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moonbelt · 4 years

Text

𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐬 [ᴍ]

↳ classical mythology au | the story of icarus au

⇢ pairing: chanyeol | reader

⇢ genre: angst + smut + fluff

⇢ word count: 14,101 (this one’s a lil beast)

⇢ description: on the day of the summer solstice a piece of the sun crashes down to earth and perhaps it was fate that led him to you.

⇢ warnings: handjobs, a bit of a size difference kink, small dom/sub undertones, butchering classical mythology to fit the plot.

It felt like the world was burning at your feet.

That was understandable. It was the morning of the longest day of summer after all. But for the ground to be so hot that the heat speared through the soles of your work boots? That bit was new. You were quite sure your town was hitting an all-new high record for the hottest day of the year.

Even as you cooped yourself in your basement workshop, the sun still seemed to boil you to death. You could only imagine how awful it was outside. But you couldn't afford to stall on your invention. It was either now or never. You were a go big or go home type of person.

Today was the big day. The Summer Solstice. And even though you couldn't be bothered by your town's usual theatrics and a false sense of grandeur, this was the one event you loved. The one event in which you got to showcase your creations and earn a bucketload of exclusive offers from neighboring patrons that came to visit.

The longest day of summer was a huge festival. For one night you got to experience the finest things the world had to offer in your small, somewhat average life. And you loved it. For one day the townspeople put away their reservations towards you and your father and for one day, you allowed yourself to dream of flying away from this tightly-knit prison.

Forcing things into being from scraps and the dregs of society was something that gave you purpose. Something that in a tiny way puts you on the map. Fueled your somewhat childish dream of someday crawling your way out of this labyrinth-Esque settlement.

The first time you snuck into your father's workshop hadn't been by accident. Even though your father had cautioned you away from the basement because he was scared you'd interfere with his process or perhaps worse; injure yourself. But at nine years old there was only so much that could keep your mind from wandering away and the townsfolk weren't exactly forthcoming with letting their heirs and next of kins play with you.

Well, to be honest, most of them didn't welcome you at all. Not that you minded. Not that you cared. They called your father a genius to his face but a madman to his back. But that was fine too. There was a fine line between the two. You thought Little Tommy was quite literally the ugliest baby to be born in the whole wide world and when Little Tommy's mother did something you hated like shoo you away from the front of her bakery, you let her know exactly that.

So yeah, no hard feelings.

But your father's workshop had always felt like the hottest place on earth. If not for that fact that you'd been so utterly bored with schoolwork and the fantasy book you'd been able to sneak out of the library, you doubted you'd even have wanted to step foot in the dark, sweltering ass crack of hell. But if you were anything it was determined.

Some might call you stubborn. Some may even call it foolishness on your part. But you know that it was destiny. A reckoning. Fate. Maybe even a homecoming of sorts. Because in there you found your true passion. Something that tied you ephemerally to this world.

In that workshop, you saw your father create things that no one had ever dared or tried to before. But of course, he did. That was the whole reason they called him a madman by night.

In fact, you were quite certain that the townspeople revered and feared him at the same time. After all, there was still a rumor going 'round that he'd been the one to orchestrate and invent the quintessential labyrinth town you lived in. But that was a different story, one you didn't care to tell. And one you believed — at the time — didn't affect you at all.

You've been wrong about many things. Your father had made it a point to let you know in every way of what you lacked and in what you failed in. But also in what you thrived. And building, no, inventing, came easily to you. Like you'd been born for it. More than destiny, more like preordained. You didn't have a choice, didn't even want one. And you'd been helpless to stop it.

But now the workshop was your life. You lived in it, breathed it and in a sense maybe you worshipped it. It gave you a sense of being after all. The whole town could isolate you, and that they did expertly, but they still hammered down your doorstep for your helpful creations that helped ease the way of life.

You both loved and loathed how much they depended on you but it was what it was. You tried not to let it bother you much anymore.

After numerous hours of grinding at your workstation, and perfecting your latest design, you climbed out of the heated workshop basement and welcomed the fresh breeze of the cool air outside.

You'd been working on a new device that would help speed up the process of washing your daily wear. At the moment the mechanics were quite frankly the best they could ever be, but you were tinkering with it for the utmost perfection for tonight. Hell, you'd already picked out an apt name for it: The Washy-Washer. Okay, yes, it did sound a bit silly, a bit ridiculous, but you weren't going to call it the hand-washer. You cringed solely at the thought.

But you needed a break. Your back was killing you and you were quite literally tired of washing all of your socks. Even if the machine did do most of it.

You took a deep breath and fixed your gaze on the sun. It was calm and quiet in this part of town. The outskirts. But the sun was always loud. At least to you. It always felt as if the sun was trying to burn out your eyes and no matter how much you wanted to look away, you couldn't. It demanded your attention. And you gave it because what else could you do?

It wasn't like the sun was especially pretty, or particularly different than any other sun you'd seen in the last early twenty-something years of your life. But it wasn't like the sun was ugly either, so you didn't mind looking at it. Even if it did hurt your eyes.

And just like every other day, you raised a palm to the sky and imagined yourself grasping the burning sun in your hands. You imagined it would feel like a hot coal on your skin, a little bit reinvigorating but with a whole lot of pain. You wondered if it was a good thing that you thought you'd like that.

And like what had become your new normal, you daydreamed of creating wings like the birds you envied. Wings that could take you anywhere you wanted. Wings that could actually fly. The dream had been plaguing you for weeks like a disease. Visions of you donning on misshapen not-even-close-to-sturdy wings and just soaring. You weren't quite sure where you'd fly to. Maybe you'd just go until you were too tired to move.

"You are going to turn into a field of ash," the charismatic yet sarcastic voice of the town's resident homebody (and the only person that responded to your flyer looking for a housemate) yelled from inside the house.

You guess you were getting predictable these days. Too much staring at the sun and getting almost sunburnt and less of hiding in your workshop.

"The weather's trying to murder me out here," you grumbled as you pushed the creaky front door open and tapped the dirt from the bottom of your boots. "And that's how you treat me?"

Kyungsoo looked up from stirring the pot he had on the stove to shoot you an exasperated look. You had half the mind to tell him of how domestic he looked just to mess with him. "I'm preventing you from dying a sudden and painful death."

"I put a roof over your head."

"Well, I pay rent and I feed you."

It wasn't like you could you beat that. You couldn't cook for the life of you. When your father had been alive he had handled all the cooking for fear of you burning water. And when he'd married, his new wife Nau had taken over the role.

Nau was a nice woman. Although you thought sometimes that she treated you a bit too much like you were her biological daughter and not her extended family. It was fine though because at least she talked to you. Plus she told all her townie friends about the stuff you created. And she made a bomb fish-tail soup.

When your father died, she'd resorted to dropping off a weekly supply of cooked meals at your door. But with Kyungsoo around, the need had for it had practically stopped. And even though you would never tell her, Kyungsoo's cooking was way more phenomenal than hers. But you had manners, albeit a little rusty.

"You can't hold food over my head. That's just wrong." You made your way to the sink and washed the grime off your hands and face. "Plus, I gave you a friend discount when I fixed your calculator last week."

"True. But it is easy to get the friend discount when I’m your only friend," he easily replied as he moved and dumped two servings of what looked like and smelled like his signature fried rice.

You smiled to yourself. If only your dad could see you now. Making friends? Well, a friend. Singular. The town wasn't completely shitty. But Kyungsoo wasn't fond of the place either. You weren't exactly sure what caused him to uproot his life from the middle of the town where he was revered as a young chef-like god. But when he'd taken you up on your offer to be housemates to help reduce living costs six months ago, you can't say you minded.

He was a pretty easy going person and all he ever seemed to do was cook.

"So, are you still not going to have your own stall for the solstice?" You asked after you thanked him for the food and the two of you had retreated to the table set for two.

Kyungsoo shrugged, dropping his utensil to run a hand through his cropped short inky hair. "No cooking for large people ever again. They never appreciate it anyway. I'm going to be a normal person at the festival. You know, I hear the fireworks at the end are amazing."

They were. Your father used to be in charge of the mass production of them for the event. "Yeah. They're like big exploding balls of magic."

He smiled ruefully. "Can't wait."

The two of you finished your food in silence and by the time you were done you were already back to absently dreaming about wings and flying. It was abnormal the way you were fixated on it. Building wings won't be easy, heck if they were even remotely doable someone would've done it already. But it felt like an itch on your skin. Almost like you had to at least try.

Perhaps when the party was over you'd dive headfirst into it and start researching how you would even go about it. It wasn't like you had the arm strength to keep flapping your arms like a crazed person through the damn sky.

If Kyungsoo noticed your lack of speaking, he didn't mention it. And when you'd finished washing the dishes and placing them to dry. You turned to find him sifting through a handful of mail on the table. He'd been getting a ton of letters from former customers that begged him to come back and reopen his restaurant. He promptly discarded them in the bin immediately after.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"You'd just ask me anyway, regardless of my answer."

True. But you like you'd said 'manners.' "You ever think about flying?"

He peered up from the littered papers. "Thinking about inventing some kind of flying death trap?"

"Hah hah hah. Jokes on you when I actually do it." You scoffed at him. Did he think you couldn't do it? You'd show him. You weren't sure how but you would. "You'd beg me to make one for you to fly out of this hellhole too."

"Well, when you put it like that I can't, in good conscience, discourage you from it. Even though I know it's a very bad idea."

"A bad idea? Nay, I say. It's the best I've ever had!"

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at your boastful demeanor. "Where would you even fly to?"

You didn't even have to think about it. "The sun."

You'd get up close and personal with the beast that beat down on your skin day in day out. It'd hurt like hell, you knew that. But you didn't care. You weren't planning on kissing the sun or anything. Just somewhere close to it. Maybe it'd cure you off your dreams of having your body floating in a bright, hellish landscape.

Maybe flying close enough to the sun just once would be enough. You'd come back down. It'd be the greatest achievement of your whole life. Your magnum opus. You weren't trying to die but there was a whole world up there that was calling out to you like a siren at sea. And you were going to fly. You swore on it.

Even if it meant you crash-landed from space back to earth.

The Summer Solstice celebrations had already been in full swing for a few hours by the time you and Kyungsoo made it to the heart of the town. The festivals were never all that lavish or even truly a feat of major grandiose but more of a holiday to the small community. The neighboring towns visited annually and it made good to the vineyards when everyone was drunk around the bonfire with golden and russet marigolds braided into their hairs.

Colorful streamers were erected around the sides of the cobblestone roads, the sun was on the precipice of setting with the sky marred in a beautiful match of blue, orange and purple. You watched as little kids you didn’t know and old people you did flocked round in queues at various booths marveling at the creative food options.

You stopped by numerous stalls and stands that piqued your interest. Maybe it was because it was the solstice that made all the snacks taste even more heavenly than normal. Or maybe the bolstering heat had finally fried your head.

You were having fun hauling the Washy-Washer around and having people ask you what the hell it was. You’d packed a bountiful amount of socks for the demonstrations.

And when you walked away with a cold snack in your hand and a customer swearing from here to the moon that they’ll be at the shop tomorrow to pick up an order; a burst of pride swelled in your chest. Big enough for you to join in on the crowd’s summer singing. A while after you’d finished your word-of-mouth promotion, you even sold the very one you’d brought out with you.

Kyungsoo and you watched as hundreds of fellow young adult townsfolk flooded the streets decked out head to toe with the most glitzy, sheer and barely covering cloths available. It was hot and it was a festival, so no one particularly cared.

But you guess you stuck out like a sore thumb in your practical shorts and thin tank. But you weren’t part of the show so it didn’t really matter. Plus the outfits of the solstice attendees were so bizarre that you dressing a tad normal wasn’t cause for alarm. And you guessed Kyungsoo was having fun because he was running his mouth talking about the essence and the umami of a popsicle… He was learned like that.

Pushing through the crowds, you made the most of the festival. It was a bright thing. With paper lanterns floating around and above. People didn’t make an effort to seek you out in conversation but you cracked enough jokes with your friend to forget about that. Later on, Kyungsoo had been rightfully cornered by his old friends and you had given him your permission to go forth and get ultimately wasted. You promised him that you’d get drunk telepathically as well. He’d laughed.

By the time you had made it to the bonfire in the middle of the Town Square, you almost felt as if you were like everyone else. Paying for overpriced solstice marketed booze, your body felt like you were soaring. Free. You got close enough that you felt the flames of the bonfire licking and dancing across your skin and it was almost ironic how homely you felt with it.

And like year after year, the solstice let everyone shed their inhibitions. But just as the night was getting even wilder, you knew it was time for you to head back home. You could tell when you weren’t wanted. And You were pushing it without Kyungsoo by your side. People thought you were a bit mad like your father.

You won’t lie. He had been dedicated to his craft and defied the world at every turn. But he had also been a little insane. Perhaps that was where you got your stubbornness bordering on self-destruction.

You were already busy crocking up ways in which you’d start building your wings on your way back home. It was going to be a long journey to get something even manageable but you’d do it. The closer you got to your house, the less of the bustling town you heard. It was almost as if the bright festival didn’t reach your part of town. Like you were hidden in the ultimate cloak of darkness.

But that was fine. Because one day you’d have wings. One day you’d fly out of here like a bat out of hell.

And just as a droopy smile made its way to your face there came a blinding light followed by a loud and resounding thud. It shook the very core of the earth, all the way up to the enamel of your teeth.

You could swear that the sheer brightness of the light alone burnt your retinas clean off. Before you could even process what was going on, your body felt like it was incinerating from the inside. It was so hot around you that you weren’t just sweating profusely, you were melting. There was no other word for it. You clawed at your arms in a bid to do something, anything, but the mass of slick sweat on it caused your palms to slip and slip.

God, you were going to burn to death. You were screaming before you realized it. It felt like the sun was right next to you. Instead of you flying to it, it had come right down to you. And you were going to go out in a cloud of ashy dust.

But just as quickly as the heat had flamed your skin, it was gone. Leaving only the stinging sensation of your skin and tears cooling on top of your cheekbones. The cool night air caressed your skin like a salve and you whimpered a little.

What in the burning hell was that?

You were afraid. You squeezed your eyes and hugged your body. You hadn’t even realized that you had fallen to your knees. To make matters worse, your heart was beating so loudly in your ears that it overpowered all the weak sobs from falling from your lips.

Gods, you absolutely did not want to open your eyes to whatever was out there. You’d rather run blindly all the way back home.

Maybe you were cursed? Your father had told you that the gods’ anger and wrath were fickle things. Easy to provoke and swift to enact. But what on earth could you have done to deserve it? Ah, maybe if you could just open your eyes a little bit. A tiny fraction. Practically minuscule. You won’t even notice.

But when you finally managed to peel your eyelids open, you were confronted with someone kneeling right in front of you. His frame was so big that it dwarfed you and made you feel even smaller. It was undeniable that this person right in front of you wasn’t from around here. You’d never met him, never even seen him before. You’d know if you had. He had a kind of face people got mesmerized by and subsequently spent years trying to recreate it in all their art or died trying. Dramatic shit like that.

“This was not supposed to happen,” he said, his voice breathless and airy like wind and yet deep and soul bending like rock.

Huh, funny how just as you were finally catching your bearings, the hair on your arms decided to prickle to prim attention like he was inspecting them.

“Yeah?” That’s all you got? A yeah? Gods, someone throw you in a hole. You cleared your throat as you turned your gaze anywhere but his face. “Well, I swear I don’t usually burst out crying on the street like a madwoman.”

“No, no. That would be my fault.” Now that captured your attention with vice-like intensity. “I didn’t anticipate just how much heat I would give off when I reached down. Humans are sensitive. I’m very sorry if I hurt you. It is my first time on land. I’ll do better next time,” he sounded remorseful but your face scrunched up more as his words registered.

Huh. Maybe your hearing was off because what did he mean by literally anything he’d just said… Firstly, him? Hurt you? Sure he was as big as your bed frame back home and yeah, you’d never met him before. And of course, you were wary of strangers but him? He looked like he could barely hurt the ground he walked on. Squinting your eyes at him, you scrutinized his all-white attire.

Frankly, he looked like a prince. With the way, he held himself up with a dignity that just screamed regality. And even his knee that was on the ground didn’t appear to have a single stain on the white slacks. There was no royal court in your town but from the books you’d read, you imagined he was what they dressed like. With pearly white rings adorning his fingers and a tiny strip of an embellished white gold band wrapped around his tanned forehead that was framed by his blondish almost white hair.

You swiped the back of your index finger above your top lip to remove the sweat that had built up there. “There’s going to be a next time?”

He smiled, a wild thing it was because it felt like the sun was beaming straight out from his teeth. Gods, how white were those things? Did he bleach them?

“It depends. If I don’t do anything stupid while I’m here I’m sure Father would allow me to come back. He allows my siblings to fly down all the time.” He sounded almost petulant at the fact and then like he was talking to himself, his voice quieted but perhaps he’d never practiced whispering before because his voice was still way above hearing range. “But I’m sure even they have never almost charred a human down to nothing.”

“You felt that too, didn’t you?” You barely understood what was going on as is, but he was right in front of you. Like he’d been born out of the heat.

His eyes fluttered from the top of your head to your shaking hands to your knees now scuffed from the ground. “Felt what?”

“Oh, you know the blazing inferno that just swept through here.”

“Ha, I do not know of what you speak of.”

“I’m a lot of things… dumb isn’t one of them.” You forced yourself to ignore the stinging in your knees as you rose to your full height. He did the same. “Now, I don’t know what you are and I don’t really care but, did one of the gods send you? I hear Zeus can be a bit of a bitch.”

You were right about one thing, this man towered over you for sure. You always thought you were kind of tall, but he would need to lift you by your armpits to even be on the same eye level. You didn’t know how to feel about that but you weren’t scared.

“No one sends me except Father. Sometimes it is necessary. Like now,” he said not even remotely disturbed by your accusations. “I do not speak ill of Zeus but he can be, how you say bitch but respectfully?”

You gawked at him with half the mind to laugh. Actually, you were pretty sure a few giggles escaped your lips. You? Giggling? This night was only getting trickier and weirder. You blamed the booze. It was the only reasonable culprit in all this. Surely, this man did not just ask you for a more polite version of such a nasty word.

“You’re a funny one.” You tried and failed to keep the amusement out of your voice.

“Or perhaps humans are just easily entertained,” he replied but he was smiling as well. He angled his head and peered around the dark road, almost like he was expecting to see something extraordinary burst out. “I thought tonight is the first day of estival? That is why I chose today to come down.”

“Oh, you mean the solstice festival?” You followed his gaze around the steep and vanishing road behind you. “If you still want to catch the end of it, you’d have to walk a long way deeper.”

There wasn’t much to look at down these parts of town. A scrap metal yard was located a few miles to your right behind another valley. But there was a good number of brick houses milling about. Not everyone could afford to live in the affluent and bustling heart of the town and not everyone even wanted to. Your house was about ten more minutes away but you couldn’t see it from here.

You wondered what this very strange man thought of when he looked around the land especially when the lanterns that outlined the street were few in between and flickering like their lives were one breath away from being completely snuffed out.

He turned his gaze back to you and you felt as his eyes commanded your body to attention. For some reason, he seemed a bit sad. “I see.”

