#I have no doubt this exact post was made ten years ago or whenever the finale aired

[thelaurenshippen]

the way that silver said "I will stand here with you an hour, a day, a year" to flint and "I will wait a day, a month, a year, forever" to madi....I'm sick to my stomach. who is doing unhinged devotion like this man

[jayeray-hq]

How He Shows You Affection: Kageyama Tobio

Thank you again for requesting anon!

Post Time Skip/Manga Ending Spoilers!

Warnings: None all fluff!

How He Shows You Affection Masterlist - Character Masterlist

Thank you as usual to the amazing Tay @deathcab4daddy​ I know you’re busy so I really really appreciate it! 🥺💖

He Dotes on You

           Kageyama had always been a bit socially awkward, which had at times made it difficult for both you and others to see how very much he cared about you. It had taken you a good long while to realize that despite the stilted, often abrupt, and abrasive, words that came out of his mouth that he truly loved you. He was even doing everything in his power to show you, since he couldn’t seem to vocalize how he felt with any sort of eloquence. It was in the little things he did, every day and in every moment that showed he was thinking about you.

It was how whenever he went to the vending machines, he always came back with his milk in one hand and your favorite drink in the other. It was in the way he ensured you never ran out of your favorite treats at home, restocking them every time he went to the store and never forgetting them. It was how there was always a seat reserved for you at all his games, even the ones you couldn’t come to because he wanted to remind you that you were always welcome and that he was always thinking of you.

             The little things he did never failed to make your heart warm, each gesture stating how much he loved you loud and clear for anyone who cared to look. After all, each gesture was catered to you and to the things you loved. It surprised every single person who asked about your relationship, but after the first few mistakes where you stated your preferences to him clearly, Kageyama hadn’t ever gifted you something you didn’t like.

             Your volleyball crazy boyfriend had proved over and over that the only things he paid attention to and bothered to memorize were about the things he loved. It was why he’d struggled so much in school, and yet he never seemed to forget a single detail about you. He knew your favorite dessert, the things you craved, when your cycle was, your hobbies, and the little things you did or that he could do to brighten your day. He memorized it all, carefully and meticulously and pulled those details out when he needed them to help him prove to you how very much he cared.

             It meant when the two of you went shopping that if you happened to mention you liked or wanted something, you could almost always count on having it show up sometime in the near future. It made things a little difficult at times as your boyfriend, with all his adorable awkwardness, didn’t seem to know the meaning of the word excessive. You couldn’t help but find that part of him incredibly cute. It just meant you’d had to learn to watch your words so you wouldn’t accidentally take advantage of the way he wanted to spoil you.

             However, the clearest and most obvious sign of his adoration for you was when you asked him for something, he almost never said no, even if doing it for you made him a bit uncomfortable at times. If you asked him for a hug, he gave it, even if it was in public in front of his team, or even in front of reporters and fans despite the fact that public displays of affection made him uncomfortable. He would blush the whole time, and maybe be a little stiff and awkward, but if you asked, or even so much as hinted that you might need it he would do it without hesitation.

             It was another thing you were very careful never to take for granted, unwilling to make him uncomfortable or unhappy for your own selfish reasons. However, you really appreciated that he was willing to step out of his comfort zone for you, to do whatever it took to make you feel loved.

             A lot of people over the years had asked you how you could be with someone who seemed so cold. You’d always scoffed at those people, because it was very clear to you and everyone who truly knew him. Kageyama was the exact opposite of cold. Sure he struggled sometimes, but it was clear to you that he was doing his best to show you how much he truly loved you, and in the end that was all that mattered.

 He Makes Time for You

             You waited patiently up in the stands, watching as your boyfriend practiced his setting for Hoshiumi, Ushijima, and Romero below clearly working on something or another. You honestly loved watching your boyfriend practice, the look on his face was unlike anywhere else, the sheer joy and concentration in his expression clear to anyone who cared to look.

             It was very clear to you that the volleyball court was where Kageyama belonged, and where he felt most comfortable. However, these days you liked to think volleyball wasn’t the only thing that could make his face light up with joy, a feeling that was only confirmed as he glanced up after a successful toss to meet your eyes.

             It was a habit he’d formed fairly early on in your relationship, searching out your face in the crowd, almost as if seeking your approval, something in his face clearly asking ‘did you see that? Did you see what I did?’. The answer of course was always yes, because when he was playing you could hardly ever tear your eyes away from him, which was part of the reason the two of you had gotten together in the first place.

             However today wasn’t about volleyball, or enjoying watching him set for hours on end. No today was supposed to be about the two of you. It was an important date after all, Valentine’s Day, and one he’d promised to you. He clearly hadn’t forgotten, judging from the lovely bouquet of your favorite flowers that had arrived while you were at work, and as he caught your eye, he nodded to you in acknowledgment before turning to his teammates.

             You weren’t sure what exactly it was he said to them, but it had Hoshiumi letting out a surprised shout, and Ushijima raising a brow at your boyfriend. Romero, whose Japanese had improved a lot recently, simply clapped your boyfriend on the shoulder in a clearly congratulatory manner before gently pushing him off the court.

             Kageyama went, though not before meeting your eyes and gesturing that he would meet up with you in the lobby. You waved in acknowledgment, a wide affectionate smile on your face as you stood to leave, even if it would take him at least ten minutes to shower and dress.

             Your departure however was stopped by a shout from Hoshiumi. Curious, you turned to find all three of the players who’d been practicing with your boyfriend, along with the team captain Hirugami, Fukurou, all gathered below the bleachers clearly looking to speak with you.

             “How did you do it?” Hoshiumi asked you bluntly, his eyes wide with shocked awe as he stared up at you.

             “Do what?” you asked him, a little dumbfounded by the question. Hoshiumi was a bit of an odd one, and though you didn’t know him well you did know he was the kind of guy that was almost impossible to predict.

             “How did you convince Kageyama to leave practice early?” he asked, his voice getting louder and louder with each word, clearly baffled, “We can hardly ever get him to leave the building period, but somehow he’s ditching us early?”

             “Kageyama is very diligent,” Ushijima added thoughtfully, also looking a bit baffled as to why anyone would want to leave practice. The compliment was a high one though, especially from Ushijima who was honestly the epitome of diligence.

             “But I didn’t,” you told them, unable to help the fond smile that pulled at your lips as you realized that your boyfriend had clearly made special plans for the two of you, especially if he was leaving practice early, “Tobio was the one who told me what time I needed to be here. He insisted on making the plans for today.”

             Hoshiumi made a clearly disbelieving noise, but Romero who had been listening intently and quietly asking Hirugami for clarification at certain points simply nodded voicing, “Is the power of love, sí?”

             You flushed a bit at having it pointed out so bluntly, especially when Hoshiumi squawked in clear surprise and Hirugami started in on a coughing fit, clearly trying to cover his laugh. However, the beaming smile on your face no doubt gave you away.

             “Kageyama told me a couple weeks ago that he’d be leaving practice early today,” Hirugami told the group, once he’d recovered from his fit, “It surprised me and the coaches too. Apparently, he’s more of a romantic than I thought.”

             “I never thought I’d see the day Kageyama loved something as much or more than volleyball,” Hoshiumi voiced with a frown, “I’ve known that kid since high school, and never would’ve guessed he had room in his head or heart for anything more than the game. Guess you must be pretty special to him eh?”

             You didn’t get a chance to respond to the surprisingly perceptive question from the white-haired wing spiker, as your conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the man himself. He was dressed surprisingly nicely, in dark pants and a deep blue button down that no doubt had been picked for him by his older sister Miwa. He had a bit of an impatient look on his face, clearly suspicious as he glanced between you and the members of his team who’d gathered to speak to you.

             “Oy, come on, we’re going to be late,” he informed you bluntly, holding his hand out to you.

 “You look nice Tobio,” you acknowledged, immediately accepting his hand, smiling up at him, and enjoying the faint pale blush you could see across his cheeks. He was clearly a little flustered at the compliment, simply dipping his head, unable to collect himself to return the compliment just yet.

 However, he did carefully guide you out of the bleachers, ensuring you didn’t slip on the stairs because of the heels you’d worn to match your date night outfit. The soft, admiring look he gave you every time he looked at you more than enough of a return compliment, and reward for dolling yourself up for the night.

 You waved in acknowledgment as the team wished the two of you a good evening together. You stepped out hand in hand with your boyfriend ready to enjoy the evening and celebrate your love, one that he’d more than proved already, simply by taking the time off to be with you.

 He Vocalizes it to You (and only to you)

             “Tobio is something wrong?” you asked your boyfriend, deeply concerned with the way he’d been acting all evening. He’d been fidgety and restless, casting you furtive looks out of the corner of his eye that he clearly thought were subtle but were actually anything but.

             Usually when he got a bit agitated or when something was bothering him, you could get him to relax by cuddling up together on the couch and running your fingers through his hair as you watched something mindless on tv. Tonight however, even that surefire method had failed. You weren’t sure what was wrong, only that something was.

             Kageyama fidgeted for several seconds, clearly fighting with himself as you waited patiently. By this point in your relationship, you were well aware that sometimes the best thing to do with him when you wanted answers was to quietly wait him out and give him some time to get his thoughts together.

 You didn’t mind. The fact that Kageyama was able to communicate effectively with you at all was, according to some of his old high school senpai, a minor miracle. After all, verbal communication was one of the areas your boyfriend struggled with the most, and had led to quite a few misunderstandings and hurt feelings on both sides from the people he’d known over the years.

 He’d gotten much better though as he got older and a little more patient. It was something he credited Sugawara, Hinata, and Oikawa of all people with, which had always baffled you a bit. Oikawa himself had squawked rather indignantly when your boyfriend had mentioned as such in his hearing which, while hilarious, had done nothing to clear up your confusion.

 You were grateful for it nonetheless as it had certainly helped ease things in your relationship. The two of you had, had more than a few bumps along the way, especially at first, but these days you liked to think the two of you had a good system worked out and communicated rather well.

 “I love you,” your boyfriend blurted suddenly, the words pulling you from your reminiscence about the past rather abruptly and startling you a bit with their volume.

 “I love you too, Tobio,” you told him immediately, a little taken aback, but warmed nonetheless about his declaration of affection, even if the delivery hadn’t been all that smooth. He didn’t say it as often as some, and never where anyone else could overhear, too shy to do so, but when the two of you were home, he never failed to tell you and it warmed your heart every time.

 “You- you know I love you,” he continued hesitantly, peering up at you from where he’d been resting on your lap, his deep blue eyes clearly troubled as he asked, “right?”

 “Of course,” you answered, more than a bit baffled about what had brought this on all of a sudden, “And, you know I love you back, right?”

 “I know,” he murmured his voice quiet, but filled with affection as he peered up at you, his face full or adoration even if the worry hadn’t completely left his eyes.

 “I just wanted to make sure you knew,” he told you earnestly, his ears burning red, clearly embarrassed but determined to keep going despite that, “Because everyone says it isn’t obvious, and I just thought, maybe it might not be obvious to you.”

 “Everyone says?” you repeated a little baffled, before remembering the article that you and one of your friends had been laughing at over lunch earlier in the day. It was one of those stupid gossip rags that made up random news articles about celebrities. This particular one had proclaimed that it was clear your boyfriend wasn’t in love with you, because he was never affectionate or loving toward you when the two of you were in public.

 It had even gone on to proclaim this was because he was in love with another woman, and included a grainy picture of him hugging her as clear ‘evidence’. You’d nearly laughed yourself to tears seeing the photo as it was clear how incredibly uncomfortable he’d been, stiff as a board in the embrace. Even funnier was that you’d recognized the ‘other woman’ in the photo as his sister Miwa.

 You hadn’t given it a second thought other than to ask your boyfriend if the PR team of the Adlers was going to do anything about it. He’d immediately responded with an affirmative, and you’d seen the magazine had been forced to print a retraction and an apology just an hour or two later. You’d honestly forgotten about the incident completely, but apparently your boyfriend hadn’t.

 “Tobio, you know I don’t care about what anyone else says about our relationship right?” you told him gently, “As long as you know I love you, and I know you love me that’s all that matters. As long as you keep talking to me, keep telling me you love me that’s all I could ever need to know how you feel.”

 Kageyama still looked a bit concerned, the furrow that appeared whenever he was thinking hard about something still evident between his brows. You meant the words though, really and truly. You knew how hard they were for him to say, both because he struggled with communication in general and because he was shy about expressing his feelings. Which was why it meant the world to you that he went out of his way to say them to you. You didn’t need him to proclaim them to the world, him just saying them to you was more than enough.

 “I love you,” you told him earnestly, peering down at him, gently smoothing the crease in his brow until his face relaxed, into the soft look he reserved for you.

 “I love you too,” he told you sincerely, sitting up to press a sweet, lingering kiss to your lips.

 “Then that’s all you have to say,” you assured him, nuzzling your face into his affectionately, relishing in his presence, and basking both in his love and the words he saved for you and you alone.

[abouthoundsandlittlebirds]

Can you speak more to your Kirin and Kagura theory? Was Kagura sent to the future by Kirinmaru to protect her? If so, how does Riku know jack shit and think Rin is the mom? Or, if he’s purposefully lying to Towa about Rin being her mom, why would he do that? All I know is Riku looks hella sus whenever he’s with Towa, and especially when he mentions Rin.

Sorry for the late answer, anon, I was gathering information for your question. Surely I will share with you what I've thought so far, knowing that this is only an incomplete theory and not a certainty about what may happen in the future of Hanyo no Yashahime.

Since this post will be long and may contain spoilers I will add a cut, so keep reading if you don't mind it.

Recently I came across a theory that Osamu Kirin is one of Kirinmaru's offsprings, being this the reason why Kirinmaru could see the future through Osamu's eyes. Actually this kind of power was introduced to InuYasha OG show through Kanna's mirror and Byakuya's flying eyeball, allowing Naraku to see what they were seeing. We get to know about Osamu and Kirinmaru's connected view in episode 23 of Hanyo no Yashahime, where Osamu is looking at the sky at an airport rooftop(?) and saw the comet that comes to Earth every 470/500 years (conflicted translations in the videos I've watched). Shortly after this scene is over, we can see Kirinmaru also watching the same comet, even if it is only shown in the Reiwa period at that moment.

When I've first watched episode 22 and 23 of Hanyo no Yashahime I didn't give a second thought about those events, however now I recognize that they are VERY important to the storytelling. That is why episode 22 ended with the airport scene and episode 23 began with the continuation of this same scene.

There are three important things to notice with the airport event: The first is the connection between Osamu Kirin and Kirinmaru that I've mentioned above (and I am not the best choice to talk further about it, since it is a theory that belongs to another person); Second, Osamu Kirin thought that the comet could be seen by humans at the Reiwa Era, since as pointed out by Sota, the notice of the comet approaching the Earth's atmosphere is being spread through humans; and, the third one is that Osamu Kirin was actually waiting for somebody at the airport, since in the end of episode 22 he shows surprise to see the Higurashi family over there and chooses to make a comunication with Sota in order to catch information about Towa’s wellbeing and to do remarks about the comet instead of following his way.

Now, rewatching episode 15 that is when we first knew about the comet, Riku tells Kagome that every 500 years the comet approaches the Earth atmosphere and drops some fragments. Those fragments if not stopped by a powerful demon and by Meido Zangetsuha technic which is the only attack that can be used to definitively stop it (this note was stated by Jaken in episode 15 and is very important and the reason why InuYasha was kept alive, since he is the only one who can hold Tetsusaiga and summon it), will bring the age of destruction to Earth, the exact same thing that the Spirit of the Tree of Ages (also known as Treekyo) says that is going to happen in episode 4, planned by Sesshomaru and Kirinmaru. The first because he abdicated his title as Lord of the West and the second because he saw an opportunity in it to do as he wanted. We can see it through Sesshomaru's choice in InuYasha OG show and in the reaction of Kirinmaru when the comet appears in the Feudal Era soon after Sesshomaru's daughters were born.

Sesshomaru as the first born of Inu no Taisho was supposed to have heinreted the role of his late father as the ruler of the youkais of the West, that is why Toga left Tenseiga with the hidden power of Meidou Zangetsuha to Sesshomaru, which was the most powerful attack that Inu no Taisho had (perhaps because he believed that InuYasha wouldn’t survive many years with Kirinmaru hunting half-demons). However, Sesshomaru only released this power when Kagura died. In the episode 3 of InuYasha - The Final Act, Totosai says to Sesshomaru that something grew where Sesshomaru's heart was lacking, that is why Tenseiga reacted to his change of heart and was now ready to recieve the Meidou Zangetsuha. However, later on The Final Act, Sesshomaru gave this power to the Tetsusaiga, InuYasha's heinreted sword that the first born couldn't held, meaning that he couldn’t summon this power anymore even if he wanted. Even if Bakusaiga is a powerful weapon, only the Meidou Zangetsuha is able to fully erase the comet’s fragments, like we saw in episode 15 of Hanyo no Yashahime when InuYasha and Sesshomaru fought against it and in episode 22 where Toga and Kirinmaru destroyed it themselves in the past.

If we pay attention to Kirinmaru's reaction after the comet was destroyed in episode 15 we can see that he wasn't worried about the fragment being destroyed, even if it was his role alongside to Sesshomaru to make sure that the peace on the Earth should prevail. Yet, his place in that fight was taken by Sesshomaru and Sesshomaru's place was taken by InuYasha. Yet, in episode 23 the reaction of Kirinmaru about the comet fragment in Reiwa Era is quite the opposite, whatsoever. Kirinmaru seemed to be worried and angry to have to face the comet and he imediately went to InuKimi's place to know if the wheel of time moved and he even tried to gossip about the intentions of Sesshomaru with Akuru's pinwheel.

Knowing that Kirinmaru's intentions seems to face the comet himself, he needs Meidou Zangetsuha to destroy it in Reiwa Era. This seems to be the reason why he was kind of frustrated to know that Zero had broken Tenseiga. Since Tenseiga was the previous host of that technic, his intentions could be to return Meidou Zangetsuha to Sesshomaru's “useless weapon”, which means that he could get rid of InuYasha at least. However, with Tenseiga being broken and the comet approaching even more the Earth’s surface, he will have no choice but to spare InuYasha once more, and fight alonside with him.

By his actions, even if he put aside his plans of getting rid of half-demons, Kirinmaru is afraid of the prophecy of the Shikon no Tama about his death being true. That is why even if he thought that the Yashahimes were weak he still fought against them for a second time and killed Setsuna in the process. His problem with those girls is that they have Inu no Taisho's blood. The two Lords used to be pretty amiable with each other before Toga took a human as the mother of his second child, after being aware of the prophecy that a being that is neither human nor demon would kill Kirinmaru. Taking this action as a sign of treason in their alliance, Kirinmaru made Toga his enemy and would've fought against him if Inu no Taisho wasn't severely wounded as we saw in episode 21. Also, the events of this episode related to Toga's death would explain why Kirinmaru doesn't trust too much on Riku anymore, since his offspring couldn't arrive on time to save his enemy/friend's life. Riku must have sensed it too, because he went to Zero's side and openly betrayed his master in episode 24.

This lack of trust was the reason why Osamu Kirin was created. Kirinmaru needed a trustful subject. He didn’t trust too much in the Four Perils or in his sister. That is why he used Riku to deliver the medicinal herbs to Toga. It could be seen as a meanless job, yet the inefficiency of doing it had consequences. Riku now is no longer the first choice of Kirinmaru to do errands, meaning that he is indeed a pirate washed ashore like it was written in his introduction chart in episode 7.

We actually don’t know the reason or how longer Kirinmaru was sleeping before being waken up by Zero. What we know is that he lost his will to return to sleep when he knew that Sesshomaru had half-demons daughters and that InuYasha was alive and fathered a shi-hanyo. Soon after he knew this, Sesshomaru was introduced in his presence and offered help to kill InuYasha (thanks to him his brother’s life was spared).

If I may speculate over here, then my guess would be that Kirinmaru fell asleep after he heard that Sesshomaru was hunting InuYasha in order to obtain Tetsusaiga or when he learned that InuYasha was sealed by Kikyo’s sacred arrow. Kirinmaru doesn’t seem to be concerned about all the half-demons around, only with those who carries Inu no Taisho’s blood. We actually know that Zero was hunting half-demons, that is why Kirinmaru went to sleep and left the hard work for her to do. Even if Zero has no longer her powers, she could still get rid of half-demons, since Riku stated in episode 15 that Kirinmaru and Toga were the most powerful demons around 500 years ago, meaning that their bloodline is pretty exquisite.

Returning to the theory, after InuYasha and Kagome were sealed in the black pearl, Sesshomaru became the guardian of Izayoi’s tear. As said in episode 15 by Hosenki II, the black pearl is the only (actually easiest) way to go to Inu no Taisho’s resting place. Without it, Kirinmaru wouldn’t be able to reach InuYasha any longer and curiously Kirinmaru allowed Sesshomaru to become the pearl’s guardian.

Temporarily it should be a solved problem, but 4 years after Sesshomaru’s twins were born something may have happened that led Kirinmaru to doubt about his decision, being Yotsume a crucial proof of it.

When we first see Yotsume disguised as Sokyu in episode 1 of Hanyo no Yashahime, he tells Towa about a story that he heard ten years ago about a priestess called Kagome that time-travelled across the bone-eating-well located in Tokyo and alongside a half-demon called InuYasha she hunted demons. It could be a meanless information, if in the next scene we didn’t see a flashback of him in his original form watching Kagome, which seems to be at least 5 years earlier than the backstory he got to know, since that scene happened in the day that Root-Head attacked Kaede’s village, way before Moroha were born. Here then we have a mismatched speach. This means that even if Yotsume was watching Kagome that day, he didn’t know about her ability of time-travelling. So when Kagome were sealed with InuYasha in the black pearl, Kirinmaru didn’t know about her, since they were sealed soon after Moroha was born, meaning it must be more than 14 years ago.

