be Sarah Fier and Hannah Miller themselves, it could be just the summer breeze. Nothing would break them apart ever again.