“Well, if you run you could probably still make it. If that’s the reason you came into town then you shouldn’t miss it. The fireworks go on for most of the night. You can see them from here but it’s always better up close.”

“You will not go?” He asked, his head cocking to the side.

You grinned. “Nope. I’ve got to sleep the alcohol out. Tomorrow I start on my magnum opus.”

You weren’t sure if he quite understood what you meant but he nodded his head all the same. And it was then you really realized that even though the night was dark and the lanterns were dim, he seemed to glow. His skin alone appeared to shimmer and bleed light. And although it wasn’t bright enough to burn, it felt to you like he was blazing.

He didn’t say anything in response and when you started to feel the trickle of awkwardness slip down your spine you swiveled your eyes to the side. “I’ll just get going now.”

Quickly, you pivoted on your heel and began the stroll to your house. It wasn’t like you needed to know this mystery man. And you could chock the burning episode your body experienced earlier to the alcohol messing up with your system. Yeah, that was it. Of course, it was! If after a night of fitful rest it came again, then and only then would you make a big deal out of it.

You hummed to yourself on your way back and for some inane reason, you had a bit more pep in your step. Like your talk with the mystery man invigorated you or something. But that couldn’t be true, you’d only just met him and you didn’t even know his name.

Hah, you felt like you could start on your wings project right this second. A clear mind and non-intoxicated emotions be damned. You’d already started preliminary sketches of how you wanted it to look like. Soon, you were going to head out to the scrap yard and sift for materials. Hopefully, you found things good enough.

You were in a good mood. One of the bests since your father died last spring. Your father had been your only companion for a long time. And he’d been your everything. Your role model, your shining light. The one that believed in you more than you believed in yourself. And although you’d admit, he had fueled your stubbornness to the point of annoyance, but he’d been your best friend.

And today, almost a year and a half later it felt like you were finally releasing a breath you’d held in for so long.

But you must have been crazy out of tune with the outside world because you did not realize that there was a second silhouette following closely behind you. It wasn’t until you’d fished your copy of the house keys from your pockets and had already begun the act of shoving them into the keyhole that the presence behind dawned on you.

You flipped around, ready to claw the person’s eyes out with your bare hands if it got down to that only to meet the same brown eyes you’d just left down at the crossroads.

It appeared that this man was getting more tangled with you than you’d anticipated.

“Did you get lost or something?” You sighed as you relaxed your stance a tad. The sleepy part of drinking was quickly catching up to you. “This is really far from the festivities.”

He blinked at you. Once. Twice. And then scanned your old mismatched, creaky door that you’d sworn you’d get changed after your father had died but procrastination got even the best of you. He didn’t seem repulsed by it but you thought it contrasted too deeply against his pristine white clothes. Was it possible for the wood to scuff his fitted embroidered mantle? He stuck out so much in front of your house but he didn’t seem to care about that at all.

“The first person we meet on land is our fatum. I stay with you till I find what I was sent for.” He said in lieu of an explanation. He poked a finger into the sliver of space between his neck and his collared shirt and pulled the garment nervously. “At least that’s what Father and the rest of my brothers said.”

Fatum? You weren’t quite sure what that word meant. But you remembered that he’d spoken about this mission he’d been sent here for. You wondered if he was like you in a way. Perhaps he only had his father and his siblings. Maybe this was his first time leaving his village?

Sure, his sentences were a bit weird and it sounded like you and him were on way two different pages. Because what did any of that have to do with you? You had yet to leave the town. That was probably why you were obsessed with the notion of flying over. But he didn’t look poor or desolate. If anything, he looked like a king surveying over his subjects.

“I still don’t get what you mean by any of that but okay, let’s say I believe you. What were you sent for?”

He cocked his head to the side innocently. “I do not know.”

Gods, you were getting a headache. You suddenly wished you hadn’t partaken in some of the indulgences of the night. Alcohol was definitely not helping your situation right now. You weren’t drunk per se but you could already feel a truck of nausea knocking on your door.

“Then how would you know when you’ve found what you were sent over here for?” Never mind the fact that you couldn’t babysit this man you’d never met. You were going to be super busy fulfilling orders and building wings. “Plus normal people don’t just let random strangers follow them around. I don’t even know your name! Some might even call this stalking.”

“I have many names,” he slid his index finger away from bruising the collar of his shirt, ignoring your first question. “But you may call me Chanyeol. And I will not stalk you for I do not really know what that is.”

“Really?” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“Truly.”

“Okay then, Chanyeol. How long are you in town for? And just so you know, I still don’t buy whatever it is your selling.”

“I will be here ’til the end of summer.” Looking you up and down like he suddenly questioned your sanity, he added. “I am not selling anything.”

Odd. This man was very odd. But you had no idea why his oddness was causing the corners of your lips to tilt upwards. Maybe it was because of how serious yet endearing he looked. Or maybe the heat did fry your brain and all your sense of self-preservation and reasoning.

“Is this about the house-sharing offer I put up in the community board?” You rolled your eyes as you crossed your arms across your chest. “That was months ago and I already found someone. I’m sure if you ask someone else they’ll let you room and board with them if you’re willing to pay rent.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

You swore on your left boot that you saw a ghost of a smirk dance across his lips. “Would you let me stay with you if I pay rent?”

Hah. You couldn’t tell if the booze was making everything funnier or what. But he really was funny, this Chanyeol. And dazzling. You would’ve thought he was a living, breathing star.

“Maybe.”

And like you were in a trance, you watched as he reached up to his forehead and carefully unclasped the white jeweled crown-like headband. He held it out to you like you’d even know it’s worth. You stretched out a palm and he dropped it gently. The lingering heat from his body slithered up the skin of your arm.

Chanyeol beamed at you as if he’d just solved all the problems. “Would that be enough?”

To be honest, you weren’t sure. It wasn’t like you carried a human gem to a currency calculator in your head. But when you looked at the band closely, you could tell that the gems were at least real. And the gold wasn’t fake either. Maybe you’d take it downtown and get it looked at. Maybe.

Wait, you couldn’t possibly be considering his offer, could you? And what were you going to tell Kyungsoo? That you just upped and got a new housemate on a whim? Plus no one in town even knew him. Or at least you didn’t. You could handle yourself in a fight but you wouldn’t be able able to do anything if he killed you in your sleep.

Gah, you were tired.

“May I ask what Fatum goes by?” Chanyeol was still smiling. Almost like that was his default setting. You wondered if he truly was happy about all this.

Fatum this. Fatum that. What the ever-loving hell did Fatum even mean?

“You mean what’s my name?” You turned back to your front door and kicked it open. After you’d told him, you let him enter your home. “My name is not Fatum.”

Chanyeol’s tall and lithe body made the space inside your home feel that much smaller. In fact, he seemed to make everything next to him appear to shrink. But he looked around your old house like it was a thing of beauty. You were beginning to doubt if he saw the things you saw. Your house wasn’t ugly by any means but it had definitely seen better days.

“Okay, [y/n],” he conceded but you could hear the barely thought Fatum at the end.

Shaking your head you pointed at the longest couch you had that was placed right in front of the window. “You sleep there tonight.”

He nodded and you didn’t wait around to see if he settled in nicely or not. You weren’t going to think about this weird night any more than necessary. Instead, you were going to go pass out and tomorrow you would kick him out. It left an awful taste in your mouth to leave him stranded and abandoned outside in a foreign town. But that was the extent of your generosity.

And it was with great effort that you decided to not crawl up the stairs to where your room was situated. It took, even more, to not fall on your face. Gods, you swore you’d never drink again.

Tomorrow you would hand him his, clearly expensive, headband back and ask him to leave your mundane life in peace.

But there was a thought nagging and poking you incessantly in the back of your mind. That there was something about him that was tied to you. And the just the fact that you’d already accepted his price meant something you couldn’t yet fathom. Like you’d sold your soul to an unknown.

That night you dreamt of flying like you always did. Soaring and nimbly twisting through an orange and purple-hued sky. It was beautiful. But then you’d reach a point where no matter how many times you pushed yourself upwards, your body kept falling. The wind pressure feeling like crushing boulders on your neck as you struggled. Over and over again.

That night you dreamt that the wings you hadn’t even built yet had already broke.

You woke up with a scratchy throat and a light strum in your bones.

Last night felt more like a personal hallucination than reality. There was no way you’d allowed this Chanyeol person to stay in your house. Your brain didn’t even let you dive into dissecting the meanings of his words yesterday.

He was so freaking weird, you thought to yourself as you stifled a yawn and sat up on your tiny bed. Your hair was a mess since you’d been so out of it that you’d forgotten to braid it in for the night. So that meant you spent a good half an hour teasing the strands out of its convoluted mess. It was a torrid and teary affair.

By the time you’d washed up and gotten ready for the day it was already close to noon. You doubted Kyungsoo would’ve come hone already which meant you had to go down and scavenge for something to eat before you headed down to the scrap yard.

Today was going to be great.

Whistling to yourself mindlessly, you took the stairs two at a time. But when you jumped the last step and landed at the foot of the staircase you belatedly realized that two voices were coming from the kitchen. But that couldn’t be right.

Feeling like you were an intruder in your own home, you gingerly crept closer to the open door that led to Kyungsoo’s claimed area only to see the man you’d told yourself was a hallucination and your housemate. And to make matters even more bizarre, Kyungsoo didn’t look like he was even a tiny bit disturbed by his prescience. What?

“If you’re going to stand there and pretend like you can’t see us, breakfast for you goes straight to the dogs.” Kyungsoo was the first to pierce through your confusion.

You stepped into the kitchen, eyes wide as you stared at Chanyeol like he was wrong to be here. You pointed a finger at him. “You.”

The piece of bread that he was about to stuff in his mouth hung idly from his fingers. It bothered you how at home he looked at your house. And now that you looked at him from the glow of the midday sun, he didn’t look as princely as he had last night. What with his white garments traded for a very comfortable blueish loose pants and a baggy shirt. You wondered where the hell he got a change of clothes from.

Chanyeol’s spine went ramrod straight in the dining chair. “Me.”

Your left eye twitched. “You can’t stay here.”

“I-”

“Sure he can,” Kyungsoo interrupted from his seat at the table. “He says you took his rent for three months.”

You gawked at Chanyeol and you almost threw yourself across the table when you noticed how smug his smile looked. This couldn’t be happening. You didn’t even have an extra room.

“I can stay on the couch. I don’t mind,” Chanyeol replied.

You must have posed your question out loud. Gods, you were going insane. And since when did Kyungsoo side with random strangers over you?

“He’s not random.” Kyungsoo didn’t look up from his food as he pointed to the plate he’d fixed for you on the counter. “And you can’t kick him out. You were complaining last month about being short on money. Maybe you should use him. No offense, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol nodded and you almost threw your shoe at the side of his head. “No worries, Land Brother.”

Land brother… yeah, maybe you shouldn’t think too much about all this. ‘Cause the more you tried to rationalize it, the more bizarre the whole situation got. If Kyungsoo was okay with him, maybe he truly was harmless? It was true that you were running low on funds. So many things in the house needed repairs and repairs cost a pretty penny. Plus, he was okay with the shitty couch. He couldn’t be that bad, could he?

Muttering to yourself, you grabbed the plate of eggs and toast. You hated eggs but you could never bring yourself to seem ungrateful. So, you dumped your butt into the third chair and begrudgingly had your first meal of the day.

Chanyeol looked eagerly from you and Kyungsoo and when you couldn’t take it anymore you barked out a “What?”

He cleared his throat. “What do we do we do today, [y/n],” he said your name carefully like it was something delicate.

You scrunched your nose at him. “We do nothing. I, on the other hand, will be going scrapping.”

“Scrapping?” He titled his head to the side. He did that a lot. Like you were the confusing one.

“I’m searching for materials I will need to create a set of wings.” You forced the last bit of eggs into your mouth and swallowed without breathing. “You can do whatever you want.”

You finished the rest of your food in record time before thanking Kyungsoo. Chanyeol thanked him as well. You adjusted the buckles of your overalls. Chanyeol retied the laces of his stretchy pants that you still wondered where they’d come from. You stuck your socked feet into your boots that you’d placed next to the front door. Chanyeol gracefully wore his white shoes from last night.

You pretended he wasn’t right next to you but it was impossible with how broad he was. His height alone blocked the sunlight and cast a shadow upon you. But he was smiling so eagerly like a puppy that was being let out for the first time.

Pushing through the front door, you allowed him to catch up with you. Reluctantly at first, you began pointing out your neighbors’ houses and the few things about your side of town that you thought were interesting enough. But every time you peered you at him for his reaction, he looked amazed. And soon enough, you got into your role as a self-appointed tour guide.

“Over there’s the Old Well. I fell into it when I was a kid and it hurt but it wasn’t too bad. I wasn’t afraid of the water or anything. My father got me out pretty quick too.”

A few of the townspeople had stopped to stare at Chanyeol but you were beginning to understand that he didn’t understand his effect on people. Maybe he was used to it, but you weren’t. The feeling of many eyes leering at you made you feel off.

“You only have your father. Like me.”

“Yeah.”

“Is that why you want to fly?” He halted his steps and although you were the one in the lead, you complied. “This magnum opus of yours. Does it have to do with your father?”

You laughed. “’ Course not. I’m doing this because I want to. Actually, it’s more like a calling. I feel like I can’t rest until I’ve done this.”

“Hmm,” he lifted his palm and laid it on your head. It didn’t feel weird. It felt more comforting and soft than anything. You didn’t breathe. “You and I, we’re more alike than you think.”

“H-how so?” You stammered.

Chanyeol leaned in closer and even though you were already holding your breath, you seized up completely. “Yesterday you asked me how I would know what I was sent for, correct?” He did not wait for an answer. “My mission is like a calling. I feel it and I am helpless to stop it. So, I follow it.”

You understood that. That was the one cryptic thing he’d said in hours that you fully understood. You did not dwell on the implications of that. You were too busy staring at his lips. It looked like clouds and when he smiled, sun rays shine through the gap between them.

He pulled his fingers away from your hair and you almost begged him to put it back. What the hell was wrong with you? You were going mad. Chanyeol clasped his arms behind him and tilted his head to the sky and you watched, mesmerized. Even in regular clothes, doing the most normal of things, he appeared almost godlike.

“You can help,” you found yourself saying. “I need all the help I can get anyway.”

His head snapped to you at a dizzying speed. “I accept.”

Time stood still once you’d made this pact with him. You didn’t hear the birds chirping, you didn’t feel the breeze swaying around the two of you as you stood in the eye of a hurricane. Just his eyes on you. Your eyes on him. Nothing else seemed to matter. And that sense of falling vibrated deep in your bones like a warning.

You did not heed. You did not run or cower. For some reason, you embraced it.

It was unprecedented the way Chanyeol slid into your life like a missing piece you didn't know you were missing.

And it was funny how his presence no longer bothered you because he was everywhere. When you woke up in the mornings and hauled ass downstairs. He was right beside you as you delivered Washy-Washer orders. Most of the time he did all the heavy-lifting of materials you found while scrapping. He truly was everywhere.

The only thing that bothered you was how easy it was with him.

Sometimes you found yourself going throughout the whole day preparing for a singular joke just to simply see your best smile of the day grace his face. He laughed at every and anything, granted. But you felt pride when his loud, deep laughs turned into guffaws that shook through his body. The kind of laughter that made him clap his hands together like a seal.

Chanyeol was thoughtful in a way you’d never experienced before. He was always on your side and you couldn't understand why. Or rather, you’d begun to tell yourself that it didn't matter. Because the more you were around him you realized that you didn't particularly mind.

He didn't mind being in the ass crack of hell, AKA your workshop. And to be honest, you thought that was his favorite place in the entire house. But he was always complaining about having to wear a shirt. And not because it was so hot he wanted to shed his skin. It felt like it was the other way around. Like he fed off the heat.

So, it came as no surprise to you when one month in he walked into your workshop shirtless as the day he was born. You almost smashed your finger with the hammer you held.

“No, get out,” you barely managed to speak. “You have to wear a shirt in here.”

“Says who?” These days he was smugger, bolder, and clearly did not care if you spontaneously erupted in a nosebleed.

You struggled to find apt words as you looked everywhere but his damned face. He was way too beautiful for his own good. And careless about it too. You didn't have the most prolific experiences with the opposite sex. None of them really were all that attractive to you.

But Chanyeol. O gods, Chanyeol. It was like he’d brazenly stepped into the starring role in all your fantasies. His chest resembled the washboard you’d previously used to wash your clothes. And by every will of your body, you wanted to lick it. Ah, you were going insane. He was making you insane.

“No. Nope. I’m not doing this with you.” You threw the hammer down and pretended like the haphazard clump of wood and made feathers was phenomenal work compared to the godlike creature you refused to look at.

You could feel his insolent smirk from a mile away. “Come on. You should do it with me.”

“You want me to get naked?” Gods, you were killing yourself here.

He placed a veiny hand on his waist and chided you. “Well, I meant shirtless but I won’t stop you. You can do whatever you want, I won’t mind.”

Please, you were about to commune with the dead at this rate.

Your whole body was on fire. This wasn't the first exchange like this between the two of you. It was getting more and more unbearable. You were going to kick him out of the house before you dissolved into a puddle of embarrassment.

Chanyeol moved closer to you and you swore his body heat was making you dizzy. He used the tip of his finger to lift your face and when your gazes connected, he let go. You still felt the sizzling pad of his finger on your chin.

“You know, I’ve learned a lot of things while on land,” his voice slithered up and down your spine like a wandering serpent. “You like when I’m shirtless. That’s why I continue to do it.”

You’d also learned that Chanyeol was straightforward like that. He didn't beat around the bush much and you wholeheartedly believed that he could not feel embarrassment. Or anger. He was his own filtered bubble.

“Your face never lies, [y/n],” he laughed like the tempter he was.

You glared at him. “Are you making fun of me right now?”

“Never.” He replied instantaneously as he tried to suppress his snicker. He utterly failed.

Hah. This was a very fine line he was dancing on. You didn't think. You crossed it.

“Yeah?” Your voice was getting huskier. You unhooked the buckles of your overalls and let the top of it fall like one big petal around your waist. “You mean if I take this off right now, you won't mind?”

You needed him to call you crazy. You’d never been forward with anyone before. Hell, you weren’t even sure if you were coming off as sexy or demented. There was a thin line between the two. But Chanyeol gulped, visibly. His Adam's apple bobbled with the action. And there was that unknown feeling again. You wanted to bite it. Actually, no. You wanted to bite all of him.

You had no idea where this day was leading but you thanked foresight for the fact that you hadn't been welding today. Not that you ever thought about doing anything secondary in your workshop. But you didn't want to accidentally burn your ass when you threw your inhibitions out of the window.

“If you take it off, I would try not to mind,” he sighed out. All of a sudden, his breath was fanning your forehead, like oxygen to a flame. “And I would fail, miserably.”

“You should mind then. You should mind a lot.”

And like that was your sign to go, one of his hands slipped around the back of your neck and cradled it. “You know I’ve been reading.” He applied enough pressure to bring your face closer to him until your lips were a breath away. “I think I like you a lot more than I know what to do with. You… you feel like home.”

“What?” You said into the silence.

“A star. You feel like the star at the center of my universe.”