The main question at this moment should be what happened in the four years after Kagome and InuYasha were sealed that led Yotsume to gather information about the origin of InuYasha’s wife. We can speculate as much as we want about it, but the main fact is that probably Osamu Kirin only time-travelled to the future ten years ago. But why? And how?

Whatever the reason for it, it is related to the forest fire that threw appart the twins and Rin becoming Zero’s shield. For four years Kirinmaru held back Zero, stopping her desire to kill Sesshomaru’s daughter. This action could be a proof of faith that Kirinmaru gave to Sesshomaru. Yet, this faith was broken and he decided to not give anymore protection to the twins’ life.

In episode 24 Zero tells Kirinmaru that the rainbow pearls are her tears and she is able to find it wherever and whenever she wants. It is a controversial saying, because in episode 15 she knew that the white and yellow pearls were with Sesshomaru’s daughters, yet she lost track of them inside the barrier that Jaken had casted soon as they were born. So at that time she wasn’t looking for the girls. And even if she could sense the presence of her tears, she was only able to see the girls when she learned how to use the spell of watching people’s dream/sleep, and this happened four years later, that is why when Homura set fire to the forest the twins weren’t inside a protective barrier as we see in episode 14, that was because Sesshomaru became Kirinmaru’s trusted subject and planned against his fellow. But how?

My guess is that this treason is connected to the black pearl. Something that we cannot see in naked eyes changed in the relationship of Kirinmaru and Sesshomaru. The first glimpse of doubt that Kirinmaru had about Sesshomaru was when Sesshomaru sealed InuYasha inside the black pearl. He didn’t doubt about Sesshomaru’s loyalty when he knew that he had half-demons daughters because they weren’t allies back then. They forged this alliance after Kirinmaru woke up and Sesshomaru offered help to kill InuYasha. And as it seems, it took four years for the trust to be broken.

At this time I’ll insert my Kagura theory.

After Sesshomaru sealed InuYasha and Kagome inside the black pearl, I believe he gave Kagura the pearl and told her to keep it safe. Izayoi’s tear was the assurance that his family would be safe. Yet, when he sensed that his family was in danger (probably after the fire in the woods) he sent Kagura to the future (probably to look after Towa and keep her safe over there, since he wasn’t surprised to know that Towa was alive) and decided to hide Setsuna among half-demons.

It is a fact that Sesshomaru’s daughters are half-demons (strong ones, to be honest), so Riku and Zero presumed that their mother is human even if she was underage, taking the close relationship Sesshomaru had with Rin. But if we recall episode 99 from InuYasha OG, Koga, that is a wolf demon and lives in a demon’s tribe, didn’t find it strange that Sesshomaru was travelling with the child Rin (that was 7/8 years old back then), and even took her as a love interest of Sesshomaru, showing that he knew little about humans and human x yokai interaction, quite different from those who knew about human life, like we see in episode 41 of InuYasha OG when Kagome, Sango and InuYasha showed horror about Koharu, a 13 years old girl that wanted to marry an 18 years old Miroku. Also, Kagura just like Riku and Osamu is only a puppet, an offspring created by the essence of a demon and the power of the Shikon no Tama. Even if she is said to be a demon, no one knows what kind of creature would be the children she had, specially with her creator being a half-demon himself.

Also, in episode 4 of Hanyo no Yashahime, after the Yashahimes met the Spirit of the Tree of Ages and killed Root-Head, Treekyo confronted Sesshomaru and said that his daughters denied her request and if he leaves Rin behind, the girl would never wake up again. Then he walks away from her and she says that it is also a way and perhaps the best choice. If we take Treekyo’s request to the Yashahimes we will know that the best choice she speaks of is related to stopping Kirinmaru from doing what he is aiming for. This means that after Sesshomaru knew that Towa, Setsuna and Moroha were fine, he dropped Rin in the backstage of his plan. For ten years (or even more) he worried about Rin in her sleeping state, however just when he found out that the girls were fine he changed his mind, meaning that something that was supposed to happen did not. Indeed Sesshomaru is still being protective over Rin, he even stopped his search for Akuru’s pinwheel in the moment he found it, to save Zero and Rin’s life as a consequence of the first rescue. However when she broke Tenseiga he didn’t think twice to kill her again, but still keeping a cold face that was hard to read.

I personally believe that when Sesshomaru gave his back to Rin and Treekyo at the end of episode 4, his plan changed and he then began his search for Akuru’s pinwheel that until then wasn’t a thing he was doing. We know that the pinwheel is connected to the wheel of time, so Sesshomaru’s intention is to change time or, perhaps, travel across time.

As we’ve seen in InuYasha OG show, only Kagome and InuYasha were able to time travel using the bone-eating-well. Back then Kagome had the Shikon no Tama (jewel and later fragments) and InuYasha had the black pearl. Then, in Hanyo no Yashahime only Towa, Setsuna and Moroha were able to time travel through the Tree of Ages and each one had a rainbow pearl. Taking those facts as an example, it wouldn’t be too impossible if only those possessing some kind of jewel/tear would be able to use this ability. The other possibility would be the pinwheel of Akuru and perhaps this is the way used by Osamu Kirin to arrive in the Reiwa Era.

Considering the concern that Kirinmaru had about the Wheel of Times moving and Sesshomaru’s search, probably Kirinmaru is hiding something related to the past/future from everyone else, except Osamu Kirin. And he is afraid of this hidden secret being revealed.

Taking Naraku’s arc as an example and how Sunrise is repeating some backstories of InuYasha OG into Hanyo no Yashahime, it wouldn’t be weird if later on Osamu Kirin is revealed as the incarnation of Kirinmaru’s heart, just like Akago was Naraku’s heart. This would explain why Kirinmaru isn’t afraid to face the Yashahime as he was when he heard about their existence. Definitively he is afraid of the prophecy, but he isn’t being cautelous while facing the girls. He showed more concern about the Wheel of Time changing than fighting the Yashahimes after being backstabbed by Riku in the place where the Inu no Taisho’s blood would be stronger. If we go back to InuYasha OG show, we will see the same kind of reaction in Naraku. He would confidently fight against InuGroup whenever his heart was far away and avoyd as much as he could a confrontation when Akago and/or Onigumo were near.

Using the information of Yotsume and the timeline drawn so far, the travel of Osamu Kirin would match with the information gathered about Kagome’s backstory, giving Kirinmaru the false hope that the future is a safe place for his heart to be, meaning that Osamu left him when Kirinmaru had a confirmation of Sesshomaru’s betrayal, almost 10 years ago.

Now, if we return to the airport scene where we see Osamu Kirin looking at the sky in episode 22, we notice that he watches an airplane land and then he glances at the comet for a short time. Then he gives his back to the sky and starts walking away, imitating five people close to him that too started to move away from the rooftop, when he notices Sota with his daughter, Mei, a few steps far from him. He shows surprise and go to Sota, starting a conversation about Towa’s absense from school (and showing no concern about it) and ending with the comet out loud observation.

For me it is a proof that he was waiting for someone to arrive over there. My guess would be Kagura. Also, when we see Osamu Kirin in the classroom in episode 4, he tells Towa to pay attention to the lesson, otherwise she will miss the context, and then he tells her to read the sentence in page 23 that says: “I am going to visit Kyoto”.

It could’ve been an Easter Egg, because in episode 23 he is actually waiting someone at the airport that probably is coming from Kyoto, because Kyoto is a prefecture located in the Kansai region, and Kansai according to the research I did is located in the West region of Japan, that in the Hanyo no Yashahime is a land that belongs to Sesshomaru (Lord of the West), meaning that the person/creature that is arriving in that airport is somehow connected to Sesshomaru and seeing that Jaken, Rin, Towa and Setsuna are in the Feudal Era and A-Un wouldn’t fit into a plane, it can only be Kagura.

To finish this theory that is already long enough and explain how Kagura and Osamu Kirin are connected, I must speculate even more and say that this connection happened because neither Kagura nor Osamu knew the backstory of each other and they might have taken interest for each other as an equal (two incarnations/demons). Also, probably the forest that Towa said that she grew up in episode 21 is located in the West, that is why Kagura was in that place and visits Tokyo, because Tokyo is where Kaede’s Village is located in the Feudal Era. My guess would be that using Towa’s age as a guide, she is looking for her daughter in high schools. Osamu Kirin being Towa’s teacher could’ve contacted her and is waiting her at the airport since he was the one that summoned Kagura over there. However, I believe that he is using Towa as a bait.

With Kirinmaru watching everything that Osamu is doing/seeing, he is quite aware of the fact that the comet is arriving in the Reiwa Era and also knew how Towa looked like before meeting her in person. Now, knowing that someone in the Reiwa Era that is not her family (the Higurashi) is looking for her, Kirinmaru is curious enough to see who this person could be since she is probably connected to Sesshomaru and if he can’t use her as a bait to hold Sesshomaru back, then he imagines that she is hiding something that would be useful to him.

As I said before, this is only a theory/speculation that I did using the anime info (and my imagination) to elaborate. All the real events I have tagged the place it came from (the episodes number) and gave them my interpretation. Those events without the official reference tagged should not be taken as a reliable source.

I thank you so much anon for this ask, it made me really happy to be able to share my thoughts with you! Again, sorry for my late answer and be free to say whatever you want, it would be a pleasure to answer you back!

P.S.: Sorry for the typos, I don't use Google Translator and my English ain't that good.

[mrs-hatake]

Dearly Departed

Pairings: Kakashi x F!Reader, Onesided! Dabi x F!Reader

Warning: ooc characters, mentions of blood, dead body and major character death.

A/N: reposting this since tumbler wouldn’t let my posts appear. 

this is what happens when you watch the scene of Carla’s death on repeat and listen to Eren’s YAMEROOO!!

also, I intentionally wrote dabi with his white hair and kept his chosen name.

as always, big thanks for the lovely @runeterrankhaleesi​ for proof reading this fic!

The Sunday market was buzzing like a group of honeybees in their hive despite it being so early in the morning. The people were cheery and had a smile as they presented their products, selling or trading it with their clients.

Y/N was looking at a basket of black berries, trying to determine which one looked the juiciest to purchase for her infamous black berry cake, when she felt a heavy arm snake itself around her shoulders.

“Morning, doll.” Greeted Dabi with a sleazy smile, his body reeked of alcohol and sweat.

Rolling her eyes, Y/N shrugged the arm off her shoulder and pointed at the pile of berries for the farmer to bag up for her. “Two dozens please.” She politely requested.

After she had paid and placed the bag of berries into her basket, she made her way to her next destination. “Whatcha baking today?” asked Dabi as he hooked his finger around a lock of hair that managed to fall out of Y/N’s bun and twirl it around his finger.

“Black berry cake.” She replied, seeming unaware of the finger in her hair as she glanced at the pile of wild mushrooms.

“For me? Awwww, you shouldn’t have!”

“You wish.” snorted Y/N, “It’s for the bakery. You want it? Then you have to pay for it.” She had a cheeky smirk as she held out her open palm to Dabi.

“Oh, I’ll pay.” A wicked grin grew on his lips, “But not in money.” He wiggled his eyebrows and Y/N immediately punched his chest.

“Be glad Kakashi isn’t here, otherwise he would’ve offered you to the Titans.”

It was Dabi’s turn to snort, “Please, what can a teacher do other than lecture me to death?” He then rolled his azure eyes. “Besides, he won’t stand a chance against someone in the Garrison Regiment.”

Y/N just scoffed as she continued shopping for her bakery and what she needed for dinner later that night.

In the middle of their banter, someone from the Garrison Regiment with blonde hair and kohled eyes waved Dabi over for a quick game of poker. The blue eyed young man waved back, pinched Y/N’s cheek despite her being older than him and stole an apple from her before running off to play a couple of rounds with his buddies. No doubt getting shit faced again.

Y/N shook her head. Although Dabi had the honor to work with the Survey Corps thanks to his father’s high ranked position and insane amount of power that he held, Dabi turned down his father and signed himself up with an easy going, albeit lazy, department.

Though, Y/N didn’t blame Dabi. His father was a horrible man and was the reason for most of Dabi’s burns on his body. He resented his father due to his mistreatment towards his family, especially Dabi’s mom who ended up hanging herself after unbarring the guilt for pouring boiling water onto her youngest child.

Kakashi and Y/N had known Dabi most of their lives, what with Dabi being Kakashi’s former student about ten years ago, they knew that Dabi was attached to them even though he refused to admit it.

Though, in recent years, there was a strain in Dabi and Kakashi’s relationship due to the younger of the two developing a not-so-innocent crush on Y/N. He couldn’t help it. She was kind, strong and brave. She was one of the few people who stood up to his father, Enji had tried to drag Dabi back to Wall Sina after he found out that Dabi turned down the Survey Corps’ offer after all the strings he pulled through.

Having had enough, the trio had all moved to Wall Maria and settled down in Shiganshina district.

The trio’s bond grew stronger with each passing day and they almost resembled a dysfunctional family. However, that bond almost broke when Kakashi had finally managed to propose to Y/N and Dabi had stormed off, falling off the radar for days.

Kakashi and Y/N had searched for him in all of the places they thought they could find him. It took them almost an entire week to locate his exact location and the first thing Y/N had done when she spotted Dabi’s white tuft of hair sprawled on some woman’s breast inside a small bar that reeked of vomit and phlegm, was to give him a well-deserved slap.

The tears which had gathered in the corner of her eyes did not fall as she glared at him.

“How dare you.” She spat.

Before Dabi could have the chance to apologize, Y/N turned and stormed out of the bar. Not wanting to hear any of Dabi’s pathetic excuses.

Dabi’s blue eyes met Kakashi’s grey ones. “I’m sorry.” Was all that he could offer to the older man who Dabi once saw as a man he could respect and admire.

Kakashi just sighed and nodded with his head to follow after Y/N.

“Just know that she barely managed to get two hours of sleep each night and had to close the shop the past week to go look for you. You owe her.” said the silver haired man. Dabi just lowered his head in shame.

Hours later when Y/N had served dinner for everyone, Dabi stared at her with hopeful eyes as he wanted to take advantage of dinner time to apologize to the one person he loved more than himself, seeing as she had been avoiding him throughout the day.

Though the hope in his eyes diminished when she didn’t sit at her usual chair, instead going up the stairs.

Casting a questioning glance at his former teacher, Kakashi simply grunted. “Roof.”

Y/N was leaning against the edge of the rooftop, her head tilted upwards to gaze at the million stars littering the ink black night sky.

In the years that Dabi had known Y/N, he never knew that the older woman would be at the rooftop whenever she was upset. Guess there were a lot of things to learn about Y/N, and that Kakashi and Y/N were meant to be together.

His mind had told him, repeatedly, that he wasn’t right for Y/N. That he didn’t know much about her, other than the fact that she was his savior. He had just followed her around like some lost puppy and clung to her like a child would to his mother.

Now that he thought about it, the two never had any instances which allowed for their love to blossom. Y/N protected him. Y/N was kind to him. Y/N supported him but she didn’t love him. At least not the same way she loved Kakashi.

“I’m sorry, Y/N.” Dabi apologized with a quiet tone of voice as he hesitantly approached the older woman and stood a few feet away from where she was standing.

“I was wrongfully jealous-of Kakashi and of the love you both had for each other.” He then ran his burnt fingers through his white hair. “I guess I always thought that I would be the one to marry you. And I thought the feeling was mutual but I was wrong.” sighed Dabi.

Y/N, however, said nothing as she stared down at the village below.

“It was childish of me to run away, I admit that. But I was hurt and felt betrayed. I wasn’t aware of how you felt for each other. I did sneak my way into your little world, after all.”

“Y/N…Please, I’m so sorry.” Dabi pleaded and slid his hand to cover Y/N’s smaller one.

“I’m not mad.” She finally spoke. Her voice sounded rough, an aftermath of not speaking to anyone throughout the day, not even to Kakashi. She sounded tired and Dabi bit his charred lip, well aware that he was the cause for her distress.

“I’m just disappointed of how you reacted.” She faced him and Dabi’s breath caught in his throat at the expression on Y/N’s beautiful face. She looked frightened, troubled and on the verge of crying. Dabi wanted to punch himself.

“You took off without saying a word. I waited the whole night for you to return and when you didn’t, I went to look for you because I thought you were in trouble!” She choked through the tears.

Dabi wanted to inform her that there was no way any harm could come his way as he was very strong and could protect himself but the inner voice in his head advised him against that, and instead, opted to listen to Y/N’s teary rant. He was itching to hold her in his burnt arms. He longed to bury his nose into her hair to somehow sedate her and ease her anxieties. He wanted to do whatever he could to earn her forgiveness.

“Promise me.” She said through clenched teeth. “Promise me that you won’t ever do something stupid like that ever again! Promise that you won’t leave me.”

Staring deeply into her eyes, Dabi’s expression became serious as he whispered. “I promise.”

Dabi had expected that he was forgiven, that he would receive a hug from Y/N but all that he had received in return was a nod of her head and a soft, “Good night, Dabi.” Before she made her way inside.

He watched her go and he wasn’t surprised to see Kakashi standing by the doorway.

“I’m holding you to that promise.” The teacher stated with an air of finality after he followed after his fiance.

And ever since that incident, Dabi and Y/N were stronger than ever. Even Dabi’s respect for Kakashi was rebuilt from the ground up and his admiration for his former teacher had returned. Though, the cheeky bastard would still tease the silver haired man about stealing Y/N the second she grew bored of him. His jabs didn’t phase them. They knew that they loved each other too much to ever grow tired of the other person.

Even on their wedding day, the love they had in their eyes were exclusive for themselves and nobody else. Dabi was there, in the distance cheering them on and ignored the throbbing ache in his heart as they exchanged vows and kissed. Perhaps that was the reason why Dabi grew addicted to playing poker and drinking. Y/N, naturally, did not approve of such a lifestyle but as long as he returned home then it was all right.

“That’s all for today?” asked the fisherman when he spotted Y/N make her way towards the exit of the Sunday market as he washed his fish to place on display.

“ M’fraid so!” She giggled at the old man.

“Better let me know when you’re done with that cake! My wife’s been on my back nagging me to buy her one since last week!” He imitated the way his wife spoke and Y/N smothered her laugh behind the back of her hand, gently shaking her head at the old man. She wondered if that’s how she and Kakashi would be like when they were older.

“I’ll see you arou-”

KRAAAAAAKK!

A sudden crack of lightning appeared which illuminated the sky into a blinding yellow color that was then followed by a gust of wind that was unbearably warm.

Y/N had fallen into the ground at the sudden commotion, her groceries scattered around her.

And as instant as the lightning had appeared, a dark shadow hung above them and Y/N tore her eyes from the scab wounds on her hands that protected her fall to stare at the giant wall in front of her. And what she saw stole her breath away. Literally.

There, in the distance, stood a Titan. It’s expressionless face gazed down at them. Although its face was void of emotions, Y/N could’ve sworn that it was silently judging them. As if to determine which punishment was suitable for their crimes. What crimes had they committed? She didn’t know.

Within seconds, the Titan’s fist came down on the wall and life returned to the village as screams of anguish filled the open air.

Y/N stared with unseeing eyes at the madness before her.

Living in the inner walls, she never really feared the Titans, almost didn’t believe in their existence due to the tranquility of her village. But ever since she had moved to Shiganshina and had seen groups of priests preaching about their demise and humanity’s downfall, she would toy with the idea that they might be attacked by the monsters one day- just to humor herself. She never believed that that would actually come, especially so soon.

It was the crash of the boulder landing on the market behind her which smothered the screams of the shop owners and buyers, did Y/N snap out of her daze. Turning around, she was greeted with the horrendous sight of blood splattered all over the ground, limbs and intestines could be vividly seen.

Y/N’s eyes rapidly filled with tears as she covered her mouth to prevent the scream from erupting.

Just as she stood up on her wobbly feet, she heard someone screech that the Titans had breached the wall.

Horrified and having a difficult time believing what was happening, Y/N quickly steadied herself and ran towards her house. She had to go and save Kakashi. She had to let him know that the wall had been breached and the Titans had invaded. They needed to take all their required documents to return to their home village. They had to-

Coming to a slow stop, Y/N was stupefied at the sight before her.

What once used to be a row of two story houses was nothing but a pile of wood and stone.

“No.” She heard herself whisper.

And in a daze, as if being pulled by a magnet, she made her way towards her house; the third building on the right with a sandy colored brick wall.

But her house was no longer where it stood.

Brick, debris and fallen clothing that she had personally hung this morning before heading to the Sunday market all lay on the ground, covered in blood and dirt.

Cautious and frightened, she slowly made her way to the biggest pile and began to dig, praying that she won’t find the dead body of her husband, her beloved, Hatake Kakashi. He had to be alive. They had a long journey ahead of them. They dreamed of having children of their own, of opening a school for those unfortunate children of fallen soldiers from Survey Corps. It’s ludicrous to even imagine Kakashi dead, his lifeless eyes staring at her.

“Y/N.”

The scratchy call of her name urged her to dig faster and deeper and her heart dropped to her stomach when she spotted Kakashi’s grey hair covered in dirt. Hurriedly, she removed most of the stone and debris covering his upper body but she could do nothing about the wood that had fallen on his legs.

“Y/N.” Kakashi rasped again and she desperately tried not to break down and cry in horror.

“Go.” He coughed. “Save..yo-yourself.”

But his words fell on deaf ears as Y/N perilously tried to pull Kakashi out from the pile of wood.

In the distance, a large looking Titan was making its way towards their house but its presence was only acknowledged by Kakashi as Y/N was busy trying to get him out. And he felt his heart sore at her dedication and loyalty. At her unfaltering love. But there was no way that the two of them could survive the Titan that was getting closer by the second.

Kakashi had woken up that morning by playful kisses from his wife that turned into a quick session of love making before she had to bathe and head to the market to buy the ingredients she wanted for tomorrow’s bake sale while he stayed at home to grade his students homework.

