#I got so sick of looking at this one eventually BLEGH

[demonfox38]

Post Game Evaluation - Final Fantasy V (GBA)

In questions that'll make a Millenial sweat.

This year has ended up being demanding in terms of travel. I'd like to say that it was all for positive reasons, but it's hard to frame my maternal grandmother's sudden health decline and relocation into an assisted living facility as positive. (At least she's alive and remembers my name? That's something.) To go full teal deer, I've been spending a lot of weekends away from my house. And, hell. What good are portable video games if not keeping me sane and conscious during frantic times?

This isn't the first time I've played through "Final Fantasy V." My previous completion was done while I was on a Christmas break in college, which…man, don't make me think about how long ago that was. Point being, I was a little foggy on the game and my reception of it. So, I wanted a refresh.

It's amazing what your mind decides to retain. Or, many times, doesn't.

"Final Fantasy V" is structurally similar to the first and third "Final Fantasy" games. Protect elementally based crystals, fight dudes in obnoxiously luxuriant armor, assign jobs to characters for the task. Unfortunately, the main cast for this game either has the worst sense of timing or is completely inept (your choice!), as all of the crystals they aim to protect get obliterated into dozens of pieces. Like, all of them, every time. And then they go to another world, upon which they actively get the previous generation of heroes all killed off for good. And then the worlds get "Tales of Symphonia"-style smooshed back together, and that somehow is also a bad deal because hell is apparently a vacuum, and it's going to suck everyone into it if your party doesn't stop sucking for 5 minutes!

Look, these people eventually get things cleaned up. Just don't trust any of them with your vehicles, pets, or house plants. All will be toast in 30 minutes.

I might give this cast some shit for being master-class failures, but honestly, this isn't the worst party I've had to deal with. It is neat that the end assembly is three chicks to one dude. The job system also lets you play fast and loose with everyone's skillset, so it's not like anyone is hard-locked into one role. (I guess you can lean into what they are naturally good at, but it doesn't hurt for everybody to have six levels in healing magic, either.) The configuration doesn't feel like some convenient anime harem pervert set-up, either. It shouldn't matter to me who has what gender or what role, but in a series that has a bad habit of defaulting certain characters into certain roles based on gender (or even going completely mono-gender, which blegh), it's nice that you can go, "Nah, fuck that. These princesses are now all samurai. Start dancing, salsa boy!"

With as much diversity as you can get with the Job system, you can also easily end up making yourself sick by grinding too much. I've got the "get everyone's numbers maxed out" mind goblin, to borrow a term from Pat Boivin. It's not enough to have one person master healing magic; everyone's gotta be maxed out on that. It doesn't matter that I might not really need the Monk class's maximum skill. I need all Jobs maxed out for everybody. Considering the game gives you three bonus jobs and an extra post-game job, this can make grinding insufferable. Time-consuming.

I mean, I had the time to waste, considering how often I was away from home. But, still. If grinding wasn't aggravating, then it was lulling me to sleep. (It's amazing when you get older and find out that putting your legs up for 5 minutes will knock your ass out.)

Unlocking all of the options for a job can be a pain in the ass, too. Are you good at finding hidden pianos? What about random monsters hiding out in arbitrary locations? Do you have a spreadsheet open for all of the potential item combinations you can make with the Chemist class? Is your Blue Mage of the right level to learn Level 5 Go Fuck Yourself? Long story short—trying to get a perfect game file is a fool's errand. Getting it done right will require cross-referencing several guides and maps to find every last little nugget, and even then, you may get screwed out based on how much knowledge is available on the specific variant of the game you are playing. And let's be honest—are you really going to use that Bard class outside of one or two dungeons? Are you really going to die if you don't get Catoblepas? Hell, is that even its name, in the version you are using? Who gives a shit if you get that Brave Knife, anyway? It's not like you don't have at least twelve other weapons to use…

Further complicating the situation is "Final Fantasy V"'s release history. This game falls into the same category as titles like "Tales of Phantasia" or "Seiken Densetsu 3" when it comes to its history in the US. I.E.—there was a significant gap in time where the game was unavailable to general audiences, so fan translators stepped in. When an actual release came out of the game's publishers, the previous verbiage had been so entrenched that trying to explain what was what would come with whiplash and potential rejection from previous players.

Now, I say all of this not to say that the translation is bad. From my POV, it's fine! Krile's a weird name, but whatever! At least Bartz isn't Butz here. The text is competent. What I am saying is that trying to get help on the 2005 GameBoy Advance variant or the 1999 Playstation release or anything made post-2010 does require some backwards translating to understand the ancient texts on GameFAQs and/or fan-managed websites. Don't kick yourself when you miss something. Researching this game is just that much of a shitshow.

Can you imagine waiting almost 6 years now-a-days for a game to get properly localized? I think people would pee their pants if they didn't get an English-translated copy within 6 minutes of the game's release! I'll stick to my guns when I say my favorite games came out between 1986 and 2006. But, damned if I don't appreciate translations just being there for my spoiled English-speaking face. I might play a Pokémon game in Spanish or plow through "Lagrange Point" with the help of a Google Translate-garbled document and a Japanese dictionary, but it's nice when I don't have to take such extreme measures.

I know playing Italian translated "Castlevania" games is a one-way ticket to flunking a language exam. But, I wonder if playing "Lupin the Third" games in Italian might actually be helpful…

In more positive notes, I really like the sprite and menu artwork for the GBA release. It's normalized with the rest of the games that Square Enix put out at the tail-end of the GBA's life cycle, so some of the landscapes and menu pieces have been touched up to try and match the quality of "Final Fantasy VI." The job spritework has always been really cool. It adds personality to each character's interpretation of the job's uniform, like giving cat ears to the White Mage role for Krile or showcasing different dancing style for the Dancer job. Hell, it's funny that the Mimic job is just their normal clothing with a cape thrown on. That sort of design feels like the kind of detail that would have some kind of work-around in a modern adaptation just so the player could keep the clothes they like. I'm thinking like "Monster Hunter Rise" and being able to craft outfits to look like other outfits. That would be perfect!

Having said that—I could have done without the Amano portrait work by the character's dialogue as seen in the GBA version. Like, there was always a divide between character design in and out of the game, but boy, does it stick out like a sickly sore thumb here. Way too pale and dead compared to the otherwise lively color palette. I would enjoy playing a fully Amano-stylized game (although, I suppose the FFIV remake is probably that, weird character proportions aside.) As it is, it's weird to see his work alongside what others decided to roll with.

I wish I could offer more opinions on the music, but since I was playing around other people, I was keeping my volume off as much as possible. That bridge fight theme versus Gilgamesh does kick ass, though. Other than that? I was more going, "Hey, wait. I think I recognize this from a Vaporwave song" more than anything.

I'm surprised with what details stuck with me after two playthroughs a decade apart. I think it would be pretty hard to forget Galuf and all of the shit he goes through. But, a lot of Faris' story stuck with me, too. When I was wrapping up prep-work for the rush through the final dungeon, I remembered getting her dragon as a summon, but weirdly enough, not getting her sister's wind drake. I wonder if I had skipped that in the past. I don't think its set pieces are anywhere near as memorable as those from "Final Fantasy VI", but there are little memorable chunks here and there.

Also—as goofy as the whole "the antagonist is an evil tree" idea can be, I do like the concept. Considering how many Japanese games pull in the Shinto principle of holy trees for their pivotal plot points, it is funny to see a game go "But what if it's a bastard tree, though?" What is it, like, this game, "Kuon," and a dozen Kirby games? It feels like it should be more of a thing. I just wish that you got to see more "evil tree" and less "dude in armor" for him, though. I mean, we already had FF1's Garland and FF4's Golbez. Imagine if we had something a bit more hinting into Exdeath's tree nature. Like, chunks of armor breaking off, revealing coarse bark and branches pushing their way through. Basically, like if we met a fucked-up Groot that was going around wearing Darth Vader's suit after it had went through a trash compactor. "Resident Evil 4"'s Armaduras, but with vegetation!

Is this the best "Final Fantasy" game I've played? No. I'd put it in the top quarter of "Final Fantasy" games that I would be likely to replay, but I wouldn't say it's my favorite. It's just kinda there. It's 1 and 3 with a plot that gets out of control. But, I didn't hate the cast, as unfortunate as they were. With my propensity towards finding "Final Fantasy" protagonists obnoxious, that alone may be worth a thousand words of praise. It can be picky and obtuse at times, but honestly, finishing the game may not require being that fickle yourself. You've just gotta ask yourself if grinding everything down to a polished sheen is really worth it.

[feroluce]

Shouritshou Week - Fairy Tale

Warnings: None!

This one is also on twitter and Ao3, so I wanted to hurry and crosspost it to @shouritshou on here, too, before the week was over! It was a style experiment for me, I wanted to write something kinda like the reader was listening to an actual fairy tale. So I imagined they’re also aged up to young adults, like a lot of warrior-hero fairy tale protagonists.

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom.

The king of this kingdom was not cruel, but he was not kind, either. And the people often suffered under his apathy.

But they had one ray of hope. For before the queen had quietly slipped away, she left them an heir. A little child who shone bright and hot where their king only gave them coldness. Someday, when the king passed, he would inherit the throne, and the people all eagerly awaited it.

But then there came a day where the king declared war on a neighboring nation. And then another, and then another. He conquered lands left and right and his territory expanded, but under him, the lands languished. He couldn't help them prosper and grow.

The prince was set to inherit a war-torn wasteland.

So he gathered up a tiny army of his own. A swordsman, an apothecary, and an alchemist all joined him. But there was one last person who caught his eye, moreso than anyone else. A knight from a nearby conquered land, with eyes like firelight and hair like crows feathers. He had fought against the invasion, even when greatly outmatched, even when his weapon was taken away from him, even when he was captured kicking and screaming. The prince had fallen in love with his resourcefulness and determination at first sight.

As the day of his rebellion drew near, the prince went down into the dungeons, keys hidden in his sleeve. However, he found that the knight had already gotten loose all on his own and was even leading other prisoners to freedom. The prince showed them the path through the underground tunnels and sewers to the outside, where all but the knight left to return to their own homes and families. The prince told him his tale and asked that he might join him in his coup and much to his surprise, the knight agreed almost immediately. His own elder brother was an extremely powerful sorcerer who could so easily overtake the world the same way that the prince's father was doing. His plight moved him and stirred the knight's heart.

Right then and there, he knelt and pledged his life to the prince and his cause, and the prince knighted him as one of his own. He would be his sword and shield.

