#I am not actually sure how many spells each of us learned today but it was definitely quite a few between everyone!

[fell-court]

I spent this evening running through a variety of dungeons and trials, partially for second chance points but primarily for trying to learn some more Blue Mage spells. I did this with @soothingmind and @snow-system-wol (whose characters are Nimda and S’ria respectively), and we were able to make some pretty good progress by the end of things, even if doing things synced was very tricky at times!

I also recently found a way for Lorenza to actually be floating as a reaper and a dark knight, and while the stance does perhaps look better in some outfits versus others, it’s still been very fun to have present as something she does in the game now~

Here are some screenshots I took tonight, including:

Fun stances and flashy attacks in Thordan's Reign

Staring down Nidhogg, scythe and (Key?)blade in hand

And using fire to stay warm and blend in well with the atmospheres of various ARR hard mode dungeons (I apologise for completely blocking S’ria with Lorenza’s wing ;w;)

[meimi-haneoka]

Ok. I was taking a break from my studies and it resulted in me being today days old when I found out that Syaoran is called Lionel in the French dub.

.....

....

....

At this point, my brain just refuses to compute that.

LMAO. What is the world? And apparently Meilin is Stephanie. Weirdly enough, it suits them. Though Tiffany, Thomas and Gauthier a bit too much for me. OK. Let me heacanon this. Syaoran is actually called Lionel at his school in Hong Kong. Like either he is very politely referred to as Classmate Li (there is an exact term for that in Cantonese which I can't remember) or people from outside the family just call him Lionel (This should be the case since it was pretty odd that no one outside his family called him by his first name. Makes sense in Japanese culture but Hong Kong, especially in that age group, is not that formal). Either way, outside the family or his classmates, he is referred to by his full name, either Lionel Lee (in Hong Kong or abroad) or Li Xiaolang or Lei Siu Long (according to proper Chinese naming or calling conventions). He is either Baobei (which is like baby or treasure) to his mother or LangLang (affectionate nickname) or Didi (little brother) to his sisters. Only people in his clan, including Wei and Meiling, call him Syaoran (or Siu Long, to be more accurate) and he is Li-kun to rest of his Japanese friends and acquaintances. So, Sakura with her "Shaoran-kun" is her own unique way of calling his name. I am pretty sure he has a hidden real name but he adores being called that by Sakura. Everytime Sakura calls out to him with "Shaoran-kun", he thinks to himself that one day, once both of them are strong enough, they will reveal their real names to each other. Although, I would love to think that he teases her with his own English name when he speaks to her in English and she struggles with it.

I am so sorry Aubretia 😭

I took so long replying to your ask too.

You definitely brought me back in time with the mention of the French dub! When I was a kid, the first run of the CCS anime was incomplete here in Italy, and for long time the only episodes I watched were only up to the 46th one.

But my father had put up satellite television and some time later I could catch CCS on Fox Kids in France, it seemed like a dream to me. I obviously did not know any French back then, but I quickly learned some things, and how the characters were called in that dub!

At first it felt quite strange to me too (in Italy CCS, strangely enough, was one of the first anime where the names were left almost untouched after the 90s wave of modified and butchered anime) but I got used to it rather quickly.

I think when you say

This should be the case since it was pretty odd that no one outside his family called him by his first name

you're referring to the bit where Meiling actually says that he's the one who doesn't call anyone by their first name outside family, right?

Well it does indeed make sense for JP culture, probably less elsewhere.

Omg!! Syaoran would indeed have so many names, can he keep up with all of them to properly respond when he's called by someone? 😆Yes, "Syaoran-kun" is exclusivity of Sakura 🥰

(I can tooootally see his sisters call him didi 😆)

Sometimes I do wonder about Syaoran's real name.

My idea is that the one we know is indeed his real name because when Eriol spelled out his name in the "falling from the tree scene" back in Sakura Card Arc, he seemed "hypnotized" and Eriol had successfully gained control of his body through the thread 😅the whole idea that if someone got your true name, they have your soul in their hands...

[arbitrarycogitation]

Words

Today I started my fifth journal. I don't think I'm "good" at journaling. I started my first "serious" one in 2015. It took me 3 years to finish. Then 2 years for the next one, a bit under a year for the next one, and another couple of years for the latest one. My next journal is a bit thinner than the others, with wider lines, so let's see how long it'll last. I reckon it won't be as long as the previous one. But we'll just have to see I guess.

You might be wondering why I'm suddenly writing about these journals. Many people write for their own pleasure, I'm not special. I know. I wanted to share some lines from all of my journals. Specifically, some lines from the opening and closing entries of each journal. I always make sure I have some kind of hello and goodbye with each book. Although I am not entirely sure why I sometimes imagine someone is reading my journal as I write it. It's not too far off the reality, because sometimes I flip through them and laugh at my past problems, cry at the display of emotions on the pages, and sigh at the grammatical and spelling errors littering the lines between my life.

Without further ado, teenage me.

"My goal: to fill it (the journal) before the new school term. But, if I did not finish it, feel free to add stories of my mortal life here."

"You know, this book has always endured my shitty attitude to life. Thanks for that, book. I appreciate it."

"Whoever is reading this in the future, please note that this book was somewhat my venting book from my emo and hurt phases."

Yes, I was an emo teen, it was the mid-2010s, and everyone was emo. My first two journals were not lined, so my handwriting and style were somewhat freer. Older-teen-me below.

"Let's hope this one gets filled quicker so I don't have to relive my embarrassing past as much."

"I hope I continue to grow into a caring, loving, and mindful adult. That I'll look back at these times and chuckle in relief because I got through yet another time in my life. It's getting longer, and I wish I will never cut it short. I need to survive. This book is proof that I tried. That I'll keep trying."

That was actually wholesome. Well older-teen-me, we are still reliving the embarrassing past to this day. It's like all of my worst moments are compiled into a bunch of videos. Like the ones they make for K-Pop idols, but instead of "all the times this person looks cute" it's "all the times I want to cease existing". With this, let's move on to baby-adult-me's journal.

"In the last journal, I wished to be more comfortable with myself. I think I achieved that goal, to some extent. Okay, to a huge extent. I'm not 100% yet but I'm hopefully getting there. With this journal, I wish I will understand my purpose more by the end of it. I hope I have a great relationship with the people I love and continue to learn to be grateful for the life I'm living. Here's to a bit more adventure."

"I don't know if I'm closer to realizing my worth, but I have begun a journey to heal my soul. Bits by bits, with the might of someone who doesn't know much of the world yet."

"Thank you for being my friend for 8 months, I hope we continue to learn about life as we move along in this never-ending maze we call mother earth. Our journey awaits us. Stay strong, Wah. You are doing great. Good job on realizing a bit more about what you need to do. Here's to a fruitful future."

Ngl, this was pretty recent, so reading this is a bit heartbreaking. We all went through so much during the global pandemic, and this was the journal that kept me sane throughout the darkest days of the world. Now, onto the most recent one. I am dreading reading back anything I wrote 8 months ago at the beginning of the journal and what I wrote earlier today. Here goes nothing.

"Right now, there are a lot of things that I'm putting to the side because I have to focus on the bigger things in life. By the end of this book, it would be wonderful if I have made progress in these personal projects."

"It will be a long, arduous journey but it's one that I will never regret doing. Here's to the beginning of my 20s. May the exhilaration of life double as my age does too."

"Let's hope everything is just a misunderstanding. I know my 2023 will look different, with several changes, but I didn't think I'd have to bargain out something so dear to me. Life, if you're listening, stop messing with me. I'm tired."

Oof, that was a bummer, wasn't it? Rest assured that I am not feeling this way anymore, even though this was literally this morning haha. Life has a funny habit of making one second of a bad moment into a monumental feeling at the moment. Here's the first entry of my new journal, to contrast the last one.

"2022 is almost done, but maybe I can milk more experiences out of this year. Not sure why, but I think 2023 will be the year everything changes again. It's about time things shift around and rotate anyways. To past-me, an update. We're finally doing these projects. To future-me, hold on. You always hate the ride, you sappy, sentimental buffon. To present-me, you got this. Even when your grip is weak at best. Jalanin aja dulu. (Just go with the flow.) Here's to experiencing more. More happiness, more hurt, more excitement, more sadness. More of everything. I'm finally in my 20s, huh? How bizarre."

That's enough oversharing on the internet for a day, right?

[erstwhilesparrow]

☕️ + any combination of [hannigram, cc!dream, c!dream, ecology, religion]

hello! :] under the cut for length:

hannigram: i. so i haven't actually even finished season 1? there is probably A Lot that i am missing, it is safe to assume a certain about of Saying Words Recreationally, but i am a little obsessed with the way that people keep talking about will like he automatically gets no say in any of the things they're deciding about him? (i am thinking of, and this may be a misremembered scene, alana bloom and hannibal talking about What's Best For Him, having-a-therapist-wise, while he is conspicuously absent from the room) and it's... he's already meat to them. meat that does interesting things when poked, meat that can be very useful, but meat! hannibal being a cannibal is just allowing the possibility of making that literal. and i get the other appeal here, of [being known by someone in ways no one else ever will], but i don't know if i have a solid feeling about that yet? also, i'm sure the fandom is insufferable about them. no i will not elaborate. (lying because i'm immediately elaborating now: i've seen at least two really good fics that the authors labelled as spitefic, and they were just Correct, to the best of my knowledge? i'm deeply apprehensive about what they could possibly have been a response to.)

cc!dream: part of me wants to say "oh okay time to swing bats at hornets' nests today" but i don't really believe that my opinion of him is that controversial? (the thing i do believe is that if the wrong person sees this at the wrong time, it will be like i did that swinging anyway. such is the nature of massive fanbases. whatever.) starting with Current Events: i haven't read the google doc, and probably won't look into The Current Events further than what i've already seen, but i understand he at minimum was flirting with a fan who was still in high school when he was 21 and sending her private snapchats and that's. Don't Do That?? Hey, That's Fucked, There's A Power Imbalance Here That You Cannot Ignore, Don't Do That. i get why people's reaction was to drop him. i think it's fucked [in ways and for reasons i cannot elaborate on in this already giant post] that he's probably still going to be completely fine after this. beyond that, the amount of attention i pay him is minimal.

god, fuck, i think i talked myself into being kind of mad about this by remembering the fact that there are probably so many kids that look up to him. fucking hell. okay. I'm Not Learning / Thinking More About This. You Can't Make Me. The World Is Not Changed By Me Getting Mad On My Tumblr Blog Of Twelve Followers Total. moving on.

c!dream: oh my god he sucks so bad i want to strangle him (<- thinking about the exile trials + verdict)

no further analysis.

ecology: uh. surface opinion: cool field of study! ecologists in general seem like really cool people. more people should care about this. more personally: i feel weird about this one? like as a kid i read every animal book i could get my hands on and completely sincerely believed those pages they always had at the end about how You Can Change The World By Recycling :) . but also being In Nature wigs me out? but also i care about living creatures and their relations to each other? but also how much do i get to really say that and mean it when the most i've done is Occasionally Relocate Bugs Outside and Nod Sympathetically At Spiders? conflicted about this.

religion: another one i feel weird about! because i was born and raised in canada (sparrowlore for you, i guess, if you couldn't guess from how i spell colour) i feel there's like a background radiation level of knowledge i have about christianity that i don't really have for any other religion? so i am a bit suspicious, like, when i say 'religion' do i mean that or do i mean 'christianity'? and i keep saying the universe, which feels like i just want the christian god to go by a different name, but if asked directly i would say i'm probably an atheist? i... would like to be more principled about my atheism. also, part of me wants to be like "other people's religion is none of my business, let people be", but also part of me that wants to be like, "here are the specific historical instances that show i cannot ignore how religion has been repeatedly used to justify / perpetuate horrific acts and i want to be wary of the institution that allowed for those acts". i don't have a good sense of how to... reason about that divide? and like maybe i shouldn't even be framing it as that particular dichotomy? what i'm saying is both these impulses exist in me at once. and that is, all at once, how i feel about religion.

[coalitiongirl]

Fic Recs (under 300 edition)

So I wanted to get back to reading Swan Queen fic regularly, and I asked people to rec longfic that they'd read (not written) and loved that had fewer than 300 kudos! I haven’t read most of these, but I’ve collected them here so y’all can go through the list and discover some new fics with me! Please try to kudos and review every fic that you read! It means the world to the writers and will keep em writing, and then we all win. 😁

Atonement by SgtMac (M): With Regina's magical heart failing thanks to years of previous evil, Emma and Regina and Henry (and Granny!) set out to save her life by traveling to the Enchanted Forest and requesting help from ancient magical beings known as the Guardians. Given a mission as simple as it is impossible - to achieve atonement by creating peace - the ladies find themselves joining a rebellion and fighting for the very soul of the Enchanted Forest all while trying to help Regina to understand that the self-loathing and guilt which have driven most of her actions don't have to doom her chance for a new beginning or even, a chance to live and love again. A S4(ish) SQ love story set against the turmoil of war and the chaotic savagery of the old world.

Blood and Sand by cheshire6845 (E): A/U The Savior is a slave forced into the role of fighting as a gladiator for the House of Hearts. The odds are against her survival as she will have to win in the arena, navigate Cora's schemes, outlast a general's vengeance, and not be killed out of spite by the current House of Hearts Champion - Regina the Undefeated. This story follows the major plot points of Starz Spartacus with some twists along the way.

But what if there was no time by KizuRai (M): When she wakes up, it's dark. She can't move, she can't see, she can't feel and she can't hear. Where am I? She feels a forceful oppression, pressing her down, draining her of her energy and she's powerless to stop it. How did I get here? The question of here is relative, she's not even sure where here is. What happened? There must be some reason for being stuck here but her memory is fuzzy, like all her thoughts are being sifted through a filter. Who am I? She's not sure if she actually exists or she suddenly became sentient in the darkness.She hears a voice reverberating in the distance, it's distorted and quiet but she hears it all the same. It breaks the monotony of the silence. Someone's coming for her, they will get her out. She's just not sure she wants them to as the price might be too great.

Finding Home by evl_rgl (T): “I wanted to remember you so badly that I pulled back your cursed town just so that the memories would make sense. I needed you so badly that even when I had no memory of you, I still tried to find you.” Regina gave Emma and Henry memories of a happy life together before they fled Pan’s curse, leaving them with no memories of their lives in Storybrooke. However, when the memory spell shows signs of failing, threatening to rip apart the minds of both Emma and Henry, Regina makes a drastic choice to go back and fix it, understanding that it will mean living alone in a world where her son doesn’t know her. Was the spell really faulty, though? (swanqueen)

Five Flames by MariaComet (U): In the past, Emma Nolan disconnected from her peers in high school, preferring to keep to herself. In her sophomore year of high school, she decided to try and join the boy’s wrestling team because she was bored. She didn’t expect herself to become the champion of the most bullied kid in school or the secret best friend of the school queen. She also didn’t expect to join a club that would change her life. In the present, Emma is trying to cope with a humiliating loss in her martial arts career. She claims to be “training” but is stuck in limbo between wanting to retire and try again. She is isolated from her former best friend, Regina Mills, a local celebrity chef and the rest of her old friends. When one of them calls her with an idea to honor their deceased teacher, she is confronted with unresolved feelings and questions about how powerful love truly is.

A Glamour of Truth by PrincessCharming (T): After 2x10, Regina uses magic to show Emma the obvious truth. A tentative trust forms between them amid hilarious bickering. With Emma's help, Regina struggles to regain a place in her son's life... until Cora arrives, wanting her daughter back. Pieces of Regina's past emerge showing that the board was set long before the game started. The final battle begins soon.

His Dark Materials 'verse by MoonlitMidnight (M): A modern Alternate Universe in which Dæmons (the external physical manifestation of a person's 'inner self' that takes the form of an animal) are present. In which Emma and Regina have led slightly different lives and they make slightly different choices.

How Many Miles to Avalon? (WIP) by RavenOutlander (E): Regina would do anything to save Emma from the darkness and bring her back home safe and sound. Even put up with the two idiots, Captain Guyliner and a bunch of dwarves she decidedly wanted to drop off at the nearest exit. But in their search for Emma, they find that she might not need that much saving after all. Caught up in a search for the infamous Philosopher Stone, an all out war between DunBroch and Camelot, and ghosts from the past to haunt her every waking moment, Regina finds herself scrambling to keep her and her family's happy endings from falling apart.

The Hyperion by FrankenSpine (M): After wishing upon what she believes is a shooting star, Emma Swan finds herself aboard the Hyperion, the royal starship of an alien Queen from a faraway galaxy. She quickly learns of the tensions between the Queen's people and her own, but the Queen takes an interest in her and agrees to take her away from Earth forever. Adventure awaits. *(Loosely based on Guardians of the Galaxy with just a hint of Farscape)*

If Wishes Came True (It Would've Been You) by Angeii_K (M): After Regina films a guest appearance on her friend Neal’s popular show, he invites her to spend the weekend with him and his girlfriend. What she never expected was to actually like the woman. Sparks fly between the two, which results in them questioning everything and making choices they will later regret. 4 years later, they meet again in the most unexpected of ways. Now co-stars on the same show, they are forced to work through the emotions from their last encounter. What will happen next? Only time will tell.

The King Doesn’t Have To Know (WIP) by highheelsandchocolate (M): The White Knight had never seen anyone like her before: the Queen was nothing short of mesmerizing. Her possessive yet neglectful husband, however, was another thing entirely.

The Lich by Dangereaux (M): Gay disaster Emma, exasperated Regina, and a monster. A Halloween special.

Maybe if We Close Our Eyes we Can Reach the Stars by wellthizizdeprezzing (T): Emma is a lonely astronaut. Regina is an adventuring alien. Their paths cross leading them onto a journey of new discovery. Between galaxies and many miles of cold black space, despite not speaking the same language, they manage to fall for each other. An out of this world love story.

A prisoner long forgotten by sugarsweet_19 (M): ‘I wish I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood and as black as the wood of the window-frame. Soon after she had a little girl, who was as white as snow, with lips as red as blood and with her hair as black as the ebony of the window-frame. She was therefore called Snow-white.” This is how our story starts but how will it end?The evil queen as been locked up in a tower and forgotten that is until princess Emma looks for a place to hid from her parents after they tell her she has to marry Neal the son of the dark one.

Revenge of the Three Little Pigs by mskyo (M): Regina and Emma find themselves alone and looking for the rest of their party. The Evil Queen must face the consequences of her past actions. Will Emma come to her aid, or understand that justice must be served... *Some chapters have fairly graphic sex, and violence*

Things I Almost Remember by cheshire6845 (T): A/U Despite an oncoming war between the Dark and the Light, Emma and Regina are best friends growing up in the Enchanted Forest. When war does come, they find themselves on opposite sides. Regina will have to defy her mother to save Emma. Will Emma be able to save Regina when Cora curses her daughter to live in the Land without Magic?

What We Make (WIP) by DiazTuna (M): “My mother.” He says calmly. He’d known all along, she’s aware. But he’d known that today would be the day that would get this going. She wants to ask what it was like, to have woken up this morning, laced up his boots and walked into hell just knowing. “It’s programmed the cyborg to kill her. Before I have a chance to be born.” -In which the leader of the future sends his best soldier back to the past to save his mother from a killer cyborg. Terminator AU.

The Wrong Way by pcworth (M): Takes place right after Zelena steals Regina's heart. Zelena offers Regina a chance to go back in time with her and change both of their lives for the better. But what will be the price of that decision. Slow-burn to SwanQueen

zombie trash by 13pens (T): Zelena could have her brain and eat it, too. Fic operates on three premises 1. this takes place in any universe where zelena is a reformed asshole 2. zombies are a thing and exist iZombie style 3. i have NO chill

[novawrts]

7-letter word

Riven x Fairy Reader

Request: “a Riven one where they’ve been friends for a while and constantly flirt and everyone is going insane about it because why the hell aren’t they together yet? And then a near threatening situation with maybe a burned one or something similar makes them confess finally.”

A/N: Requested by @oneflewoverthenewtmasnest. I hope you will like it! Also, English isn’t my first language so I apologize in advance for any grammar/spelling mistakes.

Warning: None.