He was in the middle of complimenting a rowdy and loud child who had convinced himself that he was not suitable for school and would be better off joining the military when Kakashi had heard the sudden crack in the sky. His house rumbled and his teacup crashed to the floor. Just as he was about to lean down to retrieve it, the walls around him crumbled.

When he came to, he was nauseated by the dead bodies and blood splatter that covered his neighborhood. Gone were the colorful flowers that him and his neighbors had spent years growing.

And when Kakashi spotted his wife with terror written on her face, he already knew of his fate. His legs felt too numb and his abdomen burned, his mind screamed at him that he was a lost cause but his heart had a small flicker of hope to survive. But that was pushed to the back of his mind the second he heard something snap in the distance and he weakly turned his head and spotted a Titan coming towards them. Its hideous flesh was an image that Kakashi could never forget.

“Y/N, STOP BEING SO STUPID AND RUN!” Snapped Kakashi in desperation.

“NO! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? I’M GOING TO SAVE YOU!” screamed Y/N as an endless waterfall of tears streamed down her dirt-caked cheeks.

Kakashi would’ve growled in frustration at Y/N’s stubbornness had he not been so weak. He loved his wife dearly, even when she was being hot headed as they were about to die.

“Y/N.” He choked. “Please.”

And, as if becoming aware of her surroundings, she stopped what she was doing and spotted the Titan that was just down the block. And Kakashi knew. Kakashi knew that Y/N was conscious of the situation at hand; she either had to save herself and leave Kakashi behind or they will both get eaten by the Titan. And knowing the love of his life, Kakashi knew that Y/N would choose the latter.

“Kakashi.” She called for him and his heart skipped a beat, “I love you.” she gave him a broken smile and he wanted to cry in anguish. If only…

“Have no fear, your hero is here!” And in came Dabi, zooming into the area with his ODM gear. And, for once in his life, Kakashi was grateful for his appearance.

“Dabi!” Y/N cried, as if an angel had descended from heaven to rescue them.

He ruffled her hair as he smugly approached the fallen house to help Kakashi from under the rubble.

“Go.” Kakashi whispered. “My legs have been crushed and I’ve bled too much. I’ll only hold you back.” And as if to prove his point, Kakashi coughed and a splatter of blood landed on Dabi’s boots.

“But,” Dabi, who was just as stubborn as his wife, frowned at him, almost glaring. “How could you leave her?”

“Remember….Th-The promise.” And Dabi understood what Kakashi meant.

Kakashi had to leave Y/N but Dabi couldn’t as he made a promise to the both of them and he never broke a promise.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered through held back tears. He was scared to lose someone he considered a father figure. Even when he snatched Y/N away from him, Dabi never truly hated Kakashi.

“Don’t be.” Kakashi coughed. “I’m the…one who’s sorry.”

“Please hurry!”

With the final exchange of a silent message through their eyes, Dabi promising to take care of Y/N and Kakashi telling him to remind Y/N how much he loves her, Dabi took off.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait, what are you doing?” Y/N yelled indignantly, “What about Kakashi?”

“Let’s go, Y/N. He’ll only slow us dow- ” He was met with a slap.

“Fuck. You.”

Y/N bypassed Dabi to rescue Kakashi herself when she froze in place.

The Titan had arrived and it was digging through their house. Its mouth began to water when it spotted Kakashi’s disabled body and eagerly picked it up.

Time moved slowly as Y/N silently watched as the Titan brought Kakashi towards its wide open mouth, ignoring as Dabi tugged at her arm for them to escape.

When Y/N didn’t budge, Dabi was left with no choice but to pick Y/N up and sling her over his shoulder and run.

Despite the distance, she could spot the wetness on Kakashi’s cheeks and the small and apologetic smile that slowly stretched across his lips. “I love you.” He mouthed.

And, in a blink of an eye, the Titan’s teeth chomped down Kakashi’s body.

He didn’t scream because he refused to give such pleasure to the creature.

Kakashi could see through his hazy eyes as Dabi continued to run with Y/N slung over his shoulder. He held out until Dabi was able to use his ODM gear to carry them out of harm’s way and into safety.

“Take me with-” And the Titan’s teeth closed down on his neck, ending his words and his life.

[letterstomilen]

i discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)

Childe/Zhongli, Alternate Universe (read part 2 here) When Childe's younger sister tells him about the volunteer at the library, he does not make the connection between that and his new favorite ASMR YouTuber, Rex Lapis.

Childe has a very effective method of getting through college. His little sister, who’s caught him making coffee at three in the morning on more than one occasion the past week alone, would beg to differ. 

“You’re the best older brother,” she starts off, and he’s sure she’s trying to convince herself more than him at this point, “but you need to fix your sleeping habits.” Then, because she’s his little sister, she’d flash him a smile and pat his shoulder reassuringly.

(The comment is not lost on him though. He understands his sleeping situation will eventually wear him down if it hadn’t already, but he believes if he’ll drink a coffee every morning and a Monster every night, he’ll get through three days. By the third day, he’ll hardly be coherent but that doesn’t matter because he’ll conk out for the next twelve hours and then repeat.)

“Don’t worry, Tonia,” he says, trying to sound as reassuring as possible as he contemplates whether it’s worth it or not to swallow a pill of 5-hour energy with his morning coffee. “Once break ends, I’ll get back to normal.”

“You said that six seasons ago.”

Childe frowns, trying to remember if his sleeping schedule was this dysfunctional last year. “Huh?”

“The Walking Dead seasons,” Tonia clarifies, as if she’s not twelve years old and the show is for grown adults. He thinks. He hasn’t checked Commonsensemedia ever since La Signora labeled him as a “helicopter parent” and his Netflix tab has been playing How to Get Away with Murder as background noise for the past few weeks.

Isn’t it a show about zombies though? Tonia’s sheepish smile tells it all, because it’s the same exact guilty look he had when he got caught red-handed as a kid.

(Once he remembers later, Childe promises himself, he’ll check out The Walking Dead.)

“Oh. Well. I have a lot of shows to catch up on, you know. Not to mention a ton of my professors gave me reading for over the break.”

A half lie. They did give him a lot of reading because each professor assumed that their classes were his only one, and with seven days left, he still has a textbook worth of reading to go through. But there are no shows that Childe would sacrifice his precious sleep for. As a matter of fact, he would love to sleep. He’s spent the majority of his classes back in high school sleeping and faking attention, saving his grade at the last minute — it was quite the extreme sport really, if he says so himself.

Whenever he tries to sleep recently, his thoughts run at several hundred miles per hour, and he spends several hours staring at the ceiling before succumbing to the computer at his desk and watching trashy movies. At this point, he must have gone through the entire romance comedy list on Netflix. (Not a proud point in his life but if anybody ever wanted him to give a list of best to worst romance comedy movies, he now has one.)

Tonia, on the other hand, isn’t incredibly convinced.

Admittedly, the excuse was lame. Also, he can’t easily lie to his little sister, who’s far shrewder than he takes her for at times.

“You never start your reading in advance. You like to speed read it right before your class or watch a five-minute video on the chapters while your teachers take attendance. But that’s… uh, ‘a bad work ethic.’” Tonia looks immensely proud of herself as she says this, finishing it off with, “Zhongli told me that.”

“Zhongli?” he repeats, trying to remember if that’s one of her classmates or some stranger that’s hoping to kidnap his sister.

“The guy that volunteers at the library sometimes. He recommended me a loot of good books to read, but he talks like an old man.”

“How old?” Childe can tell she’s enjoying this — talking about her new friend at the library that he’ll probably have to run a background check on.

“Like he’s in his sixties or something. But he looks… actually, he looks your age! And he’s a student too. I told him all about you.”

Well, that doesn’t sound very reassuring coming from the mouth of a twelve-year-old. He’s not sure if that translates to his social security number, his current dilemma, or just that he’s her older brother.

“Like all of the stories you told me when I was a kid. And then when Lumine came to pick me up, she stayed to show him pictures of you too.”

“Of course she did,” he mumbles, ruffling her hair. One of these days he’s going to move without telling his classmates and the twins won’t enter his apartment unannounced. (But Tonia adores their company and the stories they tell her far too much for him to actually do it. But that doesn’t mean he’s above making threats when they tell his little sister about the bet he made about white-out and how it could dye hair. The jury is still out on this one.) “She’s just mad because I get away with it and she doesn’t. But don’t do it yourself. It’s a bad habit,” he adds, remembering that he should at least try to be a good influence on his younger sister when he can.

“Okaaay,” she says unconvincingly, before shaking her hair and running off to her room with lunch he prepared for her.

Watching her close the door and no doubt continue her binge of The Walking Dead, he takes out his phone and texts Lumine.

 Childe

12:35

ur a horrible influence on tonia

 Childe

12:35

and whos this ZHONGLI

 Childe

12:35

also is twd appropriate for 12 y/os

 Twin 1

12:37

a normal person would say hi

 Twin 1

12:37

also 1. me n aether watched it when we were 12 so probably and 2. some guy at the library that also goes to our school

 Well. At least he’s somebody they know. But The Walking Dead?

 Childe

12:38

thats not very convincing

 Childe

12:38

also dont ppl DIE? get BITTEN???? what if she gets nightmares

 Twin 1

12:39

isnt she 12 r u telling me u weren’t watching R rated movies at 12

 Childe

12:42

thats very different from a 10 season long show that is hailed as “one of the greatest horror shows in history” and “paved the way for post-apocalyptic horror”

 Twin 1

12:42

well if she has trouble sleeping she could always watch asmr. that helps me during midterms idk

 Childe

12:42

whats asmr

 Childe

12:43

asking for my sister btw

 Twin 1

12:44

A feeling of well-being combined with a tingling sensation in the scalp and down the back of the neck, as experienced by some people in response to a specific gentle stimulus, often a particular sound.

 Childe

12:45

wtf?

 Twin 1

12:45

people on the internet make random sounds or just talk into a mic n its supposed to be very relaxing. how have u never found out abt this?????

 Childe

12:45

idk the only thing on my youtube recommended r greatest stunts and chapter review videos

 Twin 1

12:47

… makes sense

 Twin 1

12:47

check out rex lapis’ channel he looks like ur type

 Childe

12:48

i thought we were talking about my sister????

 Twin 1

12:50

[message screenshots.jpg]

 Twin 1

12:50

ya she told me everything

 Twin 1

12:50

have fun i need to convince aether to not commit arson bc of his TA

 Childe

12:51

hope he does it

He opens his Youtube app, typing in Rex Lapis and expecting Lumine’s suggestion to be a joke. Despite them being friends for nearly two years now, she’s never made any indication of knowing his type. And he’s sure he’s never been that vocal about it either, only shooting appreciative looks at history majors and paying more attention than necessary to the TA for ‘Tradition of Justice and Law.’ (It’s unfortunate that those short-term crushes never led to anything, but maybe that’s for the better seeing that Childe has never understood the appeal of relationships.)

It is an ASMR channel, judging by the ASMR playlist he finds as he scrolls through the account. The icon shows no face — only a microphone — which leaves him skeptical. Most of the video titles belong in a petrology lecture as well, which makes him even more convinced that it’s a joke. He finds a few readings of ancient literature and decides to pick ‘I discuss the classification of igneous petrology as you fall asleep during my lecture (PART 1) (ASMR)’ because that’s exactly what he needs. (Not the very moment — but ten hours later when he’s in the bed memorizing the pattern of his ceiling wondering why he stole from his fifth grade teacher’s candy jar during lunch.)

When Childe opens the video, he damn near gasps.

The man in the video is exactly his type. His eyes are a soft amber color, framed with long lashes, and it’s almost enough for him to lose his dignity and message Lumine a long thank you text about how she is always right and he’ll pay for her coffee for the following week.  He smiles at the screen, albeit a little sheepishly, dark hair framing his face with a long ponytail that Childe can’t see the end of. On his right ear, there are a pair of earrings with a single feather that brush against his neck when he moves his head.

Even before he speaks, Childe is mesmerized, sure he’ll already memorize his features from the curve of his nose to the way he tilts his head, displaying the expanse of his neck.

Really — he reminds him of actors in historical dramas, the way he sits regally, and how he speaks. His voice is low and slow as he adopts a careful manner of speaking, leaning into the mic.

“I’m Rex Lapis, and I’ll be discussing igneous petrology today, which is part one in a three-part petrology series. I apologize in advance, seeing that my knowledge is limited compared to many petrologists out there but my friend Venti said that many of my viewers are here for my voice, so I’m very excited to start today’s video.”

Holy shit.

For the following week, Childe learns less about petrology, the philosophy of economics, and historical revisionism concerning matters of war and more about Rex Lapis, who is not in love with his voice but often finds himself in the middle of long tangents without explanations. His favorite book series is the Legend of the Lone Sword, which he says he’ll look forward to reading out loud for the channel. (Childe replays that part of the video again and again, captivated by his excitement as he mindlessly taps the mic while he speaks, his tangent cutting off mid-word — as it usually does, much to his dismay.)

His guilty obsession is not lost on Tonia, who realizes that instead of drinking Monster every night he’s been engrossed in his phone completely, often not noticing her or when the water starts bubbling. But because his sleeping schedule has been alleviated, she says nothing until Lumine comes over as she always does, not forgetting their weekly schedule of watching trashy movies while leeching off of Childe’s food.

Because he doesn’t trust the twins with the kitchen — even if they can cook — she instead spends her time sitting next to Tonia and spreading more of her anti-Childe propaganda while they wait. This usually involves Tonia occasionally calling out Childe’s name and asking, “Is that true?” or “Did you really do that?”

This time is different though.

Worried that Lumine finally decided to show Tonia a video of last semester’s presentation, he leans over, looking at the computer screen.

And he’s wrong. Unfortunately. Maybe it should’ve been his presentation because even if he botched it and accidentally projected his work process — screaming notes and all — to the class instead of his actual presentation, it would’ve been better than the two of them watching one of Rex Lapis’ videos together.

The ‘I read Erosion: Essays of Undoing to you as it rains outside’ video, to be specific, which is where Rex Lapis is embarrassed by Venti mid video when asked if this was his idea of a date with a lover. (And then it ends with Rex Lapis asking for video suggestions from the commentors, his face still flushed from the previous comments.)

Oh God — oh fuck.

“So he is your type,” Lumine says, her expression a bit too smug for his liking. Tonia looks half awake, scrolling through articles as the video plays, more interested in ‘Top 10 Glenn Rhee Moments’ than Childe’s crush. Her expression is a bit guilty as she does so — she’s biting her lip and avoiding his gaze, but he assumes that it’s just because they went through his YouTube history.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that statement,” he retorts, but the YouTube history she pulls up once Tonia hands the computer over to her says it all. (It’s quite mortifying, really — even Tonia is giving him a look, but it’s not as bad as Lumine’s shit eating grin.)

“Well… he does have a nice voice,” Childe finally says, thinking that perfectly encompasses his most recent obsession. Because he does have a nice voice — it’s soothing and speaks to him without really speaking to him directly. (The good looks are a bonus, he assures himself. A fantastic bonus, but a bonus nonetheless.)

“He does,” Tonia confirms, smiling toothily up at him, and he resists the urge to ruffle her hair with Lumine staring at him so skeptically. “But I don’t understand much of what he’s saying. He — heh — talks like an old man.”

“Don’t worry, Tonia, your brother likes him because he’s attractive,” Lumine informs her, now fast forwarding on one of Rex Lapis’ videos. “Did you know that he lives nearby?”

“Huh?”

The knife he’s holding clatters to the floor, and the two look down and back up at him with— hold on, why does it feel like they’re in on a secret he doesn’t know about?

“Yeah, he’s working on his grad thesis I think… Aether told me it was about something on history,” she muses. “That’s why I recommended his channel to you. He’s a bit of a celebrity in his department.” Childe’s sure his jaw dropped now, trying to maintain his facial expression as he takes out a new knife to chop up the onions.

“Really,” he tries to say as calmly as possible, wondering how he should accompany Aether to his lectures without trying to seem as obvious as possible. His voice is a bit shaky he realizes but he can’t quite make the connection between Rex Lapis and actual graduate student that goes to his university.

“Yeah, actually…” Lumine is definitely pretending to think now, enjoying this far too much. “He—”

“It’s Zhongli!” his little sister yells excitedly, practically jumping up and down at this point as if she won the lottery. “Zhongli runs an ASMR channel and he talks just like that in real life! Right, Lumine?”

“Yeah.”

Childe sighs, holding a hand up to his face. The realization that he’s been obsessed with the same guy that hears about every stupid thing he did secondhand is way too much — and the fact that he’s been listening to his voice every night before he went to bed the past week is way too much. He’s sure his face is redder than before judging by the amused expressions on Lumine’s and Tonia’s faces — really, they’re mirror images of each other right now.

Not for the first time, Childe swears to himself that he’ll never let her into his apartment without signing a contract ever again.

[that-one--book-nerd]

because i believe in you (zukka)

this was originally posted to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25519252

here’s a zukka thing I wrote! enjoy! :)

Sokka can’t pinpoint the exact moment he started feeling nervous around Zuko. Which is weird, and Sokka can’t figure out what his deal is.

Why would I feel nervous around Zuko? He just went on an insanely dangerous prison-break rescue mission with me? He’s clearly changed and is making actual efforts to be a better person. So why does my stomach start to twist in a not-awful way whenever I’m around him?

Sokka contemplates this the night after the Boiling Rock rescue. Everyone else is asleep, and he’s on his side, watching the fire slowly die out. On the opposite side of the fire lies Zuko, who has started to sleep in the main outdoor area with everyone else rather than hole himself up in his room on warm nights. Sokka shifts onto his other side, so he’s facing out into the forest. When he glances up, he sees the moon.  He always thinks of Yue when he looks at the moon. It used to hurt; he wasn’t able to stand the permanent reminder of one of his all-time worst failures. But over the past few months, as the wound in his heart slowly healed, he found the moon a comforting sight. Sokka was drifting off when suddenly, the weird feeling in his stomach made sense.

Oh, shit, he thinks to himself as his eyes snap open. He quickly turns back around to face Zuko, as if daring his heart to prove him wrong. When his heart speeds up at the sight of Zuko looking more peaceful and young than Sokka had ever seen him—spirits, we’re nearly the same age, aren’t we?—Sokka feels his stomach drop into the center of the earth and his heart leap into his throat.

••••••••••

“You never loved me, huh, Zuko?” Mai asks, her voice so much more emotionless and cold than normal that it sends a chill running up and down Zuko’s spine.

“Mai, no, I’m sorry, I just—it’s not—”

“Not what? Not my fault? Yeah, no shit, Zuko,” Mai snaps. Her arms are crossed. She’s standing over him, he’s tied up in the chair in the interrogation room in the Boiling Rock. He pushes down the tears welling up in his eyes.

“Of course it’s not your fault, Mai. I just…I couldn’t be there any more.” Zuko does his damnedest to not sound like he’s about to cry.

“First your uncle, now me. Which loved one are you going to turn against next, Zuko? Is there even anyone left who would care enough about you?”

“Mai,” Zuko starts, the pit of dread eating through his stomach so slowly yet as fast as Azula’s wit and lightning.

“I doubt it. After all the horrible shit you’ve done, I’m surprised your father ever wanted you back.” She leaned down and looked at Zuko right in the eyes as she continued, “He probably didn’t and just had you return to give off a merciful facade.”

Mai’s words feel like hundreds of thousands of knives cutting into his face and chest. He’s crying in earnest now, gasping for breath against the ropes that seem to tighten around him every second. He’s shaking his head, trying to tell Mai that he’s so, so sorry.

Mai leans down so her face is mere inches away from his. He can feel her breath. He can’t help but look into her eyes. Her eyes, which are full of pain and betrayal and rage.

“Ozai regrets giving you that scar Zuko,” Mai whispers. She grabs a handful of his hair from the back of his head and somehow tugs Zuko and the chair above the ground. She stands up straight and holds Zuko at eye-level. She pulls him close so that she speaks into Zuko’s ear.

“I wish I killed you that day, three years ago. The only decision I’ve ever regretted was letting you live.”

But Mai’s not Mai any more. When she stood, she grew taller. Her facial features grotesquely morphed into that of his father’s. Zuko can feel every single particle in his body shaking with terror.

“How dare you even consider the possibility that I could ever love you? That I could ever care about you? You’re a damned disgrace to your nation and to firebending as a concept. I should have just ended your pathetic and worthless life when you surrendered like the coward you are.”

Suddenly, the room is on fire. The ropes are digging deep into his skin. He can’t escape. And an enormous hand made of flames begins rushing towards his face—

••••••••••

Zuko wakes up crying. He sits up at an unnatural speed, and for a moment, he forgets where he is. He feels like he’s falling into an endless abyss. He shakes his head and lets his eyes adjust to the brightness. Seeing the number of concerned people rush up to him, he remembers where he is.

“Zuko!” Aang calls out, running up to him. “Are you okay?”

Katara, Toph, Suki, and Sokka aren’t far behind. Despite her evident distrust of him, Zuko thinks he sees something that looks like worry etched across Katara’s face. Suki runs at a faster pace as she approaches him.

They were probably all training, Zuko thinks to himself. He doesn’t have the mental space or energy to beat himself up over not being there training with them and helping Aang with firebending, or oversleeping and not gathering supplies they might need.

Zuko furiously wipes his eyes. “I’m fine,” he manages to get out.

“I don’t need my powers to know that you’re lying,” Toph says, kneeling down next to him.

Zuko takes a shaky breath. “It’s just nightmares,” he says. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Aang asks. “It sounded like a really bad one.”

Sokka and Suki kneels down next to him on his other side. Out of the corner of his good eye, Zuko can see Suki slowly raise her hand to place on his shoulder. Instinctively, he tenses up, and Suki’s hand stops before she places it in her lap.

“…It was,” Zuko quietly admits. “They happen all the time. I’m fine. Go back to doing whatever you guys were doing.”

After a few seconds of scanning him with her steely eyes, Katara quietly sighs. In another universe, she’d be an incredible firebender.

“I have some clean water if you need it. You know, to drink, splash on your face, whatever.” She sets her canteen next to him.