And so the two of them ran away into the night, somewhere that the king would never find them, and they spent their days together poring over plans. Everything that the prince had plotted, the knight improved upon. Everything that the knight became stuck on, the prince charged through and worked around.

And every night, the alchemist and the apothecary and the swordsman had to watch them sit closer and closer together around the candlelight.

♢♢♢

When the promised day suddenly announced itself and forced them into action, the knight and the prince fought almost like a single person. They tore their way back-to-back through the king's army and through the first four of his Five Generals- An ogre, a dryad, a beastmaster, and even a demon who warped through thin air.

("Go," the knight insisted. "I'm glad to have you around," the prince replied.)

♢♢♢

The prince never even made it past the fifth general, a dragon capable of human speech who was never far from the king.

It was only by the elder brother's hand that he was saved from his father's cruelty. The sorcerer had come to reclaim his younger sibling and stumbled right into a full-blown battle. He would make his wrath known.

♢♢♢

The knight and the prince stood together as they watched the tallest tower be lifted almost effortlessly into the air, and the world came raining down around them.

The prince took the knight's hand and laced their fingers together. The knight did not pull away.

♢♢♢

In the end, the king was defeated by the sorcerer, and the prince was left to gaze at the crumbling wreckage that had been his castle. The knight was the one to approach him and take his arm. He hadn't left yet.

When the prince asked why, he said that he was his knight. He had made an oath to stay as long as the prince needed him. So...if the prince needed him for forever...then he would stay forever.

And hearing that, the prince immediately dropped to one knee and knelt to pledge his life in return, and asked that he really might stay with him forever, then. The knight agreed, even quicker and more sure than before.

And the two of them lived together happily ever after.

[yeochikin]

sick days. | j. yunho

a/n: phew i finally did it! this is a sequel to this fic but this can also be read as its own too! i won’t lie, i had so much trouble writing this. the amount of times i typed then erased then typed over and over again was a huge struggle for me in the past week, so i understand if this fic seemed a little... blegh ;;;; writer’s block sucks but it’s alright, i enjoyed writing it anyway hehe hope you enjoyed this. do excuse any mistakes as this has not been proofread ✨💖

word count: 3k+

main focus: yunho x fem. reader

warning(s): none, i think!

“tell me i'm hot.” 

“yeah, you're hot, yunho.”

“aye.”

“you have a fever.”

“aye?”

“say ‘aye’ one more time, and i’m gonna stab you with my paintbrush.”

“aye!”

your eye twitched at his answer, showing him the temperature you had taken for him. the boy in question, who was currently laid all tucked in bed with a wet cloth on his forehead, merely gave you a bright smile despite his face looking all flushed. sometimes, you wondered whether your roommate was literally a golden retriever in his past life who got reincarnated into a human, but still somehow having the energetic personality following his next life.

“little rose, you're gonna catch my fever too. i can take care of myself.” he protested, watching as you gathered the empty ceramic bowl that was previously filled with yunho's favourite soup, mentally thanking seonghwa in your head for the recipe he gave earlier, promptly placing it onto the wooden tray you left on his bedside drawer.

“pup, you know i have a stronger immune system between the two of us. i'll be fine.” you retorted, causing the sick boy to jut his lower lip out into a little sulky pout.

“you're lucky you're cute, pup.” you grumbled, moving the cloth away to feel at his forehead, the playful glare in your eyes melting into a soft gaze. you couldn’t stay mad at him, even if you tried. luckily, his skin wasn't burning as much as before, though the pinkness in his cheeks were still present.

everything seemed like a blur today. all he remembered was trying to get up from the bed but for some reason, yunho felt as if someone had dumped a huge pile of bricks on top of his body while someone kept hitting his head with a hammer. he was lucky that you came into his room to wake him up as soon as his best friend, mingi, called you up to ask where the peachy haired boy was since he couldn't reach him for some reason. that's when you know something was up.

of course, panic started to fill your entire being as soon as you saw how flushed his cheeks looked upon entering the room, along with him shivering underneath his blanket. you immediately went to his side as you phoned your other friends to tell them what was happening. it didn't take long for yunho to be dragged away from the bed by mingi, and jongho (mainly jongho) just so seonghwa could drive them to the doctor's, despite yunho mumbling that he's fine to which he was absolutely not fine at all.

you were thankful that it wasn't that serious, but nevertheless, yunho still received an earful of scolding from you for not taking care of himself more, as if seonghwa’s nagging wasn't enough. 

so now here he is, laying still on the bed as his eyes blinked slowly before his lips lazily curled up into a grin towards you once he felt your palm resting against his forehead. the dazed look in his eyes was already a sign of the medicine he took earlier slowly kicking in. noticing how droopy his eyes were, you made sure the blankets were properly tucked on him. 

“rest, pup. by the time you wake up, it will be when i wake you up for dinner so you can take your meds.” you hushed him, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

poor boy only grunted in response, finally giving up to force his eyes open, letting sleep take over him. you had decided to linger a little longer in the room, just until you were completely sure that the taller male was finally getting that much needed rest. sighing to yourself, your lithe fingers gingerly moved away some of the stray strands that managed to cover most of his eyes. your expression softens at the way his lips parted ever so slightly, chest heaving up and down in an even pace, adoring the way he looked so serene. with quick yet quiet movements so as to not wake the male up, you picked up the wooden tray, and crept up on your tiptoes towards the door. 

you let your body drop onto the couch in your small living room, an arm over your forehead as your eyes stared up at the ceiling. the room was filled with silence that if someone were to drop a pin, it would have created a loud noise. the silence… it was almost a little too eerie for you. normally, it would have been filled with the sounds of you and yunho discussing your assignments as if one could give the other an inspiration to do so. it was when you turned your head to the coffee table that you saw something on the coffee table. 

it was your sketchbook. 

the object sitting idly on the table made you recall a particular conversation you had with yunho a couple of night’s ago.

“what are you up to, little rose?”

yunho’s voice effectively made you look up from your sketchbook, the page though seemingly empty, it was a tad crumpled from your many attempts of sketching, doodling, and the many amounts of erasing. the peachy haired boy made his way from the kitchen overlooking the living room to sit down right next to you with two mugs of what seems to be coffee in both hands, handing one of them to you.

sending him a defeated smile along with a low mumble of appreciation, carefully lifting the mug up to your lips to take a small sip of the drink. as if almost immediately, the bittersweet taste of the drink washed over your tastebuds, warmth being sent throughout your entire being. clearly, nothing can really beat coffee whenever you were in a stumped position. 

“professor kim wanted us to draw something yesterday.” you finally answered, momentarily pausing to take another sip of the coffee, the boy next to you putting an arm on the couch behind your head while his other hand held onto his mug, listening to you intently.

“he mentioned that he wanted something that.. makes our chests swell with a warm feeling that you feel in your chest whenever you look at your own drawing?” you mumbled, furrowing your eyebrows as you set your gaze onto the blank sketchpad that was laid idly on your lap, lips pursing in deep thought.

“well, surely you must have felt the feeling before, don’t you?” yunho asked, reaching out to place his mug on top of the coffee table in front of where the two of you were seated at.

“i..” you started but somehow, the words died off in your throat. 

you wanted to answer ‘yes, of course i have!’.

you wanted to say, ‘everything makes me feel that way too!’

but..

..you had come to the realisation that you had never felt such a feeling in your life before. but, wasn’t that the same thing as happiness? if that was the case, then everything would’ve been ‘a warm feeling’ to you.  

yunho, who seemed to notice you being in your usual thinking bubble again, merely smiled to himself. from the couple of years being your roommate, and dare he say, your best friend, he had picked up all of your habits, and actions. from the way you would rub your nose due to being flustered, or how you would pick at your lips whenever you felt nervous - to which, he tried to make you stop by giving you a small keychain with a stress ball attached to it, fortunately making you squeeze it instead of picking your lips again - yunho could read you like an open book most of the time. 

though of course, he would have to admit, it is when you seem predictable would be the time where you would be sprouting up something so.. unpredictable. the memory of you pulling a sudden all nighter because of a sudden inspiration from watching a movie would always make you look so endearing in the male’s eyes. it was when your eyes meeting his own was what made yunho flinch ever so slightly in his seat out of surprise. 

“tell me, pup. have you ever felt such a feeling before?” you asked, curiosity evident in your bright eyes. 

your question was to be expected, making yunho’s features soften at you. folding his arms in front of his chest, his back leaned further into the couch as he hummed underneath his breath in thought. the happiness that managed to make him freeze in place, huh? it took him a moment, but eventually, he nodded his head. 

“i have, little rose.” he responded.

“and what was it, if you don’t mind sharing.” you inquired, shifting in your place to sit criss-cross as you turned to face the male next to you.

yunho could only stare at your face, slightly caught off guard upon hearing your sudden interest. he couldn’t help but to release an amused laugh at the way you leaned in ever so slightly, reaching a hand out to playfully ruffle your hair.

“it may sound a little ridiculous. but it was when you threw that birthday party for me last year.” he mentioned, only to feel an amused chortle threatening to leave his lips upon seeing the confused look painted over your face, as if waiting for the peachy haired boy to explain what he meant. 

“you baked a cake for me, no?” the corners of his lips quirked up as soon as realisation seemed to hit you. you did bake a cake for him. but really, it wasn’t that special so made him pick that certain day of all days? before you could even ask, however, yunho already beat you to it by giving out his own answer.

“no one has ever baked a cake for me before, it was either bought from our local bakery in town or none at all. but something about a homemade one.. you can feel the effort and so much love from someone who had taken their time in doing so.” yunho trailed off, eyes somehow shining with an unknown sparkle in them as soon as they landed on your own. 

“and i have you to thank for, little rose.” he continued, fingers gingerly curling the stray strand of hair behind your ear.

you swear you could feel your heart increase its pace, feeling as if it was about to burst out of your chest. your cheeks felt warm due to the feeling of your blood rushing up to them, a hand quickly reaching up to rub your nose before tearing your gaze away from yunho’s warm one. 

you didn’t need any more explanation. you had found your inspiration.

a fond smile curled itself over your tiers at the memory before deciding to stand up as you made your way to your room, grabbing the sketchbook with you along the way. you have a drawing to finish.