“Like the sun?”

He did not answer. And even though your temperature was raging like an inferno, when his lips landed on yours it felt like a calm before the storm.

It took a millisecond to register before your body was pushing into him. Hot desire dancing alongside your veins like an essential need. He was breathing fire into your body. And you were burning spectacularly.

He groaned and you swore the sound alone woke up every nerve ending in your body like a spell. You demanded more. No, you needed it. So you took it. And he gave it to you. He accepted you like it was only natural. Your tongue dived in callously. His tongue was pliant, weak against yours. There was nothing reserved about the way you kissed him. All those lingering looks as the two of you worked side by side. That yearning ache that had dug a hole in your stomach. He’d felt it too. He kissed you back like a man that wanted to engrave his very being into your soul.

“I really like you,” he said as the two of you caught your breaths. Your bodies were so close. So close that when he jutted out his hips, his hardened cock flattened against you like an iron rod. “And I need to know if you like me too because I believe I’m going insane without knowing.”

Sucking in a long breath, you bring your lips back to him and kiss him again. Impossibly deeper now. You hooked an arm around his neck and pushed his body even closer. You did not care anymore. You had no say over your body. It was a monster that acted on its own accord. It ground against him like it was trying to weld the two of you together.

You didn't say this often but, fuck.

Maybe you were a fool. You wanted to ask him a load of things. What did he like about you? Wasn’t he scared? Where did he even come from? Wasn't this all moving too fast? What if he regrets meeting you later on? What was going on? But looking into his eyes it felt like there was only one thing you could say.

“I like you too. Gods, I like you.”

A slow grin lit across his face and it quieted your demons even more. You decided then and there you’d go anywhere it took to bring that smile on his face. Always. It did something to your chest that made it impossible for you to not smile at him like he was a star. The star. The baddest of them all: the sun.

“As I said: I’ve been reading,” his voice a low beat in your chest as his fingers gripped your waist and clenched. You needed out of these clothes. Now. “I want you.”

Then he was going to have you. Every single part of you.

It’s embarrassing fast how the two of you rushed back into the main house. Bursting through like a dam at full capacity with his hands roaming all over you as you kissed. You were floating and you were pretty sure your eyes were dilated to all hell. The inside of the house was a fast blur as you clasped his hand and led him up the stairs to your room.

It wasn't the first time he’d ever been inside but your room was small. Made for one. Chanyeol made your room look like a hermit’s hole. But that didn't matter. Because as soon as you kicked the door shut, your clothes were flying off your body in between kisses that struck your body bolts of lightning. And before you knew it, your back was slammed into the mattress.

Goosebumps pierced through your skin as his fingers came in touch with your naked skin. The sexual tension between the two of you was going to suffocate you but. You. Did. Not. Care. You were suddenly very thankful for your father’s ex-wife, Nau, and how she’d embarrassingly taught you about contraceptives. You’d been steadily taking a local one to help with your period pains. Thank fuck for that.

With a knee on the bed, Chanyeol’s fingers trailed a path from your thighs to your hips to rest like a featherlike band at your ribcage. Your heart wanted to jump out and devour him.

You reached up and undid the piece of string holding his loose pants to his waist with one hand. The other hand was too busy wandering around his chest. Fuck, you moaned louder than you thought possible when his forehead fell against yours. Chanyeol was burning up. Like you but exponentially.

His head shifted into the crook of your shoulder as you began to pump him softly and he groaned so deep that it ricocheted off the walls and it felt like the whole room shook. “Gods, I’m going to die.” His words were accentuated by one of his hands tentatively brushing against your breasts and like he couldn't help it, he splayed his whole fists against them and squeezed.

“If you die, I’ll bring you back,” you said darkly. “You’re not allowed to die.”

Chanyeol smirked slyly down at you. “An honor it would be if I died for you though.”

And then he lowered his head and sucked one of nipples and rolled the bud between his teeth. You didn't think. You couldn't. Your back arched off the bed like a bow ready to release and he didn't stop. He teased one of your breasts with his mouth as he worked the other with his nimble fingers and then he switched. You weren’t going to let him die for you for he was killing you already.

You wanted to cry when he released your bruised tip from his lips but that was nothing compared to the hand teasingly made its way to your clit and ghosted around almost as if to check if you were wet. You were dripping. It wouldn't shock you if you found out you soaked the bed.

Slowly, his hands retracted from your body and gripped the headboard of your bed so hard you saw the veins in his arms bulge and you swore you heard the wood splinter at his fingers just as he pushed into you. He thrust so deep into you that your eyes closed on impulse and you had to hold your breath.

Fuck, you were being split. He was big. Longer and girthier than you’d expected. Gods, you were going to die. His thrusts were slow. Painstakingly. You couldn't breathe. You couldn’t think. You were falling apart on his dick.

“Open your eyes, fatum,” he demanded and you complied without hesitation. “Look at me.”

You thought he was going to go slow for a bit longer as you caught your breath in pants but just as you were getting used to his pace; he hooked one hand across your hip and flexed. He pulled out, shattering fragments of your very soul with him before he slammed back into you with rougher, deeper, and more possessive strokes. He did not move any faster but his rhythm choked you. The force of him broke you down and demanded you submit. And you did, gladly. Without question. You needed him to breathe you like air. You wanted his lips around your whole body all at once. You needed him to not stop. You were on the verge of going cross-eyed with how hard he was fucking you.

His kisses were like savage beasts as he pushed into you. You clasped your legs around his waist and dug him deeper. You could hear yourself whimpering but that couldn't be you. Since when did you whimper?

“Fuck, fuck, Chanyeol.” You sounded like you were praying.

Chanyeol invaded you like an asteroid crashing and yet it felt like you were receiving a gift.

And then his fingers found your core once more and you saw stars dancing in the moonlight as you cried around him. Your whole body trembling from the impact. And like you undid something in him, his whole body tightened as he leaned forward and swallowed your cries with his lips, groaning as he released inside you.

He collapsed on top of you and for a moment you breathed in his intensity. In the silence, there was only the two of you with hearts pounding and mouths panting.

Your stomach caved in when he finally made a move to pull himself out of you. You couldn't even begin to explain the feeling that sparked and ignited in your chest. You’d always believed that sex was just sex. But this was different. Chanyeol pulled you deep into his chest and held you there like you were a piece of his heart.

You didn't realize teardrops had slipped past the corner of your eyes until Chanyeol turned your face to him frantically.

“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” He was so concerned it almost made you want to cry even harder.

“Nothing.” That was the problem.

Maybe you had finally crossed the bridge but somewhere you felt that this, whatever this was with Chanyeol wouldn't last. It felt like you were at the starting and breaking point of everything. You had no idea what you meant and you didn't want to tell him anything.

You wanted to be next to him until you couldn't be anymore. That was all you could do anyway.

“Nothing’s wrong,” You repeated.

“Yeah?” He laughed into your forehead as he leaned into your forehead and kissed it softly.

Yeah.

The three months Chanyeol spent with you felt like three years and then some.

It was almost funny how much time the two of you spent outside in the sun because he absolutely hated being inside. And even though your bed was the tiniest thing, somehow the two of you made it work because he no longer slept on the couch.

But then the end of his stay was rapidly approaching and you weren't exactly sure how to bring up the dilemma that had been poisoning your tongue for weeks. Was he going to just leave you? Did he need to go back home? Couldn't you leave with him? You wanted to leave this hole of a town anyway. Sure you would miss Kyungsoo and Nau but you would send them a carrier pigeon or something. If Chanyeol said the word, you would go anywhere.

However, he wasn't saying anything. In fact, it was as if he’d forgotten that he’d told you that he was only supposed to stay here till the end of summer.

As the two of you tested out your fifth set of redone and recalibrated wings at the large expanse behind your house, you decided to just let it out.

“The last day of summer is soon. Would your father still need you?” Now, why did you sound like a textbook? Gods, this was awkward. Why were you even bringing it up when he didn’t? What were you? A masochist?

Chanyeol stopped helping you fasten the body of the wings to your torso. You couldn't put a finger to the emotions flickering across his face. There were so many of them. For the first time, you saw that he was in turmoil.

“You can tell me anything,” You said, turning your body so you could place a hand on his shoulder. “You know that, right?”

He sucked in his lower lip for a moment before he expelled a long breath. And like he usually did, he fixed his eyes up at the sun. But the sun never seemed to hurt him the same way it did you. “I know it’s just…”

“Come on. I’m here in my wings and you still won’t tell me? What if I fly away from you forever?” You meant for it to be a joke. In fact, you’d already pictured the smile that would grace his beautiful face but you were met with restrained anger.

“Don’t say that,” he spat the words out.

Wait, what? Had you said something wrong? What? This was the first time you’d ever seen Chanyeol angry. You never even knew he had the range. But he looked like what you’d said set him off. He looked furious with his eyebrows drawn so close to the center of his face that it resembled one white block. And if you didn't know any better, you’d say it looked like he was angry… at himself.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” You squeezed his shoulder even tighter as if to remind him that you were there.

Chanyeol’s breathing came out hard but it wasn't from physical exertion. You had no idea what you were supposed to do. “You can’t joke about that. I…” words seemed to fail him because his shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes tightly. “What if I leave you? You know I’m not from around here. What if I leave to a place I can’t come back from? What if I’m never able to come down here again? What if — ”

He cut himself off abruptly and shrugged off your hand. Something ugly and vile twisted in your belly.

“We can go together?” You proposed even though it felt like your gut was being shredded. “If you can't come back here, I’ll just come with you. I can build stuff anywhere. It doesn't have to be here.”

Sorrow. That was the look that washed over Chanyeol’s face like a dark cloud. You couldn't understand what was going on but you were trying to. Where you not allowed where he was from? Maybe it was like a gendered village? That was okay, you could hide or something… You weren't exactly sure what you would do but you were smart. You’d find something. Anything.

“You can’t come.”

“Well, why not?”

“Because you would die, [y/n],” He didn’t, couldn't, look at you. “If you follow me back. You won’t be able to make it because you would die. You can’t die for me. I will not allow it.” His resolve was strong and cutting but he would not look at you.

Your words. He was throwing your words back at you but… “Where is your home, Chanyeol?” You asked the one question you should have asked the first day you met him. Gods, you were so stupid!

“You.”

Funny, a simple word was like a knife being stabbed into your heart. Emotions bubbled up to your lips, so many that you thought you were suffocating. Your heart was begging you to just stop. Ignorance was bliss. Whatever Chanyeol was, it was not peace.

“Where is your home?” You weren't screaming but it felt like your throat was parched and scrubbed raw.

And when he finally looked up from the ground, you thought for the last time that he was a prince. No, a King.

He did not speak but he lifted a hand that you had numerous memories of fitting yours into the sky and pointed to the glaring sun. And you did not understand but you immediately knew and you hated it. And at this very moment in time, you hated him. You wanted to push him and pull him closer to you at the same time.

You looked up at the sun and you had half the heart to spit at it.

“Please tell me I did not fall in love with a piece of the sun.” Your bottom lip quivered and you hated that too. “You’re human. You don’t belong to the gods. I know you, Chanyeol. You're not… you can’t be from there.”

You were holding in your tears like they were the end of the world. To you it was. You won't cry. You dared not to. This wasn't happening. Crying made it real. Crying meant your heart was breaking right unto the sandy floor under your feet in your very own backyard. On your turf.

From your gaze at the ground, you saw as Chanyeol’s bare feet scuffled away from you till he was a good seven feet away. What was up with this stupid distance?

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” There was no way he was crying but was that a hitch you heard in his voice? You raised your head to check and you almost laughed.

The two of you were way too alike for your own good.

There he was; standing prickly straight as he sucked in his breath so much that his chest brazenly prodded his loose shirt. And you couldn't hate him. Not when he was struggling through the same thing as you. He was the only one that understood and he was doing his best to not fall apart in front of you. And you didn’t even need to see them to know that he was holding back his emotions with an iron fist that was cracking.

“Don't apologize. You didn’t lie to me. You were honest. I just didn't understand. You said some very weird things but that was you. It didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I thought it didn't.”

“But if I go Father…” he tore his gaze to the side but quickly brought it back to you. “I don’t know what he would do. Gods’ are a bit bitchy, you know?” He smiled half wry, half in irony.

You let out a sound in between a cry and a laugh. “That’s fine. We’ll work it out. We’ll — ”

You never got to complete your sentence. Like a novel that did not have an ending, you watched as, in the bright light of noon, Chanyeol was struck with a bolt of light so bright that you had to close your eyes for a second and throw your hands up blindly. The heat was scorching even from this distance. And when you opened your eyes as fast as you possibly could, you realized that the light was from him.

It was then that you understood everything.

Chanyeol was the sun. Not a part of it. Not a piece. It was his being. His core. His very sense of self.

But why did he look so terrified?

“What’s going on?” You screamed at him as he maniacally clawed at his skin like he was on fire. But the sun could not burn, could it?

“I do not know!” He looked at you and his terror became your own.

Something was wrong. Something was happening and you didn't know how to stop it. You wanted to hug him but when you made a move to him, he screamed raw bloody for you to not take a single step. You were in between a rock and a fiery place.

“You can’t come next to me, [y/n].” He was in pain. You felt in from the curl of your hair to the leather of your boots. “I can't control what’s going on. But I’m okay. I don’t know what’s wrong but I’ll be okay, yeah?”

Chanyeol was combusting. He was burning out right in front of you and he wanted you to stand still? Fuck that. Fuck everything. You loved him. You would do anything. You were going to hold him down to this world even if you had to give up your hands that you loved so much.

However, all of a sudden Chanyeol tilted his head and you swore you saw the moment he communicated with whoever was above because he looked furious for one second, and the very next he shot you a calming smile. Like you mattered. Like he was trying to placate you in all this.

You were running before you couldn't think about it.

And your hand was reaching out to him with every breath you had and just as your fingers clutched the fabric of his blazing shirt, you felt the warmth he released close around you. It cradled you through your pain. It felt safe. It felt like you were dying. It felt like forever.

Instantly, there was a loud boom, a bang and then the hottest rush of air that blew past you like a caress.

Your palm was burned. His love burned. You were wailing at the world. You hated everything. You loved him so much. Your palm was bleeding. GODS, EVERYTHING HURT. Make it stop, you were begging. Please. I’d do anything Please. The pain was making you scream like a bitch.

You didn’t know what to do. You wanted to die. You wanted to be reborn. But the world did not give second chances. You were going to pry it out with your scorned hand and strangle your chance out. You were going to beat your destiny with a stick. You vowed it. As you cried out in pain, you promised that you would break every rule. You won't wait. You’ll fly.

Kyungsoo was the one to find you.

Passed out, dehydrated and bruised in more ways than one. But you were a phoenix that was born out of the ashes.

You knew a part of you was gone as Chanyeol was taken from you. Your emotions were all over the place. One minute you were unfeeling and the very next an overwhelming sense of rage inflamed your body. You wanted to burn the very ground you walked on. You rummaged through your room until you found the tiny piece of him you had left. His white gold headband. You made Kyungsoo tie it ‘round your head and you never took it off.

It did not help that your palm took longer than three weeks to heal. It was an ugly scar. But it reminded you of him so, when you slept at night, you gritted through the pain and the memories and held the palm close to your chest. Right over your heart. It was fitting.

And by the time your palm had healed enough, it felt like you’d aged a thousand years. Kyungsoo could not understand what was going on and you refused to talk. If you told him, he would only discourage you. And you would truly lose your mind if someone told you what you could and could not do.

But your friend was right there. He never left. Even when you were mean, he still hoped that one day he won't need to drop food outside of your bedroom door because you would not come downstairs. How where you supposed to sit at that table and not see the ghost of Chanyeol falling over the chair as he laughed like a bear?

Maybe someday you would get better. Today was not that day.

For the first time in ages, you walked into your workshop and inhaled. It was time to work.

You built and rebuilt your wings from scratch. The wooden ones never got off the ground, not even for a second. The metal one almost sawed off your arm completely but you never gave up. You were restless and you couldn’t sleep. When you slept you saw him and your hand burning. You were plagued by it. It hurt, so you did not do it anymore. Sleep only came when you were exhauseted.

The hybrid wings weren’t beautiful. A mismatch of wood and alloy. But when you jumped off the roof of the tiny shed at the back of the house. You flew. Or maybe the right word is floated. You floated for a good thirty seconds before you landed painfully on bloody knees.

“Fuck,” you spat.

Your knees hurt but it took your mind away from the present. You had to come up with something fast, You had to do something before you ran out of gas, before you burned out.

Perhaps that is why from the dregs of your mind you remembered something your father had done when you were younger.

When you were nine, you stepped into your father’s workshop for the first time. It was hot as if the middle of the earth was right there in the basement. And when you walked in, after banal arguments about safety with your father, he let you watch him as he created the greatest thing known to man.

Your father had been creating wings.

He’d never completed it and you’d been so young that it didn’t matter to you that he never did. But now as you rush back down the steps into your basement, you wonder if maybe this is fate. Maybe fate wasn't something spontaneous but rather a series of unfortunate events that we only hoped ended in less pain.

You pushed open the back door within the basement that led to your father’s workshop. You hadn't set foot in here since he’d died. It smelled like him. You wondered if he was watching you right now. You wondered if he thought you were a bit too stupid.

It took a while to find it beneath the layers of dust and junk but when you found it, you sighed in relief. It wasn't made from metal or wood or even a combination from the two. But wax. The frame of the left-wing was nonexistent while the right-wing looked like it had melted. None of that registered and that was how it became your new project.

“You need to eat,” Kyungsoo said as he brought a plate of sandwiches out to you.

Days had passed since you’d started working on the wings and for the first time in a long time, you felt hopeful. Not happy but somewhere in between. You’d poured blood and sweat into molding the wax into the right frame and meticulously preserving the feathers.

You picked one of the sandwiches and bit into it. These days you hated working inside. “Thank you.”

“You'd tell me if you were doing something risky, right?” Kyungsoo eyed the wax suspiciously.

Shrugging, you stuffed the rest of the bread in your mouth. You couldn't give him the answer he wanted so you pretended not to hear. You knew he was angry and you knew it wasn't fair. But you were angrier. Kyungsoo didn't understand. You were going to fly. You had to. You fucking had to get up there.

It took longer than you wanted but when you were done, your wings were perfect.

They looked perfect and you just knew that it wasn't going to let you down. It wasn't going to break. Wax wasn't like wood after all. You were drunk on the feeling of sunshine. It felt like for the first time in months you could breathe. You did not wait for another day.

It was already the middle of Fall. The sun was out but it wouldn't be there for much longer. Sunset was fast approaching.

You climbed up the roof of the shed with the new set of wings attached tightly to your back. You wondered if Chanyeol was looking down at you right now. You wondered if he could see. You hoped he did. You stood on the ledge of the roof and let the wind build and rest before you took a breath.

You prayed and then you jumped.

And like in your dreams, you flew. And it was glorious. It was like the wings were your very arms. Your body — your invention — defied physics, defied the very aspects of anatomy. But you were flying through cloud nine at breakneck speed. You were gliding and nimbly twisting through a bright orange sky. It was so beautiful. You had tears in your eyes.

The wind whipped your face painfully as you pushed your wings up and up and then some more. You couldn't hear anything and to be quite honest, you could not see anything either.