“No, thank you,” Zuko says. He’s trying to learn how to accept gifts and kind offers, but he feels like he can’t ask any more of his…friends, he supposes.

Yeah, these people are my friends, he tells himself. He knows it’s true, but it still doesn’t feel real.

“Well, it’ll be on my sleeping bag if you want it.” Katara picks up her canteen and gently tosses it on her makeshift pillow. She doesn’t look back at him. Suki gives him a sympathetic smile before rejoining Katara.

“Well, we’re here for you if you need anything, Zuko,” Aang offers. He follows after Katara, but he keeps glancing back over his shoulder, like he’s worried that if he looks away for too long then Zuko will freak out again. Zuko closes his eyes and counts to ten as he breathes. He tries the calming techniques that Uncle had taught him, but he couldn’t remember if if was inhale for four seconds and exhale for three, or the other way around, or—

“You coming, Sokka?” Aang calls out.

Zuko opens his eyes to find that Sokka didn’t leave with the others; rather he was still sitting next to Zuko, leaning back on his arms and his head tilted slightly to the side, as if he was studying Zuko. When Zuko meets Sokka’s eyes, Sokka blinks and startles and nearly falls over.

“What? Oh, uh, I’m good. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Katara narrows her eyebrows at Sokka, but Aang just smiles and says “Okay! See ya later, Sokka!” as he cheerfully glides past Katara. Katara finally rejoins the rest of the group after glaring at her brother and the banished prince for what feels like weeks.

For a moment, it’s just Zuko and Sokka. They’re both quiet, both a bit unsure of what they’re doing, until Sokka clears his throat.

“I, uh, I found a clearing not far from the other side of the temple,” Sokka starts as he fidgets with his boomerang holster. “Wanna go practice sword-bending?”

Zuko raises his eyebrows.

“There’s a stream that flows through it, and there’s a small freshwater pond with koi,” Sokka continues.

Is he blushing? Zuko thinks to himself, squinting, trying to get a better look at the exact color of Sokka’s face.

“Okay,” Zuko replies—and immediately mentally kicks himself.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Say something nice, like ‘thank you,’ or…Oh! how about—

“I mean, uh, thank you for the offer. I’d…I’d love to join you. For…sword-bending.”

Sokka’s face lights up and it reminds Zuko of the sun. He feels himself blush and immediately turns away to get his dual-swords. As he’s readying the straps on his sheaths, he forces himself to push down the rising feelings of butterfly-birds in his stomach.

I shouldn’t—no, I can’t—put someone through that again. All I did to Mai was hurt her, I can’t do that to Sokka. He deserves someone better for him…he deserves someone who deserves him.

Zuko tried to nail these ideas into every part of his brain, but the beating of his heart kept causing them to fall and break.

••••••••••

“Okay…can we…take a breather…please?!” Sokka gasps in between his exhausted breathing.

Zuko nods and they collapse onto their backs next to each other, both staring up at the sky. The sun had already made its arc over them and it was just starting to set. They had been training for hours, and they finally decided to rest next to the small pond.

“We should probably start heading back soon,” Zuko suggests. “You sister will get mad.”

“Eh, let her be mad. We were training our bending abilities!”

Zuko raises a single eyebrow.

“‘We’?” he asks

“We’re all sort of benders in a way,” Sokka jokes, turning on his side to face Zuko. “Katara has her waterbending, Aang has his airbending, Toph has her earthbending, you have your firebending, and I—” Sokka pulls out his favorite weapon “—have my boomerang-bending!”

“I thought you said ‘sword-bending’ earlier?” Zuko replies, his mouth curling into a small smile.

“Well, this is my boomerang, and I like the sound of ‘boomerang-bending’ more than I like ‘sword-bending,’” Sokka smirks.

“Nah,” Zuko gently nudges his foot against Sokka’s. “‘Sword-bending’ is catchier.”

“Well, maybe it is, but I like ‘boomerang-bending’ better! Besides, I’m better at boomerang-bending than you’ll ever be,” Sokka says as he nudge’s Zuko’s arm. “I’m a boomerang-bending master!”

Both of them pretend like their casual touches don’t feel like a small electric shock of warmth. Zuko and Sokka both chuckle.

“Well, you’re right about that,” Zuko replies, easing himself up. Sokka also sits up properly, and the two boys face each other.

Zuko looks into Sokka’s eyes for what feels like hours, and Sokka looks into Zuko’s eyes intently, studying them as if they’re the last thing he’ll ever see.

They’ve been subconsciously moving towards each other before Zuko blinks, stops, and clears his throat. Sokka blinks and gives Zuko a quizzical look.

“What’s wrong?” Sokka asks.

“Nothing,” Zuko replies, quickly looking down at his lap and fidgeting with his fingers.

Sokka looks down at the ground and begins drawing swirls in the dirt. He draws (what Zuko can only assume are) boomerangs, waves, and flames.

“I, uh…” Zuko starts, not meeting Sokka’s eyes as the other boy’s head shot up to look at Zuko. “I want to thank you.”

“Oh, no problem. We all need to be training for when the comet arrives. Gotta be on our A-game for taking down the Fire Lord!”

Zuko can’t keep himself from chuckling a little bit.

“That’s not what I wanted to thank you for. And you do realize that when—if—you defeat my father, that either I or my sister will take the throne next?”

Sokka doesn’t miss how Zuko’s voice grows slightly more unsteady as he speaks about the possible future.

“Why wouldn’t you take the throne?”

“Have you met my sister?”

“Fair enough.”

“And even if there was no succession crisis, you guys realize that I’ll be the new Fire Lord, right?”

“Yeah, and what about it?”

Zuko’s ember-golden eyes meets Sokka’s ocean blue ones.

“What do you mean ‘what about it?,’ Sokka?! I can’t be the Fire Lord! I don’t know how to lead an entire nation! Let alone one whose current legacy is that of imperialism, destruction, and genocide! And ending the war that my great-grandfather started? The war that the Fire Nation is currently winning—”

“Well, I’d say we’re almost tied—”

Zuko rolls his eyes.

“The war that’s been going on for a whole century that my whole nation has been in support of for its entire duration! How will it look to my subjects when I end the war that’s been providing them with their entire livelihoods?! I know that they should get new livelihoods—that sounds like something you’d say—” (Sokka nods) “but it’s not that easy! And what about the conquered territories? How can I help them? Will they even want my help? And what about—”

“Hey!”

Sokka interrupts a clearly overwhelmed Zuko by placing his left hand on Zuko’s cheek and his right hand on Zuko’s shoulder. The touch came naturally to Sokka, who’s used to grabbing Katara by the face whenever she gets overworked and needs a clear head. He’s able to tell his right hand to not touch Zuko’s scar, thankfully. He doesn’t fear it, but he doesn’t want to find out from experience if Zuko reacts negatively to other people touching his scar. Sokka stares deep into Zuko’s eyes, which are starting to tear up. Sokka feels his heart crack and it takes every remaining ounce of self control he has to not physically wince at the pain of Zuko crying. Sokka begins rubbing tiny circles into Zuko’s cheek, and Zuko practically leans into the touch as he closes his eyes. Zuko brings his hand up to Sokka’s and places his other hand on Sokka’s knee. He’s not sure if he feels Sokka shiver or his own hands shaking. (It’s both.)

“Hey,” Sokka says again, quieter. Zuko opens his eyes and finds Sokka intently staring at him.

“Look, Zuko, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re, like, already a better Fire Lord than your dad. You clearly care about your people as people and not as a means to an end—that end being like power or whatever. If you carry that attitude with you throughout your reign, you’re going to be the best spirits-damned Fire Lord in the history of all the nations. I know it, Zuko.” Sokka’s voice quiets as he takes a deep breath and finishes with: “I believe in you.”

Zuko thinks about how easy it would be to get lost in Sokka’s eyes, and then realizes that he is lost in Sokka’s eyes.

Sokka isn’t sure what brings him to pull Zuko more towards him, and Zuko doesn’t know why he simply lets himself be pulled, but they both know that this is exactly where they’re supposed to be—together.

Sokka closes the remaining distance between them by pressing his lips against Zuko’s.

Zuko feels himself falling, but this time it’s a good feeling.

Because he knows that somehow, Sokka will catch him.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

you feel like home

Post-4.01 fic, includes episode spoilers. After the census and Schneider's big announcement, Penelope tries to come to terms with what her life will look like once she's truly alone. Her efforts do not go as planned, especially once Schneider has more news she wasn't expecting.

Penelope x Schneider, ODAAT. available on ao3 with extra author’s notes.

She held on tight to the bigger questions that had been piling up since Victor’s wedding, when Schneider left her sitting alone in the middle of a perfectly nice conversation. When she watched him and Avery dance as though nothing ever broke between them.

Aren’t you supposed to avoid huge, sudden changes in your life? She wanted to ask him. It can’t really be that simple to start over, can it? Do you miss me as much I miss you?

Ever since Census Brian stopped by her apartment, it felt like the whole world was conspiring to make Penelope feel more alone than she had before. Even when she first separated from Victor, there were parts of her life that kept her focused, that distracted her...that didn’t feel quite like this. 

She’d had the kids to look after, her mother to argue with, and Schneider striding into her house at all hours. New job, new empty bed, new medication she resented having to take.

But now she was 42, and her life was settled. Her Mami was proud of her, in her own complicated way. Elena was waiting for college acceptance letters and Alex had a girlfriend. Penelope had never been better at her work, and she might be lonely, but she was used to the loneliness. 

Nothing about this was new--so she didn’t know why it was bugging her as much as it was. 

She found herself thinking about the year 2030 a lot, not as some abstract concept but as a specific point in time that felt like it was coming right for her. Elena would be in her late twenties, probably far away, and Alex would be independent, too. They wouldn’t need her as much, if at all. 

Penelope would like to believe that her Mami would still be behind her curtain, as vibrant and healthy as ever, but she was an NP. She knew time had already been kinder to Lydia Riera than lots of people her age. What were the odds she would stay that lucky?

And then there was Schneider. 

It took her a few days after the census to realize she hadn’t even included him in her mental picture of what 2030 would look like. 

That was for the best, Penelope thought. He was already visiting less since his reunion with Avery, and now that his girlfriend would be moving in....she doubted that would mean the two of them spending extra time with the family. 

They had invited Avery over a lot in the beginning, but she rarely tagged along with Schneider for dinners or game night. Schneider only came down for morning coffee these days if he woke up alone, and Penelope didn’t know if that was because the duo preferred his fancy espresso machine when they were together or if Avery was actually avoiding them. 

Whatever the reason, Penelope missed him. She could admit that to herself. But she refused to interfere with Schneider’s happiness, so she wouldn’t be admitting it to him. She texted him more instead, checking in, asking after his AA meetings or wondering if he would make it to movie night.

She held on tight to the bigger questions that had been piling up since Victor’s wedding, when Schneider left her sitting alone in the middle of a perfectly nice conversation. When she watched him and Avery dance as though nothing ever broke between them. 

Aren’t you supposed to avoid huge, sudden changes in your life? She wanted to ask him. It can’t really be that simple to start over, can it? Do you miss me as much I miss you?

It was lonely, Schneider’s absence at the dinner table or on their couch. Especially because no one else in the family seemed to feel it. Her kids were dating, and her mom had whatever platonic thing was still happening with Dr. Berkowitz. Everyone was growing outwards from the roots of their family, and she knew that was how things should be. 

Growth was good. Change was healthy. Nobody was doing this to abandon her.

It sucked anyway.

So as 2030 crept into her thoughts whenever she had a spare moment to feel the anxiety and strange sense of grief that heralded her soon-to-be empty nest, Penelope deliberately imagined a Schneider who settled down upstairs with Avery, and kept drifting away. 

In ten years, he would be the best friend who was reachable when she really needed him, but not around most of the time. He and Avery would get married, a picture-perfect couple. Maybe they’d stay upstairs, but they probably wouldn’t. He would lease his place to another hipster and they’d move somewhere more upscale to start a family, or adopt purebred dogs, or whatever rich people did when they had endless money and time.

Penelope tried to accept that picture, feel it like it was real, so she could get used to it. She wanted to embed it deep in her heart, where it wouldn’t be able to hurt her as much when it happened. 

It made her feel like she had lost Schneider already. 

And that left her raw and open and unprepared for his midnight text a few weeks later, asking her to come upstairs. 

****

Penelope offered a quick and grateful prayer to the God she only kind of believed in when he opened his door and he wasn’t visibly drunk. She was still waiting for the next relapse--it had only been five months. A part of her might always be waiting for the next relapse.

“Hey, Pen,” he said, stepping back to let her in. 

She sat on his couch, realizing as he joined her that his place looked different. Emptier. Less...bright. 

Penelope hadn’t visited as often lately; with Avery living there too, boundaries seemed more important. But she knew that the art missing from his walls had been an Avery purchase. Primary colors, splashes and curving lines that probably cost thousands of dollars.

The scarves and hats Avery always seemed to have draped everywhere--chairs, counters, wall hooks--were gone too. The entire apartment was less colorful now. 

So was Schneider. 

Even his blue eyes looked a little grey tonight, Penelope thought. And asking him felt cruel, when it was obvious what happened. But she knew talking would help.

“Avery moved out,” he said before she got the chance to broach things gently. “A couple hours ago, they picked up the last of her things. I haven’t been able to sleep."

Penelope held herself steady as Schneider leaned against her, staring blankly forward. “I knew you would come. Thanks for that.”

“Whenever you need me,” she reminded him. “I wouldn’t have promised it if I didn’t mean it.”

“Tomorrow’s Wednesday,” he thought out loud after a few moments of silence. “I won’t keep you long, I know you have an early schedule on Wednesdays.”

She blinked, trying to remember if she had told him that. They’d talked so rarely lately, it didn’t seem likely. But Schneider keeping tabs on her wasn’t new--in fact, it was the most familiar and comforting reminder of their friendship she had felt in a while. 

“That doesn’t matter,” she told him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Okay.”

“Did you call Nick?”

“Yeah. I called him after we broke up this morning. The movers took a while,” he added.

“Ah. So she didn’t just...move out.”

“No.” He sighed. “I thought this would bring us closer, but somehow it did the exact opposite. The more time we spent together, the more it didn’t work, and we tried harder to make it work and that just made it hurt more.”

“Oh, Schneider.” Breakups were always hard, but this was his first serious relationship. Of course he fought to keep it; of course he was devastated to lose it again. She reached for his hand and held tight.

“Yeah. Today we were having this stupid fight about scrambled eggs, and both of us sort of stopped in between the yelling and looked around, like what are we even doing right now? And so we stopped yelling, and we talked. About everything since she moved in: how she didn’t want to play games or watch movies with you guys, how scared she is that I’ll relapse and how unprepared she was to live with a recovering alcoholic. About the life she knows she wants eventually, and the one I really don’t.”

Penelope was still holding his hand, but she tried not to squeeze harder on instinct. “Does Avery want kids?”

Schneider shook his head, and she exhaled. “No, it’s not that.”

He knew her, though. Schneider let go of her hand to wrap an arm around her, a silent show of support while he continued. 

“She liked that I had real world skills, that I’m more than just another rich guy--but she likes her money, too. Even though it makes her feel guilty. I guess she thought that eventually we were going to move on from this place, and this version of my life, and into one that was more like hers. Ballrooms and regattas and the stuff I tried to get away from.”

“Oh.”

“Yep.”

She wasn’t sure what to say to that. She’d be lying if she said she was surprised. But Schneider didn’t need an I told you so. Penelope settled for the truth.

“That sucks, Schneider. I’m really sorry.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re gonna be okay,” she added, with the wisdom of experience and the affection of friendship.

“Sure,” he agreed, his temple resting against the top of her head. The hopelessness underneath his agreement broke her heart. 

“You will be,” she insisted. “It’ll take time, but you’ll see."

“No offense, Pen,” Schneider said quietly, “but you were still hoping to have a future with Max a couple of months ago. If you weren’t over him two years after you broke up, I don’t see sunny skies ahead.” 

Penelope turned to face him. “Well, you don’t have to. I can see them for you, until you do. And in the meantime, you won’t be alone.” 

“Remember that, okay?” She pulled him into a hug. “You’ve got us, always. You’ve got me. And I know what it’s like to survive a terrible breakup.” 

Schneider was hugging back, his cheek against her hair. His breath tickled her ear when he replied. “It wasn’t terrible. That’s the worst part. It was barely...anything. Like we used all our feelings up.”

“Pobrecito,” she murmured, rubbing his back and holding on. There was no cure for heartache. And it would be tougher for Schneider, going through it sober again, she thought. 

The decision was an easy one--she made it without even considering other options. 

“All right,” she said, sitting back up. “You’re staying with us tonight.”

“Pen--”

“No arguments. I won’t hear it, Schneider. This is what family is for. Let’s go.”

The hint of a smile he gave her was barely there, but it was more than she’d seen since she arrived, and Penelope considered it progress. 

****

She texted her mom while Schneider grabbed a few things, and Lydia was awake and waiting for them when they arrived downstairs. 

“Sit,” she told Schneider. “I will fix you a little something.”

“Lydia, it’s super late. Let’s all just go back to bed.”

“You will sleep better fed,” she chided him.  “And I will sleep better if you are fed. You were not at lunch or dinner.”

He sank into the couch, giving up. “Well, then. Thanks.”

Penelope watched as Schneider closed his eyes and relaxed. She knew she had made the right call--now, he was home. With her Mami fussing over him and the kids to look forward to seeing over breakfast in the morning, maybe he really would sleep.

“Lupita,” her Mami said, “You should rest now. I am here.”

She nodded, eyes on Schneider for a few moments longer. Penelope couldn’t have said what she was looking for, but she found it when he seemed to feel her attention and straightened up. 

“Your mom’s right, Pen. Go to bed.” 

She knew he was remembering the same things she was: his last breakup with Avery, the last time she wasn’t paying close enough attention to his pain, their last long hug on a couch while she tried to comfort him. 

“I’ll be right here,” Schneider assured her.

“Good.” The soft, single word was full of all those memories, and fears she only shared with her support group friends. She nodded at them both as she exited to her room.

Exhaustion hit as soon as Penelope shut the door behind her. She had managed to keep it at bay while Schneider needed her, but now it was back, ready to tug her into sleep. She settled into bed, comforted by the faint sounds of her mom fussing over her best friend, and was nearly unconscious when a realization joined the fatigue running through her.  

She might not be alone in 2030 after all, her mind whispered. Schneider might still be beside her.

And if that was still a possibility, what would that look like? Without her kids to treat him like a goofy friend, or her mom to treat him like a second son, where would that leave her and Schneider? What would their relationship look like?

What did she want it to look like?

She hadn’t had to think about that, when he was living in bliss with Avery. She hadn’t had to examine the fuzzy edges where her feelings blurred around missing him, and try to understand what they meant.

Now, lying in her dark room alone, it was a picture as clear as the ones Schneider turned into photo puzzles of her family. 

By the time the next census came around, Penelope wanted Schneider in the picture with her. Fully. No Photoshop. 

She was in love with her best friend.

[fizzyxcustard]

The Strike of Midnight.

Fandom: Real Person Fiction (Richard Armitage)

Part 1

Summary: This is an amalgamation of an imagine and Christmas special idea rolled into one. My original imagine was “Imagine Richard admitting he loves you but you are adamant he’s joking and he winds up blowing up at you through your stubbornness and accusing him of being a liar.” This was then requested by an anonymous reader for it to be turned into fic. You’ve accused Richard of lying and he has stormed out of your flat. It is now New Year’s Eve and can you finally believe Richard’s words? 

Pairings: Richard Armitage x fem!reader

Warnings: Angst, insecurity, fluff

Word count: 1650

Comments/Notes: If you wish to be added to my tag lists for a particular fandom, character, or even everything, please send me an ask or a private message and I will add you. HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! ;) My apologies for this not coming out to you on New Year’s Eve when it was meant to. I wasn’t very well, so I’m posting it today on 1st January 2020. 

Music listened to while writing this piece: My personal Two Steps From Hell iTunes playlist. 

Masterlist of fan fiction here

After Richard had stormed out of your flat, you had been both angry and sad. Angry at the fact that part of you always echoed the same words, ‘no one will ever like you.’ Sad at the fact that you had obviously offended him. Lashing out had always been your defence mechanism against your high wall of insecurity and self doubt. By pushing others away first, you did not have to experience crippling rejection. Instead, you were in control, and making sure no one could hurt you. It had only been a matter of time before you decided to push Richard away, even if he had not admitted any kind of romantic feelings, it would have probably happened further down the line of your close friendship.

At your parents’ house where you ate Christmas dinner and opened gifts, you faked every smile that came to your face. None of it lifted your spirits; the cheesy Christmas songs you normally loved couldn’t even raise a smile. On the night of Christmas Day, your mum sat you down at the kitchen table where you could both speak privately. Your dad was asleep in the living room, having drifted off whilst watching the holiday classic of Die Hard.

“There’s something wrong,” your mum said softly. “You haven’t been right all day, sweetheart.”

The floodgates opened and you broke down in front of your mother, your breath hitching and your shoulders shaking. Between sobs you tried as best you could to explain everything to your mum about the previous encounter with Richard.

As she always did, and most mothers would, she reassured you were a wonderful person and deserved love in your life. Richard at least needed to have a chance to prove himself.

For the next week you barely slept, tossing and turning in bed. In the darkest hours of the night you would check your phone constantly, hoping that Richard had text you. Nothing. Was this to be the last you would ever hear from him? Having been his friend for a while now, you understood what made Richard tick and how to handle times when he was angry. It was best to leave him to simmer down. But how long could you remain silent? Perhaps he was waiting for you to message him.

Not far from your flat, Richard slept in a hotel room. He had spent Christmas with his family, then decided to take time alone before heading off for his normal skiing holiday abroad for the New Year. Everything had become a frustration. Cutting himself whilst shaving had resulted in a smashed glass and torn shower curtain. The television remote batteries had died, making Richard throw the remote across the room. And to make everything so much worse, you hadn’t even contacted him since your last meeting, followed by an abrupt departure for him. He still had your Christmas gift, boxed and sitting in a silver bag.