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

a small creak from a door being opened resonated throughout the small hallway of the house, along with heavy footsteps, and the sound of a deep yawn mingled in the air. yunho rubbed his eyes as he made his way into the living room. his eyes were still heavy with traces of sleep lingered in them before looking over to the wall clock idly hanging on the wall, wanting to know how many hours had passed after he fell asleep earlier. judging by how dark it was outside, it was already night time, or maybe even midnight. with how long he slept, it was possible he slept the whole day away.

although slowly, yunho was thankful that the medicine seemed to make him recover considering how his head wasn’t throbbing painfully like before, though he still felt a little heavy but it wasn’t as bad as earlier. he could get up on his own, and that’s already enough for the tall male. 

“y/n?” the peachy haired boy called out, wandering around the house in search for you. 

it was when he reached the door to your room that he noticed the door was slightly ajar, along with a faint sound of what seemed like a song playing coming from the inside as well. his knuckles, gently knocked against the wooden surface before gently pushing the door a tad wider, just enough for yunho to peek in. 

and there you were. all hunched over your desk with your head on top of your folded arms, seeming to have fallen asleep with whatever you were doing earlier. as much as yunho wanted you to let you have you rest after busying yourself by helping him earlier during the day, he didn’t want you to have a sore neck and back due to the position you were in. he knew how much you would complain about the pain in the two regions afterwards but then doing it again, it was a never ending cycle that yunho was amused to see from the years of living with you. 

walking over to the desk with an intention of wanting to wake you up so you could properly lie down, the male noticed something right next to your head. it was your sketchbook. he walked up behind you, looking down at your sleeping figure. with how your pencil was loosely being held in between your dainty fingers along with a couple of crumpled up papers, mixed in with the other pencils in a variety of colours you had strewn all over the surface of your desk, yunho had made the conclusion that you were working on the assignment you had told him a couple of days ago. 

he was glad to know that you were finally getting started on it, knowing how much you would procrastinate until things were a little too late for you to do. but with how you managed to finish everything right on time despite having such little time left, would never cease to amaze him every time. 

with slow movements (clearly not wanting you to wake up all surprised and accidentally smack him in the face), yunho leaned over you to clear up your desk from all the clutter and coloured pencils around you, only then having a clear view of what you had drawn onto the sketchbook which caused his eyes to widen ever so slightly at the sight, pausing in his ministrations. 

his gaze was set on two drawn figures in what seems to be a bedroom, standing side by side with their faces facing each other, joyful smiles painted over their features, each having a paintbrush in hand. it looked like the two of them were enjoying their time together. but what had caught yunho’s eyes was one of the figures having the similar shade of peach as his hair colour, mirroring yunho’s own hair colour. it was when he saw the familiar details on the walls of the drawing that the peachy haired male noticed what, or rather, who the two figures were in the sketchbook.

“yunho?” a soft voice called out, grogginess laced in their tone as they spoke up which made the tall male flinch ever so slightly in place as he tore his gaze away from the drawing down to you. 

from his mind, he had already answered you calling out his name but in reality, he was staring down at your face. tilting your head up, eyes half-lidded from the sleepiness still apparent in your irises. it was when you looked down that you might have caught the gist of whatever has made him speechless. emitting a gasp out of realisation, your hands quickly covered the drawing, whining at him.

“y-you weren’t supposed to see that. i wasn’t d-”

“tell me, little rose. what do you see in me?” was his sudden question, effectively making your words die down in your throat. gulping thickly, your heartbeat was suddenly too loud in your ears. finally having the courage, your lips parted to answer the male’s question.

“i have found comfort in you.” you whispered, yunho’s eyes staring into your own nervous ones.

“i have found happiness whenever we spend time together.” you noted the way your faces were mere centimetres apart from each other.

“i have found the.. the warmth that made me feel at home.” his hands reached out for your hands, holding them in his much larger ones, feeling the pad of his thumbs caressing your knuckles.

“i have.. found myself falling for..” you murmured, yunho resting his forehead on top of your own, both of your eyes fluttering shut, and your noses touching against each other.

“i have found myself falling for you.” 

you were scared to open your eyes. you were scared that if you did, everything would have taken a completely different turn. you were scared that you would ruin the friendship the both of you have built together. you were scared to see the disgusted look on yunho’s face after the little confession. 

you were scared to lose yunho. 

however, those thoughts were completely thrown out of the window upon hearing the words being uttered by the male looming above you. 

“little rose, can i kiss you?” 

the question kept repeating itself in your mind. you wanted to say yes, you wanted to throw your arms around his neck, you wanted to scream out in relief. yet, not even a whisper came out. not trusting your voice, and the choice of words, you merely gave him a nod. to yunho, that was already enough for him. without wasting any more time, the taller male leaned in to press his lips against your own. yunho wasn’t sure if his fever was coming back or it was due to his heart pumping so fast that blood rushed to both of his cheeks. he wasn’t sure, but his face was undeniably warm. 

your smaller hand released one of the male’s bigger ones, reaching up to rest itself against his cheek while your lips moved against his own in sync. everything around you felt muted, the only thing you could hear was the beating of your heart like some type of drum. you never knew that a simple action could make you crave for more, but of course, the need for air was already screaming in the both of your minds that made you pull away from each other, albeit reluctantly.

yunho could faintly taste the sweetness that lingered over his lips as his eyes stared into yours in silence, his hand squeezing yours, before a gentle smile spread itself over his brims, you finding it contagious as you can’t help but to show him your own smile in return. deep down, he wanted to kiss you again, seemingly longing to feel them on his lips once again. so, he did just that. much to your surprise, of course you weren’t complaining.

you would be lying if you denied any more of his kisses. 

once the both of you pulled away for the second time, one specific thing popped into your mind, eyes widening in realisation which caused yunho to tilt his head ever so slightly to the side in question.

“if you get me sick, i swear.”

“hey, you said you have a strong immune system!”

“jeong yunho!” 

[let-it-raines]

Betting on the Bullseye (24/30)

Summary:Emma Swan loses a drunken bet that means she has to ask her celebrity crush - if you can call him that - to be her date to her office’s annual fundraising gala for Boston’s Children Shelter. Killian Jones is that celebrity. She expects all kinds of humiliation and for her dignity to be completely lost all because of the ridiculousness of the situation. 

What she doesn’t expect is for him to say yes.What she truly doesn’t expect is to actually like the man.

Rating: Mature

A/N: You guys are continuously awesome, and I appreciate you! 

As an FYI, I have this story completely written now, down to the last word, so if anyone was worrying about that, you don’t have to! But mostly I wanted to let you guys know that I’m going to be out of town for a week, so there won’t be any updates next week (but maybe an extra one this week)💕

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

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“Happy birthday,” Killian hums against her neck, kissing the sensitive skin and rubbing his chin into her. She claims that it doesn’t tickle her, but it always does. He hopes it’ll work to wake her up since nothing else will today. “Your alarm has been going off for fifteen minutes.”

“Hmm,” she mumbles, twisting to the side and burying her face in his bare shoulder, ignoring the sound of her alarm like she has been while he’s listened to it wondering just how long she’s going to sleep through it. He swears sometimes it’s like she’s dead to the world. Other times she’s woken up by a whisper of a touch. There’s no in between for her. “That doesn’t sound real.”

“It is, darling,” he promises, nudging her stomach with his knee until she flips back onto her pillow, opening one eye while she stares up at him. He knows that he’s got a smirk on his face, that she probably finds him to be obnoxious, but he’s been awake for longer than her. He’s not nearly as annoyed by life as she is. Then again, the only work he has to do today is finish up packing Emma’s things to take to the new place this weekend. He can fall back asleep as soon as she leaves for work and not have to get dressed until they go out for her birthday tonight.

“Can you go to work for me? I would love you for the rest of my life.”

“While that’s a promising offer, I’m just not sure that it’s worth it.”

“Hey,” she protests, opening up her other eye as her lips part, her teeth showing the slightest bit before she presses them together again.

“Just speaking the truth.” He leans over in the bed and quickly slants his lips over hers, waiting for her to open up to him until he can make it a little deeper, leisurely exploring her mouth and waking her up as he gets lost in the kiss and the way that Emma’s nose is buried in his cheek, her hand softly gripping in his hair. God, he loves when she messes with his hair. “You need to get up and get ready.”

“I can stay in bed for thirty more minutes if I don’t shower.”

“Yeah, but you won’t want to shower after work and before we go to dinner, so you should shower now to get it over with.”

She rolls her eyes at him, but when he kisses the tip of her nose, he can see her smile despite the still dimmed lighting in the room. “I don’t like that you’re reasonable.” “You do. I promise. Now go get ready, Swan.”

She mumbles and groans, but eventually she gets out of bed and turns the damn alarm off before she heads into her bathroom to shower. He’s a bit of an arse, so he doesn’t bother getting out of bed even though he should likely fix her breakfast since it’s her birthday and she hasn’t been too happy about turning twenty-nine. Knowing her, though, she won’t want to eat anything but a yogurt with how late she’s running, so he’ll make her food some other day. It’s the least he can do if he’s going to be up anyways.

He’s only been staying with Emma for a week and a half, and they’re still in her old apartment until the furniture they’ve bought gets moved to their place. It’s got a new mattress and bedframe like they both wanted and a couch, but everything else is still shipping or they haven’t found what they wanted yet. It was a pretty quick turnaround on buying the apartment in Seaport, so they weren’t exactly expecting to be able move in so quickly. He was expecting to have at least a few more weeks, but after they closed on the place, he called Robin and Will to help him pack up his clothes and a few personal items from home. It’s a bit of a disconnect walking into a place he’s lived for years and seeing it furnished only to turn a corner and realize that the books on his shelves are missing along with some of the photo frames he had on the side table in his study. He was going to leave them, but he wanted some personal mementos.

His clothes were easy enough to pack, especially since he only packed his winter things for the next few months, but that odd feeling of emptiness washed over him when he noticed that only his shorts and some swim trunks remained. That emptiness went away when he was hanging his things and a few of Emma’s in their closet, one that they get to share, and those awful Christmas sweaters they both own were hanging side by side, green tassel sticking out against all of the black and navy clothes that he owns. He’d never get rid of them, though. They mean too much to the both of them, so they’ll stay hanging in the closet.

God, it’s both weird and wonderful that they’re getting to share everything in a home together.

The wonder is most definitely going to fade once they get into an argument over the dishes or making the bed every day, but he doesn’t care in the slightest.

Maybe he’ll go buy those barstools Emma saw when they went shopping on Sunday. She’d really liked those, but they weren’t sure if the stools were the right size. He checked, and they are. That’d likely be a nice surprise, especially if he gave them to her today.

Barstools for his girlfriend’s birthday present. It’s what every woman wants.