“Good morning to the most beautiful Fairy and to the most beautiful Fairy only,” there were only two reactions possible at Riven’s words: Sky and Stella’s one which consisted of rolling exaggeratedly their eyes, or yours, smiling. “Good morning to you too handsome,” you greeted him, waiting for Doris to heat up the water of your tea in the cafeteria queue. “I’ve got this,” he said to you while grabbing your tray and his once done. “Is it me or does it look worse than last year?” You stated, looking at everyone food as you sat at a table in the middle of the dining hall. “Well… We still can go to my room if you want a satisfying breakfast, you know,” you couldn’t help but chuckle at his words unlike Stella who pushed her food away with disgust before even touching it. “Thank you, Riven, for spoiling my appetite.”

As it went on, Sky pointed it out that classes will start soon and if the boys wanted to stop by their dorm beforehand they better had to go now. “See you later at practice?” Riven asked, hands buried in the pockets of his leather jacket. “Sure. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” with that confirmation he got up from the bench and leaned towards you, his greyish green eyes locked on yours. “While I will miss that face until then,” he winked at you and straightened up as you rested your chin in the palm of your hand, watching him left with his best friend.

Riven had a grin plastered on his lips something that had certainly not escaped the notice of the other Specialist. “What’s your excuse for not dating her again?” Sky wondered, more amused than actually confused by the current situation. “We’re friends mate,” and his answer could have been unquestionable if it wasn't for the clench of his jaw when he had slightly turn his head your way. By the time his gaze shifted back to you, your attention was on a relatively fed up Stella. “Why aren’t you acting on it yet exactly?” The Light Fairy snapped, leaving you quite befuddled. “Acting on what?” Her shoulders went down as she sighed loudly at your question. “On the constant flirting since year one!” She shouted like it was the most obvious of things. “We are friends Stel.”

Friends. A 7-letter word that you and Riven have put a lot of efforts into to describe your relationship, much to Sky and Stella dismay. It had been a while now that you had lost count of the number of attempts to make you confessed possible feelings for each other. Both supposedly contented with the simplicity of at least one thing in your respective lives. Therefore, brushing off the conversation whenever they brought it back had become an art that you had learn to master even better than magic or a sword.

This sunny afternoon probably being one of the last, you put the shortcut to the training ground aside. It was when you heard it, when you heard them, in the greenhouse. “They are still students,” the voice, you were sure, belonged to Professor Harvey your Botany teacher. “They are Specialists, they have duties,” Mister Silva pointed out before hissing in pain. His recent infection surely didn’t get any better. “It’s a Burned One we’re talking about. Look what it did to the Solarians, to you Saul,” you frowned and thought, they couldn’t possibly wanted to send the Specialists to the barrier. “We have to prepare them, Ben,” the firmness of Headmistress Dowling made your heart sank, of course they were considering it.

“There you are,” Riven said happily after jumping off the elevated stand where him and Sky had started to warm up. “Sorry, I’ve been held back,” you had never lie to him before and in some way it wasn’t fully a lie, or at least it was what you convinced yourself of. After all, you had been held back, even it was by eavesdropping three authority figures of Alfea. “Alright, listen up everybody!” You hadn't noticed that Mister Silva had arrived, and despite the anger you felt towards him right now, you were glad he was here to prevent an imminent questioning from Riven. “You better go.”

You rarely seen him that good out there. He always was the best for you, no matter how many times Sky beat him, but today it didn’t happen even once. Surely it wasn’t thanks to your cheering. On other circumstances you would have be ecstatic but your mind kept creating scenarios in which they chose students to hunt down the Burned One with the battalion and Riven was always on the list. Despite the smiles you offered him throughout practice he perfectly could tell you were not your usual self.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” He asked you the very second you reached out the waterfall near the Stone Circle, the place where you were spending time together since your first year. Your favourite spot. “I’ve heard something. That’s why I was late,” and so you recounted every words to Riven, shared every schemes possible. Your fear and your disappointment too. Now you understood why he hated being here. “We should have stay in the shack we found this summer and locked ourselves in,” he muttered, head down. “I’m serious Riv,” you protested over of the disconcerting calm he was showing. “So am I! Everybody plays pretend in this damn school and I don’t want to anymore! Not with you,” he paused for a moment, gesturing his arms in defeat. “I mean... Will it that bad? Us.”

You had stayed silence until he get down the rock he stood on to reduce the distance between you. You had a hard time realizing what Riven just told you. It wasn’t another one of your stupid dreams. It wasn’t Sky or Stella playing matchmakers. It was your friend, your friend you had always love, who was finally opening up to you about his feelings. “No. No, it wouldn’t be that bad,” you whispered while resting your hands on his shoulders. Your eyes switching between his and his lips as he put his forehead against yours, just to lean his face further to kiss you.

[a-dusty-emerald]

Till it sinks in: Draco x Reader / Hurt-Comfort, Fluff Fic

A hurt-comfort fluff fic, with a slytherin Y/n being the girlfriend of the softie-who-hates-to-be-called-softie-so-he-bitches-all-day Draco Lucius Malfoy.

Where Umbridge uses her quill on you.

_____________________________________________

Dolores Umbridge, maybe the most hated teacher to set foot at Hogwarts, had a special dislike against anyone who disobeyed. And while that may be all teachers, not all teachers dismissed sobbing students from their detention. Every single student that got detention with Umbridge looked broken afterwards, but no one knew what she said to them; it was a mystery.

Professor McGonagall, for instance, made sure the students that misbehaved researched a wide topic for a few hours during the week, with the intimidating presence of her self. Professor Snape, on the other hand, locked students in the Potions classroom and let them out after the successfull brewing of a potion of his liking. Hence, it must be something similar.

Y/n strolled into class, her curls bouncing around the embroided slytherin crest of her robe. Defence against the dark arts was her worst subject, she only thought it was interesting when Professor Lupin taught it, and had done surprisingly well. Then, it was a hands-on, useful and fascinating module, while now, Umbridge followed the Ministry's policy to teach the students in a "risk free" way, by only reading through the theory. Not only were the lessons incredibly boring, the whole book was utterly useless.

"As if Voldemort will ask you the theory of Merlin's rule of categorisation of spells when he Avada-Kedavra's your ass", Y/n had scoffed when she saw the chapters. Draco had laughed, but told her that his father had owled him that Umbridge was a family ally, and hence he could not be out of line in her class.

"When did you become such a nerd?"

"Oh shut it Y/n", Y/n recalled.

She had also implemented some stupid rules, like "no touching between boys and girls, and a six feet distance at all times", and reduced the hours that students could go out of their dorms. While Dumbledore wanted the students to be at their dorms by 10pm, Umbridge thought that 6pm was acceptable.

As if.

Y/n entered the class, the only class she did not sit with Draco. Apparently, boys and girls could also not sit with one another, since they would eventually touch. And in a doomed world controlled by Umbridge, that was a sin.

Draco spotted his girlfriend entering the room, wearing a bored look on her face. He was not excited about DADA either. His parents might have told him that Umbridge was the best thing that could happen in this school, but he was not blind or stupid. The stuff being taught were useless and her teaching method was more boring than 5 hours of Divination with no breaks in his eyes. At least then, he could laugh at Trelawney. Now he just was supposed to stay silent and listen Umbridge reading the most basic book ever again and again.

He realised he got lost in his thoughts and was staring at Y/n longer than intended. She seemed bored as hell, but her eyes always intimidated him - yet, he would never admit out loud. Even the plainest of her looks had such passion beneath it, her deep dark orbs had a fire in them, surrounded by thick eyelashes, making her look coy and mischevious even when she was not planning to.

Y/n noticed him looking and smirked back at him.

"Stop staring, people might think that you like me" she mouthed silently to him. He grinned and shook his head. 'She is something else', he thought.

An unpleasantly familiar trotting of heels approached the creaking floor at the centre of the classroom, making students focus on the short, evil woman that was tormenting the school; Umbridge.

"Hello, my dear students" she smiled in a sickly manner. "Today we are learning about the theory of protection spells."

Y/n groaned, thinking other students would join her, however, it was this uncomfortable and awkward moment that everyone had decided to stay deadly silent, making her disapproving groan loud and clear to be heard.

"Is there an issue, miss Y/l/n?" Umbridge smiled in the evilest way she could.

"No, no, of course not. I always wanted to listen about the theory of protection spells." Y/n smiled in the fakest way possible.

"Is that irony I am sensing, Y/l/n?" Umbridge had a more serious look now, her smile not decieving anyone.

"Nope." She said, emphasising the "p" sound in her lips. Out of the corner of her eye, she quickly glanced to Draco, who had a warning glare. "Don't aggravate her!" He mouthed. Y/n rolled her eyes, and unfortunately for her, Umbridge saw that, taking it as it was directed at her.

She scrunched up her nose and stomped her heel lightly on the floor, when she exclaimed: "Detention after class, miss y/l/n! That attitude of yours is no match for a young witch!"

Draco did not know why everyone was saying Umbridge's detention was horrible, he had heard she only requested some lines. Even so, her detention had gained a horrible reputation, and he didn't like it one bit that his girlfriend would be the one going there.

Even so, he was angry at her, he had warned her so many times. She was such a brat every time she spoke to Umbridge, when he had told her that every student that was leaving her detention was crying.

The DADA lesson had finished, when Y/n saw Draco stomping towards her, stopping around the 6 feet limit, keeping his distance.

"Why do you never listen?!" His angry hissing voice aggravated her even more.

"I rolled my freaking eyes, Draco, chill."

"You were sarcastic. You know you were. Are you happy now?" His glare was piercing her soul.

"I am not, actually. I would prefer no stupid rules, but I guess my boyfriend is too much of a wuss to think for himself and see how ridiculous Umbridge is."

"She just wants order. Besides, its temporary!" He half whispered, half yelled.

"Sure. Tell that to yourself to feel better, darling." Now she was mad at him. "Now excuse me, I have a detention to go to." She closed the gap between them - breaking the rule- just to bump on his shoulder angrily, and stomped past him, going to detention.

"Fine! I don't give a fuck, then!" She heard her boyfriend's voice. She knew he didn't mean it at all, but she silently prayed he changed his mind after her detention, he had an hour to think by himself after all. She was hoping for an apology.

Y/n lightly knocked on her door, listening to Draco's advice for once. She should be polite, calm and collected no matter what she said to her. She couldn't risk an expulsion. Umbridge's sickly laugh was heard. "Come in, y/l/n."

Y/n opened the door, fighting back her urge to laugh or roll her eyes. Her least favourite colour, fuchsia pink, was plastered everywhere, cats trapped on the walls, and a heavy, sickly, sugary aroma filled her nostrils, she did her best to keep her pokerface.

"Sit", the teacher ordered. "You will do some lines today, Y/n."

Relief passed through her. That wasn't that bad. She grabbed a piece of paper and moved to grab her quill, when the fuchsia toad in front of her stopped her. "Oh no, dear. I'm afraid you wont need that." She smiled, and handed her a large black feathered quill from her own collection. "Use this, please. It is one of my favourites."

Y/n grabbed the quill and moved again to reach for her ink. "Oh, silly me, I forgot." She heard the professor giggle. "You won't need any ink, dear."

She looked at Umbridge confused, her tamed eyebrows furrowing to her words. Still, she went with it. She grabbed the quill and before she started, Umbridge directed her "you shall write the line: I must not be arrogant." Y/n resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"How many times, Professor?" She said.

"Hm... let's just say... till it sinks in." Umbridge giggled once again, sipping her tea.

Y/n scoffed silently and started writing the lines, red ink magically appearing on paper. Her left hand was uncomfortable the whole time, but she ignored it. As soon as she finished the first line, though, the discomfort became a burning sensation, and hurt so much, like someone was creating small cuts in her skin. She looked at her hand to see what was going on, only to see the line she wrote engraved in her hand.

'You evil bitch' Y/n thought.

Every time she would rewrite the sentence, it was like the invisible knife digged deeper and deeper in her skin, twisting at each twist of the quill. She looked at Umbridge with teary eyes, a silent plea to stop this torture. Blood was seeping out of her wound uncontrollably now, staining her robe. Umbridge just glanced at her and said "one more page."

Through silent tears, a wrecked bloodied hand, trembles and gritted teeth, she finished her torture without making a sound. She excused her self, said goodbye to the professor, and closed the heavy door behind her, exhaling with a trembled sob escaping her lips. An exhale that she was holding for an hour.

She contained her tears and hid her hand from plain sight. She did not want to worry anyone, and she sprinted with all the energy she could muster to the dungeons. She just wanted to wash it off, wrap it in a clean cloth, and have a good cry.

As she was approaching the dungeons, it dawned on her: she could run up to Draco there. What should she do? On one hand, the thought of making him feel bad enticed her, she was still mad about his behaviour. On the other hand, she knew he meant no harm, and that he would make her start a legal war with Umbridge. She really didn't want to do anything right now, as much as she hated her guts.

She hid her hand better, wiped her eyes, took a few deep breaths and prayed that her boyfriend was not in the common room, as she opened the door.

Unbeknownst to her, Draco was waiting restlessly at the common room all this time. He didn't like the fact they fought before, he hated not being on good terms with Y/n. He didn't think he was entirely on the wrong though. 'Maybe if she listened to me once in a whi-'

His thoughts came to a halt when he saw a trembling Y/n enter the common room. Her eyes were red and glassy, and she was crouched in a weird position. He instantly forgot everything he was thinking of and sprinted towards her. When her eyes fell on him, she inhaled sharply, sttaightening her posture. He was terribly worried and she could feel it.

"Darling?" His soft voice was music to her ears.

Her eyes avoided his, refilling with tears just from his worried voice.

"I-I need to go to my room." She said with a lowered gaze.

"Tell me what's wrong please-"

"I thought you didn't give a fuck." Her voice was low when she said it, her teary eyes finally meeting his. She did not mean to snap at him, but everything was too much.

He finally locked eyes with her now, the emotion he saw in her overtaking him. He pursed his lips and looked down.

"I'm sorry. You know - baby you know thats not true. I want to know what happened. What did she say to you that made you cry? You don't cry easily, I know that. If you want I'll report her!" He was frantically searching for her gaze again, his grey irises full of concern.

"She said nothing bad to me. She instructed me through my lines." She avoided his gaze once again.

He lowered his gaze as well, and broke the -for once- uncomfortable silence, his voice slightly broken.

"Do you not trust me?"

His words echoed in her head. She did. She did with her life. She could not stay mad at him, no matter her anger. "I do. I'm sorry, I'm a-a bit of a m-mess, i'll tell you, j-just give me a few m-minutes..."

His hand grabbed hers to pull her into an embrace, to hold her close, to calm her. As soon as his hand grasped her own, though, a strong wave of stinging pain shot through her, a hissing sound escaping her lips as she yanked her hand away. She was holding it close to her heart, a few hot tears escaping her eyes. There was no escape now.

Draco looked at her wide eyed, a blank expression of confusion mixed with worry resting on his features. "What-"

He looked down on his hand. Blood.

He inhaled sharply. Blood? His heart was pounding in his chest now, his fury for Umbridge boiling. What exactly happened in her detentions?

"Darling." He spoke. His voice was low and steady, and Y/n could swear she could hear her own heartbeat. "Your hand. Please." He extended his own to signal her to give her hers. Slowly, she put her bloodied palm on his own.

"Did she do this?", he hissed angrily. Y/n nodded but winced at his tone, not ready for facing an angry Draco. He saw that, and his features calmed down.

He grasped her shoulders carefully, gently pulling her in a hug, lightly kissing her forehead and letting his lips linger there. He tilted her chin up, pressing a quick peck on her lips.

"Im not mad at you". He said steadily, to show he meant every word. "I'll kill her, honestly" he mumbled, as his eyes examined the wounds.

"I must not be arrogant?!?"

He felt his anger rise again, as he managed to read the cuts that were filled with blood.

"She h-had a black quill. I would write on paper and it would transfer the letters in m-my hand. Must be c-cursed." Y/n said between small sobs.

His one arm cradled her head and she felt him moving the other one on her waist, urging her to move. "Come on, lets get you cleaned up. I'll send a letter to my father. She will be out of her position tomorrow."

Y/n's eyes widened "No n-no I-"

Draco didn't let her finish "Y/n, I love you but please shut up."

For the first time in a while, Y/n giggled, music to Draco's ears.

He took his time being extra gentle on her wound, making sure it is clean, before putting a few healing spells on it, muttering apologies whenever Y/n would wince.

"Tomorrow your hand will be good as new. Trust me."

"I trust you Draco. Thank you."

His eyes looked up from her wound, and Y/n was sure she could melt. He had the softest gaze ever. They fell asleep in each other's embrace, soft kisses taking away the pain.

The next morning, Y/n could hardly stiffle a laugh at the annoucement of Umbridge being suddently fired. She turned at her boyfriend, who looked smug as ever.

His eyes glimmered and his eyebrows wiggled with smugness, as he said:

"She should not have been that arrogant. Guess karma is a bitch." He shrugged.

That Malfoy boy was your everything and you knew it.

FEEL FREE TO LIKE AND SHARE!! Feedback is always welcome, love you all!

[renaerys]

PPG One-Shot: Spelling Bee (Brick/Blossom)

Happy birthday to @genovah​! She is always inspiring me to come up with more PPG content, a true hero. I’m back with another entry in the ongoing Shooketh, Not Stirred high school AU Reds series for your entertainment. As always, this can be read alone, but it happens in the same universe as part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5. This is also posted on my AO3.

Summary: Brick and Blossom hunker down in the library to study for the upcoming regional spelling bee.

***Reblogs are extremely appreciated, since this probably won’t show up in the tags due to cursing. Thank you! <3

xxx

In fairness, Brick had come to the library during his free period with the pure intention to learn. And he was certainly learning something. But somewhere between sliding into his seat opposite Blossom and watching her lips move around insouciant as if it were a strawberry slathered in ganache, his purity was torn from his weak, teenage boy fingers and there was absolutely no going back. 

“Brick, are you listening to me?” She touched his hand across the table. 

“Yup.”

“Did you need me to repeat the word?”

“Yup.”

“In-SOO-see-uhnt.” She sounded it out slowly, and hand to god, that dominating SOO went straight to his cock.

This, of course, was fine. 

“Origin?” he asked. 

She twirled her hair around her finger and puckered her lips. “French.”

Fuck.

“I…”

Blossom mistook his increasingly horny stupor for plain old stupor and sighed. “Are you even trying? Because if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were completely fine with Darla Dimpleton going to regionals instead of one of us.”

“I am not fine with that.”

Darla Dimpleton was an unassuming, unthreatening nobody with the personality of plain oatmeal. Brick would never have even bothered to learn her name had she not committed the cardinal sin of scoring so much extra credit while everyone else was busy having lives that she stole the number one GPA right from under him. Which meant she stole it from under Blossom too. Which meant Brick was no longer a respectable silver medal to Blossom’s gold, but currently ranked third and therefor merely happy to be on the podium at all (and for the record, no one has ever been happy merely to be on the podium, just like no one has ever been happy winning Most Improved: you sucked, and now you suck a little less. Except this time, you actually suck more because Darla fucking Dimpleton decided to Quaker Oats her way to the top of this rat race that doesn’t actually matter, but it’s the principle of the thing, i.e., the only thing that matters.). 

All of this to say, Darla Dimpleton was the Worst™ and she was one hundred percent going down. 

“Are you sure? Because you’re being awfully cavalier about this. Some might even call you insouciant.”

It was a testament to Brick’s powerful fondness for winning and being seen doing it that he spelled insouciant in one Darla Dimpleton-shaped cock blocking breath.

Blossom smiled like she knew something. “Much better.”  

Yeah, she knows a lot of things.

The problem with dating, Brick was convinced, was that suddenly the mundane became extraordinary. Everyday experiences that he had previously taken for granted—flying around Townsville, enjoying a cup of coffee, thwarting his sometimes murderous demonic overlord from distributing incriminating polaroids, that sort of thing—were suddenly exciting, thrilling even. Because now he got to do those things with Blossom, and Blossom was cool in a smarmy, elitist sort of way that both softened his heart and hardened his dick all at the same time, and that was kind of A Lot to deal with at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday.

“All right, do me,” Blossom said, and Brick coughed so badly his aforementioned weak, teenage boy fingers shook to stifle himself. 

Mercy, he thought, probably. But all his blood was rushing south and it was going to take a supernatural willpower to get through these words so that one of them could beat the upstart porridge peasant to this year’s regional spelling bee. 