He needed a drink, and something stronger than the usual wine he drank. Richard had begun to feel cooped up inside the hotel room and decided to go and sit in the bar, and maybe get some food while down there.

The bar was relatively quiet, with only one or two people dotted around the room. He looked upon a middle aged couple eating a meal with a bottle of wine between them. Across from them was a heavily tattooed man drinking a pint of lager, and then further towards the back of the room was an older gentleman, in a flat cap, reading the newspaper.

A short while later, Richard sat in the corner with a pint of lager and skimmed through the menu, but his appetite had deserted him. Not even a piece of chocolate cake with ice cream could tempt him. Flavour seemed to have gone from all food.

A light caught Richard’s eye, and as he looked down, he saw that his phone had lit up with a text alert. It was from you. Finally!He read the message, half smiling as both elation and a trickle of dread settled in his stomach.

Can we talk?

Richard dialled out to you, listening to only one ring before you answered.

“I’m sorry for bothering you,” you said softly.

“No, don’t be sorry. I’m glad to hear from you. I’ve missed you,” Richard said, unable to stop himself speaking the absolute truth about his feelings. “If you don’t feel the same way, you know…I understand…” he began, swallowing over a lump in his throat. “But please…”

“I don’t want to talk about it over the phone. Are you free tomorrow? I know it’s New Year’s Eve and you might…”

“Yeah, I am,” Richard replied, his eagerness coming through in his tone. “What time shall I come?”

“Whenever you want. I’m free all day,” you said.

“How about eleven? It gives us both time to have breakfast and for me to get over to you.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Bye…” you trailed off, as if waiting.

“Bye…I…”

“You, what?” you asked.

“Nothing, angel. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Richard terminated the call and closed his eyes, knowing he had come so close to letting his feelings slip out again. The sound of your voice made it so easy to get caught up in the callings of his heart, which wanted you more every day. Self-expression had become something that Richard found harder home now that he was getting older and had become more skilled in his acting abilities on stage and behind the camera. By pushing away his own personality for his job, and taking on the role of someone else, he had repressed himself which was now pushing back hard. His true self was trying to break free, and it was when he was with you that it could finally be free. You had never expected him to be anything less than himself.

It was ten at night and you were driving to the local supermarket which was, thankfully, a twenty-four-hour service. Quickly, you scoured the aisles, looking for wine, ice cream and plenty of sweet snacks. Everything that you knew Richard enjoyed. Two bottles of rather expensive red wine, cartons of chocolate Ben and Jerry’s, and lots of cake later, you paid for the items and dashed back to your car.

For a few seconds you sat in the car and smiled to yourself as the engine hummed. What had flipped in your head? Maybe it wasn’t the fact that you fully believed him, but you couldn’t have negativity hanging in the atmosphere between you. The truth was you loved him as well. Since falling for him many months ago, you often fantasised about all the wonderful things he would do to pleasure you, or the warm cuddles you would give each other on a cold winter’s morning. Your imagination was a never-ending world of fantasies that played out about you and Richard. Now you were staring those fantasies right in the face.

You gripped the steering wheel tight and told yourself you were going for it. If you missed this chance, then it would never arise again.

You got up early, beginning your preparations for Richard coming. The negative moods you had been consumed by the last week had meant that little housework had been done, so that morning was going to be catching up on everything you had put aside.

Despite the fact that you had so many jobs to complete, time seemed to have stood still. Every time you looked at the clock and the hands barely moved. You had been sure that vacuuming through all rooms had taken much longer than just fifteen minutes. It had felt more like an hour.

At eleven sharp, Richard stood outside your flat. He had contemplated going earlier, then maybe turning up a few minutes late to not make himself seem to eager. But instead, he had waited in the café just at the top of your street for forty-five minutes.

Your door knocked. And there he stood, looking as handsome as ever.

He looked down, smiling as you greeted him. Then you let him inside, exhaling hard and closing your eyes as his scent wafted past you.

“I never got chance to give if you before, but here’s your Christmas gift,” he said, offering you a silver gift bag.

“Oh, I have yours as well. Hang on,” you walked quickly into your bedroom, and got the package from your desk.

You both opened your presents at the same time. In the silver bag of yours was a blue box and as you opened the box you were presented with a beautiful golden necklace, and on it was an owl pendent with diamond eyes. Owls were your favourite animal.

Richard opened his neatly wrapped present to find a hardback copy of a book he had mentioned wanting. It was something he had wanted to read for quite some time but never got around to buying a copy.

Both of your gazes met and you said ‘thank you’ in the exact same moment. Then you leaned up and embraced Richard tight. “I’m sorry,” you whispered at his ear. And then you pulled away slightly so you could look him in the eyes. Tears were welling in his blue depths.

You kissed him, lightly at first, and then you both sank deeper into it. Your one hand laced in his short hair as the other still gripped your necklace box. His stubble tickled against your lips, making you smile beneath the kiss.

“What?” he asked, hearing your faint giggle. Then he pecked your lips quickly as you moved your head away.

“I think we should have waited until the strike of midnight for this, you know?” you said, grinning.

“There’s no way I was waiting that long,” Richard replied, and grabbed you playfully, kissing you again.

                                                              ***

Follow Forever tag list: @himoverflowers @shikin83 @theincaprincess @deepestfirefun @nowiloveandwilllove @houseofrahl @mynameisnoneya1991 @blankdblank @cd1242 @c-s-stars @thorins-magnificent-ass @patanghill17@inumorph @leah-halliwell92 @msjava1972 @bespectacled-bunny @ghostlyandee @raindancer2004 @dottiechan @captain-almighty @hobbitlover23 @catthefearless @epicallychrissy @nelswp @adaliamalfoy @spn-obsession @armitageadoration @peneigh-dzredfohl @here2have-fun @greendragonette @thorinsraven@thophil2941btw @princessoferebor94 @banlaochranda @wilhelmyna @gabrieleaquaman @rachel1959 @serpensortia06 @rcrispina @kategorically-challenged @tigereyesf @jumpingmanatee @tschrist1 @inlovewithamantwicemyage @aspiringtranslator @princessofthefandomrealm @letsbeinspiredby @lilith15000 @lealina-scarsdale @scarsfanfictiontrash @mechromancing-cinnamon-roll @ra-of-light @jassy2101 @durinsqueen @hariclea @onewithleaf @michelem703 @bthtallmadge2 @mariannetora @valuedabovehoardedgold @tiredwritersworld @xxbyimm @miabee0706 @fuck-off-you-stupid-goat @legolaslovely @meganlpie @dashesofink @buckysalefty @reignofglitter

Richard Armitage tag list: @inkededucatednnerdy​ @birdkeeperklink​ @crazytxgradstudent​

[walegopako]

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[aqlemonade]

Everybody’s Throwing A Temper Tantrum - Biadore

Prompt: Adore throws a tantrum that Bianca’s away so long for Jamie so Bianca flies over for 24 hours to comfort her 😜(& give her a spanking for being a brat)

AN: If you guys saw my other post you know this might the last thing I can post for a while. I didn’t get much editing time unfortunately, but I hope you guys still enjoy it! No read more because I’m on mobile.

Danny pouted at Roy through the computer screen. “You’ve been gone for so long,” he sulked.

“I know, Angel. I’m really busy these next couple of months.”

Danny hated hearing that. He gave Roy a dirty look, crossing his arms over his chest. “Come home.”

Roy chuckled. Danny was always one for the dramatics. “I wish I could.”

“You can.”

“Baby, if I could I would. You know that.”

“You can,” Danny repeated. “Nothing’s stopping you.”

“Nothing but back to back shows. Angel, I don’t have time to fly between countries when I have a show every night,” Roy tried to explain calmly. He knew how upset Danny could get when he was lonely and missing him.

“Oh, so you just don’t have time for me. That’s nice.”

“Don’t twist my words, I never said that. I don’t have time for an international flight in between shows that are barely twenty four hours apart. I told you before I left we weren’t gonna be able to see each other for a while. Don’t be a brat, Dan.” The younger sat there with his pout and folded arms. He knew Roy was right, but he couldn’t help how he was feeling.

The couple sat silently. Danny refused to talk, or even look at Roy. The older man rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna hang up if this is how you wanna behave. You’re wasting the little bit of time we do have together.”

“Fine. Hang up, I don’t care,” the crack in his voice lead Roy to believe otherwise.

Roy sighed, “Danny—“

“No, I’m going to bed. Good luck with all your gigs that are so much more important than me.” Danny exited out of their Skype call with tears rolling down his face. In true Adore fashion, when Danny was upset he ran to twitter; Something Roy had told him to stop doing a long time ago.

Within minutes of their call ending Roy’s phone blew up with notifications from Adore’s account. He always kept them on so he could check on Danny if he ever tweeted something troubling. Roy never got the appeal of dumping all your feelings onto social media in-front of thousands of people instead of confiding

in your friends, but it was Danny’s thing. He felt safer opening up to the world than opening up to someone face to face.

A string of tweets about how he’d been fucked over, lonely and alone, and would probably never find love poured in. Danny tweeted about loving someone who couldn’t give less of a shit about him. The rant ending in some shade about how people make time for the things that they want.

Roy shook his head. He knew Danny could be dramatic, but this was overkill.

Willow 😍🌸💘

Really? Twitter?

Willow 😍🌸💘

Was that fucking necessary?

Danny ❤️

It got your attention didn’t it :)

Willow 😍🌸💘

Absolute brat

——

Danny arrived home after an afternoon of shopping. He picked up some new clothing for Adore, rarely ever buying himself anything when he went out. His wardrobe consisted of years old t-shirts and fan gifts.

The bags of drag hit the floor when he saw Roy standing by his couch. He swore every time he saw the man he became more attractive. Danny leaped into his arms, the two embracing each other in a tight hug. “You fucker!” Danny said. “What was all that bullshit about how you couldn’t make a flight here between shows?” Danny asked with a smile; He certainly wasn’t complaining.

“I have two days off,” Roy cupped Danny’s cheek. “I was trying to surprise you, but you just have to be a brat all the time,” Roy’s fingers moved to Danny’s jaw, gripping the bone painfully.

Danny started to get excited, he bit his lip as his eyes grew dark.

“You know what brats get, right?”

The younger nodded eagerly. “They get a spanking,” he said in a voice that sent shivers up Roy’s spine.

“They get a spanking,” Roy repeated, slipping a finger into Danny’s mouth that his lover happily sucked on.

“You look beautiful,” Roy growled, watching Danny intently as he took another finger between his lips.

“Do want my hand? The paddle? A belt?” Roy pulled his fingers out of my Danny’s mouth so he could answer.

“Your hand, Daddy. I wanna feel you,” Danny breathed.

Roy nodded at him, taking a seat on the couch. “Take your clothes off,” Roy ordered. Danny quickly shimmed out of his shorts and ripped up shirt. He didn’t bother trying to be sexy, he wanted to be with Roy as soon as possible. He’d save the strip tease for another time.

Danny knew the routine, Roy didn’t have to tell him to get across his lap before he did so. Softly, Roy caressed Danny’s bare cheeks. “You know the safe word?”

“Mhm,” Danny nodded.

“Let me hear it, Princess.”

“Pizza.” Danny actually, genuinely hated their safe word. He always wanted to change it, but Roy was too nervous that one of them would forget it to allow him to.

“You can use that whenever you need to, okay? For a break, to completely stop, anything. I’ll always stop when you want me to,” Roy reassured Danny. It was the same speech every time, but the younger appreciated it. Roy’s words made him feel secure, and washed away any doubts he had about using their safe word.

“I know, Daddy. I’m ready,” Danny consented to the start of their scene.

“Okay, Princess. I love you,” Roy gave Danny’s ass a mild squeeze.

The younger hummed as Roy kneaded his ass. “I love you too, Daddy.”

Roy always liked to give Danny sweet touches before they started. He stroked Danny’s hair, watching his gorgeous eyes roll back at the contact. His fingers ran down his spine to the moon tattoo on his ass, tracing the design. They caressed his inner thighs. “Have I told you how much I love this tattoo?” Roy asked, poking at the seahorse tat on the side of his thigh.

“Not yet.”

“Well, I do,” Roy leaned down to kiss a random spot on Danny’s back. “It’s sexy.” Danny couldn’t help but to giggle at the compliment.

A giggle turned into a gasp when Roy’s fingers slipped between his asschecks to rub his hole. Danny whined, grabbing the pillow next to him to bury his face into. Roy’s free hand disappeared between Danny’s legs to squeeze his balls, making Danny choke.

“You’re teasing me,” the younger complained.

“I am,” Roy said with a devious laugh. The sound going straight to Danny’s cock.

When Roy removed his hands from him Danny’s body started twisting in anticipation. Roy’s favorite thing was watching Danny wait for and anticipate the first spank. A hand came crashing down against Danny’s right cheek, not making him hold out for too long. A loud yelp sounded from Danny, a combination of the harshness and unexpectedness of the hit.

Roy smirked down at him, his hand flattened over the red mark forming on Danny’s cheek. “That was one. How many do you want?”

“Twenty.”

“No, that’s too much. What about ten, Babygirl?”

“Fifteen,” Danny tried to compromise.

“You get ten, then we’ll see how you feel after that, okay?”

“Yes, Da-“ Danny’s words broke off into a moan as the second hit landed on his left cheek. His balls started to throb from the excitement.

“What was that?” Roy mocked him playfully. “Yes, what?”

Danny whimpered, “Yes Da-“ And again. Roy’s hand made contact with the exact spot on his right cheek that he had slapped before. Danny whined and squirmed in Roy’s lap. “Stop doing that!” Another spank followed immediately for talking back. Danny cried out, putting his face back into the pillow.

“Remember what got you into this in the first place. Stop being a brat.” Danny nodded, mumbling something in a high pitched voice that Roy couldn’t hear. “Was that the safe word?” He questioned.

“No,” Danny lifted his face for a moment so Roy would hear him.

“Okay. You’re doing such a good job for me, Babygirl. We’re at four.” His hand slid down Danny’s sore ass. His right cheek was screaming red, while the left had a faint outline of Roy’s hand. The fifth spank came across Danny’s right cheek again. The younger screamed, sobbing into the pillow. Welts began to grow under Roy’s fingertips, he devilishly pressed them into the aching skin.

“Do you want the next one here,” Roy grabbed a handful of Danny’s left cheek which had only been slapped once.

“Yes, please,” Danny sniffled.

“Do you need a break first?”

“No.” Danny took the sixth hit easier. His left cheek wasn’t as bruised as the right one—Yet, anyway.

“Good, girl.” Roy praised. “You’re being so good, Baby,” He continued to coo to him as he massaged his ass tenderly. “I wanna see your pretty face, Honey. Take it out of that pillow.”

“Yes, Daddy,” Danny did as he was told, turning his face towards Roy so only his cheek was pressed against the pillow.

“Atta, Girl,” Roy leaned forward to kiss Danny’s temple. He wiped stray tears away from Danny’s eyes.

Roy held Danny’s gaze as he caressed his face, distracting Danny from the seventh spank to his left cheek. Roy watched as Danny’s mouth dropped open and eyes rolled back. He loved the sounds that came out of his mouth. “My good girl,” Roy kept giving him encoring words. “That was seven, Princess. You’re almost done. Can you keep going?”

“‘Course I can,” Danny said rather smugly for someone with dried tears on their face. The eighth slap was the harshest, Roy wanted to test that confidence Danny had. A high pitched cry, followed by fresh tears was Danny’s response to it.

“My baby,” Roy said sympathetically, brushing his thumb under Danny’s eyes.

“Daddy,” Danny whined as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t get to finishing his sentence.

“What, Babygirl. What is it?”

The younger sobbed, “Hurts.”

“What’s the safe word?”

“I don’t want it,” Danny protested.

“I don’t care. I need to hear the safe word. Let me know that you know it,” Roy was stern. It was his job to take care of Danny during this. Sometimes he had to push a little to make sure everything was okay before they continued, or assess if he needed to make the decision for Danny to stop.

“It’s pizza.”

Roy began kissing Danny’s lower back, his lips traveled down to his ass to sooth his sore cheeks. “You’re sure you don’t wanna use it?” Roy asked against Danny’s skin.

“I’m sure. I can do two more, I want it. Please, Daddy. Just two more, please,” Danny begged.

“Okay, don’t work yourself up,” Roy said in a soothing voice. “Just two more.” Roy made quick work of it. One slap for each cheek, the tenth immediately following the ninth, leaving Danny in a mess of tears and incoherent sputtering.

“Come here,” Roy quickly picked Danny up from his lap and brought him into his arms. “You were so good. You’re such a good girl, Danny. You did so good for me,” Roy let Danny know how much he appreciated him as he rubbed his back. “Do you want your blanket?” The youngers favorite aftercare was cuddling under a blanket, lotion, then a bath. It was a routine for them at this point. It gave Roy peace knowing how to care for Danny after their scene had ended.

“Yeah, blanket! The fuzzy black one.”

Roy smiled at him, “I know what you like.” He pressed a kiss to the apple of Danny’s cheek before reaching behind the couch for Danny’s blanket. Roy got ready to wrap it around them before Danny stopped him.

“Wait!” Danny pulled Roy’s shirt over his head, tossing it to the side. He wrapped his arms around his body, nuzzling his face to his chest. A content smile spread across Danny’s lips. “Okay.” Roy chuckled. Danny always found comfort in skin on skin contact with his lover.

Roy wrapped the soft blanket around the two of them. He laid his chin on Danny’s head as Danny rested.

“Thank you for coming home,” Danny said quietly.

“Of course. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” Danny popped his head up to peck Roy on the lips. “Can we stay here like this for a while? I don’t wanna move.”

Roy kissed his forehead. “We can do whatever you wanna do, Babygirl.”

[purplesurveys]

581

Where did you get the pants you are wearing from? They’re my sister’s; I borrowed them for the semester because these shorts are conducive for my PE classes, but since we already finished the class last week I should probs give it back to her soon. Do you find smoking unattractive? I used to, but now I can’t really say that I hate it. Have your parents ever searched your personal belongings? They did, back in Grade 6. They took away two of my very private diaries and ever since then I never wrote down my thoughts in a notebook. I never did get the two back. Could you go for the rest of your life without drinking alcohol? I thought I could, then my friends made me try a margarita a month after I turned 18 hahaha. Is there someone you'll never forget? There are loads of people I haven’t and will never forget; this is a very broad question.

Do you miss someone right now? Yes. Last time you were on the phone? Just to use it? Maybe some four minutes ago. But the last time I was on a call – if that’s what you meant – was last night. Do you get distracted easily? Yeup. Earlier I was doing a reading, picked up my phone for a short break, then never realized I was on my phone for the next two hours. Have your parents ever caught you drinking? They never ‘caught’ me; whenever I do drink I let them know/ask permission. I respect them enough to do that because I know how alcohol had nearly ruined our family in the past. Do you think flirting is cheating? Uhhhhhhh yes. Do you hate the last girl, other than family, you had a conversation with? I could never hate Gab. Who was the last person you sat next to in a car with? It was my brother.  Is your room messy or clean? Fairly clean. I had a general cleaning of my room not too long ago. Do you drink tea? Not the hot or herbal kind. I only have iced tea occasionally. Wish you could be somewhere else right now? Sort of? Kind of? Idk it’s either way. I’m content that I’m home but I wouldn’t mind being out drinking right now too. What are you listening to right now? I can only hear the electric fan’s white noise. I don’t feel like listening to music. Where did you get your last bruise from? I don’t remember my most recent bruise but it probably has something to do with PE and me hitting the mat/floor way too hard. Are you looking forward to anything? The weekend. When is the last time you wanted to punch someone in their face? The fact that I stared at this question for a good minute must mean I haven’t thought this in a while lmao. That’s gotta be a good thing! Whose house where you last at? Other than mine, Gab’s. When someone says 'we need to talk', what do you think: If I know that that person doesn’t have a problem/potential problem with me, I just assume it’s something light. The only time this was said to me and it turned out to be something bad was my mom gathering us to say that our grandpa died, so I don’t really have a bad experience in general with that sentence. Tell me what's on your mind? I would have been able to sleep in tomorrow if I didn’t accept a 10 AM commitment and now I’m hating myself loads. It’s exhausting to accept an executive position sometimes. Will you be in bed before 11 tonight? I doubt it; it’s already 9:55 and I just started on this survey. Do you have a good relationship with your parents? It’s fine, but it’s not super solid or anything. They don’t know anything about me other than what I post on Facebook. How much money did you spend today? I spent P45 on an egg and cheese sandwich just to get through my hunger this morning, and my orders from online shopping came so I dropped P1,120 on that hahaha. In other words, I’m slowly GOING BROKE Can you see a cat from where you're sitting? Nope. I can see a dog, though. Who was your last text from? My professor for a history class. I’m the beadle in this class, so he texts me reminders from time to time. What was the last bad thing that happened to your phone? It’s fairly new so it hasn’t acted up ever. The only bad thing that happens to it is me dropping it D: What's been upsetting you lately? I am so fucking burned out from this semester and just wish it’s over already. Is there anyone getting on your nerves at the moment? Nope, everyone’s safe. Is there a member of the opposite sex on your mind? Nopes.