You followed the blinding light in front of you like an addict. You wondered if the townsfolk down below could see you. You didn't care.

You kept flying, even when you got tired. Even when your arms begged you to stop because any more and they would break, you pushed. You pushed yourself until you entered a wave of encompassing heat that instantly reminded of you that day. You were so close. Your heart felt like a match in your chest and as the temperature rose, it struck and lit.

In your drunkenness, you swore you saw Chanyeol. He was right there and you were going to reach him. Tears were falling out of your eyes without pause. You’d been reborn not as a phoenix but as a river.

And just as your body felt the pressures of being burnt alive you suddenly felt nothing. Like you were nothing but a speck in the universe. You were nothing and everything at the same time. You were not sure how long you spent in the state but the next thing you knew, you were falling.

No, plummeting. You were being thrown back to earth in a ball of fire.

You were screaming. Your wings were on fire and… the wax was melting. You’d come so close and you still couldn't make it. Your dream was sifting through your empty hands. You couldn't believe it. You were falling so fast that soon enough all you saw around you was crisped air and shattered reality.

Your body was burned. Physically and mentally. Your soul was leaving your body and you knew that you won't survive this. Who could? You were going to die screaming.

It must have been a second before your body engraved itself into the dirt when you felt hot hands cradle your battered body. You were weak and you were tired but he was like a siren. He called and you answered. You fought and he appeared.

It must have been fate that you had been the first one he’d met. He was your bright and warm star.

“You idiot,” he cried as boiling tears landed like rain on your dried, desert-like face. “I was coming to you. I was coming. I was coming. I was coming.” He held you into his chest, injuries and all be damned, as he cried.

If you could smile you would but it hurt just to wheeze. “Because you love me?”

“More than anything. More than anyone.”

And you loved him back. Love was not guaranteed at all, you knew that, but he was the reflection of your soul. He had a part of you wrapped around his heart like a vice. You won't let go. You tied him ephemerally to this world and he connected you to the largest star of them all. You could feel his soul like it was a breathing thing.

“Then I go wherever you go.”

He pulled you away from his body and through your slitted eyes, you saw the most beautiful man. The man who wore the sun like a coat. The man who reminded you of gods and how weak mortals were next to them. You’d flown into the flames and he was here.

“No, I need you to understand.” Chanyeol’s lips were moving in a way that told you he was serious. But it dawned on you then that in his arms, the burns did not hurt. It was like licks on your skin. “You are the greatest star of my universe. You are all of it.”

You understood. “And I would fall again and again. It’s all or nothing with you, Chanyeol. Do you understand?”

Maybe he did because he hooked his face into your shoulder and let out a laugh. It was rusty. He hadn't laughed in ages but it felt right. His soul had fallen down to earth first, and he had come right after. He had been searching for you for a long time, for such a long time that he had forgotten. To him, you were like the vast space beyond the sun.

You’d flown to him, even if it killed you. Nothing else mattered after that.

“You. I came down for you. I was sent to you. I am sorry, so sorry, that it took me so long to reach back down.”

At first, you did not know what the hell he was talking about. Several minutes passed before you did. And that was when you grinned as tears poured from your eyes.

He finally knew.

a/n: ahh if you made it down here, thank you. im so happy you read this and i hope you enjoyed it, and yes i cried while i wrote this. i have been wanting to do this since i listened to Zayn’s 2018 Icarus Falls album. and i hope i actually did my imagination justice. pls dont hesitate to tell me what you think! :)

⇢ masterlist

©️ 2020 kai, moonbelt [aka high-on-food]

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michellewritesthings · 4 years

Text

Naptime

Word Count: 2,771

A/N: Thanks to the lovely @lazytickles I’ve been on another baby!Sides kick. Plus, I used the lee mood I was in to my advantage and for a good cause so that’s cool. Enjoy! ~Michelle 🤍

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To say it was an easy task to put down Logan and Roman for a nap in the afternoons would be lying for Patton. He loved his two-year-old sons so very deeply but it was in the afternoons when he just wanted a break. And he knew they did too. They were very good during naptime, but the process of getting them to agree to naptime was the challenging part. One in the afternoon is what Patton prepared for each day. Some days were very easy, but some days were very hard. But today was in the middle.

Patton was in the kitchen washing the boys’ dishes from lunch. He looked back into the living room and saw the two playing together on the playmat Patton set up for them. He smiled. They were always so kind to each other. Once he finished up with the dishes, he wiped his hands and mentally and physically prepared himself for the inevitable struggle all three were about to have. He walked over to the playmat and watched the boys laugh with each other. He wasn’t sure what game they were playing but they were sure enjoying it.

“Hello my kiddos. Whatcha doin’?” Patton asked sweetly. Roman simply pointed at the toy cars.

“Race!” He squealed as Logan nodded with a big smile.

“A race? Oh my goodness I wish I was here to watch it!” Patton pouted. Logan was the first to toddle over and hug Patton.

“Next time!” Patton couldn’t help but giggle and kiss Logan’s cheek.

“You’re right, there’s always next time. Like later today you can start another race because it’s naptime, boys.” He said gently, that sweet smile not leaving his face but his heart was racing. Both Roman and Logan looked at each other then at their daddy and started to get upset.

“No nap. Not tired.” Logan grumbled. Patton sighed then looked over to Roman.

“Keep playing…” Roman sat down and looked like he was about to start crying. Roman was a cryer. No tantrums though. He knew better than to throw a tantrum. Patton couldn’t stand to see his boys so upset, especially see one of them cry. But he knew naptime was essential. He knew that the boys always woke up happier than before.

“I know you wanna keep playing, honeybee. But you’ll be able to play later once you wake up. And you’ll feel a trillion times better and have more energy to show daddy how good you are at racing!” Patton moved some of Roman’s hair from his face. He looked at Logan.

“Nu-uh. No nap.” Logan stated simply. Patton looked at him and rubbed Logan’s tummy since he was standing next to his head.

“Yes nap. Now c’mon, I’ll read you two a story. Anything you want. How’s that sound?” Patton stood up and held his hands out for both boys to take one. He saw a tear fall from Roman’s eye and Logan start to rub his own. Patton’s heart broke. He needed to get them to take a nap but he also wanted to avoid his sons’ crying. He had an idea. He’s done it before, but never for naptime. Why not try it out now? Patton crossed his arms.

“Okay well if you two don’t want to take a nap by yourselves, I know someone who can get you to take a nap~.” Patton looked down at Logan and Roman. They both looked at each other, Roman wiped his face of the tears.

“Who?” Logan was the first to speak up. Patton tapped his cheek in false thought.

“Well I’ll give you a hint. Anytime he shows his face, a smile for you awaits.” Patton always used rhyming clues for them. It helped them learn different riddles and ways to give hints in a less direct manner. Plus, it was fun! Logan looked to Roman for an answer. Roman’s tiny eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Another pwease?” Patton’s heart became whole again. Oh how he loved when Roman said ‘please’.

“Okay how about this: When he’s around, you will be found. When his fingers wiggle, they’ll make you giggle.” Patton was sure that would get them. It wasn’t a surprise to him that Logan understood it first and Roman was just looking down at his feet in front of him in thought. Logan whispered the answer in Roman’s ear and he gasped. Their daddy stood in front of them with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Both boys looked up at him as Logan helped Roman stand up.

“He’s coming. You should start running. Cause the Tickle Monster has arrived, and he’s gonna get those sides~.” Patton gave them the answer, along with a little clue as to which spot he would attack first. Logan and Roman both had extremely sensitive sides so as soon as they heard that, they both squealed and toddled up the stairs, holding hands and ran to their room to try and find a hiding place. Patton didn’t turn around to watch them run. He simply turned his head just a small bit to listen to them run upstairs.

After a minute, Patton calmly made his way upstairs and into their room. He knew that was the first place they would go. Roman hid behind his bed, his feet sticking out of the side. And Logan hid behind their dresser. Patton knew the boys saw him come in because he heard soft laughter.

“Oh boy! Logan and Roman’s daddy called me because they need to take a nap! But I just can’t find those little ones anywhere! I guess I better start looking around here~...” Patton looked inside their closet, under Logan’s bed, in each corner, near Roman’s bed and the side of the dresser. He knew where each boy was, the suspense was what was best. He decided Roman was the first one to catch, he was making his hiding spot quite obvious anyway.

“Hmmm… I’m sure they’re around here somewhere. Let’s try behind the beds- oh! What do we have here! Patton bent down near Roman’s feet.

“What an adorable little pair of feet we have here! I wonder who they belong to~. Well, only one way to find out!” With that, Patton gently but quickly pulled on Roman’s feet to drag him out from behind his bed. Patton gasped.

“Oh my, my, my! Roman, I found you! I thought I never would!” Patton picked a squealing but squirming Roman up onto his hip and dug his left hand into Roman’s tummy. Roman’s laughter was like church bells. So sweet and beautiful. He tried to push Patton’s hand away but Patton kept dodging it and walked with Roman in his arms and walked around the room.

“You know, I kept looking all over this room and I just couldn’t seem to find you. I checked in the closet, under the beds, near the dresser and even in all four corners of this room. I was about to give up, but here you are! here you are, wiggling and giggling in my arms! Boy, what a precious little gigglebug you are!” Patton continuously switched from Roman’s tummy to his sides.

“Dahahahahaddy!! Nohohoho more!!” Roman laughed out, bending over to try and protect his tummy.

“Daddy? Oh honeybee, your daddy isn’t here right now. Your daddy sent me to come and get you so you can get ready for naptime! You don’t know who I am~?” Patton stopped his fingers from moving to give Roman a breather and the chance to say his “name”.

“Tihihickle monster?” Roman giggled as he breathed in and out. After Patton noticed Roman gained his composure, his fingers started moving from Roman’s tummy to his sides once more, he soaked in the scream Roman gave him.

“That’s right! I’m the Tickle Monster~! That’s me~!” Patton twirled them around a few times then stopped, making sure they both didn’t get dizzy.

“Well not only do you need to take a nap, your brother needs one too! Do you happen to know where he is hiding, gigglebug?” Patton asked. Patton knew Roman would never rat out his brother. It wasn’t nice. Roman shook his head quickly.

“Aww well you have to have some clue as to where- oh my goodness, who’s little arm is hiding behind that dresser~?” Roman’s head was now laying on Patton’s shoulder, frantically giggling. That’s when Logan started giggling himself. Patton gently pulled at Logan’s arm and was delighted at the smile that was on his face.

“Logan! I knew I’d find you somewhere!” Logan started to run away. Patton ran with Roman in his right arm and scooped up Logan with his left arm and placed him on his left hip.

“Where do you think you’re going, mister~?! Huh~?! Don’t you know better than to run away from the Tickle Monster?” Patton was able to wiggle his fingers into Logan’s left set of ribs and blow a tiny raspberry on the right side of Logan’s neck. His laughter became louder and louder. Logan’s laughter was completely different from Roman’s but it was still as precious. Full of squeaks and hiccups. It was like sweet music. Roman started to laugh at Logan, and that just simply wouldn’t do.

“And what are you laughing at over here~?!” Patton gave Roman’s neck a raspberry this time and Roman screamed. With Roman’s laughter filling up Patton’s right ear and Logan’s laughter filling up his left ear, Patton couldn’t help but laugh himself.

“I think it’s time for the grande finale~!” Patton ran to his room, making sure to bounce the boys in his arms to get happy laughter instead of tickle laughter. He gently dropped both boys onto his bed and lifted up their shirts. Logan and Roman knew what was about to happen.

“Nohohohoho!! Nohohoho rahahaspberries!!” Logan begged, kicking his little chubby legs. GOODNESS Patton could just eat those legs up!

“Sorry, sunshine! It has to happen~! But we’ll start with Roman first~...” Roman tried rolling away but Patton caught his sides just in time. He didn’t hesitate to blow a raspberry right on top of his bellybutton as he skittered his fingers on Roman’s sides, when he finished up the raspberry, Patton covered Roman’s tummy in kisses. He backed off of Roman and did the same with Logan. He then sat up and looked at his work. Two very exhausted, tickled out two-year-olds giggling their hearts out.

“Whew! Well that was a bucketload of fun! Thanks for sharing those laughs with me and being so, darn precious!” Patton booped both boys' noses and they blushed. He rubbed their tummies and smiled.

“Would you like to see your daddy now?”

“Yes pwease…” Logan and Roman said in unison. Patton giggled. He got up from the bed and backed away with a smile.

“Until we meet again, gigglebugs~...” Patton backed out of the room and waved. He waited a moment then walked back in the room.

“Hello there, little loves! I was lookin’ all over for you two. I see someone found you for me though~.” He crossed his arms and looked at the two boys still smiling and regaining their breath. Patton sat in between them. He saw Roman rub his eyes and Logan let out a tiny yawn. He did it. They were sleepy.

“Are you two ready for naptime now?” They both nodded and reached out for Patton to pick them up. He did as gestured and held Roman in his right arm and Logan in his left and walked them back to their room and laid each boy on their beds. Logan in his astronaut bed, covered in stars and Roman in his prince bed, covered in crowns and dragons. He tucked them in but saw that they were still a little sad that playtime was over. Patton thought of something else.

“How about a song?” They both nodded. They always loved Patton’s lullabies. Patton had been working on a new one. The boys had just watched Hamilton a couple days ago and they loved it! However, there was one song Patton liked that he kept in the back of his head for occasions like this. But he wanted to revise it just for his baby boys. He sat down on the side of Logan’s bed and laid his pointer finger in the center of his eyebrows and gently moved it down to the top of Logan’s nose. A technique he created when they were younger to help them fall asleep. He started to sing in Logan’s ear.

My dear Logan, what to say to you?  Those gorgeous eyes. That perfect little smile

When you came into the world, you cried and it broke my heart

He saw Logan give him a soft smile at what he was singing. He recognized the song and his smile became bigger.

I’m dedicating every day to you

Domestic life, has always been my style

When you smile, you knock me out, I fall apart

And I thought I was so smart

Logan gave him another yawn but tried to keep his eyes open to continue listening to Patton sing for him. But the movement of Patton’s finger, plus the song in his ear was a bit too much for him and he was fighting the sleep. Patton smiled.

You will come of age with our young nation We’ll bleed and fight for you, we’ll make it right for you If we lay a strong enough foundation We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you

And you’ll blow us all away… Someday, someday

Yeah, you’ll blow us all away

Someday, someday

Logan finally let his eyes shut without letting out one final yawn. Patton gently took his glasses off from around his head and laid them on his nightstand. He kissed his head while humming the rest of the song. He then made his way over to Roman. He looked a little jealous. Patton gave him a different smile as if to say ‘You didn’t think I’d forget about my honeybee, did you?’ Patton placed his finger in the middle of Roman’s eyebrows and dragged it down to the tip of his nose, just like Logan. He started to sing in Roman’s ear now.

Oh Roman, when you smile I am undone

 My son

Look at my son. Pride is not the word I’m looking for

There is so much more inside me now

Oh Roman you outshine the morning sun

My son

Roman’s smile was toothy and bright. He loved what his daddy was singing. It was about him… that’s why. Roman always loved when Patton gave him praise. Little stinker. After a moment, it was Roman’s turn to try and keep his eyes open.

You’ve made me feel so proud

You’ve made walk on the clouds

I swear that

I’ll be around for you

Roman finally closed his eyes with a small smile. Patton got up and kissed his forehead and continued humming as he walked back over to Logan and returned to his original position.

I’ll do whatever it takes

I’ll make a million mistakes

I’ll make the world safe and sound for you…

He saw Logan start to smile in his sleep as Patton rubbed his thumb over Logan’s chubby cheek. He continued to hum the notes of the song. Then he walked back to Roman and returned to his original position.

…will come of age with our young nation

We’ll bleed and fight for you, we’ll make it right for you

If we lay a strong enough foundation

We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you

And you’ll blow us all away…

Roman had a problem with sucking his thumb as he slept. Patton has been trying to break that habit so once he saw Roman had his thumb in his mouth, he very gently pulled his hand away from his mouth and Roman put his hand in a fist and laid it on his pillow. Patton giggled softly and kissed Roman’s cheek as he got up and went to kiss Logan’s. He then turned on their nightlight which was just a lamp that projected stars onto the ceiling. He turned off the actual light to their room as he stood near the door.

Someday, someday

Yeah, you’ll blow us all away

Someday, someday

Patton saw their chests slowly move up and down. Patton finished the song and sighed. Goodness gracious, he was so lucky. Those precious little kids were his.

“See you later, my precious boys.” Patton closed the door halfway.

#my writing #sanders sides tickle #sanders sides tickle fic #lee!roman #lee!logan #ler!patton #baby!roman #baby!logan #tickle community

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kendrixtermina · 4 years

Note

Was Edelgard’s anger against the church misdirected? Shouldn’t she be more mad at TWSITD for their vile crest experiments on her and her siblings?

You (and others who make this argument) are talking as if she isn’t mad at TWSITD at all.

As if she isn’t disrupting their activities insofar as she knows of them, spying on them and working hard to get the intel needed to destroy them. As if she isn’t the one who (with some help from Hubert) uncovers their location & hence directly causes their defeat in 3 routes out of 4.

Or as she herself puts it best in one of her Heroes quotes: "Beasts hiding in the light. Monsters slithering in the dark. I will destroy them all."

She wants to get rid of both. But fighting two overpowered enemies with agents scattered throughout the continent at once would be stupid.

It’s called strategy, long-term thinking. Big Picture thinking. The “1100 years” line in the Dorothea support is maybe the most obvious example.

You have two enemies. One has many connections & influences but their location & resources are known. The other has unknown weaponry & location, but low manpower. These two enemies are also each other’s enemies.

So, make them fight each other (maybe by pretending to ally with one; If you’re being pragmatic it’s going to be the one that infiltrated your own faction to prevent civil war in your own country), exhaust each other’s resources. By using the faction with the unknown power to destroy the one with the large resources you can both destroy the large resources and get a chance to observe the one with the unknown power closely & uncover their secrets; after that their smaller, already thinned numbers will be easy to take down especially since you now know their capabilities and have bucketloads of intelligence on them.

Bam. If you win you took out both your enemies, but even if you lose you’d have significantly thinned their numbers, reduced their power and disrupted the status quo, making reform finally possible even if it isn’t done by you.

As for the church it’s literally to blame for almost all the social ills in Fodlan, regularly performs unilateral executions and as the de-facto government has been ineffective at containing the Agarthan threat for 1000 years.

Caring about problems that don’t directly affect you? It’s called altruism.

Also note how she phrases it in her C+ support: When Byleth asks who did this she answers “The PM”. The Agarthans might have done the experiments, but only because they had powerful backers in the form of corrupt nobles. The same could be said for the tragedy of Duscur and Count Gloucester’s plots to take over the Alliance. They always had human allies.

Corrupt nobles, obsession with crests, paranoia against foreigners... who fuels all that? Rhea’s regime that pushes crests as gifts from above, hides wrongdoings by nobles, and encourages isolationism. At least she hasn’t done much to solve any of these problems for 1000 years.

To focus on the agarthans only would be like completely blaming modern political problems on Russian interference without addressing the preexisting social problems in the EU, the USA and elsewhere that allow for the interference & the lies to find fertile ground.