“You’re the boss,” he said, because it was true, and also because he liked the way she looked at him when he said it. Like he was now the ganache-coated strawberry in this overextended metaphor that he was too laden with Homeric concupiscence being in her general proximity to unpack. 

Concupiscence, there’s a ten dollar word for you, you horny genius. 

He made a mental note to brag to Blossom about this later. 

“Okay, let’s see…” Brick made a show of organizing the flashcards so that she wouldn’t see him discreetly re-situate his pants under the table. “Your word is cymotrichous.”

Blossom tapped her lips, and Brick found himself sympathizing with the Puritans in their absolute befuddlement over the libidinous effect of women having lips. Witchcraft, surely. “Could you use it in a sentence for me?”

Compelled entirely by black magic and therefor not responsible for his imminently questionable choices, Brick obliged her with: “Thinking about how I’d rather run my fingers through your cymotrichous hair for the rest of free period instead of sit here spelling words no one’s ever heard of.”

Blossom, who he was dead certain was extremely thirsty for him and had been for years long before they ever reconciled their rivalry, leaned over the desk separating them. Her hair, long and loose and indeed quite wavy today, was tempting. “Brick, are you flirting with me?”

It was a well-known fact of being a Weak-Fingered, Teenage Boy that one must never reveal such weakness, especially not in front of one’s girlfriend. On the other hand, co-opting said weakness and rebranding it as the suave truth was galaxy brain levels of flirting. And Brick, as has already been established, was a horny genius. “Yup.” He leaned in to meet her, and he twirled her hair between his fingers because they were weak for her, indeed. “How am I doing?”

Blossom, too determined to let her thirst deter her from her goal of sweet, academic retribution and bragging rights, tapped a finger to his lips. “Great. But we have so many words to spell, and only thirty minutes left to do them all. So get shuffling, stud.”

Well, he could work with that. One thing that made his relationship with Blossom work very well was their insatiable competitiveness. Whether they were whaling on each other over an empty parking lot, debating the efficacy of post-its as a note-taking device, or combining their powers to Captain Planet a cornmeal know-it-all back down the leaderboard where she belonged, they were relentless glory chasers. And the greater the challenge, the more they enjoyed the experience and each other. 

Blossom spelled her word perfectly, by the way. She stretched out the o-u-s at the end in a bewitching little whisper as she pulled away and her hair slipped through his fingers. That moment when the light changes and the temperature shifts and you’re weightless in a state of existential anticipation of something monumental about to happen, but not quite? That happened. Thirty minutes to explore the shape of that anticipation was enough time to taste it but not enough to savor it. Which, Brick supposed, was about to make this the best thirty minutes he was likely going to get all week. 

“Are you ready?” Blossom watched him from behind the card she’d drawn. She had a glint in her eyes that told him she was smiling behind that card. 

“Anytime.”

“Your word is eudaemonic.”

That fucking gorgeous ooh again.

“Define it.”

Blossom flushed as though he had just ordered her to bend over. She bit her lip (it must have been a ten Hail Mary’s kind of day when the Witch-Finder General caught a flesh and blood woman doing that with her improbably sorcerous lips) and grinned. “It means producing happiness. Based on the idea of happiness as the proper end of conduct.”

Producing happiness, which is proper, much like how Blossom came off as proper and even prim around adults, when really she was the most fun, most confident, most person he’d ever met, especially when she was spelling in that chiffon top (son of a bitch, that was a great top on her), and the only conduct he was interested in was of the happiest kind.

“Oh.” His throat clenched, and then his stomach twisted, and then his pants grew little too tight again in a full-body chain reaction that began and ended with a fierce determination not to give in first even though it would mean release because release would be meaningless without this etymological tête-à-tête. 

Don’t think about tête-à-têtes. 

Seventeenth century, noun, borrowed from the French meaning literally “head to head” (please, please stop hurting yourself like this).

“Brick?”

Brick cleared his throat. “Yup. Got it. E-u-d…”

Crisis averted, Brick picked the next card and promptly choked on his own tongue. Blossom made a show like she was concerned and are you all right? and please drink some water. Brick drank her water, which of course she had had her anatomically heretical lips on earlier, which was just fantastic for him. Tuesday fucking morning. 

Milieu was her word. 

“Milieu, hmm.” Blossom’s smile was spellbinding, which was a pun because he punned when he panicked. “Origin?”

You bitch, he thought, and be cool, and also, witchcraft.

Brick leaned back in his chair, slipped his trembling hands in his pockets, and squeezed every ounce of anything you can do I can do better into a winsome grin. “French.”

Blossom’s adult-facing façade cracked like an egg, and he got a glimpse of the raw delight she felt for this game, for the words, and for him for making it happen. For cultivating the electric milieu, if you will, currently driving them both into a state of impassioned, competitive euphoria at 9:42 a.m. in the library. 

“Right, um…” She stumbled over her words, and Brick had to restrain himself from crowing for joy and risk the rheumy-eyed librarian coming to scold them. 

By the time they got through another set of words, they were each visibly frustrated and doubly turned on by the other’s masochistic resolve not to throw in the towel. 

“Okay, ready for another round?” 

She wasn’t even trying to hide her intentions now, and that was just fine with Brick. “Of course.”

One more.

If it was another French word, he was fucking done. 

“Really?” Blossom truly had ice in her veins for the way she was able to school her face then. He couldn’t read her, and that was very bad. 

If it’s another fucking French word…

He could be over the desk and on her faster than you could say concupiscence. 

“Okay.” Blossom set down the flashcard she’d drawn and folded her hands on the table. She looked him dead in the eye licked her lips. “Succedaneum.”

The bookshelf shook but Brick’s fingers didn’t as they pinned Blossom’s over a Dewey Decimal-stamped spine and he kissed her with all the horny passion of a teenage genius who would make a note to thank the devil for giving women lips. One of his better ideas. 

xxx

“Hey, has anyone seen Blossom? I’ve sent her, like, four texts!” Bubbles shoved her phone, open to the ignored texts in question, in her sister’s face. “She was supposed to help me with Chem homework.”

Buttercup ducked. “No, and watch where you’re swinging that thing.”

“I saw her earlier,” Boomer said. “She was with Brick coming out of first period.”

“Oh, yeah.” Mike slung his arm around Boomer’s shoulders. “Don’t they both have a free period right now?”

Buttercup rolled her eyes. “What a scam. Whoever decided to give the A-students free periods while the rest of us mere mortals gotta slave away is a straight-up Supervillain.”

Boomer snapped his fingers. “Hey, I just remembered! They both decided to compete for the spot at the regional spelling bee this year. I bet that’s what they’re doing.”

“God, that’s the saddest thing I have ever heard in my life. That’s a new low even for Blossom.”

“I heard there’s a cash prize for the regional winner,” Bubbles said. “It’s like twenty thousand bucks! Remember, everyone in school signed up and we had to have that assembly to narrow it down?”

“Twenty thou— How the tits did I miss that?!”

“I mean, it was all over the school,” Mike said. “We signed up too.”

“What? And no one thought to tell me I could’ve won the lottery?”

Boomer chuckled. “Dude, come on. You wouldn’t have stood a chance in hell against Darla Dimpleton.”

“Who?”

Bubbles cast Boomer a not worth it look, and he just sighed. “So, if they’re studying for the spelling bee, do you think they’re in the library?”

At that moment, Butch came bursting down the hall a little too fast to be human. Open lockers rattled on their hinges as he passed, and a Sophomore girl’s binder went flying, scattering looseleaf papers everywhere. Buttercup looked ready to punch him in the dick for breaking the no powers in school rule. “Guys, you’re gonna shit!” 

“Calm down before you blow a load, Jesus Christ.” Buttercup yanked him back down to the floor so he wouldn’t spontaneously float. 

Sensibly, Boomer asked, “Why?”

“‘Cause Brick and Blossom are making out in the library right now!”

Mike cringed. “Oh, come on.”

“The hell they are,” Buttercup said. 

Bubbles smiled. “Good for them.”

“I’m serious! There were books everywhere, and the noise—”

“Oh look, there goes my dignity. Better catch it before it gets away. C’mon, moron.” Buttercup dragged Butch down the hall over his protests. “What were you even doing in the library? I didn’t think you knew where it was…”

“Like that could ever happen,” Mike said. “Those two wouldn’t waste a minute of study time if it means beating out the competition.”

Boomer did not look so convinced. “I don’t know. I mean, they’re officially, for real dating now,”—“Finally!” Mike interjected—“so it’s not that unbelievable.”

The bell for the next period rang. Bubbles groaned thinking of stewing for an hour of Chem. At least she shared that class with Boomer and would not have to suffer alone. They parted from Mike and walked together through the throng of students rushing to get to their next period.

“Hey, do you think…” 

“I mean…” Boomer shrugged. 

They rounded the corner and nearly ran into Blossom dashing to her next class with a rushed “Got your texts talk later bye!” before she disappeared into the crowd. 

Bubbles whirled on Boomer. “Did you see her buttons—”

“Completely uneven—”

The late bell rang and made them jump. Among the last stragglers, they both dashed a bit too fast to get to class and made it to their seats just as Mr. Micelli finished writing a problem on the board. 

Boomer winked when she caught his eye a couple desks away from hers, and it took everything she had not to laugh.

“Good for her,” Bubbles said to herself. 

“You are late,” Mr. Micelli said. 

Everyone turned to watch Brick sink into his seat, his short hair totally askew and looking healthily flushed for a Tuesday morning. 

Boomer burst out laughing and needed a whole minute to calm down. 

He’d tell her later that the detention was worth it.

xxx

Witchcraft! 👁️👄👁️✨

[cleanlenins]

Ectober Day 5: Ouija

Words Spoken at the Witching Hour

Chapter 1

AO3

Warnings: None

“Jack, please don’t get your hopes up. We disproved this in college,” Maddie sighed, flopping into her chair at the kitchen table. She had just checked to make sure that both of the kids were snug in their beds. Danny had gotten into a concerning habit of sneaking out at night. Jack fiddled with the candles on the table, lighting them one by one.

“I know. But now with the portal open, maybe it will actually have a chance of working,” Jack set the planchet in the middle of the board, before turning out the light.

“Ouija boards don’t work, Jack,” Maddie huffed as the light clicked off. The light from the candles was the only illumination. She could just barely make out the thick salt circle around the ouija board, and blinked to try and adjust to the low lighting as well as stay awake. It was well after three am.

“Yes, but communicating with ghosts is a common practice across many cultures. It was all in my great-great-great-great-um-some-amount-of-great grandfather’s book,” Jack said. “Think of it as an archaic version of the ghost gabber.”

“The ghost gabber didn’t work, sweetie,” Maddie said.

“Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Jack grinned at his wife. He thumbed an ectoblaster on the table. Maddie smiled at her husband fondly.

“So, who did you want to try to talk to?”

“The ghost boy, of course!” Jack boomed. “If we can somehow trap him here, it will be so much easier to drag him into the lab.”

Maddie nodded along to that thought. She didn’t believe this would work, but it would make Jack happy to try. Almost all of the things written in the Nightingale journal were nonsense in her opinion. Why would ghosts be afraid of random flowers? The man also went on about witchcraft, which was complete foolishness. Magic didn’t exist. Everything ghostly could be explained with scientific fact.

Even so, she had humored Jack into doing her best on this. She had found an older talking board, one before the commercialization of the late 1800s. One that, honestly, deserved to be in a museum. As she had researched this board in particular, she couldn’t even pin down what kind of wood it was made with. Technically, it wasn’t a Ouija board. It didn’t have the same layout as the popularized version. Instead of using English letters, it used Ogham. It was an ancient way of writing Irish script she had studied back in high school when she was learning more about her family history.

The elderly lady she had bought this from had given her a long spiel about how the board works, what to do to protect yourself from spirits. A lot of it was superstitious nonsense, but Maddie had written it all down anyway. Hopefully, if they followed it to the letter Jack would concede defeat when it didn’t work.

“You ready, Mads?” Jack asked, pulling off his glove. Maddie sighed and followed suit.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Maddie pulled out a sterilized needle. She pressed it into her finger tip and squeezed a few drops into a divot on the board. Jack followed suit, grinning wide. The two of them reached for the planchet, a worn old stone piece that was so dark it seemed to absorb the light of the candles. They each placed only the bloody finger on it, lightly so as not to push it by mistake.

“We invite the spirits of the other side to speak with us today,” Maddie said, trying not to roll her eyes. The candles flickered dramatically. “We wish to speak with the ghost of Phantom. Phantom, will you speak with us today?”

The two of them sat in the dark waiting. The candles continued to flicker, but the planchet on the board did not move.

“Ask it again, Mads,” Jack prompted. Maddie complied.

“Phantom, we would like to speak with you. You can move the planchet to tell us anything you have to say,” Maddie said again. She waited a moment more before huffing. “Jack, I told you-”

The candles all went out. The two of them sat in pitch darkness for a breath before the candles reignited. They glowed with a fell light. Maddie couldn’t describe the color. It was impossible to look at, but left her with the impression of a corona from a solar eclipse. She couldn’t bear to look at it.

“Maddie, it’s working,” Jack whispered, a childlike grin on his face. Maddie swallowed convulsively.

“Phantom? Is this you?” Maddie asked, listening in the room for the characteristic childlike voice of the Amity Park scourge. Instead she felt the little planchet under her finger move, her eyes snapping to the board. It rolled over different symbols before stopping.

“What does it mean, Maddie?”

Maddie tried to parse it out. Ogham wasn’t made for English, but this was only one word and she translated for Jack.

Yes

“Phantom, where are you right now? We can’t see you,” Maddie gulped as she watched the spirit board.

Sleeping .

“Sleeping? How could you be sleeping? You are talking to us,” Maddie scoffed. Of course, the ghost was probably lying. Why would ghost’s sleep?

Dreaming

“So what? This is the equivalent of sleep-talking?” Maddie was getting irritated.

I don’t know

“You don’t know,” Maddie deadpanned. “How could you not know?”

I have never done this before.

“Ask him about why he is in Amity,” Jack prodded. Maddie nodded.

“Why are you in Amity Park, Phantom?”

Amity Park is my home

“You are dead, Phantom. The Ghost Zone is your home, not Amity Park,” Maddie said. She watched the little stone cursor flit around the board.

Amity Park is my home

“We’re not going to get anywhere with that,” Maddie grumbled. She tried to remember some of the questions Jack had wanted to ask.

“How did you die, Phantom?” Maddie asked. The planchet seemed to hesitate, before it slowly spelled out the words.

An accident

“What kind of accident?” Maddie urged. The planchet did not move. She waited a full minute before asking again. “Phantom, what kind of accident killed you?”

I don’t want to talk about this

“Phantom, answer the question. How did you die?” Maddie pressed.

It will hurt

“You’re a ghost, Phantom. You can’t feel pain.”

Wrong. But that is not what I meant.

“What did you mean, then?”

It will hurt you

Maddie blinked and looked over at Jack. Her husband had his brow furrowed as he met her stare.

“How could it possibly hurt us?” Maddie’s voice trembled.

You will blame yourself

“Why would we blame ourselves?”

Because it was your invention

Maddie stopped breathing. She felt a twinge of fear before it was overshadowed by anger.

“Our inventions don’t hurt humans,” Maddie spat.

They hurt Vlad. They hurt me.

Maddie felt like she was punched in the gut. How did Phantom know about Vlad? It’s true that Vlad had been injured in college. And it had been one of their inventions. Was it possible? Could they have inadvertently caused someone’s death?

“Ghosts lie, Mads. No one besides our family had even been around our inventions before the ghosts showed up. And Phantom was one of the first,” Jack said. Maddie took a deep breath.

“We won’t fall for your lies, Phantom,” Maddie said. “We are not to blame for your death.”

I know. It was my fault.  

“So stop evading the question, Phantom. How did you die?” Maddie asked more forcefully. Once more the planchet paused, before it slowly started to move.

The Portal

“What do you mean?” Maddie pressed.

I was inside. When it turned on.

Maddie scoffed at the obvious lie as she translated it to Jack. But the planchet kept moving.

I just wanted to look inside. I tripped over a wire. I hit the button on the inside. The portal turned on. And I died.

“There is no button on the inside of the Portal, Phantom,” Maddie looked up to share a look of irritation with Jack. However, the man was pale as a sheet. “Jack?”

“I-Maddie. There is a button on the inside of the Portal,” Jack’s voice trembled.

“What?” Maddie gaped at her husband. The man swallowed.

“I put it in at the last minute. I thought it would be useful to have a failsafe if one of the kids-” Jack suddenly froze, a horrible expression on his face. “Maddie. Ask Phantom where he is sleeping at. Right now.”

“Phantom, if you are asleep right now, where are you?” Maddie’s voice shook.

In my room

“Where is your room?”

Upstairs

“Phantom...Are you Danny? Are you our son?” Maddie whimpered. The planchet moved once more.

Yes

The two parents sat in horror, staring at where the planchet rested.

Maddie grabbed her gun and blasted the board to ash.

[arvinsescape]

Bracelets, Amortentia and the Patronus

A/N: Did i combine my love of Tom Holland and Harry Potter? Of course.

Summary: The Gryffindor boy is in love with the Hufflepuff girl. She comes to some realisations with the help of these three things.

Warnings: None.

W/C: 3.4K

You’d been paired in classes with the Gryffindor boy for years, he became one of your best friends throughout your time at Hogwarts. He wrote to you over summer and even sent you gifts when he’d been abroad, the last gift he’d sent you before sixth year started was a bracelet, it was possibly the most beautiful and ‘you’ gift you’d ever received. It wasn’t too flashy but it was enough to catch people’s eye and pull a comment about how lovely it is.

“He loves you.” Ellie said as you made your way to the Hufflepuff common room.

“Well he is my best friend so I’d hope so.” You laughed.

“No, I mean he’s in love with you.” She teased and you snorted.

“No he isn’t. I’m sure he has his eye on a Gryffindor girl, you know one that can match his talents.”

“I don’t think so. You know they say Gryffindor’s and Hufflepuff’s make the best life partners.” She shrugged as you arrived and sat down on one of the couch’s.

“I don’t think he sees me that way.” You said.

“Look at that bracelet he sent you! You are not gonna convince me that Tom Holland is not in love with you and the way he looks at you all the time.” She said as you shook your head with a small smile. “Do you like him? And not just as a best friend.” She asked and you bit your lip. Did you?

He was always the guy you sought out when things went wrong. You practically had all the same classes together. You helped him with the book smart lessons and he helped you with the mostly spell based lessons, there is no way you’d be passing defence against the dark arts without him. You studied late together and most people assumed you already were a couple. He made you laugh and he knew what to do to comfort you when you were sad.

“I don’t know.” You answered honestly after a long moment.

“You’ll probably find out in potions this year or maybe even defence against the dark arts.” She said and you furrowed your brows.

“What do you mean?” You asked confused.

“Well we’re learning the Patronus spell this year and you know, apparently it takes the shape of your favourite animal at first but it can change if you’re in love someone, so you know, his will probably be the same as yours after he’s seen it.” She said and you shook your head. “Then potions we’re making amortentia potion, the love potion, smells like whoever you’re in love with.” She shrugged.

“First of all that potion actually only smells like the things you’re attracted to, that’s what my mum and dad told me. Secondly, maybe we have the same favourite animal, so how would that prove anything?” You laughed and she smirked.

“We shall see.” She teased. “He’s in love with you and I don’t know why you deny it. It’s so obvious, ask anyone.” She laughed.

“I think you read too much into things.” You laughed. “Come on, we should probably go to the feast, see how many new kids we get in our house this year.” You said as you made your way out of the common room.

The Great Hall never ceased to amaze you, it was huge, then again it was made to fit hundreds of people in all at once. The banners were neutral again, when you’d left before summer they held the scarlet and gold colours of Gryffindor after having won the house cup for the second year in a row. Just before you could take your seat you heard your name being called by that oh so familiar Gryffindor.

“Hey!” He said as he engulfed you in a hug, to which you happily returned, burying your heads in each other’s necks.

“Tom! I missed you.” You laughed as he squeezed you tight against him.

“I missed you too, so much.” He said as he let go, you glanced at Ellie for a second who was biting back a smirk. He glanced down at your wrist and saw the bracelet there and he grinned. “Did you like it? I saw it and thought of you.”

“I love it! Thank you so much. Although I feel bad, I didn’t get you anything.” You laughed and he waved you off.