Or a necklace with a pearl pendant hanging at the end of the chain because gifts are difficult and Emma never wants anything. He’d seen her look at the necklace, though, and she’d run her fingers over her collarbone for awhile after she saw it. It’s simple and beautiful, and he thinks Emma will like wearing it most days just so that she has something to fidget with. She’s always doing that with her earrings or bracelet, so a necklace should be nice, right?

A necklace and some barstools. And this hot chocolate basket that he’s been putting together, her swan mug hidden away in it. For someone who claims that it’s her favorite mug, she sure as hell doesn’t notice when it’s missing for weeks on end.

Yeah, those should be fine things to give her before tonight.

He donated some money to her work and to a few of her favorite charities, but he’s not going to tell her about them. He thought about it, but it doesn’t quite seem right. They’re in her honor and will help out a lot of people who need the help, and that’s all that matters to him.

He hears the water shut off in the bathroom, and he takes that as his cue to get finally get out of bed, throwing the covers off of his legs and slowly moving off of the old mattress so he can get some sweatpants out the suitcase he’s living out of, pulling them on and up over his hips so he won’t freeze while moving out to the kitchen. He may not make her breakfast, but he can at least make her some coffee so she won’t be cranky at work.

Coffee would also be really nice for him. Emma’s alarm went off for far too long, and he can feel the slightest pounding against his temple.

“Do you think it would be too obvious if I called in sick to work?” Emma ponders as she walks into the room a few minutes later, a towel still wrapped around her head but her lashes coated in mascara and face powdered so that her freckles have faded. “I mean, they know it’s my birthday, but people get sick on their birthdays. It’s just a day.”

He takes a sip of his coffee, the liquid still a little too hot from his lack of creamer, and shrugs his shoulders while Emma grabs a mug out of the cabinet and starts making her cup.

“You could, but if you don’t go to work, your other option is to stay here with me and pack up your belongings.”

“I mean, packing is very sexy. I could stay and we could forget about packing for you to give me all of your love and attention since it is my birthday after all.”

“For someone who has been dreading this day, which you literally just said is only a day on the calendar, you’re really milking it.”

“I am indeed,” she smiles, holding up the carton of milk she just got out of the fridge. Emma Swan, a woman who doesn’t like to let bad jokes pass by her. “I just don’t want to go to work. I’m working with Kathryn all day and blegh.”

“Did you just say the word blegh instead of making the sound?”

“Yep.”

“Weird.” “Debatable.”

“I’m sorry you have to work with Kathryn, but hopefully she won’t be that bad today. And I feel like you’re going to have a good day today, signing your new contract and all that, you badass of a woman.” He takes a step toward her and leans down to brush a kiss across her temple, knowing the toothpaste on her tongue won’t mix well with the coffee. He loves her and is proud of her for negotiating a raise that she deserves for her time there and for all the good work she’s done this year, but her really is not a fan of toothpaste mixed with coffee. “And when all is said and done today, I promise I’ll give you all of my love and attention.”

“That’s all I ask.”

When Emma leaves for work, he takes a quick shower and gets dressed to go to Gold and Williams to pick up some of the furniture they saw the other day. He’ll pack later. He’d honestly just feel better if he went ahead and got the furniture now, mixing in with the morning crowd on the train as he makes his way to the south end. He’s still got some work to go on navigating Boston, but he’s figuring things out. It’d help if he had a car here, but he doesn’t want to buy another one when he has a perfectly good car back in California. Then again, it’s either leave it there or take a road trip across the country every time he travels.

That would be ridiculous. The miles and time alone.

Maybe he’ll get Emma to take a road trip with him when she has off for Thanksgiving since they’re spending it with his family so that they can spend Christmas with Emma’s. Or maybe he’ll simply become a master of taking the train.

Or he could ship his car across the country. That’s a thing.

It takes a few minutes in the store for him to find the barstools, telling the man who’s helping him, Eric, that he wants four of them before he wanders throughout the rest of the store, looking at the chairs for the living room they’d both liked the other day. It’s odd shopping without Emma, but then again, she did most of their apartment viewing by herself so a chair seems like a much smaller thing. They can always return it if it doesn’t fit, but he likes the blue velvet and gold accented frames that surround them to go with the light gray of their couch. By the time he’s left the store he has put in orders for the barstools, arm chairs, lamps for their bedside tables, and a loveseat to sit at the foot of their bed all to be shipped to their apartment. He knows that Emma liked the loveseat because he distinctly remembers her sitting down on it and tracing her finger over the teal material and talking about how good it would look with the blue and green accents on the pillows on their bed.

He’s never thought this much about interior decorating, but Emma is having such a blast starting with a clean slate that he’s enjoying it. He likes watching everything come together too.

The rest of his morning is spent packing up Emma’s apartment, sectioning off her clothes and tying them up in bags so they’ll be easier to unpack. All of her dishes but a few they’ll need over the next few days go into boxes, wrapped in bubble wrap, and he makes note of the appliances she’s missing. He’ll ship some of his things from home here. He won’t need a fully stocked kitchen some place he’s not living full time, and there’s no need to buy more plates when he and Emma eat out off of paper plates most of the time anyways.

Maybe they need a few more plates for when they have guests. He’s thinking about flying out Liam, Elsa, and Aiden for Christmas and having them stay over so that they can meet everyone. Of course, he’ll have to fly in Anna and Kris as well. He could offer to fly in Anna and Elsa’s parents, but they’re apparently visiting after the holiday.

It’s something to think about, though.

When he tackles her shelves, that’s an animal in and off itself. She’s got everything marked for keep or donate since nothing in her apartment can stay here, and honestly, he’s a little confused by some of the markings. There are several rocks that don’t look like anything, but Emma has them marked to keep so he packs them away. He assumes Leo has given them to her, but he’s honestly got no idea.

The music on his phone stops playing as it rings, and he reaches to the side and slides his finger across the screen, tapping the speaker so he doesn’t have to pick it up.

“Hey, Will.”

“Why the bloody hell do you have me watering these plants if you don’t even live here anymore? Can’t I just let them die?”

“Nice to hear from you too,” he scoffs, wrapping up a picture frame. “And yes, you have to water them until I get them moved to Liam’s or Rob’s. Or yours. I think you’re rather fond of the plants, mate.”

“I don’t like your bloody plants.”

“It’s okay to like the plants. They’d make your apartment look less like a bachelor lives there.”

“A bachelor does live there.”

“Seriously, take the plants with you.”

“If I take the plants with me, then you won’t pay me to water them.”

“Technically I also pay you to dust, but you never do that.”

“I’m not your maid. I’m your friend.”

“Who likes the money I pay you out of the goodness of my heart for helping me with my house.”

“You’re the most generous man in all of Hollywood,” Will chuckles as the distinctive sound of the ceiling fan in Killian’s study spins. It’s got this thing where it clicks if it spins too quickly. He needs to fix that. “What are you doing today? You got plans? Rob, Rol, and I are going to watch the Kings play later. You want to join us from afar?”

“What time?”

“Six our time.”

He clicks his tongue as he wraps another frame that’s filled with a picture of Emma holding both Leo and Brody the day after Brody was born. God, that had been such an awful day for him, but Emma looks so besotted with those boys that it doesn’t even matter. It worked out for them anyways. They worked it out.

“I can’t,” he admits, feeling the smallest tinge of guilt, but this is how things are going to be sometimes. Not all of the time, but still. He’ll have to take the three of them to a match sometime soon. Maybe he’ll buy them passes for Christmas. “It’s Emma’s birthday, so we’re going out. I’ll try another time though, okay?”

“Aye, that’s fine. It’s not like it’s going to be a good one anyways. Tell your lady I said happy birthday.”

“I will. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. Are you not working at the bar tonight?”

“No, I’ve got today off. Oi, man, I’ve got to tell you about this guy who came in last night.”

He and Will keep talking until Killian’s finished packing up the bookshelves, everything sorted into different boxes and bags and stacked up next to the door as Will regales him with stories of the bar and Roland’s attempt at ice skating for the first time last week. Robin’s also apparently been dating one of the moms of one of Roland’s classmates. He leaves for a little bit of time and suddenly everyone is getting their lives together. He absolutely cannot wait to annoy Rob about this the next time they talk. The man would rather die than talk about his dating life, so he kind of wonders how exactly Will knew about Robin’s new woman. He never explained. Eventually Will has to go, and Killian’s left spending the rest of the day doing as much packing as he can, only stopping to eat a late lunch and drink another cup of coffee.

“How is it so cold outside?” Emma asks as she pulls off her jacket and takes her beanie off, shaking her hair out and closing the front door behind her. “Seriously, it’s freezing out there. Have you been outside today? Probably not. You’ve probably been packing this entire time. Sorry I couldn’t call at lunch. I missed it to read over my contract one more time. Your girl has officially got herself a pay raise.”

“Congrats, love,” he laughs, taping up a box and then putting his tape down so that he can walk over to the kitchen where Emma’s puttering around in the cabinets. They’re mostly empty now, but she’s probably trying to find a glass. “Do you feel less stressed?”

“Exponentially.”

“Good.” He presses a kiss to her cheek before reaching above her and getting a glass out of the cabinet to hand to her. “I actually went and got some furniture for us this morning, some of the stuff we looked at on Sunday, and it’s being delivered to the apartment. And then I was packing up some things we hadn’t gotten yet. I was about to go work in your hallway closet.”

“I can do that,” she blurts, her cheeks flushing, and he quirks his brow as the gears start turning in his mind over why she wouldn’t want him messing with the closet.

“You’re hiding something.”

“I am not.”

“You’re a horrible liar, remember?”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

“So what do you have hidden in the closet? I’ve been in there before, so I know that it’s not dead bodies or anything.”

“Gross.”

He shrugs. “I’m just saying. I’m also going to go look.”

He sidesteps out of Emma’s way, the curiosity too much, but he also knows that if Emma really doesn’t want him to look, she’ll tell him to stop. And he will. Whatever she’s hiding isn’t bad or untrustworthy. He simply doesn’t know what it is.

“Killian,” she chuckles, grabbing onto the back of his shirt and tugging him back so that he turns around and backs himself up against the wall to look down at Emma. Her eyes have widened, and her lips are somewhere between a smile and a quiver. He simply can’t tell. “Please don’t look in the closet.”

“I won’t if you really don’t want me to. I just wonder how you didn’t think of me looking in there while you were gone today.”

“I forgot.”

“You forgot about your deep, dark secret?”

“It’s not a deep, dark secret. It’s a surprise for you.”

“For little old me on your birthday?”