Again, the keyword is big picture thinking: It won’t do to just treat the symptoms, maybe cut the disease at the root.

She’s not some angry child lashing out; She’s very rational and methodical and much of her dialogue is written to emphasize that; Even when you have Dimitri, Ingrid or Seteth criticising her they mosty call her cold & calculating or that her plan’s too complicated for ppl to understand. (Claude actually has a point with the “drastic measures are bad PR” thing though; In CF credibility winds up being Byleth’s job)

Of course on her own route she has some moments in private where she’s dorky or cute in the occasional comic relief scene (it’s called being a faceted human being), yeah there’s that famous sad bit at the end, but the line right before that is basically “We both know the transition of power will go more smoothly if you find the resolve to off me now”

For the most part she’s consistently written as The Stoic One; It’s integral to the contrast (Edelgard represents intellect and will, Dimitri is feelings & conscience, Claude is instinct and intuition), I can’t see why ppl don’t see that besides “Irrational woman” stereotype. So the exty “the math checks out” lines get ignored and the one time she blushes gets overemphasized. Oh she’s not getting emotional because she’s just made a very weighty decision and is alone with a special friend or love interest & she’s thanking them for their support, no you see its because shes a “waifu” never mind that she has tons of female fans or that she acts super composed unless she’s around two or three specific people.

#fe3h #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem: three houses #edelgard von hresvelg #edelgard

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all-the-love-harold · 4 years

Text

Chapter 11- Hang in there, Baby

Master Post

August 15th 2021

Emily 31 Weeks

Poppy 27 Weeks

The summer sun shone brightly through the bedroom curtains as Poppy’s eyes flashed open. A sharp pain in her back had jolted her out of a deep sleep. The pain subsided and she gently rolled over to check the time on her phone, 6:36am. Oli would be awake soon so there wasn’t much point in trying to go back to sleep. She sat up a little, wincing at the pain in her back that was more of a dull ache now and her movements awoke Harry.

“ ‘s the time?” he groaned, still groggy with sleep. “It’s almost twenty to 7,” Poppy whispered. “And Oli’s still asleep so shhhh!” she hushed.

Harry rolled over so that he could see Poppy and placed his hand gently on the swell of her belly, “and how’s our little girl?” he asked softly, smiling as he always did when he talked about his daughter.

“I think she’s still sleeping too, had her mother up at 3am kicking like a mad woman!”

“No doubt she’s your daughter then,” Harry laughed

“I don’t kick in my sleep,” Poppy said, sounding very sure of herself, arms crossed over her chest in defense.

“Yes, you do” he sighed, still laughing, resting his head on her chest “but it’s ok because I love you anyway.”

“I love yo-” Suddenly Poppy stopped talking and inhaled sharply, grabbing onto her back as another sharp pain hit her like a tonne of bricks.

“Are you OK?” Harry asked, sitting up properly now, his eyes narrowing as he watched her.

Poppy didn’t answer until the pain subsided into a dull ache again, “Yeah,” she nodded, I’m fine, it’s just my back...”

“Roll over, I’ll give you a massage.”

She groaned a little as she turned onto her side, careful not to land on her pregnant belly.

“Where’s it sore?” Harry’s hands hovered over her back.Poppy pointed to her lower back “Near my bum.”

Harry began massaging the spot where she had pointed and it instantly started to feel better. But before it had the chance to really help, Oli toddled through the door.

“Are we still having a baby party today Mum?” He asked, sliding into the bed next to her, ignoring everything else going on around him as though this question was the most important thing in the world right now.

“We are buddy, not until lunchtime though”...

“But the baby’s not coming today?”

“No, not today Ol, not for a while yet” Harry said, continuing to massage Poppy’s back, while also dropping a good morning kiss to his son’s forehead. “Is Emily’s baby coming today then?” he asked

“No, still another few weeks until Emily’s baby is here too.”

Oli sighed deeply, “I’m never gonna be a big brother!” he huffed dramatically, folding his arms over his chest, in an image of his mother about ten minutes earlier.

Harry and Poppy both giggled, which only sent another shooting pain up Poppy’s back. Harry felt her wince, the muscles seizing under his hands.

“Why don’t you go and have a hot bath, love? I’ll get Oli breakfast, come on mate.”

As much as she wanted to say no and have breakfast together which was their tradition whenever Harry was home, all she could really think about was how soothing the hot water would be rushing over her back so she nodded and pulled the covers back.

“Oli, why don’t you go on Daddy’s side, so Mum can get out of bed?”

Sometimes Poppy forgot that Oli was only four and didn’t think about things logically so instead of climbing out of bed and walking around to cuddle his dad, he rolled over his mother, making her groan in pain.

“Oliver,” Harry said sternly, “Next time, please walk around, remember there’s a baby in Mummy's tummy, you need to be gentle with her...”

“Sorry, daddy,” he sighed

Poppy tuned them out, focusing on her breathing to try and stop the pain in her back as she walked to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. She knew what this could be and she wasn’t willing to accept that possibility yet…

The steaming hot water washed over her and her body felt lighter and less painful. The baby must have felt it too because she started kicking as soon as the water covered Poppy’s belly.

“You can’t do this today, miss” Poppy breathed, trying to keep her voice calm, hands on her belly. “You’ve got to stay in there for a few more weeks yet. Okay?..... I can’t have another Violet.”

***

Whatever Poppy did that morning must have helped because by the time everyone arrived for the baby shower, her back was feeling better, which she was unbelievably thankful for. This shower meant a lot to her, and to Em, who had invited her entire family. It was a little chaotic with everyone there, Em’s brother had a son the same age as Oli and the two of them were running around like mad men, not at all bothered by all the baby related games that were going on in the garden.

“So... you got my baby sister pregnant?” Emily’s brother said to Harry as they both poured themselves a drink.

“Ahhh,” Harry laughed nervously “I guess I did…. Technically”

“Sorry,” the brother giggled, “I’ve always wanted to say that - I’m Peter.”

“Harry,” he held out his hand to shake Peter’s.

“I know,” Peter said, “My husband is a big fan!”

Harry couldn’t help but smile, “Sorry?” he said in a sarcastic tone .“No need,” Peter shook his head, “I’m a fan too, even more so since I heard how wonderful you’ve been to Em through this whole thing.”

“How could I not be?” Harry shrugged “She’s doing the most incredible thing for us and she's so graceful about it all!”

“She always has been, has she told you that surrogacy is how we had our little Henry?”

“She has,” Harry nodded “She told us that from the start, she said that’s why she wanted to do it.”

“We never did anything like this for our surrogate, she’s had no contact with us since actually... I don’t want that for Em, I want her to see this little boy grow up.”

“Em will always be a part of this family” Harry said “As long as she wants to be, everything here is on her terms.”

“You and Poppy are good people,” Peter nodded. “I have to admit though, when Em told me that Poppy fell pregnant, I was worried that you two were in this for the wrong reasons and I told her to be careful, but you’ve really proven me wrong. Thank you.”

“We didn’t know,” Harry sighed “When Poppy fell pregnant we didn’t know that we’d get to 27 weeks. We still don’t know how far we’ll get, we’re terrified all the time, but Em makes it easier, she keeps us focused on what we have right now, which is two babies and Oli.”

“You’ve got a very sleepless few months ahead of you,” Peter said, feeling a little awkward

“That we do,” Harry giggled.

On the other side of the garden, Poppy sat with Anne, Emily and her mum, Patricia, comparing pregnancy notes.

“When I was having Gemma, all I wanted was mash potato, I ate bucketloads of it...” Anne said when the topic of cravings came up

“Me too!” Em said, “My best friend makes the best mash, it’s so creamy. Shit. Now that’s all I can think about..”

“All I want is Vegemite,” Poppy said. “Harry’s perfected the art of Vegemite on toast this time around!”

“I tried that once,” said Patricia, “It’s awful stuff, I don’t know how you eat it.”

Poppy shrugged, “It’s an acquired taste, I’ve eaten it since I was a baby, so has Oli and he loves it too.”

“All I wanted when I was having Pete was feta cheese, I ate so much of the stuff and now Em tells me that you’re not supposed to eat soft cheeses! Explains a lot about Pete now that I think about it, actually,” she laughed teasingly.

“It’s just what they recommend, Mum,” Em said. “Soft cheeses can contain the listeria bacteria - there’s a very small chance they can make you sick, and to avoid harming the baby, they say not to eat it at all.”

“It pays to have an OB/GYN student around when you’re having a baby,” Poppy smiled. “Especially when she’s having a baby too!”

“Speaking of,” Emily smiled, placing her hand on her belly, “Your little boy has been kicking like a mad man today!”

“So has his sister,” Poppy giggled “feels like she’s doing backflips in there.”

“They’re going to be such good friends,” Anne said, a wide smile stretched across her face. “I wonder if they’ll have that twin telepathy thing...”

“They’re not twins,” Poppy said teasingly with a half smile stretched across her face.

“Let’s just wait and see,” Anne said, not giving up on the idea.

“Alright”, Gemma clapped getting everyone’s attention and drawing the conversation away from twin telepathy. “it’s party game time, I need everyone to come over here, we’re about to name a baby!”

The whole party gathered around the table that Gemma had set up, that was covered in onesies to decorate, a jar full of name suggestions, and some baby themed cupcakes and biscuits.

“Harry, Pop and Em, you get to sit here, right in front of everyone and take these red and green paddles. if you like the name, show us the green side, if you don’t, show us the red. You’re adults you probably could have worked that out for yourselves but anyway...” Gemma laughed

“Thanks Gem,” Harry said sarcastically as he sat down where he was told to

“Hey, it’s not my fault you can’t name your own child!”

“We’ve named one of them...” Poppy said defensively.

“You have,” Gemma said, “which brings me to the point that these are girls names only, since Baby Boy has been named.”

The pain in Poppy’s back returned, sharper than ever just as she sat down. She winced, while she waited for it to subside again, and tuned the rest of the conversation out.

Breathe.

That’s all she had to do right now.

A few big breaths and it will all go away.

But it didn’t and when Gemma started rambling about the ridiculous names that everyone had put in the jar, Poppy took the opportunity to tell Harry.

“Harry,” she whispered leaning over so that only he could hear, “I think I need to go to the hospital...”

His eyes widened, “What’s wrong?”

“I think the back pain is contractions.”

He nodded, already springing into action -“Are we being subtle about leaving? Or are we just going?”

“I think we just need to go” Poppy said breathlessly, another wave of pain taking over her body.

Harry stood up and laughed nervously, as everyone stopped talking and looked at him. “Poppy might be in labour...” he announced running his fingers through his hair “We’re going to go to the hospital.”

At that moment everyone ran over to crowd Poppy, which only made her feel worse.

“Are you having contractions?” Emily asked

“Back pain,” Poppy said through gritted teeth “it’s sharp and it comes and goes every few minutes.”

“That sounds like early labour,” Em nodded “Have you had any bleeding?”

“No,” Poppy shook her head.

“That’s good,” Em smiled “That means your mucus plug is still ok.”

Peter and his husband scrunched their noses at the thought of a mucus plug.

“What does that mean?” Anne asked, voice filled with concern.

“It means the doctors have a better chance of stopping it. “Ok we should go then,” Harry said immediately.

London traffic had never felt slower. They were barely out of their street before they were stopped and it took them five minutes to get to the main road that led to the hospital, which usually only took them 2. Poppy took the extra time to call their doctor and let her know that they were going to the hospital but even after that they were still 10 minutes away.

“Harry,” Poppy sighed. “I’m scared,” her voice broke a little as she admitted how she was feeling.

“Me too, Pop.” He grabbed onto her hand and squeezed it tight before bringing it up to his lips and placing a gentle kiss to it, “We’re going to be ok Pop.”

“She doesn’t even have a name yet!”

“She doesn’t need one,” Harry said optimiscally. “Her due date isn’t for another three months.”

“Harry, I don’t carry babies to term, her due date could very well be today!”

“They stopped it with Oli”, Harry said, turning his head towards her. “There’s nothing to say they won’t be able to stop it this time.”

“I was 28 weeks with Oli”, she sighed “I’m only 27 this time.”

“28 tomorrow,” Harry added,

“One day does make a difference H”.

“I know it does”, he sighed “But I’m trying to stop myself from thinking about what might happen if she arrives today. Let’s try and stay positive until we know more, ok?”

“OK.” Poppy nodded, that’s what she loved the most about Harry. He always looked at the bright side, sometimes to a fault, but today he was right, there was a chance that their little girl might arrive today, but there was an equal chance that she wouldn’t, and why not focus on that?

They pulled into the hospital driveway and Harry headed straight for the underground parking.

“Wait,” he said just before he got a ticket “are you going to be able to walk there if I park down here? Or do you want me to park near the entrance?”

“Harry’s it’s 1pm,” Poppy said reasonably, “There won’t be any parking up there, I’ll be fine to walk.”

“I can go up and get you a wheelchair,” he said, driving the car down the ramp

“I can walk H, I just want to get in there.”

“OK,” he said calmly, pulling into a free space and turning the car off. “Let’s go then.”

They entered A&E to chaos. The waiting room was filled with ill and injured people and Poppy felt a bit out of place until another wave of pain took over her while they waited in the queue to check in.

She squeezed Harry’s hand in an attempt to ease the pain and he asked her if she needed to sit down

“No, I’m OK,” she said, gritting her teeth, “I just want to talk to the nurse.”

“What brings you to A&E today my dear?” The nurse asked as they stepped up to the counter

“I think I’m in labour...” Poppy said

“How far along are you?”

“27 Weeks”

The nurse waved nonchalantly, “It’s probably just Braxton Hicks contractions dear, go home and rest”.

Poppy took a deep breath, not caring as her voice rose in volume, “This is a high risk pregnancy, I went into labour early with my son, and I lost a baby from early labour last year. This is not Braxton Hicks!”

The nurse looked stunned “OK. I’ll call the maternity ward and have one of the midwives come down and assess you. Take a seat.”

“Old Cow,” Poppy muttered to Harry as they took their seats. Harry giggled, “hey hey hey, treat people with kindness now Pop.” “I will when I’m not in labour” she half laughed and half winced at the pain of another contraction.

They didn’t have to wait long, only 10 minutes passed before a midwife came rushing in calling Poppy’s name. They were taken into one of the small examination rooms in A&E to be assessed before they could be admitted to the maternity ward. “How long ago did the pain start?”

“I had a dull ache in my back yesterday afternoon and this morning it turned it to sharp pains every so often,” Poppy said

“And have your waters broken?”

“No,” Poppy shook her head

“Good,” the midwife replied with a smile “any bleeding?”

“No.”

“Great,” she was taking notes on her clipboard

“Did you bring your pregnancy notes with you?”

Poppy looked towards Harry who had been holding them under his armpit the whole time.

“They’re here,” he said handing them to the midwife, who blushed when he smiled at her.

“So this isn’t the first time you’ve gone into labour in the second trimester?”

“No,” Poppy shook her head “It’s the third...”

“OK, well we’ll do a quick exam, see where your cervix is at and go from there, but I’d say given your history we’ll be admitting you. I’ll get you a gown so we can go ahead,” the midwife left the room

“She doesn’t seem too worried,” Harry said

“She doesn’t seem not worried,” Poppy countered. “She thinks I am in labour.”

“We knew that though,” Harry placed a kiss on Poppy’s forehead “I think we’re here early enough to stop it.”

“I hope -”

The midwife walked back in and handed Poppy the gown - “Put this on and lay down on that bed just there. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Dad you can stay or if you’re squeamish you can go back out to the waiting room.”

“I’ve seen it all before,” Harry smiled referring to the examination that was about to happen although he was sure the midwife thought he meant something else because she started blushing again as she walked out of the room.

“Someone’s got a secret admirer!” Poppy said as she unbuttoned her jeans

“It’s not very secret,” Harry added

“Either she’s in love with you, or she’s feeling weird about having to look at Harry Styles wife’s vagina!”

“Maybe both,” he shrugged.

Poppy pulled the gown on and laid down on the table like she was asked and a knock came on the door, right on cue. Harry sat down in the chair next to Poppy head and grabbed hold of her hand.

“Alright, I’ll make this quick,” the midwife said, pulling on a pair of gloves as Poppy winced her way through another contraction. Poppy hated this part, not only was it uncomfortable, but for the next few minutes she didn’t know what was going to happen. Maybe it was just Braxton Hicks contractions and everything was going to be ok, or maybe she’d meet her baby girl today and spend the next few months in the hospital with her.

Or maybe they’d also be saying goodbye to their little girl today.

“You’re only 1cm dilated,” the midwife finally said after what felt like hours. “Normally I’d send you home and tell you to come back if the pain gets worse, but given your history, I’ll admit you and we’ll do a few more tests and go from there. We’ll also give your doctor a call and let her know you’re here.”

An hour later they found themselves in a private room in the maternity ward. An ultrasound had shown the baby had dropped into the right position for birth, and now the shape of Poppy’s uterus was affecting her growth. Now they were nervously waiting for Dr Marshall to come in and tell them that she could somehow work some magic and fix the problem. They waited in silence. Poppy stared at the wall wondering what on earth could have made this happen and Harry sat on his phone, texting Anne and Gemma.

H: Poppy has been admitted, baby girl has dropped, waiting to see the doctor for more info. How is Oli?”

A: Praying for good news xxx. Oli is OK, he keeps asking where you went… What should I tell him?

G: Has anyone told Addie yet?

H: You can tell Oli that we’ve come to the hospital to make sure the baby is ok, and I’ll be home with him as soon as I can. We haven’t told Addie yet, I’ll wait until we know a bit more, don’t want her thinking she needs to jump on a train from Bath if everything is ok.

A: Good idea. Em and her family left about half an hour ago, they said to let them know if you need anything.

H: They’re very sweet, I’ll send Em a message and let her know what’s going on. I’ll try and be home for Oli’s bedtime and then I’ll come back to stay here with Pop

Dr Marshall was surprisingly fast, Harry and Poppy had been expecting her to take hours, but it was only about 20 minutes after they got to their room that she popped her head around the corner.

“How are we doing?, she asked, picking up Poppy’s chart. “contractions every 10 minutes still?”

“About that,” Poppy nodded .

“So what we’re going to try and do is get Baby to turn back around.”

“How do we do that?” Poppy asked, confused.

“Well, if you were more than 1cm dilated we’d do it the simple way, but since you’re not, we’ll try a massage on your belly, we usually do this when a baby is breach, I’ve only done it once or twice for this situation, but it’s a simple procedure, I promise.”

“That sounds much more pleasant than the other way,” Poppy laughed nervously

“It is,” nodded Dr Marshall with a smile.“We’re also going to give you a shot of progesterone to try and put a stop to those contractions.”

“That sounds lovely too,” Poppy half smiled

“And you know this means you’ll be on strict bed rest until you give birth?” Dr Marshall said sternly raising her eyebrows.

“Do I have to stay here?”

Dr Marshall thought for a moment “No,” she hesitated “I’ll let you go home to your little one, but I need you to promise that you’ll be taking it easy”

“I’ll make sure of that”, Harry said a stern look falling onto his face too.

“Good,” the doctor smiled “You’ll be here a day or two while we make sure the labour has stopped and we get Baby Girl turned around.”