“I’m just glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn’t.” He said and you could have sworn you saw a tint of red cover his cheeks. Dam Ellie, she was making you think too much into it.

“I love it Tom. It’s an amazing gift.” You said as you hugged him again.

“Brilliant, I should get back, they’re about to bring in the first years, see you in potions?” He said as he pulled you into one last hug before walking away. You sat down next to Ellie who had the biggest grin on her face you’d ever seen.

“You know to say you’re as book smart as you are you’re very clueless.” She smirked.

“Shut up.” You playfully glared at her as the first years made their way into the hall. They all looked the same, awestruck and nervous all at the same time. It was a look you were all used to seeing after six years here. The feast was brilliant, as always and you gained ten new first years who all had the usual look of relief that they weren’t put into Slytherin.

“You should ask him to that dance the six years hold at Christmas.” Ellie said as you were getting into bed.

“No.” You said hoping to stop the conversation.

“Nah, who am I kidding, he’ll ask you.” She laughed and you threw a pillow at her.

“If he does, it will be as friends, like he did the yule ball.” You quipped.

“Oh yes, the night everybody realised he was in love with you. You made a lot of girls jealous that night. The way he held you, looked at you, fawned all over you, need I go on?” She teased.

“Ellie, seriously. I love you but please stop.” You huffed as you turned over in bed and she laughed before doing the same. Was he in love with you? You doubted it, he could do far better than you, he could have any girl he wanted so why would he pick you? He’s always been attentive sure but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s in love with you.

Do you love him? You’re not sure, you’ve always found him attractive and of course when you’d first met him you had a crush on him. He was funny, kind, brave and you admired everything about him and maybe that admiration had been a mask for how you truly feel about him. Whenever you were separated over the summer you’d miss him, it would always feel like you had a hole in your chest, you missed him far more than you did anyone else at the school.

You huffed as you turned onto your back, running your hands down your face. You needed to sleep, you could figure this out later and so you tried your best to fall asleep but your thoughts were consumed by the brown haired, brown eyed Gryffindor boy.

“Tom, do not add that yet.” You almost shouted as you watched him move to put an ingredient into the cauldron.

“But it says here that you add this next.” He said gesturing to his book.

“Yes, but look, you need to stir it first.” You laughed.

“What difference will that make?” He huffed. “Come on I wanna finish it.” He groaned.

“You need patience Tom.” You teased.

“Of course the Hufflepuff would suggest more patience.” He laughed.

“Hey, I’m also loyal and hard working. There’s more to us Hufflepuff’s than patience you know.”  You huffed as you stirred the cauldron and he laughed again as he playfully punched your arm. “Do that again and you’ll see how little patience a Hufflepuff can have.” You teasingly glared.

“You love me.” He smirked.

“Do I?” You teased as he feigned offence. You added the ingredient Tom had tried to and watched as the potion changed colour.

“Okay, just need to stir it again and then add the last ingredient.” You said as you stirred the cauldron. Meanwhile a Gryffindor girl had finished her potion with her partner and was asking Professor Slughorn to look at it.

“Very well done, now give it a sniff and tell me what you smell.” Slughorn said and she did. She took a sniff and then looked at Tom.

“It smells like you Tom.” She battered her eyelashes at him and you laughed, he was about to hear that more than once in this class.

“Erm, thanks, I guess.” Tom awkwardly said you added the last ingredient and stirred it in.

“What does yours smell like? Tell me it’s me.” She said as she watched in anticipation. You found yourself wishing that it would smell completely the opposite to her, a small feeling of jealousy taking over but you quickly tried to dismiss it.

“No, sorry.” He exhaled and she huffed turning back to her partner as he leant in to whisper in your ear. “Do you actually think it smelt like me?” He asked and you laughed.

“I don’t know but a lot of girls are gonna tell you that today so I’d get used to it.” You said and he groaned as you took your own sniff of the potion. Instantly you smelt almost everything you’d associate with Tom. You were taken aback, maybe it was a coincidence? You smelt coconut similar to what he uses to wash his hair and the familiar scent of his cologne. Loads of people use those two things, perhaps you just found the scents attractive.

“Well?” Tom asked, pulling you from your thoughts and you panicked abit.

“You first?” You said and he shrugged.

“Mine smells exactly as I thought it would.” He laughed and you felt your stomach sink slightly, so he was in love? Or at least attracted to someone and you couldn’t know for sure if it was you.

“Mine did but didn’t.” You shrugged.

“Come on give me a hint. Give me one scent you got.”

“Coconuts.” That seemed like the safest bet. “What about you? Give me one”

“Strawberry and mint.” He said.

“That’s two.” You snorted.

“Yeah well they go hand in hand.” He said. You were dismissed after that and made your way into the hall for lunch, ultimately meaning you had to separate. Ellie was there when you sat down.

“So, what did you smell?” She asked straight away.

“Tom.” You sighed and she squealed, practically clapping her hands together as you shot her a glare. “Maybe I just find those scents attractive you know.” You sighed.

“Oh come on Y/N. You are in love with him or at the very least attracted to him. What did he smell?” She asked.

“Strawberry and mint. That was all he gave me but he said it smelt exactly how he thought he would, if he did like me do you not think he’d have told me? Also I’m not sure why I’d smell like strawberry and mint.” You said and Ellie shot you a knowing look and you furrowed your brows.

“First off, maybe he’s trying to decide if you like him before he ruins a six year friendship and secondly what was the one thing you said you needed to do as soon as we could get to Hogsmeade?”

“What? I forgot my shampoo so I need more.” You were utterly confused now.

“So you’ve been using mine which just so happens to be that particular scent.” She grinned.

“But it’s not my natural scent so why would he smell that? Surely he’d smell the shampoo I use all the time. Maybe it’s you?” You said and she laughed out loud at that, drawing a few funny looks from other students.

“It’s not me, trust me. I don’t think I’ve said ten words to the guy since we started and if he’s in love with you, that potion will smell like whatever you do on that day.” She reasoned.

“Maybe. But what do I do? What if you’re wrong?”

“Listen Y/N. if there is one thing every house in this school can agree on it’s that Tom Holland is in love with you. I’m pretty sure you’re in love with him too, you just won’t admit it to yourself.”

You’d thought about what she said for a long time and by Christmas you’d come to the conclusion that yeah, she’s right, you are in love with him but you’re not sure he’s in love with you. Defence against the dark arts had been interesting because he’d cast his Patronus first and you watched a lovely dog burst from his wand. You’d done yours, after much guidance from your best friend and out shot a tiger. When you’d been asked to do it again, Tom miraculously started to struggle which makes no sense because he it was his best subject.

“They can’t change that fast can they?” You asked Ellie.

“I don’t know but he probably didn’t wanna risk it. How would he explain that? If it came out the same as yours that shows a truly deep connection and love.” She reasoned.

“But what if mine came out a dog when I did mine for a second time?” You said and she sighed.

“And you did and it didn’t come out a dog did it? He probably got nervous.” She reasoned. “Y/N, maybe you just need to approach this one.” She laughed and you nodded.

“Yeah maybe you’re right.”

You made your way up to the owlery, wrapped up for the cold weather to send a letter home when you bumped into him again. He was all wrapped up to, he looked adorable with his cold rosy cheeks.

“Hey Y/N, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” He said and you felt your heart rate pick up in excitement.

“Sure.”

“Will you go to that Christmas party thing with me?” He asked and he seemed nervous as you grinned at him.

“Of course.” You smiled.

“Great. As friends.” He said and your heart sunk. Maybe everyone was wrong.

“Sure, yeah. Of course. I need to head back to the common room, I have a lot of homework before Christmas break.” You said.

“About that, are you staying here for Christmas again?”

“Yeah, I always do.”

“Me too.” He grinned and you returned it. Usually he’d go back home but maybe something came up this year. You said your goodbyes as you made your way back to the common room and you felt the tears.

After that you’d carried on as normal. It was quite easy to act natural with him because you’d been doing it for months and when the party came round, the night before everyone went back for Christmas you were excited to spend the evening having fun with him, you’d both been busy with homework. You made your way out of the common room and there was Tom as he said he would be.

“You look beautiful.” He said as he held his arm out for you and you placed yours through his as you made your way towards the party.

“Thank you, you look pretty good yourself.” You said as you took in his appearance. He had a lovely suit on.

“Look, I’ve got a different idea for tonight. I have something planned elsewhere.” He said and you looked at him confused.

“What, you’re throwing a party of your own. Lets go.” You said excitedly as you followed him. He was heading up to the astronomy tower and he sat down on the top step as you sat next to him. “This doesn’t look like a very good party.” You teased and he sighed.

“Can I talk to you?” He said seriously.

“Of course, Tom anything.” You replied quickly and he sighed again.

“Okay, so I’m in love with someone, like a lot, I have been for a while now, like an embarrassingly long time and I’m not sure she feels the same.” He said and your heart beat picked up with nerves because he was probably going to tell you who he was in love with.

“Maybe you should just tell her?” You suggested.

“I’ve tried, hell I’ve tried three times since we got back but I just get nervous because if she doesn’t feel the same it’ll ruin everything.” He ran his hands through his hair.

“I’m sure she will Tom, you’re an amazing guy. Maybe if you can’t tell her, show her.” You suggested as you placed a comforting hand on his bicep.

“Show her? I suppose I can think of one thing.” He sighed as he stood up and you looks at him in confusion. “Wait, I don’t know if I can.” He sighed again.

“Tom, you can. Trust me, just go and show her. Come on you’re a Gryffindor, bravery is your thing.” You teased. You felt utterly crushed that he’s just confirmed he’s in love with someone but you needed to be supportive as his best friend. He took a deep breath as he looked at you and muttered a spell you didn’t quite catch and as you watched him your heart nearly burst out of your chest.

From the end of his wand shot out a white animal and it definitely wasn’t a dog. It was a tiger, a complete copy of your own. You watched as it ran around the room for a while before disappearing. You felt tears of relief making their way down your face, he was in love with you. Your heart was beating insanely fast as you turned to look at him to find him already looking at you.

“But, when you asked me here tonight you said it was just as friends?” You said.

“It was supposed to be more of a question. I wanted to see if you’d bring it up first, you’ve not given me much to go on.” He let out a light laugh. “I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable.” He said.

“It doesn’t, I’m in love with you too.” You said and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank God for that. I was worried you wouldn’t. All I had to go on was coconuts and I can name at least six boys in my dorm room that use that scent in different things.” He said as he sat next to you again. “I was so nervous to do my Patronus again in front of you.” He said.

“Did it change straight away?” you asked.

“No, it took a month or so, I kept trying on my own. Looked kinda weird for a few weeks.” He laughed as you joined him. “I wanted to tell you in potions that it smelt like you but I got nervous.” He said as you rested your head on his shoulder and he rested his head on top of yours.

“You know, it wasn’t until potions I realised I was in love with you.” You admitted. “I don’t know why my Patronus has stayed the same.”

“Me neither, magic might be great but it doesn’t always make sense. You know I was hoping you’d mention something about the bracelet, I was hoping you’d figure it out.”

“Ellie did, she told me that you were but I didn’t believe her until just now.” You laughed.

“I love you.” He said as he moved his head and put his hand under your chin turning you to face him. His eyes flicked between your own and your lips.

“I love you too.” You whispered as he leaned closer to you, you doing the same.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered as his lips were inches from yours and you nodded as he grinned and connected your lips. It felt amazing to finally kiss him, it was sweet and innocent but so full of love. He pulled away eventually, grinning.

“Wanna go that party?” You asked and he shook his head.

“Maybe later but for right now I just wanna kiss you for a bit.” He grinned and you laughed as you brought his lips back to your own.

[tedturneriscrazy]

🎶Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Hooty's Door🎵

I wonder if anything will happen in this episode.🙂

(I say as if I didn't watch the episode twice before going to bed and writing this post)

I don't think I'll ever not be amused by the way Hooty just...does things with his face

Seems like he found a thesaurus at some point

Okay so it's canonically spelled "Hootsifer," good to know

Also, this is really all we get of Lilith, huh?

His little hoot/coo at Lilith's letter❤❤❤

To borrow a meme format: If I had a nickel for every time Alex Hirsch was involved in a show where one of the characters was experiencing pubescent voice cracks, I'd have two nickels, which isn't very much but it's weird that it happened twice

Eda's face🤣

As much as this bit is played for laughs, Eda's clearly still shaken by what happened last episode

Jeez, Luz, priorities /j

Pictured: Hooty

The way King talks about being pelleted implies this is something Hooty does on the regular

Hooty's plan to help King is literally a Buzzfeed quiz? Okay then

Betcha never expected lore from Hooty, eh?

"DO NOT INTERRUPT"

Officially a "type of worm"

The dance being a grievous insult wasn't exactly from nowhere, but still funny nonetheless

WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THE FUCKING COCCOON

Tiny Nose playing Switch definitely seems to be drawing from Dana's real life experiences

Wait, Hooty and Tiny Nose are friends?

Well shit, turns out she could use magic this whole time. Guess her going Super Saiyan wasn't just the power glyph.

I am extremely skeptical of your medical credentials, TN

I have so many questions about the methodology they used for the blood test(s)

I think Hooty may have misinterpreted what King was looking for

I'm still amazed at how King has had, and continues to have, moments in the show with some of the greatest emotional weight

Ooh, sound powers!

"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CRUMBLE!!!"

It just occurred to me that that segment consisted mostly of Alex Hirsch talking to himself

Hello not-at-all obvious setup

Today I learned that Hooty is the baker of the house. Maybe he'd critique Amity's fairy pie.

Aaaaand there's the sleep inducing

Oh shit

In hindsight the Owl Beast being part of a dream sequence is rather obvious

Wow, Eda, tell us how you really feel about the Owl Beast

Oh we're just gonna ride aboard the Trauma Express today, huh?

Oh, I guess Lilith did make an appearance, after all

Damn, Gwen, not even looking

Oh shit dad issues

Sandy Cohen?! (To anyone who gets that reference, hi. How are your 30s treating you?)

Well, I know who Peter Gallagher voices now, anyway

Oh dear...

(Also, bright flashing lights triggering the curse? There's an epilepsy allegory in here somwhere)

Blood and eye injury? Gotta stretch that Y7 rating

Now we have some context for that look on Eda's face when Lilith mentioned their dad: good old fashioned guilt!

I desparately want to make a "Dude, you're getting a Dell!" joke, but I'm better than that

New memory! Raine!

Oh no...

I get the feeling I'll hate this part, too

They were exes!😢 Guess the fandom called that one

The reasoning for them being exes is understandable, all too real, and goddamn heartbreaking

That said, the fact they never stopped loving each other🥺😢😭

I do hope we can see Raine again under less...traumatic circumstances. Maybe that wedding that was mentioned?

Oh shit, are we getting into the Owl Beast's memories?!?! What a tweest!

Bet nobody expected Cloaked Moonface to show up in the frickin Hooty episode

(Also, holy shit I briefly forgot this was the Hooty episode)

Who is this mysterious cloaked figure? And why are they so tall and long?

So the curse was a sealed beast this whole time. Damn.

And it was just picked up as beach junk to sell as a trinket. So much for it being connected to Belos. (Not that people will stop trying to do so)

Who had "experiencing sympathy for the Owl Beast" on their Bingo cards for this episode? Yeah, me neither.

And here we have the necessary Eda coming to terms with her curse segment. More accurately, Eda and the curse coming to terms with each other.

Goddamnit why does it have to be cute

"It's like sandpaper" IT'S LIKE A CAT I FUCKING CAN'T

Insert Steamed Hams reference here to kill the mood

New transformation!

Oh no she's hot!

No, Hooty, you made it surprisingly much, much better!

She might have a problem pushing people away and holding onto guilt, but Eda always knows that she looks damn good

Oh right, Luz having girl problems. Fuck, so much is happening in this episode!

"Cotton-candy-haired Goddess" LUZ! 🤣

Attuned to other people's emotions = being a fucking creeper

Oh Luz, what happened to you back home?

Also, 99.999% certain Amity would love your cheesiness

That's...rather morbid, Hooty

So much lore development, including the fact the Owl House has a basement

Classic inanimate object silhouette fakeout gag. Subversion in 3...2...1...

There it is!

I can't imagine being pelleted is a fun experience.

Honestly I have so many questions about how Hooty got Amity there in the first place, but I'm not so sure I actually want to know the answers to any of them...

Cue much panicking

Wow, I'm really getting some Into the Bunker flashbacks

Oh this is gonna be amazing isn't it

I commend Luz for not actually dropping dead of embarrassment

Seriously, how can Hooty set all this up so fast yet not hold a pen?!?!?!

Poor Luz, she thinks this is destroying her chances

Meanwhile Amity is just "Oh, Titan, is this actually happening?!"

The way she's fixing her hair!❤

Goddamnit Luz let this play out, she's so clearly into this!

"Again?!" Okay who do I have to kill?

Luz is luzing it

Nooooooo....

JUST TALK FOR FUCK'S SAKE (aka how like 95% of issues in literally any plot could be solved)

Noooo Amity's so heartbroken right now💔

This isn't what either of them wanted!

To be fair, Hooty, Luz had a part in this too. Not that she can be blamed entirely. Poor thing clearly had some awful experiences back home...

Now Hooty is McFucking losing it

Why did I think he was gonna say "Looks like I'm gonna have to JUMP!" I think I've watched too much Homestar Runner (jk there's no such thing)

Those pulsating organs are still gross

Eda swooping in to save her son (No, really, he actually is now)

I'll say things get weird when Hooty gets upset!

Yes, King! Save them with your voice powers!

Damn that is some romantic lighting, and Luz is enjoying the eye candy (cotton candy, if you will)

Luz's reaction to Harpy!Eda is the family-friendly summation of how the fandom has reacted.

Hooty really just tearing up the landscape in remorse

Mother-daughter moment about love life!

I appreciate not just Eda's encouragement but her actually asking Luz what she wanted

God, Eda is best mom

Also, OH FUCK IS THIS HAPPENING?!

OH SHIT

THESE ADORABLY AWKWARD NERDS❤💜💙

"I'm not as cool as you think" could be interpreted as self-deprecating, but here it seems...oddly reassuring?

The way Luz eloquently says how she wants Amity in her future...beautiful❤

Luz making some good faces

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

YOU CUTE DORKS I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

THERE IT IS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

LOOK HOW HAPPY SHE IS

WE WERE LOSING OUR SHIT OVER A PECK ON THE CHEEK THREE WEEKS AGO AND NOW LOOK WHERE WE ARE HOLY FUCK

Awkwardness is still there, but that's to be expected

BET Y'ALL DIDN'T EXPECT THAT TRAILER SHOT TO BE IN THE HOOTY EPISODE HUH

THE WAY LUZ RUBS AMITY'S HAND😭😭😭😭😭

(And yeah, it's gonna still be scary, but only because it promises to be so wonderful)

Let's give it up for Hootsifer, goddamn!

Let'a also appreciate just how fucking funny it is that Lumity becomes official in the Hooty episode

Fus ro WEH!

Hooty actually saying "Luz's new GF" out loud...

In just about any other show the love interests getting together would be a climax/culmination of the entire plot. Here? It's actually used to advance the plot, and that is brilliant!

Dana Terrace and the crew really just knocking it out of the park again and again, huh

"They're adorable, and deserve all the happiness!" Well said, Hootsifer. Well said.

Probably for the best they had Hooty promise that. As much as what happened/progressed, there was a lot of property damage.

OH SHIT ONCE AGAIN

King's dad/relative! And he's voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson!

GODDAMNIT HOOTY

Wow. Just...wow. This episode.

King has voice powers! Harpy!Eda! Lumity are girlfriends for real!!!!

How do you pack so much into a single episode?! And so expertly?!

I had my suspicions before, but this confirms it: The Owl House is the greatest show of all time.

And we have two episodes left until the hiatus! And 11 episodes in the season after that! What are we in for?!?!?!

I, for one, can't wait to find out!

[tanyawritesstories]

Close Encounters | Kit Fisto x Reader

After 6 hours of writing I have finally completed my first request! Which you can view here. I had planned on this being short but then got carried away, I hope the anon who requested this enjoys and so does everyone else who reads it!