“Oh my gosh,” she scoffs, rolling her eyes and leaning forward to pat his chest. “You’re so cocky, but yes, for you. It was – I was – do you just want it now?”

He does, but he can be patient.

“You can save it. Today is about you anyways.”

Emma groans, actually groans, and it’s a bit of a mixture between frustration and pleasure. He’s got no clue what’s going on right now. Absolutely none.

“It’s not a big deal,” she starts, stepping to the side and sliding open the closet door, the old folds of it crunching the slightest bit. “Like, it’s really not a big deal. I was going to put them up at the new apartment and let you, you know, just notice when you noticed.” She bends down and picks up a small box, and when she hands it to him, he can see Liam’s address on the return label. What the hell? “Just open it or whatever.”

“Okay,” he mumbles, looking up at her and noticing the way she’s fidgeting, her feet never staying in place. “Swan, unless there’s something super freaky in here that my brother has sent you, and I’m not sure where the limitations lie, I promise that there’s no need to be nervous.”

It takes a bit of work to open the package. Liam really doubles down on masking tape and he’s working with just his nails, but eventually he gets into it, the cardboard folds moving open and revealing a few envelopes that are full of pictures…of him. They’re of him. There’s one of him as a child with his mum, a blue popsicle melted all over him. There’s another of he and Liam at his graduation, another of them when they’d just moved into the apartment in California, and several others that he’s seen before but not in a long time. These are from the books that Liam keeps, that he’s made sure to save even when they were in the system and could barely have belongings. These are his childhood, the fond memories of his childhood, and despite how much he’s always loved them, for a long time it was difficult for him to look at some of them, especially the ones with his mother.

“Did you,” he starts, putting the pictures back in the box, “did you ask Liam for family photos so you could put them up in the apartment to surprise me?”

“Yeah. I thought – I thought it would be a nice thing for you to have some of your home here. And, like, I figured it was a better thing than a picture of Queen Elizabeth or, like, a palm tree that would just die in this climate. I know it’s not a big thing but I – ”

“Emma,” he laughs, dropping the box to the ground and stepping forward to wrap his arm around her waist, holding onto her tightly as he pushes her up to the wall and quickly slants his lips over hers, feeling the softness of her mouth as she gasps into his own. He knows that he’s surprised her, that she didn’t expect such a fierce moment over what she very obviously thinks is a big deal but won’t admit, but the truth of the matter is that it is a big deal. They’re flush against each other and into the wall, and when his tongue moves against hers, she cants her hips up to his as he matches her rocks, the two of them moving together.

He knows that they’re both sentimental, that they both hold onto things from their childhood, that they hold onto the happy moments, but he also knows that they’re often only sentimental about it late at night when maybe exhaustion has gotten to them. Sometimes it’s when they’re walking on the beach by his house, Emma wrapped up in a sweater that reaches her thighs as she tells him about the first time she made a friend who she got to stay around for more than a few months before she was moved to another house in the state. It’s a sometimes thing, not an always, but it means the absolute world to him that Emma would do this.

She hasn’t moved the mountains, but he would never ask or expect her to.

He’d go to the end of the world for her, and he knows that she’d do the same.

Emma’s hands move over his shoulders, and it’s what snaps him into attention before he moves his lips from hers and trails them along her jaw, burying his face in her neck and breathing her in as his heart pounds against his ribcage.

“So you like them?”

He nods into her neck before he pulls back, looking into the gleam of her eyes before he leans forward and kisses her noise, his breath still catching up to him as he rests his forehead against hers. “I love them. Why were you so nervous?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice is a bit high, the smallest bit broken, and he groans a bit knowing that it’s all because of him, that their hips are still pushed together with Emma pinned to the wall. “I wanted to do something big for you to make Boston your home a bit more easily, but I couldn’t think of anything. And I don’t know. I figured you wouldn’t pack up all of the pictures you have at home so that you would still have them when you’re there. It was the least I could do, and I wasn’t going to make a big deal about them, but then you were going into the closet and yeah.”

“I did pack some of them,” he chuckles, leaning back and flashing her a grin so that she’ll stop biting her lip. He’s just now noticing that his hand has traveled up her shirt, and he wonders when he started tracing her spine. “Not all of them but a few, but I don’t – I hadn’t gone into those pictures for years. It’s so hard to see Mum’s face sometimes, but this is good. I appreciate it. Really. I don’t need you to do big gestures. I don’t – Emma I’m happy to be here. I can’t say it enough. I’m happy to be here and to be with you.”

“Yeah,” she nods, moving her hands back up his arms to his shoulders before her hands cup his face, soft pads caressing him as he leans his cheek into her so that he can kiss her wrist, “I’m happy too. We should probably stop making out in my hallway and get ready for dinner.” She pats his face as her lips curl into a smile that makes her eyes crinkle. “You need time to fix up that face.”

“My face looks fine.”

“Obviously you already packed up all of the mirrors in this place.”

It doesn’t take long for the two of them to get ready even though he needs to take a shower, and after he gives Emma her gifts, clasping the ends of her necklace together over the back of her neck, they make their way outside so they can drive to dinner. Emma has work in the morning, so neither of them are really planning on drinking too much or staying out late.

“So this place is really called the Barking Crab?” he asks as they walk from the parking deck to the restaurant, moving through the surprisingly crowded streets even with the chill in the air. Emma had put on a short black dress earlier, had checked the weather, and then quickly changed into black jeans and a sweater so that she wouldn’t freeze. As much as he appreciated the dress, he appreciates Emma not dying of hypothermia more.

“Yep. It’s good and fun, right on the water obviously. You’ll like it because as much as I know that you like the occasional stuffy restaurant, how can you pass up eating greasy food out of baskets?”

“You can’t,” he scoffs, reaching down to wrap his hand over her palm while they walk. “And it’s seafood, so how can it get better?”

“If it were a cheeseburger.”

“I’m sure they have those here, but considering you picked the place, Swan, I don’t think you can complain.”

“We already talked about this. It’s my birthday. I can do whatever I want.”

“That’s not how that works.”

“It definitely is.”

“So if you committed murder, you think you could get away with it by saying it happened on your birthday?”

“You took that from zero to one hundred real quick.”

“I was making a point.”

“One I’m choosing to ignore.” Her steps hurry then, heels clicking against the pavement, and he has to quicken his step to keep up. “I see Mary Margaret at a table.”

“She got one outside? It’s freezing.”

“They have heaters.”

“Still.”

“You’ll be fine,” Emma laughs, squeezing his hand tightly before releasing him and running up to meet her friends, wrapping Mary Margaret in a tight embrace, the two of them rocking from side to side.

She’s already moved onto David by the time that he gets there, so he bends down and presses a kiss against Mary Margaret’s cheek, asking her how she is and about the kids before he’s hugging David and doing the same to him. He’s just about to settle down when Ruby and Dorothy show up, so it’s another mess of hugs and too much conversation all happening at once. He’s only met Dorothy in a professional capacity, but he feels as if he knows her a bit from Emma and Ruby talking about her. She’s great, if not a bit shy, but that’s honestly not an option with Emma and her friends.

Okay, so it’s not an option with Ruby, but he doubts Dorothy would be here if she didn’t fancy Ruby.

Eventually the all sit down around the table Mary Margaret got for them, Emma sliding into the chair next to him and opening up the menu to read through all of the cocktails out loud.

“You’d like the Dark and Stormy, babe,” she tells him, pointing to the rum on the menu, “or maybe the Tea Party since, you know, you’re a Brit in Boston.”

“So damn funny,” he scoffs, tapping his fingers against her thigh from where his hand has been resting.

“I’ve never even thought about that before,” David laughs, closing his menu. “You may also like the Bloody Mary.”

“You’re all regular comedians.”

“Aw, he’s kind of crabby,” Ruby sighs, her lips curling up into a smile. “So obviously the Crabby Margarita will also work for you.”

“I believe a margarita would be better for Mary Margaret.”

“Oh I’m not drinking tonight, but I appreciate the pun,” she sighs sweetly, obviously not going to get in on teasing him about his heritage. “Besides, tonight is about Emma and being one year away from thirty, flirty, and thriving. We should totally be making fun of her.”

“What kind of alcohol puns can you make about Emma, though?” Dorothy asks.

“Not really any,” Ruby admits, shrugging her shoulders before taking a sip of her water. “Though, usually when we’re making fun of Emma, we talk about the great tequila incident of 2012.”

“No.”

“Wait,” he laughs, twisting his head to look at Emma and the absolute look of horror that is covering every inch of her skin, “what is this now? I’ve never heard of it, and I really feel like I should know about something that’s called the great tequila incident of 2012.”

“Babe, you really don’t want to know.”

“I really do,” he promises, excitement running through him as he looks between David, Mary Margaret, and Ruby to see which of them is going to break and tell this story.

“So Emma and I were living in this awful apartment,” Mary Margaret begins, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear only for it to fall back from not being long enough, “and we have absolutely no money. I’m a teacher fresh out of getting my Masters and Emma’s just gotten hired as an assistant PR director after that shitty receptionist job she’d had, so we, literally, never go out to do anything because we don’t have money. Ever.”

“Until your homegirl got hired at the same place as Emma,” Ruby adds, excitedly moving her shoulders up and down while Emma’s leg taps underneath his hand.

“Yeah, so we went out to celebrate Ruby getting a new job because she’d spent so damn long in school, and your girlfriend who is about ready to bolt right now, has a few too many drinks. She’s always been a bit of a lightweight.”

“That’s rich coming from you, honey.”

Mary Margaret rolls her eyes at her husband before looking back at him. “That’s not the point. You’re just mad because you weren’t there that night. Anyways, we’re at a bar and Emma has had too much tequila, so when Ruby suggests that it’s time to go home, Emma just refuses. I mean, absolutely refuses because that awful song Call Me Maybe is on, and she insisted that she had to go around quoting it to every man in the bar before she gave them her number.”

“Please tell me you didn’t, Swan.”

“I did,” she groans, leaning into his shoulder and burying her face in his jacket. “I had to change my number because I kept getting calls asking to talk to the hot blonde that gave away her number and then proceeded to ask every single person if they’d be willing to go on a Segway tour with them by saying ‘we could see Boston, and then I could show you my place.’”

The laughter starts in his stomach, but it makes its way up his entire body, his core and his shoulders shaking as it bubbles up and out of his mouth, nothing containing it as Emma keeps her face buried in his shoulder despite the fact that he must be moving her. It’s not the most embarrassing thing in the world. Not really, but he’s imagining Emma singing the song and propositioning all of those people while Ruby and Mary Margaret were likely curled up in balls laughing at her.