Poppy and Harry both nodded

“I’ll order that injection now and once those contractions stop we’ll start the massage.” She put Poppy’s chart down at the end of her bed and turned to leave the room.“Thank you,” Harry and Poppy both called after her .

Once she was gone Harry placed a kiss onto Poppy’s forehead and breathed a sigh of relief “This is good,” he said

“I have a name” Poppy said quietly

Harry sat down on the bed next to her “Hmm” he cooed “I’m listening”

“Florence Anne...”

Harry nodded. “It’s beautiful. Florence, Oscar and Oliver,” he sighed “I like it”

“Flori, Ossie and Oli,” Poppy said. “For short.”

“And Violet,” Harry added

“Always.”

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bemused-writer · 4 years

Note

One of the reasons why I adore Jun Mochizuki's works is because her villains create very great conflicts. In Pandora Hearts, I couldn't bring myself to hate Jack because he was such a well-written sociopath. Manipulative and ruthless, but also charming in an odd way. The greatest twist villain I have ever seen in media too. As for you, what do you think of Jun Mochizuki's villains and which are your favorites?

I could never bring myself to hate Jack either. He is … an atrocious person, but I can’t help but pity him to a certain degree. He was charming, mad, and a complete mystery to himself. Everyone else may have wondered why Jack did what he did, but I think the most confused person was Jack himself. Sure, he said it was for Lacie, but I think deep down even he knew that was an excuse.

Anyhoo, I generally like Mochizuki’s villains. Isla Yura was kind of… yeah. I don’t know what I’m supposed to make of that one. I have a feeling he is some kind of stereotype, but words are failing me at the moment. My feelings toward Isla Yura are similar to my feelings for Dr. Moreau, although I have a much more visceral reaction to Moreau. I kind of hate that guy. XD

But hating a villain is sort of the point a lot of times, so let’s talk a bit more about the obvious villains Mochizuki has written (excluding Jack since we just did), starting with Pandora Hearts.

Leo was pretty great because he was sort of more of an antihero and that only happened later in the series after a long list of bad things happened. He was in mourning and he felt he was out of options and he ultimately came around. So, he’s not really a “proper” villain because he never had genuine villainous intentions and he redeemed himself.

A better example of a villain in PH is Vincent and you can still make a solid argument for him being more of an antihero. Everything he did was for his brother, the one person he cared about to the point where you could easily argue his feelings were probably a bit incestuous based off his behavior alone, but he did bucketloads of awful things even ignoring his unhealthy attachment to Gilbert. Sure, it was largely stemming from trauma caused by Miranda (which probably explains some of the misogyny), but still. He somewhat redeems himself later on with both Gilbert and Ada, thus giving him a full arc. Vincent is perfectly balanced between being likeable and absolutely despicable and is therefore a good villain.

Both of these characters have a lot of depth; you can’t quite hate them, but you can’t fully agree with what they’re doing either. I think Mochizuki did a good job in PH.

Now let’s get to VNC. Ruthven is the most obvious villain at the moment, although I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes something of an antihero…

I’ll be honest, though. I’m not sure I want to see Ruthven be an antihero. He’s committed some genuine atrocities, and I would very much like to see him answer for those crimes. To date, he seems to be attempting to reignite a war, he’s working with Charlatan and the Church, tried to kill Chloé to cover up a conspiracy, he assaulted Noé, and he holds both Noé and Jeanne under his sway (they’re both basically sleeper agents at this point…). We’re only seven volumes in and this guy is wracking up quite an evil count.

Still, he also took Jeanne in when no one else would, he spared Noé when he didn’t have to, and he was the one who stopped the vampire/human war in the first place. He also seems to be under the sway of Charlatan, so he might be a curse bearer that’s had his will stripped away, thus making him a victim like everyone else. None of that excuses the bad he’s done even remotely, but it does add way more nuance.

In short, Ruthven is a good villain.

So, how about Teacher? We don’t know nearly enough about him to make a good assessment, but I’ll give you my current interpretation of the character: Teacher is a chess master, and quite possibly the ultimate big bad in this series. He has no real attachment to anyone; he’s the definitive Yagami Light: he’s doing everything because he’s bored and curious and he wants to see what will happen if he pushes variables just right.

To date, he took Louis in when his family didn’t want him and then proceeded to use him as an experiment for the kid’s entire life to see “how he would react.” He also killed him in front of Noé when the experiment reached its conclusion.

He went to the black market, bought Noé off of it, told him to call him “Teacher” instead of “Master” and then raised him as his own. That almost sounds like a good deed until you then remember he has also kept a great deal of knowledge away from Noé, thus keeping him ignorant of many basic things in society that really would have come in handy. He spent all his time training him to fight and use the world formula, was apparently a difficult trainer, and then sent him off into the world on his own without any really useful knowledge to investigate The Book of Vanitas.

As if all of that wasn’t suspicious enough, he appears to be watching Noé through Murr, so he knows all of the heinous things happening to Noé and has literally done nothing to prevent any of it; he’s just watching.

Noé is Teacher’s puppet and he doesn’t even know it. He’s genuinely fond of him as a mentor and would do anything for him without question. It’s truly insidious.

So, yeah, Teacher is a great villain, but I think we’re all going to be furious with him by the end of the series. The real question is whether we’ll see any redeeming features to the guy. Does he have any good reasons for doing any of this? Who knows! The fact that we can’t see his facial features reminds me of Xai Vessalius, and I don’t think that guy did anything to redeem himself whatsoever, so, you know.

Uh, but as far as who my favorite villains in Mochizuki’s works are? Probably Jack. XD He’s such a scumbag, but a sympathetic one, and the twists surrounding him were both a lot of fun and utterly devastating. Still, VNC isn’t over yet, so there’s plenty of time to see if that opinion changes!

#vanitas no carte #pandora hearts #ph meta #vnc meta #ph spoilers #vnc spoilers #long post #Bemused's post #Anonymous

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mashitandsmashit · 4 years

Text

America’s Got Talent: Season 15 - Auditions 4

11: Christine Hurley. I will say, I wasn't a big fan of the stand-up for the most part anyway, as she basically came off as Bargain Bin Barbolak (with only 10% trailer nasty). I mean, I've seen this character plenty of times before...But I also felt bad for that little flub; She was doing fine up until that point, and it really threw her off by the end...I will admit that Howie gave some pretty good advice, and I hope she takes it to heart to improve for the future...Best wishes to her!

10: LILIAC. Shame we didn't see more of this act...I enjoyed what little of them I saw! But I guess the next entry had to be the focus of the segment...

9: Luca Di Stefano. Barry White he is not, but this amused me enough...I wouldn't say this guy is necessarily a talented singer OR a talented baritone, as I could hear his voice cracking up throughout...But I enjoyed the gimmick for now, knowing that he's very likely going to be cannon fodder in the next round. (And probably for the best...Doing that CAN'T be good on his throat!)

8: Ashley Marina. So we're combining the drama from the Ansley Burns, Lamont Landers and Daniel Emmet auditions now, huh...? This kid gets THREE tries, HUH!? Honestly, it's getting harder and harder to understand Simon's standards by now, because I thought she did really good with both of those other attempts...But this was an obvious set-up...I liked her precious little dad song enough, and her singing voice is legitimately good (though nothing particularly new for me), so I'd say she deserves a shot in this game...I'm just sick of all this manipulative drama...Simon, I'm coming for your dogs! (This is becoming a VERY disturbing running gag...)

7: Olox. And from here on out, it's nothing but overwhelming positivity! When these two Power Rangers villains walked out, I knew they were either gonna suck, or we were gonna get something truly entertainingly bizarre! I am beyond happy that it was the latter! As far as such an unappealing talent as throat singing may be, they really are talented in that department, and they found a way to make it fun! ...And yet strangely the lady still sounded less like a goose than Dolores O'Riordan...(I'm just teasing; I like the Cranberries AND that song...) A silly gimmick that's sure not to get very far, but I'll enjoy the ride as much as I can!

6: Brett Loudermilk. Markiplier called, he wants his hair back! Next to Cristina Rae, this is probably the act we saw the most of in the promos...On the surface, he seemed like just another sideshow act, and to be fair, he kinda was...But contrary to some opinions I've made before, this is one type of act where personality is everything, and this guy has it by the bucketloads! Honestly, he is probably one of the funniest comedians we've seen in recent seasons, without even doing stand-up! And Sofia was almost as funny working off of him! I've no doubt the extra segments of the performance were a set-up (and how interesting that we had two acts with midway cliffhangers in a row...and I still loved this audition as much as I did!) That being said, I look forward to seeing him again! ...Though I guarantee you his throat hurt like a motherf***er the next morning! (And that makes TWO dudes in one show abusing the hell out of their throats!)

5: Nolan Neal. Vying for the gold medal in the Sob Story Olympics, and yet I'm willing to look past that because this man is just THAT talented! It's like if Chris Klafford's voice (and beard) came together with Marcin Patrzalek's guitar skills, with the songwriting complexity of We Three! Interesting how his audition came right after the Golden Buzzer, since this guy looked fitting enough for it (especially from Simon), and I honestly wouldn't have complained (though I'll get to the REAL pick soon...) But as it is, this guy looks like a prime GB pick for the Judge Cuts, and I have no doubt that he will go far! Hands down my favorite singer so far this season!

4: Feng E. Speaking of the passing down of Marcin Patrzalek's skills, here's a mini Marcin right here! Grace VanderWaal is watching this kid and going “Why didn't I do THAT with my ukelele!?” From what little we saw of him (not so much the performance as the boy himself), I wouldn't doubt that he will probably be eliminated in the next round...Real shame...But we have another talented preteen to potentially step in for him...

3: Noah Epps. It was actually a close one between the two kids, but I ultimately picked Noah because we saw more of his dancing than Feng's electric ukelele playing...(It's actually a close one between all of the Top 7...) It looks like they finally built a more advanced model of the Merrick Hanna droid, now with more creepy Pinocchio schtick! (Ultron, eat your mechanical heart out!) I really hope this kid does well in this game; No reason to cut his strings so early...

2: The Spyros Bros. So THIS is what Mochi's act was missing! Well, where he failed, this may be the act to succeed in making diabolo a talent to be taken seriously on this show! What they have already displayed here was mindblowing, and from what they've said, it sounds like this is only the beginning! Between the awesomeness we are (possibly) about to witness, the bullying backstory, and the AGT fanboyism, this act does have the potential to go far! When I watched the preview video on Youtube a few days ago, I was expecting this to be another awesome act in an otherwise humdrum show, but not only were almost every act tonight top-notch, but one other act just barely edged them out from the top spot of this list...

1: W.A.F.F.L.E. Crew. In Season 13, we got the epically named Pancakes! And now this year we have met their superior brethren in the dancing breakfast pastry category! (Can't wait to see French Toast Crew in Season 17 and Da Crepez in Season 19!) Okay, onto the most important point...I never thought I'd say this...But I think I'll be rooting for Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer to win this season! It's hard to compare them with the more gimmicky dance acts like V.Unbeatable, Light Balance and Zurcaroh, but as far as straight-up hip-hop dance goes, this is the cream of the crop! It's also hard to compare them with the other GBs; They probably won't get as many Youtube views as Roberta or Cristina (though we'll just see), but they definitely stand out more, and Simon is sure to push them as far as possible! So far none of the acts are safe bets for the win...But maybe it's time a dance crew finally got it (again, not counting V.Unbeatable at Champions earlier this year...) These guys have all of the necessary materials to go all the way: The skills, the style, the story, the Golden Buzzer, the fans' blessing, Simon's blessing...and MY blessing!

WHERE WERE ALL THESE ACTS BEFORE!? It's like they saved almost all of the really exciting ones for one show (though Malik and maybe a few others would have fit in quite well). This reminds me of that audition episode last year that had Marcin, Berywam and ADEM all in the same show (as well as that goofball who did the Andy Kaufman thing), but if almost the entire show was at their level! Hands down the best audition of the season so far, with several acts I could see making it all the way to the Finals!

So next week should be interesting...We already saw what it's like with a vacant judges' seat (giving the Spyros plenty of space to toss the diabolo over), but we'll see how Sofia's “Modern Family” co-star Eric Stonestreet handles filling in for Heidi...

I will probably expect the last Golden Buzzer of the round (Howie's) to be saved for the final audition the week after (I wonder if it will be that “at home” show I saw on Youtube, and they left out Howie's GB in those videos). Either way, we'll wait and see...

Until then...

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sunshinedaysforever · 5 years

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Doctor Who Fic Recs

Listen, I’m speaking it into existence that the hiatus is about to be over soon, so in CELEBRATION I’m finally throwing some of my favourite fics out there. This is by no means a comprehensive list (and in fact, once things liven up around here, I’ll probably do a Part 2), because we’d all be here forever but, in the meantime - some of my favourites, old and new.

13-era Recs

Oh, there’s just an empty space by hellynz

[Ryan looks for the Doctor in the middle of the night, wanting reassurance. He doesn't quite get it.]

UGH listen this is just the sort of fic that I could yell about forever, and hellynz is a remarkable author who is, if I can just say, CRIMINALLY slept on; because this is brilliant. I’m a sucker for those in-between moments that add just the right amount of depth and warmth that they can’t always reach on TV, and this is exactly that. A brief moment after the Tsuranga Conundrum, and it’s quiet and lovely and makes the space between your chest all warm. Ryan is pitch perfect, kind and fumblingly wise, and the Doctor is so herself it hurts - just that mix of ancient and silly and sad. There’s something about this fic that’s haunting, but at the same time I think it’s trying to say something wonderfully kind. I come back to this so often when I want to be comforted.

Sara is a master of beautifully written one-shots, and everything she’s written is so well worth a read - choosing just one piece was INCREDIBLY difficult and I highly recommend checking out her other works.

Not Lost, Only Forgotten by hetzi_clutch

[It happened after a funny incident, which couldn't even be called hair-raising.The Doctor caught a glimpse of someone, turned, and ran. So they followed. And when they got back to the TARDIS, she was acting strangely, demanding to know if they'd been seen. Piloting back to Sheffield, though none of them asked to return. And then she neatly kicked them out and vanished, leaving Yaz, Graham, and Ryan to return to their incredibly dull lives, wondering what on earth they'd done wrong. Until, a month later, the TARDIS came back. Without the Doctor.] [Human Nature AU]

Listen, Hetzi writes a bucketload of really fantastic fic, so you can imagine how difficult it was for me to pick just one out of many that I love to bits. However, I think this was the first of hers that I stumbled across, and I remember so clearly being blown away by the beautiful writing and the attention to historical detail. There’s so much to love here, even aside from the vivid setting (spoilers it’s the BOER WAR and it’s SO WELL REALIZED I COULD SCREAM FOREVER)(hetzi if you’re reading this for the longest time I straight up thought you were at least a history student or something lmao); the character of Mae is painfully, wonderfully individual with just enough of the Doctor to make it hurt; the fam are fleshed out to a fantastic extent; the action and the pacing are brilliant; and at its heart, this is really a Yaz story, to its immense credit. She’s given so much more life than the show has allowed her so far, and her personality makes for a fantastic POV. The relationship here between her and Mae, and her and the Doctor, is nuanced to perfection. I don’t reread fic often, especially when it’s long, but I’ve revisited this one more than once.

Anyway, go read this and then go read the rest of Hetzi’s fics because they’re all winners and I WILL yell about them forever.

Be Scared Til It’s Sunny by Quanna

[Ryan’s nightmares have stopped and he decides to talk to the Doctor about it, learning something about the TARDIS in the process.]

Oh, what to say about this one. I have such a soft spot for anything with 13 and Ryan (if that’s not obvious by now rip) and this is another fic that captures them so well. It’s another quiet little in-between moment, and it’s got a soft, calm, night-time vibe that I love. The Doctor is wonderfully strange here, and also briefly, painfully human - it’s comforting and unnerving. And the insight into the TARDIS is fascinating and unique and I’ve never quite seen it approached like this before. Ryan is the perfect POV character here, and he’s given wonderful nuance. The writing itself is also gorgeous and clever and I loved the whole thing - some works are so clearly written with love and care, and this is one of them. Highly recommended!

Smoke and Mirrors by a_walking_shadow

[The TARDIS lands on a planet, and something attacks the Doctor.

No, wait-

The TARDIS lands on a planet, and something attacks Graham.

No, wait-

The TARDIS lands on a planet, and something attacks Yaz.

No, wait-

the TARDIS lands on a planet, and the Doctor attacks something.]

Scary and short and twisty - I loved this one. The 13 we know and love is as bubbly and hopeful as usual but this story really plays with the Time Lord underneath - and I think it’s just a bang-on characterisation. Underneath it all, the Doctor is still the Doctor, and there’s a hint of that ego and that darkness here that’s just delicious. Not to mention it plays with time in a really cool way. This is a Doctor that’s very much herself, but also very much hiding the pieces of herself that aren’t convenient to show. Brilliant.

Teaspoon Recs (NOT because I’m old, just because I’ve been reading Doctor Who fic since I was 12 rip)

Dragons of the Mind by lyricswriteprose

[In a dark and unfamiliar landscape, Ace struggles to save people while trying to figure out whether she's being played—and by whom.] [11, 7, Ace, Donna]

I don’t even have the words for how much I love this piece - if you’re at all excited about the upcoming novel with Ace and 13 then this is the perfect appetizer. It adds on to Ace’s life so wonderfully and ties it all in so well with the newer series, all while managing to be delightfully Doctor Who in all the best ways. A clever premise, humans at their best and worst, and the Doctor as a hero and a mystery and a broken man all at once. Ace is brilliant here. I’m in love with the way the author brought it all full circle, and had her pick up the Doctor’s torch.

And also it made me cry. Absolutely read this.

Nothing gold can stay by ClocketPatch

[In which Romana saves the Doctor's butt, the universe, and some newt people.] [4, Romana II, K9]

Listen, ClocketPatch was one on the first authors I ever read as a wee bab and you should run out and read everything of theirs right now, but this one in particular has all the things I love the most: a twisty, clever premise, robot dogs, and also Romana saves the day with poetry. Beautifully written, dark and hopeful, and Four and Romana at their best and most frustrating. One of my favourites.

The Revolution Will Not Be Analysed by JJPOR

[From up here, she could watch the city burn.] [7 & Ace]

I suspect this one is maybe a bit too much up my alley to be everyone’s taste but regardless it’s absolutely brilliant. Short, sweet, smart. Ace and the Doctor are bang-on, and it’s digging at the heart of all sorts of clever things. This author has written all sorts of other really entertaining chaptered fics and I honestly couldn’t choose between them, so I highly recommend browsing through their other works.