@venomous-ko asked me to tag them. @savagesbonergarage @blue-space-porgs I think y'all might like this too 😉

Word count: 4.2k

Warnings: NSFW, smut, oral (f receiving), handjobs, dirty talk, Master and Padawan relationship, groping, cliffhanger, sexual tension for days, kissing, biting, fingering, all the usual good stuff 😋

•••

You waited patiently in the training room for your master to arrive. You had gotten there a little early and decided to stretch while you waited for him, he had told you this morning that you would be practicing your lightsaber combat and more hand-to-hand combat training since you hadn’t gotten much of it yet.

Since you didn't have anything you had to do after this, you were wearing comfortable athletic clothes: knee length leggings, tank top, cute sports bra, and the belt that held your lightsaber. The training room was empty right now, most everyone else in different classes or occupied with important things. You were grateful for the privacy but also scared of it, you knew that same palpable tension would hang in the air the second your master walked in.

Kit Fisto was a unique Jedi. As a Jedi Master and council member he was a strong and dependable individual, he was different in that he wasn’t as serious as all the other Jedi Masters. He was capable of smiling and laughing and had a carefree and kind spirit, it made him a favorite with younglings and Jedi knights alike. Not to mention with the soldiers of his underwater unit, you’d lost track of how many men you suspected had a crush on your Master. You thought made you laugh.

Then there was your relationship with him, it was strong but recently had taken a strange turn. You noticed he was spending a lot more time with you and using nicknames like: ‘starlight’ and ‘little flower’ for you. They were endearing and cute, which was also part of your issue. The crush you had on your Master was against the Jedi code, but again, lately it has gone further. You found yourself daydreaming of your Master with you in intimate situations, thank the Maker your mind was well guarded. The flash images of you and him tangled up in the sheets, how you imagined his lips would feel on your skin, how his fingers would feel as they toyed with your clit, how his cock would feel as-

You shook your head, clearing the images away. There you go again. The dreams and the close encounters with your Master had culminated in a sexual tension between the two of you. For all you knew, you could be the only one feeling it, maybe Kit was unaffected. You were lucky that you were able to hide the fact that he affected you so much, both with your mind and by acting normal and calm.

You stood up and stretched, bending in half to touch your toes, feeling the slight pull in your calves. You took a deep breath and relaxed, making sure your muscles weren’t tight and wouldn’t cause an injury.

“Good evening, my Padawan.”

The cheery voice called out and you froze for a second before standing up and turning around. Your master wore a bright smile and positive attitude that was infectious. You smiled back and greeted him. “Evening, master.” You could have sworn you saw his eyes look you up and down before he turned around. You wondered why and then remembered that you had been bent in half with your ass facing the door. You could feel your cheeks heat up and tried to force the sensation back. Kit whisked off his shirt, leaving him in loose fitting shorts. You sucked in a breath and looked at the floor, admiring the work you had done on your painted toenails. You flinched when he put a finger under your chin and tilted your head up to look at him.

“Are you ready?” He asked. You unconsciously leaned into his touch, melting under his admiring gaze. “Yes, Master Fisto,” you answered. He smirked. “Remember, call me Kit when it’s just us, flower,” he said, tapping your hip next to your lightsaber. “Get ready.” You shook yourself out of your stupor and took your lightsaber in hand, activating it. Kit took his stance and activated his own blade.

You remembered your previous training and took a calming breath before lunging at him. Your blow was easily blocked and shoved aside, you used your momentum to land a kick to his chest with your bare foot. Kit took the kick in stride and rolled backwards perfectly, coming to a stand effortlessly. You sighed, slightly frustrated. Kit swung at you this time, you blocked the first swing easily and just barely blocked the next several. Lightsaber combat was fast and required extreme concentration, one misstep could spell catastrophe.

You exchanged blows, the heat from the weapons increasing the heat in the room. You were sweating, your tank top sticking to your body, making parts of it see through. Without his shirt, you could see the beads of sweat rolling down Kit’s chest. You tried not to notice it but you looked for a second too long and felt a spike of heat near your hip. You pulled away and looked to see your shirt had been burnt through to your skin, which was, thankfully, untouched. You heard Kit sigh lightly.

“You need to maintain focus, little one,” he gently scolded. “Yes, Kit,” you said staring at the floor. Whether or not he had seen you staring at his chest you didn’t know, but disappointing him was never something you wanted to do. “How about we get to hand-to-hand training now, huh?” He smiled reassuringly at you and you nodded. You tossed your saber, and the belt it was held on, away. “What am I learning today?” You asked curiously. “We are going to work on your takedowns,” Kit replied, pulling a cushiony landing mat over. You smiled, the idea sounded fun.

Kit brought you over and stood across from you. “The first maneuver I want you to do is when someone grabs you from behind,” he explained, “let me show you.” You barely hid the nervous gulp you took before turning around and backing up a little. Kit made a noise of affirmation before you felt his arms wrap around your middle and you jumped. “You alright?” He asked, his voice close to your ear. “Yes,” you breathed, placing your hands on his arms, “you just startled me, that’s all.” He chuckled in your ear which sent a shiver down your spine and an aching in the bottom of your stomach. “I’m sorry, starlight. It won’t happen again.”

“Alright, so if someone were to grab you like this...” Kit explained, he tightened his grip around your middle and gently pulled. You gasped at the sensation and hoped he didn’t hear you. “...I want you to swing your elbow back to try and hit my face, alright?” You nodded, your breathing getting shallow as you turned your head and saw how close his face was to yours. You pulled your arm in towards you before swinging it out fast, stopping just before it hit Kit in the head. “Like that?” You asked weakly, your elbow relaxing and you draped it over his shoulder. “Just like that,” he whispered. Fuck, his deep voice was doing things to you, the deep timbre worming its way into your ears and settling in between your legs.

“What you do next is put the same arm around my head, use my shoulder for leverage and jump over my other shoulder, make sense?” You smiled and giggled, honestly not knowing what he just explained. “No, I’m sorry, Kit,” You continued giggling, “I’m going to need you to show me.” Kit pushed a strand of hair away from your ear and chuckled with you. “That’s alright, I’ll help you. Just do as I say,” he instructed. Kit took your elbow and pulled it over his head to his other shoulder. You rested your hand against his back, his silky smooth skin warm and you could feel his muscles move under his skin. You hoped he didn’t know what he was actually doing to you.

“Ok, now push off me and use the Force to help you jump over the shoulder your hand was just on. When you do that, turn and land on your feet, I’ll be dragged onto my back and you will have the advantage. See how that works?” He further explained. You looked away, thinking and rehearsing the moves in your head. "I think I got it," you said. You turned your head to look back at him a little too quick and bumped your cheek on his nose, causing you both to laugh. He maintained eye contact with you for a few seconds longer and you saw his eyes darken in the slightest bit. "Alright, c'mon you've got this," Kit encouraged. He counted down and you moved.

You jumped up, using the one arm to push off as well as your feet. With the aid of the Force, you easily swung your body out of his grip and over his other shoulder. You both went careening backwards but you landed gracefully on your knees while Kit landed flat on his back, his fall cushioned by the mat. “Excellent!” He praised. You smiled wide and stood up, offering him your hand to get up. He took it and you pulled him to stand, you didn’t realize how much strength you had put into it until Kit was standing and still moving towards you with his momentum. You reached out to stop him from crashing on top of you.

“Sorry about that, little flower. Lost my balance,” he apologized. You both held each other’s gaze, the tension in the air was so thick it could probably be cut with a lightsaber. You broke away after a moment and that’s when you realized that your hands were placed on his bare chest. Heat rushed to your face and you promptly removed your hands, murmuring an apology under your breath. You could feel Kit’s eyes linger on you for a little longer before he began instructing you on the next takedown move.

“This one is fairly simple. I swing at you, you grab my arm, turn around, and flip me over your back.” You nodded along with his words, you’d seen this move done before and knew it wasn’t as difficult as the last one. “When I swing at you, grab my wrist, turn and pull me into your back. It has to be one smooth motion to let’s try just that a couple times,” Kit explained. You agreed and took your position.

Kit threw a punch and stopped when his arm was outstretched. “I grab the inside of your wrist, right?” You asked, and Kit confirmed. You grabbed his wrist with both hands and turned your back to him, pulling his arm across your chest. “Alright, good. Now do that again but pull me into your back.” You reset your positioning and breathed. Kit punched again but didn’t stop his arm this time, you grabbed his wrist and turned, pulling his chest to your back.

He collided into you with more force than you thought, you could feel the bare skin of his chest against your back where your top didn’t cover, you also felt something pressing into your ass. You froze. There was no way, this couldn’t be happening, the hardness against your ass was not what you thought it was. You tried to convince yourself and breathed in shakily, you pushed back on him accidentally while trying to move your foot and his other hand gripped your hip tight.

“Shh,” you heard him whisper. You tried to move away but he held you firmly and you just ended up grinding into him more, he groaned in your ear and your suspicions were confirmed. You could feel the wetness pooling at the apex of your thighs and your breathing become shallow. How long had he been hard for? His other arm you still had clutched to your chest and you felt his hand twist slightly, giving him the perfect angle to rest his hand over your breast. He squeezed gently and you barely bit back a moan.

“Master-”

“Just finish the move,” he rasped out, releasing his grip on your hip.

You pulled away and avoided eye contact as you moved to complete the takedown all the way through. You grabbed his wrist, turned, pulled his back to your chest, ignoring the feeling of his erection pressing into your ass again. In one smooth motion you, with the help of the Force, hoisted your master up and over you, sending him sprawling onto the mat. You kept ahold of his arm and your eyes met, you felt your pussy clench around nothing as his eyes were dark as night, filled with lust. You chanced a glance further down his body and saw the prominent tent in his shorts. Your mouth fell open and your eyes flicked between his eyes and his dick.

Tension and silence filled the room until Kit made a move.

He spun around on his back to face you and tugged on your arm that was still holding him, sending you toppling down onto him. Kit cupped your face with his other hand and crushed his lips to yours in a fiery kiss. It took a few seconds for your brain to register what exactly was happening, as soon as it did, you were kissing back. Kit parted his lips and ran his tongue over your bottom lip, nibbling gently, asking for entrance. You opened and Kit’s tongue entered your mouth, your tongues swirling together. Kit pushed off the floor and rolled you both over so he was on top of you, devouring you in his kisses. You wrapped your arms around his back and pulled him closer to you, Kit was holding himself above you with his arms and he experimentally ground his clothed cock against your center.

You broke away at the sensation of him grinding against you, you let out a loud moan and looked Kit in the eyes, he stilled. “Do you want this?” He asked, breathless. “Yes,” you breathed, “more than anything.” You pulled Kit down for another blazing kiss, during which you could feel his hands slipping under your tank top and pushing it up. You broke away just for him to pull it all the way off and toss it somewhere in the room. You wrapped your legs around his waist and Kit kissed you once more before moving down to suck and bite marks into your neck.

You almost couldn’t believe this was happening, had your master really had the hots for you the entire time and you had no idea. It was something you’d have to ask him later. A sharp nip to your collarbone had you crying out again and you wove a hand through his head tendrils. “Kit….” you moaned. He broke away from your neck and chuckled. “Needy, aren’t you?” He teased. He undid your bra and pulled it over your head, throwing that away also and revealing your breasts. You heard him curse under his breath and he gently took them in his hands. “You are stunning, my dear,” he cooed. You bit your lip and whined, watching as his mouth descended on one of your nipples. Your back arched, pushing your chest further into his hands and mouth. You moaned as you felt his tongue trace around your pebbled bud, finally flicking over it a few times and sucking hard.

You mewled, feeling more slick seep out of you as Kit sucked on one breast and his hand massaged the other. He switched and gave your other breast the same attention, his other hand snaking its way down your body. Your nails scratched up Kit’s back but he seemed to be enjoying it, letting out moans and grunts while kissing and sucking your tits. His wandering hand found its destination and he rubbed your heat through your leggings, finding them wet through. He pulled away and sat up on his knees.

“Look at you, soaked through your leggings. Do you need me to take care of you, little one?” He asked. You nodded rapidly. “Yes, please Kit. I’ve wanted you for so long,” you pleaded. Kit chuckled and reached for the waistband of your leggings, pulling them off in one fluid motion. His eyes widened at the sight and he could feel his dick twitch in his shorts. Kit looked up at you. “No panties?” He questioned. “My my, such a filthy little thing you are.”

You whined again, desperate for any sort of attention where you needed it most. Kit spread your legs and watched as your folds parted, he groaned at the sight and ran two fingers up and down your soaking slit. You released high pitched moans and tried to stay still as the pleasure wracked through your body. “You’re positively dripping, starlight. Is all this for me?” Kit asked in awe. “Yes, all for you Kit. You a-always make me this wet…” you said, your body jolting with pleasure. Kit swirled his fingers around your clit and you nearly shouted, he moved them lower and sunk two fingers into your dripping hole. Your eyes closed, the electric feeling coursing through your body as Kit started pumping his fingers.

He kept them at a steady pace and you were about to beg for more when you heard him ask you to open your eyes. You opened your eyes and looked down your body to see that Kit had moved to lay between your spread legs. Before you could say anything he was licking long stripes up your cunt, flicking his tongue around your clit and slurping up all your juices.

“You taste heavenly, little flower,” he purred. Kit slipped his tongue inside and curled it, practically scooping your wetness into his mouth. Your eyes closed and your head flew back, your moans and cries of his name mixing on your tongue. His tongue felt like liquid gold inside you, reaching parts of you that you didn't know you had and dragging pleasure from your body like a talented artist stroking against his pliant canvas.

Kit removed his tongue and replaced it with his fingers while his tongue gave your clit attention. His fingers pumping in and out, their pace picking up and Kit curled them, hitting that secret spot of heaven inside you. Your hands flew to the back of Kit’s head and pressed him impossibly closer, your fingers entwining in his lekku. Kit continued to drown himself in your cunt, he was hard as a rock in his shorts and wanted nothing more than to sink into your warm body and stay forever.

Kit worked on repeatedly hitting your sweet spot with his fingers, he could tell you were getting close and he wanted you a wet slippery mess before you took his cock. He sped up the pace of his fingers making sure to hit that spot with every thrust.

"K-kit," you cried, "I'm, I'm close..” He broke away from your pussy to speak to you. “I know. Cum for me, little flower, soak my fingers,” he begged. Kit returned his mouth to your clit and sucked hard, your hips bucked up and Kit quickly held them down as your orgasm flowed through you. The pleasure was blinding and you threw your head back once more, ecstasy surging through your body, you saw white and opened your mouth to scream Kit’s name.

He worked you through intense bliss, he stopped his ministrations and sat up again watching you catch your breath, your eyes still closed. While you were distracted, he removed the rest of his clothes.

You slowly came down from the mind blowing orgasm that Kit gave you, you opened your eyes and whimpered at the sight before you. Kit was finally naked and Maker he was gorgeous. Now that you were allowed to look at him you noticed his broad chest and strong, toned body. The expanse of his pretty green skin got slightly darker around his thick cock. Kit had a knowing look on his face as you said nothing, only reached out for him, he took your hand in one of his and kissed the back of it lovingly. His other hand traveled down and slowly stroked over his length, you whimpered and mewled as you watched him touch himself. Kit could almost see more of your juices pouring out of you and he smirked. He took your hand in his other one and brought it to his cock where you wanted it.

He guided your hand up and down his shaft and you twisted your wrist as you worked him. His skin was even softer and you wanted it in your mouth immediately, you smeared around the clear and sticky precum leaking out of his pointed and swollen tip. The little grunts and groans that spilled from Kit’s lips were music to your ears, but you wanted to make him moan. You tugged a little harder on his cock and Kit’s chest rose and fell faster with his breathing. He suddenly clamped his hand over yours, stopping your movements.

“Your hands feel amazing, starlight,” he gasped, “but I’m not cumming without being inside you.” You gasped and Kit draped himself over the top of you again. You grabbed the back of his neck and brought him in for another kiss, tasting yourself on his tongue and lips. “I need you to fuck me, Kit, please,” you begged. “I will, are you on-” “Yes, I’m on something, pleeeaasse,” you whined. You could feel his cock resting against your stomach and needed it inside your body. “Patience, little one. I’ll give you what you want,” Kit purred in your ear. He rested his forehead against yours as he reached down and slid his cock up and down your slit, collecting your juices. He pumped himself a couple times before lining up and pushing inside you slowly.

Your breath was stolen from you and your mouth hung open. Lords he was big. His cock stretched you deliciously as he continued to sheath himself within you. “Ooohh, fuck,” Kit groaned, closing his eyes as he bottomed out. You both stared into each other’s eyes, catching your breath and getting used to the feeling of being connected. Kit lowered his lips to yours, your walls were squeezing him so tight he didn’t know how he was going to pull out much. You once again wrapped your legs around Kit’s waist and dug your nails into his back. You had expected it to hurt when he entered you, given his size, but all you felt was mind numbing pleasure that encompassed your entire being.

You nodded once you were used to him and Kit slowly started moving, pulling out halfway before slamming back in. You yelped and begged for more. “Kit, please. I want you Kit, I need you to make me cum. Fuck, please!!” You rambled. Kit chuckled and picked up his pace, knowing he wouldn’t last long with how tight you were and how close he already was. “Stars above, YN,” Kit moaned, “fuck, you’ve got the tightest little pussy I’ve ever felt.” His pace increased again and he was slamming in and out of you, the sound of skin slapping together and panting filled the empty training room.

You kissed again and Kit reached down to play with your clit. Your sweaty bodies sticking together, both of you in a new kind of euphoria previously undiscovered. “Look at you, fuck, you look so beautiful like this. You gonna cum on my cock now, flower?” Kit panted. You had no words, none could enter your mind, the only thing you could think of was how good Kit was making you feel and how you never wanted it to stop. You nodded frantically, moaning loud and pulling Kit closer to you.

He pressed hard on your clit at the same time he bit onto your neck and you were sent over the edge of ecstasy. You screamed his name and convulsed around him, your cunt clamping down on him and gushing all over his cock. Kit released your neck and growled deep in your ear as his balls tightened and, with a few more thrusts, his seed was spilling inside you. You both stilled, connected together and finally sated.

After a couple minutes you fully came down from your highs and your eyes met. You smiled and Kit smiled brightly back at you, before you both started laughing. "This isn't exactly the way I had hoped you'd find out about my feelings for you," Kit confessed. You shook your head. "Me neither, but I'm glad it happened," you said. "Me too," Kit whispered, leaning down to kiss you again. You could feel Kit start to soften inside you but he made no move to pull away from you.

You nuzzled your nose into Kit's cheek. "I love you, Kit," you whispered. Kit in turn kissed the tip of your nose, making you giggle. "And I love you, Y/N," he said. "My little flower." You both smiled and connected your lips in another kiss. You both barely heard the sound of someone clearing their throat until a familiar Kel Dor voice spoke.

"Well, what do we have here?"

[silver-renjun]

Cafe 7 Dream: Jisung

Word count: 3,354

Warnings: violence, stabbing 

Read the prologue before reading this!  

You were at the cafe and there was no work for you to do. The dreamies were handling everything on their own, so there was no use for you at the cafe. Bored, you just stared at the boys as they made orders. You wanted to help out, but you knew that disrupting them could mess up their whole flow and cost them a lot of money. Chenle reminded you of that many, many times before. 

The only one that didn’t seem busy was Jisung. He was lounging around, staring at the boys mindlessly, just like you. Jisung caught your eye. It wasn’t usual that you saw him behind the counter. He almost always stayed in the back room, “keeping inventory”. You were suspicious of him. There was no way the cafe had so much stuff that Jisung had to be in the back room all the time. You could tell by the way that Jisung stuttered that he was hiding something back there. Then again, Jisung always stuttered when he talked to you.

Jisung didn’t stay in your vision for long. After a few minutes, he slipped back into the back room. Your curiosity was getting the best of you. You knew that Jisung would be upset if you sneaked in, but you just had to know what was back there. You looked around at the other dreamies. They were all preoccupied, making it the perfect opportunity for you to sneak into the back. You took your chance and creeped into the room.

You were not prepared for what you saw. All of the walls were covered in rows of shelves, each lined with countless bottles. The bottles contained all sorts of liquids, some of which were neon colors. At the center of the room, there was a table set up with beakers and tubes. You were in awe of what looked like a lab behind the cafe. You were going to sneak back out, but Jisung head popped up from behind the table. 

“y/n! What are, uh, you doing here?” Jisung stuttered with a nervous smile. The boy had two bottles with pink liquid in his hands. He tried to hide them behind his back, but had already noticed them.