“Why a Segway tour, Swan?” he laughs, squeezing her thigh. “What about that would lead you to taking these guys back to your place?”

“I don’t know. I was drunk. I obviously wasn’t thinking.”

“So now Emma isn’t supposed to drink tequila, and if she does, she either has to sing the entirety of Call Me Maybe or pay for all of us to go on a Segway tour of Boston.”

“Emma, love,” he soothes, moving his hand from her thigh and wrapping it around her shoulder so that he can rub it up and down her arm as she obviously replays the night in her mind, “I’m going to need you to stop drinking too much in front of Ruby and Mary Margaret because it seems to get you into all kinds of predicaments.”

“But that’s how she met you,” Ruby points out, and he smiles at the thought. “I’m still waiting for my boat, by the way. I want it to be called The Love Boat. I’ve said it before, but I obviously need to say it again. I think red will be a good color for it, not tacky at all.”

“You’re not getting a boat,” Emma groans, her cheeks flushing a deeper shade of red. “Also, are we ever going to order? Because it’s my birthday, and I want to eat.”

They do eventually order, and soon the table is full of ridiculous cocktails and water glasses as well as crab, lobster rolls, shrimp, and more seafood than six people will need. But they manage to eat most of it between laughing and sharing more embarrassing stories about Emma. He’s got several up his sleeve, but he’d rather listen to the tales of when all of them were in university together (apparently David came along a bit later, but he knows the stories well enough) and just starting out. Emma is so comfortable with her friends, comfortable with letting them tease her and share things from a time when she likely wasn’t sure of trusting people too much, and he’s not sure if he’s ever been more thankful for three of the people sitting across from him.

They were the ones who Emma opened her heart up to and who didn’t let her down for the first time in her life, and he’s exponentially glad that she has them.

“I’m going to run to the restroom,” Emma mutters after she takes another sip of her water before placing it on the table.

“I’ll join you,” Mary Margaret adds only for Ruby and Dorothy to say the same thing. “And you two cannot make a joke about women traveling in packs to the bathroom when the two of you do stuff like that all of the time.”

“Wasn’t going to, honey,” David sighs, smiling up at his wife. Mary Margaret simply smiles back before she’s walking away, trailing after everyone else as they disappear into the restaurant and out of sight. “So do you feel like you’ve officially been initiated into a Boston man? You’re eating seafood by the harbor when it’s freezing outside. All you need is to be wearing a Sox cap.”

“Well, I did leave my hat and my jersey at home. I knew I was forgetting something when we left the apartment. But yeah,” he shrugs, fingering at the condensation on his glass, “it feels good to be here. It’s definitely not California, but I’m happy. I can’t wait to get into the new place, though. I’m tripping over boxes every two seconds.”

“You never know how much stuff you have until you move, and Emma’s a packrat so that’s got to be awful.”

“It’s not that bad,” he admits, twisting his head and looking out at the water past all of the people who are crowding the streets. “We’ve gone through everything and either donated it, trashed it, or packed it. I don’t think either of us really expected to be able to move so quickly.”

“But when has anything in your relationship ever gone as normal?”

He clicks his tongue, not really sure how to answer that. “Eh, depends on what you’re saying is normal. I think we do what works for us. We haven’t been together for years or anything, but we’ve been together for awhile. And besides two or three days, once we were in, we were all in.”

David’s eyes slant for a moment, the blue turning into slits, and his lips flatten out into a straight line while he looks at Killian. He briefly sees David tilt his head to the side, something almost unnoticeable, but then he’s widening his eyes again as his features relax. He was just being studied, and he’s honestly not sure why.

“You’re going to propose.”

If he were holding his drink instead of thumbing at the water on it while it rests on the table, he’d drop it. He’d drop it and then likely freeze for the chill that’s blowing over the restaurant, the temperatures continuing to fall the longer they stay out here. He can feel the heat as it moves across his face, red flames tickling his skin, and he knows that it’s not from the nip of the air or the warmth of the heater that’s just behind their table.

“Possibly,” he concedes, his eyes glancing over to where Emma had disappeared into the restaurant. As much as he’d like to talk about his thoughts and his plans and the rings that he’s been looking at when he can, he knows that they don’t have a lot of time. “How the hell do you know that?”

“You’re not as suave and mysterious as you think.” He raises a brow, and waits for David to continue. “You love her. You love her in the way that I love Mary Margaret, and while you two are different, it’s still the same.”

“Aye,” he smiles, eyes only straying from David to look to make sure no one is returning to the table, “I do. I love her, and I want to marry her. I know that now isn’t the time, that things are crazy with the move, but I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, Killian, that’s incredible,” he laughs, his own face covered in lines while he reaches down to break off a piece of bread. “Emma is like a younger sister to me, and I love her. I just want her to be happy. And you’ve grown on me too, so I guess I want that for you.”

He winks, knowing that he’s got a smirk curling up on his lips. “I tend to have that effect on people.”

Emma comes back to the table first, her hair now pulled up in a ponytail, and sits back down in her chair, her hand landing on his knee and squeezing while Mary Margaret follows closely behind her.

“Where are Ruby and Dorothy?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Emma mumbles.

“They’re asking the chef if she’d be willing to make Emma a small birthday cake,” Mary Margaret explains as she rolls her eyes a bit at Emma. “Emma’s embarrassed because she doesn’t want the entire restaurant looking at her as they sing.”

“I’m not embarrassed. I would have been fine if Killian and I had just stopped for milkshakes on the way home.”

“Nonsense, Swan, you’ve got to have your birthday cake.”

Ruby and Dorothy come back to the table with the promise that Emma is going to have a birthday cake brought out to her in a few minutes. Sure enough their waitress comes to the table with a serving dish full of cake, Emma’s name written in sauce on the white of the plate, and everyone sings to her while he watches her attempt not to blush. It doesn’t work, but she tries.

And later that night after Emma has fallen asleep claiming too much cake and seafood, he scrolls through his phone at the pictures from tonight. There’s several of he and Emma, even more of shots he had to take for she and her friends, but as he does, he never uploads a photo of her face online, not since the night they met at the charity gala. Who he’s dating isn’t a secret, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to control what he puts out there on the rare occasions that he does post things online so that Robin doesn’t get onto him about not being social media savvy enough.

So it’s that thought that has him posting a photo of Emma as everyone sings to her. Her hands are covering her face, the loose strands of her ponytail doing the rest of the work, but he can still see the slightest bit of her smile under the glow of the candle light and the bulb lights the restaurant had up.

KillianJonesOfficial: Happy birthday, my love.

He wants to say more, but he thinks he’d rather keep those thoughts to he and Emma. She’s the only one who really needs to hear them.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Thirty-Seven: Red Lines ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Mikoto ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: At The Beginning ] [ AO3 Link ]

They’ve been traveling all day.

With tired feet, Sasuke’s up on his brother’s back, dozing as his clan migrates south. Quick and quiet. Hopefully unseen. Such a large force, of course, isn’t hard to notice...but most of them are shinobi. Hopping through the branches of this landscape’s tall trees, they’re swift and silent as they make their way from their last encampment.

After the battle days prior...it’s no longer safe.

So, once again, the Uchiha are on the move.

Nearing evening, they finally find a place to settle for the night. A rolling hill comes to an abrupt stop, dropping into an inwardly-curved cliff. Below, a shallow pool of fresh water from a natural spring feeds out into a stream.

Fugaku considers the area, kinsmen watching him wordlessly. “...here. Fill your water skins, and put down bedrolls in the cave.”

Hopefully anyone after them will miss such a spot.

Rousing as subtle noises sound with the setup of camp, Sasuke rubs at his eyes. “Aniki…?”

Itachi manages a weary smile as he sets his brother down. “We’re calling it a night. Hungry? Thirsty?”

The young Uchiha just nods, prompting Itachi to begin caring for his needs. A waterskin is handed over, Sasuke sipping it as his brother tends to their section of the camp. Their mother is busy checking on the other vulnerable members of the clan: the young, old, sick, and injured. Fugaku, on the other hand, talks lowly with his top warriors, faces all drawn with tension and unease.

Sasuke watches before Itachi draws his gaze again. “Here - eat this.”

Accepting a nori-wrapped onigiri, Sasuke carefully munches every grain of rice before sitting beside his brother. Their bedrolls are toward the rear of the shallow cave. Any assailants would have to go through everyone else first to get to them.

“Aniki, is this our new home?”

“For now,” Itachi replies evasively. “You know we have to move often as the Senju battle us.”

Sasuke’s head bows. “I know…”

“Someday, Sasuke...we’ll have a real home. A house, with a roof and a floor, and walls. We can start a garden, and maybe get you a dog.”

That perks the boy up. “Really?”

“...someday.”

It’s late before their parents return, Sasuke already asleep. Itachi watches his father with sharp black eyes as he unfurls a map.

“...here,” he murmurs, a calloused finger pointing to a dense cluster of foliage marked on the parchment. “This is our current position.” His mouth sets into a grim line. “...we’re not as far as I’d like, but this place is hard to spot from a distance from the direction we came. Gods willing, we’ll be lucky and go unnoticed for now.”

“Where will we go next?” the elder son asks quietly

“I’ve got scouts out checking our perimeter, and seeing what other clans might be nearby. I’ll plot out their positions come morning, and...we’ll go from there.”

Itachi just nods solemnly.

“Itachi dear, you should get some sleep,” Mikoto chides gently. “We’ll have a long day ahead of us. And you’ll need to keep both eyes on your brother.”

“Hai.”

Curling around his little brother, Itachi watches him for a time before managing to slip into sleep.

Morning, as always, comes early. And it’s Sasuke who rouses first for once. Wriggling out of his sleeping brother’s grip, he finds Fugaku already awake. Seated with a map atop his lap, he’s carefully tracing lines atop it, referring quite heavily to other parchment at his side. A glance shows reports from the previous night’s scouts. Red ink outlines certain sections of the map.

Gingerly sitting beside his father, Sasuke builds the courage to ask, “What are those red lines…?”

Giving Sasuke a glance, Fugaku takes a moment to respond, finishing a line. “These...are marks that show me where our enemies are camped. None of us are to go there, Sasuke.”

“Not even you?”

“No, not even me. We must work our way around them, lest we invite more fighting.”

“Are they Senju…?” he asks quietly, both fear and awe in his tone.

“No. There are many more clans than just us, and the Senju,” Fugaku clarifies. “The Inuzuka, Akimichi, Nara, Hyūga, Sarutobi...and more.”