#doctor who #doctor who fic rec #13 era #classic who #fanfiction #fic rec

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botslayer · 4 years

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Top Ten games of the 2010′s

This trend seems to be doing the rounds at the moment and seeing as I’ve been gaming for about as long as I can remember, It just feels right. So, let’s get into it. But first, worth saying: These aren't really in any specific order, it's just the games I've personally had the most fun with overall, but it's pretty hard to decide what the hard numbers on things you enjoy for different reasons are if that makes any sense. 10. The 2010's weren't exactly the best time for anyone, I think. For me they were a slog of finding myself and learning things I wish I didn't. Amid all those things I wanted some levity. The world needs something and stupid. We got a lot of it ion 2013 but I feel like we could have used it scattered around a bit more. In that spirit, allow me to show you one hell of a pick me up:

Saints Row 4

Saints Row 4 does not give a fuck. It is aggressively demonstrating that the entire time you play. It doesn't care in the slightest what you think or why, It just wants to show you cool, if juvenile, and interesting, if weird shit. It's the finer points of Ratchet and Clank's arsenal, SR3's humor, And superpowers that genuinely put Prototype and Infamous in a blender and tell you to go ape shit with them. The soundtrack isn't top shelf, it's the roof of the building the shelf is in. Saints Row Two had a better story overall but SR Four's was just plain fun and a solid enough story to still be invested.

The DLC was just as irreverent and madcap, Featuring everything from an evil Santa Clause to evil Gimps on Game of thrones chairs made of dildos Or Tropey-ass costumes and weapon reskins that I'd be genuinely surprised the game dev didn't get sued over. It has earned its place in my top 10 and I will die by that decision.

2016 saw the advent of a new genre. They blended TF2 and MOBAs, and we got hero shooters in their first AAA forms, Overwatch and Battleborn. But neither of these games is on this list, much as I liked them. Partly because the whole time, I kept thinking of one simple question: "Why do I keep thinking of...?"

Anarchy Reigns

Anarchy Reigns is my favorite Platinum game. Full Stop. The Story mode is interesting and has genuinely good character moments, the characters themselves are completely mental, ranging from a mercenary with a bionic cat leg that secretly has a gun built into it to a giant cyborg bull-man with a jet-powered hammer. The soundtrack is mostly angry hip-hop, making every song a banger and fittingly speedy for things like random bombing runs from jet fighters that come from absolutely nowhere.

There are giant monsters, cars with mounted flame throwers, giant robots, and the online is still pretty sweet because even when abandoned, loading it up with bots still rules. I regularly have more fun with this than I ever did with Overwatch, and I don't care how insane that sounds.

Some games want to make you feel something and fail. Some games make you feel some things accidentally, for example, a desperate need to laugh. This game made me feel like a human blender. Like a Chthonic god of mangled flesh and raw destructive power. Nyarlathotep ain't got nothing on me. I speak, of course, of...

[Prototype] 2

There's no end to the absolute destruction you feel like you're causing in this game. It feels more fluid than the first, the main character is a pinch more relatable, and all the body horror, superpowers, zombie hordes, and big old monsters make for some of the most memorable and fun moments and fights in gaming. The DLC is also pretty solid, adding new fun side challenges, and new powers and weapons that elevate you from "Flesh god" to "Screw physics, I made them" Omnipotent. Best god/monster simulation of all time.

Sometimes some games are at an honest tie in your mind. Be it that you like them for essentially the same reasons, or for completely different reasons, but the overall total joy or entertainment they bring is roughly equivalent. Here, we have a case of the former:

Furi/Cuphead

Both games have a tight focus on giving players a unique, boss-centric challenge, both have interesting, somewhat minimal narratives, and both are absolute eye candy.

Furi has a more "Samurai Jack" Quality to me. A complete badass on a relatively simple quest with a somewhat minimalistic art style learning some things as he goes.

Cuphead on the other hand, nails that rubber hose animation style, and the fun levity of such animations while still making the player's ability to interact with the world damn impactful and fun.

They share a spot in my soul, games I love everything about but will never be able to finish. Hats off to both dev teams.

Now here we have another tie. Mostly because the games are so close together, they need to be evaluated more or less as one product IMO, not enough changed for me to consider them separate games, fortunately, that is the furthest thing from an insult it can be in this situation. I present to you, my next pick(s).

Costume Quest 1/2

Now, This might seem pretty random considering my other picks, but honestly, I love Halloween, I love creative madness, I love subversion, I love good characters, and I love cool action, these games have all these things by the bucketload.

The first game is a wild ride through Halloween in multiple very lively locations and the second, slightly confusing as it is, is pretty awesome for the things it introduces, including time travel. Other elements, like the battle stamps, the truly epic forms of everything in the fights, The ability to customize your costumes, etc. they blur together in a pretty big way, but again, there's not a thing wrong with that when both games rock like crystal candy.

Now, if you hadn't noticed, all of the games on this list have had some hard action at their core, and while I don't HATE calmer games, a lot of the time, so many are kinda dull to me in that with the exception of easter eggs of some sort, most farming sims, for example, just have you doing normal farm stuff with very few twists, may as well start a real farm in that case. My most chill entry is a game that tosses that to one side, asks you to grab a suck cannon, and start harvesting gelatinous monster poop.

Slime Rancher

While you don't spend a lot of time actually interacting with other characters, they just talk at you, the story of the game is pretty effective, the player character of Beatrix has left Earth for a simpler life of Slime Ranching, which entails the raising of alien crops, delightfully derpy and colorful chickens, and going all around in an attempt to farm new breeds of slime for their genetic material to sell off or trade-in for the creation of gadgets while being surrounded by a cast of interesting characters. It's all very wholesome family fun.

The game looks great, has great ideas, and is genuinely the best farming game I have ever played. @ me all you want.

The 80's are almost fetishized nowadays. Given all the property reboots, games that go for the vibe and aesthetic of the time, etc. It almost seems as though the eighties vibe train ain't gonna stop rolling any time soon. But we owe it to ourselves to remember the first big swipe of madcap neon-colored actiony B-movie bullshit and how mind-meltingly epic it was. Ladies, Gents, and whatever else, I present:

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Blood Dragon's story is relatively simple, you play Sargent Rex "Power" Colt (A name said in full so many times I thought his last name was "Powercolt" for the longest time), a former "Omega force" cyborg. Rex and his friend "Spider" were sent into a secret island base to investigate the supposed defection and treachery of their old commander, Ike Sloan. It turns out he has gone rogue and taken an army of "Mark 5" Omegaforce cyber-soldiers with him. What follows is a long story of betrayal, science fiction of the highest nonsensical level, comedy, and brilliantly cathartic action.

The collectibles range from data on animals, to research notes from a scientist, to literal VHS cassette tapes that have full descriptions of movies that I would legitimately watch if I could. "You may now kill the brides" is not a real film and I am angry for every day that that is true. Anyway, play Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, I dunno if it's on PS4 but it's one game I'd buy a new/old console for.

A lot of superhero games NEED to railroad you. Your goals MUST be to save the lives of the people and help the weak and all that. But one dev asked the simple question: "What if it didn't?" "What if the player chose how to use their power? What if the player could be as evil or as good as they damn well pleased?" One game gave you the powers of thunder and lightning and asked what you'd do with it. It's sequel asked you the same, but against more... interesting forces.

InFamous 2

InFamous 2 is a game about making choices, just like the first one, also just like the first one, it can have an effect on gameplay. That effect went from "What does this particular power do in this allignment?" To "Which new set of NEW powers would you like?" The forces of the last game went from “Three flavors of gun-toting whackos” To “Possibly an allegory for the Klan, Swamp monsters, and Ice-powered super soldiers.”

This was, and still is, the best game in the whole series, The powers felt distinct from anything else and still do, the story is solid as a rock, and the enemy types were still varied enough to be interesting, I miss the Reapers from the first game, but that's about it. Everything else was a massive step up. If you have something that can run it, play it.

Action is something I think we can all appreciate on some level. We can understand when it does or does not work, we can understand when we do or do not like how it feels when we are the ones partaking in it. EX: Any schlep can tell you when the weapons in your game lack impact, or when your character moves too slow for the game to be fun. The following game is something I can't say anything of the sort about. And it's kind of like Wolfenstein, when you have enemies this bad, who the hell cares how many you kill?

Doom 2016

Y'all are lying if you say you didn't expect this one. It's DOOM 2016. This game is made of hate and fuck. AND I LOVE IT. You move so fast, you may as well be half cheetah and half sports car. You slaughter the dregs of hell by the dozens and even the biggest, baddest things this game throws at you can be beaten with the starting pistol if you have the stones for it. It looks amazing graphically, the demons all look appropriately threatening, and even the Multiplayer is a great deal of fun in my book.

Something worth noting: The story presented by default is pretty barebones, but that's where supplementary material fills in the gaps, the difference between supplementary material in most games and supplementary material here is the material is till IN THE GAME. You're free to ignore most of the plot as it happens around you, and even interesting tidbits of the lore like how certain demons function. Not only are these things missable collectibles, prompting continued play to find them, they are also pretty interesting reads. So yeah, just about everything you could want in a sequel/remake, builds the on lore and gameplay very organically.

And here we are, the last game I'd put in this category. An entire decade, and here, we end on the last game that left such an impact I'd put it in my top ten. But first, let's talk about expectations and delivery: When you say a game is coming out, there are certain expectations you have for gameplay, EX: I say "Ratchet and Clank" and you expect a TPS with platforming elements and crazy guns. I say "Gears of War" and people expect something to do with lumbering about in big armor, dismembering things with a chainsaw gun and otherwise shooting them to paste. We might also expect changes to things, better graphics, innovations in grenade variety, something as that franchise goes on.

After the last game in this series was released, there were tons of people who felt let down and disappointed by it. Then they released the still somewhat disappointing special edition of it. They were both still fun, but neither really felt like the full next step in the series. After a failed reboot, they returned to the original story and the lot of us rejoiced. And when it finally came out? It was a step up in most, if not, all regards, to its predecessors. You know what this last one is. Please, give a warm round of applause to:

Devil May Cry 5

A game that was not only a return to form, but a major escalation in gameplay for one character, and a new style of gameplay all together by way of yet another new character. It didn’t exactly hurt that the story kicked ten kinds of ass and that the game looked spectacular in both the design of everything and the actual graphical fidelity.DMC 5 is, like DOOM, Like InFamous 2, Like [PROTOTYPE] 2, everything you want in a good sequel. It built very well on already solid foundations and it was generally just a fun, slightly goofy, massively stylish, and ultra badass ride. I recommend this, and all these games, to anyone.Good night everyone, have a great 2020. And the rest of the decade, for that matter.

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vuristwo · 4 years

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What's your favorite underswap takes?

There are many good ones out there. However, there are many. In fact, it has become sort of a thing to make fun of how many there are. Some “Underswap AUs” are even made to do just that. Some are good though, and here are my favorites.

Mamarswap Mamarswap is simply just Mamar12′s version of Underswap. I have no idea if they’re still working on that AU, but it was fun while it lasted. If I’m not wrong, Chara, Asgore, Papyrus and Sans were the only ones who got a design. I would have LOVED to see what they could have done with the other characters, but I guess we will just have to see.

Fazyswap Also known as just Underswap btw. If I am not mistaken, this AU is ment to follow the more tratitional Underswap AU that Popcornpr1nce made. Still, from what they have released, it seems promising. The OST is a banger too, my favorites would be Dreemur Castle, ASGORE and Bereavement. All I can say is that I look forward for what’s to come.

TS! Underswap We can’t talk about Underswap takes and not mention TS! Underswap. It is an ambitious project with many dedicated people working on it. They’re doing a great job over there too, might I add! Whenever I see new content from them, I’m often in shock thinking; “That was a genious idea!”, because their team has a TON of creativity. Did I also mention that this is going to be a GAME? That is just wild. The few demo teasers that they have released are fun to watch and gets you really intrested in what they’re presenting. I could write more, but I will leave it saying that it only get’s better and better!

Swapped Personas This is an Underswap AU by a friend of mine, Nova. He is a cool dude with a nice set of tricks up his sleeve. He brings a whole bucketload of originality to the table. It is honestly inspiring. So far it has 3 parts out if I am not mistaken. That is three parts of writen content, although I hope that we can make it into a sprite comic in the future. I say we because I am a spriter for the AU. So mabye my oppinion is biased, then why take my word for it? Check it out yourself!

Separate Simulation OK, if you REALLY want a biased oppinion, then you should listen to this. Because Separate Simulation is my own take on Underswap. Yep, even I have jumped on the bandwagon. Although it sort of started back in the early days of the fandom and died pretty quickly too. However the AU was resurected about half a year ago I think? So now I’m making a comic for it and everything. It isn’t my main AU though so it doesn’t get many updates. But yeah, I’m just testing out my creativity and trying to make something good and entertain people in the prosess.

That is all I can think of, I hope that this satisfies your question anon! If you want to check out any of these AUs, click on the bold AU names and it should take you somewhere you can learn more about the AU.

If you have any other questions/requsest for me, don’t be shy to go to https://vuristwo.tumblr.com/ask and shoot me something.

I hope you have a wonderfull day! -Vuristo

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joshslater · 5 years

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Summer with Uncle Bob

I don't even know how many years ago I last saw uncle Bob. His small cattle farm in Oklahoma is like 30 hours drive away from Tacoma, and we couldn't afford to fly, so the visits had been few and far apart. Now at least I am old enough to make the trip on my own. A three day greyhound bus trek down the west coast to LA and then inland through Phoenix to Tulsa. But even in my sleep deprived state there was no mistaking uncle Bob. He looked just as I remembered him, a caricature of a cattle farmer. Despite being my fathers younger brother, he looked way more imposing with his broad, rough body barely contained in his Levis jeans and Carhartt long sleeve shirt. And a John Deere cap on top it all off.

He picked me up at the bus station in his ludicrously oversized truck. Unlike in the coast states the wear showed he actually needed such a vehicle. He tossed my bags onto the flat bed and we jumped in for the 2+ hour drive to his farm. Although the sun was mercilessly shining at us, and the scent of cow, diesel, man and dashboard mixed, I was getting less tired. Bob appeared genuinely happy to see me, and wanted to know as much as he could about my life.

I told him about mum and dad, my sister, our home. I told him about the few friends I had, our interest for engineering and how we competed in robowars. I told him about school and what subjects I like and don't like. How I excelled in math but never seem to get my growth spurt to do anything right in PE. I told him about the bullying that had gotten worse every year as my oppressors had outpaced me. I told him about beatings and the "accident" without witnesses that December that put me in hospital. I told him how my friends begun to stay away to avoid having an accident themselves, or be witness to one. I told him that his invitation to spend the summer with him was why I hadn't killed myself.

- We haven't seen much of each other, but we're all family here. I want you to know that you can always call me if you want to talk. There will always be a bed waiting if you want to come down here and get away from everything. No one will bother you.

We shared a silent moment.

- But not this time! I can't get away from a livestock farm for long. The only reason I could pick you up is because Tom and Sib expects you to pull your weight while here. I know it will feel like a punishment, but I'm not going to give you something you can't handle.

The farm was really two farms that had joined at some point. Bob and Cathleen lived on the larger of the farm houses, while Tomasz and Sbigniew, or Tom and Sib as everyone called them, lived in the smaller farm house at the opposite side of the farm. Both had immigrated from Poland. Sib had been a farmer there too, and Tom had been in the army.

It was late afternoon when we arrived at the farm. Tom, Sib and Cat had heard the truck approaching and were all gathered to greet us.

- So before we do anything else we have a little surprise for you.

Bob took the lead, walking us to a farm building. When we entered I realized that it was the slaughterhouse.

- We only use the abattoir for our own need. Everything we sell is trucked away live. I thought, we can't have you kill a bully, but we can kill a bull. Cat and I thought it would do you good to have some grade A protein over the summer, so this is going to be your bull. I reckon we'll get 400 lbs in cuts from it, so that's how much meat per day, math wiz? - Eh. 5 1/3 lbs per day I think.

I had never seen a bull being slaughtered before, and hadn't really wished for it, but man was it interesting to see. They made it look so easy, keeping the bull calm up until the slaughtering bolt went into its brain. Then they all worked together to saw and cut the carcass down into pieces. Holy shit so much blood. Bob explained every part of the process and what kind of cut you could get from everything. I helped with putting the pieces in boxes or vacuum seal it in plastic. Though a lot of work remained, mincing and cutting larger pieces into smaller, everything was boxed away in three hours.

Cat went to the house to cook dinner while Bob and I scrubbed down the room and all equipment. When we joined her in the house I was told that I had the entire upper floor for me. Cat and Bob only really used the lower floor. She had put my bags in a large bedroom. I had a quick shower, dressed nice and joined in for dinner. There I was presented with a deep fried dish called Rocky Mountain Oysters. I had never heard of it before, but it was delicious. Cat and Bob had chicken. She said she was on a diet and Bobs doctor had told him he needed to eat less red meat.

- Easy for him to say. I have price winning prime plus beef all around me. If you think I won’t join you a few times for steak you don’t know me.

It wasn't until after I had finished Cat laughed and told me that Rocky Mountain Oysters were deep fried bulls balls, from the bull we just slaughtered. Well, it tasted good! We then said goodnight and I looked forward to my first real nights sleep in three days.

It felt like no time at all had passed when Cat woke me.

- Good morning. Breakfast is about ready, so throw on some clothes and come down.

Breakfast was a bucketload of oatmeal porridge with cubed apples, almond and cinnamon.

- Eat it all up, dear. You'll need it.

And boy was she right. When Bob had said that I would have to pull my own weight, I didn't think he was literal. I didn't know there were so many things needing pushing, pulling and lifting on a farm. By lunch, steaks and mash by the way, I was exhausted. By dinner time, grilled hunk of meat with grits, I was more sore than I had ever been before. Cat didn't accept my first attempt to shower before dinner.

- You have to use cold water, otherwise you'll trap the smell of cattle in the pores.

Cold shower it was. It kind of felt good on my aching muscles, and was refreshing. That was short lived, though, because right after dinner I felt fatigue setting in and collapsed in bed for another dreamless night.

When Cat woke me the next morning I was in pain. Every part of me was in agony.

- Oh, you poor thing. I'll get you something to sooth you.

She went away and came back with a big, green tub of goo. As soon as she opened the tub the room filled with the smell of mint and eucalyptus. She took a piece of cloth, dipped it into the goo, and started to apply on my back. It wasn't like any pain relief cream I had ever felt before. It started with the same icy-hot feeling, but then it built and just kept on building until the feeling was worse than the muscle pain. Cat rubbed it in everywhere I had complained about before, and I didn't want to back out now. Once she was done I had a look at the tub. "Equine muscle pain relief" it said. It was made for horses!

- Someone smells extra fresh.

Bob quipped during breakfast. He pushed me as hard as the day before, and I never complained about sore muscles again.

The days settled into a familiar pace. Porridge, work, meat, work, meat, sleep. But the work itself was varied, with a thousand and one different things that needed to be done, and it was getting more and more bearable. Partly because I was getting better at how to do things, but partly because I was getting stronger. I had never thought of getting inside a gym, but perhaps it had been silly to wish for a growth spurt without doing anything for it. Well, it looked like it had arrived, because by the second week I needed new jeans and shoes, and my shirts, while stretchy, would soon need replacing as well. Sib handed me some old clothes that he had outgrown.

As I started to get a grip on things, learn how things work, and have the stamina to complete a day without collapsing, I started to have more time to do other things. Tom had purchased all the weapons he was trained on in the Polish army and practiced at least once a week, and he was happy to teach me how to shoot.

Sib invited me over to their house one evening. Tom and Sib had each half of the top floor as their private space and shared the downstairs. To my surprise, in one of the shared rooms was a full home gym.

- Why do you have a gym? Don't you work out enough as it is? - When workink, you do what you must. When workink out, you do what you can.