“Jisung? What is this place? What is all this stuff?” you asked, reaching out to grab a bottle.

“No!” Jisung shouted, causing you to flinch. “Don’t touch anything in here, okay?” He placed the bottles down on the table and held his forehead. “What am I going to do?” he muttered to himself.

“First, you’re going to explain to me what this all is.”

“Okay, so, uh, you know how people love coming to our cafe,” Jisung said while playing with his fingers. “It’s because of this stuff.”

“You’re drugging people?”

“No! No! That’s not it! It’s just that, uh, you’re really not going to believe me.”

“Try me,”  you replied, putting your hands on your hips.

“I’m a wizard, so I make potions. We put love potions in the cafe food so that people will love our cafe.” Jisung noticed your confused face. “If you don’t believe me you can try for yourself.”

You walked over to where Jisung was standing. He quickly grabbed another bottle from under the table and placed it on the table.

“Experience the potion yourself. When it’s effects wear off, I’ll tell you exactly what happened to you without you even telling me anything.” 

You grabbed the potion from the table and drank it. Before you could place the bottle back down, you were transported to another world. You were in a forest and it was snowing. There were 7 little boys running around, screaming in joy as they played a game of tag. Your heart warmed at the precious sight of the dreamies when they were young. You were about to take a step closer, but everything began to fade. You found yourself back in the room with Jisung. 

“You saw your childhood, right? The most precious memory that you’ve ever experienced.” Jisung said. You nodded, not having the heart to say that you saw otherwise.

“It’s an original potion that I made. It took months to develop perfectly,” Jisung said as he returned the bottle to it’s original place. 

Jisung worked on the potion for months, but it seemed like he only tested it on himself. The potion wasn’t the user’s most precious memory, it was Jisung’s. Even though you didn’t see the right image, you were convinced Jisung was telling the truth about magic.  

“What about the other guys?”

“So Mark and Jaemin, they’re normal people. Kind of like you, but more magically aware. Haechan, he hasn’t gained his powers yet. And then Jeno, he’s a water spirit.”

“Makes sense,” you replied. 

“And then Chenle, well, uh,” Jisung began to stutter again. “He’s like super rich and his family is like a super big deal, so he’s not really allowed to tell his powers. Not even to me,” he said, pretending to be disappointed.

“Of course he wouldn’t tell you! You’d blabber it all out!” you joked.

“I don’t blabber any secrets!” Jisung said, trying to defend himself. “And Renjun trusted me with his vision about you so ha!”

“Renjun had a vision about me?” you said raising your eyebrow.

“Shoot,” Jisung said, slapping his forehead. “I’ll just let him explain it.”

Jisung walked back into the front of the cafe and you followed behind him. Renjun was standing behind the counter with the other boys, trying to put up a poster on the wall.

“So Renjun, what’s this about a vision you had?” you asked with your arms crossed.

“Dude, I told you Jisung wouldn’t be able to keep a secret,” Jeno said, laughing. Renjun shook his head in disappointment before looking at you. 

“y/n, do you believe in magic?” Renjun asked.

“You can skip the explanation. I saw everything Jisung had in the back.”

“Okay, so I’m an oracle, so I can see into the future. And I saw your future, and it’s not looking too good. You’re probably going to get attacked,” Renjun said casually, as if it were nothing.  

“Before you get worried y/n, it’s really no big deal. Renjun’s never had an accurate vision before. It’s not like this one’s going to come true,” Chenle said.

“And he was on the floor of a frat house when it came to him, so I wouldn’t worry too much,” Mark added. Renjun slapped Mark on the arm for adding that detail.

“Oh wow, for a second I thought I was going to be special,” you said sarcastically, pretending to be disappointed.

“Don’t worry y/n, I’ll protect you,” Jisung said, joining in on your sarcasm. He threw his arm around your shoulder, rubbed your head, and said, “you’re all safe now y/n.”

The boys laughed and then went back to work. Jisung walked back into the back room, and you followed him, since you had nothing better to do. 

“Hey Jisung, why don’t you give me so potions lessons?” you said. You found a stool in the corner of the room and pulled it up to the table. “It would be good practice for you, too.”

“Who said I needed practice?” Jisung replied. You turned around and got up from the stool, ready to walk out the door. “Hey, wait! I’ll do it!”

You sat back down on the stool and watched Jisung. He started pulling out liquids and dried plants from under the table. There were far too many thing coming out from under the small table, but you figured that magical storage was very efficient.

 “The first lesson is an antidote potion,” Jisung said. He placed in front of you various dried plants, seeds, and a dark green liquid.

“Can’t we start with the love potion,” you complained.

“If you’re trying to seduce someone, you won’t be learning it here,” Jisung said with a smile. “And the antidote potion is the best place to start anyways. If you mess up any other potion, it could kill you. It’s always important to know how to make an antidote.” Jisung handed you a mortar and pestle.

“I have to grind this by hand?” you groaned.

“Unless you have magical abilities, you’d better get used to grinding everything in there. Any questions so far?”

“What is all this stuff?” you asked as you grinded all the dry ingredients.

“Actually, I’m not really sure. I kind of just know the stuff I need. I use my intuition.”

“Oh that’s just great,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“It’s not like it matters anyways. You’re doing a great job,” Jisung said with a smile. “Now it’s time to add the blue liquid. Don’t ask me what it is, I wasn’t paying attention when I learned it.”

You poured the blue liquid in and began to mix it. 

“So what else do you do Jisung? There’s more to being a wizard than just potions, right?”

“Well, potions are my specialty. I can make them back here when I’m alone. There’s nobody yelling at me or telling me to hurry up when I make potions, so it’s pretty therapeutic. I can do spells too, but those take a lot of patience to learn, especially if you try to do them mentally. Spells are so much more pressure.”

“Oh,” you said, looking down at what you had made. “I’m sorry I disturbed your private time.” 

“Nah, it’s no big deal. I like you y/n. I mean, uh, I like being around you.” Jisung quickly went under the desk to get a bottle for you potion, but he was really just trying to avoid eye contact with you. His face was burning up. After Jisung got up, he poured your potion into a bottle and sealed it. He grabbed a permanent marker and wrote on the bottle.

“y/n’s antidote potion,” Jisung said with a smile. “I’ll be sure to make good use out of this.”

“I think the cafe is closing up right now,” you told Jisung. The commotion you could hear between Renjun and Haechan was an obvious sign that it was time for you to leave. 

“Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow y/n,” Jisung replied, waving you off as you walked towards the door. “Or do you prefer apprentice?” 

“I’d go by any name if it meant I could spend time with you,” you said. You were shocked at your own words. You had no idea where that came from. You hurried out before Jisung could question you on your reply.

You spent all your shifts with Jisung. Every day, Jisung had a new set of herbs for you to grind and bottle. You were worried the Chenle might be upset that you weren’t working, but he just smiled and pushed you into the back with Jisung.

“So what are we learning today, Jisung?” you asked as you pulled up the stool.

“Love potions,” Jisung said with a smile.

“You’re finally teaching me how you drug the people in the cafe,” you said teasingly.

“I don’t drug people, y/n. It’s magic. There’s a difference,” Jisung explained. “And were just doing a basic love potion today. Nothing complicated like falling in love with a building.” 

You chucked at Jisung’s response.

“Hey, you have no idea how hard that was for me! You try making people love the cafe when the employees are moody magical beings!” Jisung complained as he grabbed the ingredients for the love potions. He placed an assortment of dried herbs and seeds on the table.

“So what’s the plan here?” you asked.

“You can just take whatever you like. Love potions are based on personal preference. There’s really no wrong answer,” Jisung said as he handed you the mortar and pestle. “Oh wait! I forgot the most important ingredient!”

You watched as Jisung pulled out a bottle with a red liquid inside.

“You can taste it, it’s nothing weird, I promise,” Jisung said as he handed the bottle over to you.

You dipped your finger inside and tasted the mysterious liquid.

“This is tomato juice!” you said with wide eyes. “Your secret ingredient is tomato juice?”

“It’s for the aesthetics. It gives the potion a nice color. And my secret ingredient isn’t tomato juice. I use hot sauce. Tomato juice is a beginner’s ingredient.”

“Hot sauce is not aesthetic Jisung,” you said with a laugh.

“It’s more aesthetic than blood.” Jisung noticed the confused look on your face. “It’s an old practice,” he explained.

You spent the rest of your shift putting together a love potion. Jisung had been right about how difficult it was. Selecting your own ingredients took careful deliberation. You wanted your first love potion to be perfect. After a while, you had put together your first love potion.

“Wow, that looks really good, y/n,” Jisung said with admiration. “Can I try it? You can try mine too.”

“What’s going to happen when we taste it?” you asked. 

“These are pretty weak potions anyways. We’re probably just going to see our crush. It’ll be a basic sensation. It’ll be something you already know.” 

“Let’s do it then,” you said. 

You and Jisung exchanged bottles and took a sip from the potions. You closed your eyes and waited for the potion to settle in. When you opened your eyes again, you were in the same place.

“Nothing happened, Jisung. Did we make them wrong or what?” you asked.

“No y/n. We made them perfectly,” Jisung replied. 

You watched as Jisung crinkled up his nose at what he had just said. You took a second to process what he meant. 

“So that means we, uh,” you started to say. You couldn’t verbalize the next part. 

“Yep,” Jisung said while looking down. Despite liking each other, you and Jisung were highly embarassed by the situation.

“So, um, uh,” you stuttered, trying to find something to say to Jisung.

“Do you want to date me?” Jisung babbled.  

“Yes.” You kept your hands busy with all the ingredients on the table. You still felt too awkward to make eye contact with Jisung. He felt the same way about you. 

“We should head out now,” Jisung said. You followed him out towards the front of the cafe.

The other boys immediately noticed that Jisung was blushing when you two walked out. Neither you nor Jisung were making eye contact with any of them.

“What’s up with you two? Did you two make out in the back or what?” Jaemin said with a smirk.

“No way, Jisung’s too much of a wimp to do that,” Mark replied.

“The probably kissed by accident or something,” Jeno said.

“How do you accidentally kiss someone?” Chenle asked.

“It’s a classic trick Chenle. y/n probably fell on Jisung and-” Renjun started.

“That’s not what happened!” Everyone was shocked by Jisung’s sudden confidence, even Jisung himself. “We’re, uh, dating each other now. That’s all,” Jisung said in a quiet voice.

The dreamies erupted in screams. Haechan started slapping Jisung on the back.

“Look at you, all grown up,” Haechan said with awe. “Be careful back there. The two of you alone in that dark room, it could get wild, Jisung.”

After dating for a while, the teasing subdued from the dreamies. There was always the occasional joke about your potions mixing, but it was expected from the boys. You and Jisung became much more comfortable with one another.

The day of the cafe event had finally rolled around. You didn’t pay much attention to it after Renjun had mentioned it to you, but apparently it was a very big deal to the dreamies. They would be in the presence of a lot more magic than they were used to, so they spending a lot of extra time at the cafe. You tagged along, hoping to help them in any way possible. It had been a long time since you actually contributed to the cafe and not just sit in the back with your boyfriend.

“Hey y/n, can you help me and Jisung in the back right now?” Haechan said.

You followed Haechan into the back room. He locked the door behind you, which was odd. Jisung never did that before. Before you could ask him why he did that, Haechan lunged towards you. He pinned you to the ground and you started to scream.

“Don’t scream y/n, or you’ll end up like your boyfriend over there,” Haechan said with a menacing grin. Haechan turned your head to the side so you could see Jisung. He was sitting in the corner tied up with rope. His mouth was covered with tape.

“What are you doing?” you cried.

“Good question, y/n. You’re just so smart, aren’t you?” Haechan said as he tied up your arms. “You skip lectures so you can go take little potion lessons from your boyfriend. How cute.”

“This is about the lectures? Oh my gosh Haechan, I promise I-” Haechan placed his hand over your mouth.

“Don’t make me tape that beautiful mouth up.” Haechan got to work on tying up your feet. “And it’s something much more different, dear. You see with this high magical energy in the air, I’m at an urge to awaken my powers.”

Haechan stood up and grabbed a knife from the table.

“And there happens to be one potion that’ll do the trick. Your precious boyfriend already started making it. Now I just need the final ingredient,” Haechan said as he leaned over you. “Your blood.”

Haechan pulled the blade through your arms. Blood started to leak out onto your shirt, but you had already passed out. Haechan collected the blood and placed it into the bottle with the other ingredients. He started to take a sip when the bottle shattered. Haechan was enraged. He turned around to see Jisung, who had broken free. 

“You think you can stop me?” Haechan screamed.

Haechan tried to take a step forward, but he had become paralyzed. Jisung was mumbling a spell to himself. Even though he was focusing all his energy on restraining Haechan, Jisung could only think of you. He hurried over to the shelves and grabbed the first healing potion he could find. He opened the bottle and poured the whole thing down your throat. 

“Jisung!” was the first thing you said when you woke up. Jisung was too busy mumbling spells to reply to you. You looked over at the bottle Jisung had given you. It was the first potion you had made. You picked up the bottle and at the same time, Jisung stopped mumbling and pulled you into a hug. You felt warm in his embrace, but you became worried.

“What about Haechan?” you asked as you pulled away from the hug.

“He’s in paralysis. His body is transforming right now, so he’s especially dangerous. I put a spell on him so he won’t hurt us right now.”

You had no words for how grateful you were. You pulled him into a hug again.

“y/n, I’m really sorry I couldn’t protect you. You got hurt because of me. I should have never even started making that-”

You put your finger over his lips. You didn’t want the moment to be ruined. There would be a lot of explaining and apologizing to be done, but at that moment you just wanted to be in the arms of your boyfriend. 

Select another route

[coffee-imagines]

Duel Lessons

Pairing: Severus x slytherin!reader (but it’s not prominent so it can be just about any house)

Warnings: heated make out

A/N: I saw somewhere that Snape started teaching at 21 and I’m not sure if this is accurate or not, so if it isn’t then I’m sorry

Summary: A new year usually meant a new defense against the dark arts teacher, and when you take the job your old crush on a certain potions professor comes out of dormant.

———————————–

You were twenty one when you started your job at Hogwarts. It came as a shock to you when Dumbledore reached out and asked if you’d take the position as the defense against the dark arts professor. It had been your dream to be a teacher for the school since your third year, and you had asked Dumbledore to consider you for a position if it ever came up on your very last day of school. Only about a few months into the year and you were already hoping for a permanent position, but you also couldn’t deny that there were setbacks to being the youngest professor at the school. 

“Professor Y/L/N!” You heard someone call from behind you while you walked toward the direction of your classroom. You stopped in your tracks and turned around, smiling when you saw Fred Weasley. “I had a question about… class?” He said slowly looking as though he was trying to figure out what to say.

“Alright.” You nodded, taking a step back so your height difference wasn’t so noticeable and you didn’t have to look up at him. “What’s your question?” You asked and your eyebrows knitted together when a blush seemed to form on Fred’s face.

“Well it’s my last year here, and I remember when you used to be a student too.” He explained, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck making your head tilt in confusion. “Um, and I remember having a crush on you my first year and it got bigger in my third year, but then you finished school.” He continued only causing you to become more confused trying to find where his question started and if it had ended. “I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date after the school year is over?” He finally asked, making your stomach drop well below your feet.

“Mr. Weasley, I am your professor now, and as your professor I am not allowed to date students. We may be closer in age than you are with your other professors, but I expect you to treat me like you would them.” You explained, shifting uncomfortably in your spot. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” You mumbled awkwardly, walking back in the direction you’d intended. You sighed and shook your head, but you weren’t surprised. Fred hadn’t been the first student to ask you, and you were certain he wasn’t going to be the last.

You turned the corner and your heart began to race when you saw Snape. You almost laughed at yourself when you realized the irony of what had just happened. You remembered your time at Hogwarts and the crush you had developed on the potions master throughout those seven years. You were under the impression it had gone away once you left, but the first day you were back had made your heart flutter when you came face to face with the Head of Slytherin house, more particularly your house. All your memories of your time fawning over the man had come back in an instant, and kept haunting you every time you’d seen him. You hurried off to your class, wanting to be in the comfort of your office before you’d completely lost it.

Lunch seemed to come sooner than expected, and you found yourself in your normal seat in the great hall, right next to Snape. You’d thought of a more interactive lesson plan, but your nerves were prolonging the question you were going to ask the man sat next to you. You argued with yourself for a while, picking at the food on your plate. You thought you may have been in way over your head to even do the lesson you had planned, but you had already gotten the okay from Dumbledore and you didn’t want to waste the opportunity.

“Severus.” You whispered softly to get his attention, putting your fork down next to your plate only for your fingers to continue to toy with it. He turned his attention toward you and your breath caught in your throat when his eyes met yours. “I- I was wondering… well I was wondering if you’d like to help me with a lesson.” You stuttered out nervously before clearing your throat and sitting up a bit straighter trying to compose yourself. “I was going to teach the students how to duel and with your interest in the subject I was hoping you could join and help be an example.” You explained further, praising yourself for finally keeping your composure.

“I suppose.” Snape mumbled with a nod, making a smile form on your face. “If you help with a lesson in return.” He continued making you nod.

“Gladly.” Was all you could muster before your attention turned back to your plate. The rest of the time was spent with both of you planning the lessons as you ate. Your knowledge of potions wasn’t the best during your time at school, but you hoped over the years it had gotten better.

The following day you were beyond nervous. Not only because of the lesson itself, but because of the fact you were going to be spending more time with Snape than you usually did throughout the day. You were thinking about it all the way to the hall, trying to contain all the students’ excitement. The entire week was going to be filled with these lessons, people who weren’t in the class even asking to join the rare opportunity. That meant a whole week teaching lessons with Snape in not only your subject, but his.

“Alright everybody, split up on both sides of the table.” You motioned once you were all in the hall. Your heart was completely out of control, and you took a shaky breath to calm your nerves. You had planned everything to a T, but you knew there were going to have to be things you winged. You climbed up on the table to get everyone’s attention and started explaining the rules, hoping none of the students got out of hand.

“Now Professor Snape…” You began but stopped when you felt butterflies in your stomach. You had only addressed him by his first name since your return, but now that you were calling him Professor once again, it made you feel like you were a student yourself. “Professor Snape has been kind enough to offer his assistance in this lesson, so I expect you all to be alert and learn through the demonstrations before we begin breaking off into groups.” You announced, trying to project your voice throughout the big room. “Professor.” You nodded over to him, trying to keep yourself from blushing.

You seemed to be frozen in place when he stepped onto the table, your heart racing as he walked closer. The look he had been giving you made you feel intimidated, but at the same time you couldn’t help but let your mind wander with all the things you wanted to happen between you and the man now standing in front of you. You both pulled your wands out at the ready, and bowed before you both turned to put some distance between the two of you. The thoughts running through your head seemed to clog up and you couldn’t for the life of you remember what you had both discussed. It hadn’t been until you heard “Expelliarmus” that your brain seemed to register everything. Before you could block the spell you felt yourself fly back, landing on your back with a thud. The air had been knocked out of you and you squeezed your eyes shut as the embarrassment set in. 

“Professor Y/L/N.” You heard making you open your eyes. You saw Snape’s outstretched hand and you sat up. You grabbed his hand and felt a tingling sensation within you as he helped you to your feet. “Are you alright?” He asked and you nodded shyly. 

“That is a demonstration of what it is like to be hit by this particular disarming spell.” You explained to everyone, trying to come back with an excuse, but you were still overflowing with embarrassment. “Before we get into groups I’ll show you all how to block unwanted spells, and we will only be practicing disarming and blocking. There are many first years in here today and they aren’t as versed as many of the others.” You continued, wiping yourself off and continuing with the class.

The longer the class went on, you could feel a dull pain start to set into your back. With the help of Snape you watched each group and corrected any mistakes you saw. Snape caught you rubbing your lower back and it caught him by surprise that he was beginning to worry about you. After the lesson had finally been over the students went off to their next classes and you made your way to Snape’s classroom to return the favor. 

The week continued on just like the first lesson, and you figured if you let Snape knock you on your back with every lesson everyone would actually believe it was a part of the plan. You were surprised at how close you were beginning to get with your old professor, every day spending just about all your time with one another. As the week progressed so did the pain in your lower back, and it had finally been the last day of the week when it seemed to get to you the most. Unlike all the other times when air got knocked out of you, a whimper left you when your back had hit the table. Snape had been keeping his eye on you during his class, and it seemed that your hand was permanently glued to your back.