Last place you fell asleep other than a bed? The living room couch, I think. Does it take a lot to make you cry? Not at all. I’m an easy target. Do you have a dog? Yes, the goodest and bestest. Do you like to wear pants? No, I hate jeans and wish I had more shorts than jeans. How many people do you trust fully? I trust everybody I know, is the thing. I feel like my loved ones and friends deserve that. But I can cut off ties with them very easily if they abuse that trust. When you're bored in class, what do you usually do? I use my phone but make sure I’m hidden behind my laptop. If that’s too risky, I’ll doodle whatever lyrics on my notebook (if I’m writing). Otherwise I’d just check my social media on my laptop. What’s your favorite color out of these five? Green, Yellow, Blue, Pink: Pink. What was the first thing you said when you woke up today? “...Already?” I set my alarms this morning for 4 AM, 4:30 AM, and 5:30 AM. I woke up at the 4 AM alarm, went back to sleep, and the next alarm that woke me was the 5:30 one. I must have turned off the 4:30 one too but I was probably half-sleepy and groggy AS FUCK because I don’t remember turning that one off at all. Do you get 8 hours of sleep everyday? Yeah. I kinda have to because the way I run during the day depends on the amount of sleep I get. Ever like someone older than you? I haven’t. What's your favorite amusement park? I don’t really have any. Universal Studios in Singapore was great fun though. Are you cold at this very moment? A little bit. I’ve since turned on the AC and also have an electric fan directed at me, so I’m quite chilly. Do you prefer people who talk a lot or are quiet? Depends on my mood..sometimes I’m talkative, and sometimes I just want to be on my laptop and be undisturbed. Is there someone in your life you wish you never met? Other than incompetent groupmates from past projects who temporarily made my life a living hell, not really. How many hours of sleep do you need to function? 7 to 10. Nothing more, nothing less. What do you think Avril Lavigne is doing at the moment? This question is so creepy. What's one fear are you most paranoid about? Not getting a nice enough job that doesn’t pay enough. Have you ran into an old friend recently? A couple of weeks ago I bumped into Mils; I was headed to my car and she was headed to class. It was super brief; we just said hi and she complimented my water bottle (which I have since lost lmao). Have you ever had a song stuck in your head for more than a day? Most likely. Could you go a whole year without cursing? I doubt it. Would you rather give up the computer or the TV? TV! I gave that up like, 6 years ago lol. That’s no problem for me now. Have you ever liked someone who had a girl/boyfriend? No, I haven’t. As of this minute, what is going through your mind? I want to play Mario Kart Tour again but I have to finish this survey first. Does anyone know your password besides you? Gab and my sister. Would you ever take someone back if they cheated on you? I dunno, I’ve never been in that situation. Have you ever ridden a horse? Yes. Are you a patient person? I’m patient with people more; I don’t like the other aspects of waiting, like traffic or waiting in line for something. Could you go a day without eating? I could, but it would suck and it would hurt and I’d probably pass out. Honestly, are things going the way you planned? More than, I guess. I mean I didn’t plan on making it to 21, so I guess everything I do from here on out is more than what I had planned. Are you a forgiving person? No. I prefer holding grudges. When you shut off your alarm clock, do you tend to fall back asleep? HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH YES What is something you disliked about today? My anthropology professor instructed us to watch a film over the weekend. Completely forgot about it of course, and crammed my viewing the night before even though I was already tired. Today, I walked into the room to find out we were gonna watch the exact same movie as a class anyway; meaning I could have rested up last night lolololololol but guess not When's the last time you had a headache? A week ago, I think. Is there anything that you are craving right now? A burger from Pound :( And samgyupsal, ughhhhhhhh. What was the first thing you thought of this morning? How I fucking hate my Wednesday schedule. What part of your body hurts right now? I’m good at the moment. Eyes are starting to feel heavy though. Is there anyone you would like to just appear at your front door right now? Not really. Gab’s working tonight and I wouldn’t want her to drop everything just to surprise me at home. What is something that you realized today? I really dislike my course. I had a very productive afternoon today and started work on each of my final requirements for all my classes this semester – I met progress with every single major requirement, except for those of my journ electives, about which I could really not care less. Is there someone on your mind that shouldn't be? No. Do you remember who your first crush was? Yeah, my 5th grade science teacher. I remember feeling ashamed to disclose it on these surveys back when I was new to this, but it’s been like ten years and I’ve gotten old as fuck and I can just spit it out now lmao. Ever walked into the guy's bathroom? I don’t think so. Have you ever cried from being so mad? Sure. What's a word that starts with the third letter of your first name? Binoculars. Do you have a bad temper? I can, most especially on my period. How many wives or husbands do you want? Wow, just one please. What's the closest pink object to you? My keyboard cover. Do you consider yourself lucky? No. Whats on your bedroom floor right now? A single sock that I’m too lazy to pick up for now, and my dog. Do you trust anyone? I trust lots of people. What's your favorite color gummy bear? Maybe red? I like strawberry/cherry flavored gummies. What's the last movie you saw in the theater? Portrait of a Lady on Fire. If you could push one person off of a mountain, who would it be? Duterte. Wish you could be somewhere else right now? Meh, yes and no. What color is your iPod? I don’t use it anymore, but my Nano is blue. What should you be doing right now? Sleeping maybe? Or at least settling in. Do you like roller coasters? Nope. One famous guy you would marry in an instance? Does it have to be a guy? I got nothing.

[geek-patient-zero]

Part 1, Chapter 5

Or: Flavia Becomes an Actual Character

Blood War: Masquerade of the Red Death Trilogy Volume 1

Back in St. Louis, Dire McCann’s back in his office by 3 AM.

It had been a long, brutal evening. One filled with more surprises than he imagined possible. Both during the reign of the Red Death... and after.

As he kicks back in his armchair, feet on his desk, the story immediately flashes back to the Club Diabolique. McCann had spent an hour or so in a relatable work predicament: being trapped in a room with your boss while he’s having a temper tantrum.

The room cleared of his brood, Vargoss had spent more than an hour raging to McCann about his progeny’s cowardice. The detective and the Dark Angels had been the only ones who had attempted to save the Prince from the Final Death. Vargoss made it quite clear that in nights to come, the regulars of the Club would pay for their weakness.

“I’m charging everyone extra for drinks! And- And you know what? No more casual Fridays! You come here dressed to the nines or you stay downstairs with the pale human children! Oh, and those jazz men! They didn’t help me either! No more jazz for the rest of the year! Until then it’s 50′s high school prom music, played by the whitest people I can find!”

“But sir, what will you listen to?”

“I’m the Prince of St. Louis, Dire McCann! I obviously have a Walkman.”

Although the Prince didn’t address the issue, there was no question that the Red Death’s attack had frightened him badly. Vargoss had exerted the full power of his will against the monster, without success. The vampire knew he had escaped the Final Death by luck alone. And there was no certainty that the Red Death would not return.

Once the old man finally tuckers himself out, he commands McCann to come back next evening and bids him goodnight, retreating through a secret passage to his inner sanctum in the subbasement.

McCann suspected the vampire planned phoning the other Ventrue elders throughout the United States to warn them of the attack.

Either that or take a post-rage nap.

His exit left McCann alone with Flavia.

“Sir, I’m not good with sexy grieving women. Sir, Prince Vargoss, don’t leave me alone with- Ah shit...”

The other vampires and ghouls in the Club were already long gone by this point.

Tonight, none of them evidenced any desire to wear the Prince’s crown. The Red Death served as a grim reminder of the perils of leadership.

But then maybe there was another reason none of them tried to save Vargoss... Nah, they were just terrified. That’s the thing about this setting. Characters are always plotting against you and each other and having ulterior motives so during those rare moments where someone’s being sincere it’s still easy to be paranoid. Most of the time, you’d be right to be so.

Back to poor Flavia. The whole time during what McCann’s POV describes as “Vargoss’ tiresome outburst” she sat on the floor, holding the burnt remains of her sister’s jumpsuit, unmoving, devastated. McCann, the big softie, feels compelled to say something. They’ve never really communicated before, beyond her and her sister making suggestive facial expressions at him and him trying to ignore them, so he goes with a safe Klingon approach.

“She died fighting,” he declared softly, stepping within a few feet of Flavia. Sympathy was fine, but not stupidity. If the Dark Angel took offense at his words, the detective wanted enough room to defend himself. “It was an honorable death.”

“She died horribly, in pain and screaming, and would have pissed herself if that were a thing vampires could still do, but she died the right way according to your strange and self-destructive warrior culture. W-What are you doi-GAAAAAAH!”

In reality, he’d said just the right thing. She looks at him, her cheeks stained crimson, the narration reminding us that vampires cry blood instead of tears, and speaks to him for the first time ever.

“Your concern for my feelings is appreciated, McCann,” she said, in a mellow, low voice, with a surprising trace of a British accent. [...] She cast a quick glance in the direction of the secret stairs leading to Vargoss’ hideaway. “Sympathy is often in short supply among the Kindred.”

There’s another employer getting a bad Glassdoor review.

“The Prince always lavishly praised the services provided by you and your sister,” said the detective, nervously. The last thing he wanted to do was stir up trouble between Vargoss and the remaining Dark Angel. “He treated you with respect.”

“He even showed you respect when he left the room without looking at you. They say that a real man shows his emotions with his back. I believe that’s a Japanese saying. Maybe Korean? Someone somewhere in the world says that... Please don’t kill our boss.”

Then the narration gets pervy for a paragraph.

In a smooth, catlike motion, Flavia rose to her feet. She was, without question, one of the most beautiful women McCann had ever seen.

Down boy. There’s a time and a place.

She had platinum blonde hair, high cheekbones, and wide, sensuous lips.

I’m aware. Those exact features were described back in Chapter One.

Her white leather jumpsuit accented her full breasts, narrow waist, and long, long legs.

Yeah yeah, I get it, she’s hella fine.

Sex might no longer hold any pleasure for the Dark Angel, but her body defined seduction.

Oh for God’s sake, she was just kneeling in her sister ashes! She’s been crying for the past hour and she still hasn’t wiped the bloody tears off her face! Now’s not an appropriate time!

Flavia laughed bitterly. “Respect? Vargoss never truly cared about us. We were his servants. He enjoyed bragging about our skills because it reflected onto himself.”

She smiled sardonically at the detective. “You understand, don’t you, McCann. He does the same with you.”

Without thinking, McCann nodded in agreement. The Prince liked showing off. And he treated his associates as prized possessions to be displayed whenever possible.

Pros for Alexander Vargoss:

Not above entering dirty alleyways when the situation calls for it

Huge balls (metaphorical)

Confidence in his employees’ abilities

Owns a sweet nightclub

Casual Fridays

Cons:

Brags about how he’ll outlive you

Old man opinions about rock music

Likes Stalin

Hour long rants

Unsympathetic toward his employees’ personal problems

Treats his employees like possessions

Tacky fashion sense

As fun as talking shit about the boss is, Flavia without warning changes the subject to her backstory. She and her sister were born Sarah and Eleanor James (she doesn’t say which was which, but next book we're told she's Sarah) in 19th century England. They were traveling around Europe for their fifteenth birthday when a Kindred kidnapped them.

“Our blonde good looks, lightning-fast reactions, and notorious taste for cruel delights caught the attention of a traveling Assamite assassin. He arranged our abduction and had us brought to Alamut.”

I don’t know what to focus on here: that only one of those qualities has anything to do with being an assassin, that the two sexual ones are being used to describe fifteen-year-olds, or how racially charged this whole scenario is with the presumably Middle Eastern man kidnapping two white girls.

“A taste for cruel delights?” repeated McCann.

“What, did you torture small animals to death or something?”

“Did we- No!”

“Oh I know. You’d befriend other rich girls, than systematically ruined their lives by spreading rumors and framing them for major scandals.”

“No! Why are you assuming these horrible things about us!?”

“You’d make your guards beat up random peasants-”

“It’s a sex thing, you wanker!”

“Fawn and I dallied in what now has become commonly known as bondage and S&M,” said Flavia, chuckling. Her long tongue circled her wide lips. “As sisters, we often shared our lovers. Even after we were embraced.”

“...Not at the same time, right?”

“What do you me- Ew! No! Separately!”

“‘Cause I know a lot of men have twin fantasies, but when you really think about it...”

“Well don’t, because that’s not what happened!”

...Wait, what was that about having lovers after they were embraced? I thought Kindred had no interest in sex.

“Despite what you think, McCann, vampires can still enjoy sex. Especially if the stimulation is mental as well as physical.”

The detective took a step back. He definitely did not like the Dark Angel’s tone of voice. Or the hint of an implied invitation.

Hey, you’re the one who wanted clarification on “cruel delights.” Ask a horny question, get a horny answer, Dire.

At Alamut, the twins trained for ten years at a mountain fortress, presumably Alamut Castle. I like to think that after executing the weird pedophile that kidnapped them, the Assamite elders figured “Ah screw it, these girls are already here, let’s teach them to fight.”

“The Assamite elders marveled at our skills. We fought well separately. However, as a team, we were unmatched. It was there that we earned the title The Dark Angels.”

“Unlike some people, we actually earned our nicknames instead of giving ourselves one.”

“For the last time, my name really is Dire.”

They were Embraced at age twenty-five and served the clan for over a century. They worked for many masters all over the world and stayed together the whole time.

“Thirty years ago, we performed several minor executions for Vargoss. Impressed, I suspect, more by our appearance than our skills, he agreed to a long-term contract with the Assamite elders. In three decades, we never failed in our duties to our lord. Until tonight.”

“And that one incident with the True Mime, but that doesn’t count. You can’t kill a True Mime.”

“I doubt stopping the Red Death constitutes a failure on your part,”  replied McCann. “I don’t think a Kindred in existence could have dealt with that monster.”

Flavia nodded. “Perhaps. I hope to meet the Red Death for a second encounter.” She paused, her expression turning grim. “Fawn’s Death will be avenged. I swear it.”  

Sensing that Flavia’s done with her backstory dump, McCann does his private eye thing and, playing dumb, asks her if she knew what discipline the Red Death was using.

“I’ve never heard of a Kindred who could control fire.”

“Nor I,” said Flavia. “I suspect he travels on the Path of Evil Revelation.”

Paths of Enlightenment are what the Sabbat and other not-very-nice vampires use to control their Beast. If they stuck to the Humanity scale like the Camarilla do, then all their mass murder and mustache-twirling villainy would degenerate them into barely sentient blood-crazed monsters in no time. Instead they use Paths, many of whose morality could be, at best, described as “alien”, and at worst, “It is Right and Good to wear a cloak made from the hide of virgins, for it is in the nature of vampires to do so.”

I suspect a Path follower would be the source of the most obnoxious “We are The Dead, we are Monsters, we are Fueled by Blood and must Accept it” speeches one could imagine in the World of Darkness.

The Path of Evil Revelations is an actual thing in the lore. If you don’t want to click the link, the story sums it up:

The Path of Evil Revelation was a secret discipline practiced by many members of the Sabbat. It taught that evil was good and that vampires were the agents of corruption. Followers of the path routinely dealt with demonic forces.

Though it’s less “dealt with demonic forces” and more “pledge servitude to the Lords of Hell.” To sum it up even more: You’re Evil, Obey Demons.

McCann then says that he once heard of a forbidden rite called the Body of Fire (presumably from a friend of a friend, right McCann?) and asks if she’d ever heard of it. She hasn’t, but- Oh goddamn it, more things I have to define. She says she only knows of Fires of Inferno, which she says is one of the “Paths of Dark Thaumaturgy” practiced by the Corrupters (a name for followers of the PoER). 

Despite Flavia using the word “Path”, Dark Thaumatergy isn’t a Path of Enlightenment. It’s blood magic learned from demons, unlike regular Thaumatergy, which the Tremere learned by doing mad scientist shit to other vampires. Honestly, origin-wise, I’m not convinced Dark Thaumatergy is the eviler of the two.

Fires of (the) Inferno is the Dark Thaumatergy version of regular Thaumatergy’s Lure of Fire, which allows a vampire to summon “unnatural fire” thought to be from Hell itself. Fires of the Inferno is green, definitely from Hell, and according to the wiki “has only one use: destruction,” meaning you shouldn’t make a campfire using it.

What we get from this is that while some vampires can summon a magic otherworldly fire, they can’t control it and use it as some kind of death aura like the Red Death can. And, y’know, considering that the guy’s not calling himself the Green Death, he likely isn’t using Fires of the Inferno itself. Whatever the case, Flavia says she intends to find out more.

She stepped closer to McCann. “You are an unusual human,” she declared. “Even for a mage, you are aware of too many of the darkest secrets of the Children of Caine.”

Uh oh! The Master Schemer isn’t as good at playing dumb as he thought!

Without warning, Flavia’s right hand lashed out at McCann, second and third fingers stiff and aimed directly at his eyes.

Ah yes, the Moe Howard Strike.

Luckily, our would-be Curly saves himself from a humiliating death by grabbing her wrist using super fast reflexes equal to her own. Wait, using...

Dire McCann, you dumbass.

Flavia laughed, a wild, untamed sound. “No ordinary man could move that swiftly, McCann. Nor stop me from making contact.”

McCann fell for the old “attack the hero in a way that reveals their powers” trick. He tries to backpedal by being all, “Well yeah, I’m not ordinary, I’m a mage!” while mentally cursing himself and realizing that Flavia’s more cunning than he assumed. Flavia’s not having any of his excuses. She got him.

Flavia shook her head, grinning. “No Kine could have halted that lunge. Nor any mage. Don’t worry. I won’t betray you to Vargoss. He pays for my fighting skills, not my thoughts.”

“What are you babbling about?” asked McCann, fearing the worst.

“The hell’s going on? The fanservice bodyguard isn’t suppose to be smart!”

The narration’s been coy so far about what exactly McCann really is. Now, Flavia tells him her theory.

“There are rumors,” said Flavia, “of certain fourth-generation Kindred with incredible powers of domination. They are called Masqueraders. Their minds are so strong that while they lie in torpor, they can reach out and overwhelm a mortal’s personality. They literally possess their victim, body and soul. In this manner, these Methuselahs again experience true life. Puppet masters, they masquerade in mortal form--eating, drinking, sleeping, making love. For safety, they endow their marionette with some of their powers. Enough perhaps for the person to claim to be a ghoul—or a mage.”

“So no, your name really isn’t fucking ‘Dire’.”

...Huh. That’s a doozy. Not what I would guessed, and not a concept I’ve seen in recent V:TM media.

McCann laughed, trying to appear amused. “What utter nonsense.”

Flavia smiled. “Protest all you wish, Dire McCann,” she said. “If you didn’t, I might be worried.”

Then, because this is a nerd book written by a guy, she french kisses him.

Slowly, seductively, she leaned forward and pressed cold lips to his. Her tongue, a sliver of ice, darted for an instant into his mouth. 

Despite her movements being deliberately slower than her attempted eye poke, and her now being well into murder-you-with-my-hands range, something tells me McCann didn’t try very hard to avoid her kiss here.

Also, McCann’s 6′4. Either she’s also really tall or she’s standing on the pile of ashes that were once Fawn to reach his lips.

“I would be very grateful for the patronage of a Methuselah.” Her lush body pressed against him, her taut nipples hard against his chest. “Extremely grateful.”

Hang on. He can feel her nipples through a leather jumpsuit and his own clothes? Can vampire nipples even get hard? Is it a discipline? 

McCann forced himself to remain quiet. He had said too much already.

Since McCann’s shutting the fuck up for his own good, Flavia decides now’s the time to say goodnight. She says that she has to go see Vargoss before he notices she’s not around and gets pissed at that too.

“Do not expect me to address you aloud unless we are alone.” She chuckled. “Vargoss prefers his bodyguards never speak. He enjoys the air of mystery it creates.”

“Although now that I think about it, since he hired us mainly for our looks and doesn’t want us to speak, I’m starting to think he’s just a pig.”

With that, the flashback ends and we’re back in McCann’s office. You forgot that most of this chapter’s technically a flashback, didn’t you?

McCann, sitting behind the desk in his office an hour later, furiously masturbated banged his head against it repeatedly yelling “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” vowed never to show sympathy to anyone ever again sighed heavily. The detective folded his arms across his chest. For all her grief, the Dark Angel had not stayed in mourning very long. He trusted Flavia not to reveal her suspicions to the Prince for as long as it suited her purposes, and not a second more. If not handles properly, the Dark Angel could prove to be as dangerous to him as the Red Death.

McCann’s POV doesn’t out and out say that Flavia’s right, but it doesn’t deny it either.

McCann finally shakes the Flavia incident out of his head and gets to work on finding out more about the Red Death, starting by making some calls. We also get this gem:

A careful man reacted immediately to any threat. And McCann liked to think of himself as very wise.

...No comment.

McCann moves some money around and issues instructions, and when he’s done he’s got teams of researchers studying both the Path of Evil Revelations and whether there are any Nictuku that match the Red Death’s description. Not much is said about these researchers, but hopefully they’re vampires or ghouls, or backed by such, or else McCann’s committing a serious Masquerade breach.

He believes that the Nictuku rising and the Red Death’s arrival are connected, and he opens his desk drawer to get the letters he read back in Chapter 2.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand they’re gone. Someone broke into his office while he was away and stole his letters.

McCann cursed, steadily, in seven languages, including two that had not been spoken on Earth for over three thousand years, until he was out of breath. Angrily, he slammed a fist into the side of the desk. Wood splintered, delivering a small amount of satisfaction along with a strong recognition that he was acting foolishly.

Careful and wise? Maybe. Mature? Eh, that’s up in the air.

He swears not to make the mistake of underestimating his unknown adversary, or adversaries, again. Chapter 5 ends with one last reveal:

It was then that he noticed, resting on the edge of his desk, almost like a calling card, a bright green sequin.

You think Rachel Young carries a jar of those around, or does she just tear them off her dress?

[blackwxtchmccree]

Final part of Scars that can also be found on my AO3 >>> here

Thanks to everyone who has kept up so far <3 I think this is the first time I’ve finished something in my entire life, so go me! I hope everyone enjoys :) -Valk

Dorian had never realized just how extensive the scars from the Anchor were until he was laying naked next to Damien, dozing in their post reunion-sex haze. It had been 6 months since the Exalted Council and as promised, Dorian had returned to Tevinter.

Much to his surprise, a few months after, he had received an eluvian of all things, likely stolen from either Skyhold or the Winter Palace upon their departure for the last time. Tucked into the delicate, aged golden frame had been a note stating the warrior was determined to find his way through the Crossroads to his desired exit—which was wherever Dorian was. It took Damien a few months of experimentation, but eventually he found his way through, greeting Dorian with a smile as he appeared through the looking glass for the first time with a delighted, triumphant laugh.