He then started to show me some of the exercises. Despite all my hard work on the farm, and doing very light exercises with Sib, I woke up sore in completely new places the day after. It became my new routine to go to Sib every second evening and do a half hour workout with him.

Tom, not wanting to be outdone, added various combat exercises. And not just kicking and boxing the sand bag in their gym. We could be loading hay in the middle of the day and he would start charging me screaming "TAKE ME DOWN!". He would usually come out on top, but some times I would get him. "Kurva! You did good." he would say.

Bob didn't have much time for things outside of work, but one day, with only a few weeks left of my stay, he took me to a small lake an hour away to fish. Usually my dad and I would go fishing in the summer in Washington, and I'm sure Bob knew that, so it felt extra special to me. Like a trip with a second father. It was a really nice day, hot enough for clothes to be optional, but not scorching. It was also nice to get out of the work clothes, put on some shorts and pretend to be a teenager on summer vacation.

We were standing in silence with our rods, and I caught a glimpse of myself in the still water. I realized that no one would recognize me. I barely did so myself, especially not after Cat had taken the hair clippers and given me a tight buzz. I had been so caught up in everything that I'd seen all the small changes but somehow missed the huge transformation. How could I be this tall, broad and muscled in just two months? Bob probably guessed my thoughts when he saw me lowering my rod and staring at my reflection.

- You're a clever boy. I thought you would had it figured out by now? - What figured out? - It's the beef. We inject the calves with Monsanto Taurus. It's a genetically engineered growth hormone. Builds muscle like crazy. By the time they are slaughtered it's out of the system though. - So how....? - The bull we slaughtered for you were injected two days earlier. Enough time for it to activate fully and spread into all muscle tissue, but not enough to break down.

It was clear that this was an important talk for Bob. He wanted to come clean with what he had done and he wanted my approval. Hell, if I wanted I could probably send him to jail. I looked at him and then back at my reflection. I had never really dared to think about my dream body, but if I had it would have been the summer tanned, hard muscled body looking back at me from the lake. This evening I will practice choke holds with Tom. What else can I wish for? Straight A:s and a million dollars? There was only really one answer I could give him.

- Moo.

We were done with all the good byes, at least so I thought. Just as I was about to walk to the bus, Bob handed me an envelope full of money.

- Whaa... What is that for? - Two and a half months of hard work. You've earned every dime. - Should I really carry this much? - You still don't get it, do you? No one will fuck with you.

He brings me in for a hug.

- Anyway, you need to buy clothes you can actually fit in. Do something nice for your mother also. - I will. - And tell my brother he's a weak ass. - I can't do that! - He's not gonna stop you.

Epilogue

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el-gilliath · 5 years

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22. “I think we should stop seeing each other.” prompt for mylex, like michael and kyle had a fight, and when alex arrives at home just at the end of the discussion, discovers that Michaek is going to spend a few days in his trailer. When he learns the reason for the fight between them, he just rolls his eyes and smiles thinking that this fight would come to an end in less than twenty-four hours. And the other day, he realized that he was right.

Finally, months later, here, have 3600 words of Mylex. It went slightly off the rails from the prompt, and got a tiny bit more Malex-y than I was planning, but hey. I hope you still like it.

The level of anger in the main room of the cabin is truly impressive, he can feel it in his bones how angry they both are. Nothing is flying though, so he’s safe in the knowledge that Michael isn’t pissed enough his powers are reacting. Michael would never hurt them, but he has seen him pissed enough to make things hover.

“What that fuck is that supposed to mean, Valenti?”

“You’re being an ass, Guerin!”

“All I said was that you and Alex have been spending a lot of time together without me!”

“Yeah? And? What are you insinuating?”

“Nothing! Christ, Kyle. It was an observation.” Alex can already see where this is going, and it’s not anywhere good.

“Well, it sounded like it was a fucking accusation.”

“Oh yeah, what would I be accusing you of, huh? Trying to push me out of this?”

“Maybe! You’re insecure enough for it!”

There is one thing one learns early when dating Michael Guerin; you do not talk about him thinking that he’s unlovable, anything bad about Max and Isobel, talk down on his science stuff, or him being insecure. Alex knows this, he knows Kyle knows this and he knows Kyle just made a big mistake. Kyle doesn’t seem to have recognized this just yet, but Michael goes rigid. His entire body freezes in between one breath and another and he turns stone cold. All traces of emotion vanishes from his face which is when Kyle finally realizes what he just said.

“Mich-”

“I think we should stop seeing each other.”

It’s obvious Kyle wasn’t expecting that. Truth be told, neither was Alex but he’s not surprised.

“Just because I called you insecure you want to stop seeing me?” The hurt is evident in Kyle’s voice, but Michael doesn’t react.

“No. I think I should stop seeing both of you.”

“What?” Even Alex is starting to feel hurt now.

“I made one comment about how the two of you have been spending a lot of time without me, and you blew up in my face. Obviously there’s something going on, and maybe it would just be best if I let you two be together.”

“Michael!”

“I’m not made for this anyway. Now it will be easier for you.” And with that Michael backs out of the door, leaving Kyle and Alex alone in the cabin. They hear his truck start less than a minute later and drive away. It’s not the first time one of them has driven away in a huff, but it is the first time one of them has tried to call it quits between them.

“Kyle, what the hell just happened?”

“I- I don’t know? He made a comment about how you and me were together without him and I panicked?”

“Panicked? Kyle, that wasn’t panic.”

Kyle exhales loudly. “I know. I just didn’t want him to find out.”

“Why didn’t you just tell him we’re planning a secret? He literally broke up with both of us because you panicked and snapped at him.” The thing is, Alex isn’t trying to make Kyle feel worse. But sometimes their combined bucketloads of issues means eggshells. Not trampling through the henhouse. “You know how he feels about being called insecure.”

“I know,” Kyle says as he buries his fingers in his hair. “I fucked up.”

Alex rolls his eyes up towards the ceiling. He knows he can fix this, he knows Michael and Kyle can fix this. But he also knows how stubborn Michael can be, and that he will need a couple of days to calm down.

“You should go to the airstream.” Kyle obviously knows as well. “You staying here with me will just make him think even more that he’s right.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll let you fix my mistakes for me. And then I can grovel,” Kyle says, a small smile on his face. Alex just huffs in response and walks over to give him a deep kiss.

“Go get our man back, Alex.”

“I’ll try. I’ll text you tomorrow.”

Kyle just nods as Alex walks out of the cabin and gets into the car. Alex knows that Kyle won’t stay there without them, he’ll probably head to the apartment next to the hospital he has for when he works doubles and doesn’t want to drive home before he’s gotten some sleep. He doesn’t want Kyle to be alone but right now he needs to be with Michael, and hopefully get their man back.

The drive to the Airstream still makes him nervous. He doesn’t know what he’s going to find when he gets to the Airstream, if Michael is even there, but he knows he has to try. Not just for himself, but for Kyle too. What they have is… good. It’s tender, sweet, loving, but also angry, fiery and hot. They come together with a passion that Alex has never felt before, the only thing that came close was what he had with Michael before all this. But adding Kyle to the mix has settled them, settled him, in ways he didn’t know he could be. In ways he didn’t know he wanted to be settled.

But his boyfriends are just that, they make him feel safe, protected. Wanted. He doesn’t want to lose that, he doesn’t want to lose either of them. He also knows how stubborn Michael can be, if he’s made his mind up this might not be easy. He’s is still going to try.

He gets to the junkyard to find Michael sitting in a lawn chair in front of the fire pit. He already has a bottle of whiskey in his hands, thankfully no acetone yet. Good. That means he still has time to convince him.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Michael asks as soon as he gets out of the car. His voice is void of emotion, which tells Alex more about how Michael is feeling than if it was filled with anger.

“I came to see you.”

“Now why would you do that, when you could be with Doctor McDreamy?”

“Because I’m lucky enough to have two boyfriends. Doctor McDreamy might be one of them, but you should see Cowboy McGorgeous. He has the softest, most amazing curls, and the prettiest hazel eyes I have ever seen. But it’s his disposition is what I love most about him.”

“Alex-”

“You see, Cowboy McGorgeous is just so unbelievably kind. He takes care of everyone, makes everyone feel like they mean something. He always makes sure to have food ready when Doctor McDreamy gets home from the hospital, he can tell with just a look when one of us needs a hug or a kiss, and he always, always makes sure that we know we are loved.”

“Then why the fuck have you been avoiding me? And why the fuck did Kyle blow up in my face when I asked him about it today?”

And there it is. The telltale annoyance that means that even if Michael doesn’t want to, he is listening. He’s hurt, heart broken and so very, very unsure, but he is listening. “Because we’re planning a surprise party on Saturday. And we were going to ask you if you wanted to move in with us.”

“No,” Michael says, eyes narrowing. “The fuck you were.”

Alex just keeps silent. He needs to see where this is going before he does anything else.

“You’re the golden couple, I’m just the tag along you use to have fun. The fuck if I’m gonna move in with you.” The fact that Michael just called himself the tag along in their relationship makes Alex’s blood boil, but he knows Michael isn’t finished yet. “The fact that you think I’m more than just your extra on the side is delusional. I’m just the thing in your bed that you can screw when you’re tired of each other.”

“The thing in our bed that we can screw when we’re tired of each other?” Alex asks incredulously.

“That’s what I fucking said, and you know it. You two are the perfect couple, I was just lucky to be included.” The annoyance turns into pain, bright and horrible and ugly, on Michael’s face before they start to melt away into the Guerin patented Face of No Emotion. He’s making up his mind, and it’s not a good one

“You were not included. Nothing about you is an inclusion. You were the start of this, or have you forgotten that? You and me were the couple, we decided to pursue Kyle. Together.”

“Yeah, because you wanted him!”

“Are you trying to tell me you never wanted Kyle?”

Michael sighs. The Face is fully in place now. “Yes. Now go back to your boyfriend, and leave me alone.”

Alex closes his eyes and swallows noisily. “If I go back to the cabin I’ll be alone, Kyle went to his apartment. We don’t want to be without you, Michael, we don’t want to be a we if you’re not there. I promised you I wouldn’t look away, that I wouldn’t walk away again. Please don’t make me.”

The space between them is silent after that, oppressive and mean and filled with something Alex doesn’t want it to be filled with. But he hears the rustle of a chair and opens his eyes to see that Michael has gotten up.

“Then I’ll do it for you. Goodbye, Alex.” And then Michael turns around and walks into the Airstream, the door closing and the lock turning into place.

————–

Alex still stays outside the Airstream. He can’t move much besides sitting his ass down in a lawn chair, and text Kyle that he failed. Kyle only texts him back ‘I’m sorry’ which just makes him feel worse. Yes, Kyle might be slightly to blame but something has been missing in the communication between Michael and him, something he didn’t even know was missing, if Michael thinks he’s just a bit on the side. Here he is, thinking that Michael knows just how integral he is to this relationship of theirs, just how loved and wanted and needed he is. Instead… Instead Michael thinks he means nothing.

He’s contemplating what to do when the door to the Airstream suddenly bangs open, and Michael more or less falls out of it. He looks rough, drunk and red-eyed as if he’s been crying, curls a mess as if he’s been tugging them. He has a new bottle of whiskey in his hand, but still no acetone. He dumps himself down into a lawn chair across from Alex, but doesn’t acknowledge him in any way. Alex is a bit unsure if Michael even know he’s there at the moment.

“I just don’t get why you haven’t left me behind months ago. You finally got Kyle, why are you keeping me around?” Well, at least Michael knows he’s still there.

“Do you really believe that?”

Michael looks at him, his eyes swimming in their sockets because of how drunk and unfocused they are. “Have you given me reason not to?”

“I thought I had,” Alex replies. “I thought you knew how much I want you, how much we both want you. How much we both love you.”

“I know you want me, I’m great in bed,” Michael said with a leer. “But you love each other. ‘M fine with that, I don’t need you to love me. ‘S fine if you want to be with just Kyle, I’ll let you go so you can be happy.”

“I don’t want you to let me go. Don’t you fucking dare, Michael. We’re cosmic, star-crossed, whatever the fuck you want to call it. I’m not giving up on you, on this. On us.” Alex could feel anger and desperation take over inside of him, too much had happened for him to give up on Michael now. It swam within him, rising among the fear of losing the greatest thing he had in his life, the two most wonderful men he had hoped to live out the rest of his life with. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. “Michael. Do you really feel nothing for Kyle?”

Michael leaned his head back slightly, his fingers dropping the whiskey bottle onto the ground next to the chair, the bottle tipping over and spilling whiskey into the sand. Alex can’t bring himself to care about the alcohol being spilt, even if he knows Michael would think of it as a waste of money.

“No, ‘course I feel something,” he mumbled out, his eyes swimming even more, Alex could see him struggle to focus.

“Then let us prove that we love you, that we want you with us. Please. I don’t want to lose you, again.”

Michael is obviously on his last leg of being awake, if the way he keeps shifting is any indication.

“Maybe you should go to bed.”

“‘Kay.”

“Come on, I’ll help you in.”

“No,” Michael says, his eyes opening wide for a second, a second of clarity entering his gaze.. “You can prove it. To-Tomorrow.”

“You sure?”

“Mmm. Make me let you. Both of you. Now t’ke me to bed.”

“Okay, come on then,” Alex says, getting up and wrangling Michael out of the chair. He wrangles him into the Airstream, onto the bed and out of his clothes. He wrangles him under the covers, wrangles Michael’s octopus like arms off of him, wrangles his own clothes and prosthesis off, and gets into bed. Where Michael’s octopus like behavior wrangles Alex back into his arms. He doesn’t know if Michael will regret him being there when he wakes up in the morning. But he did promise he wouldn’t walk away again. Michael might have tried to walk away from him, but he’s keeping his promise. For both himself and Kyle. He falls asleep in Michael’s arms, his breathy puffs against Alex’s neck, his hopes for tomorrow small, but very much there, alive in his beating heart.

————–

He wakes up the next morning still wrapped in Michael’s arms, safely held against his chest so he won’t fall out of the Airstreams tiny bed. It’s been a while since they’ve slept there, just as long since they’ve woken up just the two of them. It feels good, the way it always does to wake up in Michael’s arms, safe, warm, held like he’s something precious. It’s a heady feeling, and one he realizes now that he has been missing for a while, Michael has usually already been up and at them when he’s woken up for at least the last couple of months.

Thinking back on it he can pinpoint exactly when it started happening; the night he and Kyle had started talking about them moving in together about two months ago. One thing led to another, and they had ended up in the bedroom together, so wrapped up in the pleasure that they hadn’t noticed Michael watching them. They had stopped when they did, pulling Michael into bed, undressing and caressing his everything but Michael had still been a bit distant the next day. Alex hadn’t thought much about it then, but it all comes to him clear as day now. How Michael has subtly been pulling back since that day, careful to try and leave Alex and Kyle to their alone time(they always come find him), or trying to leave so they can sleep next to each other in peace (they don’t let him leave). But he’s always been up early, citing work or Isobel and Max needing him.

Michael has been pulling away for months, and while they have noticed to some extent, they’ve never seen it for what it is; Michael thinking that he’s nothing to them but a bed warmer any more. And with Kyle panicking when Michael asked about it, well they have a lot to prove.

He reaches for his cellphone on the floor, and sends off a quick text, telling Kyle to come over to the Airstream with breakfast. Kyle replies with a thumbs up quickly, so Alex gets ready for the next thing on the agenda; waking Michael. He turns around as quickly and carefully on the too tiny bed, only to find Michael awake and staring at him.

“Hi. I didn’t think you were awake,” he says, his voice low in the small space between them. Michael doesn’t reply, just watches him, his eyes slightly narrowed against the morning sun creeping in through the blinds on the windows. “I texted Kyle, he’s on his way over with breakfast. I hope that’s okay.”

Michael still doesn’t answer, just continues to watch him. Alex doesn’t know what to do, so he just watches him back, listening out for Kyle’s car. He doesn’t know how much Michael remembers of their discussion yesterday, he if remembers at all, but he made a promise to make Michael let them show their love for him, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t.

“Do you- do you remember anything from last night?” he asks. Michael gives him a miniscule nod but doesn’t elaborate as to what he remembers. Alex is afraid to ask what he remembers, just in case it comes with regret.

“Don’t worry. I said I would let you prove it, and I will,” Michael finally says, voice hoarse and groggy with sleep, as he closes his eyes and leans forward to rest his forehead against Alex’s on the pillow. They both stay there until they hear Kyle’s car driving into the junkyard, at which point they both get up and get dressed. Alex deliberately takes his time putting on the prosthetic so he can stay until Michael’s ready to go outside, a move Alex knows confuses him but he still does it. When they walk outside Kyle has stolen a table from the side of the Airstream and is setting up the table. Coffee, fresh bagels, cream cheese, lox, tomatoes and onions, fresh fruit, milkshakes from CrashDown and breakfast burritos. Things he knows Michael loves but hardly ever gets because of the cost.

“I uh- I got a bit of everything. I wanted to get your favorites, cause I really owe you an apology.”

“Valenti-”

“Michael, please, I’m so, so sorry. We’ve been planning on asking you if you wanted to live together for a couple of months, and I just got so wrapped up in planning a surprise party that when you made the comment yesterday I just panicked. I didn’t mean to jump down your throat like that, you didn’t deserve it.” The look on Kyle’s face is downtrodden, his eyes puffy as if he hasn’t slept through the night. Alex wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t.

“I thought you both didn’t want me any more.” The shock on Kyle’s face would be funny if the situation wasn’t what it is.

“Wh-Ho- Whatever gave you that impression?”

“I came to the cabin two months ago. You were going to hard at it that you didn’t notice me, and after that you just seemed. Secretive. Like you only wanted each other.” Alex can’t help but be proud that Michael is actually talking about it instead of just burying it deep and getting defensive, it just proves that they have gotten somewhere.

“Two months ago? That night we first started talking about living together?” Kyle asks, looking at Alex who confirms it with a nod. “Sweetheart, we were excited. We didn’t mean to ignore you, and us just wanting each other is bullshit.”

Kyle walks over and runs his hands through Michael’s curls, resting them against his neck after. “There’s no way we would do this without you, it’s the three of us against Roswell, remember?”

Michael huffs out a laugh, leaning to rest his forehead against Kyle’s the way he did to Alex not long ago. “Kyle-”

“We love you. There’s three keys in my back pocket that proves it, one with an A, one with a K, and one with an M. We figured we would get you to move into the cabin with us, maybe get another dog, before we started talking about marriage.”

Michael pulls back so fast that Kyle almost topples over. “Marriage?”

“Well yeah, in the future, sure,” Kyle says, smiling sweetly. “But as I said, moving in, maybe another dog first.”

Alex just looks at them, his boyfriends, as they lean against each other. Michael squeaking in the face of marriage, while Kyle is still talking about the moving in and the new dog. He doesn’t know for sure, but he has a feeling that it’ll work itself out.

“Hey, are you coming over here to give us both a kiss or are you just gonna stand there googly eyed and watch?”

On second thought, there is no feeling. It will work itself out.

#my fic #malex fic #mylex fic #alex manes #michael guerin #kyle valenti #roswell new mexico #prompts #answered

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