“Y/N.” Snape called you once everyone had left the room making you look up from the ingredients you were putting back on the shelves. “Could you get me wormwood, bubotuber pus, dittany, and dragon liver?” He asked and you nodded trying to find each of the ingredients on the shelves. You raked your brain, trying to remember what potion the ingredients were for, and you stopped what you were doing.

“A healing potion?” You asked, turning your attention to him. “Are you hurt?” You asked, finally bringing the ingredients to the desk he’d set up a cauldron on.

“You’ve been knocked on your back quite a lot this week, and I’ve seen you grabbing your back.” He explained making you shake your head.

“Oh no, I’ll be fine, I just need to rest.” You explained, watching him walk in front of the cauldron next to you. “Really Severus.” You tried to convince him, placing your hand on his before he could touch the ingredients. “Don’t waste your ingredients on me.” You whispered, blushing and pulling your hand away when you realized you’d been touching him.

“I must admit Y/N, you’re starting to worry me.” He explained making your heart flutter. It shocked you when he confessed his worries, and a small “oh” left you.

“Well… thank you.” You smiled watching him put each ingredient into the cauldron one by one. “How long does it take?” You asked curiously, looking over his shoulder once he was done. 

“Two hours.” He explained making you nod. He leaned back on the table behind him, and you stood in front of him with your arms behind your back. Your eyes wandered over his face, admiring him from up close. You couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to have your fingers running through his hair, but you quickly looked away as your face began to heat up. “Are you liking teaching here?” Snape broke the silence making you look back at him.

“Yes.” You nodded with a smile. “It’s been a dream to work here.” You explained, your fingers twiddling behind your back.

“I remember.” He nodded, making you look down at your feet. You could remember all the times you’d stay after class and ask him about his job as a professor. You would never admit to anyone but yourself that those times were more excuses to talk to him outside of class rather than finding out about his job. “You were quite the… student.” He explained, seeming to try and choose his words carefully.

“You don’t have to try flattering me Severus.” You smiled softly. “I wasn’t the best in your class.” You explained “I was always distracted.” You mumbled to yourself, looking down and playing with your shoe.

“Distracted? By what?” Snape asked, making your head shoot up. You opened your mouth to say something, but your voice seemed to become extinct. It seemed like the puzzle pieces were starting to fall into place due to your reaction. “Oh... me?” He asked, making you look away and give a small nod, distracting yourself with the brewing potion next to you. You heard him shuffle in front of you but you kept your attention on the cauldron as though your life depended on it. Snape’s hand came up to grab your chin softly, making you turn your head back to him. A gasp left your mouth at the feeling of his fingers on you, your breath coming out labored when you saw how close he had gotten to you.

“Professor?” You asked softly, the old schoolgirl in you coming to light as her dream seemed to be coming true at this moment.

“You know… I started here when I was twenty one too.” He explained, his breath fanning your face, his hand slowly releasing your chin.

“I’m aware.” You whispered, your eyes watching his lips. You both leaned in at the same time, your eyes fluttering closed when his lips brushed against yours before he closed the space. A content sigh left you and you melted into him. Your arms snaked their way into his robes, gripping his shirt tightly. This moment felt like a dream, but the tighter you seemed to grip his shirt the more real everything felt. Snape’s hand came up to hold your cheek and he deepened the kiss making your knees go weak. 

You gasped when he grabbed your thighs and lifted you onto the desk, stepping in between your now parted legs. When you pulled away you were both panting, your lips still tingling from his. Neither of you said anything, your chests raising and falling rapidly as you both stared at each other. Snape’s head dipped down lower than your lips, his mouth grazing against your jaw making your eyes flutter closed once again. Your breath was coming out shaky, a small moan leaving your parted lips when he left an open mouthed kiss against the base of your neck. 

“Ow.” You whimpered when Snape’s hand found it’s way down your back and caused the pain to come back tenfold. He mumbled an apology and instead of moving his hand away he started to rub your back. You were going to protest thinking it would only make it worse, but a satisfied sigh left you when the pain started to ease. “Severus.” You let out a moan when his fingers started to knead the skin in your back. Your head lolled back as the massage consumed your senses, the pain in your back being replaced with pleasure from his fingers.

“Is that better?” Snape asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he watched you. Your head was thrown back, your mouth parted as nothing but pleasured noises left you. Unknowingly to you, your hands were gripping his arms tightly, your fingers digging in slightly. The harder his fingers dug into your back, the louder your noises became.

“Yes.” You breathed out, your head falling forward onto his shoulder. You turned your head to the side, nuzzling your head into his neck as your legs pulled him closer against you. Snape was almost breathing as heavy as you were, a groan leaving him when you started kissing and sucking his neck. A timer going off made both of you jump apart, your feet hitting the ground on the side of the table while Snape stood back against the table behind him. 

“It’s ready.” He explained, spooning out the potion into a vile for you and he cleared his throat. He held it out to you once it was sealed and your fingers brushed against each other when you grabbed it.

“Thank you.” You whispered, turning around before making a b line toward the door.

“Y/N.” Snape’s voice stopped you in your tracks, but you didn’t dare turn around. “Would you like to come to my room tonight?” He asked, making a small smile form on your face.

“I’d love to.” You nodded, giving him a quick glance so he could see your smile before you walked out. You closed the door behind you and you leaned back against the door, breathing out a dazed sigh. You tried wrapping your head around what had just happened, and thoughts of what might happen tonight ran through your head.

“Professor Y/L/N?” The voice of one Fred Weasley pulled you from your thoughts making you straighten up and push yourself off the door.

“Fred.” You nodded, hoping the blush wasn’t evident on your face as you walked past him quickly in the direction of your office.

[thetravelerwrites]

Dr. Mael Halvorg (Part 2)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationship: Male Part Fae/Female Part Fae Additional Tags: Exophilia, Monster Boyfriend, Fae, Naga, Reader Insert, Anthropology, Genetics Content Warnings: Children, Pregnancy, Incubation, Infertility, Birth, Oviposition, Egg-Laying Words:

Commissioned by @ivymemnoch​! The reader and Dr. Halvorg discuss his lingering infertility problem. Amai lays her final clutch of eggs. Please reblog and leave feedback!

The Traveler's Masterlist

“Good morning, class!” You said on the first day.

“Good morning!” Fourteen bright voices responded.

All of the children except for baby Yenu were sitting on their tails behind desks in a room that had been set up as a classroom by the staff.

“So, every day each week we’re going to work on a different subject,” You began. “Mondays are reading and language comprehension, Tuesdays are maths and sciences, Wednesdays are social studies and economics, Thursdays are geography and history, Fridays are fun days with arts, crafting, music, and educational games. Today is Monday, so we’re going to start with reading. You should each have a workbook appropriate to your developmental level in your desks, so please take out your reading workbooks.”

As the children shuffled and searched for the right book, Dr. Halvorg stepped inside the classroom with a clipboard. You raised an eyebrow.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

“I’m observing the children in a school setting to see how they adapt,” He replied.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “And I’m also assuming how I teach, correct?”

He dipped his head sheepishly. “I was curious. And it’s for my research.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Mm.” You turned back to your students and fell into your teacher’s voice. “Keenai, if you would begin reading the first sentence, please?”

Keenai picked up his workbook and started reading. “The small dog lives in a red house.”

“Can you tell me which of these words are verbs?”

“Um…” He looked at the sentence, frowning.

“To remind you, a verb is an action word, something someone does.”

“Uh… lived?” He replied slowly.

“Very good.” You said, and he smiled in relief. “Tani, you’re next. Read the next sentence in your book.”

“The red house was built on a wed… wedeness…”

“Wednesday,” You said. “That’s a hard word, I know. Can you tell me what the noun is in that sentence?”

“House?”

“Good! A noun is a person, a place, or a thing. I’m a noun, you’re a noun, the room we’re in is a noun.”

“Is Nenish a noun?” Jinsa asked.

“Yes.”

“Ha ha, you’re a noun!” Jinsa said, pointing at Nenish.

“So are you!” Nenish interjected.

“Hey, hey! Settle down, please!” You called over them, sitting on the edge of your desk. “Fuma, you next.”

Fuma read from his book, and then Amaia. Next, you went down the line of the four-year-olds, having them read a sentence and find colors, shapes, numbers, or sounds in the sentences. The three-year-olds were next, and they simply read small sentences. You then had the one-year-olds spell and say three-letter words.

Their quick development was normal for nagas, as they tended to age quickly until they hit puberty, when their aging progress slowed to accommodate for yearly hibernation, but it was also startling in conjunction with the developmental levels of similar creatures. You had never studied the advancements of a species’ young so closely before, and you had to admit, it was fascinating. You could see why Dr. Halvorg found it so interesting.

You set the children writing tasks appropriate to their learning level and took a moment to talk to Dr. Halvorg, who was scribbling quickly in a notebook.

“They have computers now that you can write on, you know,” You told him, amused.

He looked up over his glasses at you and quirked an eyebrow. “I am aware of that, thank you. I’m not quite so old-fashioned as I seem, regardless of what Amai might tell you.” He looked back down and continued scribbling. “I’m a chronic note-taker. A bad habit I can’t seem to break, though with my profession, it’s often a strength rather than a weakness.”

“Hmm,” You hummed. “And what do your notes say about my teaching?”

“Adequate,” He replied, still scribbling. “Don’t misunderstand, that’s not a criticism. I hold everyone to an extremely high standard. If you hadn’t met expectations, I would have dismissed you.”

“So I meet your expectations?” You asked sardonically.

“At the moment,” He said, snapping his book closed and standing up. “I still want to observe your other classes before I’m completely satisfied.”

“Hmm,” You said again.

True to his word, Halvorg attended every class that week, observing you interacting with the children. Other than a question or two about your future curriculum, he stayed quiet. At the end of the week, he asked that you submit a weekly progress report until you either found a replacement or were dismissed.

It seemed excessive to you, and you were beginning to wonder if he still saw the children as an experiment. He seemed to care about them, but how much of that was genuine and how much of it was his own self-interest? You were starting to feel leery of and disconcerted by him.

Perhaps he picked up on this, because he seemed to go out of his way to avoid you. He had you direct all of your questions and reports to his assistant and rarely picked up his phone. Any conversations were brief and succinct. He did send you notes on your curriculum, making suggestions for each child. If you weren’t already suspicious of his motives, you might almost have though it sweet.

“I think Halvorg is avoiding me,” You told Amai when the two of you went to lunch together. Now that the two of you could hang out after all the years, you made it a point to set time aside for each other and had lunch at least once a week.

“What makes you say that?” Amai asked, drizzling dressing over her starter salad.

“Ever since he watched me teach classes, he’s barely spoken to me. He seemed excited to exchange research notes when I first arrived, but now he seems to have no interest in speaking to me since he finished observing class.”

“He could just be busy,” Amai suggested. “The four year old’s birthdays are coming up. He always does something special for the kids on their birthdays.”

“Are you concerned that he only sees your children as test subjects?” You asked her. “He seems obsessed with them.”

Amai laughed. “I thought that way in the early days, but he genuinely loves kids. If anything ever happened to me or Yenuno, I’m confident Halvorg would take care of them.” She took a sip of her mineral water. “Are you coming to the kids party? You’re invited, obviously.”

“Will there be clowns? I hate clowns.”

She snorted. “Nothing so gauche. I think Halvorg set up a treasure hunt. The kids always love whatever he plans. Honestly, I know I complain about him, but he does make it easy for me sometimes. I haven’t had to plan any major events since the kids hatched.”

“Hmm… I don’t know. It’s strange to me how involved he is.”

Amai sat back in her seat and eyed you shrewdly. “Did he ever tell you about his son?”

You looked up in surprise. “Son? I thought you said he had no children.”

“He doesn’t… technically.” Amai set her fork down. “You didn’t hear this from me so don’t repeat it, but he had a wife nearly a hundred years ago who cheated on him. He raised a boy, thinking he was his son, but the child was actually fathered by the other man. His wife left him and took the boy with her and he never saw him again. I don’t think he ever got over that.”

“Oh, god,” You replied, horrified. “I can’t imagine what that’s like.”

“He’s spend the last several decades saving dying races from the brink of extinction. In a way, he thinks of those children he helped bring into the world as his children, too. And every time he has to let them go, it’s like losing his son all over again. I think the fact that he gets to help raise our babies is something of a gift for him. Trust me, it’s not something he takes for granted.”

“I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that,” You said in dismay.

“Halvorg is stuffy, strict, and a stickler for protocols, so he can be difficult to read, but I assure you, he loves my children as if they were his own. It may have started as research, but he has a family now and I think that’s what he wanted all along. Try not to judge him to harshly.”

You conceded with a nod. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The following Saturday, you attended the kids birthday party as requested. The kids were excited and zooming around the receiving area, shrieking and laughing, all of them wearing party hats and nothing else. Amaia was piggy-backing on Dr. Halvorg, her tail wrapped around his waist for stability and her arms hugged around his neck. Dr. Halvorg walked around completely normally, as if this was a typical action and he was used to it. He watched the children playing with a wide, fond grin on his face.

You walked over to Amai and Yenuno, who were watching from the refreshments table with Yenu, feeding her crackers.

“Nothing like a little bit of chaos in the morning,” You said.

They laughed.

“You’ve never seen them after a group kill,” Yenuno said. “They’re uncontrollable after they’ve taken down an elk together. It’s pretty incredible to watch for me, personally. Nagas in the wild typically don’t work together and they especially don’t hunt together, not even siblings.”

“They are very close and friendly, for nagas,” You remarked. “Markedly different to most snake-related species I’ve met.”

“It’s Amai’s blood and influence that’s doing it, I’m sure,” Yenuno said, kissing his wife’s cheek. “She’s the most friendly and cheerful person I’ve ever met.”

“To be fair, sweetie, you haven’t met all that many people,” Amai said, laughing.

“That is fair,” Yenuno conceded. “My point stands, though.”

“Alright children, gather ‘round!” Halvorg called, and they flocked to him, swirling around him like a whirlpool. “Now, you guys are going to split up into teams to help Nenish, Tahara, and Sadji find their gifts. Nenish will have Tani, Jinsa, and Keenai on his team. Tahara will have Amaia, Osan, Ishni, and Dashu on his team. And Khuzho, Chidil, Fuma, and Itheti will be on Sadji’s team.” He handed a small leaflet to each team. “Follow the clues to find the treasures! Go!”

The kids scattered, giggling madly.

“Come get something to drink and rest for a minute, Halvorg!” Yenuno called. “I think you’ve earned it.”

Halvorg grinned boyishly, an expression that brightened his face and made him look… well… rather handsome. He jogged over to the table and had a ginger ale. Elves have hypermobile ears, and his ears were high and wiggling slightly, a normal indication in elvish peoples of happiness and excitement.

“I think they’ll really enjoy their gifts this year,” Halvorg said, taking sips of his soda. “And the treasure hunt is half the fun. It’s challenging, but not too difficult. If they work together, it should be no trouble at all.”

“You didn’t get them history books like last year, did you?” Amai asked with her eyes narrowed. “You might as well have burned the money you spent on those for all the use they got out of them.”

“No, I learned my lesson,” He said defensively. “I bought toys.”

“Educational toys?” Amaia asked shrewdly.

He stopped mid-sip and looked at Amaia with an eyebrow raised. “…maybe,” He said into his cup.

Amaia rolled her eyes. “At least Yenuno and I ordered some stuff the kids will like.”

“You don’t know that they won’t like them,” I said. “I loved educational toys.”

“Yeah, but you’re a nerd,” Amaia said, poking you playfully.

“So what? Your kids could be nerds, too. I’m pretty sure Osan is going to be a Star Wars fan. He’s been talking my ear off about the Mandalorian.”

“It’s so strange,” Amaia said, ignoring your response and looking off in the distance. “I thought that because the kids were hatched in clutches, they would be like twins or triples or the like and have similar interests and personalities, but they’re all so different. Different likes, different traits, different styles. It’s amazing.”

“It amazes me, too,” Yenuno said, staring into his drink with a wistful expression. “My siblings and I separated when we were young, so I don’t know what they were like or if we had similar interests. Honestly, until recently, I never gave them a thought. Watching my children work together… it makes me wonder what my own siblings were like, and if they’d still be alive today if we had helped each other.”

There was a contemplative silence for a few minutes, broken by excited voices reentering the receiving area.

“We found it!” Tahara said, holding up a wrapped gift. The other four were carrying smaller treat bags that had their names written on them. “Uncle Maël, look!”

“Excellent! Well done!” Halvorg said, bending to give Tahara a hug. “Now, let’s wait until your brothers return with their gifts before we open them, okay? How about you five play tag until then?”

“Okay!” Tahara said.

“I’ll play with you,” Yenuno said. “I’m starting to get fat, preparing for the incubation period.” He patted Amai’s belly, which carried his three eggs, likely to be the last clutch they’d have together.

“How soon?” You asked Amai as Yenuno took off to chase with his children.

“Any day,” Amai said with a weary sigh. “And I’m ready for it. These little guys are heavy.”

“Boys or girls?”

“We won’t know until they hatch. It’s too hard to get a clear picture with the ultrasound, and besides, even if it could, both the male and female genitalia are internal, so it’s nearly impossible to tell.” She took a sip of ginger ale. “We’re really hoping for at least one girl. Don’t get me wrong, we love the boys more than anything, but we’d like Amaia and Yenu to have some sisters.”

“I’d like to be present for the laying, if that’s okay,” You said.

“For your research?” She asked.

Your head rocked back. “No, because you’re my friend and I want to be there for you.”

Amai smiled fondly. “Oh. Of course, thank you.”

Dr. Halvorg had not added anything to the conversation with you and Amai, and instead went to the table and made a plate of snacks. You gave Amai a look and a cocked eyebrow, and she nodded understanding, slipping away from her spot to watch her husband and children play.

“Dr. Halvorg?”

He flinched and looked up, glancing around furtively and noticing that the two of you were alone. “Yes?”

“Why are you avoiding me?”

He opened his mouth and closed it again before responding, “I’m doing no such thing.”

“I’ve requested at least three meetings with you this past month, and you’re always too busy,” You said dryly.

“Well, I am,” He said, turning. “If you’ll excuse me…”

“Are you avoiding me because I asked you out?” You asked bluntly.

He missed a step in his stride and stopped.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I should have realized from your professional demeanor that you wouldn’t be open to interoffice dating. I apologize.”

Halvorg sighed and turned to face you. “It’s not that. Not exactly, I mean.” He set his plate on the table and looked you full in the face for the first time in weeks. “I haven’t given a thought to dating in…” He rubbed his forehead. “Gods… decades. The question took me off guard, of course, and I actually had to sit down and give it some thought. I’ve been wrapped up in my work, of course, but I think I was just distracting myself.”

“From what?”

He sat on the edge of the table and crossed his arms. “It’s hard to talk about. I don’t even really talk about it with Yenuno, and I would consider him my closest friend.” He sighed heavily and avoided your eye. “I’ve ignored my personal life in favor of spending my career and fortune in this century helping races achieve something I want for myself.”

“Children?” You guessed.

He nodded a little morosely. “Not just that, but that is a significant part of it. I’ve been following the reproduction rates of Celtic fae since the fae were originally integrated and it’s decreasing year by year. I live in constant fear that my own race will be extinct in my lifetime.” He quirked his head at you. “Your race still seems to be fairly prolific, is that correct?”

“Oh yeah, I have a bunch of brothers and a truckload of cousins. No problems there.”

He sighed. “I don’t know what the problem with my race is. I’ve studied genetic traits, magical impediments, marriage and divorce rates, and ratio of coupling to conceptions.The numbers are terrible and I don’t know why. That’s what drives me crazy. I hate not having an answer.”

“Have there been miscarriages?”

“No, that’s the crazy thing, the rate of conception is extraordinarily low. I think there have only been three live births of Celtic fae blood in the last year.”

“Oh, jeez,” You said, sitting against the table next to him. “I didn’t realize the problem was that severe. Have you considered whether it might be a physical problem?”

“How do you mean?”

“Have you ever done a sperm count? Or had an MRI of the area to see if there’s a blockage? That kind of thing can be genetic and men tend to be shy about stuff like that.”

He tilted his head and frowned. “No, I haven’t. It actually hadn’t occurred to me. Honestly, I’ve been so focused on my work to distract myself, it may have worked too well and I ignored such things.” He looked at you and smiled. “You’ve given me something to think about.”