“Are they all bad guys?”

After a small hitch of breath, his father sighs. “...no. There really is no good or bad when it comes to clans, my son. We are all simply competing for the same things. Food, water, land...and competition can make people do terrible things in order to secure those things. Even kill.”

Sasuke wilts a bit. “Oh…”

“Someday...I hope we will find a land to call our own, with no more fighting.” There’s a bone-deep exhaustion in Fugaku’s eyes. “...I tire of losing our people to these squabbles. Someday...I hope there will be peace.”

Someday, someday...it’s a word everyone uses so often. But when will it be someday, Sasuke can’t help but wonder.

“So, be sure to stick close to camp,” Fugaku then adds, drawing his son’s gaze back to his face. “We don’t want to wander and stumble into trouble. Understand?”

“Hai.”

The Uchiha linger in their encampment for nearly a week. By then, Sasuke has the entire layout memorized, including the outlying areas where he barely dares to tread. His father’s words have made him cautious.

But even caution can’t be outweighed by a child’s curiosity.

Having been learning to use a bow with his brother, Sasuke keeps his and a quiver on his person whenever he’s awake. He also carries a single kunai for protection, but he’s too young yet to make much use of many standard shinobi tools. Instead, he relies mostly on his brother to keep him safe. But Itachi has been busy helping their father, and Sasuke patrols the camp alone.

That is...until he hears a noise in the bushes…!

Perking up, he stares, trying to spot whatever it is. Likely just a tanuki, or maybe some birds. But, wanting to be sure, Sasuke glances back to camp before carefully moving after it.

...there it goes! Wriggling through the underbrush, whatever it is takes off at full speed!

Immediately losing all other thought to the thrill of a chase, Sasuke brightens and goes after it. Back and forth it winds - maybe it’s a hare? - as they leave the Uchiha in the distance. Arrow nocked and eyes bright, Sasuke follows until they reach a clearing, and his foe stumbles out into the open.

A fox!

Pulling up his bow and drawing the string, Sasuke takes aim. But before he can shoot, a rock flies out from another side of the clearing, startling the winded creature into one last dash into more cover.

“Aww…!” Releasing the tension and pouting, Sasuke watches it go, realizing it’s a futile chase. But then he happens to think...who - or what - threw that rock…?

Looking to the proper direction, he sets his jaw, redrawing his bow. “Who’s there?”

Silence. Then a rustle. “P-please...don’t shoot…!”

A voice! It sounds like a girl - pretty young, too. Maybe his age? “Show yourself!”

Another long pause, then the foliage shifts, and...out creeps a child. Dressed in a plain lilac yukata, large pale eyes stare warily, hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I...I don’t m-mean you any harm!”

Slowly, Sasuke lowers his bow. Those eyes...he knows about them. His own clan’s distant cousins: she has to be a Hyūga.

Seeing him relax, she does the same. “I...I’m sorry about the fox, but...I didn’t want you to hurt it.”

“...s’okay,” Sasuke mumbles. He didn’t need to kill it - they have plenty of supplies. These woods are plentiful.

“Um...m-my name is Hinata! Who are - w-who are you?”

“...Sasuke.” They both avoid last names, though there’s little mistaking what she is by her appearance. “What are you doing out here?”

“Oh...I was l-looking for...for flowers.”

“Flowers…?” His nose wrinkles. “Isn’t that a silly thing to wander off alone for?”

“W-well, you were chasing a fox!”

“Cuz I thought it was a bad guy too close to our camp!”

As soon as he says it, Sasuke realizes that was a mistake. He shouldn’t reveal that they’re nearby…!

“Oh...that’s fair.”

“You...you can’t tell anyone you saw me!” he insists.

Hinata balks. “I-I won’t!”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise!”

He eyes her for a moment, seeing her frightened posture. “...good.”

Silence falls for a time...and then a voice calls in the distance. “Hinata-sama!”

Gasping and looking back, she hesitates. “I...I-I have to go!”

“But -?”

“I won’t tell!” Digging through the bushes, Hinata brings out a small basket full of blooms. “Go, before someone s-sees you!”

Sasuke lingers a moment longer, not sure he can trust her. But she’s already making to jog back the way she came.

Before she leaves, however, she comes to a stop, turning and closing the gap even as Sasuke flinches. “Here!”

Fumbling, he manages to accept a flower. Pure white in color, it’s one he’s never seen before...not that he’s ever paid flowers any attention.

“Go!” Hinata hushes, retreating and calling out to the voice.

Broken from his confusion, Sasuke does just that, running all the way back to camp.

Slowing to a jog, he glances around, hoping no one notices his return. Thankfully no one notes his presence...or the previous lack thereof. Making his way to his bedroll, Sasuke examines his flower, a brow perked. Why did she give him a flower…?

“Oh, where did you find that?”

Flinching, Sasuke turns to see his mother. “...uh…”

“That’s a freesia,” Mikoto explains, kneeling beside her son. “It’s a flower that signifies trust!”

“A flower has a meaning…?”

“Oh, yes...it’s a very important language,” she replies. “Flowers are a way to communicate without words. Kunoichi use them to pass messages without others knowing!”

Considering that, Sasuke looks to his flower. Trust, huh…?

“Now, go wash up, ne? Dinner is almost ready. Your father and brother should be back soon.”

“Hai.” Removing his gear, Sasuke eventually tucks the bloom into his bedroll.

Maybe he’ll see her again someday...Hyūga Hinata.

     Late, tired, blegh @~@      A Warring States era AU! One I hardly ever get to write. I really like the concept of the more "modern" characters being put back into that time period, and how they'd face the challenges of that era.      Buuut anyway, I'm VERY tired, so...that's all for now lol - thanks for reading!

[desperatelyseekingroleplay]

Roleplay partners wanted!

My name is Rhys. I am 21 years old, she/her, from the CT, love the color magenta, and own two orange tabbies. I’m looking for partners in my conquest to write! While I can't get responses in every day, I am almost always open to chatter and geeking out about all sorts of things.

  I write third person, past/present tense, and paragraph form. I'm a novella-ish writer, and do try to crank out at least four-six paragraphs each time I get a response in. Like previously mentioned, I want to stress that while I can't respond every day, everything I do write is full of TLC! I always want to mention this to partners beforehand, because I know some people would rather do rapid fire responses than one or two a week. My limits are pretty general; toilet stuff is a no-no. I don't like to write out top/bottom stereotypes or "seme/uke" tropes. Beastiality, pedophilia, and the like are icky things I would rather avoid.

  I write for all genders, ethnicity, and orientations! I am open to any pairings, and beyond that, varying genres.

  https://docs.google.com/document/d/18n3iuj4m9X1hBo9P2IezrKdTfkTrSKt0H34ZP6v3hHs

  LIMITS

________

  No unrealistic stereotypes of queer relationships, please. Yaoi, yuri, seme/uke, etc. Can't do that. Characters need to both have versatile roles; switching, so it's fair for everyone. Though, my characters do tend to be a lot more dominating!

  {{Very welcoming of BDSM, dom/sub, but this does not mean someone needs to be penetrated every single time in order for the dom to dominate. Get it? This can also apply to heterosexual relationships. I would literally love to see female characters who top, if you know what I mean. If given the chance, I will definitely have dom!females in bdsm-related situations}}

  Furries; blegh, no thanks. Beastiality, nekos, anything of sexual animal-related nature is a no-go, fam.

  Vore, scat, bathroom stuff, pedophilia. You know the drill! ((I am not opposed to consensual, legal age and non-reproducing incestuous relationships in FICTION! Sex is fine, just no children resulting from it. Reminder; this is fictional.))

  Okay, so despite those few limits, I am actually pretty welcoming of anything else. Smut, of course. Some kink a little out there that you want to suggest? Let's do it, dude. I am open to polyamorous relationships, any queer shit you're willing to throw at me lmao I am super OOC friendly and I am pretty much a garbled mess when I get to know you! I am open to crooked relationships, ones that don't function right, fluff and all cuteness, unconditional love-- my interests fluctuate! I am down, 24/7, guys! Here's a list of fandoms and pairings below.

_________

  **=Craving

  Borderlands

Handsome Jack/Rhys

Handsome Jack/Rhys/Nisha

Rhys/Axton

Handsome Jack/Nisha

Fiona/Athena

Fiona/Vaughn

Rhys/Vaughn

  Until Dawn

Josh Washington/Chris

Chris/Mike

Jess/Mike

Sam/Beth

Matt/Jess

Emily/Matt/Jess

  Life is Strange

Max Caulfield/Chloe Price

Max Caulfield/Kate Marsh/Victoria Chase

Nathan Prescott/Warren Graham

Rachel Amber/Chloe Price**

Rachel Amber/Frank Bowers

Frank Bowers/Damon Merrick**

  DC

Dick Grayson/Jason Todd**

Dick Grayson/Koriand'r

Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

Dick Grayson/Wally West

Oliver Queen/Dinah Lance

Harley Quinn/Pamela Isley

Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent

  Batman: Telltale Series

Bruce Wayne/John Doe**

Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle

Bruce Wayne/Jim Gordon

Bruce Wayne/Harvey Dent

Bruce Wayne/Harvey Dent/Selina Kyle

  Marvel

Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Tony Stark/Bruce Banner

Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson

Thor/Bruce Banner**

Clint Barton/Pietro Maximoff

Peter Parker/Harry Osborn

Peter Parker/Wade Wilson**

Gwen Stacy/Peter Parker/Harry Osborn

Peter Parker/Wade Wilson/Vanessa Carlysle

  Uncharted

Nathan Drake/Samuel Drake**

Nathan Drake/Harry Flynn**

Chloe Frazer/Nadine Ross

Samuel Drake/Rafe Adler

  Game of Thrones

Arya Stark/Gendry Waters

Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell

Daenerys Targaryen/Jon Snow

  TTGOT

Asher Forrester/Gwyn Whitehill

Rodrik Forrester/Arthur Glenmore

Mira Forrester/Margaery Tyrell

Gryff Whitehill/Elaena Glenmore

Gared Tuttle/Finn

Gared Tuttle/Josera Snow

  The Walking Dead

Rick Grimes/Shane Walsh

Rick Grimes/Negan**

Daryl Dixon/Paul “Jesus” Rovia

  TWDG

Luke/Nick

Javier Garcia/David Garcia**

Clementine/Gabriel Garcia

Javier Garcia/Paul “Jesus” Rovia

  The Mortal Instruments

Simon Lewis/Raphael Santiago

Simon Lewis/Jace Lightwood

Isabelle Lightwood/Lydia Branwell

Alec Lightwood/Magnus Bane

  Infamous: Second Son

Delsin Rowe/Reggie Rowe

Delsin Rowe/Eugene Sims

Delsin Rowe/Hank Daughtry

  Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator

Anyone/your dadsona (for the love of god someone give me a good, not cliche john doe dadsona and you will win my heart!! I just want to play a dad lol bring me some great ass ocs)

  Far Cry 3

Jason Brody/Vaas Montenegro

  The Last of Us

Ellie/Riley

  -

  Some basic ideas that I do have pretty big doc ideas for;

  A few marine biologists go to an island off the coast to study the marine life there, which in turn, turns out to be something much bigger. (Mermaid/siren prompt!)