Damien had been quick to draw Dorian into a kiss and the mage couldn’t help, but hum in delight. He had missed the lips he had spent nearly 3 years kissing. Leaving once Corypheus had been defeated had been hard enough and his exit then had been temporary then. Laying next to the warrior right now almost felt like a dream.

“Amatus, do you really think it’s wise to use an enchanted mirror of elven origin to travel when you’re currently hunting down an elven mage who’s trying to destroy the world?”

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll run into him—it would certainly make my job easier.”

Dorian snorted, raising an eyebrow as his lover lying next to him, their legs tangled and their skin sticky. Damien’s green eyes were bright—he looked far less stressed, despite his involvement in the chase to find Solas.

“This section of the Crossroads has been quiet—I wouldn’t worry too much for now, my love .”

Dorian’s heart still fluttered whenever those words left Damien’s mouth and the mage smiled, tucking his head tighter against the ginger’s chest, his fingers tracing the scars on the former Inquisitor’s skin that he had come to love over the years. The mage couldn’t help, but trace the almost branch-like marks the Anchor had left; they extended over Damien’s left pec and down his upper arm, darkening the freckled skin, finally ending where what was left of his arm had stopped at his elbow.

From Damien’s elbow extended something akin to a ‘phantom limb’ as Dorian had described it upon seeing it for the first time hours ago. A hazy outline of Damien’s previous forearm sat attached to his elbow via a small arm band wrapped around the stump, the inside of the outline almost foggy before coming together to form a definitive frame of the former limb.

Dorian had had a plethora of questions about it, including its functionality and how the warrior had come across such an invention. Damien had showed him he was basically capable of doing all of the things he had been able to do before losing his arm, though he did show the mage that sometimes things phased through the limb and he had to try again to pick them up. Regardless, it was a suitable replacement he had been presented with by Dagna of all people, who had seemed to sense his oncoming plight with the Anchor and had been testing designs.

“Does it hurt anymore? Your Anchor arm, I mean,” Dorian asked quietly, the memory of Cassandra severing the limb while he and Varric held Damien coming to the forefront of his mind again, making him grimace.

“Not usually, no. I get phantom pains on occasion, but nothing I can’t manage,” Damien replied, running an idle hand up the curve of Dorian’s back before carding his fingers through the mage’s dark hair. “No need to worry.”

“Oh I intend to worry to my heart’s content. Someone has to, for your sake.”

“Maker you sound like my mother.”

“How is she, by the way? I miss that woman—quick as a whip and far more entertaining than any other Marcher I’ve ever met.”

Damien tried not to look offended and Dorian laughed at his lover’s exasperated expression. Damien couldn’t help, but grin, shaking his head.

“She’s good. I went home for a little while after everything was said and done and she hugged me for a solid five minutes at least as soon as I walked in the door. My father seemed to have recovered fully and the entire estate wasn’t in disarray, so all is well.”

“Pray tell, has Bann Trevelyan said anything else, or has he kept good on his apology?”

“Not a word. He seemed almost pleased to see me—even gave me an almost disappointed look when I left for Kirkwall to check out the estate Varric bequeathed me at the Exalted Council.”

“I take it that’s where you came from? You’ll have to show me the path through the Crossroads—I’d like to see Kirkwall.”

“I can hear Varric calling you ‘Sparkler’ already,” Damien huffed, his tone almost wistful. The ginger’s eyes had drifted closed and Dorian couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at the mage’s lips.

They could relax—at least for tonight. Damien would have to get up and face the impending continuation of the hunt for Solas and Dorian would have to go toe to toe with his fellow magisters in the coming days, but for now they laid in silence, enjoying the other’s company. Dorian almost fell asleep listening to Damien breathe, his freckled chest rising and falling gently and lulling Dorian into a light dozing state.

“Marry me?”

That made the mage sit up, pulling him rather abruptly into full consciousness as he looked over at Damien in astonishment, his brown eyes wide. Damien met the mage’s gaze evenly, determination and adoration reflected in his emerald eyes.

“P-pardon?”

“You heard me. I have the rings in my bag. We can stage it again later to get free drinks if you want, too.”

For once in his Maker-damned life, Dorian Pavus was at a loss for words. He stared at Damien for a beat, his brow furrowing as he opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out and he closed it again.

“Take your time. I’ll wait however long it takes and I’ll still love you even if you say no.”

Truthfully, it took Dorian another ten seconds to answer, but to Damien, it felt like an eternity. He watched Dorian closely, his heart racing, but his outer countenance remained calm.

Finally, a grin broke out on Dorian’s face and the mage leaned down, coaxing Damien into a passionate kiss, biting teasingly at the ginger’s lower lip, making the warrior groan.

“I’d be a fool to say no.”

“You would also miss out on a nightlong Ostwickian feast with every cheese and wine on the continent, powerful political connections, and my eternal unwavering love,” Damien quipped, pressing kisses to Dorian’s cheek and the sides of his mouth.

“I’m thinking one of those is slightly more important than the other two.”

“The political connections,” Damien asked sarcastically, eyeing Dorian playfully with a small smile. “I know I know—I get it.”

“Your love you fool,” Dorian retorted exasperatedly, shaking his head. “That’s a very resounding yes, by the way.”

“Never doubted it for a second.”

The second time Damien appeared through the eluvian—a few months before their fall wedding, he was carrying a baby, much to Dorian’s surprise. The mage had been expecting him, assuming the warrior was there to run wedding plans and invitations by him, but he had stepped through the looking glass with a small bundle in his arms. The mage gave him a quizzical look, his chocolate eyes widening in response when he realized what the former Inquisitor was holding.

“That’s… that’s a child. An elven baby, to be exact.”

Her pointed ears didn’t go unnoticed and it further perplexed Dorian as to how Damien managed to get himself into such a situation.

“ Our elven baby, to be exact. I was meeting one of Leliana’s contacts in Darktown when an elven woman approached me outside of the Alienage and basically dropped her into my arms before running off,” Damien replied, his brow furrowing. ”She can’t be more than a few months old at the most. I didn’t know what to do, so I kept her for a few days and found an elven nanny and a wet nurse to take care of her. By the time we had named her, I knew it was all over. I couldn’t let her go.”

Damien was looking down at her almost fondly and Dorian approached, unable to keep a smile off of his face when the small child babbled at him happily, looking up at him with big, curious gray eyes. His heart clenched in his chest when she reached for him, to which Damien relinquished her to the mage. A choked laugh bubbled up from his chest when she grabbed at the hanging embellishments on his clothes as he held her, a smile lighting up her small face as she played. Dorian felt tears gather at the edges of his eyes and he looked up at Damien again, who was examining him reverently.

“What’s her name?”  

“We started calling her Amira. I decided we can teach her about her heritage if she so wishes, but I wanted to give her the most comfortable life I possibly could. It’s dangerous for her in Kirkwall and here, but I know we can protect her.”

Dorian nodded, fighting back tears as Amira grabbed at his robes, her small hand wrapping around his finger when he went to adjust the blanket she was wrapped in. That opened the floodgates and sobs wracked the mage’s body, tears rolling down his face. Damien was quick to brush them away gently, pulling Dorian and Amira against his chest and pressing a kiss to Dorian’s forehead.

“You have made me… far happier than I ever expected to be years ago and you somehow manage to get more wonderful with each passing day,” Damien whispered into Dorian’s hair, feeling tears gather at the edges of his eyes.

“I’m glad you got to see the day and I’m glad I got to see it with you, amatus.”

“Me, too.”

The third time, one of the many more times Damien would walk through the Eluvian smiling at him, with Amira in his arms and hope—an emotion Damien was sure he’d never feel again—in his emerald eyes, it was a week before their wedding. The trip from Kirkwall to Ostwick would take at least 4 days, maybe longer with a baby, but Amira slept quietly wrapped against Dorian’s chest for most of their trip, her eyes wide scanning the passing landscape whenever she was awake. Damien smiled whenever he heard Dorian coo at Amira, looking down at her with bright eyes and a grin on his face.

As they approached the Trevelyan estate, Dorian got hit with an intense sense of deja-vu, his mind drifting to the first time he passed through those gates, watching Damien ride ahead of him, uncertainty reflected in his emerald eyes. Now, Damien seemed content, looking over his shoulder at the mage, who smiled at him urged his horse forward, catching up to ride beside the warrior across the courtyard.

His mother was already standing at the door, waving at them as they approached, her blue eyes widening in shock when she realized her son was holding a child, instantly plucking Amira out of his arms and cooing at her in delight. Bann Trevelyan stepped out from behind his wife, giving his son an uncertain look before shrugging and moving to hug the ginger, nodding to Dorian in greeting. Dorian noted Damien’s body language was no longer tense around his father and it made a smile pull at the edges of his lips.

“A few of your friends are already here. I’ll take her—go greet them. They’re in the kitchen.”

Damien’s brown furrowed and he looked over his shoulder at Dorian, giving the magister a quizzical look, but the mage shrugged, taking the hand Damien extended towards him and leading them into the house. Laughter echoed through the doorway to the kitchen and down the hall.

Damien recognized their voices before he even stepped through the doorway, shaking his head and immediately drawing Cassandra into a hug—Damien had seen her once in the year and a half since the Exalted Council and as the new(er) Divine, she was a busy woman. She greeted him brightly, having dressed down to simpler Chantry robes and trousers, likely against the wishes of her Chantry sisters.

Bull, Krem, and Rainer stood at the nearby dining room table, examining a huge wheel of cheese. Dorian watched as Bull waved his arms around, likely trying to dissect how they could cut it and the mage snorted at his gestures, almost delighted to find that he hadn’t changed much. Varric came walking in from Dorian’s right, two bottles of wine in hand, calling out to Damien as he entered, greeting Dorian with his customary ‘Sparkler’ before setting upon pouring wine for everyone.

Josephine and Leliana appeared from the living room just behind Dorian, making the mage jump when Leliana rested a hand on his shoulder and Josephine addressed him with a cheery ‘Magister Pavus’, slipping past him to investigate the wine Varric had chosen. Finally, he heard rapid steps that he realized couldn’t possibly belong to a human and turned to watch as a rather rambunctious Mabari came trotting through the doorway, followed by a disheveled, but otherwise rosy cheeked Cullen carrying a variety of wine glasses. The former Inquisition commander thanked him when the mage moved to take some of the glassware, helping set the glasses on the counter as Varric poured. Damien ran a gentle hand across Dorian’s lower back as the warrior passed behind him to talk to Cullen, making the mage’s heart fluttered. He hoped that feeling would never fade.

Once everyone had gathered in the kitchen and half-full glasses had been passed around, Damien cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention and they fell silent, all eyes turning to their former Inquisitor. Dorian moved closer to the ginger’s side, smiling up at him. The magister remembered most of Damien’s past speeches vividly and the man was a gifted orator, but what he said next somehow surpassed all of his past eloquently delivered dialogues.

“I’ve made a lot of speeches in my life and I’m sure you all tire of hearing my voice, so I’ll say this: To lifelong hope, healing, love, and friendship.”

His friends—some of whom had traveled thousands of miles to be there with them, echoed his sentiments, raising their glasses in unison. Dorian looked up at Damien, stifling tears that threatened to gather at the edges of his chocolate eyes. The scars on the warrior’s freckled face had started to fade and there was a light in his eyes that rivaled the Anchor that used to mark his left palm, something Dorian was glad to see after all of the years of watching him struggle and sometimes break.

Damien met Dorian’s gaze evenly, bringing a hand up to coax the mage into a small kiss.

“All thanks to you.”

[readingwebcomics]

Analyzing Questionable Content: Pages 51-100

No Faye, it only looks that way because he’s playing Final Fantasy X-2. Good God, I just realized that Final Fantasy X-2 is someone’s first experience with Final Fantasy. That’s a depressing thought. Although someone starting out the series with Final Fantasy XIII is probably way worse, now that I think about it. At least X-2 had fun.

…huh? Oh right, the comic. You sure you’d rather not listen to me write an essay on Final Fantasy, instead? I have this great point about how Final Fantasy IX has the most emotionally impactful narrative but as a game it only really clicks with long-time players of… no? Okay fine, let’s get back into QC.

The very next comic has Marten getting a tax return check for $1,100, and being the wise adult that he is, decides to spend that money on a new guitar. Tagging along, Faye brings up something that gives us new insight on her character:

And clearly didn’t bore her, considering how much of that information she retained. Here we have yet another example of a shared interest between these two, Marten clearly being into Guitars if he’s invested enough to blow a fat wad of money on it and Faye carrying around quite a bit of information on the instrument herself. I’ve made the point in the last post, but to reiterate – at this point in the comic, it’s clear these two are clicking as far as interests go. They can keep up with each other, can and have provided support for one another, and challenge one another… okay granted that last one isn’t entirely true, it’s clear Faye challenges Marten more than vice-versa, but still. There is a clear, acting relationship dynamic between these two, whether platonic or romantic. The reason why early QC works as well as it does is because these two have clear characters to them and their relationship FEELS real – they feel like people you’d know who’d really be friends – or maybe more than friends. This is Jeph’s character writing at… well I hesitate to call it at its best because to imply he peaked as early as the 53rd comic would be an insult to him as a writer, and I’m not looking to do that here.

I’m looking to do that a little bit later on in this part when we discuss Faye’s “character quirk.”

Before that however, we’re going to get a little bit on insight on Marten:

The story is elaborated on in a future comic, but here we get Marten’s backstory – traveling across the country for a girl, the relationship falling apart and leaving him stuck in this part of the country. This will go on to explain several of his character choices, including Pintsize (although that’s something we’re not going to approach until MUCH later on). It also further elaborates on Marten’s character as a whole: He doesn’t make many active actions as a whole, but when he does, it tends to shift the entire dynamic of how he lives. He decided he wanted to follow this woman across the country, and that action ended up completely upending his life. Could this be part of the reason why Marten is so passive? Does he skew towards this lifestyle because he’s been “trained” to take any kind of affirmative action as an intense, life-changing event?

While I’m not certain myself, and I have a damn good feeling Jeph wasn’t thinking that far ahead when writing Marten’s character, it’s an angle I’m willing to continue exploring as we further our journey down this comic’s history.

This comic was written in 2003. I’m half-tempted to believe Meme culture can be tracked by indie bands now. Wonder if there was any zeitgeist with neo-nazi indie bands ten or fifteen years ago then, if that theory holds true?

…I just made myself really, really sad.

Later on, Pintsize proceeds to eat a cake when he really shouldn’t – again – and we are gifted with… this lovely image.

Okay. I understand Pintsize is an AI, so it makes total sense for him to be able to be uploaded to a PC like this (ignoring for the moment modern commercial hardware can’t possibly support the resources necessary to maintain human-level sapience and ESPECIALLY not in 2003), but this is one of the freakiest fucking things I’ve seen from this comic. Mostly because at the time of writing we’re on comic 4000 and AI as a whole take an entirely different turn in the world of QC around that time, so… this is just kinda surreal to look at.

…We’ll get to AI in regards to QC’s universe later on when it becomes more relevant. Needless to say, it becomes one of the core “themes” of the comic as a whole.

The narrative reason for this turn of events is simple:

Pintsize is now in a new visually appealing model, capable of moving his joints around so he can do more than just stand around and talk!

…also one that has a horrifying government-level laser built into it! Believe it or not, this DOES become a relevant plot-point later and it’s not just for the sake of a gag. This is a great example of Jeph taking a tiny detail he may have originally written in as a joke and building off it to create conflict… although I’ll be getting more into that later on when it actually DOES become relevant.

Pintsize agrees to turn the laser off, and a few comics later Marten and Steve go to the bar to discuss their lives – specifically Marten’s love life.

Further showcasing of Marten’s passive nature and his straight-up lack of confidence.

Say goodbye to Sara everyone – for real this time, I’m fairly certain this is the very last time we ever see her. I could be mistaken, but I highly doubt it. Plus, while we don’t see it in detail we get enough information to gleam Steve as Marten’s exact opposite – charming without being overwhelming, confident without being cocky. Steve is just straight-up a cool dude, and it’s easy to see how he can easily get into relationships while Marten stays there floating along, too scared and/or passive to make the move that comes to Steve naturally.

Wait. Shit, I may have the hots for Steve. Abort, aboRT, ABOR-

I’m showing this in part to showcase the next point of conflict and also to draw attention to the new style Jeph is trying. He’ll do this throughout the run of QC, trying out brand-new styles to see what fits and what doesn’t. I’ll be including this in my comparison pictures at the very end of this post to give a clearer image of what changes and how he improves… although you can see even in this comic he’s struggling against old habits as Marten’s face in the final panel looks drastically different than in the rest, looking more akin to how he looked in older comics. That’s okay! Habits die hard, it’s worth applauding the fact that Jeph is trying. God knows I can’t draw to save my fucking life, so I’ll always support artists trying new things.

I’m mostly including this panel for two reasons: The fact that Faye’s stuck in the closet right now – if you don’t get why that’s funny, you will in about 3700 comics from now – and the way she’s talking. Do you notice something different about the “feel” of Faye’s dialogue? Keep an eye on it, I’ll try to include more panels of her talking from this point onward.

Anyway, Marten dismantles the previously established conflict by revealing he managed to get Faye’s prescription for her and got her a new pair of glasses.

Mark this as the second time Faye has actually displayed real physical aggression against Marten.

Again, depending on how much you know about AI in QC’s world from future comics this could either be a lot funnier or a hell of a lot less funny. Although… the subject of AI mortality would make for an EXTREMELY interesting plot point in more recent comics. Remind me to touch on that when we get further along.

Again: Pay attention to Faye’s dialogue in this comic, especially in that last panel. You’re noticing it, aren’t you? The fact that she sounds a little… different? Give me a little more time, I promise I’ll touch on it a little later.

Hey, guess what? It’s later!

Faye does not punch Marten whenever she says something nice about him. In fact, she has ever only assaulted Marten twice – both times for completely arbitrary reasons not related to her saying anything to or about Marten. Nor has Faye ever spoken completely without contractions, as you see she’s doing now. Later comics will go on to point out how odd it is that Faye only speaks with contractions when she’s drunk and dips into her southern accent… when we’ve seen in previous comics that she is capable of speaking with contractions and talking like a normal human being. This change has shifted the entire “feel” of every line of Faye’s dialogue, as she no longer “sounds” like the Faye we started the comic with.

These are both examples of a writing mistake that a lot of long-form regular updating writers make, be it fanfiction or daily comics – retcons. If you’re reading this, you most likely know what a retcon is. For the few of you that don’t, a retcon – short for retroactive continuity – is the practice of in later works of an ongoing series introducing a fact that changes what was previously established in previous works. This is most commonly seen in Superhero comics from Marvel and DC, but the kind of retcon I’m talking about is more common on smaller scale works, like fanfiction or unedited novels or ongoing RPs.

See, when the writer realizes they wanted to change up something, introduce a plot element that would require them to go back and change something previously to make it make sense and find that for whatever reason they can’t, they may go ahead and introduce the plot element anyway while assuring the reader that no, of course this element was always included. That’s what’s happening here – Jeph had an idea for a plot element he wants to include, realized he can’t exactly go back to older comics and change them considering it’s a regularly updated webcomic, and so decided to retcon these facts by introducing them like they’ve always been a part of things and assert their truth while continuing on.

Not that I can necessarily blame the man – in a situation like this, realizing there’s an important plot element that you want to work with but can’t due to you leaving it no room in what you’ve previously published, there’s not much else you can do besides either retconning things or accepting you can’t introduce that plot element and just move on. However, there are other ways you can work with this that abide by previously established continuity and lets you introduce a plot element you want to introduce. For example, Faye punching Marten: You could introduce it as something she feels more comfortable doing the longer she’s around him. Have more frequent comics of her following saying something nice up with a punch, let us see her actually assault him more, and draw a correlation between her getting more comfortable around him and her getting more physically aggressive – something Jeph does touch on later, so it is entirely possible to introduce this new dynamic without asserting things have happened that we clearly see haven’t happened.

…as for Faye not speaking in contractions however, that’s just stupid. It’s a gimmick for her character, plain and simple, without adding anything to her as a character. If you want something big to showcase she’s keeping herself restrained, just continue as you were, having her speak in a southern accent when she’s drunk. That works as a fun gag to attach to her character without seeming like a dumb gimmick. And I’m sorry to say… this whole “Faye doesn’t speak in contractions” thing? It’s a dumb gimmick.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that all off my chest, let’s introduce ourselves to the new main character of QC…

This is Dora, the owner of the Coffee Shop that Faye works at. She’s a cool cat and (seemingly) supremely chill. She’s introduced as another secondary character like Steve, but will swiftly become a mainstay character and join what will become a growing ensemble cast.

Also, potential conflict is seeded when it’s revealed she’s totally crushing on Marten.

And if you doubt Faye’s assessment, let’s hear it from the woman in question herself.

Also say hello to Dora’s cat. The cat has a name, I just can’t remember it for the life of me considering the little fella joins Sara on that island eventually. But yeah, Dora DEFINITELY has the hots for Marten, sewing another potential seed for conflict later on – Marten and Faye are certainly in the “will they or won’t they?” phase, and here sits Faye’s own boss with a clear, vested interest in Marten. Will she make a move and push Faye to take action? Time will tell.

Jeph enjoys trolling his audience, and Marten is suffering because of it.

Dora goes on to establish herself in the reader’s minds by having a clear, distinct personality that bounces off Faye’s beautifully. They banter so comfortably with one another it makes it so much fun to read, which goes on to make Dora a more appealing character to the reader. The more she talks, the more you want to see her because she’s such a genuinely charismatic individual… which can further serve to establish her as a very real conflict in the potential Marten and Faye relationship. After all, what’s a greater spanner in the works of this “will they or won’t they?” relationship than a character who will gladly say “Yeah, I will” that the audience likes enough that they are completely on-board with seeing go through?