You smiled back. “Good. I wonder if the females of the race have a similar issue. It may have been something bred into the people over time, over centuries.”

“That’s possible,” He said. “There’s certainly a precedent; some creatures have been bred to extinction. Remember the pug?”

“That tiny dog breed with the squashed face?” You said. “Yeah, they died out a while ago, didn’t they?”

He nodded. “That was human interference, though. Yenuno’s people were dying out due to antisocialism; too reclusive to even propagate their own species. Yenuno was the only one of his kind to take up this project, and even he was reluctant.”

“He seems happy now,” You remarked.

“Yeah,” Halvorg said softly, watching Yenuno laughing and chasing his kids with a sad kind of jealousy. “He does.”

You watched his face, the deep, deep sadness creasing his face and making him look older than he was.

“Follow up, Halvorg, see a specialist. This may have a fix that didn’t exist the last time you tried.”

He nodded, smiling at you, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I will.”

As you stood up, you bumped his shoulder lightly. “Thank you for talking to me. I appreciate that you trusted me enough to discuss such a sensitive subject. I get the feeling that you don’t share yourself with many people.”

He laughed. “No, not really.” He looked up with a smile that seemed more sincere. “Thank you for listening.”

Amai went into labor three days later. She was taken to the laying room, where both Yenuno and Dr. Halvorg were present in addition to the interspecies OBGYN. You were suited up in scrubs and the paper gowns that surgeons wear, as was everyone else in the room besides Amai, who was completely naked, and Yenuno, who never wore clothing. There were natal heart monitors on her belly and an EKG hooked up to her chest.

Amai was sitting on a specially designed chair that would allow her to pass the eggs through her birth canal and into the waiting arms of the doctor. She was already sweating and panting by the time you arrived. The OBGYN and Dr. Halvorg were having a quiet conversation. You went to the other side of Amai and took her hand, trying not to wince when she nearly crushed your fingers.

“Is she okay?” You asked in alarm.

“She’s not fully dilated yet,” Halvorg said, pulling his braid into a surgical cap. “The eggs are getting impatient, it seems.”

“Yeah, well, so am I, so they can settle the fuck down!” Amai shrieked at him.

He bore the abuse with no reaction other than a wry smile. Yenuno wisely said nothing and simply wiped Amai’s forehead with a cloth.

“It won’t be long,” the OBGYN said. “She’s almost there.”

“Just saw me open and get them out,” Amai moaned. “It would hurt less.”

Yenuno tried to kiss her cheek, but she swatted him away weakly.

“No,” She said peevishly. “No touching ever again.”

“You said that last time,” He said, smiling fondly.

“Yeah, but I mean it this time,” She said sulkily.

“Of course you do, darling.” He patted her head. She scrunched her face up at him in annoyance. She was always adorable when she was miffed.

“I’ll make you into shoes,” She said sourly. “And a matching purse.”

It took a while for Amai to dilate fully, and by then she was very tired. Yenuno was looking worried; she’d laid several eggs over the years and never struggled this much before. Perhaps this being their last clutch was a good idea.

“Okay, I think we can start pushing now,” The doctor said, getting ready to catch the eggs. “Amai, when you feel the next contract, hold your breath, bear down, and push.”

“Okay,” She breathed. “One’s coming.”

We all braced for the push. Amai took several quick deep breaths and held it, her face pulled tight in pain and effort, doubling over in the chair as she did. You and Yenuno held her hands and patted her back and murmured encouragement. Halvorg was waiting with a soft cloth to take the eggs for cleaning, after which they would be laid in a specialized incubating carrier to be taken to Yenuno’s cottage.

The first egg came slowly and with much screaming. The doctor caught it and handed it off to Halvorg. The shell of the egg was soft and needed extremely delicate care, but Halvorg was well practiced by now and got the egg washed and into the carrier under ninety seconds and returned for the next.

The second egg came more quickly, but Amai screamed the whole time. By the time the third and final egg was laid, her voice was raw and she was too exhausted to scream.

But it was over. She fell back into the recline of the chair as if boneless and breathed in shallowly, her eyes barely open.

“You were amazing, darling,” Yenuno said gently, kissing Amai’s face. “Rest. I’m taking the eggs to the cottage. The children will visit you when you’ve slept.”

She turned her head slowly to look at him and touched her fingertips to his face, tracing down his cheek, chin, neck and chest before letting her hand fall back to her side, and her eyes closed. Nurses came to whisk her away to a recovery room, the OBGYN following behind. Yenuno and Halvorg left to take the eggs to the cottage for the incubation, and you were left alone in the laying room.

As you were shedding the paper gown and surgical cap, you noticed a small book lying on the ground. It looked to be one of Halvorg’s research journals, though it was smaller than his usual ones. He must have dropped it out of his back pocket when he was disrobing. You picked it up and took it with you with the intent on returning it to him in the morning.

And of course, you’d completely forgotten by the time you woke up.

Amai recovered enough in a few days to be up and walking around. She and the children took turns keeping Yenuno company, as he grew morose if he was left alone too long. You had declared half days until the new babies hatched so that they could have more time with their dad.

One afternoon, after the children had left class for the day, Dr. Halvorg came in and sat on the edge of your desk.

“Hello,” You said pleasantly, closing the folder with their latest work for grading. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“I wanted to let you know I took you up on your advice,” He said, looking a little bashful. “I went and saw a specialist. They’re going to be doing some tests soon. Sperm count, blood tests, an MRI. Any test that can be done will be done.”

“Good!” You said, swinging your chair around. ���I’m glad. Maybe you’ll finally get an answer.”

He sighed, looking pensive and anxious. “I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I still wanted to thank you for pushing me to do it.”

“I didn’t push you to do it, Maël,” You said. His eyes narrowed at your use of his first name, but he didn’t say anything. “I just brought the subject up. It was your decision to do it.”

“Well, thank you all the same,” He replied. “I admit, I’m nervous about it. I could either get wonderful news or have my worst fears confirmed. I don’t know how I’ll react to either option.”

“Would you like me to come with you?” You asked him.

He looked at you in surprise. “You… you don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t,” You replied. “But this is the kind of thing you need friends for. And since Yenuno is tied up with the eggs, I could be a good substitute. You don’t even have to think of me as a friend, if you don’t want to, just an emotional support associate.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I think of you as a friend.”

“Well, thank you. I was hoping we’d get there eventually. So? What do you think? Want some support for this?”

“Not for the tests, I can do those by myself perfectly well,” He said, adjusting his tie nervously. “But… for the results… perhaps… a friend would be nice.”

“I’ll be there for you, then,” You said, standing and patting his arm. “Does Yenuno know about this? Have you talked to him about it?”

“No,” He replied. “I didn’t want to tell him while he’s dealing with his own new babies. Besides, if the news is not good, I don’t want people feeling sorry for me. If the news comes back positive… I don’t know… I think this is one thing I’d rather keep to myself.”

“Except for me, you mean,” You said.

He nodded concedingly. “Besides you.”

“Let me know when the results come back and I’ll go with you. We’ll make a day of it, go to a spa, get a bikini wax together, eat some overpriced salads, buy something ridiculous we want but don’t need. It’ll be a blast.”

He actually laughed a little. “Sounds like a plan.”

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My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

[five-rivers]

Stars Aligned Chapter 2

Here’s the thing.  Danny knew this was a dumb decision.  At least as dumb as stepping into the ghost portal (but at least he’d gotten some nifty powers out of that, hey?).  Whatever reason his bio-dad had for chucking him out the door within days of his birth couldn’t be good.  Putting himself within reach of the man…  Yeah.  Not his brightest thought.  

(Not to mention the wizards.  And witches.  That was so weird, how they had two different names for essentially the same thing. Then again… actor, actress…  Why were people so weird?)

On the other hand, twin brother.  Twin brother who had to live with aforementioned baby-abandoning bio-dad.  Twin brother who wasn’t allowed to visit America.  Or, Danny suspected, a family of squibs.  

Yeah.  

Yeah.  

So, here he was.  Getting everything in order for a wizard passport and wizard international travel, because bio-family refused to even look at an airport.  

Danny had a suspicion that, based on how they spelled the word and a few other comments in that particular letter, that they weren’t entirely clear on what an airport was.  

Fun.  

On the other hand, in comparison to the actual, normal, legal passport he’d gotten, just in case bio-family left him somewhere, wizard passports were much, much easier to get.  The wait times were practically nonexistent.  He could, in theory, get the passport on the same day he traveled.  All that was needed was proof he was a wizard and his adoption papers.  

Of course, ‘proof he was a wizard’ actually meant ‘wand.’  Wands being something they used as personal ID, despite the fact that they were a) sticks, and b) didn’t actually carry any personally identifiable information.  Sure, Jack said that they were somehow connected to their owners, but unless there were, like, giant books of details about everyone’s wands at every place that would, conceivably, need ID, and had people trained to identify all those tiny little characteristics…  Danny just couldn’t see how it would work.

Danny’s current theory was that all wizards were just insane, which meant that his twin would most likely fit right in with the rest of Danny’s family, right as soon as Danny figured out how to legally kidnap him.

(No, Danny didn’t have a ghostly Obsession, and it definitely wasn’t family related.  He was only half-ghost, after all.  Why do you ask?)

Anyway.  Wizard passport.  Wizard ID. Wizard sticks.  

Wands.  

Wands meant a nerve-wracking trip to the nearest wizarding town with Jack.  Evidently, he’d lived there a couple of years after his parents sent him away from Britain when he was around fourteen because of ‘the war.’

Abruptly, many of Jack’s stories about his childhood made more sense.

(It had always been something of a joke between Jazz and Danny to try and figure out what ‘the war’ was supposed to be, and if Jack’s parents had just… Conned him into thinking he’d eaten horse meat.  For some reason.  Even if the Fentons hadn’t seemed like that kind of people, no matter how eccentric.)

(Also, evidently Jazz and Danny had never met Jack’s biological parents, who were not named Fenton, although his adopted mother was also a witch.)

(Why was everything so complicated?)

 The “wizarding community” was a small town accessible only by a train line invisible to ‘no-majs.’  And also flying brooms.  Which wizards used.  Danny had seen the train before, not realizing that he wasn’t supposed to. Several times.  Usually while flying to Wisconsin to deal with whatever Vlad had done that week.  

If Danny was a wizard, was Vlad?  Was being half-ghost somehow tied up in being magical? What did that mean for Dani?

(Hey, maybe this whole affair could be used to bring Dani into the family safely.  Who was to say that he didn’t have a secret twin sister?)

Danny could admit that the town itself, which had almost a Ghost Zone vibe with how all the architecture seemed to be from fifty plus to a hundred years ago and also the physics breaking magic, was sort of cool. It was… cute, he guessed.  He didn’t really like how everyone was staring at Jack, their clothes were just as weird, but it wasn’t a new thing.  People always stared at Jack.  

That’s what happened when you wore hazard-orange jumpsuits twenty-four seven.  

The shops all had names out of a fantasy novel, and at one point they got turned around and wound up on a residential street where they had to ask for directions, but eventually they made it to ‘Willoughby’s Wand Emporium.’

The interior of Willoughby’s Wand Emporium reminded Danny strongly of a shoe store.  The shelves were all lined with boxes of approximately that size, and the employees all carried measuring tape.  It also smelled like a shoe store: musty and dry, with a hint of polish.  Or maybe it was wood varnish?  Or some kind of paint.  

A young woman bounced up.  “Hi, how can we help you today?  Replacement wand?”

“First time, actually,” said Jack.  

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the woman.  “You’re just so tall for your age.”

“I’m fourteen,” said Danny.  

The woman began to turn red.

“He was missed,” said Jack.  “It happens.”  He smiled, but it looked far more strained than usual.  

“Oh,” said the woman.  “Ahem.  Well, if you’ll come right this way, I can start taking measurements, and start trying out wands.  The wand chooses the wizard, they say!”

“Okay,” said Danny, shrugging.  That was… interesting.  Were the wands sentient?  Did that somehow make them acceptable IDs?

Seemed really weird to keep sentient things stored in boxes.

… Said the kid who stored sentient beings in a soup thermos.

A really high-tech soup thermos.

Didn’t make it better.  

Except he didn’t keep them in the thermos indefinitely.  Except for Dan.  

Danny didn’t know if the wizards kept the wands in boxes indefinitely, either.  Maybe he should stop assuming things.  That had gotten him in trouble with ghosts more than once.

The woman took her measuring tape from where it hung around her shoulders, held it out in front of herself, and promptly dropped it. It did not fall.  

As basic as levitation was for ghosts, it was really weird to see a human do it.  (Especially when it always took so much concentration for him to levitate things other than himself—Hence why he never really used the ability in battle.)

The measuring tape flitted around Danny’s head, shoulders, arms, and body, taking measurements.  He had to sit on his reflexes hard to prevent himself from trying to catch it or knock it out of the air.  

He was so nervous.  Was it normal to be nervous?

The measuring tape snaked back through the air to the woman, who smiled.  “Alright,” she said, “we can start with that.  Uh, to explain the process, we usually start out with wands in the appropriate size range and try and zero in on the ones that respond best to you from there.”  She flicked her own wand, and several thin boxes slid themselves off the shelves.  “We use a wide variety of wand woods from a variety of wandmakers.  Just about any tree that grows in North America is probably represented here.” She paused.  “Except for palm trees.”

“That makes sense,” said Danny.  Palm trees were quite different from other trees.  

“Alright.  Let’s start with pine.  The core of this one is dragon heartstring—Harvested humanely, of course!”

“Core?” said Danny, latching on to the familiar word even as he regarded the wand itself dubiously.  

“Yes.  As with our woods, we also stock a wide range of wand cores.  Each wand has a core made of a small part of a magical creature.  Dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, and phoenix feather are the standard ones…  But that standardization is rather British.  We have a few others available.  Thunderbird tail feather—Only taken during molt.  Wampus cat hair.  Dittany. Rougarou hair.  Jackalope antler…  Those are the more common ones, though we do have others.  Even some kneazle whisker, although most people don’t want those.”

“Why not?”

“Ah, they tend not to be very strong.  But sheer power isn’t everything.  Some prefer control, need lower power output…  or are worried about accidents while they’re learning.  We do see some adult learners every now and then.”

That actually sounded sort of appealing to Danny, but he supposed he’d better go about this normally.  At least at first.  

He picked up the pine wand and immediately dropped it.  

“Ow,” he said.  

“Ow?” repeated the woman.  “Oh,” she said, catching sight of the burn on his hand.  “That’s… not supposed to happen.”

“Y’know,” said Danny, conversationally, “I’ve only held, like, two magical things in my life, and both of them have damaged my hands. Is this, like, a common thing, or am I just ridiculously unlucky.”

“Second one, I think,” said the woman.  “Cynthia’s good at minor healing charms.  I’m going to go get her.  Okay?  Okay.”

Shortly thereafter, phoenix feather wands were also eliminated as a possibility, not because they burned Danny, but because they seemed intent on burning everything else around him.  Pine wands were also a definite no-go (“Don’t worry about the lifespan thing,” said the woman, “that’s a myth.”).  As was everything but elder, apple, pear, hornbeam, thorn, and yew (this list got another mention of myths from the shop assistant).  

At this point, the shop owner, Mrs. Willoughby, was drawn out from the back room to observe the mess Danny was making.  

“My,” she said, “I haven’t seen anyone have this much trouble in a while.  Heather, why don’t you go get some of the specialty cores.”

“I thought the unicorn was working well,” protested the woman who’d been helping Danny so far.  She winced as Danny picked up a new wand and exploded a light.  “Comparatively.”

“Yes, we could probably eventually find a unicorn hair wand that would work for him, but all things considered…  I feel like we should explore other avenues.”  She sniffed.  “Nothing associated with fire.  Perhaps kelpie mane?”

“I’ll check,” said Heather.  

.

Kelpie mane, it turned out, did the same sort of thing as phoenix tail feather when it came to Danny.  Only with a lot more water involved.  

“I didn’t think that would work, anyway,” said Mrs. Willoughby.

“Then why,” said Danny, wringing water out of his shirt, “did you have me try it?”

“Oh, cases like you greatly improve our understanding of wandlore,” said Mrs. Willoughby.  “You’re not likely to have noticed this yet, but the population of wizards and witches is so small compared to the no-maj population that everyone who gets very far in a profession has to be a bit of an innovator.  I’m recording this for future reference, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you do in life.  If anything.  It would be very helpful to me if you became famous.”

“Hard pass on that,” said Danny.  

“Or at least come back at some point.”

“I’ll consider it,” said Danny.  “But, like, we were really hoping to do other things today, so maybe…”  He made a circular motion with his hand.  “Or at least, ugh, I don’t know.  I feel like everything you give me is trying to kill me.”

It was a very familiar feeling, and a very unwelcome one, nonetheless.  

“We really aren’t,” said Mrs. Willoughby.  “But perhaps… from now on, we’ll limit to the woods to the Rosaceaes.  The others tend to be called unlucky.  Well, except for the hornbeam.  Is there anything you’re singularly passionate about?”

Singularly passionate?  “Not really,” said Danny, who did not think about ghosts or helping people or space. He shifted, uncomfortable, and squelched.  

Screw it.  He was supposedly a wizard, now, right?

He phased the water off himself.  

“Oh my god!” shouted Heather.  “Did you do that on purpose?”

“Uh,” said Danny.  “No?”

“Calm down, Heather.  Don’t act like you’ve never seen accidental magic before.”

“Not with a teenager doing it!”

They were now attracting a crowd.  Yay.  

“He’s not trained, yet,” said Mrs. Willoughby, unconcerned.  “Don’t be rude.”

“Yeah, can we get back on track, here?”

After a few more tries, Mrs. Willoughby had determined that the wood that reacted the least badly to Danny was hawthorn.  Then she sent Heather into the storage room to fetch more.  

“I don’t know why we even have these,” said Heather, under her breath, carrying several boxes marked with stamps that read ‘THESTRAL.’

“Because some people have trauma, Heather.”

“He’s a teenager.  I seriously doubt he has deep personal experiences with death.”

“Wow, way to assume, Heather,” said another shop assistant, who was passing by with a far-too-curious customer.  

“Here,” said Mrs. Willoughby, handing Danny a box.  “Try this one.  It’s hawthorn.”

With some suspicion, Danny slid the cover off the box and gingerly picked up the wand inside.  

It didn’t do anything like what the other wands had. Instead, the slender length of wood gave him a faint echo of the feeling he got when he was on an emotional high and engaging in either extreme mischief or obsession-adjacent activities (because he did not have a real, ghostly, capital-O Obsession).

Danny declined to hold it with all five fingers, lest he be overcome with mania.

Yes, he was paranoid.  But when touching things can go as badly for you as they did for Danny, paranoia was justified.  

“Oh, it looks like you’ve found your match,” said Mrs. Willoughby, clapping.  

With the ease of practice, Danny did not let any trace of horror or unease show on his face.  He ignored the surge of glee from the wand, and carefully placed it back in the box.  

Yeah.  He needed a wand for passport purposes, but there was no way he was going to use that.  He’d just fake magic with ghost powers.  It had been working out okay so far.  

What was the worst that could happen?

A rather relieved Jack paid for the wand, and they made their way, slowly, to the government building.  

“So,” said Jack.  “You want to save getting those beginner magic manuals for another day?”

“Absolutely,” said Danny.  He wondered if his twin had gone through anything even remotely like this and if it was really worth all this trouble to meet a person he would have basically nothing in common with other than blood.  

Blood that likely meant less than usual, considering that his was diluted with ectoplasm.  A fact he would have to hide.  With no allies or back up.  In England.

(Again, this whole endeavor was not his greatest idea.)

.

Draco supervised the house-elves as they cleaned out the room next to his own, feeling rather blank.  He had campaigned vigorously for his twin to come, but now that he was…

The boy, for all that he was as much a Malfoy as Draco, was an American for all intents and purposes.  What did Americans even like?  What did they call their bastardized version of Quidditch?  Would Deneb even know about wizard games?  According to the woman from the agency, he’d been raised as a muggle by those squibs he’d been placed with.  

Slowly but surely, Draco’s heart sank.  He had no idea what his twin would be like.  Deneb, despite being his brother, would essentially be a stranger.  

He was beginning to understand why his mother was so angry at his father.