  Soul mates; it can be like some of those AU’s where you don’t see color until you meet them, your tattooed timer counts down until then, or maybe even soulmates continuously reincarnating and one of the two has killed them for centuries in order to be “immortal”. For the first time, the victimized partner gets close enough that the other begins to fall and they start aging, together.

  Character A has an awful time living in the city; alone, and without mom's guidance, completely lost. One day they receive a call about a deceased relative, one they'd never heard of and apparently left their estate and everything in their will to A. With nothing but the clothes on their back, A took a shot and drove out to this presumed "estate", only to find that it's a mansion in a tiny little town with an eerie vibe and populated by the typical small town churchgoers and farm folk. Living in this town was a hell of a challenge; everyone was nice, too nice, and people were missing. Character B is an exceptionally charismatic, charming person and the only mechanic/handyman in town. A and B become friends, partially, when A needs to fix up the piping in their estate. A stumbles upon the attic one day, and for once, they start to get why this whole town reeked to the roots in weird shit-- their deceased relative was tracking something here in this town, having to do with all of the MIA townsfolk. DR has a board of possible suspects, and at the center? B. OSJFODSFHSDJSODFJD!!! Bonus content: B is, in fact, not the murderer, instead a vampire on a mission to track down the monster, same as DR. small towns give me honey moon vibes and I??? am so down for some kinky, albeit eventually fluffy romance between people who are trying to make it work. I actually have a doc for both TBD characters and a location. None of this is set in stone, so please share your thoughts.

  A doesn’t have any memories of their life, only being conscious and staring down at a mutilated body in a ditch. When they meet B, they learn why; welcome to limbo, they say. You just died. A has unfinished business; finding out who murdered them, why, and what else is holding them here. B is a reaper intent on helping lost souls pass over-- they were never born, and A shows them the delights of life before it’s taken. B learns to love A, and A doesn’t want to leave limbo. While A’s soul is clinging between realities, B must make a pivotal decision; squeezing tight on the concept of love, and letting A go. (BONUS!! REINCARNATION; A & B ARE GIVEN THE GIFT OF LIVING AGAIN, TOGETHER.)

  Coming of age story between two childhood friends who are separated by circumstance, and after ten years, reunite and learn that your first love doesn’t have to be the one that got away.

  Two friends drop their whole lives to go on a road trip once they turn thirty-- they elope together, leaving their unhappy lives behind them and in this grand scheme of mental breakdowns and tearful smiles, they find that love may be the only cure to a broken existence.

  In a post-apocalyptic world where a pandemic has killed off most living species, Character A is a lone wolf with little to do with other people that don't benefit him, except for a select few. A is especially rough around the edges, as he's lived through some sick shit and lived to tell the tale. A had once been part of a group dedicated to finding a cure, but things went south, and a lot of people died. A had a close bond with the leader of said group, and coincidentally they were the only survivors.  Their past together, having been deeply demented and twisted, caused them to fall out. Said leader has rebuilt a new group in the ten years since the last time they'd seen A. Character B is the only known immune person alive, and has dedicated their life to being a resource to finding a cure. A and his (current) contact/partner in crime have something taken from them, and are determined to get it back. They do some searching, and are confronted with this group-- they have what they need, but are only willing to give it to them for a favor in return. No one can outrun their past forever. (Last of Us-inspired!)

  An architect/treasure hunter is being funded an expedition to find a lost treasure and they are forced to bring along a reporter in order to receive the funds. the reporter and architect certainly don't get along in the beginning— they bicker, and clash on most fronts. the expedition wasn't meant to be dangerous. what was initially thought to be a simple job turned into something treacherous; bandits, a team of hired hitmen and their leader looking to take the treasure for themselves, and some rather supernatural elements that they both couldn't quite put a finger on. the treasure hunter and the reporter have to work together to get out of this alive, and get to the artifact before someone else does.

..and many more!! Thanks so much! If you've read through, please contact me at dotiscat@gmail.com and mention kiwi somewhere in your email. n_n

Rhys xoxo

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Fifty-Three: Intense Clarity ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

Clans that rely on their eyes so fervidly fear one thing more than most: blindness. The Hyūga are known to strain their eyes, resulting in temporary loss of sight that -if given the proper rest and treatment - will recede with the exhaustion.

The Uchiha are rarely so lucky.

While the Sharingan itself doesn’t cause blindness, the advanced tier exchanges its sight for power. The only known cure? Stealing eyes of someone close enough in blood as not to be rejected, but instead empowered by the exchange.

When Sasuke received Itachi’s eyes, it hadn’t been amicably done...but part of him had to assume that his genius older brother knew he’d take them eventually. The Mangekyō Itachi told him to awaken would slowly blind him...eventually, it would be necessary, unless his pride truly was that strong.

It nearly was.

But the blur he’d already noticed while fighting his prior team at the bridge had unnerved him...as did the exchange he had with the jinchūriki. If he wanted to best Naruto - if he wanted to finally complete his vengeance for not just his lost clan, but his brother - he would need those eyes.

The healing took longer than he wanted...but Sasuke had begun to learn patience by that point. Headstrong and always in a hurry to get results, he’d have to learn that some things take time. So, he’d waited in Madara’s safe house until the war began, when he could no longer abide the idling. Removing the gauze, he’d opened his new eyes for the first time, ready to behold the battle and carve his way through.

He’d thought the Sharingan - in both its stages - had been unrivaled in its sight. But this...this was a whole other level. An intense clarity that left nothing hidden from him.

With these eyes...he would behold the future he sought.

Of course...his plans had been rather...derailed when he saw the last contender upon the battlefield he would ever expect: his dead brother.

They’d met. Quarreled. Fought side by side. And still, Itachi defended Konoha.

Sasuke could hardly believe it.

It left him reeling. Even after death - even after the ultimate sacrifice for a village that condemned him - Itachi kept his loyalty. His dream and belief in a village that hosted traitors, murderers, and defenders of genocide was not shaken.

...why?!

The question plagued him like nothing else...so, when Jūgo and Suigetsu presented the opportunity, Sasuke got the answers from the horses’ mouths.

The prior Hokage.

Hashirama spun him a tale, all ending with one concept: shinobi are beings that must make impossible choices in order to achieve their dreams. Depending on the nature of the dream you chase, you yourself may have to change.

...Itachi’s dream had been peace. A true pacifist embroiled in a world of war and violence, he’d allowed that to change him...mold him into a soldier he never wished to be, to protect that peace.

By any means necessary. Just as Hashirama slew his best friend, with whom he had dreamed of peace.

Like Itachi eliminated their clan to uphold a tranquility beyond their kin.

It was then Sasuke knew two things. One...he had to protect Konoha, at all cost. His brother’s sacrifice would not, could not, be in vain.

And two...to let the village chase that same dream of peace...he would be the one to change it.

The war, by its end, had cost him much...but granted him a Rinnegan. An eye beyond even his Sharingan, with which he would see the future he desired. Fighting Naruto saw him concede a defeat...but only to change his plans. Not stop them. He would still serve the village. Still guide it. Just...more subtly.

At first, he left Konoha to find more answers...but he ended up interrupted when his brother returned. Suddenly his plans had a greater sense of urgency. He had to change Konoha now in order to make it safe for Itachi, and their family.

And that...required compromise.

The alliance with the Hyūga had been a sting to his pride unlike almost anything else he’d endured. But...once his temper cooled, he realized the logic behind it. They needed numbers. They needed a vote of confidence. And the other dōjutsu clan was practically family, when you thought about their roots. There was really no better choice.

And, he had to admit...out of all of the clans his generation had heirs from...Hinata was the easiest to get on with.

Granted, she was no longer heiress. Didn’t want to be. But she did put her all into their partnership, aware of their circumstances...and the details behind it. Beyond that, it wasn’t hard for her to notice her parallels with the avenger...and the different paths they took in response.

And so, though it began out of necessity...Sasuke’s bond with the Hyūga girl grew all on its own. His view of her - unlike so many in their year - wasn’t soiled by any bad blood. She hadn’t fawned over him shallowly like Ino or Sakura. Hadn’t annoyed him like Naruto or the other boys that just saw him as an aloof jerk. Which...sure, maybe he’d been a bit of a jerk. But...his point was, out of everyone in their class that had passed...her slate was cleanest. And their temperaments - though not a perfect match (his fading temper and her prior timidity aside) - meshed better than anyone else his age he’d met.

The revived police - combined Hyūga and Uchiha - was exactly what Sasuke wanted. And they became partners, working well together. In every avenue they met, things just...clicked.

Until Sasuke realized...it went further than that.

He couldn’t really name the reason. If the light hit her face just right, or...her expression was reminiscent of something he’d been missing. But one day, seemingly out of nowhere...he saw her...differently.

Just like the unveiling of his eyes, something else seemed to be pulled out of his gaze to let him see her with that same intense clarity.

In a single moment, everything changed. His memories with her took on a new light. It was then Sasuke saw what he’d been trying so hard not to see.

...he was in love with her.

It was a realization both uplifting, and terrifying. The former because...he never thought he would feel that way about anyone. Have that chance.

Terrifying...well, for many of the same reasons. He had no idea what he was doing. If he deserved it. If he could trust himself not to hurt her.

But no one - in all his years - had made him feel that way.

...maybe he’d changed. But, as Hashirama had said: sometimes, to chase your dreams, you would have to.

This, he knew...would be worth changing for.

     A bit late, but I had a busy day - and am also in the middle of being sick with a sore throat, blegh!      Anywho, a bit of a narrative style this time - I wanted to go into more detail, but honestly my brain's a bit shot tonight, so this will have to do. Even Sasuke isn't immune to that moment where, suddenly...you realize what you're REALLY looking at ;3      Anywho, I better get a few other things done, then call it a night~ Thanks for reading!