The most dangerous thing to a romcom relationship is a third wheel that a good portion of the audience prefers over the teased relationship, and that creates good drama.

(Also Sara’s name is spelled wrong but eh it’s not like she’s around to complain anyway)

…that said, Dora goes on to assure Faye that she has no intention of swiping Marten off his feet away from her when it’s clear Faye’s interested in him. Then again… the more Faye insists she’s not interested in him, the more likely it may be that Dora believes her.

True story, I found this concept so funny that in a campaign I ran a few years ago, I actually had one of the players – who was supposed to be stuck as a worker in a dreary 9-to-5 job that he’d desperately want to escape to go onto adventure – be labeled as the Office Bitch. My only regret is that I didn’t print out a real business card for his player. That either would have gotten a laugh from the table or gotten me punched.

This here is Scott, Marten’s boss. He’s a cool dude, but for reasons that will become evident later on we don’t see very much of him. At first, I thought he was going to end up being the future husband of Marten’s father – and if you haven’t read through QC yourself that sentence will probably completely catch you flat-footed – but looking it up later I found that Marten marries a man named Maurice, not Scott. I only thought they were the same person because they’re both blonde and the art style changes so much later on anyone could look like anyone else.

Actually, fun fact: I started reading QC when 2512 was the most recent comic, so before she was introduced I thought Faye and Marigold were the same person because of how drastically the art style changed and I only recognized “curvy white girl with glasses and brown hair”.

Anyway, Scott’s pretty chill and… yeah. Yeah, that’s pretty much it. He’s a chill dude to work for, and that’s probably the only reason Marten hasn’t outright quit his job yet. The worst job in the world can be made tolerable with a good boss, and the best job in the world can be made unbearable with an awful boss.

Further evidence of the lack of contractions hurting the way Faye’s voice comes across than anything else. Seriously, is it just me or does this not sound like Faye? Like, at ALL? I’m open to being told I’m wrong, just… seriously.

Aaaand here we have Steve officially having broken up with Sara. Also, it’s a small thing but like I’ve said, I’ll give Jeph credit where it’s due – that visible wince on Marten’s face is the most expressive any of his characters have been thus far. Good work man, I’m happy to see you improving with your art!

After drinking together, Marten and Faye decide to go to an all-night diner for some drunken late-night pancakes when we get this bit of information from Faye:

That is Faye, if you can figure out which of the two Martens your fist will connect with. But yeah, the fact that Faye speaks in a southern drawl while intoxicated went from a joke to actual character – she’s legitimately from Georgia and that’s her natural way of speaking. Which may raise the question to the reader, why does she repress that voice so much? Don’t worry – they touch on it in later comics. For now though, another round of applause to Jeph for slowly and organically creating new information about his characters.

Faye is clearly not telling the whole story – the lack of eye contact being a key indicator of just that. Still, we’re getting a little bit more information on her, and the fact that she kept her wording vague leaves a lot to still explore in her future. Needless to say… it was a LOT more than just her mother being over-protective that led her to moving up north.

Marten’s just kind of accepted his lot in life by this point. Although when I was first reading through these I honestly thought this was going to be the headbutt-into-crotch moment.

Once again, if you haven’t read through QC yourself that sentence made zero sense to you. I’m kind of giggling at the thought of someone reading that and doing a double-take, actually.

Finally, we have the last comic of this batch, setting up a bit of conflict for our next batch…

Wuh-oh! Marten walked in on Faye changing! One really nice detail is that you can see the scar on Faye’s chest right there in the first panel, which means Jeph had a LOT of Faye’s backstory already planned out while he was drawing this stuff. Which just leaves me to wonder… how far back did he have this planned? When Faye first showed up in the third comic? When he had her start speaking in a southern accent while drunk? When he decided to have her stop speaking in contractions? I’d love to ask him, but I know for a fact he wouldn’t give me the time of day. Oh well, either way: He’s got shit planned out, shit that we won’t see until Comic 500 or so, and that’s always good for a long-form comic like this.

Like last time, let’s do some quick comparisons between the first comic of the batch, the comic where Jeph made a clear and active effort to change the art style, and the last comic of the batch:

It looks like Jeph found a happy medium between the style he was originally going for and the newer style he tried to incorporate, keeping the relative size and position of the characters’ facial features while rounding out everyone’s faces, making things much less angular than previously. The bodies are also beginning to get some real texture to them, looking closer to real human bodies than stick figures with a shirt.

Overall, what did I think about this batch of comics? Well aside from my complaints about Faye’s lack of using contractions and the sloppy way Jeph tried to incorporate that into the narrative, I thought it was better than the first batch! Marten and Faye are getting into a comfortable rhythm with each other, and we’re falling in-line with that rhythm ourselves. We just met a new character who’s going to be a mainstay of the series and in the few comics she’s shown up in, she’s made her presence stick with the reader. Even if I didn’t know how important Dora would become, I’d be saying I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.

You know what time it is now? That’s riiiiiight! Data compilation time!

Between comics 51-100, the following characters’ proportional “screen time” as it were are as follows:

Marten: 46/50 – 92%

Faye: 45/50 – 90%

Pintsize: 12/50 – 24%

Dora: 8/50 – 16%

Steve: 6/50 – 12%

Sara: 2/50 – 4%

Scott: 2/50 – 4%

Dora’s Cat: 1/50 – 2%

And the grand total of each character’s screentime, not including non-canon or guest comics, from most to least time shown:

Marten: 91/100 – 91%

Faye: 83/100 – 83%

Pintsize: 27/100 – 27%

Steve: 14/100 – 14%

Dora: 8/100 – 8%

Sara: 7/100 – 7%

Jim: 2/100 – 2%

Scott: 2/100 – 2%

Raven: 1/100 – 1%

Dora’s Cat: 1/100 – 1%

Yes, I’m counting Dora’s cat among the statistics. I’ll change the name when I learn what the critter’s name actually is. Also, I was reminded that when the Secret Bakery becomes a thing later on in the comic there will be another character named Jim, with this particular construction worker being called Jimbo instead. I’ll change the name properly when he’s called “Jimbo” proper in the comic, don’t worry. I’ll be doing my best to keep this list from getting confusing… it’s in as much my best interest as yours seeing as I want to keep track of everyone properly.

Tune in next week when we see the exciting conclusion of this spicy “Marten happening to walk in on Faye undressing” drama! And Dora flashing someone. See you then.

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Title: The Changing of Seasons Chapter: 1/1 Words: 3312 Relationship: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Nyx Ulric Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Rating: Gen. Summary:  Nyx ferries Noct way from his world for a little while. (This is for the death by fluff week the wonderful @nyxnoctocalypse​ made! Im!!!!!! honestly terrified to post this!! its my first work for the fandom, at least publicly, and i totally feel like im not good enough AND encroaching on others territory!! BUT i promised myself id do this, i havent had time to do like, the WHOLE thing, like a prompt a day, so I just chose my favorite topic from each day and combined them all into this pitiful mess! Hopefully someone likes it! the prompts i chose are) Seasonal: Weather Animal: Pets    Clothing: Wearing the other’s clothing     Hobbies: Shared interests     Events: Festival days/nights     Dates: Surprise dates     Written Word: Handwriting      Favourites: Way to spend time     Time: The years ahead      Light / Dark: Candlelight Read on AO3 here!  (please just read it here im not formatting for tumblr this is just so much better)

Noct loved the changing of seasons. He loved the way the heat ebbed and the cold crept in. He loved the frost on the window above his head. He loved feeling a warm body beside his own and strong arms wrapped around him. One would think that with the congested space of Insomnia it wouldn't get cold that there would be no weather that things wouldn't change, that it would always be rather warm and steamy-- sticky with the humidity and smoke. But the cold could always find a way. It crept in in the early mornings at the beginning of the shifting of seasons, it suffocated the heat clinging desperately to the streets. Fog replaced steam and smoke bringing a wet chill with it.

Noctis used to hate the cold. Used to hate the dark. Still hates the loneliness that accompanies both. Even with his friends there was always something villainous about the cold and the dark. Prompto’s light couldn't break through it nor could Gladio’s heat. Not the warm and colorful foods Ignis would present them with.

But Nyx.

Nyx.

He was a different animal altogether. There was something about him that cut through the biting loneliness the changing of seasons brought. His warmth and his light. It was almost funny, considering he was named after the darkness.

Noctis mused silently in the early morning light, soaking in the warmth of Nyx’s body behind him and the small body at their feet-- a small white fluffball they found months ago shivering in a cardboard box. She was a pathetic little sight, but she fits into their family quite well. She’ll let Prompto dress her up and take her picture with absolutely no complaint, she’ll “help” Nyx and Gladio with their respective trainings, she’ll even help  Ignis with his cooking (Read: she’ll wait and beg for scraps- Ignis is weak for her bright green eyes) and best yet, she’ll lay in Noct’s lap whenever he needs company- when Nyx is beyond the wall and the others are home. When the loneliness sets in with the dark and cold her bells and bright fur bring Noctis a sense of love and safety he wouldn't have otherwise.

Carefully, Noct picks his way from the warm bodies on the bed, shivering when his bare feet touch the cold floor. Standing, he looks back as Ophelia crawls her way up the bed snuggling closer to Nyx, happily taking over the warm spot Noctis left behind. The prince smiles and shakes his head as he pads quietly through the room, grabbing the nearest warmest article of clothing he can find-- it just so happens to be one of Nyx’s sweaters. He gets dressed quickly, sparing one final glance Nyx’s way before leaving the warmth of the small apartment to face the chill of the day. To a meeting he couldn’t care less about, he already looking forward to the end of the day when he gets to see Nyx again.

~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-

Nyx wakes up not long after Noctis leaves to a face full of fluffy white fur. He sputtered and sat up, spitting out fur and wiping his mouth. He stared down at the cat a moment who was happily stretched out on the bed taking up way more space than anyone would think a small cat could  then realized Noct was nowhere to be seen.

“Noct..?”

He looked around the room, not seeing a single sign of his little love, and with a small sigh he pulled himself up to get ready for the day. It was for the best that Noct had left before he had woken, Nyx was a weak man that loved sleep and loved Noct, but it didn’t diminish the sadness of not being able to see his little Prince sleep soft and content. He knew his little love had Princely Duties to attend, but Nyx was a selfish man as well as weak- he wanted Noct all to himself.

Especially in the morning.

He’d get his lazy morning tomorrow though if he had any say in the matter. With Noct’s absence Nyx realized he had things to do, places to go and things to plan, and a quick glance to the clock showed he’d spent enough time distracted.

In the mad rush to get out after seeing just how late it truly was he almost missed the little note on his table-- held down by a strategically placed, teeny tiny pumpkin. Nyx laughed as he lifted the small pumpkin and tossed it in the air a couple times before shaking his head and replacing the pumpkin in his hand with the small note. He recognized Noct’s handwriting immediately but had no time to read it. He carefully pocketed the letter, making sure the house was in order and Ophelia would be fine until he got home before locking up and making his way out- he had surprises to plan.

~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-

His plans were perfect.

His plans were always perfect.

Don’t listen to Crowe or Libertus.

Nyx’s plans were the best plans. He’s had this specific date planned for weeks. He knew Noct likeed autumn, he knew Noct likeed the festivities that took place around this time of year. He also knew Noctis had only seen them in passing, or through a screen. He’d almost gotten out to play-- once, a couple years ago with Prompto- but alas his little Prince’s stealthy skills were not yet developed enough to pass by undetected. But now, now he had Nyx.

And Nyx was great at plans.

His first stop was a nearby store. His favorite clothing store to be exact. He would never live it down if any of his friends knew what he was doing, but he didn’t care. It was for Noct, the damn clothes stealing hopeless romantic that he was. Nyx knew he liked his clothes, his sweaters and flannels and jackets in particular. Nyx liked seeing his slight frame in his larger clothes anyways. Noct just spent so much time at his apartment, he figured the little thief could do with a couple things of his own. Though Nyx doubted it would halt his thieving ways he bought a couple big warm fluffy sweaters. Sweaters that incidentally matched several of the ones Nyx already owned. Sweaters that he knew would compliment Noct’s complexion. Nyx was a simple man with simple likes. And he liked Noct.

 While he was waiting to be rung up he remembered the note Noct had left him and pulled it from his pocket.Note in hand, he read it while the line progressed, his intended purchases under his arm.

Nyx,

    I’m sorry I had to leave before you woke-- you know how meetings are. I wish I could have stayed, you know I do, but I’ll see you again soon enough! (Unless I die of boredom). You know, you were drooling in your sleep when I left. Were you able to make it out of bed without being glued to your pillow? I bet you’ve got Ophelia’s fur stuck to your cheek huh? She really likes to get in your face, and you, you sure as hell like to cling. I’m running late now but i’ll see you at home!

   -Noctis

Nyx laughed as he read, subconsciously rubbing his other hand against his cheek to rid it of phantom fur and drool.

“Brat.”

   He made his purchases and took them back to the apartment, setting the finely packaged bags on the table beside the little pumpkin. Ophelia trotted up to him and rubbed against his legs silently requesting his attention and marking him as hers so the entire world would see her white fur on his black pants. He let out a long suffering sigh and picked the little girl up before taking her to the kitchen. Absent mindedly rubbing his scruffy jaw against her head. Her purring so violent she could practically launch herself into space. He set her on the counter and got her some breakfast. Nyx watched the cat eat while he thought about the rest of the day ahead.

Ignis had already messaged him, letting him know that the days meetings were running a bit longer than anticipated, and gave an updated ETA for his Prince. It wasn’t too much longer than Nyx had planned for already, about an hour or so out. He finished watching the cat eat, cleaned her dish, pet her a few (dozen) times then made his leave once again- setting out towards the Citadel to pick up Noctis. To save his damsel from the belly of the beast that is Royal Politics.

~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-

Noctis really hated these meetings, he had no idea why they were even a thing to begin with. It was just old men talking circles around each other for hours on end, getting nothing done and then setting time aside at a later date to do the same damn thing all over again. He wanted to rip his ears off, he really did. He just wanted this to be over with, he wanted to leave this hell hole behind and make his way back to his cat, back to Nyx-- back to his home. Another fifteen minutes, that’s all he had to deal with- just another fifteen minutes.  

It was another thirty minutes on top of that before he got his reprieve.

“We will meet again in two days time to discuss this in more detail, that is all for today.”

Noct didn’t need to be told twice, he patiently made his Princely niceties and then politely bolted out the door-- only to be stopped by Ignis not ten feet from freedom.

Noct held back a very un-Prince like whine and listened to what Ignis had to say, though he retained next to nothing from the exchange.

   “--And make sure to be careful.” Ignis had finished his report, or rant...or lecture (He wasn’t entirely sure) and Noct nodded sagely along.He doubted he fooled Ignis for one second,judging by the look in his eye, but he stepped backwards. Step by careful step. Maintaining eye contact with Ignis throughout his retreat. When finally released he turned and dove through the doors as fast as he could, glad to finally have escaped!

During his valiant escape he didn’t realize there was someone waiting outside the doors, and in his haste he ran right into the person.

The very Solid Person.

The very Solid, Familiar Person.

Noctis looked up at the owner of the hands that had steadied him to meet a steely blue gaze filled with a familiar loving warmth. The steely blue gaze he had missed seeing this morning.

A smile overtook his face as he registered Nyx while a sly grin spread on the older man’s as he took Noct in.

“Glad you didn’t die of boredom in there, I was beginning to think I wouldn’t see you again.”

Noct rolled his eyes and sighed, “It was a close one Hero, a minute longer and I would have been toast. Nothing left of me.”

Nyx laughed at Noct’s put upon tone as he wrapped an arm around his little loves slim waist and began leading him off and away from the Citadel.

Noct laughed with him and followed his lead easily, “What’re you doing here anyways? How’d you know i’d be released? I was gonna come right back to you, you didn’t have to come get me.”

“It’s a secret baby doll. I’ve got plans, you see? They’re real intricate, and step one involves kidnapping the Crown Prince.” Nyx grinned conspiratorially, ending the sentence with a wink at Noct’s surprised, yet slightly affronted expression. He shushed whatever retort his little raven was about to make and ushered him onto his motorcycle. “Keep all comments to yourself, I’m not telling you where we’re going, no hints no tips no persuasion. Just be patient, be quiet and trust me. You’ll be glad you did.”

~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-

Noct did as he was told, unhappy as he may be. He stayed quiet, didn’t ask where they were going, how much longer they’d be, or anything of the sort pertaining to the topic. It was eating at him but he remained silent and pouted the entire way through, his cheek against Nyx’s leather clad back. Every once in awhile one of Nyx’s hands would come down to Noct’s and give it a little squeeze-- silently letting him know he was doing well. It took much longer than Noct was expecting, and even still he had no idea where they were going. All he knew was that Nyx kept driving, and they were moving further out of the congestion of the city and closer towards the rural areas, if you could call them that. Noct may have no idea where they’re going, but he was enjoying the changes he was seeing and feeling.

The air was sweeter, fresher and the colors were so vibrant. All the trees in different shades; browns and reds, oranges and yellows, even the ever persistent green remained. The smells were more nature, less machine-- though to be fair cows weren’t the most aromatic animal in the world. It was somehow quieter or at least more peaceful, less sounds of angry people, machinery and the city and more of the county life but there was something else to it too. But that something Noct couldn’t place until they had arrived to their destination.

The sun was just beginning to set when Nyx had begun to slow down. The amount of transport had significantly increased and Noct, curiosity piqued began looking around. Nyx carefully maneuvered  through cars and bikes and past people, finding a small space perfectly fit for his motorcycle. He parked and removed their helmets, helping Noct off after him- steadying his stiff gait.

Noctis didn’t halt his wondered stares as Nyx fixed his hair and soon enough met Nyx’s bright eyes, “This….Nyx what is this?”

Nyx smiled gently at the pure wonder in his little Prince’s eyes and ran a thumb along his cheekbone, “It’s an autumn festival. I’ve figured you’d been cooped up most every time this time of year rolled around, could hardly persuade your dashing Knights to ferry you away here, and I know how much you love autumn and festivals so I thought I could spirit you away for a night to the festival you’ve been dreaming of. Don’t be too disappointed though, it’s more about the harvest and less about the partying.”

Noctis couldn’t believe it. This is what he had been dreaming about for years. Leave it to Nyx to snuff out one of the things he had desperately wanted to do. “Nyx, I could care less what the focus of the place was, just the fact you brought me here. You. That’s….That’s everything.”

Nyx smiled, soft and gentle as he hooked his arm with Noct’s, “Well then, what d'ya say we partake in the festivities?”

Noctis’s blinding grin was answer enough and Nyx led the way through the other festival goers. Keeping his little Prince close to him as they went.

~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-

Hours had passed and the sun was well below the horizon. The cool day had brought about an icy chill to the night, and without the hustle, bustle and building of the city- it got cold.

Very cold.

Very cold very fast.

Nyx was used to the cold, was well prepared for it but Noct on the other hand wasn’t. Turns out his fancy clothes were more fashionable than practical. Noct was good at hiding discomfort, but Nyx could read him like an open book.

He took one of Noctis’ cold little hands in his own and brought him closer, “Cold?”

Noctis shook his head, but the chatter of his teeth was revealing a different truth. Nyx just shook his head fondly exacerbated and stepped back far enough to peel off his extra layer; a nice plaid flannel in greys and blues.

“What happened to that sweater you stole this morning?” He teased and Noct grew pink cheeked.

“I….may or may not have forgotten it in the meeting.” Noct looked away and Nyx laughed.

Classic Noctis.

“Well, good thing one of us is prepared.

“My Hero.”

~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-~_~_~_~_~-~-~-

The two walked through the festival grounds hand in hand, enjoying the chill and the warmth the other brought. They saw exotic creatures with colorful plumage and drank warm apple cider and hot chocolate. It seemed to be some sort of apple festival with all the food and drink being sold tended to be made from them.Noctis never knew just how many different types of apple there actually were. There were a couple of games and shop stalls littered throughout as well. Nyx having stopped them to buy a little crown made of small delicate  flowers and placed it upon his Prince’s head.

Noctis tried to be annoyed at his boyfriend’s foolishness but found it hard to even act peeved with the childish glee written clear all over his face. He found a similar crown, one that used more leaves and green and moss than flowers and placed it atop Nyx’s head. Nyx’s answering grin was more than enough to make up for the looks from passersby and the silliness of the situation.

The night got colder and darker, and before long the crowds thinned, the stalls closed and people were packing it away to go home. Noctis didn’t particularly want to leave, but followed Nyx back to their ride and got on. The two left as everyone else did, silently promising another visit sometime soon.

It was a silent ride home, Noctis holding tight to Nyx’s waist, pressed as close as he could get. The noise of the city barely reaching through to their little haven, even  when they finally got home. Still in the bubble of their own little world.

They made their way back inside the apartment and showered together. No words were spoken and the warm water thawed the chill from their bones. Soft kisses and softer caresses were shared between them and Nyx carefully bundled his little raven love in a nice new warm sweater, dark blue to match his endless eyes. Noctis smiled as Nyx led him to the bed and had him sit, then made a point of going around and lighting candles. He had planned this, and like he said, he was the best at making plans. He crawled into bed after Noct after having lit several candles and held his Prince close.

“So how was it, Little Prince? Did you enjoy yourself?” His first words between them were spoken softly.

“You know I did, “ He responded, just as softly with a kiss to the tip of Nyx’s nose, “how could I not when I got to spend the day with you? You know it’s my favorite way to spend the time…”

“I thought this was your favorite way to spend the time?”

Noctis laughed softly at the ridiculous expression on his Hero’s face then pulled him into another kiss. “It’s one of my favorite ways.”

Nyx huffed a chuckle and kissed up Noct’s cheek, to the corner of his eye, then pressed a kiss against each eyelid.

“Nyx?”

“Yeah, little love?”

“Think we could go back? Soon?”

“Of course, Noct. Anything for you.”